#no one who couldn't be bothered to vote will be bothered to pick up a gun

[random-knowone]

Hi! I'm glad you're posting so much about Harris. Almost no one I follow/am mutuals with has been talking about the election at all even though it's so close, even though they were doing so much back in 2020. Do you have any thoughts on that sort of situation? Maybe it's that they're tired of talking about it, but it's just really concerning. It's like the election doesn't even exist to them, and they stopped talking about it once they couldn't complain about it. (First they complained they didn't like Biden because of his support for Israel. Then he dropped out and Harris took over and they complained about her being a cop and supporting Israel. Then there were a few posts explaining that she was a prosecutor and actually did a lot to help people, and also that she also supports Palestine and wants a ceasefire. After that, it's been absolutely nothing from any of them for weeks. Many of them are Americans living in the US, too. (Though it's more understandable for someone outside the US to not want to bother, even mutuals and people I follow who live in other countries had been extremely vocal about US politics in the recent past, so it still feels strange for them to also be saying nothing about it now.)

Hey there, thanks for reaching out! I think it's a shame that I lot of folks aren't talking much about this election when so much is on the line.

I think a lot of people either don't realize how much is on the line, don't like Kamala for whatever reason they may have, or see it as "obvious" to vote for Kamala and don't bother talking about it because they assume that everyone already will.

My advice would be to talk about it yourself, make and reblog posts about it, be the change you wish to see. And hopefully, your mutuals will see those and reblog them, spreading the word. Especially posts about Kamala's plans for office, and her past record throughout her career, to help the folks who don't know enough about her to make up their minds.

A lot of people seem to have this idea that both parties are the same, or that Democrats never get anything done. I think a lot of this stems from people just not paying close attention to what goes on in politics, which is understandable. The main reason Democrats don't get as much done as they say they will is that they get blocked all the time by Republicans in the House and Senate, which the majority of people seem to forget about.

Many leftists on here don't like Kamala because she worked with Biden, or because of the ongoing issues with the war in Gaza, or because they just don't think she's left-wing enough. The best way to address these types is to remind them that even if they don't like Kamala, she's better than Trump. And one of them is going to be our next president, no matter what. An election isn't about picking the person who matches your values to a T, it's about choosing which of two options you prefer, even if neither are perfect.

In the case of people you're close with, you can talk to them about their views on this election, and answer any questions they might have, or address disinformation they heard.

The most important thing is to be kind and understanding, because at their hearts, everyone wants what's best for our country, and for their loved ones. We just don't always agree on what that looks like. The best way to convince people is to figure out what issues are important to them, and explain how Kamala is the best candidate for them.

[a-method-in-it]

The number of people who seem to think we'll be able to somehow stop a fascist regime from seizing dictatorial power after the wannabe fascist dictator is placed in charge of the military --- and therefore we don't need to vote --- is disturbing.

Baby doll, you won't even vote against fascism. You're not taking up arms against it.

[realcube]

WRATH & LUST . t.kei / y.tadashi

synopsis ✧ you hate tsukishima kei. you do everything in your power to make his life miserable but nothing works. now you have no choice but to fuck his best friend

cws/tags ✧ college au , enemies to enemies who screw, cursing, slut-shaming (both ways)

parts ✧ i. ii. iii. iv.

your friends call it 'inexplicable hatred', 'misdirected anger' and 'envy' but they couldn't be more wrong.

your feelings towards tsukishima kei were completely rational in your mind. he carried himself as though he was better than everyone and treated those around him like filth, yet he's still tolerated and his shitty attitude is even deemed charming by some self-loathing girls at your college.

it irritates you to no end how he behaves. too cocksure and too sassy; no dignified man should never act in such a manner, you believe. you could go on about other reasons you dislike him — his style atrocities and his punchable face, to name a couple — but you shan't.

you intended on going about your life, simply hating him from afar as you didn't see the need to stir up petty drama. but he made it impossible for you to do so.

one day he was sat behind you in a maths lecture. the seats are tiered so he is slightly higher up than you are. while making notes, his pen slips out of his hand and tumbles forward, landing somewhere under your desk.

you do the polite thing by making an attempt to search for it, but it is dark under the table you can't seem to find it.

a couple moments pass, and he remarks lowly, "are you just going to stare it?"

white hot rage courses through you at his comment. what ever happened to 'please'? to 'would you mind'? you were about to do him a favour by fetching his pencil and he still has the audacity to be snarky.

fuck that, he can pick up his own damn pen. you leave it alone and try to focus on the lecture.

you make it through the whole thing without him bothering you again, probably using a spare or borrowed pen. once the class has been dismissed, you gather your things and wait for the people in your row to start filtering out so you can leave, that is when you feel a gentle tap on the shoulder.

you turn around and lock eyes with a tan, freckled boy with mousy brown hair, he wears an awkward smile and point to your desk, "excuse me, my friend dropped his pencil and i think it landed under your desk. could you get it, please?"

his voice is meek and demeanour similar to that of a shy puppy, which is why it almost pained you to scoff at him and say, "tell your friend to stop being such a cunt, then maybe."

you rush out of the door, keen to get as far away from those two boys as you can. yet as you leave you hear the blonde's voice mutter in your wake, "what a moron."

after marinating on the situation during the retelling to your friend group, and a group vote, you came to the conclusion that perhaps your response to yamaguchi — you learned his name from one your friends — might have been a bit severe. but in your defence, you were peeved by the comment tsukishima had made prior.

it's as though manners and etiquette are totally lost on him.

ೃ⁀➷

two weeks passed since your last little altercation with tsukishima, and you were proud to say you haven't been involved in any conflict with him since then. mostly making snide remarks in passing or exchanging dirty looks in the hall.

however, that all changed when your professor was late to one of your classes. they expressed in the past that they prefer students to wait outside the lecture theatre when they aren't present, so naturally this caused many people to be clogging the hallways.

there was a long queue of people waiting to enter, you stood far away from the door, while tsukishima and yamaguchi happened to be standing opposite. you couldn't help but notice the outfit tsukishima had on: skinny light brown trousers with a black belt, and a pressed short-sleeve white shirt, that was a bit see-through.

you didn't know much about this guy but from his slightly toned figure, which was made apparent by his choice in clothes, you could tell he does some sort of sport. probably basketball, considering how tall he is, but maybe golf. he acts like a golf player.

lost in thought for too long, your finally yanked out of your own internal monologue by a familiar voice snapping, "what are you staring at?"

you blink, and before you even have time to process what he just accused you of, you blurt out, "has anyone told you that you're dressed like a slut today?"

yamaguchi must slap a hand over his mouth to suppress his burgeoning laughter. tsukishima's eyes narrow at his friend's offensive display, before they snap back to you and he argues, "really? me? i'm dressed appropriately. take a look at what you're wearing."

he motions to your outfit: jorts and a tank top. maybe not the most stylish choice but definitely not as whorish as his attire. "it might be more revealing but still not as slutty as you."

he rolls his eyes like what you said was contradictory, wearing smug smile. he wants you to believe what you said is nonsensical and 'proved his point' but all it does it anger you to no end.

not fond of his facial expressions, you retort, "don't pull stupid faces and play dumb. you're already dumb enough as is, so it isn't a very becoming look on you."

with furrowed brows, he opens his mouth to say something, but you cut him off, "and i can see your chest through your shirt. no one wants to see that!"

"you say that while your tits are out, have some self-respect."

"at least i have tits. you're wearing a short sleeve to show off the muscles you don't even have!"

yamaguchi is thoroughly entertained by this squabble, which is why it pains him to chime in, "uh, tsukki. the lecturer is here, let's go."

as much as he wanted to get the last word in, tsukishima glances between tadashi and the empty halls before he decides his education is actually kinda important and begins to make his way inside the theatre. it was good timing because he didn't have a witty response anyway.

your heart is beating rapidly, though you're unsure why. you gaze at the empty walls for a minute to collect yourself before heading into class as well. you totally won that fight, is what you tell yourself.

ೃ⁀➷

ever since the disagreement you had with tsukishima in hallways of the maths building, what was once comments and glares has escalated to threats and insults being made boldly in each other's face.

despite the fact you ate him up the first time, you've been on a losing streak since then. you feel as though nothing you say gets under his skin anymore.

you've tried belittling his face, his smarts, his personality, his mother but nothing seems to work. you even tried to ridicule his glasses but that didn't work either!

"hey, four eyes!"

"hey, five guys."

what the fuck? you weren't sure if that was a dig at your diet, your weight or your quantity of sexual partners but regardless, you could not let that slide.

verbal abuse wasn't working so naturally the next option was physical. you attempted to trip him in the halls but his legs were so long he stepped over you without even noticing. you attempted to pour milk over him but tadashi noticed and pulled him out of the way. you considered pushing his knees while he was standing in front of you but you realised that if he fell backwards his weight would crush you and you'd probably die.

all of that was so elementary and childish though; high school bullying at best. you need college level bullying. you thought about planting weed in his bag and calling the campus police on him but your friends said that was 'too far'. you thought about leaking his nudes but firstly you don't have them and secondly, he's already walking around college half naked anyway so he likely wouldn't be phased by it.

the hard thing about trying to torture a boy like tsukishima is you don't know enough about him to know what will truly drive him insane. you know he cares about his grades but sabotaging his test scores is beyond your means. he doesn't have any dignity so you can't humiliate him. even if you tried, his little gremlin of a best friend would probably catch onto you anyway.

that green haired boy was just as bad as his handler. always gawking at you to make sure you don't try anything; literally glued to tsukishima's ass at all times — it's so gross. and it gave you the most disgustingly perfect idea.

[kislnd]

possessive - george clarke~

synopsis: george has to collect a tipsy y/n after a night out with her friends - there he is introduced to one of her old coworkers.

notes: i managed to accidentally post this several times before finishing it lol (pain) 😭 thanks to anon for requesting this plot x

warnings: alcohol & angst (good resolution dw guys)

word count: 2.4k

masterlist

"are you almost ready?" george called out to y/n, who was in the bathroom finishing up her makeup. she knew her friends were here to collect her for their night out and george was just making sure she didn't end up keeping them waiting for too long. "yes, just give me a sec!" she replies, throwing a brush in the general direction of her makeup bag haphazardly.

"all done," she smiles, coming out of the bathroom, finishing touches all complete. "you look gorgeous y/n." george beams, wrapping his arms around her middle. "thank you." she returns the hug and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to walk towards the front door, with george following behind her. "have fun and be safe," he says, "and when you're ready to be picked up just give me a text." y/n nods, she was always grateful that he was willing to do things like that for her no matter what time of the night it was. "see you later then," she grins, a grin that he couldn't help but reciprocate, and steps outside to join her friends.

the pub that y/n's friends had chosen was a local one, but one that she had walked past countless times without ever giving it a second thought. she wasn't sure what to expect upon entering the establishment, but that didn't make her nervous. she had always thought that trying out new things or places was one of the things that kept life exciting.

once over the threshold, her senses were immediately flooded - loud music blaring from what appeared to be karaoke (something she anticipated she would have to pry her drunk friends away from later in the evening), several conversations, most of which were shouted in a desperate attempt to be heard over the music, and a strong smell of alcohol. at least, y/n thought, the people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"we can either sit next to the speaker and go deaf or nearer to that group," one of her friends gestured to a fairly large group of rowdy guys near the bar, "and also go deaf." they all laugh at this, although their laughter was short-lived - the options really weren't good. "i vote anything but that," y/n scrunches her nose up thinking about the group - if they were already unpleasant from the safe distance at which she was observing them, god knows how insufferable it would be to spend a few hours practically on top of them.

after some deliberation, y/n and her friends settled on a table closer to the music. with everyone situated and ready for the night, a few of the girls made their way to the bar to grab some drinks.

"is that everything?" y/n questioned, scanning the array of drinks that had been poured for them. "seems about right," her friend shrugged, "we'll figure out if we ordered everyone something when we give them out." y/n nods, she was right. thankfully, enough of them had come to the bar to help out that what would have otherwise been a horrendous balancing act, was actually a swift and tidy transportation of drinks. y/n placed the last few glasses down on the table before turning to one of the girls and saying quietly, "i'm just going to pop to the toilet."

"do you want one of us to come with?" she asked, to which y/n shook her head - the bathroom wasn't far from where they were sitting and she wasn't worried about anything else. they had specifically chosen to sit across the room from the disruptive group of guys so she figured they wouldn't bother her.

either way, y/n decided she would move as quickly as possible, sliding past the few people nearby and into the room. she didn't want to spend more time than she needed to in there - pub toilets were unpleasant at the best of times and she also didn't really want to miss out on anything. nevertheless, she took a moment to freshen up - her makeup was still in position and her hair didn't seem to be so different from when she originally styled it so she simply gave her hands a wash and made for the door.

grabbing the cool metal handle, y/n threw the door open and set off with the intention of walking briskly back in the direction of her friends. instead, her stride was broken by a figure colliding with her as she stepped out of the bathroom. "oh!" she jumped back, her body flush with the door, "i'm so sorry." she exclaimed. the person, whom she had now realised was a man who had just come out of the bathroom himself, smiled warmly down at her. "don't worry, i wasn't really looking where i was going." y/n studied his face for a moment, she could've sworn she recognised him but she couldn't quite put her finger on where from. "sorry," she brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, "do i know you from somewhere?" she paused, wondering if that had been a strange question, "i just feel like you look familiar," she added.

"you're y/n aren't you?" the man cocked his eyebrow, but didn't wait for a response. "we used to work together." realisation hit y/n, she couldn't believe she had managed to briefly forget him, they had spent almost every day for a number of years side by side. she couldn't even blame this one on alcohol. "of course!" she laughed at her own silliness and also in the hopes of relieving some tension - she was praying she hadn't offended him. "we had some good times." she smiled. much to her relief, he smiled back, "absolutely, i can't believe how much time has passed. i'd love to catch up with you." y/n liked the idea - she had to admit that she had wondered what he was up to and this would be the perfect opportunity to check in. however, she also recognised that she was here with her friends and it would be wrong to abandon them, especially when they were the ones that organised the evening.

"i'm kind of with people at the moment," y/n gave him an apologetic look, she had tried to word it kindly, in a way that didn't seem like a harsh refusal of his offer. "no worries, just whenever you have a free moment later on," he smiles, "drinks on me, of course." y/n returns the smile, "see you later then."

//

y/n could feel her head growing fuzzy and she could tell her friends felt the same, so it had been a collective decision to end the night there. with everyone calling taxis or friends to collect them, y/n decided to drop george a text to come and collect her in around half an hour's time. as promised, she found her way to her ex-coworker's table, telling herself that she could only accept one drink out of politeness and as to not hate herself too much the next morning.

"so what'll it be?" he asks grinning, digging into his pocket to find his wallet. "just whatever you're having," y/n slid into a chair and waited for him to return with the drink. soon enough, the drinks arrived and after getting over some initial awkwardness, they were back to chatting like old friends. y/n was so caught up in conversation that she hadn't realised george had texted her numerous times that he had arrived until he entered the pub himself and informed her.

"i've been trying to get you to come outside for a bit now," george says, approaching the table where they were sitting. he wasn't angry, he was aware that y/n would be caught up with her friends and therefore a little slower to check her phone, but he was confused. who was this guy? he'd met y/n's friends on countless occasions, and she often mentioned them, but this stranger hadn't ever seemed to come up in conversation. "i'm sorry," she looked up at him with flushed cheeks, the alcohol had definitely gotten to her. george was about to open his mouth to ask her who the mystery man was but before he could get there, she interjected, "this is my old coworker, from when i worked at the shop."

suddenly it made sense - maybe y/n had mentioned him in passing, he was sure she'd talked about her time at the shop a couple of times previously. "well nice meeting you," george didn't really feel like engaging in any formalities, all he really wanted was to get y/n home and go to bed. "we'd better get home." he smiled somewhat apologetically, and took y/n by the hand in an attempt to coax her to stand up. "honestly, please join us," the man, who george still didn't know the name of (nor did he really care to find out either), said. "we were only just beginning to catch up." george glanced at y/n, although he wasn't so sure if she was in a good position to be passing judgement.

"that would be nice," she smiled softly, "george?" she looked up at him with big eyes, eyes that he often found very hard to resist. george still wasn't sold on the idea. "are you sure? it's getting quite late now." he questioned, in the hopes that she would agree and they could go. he really was not a fan of how eager this guy was to spend time with her, and it was made worse by the fact that he hardly knew the guy. "please?" y/n tightened her grip on his hand, willing him to just take the seat next to her.

at this point, george obliged. it was clear y/n was enjoying herself and this guy didn't make her uncomfortable. it was not worth ruining her night and mood by forcing her to come with him. "alright." he said flatly, admittedly through gritted teeth. y/n raised an eyebrow at his tone but brushed it off, maybe he was just tired and besides, he absolutely could tolerate sitting down and talking for a short while.

//

the more he talked, the more george was sure he couldn't stand the guy. the way he looked at y/n with such blind adoration in his eyes, the way he kept reaching out to touch her on the arm briefly during the conversation and his body language, completely focused towards y/n as if he wasn't there - it was all far too much.

george made a point of blatantly checking the time and announcing it to the table, "right, i think we should call it a night here?" he turned to y/n, who was obviously more tired than she had been when he first arrived, who solemnly agreed. george stood up first, quickly helping y/n up and wrapping his arm around her shoulder protectively. "thank you, that was a lovely evening," her former coworker smiled, "we should do this again y/n." the fact he had purposely left george out of the conversation, without even having the decency to offer an invite to him (or to any of her friends) confirmed every suspicion.

george's body stiffened, his grip on y/n tightening slightly. "i don't think that would be appropriate." he said calmly, masking how truly infuriating it was for him to be witnessing this behaviour. "we're leaving now." he didn't give y/n a chance to wave goodbye or say thank you to her old friend, and instead took off briskly towards the exit and to the car.

"what was that about?" y/n looked puzzled, to her the night had simply been catching up with someone from her past and nothing more. "could you seriously not tell?" george himself was dumbfounded, it was beyond him how she could be so oblivious. "tell what?" y/n snapped back at him, "all i could tell was that you hated him. your face was sour the entire night."

"well forgive me for not taking a liking to the guy who was practically undressing you with his eyes," george began to raise his voice, he didn't like getting angry and wouldn't ever want to upset y/n but it was impossible to contain his rage in the moment. "he was not!" y/n protested, "he is just an ex-colleague, what has gotten into you?"

"to you maybe," george still felt disgusted, "i mean, did you even notice that he was constantly trying to touch you?" y/n shook her head in disbelief, "i think you're being dramatic. even if he was flirting with me, why would it matter?" silence clung to the air. george stared at the ground helplessly, he knew that no matter the number of ways he tried to explain this to y/n she would just be adamant he wasn't making advances on her. "i like you not him." she reached out to touch him on the arm, "george, i'm not angry at you. i think i was just surprised."

y/n stepped closer to him carefully and slotted herself under his chin, wrapping her arms around him in the most reassuring hug she could muster - he did the same. "i'm sorry." he mumbled into her hair where he had buried his face, "it's hard to not get jealous when you have such a beautiful girlfriend." y/n grinned, "you are silly." she paused, contemplating whether or not to share her thoughts. "and for the record, i do think you are extra hot when you're jealous."

"oh?" george raised his eyebrow, "well, as long as you don't keep meeting up with random co-workers that definitely have a crush on you, i can live with that." he chuckled. "don't worry, you definitely scared him away." y/n laughed, "i am not at risk." george mocked offense, "hilarious y/n," he smiled sarcastically, guiding her towards the car and opening the passenger door for her to climb in before getting in himself.

"i do love you, you know," she stared out of the windscreen in thought. "i know you do, and i love you," george patted her knee, "let's just worry about getting you home now."

[heavyhitterheaux]

“I’m sorry, I know I overreacted.”

Ty @hoodharlow for helping me 😘💕

AN: Baby Jack and Baby First Lady when they were in high school

Sighing to yourself, you looked over the notes that you had made to complete your assignment that you got paired with Ezra Hamilton for in your AP history class.

Getting home just an hour ago, the afternoon had been spent over his house after school had let out and during that time, Jack had been blowing up your phone attempting to apologize for how he reacted to the entire situation.

Ezra didn't like Jack and Jack didn't like Ezra.

Jack didn't like Ezra because he thought at one point he liked you and Jack quickly put a stop to it and ever since then, Ezra would avoid Jack at all costs. Even though it was hard seeing that they were both on the varsity soccer team.

Jack was voted team captain and only won by one vote.

Of course the person that had been trying to get the spot of captain was of course no one other than Ezra.

Because of how competitive they both were, it was always tit for tat while they were always trying to one up each other.

When you told Jack after lunch as he was walking you to your next class about the project, he immediately got an attitude with you. You did your best to keep calm, but when he kept complaining about you having to go over Ezra's house to do the project, you instantly walked away from him and ignored him for the rest of the day.

“I don't want you anywhere near him.”

“Will you relax? It's just one project and he's not as bad as you try to make him out to be. He's actually really nice.”

Hearing this, Jack immediately turned up his nose and rolled his eyes.

“Oh? So you two are best friends now?”

“Jackman, drop this and drop it now. It's not like I picked him to be my partner. Our teacher paired us up.”

“Tell her you need to switch.”

“Will you get a damn grip? What the hell do you have against him?”

“He's probably going to try and steal you from me and I can't have that. You're mine.”

Hearing this, you stopped walking and Jack quickly did the same thing. You were quiet as you stared at him trying not to go off and yell.

“I'm not a fucking object so stop talking about me like I am. Last time I checked I was YOUR girlfriend who has actual feelings and I only want YOU. But if you are going to continue to be jealous when another person even GLANCES my way, maybe we need to rethink that. Don't talk to me until you lose that damn attitude. I'm doing this project and going over Ezra's house after school so don't even bother waiting for me. Go to class before you make yourself late for the millionth time.”

“I… baby… wait a minute.” Jack started to say as he attempted to grab your hand, but you immediately moved it away.

“No. Bye.” Was all you said as you went and sat down in your next to last class of the day and Jack muttered a quiet ‘fuck’ under his breath before running a hand through his curly hair.

You stared at your phone once more as it rang and simply watched it until it stopped. Your feelings of being upset with Jack were still at the forefront of your mind, and the last thing you wanted to do was talk to him.

After taking a shower, putting on your pajamas and wrapping your hair in order to get ready for bed, you heard a knock on your window and couldn't help but to roll your eyes because you knew it was Jack.

Opening your curtains, you simply stared at him with narrowed eyes.

“Baby! Let me in!” Jack exclaimed, but it came out muffled because the window still wasn't open.

“No. Go away.”

“Please! I need to apologize to you. You've been ignoring me all day.”

As you opened your window, Jack tumbled inside as you sat on your bed with your arms crossed waiting for him to speak.

“Baby girl…”

“What?”

“I'm sorry, I know I overreacted. I just don't like him. I trust you, please know that. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt our relationship. I was an asshole to you earlier.” Jack told you as he sat down next to you and kissed your cheek.

He was surprised that you didn't move away from him.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I only have eyes for you and only want you?”

“A million and one?” Jack shyly answered and you simply shook your head as you tried not to laugh.

“Too jealous for your own good.”

“So, how did everything go when you went to his house?”

“Oh, it was fine. We got a lot done. His mom made us snickerdoodles.”

All Jack did was look at you.

“Snickerdoodles are our thing and I know that my mom's cookies taste better.”

“Don't start. But I might have mentioned that they are my favorite.”

“So, you don't need to see him anymore unless we're in school, right? This was only a one time thing?”

“Babe, our project isn't finished.”

“Hmm, I can come and help speed up the process a little bit with my intimidating presence.”

All you did was stare at him with a blank look on your face.

“I can't believe that I actually take you seriously sometimes. You wouldn't hurt a fly.”

“I know, that's why we're a perfect match. You’ll beat someone's ass in a heartbeat.”

“I…. Jackman, I will throw you out the window.”

"See? My point exactly."

[doctorbunny]

Hi! I hope you don't mind the sudden question, but i got really into Milgram recently and was wondering: What reasoning did people give when they voted Haruka guilty in the second trial? Like, generally speaking, what did the consensus seem to be?

Haruka is a character i strongly relate to, so i have a lot of Thoughts about him.

Firstly: Wow the start of the second trial was that long ago, huh 😅

Secondly: I need to explain that Haruka's trial was a bit different than most Not sure how recently you joined but in a normal trial, the MV will upload the same day a CD releases, and stuff like the instrumental, DECO covers and most importantly the voice drama will be officially uploaded at the same time

But for Haruka, due to some unspecified CD issue, we were getting the MV as planned then wouldn't get the voice drama for another two weeks This will be very important to his voting

Thirdly: Going into his trial, things were uncertain, a lot of people really liked Haruka and were very worried for him due to his new relationship with Muu. Whom many saw as a potential bad influence or threat. I won't get into it too much, but before this trial it was definitely more common to have a.... soft image of Haruka as a harmless little guy who had gone through a lot, who just made some mistakes because he didn't know any better

Its worth remembering that without the context of AKAA, Weakness is a very dream-like MV and not many were sure which parts were real or imagined One of the biggest debates about weakness was about if the blue haired child was a younger bother or Haruka himself It all seems quite quaint from here Some people thought Haruka might not have even killed a person, just animals, I was even considering a theory suggesting Haruka was in milgram for his own suicide (in the words of Danganronpa 'killing the person who is most important to you: Yourself') The girl with the plait wasn't thought about much as other than a possible childhood friend due to her being shown running next to young Haruka.

Fourth: The premiere of AKAA was super emotional and intense, it was a beautiful MV But like Purge March later, it would contextualise parts of Weakness we didn't expect it to Mainly the animal murder and the girl's death.

But without the voice drama, many were unsure what verdict would be best for Haruka Despite the failure of T1 Amane, many still thought we could fix the prisoners through voting right Some people saw this vote as a chance to get Haruka to break up with Muu if we played our cards right Overall people were confused and conflicted and couldn't wait for the voice drama to come out I think the best summary of feelings is a comment from the top of the AKAA comments section

This was posted right after AKAA came out and reflected a common mood

This part of his voting period was very strange. Because of the uncertainty, people were pretty split People didn't think he deserved an innocent verdict, but they didn't want to punish him so harshly with a guilty one either And it turned into an interesting situation: What happens if a prisoner gets exactly 50%? It was an unlikely truce between two passionate sides but for about 2 weeks straight, 50-50 was sustained Or more accurately, it was a constant flux of 49.9-50.1, changing by the hour if not minute (I actually dreamt up a fic of this causing Haruka to get a migraine but like most of my fics it never materialised)

Then the voice drama released

At the time I was the mod of the second biggest milgram server (rip Fancult - unfortunately that place got nuked so I'll have to go off memories alone) so I got to watch as a lot of people gathered and listened to the VD at the same time We were still waiting on translations, but still people could appreciate the acting and pick out key words like the prisoners' names and... other common phrases

お母さん, "Okaasan" The Japanese word for 'mother' or 'mum'

By the time we got to here it was Harukover 😔

Then a second Okaasan hit the verdict

And this giant mess ended with the suicide threat that's been haunting us for the rest of the season...

Needless to say, people were not too pleased

The 50-50 pipe dream was immediately shot down and betrayed

This graph (by paiplushie on twt) shows it pretty clearly

One thing to keep in mind is that even before Muu's MV was out, people were certain she'd be voted guilty, there was a fervour for it (mostly because people saw her as having taken advantage of Haruka and having the wrong attitude towards her verdict)

For some reason, voting Muu innocent was never really considered an option

It was 'Haruka threatened to kill himself if we vote Muu guilty, how do we stop him doing that after we do' [personally I voted him innocent because I had a pipe dream that if both Haruka and Muu were inno then they'd be obnoxious about it but unharmed]

People justified voting guilty in different ways, some thought it'd make him break up with Muu and not want to die for her, some just didn't want to enable his action (threatening suicide is awfully manipulative) and some people genuinely believed that physical restraint was the most effective way to prevent him from attempting suicide... which all I'll say is I disagree with that logic

But yeah, once the VD was out it never really showed any signs of returning to inno

[karisomk]

To see the Red Thread, Pt. 1 & 2

(Sometimes muses just strike me, LMAO. And this is just a head canon of Sylra picking up that something is different with Astarion after the rite of Ascension. Companions witnessing it beforehand. I already posted this on my secondary profile but sharing it here too.))

[[During the epilogue when wine is making everyone buzzing and everyone is having a good time. Halsin who still is sober and for reasons of trying to prevent wild shaping. I like to believe that Tav would have a buzz but not be drunk, and so they would have a conversation with Halsin about Asc. Astarion. Or at least Halsin picks up that Astarion definitely has a leash on tav.]]

“You should visit the grove! Thaniel has asked about you."

"I would love to, and would have to bring this to Astarion's attention so we can make time to go. He's picked up the reigns of being a magistrate again with my help. Seems like such a breeze when everyone is excited to have “Baldur's Gate heroes” in politics,” Sylra a slight bow.

“I assume you do not like it?” Halsin slightly chuckled.

“No more than dealing with politics when we were helping Wyll take his father's place. But he likes it, that's all that matters," Sylra mumbled with a slight shrug. Hiding the frown that formed on their lips behind a sip to their goblet of wine.

Halsin hummed in agreement, but still his gaze lingered in Sylra. Recalling how Sylra was less than eager to deal with politics but still helped when it was needed.

“Surely, Astarion can handle a few meetings with your absence? So you can leave the city for bit. Even the owl bear you helped raised misses you,” Halsin pressed lightly. The Druid never one to fully dance around his words, but was one of the first to know that Sylra was definitely close to the vampire in their former travels together.

Sylra wanted to say no, ignoring the way a knot formed in their stomach at the mention of the owl bear. The cub was missed so much, and not being able to keep him in hurt greatly. But Astarion would instantly shut down the idea of Sylra going off back to Moonrise alone or even wanting to own a little cottage on the outskirts of the city just to see the owlbear and companions. Not to mention an argument almost brewed just from asking to go visit Gale.

“I'm not sure,” Sylra offered quietly.

“As Magistrate, he aims to be Chief of Justice in the city and with me helping him gain votes with the locals it'll be easy, but this requires me to be in the city," Sylra shook their head slightly. A truthful singsong, that was told to explain why Astarion didn't let them stray too far. But in reality, if he didn't want to go then neither should Sylra.

Visiting companions, which Astarion was quick to say wasn't his companions, became an optional task to him. Unimportant. Him showing his distaste for the countryside all the way to Shadowheart's home. Something changed, Sylra couldn't place her finger on it just yet, but Astarion's open disdain that was no longer tied with humor was jarring. Even now, while at the party, he chose to stay away from others and only speaking when spoken to.

Sylra became startled once a heavy hand clamped down on their shoulder. Meeting Halsin's warm gaze,“ Nonsense! Astarion can take care of himself, I'll ask for you!”

Sylra felt their voice catch in their throat, trying to lean over in their seat to catch Halsin to stop him. Holding fright, similar to a child that was preventing another child to go speak to their parent. A slight groan slipped their lips, seeing just how quickly Halsin had beelined for Astarion. And her ever so spouse that looked bothered by Halsin being so close to him.

It wasn't long before ruby eyes locked onto Sylra before flicking back up at Halsin. Flashing a polite smile at first glance but strained smile to Sylra.

“Astarion said yes, Sylra!” Halsin chimed out loud with a chuckle.

Sylra lifted their goblet and gave a polite smile, but that did not remove the knot from their stomach. The false smile on Astarion's lips said it all, that he was not pleased with being asked that. And a conversation will happen about Halsin later when it was just the two of them.

●•◦●•◦●•◦●•◦●•◦

Astarion hadn't spoken since the party had ended, both of them returning to Baldur's Gate and back to the Ancunín Manor. If he did speak to Sylra it was purposely short, nor would he look at them. Even while at the manor, he purposely walked in front of Sylra keeping his distant. In their bedroom, while Astarion began to undress himself, he did not speak then. Still playing the silent game as long as he could to get his way.

“Gods below, Astarion. Enough!” Sylra blurted out, seemingly exasperated that he would still be petting over so little.

“If you do not wish for me to go, I will not. But Halsin merely suggested I visited, and then took it upon himself to ask. That's all! There is no reason for all of this,” Sylra gestured to him fully.

Only a slight chuckle came from him, though he still kept his back to Sylra," As if my thoughts even matter, having others speak for you when you could have just asked me then instead of the Druid." "Astarion-!" "If you wish to go, my treasure, then so be," Astarion stated casually, cutting Sylra off. Ignoring just how Sylra was becoming visibly upset over the conversation.

"No one is stopping you, I would hate for your friends to think I have some type of bind on you. Like the way, Shadowheart says," Astarion briefly sneering at the memory. "So go," Astarion had waved Sylra off similar to dismissing a servant. Sylra's eyes narrowed, heat flushing threw her chest from a wave of anger and mixture of hurt at being brushed aside. “ I do everything you ask me, and you sit there and try to hold this over my head to try to get your way. That isn't fair! “ Sylra snapped, their voice echoing in the elaborate bedroom.

“And just exactly what isn't fair, hm? That I am concerned about your wellbeing? That it is unfair of me to believe you should be here and not in the damned forest, getting convinced to do chores by random strangers that are beneath you," Astarion countered with such viciousness that what growing anger within Sylra had flickered for a just moment. A tone that Astarion has never used towards them, even before the rite of Ascension. "But I am sure Halsin will annoyingly try to stick on you, and you will still naively accept at the kindness of your heart. You never seem to think about yourself fully but stomp your foot when told no, and look at me as if I'm some wretch,” Astarion sneered, fangs baring briefly before he reeled himself in. His features going neutral, a soft smile forming on his lips.

"But you know what? Do what you want, my dear. I shall see you when you get back. Do try to stay out of trouble, my treasure” Astarion mused, closing the space between himself and Sylra to peck their cheek before leaving. Sylra remained planted in the same spot for several minutes, trying to shake the guilt and tension that clung to their frame. A faint taste of cooper feeling their mouth just from the slight chews of the inside of their cheek from anxiousness. Sylra didn't want to go now, not after everything Astarion just said, but to not show for Halsin would not sit right with them either.

●•◦●•◦●•◦●•◦●•◦

What was supposed to be a warm reunion was partially dulled by the last conversation with Astarion. Sylra noticing that Astarion was even petty enough to not tell them farewell but sent a servant instead. But the constant gentle headbutts from the owl bear almost worked in stomping out those ill thoughts. With the sight of the Moonrise towers being actively changed, the sight of the great tree in the center of the town, and with Halsin and the locals preparing a feast for Sylra's arrival. Sylra was almost content, but still longed for Astarion to have come around to the idea of visiting without arguing.

“You know you are getting too big to lay on me, my dear. You are no longer a little cub,” Sylra grunted to the owl bear who insisted on sprawling near them but placed his head in their lap for pets. The pleased soft happy chirps and purrs beg to differ in Sylra's statement. Chuckling, Sylra gave more scratches to the owl bear's ears and chin.

“I am surprised you arrived alone,” Halsin said quietly, moving to sit next to Sylra.

“Mm, he did say yes,” Sylra pointed out, dancing around what Halsin truly meant.

“But it seems begrudgingly so,” Halsin added with a light arch of his brow.

Slyra's lips parted, but a sigh came from them before looking to Halsin, “He needs my support while he works I can not blame from him for that is important to him.“

“Is it? This is just seems like Astarion reveling in control.”

'He doesn't control me or anything I do. He's just overly concerned, Halsin, more so with us being so open about what we did for the city Baldur's Gate,” Slyra said quickly. "Concerned? Over someone that has manned ogres with ease and fight a devil in their own home?" "With all of us being proclaimed heros, he just worries thats all," Sylra said with a light shake of their head.

Halsin silence was heavy, his gaze more often welcomed was now laced with worry. He did not press Sylra, but he was no fool to Astarion's behavior in the city and after the rite. Everyone in camp did not agree with the choice, more so La'zael and Shadowheart who witnessed the rite with Sylra. But it was Astarion's and Sylra's choice in the end.

“I know you care for Astarion, you two were bound to one another before either of you stepped foot back into the city. And, you know, that it is more than that.”

Slyra eyed her hands, slender fingers running through the chestnut feathers, gently scratching the ears of the owlbear who was now falling asleeping. “There are some moments I feel like I failed him or some part of him has been forever lost since the day of the rite, Halsin." "And any conversation about that day or Cazador is almost always shut down so harshly, Halsin." Slyra admitted quietly. The day Sylra mentioned that Astarion was acting strangely was the day he openly snapped at them . Astarion immediately forbidding Cazador's name to be mentioned in their home. Now this was the second time he snapped at Sylra.

TBC

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals - Jingle Bell Rock

Voiceplay weren't originally planning to release any proper full-length video for December last year (2023), just a Mini or two, as they were busy in November due to a special performance with the band Chicago. They asked their Patrons for song suggestions for Minis, and then put the three most popular suggestions into a poll for people to vote on. Jingle Bell Rock won out with 55% of the votes, but then a Patron provided a suggestion of doing it "Mean Girls style". Initially the guys were confused, (as was I when I first read the video title when the Premiere appeared) - was there some different musical styling that they weren't aware of? But they soon realised that "Mean Girls style" was referring to the iconic dance scene from the 2004 movie. And so, on the 16th of December, 2023, we got a proper video, not just a Mini, with plenty of absurdity and "Voiceplay brand of dumb", courtesy of Layne! (Layne was in charge of both the arrangement and the video, and is also co-credited for creative direction along with Tony).

Now please don't kill me, but I've never actually watched Mean Girls (*GASP*). However, I know a fair bit about it just from it being popular on Tumblr and the internet in general, and I know this specific scene in the movie quite well, as my dad and I would watch the clip of it every year in December. I have also rewatched the original scene before starting this post, because I'm gonna be doing screenshot comparisons! For one thing, this isn't a super long video, so I'm not worried about image limit, and for another, VoicePlay put a lot of effort into recreating this scene as closely as possible (albeit with some, er, aesthetic alterations 😜), so I wanna prove it, because why not!

Anyway, that's a fair bit of introductory stuff already, so I'll leave my other notes/commentary/thoughts for during the actual video talk bit. Let's get into this!

Making a shot from this little opening bit as the thumbnail was one heck of a choice ngl. Maybe they couldn't be bothered finding a better shot from the video, or maybe they just wanted to keep most of the video as a surprise for viewers, idk, but I was so confused from the thumbnail-title combo when the premiere appeared!😂

Also if you don't already know from the video description, this was all filmed on Tony's iPhone! (Doesn't mean it was all handheld though - tripods/stands for phones exist!). It was because VoicePlay were without a cameraguy for like 2-3 months, because their old one moved states.

So instead of doing any sort of "sexy santa/santa's helper" costumes like in the original, Layne decided that he and the others would be dressing up as characters from Christmas movies! Cesar as Buddy The Elf (perfect casting and also gets off easiest in the outfit department, lol), Layne as The Grinch, Geoff as Oogie Boogie (duh), and Eli as Santa/Sandy

(Also fun fact: the Oogie Boogie costume is the same one that Tony wore for his very brief appearance in VoicePlay's Kidnap The Sandy Claws video! (Also it's pretty hot to wear apparently, and Geoff had to tie his hair back to get the head/hood fitted properly, before he ended up asking for a wig cap, rip))

Also if you don't know the original scene, the original line after "but I'm always on your left!" is "that was when there were three of us, and now the tallest go in the middle", but here, the tallest (Layne/Grinchy and Geoff/Oogie Boogie) already are in the middle, so it's switched out for "now the fat one goes in the middle" (also watch for Eli's/Santa's quick surprised reaction to that line, lol)

(Also not a visual thing, but if you haven't picked up on it already, the announcer doing the "please welcome to the stage" bit is also Layne)

I know I didn't mention it in all my rambling at the start, but yes, shoutout to Adriana Arellano who is also in this video! (And blonde now!). This is her fifth full-length collaboration with the group, and second for a Christmas video! (Third if you count the Frozen 2 Medley).

Also do you recognise the set? Again? I'll say more later, but those curtains were almost definitely added in post-production I'll tell ya that!

Can't recreate the OG scene without an audience, and so we haveone! That just happens to also include the VoicePlay guys themselves! (Geoff must've been sharing his cloning machine around! 😜😆

Huldra has a video on her channel I believe saying who's who in the audience here, but they're also all credited in the description, so I'll list them here for you!

Standing up at the back: Michelle Arellano (Adriana's mum)

Back row: Eli, Ashley Jacobson (Eli's wife), Asher Jacobson (the baby that Ashley is holding; Eli's new son who was born in November last year!), Eileen McCarthy (don't know who she is), and Gayle Stein (Layne's mum).

Middle row: Franchezca Buiser (in shadow behind Cesar) (production assistant for Kathy/VoicePlay), Cyndi Stein (the blonde one behind Layne) (Layne's wife), Christina Arellano (Adriana's sister), and Adriana

And of course in the front row: Cesar, Layne, Kathy, and Geoff!

(Oh and "The Grinch" waving to Layne and him waving back (in the O.G. scene it's Gretchen waving to Jason) was definitely a cute touch)

Cyndi absolutely killed it playing Amy Poehler's part in the scene here, but wow already the similarities are stronger than I realized!

Totally the same picture! 🤣

So long as everyone had a good time, amirite? 😁

Pfft, Geoff acting shocked/scandalised, as if he hasn't done more than that in his Way Down video! 😆

Cesar is having the best time, and we love that for him honestly <3

Cyndi also really got into it! Stan! (She and Layne really are perfect for each other huh - same energies!)

Not a recreation of any bit in the original, but I love the little moment of Eileen and Gayle looking at each other in what can at best be called "great shock/surprise" 😂

Firstly, I love how they managed to include Ariana as a lead singer while still keeping with the original "plotline", by having a 'reveal' that Adriana was just lip-syncing to the boombox track, (still her vocals of course), which is revealed when it gets kicked and starts glitching.

Second of all, I love Cesar's attitude of "when in doubt, Remain Cute". Iconic 😂👌

Lol rip, had to happen! (And in the BTS video, they actually kinda show how this bit was done!)

Somehow I feel like Cyndi had the most fun out of anyone in this video shoot 😝

At this point I might as well make note of something you'd be forgiven for not immediately realizing - or perhaps not at all! And that is the fact that they're not actually on a stage! They made it look like one with the use of clever directions and camera anglings for the audience shots, but yeah no that's the same set VoicePlay used in 2022 for Christmas Don't Be Late, and the same set Geoff used that same year for Way Down, and it's totally flat! No stage!

And that's about all I have to say for Jingle Bell Rock actually! (No I'm not including the end bit - I do have some standards! 😂). That brings us up to date with VoicePlay's Christmas videos, but we're not even halfway into my 12 Days of Christmas In July miniseries! Next up, a couple of bonus VoicePlay Visuals posts, and then we'll be jumping over to Geoff's solo stuff! See you again soon!

[callibones]

uhhh hh ..... hello! this is the same anon who sent in that ask about object camps. the camps you suggested sound really interesting! im a little too scared to join them for now haha but they sound really cool. they will rotate in my mind for a while i think HGFDSFGHJGFDSDFGH other than that .. 1 . i came across the wiki camp two and it looked so creative and interesting to me! i dont program in css that often anymore but the site makes me wanna go over and put in a bunch of pages. problem is.. i don't know how to Apply? or Do Anything? rn the site is locked for voting but just in general i tried reading the rules but still couldn't understand how it worked. if you knew anything about it that'd be nice. it also seems to have a discord server..? again im scared to check myself but if youre in it i wanna know whether it's a nice space to be in.

2 . uhhghgfdghj i peered through the rest of the blog and found the shelled one blaseball fic you posted ? and i think im really Normal about it. So after reading that i now trust your fanfic opinions. are there any other blaseball fics you'd strongly recommend? and uh general.. uh, evil mind controlly fics would be really nice too (the book of bill is also sort of ruining me along with this so i am truly looking for ANYTHING and like omg hbdxszexrdcfdsxrctvdxszaf) and thats all i wanted to ask you! sorry this is getting REALLY LONG i wish you well and i am So Sorry for bothering you!

HELLO AGAIN! not botherin me at all. :-] i was hopin youd find that answer.... i made sure to answer it at the same time u sent the question so you'd have a MAXIMUM CHANCE of findin it, and u Did! so Yay! welcome back. im going to tag my answers to your Post's with 🩸🟪 so we Never Get Separated Again. but i want you to know.... i don't bite! i literally can't on account of my face is a monitor. so if you wanna chat, feel free to dm me! you seem like a really fun person and we clearly have a lotta interest's in common so Consider That: An Option.

ANYHOO.

1) the wiki camp 2 is ABSOLUTELY a welcoming community. in fact, check this out: here's an index of plainly written explanations of various community in-jokes, to ensure nobody's left confused! while i'm not super active on the discord due to hyperfixating on single spaces at a time like some sort of cryptid, i have a lot of wonderful friends in the community and i'd wholeheartedly call it nice.

you don't have to apply to write, either! while i don't think there's an ETA yet on when the wiki's re-opening, whenever it does you'll be able to make an account for free and start creating to your heart's content! sometimes people who do that even get roped into the camp due to Token Shenanigans....

2) look. i get it. how much do i get it? the post you're talking about was written by my bill cipher fictive. and guess what book made me pick THAT thing up? we're in the same boat. i'm (RELATIVELY) normal 'round these parts, but if you do end up dropping me a line, maybe you'll happen upon some of my stuff? just sayin'. but as for what i can do for ya at the desk here...

thing is, i actually haven't read that much blaseball fanfic. i know! i WANT to. i have a list, which i'll reblog with your special tag right after this. but my brain doesn't let me read a lotta long stuff these days, which is SUCKS! i might poke around some tags and see what i can find, but that spectacular shelled one fic's the only one of its kind i know.

if you wanna read something Long and Serious and Really Really Good that's haunted me for years, put your eyes on Oil and Water, the shoe thieves disaster marriage classic about grief and autism and family and other such things.

then read everything else that catches your fancy, and send me your picks! and hey. if anyone reading this wants to help a cute anon out and knows some fics (or wrote some fics) that fit the Bill i mean the bill, PLEASE lemme know!! i Understand wanting more evil mind control. it's kind of my whole thing. PLUS i'm literally the shelled one's favorite

[thatstormygeek]

"People don't understand how different things would have been if Hillary had won!"

This is true. Things would have been very different. Ideally we'd have fewer Trump clones running for office now. But Trump didn't make the GOP what it is. It's been like this. Forever.

Why are our choices Biden or (presumably) Trump? Liberals love to point the finger at the Republicans (while using the other hand to indicate the left is pretty close to just as much at fault, really), absolving their own party of all responsibility.

"It's this or fascism!" Okay, but why now? What have the fucking Democrats been doing while in office that it's gotten to this? Hmm? Feel like taking a look at Bill Clinton's presidency? And then maybe truly ask yourself why exactly his fucking wife thought we'd want her to be running the country.

I voted for Hillary (because what choice did I have), but the woman couldn't even pretend to support indigenous people protesting a pipeline on their land. People keep acting like she was this great progressive hero and she's not. She was not. And still, we fucking voted for her.

And liberals re-litigated the 2016 election constantly over the following four years, until Biden was elected. Then not a peep. They were content. Until 2022 midterms. And until now. Because now it's time to remind all of us to fall in line again, and they're so tired because they have to come out here again and lecture all of us leftists about our responsibilities to vote for their guy because we are all just too incapable of complex thought processes to understand the value of compromise and lesser evils and all that.

It's almost like the only activism y'all think is worth doing is beating leftists over the head with your "Vote Blue No Matter Who" stick. Which, fine. Just stop pretending you actually give a shit about anything else. Because we see you. And we see what you're not talking about. And when.

If the height of feminism to you was filling in the circle next to Hillary Clinton's name, here are some better targets for your messaging:

It's so fucking frustrating because it's clear y'all aren't listening to what folks on the left (people way smarter and with way bigger reach than me) are saying. And it reveals a lot of what the "Just Vote" bluster tries to conceal:

We're not real to you. We're not people whose needs and desires matter. We're there to be numbers to prop up your bulwark against fascism and a convenient scapegoat when you inevitably lose elections (because you will not win every time). But you don't want to make those defenses too strong because if the Other Guys aren't a constant threat, you might have to grapple with the ideas you've considered beneath you forever.

I'm going to vote. I've been voting for years. I'll continue voting. Never in my life have I told someone not to bother to vote. But I'm not doing it because of y'all. I'm doing it in spite of your messaging.

The chart that should scare Dems is this one

The votes of that 49%? They do not belong to you. You are not automatically owed them. And yes, maybe voting for Dems is in the best interest of that 49%, but there's nothing saying they will do so. People do shit against their own best interests all the time. And they sure as shit do things against the best interests of people in general.

Which means y'all have to convince them to want to vote for you. If you're the type of person whose mom said "Clean your room" and you immediately jumped to do so after thanking her for the reminder, I can see why the Democratic party's messaging is working out for you. I am not that person and I don't know a lot of people who are. So y'all are going to have to offer more than the constant demand if you're going to pick those folks up.

Not to be a doomer, but I think y'all are a lost cause at this point. You've been told the same thing over and over and refuse to adapt, so I have to assume you prefer things the way they are. Which means it's only a matter of time--and probably not a lot of time, really. You can't win every election forever and if that's the only plan, well...it sucks.

I'll tell you what, though: nothing would make me happier than the Dems proving me wrong here.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

Im not that same anon, but i will say the way you jokingly talk like a taekooker can sometimes be triggering and hurtful to people like me who really love jimin and thought they curated their spaces to jimin focused accounts. Ive even seen taekookers use your blog posts in their arguments bullying jimin.

I’ve followed you long enough to know you’re being sarcastic but i do get sometimes triggered by how you try to prove Taekook in the exact way Taekookers do, a joke or not. but that’s our problem and you’re allowed to say whatever you want, and we can obviously unfollow you. Just adding my perspective.

- Allow me to give a honest opinion. I won't say you're a tkkr or anything because i know you're a ex jkkr and you don't ship jm with anyone. But from the way you write it definitely seems like you have alot of pent up anger towards jk and tae individually as well as together and that definitely reflects more into your writing when it involves those two. I think it's because you're an ex jkkr so it might be because feels betrayed by both of them on jm's behalf, like their behaviour towards him etc. Yes i myself recent the two guys the most and don't think they're worthy of jm's friendship too. Idk how long you have been on this blog but since the time i have followed you if i didn't know better i would think you're a jkkrs' hater more than of Tkkrs. It's one thing to to recent shippers it's another thing to turn it more towards just one group of shippers that is jkkrs. I remember you saying something like you felt betrayed or something about ITS tk talk cause even tho they said they're awkward it didn't show in their actions or something along that so i think you hate them both alot.

personally idc who you're calling husband or what cause all pjms call them husbands but they also think both of them are straight, would have unfollowed you long ago. I only replied cause i saw anons calling you tkkr. Anyways tk husbands married in Vegas currently with 3 kids and 3rd or 5th anniversary according to tkkrs. If you don't know they also has a shared apartment in japan jk brought for taehyung and he was staying there while jm was in hotel. Such a bad friend jk didn't even invite jm to come to their tk house 😔

---

Well, that I understand because taekook as a ship used to bother me just as much. It was annoying and sometimes it still is, tho it's become more of a dislike towards them as people rather than the ship itself.

In late 2019, there was some random poll in some irrelevant online magazine (like soompi and stuff) about "which member is the closest to Jungkook?". Jin won. Army voted for Jin and not Jimin, who was without a doubt the closest to Jungkook that year. At that time, things like that also bothered me and made me sad. Now, I guess it's been so long since I got over it and it's a joke. Besides, I understood that most of the information army picked up on was coming from the members themselves, and I couldn't spend a lifetime getting angry about things Taehyung, Jungkook and even Jimin himself weren't going to change.

That vminkook live in November 2021? Watching some parts of it felt terrible. I got over it quick, but at the time I didn't like it. A lot of taekook stuff bothered me, but what is anyone going to do about it lol. And I learned that, and I accepted it. Jimin literally posted taekook with their faces smashed together on his Instagram some weeks ago and pjms were laughing and rejoicing about him giving something to taekookers.

"Ive even seen taekookers use your blog posts in their arguments bullying jimin." Sorry but I don't believe you, like you just made that up.

Yeah but the thing is, I'm not trying to prove taekook lmao. I'm just making fun of the way shippers in general talk. Like, it would've meant the world to jikookers if it was Jimin with bam, right? They actually spent a lot of time trying to prove that Jimin is with bam often, but because it's Taehyung that has actual proof of spending time with Bam at Jungkook's house, they get annoyed at it and talk about conspiracy theories. Or ignore it. Now, Bam it's irrelevant. But if it had been Jimin, they would've also said the same thing I said about Taehyung spending time at Jungkook's.

And that's the whole point... call it satire if you will.

Before this discussion started, I was going through my blog, right. I reblogged some old posts. Remember when Jimin went to NYC and he wore shorts and jikookers were making viral sex jokes about how he'd shaved for Jungkook (Jimin is clean shaven in every BTS content btw, and so are the other members). Well, while going through my posts I saw this one where I said Jimin shaved and moistuzed his legs for Eunwoo like...

That stuff sounds out of pocket to me, and I will make fun of it. if people are missing the joke it's really not me. Or maybe they haven't been in shipper spaces as much as I have been. I'm sorry if I come across as too convincing??

Mind you, there were people who got angry because I talked about minimoni, or even about Saeon and Eunwoo. Someone literally came up once and told me that liking minimoni was weird because Namjoon talked about Jimin in a creepy and predatory way. Some people are just deranged, and I know that.

I honestly have no respect left for jikookers after face, or rather after this year, the way I have no respect for taekookers. They've become an easy punching bag with how delusional they were since 2021, and most of my jokes are me just saying the same things they say about jikook, but using it for different ships because it's all so ridiculous. And the most delusional ones are always Jungkook biased jikookers who thought Jimin was undeserving of support and talk about the two of them like Jimin is the lesser one in talents, ambition, or achievements.

[manyothermusingsofmine]

Strings Painfully Attached || Drabble

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3   Wordcount: 1880 Warnings: Nothing but angsty feels here Authors Note: "Thank you, for the dance. I won't forget it." hAHAHAHA OW. -insert emotional damage meme here-

Summary: After having to, again, romantically reject someone she only sees as a good and close friend, Willow is struggling to process feeling like the bad guy for having to state her boundaries. And the only one who notices she's not doing as well as she likes to (badly) pretend she does, is Halsin

------------------------------------------------

It was incredibly late at night at the last light inn. Most people had turned in for the night, including the chaotic bunch of people that had gotten roped into the inn last. Halsin was among them, and also one of the rare few still awake as thoughts of Thaniel haunted his mind. With a quiet sigh, he decided to look for some company in the hopes of easing his mind for a little while. And where better to find company than at the bar?

He greeted Wyll on the way there, as the latter went down the hallway and turned into one of the rooms to call it a night. At the bar sat Astarion and Willow, seemingly enjoying each other's company in silence while sipping from their mugs of ale. Well... enjoying?

Looking at the purple tiefling again, something about her body language gave away to Halsin that she was incredibly tense, occasionally looking into the hallway behind him before looking into her mug. He decided to not bring it up, sitting down next to the pale elf instead to give her some space as he also ordered a drink.

"So, anything new?" Halsin asked

"Not really," Astarion answered, and Halsin couldn't deny that he had actually wanted the answer from Willow. Still, he decided to listen.

"We were discussing a plan of attack earlier, when Willow told me she wanted to just sit at the bar for a spell and think about what to do next. Or at least, which problem we should tackle first."

Willow just nodded, still staring into the liquid in the mug, as if she was hoping to find an answer written on the bottom of it if she just looked hard enough. In a moment that seemed to take a lot more thought than it should, she carefully lifted up the mug to her lips to take a sip.

"We were talking about maybe splitting up the group so we can cover more ground. Willow seems keen on keeping you, me and Karlach around herself, so in any case we should assign someone to keep the rest occupied while we're exploring. And out of everyone there, my vote is on the only one with some semblance of sense, Wyll-"

Both men flinched for a moment as wood collided with wood in a hard thud; the silence of the inn only amplifying the noise to the degree that it sharply interrupted Astarions out loud planning. They both looked to Willow for a second, and Halsin frowned as the tiefling trembled a little for a moment, before pulling all her emotions back in and exhaling out deeply for a moment.

She then suddenly got up, leaving the mug, and walked off to the doors that would lead her out of the inn.

"Where are you going?" Astarion called after her, making her pause halfway in her stride.

"Outside. I need air."

Halsin just frowned once more at how weirdly clipped and carefully monotone she kept her voice.

"Don't wander too far," Astarion teased, "I don't think the others would appreciate me having to rudely wake them because you got yourself into a bad part of these shadow cursed lands that we need to fish you out of."

Willow just muttered something about how she didn't plan on wandering off, before going outside and slamming the door behind her, the sound once again amplified in the quiet inn.

It stayed silent after that. For what felt like way too long, Halsin and Astarion sat in silence, with Halsin just intently looking at Astarion. Had this supposed coy vampire really not picked up on any of the signs that something was seriously bothering Willow?

It took a while, but Astarion was starting to feel the piercing gaze of the druid onto him, looking at him from his peripheral and then away again a few times before it actually started to bother him.

"..... What?!" he eventually asked in a snappy tone, the silence having turned weirdly eerie with Halsin staring at him like that.

"....... By the Oakfather," Halsin huffed, absolutely incredulous that Astarion really hadn't picked up on this, "You're dense, mate."

He ignored the indignant protesting noises from Astarion as he got up, deciding that if Astarion wasn't going to go and talk to Willow, he would. The girl was clearly in need of a friend to talk to, so he decided he would be that friend.

"What is that supposed to mean, Halsin?!"

Halsin just threw his hand up in a dismissive manner, signaling that he wasn't sticking around to listen to Astarions protesting.

He gently pushed open the doors of the inn, and just as gently closed them behind him. In the moon shield domed courtyard, the air was calm and quiet. Everyone was asleep, so the mood was incredibly serene. If you ignored the soft sobs coming from the front of the blacksmith's abode, that is.

Halsin quietly made his way over there, finding Willow balled up on the ground. She was sobbing into her knees, that she hugged close to herself. He sighed softly, kneeling down in front of her.

"What happened between you and Wyll?"

The sobbing stopped. Willow flinched, looking up in a panic as Halsin had immediately found the source of the issue.

"Oh, come now, Willow," he said, voice kept soft and comforting.

"You all but slammed your mug down on the table when Astarion said his name. Just because he couldn't see that reaction for what it is doesn't mean I can't. What happened?"

She bit her lip, as her eyes filled back up with tears. Halsins gaze softened, as he stayed in his kneeled position; he wasn't sure if she would appreciate any kind of physical comfort.

"What keeps happening," Willow eventually settled on, her voice betraying the amount of heartache she was currently feeling. She got up, slowly, the trembling of her body returning and becoming more intense by the moment as guilt, grief and frustration started to mix all together in a vessel that couldn't contain it anymore. A bucket full of water, with the last few drops put in making it spill over.

Something gave out.

"What fucking keeps happening! First it was with Gale- Gods, the weave is amazing. And feeling any kind of connection to that is like playing with divinity, it was a wonderful feeling! A feeling I had to cut short because he was looking at me in some kind of way like enjoying it in any sense meant I felt something more for him than I do.

Then it was Karlach. She's finally untouchable no more; and I am so incredibly happy for her. I want to be able to touch her, to give her high fives when she did an amazing job, to hug her when she clearly needs a hug- what I never wanted her to do is interpret that as me wanting to drag any of that physical nature across the line of platonic!

And Wyll..."

Her eyes filled with tears once more, as she clutched fistfuls of her hair into her hands as a tidal wave of guilt came in.

"Gods, Wyll, I just want him to be okay. He got dealt such a shitty hand, and I want to tear his patron to shreds for what he's been put through, and all I want for him is to find solace and company in our group. He is so smart, and so dependable- I finally had someone I could just talk to and get an objective opinion about what to do; he's like a brother to me. So when he asked me to dance, of course I wanted to dance! Of course, anything to see him happy, if only for a little while, but-"

Tears poured down her face like an unrelenting waterfall as she recalled the look on his face when she pulled back, drew her walls back up, and rejected him in a romantic sense. She felt like his disappointment, and yet gentlemanly acceptance of her choice, was seared into her mind.

She knew he would never hold it against her, or act like he was somehow entitled to a kind of affection that she didn't have for him. But that did absolutely nothing to lessen the guilt that had a death grip on her heart.

"I'm sick of it!" she snapped at Halsin, who had said nothing the whole time as he realised all of this needed to come out of her so she could finally start to process these emotions.

"I'm just trying to keep this group together, and alive! They deserve the world and I want nothing more than for all of them to be okay. To be okay, and be happy, and be my friends. My friends.

Gods, Halsin, I am so tired of trying to help them overcome the adversaries they're up against because I want them to be happy, only for them to read more into it than there is to it! I don't want that, I don't want to keep hurting them because I don't feel the way they do. I want them to be my friends, just my friends!

I know that what I want is something I can't have, and- they- they keep showing me what I could have, and I don't want it. Not like that! I... I... I'm a monster. I keep leading them on, making them think I love them- I do, but not like- I just- I don't-!"

She trembled, still, as frustration and anger took hold.

"I'm not kind. I try to be, Gods know I try to be. But, clearly, I'm not, if it keeps fucking being interpreted as something it's not! And the only one, the only one, who doesn't see my kindness as some inevitable, telltale sign of something obviously deeper and more valuable than platonic adoration.... is Astarion.

Am I stupid for preferring his coyness and teasing over everyone's direct pining for me? Maybe. Probably. But I prefer how that feels over constantly breaking the hearts of my friends. And I just, I- They- With...."

Grief won. Willow just started full on sobbing, the pain of her deep-seated guilt pouring out in full force as a lot of this had been building up since the group first got together. And pouring it out to Halsin, who had been watching from the sideline, and only just got more involved and thus had no stakes in the manner in any way?

He could see that it had been a storm she had been desperately needing to weather, without anyone to turn to in order to weather it out together. Everyone else was either too involved, or not emotionally available to listen. Halsin closed the gap between them, quietly and gently pulling her into a protective hug as she cried her heart out on his chest. He softly hushed her, smoothing her hair down with his free hand.

"It's alright, Willow," he whispered, deciding he would be the life buoy she could hang onto while she felt like she was drowning.

"You are kind, or all of this wouldn’t bother you as much as it clearly does. I promise you, it’s going to be alright."

[karlie-what-you-want]

Lmao, people need to start getting serious and stop pretending that people immediately picking random famoua guys to pair Taylor off with after she announced she ditched Toe is something that would ever bother her, she is literally the woman who told a Vanity Fair interviewer in 2020 that in 2016 she and her dumb little female brain couldn't comprehend American politics until a big strong smart man with a superior man-brain came to the US from Britain and told her "Trump bad! Vote Democrat!" within like the first month he ever spent in America because for some dumb reason she thought it'd boost her chances of Miss Americana making the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary

I love Taylor too but people really need to stop putting her on a pedestal and pretending that she doesn't quite often and quite purposely use misgogynistic tropes and shit to promote and sell whatever she's got going on at the time and that misogyny is actually something that bothers her 24/7 instead of something she likes to use to her advantage on occasions 💀

Anon, I think you are assuming that these truths cannot coincide, when I just don’t think that’s the case. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post this, because I think some of the language is harmful, and I’m not honestly sure if you’re actually a Taylor fan or just a troll. But, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

First of all, many of us have been perplexed and frustrated by some of the things she says and does—especially in the case of crediting joe for her political activism. However, Taylor has never portrayed herself as having a “dumb little female brain,” and I find that assertion to be offensive, even though I don’t think you’re actually knocking her intelligence.

I am also of the opinion that joe was a stand-in for Karlie in many ways. So Taylor saying that he encouraged her to speak up and be braver about her political stances could have been her way of honoring Karlie (who has always been politically outspoken) for encouraging Taylor in a similar way.

Taylor does a lot of things that mystify me. I don’t always understand her motives, other than to succeed in the music business. I think that’s always come first for her, even to the detriment of her personal life and relationships. Things like this or Grammygate perhaps are not the best look for someone who has framed herself as a feminist activist, but I think that can coexist with the fact that Taylor would be bothered by people constantly trying to tie her to a man.

It takes me back to the Archer: “I cut off my nose just to spite my face/ then hate my reflection for years and years” She does a lot of things that are contrary to her own beliefs out of fear and the need to be liked by the public. (See also: “I’ve never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near”). She doesn’t like that she does these things, and she doesn’t like that (to her it seems) the only way to succeed is by tying herself to a man. I think it’s clear through her lyrics (too many to list) that she wishes it wasn’t so.

Plus, it’s one thing to do it herself (and hate it all the while), but it’s a completely different thing to have others do it for you and rub your face in it. That would really suck.

So while you might say it’s hypocritical for her to be offended by the notion of people trying to match her up with a bunch of famous men, it’s not unrealistic for her to feel that way. I have always worked very hard to keep from putting her on a pedestal, as you mentioned, and I think part of doing that is recognizing the duality of Taylor, her beliefs, and her lyrics.

She’s a businesswoman, yes, but still a woman. Still a person. We’re all hypocritical sometimes, we all do things that we hate, and we all want to be told we’re strong enough to succeed on our own.

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

I'd planned to liveblog the Always Sunny Podcast live show and afterparty but I got too caught up in it. I do have some notes I scrawled on a sheet of paper here and some shitty phone recordings because screenrecording was making my ancient laptop lag like crazy, but I'm quite drunk and very sleepy, so I'll write them up later. If I can be bothered later. Probably not lbr.

I believe the videos are gonna be up for the next 7 days to rewatch as many times as we'd like? (Hey future self go figure that out.)

For now, quick thoughts before my brain shuts down:

Outfits: 9/10. Docking a point for Glenn buttoning up his shirt in the afterparty. Rude. Should've popped that shirt off.

Music, harmonizing and jamming: 100/10 VIBES. Shout-out to Charlie and Glenn singing Christmas tunes together and Charlie's musical improvisations on the piano with Glenn on guitar.

British royalty talk: -3/10. Rob, I do like you, but given my background, I personally do not care to hear about how the king is cool or whatever. Idc if you talk about meeting them, but sucking up to them is dumb and you need friends who aren't posh types like Humphrey (no offence to him, I'm sure he's nice).

Glenn as the grinch, being grumpy as shit, munching on cheese and crackers furiously after drinking a Rob manhattan and just giving 0 fucks about Christmas happiness: 11/10 MOOD!

Best host contest: blasphemy/10. Picking Meg is cheating and I adore Charlie, but no. Why was little Glenn on #3? Poor chap.

Gifts: 10/10 thoughtful <3

Lingerie talk: 8/10. Not long enough. Could be gayer.

RCG improv scenes: A++/10. They just got better as they did more. The stupid key chain sounds had me dying.

Serious conversations in the afterparty about S16 writing, Megan's happy experiences at Sunny vs other shows, doing RCG rewrites and the creative process disagreements between Rob and Charlie while Glenn is mostly quiet and tired or sometimes mediating: 17*/10 friendship. Also, Charlie is right that 4:3 and Standard Definition is The Sunny Look.

Chat, voting website and audience interactions: flop disaster/10. Why didn't they try to set up a normal poll instead of a page on a website that was definitely going to crash?! Anyone under 28 could've told them the chat was going to be impossible to read and full of spam without a proper moderator, but even our Meg is old and doesn't really know this stuff lol.

*arguably 19 because they started working on the home movies in 2003 with the first ones shot in November.

It was a slow start and they were clearly tired from being in the writer's room all day, but after the first half an hour, the boys slowly came back to life and stayed on for an extra 45 minutes, which I appreciated, having paid all that money to watch them.

It was like a 3x duration unedited edition of the podcast with some extra segments and I did have fun, but tbh it didn't have to be a livestream except for the few moments they actually interacted with the chat. The whole point of a livestream is the audience participation and even they seemed disappointed they couldn't hear us or really be able to read the chat?

I don't think the Moment interface is that great either. They could've just gone live on youtube or twitch and hidden the stream after a few days for the same effect and given away the leftover money from superchats and donations. They'd probably raise less money that way, but it would actually take advantage of the format. Fingers crossed their next livestream goes a lot smoother. And hire moderators please!

[fortheloveoffanfic]

Undisclosed

Thomas Shelby x Reader. Requested

A/n: I so suck at naming fics so please don't let the horrible name deter you.

Masterlists

Warnings- Angst, guns, blood, descriptions of gunshot, miscarriage

Pregnant.

To most women, especially a married one who adored her husband, the news would have sparked incomparable joy, but when Y/n had been dealt it, by a very distinguished doctor in the heart of London, it made her heart drop all the way down to her toes. It wasn't like she didn't want children though- she did- and having a family with Thomas was something she'd dreamed of for a long time, but the timing couldn't have been worse. She couldn't be with child, at least not right then.

Shelby company was only just starting to recover from the Wall Street crash, they'd recently acquired new factories and there was an election coming up in just months. Most times, Thomas was barely home, and even when he was, his mood had already been soured by something, or a series of things, that had happened throughout the day, making him exceptionally difficult to have a conversation with. She was never cross with him over it though, Y/n had understood that it was never his intention to weigh her, or either of his children, down with the frustration of his professional life. But she did feel like it was her responsibility to not add any more stressors to his plate, and because of this self-assumed task, Y/n had opted to keep the information to herself, just for a little while.

That didn't mean she was planning to keep the pregnancy a secret forever though, nor did she have any intention of getting rid of the baby. In fact, every day, Y/n promised herself that as soon as some of Thomas' time had freed up, she'd break the news. After this meeting. After the next rally. Right after this acquisition. Just after the very last vote had been counted;

Well maybe that would be a little too late.

But Y/n did have every intention of telling him, preferably before it got hard to hide. She had to tell him, Thomas was her husband and that baby growing inside her was his child too. He deserved to know and she couldn't possibly fathom never telling him. It was just a matter of when.

“You’re unusually quiet tonight,” Thomas noted as he straightened the knot of his tie as Y/n sat in a chair in the dressing room of the small auditorium that had been rented out for the night.

She’d been picking at the emerald cut diamond of her art deco engagement ring, so deep in thought that she'd been removed from its usual weight on her finger. Y/n rarely wore her engagement ring since they’d wedded, it was truly stunning but a tad impractical for day to day life; even if the maids did most of the work, the last thing she needed was her ring getting caught up in the button of Charles' or Ruby's uniform when she was getting them ready for school. Bourgeois problems, was the phrase Ada often used to tease her, but Y/n hardly minded, she much preferred to use her simple, pavé wedding band at home, saving her glamorous ring for big events, like Thomas' rally that night.

Though, that evening, her problem was much bigger than the diamond adorning her hand.

"Are you trying to say that I usually talk too much?" Y/n taunted lightly, glancing in his direction, admiring his reflection in the mirror. Strong jaw, perfect cheekbones and the most hypnotizing blue eyes, if the baby she was carrying looked anything like him, then they'd be absolutely gorgeous. She always wanted a child with his eyes.

"I'm not," Thomas smirked, "Even if you did though, I wouldn't care, I like your voice," he noted before returning to the original issue, "You just seem like something's bothering you."

He knew her so well, just as well as she knew him and Y/n had figured that he was bound to notice sooner or later- she would have just rather it be later. At least she wouldn’t have had to lie and say she was fine, or keep such a huge secret from him. “Nothing’s bothering me,” she smiled tightly, rising from the chair and approaching Thomas as she painted on the practiced grin of a socialite. “I’m just…..tired,” she dismissed, reaching forward when he turned to face her, adjusting the knot of his tie until it was perfectly straight.

“Then maybe you should stay back here,” he offered, rough fingers grazing her cheek in a feather-light caress, “Get some rest.”

“And miss everything?” Y/n scoffed incredulously, “Never. Besides,” she leaned up, capturing his lips in a doting peck, “I like seeing you out there. When you talk the air gets all electric and I feel like I’m married to one of the greatest men in history.”

Thomas smiled softly, hands sliding down her silk clad shoulders, past the crook of her elbows before finally taking hold of the tips of her fingers, maintaining their proximity, “You have too much faith in me.”

Y/n hummed, “On the contrary, everyone else doesn’t have enough. You’re going to go out there tonight and say something great, and I want to be there for it.”

A kiss acted as his initial response just before Thomas softly disclosed, “I just want you to go out there if you don’t want to.”

Pulling her fingers away from him, Y/n cupped Thomas’ face, thumbs rubbing gentle circles into his cheekbones. She adored touching him like that, knowing that there wasn’t anyone else in the world that was privy to moments like that one, with him. No one else could have him the way she did. No one else would be privileged with the opportunity to carry his children.

Which is why she should tell him.

Not yet.

Shaking her head slightly, Y/n attempted to brush off the voice in the back of her head that was urging her to tell Thomas exactly what was going on. “What?” He knitted his brows, gently gripping her waist.

A shuddering breath percolated off her ruby stained lips, “Tommy, I have something to-”

“Tommy, Y/n,” Arthur barked as he pushed the door open, sticking his head inside of the dressing room, beckoning their attention and stampeding all over their very private moment, “It’s time.”

Y/n’s breath hitched as Thomas pulled away, re-assuming his politician persona. “We’ll talk later, yeah?” He inquired, searching her eyes as he protectively took her hand in his.

“Um….” Stunned that she’d let the moment slip away so easily, Y/n simply nodded; she’d kept it to herself for weeks, a few more hours wouldn’t kill anyone, right?

With her hand still clasped in his, Y/n followed Thomas out of the room, joining Arthur and Polly in the hallway and beginning the trek towards the stage. The program had stipulated that she’d join him on stage for a few minutes, so the press could have their perfect shot of the MP and his doting wife, and so Thomas could maintain his image of a family man trying to make Birmingham a better place, not just for the larger community, but also for his wife and children. As they walked, suddenly joined by his entourage, Polly stepped into pace alongside her, a soft breath escaping her lips before she said softly, “Something ain’t right tonight, something bad’s gonna happen,” she murmured, drawing in a sharp breath, “I can feel it.”

At her words, Y/n’s breath caught and she felt Thomas offer her hand a reassuring squeeze as he admonished exasperatedly, “Don’t start with that Pol,” he words weighed down with tire, “You know that stuff scares her.”

But it was too late, Y/n was already scared, and Polly was never wrong. “What kind of bad thing?” She glanced at the family’s revered matriarch, worry brimming in her wide eyes.

“Nothing,” Thomas pressed, just as they were climbing the steps of the stage, leaving Polly, Arthur and everyone else backstage, “Everything’s fine sweetheart,” he slowed down to kiss the crown of her head in hopes of quelling her worry, just as they were stepping into the spotlight. His adoring public caught the gesture and as collective cheers, coos and applause ran through the crowd, the shutters of cameras went off.

“Presenting Thomas Shelby, OBE, MP for South Birmingham and Mrs. Y/n Shelby!”

The voice rang through the speakers mounted to the corners of the room just as they settled on the center of the stage. Swallowing her nerves, Y/n glanced up at Thomas, who’d been looking out to the audience as he raised his hand in a casual wave. That was what the papers needed to see; an MP who cared deeply for his constituency while still having time to maintain what they perceived to be the perfect family. A man who’d lost his wife and had found love again. A woman who’d cared for other women's children as if they were her on while promising to offer the same kind of consideration to the community outreach. That was the image that would get Thomas another term at Westminster.

Everything was going just as planned and so exceptionally well that Y/n had completely forgotten Polly’s earlier prediction. At least, until anguished yells erupted somewhere among the sea of people. There was spell of confusion at first, and Y/n felt Thomas’ grip on her waist tighten as he scrutinized the frenzy, his eyes going wide as one word in particular achieved bone chilling clarity in the chaos;

“Gun!”

Y/n was used to guns, she’d held them, she’d fired one once. There was usually one hidden under her husband’s coat and the bedroom they shared housed one in the cupboard near the window. Being the wife of a man like Thomas meant being familiar with arms, though, Y/n had never been on the wrong side of one, she prayed to God that she’d never have to be. Though, being married to Thomas had also meant that some risks were assumed.

“Fuck you, Shelbys!” Were the last words she’d heard before the resounding bang, and Thomas trying to shield her with his own body was the last bit of comfort she’d been afforded before the bullet somehow slipped through his protection and ripped through her abdomen.

The pain, she assumed, was on par with the sear of acid burning through her skin and flesh, boring a hole into her body. Nothing had ever hurt that much or that fast and the paralyzing sensation reduced Y/n to not much more than dead weight in her husband’s arms.

“Y/n,” he gasped, raw fear laced in his tone as Thomas’ hand joined hers on the spot, blood rushing through their fingers and pooling at their feet as they succumbed to crumpling to the floor, “Y/n,” he called her name again, when his image had already been turned to a blur of color, piercing blue shining brightly amongst every other.

“The….the….” Y/n’s fingers curled in over the wound, a few inches below her stomach, just over her left hip bone.

“Keep talking, eh,” Thomas encouraged, lifting one hand to cup her cheek, “Y/n,” he shook her gently when she lapsed into breathy silence, “Say anything, sweetheart,” despite her waning consciousness, Y/n caught the break in his voice and could feel the urgency in Thomas’ embrace when he leaned lower and hugged her closer.

“The….the b…..”

“The what?” Thomas put his ear close to her mouth and Y/n could have sworn she felt warm moisture leak onto her face from his, “Just stay with me,” he sounded hoarse and distant, “Y/n?”

“.......Y/n?”

He’d never been one to quiver at blood, Thomas had broken faces with his fists and shot through ribs without batting a lash. He’d had blood on his clothes, on his hands and on his face without even feeling the slightest thing towards it. But holding Y/n in his arms that night, crimson moisture oozing out of a wound in her stomach, drenching his hands and saturating their clothes, his suit and her fancy dress, Thomas couldn’t have helped but feel like his heart had been grabbed by an iron fist.

It couldn’t be happening, not again, not to Y/n.

At some point, the man with the gun hand been subdued and dealt with, and at about the same time, Arthur had joined them on the stage, speaking words that Thomas didn’t quite hear.

“We’ve gotta to get ‘er to a hospital Tom,” he’d urged, trying to pull Thomas off her, “Come on Tommy, there’s still time.”

At the hospital, after Polly had finally managed to get him to sit in the and stop threatening the staff, Thomas had rooted himself to an uncomfortable chair in the cold waiting room, blood stained hands clasped in front of him as his foot tapped impatiently on the off-white tile. He hated that it was taking that long, he hated that even with all the authority he'd amassed, he was powerless in the situation but what Thomas hated most of all was the fact that, more than likely, it was all his fault.

Being married to him had put a hit on her back. Because despite every blanket of protection he’d throw over his family, there would always be someone out there brazen enough to try. And sometimes, that night, effort equated success.

“Shelby,” when the doctor, about twenty years his senior and gray, walked into the room with a clipboard in hand, Thomas, and the rest of his family gathered in the room, stood. Thomas stepped forward, absently toying with his wedding band as he prompted the doctor to speak. “We got the bullet out and she’s stable. We expect her to wake up by morning,” he sighed heavily, casting his head down for a moment before adding, “Unfortunately……she’s lost the baby, I’m so sorry.”

“Baby?” Thomas inquired, knitting his brows, “She's not pregnant,” unless she didn’t know yet. She’d be devastated if she found out and already, Thomas was trying to think up words to soften the blow.

The doctor stuttered for a moment, flipping through the file on his clipboard, "She was…." He determined, "Her records were brought over from an office in London, it's listed that she was…..eight weeks along three weeks ago.”

She’d known for three weeks? If there were records then she had to have known.

Y/n had known for three weeks that they were having a baby, and she’d kept that from him. And now they weren’t going to have one at all.

All at once, Thomas felt his heart drop to his stomach, and before anyone could ask him if he was okay, he slipped his stained hands into his pockets, breaking away from the group and shuffling out of the door. Thomas didn’t know where he was going, but he did know that if he was going to even attempt to wrap his head around all the information he’d just received, he’d need to be far away from the hospital.

2 weeks later The tension that plagued their every wordless interaction was quickly becoming too much for her and the guilt that had settled heavily in her chest, acted as the weight that anchored her to the confines of the bed- well, that and the doctor’s instructions to stay off her feet until their next appointment. The bed, their bed. Her bed;

Thomas had stopped sleeping next to her and she knew why.

He’d stopped speaking to her too, only ever coming into their formerly shared bedroom at most twice a day to make sure she’d taken her medication and to ensure that his children weren’t playing too roughly when they clamored into bed to spend some time with her. Every time he was in there though, Y/n could easily see that Thomas was trying to keep his distance and his unexpressed fury was lurking just beneath the surface of his stony exterior.

“I’m sorry,” her uttered apology had seeped past her dry lips on a hazy afternoon, when Charles had remained downstairs for his violin lesson, Ruby had been with her mother and Thomas had come into the room with a spoon and her medication. By then, the silence had become painfully deafening and she wasn’t sure if she could stand it if he’d left that room without having said a word to her.

Thomas had moved to stand near the window, allowing the warmth wash his face beautifully with a dim, golden hue while his hands remained in his pockets. She was propped against a mass of pillows piled against the headboard, hands loosely clasped in her lap. “Why’d you lie to me, eh?”

Y/n licked her lips, glancing down at her nails, usually perfectly manicured though that day sporting flaked, burgundy nail polish. “I didn’t lie to you,” Y/n defended weakly.

“I asked you if something was bothering you, you said no,” he easily recalled clenching his jaw as his anger built, “I have given everyone a fucking reason to not trust me!” Thomas yelled suddenly, prompting Y/n to jump, “Everyone but you!” He turned to regard her, eyes ablaze as he pointed furiously, and Y/n knew it was the truth. Thomas had never, ever, during the entirety of their relationship, given her a reason to doubt him. He was honest, always. “Is that it, eh? You don’t fucking trust me?”

“No,” her voice broke pitifully and as she blinked, emotion spilt past her lashes, drizzling down her cheeks, “Its nothing like that that.”

“Then what is it, eh? Tell me what I’ve done to you that would make you keep something like this from me?” He wasn’t shouting anymore, but Y/n could tell that he was still fuming hotly.

She shook her head, drawing in a deep breath, one hand gravitating to her healing wound while the other swiped the tears away. “You were busy,” she reasoned mournfully, “I didn’t want to add another stressor to your plate-”

“Our baby wouldn’t have been stress,” he hissed, pitching the bridge of his nose, “You getting fucking shot was stressful. Figuring out how to help you get through this when you hadn’t even told me is stressful. You could’ve said something,” he seethed.

“I tried to,” Y/n spoke through quiet, slow tears.

“Not hard enough!” Scrubbing one hand over his jaw, Thomas shook his head and turned away again, “Do you know what that was like for me? Seeing you like that, knowing that I couldn’t do a damn thing? And then I don’t find out that you’re pregnant, no, I find out that you lost a baby that you never even told me about,” Thomas paused for an extended period, and Y/n couldn’t find the words to fill the silence, so she waited for him to do it. “You wanted to get rid of it, eh? Is that what you wanted? Cause if you did that’s fine but you should have still-”

“I didn’t want to get rid of……” she couldn’t even bring herself to call their child, their baby, who she’d talked to privately in the middle of the night, when the rest of the house was asleep, ‘it’, and so she reworked her sentence, “I love our child. I wanted this child. And I already told you-”

“You should have said something,” when Thomas looked at her again, the final remnants of rage had drained from his handsome features, replaced by the dimness of mourning, and after a minute more, he moved to sink down on the edge of the bed, next to her feet. He wasn’t crying, but he had been drained of color and it was easy to see that he was just as torn up about all the recent events as she was.

Sniffling, Y/n nodded. She knew he was right, keeping something like that from Thomas, in retrospect, had been a horribly selfish decision. Even if Y/n had convinced herself that she’d kept her pregnancy private for his sake, part of her urged that she’d also kept it quiet because she was too sure of what his reaction would be; would he say that he didn’t want anymore kids? Would he ask her to terminate? “I know,” she admitted through her crying episode, “And I’m so sorry,” her hand slid over to the center of her abdomen, the gesture making her shudder, “About everything.”

“That part isn’t your fault,” Thomas rested his hand on her knee, his warmth permeating the thick fabric of the blanket draped over her legs, “I should’ve-”

“Its not your fault either,” Y/n cut Thomas off, just when he was about to list all the reasons why everything that had happened was in fact, his fault. But Y/n couldn’t let him do that, not only because she still felt a little guilty, but also because she couldn't stand the thought of him trying to shoulder more than he had to, as he always did. It wasn’t fair to either of them. Losing their baby, that didn’t seem fair either. Why should their child be gone when they were the one that had committed the misdeeds?

Breaking down, Y/n shut her eyes as she bent her head, “I feel so empty. And like I’m being punished for not telling you.”

“No,” Thomas practically leapt forward, gathering her face in his palms and swiping away the salty moisture raining down her cheeks with the rough pads of his thumbs, “You’re not…..fucked up shit happens. But this is not your fault. You listen to me,” he shuffled closer, pressing his forehead to hers, “Its not your fault.”

“I wanted us to have a baby,” she sobbed, holding onto his wrists before allowing Thomas to pull her into a hug. Her face burrowed into the crook of his neck while she felt his lips comfortingly in her hair.

She heard him sniffle softly as his hand roved up and down her back in soothing ministrations, “Me too.” She heard him sigh and Y/n hugged Thomas tighter, and after a while, she heard him say, “We’ll get through this and have a baby, eh,” he pulled away, though only retreating far enough to see her face while still maintaining their embrace, “Someday. I promise you, we’ll have a baby,” his blue eyes were wide and glassy, the sight breaking her heart.

Swallowing thickly, Y/n nodded, unable to retrain the moisture spilling from her tired, reddened eyes, “Yeah……we will,” she leaned into him again, simultaneously reeling from the ineffable heartbreak that came with losing a child, regretting that she hadn't tell Thomas sooner and feeling grateful that he was sticking with her despise that so they wouldn't grieve alone.

*****

Tagging- @alreadybroken-ts @cloudofdisney @datewithgianni

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

The Reaper and the Death Angel Part 2

Hello Dear Reader. I have done my best to keep the reader's/oc's appearance as neutral as possible, but it's getting to the point where I'm no longer enjoying writing someone as a vaguely woman shaped blob. From now on there will be some description, as much as I want to include everyone it can be hard for me to write when all I'm worried about is making sure I never describe anything in too much detail. I'm sorry if what you read no longer relates to you.

Part 1

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Angst, Clay is a dick, implied child abuse, migraines. On this blog we hate cops and the courts, living in an unrealistic home.

2.3K words

Comment if you want to be tagged in this series.

Love at first sight?

Two months before the prospect vote.

"Can your Sister speak Mandarin?" Sam didn't want to tell Clay that he had asked a stupid question.

"Remember Little Brother, the only stupid questions are the ones that don't result in learning."

"Of course she does, why do you ask?" Clay was struggling with Sam a bit, he wasn't used to being met with such indifference from a member, prospecting or not.

"The Chinese have asked us to do some things but we don't think they're being all that honest. We need some text messages to look at, just to make sure." he was getting a bit sick of Clay using you like the Club's personal google translate.

"I'll call her now" Sam went outside to find a burner and didn't bother sitting down before calling you.

"Hello Sammy", you only really called him that over the phone when you missed him.

"Hey Cricket, the Club needs your help with something." And he only really used your nickname over the phone when he missed you.

"I'll do my best."

Tig leaned in to whisper in Clay's ear.

"I wonder if she's always so helpful" the way he said it was very 'wink wink nudge nudge'.

"Just some texts in Mandarin, can you still video call?" Sam could hear explosions in the background, he had no reason to worry about them right now, they didn't sound close.

"No, but I can give Mr Ortiz my Anvil email, it's used to pass covert intelligence so it's secure."

Jax tilted his head, Sam played everything very close to his chest when it came to you but he was starting to think you weren't just a doctor.

Sam went to respond but there was a huge bang on your end. He could hear someone moving around, everyone at the table was sitting in stunned silence.

"Is anyone hit?" Sam released the breath he had been holding. They could hear shouts in a different language and then your voice again.

"If you go now, you can cut them off. Don't let them get off the site alive."

Sam heard you pick up the phone.

"Are you ok?" The worry was there now, he could hear you moving around so it couldn't be that bad, but still.

"I'm fine, some cuts and bruises, maybe a broken rib or two. But I'm fine, I really need to go now, there are injured people who need my help. Please tell Juice to send the texts through, I'll try to get them translated by the end of the week"

Sam hung up the phone and sat back down, Jax was deep in thought.

There was no way you were just a doctor.

William Russo was easy to spot, he drove his Wraith onto the T-M lot and got out with the grace of a dancer. He was tall and thin with sharp well groomed features, it very obvious that his confidence was not misplaced.

Sam walked over to him and they embraced, and Juice leaned over towards Jax to let him know what was going on.

"That's y/n's friend, he runs one of the best private military contracting companies in the US." Jax regarded the man, he had no idea what to think of him and he knew that was on purpose.

Sam and Billy wandered over to the garage to make introductions.

"Everyone, this is Billy Russo, y/n says that he's her dearest friend so that should tell you all you need to know." Billy's face broke out into a supermodel smile.

"I was coming here to make sure the security system in your new home is working, but my car is crapping out on me so I figure I can kill two birds with one stone." Chibs got up and got the keys off Billy.

"We'll get on that, depending on how bad it is we should have it back to you tomorrow."

Billy gave a curt nod then turned back to the room.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you all but y/n won't be impressed if her and her Brother's home is broken into just after being fixed."

What?

Billy left with much fanfare, but not before promising to pay them well for their work.

"Your Sister is moving here?" Tig looked like he was going to jump up and down.

"Don't get your hopes up, unless I get patched, you won't see much of her."

"Why?" Clay had that tone in his voice again.

"Because she doesn't want to judge any of you unfairly. She said to me that she doesn't appreciate how 1% clubs treat prospective members and doesn't want that to colour her view of any of you. She wants to you the chance to give the best first impression."

Clay huffed but Jax cut in, he seemed genuinely curious.

"Doesn't she think we can be nice to you?" Sam shook his head.

"It's not that, she puts honesty above most things and she knows you would treat me differently when she around and she thinks that's disingenuous, her words not mine."

It made sense, they had the feeling that you weren't exactly happy with how they lived their lives but you still going out of your way to give them the best chance.

"How do we help her make the right decision?" Jax heard the most about you simply because he was Sam's sponsor.

"Be genuine, treat her as if she was anyone else. If you lie or try to bullshit, she will know and she will never trust you." Clay rolled his eyes, you were going to hate him.

"Well I can't wait. I just hope she easier to look at than you." Sam looked over at Jax but didn't say anything, his look said it all.

Back off Teller.

****

One month before the prospect vote

"Your lunch looks fancy today." It's wasn't really fancy, it was just packed nicely.

"My Sister's in town setting up her new job, she always cooks for me." The air changed a bit , there was of an elephant in the room.

"She's taken a public museum job working in the historical identification department. I mean, she could work anywhere but she chose to come and live here with me so I'm not going to complain about her talents being wasted."

He was worried how the guys would react, some people responded badly when they found out how close you two were.

Juice spoke first

"You guys are really close, aren't you?" Not bad so far.

"Yeah, she raised me. Of course we're close" He hoped they wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Where were your parents?" Tig wasn't very good with boundaries, you wouldn't like that either.

"Busy, I've said it a hundred times but y/n is one of those people who came out of the womb an adult." he hated it, you sacrificed everything so he could have a childhood but he wasn't going to tell them that, at least not yet.

Clay, Jax and Happy had just come back from a meeting with the Niners and had joined the conversation.

"No offence Sam, but she sounds like a cold fish" Sam was going to respond before Happy spoke up.

"No she's not" he added no context.

Clay dropped it but the guys were passing looks back and forth. You had asked Happy not to tell anyone about what you did for his Mother and you wouldn't admit that you paid the bill no matter how much he pressed you.

"You know her Hap?" Clay sounded like he was trying to recover ground, as much as Happy wanted to obey your request, he also didn't want let him speak badly about you.

"No, she just did some stuff for Mum. I can't say anything bad about her and she was never cold to me."

Clay was stunned.

"Well shit, she must be special, I never heard Happy say a full sentence before." Sam was grateful to Chibs for breaking up the tension.

Sam spoke one last time.

"Yeah, she is."

****

The day of the prospect vote

You were still debating going into T-M when you got the call for district attorney, he pretty much told you to stop what you were doing and come in to see him.

By the time you were done, you didn't have time to see Sam, and you didn't think you had the energy to make introductions. Plus, that asshole's stinking perfume had given you a migraine so you wanted nothing more than to go home and lock yourself in a dark room.

He was very clear with what he wanted, if you wanted your new department funded, you would clear cold cases for him. You try to explain that you took this job because you didn't want to deal with decedent's family members but he gave you no room to move.

You had managed to talk him down from doing only criminal cases to only working with decedents who were part of a protected class, if you were being forced to work with the cops, would at least try to get justice for the people no one cared about. He only accepted when you told him how good it would look for his career.

****

It was unanimous, no one even had a hesitation. Sam was handed his patch with great excitement and the party started.

"Big Sis isn't coming?" Sam knew the question was coming but it was not his place to give your reasons. He wanted to be at home to take care of you but you had insisted in that mildly ashamed voice that you were ok and being in pain was nothing new. You had told him to enjoy his night and that you would fuss over his achievement tomorrow.

"Nah, she had a thing with some city officials so she's pretty had it." It wasn't really a lie. Sam thought long and hard about what he was going to say next.

"You can meet her tomorrow if you like. I need to move all my stuff and I could use some help. Y/n is pretty much done with her stuff but I'm sure she'd appreciate some help will all her books." Jax gave Sam a huge smile.

"Hell, let's invite everyone. Gemma can come along and we can cook you guys some dinner. Meeting her on her home turf will make you look very civilised." He didn't say that they would be helping with the dinner, but he thought it was best to leave off your political views until they knew you better.

"Great" Jax was excited to say the least, he had heard so much about you and he bearly knew what you looked like. All he had to go off was that you were short and had very curly hair, Sam showed him a photo but it was taken from far away and he couldn't see much.

The party was really going now, members from other charters had come and friends and family of the SAMCROW guys. Sam was sitting with one of the Club girls, he really didn't like how some of Sons treated the women and hated the term 'Crow Eater.'

It mattered a little less now that he had his patch, he could call out a member for his behaviour without having to worry about getting yelled at. He wasn't worried about how you'd handle it, he was more concerned about what you'd do to the first guy who put a toe out of line. His money was on Tig.

By the end of the night, everyone had been invited over to help you and Sam move in. Against his better judgment, he pulled Tig aside to talk to him, he had no idea how this would go but he wanted to make sure Tig knew his limits with you.

"I'm telling you this because I care about you Tiggy, and I want you to get along with y/n. She can be a very hard person to get to know, and she doesn't appreciate people don't respect the boundaries of others. So for the first little while, maybe take everything she says at face value, if she asks you not to do something, don't ask her why.

Tig looked like he was going to ask why before he stopped himself.

"Understood Brother."

****

Jax had decided to be punctual, so he turned up at your house at five minutes to eight . It was mostly in hopes of having a few moments alone with you but he was out of luck, half the guys met him on the way in.

The property was huge, there were trees everywhere and he could see garden beds behind the house. The house itself was massive, three stories and styled like an old farmhouse. Sam came about everything clean after Clay asked if you were some 1% socialite.

You had bought the house in total disrepair and had gone out of your way to hire people who needed the job, rather than building using more of the land for house space, you built up and split the house down the middle so you and Sam could have your own spaces.

He didn't want to moralise to them, but he didn't want them to think you were stuck up. He explained that the whole house was green, that you even had the property listed as a micro nature reserve, and that part of the design of the house was so you could be self-reliant.

The front door was open when he pulled into the driveway but he couldn't see you, he was about to get off and come in when you walked out.

He felt as if his breath had been stolen from his chest, then suddenly, he couldn't hear the birds singing or the roar of other bikes. His whole world shrunk down to just you, standing on your front lawn.

At that moment, Jax could swear there was a god.

I'm so so about this chapter, I think the next one will be a lot more exciting.

Part 3