#he makes so many friends but never stays

[paimonial-rage]

“what part of ‘I want you, and only you’ do you not understand?” - aether

requested by @andromeda-nova-writing

“I’m just saying that there are better people than me,” you replied lightly. “It’s not like you need me on your team.”

And truly, you weren’t exaggerating. Aether had many friends, after all, many powerful ones. Some of them excelled in fighting, while others had the ability to heal. Some gave powerful shields, while others could make the team stronger. While you had your own utilities, you knew the truth. You paled in comparison to the rest. There was no point in keeping you around. 

Aether sighed. 

“And I’m saying I want you around anyway. You know, not everything about adventuring is having the best team.”

It was your turn to sigh. This wasn’t a topic you normally brought up. You didn’t want to be a downer on the team, after all. But after Paimon had gone off with Sucrose to check on the modified sunsiettas leaving you behind with Aether, the subject found itself coaxed to your lips. 

Did Aether realize how popular he was, you wondered. It seemed like everybody was vying to have just a moment of his time. Whenever he met up with a friend he hadn’t seen in a while, three out of four times they’d throw a party. And there you were, always awkwardly tagging along. Though nobody was ever jealous of you, you always felt bad. It felt as if you were coveting him all to yourself. 

Though you never asked, words could not describe how much you wished to know why he kept you near. Did he feel bad for you because you didn’t have a great number of friends? Or did he like your combat abilities, meager though they were? At one point, you thought it was due to how well you knew the terrain, but he took you to many different nations since then. 

“I know that,” you mumbled. “It’s just… There are many people that want to spend time with you. You don’t need to ask me to tag along all the time…”

Aether clutched his chest in mock hurt. 

“I didn’t know you hated spending time with me that much!” He exclaimed dramatically. 

You panicked.

“Hey! Don’t put words in my mouth!” You shot back. “I just– Gods, you just don’t get it!”

Turning up your nose, you pouted. Of course he had to joke about it. He didn’t understand your feelings at all. But when you peeked at him, a look of exasperation had taken hold of his face. 

“No, I don’t think you get it,” he began as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What part of ‘I want you, and only you’ do you not understand?”

Your heart stopped as you felt your face heat. 

“Wh-What– I– How can you say that so easily!?” You squeaked as you covered your face. 

He shrugged.

“It’s the truth. I’ll say it as many times as I need to. Accept it.”

You groaned. 

“I refuse.”

[anghraine]

One of the more peculiar things about my current academic existence is that it's like—

me (to my best friend): It feels kind of strange that I've always had so many ties to people who are much more literary than me. There are all these people I know who keep ending up at "I discovered True Art and now I'm too good for Star Wars" and I'm just thinking, "damn, couldn't be me."

best friend: ...you have a PhD in literature.

me: True, but not their kind of literature!

best friend: It's still a PhD in literature. Do these people have that?

me: Well, hmm, maybe not, technically. But I've never been all that interested in major experiments with form and style—doing that stuff myself or reading the kind of literature that focuses on pushing those boundaries. I've always cared more about popular literature that prioritizes immersion and world building and just getting people to care a lot about characters and plot and such, not the really prestigious stuff.

best friend: You literally teach Shakespeare.

me: Well, I decided not to study the things I love most so they didn't get tainted by academia. And anyway, I still focused on popular literature from my eras. The seventeenth-century stuff I was writing about made a lot of the late Victorians very angry because they thought it was crude and cravenly appealing to unrefined common tastes instead of True Art. The novel in Austen's lifetime was even more of a low-prestige popular form at the time, especially the female-dominated genres, which were most of them, and she took care to identify herself as a woman.

best friend: I know you did get into academia through Tolkien and then didn't study anything close to that.

me: I couldn't let them ruin him for me! And besides, I know that Shakespeare and Austen are about as prestigious as it gets now, but for me they've still got that pop culture media energy, you know? Though sometimes when people make sweeping pronouncements about artistry and literature that don't make sense for anything in English published before 1700, I have to fight the temptation to be ... that person.

best friend, laughing: You mean pulling a well akshually? At least you have the credentials. You could even do it like "well actually, *obnoxious cough* as someone with a PhD in this subject..." now. You spent years earning this! Tell a few people Well Actually as a treat and then go watch Star Wars.

[staygoldpbj]

pony and johnny duetting on stay gold will always make me wanna throw up

[ghostclefable]

Post-war Katsuki has taylor's Lover album on repeat and you will not convince me otherwise

[iwasbored777]

It's so sad that so many Swifties feel the urge to apologize for being in the fandom like "I'm so sorry but I can't help but love her" like ok???? As if all Swifties are bad. And then have to explain how they're not toxic unlike some other Swifties. There are toxic people in every single fandom and you don't have to explain yourself to anyone if you're just enjoying something as long as you're not harassing someone who doesn't. I don't think I should apologize to anyone for things I like cuz that's nobody else's business. And if they think that I, after we were friends for years, will bite their heads off because they don't like someone's music then it's their thing, they're free to leave if they don't feel comfortable but I'm not gonna do anything to them.

And those who harass someone else for enjoying something that they don't are equally bad. Let's not pretend that it's normal to be cyber bullied just because you reblog gifs of your favourite pop star.

[noahtally-famous]

made a 16-slide presentation for gabriel jha, i spent three days back to back on this (and planning out the fic that takes place before, during, and after tdpi that's centric around his and dave's brotherly bond, alenoah, noah and dave's friendship, and alejandro and carlos's brotherly bond)

(the slideshow reads like a character wiki page 💀)

no going back now. while i finalize the slides (idek if i should post it here, it's a full-on oc form for a character only i care abt 😭 but it would be good background info), have some before/after racing accident that had dave auditioning for total drama picrews of gabriel! (so in other words, pre and post tdpi gabriel)

[reporpoisedphantasies]

.

[cipher-fresh]

Girls my exact age who aren’t my friends having a sleepover in MY HOUSE is turning me into the joker a little bit

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

Nick: (Pacing around the office, recounting several stories about reckless and stupid things Jasmine has done recently)

Ellie Perkins: (Drinking some coffee, nodding along while thinking that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree in this case)

Nick: “That’s not even the end of it! I warned that girl about going into the Milton Parking Garage because of the loose whack job who turned the place into a death trap but the more I talked about it the more she seemed to want to go in to catch this guy!”

Ellie Perkins: “Ya don’t say?” (Under her breath to herself) “Sounds pretty familiar….”

Nick: (Holds up a finger) “I turn my back for one second to talk with Preston and the next thing ya know X6 is behind me saying that my kid has just done the one thing I told her not to do and had decide to walk into the deathtrap because she wanted to “investigate” this so called maze!”

Ellie Perkins: (Overly dramatic gasp) “No- really?! Even though it was obviously a trap that had been set up and would most likely lead to her untimely death?!?”

Nick: (Doesn’t catch the biting sarcasm) “Yes! It was a trap laid out clear as day and the kid just moseyed on in there like she owned the place!”

Ellie Perkins: “Mhhhhhmmm!!! Is that so???” (Aggressively sips her coffee)

Nick: (Pinches the bridge of his nose) “I had to kick down the front door and drag Jazzy out by the heels because she wouldn’t come back! And the kid had the audacity to try and wave it off like she didn’t just give us all a heart attack in fear for her life!”

Ellie Perkins: “MHHHHHHMMMNNNN!” (Sips her coffee even more aggressively, almost breaking the handle with her grip)

Nick: (Shakes his head in exasperation) “The kid ain’t invincible and easily mendable no matter how big she talks herself up. One of these days her reckless behavior is gonna catch up to her- and that won’t be a pretty sight!”

Ellie Perkins: (Finally has her big moment after years of built up) “You feel like saying, “You keep laughing in deaths face, one day it’s going to laugh back,” to her to try and knock some sense into her stubborn little head?”

Nick: “YES! Exactly what I-!” (Realizes what she means by referring to that certain phrase and freezes)

Ellie Perkins: (Keeps going to drive in the point) “And it just annoys you to a deeper level whenever she does that confident little smirk juuuuust before she’s about to do something so stupidly reckless-…”

Nick: (Holds up a hand) “Alright, I see your point there, Ellie. I suppose I’m not the one who should be talking here….”

Ellie Perkins: (Grins smugly at him, folding her arms)

Nick: (Heavy sigh) “Yeah, yeah- get it all out of your system why doncha.” (Kicks his feet up on his desk, bracing for impact as he lights a cigarette)

Ellie Perkins: (Slams her hands down on the desk, almost quivering with anticipation) “I’ve been waiting a long damn time for this day to come, Valentine….”

(R.I.P Nicholas Valentine. He’s never hearing the end of this one from Ellie and he’s in for a long lecture)

[tamagotchikgs]

honestly i wish i could meet up w online friends but i am so filled w terror that my anxiety would make me so offputting and hateable instantly n then i wouldnt have any friends left HBJJBA,,,,, like,,, i cannot express just how bad my anxiety is between my avpd and never learning how 2 mask my autism i am probably the most naturally unlikeable person in existence n then id have to live w that maybe if i had just figured out how to fix myself first and make myself perfect n palatable then i wouldnt hav fucked it up like every other interaction irl

[pitske]

@tectco and pitske sitting on a blog: holyshitohmyfuckinggod

[lady-shadow-and-darkness]

Whenever I see people saying that Dazai's an asshole and doesn't care about anyone I laugh. Guess he did a good job of fooling you buddy.

[super-psycho-lov3]

it doesnt even matter it doesnt even matter it doesnt ever matter it doesnt even

[brothersgrim]

Help im sad about the undertaker

[lostandbackagain]

dustfinger: I love all of my children equally, brianna, farid, and [looks at smudged writing on hands] john

[forestofmemories]

something something the lessons they’ve learned up until now thanks to everything they’ve experienced, the special connection with nature (with the tapus, with alola itself), and the bond they (people and pokemon) all share bc they’re always working together and helping one another shaped satoshi in a way no other *region* did