#it ain't about you needing one

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

“Wait a minute—” Daryl said gruffly. “Ya expect me to be nice to this guy after what happened last time?”

You shrugged a little awkwardly. “Well, I—”

Daryl interrupted you fervently. “Nah. No. Hell no. You may have forgiven him ‘cuz yer too damn nice, but I’mma find out if he’s actually a good person or not. Honestly, after last time, I oughta break his nose,” he growled.

You felt your cheeks flush at his concern. “Do you think I need a protector, Daryl?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t say that. Ain’t about ya needin’ one. It’s about ya deservin’ one.”

It was at that moment that you wondered why you were thinking about this other guy at all when everything you really wanted was right in front of you. You felt a burst of warmth start between your lungs and wick outwards. “You know what? You’re right. Forget this guy... why don’t you and I go together instead?”

Daryl looked suddenly struck, as if he couldn’t believe what you’d just said. “Are—ya serious?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” You didn’t. Your expression was open and sincere. 

Daryl nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Hell yeah. Tha’s way better,” he said, actually cracking a rare smile that had your heart skipping a beat. Prompt: “You expect me to be nice to this guy after what happened? Hell no. You may have forgiven him, but you’re biased. I’m gonna find out if he’s actually a good person or not.”

[theinfinitedivides]

wi papa look a thing there for me. awa.

prefacing this with a PSA that i'm going to try and keep short but basically regardless of anything i say here let me make it known that i do believe he should apologize. whether or not he's still actively saying that word in 2024 it is something he's used in the past even if he isn't performing said play anymore/saying things like that so flippantly. granted if he does apologize there's always going to be a section of fandom that's like 'he only apologized bc he got caught' yes?????????? that's what always happens????????? lbr you're not going to get on IG and announce you killed your ex two decades ago and you'll be turning yourself in when there's an entire true crime community in the depths of the internet who will dig up the cold case + the suspiciously convenient alibi anyway without you lifting a finger. politicians who get called out for blackface in college do not go around telling people they did blackface in college. celebrities who were homophobic on this hellsite in high school back in the early 10s before they realized they were gay are not going to let you know what their handle was. this is how the world works.

that being said i must confess i caught wind of the stirrings of this a bit early bc during the clusterfuck that was the Jam vs Zamasian RPF poll (i did not go in the notes. rancid ass shit) someone had taken a screenshot of a reblog made as a 'gotcha' to Zamasian voters by implying that they were anti-Black for voting for a ship featuring an actor that said the n-word in a play he hasn't performed for several decades since, with a short taped example that the general public was not going to know how to find unless they were on a mission. i poked around, saw a couple hints here and there that implied that the clip actually existed, marked that down for future ref and went about my business. disappointing? sure. run of the mill especially among people his age in the industry from that time period who are perceived to benefit from white privilege? absolutely. the former bird identified app dragging all of this back into the light (including the interview with Chris Rock. which i have not seen though there's no way it was within the last few years for AMC to still hire Eric if they had seen it. correct me if i'm wrong pls) is unexpected but tracks for the fandom on there.

generally i don't believe in cancelling someone for things they said or did more than ten years ago if they are no longer the same person they were back then. i don't believe Jacob or Assad or any one of the staff of color who may have been working behind the scenes would have agreed to continue interacting with Eric if he had the same attitude as he did when he first wrote and performed the play. i don't believe his Black comedian niece would continue to talk about him and share photos with him if he was calling her or the Black side of her family the n-word. i am willing to give the 'Eric Bogosian n-word' reply tweet he reportedly made before deleting it shortly after the brief benefit of the doubt bc it was 1. supposedly under someone else's tweet talking about the play incident and 2. i cannot count how many times i have accidently commented/almost posted something on here or YouTube or Reddit or ao3 bc i was on mobile and once the keyboard's open the app/browser flips the fuck out and puts the search bar and the comment box too close together. now if his ass shows up and shows out and stands ten toes down while he's currently on time-out or doesn't address any of this we're dealing with a different story. if more examples of him acting like this come out i'll drop him faster than you can call the election it will be that serious.

anyway for now i'm choosing to keep an eye on this while acknowledging that us Black folks do have the right to be upset and pissed as fuck. we deal with enough racism/microaggressions in fandom spaces as it is we definitely don't need new ones, and we don't need them from the past career choice of the main cast of a show a lot of us enjoy. amen

[respectthepetty]

Wut and Sol said they could give Joe some money out of kindness, and Joe could pay them back whenever.

Ming said he would give Joe whatever he wanted in exchange for Joe's body because Ming is selfish.

Joe taking Ming's deal is the most relatable moment I've had with Joe because I, too, would pick the devil I already know. Mixing finances with friends is always dicey, and he would still owe them. With Ming, it's business and he doesn't have to worry about ruining a friendship. He can hate Ming, but as long as Ming runs him his money, he'll continue to do his job because this is just another stand-in job.

Joe is really saying "sex work is work"

And I respect that.

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

James Vowles, you will not see heaven

[epickiya722]

I'm calling it and I hope I'm wrong about it.

If Gege drops a backstory for Sukuna, folks are still going to be like "well, it's not the backstory I want for him".

[weneedatdcharacterwho]

We need a td character who doesn’t care about men

.

[lancerious]

thank you for being #1 lancer fan the world needs more lancer fans

Ho ho ho, of course!! Lancer is CRIMINALLY underrated I tell you, kid deserves WAY more attention than he currently gets

Glad to see another Lancer fan pop in <3!

[imminent-danger-came]

What the Legos Want

MK: "I just- I don't want to let my friends down, you know? It's like, I want to help out in the store, do arts and crafts with Sandy, and party with M-m-m-Mei! Mei! But it's to hard, I'm just one guy!"

(1x02 Duplicatnation)

-

MK: "Okay! I did bad, I just- I really wanted that peach, and I guess I got carried away."

(1x06 The Great Wall Race)

-

Sun Wukong: "Take in everything! Choose what you want to do, and then do it! That is focus."

(1x07 Impossible Delivery)

-

MK: "I just wanted to be good enough—like you."

(1x09 Macaque)

-

MK: "It's like- I want to be strong, and I'm trying to be! But it- it's like Monkey King isn't giving me a chance! *sigh* What if- what if he knows he made a mistake—chose wrong, chose the wrong successor?"

(2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Sandy: "Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength—took me a really long time to realize that. As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me."

(2x08 To Catch a Leaf)

-

Sun Wukong: "You want me to leave it, and I want me to take it! Eh, it's toughy." Ne Zha: "What!? Don't do this! Sun Wukong: "I'm sorry—it's the only way!"

(3x01 On The Run)

-

MK: “Why are you helping her—Lady Bone Demon—like, look, I get that you’re a bad guy, but you know that she wants to destroy everything, right?”

-

Sandy: "I don't want to fight, but I can't let you hurt my friends!"

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

Sun Wukong: "What? You got what you wanted didn't you? Not gonna gloat? Monologue a little before scurrying off to your master? Go on! The Lady Bone Demon is waiting." Macaque: "I couldn't care less about what the Lady Bone Demon wants!"

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

-

Mei: "I can't! I don't want to hurt you—any of you! I'm sorry."

-

Mei: "No! Stay back! I- I don't want to hurt you!"

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

The Mayor: "All my lady ever desired was a world no longer plagued by pain—until the Monkey King and his companions got in the way. Fate however has gifted her a second chance!"

(3x13 Time to be Warriors) (Desired, wanted, same thing.)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "Save your hero speech child—I've existed long enough to know when it's over. MK: "You still think that the universe really wants anything, from any of us?" Lady Bone Demon: "Don't you?"

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Macaque: "Still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others!"

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Sun Wukong: "It's actually amazing how quickly you're mastering your powers—when I was your age-"

MK: "-You were fighting the celestial armies and generally swinging your big ol' tail around to get what you wanted?" Sun Wukong: "Well I was going to say making regrettable life choices but yeah, thanks for laying out. I'm embarrassed to admit it but—you might have actually already done more for this world that I ever have!"

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

Mei: “What’s the point of having power if you won’t use it? Don’t you have people you want to protect?”

(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robed Demon)

-

Sandy: “But you were too WEAK to be who you truly are! I am a monster! That’s what the world wants me to be, so that’s what I’m gonna give ‘em!”

(4x06 Show Me the Monster)

-

Curse MK: "Hey no no no- I get it man. You want to get back to our monster of the week adventures, get back to our simple missions with Mei, mastering all of Monkey King's powers and delivering noodles for pigsy. Right?" MK: "Yeah...yeah actually that's exactly what I wanna-" Curse MK: "But we can't! Not after all we've seen! All we know and all we don't? *sigh* Right friend?"

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

Azure Lion: "No no—this isn't what I wanted! All you had to do was wait, after this was all over I was going to release Sun Wukong, help him see reason! That is now impossible—not after what you've done!"

-

MK: “No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”

(4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

Macaque: "Point is, it’s time to start making your own choices—something I wish I would have learned a lot sooner than I did. You don’t want to fight Azure because people might get hurt, you don’t want to not fight him because people might get hurt–so do something else! Only you get to decide who you are kiddo.”

(4x10 The Jade Emperor)

-

Sun Wukong: "Ah, don't be like that! Eat some fruit, soak up the sun—that's why I've been training so hard!" Macaque: "What, so you can be the strongest?" Sun Wukong: "Nooo! Well, maybe a little bit—but that's not the point! It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

-

Sun Wukong: "I just wanted to protect the people I cared about—to be strong enough. I lost sight of why I was doing any of it."

-

Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become this like, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone, he just does whatever he wants!"

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

MK: "That's what you were pretending to be right? To be my friend? To care about me? When really you were just using me to get what you wanted! To turn me against my own mentor! Put your hand in the monkey cage, and expect to get bit son!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

Sun Wukong: "Azure just stop, okay? You've won—you're going to destroy us just like you wanted! Us an the entire universe." Azure Lion: "Huh? No. This is not what I wanted! I can still fix this, it's- it's the whole reason I'm here at all!" Sun Wukong: "Wait, how are you here!?" Azure Lion: "What? What kind of a question is that you know exactly how I'm-" Sun Wukong: "-No! Here and now! I put you in the underworld myself. How'd you get out, how'd you get the scroll? I know for sure you didn't steal it—you couldn't have! Azure, who gave you that scroll? Because whoever it was they must have known this would happen, wanted this to happen! And they used you to do it."

Azure Lion: "I just wanted to make the world a better place!" MK: "You still can—you're the only one who can."

(4x14 Better Than We Found It)

-

Welcome viewers, to a shadow play the likes of which have never been seen! It follows the tragic tale of a legendary warrior, and how those who bring light into this world inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear whether they want to or not.

[jangmi-latte]

they did the evil queen so dirty with that picture djdjdn 👁️👁️ <- looking photo - whoever is in charge of that museum should be in jail ik damn well mister vil pomefior dorm leader would not stand for this slander of the queen

WHO EVEN PAINTED THAT LIKE I WANT ROOK TO LITERALLY SEE THAT PAINTING AND IF HE SAYS MARVELOUS HE'S OFFICIAL MF BLIND.

[oldmanontumbler]

Ethel Archer and Victor Neuburg's friendship is so dearly funny to me.

You have this Kinsey 5 woman who married the only guy she ever fancied and loves him to bits and pieces, and spends her free time writing impassioned love poems about other women (and nothing else).

And then you have this lithe, faun-like man -- indubitably would've been called a "twink" in this day for his youth and slight physique -- who's nervous and gentle and looks at his mentor like a lovestruck puppy. Like that man hung the stars in the fucking sky.

And then he takes one look at Archer's poetry and goes "hmm... 🤨🏳️‍🌈 kinda gay."

And she's shocked at this -- vantablack pot calling the kettle black -- and whenever she voices that, he's just like, "okay, Sappho."

Yes, he took to calling her Sappho.

Neuburg reviewed all of the poems that appeared in The Equinox, and every goddamn time Archer submitted a poem, he'd turn to her and go, "gee, Ethel, pardon me if I am mistaken, but this sounds kind of gay..."

I dunno, the fact that this bisexual man and this bi/lesbian woman were friends and exchanged lighthearted banter brings light to my heart. It's sweet.

[some-pers0n]

Every once in a while I think about the ship I've been obsessed over for close to two years now and feel like I'm ascending to another plane of reality. Like sometimes you just encounter a ship that hits every single mark and is perfect in every regard and you're left stunned how something like that can even exist

[moe-broey]

Back to. What I do best. Which is low to no effort comics. I still feel like I should redesign my teatime Moe BUT... the mental image of this playing out was so powerful.

I've said in the past that a focal part of the dynamic is both of them managing to be extremely affectionate with each other while hesitating to act on their feelings -- however, I also think it's just as important. The fuck around and find out factor. The way Alfonse will just choose violence, sometimes. The way Moe can be really forward (jokingly or just completely forthcoming about it), but gets skiddish and jumpy when that affection is returned. AND. AND. The way Alfonse will just. Do The Most. MORE than The Most. He is returning the energy tenfold. One thing I believe in my heart is that if you think you're weird for something, Alfonse can and WILL prove to you that he can get Weirder about it. This here is a tame example all things considered, but it is an example!

Some close ups of my fave panels/sequences, hopefully less grainy 🧍

Realizing I probably could have taken close ups of all of them tbh..... too late now! It's dark outside. 😔💔

[hopeinthebox]

tagged by the exceptional @cordiallyfuturedwight and @cosmicdreamgrl thanks ever so much my loves <33

now tagging some heroes @aprylynn @thvinyl @visionsofgideontheninth @hoseeok @btscontentenjoyer @jihopesjoint @monismochi @raplinenthusiasts <333 and everyone else

[jtl-fics]

Coffee shop au + FF

We’ve discussed him as a customer but what’s he like as an employee?

Fluent Freshman AU | Unusual Fic Asks - Closed

FF spent his college years at Palmetto State University tormented by baristas who must have hated him to his very core because in the 5 years of his degree they never once got his order right.

So, FF opened Secret Ingredient with the intention of getting people's orders CORRECT. FF kept any number of alternative sweeteners, dairy alternatives, and whatever else he needed so he could hand off every drink with a clear conscience.

He mastered the art of different coffees and his grandmother's recipes even if he would never have the full flavor profile since he lacked the secret ingredient of a Grandmother's love.

FF was living a good life. He was making good money and his passion for foreign languages had never died he had, with this coffee shop in mind, changed his degree to business management. If nothing else his foreign language skills made him a hit with the international students.

He just never expected his ability to cater to anyone would result in his little shop becoming the campus darling. His days started early and ran late but it was nice to have so many students come to his coffee shop.

His pastries almost never lasted beyond noon but when he spoke with one of his favorite customers, a marketing student by the name of Nicky, he waved him off the idea of making more.

"Supply and Demand. Keep them wanting more." Nicky said even as FF always kept Nicky's usual chocolate croissant order behind the counter so he could get it after his Exy practice. Nicky was older than the standard student but the two of them had become fast friends.

Such good friends that FF didn't bat an eye when he got a long text from Nicky as he was getting everything set upright at the start of the day requesting a whole slew of orders including one of the most complicated sugary drinks that he had ever seen. Nicky had sent along 20 'pls' and begging emojis afterwards and FF was powerless to do anything but say yes.

He started the drip brew for the one Red Eye and then got to the pour over for the Americano and the straight black. He made Nicky's traditional Mocha with the little bittersweet chocolate chips that he knew Nicky adored. Then he got started on a drink that would take his sizeable working knowledge to put together.

It took 5 minutes to craft the monstrosity and the baked goods that Nicky had requested were done just as he saw his friend rushing up to the closed door. He walked over and let Nicky in even if it was an hour before the official shop opening. "We got drunk in the dorm last night and I broke the coffee machine. My cousin was going to actually crazy murder me if I couldn't get them all their coffees. You are a literal life saver Smithy!" Nicky exclaims and kisses him wetly on the cheek and FF could still smell the alcohol on him.

"Glad to help." he says because he is, "celebrating that great win last night?" he asks.

Nicky nods, "That we were! I'll stop by later to chat more but I gotta get these to their owners before Andrew puts a hit out on me." he says rushing away.

FF continued to get himself ready for the day. Saturdays were actually one of her slower days since there were less people on the campus and it didn't draw people out the way Sunday did with 'I need to do my homework for Monday' energy.

He opened the shop and enjoyed his slow and easy morning with regulars and new faces.

His peaceful morning came to an end when the star goalie of Palmetto State's Exy team came in holding the plastic cup he had given to Nicky nearly three hours prior. "You made this?" he asks holding up the cup as he pushed past a regular who was trying decide if they wanted a Flat White or a Café Au Lait.

FF takes a deep breath.

"Yes that was me. Was there a problem?" he asks.

"Make it again." Nicky's cousin says.

So there was a problem with it. He opens his mouth to ask what the issue was but Nicky's cousin's face made it clear that he was not accepting any questions at this time.

So with shaking hands he remade Nicky's cousin's drink. Quadruple checking that everything was in there this time but it felt the exact same as last time.

He handed the man his drink as the other regular was now contemplating that maybe she wanted a Machiato instead, seemingly unaware of her proximity to danger.

Nicky's cousin put the cost of the drink on the counter and was gone before FF could ask about the drink. He felt his heart hammering in his chest wondering what he had messed up and hoping that Nicky's cousin didn't come back even angrier.

"I know this is a big ask but," the customer who had been contemplating which combination of coffee / espresso with steamed milk she wanted leaned in, "Any chance you have whiskey back there? I'm kind of feeling like a good Irish coffee." she says with a mischievous wink.

Oh he had alcohol back here, he lived above his coffee shop but he would be needing all of it for himself.

[quietlyblooms]

if there's one thing chiyo's grandma is gonna do, it's meddle. you can count on that lady to tell chiyo's friends exactly what's up. man i love her

[shmowder]

The depressed teen to enthusiastic adult pipeline is far too real