#so tell me why we gotta abide by the same rules and have the same 3 weeks

[marcuspierce]

never be a double major, kids. it is not fun. it is not... fun...

[hellsbroadcaster]

🔥🔥🔥

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion. Bonus points if you include a topic. ( IE. shipping, roleplaying, ect. )

Okay. I struggled to come up with some topics to talk about for a while plus just issues through the entirety of this week. BUT I FIGURED IT OUT.

🔥 - PROMOS. tbh, promo's main use were to help roleplayers find other roleplayers, to spread the word about your blog and find more partners and people to make friends and broaden your experiences with learning about new and exciting fandoms. Now I just find them tedious, and annoying to make. if you aren't a popular blog the odds of your promo being reblogged and spread around is so minimal. it also just feels like clout chasing at this point. and yeah nothing wrong with reblogging your promo and having your friends hype you up, but then ppl wonder why they think the rpc is so alienating? cuz someone else will reblog their promo's expecting the same thing and they don't get it and then they feel left out. but if its just so you can get some nice thrown at you, it just feels like more clutter for my dash especially if I'm already following you. now if you're a NEW blog. if you just joined a fandom, and you want some exposure, I'm down for that because that is what a promo is supposed to be for.

🔥 - Personals. I actually like personals. sometimes personals care more about what I post than my own followers. i get ppl being upset if they reblog their threads, but liking your posts? and maybe reblogging a headcanon or something but idk i guess for me that stuff just doesn't bother me. I love when people reblog my headcanon and they agree. or they add onto it, with their own thoughts. or they tell me how much they love it. makes me feel seen. makes me feel cool. i just think people forget that tumblr is NOT a roleplay site. yes, we found a use to tailor it to our hobby, that doesn't mean everyone who comes across our blogs know that. they arent apart of our community, what makes you think they have to abide our guidelines for it? tbh, roleplayers have just gotten entitled to thinking that tumblr is supposed to bow to our whim. we share a space with non roleplayers. to demand, and just expect ppl are just going to see your rules and read them and respect it rght away?? come on ya'll. we know to look for rules cuz its what we've been doing for years, but you can't expect that from strangers who are likely mobile bound just seeing something you wrote in the tags. its gonna happen. i just dont like the mannerisms some people have with them. you dont gotta be rude about it. if its really bothering you just block them and be done. problem solved. going out of your way to make posts about how annoying they are is just unnecessary.

🔥 - duplicates. this is one is gonna get me fired but oh well. Ya'll we have GOT to love ourselves better. because it is plain and simple insecurity for why people feel they cant talk or write with duplicates. i know it does deeper in some cases, like your current partner leaving you for the shinny new roleplayer of the same muse you write. believe me I've been there. but fuck those people. when are we gonna stop letting others dictate how we feel about ourselves? i hate seeing shit when a new roleplayer pops up with the same muse and suddenly you get the vaguing posts about 'suddenly feeling very doubtful of my portrayal' like its not obvious you are threatened. and in this fandom??? we're i follow like 30 different alastors?? lucifers?? Angels"?? all different, all got something to add and share. i got news for you but your portrayal isnt the only ONE. its not the end all be all. and yes I talk to my ego all the time, cuz there are some muses i write where i'm like I AM THE GOD FATHER OF THIS MUSE. but thats me and my own pride, doesnt mean anyone else who writes this muse is less than me. or i'm suddenly less than them. and there are portrayals i dont fuck with. i simply just do not look their way. but theres always muses i love roleplaying with duplicates cuz its FUN. also being able to talk to people who love this muse as much as you?? learn to stop looking at everything like its a competition and things will not be as stressful. its what makes this hobby unfun when you let those insecurities eat you up. im not saying its not valid, and im not saying you cant be upset, but what does it really do for you? what would happen if you just went and talked to them? imagine it goes well? you make a new friend. dont deny yourself opening a door just because you are scared of what 'might' be behind it. and its something I am learning and teaching myself. our issue is we all wanna be see, and heard. we all wanna be the absolute best. we wanna have the best portrayal like this sort of acknowledgement does anything. cuz while I know ppl love my own portrayals, still doesn't change the fact that i got issues and i cry myself to sleep still. the 'love' i get on here, ain't a fix. and if you think seeking validation on tumblr dot com is gonna fix you? its not. the attention and love we seek on here is just a placeholder, its us using this as a distraction from actually fixing our problems, and turn i still see how so many of us are unhappy. let it go.

[quodekash]

the eclipse os2 episode commentary continued (bc i ran out of images in the first part)

goLFING???? OF ALL THE SPORTS. YOU CHOSE GOLF??????

its so boring

and yeah, theres not as much exercise in golf as there is in other sports like footy and cricket and stuff

OR SO YOU THOUGHT

you have to move back and forth and all around to collect the golf balls

idk much about golf tho

im not sure if ive ever played actual golf

i dont think id like it tho

the only golf i like is the director of the eclipse

and golf on the wii, thats fun

i got sidetracked talking about golf

shARING ROOMS BASED ON THE TEAMS??? damn wat, you're brutal

hes probably just trying to keep his mind as clear as possible, which wont happen if the couples sleep in the same rooms as each other lmao

"to be honest, im worried about thua" well what on earth does that mean

are you just referencing all the times you were worried about thua when he was hanging out with aye

ARE YOU SPECIFICALLY REFERENCING THE TIME THUA WAS AT YOUR HOUSE STUDYING, AND YOU SAID "youre always spending time with aye, im jealous" (or something along those lines) AND THEN COVERED IT UP SAYING YOURE JUST WORRIED ABOUT HIM??

ARE YOU SUBTLY TRYING TO SAY YOURE JEALOUS OF AYE COS YOU CANT SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOUR BOYFRIEND??

cos if so

i. i picked up on that. and that feels important for everyone to know. and now you know.

"aye. dont touch thua" lmao calm down bro

(read this to the tune of the sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g song from when we were like 12) WAT AND NAMO, SHARING A ROOM. F-U-C---

"so what did you and aye argue about?" "...we didnt" bro dont lie

in all honesty, aye gives great advice. like, he always seems to know the right thing to say to help someone make a decision and stuff

oh no

communication issues

why must there be communication issues

pls guys just talk to each other

akk, all you gotta do is tell aye how youre feeling

thua, all you gotta do is tell kan what you would like and need

aye and kan, listen

its really simple, guys, its really not hard at all in the slightest

jeez thats a standoff and a half (note: wat is leaning on namo's shoulder. just something for everyone to observe.)

bro why do you have to be shirtless

thank you namo for saying what we're all thinking

aight theyre all playing in the water now, and playing in the water tends to make akk and aye feel better and stuff

THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEYRE HAVING SO MUCH FUN

NO IM GONNA CRY AGAIN

BUT ENTIRELY BC I LOVE THIS GROUP SO MUCH

THE HAPPINESS IS STRONG

noooooo namo dont have an existential crisis about graduating and growing up and saying goodbyes and potentially never seeing your friends again, you'll set me off into one of my own

"will you forget me?" "we will." lmao rip namo i guess

damn that phone is loud, how can they hear it over the river. its almost like... like it was edited in in post or something. hmmmmmmmmm

of coURSE AKK'S BIRTHDAY ISNT BROUGHT UP TIL AYE LEAVES THE AREA

its fine tho bc aye knows its akk's birthday. right? he knows, right? im sure he knows. hes gonna surprise akk. r i g h t ? ? ?

i like these funky little friendship bonding sessions, its very nice

sponsorship timeeeee

THEY USE THE SAME PRODUCTS- SOBBING AGAIN

i know they probably bought them at the same time from the same store or something but thats not the point its still super cute

COMMUNICATION ISSUES WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME

JUST SAY WHAT YOURE THINKING

YOUVE BOTH LITERALLY SAID TO EACH OTHER 'youre allowed to be weak. at least around me.'

SO BE FREAKING WEAK, TELL HIM EVERYTHING ON YOUR MIND SO THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER BETTER AND MAKE UP AND BADABING BADABOOM HAPPINESS

SONG??

SONG

SONGGGG

is song the way that they communicate

i knew this would happen. i literally know this would happen.

just cos theyre assigned different rooms to their partners, it doesnt mean theyre gonna actually abide by those rules. theyre just gonna switch. badabing badaboom everyone is gay

"can you stop asking already?" "why?" "if you dont stop talking, how can i kiss you?" brooooooo

IT'S LIKE EPISODE 7, BUT BETTER, BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY SUCCEED THIS TIME

GOOD JOB, GAYS GUYS, YOU DID IT. IM PROUD OF YOU. COS MAN EPISODE 7 WAS FRUSTRATING

but its all good now

THEY BOTH PLAY GUITAR

HOW WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS

OHHH AKK IS LEARNING GUITAR

GRJHBGDK

okay theyre talking to each other, finally

its gonna end in another argument probably but at least akk is getting towards telling aye how hes making him feel rn and theyre communicating and working it out

aye, ily, and i know youre tryna make him feel better, but this isn't solving the problem

yeah hes cute when hes angry, but he doesnt like being angry with you because (as he has just tried to tell you) it makes him feel like youre aggravating him on purpose for no reason and makes him question your relationship.

akk, youre also at fault here because you didnt talk to him sooner about your thoughts and feelings

but right now in the current moment aye is being a little bit mean and a little bit silly (but not silly in the fun way)

theyre making out now tho. but they still havent made up.

its fine, theyll get to that tomorrow.

well, technically tonight. it's 2am.

speaking of that tho, IVE FINISHED THE EPISODE, FINALLY

talk about time blindness, it takes me three times the amount of time that the episode actually takes to watch it

final thoughts: i am excited for tomorrow (tonight??), this episode was very very very good, the eclipse makes me happy, happy is good, i need to go to sleep

goodnight folks! this will be even more incoherent next episode because ill be even more exhausted than i am now! byebyeeeeee

[askbombasticblake]

A mantra, and a story.

"When I am hungry, I hunger alone. But when I eat, everybody eats, for this is the will of the Lord. When I am thirsty, I thirst alone. But when I drink, everybody drinks, for this is the will of the Lord. When I am naked, I am alone in my nudity. But when I am clothed, everyone is clothed, for it is the will of the Lord. When I am a vagrant, I am alone in my vagrancy. But when I am housed, everyone has a home, for it is the will of the Lord. The Lord calls upon me to be generous and hospitable, for these are the most sacred virtues. Thus, I shall act on these virtues until the hour of my death."

I recite this mantra not because it's from any particular story or chapter in the Bible or any other holy book, but because it's my personal way of life. I walked away from the church 8 years ago, when I stopped living with my parents, but I still live by this mantra regardless of my faith or lack thereof.

No matter what God you worship or what holy book you read from, Generosity is a universal human concept. It's been practiced since the ancient times, and will be practiced long after we escape to the stars. And yet, in this jaded and cynical climate we live in, it's often looked down upon or jeered at, due to not aligning with the more popular beliefs of paranoia and self-centeredness.

One example of this came to me last night: I went to a sandwich shop to grab dinner before I went to the gym. The customer before me was short on cash, and thus couldn't pay for his meal. Without thinking, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and swiped my card to pay for him. He tried to assure me that he would pay me back somehow, but I told him to not worry about it and just enjoy his meal. He thanked me profusely as he left, and then it was my turn to approach the counter.

The woman at the counter took my order without issue, but she couldn't help but acknowledge the rarity of my act. "Not many people would've done what you did," she said. "And without asking for anything in return? You were truly selfless there." I shrugged off her comments and replied, "Everyone's gotta eat."

I called my mother on my way home from the gym to tell her my good deed, but she was more concerned than anything. "Please be careful when you're helping people," she said. "You never know who could be waiting to take advantage of you."

That thought process upsets me greatly. Have we really become so afraid of our fellow man that we would rather watch them go without a meal than help them? Worse still, is when some people view it as a weakness of self to provide assistance to others. Why? Have we been so poisoned by hyperindividualism that we think anyone who isn't "pulling their weight" no longer belongs in our society?

It is a dark, dangerous thought process to abide by, and that is why I refuse to let it linger in my thoughts or my deeds. So long as I am able, I will fight against this selfishness by being selfless. If I see someone hungry, I feed them. If I see someone thirsty, I give them drink. If I see someone lost, I guide them home. If I see someone cold, I give them my coat. In a world ruled by material and capital, to give these away is to be human. So I encourage all who are able to do the same. Not because it's the will of any God, but because it is the true will of Man.

[hartigays]

big brain thot: wheezie being the one to get rafebarry together👀👀

“wheeze, you can’t just show up here like this.”

she hasn’t even gotten off her bicycle yet, helmet still in place and everything. she looks up at rafe with big eyes, rolling them as slowly and dramatically as humanly possible.

“i just did,” wheezie points out, unclipping her helmet and setting it in the front basket of her bike.

rafe eyes her warily, then relaxes a bit. his eyes flicker back towards the trailer. “how’d you even know i’d be here?”

“topper,” she tells him simply, shrugging.

“topper?”

another overly-dramatic eye roll. “yes, topper. he came by looking for sarah and i asked him if he knew where you were. i need help with something.”

“and topper told you i’d be here?” rafe asks, brows raised.

topper is a lot of things, but is he the type of person to send a kid to a coke dealer’s trailer? no, absolutely not.

“i encouraged him,” wheezie replies, a little too vague for rafe’s liking. he narrows his eyes and she sighs. “fine, i kicked him in the crotch until he gave it up. happy?”

rafe snorts at the mental image.

wheezie finally climbs off her bike, standing in front of rafe with her arms crossed. “so, are you going to help me or not?”

he really doesn’t want to say yes. but he’s sort of always had a soft spot for wheezie - she’s one of two people who don’t make him feel completely homicidal.

(the other is sitting back in the trailer, smoking a joint and watching some boxing match on his old as shit tv. the thing has antennas, for fuck’s sake.)

rafe glances back at the trailer again, then turns back to wheezie, scrubbing a hand over his face. “fine. but you can’t come inside, wheeze, i’m serious.”

“why, because of drugs?” wheezie snorts, flicking her hair over her shoulder. ��please. i’m pretty sure you smoked weed in my room when i was like, five.”

“that’s not the point,” rafe huffs, his fuse shortening ever-so-slightly. “just tell me what you want.”

for the first time since her arrival, wheezie looks mildly uncomfortable. she bites her lip, looking towards the treeline.

“i want to learn how to fight,” she says, and her voice sounds so small that rafe sort of feels… bad.

which is like a new milestone or whatever, so this is sort of a big moment for him.

“why do you need to learn how to fight?”

wheezie doesn’t say anything for a long stretch. then, her cheeks get red, and the words burst out of her. “i’m getting picked on at school, alright? this girl keeps saying she’s going to beat me up after class and i can only hide from her for so long, you know?”

rafe is mildly taken aback, never figuring wheezie for the type to get bullied. she always seemed self-assured and well adjusted, with a sizable group of friends and an active social life. for a middle schooler, anyway.

“what’s her name?” rafe asks, indignant on his sister’s behalf.

if he had to choose a sister to be the target of bullying, it’d definitely be sarah. wheezie, on the other hand, is just a kid. and if someone is threatening to kick her ass, rafe sure as hell is going to find out who.

“i’m not telling you her name, rafe,” wheezie says. “i don’t want you going and knocking her door down to threaten her or whatever. i want you to teach me how to fight so i can hold my own.”

rafe would probably just kill the kid, not threaten her, whoever she is. but he doesn’t tell this to wheezie, biting his tongue for once.

he rocks back on his heels, then sighs, and beckons for wheezie to follow him into the trailer.

wheezie throws her arms up as if to say fucking finally, following rafe inside.

barry is still smoking on the couch, but when he sees wheezie trailing after rafe, he has the presence of mind to put the joint out with an awkward cough.

“you gonna tell me who your little friend is, country club?”

“i’m his sister, wheezie,” she says before rafe can speak, rolling her shoulders back and holding barry’s gaze steadily.

“wheezie?” barry repeats, then laughs, wagging his finger in her direction. “you funny, kid.”

wheezie gives rafe a look, clearly judging him for his choice of company.

“jury’s still out on you,” wheezie tells barry, eyeing him.

barry actually throws his head back when he laughs this time, and rafe can’t help but eye the line of his throat, his mouth going a little dry.

the worst part is, wheezie notices him staring. she raises a brow at rafe. he just coughs and looks away, regretting every decision he’s made in the last ten minutes.

“look, she wants to learn how to fight,” rafe tells barry. “i figured two heads would be better than one?”

“or you just a pussy and know you can’t beat nobody’s ass, rafe,” barry says, reclining back on the sofa, staring at him through heavily-lidded eyes.

“neither can you,” rafe reminds him.

always reminding him. where rafe has failed, barry has too. rather consistently, as a matter of fact.

“fair ‘nough,” barry says after a stretch, leaning forward again. “two heads, then.”

wheezie coughs, and they both turn to look at her. she gives them a bored look. “are you two done having a moment? or do you still need a minute? because i can step outside if- ”

“shut up, wheeze,” rafe groans, pushing her towards the couch.

they spend the next hour and a half discussing fighting techniques, and the cardinal rules of fighting. the ones rafe and barry abide by, anyway.

there aren’t many. they spend the majority of the time discussing technique.

when wheezie gets sick of listening to them yammer on about the different types of headlocks, she starts to get restless.

“oh my god, i didn’t come for the rules of fight club, alright? will one of you just show me how to punch this bitch in the face?”

both barry and rafe shut up immediately, barry’s mouth dropping open in mild surprise.

rafe just snorts, mumbling fair enough under his breath.

and that’s how rafe ends up watching barry do some sort of shadow boxing with wheezie in the living room. rafe re-lights the joint, watching the scene before him in amusement.

“no, kid, you ain’t gotta do all that fancy shit with your legs,” barry is saying at one point, then demonstrates some sort of kick for her.

rafe forgets sometimes that barry has military training, and despite the fact that he gets his ass beat on a regular basis, he’s a pretty damn good teacher.

the joint is long gone by the time wheezie looks at her watch, cursing.

“shit. rose is gonna kill me,” wheezie mutters, fumbling for her phone.

“just tell her you’re staying at a friend’s,” rafe suggests. “it’s too dark for you to bike back anyway.”

“you could always drive me, you know,” wheezie reminds him. then, her eyes flicker down to what’s left of the joint (basically, the filter) and backtracks. “well, he could.”

she’s pointing at barry, and barry shrugs.

rafe, however, finds himself wanting wheezie to stay. dare he say it, he might’ve actually missed his sister.

he’s pretty sure he’ll regret it later, but regardless he says, “we’ll get you something to eat and you can crash here if you’re too tired to go home after.”

something to eat ends up being freezer-burnt pizza rolls, but wheezie doesn’t complain. she eats her food while scrolling through her phone, glancing up at rafe and barry every now and then.

they’re conversing quietly about a drug deal they have set up later, a big one. rafe doesn’t think wheezie is listening, but he also doesn’t notice the way she keeps glancing up at them, her eyes flickering between them with an unreadable look on her face.

and then, out of nowhere, “are you guys dating?”

rafe looks at her sharply and he sees barry do the same out of the corner of his eye. barry’s mouth had shut so quickly that his teeth clacked together, and rafe can see him rubbing at his jaw.

“what the hell, wheeze?”

wheezie raises her hands in mock-surrender, but still rolls her eyes. “it’s just a question, geez. but thanks for the answer.”

“the fuck is she talkin’ about?” barry asks, his gaze flickering between rafe and wheezie.

“you two,” wheezie explains slowly, looking almost bored. again. rafe is starting to think he’s had a bad influence on her. “you’re dating, right? like that’s why you’re always here, right?”

the latter question is directed towards rafe, and he feels his stupid cheeks betray him, burning red.

“oh, right. you’re men, of course you haven’t talked about it,” wheezie sighs, then stands up and brushes invisible crumbs off her shorts. “well, i conveniently have to use the bathroom, so. use this time wisely, i guess?”

then wheezie disappears from the small kitchen, leaving rafe and barry sitting in thick, palpable silence.

“so… what the fuck just happened?” rafe asks when he can’t take the uncomfortable silence any longer, pointedly not looking at barry.

when barry shifts in his seat, rafe can feel it, and he realizes all at once just how close they’re sitting.

“she thinks… “ barry trails off, shifting in his seat again.

“that we’re dating,” rafe finishes, swallowing around the golf ball-sized lump that has mysteriously appeared in his throat.

rafe can feel barry looking at him. he can feel the heat of his gaze, and wow, wheezie is taking a really long time in the bathroom.

“that what we been doing, country club?” barry asks, and rafe looks over at him so quickly that his neck pops.

rafe searches barry’s face for any trace of humor, but comes up empty.

they’ve been practically living together for months, ever since rafe gave up trying to please ward and joined barry’s little side business. and if he really thinks about it, they have lapsed into something almost nauseatingly domestic.

it’s like. like rafe’s been in this weird, fucked up relationship this whole time, and he’s just now realizing it. and realizing, at the same time, that he doesn’t want it to end now that wheezie has gutted them both and laid everything out in the open, where neither of them can hide.

jesus fucking christ, is he in love with barry? barry the drug dealer?

well, rafe supposes that’s what he would call himself now, too, so. maybe it makes some sort of sense after all.

“i don’t think so, but i think we should now,” rafe finally says. he doesn’t know why he says that last bit, it just sort of slips out before he realizes what he’s saying.

but he doesn’t take it back either.

barry is too quiet next to him. the silence goes on for far too long, and rafe is starting to debate internally whether or not he should dump wheezie’s body in the swamp or somewhere off shore.

finally, barry speaks. “startin’ to think you may be onto somethin’, rafe cameron.”

“so is that a yes?” rafe huffs, already feeling exposed enough as it is. he doesn’t need barry speaking in shades of gray.

suddenly, there are fingers wrapping around his jaw, gentler than rafe would’ve anticipated, and then barry is turning rafe’s head and kissing him.

like, really kissing him. rafe feels like he’s being turned inside out, his insides shifting and adjusting, rearranging and adapting to make room for barry.

it’s not a particularly long kiss, but it’s sure as hell the best one rafe has experienced in his life.

“they teach you that in the army?” rafe asks when barry pulls away, aiming for nonchalant but failing due to the heavy rise and fall of his chest. and the fact that he can’t stop staring at barry’s mouth.

barry just smacks the back of rafe’s head, shoving him lightly. “get the fuck out my kitchen, country club.”

rafe is about to respond when the bathroom door opens, and wheezie pokes her head out.

“ugh, thank god you’re finally done. you should invest in a bathroom fan, you know,” wheezie tells barry, “i could literally hear everything.”

she shudders and gags, barry laughs, and rafe vaults himself out the nearest window.

well, he tries to. barry catches him by the waist easily, dragging him back into his seat. wheezie just rolls her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“okay, well, since you’re done being a drama queen, i think i’d like that ride home now.”

[matronaa]

pretty boy - the neighbourhood

pairing: dabi x reader

word count: 1,425

genre: fluff angst

warnings: none other than the fact that this isn't edited :’)

The song if you haven’t heard it: here

a/n: I cant get this song out of my head and I just know dabi probably listens to the neighbourhood so ya here you go 

au in which dabi clears his criminal record by helping the heroes take Eri from Overhaul so he can live a life in peace with you. however, overhaul finds out its dabi who leaked very important information and had eri taken from him. Overhaul is now coming for dabi, planning on taking y/n as revenge. 

The apartment shook as Dabi slammed the door behind him, causing you to stand from your place on the couch. 

“Pack your shit, we gotta get out of here.” He said before he quickly stalked back to your shared bedroom.

You were confused, to say the least, but the rough condition he was in made you follow close behind you. He was visibly shaking, his breath coming out ridged. You watched as he pulled out a pile of duffle bags and backpacks from the back of the closet. The sight of him quickly shoving his clothes into one finally got you to snap out of your shocked daze and speak.

“What happened?” You questioned. He didn’t respond, his actions never even slowed. “Dabi I need you to tell me whats going on.”

He finished packing most of his clothes and pushed past you back towards the living room. You followed him, continuing to question him only to get no response. He sat the bag by the door before turning around to go back into the bedroom. You stopped him, stepping in front of him and putting a hand on his chest. He looked down at you with worry in his eyes. You reached up your hand and cupped his face.

“Baby...” He was definitely starting to scare you. You couldn’t imagine what could have happened that made him so frantic. Ever since he worked with the heroes everything was supposed to be fine, right? 

After you and Dabi got together, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. You were his number one priority. He wanted to protect you at all costs, and he couldn't do that if he was running out with the LOV. So, after a long discussion with the group, he finally left the LOV. There was still one problem though, he was still wanted. There was still a high risk he could be taken from you. So he called his old friend, Hawks. Hawks helped him meet with the police force, UA, and the other pro heroes in the case of Overhaul. Since he was in the LOV and Shigaraki was going to team up with Overhaul, he knew where their base was, and the best way to infiltrate it. He told them what he knew of Overhaul’s plans, of course leaving out details that would put LOV at risk. In return, all his charges were dropped. Of course, he did have to abide by some rules to make sure he was trustworthy. He was to stay in custody until the mission was completed, to ensure he wasn’t leading them into a trap. After the mission was a success, he was free to leave. Although he would be kept on high surveillance and was to help the police force with any villain incidents he might be linked to. You both were finally out of the woods. You were safe. You could finally go on normal dates with your boyfriend apart from the nervous stares, and you weren’t scared that you might never see him again every time he walked out the door. You were safe. At least that's what you thought.

That's what Dabi thought until he received a call late this morning while grocery shopping. It was Hawks. Dabi shrugged as he answered the phone. Sure, he didn’t talk to the bird brain all the time, but it wasn’t unusual to check up on each other now and then.

“What’s u-”

“He knows it was you.” Hawks said in a serious yet rushed voice.

“What are you talking about.” Dabi chuckled. He was thoroughly confused. Who is he talking about?

“Overhaul knows you sold him out. He’s after you.” Dabi’s heart sank.

Why? Why him? Why can’t he get a break? All he wanted was to be with you. Why can’t he just get one good thing in life?

Your voice snapped him back to reality, out of the flashback to earlier. He looked around, taking in the messy living room and a half-eaten sandwich left on the kitchen counter. He looked back down at you, feeling the hand on the side of his face and relishing on the sight of you bright e/c eyes. He sighed as he grounded himself, his nerves calming as he reminded himself everything was fine as long as he had you.

“Y/n,” The world seemed to slip away as he slowly leaned in, softly pressing his lips to yours. He huffed in disapproval as you pulled away.

“Talk to me,” you whispered, “What's going on?”

“Overhaul knows and he’s after us.” Your eyes widen in shock. “He told Hawks to tell me that since it's my fault Eri was taken from him, he’s going to take you from me.” 

The way his voice shook broke your heart, so you pulled him into a tight hug. His forehead resting on your shoulder, arms wrapped around your waist. You could tell he was panicking from the way you could feel his heart beating out of his chest. 

“It’ll be okay, he’s not going to take me away from you.” You reassured him, softly scratching his back with one hand and using the other to run your hands through his hair. “Do you have a plan? Did Hawks say anything else?”

“Yeah... He said he has somewhere we can stay until they catch him.” His muscles began to relax under your touch.

“See? Then we’ll be okay.” You pulled out of his grasp to cup his face in both of your hands, flashing a small smile. 

Your attention turned towards the tv as you heard a familiar tune begin to play. You had been listening to music before Dabi came home, and you forgot to pause it. Your smile widened into a grin as you recognized the song, and you turned back to Dabi to see a small smile starting to form. It was your song, Pretty Boy by The Neighbourhood. The song that played as you said your first I love yous. 

 Sitting in his car, eating stale Mcdonalds fries and drinking the weirdly addicting sprite. Like seriously whats up with Mcdonalds drinks. The song started playing through the speakers, and you could hear Dabi begin to hum along. When the chorus came along, you sung the first part aloud, looking at the handsomely burnt man beside you. 

“Pretty boy, you did this with me, boy Now it's all about to end”

He smiled at you before singing the second half of the chorus.

“Baby girl, look where we made it, girl Hmm, now we're falling”

You sang along with each other through the rest of the song, never breaking eye contact. As it came to an end, you continued staring into each others eyes until he finally broke the silence.

“I love you.” 

God knows how long you’ve wanted to hear those words. 

“I love you too.”

There you were, 6 months later, swaying to the melody of the song. You had your arms draped over Dabi’s shoulders, and his arms wrapped around your waist. Dabi leaned in to press his forehead against yours, staring into your soul until he closed his eyes and began to hum. You did the same, relaxing into his presence and just enjoying the moment. You wanted to stay like this for as long as possibly, knowing eventually you will have to face the reality of the danger you were in. Much to your dismay, Dabi began to pull away. You started to whine until he pressed a hand to your cheek, the warmth silencing any protests you had. 

“Even if my heart stops beating, you're the only thing I need, ooh, with me,” He sang softly, his thumb caressing your cheek. “Even if the Earth starts shaking, you're the only thing worth taking, oh no, ooh, with me “

“Even if the sky's on fire, got you here, it's alright, ooh, with me,” You smiled as you sang back to him, meaning every word. “And if it's all over, I'm taking this moment, ooh, with me,”

“Wherever I'm going,” You both sang, “I'm happy you're coming, ooh, with me,” 

You stayed together through the end of the song, swaying in each others arms as the music faded out. You pressed your head on his chest, listening to his now calm heartbeat. When the song completely faded out, you looked back up at him. 

“We’ll be okay, okay baby?” You said, squeezing him extra tight. 

“Yeah,” he smiled down at you, “We’ll be just fine.”

[smilelikeaknife]

OK so

Let’s talk about Laurent for a second here, break down his whole mindset and what’s going on in his brain

we see his childhood in season 2 and we see that he was this bright and happy lil boy, adorable, trying to study to give his mom the life he thinks she deserves, happy and well cared for

he sees his mom swindled, and her health decline, and then she drops dead in front of him, gotta be something to mess up the head a bit

now there’s a blank space, cause he was still a little kid when she died, he wasn’t a teenager who could go off on his own or even all that close to it, he was like, 12ish? that’s about five years before he can be legally considered an adult in many European countries (I’m mostly only familiar with Britain, which is 17, idk how it is in Belgium). we aren’t sure what happens during this time, foster care? adoption? some sort of system? again, not familiar with the customs in Belgium/Europe regarding these things.

next time we see him, he’s charming and boozing his way through life, he is literally Fiyero from Wicked (great AU maybe? shit, it’s already got Wizard of Oz all over it, make him the fucking scarecrow, right?) he’s given up on all his childhood dreams of using his smarts and charm for anything good because who is it for? just himself?

this is the first instance now that I find that Laurent should have been in therapy (other than watching his mom die, obviously): he has a co-dependent personality type, he needs someone else in his life to focus on for him to try to be anything resembling happy and stable. without his mom, he doesn’t care, who does he need to impress?

now, he sees a chance to avenge his mother when he sees the swindler again, and then we see Dorothy sweep him into the team, apparently under Shi Won’s orders. she herself isn’t all that impressed with him at first despite treating him warmly and with enthusiasm, because he didn’t seem all that impressive at first: some young man with a sad story that’s literally wasting his life (and riddled with STDs, that line got me laughing I won’t lie).

HERE IS WHERE THE NARRATIVE TAKES TWO SIDES: from the START Dorothy tells him that they are not family, they are not lovers, they are lone agents. the original team made these rules and they are the only ones who truly abide by them. Laurent says okay, sure, I can do that, my only family is dead. but then he starts falling for this bright and warm woman who lives her life without fear and regret. the rules were not ones he ever truly agreed on. but Dorothy never really wavers. sure, she becomes more and more fond of him, they sleep and live together (but wait, she says in the narrative that it’s occasional. it’s not serious for her. not forever.) but she’s never once given a thought to it being anything more. she shows him time and again that her life and choices matter more to her (and shit, that’s fine, I’m not knocking her, she was right upfront with him from the get go, it’s on him for slipping up) when he shows genuine concern for her life after being strung up by goons for a job and she ignores his care in favor of finding out where the money is. she is annoyed with him in this moment. so what does he do? he proposes in the next scene. her response? to tell him that she thinks marriage is archaic, it’s not for her, it’s a curse. to her, marriage would be a cage, not freedom. it would not be this liberating warmth that it seems to be to Laurent. he is driven by caring for people, he needs someone to love. he’s desperate for it. but he keeps trying and they do still fall together each time. so he wears her down and she agrees to be cursed (girl actually accepts his proposal and calls it a curse at the same time, there’s red flag #18724893274 for you, Laurie). they have their almost retirement party, everyone agrees to go their own ways, Seiji is gonna go back to his family (I don’t want to talk about Seiji and honestly Dorothy’s comments about them, we won’t go there) Shi Won is going to keep ballin’ and Laurent and Dorothy are going to live happily ever after, after ONE MORE heist to go out with a bang. Dorothy is now the most animated she has been in a while. she’s always animated for the cons, the cons are what fuel her.

so this whole time you had Laurent believing he found his one true love and being finally ready to live the normal life he always wanted, to be a good person. he thinks they’re going to do this one last job and that’s it, they’re done and can be happy. Dorothy never wanted that. she wanted to live the con life, to live free and untethered or weighed down by anything or anyone.

now. I have seen the theory before and I actually think it’s true: Dorothy staged her own death. maybe not all of the pieces were exactly as planned or intended such as the part where the real princess was found, but honestly? maybe she did know. point would still stand, she was planning this as her escape from a life that she never wanted to keep the one she had. I was just about to ask myself why she couldn’t just say no but I remembered we were talking about Laurent here, and he doesn’t really understand the concept fully.

she planned the con with Seiji and Shi Won perhaps, maybe they were in on Dorothy’s fake death. it would make sense, considering they were going to need someone to retrieve her after she fell into the ocean.

I’m not going to go so far as to say she planned the whole rest of the story that would happen after she vanished from Laurent’s life, that would be insane. but a big part of me fully believes that her “amnesia” at the end is probably faked and that she had also faked her death to avoid being trapped. and the ring coming back to her in the end shows that Laurent is finally letting her go too, as was her intention.

also all this plays into how Laurent is in the present part of the show, how he treats Makoto, whom I do believe he actually cares for, is fond of, honestly maybe loves, because he literally doesn’t know how to process emotions from all of the trauma he endured, so traumatizing those he cares for is how he shows affection. I AM NOT EXCUSING HIS BEHAVIOR OR BLAMING DOROTHY IN THIS EITHER. honestly, everyone in the damn show needs massive amounts of therapy. Seiji should fucking pay for it too.

[collecting-stories]

The Break - ep. 03 - Georgia

Summary: Hershel and Annette find out that Maggie has been dating Glenn behind their backs.

A/N: I took a lot of liberty with Hershel the first time I wrote this so I wanted to align him more with his character when he was first introduced.

Georgia Masterlist | The Walking Dead Masterlist

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Annette you gotta talk to him! Please!” Maggie begged, standing in the kitchen as Annette prepared dinner for the family.  

“Margaret. What your father says is law in this house, you know that as well as anyone. And he’s told you how many times that you are not permitted to date unless-”

“I know!” Maggie groaned. “Unless you both approve of the boy. But that was never gonna happen. Ya’ll wouldn’t let me date Glenn and I knew that!”

“Well I’m sorry you felt like that but going behind our backs was deceitful and wrong. You can use this time to reflect on your decisions and whether what you did, lying to your family, was pleasing to God.”

Maggie groaned, slamming her hand on the counter and then rushing out of the house, toward the barn. Anytime she had gotten into an argument with her dad and stepmom before she always went to the barn for some fresh air and clarity.  

Beth had come home Friday night from a playdate with a friend to tell her dad two very important things. One, that she had seen you with ‘someone’ outside the diner when she was leaving with her friend’s family and two, that Maggie was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully for you the someone Beth saw was no one she recognized but the instant Hershel and Annette heard that Maggie wasn’t exactly where she said she would be on the night she said she’d be there they had looked through her room and her cellphone log.  

And when she came home that night after her date they were waiting at the dining room table, Hershel with his stern pastoral face on and Annette looking unnecessarily near tears.  

“It’s not like you’re hanging out with Daryl Dixon.” You’d told Maggie later that night on the phone as she cursed both her parents out of existence over the entire ordeal.  

“I tried to reason with Annette and she won’t even talk to him for me. Told me he’s doing the right thing for everybody. Just cause Glenn isn’t Baptist.”

“And cause he’s Korean.”

“It ain’t like that.” Maggie argued. On more than one occasion you and Glenn both had told Maggie that her parents were walking the line of racism pretty thoroughly. They did the thing all churches looking for new members did, masking their doctrine with a welcome sign for all creeds and cultures and backgrounds and people. And it was fine if the majority white church had some Hispanic, black, or Asian patrons. All were welcome. But all were not welcome to date Reverend Greene’s daughter.  

“It’s like that.” You replied. “You can be friends with whoever you want Maggie but they aren’t about to let you date someone who isn’t white and Baptist and from a family they’ve known since the creation of the earth.���  

“Will you call Glenn for me? Tell him what happened?” Maggie requested, “I’m trying to talk some sense into daddy but I’m grounded expect for church and school. They said not even youth group!”

“I’ll call him.”  

“I really love him, ya know? I know we’re in high school but I really think he’s the one.” Maggie admitted.  

“I’ll talk to him, don’t worry.”

-

Nothing came of Maggie begging Annette to talk to Hershel. She was insistent that Maggie listen to her father and abide by his rules and his rules were that she wasn’t permitted to date a boy that didn’t go to the church. The ‘what if he did’ argument got her nowhere either, Hershel simply reminded her that he didn’t and he would never and even if Glenn started to now out of the blue they would all know why and it wouldn’t be earnest.  

When Beth told them, over the dinner table the first official night of Maggie’s grounding, that she had been on the phone with you, all her phone privileges went out the window too. She would go to school, pick up Beth and Sean, come home, do homework, and go to bed. On Saturdays she would help around the farm and on Sundays she would go to church and that was the end of it. There would be no social life. Even a few of her teachers had been informed that she was not to speak to Glenn Rhee.  

“You know what I hate about small towns?” Maggie questioned, sitting on the swings beside you. The playground was fenced in, right beside the addition that had been added to the church some 30 years prior so that people could send their kids to a Baptist preschool. It was through church donation and preschool tuition that the playground had been kept up but it was still outdated compared to an actual schoolyard.

“No.” You replied, positive that she would tell you.

“That everybody just knows everything! And listens to everything daddy says! All week we were pulled apart, Mrs. Frasier told everybody that we weren’t allowed near each other!”  

“I know. We go to the same school Mags.”

“But it ain’t fair! He’s not God, why’s he get a say in my personal life?” Maggie questioned.  

“Just think, soon we’ll be in college. Then we can hang out with whoever we want.” You replied.  

“I don’t think being in college will make your parents okay with the idea of you spending time with Daryl Dixon.” Maggie said, grinning, “where do they think your car is anyway?”

“At Dale’s. I told them Dale always comes by the diner and I knew he would give me a good deal. I just left out the part where it’s at Daryl’s house.” You laughed. “Speaking of, I kind of told him I’d stop by today.”

“Now?” Maggie asked. “This is the only social life I get all week.”

“Did you ask Annette if you could go dress shopping with me tomorrow after school?” You asked. “It’s the only day I have off. I switched shifts with Lori, she has another date.”

“Oh my god!” Maggie stood up from the swing suddenly. “Oh my god!”

“What?”

“Oh my god, I didn’t tell you!”

“Tell me what?”

“Daddy said I’m not allowed to go to the dance.”

“What?” You paled at the information. The only thing that wasn’t making the entire experience of going to the dance completely awful was the knowledge that Maggie and Glenn would be enduring it with you. But if they weren’t...if Maggie wasn’t going...then you would be sitting there in a hideous dress listening to Aiden bullshit with his football buddies.  

“They both said, no dance.” Maggie said, dropping back onto the swing.  

“I can’t believe it. Do you think they’ll change their minds?”

“If I can find a time machine and make them forget that Glenn and I are dating.”  

-

Daryl was already working on your car when you showed up in his driveway. The cold weather had you in a white long-sleeved turtleneck and a nice skirt, tights keeping your legs warm. Your parents were one step away from becoming crazy fundamentalists but thankfully they only made you wear dresses and skirts on Sundays. You came into the car port where Daryl was, waving at him when he looked up from the car.

“Hey, hope it’s okay I stopped by.” You said, coming over to stand beside him.

“Yeah, ‘s fine.”  

“Patricia won’t let me work on Sundays and Maggie is only allowed to hang out during church so...” you trailed off as you sat down in the lawn chair. You’d brought your backpack with you to church with the intention of going to Daryl’s afterward.

“So ya figured ya’d come antagonize me?” He asked, the hint of a grin.  

“I’ll be quiet as a mouse, promise!” You replied. “I brought homework anyway.”

While Daryl got back to work on your car you pulled out your history homework, balancing the textbook and notebook on your lap and wedging the pencil case between your thigh and the lawn chair. For the most part you focused on your notes for the Atlantic Revolution while Daryl worked though every few paragraphs you would look up. You found that you liked watching him, it was almost calming in the way he worked on a car but you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable and you knew how weird it would seem if he caught you staring. There wasn’t much else to see from where you were sitting.  

Behind your Jeep was Daryl’s truck and parked on the sidewalk outfront was a rust bucket of an old sedan that you guessed belonged to his father. It hadn’t been there on Halloween but it had been there the last time you stopped by. The backyard, from what you could see, looked as messy as the carport.  

“Do you have any water?” You asked, standing up and putting your books on the chair.  

“Thought ya were gonna be quiet as a mouse?” Daryl sassed.

“I am, I swear.”

“There’s water in the fridge.” He waved his hand over toward the refrigerator the sat beside the steps.  

The fridge was closer to the back of the carport and gave you a better glimpse into his yard. There was a pop-up camper parked in overgrown grass and a shed in the far corner by the chain link fence. A picnic table sat in front of the camper along with a small grill.  

“That’s cute.”

“What’s cute?” Daryl asked, saying the word like it was an insult.

“The camper...I like how it’s all set up.” You said, “my family goes to this Baptist camp every year and there’s this family that has a camper like that. They put string lights on theirs.”  

“I ain’t putting string lights on my camper.” He said.  

“It’d be so cute.”

“Yer not so good at being quiet are ya?”  

"Sorry.” You grabbed the bottle of water from the fridge and went back to your seat. “I’ll be quiet.  I promise.”

“Ya keep promising.” He pointed out.

You sat down and held your books up as evidence that you were getting back to work. As you resumed studying Daryl went back to working on the car, glancing up every once in a while, to make sure you were alright. Or so he convinced himself that was why. He thought you looked pretty, not that he didn’t always think that, and he couldn’t figure out why you kept coming around. He thought maybe you didn’t trust him with your car but then you weren’t hovering and you didn’t seem too worried about what he was doing to the car while you were there.  

“Ya know ya don’t gotta come around every time I work on the car.” Daryl mentioned.

“I like hanging out with you.” You shrugged, looking up from your notebook.  

“Well I ain’t here ta babysit ya.”  

“I could give you an extra $5 an hour?” You teased, “and snack allowance. I prefer goldfish.”

“Ya always like this?”

“Like what?”  

“A pain in the ass.” He deadpanned.  

You pouted, “fine, I won’t come by next time. I’ll go hang out with Glenn or something...Reverend Greene found out him and Maggie were dating and now she’s grounded until she’s like thirty.”

“That the Chinese kid?”

“He’s Korean.”

“Ain’t surprised the Greene’s wouldn’t want him around they’re daughter.” Daryl replied.

“You don’t even know Glenn. He’s so nice-”

“Hey, I ain’t saying anything against the kid. Just saying, they’re old school. Most people ‘round here are.”

“It isn’t an excuse.”

“I ain’t disagreeing with ya, I’m just saying...they ain’t gonna change their mind.”  

“Well anyway, I can go hang out with Glenn, so I don’t bother you.” You said, back on the topic from earlier. That you were a nuisance, which was the exact opposite of the effect you wanted to have on him.  

Daryl rolled his eyes at you, “I didn’t mean ya had ta go. Just meant, if yer worried ‘bout the car I know what I’m doing.”  

“I’m not worried about the car.”

“What?”

“I’m not worried. You said you could fix it and I trust that you can.” You replied.

“Than why ya hanging around?”

“Its not the goldfish.”

“I’m being serious.” Daryl said, leaning against the Jeep.  

“I like hanging out with you.”  

Daryl didn’t say anything else, just turned back to look at the car before you could see the blush on his cheeks. He scrunched his nose and bit at his thumb as he focused on the engine and tried not to think about what you just said. He wasn’t completely friendless in the world. He had Rick, and occasionally Rick’s friend Michonne came around from the police academy, but he’d never had someone outright say that they liked his company. Especially not a someone like you.  

-

taglist: @hopesxxhigh @coffeebooksandfandom @jodiereedus22 @tehfabbooty @thecaptainsgingersnap @of-storms-and-sadness @alwaysadreamingoptimist @bucky-barnes-babies @ly--canthrope @daryldixonandfrogs @jaycc7983 @easnuppa @imaginecrushes @tonystarkismyboy @watchmeaspire @cbarter @onemorebeautifulnightmare @qrangr  @twdeadfanfic @gigilame @sabertooth-potato @enrapturedbythemoon @harpersmariano @cathwritestragediesnotsins

[lowkeyaesthvtic]

Evil Karma - Chapter 13

Chapter 1 - Chapter 12

Word Count: 2,944

Summary: The Lost Revenge Crew finally has Ben in the palm of their hands. Sofi knows exactly what to do to make him snap and fall even further into their trap.

Pairings: Harry x OC, mentions of Ben x Mal, possible Ben x Evie, Uma x OC

Rating: T for minor language, mentions of gore, and quite a bit of violence

Warnings: Minor language, mentions of descriptive gore and dead bodies, violence (both including and excluding weapons), and Ben is kinda in a hostage situation so there’s that?

Tags: @newtshairdryer @descendantofthesparrow @hookedradge @haden-oftheisle @batmanwearsabowtie

Author’s Note: Not gonna lie this might be my favorite chapter I’ve written so far. Also, I’m really sorry for the inactivity. School is kind of being a pain in the butt right now.

The walk back to the Chip Shoppe was relatively uneventful and silent. Harry was laser focused on getting back to Uma and making sure Mal held up her end of the bargain. I was laser focused on getting down to the ship’s lower deck and making sure I could do everything in my power to tear the royal beast apart. I had been so previously fixated on carrying out every small step of this plan that I had little time to focus on how it was affecting me emotionally. But, as Harry and I arrived at where we would take our separate paths, I realized that all I was seeing was red at the mere thought of Ben’s name. I could easily go in there and slash him up until his stringy intestines were burst out of his chest for me to use as jump rope. There were many fibres of my being that wandered into a euphoric haze at the idea, but my daydream was broken when Harry took my face into his hands and looked directly into me. While my mind’s eye saw red, my real eyes could see nothing but the wide sea of blue and the warm air of Harry’s eyes. “Are you ready for this, duckling? You know what to do?” He asked, grounding me in what my limits were. As much as it upset me to admit it, Ben had to come out of this alive. But it didn’t mean I wouldn’t make him wish he were dead.

“Yeah. You’ll keep an eye on Mal when she comes in?” My mind raced to Uma when I responded. We knew Mal would come to the restaurant no matter what. Whether her and Ben were on good terms or not, it’d be idiotic and a sociopolitical suicide for her to leave Ben to be tortured by a bunch of ‘wharfy pirates.’ What we weren’t certain of was whether or not she’d try to pull something. “I don’t even want to think about Uma getting hurt…” I started to speak when Harry gripped my hands tight, a tiny laugh peaking through the cracks of his rarely seen sweet smile.

“Sofi...Uma’s our Captain for a reason. Even if Mal had the balls to pull something, which she doesn’t, Uma would be able to handle her pretty quickly. Not to mention that Gil and I will be watching them the whole time. You need to take a breath and focus on the goal, here. Can you do that for me, duckling?” After a moment's hesitation, I took in a slow breath and nodded. Harry lightly kissed my head as he pulled me in for a quick embrace. “That’s my girl. Now go get us our magic, will you?” He said as he let me go and walked away.

The lower deck of the ship was definitely fit for Ben. It stood nearly bare with only me, him, the chair he was tied to and the millions of cobweb strings hung high and low across the musty room. Tiny drops of water would occasionally drip onto the creaky wood floors, adding a bit of sound to the otherwise dead silent room I walked into. Ben’s head hung low, not wanting to look me in the eye. Too bad he didn’t have a choice. Unconscious or not, he was going to be a part of this game. He had to be. I knelt down in front of him and swiftly swiped my hand across his pale cheek, sending a loud slap through the air and jolting him up. “Rise and shine, your Majesty! Nap time’s over.”

Ben looked around frantically and began to chaotically struggle at his restraints. “Where am I? What is this! You better get me out of here or I swear I’ll -”

I had trouble holding back a laugh. Clearly Ben had never been held captive before. “You’ll what? I’m already stuck in this shithole your father built. Besides, you clearly have no idea how to get out of those ropes. Not that anybody would, Gil’s gotta be the best guy with ropes on the entire Isle. So tell me, King Ben...what are you gonna do?” I smiled and confidently cocked my head to the side. Ben speedily eyed me up and down, scanning me to see if he recognized me. It took him only a few seconds of this scanning to realize that we had seen each other before.

“You...we saw each other on the street. You could have killed me.”

“But I didn’t. You’ll find out why soon, don’t worry. I could kill you now, too. But...I’m not gonna.” I replied simply as I took my dagger out of my pocket and fiddled around with the handle. His eyes widened slightly as he looked down at the blade. I smirked and pointed the tip of the blade down toward his crotch. “Relax, as long as you do what I tell you, you’ll get out completely unharmed. And I promise you, your Majesty, I don’t ask for much.”

I stood up and began to wander around the room, taking in the smell that really started to peak through once it combined with the King’s fearful sweat. “I’m going to ask you some questions. All but one will have a simple yes or no answer, but we’ll get to that one question at the end. The rules of this little game are simple, you’re going to answer each and every question with complete honesty. If you try to ask me questions, dodge your questions or even think about lying, I will know. And you’ll get a nasty cut from this little friend of mine here.” I lightly waved my dagger in his eyes like a carrot to a rabbit. “Not anything deep enough to kill you. But definitely deep enough to hurt. But as long as you follow the rules, you won’t even have to worry about it! Are we clear?” My face went from playful to a dark glare as I stood awaiting his answer.

“Why are you doing this? Do you think that tying me up and interrogating me like this is really going to get you off the Isle?” I groaned and rolled my eyes before making a quick slash up the side of his left arm. He gritted his teeth, attempting to hold back the immense amount of pain that just shot through his body.

“What did I just say? You don’t get to ask questions, Beastie Boy. All I’m asking for is your complete honesty, is that really so hard? Especially after all the shit your family has put me through?” Ben opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced when he noticed the tip of my dagger edging ever so closely to his other arm. He shut off his words and quickly shook his head, finally abiding by my commands. “Good boy. Now, firstly, your father made the decision 20 years ago to bring back every single villain that had been killed...only to imprison them on an island with no magic and no way out. Yes or no?” Ben leaned back, confused at the simplicity of the question. He nods his head swiftly, allowing me to continue.

“Alright, good. Next question. A couple months back, you decided to give some of the kids born on said island a chance for redemption. So you brought to Auradon who you thought were the baddest of the bad. Son of Jafar, son of Cruella De Vil, daughter of the Evil Queen….and of course, daughter of Maleficent. Yes or no?” There was a pause in his response. A shred of hesitancy. I wasn’t going to tolerate hesitancy. I lunged my dagger into his right leg, causing an extremely pained yelp to cry out from the King. “Yes...or no?”

“Yes, yes I brought those kids to Auradon...but I didn’t think they were the baddest of the bad. I had seen one of them before and...I wanted to meet them, but I knew that one wouldn’t come without the others.” I leaned back in a bit of shock. How could he have already known about the core four if this was his first time on the Isle? “Evie...I saw her in a dream. I wanted nothing more than to meet her, to see if she were real. But I knew she wouldn’t come if I didn’t bring the rest of her friends with her.” A devilish smile crept across my face. Evie had found some way to sneak into Ben’s mind and plant the seed that lead to her and her friends escaping the Isle.

“So...even though Evie was the one you wanted to meet, Mal was the one you ended up falling in love with once these Core Four came to Auradon. Then again, I guess you didn’t fall in love with Mal naturally. She spelled you, then somewhere along the way, with her magic mixed in, she caught your eye. Yes?” With a hint of regret, he nodded his head. There was a part of him that still felt that desire to know Evie. I could definitely use that to my advantage..later. “So, given that you fell for Mal, even after the love spell wore off...she probably tells you everything. Yes or no?”

“Yes. Especially after I became King. Her and her friends came to me with a whole bunch of information about the Isle. Like she told me about-”

“Slow your roll, Beastie Boy. I decide what info you share, here. Next order of business, Mal and her friends were the ones who informed you about the corruption behind Peter Pan. Yes or no?” With a hint of reluctance, Ben nodded his head. Hopefully now he’s starting to get a hint of the kind of information I’m in need of. If not now, he would get it really soon. “So when Mal and her friends told you who Peter Pan really was, you sent her, her friends, and your strongest Auradon guards to Neverland to capture Pan and bring him to the Isle of the Lost where you felt he belonged. Yes or no?” After another swift nod, I leaned in close to the captured King. “Alright, Benny Boy. This last question’s a little different. This ain’t a yes or no kind of question, but I still need one hundred percent honesty. You think you can do that for me?” Absolute silence. Then, a slow, fearful nod. “I want you to give me the same order you gave Mal, and her friends, and those Auradon guards. The exact same order. Word for goddamn word.” I removed my dagger from his right leg and placed it against his throat. I knew for sure that I wouldn’t slice him up. But he didn’t. I had to make sure he was scared enough to give me the information I needed.

“I told them to go to Neverland, find Peter Pan, capture him and bring him to the Isle of the Lost by any means necessary.” Of course. Of course it’d be those four little words that would drive Mal and her friends and those guards over the edge. As I saw all those bloodied, gory bodies laying across the beach, staining the sand’s white pigment and leaking into the ocean, I wondered what could possibly drive someone to do something like this to a bunch of innocent boys? Now, I know. I cleaned Ben’s blood off my blade with my shirt and placed my dagger back in its sheath. I stood and couldn’t help but to slowly pace around the room silently. At first, I thought it was all Mal’s fault for telling Ben and being the one to dig the swords into their skin. It still is...but now I realize that they might have been a bit more merciful had Ben not used those four little words.

“By any means necessary, huh? Yep, there’s the ticket. You know, as a fellow leader...I should probably give you a valuable piece of advice.” I slowly leaned closer to his face before letting my fist collide with his right cheek. “Be careful what you say when you’re giving orders. Otherwise, your own words could kill hundreds!” My blaring voice rang through the musty room as I fought back the urge to continue decking him over and over again. His face showed a blatant and pained confusion.

“Fellow leader? What the hell are you talking about? Isn’t Uma the Captain?”

“You seriously haven’t gotten it through your head by now? Whatever. Who I used to be doesn’t matter. What matters is what you did. Those four little words that you threw around like they were nothing? Those words killed hundreds of innocent boys. All because you and your stupid kingdom wanted to lock up some bastard who you weren’t even gonna find anyways!”

“Okay, is this about Neverland? Because Mal told me that all of the Lost Boys were taken care of.”

“That means MURDERED, idiot! Your girlfriend and her friends went to Neverland looking to lock up my father, which they never would have been able to do anyway, and saw my Lost Boys as some kind of obstacle they had to slaughter their way past. All because of your orders.” A short growl involuntarily came from the King’s mouth. It was finally starting to work. “Do you hear that, Ben? That’s your own guilt coming to eat you alive. Do you think it’d get worse if I told you that no matter what your girlfriend did, the only place she would’ve found my father is rotting away deep in the ocean? Peter Pan’s been dead for years. We had quite the utopia going on Neverland before your army ruined it. Every boy felt loved, wanted, special. We didn’t have a whole constitution of rules tying us down. And you….you took that away!” Tiny, dark brown hairs started to grow from Ben’s face as yet another roar flowed through the room.

“What are you doing to me?” He asked worryingly, his voice starting to morph into something more animalistic.

“I’m not doing anything. Correct me if I’m wrong, Your Majesty, but you and your father shift into Beast form when in pain, yes?” Nothing but a gruffy huff in response. I can only assume that means I’m right. “One thing I’ve learned from living with hundreds of teenage boys? There is nothing more painful to a teenage boy than his own guilt consuming him.” As more of his beastly hairs continued to grow longer and thicker, I grabbed the tiny glass vial from my pocket and popped open the cork. As I quickly plucked the hairs needed for the elixir, I relished in every pained yelp he gave and smiled when his beastly roar turned into a cry of regret.

“If it makes you feel any better,” I darkly spoke as I put the cork back onto the vial, watching the beastly hairs inside turn into a cluster of gold sparkles. “Your painful guilt is about to make a lot of wharfy pirates very...very happy. Ciao.” I gave a small, playful wave before walking out of the room and to the upper deck of the ship. There, close to the mast, was Uma. Similar to when we had our first close connection, she sat looking straight out to the ocean. But this time, there was a different sort of air around her. She was waiting for something, but not very patiently. Her angelic sea smile spread across her face when she turned to see me walking towards her.

“How did it go? I heard screaming.” She asked as she softly moved closer to me.

“We’ve got everything we need. Now we just wait for the Doctor to come back with everything else. As for the screaming, let’s say that Beast is a lot easier than we thought he’d be.” I tried to keep my mind focused on the plan, how close it was to being completed and how perfectly it had been going so far. But, what I found out about my boys remained on my mind. Uma knew that too. She took my hand into hers and began smoothing over my skin with her thumb.

“I heard screaming from you too. Are you okay?” I leaned her head onto my shoulder and let go of her hand as I began to run my fingers through her braids.

“Honestly, it hurt a little bit thinking about that day again. I’ve been so busy with this plan and getting settled in the Isle that I’ve never really had the time to let it sink in. I haven’t really talked about it with anybody.”

“You can talk about it now, if you want. I’m usually not the best listener, but I can try.” That little bit of bite in the tone of her voice brought a smile to my face, just as it always has since the day I met her. I brushed off the topic and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.

“I appreciate that. But the best thing we can do right now is make sure this plan stays in motion. Will Mal be at the ship tomorrow?” I asked, shifting the topic away from any kind of emotional struggle.

“No doubt about it. Knowing her, she’ll probably bring her friends as backup. So, what do you say, Island Girl? You ready to break some bones and melt some brains?” She asked, leaning up from my shoulder and grabbing my hands tightly in excitement.

“My dear Captain, I’ve never been more ready for something in my entire life.”

[patricia-von-arundel]

So I don't know how serious you were or what you've decided on, but I recall reading some vague mention of allowing late participants into the cameo drawings so long as they contact you and let you know what's going on. And I appreciate how patient and sympathetic you are to everybody's circumstances- you have a good heart. But I gotta be honest and keep it real with you... I don't know how fair that is to everyone who actually turned things in on time. (1/3)

You set guidelines that were transparent and easy to understand. People committed themselves to those guidelines with the understanding that they would be eligible for those rewards. If you suddenly grant awards to people who didn’t abide by the guidelines, then what’s the point? Why should anyone obey your deadlines now? Imagine if a late participant won the cameo- imagine the insult that would be to everyone who was punctual and their recipient who had to wait. (2/3)

I know you’re the head honcho in this operation and at the end of the day it is your choice. I don’t mean to undermine that. If you’re insulted by my boldness I’m very sorry. I don’t mean to bother you, I just wanted to share what thoughts are going through my head, and maybe share another perspective. (3/3) 

I gotta be honest and keep it real with you - you want to organize an event, be my guest. I’m normally pretty hardass about this kind of thing. You don’t follow the rules, you don’t get the good stuff. I’ve been around this block many, many times before - I’ve been organizing fandom events for literally over a decade. 

But you know what?

The world is on fucking fire right now.

Lives are in absolute chaos, reality is upside down, we have thousands of people hospitalized and dying daily, and you want me to make no, absolutely no, exceptions (which, I will add, I never said I would not do) if someone is honest with me when they may be struggling to write a story or draw a picture - for free - when their whole world might be crumbling, or they’re balancing a thousand new responsibilities, or they’re suddenly wracked with a worse case of the same anxiety and uncertainty that has got us all reeling now, or even some crazy, miserable combination of some or all of the above? Because someone might get their feelings hurt, because their circumstances happened to allow them to finish more quickly, and nothing unexpected happened in the interim? Lucky them! 

I reserve the right to make exceptions for people who are struggling to figure out how to juggle everything. You know why? Because I’m trying to do the same thing. If someone has told me why they need a couple of extra days, and I choose to allow them into the drawing, it is none of your business what they said, or why I made the decision I did. That is not public knowledge (unless they choose to make it so). 

I think you’ll find that I never said I would only include those who had given gifts by April 20, I said that guaranteed entry. Because a couple of days late, I can still work you in (if you’ve told me you’ll be late). A week+, I probably cannot. I always knew I was not going to be able to get the giveaway done immediately, due to timezones and checking on entries where I may not have been tagged, which gives a couple of days wiggle room. 

I am spending ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS to buy Cameos for people. I have worked my ass off trying to do this and about a thousand other things in the last month and a half to keep people entertained, to give them things to play and look forward to, to keep them occupied, to help them find their creativity in the face of a world gone mad. I go to bed most nights physically aching because I’m dealing with everything at home, plus helping with schoolwork, plus all this. Giveaways, events, stories. Everything I have to give. Which isn’t much, but it’s sure all I can offer. 

How dare you lecture me about how I choose to conduct any of this? 

I do not need your permission to amend rules (especially when said rules did not explicitly state in the first place what would exclude eligibility - unless you’d like to tell me where I said you definitively weren’t eligible if you were a little late?), nor did I ask for anyone else’s perspective on this. Again, if you want to organize an event, be my guest. 

Don’t want to obey my deadlines? Yeah, okay. Fine. What’s it to me? You’re only hurting someone else. Not me. I’m not getting a gift from this. I may be giving some to make up for those who don’t come through, but I’m not getting a thing. Just spending a whole hell of a lot of time and money to try to do something fun and enjoyable for people.  

If anyone’s so deeply insulted that I’m willing to give people a bit of leeway, then feel absolutely free to send me a message off anon and I’ll happily take you off the giveaway list. 

Before I finish this off, let me make one thing very clear: I try to be nice. Usually. But I think you will find I am not a pushover, and I do not take well to being lectured about how I choose to conduct myself or my own efforts when I am, as you put it, “head honcho.” I will do things as I please. 

Thank you for your input. 

[flowerfan2]

Affinity - Ch. 18 (10.18)

McDanno, A03, 10.18

A continuous story of season 10 episode codas.  Steve may describe their relationship as a dysfunctional marriage, but at some point, will he and Danny take a closer look at what it really could be?   (The answer is yes).

 And a note:  It’s my opinion that Steve was clearly joking with Danny about having a date with the “cute vet.”  Emma told Steve just a few weeks ago that she was seeing someone else; Steve is just being a little shit and teasing Danny.  And of course, no date actually happens - instead, they end up at Rick’s bar, bickering over how Steve hasn’t brought his wallet with him for ten years...  (But I didn’t watch next week’s trailer and I don’t want to... who knows...)

Chapter 18

Steve sits in his truck, putting off the inevitable.  Usually he’s happy to pull into his driveway, especially when he knows Danny is in his house, probably getting dinner ready or checking out what’s new on his favorite delivery app.  But not right now.

It’s not like Steve can put it off much longer.  As soon as Danny sees his face, Danny’s going to know something’s wrong.  He might as well man up and get it over with.

Inside, he can smell tomato sauce bubbling on the stove – they’re eating in tonight, then.  Steve’s not sure if this is better or worse.  Danny will be in a good mood, but that just means he has further to fall.

Of course, this assumes Danny will be upset about Steve’s news.  He might actually be relieved, but that thought just makes Steve ache even more, so he pushes it aside.

“Hey, dinner will be ready soon, but I forgot to get salad stuff – if you really want it, you have time for a quick trip to the store.”  Danny comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel.  “Personally I’m fine without it, but I know how you feel…” Danny’s voice trails off as he sees Steve.   “What’s wrong?”

 Steve slumps over to the couch. That was fast even for Danny. “Why does something have to be wrong?”

 Danny just gives Steve a look and sits down in the chair next to Steve, tossing the dish towel on the coffee table. His white t-shirt is a little damp, and he’s wearing his most comfy shorts, the ones that look like he hacked off an old pair of sweatpants.  It’s Danny at his cuddliest, and Steve wants to grab him and never let go.  But now, sadly, is not the time.

 “You met with the governor this afternoon, right?  So tell me what happened?  Did your grenade budget get cut again?”  Danny’s trying to keep his voice light, but he’s caught on to Steve’s mood, and he knows there’s more to it than the annual argument over Five-0’s outrageous expenses.

 “No, nothing like that.”

 “So what, then?”  Danny scoots forward.  “Tell me, come on.”

 Steve sighs.  “It was the most incredibly awkward meeting of my life. Possibly of anyone’s life.”

 Danny perks up.  “Really?”

 “Don’t get so excited.”

 “Come on, such drama - it’s got to be good.”

 “Not so much.”  

 Danny waits, and when Steve doesn’t elaborate, he hits him on the arm.  Kind of hard.

 “Ow.”

 “Spill.”

 “Fine.  We talked about Junior and Tani.”

 Danny’s posture immediately changes, his shoulders tightening.  “What about Junior and Tani?”

 “Their relationship.  Apparently the powers that be are not pleased.”

 Danny springs out of his chair and starts pacing.  “What the hell?  There’s nothing wrong with them being together – it’s no one’s business – it’s certainly not the Governor’s business-”

 “It is, really,” Steve says. “One, there’s a no fraternization rule-”

 “Since when do you care about rules?”

 “Two, it could create a legal problem. Three, it could create a morale problem.”  He’s counting off on his fingers, trying to remember what the Governor – and the Governor’s lawyers – said.  “Oh yeah, four, appearance of impropriety.”

 “Appearance of – how is that any different than a morale problem?”  Danny’s trying not to shout, Steve can tell, but he wouldn’t blame him if he did. Steve got all his shouting out back at City Hall.

 “Morale among the team, versus appearance to the public,” Steve recites.

 Danny’s waving his arms, practically vibrating with anger.  “That’s not going to happen, morale on the team is fine, we’re all happy for them, they’re adorable, they’re just kids, what the hell kind of rule is this-”

 “Danny, come on.  This isn’t news.  We always knew it could be a problem.”

 “They don’t even report to each other,” Danny protests.

 “And that’s the only thing that saved them from being transferred off Five-0.  But the Governor still isn’t happy – if either one of them becomes, what was the word, disgruntled, they could sue.”

 “For what?  What would they sue for?”

 Steve rubs his face.  “Sexual harassment, or retaliation.  Say they break up, and then Junior gets pissed because he thinks Tani is getting better assignments, and he accuses someone on the team of being mad at him because they blame him for the break-up.  Or they’re on the rocks, and one of them pushes too hard, and the advance is unwelcome.”

 “That’s not going to happen, not with them.”

 “What if they’re together, and their judgement is affected, and someone gets hurt on a case?”

 Danny frowns, and Steve imagines he’s running through all the times they did crazy-ass things for each other, taking arguably unwarranted risks with people’s lives.  “You really think two people have to be bumping uglies for that to happen?”

 “No, but making that point really wasn’t going to help their case.”

 Danny deflates.  “What happens now?  Can they still work together?”

 “If they sign a love contract.”

 “A what?”  

 “A love contract,” Steve repeats. “A statement acknowledging that the relationship is voluntary and consensual, that they’re free to end it, they will abide by the sexual harassment policy, and a bunch of other legal crap.”

 “That sounds ridiculous.”

 “And I have to bring them in to the City lawyer’s office tomorrow and sit there while they say the same thing.”

 There’s a long pause, and then Danny gets up and goes back into the kitchen.  “Gotta make sure nothing’s burning,” he says, tossing the towel over his shoulder.

 Long minutes go by, and Danny doesn’t come back out into the living room.  Steve has a hunch as to why.  He pulls out his phone and checks his email, giving Danny a few more minutes to process, and then follows him into the kitchen.

 Danny’s chopping basil by the sink, and Steve grabs a leaf and pops it in his mouth.

 “Hey, cut it out, you’ll lose a finger,” Danny says tensely, his eyes firmly fixed on his task.

 “Penny for your thoughts?”

 “Fuck off,” Danny says, “you know what I’m thinking.”

 “Yeah, but it’s easier to respond if you actually say something.”

 Danny puts the knife down and turns towards Steve, leaning on the counter behind him.  “I report to you,” he says.

 “Technically, yes.”

 “So even with a love contract, that wouldn’t be enough.  We can’t date.”

 “The topic didn’t come up, obviously. But… yeah, I get the feeling that it might be a harder sell than Tani and Junior.”

 Danny doesn’t respond, but he digs his phone out of his shorts and swipes around for a few seconds, then hands it to Steve.

 It’s showing a reservation for dinner tomorrow night.  For two.   For the briefest of moments, Steve wonders if Danny has met someone.  Then he sees the name of the restaurant, one his favorites, the Beach House in Haleiwa.

 Steve can’t do anything but stare at Danny, who takes his phone back and shoves it into his pocket.  “We both have off tomorrow.  Figured we’d do something together.  Go for a hike, maybe.  Have dinner.  You wouldn’t even have to iron a shirt.”

 “Danny… is this…?”  Steve doesn’t want to ask, can’t quite form the words. It’s been weeks of limbo, weeks of Steve trying so hard to wait patiently, telling himself that he’ll be okay no matter what Danny decides, that they’ll both be okay, that their friendship can handle whatever comes next.  Joking about pretend dates with other people that Danny knows will never happen, just to try to take the pressure off Danny.  Being the very best friend he can be, always.  It’s been hard, but Steve hasn’t stopped hoping, hasn’t stopped wanting.  He’s not sure he can.  

 “Yeah, it’s a date,”  Danny says, and Steve feels his heart skip a beat.  “Anyway, it was supposed to be.  I wanted to take you out.  Tell you I’m ready, if you still want… this.”  Danny looks up at Steve, his eyes imploring.  “I’m ready, I want to - but now – how can we…?”

 Steve presses his lips together, his mind racing to come up with anything convincing, any way to persuade Danny that the Governor’s new-found interest in Five-0’s interpersonal relationships isn’t going to be the fatal blow to their reunion.  It’s hard to think straight, though, over the pounding of his heart.

 “You really want us to be together?”  Steve asks, his hands trembling at his sides.  “You’re sure?”

 “Yeah, I’m sure, but-”

 That’s all Steve needs.  With a sharp inhale, the rest of the world disappears, and all he can see is Danny.   “Forget about the Governor,” Steve says firmly, stepping into Danny’s space, crowding him up against the counter.  “Do you trust me?”

 Something shifts in Danny’s expression, and when he speaks, his voice is tender.  “I do, Steve.”

 “Then kiss me.”

 Danny tilts his head, then brings his hand to the back of Steve’s head and pulls him close.  Danny’s lips are soft, and his mouth is warm, and Steve feels almost mesmerized by his touch.  He slides his hands around Danny’s shoulders, feeling the strength of his muscles bunching under his t-shirt, and ends the kiss with a sigh.

 Danny pulls back just enough to look at Steve, his eyes sparkling.  “So we’re gonna do this again, are we?”

 “Yeah.  I won’t fuck it up this time, I-”

 Danny cuts him off with another kiss, and Steve laughs against his mouth.  “No more apologies,” Danny says into the air between them.  “We’re good.”  Danny moves closer and kisses him again, and this time he presses harder, opening his mouth and finding his way into Steve’s.  Danny’s got one hand on his waist, and Steve’s gripping Danny’s t-shirt, and they kiss until they have to pause for breath, panting and grinning and generally feeling altogether wonderful.

 Steve’s still not sure how they’re going to avoid getting fired, but right now, he simply doesn’t care.  He’s got Danny back in his arms, and that’s what’s important.

[wolfiefics]

To all the fans of Steve Rogers who persist that Steve was in the right during Civil War, consider this:

Your argument that after the events of Winter Soldier he lost faith in the US government, why did he stay? Why did he not renounce his US citizenship and try elsewhere? He likely had enough ties with another country, either of familial origin or one he helped liberate during WWII, to do so. Why did he stay? Why did he continue being an Avenger? Living by US society rules put in place and maintained by the government he no longer believed in? If you can answer that in a logical way that isn't knee-jerk high-mindedness, I'll concede it.

If he was right to go against the Accords because "they stifled his freedom" then you are advocating the same mindset of the people taking guns into government buildings in an attempt to terrorize officials into not wearing protective gear designed to save the lives of themselves, their family and their fellow citizens AS IS IN THE US CONSTITUTION CHARTER. Or you are the one calling the police on someone for doing something you don't like, lying about it to make it wrong when that person was doing nothing wrong to begin with? You just didn't like them for some reason, they have to go away. FREEDOM is not a gift. It's not a thing that everyone has. EVER. Not even in the US at the time of the American Revolution. Freedom is a CONCEPT, an ideal to reach for. A utopian dream. The very nature of human civilization NEGATES freedom by its very existence. You want "freedom"? I can rob, rape, murder, enslave, and destroy everything I want to because I'm FREE to do so! No one can tell me what to do! You're the victim? Not my problem! Maybe you should be bigger, meaner, carry a bigger weapon or have more people in your side. FREEDOM is ANARCHY, lawlessness, and disrespecting others wants and needs for whatever you want to have withoutrestrictionsof moral conscience instilled by society (i.e. laws and government).

Society, civilization, has rules for a reason. So that shit DOESN'T happen. You don't follow the rules? You're a criminal. Since the Law Codes of Hammurabi its been this way (before that, those are just the first known written laws). Rules can be amended, recodified, or completely rewritten as your society and culture expands intellectually, technologically or in accordance of getting along with another culture different from yours. They aren't concrete (I was going to say "written in stone but some actually were...aforementioned Hammurabi law codes for example).

But to argue that Steve Rogers was right to IGNORE the rules and laws and do whatever he wanted because he was "betrayed" by the government is ignorant, elitist bullshit. He had NO RIGHT to do that. Attempt to dissuade, argue down or compromise, yes, definitely. But give it the middle finger and stomp off in a snit and do whatever HE thinks is right? He's no longer a law-abiding citizen who has EARNED the rights of his society. He has turned his back on them. I'm not saying the Accords were right (though they had a strong argument for it) but everyone tried to tell him "do this now, we'll wiggle it around til it's more acceptable. If not, they are going to ram it down our throats or throw us in a dark dank corner and forget we're there". But noooo! Steve was too good for that! The petty concerns of almost the entire world is not his problem! HE knows better than ANYONE what's right and what's wrong! Fuck them! He was not interested in compromise, trying to work a deal, nothing. He saw it as oppression and done! And that's how all of you who say he's in the right feel too. 112 out of 128 countries have no RIGHT to feel threatened! What's their problem anyway? It’s not like the Avengers destroyed an entire country! Oh wait.. well it's just some backwater Eastern bloc country, no big loss. And part of South Africa. And an entire floor of visiting humanitarian and diplomat workers. No big deal. The UN should just suck it up. Steve knows what he's doing.

All governments have laws a person doesn't like. Nature of the beast. You might get away with bending it on occasion, depending what it is. But if your actions breaking it means ending the lives of others or compromising/destroying their property or culture because "I'm right, you're wrong"? Bigotry. Elitism. Holier than thou. Entire civilizations have vanished for that and we know little to nothing about them because that attitude meant no one cared to note it. Those civilizations could have cures for, I don't know, CANCER!!? (Medicine Man with Sean Connery is awesome. You should watch it).

The first rule EVERY writer learns when writing about sentient beings is there are good things and there are FLAWS. There is no such thing as perfect. If you have a perfect person who can do no wrong, makes no mistakes, just rolls through life getting everything they want without effort...why would you want that? It's boring. It's unrealistic. Why is this persistent idea that everything Steve does is right and just and morally incorruptible? Sounds like some asshole that needs a bullet in the brain before he decides to kill ME for getting in his way. Most of you don't write him in your own fics that way. Why on EARTH do you think he's perfect in the movie verse? Is he not fictional? Is he not a character in a story? Is he somehow exempt in the movies of all writing conventions?

Civil War is easily the worst of the MCU movies. The potholes are so large you can hyper drive the Deathstar through them. Too many to go into here. That's a whole nother rant. But this movie is the basis of this fan idea that Steve can do no wrong and anyone who opposed or argued with him are immoral, arrogant and oppressive...or government doormats. REALLY?! It's obvious Steve trusts NO ONE. Not Sam, whose life he continually puts in danger with very little remorse. Nat, who has been at his side since two weeks after he woke in the 21st century, fought aliens, was on an elite task force with (two in fact), etc ad nauseum but since she DARED to disagree with him, she's obviously not to be trusted. And he was hyper focused on two things:Bucky and Peggy. Peggy, he moped and brooded over, punishing himself for a trick of Fate. FOR YEARS. And Bucky, who was such an obvious distraction that Hydra knew it was a HUGE weak spot and CONTINUALLY used it against him at the expense of other people's lives that Steve apparently didn't give two shits about or even attempted to modify that weakness. How many legitimate, under cover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were exposed world-wide when Nat laid bare every record of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Not even a flicker of remorse from Steve. Made this big patriotic speech to the Triskellian but not one single mention at all in the planning of those people. None. Cannon fodder. So sad, too bad, ah well! Gotta save Bucky!! Same in Civil War. Steve headed that op in Africa. He ordered and helped gather the Intel on Crossbones and his gang. He made the plan, placed an unstable high-powered individual ALONE in the field with Nat telling her what to do over an ear piece (and Wanda blew her off), as soon as Crossbones blew Steve's strategy, he went gung-ho through a major, heavily populated marketplace, confronted the enemy, IMMEDIATELY got compromised by the word "Bucky" and allowed Crossbones to set off a suicide vest. If Wanda hadn't been there, Steve and that entire block would have been decimated. Wanda did her best, but she was not up to snuff and lives were lost anyway. Did Steve show remorse? No. He brooded that Rumlow said "Bucky and I was 16 again". He told Wanda essentially that it's regrettable but not to worry about it. Those dead people due to his hard-on to get Rumlow? All those lives of diplomats and humanitarian workers gone? No big whoop. Sad but you know, Steve's perfect so they just had to die. He willingly and uncaringly put people in harm's way that got them killed that with a cool head and better planning (or compromise with others ideas) could have been avoided. That's the making of a sociopath. A monster. NOT someone who should be in charge of an elite team that defeated an ALIEN INVASION HEADED BY A GOD.

Think about this. I loved the Winter Soldier. I think it's in my top 5 MCU movies. Other than the exposure of who knows how many legitimate S.HI.E.L.D agents who may have been in the middle of stopping child slavery rings or something, it's an excellent film. Civil War? Garbage. Utter garbage. Trash. They had a good plot, the Hydra super soldiers, that could have been action packed, exposed Bucky's whereabouts, had a big fight scene, had Tony learning Steve had been omitting how his parents died and still had Zemo taken down and the Avengers break up. Set it up even. Those soldiers were shot off screen as this confusing red herring. Why even mention them if you're just going to shoot them off-screen like an afterthought? Hmm. I should write that. I may have too, if someone hasn't done it already. If so, DM me the link?

But get away from this "Steve Rogers can't be wrong cuz he's Captain America" schtick. Bad enough Civil War turned him into a callous, selfish tool. Don't make the situation worse for him.

I love my Stucky, don't get me wrong. I'll die on this ship. But Civil War is NOT the Steve Rogers characterization you need to be advocating as the ideal. In that movie, he's an asshole and if Peggy or 1930s Bucky knew what he'd done, they'd have BOTH punched him. Maybe more than once. And withheld his dessert at dinner.

I'm just saying.

[burr-ell]

Babe pls go off about TTG vs TT I would love it

caps is referring to this post i made a week ago; i made sure bc i’m kind of an illiterate dumdum who’s bad at math. @zitkaplushie and @aaawunder have also decided to endorse my absolute worst impulses on the matter of cartoons vs comics SO

what’s been on my mind lately is…not really a Big Discourse, it’s mostly just a pet peeve. and as a disclaimer i’d like to say that i firmly believe in interacting with fandom any way you want. i’m not the fandom police; that job sounds heinous.

but i gotta tell ya, it can get pretty frustrating trying to find good teen titans animated content that actually feels like it’s about teen titans animated. and so much of that comes down to people who insist on shoehorning comics canon into the show—especially the people who don’t like it that none of the characters refer to each other by “real name”, and think it’s a problem that they need to fix in their fanworks.

i vaguely referenced this type of thing briefly here, but people not treating the animated series as a completely different ‘verse with a completely different structure and continuity from any comics or previous animated shows is…baffling, to me. it takes me out of the enjoyment of a lot of fan content that people produce and then file under the animated show in the archives. and i wish it didn’t because i like enjoying things, surprisingly! but it does, and i think i know why.

uninhibited gushing about teen titans under the cut:

the cartoon makes for an excellent gateway series to the lesser-known aspects of the dc universe, but it also stands really well on its own. and part of the reason for that is that you don’t need to know any comics canon to enjoy the show—you don’t even need to be familiar with batman at all in order to understand and empathize with robin as a character. and i think one element of that is the fact that nobody refers to anyone by their “real names”, because as far as the show is concerned, their superhero names are their real names. being a superhero is their full-time job, and their hero lives and personal lives are one and the same.

so it kinda grinds my gears to read fanfic tagged specifically under the animated series where characters frequently refer to each other as ‘dick’, ‘gar’, ‘vic,’ and ‘kory’—and in some cases ‘rachel’ too—and consistently reference their backstories as a part of the expanded dc universe. do they do that in the comics and the animated movies and the live-action show? sure! and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. but i’ve always liked the fact that they make a point of avoiding that in the cartoon, and to me it’s one of the things that sets the show apart. no one has a civilian identity—they’re teenagers, they look and talk and act like teenagers, but they fight villains full-time. that’s all. and it’s great!

while the cartoon is primarily focused on action, it still manages to communicate a lot of the mature aspects of the comics’ stories and characters without having to give them civilian identities. our understanding of cyborg, for example, isn’t made better by knowing that his birth name is ‘victor stone’. his struggle to accept himself for who he is, both the human and the machine, is still core to his character arc, and it shines through whether you know the backstory or not.

disabled kids watch cyborg and they don’t need to know about silas stone and STAR Labs; they’re looking at his cybernetics as prosthetic limbs and saying “hey! he’s just like me!”. that’s the kind of thing that really matters, and that’s part of what makes the show so special to me.

on a practical level, there’s a reason starfire and raven don’t go by their “real names”—because starfire and raven are their real names. in kory’s pre-crisis comics debut, “starfire” was a code name originally born out of the effects of her energy bolts (she didn’t actually do the language kiss until about a week after they rescued her from the gordanians, so they needed to call her something). but in the cartoon, starfire is to koriand’r as john is to giovanni—it’s the english translation of her name. and raven is a half demon raised in an alternate dimension populated by monks; “rachel roth” has only ever been a pseudonym she uses to get around when she has to. it’s only robin, cyborg, and beast boy that even have secret identities to begin with in the cartoon, and it’s not that much of a reach to argue that they’re choosing to eschew those old names to better reflect who they’ve chosen to be.

and i think that last bit especially is why it bugs me that people have argued that “they’re supposed to be friends but they don’t trust each other enough to tell each other their backstories!”. because to me, it’s a lot more compelling that they trust each other enough to not need to know that information. “she’s our friend,” robin says about raven. “what more do we need to know?”. what they’re acknowledging there, to me, is that it doesn’t really matter where you’ve been or what you were born to do; it’s about who you choose to be now. and i love that, the respect of choice. having the characters refer to each other by birth name just because it’s their birth name, as if a birth name is inherently more valid and intimate, kind of undermines that to me.

teen titans works as well as it does, and still holds up almost two decades later, because it is, at its core, a show about teenage superheroes as found family that just happens to be a dc property. i’m so much more interested in fan content that plays by those rules—treating the comics canon as isolated wink-and-nudge kind of stuff, because it’s more interested in how the characters have chosen to present themselves than in making them abide by Comics Rules. again, i’m not out to be the Content Police to tell you how to enjoy a kids’ show, but it would be nice if content tagged under the animated show was actually about the animated show instead of cramming in comics canon when there are already communities and tags for comics canon. just let the cartoon be the cartoon.

[bechloeislegit]

BeChloe Week 2019 -  DAY 7

Truth or Dare

It started out as a relatively quiet night in the Bellas house. Dinner had been cooked and eaten. The dishes had been cleared from the table and washed. Now it was Bellas bonding time.

"Okay, ladies," Stacie called out. "It's the night before graduation and we are going to party!"

"Oh, God," Beca said. "Why?"

"Come on, Becs," Chloe said. "This will be our last chance to party together for a while. We graduate tomorrow and leave for Copenhagen two days later. And who knows when we'll be able to get together after that."

"Fine," Beca said. "But, Amy does not get to play bartender. We have to be in line by nine tomorrow morning and I am not going to be responsible for getting your hungover asses over to the field."

"Agreed," Chloe said.

"Not agreed," Amy said. "It wouldn't be a Bellas party without my famous surprise punch."

"No, absolutely not," Beca said, shaking her head. "As Bellas Captain, I am putting my foot down and declaring this a no surprise punch party. We can have beer and wine. That's it."

"I have to agree with Beca on this," Chloe said.

"No surprise there," Amy mumbled.

"What was that, Amy?" Chloe asked, giving Amy the squinted eye glare that she knows Amy hates.

"Nothing," Amy said. "Beer and wine are great."

"Good," Chloe said.

"We can live with that," Emily said. "Ashley, you and Jessica will get the beer and wine. Stacie, you and CR are in charge of the snacks. The rest of us can help get the house ready."

"Way to delegate, Emily," Beca said, clearly impressed. "You did that like a true Bellas Captain. Alright, you nerds, you heard Emily, so let's do this. AND DO NOT INVITE ANYONE WHO ISN'T A BELLA TO THE PARTY, AMY!"

"Why are you yelling at just me?" Amy asked. Beca just looked at her. "Fine, I won't invite anyone else to the party."

"Okay," Beca said. "You have your marching orders. Get to it."

The girls jumped up and went about their tasks for the party.

~ TRUTH OR DARE ~

The girls returned from their various tasks. Chloe helped Stacie and CR put the snacks in bowls and on plates. Jessica and Ashely put the beer on ice and opened a couple of bottles of wine. Beca, Emily, Lily, and Amy had rearranged the furniture to make space for everyone to sit together on the floor.

"Looks like we're ready to go," Chloe said as she set down the last bowl of chips.

"Okay everyone, go grab a drink and meet back in the living room," Stacie said.

"I'll get a playlist started," Beca said and connected her laptop to the speaker system.

The girls got their drinks and met in the living room, finding someplace to sit. The music started and the girls cheered when P!nk's "Get The Party Started" came from the speakers. Beca bopped her head to the music and went to sit by Chloe.

"It's our last party as College Students," Stacie said. "We need to do something that we will always remember."

"Let's play a game," Jessica shouted.

"I'm not drunk enough to play any games," Beca whined.

"But, it will be fun," Ashley said.

"What game are you thinking, Jess?" Chloe asked.

"Strip Charades," CR yelled.

"NO," Beca yelled, causing everyone to laugh. She mumbled, "How the Hell would you play that anyway?"

"Well, first you-" Beca threw a hand over Chloe's mouth.

"I really don't want to know, Chlo," Beca said. "It was a rhetorical question."

"Twenty questions?" Emily asked.

"Too many people," Ashley said. "It will take forever."

"Truth or Dare?" Stacie suggested.

"Yesssss!" most of the Bellas cheer.

"Noooooo!" Beca yelled.

"Come on, Becs," Chloe said. "We haven't played Truth or Dare in a while. It could be fun."

"If that's what you're going with," Beca said and stood. "I'm out."

"Why?" Stacie asked.

"Because I've already kissed all of you at least once because of a stupid dare," Beca said. "And I've seen and done enough nude body shots to last more than a lifetime."

"But, that's what makes it fun," Stacie said. "And you're welcome. I'm pretty sure you more than enjoyed doing body shots off Chloe."

Chloe giggled. "I know I did."

"If you guys insist on playing Truth or Dare, I'm out," Beca said and started for the stairs.

"What's with you, Beca?" CR asked. "You don't usually get this way until you've had a few drinks in you. What gives?"

"Fine," Beca said as her shoulders slumped. "I'm seeing someone and don't want to cheat on them because of some stupid dare that everyone says I need to do just because 'those are the rules' of the game."

The room grew silent as the girls stared at Beca.

"Who is it?" Emily asked, blushing when everyone turned to look at her.

"Beca, it's not cheating," Stacie said. "It's a game."

"Yeah, well, I'm not messing up this relationship by kissing or doing anything else with someone who isn't-." Beca stopped and pressed her lips together, shaking her head.

"Who isn't... who?" Lily asked

"No, no, no," Beca said. "I'm not telling you. We have to focus on Worlds not on who I'm dating. This is the reason I haven't said anything. I don't want my relationship interfering with us doing well at Worlds."

"Come on, Chloe," Stacie said, looking at the redhead. "Spill it. You know everything there is to know about Beca. Who is she seeing? Who is Beca's secret lovah?"

"Don't call her that," Beca mumbled.

"Sorry, girls," Chloe said, sipping her beer. "I can't tell you. I made a promise."

"This isn't fair," Amy said. "Chloe knows, why can't we. We're all family. You can tell us."

"No, I can't," Chloe said. "I made a promise and I'm not going to break it. She's my best friend and a promise to a best friend trumps everyone's need to know."

"Thanks, Chlo," Beca said and started for the stairs. "I'll be in my room."

"Don't go, Beca," Jessica said. "How about we institute a rule that says no one can dare you to kiss anyone or do body shots off of anyone? Will you stay if we all promise to abide by these new rules?"

"Only if you add that, if I choose truth, no one can ask me who I'm in a relationship with," Beca said. Seeing Amy's devilish grin caused Beca to add, "And you can't ask Chloe either."

"No fair," Amy whined.

"I'm okay with that," Jessica said.

"Me, too," Ashley said.

"I agree," Chloe said.

"Me, too," Emily said.

"I don't," Amy said.

"Then I'm out," Beca said. "Goodnight and try not to wreck the place."

Beca again started for the stairs.

"Beca, wait!" Stacie said; she turned to Amy. "Come on, Amy. Agree so Beca will stay. It won't be the same without her. There are plenty of others who we can make kiss someone. Plus, there are other ways to embarrass her."

All eyes are on Amy and she squirms a bit before saying, "Fine. I'll agree."

Everyone else agreed and Beca looked at them skeptically.

"Do you all promise?" Beca asked looking around the room. "Because you know how I feel about breaking a promise."

"We know," Ashley said. "And we all promise. Right girls?"

Everyone agreed and Beca took them at their word. The girls sat in a circle and Amy put a bottle in the middle.

"Whoa," Beca said. "I thought we were playing Truth or Dare, not Spin the Bottle."

"We're going to use the bottle to determine who's turn it is," Amy said. "I'll spin and whoever it lands on I get to ask if they want Truth or Dare. After their turn is done, they spin the bottle, and so on."

"Oh, okay," Beca said and relaxed.

Amy spun the bottle and it landed on Stacie. Beca snickered. "Good luck finding something Stacie hasn't done yet."

Chloe slapped her arm and said, "Be nice, Becs."

"Truth or Dare, Stacie," Amy said.

Stacie smiled and blew Beca a kiss. "Dare. Hit me with your best shot, Amy."

"Okay," Amy said. "Ummmmmm, I dare you to call Aubrey and tell her that you have a toner for her and want to take her out. Oh, and you have to put it on speaker so we can hear it."

"Okay," Stacie said and pulled out her phone. She pulled up Aubrey's contact and hit send.

"Hey, Stacie," Aubrey answered. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to call to tell you that I have a serious toner for you," Stacie said, somewhat seductively. "And I want to take you out. Are you busy Friday night?"

"Um, Stacie, what are you doing?" Aubrey asked. "We've-"

"Sorry, Brey, you're on speaker and we're playing Truth or Dare," Stacie cut in quickly. "Amy dared me to call you and ask you out."

"Oh," Aubrey said. "Okay then, yes, I'll go out with you."

"Great," Stacie said. She then grinned and asked, "Meet at the usual spot?"

"What?!" Amy yelled. "Come on. Is everyone in this group hooking up?"

Aubrey's laugh could be heard over the phone. "We've been dating for about six months, Amy. I honestly thought you all knew."

"I didn't tell them," Stacie said with a smirk. "A girls' gotta have some secrets."

"Hang up, Legs," Amy said. "It's your turn to spin the bottle."

"Spin the bottle?" Aubrey asked. "I thought you were playing Truth or Dare."

"We're spinning the bottle to see who's next on the Truth or Dare hot seat," Chloe explained.

"Brey, do you have a problem with us playing Spin the Bottle?" Stacie asked.

"Kind of," Aubrey said. "I mean I really don't want you kissing anyone else even if it is a Bella sister."

"We've played before and you never said anything," Stacie said, waving her hand dismissively at Beca who sat across from Stacie with a WTF look on her face.

"I wasn't in a relationship before," Aubrey said. "It kind of feels like cheating now."

"Thank you!" Beca yelled. "See, I'm not the only one who feels that it's wrong to kiss someone else when you're in a relationship, even if it is because you're playing Truth or Dare."

"I didn't know you felt that way, Brey," Stacie said. "Okay, Amy, we have to amend the new rules we made for Beca to include me."

"What? No!" Amy said.

"Amy," Aubrey said.

"Fine," Amy muttered. "You guys are taking all the fun out of the game."

"There are plenty of things we can do that don't involve kissing someone," Beca said. "Or seeing someone naked."

"She's right," Aubrey said.

"You know, maybe you should add me to the new rules list," Jessica said. "I never thought of it this way before, but I get it. I don't want to kiss anyway who isn't my girlfriend either."

"Me, either," Ashley said, smiling at Jessica. "It wouldn't feel right."

Jessica smiled back at her and linked their hands.

"Aww," Chloe said. "Count me in that group, too."

"Wait," Beca said. "I said the exact same thing Aubrey did and no one listened. Now everyone's jumping on the bandwagon. Unbelievable!"

"Hush, Beca," Aubrey said. "Chloe, you're in a relationship? How do I not know about this? Stacie, hang up and Chloe you call me right now."

"Shit," Chloe muttered. "Fine, Brey. I'll call you once I'm in my room."

Stacie ends the call and everyone looks at Chloe.

"Nope, not telling," Chloe said and rushed upstairs before anyone could say anything.

Once Chloe was gone, everyone turned to look at Beca.

"Nope, no, uh-uh," Beca said, shaking her head. "I'm not telling either. I promised Chloe."

"You guys are getting on my nerves," Amy said. "I'm going to go get a smoothie."

"Tell Bumper we said hi," Beca said, laughing.

Everyone bit their lips to keep from laughing as Amy got up and grabbed her stuff. Amy flipped them off and the girls couldn't hold back their laughter anymore. They settled down and looked around.

"So, what now?" Emily asked.

"Why don't we talk?" Beca said. "I really haven't talked to you nerds about anything except graduation and Worlds lately. What are everyone's plans once Worlds are over?"

"Why don't you start," Stacie said. "What's in store for Beca Effin' Mitchell after graduation and winning Worlds?"

"Well," Beca said. "My internship at Residual Heat led to me getting a bona fide offer from a studio in New York to come on board as an Assistant Producer."

"Beca!" Stacie yelled and ran over to hug the girl. "That's great. I'm so proud and happy for you."

"Thanks," Beca said smiling.

"Is that why you and Jesse broke up?" Ashley asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's okay," Beca said. "No, it isn't why. Jesse and I broke up over Winter Break. We weren't working and I started having feelings for someone else, so we decided to break up but remain friends. The only reason you guys didn't know until after Spring Break is because I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Then, when Lily saw him with a new girl and told me about it, I had to tell you so you guys wouldn't string him up for cheating on me. Plus, I was already dating someone else at that point."

"So, you're with someone else, too," Jessica said. "That's a plus."

"Yeah, it definitely is," Beca said with a smile.

"What about this new person?" Ashley asked. "What's going to happen between you two? Are you calling it quits when you go to New York."

"Um, well, I kind of already asked her to go with me," Beca said, blushing and looking down at her hands. "And, she said yes."

"Her?" Stacie asked. "Way to go, Beca." Stacie let out a cheer.

"Enough about me," Beca said, laughing. "How about you Jessica? What are your plans?"

"Ashley and I are moving to my hometown and taking over my mom's bakery," Jessica said. "We both love to bake and my mom has been talking about retiring. She and my dad want to travel while they're still young enough to enjoy it."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Ashley said. "We've got some new recipes we want to try. After we get established and become more familiar with running the business, we may expand to include bigger things like wedding cakes."

"I'd buy one," Beca said. "You guys make some of the best desserts ever."

"She's not wrong about that," Emily said. "Ooo, are you guys make something for tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Jessica said with a sly smile.

"Yes," Emily exclaimed.

"What are your plans, CR?" Beca asked.

"Well, it's like I said at the retreat," CR said. "I'm getting married over the summer and Denise and I are planning on settling in Maine. I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet, but Denise has a good job and already has a place, so I'll figure something out once I get up there."

"You'll find something," Emily said. "Hopefully there are music opportunities for you to explore. You have a great voice and shouldn't waste it."

"Hear, hear," Beca said, raising her glass toward CR.

"Thanks," CR said. "That means a lot to me."

"What about you, Stacie?" Beca asked. "What's Barden's secret brainiac going to do after graduation?"

"I'll be moving to Atlanta," Stacie said. "I got a research grant to work with Professor Stanfield as part of her new research team. She said it will be for at least a year, but with any luck, it could be longer."

"Wow, Stacie," Jessica said. "That sounds amazing."

Chloe came back downstairs and Beca gave her a look. Chloe shrugged and said, "What did I miss?"

They filled Chloe in on everything said so far. "Stacie, that sounds phenomenal."

"I'm really excited about it," Stacie said.

"It doesn't hurt that you'll only be an hour away from Aubrey," Beca said with a grin.

"No, it doesn't," Stacie said and winked at Beca. "So, Chloe, what are your plans? What's Big Red going to do now that she's finally graduating?"

"I'm moving to New York," Chloe said. "I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do, but I'd like to pursue a Teaching Degree. There are quite a few really good schools in New York. I'm a little nervous about it, but also excited."

"What about your new beau?" Emily asked. "Are you guys breaking up?"

"Oh, um," Chloe said. "We're going to go to New York together."

"Whoever it is would be an idiot to let you get away," CR said with a wink.

"Thanks, CR," Chloe said. "Um, Beca, can I talk to you for a second. Brey asked me something about Worlds and I need to run it by you."

"Sure," Beca said and followed Chloe into the kitchen.

~ TRUTH OR DARE ~

"You told Aubrey?" Beca asked, somewhat shocked. "I thought we promised we wouldn't tell anyone until after Worlds."

"We did, I did," Chloe said. "But you know how persuasive Brey can be. I had to tell her."

"Had to?" Beca said. "You know if Aubrey knows, Stacie will know soon. And then everyone else will know. They'll lose focus and we could lose Worlds and the Bellas will be disbanded. You've been fighting all year to keep the Bellas together. You only had to wait a few more days."

"I'm sorry," Chloe said. "Are you mad?"

"Well, you did break a promise, Chlo," Beca said. "And you know how I feel about that."

Chloe put her arms around Beca's neck and kissed her jaw. "How about now?"

"I'm your also your best friend," Beca said, putting her hands on Chloe's waist and pulling her closer. "And you did say a promise to a best friend trumps everyone's need to know."

Chloe kissed Beca's cheek. "I also promised Aubrey that we wouldn't keep secrets from each other."

"Well, since you've known her longer," Beca said and kissed Chloe's neck, causing an appreciative hum to escape. "I'll have to forgive this little transgression."

"Good," Chloe said and captured Beca's lips with hers.

Beca pulled back and looked toward the kitchen door to make sure no one was watching.

"Maybe we should go ahead and tell the Bellas," Beca said. "I know you said we should wait-"

"Let's do it," Chloe said, causing Beca to smile.

"Really?" Beca asked. "How should we do it."

"Let's play Truth or Dare," Chloe said with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh, God," Beca said and laid her head on Chloe's shoulder.

~ TRUTH OR DARE ~

"Come on, Becs," Chloe said as they walked into the living room. "Let's continue the game."

"Do we have to?" Beca whined.

"What's Beca whining about now?" Stacie asked.

"Rude," Beca said as she sat cross-legged on the floor.

"I want to continue our Truth or Dare game," Chloe said as she sat down next to Beca.

"I'm in if we keep the same rules," Jessica said.

"Me, too," Ashley said.

The rest of the girls agreed. "I believe it's your turn to spin the bottle, Stacie," Chloe said.

"Okay," Stacie said and grabbed the bottle. The spin landed on Ashley.

"Truth or Dare, Ashley?" Stacie asked.

"Truth," Ashley said.

"This is a pretty standard question, but I don't remember anyone ever asking you," Stacie said. "When did you lose your virginity?"

"Oh, God," Ashley said, blushing. "I was seventeen. It was after Senior Prom."

"Cliche much?" CR asked with a laugh.

"I know, I know," Ashley said, chuckling. "I only did it because I was tired of being the only virgin in my class. Plus, I didn't want to be a virgin in college."

"What's wrong with that?" Emily asked, blushing again when everyone looked at her.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Emily," Beca said. "Don't let anyone tell you any different."

"She's right, Em," Stacie said. "You do it when you're ready to do it. Don't let anyone talk you into something you are not ready for."

"Thanks," Emily said, her cheeks bright red.

"Okay, Ashley, your turn to spin," Chloe said.

Ashley spun and the bottle fell on Chloe.

"Truth or Dare, Chloe?" Ashley asked.

Chloe looked around the room and bit her lip. "Truth."

"Okay," Ashley said. "Um, how long have you and your new love interest been dating?"

"Four months," Chloe responded.

"Four months?" CR said. "And you're talking about moving to New York together? That's kind of fast, isn't it?"

"Maybe," Chloe said with a shrug. "But, I know she's the one for me. When you know, you know. My turn to spin."

Chloe gave a flick of her wrist and the bottle landed on Beca. Chloe had a big smile on her face.

Before Chloe could ask if Beca wanted Truth or Dare, Beca let out a sigh and said, "I'll take the dare."

"Ooo, someone's feeling cocky," Stacie said, causing everyone to laugh.

"Okay, Becs," Chloe said. "You ready?"

"Go for it," Beca said.

"I dare you to kiss me," Chloe said.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Chloe," Jessica said. "We promised we wouldn't ask Beca to kiss anyone out of respect for her new girlfriend."

"I know," Chloe said.

"That rule was so you nerds wouldn't dare me kiss someone who wasn't Chloe," Beca said. "My girlfriend can ask me to kiss her anytime she wants."

Chloe giggled at the shocked looks on everyone's face as she leaned in to accept Beca's kiss.

"You, bitches," Stacie exclaimed, causing Beca and Chloe to pull apart. "You've been together for four months? How did we not figure this out?"

"We really did want everyone to stay focused on Worlds," Beca said, taking Chloe's hand. "But, since Aubrey found out tonight we knew it wouldn't be long before Stacie found out."

"And, we also know Stacie would have told someone, until everyone knew," Chloe said. "And we wanted to be the ones to tell you."

"I wouldn't have told anyone," Stacie said. Beca and Chloe looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Okay, fine I would have probably told Amy. And we all know she would have told everyone else."

"I'm happy for you, two," Emily said.

"Thanks, Em," Beca said.

Beca stood and held out her hand to Chloe. Chloe took it and let Beca lead her towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"It's late and we have to be up early for graduation tomorrow," Beca said. "I'm taking my girlfriend to bed."

"Get it, girls!" Ashley said.

"Yeah, Beca," Stacie said, laughing. "As Amy would say, bow-chica-bow-wow!".

"Not for that reason!" Beca said, blushing.

"It's not? Chloe asked.

"Oh, God," Beca said and hurried up the stairs with Chloe, leaving the sound of the Bellas laughter in their wake.

[hotheadhero]

Valentine’s Day Affection Alphabet, Remainder

I didn’t get many asks, and I don’t want to waste all this writing, so here we go!

It’s very long by nature of how few asks I got lol, so only the first answer appears above the cut.

A   :   AFFECTION.   how does your muse show affection?

Vocally and physically. Vocally generally comes first. Caspar is generally very upfront with his emotions and attentions, at least until he starts wondering if his own feelings start wandering into romantic territory. However, he's something of a motor-mouth, so if the topic starts unrelated but then veers towards the romantic, you might find he actually has entertained the idea of spending his entire life with you, of traveling with you to see all the things or fighting side by side with you forever. Call him out on it, though, and he will get embarrassed, possibly to the point of trying vainly to deny it.

B   :   BOUQUET.   does your muse like flowers? which ones are their favorite?

Floral adornments are canonically one of Caspar’s disliked gifts. Something something too girly, I suppose? Or they’re too fragile and he’ll either ruin or neglect them. He understands the sentiment behind them if given them as a gift and does have a reasonable(?) eye for giving them if he must (question mark because the flowers he gave Celica and Hubert were not the most positively received, but the ones he gave Lyn for instance were better thought out), but otherwise will nearly never think of them at all. If you must give him a flower, at least make it big and/or multicolored and/or dramatically shaped. Maybe then it’ll hold his interest for longer than it takes him to put it in a vase and forget about it.

D   :   DATE.   what is your muse’s ideal date? where / who with / etc?

Spending time with his significant other, especially if it involves traveling, doing something new, or enjoying nature. He lives for the energy, but a peaceful day/night out in the landscape is a great little diversion. Emphasis on “diversion” as a temporary thing: Caspar would hate “taking it easy” and sitting back doing nothing for life. I feel like his idea of a good retirement (from war) is to become village protector or commander of a decent- (but not army-) sized group - anything with diverse and colorful terrain (or at least a big sprawling field) and lots to do. Crowds fuel him, be they friends, classmates, coworkers, students, children, or what have you. He’ll even take rivals too. Favorite known places to settle down probably include Bergliez (of course), Enbarr, or Deirdru. He could do Fhirdiad too, but Faerghus is cold; thus, that city is probably lowest on his faves list. I think I kinda got off-track here, but this is also a developing area for us. x)

F   :   FLIRT.   is your muse good at flirting? how do they flirt?

No, or accidentally only. Caspar can’t even recognize when someone is flirting at him (everything feels like getting teased instead, it seems XD), but he can be a competent smooth talker when the mood strikes him (do I need to name the same two supports again?). he also seems to be a pretty quick learner in this regard, though the only actual support I have for this is Living on a Prayer--everywhere else he does anything overtly romantic/sensual is when he and the partner are already in an established relationship, I think. (Still gotta work up enough prequel to justify that infamous kabedon, lol.)

G   :   GIFT.   is your muse good at gift - giving or do they struggle to get it right?

Caspar does try, but sometimes he forgets to ask point-blank/enough about other people’s likes (and dislikes) and so has to fall back on what he’s figured or guessed about the person through other interactions. His gifts are usually well-received, or at least he doesn’t want to tell me about any instances in which he’s given a bad gift. (Sometimes he leans on me to get a little extra info XD Hi Inigo.) Beware the prank gift, though - those can be horrid(ly entertaining and/or high-effort). See every Midsommar water-bucket prank, his high-effort prank to Azura, or his infamous one to Lorenz.

H   :   HEART.   is your muse quick or slow to give their heart away?

In an explicitly romantic context, Caspar is both slow and quick to give away his heart and to just one person, mostly because he can’t seem to tell when someone is being romantic with him most times or when he is falling in love with them. It probably happens sooner than he realizes or initially acknowledges. However, he’s loyal to a fault regarding his friends; and the more comfortable he is with someone, the more likely it is he’ll seek them out or spend hours of the day with them (currently, Linhardt is the biggest benefactor here). Spend enough time with them, and you may well be the one he subconsciously gives his heart to~

J   :   JEALOUSY.   does your muse get jealous in a relationship?

Highly subject to change given Caspar doesn’t have an established relationship in TOA canon right now (both relationships he does have are currently marked as war phase AU), but yes, he gets jealous. As with any other distressing topic (e.g. his dad’s involvement in Petra’s dad’s death), he tends to keep his jealousy to himself (though it leaks out in the way his behavior around especially his partner and possibly everything else is a bit hastier and angrier) until forced (term used liberally) to confess. Based on LoP and slightly on his lines upon being denied transferring classes or being killed in battle, following confession to the object of his jealousy, his thoughts would be largely if not entirely self-destructive: I wasn’t good enough; I was never good enough; will I ever be good enough for anything if I couldn’t be good enough for them? Having not further explored this topic previously, I feel like this sense of inadequacy is the single most likely thing to take all the wind out of his sails: He’ll live simply by going through the motions of it; his once-bright eyes will be dull; and good luck getting him out of his funk by any means other than helping him find a new reason to go on. Duty might not cut it at this point; he might need something more personal.

K   :   KISS.   is your muse a good kisser? why / why not?

I only think he’s not good at kissing. Apparently Caspar has other ideas. In all seriousness, though, he’ll be incredibly awkward at it the first few times around (see Amy’s and Hilda’s first kisses), but he’s a quick learner with a great memory for the physical and kinesthetic. He may just surprise you with his boldness...

L   :   LOVE.   who does your muse love?

Depends both on the verse and on either how well I can build him towards it or how quickly he realizes, on his own or with the partner’s help, that he’s in love. ... Typically when I think about this sort of thing, the pre- and post-established relationship parts are the first thing that occur to me; buildup/courtship/etc. are a giant blank. Currently, he loves Linhardt in CF and Hilda in VW. He/I haven’t made any effort to build any other potentially romantic relationships with him yet, but based off game events, but there are about half a dozen possibilities among in-game characters throughout the houses, and I can’t exclude transfer students either.

O   :   ODE.   does your muse have a way with words?

Linhardt seems to think so XD Caspar will never win any awards for prettiness of prose or voice, but he’ll always tell it like it is: simply, honestly, and straightforward. He’s too blunt to deal in poetry (let alone manipulation by any means other than puppy-dog eyes), but he has his moments, usually when he’s channeling his magnificent insight, trying to cheer someone up. Far more common for him to have different moments entirely though... aka put his entire foot in his mouth, even when he’s trying to console a friend.

P   :   PARTNER.   what does your muse look for in a partner? looks / personality?

Also subjective, but let’s see... Caspar would want someone who will put up with him even if he gets a little wild at times. Someone who won’t mind him protecting them (though he won’t say no to someone who can protect themselves either, given his usual favored activities and line of work). Someone who won’t tie him down with expectations he can’t meet or rules he must abide by, who lets him live as he wants and even join him on this crazy ride of coupled life. Someone who understands him, even when he doesn’t understand himself, who will be there when he needs them most. As far as appearances, though, I can’t tell if Caspar has a type. Every one of his most likely love interests look so different...

Q   :   QUESTION.   would your muse ask the big question or expect their partner to?

I can’t tell, but I suspect that since “the question” (of marriage, presumably) comes well after a confession of love, Caspar, being the passionate and high-energy dork he is, would pop the question first. Then again, he knows this is a big decision and doesn’t want to mess this up, so he’ll probably take a while to figure out the “perfect way” to say it... which may well result in some of his pensiveness showing on his face, his partner inquiring after its source, and him bum-rushing (after putting up less resistance than he’d like) into blurting out “the question” and forgoing all his elaborate plans. XD

R   :   ROMANCE.   is your muse a romantic or a cynic?

Given those extremes, definitely a romantic. He has a storybook vision of how love is supposed to go and an overactive imagination to magnify it further. It’s as easy for Caspar to run his mouth on this topic as any other, and he gets actively embarrassed when caught baring his romantic notions like a sap, e.g. with Shamir (most blatantly) or Dorothea (when her teasing catches him off-guard because his imagination ran ahead of her). He can be a cynic in some regards... but none of them relate to romance.

S   :   SWEETHEART.   did your muse have a childhood sweetheart?

Hard to say. Most everybody gets coded as various levels of friend, so whether Caspar realizes if “bestest friend ever” actually means “childhood sweetheart” is a mystery. That said, the only person who might qualify as that is Linhardt...

U   :   UNREQUITED.   has your muse had their heart broken?

Currently, he’s too oblivious/naive in love to have had his heart broken. Not a difficult feat to accomplish when everyone is a “friend” until they tell him otherwise. Once he gets into a relationship, long-term jealousy and any other egregious breach, e.g. spending way too much time with somebody else clear up to cheating on him. is highly likely to do it to him.

V   :   VALENTINE.   how does your muse feel about valentine’s day?

“Candy!!! Oh, I guess couples are kissing too. Bit weird that they’re doing it out in public, but that’s their right, I suppose. I wonder if I’ll ever have someone to kiss like that?”

W  :   WEDDING.   would your muse get married? why / why not?

Having not previously thought on this topic... He would, readily. However, if his partner isn’t up for traveling all over the place, he might end up being a bit of an absentee spouse or parent. Most likely sin would be giving his loved ones too many “things” instead of himself/his time for making memories - and that would be almost entirely by accident, since he wouldn’t even think that he’s doing it (or at least the over-gifting) wrong unless prompted by his spouse.

X   :   XOXO.   does your muse use / like pet names?

Maybe? Not really? If he does, he only tends to use shortened versions of their names (e.g. Lin instead of Linhardt) rather than something more creative (e.g. honey/dear), but not everybody’s names can be so conveniently shortened (e.g. Hilda), and he always uses everybody’s full name (or title, e.g. Father not Dad) in-game. It’s a pretty good step up if he makes and uses a nickname on you. That said, in the manakete!AU I have with Linhardt, he’ll actively refer to him as “tyke”, “kid”, or “child” because that’s what he looked like to him when they first met as humans.

Y   :   YOURS.   does your muse get protective easily?

Oh boy. In the short and “monogamous” term, Caspar will protect any part of his partner that needs protecting - mind, body (or part), soul, honor, you name it. He would offer to walk his spouse home at night or worry after their safety if they’re gone from him too long (being a military child + a morning person, I imagine Caspar is good with time and probably not above setting time limits/a curfew if need be). In a broader sense - Caspar is used to being the brave, strong, upbeat one, the rock to which drowning souls can cling to, the shield behind which everyone else can take refuge. He is, emotionally and physically, a protector; he knows that an unshakable confidence and faith are as effective as a stout body in keeping others safe. According to LoP, his protective streak can and does run all the way out to sacrificing himself for his friends - he can’t stand the thought of things going the other way around. I need to explore this further, but some combination of heroic notions, his father’s stories/actions/fate (especially in non-CF routes), and a well-buried worthlessness/inferiority complex from having never lived up to his father’s precise ideals for him and/or having always worked so hard for so little recognition (see: Julian’s existence, his failure to inherit his family’s title anywhere outside of CF except when marrying Annette, and a teatime line (“They say hard work pays off, but I don’t think that’s always true”)) quite clearly make him think he’s expendable. Caspar hardly ever expresses such negative thoughts and in keeping with his (self-imposed) role as the army’s morale-booster, he’ll put a positive spin even on his own gnawing thoughts. There’s one post in LoP where Caspar tries very hard to stay happy for Linhardt, even though they’ve both just vented all their fatal worries about their fates in the war. Even dying, knowing he’s doing so because he lost/bit off more than he could chew/failed, he refuses to let others worry about him. (”Don't worry about me... I always knew...losing meant death... “)

Z   :   ZZZ.   how many people has your muse slept with?

Possibly subject to change, but - no one besides whoever he commits to. After all, sleeping with anyone else usually involves casual relationships (which I can’t really see Caspar going for under most circumstances) or lying to your SO about doing it (and he explicitly hates lies).

[roonzieart]

I’m back! Do keep up with my Instagram as I am mostly active there. 

Long post ahead:

Mental illness are often seen as taboo topics. Many might suffer from it, but not all are willing to speak up about it. There’s no need for pity parties or self wallow, but awareness and education are definitely needed. We live in this high pace society where “expectations” are thrust upon us. When we were younger, we were taught that nothing is impossible; but the moment we start chasing after our dreams, the elders often find reasons to discourage us. “Be secured and happy.” is prolly what you heard often. Instilling their personal fear upon us is something they’re really good at doing.

But, have you ever analyzed their lives, and wonder, are they really happy?

We feel like we have a huge debt to pay off our parents, it’s only natural to feel that way. They sacrificed so much for us, all they want is for us to be happy; unconsciously guilt tripping us into a routine that doesn’t scream us.

When you choose a path not deemed “normal”, you are a failure. But could you consider yourself successful if you succeed in other’s expectations, but not yours?

Secured, sure; but what’s the meaning of all that? So we could die in peace in the end of the day? What does it even mean if you could afford everything in this world, but still not feeling content? Being shackled from your dreams? I am nothing close to wealthy and I understand money IS important, we gotta work for it, but the idea of being enslaved by it is pretty cringey.

One could say that I am ungrateful, that I am gifted with a healthy life, but still not appreciating it. The physically impaired would long for what I have. Truth is, we always want something humans always want what they don’t have. Not all come to realize that we are all different, our living philosophies are different, it’s only natural that our purpose and stories are different.

If living means fitting into a mold, where you have to shut your true self in, why even bother doing so? Nobody’s really stopping us, it’s pretty much just our fears. Fear of judgements, fear of rejection, fear of being an outcast.

Let’s face it, if you think I only feel pain because of my nihilistic mentality, I respect you as a person. These are just my personal thoughts, feel free to leave, there’s no need to waste time on unfruitful debates and arguments.

Being mentally unfit has its social stigma. People often shun us off as lunatics, or in my case, lack of self control. I remember my dad telling me that I had everything too easily, which caused me to I seek for more; greed for dreams, greed for food.

I was upset, they never understand, they prolly still don’t, but that doesn’t stop me from respecting them.

I have my depressive episodes and I’d tried to kill myself multiple times years ago. My parents never took that well. Honestly, no parents would want to watch their child end themselves.

If someone were to ask me now, do I really want to die, my answer would definitely be no.

I made many foolish mistakes, prolly am still doing so, but everyday I learn to be a better version of myself. I learnt to realize that relapsing is normal because my brain chemicals had been farked up pretty bad, I learnt that no matter how hard I tried to explain things, the baby boomers will never understand our pain. We live in the same space, but our worlds don’t collide.

I spent many years seeking for validation from them, but in the end of the day, I should be seeking for my own validation. Do I respect myself enough to listen to my voice?

Why do I went for such drastic measures when I all I need is just to prove myself right. At this point, it doesn’t bother me if I am wrong, at least I know that’s what I want. I Would not be left with any resentment towards others, because if anything, they’re all my own decisions. I will have to own them 100%.

“I don’t give a fark.” is prolly my most common phrase if you know me well enough in person. Truth is I care a little too much about what others think of me. As a child, we learn to abide rules. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being respectful towards the elders, but obeying them is a different matter.

I shut myself in for too long, the voices in my head grew loud and venomous. Suicide seems to be the easiest way out. I declared quit so many times.

Suicide victims are often overseen as cowards. Coming from a person who had failed so many suicide attempts, let me be clear that it does take up a lot of courage to plot your death.

Nothing is romantic about it, death is never beautiful like what media depicts it as.

I believe every human being are born with natural instincts to protect ourselves from danger. Imagine going against that. Only those who had suffered too long and seek no way out could do so.

My suicidal thoughts still visit me every now and then, but now I know I have duties to fulfil, dreams to achieve.

If I love creating so much, why would I end my life before I could watch others enjoy my creations?

At this point, it’s not about seeking validation from others anymore, but to genuinely share my passion and to guide others out of misery.

Why add another sad news to the media, while I can inspire others to carry on?

By no means I am special or gifted, no one is truly special in this world, we all perish eventually.

This is all I could offer, I love to and I want to. I would never forced my opinions on others. I can’t help anyone, I could only guide you. You’ve gotta help yourself out.

Being a bulimic, with high functional depression, social anxiety and bipolar disorder while chasing after a dream is honestly tiring, but it gives me a reason to carry on, call me a fool.

They had became apart of me, I could only learn to tame them, while working on what makes me happy. I am not where I want to be now, in fact, my eating disorder relapse real hard, I still dislike looking into the mirror, but that person looking back at me, is still apart of me.

If I can’t love her, nobody can.

If there’s anything anyone can take away from reading all this, is, chances are there might be more people around you that are suffering from mental disorders. It’s almost unavoidable in this era. Educate yourselves, be kind to others, but most of all, never forget to listen to yourself.

I have a lot more to say, but I will save that for another time.