#but IF we're taking her as canon; which a lot of people enjoy. then some people start to question what was up between them

[teddyonaboat]

"felicia's kids look like vander/silco" "felicia cheated with vander" "-no, felica cheated with silco"

WRONG

vander and silco are a couple and had threesomes with felicia

[supersecretnerd]

Ok so these designs are cute as hell, the Internet is just mean

I have too many thoughts about a game I still need to watch

[erisweekofficial]

Today we're highlighting @acourtofladydeath, creator and mastermind behind @polyacotarweek. She's written so many amazing pieces about Eris across multiple ships and genres. And if you find yourself wanting to explore other characters, she's got you covered with her masterlist of 30+ works on AO3.

🧡 Looking for something deeply emotional and poignant? Please start with LD's favorite fic, All Things End (Azris). 🎧 It even has a playlist. 🎧

🔥 If you're looking for a good horny time, try Welcome to the Family, which features Elain x Eris or Rules are Rules (Azris). You're in for a good time with those two. Especially if you like Beron.

Read on to learn more about LD's writing process + some advice for writing about Eris...

What themes do you like to explore in your work with Eris?

I really enjoy exploring the juxtaposition and depth of Eris. He needs to act a certain way to protect the people he loves and keep his place within the Autumn Court under his father. But does he want to act that way? How soft is he, or is he actually as mean as he seems? I like when he's a bit of both. I think he's a very protective person, and I enjoy exploring the different ways that manifests with different people. I also think he's experienced a lot of trauma in his life, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say I enjoy exploring that and how it influences both his external and internal persona.

What other characters do you enjoy writing about alongside Eris?

Three favorites, three different relationships: My favorite person to ship Eris with is Azriel, and I love writing different iterations of their relationship. Some are softer, others are spicier, and then there's the really sad takes. There's so much give and take with these two and it's so fascinating to play around with. I love writing Eris and Nesta as best friends. Their wit is so well matched, as is their lived experiences with their siblings and parents. They have so much overlap, and you can write them funny or feeling and any combination in betwell. Plus, who says friends can't fuck? Not me. The third person is Lucien. I really enjoy exploring their familial relationships. Were they close as kids? If they hate each other, have they always? How does this relate to their relationships with their parents and other brothers? There's so many different ways to skin this cat and I want to write them all.

What's your favorite piece you've created featuring Eris and why?

I hemmed and hawed over this question forever, but I think the fic that fits best is "All Things End." This fic is pure bittersweet angsty sadness. What if Beron's torture gave Eris incurable dementia? How would his mate, Azriel, their children, and Lucien handle the situation? CW for dementia, death, and grief. I created two playlists for this fic: one that's a direct accompaniment and another that's an extended cut. The direct playlist is timed to the reading length of the fic, and specific songs play during specific scenes to enhance the reader experience (AKA bring more tissues).

Do you have any advice for other creators wanting to make eris content?

Eris is a character that we don't know much about compared to others in the series. When I go to write him I start with what we do know: his father's abuse, he's a general, he protected Lucien, we don't have the whole story about the Mor situation. He's cunning, so you know that what you see isn't all there is. I like to build backward. What from canon do I want to focus on? How does canon tie into whatever type of fic I'm writing? Why does he act the way he acts, and how does that tie into his canon history and the plot/theme/characterization of my fic? This helps build up the layers that are so integral to who I think Eris is as a character. Complex, captivating, keeps you on your toes. And don't forget his gold jewelry.

[sevensoulmates]

I've never been more convinced then I ever have of Buddie canon and I think we're about to get Buddie canon confirmed in the bachelor party/wedding episode.

I think these 2 episodes, 4 and 5. One told through Buck's the other told through Eddie's are clearly telling a story of two separate queer journeys. One of acceptance(Buck) and the other of repression(Eddie).

I think this episode is going to end with Eddie doubling down on his relationship with Marisol because Buck being bisexual is going to draw feelings inside of Eddie that he is absolutely terrified to explore and he thinks that being with a woman is just going to make those feelings that are getting stronger and stronger for Buck go away, they won't.

Then in episode 6 which is the Bachelor Party/Wedding episode, as Ryan said Eddie is going to let go, have fun and see where it takes him. When Ryan said that I have never been more convinced that something is happening between Buck and Eddie after the bachelor party and it's going to be something very non platonic that will be the reveal that Buddie is canon.

I'm very much inclined to agree with you, especially about episode 4 being Buck's journey of accepting his queerness, and episode 5 being about Eddie's journey of repression. Buck and Eddie have always been narrative parallels on equal and opposite journeys, both heading for the same place but going about it through very different personal arcs.

Like I've said before, I think things are going to get worse for Eddie before they get better. And I think you're so right that episode 5 is going to be things "getting worse" because he's going to double down on Marisol. The more I've been hearing and sussing out with people, it seems like Marisol's sticking around past episode 5 (which sucks, I know! We were all hoping!) but I can see why that choice is being made because unfortunately if we want to explore Eddie's comp-het, then we need a woman around for him to be comp-het with! I think that's likely why they also switched up on Marisol's personal style this season and had her go from tomboyish in s6 to very femme in s7. They needed to represent her being a little bit more of the "perfect woman" for Eddie again a la Ana Flores. Especially in contrast with Buck and Tommy who are very masc-presenting men.

Most of the time when people talk about compulsory heterosexuality in an academic space they are always talking about women because comphet is inherently a byproduct of patriarchy and misogyny. But, as most of us are aware by now, patriarchy has deep-rooted harmful effects on men too. I can't claim to be anywhere near an expert but I would love to see it explored deeper with Eddie given that a lot of his story has also revolved around him deconstructing other aspects of toxic masculinity and hypermasculinity.

Like does Eddie really enjoy going out with Marisol? Or does he like the freeing feeling of being able to cuddle up with a woman in public and know that no one is judging?

There's a lot of academic theory that goes into compulsory heterosexuality but if you look at the "Am I a Lesbian? Masterdoc" and apply everything there to Eddie, it's almost point for point him.

Some examples:

[brackets] are me turning "men" to "women" from the original text for clarity

Deciding which [women] to be attracted to – not to date, but to be attracted to –based on how well they match a mental list of attractive qualities.

I like the idea of being with a [woman], but any time a [woman] makes a move on me I get incredibly uncomfortable.

I do not like the reality of being with [women], only the idea of being with [women].

I like the idea of marrying a [woman]/being in a relationship with a [woman], but I can always pick out a reason to not want to date any [woman] that is interested in me or any [woman] suggested to me

You view relationships with [women] as a chore, burden, or just something you must deal with.

Picking a [girl] at random to be attracted to

Choosing to be attracted to a [girl] at all, not just choosing to act on it but flipping your attraction on like a switch

the [girls] I like are always hyper [feminine] [girl's girls] who embody everything about [womanliness].

Only/mostly being attracted to unattainable, disinterested, or fictional [women] or [girls] you never or rarely interact with.

Reading your anxiety/discomfort/nervousness/combativeness around [women] as attraction to them. Confusing your anxiety around [women] for “butterflies” or being flustered.

Dreading what feels like an inevitable domestic future with a [woman]

You have every reason to be happy in your relationship with a [woman], but you just aren’t / everything is going really well, but something is missing and you can’t figure out what

Thinking you’re commitmentphobic because no relationship, no matter how great the [girl], feels quite right and you drag your feet when it comes time to escalate it

Going along with escalation because it seems like the ‘appropriate time’ or bc the [girl] wants it so bad, even if you personally aren’t quite ready to say I love you or have labels or move in together etc.

Or jumping ahead and trying to rush to the ‘comfortably settled’ part of relationships with [girls], trying to make a relationship a done deal without investing time into emotional closeness

Your relationships with [women] are devoid of passion.

Feeling like you have to have relationships with [women] and/or let them get serious in order to prove something, maybe something nebulous you can’t identify

Getting a [girl]friend mostly so other people know you have a [girl]friend and not really being interested in [her] romantically/sexually

Wishing your [girl]friend was more like your [male] friends

Worrying that you’re broken inside and unable to really love anyone

Having had people think you were gay when you had no suspicion you were gay

That got longer than I intended but I wanted it here anyway because it just proves (at least to me) that this is the story they're doing with Eddie. The only ones I didn't include were the parts about sex because other than Shannon we actually haven't seen how Eddie reacts in sexual moments with women.

As for the bachelor party/wedding, I do think a lot is going to happen there, and likely a lot of Buddie clues, big and small, but I still don't think anything physically intimate (kiss, hookup, etc) is going to happen. The only exception might be hand-holding, a hug or like a slow dance. Those I could see being plausible.

[papakhan]

Episode 1

Fuck it, I'm gonna do it anyway. Here's all the notes I took when watching episode 1 of the godawful fallout tv show. enjoy. I'm gonna run through this with notes I made while I watched the show so formatting might be kinda weird, I haven't done anything like this before so bare with me. I will try to explain things as if you the reader have not seen the show. This is gonna be very long and heavy on the hate and the spoilers.

Content warnings:

rape

incest

gif of the fight scene violence

self harming

Things I liked:

Vault Dwellers reusing the same wedding dress and everyone who'd worn it writing their names on the inside. that's sweet

"don't lose your head" vault poster during a firefight

Johnny Cash

I like Brotherhood Clerics but they totally fucked up the ranking system

The vault dwellers just painting over the blood on the walls

Horses are canon now

Goofy wasteland urban legends like "a feral ghoul does not abide a chicken"

That's literally it. Now it's time for everything else. I'll break it down into character bits since that's what the show does

Cooper

So Cooper Cowboy ghoul man is divorced and he's at this birthday party in I'm guessing Hollywood overlooking LA. It's a beautiful sunny day :) Bare in mind that in this scene the nukes drop so Bethesda has already fucked their own lore of the nukes dropping at 9:40am in Boston would mean that it should be 6:40am in California. Sunrise in California in October is 7am, btw. So already we're fucked. Real "design documents are a waste of time" behaviour on display here.

Anyway, nuke goes off. Now let me ask you something. What's one of the most infamous things about nuclear bombs? The flash, right? A nuclear explosion is bright enough to blind a person. Fallout 4 understood this, at least a little, where the flash of light from the bomb would fill your screen even if you weren't facing it, which is how nukes work. Closing your eyes in the face of a nuke would be pointless because the light would pass through your eyelids. There's even reports of people who held up their hands to shield the light and could see THEIR BONES THROUGH THEIR HANDS. That's how bright they are. They are horrifying weapons of mass destruction.

The nuke that hits LA is not a nuke, the flash of light on Janey's face (cooper's kid and the ONE SINGLE PERSON who notices a NUCLEAR FUCKING BOMB) is more akin to a camera flash. again. she is the only fucking person who notices a nuclear bomb go off, everyone else at the party is distracted by a TV of all things.

In the time between the ""flash"" of the bomb here's everything that happens before Cooper and co feel the shockwave

Janey notices the pathetic flash and looks up.

She holds up her thumb in the "vault boy" way

Cooper comes out of the house and walks over to Janey

He crouches down beside her and says some bullshit along the lines of "i got some cake for my favourite cowgirl"

Janey says "was it your thumb or my thumb?"

Cooper looks towards the source of the nuke and slowly stands up, watching it for a moment

He says "that's just a fire janey" as the smoke unfurls into a very obvious mushroom cloud

He realises that it was not. just a fire

then they get hit by a shockwave

This takes almost a full minute and none of the segments is supposed to be slow motion. Listen I know that light moves faster than sound and heat but come on. It's way too slow and also. dead fucking silent. also the shockwave comes before the mushroom cloud but who cares.

Anyway cooper gets on a horse with the girl and rides off down the road in the direction of LA. good job dude.

I've already read up about yknow who it was who wanted the nukes fired and I know that it was Barb who wanted the nukes dropped on America for?? vault tec profit??? so uh. why did she let Janey go to a birthday party with Cooper?

Lucy

x3 Incest jokes may not seem like a lot but it was 3 too many for me. I hate the "good karma" noise that played when Lucy got arranged married. I said I liked the vault poster of "don't lose your head" but I hate the way Lucy keeps getting her inspiration from Vault Boy I'm sorry but its annoying and dumb to me. Interconnected vaults in LA is also. dumb. you're telling me The Master didn't notice these fucking things? you're kidding. Look at it, it's not even hidden in a cave or anything its just out in the open.

Way to retroactively make the Master look like a moron, though I know they do this to Mr House later on. ugh.

Her intro makes it sound like she's supposed to have Tagged Skills in repair, speech and science but she displays none of this in the later episodes I have seen, in fact her speech seems like utter dogshit so what was the point in introducing her in a "game protag" way if none of that was gonna get used later?

Anyway, lets get onto the raiders. If you know me, you know I love raiders. They're a cool and interesting critique of individualism and "might makes right" and also aesthetically just kind of fuck.

Now, knowing what I know about Moldaver and her being the current ?leader of the NCR remnants, that implies that the people she has led into Vault 33 are former NCR citizens or soldiers, right? right?

So the ""fall of shady sands"" according to the show is 2277 and yeah sure okay that's during new vegas' time and sure okay right todd howard promised that this didn't de-canonise fallout new vegas. however. it's 2296 meaning it's been 19 years since Shady Sand's.......decline. and 15 years since New Vegas where we last saw the NCR. And i know that the NCR aren't exactly the good guys To suggest that in less than 20 years the citizens of shady sands have been reduced to Bethesda-style raiders who:

Are unable to use utensils such as knives and forks

Can't grow crops

Don't know how to use cups

Will rape a woman, wipe his dick on a curtain, and then try to murder said woman

Shoveling fistfuls of cake into their mouth during a firefight

Threatening a pregnant woman

In another episode one of these guys is interrogated/interviews and shows their asshole to the guy talking to him.

is fucking ludicrous

Anyway Monty looks like Jerma

RIP

Anywayyyy how come only Lucy's pipboy picked up on the radiation from these outsiders huh? everyone else was wearing a pipboy during the wedding, they sat next to each other, those geigar counters would have been going off. what? they had them on silent out of respect of a good Christian wedding? if you try to convince me that's the explanation I will eat your liver. Bethesda raider style

anyway no.2 girlypop (lucy) straight up pulls a knife out of her wound which is medical petpeeve no.9394328 for me but then its immediately resolved by a stimpak. I hate how stimpaks in the show are used exactly how they are in the game. I was under the impression that it was a video game mechanic and not how it actually worked in the narrative. What's next? Jet gives me extra action points or some shit? I'm so tired

the fight scene sucked. the choreography of the raider guy shooting a vault dweller through the head of another vault dweller just kind of looked like shit and seemed impractical, clearly just there to be like WOAH THATS COOL it wasn't cool it looked clunky and weird. do not fucking tell me that fallout is supposed to be clunky and weird I will kill you.

the doors cutting the raider in half was also dumb since its been routinely established that the dull and ominous "thunk. thunk. thunk" heard deep in the bowels of a vault is a door that's trying to close but there's something stuck under it, if they could just slice a whole man in half then they could cut through a table or skeleton in game. Also irl I'm a health and safety officer and that moment made my toes curl. lol

It jumps from Lucy to Max and then back to lucy but I'm just gonna continue talking about her shit here. quick fire round because I've been yapping too long already

Her little brother looks way too old to be acting like a teenager this much.

Chet (Lucy's cousin and ex boyfriend. gross) wants to come with her thank god he doesn't

why doesn't she give a shit about the sky

Why doesn't she give a shit about the ocean

Maximus

"stupid blimp is back" is at the very top of my notes, lol. anyway I still don't understand where they got this thing from

Latrines made out of stacks of tires is so dumb. like I cant even explain how dumb that is. surely rubber has better use for that. surely. just shit in a hole in the ground like everyone else please for the love of god

I know the twist with Daine and let it be said, having your first on screen transgender character cut themselves with razors to get out of the military is not, in fact, Bethesda trying to be on the side of transgender people, it is in fact them making fun of us, okay? do we understand?

hiding baby max is a fridge made me so angry I blacked out. do not remind me of "kid in a fridge" ever again.

Anyway Bethesda finds it so difficult to keep the BOS consistent to the point that they are all so different from each other with little to no explanation as to why they've changed so much. In fact it feels like to me that at some point between fallout 3 and fallout 4 Bethesda has totally mixed up the BOS and the Enclave, since now the BOS hate ghouls for no reason and want to colonise the wasteland. This is just that again. Once more, no design doc behaviour.

Quotes from the BOS i think suck ass

"Duty of the Brotherhood of Steel is to secure the wasteland"

"Flesh is weak by steel endures"

"Violence is a tool we use it to bring order to the wasteland"

When Max is getting interrogated for being a suspect for cutting Daine with razors, mentions "send me to Eden or wherever" and it confused me so much. The only Eden I knew about was John Henry Eden from Fallout 3. Turns out I think what they're trying to reference is New Eden a BOS base from. Fallout Brotherhood of Steel 2?? of all fucking things?? really strange I can't imagine what else he could possibly be referencing though. This is literally just thrown in for the loreheads and I hate it.

Anyway after being a suspect for cutting Daine with razors and also failing his classes Max gets a promotion! this is not explained. They also brand him which people a lot smarter than me have discussed at length about why branding a black guy on screen in your fallout show is a bad idea. Read it here.

I don't really understand why the BOS all do shit in latin now, I know some of them had latin names in fo1 but IIRC Frank Horrigan of the Enclave was the only person in the og games who spoke latin. it feels like Bethesda wanting to capture the interest of people who liked the Legion. maybe that's a reach but given how much right wing propaganda is in the coming episodes I wouldn't put it past them.

Cooper again

I am not calling this idiot The Ghoul that's fucking dumb. what like he's the only one? ever? dumb. whats up with him being buried huh? did Todd not want to tell Nolan that ghouls arent actually zombies and arent actually undead? that just wanted him to jump out a coffin because oooh spooky zombie. honestly just kill me.

My notes: "Don't tell me the ghoul is in that grave I can't take it"

this guy gets dug up once a year and gets pieces of him cut off and put back?? why? for what purpose? how is he down there without eating or drinking? is it a kid in a fridge moment where ghouls don't need to eat or drink, well he drinks a whole lot of water in episode 3 so that's afucking lie. get real. the glowing IV? what is that??

the yodelling is really gonna piss me off, isn't it.

Not him ending the episode on the same quote he said to his daughter. whatever.

Rating: 3/10

[pluckyredhead]

☕️batfam (not each character, but your opinion of them as a family both in canon vs. canon)

I think the version of them that you see in things like WFA and a lot of fandom stuff is delightful and entertaining. Don't get me wrong - a lot of the fandom stuff is also wildly wrong and infuriating. But there are writers who do a great job with a more fannish take on the Batfamily and I enjoy their work. (It is usually...painfully obvious who has actually read the comics and who only knows the Batfam via tumblr posts.)

The Batfamily in mainstream continuity is...not that. The characters are significantly more traumatized and rarely joke around with each other. They're also not a unit in the same way. They almost never do anything together out of costume. They don't have a joint baseline relationship of "family" - each pair of characters has a unique relationship. Like, Dick and Damian are close, Tim and Damian have a very rocky history, and Jason and Damian have honestly just not interacted that much? (Hilariously, Jason literally shot Damian early on and Damian doesn't appear to hold a grudge, while you know Tim is still mad about the dinosaur thing.) Damian has a specific relationship with Steph. Tim has a specific (and close!) relationship with Babs. (He used to just...hang out in the Watchtower! Being nerds together!) Duke and Cass are close, which of course is largely ignored by fandom. Etc.

I think the fact that the canon relationships are fraught and in some cases either really volatile or nonexistent is potentially really interesting. Like, I would love to see a story that puts Jason and Tim on a mission together and really digs into that dynamic, or Tim and Damian. (Or my dream story, one where Tim feels Some Kind Of Way about how he used to be Dick's favorite but now Damian very clearly is. (This is not how Dick sees it at all, for the record. Tim is his little brother! But Damian is his baby. It's different.))

Or look at the Robins' current relationships with Bruce: Dick is the closest with him but also accepts and absorbs much of Bruce's bad behavior without question. Bruce and Jason cannot be around each other for more than 30 minutes without dragging up every wound they've inflicted on each other over the years. Tim is desperate to fix Bruce to a degree that's actively unhealthy for Tim. Bruce functionally ignores Steph's entire existence and she seems to have wisely made her peace with that. And Damian is desperate for the unconditional love Bruce seems incapable of giving and mad at himself for it.

I don't actually want to change that. I find it fascinating. I'm not opposed to stories about the kids healing some of that damage, but I don't particularly want it to be via their relationships with Bruce. I'd like to see it happen via their relationships with each other. (That one story where Dick was like "Tim you will never fix Bruce, PLEASE stop trying" and Bruce was like "Lol he's right" was SO good. And then the writing on Tim went catastrophically off the rails but we're not talking about that right now.)

Anyway I think I've gotten a little far afield of your original question, but basically: I like (the good takes on) the fanon Batfam, but I also think the canon Batfam is really interesting. I don't think the two should be conflated (which is what DC does when they try to give us fluffy interactions that haven't been earned, Tom Taylor). And I don't think anyone is wrong for preferring either a more lighthearted take or a more fraught, canon-compliant take. The asshole behavior comes in when you refuse to accept other people's preferences.

(But also, if you are looking for an actually loving and healthy canon family that has playful interactions, you want the Flashes or the Arrows.)

[kirkirk]

I think I know what Rejet's next move could be for DL (Soft theory)

-- Rejet's slogan for 2023: REVAMP -reform-. From IwaD's X account

I have a hunch they might have cooked an epic comeback in 2023 and we're already seeing the first hints about where it all could lead to.

Today I was welcomed by every diaboy as kids when I opened twitter and, despite being a pleasant surprise (they all look adorable) it got me thinking.

Before anything, keep in mind that this is only a thought exercise. I myself admit this scenario might be too optimistic.

This last year, IwaD became quite active on their socials (at least from my POV). Doing polls about which merch lines people prefer, minor coloring preferences, interest checks... In their ongoing projects, they intend to open a new cafe, concept room, and store.

Lately, they've been doing a lot of recruitment posts, even going to the extent of making their own website for job listings. That one being:

In their tweet about this, IwaD says the following:

Clearly hinting at Rejet coming back into game/CD development (even tho he might be just doing some damage control).

Coming back to their new merch release (at the time I'm writing this, Millennium Summer, the one with them as kids with sunflowers), the title instantly catches my attention. As the last time they did merch of their younger selves, the set starts with the word 'Millennium'. As if they were trying to build a separate SUBbrand around them as kiddos.

To me, this is interesting in itself, because I enjoy marketing a lot, but this could hint at something bigger. Another odd thing they did lately was releasing YUI MERCH!!! (happy screaming SFX) and for it, they did 7 whole Yui outfits. Kind of a LOT for people that before weren't even thinking about doing any merch with her.

If you think about it, there are tons to say about the diaboys' childhoods. It's true that we know some big canon events, but, taking into account how many years they've been alive, it wouldn't be difficult for them to add some new content there. I know I don't talk for everyone here, but I believe their childhoods to be one of the most fascinating aspects of DL's lore.

Hear me out, what were the last story-related things Rejet released? Daylight and Youngblood. Yes, Youngblood, the mangas about them as children. They were already thinking about this before going on this nightmare of a hiatus.

I truly believe Rejet's next move could be a new game with their childhood selves as protagonists, with Yui taking the role of a storyteller/narrator and using some of her merch outfits as new sprites. She could even be a Karlheinz-like figure, that tries to give advice to the children from time to time.

I haven't researched the personal situation of all of DL's seiyuus, but I know there have been some controversies (such as Ruki's VA getting seriously canceled when the whole DL hiatus thing was starting). This could help avoid any backlash since they'd have to cast new people to do their kiddie voices. This would also be way cheaper for them since most of DL's seiyuus are very famous. No matter how I think about it, this would be a flawless move for them. Heck, they could even lure into DL some of the people who are afraid of the brand due to its original bad press if they turn it into a whole subbrand (which they're already starting to do) with a separate new name and a pretty makeover on top.

On the other hand, if they want to go for drama CDs first, I don't think they would do them from their baby POVs, depending on the voice, they could sound really annoying for a 1 hour CD + I doubt people would buy them at all. In that case, they might do a first run of CDs with the original VA cast (this would also allow them to test whether the public cares about canceled VAs) with our guys retelling a main event from each of their childhoods. This could be a direct segue into a game that would explain each of the new old conflicts.

Again, I know this is foolishly optimistic, I myself I'm hopefully skeptical, but I hope you've enjoyed this thought exercise. Who knows, maybe there's a timeline where Millennium Devils is a thing, or maybe I come from the future.

Update: THEY JUST DID A 4KOMA WITH THEIR MILLENNIUM SUMMER ILLUSTRATION I'M VIBRATING I KNEW IT AAAA

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Slave Of Duty: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.3k

Summary: You're pulled away for a case in the middle of Haley's funeral. Spencer is still mad at you that you didn't let him see you while in prison, but how can you explain to him that whenever you look into a mirror, you hate the person you see? You're far from being okay and Spencer is the kind of comfort you're desperately looking for.

Season Five Masterlist

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

You two walk back into the office and join JJ's side who is talking to Penelope over video chat. You assume Spencer brought everyone up to speed on what you found.

"Find anything?" you ask.

"Several people had access to each home. Housekeeper, gardener, pool cleaner, and dog walker. Each of them had their own key and an alibi to match." 

"Any cross-over?"

"None. We even vetted delivery people and utility workers."

"Garcia, do you have anything?" Rossi asks.

"There are no hits on the prints at all, but I did what Sir Derek asked and I created a paper trail. There's no cross-over between the two victims themselves in the wee hours leading up to their murder, but they did run in similar circles."

"Like what?"

"They both have country club memberships but to different clubs, they went to upscale restaurants, private concert venues, and posh hotels. They enjoyed a high-class, highfalutin lifestyle which isn't cheap."

"A lifestyle he's fit right into," Emily says. You look behind you to see her and Derek in the room. "This guy is educated, intelligent, and proper. He's a downright gentleman."

"The rose petals sent a pretty specific message. He's romancing them whether they want it or not. He's got the social skills to back it up. Hey, Garcia, take a look at dating services and social networking sites. Look for working professionals and the privileged elite," Derek says.

"Check, check, and checkers. Back in a smidge," she says and hangs up.

"Have we figured out how he's getting into these homes?"

"There are no signs of forced entry anywhere. Yet he's still gaining access to their homes before the victims ever get home from work. I mean, this guy needs time to cook and set up his scene. He's either got a key or he can move through walls."

"We need fresh eyes," Rossi sighs.

"Alright, I want everybody to go back to the hotel and try to get some rest. We're gonna have to pick this up again in the morning."

"We're giving up?" Emily gasps.

"No, we're taking a break. We have to give the profile at morning roll, and none of us has slept since the funeral. Once Garcia can get us a paper trail, then we can expand our canvas. Till then, there's really not a lot we can do."

You don't tell anyone that you're scared to go to sleep. As soon as you open your big mouth, people are going to look at you differently. You don't want that. You never wanted them to treat you differently. Instead, you keep your mouth shut and head back to the hotel with the rest of the team.

You and Spencer are in one room like always but tension is high. You can cut the air with a knife. You're in the bathroom getting ready for bed while Spencer is getting into it. You're not sure when he is going to be okay with what you did to him but you have to give him time like Rossi said. Spencer keeps one of the lamps on for you while his lamp is off.

He doesn't know that your entire world is crumbling. You're sitting on the floor with your back against the door and tears streaming down your face. Your hand is over your mouth to muffle any kind of noise you might give out. Spencer has no clue how much pain you're in but the last thing you want to do is tell him. When he hurts, you hurt and you don't think you can hurt more.

You're terrified to go to sleep. If you close your eyes, you might wake up back in that cell surrounded by women who burden you with their feelings. How can you ever tell the man you love that you don't feel safe at home anymore? For the next thirty minutes, you try to calm down enough to get into bed without alerting Spencer.

You do but you don't fall asleep until the clock strikes two.

Due to only getting four hours of sleep, you're exhausted by the time you walk into the police station. Spencer left before you did which is a good thing because you cried the entire time you were in the shower. You must have dark circles under your eyes and pale skin because Spencer does a double-take when he looks at you. Despite how he feels right now, he still loves and cares for you.

"Are you okay?" he whispers.

"Fine."

Spencer leaves it a that but JJ notices something between you two. She bites the end of her straw in thought but you don't pay attention to her. Derek and Emily are the last ones in and Derek notices you by the coffee machine. You're staring at it as if it's holding the secrets of the universe. You're checked out so he puts his hand on your shoulder which brings you out of your trance.

"Hey. Coffee?"

"Sure. Thanks. Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"I don't think so. You just got out of prison. That couldn't have been fun."

You turn to Derek and take his hand while trying to hide your desperation. "Derek, I am fine. I am going to be fine. I will continue to be fine." You're not sure if you're trying to convince him or yourself. "Please believe me."

"Okay. You know I worry about you."

"You have nothing to worry about."

"Then let's start the profile."

He and the team gather Landon and his offices so that they can deliver the profile. You're still by the coffee machine repeating those three sentences in your head over and over again. I am fine. I am going to be fine. I will continue to be fine. With coffee in hand, you walk over to the team. You're not sure you can do your best so you decide to stay silent and let them handle this one.

You catch your reflection in one of the windows near you and pause. Who the hell is that staring back at you? You used to be so full of life and hope. Now, it's just an empty shell. Your spirit was stolen from you in prison and you're not sure if you can find it again.

"We believe our unsub is already with his next victim," Rossi begins. "If he matches the pattern, she'll be a successful woman, probably brunette and in her early thirties to mid-forties. She'll be at home in Nashville's upper echelon."

"This means that he fits in. He drives the right car, he wears the right clothes, he's highly intelligent, and he probably comes from a place of status. This guy's sociable and endearing. You would never suspect that this man is capable of murder, but he will do whatever it takes to protect the fantasy that he's trying to relive."

"It's this fantasy that fuels his drive. He's recreating a romantic evening and repeating it with each of his victims. He most likely had a relationship taken away from him recently, so look at men who have lost loved ones or have gone through a messy divorce."

"Much like Bundy, these women are representations of that first loss. Bundy picked victims who had similar features to the woman who abandoned him. We believe that our unsub is doing the same thing," Spencer explains. "These women were confident, successful, and strong. They fought back which means he has the ability to overpower them fairly easily. He believes or fantasizes he's in a relationship with these women. No matter how fleeting the initial interaction is, it's everything to him like an invitation."

"Our technical analyst has compiled a list of locations that the victims visited prior to their death. These are high-class establishments. We're going to want to visit the same places. Look for men who fit the profile but also women who match victimology. If somebody's been paying a little too much attention to them, talk to them. Get a read, then jot their name down so that we can check them out," Derek finishes.

"Alright, folks, pick up your canvassing assignments and get to work," Landon addresses.

"Thank you."

It's not long until another woman is murdered. You knew it was coming but you didn't know how soon it would be here. This murder is different because the unsub killed two people, and one of them was a man. It's not in the MO of the unsub to do that so you can only assume the male victim caught the unsub by surprise.

"The house belongs to Erika Silverman who is a project director in an international design firm. We're assuming the male victim is her boyfriend, Grant Franklin. They're both pretty beat up. We'll need dental records for a positive ID," Landon says when you get there.

"Who called it in?" Emily asks.

"UPS guy. He needed her signature for a package and saw the door wide open. He's out back right now.'

"JJ, talk to him," Derek says and she leaves.

"Where is Erika's body?"

"Follow me." Landon takes you to Erika's body which is a brutal sight. "He changed his MO. She has multiple stab wounds to the face and neck, and there is evidence that she had sex before she died."

"Classic overkill," Rossi comments.

"Forced or consensual?"

"There is no evidence of sexual assault."

"She played along. She had sex with the unsub because she thought it would keep her alive," Emily sighs.

"Why didn't it? This kill is clearly personal and angry. She didn't give him everything that he wanted."

"What else did he want?"

"Y/N? See anything?

You turn to face the front of the house to get a better look at what happened the night before. Erika is already in here with the unsub but the front door opens and Erika's boyfriend enters. The unsub is angry that his plans are ruined which explains the overkill on both of them. Both Grant and the unsub begin fighting but something is wrong here. Grant begins running from the unsub and turns to see if he is chasing him, but you're staring at yourself being chased by the unsub, not Grant.

What the hell is going on here? You open your mouth to scream but nothing comes out. The fear you have is manifesting in your visions. How can you help this team if you can't help yourself? No one knows what's really going on, and how can you tell them now? How can you come clean that you're not ready to be back at work? You thought you could just put it behind you like you've done every other time.

How can you ever move on from a place like that?

"Excuse me. I'm sorry," you whisper and leave the house.

Emily, Derek, and Rossi look at each other with concern written across their faces. You walk to the end of the driveway where the street is and take a few deep breaths to calm your racing heart. You close your eyes and count to ten in hopes that when you open them, your panic attack will have subsided.

However, when you open your eyes, you're brought back to your past. One that you've been trying so hard to escape from. The street is empty save for a few cars parked on the side. The house you were just in doesn't look like Erika's house. It looks like a random house on this random street in a city that's all too familiar to you.

There is a car that's parked that you'd recognize even with your eyes closed. It's a van that can be used as a camper since the back seats have been taken out. There are curtains inside the car that are drawn closed to prevent people from looking inside. The car rocks to show that there is a struggle inside and a little girl's scream can be heard.

A desperate scream for help. Anyone. Your scream.

You've only thought about this moment every day since it happened. You haven't forgotten one detail of it.

Your breathing picks up as you look for anyone who can come help you. You're being assaulted and there is nothing you can do about it. The man was too strong... too powerful. Something moves out of the corner of your eyes and you turn to see a person walking down the sidewalk. You grab her shoulders when she nears you and shake her desperately.

"Help her. She needs your help. Aren't you going to help?"

"Y/N?"

You're brought back to reality by your friend's name and gone is the van you think about every day. Emily stands in front of you with a worried look on her face, and you let go of her shoulders.

"Sorry," you whisper and wipe the tears from your face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're crying."

"I said I'm fine, Emily. Excuse me."

You leave your friend behind and join everyone else who is still inside the house. Derek and Spencer are in the kitchen so you decide to see what's up with him instead of looking at Erika's body and reliving her torment.

"The dinner dishes are washed, but the breakfast plates aren't. He didn't clean up this time. The boyfriend must have surprised him and disrupted his routine."

"I don't know, I'd say he came pretty close to finishing it. It looks like they watched a movie and had an early breakfast. She was with him all night," Spencer theorizes.

Your phone rings and you almost jump out of your skin from the noise. You look to see Penelope's name so you force your feelings down and answer her call.

"Hey, Pen."

"Bad news, buttercup. There is no payoff on the social networking sites, and Erika does not leave a breadcrumb-like trail. Aside from a couple of online purchases and some automatic debits, she hasn't used her credit card all week."

"Thanks." You hang up and look at Derek. "Garcia didn't find anything about Erika's whereabouts over the past week. No stores, no restaurants, nothing."

"There might be another way to figure out where she's been. Do we know where any of the victims' cars are?" Spencer asks.

"Impound, probably."

"We need access to all four of them."

"Four?"

"We should also get Grant's car. He may have driven Erika somewhere where she met the unsub."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

I really enjoyed Mark Russell's Flintstones comic, which was pretty in-your-face satire, but still gave the characters some heart, so I'm willing to give his X-Factor a chance. That being said:

Gee, I'm sooooo glad we're back to pointlessly killing off D-List mutants after Krakoa did the work of putting everyone back on the table for writers to use, it's definitely my favorite part of the X-Books and not a creatively bankrupt waste or anything. I know people might say, "There's too many mutants," or "Who cares about Rusty Collins?" But despite there already being too many mutants for people to use, writers keep adding more (even this book has like three new characters), and every character is someone's favorite.

I don't even particularly like Rusty, he was one of those characters that never caught on for me. I thought his personality was bland, and even back when he was first introduced I thought being "just" a pyrokinetic was boring (at least characters like Pyro and Magma had some unique aspect to their "fire" powers). But damn, I feel so sorry for any Rusty fans out there, he was dead for decades, he was barely there in Krakoa, and now he gets killed off one issue into X-Factor. I still have some hope for Feral, though, given that some of the team is "clinging to life."

I don't know how much, if any of the characters history Russell is aware of. He at least knows that Rusty was part of the original X-Factor, so there's that. Too bad Rusty is dead again. I really don't know what Frenzy and Cecelia are doing on this team. I could believe it of Pyro, since he already served on Freedom Force, and was only too happy to attack his fellow mutants while on the government payroll. Still, I'd expect him to have a more realistic and cynical attitude about the new X-Factor, given that Freedom Force ended with him and Blob abandoned to die, and the US government not giving a shit. But then, that would require actually engaging with the character's history which neither Russell nor Duggan seemed interested in doing.

Pyro's new characterization seems to be "party idiot." I can't say I completely mind, Duggan's Pyro was at least a "fun" version of the character, but this is the second time now Pyro's been a cast member for an X-Book, is it too much to ask that a writer actually take him seriously? I don't even mean "make him a badass," I mean give us some actual crumbs of character development, even if he's still mostly comic relief. The dude died saving Senator Kelly after a long, lingering terminal illness, and no one wants to address that? Like, at all?

Good question, Pyro, what IS Cecelia doing there? She was always one of the more reluctant X-Men who was more interested in being a doctor, how was she talked into this? Also, Pyro, your last direct interaction with Cecelia was when you betrayed her and got her fired after she saved your life treating your bullet wounds, you've got a lot of nerve flirting with her. I am reluctantly accepting that Pyro is basically being written as "straight" now, given that the "gay Pyro" storyline was stolen out from under him by bland replacement Simon "No one asked for this fucking character to exist" Lasker. Deeply bitter that the Pyro who got to canonically fulfill our movie-verse Allerdrake fantasies wasn't even the right Pyro.

Speaking of which, it would actually be a very funny meta-joke if Pyro gets killed off and immediately replaced by Pyro II/Simon, but if that actually happens I will absolutely start biting people. I waited decades for my fave to come back, do NOT take him away again, Mark Russell.

Also wondering how Pyro got the second-in-command gig. Was it just a stupid decision by corporate guy who doesn't understand how the team should function, or is there something sinister going on, like Pyro is more willing to toe the corporate line? Also, shut up, Alex, Pyro was actually doing some good with the Marauders while you were on the "fucked-up remedial last-chance" Hellions team

Like I said, I am willing to give this book a chance, and see what Russell does with it, but he's already shown he's willing to throw characters into the meat-grinder. I don't mind satire and a good story, but I also actually LIKE the characters. I like Pyro and Cecelia and Frenzy, I'd rather not see them twisted into satirical versions of themselves or abruptly killed off. I'd like to see their histories actually dealt with instead of jokes about Frenzy once working as a dog breeder. Despite the meta-commentary in the first issue about "the characters are interchangable, it's all about the story," in long-running comic series like X-Men, a lot of us actually DO care about the characters. That's what keeps us reading. Have fun with your story, Russell, but please don't break the toys.

I'm sure there's much more to say here about the writing for Havok and Polaris, but I'll let other people handle that, I'm mostly here for Pyro.

[dandelion-wings]

For the ask meme, Jean and Venti? :>

Thank you for the ask! :>

JEAN

How I feel about this character

This should be no surprise to anyone, but I adore her. #1 absolute favorite Genshin character, bar none. She's already an archetype I love (honorable lady knight torn between duty/family and her own desires, bonus points for blondness; see also, FE3H Ingrid), enough so that the friend who got me into Genshin lured me in with her ("read the manga at least until you get to Jean, and if you like her, you have to start playing"), and a lot of her individual characteristics are also deeply endearing to me. I am not rational about Jean. She is my beloved precious blorbo who can do no wrong and I will write out her flaws and make her perfect if I want to, and I will write her outmatching and one-upping the male characters who are supposed to be just as or more cool, and I will write her whump and fluff and hurt/comfort where everyone goes "oh we have been unfair to Jean, let us rush to care about her," and I feel no shame on any of these points. I am holding her up and showing her to everyone like a beloved pet.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Okay, so, the thing about me is that I usually make my favorite character a fandom bicycle because I just like seeing how I think they'd interact with other characters I like? I have at least idle shipping thoughts about Jean and... so much of the rest of Genshin. But my primary ships for her are most of the other Knights of Favonius, particularly any combo, OTP or OT3 or OT4, of Lisa, Kaeya, and Eula, with some particularly energetic mental dabbling (less likely to make it on the page) in Jean/Ningguang, Jean/Rosaria, Jean/Diluc, and Jean/Sara. Those are probably the ones outside the OT4 and its permutations that I'm most likely to actively play with without some outside trigger or inspiration!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

See above, just without the kissing. That said, I think everyone knows it's Jean and Kaeya. XD And beyond that the platonic relationships within the OT4!

My unpopular opinion about this character

I... am not sure I have one? The people I choose to follow have Good Opinions, and I do not follow people with Bad Opinions so I don't know how popular they are (also I don't go into her main tag because main character tags get SO spammed with 'this character appeared once briefly in the background of this comic' sorts of tags. I follow individual artists and the rarepair tags). I like to think she could take Diluc, I guess? Who often gets presented in fanon and a little bit in canon as the Ultimate Mondstadt badass.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

More cool action scenes! And also FIXING HER RELATIONSHIP WITH BARBARA.

---

VENTI

How I feel about this character

I like him! I have somehow ended up following and being followed by many Venti fans who love him much more intensely, and he's one of those characters I already like enough that I can be enjoyably swept up in that love, such that for the duration of the post I'm reading or the discussion we're having, I love him just as much. Then it goes back to 'sure, he's cool and I enjoy seeing him'. :> Which I definitely do.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Venti isn't a fandom bicycle for me just because he's not in my top faves, but he definitely would have the potential if he was. >> That said, Dvalin, Zhongli, and Xiao are the only people I regularly seek out pairing content with him for; I enjoy incidentally seeing him with pretty much any of the world's other immortal/long-lived-non-human characters and all the now-dead past character's he's been with, and he's fun with a lot of the Mondstadt characters as well. Honorable mention to Jean/Venti for occupying the same mental space as Venti himself: a pairing I'm not personally invested in but, while I'm talking to @esmeraldablazingsky and/or reading their stuff, am temporarily 110% high-enthusiasm about.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Broadly speaking, his various friends over the centuries and, currently, especially Dvalin, but I will admit that my Thing for Jean means that I am most fascinated with his relationship with her (the only person in canon who knows him in both his forms and is still respectful! XD) and, by extension, Gunnhildrs of the past.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I again don't know enough about general fandom opinion to have one. XD;; Most of my opinions about Venti are accumulated from the people I follow who love him, and I haven't seen any general popular ones among them that I disagree strongly with!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I put "Venti takes the Traveler to Celestia, or at least gives them a very strong hint and boost" in a lot of my speculative endgame scenarios because I feel like there are hints in canon that it COULD be what happens, and I really really hope that it WILL be. It feels like how the narrative around him should pay off, to me.

[writergracethepanda]

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥 Secret Shanghai Edition

the character everyone gets wrong

Marshall. He is canonically an excellent cook, s why are we convinced he'd set something on fire if left alone in the kitchen?

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

no comment

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME I have seen Alisa and Phoebe shipped (let aroace people live and bisexuals are still bisexual even in a seemingly hetero relationship) or those takes I've seen on TikTok of people shipping Rosalind and Benedikt and Celia and Marshall if I weren't on my computer I would put sooooo many barf emojis here

what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

luckily nothing yet I believe

worst discord server and why

mine with my friends its sooo annoying how we have incredibly amazing and intelligent and sometimes incoherent conversations like guys we're the worst (sarcasm)

which ship fans are the most annoying?

like I said, anyone who ships the above things needs to stay 10 feet away from me at all times and undergo intense media literacy training

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

I think everyone's answer for this is Oliver. I'm so sorry we (especially me tbh) did you so dirty pre fhh I promise we've learnt our lesson!

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Oliver loves cats. incorrect. Cats are his entire life. there is a difference, and we need to recognize it.

worst part of canon

roma and Alisa's dad just disappeared before I could beat him up

worst part of fanon

we're too funny my stomach literally hurts from laughing too hard sometimes. Seriously though, the above ship takes that make my blood boil, as well as some complaints about how a lot of us talk about how we think certain characters are neurodivergent/disabled. While I think some of those are actually considered canon, I don't understand why people are so made that we (a relatively neurospicy bunch) are identifying the parts of characters we relate to and labeling them. We're doing you no harm and not interfering with your ability to enjoy the characters. Shouldn't it be a good thing that we're able to identify with the characters? Just mind your business. (also anyone who erases Rosalind's and Alisa's aroaceness that is indeed canon and I hope both sides of your pillow are too warm)

number of fandom-related words you've filtered

I don't think any

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I don't think anyone hates these guys, but why don't we ever talk about the couple from LVC? They were so sweet, and I'm kind of sad we didn't get any mention of them in FHH.

worst blorboficiation

I feel like a bad Tumblr user, but I don't know what this means. is this like uwu-ification?

that one thing you see in fics all the time

@typingwithmyhandstied 's GENIUS

that one thing you see in fanart all the time

Juliette always has the appropriate amount of knives thank you very much for that guys :)

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I personally don't get into the Rosalind is a vampire thing, but I'm cheering you guys on from afar (im just not into vampires lol)

there should be more of this type of fic/art

idk I should probably work on my university au

it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

the fact that not only did she feel comfortable falling asleep around Orion (see one of @no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist 's recent posts) but Rosalind was also muttering in French in that scene. Her dominant language. She was both out of it enough/comfortable enough with him that she dropped the I was raised in American fake accent and just started speaking normally in this essay I will- basically we need to talk more about the use of multilingualism in the ss books

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

past me would be horrified to know that I like Oliver now

part of canon you found tedious or boring

I think TVD can be a bit boring sometimes, but that makes sense, since it was Chloe's debut, and she's grown immensely since then

part of canon you think is overhyped

the seagreen trio is overrated (they are literally my favorite characters)

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

THE MULTILIGUALISM

ship you've unwillingly come around to

Olivercelia. Like I said, I was his strongest hater pre fhh. Now I see what she clearly sees in him.

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

discourse on ss Tumblr is mostly joking. my personal favorite is when @marsneedstherapy and I pretend to yell at each other in different languages

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

"no one appreciates x enough" I do. I love them.

[angels-heap]

I mentioned this in my post but what even happened to freemance in 2020?

Hoooo boy. To make a very long, very weird story as short as possible...

Prior to the Half Life: Alyx announcement and subsequent emergence of the Half Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware (HLVRAI) fandom in 2020, freemance was by far the dominant ship in the Half Life fandom. It seemed like most active fans at least passively shipped it, the vast majority of fanworks featured it in some capacity, and people who preferred other ships or didn't like freemance just... didn't like it. They didn't act like they needed a reason.

However, after the aforementioned events led to a huge surge of new Half Life fans, freehoun (Gordon/Barney) became much more popular, practically overnight, for some combination of the following reasons:

Lots of new Half Life fans were discovering the series via HLVRAI, where frenrey (Gordon/Benrey) was/is a popular ship. Some of these new HL fans essentially transposed their preferred frenrey dynamics into freehoun fanworks, often with very little knowledge of (or interest in) the HL games and the relevant lore.

Large fandom did what large fandoms do and gravitated towards shipping the two hottest white guys, regardless of context.

Old and new fans who enjoyed ships other than freemance became more active and creative when they were no longer in a minority.

And this was fine! A little annoying at times, but had it stopped there, we wouldn't still be talking about this. Alas, around mid-2020, a couple of kids (independently, as far as I can tell) wrote "callout posts" about freemance and its shippers in an effort to justify their personal tastes... and all hell broke loose. These posts, and the many, many posts that followed, relied heavily on the following argument:

Gordon has known Alyx since she was a small child (he hasn't) and may have even been a father/uncle/brother figure to her (he wasn't), which means pursuing 24-year-old Alyx romantically would make him a pedophile (it wouldn't) because he's been "grooming" her since she was a child (despite having been in stasis for approximately 83% of her life) and is obviously imagining her as a child every time they smooch (and they think we're the weirdos?). This means freemance shippers are also pedophiles because they condone this behavior (no), and also they are anti-feminist/homophobic/racist for shipping Alyx with a white man who's actually 47 years old (Gordon is canonically 27 in HL2) instead of shipping him with a man and her with a woman or not shipping her at all (despite the fact that Alyx is canonically attracted to Gordon).

If this sounds insane to you, it's because it is. This is an Olympics-worthy reach. They 100% pulled this whole theory out of their asses. But these posts picked up traction quickly, given that a large slice of the fandom had little to no knowledge of actual Half Life canon and really wanted a reason to dunk on freemance beyond "ew boring straight ship." It was like this awful game of fandom telephone, and the wildest part was that a lot of these kids (and yes, it was mostly kids) actually believed these accusations, despite having never seen or sought out any direct evidence of them.

For the following 6 months or so, freemance shippers faced relentless harassment -- death threats, doxxing threats, accusations of child sex crimes, etc. Here's the long post I was eventually forced to make about the situation, which includes several examples. Check out my ship discourse tag for more highlights if you want to go down the rabbit hole. Things settled down a bit after the original shit-stirrers left the fandom, but the harassment continued on and off for a couple of years and it still crops up every now and then.

It makes me so sad to remember all the cool people I met in early 2020 who ultimately left the fandom due to the harassment. The overall fandom vibe was so rancid that even people who didn't ship freemance just couldn't take it anymore. I've stuck around because Half Life is an enduring fixation for me (and out of spite), but the fandom lost a lot of amazing artists and writers and I hope they're all living their best lives out there.

I don't know how to end this post on a non-cheesy note so I'll just say it feels nice to finally refer to this whole thing (mostly) in the past tense and I am excited to see new folks joining the fandom who are unburdened by the Freemance wars. Live your dreams. :)

[blackjackkent]

So something occurred to me as I was fixing Rakha's saves the other day, which is that we're about to reach the point where Orin starts making her appearances. And because I am deeply mean to my characters, I would really like to metagame and force Rakha's first experience with Orin to be the dryad love test.

The downside here is that it's pretty challenging to convince Rakha to even go to the circus in the first place, let alone talk to the dryad. But we do have one thing in our corner, which is that Rakha trusts Wyll's opinions about things very strongly, and Wyll, canonically, is a Dribbles fan.

I was sort of hoping he might say something in-game that would serve as a catalyst for Rakha to check the thing out, but he did not, so as usual, I will make my own fun. :P

------

Wyll glances at the circus poster idly as they wander by - then stops and does a double take. "Wait - Dribbles?" he says. "Really?"

Rakha stops as well, automatically. She's been lost in thought brooding over the business with the ox, but the unexpected smile on Wyll's face does a great deal to draw her out of her thoughts. It's a little unexpected, given the severity of everything happening around them, but he looks happy. "Dribbles?" she asks.

He points. "Dribbles the Clown. I used to sneak out to watch him when I was a boy, whenever the circus came into town."

"Circus?" Rakha examines the poster curiously. It's brightly colored and has a lot of exclamation points on it but bears relatively little concrete information.

He considers how to explain it. "A performing company," he says. "They travel and put on shows - music and jokes and tricks and such." His smile widens. "We ought to go in. About time you see a bit of the world that isn't all battles and evil."

Lae'zel looks mildly puzzled and Minthara makes a noise of impatience, but Jaheira laughs softly. "After the days we have had, even I would welcome a bit of clownery," she says dryly.

Rakha tilts her head with some skepticism. This seems like the least of their concerns at present, and she can see how crowded it is inside the circus's fence and does not much enjoy the idea. But Wyll's excitement is unmistakable; she feels suddenly acutely aware of how glad he is to be back among the city's people, seeing pieces of the lost life Mizora ripped away from him.

"All right," she says with a slight nod. "Let's go."

-----

The circus has a guard at the door, accompanied by an unpleasant-looking ghoul, magically leashed and sniffing over each guest as they arrive.

"I'd like to enter the circus," Rakha tells the guard gravely.

To his credit, the guard seems utterly unfazed by Rakha's increasingly ominous appearance. "Not a problem, dear patron!" he says brightly. "Benji just has to check if you're a vicious murderer. Benji!"

Before Rakha can figure out how to respond to this, the ghoul steps forward, sniffing aggressively at her as she has seen it do to other patrons. Then it goes, abruptly, very still - which is unusual.

Its head rolls back and its eyes go wide. "BLOOD!" it screeches. "TASTY BLOOD! SO DELICIOUS. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."

Pain stabs through Rakha's head. Her eyes narrow to slits and she clenches her fists at her side as the beast in her brain yowls in eager answer to the ghoul's shouts. Yes-- blood-- it knows-- it understands-- kill-- kill-- kill--

A muscle spasms in her jaw as every muscle in her body clenches with the effort not to lash out.

No. No. Stop.

For a moment she can't even focus on the fact that this ghoul somehow knows her and everything that is wrong with her. All she can think is that it isn't fair. It isn't fair-- this was something that brought a smile to Wyll's face like she has never seen before, but even this is touched and tainted at once by the corrupted darkness that is growing ever stronger in her head.

It isn't fair.

The guard, unaware of the battle raging inside Rakha's skull, grins casually. "That's a first!" he says with cheerful disinterest. "Usually I'd allow you in, but in these times, I can take no chances. Move along - no circus for you."

She doesn't have to turn to see the disappointment cross Wyll's face. She can feel it in the tadpole connection between them, the flash of regret and fear and dismay.

And then, so subtle and deep that she isn't sure Wyll himself is even aware of it, resentment. Another thing Rakha's broken mind is tearing apart. Another thing he must be strong and bear in order to support her.

And she knows he will bear it, because he is a good man and loyal and loves her beyond what she deserves. But he shouldn't have to. It isn't fair.

No. This thing, this circus, was for him. She won't let it be taken from him, not because of her. They will see it, no matter how this guard tries to stop them.

Before she realizes what she's doing, she takes a step forward, locks eyes with the man. [INTIMIDATION] "Let me in," she says, her voice a monotone of exhaustion, "or I snap you in two."

She hates herself for the blaze of fear that ripples across the man's features, for the way the beast gleefully laps at the image of his death. "Forgive me!" the guard says hastily, his voice trembling as he struggles to paste a smile back onto his face. "I must have misspoken! Welcome to the Circus of the Last Days! Have fun, and be sure to catch the star of our show, Dribbles the Clown!"

He scoots aside hastily to let them pass as the doors of the circus slide open.

Rakha stalks inside, the others trailing behind her. Wyll quickens his pace a little until he's at her side. "You didn't have to do that," he says in a low voice, his expression troubled.

"Yes, I did," she says shortly, not looking at him.

[letters-to-rosie]

My one oneshot of all time is impossible. 

There are three. Well there are more but I forced myself to stick to three. I'm terrible with choices

'Affection in all the wrong places' by LeBenj 

“You need to stop showing up here,” Ekko says as he unlatches his bedroom window with a loud click.

Without looking at him, Jinx’s lips perk with a hint of a smile. “You need to stop letting me in.”

It's soft and hopeful, with an undertone of hurt, and I love it. 

‘What's broken can still mend’ by MidnightLightHowlite

He hates her as much as she loves him, for nothing good ever happened to people who loved her back. But he cares, and that's different because people who hate you but also care will not forget, because they will forget a kindness but not a curse. People remember curses, remember misfortune if only to avoid it, and she's enough of a sin to be unforgivable.

… 

“You’ve been surviving for so long.” He brings her knuckles to his nose and takes in the gunpowder. When his eyes meet hers they’re frozen. “But have you truly been alive?

So many gems in this fic. It hurts just right. Learning to live and complicated baggage and hope (I might have a thing for that) 

And last one 

‘Why’ by PenguiniShipsIt

‘That's all everyone wanted to do these days. Blow up. Beat everyone up. Hurt someone. End someone.

It got tiring to a point that he'd rather wreck himself than hear everyone around him already wrecked.

And he got what he wanted at the sight of her on his couch. Again.

"Hey." He shook her by the shoulder. "What the hell, Jinx? Is this what we're doing, now? You're just gonna stay here when it—"

She's burning.’

Caring despite all the rightful hesitations, a bit of ridiculousness, and from Ekkos's perspective, an incredulous situation makes for such a good read.

okay I have been super tired, so this took me like 3 days to write lol but we're so back baby here we go!

going one by one:

Affection in all the wrong places is very cute! I like the concept of things having eventually calmed down years later and Ekko and Jinx being able to relate to each other without the mediation of the conflict we see in the show. in some ways it also reminded me of one of my fics, with the whole "years later" thing, and I just think it's fun to see how different authors interpret similar ideas 😊

for What's broken can still mend, I think I actually read this one before I had my account?? I read a lot of CaitVi back then lol but I was just starting to get interested in timebomb. yet the summary sounds familiar...

but anyway, on to the thoughts! this is such a small thing but I love the idea that Vi comes to the Firelight base and plays with kids. I love it so much I might steal it for the end of revolution lol (with credit, naturally). and Ekko deciding not to kill her? wild lol, just wild. a little curious about why then, but hey, it felt very poetic and we can never be mad at that haha also was surprised at how it ended, but I was happy to see that Vi and Jinx made up, because who knows how canon will go 🥲

and for Why!

I feel like I've figured out your pattern lol you like fics where after the events of canon things chill out and Jinx goes to Ekko. and then implied/actual sex haha

the top author's note on this one is so fucking funny lol

I do enjoy Ekko being a bit of a dork here. the first fic I wrote with him in it has him telling bad science jokes lol. but he's also so sassy here which is how he became my favorite Arcane character in the first place, so we love to see that too.

He loved the way she swallowed. around here is when he started to get really terrible and I was so down for it lol. AND it's reciprocal! I like that playfulness coming out with them. you can feel how much they're into each other, and that along with how they're not saying everything (which I feel like is also a commonality between these 3 fics). since this is the longest of the 3 by a good bit, it really comes through, and I like in particular how Jinx is really torn up about the idea of loving him while Ekko is eventually able to convince himself to stop holding back, even though he's still afraid she'll hurt him.

She had seen what happened to people she loved and loved her back.

Not Ekko. Not chubby-cheeked, pouty-faced, sad-eyed, Ekko who hovered around her when she was sick and injured, who tended a nice little garden of friends and firelights, who zipped through the fissures like one of those masked heroes in barbershop stories.

yeahhhhhh this is good shit lol

“Are you aware of any reason she might threaten your safety?”

Yes. I edged her six times and came in her twice.

pffffffft

the end to this one is also really interesting. I would say it's my favorite of the 3. I like how the tension between Ekko and Caitlyn and Vi plays out, though I'm wary of the Firelights being legitimated by Piltover (though Ekko is, too, which is why I love him lol). it's interesting to see them inhabit this space created by all the tension in the world around them. and then, of course, Jinx comes back. more bittersweet than the first 2, but in a way I enjoyed a lot

thank you for sharing! 🥰

[galactickle]

Plus One Chapter 1

Jean-Ralphio Saperstein x reader

Summary: You have been secretly dating Jean-Ralphio for a while… How will the parks department take it when you bring him to Leslie and Ben's wedding?

SMUT

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Masterlist

A/N: this is not canon compliant

The SnakeHole Lounge was nearly empty when Leslie dragged you and April in. It was only 10pm after all. She propped April near the front door and pulled you to the side to help blow up balloons. 

“Faster Y/N! We're behind schedule!” Leslie urged in between large gulps of air. 

“I can only breathe so fast,” you sighed, continuing the balloon. 

“I don't want to do this,” April complained from behind you. 

“Too bad! Y/N! Catch!” Leslie threw a streamer towards you.

When you and Leslie finished setting up, April pulled you next to her to help greet guests. Some people had already arrived, mostly regular patrons who had no idea who April was or that Leslie was throwing this party. You glanced at your phone screen, 11:00, people should start showing up now, you hoped. 

Your prayers came true as Andy strolled through the door, greeting April with a bow and a kiss to the back of her hand. “M’lady.”

April giggled, yes, giggled , in response. 

“Y/N,” Andy continues with a nod.

“Andy,” you greet him as he passes.

Tom is the next to arrive, dragging along his lanky dork of a friend Jean-Ralphio. 

“Happy Birthday April!” Tom exclaims. placing his gift on the table beside her. He moves in for a hug but April backs away from him. “Okay…” he holds up his hands, “Y/N, looking lovely as ever,” Tom flirts with you. 

You flip him off in response. He was used to it, same as you were used to his flirting. Both gestures meant nothing to the two of you anymore.

“You wanna come home with me?” you hear Jean-Ralphio whisper to April, you roll your eyes.

“Ew, no,” April replies, pushing him back. 

He looks at you, “Keep walking,” you say, pushing him past the two of you.

The rest of the guests come quickly after that, and you and April are set free to roam the party. You sit down at the bar and order a drink. You feel someone slide into the seat next to you. Turning, you put on a smile thinking it's Leslie or Ann maybe, but instead your smile instantly drops. 

“Hey sweetcheeks,” Jean-Ralphio leans an arm on the back of you chair, “How about I buy you a drink?” 

“Do you even have any money?” you scoff, Tom talks a lot, and Jean-Ralphio and his life is one of Tom's favorite subjects. Just then the bartender sets down your drink, you slide the money over to him and thank him, getting up to find somewhere else to enjoy your drink. 

“Oh c’mon… don't be like that,” Jean-Ralphio complained, his fluffy dark curls bouncing as he raced after you. 

The truth was, you didn't dislike Jean-Ralphio like the rest of the parks department did, I mean sure, you found him irresponsible and stupid and even a little selfish, but there was something about him…

“Y/N!” Your name snapped you out of your thoughts, looking up to see Donna in a VIP section, “Come in,” she gestured to the velvet rope that separated her and her crew from the rest of the party. You unhook the rope and step through, Jean-Ralphio quickly tried to follow you, but Donna was quicker, “Uh-uh, not you, Saperstien,” she stared him down, which he quickly looked away from, skittering off.

Later that night you found Jean-Ralphio with his arm around April, assuming this was against April's will, your pace quickened to get to them. Then you saw Andy on the other side of April, which made your head tilt in confusion. You approached cautiously, hoping to just eavesdrop for a moment but Jean-Ralphio’s eyes were quick to find you. “Hey sweetheart, sorry but I’m taken now,” he smiles cockily at you, you roll your eyes focusing on April, who is staring down Andy.

“Okay, well I’m out of here,” Andy stands to leave, wishing you good luck when he passes.

“What the hell April?” you rush to sit where Andy was just moments before.

“What? Are you jealous?” Jean-Ralphio questions.

“Fuck off,” you and April say to him at the same time. He seems taken aback by it but leaves nonetheless.

“What's going on?” you grab both of April's hands in yours, genuinely concerned.

“I don't know… I overheard Ann flirting with Andy and I wanted to get back at him.. I guess,” she confesses.

“April…” you start.

“I know, I know.”

“Jean-Ralphio? Really? You couldn't find a better option?” you joke. April laughs in response. You couldn't help but poke fun at everyone’s hatred for the guy.

~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~

You hadn't seen Jean-Ralphio since that night at the Snakehole, and unfortunately you were headed there again. Since Tom was launching his new alcohol Snakejuice. 

“Y/Nnnnn!” Leslie called from the dancefloor when she spotted you, stumbling over, dragging Ann behind her.

“Are you drunk already?” you asked, eyeing the two as they cling to each other.

“Noooo,” you gave them a knowing look, “Maybe,” Leslie sighed, “But you have to try Snakejuice, its soooo good.” She grabs your arm, pulling you to the bar and pouring you a glass.

You take the glass willingly and take a sip, it is surprisingly tasty, but strong. You nodded, taking a second sip. “It's good.”

“No, it’s amazingggg!”

“I’m glad you guys like it,” Tom walks up, his tall, dorky shadow following him.

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing you’ll like tonight,” Jean-Ralphio sidles up next to you.

“Ew,” you mumble, but you can’t control the heat that rises up your neck, was the alcohol already hitting you? “Tom, how much alcohol is in this stuff?”

“I don’t know man!” he replied, before seeing someone else and rushing off to catch them. No wonder Leslie and Ann were so wasted. 

You turn your head to see Jean-Ralphio still sitting in the seat next to you, smiling giddily. He opens his mouth to say something, but Leslie was pushing a new glass into your hand and Ann was dragging you to the dancefloor with them before you knew it. You downed the glass and began dancing with the girls, although you couldn’t help but look back and see Jean-Ralphio still sitting there watching. The heat rose to your cheeks, and turned back to Leslie and Ann. The two didn’t notice your distracted state, how you kept an eye on the man all night. They were too busy fighting over who knows what. 

Eventually they both stormed off, leaving you in the middle of the dancefloor alone. Though that didn’t last for long. Long fingers gripped you hips from behind, and you turned to slap the guy, but when your eyes met the big brown ones of none other than Jean-Ralphio, you lost all your gusto. Instead you turned back around, grinding your hips down on his, which caused him to grip you tighter. You continued your motions for the rest of the song before glancing around, hoping nobody from your work had seen your weakness. 

When you had determined no one had seen you, you spun around in Jean-Ralphio's arms, leaning up and whispering in his ear, “How about we get out of here?”

Jean-Ralphio thought he could cum in his pants right there, but held his arousal in, nodding frantically.

“Meet me outside in 5 minutes,” you whisper again, turning and rushing off to give an excuse for leaving.

You found Donna in her usual VIP spot and chatted for a few minutes, before yawning falsely and claiming you were ‘so bored you might go home’. Donna offered to send one of her boytoys with you but you politely declined. 

Out front Jean-Ralphio paced under a streetlight, he had already called a cab for you and was just waiting anxiously for you to meet him. For a moment, he thought you might have been pranking him and thought of returning to the party, but then again, you were too hot for him to miss this opportunity. 

“Jean-Ralphio!” you called softly from the side of the building, gesturing for him to come closer. He followed your lead and did.

“Hey, I almost thought you wouldn’t come-” he starts.

“SHhhh,” you hush him, not wanting anyone outside to see or hear you with him. You pull him close as a cab rolls up. 

“Oh, this is us!” he rushed over to the cab opening the door in a wide gesture. You follow, but as you’re about to duck into the cab, you notice another cab pulling up and see none other than Ben Wyatt quickly rushing to the cab, you catch his eye and you have a silent exchange, an agreement.

You climb into the cab, pulling Jean-Ralphio in after you.

“Where to?” the cabbie asks.

You give him your address and he takes off down the road, your apartment was only a little more than 5 minutes away. But man, did Jean-Ralphio utilize those 5 minutes. He drew a hand up your thigh, causing you to look at him. When you did, you got caught in his eyes again, giving him opportune time to lean in and smash his mouth into yours. He was in no way graceful, hands roaming your body, and gripping your tits roughly. But you can’t say you didn’t enjoy every second of it. You were almost too caught up in him to notice the cab pull up to your apartment. You handed the cabbie some cash, and exited the car, dragging Jean-Ralphio, up the walkway to your apartment building. You fumble with your keys for a second, before opening the door and heading up the stairs, Jean-Ralphio right on your heels. You feel his hands run up and down your torso as you fumble with your keys once again to get into your apartment. When the door opens, you’re pulling him in and pushing him towards the bedroom. 

The backs of his knees hit the bed and he falls backwards, you climbing on top of him hungrily. You rip off his jacket and shirt, discarding them somewhere in the room, and rid yourself of your dress. The sight of you causes Jean-Ralphio to pause for a moment, then with newfound vigor, he rolls you over so that he is on top. He slowly kisses down your body, paying homage to every part. But eventually you get impatient and sit up to tug on his belt, trying to remove it. He gets the message and returns to your mouth, as you finally get the belt undone and slide his pants down. He messes with the clasp of your bra before you help him and remove it yourself. You lift your hips as he helps you out of your underwear, leaving you completely bare in front of him. He stops to stare once again. Which you find endearing and incredibly attractive, so you push yourself up to lock your lips with his again. Reaching into his boxers to grab his length, you pump him a few times in your hand. He groans in response.

You push his boxers down and lean back, lining him up with your entrance. He runs the head of his cock along your folds, teasing you slightly, before pushing into you all the way. You moan at the feeling of fullness. He sets a reckless pace, which makes him a withering mess in no time. “Stop,” you tell him. He does, though he stays inside of you. “I want to be on top,” he moans loudly at your admission. 

He rolls over, pulling himself up into a sitting position against your headboard. You straddle his waist and slowly sink back down on his cock. He moans again, “ Fuck , you’re amazing.” You set a slow pace, which has him grasping at the bedsheets beside him. As you move up and down slowly, your hands tangle in his gorgeous curls. He ruts his hips lightly as you tug on his curls, pulling another moan out of him. He begins to suck on your neck, which has you feeling more eager to get off. You increase your speed, and he leans his head back in response, mouth agape. “I’m- fuck , I’m gonna cum,” he moans.

“Not yet,” you chide. Rolling your hips in a different pattern, which causes your clit to rub against his pubic bone deliciously. You were so close. You rub your clit harder against him, and let out a deep moan. “Fuck, Jean-Ralphio,” you lean down and rub your clit with your first two fingers, continuing to ride him, which pushes you over then edge, “ Shit ,” you scream as you cum. You ride out your high before lifting off of him, and grabbing his cock in your hand to pump him firmly until his seed spreads all over your hand, Jean-Ralphio moaning loudly. 

“Holy shit,” he whispers as you roll off of him and head into the ensuite bathroom to wash your hand. When you return, you tug on an oversized sleep shirt and some underwear, climbing under the covers. “You’re amazing,” Jean-Ralphio says again, rolling over to look at you, you just smile and kiss the tip of his nose, letting sleep overcome you. 

The next morning when you woke, you were hazy, looking around you saw the clothes thrown about the room and didn’t think much of it. Turning in your bed, however, you were met with Jean-Ralphio, clad in only his underwear, spread across the sheets. “Shit,” you whisper to yourself, getting up and rushing to the bathroom. You toss some cold water in your face and look at yourself in the mirror. How could you do this to yourself?

[brooklynislandgirl]

Dear Nonnymouse... Who sent me this:

it’s only friendly advice, but you’ll never get far in the star trek rpc with some of the people you keep around. {redacted} is fine. it’s the people close to {redacted}. one of them being the biggest issue. even if {redacted} is the only {muse}, i understand wanting to interact with the canon muses. her {muse} isn’t even bad. she is. it’s unsolicited advise, but it’s trying to warn you about someone in the rpc. you don’t need to be apart of her collection when there are a lot of us who would love to write with your oc. {redacted} only wakes up for popular canons. don’t let yourself be disappointed when she won’t give your oc the time of day.

this really is being sent with a true hope this finds you well and to help you in your future rp journey.

~*~ Howdy. First, let me explain. Normally I don't tend to respond to things like this but I feel there's merit in posting this just so that everyone can understand where I am coming from and we can all get on with out day. Also, I redacted the names and muse of the two people you specifically named in this PSA. Why? Because I do not engage in call out culture and I wish to be respectful to all parties involved in this. Secondly, I can only assume that you are both young and/or maybe wrote this on your phone, but I appreciate punctuation, complete sentences, grammar, the Oxford comma, capitalisation where appropriate, and the like. Call me elderly if you wish but as a librarian and a teacher, I can say that this almost hurt to read, though not as much as other anons I have received in the past. Third, you acknowledge that this is, in fact, unsolicited advice, and on that front you are absolutely correct. I did not ask for it. Where your advice fails is such: I. You assume I need a warning label about the people with whom I interact. I am actually quite capable of choosing with whom I wish to write, when and how according to our schedules and availability, the nature of what that writing entails, and other details that should matter only to my writing partner and myself. Whether canon or oc, whether rookie or veteran a mun, I will give anyone a chance on my blogs and with my muses based on their merit and not the gossip of others. II. You assume I want to 'get far' in the Star Trek rpc. Nonny, darling, understand this; I have a multitude of books, television, film and other mediums to which I have great love and respect, and am ever so happy to create a verse for should the opportunity arise. But I. Do. Not. Participate. In. Any. Specific. RPC. Mostly because they are little incestuous and toxic little echo-chambers that breed mostly only contempt and favouritism. Every single one I've come up against reminds me of high-school with cliques, tropes, petty squabbling, and other behaviour I find absolutely appalling. Really, honestly, y'all can miss me with this mess. III. You don’t need to be apart of her collection when there are a lot of us who would love to write with your oc. {These are your words, not mine}. I'm looking around here. I've seen exactly...none of y'all... following me out of the blue, knocking on my metaphorical door, engaging with me in any way to make this a valid point. The friends I make are mostly organic; if I see a blog where I enjoy the writing, I will read the rules and peruse the muse or muses that are available. I will follow and try talking via DM or discord, and work out what we're going to create. I take people who follow me at face value and offer them welcome, support, and my best efforts. Sometimes we are not compatible as people and that's fine. I feel that maybe this could be put under the first section but here we are. IV. Finally, we come to the most important address of this post. The specific Mun you oh-so-cordially needed to warn me about.

Seriously, it took me almost 4 hours to stop laughing about this. This mun has disappointed me. She has enraged me to the point of contemplating murder. She's also consoled me when my heart was broken. She's eaten at my kitchen table and made my husband laugh so hard I think a little beer came out of his nose. She's made me fall in love with things I vowed to hate, and we've given each other untold worlds and lives and loves over the years. There are things we will harbour grudges into the afterlife and beyond with one another. Even when we reach a point that we're contemplating what we would look like in prison orange, we still have each other's backs. We have also been friends for nearly a quarter century. This is no exaggeration.

We have written together, created communities, talked ad nauseam about via text/messages/on the telephone and in person for longer than a lot of people in these rpcs have been alive. We could fill my library with the amount of things we've ever talked and written about. There is nothing anyone can 'warn' me about that I don't already know. That same is true for people telling her things about me that they feel are valid.

So, in conclusion. Nonnymouse, you are swimming up some deep streams that you know nothing about, about people you've formed an opinion about without any substantial information to go on except for maybe some hurt feelings and jealousy, if I've read between the lines, and let's face it... You're not exactly Willy Wonka so the sugar-coating about being concerned for my emotional welfare and stability and wishing me happiness in my rp journey {which I've been doing just fine in for the last 8 years}, comes across as fake as William Shatner's toupee.

TL;DR version: Well aren't you precious. Bless your heart. <3

~Sincerly, Turtlemun.

PS: I promise if I have to do this again, I will decline being so polite.