#feel free to voice your opinions on this haha

[the-witty-pen-name]

Video Girl

Modern AU

Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Youtuber!F!Reader

Summary: Eddie stumbled across your YouTube channel when you posted a review about Corroded Coffin’s newest album. Now, he’s binged all your videos and your channel has become his “comfort channel” that he has on all the time while he’s feeling lonely on tour. When they’re invited to perform at a convention he wonders if he’ll finally get the chance to meet you.

Word Count: 7.5k

Warnings: pining; fluff; angst; cyber-bulling/mean comments directed towards reader; kissing; slowish burn; eddie absolutely down bad; substance use; cursing

A/N: he convention is essentially VidCon- I’ve never been to VidCon or any other type of convention before. I have no idea what I’m really talking about but this is like my best guess as an outsider as to how conventions like these may look? Sorry in advance. I really loved the idea of the reader being a content creator but I don’t know the details on how being a creator at a con would work haha I did my best. 

Eddie falls asleep every night to the sound of your voice. 

When the tour bus is driving overnight as they head to the next city, he rests his phone on the wall of his bunk, watching YouTube videos with the volume low as he tries to drift off. One of your videos had played as a recommendation automatically and he was too tired to turn off his phone. He laid on his stomach, too tired to move but still not fully asleep. 

“Hey everyone,” you smiled, offering a wave to your video's viewers. “I’m really excited for this video- it’s been literally requested non-stop since my last Corroded Coffin video-”

The mention of the band, makes his ears perk and he opens his eyes again- suddenly not as tired as he just was a second ago. You’re holding up a copy of the band’s newest vinyl and talking about how this video will be your live reaction to listening to it for the first time. 

Eddie usually doesn’t watch or pay attention to reviewers- he doesn’t really care for typical critics. However, he just ended up watching it. He smiles to himself as you excitedly tear the plastic to open your vinyl, and you show your viewers a tour of the record sleeve, the photos inside, everything visual. You beam excitedly at the included square posters and the book with the lyrics. You hold up one of the posters. 

“Literally the hottest guy I think I’ve ever seen,” You smile bashfully, the poster showing Eddie playing his guitar at one of their shows. Eddie can’t help but blush. “You guys already know, Eddie Munson is my celebrity crush- has been for like years… ever since the EP came out like what? 6 years ago? He’s gorgeous. Anyways…” You get back on topic, focusing on talking about the visuals and the album's concepts. You provide your own opinions and interpretations and Eddie can’t help but just really appreciate how much you appreciate all of the effort the band put into every aspect of the album. 

Eddie can’t help as his whole chest swells with pride with each of your reactions. You practically jump out of your seat with excitement at the riffs, the way you head bang to the drum solos, the way you pause and take your time to absorb lyrics. It’s so endearing. He’s smiling to himself as you go on excitedly. 

From that moment, he watched everything you posted. Your channel was a bit eclectic- album reviews, gaming, vlogs… he watched everything. Your vlogs were probably his favorite. When he’s in his bunk winding down, it kind of feels like being on FaceTime with a friend. He loves watching just the normalcy of your life compared to his. Sometimes, his heart aches for simplicity like that. He can picture himself there, sitting with you in your car after you went through the drive through, taking you to the bookstore, helping you cook. He wishes he could have something like that. 

“Holy shit guys,” you smile, you cover your face with your free hand while you hold your phone. Using his burner account, Eddie is watching your most recent TikTok that’s been reposted to your Instagram story. You show a paparazzi photo that’s been taken of Eddie recently, you zoom in and show that under his flannel and his jacket, he’s wearing your merch. “Eddie Fucking Munson is wearing my merch! My merch! Shit, this can’t be real. That’s my shirt!” 

Eddie recognizes where that photo was taken almost immediately. He’s walking out of the hotel they stayed in last weekend after their shows in Toronto. He and the other guys were leaving out the back entrance, thinking they’d be safe from view. Of course, there was a pap with a long lens. 

He’d been up all night, and he looked like it. His hair was even more unruly than usual, he was sporting dark under eyes, and he was wearing the clothes he went to bed in- old sweats and your shirt. He was embarrassed to have a photo of him like that circling around the internet. No matter how often it happens, he can never get used to it. It always sucks. 

But right now, you are so happy and it’s all Eddie can focus on. You’re smiling so wide, and he’s the reason for it. Your eyes are big with excitement and it’s like your joy is jumping off his phone screen directly into his chest. He couldn’t even care less about the picture now, or how he looks. It doesn’t matter. He’s just happy watching you be happy. All of his initial worries just melt away as you talk to the camera. 

“I can’t even wrap my head around that one- Eddie Munson knows I exist. And two, he’s watched my videos? Jesus Christ, I don’t know if I’m more excited or embarrassed,” you flush. Eddie chuckles. He likes the story and puts his phone down so he can focus. Later on, the same warm feelings bubble up again when he sees that you tweeted that since that photo began to circulate, you’ve gained thousands of new followers and that your tshirt completely sold out on your site. You tweet at him directly thanking him. He screenshots it. 

Eddie originally wasn’t thrilled about the band going to perform at a convention right in the middle of their break on the tour. A beautiful month of doing nothing now suddenly interrupted. However, when you post that you’re going- he doesn’t mind so much anymore. 

Apprehension clouds his mind once he starts to think about it too much. You’ll probably think he’s a freak- some creepy stalker if he ever admits to you how much he watches your content. Despite you saying many times that he’s your celebrity crush, he can’t imagine living up to any sort of idea of him that you have in your head. He’ll fall short, you’ll reject him, and he’ll never be able to live it down. It’ll break him. 

You’re a nervous wreck as you look over the schedule- your eyes narrowing on the line-up of live performances. How in the hell did the convention center manage to book Corroded Coffin? You haven’t been able to think about anything except Eddie Munson since your friend had sent you that photo. Your mind races with questions. You want to know how many videos he’s seen- has he seen the ones where you essentially make a fool of yourself talking about him? Does he even know who you are or is it someone else’s shirt? Is he a subscriber? You can’t even fathom that you exist in the timeline where one of the biggest stars on the rise in some capacity knew of your existence.You can’t even think straight. 

Fans are screaming outside the convention center as the band arrives in a large black SUV. Eddie’s palms are sweating, and he is more nervous than he thought he’d be. The anxious feeling he’s experiencing has nothing to do with the crowd, the cameras, the performance- it’s all because of you. Looking at the building they will shortly be escorted into, all he can think about is how you’re here- after the months of pining from behind the security of his phone, he’s going to be at the same place as you. He can’t let the opportunity to meet you pass him by. 

Jeff and Gareth shove him to pay attention when he doesn’t look up from his phone when the car finally stops. They exchange a knowing look that Eddie deos his best to ignore. He got wrapped up in photos of you- watching your story as you post selfies with your friends as you’re walking around the convention center. Your smile is infectious to him. He resolved a while ago it was the prettiest he’s ever seen, coming to terms with the fact that he's helplessly smitten. He tucks  his phone securely into the pocket of his jeans, and follows quickly behind his bandmates as they are ushered into the building safely. 

“Corroded Coffin just got here,” your friend squeals, as she shows you a livestream someone is taking from outside. You watch Eddie on the screen as he quickly walks into the building. He’s wearing the goddamn shirt again. Your face feels overwhelmingly hot as this begins to feel all too real. He waves to fans with a goofy, wide smile- sticking out his tongue and throwing up the devil’s horns with one of his hands. You watch his laughter and it makes your heart ache. 

He looks good. You’d think he’d look silly with the pink shirt but he looks so undeniably hot. He’s wearing black ripped jeans, heavy boots, and your baby pink shirt with the sleeves cuffed accentuating his tattoos. Your channel’s name is splayed across the expanse of his chest and you swear you short circuit. It’s only then that you fully allow yourself to admit that Eddie Munson not only knows that you exist- and he’s a fan. 

Your friends chatter excitedly, freaking out about the situation- because duh. Who wouldn’t be? You can’t even think because your heart is beating so incredibly loud and fast, and adrenaline is making your head throb. It’s a sensory overload, and you feel like you can’t wrap your head around it. You physically shake your head to try to subside the feeling. You needed to be on- you had to finish setting up your booth, be ready to meet people who subscribed to you. You couldn’t let yourself get bogged down by this, at least not yet. 

You hurried to get your table ready- tablecloth with your logo displayed on the front, merch folded into neat piles, your business cards in a small tray. Your channel name was displayed on a banner behind you that you had made to match. Your friends helped you set up the portable POS system as you set up a rack that you filled with your stickers. You didn’t really care if people bought anything, you were just excited to meet the people you’ve interacted with online since you started your channel. 

Understandably, a lot of people who approached your table immediately started asking you about Eddie. It was a lot of the same questions over and over but you didn’t mind that so much. They all had asked the same things you had been asking yourself- and you wanted to know the answers as badly as they seemed to. 

“No, no. I haven’t met him.”

“No, I didn’t know he watched my videos.”

“Yeah, it’s really crazy.”

“No, I didn’t send PR.”

“Yeah, no. I didn’t pay him to wear it.” 

Eddie anxiously shook his leg, trying to figure out if he could sneak away. Unfortunately, most instances- it feels like his time isn’t his own. He wishes he could just walk around with Jeff and Gareth, but there’s no way to safely do that. Everything needs to be planned out, timed out and they always need security. He doesn’t want to complain- it’s that everything needs to be a thing. He can’t just go up and talk to a girl. He needs to tell his security, who also needs to coordinate with the building security. It needs to be added to the timeline of the day. Before he knows it, there’s like fifteen moving pieces that need to be put in place so he can walk up to you. 

He knows it’s easier to just ask for you to be brought to him. He feels like that’s cheating. He’s the fan- he’s the one wanting the experience of meeting you. It makes him feel icky- sending buff intimidating security guys to ask you to follow them blindly- taking you away from the fun and people just so he can say hello? Makes him feel like he’d look like a douchebag. He understands it needs to be you in your world- he doesn’t want you to be the one who feels out of place. But then on the other hand, he’s drawing all this attention towards him and inadvertently to you if he does this. He worries about the scene he’s inevitably going to cause and he hopes you don’t resent him for it. 

It’s towards the end of day one. Most attendees are making their way over to the auditorium for some of the other live performances. Since Eddie figured most people would be heading to that while the vendors were getting ready to partially break down their booths, it might be the perfect time to walk around. It ended up working out more perfectly than Eddie would have hoped. 

Jeff and Gareth wanted to check out the other acts that were performing, so they went to go watch the concert. Eddie was able to walk around the near empty convention halls with his head of security following a couple of steps behind. He can see you in the distance. He feels warmth bubble up as he just observes your actions briefly from a short distance.

You’re packing up your merchandise and putting them into boxes, tucking them under your table to keep it out of the way until tomorrow. Three teenage girls cautiously approach you and you immediately stop everything to offer each of them a hug. You smile and chat with them- taking your time to ask them questions and thank them for talking to you. You ask them if you can take a picture with them and they nod enthusiastically. You wrap your arms around them like you’ve known them forever as your friend offers to take the picture. You hug them all again, sincerely thanking them for coming over to talk to you. 

Without needing him to ask, his security lets him approach you on his own. He stands far enough back that Eddie can feel independent but still close enough he can jump in if he needs to interfere. Eddie’s been racking his brain all day for the best thing to say to you when he finally gets to meet you. Of course, he has nothing. He’s so nervous and he’s praying to God that you won’t be able to tell. 

“Hey,” he says shyly as he approaches. He walks with his hands stuffed in his back pockets. 

Your eyes widen in surprise, though you guess you shouldn’t be that surprised. You try your best to play it cool, but you're not sure you’re pulling it off well at all. 

“Nice shirt,” you comment, with a smile. 

“I’m Eddie,” he introduces himself. He’s so shy, not at all like how you'd expect him to be. You can’t help but find it endearing. You introduce yourself too. 

“I, uh, I just wanted to tell you that I love you videos,” he compliments bashfully. “I think I’ve seen them all- I’m a big fan.” 

“Thank you- um, same. I mean, I’m a big fan of yours too. Not of myself, obviously,” you ramble, “Your music! Not videos, but yes- I also love your music videos…” 

“Thanks,” he replies, and you’re relieved to be cut off before you embarrass yourself further. “Listen, um, I wanted to ask- could we get a picture together?”

You straighten your posture and nod enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah- of course,” you reply. You go to smooth out your hair, and tug at the hem of your shirt. 

“You look great,” he insists and you feel flush at his compliments. You feel giddy, as he casually wraps his arm around your shoulders. He holds up his phone, making sure you're both in frame. You both smile and he snaps a picture of the two of you. 

“Do- do you mind sending it to me?” You ask. 

“Here,” he offers his phone to you, “Do you want to just send it to yourself?” You’re stunned. He’s trusting you with his phone? You text the selfie to yourself, and hand it back. 

“Thanks,” you smile. 

“Are you going to the concert?” He asks, “I was going to meet Jeff and Gareth… do you want to come with me?”

“My friends are waiting for me..,” you say, and you’re a little disappointed to have to say no to him. “We’re supposed to meet up there actually.” 

“Well, you can just have them meet us at the box if you want,” he shrugs nonchalantly. He hears his security sigh but he couldn’t care less. 

“If that won’t be too much trouble,” you insist. He shrugs it off. 

“Nah, don’t even worry about it,” he’s doing his best to be nonchalant. “What do you think?” He asks hopefully. 

“Yeah! I’ll text them, they’ll freak out,” you smile. You lean over to the security guy. “In like a normal way, they are harmless. The worst thing they’ll be is maybe loud. I swear.” 

The man offers a closed lip smile and nods. 

*** 

“It was just hanging out,” Eddie argues exhausted. He slumped in his seat and crossed his arms. The band’s publicist scoffs, pushing her phone across the table. 

“No, it’s not,” she chastises, “first, you wear the shirt. The pink tshirt was great- did wonderful; the public really liked it. But, then you wear this shirt again at a public event where it was confirmed this person would be in attendance. Then, you’re photographed with this girl and you didn’t think there’d be speculation? You’ve essentially confirmed a relationship.” 

“Wearing a fucking tshirt and posting a selfie confirms a relationship?” He retorts. 

“Not in normal circumstances, but you already know that there’s never normal circumstances.” 

“We’re not together.” 

“Eddie, this isn’t about lecturing you. Stop acting like a spoiled little kid. This isn’t about you- this is about everything you’ve built and accomplished; your band mates and their careers. It’s about all the people you employ. You can sit here and act like your actions don’t have consequences- and this isn’t about whether or not she’s a good person, or if you are or aren’t dating- it’s about thinking about the impact you have and why it’s so important to think about and plan these things.” 

“Literally no one would have anything to worry about. Her reputation is spotless, she does charity fundraisers, she makes YouTube videos about Stardew Valley for Christsake.”

“This time? Sure, but this isn’t the first time you’ve been reckless Eddie. You can’t deny you’ve done worse- this is just the newest thing.” 

“Jesus…”

“It’s better for optics when the three of you appear single.” 

“What the hell? We aren’t even dating! We hung out once.” 

“Eddie…”

“You’re telling me that people lose their jobs and no one buys our albums if I go out on a date?” 

“It’s gradual Eddie..  have you even given any thought on how this is going to affect her? The microscope you put her under? The swarm of crazed fans, angry and jealous and spiteful that it’s not them… you’ve sent the poor girl out to slaughter.” 

He recoils, shrinking further into the chair. Had it been that selfish and thoughtless? He didn’t imagine anything this upsetting could happen. He does feel like shit now- he didn’t think about how this attention would affect you. Maybe he had been blinded by his own infatuation. It’s not fair to you. He wanted to see you again, but maybe now he thinks he shouldn’t. You were so sweet, he thinks back on that day. He couldn’t imagine anyone hating you, or wanting to inflict that kind of pain his publicist is talking about. 

He looks at the pictures she’s trying to show him. The both of you chatting near her table- obviously taken from a distance and zoomed in. He’s blushing looking at you- of course he was. You’re both smiling, looking at each other and not paying attention to anything else. Then, photos taken of the concert. Sitting next to each other, legs brushed up against each other as you chat- completely ignoring the show. He’s leaning in close so he can hear you speak. Then, you’re standing next to each other, cheering and clapping for the performance. Well, more so that you’re applauding the artist, and Eddie is standing next to you- looking at you like a lovesick idiot. It’s painfully obvious that he’s into you. Now, he’s more worried if you picked up on that than anything else. And if he wasn’t anymore obvious in his body language, just to really drive the point home- he was wearing the pink t-shirt on top of everything else. 

“This is just the one post ET made about it,” she says, opening the comment section for him. “Look at the comments- this was posted an hour ago.” 

He can do much better kind of sad actually 

Mid 

She is so annoying

They both make me sick 

She’s not even that pretty 

Who even is she gross 

Why is she even there

It's obvious she’s just using him to grow her channel 

Eddie blink twice if you need help

Clout chaser 

Hundreds of comments like that kept pouring in. Of course, for every negative comment there were hundreds of positive- but Eddie couldn’t help but focus on the hateful things people were saying about you. He wanted to reply to every one of them and defend you. Who were these faceless, nameless assholes with nothing better to do? 

***

You had posted a vlog about your experience at the convention- completely leaving Eddie or anything Corroded Coffin out. You shared videos of you meeting subscribers, and you meeting your favorite creators. You shared fun videos of your friends and you trying the convention center food. However, as you should’ve expected, all of the comments were about Eddie. On your little corner of the internet, your following was overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Occasionally, you saw a comment that was obviously left by someone who sought out your channel after the pictures were posted- but otherwise, you were fine. 

You figured you’d be better off not to go looking for the negativity because you knew for sure you’d find it. Blocking and deleting is very easy to do, you decided a long time ago when you started your channel. You’re used to the occasional hate comment, and you haven’t checked your social media notifications on other platforms in so long. You were impressing yourself with how you’d handled the situation honestly. You figured you’d just stay offline for a few days and everything would mellow and go back to normal. You grossly underestimated the persistent attention that would soon hit you. 

When you tried to live stream for your most recent let’s play, you ended up deciding to end the stream way earlier than you usually would. You anticipated people joining to ask about Eddie or ask about the photos, but you underestimated the influx of viewers you’d receive. Your moderators weren’t able to keep up and the stream was completely overrun with spam comments and hate. You usually stream for a few hours but this happened about a half an hour into your live, and you decided to shut it down. You needed to regroup. You were startled- it was unexpected to say the least. You weren’t sure where to go from here. Almost immediately after you ended the live stream, you got a text. 

You okay?

Eddie had been watching? 

Yeah, I’m okay. That was just a lot. I didn’t know what to do. 

I’m sorry. It’s my fault. 

Nothing is your fault. You don’t need to apologize. I appreciate you checking in.

Of course sweetheart 

Sweetheart? You could squeal- just collapse on your bed and kick your feet. You wanted to just scream into your pillow. It was like that one text canceled out all the bullshit you just had to deal with. Thousands of people can comment that they hate you all day long, but you are the one he’s texting. You're the one he just called sweetheart. 

While you’re trying to decide how to respond, your phone begins to vibrate. He’s calling you. Your heart leaps and your stomach excitedly ties itself in knots. You hadn’t spoken to him since a couple of weeks ago at the convention. You gathered the courage to answer right before the call would get sent to voicemail. 

“Hey,” you answer, trying to sound casual. 

“Hey,” he replies. 

Eddie’s on the tour bus- he’s in another time zone that’s a few hours ahead of yours. He can hear Jeff snoring in the bunk under his and he’s sure Gareth must also be asleep. He pulled the draw curtain to muffle his talking, but he still wants to keep his voice down. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” He asked. “How are you holding up?” He winces. He hates that this is a thing. He resents that something like this would happen to you and he feels incredibly guilty. He did this to you, and you never asked for it. 

“I’m good- really,” you insist. “I’m just logging off. I think I just want to deal with it all tomorrow.” 

“I wanted to call you way sooner than this,” he admits, scratching the back of his neck nervously before he starts to lay down. “I’m sorry I didn’t- I really wanted to, but I don’t know- I sort of convinced myself you’d want nothing to do with me after all of this press and attention.”

“I do feel like I’m under a microscope a little bit,” you giggle, “But that has nothing to do with you. I was hoping you’d call. I’m glad you did.” 

“Our publicist isn’t too happy with me,” he explains. “Nothing to do with you-” he quickly makes sure to explain, “She just likes to plan out everything and she gets mad when I go rogue.” 

“So it was a publicity stunt?” You gasp, faking shock. “I’m kidding,” you reassure him and you smile when you hear him laugh. 

“Trust me, it was the complete opposite,” he reiterates. “Listen,” he takes a deep breath, “I really want to see you again.”

“I’d really like that.”

“Good,” he replies, and he punches the air victoriously for no one but himself. “What are you doing next weekend?”

“I’m not doing anything,” you say teasingly, “but aren’t you playing like back to back shows in Indianapolis?” 

“Fly out and meet me,” he proposes, “Come to a show and we can hang out after. We’re playing Thursday, Friday, Saturday- come to the Saturday show. Bring your friends if you want- there’s probably going to be an afterparty of some sort. Be my date. If you still can tolerate me after that, we can hang out on Sunday and do the whole like real date thing- I know this great breakfast place…” 

You bite your lip, of course you want to say yes. What girl wouldn’t? The guy whose poster is literally on your wall is calling you and wanting to whisk you away for a weekend. 

“Are you okay being seen with me?” you ask hesitantly, “Are we adding fuel to the fire, if we do this?”

“I guess so,” Eddie sighs, “but to be entirely honest- I don’t give a shit at all what people are going to say. I just care about you- I want to get to know you and see where this goes. That’s all that matters.” 

“I’ve liked you for a really long time,” he goes on to confess, “Listen, I’ve had like a really stupidly big embarrassing crush on you since like the first time I saw one of your videos. I don’t need any convincing- I know I want this. But like weird parasocial, celebrity crush feelings aside, I started to like you even more after I met you. To me, seeing if this goes anywhere is worth it. I don’t mind putting up with the attention if I get to spend more time with you.” 

“But,” he continues, “I know it’s asking a lot of you- and I know this isn’t easy. And you have to deal with so much added pressure. I fully signed up for the paparazzi and the crazy fans, it comes with doing what I love. I signed on that dotted line a while ago. I gave up my privacy and my anonymity, you know? You don’t have to be a part of that- it’s too much of me to ask of anyone.” 

“Can I think about it?” You ask and you bite your lip.

“Of course, sweetheart,” he reassures you, and you're so happy to hear he doesn’t sound upset or disappointed. You can tell he’s being genuine at putting your comfort first. “Here’s what I’m gonna do, text me your email if you’re okay with that- I’ll send you the plane tickets.”

“I can-”

“Nope. It’s my insane idea for a first date- I’m asking you out, so I pay,” he insists. “Look, if you decide not to use them, I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything. Please don’t feel like you have to use them, I know this is a big ask. It’s ridiculous. But I think you’re worth it.”

“I will think about it,” you say sincerely, “I don’t want to rush into anything. I just need a bit of time.”

“You can have all the time you need, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere until you say the word.” 

***

Eddie has resolved that you aren’t coming to the show tonight. He hasn’t heard from you since that phone call, and he’s realized he probably scared you away. He knows he can be dramatic, and he falls into things too quickly, and he’s convinced he’s ruined his chances with you. He’s heartbroken. 

But the show must go on. 

Despite feeling completely devastated, he still gives the show his all. No one would tell he was going through something to look at him. He was giving all his energy, giving the crowd back exactly what they were giving him. He could do it. 

You kept telling yourself over and over again to just play it cool. You tried not to lose it in the back of the Uber in bumper to bumper traffic. You watched the numbers crawl by minute by minute on your phone, knowing which song in the setlist you were missing next. You worried when the venue security questioned the legitimacy of your passes, questioning you until you felt dizzy. You finally made it as the band was finishing up one of your favorites. So relieved you made it before the end, you couldn’t find it in you to care that you missed it. You hung back, and followed the instructions of the tech crew carefully so you wouldn’t be in the way. You let yourself take a deep breath. You made it. 

“Miss, do you mind waiting in the dressing room after this song?” Someone asked you, “The show’s finale has some flames and other large visual effects. It’s a liability to have you back here.” 

Understanding, you nod and you promise to make your way there. As the song finished up, another crew member found you and brought you to a security guard, who then escorted you to a room with “TALENT” marked in bold on the door- a piece of plain paper with CORRODED COFFIN taped underneath. He held the door open for you and you thanked him, walking inside. 

You felt very out of place, amongst Eddie, Gareth and Jeff’s things without them there. You were apprehensive and took a few minutes to find a space where you felt comfortable. Obviously, they weren’t expecting anyone. Clothes were strewn about haphazardly, stage makeup still left open and messy on the rooms vanity, their duffel bags thrown messily on the floor. It felt like a piece of their world you weren’t supposed to see. A TV mounted to the wall was playing the show, so you took a seat on the uncomfortable couch and watched the rest of the concert. 

You tried to practice how you’d be sitting when Eddie walked in. You didn’t want to be slouched but you also didn’t want to look too forced. You opted to just sit with your legs crossed- casual but not too casual that you felt frumpy. 

For their final exit, the band was lowered under the stage. Crawling out from underneath the mechanics, Eddie hoped maybe he’d see you there waiting for him. His face fell after the high of being on stage when he realized he got his hopes up again. Jeff patted him on the back, not needing to even ask to know why Eddie was clearly upset. 

“Come on,” Gareth said encouragingly, passing him a bottle of water. Eddie nods his head as a thank you, and the three of them begin to make their way back to the dressing room, thanking staff for helping as they see them.

When Jeff is the first one in the door, he offers you a wide, knowing smile. You move to stand up and say hello when Eddie sees you. 

“You’re here,” he marvels.

“I’m sorry I was late,” you apologize, “I was stuck in the traffic outside forever and then when I got here they asked me to wait here-” 

Eddie strides over and envelops you into a crushing hug. You were tense but your body immediately relaxed. You hug him back, not caring about how sweaty he is from just being on stage. 

“I’m happy you’re here,” he mumbles into your hair before pulling away. 

“Me too,” you agree.

“I wasn’t sure if you were coming,” he whispers, afraid the guys would hear and make fun of him for sounding so desperate. 

“Me either,” you giggle. It makes him smile again. His grin expands from ear to ear and all of a sudden, every little sadness he felt all night just evaporated. 

“We’re going to the wrap party,” Jeff interjects, pushing Gareth out the door with him. “We’ll see you guys over there.” 

“Wrap party?” You ask, intrigued. 

“Yeah, like the crew and everyone at this like after party thing,” he explains. “Should be kinda cool if you want to check it out.” 

“I’d like that.”

*** 

The music is blaring; the bass pulsing throughout your entire body and it makes your ears feel like they’d pop. Hundreds of people were crammed up against one another, and the smoke from a variety of substances wafted throughout the bar. Eddie held your hand, helping guide you through the hoards of people. He offered a head nod to people as you both passed- no one would hear him talk anyways. 

You travel up a few mezzanine levels until you’re both further away from the chaos. You can look down and see the crowded dance floor, but you are much more content with this calmer atmosphere. Leather couches and coffee tables adorn this floor of the club. Another bar is situated in the corner, with a line much, much shorter than the ones downstairs. You start to realize this is some sort of private area or VIP lounge of some kind. You see security positioned in all corners as the guard which led you and Eddie here takes his new position against the wall near the bar. 

“This is pretty much all crew, producers, management people, friends,” Eddie explains, “Just people who are close to us, you know?”

You spot Jeff and Gareth on one of the couches, in the midst of a heated discussion with another person you don’t recognize. Gareth almost spills his drink as he’s frantically using his hands to make a point, while Jeff is sitting with his back to him- talking to a girl who is seated on the arm of the couch. 

“MUNSON!” A voice booms over the chatter. Eddie looks to the direction of the voice. You watch his eyes light up, unapologetically happy. He drops your hand and you see him bolt to the person. 

“Harrington, you motherfucker!” Eddie exclaims, pulling the other guy into a big hug. “Shit,” he pulls away quickly, and returns back to you. With his hand on your back, he gently guides you over to the spot of the reunion. “Steve Harrington,” he introduces. Steve shakes your hand as you introduce yourself, and he smirks as he glances between you and Eddie. 

Eventually, Eddie introduces you to all of his hometown friends. They all attended the show- drove up from Eddie’s hometown to surprise him. Despite catching up with old friends, Eddie was so attentive to make sure you still felt included. He went out of his way to make sure you were introduced to everyone, and he bragged on your behalf about the success of your channel to everyone. He also made sure to fill you in if you got lost in the conversations. He’d explain the context of the inside jokes, tell you the bigger story that an anecdote was from… everything to pull you into his world, his real world. 

“We should get out of here and go to The Hideout,” Gareth said, “For old times sake.”

“I’m not abandoning top shelf shit for the skunky beer at The Hideout,” Steve scrunched his nose in disgust. 

“What’s The Hideout?” you ask Eddie as the group debates the next move. 

“A really, really, really shitty bar back home,” he whispers close to your ear. “It was where we used to play when we were just starting. It was actually awful,” he chuckles, reminiscing. “We’d play to practically no one on Tuesday nights at like 11pm.”

“You had the time of your life didn’t you?” you smile, knowingly. He nodded.

“Yeah, it was pretty fucking awesome,” he admits.

“Fine, not tonight,” Gareth concedes finally, “but we gotta get back there at some point.” 

“So,” Nancy says, changing the subject and turning to you. “Eddie didn’t tell us he had a girlfriend. We all had to find out on TMZ like the rest of the world. When did you guys meet?”

“Oh, um,” you begin, but Eddie places his arm around your shoulders. 

“This is our first date, actually,” he interjects, confidently. “So none of you assholes can say anything to make me look bad. I’m trying to impress her.” 

You bite your lip to hold back a smile. 

“So the whole t-shirt thing?” Nancy asks, directing her question to Eddie.

“My way of just trying to get her attention I guess,” he admits with a shrug, “Not that first picture though- I looked terrible. The second time though? Yeah, that was totally on purpose.”

Your face felt like it was on fire- you were overwhelmed with the way Eddie was so nonchalant. He was so honest, unabashedly so, with the way he spoke about his interest in you. You’d never experienced that type of attention, you didn’t know how to handle it. You don’t know how to play this game when he’s just put all his cards out on the table. There’s no guessing, no implications, no mind games- he just likes you. For the first time, in the craziest of circumstances, something you always found complicated is finally simple. 

He liked you. He pursued you. He got you. 

The drinks and the conversation continue to flow with ease. Eddie enjoyed sitting back and watching you fit in with his life. He loves the way it’s all just making sense. It’s like you’ve known his friends for years. You fit perfectly amongst them, and he just can’t help himself as he just admires you. He’s finding it so hard to play it cool, but he just wants to skip ahead to where this is routine. He wants you here, learning this side of him- engrossing yourself into his world. It just clicks and to him, it just all makes sense. 

When Jeff Gareth and him are inevitably pulled away to greet and talk with other people, he can’t help but keep checking back on you. He didn’t want to abandon you. He didn’t want to engage with anyone else here outside of the little circle he reluctantly had to leave. He should be paying attention to the names of these suits he’s meeting, but his mind is too preoccupied. He wants to just rush back to you, and intercept any embarrassing things he knows his friends are telling you. 

“I think you and Eddie seem really great together,” Steve discloses to you when the rest of the group is caught up in their own conversations. “He wears his heart on his sleeve,” Steve explains, “He’s not like how the tabloids and the news make him out to be. He’s always been misunderstood. I just uh- wanted to let you know that. He doesn’t do this, ever.”

Steve goes on to explain, “He’ll kill me for telling you this. But I haven’t heard Eddie talk about a girl since the whole band thing took off. You’d think he’d be like running wild and like getting all these girls- hell, that would be me. He’s very selective on who he invites in; he wouldn’t be doing all of this if he didn’t want this to go somewhere like for you two.” 

“I can tell he really likes you,” Steve continues, “I just wanted to make sure you know how good of a guy he is. In case you know, like, you had any doubts or anything. He’s not like that kind of guy. He’s probably the most sincere, loyal person ever- I just, you know, wanted to hype him up to you a little bit and vouch for him. And also just to ask you, to please not break his heart- don’t make him have false hope if you aren’t serious.”

You nod, understanding where Steve is coming from. 

“Back,” Eddie announces, jumping over the back of the couch to settle himself between you and Steve. “That was so fucking boring,” he jokes, wrapping his arm around you comfortably. “Best thing at this party is right here,” he gestures around the circle of his friends with the stem of his beer bottle, starting with Steve and working the neck around to you. He offers an incredibly cheesy grin and you laugh at his antics. You rest your head on his shoulder as he settles back into the group conversation, and you both miss how Steve smiles watching the two of you. 

***

The ride back to the hotel is quiet, Jeff and Gareth sit quietly on their phones in the middle row of the large car while you're cuddled into Eddie’s side in the far back row. Eddie doesn’t dare move, too terrified that he’ll wake you up. Your head rests on his shoulder and your body is flush to his. He silently curses every pot hole and sharp turn begging that you stay like this for as long as possible. 

Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be anyone waiting outside for them. The driver pulls around to the back door- the plan is to sneak you all in through the kitchen. The band’s body guard opens the car door. Gareth and Jeff climb out and scurry into the building quickly. Eddie softly nudges you awake. 

“Keep your hood up, sweetheart,” Eddie instructs as you pull your jacket tighter around you. You put your hood on your head and pull it down to cover your face- just in case. Eddie helps you out of the car- also with his hood on. “Head down, okay?” he whispers, and he guides you as you walk with your head down. 

You scurry through the kitchen and you use the elevator towards the back of the building to travel to the higher floors. 

Eddie arranged for one of the assistants to bring your bags here while you were out. He set you up in the room across the hall from him. He wanted to make sure you had your own space. When you get to the rooms, Gareth and Jeff disappear to their own rooms, offering very tired “goodnights.” Eddie walks you to your door.

“I had so much fun tonight,” you sleepily admit. “Thank you… thank you for trusting me.”

His eyes soften. He leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Get some sleep,” he smiles, affectionately grazing your jaw with his thumb. You lean up and his heart skips when he watches your eyes linger- looking between his eyes and his lips. You press your lips to his and this delicate kiss feels like enough to make his entire body melt. 

It’s soft and perfect. A first kiss that you only see in the movies. Kissing you made Eddie feel like he’d never kissed anyone before. Nothing that came before amounted nearly as much as this. He feels like he’s in high school again all of a sudden. This, he decides, should have been his first kiss. Because none of them ever felt as good as this. He makes up his mind then and there, that you’re the only person he wants to kiss for the rest of his life. It’s a thought he won’t share until much further down the road.

[a-whisper-in-the-forest]

Oh my goodness, I just read Coffee and Tips and IT’S SO GOOD! I love the civilian’s and villain’s dynamic and like villain said “now that I got a taste and want more.”

So I was wondering and hoping, could you please continue it? I understand if you were intending it to be a fun one off story, are too busy or can’t.

It’s alright either way and I know when it’s hard to continue something you write and feel like there’s nothing more to add. So no pressure. Thanks regardless, it’s absolutely wonderful and I love your writing style! Please take care and I hope you have the most wonderful day and everyday beyond that! 💖✨

Hi! That's so nice! I hope you have a wondeful day too and everyday beyond that haha. Anyway, here it is! There's a bit of fighting, so not that sweet (unless you think protective villains are sweet). I hope you like it. Enjoy!

Part 1 (coffees and tips)

Somebody I care about

Civilian looks at the clock. Only one hour before their shift ends. They sigh as they wipe down the already clean counter. There weren't a lot of customers today, they are probably all scheming in their lair. It has been their most boring shift in a while.

Just as Civilian puts away some clean mugs, a customer walks in. ��Good morning! Can I get you anything?” they say as a record on a loop. As they turn around though, their heart makes a little jump.

“Villain! I didn't know you were coming today,” Civilian smiles. “I didn’t have anything else to do today and my henchmen are horrible at making coffees,” Villain says, also smiling widely. “It’s a nice day, right? The sun has been shining all day.” Civilian lets out a sigh. “I’ve been here the whole day. I haven’t had the chance yet to enjoy the weather.” Villain takes a few steps closer to the counter. “I’m sorry to hear that, you should come sit outside with me.”

Civilian really wants to go sit outside with them. Villain has visited the café a few times now and they always enjoyed their conversations. They can rant about their problems and tell them about their life and Villain would always listen very carefully. Then, after buying themselves and Civilian a coffee, they would leave an outrageously large tip (not that they were complaining) and leave. Civilian doesn’t know why villain does this, but it is so relieving being able to tell somebody everything they were worried about. They could really use a talk like that right now.

Right as Civilian wants to agree with Villain’s proposal, another person bursts through the door. “There you are! I swear Villain, if you don’t give back Sidekick right now!” Superhero’s voice booms across the little café. Now it was Villain’s turn to sigh. “They really don’t understand the concept of free will, do they?” Villain asks themselves more than anyone else in the room.

“Hand them over!” Superhero yells. Villain lets out an annoyed groan and turns around. “You morons really are too thick to understand what I’m saying, huh?” Superhero lets out an offended scoff. “Morons?! How dare you call us that, you lowlife thief!”

They get closer to Villain and start getting in their face, which, given Superhero’s height, looks ridiculous. Villain towers over Superhero, not only by physical height but also by demeanour. “I’m only going to say it one more time. Sidekick. wanted. to. change. sides.” Villain starts slowly. “They are not going to and don’t want to come back to you.”

“Lair.” Superhero hisses. “Are you serious? I wouldn’t want to go back either if my boss acts like this.” Civilian only realises that they said that out loud after it was said. Superhero’s gaze snaps to Civilian. If looks could kill, they would drop dead right that instant. “I don’t need your opinion, rat. Be a good peasant and keep your mouth shut.”

Civilian saw something in Villain shift. “I think it’s time for you to leave,” Villain says in a tone that sent shivers down Civilian’s spine. “I don’t think the same thing. Who are you to-” That’s all Superhero could say before crashing into a wall. Villain slowly walks towards the coughing hero. In a ice cold tone that would scare the toughest person on earth, Villain talks slowly. “I don’t want to see your face ever again. You run back to your agency and tell them to never expect Sidekick back.” Superhero is still trying to catch their breath. After a few minutes they manage to speak. “But-” Villain kicks the kneeling Superhero down and puts their foot on their neck. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re lucky someone I care about is in the room. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so kind.”

Villain lets the hero go and steps back. The Superhero runs out and doesn’t dare to look back. Civilian comes around the corner of the bar. They can’t help but repeat the words in their head.

‘Somebody I care about’

It makes their heart jump and their stomach is feeling funny. “Sorry about that,” Villain starts, “Just tell Boss I will pay for the damages.” Civilian nods. They are thankful it won’t be taken out of their paycheck. “I think it’s better that I leave,” Villain says as they push a heap of cash into Civilian’s hands. “For the trouble.”

Before Civilian can ask about anything, Villain is out the door. Even though villain isn’t there anymore, there are still butterflies flying in their stomach.

[heavenlymorals]

Do you have any tips for how to write Arthur Morgan’s personality in general? I’m trying to write a fic but I feel like no matter what I do it somehow just makes him feel out of character haha. It’s probably since I’m writing one with a reader/oc character x Arthur. Like I don’t want to remove Mary from the story because she shaped so much of his character’s pain (since in my opinion I assume that Arthur probably got Eliza with child from a one night stand trying to bounce back after Mary had told him that she was engaged to some other man). But I also don’t know how to really write Arthur as he’s completely over Mary and how he is instead with someone he considers the love of his life, cheesy I know but I had too haha. I’m also trying to somewhat do a slow burn and trying to instead have Arthur seemingly brood over his love for the reader rather than how he did with Mary in the game.

I don’t know if this makes sense and feel free to ignore it LOL

Ahah here goes nothing- my consensus on a general understanding of Arthur Morgan-

I think the biggest thing that people should focus on when writing Arthur is his personality differences between men and women. There is a pretty clear divide between how behaves with men compared to how he behaves with women. It can change slightly between how close he is with the people, but it's pretty much the same.

With women, Arthur is very respectful and chivalrous. He even gets mad at other men if they don't behave accordingly. He is more interested in them as well in the sense that he'll listen to their dreams and hobbies and either add to the conversation or encourage them in some way that seems more meaningful, even if it can be at times superficial, just a way to be polite. However, he is no push over. You know that meme that's like "Me and my girl don't argue, she tells me to shut the fuck up and I do"? Yeah, that is NOT Arthur. He can raise his voice, call them out, etc etc. when he feels disrespected in some way or if the person is doing something stupid. We see this with Mary, Sadie, and Abigail. He is also more likely to talk about his emotions with women, but not really BE emotional. Idk if that makes sense, but I don't know how else to say it.

However, Arthur is more inclined to be disrespectful to women who don't fit into his view of life and the status quo of the time (ie. Prostitutes, masculine women, etc.)

Honestly, just think of that when writing him with your oc (I'm going to assume they're a woman 😭). Is Mary a big part of Arthur's character? Yes and no. He can obviously make time for her, but she isn't controlling his every action and thought process. His main focus is the collective of the gang and once the gang is safe, that's when he'll actively start looking for love because that's when he'll have the time and energy for it.

Now with men, Arthur is much more rough. He is very much a suck it up kinda guy with other dudes. There is clearly a hierarchy in the game and he enforces it, especially with the men underneath him. He forces them to work, doesn't take their excuses really, will call them out, will be mean, and will even make threats (ie. Sean). He likes men who are hard workers and are always on the go (Lenny) and is more likely to be jovial, open, and willing to talk. He also will take NO shit from other men and that will either leave the other man read to filth or a black eye. Arthur also does not disclose feelings of fear or inadequacy to other men, but he will show more active emotions like joy or anger.

Honestly, whenever I feel like writing Arthur, I just think of the average older American outdoorsman and it helps me out pretty well. Chivalrous and respectful with expectations and a no bullshit attitude.

Hope this helps and happy writing 🫶🏼

[aly-writes]

Hi Aly! I love your writing so much! Can I request Arisu, Karube, and Chishiya headcannons with a smart significant other? Only if you feel writing it of course :) Thank you if you do - I look forward to seeing what you write next!!

y'all i finished revenge of others and i am OBSESSED with seok jaebum... anyways! i added kyuma and banda as characters i'll write for, so in the future feel free to request for them<3

there are a lot of different types of smarts in life (book smarts, street smarts, emotional intelligence, etc.) so i just had s/o written out as a combination of all of them. here you go nonnie!

warnings: none :)

arisu, chishiya, and karube with a smart s/o

arisu ryohei

arisu is so boyfriend material haha, he's always sooo impressed with you.

he knew you had a decent amount of intelligence based off of the test scores you showed him from university, but the first time you were fully able to show it off was during a game

it was a diamonds game, which wasn't exactly his strong suit (literally)

arisu is actually pretty smart himself, but he couldn't keep up with you during the game. your mind was working so fast and figuring things out at lightning speed

the group managed to finish the game with barely any casualties thanks to your quick mind and brilliant strategies. naturally, arisu had to bring it up in conversation

this boy showers you in compliments! he's so so sweet

he's your biggest fan, always bragging about you and rambling on about how amazing it was that you were able to do something so quick

you're the first person he'll come to if he needs anything at all.

he truly does trust your intuition more than his own. if you have a bad feeling about something, he makes sure to look at it through your viewpoint to try and understand what he's missing

more often than not, your warnings come in handy and he dodges a bullet. when he doesn't listen, he tends to notice things usually go bad

arisu also has smarts, so when the two of you start talking about whatever, those specific talks can go on for hours and hours

you both bring up new perspectives and different opinions and it's just so great

he's really really thoughtful and it makes the two of you super compatible :)

before he dropped out of university, you two were definitely study partners.

sometimes he would get a little too reliant on your knowledge and found himself basically dumping his entire homework load onto you

you never really noticed though, and you managed to help him solve the problems with such ease that it didn't really feel like homework at all

this benefitted both of you greatly though, because each time he solved a problem with your help he got a kiss as a reward

oh, plus cuddle breaks in between

and if he managed to solve three problems in a row without much of your help? you basically pampered him with kisses all over his face

his family absolutely loves you

kind of sad, but his dad and brother really like you because they believe you have the potential they think arisu lacks

you never treat them disrespectfully, but you definitely talk shit about them behind closed doors with arisu

cause how dare they talk about your precious bf like that?

you're kind of a mediator for him, karube, and chota though

hate to say it, but putting these three together inevitably causes stupid ideas to come up

you try to be the voice of reason. sometimes they listen to you, sometimes they don't

karube will playfully call you a 'buzzkill' because you shoot down their dangerous adventures, but it's all with good intent

when you're not around them, karube and chota will definitely hype you up to arisu though

"how did you even manage to pull someone so smart arisu?"

"his dad must be paying her, huh chota?"

on the other side though, sometimes the two of you clash.

arisu undeniably thinks with his heart most of the time. especially outside of games

you tend to stick with your brains and rely on them to get you through tough situations. this can lead to some tough arguments

you think of things logically and he comes at it emotionally, so sometimes it's hard to see eye-to-eye

you both love each other a lot though, so you always figure something out at the end of the day

you trust in your head so you tend to be stubborn and need time to yourself, but he will always rely on his feelings for you to get through these types of things

overall...

expect a lot of praise and reliance from him

he finds you super trustworthy and levelheaded, so your his go-to for anything at anytime

chishiya shuntaro

oh boy, i don't even know where to start with him? let's just say... things can get intense

chishiya is highly intelligent. you are also highly intelligent. this is where you both struggle

you can pick his brain a little too good for his liking and sometimes it bothers him. he can't really get anything past you, and the same goes the other way around

he can tend to get manipulative when things go south, and you match his energy

things that work on anybody else don't work on you, and it kind of freaks him out lol

he likes to be in control of everything around him, which includes the feelings of other people. you don't give him the chance to do this

this leads to a lot of passive aggressiveness and tension

but the tension is honestly the best part of your relationship

there is so much teasing and banter between the two of you

you both play the high-stakes game of 'who can get a smart remark past the other one first' and it makes things really fun

affection can get really exciting between the two of you because of this. after a day full of teasing it's quite interesting to see who breaks first in terms of relationship things

honestly? most of the time it's you, but when you decide to get stubborn and hold out, chishiya gets a little touchy and you find it cute

when you both have a common goal you make a great team

it's very true that two heads are greater than one

when one person makes the plan, the other will go over it and quickly catch any mistakes or holes that are missing

anything that you both work on together is almost unsettlingly perfect

while your smarts can sometimes lead to incompatibility, there are certain things that the two of you understand about each other that no one else does

you both can have really great conversations with each other. you don't have to hold back any of your thoughts because you know chishiya will always understand them, and it's great

you and him look at things objectively all the time, so emotions don't tend to get in the way of things you place higher priority over

both of you need your alone time, so codependency is never an issue

finally, you understand chishiya like nobody else does. you know how his brain works and you know how he views things. the best part about it? you send him no judgement

chishiya doesn't think of you as a chore because he's aware that you're probably the smartest person in a room full of people. he doesn't have to take care of you which is bliss for him

you guys have a lot of inside jokes as well, things so deeply exclusive to only you two that nobody dares to understand

you're a very intimidating couple

it's kind of difficult to make couple friends due to this intimidation factor, so double dates are off the table

chishiya was never much of a people person anyway, so it doesn't bother him

you're perfectly content mentally stimulating each other. things never get boring around him

overall...

you're able to perform the crazy feat of being seen as an equal by the one and only chishiya!

he's clever, but so are you. as much as it can be an annoyance, he actually finds you very entertaining

there's definitely a lot of trust between you two simply because you're one in the same. you know the saying 'don't do anything i wouldn't do'? basically your relationship in a nutshell

karube daikichi

karube is such a showoff LMAO

as a bartender, he comes across a lot of aggressive drunk dudes that aren't afraid to diss him and the things he holds dear to him. his family, his friends, and you as well

as childish as it is, his favorite thing to hit them with is "i bet my s/o is smarter than yours"

he just absolutely loves to use you as bragging rights and it's great

he's constantly learning from you and is extremely interested in anything you say

karube didn't graduate high school. he will absolutely eat up any fact you tell him and loves to learn things from you

he thinks the way that you talk is so captivating and will continuously ask you to repeat yourself just so he can hear you speak

he shares the facts you told him with arisu and chota and feels so smart

when they ask him where he learned that, he will proudly tell them that he got it from you

he doesn't feel inferior to you at all lol, he absolutely worships you

at first you were a bit hesitant to accept how much praise he would give you, but you eased up to it

similar to arisu, compliments compliments compliments

they're all over the place

he will brag about you to anything that breathes, especially when you're around

he actually finds that talking about you to other people is more fun than talking about himself. you're truly his gem and he finds you so special

he really likes to see you in your element and could watch you for hours

whether it's math, science, art, or whatever you're good at

when you start to really get into something, you focus on it entirely and he finds it super interesting to watch

he likes to watch the little habits you do. the only one he's pointed out to you is how you tap your thumb on the pads of your other fingers back and forth

he likes to hear you get logical

he sometimes tells you about the people that come into the bar and spill their life stories

when he does this, he will purposefully ask you to break down your thoughts so he can get an understanding of what your brain is thinking

"well obviously the reason his wife is asking him to clean up the dishes is because she's trying hard to get a promotion at work and comes home tired everyday! how can he not see that? she's not working hard for nothing..."

"really, babe? i didn't think of it that way"

he especially enjoys it when you start to criticize people and get a little snarky with them. he witnessed it once when someone was giving you attitude and he thought it was the hottest thing he had ever seen

you basically broke down their emotions for them and matched their tone, but did it in such a cool way lol his heart was pounding

overall...

karube thinks your smarts are such an amazing feature

he can't match them but he's totally okay with it, because now he has a smart s/o that is totally better than anybody else's

[mrstellmeafuckingsecret]

not sure if you’ve talked about this before but what are you thought on black brothers angst? i’m just curious about your opinion on the matter since you hate regulus

i LOVE black brothers angst <33 it's just that i do it right and everyone else does it wrong sigh that i dont talk about it very often

sirius is like. the correct person here he has the right ideas and does the right things and tries his hardest to be someone regulus would want to look up to but like. he's a kid. he's not even two years older than regulus but the way he acts it's like there's twenty. regulus loves his brother and follows his example, too, till sirius starts hogwarts and rebels more frequently and raises his voice and stops waking up early because more than his brother's approval he always wanted his parents' , and he got it , too , but only aftersirius left, bc even a misbehaving sirius was better than regulus on his best day for walburga (orion loved regulus more but he didn't have much say in... anything). but like yeah umm . i have lots of thoughts on black brothers angst feel free to send me 27 asks about them haha not begging for attention.

[system-architect]

ok here's my collected JW thoughts in general. obviously this is spoilers

OK.................................... so i think anet is Back. its not quite "we are SO back" levels but it COULD be "we are SO back" levels depending on what they do in the next installment

they did good, though, and i think the most obvious jump in quality is actually in the maps themselves. they feel so much better than soto maps just to run around in and explore. theres a LOT more detail and they actually feel pretty intriguing and immersive with a lot of fun easter eggs and surprises!

the story didnt always hit for me but it was still overall Better than soto. the first instance alone grabbed me more than all of soto had tbh. the bears don't personally interest me but the mursaat do, and we're getting somewhere with all the bloodstone and titan stuff

i DO enjoy the angle of the commander starting to go kind of lie-lie man acting in personal interests. isgarren is a bitch but we can also be rude to waiting sorrow for no reason oops sorry nice again haha oh man how'd this bear teleport here that's craaazy.. there were points at which i actively lost track of who we had lied to about what and when, and while the confusion grated me a bit it was also funny in a way? like yeah if i was the commander i'd lose track of this shit too right

the commander doesn't have much of a personality technically, beyond "person who does good(TM) things", and what we make of our canon commander's personality is mostly just our own notions and conceptions and interpretations being placed on them, BUT that said it felt like the story did take the commander in some interesting directions for me.

i felt like i got the sense that the commander really is sort of a "free agent" now, which is fun. when you've already killed all the dragons and your life's purpose is TECHNICALLLLYYY over but you're still around and you're still many things to many people, what do you do with your life? this, apparently.

i like us being kind of a mirror of isgarren in the sense that the comm is an ultra powerful guy, with a lot of worldly+scholarly experience at this point, who a lot of other very powerful figures respect and Need, but that not everyone necessarily Likes. yeah this is our free-range deployable killing machine politician who's kind of strange interpersonally.

my favorite instance in the whole story was the one with the bloodstone ghosts btw. i thought they did a really good job imbuing each with a fair amount of personality and showcasing a wide array of perspectives on what happened in gavril-- a thing which i was prepared to not be particularly interested in tbh, and yet...

ALSO, the voice actor for the gavril citizen ghost was SUPER good! i'm pretty sure they were a new VA but i'd really love to hear more voicework from them. in general i felt a lot of the VA work in this xpac banged-- it feels like they got a decent amount of new/fresh talent?? it's been nice, i hadn't realized how stale the world was starting to feel only hearing the same 3-5 voices constantly (no shade towards the longer-standing VAs who DO do a good job, i just wished for more variety)

REALLY liking the amount of unique voice lines and racial dialogue also

features wise its also been pretty good! i like the repeat renown heart thing plus the return of the hearts. as a revenant with a condi set i cant say ive got any issues with the spears LOL. and warclaw is super fun once you get the hang of it-- i like that it has a learning curve and some nuance like most older mounts do, as opposed to skyscale's fairly 'flat' mobility. have NOT really tried out decorating my homestead yet and ive heard mixed opinions on it, so we'll see how i feel there!

[that-rackin-frackin-varmint]

i know you were speaking rhetorically, but in response to your tags on the latest post, i definitely think it’s a sign of the times as to the direction the characters are being taken! Duck Dodgers i think is a convenient domino into TLTS, as it’s the first show to really play up Daffy’s “stupidity” (which i have.. opinions on, lol) and TLTS kinda took it and ran with it. or Porky being subservient to Daffy, and TLTS running (way too far) with that too. i haven’t done a good job of keeping up with this blog so i apologize if you know or have said this already! but the “they’re actors” thing sort of applies by a case by case basis—the assumption is that they’re actors when they establish that they’re actors, (but of course actor aus are great and headcanons are strong 🙏), but i just say that because DD is not a show that follows that “they’re actors” thing EXCEPT for the one episode that DOES do that, Hooray for Hollywood Planet and the last episode (esp the very end with the voice actors), but in the latter case it’s more of a cute consideration of meta rather than a “reveal”. i also (personally) think it’s one of the shows that does Porky and Daffy’s dynamic better than anyone after the original run of shorts, definitely has some issues that domino’s into more issues but i’d say their dynamic is relatively to the blueprint that Chuck Jones established! at least in comparison to other shows that followed

THIS IS A LOT HAHA i just like chatting about DD, if you know all of this already then feel free to ignore! but that’s my personal interpretation of it :)

No need to apologise, I like going over things even if I've said versions of em a billion times before haha!

I dance between my headcanons and analysis of creators' intent without much clear distinction, so it's best when I'm asked for clarification on when I'm actually working under a conspiracy theorist lens, or directly analysing the given text. In this case, I'm very much conspiracy theorist brained using given text.

The reason I'm quite fixated on the 'actors au' viewing of DD is because I found many instances where it broke from the immersion of being a story, and was a "production." Instances for example:

1) The intro having Daffy, Porky and Marvin's names attributed to the roles they played as.

I find it interesting that they used "Eager, Young Space Cadet" here even though this show's version of Dodgers is far too lazy and informal to actually refer to Cadet as that.

2) Season 1 and 2 having a tradition of doing Marvin the Martian shorts, and in K9 Quarry (1), Dodgers makes it a point to say:

"Don't blame me. The martian gets one solo cartoon per season."

My conspiracy theory for why this joke doesn't carry into season 3 is because the writing team for season 3 changed from the core group in seasons 1 and 2.

Seasons 1 and 2: Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, Paul Dini, and Tom Minton [Tom Ruegger is only credited for the last two episodes of Season 2]

2005: Mark Banker, Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone (...) Kevin Seccia, Ken Daly and John Matta, Michael Grodner, Jeff Goode, Bradford Shultze, Tom Minton, Michael Banker, Tim McKeon

3) Talent Show a Go-Go: an episode that spends a portion of its runtime cutting to shots of numerous women swooning over Dodgers

Feels like something Daffy would write into his own show...

The episode feels driven by fanservicey performance rather than plot or character, I'd liken it to the short "The Night of the Living Duck" or the structure of classic shorts like "Book Revue." The former similarly has a famous singer lend their voice to good ol Daffy to sing sweet songs. The chase sequence afterwards is an afterthought in all honesty.

4) Deathmatch Duck (1): The scene of Taz beating up Daffy instead of the dummy

[The subtitles fib a little. He doesn't namedrop Taz, he just says "Ahh" I don't know why the subs are like that.]

5) Deathmatch Duck (2): On-the-nose flaunting he incorporates into his character's lore.

This is a certified "and then the whole bus clapped" moment if I've ever seen any.

6) K9 Quarry (2): Wile E. makes a cute pointed reference to his formula of chasing Road Runner.

I'm over the image limit-

7) Deathmatch Duck (3):

In 8:05, Taz eats Daffy, we cut to a kid and his parent arguing about the cartoon logic of Daffy fitting in Taz's stomach. (Meta commentary on pop culture's disillusionment with exaggerated logic, and deteriorating suspension of disbelief perhaps?) The parent suggests that it might be less immersion breaking if they do something visually engaging, kid complies. Dodgers does something visually engaging lts-style, we cut back to a tv room accompanied by cricket chirps. Dodgers speaks directly to the camera deadpan: "Once again, I've alienated our target demographic."

8) Hooray for Hollywood

To me, watching this episode after multiple watches feels like I'm watching a character study on Daffy's relationship with Warner Bros. I don't want to go over everything since I've written quite a bit in one post, but one standout scene in this episode for me is when Dodgers confronts the director, Vermin, about the script.

9) The Bugs Bunny references.

Daffy's rivalry with Bugs makes the omission of the rabbit very pointed, and almost cathartic. But because this is Daffy's show, it doesn't completely remove all traces of Bugs' name.

Bugs' name is added in the credits to add star-power to Dodger's movie credits in "Hooray for Hollywood"

In "The New Cadet" dedicates a scene to having Dodgers and Cadet enjoy rabbit stew

(Allegedly) Bugs was offered to play a role as a rabbit hunted by X-2 in "K9 Quarry"

In "Of course you know this means war and peace (1)" when Queen Tyr'ahnee says the episode's namesake, Dodgers can't help but point out the line's significance to a certain someone, with the added air carrot nibble

In "Bonafide Heroes" Dodgers is seen wearing Bugs Bunny slippers

Sorry for the unprompted list! I go overboard in Duck Dodgers discussions!

For me personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Daffy and Porky's dynamic in this show. Don't get me wrong, some episodes I'll come back to and watch with a big dumb grin on my face -- but I personally find that the show starts off pretty strong with a decent ratio of competent and incompetent Daffy/Dodgers moments, and sassy and patient Porky/Cadet moments -- but falls off at season 3, with Cadet radiating burnout murder energy whenever Dodgers so much as opens his mouth, and Dodgers is unironically dead weight on him.

And I'm not sure if you've happened to see some of my tlts posts, but you read my mind ha! I agree with your assessment that Duck Dodgers was sort of the catalyst for popularising a doofier Daffy, and a doormat Porky. I find it a little reassuring that tlts left their relationship development on a high note, which is also funny considering they weren't meant to be the focus duo of the show.

I also agree that this show is more aligned with Chuck Jones' version of the duo -- but tbh, I'm more biased towards Clampett era Dafpork <3 I see Duck Dodgers as a love letter to the classics, but at the same time, I'm very particularly vexed at how Dodgers isn't proactive and overzealous -- I agree @/marsnolias' take on this, even Jones Daffy is a tryhard!

All that said, your ask inspired me to post an old unlabelled ramble I had about this show ahead of schedule! Thanks for reaching out!

[lilis-doodle-dome]

I have so many questions about every dynamic you can think of for this au im so interested in hearing more about the tenma siblings (toya included) and nene + emu's relationship with tsukasa

im also interested to hear how the dynamic between ena and mafuyu, emu and mafuyu, + rui and mizuki changes.

There is not enough space in these charts for any real information aughh, sorry for the weird text sizing. Also I didn’t put that much effort into editing Kasa/Mafu in these images haha

But relationship charts between the group! Sorry it doesn’t answer every question, but hopefully it’s enough? Feel free to ask more if anything needs clarification!

Here’s a transcript:

Tsukasa- Emu: Always tries to make me smile, but should she really waste her energy on me?…Sometimes she reminds me of Saki when she was younger

Tsukasa-Nene: Stronger than she seems. The least chaotic of the others, when we’re together she doesn’t expect anything. It’s…nice, although it might not be good.

Tsukasa-Rui: Always has something new to try, but I think it’s more for his own curiosity than for my self discovery. He knows a lot, could be more helpful if he ever shared it.

Emu-Tsukasa: Someone important to me that I’ll help find the smile of, no matter what! You’re no oohm doom villain Tsukasa-kun!

Emu-Nene: The most wonderhoy singer! Thank you for helping me see what it means to be a leader, I promise to never lose sight of my troupe again.

Emu-Rui: He always has the best, most fun ideas! I really appreciate his support, we always do best with his directing!

Nene-Tsukasa: He can seem pretty intimidating, but he’s actually rather clueless. I hope he can figure himself out, just not at the expense of others.

Nene-Emu: You’ve grown into a person deserving of the title of leader and I’m grateful you brought us together. I know you’re determined about your goal, but don’t forget we’re here too.

Nene-Rui: I’ll get stronger, I won’t turn a blind eye to you ever again.

Rui-Tsukasa: He tests anything I ask of him without complaint, I wish I could say that was a good thing. Let’s keep using each other until we’ve found what we’re really looking for, okay?

Rui-Nene: I’m glad she’s standing up for herself more, but I hope she knows there’s nothing she needs to make up for. It’s just nice to perform with her again.

Rui-Emu: A truly admirable person, she’s dedicated herself wholeheartedly to other’s smiles. Your smile is something precious as well though, don’t forget that.

—

Mafuyu-Kanade: A musical genius to match my lyrical! Her soft mannerisms belie her unmatched stubbornness, she’ll ever so gently, tell me I’m doing too much, all while she neglects herself! How confounding!

Mafuyu-Ena: She reminds me of those small dogs that get a poor reputation for being aggressive, despite it being people ignoring their fear signals that cause those reactions. That being said, it’s rather entertaining how differently she responds to Kanade versus Mizuki.

Mafuyu-Mizuki: They’ve introduced me to many new styles I’ve never experienced before. It’s amazing how they can make the most intimidating outings seem approachable. I enjoy any and all time spent with them!

Kanade-Mafuyu: She can’t see how she’s hurting herself for the sake of others. I need to help her, someone who can actually save others- shouldn’t have to suffer for it.

Kanade-Ena: Her art is still filled with hurt, but I’m glad she’s found some peace in our group. If only I could do more for her…

Kanade-Mizuki: They always have the frankest opinions of everyone else and seem to speak their mind freely, yet rarely say anything about themself. Their perspective is always appreciated though.

Ena-Mafuyu: Aren’t the big headed types supposed to not actually be good at everything? How is that fair at all, and she’s even got the nerve to be a nice person! I’ll show her-

Ena-Kanade: She’s wonderful. The soft, patient voice-of-reason needed to reign in the group, listening to her music is like a miracle cure for bad days.

Ena-Mizuki: They’re an insistent pest, that won’t leave me in peace. I guess I don’t hate the company though and they are good at putting together outfits for photos.

Mizuki-Mafuyu: A willing dress-up doll, she’s pretty enough to be one too! Kinda reminds me of an old friend with how many questions she asks about everything, guess geniuses have that in common.

Mizuki-Kanade: Always makes sure everyone feels comfortable and safe. It’s really nice to have a space I won’t be judged…

Mizuki-Ena: She’s way too funny not to tease, but she’s just as capable as the rest of the group. It’s kinda scary how easy she is to talk to, wouldn’t want to say anything I regret.

[whataboutsimple]

Even more questions. Some for characters, some for Simple themself!

I’ll start with a question about ships. Opinions on platonic Jack/Nurm? I think they married for tax benefits.

Next, gimme a few favorite mob hcs for… let’s go with Jack, Milo, Binta, Romeo, and Magnus! Feel free to cut a few if that’s too many.

And now for the hardest question — favorite season 2 character/s? Mine are Jack, Nurm, and Radar.

Onto character questions.

Soren, opinions on the Creaking and the Warden?

Binta, what do you think of the world above the bedrock? Was it a bit overwhelming at first?

Ivor, what was your favorite place to go in the portal hallway? Either with Jesse and the group or with Harper.

That’s it for now, but i’ll be back!

//Start of the recording//

The screen shows Dimple, looking confusingly at the couch. The frame lags, changing to an empty room with the same very couch. The frame lags again, showing white void, but the couch still kept the same. Suddenly, a figure appears there, having a static errors all over itself, bluring the image.

Seems like it starts speaking, the voice kinda robotic — "Tttthanks for the questions! Lemme start from the beginning.. yeah, I love platonic Jask/Nurm, though I prefer the romantic version more. Still, tax benefits are the best. We all probably should call the ship that way, lmao."

Figure lags a bit, low signal interrupts the recording, before the frame goes back to blurry over the figure — "Favorite mob though a bit harder.. Jack probably would like the Breeze. The mechanic of the mob is cool, it's not that easy to defeat, it reminds of the Blaze, but without burns scars. The best for him. Meanwhile Milo would go with something less aggressive.. probably sheeps for two reason: rainbow wool and it's making funny noises. Considering they couldn't be very creative back at Sky City, he will love the amount of colours he can get from one sheep. Binta, however, should stick with chickens. Because she got attached to Waffles and because she would love to keep memory of Fred that way. Romeo, considered how much he loved lava and fire in has admin form, would go for something totally different in his human form. Maybe strays? He totally would go for Magma Cube in Admin form though. Last but not least is Magnus.. even if almost everyone in fandom thinks he would go for creeper, I say he loves them only theoretically. They're still a danger to him, so here I choose cats without a doubt. You saw the picture in his room, right?" — the voice sounds almost like smiling.

"Finally, the hardest question.. you're right, I had rough time picking three favs. So I'm going to go with Vos, Fred and Warden. All three of them are dead in canon, sadly, but hey, I sure have a type here, haha!" — with the laugh, screen goes black.

//End of the recording//

The tape almost flies from DVD, light smoke comes from it.

//Start of the recording//

Camera focuses on the couch, little crack in the up corner seems unusual. Soren uncomfortably shifts on the couch — "What's up with camera?"

(it had tough times. doesn't matter, let's go for the question.)

The Architect sights, shaking his head and looking back at the camera — "Okay, so.. as Dimple showed us these mobs, I'm able to answer the question. Let's say.. I'm not very fond of them. The Creaking though seems less threatening, than Warden is. Notch, thank you it don't exist back in our world. Otherwise Order would definitely try to go for it, and I'm.. uh.." — he looks down at his hands, shaking a bit — "I'm not sure I would be capable to save them in time with c. block.. the thing casts blindness on you after all..." — with closed eyes, he shakes his head, looking back at the camera — "Yeah, I'm not fond of them, especially of the Warden." — before the frame changes, he quietly mumbles "Killing it doesn't drop anything useful anyway.."

The frame changed to Binta, sitting on the couch with Waffles — "Ah.. well. Dimple took me and Waffles before we got to the overworld, so you can say first time we saw the sun was here. And it's good, really. I just wish I could've bring all my people with me. They deserve it as much as I do." — she gently stroke Waffles' feather, sad smile playing on her lips while she was looking at him — "I love the air, it's so fresh unlike our dusty. The clouds are sweet too, and all the green plants? They look a lot better than down there! Tastes better too. Again, I wish I could spare this moment with my people."

The frame changes to Ivor, doing crosswords.

(..ahem!)

With a slight jump, he places the paper down, taking off his glasses. Expression a bit nervous — "You'll cut it off, right?"

(ssssure)

With a huff, he looks at the camera — "Obviously it's the lava one. There are lots of them, actually, but there's certain one filled with only lava and small islands of basalt. Good place to train ninja skills, if you ask me." — smirk plays on his lips — "Of course if you're not afraid of burning to death."

//End of the recording//

[littlelalu]

Study date | Milo Manheim

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

It was a typical Wednesday afternoon, and the noise coming from coffee machines and the conversation from others filled the cozy atmosphere of Panera. I saw at my usual corner table with my laptop, textbooks for 1 of my classes, my iced coffee, and a bagel.

This is the perfect place to study near NYU. A lot of students come here to study, but it’s never too loud, and there is always enough space for everyone. Midterms are coming up, so everyone is stressed out. As much as I am trying to focus on studying, I can’t. I am worried I will fail my midterms and possibly fail the year. I am an overthinker, so that doesn’t help. 

“Studying hard?” asked a soothing and warm voice.

I glanced up and saw a tall, handsome guy with slightly messy brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. He had a coffee in his hand. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it just yet.

“Yeah, I have some midterms coming up and have been studying for a week now,” I responded to him and smiled. 

“You go to NYU?” he asked curiously.

As much as I wanted to lie about where I go to school because of the fear of getting “kidnapped,” he seemed honest.

“Yeah, I do. Do you?” I asked. I may have seen him around campus when I was not rushing between classes. 

“Yes. Well, no, but I used to. I just graduated in May of 2023. Mind if I sit with you?”

“Not at all. Sorry for my mess.” I said as I cleared the table a bit, shoving some paper to the side. 

“You’re fine.” he sat down across from me. “I’m Milo.” he stuck his right hand out towards the middle of the table.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Y/N.” I responded and shook his hand. His hands felt so soft and warm. “So, Milo, what did you major in?”

“I majored in Drama. I love acting and wanted to perfect my art. I wanted to be closer to my momma, so I moved here to New York and figured I should go to NYU.” He said with a cute smile.

“That’s great. I’m sorry, but I feel like I have seen you before. Have we met?”

“No, but I wish we had.” He slightly laughed “I think you may have seen me on TV. I was in Dancing with the Stars when I was 17, and then I starred in a Disney Movie called Zombies. I did a few episodes for some other shoes.” 

“Oh my! Yes, I remember now. My niece is obsessed with Zombies. She has been for a couple of months now. I have not watched any of the movies, but I remember snippets of songs and videos she would show me when I visited her,” I said with a slight giggle.

“Oh really? Whatcha think about me then?” He asked in a silly way and winked at me.

I felt some heat on my cheek. Am I blushing?

“In my honest opinion, you seemed funny, and your singing is good. Although, like I said, I did not watch your movies fully.” I said honestly.

He smiled at me. “Well, what about you get to know me a little more? I can even sing to you, and you can tell me how I do.” He laughed.

“I would love to, but I have midterms coming up. I will be busy for the next week and a half,” I said. I saw his face a bit disappointed.

He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “How about you text me when you are free?”

I grabbed his phone, typed in my number, and returned it to him. “Sounds like a plan.”

He got up and adjusted his hoodie. I was admiring his tall figure. He is cute. He even fixed his hair before putting on his baseball hat. 

“It was nice meeting you, Y/N. Can’t wait to see you after your midterms.” He stuck his hand out again.

We shook hands. “Nice meeting you too, Milo.”

He began heading out. I saw him take his phone out towards the front. That’s when I heard my phone ring. I grabbed it, and it was from an unknown number.

‘Hey, Y/N. It’s Milo. I enjoyed talking with you tonight. Sorry for interrupting your studying. Good luck with your midterm exams. Your grand prize is waiting ;) ‘

I giggled before responding.

‘Haha. Thank you. Can’t wait!’

I ended up packing up my stuff before heading to my apartment. Milo and I texted each other on the way home and for the remainder of the night. We started to text every day after that. Slowly falling for him each day. 

Best. Distraction. Ever. 

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

Note: Hellooo! I hope everyone is having a great day. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas for me to write about.

[splatoonpolls]

Anyway! With the two big elections this year, and the current wars going on. Here’s some ways to fact check! (I’m stealing this from social studies haha. I am not an educator in this subject email your professor or seek a greater source than this please)

Picking a source

What is the political position a news source have? Is it right wing, left wing? Is it even Marxist or hey even gives literal Nazis their opinions to voice it? Google up the news site and you will probably find a Wikipedia article of even a site saying the news source political leaning. Learning about that it’s important because political news sources will be biased.

Do they cater to a specific crowd? Political leaning and this is different while they might overlap. Do they cater to mainly an lgbtq audience? An animal rights/climate change movement one? A more religious/ethnic audience? This will help you to see through different biases.

If it is public service/gets money from the rulers (two different things), check if the current government/rulers isn’t a dictatorship/or just really shitty. One example is the Turkish public service which has been used for pro Palestine news, but you need to keep in mind they do deny the Armenian genocide and also supported the invasion of Artsakh. So be critical of those too.

Does it get funding from a non government agency? Let’s say they get funding from a lobbyist group that focus on fossil fuels. Then learning about the environment wouldn’t be as good of a source now wouldn’t it?

If you’re using a non profit organization. A quick reminder they’re also not perfect.

Also compare different news sources! Especially on the opposites of stuff.

Don’t use the big 3 Ts (twitter, tumblr, or TikTok) as a main go to for big political information unless it is from a trusted journalist with a proper education.

TLDR: there is no perfect news source. But ouch one you think suits your current needs for the current situation.

Now when you’ve picked a new source. Here’s how to check the article!

Check if the source is true. They might use misformation and even disinformation. It’s really common with far right news organizations to spread misinformation about lgbtq people. One time libsoftiktok posted how a university had period products in the men’s bathroom. While a quick image reverse showed articles saying that university were just adding free period products.

When was it written? And who told it? Let’s say a car crash happened where you live. You may hear it from person A who was on the bus while the crash happened. However there is also a chance you may hear it from person G two weeks later. One will have their information more tangled up. (And this is also a way to see if something is a conspiracy theory or not)

Is the source in general trustworthy or has it on several occasions said misinformation (like Alex jones). If it is the latter. Don’t use it

If it has had people of two different opinions together. Please make sure it isn’t like “hey person A and B!” Will you please talk about the housing crisis” and they give person A four minutes while person b gets 30.

If anyone wants to correct me or add info! Feel free to do it!

[sobuildabeautifulcity]

i went on twt for the first time in a while tonight (wanted to put smth up for a friend to hopefully see) and scrolled for a minute. oh boy. apparently theres a whole new discourse in the fandom i was vaguely on the fringes of. and i have seen so many people reacting so... extremely & in bad faith to something that i just kinda want to yell about it. it has, not for the first time, reminded me why i steer well clear of fandom spaces like that. it's even soured me a bit about my other blog.

so, r w r b. the book is getting a limited edition printing from some company idk the ins and outs of it. the author put up a post with the artwork on and people were - understandably - upset that the art seemed to have whitewashed the half-mexican character. that's totally reasonable, its not my wheelhouse but it's understandable that whitewashing a character whose story arc involves his race heavily would be something to call out.

so people commented their distaste for it, and then got themselves worked up over on twt. and by that i mean deciding that the author (white) obviously didn't care about the characters race being presented accurately and so obviously they are racist and a terrible person etc etc etc. they're leaving comments on the authors post & arguing within themselves that their comments are being deleted and censored. they are saying that obviously this is the author hiding from any criticism of their endorsement of the cover art. there occurs some misgendering of said author (non-binary, came out after book was initially published (&, imo, not entirely out of free choice)), because what is fandom without casual transphobia-as-punishment (i wish this was sarcastic but it seems all too normalised). demands both to author and on twt generally about them taking down the post (see, endorsing) and formally rebuking any whitewashing, publicly and with proper remorse (in the fans' opinion, not the authors/anyone else, to be clear).

today, the author releases a statement. it's a pretty good one imo. basically says • i hear you and i feel much the same. • i dont have a lot of control over this kind of thing, no author does. • ive been asking a lot of questions and trying to sort this behind the scences. and i wasnt able to comment openly. • heres an answer about one thing youre talking about, but wrt white washing - i dont know. i havent seen the printed copies but its not within my control anymore. • i was sent swatches and approved a non-whitewashing colour scheme. • any of my commissioned art (& this is the only canonical art) clearly shows character as a poc and it always will because that is how he lives in my head. • i also didnt delete ur comments and i left the post up so you would be able to have your voices heard while i was trying to fix stuff where i could. • i am going to archive it now because its not something i am happy to continue to promote.

basically they made it clear that theyve been working behind the scenes trying to get an answer about whats going on & have done everything in their power - which is limited, because authors dont have final say over everything! - to try and make them change it. theyve also listened & apologised, and let the people who were mad have their say on the post that was promoting it. sounds pretty much what you'd want from someone, no? haha. yeah no.

apparently, their post wasnt sincere enough - they 'sounded like they were most upset about people thinking they were deleting comments'. they also published it on their 'broadcast channel' on instagram which basically only shows up if you've joined it. they hadnt (at that point) posted the apology anywhere else, so obviously they were trying to hide it and downplay it - 'it shouldve been posted to their grid'. of course, a few minutes later it was posted on their story, but who cares about that.

honestly, to me, posting it in their broadcast channel was actually the best way to do it. stories disappear, theyre fleeting & while there are highlights it's not the same thing. posting it to the grid would open them up to issues, not only that if they are archiving the promo post this will be a streisand effect vibe & drive more people to find out what theyre on about. the broadcast channel is the second most permanent thing to the grid, yes its harder to find but its also not impossible to find. the apology will be aimed at the people raging about it and so they will see it. the authors statement will stay there indefinitely.

---

it's funny really, i went onto bluesky after to see if anyone was talking about it there - i don't get r w r b stuff there unless i seek it out - and the first post i ran into was from a poc talking about how it was a good apology & that people were acting in bad faith. they also made the point about the author being trans, and how everything being attacked at them needs to be viewed within that context. theres a lot of implicit transphobia within a lot of the arguments, with the undertone of well, theyre a white woman so..., and it's... frustrating. i dont particularly vibe with misgendering them there but you'll believe me when i say it was necessary for my point? and like i said, their coming out was post-being Known, and they are - wrongly - often misgendered via pronouns based on their appearence. so it is not something that i am outing.

but i honestly can't see what could have been better about the apology. they apologised, resolved what they could, and explained how they had tried to resolve the main issue but were limited in scope, and were now removing the offending promotion. they also reiterated that they are strongly opposed to both issues called into question. the only thing i can see as being misinterpretated - but only in bad faith, tbh - is their explaination of why they left the post up. but had they taken the post down silently, those people would have yelled their mouths off about censorship and who knows what. rock & a hard place, really. i think they chose the better option.

i genuinely don't think there was anything they could have done - within their real limitations - to resolve it well enough for this group. and it's all very mob like behaviours. the only thing i think they would be happy with is if the author changed the image. which is, as they said, out of their hands - try as they might, it won't be down to them it's changed. thats not possible by the bounds of their contract. they like to ignore that people are bound by things like contracts, as well as other limitations. its not just a free for all, they dont have all the control here - their agent probably doesnt even have all the control.

---

my low stakes conspiracy is that there are folks slying hiding in fandom who hate the author. and they are waiting for their chance, for the author to err, and to pounce. but not overtly, just a lot of promotion of hmm this is a bit... dodgy don't you think? and similar. just sowing the seeds, bringing up past things & just seeding this undercurrent. until enough people are whipped up into a fury and now more people hate the author, because these bad faith arguments are hard to untangle when you're in the midst of a storm.

[cosmicjoke]

hi there !! thank u sm for answering my ask about the whereabouts of the scouts hq! i guess it's open to speculation of the location prior to the fall of wall maria ( or as i'd liked to call it "free real estate" lol ). anyways, i have another question for you if you don't mind! i love your analysis on levi and how emotionally intelligent he is and how he's in-tune with his emotions. i was wondering, do you think levi is the type to outwardly grieve at all? perhaps in privacy of his own quarters? we seem some subtle moments like when og levi squad dies as an example and we never see him fully cry until the finale. aside those small, yet very impactful moments, do you think he shows his grief in a more expressive way? if so, how do you envision it?

personally, i dont depict levi to be the type to showcase anger through his grief ( i guess unless zeke is involved lol ), but i feel like some days would be extremely difficult for him as he carries around the weight of his dead comrades and friends, especially at night when he's alone. i don't think he cries often, most likely due to growing up in the underground and kenny's "parental teachings", but as i said, i believe there are rare days where it's just too much, ya know?

regardless of my opinions, i would like to hear your thoughts and viewpoint on this !! thank you <3

Hi there!

Thank you for the ask, and I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help with your first! But this one hopefully I can give a better answer, haha.

We do have one, clear instant of seeing Levi express his grief outwardly, of course, and that's when Furlan and Isabel died. And Levi very much did express his grief through anger then. I would even say Levi was enraged, which we never really saw from him again. Even when Zeke forced Levi to kill so many of his own comrades, after turning them into titans, Levi's anger afterward was very controlled and measured, though still apparent. Maybe the closest we see to Levi becoming angry before then is the first time he takes Zeke down, in Shinganshina, after he cuts him out of his titan. But nothing really comes close to the outpouring of intense despair we see from him with Furlan and Isabel.

That probably has something to do with the fact that they were his family. I always say Furlan and Isabel were probably the two people who were closest to Levi in his life. The only two people who understood where he'd come from, because they came from there too. And also because they were the first, two people he really lost to the titan threat. He'd only seen one other person eaten by a titan before then. A soldier whom Levi likely had no relationship with at all. We have to remember, when Levi first joined the SC, he, Furlan and Isabel were outcasts. Nobody liked them, and nobody really talked to them or treated them kindly, outside of Erwin and Hange. The others he saw killed by titans, he only saw the aftermath of. But with Furlan and Isabel, he actually saw them directly eaten, right in front of him, and for all his great strength, he was powerless to stop it from happening.

For all the criticisms I often see lobbed at the anime adaptation of "No Regrets", I won't ever forget the raw emotion we hear in Levi's voice when he kills the titan that killed him family. We never hear Levi like that again. So enraged he sounds like he's on the verge of sobs. That was Levi losing the only two people he had in his life. His chosen family. His two first and best friends. That was Levi losing his whole world. His rage at Erwin afterward was also a manifestation of that pain. He was overcome by his grief in that moment.

I think, after that, Levi was able to form other connections, and other bonds. Especially with Hange and Erwin, and of course his own squad. And I think he felt the pain of their loss just as keenly as he did Isabel and Furlan. But by then, in order to keep moving forward himself, in order to keep fighting, Levi needed to learn to control that grief and keep it locked away. To not let it consume him or distract him. It's never been that Levi doesn't feel every loss with deep, genuine emotion, or that he's unaffected, or removed from the feeling of loss. He's always been, I think, more deeply impacted by the loss of life than anyone. He just learned to control that feeling, and more for the sake of others than for himself. He wants to stay strong so that he can do his job of protecting and fighting for others. He doesn't allow himself to wallow in his grief because he thinks it might compromise his duty to others. And that's Levi's selflessness again.

I'm certain there's been many, MANY moments in which Levi felt an overwhelming despair. I just spoke about this, in my post about how Levi more often looks sad to me than stoic. I think, when he's at rest especially, we see Levi's grief manifest on his face and in his body language. When there's nothing for him to channel his grief and despair into, it shows plainly on him. So I wouldn't be surprised if, when he had moments alone, he did give into it, if only a little. Levi doesn't strike me as much of a crier. I have a hard time picturing him really openly sobbing, for example. But he is capable of tears, and he may indeed have shed tears in private moments, when he felt sure it wouldn't negatively impact anyone around him.

There's of course something deeply tragic in that. In Levi feeling the NEED to hide his grief. To not let it show for fear of it somehow affecting others. That he feels his grief is less important than his duty toward protecting others. That he shouldn't be allowed to indulge in it. And we know this is an attitude with Levi only holds for himself. Because he never scolds anyone else for giving in to THEIR grief, and in fact does the opposite, providing them with what comfort and reassurance he can. The first time we meet Levi, he's comforting a dying soldier who's crying, wondering if he'd done his duty, holding his hand and telling him that he's done more than enough. Or with the soldier who lead the titans to them after the disaster with the Female Titan. Instead of scolding that soldier for allowing his grief to endanger the entire unit, Levi gave him Petra's patch, and told him it was his friends, just to comfort him. Or when Eren begins crying when they're all trapped in the cavern underneath Rod Reiss' estate, and while everyone else is yelling at him, telling him to man up, Levi doesn't yell at him at all, despite the peril they're all in. He instead tells Eren he's sorry to have to ask for his help again, and after Eren is able to save them, he's the only one to thank Eren and express his gratitude by telling him that it's thanks to his efforts that they'll be able to retake Wall Maria again. Or when he tells Erwin thank you, after Erwin confesses to his own grief and guilt. Instead of scolding Erwin for showing weakness in the face of catastrophe, he tells Erwin that it's thanks to him that the SC was able to get as far as it had. He tells Erwin he's been a great leader.

Even while Levi denies himself the comfort of his own grief, he never denies it to anyone else. And once again, that's Levi's selflessness manifesting. And it's heartbreaking to realize, because again, I think Levi probably feels things more deeply than anyone. I think he's more hurt by the loss of his comrades than anyone. But he won't allow himself to really process that hurt, or find any solace by giving in to his grief.

[ishikawayukis]

prev anon back again to say i fully get it from a writers perspective. like, booktok gets a Lot of flack that it doesnt deserve and i'll admit it (people SHOULD be allowed to enjoy whatever they want to read), but theres way too many people willing to jump on legit criticism because "how dare you insult this book that i like and therefore are insulting me" (or the writer, to which some people white knight HARD for) when i think all books are allowed to be fairly critiqued, especially if they're presenting themselves AS serious and emotional media by the writer/the marketing. i said it to a friend the other day but i'm not going to judge silly satire that presents itself as such the same way as i would a book that the author is selling me as a serious, emotional rollercoaster of a romance when i open it up and it's just 99% smut and 1% bad characterization. there's literally nothing wrong with smut, but that's clearly not what i was being sold and i should be allowed to say that, y'know?

and i feel like the same can and should happen for other forms of art. you said in your tags that personality isn't the correct word but honestly, i think it fits pretty well? some groups (and singers in general) really have been losing their unique voices in order to sound like everything else on the radio because its what gets the most attention. some artists outright acknowledge it sometimes when they've had enough and want to make music that They enjoy again (im p sure lady gaga was worried about returning to her old sound with abracadabra for this exact reason? but i'd have to look it up to know for sure). some people just take any criticism on things that they like as an attack on them, and its just kinda depressing because plenty of people DO have the mindset of "if you enjoy this, great! feel free to tell me why! but i wanna talk about why i dislike it as well just because i deserve to be able to have my opinion publicly" rather than "this is bad and if you like it then you're also bad/dumb/etc for thinking its good." obvs the latter exists, but plenty of people do just want to have a discussion

also idk maybe this is just me thinking as a writer, but i wish people would step away from this mindset that i think has been a much more recent development that art is something that should just be enjoyed and nothing else. it feels like we've swung away from "art is useless, who uses art?" to "why should i think deeper about any of the things that i consume? i just want to have fun" when analysis CAN be fun! people post fun metas about literally anything they're passionate about all the time! video essays celebrating media has been a thing for a while now! being able to say "i like this song because the backing track is fun and poppy and the lyrics make me feel something" IS thinking deeper about things just as much as "the lyrics are too repetitive and the choreography feels it was made for tiktok in a really jarring way" is.

sorry for ranting a lot in your asks haha i just have a lot of strong feelings and thoughts aaaaand im not even going to touch on the fact i found out after i sent that ask that they're releasing a song thats less than two minutes with a feature... because the disappointment and annoyance i felt... its. its a lot. literally i have so much love in my heart for these two, they were two of the three that i really started stanning svt for (vernon was the other lmao). im just sad :(

first don't apologize for ranting i truly love it when people do that because like you said! i wanna have discussions about things as well without them being immediately brushed aside because it's fun! that's the whole point of creating a community with people that are into the same stuff as you, because the other option is everyone mindlessly liking and repeating the same things without any thought behind it and that's just a scary thought.

there's this black or white mentality when it comes to art and enjoying lately that if you like it you have to back it up 100% and if you don't like it you're a hater that deserves all the death threats because how dare you insult this author that i like that was selling you something that wasn't (also what you said it's the main reason why i'm into into romantasy because it feels like a barely there plot that was built around the smut scenes and hard pass lmao)

and yes exactly, i'm 100% down for artists of any kind to be able to explore their art because what's the point otherwise if i can't be constantly branching out and discovering new things and techniques and trying new trends and what not, but at the same time fans should be allowed to walk away if it's not for them anymore and have open and respectful opinions about why it isn't for them anymore and also being allowed to comeback basically to be a fan whenever they want to, it's not a contract it's not a job and like you said analysis and sharing opinions can and it is fun! obviously while keeping everything respectful which can be done. and dude i am such a hater of the concept of "consuming content" because it feels so mindless, and it ties with what you said as well. i get wanting to turn your brain off sometimes because everything is A Lot all the time but it also should be encouraged to put the thought behind on why you like or dislike something

and yeah a song, especially a feature being under 2 minutes it's just...... for me it feels like what's the point of it then because it feels like there's no exploration for it if it makes sense, there's no room for the song to grow and to lead you somewhere it begins and it ends just so that it can prob fit into a video and make it easier to fit into a trend

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

My thoughts on Trolls 3 & that Adam Sandler Lizard movie Leo (and also my thoughts on Wish)

So there's a lot to unpack here; let's start with the most basic, Trolls 3! It's adorable, nothing bad to say about it, good movie to watch with your family! For once I don't have a lot to say about a DreamWorks film, other than it was so cute and funny. I still prefer the first two but this was great and I loved the songs. I thought the 2D scene was a little bit weird my uncle thought the same. Didn't care for the villains' design but Velvet and Veneer were funny! I like how they had colorful lipsticks tho haha XD anyway, I recommend Trolls 3, see it in theaters if you still have time.

As for that Adam Sandler Lizard movie, it was great! It's called "Leo" and it's on Netflix. It kind of gets heavy when Leo finds out that he one year left to live and when he talks to the kids, it's amazing. I love how they tried to show different types of kids and different struggles they had. One girl talked to much, the other girl whose parents were going through a divorce, there was also a boy who was insecure about his voice and another one who was insecure about body hair, and I even liked how they didn't make the rich blonde popular girl be mean, they even showed her struggle too! There was also this one boy whose mom didn't allow him to play outside and be a kid and he had this drone follow him around all the time, and she even made him wear a hazmat suit inside his house which to me, was the most depressing. The part with the teacher, was on and off. I hated her for most of the movie but she even had redemption. The teacher at the beginning was really nice but it was the old lady teacher, idk man I didn't like her for most of the movie but at the end she's okay. I still think characters get redemption way too easily sometimes. Just my opinion... btw the humor was really good! It had that 90's Nickelodeon type of humor (like from CatDog or Rocko's modern life or Angry Beavers). Like, there were a few dirty jokes and just a few fourth wall breaks. Also, the movie had a good message. I wasn't expecting it to be a musical but it was. Let's just say that the songs weren't as good as Under the Boardwalk, but they weren't bad songs. Honestly, I even think the songs in Wish were better but Leo is over all a better movie and has a way better message.

About my opinion on Wish now, I don't recommend you watch it in theaters, unless you're a really wealthy person who can afford to see movies all the time. I mean, in my opinion it's a waste of time and money. It's better to watch it in the comfort of your own home on a free website, don't even watch it on Disney plus. There's a few reasons why but here's one of them https://www.instagram.com/reel/ but the other reason is because I don't think Disney deserves to make a lot of money form this. Part of me feels bad because I LOVE the character design, and the diversity. I feel bad for black girls, they can't get at least one modern Disney princess who from a good movie. Tiana's movie is old and she ends up marrying the dumb hunk prince when she just wanted to be a restaurant owner, Ariel is racebent but she's pretty cool even tho there's a war over her being black, and Asha's a sweet character but her movie doesn't make sense. Like, Wish's plot was all over the place; at first you were kind of on the king's side but they did make him out to be evil enough that you were on Asha's side. The hardest thing for me to understand was that at first she wanted the king to grant everyone's Wish because she wanted her grandpa to be happy since he was 100 years old, then she wanted to get her grandpa and mom's wishes back from the king, and then she wanted everyone to be happy but I was so lost... the only time I laughed was that one song and it showed the bear and the deer, and they called the deer "Bambi" as a joke, but really, it looked like Boog and Elliot from the Open Season franchise. The dancing chickens was pretty funny too, it reminded me of the Flip flop and fly scene in Chicken Run. Honestly, Wish isn't the worst Disney movie ever, but it's not that good. If you're planning on seeing it, know what you're in for. The story was incredibly boring as well, and the background characters barely had any personality or lines but were still cute (I like Asha's friends, especially the plus size girl in the red and also the girl with the yellow dress and blue thing in her hair). And like, the best thing about this movie had to be the character designs. Not only did it show race and skin color diversity, but it showed body type diversity as well! Some shows and movies just show skin color diversity and make the plus size characters the joke (like **cough cough** Total Drama show) but this movie actually have TRUE diversity! It's a shame that the story's a disaster because the designs were a 10/10... as for the story, it's a 4.5/10.

We've come to a conclusion. Watch Leo on Netflix and if you don't have Netflix, you can use kisscartoon, actvid, or whatever other free movie website you have. If you want to watch Wish I don't recommend seeing it in theaters but I'm not stopping you. (Please click the link to the video I sent). Also, Wish is better than most of the old Disney movies, don't go comparing it to peter pan or something, we know that movie's outdated and way worse than Wish. If you're a Trolls fan or just have any interest in seeing Trolls 3, GO SEE TROLLS 3 in theaters! I recommend it! And also, if you have any thoughts, whether you agree or not, just let me know. Even if you have different opinions than me, just let me know!

[ritens]

As someone who recently saw an ad for gw2 which piqued my interest, would you recommend checking it out? And if yes, are there any things i should be aware of before playing?

I'm not as active as I used to be but recommend 100%

I have a hard time making connections and have awful anxiety so my pov is that of a loner - I think GW2 is the only mmmorpg that lets you get most things done on your own and it feels satisfying too. The open world content is community oriented. Killstealing doesn't really exist, players are encouraged to help others out and do so out of their own volition most of the time.

Also many dialogues are voiced. And there's voiced coherent ambient NPC chatter all over. It's not a new thing but back when I started playing in 2014 it was mind blowing to me haha

GW2 does a great job at making you feel connected to the NPCs you meet along the way. And the player character isn't devoid of emotion, and actively and vocally takes part in the ongoings of the game. I think it's wonderful.

One of the best mount systems I've ever encountered in a game. Second only to kaithes in Warframe (in my humble opinion).

Things to be aware of??? The free part of the game is visibly dated. The game becomes prettier as you progress. Personal story questline (free) also greatly differs from newer content. So if you start out and things seem clunky... they are. But give the game the benefit of doubt.

And keep an eye on your clock, otherwise you won't notice how much time this game eats. Some open world events tend to take a very long time to do and you don't even notice!!