#but then i realize that rick is not good at writing women and/or people of color so he does not have the competence required to adequately

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

I love this meta! I really wish that Rick had expanded on the Aphrodite kids more, the girls and boys. For the girls, it goes without saying that I wish he had portrayed their femininity in a more positive light and didn’t shame them for being feminine, or had even used femininity as a sign of strength rather than a sign of weakness. Drew should have gotten a redemption arc, and Silena should’ve been given more screentime as well and also maybe not died in the Battle of Manhattan.

And for the boys, I wish he had expanded more on what being a male child of Aphrodite means, considering so much of the Aphrodite cabin is wrapped up in them being hyperfeminine and the girly girl trope. Their cabin is pink and flowery, their claiming is done by enveloping them in a pink haze and giving them glamorous hair and dresses, they love gossip and fashion, they speak like valley girls, their rite of passage involves breaking hearts, the list goes on. And aside from Mitchell(and also the brief “Aphrodite’s sons and daughters I wasn’t too worried about”), whenever Aphrodite kids are mentioned, they are always girls, so as to emphasize their femininity(which is scorned and derided). It’s as if being an Aphrodite kid inherently makes you more feminine than other demigod children(for the most part, at least).

It would be nice to see how an Aphrodite boy operates and is seen at camp, and how they’re looked down upon not just because of the general narrative and in-universe disdain for femininity, but because they’re boys who don’t operate according to the strict masculine gender norm of manhood. It all could’ve been so interesting and given us a new and more diverse and profound view of femininity, but nope, Rick just did the “Aphrodite kids are the stock girly girls who are mocked because they’re shallow weak and stupid and not much else” trope and nothing more. It’s sad. Ofc, it’s not a surprise, because the not like other girls trope was strong in that era, and PJO is not unique in the slightest in this regard. But it’s disappointing all the same.

So i was scrolling through the drew tanaka tag as one does and found this post by @curseofdelos that i was like !!!!! about, and i read through it and I was like. Yes, but also… 

So this is my also. I suggest reading the post first as it does very well in explaining the issues with Piper and Drew’s writing and why that’s harmful. 

But I’d like to take it a step further and extrapolate to the bigger picture of cabin 10. 

What about the boys? 

TL;DR: There are a lot of in-text and meta negotiations of masculinity versus femininity that occur in /influence PJO/HOO, and that leaves boys in the Aphrodite Cabin in an awkward limbo. 

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I first want to establish that masculinity is not femininity. Which like, duh, but that means that anything that is not masculine can and will be considered feminine. Point blank, no nuance (There is a literature backing, but I think its a bit too much, so I’ll just put it at the end if you wanna find the article I’m referring to). 

And that’s what Rick is operating on, while you can’t deny it is a spectrum, at the time of writing TLH and such, there was a general societal understanding of masculinity as being macho and strong and rejecting softness for hardcore or whatever. And this positioning is where femininity comes in, and where we can begin to talk about Cabin 10. 

Rick writes Cabin 10 as inherently feminine, thus attaching “beauty” to this narrow idea; best shown through describing the cabin as a Barbie house and Piper's claiming ordeal. It is a place where there is nothing “masculine,” leading to the stereotype of Aphrodite kids not being able to fight, since war is masculine and thus out of their purview. 

This does deconstruct with Silena and then Piper, but the existence of Drew proves that it is still upheld and important enough to the story. 

I do believe that Rick tried to have his “oh you can still be feminine without being hyper feminine!” moment with Piper & Drew’s conflict, however, he failed to give Drew enough agency to make it seem like there was a genuine conflict rather than just “mean girl v girl-next-door.” (again, @curseofdelos explained it very well, go read!). 

Now with the girls out of the way, the boys are kinda… lost in the sauce? The only Aphrodite boy we get is Mitchell and it is very telling that a lot of people hc him as gay… which again is the posturing of masculinity vs femininity and whatever is not masculine is therefore feminine. And being gay is being attracted to masculinity and this feminine etc etc (according to societal norms). The fact that he is the only male Aphrodite kid rep is again, telling and really affirms the inherent femininity of Cabin 10. 

“Hey! He’s not the only ‘Aphrodite’ Kid! What about Michael!” And Michael just further proves my point! He’s the son of Venus, and Roman counterparts are considered as more “warlike” than their Greek ones. War being considered masculine and a rejection of femininity, as established earlier w/ Cabin 10 kids not being warriors. Now, Micheal exists as a (hyper) masculine counterpoint to Drew’s (hyper) feminine, making the Roman Venus a direct opposite as the Greek Aphrodite. 

This is actually, kinda commendable in terms of plot, since it helps reinforce the differences between Greek and Roman and how extreme they were. Great storytelling device, bad everything else. 

One more thing I want to touch on is the vilification of femininity, and why it must be rejected in the pjo/hoo. You can only fight if you adopt masculine traits, and therefore not fighting and still surviving means that you are doing something dishonorable like, abusing charmspeak (Drew) or using magic (Circe, Medea, etc) or even spying (Silena). Which is a very masculine idea, of how things should be solved by violence ( i mean, look at violence perpetrated by men compared to women in our society…) I think I’ve said this before, but in Piper’s arc, there needs to be an antagonist to prove how she doesn’t “fit in” at CHB, and create that tension of her either choosing to save her father and betray or continue the quest as is; and that antagonist ended up being Drew, and that makes sense bc Cabin 10 is against what Piper is characterized as, and she just is a rejection of that femininity. 

Anyways, let me not get away from myself. Basically, within the story, there is no real opportunity for the characters to reject gender stereotypes without falling into others. And Rick wrote himself into that hole. 

Literature Referenced: Shippers, Mimi. “Masculinity and Femininity, Theories of.” The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies, 2016. Edited by Nancy A. Naples. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[dirtydixonsgirl]

Can you write reader taking care of a very sick Daryl after he collapses while on a run? Feverish, he tries to tell her how he feels but she blames the illness. He gets better, gets embarrassed, but then they talk and make out session ensues - interrupted by the rescue party for shits and giggles.

Sick

Daryl Dixon x Fem!reader

A/n: this is gonna be fluffy mostly, thought this idea was super cute. sorry it took so long ):

WARNINGS: heated make out, deliriously speaking, illness yeah yeah yeah

Daryl was sick, it was exactly what you feared these last few weeks. The flu was running rampant in the prison, taking out your group one by one, it was horrible to watch. You and few others were safe, luckily. Your nerves have ease since the outbreak of this illness but when Daryl started to avoid you, you crept around to see what his deal was and when you found him coughing and sniffling you knew something was up.

Although you knew he’d never admit to being sick, you could see it in his eyes. Your worried eyes searching his face everytime he coughs or sneezes, he knew something was off, passing it off as ‘allergies’, but your worried gaze broke his heart, he didn’t want you to worry about him. But he also didn’t want to be locked away with the rest of the sick people, away from you of all people, he needed to be here to protect you, he knew that if something happened to you while he was locked away he would never forgive himself.

Here both of you stood, in front of Rick, Daryl demanding he go on this run with you instead of Glenn or t-dogg, he knew they were good out there, there was no doubt but the only way to settle his nerves about you going was to come with you. Admittedly, you were on the fence about Daryl going, you could see in his eyes he was getting sicker by the minute and Rick could also sense something was off, but he was well aware of how stubborn Daryl could be.

“Daryl,” you stood behind him. “You don’t need to do this, you should rest.”

“I’m fine.” He coughs a little bit before readjusting the items he was bringing with on the motorcycle. “Jus get in the car women.”

You cross your arms, watching him struggle a bit, biting back a few coughs. You wanted him to ride in the car with you instead of his motorcycle but he wouldn’t budge. Another thing you noticed as well was he wouldn’t let you be too close to him.

“I will as soon as you get in the car with me.”

He sighed. “M’ fine. I told you, I need fresh air. Missed this.”

“I’m just worried about you, Daryl.” You knew the affect your saddened voice has on him, how could he ever say no to you? It just wasn’t possible.

He knew you were only worried about him, as his cough was starting to deepen he realized he might be worried about himself as well.

“Okay,” he agreed, grumbling. “Let’s go.”

The car ride was almost silent, Daryl wasn’t much of a talker and your nerves were getting the best of you, he sat a seat away, you driving after a small fight about him being the man and wanting to drive but you felt like he was in no shape. His coughs turning into hacking, you kept glancing over at him.

“M’ fine. Quit lookin’ at me like that.” He mumbles, resting his head against the window.

“You don’t seem like it.” You turn your focus to the road. “You know I’m just worried.”

“Nothin’ is gonna take me out, sunshine.” He jokes, you blush at the pet name.

“You can’t promise me that, anything could happen, Daryl.”

Daryl was your best friend, the first person you had continued with since the group found you out there stumbling around, dying of dehydration. You both have been close since the beginning and you were well aware of the attachment you had grown to your best friend, realizing it was unhealthy, you knew it was okay because it would never go further than that.

Arriving to the desired spot, an old run down gas station across from a neighborhood you put the vehicle in park, turning off the truck. Your eyes turn to meet Daryls but suddenly they widen, taking in his features.

“Daryl,” you panick. “You’re sweating.”

“It’s hot in here.” He grumbles, wiping the small beats of sweat off his head. “Let’s go.”

“Maybe we should go home, I don’t think you need to be doing this.”

“God damnit, I said I’m fine!” He suddenly spats.

You jump slightly at his tone, realizing you’ve heard him talk this way to other people but somehow have never been on the other end. His eyes soften instantly due to your reaction, sighing harshly.

“M’ sorry. But seriously, I’m okay, can we just go? I don’t wanna talk ‘bout this anymore.”

You sigh, hesitantly agreeing. His skin was getting pale but you knew at this point saying anything to him was useless, he was too stubborn to listen to your words, he’d rather keep pushing.

You followed closely behind him, your gun raised, searching the area. His crossbow up as well, you always felt safe with him, he always would protect you, almost like he would jump in front of a bullet for you, as your friendship grows so does your love but both of you knew neither of that would matter because neither of you would ever admit to it.

After searching the gas station and few houses, making sure to stay close to one another, you had found a few items but when you got back to the truck, you noticed no Daryl, and nothing had been loaded on the truck. Your heart instantly stops, panic rushing through your veins. Where could he be? Did he get hurt? Did someone take him? The thoughts were running endlessly.

“Daryl?” You call out, the worry lacing your voice.

You leave the items unattended, you knew he hadn’t gone far off on his own will, he wouldn’t do that you. He always kept his word and stayed close. Running back down to the neighborhood, your feet continuously smacking the pavement, you find the first house he was in, searching it.

“Daryl? Are you in here?” You call out.

Nothing. Silence. You run up the steps, checking the rooms, again nothing. Your mind was racing at this point, your heart beat thumping against your rib cage. The emotions wanted to spill but you held them back, your eyes filling with water. You can’t lose him, not now.

The next house you seen him go into, the door was left open. Indicating that there was possibility he was still in there. You fling the door open, the living room empty, your eyes searching every corner, the liquid threatening to spill from your eyes. Nothing.

“Daryl!” You call out, shakily. “Daryl please tell me you’re in here.”

You search the living room, upstairs, the hallways, nothing. That’s until your footsteps patter into the kitchen area.

“Y/N?” Daryl calls out weakly.

You heart instantly filling with sadness at the site. The tears were now spilling down your cheeks, your eyes wander down the pale, sweating Daryl sitting on the kitchen floor next to the fridge. He is sick, very sick. Your heart pangs, instantly running over to get down with him.

“Daryl,” you cry, wiping his sweaty hair from his forehead. “I knew something was wrong, I knew you were sick.”

The emotions were over whelming. Your were scared, more scared than you ever have been in your life. This had confirmed your feelings about him indefinitely. You knew there was no hiding it now. His pale sunken eyes meet yours, his breathing slightly shallowed. Your hands were shaking.

“M’ okay, don’t worry ‘bout me.” His voice shakes.

You shake your head at him. “God damn it, Daryl Dixon. You’re the most stubborn person I know.”

He cracks a smile at your sudden outburst. But you were serious, he really was. You bring your hand to his forehead, feeling his temp. He was hot to the touch, burning up. You could feel the body heat radiating off of him.

“You’re running a fever, we have to get you back to Hershel.” You tell him quickly.

“Jus’ give me a minute.” He shakes his head. “I love ya so much.”

Your eyes meet him, sudden confusion written on your face. Daryl wasn’t aware of his words, the fever over taking his emotions. He wasn’t in the right state of mind but he knew those words were truthful. He always knew he loved you, but the words spilling out at the sight of you caring for him just came so naturally, he didn’t have to think twice.

Although Daryl has told you that he has loved you before, it was clear this was different meaning. The way his eyes were sparkling and how desperate his tone was. Like it was something he’s been holding back for a long time, true feelings. Your heart began to melt as you thought of your next words, stunned.

“Daryl, what are you talking - you know what? Nevermind, we need to get you home.”

“The only reason I wanted to come out here with ya is so I could be with ya, take care of ya. You mean tha’ world to me, Y/N.” He mumbles, his eyes searching your face.

His speech was slow, you were well aware he was now speaking delusionally which only made your mind race more. How high was his fever? You blushed at his words and shook it off instantly. He has no idea what he’s saying.

You take his arm, lifting him up, he wraps it around your neck, carrying most of his body weight himself but he was still heavy against you. He was slow, dragging his feet with yours taking all of his energy just to lift himself.

“I mean it Y/N, yer ma world.” He slurs. “Never felt tha’ way ‘bout anyone. Jus’ you.”

Your heart flutters at his words. You had wondered where this sudden outburst came from but ultimately you knew it was a result from the fever. He was delirious, speaking out of his ass. You didn’t say anything back to feed into his rambling you were surely going to tease him about this when he felt better.

“Y/N,” he speaks again. “Look at me.”

You glance up at him and realize he’s been looking at you the entire time.

“Ya so god damn beautiful, bunny.” He murmurs. “Hope ya know I mean all these words.”

Your face turns beat red at the nickname. Remembering he use to tease you with it when you first met because he took you out hunting and you caught bunny, just one, so from there on he tease you with the nickname. You couldn’t believe he still remembered it after all these years. It still made your heart flutter.

“That fever is really kicking your ass.” You laugh, trudging him along.

“Not the fever, Y/N, ma’ real feelings. I ain’t afraid of nothin’ but I’m afraid of dyin’ and not gettin’ to tell ya how I feel.” He starts. “Yer the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

His words although slow, you felt they meant something. Something in his voice told you his words were sincere, they were coming so effortlessly, like he didn’t need to think about it because he had been practicing this forever. You wanted him to shut up. The words had you a blushing mess, but you knew as soon as this sickness was over you’d have to confront him about it, you were not looking forward to that.

You helped him into the front seat, your face still red and your heart thumping nervously, you needed to get him back to Rick and Hershel.

“We’ll talk about this when you feel better, Daryl.” You spoke softly.

“Whatever you say, Bunny.” He mumbles, his head against the window.

-

It had been about two weeks before Daryl was feeling better. You had came to visit him multiple times a day, worrying about him. The sickness hit him hard, you worried so much that you were begging Rick to let you inside the place, risking getting yourself sick just to have your last moments with him. There was a big glass between you both and he couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t stand being away from you.

You hadn’t told him about his feverish words back on the run, you could tell he was just starting to gain actual consciousness of his surroundings a few days ago, he hadn’t mentioned his words, he just kept asking what happened and how he got there.

He was healing fast, his cough has resided, the blood from the cough was now gone, he was alert, awake and stubborn as ever, threatening to break out of sick groups cell as soon as he got the chance. The group had taken a fall from Daryl being sick, considering he was one of the important men and Ricks right hand man.

“You miss me?” Daryl jokes, throwing the curtains back to your cell room.

You eyes lit up in surprise, god how you’d missed your best friend. Your nervous mind was instantly calmed when he took you up in a hug, squeezing you.

“Daryl,” you choked out. “I can’t breathe.”

He chuckled, his big arms unwrapping you. He looked like himself, you missed this, you missed him. You knew it was time to ask him about his words, but you were scared. Really scared. Of his reaction and rejection, embarrassment was already running through your body. He must of noticed your serious look, he could always sense when something thing was wrong,

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, questioning look crossing his face.

You didn’t want to look at him, your cheeks already lighting up. You knew you weren’t getting out of this without telling him, you pondering if you actually wanted to tell him or just lie about it, you didn’t enjoy lying about things but some times calls for drastic messaures.

“Y/N?”

“N-nothing.” You finally say. “How are you feeling?”

“Nah, what’s wrong? I know that look.”

Of course he does. Shit. You finally meet his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed down into his normal curious look. You hated when he looked at you with those eyes. You could melt under them.

Daryl was worried you weren’t exactly happy to see him. He wasn’t even sure of how he got to where he ended up with all those sick people, what if he did something to hurt you? Said something to hurt you?

“Just something you said when you were sick.” You admit.

Instant fear ran through his body at the possibly of what could’ve been said to you. He was clearly delirious and out of his mind but the look on his face told him whatever he said was important to you and weighed heavy on your mind.

“W-what’d I say?”

“Just that you loved me.” You shrug.

“Why’s that bad?”

“Because your tone was different.”

Daryl looked at you for a moment, hiding behind his beautiful long brown hair, blue eyes you’ve came to love, staring deeply into your eyes. He knew he loved you, he thought it was obvious enough. After everything you both have been through how could he not love you? You were everything to him and he would do anything to protect you. He just couldn’t believe he didn’t get to say it to you in a more conscious state of mind, he might have saved himself the embarrassment because he was for sure that you didn’t feel the same way.

You noticed his posture, he was nervous, his nerves were eating him alive. You knew that look all too well. He was panicking inside. You knew exactly how to fix his situation, without a word you leaned up, cupping his cheek, feeling the bristles from his beard poking at you, connecting your lips. The sparks inside you were running rampant at the feeling. Daryl’s lips felt perfect on yours, without hesitation he kissed you back with the even more passion.

His body reacting before his mind he pushes you up against the wall, his hands pulling your back closer to him to close the proximity. Your hands waver up his shirt feeling his warmth and muscles under your touch making him shiver with the contact. Your kiss was needy and desperate and he was falling putty into your hands, allowing your hands to roam where they please.

But your hands found there way to his hair, it set something off in him. Tugging on his hair slightly erupted a groan from him straight into your mouth and you felt it travel all the way down you. This wasn’t suppose to be happening but the adrenaline coursing through you both was too much to handle.

You couldn’t help but pray that none of this ruined your friendship.

“Daryl, are you-“ You could hear the sound of Rick walking past the prison cells. “Well holy shit.”

You both instantly disconnected bodies, staring into the faces of Rick, Glenn, Hershel and Maggie staring back at you. Some faces shocked, some faces smirking as they knew all too well. The embarrassment burned both of your cheeks, readjusting yourselves. You both were never going to live this down.

“You comin’?” Ricks voice wavers through the prison once more.

“What?” Daryl asks back, slightly confused and taken back by his words.

“You comin’?” Glenn repeats now, a smirk littering his face causing a swat from Maggie. “You know, to help take out the walkers at the gate?”

“Oh.” He sighs, realizing that’s not what they meant. “Yeah, yeah, M’ comin’.”

A few of them begin to snicker, walking away from the cell to leave you both drowning in your own embarrassment. At this point you just wanted to run away and hide, being both of the shyest people here being caught in a hot and heavy make out session was just not exactly what you wanted to envision for yours and Daryl’s first kiss.

You looked at him, giggling and he let a half smile cross his lips. You weren’t sure of a lot of things anymore in this world but one thing you knew is that you love Daryl back, probably even more than that.

[thingsthatneedtobesaidsblog]

This is just added on commentary of the recent talk about how white people in Fandoms hate/change black characters with their white love interests. The first time it actually hit me was a couple months before I saw the videos on tiktok addressing it but before that I realized that a lot of fics in the TWD Fandom would make a fiction with the same plot and same character values as the other 1,000+ fics of giving Rick or Daryl a white love interests and when I see those fics it always bothers me because Michonne and Rick are so fucking perfect together and the chemistry with Daryl and Connie is just as good.

Now I know must of those authors write those fics as self inserts but its not only that people will dismiss the interracial ship and claim that they're gay besties, the black love interests is too good for the white guy so he needs to be with this Canon white girl, or saying the black women in the ship is to masculine for the white love interests so that means she's gay or that they don't have any chemistry when they do. It's done with so many Canon interracial couples it's ridiculous 🙄 like why not just accept that they're meant to be.

Another problem is the lack of black/poc OC's like it's so rare to find fics with black Oc's but so many with white ones and for some fandoms it may be appropriate to not have a black characters but when it's modern or in the future Fandom there should be no reason that there isn'tmore black/poc oc's being written. It's another reason why I think there needs to be more black/poc fanfic authors because we need more fics that feature us and feature us well in all aspects.

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

(Part 7)

In the last essay, I mentioned that it was difficult to have an unpopular opinion about the Rick debate. In this essay, I'm closing in on one specific question: how could one feel sorry for Rick, a woman beater? This question still boggles most Degrassi fans today. After all, it's a valid opinion to not feel sorry for the guy. Once you put all of his wrongs in writing, it proves even more difficult to empathize with him. Consider all of the following of which Rick is guilty:

Domestic violence: he attacked his girlfriend three separate times.

Aggravated assault: this resulted in landing Terri in a coma. If she had died, he would have been possibly charged with third degree murder.

Vandalism: he spray painted a giant "X" on Spinner's and Jay's car windows.

Possession of a deadly weapon: He brought a gun to school. This is exacerbated by the fact that Rick is also a sixteen-year-old adolescent/minor.

Attempted murder: he shot Jimmy Brooks in the back. If he had succeeded in killing him, he would have been charged with second degree murder. He later found Emma and aimed the gun at her face. If he hadn't been stopped by Sean, he would have killed her instantly.

It goes without saying: on paper, Rick is a classic, S-tier douchebag. Heck, one could probably expand on this list. And yet...some people feel for him? Why is that? Obviously there is contextual information missing from the list that would explain why Rick was driven to make many of the decisions he did. It's not like he woke up one day and decided that he wanted to kill everyone at Degrassi. In Rick's mind, he had tried everything: he tried to make amends with Terri's friends; when that didn't work, he tried to mind his own business; when that didn't work, he began to retaliate. When he finally got the chance to show the school how valuable he was, he was pranked on camera, and everyone that previously cheered him on began to laugh at him. In Rick's mind, the school betrayed him. Nothing else he did was going to work. The only way Rick was going to right the wrongs done to him, the only way he was going to earn respect, the only way he was going to fend off his bullies--in his mind--was if he used violence. Rick bringing a gun to school wasn't premeditated: it was his last resort. You see after his interaction with Paige that he goes from intending to shoot her to immediately concealing his weapon after he realizes that Paige wasn't there to give him a hard time. He reconsidered his choice after that single conversation. He put his backpack in his locker afterwards, a clear indicator that Rick didn't want to harm anyone if it wasn't necessary. Of course, after "overhearing" Spinner and Jay, he receded back into his violent ways for good. In the beginning, Rick was looking for a second chance. In the end, he wanted to avenge his suffering. Ephraim Ellis, the actor who played Rick, talks about the psychological whiplash that Rick undergoes in the span of a second: after he is doused in paint and feathers, Rick goes from the best day of his life to the worst instantaneously. After all of the hell he had been through, that was just a devastating blow for him.

Degrassi fans aren't shallow: crimes 3, 4, and 5 would be better understood if Rick also wasn't responsible for committing crimes 1 and 2. Rick's abusive past, and a recent past at that, is the point of contempt with some Degrassi fans when it comes to exploring the school shooting plot line. For one thing, high school shooters in real life typically didn't have records of domestic violence against women, though some definitely had some misogynistic overtones. For another, it makes it difficult to sympathize with the bullied victim when the victim himself has been cruel to his own girlfriend. Why couldn't the writers have chosen another character, one who was innocent beforehand, to explore the school shooting story line with? If Rick was innocent of any crimes before the extreme bullying, there would have been a chance to make him relatable to the audience and for more people to garner sympathy for him. This is the perspective that these fans are coming from, and I can understand and appreciate their reasoning.

I can also see why the producers decided to go with Rick's character, this former abuser, to tackle the gun violence topic. From a casting perspective, the Degrassi crew saw the actor playing Rick, Ephraim, as a talented young man, so they knew after his performance in season 3 that they wanted him to be back for Rick's tragic end in season 4, which is half of the reason why Terri's abusive boyfriend and the bullied school shooter are the same person. The writers have been wanting to do a school shooting episode since season 1, but they knew that they needed to "earn" that experience before they did so; they had to wait until the actors, who were all very young in season one, were old enough and experienced enough to pull off such a heavy and demanding role. Ephraim, playing a recurring guest role, exceeded the creators' expectations, so they decided to give him the most difficult part: he had to play the school shooter. Considering that fans still are appalled by Rick's character today, I'd say that Ellis successfully played the role.

I also understand this decision from a moral standpoint. I mentioned this in part 6 of this essay series: the writers were wanting to demonstrate the vicious cycle of violence and the ripple effect it can leave on a community for years after the fact. They wanted to show teens that solving violence with violence only creates more violence in the end. We see this when Rick almost kills Terri; when the students bully Rick relentlessly; and lastly when Rick brings a gun to school and essentially gets himself killed because of it. Nothing was solved in the end. Only pain, guilt, trauma, and devastation remained. The creators were implying a lesson to their teen audience: don't bully, even if the bullied deserves it. I think this is more powerful to teach kids than if the school shooter was just a cut-and-dry, loner nerd. I also think it was a more realistic way to introduce Rick's bullying problem, which was initiated by characters we care about who traditionally aren't bullies save for Spinner and Jay. You can understand why they did it. If the victim was innocent, it would be harder to understand the motivations of the bullies, and the story would be very black-and-white obvious. As I mentioned before, a lot of the main cast aren't written as bullies, so it would be strange to see these mostly good kids decide to torture one kid for no real reason. In this case, the kids had a legitimate reason to hate Rick, so the writers used that conflict to explore school shootings. Degrassi is about the nuance, and boy did Rick's arc have a bunch of that. You may not have liked him, and it's okay if you didn't sympathize with him; he wasn't designed for you to feel sorry for him. However: right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. It doesn't matter if Rick wronged Terri in the beginning, that he wasn't the "perfect" victim. He was still wronged by the school and his parents afterwards, and in the end, Rick committed the ultimate wrong. This whole tragedy is summed up in one sentence by Snake at the end of episode 4x08: "None of us took Rick's bullying seriously enough."

That still doesn't answer the main question. Sure the majority of fans have no empathy for Rick, but there are still a few who do. Why is that? How can that be possible? Considering that there is not much in the show's writing to suggest that Rick should be pitied, except when he was humiliated on stage, all of the credit goes to his actor, Ephraim Ellis. In order to make a character believable, whether they are playing a good or bad person, the actor himself has to find a way to relate to the character he is playing. Ephraim put in the hard work and had to internalize Rick's inner world so he could deliver an amazing performance. That is very difficult to do, especially when Rick becomes violent and sinister in the end. There is an interview Ellis did for Popgurls magazine twenty years ago that I recommend you take a look at. It may seem bizarre to reference such an out of date interview, but that era of Ephraim Ellis has fresh memories of playing Rick as he shot the episodes for Degrassi just months prior. You will get a better idea of what was going through his mind as he played Rick during the date of the publication, which was December 5th, 2004. In this interview, he discusses finding common ground between himself and Rick in order to connect to the character, and he says that they were both theater nerds and hopeless romantics, which is how I think Ellis was able to make Rick believable. He bridged the gap between his conscience and Rick's with what they shared, and then went from there. Consider the following which was said by Ellis:

"...when the character grew more in Season Four, when [the audience] learned there was a lot more to him than just this evil abusive person and that underneath he was just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change – that’s when things got a lot more interesting for me as an actor. I had my run-ins with bullying throughout middle school and such, but it’s unthinkable what Rick had to go through, despite his past."

This was how the actor saw the character he was playing: "just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change". This puts things into perspective. I get that this was in 2004, and Ellis is now twenty years older, but, as mentioned before, this is him talking just after he finished playing Rick. I remember reading this interview when I was younger and being impressed by how Ellis was able to sympathize with a villainous character, but then I reminded myself that he's an actor. It's his job to connect to the character he's playing; that's how you sell the part. That is what every actor is required to do: they have to make you believe that their character is real, and in order to do that, they have to be able to connect to certain parts of the role. Obviously he doesn't have to relate to everything that the character stands for, especially in Rick's case, but imagine if Ephraim looked down on his character and didn't take his psychosis seriously. It would show in his acting or lack thereof. Yet Ellis encapsulated the role of Rick. He was a natural at the part.

It makes sense from an acting standpoint to connect with Rick, but what about the average viewer? It is never confirmed in the show that Rick was "sincerely trying to change" apart from Rick's declaration. Did the viewers believe him? Is that why they were more apt to feel sorry for him when bullying didn't let up? That appears to be the correlation.

Since the first essay I published about Rick Murray, I have been using hashtags that I deem relevant to the series. One of them is #Degrassi confessions. In case you were wondering what that meant, here is my confession: I can't get through "Time Stands Still" part 2 because my head canon can't help but believe that Rick never fired his gun. Up until the moment he decided to shoot Jimmy, I was a believer in Rick's repentance. I didn't want my bias to shroud the integrity of this essay series because I wanted to give validation to all sides of the debate, but there was something about the way Ephraim played his character in season four, with a complete change in his demeanor, that I couldn't help but root for. There's something to be said about him not hitting any of his classmates back in "Mercy Street" (4x04) even though many of them had no problems with pushing, shoving, or punching him. Some argue that it was because he was more intimidated by guys than he was girls, but girls were also hitting him, yet he turned the other cheek constantly. If this kid has anger issues, poking the bear would bring them out, but Rick kept his head down and didn't retaliate during the ribbon campaign, keeping his temper in check. No, I don't think he is blameless: I've laid out my case in all of the preceding essays. Everyone is to blame for participating in the cycle of violence, including and especially Rick Murray. Yes, he was deeply flawed. He was terrible at reading the room; he underestimated the difficulty it would take to earn forgiveness; he couldn't take a hint that Emma wasn't into him; and he was wrong in assuming that it was okay to force a kiss on her. It also goes without saying that it was disturbing for Rick to decide that Emma was worth killing because she didn't reciprocate his feelings for her (though I've made the argument before that at this point in his arc, no one feels bad for Rick). Still, before the shooting, I genuinely believed that Rick was making an effort to be better, however poorly he went about demonstrating this. He still had a lot to learn, but he never once, since returning to Degrassi, said or believed that the students were overreacting to what he did to Terri last year. He never denied what he did. He knew he was in the wrong, which was why he was putting in the work to be right. Maybe a different school or juvenile hall would have been a better fit for this transformation, but I do believe that Rick was trying to be better. The fandom's perception of Rick's intentions has shifted throughout the years, but even so, I still find myself wishing that things turned out better for him. The whole story is just tragic all around because, despite what happened, there were many opportunities for this to have gone the other way. As I said before, this was the story the writers wanted to tell the audience. Rick wasn't meant to have a happy ending, but there were plenty of chances for him to get one. He sealed his fate the moment he thought it was justified to shoot his classmates. It's a tragedy that Rick had to lose his life, but he was a threat, and he needed to be stopped by any means necessary.

[jaxieus]

ive written this three times but tumblr keeps messing up and undoing all the writing i did :'(

but i wont let it discourage me! ive got a lot to say about the art i made even though its messy sketches on mspain(t) XD

i had been feeling burnt out and decided to draw comfort characters ( some that ive not drawn in a long time or have acknowledged but never drew before) and the carebears is a franchise thats been with me for so long i made a whole painting for class about it!

i made a list and with utter shock i realized that i basically bacame my owm worts enemy! the list grew so much (and is still growing :')) and i only drew a few characters so far

i know ill render these soon but the others will take a while

(but im really concerned about how im gonna tag this without being obnoxious 🥲)

i have like alot to say about these characters i drew because they mean so much to me and i never really could delve into them at school.

theres more i want to say and its under the cut! :D

so this is gonna get a lil personal but hopefully not too much to the point its boring ,:)

the first character i want to talk about is Ursula. i remember when i was younger being increadibly infatuated with her. i would draw her whenever i could. on chalkboards, the wall, i made paper cut-out of her and digitally drew her on ms paint! she was the first character that a had a desire to be close to in a way. a character albeit evil felt comforting and till this day make me tear up from how beautiful her design is! Ursula was the first female character i felt a strong aesthetic attraction to. (im just kinda a sucker for powerful women)

so i made sure to stay true to her design by keeping her body type and tentacles. basically just switching her hands and head to the carebears design (im still deciding whether or not to keep her hair)

second has to be Rosalina. she really made me accept and realize that i did have an attraction to the same sex ':) i loved playing as her in smash bros, listening/watching her story in galaxy. i never really 'got' the whole thing but reflecting and growing as a person did make me realize that not just fictional men look great but women too!

her design is based on the carebear cousins because the main thing was the mane! you dont really see a bear with a long loc covering its eye so having her different from the others i think gives good variety

third King Candy. oka y i recently feel back inlove with him! mostly because of @/ blackthewolf17's drawings of him!! and that made me rewatch the movie and wow! i remember liking his character a while back but i never really appreciated his as a villain! watching the movie and seeing the art made me remember the discussions i had with my fam about liking him and them not really understanding. (its kinda a running theme with a lot of the characters i like)

i wanted the characters the pop out and look recognizable. i kept the crown and collar. his belly badge is a paper covering his original badge! this one shows the crown and a few bits of candy. (leaning into the fact that he doesnt belong)

next is NME SalesGuy for Four. (such a clever name) this dude is literally a character that i was shocked by his stature! i mean what did i expect? falling for a dude that exudes tall energy but is literally a short king! this dude was there during some cool family times while watching right back at ya!

while looking for references, i found i cb comic and i loved how their legs looked. it wasnt bent like the originals on the cards and i thought they looked really goofy! so i went with that with the design becasue he just doesnt really fit with everyone elses stlye

fifth Rick Sanchez. man, this old man. has been with me through a lot. i saw a poster if the show before it premiered and two years after, i watched it and ive obsessed over him so much i made people watch Rick and Morty so i could talk with them about it. R&M really got me back onto tumblr because it was my entire personality since the show was at its peak and after. (old men tsk tsk) i made OCs Self inserts and played the mobile game. i literally memorized episodes to recite as i went to sleep. and analyzed frames of my fave episode to get better at animation!

i gave Rick clothes because i wanted him to have some flair. iconic elements of him is his tousled hair, coat and alcohol. (hes drinking 'happy juice')

Sixth is Coach Brunt. a girlboss of a villain! she took care of and orphan and made her feel like she was her own! shes determined, strong, fierce, fit, has a great voice, money, and kind. what more could a girl ask for?? this was another character that i had seen while watching CS with the fam. (still havent completed it tho)

i did break the rule and give her a tuft of hair also ':/ but i like her BB i gave her.

its a paw punching a heart (maybe too violent)

Seventh is Johan liebert. i really loved this dude. the series just made me think more about human nature and nurture. i met some cool people becasue of this dude. Johan in a way made me cope with the problems that happened in my life. he really was the character that i also found out i was ace+aro. i just loved drawing him. filling pages of my sketchbook and centering english papers based around him and the lessons i learned from seeing the bad in his character and how people might turnout to be similar and how it can be a problem. (idk if it made sense, but i learned to appreciate humanity more and not be so headstrong and become blinded by my views. but also learning that its good for people to know whats coming for the people that wronged you)

Johans BB is painted on white, so you wouldnt be able to see what he is all about :)

theres is so much already but eighth is Senpai. this Fker is my worst enemy, just like all the characters i drew soo much of this guy that i thought i was gonna go crazy, there was a pang in my chest when the drawings looked like trash. he was the character that made me want to get better at art and engage more with people. i made a fnf OC to be this dudes father. (it was some of the most wholesome thing i ever drew)

Senpai has a more basic design. he also has his identifying elements like the backpack and mic

ninth is Saul. my bbg. it started with the character but sadlt turned into a full obsession over Bob Odenkirk and finding all of his shows and movies that he directed of acted in. thankfully im not deep into it anymore. but when i regularly used instagram, you could see the decent into madness for him. i made animations and really detailed fanart. if Sen got me to draw my fave better, Bob made me attempt to perfect it.

his design sadly is my weakest. i wanted to add some fake hair on him. but im sure you can see that i got lazy. a few weeks ago i made versions of the BRBA&BCS cast as Geronimo Stilton characters and (sad excusee) but i didnt want to put more into the design because i became drained from looking at the growing list D;<

his BB is based on themis :)

tenth is Big Jack Horner. i love this man. i ironically said "he was the hottest character in the movie" on my third watch and man i actually believed it on the way out of the theatre. i wanted to see if anyone liked him like i did and to my surprise people did! this dude has such a great bod, voice, attitude and like many of the characters i like i ask, "is there any proof of death? i dont think so".

i havent drawn him in months and i dont like that i havents so he was the first bear i drew. his BB is a pie but i think ill add his insignia or have him draw on it like Oopsie bear to fit his situation.

like maybe something silly like a frowning face on his BB

im going to put eleven and twelve together because both play a similar role. my two men of science. ive only recently started to like Medic and Scudworth. these two bring such a great jot to me just like all to kooky men i like as well.

sadly, they both look the same, the only thing differentiating them is the glasses. i love their voices and design.

i ahve yet to give Scudsy his own BB tho.

last thing i want to say is why i chose carebears as the main style.

the franchise has been with me since i can even remember or at least before i could comprehend what it was. i remember seeining either oopsie or good luck bear plush at a carnival and i really wanted it but it was closing and i mean it was probably bigger than me so i couldnt get it and it became an obsession of mine! i loved green and a already had a few at home whats one more? so i tried to drop hints at my mom. well as good as a 5-7 yr old could do with drawings.

theres a lot more to say but i might go one for so long it wont fit here!

this was very long and if you read it thank you very much! im glad i got to comfortably speak my mind (well write it) in my own way that did have structure but felt more personal and less embarrassing that my english teacher asking me to write something about myself and my life. or my Art teacher saying i have the freedom to create something but then talk about it with in a time span because im not the only one that has something good to say about their art.

im not sure if all of it was understandable and might've been really unnecessary but im glad either way.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@themetropoliskonboy

"I didn’t realize how many people hated the Scarlet Witch until I first cosplayed her a few years ago when I was greeted all day by shouts of “killed any mutants today?” and “don’t go crazy.” I started to realize that many people only knew Wanda Maximoff as she’s existed in Avengers (mostly) comics for the past decade or so. Her characterization was spotty before then—John Byrne particularly put Wanda through the ringer many times—but she wasn’t so defined by her darker side.

Brian Michael Bendis wrote two stories back-to-back that built on early portrayals (by Byrne and others) that portrayed Wanda as unstable and dangerous to her teammates. The goal was to dismantle the Avengers and reduce the mutant population, and rather than come up with a villain or other problem the heroes could fight together, both groups were pitted against the Scarlet Witch. Wanda had a complicated relationship with both Avengers and X-Men, and these stories put her on the path that many women (she included) had trod before: she “went crazy” and brought down both teams. And then she disappeared and didn’t return to the Marvel landscape for almost a decade. After causing so much destruction, it’s easy to see why people dislike her, even if within both stories it was clear that she was let down or manipulated by the people closest to her.

Things didn’t get much better when she came back, particularly in Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers where she was often pitted against Rogue and came off as unapologetic and haughty. That haughtiness has often been part of her personality, but it can be difficult to get a read on her character since she has been written inconsistently over the years. Varying writer interpretations have made her harder to glom onto than more clearly-defined lady characters, like She-Hulk or Wasp (or, more recently, America Chavez and Kamala Khan). Her unclear power set doesn’t help either; writers often turned her into a conduit for evil magic (even Busiek, who generally wrote her well, fell into that trap), and it can feel like she’s evil as frequently as she’s good.

But with writers who care about her, she is amazing. Even in the old Avengers comics, Stan Lee (not the most empowering writer for ladies, to say the least) wrote her as someone with incredible power, although she had to learn to control it. There are common threads you can see through most of her depictions: she always cares deeply for her family (although her parentage has been changing constantly since her inception). She’s been through so much at the hands of male writers who didn’t know what to do with her, but she’s still trying to be a hero. The Scarlet Witch is compassionate, resilient, a bit hot-headed when someone she loves is challenged, initially unsure and later more confident in her abilities. Wanda Maximoff loves with her whole heart and fights with all her strength..

I hope that the movie and her new solo series have sparked some interest in her, but not too many comics have perfectly captured the Wanda that I know and love after combing through years and years of continuity. She is much, much more than “no more mutants.”

(Allison O’Toole, Women Write About Comics, Diamonds in the Rough: Our Problematic Faves, Who Coincidentally, Are Women)

[castle-dominion]

Half of one. 4x8 heartbreak hotel.

Castle??? Castle has been to this bar 20 years ago & is still kicked out my guess.

Poor depressed alexis. No murder teaser today The 80s are so right

Where is atlantic city? Heavy? oh gun Six Still aSleep Cylinder (Ooh ryan's outfit today hhh except the stripes, espt is wearing pyjamas again tho) Come on captions, let me hear The Gambler being quoted! CASTLE: Well, you gotta know when to hold ‘em. And know when to fold ‘em. ESPOSITO: Know when to walk away, and know when to run. At least the transcript has it [Lanie glares at Esposito.] LP: Detective Esposito, a little respect please? I mean, there is a dead body here. JE: What’d I do? [Lanie turns away with a saucy/annoyed tilt of her head.] RC: You broke up with her. JE: We broke up with each -other. That’s different. RC: Yeah, you think it’d be different, but no. JE: (to Beckett)What’d you tell him? KB: No, I told you I’m staying out of this one.

JE: Women. You sure you want to spend the rest of your life with one? KR: Uh, yeah. !! Mine likes me. RC: (chuckles) Ooh! Speaking of Atlantic City… perfect place for a bachelor party. KR: JE: Ooh, that’s what I’m talking about, bro. KR: JE: We could rent one of these right here, hit the casino, maybe the club. KR: Uh, I was thinking more along the lines of…camping trip. [Castle bursts out laughing, but Ryan looks serious.] RC: Oh, you were…oh. JE: Uh, first of all, no. Second, it’s not up to you. The bachelor party is strictly best man territory. And, by the way, your big date is what? Like, two months away? So, you need to officially tell the guy so that he can start planning something. KR: I still got some time. Um, I--I’m gonna go check on those cameras. [Ryan leaves.] JE: What the f--? Did you see that? He just sidestepped me. What’s that about? RC: It’s almost as though the thought of marriage fills him with an impending sense of doom. (chuckles) Oh, no, wait, that’s me. You know, having a best man is just So Gay. You're proposing to another man to be by your side at a wedding.

RS: We don’t really get along anymore. Me: Well yeah, that's why u got a divorce I'm beginning to remember this episode. There is some intense stuff & I don't understand it. Good thing I'm watching twice & care more about the characters than the mystery. I suddenly figured out why people like writing high school AUs.

Rick trails off as soon as gates looks at him

VG: Go to atlantic city. KR: *Checks his watch twice over* That's true, I thought she meant all the boys but then castle isn't one of the boys he's some tagalong but then she DID want him to go with them & it's good bc then she gets to see becks working w/o castle. She's going to be frustrated & angry without his comic relief & coffee taxiing.

[Castle stops the elevator from closing, he looks all silly & squished.] JE: What are you doing? RC: What does it look like? Did you think I was gonna pass up a road trip to the Boardwalk Empire? (Wow he really is 6'2") The east coast epicenter of dancing, gambling, showgirls, and sin? KR: You do realize we’re going there to investigate a murder, don’t you? RC: Gentlemen, *puts arms around them* JE: *looks at castle's arm around him in discomfort* RC: if I have learned one thing, it’s to not let a little thing like murder get in the way of having a good time. *espt shakes his head, ryan frowns* Oh, and also…shotgun.

Poor ryan, espt always drives & castle, the non-cop, somehow had them respect his call for shotgun "Love you bai!" He loves his daughter sm.

KR: Ah… I’m starting to understand why you ditched Beckett. A--and for the record, the one guy in this car who’s not a real cop is not allowed to call shotgun! RC: Called it fair and square. *KR shakes head* JE: Maybe Castle’s right. I mean, since we’re gonna be there, we might as well consider The Sapphire as a potential bachelor party venue. *smirks slightly to castle* RC: I’m so happy you said that, because there are a number of establishments down there that cater to bachelor party events. I think maybe we should take a little sampling. KR: No, no, no. We are not “sampling” any clubs. JE: What? *looks at him in the rear-view* Come on, bro. Why are you stallin’ us on this? KR: Look, Javier, (he doesn't tap the r, & pronounces it with three syllables instead of two) I— I… (sigh) I've got some bad news. I had to ask Jenny’s half-brother, Nelson, to be my best man. JE: *face falls* RC: *turns to look out the window* JE: Nelson? KR: *looking sadly down* JE: That guy I met at your birthday party? (I'd like to see that. Someone write a fanfic.) Sixteen with braces? Couldn’t stop talking about being a mathlete? KR: It was a family thing. I--I didn’t have a choice. JE: Yeah, you did. RC: No, actually, when it comes to weddings, uh, (chuckling) you don’t. Trust me, you do not want to start a marriage with a family feud. JE: RC: *looks back out the window* JE: This sucks. >:( KR: I know, JE: And I was gonna give you an awesome sendoff, bro. KR: Ugh, I know! RC: Well, boys, I’m sorry. I’m sorry it had to come to this. I didn’t want it to, but it looks like we have no choice. There is no other way. I.B.P.W.O.C. Me: what (also, we should start saying "wed" not "double-yu" RC: Impromptu Bachelor Party While On Case! *holds up for a high five which nobody takes*

I am quoting too much Nice music lol CASTLE: Ah…smell that? That is the smell of hopes, dreams, and endless opportunities. RYAN: Not to be confused with cigarette smoke, day drinking, and desperation.

Love her hair RC: Who's playing? KR: (poor guy looks so uncomfy)

Beckett is wearing PJs this time. Maybe she WAS dressing for castle like he says in s5

This tony fellow. Card counting is legal as long as you can remember it. Btw Dan Sullivan looks like a half-brother mathlete nelson Ryan: sitting straigh Espt: Sitting normal Castle: Standing Is that... slang for sexual favours? Or is it for good luck? Is the good luck smth you only ask your girl for?

Well that's loud, & also I love the little old lady there

LT, one of the two cops I know have names! Along with Velasquez I swear to god AND MY MOTHER I respect this guy.

rystlesito is great lol I know I'm trans & folk catholic but I want to try burlesque. RC: *excited* JE: *pleased* KR: *uncomfy* that is a LOT of cams

Castle: *grabs a chair & rolls over* What about me? DS: Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest in 2003 and, uh…wow. Apparently the last time you were at The Sapphire you accidentally set a mattress on fire and the drapes were covered in.. jam. KR: JE:

I love how gates is beckett's partner here *calls espt rather than ryan or castle* Love ryan's voice: No bloody lip yet. Let it play, please.

Ryan *casually puts hands in pockets, revealing his sexy waistcoat & badge* Haymaker not hook I think but idk He was On The Floor when that happened? CT: And now it’s today and my friend is dead and the money’s still gone. Oof

KB: ... Actually, that’s something that Castle’s pretty good at. VG: *eyebrow* KB: Taking a look at what we have and then helping to find that piece.

This gal looks like someone I know, a mix of several ppl I know. She also does not look like a SW but yk don't judge a book. RC: Well, what with mobile devices being so small and slim, perhaps he had it in his hand. KR: *gestures to castle meaning "yeah what he said"* Amber: His hands were otherwise occupied. RC: *waiting* Amber: KR: *squinting* JE: *looks at rystle* KR+RC: *faces immediately change* RC: OH. JE: *looks back to amber like "my friends are so dumb"* RC: OH, *laughing* I get it. THAT KIND OF MASSAGE. *looks her down*

Gates & beckett are talking to Ryan here. Castle is there too & espt is off somewhere else.

WOAH OK THAT WAS INSANE (also the way espt turns around with his arms out. so cut but the muzzle control is not making me happy)

Mum paused the show to tell us about the time she accidentally threw a party very similar to this. Mum was the goody two shoes kid like alexis & accidentally threw a party like alexis. She was also a wild child sometimes like castle & needs me to parent her, like castle.

CT seems like he is not the guy tbh. Love the music design there with them getting phsyically thrown out XD & the rolling & falling is so good. You can tell that they are actors but idc bc it is great

KB: (on cell) Okay, sit tight. I’m driving down. RC: (on speakerphone) No, no…! KR: (on speakerphone) Beckett, we-- you don’t have to do that. We have – JE: No! We’ve got-- no, we really-- RC: …we got it. KR: Yeah, she’s gone.

Poor alexis, accidentally started a party. Really is like my mom. Cut to RC: This is the worst Impromptu Bachelor Party While On Case ever. JE: This is humiliating. We’re homicide detectives with the NYPD. KR: Unfortunately, we’re in New Jersey. At least we’re not on a ticking clock because a woman’s been kidnapped. *hits espt on chest* Oh! Wait. *espt looks at where ryan touched him* We are. There’s got to be some other way we can get in. *Castle sees a bellhop push some costumes into the casino, leans way over, & smirks.* I HAVE SEEN IMAGES FROM THIS & I AM SO EXCITED. Except facial recognition measures the points between your face doesn't it? distance between the eyes? eye to the tip of the nose?

I need to stop I need to not I can't do this this is too good i will die i have work in an hour (well what I mean is I need to leave for work in an hour & a third & then I actually start my shift in nearly 3 hours but it is not a short bus ride & I need to be there early enough to change but that means I need to take the earlier bus instead of the bus that gets me there only 5 minutes on-time rather than 15 minutes early ugh I forgot to take my anti-depressants yesterday & so I'm hella angry rn. I don't like having a job. The horrors. Maybe if it was an easier commute, I didn't have to iron clothes, & it was JUST line cooking, no prep, or JUST prep & no line cooking, & I actually understood what I was doing, & I didn't have to take a long bus ride in the heat, & I actually passed for male, & I understood whom I'm supposed to confirm my breaks with, & I only had to work 5 hours instead of anything more like the horrific 8, I would be ok. But sadly that is not the case. I should take my anti-anxieties.)

Ok I pressed play & it only lasted for a few seconds. I love the way the two of them are wearing the same outfit but castle in the middle is not. Also daaaang I love seeing ryan's I-have-hip-problems walk with that shirt undone so far, & then even castle's walk is good, & tbh espt is doing p good himself. Can you believe I went through a phase I thought I was a lesbian?

[The boys enter the casino as Elvis impersonators. Castle passes a showgirl and they catch each other's eye. She inspects his outfit.] SHOWGIRL: Very nice. RC: (Elvis voice) Thank you. Thank you very much. [Castle turns back around.] JE: How do you know she wasn’t talking to me? RC: (chuckles) Well… [Castle indicates his costume.] JE: What? Elvis can’t be brown? I’m Elvez. (XD XD XD I LOVE IT F YEAH NATIVE BOY) [Esposito turns around and struts off. He nods to some strangers nearby.] JE: Hey! How you doing? [The boys pass security personelle.]

I need a fic of castle pitching the idea now

In some way I'm all for holding 10mil hostage to get out of sleeping with him. [The bouncers find them.] JE: Oh, hey, guys. Uh, we were just leaving. KR: This isn’t the ballroom. Huh. [Ryan and Esposito exit, but the bouncers stop Castle from leaving.] This is the 16 hours previous, isn't it? It might have been 6am, now it is midnight, that's 16 hours. Long day of work huh. You know, legally you can only have someone work up to 16 hours & not longer than that.

Oh no the piano Oh no the gizmos too! Castle would be mad but proud. AC: Now everybody: OUT! Cut to rysposito getting thrown out KR: Really? JE: Really? If it wasn’t illegal I’d kick your ass. (tho I can't tell if espt said both "really"s or if one was from each like the transcript claims.)

Love how castle is just letting his feet hang yk it took me a second in the beginning to realize it was castle. The cutting for the intro was, interesting Wait illuminati? I like the card playing analogies.

Beckett: *walking out* *stops when she sees her boys looking like elvis & elvez* [Beckett arrives to find Ryan and Esposito in their Elvis costumes.] JE: Oh… KR: Um… funny story? KB: JE: We, uh… Look, this is… We can explain. KB: No, I’m not even sure I want to know. KR+JE: It was Castle’s idea. [Castle exits the casino.] RC: And it worked. I know who killed Sam. All three: Who?

Love the way ryan points that little sneer castle does lol

Oh thank goodness they are back to normal. I really like dan. You said you'd let her go. & just stares down the mobster. *leaves the laptop up* That was ryan not charlie... TM: Come on. If I killed Sam, you’d think you would ever have found the body? The guy you’re looking for ain’t me. He's right He's right again, u can't get money from a dead guy He forged her signature. When her laawyer found out the layer killed sam.

Oh yay back in NY, finally they got some sleep.

Oh wait I was wrong it was not a forgery or a lawyer. Girl u should have burned it. RS: So, when he told me that someone wanted him dead, I thought, “Here’s my chance.” Wait americans can just do that? Don't you need a license to own a gun? You need a license to carry & a license for concealed carry, right? Gosh that's scary. We should get rid of guns. If you want to fight someone, do it right.

I like gates. I like her jelly beans VG: You mean Castle. KB: You said it, not me. [Beckett takes some candy.] VG: He’s not a cop. KB: Yeah, but that’s what makes him so good. VG: (scoffs)Well, speaking of which, where are they? KB: I gave them the afternoon off. Apparently, Ryan got stuck with an underage best man, so the boys are giving him the unofficial bachelor party. VG: I trust you’ll edit their side of the investigation in the report.

Poor alexis, but I love the music Took castle a long time to open the door. Becks gave them the afternoon off tho, why is he back so early? & why does he seem SO hungover? RC: Where’s the, um… where’s the little silver dog statue that’s usually on the back of the couch? AC: Oh, I think Gram said she needed it for set dressing for her play. casually blames gram XD Alexis should have also leaned her head back on the couch like rick. Would have been a good ending.

So I have to go to work in half an hour & I want to punch smth. I'm usually fine once I get there but it's just... starting out is difficult. I can feel my face getting red as I type this from the anxiety. idk what to do for the first part of my shift. idk who to talk to. idk where to get instruction from. The sous chef & the chef are both busy af so I shouldn't talk to them but idk who the shift leader is. I hate doing prep when idk what I'm doing, I hate the cramped space there, I wish I was skinny not necessarily for aesthetic purposes but for mobility purposes. I wish I had a better memory I wish I had better communication I wish we had a 4 hour work day with a four day work week. Except that's full-time, I wish I personally got a 3 day work week. Edit: I'm content with my two day work week. I might be happier with a 3 day work week if I didn't have 8h shifts

So wish me luck. I love you all. I'll be sure to work on my fanfics on the bus ride there.

[whitehotharlots]

The juvenilization of culture

I thought Everything Everywhere All at Once was good: excellent performances, solid action, and most of the gags landed. But it wasn’t perfect. More like a solid 7 out of 10. The pacing was shitty, and it didn’t come close to realizing its ambitions--the heavy handedness of its family parable was just too much to overcome. Also, I’m sorry, but sooner or later we’re gonna have to admit that the multiverse conceit is just lazy storytelling.

But then reading pieces about it, it seemed as if I was living on a different planet than everyone else who felt compelled to write about the film. What I perceived as a blunt and childish thematic premise--the disconnect of mother and daughter--others thought of as a nuanced triumph that affirmed their very existence. The multiverse angle, the narrow creative boundaries of which were sadly delimited by the first season of Rick and Morty, was being discussed as some kind of fantastical breakthrough in narrative presentation. 

This wasn't just a movie, I was told. It was a generational experience. A "validation" of the lived realities of Asian people, who have apparently never been represented in film before even though literally tens of thousands of movies have come out of China, Korea, and Hong Kong, many of which have received effusive praise from American critics.

I remembered a time when I was with a female friend, who was a nice person with decent taste but was nonetheless prone to the hyperboles of contemporary feminism. She once bemoaned the fact that there were "literally no movies made by women."

This, I felt, was maybe not quite offensive, but it certainly did contradict the usual proto-woke concerns regarding the "erasure" of non-white and non-male artists. I conceded that yes, of course, male filmmakers have been the norm throughout the medium's history, and this reality has certainly limited film's purview. But there have been many great women filmmakers. Agnes Varda was a pioneer of the French new wave, and her later life documentaries are sheer poetry. Kathryn Bigelow's politics are shit, yes, but few would deny she's a master craftswoman of the action genre. Kelly Reichard is one of the most consistent American filmmakers of the 21st century. And then, my favorite, Claire Denis: probably the best living European filmmaker, the only director who ever managed to ape Terrence Malick's style without being overwhelmed in comparison to her predecessor.

My friend's response? Word-for-word, verbatim: "those don't count."

What she meant was, sure, maybe there have been some women filmmakers who have achieved artistic triumphs and found appreciation and success. But those don't matter because they weren't making films that catered specifically to my tastes, my politics, and my self-understanding. Until all those criteria are met, frequently and with fanfare, I shall still be an oppressed victim, forced to conform to the gaze of evil men.

And so that's how we wind up with an above-average action/fantasy film being considered an unparalleled triumph. This very particular form of "validation" is an acceptable excuse for what the wokes call "erasure." That's why it's okay to pretend that Asian cinema has heretofore barely existed, and that issues of generational disconnects have never really been explored... not because they haven't, but because past attempts had enough depth and nuance that they would probably not be perceived and appreciated by an average 12-year-old, and therefore simply did not count. 

[thesoftboiledegg]

The dichotomy of Rick and Morty and Rick Sanchez in particular fascinates me because I've never seen a show with such a wide gulf between the first season and the current one (season 5 at the time of writing this.) A lot of shows change as they go on: they explore different themes, develop characters and shed flaws from the earlier episodes. But Rick and Morty doesn't just change--it adapts a completely new interpretation.

Season 1 embodies Reddit's cold masculinity while season 5 leans toward Tumblr's hyper-femininity. (I realize that Reddit has attracted a more balanced audience in recent years, but--speaking generally.) When I think of the series, I imagine a slider that starts at the original target audience: nihilistic atheist tech bros. As the show goes on, it slooowly slides toward female and LGBT fans and then accelerates in season 5.

There's no way this was planned from the start, either. The dudebro-iness in season 1 is 100% sincere. No way the writers were thinking "Oh boy, let's create this character who's the embodiment of toxic masculinity with no sense of irony, bumble along with that for a while, then abruptly knock his OG fans on their asses several years later!"

I didn't join the fandom until season 4, but I've seen the old posts from seasons 1-3. From the beginning, we've been drawing Rick in female/androgynous outfits, speculating about his trauma, shipping him with Bird Person, theorizing about his vulnerabilities that he doesn't show on-screen, and portraying him as someone who ultimately loves his family members despite his faults--although some of us (including me) were starting to give up on that one before season 5 aired.

Most of that isn't present in the first three seasons--like Metalocalypse fans who draw Toki in cute dresses (which I love), we were searching for subtext that barely existed or didn't exist at all. Unfortunately, as women and LGBT people, we don't have much of a choice with straight male-oriented media.

Aaaand then season 5 came along and turned Rick's character inside out. Suddenly, most of our interpretations are actually correct. And the show doesn't just introduce new ideas--it retroactively changes the entire series so that Rick the Elon Musk-fanboy avatar never existed. He was full of shit the entire time. Good luck using Rick as your self-insert male power fantasy now.

To cap it all off, we've got Rick confessing his love for Bird Person and dressing up as an anime witch with two-inch heels. That's like if the upcoming Metalocalypse movie has Toki admitting his love for Skwisgaar and running around in a Lolita dress. Which would be awesome, but it ain't gonna happen.

Basically--to me, at least--seasons 1-3 are a masculine interpretation of Rick's character while season 5 is distinctly female. (Season 4 is about midway.)

Anyway, I might be getting ahead of myself because we don't know what's going to happen in the next 5 seasons, but I'm fascinated to see if Rick and Morty continues down this path. Male-oriented shows (Rick and Morty, Superjail!, Metalocalypse) often end up with a female and LGBT fanbase. Most shows don't acknowledge us much, but Rick and Morty is the one show that's actually reaching out to us halfway.

[darling-i-read-it]

HCs for being in a poly relationship with Rick and Harley

Rick Flag x fem!reader x Harley Quinn

Warnings: nsfw

Requested: by anon, honestly if u could write some hcs on being in a poly relationship w/ rick and harley that would be the best thing ever 😩❤️ (they don’t have to contain nsfw unless u want)

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

Author’s Note: I had to add nsfw cause THEM. I included some from this fabulous anon and this one were too amazing to not add. I hope you enjoy!

- Rick never thought he would be in a relationship with you and Harley Quinn

- respectively, you and Harley didn’t think it would happen either but you were much more willing to be lax

- Harley fell for you first

- while she was doing that, you were falling for Rick

- while that was happening, Rick was trying to run a team and he was failing miserably

- now that Harley was back in jail she was finally able to see y o u which made her excited

- and the two of you were constantly under Rick’s gaze because of how often you worked with him

- you and Harley kind of figured you were never going to make it out of prison for at least a couple years so you may as well make it fun

- you confined in Harley about your feelings for Rick

- her heart dropped a bit as she looked intently at Rick Flag, trying to figure out what it was he had that she didn’t (other than the obvious) and realized that he was….kinda hot

- a plan quickly formed in her head

- after mulling it over for all of three seconds she asked what you thought of threesomes

- you laughed dryly and shrugged

- you’d try anything once

- ‘How about me and Flag?’

- you choked on your own spit at first and then you were silent for a whole thirty seconds

- Harley leaned back in her seat

- that was all she needed to hear

- of course she had to see where Rick was about that but she could figure that out later

- once the three of you had your whole relationship understood (knowing you had to keep it under wraps) it actually worked better than you all imagined it would

- of course you had to completely hide it from Waller

- which meant lots of kisses while holding Rick’s radio above his head

- he was taller than both of you and he could grab it he just chose to let you both win every once in a while

- him constantly asking Waller to have the two of you on the same mission

- Waller thinking maybe it was you and Rick, maybe it was Harley and Rick...but she was never able to pinpoint it

- there were bets going

- Rick grew fiercely protective of both of you

- as though you weren’t like...two of the most powerful women in Gotham ???

- but regardless, the man with a gun thought he could always keep you protected

- Harley liked to pretend it was just you and Rick who were dating by teasing you about touching, hand holding whatever

- and then would promptly holds both your hands and kisses you so her make up is all over her face

- despite the oddness of your relationship Harley finally feels like she has stability

- she has two people who really care about her

- sometimes she’ll dramatically sob in your arms about how much she loves you and Rick

- sometimes you’ll sob back

- Waller will find you sobbing together, blubbering about how she needs to send Rick Flag in immediately

- he shows up, both his girls sobbing and he thinks the worst but all that comes out is a bunch of I love you’s and then turning to harley and harley turning to you and telling you that you love each other

- it is a WONDER Waller hasn’t figured you out yet

- lots of badassery

- tossing weapons to each other, fighting villains and finishing them off together

- always being the only three to survive a fight

- everyone bets on you surviving

- really a dramatic loving each other till the end

- covered in blood, Harley laughing wildly and kissing her and then turning to kiss Rick while you had the chance

- you have a house the second you both get out of prison

- Rick’s just gonna need to realize he has two new interior decorating girlfriends on his hands

NSFW:

- good lord

- sex with Rick is great

- sex with Harley is great

- and then putting it all together ?????!!!!!

- Harley’s such a brat but she knows how to command a room

- even Rick sometimes

- she’ll have him sitting on his knees and looking up at her with lustful eyes in an instant

- and we all know her strap game is off the charts

- you can be that way too and Rick fucking lets you cause it’s hot as fuck

- though he has his perks too

- he’s jealous as all hell and even someone chatting with either of you can make him wanna take you away to a closed off room

- he likes to feel like he’s in control

- he throws out lots of commands

- (Harley often makes fun of him when he gives you two commands in actual missions now too)

- he likes to wrap his fingers around your necks when you’re being brats, looking down at you while he fucks you

- Harley rides your face while Rick fucks you

- he likes to punish the two of you

- that’s something Harley will never get Rick to do; accept punishment

- sitting on Ricks face while Harley rides him, making out with Harley

- edging on his thighs

- the real wonder is how tf Waller hasn’t seen the sexual tension that’s always between the three of you

DC Tag List: @karasong

I’m sorry you’re being spammed lately kara lol you can tell me to stop if you want 🙏

[green-socks]

Through His Eyes

Pairing: Rick Flag x (plus size)F!reader

Summary: You're feeling insecure about the way you look, but Rick is having none of that.

Words: ~1050

Warnings: insecurity, reader feeling bad about her body, some suggestive stuff at the end, me writing a new character

Notes: This got kicked off by a request from @lacontroller1991 but turned out very self-indulgent too lol. Hope you still like it! I put the 'plus size' in parentheses because the request was for that, but I feel like this doesn't focus on that aspect that much. I've been feeling a bit down lately so I let that fly a little, sorry for the wallowing :D

And to my usual tagged people: idk how you feel about colonel flag so you can totally ignore this!!

MASTERLIST

You have been feeling a little insecure for a few weeks now. These things came and went, you knew that, but this time it was lasting a bit longer. Usually you felt pretty good about yourself, but for a while now it was like all you could see were the flaws. It wasn’t a constant thought, just something that got you a little down sometimes when something prompted the feeling.

Like today, when your friend had taken a picture of you without you knowing, and you had just felt so ugly in it. They tried to tell you that you looked fine, but somehow you only saw something absolutely hideous - how did your boyfriend even stand to look at you every day if that’s how you look? And then when you got home and went to take a shower, you passed a mirror, which you normally barely even register, but this time it made you stop to stare at your reflection, disgust churning in your gut. You felt that you weren’t sexy like other women, you weren’t beautiful like other women. You knew it didn’t always feel like this; sometimes you looked at your reflection thinking damnn, nice. But at that moment it was hard to remember what it was that had made you compliment yourself before.

You kept going back to the photo your friend had taken, too stubborn to ask them to take it down, but it made you feel horrible. You sat on your bedroom floor with tears in your eyes, looking at the photo and thinking that if you stare at it long enough you would come to accept the ugliness you felt and live with it.

-

All those thoughts weigh heavy on your mind the rest of the evening as you’re getting ready for date night, and Rick notices your mood, of course.

“Sweetheart, is there something wrong?” he asks, looking at you a little worried.

“Not really. It’s stupid.”

“But somethin’ is botherin’ you?” he persists.

“I just- Won’t I look ugly in this? It probably doesn’t even fit,” you say, showing him the dress you were thinking of wearing that night.

“Well, it’s hard to tell until you put it on,” he points out. “But you could never look ugly, darlin’.”

“But what about my tummy? It just looks awful in everything. And my arms are too big! And I don’t think I even look feminine enough to pull this off, I don’t have the sexy body, and look at my hips, too - they just look weird,” you ramble on, facing the mirror in your closet door, pointing out different parts of yourself and telling him what was wrong with each of them.

“Sweetheart, I’m gonna stop you now. There is nothing wrong with you. You don’t actually realize how perfect you are, do you?” he asks, getting up to come stand behind you.

“This “weird” part you pointed out? That’s because you have muscle there, and that just proves you’ve worked hard. I love seeing how strong your body is. And then about not looking feminine enough? What even is that? Look at yourself, honey. You are nothin’ but soft womanly curves everywhere,” he says firmly but gently.

You’re starting to tear up from his words, thinking how amazing it is that this incredible man thinks that way about you.

“You complain about your tummy? That’s just another soft curve of yours that I love. To me you are the whole package, everything I’ve ever wanted.”

You’re fully crying now, but smiling shyly, amazed at how different you look through Rick’s eyes. Maybe he has a point.

You turn around to wrap your arms around him, sniffling into his shirt, “Thank you, baby.”

He kisses your temple, stroking your back soothingly with his broad palms.

You know you’ll get these thoughts from time to time - everyone does, insecurities are a normal part of being human. But you hope you’ll remember Rick’s words next time you feel that way.

“Do you still feel like going out?” Rick asks softly.

“Yeah, we can go,” you nod.

“Go on then, show me the dress,” he urges.

You put it on but have to ask Rick for help to zip it up. The dress really is very pretty, and you remember thinking of Rick when you bought it, hoping he would like it. Once you have the dress on, you give a shy twirl in front of him, asking for his opinion (not quite trusting your own judgement of the mirror yet).

Rick makes a sound, something between a moan and a groan. “Damn, honey, you look.. real fuckin’ good.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that because of my meltdown earlier?” you ask, grimacing slightly.

“No, I’m not just sayin’ that,” he assures you, but doesn’t lift his gaze to meet your eyes, too busy letting his eyes roam all over your body.

You feel yourself get hot under the stare of his intense hazel eyes, but you know those eyes aren’t judging you for the faults you yourself see - they’re appreciating the shit out of every part of you.

“C’mon Rick, it isn’t that good,” you say, feeling flustered but pleased.

“Oh yeah?” He moves to stand behind you, grabbing your hips and pulling you flush against him - and his erection.

“Feel that?” he asks, pushing his hips against you. “Still think I’m exaggeratin’?”

Your head feels fuzzy, and you can only shake your head a little.

“You don’t believe you make me want to rip this dress off you right now? You don’t believe you drive me crazy every damn day with the way you look?” he growls softly in your ear, nipping your earlobe between his teeth.

“I- I believe you, Rick,” you whisper, your breath picking up.

He cups your breasts in his hands, slowly starting to peel the dress off you.

“Weren’t we supposed to be leaving soon?” you pant, leaning your head against his broad chest, giving him better access.

“We can eat later, right now I wanna get you out of this dress and show you how much I love your body,” he murmurs, leading you to the bed.

--------------------------------------------------

tagsies: @writeforfandoms @starlightmornings @lorecraft @niki-xie @salome-c @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @mylovelycomandante @knivesareout

[furuyalover]

really specific hobbies i think jjk characters have

— ft. various jjk characters

warnings: swearing and me being right 😪

AN: 100% canon bc i said so. ALSO HALF OF THESE ARE BASED ON THINGS I DO HELPAJF

YUUJI: plays just dance religiously. practically daily. has every single game since 2009, and his favorite one is just dance 2011 because obviously. also makes everyone play just dance with him and gets mad at megumi for having no energy.

MEGUMI: does crosswords all the time.... brags about his new york times crossword subscription, and how he can do all the complex puzzles... i know he lives in japan and not america but bear with me also there’s a corner in with room with a stack of crossword books. they’re all finished. i’m convinced this is an addiction.

NOBARA: archive fashion. i just KNOW she follows a fuck ton of archive fashion blogs and accounts, and has the BEST pieces. also has such diverse taste like from vivienne westwood, to jun takahashi, to rick owens, etc.

GOJO: playing chess and sucking ass. started because he wanted to seem smart and impress women but turns out.... he’s so bad. hes spent so much time learning how to play, yet he uses no strategies at all... won against nanami ONCE though and will never let him hear the end of it

NANAMI: beating gojo in chess. also i feel like nanami is really into art history... like he knows way too much about art and no one realizes because he’s just keeping all this knowledge inside him until someone goes to a museum with him

GETOU: bullying gojo. as accurate as that is thats not his actual hobby, but instead it’s analyzing mitski lyrics. no further explanation.

TOGE: making memes.... OK HEAR ME OUT the boy can’t talk without ripping a hole in the space time continuum or some shit, so he expresses himself with memes 😭 AND I JUST KNOW HE MAKES MEMES ABOUT HIS CLASSMATES AND GOJO

MAKI: writing a diss track about the zenin clan and reading jane austen books. MAKI LOVES JANE AUSTEN I WILL TAKE ZERO CRITICISM !! also commenting “L,” “ratio,” and “mid” on people’s posts learned this from nobara...

YUUTA: i can’t explain why.... but yuuta gives me hardcore pokemon go player vibes...he’s 100% been playing since it came out and refuses to quit. he’s also played almost every pokemon game on his switch and ds... this just makes so much sense to me.

CHOSO: SPORTS. any of them. doesn’t matter because he’s good at all of them and looks good doing it too. he’s also a little too good and sports video games... especially wii sports whooped yuujis ass in wii baseball

JUNPEI: does movie reviews except he calls them “films” because a pretentious little shit. has a yt channel for this and occasionally invites yuuji to feature in a video

SHOKO: binge watching. anything. sometimes it’s for background noise, other times it’s a show she’s really into and will invite her friends to this marathon that’ll go on all night... uses this as an excuse to drink

UTAHIME: similar to choso, sports! she’s really good at everything but she prefers watching to playing sports. since she’s well versed in a lot of sports + pays attention to all the teams she uses this to gamble... also convinced mei mei to give her gambling money by saying she’ll give her 50%...

MAI: i just know mai is artistic as fuck and can probably draw really well, but i have a feeling she uses these talents for vandalism.... she goes from graffiti tagging to little mini murals making fun of todo, and has yet to be caught maki thinks her murals are really funny though

MIWA: photography!!! miwa first just took photos of things she thought looked nice but then she just got infatuated with photography and taking unique photos! even though she’s a photography snob she cherishes her chaotic iphone selfies with her friends and gojo the most

NISHIMIYA: thrifting + gardening!! she gives a gardener vibe but she’s more into it for the cute pots and gardening accessories, this is where the thrifting comes in! invites mai & miwa to thrift w her so she has an excuse to hangout w them

KAMO: I JUST READ HIS WIKI AND IT SAYS HIS HOBBY IS STUDYING... kamo sweetie i love you, but no. your record is vinyl collecting now. it just makes sense to me and you can listen to them while you study ig....

MECHAMARU: computer science. “oh you’re just saying that because he controls a robot” OK AND ?? bro just programmed all the robots abilities and he taught miwa how to code too <3 ik this is probably so off but let me have this i wanted an excuse to write about him and miwa.

TODO: making off beat edits of takada and running a very successful fan page for her as well. ALSO HANGING OUT WITH BESTIE YUUJI 🙏🙏

SUKUNA: killing people ??? idk man

[beardedmrbean]

Complaints from some progressive Democrats about the much-heralded Respect for Marriage Act are on the rise, as they realize that the legislation often labeled in the press as the "same-sex marriage" bill would not actually require states to recognize same-sex marriages.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lauded the legislation as a "momentous step forward for greater justice for LGBTQ Americans." But complaints from the far left started surfacing as the Senate passed the bill last week.

Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, who is gay, said in a column that he supports the bill but admitted that the more closely he looks at it, "the more my joy diminishes."

"What the act does not do is require states to issue marriage licenses in contravention of state law," he wrote.

SENATE PASSES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL WITH BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

Charlotte Clymer, former press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQ activist, put it more sharply in a blog post. "I hate the Senate bill and we need it to pass it," she said, adding that "it sucks" and "it's our only real option."

Democrats in Congress whipped up the bill after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurring opinion in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. There, he said that in light of the decision to let states decide abortion, the court should also "reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents," including the Obergefell v. Hodges case that took same-sex marriage out of the hands of states and said it is a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

RICK SCOTT DEFENDS RELEASING 'RESCUE AMERICA' PLAN AHEAD OF MIDTERMS: 'I DON'T REGRET IT ONE BIT'

No other justices joined Thomas. But that opinion became a major campaign issue for Democrats and spurred lawmakers of both parties to write legislation aimed at requiring states to recognize same-sex marriage, in case the Obergefell precedent fell.

But if the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) passes, it would not go so far as to require states to permit same-sex marriages, which is what has some progressives disappointed. Instead, it would require the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal.

The act would also require states to recognize same-sex marriages in other states for the purpose of distributing benefits, and wouldn't let them interfere with the federal recognition of those marriages. But otherwise, each state would still be able to define marriage as they see fit, and would not be required to issue licenses or permits for same-sex marriages that take place in their state.

Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told Fox News Digital that the passage of RMA is about "political realism," and that both sides had to cede some ground in order to turn the language into law. Schultz noted that the bill doesn’t go as far as banning states from making gay-marriage illegal, and includes an amendment by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., aimed at protecting religious liberty.

GOP SENATORS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER SPIKE IN MIGRANT CASES DISMISSED BY COURTS AS DOCS NOT FILED IN TIME

"The interest groups on the left I think are begrudgingly admitting that these religious protections had to be in the bill to pass," Schultz said. "Some of them are saying that’s an affirmative good. Others are saying, ‘Well, I guess this is what you have to do to attract Republicans.’ I’m not saying they feel religious liberty in their soul."

"I think that this is actually a big political deal," Schultz added. "I think that legally the RMA is not a huge deal. And I think that's why people are hyperventilating for no good reason."

"But I think like politically it's a very big deal. Because I think it shows that there is a kind of center that wants to get things done on this issue."

Schultz says the overturning of Obergefell is a "very unlikely scenario."

[ghost0loxer]

Imagine, a gender fluid teenager like myself has a favourite/feel-good film and that film is “Just One of the Guys,”from the mid 80s.

Picture this: theatre class, we watch “She’s The Man”, a dreamworks film from the 2000s. And yet, the social justice issues within the film are glaringly obvious to today’s society. Don’t get me wrong, it can be a funny film in a group setting - but then there are scenes that are just uncomfortable. Now, we discussed these themes in class, but I just can’t help but think about the film that came before it. Yes, StM (she’s the mans) is a modern day adaption of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” but I was thinking about the modern day adaption before StM, “Just One of the Guys” from the mid 80s.

I love this film. For multiple reasons, which I hope to discuss.

Number one, our main character. Terry Griffith is stubborn. If she thinks something is right, she won’t let anyone say no or get in her way. Now in some cases, this is great. It’s definitely a shift in the usual romantic comedy female lead (especially for the 80s). But it’s one of her biggest flaws. In the beginning, Terry doesn’t win a contest for a part-time job at the Sun Tribune. She believes her article was amazing, but she speaks with her English teacher and he gives it to her straight. “You don’t have what it takes to be a reporter.” Her article is boring; it’s about the nutritional value of the lunch menu in the school cafeteria, of course it’s boring. But the words her teacher tells her has her convinced it’s because she’s a woman. Thus, she leaves school for two weeks and transfers as a buy to another school who are holding the same competition. Once she gives her article, she is told almost the same thing, but this time, she’s given proper feedback to improve it. Of course, there was some irony with this scene between Terry and the teacher. “Just because you’re guy, doesn’t mean you can’t be sensitive or light.” Thing is, she doesn’t give up, she strives to fix it and finds a new angle. I love her determination, I love the way she doesn’t let others push her around. Furthermore, her transition to a man. In StM, Viola as a guy is made to be cringey and comedic, you watch and think, there’s no way a guy would do that. But Terry, having grown up with a younger brother and is actually smart, manages to nail the role. Sure, she has slip-ups, but she stays afloat and she’s not being over the top. She’s chill and convincing, yet you as the audience can tell she’s trying to appear masculine. Her lines are witty and she’s sharp. Someone has something to say, she’ll be able to backtrack and answer with a joke or sarcasm quickly. I like smart characters.

Another point, the way women are written in this film. A lot of women in this film are treated like shit, but it’s probably a realistic depiction of the 80s. Everyone is talking about dating and sex, it seems to be the only topic the women in this film speak about, unless they are Terry. Terry seems to be the only character in this film whose main goal is not romance or sex. She strives to be a reporter, she wants to prove herself, and she rejects the advances upon her frequently. Whether it’s the boys asking her on dates in halls, or her own boyfriend attempting to seduce her when her parents aren’t home, she doesn’t put them above herself, yet she still lets them down easily, unless they become more pushy (case in point, her boyfriend, Kevin, in the beginning). She can stand up for herself, but she’s not the only one. Her best friend, Denise is one of the many women looking for love, nevertheless, she holds standards. I will admit, I didn’t like Denise’s acting in the beginning; she’s not a great character, but even she manages to reject men’s advances constantly. She’s not afraid to say it bluntly and she expresses her true emotions when certain guys try to ask her out. She tells it to them straight, and I respect her for that (despite her lack of empathy for some). Terry’s brother is constantly hitting on Denise, but she stands her ground. She doesn’t hit him or curse him out, she spins words around him and always lead back to the key word “no.”

This is my third, and maybe final point, (because I’m not great at writing but I’m starting to get tired) the way they handle sexual orientation. It seems if you’re going to make a film about a cross-dressing woman who falls in love with a man, you have to discuss sexuality and this film is not afraid to. That was my biggest beef with StM, when Viola confessed her love to Duke, the made it blatantly clear that it was “weird” and “unusual”; the editing and music cuts. It was done for comedic purposes, but in that moment, it just made me cringe. Even when the principal marched onto the field during the big match to expose Sebastian as “the woman he was all along,” he used a big megaphone and said to the whole crowd this man is in fact a girl. If it were to happen in the real world, and this character was a trans male, that would be traumatizing and so so insensitive. I couldn’t help thinking the way they handled the reveal in StM was poor and shitty.

But with JOotG (just one of the guys)? It’s done respectfully. Throughout the film, Buddy, Terry’s younger, sex-obsessed brother (I have thoughts on this character), often refers to Terry as a transvestite or sexually confused. They make references about her dating other women and jokes. It’s not treated like taboo, but just something people normally talk about, and as a questioning kid when I first watched the film, I really needed that. Although it was used for jokes, the fact that it wasn’t treated like a silent topic made me think more of it and discover who I was; it was media like this that made me accept myself.

Even with the reveal. Kevin, Terry’s boyfriend (or ex boyfriend by the end), stomps up to Terry after she’s wrestled with the school bully and was dumped into the waves at prom. Rick, who’s been Terry’s friend (and is the male lead) throughout her time at his high school, immediately questions who Kevin is and he responds with a harsh and sure “Terry’s boyfriend.” Of course, that doesn’t expose Terry as female, but makes Rick assume she’s a homosexual. But instead of calling her weird or replying negatively, he answers Kevin’s question calmly and says he’s just a friend. There is no prejudice, no disgust, Rick is shocked, but that’s expected. Furthermore, this reveal not only does not alienate homosexuality, it puts the center of focus on the main characters rather than have the whole audience/prom witness this exchange. Sure, the rest of the school is watching but the camera never pans over to them, and even then, Terry drags Rick away from the crowds to a secluded area to explain more.

Even once they’re secluded, Rick doesn’t yell at her or is homophobic. He just says “I understand, you’re gay.” As we know, Terry is not in fact gay and she reveals this to him in a similar fashion as StM, at least it’s not flashing a whole crowd. But the thing that hits me, is the fact that it’s not used as a joke or for comedy. Throughout the film, they’ve mentioned homosexuality and being transgender, but it was used as a light-hearted joke (nothing insulting or derogatory). In this moment, it’s not a joke, and it’s the bare minimum for a emotional scene like this, but it always hits me.

Of course, Rick gets justifiably mad that he’s been deceived and he storms off. Terry’s flaw catches up to her here, as she kisses him in front of the prom guests, stubborn to make him realize how much she cares. ( I didn’t agree with this action to be frank, I cringed ). The crowd gasps and it’s the usual reaction to a homosexual kiss and Rick just pulls back, says “It’s alright everyone, he’s got tits,” and leaves with Deborah.

In true romantic comedy fashion, life moves on. Terry gets the job at the Sun-Tribune after writing her article about posing as a guy and everyone who was longing for love in the beginning has found it, except Terry. The ending, however, is Rick coming back for her after a couple (days? Weeks? Idk all I know is it’s summer by the time he comes back, how much space between prom and summer?) and they kiss, go on a date and all is good.

Now after writing this long ass post, I’ve come to realize the main reason I like this film. Sure, Terry is a good character (not morally sometimes, but she’s interesting to watch), the way women are presented also is good, but my main source of affection for this film (in comparison to StM) is the way they handle the switching of genders. I’m gender fluid, I don’t always like being a woman or a man, I switch almost daily and half the time can’t decide if I want to grow out my hair or cut it. Seeing Terry, originally a woman, manage to convince people she was a guy made me wish I could do it too. It made me realize, I don’t always like being a woman. I want to be a guy sometimes, and I want that to be accepted. It was media like this, like Ouran High School Host Club, like Bare: A Pop Opera, that made me understand my gender and sexuality. (Even media that didn’t have any relation to LGBTQ+ helped).

When I first heard of “She’s the Man”, I had hoped it would be like these pieces of media. And it wasn’t. It was an alright film, but made me feel disappointed and somewhat let down. And that’s why I just prefer Just One of the Guys. Maybe it wouldn’t float in today’s political climate, maybe I’m wrong for seeing these points as reasons it’s one of my favorites, but its still better than StM and is one of my favourite films.

[diamondcitydarlin]

From the genius creatives that brought you Sherlock (BBC), Supernatural, Rick and Morty (for some reason) and most of the Marvel line-up comes another riveting, moving tv show centering two cis white men and their seemingly very dubious relationship that makes it seem they could potentially start making out any moment (they won't, ever). You'll love watching Mark and Steve get into very tense conversations wherein they'll drop little vague lines like, "I can't get enough of you", "If only my wife were more like you" that you'll comb over and over again in tumblr meta essays and gifsets made 100 different ways. You'll be on the EDGE OF YOUR SEAT every single time Mark and Steve get close enough to kiss and are acting as if they'd be into it, and it will NEVER GET OLD no matter how many times we write those scenes in with absolutely no resolution! You will hang on the words of every director, writer, producer, showrunner (90% of whom will also, naturally, be cis het white men that came into their craft via nepotism, money, and so on) that throws out a scrap about them in interviews, which will amount to assuaging sound bites like, "Mark and Steve have a profound affection for each other" that don't actually confirm anything concretely queer but allows you to believe you're watching some groundbreaking slow-burn romance in action, until of course the show starts to come to an end and you'll be promptly gaslit by these same people who act as if ever interpreting the two male characters as queer or into each other in any way that wasn't platonic was a joke, and they'll laugh about 'oh those crazy fans'. What you WON'T REALIZE and/or REFUSE TO ACCEPT the entire 10 years you follow this show hoping for a scrap of queer representation and/or just a decently satisfying outcome to all the romantic/sexual energy is that this writing is actually a het male coping mechanism with a touch of internalized homophobia, allowing a cis male writer somewhere to explore male intimacy without actually challenging his frail heterosexuality by taking it any further than suggestion at best. IF ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IS KIND OF CRASS, he might even say outwardly sexual things about the other guy, but don't forget it's just a haha joke because queer things aren't meant to be taken seriously, much less in this show! By the end both men will end up in utterly boring relationships with caricatures of women that both embody whatever the main guy on this show normally projects on to women he pursues IRL (or EVEN WORSE, interesting female characters that deserve storylines and exploration -maybe with each other winkwonk- but will ultimately be saddled with 'fixing' the two men in question), but the show will assume this is a satisfying conclusion for the audience. This show will lead you on for a good 5-10 years before it ends disappointingly because by that point no one involved in it will give a shit any longer, and then we'll move on to the next. The show is called Wash, Rinse, Repeat :D

[whereisten]

ghouls just wanna have fun (A Creature Feature Story)

A Taeil fic that’s part of our Halloween Series! 

Summary: After your date ends up being a dud, you stumbled upon an unusual movie theater and its most appealing visitor, Moon Taeil. 

Pairing: Ghost! Taeil x female reader

Genre: romance, angst, pinch of smut, drama, fantasy, horror

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: gore mention, death mention, smut: masturbation mention

(A/N: Hi! Special shoutout to the Creature Feature readers. I love you...It’s almost one year to the day that I posted Part 1 (I know: where the hell is the rest of it?). Rest assured, the series will continue in November. This Halloween series has gotten me out of my funk. I hope you enjoy this story. And to newcomers, welcome! This story can be read alone, if you'd like, but I think you’d enjoy this more if you read my Creature Feature updates! Anyways: SHOUTOUT TO MY BEST FRIEND AND PARTNER IN CRIME/WRITING KRYS. SHE CREATED ANOTHER SPECTACULAR MOODBOARD FOR ME. SHE’S MADE SEVERAL FOR ME. AND I AM SO SPOILED. HER BRILLIANT BRAIN AND VISION DESERVE ALL OF THE LOVE. SEND IT HER WAY. We hope you enjoy this installment and our upcoming posts! Thank you for all of the love in our stories so far!

___

“Jaebum, I’m not going. Let me off here,” you demanded.

Well, tonight was just fantastic. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Your date that your friends set you up with ended up being a bust. He wanted to take you to a house party so he can get high and you could be his side piece for the night. Your friends were all in committed relationships and they thought you were bummed because you felt single and bitter.

No, you were just bummed at the fact that your friends had blown you off too many times for their significant others. That was the actual problem.

But they were doing better with you, you had to admit. They spent more time with you as their honeymoon stages with their significant others had finally dwindled. The set-up was supposed to be for fun.

They even thought that this date could open doors for you.

Doors to what? Well, it ended up being to the stench of weed in the back of Jaebum’s old Sonata.

Jaebum’s car, which included his two stoner friends Jinyoung and Yugyeom, came to a halt at a red light near a plaza.

“You want to leave, y/n? Then here’s your stop,” Jaebum said.

You raised your eyebrows. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Jaebum shrugged. “Take it or leave it. I got places to go.” His friends muttered over how uncool you were. The least this jerk could’ve done was take you back home.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. Go to hell.”

The car sped off as you stood near the plaza entrance. It was getting colder as midnight approached. So you decided to wait outside of an abandoned Spirit Halloween store so your Uber could pick you up from there. You walked towards the plaza and suddenly…

Bright lights appeared before you that you quickly shut your eyes. You blinked them open, wondering what just transpired when you realized...

There was an active movie theater there, with a giant sign surrounded by bright light bulbs. It read “Sinema”.

What the hell, you thought.

You walked closer and closer and saw people coming in and out of the theater. And then...oh, wow, you really had lost your mind. Little human-like creatures of different colors were flying around the entrance...They were fairies! Their pixie fairy dust landed on your shoulders. You picked off the dust that had fallen on the shoulder of your dress. The texture reminded you of Cheeto dust. It was hard to get off. You were certain your black dress was permanently stained.

Then, a man walked past you and transformed into a large purple dragon before your very eyes. He blew out fire within a few feet from you, you yelped. He set off for the sky and vanished. After, another group of men walked past you, flashing their vampire teeth as they laughed about something. They were all stunning but the one with wavy electric blue hair was the real showstopper. You couldn’t think that too long as people that looked bright and transparent walked towards you.

You thought they were going to bump into you so you said. “Hello? Watch where you’re going!”

But they walked right through you and kept going. Seemed like they got that kind of comment a lot.

You blinked a few times. Did that just happen? Were those...ghosts?

A young woman in her red and navy blue uniform appeared before you. She smiled. “Welcome to Sinema, the premier theater for the supernatural! My name is Haseul. You look like you have a lot of questions. Is this your first time here?”

“I...I…” You started. “Is this really happening?”

She laughed. “Yes...All supernatural creatures and their approved companions are welcome here!”

You frowned. “There must be some mistake. I’m not a supernatural creature.”

Haseul pulled out her phone. “Your name?”

“Uh...y/n y/l/n…” You said. “Wait, why did I say that?” You answered her without even thinking. It was like she compelled you to do what she asked.

She winked. “It’s a special little skill of mine. It’s a part of the job.” She scrolled through an app on her phone. “Well, you’re not a part of the approved human companions list so...You have to be supernatural!”

You gaped. “That’s funny…This is a joke, right? Some kind of Halloween event? Well, you’re a few months too late…”

Haseul shook her head. “Oh, no, this is no reenactment. This is the real deal. Allow me to escort you inside.”

You weren’t sure if that was a good idea but you were curious. You followed her inside.

The movie theater was elegant and modern. The latest video games were available at the arcade. The concession stand was huge. It had to be with the number of creatures that were lined up for snacks. The theater was three stories high. Posters for the latest movies were up. The music that played overhead consisted of songs from the 70s, 80s, and more. Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” was playing.  Sinema seemed like any regular theater.

Well, except for the supernatural creatures, of course.

“What is this place?” You asked Haseul. “This can’t be real...I’ve been drugged. Jaebum got something in my system and I’m hallucinating. That has to be it.”

Haseul gave you a confused look. “This place is very real, y/n. I know it might be a hard pill to swallow but you belong here. To the supernatural world. A part of you is connected to this world. I’m not sure why it took you so long to discover that but...you’re here now.”

Haseul’s phone rang and she answered. “Yeah, boss?...Okay, I’ll stop calling you that...Oh? I see. Well, have fun with your boyfriend…” She teased. She hung up and she continued, “Well, y/n, I must be going but if you need anything, you can reach out to anyone who is wearing this uniform.” She showed off her uniform. She looked like a very casual flight attendant. The navy blue skirt was very flattering on her. Her white blouse had a red tie over it. Her name tag had her name written in her own elegant cursive.

“W-wait…” You started.

Haseul gave you a reassuring smile. “You can stay or leave, y/n. No one is keeping you here. But know that you’re always welcome here at Sinema. We hope to see you again.” She walked off to resume working, you thought.

You stood there, confused over what to do. Going to the movies hadn’t been in the cards for you tonight. Much less finding out that the supernatural existed in the same world you did.

Unless this was a parallel world, which just made your head spin even more.

Deciding to stay, you went back out to the main entrance to buy tickets. You heard growls among the chatter of people that stood in line before you. All kinds of creatures stood in front of you: werewolves, selkies, fairies, kitsunes, and more. You felt like the only outsider. For everyone else seemed to know their place…

According to Haseul, the only reason you could access this place was because you were a supernatural creature. And that...that just couldn’t be true. Sure you were adopted but you never displayed any kind of power or ability that would indicate you were a creature.

It was impossible, you thought. A striking young man with long silver hair stood behind you and you could feel his eyes on the back of your head. He was tall and muscular. You wondered what kind of creature he was or if he was actually a companion like Haseul described. You turned to him and his stare never wavered. “Can I help you?” You asked.

He blinked a few times to snap out of it. “I’m sorry...I zoned out…” He tipped an imaginary hat. “It’s your turn.”

“Miss?” The employee at the ticket stand asked. Like the young man behind you, she seemed human. However, the red tint in her eyes told you otherwise. You wondered what she could be.

“Oh, uh... A ticket to ‘Spider-Man: The New Kid’, please,” you said.

“That’ll be 12.50,” the employee replied.

Even if this was a movie theater for the supernatural, they certainly charged like a regular theater did. You paid the employee and got your ticket. The ticket stub was actually very beautiful. It was holographic so you could collect these stubs like trading cards, if you wanted.

You hung around too long so the silver-haired boy approached you.

He smiled at you. “Hello.”

You smiled, a little uneasy. “Hi…”

“First time at Sinema?” He asked. The man was stunning with his high cheekbones and dangerous dark eyes. A devil-may-care smile that must have won over a few women.

You nodded. “Is it that obvious?”

“The look of horror on your face hasn’t faded,” he said, chuckling.

You sighed. “Yeah...Well, I’m still pretty stunned.”

He said, “Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. Something about you makes you belong to this world, right? Do you know what it is?” His eyes widened.

It was almost as if he knew the answer. But if you didn’t know, how could he?

You sighed. “I couldn’t tell you. Maybe I’m just a fluke.”

“Oh, I have to disagree…” He started.

A ghost materialized right beside you. He stood closer to you and stared down the silver-haired man. Even if he was a ghost, he was the most alluring man you’d ever seen. Although translucent, his features were striking and not to be ignored. His undercut that accentuated his face so well was bright red, like rubies. His ears were decorated with crescent moon studs. He wore a navy button down and black slacks, like he was dressed for a hot date. His tan skin cast an ethereal glow. “Yuta, give the girl some air. She just discovered she’s not human.”

The silver-haired man named Yuta sighed. “Do you ever stay out of people’s business?”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “Do you?”

You averted your eyes from them and looked at the concessions menu. Hmmm, the Sour Patch Bats looked promising, you thought. You started, “I’m gonna go.”

Yuta was about to call your name again but the ghost boy raised his hand to stop him. “You’re already messing around here too much. Leave her alone.”

Yuta rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to listen to you. I’m the alpha.”

The ghost boy made faces as he imitated Yuta’s voice. “I’m the alpha. I eat the hearts of my enemies for breakfast. I’m Yuta.”

Yuta growled and it was so animalistic that you wondered if he was going to transform into the creature he most likely was. Your money was on him being a werewolf.

Yuta stormed off and returned to his posse of gorgeous and muscular people. They all watched you and you wondered what was so fascinating about you.

The ghost boy followed you as you got in line for concessions. “What’s your name?”

“Y/n...Yours?” You looked into his soulful eyes.

He smiled. “I’m Taeil. The eyes and ears of Sinema. And you’re new.”

“Yup...And I have no idea who I am or what the world is anymore…Well, it’s time for a snack.”

Taeil chuckled. “The Sour Patch bats are really popular but they sell out fast.”

An employee at the concession stand announced over the intercom. “Sorry, folks. The Sour Patch Bats are sold out.”

Everyone groaned and moaned and growled and wailed. Even you couldn’t help the tiny huff of disappointment that escaped your lips.

Taeil sighed. “Well, lucky for you y/n. I’m friends with the manager of this joint.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Oh, are you?”

He smirked. “I know where she keeps her secret stash of Sour Patch Bats. Now she normally hides those away for her boyfriend but I’m sure she won’t miss one bag…”

Taeil led you upstairs to the manager’s office.

You frowned. “Are you sure we can be here?”

Taeil winked. “Nope. But she owes me.”

Taeil moved himself through the front door and unlocked the door from the inside. You entered the office and found a bouquet of flowers on the manager’s desk.

“How did you touch…”

He cleared his throat like he’d debated what he was going to say. “With most of my strength, y/n...Anything to impress the prettiest girl to set foot in Sinema.”

Although your concept of ghosts was completely debunked (ghosts could indeed touch inanimate objects), your face warmed up at that comment. You tried changing the subject. “Taeil, maybe this is a bad idea…”

He shook his head as he stuck his hand through the manager’s desk drawer and rummaged around before he grabbed a bag of the popular candy. He threw it over to you. You caught it.

You opened the bag and ate the bat-shaped sour gummies of lime, orange, lemon, and cherry. They were the best candy you’d ever tasted and until tonight, you’d been deprived of their existence.

Your eyes grew. “These are...Oh my God.”

Taeil smiled knowingly. “I knew you’d like them. See, the supernatural world isn’t so bad, is it?”

You were touched. He was being so kind and attentive. So quickly, too. “No, I guess not…”

His beautiful lips curved upwards as he watched you enjoy the candy.

“What movie are you going to see?” He asked.

“Well, Taeil, I thought you were the eyes and ears of this place. You should know,” you teased.

He laughed. “Well, I don’t. Is it an oldie? Sinema plays throwback movies every week to appease the masses.”

You shook your head. “I’m watching the new Spider-Man. The new actor they picked is supposed to be above all of his predecessors so I’m excited.”

Taeil asked. “Can I join you?”

You pretended to deliberate. “Well, you have supplied me with sustenance so how could I say no?”

Taeil usually kept to himself, occasionally confiding in his best friend. He really was the eyes and ears of the theater. He knew of all the romantic entanglements that transpired. The current feuds between species. And more.

Typically, he was stuck facing his demons and never quite got past the last thing he needed to overcome in order to ascend to heaven.

He’d sought justice so what was holding him back?

And at the sight of you, he felt an ease in his heart that he hadn’t felt since he was alive.

___

Your first night at Sinema was the first of many where you and Taeil bonded and enjoyed each other’s company. You went to the theater every weekend and met up with him. You’d see a movie together and talk about it for hours on end. He’d even sometimes accompany you back to your dorm. And even if you could see him...no one else in the human realm could. So you would have to pretend you were on the phone when you talked to Taeil. Even as he sat closely beside you. Longing to hold your hand.

You wondered just how many creatures hid from you in plain sight. Some of them could masquerade as humans and you’d never know it. That terrified and excited you.

You loved Taeil’s sense of humor, how he showered you with free movie tickets and concessions (courtesy of his best friend’s connections), his wit, his smile, the goofy, fascinated look he gave you when you spoke.

You always wanted to push back his hair and slap his arm when he teased you. And you wondered what those soft red lips would feel like on yours.

But you couldn’t.

The most wonderful person you’d ever met.

And he was an apparition.

As for Taeil, well, he loved everything about you. Your mind. Your curiosity of the world. Your inability to shut away the unknown completely. The way you adapted to Sinema so quickly. The way you looked at him.

He was convinced that you also wanted to kiss him.

It killed you both, honestly.

You told him you were in your senior year of college. You were getting a degree as a nutritionist but you felt unsure about what you would pursue after college. You felt like nothing got your heart racing. You were just going through the motions, making your parents proud. They’d given so much to you so you didn’t want to disappoint them. So you figured getting a steady paying job was a step in the right direction and maybe one day you’d figure out your passion...and how to capitalize off of it.

Taeil could tell you were frustrated and lost and he wished you didn’t feel so down. He saw the light in your eyes. You had a whole future ahead of you. You would find your dream job someday, meet a man, settle down, have his children, and grow old together.

And him? Well, maybe at that point, he would finally have moved on.

Before meeting you, he was fixated on getting even with the man who murdered him and the woman who betrayed him and got the ball rolling.

He told you all about it...Originally, he didn’t want to because the details were too gruesome. But you’d been honest with him so it was the least he could do for you. He told you about his life in the west coast town of Luna, where he aspired to be a producer and songwriter. And he told you about how his life came to an abrupt end.

Taeil’s killer had been none other than Jung Jaehyun, the man whom his girlfriend had cheated on him with. Jaehyun was a member of one of Luna’s most notorious gangs and he detested Taeil. Taeil’s girlfriend, Lexa, didn’t know how to break up with Taeil so she could be with Jaehyun. She was frustrated because Taeil was so sweet and giving. He was so good to her that Lexa chickened out and never broke up with him. She was getting frustrated and Jaehyun was getting even angrier.

One of the nights that Lexa spent with Jaehyun, she let it slip that she wished there was a way she could get rid of Taeil. And Jaehyun was more than happy to oblige.

Jaehyun and his men cornered Taeil one night. He thought he was meeting Lexa for their 300 day anniversary. He got a text from her phone saying to meet her on the rooftop of the Nectarine Hotel because she had a surprise for him.

However, she was nowhere to be seen. Jaehyun took Taeil by surprise and pushed him off of the twenty story luxury hotel.

Jaehyun’s men lingered downstairs and made sure there were no witnesses on the scene. All evidence of Taeil’s death had been covered up. Taeil’s family and friends reported Taeil as a missing person. Lexa had also disappeared off of the face of the Earth. And many wondered if she and Taeil had disappeared to start anew.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Jaehyun, Lexa, and his men disposed of Taeil’s body off underneath an overpass. They’d buried his body and washed their cleans of him.

Taeil always thought about whether or not an afterlife existed. When he hit the ground from his fall, everything went black. The roaring pain all over his body that hit him for one moment...Quickly vanished at the next.

Taeil opened his eyes again and instead of seeing Downtown Luna...Only white surrounded him. Surrounded by golden specks.

An angel appeared before him with stunning peach-colored wings. The angel shined so brightly that Taeil couldn’t make out their face. They spoke softly… “Moon Taeil...Born June 14, 1994...Died October 22, 2018.”

Taeil sobbed then. “Please, is there any way you can save me?”

The angel sighed. “My poor child...You’ve been wronged. I want to give you the opportunity to seek justice...And once you have seeked justice and found peace, you can ascend into Heaven and join us. Our Heavenly Father awaits you.”

Before Taeil could respond, he became a ghost. He manifested into another town he couldn’t recognize. It was the city of Mystic. Jaehyun lived a life of luxury and terrorized the new city with his gang. And who reigned right beside him in a God-awful bubblegum pink wig?

The woman he’d loved and planned to propose to: Lexa.

Lexa played around with the buttons on Jaehyun’s designed shirt as she quietly thanked him for killing Taeil. And Jaehyun murmured back a thank you for giving him the idea and for suggesting a good hiding place for his remains.

Taeil felt sick to his stomach. The love he felt for Lexa had quickly shifted into hatred. And Taeil wanted revenge. He wanted to take them both down. But how, he wondered.

It took him a few more months to figure out how exactly he could enact revenge on them. Haunting them for a few weeks was a thrill but he wanted Jaehyun behind bars. And Lexa? Well, Taeil just wanted her to drown in guilt.

And then, Taeil found Sinema, a supernatural hub in the seemingly typical town of Mystic. Taeil struck a deal with the vampires to help them dig up his body. They in turn compelled the police to find his remains and track down Jaehyun.

Taeil owed the vampires a few months of haunting humans who had deceived them when they were once humans. So both parties were happy.

Taeil decided to spare Lexa from prison. Instead, her family, her friends, and everyone from Luna shunned her for having a hand in Taeil’s murder. Although she was never charged, she was as good as guilty as Jaehyun and his men.

Lexa remained in Mystic in a run-down apartment, barely making ends meet. The luxuries she was able to afford before, because of Taeil and then because of Jaehyun, were no longer accessible to her so she lived a life full of resentment.

But Taeil visited her many nights to remind her that more than anything, she should’ve felt guilt and remorse for what she’d done to him.

How she convinced him that he’d found happiness in her. How she made him out to be a fool. And how she discarded him like a piece of trash.

Lexa’s mind slowly unraveled over time and the guilt slowly consumed her each time.

Taeil ate it all up. This felt like justice and he didn’t want to ascend just yet. He wanted Lexa to get on her knees and pray to God for forgiveness for what she’d done to Taeil.

But that day hadn’t come. So Taeil frequented her apartment at night...Having Lexa think she dreamed of him as she slept.

One late Saturday night...going into Sunday morning, Taeil waited with you at the bench for your Uber to arrive to take you back to your dorm. Sometimes he accompanied you to the dorm and talked to you. You’d have to pretend you were on the phone so your Uber driver didn’t think you were talking to an imaginary friend.

Tonight, though, he wouldn’t be taking you home.

You asked, “Are you going to see her now?”

Taeil froze. “What?”

You wondered aloud, “Lexa...Do you haunt her on the weekends too?”

“Not recently, actually...I’ve been seeing her less.”

You smiled. “Taeil, that’s great. It means you’re getting over her.”

Taeil glared. “I don’t need to get over her. I despise her.”

Your smile vanished. “I know that. It’s just-”

He shot back, “Just what?”

You looked down at your hands and played with your fingers. “It’s just...You’ve sought justice...Jaehyun is rotting in a jail cell...Lexa is guilty over what she’s done...And...I hate to say this...But I think if you stop going to see her...There’s a chance you can finally ascend.”

He looked taken aback at your words. “I can ascend whenever I want.”

You lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

Taeil looked even more annoyed as he sneered. “Absolutely. Excuse me for wanting to spend a little more time with you before I leave forever.”

His words infuriated you. “Taeil, you...I’m not the reason you want to stay...You’re hung up on your ex. Even if it’s not in the romantic sense...You’re fixated on terrorizing her until what? She begs for forgiveness?”

“And what the hell is wrong with that?”

“Taeil, you’re meant to find peace. You have to let her go.”

“Well, y/n, thank you for your opinion. I never asked for it but it’s certainly never stopped you...Have a safe trip back to your dorm.”

“Fine! Manifest yourself back to me when you get a grip.” You crossed your arms around your chest in anger. He was unbelievable. You were right. He just wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t give up on seeing that...that wretched bitch.

Why did you let this piss you off so much and why were you overstepping...You had no right…

Perhaps it was because you’d fallen for Taeil and seeing him jeopardize his fate over this woman infuriated you like nothing else had.

The full moon was out that night and you couldn’t help but yell in fury at the sky.

Someone crept up behind you and with his claws, he scratched deeply into your collarbone. “Hey, what the fuck?!”

You turned around to find a werewolf before you. It was a literal wolf on two legs. His muscles protruded like that of a man’s but they were so large...You knew he could easily snap your neck with a quick movement of his hands. His tawny coat shined in the moonlight. His brown eyes watched you, expectantly.

You were about to get on your knees and beg for mercy.

You saw a group of people lingering beside the werewolf. You remembered them. They were a part of Yuta’s pack.

“Yuta?” You finally connected the dots and realized the wolf who scratched you was Yuta. You hadn’t seen him since that first time.

He had been a werewolf, after all. But why had he transformed? Why was he here? Why had he done this to you?

You winced slightly at the scrapes and monitored them as they quickly vanished. You couldn’t believe your eyes.

Yuta’s fur vanished as he transformed back into his human self. He was shirtless but his pair of jeans remained on. “Y/n, I wanted to confirm something…”

You frowned. “What?”

“The scratch of the alpha is borderline lethal to any outsider of the pack...So any pack member or...descendant of that pack member can heal from his bite…”

You laughed nervously, confused. You wanted to get the hell out of here. Where the bloody hell was your Uber? “Uh...That’s interesting, I guess.”

“Can’t you see, y/n? I’m the alpha of the Nakamoto clan. You’ve healed from my scratches...Which means…”

You demanded, “What does it mean?”  

“It means you are a descendant of this clan, y/n…”

You shook your head. “No...That’s...Impossible. I’m not a werewolf…”

“You were adopted at five months, y/n...Your parents perished in a war against the vampires...Your parents led normal lives as humans for as long as they could...Much to the disappointment of my father.”

“Yuta, you don’t know what you’re saying…”

“I do, y/n. The pack and I have uncovered everything about you and your family history. You’re a werewolf. An unawakened one.”

“No…”

“Explain how your bite healed. The only way you could enter Sinema of your own accord is if you possessed supernatural blood. And werewolf blood is as supernatural as it gets.”

“Yuta, please, you’ve got the wrong person...I don’t know why you bit me and why it healed. Maybe it’s some magic trick you pulled off to please your pack...I’ve had a shitty night so if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home,” you said, checking your phone for the arrival of your Uber. It was arriving.

“Y/n!”

The Uber pulled up and you turned to him. “Just leave me alone.”

___

You visited your parents the next day. You asked them about where they’d adopted you from. They’d always been very mum about the details.

“Someone told me something crazy the other day,” you said to them as the three of you shared dinner with your adopted younger siblings.

Your parents both looked at each other, concerned.

“He said my biological parents were werewolves!” You laughed in disbelief. “How crazy is that?”

Your parents eyed each other again.

Your mom started, “Who is this man?”

“Mom, I believe the proper response is ‘That man is crazy. Where did he get that kind of story?’”

You knew your parents were hiding something and you wanted to hear the truth from them.

Your father scratched his neck as he took off his glasses. Your younger siblings all eyed each other uncomfortably.

“Why aren’t you guys saying anything?” You asked.

Your dad said, “Y/n...We hoped for you to never find out.”

You shook your head in disbelief. “Dad, you’re scaring me...Find out what?”

Your parents went on to tell you about the incidents you had when you turned eleven. After you’d had your first period, you began to experience terrible mood swings and throw tantrums left and right around the time the full moon occurred. And when you turned thirteen and the first full moon following your birthday occurred…

You’d attacked a neighbor who was walking their dog.

You’d grown teeth and hair all over your body that night. You’d become a wolf, according to your parents.

Once the night had ended, you’d transformed into a human again and fallen asleep.

Your neighbors never knew that it had been you. Your parents helped your attacked neighbor get to a hospital and they reported an animal attack in the neighborhood. Your neighbor couldn’t remember anything.

But her dog never forgot and hated you.

Your parents got a hold of the adoption agency and they had no information on your birth parents besides their names. Your parents then got in touch with a psychic, who referred them to a witch. They took you to the witch and she told them you were an unawakened werewolf. You were a fledgling. Unless you received the bite of an alpha werewolf and acquired your position in the pack, you were susceptible to these monthly full moon transformations and since you hadn’t been awakened, it would be even worse and dangerous for those around you. So the witch concocted a potion that would suppress your fledgling urges but it was critical that you consumed it each month.

Which explained why your parents were always so adamant for you to come home every month for dinner. They put the potion in your dinner. So you were able to suppress your urges up until this point.

Could this be the reason why you felt so unfulfilled? Because you never explored your true nature? Your parents never gave you the choice to control it.

Your parents had good intentions but you had the option to meet the pack all of these years...And you never knew.

You’d always felt like a part of you had been missing and your trip to Sinema had done the trick to lead you to the truth.

___

Back in your dorm and without having ingested the potion your parents had given, you’d only had a few days until the full moon. You were resolved to speak to Yuta.

You’d gotten out of the shower, letting out a shaky breath from all of the bundled up nerves you carried. You were shocked to find Taeil standing in your common room that you shared with your roommates. They were all away for the day.

“Taeil!” You started as you covered your towel more tightly around you.

“I heard,” Taeil started, worry etched all over his face, “If I could kill Yuta, I would…”

“Taeil, I’m going to him,” you started.

“What?” He asked.

“I’m going to be awakened by him.”

He looked at you in disbelief. “Y/n, what are you-”

“I’m an unawakened werewolf, Taeil. My biological parents were werewolves and if I don’t receive the official bite of the alpha, I’m going to suffer by the influence of the full moon.”

“Y/n, the full moon is in two weeks!”

“I know…” You said.

Taeil sighed. “Y/n, you have a chance to be away from the supernatural world. To avoid the dangers of these creatures. I know humans are terrible, deceitful, and cruel...But the supernatural doesn’t fare better. You didn’t grow up in this world. It could consume you and spit you right back out…”

You were resolved, though. You longed to explore more of the world and to embrace the part of you that had always been neglected. “Taeil, I’ve made my decision. My family has respected it. And I hope you will, too.”

A tear escaped Taeil’s eye. “Y/n, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t left you alone…”

You shook your head as you wished to embrace him. “Taeil, this isn’t on you. This opened my eyes. My path is more defined now...Who knows what awaits me once I awaken? That’s for me to find out.”

Taeil extended his hand out and pretended to caress your face. “There’s nothing I can say to make you change your mind, is there?”

“No,” you said, as you leaned closer to his transparent hand.

He smiled weakly. “Y/n, I’ve thought a lot about it and you were right...I’ve given up on visiting Lexa.”

You opened your mouth wide. “Really?”

Taeil avoided your stare as he stared at the potted plant by the window. “I...wanted to stay longer but...we’re both meant to part ways...And I’m not happy...Terrorizing Lexa hasn’t given me any sense of fulfillment. Temporary pleasure? Yes...But I long to find that peace.”

You cried. “Taeil, I’m so happy to hear that. And you will find that peace, I promise you.”

“In the meantime, I’ll be by your side as you head into your next chapter.”

You smiled at him and didn’t realize your towel slipped to the floor.

“Y/n…” Taeil coughed as he quickly turned red and turned around.

“What?” You frowned.

Without looking at you, he pointed to the towel on the floor.

“Shit!” You exclaimed. But then, you watched Taeil...He was blushing…

“Did it hurt that much to look at my body, Taeil?” You asked, quietly.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“It’s okay...You can look…”

Taeil turned and was shocked to see you still unclothed.

You gave him a flirty smile. “I know we can’t touch...But it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?”

You got onto your bed and slowly began to tease your clit and Taeil’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He adored every inch of you as he scanned your body and worked his hardest to commit it all to memory.

You could see his member grow in his pants. He immediately gripped his gorgeous length and pleasured himself alongside you.

“I wish I could feel your heavenly cock on my clit…” You told him.

He grunted. “Heaven can wait...This is real paradise...Here with you.”

You muttered sweet nothings to each other and imagined that you made love to each other that day.

___

You and Taeil were more inseparable than before. Because you knew your days together were numbered.

The full moon arrived and Yuta had agreed that this was the ideal time for your initiation into his pack. You would be able to absorb the moon’s power as you transformed from Yuta’s bite.

Yuta invited you to his mansion in the woods not too far outside of town. His pack members were present and they’d arranged a massive bonfire at the center in honor of your awakening.

Taeil was right beside you, much to the chagrin of the rest of the pack members. But what could they do? Drag him out? When they couldn’t even lay a finger on him?

Yuta was dressed in his best tuxedo as he recited the pack’s code of conduct to you and welcomed you into their pack. He transformed into his wolf form and at the brightest the full moon had been, you’d taken on your fledgling form. You howled at the moon and became rabid. Yuta knew what he had to do.

Taeil watched you in concern but Yuta had sworn to protect you. For you would be one of his family soon enough. So Taeil had no choice but to trust him.

Yuta bit into your collarbone and your eyes shifted from their usual color and into a bright amber. You felt yourself regain consciousness and became aware of where you were.

“Y/n, do you know who I am?” Yuta asked.

You nodded.

Yuta continued, “Good. You are now a fully awakened werewolf. Harness your abilities with honor and know that you have a family in the Nakamoto clan forever.”

“Hear hear!” The pack members yelled out.

You’d reverted back into your human form through your own accord. You were shocked at how quickly you could turn back.

You ran over to Taeil and he beamed at you. “How do you feel?”

“I feel...whole...Fulfilled...I have no idea what will happen next but it’s a new kind of uncertainty...And I like it.”

Taeil said, “I’m glad, y/n…”

He started to pixelate before you and his voice began to fade.

Your smile faded. “Taeil?”

“I think God wanted me to stick around for this momentous occasion...Before he summoned me…”

You couldn’t help the tears that escaped you. “Taeil, I love you.”

He cried with you. “I love you, too. I will see you up there...Soon. I’d better be the first person you look up when you ascend, you hear me?”

You wrapped your arms around him and to your shock. To everyone’s shock at the party...You could feel Taeil. He was muscular and the warmth of his body was like the fuzziest blanket wrapped around you after the worst day. He felt wonderful. And you never wanted to let him go.

Taeil longed for the day he could feel your body around his...And it was only at this time when you two had to bid farewell when he could feel you against him. You were strong but at that moment, he held you tenderly. Like you would break at any second. Because this moment was the most fragile. It was fleeting. So you both soaked in the feeling of each other’s bodies as you held each other.

Taeil kissed you and you reciprocated. His lips felt just like you’d imagined them. Soft. Perfect against yours. His kiss was the euphoria you would treasure for the rest of your life.

You released each other.

“Goodbye, Moon,” you teased. You made a play at his last name. Since you were a werewolf now, you’d be highly influenced by the activity of the moon.

He joked back. “Goodbye, Wolfie. Don’t forget to howl at me once in a while. It’s kinda hot...” The cliche of werewolves howling at the moon was actually a common practice for them.

You shook your head and laughed as he faded away. You cried hard that night, missing him already.

Yuta and his pack comforted you as you cried. They celebrated you and they mourned with you. This pack had become your family.

___

Taeil finally ascended to Heaven. It was a lot like Earth but idealistic. Paradise had everything at his disposal. He could go to the movies and have an unlimited supply of Sour Patch Bats. He finally knew what they tasted like. He could get a foot massage whenever he felt like it. He could play his music and sing to his heart’s content. God was a big fan of Moon Taeil. 

But the thing he loved most was being able to look after the loved ones he left behind.

Now that Taeil had become an angel, he would accumulate power overtime in order to send blessings to the people he loved most.

Especially to you.

____

You’d gotten a better grip on your powers but you were still a long way from being Yuta’s right hand. You’d moved into one of Yuta’s apartment complexes that he owned. You were finishing up your last year of school, as well. Since you’d stabilized your powers, you could carry on with your day-to-day activities. It’s just nighttime that would be unaccounted for.

One day, Yuta visited you.

You greeted him as you welcomed him inside your spacious apartment. He sat down on your L-shaped couch in your living room as you gave him a glass of water. “To what do I owe the pleasure, boss?”

Yuta never visited his pack member’s homes unless it was important business. Usually, he summoned them to a common area, like one of his mansions in the city.

Yuta smiled. “I see you like your new place.”

You nodded. “It beats hearing my roommates screw their boyfriends every other night, I must admit.”

He laughed. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“What’s up? You’re not usually one for small talk...Unless you want to sleep with them...And that girl isn’t here at the moment.” You knew about Yuta’s tumultuous relationship with Sinema’s manager.

Yuta blushed then. “You...Knock it off.”

You laughed heartily, then. You two had developed an older brother little sister relationship. Yuta was able to uncover more information about your parents and your extended family. He’d been extremely helpful during this time, providing financial support not only to you but your entire family.

When Yuta said the pack was a family, he really meant it.

Yuta was mulling over his next words and he gave you a solemn look. The light, breezy mood had quickly vanished.

The power the alpha held to control the room.

He said, “Y/n, prepare your things. The war is about to begin.”

[Fin...Or is it?]

Stay tuned for the next spooky story...