#beater theory

[approximateknowledge]

beater syndrome or: "why people misunderstand vriska and kirito for the same reason"

so a little while ago i made a random shitpost that ended me up with this image

^cursed entity

and it's come back to haunt me with ungogly revelations which i will now share because i have to it feels important

context: originally i was just gonna make a post about kirito, explaining how people misunderstand the character and *why* (and why it's completely understandable); but then i realised there was a real pattern here and the subconscious connection that led to the above cursed image suddenly made sense in my mind

so here it is:

the reason kirito gets mischaracterised so often has entirely to do with the combination of:

a) most people only having watched the aincrad arc (<;keyword watched),

and

b) the fact the anime gives a twisted image of the characters due to the fact the internal dialogues from the light novel get cut out completely

the end result of this is that when most people talk about "kirito", they're actually talking about "the beater", and those are crucially *not the same*!

the "beater" is a *role*, and a very specific one at that; it's what happens when you try to "own up" to accusations and unreasonable expectations (internal or external) to such an extent you're always playing the same self-destructive part, and because it's fundamentally a defense mechanism you just get stuck in it until things change drastically enough it finally feels safe to stop playing that horrible role and try to remember who you really are, after everything's over

that's what's happening here; when people say a character is "a kirito" they're actually referring to the beater, and the reason those characters suck ass is because they unironically use what's actually a coping mechanism in a horrible situation for a character's actual personality; of course it sucks! because they're doing it wrong!

it's about trying to convince yourself being a loner destructive scapegoat is "cool" despite always having a nagging insecurity it might just not be, but given the circumstances you're in too deep and so the sunk cost fallacy compels you to keep going

it's not *actually* cool; if anything it's depressing

now i think it's becoming obvious how all of this applies to vriska as well, but there's one crucial difference: the death game never actually *ends* for vriska serket; even now in post-canon she's arguably the *only* character who seems to still be playing sgrub, or maybe she never even stopped flarping

except for one version of her. for (vriska) the game did finally end. and they're the same

the beater dies when the game ends, and we see it happen to both of them

(also they're both transfem i didn't know how to fit that in but they are and that's a fact)

[anthroxlove]

What comes to mind when you think of Amber Heard? Liar? Survivor? Narcissist? Millions of us watched the celebrity trial of the century, Depp v Heard, in 2022. Amber Heard lost and Johnny Depp was vindicated. But what if Amber was actually the victim of an organised trolling campaign? What if the online hate against her was manufactured? Alexi Mostrous, the reporter who brought you Sweet Bobby and Hoaxed, investigates what happened to Amber and who might have been responsible. It’s a story about how our own thoughts and opinions can be moulded without us even realising.

[nilovalentine]

sure we have 'he would not fucking say that' when it comes to characters but can we have more 'this author would not fucking imply that'. i mean sure we can't read author's minds but i think its pretty safe to guess that idk. rebecca sugar isnt spreading fascist ideology on their show about love and acceptance

[sevspotions]

SEV SNAPE

5TH YEAR

she/her — taken — 15

❤️ potions, horror, cooking, magical theory, coffee, winter, snakes, cats, snow, my partner

💔 summer, gryffindors (house rivarly, other than that I dont care.), bigotry (literally a halfblood. get me out.)

@f1rstw0man-ev3r — pandora.

@autistic-ratboy — pettigrew.

@jackfrostlookalike — lucius.

@marybabee — macdonald.

@cissa-n0ble-black — narcissa.

@forever-sirius — black (sr.)

@no1-beater-cas — dorcas.

@dr0wn1ng-st4r — black (jr.)

@1-h8-my-d4d — crouch. (jr.)

[starlightkun]

➠ word count: 4.5k ➠ warnings: cursing, suggestive (no smut but they’re in love and horny lol) ➠ genre: fluff, established relationship, former hockey captain sungchan, chronically ill reader (chronic migraines), shortfic in the buzzer beater series (comes after saltwater smiles), some minor angst again but it’s about like growing up and being a human and finding your place and purpose as an adult, not between our couple or anything ➠ extra info: the reader in this has chronic migraines, which i have. when the reader’s migraines, experiences as a chronically ill person, and thoughts about being chronically ill are described, that is me writing directly from my own life. i am not generalizing the lives of all people with chronic migraines/chronic illnesses, but i am sending all my love to any readers out there living with a chronic illness, and here’s a reminder to go take your meds! ➠ series masterlist

“It feels like I can’t ever move on from this. From being Sungchan the hockey captain. I know you were just joking when you said it but—I don’t want to actually be that guy that peaked in college.”

“Yo, tell them about the championships against the Sharks, Sungchan!” Your colleague, Seunghan, insisted, pushing on your fiancé’s shoulder with his hand that held a drink.

Sungchan looked down at his feet for a moment, and you caught a quick flash of hesitation on his features before he looked back up at the group of enthralled people and gave a lighthearted chuckle and charismatic smile. “I’ve already told that story tonight, I’m sure everyone here doesn’t want to hear it again. Besides, don’t you all want to hear about Y/N’s paper?”

You two were at a rather ritzy gathering being thrown by your department celebrating that one of your articles had been chosen for publication in a huge literary theory journal.

“Anton wasn’t here when you told it earlier!” Seunghan shook a grad student instructor in your department. “And we’ve all read her paper like a hundred times before it got published.”

You reached up to squeeze Sungchan’s arm through his suit jacket. “It’s okay, Channie. I want to hear about it. That was championships your junior year, right? I wasn’t there, remember?”

He focused his gaze down on you for another second as if making extra sure, and you nodded and gave him a smile for good measure. He sighed, wrapped his arm around your shoulders, and began the story, much to all your colleagues’ delight.

A little later in the night found you by the drinks table with Ten. When you had moved back to your old college town to accept a position with the Literature department, you hadn’t expected to walk in on your first day and see a familiar face. Sure, you knew you’d be seeing Dr. Son, who was the department head now and had conducted your interview, and several of your old professors, but you’d been keeping up with most of your old schoolmates and as far as you knew, Ten had moved away after you two finished your two-year master’s program and remained there.

Ten swirled his cocktail around his glass before taking a sip, his eyes trained on your fiancé, who was still surrounded. “Why do I never get that treatment?”

“Maybe you should’ve been captain,” you snickered, taking another sip of your soda.

“Too much work.” Your friend wrinkled his nose. “So what is your man doing these days anyway? He get that PhD in molecular biology about fish or whatever?”

“Yep, he’s a whole doctor,” you told your coworker, looking over at your guy with pride. “Defended his thesis last spring, we did a short stint abroad for about a year for him to study some rare fish in the tropics to cure a rare blood disease. I enjoyed all the food and the sun, really. He probably got skin cancer. And now we’re back here. He’s actually doing his post-doc research here, too.”

“He’s curing blood diseases in tropical fish?”

“No, sorry, in people,” you covered your mouth as you laughed. “Somehow, the fish could help cure a human blood disease, I’m not sure about anything past that.”

“And you’ve got a fat rock on your finger,” he teased, grabbing your hand to inspect your engagement ring. “What a power couple.”

You giggled, letting him look over the ring. “Yeah, something like that. He proposed when we were abroad. God, it was the most gorgeous sunset. Just us, nice and quiet.”

“I’m invited to the wedding, right?”

“Duh. We just haven’t sent invites yet, bitch.” You pushed him with your foot, rolling your eyes. “It’s going to be a certified frat party, I’m afraid.”

“Kegger?” Ten grinned.

“I’m enlisting Taeyong and Kun to keep all you menaces in check for me.”

“Well yeah, you can’t trust your Chenle-of-Honor to do that, he’ll be the first up to do a kegstand.”

You laughed heartily at that. “A few years ago, probably. But I’m happy to report my man-shaped best friend has grown into a real adult.”

“Really? What’s the little monster doing?”

“Middle management in advertising at a designer company. He’s got his eye on a promotion soon, though. Oh, and he’s got the cutest little dog.”

“Speaking of little monsters…” Ten trailed off, eyeing your drink, then your abdomen. “No alcohol?”

“I can’t drink on my medication, remember?” You shook the ice around in your glass smugly.

“Damn!”

As you rode home with Sungchan, your hands entwined over the console, you looked out the passenger window with contentment in your chest.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he sighed, stroking a thumb over the backs of your fingers.

“For what?” You turned to look at him curiously.

His features were pensive and regretful as he focused on the road in front of him, one hand on the steering wheel. “For being a distraction all night. Everybody was asking me about hockey the whole time when all the focus should’ve been on you and your awesome article. I’m sorry, I'll completely understand if you just leave me at home next time.”

“Channie, why the hell would I do that?” You asked through incredulous chuckles, turning to hold his hand with two hands. “Celebrating my accomplishments would mean nothing if I didn’t have you there with me.”

“But I just—”

“Admittedly, I didn’t expect there to be so many puckheads in the Lang department,” you shrugged. “But I know where we work, and you are a bit of a hometown celebrity around here, baby.”

“That sounds like something you’d call somebody who peaked in high school.”

“Right, my bad. You peaked in college.”

“Rude.” He knocked your elbow with his, making you laugh.

“I’m kidding, handsome. But I am proud of you. I snagged a good guy, and I am not going to hide you away when I go to these events just because people are going to ask about your hockey career.”

“It’s not fair to you.”

“I appreciate you trying to put the focus back on me tonight, I really do.” You squeezed his hand. “But when Seunghan said everybody in the department had read my article hundreds of times, he meant it. They all helped proof and revise it dozens of times each. I was tired of reading it by the time it was accepted if I’m being honest with you. Hearing about your hockey game was a welcome reprieve from thinking about the body as a critical site for sex, gender, and political ideology in M. Butterfly.”

“Do you mean that or are you trying to make me feel less like a dick?”

“I mean it, baby boy.” You pinched his cheek.

He squirmed in his seat as he slowed to a stop at a red light. “You never call me that anymore…”

“Seems like you needed it.”

“Hey,” he said softly, turning his head to look at you. “I love you.”

“I know.” You cupped his cheek, stroking his cheekbone fondly. “I never doubted that for a second, baby.”

Sungchan leaned across the console to press his lips to yours, cradling the back of your head. You hummed delightedly into the kiss, moving your mouth against his sweetly.

When you felt the car suddenly roll forward, you jerked back, gripping his arm with a yelp. “Channie!”

He was already grabbing the steering wheel with two hands and slamming on the brakes again. “Fuck! Sorry!”

The car had moved forward less than half a meter and you were the only car at the intersection, but it was enough to get your heart racing.

“Are you okay, baby?” Sungchan checked on you with wide eyes, keeping one hand on the wheel as he reached his other hand over to grab your knee.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” You put your hand over his to reassure both of you. The light turned green then. “Let’s just uh, get home in one piece, hm?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He patted your thigh, leaving his hand there as he slowly started the car forward again.

“Channie?” You called out into the house, shrugging off your coat. You’d stayed a bit late to grade papers, and while Sungchan would’ve usually stayed to walk home with you, he had wanted to get a head start on cooking dinner.

“Pantry!” He yelled back, voice distant as he was presumably deep in the walk-in pantry.

You continued shuffling through the mail you’d grabbed on your way in as you walked further into your house, tossing the junk mail in the trash as you fished out the one packet that had caught your attention. Stopping at the doorway to the pantry, you tore open the thick packet. Skimming the letter and investigating the two lanyards inside, you informed your fiancé, “Donghyuck’s team is having a preseason scrimmage at the university, and he sent us VIP passes.”

Sungchan stuck his head back out of the pantry. “So that’s why he asked for our address the other day.”

“When did you talk to Hyuck?” You asked as he gently took the letter and lanyards from your hands.

“He called me out of the blue a couple weeks ago. I was at the gym before work and completely forgot by the time I got home, sorry, baby.” He flipped over the passes hanging from the lanyards, bright green and dark black, the colors of the professional hockey team that Donghyuck had gone on to play for after college. “I thought he was going to crash on our couch or something, not this.”

“He’s a pro hockey player making like millions a year and you thought he was going to ask to couch surf?”

“You think he wouldn’t?”

“Good point,” you chuckled. “So how was he? Sound like he was doing well?”

“You said it yourself, he’s a pro hockey player making millions a year. I’m sure he’s doing great.”

You frowned up at him. “You didn’t ask?”

“It was a quick conversation, he’s busy,” Sungchan shrugged and handed everything back to you, disappearing into the pantry again. “We barely had time to say hello.”

“We should go,” you declared, setting the lanyards down in a spot so you two wouldn’t lose them.

“Baby, it’s a Friday. That’s our date night.”

“We can miss one date night for this, Channie,” you scoffed. “Besides, I’ve never heard of Jung Sungchan not wanting to go see a hockey game. Are you sure you’re my Sungchannie? Were you replaced by an alien or something?”

Sungchan kept his back to you as he started chopping vegetables. “Never mind, you’re right. We should go.”

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously, but didn’t push the issue further. “Alright...”

Sat back down in familiar bleachers, you hugged Sungchan’s arm tightly, buzzing with excitement. As much as you had loved watching Sungchan play hockey when you were younger, there was something special about watching it with him, having him explain plays, tell you if a player made the right call, or how he would have done it if he had been captain. Being able to see the sparkle in his eye up close as he watched one of his favorite things. You’d seen it plenty of times in the years that you stayed local while he got his PhD. Which is how you knew that something was wrong now, even as he tried to flash a smile at you every so often, ones that never reached his eyes. He didn’t join in the cheers very enthusiastically, and never engaged when the other guys around him tried to debate calls that the refs made.

You found out that the whole team from your senior year had been invited as well, though some of them couldn’t make it. So it was you, Sungchan, Mark, Ten, Jeno, and Chenle in the VIP section. Yangyang was staying abroad with his parents, while Sicheng was at a seminar for work. Chenle was of course invited as an honorary member of the team, fresh off a plane from Paris with that promotion in his pocket.

Donghyuck was Good. He had been great when he was on the Raptors, obviously, which was how he had gotten scouted to go pro, but now he was great. And this was just a preseason scrimmage, just him messing around. You were sure he was scary good when he was actually trying at their real games. He’d kept his old number from college, 66, and seemed to have his own legion of fans with posters and signs.

When the game was finally over—and Donghyuck’s team won—a representative from the team corralled everyone with the VIP lanyards and directed you towards a different area while the rest of the stands filtered out. You kept your hold on Sungchan’s hand as you waited in what you were pretty sure was the women’s locker room for your old friend.

Finally, Donghyuck ran in, and everyone immediately swarmed him, hooting and hollering, slapping him on the back, ruffling his hair, and making teasing remarks about being a big shot now.

“Mark!” Donghyuck threw his arms around his old Big’s neck, nearly knocking his friend over.

“Christ, dude,” Mark wheezed, stumbling back a couple steps. “Are you still wearing your gear or something?”

“Did you not keep up with our lifting regiment?” Donghyuck shamelessly felt up Mark’s arms, then gasped dramatically. “Am I the Big now?”

Mark swatted his hands away. “If you want to pay for all my beer and drive me around in your Lamborghini or whatever, sure.”

“Deal!” The pro player grinned, then turned to the next person, who happened to be you. “Y/N!”

“Hyuck!” You beamed, opening your arms wide for him to throw himself at you as well, only staying up since Sungchan was right behind you to catch you. “Hey, there! God, I can’t believe it! You killed it out there!”

“Thanks!” He let go of you with one arm to wrap it around Sungchan’s neck, pulling him into the hug with both of you. “Oh, it makes me so happy that you two are still together! Are you engaged? Married? Kids? I didn’t have time to ask Sungchan when I called the other week, I was heading into an interview.”

You leaned back as much as he would let you, just enough to show off your ring. “He proposed last year. We’re— eugh!”

You were cut off by Donghyuck tugging you two against him into a tight embrace again. You gave him a pat on the back as you continued, slightly choked with your throat pressed against his shoulder. “We’re looking at a spring wedding…”

“I love you guys so much…” Donghyuck sighed. “All of you. I hope you know that hasn’t changed.”

“We know that, Hyuck.” You coughed, rubbing his back. “Make sure we have your address so we can send you an invite, okay?”

“What did I tell you, Y/N? In undergrad?”

“You told me a lot.” You laughed as he finally let you and Sungchan go. “Some stuff you probably don’t want me to repeat right now.”

“I said you guys were soulmates. I knew you were gonna get married. I knew it.”

“Oh yeah, you did.” You squeezed his hand that he still had a grip on. “Hey, when you retire from pro hockey, you can be a fortune teller.”

“Don’t joke about that, I’m the star player, haven’t you heard?” Donghyuck was practically puffing out his chest. “I’m years off from retirement!”

Sungchan grabbed him by the scruff then, teasingly mussing up his hair. “What did we always tell you about bragging?”

Ten, Jeno, and Mark eagerly joined in on giving him a killer noogie, the four of them managing to keep him in place despite Hyuck being the only one who had remained a professional athlete.

“Ack!” Donghyuck complained as he was surrounded. “Y/N! Chenle! Somebody, help!”

“Promise you’ll buy us dinner with your star player money,” Chenle crossed his arms over his chest as he watched on, “and maybe Y/N and I will convince them to leave you alone.”

“Yeah!” Jeno agreed. “Dinner and drinks and we’ll consider!”

“This is extortion!” Donghyuck yelped.

“Glad to see some things don’t change…” You sighed, shaking your head. “You guys still pick on him.”

“He needs an ego check,” Jeno snorted, his arm now around Donghyuck’s neck.

“I was going to take you all out to dinner anyway!” Donghyuck pleaded. “Didn’t you people read the letters?”

“It was in the letter, guys,” you confirmed loudly.

The guys all looked at each other, slowly releasing their holds on the youngest. With sweet, proud smiles, they fixed his hair and straightened his branded hoodie back up, smacking his shoulder and patting his cheek between compliments of how well he played and specific moves he did, giving feedback on certain things he could improve on still. Donghyuck rolled his eyes at the constructive criticism, but you could see him struggling to suppress the fond curl of his lip at being surrounded by his old teammates again.

When you finally got home that night, you felt about ready to collapse into bed. You had a tired, happy smile on your face from seeing all your old friends again, and haphazardly tossed your go bag to the side before stepping out of your shoes. Sungchan didn’t follow you into the bedroom, as you had expected. You heard him detour to the kitchen, and your ears perked up with interest as you changed into your pajamas.

Sungchan didn’t just get a glass of water, though. You heard him rooting around in the snacks, and that’s when you got concerned. You had just eaten dinner and had drinks, and he had plenty of bar snacks as you all hung around and caught up after finishing dinner. He shouldn’t be scrounging for a midnight snack already.

After tossing your dirty clothes in the hamper, you ventured out to the kitchen determinedly. Sungchan hadn’t yet found something to eat, a frustrated pout on his face as he pulled out box after box, but didn’t open any.

“Hungry?” You asked curiously, leaning against the fridge.

“No,” he sighed, setting the container of crackers down loudly then rubbing his face harshly.

You held your hand out towards him, and he took it immediately. You led him back through your house by the hand, into your bathroom and let go there. Walking back out through the house, you grabbed his desk chair from your joint home office, and pulled it into the bathroom. He was standing exactly where you left him, and let you wordlessly push him down by the shoulders to sit in the chair. Washing and drying your hands, you then readjusted the chair, making sure he was exactly where you needed him. Then you climbed onto his lap facing him, the two of you perpendicular to your bathroom vanity. You grabbed a fuzzy character headband from one of your drawers and put it on him, pushing his hair back from his face.

“I—”

“Shh.” You stopped him as soon as he opened his mouth, putting your own headband on.

Next, you grabbed your cleanser.

“What—”

“Shh,” you repeated with more emphasis, holding his eye contact firmly, until he gave up and closed his mouth, letting his head fall back against the head rest.

You meticulously went through your whole extended skincare routine, doing each step first on Sungchan, then on yourself. He finally gave up on trying to talk, then finally relaxed, then really relaxed, his eyes fluttering shut and a pleased hum rising in the back of his throat.

“All done, handsome,” you announced at the end, giving his cheeks a final squish between your hands, then pulling off his headband and fluffing up his hair.

Sungchan slowly opened his eyes, reaching up to take your headband off as well.

You smiled down at him. “How are you feeling, Channie?”

“Better, thank you, baby,” he replied quietly.

“You want to talk about it?”

He couldn’t look you in the eye. “About what?”

“Whatever’s been getting you bummed lately. You weren’t all there tonight, I could tell. And the day we got the passes, you didn’t even want to come in the first place. That’s not like you.” You put both your headbands aside on the counter, then stood up off him. “You get changed into your pajamas, I’ll tidy up in here. We’ll talk in a few minutes, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” He nodded, getting up and grabbing the chair to drag back with him.

You wiped down the bathroom counter and tidied up all your bottles and containers, listening to the sounds of Sungchan getting ready in the next room over. When you walked back into your bedroom, you were thrown for a loop as you couldn’t see your fiancé for a moment. You found him in your living room, sitting on your couch and holding a picture frame that usually lived on one of the end tables.

Sitting down beside him, you looked at the picture with him. It was of you two at his last collegiate hockey game, him still in his uniform as he picked you up and spun you around, bright smiles on both your faces. His face now was brooding, jaw clenched and eyes hard as he continued staring at it.

“You got me that for our first anniversary,” you commented softly. “I love that picture.”

“I do too,” he sighed, though his tone was much more bitter than his words.

“Talk to me, Channie,” you murmured. “What’s going on?”

“It feels like I can’t ever move on from this.” He shook the frame. “From being Sungchan the hockey captain. I know you were just joking when you said it but—I don’t want to actually be that guy that peaked in college.”

“Oh, Channie...” you breathed out, draping an arm across his back and leaning your cheek against his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...”

“It’s not you, baby,” he assured you, squeezing your knee. “It’s everything else. Like I try to do anything else, be anything else, but I’m just dragged back into that stupid jock box again.”

“Well, what do you want to be?” You asked as you sat back up, rubbing up and down the center of his chest soothingly. “Not what you think other people want you to be, or what you think you should be. What do you actually like? What do you want to do? Do you still like hockey? Outside of everybody’s opinions about you liking hockey? It’s okay either way, for you to still like it or not. It was the biggest thing in your life for like twenty years, baby. It’d be ridiculous to expect you to just suddenly not like it as soon as you graduated.”

“Do you really want a husband that just talks about sports all the time while you’re talking about smart stuff?” He sighed, letting his eyes close as he leaned all of his weight against you, his hands dropping to rest the frame in his lap.

“I want a husband that’s you. That’s why I accepted your proposal and not like, Dr. Yoon’s or something.”

“I’m going to assume you’re being hyperbolic to make a point and that my research head didn’t actually propose to you. Because if not, then I’m going to stop pouting and write my letter of resignation right now.”

“I’m trying to make a point here.”

“Which is?”

“You’re really underselling yourself, Channie.” You encouraged him to lay his head in the crook of your neck, not letting up your movements on his sternum. “You’re plenty smart. We’ve been together for almost seven years and I still couldn’t keep track of a hockey game if a gun was to my head. Meanwhile you were a whole captain. You had to make decisions on your feet—or, your skates. Not to mention, hm, oh yeah, you have a PhD in molecular biology. Did you forget about that? Doctor Jung?”

“Oh yeah,” he mumbled into your collarbone.

“Oh yeah,” you mimicked him lovingly. “I nearly flunked my bio for non-majors course my freshman year, you know.”

“What?” He squinted up at you. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“You knew I was a Bio major, you should’ve asked me for help.”

“I kick myself every day for it,” you replied melodramatically, and finally saw a smile tug at the corner of his lips. “So? Do you think you still like hockey or not?”

He let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I do. I really do.”

“Good. I’m glad.” You kissed the top of his head. “I want you to do stuff that makes you happy.”

“Coach came and found me at the lab last week... the day we got the VIP passes from Donghyuck. He’s looking for a part-time assistant coach, said I was his first pick,” Sungchan admitted quietly.

“That’s why you were so... off that day, huh?”

“Yeah. It felt like I was handed a pamphlet for a retirement home.”

You chuckled as he reached forward to set the picture down on the coffee table, then grabbed your hand that was on his chest. He looked up at you with heartachingly familiar, big, round doe eyes, ones that hadn’t changed in the ten years since you’d first met.

“I told him no but... I’m thinking maybe I should ask if he’s found someone else yet?”

“I think that’s a great idea, baby.” You pecked his forehead. “Coach Jung… I think I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, a much different look in his eye as he sat up to his full height, towering over you.

“I don’t know, let me try it again.”

“Go ahead.”

“Coach Jung.” You reached for the back of his neck as he laid you down on your couch, hovering over you. “Yeah, it’s got a nice ring to it, huh? Powerful, sexy. I love a man with a whistle.”

“You’re so dorky,” he snickered, letting you pull his lips down to yours. “I love you so much.”

“I love you more, my Sungchannie.” You cradled his face with both of your hands.

“Lies.” He kissed your lips. “Impossible.” He kissed your neck.

“Says who?”

“Who has the whistle here?”

“You don’t have one yet,” you teased, holding your arms up for him to pull your shirt off. “Assistant Coach Jung.”

Sungchan kissed a trail down your front, stopping above your waistband. “You’re forgetting something, baby.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m a scientist, with a degree and everything, and I say it’s scientifically impossible for anybody to love anybody more than I love my girl.”

You made grabby hands at him, and he rose up from where he had settled between your legs, entirely blocking out the lights above you. You connected your mouths together again, wrapping your arms and legs around him so tightly he had no choice but to lay his entire weight on top of you.

“No fair,” you complained into his mouth. “I just told you I almost flunked Gen Ed bio.”

“You should’ve let me be your sexy tutor, then.” He didn’t sound sympathetic at all.

“Yeah, freshman you all sweaty and nervous in your hockey team hoodie.” You broke apart to giggle. “Real hot stuff, Channie. Literally.”

“You’re lucky you’re the love of my life, or I’d be really hurt at some of the stuff you say to me, you know.”

“You’re right.” You gave him a peck. “I am lucky that I’m the love of your life.”

➠ next | series masterlist | blog masterlist

[hazyange1s]

Garreth Weasley HCs

To round out the big three… here’s my favorite ginger and all the rotting thoughts about him straight from my brain. HELP because they are well and truly eating away at me

Excellent baker. Constantly surprising his friends with random desserts he’s made (some of which may or may not be magically enhanced…)

Man just loves his food. One of the only times you’ll ever see him truly angry is when he hasn’t eaten in a while.

Gryffindor Beater = canon. Gotta put that pent up energy to good use somehow.

Favorite color is a light sage green.

Surprises everyone with his talent and passion for Herbology — he works on the family garden at home as well, and finds that it’s one of the few times his mind is quiet.

Really, Garreth is just very hands on in every sense of the word. It’s why he doesn’t do as well in the more theory-based classes.

BI-CON I SAID WHAT I SAID

Starts selling his (tested) brews in sixth/seventh year to save up for his own Potions shop after graduating.

Seems oblivious, but he notices a lot more than he lets on. Keeping things light and easy is preferable to causing a fuss in his mind.

His birthday is August 12, 1875. He’s a leo sun, sagittarius moon, leo rising.

Secret wizard’s chess prodigy

Horrible short term memory, AMAZING long term memory (very ADHD)

Amortentia: cinnamon, (caramelized) brown sugar, hay/grass, and cauldron fumes

Has four siblings. A younger sister; Charlotte, and three older brothers: Archie, Owen, and Phillip.

Really close with his mum, as well — like, owls her on schedule every week.

Shockingly Type A and obsessive about the things he loves (Potions being one of them, obviously) to the point of exuding “mad genius” on a regular basis. I just imagine him buried in notes and pulling out his hair over the right ingredient.

HUGE flirt with absolutely everyone, though 99% of the time it’s all a jest, and sometimes he doesn’t even realize. Somehow, he gets rather flustered when it’s turned back on him by the true object of his affections.

Because underneath that easy confidence and carefree attitude is someone who constantly wonders if they’re not enough — or too much.

Still the most encouraging and loyal friend you’ll ever have. golden retriever energy

[ultravioletqueen]

As a fan of true crime videos, something that really bothers me about Alastor is that he looks NOTHING like a real serial killer despite being canonically one.

It doesn't bother me that there are Aroace characters who are bad people, there are all kinds of bad people, but it bothers me in the case of Alastor because Vivziepop made him that way just because he is narcissistic, as if all Aroace people were like that because of narcissism💀

and something that Vivziepop did not take (or want to take) into account is that the VAST MAJORITY of serial killers are STRAIGHT MEN, I'm not saying that,the facts say it: Ted Bundy, Paul Bernardo, Charles Manson, david berkowitz , Jack the Ripper, the strangler, the dating show killer (I forgot the names of these two but you get my point) and more.

I know there are exceptions (Jeffrey Dahmer and John Gacey) but in most cases serial killers are men who have preferences in victims based on their sexual desire and personal tastes (literally there was a generation of women who dyed their hair to escape by Ted Bundy).

We are supposed to believe that he is only a narcissist, but in that case why would he have friends, why would he have a moral compass that he rigorously follows? The narcissistic side doesn't come in if he has such genuine friendships with Rosie and Mimzy, it's an incongruity the size of a house.

Even if there are abusers who may have close ties these are not genuine or have ulterior motives, but this is not the case with Alastor and makes it a huge nonsense.

Besides, what was there about their murders? What were their victims like? What drove him to kill? Would this have anything to do with his mother?

I like the theories that are related to Alastor's mother since it gives us a glimpse of a possible more human side than what the series can show, I especially like the theory of Alastor with an abusive father because 1) it goes with the profile of murderers who had unstable family lives and 2) it would explain why most of his friends are women, since they must remind him of his mother (the person he loves the most) and that is why he is naturally kind to them.

Connected to the abusive father theory, it would be interesting if Alastor's victims had in common being wife beaters, with his father being his first victim (either getting tired of him or getting revenge on him for killing his mother) and getting rid of his body by eating it. .

But sadly vivziepop only make him a edgelord that wants attention 24/7 , what a shame

[wandasaura]

hi aura i missed u!! idk i’ve been thinking about the yail au all day it’s driving me insane i think i’m a fein for it but that’s good!! ☺️

so ik it’s canon that ducky gets super hot at night (same) and sleeps with little to nothing on so what would her go to sleeping position be cuz i mean everyone’s got that super duper comfy position

i believe ducky is the type to sleep on her stomach which would drive wandanat crazy cuz the slight arch this creates omggg and shed probably have her arms under the pillow

how would wandanat react to r dressed a bit more “masc” sometimes, like boxers (both the loose comfy ones and maybe the tighter briefs and stuff) or maybe like a wife beater tank top or maybe the combo. like even tho wandanat and r have an age gap, they still know what’s up. like imagine r wearing grey sweats that sag a bit showing off boxers and a white tank top or sports bra type of thing, like wandanat knows. they know. and i know the grey sweatpants theory doesn’t technically work on women, it’s still a look. would stuff like this drive them crazy as it isn’t her usual look? like would r ever even wear this shit lmaoo. if so, is it just in the house as it’s comfy or would she go out in this? just some curious little thoughts !

duckling wouldn't wear this, but in know my place, r steals all of their clothes whenever they're done fucking her into the mattress, so she has a random assortment of clothes and styles. and when they all meet up one night she's dressed in maria's tank, carols boxers, and natasha's sweats wearing wanda's pink slippers that the sokovian didn't even realise was missing. it's not her typical style, but it's also not unusual for her to wear something more masculine when they're just hanging out, but they literally cannot keep their hands off of her knowing that she's wearing their clothes. maria's the first one to crack, and she pulls r into her lap and grabs her tits over the tank and comments on how "little girls should wear bras if they don't want their nipples pinched", and carol smirks about the boxers like, "if you wanted me to use you whenever you should've just asked. don't even have to pull your panties to the side, i can just..." and she snakes her hand into the cut out in the boxers meanwhile wanda and natasha are just ogling her waiting until they can have a turn.

[approximateknowledge]

the magus situation, or, "ak remembers log horizon exists and it exacerbates the brainrot"

(gonna be a long one)

so to the surprise of absolutely nobody i did in fact watch log horizon at one point in the past, and also tried reading the light novel but never ended up finishing it. my opinion on it is mostly "solid and had good potential, with some unfortunate quirks to how it's written". the anime is better than sao's, but the novel is worse

this isn't what this post is about

it's instead about a certain *spinoff manga*

the fuckign west wind brigade manga in all its janky beauty. it's a story that takes place in parallel with (and overlaps with) the main story while focusing on different parts of the world and a completely different cast of main characters. it tends to be somewhat more light-hearted than the main story (but not by a lot)

it's also technically a harem story, but in the same way UQ holder is, which is to say that soujirou seta has that touta konoe charm that makes me go "yeah i fully get it this guy is impossible to hate"; he's more the guild dog than the guild leader half the time (affectionate)

*anyway*

spoilers for the west wind brigade manga incoming

so the afformentioned soujirou seta (middle character on the manga cover) is in fact the very first person to die after the catastrophe, and in the process he proved that even after the world became real, *respawning was still a thing*

which suddenly made the prospect of pk'ing much less ethically daunting, leading to a massive explosion in guilds of bored disillusioned trapped people with nothing better to do starting to kill and loot en masse, as was already a massive plotpoint in log horizon proper. some are big guilds, some are smaller

and some are technically solo

which brings us, finally, to magus

*fucking magus* (affectionate?)

edgelord in a longcoat with the cringy speeches

but it's not exactly sincere is it? it's all forced, constantly like he's talking as much to himself as to his "audience"

like he really *wants* to believe what he's saying

"it's all a game anyway, i can do whatever i want! definitely! right? RIGHT?"

it is, in fact, a coping mechanism

because to admit it's real would mean it matters. would mean you're not actually hidden away anymore. no walls to hide behind. no mask

because it's all mask

it was the whole time

because it's easier that way

the persona and the longcoat an the fancy explanations for why it's totally correct and real, trust me! definitely not fucking desperate over here, no sirree!

it's the beater again. there's a beater in log horizon but you never meet them in the main story. because for this beater, the game doesn't end because it's over. but because they finally admit to themself it was never a game to begin with. which was of course the only way out, because log horizon doesn't have a win condition

if you can't "win", you need to stop playing

but that's not quite the whole story, is it?

because you know how it is with beaters

there's always a little footnote at the end

this funny little common thread that all examples ive found so far seem to share

yeah there's a massive very explicit gender angle to all of this because it's just part of the package at this point

and that is how magus' redemption arc also has her turning into a girl

it's frankly amazing, the thematic parallels write themselves, it's so delightfully on the nose!

this whole thing is in fact one giant transgender allegory that's barely an allegory at all

the "edgy longcoat-wearer with terrible coping mechanisms" to "cute akward goth girl" pipeline is real

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: Season 7 - Is that Buck?

The debate over who Eddie’s talking to in this picture has begun but let's take a closer look shall we?

There appears to be some debate over whether that's Buck in the picture with Eddie that TM (showrunner) released at dark o'clock last night/this morning (depending on your time zone) and it's all because of that ugly shirt he's wearing. Well, I took a screenshot of the shirt he wore at the end of 6x18 to test my theory and it was just like I remembered, HIDEOUS!

The shirt debate piqued my curiosity and I researched it to test my theory regarding Buck’s clothes that started in 6A and went into 6B after 6x4, 6x7, 6x11 and 6x18 aired.

Full Disclosure: I had to access 6×18 to get this screenshot but I didn't want to because after Season 6 ended, I said I would never watch any of the episodes that aired after 6x13 again. I haven't, I didn't and I won't but I did fast-forward to the end of it so I wouldn't have to see anyone but Buck and I captured it to show the ugly shirt he wore to the hospital. It's HIDEOUS too.

Why is his shirt important?

Well, it's important because Buck’s wardrobe has drastically changed since season 5.

After I saw the pants he was wearing in 6x4, the shirt he wore at the end of 6x7, the outfit he had on in his coma dream in 6x11 and the shirt he wore at the end of 6x18, I wondered what happened to Buck’s wardrobe. I'm not sure why they keep putting him in these types of clothes, especially since Buck’s ALWAYS cared about his appearance. In the past, his clothes were expensive and they fit him nicely but in Season 6, most of them were ill fitting and a lot of times either his shirts were too little and/or his pants were ankle beaters or they were just not the kind of clothes he would wear.

In 6x4 he was wearing ankle beaters when he went to Hen and Karen's house.

In 6x7 his shirt was too little when he went to go donate his sperm.

In 6x11 he was wearing that awful imitation of Fred's outfit from the Scooby-Doo cartoon.

Initially, I thought the size of Buck’s clothes had something to do with OS's muscular build since he definitely toned up and his muscles were huge at the beginning of Season 6. Then after I remembered how lackluster the season's opening emergency was (the 9 minute long blimp emergency 🙄), I thought maybe the show was low on money or something and they couldn't afford to give the wardrobe department a sufficient budget.

But now I believe there's more to it than that since it APPEARS TO BE INTENTIONAL. I don't know why and I'm not speculating but there's a reason Buck’s not dressing like he used to. It seems like the only time his clothes fit PROPERLY is when he's with Eddie🤪😜.

HELLO PAIR OF GRAY SWEATPANTS HE WORE JUST FOR EDDIE TO SHOW OFF HIS "FIREHOSE".

HELLO RED AND BLACK SUIT HE WORE TO THE POKER GAME.

We know the wardrobe department has the money it takes to properly clothe the main cast because all the other main characters' wardrobes didn't change so what gives?

Anyway, my point is, IIRC, Eddie has never touched Bobby's shoulder like that but he has touched Buck’s (in 3x3). Is that Buck wearing that ugly ass shirt in the picture TM released from Season 7? Probably since he wore one in 6x18 and his clothes have been less than stellar for the last few months but who knows?

What is really happening with Buck’s clothes?

[kcokaine]

Whats the most outrageous rancid jjk fan theory youve ever seen????

uhhhh that Sukuna is a pedophile or ummmm that Toji is a wife beater, orrrr Maki and Mai were SA'd, orrrr gojo sleeps around with men like a slut

[gemshroud]

Weirdly specific things Entreri would Approve or Disapprove of if he was a BG3 companion

APPROVE:

Taking the ring from Mattis and just walking away

Baa-ing at the red caps (ha ha idiots)

Saving Arabella by talking down the snake rather than Kahga (color him impressed, you saved the girl without stirring the pot)

Giving the Noblestalk to Derryth (maybe wife beaters should die)

Rejecting Raphael at every turn but especially rudely

Every "kill yourself" boss option in Act 2

Making someone other than him go onto the clown stage (ha ha idiot)

Supporting Mol's business ventures

Biting Crusher's toe off (he's kind of a freak sometimes, I'm sorry)

Taking Gortash's offer

Freeing Wyll from his contract (it's not like I secretly like that guy or anything, I hate heroes, stop looking at my boner when he fights)

Extorting the chest from Rugan then killing him later to stay on the Zhent's good side

Letting Lae'zel just do whatever murderhobo thing she wants tbh

DISAPPROVE:

Drawing the mustache on Vlaakith (you're gonna get us killed in this base full of githyanki for your fucking whimsy)

Convincing Rolan to stay in the Grove (1. not our business 2. all your preaching is gonna do is just get these guys killed too, is that really what you wanted?)

Siding with Minthara against the Grove, though he won't leave the party neccesarily

Giving the Noblestalk to Baelen (maybe wife beaters should die!!)

Telling Tara to stop eating pigeons (this noble creature is living life to its fullest)

Making him go up on the clown stage, he will be unspeakably livid

Sparing the goblins Ketheric tells you to kill (idiot did you even see that man, do you even know where we are right now)

Letting Wyll kill Karlach (a real professional knows a bullshit job when they see one, hero)

Drinking Jaheira's truth serum spiked wine (you're embarrassing me in front of an actually savvy person, why are you always like this, Tav)

Getting whipped by Abdirak (he is kinkshaming you)

Fucking the Emperor (he's kinkshaming you again but also are you an idiot, that man is using us)

Fucking Mizora (I resent Wyll as much as I do any self-proclaimed hero, but he trusted you)

(General note from Entreri: STOP HAVING SEX AT CAMP)

Petting Scratch (he is joyless, get a move on)

Paying to free the artist (you're embarrassing me in front of the other criminals)

Talking to Naaber, just at all

Asking the drow sex worker to roleplay as Drizzt Do'Urden (Entreri isn't there, he just senses he should hate you for some reason)

THINGS HE'S INTERESTINGLY NEUTRAL ON:

In theory letting Gale blow up the Netherbrain would make the most sense but... I hate gods.

He is alarmingly unfazed by you licking the spider.

[kromanjoma]

Here's a little process video with description for @bog-mummies

-messily sketching with a one color and a wide brush.

-messy lineart over that

-selexting and moving things around untill they look ok

-fianl lineart over that

-a base color that will be used as a mask

-laying down base colors. I'm trying to harmonize the colors from the start by picking a main one and just making other colors a diferent variation of it:

his skin is the starting color. than i make it make it more saturated, darker and warmer for 'blush' (i plqxe it where I think blood would gather. It makes things stand out from the face and it also makes it look more alive)

His eyes are a dark desaturated blue-green color (I think. That's what they look like to me) so I got lucky here cause it's a cool color and it stansds out against his warm toned skin.

I tweak the color of his eyes to get the color of hia hair as muchs as I can withought making it absolutely green or blue.

The color of the tassles is the color of his hair and ro make it not blend in with the rest of the scarf I make the scarf red. And now his eyes and hair are the only cool tones and it makes them stand out.

I block out the shadows on the scarf in the 'base color' layer with a darker, cooler color

-I put a 'multiply' layer over all of that. I try to make the shadows in cooler colors but in the end it looked beater with red/orange on his skin and blue/pirple on the fabric. The blue on his skin is visible on places where there is no contact with the light, like on his neck, the left part of his cheek and the small part of his eye that the scarf is covering.

On the places where the light is touching the skin but the shadows begin I put a darker but more saturated color of his skin because skin and fabric are not the same and skin is slightly transparent and if you shine light on it the blood underneath shows throigh and it looks red. That is called subsurface scattering.

-After that I use the maske I made at the beggining to put a green overlay over all of it to make everything less warm and to also harmonize the colors.

-After that I just render out everything in a 'normal' layer and change everything that I don't like with the automatic changing od colors with different layer settings. I also blend some things or make other thibgs sharper. I use a small 'sketchy' brush and go over everything bit by bit

-I decide that the part of the face that is covered by the scarf is to similar to the color of the scarf and is also to obscured by the shadow so to seperate it highlight it with a rim light and I try to make it the oposite color of what it'a touching: orange-blue for the face and red-green for the scarf.

-the gold is shaded similary. take the base color and make the shadows darker, coloer and more saturated. and the oposite for the highlights.

The gold has more shade and highlight color varaints. The one big light part is one solid color and than the big dark part is also one solid color. The transition from the base to the lightest part is ver vradual and than you drasticaly make the lightest parts stand out ( the hightlists on gold are compleately white. Similar to the dark part. Than I just take the lightest color to render out the details on the dark part to make them stand out and the same thinf for the other part

So I try to make things stand out and be clear as possible with everything. If it's realistic but it doesen't look good I don't care I'm changing and stylizing it untill I like it.

I also very rarely follow the same process for different drawinga XP Somedays this might work and somw other day I do something different. Art rules and theories are just guidelines are there to help not to be followed strictly every time

I forget my own procews and what I'm doing all thw time and I get bored of it fast XP

Hope this helps! :D

[k-s-morgan]

Hiiii! Could you perhaps post a snippet of Atlwetd next chapter?

Hi! Yes, sure, I finally prepared something.

-----

“Can we not do this now?” Harry asked tiredly. His eyelids felt so heavy that he feared he might be physically unable to keep his eyes open. “The match starts in thirty minutes. I still need to force myself to eat something and to change. I’ve had a very bad night, and considering that I’ll have to evade Bludgers not just from Hufflepuffs but also from our own Beater while looking for the Snitch, my chances aren’t good. So I’d really appreciate it if you stopped adding yourself to my list of nuisances today!”

His outburst didn’t impress Riddle. He continued to study him, his eyes sharp and dissatisfied.

“Explain to me why you are so eager to defend some half-breed when you refuse to defend yourself,” he said. Clearly, he chose to dismiss Harry’s words altogether.

Aggravation stirred in his stomach, and Harry almost growled with it. Damn Riddle. Why could he never back off?

“Because I can take care of myself,” he snapped. The corners of Riddle’s mouth twitched.

“You had a bad night,” he echoed sardonically. “You are about to enter the field where you’ll have to evade Bludgers not just from Hufflepuffs but also from Graytwig, all the while looking for the Snitch. As you have eloquently put it, your chances aren’t good. So how exactly does that translate to you being able to take care of yourself?”

His headache grew worse. The pain pulsed in his temples, radiating unpleasant heat, and it took a huge effort to stop himself from yelling.

Sometimes it was completely impossible to deal with Riddle. He was like a dog with a bone, and he must have really hated Harry getting into trouble to protect Hagrid if he continued to harass him about it.

“Graytwig didn’t manage to knock me off my broom the last time and I won’t let him do it today,” Harry uttered through gritted teeth. His temper continued to crackle dangerously, and he knew he had to step carefully. “Hagrid is defenceless. I am not. Is that enough for you or do you—”

“You aren’t defenceless in theory,” Riddle pointed out darkly. His eyes flashed. “But as you refuse to defend yourself, I think the word fits. You haven’t followed my advice. You did nothing to make it clear that you are not to be interfered with. What do you think is going to happen today?”

That’s it.

“I don’t care!” Harry shouted. He knew that everyone who was still in the common room would hear him, but at the moment, it barely registered with him. “Let him do his worst! If Slytherin is that eager to lose, who am I to disappoint them?”

Riddle pursed his lips. Harry couldn’t tell what he was thinking and he was beyond caring. Jerking his tie in a fruitless attempt to make it look presentable, he crossed the bedroom and walked towards the stairs, bypassing Riddle. Or trying to. Because when he came close enough, Riddle grabbed him by his hand, gripping his index finger and twisting it back. His other hand wrapped around Harry’s waist, jerking him closer, and all his angry thoughts instantly vacated his mind. Harry stared, shocked into speechlessness.

Riddle was unexpectedly close. Throughout the months Harry had spent in his company, he had memorised his features well, but this close, they gained a new disturbing layer of almost supernatural beauty.

This, the arm around his waist, and the way Riddle was staring quickly sent a rush of blood to his head. Harry tried to recoil as his heart pounded unevenly, the remnants of his thoughts racing forward but failing to form any coherent conclusion.    

It was some… some mockery of an embrace. Despite the unbearable closeness, Riddle’s face remained dispassionate, his eyes calculating and cold in their assessment. Worse, he continued to crush Harry’s finger in his fist, slowly but unwaveringly bending it back.

“Have you ever tried to fly with broken bones?” he asked. “To catch the Snitch with numb fingers? How about sitting on a broom that keeps sending electric shocks through you whenever you change direction? Because these are the most innocent plans I know for a fact Graytwig has been nurturing. Are you still prepared to walk out there and ignore him?”

Blood kept roaring through Harry’s ears so loudly that it took him a while to interpret what Riddle was saying to him. Something was smouldering in his chest, in his stomach — his whole body felt on fire, and not in a good way. The confusing mix of fascination with Riddle’s face, the pain in his finger, and trepidation electrified every nerve ending he had, and all Harry wanted was to shake himself out of this daze and regain normalcy, whatever normalcy meant these days.

“I have,” he said finally. His voice came out rough, and he frowned at this. “I played Quidditch with a broken hand and I still caught the Snitch. I fell from my broom because I lost consciousness and it didn’t stop me from being ready to play again after I recovered. And if I feel that something is wrong with my broom—”

“You fell?” Riddle interrupted him. He stopped his assault briefly, but his grip remained unyielding, and Harry almost hissed in pain. “From that height? That is blatant suicide. I assume you survived because I caught you with my magic.”

“What?” Harry’s frown deepened. “You didn’t. It was Dumbledore.”

The brief flare of surprise on Riddle’s face mirrored his confusion. He almost made a step back, although his grip on Harry’s waist only tightened.

“Why wouldn’t I catch you?” he wondered slowly. “You could have died.”

“I don’t know, but you didn’t!” For a moment, Harry felt genuinely dismayed, but then the awareness flooded him, and he swallowed back more words that were swirling on the tip of his tongue.

What was wrong with him? Of course Riddle hadn’t caught him — Riddle didn’t exist in his world, there was only Voldemort!

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” he added awkwardly. “I survived. And the point is, I really doubt that Graytwig can do anything new to surprise me. I’m not going to attack him first just to maybe prevent something I can deal with.”

Riddle’s eyes narrowed. Something dangerous flickered there, and then he jerked Harry’s finger back with such malicious force that the bone snapped. Harry cried out, half in pain, half in surprise. The same moment, Riddle finally let him go, stepping back and watching him silently.

Clenching his teeth to avoid making any new sounds, Harry stared at his finger in angry disbelief. It was broken, no doubts here. Right before his match. Why would Riddle keep warning him about Graytwig just to go ahead and attack him himself?

He didn’t know what to do about it. Confusion and shock paralysed him briefly, and Harry glanced at Riddle, cradling his hurt hand against his chest.

How was he supposed to respond? By attacking Riddle back? But… it was just a finger. It felt strange to curse Riddle over this. Punching him would definitely be satisfying, but Harry wasn’t sure he could do it as long as they weren’t involved in an active confrontation.

Sending Riddle a glare, he turned away and stormed from the dormitory, skipping over some stairs to put more distance between them faster. To his frustration, Riddle followed him.

Some Slytherins were still loitering in the common room, including Graytwig. He gave Harry a long derisive stare, and the hostile challenge in it instantly proved that Riddle had been telling the truth. Graytwig was planning something, emboldened by Harry’s lack of reaction.

Disgust welled up inside him, and Harry walked to the door, too fed up to stay here a second later. With the corner of his eye, he saw Riddle emerge. Everyone immediately fell silent. Ignoring them, Riddle traced Harry’s steps, moving towards the exit, but when he reached Graytwig, he paused, subjecting him to a long, chilling stare.

“Do not,” he warned. Without waiting for a reply, he crossed the rest of the distance and opened the door, giving Harry an expectant look.      

[friend-crow]

Halloween Spooky Tales!!

So I have a couple of spookies so I'll try to keep them short so they can be in the same ask so as not to clog the story times.

#1 For a friends birthday party in highschool, we tried going ghost hunting and rolled up to an abandoned house to break in investigate. Everybody immediately ditched the idea when we walked up to the door and saw the upstairs curtain pull itself shut.

#2 In middle school when I belived in ghosts in theory but not in practice, my mom, her boyfriend, our dog and I were staying as a relative's old victorian mansion on the eastern seaboard for vacation while they were out of town. The dog was riddled with anxiety the whole week and acting totally out of character, lights acted weird, sounds of footsteps in areas of the house nobody was, and distinct cold spots with no discernable source. I didn't think much of any of it until a tissue box I kept in the cubby above my bed moved behind the bed and around a bunch of obstacles in a way gravity couldn't do while nobody else was in the house. I learned after the fact that the ghost liked to steal my relative's wallet and hide it until he had to cancel all his cards, then return it somehwere obvious.

#3 After my grandma died I was staying at her house for insurance purposes and when trying to go to sleep, saw a small, strobing green light come into my bedroom door. At first I thought it was a firefly, until I realized it was just a disembodied light (which wasn't flashing in the same way as a firefly anyway), then started freaking out a bit and yelling at it to get out of my room, at which point it lazily floated out through a wall. I later learned that my mom was keeping grandma's ashes in the garage of the house I was staying in (sorry for yelling at you, grandma)

4. While in community college, i was driving an easily identifiable beater car that was all different shades of red from bodywork patches, plus had an awkwardly large japanese shrine-shaped safety charm in the window. For a solid couple of weeks just about everyone I know - including my own mother - kept seeing my car at times and places I definitely wasn't. Even during times I was with my car, so it's not like somebody was taking it for joyrides!

.

[j2x3e]

Louanna is the strongest character in the world of Re: Zero.

Title.

No, this isn't a crack theory. Let me cook.

For some context, let me reintroduce who Louanna is because no one read side stories.

Louanna Astrea, mother of Reinhard van Astrea and wife to Heinkel Astrea. Her only role in the story so far is to make the family drama worse by sleeping. She got this Sleepy Beauty condition which is NOT the same thing as being Gluttony'd. She has been sleeping for 18 years since Reinhard was 2 (as of arc 8).

As we all know, Reinhard is stated to be the strongest character by Tappei Nagatsuki in a Q&A (I use his full name here so it's more intimidating). And we all know how reliable the Q&A are with the existence of arc 7+1.

Tappei might not be lying straight up, but he could have been easily saying a half-truth because he is Echidna. (the only way to write a manipulative character is to be manipulative yourself)

Reinhard IS the strongest character, but only among the ones who are awake.

Reinhard's secret to his power has never been explained in the series other than Od Laguna simping over his rizz. We are supposed to take that as face value and believe it.

This is a trap set by Tappei. He wants all of you to think this way. Wakey wakey.

Reinhard is strong because Louanna is strong, this is all genetic. Have you ever wondered how this pathetically weak drunkard has a son this strong? Louanna is strong, that's why.

Tappei has been hiding her lores in the side stories because she is going to be as important as Clind, the holder of the Melocholy WF.

In fact, judging from how much Tappei is holding up her lores, it is not a far stretch to say that she have a bigger reveal. Which is that she is stronger than Reinhard, a character we all already knew to be the most powerful.

Q: "But dude, if this rando plot device vegetable is really the strongest, how did she even get the coma sickness?"

Reinhard has been stated to be a monster in the series for multiple times, it is often to describe his monstrous strength to be inhumane.

But what if it was to taken literally?

Reinhard isn't actually a human, because he IS a monster. Well, half-monster to be precise.

While Heinkel is a pathetic weak normie human, Louanna is an actual monster. She has even been alive to witness the Witch of Envy devour half of the world, in fact, she is Flugel. (But that's another post for another day.)

Louanna is at least 400yo, so her flow of time is different from normal humans. That's right, her 18 years of slumber is not a condition or anything, she was merely napping. So stop trying to cure her, stupid Heinkel, she is fine.

Still in doubt? Look at Heinkel. He's so durable in the story. He has survived too many blunt attacks to still be living. Do you know why? Louanna trained Heinkel well during the three years she was married to him and awake.

She constantly beat up Heinkel, hence strengthening his durability. Yes, I believe that Louanna is a husband-beater, judging by the personality of Flugel according to Shaula.

We all know that Heinkel is Isekai Subaru, and we all know how affectionate Subaru becomes with his abusers. That's why Heinkel still loves Louanna and tries to 'cure' her. He loves being beat up.

From a bad master to a bad mother. Flugel is male, you say? She can shapeshift, she is the strongest after all. In fact, she is Pandora. Have we seen Pandora and Louanna in the same room before? No, we haven't. Louanna=Flugel=Pandora.

TL;DR: Stop claiming Reinhard or Satella or Regulus or Subaru or Petra to be the strongest, Louanna is. Stop coping. See the truth, dude.

Source: trust me bro