#should probably have looked that up before i did this LOL

[spectral-phases]

I need people to stop getting so precious about Clark "not letting" Bruce kill the Joker after Jason’s death post-Crisis. Everyone acts like it was like this:

But it was more:

So, we all know the story. Actually. Wait. Maybe we don't. So. The story beneath the cut.

Jason got benched as being Robin because he was not dealing well with his parents' deaths, felt like he was no longer wanted because he was adopted specifically to be Robin (and Bruce is shit at making his kids feel loved a lot of times). Jason discovered the woman who raised him was his step mother, not his bio mother. He goes looking for bio mom. Finds bio mom, she hugs him and tells him she's missed him so much, Bruce contemplates letting Jason live with his family if that would make him happier despite being obviously cut up about the idea of losing Jason. Bio mom is being extorted by the Joker to let him ship out Joker Venom disguised as medical supplies because he can't just steal the supplies and sell them. Bruce has to go stop the shipment of Joker Venom, his portable chopper is too small for two, so Jason is left behind. Jason is told to wait, but The Killing Joke just happened and his bio mom is alone with the Joker (who is insane, capricious and evil), so, obviously he has to save his mother and could not wait. Bio Mom is outside, no guards, Jason says, "Hey, I'm actually Robin, I'm here to save you from the Joker" and she says "Nah, he's actually gone, so I'm fine. But let's go inside so I can grab my things and we can leave." Her things turn out to be a gun to point at Jason after leading him to the Joker. Jason is too stunned to move. The Joker and his goons beat Jason up and then the Joker uses the crowbar to finish beating him to a presumed death. His bio mom at some point couldn't bear to watch it anymore and turns around to smoke a cigarette. Once Joker’s done, bio mom asks what they're going to do about Batman, and the Joker is all "oh. Yeah, lol. Probably was a bad idea to kill his kid. Whoops. My bad." And then ties up the bio mom to kill her and erase any evidence he brutally attacked/killed Jason. The Joker sets a bomb on a timer and leaves. Jason uses the last of his strength to untie his bio mom so she can escape. He can't see well enough to try and disarm the bomb. She tries to get them both out. The door is locked. Jason shields her as the bomb goes off, but she dies just as Batman comes up and tells him the Joker did it, calls Jason a hero, says he deserved a better mother (he did) but does not/is unable to own up to her part in Jason’s death before dying herself. Bruce finds Jason’s body and is fucking devastated.

So after that, Bruce chases the Joker down to the UN because the Joker lucked into being a diplomat for Iran and is now meeting at the UN assembly in New York. Bruce is 100% set on doing a premeditated murder of the Joker for Jason. The US government is aware of this. They hire Superman to grab Batman to try and talk him down because the Joker has diplomatic immunity for past crimes. It does not go well.

"That’s the law, not Justice." Batman is 100% still going to kill the Joker. Everyone knows. Superman knows. Superman says the stupid thing is putting vengeance above the interests of the country, not killing Joker.

Batman sneaks into the Joker’s room, and the Joker (forgetting his earlier desire to not get fucking killed by Batman) is like "oh man, I wish I could have seen your face when you found his body" and further needles Bruce with a "Or are you here to thank me for getting rid of him for you?" Making Bruce triple down on killing the Joker.

"Your confirming it makes what I have to do a lot easier."

Bruce manages to get in to observe the UN meeting as Bruce Wayne. Superman is disguised as a guard. Bruce is seething, watching the Joker, knowing that is the guy who killed Jason.

"I should have terminated his vile existence years ago. But I didn't. I couldn't. His insanity gained him a stay of execution. But no longer. ... Jason’s dead."

They both know the Joker is too stupid and lacks the impulse control needed to not attack the UN and immediately lose his immunity, which is the only thing keeping him alive. Joker releases Joker Venom to kill the delegates. Superman super breathes to inhale all the gas, which he's immune to because he's Superman and then says this as he leaves to go find a place to release the poison gas safely.

"Batman, he's all yours."

Superman basically says "You can kill him now" because he knows Batman’s mind has not changed, and Superman had not once tried to say "killing Joker would be wrong" just that it couldn't happen before the Joker acted in a way that lost him his immunity.

And Bruce does go to do just that. He chases the Joker down, intent to kill, and jumps onto the helicopter the Joker is using to escape. One of the guys fires at Batman. It shoots the pilot, hits the Joker in damn near his heart, if not his heart, and Batman realizes the helicopter is going down and decides to jump and leave the Joker behind. He intends for the Joker to die in the crash.

Okay? Bruce was 100% going to kill the Joker for killing Jason. Superman said "hang on. Let him get enough rope to hang himself first and then you can do it." And then Joker only survived because comic books. And Bruce is unhappy about having to wait. Superman did not try to talk Bruce out of killing the Joker at all ever, or scold him for wanting to kill the Joker. (Don't say he was rescuing the Joker in that last panel. The next panel is Superman fishing Batman, who is shot in the arm, from the harbor, and Batman telling Superman to go find the body. Find the body! And Superman does go to do just that, but is unable to).

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[project-sekai-facts]

Maybe I'm a hater but I feel like expecting clpl to make Mizuki say "Ena I'm transgender I was a boy but now I'm a girl" was a little too much hope for a rhythm game but I did think they'd be more... Subtle, I guess. Like they wouldn't use the words boy or girl or transgender but maybe something like "oh, I wasn't always like this Ena... I wasn't always "cute" (a girl)" but well. What did we expect.

I do think clpl still has the capacity to redeem themselves a little by finally changing Mizuki's boku to either watashi (in hiragana perhaps?) or atashi, if they really wanna make it "feminine". However, I suspect they won't do that, either.

In conclusion, let's throw rocks at clpl <3 I was also wondering, how are the japanese fans reacting to the event?

yeah i kinda didn't think they'd ever say trans outright, but maybe like, a vague description of sorts. and i think the whole idea of "it's a gacha game they would never be that explicit" is kinda void here as well since, they absolutely can, and other games/franchises absolutely do. prsk is much more mainstream than the stuff that is more explicit though, which probably plays a role.

their one source of redemption is probably gonna be hiichan/minoringo dropping something during the talk show or mizuki's ? in bio getting changed, but as for anything in the text it's not exactly looking great. kanade and mafuyu know now, and an and rui already knew, so we've already ticked off most of her closest relationships before her next event. i mean idk really what they're gonna do for mizuki now since she's a year younger than the other n25 characters who are all having arcs about growing up and thinking about uni/jobs, so maybe they will have mizuki6 being about her coming out to people like airi/shizuku/akito/toya etc. i dunno. there's still room to. try and fix things.

as for how jp fans are responding i'm not really sure since i haven't been hanging around the prsk fandom much for the past month, but i've seen a couple tweets about people being dissatisfied about the fact there's no clear resolution to what her secret is. which, yeah it's kinda wack to spend 4 years reminding the audience about mizuki's secret that is one day going to be revealed only to fade to black when the time comes lol. not sure what the most common response is though.

also yes we should throw rocks at clpl. in fact let's do pipebomb #5

[k-yurieee]

'ALMOST ALWAYS' CHAPTER 4 IS HERE!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! 🎉🎉

(Edit 3 : I started writing this post/reblog last week Monday. Don't worry about what day it is today. I just kept nitpicking at it and having more thoughts that I wanted to add everytime I came back to this, and time kept getting away from me because of irl events, sooo yeah. Stuff happens.)

Edit 1 : My usual yapping will be under the cut for this one, cause I might ramble on for bit longer than usual today. Yeah, I've got some things to say. They might not be particularly intelligible, but is anything I ever say on this app comprehensible? Probably not. Soooooo buckle up I guess 🤷‍♀️

Edit 2 : (also please ignore that I'm posting this like wayyyy after I've read this chapter, I had this saved and edited as a draft and thought I had posted it after editing it, before I decided to take a nap, but... Guess I was mistaken lol. And sleep deprived, but that's besides the point. Also I guess the draft didn't even save properly earlier??? Because I'm rereading the whole thing now and I'm pretty sure there's stuff I added earlier that seems to be missing now so.... That's sooo fun haha 🙃 I'll try to re-add anything I can remember 🫡)

Edit 1 (continued) : ohhhhh my gosh, this chapter was another ✨emotional rollercoaster✨ (which isn't anything new with this series, and honestly I should've expected it but mannnn, it just gets me every. single. time 😭😭😔)

Let me just quickly gush about this part first because EEEEEEEEhEEhEEEeeeee I can never NOT giggle and kick my feet over sweet moments like this, are you KIDDING me, I'm an absolute sucker for fluff, and I will die on that hill (also I just need to let myself simmer in this fluffy warmth before I divulge into my slightly more serious thoughts, I'll get to those in a second but firsttttt LOOK AT THIS ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEEEEE👇👇👇😭😭😭😭)

'You deserve to cuddle up next to someone who truly values your presence and genuinely just wants you to be there with them for a little while.

You deserve the soft tickling fingertips that delicately dance across your hairline, lingering there for far longer than ‘just a second’.

You deserve the barely whispered, super soft “Love you.” spoken so tenderly and punctuated with a gentle kiss pressed to the top of your head, it makes you tighten your arms around him.'

When I tell you this made me wanna scream (wouldn't be the first time this fic affected me this way lolll) into my hands and jump up and down 😭😭😭 like girl can you PLEASE be normal (and by 'you', I mean 'I', as in ME. I need to relax lmaoooo 🙃)

This chapter... This chapter was so much. I truly am not sure how to put into proper words everything it made me feel, but I will try. Honestly I feel (and have felt) more than a bit conflicted about them (Joe & R, obvs). And I mean, that's kind of expected, right?

I want to support them but I also low-key want to smack them both upside their head sometimes (but like, in an affectionate 'why did you do that, you flippin idiot, I believe in you and know you can act better than this' kind of way)

It made me remember this quote I heard a while back that went something like "sometimes we dislike other people because we see the parts of ourselves that we dislike, in them". And it irked me because it reminded me of how I'd treated certain people in my life before, in ways that I'm not proud to admit. In one of the previous chapters, Joe had a thought somewhere along the lines of "I can't control my feelings, but I can control how I treat others", and I thought 'this is great, he knows how he should move forward, good for him, he's learned his lesson.' And I hoped it would be the same for the Reader character as well, and that both of them would implement this afterward.

And then... Then this chapter happened, and yeah, maybe they weren't in a completely committed relationship with the people who were sleeping in their beds, and maybe they 'weren't doing anything illegal', and all that, but... They could still be hurting someone else's feelings. Again. Low-key I had my face in my hands like "guys please, I know y'all can't stay away from each other, and I want you guys to end up together too but likeee there's got to be a better way to do this, pleaseeee" 🛐 😭

And maybe that's the point. They're human. They make mistakes. Sometimes they learn and grow from their past mistakes, and sometimes they continue doing the same stupid thing a million times over even if they know it won't end well for them. And it was when they made those questionable choices, when they tried to pretend that their problems didn't exist, when they constantly made excuses and kept repeating the same regrettable cycle over and over – it was during of all those moments that I looked at these characters, and I saw a part of myself. Parts of myself that I didn't like, but acknowledged was there nonetheless. It was these aspects that I could personally relate to.

This is why they feel so fucking REAL to me.

I just really hope things will end well for everyone in the last chapter because mannnn 🥲🥲😭

'But he wants you to stay. It doesn’t have to be like before. Things can be different. Better.'

This part hurt me more than it should 😭😭😭😭

(I know I wrote more about my personal feelings than about the actual fic, but like I said before, I had written more about it - over a week ago - in this draft that didn't save properly, and my memory is generally not that great, sooo yeah. I at least know that I had some thoughts about Emily's response to the whole situation and stuff but I can't recall anything specific I'd written rn. I want to reread this chapter at some point to see if it re-sparks any of those thoughts I had last time but... we'll see lol.)

Anywayssss I can't believe there is just ONE more chapter left to this series omggggg this fic has been an experience for sure

(I'm gonna need to lie down again aren't I 🥲🙃)

Almost, Always

♥ ♥          Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader 

Summary: Happy endings aren't for everyone, so it seems, but that doesn't mean that you can't stop trying for one. Question is, are you actually star-crossed lovers that can figure something out, or just absolutely blind to reality and really fucking stupid?

CW / disclaimer: rpf, fem!reader, language, adult themes, smut, cheating

Author’s note: -

Wordcount: 6.5K

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

“I didn’t say he doesn’t… I just said, he has never actually said it.”

Emily’s jaw dropped, and you immediately regretted saying what you just said.

“No, stop. He has said it. Forget I said anything. It’s fine.”

You knew exactly what she was going to say.

She’d alluded to it from the start. Rolled her eyes at him. Made faces of outrageous confusion that told you, how can someone behave like that, without having to say the words aloud. Without making you hear them.

“I’m just saying…” Emily started, and showed you a facial expression that made you feel stupid for even bringing it up.

“It’d be better for you to leave him.”

You laughed, like she made a joke, yet so aware that she absolutely wasn’t.

But listen, if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry, because you knew, you knew somewhere in the back of your mind that it probably was better for you to leave him.

Not a truth you wanted to face though.

There were still too many easy excuses for you to make.

So... you made them.

But Emily’s face remained quite serious.

“Emily. You don’t mean that.” You said on the back-end of a giggle.

“Are you joking? My God, it’d be so much better if you left him. Better for you, better for, well, me. Can’t even tell you he loves you? What is he on?!”

You shushed her, and looked over your shoulder in the general direction of your bathroom and listened for a few seconds. The shower was still going. He couldn’t have heard her.

Good.

Not that Emily’s general opinion was a huge secret. But still. It was nice if the peace could be kept for the night.

“He does tell me that.” you argued, much softer. “Just...”

“Just does it when he’s about to hang up the phone? Just a quick, casual, love ya, when he’s saying goodbye?”

“Well, he–”

“Or does he only say it when he’s about to come?”

“Emily.”

“Oh, God. You’re so beyond help, I don’t even know what to tell you anymore.”

For a moment, you avoided eye-contact. Pressed your lips together and looked around the room whilst your friend tried her best to get it into your head that Joe really just wasn’t it.

“You know you’re in second place.” Emily said, suddenly much more earnestly. “You don’t deserve to be in second place.”

Which was a nice sentiment. A thing a best friend was meant to tell you. A bit like a parent calling their baby a genius because they accidentally made a bit of babbling sound like a real string of words.

“Well,” you said, taking a deep breath in and giving Emily your best smile. “So is he, so I guess we’re even.”

He wasn’t.

These were two different leagues.

But suggesting that Emily was in first place with you was the quickest way to make her feel appreciated even though her advice went untaken.

It always did.

Emily was a good friend and always gave excellent advice. And you were a good friend because you always listened to what she had to say. Or, you thought you did. Would tell yourself you did.

But then you simply wouldn’t follow any of it.

You hadn’t taken her advice when she’d told you to stop fucking around in a fourteen month situationship.

“I like how this just… works, don’t you?” Joe had said one evening when you were wrapped up on his sofa together. You’d made a comment that someone had flirted with you and had asked if you were single. You hadn’t known what to tell them.

Joe had just shrugged then.

“Let’s not push for something if it doesn’t need it. Something not broken doesn’t need a fix, does it?”

And you’d disagreed then. Had hoped that he’d grow a little protective and would’ve gone, um what do you mean of course you’re not single. For a while you also hadn’t wanted to define anything, because fuck commitment, right? But it had been over a year and Emily said that you should ask him to just fucking label it already.

You hadn’t.

You also hadn’t taken Emily’s advice when she’d told you that she thought this guy wasn’t going to make you happy.

Hadn’t taken Emily’s advice when she’d told you that she thought this guy was ultimately just there for a bit of fun, but not really much else.

Hadn’t taken Emily’s advice when she’d told you to just leave him already when you told her he had never sincerely told you that he loves you.

“I know you’re smart enough to know that it’s absolutely wild that he’s not said–”  

“It’s because you just hear all the bad things, I’m sorry. I should also tell you about the good shit.”

“Oh, yea? Like what?” Emily challenged, and in the silence that followed, you heard the shower turn off.

“Like... look! Look what he got me!” you said, picking up a bag from a dining table chair.

Your friend looked at it for a moment, blank faced, and then narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“Got you? Like, he went out and bought that for you? Or, was that sent to him by the brand, and he just passed it on?”

You looked at the bag you were still holding, then gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. He still gave it to me.”

It was a nice bag.

“Not exactly the same is it.”

No, it wasn’t. But... you know. You could pretend it was.

“Still counts.”

“Okay. If you think so.”

You didn’t think so, not after what Emily had just said, but you were willing to accept it for the nice gesture, and that was all you cared about. Or, what you told yourself was all you cared about.

“I think so.” You definitively told Emily, breaking into a smile to really sell it.

Just when she was about to roll her eyes at you and maybe try her hand at talking a little more sense into you, Joe called you from the bathroom.

You left Emily on her own for about a minute before joining her again.

“Okay. Let’s go. He’s not coming.” You grabbed your coat and found your bag. The one Joe had given to you, but hadn’t spent a penny on.

“He’s– what?”

“He thought of something that still needs doing. He’s not coming.”

Emily stared at you from where she was sat, watching you hurriedly wrestle your arms into the sleeves of your coat as she slowly caught up to speed.

“So, I’m sorry, but have we just waited for him for ages for fucking nothing then?”

You ignored her tone, finding your phone, your keys, and then Emily’s coat as well.

“Let’s go. If we hurry, we might beat the rain.”

You chucked Emily her coat, and she almost didn’t move her arms in time to catch it. With the front door already open, you gestured for Emily to make her way through, calling, “Bye! We’re off!” into the flat.

Emily, under her breath, very mockingly sing-songed, “Love you!” in that same tone as she walked past you, making her point once more.

You didn’t repeat her, but instead rolled your eyes at what you decided was a joke, and then loudly said, “Don’t wait up!”

You didn’t wait for Joe to answer before you slammed the door shut.

It’s been weeks.

Months, technically, although it doesn’t feel it.

“Please be home, please be home, please be home,” you mutter to yourself as you rush your way down his street. “Please be in the fucking country, for just this fucking once…”

You’d texted and had gotten no coloured ticks from him. So then you’d called, but it just rang for ages before you were eventually sent to voicemail, and that’s something you don’t do. Especially not now. Not about this. Hell would have to freeze over before you’d leave a voicemail message. You could delete a text thread, or a voice note. But, a voicemail? Once a voicemail sends out, there is no undoing that.

Maybe you’re crazy, but what you’re doing now feels safer.

It’s after midnight, dark, the streets wet from earlier rainfall, but you feel wide awake. You’ve got Emily’s words ringing in your ears still, and you’ve not been able to shake them yet.

Her advice.

Or, well, it was more just her opinion. She had expertly dressed it up as a fact, though, which is probably why that one sentence still held you in a vice grip.  

Telling her about how you’d had a few… moments, with Joe, since you’d broken up with him, turns out, was the wrong thing to do.

You just really wanted to tell her about the wine.

The expensive bottle you’d satisfyingly dunked into his kitchen sink.

It’s been weeks by now, but you still think about that all the time. And every time that you do, you feel pure glee spark inside of you.

You thought she’d be the same.

You thought she’d absolutely love it.

But then, after you had told her all about that night, she’d just looked at you with so much disdain and disappointment, it startled you into rambling excuses, none of which sounded true to your own ears, let alone hers. She then had shook her head, and sort of muttered something to herself that you asked her to repeat.

It’s those words that haven’t left the forefront of your mind since.

You didn’t ask Emily to clarify herself. You hadn’t gotten into an argument, either. You had just… moved onto a different topic. A lighter, easier to digest thing to talk about.

It left those words to rein freely, left those words at liberty to inflate themselves until they were all you could think about, and the feeling had clawed at your chest for the rest of the day. The rest of the night.

You hadn’t been able to answer the question, what’s wrong, that you were repeatedly asked until it made you upset.

“Nothing’s wrong! Stop asking me what’s wrong! God! You asking me what’s wrong a million times a minute is what’s wrong!”

Something is wrong though.

Obviously.

You just left someone in your bed for this.

Ringing Joe’s doorbell is a quick action, fingers pressing that familiar button before you can have any doubt of what you’re doing. It takes longer than a few seconds before you hear a small beep.

“Joe? I texted you, can you reply to my text?”

A silence follows, and for a moment you think maybe the intercom doesn’t work properly, or maybe he just hadn’t heard you.

“I– I sent you a message, check your phone–”

A loud click of the door unlocking and a loud shrill buzzing sound interrupts you.

“No you don’t have to– just text me back, will you?”

No answer follows, but the loud buzzing persists. After a few more seconds of it, you know Joe’s just holding down the button until you go inside.

That wasn’t the plan. 

With a frustrated grumbling sigh, swearing under your breath, you push yourself into Joe’s building and make your way to his front door.

In the lift you decide you won’t let the doors close properly when they’ll open on Joe’s floor. You’ll tell him from half inside the lift that he just needs to check his phone.

You just want an answer.

But then the lift doors open and one foot steps out as you lean into the hallway, expecting to see Joe waiting by his front door, yet he isn’t.

You make an angry face, nose pulling up and showing your clenched teeth with a frown. You’re in a building where people are asleep so you can’t make any noise, but you absolutely would have otherwise. Joe leaves you no other choice but to get out of the lift, and begrudgingly, you make your way over to his doormat.

When you get closer, you can see how the door’s been left open.

“Hey,” you whisper-yell into the flat, “Joe?”

You get no answer, and take a few careful steps inside to find him standing in his kitchen in a T-shirt and a pair of boxer-briefs. He’s got his back turned to you, and is seemingly busy cleaning up mess he’s left out from dinner.

It’s the fucking middle of the night.

It’s dark in Joe’s flat, the only light in the room coming from his under cabinet LEDs, and it’s weirdly warm for the time of night, you think.

“Hey, I–” you start, voice low because it’s late, but you quickly get cut off by Joe.

“Did you close the door?”

You blink a few times and watch Joe very carefully load some things into his dishwasher, making little to no noise at all. No plates softly clashing, no rattling cutlery.

“What? No. I–”

“Will you close the door, please?” Joe asks, but it sounds like a demand. Sort of cold, a little detached.

“All I’m here to say,” you try again. “Is that I want you to check your phone...”

Joe stands up straight and finally looks at you. Whilst maintaining eye-contact he slowly closes the dishwasher until it latches, machine clicking shut, and when he then just... keeps staring at you, you throw your head back like an annoyed teenager, and reluctantly do as you’re told.

You go to close his front door.

In the kitchen you hear the tap go, and when you join Joe there again, you can see how he’s filling up a glass with water.

Joe is about to take a sip when he suddenly decides against it and lowers the glass.

“Water?” he then asks, and holds it out to you with a stretched arm.

You’re slightly confused, but you take it, and then watch Joe reach for another glass from a cabinet and fill that one for himself.

“Thanks, but…” you place the glass on his counter and hold two hands up to Joe. “I’m just here because I need an answer to a text.”

Joe, with his mouth in his own glass, sort of looks at you a moment as he gulps water down.

He looks tired.

Which, yea, that checks out.

You fucking woke him up, didn’t you?

There’s so many reasons to declare yourself clinically insane right now, but you’re holding onto the notion that this is actually all totally normal with all of your might. If you pretend to believe it, you might just be able to trick Joe into it as well.

But Joe just looks at you like he’s waiting for you to give the real reason of why you’re there.

“So, if you could just, check that. Answer it. That’d be great.” You force a polite smile and step back. “That’ll be all.” And you turn to leave again.

“You’ve been crying.” Joe stops you in your tracks.

You turn back to him.

“No. Well, yea I was, but that’s not– I’m fine, that was about something else, not this. You don’t have to– stop, I’m going to go, please... respond to my message. I’ll read it when I get in, and that’ll be that.”

“Wait.”

Joe picks up the glass of water you’ve just put down and gives it back to you. When it’s in your hands, he even gives it a little push upward to ensure that you have a sip.

“I’ll go get my phone.”

And he’s so calm and agreeable that it feels rude to do anything else but take a sip and wait for him. You watch Joe walk out of the room to go get his phone, and it’s a lot of opening and closing doors, everything done as quietly as humanly possible. Then, you suddenly notice how hot you feel in your coat. It’s really fucking warm in here.

That’s new.

That’s... weird.

When Joe comes back, he closes the door behind him again and looks at his phone as he unlocks it.

“Why did you call me?”

“Just–”

“I’ll read the text.”

In silence, you stand and watch Joe open his texts and read your message. Messages. There’s several. Then, he starts typing back, and, this is what you came here for, but now that you’re standing in Joe’s kitchen in the middle of the night, having pulled him out of bed for this, you almost want to tell him he’s being an idiot. He can just as easily answer your question in person.

His message sends, and your phone buzzes in your pocket.

Joe places his down and gives you a tired stare.

“Yea, okay. Th-thanks.”

“Read it.”

It startles you.

“No, that’s…” You’re so stupid. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave. I shouldn’t have come.”

“Read your message.”

You feel like a fucking child that’s being scolded by a parent.

Guilt.

Regret.

Self-inflicted, which makes all of it so much worse.

Every feeling sits dark and sticky and bitterly uncomfortable in your gut, clinging to all the edges, stretching longer until the shadows overtake all of the previous excuses you had for being here.

You shouldn’t have come.

You shouldn’t have gone to wake up Joe over something so insignificant and, well, dumb. It’s embarrassing, and you want to leave.

“You’re here now. I’m up. Read your message.”

You inhale deeply. Hold it there for a moment.

He’s right.

The damage has been done.

You’ve dipped a toe into this strange pond, and now you might as well canon ball yourself right into this uncomfortable mess, no matter how cold the water might be.

The only way out seems through.

You pull your phone from your pocket with a clammy hand, and fucking damn it, you’re sweating underneath all of your layers.

“I didn’t mean to… I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

Joe just lets his eyes drop to your phone before he looks right at you again, his very stance issuing the orders.

Read the fucking text.

You see the notification and open your phone with face ID. Your own messages to Joe catch your attention first, before you see his reply.

“Were we as good as we’re going to get?”

“What we were together”

“Was that really as good as it can get?”

“Ever?”

You didn’t have to send the same question in various different ways, but that’s what had happened.

Emily’s reaction to the stand alone get-togethers you’d participated in with Joe hadn’t been what you’d expected. You’d hoped for a level of girl power encouragement. For a loud get it girl, or a, yea babe get what you want.

Instead, you’d gotten a sigh and shake of her head, followed by a soberly mumbled, “You really do deserve each other…” that you’d asked her to repeat.

Before she’d always said that Joe didn’t deserve you. That was always the point she tried to get across. The idea she tried to sear into your brain. Joe was beneath you, and you were far above. Always.

And then suddenly, now you are no longer too good for him?

Suddenly you’re on equal footing, and you deserve each other.

What the fuck.

You look at your own messages and realise in that very second that you have no idea what kind of answer you are after from Joe. This isn’t a coin toss situation where you know what side you want that coin to land on the moment it get’s thrown into the air. Fear strikes you lightning fast. No matter what Joe is going to tell you, it’s going to be wrong.

What the fuck are you doing at Joe’s flat?

And why is it so fucking hot in here?

The only way out is through.

You read Joe’s text.

“Darling it’s late, let’s not do this over text”

A non-answer.

You look up at Joe, who is now leaning against his kitchen counter, legs crossed at the ankles, arms crossed over his chest. His head tilts to the side a little and neither of you speak.

It’s oddly unexpected that the guy in his underwear exudes more confidence than the girl bundled up in heavy layers of clothing.

You frown and read the message again.

For a second you debate what to do next. What to say. If this is going to be the end of this interaction, or if it’s going to be just the beginning.

It’s late, though.

You inhale deeply. Slowly.

Then, resign.

“Okay.”

Because honestly, what were you really even expecting from him?

Your soft little defeated okay isn’t what Joe expected though, you can see it in the minor change on his face. The eyebrows that quirk up slightly, his jaw that loosens, the eyes that round out...

“I’ll um...” you say softly, letting your phone sink back into a pocket before pulling at your sleeves to let them cover both hands.

Joe steps forward and bends to look at the clock on the oven behind him before he says, “Well. Since you’re here. Might as well.”

He gestures an arm at his dining table. At one of his chairs. It’s hard, but you do your best to ignore the memories of the last time you were there, sat in one of these chairs. Well, technically, you hadn’t sat in one of the chairs... Joe had sat on one of the chairs and you–

“Am I going to get an explanation of what’s going on?” Joe asks as he pulls out a chair for you.

Finally, you remove your coat.

“It’s a long story.” You say, then think for a moment and add, “No it’s not, actually. Emily said–”

“Ah. Emily.” Joe sits down in a chair opposite. “How is Emily doing?”

“Shut up. She’s fine.” You exclaim, voice a little raised in defense, and you’re immediately shushed by Joe. He holds up a hand as he perks up, and you get the message, lowering your tone as you add, “This isn’t about her.”

“It’s not?”

“No. She just said something. I…” you trail off for a second.

Your head’s a scrambled mess of doubt and insecurities and it doesn’t help that all you’ve done in the past few hours is overthink every single thought that’s popped into your brain. It’s a bit of a journey to retrace your steps and go back to the start of all of this.

“We were talking, and suddenly she... she said something and I’m just… I wanted to know if you think that… if you think what I texted you is true.”

“You just… wanted to know… if I think…” Joe narrows his eyes up at the ceiling as he thinks, slowly repeating your words.

It’s condescending.

Patronising.

Joe’s making fun of you.

“All right, be fucking honest or–”

“No, no. I’m sorry. Sorry. It’s nearly two in the fucking morning,” two already big eyes comically enlargen, but don’t make you laugh. Wrong audience. “But, yea, you’re right. Honest. I’ll be honest.”

You take a deep breath in preparation of what he’s about to say.

Were we as good as we’re going to get?

“Imposing question, though.”

Yea, you’re aware. It’s why you hadn’t been able to sleep and had eventually decided to just get up and out of bed, leave the boy you had in there on his own, and make your way over to Joe’s.

“I don’t know.”

Wild how you feel about five inches tall whilst simultaneously feeling like you’re taking up too much space in the room.

“You don’t know.”

Typical.

“Well. No, I… was it as good, wait, what was it?” Joe looks past you and sees that he’s left his phone on the counter. “Was it as good as it could be?”

You exhale through flared nostrils, frustration forcing your eyes shut for a moment.

“Were we as good as it’s ever going to get for us?”

“Were we as good as it’s ever going to get... I mean, I think so? I– But–... you tell me. Were we?”

And Joe’s right. It is late. You have spent hours thinking that question over, and you couldn’t answer it when you weren’t as tired as you are now, so it’s useless to even try at this hour.

You shrug, and for a moment, it’s quiet. You don’t know how to go about leaving now. You came here for something you aren’t going to get and so, fucking now what?

“Why um... why have you been crying?”

“Oh, I...” your fingers find your sleeve to rub. “I was asked why I couldn’t sleep, and I... well, I couldn’t really explain, so...”

Joe frowns in confusion, not understanding.

“I don’t know, you try listening to someone say shit like, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong I can’t help you, fifty times in a row, and try not to fucking snap.”

They’d been tears of angry frustration, mostly with yourself, and they’d actually surprised you. You hadn’t expected to cry, but, you felt hurt by words your best friend said to you, so you guess that does add up, actually.

Something slowly dawns on Joe before he then leans back in his chair and nods, scrunching his nose, and he whispers, “Jasper.”

“Jasper.” you confirm, and it makes you chuckle a little before a yawn breaks it up.

Joe watches you. Lets his eyes take you in. It’s the middle of the night and you’re very clearly going through something, but he hasn’t got the answers to the questions you’re asking him, and he hates it.

Wishes he could help.

Wishes the questions you wanted answers to weren’t so impossible.

Joe watches you yawn. Watches your eyes blink slowly as you stare into space for a moment. It’s so quiet, he can hear his clock tick on the other side of the room. Then suddenly, you smile.

“I told Emily about the wine... about how I was a complete bitch and poured that bottle right down your drain.”

And Joe can’t help but feel more amused at your smile than feel annoyed about his expensive wine being wasted. He won’t let his face show it though.

“Bet she enjoyed that.”

“Yea I thought she would, but... she just... she said that we deserve each other. Whatever that means.”

Joe watches your fingers rub along your sleeves. Knows what that means.

“That’s not true.” he suddenly says, voice low and sincere.

“Oh, right,” you huff a laugh and half-heartedly joke, “I don’t deserve you, of course.”

Joe doesn’t laugh.

“No, I mean... well, yes. Technically.” Before he continues, Joe shakes his head in an attempt get his thoughts in order. It’s late. “But not in the way you just said it. In that... you probably deserve better.”

“Probably?”

“Yea. And so do I. Probably.”

Hmm.

You silently mill that over for a second. Aren’t sure what to make of it. If there’s even anything to agree or disagree with there.

“But, who’s to say. All we know is that we weren’t the best before.”

Joe stresses that last word and then lets the words float in the air for you to draw your own conclusions from. It’s certainly true that you weren’t the best together - hence the break up that eventually happened. But Joe’s expertly sharing the blame, which is not a fun truth to face.

The before saves it, a little.

The before makes it sounds like Joe’s talking about two people who no longer exist. Like, those people are gone. That door is closed. And look at you now. You’re a whole new set of two different people. It’s a different world, and you’ve changed. Grown. Learnt.

Who knows what you’d be like now.

Joe can’t predict the future.

And neither can you.

“Hmm.” you hum, eyes trained on the surface of the table, body flushed with conflicting feelings you don’t know how to put into words. Instead of stumbling through words until you find ones that make sense, you remain silent and pull at your sleeves so there’s more fabric for your fingers to run across.

“Hey,” Joe leans forward a little and catches your attention. “Are you okay? Do I need to be worried about you?”

You smile and let it take over your whole face as you shake your head no before you bring your hand up to cover another yawn.

“No. But I should go. This was never meant to be– she just… I don’t know, Emily got into my head and I didn’t know how to get her out.”

Joe contemplates in silence. Wonders if he’s okay with the idea of you walking out and going home right now, in this state. It’s almost three o’clock.

“I don’t make the best decisions after midnight. Sorry.”

You push your chair back and get up on your feet, the plan being to give Joe a quick polite hug goodbye before you make your way back to his front door.

You’re tired, but you know the second you step outside into the cold air that will make your lungs feel sore, you’ll wake up enough to make your way home without any problems.

But then Joe decides you can’t just go.

You can’t just leave.

He’s stuck.

You’re stuck.

You’re stuck in it, together, in this muddy sludge of whatever the two of you have become now. One of you is going to have to step out of their shoes and escape, and Joe thinks it should be you, because you’ve escaped this quicksand of a relationship before. You know how to get out.

It’s weird that you willingly came back.

Keep coming back.

And it’s awful that Joe just keeps inviting you in. Welcomes you with open arms every single time.

But he wants you to stay. It doesn’t have to be like before. Things can be different. Better.

He decides he’s not just going to let you leave, so when he stands up and you go in for a hug, he takes hold of you by your upper arms and starts moving you towards his sofa.

Says, “Come sit for a second.”

And no resistance comes from you. Joe thinks it must be because you’re tired. You’ve cried and you’ve worried and you’ve let all of it eat away at you until you decided to reach out to him, and now, he wants you to stay. He’s not a fan of how, from a certain angle, it looks like he’s taking advantage of the situation, but... you’re both adults.

He’s not doing anything illegal.

Well.

There’s a girl in his bed.

It’s why the flat is warm and why all the doors are closed. Joe shouldn’t have let you inside. Shouldn’t have made you come in and shouldn’t have made you close the door behind you. Shouldn’t have given you a glass of water and shouldn’t have sat you down.

He doesn’t want you to leave now.

There’s a girl in his bed.

And you’ve got a Jasper in yours.

Joe’s closeness to you will come at a price, he’s aware. But it’s one he’s willing to pay. One he’s got the cash for, no problem. Name the sum and he’ll double it.

He’s got you by the arms and is walking you over to his sofa. You are stopped just before you’re about to step onto the area rug.

“Shoes off,” he says, like he gives a shit. You know he doesn’t, but listen to him anyway, and know that taking your shoes off means you’re not going anywhere. At least not for a while.

You get turned around and get sat down, and immediately, you feel far too comfortable. The seat’s too soft. The cushion’s too fluffy. Memories of the hours spent snuggled up on this sofa shoot into the forefront of your mind and you want to warn Joe that it’s not going to take much for you to fall asleep.

But before you can, he pulls a throw blanket from the other side and hands it to you, and you realise that getting comfy and cosy is actually the goal here.

There’s a guy in your bed, who you’ve just… left. Didn’t tell him anything. Just got out, got dressed and left.

You take the blanket from Joe.

It’s probably a good idea to at least let him know something. Send him a text. Let him know you’re okay. But that little voice of reason in your head gets drowned out when Joe sits down next to you and helps sort out the blanket so it covers you both.

“Sit for a second?” you ask through a soft half-suppressed laugh as Joe settles in beside you, your thighs touch underneath the throw. “Am I staying the night?”

“I don’t know, I don’t control what you do. I just want to sit for a second.”

Joe stretches an arm behind you that you think he’s going to rest on top of the sofa, but it moves your head forward a little as it grabs hold of your bicep to pull you in a bit more.

“Joe...” you warn, but it sounds lighthearted and sleepy.

“What?” Joe acts all innocent, but you can hear his amusement when he adds, “Just for a second.”

Joe is still shuffling in his spot, using his other hand to sort the cushion behind him, then pulling the blanket and tucking it under his leg, followed by him using his chin to fix the bit of flipped cotton of his T-shirt sleeve – it’s a lot of faffing for someone who wants to sit for just a second.

He’s nearly done, a centering sigh half way out of him when, suddenly, you feel how he pipes up a little and see how he looks across the room. His phone’s still on the counter, and for a second, Joe debates getting up to go and get it.

You determine on his behalf that he doesn’t need his phone by draping your arm across his stomach and snuggling up.

It’s warm in Joe’s flat.

And this little nest is perfect.

“Fine.” you mutter softly. “Jus’ for a second.”

Joe pauses for a moment as he looks down at how you let your nose brush his arm, your eyes already closed, and he grins as he sinks back down into his sofa.

You don’t make the best decisions after midnight.

Neither does Joe.

Maybe you do deserve each other. Maybe you don’t.

But you deserve this, you think. And you mean that in the best way possible. You deserve to be comfortable, and cosy, and toasty warm in a dimly lit room with a man who smells really nice.

You deserve to cuddle up next to someone who truly values your presence and genuinely just wants you to be there with them for a little while.

You deserve the soft tickling fingertips that delicately dance across your hairline, lingering there for far longer than ‘just a second’.

You deserve the barely whispered, super soft “Love you.” spoken so tenderly and punctuated with a gentle kiss pressed to the top of your head, it makes you tighten your arms around him.

You fall asleep in the soft glow of the under cabinet LEDs with the knowledge that the next morning is bound to be awkward. But this is still infinitely nicer than trying to fall asleep with Emily’s words on your mind. It’s difficult to think about impossible-to-answer questions when you’re wrapped up in strong warm arms that want you there, so you allow yourself to sink and to drift until dreams fully take you.  

A loud bang of a door slamming shut wakes the both of you with a violent jolt.

Two pairs of tired bleary eyes look around the room, and there’s a fleeting moment of confusion. Your mind scrambles to piece together where you are and what just happened, but all your mind can focus on is how dry and heavy your eyes feel as you blink to adjust to your surroundings.

“Oh, fuck,” Joe croaks, groaning as he goes to sit up. He looks over his shoulder, then rubs a heavy hand across his face before he goes, “Yea…”

You feel disoriented and frazzled, and move to sit up just enough to look over the back of the sofa with squinty eyes to see what Joe is even looking at.

All you see is an open door to the hallway that leads to his bedroom.

“What was that?” you ask, thinking maybe something dropped or knocked over somehow. When Joe gets up and walks over to his bedroom to check, you think that’s it. Something fell because gravity finally got a hold of whatever Joe had been precariously balancing on a bookshelf.

But then you hear Joe audibly sigh and dejectedly go, “Yea, she won’t be coming back.”

That takes minute to land.

It’s too early for your brain to comprehend what just happened, but slowly, puzzle pieces click together.

Oh.

Oh, that’s fucking detestable, isn’t it?

When Joe walks back out, he’s wearing joggers and is holding a ball of socks, and you hope there’s a different explanation than the correct one you just concocted. He looks at you for a moment, and you can tell by the look on his face that he feels awful.

Right.

Emily can fuck off.

You don’t deserve each other.

You deserve better than this.

Okay, so, yea, admittedly, you aren’t really one to talk, seeing the personal choices you have made over the past eight hours. But the choices Joe has made in that same span of time are just as bad, if not worse.

You decide to give into the feeling of wanting to lay back down rather than to face whatever this morning has on offer for you. You disappear from Joe’s sight, and cover all of your face with your hands that press and pull at your skin.

This is such a mess.

“Emily can fuck off.” You mutter into your own palms, hoping Joe can translate that and connect the dots of your disdain for him in this very moment.

You should leave.

Should check your phone for any messages or missed calls, and you should leave.

Never come back.

Learn your fucking lesson already and never set foot into this flat ever again.

But then Joe leans over the back of the sofa, and with knitted eyebrows that show off every single line on his forehead, he softly asks, “Do you want a coffee?”

You drop your hands.

Look up at him. The kind face. His short hair sleep messy. Jaw line. His mouth.

You should leave.

“Um…”

Oh... oh no.

“Yea…”

Fuck.

So close.

“Yea?”

You almost had it.

“Yea. I could use a coffee.”

Almost.

---

The Taglisted

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add yourself

[madhatterbri]

Survivor Series | D.P.

Summary: Reader has feelings for Damian and vice versa. She wants to see him win at Survivor Series (I do too. LOL). So she will stop at nothing to help him. Gunther overhears her, telling Bianca and Jade her plans. He enlists the help of Tiffany Stratton to attack her, and in the process, Tiffany injures the reader and makes Damian madder than ever. He threatens Gunther he is going to pay at Survivor Series. But before then, he takes care of the reader, and at Survivor Series, he wins (fingers crossed), and the reader still hurts but does not let that stop her from coming to congratulate him in the middle of the ring. He is happy to be celebrating with the reader and kisses her in the middle of the ring.

Requested by: Anonymous

Happy Survivor Series day, babes. ❤️

Damian Priest Masterlist

WWE Masterlist

Taglist: @theworldofotps @smallestsnarkestgirl @mrsarcherofinfamy @terrortwinunicorn @brideofinfamy @miss-kuki-nz @hotwheels1108 @new-zealand-chic @magicalbuttertarts @eringobragh420 @missbmc94 @surdelcielo

Pain shot down her arm as Y/N looked at her assailant. Blonde hair with eyes that showed not a single thought was running behind them. Tiffany Stratton.

"Your friends aren't going to win Survivor Series, and your little boyfriend is going to get put on the shelf," Tiffany pouted. She dropped to her knees as Y/N rested against the wall behind her. Little Miss Money in the Bank tapped Y/N's cheek.

"Why?" Y/N grunted in pain. She held her arm close to her chest. Every movement made Y/N grit her teeth in pain. "I never had anything to do with you,"

"As a veteran, you should know this by now. The walls here have eyes and ears. Gunther sent me here after your little chat with Bianca and Jade. Not very smart of you," she sighed and shrugged. Tiffany turned her attention to the hurt arm. "You should probably get that checked out,"

Before Y/N could speak, a deeper voice interrupted.

"What's going on?"

Y/N's heart fluttered when she saw Damian. The Puerto Rican glared at Tiffany, yet his eyes softened when he saw Y/N. His temper and impatience got the best of him.

"You hard of hearing or want me to ask in Spanish? ¿Qué pasó?" He asked.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just leaving a message for Gunther. See ya, around,"

The blonde grabbed her pink suitcase and walked away.

Damian cursed as he looked at her arm. He placed a hand over his mouth and muttered.

"I told Bianca and Jade a plan to help you win against Gunther at Survivor Series. Please don't be mad at me," she explained the plan.

"Y/N, I appreciate what you did, but you shouldn't have gotten involved. I would have never wanted you hurt,"

"I need to get to medical. Can you please find someone to help me?" She asked.

"I'm taking you to medical. This is all my fault," he answered.

"No, D, don't worry about me. Your match with Gunther," she paused when he leaned down to help her up.

"You are more important to me than Gunther," he told her.

A series of ows escaped her as he helped her up. Tears flowed freely by the time she stood up. There was no easing the pain. Not without medical intervention.

On their way to medical, they walk past Gunther. He feigns shock that Y/N is injured.

"Oh no. Did she talk her way into another situation?" He asked.

Damian glared at him. "At our match at Survivor Series, if you make it to Survivor Series, I am going to tear you piece by piece,"

Gunther laughed. "I'm not counting on it,"

The days leading up to Survivor Series felt like a blur. The only constant was Damian.

He was around for everything and helped whenever she needed it. The feelings for him intensified. Little did she know, he was feeling the same way.

Damian was able to win at Survivor Series. The South of Heaven proved too much for the Ring General. The Puerto Rican stood in the middle of the ring with a huge smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Y/N coming down the ramp.

"You shouldn't be here!" He told her. The stubborn woman continued up the stairs. He sighed and stretched out the ropes for her. Y/N was careful not to let her arm get caught in the ropes. "Okay, you have to go back,"

Damian may have wanted her to leave, but he was happy to celebrate with her. His heart pounded in his chest once her hand grabbed his. She walked them to the middle of the ring and raised his hand in victory.

When she dropped his hand to walk away, he grabbed her hand once more. Damian pulled her close. Their eyes locked in on one another. The crowd started to chant kiss around them.

The audience erupted the moment Damian pressed his lips to her. Their eyes fluttered closed as everything seemed to melt away.

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Blondes, feet, bowl-cut guardian lady.

He did not, they never had sex. But he was in love with her.

For sure. I think she struck him more like a teenager with the black hair and bangs, after the change (both visual and in attitude) she became a far more mature AND attractive person in his eyes.

PFFT, well, if you're saying they meet ALL of the criteria, I assume you mean both in looks and personality and hence be damn near his soulmate. DU drow could overlook weird feet (and a lot of other things, actually) if he were in love with the person in question. He would probably gently request they take better care of them, though.

Nothing special there, I'm afraid! He just has human-like skin - perhaps a little on the oily side but completely within the bounds of normality.

He runs a little hot, if that's anything. Oh! His hair is shockingly soft.

Correct! DU drow only (arguably) looks like a drow. He doesn't have their usual bone structure, height, or associated magical proclivities. He has some dark vision but its nowhere near as good as a drow's either.

I don't necessarily think all Bhaalspawn are the same way, but the Dark Urge IS quite different from the previous game's iterations. DU isn't simply Bhaal's child conceived with a partner, he's a piece of the god that supposedly slobbed off and grew legs and a face, pretty much. So yes, I do think that the Dark Urge at least is it's own unique thing.

The reason why he looks like a drow, is because he was placed in the Underdark upon creation. The metaphor I always use here is that if you place something infantile in a biome that is alien to it, it may try to adapt to it's environment to survive as it develops, to different degrees of success. This is why DU drow looks the way he does.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

You're welcome!

I've received a few snippets here that you can find through the #gift art tag! There is also the fic I'm in the process of writing called A Novel Experience on AO3.

It was just something I was compelled to do when I first drew him! The facial scars felt like they should lead into something else so I just made up a pattern on the spot, minus a tiny tweak here or there, it has stuck basically unchanged. All and any lore relating to the scars came later.

I get a lot of sweet messages but "thanks for your man's penis size" has to be one of my favorites. Thank you!

HELLO!

Thank you so much for the kind message! And that sounds like a fun dream, I love that your Tav got jealous of the attention ASTARION was receiving instead of mad that he had to share in the first place LOL

DU drow is desperately monogamous. He doesn't care what other people do with their lives but he's very much a "one and done" kind of person.

He would be willingly to participate in a threeway/have group sex with a partner, assuming the rules and regulations of said encounter were laid out clearly before or at least mutually understood between them. He would never want to see these people again after the fact though.

She does not, naturally I had no idea that this character was going to turn into anything when i made him, so I just... Made a lady. And since she was supposed to be a "guardian" I gave her a Joan of Arc type of look.

I've occasionally thought about changing this, but... Y'know, sometimes you don't need lore to be that in-depth, LOL.

The emperor gave everyone else a nondescript hottie he assumed they would trust, DU drow just got the same treatment. She's not even DU drow's type but definitely someone he would be compelled to take seriously yet not feel threatened by - so ultimately, her design does make sense.

---

That's all I have the energy for tonight folks, as always thank you for the many encouraging and sweet messages you send me, I'm sorry I can't reply to all of them! 😭

Have yourselves a great week!

[mistysconcilium]

⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ co-stars…. madison montgomery x reader

1st of advent

an interview with your co-star, madison, brings back some memories you’ve had with her

ఇ - wc: 2.2k. fluff. slight angst. english is not my first language

note - ahh i’m pretty proud of this one!! i’m sorry if madison is ooc (this is my first madison fic) and if the story isn’t “connected”. this is my longest fic ever and i tried to make it connected but maybe i failed lol. anyways i hope you enjoy!! <3

You sit in a director’s chair with your legs crossed and hands in your lap, your fingers are fidgeting with the rings you’re wearing. Countless lights point in your direction making you unable to see the whole crew of staff behind them. To your right, your co-star, Madison Montgomery is sitting having her makeup touched up by a makeup artist.

“Okay, well are we ready?” asks a black haired woman named Linda who's sitting slightly diagonally across from you. You look over to Madison to see if she’s ready but see that she's already looking in your direction.

“Wait!” She calls out while she reaches into her purse to fetch something. When she finally finds what she’s looking for, a sheer pink lipgloss, she reaches over to you and begins to put the lipgloss on your lips. You lock eyes with Madison and your eyes fall to her lips but quickly look away as you feel your throat getting tighter and a lump forming in your stomach.

”There… Now we’re ready!”

“Okay well then let’s start the interview!” Linda replies. Immediately as the cameras start rolling you straighten your back and put on a slight smile to try hide your nervous demeanour.

“We’re rolling!” You hear someone behind the lights say.

“Welcome to this interview! I’m so excited to be meeting you guys and discussing your new movie!” Linda, the interviewer, says almost too excitedly.

“We’re so glad to be here!” Madison replies excitedly. Before you met her you would’ve assumed that she was faking it, that she hated it and would’ve wanted to be anywhere but here. But after getting to know her during the several months of shooting your movie, you know she means it. A lot of assumptions you previously held of her were gone after meeting and getting to know her.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

It’s 20 minutes past 8 in the morning, the table read was supposed to start at 8 but you can't start since one of the leads isn’t here. Of course Madison Montgomery is late, you have never met her but it’s not hard to understand that she would be late, she probably cares for no one but herself. You’re not excited at all to be working with her.

“I’m so sorry that I’m late,” the door opens, revealing a soaking wet Madison Montgomery, “the weather was crazy, my car got stuck and I had to walk part of the way”

She sits down next to you and pulls out her movie script which is totally destroyed. Almost all of the pages are wet and the ink from the words are bleeding making the writing unintelligible.

“Oh shit” you hear her say quietly

“Uhm, we can share, if you want”

“Oh, thanks!” she turns and looks at you for the first time, “wait I recognize you. You’re in that one movie”

“Uh yeah”

“That movie was so boring, no offense. I mean your parts made it kinda watchable.”

“Thanks?”

You assume she was trying to compliment you? But you honestly can’t tell since she just insulted a movie you were in. Well, you can’t blame her, the movie was pretty shit, you only took it for the money and because you couldn’t get any other roles. But still, she didn’t have to insult the movie. But she did say you made it watchable so maybe she was being nice? In her own weird Madison Montgomery way.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“Your characters grow really close during the movie and you guys probably did the same during the filming, so I thought it would be fun for you to take a friendship test!” Linda pulls out a whiteboard and pen for each of you and hands them over.

“Okay that sounds fun!” Madison smiles.

“Wait I’m lowkey scared” you chuckle.

“Yeah you should be,” she replies with a smirk, “I’m so gonna win.”

“Don’t worry it won’t be too hard! I will just ask a question about one of you, the one who the question is about writes the right answer on their whiteboard and the other person writes down their guess on their whiteboard. If you’re correct you get one point!” Linda starts explaining the rules.

“First question is about Madison so you have to answer,” she looks at you and you just nod, ”what is Madison’s favorite color?”

Madison quickly writes down the correct answer and puts the whiteboard down in her lap so you won’t be able to see what she has written. Since the question is easy you write down your answer almost as fast as her.

“Alright are you done?” You and Madison both just nod in reply. “Okay turn your whiteboards in three, two one!”

You and Madison turn your whiteboards at the same revealing the same word written; black. It isn’t hard to come to the conclusion that her favorite color is black, it’s basically all she wears and wants to wear.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“What, why can’t I get that dress?” Madison groans.

“Because it’s my character's dress.” You are about to shoot a party scene which means that you’re wearing a short black dress. Madison, however, is wearing a bright yellow dress.

“Augh, why do you always get the good clothes?” She says ‘good’ but you know she actually means black since the clothes she gets are also pretty good, just not black.

“Because black clothes are my character’s style not yours” you let out a small chuckle.

“I should’ve auditioned for your role instead.”

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

Linda announces that you have one point since you got the question correct.

“Okay, whatever, that wasn’t even hard” Madison interjects, sounding annoyed but you know she’s just faking it for laughs.

“Maybe you should get a favorite color that’s harder to guess” Madison just rolls her eyes at that but you know that this too is in a playful manner.

“Now Madison it’s your turn to guess!” Linda asks the same question as last time but asks for your favorite color instead of Madison’s.

You quickly write down your favorite color on your whiteboard and turn to Madison expecting to see her trying to figure out the answer, but to your surprise she has already written down her guess.

“What, you’re already done?” You look at Madison with a puzzled look.

“Yeah it was easy,” she shrugs.

“Okay, turn your whiteboards in three, two, one!”

When the interviewer says ‘one’ both you and Madison turn your whiteboards to the camera. You look over to see what Madison has written, which is; your favorite color. You both have written the same answer. You smile at the fact that she knows your favorite color which maybe you shouldn’t since it’s a really basic thing to know. It’s not that big of a deal but it still warms your heart in a bittersweet kind of way.

After Linda announces that you both have one point each and some more chit-chats between you three, she moves onto the next question.

“Now it’s time for you to try to answer again!” She says your name and looks at you. “What is Madison’s favorite dessert or pastry or baked goods? Whatever you want to call it”

The question is harder this time. Guessing that her favorite color is black was easy since her whole wardrobe is filled with black clothes, but finding out her favorite baked goods? A lot harder. You obviously take longer to write down your guess this time but in the end you write it down; brownies. You have seen Madison eat them a handful of times and she seems to really enjoy them so it seems to be a logical answer.

But you were wrong. Apparently her favorite is macarons.

“What? No? I don’t think I have ever seen you eat a macaron! But I’ve seen you eat brownies sooo many times”

“I only eat macarons on special occasions, that’s what makes them so special,” she giggles.

“Whatever, that was a hard question”

“Now time for you Madison to answer the same question!” the interviewer announces.

You quickly jolt down your answer and Madison writes down her guess almost as quickly as you, which makes you feel bad. It took way longer for you to write down your guess about her and you were incorrect. A part of you wants her guess to be incorrect, so you don’t feel so bad about getting your answer wrong.

But another part of you wants her to get the correct answer. You want her to win this ‘friendship test’. If she wins that means she knows more about you than you know about her. It would prove that you’re not this pathetic puppy following her around that she just puts up with. If she wins, that proves she cares more about you than you care about her! Even if that’s not really the case.

When you turn your whiteboards it reveals the same word; cupcakes. You’re surprised since you haven’t eaten that many cupcakes in front of Madison.

“What, how do you know?”

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“Okay so I brought some cupcakes from my favorite bakery and some pink lemonade,” you say as you place the items on the red checkered picnic blanket, “when are the others coming?”

“Oh I didn’t invite the others, it’s just you and me” Madison shrugs. When she had said that she was planning on having a picnic to celebrate the filming of the movie being done you just assumed that most of the cast would also be there.

“Oh,” you can feel your cheeks getting warmer so you break eye contact with her and look around your surroundings instead. The place Madison chose is really private, no one else is in sight. The picnic blanket is placed underneath a willow tree to protect you from the strong heat from the sun.

Since you assumed that a lot of people would be joining you, you only brought two things, Madison however had brought a lot more. The picnic blanket was filled with brownies, macarons, cookies, and even champagne and some flowers. It almost seems like a date? But no that can’t be it, right?

You two had kissed before for a scene in the movie, but that didn’t mean anything since you only did it because it was in the script. Well, Madison had actually kissed you way longer than what was written in the script. It was only supposed to be a quick kiss but she almost started making out with you. When the director asked why she did that she just said she ‘felt it fit the scene and characters better’.

“It’s a date, silly” Madison’s soft voice grabs your attention back to her.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“Now onto some more personal stuff,” the interviewer lets out a slight chuckle as if you were gossiping during a slumber party and not doing a promotional interview for a movie. “Fans have seen you doing some possibly romantic activities, are you dating someone?” To your surprise the question is directed towards you, not Madison, even though she’s the more famous one.

“Oh uhm I don’t-” your heart sinks. You didn’t expect that question. Why did she have to specifically ask that question? You’re sure that you could’ve answered any other question she could’ve asked but not this one. Especially since she’s sitting next to you. The romantic things you’ve done with her would have anyone assume you were dating but she refuses to admit it.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“Hey, Madison!” You hear an unfamiliar voice call out when you and Madison are shopping one day. Normally you would just assume that it was one of her fans but the fact that Madison hugged her proved otherwise. She must have noticed your confusion so she quickly introduces you.

“This is Zoe,” She says as she points to the other girl, “and this is.. uhm, my co-star”.

As soon as she introduces you as her co-star your heart sinks. Is that all you are to her? A co-star? She didn’t even introduce you as her friend! Zoe clearly sees the change in your demeanor and quickly excuses herself.

“Co-star?” You shrug.

“Yeah that’s what we are?”

“Are you kidding me? We have literally gone on dates, Madison!”

“Oh my god chill, you’re not only a co-star but that was just the easiest way to introduce you to her.”

“Why? Because you take her on dates too? Have you also taken Zoe out on picnic dates?” your voice is way louder than it probably should be in public.

“What no-”

“You know what, I can't do this right now. See you at the interview tomorrow, as co-stars,” you want your words to have a certain fire to them but you’re sure you just sound pathetic instead. Quickly, you turn away from Madison and walk away before she can say anything else.

- ⋆.˚ ꪆৎ .𖥔˚ -

“Looks like we’re out of time!” Linda announces snapping you back to reality. It’s time for you and Madison to head out. You walk out of the interview way more confused than when you walked in. You think Madison says something to you as you head out of the building but you’re not sure, you just want to get home.

love, elisabet

🏷️: @purple-cinematic @angel-decoy @lisboncy @fear-is-truth @violetsghosts @dearlizzies @loveofcherry @n0tonlin3 | join my taglist

dividers: @/cannibalim @/saradika-graphics

[mossterunderthebed]

ok op agreed HOWEVER two things:

ONE, I think jujutsu society is very well integrated into normal society, and it often used in fairly insidious ways. hiding an entire extra species from all of humanity is not actually a very aboveboard thing to do. Like we can all agree on that right? esp when its causing massive amounts of death? if that happened with a virus or something in a country and their government just Never Told Their People that would be bad. That's bad.

So with the Fushiguros I dont know that the govt or it being 'illegal' COULD really have stopped what was happening. If police investigates, officers would have gotten paid off/been fired, etc. Orders from the top, shut your mouth or lose your job. What are you gonna do? They're not even supposed to know about this stuff.

There's a lot of powerful and rich people in the jujutsu world and they can and WILL crush you. Not even necessarily for the greater good. Just so that things will keep on going the way they always have been, because that's the system, and to them, it works.

TWO, I dont think megumi's well-being was of no priority to gojo at all I think hes just maddeningly good at compartmentalization which for him is a skill that is absolutely necessary. it is for any corcerer but him especially and clan kids especially. they dont have a choice so better figure out how to make your peace with it now before you get your feelings hurt about it and end up dead or like toji.

whether he could save megumi or not was not something he had the luzury to be thinking of int a practical sense when thousands of people- sorcerers and ordinary humans- were in danger of being massacred by Sukuna should the fancy strike him Also Kanjaku's plans were still in high gear and they needed that to Stop Now because it was going nowhere good, and fast.

so he has to defeat sukuna anyways for at least three reasons. he doesnt have time to be sentimental about the kid he helped and taught (and 'raised like a treasure' in Maki's words, partially to be used as a weapon and instrument of change, yes, but he was pretty much clear about that from the beginning and never acted in a way contrary to that) and if he DID have any fondness for him that needed to go in The Box ASAP.

so i think youre right on some level and im not here to fight with you BUT i also think that there can be nuances to the character at the same time. hes selfish and progressive but i dont think hes usually manipulative in an ill intentioned way.

also he doesnt exactly keep it a secret when he is being manipulatve so im not sure the term holds its meaning anymore cause like, if anyone asked him about his plans for jujutsu society that he even moderately trusted he'd spout off until they told him to shut it.

also yeah his empathy is like rock bottom lol. tho i think he does get better after suguru leaves probably cause hes always wondering what he missed and how and why and unconciously starts looking for it in other ppl.

HOT TAKE #11

Gojo’s character flaw isn't that being the strongest makes him lonely. His flaws is he thinks that being the strongest makes him exist in a category above all other human beings, and therefore he doesn't have to bother trying to empathize with them. He describes everyone else as plants, they're not even animals, they're unthinking plants.

It's a flaw that shows in all of his behavior. He throws his weight around, bullies people to get what he wants, generally doesn't respect other people's autonomy. He loves his students but he also uses them as tools for his scheme to reform jujutsu society. This actually hurts his students, especially Megumi. His students don't even realize they're being used because they all are indoctrinated into thinking they owe him. Gojo is actually pretty manipulative guys, he just happens to have very progressive ideals at the same time.

Literally, everything he did to Megumi. Gojo had the option of putting Megumi into foster care, because hey guess what human trafficking is illegal the Zen'in had no real claim on him. Making an eight year old work to earn room and board by selling away his future is bad actually, it's bad.

Megumi's mental health and well-being is like a tertiary priority to Gojo at best. He literally says out loud to Sukuna he feels no qualms about beating Megumi up. He literally said that. The whole fight he cared more about having a fun fight with Sukuna then the issue of saving Megumi.

Anyway all of this is good because if Gojo were a traditional good mentor he would be boring.

[riggedbones]

ok now that chapter 2 of my fic is out I can finally share nearly everything consequence related I've been drawing over the last two months. so let's start with my design process!

it's probably pretty obvious, but I wanted consequence's design to pretty closely mirror loop's. I don't want to go into all of the reasoning behind what I decided to keep similar and what I decided should be distinct (some of it is spoilers for my fic), but generally I kept a lot of the more general design elements that seem to be a result of whatever the fuck wish craft did to make loop Like That. loop is naked? consequence is naked. loop has an objecthead? consequence has an objecthead. loop has a shape on their chest? consequence has a shape on its chest.

this all being said, I did also want to make sure that consequence was distinct. of course. my initial focus was pretty resolutely on the objecthead, as you can see in my first page of concept sketches, but I did explore some other elements early on as well!

you can also see my first concept sketch for odile's death screen, and just a smidge for the looping animation that is something i might also animate for a chapter, who knows.

more drawings and discussion under the cut, i'm realizing this is getting a bit long.

i had the node object head concept on that first page, but it was definitely something that needed iteration. which is where this page came in. i settled on the diamond shaped geode at around this point too, but was still struggling a tad on what to do with the general body texture. this was also, clearly, WAY too many squares. my beta kris told me as much.

i may be an animator but by god i love making my designs as animation unfriendly as possible sometimes. still wouldn't call consequence animation friendly at all, but i've done a lot since to cut back on the sheer volume of squares.

this was my second pass in an attempt to cut down on the complexity, still way too many squares, but this is when i started drawing the head as a foreground later of nodes with a more abstract cloud of squares behind. for the most part, just shading behind the foreground layer is still how i draw the head traditionally.

aaand then i started playing around digitally and i realized i did not like how that looked digitally. these are both doodles i did via mouse (for the second one i traced an odile sprite to help with proportions), so they're a bit looser in general, but this exercise generally let me know that i needed to slightly rethink how i was going to express the idea digitally.

because this, the final talksprite design i landed on, looks more complicated, but between the smaller amount of foreground squares and the fact that the ones in the background were just made with the rectangle tool, it's honestly not that bad. a pain to replicate? sure! but id5 reused loop's head shape for all of their art in the game, so i can do that too.

i think i solidified the idea of its body having strata before the talksprite (not sure which doodles that would be), but doing the talksprite really helped solidify the idea of a gradient in my mind, and also is where i decided on the textural element. i also decided to look at a reference image for the geode. that helped a Lot.

...i still do like drawing a more simplified consequence though. the key in my eyes is to just get the general shape of the head down, make sure you get a few of the squares floating in the air, and emphasize the nodes around its eyes. also make sure the eyes are offset vertically, it REALLY helps with the character of the design, sometimes i'll doodle a connie quence and think it looks a bit mid, move the eye on its left up, and then boom it's fine.

or you can just not do that because you drew it 2 crumbs big lol

[changingplumbob]

CW: Low level sim spice - Guide to content warnings

Glenn: That was great and I'd love to just go to sleep like a normal person but I think I want to have a quick shower

Silver: *chuckling* Did I get you too messy already

Glenn pulled Silver up to where he could kiss him comfortably.

Glenn: Not at all but sweat tends to make me break out and I don't want to get all crusty

Silver: Fair point, I suppose I should wash up to then so I don't ruin your sheets

Glenn: Oh, you think you're sleeping in my bed do you? Very bold. You can use the washbasin since you're old and I've got dibs on the shower

Silver: I can't join you in the shower?

Glenn: *laughing* Definitely not now if ever, I have a whole washing routine that I am very loyal to

Glenn turned on the water and climbed right in while Silver washed down in the sink. It was amusing watching Glenn shower. He had several songs he would sing while he did it, and seemed to have parts of his routine that tied to particular verses or choruses. When Silver was clean he went back to the room to pull his underwear on and grab Glenn's discarded clothes. Back in the bathroom he closed his eyes and listened to Glenn's singing voice. It wasn't the best he'd heard but it was every bit as adorable as Glenn was.

Glenn: Can you pass my towel Silver

Silver opened his eyes and looked where Glenn was pointing. Grabbing it he went back and started drying Glenn.

Glenn: Uh, what are you doing

Silver: *smiles* Helping

Glenn: Very nice but try not to make me need another shower

Silver: No funny business, I promise

When Glenn was dry and dressed the pair hoped in bed and Glenn cuddled up close to Silver.

Glenn: I'm going to miss you when you're away

Silver: Yeah. Me to

Glenn: Do you think, maybe one day, you won't have to move around all the time? That you'll be okay being still?

Silver: I hope so

Glenn: Well I can wait. I think you're going to be worth it

Silver thought about the best way to reply but before he thought of a response Glenn was asleep. Part of him didn't want to leave, but while he felt safe with Glenn he still felt like he'd been in Willow Creek too long. A lifetime of being pursued by hunters was hard to shake.

In the morning he was extra quiet while he got his things together. Glenn looked so peaceful sleeping, he didn't want to disturb him. He searched the house for a pen and paper but couldn't find any. Did people not write letters anymore or just spellcasters? Taking one last look at Glenn he left, there was no time like the present to figure out the whole texting thing.

When Glenn woke up he wasn't startled at being alone, he normally woke up in an empty bed after all. But as he dozed the memories of the past few days came back, especially last night. Smiling he sat up and looked around but Silver's pack and sleeping bag were gone. He must have left already. Glenn felt a sadness in his heart again but it was different than the sadness after Grayson. While that had been a desolation this was more of a... lonely feeling. He didn't feel abandoned, or unloved, just by himself.

Propping himself up in bed he looked out the window. Despite the clouds it was peaceful today. He thought back on last night and smiled, trying to commit every moment to memory. In the corner one vial glowed pink from the channeled pleasure. That was good, he'd be able to talk to Henri about the potion today then.

*phone buzzes*

I apologise for leaving without a proper goodbye. You looked so peaceful Babycakes I didn't want to wake you up. I hope you enjoyed last night, I'm hoping we can do it again sometime, winky face. I know you told me how to put in a winky face but I forgot. Have a good day, chat tonight? Dearest wishes, Silver

Glenn lent forward in excitement. How to answer? He quickly ruled out chat language because explaining what lol meant would ruin whatever came before it.

That's okay, it takes time to break a habit right? I'll be right here when you get back. Well probably not in bed but still, you get what I mean. Remember to take pictures of the flowers for me okay?

How to sign off? Something flirty? Something proper? Something sincere? Give up and just send a picture of his pixel parts?

Enjoy your day, I can't wait to talk to you tonight and try to teach you the in and outs of emoji. Cuddles, Glenn

Somewhere far away Silver got the text and thought, what on earth is emoji?

A quick locating spell after breakfast told Glenn Henri was currently in the tower. Grabbing the ingredients he needed he headed off.

Glenn: Good morning Henri! Isn't it a great day

Henri: Yeah it is, I- wait, why are you so chipper? Last time I saw you were wrestling over the idea of harvesting pleasure alone. Did you finally figure it out

Glenn: I did yeah, one vial of pleasure, nice and fresh. By my calculations that means I have all the stuff I need for a potion of plentiful needs

Glenn handed the flask over and Henri studied it closely. Slowly a smile spread across his face and he looked up beaming.

Henri: So you found someone to help you eh? That's great! I'm glad you're leaving that other fellow behind you. You're a nice guy Glenn, you deserve good things

Glenn: What? How do you know I didn't just make it myself

Henri: *chuckling* I'm an artist Glenn. I take just as much care with my potion ingredients as I do when I'm making my pastries. The colour of pleasure differs slightly depending on how many people are involved in making it. I mean they're all shades of pink and red but the trained eye can tell them apart

Glenn: So it tells you I was with someone

Henri: And that they were a werewolf. Don't worry, I won't tell the twins if you don't

Glenn: *sighs* Oh I can only imagine their commentary on the matter

Henri: *chuckles* Best not spoken aloud

Previous ... Next

[remma-demma]

In monochrome melodies

our tears are painted in red

[radioroxx]

What do you think Odile does for a living? She feels teacher like to me. What do you think she would do post canon?

HMMMM THIS IS GOOD QUESTION…

ive seen a lot of people hc her as a teacher / professor so i!! think that suits her pretty well. specifically as someone who studies + specializes in different types of craft (that would be why shes so proficient in multiple craft spells. also how she was able to figure out the loops stuff, AND to find something that could prevent siffrin from looping back).

post canon i am not sure… i am always torn between how the party would handle things post canon. obviously they would keep travelling for a bit, odile alongside her family without the stress of. constant sadness encounters + a king to kill lol. i think maybe she would get to take her time, reeaally get to know vauguardian culture when not within. a crisis. as was her original intention.

eventually. EVENTUALLY. when the family settles down somewhere (i am a “they all get a big house together” believer lol) she would get back into craft stuff. maybe go back into teaching too—surely people would be eager to hire a saviour. especially though i think it would be neat of her to try looking into wish craft etc, as a long forgotten form of craft. to satisfy her own curiosity, for siffrins sake, or just as a way of preserving the countries culture in whatever ways possible.

[chaotic-average-child]

getting back on my drawing slowly but surely ^^ here's an aleena

[minakoaiinos]

Me when I think my dad is cool and admirable

[rubberbandballqueen]

favorite part of work today was when i told the kids to get into two lines, n this one guy was like "i don't want to" n then started talking to his buddy in mandarin, n so then in chinese i was like, "hey, come here."

n he n his buddy looked at each other n then looked at me with like that faintly displeased expression that means they've realized they can't get away with not being that good at english (or feel terribly isolated from n indifferent to the adults bc they don't speak their language) anymore

and then when i told them to line up in mandarin they groaned abt it for sure but they did drag themselves into a line

[jorvikzelda]

This may be a good and normal thing but I have absolutely zero regrets about having purchased the laptop last night. Like all day yesterday and even as I was buying I was going oh god should I should I not but now I’m not even having second thoughts about the huge display lmao

[theflyingfeeling]

aaaarrghghgh 😭