#i will write an essay on this if someone asks

[golddustwomanwins]

SAY YES TO HEAVEN pt. 2

Innocent Art Donaldson x Experienced reader

Part 1

18+

To everyone's surprise you and Art kept hanging out. It was like you two were joined at the hip. Instead of sitting in the front row, Art joined you and Tashi I. The row farther back. Your thighs pressed together under the table but no one noticed, Art dutily writing every word the professor said. The only indicator was his flushed cheeks.

He joined you for lunches or stayed late at night doing homework. And that was not exaggerated, he did do the homework while you babbled on.

Tashi kept rolling her eyes at every interaction you two had. The obvious push and pull that was going on between you was ridiculous. After a lecture, you parted with Art and Tashi pulled you to the side by your arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tashi asked you.

"What do you mean?"

"You're torturing the poor boy. Just let him go." Tashi only wanted your best but you genuinely didn't know what she was on about this time.

"The dude is having a boner every time you glance at him." "We're just friends—" you tried to protest and Tashi arched a brow at you. She was right. You were being selfish. So what if Art was the only man who actually looked at you? Really looked at you. You enjoyed having sex with people but that didn't mean you would just sleep with anyone. It was annoying how every other guy would butter you up, thinking you would eventually agree to fuck them.

Art wasn't like that. Or you thought he wasn't like that. His faith wouldn't allow him to want you in that way. Funny how you would gladly say yes to him, if he'd ask.

"I won't touch him," you promised her. You didn't even know why. You didn't want to taint him. He was innocent and not corrupted like most of the guys on campus. You wanted to cherish that. Have him for yourself a little longer until he would find a nice girl to marry and settle down with.

"Maybe you won't," Tashi said a strange smile on her lips, "but he will. Leading him on, will only make him fall and he can't fall."

Something tugged at your chest at her words. Tashi wound her arm around your waist, squeezing gently. "Just trying to protect you. You might think he's different because he isn't saying anything but under all that good boy persona is only a guy. And dating someone with that kind of boundaries is not a good idea. In the end it'll break both your hearts."

You both walked towards the cafeteria in silence, her arm still around you. You kept thinking about her words, wondering if she was right. *

The same evening Art asked if he could come by your dorm to finish your essays together. He had grown slightly more comfortable around you. He stopped stuttering for one but the flush stayed. Secretly you’d enjoy the way the crimson shot into his cheeks when your hands brushed on accident.

He was sitting at your desk in casual attire. Seeing Art Donaldson in grey sweatpants wasn't something you thought you'd witness in this life. But there he was, one leg drawn up as he typed away at his keyboard, white shirt straining around his bicep. Despite his persona, Art was awfully fit. Whatever he was doing in his free time—if he even had any besides studying—it worked. A little too well.

You were lying on your stomach on your bed, ankles crossed in the air as you tried to focus on your notes. Instead your eyes found Art again and again. What Tashi said had you spiraling for hours now and you didn't know how to stop.

The flush spreading down the back of Art's neck told you that he was noticing you staring. You needed to say something or else you were going to explode.

"Did you ever have a girlfriend before?"

Art stiffened slightly before turning to look at you. "What?"

"Did you ever have a girlfriend?" you persist, shoving your notes away and sitting up, criss crossed on your bed.

"Why?" he asked, eyes dipping down to your legs. You were only dressed in teensy tiny cotton shorts and a pointelle tank top, no bra. Something to be comfortable in.

"Just curious," you shrugged. He turned back to his laptop and you thought he wouldn't answer. Instead he made sure to save his written text before turning back around to look at you. Better be safe than sorry.

"I did. In High School, we were going to the same church," Art said. Of course they did.

"How long were you together?"

"Three years." Your eyes widened surprised. "Three years?" you wheezed.

"It wasn't-wasn't how you think it was." You chuckled. "How do I think it was?"

He flushed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We were mostly just friends. Mary-Anne was a nice girl."

Yeah, you could imagine it. A little dainty blonde girl, picture perfect. Straight A's, little bow ties in her hair. Long dress billowing around her figure. A crucifix dangling from her soft neck.

You blinked out of your strange fantasy and focused on Art who was eyeing you strangely. "Why didn't it work out?"

He laughed haughtily, glancing at the floor. "We had different...uhh interests."

"Different interests?" you prodded, crawling to the edge of the bed to be closer to him. "That's oddly vague. Being at the same church isn't enough?" you tease.

Art shifted slightly in his seat and your eyes dipped down to his grey sweats, a prominent line straining against the fabric at his thigh. Your core clenched at the sight but you stayed put, waiting for him to elaborate.

When he didn't, only growing redder, you pieced it together.

"You naughty boy, Art," you couldn't help yourself but chuckle at the horrified look on his face. "You wanted more and she didn't."

"N-no I—“ "Art, it's totally normal to have urges and sexual desires," you told him. His eyes found yours desperately as if he didn't want to hear you say the word sexual.

"It's my responsibility to keep them at bay. She was right," he clutched at his necklace again as if to anchor himself. Your eyes dipped to the cross slipping between his fingers.

"Was she? Everyone of us does it. Have sex. None of them have dropped dead yet."

"Don't say that," Art shook his head vehemently. It genuinely looked like he was scared and, duh, of course he did. You knew how he was and shouldn’t be surprised. Sometimes you forgot, hanging around guys in college who usually couldn’t care less about faith.

"What?" You asked surprised. Suddenly Art stood up, almost angry.

"It's sinful. I'm better than that."

"What? So because I have sex I am bad?" You prod slightly defensive. His features soften. "NO. Never." He dropped to his knees in front of you, hands finding your knees.

"That's not what I meant," he assured, His eyes dipped down where his hands were clutching your knees.

"What did you mean?" You said. You looked down at Art as he stared up at you like he was on his knees praying to you.

"You're good," he insisted not caring that it didn't make sense. "I don't know why you sell yourself so short why you..." He couldn't speak the words without embarrassment.

"Why I have casual sex?" you finished for him. He nodded, not looking at you. You took his chin in your hands and tilted his head up for you. "Because I enjoy it. Because it feels good."

He tilted his head in your hand further, almost begging you to give him more. Something thrilled inside you at his keenness.

"Did you ever have an orgasm, Art?"

His lids fluttered shut in shame and he let his head hang low.

"Hey," you soothed him, letting him prop his head in your lap as you brushed through his curls.

"It's nothing to be ashamed off, Art. It doesn't make you a bad person to want." You stroked through his curls as you felt something wet on your thighs. Art was crying. A soft sob crept into the space around you and you kept stroking his curls.

"Art," you whispered but he shook his head.

"I shouldn't have done it. I tried not to, I swear, I tried with all my might. I should know better. Should stay away from temptation.." he was a blubbering mess, arms encircling your waist as he buried himself against your stomach, crying into your shirt.

Goosebumps crept onto your skin, nipples pebbling as his nose bumped against your middle repeatedly. He was crying and you were aroused by it. You were the worst person to ever exist.

"Art—“ you tried but he wouldn't listen to you.

"I prayed that night, multiple times. But it can never be washed away. I sinned and you know what the worst part is?" he looked up at you with teary eyes and spit clinging to his parted, slightly swollen lips.

"What?" you asked.

"I would do it again." There it was again. That look.

You shivered as he looked up at you with his wide innocent eyes. His words hung heavy in the air both of you knowing what he meant. Slowly you eased back on the mattress, pulling him by his shirt. When you glanced down, you could see that he was fully hard, cock straining against his sweatpants.

You settled against the headboard, Art between your legs, still staring at you as if you'd be the cure to his disease.

"Do you remember the first time you looked at me in class?" he asked quietly, leaning into your touch when you traced his jaw with the tips of your fingers. You nodded slowly.

"Couldn't stop thinking about you afterwards," Art confessed. "I did it that same night." Shame was clinging to his words.

"Yeah?" you asked and he nodded quickly as if he wanted to please you. You softly brushed the curls out of his face.

"What did you do? Did you fuck your fist?"

Art almost choked at your blunt words, pretty flush covering his peachy skin. He shook his head quickly.

"I didn't, I—" he couldn't finish.

"Show me."

His eyes snapped back to meet yours. "Show you?"

"Yeah. Show me how you made yourself come." You didn't stop stroking his curls, easing him in between you.

"I can't-t," he stuttered and you sighed.

"Is that not what you wanted?" you asked. He swallowed slightly but nodded.

"Then show me," you let go of his curls and he shifted slightly lower, your legs splitting to make more room for him. Art slowly started to grind his hips against the mattress between your hips. A soft desperate sound parted his shiny lips. You watched him with parted lips and his eyes stayed on your face as he moaned your name.

His thrusts became quicker, tears glistening in his eyes. "I-I imagined it was you-ahh-lying under me." Even his voice was tinged with shame as he rutted against the mattress. He was so desperate, the headboard kept slamming against the wall behind you. You refrained from pushing your legs together to ease the pain in your core at the sight in front of you.

"Yeah?" you asked. "You wanted to bury your cock inside me?" Art moaned again, face falling against your calf. His lips grazed your skin when your hands found his jaw.

“Wanted to spill your cum inside me and breed me?” You kept pushing and he groaned

“D-don’t say that,” he huffed but his hips moved frantically at your words.

“Why? Because it’s true?” He whimpered against your leg.

"Stop,” you told him.

"W-what?" he asked desperately but stopped humping the bed. You slowly pulled him upwards as you sunk down on the mattress. He was hovering above you, bicep caging you in. Your eyes dipped down to the wet fabric of his sweats, pre soaking it. His necklace was dangling right in front of you, gold specks reflecting from the lights.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked with flushed cheeks. His brain was all fuzzy with arousal.

"You wanted me to be under you, didn't you?" your hands found his hips and pulled him down. You both moaned when your pelvises met, his cock rubbing right against your clit.

"Then use me," you said. "'M not gonna touch you, Art, no sin if no one's touching right?" You used his loophole. He stared down at you panting, his eyes full of eager glee. In the state he was in Art would agree to any offer you'd give him. You showed him you'd behave by putting your hands on the mattress beside you, not touching him. He could use you the way he wanted to.

Slowly his hips started to move against you, startling a moan out of both of you. Art couldn't believe what was happening as he fucked you over your clothes. The sight of you beneath him was ethereal. Your back arched, pushing your tits out, nipples pebbled against the soft material of your top. Your lips were parted, soft sounds escaping past the pink gloss. You didn't have make up on, didn't feel the need if it was just you and Art but you always insisted on putting the gloss on for hydration reasons (not because you loved the way his eyes would repeatedly drop down to them).

His thrusts became harder and faster, the head of his cock escaping his sweats and peaking just over.

"Art," you sighed. The friction felt good but it was not enough.

"Yeah?" he barely heard you, rutting against you and chasing his own pleasure.

"Need to tilt your hips so I can feel more," you sighed and your hands found his hips to show him how.

When he pumped against you this time you arched your back harder and moaned. Art stared down at you mystified. He lifted one shaky hand finger finding your bottom lip and pressing. You pressed a quick kiss against the tip of his thumb and Art shivered.

The headboard kept banging against the wall as Art picked up his pace. He was ramming you into the mattress brutally, his fingers trailing from your lips down your throat. "You're so beautiful. Made for me-ahh," he mumbled on.

His hands found the collar of your top and you moaned when he tucked it down, tits spilling out. Before Art could stop what was happening he was rutting into you sloppily, burying his face in your neck.

"I'm gonna—fuck—oh god, oh god." He kept on rambling. “This is wrong—no,no,no.”

It sounded like he was praying as he pushed against you a few more times, before you felt something wet against your shorts. Art sagged against you, crushing you with his weight as his face nuzzled your neck.

The mattress kept bouncing slightly until you realized he was crying again. Your hands found his curls, staring at a crack in the ceiling. Your pelvis flush against yours, sticky mess remaining between both of you.

[rainydayathogwarts]

Hii can I request a Sirius Black x fem!reader where they’re like fwb. She’s apart of the big group aka the marauders and the Valkyrie’s combined. Though the more they hook up the more Sirius realizing he mighttt like reader a bit more than he thought. But the reader is a bit hesitant to actually go out with him since hes always mentioned to everyone he doesn’t do relationships, and he’ll never settle down. (Sorry if I went too into detail I’ve had this idea cooking up) Also you don’t have to go into detail on the whole “hooking up” part yk just like brief mentions yk!

Feel free to ignore this request if it doesn’t tickle your fancy! (ps. I love your writing)

as long as you like - sirius black

summary: sirius black. your friend, your lover, your... something more? wc: 1.4k+

Sirius lay in bed, panting, his skin slick with sweat. You cleared your throat, pushing yourself up and immediately averting your eyes from the boy’s naked body. Leaning over the side of the bed, you dragged your clothes up, facing away from Sirius.

“Hey.” Sirius spoke for the first time since he had you underneath him. You hummed, looking over your shoulder as you clasped your bra on. “Stay for a bit.” He pleaded, eyes begging silently. You chewed softly on your bottom lip, ignoring his words as you continued tugging the rest of your clothes on, thinking up an excuse. “I promised Marlene I would help her with her ancient runes essay.”

Pushing himself into a seated position, Sirius nodded, trying to hide the fleeting look of sadness that crossed his features. “Okay. Uh, have fun then.” You laughed at his awkward words, returning the sentiment as you struggled into your shoes. “Okay, I’ll see you at dinner then.”

At dinner, Sirius was oddly silent. He’d seen Marlene on his way out of the common room with the boys, asking her how her essay was coming along. She’d furrowed her eyebrows, responding with “I finished that in class this morning.” Sirius had nodded, swallowing thickly and rushing over to the great hall.

He had caught you in your lie.

Now, Sirius was overthinking. Did you not want to spend any time with him? Did your little agreement sabotage your friendship? Or even worse, did you have a crush on someone else?

Sirius didn’t sleep that night, the same thoughts running through his mind over and over, making him toss and toss in bed. Finally, he rolled out of bed, shoving his feet into his slippers and blindly making his way down to the common room, sleep biting at his eyes. He jolted wide awake though, hearing familiar laughs from in front of the fireplace.

You sat with Marlene and Lily, not tired in the least. Sirius debated turning around and retracing his footsteps back to bed, but it was too late; Lily had spotted him and was already waving him over. Sirius trudged over to where you sat with the other two girls. Marlene was sprawled on an armchair, limbs hanging in all directions. Lily was cozy on the floor with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, whilst you were snuggled into the red leather couch.

“Hey, you.” You greeted, stretching an arm out, gesturing for Sirius to fill the space in front of it. He obliged, leaning into your body, his eyes fluttering open. “Are you okay?” You mumbled quietly, concern taking over your features as you looked at the boy. Sirius nodded, “Just thinking of stuff.”

You made a noise of understanding, turning your attention back to your two dorm mates, who shot you identical pointed looks. You rolled your eyes at them, tugging Sirius in closer to you.

In your arms, Sirius’s body instantly relaxed, all worrying thoughts leaving his mind as he slung an arm over your lap, hand resting on your hip. Barely a hug, but enough for him. Clearly, you didn’t hate him, and that’s what mattered. You frowned softly. How could you not love Sirius? He was so kind to you, so comfortable and vulnerable around you as friends and lovers. But you knew that you were falling for the same act everyone else did.

You weren’t special to him, you were just a fling.

Someone to sleep with until the next girl comes around, and you would be discarded. Eventually, she would be too.

“Oh please, we all know I don’t do relationships.” Sirius’s words from months ago rang in your head, before you even started sleeping together. “I don’t think I’ll ever settle down.” And you know his words had been honest, because the entire friend group had been coming down from a drunk high and were beginning to shed their secrets, their hidden truths.

You leaned in closer to Sirius, noticing him beginning to doze off. “Sweetheart, I think you should go to bed.” He shook his head, only half-conscious as he replied “Sleep better in your arms.” You ignored the obvious stares Marlene and Lily were giving you, instead focusing on the sleepy Sirius tangled in your limbs.

“How about we go up to my dorm? Get some sleep?” Sirius didn’t respond for a long moment, and for a second, you thought he was asleep. But finally, he nodded, shifting his weight off you to stand up, swaying on his feet momentarily.

You and Sirius didn’t talk about that moment for long enough that your friends began growing tired of you, knowing about your feelings for the other. You didn’t speak to your friends about it when he left your dorm the next morning and pointedly ignored the stares from Remus and James at breakfast. But the two people involved did not talk utter a single word about it to each other, instead returning to their normal regime.

That’s why you ended up in Sirius’s bed again ten days later in the same situation that caused the entire ordeal to happen. You sighed in satisfaction, rolling over on the bed and pulling the covers over your torso despite the heat radiating off your body. Sirius grinned at you, pulling you closer to him with the arm wrapped around your shoulders, his bare skin pressing against yours.

He leaned down, pressing his lips to your forehead in a fond kiss. You snuggled into Sirius’s side, shutting your eyes closed to embrace the moment. “You okay?” He asked, and you nodded silently. “I’m ‘bout to fall asleep.” Sirius chuckled, the hand that rested slack by his side now coming up to cup your cheek. The blanket slipped down your body at the movement, revealing slivers of your shoulder to him.

Sirius had to fight the urge to bring you into a kiss. The movement seemed so natural when you were having sex, but after? He didn’t know if that intimacy would put you off. Nonetheless, you didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered down to your smiling lips. You giggled, pushing yourself up to catch Sirius’s lips in a short kiss.

Sirius’s eyes widened, and he had absolutely no control over the words that left his lips next. “Go out with me.” Not a question, a statement. You swallowed thickly, eyebrows raising in surprise. “What?”

Sirius’s confident wall crumbled, and you saw the doubt appear in his eyes. “Go out with me?” “Sirius… You’ve said it yourself that you don’t do relationships. I don’t want us to go out for two weeks and ruin our friendship.”

Sirius scooted up the bed, sitting up. Your eyes fell to the skin that was revealed inches at a time, settling on his v-line before instantly shooting back up to meet his eyes. You gripped the edge of the blanket, keeping it snug against your skin as you followed his movements. Sirius bunched up the material around his crotch as he spoke.

“I haven’t done relationships, but I want to have one with you. A real relationship.”

“Sirius I- I don’t know.”

Sirius gulped harshly, feeling a lump form at the back of his throat, feeling rejected. “I’ve never felt like this for someone before. When I said I didn’t want to settle down, I hadn’t seen what a future with you could look like. I- Just please think about it.”

You secured the duvet underneath your underarms, reaching over to grasp one of Sirius’s hands. “You’re serious about that?” Sirius smiled softly, and you could almost hear him say ‘I’m serious about everything’ despite the fact that his lips didn’t move. “I want to be with you so badly.”

You inhaled deeply, extending both arms so you could cup Sirius’s jaw, bringing his face forward so you could kiss him. Sirius sighed in satisfaction, a hand coming up to rest on your waist. When your lips parted, you nodding softly, and Sirius immediately grinned, pulling you in for a second kiss, feeling the curve of his smiling lips against yours.

"I want to be with you so badly too... That's why I'm so scared of actually doing it." Sirius separated from you, grasping both your hands in his and lifting them up so he could kiss their soft skin. "So we talk things out, okay?" He asked, and you nodded silently. A promise. A leap of faith.

“Remus is going to be thrilled. Said he was going to throw himself off the bridge if I didn’t ask you out before we graduated.” You chuckled, searching for your clothes around Sirius’s bed, but the man tugged you back into the confines of the mattress.

“Stay for a little longer.” He begged, and you smiled, laying back down on the bed. “I’ll stay here for as long as you’d like.”

taglist: @ravisinghs-wife, @amatoanima, @starry-remus, @pain-in-the-ashe, @hiireadstuff, @superlegend216, @treefairy-28, @kitkatkl, @rory-cakes, @juliet-017, @boromoony, @fl0weryannie

[atalienart]

idk, I'm so fed up with Al that I had to get it off my chest...

I hate Al, I hate stupid prompted images that flood every space. I hate Al popping up every time I open anything on the internet. I hate people who pretend that prompting is such a skill and so much work but are scared to actually disclose they used Al for their stupid images and text. What are you scared of? I hate people who think writing "make me a ..." makes them a creator of anything. I hate people who think generative Al is an improvement and innovation. It's not! The fact that something is new doesn't make it good! Do you know viruses? There's always a new one at the corner.

Can't you see it? It makes you dumber with every use. Your creative skills decline with every command you give to a machine. Your communication skills deteriorate every time Al writes an email for you or you talk to your virtual girlfriend. Your ability to decide about yourself shrinks every time you ask a machine what to do, what to buy, what to say. Your critical thinking vanishes (well, assuming you even had any to begin with) whenever you ask "grok, is it true?". Whenever a computer does homework for you, whenever it writes an essay for school (which you won't even proofread) or spits a picture you were supposed to make yourself for a class, you become more stupid and less skilled. It won't make you into a good writer or artist just as watching work out videos won't give you muscles.

And you mock people who don't want their brains to rot, who maintain their values, who don't want to destroy their integrity and planet, who improve their talent and skills and spend their time actually thinking and learning stuff.

You can't even see how big corporations fuck you hard and slow every time you pay them to improve their Al monster, dangling colourful pictures before your eyes like a cat toy, cackling seeing your pupils blow wide. They promise you money and lure you with a vision of fame that those pathetic, broke artists will never see in their worthless lives. But you will. You'll have it all! Just feed their wallets with your money and databases with yourself and turn off your brain. You really think you'll have money and fame? Who will ever see your pretty pictures under millions of other pretty pictures? Who will read your book, when John Pickle published 30 only yesterday using Al? Who will watch your great movie when someone else has already made one with their own face and now they're kissing their favourite actor in space in a ship with too many details? Well, at least you can use someone else's voice to scam their family. If you get caught by the police you'll have your two minutes of fame before the Al erection supplement commercial rolls in :)

Al is here to stay! Yeah, like the putrid smell of your rotten brains.

[amalthea-13]

just curious what would you say is the most frustrating take on stolas you've ever come across?

meaning an argument an anti made that bothered you the most?

The Self Victimization Argument That I Loathe

Firstly, thank you for the ask! I always appreciate it since it gives me sort of a "prompt" to work off of! So truly thanks!! Also I noticed in my recent notifications you recently started following and omg I am so thankful.

You all make me so happy and make this so fun with how intellectual and smart you all are!!! Your responses and questions make this my favorite part of my day!

But enough gushing about my lovely followers! Back to buisness!

To anyone new to my page or essays, Hello! I am Amalthea the Ultimate Stolas Kin and Stan and write waaayyyyy to much about Stolas for my own good. He's like everything to me! My page focuses on Stolas defense, and one of the main arguements I hate are the ones that even imply he "self victimizes" for the sake of getting out of his "bad behavior".

What is Self Victimization?

Having to explain this concept at all was very frustrating since I first encountered this argument back on my Tiktok page. It was what inspired the Stolas, Miscontextualing his Words, and Boundaries essay where I discuss at lengths how the Helluva Boss fandom misrepresent Stolas's statements from Apology Tour. For a baseline I will be putting a definition below; UNLEASHING POTENTIAL - PSYCHOLOGY VIDEOS their video Psychology of SELF Victimization helped informed this definition;

Self Victimization is the act of manipulating ones situation to take victimhood from the affected group and make themself out to be the "actual victim". They usually blame others for their circumstances taking no responsibility on their part and often target people of lower self-esteem or those of a kind heart. They are usually incredibly codependent and utilize victimhood to get their way. They also like to be perceived as "good people" despite being terrible.

If anyone wants to add to this definition and has studied psychology on this specific field, please feel happy to DM me a better definition or any information to make this more accurate.

However, usually what people mean is that Stolas is using is abusive circumstances to get what he wants out of Blitz and is targeting him to get what he wants. Whatever, that's a bag of fully packaged horse shit and I can prove it with ease.

Does Stolas Feel Remorse for His Actions?

I consider Full Moon to be Stolas's apology. Anyone else who disagrees with me can kiss my Puerto Rican ass, because that was a heartfelt apology and genuine taking accountability if I've ever seen one. I do not think you have to say the words "I'm sorry" to genuinely apologize to someone you have wronged. If you disagree, again, kiss my ass.

(Not you asker, I am speaking to antis, you're blameless for their stupidity. UwU)

Moving on, Stolas goes into great detail about how he was wrong and how he messed up in their relationship.

Stolas: Blitzo, I'm giving you this because I care.... very deeply for you. And I have for some time. [He places the crystal onto Blitzo's glove, embedding itself into his hand.] But this transactional thing we have, it's not right anymore. It hasn't been. It never was. And now all I can see is how wrong it is to be so tethered to someone in such an unfair way... and not know how they feel. But I want you to continue to be who you are, your business. You don't have to stay here with me. [He removes his hat.] But... I want you to. I want you to stay here with me because you want to. Only if you want to.

Stolas here takes accountability for his actions and part in this entire arrangement. Hell, Blitz holds at least half the blame, but Blitz isn't put into a position to take any accountability or responsibility. Stolas takes the sole blame and doesn't put Blitz in a position to feel guilty or be blamed.

Stolas takes blame purely because he feels at fault and like he put Blitz into a position that was unfavorable.

This is not "self victimizing" behaviors at ALL. In Sinsmas Stolas proceeds to continue to take responsibility for his choices.

Stolas: *calmly* It's okay. Saving you was the right thing to do. And you have risked your life for mine in return. *takes puff from cigarette* You don't need to feel any guilt for my situation, it was my choice. *sadly* It was all my choice. I caused all of this.

Stolas does not ever exhibit self victimizing behavior, but he sure as hell exemplifies the behaviors of an abuse victim. Yet people like to miscontextualize these moments as "self victimizing" instead of the very real context for who he is and how he acts.

He never boasts about being a "good person" then cries wolf for when he needs to be held accountable. However, Stolas has never been seen to display this behavior in the show.

Does Stolas Target Blitz because of his Low Self-Esteem?

I'm probably gonna get dunked on for this part, but Blitz targeted Stolas, not the other way around. While I ain't sitting here tryna go after Blitz every 5 seconds, I may as well go into this for a moment.

Since I sure as hell got time to do it, but Blitz literally during The Circus realizes how sexually inept Stolas is and utilizes that to his advantage to get the book.

I ain't saying Stolas is an angel, but if anyone is "self victimizing" at all, it is Blitz. He acts like Stolas made the terms of their relationship when he realistically could have ran away. I mean he ran from Verosika and everyone else in his damn life so he couldn't just fuck off for once?? No, because that didn't benefit him at all.

Stolas's vulnerability with Blitz is abused against him quite often by Blitz since he knows Stolas cares about him.

For example the Ozzie Ep, why would Blitz call Stolas for a "date" if he truly believed he was just a "royal fuck"??? That's the question many people don't ask and I don't get why we act as if Blitz is a fucking idiot. He literally knows Stolas will bend to his will.

Stolas stopped asking for sex and still gave him the fucking grimoire on multiple occasions.

If anyone was "targeting" anyone, it was Blitz targeting Stolas.

Is Stolas Codependent?

Not one bit. Despite being a victim of abuse, Stolas is incredibly independent and doesn't depend on Blitz to solve all his problems.

Often Blitz isn't vulnerable enough for Stolas to really "depend on", especially since during Western Energy, Stolas felt like he couldn't really depend on Blitz afterwards and onwards pulls away from Blitz slowly but surely.

Stolas takes care of himself and his problems and therefore is not codependent.

Conclusion

I do apologize to you, Asker, I was kinda going off about this, but genuinely anyone claiming Stolas is "self victimizing" are usually the most annoying ass people in this fandom. As much as I adore talking about Stolas and easily debunking people's arguments, this one is not only constant in the fandom, but it reeks of victim blaming rhetoric and mishandling of real psychological terminology.

It also takes no more than a few seconds to piece together why this argument makes no sense and therefore stupid as all hell.

Of all the arguments in the fandom, yeah this one is the worse.

Thank you for the ask! <3

[fatalcults]

things left unsaid. 001

featuring. poly! marauders + lily x oc.

summary. meliora had spent the whole of her years at hogwarts alone. with no one to bother her and no drama to drag her day by day she found herself at peace with herself. though she never thought herself to get enamored by the hogwarts golden group towards her last two years, more so expecting them to linger and pry into her quiet solitude pulling her into something far more complicated. 

warnings. none.

reayna's note. hey everyone! this is the start of a new series i'm working on. i finally have some time to get back into writing, im still working and in school though so updates might be delayed at times. ill try my best to update biweekly. or at least a 2 chapters per month (if not more.)

Meliora Ackerley didn’t consider herself to be a complex person.

Naturally every being at their core was built in countless layers, intricacies of stories and emotions but if one were to strip her down to the essentials Meliora believed there wouldn’t be much to study.  

She always thought that if she were given a role in a book it would be that of a background character, not even the ones that heard and saw all. She didn’t perceive herself as one prone to intrusion in matters that did not concern her.

No, she saw herself as the shadow of a long forgotten page, present but unnoticed. Many might lament about such a role given to them but Mel liked it— adored it, even. 

Throughout her six years at Hogwarts, she had become an afterthought to most. Without trying, she slipped beneath the radar of the social network Hogwarts had, which was harder than most thought, given how quickly rumors about others spread.

Initially, her solitude had been mistaken for first year jitters in meeting new people and arriving at a new place but after many painful interactions with her peers she had decided the big social life wasn’t for her. 

She couldn’t pinpoint it at first, each hesitant interaction was met with the same quiet, awkward stiffness and soon enough people learned to slip past her in the corridors never lingering much to actually have a conversation with her, not that she blamed them. The conversations were just as difficult for them as it was for her.

Later she just realized, some people were meant to be alone, Not tragically or bitterly, just simply. It sounded sadder than it actually was when she thought about it but not everyone would be adverse to the big groups of friendships and tight knit groups here at school and that was something that never bothered her not even once. 

Meliora was independent at heart, she did everything on her own without help and found herself barely ever asking for it. Her muteness was not total, but it was selective in a way that limited her discussions from little to none and only in extreme measures.

So, she couldn’t hide the slight displeasure in her face and churn in her stomach when the Charm’s professor, Flitwick assigned her to write an essay with Lily Evans. It wasn’t as though Meliora had never had been paired with someone before, but most times, they barely paid her any mind, briefly discussing the assignment before working on their separate parts. She hoped the girl would do the same.

Meliora didn’t dislike Evans–how could she? She hardly felt anything other than indifference towards the girl but everyone knew Evans whether they admired or hated her. She was subject of the gossip of envy in half the school’s population. 

People like Meliora and Lily occupied entirely different social spheres and that’s why she couldn’t bring herself to be offended when Lily looked around the room seemingly confused after she heard who she was paired with.

After a few hushed whispers with another girl next to her, Dorcas Meadows, Lily’s eyes turned to meet hers, curious and assessing. Mel stared at her for a beat too long before turning away and digging her quill into her parchment.

The class dragged on after that, coming to an end when Flitwick finished droning on about the essay. As class ended, Mel sensed someone behind her. Tensing up, she turned to the side watching as Lily regarded her curiously with a look of apprehension before a smile overtook her face.

“Hi, Meliora, right?” Lily asked, her expression shifting from a look of kindness to a grimace as Meliora assessed her with a calculating unreadable gaze. The effort it took to speak felt like tiny shards of glass in her throat so she settled for an easier path, a singular nod and no response.

“I’m Lily!” Meliora already knew that. “We were assigned the paper together.” Meliora also knew that. Lily was met with no words from Mel as she continued to openly look at her with no efforts to speak.

Sensing the tension as Meliora’s discomfort became more evident, Lily continued, “Would you like to find a place to work? The library, perhaps?” 

Mel opened her mouth to reply but the words couldn’t escape her as she felt it clog up in her throat once more as she watched Lily smooth over her skirt. Instead, she offered her a nod again, turning away stiffly. 

Lily made a noise, one Mel was sure was frustration before continuing on. “How about tomorrow? After the Quidditch match?” Mel nodded quietly, her heart pounding as she packed her bag before stepping to the side of Lily and walking out the door. She faintly heard Dorcas’ voice as she left, “I think that went splendidly.” 

After the painful interaction in class, Meliora sat in the Ravenclaw common room, the evening light casting long blue shadows against the stone walls. She winced to herself, her fingers ghosting over the parchment before her, her own name and Lily’s inked at the top before watching as a figure covered her view. 

Standing tall, Alistar Rowley looked down at her. Alistar was an odd person, an enigma of warmth that latched onto her years ago. Even now Meliora could hardly understand why he stuck with her all these years.

She offered him little to no words and barely ever looked like she was listening. Still, he was the closest thing she had to a friend here, and none of her odd behavior ever seemed to deter him. 

She supposed it was comforting in a sense, he never seemed annoyed by her lack of speech and she never had to force herself to talk more than she wanted to.

He talked enough for the both of them, going on about anything and everything that came to mind. She became used to his talks even though she didn't quite understand them.

Alistar was charming and charismatic even she knew that, he could befriend anyone he really wanted to but still he never forgot about her, going as far as to leave his big social events and groups to stay with her in the common room or the black lake. 

“Why do you look like you have the odd case of the bugger in the belly? You didn’t eat something bad did you?” He asked practically tossing himself at the space next to her. Meliora offered him a look and gestured to the paper in front of her that scribbled her and Lily’s name. 

Alistar looked over before a grin curled at his lips, “You got paired with Evans? Not bad..” he said, already offering his attention to the fireplace in front of them. “Evans isn’t too bothersome so it shouldn’t be too torturous.”

Pinching her cheeks, he continues on not taking any offense when she slaps his hand away and sends him a scathing glare. “Don’t worry too much, it will be over in less than 2 weeks.”

Alistar Rowley was a liar.

Meliora sat at the very end of the library table, a deliberate choice that allowed her to flee if things got too overwhelming for her. The action seemed to be one of the only things grounding her control on the situation to ease her racing thoughts.

The quill in her hand dancing across the parchment as she scribbled words on her paper before Evans arrived. After much thought and hesitation (and some delusion) she convinced herself what's the worst that could happen?. 

Famous last words.

The ruckus she was met with was more than she anticipated. From her chair Meliora watched as the doors of the library swung open, earning a glare and sharp inhale from Madam Pince that mumbled words about “rowdy students” and “lack of respect for literature and peace.”

It was easy to identify the bright red hair that followed in, Evans holding her books with a scowl on her face followed by Potter, Black and Lupin who continued their conversation loudly behind her. 

Meliora’s grip on her quill tightened. She had prepared herself for Evans not the rest that followed her, for a moment she contemplated leaving but decided against it knowing there was no way for her to exit without Evans seeing her.

It didn't take long for Lily to find her after that smiling at Meliora as she sat down in front of her. The bunch following behind her, James and Sirius still in their quidditch clothes although she thought it to be the loose t-shirts given rather than official gear and Remus wearing a worn brown sweater with his hands tucked in his pocket. 

“I hope you don’t mind” She did, severely. “These three are still riding the high from the match and decided it would be best to follow me.” Lily explains putting her books down.

She didn't seem to think much about the stiff interaction from the day before but Meliora couldn't focus on that rather the people behind her.

She had heard about the relationship the four shared but she never thought much about it. It wasn't uncommon for them to be seen holding hands with one another or displaying clear signs of affection. 

The silence between her and Lily seems to pull the others out of their conversation. James pushing his glasses up in a casual absentminded way as he stared openly at her. “It's nice to meet you, Meliora right?” She nodded once, not helping the silence between all of them.

It stretched long and weighed, Sirius Black, who had been lazily leaning against Remus glancing up at her with an assessing gaze in his grey eyes. Remus, for his part, barely spared her a glance flipping absently through one of the books Lily had brought, something she appreciated more than anything.

She didn't know much about them other than what was mentioned in passing by Alistar but she did feel uncomfortable with the way both Sirius and James watched her openly for a reaction. Their gaze on her felt prickly making her pulse pound beneath her skin louder in the silence.

Lily, feeling the tension arise, shifted in her seat before smiling at Meliora who offered her an uncomfortable stare in response. “Shall we get started?” 

Another nod.

Remus looked up when he heard no response from her this time but soon looked back down with a furrow of his eyebrow. Mel had hoped the awkwardness would end there.

It did not.

Every few minutes, Sirius, who had a curious gaze on his face, attempted to engage in conversation with her. The questions weren't exactly invasive but still they were left unanswered.

James, ever the enabler, would only egg on the one sided discussion between them and Lily who made no move to stop them, also seemed curious about her reaction to the boy’s questions.

Mel remembered what Alistar had told her in passing once about the group, how Lily, although never fully engaged in the boy's antics often had a cool assessing gaze that picked apart the reactions of others.

It seemed even scarier than the boys’ actions, one could not tell if their was scrutiny under the stare or innocent curiosity on how it would play out. Her green eyes looked darker but even so sharper when she stared at Mel like this.

Mel offered them no reaction even as her heart pounded and her head fogged, hardly doing anything but nodding or giving small twitches in her hand that signified she heard them. She wasn't stupid, she knew how rude her actions seemed but the words that existed within her seemed to refuse to come out. 

“It's rude to ignore people, you know?” Sirius said abruptly, his tone slightly harsh in a way only he could make get under someone’s skin, it was condescending and blatantly mocking causing everyone to freeze. James shot him a look while Lily openly glared at him. 

“Sirius.” Lily said sharply. To which Sirius replied, “What?” as he rested his head against his hand in a careless gesture “We have been talking to her this whole time Lily and she hasn't responded I'm just–” Lily interrupts him again with a fixed cold glare, looking over at Meliora in cautious assessment for a moment.

“Maybe we should go.” James said, slicing through the silence.

Meliora letting out a shaky sigh as his words. She really hoped they did, anything would be better than enduring another awkward moment of this.

Lily for a moment wanted to object to this but after a quick glance at the girl in front of her sighed, grabbing her books and sending a small smile to her before walking away with the rest of the group who had gotten up just as quick to exit the embarrassing interaction.

Mel wished the floors would swallow her whole.

Lily was not a curious person.

She minded her business, hardly stuck her nose where she wasn't wanted, except from when her prefect duties required it and sure as hell didn't go digging for the sake of it. Sure, the crowd she stuck around with whether it be the boys or the girls, were a loud bunch prone to dramatics but she wasn't. She was kind and sociable but she was also measured and careful more than she let off and yet she couldn't help her fixation with Meliora Ackerley. 

Meliora Ackerley, who didn't talk to her, hardly acknowledged her. 

Lily didn’t think of it as a pride thing, she could care less about people who outwardly showed distaste towards her or the people who seemed nervous in her presence.

She felt like James in a way, not able to take the hint and leave it alone–drawn to the challenge but she couldn't control herself. The first time she had heard the girl's name she had been utterly clueless, if it wasn't for Dorcas beside her she would have spent the rest of the class trying to figure out who she was. 

But then Lily had looked at her for the first time and any other thought in her head had stilled.

Meliora was pretty, Gorgeous, even. 

She felt like a creep openly staring at her.

The sleek fall of her black curly hair, the slight furrow in her eyebrows with her full nervously bitten lips soft even when pressed together in what Lily thought was discomfort, even with the expression displayed she still looked like the prettiest girl in the room.

How had Lily not noticed her before? She liked to think she would have, it's hard to ignore someone that looked like that. 

But when Lily approached her she understood why she had never noticed her. Meliora seemed to hide herself, or try to.

She never met someone like Meliora, from their first interaction she thought of Meliora to resemble a panicked newborn kitten, the ones that seemed quick to run with their tail stiff and puffed high behind them. She seemed on the bouts to flee.

That much was obvious and for a quick moment Lily thought she had done something to offend the girl but anyone with any sense of awareness talking to her could see she was just shy. 

At least that's what Lily told herself when the girl darted past her without so much as a second glance. It shouldn't have bothered her, she could care less about what the others aside from the girls and her boys thought but it irked her. More than she liked to admit.

The Gryffindor common room was warm, buzzing with the remnants of the post-match excitement and upcoming celebratory party tonight but Lily stomped through the entrance with a gloomy expression that seemed to dim the path.

Without a single word, she flung herself to the couch where Mary, Marlene and Dorcas sat huffing. Behind her, the boys followed at a cautious pace, aware she was ignoring them more so Sirius who had a guilty expression on his face as he watched her. 

“I asked what everyone of us thought! Why are you lots mad at me?!” He demanded dropping onto the chair opposite her. “Because it was rude!” Lily snapped, sitting up with a glare. “She already wasn't talking and you made it worse!”

Next to her Mary ran a hand through Marlene’s hair that rested on her lap murmuring, “That bad?” James, ever the instigator, scoffed, “Worse. The tension was worse than the time Professor Slughorn walked in on Sirius and Remus.” 

The two turned a bright shade of red while sending him a glare which James ignored, undeterred. “She didn't say a word. Barely even acknowledged us or Lily. I would say it couldn't get worse than that.”

Sirius shrugged, “Maybe she’s one of those prejudiced purebloods?” Remus shook his head, “Is she even a pureblood? Maybe she just doesn't like us, it's not like we are exactly a closed off group.”

Though they all know he was talking more about the rumbustious energy of James and Sirius. They all have a moment of silence that was interrupted with Lily’s loud groan that caused the group to flinch, never once hearing her produce such a noise. “She hates me for sure now.”

Sirius rolled his eyes not understanding what had Lily so worked up. She didn't expect him to, Sirius cared little about others but himself and his friends or lovers.

It was his biggest flaw and sometimes his biggest strength. “And if she did? You don’t know this girl and it's just for a paper, a lot of people envy you Lily. What else is new?” 

Lily didn't offer him a response staring out the window noticing the clouds starting to form. It was true it didn't really matter but still she couldn't help but want to be her friend.

She couldn't help but want to pick the quiet girl apart and find out what made her tick. Laying her head against Remus’ shoulder she continued to stare out the window in silence. 

She wondered if Meliora liked the rain as well.

[hms-no-fun]

you're one of the handful critics whose taste I trust fully. like if you say something is good then I will typically move from "oh I should get around to that" to "that's a Scheduled Event now" so like. I appreciate that.

also do you see yourself as a Critic? or does that role mean something different to you?

thank you! i used to be EXTREMELY opposed to the idea of being called a critic. i hated critics as a teen because i thought they were mean assholes who just wanted to make other people feel bad for liking stuff. i loved movies and watched all kinds of movies and very very rarely found myself hating anything i watched.

of course it turned out this was because i was young, and when you're young you don't have context for anything. the older you get and the more life you live (not necessarily synonymous ideas!), the better able you are to contextualize a work. as you live through elections and see your cool friends become conservatives and etc etc you get better at reading art because art is a mirror. when you're young even a shallow mirror reflects everything and that's an amazing and wonderful feeling. but age brings depth to your life, and makes it harder to see as much of yourself in shallow mirrors. and if your job is to write about movies, it's really easy to develop resentments for the samey hall of mirrors that is the american film industry.

i don't necessarily think of myself as a critic, but i'll often describe myself that way for convenience. i mean, i am a critic. i went to film school for media studies and i've been making video essays for almost a decade. maybe my youthful resentment for critics came because people often told me i was a critic, on account of me being extremely opinionated about movies very early on (consequences of having a dad who took me to see the blair witch project when i was ten). i was always like, no, a critic is someone who says "this movie IS bad" in an objective sense, but i say "I THINK this movie is bad" because everyone has different opinions!!!

i still mostly hold that perspective tbh? i just stopped giving a shit so much about hurting people's feelings by saying an opinion too loud. back in the day i had a professor who was also my boss on a couple film sets, he was a gaffer which is the guy who takes the artistic direction from the cinematographer and translates that into concrete step-by-step equipment demands for grips and electricians to fulfill. he watched every movie and always had such interesting things to say about them. i considered this guy my mentor, i hung out in his office all the time and i admired his perspective so much. at one point on set i asked him what it is he looks for movies, how is it he seems incapable of truly hating anything. he asked for time to think about it, and came back after lunch with an answer: essentially, "i look for that one thing that works. something i've never seen, some interesting idea or play of light or shot composition. even the worst movies, often especially the worst movies, are capable of expanding your idea of film is capable of."

that's been pretty much my polestar ever since. i came up in an era of youtube that was all about hyperbolically tearing shit down, and even as i found it entertaining that was never really the kind of analysis i wanted to do. i think it's very easy to be mean off the cuff and a lot harder to take something for what it is and try to see something redemptive within it. like it sucks but even the worst marvel slop has its moments, and that's the evidence that cinema isn't dead. i enjoy searching for meaning in these reflections and articulating them. art is so much more fun when you play with it instead of against it. but then, that's just, like, my opinion, man

[crying-pan420]

I love Nimona so much

I swear it’s an amazing movie if you haven’t watched it yet

Watch it

I’ve seen it 9 times now I think

Anyway

My thoughts on the ending (kinda, the scene where she becomes the “monster”)

I think that the encounter described at the beginning of the story was the backstory we were show and that it was just little kids made up to be so much much so when Nimona remembers it all and becomes the monster she’s not creating something new, she is becoming what everyone else saw her as and made her into. She was never that monster but because of everyone else around her shoving her into boxing and treating her as such (and with the legend) she became that monster.

Also the fact that the institute does more damage to the city then Nimona did in that scene. The only time she actively attacked something was the monster advert because she’s so tired of seeing the society build up on a lie that only wants to hurt her. And when Ballister apologises by putting his robot arm on Nimonas heart!!! Ahhhhhhh! This film has so much just amazing stuff

My final bit of half heart analysis is when she becomes the Phoenix to stop the director from killing everyone, the poster she passes shows her as gloreth while the director is on the monsters side showing how now the kingdom would see her as the hero.

(Also the idea that all their technology and weapons are advanced while their buildings and clothes are still medieval could show how their ideas haven’t changed in 1000 years but they’ve only focused on continuing those ideas rather then changing and improving themselves but that I could just be reading into too much)

[w-d-g]

ITS SLIMY SCIENTIST SATURDAY MOTHERFUCKERS

((tell him the truth. he can take it. he Wants you to tell him the truth /ref))

[pix-writes]

Uhhhh Stan adopting a teenage runaway who came from an abusive home. (He sees a lot of his past self when he was homeless in them and vows to save them from the life he had)

This is kind of adjacent to an idea for a fic I've already had! But I couldn't resist doing a little bit about this scenario! <3

Stan has already basically adopted Wendy and Soos already, even without fully meaning to with Soos he sees that he needs a father figure in his life and sort-of does the best he can to be that. With Wendy, its different too because it's basically canon that he just lets her get away with stuff because he knows she needs somewhere away from home to relax (even tho he could definitely get another employee who doesn't bunk off so much). Will he admit that's what he's doing though? Of course not!

Despite his exterior/persona, though, Stanley Pines is a kind man who wants to help people who most need it - like you say, he's been in that position enough times himself. I'm sure there's been the occaisonal person who's helped him out in the past, even if they never stuck around. Well, now he's Mr Mystery, he can sort-of be that person for others, not just because he's more stable, but also because he desperatly wants connection, especially after losing his brother in the portal (though that's also a reason to keep everyone at arms length to an extent, so they can never find out about his double life).

Runaway teen & Stan pines (under cut):

I can imagine you ran away from home and come across Gravity Falls, perhaps you had even seen the ads for tourist stops in this area, or maybe you just found the most random small town on your travels and decided to stop there - your travels are erratic so that no one can follow you or suspect you of being a runaway. Not that you really expect your parents to be concerned, at least not for long. That's why you had to get away and stay gone, you had reached your breaking point for what you could handle.

It starts to rain, you go to the local diner but your travel money is fast becoming less and less... you only order coffee, nursing it there for as long as possible, but when business starts to pick up you realise just how small of a town it is, everyone seems to know nearly everybody around here! You've already gotten a few curious glances or greetings put your way and you decide to leave.

Wandering around, you end up on the outskirts of town, there's a fair few campsites around, now lying half empty since its off-season right now, maybe you coud stay on the edge of the forest somewhere? Pinch some tent equipment from somewhere or from someone who doesn't need it? You already had a sleeping bag, water bottle, a torch. You just needed something to keep more of the rain off of you!

That's when you wander into an opening within the forest, notice the wooden signs nailed to the trees. You see a small group of tourists being spoken to by some guy, his voice carrying across the place, gravelly and jovial, and in your surprise you just stare dumbfounded - this place isn't closed? The group is moving and you take in your surroundings and you're so cold and wet and hungry, you're not really thinking ahead when go in, pulling your hoodie down over your face and sneaking in beind the throng of people, unnoticed.

But it turns out that you had been noticed, after the bizarre tour of this overpriced tourist trap, you lurk behind, the rain hasn't let up outside and you're wondering when the place might close, now that the tourists had filtered out the place was pretty dead, which is when a large hand lands on your shoulder making you jump out of your skin and your eyes land on the proprietor.

"Hey! You gonna at least buy anything, kid?"

You apologise and stutter, feeling like you want to bolt but totally caught at the same time. Stan immediately picks up on the fact that you're so twitchy, even for a teen. He eases up on you, switching to a friendlier tone. Wendy asks you where you're staying, curiosity getting the better of her usually nonchalant demeanour. You tell them you just got lost from the campsite and Stan isn't buying it one bit but Wendy has given you the directions and you're out of the door. The interaction doesn't sit right with him. He knows exactly where you're hiding out by the time you've stayed there overnight. Having discovered the pop up tent you 'found' set up in the woods not far away.

He decides to keep an eye on you, he's worried being direct will make startle you, like a deer in headlights, at the diner he doesn't acknowledge you at first just pushes a plate of food subtly towards you, for you to swipe. After that he manages to make small talk, hes still wondering how he can help you, what excuse he can make so it seems like he's offering you something and it be believable instead of suspicious.

Maybe he complains there's no one around to do the stock take now that summer is well and truly over, you perk up, saying you'd like some extra pocket money. You come right on time and the owner of the Mystery Shack introduces himself properly, shows you what you need to do. You take your time, living rough has made you exhausted mentally/physically, and because... you've begun to like the place as kooky as it is. And wouldn't you know it, Mr Pines has made more food than he expected and wouldn't you like some? You come back the next day and its pretty much the same, though you are starting to pick up on where Stan is subtly gaining information on you. He both curses and admires how whip-smart you are, reminds him of himself a lot further into being homeless than you are (reminds him of someone else too...), he worries that night of whether you'll have run off, if you'd get into trouble somewhere else, but you return the following afternoon. This time, Stan levels with you -

"Look kid, I don't know what's going on at home and trust me when I say I get it - but whatever's going on, it's probably not worth staying out in the woods, epseically 'round here, it's dangerous!" He reassures you he's not going to call anyone, though, just asks you to reconsider, think about how much trouble you might get into, if you don't turn up to school how you're going to explain yourself, how are you going to get a job? You swipe frustrated tears from your eyes and thank him for being concerned, though its hollow. How can you return home now? All you're going to get is more abuse, you can only think of how angry they'll all be if you did!

You end up wandering to some other town, using the money Stan gave you to get a bus and find a place to stay, having seen a load of jobs you could apply for. Turns out though, that some of your family had been looking for you and tracked your phone, you end up in a fight with them, receiving a hard slap to the face before running away once more! You pack up your things and head straight to the first place you think of.

Once you get there, its dark, you hesitate before knocking but you've came all this way. When Stan opens the door all of the shock and adrenaline has seemed to have worn off and you see the mix of sadness, surprise and anger on his face at the clear mark on your face from the fight.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to go." Is all you can get out before bursting into tears. He let's you stay, you've been out in the cold and so stressed over this time that when you come in you're shivering, you end up running a nasty fever. You're so exhausted there's nothing left but to accept your fate and Stan feels he must help you. He piles on the blankets and gives you hot drinks and plain food till the fever runs its course.

He still has a bit of trouble with authorities/some family members looking for you in the area, you traded your old phone in for another and Stan was eventually able to brush them off your trail. He couldn't help it, he liked the kid in the small amount of time he knew them and it was clear that you had danger waiting for you at home. You had told him a little after the first night you had stayed at the shack, words tumbling out of your mouth about your trauma, how you couldn't stand your family. His heart sank as he remembered his own life as a young man, a kid technically, homeless and making ends meet and was determined you wouldn't have the same fate. Yet he had to know you were sure.

"You really want to stay here - in this boring ol' town? At the shack?" You were determined you would, as long as he was okay with that, you vowed to work hard, sweep the floors, keep an eye on the gift shop when Wendy couldn't, anything to be useful. But, you didn't want him to get into trouble. Too little too late for that, he thought to himself.

"But, really do ya want to see this ugly mug every day?" He said gesturing to his face. That brought a slight smile to your face, in fact you ended up giggling and he knew he wouldn't be able to get rid of you now (like he ever would've entertained it).

He sighed. "So, do you trust me? Cause I need some kind of story if ya gonna stay here, kiddo."

He needed a lot more than that of course, he ended up getting you a fake ID and if anyone asked, you were family, here to stay for a while. When people asked anything more than that he got cagey, but he liked thinking of you being a Pines, another part of the family. Part of him felt guilty for doing it too, faking that you had the same last name, he still thought you might not want to stick around, you weren't blood family to him, you had no ties to him, but he wanted family so badly, was it so bad to pretend that you were?

He made sure you got to school, he even started to pack you lunches every day, he wasn't so bothered about homework, saying he didn't think much of school when he went anyway, you both had something more important than that (street smarts!), but when you were struggling with your math homework you were surprised that he semmed to know an awful lot, but then again you probably shouldn't be surprised, he did own a business after all. Whilst there wasn't a lot to do around the Mystery Shack all year round, you still found yourself picking up around the house part of the Shack, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, normal chore stuff - isn't that what teens were supposed to do? Stan was surprised to see a teen do chores unprompted and you were nervous that you'd done something wrong, because why else would he be questioning you? He recovered quickly though and just grumbled out something about 'finally, someone who knows how to pick up after themselves/work' but from the expression on his face, you are relieved to know that he is joking with you and he isn't mad. You're picking up on his quirks.

The months roll by and you started to feel safer, the shack became more familiar, you were less frightened and jumpy, people in town were more friendly, familiar faces and if people knew that you weren't actually related, that you were a runaway, they didn't say anything at all. You were starting to be referred to as 'Stan's kid'. No one had said so in front of Stan so far as you knew, it made you feel some residual guilt, even after all that you're family had done, were you really not a burden to Stan? Was it wrong to see him like a parent? What would you do if he no longer wanted you around? But as much as you were scared of being rejected, a situation came up at the Shack at the beginning of your first summer in the falls. A gathering was forming for a tour and some tourist had asked something or assumed he was your parent, something like that. Unbeknownst to you Stan had heard and he freezed, unconsciously waiting on your response.

"Oh, you'll wanna ask my dad, he's the one over there in the fez?" It just slipped out, you should've said Mr Mystery at work, but you couldn't help the feeling in your chest that it was right. Ever since then you had been tentatively saying it (you eventually start to notice how when you knew Stan had heard it he seemed a little emotional) and Stan now proudly referred to you as 'his kid'. You may or may not call him 'dad' to his face, maybe you'll still just call him 'Stan' but it seems like now you officially have a family!

[sea-buns]

Never did I expect myself to be mourning the absence of english essays and writing exams and theatre class critiques. Do you understand how fucking amazing of a grade I could get on an analysis of trauma in Critical Role? On Lou Wilson and Emily Axford's finesse in portraying the heavy expectations and double standards placed on children? On Ylfa Snorgelsson's relationship to death? On the journey of a man's relationship to violence? On an analysis of grief in Dimension 20? On the pitfalls of youth? On the dynamic between humanity and religion? On the journey of self-discovery and acceptance? On love in all its forms? On the nature of choice? On everything Brennan Lee Mulligan has to say about capitalism? On the tragedy of im/mortality? On Gerard and Elody's divorce? On the unfeeling and aimless happenstance of the universe? On the role of fate and destiny? I'm not saying it would be easy. I'm saying can you imagine how fucking cool it would have been to turn in 5 pages about a dnd show, feeling good about it?

[hatredmadeofgold]

Remember when I said in 2022 that I could imagine Raiden to have DID and that I have this headcanon? Well what if I tell you that by 2025 I can tell you that this is possibly actual canon because what the fuck *glares at MGR codecs, the mgs2 novel and my Japanese copy of MGR and shakes them screaming*

[louthestarspeaker]

You guys!! Dal's captain arc in season two is literally him just learning to trust that people will watch out for him and care about him and the institutions that are supposed to keep him safe and his crew safe and actually have his best interest at heart, I'm not the only one who thinks this right?? <- girl who thought too hard about Dal R'El and now needs to write an essay and maybe cry a little about him

[alwaysyouuuuuu]

So i was thinking about your Wolfstar Marvel AU again (it should pay rent with how much it's spinning around my head) and like,,,, Sirius not having any kind of closure about Remus,,, he doesn't know what happened to him, they never found a body or any traces of him and then he was pronounced dead and Sirius just. Doesn't know. He doesn't even know why they took Remus in the first place. And he probably feels guilty about it too (bc ofc he would!!!). Just, the lack of closure of it all, the big question mark haunting him, up until 70+ years later when he's face-to-face with Remus again (I'm loving it)

Hi hi hi!!!! 💕💕💕 Thank you so much for the ask! I am so happy we both find it consuming haha and I agree. AU needs to start paying me hourly wages for just how much it keeps me up and wondering at night. I would be in tears and at the end of my wit, if I had to do just part of this research in school (I was not into history or any literature for school, and that's putting it mildly.) and now I do this willingly lol.

You know one of those, "I'm so glad you asked"- *7 hour long vm* memes? I fear this will end up like that. Bear with me.

Before we get into that, I'll clear up some background? So Remus was first taken along with a lot of their troop (ambush?), and they were partially injected (plot reasons plot reasons!! I feel like you can guess why!!) and the Sirius and co rescued them etc etc. And then Remus was targeted specifically.

So before the permafrost, I feel the situation was very bad for Sirius. For one, he would have agreed to the Serum in the first place because Remus was in captivity (also for the war effort, of course, but to Sirius, at that point there really was no room for question which may have been there otherwise), and then he got Remus back. Just to lose him again.

And then, to the Military and almost everyone else, Hope and Lyall Lupin lost a son, but Sirius Black lost a fellow soldier. He lost a comrade. Sure, they were friends, so him being vengeful is believable, to an extent. And no one really gets the blank look in his eyes, after.

I believe there was a quote that went like, "Should you lose a spouse/partner, there is a shared understanding of the relationship, but when you lose a friend, there's no tangible evidence, no widely acknowledged way to mourn."

Except, for Sirius, he did lose his partner, love of his life and dearest friend of so many years. And no one understands. Maybe James and Lily know, but it is the 40s. Realistically, they are quiet about it at best. For him it is both, and all the more painful. And he doesn't get exactly why Remus was targeted either. Remus was at an integral position in the OSS, unusual for his age, recruited at the very beginning, one of the sharpest minds, so it could have been that. And god, he was cold blooded when he got to fighting. But of course, he cannot shake the feeling that it was because of him.

So, in that time, the days he spent looking for Remus with James and Lily, (which really wasn't much, they would not have been allowed to!) he is partially cynical. Not to the point of self-blaming but enough to self-destruct. James tries to get him out of it, but Lily grits her teeth. She doesn't say much, because she understands, I believe, how much at that point he just wants it to end.

*BAM* permafrost.

After he gains consciousness, he would have blanked out for a while, because what even is this? But he doesn't, because after the first few excruciating minutes, when the blood is pounding in his chest, looking at every flash of light, every building and car that look unnatural, really, the first thing he processes is Moody telling him that the War is over. Good, at least something went well, he thinks.

They tell him many soldiers were rescued, because that's the first thing he asks. After it sinks in, he wants to hope, and maybe he does. Because this is real, he can see it. As outlandish as it is, he is in the future. If this can be real, how foolish would it be to hope that maybe Remus made it too? He would be old, and he would have lived his life. Maybe with someone else, and that's okay. If he gets to see him one more time, Jesus, it's okay.

They tell him what happened with HYDRA and his family. They tell him about James Potter and how he revolutionized weapons, they tell him about Lily Potter, who later went on to join the NSA. God, he gets fucking giddy hearing all of that, because it worked out. For someone, it did. For James and Lily, it did. He wants to meet Harry.

And he starts to have a nagging thought, because with how they speak of and to him, maybe they would have mentioned his known childhood friend. And Remus was known to his own credit.

So he asks, slowly about one Remus Lupin?

And lo and behold. They know of him of course, of course, he was Captain America's best friend. But nothing was known of him post war.

He tries to hold his face and nods, but Moody gives him a strange look. Tells him that he'll look into it for him. He tamps it down, though, there is no point in a wishful fantasy. He would have begged Moody if required, but there really is no point. And he doesn't think he can open his mouth without saying something incriminating.

Moody offers him the initiative, of course, but they tell him to take a breath, see the world, find himself first. And he does, he takes a few days. But then he gets time to think about it, to mull things over, to reevaluate his last choices. When he is trying to ease into the new world, he is busy, things are overwhelming. But once he gets home, he spirals. He remembers how panicky he had been during the first rescue mission. He had been desperate. And what if that clued them in? There were others in the OSS. So why just Remus?

It had to be him.

So he throws himself into missions, trains hard, exhausts himself so doesn't have to think. He does what he's always been doing, he helps SHIELD and doesn't question much, because he is still processing. Some things stick out but one can only handle so much, yeah? Besides, James and Lily were the co-founders.

He finds out. Well. Many things about his past and it's just so much (I'll stop or this itself will spiral to 3k.)

I feel he's quite mercurial at times in these days. Unsettled, but he keeps going. He drinks sometimes, gets shit faced. Those days are increasing, really.

Then he meets Elena.

And there is something striking about her. Such a young girl, and he can see it in her eyes that she has seen a lot. Too much. He sees himself in her. And he is protective. He is maybe a little taken aback. Because she seems so much... like an old soul.

And Elena is drawn to him too. She opens up, slowly, slowly, which she doesn't normally. But he is fiery. Like her. And they mostly have the same stances. She doesn't speak of her childhood, and so he doesn't ask. She does mention she had a dad, and though seemingly not for long, she remembers her name from him.

She seeks out his company and it soothes something in him. I feel he's a little more settled? With time? I mean it's hard to pity yourself when there is someone dragging you out to bowl and join soccer clubs, when that someone is a loner too. Even though thinking of Remus' hurts a little more each day, because he feels that Elena and Remus would get along so well. Man she even fights like him.

So when he sees Remus again, it is whiplash of the worst kind. Remus is just there. Because it is Remus and it is not, and he is standing there just staring because this Remus even fights the same. And he sees Elena standing frozen there, and it suddenly hits him that she looks... like Remus.

Except for her eyes and it is like he is watching everything from afar. All he can do try to hold Remus back. Until Neville flies them away.

Because what has his life come to?

Elena is not responding. She is not even looking at him. And Sirius is thinking a thousand miles an hour. I think he'd find out everything he can about whoever this Winter Soldier is.

Before they finally bring R in for questioning I feel S would be overcome with guilty and longing and a lot of painful confusion, really.

And mostly, Sirius is guilt ridden. Remus was in there, with them doing who knows what to him, for 70 years? He never deserved that. Sirius was outwardly rebellious. It was his family helping fund HYDRA. And then there's Elena. Is Elena Remus'? Because how in the world did Remus manage to have a kid while he was trapped in a facility?

There is something really cool about her name. if you look closely.

Outside of his blackouts, Remus solely spoke Russian to everyone around him for 70 years right? So it seems logical that's what he'd speak to elena in that environment, mind controlled half the time etc, before they were separated (she was like. 7) and he'd find it a little difficult to slip into English again, or that's what Elena thinks. So when he demands to meet her first, she storms in, defensive stance (Sirius is standing right outside by the way) but Remus just blinks. Because they said it was Elena Chernova. But it's not. It's Helena Black.

And Sirius just. Dies a little.

Basically. He is spiralling.

So is this, so I'll stop here.

Based on this post. + snippet.

[vendimeyers]

The reason so many people stopped watching Doctor Who during Capaldi’s run as the Doctor is because Amy and Rory’s departure was so uniquely out of character that it wasn’t as satisfying as it was set up to be and completely disrupted the Doctor’s character arc

Poor Clara never stood a chance, in this essay I will-

[peachyfnaf]

I'm sorry but "MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER<3" really made my day and I needed you to know

🤣🤣🤣

I can't believe Nexus is bullying peepaw war criminal.

Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?

(Please talk about baby cringe Lord Nexus, I want to hear about your blorbo 🙏)

That's because Nexus IS my beautiful princess with a disorder, I'll have you know <3 they're diseased but it's okay I can give them their tetanus and flu shots and it'll all be better I GOT THIS

But. ahem, okay, blorbo yapping time. I'm not even gonna say "I'll try to keep this short" because I know it wont end up that way HAHAHAHAHA

"Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?"

I... have absolutely no idea!!!1! (and also it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize peepaw war criminal was Ruin KJDFHSDF)

The most frustrating thing about canon Nexus is how his morals, motivations, and goals seem to see-saw back and forth all the time. at first, he became how he is now due to Solar's death. he spiraled in his grief, identity-issues, and abandonment. but... now his motivation is to become an all powerful god??? while it's most likely that NSP is at play and affecting his thought process, it's... well, it's really hard to take him seriously as a villain because of it, lol. for an audience to enjoy, and even sympathize in some cases, with a villain, their goals and motivations have to be concrete. they have to be relatable, or at least understandable, but Nexus' whole thing is... not, Imho. and I know I'm not the only person who feels this way!!!

I see a lot of people calling Nexus "cringe", and the thing is, when it comes to canon Nexus, they're not really... wrong??? The worst thing Nexus has done so far is make Old Moon see his past victims, which is fucked up of him to do, but.. so far, that's kind of it??? other than that, his "villainy" consists of saying empty threats and cheesy evil one-liners. hell, he was supposed to kidnap Sun yesterday but instead spent the whole episode yapping and venting to him, chasing Sun around in the worlds darkest game of tag before getting some lead right in the face dkfjhsdfsd

Also, notice how he's only targeted Old Moon when it comes to actual physical violence? not Lunar, Earth, Solar, or Sun, but Old Moon? yeah, I did too. we already know that Nexus does everything because he's lashing out, but as of rn the only target he's gotten his hands on physically being O.M...? well. I think it says a lot. cause' yeah, he sure as shit scared the life out of the other Celestials, but he's never put his hands on them!! the only other one of them he harmed physically was Earth- and not only was he not aiming for her, she was just in the way- he felt immediate regret for his actions once in space, and has yet to even see Earth ever since that day.

So, I really have no idea if he's going to be "redeemed" or not. one second he's showing signs he might be, and the next he's falling further down the "pretty badly written villain" rabbit-hole. if he does get something akin to a redemption arc, he'll prolly mostly be accepted in the eyes of the viewers, considering a lot of peeps sympathize or at least understand where he's coming from, but I seriously doubt the other Celestials would take him back. the only one's who might see him as family/a close friend again are Sun and Solar, but even then, nothing would ever be the same.

I hope he gets redeemed, or at least freed from the hold Dark Sun has on him and he's able to live his own life, I really do. at his core, Nexus is a good person. a good person who was crushed under the weight of the shadow of the man he was born under. and we know this because he used to be New Moon. sweet, dorky New Moon.

New Moon, who made inventions like sentient knives and whoopee cushions. New Moon, who had matching My Little Pony stickers with his best friend. New Moon, who bought a whole ass island-luxury-house for Sun because he wanted to make him feel better and give him the proper space to heal. and New Moon- the poor freshly-baked A.I who gave his all to make sure he could do everything that Old Moon could, but it just wasn't enough. he tried and tried and tried, but it wasn't enough.

So yeah, idk if he's getting one in canon, but to me, he more than deserves a good ending, for the life he was given. let him be at peace.

[bbuzz28]

if you could write an essay about 1 thing about your current hyperfixation what would it be

Hmmmmmm, probably something about Stan and his relationship with his brother's journals/ his probable reaction to them :)))))))

Stanley Pines spent the better part of thirty years re-reading a journal that his (at the time of writing it) 20something twin wrote in his early "everyday day is an amazing adventure!" era of Gravity Falls and did his ("never graduated high school but taught himself advanced science") best to glean every crumb of portal information from it while he also absolutely ruminated on the fact that his brother was so happy (without him) and how he ruined his life, again.(which, yeah Stan babe, ya did, even if it was an accident.)That version of Stanford from Journal 1 he still probably felt he knew well.

THEN, post-Gideon stealing The Shack, he has Journal 2! Immediately he gets everything he can about the portal from it-whatever formulas Ford wrote in the margins etc--but then he takes the time to read the rest of it. He reads about his brother's new obsession with the occult (he's always been a little kooky-but he's writing like he actually believes in this stuff vs his normal ' here's my scientific method, I have a dozen degrees in fields you've never heard of' schtick) and he's a little more wary because what the hell did his brother think he was, a knock off version of their mother? But he can still see the brother he remembers throughout the pages, the one who could recite fun factoids about the Jersey Devil backwards and forwards, and of course still feels the never-ending guilt of taking him away from his happy life that has become second nature to him at this point.

And then...he reads Journal 3. Just like with Journal 2 he rushes to get all the portal information from it--and boy, does it have the most. He should be elated! This is the closest he has been to fixing this goddamn portal in decades! With that said...he can't help but notice the tone shift in this journal.

The paranoia.

Yeah, they had their own secret code as kids, and he's been through the other journals and deciphered a few parts of them, but this is so much more...guarded.

Like he fully expected someone else to be reading it when he didn't want them to.

It's clear that some pages have been ripped out of this one, so he doesn't have the whole story, but what he does have makes him sick.

Its like it's thirty years ago again and he suddenly understands the blood stains he cleaned up.

The depleted first aid kit.

The dozens upon dozens of empty coffee cans.

The weird half made invention still collecting dust in the corner of the lab that reminded him of a deep-sea diving suit.

The post-it notes in a different handwriting scattered everywhere.

The, what he can confirm through context clues, human nail marks on the original door leading to the basement where the portal was being kept.

His brother was losing his mind.

His brother was losing his mind, and he pushed him into another dimension at what was the lowest point in both of their lives.

Something like that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯