#if you don't find me at least mildly annoying then I'm doing something wrong

[benispunk]

Good Company

logan howlett x reader

hello!!! guess who's back with a new story...I'm actually a bit nervous about it because I haven't (fully) written a reader insert fic in so long and I don't even know if it's a good depiction of the characters😭 anyway keep in mind that it was hard to write that, English is not my first language, and that I also want to write more, but I'm kind of shy around here. Okay enough about me. Enjoy!!

Wade worries that he’s seriously messed up with Logan, thinking he’s done something so bad that Logan might actually want to destroy him. Unsure of what went wrong, he turns to Y/n, Logan’s girlfriend, for advice.

TW: language, and Wade Wilson I guess.

Masterlist

Y/n was enjoying a quiet evening at her apartment, curled up on her couch with a book, when she heard loud knocks on the door. It was so insistent that she couldn’t help but roll her eyes, already suspecting who it was.

She opened the door to find Wade standing there, with a pizza box in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.

« Wade? » She raised an eyebrow. « What are you doing here? »

The man in question grinned brightly, shoving the pizza box toward her face as if it were an offering from a royal subject. « Surprise! I come in peace with gifts, for you, your majesty. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking ‘why is my most handsome friend standing at my door on this particular Friday evening, when I could be enjoying some alone time’- but here’s the thing, I was in the neighborhood, and I needed an excuse to come and see you, sunshine. »

Y/n’s skepticism deepened, her eyebrow arching even higher. « You were in the neighborhood? »

He shrugged, unbothered by the disbelief in her voice. « Fine, I was bored and I needed to see you and get away from the apartment. »

She frowned slightly, trying to figure out if there was more to this visit than he was letting on. « Alright, Wade. Come on in. »

Wade didn’t need a second invitation. He strolled into the apartment, setting the pizza and beer on the coffee table before flopping down on the couch with the ease of someone who had done this a thousand times before. Y/n followed, sitting beside him, her curiosity piqued.

« Okay, spill it. What’s going on? » Y/n asked, tilting her head as she studied him.

Wade cracked open a beer, took a long sip, and then let out a dramatic sigh. « First, I did really miss you and I’m so happy to see you »

Y/n softened at that, a small smile playing on her lips. « I’m happy to see you too, Wade. But what is it? »

« Second… » Wade’s usual bravado faltered slightly as he searched for the right words. « You know how Logan’s got that permanent scowl like he’s auditioning for ‘Grumpiest Man Alive’? Lately, though, it feels like he’s been directing all that grumpiness at me. I’m used to him being grumpy—kind of comes with the territory—but now it’s like he’s gone from ‘mildly annoyed’ to ‘seriously, get out of my sight.’ »

He paused, looking down at the beer in his hand, his fingers fidgeting with the label. « And I know I’m an asshole and I annoy him every single minute of his life- like a sugar rush and a headache all rolled into one- but he’s been kind of on the verge of trashing down the place all because of one stupid joke. So I’ve been trying, or at least I think so, to be less…the annoying bitch that I am, but I feel like he’s getting worse with me? I’m trying to laugh it off, but honestly, it’s kind of eating at me, Y/n. You’re pretty much the Logan-whisperer—got any insights? »

Y/n’s expression softened at Wade’s revelation. She reached over and squeezed his arm gently. « Logan’s got a lot on his mind and, as you may know, he doesn’t know how to deal with that. And I think that, because he doesn't know how to express all of those things, and the fact that it takes a lot for him to open up, he might be pushing you away. He did the same thing with me at the beginning of our relationship. It was fuckin’ hard to deal with but I couldn’t let him do that. »

« Yeah, but your his girl. It's different. What if he decides he’s done with me? I mean, who else is gonna put up with my charming personality and endless movie references? » Wade’s attempt at humor fell flat, his unease still evident. 

She chuckled softly, shaking her head.

« Sorry, I just- It’s just that I- ugh. Do I need to pay you at the end of this therapy session, counselor? »

« Go on, Wade. » Y/n urged, her tone gentle but firm.

He sighed, leaning back against the couch. « He’s my buddy. I don’t want to lose him. And I especially don’t want to be the reason he’s leaving me. I would rather have you telling him to stop being friends with me. If he even considers me as a friend…»

Y/n cut him off, her voice firm. « Of course, he does! You’re his friend, Wade. Probably one of the best at that. Never doubt that, trust me. And I’m sorry he has you feeling that way. Those walls he put up around himself, it’s not for his own safety, he truly believes that he’s a danger for others. Whatever he does to you, it’s because he cares too much about you to be a burden in your life. He’s a fucking idiot for that, yes. It hurts even more to know that, yes. And I’m certainly not trying to defend him, but you should know that I had to work hard to break those damn walls. »

Wade stared at her, a mixture of hope and disbelief in his eyes. « You know, for someone who spends so much time with a guy who barely talks, you’re pretty good at this whole talking thing. »

She smiled, her heart warming at the sight of Wade starting to relax. « Takes a lot of practice. »

As they settled into their usual banter, Wade felt a little lighter, knowing that Y/n understood his concerns and had reassured him. Logan might be tough to figure out, but with Y/n in the picture, Wade felt like maybe things would be okay.

He grinned, the familiar mischief returning to his eyes. « I’ll fight for our man »

Y/n laughed, shaking her head in amusement. « You’re ridiculous. »

Wade took another sip of his beer, his grin widening. « Yeah, but you love me for it. »

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the fond smile that tugged at her lips. « Yeah, I guess I do. »

___

Logan found himself standing outside Y/n’s apartment door, hesitating. He could hear muffled sounds of laughter from inside, recognizing Wade’s loud one. With a heavy sigh, he pushed the door open.

Inside, Y/n and Wade were on the couch, a pizza box and empty beer bottles cluttered on the coffee table. Wade was in the middle of an animated story, and Y/n was smiling at him. The sight made his chest tighten. He’d been so wrapped up in his own head lately that he hadn’t even noticed how much he was distancing himself from all of this. 

Wade spotted him first, grinning from ear to ear. « Hey, Logan. Decided to join the party after all? »

Logan grunted, closing the door a little harsher than he intended, making Y/n jumped at the sound. « Didn’t expect to find you here. »

Y/n smile faded slightly, sensing the tension in the room. She moved on the couch, making space for Logan beside her. « We were just hanging out, figured you might want to join us » she said.

Logan hesitated, his eyes lingering on Wade for a moment before he finally sat down. The silence that followed was thick, the easy banter from earlier replaced by a heavy, unspoken tension. Y/n could feel Logan’s frustration radiating off him, and Wade’s nervous energy was practically palpable.

« So… » Wade started, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence. « You, uh, missed some prime pizza. And I even saved you a slice. It’s in the kitchen, waiting for you, like a good little slice of heaven. »

Logan just grunted again, staring at the coffee table instead of acknowledging the gesture. Y/n felt the tension mounting and knew she had to do something before things got worse.

She gently nudged Logan with her elbow, giving him a small, encouraging smile. « Maybe you should eat something. Might help you feel better. »

Logan glanced at her, his hard exterior softening just a bit under her gaze. But before he could respond, Wade cleared his throat, drawing both of their attention back to him.

« Listen, Logan, » Wade began, his usual bravado faltering as he tried to sound casual. « I know I’m not exactly Mr. Sensitivity, but…have I done something to piss you off more than usual? You’ve been, uh, a little more…murderous lately, and I’m starting to think it’s not just my charming personality. »

Logan frowned. « What are you talking about? You’re always fucking annoying, bub. »

Wade forced a laugh, but there was an edge of vulnerability in his voice that Logan couldn’t ignore. « Yeah, I know, but it feels like I’m more of a target than usual. Like, did I cross some line? Or is it just me being my usual, lovable self? »

Y/n squeezed Logan’s hand gently, trying to ground him.

He looked at her, his frustration battling with the guilt that was slowly taking over. Admitting that something was wrong was never easy for him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly conflicted.

« It’s not…It’s not you, Wade, » Logan finally muttered, though his tone was still gruff. « I’ve got a lot of stuff on my mind and, uh, I guess I’ve been taking it out on you. »

Wade’s expression shifted, a mixture of relief and concern. « Okay, so…what’s on your mind, then? Maybe I can help. Or, at least, I can try to stop doing whatever it is that’s making you want to claw my face off. »

Logan didn’t answer right away, his eyes darting between Wade and Y/n. He could see the worry in her eyes, the way she was trying to keep the peace between them. It only made him feel worse. He wasn’t used to people caring so much, and it unsettled him.

« It’s nothing you can help with, » Logan said after a long pause, his voice softer now. « Just…shit I’m dealing with. Doesn’t mean I hate you, Wade. Just means I’m not great at dealing with stuff. Also, you’re still a pain in the ass. »

Wade nodded, the tension in his shoulders easing just a little. « Okay, I can get that. I appreciate it. But, you know, I’m not exactly great at feelings and all that, but I’m here if you need to… I don’t know, punch something or whatever. »

Logan managed a small smile at that, finally meeting Wade’s gaze. « Yeah, I know that. Thanks. »

Wade grinned, his usual energy starting to return. “Well, now that we’ve had our little therapy session, how about we crack open another beer and watch a good movie? It’s like the ultimate bonding experience. And what’s the best thing for that? A fucking musical.”

Logan’s expression immediately soured. « You’ve got to be kidding me. »

Wade’s grin only grew. « Oh yeah, peanut! »

Y/n laughed, her eyes twinkling with excitement as Logan let out an exaggerated groan, his shoulders slumping as he reluctantly gave in.

Wade chuckled and patted Logan on the back. « Let’s fucking go. »

As they settled onto the couch, Logan couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. Despite his grumbling, there was a genuine warmth in his eyes as he looked at Y/n and Wade. He found himself laughing at Wade’s over-the-top dance moves and Y/n’s infectious joy.

Logan glanced at his girlfriend, who was practically glowing with happiness as she sang along to the movie’s songs. It was clear he was enjoying himself, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud.

___

Later that night, after Wade had left and they were alone again, Logan stayed behind at Y/n’s apartment. He was still living with Wade but coming back home after tonight wasn’t the best idea. He needed the calm he found in Y/n’s home. They sat together on the couch, the remnants of their evening scattered around them.

« You know, you handled that pretty well. » she said softly.

Logan let out a long breath, leaning back against the couch. « Yeah, well, didn’t feel like it at the time. »

« But you did, and that’s what matters. » she insisted, turning to look at him.

He looked down at her, his gaze softening as he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. « I don’t know what I’d do without you. »

She smiled, leaning into his touch. « Lucky for you, you won’t have to find out. »

Logan pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. For the first time in a while, he felt like things were starting to make sense again.

He tilted his head slightly, brushing his lips against the top of her head. She lifted her head up, catching his gaze, her eyes reflecting a mixture of affection and relief. Logan's eyes softened as he looked at her, the weight of the past few days seeming to lift.

He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers, soft and slow, as if she was made of glass. The most precious thing in his heart. Y/n's hands found their way to the back of his neck, pulling him closer as she deepened the kiss.

When they finally pulled back, their foreheads rested together, both of them breathing a little heavier.

Logan searched her eyes, his voice soft and sincere, a contrast to his usual gruff. « I love you. »

Y/n’s lips curled up. « I love you too, Lo. »

For the first time in a while, he felt a deep sense of peace. And as they sat there, surrounded by the soft glow of the apartment, he knew that, no matter what challenges lay ahead, they’d be okay. They’ll always find a way.

xx

Thank you for reading <3

[niamhthefae]

While watching Being human, I've noticed that they seem to forget their own vampire lore quite a bit.

For example, in the first series every time Mitchell or another vampire goes outside they will put on a pair of sunglasses and act mildly bothered by the sunlight. However, by the later series the vampires are perfectly fine in direct sunlight. You could argue that in season 4 and 5 Hal is fine because he's an old one and therefore more powerful, but we see Crumb and Cutler both go out and neither of them seem bothered by the sun. This aspect is even mentioned in one of the 'making of' clips about the vampires, where they say that vampires can go out in the sun, they're just a bit sensitive to it. I'm pretty sure this doesn't make it past season one, Daisy and Ivan seem fine, as do most of the other vampires we see in the funeral home or elsewhere, Adam doesn't appear to be bothered either. It's certainly not an age thing as both Mitchell and Lauren are bothered by it in season one and she's barely a few weeks into being a vampire while he's 117.

Mitchell also establishes in the first season that bottled blood simply won't do, and it has to be straight from the vein for a vampire to be satisfied. However somewhere within the first few episodes of series 4 we see someone (it might be Cutler but I can't remember) get a plastic bottle of blood out of a fridge, and later on people have a decanter and cups of blood multiple times. It's fairly safe to assume that Alex's blood was still rather fresh, and maybe the fact that Hal was extremely desperate helped (same with the congealed maggoty blood) but it still implies that this is a regular thing for important vampires. This is also displayed in the flashback of Hal and Cutler in the '40s/'50s. Hal offers Cutler a glass of blood like it's a normal thing for vampires to do together.

I understand they aren't massively noticeable unless you're really thinking about it and it doesn't break our immersion too much and some things work better for plot reasons. I can definitely look past the blood thing. however it certainly wouldn't have been difficult to at least mention that less sensitivity to the sun is another perk of being an old one, or give Hal and the other vampires some sunglasses, or at least have them make a comment in the cafe about how 'customers might find it a bit weird if you're walking around inside wearing sunglasses' and in the hotel have him try to wear them and get told to take them off, have him blink against the light and look to be straining his eyes or say he'd forgotten how annoying the sun was when he's in the car with Leo and Pearl. I would've preferred that they at least acknowledged it a bit or tried to come up with an in universe excuse for the characters to reference rather than seemingly forgetting about it or hoping nobody would notice.

Don't get me wrong, I love this show, I just think that they could have at least said something.

[spiritsglade]

6, 13, 16 for choose violence?

[choose violence ask game]

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

someone tagged one of my posts (about jason) with batjokes once and i think that immediately made me a hater forever. another time i had someone start talking about how they preferred jaytermis over jay x isabel because i namedropped issy in a fic. both of these were one-off moments were i was mildly irritated at one guy, though.

tbh dc ship fans have done a really good job of not being annoying about it thus far. although i am also very much a multishipper + don't really interact with shipping in general beyond reading fic so maybe i'm just not looking in the right places.

13. worst blorboficiation

TIMOTHY JACKSON DRAKE. i think i've come around to him enough to like... actually see his comics canon appeal but his fanon version gets on my nerves so often.

his parents are physically abusive and neglectful and dick took robin away from him and tried to put him in arkham asylum and damian tried to murder him multiple times and jason also tried to kill him and slit his throat etc. etc. like he gets turned into this victim who has been wronged by the entire batfamily and everyone else in his life. and i just don't find that very interesting. and it's paired with tim simultaneously being like... the smartest person ever? putting together way ahead of time that jason is red hood for example, having tech that beats out bruce's and oracle's, stuff like that.

i do get wanting to write your fav as competent but it gets irritating when it's in the jason-centric tag. i am not in the jason-centric tag because i want to see tim be the victim that is also better than jason. that's just a fic about tim at that point.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

obligatory gold lazarus pit > green pit here but honestly i can see the appeal of the green pit.

for an actual answer, the trope/prompt(?) of catatonic jason getting found by the batfam early. like they're at his grave when he digs out or they find him wandering the streets. this mostly comes down to the fact that a lot of jason's appeal to me is because he is red hood, because he has reason to be angry at bruce. and catatonic jason (at least within canon depictions) is so... lacking in agency. so they find him early and he follows them home. now what?

admittedly, i have not read these fics. it's possible they do something interesting with the idea but as is i don't see the appeal well enough to click into them.

[deuterosapiens]

It is one-thirty in the morning, just a normal sort of September night. There's a cat stretched asleep on my bed, a raccoon being annoying outside my window. A clock chimed for the half-hour. I have finished Brothersong.

There's a kind of voice I like to use when I'm writing about these books. I tend to exaggerate my feelings a bit, joke about some of the weirder moments. There's a running vocabulary of stupid in-jokes throughout my posts; things I find amusing that I hope illicit at least an eye roll or a smirk.

I do not think I can maintain that level of self-amusement, right now. I don't want to, not for this one.

I am not exaggerating, playing it up or anything, when I say that I simply could not stop crying throughout the end. Ox's death, Joe's sacrifice, Thomas Bennett at the clearing. This was not fun, this was not pleasant, this was honestly very difficult for me to read.

Let's do a bit of basic addition: Wolfsong (498); Ravensong (496); Heartsong (468); Brothersong (468). One thousand nine-hundred and thirty pages total.

That's one thousand nine hundred thirty pages of love, heartbreak, beauty and death. I nearly dropped the first book halfway through because I was going through a break-up and Joe's decision to leave Ox behind in pursuit of the beast who murdered his father felt like too much at the time. I'm very glad I didn't, but I don't exactly feel glad in the sense that I'm particularly happy right now.

A few days ago, I mentioned how much I was stalling this book, because I knew I wasn't really ready to finish it. There's not exactly more to fall back on, you know?

Not another book, a new villain, a new perspective, or mystery, or awkward gay love to uncover. Just, an ending.

Hell, just finding the right way to talk about how I'm feeling right now, about the book in question, Brothersong, the book I just finished, isn't exactly going well for me.

I've said quite a bit about the late Thomas Bennett. I have been mildly curious about his letter to Joe's future mate, but doubted it would really make an appearance, since, there being no other book, there's no reason to have a viewpoint character read it that isn't Ox. I was wrong.

Ox is. He just is.

Gavin is, as I've said before, the type of man I would fall hopelessly for. Carter has his work cut out for him, but it's a wonderful future nonetheless.

Joe's no longer the Alpha of All, and I'm glad to see this. I'm happy for him. So much could have been avoided if this responsibility had not been given to him.

I'm glad there's exactly no clarity whatsoever on the Chris and Tanner situation. Whatever they've got works for them, and who am I to judge?

Gordo is free of the last of his demons. I hope Mark gets to smile more.

Kelly and Robbie will forever be the definition of "illegally cute couple". Sickening, really, but in a good way.

I just... what's next?

I love these idiots, and I'm glad most of them have a happy ending.

I'm going to leave this here, for personal reasons:

And, this, because it is very true to how these books are sitting with me now:

I think I'm turning in for the night. I've got work in the morning. I'll find another book to read, something that won't depress me as much.

As always, I am lying.

[theghostbunnie]

Im sorry for being annoying (I am autism) but do you have. any performance trio hcs 🏃🏻🏃🏻

Of COURSE I do!!!

They were not immediately friends due to all of them having difficulty with different sets of bad social skills. Preston is "loud and obnoxious" Nerris doesn't always play nice or hold back insults and Harrison is way more in his shell and relied on his illusion tricks to always be a conversation starter/holder.

I've talked in my Nerris HCs about how their behavior towards Harrison comes from a sense of competition elf can't handle well or maturely, and I think this was something that got worse before it got better, before it got worse though Harrison and her are often seen close to each other or hanging out.

They were sitting next to each other having a good time not paying attention to Preston's play. (Harrison was removing his thumb and goofing around with Nerris and Ered and it was ACTUALLY coming off, flicked off at Nerris' face. I'm assuming this is how when he froze himself and she accidentally chipped off his arm she knew how to help him fix it.)

At the end of the disaster play neither one of them even wanted to go to Nerris even shouts "GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!!" At Preston in a similar fashion they shouted at Harrison.

So none of them really liked each other too much at first but Harrison hung around Nerris because he didn't really have anyone else to chill with. Harrison and Preston have to share the stage and it's equipment so they kinda *have* to be near each other sometimes to enjoy their passions.

Harrison is the least open-spoken of them all but ends up being the glue that holds them together. All three of them didn't really have this moment of "wow I was so wrong about you!! We should be friends!!" It's just something that happened subtly over time. Slow burn friendship before any of them realized it happened I guess. Nerris would go to sit with or bother Harrison and Preston would already be there sharing the stage with him.

Preston is REALLY into dramatics and I don't know how to explain this next part very well. He basically will just randomly start?? Playing a role in mundane situations to entertain himself?? Like In his mind he's like "this is a small inconvenience but I'm going to play it up SO MUCH just to have fun acting this way" he doesn't like expressing himself in small or casual ways and sometimes it's way more genuine than others. Sometimes he just wants you to play along with the bit and feed into his dramatics. Nerris is WONDERFUL at improv and rolls with it like second nature, Harrison takes everything much more literal and doesn't follow the subtext as easily.

For example Preston could come in shoutingz pretending to feel faint and go on about how he can't find something, or someone said something that mildly bothered him. This is just the worst thing ever to ruin his day, oh shalt this misery have no end??? Nerris immediately responds with something like oh it's a quest?? Need me to find that for you? I will travel all seven seas with no rest until it is done. I can vanquish them for that!!

Meanwhile Harrison just goes "???? Guys are we sure that warrants this reaction"

and that's something else I really like about the three of them is Preston and Nerris will bring out their over the top versions of formal speech on purpose and with Intention to feed into these personas they love so much. Meanwhile Harrison speaks formally on accident, in a much more natural way.

[frenchroyalseb]

Sebastian Self Para || Plus Ones

Sebastian was... not disappointed (well at least, not that he would admit out loud), but mildly put out. He'd got a message from the event organisers him and Patrick had been dealing with for their latest event, asking if he could confirm if he was bringing a plus one as Patrick had. He'd just assumed neither would be bringing a plus one and that they'd end up hooking up in a back room at some point during the night.

It had somewhat become just something they did now, whenever they happened to be in the same place (which wasn't that often really, with most of the work done for the foundation not needing to be done in person now). It had become convenient, and it was fun.

So now here Sebastian was, having to find his own plus one to an event because he couldn't let Patrick show up with a plus one and not him. So he signed, pulling out his phone and scrolling through a few people, debating who to call.

"I need a favour," he said, when the other man answered the call.

"Hello to you too, Bas."

"Yeah, yeah. Hello Jeff. I need you to be my date to a gala."

"I'm sorry?"

"You look good in a tux."

"I know that, what I don't know is why you want me to be your date somewhere. Is this your way of asking me out?"

Sebastian let out a snort of laughter, "no. But I can't go to the gala without a plus one and you won't get the wrong idea. But if you want I'll suck your dick as a thank you."

"I'm not gay," Jeff said mildly, though didn't seem offended by Sebastian's proposition.

"Funny. I seem to recall at least three separate occasions when your dick has been in my mouth. What do you call that then?"

"Youthful experimentation. I'm a mature man now."

"Uh-huh. Whatever. Can you please just be my date?"

"What's the gala for anyway?"

"It's for the foundation, the launch of the new initiative. You know how rich people love to splash their money around."

"Okay - but what do you need a plus one for?"

"I can't go alone."

"You've gone alone before."

"Yes but this is ... different."

"How?"

"Patrick has a plus one."

"Ahh."

"Ahh? What do you mean ahh?"

"I mean you're fucking him, so you're jealous and want to try one up him by bringing a date."

"I'm not jealous. I couldn't care less who he's taking to galas, or fucking, or hell, dating."

"Then go alone."

"..."

"See. You're jealous."

"At most, I am annoyed by a potential convenient fuck being removed from my evening. You know what, never mind. I'll ask Ni-"

"Bas, it's fine. I'll be your date. Just send me the details."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I reserve the right to tell you I told you so."

"About what?"

"You'll see."

With that, Jeff hung up, and left Sebastian staring at the phone in confusion. But then he shrugged, texting Jeff the details of the gala.

At least that one was one thing sorted.

[rosieuv]

That whole 1-10 rating thing people use on dating apps makes no sense

I don't use dating apps because I'm a minor and I have standards but I've noticed this trend within the past 2 ish years where people on the internet refer to each other's looks with a 1-10 rating. Is this some secret stat only straight people can see? How does one even calculate such a stat? I assume it's based on conventionally attractiveness but not everyone finds the mainstream attractive so it just leaves me confused.

What would my rating be? I'm not conventionally attractive as I have shoulder length wavy hair doing the emo swoop, pale skin, thin lips and almost nothing in the cups but I've been complimented by other girls (mostly on my hair) so I must have at least some form of prettiness. Then there's stuff like being tall, which the western culture deems all tall people as more attractive than shorter people (yet still make buying bigger clothes a pain in the ass) but then there's people online who go off about how tall women are too masculine (which in the context of whatever they're saying means that they're ugly) so what even is the convention? I assume Instagram models with crap tons of surgery and skin cancer but I've seen this same logic applied from those incels who want a stay at home traditional wife and if there's no standardised rating system then why make a rating system at all?

Thumbnail off this video (I didn't watch it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsj6Qr7Z7o0

Lonely straight people will do crap like this and then wonder why they're still single.

It's not the group's fault, it's those stupid dating apps where you just go swipe swipe swipe without even getting to know then first. Which leads me onto another point...

Is this a thing within the queer community? Because I've only seen this from women to men and vice versa. I guess when there's less of you then I guess you can't afford to be picky.

Seriously, there's whole web pages and shit dedicated to this:

From what I've gathered, the overarching theme seems to be with women: being old, being fat and having any kind of physical deformity, which compiling a bunch of strangers' faces into a webpage to call them hideous is unbelievably rude but I guess people forget empathy over on good ol' internet land.

Image from this article (I skim read parts of it): https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa16/2016/10/19/what-makes-people-attractive/

This image rubs me the wrong way as I'm fairly sure the "attractive female target" is wearing light makeup as there's no way anyone has skin that clear due to the way the sun hits your face, acne in puberty etc but also the "unattractive female/male targets" look like they're either sick, really tired, or have something swollen in their lip. Their expression doesn't look the same: they look slightly annoyed while the attractive ones look mildly happy. My point being that they're clearly not in the best state that they can be, while the attractive ones are so this feels a little biased.

In conclusion, stop using dating apps and either go outside while some places are still in business (like night classes and pubs/bars) or use the old fashioned websites where you can actually talk to them and find out their hobbies and stuff.

[alittlebitofrainbyyourside]

I think one thing a lot of the Laois/Toshiro conversation is missing is that like....

Just because someone who is currently upset lists off a series of rather small things that they hated.... doesn't mean they've always hated those things.

Or viewed them through that lense.

Right now a specific person in my Real Life is on my shit list. There is a very Real problem that they are making worse, they are 100% taking advantage of me and my willingness to make shit work when I have to. To be at my most venomous, I'd rather she just fucking steal from me because at least thieves recognize they're doing something wrong. Even if they justify it to themselves.

I don't feel like I can say anything because she's in a bad spot. I don't feel like I can say anything because I don't actually think saying something would change anything.

Which means that for weeks I have become an increasingly stewing ball of hate around everything dealing with her. I have drank the haterade. The way she breathes fucking annoys me right now. I have regularly in the last few weeks gone on rants about her to third parties about how much I despise her. How I think she's selfish. How she's my least favorite kind of social justice person- the kind that has all the theory right but doesn't actually give a single fuck about people in her life if it might inconvience her. How she thinks she's smarter than she is. How she's obnoxious.

Anything and everything she does is fair game right now to set me off. And it is all equal fodder in rants.

Except.... I don't actually care about 99% of it. 99% of it, if it weren't for the Actual Problem Between Us- would at worst gain an eye roll. Maybe on a bad day some of it would be genuinely annoying but I know that on average? It's shit I don't care about.

And I know that should the situation fix itself... and I'll be honest with you, not currently hopeful it will...

That I will go back to not caring about those things. Some of them I'm probably even fond of at times though the veil of agitation means I can't see that right now.

And like... I think there's a big chance that's the case with Toshiro and Laois too. That like, shit he maybe mildly finds annoying got thrown out there with a mix of things he actually disliked because he was pushed to the fucking edge. He hadn't eaten, he hadn't slept, and the woman he loves- who he went down into the dungeon to try and save- was saved... in a way that puts her in danger.

Thats Hella dysregulating. That is a 'I'm so upset that I'm going to throw everything in with the kitchen sink' situation of needing to vent and let it all out.

And idk I just think it's so important to remember that when people are pushed to the edge and snap... it's not necessarily the most honest version of themselves talking.

It's so weird to me that we view it that way societally.

And I think that's important to remember of our past, and our friends too.

When I have a migraine, I find my wife's singing annoying. I'm the kind of person who just... clamps my hands over my ears when I'm low on spoons and she understands... but if I were a different kind of person? There are worlds out there where a version of me would probably say something mean about her not knowing how to sing or to snap some shit about like 'why do you always have to be doing that? Do you just love the sound of your own voice?'

I know people like that. I used to find them so unbearably hypocritical. But I realize now they were just... dysregulated humans. They weren't being more honest when they were at their meanest, they were interpreting the world and their memories through that agitation and dysregulation.

That's my statement. Don't let someone's irritation and dysregularion be taken as facts. In life and in fiction.

[aquillis-main]

there's nothing wrong with headcanoning tails or knuckles getting adopted by the wachowskis. it doesn't mean he's dependant or anything, just that he's part of the family. (and idk what you mean by "enforcing the found family trope", sonic and tails have always canonically been found family so wouldn't it make sense for him to get adopted too?)

having a character be adopted isn't infantalizing them or turning them into, what you called, a "goo-goo gaa-gaa baby who needs his nappies changed".

and tails is completely alone in his home. he traveled across the galaxy to find sonic, i highly doubt he'd want to make the trip back just to live in solitude in a village full of people who don't like him.

and sure, tails can take of himself and is fine on his own, but think about him for second. why would tails WANT to be alone?? he literally asks sonic if he meant it when he said they were friends. he finally found someone who was as weird as him, why would he not stick around?

kinda ridiculous to say someone getting adopted is taking away from the fact they're self sufficient. (also-pretty sure tails and knuckles are canonically adopted anyways. at the very least it's hinted/implied in the youtube short "drone home" so this is all kinda pointless 🤷‍♀️). i think you're too focused on what tails can do and not focused enough on how he acts as a character. yes, he's self-sufficient, but he doesn't want to be alone. he would love to be part of the wachowski family

there's a lot of valid things to be upset with the fandom about when it comes to tails, but having him be adopted by the wachowskis is not really one of them imo

Considering how the fandom loves to babify Tails, dear anon, I think you're deliberately downplaying the point I was making. Tails was already confident in the movie - something that the Tails in the games lacked at the beginning of the series. He didn't need Sonic, and stalked him remotely because Sonic let out a big EMP pulse that Tails' inventions just so happened to pick up. Their 'friendship' in the movie is literally based around the idea of Sonic being a powerhouse, and Tails wanting to have that. In the games, it was Sonic's confidence Tails wanted, and learnt how to get that confidence his own way without completely copy-pasting Sonic. Sonic in the Movies is the one that needs the confidence boost, not Tails, making their friendship feel too faulty to work on.

I don't count any shorts of the Sonic movie cast as 'canon' to the movies, just as I don't count the Movies as related to the games that were worked on. For all we know, Tails and Knuckles would probably start the next film in their own houses seperate from Sonic, and NOT adopted by the Wachowskis at all. There's no reason for Tails to live with them when he has his own home, is self-suffient, and can do his own taxes.

There's a lot of reasons why I am mildly annoyed whenever 'Miles Tails Wachowski' pops up into my feed. It's people like you, who make it seem like I'm making it into a bigger deal than it really is, that makes me want to jump off that slippery slope and start outright gutterly growling whenever it pops into my feed.

[softguarnere]

The Freudian Slip (Part 2/2)

Part (2/2) - you can call me names if you call me up

Joe Liebgott x reader

A/N: You guys ever mishear a song lyric and center a fic idea around it, only to realize later that you've been singing it wrong for months? Yeah, that's me with "3 Nights" by Dominic Fike. I could have sworn the lyrics were "you can call me names if you call me yours", so at this point, we're just gonna have to commit to it, because this fic took me way too long to finish to change it now lol. (This is written for the fictional depiction from the show -- no disrespect to the real life veterans!) Also thank you to all the lovely tumblr friends who helped with ideas for this fic or offered encouragement 😌 I'm honestly so honored that people reached out to tell me they were excited for part 2💕🕊️

Warnings: depictions of war, language

Things have been different since that day in the foxhole. But you can't find the words the express why it feels that way. Or at least, you can't until Liebgott swipes some Hershey Bars from Luz and tosses one to you.

"He's acting so weird," you confide in Luz, who shoots you a mildly annoyed look when you rip open the wrapper and take a bite. The radioman sighs as he readies himself for the patrol. You roll your eyes, gently knocking your foot against his leg. "I'm sorry I got one of the chocolate bars. You can have half if you want."

Luz laughs, but it's not his usual upbeat chuckle. "No, (Y/N). It's just that he was right."

"Who?"

"Liebgott."

"Well I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day. What was he right about?"

"You." George gives you his full attention. He looks exasperated. "You really haven't picked up on any of his hints." When you raise your eyebrows in question, he sighs again. "(Y/N), are you telling me that you really haven't realized that Liebgott has feelings for you?"

The next bite of chocolate almost lodges itself in your throat as you take a surprised inhale. Carefully, you finish chewing it, wrapping up the rest of the Hershey Bar for later before you ask, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Luz curses softly under his breath. "I can't believe it."

"George, I don't even know what you're talking about. Liebgott hates me." I don't hate you, he had said back in the foxhole that day. "Okay, he doesn't like me very much. That's why he's so mean to me."

Except for recently, when he's suddenly been so different around you. While you've still been tossing teasing remarks his way and trying to ignore the affection you've developed for him through the course of the war, Joe has suddenly stopped his teasing, instead settling for always making sure that you have a K Ration before anyone else, or that you're okay after any sort of run-in with the Germans.

But what does that mean?

Almost as if he can hear your thoughts, Luz provides an answer. "You guys were always sort of hard on each other. But then when he realized that he had feelings for you --"

"How would you know?"

"Because he told me," Luz deadpans. "After Bastogne and Foy and everything, we got to talking one day, and he said that after what you said he realized that he liked you. I told him I didn't know how you felt, but that maybe if he changed how he acted around you, you would catch on."

More questions swirl through your mind at a million miles an hour. You manage to catch onto a few of the more coherent ones. "You mean you knew? And you didn't tell me?"

"He came to me because I'm your friend. I thought that you would catch on and you guys would work it out. I didn't know it would get dragged out like this!"

"And what do you mean, 'after what I said'?" Nothing particularly interesting had happened in the foxhole. Liebgott had established that he didn't completely despise you, you had acted perfectly normal considering that you were stuck with your crush for a whole day, and then he had let you rest. There was hardly any conversation, all things considered.

George's eyebrows scrunch together as he thinks. "Something you called him. Sweetheart, or something. But in German."

"Liebling," you translate automatically.

It feels as if ice water has just been dropped over your head, chilling your spine and then settling in the pit of your stomach. Oh no. Liebling. Liebgott. What did you do?

Before you can even start to think that maybe calling the man you've secretly been in love with Darling isn't as bad as you might think, Luz's mouth falls into a capital O. The icy water in your stomach churns. "I've messed up."

Instead of grinding to a halt, the world around you continues on. Luz even begins readying his gear again. But you need time to think.

"What do I do?"

"Well that depends," your friend says. "How do you feel about Liebgott?" He shoots you a quizzical sideways glance. When you bite your lip, you suddenly have his full attention again. "Oh shit. So you do like him back." There's no question in his voice -- it's a statement of fact.

The very fact you had hoped to keep hidden. The fact that you somehow revealed to the person you were trying to hide it from.

"You're not going on the patrol, and neither is he," Luz points out gently. "Maybe . . ."

. . . you can talk to him while everyone else is away, he doesn't finish, but for the first time in forever, you manage to take a hint.

You worry your bottom lip between your teeth while you think. "Yeah. Maybe."

--

By some stroke of luck – good or bad, you have yet to figure out – you get paired up with Liebgott to man one of the machine guns on the American side of the river. Not the most appropriate time to have a conversation about your feelings towards each other. But then again, there’s a war going on. If not now, when? Something else will always come up. There could always be some other excuse not to talk to him, and then you would just put it off forever. No time like the present.

If only you could find the right words . . . like you had back in the foxhole, when it had been an accident.

“Something wrong?” Liebgott asks as you set up the machine gun. Down below the building, everyone who will be crossing the river is starting to group up, getting final orders before they head out.

“Just thinking. I’m glad it’s not us.” It’s only half a lie. You are glad that you’re not going to be in a tiny boat on a cold river. But it’s not necessarily the thought at the forefront of your mind.

Liebgott nods. “Yeah, well, they didn’t need three translators. High time that Webster pulled his weight around here, after four months in that hospital.”

There’s something about the way he says it that makes you suspect he had something to do with the last-minute notice that you wouldn’t be crossing the river. “Did you do something?”

“Technically, Webster came to the decision on his own. After I pointed out that his German is just as good as ours.”

Just as good as ours. Huh. In the past, he was never willing to put the two of you on par with each other. In your chest, your heart fumbles and it feels like tripping over your own feet when you run.

“Thank you.”

“For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“No, but . . .” Damnit, where are the words when you need them? You huff a sigh. “I’ve been thinking. About when you got hit in the neck in Holland.”

His eyebrows disappear beneath the brim of his helmet as he raises them. “And why is that?”

Your throat goes dry. A second before, you had convinced yourself that there was no time like the present. And now that it’s here . . . You’ve been less nervous in high-stress combat situations.

“That was when I realized how I felt about you,” you admit, the words tumbling out in a rush before you can hold them back. “That was when I realized that I like you.”

Cool, confident Liebgott is good at keeping his face neutral when he wants to. It’s one of the things that you’ve picked up on from watching him, one of those little things about him that you’ve come to adore just because it’s part of what makes him him. For a split second, he freezes. Being so close to him, you can’t miss it. His face starts to go neutral, but the side of his mouth twitches upwards a bit.

“(Y/N), if you’re fuckin’ with me . . .”

“I’m not.”

He laughs louder than someone trying to set up in a stealthy position probably should. It’s not his usual laugh; its half relieved, half confused. “You called me Liebling, but kept pestering me like it was any other day.”

“You used to poke fun at me all the time!”

“Yeah, used to. Then I realized why I was doing it. I thought you would have figured it all out.” He smirks. “I kind of miss giving you a hard time, though. Calling you names and challenging you.”

“Well, you could call me names if you call me yours.” You both blink, taking in what you’ve said. His careful expression cracks to reveal a smile.

“You called me Liebling,” Liebgott remembers. For the first time – or actually, the first time that you’ve noticed – he looks at you with a soft expression as he fondly takes you in instead of sizing you up for competition. “So how does that fit into this?”

“To be fair, I don’t remember saying it,” you admit. You rush on before he can look disappointed, “A Freudian slip; I was worn out and kind of excited about being a foxhole with you.”

He gives you one of his goofier smiles. “Well if I had known that at the time . . .”

You roll your eyes. “Oh yeah. What an experience that would have been.”

“Still . . .” He steps around the machine gun, closing the distance between you. “Do you want me to call you mine? Even if I tease you sometimes?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then.” Liebgott’s smile is bright enough to light up the night and give away your position. “But what if I call you Darling instead?”

Keeping your eyes on him, you reach out and find his hand, intertwining your fingers together; it makes it feel official, somehow. “Then I would like that very much.” You squeeze his hand. It’s surprisingly soft, like his heart, which he has chosen to expose part of to you. “And what should I call you?”

“Anything you want. As long as you call me yours.”

[diavolosthots]

I don't know if I'm too late if so ignore this. Mc trying to take care of Lucifer. Like bringing him food and drinks, trying to make sure stuff is done in the house, stopping the brothers from bothering him.,thanks for reading my request and remember if you don't want to do it or I'm to late delete it.

You weren't too late at that time and I'm in a lucifer mood tonight so this is being done!

Also who else would like to try spicy hellburned chili now that i made it up? Because I do.

Helpful Hands (LUCIFER X GN!READER)

People always underestimate how much he does for this family, or at least he thinks so. They see mean old Lucifer who only ever bullies and is way too strict. They see the guy who has a patch of gray hair but should be way too young to have it. They see the Avatar of Pride who can’t bear to be defeated for the life of him. Sometimes they see a stuck up asshole who thinks of nothing but himself and occasional torture because he’s viewed as Mr. Sadist. The last part might be mildly true, but only on bad days and only to those who really deserve it. He’s heard it all, from both friends and foes alike, and of course his family. Even Diavolo scolds him at times, which that’s when he’s truly about to snap it because if it weren’t for the Demon Lord he probably wouldn’t be on edge all the time, but more on that later. The point is, though, that most, if not all, of those claims are fault. 

People see the surface level. They see what they want to see and they don’t dare to dig deeper. Maybe they fear him, maybe they’re just too warped in the idea that he absolutely hates everyone that they also turn to hating him. A “I do you like you do me” type of deal, but if they would just take the time… if they would listen and really take a good look at him… maybe they’d realize he’s just suffering. Everytime he gets mad at Mammon or gives a stern, “not now,” that’s him being overwhelmed. Or if his agitation shines through, it’s not because he’s truly annoyed, but because he knows they can do better. He pushes his brothers, absolutely, but only because he knows their true potential. He holds all this weight on his shoulders, for everyone, and instead of giving a small thanks, they ruin his day. It’s hard being the unwanted parent of six, but if he wasn’t, Hell would burn. Or, well, more so than it usually does. Diavolo adds to his work on the daily, and maybe that wouldn’t be such a problem, if he weren’t also the one distracting him from such work and then getting onto him for not having it done. 

It’s hard being him. It’s hard to be the responsible one because you feel like you have to; because you feel like you owe it to them. He blames himself, heavily, for everything that has happened, even though it was their choice to join him. He lays there at night, more often than he likes to admit, and asks himself the big “what if” questions. “What if I didn’t go against them.” “what if I let loose.” “What if I’m being too strict.” Never, ever will you hear him say these things. Pride, ya know? But you don’t need to hear those things because you do know. You see it in his tired eyes and slumped posture once no one is looking. You see it in the way he eats and his coffee outweighs his nutrients. You can tell every time his anger rises too quickly, although he deems himself the rational one. You know Lucifer, even if he thinks you don’t, and you feel bad for him. You feel bad that you’re the only one who seems to see how truly tired he is. How much of a shoulder to lean on he actually needs, and although you’d never dare just go up and offer it, because once again his pride still wouldn’t let him admit that, you try to acknowledge his needs in little ways. 

Coffee was ready this morning, Lucifer noted, but he brushed it off because maybe it was just Beel’s late night or early morning snack; maybe he wanted some? “The pot is full…” and he took advantage of that. Whoever made the coffee, and someone must have because it was still hot and tasted fresh, he thanks them. You smiled to yourself when you saw him with a cup, heading back to his office, “morning, Lucifer. Enjoy your coffee.” He had looked at you, blinking a few times and probably wondering why you’re so cheery this early in the morning, “Good morning, (Y/N).” but that was it. Well, not really. Next thing he knew was that lunch was already done when he arrived in the kitchen to start it. “(Y/N)? What are you doing? It’s my turn.” but you only shrugged, wiping your hands before grabbing the plates and heading out to the dining room to place them, “yeah but I was already down here and didn’t have anything to do. Don’t mind me, just come sit and eat.” He didn’t say it, and he didn’t need to, but he was really appreciative and he even managed a small smile when you passed. 

Those were isolated incidences, though, or so he thought. But now, little by little, he realized more and more things that he had never noticed before. The rooms were clean, or at least the ones he was in, the fridge and pantry was always stocked, even with Beel around, and he rarely ever got interrupted. Of course, he still heard the occasional arguments between his brothers; Mammon stealing the remote right as Belphegor was about to put sleepy time music on… seriously, why can’t the guy do that on his D.D.D.? Or Satan screaming at Leviathan who accidently tripped over Satan’s books in his room while lending him his headphones. Shocker on that one, right? Or maybe it was a disagreement between you and Beelzebub about which spices should be used in the Spicy Hellburned Chili for this wednesday night’s dinner. But all of these were minor and nothing compared to what he usually deals with. At first he was super suspicious though and would constantly check on everyone, but by day three he thought that maybe, just maybe, he had gotten lucky and he finally does have some peace. Spoiler alert: he did. He got way more done than he ever did. 

That, however, does bother him. He doesn’t know who or why they would do it and as much as he enjoys it, he would also like to have a discussion with them. His birthday isn’t for another couple of months so he knows that that wouldn’t be the reason he’s being treated so nicely, so what else could it be? Mammon would only do this for money and even then he’s pretty upfront about it and begs for it Lucifer immediately after he had done the task, so he’s off the table. Satan and Belphegor would rather die than help him, Asmodeus is too obsessed with himself and Leviathan is holed up more than he shows any signs of life. So, the only other two people are you and Beelzebub, both of which are very nice people and debatably the only ones who truly care about him. The last part is a joke, but you two show it more than others. “Was it you that has been helping me?” But Beelzebub just looked confused, half a bag of chips down his throat as Lucifer asked and something told Lucifer that he wasn’t it. “No, but did you need help?” With a shake of his head and a sigh, Lucifer turned on his heel to go and find you, but not before doing something else. 

“Come to my room, (Y/N).” he had said and for a moment you thought your whole plan backfired and his brothers annoyed him again, or maybe you had forgotten something in it? Were you not careful enough in your attempts to make his life easier? You haven’t even gotten to the best part! “I’m here…” you practically sprinted down the hall while trying to find an excuse for anything he could potentially say, but when he opened the door to let you in, all of those left your mind, “what’s up?” He didn’t look… mean, per se, but he looked stern like always and it kind of freaked you out. Did you do something wrong? Was the coffee not strong enough? You used the wrong spices for the chili, didn’t you? “Do you see this?” Lucifer’s finger pointed out and you followed it, noting it was pointing at his desk, “uhm…. Yes? Am I not supposed to see it? Wasn’t it always here?” “Yes, it has always been there. However, something is different.” You turned to look at him and then back at his desk. Was it new? Did he paint it? Is there a trophy on there you should be aware of? “Lucifer I can’t see--”

When you turned back around, he was holding out two glasses of champagne and a smile was, for once in what felt like forever, gracing his lips. “Exactly. It’s empty. You can actually see it.” he hands you one of the glasses, his smile never faltering, “I had an unusual amount of time this week thanks to a few… coincidences that just so happen to align with my schedule and make my life easier. I know it was you. You made my coffee that morning, and were kind enough to leave the pot. You took up my lunch shift on purpose, not because you were down there. You also took my dinner shift this week, and cleaned the house. I’m assuming you’re also responsible for keeping my brothers in line which is a miracle within itself.” He chuckled softly, shaking his head before reaching out his other hand and tilting your chin up, “I don’t know how or why… and frankly, I don’t want to know. It would ruin the fun of it, but I do want to thank you for it and seeing as I have nothing else to do tonight, or tomorrow, you’ll be staying with me.” You blinked a few times. You could feel your heartbeat speed up and for a moment you wondered what you had actually done, but also, how bad could this go? You had one more thing to give him, anyway. “Works for me. I have one more thing to give you, anyway.” You clink your glass with his before taking a sip, watching him raise an eyebrow while your own eyebrows rose up and your lips turned into a smirk. “Undress for me, Lucifer.” 

You hope he will agree to a massage. Lord knows he needs his shoulders loosened up. 

[invinciblerodent]

Yeah- like don't get me wrong, it's obviously a minor thing that doesn't even affect me personally (since I'm doing a spawn romance myself, and only tried the ascension route to see what the other option would have been), but this whole thing kind of ties into my overall mild annoyance with the game still being changed and tweaked pretty significantly a year after release.

I think this whole situation might have arisen from both the status Larian enjoys as a social media darling game dev studio (with the playful twitter replies and, you know, their finger on the pulse of the fandom), the ease of implementation of these changes (which gives ground to impulsiveness), and from the immediacy of connection between fans and creators.

In general, I do kind of like the idea of there being a vagueness to the new expressions as i said above, and I like there being a wider variety of possible characters, of possible stories to tell, as long as it takes into account an actual understanding of the frame within which it exists. Seriously, if this "mildly apprehensive" look had been the default, I would have been perfectly happy with it. It's not a bad thing, I find that it flows more naturally too (although I do feel like the more hamfisted fear may have finally made at least a few people feel enough discomfort to examine the text itself a bit further, and realize the obvious dynamic/theme the writing was going for? idk). I like Ascended Astarion as the manipulative, evil, nakedly abusive, controlling, but efficient and effective bastard he is, because it's wonderfully useful for fucked up fiction, which is fun in its own right.

But the reason I'm kind of unhappy right now is pretty much the fact that it is another post factum change, and how it's inevitably being received: as some sort of official acknowledgement that 1.) ignoring the profoundly and purposefully written unhealthy aspects of the ascended romance and not engaging with- and understanding the text that was written is actually the right move, and 2.) that you can bully game creators into catering to your specific wants (whether that was actually the case or not). (I've seen enough A!A fans [derogatory] in my recommended posts cheering for it as if this change was 100% confirmed to be their victory, and not something they may have intended to do to begin with- and honestly, that alone is quite scary, regardless of its veracity.)

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but in general, I try to view interactive gaming and choice-based RPGs as a sandbox, where the developers present you with a set of tools, and it's up to you, in creative ways, to build yourself a sandcastle that you like with the tools that you were given- no instructions, no blueprint, just vibes. Some foundations are more solid, some are a bit shakier, but all that matters is that you like your own castle. None of my fucking business what it looks like.

What does make me a bit annoyed is when someone sits their ass down outside of the sandbox and starts gluing rocks together, insisting that it's a perfect sandcastle, and that anyone calling it not a sandcastle is wrong and a hater, even though they are the ones who refuse to understand what sand is. (And apparently I also don't like it when the developers yank the shovel from my hand and give me a rake instead, as i'm learning it now lol.)

(I took the metaphor maybe a bit far, but I just wish people actually interacted with text and media as they exist and understood it and its intentions before trying to play and mess with it, ykwim?)

also quietly remarking that having read through the preliminary patch notes for patch 7 of bg3, there are a few changes that I immediately don't like, chief among them the expression “fixes” for the PC in the AA kisses.

like I get that it makes for a more versatile story and a wider variety of possible characters for the PC to be, but Astarion, especially ascended, is already the character people most struggle to read. And I of course don't blame Larian for that, any complex story worth telling is bound to be misunderstood, I respect their commitment to bringing the story closer to their own vision (if that was the intention), but.... I really can't help but wonder if that's actually the case this time, or if they're just bending to the will of a loud minority of people who aren't even interested in engaging with the story beyond "he's strong and rich now, yay".

(I mean. not to say that certain AA fans wouldn't be able to see a big flashing neon sign across the screen that says “THIS IS A TOXIC AND ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP. YOU FAILED TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF ABUSE.” and ignore it just the same; but you know what I mean.)

[seventeendeer]

I actually really enjoying hearing your cartoon opinions! :o may I ask why you really dislike atla?

I'm glad you enjoy my goofy little rants! they're very entertaining for me to write, so it's nice that some people enjoy them also! <3

ah, atla, my old nemesis ... there are a lot of things I dislike about it and disappearingly few things I liked to any extent.

my biggest problem with it is that I simply find the character writing deeply grating. the character concepts are very charming, but the execution feels forced, dry and hand-holdy. every character feels like A Problem To Be Solved, with some positive and comedic traits tacked on there to try to make them likable. the narrative is constantly moralizing their actions, focusing more on the aesops it wants to teach than on portraying anything resembling real people. it also insists on using the same milquetoast pseudo-snarky vocabulary for every main character, further making them come off like a bunch of sock puppets instead of distinct personalities.

by contrast, I love stuff like spop - a show for the same demographic with comparable themes and characters - where the main focus is not on moralizing the characters' actions, but simply on portraying lots of very different people dealing with tough situations, how and why the shitty ones do what they do, and the consequences of their choices. spop doesn't choke its own characters out in an attempt to Teach A Moral, it simply lets the characters roam free in an exciting, complex story and realistically portrays the fallout. for a more specific comparison: atla starts Zuko's redemption arc early and devotes a ton of time to showing how wrong and shitty he was vs the amount of time he was actually allowed to be shitty on screen. by contrast, Catra spends most of spop being a terrible person and suffering the consequences, before having a short (beginning of a) redemption arc, which is portrayed as difficult but ultimately rewarding. I found Zuko's arc boring, predictable and overly finger-wagging - meanwhile I thought Catra's arc was engaging, nuanced, detailed, relatable and I felt like it flowed naturally among the other narratives.

atla only really allowed the villains to be heavily flawed by the end of it. all the good guys had to be scrubbed clean of their problems before they were let off the hook. any personality trait that was more than mildly irritating was treated as something to be fixed. I honestly don't like stories like that. I greatly prefer stories where characters get to be weird and fucked up and barely functioning in society, but they happen to find people who aren't bothered by it and want to hang out with them anyway.

another thing I really don't like is the comedy. so much of the comedy doesn't have an actual punchline, or at least not any good ones. mostly characters just act kind of quirky or say something you wouldn't expect. it feels like the writers are desperately trying to get a reaction out of me by pulling funny faces. the fact that comedy only comes up in the Designated Funny Moments is also annoying and again makes it feel like the characters are not real people with consistent traits. if a character only has a certain personality trait when it's funny and drops it as soon as it's time to be serious, that's not a personality trait, it's something stuck on there to try to force a specific viewer reaction - which then falls apart the moment the viewer doesn't find it funny.

I also don't like the way the faces are stylized. I think spop might actually be the only instance of a highly animesque art style I actually liked to look at. everything else from atla to voltron to totally spies looks terrible to me. the facial features are too floaty and it makes expressions look stiff and lifeless (unlike a lot of actual anime styles, which I often find pretty and very expressive). though this problem is probably made worse in my mind by the fact that whenever there's a face on screen someone is probably talking and I am about to once more feel a deep violence well up within me, so take this opinion with a grain of salt

also this one isn't really mine to complain about at length, but honestly I just never really feel comfortable in stories that take place in non-white cultures that the white writers have no connection to whatsoever. it feels like I'm being invited into a house by someone who doesn't live in that house. it's like ... why do you think you have the authority to invite me in? do you even know how the owners of the house feel about this? no matter how good your research into this house is, how can it possibly measure up to the lived experiences of the people who live here? how can I be sure you're not lying to me to make this place seem more appealing to your own tastes? what even is your motivation for giving me a tour of the house in the first place?

my research tells me there are countless opinions on the subject and I sincerely don't know how valid or not valid my concerns are, but these are my personal feelings on the matter. I love stories set in non-white cultures, but I strongly prefer to stick to the ones made by people with personal connections to said cultures. I want to feel invited into the house by the owners of the house; I want to see only what they choose to share and learn about the house from the people who have the most personal, intimate relationship with it. I feel I have a better chance of understanding how to treat others with respect when this is the case.

anyway, that was a little serious detour on my otherwise needlessly goofy and facetious rant about cartoons for babies. the fact of the matter is that I don't like atla for a myriad of subjective reasons. only character I cared about was Azula, probably exactly because she was allowed to remain deranged and maladjusted until the end and wasn't forced through the Character Flattening Device in the name of teaching lessons

also I probably would have only developed mild disdain for it was it not because no one ever shuts the fuck up about it pfffffft now I hate it with a white hot rage bc you know how it is when a lot of people very vocally like something you don't like. hell on earth

[themsource]

You're still active! I was worried because you hadn't posted in a while. Anyways, I was wondering if you did character asks? I first discovered farm!sans through one of your stories back in 2019 and have loved him ever since! I was wondering how he'd react to a partner coming out as trans?

Yeah I mostly interact on Twitter or keep to a small circle on Discord nowadays, but I'm still around. I'm happy I could introduce him to you ^^ Saejun is a bean who doesn't get enough love. I don't mind doing a character ask.

Now depending on if you discovered him via my fic SIH...I'm afraid I won't be able to answer using that version of him (or any of the skeles really). I started that story with way less knowledge than I have now and I have headcannons that have changed since then. So I'll answer using a current generalization of how I picture our beloved farmer.

Saejun sat across from you silently, his phalanges interlaced and propping up his chin as he swirled a bit of wheat between his teeth.

You had been anxious when you'd come over that morning. Never had you thought you'd make such a revelation about yourself, Trans! So many struggles and confusing moments of your life had suddenly made sence; how odd you felt in specifically gendered clothing, the way you winced everytime you looked in the mirror and felt a bizarre wave of wrongness with certin parts of your figure. It had been a mind blowing revelation, liberating.

But what had quickly put a dampener on the wonderful discovery was realizing that you'd have to tell people. Coming out was never easy. You had friends and loved ones whose told you all sorts of coming out stories, and not one didn't seem to come without at least one major issue.

Yours you felt was going to be your boyfriend of six months; Saejun.

You hadn't been together long in your opinon and were still getting to know each other, to throw something like this at him felt like too much too soon. In truth you didn't have a choice though. You'd already told the important people in your life and he was the only one left. If he didn't find out from you he'd find out another way or through someone else eventually. And that was the last thing you wanted. You thought you might acturally be starting to love him. You really didn't want to take any chances that might ruin this.

It got more awkward the longer the quiet stretched between you, the white of his eyelights intently focused on you as he seemed to think. After another moment that felt like nearly an hour he huffed and leaned back in his chair, one hand sliding into a pants pocket and the other scratching at his skull beneath his strawed brim.

"so, trans huh? okay den."

You stared at him.

"That's...all you have to say?" You asked slowly. Your eyebrows lifted as he shrugged nonchalantly and grinned.

"was i suppose to ask somethin' else darlin'?"

Well that was...unexpected? Anticlimactic? Aside from being speechless you were confused, honestly having pictured him mildly uncomfortable or even put off.

"Um, we've only been together a few months. You're not upset at this sudden change? Not annoyed that you're not getting what you expected coming into this?"

Saejun's sockets widened and his brows lifted, his bit of wheat bobbing as he considered you.

"truth be told, i don't see why it doggun matters. or if it's really any of my business."

You gaped at him. "B-because you're my boyfriend! And—this is very important to me! It matters—"

Saejun held a hand up silencing you. Very slowly he leaned forward and planted his elbows on the tabletop as he took one of your hands in his to cradle it.

"let me ask you somethin' darlin'. is being trans going to make you dislike my brother's buttercake?"

"...no?" You blinked.

"and, are ya gonna stop likeing my k-stew special? want me to quit drinking sesame oil, or suddenly stop kissing me? start disliking holding my hand?"

"What, no—I mean the oil really isn't healthy but...no I wouldn't do any of that." You couldn't resist the blush that flared across your cheeks. "I really like you Saejun. A whole lot."

His grin lifted at the corners. "same here sugar, hell o' lot. so why should i care 'bout any of this, when you'll still be you? why be upset or anything huh?"

"I...won't be..." You couldn't find the words aa you stared down at where your hands locked. His argument had dashed any worry you had been harboring and at the same time the anxiety was still there.

"hey," he tilted your chin up. "i don' give a damn 'bout what body you have. i care about your mind, your soul. and if anyone else does den they're damn fools, just means more love for me."

Tears pooled in your eyes and ran dowm your cheeks as you chuckled at his words. He may have said that last part lightly, but there was no missing the seriousness or conviction in his words.

Yeah, you deffinetly loved this monster.

With no hesitation whatsoever he pushed to his feet and walked around to you. Still holding your hand he guided you to your feet and pulled you into his arms.

"i care for you darlin', ain't nothing 'bout no narrowed human concept of gender or anything else changing dat. you want a dress or slacks i'll pick dem up for you myself."

You pulled back and frowned.

"Narrowed human concept?"

Saejun scratched the side of his cheek. "well now, der's plenty evidence your human brains do weird chemically stuff all the time, constantly growing and all o' dat. so the usual arguments of what's what is just this side of stupid in my book."

He smirked, his sockets lidding as he leaned down to press his teeth to the shell of your ear. "'sides, i'm a skeleton remember? our bits don' take to one shape like most others, we can make it work."

A flare of furious red flooded your face. You were nowhere close to that part of your relationship yet, and as always he had to flirt in such a way just to rile you.

"Saejun, I'm coming out sex repulsed."

"eh? k, soulplay is a thing—"

"OMG SHUT UP!" you cried as you batted his shoulder. Saejun broke into a booming laugh that crinkled his sockets and brought an adorable dimple to his cheek that you didn't know he had.

Saejun slipped his arms around your waist and pressed his forehead to yours. A green tint adorning his bony cheeks as he hummed happily.

"don' matter what you come out as darlin'. not you or anyone else. you keep on learning yourself and don't worry 'bout a thing, cuz i ain't going no where."

Slowly he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips, a light buzzing of magic pleasently dancing across your skin in a fleeting touch before pulling back with a sigh. "just be you, sugar."

You were going to marry him if it was the last thing you ever did.

[coralcatsea]

1, 4 and 9 for the salty asks?

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

HongIce: I can guess why people like it. I still don't feel like there's much of a reason to get invested – unless you specifically main one of them, I suppose.

SuFin: I wanted to like the Nordics, but I just can't seem to get into them. This ship, or at least the fanon version that was really popular for a while, always came off as pretty bland, too. I know a few more interesting traits have been added to Sweden and Finland since then, however, so it'd be nice to see if that might affect the ship in a way that would make it more interesting as well.

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

PruCan: I've never cared for PruCan for as long as I can remember. I've heard all the reasoning for the ship, I just don't think it makes much sense. It's definitely a popular OTP, probably the most popular Prussia ship along with PruHun, except I can easily see why PruHun is popular whereas PruCan seems so random. I don't really understand how it got to be so high up there when there's nothing about it that really stands out in comparison to some of the other ships, but that's just my opinion. I'll give the details of why it doesn't make much sense to me if someone is interested enough to send an ask/message me, but otherwise I'll stop here since I don't want people commenting or reblogging this to explain PruCan to me. Again, I know the reasoning. I simply disagree with it.

GerIta: This one makes more sense than PruCan, but I still dislike it. I can't help perceiving their relationship as that of the dynamic between a babysitter and a kid. I don't really feel like they're on the same maturity wavelength. Imagining them genuinely connecting is difficult for me. I know there's more to Italy than just being childish and cutesy, but that's what most people seem to focus on. Now, I will say that occasionally I find some content for the ship that has potential, but the majority of the time it's not for me.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Mm...before I say anything, I want to clarify that 'dislike' in this context will mean mild annoyance or that I want to like them but am disappointed with their portrayal.

For the first category, Latvia. As a character, there's not much to him. I just find him kind of annoying and that's all.

The micronations are also in the mildly annoying category. Molossia and Seborga are probably my 'favourites', but I'm not really huge on any of them. I guess Sealand would have to be my least favourite since he gets the most screen time out of all of them, and honestly I feel like while it's cool to be informed of their existence, most of the time spent on them could be better spent on fleshing out other characters.

That leads me to the second category. Characters I want to like, but am disappointed with. Italy, Canada, and the Nordics.

Okay. Italy. Some canon and fanon moments with him ARE funny, don't get me wrong. Still, I feel like this character has so much potential that doesn't get used. His interesting sides are barely explored in favour of him being cutesy. And repetitive. There is hope, though. Italy bragged to England in one of the recent strips and that's something a little different. Maybe we'll get more stuff like that.

Then there's Canada. I will say that he has certainly gotten more fleshed out thanks to some of the later strips, but it was primarily exploring his passive aggressiveness and self-pitying. That's fine, he can have that, buuuut I feel like it should be balanced out with more of his interests and him getting along with other people. Example, I like the moment where he's excited about ninjas. I also like the strip where he and America decide to do a cooking show together.

Now for the Nordics. I wanted to like them. I really did. I was interested in the cultures, I had a book about Norway, I always thought the mythology was cool, I did a whole school project on Sweden and cooked some Swedish dessert, and – I'm going off on a tangent. The point is, I had high hopes for them and...they're kind of boring? The cultures barely got shown or talked about and their personalities don't grab my attention. I did mention that Sweden and Finland gained a little more depth after a while, but even so... I never understood the fandom hype around the Nordics. One day perhaps I can join it. One day.

And that's that! Anybody who reads this and doesn't like what I have to say, remember, we all have opinions! I'm not attempting to dictate what others can like.

Salty Ask List

[crimmson]

there's this dude at work. I have chalked up a lot of little things to various potential causes that I have tried to be understanding of. but he's made a few too many comments that are just uncomfortably judgemental or hit a little too close to home, so while I used to be at least friendly toward him I'm now pretty obviously standoffish. I've been outright rude in response sometimes. I just do not have the patience anymore to dance around him.

the annoying thing is that I genuinely don't think he's trying to be rude or creepy. it's not like the weird pseudo stalker when I worked at CVS. it's distinctly different. that guy was actively asking about personal info to feel me out and where I lived and shit. this guy just seems like he's trying to be nice but failing. he asks personal questions but not in the same vein. these are more genuine polite small-talk "just getting to know you" kinds of questions.

back when I actually used to entertain his conversations he made comments about me needing more in-person friends after I said I played games and watched movies with my friends that weekend (which is a big fucking argument I'd have with my mom, so that's a great way to immediately put me on edge)

so I kinda stopped saying what I did during the weekends, and I'd just be like "eh, laundry, video games, cleaning" and since then he's occasionally made comments about me needing to go out and do stuff

("fun" extremely weird thing he said one day, and example of total lack of situational awareness. it's raining, I'm trying to get into my car, he rolls his window down and asks what my plans are for the weekend. sir, it is fucking raining and right now my plan is to get into my car. he was like "don't tell me you're doing more laundry" because that's what I do almost every weekend. I was like well it's not gonna do itself. THEN HE OFFERED TO COME OVER TO HELP WITH MY LAUNDRY??? I was just like "uh no thanks the washing machine takes care of that" but WHO DOES THAT! we are not friends! i dont know you! i dont even want my actual friends to do my laundry!)

I genuinely don't believe he's saying any of it to be mean or creepy, he says it nicely and earnestly. I want to believe he just has abysmal people skills. you know that episode of spongebob where he's like completely smooth, rounded, and squeaky clean? this guy is the human version of that. physically and in conversation. which is why I honestly don't think it's meant in a mean way or anything.

but he's OBSESSED with trying to "fix" my life. I guess that means being more social in a way that jives with his expectations? whatever that may be? every time he's in the shipping area, he is COMPELLED to talk. not just to me. he does it to anyone who is back there. this man CANNOT work in silence and it drives me insane. if there is more than 30 seconds of silence he will find a way to break it. this sucks tremendously when it can take 30-45 minutes to pack something and I have my earbuds in and I have to keep stopping, taking them out, and asking "what?"

he asked how my weekend was, I was like "fine, uneventful" and he was like "what are you gonna do to fix that?"

I told him I'm fine with my weekends being uneventful.

but then. THEN. he came back a few minutes later.

him: I have a suggestion for you.

me: what.

him: you could get a boyfriend.

me: I'M GAY, for starters

(I mean, technically I'm bi yes, but I lean pretty hard in certain directions but you try explaining that to people so it's easier to just scare them off and say I'm gay)

me: secondly, uneventful is good because that means nothing has gone catastrophically wrong, so I'm happy and I don't need to fix my life.

he kinda dropped it.

then after looking like a fish gasping out of water for a minute he asked with mildly unsettling giddiness if I had a girlfriend. when I said not at the moment, he kept nervous laughing to himself and then said that was "really interesting." when I asked why, he left.

side note it is EXTREMELY FUNNY to me how people just completely get knocked on their ass when you tell them you're gay. they have NO IDEA how to respond and it's the only thing I enjoy about outing myself.

I've said things back a few times to try and make it clear that I'm fine with my life even if he doesn't approve or something. I was hoping he would get the hint and stop asking or stop giving unsolicited advice but here's hoping this is the one that makes him go away. because otherwise I am going to have to just tell him outright, with no room for interpretation, that I don't want him making weird judgemental comments about my life and what I do outside of work.