#i guess you can make up your own explanations as to why he does both

[adhd-merlin]

Thanks for the answer. This show is tiresome in its logic and narratives...I don't know why I'm still a fan. I want to yell at them. Please, help me get free.

it's okay anon, it's not that serious. don't think about it too much.

[shinynewmemories]

The exchange between Peeta and Gale in Tigris's basement used to be my least favorite scene in the entire book. I hated how it made Katniss out to be a heartless drone whose only motivation is survival. But I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I'm now convinced I grossly misinterpreted the purpose of the passage the first times I read it. I don't think it's about Gale revealing some sage wisdom about Katniss; I think it's a revelation about how far gone Katniss and Gale's relationship truly is, and how little he understands the way she loves. AND it's about how much better Peeta understands Katniss, even in his half-hijacked state. Let me break it apart a tad to explain what I mean:

“She loves you, you know,” says Peeta. “She as good as told me after they whipped you.”

Peeta is correct on both counts. Katniss DOES love Gale, and in CF, she internally refers back to the whipping as the moment she "chose" Gale over Peeta. Peeta knew it then, and he knows it now.

“Don’t believe it,” Gale answers. “The way she kissed you in the Quarter Quell... well, she never kissed me like that.”

Correct, but it's interesting that Gale refers to THAT moment on the beach as proof that Katniss loves Peeta. Because on one hand, that WAS the first time she felt and displayed sexual desire for anyone. But on the other hand, I would argue that there was lots more evidence for Katniss's love for Peeta; "anyone paying attention" could see it. So why does Gale point to the one time things got hot and heavy between them?

“It was just part of the show,” Peeta tells him, although there’s an edge of doubt in his voice.

Incorrect, but I'll give him half credit for the "edge of doubt" in his voice.

“No, you won her over. Gave up everything for her. Maybe that’s the only way to convince her you love her.” 

Here's where Gale starts talking kinda crazy. Since when has the issue been convincing KATNISS that HE (or Peeta) loved HER? Since the end of book 1, there has never been the slightest doubt in Katniss's mind that Peeta loved her. And she's never doubted Gale's love, although she admits it caught her off guard. Does Gale actually think that if Katniss could just SEE how much he loves her, she'd have no choice but to marry him? Or does he think Katniss is holding back because he hasn't "given up everything" for her? Either way, he paints Katniss as a fundamentally untrusting and self-centered person.

Also, he implies that Katniss needs to be "won over", that she needs to be PERSUADED to love either of them... Yikes. It's like he actually believes Katniss doesn't have the emotional capabilities of falling in love all on her own.

There’s a long pause. “I should have volunteered to take your place in the first Games. Protected her then.”

Incorrect! Over to Peeta for an explanation of why that would have been a Colossally Stupid idea:

“You couldn’t,” says Peeta. “She’d never have forgiven you. You had to take care of her family. They matter more to her than her life.”

DING DING DING DING! I just picture Peeta making a ????????no??? face as Gale says he should have volunteered for him. Like?? Can you IMAGINE? Book 1 Katniss would have been screaming at Gale like "you absolute IDIOT. WHY would you throw your life and the lives of your and/or my family away. And for WHAT? MORON."

But I get it. Gale is saying this out of desperation. Because he can't say "I wish you had died in those games" (although perhaps that is how he's felt once or twice). And to be fair, if Peeta had never been in those games with Katniss, things between them now would be very... different. (shhhhh Gale doesn't have to know about the whole "this would've happened anyway" thing)

“Well, it won’t be an issue much longer. I think it’s unlikely all three of us will be alive at the end of the war. And if we are, I guess it’s Katniss’s problem. Who to choose.” Gale yawns. “We should get some sleep.”

Correct, nothing to object to here.

“Yeah.” I hear Peeta’s handcuffs slide down the support as he settles in. “I wonder how she’ll make up her mind.”

Even though Peeta is more in sync with Katniss, he doesn't presume to know how her romantic side works. Gotta respect that.

“Oh, that I do know.” I can just catch Gale’s last words through the layer of fur. “Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can’t survive without.”

So I ask: if Gale is shown throughout this exchange to be mostly wrong about Katniss's motivations, desires, and possibly her whole personality, why would we believe he's correct about this?? I think the only conclusion is that he's NOT.

I'll end by adding Katniss's opinion about Gale's assertion:

It’s a horrible thing for Gale to say, for Peeta not to refute. Especially when every emotion I have has been taken and exploited by the Capitol or the rebels.

Katniss is DEEPLY hurt by what Gale said. And I no longer believe it's because it's the truth about HER. I think it's because it's the truth about how Gale sees her, and he sees her in a very hurtful (albeit incorrect) way.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Obkk modern au where where Kakashi and Obito are online friends who have never seen eachothers faces. It's a years long friendship (and mutual silent crush) where they've helped eachother through what was truly the darkest parts of eachothers lives.

But irl they also happen to know eachother from childhood due to having gone to the same schools and shared the same classes, and they fucking DESPISE the other. You can not stick them in a room without someone starting a fight.

When they interact irl, play into specifically the early dynamics of obkk, with kind of superficially happy/dumb Obito and a "follow the rules to the letter" grumpy overachiever Kakashi

But when they're online, play more into the older obkk dynamic.

Where Obito shows that he has a pretty big mean streak/humor and a serious talent for playing dumb; where he overlays his happier side irl for just social reasons.

While Kakashi shows he's actually super lazy and imperfect with most other factors of his life outside of work/school (and ofc downplays his actual work ethic when it comes to work/school, framing himself as doing bare minimum when he should really do more (bc he genuinley believes that)) and has a pretty wicked sense of humor himself, a love of over-romantic, fluffy porn, and a habit of using endless "cute" emotocons

Kk: Did my proposal today, it was so bad... I really slacked off this time on it. I was so nervous they'd tell me no (｡﹏｡")

Kk: I guess the other presentations must have been pretty bad too because they picked mine anyways? I feel so lucky (╥﹏╥)

Ob: it's ok even if you tried your best!! Im proud you were able to do even as much as you did.

Ob: I'm glad you got it, at least one of us won their proposal today. That jackass had a fucking 30 slide detailed slide with 6 DIFFERENT PIE CHARTS and a scheduled water break inbetween. Fucking kissass

Kk: nooo im sorry ( •̯́ ^ •̯̀)

Ob: it's whatever. Just glad you got the thing :)

Ob: want me to kill your boss tho.

Kk: lol

Kk: I'll help hide the body ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

And then one day Obito does some sort of very mean prank on Kakashi. And it goes uhh. Badly.

I mean, badly for Kakashi. Obito thinks it went great!

That is till he gets home and finds his best friend for a decade, and crush for even past that decade, texting him about a very specific mean prank that got pulled on them.

Wait. No. Wait. WAIT. FUCK.

So like. Obito is a bit conflicted now. He doesn't know what to really do here??? Like. What if it ruins everything with his best friend??? But also hey best friend why the FUCK are you such a BITCH.

But also also, suddenly Obito is recontextualizing SO many of their interactions— from Kakashi suffering the devistating loss of his father when he was especially annoying, to explanations of why he reacted certain ways. And oh my god Obito is... also a kind of a bitch???

Obito has NO idea what to do and is just swinging so violently back and forth on what are really his only two options.

And sometimes he's like gleefully feeling vindictive bc after arguing with irl Kakashi, online Kakashi is ranting about "that same asshole again" at work, so Obito is like "I KNEW it was getting to u, haha you're NOT better than me after all!!!"

But then later he feels kinda bad about it bc like. Aw wait no he actually might have genuinley hurt the person he loves. And also he doesn't want to lose getting to see the real Kakashi, a mix of both of his masks, by fucking this up and choosing wrong.

Anyways Kakashi finally somehow figures it out on his own, they fight, they make up, they make out.

The end yay happy ending

There's an alternate universe where neither of them every found out about eachother and continued to be friends online and hate eachother to escalating degrees offline. But one day they start to slowly shift in dynamics. Irl they get closer and online they get so much angrier and more distant. Till we've swapped and now online they just have this GIANT fallout but offline they're actually in love now. And this continues till they're about to get married/no longer on speaking terms with eachother. And so on their wedding day they reach out again online but ONLY to hate on eachother like "oooo fuck you I'm so happy rn I just got MARRIED."

"Oh yeah you bitch??? So did I. And my husbands better than anything your ugly ass could ever pull"

"FUCK YOU MY HUSBANDS FUCKING AMAZING AND YOURS IS PROBABLY LOOKS AND ACTS LIKE SHIT"

"OH YEAH????"

"YEAH!!!"

"PROVE IT!"

And then they very sharply turn and take simultaneous photos of eachothers furious faces and then angrily, instinctivley press send.

And then they stop. And then they have a moment of dead silence.

And then they begin to have an actual, physical fist fight in front of the uncut wedding cake with ALL of their friends and families watching. And the photographers with their very ready cameras.

There was a lot of cake.

Yeah that was ah uhh. Interesting

The good news at least is now they have a photo of them fist fighting like they want to kill eachother while covered in wedding cake in a frame that says "happy marriage <3" on it, and they like to joke about it (to many, many peoples horror)

The end yay happy ending x2

If I were to write this fr I think I'd legally have to write both versions bc both are excellent

[scribblesofagoonerr]

Why does Monkey live with Leah and not her own family?

— monkey's past | buddy & monkey: double the trouble

despite her wild and chaotic antics, the girl's background is actually pretty sad and she doesn't like to talk much about it.

the nightmares from monkey's past at night haunt her sometimes.

monkey always considered her relationship with her parents her father to be challenging and hard, while the relationship with her mother is pretty much non-exsistant.

she finds it hard to talk about them things.

her mother abandoned her only child when she was little, no explanation - one day monkey woke up and the women had fled.

there was no goodbye, no note, nothing.

the resentment for the women was still is there and whenever monkey is asked about her mother, she's always quick to drop the subject.

the team have learned that the hard way in the past.

"my mother is dead,"

"is she really?"

"no, but... well, she might as well be,"

monkey's relationship with her father was complicated to say the least, the man had to raise her alone when his wife walked out on them when monkey was just shy of 2 for a whole new family.

her father had a few various different coping mechanisms - throwing himself into his work and drinking, sometimes even drugs.

the man definitely did have a temper and the scars on monkey's back prove it, unfortunately.

"i'm sorry dad,"

"sorry isn't good enough. you should know better!"

"dad,"

"your nothing but a disappointment, your mother had the right idea to leave you when she did. get out of my sight, now!"

if the man wasn't passed out on the sofa drunk or lashing out at his daughter with his fists, he was throwing himself into his work.

monkey was completely neglected and alone, but he was clever and always made it seem like he was the caring doting father, so he was to never get caught out.

monkey never got to escape her fathers' clutches until she was 16

when arsenal scouted monkey, the man was more than happy enough to sign the papers and all but washed his hands off her.

"i've washed my hands off her, shes' your problem now."

there was never any contact from that day.

not even on birthday or christmases.

monkey should have felt a sense of freedom, but instead she was lost.

the man who had so much hatred for his daughter and all she wanted craved was his approval.

monkey has always been a life-long gooner, joining the academy when she turned 8 and it felt like a dream come true, her dad was a gooner as well - it's in her blood, she lives and breathes arsenal.

being only 16 when she signed, she was taken under the wing of the older girls, more so specifically leah who she moved in with, along with kim, the two she formed a pretty close bond with.

"your my person, you both are. i love you."

"we've always got your back here, monkey."

"and your never alone, you have family here."

"we love you too, menace."

it was at the age of 18 when monkey found out her dad died, not that it made any difference at all.

"ha, well guess that i really am an orphan now, right?"

"monkey,"

"was it the drinking or drugs that killed him? it was only a matter of time,"

after all, monkey thinks that dark humor is the way to make things better.

it's become her coping mechanism.

"should i care? he didn't care about me when i was alive, why should i care about him when he's dead?"

it's safe to say that monkey's past is pretty haunting to her, but with the stability that she has around her, its' better now she has the arsenal girls to look out for her.

monkey has her chosen family, she is protected and loved by all of the older girls, despite how much of a menace she can be at times.

I didn't plan for this to be so sad, but here we go. feel free to continue to send me hc's for this little world i'm creating!

[txttletale]

could you elaborate on your thoughts on boom and 73 yards ( i agree with you i am just struggling to put into words why.)

boom was whatever. the initial conceit of the doctor being trapped and having to stay calm was really cool! i really like that. the ambulances that euthanize you if you're not deemed worthy of medical care and the tacky chatgpt hologram ghosts were both really cool ideas. it just doesn't stick the landing for me, the twists are contrived and fall apart given any thought whatsoever. like what the fuck were any of the soldiers Doing if there just straight up weren't any enemies. it's a twist that sounds cool to say more than it has any meaningful impact on the story or the stakes. i guess 'the arms manuifacturer created a fake conflict' is the intended emtional stakes there but that would hit like a hundred times harder if it was an actual conflict between two factions and people were dying, right? like if anything sending a christian militia to blow themselves up tae fuck on a nowhere planet instead of presumably killing actual living people is an improvement, surely?

also the resolution was dumb as fuck lol i am a huge hater of power of love saves the day shit not because i'm a cynical misanthrope but because it never fails to make me say 'oh so i guess nobody ever loved anybody before lol' and this is no exception like if one chatbot can shut down the whole operation beacuse he loves his daughter are we meant to believe that no other parents or hell nobody who loved anybody else for any reason died in this fake war before? it's cheap and schmaltzy and unearned. anyway the first twentyish minutes of this are all-time great doctor who and gatwa/gibson were incredible in it but it absolutely falls apart into a confused pileo f some of the worst Moffatisms at the end

73 yards on the other hand was incredible! obviously like it requires you to approach it with a different mindset to most of doctor who, right, doctor who usually furnishes you with the big explanation scnee where the doctor says 'well the ghosts were actually particle wave vectorforms created with the necros radiation from the god-king's techsceptre' or whatever--this is the usual narrative mode of sci-fi--but 73 yards is fantasy, right, this is the twilight zone, this is 'wouldn't that be fucked up?'. i interrogate the technical and logical specifics of boom so much when i think about it because that's the language boom is speaking, boom is framing itself within this logical, a-to-b worldview, the satisfying click-together puzzlebox. but 73 yards is a nightmare or a folk tale, right? kate stewart¹ says it herself, 'when faced with the inexplicable, we make up rules and apply them to it'.

so yknow reading it that way it all clicks together beautifully, right, (apart from russel t davies' embarassing swing and miss at Political Commentary in the middle. we get it davies you wrote years and years. we know. trust me we know). the doctor and ruby disrupt the binding circle, free mad jack, and are punished -- the doctor, as perpetrator, with being banished (perhaps in jack's place) and ruby with her worst fear coming true constantly, until ruby defeats mad jack, re-sealing him and fixing what she broke, at which point the circle rewards her by reversing the punishments. and the core horror i think is very effective and unsettling! the idea that there is something that someone could say to turn everyone against you, the closest people to you in your life, your own family, the institutions that are meant to deal with the exact problem you're having--that's fucking terrifying! and yknow i think especially as an autistic trans lesbian something that speaks to me a lot

so yeah. i think that boom establishes its logics and framework and then trips and falls onto its face while 73 yards does the same and then makes perfect use of them. that said i think in 20 years people who are autistic about doctor who will be like 'did you know in the 2020s there were two episodes in a row where the doctor caused the entire plot to happen by stepping on something' and thjatll be the main thing they're remembered for

[plussizefantasia]

CozyTober Day 3: Chilly Fall Day

Eddie Munson x gf!reader

wc: ~ 0.9k

warnings: none

a/n: I haven't for Eddie in so long so forgive me if he's kind of ooc. Thanks for reading, if you liked the story reblog so more people can see it! I'll see y'all tomorrow for day 4!

You loved spending time with your boyfriend, honestly, you really couldn’t spend enough time with him in your opinion. Which means you need to take all the moments you get. Even if it means eating your lunch outside on an old picnic table while your breath clouds out in front of you. Eddie had offered you his jacket but you declined, you love Eddie with all your heart but he has no meat on his bones and you don’t want to be responsible for getting him sick especially because you’ll be the one who has to take care of him if he does.

It is quiet out here, peaceful. You don’t have to worry about Jason and his cronies. You don’t have to put up with the gossiping gaggle of cheerleaders and you definitely don’t have to breathe in the cloud of B.O. that seems to coat the whole cafeteria. It’s nice out here, fresh and relaxing. Well as relaxing as spending time with Eddie ever is.

Currently, he is ten minutes into a vivid explanation of his plan for the Hellfire Club session this week. He said he wants your input on some of the puzzles he’s going to use to trap the party and hold them in the labyrinth he had created. You’re lying with your back on the table, staring up into the sky. In the corner of your vision;  the yellows and oranges of the tall oak trees that boarded the school property dance and sway. And straight above you is the blank canvas of the sky. It looks dreary from this angle, grey and muted; a complete antithesis to the bright blues of only a month ago.

“Do you think a math question is too easy, babe? If it was just the old guys I wouldn’t be worried but that new kid Dustin is pretty smart he might be able to chew right through it.”

“I don’t know Eds how hard do you want the puzzle to be?” You ask. 

“Well, I don’t want them to get stuck forever and die ‘cause what the fun in that ya know? But I do want there to be some stakes.”

“What if you did a riddle? Like a really hard one. Maybe a Shakespeare reference? I can let you borrow some of my anthologies.” 

“Hmm, maybe. I don’t know I guess I’m just worried that the campaign is getting lame.”

“Why would it be lame?” You sit up and look at him raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. But there was this one kid who came with the new guys. I think his name was Carl or something but he keeps ditching us for basketball practice and I’m like… am I not making it fun enough?”

“Eddie, baby. You’re an amazing dungeon master. Who cares what some freshman thinks of your campaign? Especially if he’s choosing to hang out with Jason in his free time, obviously he’s got issues.” You deadpan. You will not let some snot nose thirteen year old make Eddie feel like shit. 

“God babe you always know what to say to get my brain to stop going like ninety miles a second.” Eddie pops up from his own reclined position and leans into your space to plant a big wet kiss on your cheek, equally endearing as it is kind of gross.

“I know. It’s like my superpower.” You wiggle your fingers at your boyfriend and raise an eyebrow at him. You both fall into laughter. 

“You look nice with leaves in your hair.” He changes the subject.

“I have leaves in my hair?!” Your hands shoot up to the crown of your head and search for the offending foliage. You find three and rip them out with a ferocity not exactly warranted. 

Eddie, the bastard just sits there laughing at you and doing not a damn thing to help. A thought pops into your mind. You stand up and hop down from the bench. Your boots crunching the leaves where you land. 

Eddie, still occupied with laughing his stupid butt off doesn’t pick up on your plan for revenge. You bend over and scoop into your own arms, a pile of leaves from the ground. Turning abruptly and throwing them up into the air above Eddie. They rain down on him, covering his hair and shoulders, falling into his lap and even sticking to his socks. His laugh peters off at the same time yours erupts from your gut. 

Eddie tries to stop the smile from spreading across his face when he takes in your relaxed pose and the sound of your laughter. He stands up and raises an eyebrow at you. 

When you see the mischief on his face your laugh stops and you begin to take careful steps away from him. Eddie, not waiting a second longer practically launches himself from the table and onto the ground. Seconds later he has tackled you towards the ground, flipping the two of you at the last second so you land on his chest. 

One, or two seconds go by before you both start laughing once more, much calmer this time. You stare into each other's eyes and help to pick the leaves out of each other's hair. 

Yeah… spending time with Eddie really is your favorite thing.

[sanaexus]

please please please- "this better be a fucking joke"

keeping your phone back in your pocket, you try to think of an solution which isn't the easiest thing to do when your ex is breathing down on your neck. but hey! positive thoughts only right? he didn't recognize you yet, which made sense considering the last time he saw you, you probably looked like an oompa loompa with a haircut that could rival michael kaisers's, but that was in the past (right?)

suddenly something clicked, if he didn't recognize you, you could just leave without being noticed and feeling bad. so that's exactly you tried, until a voice called out to you.

"leaving so soon?" the heterochromatic called out.

"just like you did every time?" oh. OH. you weren't supposed to say that, you didn't even realise you said that.

he let out a chuckle, "credit where credits due, i was a pretty stupid kid."

"pretty is bit of an understatement no?"

"debatable, i guess i own an explanation huh?"

"you kinda sorta definately do."

"well should we head out? not anywhere far away of course, just not with much people around"

"yeah alright" is all you said before you follow him to some corner of the arcade, looking around you spot a certain blue-headed man, an unconscious smile graced your lips, which didn't go unnoticed by the man beside you.

"who's got you smiling like that?"

"can you shut up and get to the point?"

"yeah yeah, but before i do, just hear my side out i know it doesn't excuse what-"

"nothing's ever gonna excuse cheating ok no sorry continue"

"like i was saying before i was VERY rudely interrupted, i know no matter what i say, it won't justify what i did but that aside-"

suddenly you see a mop of light blue hair infront of you, T-posing for 'asserting dominance' "DON'T FEAR WHEN I AM HEAR-oh fuck wait am i interrupting something important?"

"hiori OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"gaslighting gatekeeping girlbossing of course" the man flipped his almost non existent hair and shaking some of that gyatt

"get out please get out oh my god why are you like this"

hiori before glaring at the purple headed-man, "this creature is staying?"

"yes now go, i'll call you when i need you okay?" you do a shoo-ing motion as hiori skips away.

"right uhm are they always like that..?"

"no, not really, now please for heavens sake stop stalling and explain yourself already"

"right so uh i'd like i was a very dumb high-schooler, and no doesn't excuse me cheating but i was a horny fuck, and you were always so busy i just couldn't do it anymore.."

"first of all you're still a horny fuck, and second why didn't you just end it then why did you have to resort to cheating..?" you were trying really hard not to cry but the voice crack probably gave you away, even just the thought of you not moving on from him nearly 2 years later, disgusted you.

"i don't know, i liked you i really did and i didn't wanna lose it but i didn't want to stay either, and i couldn't exactly explain myself, so i resorted to cheating." he explained, it was confusing if he really was feeling guilty and regretful.

"oh, uh i forgive you, ok no i don't but i've moved on from that, we were just kids and shit happens and i can't always hold it against you relationship goes both ways and so does the break up."

"i'm glad we got that cleared out wait you forgive me, so does that mean i can take you out on a date maybe?" he asked a bit hopeful

"oh my god aik-oliver you haven't changed at all, have you?"

"not aiku this time? you wound me, but is that a yes?"

"nope i still need some time to think uh how about you give me your number and i text you within this week if we can go out?"

"yeah that sounds nice." you take out your phone handing it to him as he types his number and saving it as "baby daddy"

"oh ew oliver ew!" you make fake gagging noises.

"hey! i'm not that disgusting...right?"

"i never said that, you're putting words in my mouth, but it was nice meeting again i'll see you around yeah?" and before you could reply you run off to find hiori and when you don't (big shocker) you figured you'd let the gc know (big mistake btw)

please please please ¡! - an isagi yoichi social media fic

synopsis modeling was fun, especially when you go to make friends and what happens when that exact friend goes to the same high school? the friendship of course continues into college. where you get your heart broken and the internet gets to know but then you meet a certain someone that makes you fall for them. so what happens then? chaos.

taglist is open¡! : @fairlyfuji , @semisutopia, @someprettyname , @csbnova , @ashlovelys , @chateaaa , @yeurisstuff , @starchivves , @m3gitsune ,@muffin-0 , @gojosexpiredcum , @bbmsxlene , @profesionalglazer

divider by @/xxbimbobunnyxx. all credits to her!

sorry guys no funfacts today 🙁 GUYS TRUST ISAGI WILL COME JS LET ME COOK PLS 🗣🗣💯💯🤬🤬😎😎💣💣🔥🔥‼‼💯💯🔛🔝

also I AM SO SORRY WHY IS THIS SO BAD WHY CAN'T I WRITE SHIT OMG I'M GONNA CRY also maybe double update bc i dont wanna fall off and seeing 99+ notifs makes me happy

[flower-boi16]

”you want everything to be spelt out to you!” “The show doesn’t need to explicitly spell it out for you!” “You can just infer it!”

This is the exact same defense I always get whenever I argue with Viv fans when I criticize Viv’s piss-poor writing. And the thing is this IS true; shows don't need to explicitly spell things out to the audience, as there are conclusions that the viewer can draw on their own without having to be explicitly told by the text, usually by the text giving direct hints to that explanation.

The problem is that Viv fans' definition of inferring isn't "drawing conclusions on our own with direct explicit hints given from the text that is the canon explanation the story wants you to come to" it's "making shit up to try and explain and/or justify Viv's terrible writing".

There are three times where I got this defense when arguing with HH/HB fans all three times I lost several brain cells in the process.

The first time was in a discord server where I posted an HB episode tier list and put Truth Seekers in C tier (the mediocre one). One of users commented on this and I explained my reasoning why I thought the episode was meh. One of these reasons was the plot hole of why the Dhorks didn't send the footage they already had to the government.

The user then countered that with "how do you know didn't send that old footage?". Well, the reason why I know that is because the episode gives no actual indication that they sent it, and when I said that the user countered that with "because there was also no indication that they didn't send the footage". And then after that the argument spiraled into both of us repeating the same counterarguments over and over again.

The user says that it's logical for the audience to assume they sent the footage because it's the logical thing to do cuz why would they keep it. Which, ok, you can assume that they did send the footage but there's no indication of that within the story. This does not change the fact that this is an unanswered question that the story itself didn't answer, did they or did they not send the footage?

That's a pretty important question to answer and the show can't just leave it there. And then the user tells me "you don't need to be told, Its in your face how they act". There is no way to infer if they did send the footage because the story gives a SINGLE hint that they do, and the story DOES need to say if it they sent it or not.

This is not inferring. This is making shit up to explain Viv's writing for her. Did they or did they not send the footage? This is a big question that the episode does not answer even though this is a major plot hole and it can't just leave it hanging there for fans to just guess. The episode gave no indication that they sent the footage, so I have no reason to believe that they did. You can't infer ANYTHING from this.

This explanation is simply something made up, not a conclusion that's given direct hints from the show. If the next never said it happened, it did not fucking happen. This assumption is literally just headcanon.

The next argument was from an ask I got calling me media literate for my point about how fans shouldn't have to create fan theories to explain Viv's writing for her and Viv should explain her world-building herself. It stated that the explanation for why sinners are confined to the pride ring (making the exterminations more efficient/easier) is the clear explanation that the show doesn't have to spell out because 1) The show says that there are annual exterminations which aren't viable without the confinement and 2) Lucifer gets control over which ring his subjects go to.

Both of these explanations suck, here's why.

The exterminations simply being there does not explain the confinement. Also, this explanation doesn't work to begin with as I've talked about before

Lucifer having control over where he sends his subjects to doesn't inherently explain why he sends them to the pride ring specifically.

The "sinners are confined to the pride ring to make exterminations easier" was a fan theory created by the fans to explain this because the show itself didn't bother giving an answer. That's bad world-building.

The show itself needs to explain these things rather than having fans create explanations for it. There isn't any way to infer that because the show never once gives any hints that this is the reason. And, like I said before, the explanation doesn't even work anyway.

There is no way to infer why the sinners are confined to the pride ring at all, this explanation is once again a headcanon. But when I pointed this out, the anon said that I just want everything spelled out for me.

The third and final instance of this is with our good ol friend truffhollowell. Ya know, the person who's been going around on Hazbin critical posts spouting nothing but complete bullshit.

This argument was under this post about why Vaggie's turn around made 0 sense. In the post truff tried countering my argument with "uuuuh, actually, not all murderers are heartless monsters!" even though that is explicitly what the exorcists are shown to be.

They then go around and say that Vaggie could've been thinking "how could a child end up in hell" and she realizes Heaven's corrupt systems and develops her own identity (at least that's what I remember them saying since they deleted all of their replies once they lost the argument lmao)....even though there is NO indication within the show that this is what's happening.

This is not inferring. This is just a headcanon. But truff says that you CAN infer it because...child murder is bad...

...umm...WHY TF WOULD THE EXORCISTS GIVE A SHIT IF CHILD MURDER WAS BAD IF THAT CHILD IS A FUCKING SINNER????? And THEN they hit me with that same fucking claim of "oh, you want shows to spell things out for you!".

Ya, well, guess what, I can't infer any of this because that's not what's happening. This is not what's happening in the scene, this is just a headcanon truff made up.

There's more to their arguments than just that but that was the general point they were making.

I'm so sick of always getting this stupid-ass defense because NO, I DON'T want everything spelled out for me, I want things to actually make sense. I'm looking at specifically what the text itself is saying, the information that it gives out and what's happening within the show.

Not your headcanon you made up to explain Viv's terrible writing. None of these explanations are people infering things based on direct evidence from the show. They are just headcanons/theories with nothing in the text hinting towards it.

So, to anyone who is going to give me the "you can just infer it yourself!" excuse to defend these shows whenever I criticize them...

Shut the fuck up.

[keyrey]

ꕥ𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰/ 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢ꕥ

“When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back.” —Linda Poindexter

■□■(SFW, family headcannon.)■□■

𝓡𝓮𝓭, a testament to never-ending strength and courage. White, a resemblance of peace and purity. Denmark, a hot-ass place to be in the middle of summer, wearing a thick cream colored suit and tie. It’s what you’ve been trying to tell your headstrong, handsome, manly hunk of a husband all evening. Although somehow, you’ve ended up bundled in layers of silk sheets, the orange sun peeking through the sheer curtains, the ever-so-calming timbre of Farum Lake and rustling leaves, cradled warmly in the embrace of the man we all know and love, Kento freaking Nanami.

“I swear I’m gonna break that damn clock one day,” you blurt out before your mind can register what you said. A slight offense on your part—forgetting that the clock you’re so avidly pressed about was Nanami’s grandmother’s, one of the last remnants of her being. Grandpa Soren’s house is the worst place to be in the scorching summer heat. Do you want air conditioning? Buy a water bottle and a bucket of ice. If it weren’t for the croissant bakery, the ice cream truck, and the taco joint down the road, you’d flee right back to good ol’ Ammurica on the first flight available, but… this is one of the sacrifices you have to make when you have a husband, right?

"I love your commitment to destroying antique furniture. Maybe we should replace all our furniture with IKEA next." 

You can’t help but roll your eyes at his snarkiness. He does that sometimes, most of the time. “Nanami—” “I apologize.” 

“Yeah, you better, fool!” You laugh heartily, chest hurting as you throw a nearby pillow at him. But of course, with his trained Jujutsu reflexes, he dodged it perfectly even though he’s retired. 

“Dammit! I will get you next time!” The other pillow you were about to chuck straight into that gorgeous face of his, got halted by the creek of the rusty metal hinges. You both looked, craning your heads to the side. 

Slimy fingers which most definitely were coated with snot and boogers trailed up your sides. An ooey, gooey monster? No… just your five year old girl, Jasmine, who runs in the house like she owns the place. You refuse to tell her that one day, she will. 

Jasmine held one of those velcro wooden pizza sets that you can mix and match. You guessed it was her favorite feature because it was the only explanation for a pineapple, salmon, mushroom and pepperoni pizza all in one. To make it even better, her slobbery fingers made an excellent argument on why NOT to indulge in this intriguing delicacy. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDYYYYYYY!!!!” Jasmine was your crazy ball of energy, you really have no idea how she is such a contrast to both your and Nanami’s personalities. 

Grandpa Soren shuffled into the room, his long beard swinging slightly with each step. Coupled with an angular visage. The lines on his face told stories of loneliness, but his eyes brightened as they took in the sight of his family. 

His voice, though worn and gravelly, carried a tender note as he spoke. "I'm sorry," he said, running a hand through his beard, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips. "She just really wanted to see you on your birthday, Nanami."

Jasmine returned to galloping around the master bedroom like the centaur she is– should be. 

"She's too fickle! Slips right out of my hands!" he chuckled, shaking his head in amused resignation.

“How would you all feel about a birthday breakfast in bed, hmm?” Now we’re talking. You were the first to raise your hand, NOT your birthday. Nanami looked at you, a knowing look on his face. A nod of confirmation, and Grandpa Soren is gone, whisked away into the wonders of the kitchen. 

The scent of warm pastry dough, buttery and slightly sweet, mingled with the eggs, created an irresistible symphony of smells that tickled the senses.

“Daddyyyyyy!!!! Why not eat my pizza!!!!!?? Is delicious!!!”

She really needs to go back to preschool. You couldn’t hold back your reaction, a fierce chortle, eliciting a brown faux fur pillow right in your face, shutting you up immediately. 

Nanami went into full-on dad mode, a mode that even when you two are alone, is hard to turn off. Literally, his pupils dilated fully, looking like a straight up puppy. He seemed to snake off the bed effortlessly and onto the ground, kneeling down to her level. You witnessed his hands tremble in fear as he stuck out the tip of his tongue to taste his daughter’s creation. 

“You like? You like, daddy!!???”

He tried his hardest not to break his facade and provided Jasmine with a crooked smile, attempting to hide the sensation of his stomach twitching.

“Delicious, baby. Make Daddy another one?” And thus began the start of a grave mistake that eventually roped you and Grandpa Soren around in it as well. Sour expressions ran through the family. Luckily, you were no longer burning in the heat as Grandpa invested into a fan. You thought you’d never see the day. Only Nanami would risk his life for his daughter’s wooden pizza creations. This is why Nanami is daddy. Our very own daddy. 

╰┈➤Banner (Canva rules) ╰┈➤Fanart drawn by yours truly - KeyRey. ╰┈➤Special thanks to @cafekitsune for the divider! ╰┈➤ Extra special thanks to @pseudowho for inspiration to start writing again ahhh! Love your work ❤️

(I don’t know if I was supposed to tag, sorry! New to the unspoken rules of tumblr etiquette 😅😅 >.<)

■□■<Unrelated Teaser for a potential sequel>■□■ An autistic dog accompanied by an autistic girl, an uncalled for turn of events, but my current reality as he shakes in my arms, petrified by the sharp, whirring whistles of red, white and blue. A symbol of bravery, peace and freedom. But we all know expectations and realities provide an unequivocal sense of falseness. Which is why a compressed thunder jacket, warm cozy blankets and bread coated in peanut butter, stuffed with an anxiety pill inside is the way to go.

Extra little note: A few mistakes might've went under my radar when writing this, please don't be afraid to point out corrections! ⇣⇣Real footage of Nanami and his baby⇣⇣

[moldingtundra]

Explanation for my unpleasant gradient and infected dynamic headcanon!

Ok let’s get one thing out of the way:

I headcannon that unpleasant gradient is infected/kaspers ADOPTIVE father

if that makes you uncomfortable, no worries! Simply ignore it or ask me to tag just in case.

now for the people actually interested in why I headcannon as such, I’ll explain in this blog! So strap in for my ramblings lol.

WHY? AND HOW?

ok let’s get the obvious out of the way:

Unpleasant always appears from infecteds apartment. And ONLY infecteds apartment. Nothing else.

which is obviously weird. I know that other npc’s only spawn from one place (i.e infected from his own apartment or pest from the subway) but this almost always correlates with their lore in some way. If unpleasant had spawned somewhere else then it wouldn’t be such a big deal but this MAJOR evidence for my headcannon.

of course he could just be a really annoying roommate but I’ll explain this in my next point-

-which is THIS:

Litteraly who the fuck follows their “roommate” around once they get an injury, you wouldn’t do that type of stuff unless….

It’s your child.

yeah that’s right, I believe that unpleasant is actually just a worried dad. Which explains why it always follows infected around and why it has such close correlation.

on top of that there’s infecteds skateboard, who the hell gets a skateboard directly based off of their supposed roommate? Unless of course. Infected actually looked up to unpleasant and based his skateboard off of it.

“BuT kEvIn WhAt aBoUt ThIs!?!?1!1?”

I honestly have no idea what to say of this. I’ll be honest lmao. But I’m guessing it’s probably the fact that it’s just teenage angst and/or him hating on unpleasant because he’s technically not his “real” dad.

“bUt ErM kEvIn wHy WoUlD hE eAt HiS CaT tHeN ☝🏼🤓”

Because erm actually anon there’s 0 fucking evidence he ate the fuckass cat there’s only speculation and coincidences who the hell knows maybe it’s KASPER himself (I actually headcannon that but it’s a topic for another time)

ok now that I’ve THOSE out of the way it’s time for general headcannons!! ^_^

General headcannons + ramblings!

number one! Since unpleasant is pretty much fixated on ‘cringe’ things (skibidi toilet and unfunny 2020’s jokes) it could play a factor on why infected dosent like having him around, he’s chill. But he’s basically the embodiment of embarrassment. Whether that’d be through his habits (nose-picking, messy eating, etc.) or his humor (as stated before) he’s pretty much the dad that embarrasses you wherever you go.

on top of that, the difference and the opposite nature of both infected and unpleasant makes it quite hard for anyone to really think they’re even partially related. Which is why infected takes advantage of the fact that he can say he’s a “creep” / stalker and anyone can believe him.

However despite their difference in nature. Unpleasant and infected are actually not all that awfully different. They’re both mentally stuck in a period of time (2010 with infected, 2020’s with unpleasant) and they’re both ‘cringe’ in their own respective ways. So despite their opposing beliefs and humor, they’re actually not all that different.

this and unpleasant would be the type of ‘protective and nosey’ dad. Constantly trying to see what is up with his adoptive son while also trying to protect him ever since he got the infection. To which infected retaliates and pushes it further, thinking he deserves to live his life the way he sees fit. Even if it means getting in trouble sometimes. Which is probably why no one is comfortable with unpleasant, it only suspects everybody.

Anddd that’s all! I think- But man that was a woozy to write- I hope you all like it! Who knows if this does well I might write more of my headcannons! For now though I’m gonna log off for the evening- Bye bye!

[shutupineedtothink]

More Moiraine & Lan (and the Bond) thoughts, because I really just can’t help myself.

Just thinking about how we know every Aes Sedai and Warder share the Bond, but we don’t see any other AS/Warder teams using it as a form of communication NEARLY as much as Moiraine and Lan do.

Like these mofos are having full conversations with head tilts and tiny eyebrow raises and 3 seconds of eye contact from the jump. Sometimes not even looking at each other. And it’s extra great if you’re a show only like me because you only realize it when you go back later after all the stuff with the Bond is explained in 1x04/1x05. Like I remember thinking when I was first watching the pilot ‘wow, these two are really in sync, clearly they’ve known each other a long time,’ but it’s so much more than that obviously.

Now, one easy explanation for this is that we’re just seeing them the most, they’re main characters, and s1 especially does a lot of work hyping up the Bond and how important it is so that we get the full impact of them being cut off later. Makes sense.

But… idk like even Alanna and Ihvon and Maksim, who are actually in a romantic relationship, don’t seem to prefer the Bond as a way to communicate. We even see them have their little diplomatic discussion before Ihvon goes to follow Tomas. It’s an actual conversation. Maksim even prefers the Bond masked, so I guess in that way they kind of have to talk to each other.

Verin and Tomas are pretty quiet in general, but still it’s not emphasized that they use the Bond to communicate that much. Perhaps this is also highlighted by Tomas’s advice to Lan that the Bond isn’t the only common language they share with their Aes Sedai.

Except for Moiraine and Lan, it’s like AT LEAST 80%. It’s the primary way they communicate. Because 1. they’re both so naturally reserved on the outside (but feel very deeply on the inside), and 2. I imagine it comes in handy to be extra good at it when you’re on the road searching for the Dragon Reborn and you don’t want everyone around you to know what you’re about.

Then there’s Stepin’s comment from s1 to Kerene, “Can you imagine their dinners?” Which is funny but also very telling. To all the other Aes Sedai and Warders, Moiraine and Lan seem pretty cold and distant, to everyone else and each other. But again, that’s by design to protect their mission. They’re just having conversations no one else can see, even other Bonded pairs. It’s like most AS and their Warders use the Bond as insurance, a fail safe even, to understand and communicate with each other, with normal human communication (i.e. TALKING) as the primary method. But for Moiraine and Lan it’s the other way around.

My POINT BEING, that this adds weight to their storyline in S2. Like they are REALLY struggling because on top of everything else, this fundamental piece of their relationship and communication is just gone. And it opens a door for Moiraine to push Lan away, when she NEVER would have been able to before, practically or emotionally. And he reels from her attacks because he’s just not as good at understanding her without the Bond, when he would have seen right through that shit before, just from feeling alone. So Tomas can say to him, you need to really listen, but 20 years of shared emotional mind reading is not that easy to bypass. You don’t learn normal person communication skills overnight. Certainly not when there’s this gaping hole in your head/heart where another person you probably knew better than yourself should be but isn’t.

Anyway, I think it just adds even more credence to why they’re both so lost throughout most of S2, especially Lan. And what makes them so badass with the Bond but so absolutely uncoordinated without it. And why every other Aes Sedai/Warder thinks they’re fuckin weird. And why we love them, because who doesn’t want to be so fundamentally understood like that? Who doesn’t want their own secret language with someone that no one else really gets, but that person gets you on a level so real it can’t be replaced? That’s what we’re all reaching for, and that’s what they have with each other. For better or worse.

[inthehouseoffinwe]

I feel like the whole "Elwing jumping out with the silmaril due to trauma" explanation doesn't really answer the question about why she and Earendil seemed to just "turn the page" with their kids when they got to Valinor. It's strange to me that when meeting with the Valar and giving them something very important like the silmaril, they didn't try to leverage their position and secure/negotate something for their kids (at least verifying if they're dead or alive, getting an affirmation they'll be safe, or trying to retrieve them) from the gods. It's like they just decided there's nothing more to do here, got immortality, and never looked back since beating Morgoth is the only important issue now. Maybe this is just a narrative hole resulting from Tolkein trying to keep things brief, but it gives me the striking impression that they chose ultimately chose each other over their own kids.

Hey! Thanks for sending this!

I’ll admit, I’m not totally clear with what happened post arrival to Valinor but I do agree. It could explain the initial jump but everything after? Ehhh.

I know they were worried about the twins. But their actions don’t really… show that.

I guess my only thought is they didn’t expect to never come back (a bit of a weak argument imo, it’s pretty clear Valinor is a one way trip) and barely got the Valar to agree to do something in Beleriand. I won’t get into how messed up it is the Valar waited for a stolen silmaril before even considering to help, but maybe because of that they didn’t want to push their luck?

But I also know 99.9% of parents still… would. Or they’d at least ensure their kids were safe. If Elwing’s so traumatised by the SoF, you’d think this is the first thing she does. It took time for the Valar to decide, long enough to get over the initial stress and start demanding, even if it was done through Eärendil.

Even if we say they only thought of Morgoth. I’d think to say ‘hey I got you this thing, now make sure my kids survive your war against our enemy.’

I don’t think it was Tolkien’s intention, and this is partly because he’s brushing over large swathes of plot. But the way things went and nothing really mentioning they thought of their children or regretted what happened to their people doesn’t do any favours. It also follows a very Beren and Luthien trend of ‘choosing each other against the world’ (and dooming everyone else in the process.) Which doesn’t help either.

And this leads to my issues with Eärendil x Elwing in general.

They remind me of every single couple who weren’t ready for marriage, rushing into it with this romanticised idea, and having no idea what to do after. Add kids to the mix and it’s a recipe for disaster. They love them, yes, but they don’t know what to do with them when things go wrong.

Especially in this case where Elwing should be expected to rule when her husband’s away, considering he’s gone so often and for so long. If she was so traumatised and young, why let her get into a marriage which would result in so many responsibilities?

The whole ‘but they were in love!’ thing has always annoyed me across every fandom I’ve been in 😂 It seems so selfish to condemn an entire people to an unfit ruler because you’re in love. It’s selfish to bring in a weak leader when there’s war constantly at your doorstep. This goes for both Eärendil and Elwing.

Ok sure. This case it was the sons of Fëanor. But what would she have done if Morgoth launched an attack? Can anyone honestly tell me she’d know how to direct and lead people to relative safety? It’s a pretty basic demand from a ruler in as bad a situation as they were in.

You don’t bring a traumatised woman, or even ignoring that, you don’t bring a young inexperienced woman, who won’t be able to think clearly or make good decisions when put under pressure.

And if you know you’re traumatised and/or inexperienced you don’t agree to the position.

[digitaldiarystuff]

Unexpected Pt.2

firstly, i’m so sorry about disappearing from here and hopefully i can be back🥺

————

pairing: Ruben Dias x Y/N

summary: falling for your best friend is a bad idea, everyone knows that but what if it’s too late?

genre: again, a bit of everything

————

The ceremony started and everyone was seated, you may purposefully sat away from Ruben but that’s not important. Your mind was going crazy with thoughts, you weren’t even together so why were you affected about them? Everything was going well for the wedding and you were trying to help with everything keeping Elena close to you all the time, you were afraid if she ever left you had to greet Ruben and Angela.

“Hey Y/N, can you check the stereo in the garden and make sure the sound quality is ok?” the bride’s mom asked you and you happily obliged seeing this as a way out to clear your mind.

You walked into the garden which was decorated with white and pink flowers and had a big dance floor in the middle for the after party. It was looking over the lake and it was beautiful, you even forgot about the task in hand and walked over to the edge looking at the view when a voice startled you.

“It looks amazing.”

Ruben.

“Yeah, yeah it does.” you said without even turning to him. You didn’t know how to face him now.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asked. Ruben was always very direct and this was one of his better qualities most of the time but not tonight.

“No of course not. I’ve just been busy.” you lied but both of you knew it wasn’t true.

“You know you can’t lie to me.” he came closer and stood with hands on the railing next to you. You didn’t even know what to say but he continued.

“So I guess I owe you an explanation.”

You turned to him for the first time and wished you hadn’t, being this close and looking at his eyes were making you emotional and it was utterly embarrassing.

“When I went away with the team, Angela was there with her friends and she asked to have dinner so I went.” he took a deep breath like he was out of it. “And then she told me she still loved me and asked me for another chance and I- I don’t know I guess it felt good to hear her say those things so it kinda happened. And I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier, I actually wanted to but she came to Manchester with me and I’ve only been back for two days and I didn’t want to say this on the phone” he ended his word vomit.

“It’s okay Rubes, you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I’m happy for you.”

It wasn’t a lie, you were happy that he was happy. You loved Ruben with all your heart and being his best friend for years means you knew he wouldn’t do anything to upset you specifically, you were just collateral damage. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the slightest hint of nausea and hurt you felt but that should pass quickly, right?

“No I have to because I don’t want to hurt you.”

A little too late, you thought.

“You didn’t hurt me Ruben, we’re just best friends and you know I like Angela. Anyway, I should get back inside they’re waiting for me.” you put on a hopefully believable smile and walked away before he could say anything.

He knew this wasn’t best to bring Angela here without telling you they were back together but she didn’t give him the chance and he was being a little coward if you really think about it but the thing that stung him the most was you didn’t even look at him for more than 4 seconds or hugged him after being away for a month and it was all his fault.

For the rest of the night you successfully avoided them and devoted yourself to your friend and her happy day. It’d be selfish to not celebrate with her because of your own reasons. As you were dancing around your eyes fell onto Angela, she was standing there alone with her phone in her hand and she looked rather uncomfortable. You knew you should at least say something. Your relationship should go back to how it was, both with her and Ruben asap.

“Hey Angela.” you smiled and made your way and she looked up and smiled to you.

“Hey Y/N, it’s been a while.”

You hugged her.

“Yeah, I heard you are back together.”

“Yess, it was certainly unexpected but I’m happy that he reached out.” she beamed and your smile faded a little.

“Did you say he reached out?”

“Yeah, I was also over there and he saw my story and sent me a text asking me to come over to his hotel and tbh I thought he was just giving me a bootycall but turns out he wasn’t.” she happily answered and your mind went blank. Ruben lied to you, even after everything he couldn’t even be honest.

“Do you know where he is, I’ve been trying to find him for a picture for the bride and the groom.” you said as nonchalantly as possible and she pointed to the building saying he was using the restroom.

You thanked her absentmindedly and made your way inside. It was one thing for him to get back with her and you could accept it but lying to you… Why would he do that? You found him just exiting the building making his way into the party.

“Oh hey Y/N” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes but you couldn’t care less.

“Can we talk?”

“Yeah sure, do you want to sit here?” he pointed the chairs behind you and you nodded.

“Ruben I’m only going to ask you once, why did you lie to me?”

“What?” he said with confusion

“Why did you lie to me and said Angela reached out to you first? Do you really think it matters? You weren’t over her, okay no problem. Why didn’t you tell me that and created a whole story about her texting you and asking you for dinner?”

After you finished speaking Ruben stood there silently for a while and you couldn’t really wrap your head around his lie.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled

“That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say?” you could see he was getting frustrated but it wasn’t your fault.

“Tell me why you thought you needed to lie Ruben?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Do you think I’m in love with you or something?” you said without even thinking. Your newly found feelings for him will forever be a secret anyway.

He looked up at you for the first time and you could see he’s sad.

“I’m sorry did I offend you saying I’m not in love with you?” you were getting heated. “Because Ruben, if I was, it wouldn’t matter who initiated it.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” he said and looked at you with puppy eyes, those eyes could make you melt a few days ago but today all you felt was heartbreak and anger.

“I think it’s best if we kept our distance for a while.” You tried getting up to leave but he quickly held your wrist making you sit down again. When he made contact with you, you felt all the control leave your body and you hated yourself for it.

“No. I don’t want that.” he was firm with his answer. “I won’t allow that.”

“Well it’s not your choice at this point.” you pointed out and he knew you were right but couldn’t accept it.

“No, I can’t let you walk away from me.”

His eyes were like fire, you knew Ruben could never hurt you but his demeanor change was drastic. You felt yourself desperate under his intense gaze and started considering how can you cope with this situation but suddenly you grew a backbone realizing this is his doing and he needed to face the consequences just like you were facing consequences for falling for your best friend.

“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you I don’t think I can be in your life right now, you can’t have your cake and eat it Ruben. I’m done.” you said and firmly stood up leaving him there to tell your friends you were heading home because of a headache which wasn’t completely a lie.

You had to put Ruben and everything that reminded you of him in your past, at least for a while.

[panlight]

not sure if you’ve touched on this before hint i’ve been curious lately: does edward actually like alice and bella or does he just appreciate their gifts? i’m not quite sure how to explain it but the more i think about it, the less alice seems like the kind of person edward would like. she seems to be more self-interested and cunning than the saint-like characters edward typically reveres. i’ve been wondering if their bond is less about a genuine like for each other and more about an understanding of each other's gifts.

i know edward's attraction to bella as a person vs her silent mind has been discussed before. do you think edward would've fallen for bella if she were more like characters like rosalie and jessica? for instance, assuming her mind were still closed off to him, would edward still have found bella fascinating if he perceived her to be vain and materialistic?

This is part of why I'm less interested in the gifts stuff that a lot of other people. I think it does muddy the waters with things like this. Like, are Edward and Alice actually compatible as siblings/friends or is it just like "you're the only one who understands because our author gave us these specific gifts?" And at the end of the day maybe it doesn't super matter; they DO have those gifts and it DOES help them understand one another so what it would be like without them only really matters if you're writing some All Human AU that removes the supernatural. In their world, compatibility with gifts is a thing, and probably just as valid as other kinds of compatibility and sympathy.

It is interesting that Edward thinks Rose is selfish and vain but loves Alice, when you know if it were Rosalie spending all this money on clothes they only wear once and throwing parties he would see it as another sign of her poor moral character. But part of it may be that Alice and Edward are different enough that they don't annoy each other in the same way Rose and Edward do. Both of them are more melancholy, more negative, more judgmental. Alice is more fun and happy and extroverted so Edward probably doesn't see his own flaws in her the same way he does in Rose (although they can be similar, too, in their sort of manipulative "I know best" dealings).

With Bella I think the gifts thing is even more of a factor. I mean if he could hear Bella's thoughts he'd be getting a lot of "Edward is SO hot" because that's what her narration is in the book, and I don't know that he's find that any different than how Jessica or whoever thinks about him. But because he can't read her mind, he's able to project on her, and also interpret her choices and actions in flattering ways rather than negative ways as he does with most people. And like I get it. I certainly think things I wouldn't say or do. I'm very patient and helpful at my job at the library, for example, but in my head when I see certain people coming and asking for help I'm like "ugggggh not THIS person" and "why can't you do this yourself?!?!" so if Edward were reading my mind he might be like "oh she's not as nice as she seems, she's two-faced, what a scoundrel!" when it's really just . . . being human?

If Bella's behavior was more like Rose and Jessica but Edward couldn't read her mind, that would be interesting. I guess if she also still smelled delicious he might fall for her, and then make up flattering explanations or excuses for the behaviors he doesn't like in others. "She just moved here/she's lonely/she misses her mother/she will grow out of it/whatever" when he's not willing/able to extend that same grace to Jessica because he can read her mind and judges her on her thoughts.

And this isn't me badmouthing Edward; I'm sure it WOULD be genuinely hard NOT to judge people when you're hearing what they are thinking all the time. That's going to flavor your perceptions of people in a major way. But I do think it's not really a fair or accurate view of a person, because what we DO and SAY matters more than what we think. We can have bad thoughts and re-direct them. We can think something mean and choose not to say it. We can internally grumble but do the Right Thing anyway.

I also think having the first two people he spent any time with being the uncommonly "good" Carlisle (super compassion!) and Esme (unconditional love) probably didn't help Edward get a realistic picture of what most people's thoughts are like. Judging a teenager's developing brain against a centuries-old compassion-motivated vampire doctor isn't gonna be a fair comparison. "Carlisle would never think like that" sure but he's also been actively choosing to fight baser instincts for hundreds of years, and Jessica's a 17-year-old navigating social cliques and history exams. They are not the same.

[stromuprisahat]

Can you help me to understand the tether between Alina and Aleksander? I've seen people say that it was formed when he collared her but if that's true then why not use it when she's on the run from him? I always thought that's why he got his nichevo'ya to wound her and why he thanked her, because it allowed that connection to form. Am I wrong here?

Okay, well, I'm still re-reading, but...

They're written as two halves of the same whole. They're supposed to be complimentary opposites, that's why Aleksander's waiting for the Sun Summoner instead of settling for just any immortal, why he believes they're meant to be even after encountering other immortals' different worldviews and Alina's refusal to accept her own greatness. She won't only live long, they're bound by the Making, so she's predisposed to ~understand~ (And there are moments, when she does. Only her upbringing, issues and moral police companions prevent her from embracing what's between them.).

The first clear sign of their interconnection's showed during Winter Fete, although from the wording, I've missed at least two earlier ones:

The moment his lips met mine, the connection between us opened and I felt his power flood through me. I could feel how much he wanted me—but behind that desire, I could feel something else, something that felt like anger. I drew back, startled. “You don’t want to be doing this.” “This is the only thing I want to be doing,” he growled, and I could hear the bitterness and desire all tangled up in his voice. “And you hate that,” I said with a sudden flash of comprehension. He sighed and leaned against me, brushing my hair back from my neck. “Maybe I do,” he murmured, his lips grazing my ear, my throat, my collarbone.

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 14

"... the connection between us ..." suggests it's something Alina figured out exists before this time, so she didn't experience it only once.

Then there's the Collar that gives Aleksander access to Alina's powers, although it's not exactly clear how it works.

I had spared the stag’s life. The power of that life belonged to me as surely as it belonged to the man who had taken it. ... The Darkling looked momentarily confused. He narrowed his eyes, and I felt his will descend on me again, felt that invisible hand grasping. I shrugged it off. It was nothing. He was nothing.

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 22

Like: Sorry honey, either the power belongs to you both, or you have the upper hand.

I would kill for Aleksander's LOGICAL explanation.

The nichevo'ya bite deepened the Bond, that's why Sasha did it. My guess is it might be something about merzost affecting the Making, therefore the connection formed by it, AND the tiny little detail the creatures might be created with use of said force, but from his own being. He's basically running around donating his body fluids essence to his closest "enemies"... *wink wink*

We don't know more than what he tells Alina, so perhaps he could feel her presence before that. Perhaps Alina's youth and inexperience played bigger part in her use of their connection, than we think. Perhaps her many issues did. (I hate repeating this phrase, but THE WASTED POTENTIAL!) Why tell your stubbornly uncooperating soulmate you have an in-build compass to help you track them, if they left a trail of more profane kind?

[mushies-stories]

My floral love -The ball

Tommy Shelby X FReader

part 1 (part 2)

Summary: Reader is one of Tommy's collogues daughters. she owns a flower shop in Birmingham and because she is unmarried and single her father(lovingly) likes to drag her to big events and parties to try and find her a man. everything is always made worse with just how shy she can be.

Rating: Fluff, for now muuwwahaha

Warming: none

Your father made sure to bring you to any event with eligible bachelors. Being a politician that was a lot. Being twenty-five and still being brought to parties and events in search of a husband by your father is overall embarrassing and you have tried many times to get out of it but only succeeded a handful of times. 

This time was no different save for one detail, your father had a man in mind this time and he gave you a choice. Either talk to him on your own, at least try or he would stop Mr. Shelby on his way out and introduces you to him himself. 

The options left you mortified for so many reasons. “Why can't I just not talk to him?” you argued, arms crossed as your father sat in his office. 

He looked at you and chuckled. “Dear, I'm not telling you to marry him, just talk to him. Honestly I'm being fair by letting you do it yourself this time.” he joked. Your father was a good man, overwhelming but good. Both your older brother and sister already had babies so your parents weren’t aren't missing out on being grandparents. He just wanted you happy, not playing with flowers forever. You know he meant well and that's why it was always so hard to say no and why you almost always gave in.

You rolled your eyes and sighed softly. “Yes, fine.” you agreed. 

Your father grinned with glee. “Perfect, a driver will pick you up at six.”

_______ Night of the party_______

The whole event was elegant, black tuxes and ball gowns, women wore gaudy jewelry and silk gloves. Black shoes shined brighter than the marble floor they stood on. 

Only twenty minutes into the whole ordeal does your father point out a man, dark hair and light eyes, talking to an older gentleman who looked like he really shouldn’t be making governmental decisions anymore. “That's Thomas Shelby, why don't you make your way over?” your father suggested before winking and nudging you towards the man across the room. 

As your fathers back turned from you to dive into some deep boring conversation with another guest you froze as you turned to the crowded space where Mr. Shelby stood.. Not ready to just walk right up to him, no you needed booz, just a drink. You slowly walked through the sea of people, scanning the room for a waiter and a tray. Finally spotting a waiter you weaved through people to meet his path. Quickly snatching a glass from the tray you spot an open space by the edge of the large room. Attempting to weave through people proved difficult when you were bumped from behind and spilt the red wine all over your soft purple dress.

“Oye, sorry doll!” a gruff voice boomed from behind you, turning a few heads around to look at the commotion. You turned and saw that the man was clearly drunk, or something. His hair that looked like it should be perfectly slicked back was slightly disheveled. He looked down at your dress and embarrassment washed over his features. “Shit im really sorry, I ruined a beautiful dress.” 

“It's okay, please don’t worry about it.” you tried to make him drop it, not wanting to bring anymore attention to yourself. “I'll just go-” 

“Arthur, fuckin hell.” another voice game from behind the drunk man, who you guessed was Arthur by the way he sheepishly turned around. Behind him was none other than Thomas Shelby. 

“Tommy, it's okay.” Arthur tried to reassure the man who stared at him with disappointment clear on his face. “I just bumped her, the whine spilt and…” he trailed off, knowing there wasn't really an explanation needed. 

Tommy shook his head before taking a look at your dress, frowning even more at the sight of the dark stain. “I'm sorry for my brother, he needs to go get some air. Now.” the last part was said to Arthur, eyes warning him not to do anything more stupid. 

You tried to smile reassuringly. “It's okay, don't worry.” you said, taking a step back, searching for the exit. Arthur nodded and headed back into the middle of the crowd. You couldn't tell if he was heading towards an exit or not and didn’t want to risk following him and getting turned around.

“Let me help you, c’mon.” he said, offering you his arm. Not wanting to embarrass yourself anymore you decided to let him guide you out of this big loud room, you could deal with finding a way out later, could always wait for your father by the front gate if you needed to. Tommy placed his hand on the middle of your back and gently nudged you. “This way.” he said, leading you through the crowded and into a much quieter hallway. “I can't take you to the kitchen if you'd like to try and save the dress?” Tommy offered. 

You smiled shyly and shook your head, letting go of his arm and taking a step a side. “no, the dress has served its purpose for the evening.” you came to the event and you even talked to Tommy Shelby, technically. You couldn't maintain eye contact for very long, instead keeping your eyes focused on the floor.

Tommy smiled softly as you two came to stop, the ballroom just a faint whisper in the background. You leaned against the open window, the fresh air feeling better. “So what was its purpose?” Tommy asked, causing you to look at him quizzically. “To get the thing destroyed by having whine spilt all over it? Not sure exactly why you’d want to do that, the dress looks stunning on you.” he elaborated, he continued to smile, coming to lean against the wall across from you. 

His comment took you off guard, you could feel your cheeks blushing as you looked at him. “Umm well no.” you stammered. “I really didn't mean to bump into your brother i am sorry Mr. Shelby.” you were now focused on the ground again. You hated these events because you never knew how to speak to the beautiful young men your father introduced you to, now here you are struggling to talk to a beautiful ‘slightly’ older man your father made you. You didn't have your father this time to carry the conversation.

Tommy’s smooth chuckle drew your eyes back up to the man, He pulled a metal box from his pocket. “My brother is drunk and acting a fool.” he stated plainly. He pulled a cigarette out and offered you one from the open case, smiled and slid one out. “He ruined your pretty dress, i'd like to pay for another, or whatever else you'd like in return instead.” it wasn't an offer but a statement. You understood why he entered politics. 

“Really it's fine.” you didn't want to have to explain that you basically milked the dresses since you were forced to go to these events.

Tommy slid the cigarette between his lips before lighting a match and holding it to the end of yours before lighting his own. You sat in silence for a minute as the smoke built up around you two and started swirling around in the yellow lamps of the hallway.

Tommy broke the quiet space between you first. “Are you here with someone, husband?” he inquired. At least he dropped the paying you back thing.

You laugh softly before catching yourself. “No.” you stated, taking a long drag and exhaling. “No husband, my father insists on bringing me to these parties and events.” you confessed, taking a rather long drag and holding it in a moment, hoping he would ask about your father.

Nodding he took his watch out and checked the time before sliding it back into his front pocket. “You know of me, that's because of your father I assume, who is he?” he asked casually. 

You let out a soft sigh before telling him your fathers name. “Robert Y/L/N.”

His smile widened slightly. “That so? That would make you his youngest then correct?” Tommy pointed out. 

You looked at him in astonishment. He knew your family, your father and his stories, always boasting about his family. “How often do you two talk exactly?” you asked, trying not to panic, hoping your father would talk about your siblings and the grandkids over his still unmarried daughter who lives and works at a flower shop with no love life.

Tommy couldn't help the small smirk that cracks the corners of his lips. “Good man, your father, very proud of his happy family.” Tommy took another drag of his cigarette. “He's talked a lot about you miss Y/N, it's clear he adores and cares a lot about you.” Tommy spoke casually and was almost scripted.  

Mortified, that's how you felt. Tommy was being polite by not expressing just how bad your father actually makes you sound lonely and sad. “Yeah, he's never been good at keeping things to himself, honest man.” you said, putting the cigarette out on the windowsill. 

He hummed in response, taking another drag and exhaled slowly. “Let me drive you home, it's the least I can do then for the mess my brother caused.” he offered, his face gentle yet still reserved. 

“Really Mr.Shelby i'll be just fine, you don't have to worry.” you once again tried to reassure him you could manage without being paid back for a little mistake. 

Taking a few steps to cross the short hall to stand only a foot away from you, you had to look up to keep eye contact. Reaching over to put his own out and he leaned over you, face only a few inches away from your own. “Will you please let me take you home, miss Y/L/N.” he said more of a statement, not asking again. 

His eyes captivated you, like looking at the sky through diamonds. You nodded softly. Your face felt hot and your knees felt weak. You could smell his cologne mixed with whisky and smoke, it was almost intoxicating. “My father.” you almost forgot you should let him know you'd be going and not to worry. 

Tommy nodded and took a step back. “I'll have someone send him word that I'll be taking you home.” 

And that was it, Tommy was leading you to get your coats and talking to a few staff on the way out. 

“The flower shop, yours then?” he asked, glancing over to you, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth as he drove.

You smiled and nodded. “Yes, it was owned by an older woman before me but she sold it to live with her daughter since she couldn't manage much work anymore.” you loved your shop, small and perfect and just close enough to the rich people that you get decent enough business. “Flower arranging has always been something I've been good at, and I can grow most of what I need from my fathers, so much land he doesn't know what to do with it and my mother loves to help.”

Tommy watched you speak passionately about your shop. He thought it was adoring that you had something so personal and simply yours and you built a life with it. 

You fell into comfortable conversation, Tommy telling you about his past marriage to Grace and his son Charley. You told him about your siblings and the kids. You both agreed that big families are wonderfully exhausting. 

The drive to your small apartment wasn't very far and Tommy knew almost immediately where it was since it was right in Birmingham and only a few blocks from the garrison he had explained. His car ame to a stop outside of your steps. 

Getting out Tommy came around and opened your door, you took his extended hand and stepped onto the cobble street. “Thank you Mr. Shelby.” you said, looking up at him in the dim light, face mostly shadowed.

“Please, call me Tommy.” he encouraged. 

“Tommy.” you said, trying it out. 

He smiled. “There you go, love.”

Your heart practically skipped a beat. “ It's late, you should be getting home as well.” you pointed out, becoming nervous once again. 

Humming Tommy took a step towards you, reaching to gently take your fingers into his hand and brought them to his lips. He lingered a moment, eyes on your own before his soft lips pressed against your skin. He pulled away and let your hand fall back to your side. “Have a lovely night miss Y/L/N, i'll be seeing you then.” he said, leaning on his car as he waited for you to make it inside. 

You knew your face was red when you nodded and let yourself in, slowly traveling up the stairs in awe at just how smooth Tommy Shelby swooped in and took your breath away with a simple action. 

Entering your home you stopped in the middle of the living room, did he say, ‘I’ll be seeing you’? Did that mean he was going to come back… or at more events? You decided you had enough excitement for one night and tomorrow you could panic over underlying meanings to sentences and be interrogated by your father, tonight you just needed sleep.