#hes such a red flag

[ay4tou]

when the time comes | samuel seo x reader

summary: you rush home just to find samuel bloodied, his calm only fueling your anger. as he makes a promise you’re unsure you can trust, you wonder how long you can wait for him to choose between this life and you.

tw: mentions of blood (and samuel idk he just seems like a whole trigger warning)

author's note: it's my first time writing samuel i'm not sure if i made him nonchalant or just a bitch

i kinda want to make a part two of this.... and i may or may not plan it to be smut 👀 | masterlist

The door to the apartment creaked open, revealing Samuel leaning heavily against the frame. His shirt was torn and bloodstained, knuckles were bruised and swollen, an evidence of a fight that had gone far longer than it should have.

He stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind him, and trudged toward the bathroom without turning on the lights. He barely glanced at his reflection as he grabbed a towel to clean himself up.

Your phone call interrupted the silence. His phone buzzed insistently on the counter, your name lighting up the screen. He sighed and answered, pressing the phone to his ear.

“Yeah? What's up?” His tone was casual, as if you were just calling to ask what he wanted for dinner.

“Samuel?” Your voice was sharp. “You home?”

“Mm-hm.”

Something in his tone set you on edge. “Are you okay? You sound… off.”

“I’m fine, no need to worry.” he said, brushing the question off like a fly on his shoulder.

“Fine?” you repeated. “Hey, fine doesn’t sound like this. What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he replied.

That was all you needed to hear. “I’m on my way.”

“You really don’t have t-"

But the line had already gone dead. He set the phone back on the counter and returned to dabbing at his wounds, muttering to himself,

"Guess that's happening."

“Are you kidding me, Samuel?” you snapped, storming over to him. “What the hell happened to you?”

He looked up at you, completely unfazed by your outburst. “Long day.” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

“...Long day?” you echoed in disbelief. “You’re covered in blood!”

He shrugged. “Most of it’s not mine.”

The way he said it so casually made your blood boil.

“Do you even hear yourself right now? You look like you walked out of a war zone, and you’re just sitting there like it’s nothing!”

“It’s not nothing,” he said, leaning back against the cushions with a faint wince. “But it’s not worth freaking out over, either. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

You crossed your arms, glaring down at him. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

He smirked faintly, raising an eyebrow. “You love it.”

“No, I tolerate it,” you shot back, grabbing the first-aid kit. “And only because I don’t have a choice.”

You knelt beside him, your hands moving with practiced precision as you cleaned his wounds. Despite your anger, you couldn’t stop the worry gnawing at your chest. “You can’t keep doing this, Samuel. You know that.” you said quietly.

He sighs. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” he replied, his tone annoyingly nonchalant.

“Do you?” you snapped, glaring up at him. “Because it sure doesn’t seem like it.”

His smirk softened, but his eyes stayed steady. “I do. But I’ve got my reasons.”

“Yeah? And what are those?”

He shrugged again. “Unfinished business.”

“Ugh. That’s not an answer,” you said, sitting back on your heels.

“It’s the best one I’ve got for now.”

You shook your head, frustration bubbling to the surface. “Fine, keep your secrets. But this can’t go on forever, Samuel. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to make a choice.”

His smirk reappeared, but it seemed gentler. “When the time comes, I’ll stop.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“And I’ll mean it every time,” he replied. “When the time comes, I’ll marry you. And when I do, it’ll be over.”

You stared at him, torn between anger and disbelief. “You’re unbelievable.”

“That's just me.” he said with a lazy grin, his tone almost teasing.

You stood up, shaking your head but refusing to let him see the small smile threatening to break through. “But if you think I’m just going to patch you up every time you come home looking like this, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Sure you will.” he said, leaning back with a satisfied sigh.

And damn it, you both knew he was right.

[little-flowers]

Me talking about my partner: yeah we haven’t talked in a bit so obviously im a little worried about everything

The girl i met today: yeah no i get that, my boyfriend actually has been looking for backups, and changing his status to single even though we’re dating

[pangur-and-grim]

Belphie feels good enough to climb!!! that's actually huge

[assiraphales]

remembering the time I called american psycho (a satirical film about toxic masculinity) a dark comedy and the overwhelming response was 'oh so u think men killing sex workers is funny? u think THAT'S funny?' like no I find a patrick batemen listening to 'i'm walking on sunshine', killing jared leto while wearing a clear raincoat and giving a dissertation on huey lewis n the news, using 'I need to return some video tapes' to get out of awkward situations, throwing a hissy fit about business cards, dropping a chainsaw down a flight of stairs, thinking an atm is telling him to feed it cats, and crying hysterically under a desk is funny. but thank u for ur wonderful insight

[tossawary]

This is petty fandom salt, BUT... I've been chewing on this phenomenon that I've been calling "Fandom's Darling". It is related to things like "Author's Darling" and "Mary Sue / Gary Stu" and "Protagonist Halo" and all that jazz, where one character gains a peculiar narrative weight in a story.

"Author's Darling" is when a writer has a favorite character, and the world and all other characters sort of get... warped to put the Darling in the spotlight. It's most noticeable in TV shows with multiple writers, when a character you personally like suddenly has their previous characterization destroyed to make another character look good somehow. Every other character might become weirdly incompetent. The Darling's feelings are treated as The Most Important Feelings in any given situation. The logic of the fictional world seems broken past suspension of disbelief in order to validate this one character's beliefs or skillset or some other fantasy. And so on.

"Fandom's Darling" is what I've been calling the pattern where a fandom essentially crowns a New Protagonist for their fanfiction stories (it's often a side character rather than the original protagonist, but it can also happen to protagonists). This character becomes the self-insert for all sorts of indulgent fantasies, gaining special powers or backstories, and/or becoming the focus of extreme whump, and/or hooking up with all the various hotties, starring in all sorts of tropey AUs, and so on. They're not always an obvious Mary Sue version of themselves, but the character's original personality and interpersonal relationships tend to get warped or dropped completely, and other characters tend to become a little flat around them. I call it "Fandom's Darling" because it's not just one self-indulgent fantasy fic (you do you! Have fun!) with characterization choices that I don't vibe with (I have neither the time nor the desire nor the authority to police anything, I am just venting), but rather a prolific mini-fandom of sorts revolving around this empty doll / fanon version of the chosen vessel character, so it becomes a little unavoidable.

I am salty about this (mildly frustrated) (imagine a soft sigh of disappointment before I just go do something else) because you are FUCKED if you actually liked the canonical version of this character and their interpersonal relationships. It's almost worse than liking an obscure character that no one cares about. There's about a thousand fics starring your fave, but maybe only about a dozen of them are actually rooted in any kind of recognisable canon.

[hajimedics]

I'M NOT YOUR DOLL AND I'LL THINK FOR MYSELF AND I'LL LIVE FOR MYSELF

[hyunpic]

HYUNJIN | SO GOOD

[strawberryscare]

buddy suggesting his evangelical sol-worshipping grandfather replace yolanda and excusing the clear issues with bias by saying “well all clerics have some deity, it’s never going to be completely neutral” sits VERY wrong with me when remembering that yolanda literally gave up her divinity to become a teacher??

[bunnysnared]

"meat is meat. i can butcher it all the same."

[cw knives, blood, implied violence/murder, dark!au] happy spooky szn everyone!! here is a sketch of a butcher!ghost au that @bressynonym has cooked up that i am obsessed with... have a fun and safe halloween everyone!

[hypertechnica]

did it mean anything to you?

[copper-boom]

Okay but tell me, why is charles leclerc such a red flag irl.

I can't defend that man anymore 😭

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Normal Friend Behaviour.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[lotus-pear]

listen persona fivers u guys can all personally hate morgana but to fabricate that joker also dislikes him is absolutely insane. that cat went missing for THREE DAYS and akira was literally going through all five stages of grief. literally picked up his schoolbag and started crying bc he was like “oh it’s so light without mona in it………where is he where are you where is my cat”

that bratty little cat is literally his BABY yes of fucking course he loves him he can’t properly function without that little brat cat

[7nuh]

I HC Scarletella is smart enough to figure out MC's language and I'm currently brainrotting over an AU wherein he attempts to adapt a normal, human life. As normal as he can pretend to be, though, while getting closer to you. MC is a completely unassuming person by day and a serial killer by night who is freaked out by this random tall and mute redhead suddenly appearing in the oddest places. Simple coincidence doesn't explain any of it anymore. MC starts seriously considering murdering him too lest he foil their secret hobby, only to realize he may just be as fucked up as them...

[galoogamelady]

They're the same. I won't elaborate

Okay but only if Buttons is a shitty coyote instead of a wolf

[inkskinned]

he says i hate everyone except you and that is addictive and that is kind of romantic and beautiful because you're young and you're kind of a sarcastic asshole too and you don't like bad boys, per say, but you don't really like good ones either. and you like that you were the exception, it felt like winning.

except life is not a romance book, and he was kind of being honest. he doesn't learn to be nice to your friends. he only tolerates your family. you have to beg him to come with you to birthday parties, he complains the whole time. you want to go on a date but - people are often there, wherever you're going. he's just so angry. about everything, is the thing. in the romance book, doesn't he eventually soften? can't you teach him, through your own sense of whimsy and comfort?

at first - you know introverts often need smaller friend groups, and honestly, you're fine staying at home too. you like the small, tidy life you occupy. you're not going to punish him for his personality type.

except: he really does hate everyone but you. which means he doesn't get along with his therapist. which means he has no one to talk to except for you. which means you take care of him constantly, since he otherwise has no one. which means you sometimes have to apologize for him. which means he keeps you home from seeing your friends because he hates them. you're the single exception.

about a decade from this experience, you'll type into google: how to know if a relationship is codependent.

he wraps an arm around you. i hate everyone except you. these days, you're learning what he's actually confessing is i have very little practice being kind.