#cause you gotta be your own character’s fan

[scribblesscribblings]

Since no Kingmaker session today I doodle myself a little treat

[yuukskillsworld]

I was wondering if u could do headcanons of what summer would be like with all the killer chat love interests with a reader that HATESSS summer bc of the heat and all the bugs and if you don't wanna do all the li just ronin is fine!

“Hot, Bothered, and Yours: Summer" - Killer Chat LIs X Reader Headcanons

Hey, sweetheart—thanks for the fun request!

If summer’s your sworn enemy (ugh, the heat? the bugs? the sweat??), just know these killer love interests have their own... steamy ways of dealing with it.

Let’s get into it, yeah?

written by yuukskillsworld<3

WARNINGS: Mild swearing, flirting and suggestive language, heat-induced irritation

(No serious triggers—just vibes and summer suffering.)

Ronin Beaufort

Ronin finds your summer misery hilarious.

♡ The second he sees you flopped on the couch in a tank top and an ice pack down your shirt, he smirks: “Aww, what’s wrong, darlin’? Can’t handle a little sunshine?”

♡ He refuses to turn on the AC unless you threaten violence. “Heat builds character. Or were you always this dramatic?” (He’s already turning the AC on behind your back. He just likes watching you flail.)

♡ When the bugs get bad, he pulls out an old-school fly swatter like it’s a weapon and declares war. He’s unnecessarily aggressive about it. “This one’s for you, baby,” he says, smacking the air dramatically.

♡ If you’re grumpy, he gets handsy. Not necessarily helpful, but distracting. “C’mon, sweat looks good on you. And I’ve got a few ways to make you forget the heat…”

Maria de la Rosa(Angel)

Angel actually loves summer—but she loves you more.

♡ She notices how miserable you are and immediately adapts her plans. No more long hikes. No open fields. Just shaded walks, indoor picnics, and cool drinks.

♡ She gets you one of those handheld fans—and decorates it with your favorite colors or stickers. “Gotta keep my baby cool and cute.”

♡ If bugs come near you? She’s ready with the spray. “Not today, Satan,” she mutters, shielding you like a bug-slaying guardian angel.

♡ She brings you popsicles. She wears flowy clothes. She sets up soft pillows in the coolest part of the house so you two can nap together. “See? Summer’s not so bad when you’re wrapped up in me.”

Misaki Katsuo

Misaki doesn’t love the heat either, but they’ll never admit it. Their whole vibe is “adapt and cause problems.”

♡ They turn summer into a game. Every bug you swat earns you a point. Every time you complain, they tickle you.

♡ “You hate summer?” they grin, already dragging you outside with a squirt gun. “Then it’s war, babe.”

♡ They set up a kiddie pool and force you to sit in it with them like a pair of gremlins. “We suffer together. It’s romantic.”

♡ And when you finally snap and say, “I’m going to melt,” they grin and pour an entire pitcher of cold water on your head. “Better?” (They’re soaked right after, don’t worry.)

Valentin Viljoen(V)

V hates inefficient suffering, so he becomes your personal anti-summer strategist.

♡ Blackout curtains. High-end AC unit. Bug-repelling plants and scents. He has it all set up like a military operation.

♡ You wake up one morning to find the thermostat pre-programmed, your clothes chilled in the fridge, and the patio sealed from insects.

♡ When you say, “Ugh, I hate this season,” he just hands you a glass of cucumber water and kisses your forehead. “Then we make it tolerable. Together.”

♡ He’s surprisingly clingy when you’re hot and annoyed. Always brushing damp hair off your face or sitting close without touching unless you let him.

♡ And if you’re hiding in a dark room mid-heatwave? He joins you silently and reads aloud until you calm down.

Thanks again for the request, sunshine (yes, I said it).

Whether you're melting, swatting bugs, or just trying to survive the season—these killers have your back. And if not... well, they’ll at least keep you distracted. Hope you had fun reading, sweetie! <3

Credits:

-> dividers: @dollywons

-> photo: Pinterest

[creatingblackcharacters]

My 2 Cents

So, one of the follow up questions I asked was

"are you willing to recognize that you have a willing tolerance for antiblackness? That there is a certain amount that you are okay with allowing before thinking it's worth speaking up?"

My goal in asking this question is not to cause you shame (though shame is not inherently a bad thing).

No, the goal is for you to practice active honesty with yourself! Be willing to accept the decisions You made!

You cannot confront- and therefore address- your own racism if you aren't willing to admit to when you're doing and allowing it. Ibram X Kendi's How To Be An Antiracist touches on this topic, of how racism and anti racism are a series of choices, not identities! Here's an article discussing it:

"No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life. In the absence of making antiracist choices, we (un)consciously uphold aspects of white supremacy, white-dominant culture, and unequal institutions and society. Being racist or antiracist is not about who you are; it is about what you do."

My personal fan example (and you knew this was coming 🤣) is Hades. I recognized that Patroclus' design is a white man in all but his ashy dark brown skin. It was a racist design, meant to be "representation", and I thoroughly disdain it. It wasn't enough to stop me from buying the game and enjoying it. I made a choice, to settle for mediocre representation so that I could enjoy a character I like! I still spoke up about racist and colorist fan designs, hoping that at least fans may be more receptive to not replicating racism (but that's otros veinte pesos 😬).

I'd naively hoped that maybe they'd do better the second time; maybe their actions were from ignorance! Maybe they'd learn! A *snicker* sage old man once said:

"fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Jokes on Dubya aside, I knew that I was already discontent with the designs in the first game, but I allowed it for my own enjoyment. I acknowledge that. But I had to be honest with myself the second time: if the lack of effort in the dark-skinned character design bothered me so much, and I spent all that time speaking out on it the first time... what do I look like then going to spend money on the sequel game doing it again? Do I really stand for what I said I stand for? Can I ask others to stand for what I stand for, if I don't really stand for it?

That time, I said "no". I decided I'd reached how much I was willing to put up with. I had to accept the consequences of speaking on that choice, including risking being rejected by a creative space I really wanted to be a part of. It is what it is. And it's one of many choices I'll actively make for the rest of my life. Comfort v The Right Thing.

Anyway, these are the sorts of conversations you'll have to have with yourself. Coming to terms with your choices along the journey will better help you identify just how much you're willing to sit on, and whether you want to make a difference about that. You might recognize when you're making a long streak of decisions that suggest you care less than you'd like to think; you might find out you've swallowed more than enough! But you gotta be honest about your own role in it!

[archivedblog16]

If you asked me during the hazbin hotel pilot era who my favorite character was, it be Alastor 100%. He unironically stole the show with his mystery (if the pilot didn’t have Vaggie lore dump unnecessary I would’ve enjoyed a bit more), personality, voice, charisma, and heck even his design especially his consistent smile intrigued me. Even the way he interacted with the entire cast made me excited.

So what do I think of Alastor now? Alastor to me is a loser, unironically an attention whore in terms of screen time and merch, an egotistical, petty person, and a man child edgelord. He lost most of his mystery and charisma throughout the show (though I will admit I am interested in his backstory but I won’t be surprised if he, himself has daddy issues. And, I did find some of his jokes funny).

The pilot portrayed Alastor as this powerful overlord who didn’t care about his status which made him so unique. He wasn’t gloating about how he’s the radio demon about to end your fucking life. Alastor in the pilot was subtle. At the snap of his fingers he destroys Sir Pentious with no hesitation and no exchange of words. Meanwhile, Alastor in the show has to blab and go this tangent of how sloppy, slow, and unprofessional Adam is only to get his ass handed to him.

Alastor in the show frequently mentions his status and gets pissy when most don’t care that he’s back or straight up not recognize him. Meanwhile, in the pilot you will notice that it’s the opposite, Charlie (the princess of Hell) and Vaggie are freaking out that Alastor is here at their door. It truly shows much power and control presents in the pilot without even trying.

The thing that disappointed me the most was his lack of interaction with the main hazbin squad. It was the driving point of why I was excited for Alastor and how his involvement was going to shake up the hotel for better or worse. Only to find out He barely interacts with them and I’m supposed to “care” when the most of cast members hug and get excited that he is alive in episode 8.

Speaking of the hotel, he barely contributes much regarding the hotel and fucks around. Like I was expecting him to at least help Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm activities for the sinners to do or even take control in his own of how he would handle Angel dust and Sir Pentious. Heck or even go outside with Charlie and Vaggie to promote the hotel to other sinners via singing and cause some drama/mischief along the way. Specifically talking about the hotel, the only things he did was do the commercial, fix the walls, and protects the hotel twice. But That’s it.

As I mentioned earlier, Alastor is an attention whore in terms of stealing the spotlight in the actual show and being in most episodes, which may be good for Alastor fans. They got the full course meal but Vivziepop needs to focus on other undeveloped main characters who desperately need the attention and development. Which why Alastor should be used sparingly, this would also make the audience more interested with him and creates more mystery.

For example: Episode 5, Dad Beat Dad: you would think the episode would focus on Charlie and Lucifer’s relationship which it does for a small portion but we also gotta have Alastor in there so he could drop the biggest F bomb to Lucifer to show that he means business and hatessss him. We also gotta dedicate a 2:30 minute song duet between the two men having a pissing contest, along with our home girl Mimzy being a plot device/prop for Alastor in order to HYPE HIM UP and tell his origins. Because Alastor soooo mysterious and such a hunkkkk. Oh yeah, Charlie is there I guess…

Also, Alastor’s smile in the show bothers me personally, more specifically the way it’s drawn. It’s to jaded and sharp, so it’s pretty obvious to tell how he feels and emotions Alastor goes through. Meanwhile, in the pilot his smile and energy is so goofy and I miss that. That really added to mystery because not only keeps you on your toes but you don’t know what’s on his mind for the most part or his long term goal.

This is by far my longest post and I wanted to get this off my chest regarding Alastor. 😭

[cherrribun]

heartslabyul with a yuu!reader thats just fucking shredded? like, shawty has abs and all

Heartslabyul x Buff!!Yuu!!Reader

Hello lovelies ! I apologize for disappearing and not filling out asks, I’ve sincerely missed it. I recently graduated highschool, gone to prom, and have been enrolling into beauty school!! So I’ve been pretty MIA all and all, sincerest apologies. I even had to miss ruggies b-day banners <<//33

 For those who follow for my non TWST asks, I will likely be halting all guro and such posts, my new therapist has advised against my interactions with that subculture. From this point on I hope to shift all interactions into the TWST fandom !!

Without further adieu, the hcs!!!

Characters: All Heartslabyul !

TWs: minor bullying, joke about execution

a/n: sorry if theyre rushed, gotta get back into the swing qq

Riddle Rosehearts

-riddle i’d imagine finds himself troubled? With a buff yuuie

-hes got the worlds worst inferiority complex that manifests into a superiority complex (crazy), and seeing yuu who can hold her own without blowing her lid? Lol hes jealous

-maybe even so jealous he tries to avoid yuuie??

-riddle may have a temper but he at least gives a little try to not be a jerk! He does have a heart all in all you know

-trey actually picks up on the jealousy, and after the overblot nudges riddle into the ‘maybe make a friend’ direction

-which, when riddle gets over himself, he is a bit in awe 

-now he would never be a meat head but he might feel a little inspired when yuu can no trouble carry ace and deuce away to stop causing trouble

-grim can not get enough of when yuu goes up and kabedons poor poor riddle whose face becomes the color of his hair the poor soul

Trey Clover

-trey is kind of buff lets be serious now (authors bias, trey i want you)

-hes the kind of pudgy, real meaty kind of buff you know?

-the guy can not get enough of a buff yuuie

-he was first overjoyed when he noticed yuu be able to swat off night raven students solely from her raw strength

-the older brother in him wanted to first jump in and keep a sibling safe, but he was stopped short by the students running for the hills

-compliments left and right! Huzzah, huzzah, what the powerful being you are!

-trey would love the help around the kitchen, assigning yuuie dough kneading, grabbing sacks of flour, on and on

-he would ask yuu to join him in work outs!!!

Cater Diamond

-lolol this guy would have his phone out in a heartbeat the second he sees yuu lift something heavy for the first time

-”oh my god, ME NEXT?!” 

-caters got the personality of a brainrotted 12 year old who spends too much time on instagram, he cant help but make cringey jokes about his head getting crushed between your thighs like a watermelon

-your arms have become a prop in his magicam photos

-constantly asking you at terribly inconvenient times if he can “borrow your arm please”

-hes a big fan of watching you Be Strong, will request you to pick up stones, text books, him, ace

-once he begged and pleaded for you to go up and pick up riddle

-please decline, you will be executed publicly otherwise

Ace Trappola

-can a twink be a meathead? This guy most certainly is

-hes the kind of person to not be able to put on muscle no matter how hard he tries, so hes a tad jealous but its promptly squashed by his amazement

-asks you for what your workouts are like, were you this ripped in your homeland?

-ace desperately wants to be just like you, finding your brazen attitude and ability to handle things without magic absolutely raw

-grim will terrorize him, when you guys first met, grim decided it would be funny to lie about him possessing yuuie and “half of my power is stored in her muscles! I can remove it at anytime!!”

-ace totally believed it and even though he knows better now, he still has his reservations

-dont press him, he will get super embarrassed

Deuce Spade

-deuce is immediately off put i wont lie

-because of his history, deuce has tried his best to ID and steer clear of any possible trouble students

-and he associates buff with delinquent, so hes immediately stand offish 

-yuu may have to put in some extra work to prove yourself a kindhearted student

-already dealing with alot, its not nice to feel judged too, deuce knows this and will cave pretty soon and be super guilty about it

-hes pretty lean so to compensate he offers to join you during workouts and stuff

-thus starts a wonderful bond! 

-be careful though he might want to let loose on some unsuspecting semi-rude students though,

-through yuu, he learns balance!!! yay!!!!

[50calmadeuce]

Prologue

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.

The story and situation I am creating are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.

I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, but I do hope it gives you happy thoughts.

These stories are my own, so please do not take them and use them for yourself without my permission. If you see them somewhere else, please let me know.

You lay on the floor with a pillow beneath you, eyes fixed on your computer screen as you studied your college biology book.

Your boyfriend leaned in, gently nudging you as he glanced at your screen. “How do you even understand this?” he asked.

You smirked, turning to face him. “The same way you understand all that engineering stuff,” you said, nodding toward his laptop—only to realize his green eyes were locked on you.

A grin spread across his face. “You’re so cute when you get all nerdy,” he teased, eyes twinkling with affection.

Rolling your eyes, you nudged him playfully. “And you’re distracting when I’m trying to study.”

You had known Jake Seresin since childhood. Your parents were neighbors—about as close as they could be while each running their own cattle ranch.

It wasn’t until your sophomore year of high school that the two of you truly considered yourselves a couple. Now, in your senior year, you found yourselves revisiting the plans you had made together as kids, wondering if they still fit the future ahead.

He chuckled, clearly unfazed. “Come on, I know you’ve been staring at that screen for hours. Take a break.”

You sighed, stretching your arms above your head. “Fine, but only for a minute.”

Jake took the opportunity to shift closer, propping himself up on his elbow as he studied you. “So… vet school still, huh?” he asked, tapping a finger lightly against your book.

You nodded. “Yeah. I'm glad these high school college courses will be accepted at my college. It’s going to be a long road—four years of vet school after I finish this degree, plus internships and residencies if I specialize.”

His expression softened. “That’s a lot of work.”

You raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And the Naval Academy isn’t?"

Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “Fair point. Guess we’re both signing up for a lifetime of hard work.”

You smirked, nudging his shoulder. “Exactly. But at least mine involves adorable animals instead of high-speed death traps.”

He grinned. “Hey, my high-speed death trap happens to be a finely tuned aircraft, thank you very much.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “Still a death trap.”

Jake let out a dramatic sigh. “And here I thought you supported my dream.”

You laughed, resting your chin on your hand. “I do. I just prefer patients who don’t fly at Mach speeds and shoot missiles.”

He smirked. “I don’t know, you’d make a great squadron vet. Someone’s gotta patch us up when we come limping back.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You do realize I’ll be treating animals, not reckless pilots, right?”

Jake shrugged. “Same difference.”

You scoffed. “Hardly.”

He studied you for a moment before reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “You’re gonna be amazing, you know that?”

Your teasing expression softened. “So are you.”

His grin widened. “Yeah, but I already knew that.”

You groaned, shoving his shoulder as he laughed, pulling you into his arms. “Cocky.”

“Confident,” he corrected, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “And completely in love with you.”

You sighed, a smile playing at your lips as you rested against him. “Guess I can deal with that.”

Jake smirked. “Good, ‘cause you’re stuck with me.”

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed up the stairs, and the two of you quickly pulled apart, pretending to focus on your studies.

Your brother, Cole, appeared in the doorway, arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. "I'm supposed to tell you two that dinner's ready," he said, eyeing you both with a knowing look.

Jake, ever the picture of innocence, glanced up from his laptop and gave your brother a lazy grin. “Appreciate the message, man.”

Your brother eyed him skeptically before shifting his gaze to you. “Mom said if you’re not downstairs in five minutes, she’s sending Dad up.”

You sighed, closing your laptop. “Got it.”

Your brother didn’t move right away. Instead, he continued standing there with his folded arms, leaning against the doorway and looking between the two of you. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two were up to something.”

Jake smirked. “Studying is a serious business.”

Your brother snorted. “Right. Studying.” He gave you a pointed look, then glanced back at Jake. “Just remember, Seresin, she’s got a future ahead of her. Don’t go screwing that up.”

Jake met his gaze without hesitation. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Your brother held Jake's stare for a moment longer before nodding. “Good.” Then he turned on his heel and walked off.

Five years your senior, Cole Travers had always been protective of you—as any big brother would be. But that protectiveness only intensified when you and Jake started getting serious.

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and shot Jake a look. “I swear he enjoys intimidating you.”

Jake grinned. “Please. He’s got nothing on the admirals I'm going to have to deal with.”

You rolled your eyes, shoving your laptop into your bag before getting to your feet. “Come on, flyboy. Let’s go before my mom starts a search party.”

Jake got up, slinging an arm around your shoulders as the two of you headed downstairs. “Think she made those biscuits I like?”

You laughed. “You and your priorities.”

“Hey,” he said with a grin, “a man’s gotta eat.”

After dinner, you and Jake wandered out to the barn to hang out. The two of you settled on a blanket in the hayloft, the warm scent of hay surrounding you.

Curled up against him, you felt the steady rise and fall of his chest, his right arm wrapped securely around you.

“I can’t believe we’re graduating in two months,” you murmured suddenly, the thought slipping out before you could stop it.

You met his gaze as he looked down at you, his expression thoughtful.

"For years, you never really think about life… and now, it’s all happening so fast," you murmured.

Jake let out a soft chuckle, his fingers tracing lazy patterns along your arm. “Yeah. One minute, we’re sneaking off to get milkshakes after class, and the next… we’re about to go in completely different directions.”

You swallowed, the weight of his words settling in your chest. “Yeah,” you admitted, voice quieter now. “Different schools, different states… different lives.”

His grip on you tightened just slightly, like he was anchoring himself to the moment. “That doesn’t mean we won’t make it work.”

You lifted your head, searching his face. “You really think so?”

Jake met your gaze without hesitation. “I know so. Yeah, I’ll be at the Academy, and you’ll be buried in vet school, but that doesn’t change us. We’re still us.”

You exhaled, wanting to believe him, but the uncertainty still gnawed at you. “Long-distance isn’t easy, Jake.”

He smirked. “Neither is surviving flight school, but I’m gonna do it anyway.”

You rolled your eyes. “Not the same thing.”

“Sure it is,” he countered. “They both take commitment, a little bit of stubbornness, and the ability to push through even when it gets tough.”

You couldn’t help but smile at that. “So, you’re saying we’re both stubborn enough to pull this off?”

“Damn right we are.” His smirk softened, and he reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “I love you, you know.”

Your breath hitched slightly, and for a moment, the entire world seemed to shrink down to just the two of you. “I love you too, Jake.”

His lips curved into a slow grin. “Good. Then we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

You sighed, resting your head against his chest again. “You make it sound so simple.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “That’s ‘cause it is. You and me? We’ve got this.”

You let your eyes drift shut, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Maybe he was right. Maybe you did have this.

Two weeks before September...

Summer had passed faster than either of you had expected, and now, you walked slowly through the airport beside Jake, leading him to his gate.

Jake rolled his suitcase beside him, his free hand clasping yours tightly, like he was afraid to let go too soon. The airport buzzed with movement—families reuniting, travelers rushing to their gates—but for you, the world felt a little slower, a little heavier.

“You don’t have to walk me all the way,” Jake said softly, though he made no move to stop you.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and shook your head. “Yes, I do.”

He squeezed your hand, his thumb brushing over your knuckles. “Still not too late for me to ditch all this and become a ranch hand,” he teased, though the usual playfulness in his tone was weaker than normal.

You gave him a wry look. “You’d last two days before you got bored. Don't get me wrong, you love the ranch, but it's not your life.”

Jake sighed dramatically. “You know me too well.”

You reached the TSA checkpoint. Jake turned slowly, shifting to face you fully. “Guess this is it,” he murmured.

You forced a small smile, trying to keep it together. “For now,” you corrected.

He reached up, cupping your face in his hands. “You’re gonna do amazing things, you know that?”

Tears pricked at your eyes, but you blinked them back, nodding. “So are you.”

His lips quirked into a small smile. “Damn right I am.”

You let out a watery laugh, and before you could second-guess yourself, you surged forward, wrapping your arms tightly around him. Jake held you just as fiercely, pressing a lingering kiss onto your lips.

“I love you,” you whispered, voice muffled against his shoulder, after you parted.

“I love you too,” he murmured, his grip on you tightening for just a moment longer before he finally—reluctantly—pulled away.

You took a step back as he grabbed his bag, flashing you one last grin. “See you soon, darlin’,” he said, tipping his cowboy hat before turning away.

You nodded, watching as he walked toward the checkpoint. Just before he disappeared, he turned back, giving you a wink.

And then, he was gone.

You stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty space where he had been, your heart both aching and hopeful.

Because this wasn’t the end.

Not even close.

You had just found out you were pregnant and you knew it would ruin Jake's career.

Two weeks later...

You walked into the kitchen and sat at the bar, watching as your mom stood at the counter peeling apples. You assumed she was making a pie.

"Hey, Momma," you said softly.

She looked up at you, concern flickering in her eyes. "Y/N, what's wrong? Did Jake not call?"

You shook your head. "No, he called last night."

Her expression softened. "How’s he liking the Naval Academy?"

You shrugged. "As far as I can tell, he likes it."

Your mom set the knife down, wiping her hands on a dish towel before turning to face you fully. "Then what’s on your mind, sweetheart?"

You hesitated, your fingers tracing the wood grain of the counter. The words sat heavy on your tongue, the secret you’d been holding onto for days pressing against your chest. Finally, you took a deep breath and let them out.

"I'm pregnant."

The kitchen fell into silence, the only sound the ticking of the old clock on the wall. Your mom’s expression shifted—first to surprise, then to something softer, something knowing. She stepped closer, her voice gentle. "Oh, honey…"

Tears welled up in your eyes as you shook your head. "I don’t know what to do, Momma. Jake’s got so much ahead of him. He worked so hard to get there. I don’t want to take that away from him."

Your mom reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear like she had when you were a child. "Y/N, this isn’t just about Jake. This is about you, too. What do you want?"

You let out a shaky breath, your hands folding together in your lap. "I don’t know," you admitted, voice barely above a whisper. "I love him, Momma. I always have. But I don’t want to hold him back. He’s got this whole future ahead of him, and if I tell him, he might feel like he has to choose between me and his dreams."

Your mom’s eyes softened with understanding. "Sweetheart, love isn't about choosing one dream over another. It’s about finding a way to make them fit together. And Jake… if he loves you the way I think he does, he deserves to know."

You wiped at your eyes, emotions swirling inside you like a storm. "But what if he leaves? What if he thinks this is too much?"

Your mom reached out, squeezing your hand. "Then you’ll still have me. You’ll have your family. But you can’t make this decision out of fear. You have to make it with your heart."

You bit your lip, nodding slowly as her words settled deep within you. You weren’t sure what the future held, but one thing was clear—hiding the truth wouldn't make it any easier.

Tags: @smoothdogsgirl @tgmreader @tylers-twister-gal @kmc1989

@malindacath

[solaris-amethyst]

💫You are my sunshine💫

✨Pairing: Seonghwa x gn!reader ✨Prompt: a while back an aquarium did this partnership with animal crossing to do a theme experience around it. I think it be a lot of fun to see the reader surprise Seonghwa with tickets to the event. also for them to be dress up as their favorite villager. ✨Requested by @beabatiny🫶🏻 ✨Word Count: 1.8k ✨Genre: fluff, non idol au, partners au ☀️Authors Note: I'm sorry it took me a while to get this one out! I'm working on your other request as well💓 Here's a link to his favorite characters! I hope you like this one💓

Your plan had been in motion for a really long time now. The tickets to the aquarium and their animal crossing theme experience had been booked a month in advance. The outfits inspired by your favorite villagers were already prepared and hidden away so Seonghwa wouldn't find them and ask you about it before you could surprise him.

Your boyfriend had been working hard at his newest job, it had been hard and sometimes very emotional and it had been very clear that he was stressed, more stressed than you would have liked him to be.

So as a way to get him to relax and have some fun you'd surprise him with this. He was a big fan of Animal Crossing, he could sit hours on end playing that game, creating his island, designing clothes and finding the villagers he wanted to have around.

You enjoyed it as well, perhaps not as much as him but seeing the indescribable joy on his cute little face whenever you surprised him with something related to said game had made you commit to knowing more about it.

You had first in secret bought the game and played it on your own switch, wanting to be able to share his joy on a deeper level.

The look on his face when you asked if he wanted to visit your island for the first time had been so cute, his eyes looking big and shiny and the wide smile was something you wish you could see every day.

And hopefully you will see it again today when you give him his surprise.

Looking down at the letter containing the two tickets you hurried into the kitchen and put it down next to Hwas cup which you filled with coffee as you heard the front door open.

"Hi sunshine! I'm back!" He called as he took off his jacket and shoes before walking in wondering where you might be.

"In the kitchen! I got a little surprise for you!" You let him know as he takes you into his embrace.

"A surprise? For me? Why??" He looks at you curiously with a smile on his face causing you to give his cheek a quick kiss unable to resist.

"Well you've worked so hard at your new job and I thought you deserved a little treat where we do something very fun together." You tell him as you lead him to his seat and to the envelope.

He looks puzzled before carefully picking up the letter.

"Open it." You encourage him as you take a sip from your drink.

He opens it carefully and starts reading:

"My dear sunshine, you have been working so hard at your new job. It's been perhaps a little bit more of rainclouds and storms than sunny days and happiness these few months. You've powered through so hard and I am so proud over you. Today will be a day of fun and joy as we dress up as Flurry and Sasha." He let out a little gasp at the name of his two favorite villagers as he glanced up at you quickly before continuing. "As we go to our local aquarium for an Animal Crossing themed date and experience their Animal Crossing experience! Where we will be able to meet characters, enjoy snacks and beautiful scenery together."

He looks close to tears as he looks up to you.

"Is this true?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be that cruel getting your hopes up just to crush them! Come on we gotta get changed." You say with a wink stretching out your hand for him to take it.

"Thank you!"

He muttered over and over as he pulled you in for a hug, feeling overwhelmed with happiness that you had organized something like this for him.

You patted his back gently, enjoying the hug and allowing it to happen for as long as he wanted to.

After a while Seonghwa broke the hug and took your face into his hand staring at a you adoringly before pressing a kiss against the temple of your head, mumbling a thank you again.

"You're welcome sunshine, now come on we gotta get changed! I got some outfits inspired by your favorite characters." You tell him as you take his hand gently leading him to your shared bedroom.

"But what about your favorite characters? Don't you wanna dress up as Antonio or Molly?" He wonders and you shake your head

"Nah it's okay, plus we could always book tickets again and go as my favorites next time, but today we're going with Flurry and Sasha."

You let his hand go and hurries to find the clothes laying them out on the bed for him to see, the red fluffy shirt with flowers on paired with some jeans and a cute little hat just to complete the outfit and a blue grey jacket, a pair of black jeans and a cute beanie to go with it.

It was the closest you could get to finding clothes like theirs so while it wasn't a full on cosplay it was at least clear which characters you two were dressing up as.

Seonghwa took some time choosing between the outfits until he settled on dressing as the first villager he had gotten in the game which was Flurry.

After you two had changed and already taken some cute pictures in the outfits you hurried out to the aquarium. Hwa was almost vibrating with excitement from it all.

Luckily you only lived 10 minutes away from the aquarium so getting there before the line became too long was no biggie.

"I'm so excited!! Who do you think we will see today?? Can we take loads of pictures? Oh! and did they have snacks or desserts??" He rambles on looking at you with his big round eyes and a wide smile.

"Someone's excited I see." you chuckle before continuing "I'm not gonna spoil who we get to see and all of that! I want it all to be a surprise for you love."

You almost laugh when he starts pouting and whining about how he'd wanna know now. He swings your hands back and forth as you scan the tickets at the ticket desk and you notice his eyes sparkle when the lady working at the ticket desks gave the two of you some special lanyards with the characters on it.

"Wait we get goodie bags as well?" He gasps after you two have picked up your goodie bags as you enter the aquarium, marveling at the way they have decorated the place.

"Yeah isn't it awesome?"

You sneak some pictures of your boyfriend. He looks adorable looking around in wonder at not only the real fishes in the aquarium but at the new decorations. Filming and taking pictures as he spots a cute little photography area rushing towards it and immediately starts posing for you.

"Look at you! You fit right in!!" You gush as he gives you some poses before urging you to switch places with him.

"Now give me some poses!" He guides you through the poses he'd think look cute and you fight the feeling of embarrassment as others walking past the two of you look on curiously.

Hwa seems to pay them no mind continuing to take photos and guiding you before he bounds up to you, wanting to take some selfies together.

It was a struggle at first, figuring out how to hold the phone so the two of you and some of the background would be noticed and working through poses as he just snapped a bunch of pictures.

There were poses with your hands at your cheeks creating hearts, pouting, making ears on the top of your head with your hands, laughter and smiles and some sneak kisses on each other's cheeks.

"Do you want me to take some photos of the two of you?" An older gentle man asked as he was passing by noticing the two of you trying to figure out how to get some pictures of all of you.

"Oh that would be really nice of you if you'd help us." You two told him and showed him quickly how to take the pictures on Hwas phone.

The older gentle man took some pictures of you two which ended up being your favorites from the day. His photos had been normal candid photos that in your opinion really showcased the love between you two beautifully.

After thanking the man the two of you had continued your way down the aquarium. Enjoying the view, snapping pictures here and there.

"Look! I've caught that fish in the game!!" He points at a random fish saying very proudly that he had caught it, doing the little pose you do in the game when you've caught something.

"My little fisherman!" You say poking his cheek and he's just about to respond when he glance over your shoulder and gasps causing you to raise your eyebrow before turning to look at what hes staring at.

"It's Tom Nook and Isabella!!" He gasps at the characters walking around taking pictures with people.

"Let's go! We should get some pictures with them! Before we go to the cafe to enjoy the desserts!" You drag him over as he looks starstruck.

"Hello! We would want some pictures if that's okay?" You ask the worker and he nods taking your phone to take the pictures.

Hwa is the first one on the little platform with the two characters, grinning and playing with the two characters. The two of you poses with Isabella and Tom Nook and at the end of the session you two get to hug them both and your boyfriend acts adorable around them.

"I love seeing happiness on you. You always look glowing you know." You tell him as he gushes on about how cute they were and how much this day has meant to him so far as the two of you ventured towards the café within the aquarium.

"Find a seat as I go get us some desserts sunshine!" You tell him and he finds a seat near some animal crossing decorations, waiting as you go and order some drinks and themed desserts.

As you two sit and enjoy the desert you can't help but ask: "Have you been enjoying today?"

"I have! This is honestly one of the best presents ever. Thank you. Genuinely thank you. I am so lucky to have you in my life who cares so much that you'd fix tickets and clothing and everything for this experience. Not everyone would have. I truly love you so much."

The smile on his face was worth all the time you had put down for this experience. Finding the clothes had been the hard part and seeing him enjoying the day the way you had hoped he would made you so unbelievably happy.

"You're very welcome sunshine. I'm glad I could bring you some extra joy." You say before the two of you continue to talk about the day and what's left to explore together.

[peargor]

Not quite sure if sent the message cause bad internet connection so i'll just paste the whole thing here again incase:

Hey peargor!(donno if you're still using tumblr bt whatever) Let me Congrats ya for your coming completion on Touhou project first (yay恭喜)

Here's the wandering dude from mainland china(typical netizen lol)and randomly clicked into ya website while visiting webrings & link collections.Lotta ideas jump through my head and letme say a few words below: BoTWR's really a good series from my perspective,like,Dispite having gaps when understanding the lore,i still can kinda understand the characters,from core to spirit(Cantonese's partly cognizable for mandarin viewers so it kinda fun when lookin' zoey swearing lol)I guess a variety of mainland audience would like it too.Like,it even inspired me to have a look back into the history and mess 'n hongkong on the "great firewall" and made me sorta think deeply about all these mess……but anyways,here's imaginary non medal stickers：

"Mandarin approved"and

"i concerned for la nation"(just kidding),

and i'll keep focusing on the series(actually the others' quite adorable too,sure it took me a while to realize that you actually deeply involve in internet meme culture,after the shock when i found you do made the pogchamp meme gosh)

Btw Just wondering,did the reading disorder cause you to use more english in written form stuff?

Looking forward for the upcoming new chapters yet a few more words:

1:LIT ' O TOMMIE DESERVES ＢＥＴＴＥＲ Yo

Poor tommy,hope he 'll get a chance to be a man

2:mmm how and what would zoey's dad be…… He's sorta a villain for now but i hope he's just a dude who failed to correct his own fault by force or "internal error"?

3:that color can be some exposure of one's emotion thing.yeah classic "into head" thingy but perhaps it means more deep than what it seems?Maybe Blue represents the sadness,niche thoughts,hopeless rational thinking,Yellow's cheerfully craziness,Red's cruelly dialectical greedin' justice,and BLACK's something unresist-able unless you learn some real floyd's philosophy thing?

You can get some new referencing idea from the old HK's TVB show like "大时代"(The Greed of a man),also some new from mainland that accidentally have more coverage report on hk which apple dailys' doesn't(?),Trust me,gotta be good for setting both character and lore

Whatever,Best wishes on not getting perished by cops!(pretty sure you won't be cause you probably haven't spoke something politically for at least 2 years on the public internet and you won't be caught for drawing "china virus girl?" and political comments too early haha)

PS:Try to get yourself a fan-base besides the old social meida the X,patron,like a mewe,discord group somethin' alike for a better place for talks 'n discussion i suppose?

Hi fellow netizen! I'm sure the mainland would like to read the comics but that really opens up a can of worms that I'm not prepared to deal with yet, so for now I'll refrain from translating the comics.

1: Tommy has the happiest life compared to the rest of the main cast I wouldn't worry too much about him lol

2: mm it's much more complicated, I also think my audience expects a political opinion from me. It ties to my own experiences with asian culture in general. I am very critical, but I think the public expectation to what I'm critical of is kinda skewed at the moment. There's so much nuance to this story I hope people have a healthy discussion over the conclusion of Zoey's arc in the future.

3: Yellow, Blue and Red are the key colours. What they represent is up to your own interpretation. To me yellow is the self/your values, blue is career/ambition, and red is religion/community/family. There's more colours down the road but these are the most important ones. If there's going to be discussions over the story please feel free to create those spaces! I haven't done so because I am the main writer and I would like these things to happen naturally in the future. It feels wrong for me to create a space as someone with complete authority over the story.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on IWBTWR! Sorry it took so long to respond, I've been trying to find the words to convery my thoughts properly.

[operationmorewhitecollar]

Mozzie Mania 4!

If you've been around these White Collar parts for a while, then you know how much we love not only Mozzie, but the man who brought him to life. It broke (and breaks) our hearts to lose Willie, such a fantastic human taken from this world far too soon.

So, we started an annual creative event to honor Mozzie, and it's held on Willie's birthday, February 20th. So, since it's almost that time again, it's time to officially announce the 4th annual Mozzie Mania!

It's open to absolutely any type of fan creation you can imagine, and our philosophy is always the more the merrier. The only criteria is that Mozzie has to be front and center in whatever you create. Sure, he's an excellent sidekick, but just one day a year, we like to make sure he gets to have some main character energy!

There'll be an AO3 collection, of course, and we hope you'll share your work there. But also, if you're sharing in other places, please be sure to @ us and use our hashtags--#MozzieMania and #CheersToMozzie.

Lastly, we always like this event to really honor Willie and a cause he was passionate about, so we'll be making a small donation for each entry to You Gotta Believe, who has a mission to make sure that every foster child finds a forever family. And if you've got even a dollar or two to spare next month, we can't think of any way to honor Willie more than to make a donation of your own to an organization that was so near and dear to his heart.

So, y'all get to creating; we've got a birthday to celebrate, and we can't wait to see what you've got in store for us!

[bloatedandalone04]

Slow Ride - Part 1

Series Masterlist

➪the one where you make a deal with hayden before you’re both set to race together.

PSA: strongly suggested to read the warnings before proceeding.

WC; 8.5k | Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡

The stands were supposed to be packed tonight. 

The thought made a chill run through you, an excitement washing over your body at the many eyes that would be on you when you entered the pits. 

You loved the attention and lived for the adrenaline that never failed to kick in whenever you got behind the wheel of your beloved Mustang. 

It had seen better days, the front and sides having a few dents here and there, but it gave it character. It’s been through a lot, seen some pretty wild races and has even helped you win more than a few during the three years you’ve been participating in racing at the Speedway.

There wasn’t much to the interior, a single seat next to various metal rods that helped with any impact you might come in contact with when on the track, as well as to keep the car as light as possible. 

The exterior shined. One half of the car was a bright red while the other was a simple white, each side displaying the number 34 in opposite colors. The white was tinted brown and grey, dust and scratches littering both sides as you have had your fair share of bumps and close-calls. Luckily, the worst that has happened to you was a hard hit to the passenger side that sent you spinning but not to the point of causing any serious damage. 

You were in the first heat for the Super Stocks and were usually always placed in the middle row. It was never long before you made your way to first place.

The gates weren’t open yet and wouldn’t be for another half hour, so you decide to get in a few extra minutes of practice. You stopped just as your friend, Mila, was pulling in from doing a bit of her own practicing. “Hey,” she greeted you with a smile. You returned it as she nodded towards your car. “How’s she feeling?”

“Good,” you answer loudly, hoping she could hear you over the loud engine. “All fixed up.” You were referring to the last race you did, when you nearly lost control and ended up bumping into the barriers. It cost you the race, but the fans loved it whenever things like that happened, so you didn’t mind much.

“Glad to hear it,” she says. “Hey, I heard about the switch between Chase and some guy from the second heat. Have you met him yet?”

Despite racing here for over three years, you never really cared to become friends with your fellow drivers. You saw them all as competition, with the only exception being Mila since she was in the Bone Stock lineup. 

“No, not yet,” you reply and hear the sound of another engine from behind you.

“I think you might meet him soon,” she teased as a neon orange and black Chevy drove past you and sped out onto the track. 

The driver looked over at you before picking up speed and leaving you behind, making you ask the question, “That’s him?”

“That’s him,” she confirmed before waving at one of the maintenance guys. “I gotta go get ready, but good luck! Here’s to hoping he doesn’t give you any trouble out there.”

You nod and give her a thumbs up, watching as she pulls into the pits before you follow in the direction of the new addition to the heat. Chase was a pretty aggressive driver, so you were happy to see him go, but you were also used to his erratic ways of the road and knew how he functioned behind the wheel.

The new guy was completely new territory for you, and you could only hope he wasn’t as much of a hard-ass as Chase was.

You had a feeling you were wrong to hope that as you passed the Chevy, your mind in the clouds as you tried to get a feel for the track. He passed you again within seconds but slowed down considerably when he was in front of you. You tried to pass him by moving to the outer edge of the track, but he blocked you from doing so. You tried closer to the middle and inner edge but he didn’t let you do that either. 

Sitting back with a huff, you settle on trailing behind him for a bit before he takes off, the increasing volume of the engine being the only thing you could hear as you watch him pull into the pits. 

You follow him in, letting the Mini Stocks practice a bit before they were set to race when the gates opened. 

You stop near the back of the restricted area and pry back the red netting on your window before lifting yourself out of the car. Tossing your helmet onto the seat, you turn to face the new guy and watch as he does the same, his light brown hair looking almost blond in the setting sunlight. 

He looked as cocky as he drove and you didn’t have enough time to make up any more assumptions about him before he was making his way towards you, the neon orange helmet tucked under his right arm as he extended his left one out to you. “Hey, it’s Y/n, right?” 

You narrow your eyes at his held out hand before crossing your arms. “That’s right,” you answer and he laughs as he drops his arm back down to his side when he realized you weren’t going to shake his hand. You’d be lying if you said the black jumpsuit that was identical to yours, with the neon orange 05 on the right shoulder, didn’t add to his overall attractive appearance. “You’re the new guy?”

He raised a brow, his lips turning upwards in a smirk. “If by ‘new guy’, you mean the same guy who has been racing here for the past two years,” his voice dripped in mockery and his eyes held a sense of mischief. “Then, yeah, I’m the new guy. The name is Hayden. I’m also the guy who was transferred to the first heat.”

You purse your lips and lean back against your car. “I can see that,” you nod towards the track. “That was quite the show you put on out there. You’re very efficient at blocking.”

“Yeah, you liked that?” He didn’t pay your annoyed tone any mind as he shrugged. “I just had to show the guys what they’ve been missing out on during the last two years. This transfer has been long overdue as I shouldn’t have been in the second phase for as long as I was. Just wait until you see me later tonight, when the track’s full.”

Cocky fucker.

You roll your eyes and cross your arms tighter. “Seeing as you’ll be behind me the whole time, I don’t think I will be able to see you, after all,”

He seemed impressed yet surprised by your words, his head dropping slightly as a deep laugh left his lips. “You might want to raise your expectations,” he says as he leaned down so his head was closer to yours. It was then when you were able to see just how blue his eyes are and how they looked so bright in this lighting. He was beautiful, but really fucking annoying. “Because I’m going to win tonight.”

And cocky. Fuck, you missed Chase already. 

You narrowed your eyes again. “In your dreams,”

“Ah, that’s where I’ve seen you before,” he replied instantly, his tongue tracing the undersides of his teeth as he placed his hand flat against the roof of your car, partially trapping you against it. “I knew you looked familiar.”

You refrain from screaming out at his ability to quickly give back everything you threw out and lifted your head just slightly to come off as imitating. “You’re going to lose tonight,” 

Hayden’s smirk just grew, the tip of his tongue running along his upper lip quickly. “Alright, let’s make a deal,” he said and stood back up to his natural height, his frame now blocking the sun from your view. You almost opened your mouth to thank him for unknowingly keeping the sun out of your eyes before you remembered that this guy was your competition. Instead, you raise one brow in silent question. “If I win, you do something for me. Anything I want.”

You squint at him, your eyes flickering to the curve of his mouth without meaning to. “And when I win?”

“Confident, aren’t you? Can’t say I didn’t expect that from a pretty girl like you,” he shrugs and the compliment would’ve made you swoon if it weren’t for the smugness that underlined it. “If you win, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Dropping your shoulders, you feign being intrigued. “Like?” 

“Like,” he pretended he was in thought. “Let you pass me in the next one, purposely lose, rear end our competition, go down on you, whatever you want.”

The last offer caught you off guard and you reel back in surprise, hating how you felt your face heat up at his words. There was no way you’d let this guy get to you and turn you on before a race. No matter how attractive he is. “Once again, in your dreams,” you say but add, “You’re on.”

Hayden held his free hand out and you untangled your arms to be able to grab it. Once your hand was clasped in his, he tugged you forward a bit and you stumbled into his chest. He leans down so his mouth is hovering near your ear. “Good luck, princess,” he murmured and the way his breath hit your skin had you repressing a visible chill. “You’re gonna need it.” 

He lets go and backs away, not bothering to give you a second glance while you were left staring at his retreating form. He quickly fell into a conversation with another driver from the Mini Stocks group and you took the time to look at his car. 

The Chevy was in great shape, the neon orange damn near spotless, with the exception of dents and scratches here and there. The front half was covered in the bright color while the back faded into a jet black, the perfect contrast to the orange 05 that was painted on each side. 

You held back a small grin when you caught sight of the gold Star Wars sticker close to the back of the car. He must have a strong fondness for the movies if he went as far as putting the large logo on a place that was in clear view to everyone who would be watching. 

Questioning how you had failed to notice Hayden or his car during the past two years, you spare him one last glance before turning back around and beginning to prepare for the race. 

As you let your eyes trail over to him, they widened slightly when they locked onto his. He had already been looking at you, his arm still draped over his helmet and a sly smirk on his lips as the other driver went on about whatever it was they were talking about.

You send him a sarcastic smile before breaking eye contact and trying to ignore the pool of heat settling in your bones. 

-

As much as you hated to admit it, Hayden was good.

Like, really good. 

He had successfully secured his place in the finale, as did you, and had proven his previous claims of winning were not just him being a cocky guy. He came first in every single race and had even overlapped the poor souls who started at the back of the heat. 

He intimidated you and you weren’t sure why you felt the smallest bit intrigued by him. 

He was very attractive, both his looks and personality adding to that fact. You weren’t usually into the guys who were so full of themselves, but maybe that was because they usually never lived up to their claims, unlike how Hayden did.

He was good, and he knew he was good, and he used that to his advantage. 

It was no wonder he was so overly confident. He had every right to be, but, with that being said…you, too, were confident with your own words. 

You’ve won countless races now, and you’d be damned if you didn’t at least give it a shot, even if Hayden was one of the best drivers you had ever seen. He was definitely one of the strongest ones in the heat now, but he was also the new guy.

And the new guy needed to know his place, no matter how undeniably fine he is. 

So, as you wait behind the pace truck with Hayden a few cars behind you, you try your best to ignore the nervousness that was quickly beginning to settle in your bones. 

Despite doing this well over a hundred times, you still get a bit nervous before each race. You couldn’t help it, it was basic human instincts to become anxious before doing something that could possibly end with you being seriously injured or worse. 

You tried to get him out of your head as the truck led you around the track a couple of times. 

He was just another competitor. That’s all he will ever be to you. He’s no different than the others. 

At least that’s what you kept telling yourself as the announcer waved the green flag. 

As soon as the pace truck left the track, the fourteen cars were off. You were lucky enough to be placed in the second row on the outside, so you were able to go from fourth to third relatively quickly. 

Seeing as Hayden was put close to the back, starting in twelfth place, you were expecting it to take him quite some time to catch up. Usually whenever a racer is doing super well, like he is, they get put close to the back to give the other racers a bit of a chance to prove themselves. 

To say you were surprised to hear what the announcers narrated through the speakers as you passed by them would be an understatement. “Number five, Hayden Christensen, easily makes his way from tenth to ninth and now ninth to eighth,” you refrained from taking your eyes off the track and peeking behind you to see it for yourself. “He’s now passed two cars, taking the risky route on the outside of the track to land himself in sixth.”

“No fucking way,” you mutter to yourself, gripping the wheel tighter as you take the same route Hayden did in order to pass the driver in second place. 

This guy was something else. 

Despite driving for quite some time now, you found yourself beyond nervous driving near the outside of the track, so the fact that Hayden could do it so effortlessly was mildly infuriating but also impressive. 

You could only imagine the smirk he wore as he passed yet another driver and then another, now only two cars behind you. It was unbelievable that he had managed to go from twelfth to fourth in only three laps out of twenty. 

You were seriously regretting being so confident when you were talking with him earlier as you were clearly in way over your head on this one. There was no doubt in your mind that the other drivers from the second heat were probably ecstatic that he switched. Now they actually have a decent chance at winning. 

But you were still ahead of him for now, and fuck if you weren’t determined to keep it that way. 

Keeping closely behind the driver in first place, who you knew was a guy named Curtis based off of his car, you pick up speed the second you’re clear of the turn. You successfully pass him and are in first, but the excitement is short lived as you hear the speakers announce that Hayden did the same thing to the guy in third and that he is now in the top three. 

You feel heat creeping up your body and were glad that both the front windows were required to be removed as it allowed somewhat of a cross breeze to pass through the thick material of your helmet. You were beginning to feel overwhelmed, something you hadn’t felt since the first few races you did before that feeling turned into adrenaline. You lived for that sensation of your nerves fading away and being replaced by energy.

It was what you were holding onto now as you began your thirteenth lap with Hayden now in second, a mere few meters behind you. 

He could pass you at any given moment, any time he seemed fit, really, and you hated that he held that power over you. Hated that he had proven he was a better driver than you and really fucking hated the way he made you feel inferior to him. 

Borderline feeling a bit embarrassed now, you desperately tried to ignore the very real fact that there was a very little chance of you actually winning this race. 

A very real chance that you would have to go through with the deal you had made with Hayden beforehand, back when you clearly had no idea what you were getting yourself into. 

You knew you needed to stop thinking about it, you knew that you were currently driving distracted but you couldn’t stop your wandering mind.  

It was on the nineteenth lap when Hayden, who had been teasing you for the last few laps, finally pulled ahead of you and was now in first. It was on the last lap when Curtis decided that coming in third was not acceptable and had gotten a bit too aggressive on the last leg of the track. 

It was then when he took over your position and successfully rammed you, causing you to spin out a few times. Luckily for you, and for everyone behind you, your skills and the fact that you were a really good driver didn’t let you down. 

You over correct multiple times before the side of your car slammed into the barrier. Thankfully when your head slammed against the frame of the window, your helmet took a good portion of the impact and you were only left slightly dizzy. 

Blinking away the blurriness, you look to your right and watch as the last few cars speed around you and cross the finish line, the last one being Hayden’s as he had long since won and had caught up with the cars in the back. 

As he makes his way to the designated area where he would indulge in a quick victory interview, you allow the tow truck driver to pull off the bright red netting on your window. You don’t bother taking off the suddenly too heavy helmet as you take his outstretched hand and let him pull you out of your car. 

The middle aged man leads you over to the awaiting ambulance, this being protocol after being involved in a crash of any kind. You sit in the back, your legs draped over the side as the paramedic gently takes your helmet off, the only background noise being Hayden’s cocky voice sounding through the various speakers around the track.

Due to your pounding head, you could only make out a few lines, “That was a close call at the end there, how does it feel to have come out on top?”

“Rewarding,” came his confident reply. You didn’t bother to try to continue listening after that.

With your helmet off, it allowed you to have a clearer vision of what was going on around you, and your heart deflated at the sight of your car. It was dented all over, one from the impact of Curtis’ car, one from when you hit the barrier and one from when another driver rear ended you afterwards. Oddly enough, you never felt that last hit, unless that was what caused your head to hit the door frame.

Caught up in answering the countless questions that the paramedic, who went by the name of Troy, you failed to notice that Hayden’s interview had wrapped up and he was currently leaning against the open door of the ambulance, his own helmet discarded a long time ago. “Hi, princess,” 

You glance up at him and scoff at the smirk he wears as Troy gently lifts your left arm, doing the standard check for any broken bones or strained muscles. 

“That was quite the show you put on at the end,” he continued when you didn’t greet him back. “I almost wished I had stayed behind you so I could’ve had a front row seat of it.”

You glare at him and allow Troy to tilt your head to the side as he inspected your neck, not so secretly listening in on your and Hayden’s conversation. “Me too,” you give him a tight smile. “Because then it would’ve been you who spun out and not me.”

Hayden shakes his head at that. “No,” he laughed. “I wouldn’t have been so distracted and allowed that idiot to get so close to me.” ‘That idiot’ being Curtis. You could tell he wanted to call the aggressive driver something else, a less PG name, but refrained from doing so as he was in the presence of the higher ups and refused to get written up over someone as pathetic as Curtis. 

You ignore his words and sit up once Troy reaches for something further back in the ambulance. Over the speakers you hear the announcer say something along the lines of, “Number thirty four, Y/n Y/l/n, is reportedly just suffering from a headache after that hard hit she endured on the last lap of the race,” you were still so surprised how fast information got spread around here, but you supposed that was how it was supposed to be, given the audience was more than likely curious as to how the racer was doing after crashing in the intense way like you just did. 

“So, have you figured out what you want me to do, yet?”

He had won fair and square, and you had lost. You weren’t one to talk shit then not stay true to your word once everything blew up in your face. 

Hayden looked you up and down, his eyes narrowing on the way your chest rose and fell under the black jumpsuit you wore. When you caught his gaze he looked away in thought. “I haven’t quite decided yet,” he answers and you roll your eyes.

You didn’t get the chance to respond as you heard someone else speak from their place against the other door of the ambulance. 

“Hey, Y/l/n,” you look over and see Josh, another racer who finished fourth and had a front row seat of your spin out. He tucked his helmet under his arm and sent you a sly grin. “That was quite the crash. I honestly can’t believe you walked away with only a headache.”

You shrug, glancing at Hayden and noting the way he glared at the other man, clearly pissed that he had interrupted your conversation. “What can I say?” You force out a smile, keeping your eyes on Josh. “I’m a professional.”

Josh looked you up and down before raising a brow and nodding. “I guess you are,” he sent Hayden a quick smile in a form of greeting before looking back at you. “Either way that was fucking epic. I hope we can see each other more often. It might be nice to have an ally on the track.”

You tighten your smile and nod once. “Sure, thanks,”

He pats Hayden on the back before walking away, missing the way he shot daggers into his retreating form. Once Josh was out of sight, Hayden turned back to face you, his stance against the car never faltering as he says, “I think I know what I want you to do for me,”

-

The way Hayden eye fucked you earlier should’ve been enough of an answer. 

The way he got so annoyed when Josh was openingly flirting with you in front of him should’ve been enough. 

The way he stood so close behind you as you both waited for the space to clear out should’ve been more than enough. 

It was still light out when you had first gone out on the track to begin racing, and it was well past being dark out when you finished, stuck in the back of the ambulance for a bit longer while the track cleared and the stands became empty. 

An hour after your crash and you had been cleared for any further injuries, instead of switching to your everyday car and heading home to spend the rest of the night in bed, you find yourself in the small confinements of Hayden’s black and orange Chevy.

It was tucked away in the far corner of the set up area, hidden behind various shelves of tools and car parts and out of sight to anyone who was still around. Though you had been nearly one hundred percent sure that everyone had gone home for the night, there was a small possibility that in your haste to keep up with Hayden’s long strides you may have missed someone hiding out or getting ready to leave.

Still, if you were worried about someone still being around, you didn’t show it as you rocked your body against Hayden’s, your kiss swollen lips begging for a break that he didn’t grant as he kept you close to him. His hands ran up the length of the simple white tank top you wore under the suit, the same one that had been discarded and thrown somewhere off to the right where the passenger seat would normally be in a standard car. 

You supposed what you were currently doing could be considered cock warming, with the way he was deep inside you, your tight walls wrapped around him in a way that left you breathless. 

You couldn’t even bring yourself to be embarrassed anymore at the fact that you had failed, quite epically, on the night when the stands were at their fullest. Hundreds of people had seen you spin out, and though you had your fair share of bumps and bruises, you had never been involved in something as severe as you were just over an hour ago.

Gone was your headache and you welcomed the feeling of lust and need as you gripped Hayden’s shoulders tightly. With his body firmly pressed to yours, you don’t even need to move your hips yet as you were fully content with the way his tongue battled with yours. His was overpowering yours easily and you’d be lying if you were to say his dominance didn’t turn you on.

You’d also be lying to say that you didn’t picture yourself in this exact situation way earlier in the day, back when the two of you were bickering back and forth before you were set to race. Sure, his cockiness was irritating, but add that to his overall appearance and he was just your type. 

It was undeniable how good looking this guy is, and the sexual tension was apparent right from the start. It was clear this whole interaction would end in one of two ways; one, you would go on to be envious of one another for the rest of your racing careers and ignore the tension as best as you could, or two, you end the feud by sleeping together. 

You couldn’t be more glad that the second option was the one that came out on top. 

And from the sound of his throaty grunts and groans, Hayden was equally as glad. 

The way he sounded had you clenching tightly around him in an attempt to stop yourself from slamming your hips down against his. He was so unbelievably hot.

Hot in the way he kept you pressed firmly against him.

Hot in the way he wasn’t shy or embarrassed to verbally express the way he was currently feeling. The way you were making him feel. 

Hot in the way he took control of the heated kiss, angling your head so he could have full and complete access to your mouth. 

Hot in the way he was in complete control on and off the track. 

And that’s without mentioning his appearance. 

Needing to pull away for air, he allowed you to do so before tucking his head away in the space of your neck. His lips peppered kisses along your damp skin, the air flow in the car surprisingly bad. 

Sure, the cross breeze was immaculate when he was driving, but that was because of his speed and atmosphere. Out there he was used to the way his eyes would become dry relatively quickly due to the air whipping past him, but when he was in his usual spot at the back of the set up location, the air was damn near non-existent.

His skin was heated before, when he had claimed his victory of finishing first place in all his races, and his skin was heated now, but for a completely different reason. 

He was hot and bothered and unbelievably turned on, because of you. 

Hayden couldn’t deny the attraction he felt the second he saw you. He was used to girls falling at his feet and throwing themselves at him, so when you didn’t do either of those things and instead returned his confident energy, he was pretty much done for right then and there. 

He also couldn’t deny that, despite how your race ended, you were a pretty good driver. You weren’t throwing his words back at him earlier when he had made the deal with you just to get under his skin. No, you threw them back because you knew you had the potential to be as good as you said you were. 

But he would never admit that he was nervous for a fraction of a second when trailing you as you did a decent job at blocking his attempts to pass. A decent job at preventing his inevitable win. 

He knew right then and there that, given the opportunity, he would train you to be even better, possibly better than him, if you wanted the practice. 

But that was for a later time.

Right now he was painfully hard and twitching with need from his place deep inside you. And the small whines and moans you were letting out didn’t help his case in the slightest. 

He pulled away from your neck, marveling at the fresh mark he had sucked onto your soft skin with a smirk. “You have no idea how hard it was for me to concentrate out there,” he says, surprising you.

You open your eyes and tilt your chin to look down at him, this position making your form the smallest bit taller than his. “What?” You ask and ignore the way your voice sounded so breathless and overused already. “Really?”

“Mhm,” he hummed against the thin skin of your throat before sucking another mark there. “You had me turned on the whole time, since our first meeting. I was hard from the second you accepted that deal with me.”

“Fuck,” you whine and thread your fingers through his sandy hair. “Don’t tell me that, please.”

He smirked against your neck before pulling away to guide your lips to his in a bruising kiss, murmuring, “Why not?” against your mouth.

“Because,” you sighed heavily, twisting the fabric of his white tee in the fingers of your free hand. His jumpsuit had only been partly discarded, the article pulled halfway down his body so he was able to free himself and so you could sink down onto him without anything in the way. “I won’t be able to think about anything else after this when I’m allowed to get back out there again.”

“Good,” was all he said and moved his hands down to tightly grip your waist. “I don’t want you to think about anything else after this other than the fact that I won and you lost, quite brutally at that.”

“Hayden,” you moan in surprise, giving him a look of warning that he quickly brushes off.

“Don’t bother trying to argue,” he dismissed you before giving a sharp thrust of his hips. “We both know who the real winner is. Now, stick to your promise and ride me.”

His words, so vulgar, send a shockwave of need through you. 

How could you not oblige?

Your hands move to hold onto his shoulders as you lift your body up, the feeling of him dragging against your walls after having been wrapped around him for so long had you rolling your eyes. 

A deep groan reverberated from his mouth as you sunk back onto him, repeating the action a few times slowly to create a steady motion. “Just like that, baby,” it came out more breathless than you expected him to sound, like he was getting the relief he had been needing all night. “You feel so good, been thinking about this since you got out of that car.”

His words surprised you and they had your movements faltering just a bit as they sunk in. “Really?” You ask and the look he gives you has you shocked that he was single. He is single, right? The next words that leave your mouth weren’t ones you were planning on asking, but you couldn’t help it after thinking this through, “Wait, are you single?”

Hayden laughed at that before he realized you were actually asking him that. What made you think about his relationship status in a situation like this, he had no idea, but he couldn’t lie and say that the way you were suddenly so worried about it wasn’t the smallest bit heart warming. 

“Are you seriously asking me that after being wrapped around me for ten minutes?” 

Your face flushed at his words and he quickly decided that the sight of you being so flustered was one of the best things he has ever seen. “I don’t know,” you trail off, slowing the grinding of your hips to a still. “I don’t want this to just be one sided….I don’t want to think about you going home to someone else after this.”

You didn’t mean to make things so serious, but you couldn’t help it. You were undeniably attracted to this guy and hated to think that he belonged to someone else and was fine with sleeping with other people while in a relationship. 

You were afraid that you had ruined the mood with that one, but Hayden didn’t let you think that for too long as he gently ran his hands up the sides of your body. “One sided?” He asked but not in a mocking or teasing way. “It’s going to be hard for me to think about anything other than this every time I’m on the track.”

Heat rushed to your face again and you tucked your head away in the space between his neck and shoulder. “Stop,”

“I mean it,” he pressed, reaching one hand up to press his fingers against the skin of your throat. “You don’t know how hot you looked out there. I don’t know how these other guys can concentrate when they know you’re out there with them. You don’t know how hard it was for me to finish that stupid race.”

“You’re not the only one who was distracted,” you trail off when you lifted your hips again and slowly guided him back into you, your eyes narrowing on the way he harshly swallowed in an attempt to hold back his groan so you could continue. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t think guys realize how attractive girls find it when a man knows how to drive like that. It’s hot.”

“Yeah?” He laughed breathlessly, his eyes narrowing as he began to guide your hips into a more firm movement. “Do you think I’m hot?”

How could you not? The look you gave him when he asked that had him laughing and giving you a smug smirk. “Hot?” You reiterate and reach a hand down to grip his wrist while your other one tangled into his hair. “You’re damn near edible.”

He was slightly concerned when he had to hold himself back from coming when those words left your mouth as they weren’t what he was expecting to hear. Gone was his cocky attitude and smirks and what replaced them was a fucked out expression. All he could bring himself to say was, “We’ll keep that in mind for next time,”

And just like that, your worried thoughts from before were gone and you were left feeling reassured that this would not be the first and last time you found yourself wrapped around him. 

With a newfound confidence, you place your hands flat against his shoulders and begin to fuck yourself onto him faster than before. With each lift of your hips he inched deeper and deeper into you, exploring parts of you that you didn’t even know you had. 

He was stretching you out so good and was effectively ruining you for every other guy. He invaded your walls and was the first one to ever hit that sweet spot inside of you. The feeling of his tip pressing against that sensitive space deep within you had your eyes squeezing shut and your hands holding onto him tighter, your head falling into the crevice of his shoulder.

Moans were freely leaving your lips at this point, your care about someone who hadn’t left yet possibly hearing you non-existent. You had never felt this way before, despite being pretty well experienced in this kind of thing. Hayden was hitting all the spots inside you that had you seeing stars behind your eyelids, and his own sounds were ones you found yourself desperate to keep hearing. 

His hands held you in a tight grip by your waist, his own hips lifting to meet you halfway. He sets a brutal pace that has you whining loudly, your hands sliding up to grip the sides of his jaw as you lift your head from his neck. 

After being impaled on him for so long, the build up to your release was creeping up on you without warning. You already felt sensitive and stretched beyond belief, but you also couldn’t deny how well your body fit with his and how well you took him.

It was something you tried to ignore as you knew it would boost his already overfilled confidence, but it seemed as though he was thinking the same thing, “You’re taking me so well. So good. Like you were made for me,” he breathed out, his eyes closing tightly as he felt his own release steadily approaching. “Just for me.”

Yeah, it was safe to say that Hayden was successfully ruining any and all future endeavors with potential lovers. 

“I need to feel it,” he mumbled, referring to your inevitable high you’ve been feeling all night. Your legs began to shake and burn due to overexertion while your core begged for release. It seemed as though you weren’t the only one begging, as he opened his mouth to plead a quiet, hushed, “Please.”

 To hear him beg for you like that had your eyes rolling back and your mouth falling open in a desperate whine of his name, your body stilling its movements while his hips continued to thrust into you. 

He chases his own release while you try to recover from yours, the slick movement of him nudging against your walls making you shake from the sensitivity. A few more deep thrusts later and he was there, his deep, throaty groans being the only sounds you were met with. 

You both were struggling to catch your breath and you were briefly reminded of the very first time you ever got behind the wheel before a race. Your heart was racing and you were sweating, your chest rising and falling quickly in an attempt to regulate your breathing. 

Almost unwillingly, you lift yourself up and allow him to tuck himself away again before he reaches behind him to tug his shirt off. He hands it to you with a sheepish smile and pulls his jumpsuit back up while you use his shirt to clean yourself up. 

Once he was covered back up, with the exception of the zipper not being pulled up all the way, and you had tossed the shirt aside and tugged your underwear back on, he turned your body around and pulled you against him.

With your back now pressed against his chest he wraps his arms around you in a surprise embrace as you didn’t expect him to be so gentle or for him to feel the need to take care of you afterwards. 

You lean further back and rest your head on his shoulder, your hands resting over his. “So, did I live up to my end of the deal?” You asked after a few minutes. 

Hayden laughs from behind you, the sound breathless despite him being able to regain control over his breathing. “I forgot that that’s what started all this,” he muttered and you don’t bother hiding the small smile that formed on your lips as you knew he wouldn’t see it. “You were perfect.”

You roll your eyes. “Shut up,”

“I mean it,” he protests and leans down to press a kiss to the side of your head. He watched as you pressed the heels of your palms against your closed eyes and suddenly felt guilt beginning to chip away at him. “Is your head hurting again?”

He hated to think that your accident from earlier was still very much affecting you and you hid it from him during the whole thing. Despite his overall attitude, he found himself caring deeply for you and wanted to make sure you didn’t regret what happened now that it was over. 

You shake your head and press your body closer to his. “No,” you answer and brush your nose along the underside of his jaw. “I feel perfectly fine.” 

Hayden nods at that and tightens his hold on you after realizing that it had loosened while he was lost in his own head. “Are you sure?” He asks again, needing reassurance that you were okay now that you had come back down from your high. “That was quite the hit you took earlier.”

Your heart swelled at his concern and you lifted your head so you were able to look into his eyes. “I’m fine,” you say again and continue when he gave you a look that said he didn’t believe you, “Trust me, the only part of me that hurts right now are my legs, and I have you to thank for that.”

Your words successfully put him at ease and it was then when you saw the return of his smirk. “There’s no need to thank me, princess. It was bound to happen, anyway,” he shrugged and you just shook your head. “With that being said, I hope you don’t think that this was just a way to sleep with you then leave it at that. Believe it or not, I’m not a hookup kinda guy.”

His confession surprised you and you were beginning to believe that this guy was full of surprises. You debated on teasing him, but decided not to when you realized that his prior tough guy persona was just a facade. You felt reassured as you remembered the pang of sadness you felt earlier when you thought this was just going to be a one time thing. “I believe it,” you murmured and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “Because I’m not a hookup kinda girl, either.”

Hayden smiled at that and you took pride in the fact that you were able to wipe off that smirk he wore so proudly. “Good,” was all he said and pressed another kiss to your mouth, this one a bit longer than the first one. 

You smile as you pull away and turn to face the front again, ignoring the cramp beginning to form in your legs due to the lack of space as you ask the dreaded question, “So, how screwed do you think my car is?”

-

Nearly two days had passed until you were able to see the aftermath of your accident.

Your car was fucked, for lack of better words. 

While you were normally out on the track three times a week, you would have to sit out the next two races for this week while your team worked on fixing up the exterior of your car. 

The state of your beloved Mustang had your heart breaking just a bit as you watched the guys smooth out the dents and fix up loose bars. You watched them work for a bit before deciding that you had seen enough. 

You exit the garage and bump into someone as you did so. They steady you and when you hear the deep laugh of Hayden your face heats up quickly. “Where are you going in such a rush?” He asks and keeps his hands on your arms. 

You sigh and look up at his annoyingly pretty eyes. It had been a day since you had seen him and you were embarrassed to say you missed him. You had never felt this way before and having him standing here in front of you in casual clothing instead of work clothing was not helping. “I’m running away from my responsibilities,” you muttered. 

He laughed again and peered into the garage behind you. “How bad is it?” 

Sighing, you tug him closer to you and press your head against his chest. “Really bad,” 

Hayden wraps his arms around you and you breathe in the scent of his woodsy cologne. He was wearing a simple white tee and black jeans, his usual jumpsuit nowhere to be found as he wasn’t set to race until a few hours from now. You were convinced that he could make even the most unflattering clothing look good. “I’m sorry,” he offered and you rolled your eyes, pulling away to look up at him. His height was one of the things that had initially caught your attention, so to see him up close like this was a bit intimidating.

“Are you?” You ask and place your hands flat against his back. “That crash was how I found myself having to pay up my end of our deal.”

He smirks at that and looks to the side and easily ignores the stares of the other drivers as they watch the two most competitive racers intimately embrace. No one ever expected you to get close to another driver, let alone be seen wrapped up in their arms. It was unheard of. “So, I’m assuming you won’t be on the tracks tonight?” He ignores your attempt at riling him up and looks back down at you.

You sigh again, “Nope,”

Hayden shakes his head and presses a kiss to your temple. “I got something that will make you feel better,” he murmurs.  “Do you want to see it?”

You pull away from him and raise a brow, your curiosity getting the better of you as you take his hand and allow him to lead you towards the pits. There you were met with the sight of his car, and your face immediately heats up when you remember the events that took place the last time you saw it. The last time you were in it, you should say. The thought had you holding back a smirk, “A quickie before you’re set to race?” You ask as he pulls you towards the Chevy. “That’s a bit risky with all these people around, even for you.”

Hayden just laughs and shakes his head again. “That wasn’t what I had in mind,” he says and guides you towards the left side of the car. He stands back and lets you look at the smooth metal and at first you were confused, but then you looked closer. 

Next to the large Star Wars sticker was a new one, though much smaller. Tucked away just above the tire was a bright red 34 and it took you no time at all to realize that was your racing number, as well as your color. 

You step away from the car but keep your back to Hayden, a dumb grin seeming to be stuck on your lips. The fact that he had put your number and trademark color on his car meant he was serious about whatever it was between you, despite only knowing you for a very short period of time. You were glad that he was also feeling the same way you were. 

At your lack of response, Hayden felt his heart begin to beat quicker and he quickly tried thinking of a way to talk himself out of this, but ultimately ended up with nothing. “Is it too much?” He asked instead. 

Shaking your head, you turn to face him. “No,” you answer and step towards him. “No, I like it.” 

He breathes out a sigh of relief when you tuck yourself under his arm. 

“Does this mean we’re dating now?” 

He raised a brow at that. “I thought we already were,” he said back and that was all the confirmation you needed. The hot guy whose arm you were safely under was yours and you were his. “Since you can’t race tonight, can I count on you to cheer me on?” 

“Of course,” you answer and add, “Can I count on you to put on a good show?”

“Always,” he grins. “But it might be tough for me to concentrate on driving since we fucked in the front seat only a day ago.”

“So, you’ll be thinking of me? Perfect,” you stand on the tips of your toes to kiss him quickly. A kiss that was far too short for his liking as he pouted when you pulled away. “You better go get ready. If you win tonight, I promise you’ll like your reward.” 

You wiggle your brows as you turn and walk back to the garage, leaving Hayden to stand by himself with a semi-hard on.

If he had any doubts before, they were all put to rest by your teasing promise. He was going to win tonight. He had to. 

You knew Hayden was a good driver when you were competing against him, but here in the stands it was undeniable. He was always quick to correct, over-correct and dodge when he needed to and was unbelievably good at passing people, even on the risky turns. 

Saying you weren’t hot and bothered would be a massive lie and you were praying to anyone listening that he would win. You didn’t have any doubts, though, as he was the best one on the track by far. 

That was proven as the night went on and his place in first never faltered. You weren’t surprised when he finished the night at the top of the leaderboard, and as he gave his winning speech while he looked towards the stands with a wild glint in his eyes, you had a feeling you knew exactly who he was searching for.

-

Part 2

[lacrimosathedark]

Hazbin: Lucifer =/= Samael?

This is a real personal itch of mine. If it was done occasionally, I could brush it off as having fun, but it's so widespread and common. I see a lot of fanworks refer to pre-Fall Lucifer as Samael. And I get why, and yall can have your fun, but it bugs me so imma do an education.

One thing you gotta know is, mythologically, there is no direct textual connection between Lucifer and Samael. I'm presuming yall are mixing them because there's a middle character that is conflated with both of them:

SATAN

Samael has historically been associated with Satan. Lucifer, however, has only been more recently conflated with Satan. The origin of Lucifer isn't even necessarily about an angel, but a prideful king! (familiar?) And in Hellaverse, Lucifer and Satan are once again two different characters because Binsfield.

Usually they're pretty good at delineation between Lucifer and Satan. But in order to have her cake and eat it too, have Charlie be the daughter of the Devil and Lilith whilst having a separate Satan character, Viv gave some of Samael's/Satan's things to Lucifer. Most notably as Lilith's partner.

Lucifer is the Devil in Hellaverse, but he's more associated with Pride than anything else. Hellaverse Satan has Samael's whole adversary, judgement, courtroom deal.

Sometimes Samael is identified as evil incarnate or the source of evil, and while Lucifer may be the first to cause sin, what little we know of Hellaverse's pure evil is more associated with Satan and the Wrath Ring as a whole from the first episode (thank you for the lore Martha).

(I have a whole separate post about Hell and all the yes and that emblem and the Root of All Evil so I'm not gonna rehash it here)

Lower class Hellborn even treat Satan like their god. Helluva Boss has characters saying "oh my Satan" constantly. The one time we hear something different it's from a literal prince who says "oh my Lucifer".

And lore mixing is totally fine, it's fiction, fuck with it, have fun, but there's still one big issue for me and it's more about the logic of the names.

Samael roughly means "poison of God".

Lucifer actually comes from the Book of Isaiah 14:12 due to the game of telephone that is translation.

What used to be rendered as "Lucifer" like a title in Latin was in Hebrew Hêlêl ben Šāḥar, which most literally (I think) is "exalted child of dawn", more commonly rendered "son of morning", and is in reference to Venus, also known as the morning star. Greek renders it Heōsphoros which is another name for the Greco-Roman god Phosphorus, Lucifer in Latin, who was (you may have guessed) the personification of Venus. tldr Lucifer means morning star.

And this is where it gets me; why would Lucifer have a "nicer" name AFTER he fell to Sin? How does corruption turn him from Poison to Morningstar? Sure, he could've chosen his name post-Fall, but pre-Fall is presumably names they were given.

We have nothing so far of how Lucifer was seen in Heaven before but a lot of fans portray him as "God's favorite". Which makes Samael make even LESS sense. At the very least you'd think if he was known to be "poison" they'd keep a better eye on him. They've got a lot of them. But shit happened.

This is a long way of me saying Lucifer doesn't HAVE to be Samael and Samael doesn't HAVE to be Lucifer. Lucifer could've been his name the whole time. Samael could be Satan. Samael could be a different character entirely. Hell, make up YOUR OWN angelic name for Lucifer if you want! The other Sins don't have them either, go nuts! You don't have to be trapped in that box if you don't want to. There are other options.

TTFN

[utilitycaster]

i keep seeing people say that OF COURSE Bell Hell's haven't grown or changed, it's only been 3 months in campaign! and it's been nonstop! and every time I see that, I gotta admit 1. okay so you admit they haven't grown, cool. 2. that feels like a watsonian answer to a not-quite-watsonian complaint. iirc, m9 were only a few months longer than BH by the time their campaign ended, and it's been pretty comparable irl time. Both bell's bells and m9 had significantly less 'in world' time than vm and the m9 grew and changed plenty.

Because there's a discrepancy between 'time in game' and 'time at the table' for actual play, using 'in game' time as an excuse for...anything, feels thin. Because it still FEELS like three years both to us and the players! Does that make any sense or am i losing my mind? cause every time i see answers like that I feel a little crazy for feeling like it's almost entirely unrelated to complaint they're trying to address

No, it makes complete sense. I discussed this here as well but on some level it's like ok so they haven't changed! Turns out they suck, and the fact that they haven't changed means we have a party that still sucks. Like, if your point is "I don't like this character trait", someone saying "well it makes sense for them to have it" doesn't fix the core problem of you not liking it. This is a repeated problem in discussions in this campaign. I think Liliana dying would have been narratively interesting; I literally give zero fucks whether it's deserved, because she isn't real and I'm not a believer in Calvinism nor instant karma in real life and plenty of people die for unfair reasons and I happen to really enjoy exploring that and how people respond to it in fiction. You can't have a conversation with someone who, when you say "I'm not a big fan of vanilla ice cream, do you have chocolate?" says "but vanilla is literally a complex flavor made from orchids?" (Also yes, the Mighty Nein are a great example of a party who were already more closely bonded about a month and a half in, following Molly's death; the entire campaign was almost a year long though a bit shorter in terms of time together due to Happy Fun Ball time dilation. For reference, Bells Hells have been together 4 months and 5 days, and the Mighty Nein, at that exact same amount of time, were exploring the second Uk'otoa temple, and a number of them were already rethinking their whole deal at that point.)

I don't currently have any original posts to make re: criticism of Campaign 3 until next episode, most likely - I'm reblogging well-made posts I see, and obviously I'm answering asks, but I said this more briefly in the tags of another post earlier and I'd like to elaborate, but this has been a problem for me, at least, the entire campaign:

Campaign 3 has a small but loud contingent of fans who are utterly incapable of tolerating the idea that other people hold different opinions than they do and post them on their own blogs (often even not in the main tag). They respond to this with abuse and harassment; with a constant switching of direction to the point of self-contradiction; and with doubling and tripling down on statements I personally find to be bigoted. They are, in my opinion, small-minded, unintelligent, self-absorbed people who are so locked into, as I said here, an Us vs. Them mentality that so long as there is anyone who doesn't like them they will never be happy. They have gotten, narratively, almost everything they wanted thus far, but they'll never be happy so long as someone openly disagrees with them. Like, if the fact that your ship is the most popular one for this campaign on ao3 is so important to you, why are you so pressed about a few people disliking it? If liking Campaign 3 means you're a good anticolonial leftist and you're therefore allowed as a white person to mock the experiences of any nonwhite person actively dealing with the consequences of colonialism why do you need the support of The Bad People Who Don't Like It? If you can be broken by anything less than universal adoration, then, well. Break, bitch.

Essentially, think "the personality of Elon Musk in a broke 20-something whose main interests are cartoons aimed at a grade school audience, and a three sentence incorrect summary of Marxist theory that they use to justify whatever they already wanted to do," and you'll get the picture.

My advice therefore is that it's not really worth arguing, and frankly, there would be little to no discourse if they weren't so pathetically insecure that a post saying "The structure, pacing, and message of Campaign 3 are all weak and inconsistent, and Bells Hells have so little motivation they fail to be heroes, villains, nor antiheroes" sends them into an extended tantrum because the OP didn't append the words "I think" or "I feel" at the beginning of every statement, as most of us assume any reasonable adult would understand that a person posting on their own blog is posting their own opinions. (And, frankly, appending those words doesn't really help half the time because most of them are ultimately mostly outraged that someone would dare think or feel things that they don't.)

I am making posts about my thoughts on Campaign 3; I think most other people with criticism thereof are doing so as well. I will only be convinced otherwise by Campaign 3 itself being better, and I think it's probably too late for it to do so, and I will not be swayed nor intimidated by people who, see previous paragraphs re: my thoughts. My advice to you and anyone who's saying "wait a second" is to trust your gut; everything you said here seems like a pretty good assessment. If it helps, back away from the fandom and see what you feel without the influence of others (including me!) posting, and go with that.

[lilacgaby]

02 | serenity

~2.8k

chapter select!

he woke up to nobody in his arms but a pillow.

he should've expected this. it was just a stupid dream, a hallucination caused by that idiot yesterday. he sighed disappointedly, turning over to shut off his clock when--

he saw her, eyebrows furrowed and frustrated, trying to complete the other side of the puzzle.

he let out a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he was holding. she was there, and he still couldn't believe it. still couldn't believe that the fake girl he'd crushed over since he was in middle school was alive and kicking, and that he'd be alive to see it.

"oh, hey katsuki! i finished the other side, i'd tell you to look but i had to take it apart.." she said, still trying to piece things together.

"yeah, uh. hi." he said, voice deep from sleep, until he coughed and spoke normally. "uh.. we gotta take you to my teacher today. he'll be able to tell us whatever the fuck is up with you."

"right, uh.. just quick question first."

"hm?"

"can i borrow your clothes?"

right. he smacked his forehead because of his own idiocy. he forgot to give her clothes to sleep in last night, she had to sleep in her school uniform. and he knew she hated it, she said in volume fourteen that it was uncomfortable for her, and in volume eighteen she slept in it and woke up aching! he was such a fake fan.

"yeah, yeah, of course." he got up and went to his closet. he looked for clothes that'd suit her, though he doubted he'd have anything good enough.

as he dug through his closet, she eyed the box covering a corner of his shelves. all over the shelves were merch of that one guy.. 'all-might' was his name? just who was this guy anyways, he must be pretty self obsessed. he had his own puzzle line, posters, was that a figure? hell, even the box was themed.

she got up to investigate, holding up the figure, still enclosed in a box. as she eyed it over, bakugo almost fainted at the sight of his favorite character holding his favorite hero. he kept digging into his dresser now, thinking about how his fashion designer parents would cringe at the clothes he was going to put on someone as gorgeous as her.

in [name]'s brain she thought about who was the 'all-might' equivalent in her world. imagining a police officer with posters, puzzles, and fans made her cringe externally, so she set the figure back and backed away.

accidentally hitting the box that was covering the corner of the shelves.

as she moved to fix it, she saw a bunch of manga labeled 'serenity' next to the things it was covering.

she took one and opened it to the first page. she saw... pictures of her. of her first day of school, where she ran with bread in her mouth because she was late. of her bowing profusely for being late. of her being sat between shinto and urameshi because the spot next to her friend was taken-

everything was there. she had seen it yesterday, but to see everything canonically arranged felt bizarre. she put down the book and backed away, feeling conflicted, a burning feeling in her chest.

perfectly timed though, because katsuki had managed to pull out his favorite skull t-shirt for her to wear, along with leggings that he had grown out of.

he held them out, "here, we can go shopping or something later, but this is the best i got for now."

"ah.. thank you katsuki." she walked over to the bathroom and changed. the clothes fit her surprisingly well, accentuating her body. it wasn't really her normal style.. but it'd do for now.

while she changed, bakugo called mr. aizawa to make sure he was awake and kicking. at his response, he asked if he could meet with him in an hour, because of an 'emergency.' and aizawa sleepily agreed.

as he waited for her to come out, he felt uncharacteristically antsy, with his leg bouncing up and down.

she came out, dressed in his clothes, and she looked infinitely better than the fan art he'd made of her wearing a similar outfit.

"uh.. you ready to go?"

"hm? yeah."

as they were about to set off, someone barged into his room. kirishima, who wanted to train on a school holiday.

"hey bakubr-- oh.. who is that?" he said, looking over at [name]. his eyebrows raising slightly as he saw she was in bakugo's signature skull t-shirt.

"get out weird hair!"

"okay, okay uh.. i'll leave you two to it."

as the door shut behind him, katsuki slapped his hand over his face in frustration. he eyed [name], who was still just standing about waiting for him, sighed, and got up.

"well, let's fucking go." he said, holding the door open for her as they walked out. on the trip to the elevator and down, his classmates eyed the two of them, with some of them even noting her striking resemblance to the protagonist of 'serenity'.

he dragged her out quickly, slamming the door to the entrance as they walked to the main campus.

"this school is huge! my school is-- well you probably already know." she said, scratching the back of her head.

"yeah uh.. i do. it was a rundown old funeral home?"

"yes, exactly! and then they remodeled it into my school. but they y'know, built over a lot of graves and stuff."

"right, which is why there's an underlying subplot of you investigating the weird ass supernatural horrors of the school."

"subplot?... oh, i guess yeah. but we do it though the occult club just for fun."

"right. and those two idiots of yours are in it too, huh?"

"yup! shinto and urameshi. it's only cause we needed four people for an official club though!"

"mhm." it was so odd having her talk about her life events with him being able to recite each one of them to her. it felt like he was obsessing over her-- which he definitely was not.

he stopped suddenly infront of class two-a, having her bump into him with an 'oof'. after holding the door open for her, he walked inside to see aizawa, grading papers at a desk.

he eyed [name] suspiciously. "bakugo, is this girl the emergency? if so, i'm tempted to expel you for wasting my time."

"pfft. she is the emergency, and you wanna know why? because she's-- she's not real in this world. she's a fucking anime character." bakugo said, shoving the blank manga book in aizawa's face. "this is what was left after she suddenly popped out the pages, some asshole hit the book with a quirk and she appeared right after."

aizawa took the book out his hands and examined it. "language bakugo. ahem, is this true miss..?"

"[name]. and i think it's true. i'm not from a world with um.. superpowers or anything. and i woke up in an alleyway with that strange guy and katsuki." she said, anxiously twiddling her thumbs as she addressed aizawa.

"so, i think that this man likely has a manifestation quirk then." aizawa reasoned. "he has the ability to materialize things that were on paper, giving them life but not being able to control them. it's so powerful, that i'm assuming a days passed, and [name] is still here."

after thinking for a moment, aizawa came up with a temporary plan. "i've never dealt with a quirk of this manner before. but, since [name] is now a victim of it and you're so keen to help, she can stay at the dorms temporarily until we detain the man who is responsible for manifesting her. bakugo, explain what the encounter was exactly."

"well, i went out and bought this manga, 'serenity'. then, after finishing up i took a shortcut through an alley to U-A, but this damn mugger jumped at me, threatens me and sh-- stuff. he rushed at me so i threw my book at him out of reflex, a puff of smoke appeared and there she was."

"do you have anything on the profile of this man? what did he look like?"

"well, uh.. i didn't actually see him. i was busy looking at her."

aizawa deadpanned, and looked over at [name].

"so, did you see what he looked like [name]?"

"hm? oh i did. he was pretty generic looking, besides the scar on his lip. black hair, black eyes, pale skin. "

aizawa nodded, and went back to grading his papers. "i'll bring this up to higher ups later on, we'll be on the lookout for this man. our only way to find out what brought [name] here and how to bring her back is from the quirk user himself. [name], you will act as a U-A student from today on. it's not a big issue if it gets out you're not from this world, just stay out of trouble."

"yes sir, thank you."

"and bakugo, i trust you'll keep her safe?"

"obviously, who do you think i am?"

aizawa sighed, "then hurry up and leave, you made me behind on grading already. go ask principal nezu for a spare girls uniform, and tell him to call me about any questions. dissmissed."

she bowed slightly and bakugo huffed as they walked out the room.

"well, that went nicely, huh?"

"yeah, you got into class two-a without a quirk. color me impressed."

"you need superpowers in this class?"

"duh, it's a hero school. only the best of the best make it here."

"cool, i'm one of the best already!"

"..right." a ghost of a smile overcame his face as he watched her, surprisingly carefree in this stressful situation.

it was fun watching her reactions to things he had grown desensitized to. her eyes almost bulging out her head when she saw principal nezu was almost enough to make him laugh.

almost.

as she grabbed the uniform, thanking nezu profusely for allowing her to stay, she then followed bakugo back to the dorms.

"so like.. are there any other hero schools? i mean id assume there'd be competition."

"yeah, there's other ones. but they're all weak in comparison to U-A's hero course, so i wouldn't even waste my time thinking about it."

"oh? so, is there multiple hero classes?"

"yeah, three years of two classes."

"that's it? man, it must be hard to get in."

"you're smart enough to get into general studies, so if you were from this world, i think you'd be here regardless."

"aw, thank you katsuki."

"yeah, whatever."

as they walked through the entrance of the dorms once again, they were met with the entire classes eyes on them. it was lunchtime, so they often got together to eat and cook altogether. [name] felt awkward under their gazes though.

a guy walked up, his hair blonde with a tiny black streak in his bang, and slung his arm around katsuki's neck.

"who knew kacchan would date a [name] cosplayer? do you have a secret crush on anime girls kaccha--"

"fuck off!"

"no but seriously, she really does look exactly like [name]. down to like-- her moles and stuff. you're a really good cosplayer random girl." a girl with strikingly long ears complimented.

as the class started to crowd the two, most of them seemingly astonished at one: bakugo bringing a girl in the dorm who had also been in his dorm, and two: her resemblance to the most popular anime protagonist out at the time.

bakugo finally had enough, and decided just to say it since he had permission from aizawa.

"okay everyone shut up! this is going to sound fucking insane-, but hear me out. this is the real [name], no bullshit, straight from the manga. they were transported here after i got attacked, she's staying here in the dorms, and she's attending U-A til the heroes get their shit together and arrest the guy who brought her here."

the class collectively eyed her again. her resemblance was insane, way too uncanny to just be coincidence. it'd also explain her random appearance at the dorms, and the fact that he had gotten permission to keep her here meant aizawa knew so.

"really? that's so cool!" a girl with cute rosy cheeks added.

"we should all introduce ourselves, it'd be the polite thing to do!" said a guy with glasses and.. were those engines on his legs?

the class went around introducing themselves one by one, along with their quirks.

this world was beyond odd, there was a guy with like six limbs, a guy with a bird head, and another who straight up had a tail.

she introduced herself as well, just to be polite. "i'm [name], nice to meet you all."

"we already know you! you're so popular yknow?" a girl now known as mina mentioned.

"yeah, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know you. you're everywhere." tsuyu exclaimed.

"ah.. really? that's- interesting." she said, awkwardly smiling.

"so, since you're [name] can you answer a question i had? it's just to solve a debate between me and that idiot over there." jirou said, pointing at denki.

"ah, sure."

"so, when you were talking to shinto in the occult room the day after your finals, was it you who laid the ouija board for him to find, or was it there in the first place?"

[name] looked genuinely confused. "um.. i didn't place any ouija board anywhere."

"told you!" "that was a guided question!"

she eyed the two as they argued over who would win.. a thousand yen she thought?.. she wasn't really even interested in the bet anyways. she felt off after that question. it wasn't like she and shinto would never see eachother again, but she was feeling so homesick. she perked up again, reminding herself to stay optimistic, and that she'd get home soon.

a really pretty girl named momo was the last to come up to her, "hello [name]. i'm a big fan, and i noticed that your clothes isn't very.. well.. suited for you. so,"

momo took her hand gently, laid a black card in it, closed her hands and put it to her chest.

"please use this card to your hearts content. i hope we have the time to go out and chat before you go back to your world."

"this is very generous of you! i don't know if i can accept this-"

"please do! think of it as a gift. a welcoming gift from me."

"i-- okay. thank you momo."

"of course."

everyone had now gone back to what they'd normally do, except bakugo.

"so, you coming or what?" katsuki finally asked her, after he'd gotten her set up in the dorm right next to his.

"going where?"

"shopping, duh."

"with you?"

"my parents are fashion designers and i know all the coolest spots, now are you coming or not?"

she smiled and clasped her hands together. "of course im going."

the walk to the mall was peaceful. katsuki would poke her in the side lightly whenever she'd stare at someone with a strange physical quirk for too long, apparently there was a sort of 'racism' against people with body-modifying quirks in this world, and staring wouldn't be taken well.

he brought her to store after store, her hands and his filling up quickly with bags as they shopped until they dropped, katsuki only encouraging her to spend more because momo 'wouldn't even notice.'

after they had picked out a closet's worth of clothes for [name] to wear, they sat down at a cafe to eat.

bakugo ordered [name]'s favorite food and dessert without her even telling him, as he ate his spicy noodles, she made an offhand comment. "y'know, it's like we're on a date right now."

he almost choked on his noodles as he realized that.

she had him so hopelessly wrapped around her finger without doing anything, it was driving him insane.

when the dessert arrived, [name] took the liberty to smudge frosting from a spare cupcake on katsuki's nose, making her laugh loudly at her own actions.

if it was anyone else he would've blew up but,

he laughed softly too.

he really didn't want this to end.

especially not with knowing the only other way he'd get a date with [name] after she left was through a bishojo (otomes with guy protagonists) game.

but as he saw her laugh as he went back to dot some frosting on her nose as well,

he figured he'd leave those thoughts for later.

prev | next!

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

A rant about Jedi Stans from an ex-Jedi fangirl

After some time I've had to reflect on my own behavior as well as my time in the pro Jedi fandom, I decided it's time to call this shit out. Some people take it really personal if someone criticized your favorite characters or their beliefs. Ironically, you all act more like the Sith than the Jedi with how obsessive you can be and insisting any criticism is equal to wanting genocide.

I'm going to start by saying I was in the pro jedi fandom for a few months. Truth be told, I was using it as an outlet for some of my anger issues with my hate towards Anakin, seeing him as similar to a lot of people I've had to deal with. Some of it was wanting more followers and fear of being disliked by the majority. I would pick fights with Anakin fans and was a bit of an asshole and I apologize for that. I still don't like him but no longer HATE him. Seeing how fandoms treat abuse victims who aren't perfect angels like Shinji Ikari or Lapis Lazuli has caused me to loosen up a bit. Many Jedi stans would probably hate those characters for not being “perfect” victims. In retrospect, this wasn't a good community for me. It was very puritanical and I often felt like I was wrong for enjoying media that went against the beliefs Jedi Stans put on a pedestal. Three of my favorite ships (Madohomu, Reishin and Hodaka x Hina) involve "burning the world for one person" and I felt like I couldn't talk about them without being a hypocrite. That and me agreeing less and less with Luca's beliefs pushed me to leave.

It's fine to enjoy a fictional character and defend them if you feel that they're being unfairly criticized. I've done it myself and have written essays defending my faves. The problem is that Jedi stans don't know when to stop. So many are quick to compare the Jedi to minority religions or marginalized groups as a shield against criticism, not recognizing how insulting that can be. Jewish, asian and aroace people are the ones normally used due to the Jedi beliefs being based off Eastern religions as well as Judaism as well as some aroace people identifying with the Jedi.

One thing I noticed about Jedi stans is their similarities to Jumblr which is full of religious chauvinism reworded to sound progressive. Many of them talk about how the Jedi shouldn't have to change their traditions with the times or to accommodate a few individuals like Anakin or Ahsoka. This can be similar to how a lot of people are quick to defend minority religions from outside criticism based on how they were treated by Christian colonists or missionaries. The problem is that this can veer right into ableist or queerphobic territory. You know who else believe that their religion shouldn't have to change with the times to accommodate people? Conservative Christians who hate being told to be affirming of LGBTQ people. Also, schools and parents/guardians do have a responsibility to accommodate kids with disabilities, mental health issues or trauma, even if it may be inconvenient or force you to bend the rules. Claiming they need to just suck it up is honestly disgusting.

This was all a big reason for why I left this garbage pit of a fandom. While there are some who hate the Jedi because they stan the empire or think people need 50s nuclear families to live fulfilling lives, not everyone does that. Believe it or not, some people have faced abuse and bigotry under Judaism and Buddhism. People can also criticize how Lucas presented their beliefs as some Buddhists think he didn't do a good job. Libsoftiktok is a vile transphobe, an Orthodox Jew and her beliefs are said to be fairly common in her community. Many people of color identify with the clones and dislike how even the nicer Jedi treated them. When Obi Wan told Anakin, "It's okay to have romantic feelings, but you must let them pass," that hits different for queer people who have been told similar things from "polite" homophobes. Some queer people do choose celibacy like Side B christians which is fine as long as they don't treat it as a moral failure to want a relationship. There are many neurodivergent people who don't like the Jedi beliefs as they hit close to home. Lucas may have not intended to come off as ableist but the Jedi did with their beliefs about negative emotions. To some people, platitudes like "just let go" aren't helpful and treating it as bad for not living up to those principles is gross.

I deleted the post, but a while back I made a post asking a popular pro jedi blogger their views on adoption since they claimed Anakin not viewing the Jedi as his "found family" was a moral failure. I found their response to be tone deaf and insulting. I responded in a decent way of course, but felt a bit judged and unhappy for wanting to know my birth mother. Adoptees are another set of people this fandom is insensitive and gross to. The Kenobi series I find insulting for that reason too, having Leia be a foil for Anakin and Obi Wan romanticize his recruitment as a child.

Jedi fans are also shitty to those with religious trauma and who faced abuse. Accusing anyone who criticizes the Jedi of projecting their issues with Christianity while simultaneously talking like conservatives as shown above. Tumblr in general has a weird habit of treating religion as if it’s either conservative evangelicalism, liberal reform Judaism and some vague pagan or eastern spirituality with little nuance. Some Jedi stans really come from a place of privilege. Claiming "they can just leave" is insulting to real religious abuse survivors who were raised with harmful beliefs like creationism or homophobia. I'm no antitheist but treating non christian religion as inherently progressive dismisses a lot of people's experiences.

Let's be real, the writing in this franchise was always a bit sloppy. Lucas's issue was wanting to simultaneously create both a black-and-white morality tale for kids based on the fairy tales and serials he grew up and a deep socio-political commentary about the Vietnam and Iraq wars which required some morally grey themes. Thus, along with his terrible dialogue that made the characters seem unlikable, is why the fandom is so divided over whether he intended people to agree with the prequel Jedi.

To wrap this up, I found the pro jedi fandom to be a terrible experience. It was a mix of faux progressivism mixed with fear of judgement for disagreeing. I ended up editing a post I made, and eventually deleted, comparing Yoda with Garnet from SU because I included a tiny bit of criticism and didn't want to get backlash. As long as it’s not gross or bigoted criticism of your favorite characters isn't the end of the world. People don't have to like George Lucas or his beliefs and put them on a pedestal. I feel like the fandom's worship of George comes in response to OT purists who claimed he "raped their childhoods" but there's fair criticism to be made. Just like how not everyone who criticizes Disney SW or any Disney media in general is an "anti woke" grifter. To the pro jedi fans reading this, here's a suggestion. Just block and ignore people, write an essay if you feel it's important, but don't act like an entitled bully if a blog or even a SW writer disagrees with the Jedi, interprets the story differently or criticizes your favorite characters.

[bean-in-dice]

Spoilers for Ep 14-15 of The Glory/Gui Nv

Gotta give it up for The Glory for successfully switching my feelings about an extreme character from one polar end to the other. Doesn't happen everyday. Wow.

So I wasn't even a big fan of the show. Atop the repetitive assembly line tropes, its pacing was rushed and logic uneven but I liked the lighting, women's costumes, the main leads AND THE GIRLFRIEND WAAH so I kept kinda binging it with sporadic attention.

Show had the most toxic and unhinged mother ever whom I did NOT think was possible to be justified no matter how hard they tried, because while it's valid to send away and estrange your child because she was being schemed upon by the second wife, there was no need to let the child suffer so much. But when they finally revealed what truly happened..... SPOILERS

It wasn't as simple as Mother's natal family was destroyed by Father so she's out for an unreasonable revenge massacre. It wasn't as simple as "she was trying to keep the daughter away for her own safety and going to unreasonable extremes for it because she's nuts" just because of a jealous concubine set to ruin a baby girl's future (who thought it'd be a boy, if the doctor assumed it'd be a girl she likely wouldn't have gone down with such a plan, she's still an evil woman yes but she's not that insidious, her motives are pretty transparent); it's the FATHER who was a hella insane psychopath! Under his meek and kind exterior he's a hypocrite and a heartless scumbag who made me feel like even Emperor Qianlong was more humane!

This is NOT a justification for her actions. Being a victim doesn't absolve you of your crimes, she IS terrible for the abuse she inflicted/allowed to happen on her child and not caring if dozens of victims would die in the course of her bloodlust. BUT Finally, I'm seeing her for what she is. She's no longer really a human with sound, functional brain. She's a severely traumatized caged animal who's been on feral and delusional survival mode for YEARS. Imagine:

You are torn from your lover, your family is ruined, you are forced to marry and sleep with the person who presumably caused all of it, you are already getting through every day with revenge and bitterness in mind, but a targeted, "healthier" version of it.

Throughout your pregnancy, your unborn child is labelled as a curse.

You give birth after hours of agony, with no one but maids by your side because they are all too busy frantically prioritizing superstition over her.

You are told your newborn baby will be beaten to exorcise the supposed demon in her. Your husband says; "It's okay, we can always have another baby."

You run to every family member's door and beg for their mercy and help and they pretend to be deaf and blind (Remember, you are still freshly postpartum).

Wild with desperation and rage, you pretend like the demon is yourself, and demand that YOU be beaten instead. And your husband agrees and gives his order.

You are (STILL FRESH OUT OF LABOR) beaten until your legs are so mangled you become a cripple!

Your child is sent away

You get isolated in a lonely back garden with just your maids, with IMMENSE physical and emotional agony, you lose all contact with outside world, no one to offer a single kind and comforting word to you except your maid and zero way to heal your mind and get back your focus. You gradually lose your touch with reality and to be indelicate, there's no way for you to "touch grass" even if you wanted to because HAH. You are confined inside that house's walls and wheelchair!

Only hatred and toxicity are your companions, and it only keeps growing, you are no longer planning for a "reasonable revenge", it's full-on war now. And in a war, everyone will die, regardless their innocence.

When you are at the height of your plans, your daughter suddenly returns home. In the very tiny gap in your heart that you've left for your child, there's fear, there's grief that your child suffered horribly while she was away, but after the years you had, you do not know how to express your love and concern in any sort of "healthy" way. Every fiber of your body can only scream at your daughter "GET OUT. GET OUT!!!" and you resort to any means to have your daughter RUN the hell away from this horrific place, and from you, the "failed, incompetent excuse of a mother who couldn't save her child" before it's too late. Yes, the child hadn't had any better life outside but, in your head, she has, she will, because remember, that's what you choose to believe, that was the belief that kept you going, in your years of re-living your trauma and gradually losing touch with reality and reason.

You are no longer a person but a husk of one, so of course your behavior is not going to be reasonable. You are merely acting by your deeply ingrained instincts: which is to KEEP AWAY THE CHILD and I WILL KILL EVERYONE ELSE AND THEN MYSELF SO I'M FINALLY FREE.

After seeing ep 14-15 my verdict is that mother's actions were COMPLETELY understandable, and I can't fault her no matter what crime she commits because I probably would've done the same in her place.

Her daughter, Hanyan, is by NO means obligated to love or "try to understand" her mother and mother doesn't ask her to either, but Hanyan -bless her- chooses to, first out of her own delusional belief and hope that kept her going; that "My mother must still love me, just because", and then after learning of the full extent of the things that happened. She is the first person to approach her mother and teaches her the words "letting go" and "it's not worth losing yourself to toxicity and self-loathing over a man."

And dear reader, this scene.

I fucking cried, okay? Only I know how deeply this scene resonated with me. You are free to interpret their individual characters and their dynamic whatever way you want, I hope you don't come after me for mine. That's all.

[gotskamstuff]

Season 4 pt.1 debuting with over 15.5 million views in the first 3 days and pt. 2 debuting with close to HALF the views in the same amount of days is bringing me too much satisfaction, sorry not sorry.

I truly feel sorry for the rest of the cast and people who work on the show, but I’m glad to see the fandom response reflecting into the views ‘cause I feel like sometimes shows, especially with this amount of success and popularity, take for granted the viewers affection and think they can feed us any crap without consequences and we’re gonna eat it up with no problem, like we’re gonna stay here no matter what ‘cause we’re addicted to it…doesn’t work like that, you gotta keep your audience by giving them something good.

Each show loses viewers from pt.1 to pt.2 in the debut and it’s known, but basically half of it is a lot (also considering how pt. 1 stayed at n.1 in the top 10 for over 2 weeks, but only 1 week later pt. 2 has already dropped at n.3 with lowering compared to pt.1 who stayed consistent)

Considering that Outer Banks had always counted on a young and loyal fanbase GLOBALLY that’s ready to hit play the instant the season drops, 8.5 million views globally in 3 days is really a strong message to them.

Whether you’re personally ok or not with the way S4 ended, it’s a fact that they screwed up with a huge chunk of their own audience that kept the popularity of the show alive and if they managed to lose this amount of engagement and excitement towards the series in 3 days then good luck to them to keep the interest alive UNTIL 2026.

I think they downplayed and probably still downplay the role of JJ in terms of engagement, S4 already lost numbers compared to S3 (after they probably lost occasional viewers over the bore s3 was) and I can’t even imagine the drop that S5 will be.

They screwed up big time and no matter how much they try to do damage control now, no matter how much they wait for the audience to calm down, no matter how much they try to ignore it…they lost a good part of their own fanbase and probably occasional audience as well.

IF the waters are ever gonna calm down it surely won’t be ‘cause the problem is solved and people got over it, but simply because people won’t be there at all and will have lost their involvement with the show altogether.

Maybe the Pates will learn for their next project to treat the set like an actual workplace and not a college dorm. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes.

I mean it with my whole chest when I say that without JJ I’m never gonna watch S5, and I have been close to an addicted fan of this show for almost 5 years, but the story died with him. They took away the character that was the symbol of this show and who’s story we were rooting for the most, and although yes, there is also other things to the story…the interests in all the rest doesn’t quite measure up with the loss. I know that many people feel the same way (and if you reading this personally don’t, good for you but I think the general response speaks for itself).

They doomed the show by killing the fan favorite, killing the largest ship fandom of the show and by ruining the storyline that created the most engagement and curiosity that had us rooting for it.

They took for granted the fanbase that made the show what it is today and blindly spitted on us thinking we’d be passive about it. The fans make or break a show.

Bring back JJ and you have the opportunity to make the GAG of the century and get the biggest positive response from your own audience to end the show…don’t and see the show collapse and lose it’s reputation and legacy for good. Simple as that🤷🏻‍♀️

I will never shut up about it ‘cause this is the biggest fumble of a Netflix series I have ever witnessed and the biggest let down I have ever experienced with a show (yeah worse than Game of thrones final season).