#some of them bad because what happened to the story

[legalandnotease]

@rebelsabers

Millady the perpetually offended. Let me make this very VERY clear do you.

Knowing some abuse survivors does not mean you know a thing about the actual experience of abuse surivivors. Do you not get experience by osmosis.

Saying "some of my best friends are" does not mean you know a single freaking thing about, for example victim-blaming and how common it is for abuse survivors and traumatized people to be subjected to such things.

The reason we object to the writers of shows like Tha Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Cap 4 retconning Bucky's backstory is because they are very deliberately doing it to make him look like less of a victim.

They are very intentionally taking the parts of his story that underscore how he was victimized and changing them to say that not only was he not victimized but he *wanted* what happened to him. That he consented to it, and was a willing participant.

Like saying that he took the serum willngly: if they repeat that lie often enough, people wil believe it, and they do. It will soon become the accepted canon.

and it isn’t about invalidating Bucky’s trauma

It is and has been since 2021, because that is the only way the writers think they can make Sam look like the ultimate victim- the person who suffered more than anyone who ever lived. That is the only way they think they can build him up: by pulling another character down.

It is a very concious effort to rewrite history- and it is being done for one purpose alone: to build up Sam at his expense.

We’ve already seen Bucky’s arc in The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Utter garbage, and you know it.

In all these movies and the TV show in particular Bucky had a supporting role. He was used as a prop to other characters. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, especially, we were told he would be given a satisfying story arc about PTSD recovery.

Instead what we got was a lecture full of victim-blaming after 5 Episodes in which he'd had nothng but jokes at the expense of the major disabled/traumatized character and abuse survivor and constant bashing over the head with the message of how priveleged he was and how everyone else had it worse.

4 hours solid of being told that he was not a victim, he was just wallowing in self-pity and needed to stop lying to himself about not being to blame. For 4 hours solid we were told he was doing it all wilingly the entire time (just like abuse victims are told they wanted it/bought it on themselves). We were also subjected to the hideous scene, played for laughs in which he was "sold" to Selby with all the not-so-subtle undertones about SA which that included.

For it to culminate in Sam, the person who he looked up to and admired to tell him the only way to heal from his trauma was to *checks notes* - ah yes.... take responsibility for his own victimization as if he alone were responsible for all the evil wrought at the hand of HYDRA and apologize to all the other victims.

Who the heck thought that was a respecful or sensitive depiction of trauma recovery? Oh yeah- Malcolm Spellman and Kori Skogland.

He’s had plenty of screen time and emotional exploration. Sam has not.

Sam has had more *MUCH MORE* than Bucky.

The reason why you don't think Bucky deserves to have a character arc of his own, or any more attention devoted to him as a character is bacause you see him merely as Sam's accessory/love interest.

Or as just another white man. Not as a character beloved of traumatized people, disabled peoplle, and abuse survivors and many others who *crave* proper representation.

Who see in his character echoes of the kind of systematic oppression we have had to endure for centuries: from being experiemted on his is analogous to the eugenics movement, and his ECT which parallels the way people with PTSD were once tortured in insitutions, to how mental illness is still viewed today. The "mad, bad and dangerous" stereotype which he has been pushed into. Especially in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

We want to see him given the screen time he deserves because we want him to come into his own as a hero: which can never happen if he is a mere prop to Steve, Sam, Yelena or whoever else.

...and yes, we are sick and tired of the messaging delivered to us through the treatment of his character on screen that we wanted and chose what happened to us. That it was our fault. That we deserved it.

No, Bucky Barnes would not agree with you: or he might purely because he's been conditioned by victim-blamng and self-loathing for so long. Which is another thing the abuse survivors among us can identify with. It does not make him, or you, correct.

"Sam, you are not going to believe how exponentially badly my day is going."

"Probably not as badly as mine, Buck"

[sourco0kie]

https://www.tumblr.com/sourco0kie/775427187568525312/self-aware-au?source=share

Hey loved this and found it so interesting...and got an idea for a whole self aware au...possibly could be a series if you find it fun enough to write...already love what you did with this first writing and defiantly wanna see it in action and your take on this:

Self aware au...cowardly y/n. Just imagine a y/n who gets sucked into the game and is so nervous about the story because of the fights, rivalries, and etc...like they know the story of cookie run so they are TERRIFIED at first when they first enter the world...maybe nervous at first when the cookies become self aware but scared when actually in the world as themselves but a cookie form...just a powerless cookie!

Cue them getting dragged through story, thinking they are gonna die...but here is twist, especially because of this writing I really liked: the cookies adore them! So every time they think they are about to die or get caught in the crossfire? Nope, they are perfectly safe and loved! Can't wait to see all the hilarious senarios of y/n panicking and thinking 'this isn't gonna end well for me' only to be immediately proven wrong via y/n being protected, comforted, or whatever you want lol!

AAAA I LOVE THIS IDEA!

Ideas are exploding in my head!

Self Aware Au

W/cowardly!Reader

You don't know how but you have been sucked into the game. At first you just wanna relax on the couch then suddenly, poof, you're in the game.

The first to meet you was the team. They saved you from a couple of cake hounds and cake wolves. You introduce yourself to them and oh what a wrong move.

Gingerbrave was instantly all over you, fawning on about you and finally excited to meet you. Both Pure Vanilla Cookie and Wizard Cookie were questioning how you got here.

That aside, Gingerbrave insists on having you travel with them. At first you don't agree, saying you rather not, already knowing what will happen next with all the spoiler episodes you watched. Wizard Cookie agrees with you until Gingerbrave literally begged for you to come.

Geez just like how you begged for new cookies to come home in your gacha.

You gave in and went with their adventure, honestly all the time traveling you felt bad. Not having the skill to do.. anything. They would reassure you every time, "It's okay.. [Name] Cookie. Just getting to know you along the way was a gift."

Gift? Okay Pure Vanilla..

Finally all of you arrived at the place, Beast-Yeast. Being there somehow gives you the chills, the crawling feelings of being watched.

You all met Elder Faerie Cookie. Soon White Lily Cookie. You both introduce yourself, luckily (or unluckily which ever you wanna see it) she doesn't seem to recognize you from outside the screen.

It's all great, until you meet him. Oh how the presence just makes you wanna coward back and run. Hide away from everything. Not to mention you can't do anything. And he can do anything he wants.

"Oh. I see I have quite an audience here! I am SO terribly sorry to have kept you waiting!!"

You froze, you can't move even as your mind screams at you to run. It wasn't scary when you passed this episode.. why is it now? Why do you feel fear now? Is it because you couldn't do anything, like closing the game?

"But now... The wait is over!"

Move your body, run! Anything!

"Your favorite trickster is here!

The sharp stares of his eyes, lands directly at you. Your body shakes. You know what will happen! You know what's next! But why are you still afraid? You expected this long ago!..

Oh what some silly thoughts!

Gingerbrave put a stance between you and the beast. He seems as scared as you are but.. he's determined enough to protect you. They all did.

The faerie kingdom fell into deceit, playing lies and truth like a game for fun. Shadow Milk Cookie returns once in a while to tell the stories Elder Faerie Cookie told them. But different.

It goes like you expected so you wouldn't fall for his lies easily. In one of the plays he described you. The divine, watching over them, Oh they were saddened when the five original power holders fell and sealed away.

No you were not.

At the end you watched as the team defeated the trickster. After he tried to swoop you away from them.

You watched both Pure Vanilla Cookie and White Lily Cookie exchange. Now you don't know where to go. You're lost without a home or anything. But they, accept you into The team with open arms. You have no choice either way, as you follow them to the next adventure.

[wcnderlnds]

scared of loving you | choi seung-hyun (t.o.p)

・❥・ summary: spending valentines day with your best friend/roommate is the norm but this year ends a little differently ・❥・word count: 1.2k ・❥・warnings: alcohol mention but that's about it ・❥・ authors note: happy valentine's day!! here's some tooth rotting fluff to celebrate <3

Valentine’s Day always seemed to come around so fast. People always seemed so excited for it, always on the search to find someone to spend it with. It was nice in a way that it spurred people to put in the effort but it had never been a day you looked forward to. It wasn’t that you didn’t like – you did but after one bad Valentine’s as a teenager, you never really cared. It was just like any other normal day. One that you would spend at home sat in front of the TV eating as many snacks as you could get your hands on. 

Love was great, amazing even but you had never experienced it properly. It was like you had closed yourself off from it which was ridiculous because you loved love. Or what you knew of it anyway. People told you it could be one of the best and worst things you could ever experience. Having someone that cared for you no matter what? Amazing but putting all your trust in them only to have them break your heart? Not so great. Maybe it was best you hadn’t experienced it because then that way you didn’t have to get hurt. 

The sound of the TV echoed through the walls of the apartment, your feet tucked underneath you as you rested on the couch, some cheesy Hallmark movie playing. If anyone asked, you’d say you liked to laugh at them but the reality was you always seemed to get invested in them. The stories they told (albeit some of the corniest to exist) were cute. Never in a million years would they happen to anyone but it was nice to dream. 

Popping a piece of popcorn into your mouth, a loud yawn was heard from the doorway which could only mean one thing. Seunghyun – your roommate and best friend of the last ten years – had finally woke up. Yesterday had been a busy press day for him so he’d spent most of the day sleeping. You knew better than to wake up a sleeping Seunghyun so you left him to it. Out of the corner of your eye you could see him padding into the room, throwing himself down on the couch next to you. 

“Not got a hot date today?” He asked, reaching over to steal some popcorn from the bowl you were cradling. You slapped his hand away much to his dismay. 

“You ask me that every year and my answer is always no. You know I never do anything today,” you shrugged, watching as he made a move again to grab some popcorn. Giving in, you placed the bowl on the small coffee table in front of you. 

“Yeah, and? One day you are going to have a hot date and I’ll be all alone.” 

“You go find a hot date.” 

“Why do I need to when I’ve got a pyjama princess right here?” He teased, raising his brows at you as he finally popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth.  

It was hard to stop the blush creeping on to your face. Seunghyun always did this. Through the whole time you’d known him, he always flirted with resulting in you blushing each and every time. He was the only person who could ever manage that feat, something he knew and used to his advantage. Your eyes looked down at the pyjama’s you were wearing, shrugging your shoulders. He was the only person you would ever feel comfortable wearing them around. With Seunghyun, you had no worries. There was no fear of him judging you, it was nice to feel like you could be completely yourself. He allowed you the safe space you had always wanted. It was one of the many reasons he was your favourite person to be around. It was also a massive bonus that he was extremely handsome. Maybe even the most handsome person you’d laid eyes on. You had told him so one night when you were drunk and he’d never let you live it down. 

“Wanna order pizza and watch these stupid movies with me?” You asked, smiling over at him. You might not have had a date but you had your best friend. That was all you needed. 

“Guess I can suffer through these stupid movies for you.” 

It was a few hours later, half eaten pizza on the coffee table, an empty bottle of wine on the floor as the two of you sat laughing watching yet another cheesy movie. The wine in the glass you were holding almost spilled out over the edge onto the carpet but you didn’t care. You were having too much of a good time. Seunghyun was sat right beside you, your head on his shoulder as you lazily grinned at the TV screen. His arm was around your shoulder, his fingers twirling a piece of your hair around his finger. It was the first time in a long time you felt content, curled up beside your best friend. 

But, he was more than just a best friend, wasn’t he? 

There had always been a hint of something more, something deeper between you and Seunghyun. There was a reason that for the last ten years the two of you had spent Valentine’s Day together, why you’d much rather be lazing around with him than going out and actually finding someone. There was a reason he made you laugh harder than anyone else, why your stomach would always do flips when he smiled at you. 

It was a terrifying realisation. Was this actually what being in love felt like? If it was, you weren’t sure if you ever wanted it to stop. The feeling of contentment, of feeling so... cared for and appreciated – it was everything. 

Seunghyun’s cheek rested on the top of your head, the domesticity of the moment making your heart pound. As if sensing you were lost in your thoughts, he decided to speak up, his voice softer than normal. “What’s going on in that head of yours, princess?” 

The silly little nickname he often gave you made you feel dizzy, the corners of your mouth twitching up into a silly little smile. Your free hand rested on his thigh, the contact sending Seunghyun into a frenzy much to your obliviousness. “Thinkin’ about how I think I might be in love for the first time.” 

“Oh yeah?” He lifted his head up to look at you, taking your glass and placing it on the table. “Who’s the lucky person?” 

You could hear the hope in his voice, the way his fingers gently brushed against your cheek now. You met his dark eyes, the gentleness of your voice almost taking him back. “I think you already know.” 

There was no hesitation as his hand rested on the back of your neck, leaning down to press his lips against yours in a kiss. All the hidden feelings finally getting their release. Your hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer to you as his hand tangled in your hair. It had started off slow, gentle but soon turned passionate. Your head cloudy as the feeling of his lips moved against yours in perfect harmony. It was very reluctantly that he pulled away, his breath heavy as he rested his forehead against yours. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he breathed, barely giving you a chance to reply before his lips were back on yours. 

Maybe Valentines Day wasn’t so bad after all. 

taglist: @ldydeath @infinetlyforgotten @justsisse @sherrayyyyy @come-as-you-are-111 @maskedcrawford

[softtdaisy]

the right one - Charles Leclerc

summary. charles never forgot himself for letting you go. when arthur lose you, he is the one who has the heal your broken heart this time.

words count. 4,313

what to expect. it's the second part of the other one. I guess you can read it separately but some things might not make sense (specially the glue part). inspired by congratulations from Hamilton. mention of cheating, everyone is so sad in this story I'm sorry (im not) and arthur is terrible boyfriend

a/n. can you believe i told @monzabee about this fic in December 2023??? and it's finally out after all this time. I'm so happy I finally did it and gave these two another part, they deserve love and happiness.

F1 masterlist | general masterlist | request

When he first heard them, Charles didn’t want to believe the rumors.

For the winter break, he decided to go on a road trip in Italy with his best friends. For multiple reasons, he chose to get rid of any type of social media. Charles needed a real break after the season that had been more difficult than he thought it would. 

Also because a part of him still hasn’t gotten over you.

It was too difficult to see Arthur post pictures and stories with you all the time. And if he couldn’t escape it, nor you in the paddock during the season, Charles decided to leave all his bad feelings behind for a few weeks.

No matter how hard he tried these past months, Charles couldn’t get rid of his love for you. If he ignored you during the end of last season, even if he had your glue everywhere with him, he wanted to be nicer this year. 

Not like he had a choice if he wanted to keep a good relationship with Arthur, who still had no idea about what happened between you and Charles. He also wasn’t completely stupid: he knew it could look bad on him if he kept ignoring the photographer around the paddock. 

And it would be a lie to say that he didn’t miss you. Sure, a part of him was still aching when he was making you laugh and smile, thinking he couldn’t have the privilege to see that every day for the rest of his life because you chose Arthur over him. But he tried to be more mature and accept that if this was the best he could have, then he would appreciate it.

This was also one of the reasons why he couldn’t believe the rumors when he heard them. There was no universe in which someone would purposely hurt you.

The first time he heard about the rumors, it was because some friends from Monaco sent him a text. “What’s going on with Arthur? Is it true?” Charles was more than confused. What could be true about his brother? He didn’t want to sound stupid to ask them but still didn’t want to put his social media back on his phone.

So he turned to Joris. Because that man knew everything that there is to know. And because he knew that his friend would never lie to him. This explained the embarrassed expression on his face when Charles asked him if he knew anything about something Arthur might have done.

“You sure you want to know?” he asked him. Charles understood that something serious was going on. Even when the truth was ugly, Joris never asked him if he really wanted him to be honest. Not when Ferrari was not doing great, not when fans criticized him, not when everyone had something to say about his private life. But he didn’t hesitate a single second and agreed to hear the truth.

“Apparently…your brother cheated on his girlfriend.” Charles’ world went silent for a few seconds. That couldn’t be true. He couldn't believe it. People must be wrong and bored and choose to create drama because of the off-season. Right? 

“Actually…” Joris continued. “It’s not really a rumor since Arthur basically admitted it.”

It was a damper. 

Charles left for a few weeks, and his brother decided to ruin everything he gave up his own happiness for?

“Is it true?” He sent Arthur. No explanation.

“Yes.” He only answered.

It took Charles only a few hours to come back to Monaco. On the plane back, he opened his social media again, answered some comments and messages, and shared some Ferrari stuff. And looked at the mess Arthur created.

“Let’s review…” Charles started. As soon as he arrived, he asked Arthur and Lorenzo to come with him in the living room to discuss. They all stayed at the family house to deal with the major crisis. From what he learned, paparazzis were going around Monaco to catch any of you: Lorenzo, Arthur, and especially you. The victim of all this mess. 

Charles still hasn't seen you, though. Lorenzo’s girlfriend took you for a ride away from there, knowing Charles was coming back and that there would be a confrontation between the brothers. You didn’t need to hear about all that again. You knew the story. Well, you knew some parts of it. You refused to hear Arthur’s explanation. 

Charles knew it was for the better, but he still couldn’t wait to see you. Scared of how you would be. Scared of how he will react too.

He finally took a big breath before continuing. “This girl pretended to be pregnant with your child. And instead of just saying that you didn’t have sex with her, you said she wasn’t the one you slept with?” He chose his words wisely, taking the time to say everything correctly. Even if there were no good ways to talk about this situation.

“I panicked! What should I have done?”

“Don't say anything!” he screamed back, slamming his hands on the table. “You should have just shut your mouth and not said a fucking thing.”

“Charles…” Lorenzo warned him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

He sighed and apologized, trying to calm down. His brother was right; there was no use being aggressive against Arthur. The harm has been done and couldn’t be undone. But when he gave his baby brother a look, he couldn’t handle it. Arthur looked like he didn’t understand why Charles was so angry. Like he couldn’t see the real harm in this. “Or better, you shouldn’t have cheated,” he added. 

Everything stopped around the three brothers. “Charles!” Lorenzo repeated, louder this time and with a more authoritarian tone. Like there was back in childhood when he had to play the big brother between the two younger brothers fighting for the same car. 

Except this time, it was for the same girl.

Charles knew he had to calm down and play it more cleverly. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, trying to think of a way to say things more nicely without making Arthur turn on him. He didn’t even know how he could do that: he was so mad at his brother for doing such a stupid thing.

“Aren’t you supposed to support me?” Arthur asked with a disdainful voice that made Charles look up immediately. He couldn’t even find the right way to answer this. Maybe Arthur could feel the disappointment, which is why he looked that angry. He was never the Leclerc who disappointed the family.

Lorenzo had a lot of pressure as the big brother, the one that had to be a model and perfect at any point. Charles had the celebrity pressure; being the most famous Leclerc, he had to behave perfectly. But Arthur? Everybody saw him as the baby, never accepting any bad decisions from him. Or even when he did, he was forgiven immediately.

He was not used to having people being mad at him. You were, which was already a problem. But Charles was too, and that he couldn’t handle. This explained why Arthur went upstairs silently. Well, as silently as he was, hitting the staircase loudly. 

Charles let out a loud sigh when Arthur disappeared. “You two need to talk.” Lorenzo told him, to which he agreed without the desire to deal with that right now. Instead, he started talking with his more reasonable brother about their holidays. He knew Arthur needed some minutes to calm down.

He needed them too.

He only decided to go upstairs when he saw the car parking in front of the house. You were back. 

And he couldn’t face you right now.

— 

“Thank you for coming.” Charles stopped what he was doing after that sentence. He had finally gone to see Arthur after you came back home. He waited just a minute to hear your voice, even if he couldn’t see you. He had no idea if he should accept some good or bad feeling from hearing you. He was torn between the fire that lit up again in his heart from your simple words and the hurt of knowing he was only there because of his and Arthur's bad decisions.

After he entered his brother’s room, the one he assumed you shared with him, they both stayed silent for a moment. Charles was dealing with his social media when Arthur finally decided to speak. 

And Charles was more confused than he should be. What did this mean? He turned around to look at Arthur. He was still standing next to the window, watching you outside talking with Lorenzo’s girlfriend. There was something on Arthur’s face that Charles didn’t like. Almost like he couldn’t understand why you came back. Why were you still around? Like he was waiting for you to go away after what happened. 

“I don’t know how to deal with that. I needed you here.” 

This time, it was Charles that couldn’t truly understand what was going on. Actually, no, he can. He loved his baby brother with his whole heart and would have done anything for him. To protect him. To save him from whatever situation he put himself into. But now, looking at him with the whole situation going around, Charles realized something. 

Arthur knew. He knew that Charles would have always come to his rescue. Sacrifice things for him. Do anything for his brother’s happiness before his. And that’s what he was expecting from today too.

“No.” Charles first said, mostly for himself. But it made Arthur turn around too, curious. For the rest, it came out more confidently. Like a part of him had been waiting for ages to finally say these words. “I’m not here for you.” 

He heard Arthur’s nervous laugh, and he took a step back. He wasn’t even scared of his brother; it would have been stupid for many reasons. No, he was more scared of his own mind right now. He still couldn’t believe he said it. Out loud. What he was thinking from the start.

You became his priority. 

You had been for so long. 

But Arthur didn’t let him go away with him and took this step forward and some others. “What do you mean?”

“You fucked up, Arthur.” Charles started, pointing at the window. Pointing at you. “You cheated on your girlfriend. She was willing to give up everything for you; she already did in the past. And you thank her like that? By sleeping with some other girl you don’t even know? Do you seriously think that’s what she deserves?” 

Arthur looked at him blankly. With just a smirk. Not a fun or laughing one. No, a mean one. One that Charles had never seen on his brother. It was almost like he was discovering a new face for his baby brother. And the worst was yet to come.

“You still love her.” Arthur said with an emotionless voice. And it was a real hit in the heart for Charles. He never thought that Arthur knew about his feelings. Sure, he had never been more discreet when it came to his heart. And the way he went from praising you to ignoring you during the weekend said a lot. Maybe the worst part wasn’t much that Arthur knew about his feelings. It was that he knew and let Charles sacrifice himself for him. “I should have expected it. She’s hard to forget, I guess.”

“You’re going to learn now.” Arthur laughed at this answer because it was the truth. He played, and he lost. Just like Charles did last year, technically. If Charles gave up, Arthur lost at his own game. The game over wasn’t the same, except for the fact the lost prize was the same: you. You and your heart. You and your beautiful smile were maybe gone for longer than it should have been.

Charles couldn’t handle it anymore. The more he stayed in this room, the more he was getting hate for his brother, and it was definitely not the family dynamic he wanted. So he walked to the door, ready to leave. Or to finally do what he wanted from the beginning. 

“Can I ask you a question?” 

Charles turned around one last time to look at his brother. But Arthur wasn’t looking at him. He took his place back, near the window. Watching you. From there, it looked like he was trapped in some kind of prison. One he was to blame for being in. But maybe the real story behind this was that he was the watchman and you were the prisoner. At least for now.

“Why did you let me date her?” 

“Sometimes you love someone so much you accept to put their happiness before yours.” Arthur gave him one single look. One that said everything that needed to be known. He wasn’t the one Charles gave up his happiness for. He did it thinking it was the right decision for you.

— 

When Charles went outside, you were still there. Alone this time. You sat on the swing seat, your eyes locked on your own shoes, not giving any interest to the environment around you. Charles’ heart broke a little at this sight. The sun wasn’t supposed to stop shining on the people around it. You weren’t supposed to stop being this joyful person. 

Even if he tried to walk slowly and not scare you, you jumped when Charles sat next to you. “Sorry,” he immediately mumbled. You offered him a small smile while he was trying to find a good seat. Ironically, he was making it move even more and making it harder to sit.

You were the one holding on to the structure to slow the movements. “I’m not great at this.” He laughed nervously. Charles didn’t know how to act around you. It wasn’t easy most of the time. But now it was even harder. They never teach you how to act around the woman you loved and let go, but even less when this same woman got her heart broken by your brother. 

“Thank God you’re better behind the wheel,” you replied, now looking straight in front of you. You couldn’t meet his eyes. You felt guilty. Sure, this whole situation wasn’t your fault; nothing could ever make you think that. But you hated that Charles had to comfort you now. After what happened between you last year, it didn’t feel right. Or fair. 

Charles shrugged, purposely hitting on your shoulder while doing it. “Well, you’re not seeing him when I sit in the car.” You turned your face to him and couldn’t contain a laugh when you saw his proud expression. In the dark, his smile was the small light you needed to not break down. It made you feel like there was still hope out there.

So when Charles stopped smiling, naturally a tear fell from your eye. “I’m so stupid,” you sighed, playing with your fingers. Immediately, he grabbed one of your hands and started playing with them too. You remember how it was something you did to him back then, when there was still something building around you. When he walked out of the car, he wasn’t very proud of what he did.

You both had the same habit of playing with your hands to avoid eye contact and focusing on something else. 

You also both had the same habit of grabbing each other’s hand to help ease the anxiety. 

“I never thought Ar…he would break my heart like that,” you confessed in a quiet and broken voice. A voice that was like a knife right in Charles’ heart. “You said it yourself, he has a pure heart. So why did he change? What did I do wrong?” 

You started crying again. And Charles was fighting to not break down too. He hated seeing you like this. He hated that he was the one pushing you into Arthur’s arms. If Charles didn’t cause the pain, he was the triggering factor. If only he had been more selfish and kept you for himself, this wouldn’t have happened.

He got up, making the structure move again, but this time you didn’t have the strength to hold it. But the swinging didn’t last long. Charles immediately kneeled in front of you, grabbing your legs to stop you from swaying. And once you were stable, one of his hands moved to your face softly. You didn’t hesitate a single second before cuddling against it, even if it meant your tears would now fall on his fingers. If you didn’t want to share your pain with him, that was all Charles was asking. To take it with him so you would feel less hurt.

“You have nothing to do with Arthur’s mistakes, ok? I hate to say that, but I was wrong. I really thought he would treat you better than…” He stopped for a second, closing his eyes to consider what he wanted to say. But he was tired of holding back his words. “Better than I would. I never imagined he would do that; otherwise, I would have never pushed you in his arms. You deserve better, ok?” 

You were absorbing every single word he was saying. Trying to remember every millisecond of his monologue so you could recite it before going to sleep that night and all the following ones when you would remember giving your heart to the wrong brother. 

“You deserve the world.” Charles pursued. You watched as he put a hand in his jacket pocket to get something. “And I hope one day you’ll find the strength to open that glue too and accept the help from someone to heal your broken heart.” 

He handed you the glue. The very same glue you gave him for his birthday. You weren’t quite sure Charles had healed his heart; he wasn’t sure himself. 

The fact he kept it this whole time—more than that, that he had it with him tonight—was the forward thrust you needed.

You thanked him silently, with a smile that he understood immediately. Charles stayed like that for another minute, brushing away the tears that were still falling and caressing your knee in the softest way you’ve ever felt.

Then he sat back on the swing seat, with more precaution this time. For the next ten minutes, he tried to change your mind by speaking of the last season and what was coming. You didn’t speak much, except for some reactions here and there. The conversation wasn’t the real distraction in the end.

It was seeing Charles so full of life, something you’ve waited to see since you’ve met him. Deep down, you took it as proof that a better future was coming.

“Let’s go inside.” Charles offered after noticing the shivers in your body grow bigger. “I can escort you to your room.” He knew that you were staying in the guest room. It wasn’t hard to guess anyway, as all the brothers took their own room, and there was no way you would be sleeping with Arthur that night. 

A part of him wished he could comfort you to sleep anyway. 

Especially after you grabbed his hand to follow him inside. So lightly that he could let it go easily if he didn’t pay attention. But enough for him to feel the contact of your skin together and feel the heat growing in him. 

“Goodnight,” you whispered to him, closing the door. Charles hated how he only noticed now how your makeup had actually been ruined through the day.

___

Charles was taking his shirt off when he heard slight bangs on his door. He was clearly not expecting anybody, especially not now and not in his family house. 

His mom was already asleep; Lorenzo was never the type to come when the doors were closed; Arthur still hadn’t come back from what he knew. So it didn’t leave many possibilities.

As he could expect, you were the one behind the door when he opened it. Charles found it sad that you were still wearing the same pajamas you probably brought for your holiday: an old shirt that he recognized from Arthur’s wardrobe and a short that was showing too much leg for his own good. 

But what made him even sadder was the expression on your face. If he thought you looked sad earlier, it was nothing compared to now.

“Do you mind if…” You didn’t even finish your sentence before your voice broke down. Charles moved aside to let you come in, giving a look in the corridor to make sure you were alone. Even if he didn’t have to explain himself if anybody saw you. 

He would never let you be alone in the situation. Nor ever, now that he thought about it.

What he didn’t expect was that the moment he closed the door, you would fall in his arms. You didn’t show much attention to him except for accepting the one he gave you earlier. But you were the one who initiated it. Compared to now.

“I'm so tired of this, Charles,” you mumbled against his naked chest. The first thing that came to your mind was how you never felt more safe and comfortable than right now, in his arms. Not even Arthur could make for his big brother natural reassurance. 

It was something that has always been true about Charles. People, friends, members of the team, family, and anyone who needed to feel comfort knew they could go to Charles for this. If he felt like he wasn’t always finding the right words, it seemed to work enough for people to feel better when they left.

Maybe that was always true about him too. People never seemed to stay.

“He’s not planning on coming back, and he left alone here, in your family house? What am I even supposed to do here by myself?” You started again, sounding angrier now. “I can’t fucking sleep in his bed because it makes me sick. Sleeping in the guest bed makes me feel bad because I don’t belong here. I feel bad because he’s not here. But he’s the one who fucked up. Why do I feel bad? Why do I feel guilty? Charles, I…”

Every word you said was like a knife in the heart for him. Hurting more than the punches you were hitting on his chest.

With each hour passing from this morning, Charles felt worse about the decision he took months ago. He should have never let you go. He would have never treated you this way. 

When you broke down, Charles held you harder against his chest. He was humming, trying to calm you down. His head was above yours, and at some point, he naturally started kissing your hair. He was trying to create a peaceful bubble where you would feel at ease. Less sad.

“You can sleep here,” Charles offered in a whisper. “I don’t mind.” 

It wasn’t until you were lying in his bed that you asked the question. Charles’ idea was to let you sleep in his bed and for him to sleep in the guest room. At least you didn’t risk Arthur coming at night, and he could deal with his brother. It never occurred to you that you would ask for the situation to be different.

But you grabbed his hand after he moved the sheet up your chest. “Would you…can you stay with me? Please?” 

Charles looked at you with confusion but also hope. A hope that lowered over the months but that never died. He replied with a simple nod and sweet smile. A reassuring one. In a home where you probably felt unwelcome, even if it wasn’t entirely true, Charles wanted you to know you were at the right place right now.

So he didn’t waste another minute and went to lie next to you. The boundaries were pretty obvious with each of you sleeping at the end of the bed and with a gap between your bodies. While you were facing the wall, he was on his back, trying to organize the mess that had been that day. 

Right when he closed his eyes to try to sleep, he felt the mattress moving. He couldn’t resist giving you a look. You were now facing him with your eyes open. “Charles?” you whispered. 

He was obviously awake, yet you were scared of disturbing him. But he gave you that smile. The one he only had the secret. The one that opened the door to his life, his head, his heart. 

“Will it be ok?” 

You knew he would understand what you meant.

When you met Charles, he was so heartbroken that he chose to put all the good things in his life aside because he felt like he didn’t deserve to be happy anymore. And even if his anxiety was still a battle he had to fight every day, it got better. A few months ago, he probably would have ignored you because he would have thought it wasn’t his place to comfort you. To be the good person in your life.

But there he was, sharing a bed with you. Thinking that maybe tomorrow could be better. And that two days later could be even better.

He knew.

That was why he took your hand, the one resting on your pillow next to your face. He held it until you chose to intertwine your fingers together. A contact you both needed. To heal the past and the future.

Charles moved to lie on his side, facing you. And with his thumb brushing your skin, he gave you the only thing you needed to hear that night.

The only thing he also needed to say. 

“It will. I promise."

[thydungeongal]

Actually, when I think about it, in the context of most traditional challenge-based TTRPGs (your Calls of Cthulhu, Dungeonses & Dragonses, and Rolesmaster) "no consequences for failure" doesn't really track as a system criticism but more as an adventure design issue. Okay, it's also a bit of a system issue, but I digress.

In most official Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green scenarios I've read the authors seem to consider their story a bit too precious not to have it happen, so they build a bunch of fail-safes to make sure that the investigators get funneled towards some kind of satisfying outcome, which comes off as feeling very inorganic. And I don't necessarily mean fail-safes like "multiple paths of clues to follow," instead I mean "if the investigators are struggling with finding information let them make IDEA or LUCK rolls!"

This same is true of D&D adventure design starting already in the early eighties but really coming to fore in the AD&D 2e era. Some of AD&D 2e's adventure modules are the absolute dregs in this regard, with the player characters literally as spectators to a linear succession of events that have a great effect on the metaplot, and with combat encounters sprinkled in. It's not even that without the player characters the story won't happen, it's that without the player characters there will be no one to watch the actual story happen. (This is a good campaign design question by the way: are you writing a campaign where the player characters are always reacting, always running after the bad guys who have already done a bad deed, always rushing to prevent a bad thing from being done, or are the player characters actual agents causing things to happen in the world?)

But anyway, that's not great. The mystery that has to be solved or the player characters won't get to see the exciting climax or the caravan moving through a series of plot points will make failure feel bad, because within that kind of adventure design failure can only ever feel like "the player characters must take a scenic route to victory."

But it actually is possible to have an adventure which accommodates for failure even when mechanically failure itself only means "the character didn't do the thing." It's the character-driven challenge game, best exemplified by the dungeon crawl.

"How do I make sure the characters find all the clues" becomes a non-issue once you accept that they might not find all the clues and the consequences of that can be as interesting as finding all the clues. "What if this fight is too hard" well then the characters can choose not to engage, and if they do engage and find it too difficult they can retreat.

[gothamhappiness]

haiiii i really like your writing and i was wondering if i could request a fic for the batfam and a he/they reader who has chronic pain and is going through a pretty not fun flare up and feels bad bc they haven't been able to patrol or help the others for a while, and can you make it really comforting

-🔆🦈(so i can find this later)

Hi sweetie, thank you for this request! I tried my best for it to be a gentle and comforting short oneshot.

This is my first platonic!batfamilly story, it was really fun to write. Hope you'll enjoy too!

FRIENDS ARE THE BEST PAINKILLERS (GN!reader x platonic!batfamilly)

Warnings: no proof reading, chronically ill!reader, reader!vigilante, mentions of pain, self pity and guilt, fluff and comfort

You wish the pain would go away now. 

You wish your body and mind would work together, instead of fighting each other. Weren’t they supposed to play on the same team?

Speaking of a team, you were watching the news. The Batfamily was all out tonight as some villains escaped Arkham. You were worried about them. You knew they were well trained people, but anything could happen to them.

And more than anything you were feeling guilty because you couldn't help them for another emergency. You were supposed to be one of them, you were supposed to be a vigilante too, and yet you couldn’t count how many patrols you skipped by then. 

You hated yourself for not being able to help. You couldn’t wait for the chronic pain to go away so you would be back on the field. You promised yourself you would work twice as hard to compensate. Yeah, you needed to prove to everyone that you were still worth it, that you were still part of the team.

You kept watching the news, your eyes glued to your phone.

You breathed a sigh of relief when the Batfamily brought everyone back to Arkham after a couple of hours.

You were proud of your people. You knew they were the best, and once again they showed it. 

Without thinking about it, you opened the group chat you had with them. You hadn’t sent messages in there for days now, too ashamed to reply. You wanted them to forget about you. But at the same time you missed your friends. 

“Hey guys, great job tonight! Hopefully I'll be by your side next time you'll need help” you sent while biting on your lips. 

You were such a loser, you thought. They clearly didn't need your help. You were about to put your phone down when you received a notification from Dick

“That would be great! We've been missing you. And you're truly the only one who appreciate my jokes here” you smiled as you read the messages

“Where have you been?” Jason asked you as he was away with Artemis and Bizarro when your illness had resurfaced again

“Home. Chronic pain and all. Life sucks” you replied

“It's okay, don't beat yourself up and come back when you'll be ready” Bruce sent you and you had to admit you had to read over and over again his message, feeling giddy.

Batman wasn't often messaging you, especially such encouraging words. You felt warmth blossoming inside your chest.

“Thanks a lot” you could only typed away

“You hungry? We were about to go to Batburgers. We could eat over at your place if you're not too tired?” Stephanie offered and it made you smile even more.

“I'd love that” you instantly replied

You told them what you would like and then waited for them. 

You slowly but surely clean up a little bit around even if it wasn't something they wouldn't have seen at their own place before. But you wanted them to feel good in your home, like you were feeling good around them.

A few instants later, you heard laughter echoing in your building corridors and you went to open the door. It was smelling fried food and it was also bringing you quite a lot of comfort. It might be a better night than you anticipated. 

When you saw them, you felt so grateful to have them.

Cassandra was the first one to reach for you and she gently hugged you, careful not to hurt you. You hugged her back before greeting everyone else. They all softly hugged you or embraced your shoulders. You leaned down to peck at Barbara’s cheek as she also came. The only one missing was Bruce but you didn’t really think he would be part of the improvised party. 

Tim, Jason and Damian started to gather seats around your table that was way too small for that many people, but as always, you all found a way to make room for everyone. 

Soon enough you were eating fries and chuckling at Jason's annoying remarks thrown at Dick. Barbara made a sarcastic comment about Tim who huffed and turned towards you.

“You’re gonna let her talk to me like that under your roof?” He asked you and you tried not to smile at that

“Yeah, no. Barbara, please stop. Can't you attack someone of your size for once?” you said to which Jason and Stephanie loudly laughed as Damian grinned

“Hey, Y/N” Tim huffed, faking offense “I thought you were on my side” 

“Oh no, I'm always on the side of the strongest” you shrugged “And Babs can too easily kick my ass or fry my phone, so yeah sticking by her side” you replied

“Smart move” Barbara hummed in approval

You continued to chat around, realising that for once the pain was bearable. Maybe it was because you were surrounded by people who loved you and made you happy. Cassandra put a hand on yours so your attention would be on her.

“You good?” She signed to you and you shrugged

“Right now yes, but this was truly a bad flare up and I don’t see the end of it” you admitted

“I'm sorry about that. We should have come over sooner” she said and you shook your head

“You guys are busy, it's okay” you smiled

“L/N have you eaten enough lately? You seem like you haven't got all your much needed nutritions" Damian's voice interrupted your discussion with Cassandra. 

You arched an eyebrow at that, surprised the grumpy boy seemed to care about you.

“Oh well, it's true I haven't been the best with food lately” you sheepishly admitted and Stephanie gently stroked your arm to comfort you. “But it's okay” you quickly added as everyone’s attention was now on you, and it was making you feel a little bit shy.

“Of course it is not. A warrior needs food to properly function. I will ask Alfred to cook for you and to send you the meals” Damian said and you had to admit you were half embarrassed, half exploding with joy to be under everyone's care.

“You don't have to bother him for me” you tried to refuse but Damian tutted you

“Nonsense”

“Good idea, Dami!” Dick nodded “it's true you need food and we'll deliver it to you so we'll be sure you'll eat it all” he added

“I take the first delivery” Jason said and instantly everyone started to argue over it. 

You leaned onto your seat and smiled to yourself. 

Life wasn’t that bad after all.

--

Taglist for all my work <3

@blublock404

@wind-canoe

@silverklaus

@couldeatthatgirlforlunch

@tatsuri-zomushiki

@navs-bhat

@randomnamedmira

@winterhi09

@murkyponds

@qardasngan

[aciddrattboyy]

Wԋҽɳ Yσυ Mҽʂʂ Wιƚԋ Lσʋҽ

┆ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ - "your boyfriend arrives late for your study date and things(sex) happen"

ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴛꜱ: ★ Starring: Mark Grayson x F! Reader ★ Run Time: 3.9k ★ Genre/Warnings: [Rated R: Drama/Rom/Adult Film] smut, both reader and mark lose their virginities, fingering(f!receiving), vanilla sex tbh, there will be eventual angst, set in au where they are in college before... (gulp) chicago incident, two part story ★ soundtrack: karma police, basta ya ★ pls pls pls any invincible fans HIT MY LINE i have no friends in this fandom and i desperately need them ★ 01 . 02 .

⋆｡°✩

noon. you invited mark over to your dorm at noon. it was three o’clock now, with no text messages or calls from your boyfriend; even after he assured you he’d be there about four hours earlier. mark had been… distant. constantly ditching you, not even showing up to dates or hangouts, or asking for rain checks if he had the decency to do even that. today was supposed to be a typical study date, with exams coming up you thought it would be nice. because even though mark left you hanging seemingly more often than not, the time he was there was, well, amazing. when he did manage to find the time for you he treated you like you were the best thing that ever happened to him, acted as the perfect, doting boyfriend. whether it was picking up your favorite food without asking or buying you a plushie of your favorite animal you didn't even remember telling him about, mark was loving.

but as the minutes ticked by, your phone continued being pathetically dry, and your dorm mark-less, you were starting to think maybe the good no longer outweighed the bad. with a sigh, you push back in your desk chair, slumping in the seat as you tipped your head back. you glanced over at your phone sitting atop a pile of books, almost mocking you with the lack of notifications, and thought about texting mark. again. dragging a hand down your face, you began to spin slowly in your chair, watching the room swirl by out of boredom. 

as you spun lazily, you could see your door slowly opening. and then there was mark, peeking his face through the crack, sporting that same guilty expression you were starting to think you saw more than him smiling. you plant your feet on the ground, coming to a halt as you looked at him with narrowed eyes and a frown. 

“if your excuse is you had to help your dad with work, lost track of time, or ‘had something to take care of’, save your breath,” you turn back to your desk, staring at the open textbook with your jaw clenched and brows pinched together. mark grimaced at your words, his hand twitching hesitantly on the doorknob, not sure if he should even come inside.

“alright no excuses,” he murmured softly, scratching at his nape as he stared at your back. sheepishly, he held up a plastic bag, the contents inside rustling softly. “but… how about an apology? starting with some food from that place you said you wanted to try?” mark’s voice had a hopeful lilt to it, although he knew he couldn’t keep fixing everything with food. he was entirely sure he’s been fixing anything at all, like a bandaid on a broken bone. but he also couldn’t exactly say: “sorry for being late to our study date. i promise i wanted to be here but my alien space dad made me go train with him since i just got super cool powers.”  it wouldn't be a secret identity if he started telling people. and unfortunately, people included you, no matter how much he didn’t want it to be this way. 

your glare aimed at your text book softened at his words, once again he had gone out of his way for you. acting as if he cared for you even as he was constantly blowing you off. a few quiet moments of you contemplating what to do pass by before you speak, turning in your chair slightly to look at him. 

“i guess that’s not a completely bad start.” marks face immediately lit up like an excited puppy as you spoke. it wasn’t a hard get the fuck out of my room and that was as good of a start as any when trying to make up for his major fuck ups. without missing a beat, he steps inside, closing the door behind him before toeing off his shoes, dropping his backpack near the foot of your bed and making his way over to you.  

“i uh got you a little bit of everything- well not everything everything but y’know a reasonable amount of-”

“thank you mark,” you cut him off quietly, not entirely sure how mad at him you still were. you take the bag from him, not able to meet his eyes as you set the bag down on your now limited desk space. mark stood somewhere to the side behind you, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels.

“yeah, yeah no problem,” his voice cracked slightly and he winced at his own tone, feeling helpless and not at all sure how to really fix this without coming clean about his secret identity; something he could not do. the silence seems to drag on as you looked through the different containers. his eyes trailed over your desk and a fresh wave of guilt washed over him when he the notes scribbled into a notebook. “you.. um you got a lot of work done,” mark said awkwardly, grasping at straws to try to fix what he was rapidly breaking between you two. 

“yeah well it would’ve been easier if you had been here to help.” both of you freeze at your words that came out just a bit more harsh than you intended. mark frowned, not sure what to say. he reached out a hand, hovering it over your shoulder as he slowly opened his mouth. but you sighed before he can get anything out, running a hand through your hair before you turn in your chair to face with a faint frown of your own. “look, i’m sorry for talking to you like that. let’s just eat yeah? i’ve done enough studying for the both of us” you offer mark a small smile, one that he returns hesitantly. he takes a step back when you get up from your chair, grabbing the bed and heading over to your bed. 

“yeah that… sounds good.” mark nods, following you over to the bed. he sits next to you, mirroring your cross legged posture with his back leaning against the wall. he slowly scoots closer as you pull out the various containers until your knees are touching. you didn’t acknowledge it, but you didn't pull away and that was as good of a win as any. his eyes light up with an idea before leaning over the edge of the bed to grab his laptop. “thought we could watch something while we ate.” he offers softly, already turning on youtube and putting on the type of videos he remembered you telling him you watched sometime in the past. you nod at him softly, your smile growing both in size and genuineness just a bit.

“good thinking,” you respond softly, the anger already subsiding just from being with him. mark had a way of making you feel good, even if it wasn't for long, even if he upset you more often than you’d really like. you knew deep down he was still a good guy, and you desperately wanted to see him be better. wanted to see him start living up to his apologies.

the two of you eat in a somewhat comfortable silence, interrupted by laughs or brief commentary on what you were watching. and everything starts to feel normal again. for you, but also for mark. for just right now he wasn’t Invincible. he was mark grayson, a freshman in college with the more amazing girlfriend by his side. it felt nice to feel normal again, even if he had been waiting his whole life to get powers, to be just like his dad. you find yourself curled up against mark’s side, watching random videos with your head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped loosely around your waist. the sun was starting to set, the fading sunlight casting shadows and warm orange light through the blinds. 

when you tilt your head to look up at mark, he meets your gaze. his lips slowly pull into a goofy smile that makes you huff with amusement.

“why’re you looking at me like that?” you murmur playfully while tracing idle shapes over the fabric covering his chest. he pulls you closer, the movement almost imperceptible as his expression turns warm.

“you’re just so pretty,” mark answered just as softly, getting lost in your eyes with a stupid smile. only a second passes before he realizes what he’s said; his eyes widen, face flushing red as he sputters out apologies while trying to pull away. “oh shit that was so stupid- fuck im sorr-” before mark could run away and hide, you grab his face and pull him into a kiss. he lets out a muffled noise of surprise, eyes wide before his brain catches up to what was happening. then he’s humming softly instead, hands finding your waist as he kissed you back gently. “wha… what was that for?” he whispered breathlessly when you pulled away, your faces only inches apart. 

“am i not allowed to kiss my boyfriend?” you ask teasingly, smile only growing as your swipe your thumbs over his cheeks.

“no- i mean yes- uh yeah you can kiss me,” he lets out an almost self deprecating laugh, hands squeezing your waist gently. “i’m fucking this up aren’t i?” you pull him into another kiss, languidly moving your lips against his.

“i think you’re doing just fine,” your fingers tangle in mark’s hair, deepening the kiss, starting it off slow, gentle, but one thing led to another and soon enough you’re pulling him closer as you fall back against the sheets. mark follows you willingly, hovering over you with his hands on either side of your head. one of mark’s legs slot in between yours, involuntarily pressing his knee against the apex of your thighs. you gasp softly against his lips, grip tightening in his hair. when you roll your hips, a shudder runs through both you and mark when he realized what you were doing. the revelation only served to send blood straight to his already semi-hard dick.  

the kissing grows frenzied, the air between you heavy with harsh panting and even messier kissing. your laptop had been precariously moved out of the way and onto the corner of your desk. both of your shirts? thrown god knows where. was this all happening just a bit too fast? maybe… probably… definitely. but slowing down seemed to be the last thing on your mind along with mark’s. who was now practically buzzing with nervous excitement and lust. he’d kissed you before, many times actually. but never like this. never half clothed and making out with you as if you were trying to eat each other’s faces off while you ground your hips against his knee.

shifting slightly, mark props himself up on his elbow, body pressing more firmly on top of yours. he smooths his free hand up your waist, hesitantly thumbing over the hem of your bra as he waited for some sort of signal to stop. but none came, in fact, he could feel your back slightly arch into his touch. he let out a low groan, muffled by your lips, the obvious tent in his sweats pressed snuggly against your thigh. for a brief moment he thought maybe he should be embarrassed. but how could he when you seemed to just as affected. and somehow a lot more confident… with a gasp, and much reluctance, mark pulls his mouth off of yours, panting heavily against your lips.

“have you uh… y’know… before?” his voice was barely a whisper, face feeling hot and eyes slightly widened as he looked down at you.

“no…” you start, your voice equally as quiet as you prop yourself up on your elbows. “is it that obvious?” your brows twitched, just barely pinching together with a hint of worry and newfound self consciousness. 

“no- no no!” mark quickly squeaks out, shaking his head with wide eyes. “i just- you seem so- so…” he trails off, not entirely sure what to say anymore.

“we don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to. do you want to stop?” your voice was soft, a small smile on your face in hopes of making sure mark knew his comfort was important above all. but it only served to make mark feel more… feel more of whatever was making his stomach flip and his cock twitch against your thigh in a way that was getting harder to ignore. he swallowed the lump in his throat when thought about what ‘keep going’ would actually entail. 

“um… no. not really,” he murmured softly, a sheepish smile on his face. he feels his face heat up all over again at the admission. but before he can doubt himself, you’re smiling at him. and then you were kissing him, and it was like you had never even stopped at all. 

the kissing quickly grows heated, hands fumbling to rip each others pants off through breathless giggles and sloppy kisses until mark was seated between your open legs; both of you in nothing but your underwear and your bra long gone. mark smoothed his hands over your inner thighs, chest still somewhat heaving from the rather heavy makeout session just moments ago. he swallowed thickly, thumbs tracing over the lacy edges of your panties. his head snaps up when he hears a small noise leave your lips. the kind of noise that has his body going hot all over again.

“can i…?” mark wasn’t sure what he was exactly asking permission for. but the way you were looking up at him made him pray to any existing god that he was granted the sexual prowess of a veteran pornstar just for tonight. upon seeing you nod your head, he sucks in a deep breath, feeling both a wave of arousal and anxiousness. with shaky hands, he hooks his fingers under the waistband of your underwear and slowly pulls them off of you. looking at your naked body, mark was afraid he’d bust right then and there. but then your voice, soft and playful, cut through his thoughts currently being led by his dick. 

“c’mere,” you reach out, tugging on his hand and pulling him closer until he was hovering over you again. the backs of your thighs resting atop of his, the bulge in his boxers not too far from your pussy. you could tell he was a little nervous. and although you never got verbal confirmation, it was clear to see that mark was a virgin; somehow more a virgin than even you were. you card a hand in the hair at his nape, pulling him into a kiss that seemed to make mark relax just a bit. kissing was good. kissing was familiar territory. and after a small while, you placed your free hand on top of his hand not supporting his weight and slowly inch his palm downwards. 

marks breath hitched in his throat, body temporarily going still. that is until he felt how fucking wet you were as you guided his middle and ring finger through your soaked folds. a guttural groan vibrates through his chest, only barely muffled by your tongue in his mouth. 

you were panting against his lips now, soft mewls escaping you led his fingers to circle your clit. teaching him what you liked, how you wanted to be touched. and to mark’s credit, he was a very fast learner. soon enough he was moving on his own, your hand holding onto his wrist instead as he pumped two fingers inside of you. he ground his palm against your clit, making your hips buck into his hand as the pleasure just kept building. 

“o-oh fuck-” you cry out when he hits that sensitive spot inside you, arms wrapping around his neck as you nuzzle your face against the sensitive skin just below his jaw. if it were not for the string of muffled moans leaving your lips, even mark was able to tell you were getting close almost embarrassingly fast by the way your thighs trembled against his and how your hips snapped up to meet each thrust of his fingers. “fuck- fuck ‘m gonna- hah-” 

mark felt like he was almost there with you; he could feel the damp patch on his boxers growing as his dick continued to throb in it’s confines, leaking a lot of precum. his hips twitched involuntarily, searching for some sort of relief. but he would continue to push his own wants aside, breathing heavily through his nose as he peppered your collarbone with wet kisses and focused solely on making you cum. and that he did. biting back a moan of his own at the feeling of your walls clenching around his fingers, your whole body going taut under him as you held onto him tighter. 

after a few moments filled with only heavy breathing, your body goes limp against the sheets as he pulls his fingers out with a soft squelch. there was a very satisfied smile on your face as you looked up at mark, who somehow looked more fucked out than you. 

“you were… surprisingly good at that.”

“ha, thanks… hey, wait what do you mean surprisingly?” you giggle softly at the small pout on his lips, lifting your head just enough to press a kiss against his lips.

“don’t think about it too much,” you mumble as you pull back, trailing your hands down his sides until your palms met the waistband of his boxers. “uh there’s condoms in the drawer if you…” you trail off, eyes widening when you realized what you had just implicated. “i- i didn’t buy them they were uh- a gift from my roommate a while ago…” you look up at mark with narrowed eyes after seeing the way his lips were pursed, twitching with the force he had to use to keep himself from smiling. for now, mark would bite his tongue, not wanting to face your wrath when his dick was so hard it was starting to hurt. 

“condoms. got it.” the words were strained under the weight of his stifled laughter, but before you could comment on it, he was already leaning over you. rummaging through your night stand, he was able to pull one out, settling between your legs with the gold foil in his hands. “but are you sure you want to do this?” there was a hint of vulnerability in his tone, sounding almost worried that you’d regret being with him, or you were for some reason only doing this out of pity. but then you were giving him that warm smile and nodding your head, and suddenly all doubt jumped out the window. 

through more muted laughter and clumsy, inexperienced hands, the two of you manage to get the condom on without mark blowing his load then and there. placing his hands on your hips, he leans down to kiss your lips, rubbing soft circles on your skin with his thumbs. you hum into his lips, gently holding onto his biceps as you kiss him back just as passionately. but when mark reaches a hand between your bodies to line his tip with your hole, the energy shifts. less playful and more so intense, romantic. like the both of you realize what you were doing, and what it means for the relationship going forward. 

“are you sure?” mark whispers against your lips, eyes fluttering open to gauge your reaction.

“yeah, yeah i am,” you breathe out, eyes shining with something that made mark’s stomach flip in an almost scarily good way. he nods, adams apple bobbing before he presses his lips against yours again. he snakes his free hand up the bed, intertwining his fingers with yours above your head as his hips slowly push forward. it takes a little while of patience and whispering sweet nothings to each other before the two of you are comfortable enough for mark to start moving, the whole situation intense for both of you in a way that was both exciting and a little nerve wracking. 

“h-holy fuck-” mark’s voice comes out as a shaky pant, head hanging as he looked down at where your bodies met. his hand in your squeezes gently, the other holding onto your hip as he slowly rolls his hips; pulling out until only the tip was inside before slowly pushing back. “feel s’good,” he groans softly, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck as he continued to slowly fuck into your wet heat. his hand leaves your hips, entwining his with yours and pinning you to the mattress. you bite your lip, muffling the whimpers and moans spilling from your mouth. squeezing his hands tightly, you tilt your head when you feel mark starting to suck and nip at the skin of your neck

“y-you can- nngh- go faster,” your breathy words do not fall on deaf ears. mark’s whole body stills for just a second before slightly readjusts on top of you. the moment he quickens his pace, both of you are turning into moaning messes. kissing sloppily and exchanging spit as the cheap bedframe rocks slowly with mark’s movement. he lets go of one of your hands, reaching down to rub messy circles on your clit with the pad of his thumb.

it didn’t take long for mark to get close, hips already stuttering as he teetered on the edge as your cunt fluttered and clenched around him. he buries his face in the crook of your neck, muffling any and all embarrassing noises that leaves his lips. your hips buck up to meet his with each thrust, thighs shaking with your own impending orgasm. your nails rake down his back in a way that has mark groaning against your skin.

intense orgasms hit you both at the same time; mark’s thighs trembling right along yours as his hips jerkily buck his dick inside you until he spilled every last drop into the condom. collapsing on top of you, the room is silent save for heavy breaths and the smell of sex. after a few moments, mark presses a soft kiss to your jaw before slowly pulling out and flopping onto his back next to you with a content sigh after tossing the condom into the trash bin under your desk. 

“that was…”  mark turns on his side, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling your back flush against his warm chest. nuzzling his face against your hair. “was… amazing,”  he murmured softly, voice full of bliss as he held you tight. you giggle softly, letting your body melt into his warm embrace. at some point, you both clean up; with shrugging on a shirt and underwear and mark slipping back into his sweatpants. cuddling up under your sheets, it was easy to fall asleep in his arms, perfectly content and feeling loved.

i hope you enjoyed !! reblogs/comments are very appreciated <3 ʟᴏʙʙʏ ﹕ꜰɪʟᴍᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ 𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃

[criticalcrusherbot]

💁🏽‍♀️: That’s a strong reaction! It sounds like you have a lot of frustration about how Stella is written—do you feel like the issue is that she lacks nuance, or that the story frames her in a way that feels unfair? What would a more satisfying portrayal look like to you?

Also, I just have to ask—what exactly is ironic here? Because from what I can tell, you’re upset that people criticize sexism while enjoying a show with yaoi influences… which isn’t irony, it’s just you disagreeing with them. Just saying!

Anyway, I notice a lot of assumptions about my intentions. I’m not sure where you got the idea that I’m “protecting” Stolas—I don’t think fictional characters need protection. Liking a character doesn’t mean excusing everything they do. But you seem really frustrated that people sympathize with him—why do you think that is? Do you feel like the show forces that sympathy, or do you just disagree with the people who feel it?

As for the “sexist yaoi fanfiction tropes” comment—yeah, Helluva Boss has yaoi influences! That’s part of why I enjoy it. Emotionally vulnerable men, melodramatic romance, and heightened feelings are fun! And they’re not inherently sexist or homophobic. I say this as a lesbian who just happens to love fictional boys kissing because, honestly? It heals something inside me. A lot of us grew up around crass, toxically masculine men, and there’s something really comforting about stories where male characters are allowed to be soft and expressive.

But let’s talk about Stella—because while I get why some people feel her portrayal is over-the-top, I also think she’s not a victim of sexism so much as a victim of the genre. Over-the-top villains exist in these kinds of stories, and sometimes they’re just meant to be entertainingly terrible. Would it be nice if Stella had more depth? Sure. But do you think that would actually make a difference in how people view Stolas, or do you just feel like she’s too exaggerated for your tastes?

I’m also curious—do you feel like any story influenced by yaoi tropes is inherently bad, or is it just this one? And if so, what specifically doesn’t work for you? It’s totally okay to dislike something, but I do wonder—if it frustrates you this much, why spend so much time engaging with it? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to focus on media that aligns more with your preferences?

“The ‘Uwu Boy’ Critique is Just Bad Critique”

By: Crushbot 🤖 and Human Assistant 💁🏽‍♀️

The “uwu boy” critique, particularly when aimed at male characters who show vulnerability or emotional depth, is one of the laziest and most frustrating patterns in media discourse. It’s a knee-jerk dismissal that not only misunderstands character development but also reinforces toxic stereotypes about masculinity. When critics throw this term around, they’re not engaging with the narrative or its themes—they’re broadcasting their discomfort with men expressing emotions. And frankly, that discomfort says more about the critic than the characters or the writing.

At its core, this critique reeks of sexism, whether internalized or overt. In a medium oversaturated with hypermasculine archetypes—stoic, unemotional, “tough guys”—male characters who challenge those norms should be celebrated, not derided. Yet instead of acknowledging the nuance in characters like Stolas and Fizzarolli in Helluva Boss, detractors label them “uwu boys” as if their vulnerability somehow diminishes their worth. This isn’t just lazy; it’s reductive and perpetuates harmful ideas about what makes a man “acceptable” in fiction.

Vulnerability Isn’t Weakness

The biggest flaw in the “uwu boy” critique is its failure to recognize that emotional vulnerability is not the same as weakness. Characters like Stolas and Fizzarolli aren’t “weakened” because we see their softer sides. Rather, their moments of tenderness and emotional honesty add to their complexity. Stolas isn’t just a flirtatious royal with a penchant for dramatics—he’s also a father navigating a strained relationship with his daughter, a lonely individual grappling with his unrequited feelings for Blitz, and a victim of abuse trying to regain control of his life.

Similarly, Fizzarolli isn’t just the brash, comedic performer we see on stage. He’s someone who has endured immense trauma, and his relationship with Asmodeus reveals a softer, more introspective side to his personality. These layers don’t contradict their initial characterizations; they enrich them. This is how good writing works: characters evolve as we learn more about them, just like real people.

Different Contexts, Different Sides

One of the most frustrating elements of this critique is the way it ignores how context shapes behavior. Well-written characters, like real people, behave differently depending on their surroundings and relationships. Stolas is confident and composed when dealing with his duties as a prince but becomes awkward and tender around Blitz because he’s emotionally invested in him. Fizzarolli is loud and cocky on stage, but around Asmodeus, he lets his guard down because he feels safe and loved. These shifts aren’t “inconsistencies”; they’re signs of thoughtful characterization.

The claim that showing these sides of a character is somehow a “retcon” or betrayal of their established persona is absurd. It’s character development 101: as the audience learns more about someone, we see the full range of their personality. The idea that a character can’t be both brash and vulnerable, both cocky and caring, is not a critique of the writing—it’s a failure to understand it.

Sexism in Disguise

What makes the “uwu boy” critique particularly insidious is its roots in sexism. The idea that male characters must adhere to rigid, hypermasculine archetypes—stoic, unfeeling, invulnerable—is deeply ingrained in our media landscape. When male characters deviate from these norms, it challenges societal expectations, and that discomfort often manifests as derision. Critics don’t usually have the same energy for female characters who show emotional depth, but the moment a male character cries, expresses love, or admits vulnerability, they’re written off as “cringe” or “badly written.”

This double standard is especially glaring in fandom spaces. Vulnerable male characters challenge the toxic masculinity baked into media consumption, and instead of celebrating that progress, detractors label them “uwu boys” to dismiss them outright. It’s not a legitimate critique of the writing; it’s a symptom of discomfort with breaking down gender norms.

Stolas and Fizzarolli as Examples

The critiques of Stolas and Fizzarolli in Helluva Boss are perfect examples of this pattern. Detractors claim that these characters were “turned into uwu boys” in Season 2, as if their vulnerability is somehow a betrayal of their established personas. But the reality is that these moments of emotional depth were always present—they just weren’t the focus early on.

Stolas, from the beginning, was more than just a flirty royal. His awkwardness around Blitz was always there, and his love for Octavia has been a consistent thread throughout the show. Season 2 simply brings those aspects to the forefront, allowing the audience to see the full scope of his character.

Fizzarolli, too, wasn’t “turned” into anything. His bravado and sharp tongue remain intact, but Season 2 gives us a glimpse of the person behind the performer. His relationship with Asmodeus shows that he’s not just a loudmouth comedian—he’s also someone who has endured pain and found love despite it. These aren’t contradictions; they’re revelations.

Why This Critique Fails

Ultimately, the “uwu boy” critique fails because it’s not actually engaging with the writing. It’s a shallow dismissal that boils down to “I don’t like seeing men have feelings.” But feelings aren’t a flaw, and emotional depth isn’t a weakness. If anything, characters like Stolas and Fizzarolli are better for their complexity, and the show is stronger for challenging toxic masculinity in a medium that desperately needs it.

So the next time someone complains about a male character being an “uwu boy,” ask yourself: is this really a critique of the writing, or is it just discomfort with seeing men be soft, vulnerable, and human? Because if it’s the latter, it’s not a valid critique—it’s just sexism in disguise.

[gilbirda]

How to write Romance

Hello! This is the second post I'm making as a rough tutorial for writing, based of my method and experience. I'm not a professional writer by any means, but I've been writing for a long long time, and I specialize in writing women and romance.

The objective for this post is so you, the reader, has an idea what to look for or where to start when embarking in the journey of writing romance or a romance story.

Let's go. This is a long one, folks.

Romance Story line Vs Romance Story

Before I go into the details, I'd like to discuss the difference between "romance story line" and "a romance story".

But Gil, those are the same thing!

You'd think that! But nope. The main difference lies on how much space romantic aspects take in the story.

For example, you can have a tragedy with romance story lines. A murder mystery with some romance intertwined. An epic hero journey with some romance on the side. And so on and so forth.

Before sitting down and getting to writing, think what you want to write about: Is this about an epic romance for the ages, or is this about adding romance to a story (and not let it take the main stage)?

Let's take as an example "Pride and Prejudice" Vs. "Pirates of the Caribbean". One is about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy falling in love and the drama around them; and the other is an epic pirate action movie where Will and Elizabeth are protagonists and their relationship adds to the story but is not just about them.

I want to write a Romance story

Then you really have to sit down and write the story beats with the relationship beats.

Usually the natural flow of the story (first act, second act, third act) will match relationship milestones; and the development of the relationship is the development of the story.

There can still be drama, murder mysteries, etc. but it will serve the purpose pushing forward the main characters' romance story.

For example, the drama could be real life issues getting the way of the couple; or the romantic interest needs to do some growing before proposing.

Also, with Romance Stories you can play with some fun tropes on top of the story itself: Star Crossed Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Childhood Friends to Lovers, etc.

I want to write a Romance story line

In this case, development of the romance takes a step back and doesn't have to match the main story beats.

You will also take into consideration the tips and tricks of this tutorial, but don't have to go deep into much detail and can afford writing the relationship development more "in the background" as much or as little as your story needs it.

For example, you could write a couple getting together at the end, but can write the characters' "will they won't they" beats with the climax of the main story line's arcs — a character receives the Call for Adventure, and leaves behind the romantic interest; a character experiences a devastating loss, and can't really offer romantic interest the attention; a battle leaves main character heavily injured, and romantic interest nurse them back to health.

How do I write a credible Romance

Note how I'm avoiding saying "good" or "bad" romance here. I'm saying credible.

Why credible? Because, in my experience, readers engage more and feel for the characters more if they can believe that what is happening could be real. You write a romance in space, or as pirates, or Regency era stuff — but at the end of the day, you are writing people and people experience emotions in complex ways.

You have to make your readers think "they are so like me for real" at least once.

But how?

Emotions don't exist in a vacuum. You can deeply love someone and still be mad at them; or be frustrated with them; or be sad and not in the best headspace.

There has to be something else going on. Things happen all the time, and the world doesn't stop because you like someone. You have to include more meat than the romance, and explore more circumstances that have nothing to do with Character A and Character B having a crush.

Develop the characters beyond their romance story. Love is great but characters are so much more than that. They should have personal goals, personal drama, individual story lines.

But wait, there's more!

Let's talk more about characters in a relationship

This drinks from some basic character development tutorial (maybe a future post idea? 👀), but regarding romance you should also take into consideration more than the romance.

Feels counterproductive, but it's so so so so important. Before you even consider diving head first into Romance, you should already have solid characters to play with.

Some usual tricks for creating a character include doing a character Bio: Write their likes, dislikes, dreams, favorite food, favorite colors, height, age, etc. Anything you can think of, have it already chewed. (Think making a D&D character sheet!)

For fanfiction writers, understand the character you are writing first. Find their voice and even if you don't have a reference of a good romance already (I'm looking at you, DC comics) try to get an idea how they respond to good and bad things, how do they communicate, how do they like to be loved.

Then, you can use it for Romance.

How?

Easy: Consider what the situation is actually about, not just the romance.

Is it about trust? — How quickly does the character trust? How do they behave with betrayal? Do they have trust issues?

Commitment? — Are they the type that commits fast? Or needs a minute to commit? Do they have commitment issues?

Is it about communication issues? — How? Do your characters speak different languages (literally and "love languages")? Do they struggle with speaking up? Do they hide their feelings to a fault?

Are they incompatible? — Do they have different expectations for physical aspects of their relationship? Do they have little in common? Is the struggle about personalities clashing?

Love is not enough? — Do their circumstances pull them apart even if they do love each other? Is it "not that simple"?

Things you should be careful about

"This drama would be avoided if they had ONE honest conversation"

Classic misunderstanding drama set up. Is very tempting to hinge your drama and character development on one single misunderstanding, and is easy to maintain as long as you don't let the characters make up.

Don't fall for it. Is not as easy as it looks like and a bad execution can derail the story you want to talk about and make your characters completely unrecognizable. Check out this video about "Idiot Plots", which discuss more in depth how hinging the whole plot on one out-of-character misunderstanding is not worth it.

There can absolutely be misunderstandings, but not make it the only thing keeping the story going.

"Big Strong Masc saves Small Weak Femme (and they fawn for their mighty protector)"

(Notice the language used, because I've seen this with all types of ship configuration, not just M/F. )

This is related to deeper issues: Gender roles and patriarchy bullshit, which have no place in fandom.

You can absolutely write Character A saving Character B, but watch out! Characters should be developed on their own and have room to shine without the romantic interest.

Here's my tutorial on Writing Women, and I'm planning on another post to discuss the "strong, independent woman" paradox.

"Character A falls in love seemingly overnight with Character B"

What it says on the tin. It's just not believable. Even people who falls in love fast, don't just make the other person their world overnight.

But Gil, what about 'love at first sight'? That one is cute, and you can definitely write characters meeting for the first time and sparks flying, but there's attraction, and there's love.

Definitely write meet cutes and so on; but acknowledge that there is so much more needed to make a love story work.

"My romance story line suddenly became the main story"

Avoid this as much as possible. If the reader wants romance story, they'd look for straight up romance. Making the relationship suddenly ALL the story is about would be changing the genre mid-story and that's not nice. Is like starting with a murder mystery that switches to a shenanigans slice of life midway.

Then how can I have drama and relationship development?

If we should avoid misunderstandings and character A saving character B, then what would be my romance story about?

Answer: Like any other story development! Write conflict.

Internal conflict — Could be about one character or both; or about their relationship.

Internal conflict is a psychological or emotional struggle that takes place within a character's mind or heart. It involves their inner thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or desires. (source)

You use these to focus on the Character's Journey, and in the context of romance, on how they grow in a relationship. Loving someone else can be the catalyst for a character trying to better themselves, or realizing they need to change.

This is all your conflicts of interests, communication issues, trust issues, etc. Create situations where the drama comes from within the characters and how they themselves get in the way of their happily ever after.

External conflict — How the circumstances surrounding the characters influence the romance.

External conflict is a struggle that occurs between a character and an external force, such as another character, society, nature, or a situation. (source)

Families not approving the relationship, political drama, different species, opposing sides of a war... The world is your oyster.

Or use both! Is so much fun and complex (and credible) when there's layers to why your characters Will They Wont They.

And that's it for now!

I may come back and edit to add and/or tweak something, so keep an eye!

NOTE: These are some tips to write healthy romance stories. If your goal is to depict toxic dynamics or portray toxic relationships on purpose, by all means change and ignore whatever you'd like. Know the rules before you break them!

Happy writing!🙂✌

[ineedmorevat7kinmylife]

Little rant about Mabel Pines.

I know people have talked about how unfairly lots of GF fans treat Mabel, and how she's just 12 and Dipper's so mature we forget and you need to cut her some slack, but I want to talk about how both of them have the same maturity level, they just show it differently. Selfishness. This is one of the main reasons people get mad at Mable, because she acts selfish, and makes Dipper sacrifice things for her. There are four episodes where this is most prominent. The Time Traveler's Pig, The Deep End, Sock Opera, and Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future. The Time Traveler's Pig In this episode, Dipper time travels to ask Wendy out before Robbie can, and only finds one universe where it happens. Only problem: in that universe Mabel doesn't get the pig she won in the original timeline. Dipper lets Mabel keep the pig, sacrificing his "date" with Wendy. My problem with people calling Mabel selfish in this episode is that Dipper is the one being selfish. He's trying to change the timeline so he can ask out a girl he's not going to have a realistic shot at at this point in time. Mabel wants to keep the pig she rightfully won in the original timeline, and keep it out of Pacifica's hands, where it clearly doesn't want to be. (Also I doubt her parents would let her keep it)

The Deep End Mabel's new pool crush is really a merman who needs help getting back to his family. Mabel agrees, but her helping his jeopardizes Dipper's lifeguard job, which he wants to keep because he can hang out with Wendy. Dipper ends up giving up his job at the pool to help Mabel save the merman. Once again, Dipper acting selfish while Mabel gets blamed. Dipper isn't even actually doing his job as a lifeguard, he doesn't care about the potential money, or responsibility. He's actually really bad at the job. He and Wendy who are lifeguards, keep sneaking off to pull pranks and steal snacks. While Mabel is trying to save someone's life.

Sock Opera Now in this one, Mabel is genuinely being selfish. She prioritizes her sock opera over the thing she promised Dipper she would help him with. I'm including this here because I think this episode is where people really got the wrong impression of Mabel. And it's because Bill tells Dipper that she's been selfish and Dipper's had to sacrifice things for her. BILL IS MANIPULATING DIPPER!!!! Making him believe things that he wouldn't have thought otherwise to get him to do what he wants!!! He's appealing to Dipper's ego, trying to drive a wedge between the twins, because they're stronger together. It's the same thing he did to Ford. Stop trusting anything Bill says, take it all with a grain of salt.

Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future Ahh, the classic, Mabel-caused-the-apocalypse debate. Again, Bill = manipulator. He knows how to get you to do what he wants. Mabel didn't cause Weirdmaggedon. Bill did. If he had seen an opportunity, he would have done the same to Dipper. Now I'm not saying Mabel isn't selfish. She is sometimes. Like in Boyz Crazy. But I'm saying that it's not just Mabel. They're both selfish because they're 12. Also, Dipper: Your crush works at your house. You already spend a ton of time together. It could be way worse.

Mabel's role in the story Mabel has a major role in Dipper's life, and it isn't just because she's his twin. She is one of the few people that can get him to calm down and act like the kid he is. Dipper tries to be too mature. He's trying to grow up too fast. Mabel calms him down and gets him acting like a normal kid for once. 

Dipper vs. Mabel smartness People have already mentioned that when Ford praises Dipper for his additions to the journal, he opens to the page with the gnomes, which is something Mabel figured out, and how that shows Ford underestimates her.

But I think Mabel is way smarter than we give her credit for. She figures things out that Dipper doesn't all the time!

"Dipper, it's the vending machine!"

Anyway: my point is that Dipper and Mabel are both 12, and are immature and mature at different times depending on the situation. They just go about it differently. Also: the story is more from Dipper's POV so it might be a little biased.

[respectthepetty]

I apologise in advance since this is going to be ramble-y but it's past my bedtime and I have to be quick...

I'm hoping you can throw some insight on something which I feel like I'm seeing but not really getting.

So, I was first intrigued by Sei's phone case - it's a version of Van Gogh's Starry Night, right? - and the light/yellow and dark/blue it contains. And then I was noticing a lot of scenes in which Hagiwara is in a light/warm colouring/filter and Sei is in a cooler/bluer colour/filter. Many of your screenshots in this post of yours show this (notably pics 5, 8, 9, and 11 counting from the top).

I also noticed the yellow and blue posters behind Hagiwara and Sei in the second photo of that post.

And then I was intrigued by light and shadow...because in ep 1 (I think), in bed Hagiwara is lying in the shadow cast by the lamp that is between his and Kaori's beds. And that contrasts to Sei lying in the glow of the lamp that's between his and Fujisawa. But this confuses me because sometimes Hagiwara is in the shadows and Sei is in the light (as in pics 10 and 20 in that post) and there are other times when Hagiwara is illuminated and Sei is in the shadows (like in pic 11).

Does this all just come down to what you were saying in that post - that they balance each other out? Because sometimes they're both in cool/shadowed light together (pic 4) and sometimes they're both in warm/light colouring together (pics 7 & 15) - and not to mention the two bedside lamps being on in pic 22... Or is there another reading into this? Maybe that they're depicted light/warm or cool/dark at different times depending on what's happening in or the mood of the scenes?

It feels a bit like maybe the message is that they're both stuck, trapped in the dark but also that they're each the light and happiness for each other...but that feels too simplistic for this complex show.

Anyway, sorry to pose what feels like a difficult question but I'm looking forward to a possible 30 pic explanation post from you if you have it in you!

I think the show is telling us nobody is just one thing.

I thought this back in the third episode, but after seeing the discourse on the sixth episode, I feel confident this is part of what the shows wants to say. For example, a point of contention in most posts after the breakup scene in episode six focused on if Kairo is avoidant and homophobic or if Kairo is ace and hasn't realized it. But why can't Kairo be both?

This thought stems from the statue since Sei and Hagiwara couldn't agree if she was sexual or sad.

But why couldn't she be both?

I made this point with the other pieces of art as well since all of them played into this evil/good, angel/devil theme.

Because none of them were just one of those things. The devil flowers had wings, and the devil figure had a halo, while the angel flowers still had thorns, and the angel figure had a horned tail.

So Hagiwara, the darker-coded character, is the warmer one with his trees and greenery, while Sei, the lighter-coded character, is the colder character with his metal and rock.

And they are also cheaters.

Which, once again, is why I believe the story is telling us that nobody is one thing. Because cheating is bad. But these men?

They aren't bad.

Just like Fujisawa isn't all good.

Sei and Hagiwara did something bad but they aren't bad because they cheated since people are neither completely one thing or another.

That is a false dichotomy.

So just like the toe was not about the toe, and the TV was not about the TV, and the coffee is not about the coffee, and the rain is not about the rain, and the sex is not about the sex, nothing is just one thing, so the series continues to reinforce that.

Sei is light and should be warm, but he is cold, and by his own admission, rough. But Hagiwara, who should be the dark and emotionally-guarded brooder, is the more open and happy one of the pair.

The colors and settings emphasize this. Hagiwara's apartment is colorful. Sei's is dark.

But those apartments don't really represent the men either.

Fujisawa and Kairo both commented that they like Sei and Hagiwara, but they only like a single aspect of them. They reduced them to one characteristic, and never wanted to deal with the complexities of their partners.

And that's what happens when we focus on one single thing.

We lose sight of the bigger picture.

The questions Fujisawa and Kairo ask aren't "Why did you cheat?' but "Why a man?" because they are reductive. To Fujisawa and Kairo, the problem wasn't a lack of communication, lack of intimacy, or lack of a partnership in their relationships; it was sex. So why sex with a man?! Why not a woman to fulfill the sexual urge?

During their email exchange in episode two, the men chat about the purpose of sex since for animals, it's to mate and reproduce, which comes up later when Hagiwara's friends ask if he'll marry Kairo when she is pregnant, and again in episode four when Ayako says that Hagiwara is lucky that Kairo will have sex with him for the sake of kids. Fujisawa and Sei can't have kids, so then there is no need for sex. Yet in that initial conversation in episode two, Hagiwara and Sei end the conversation with saying the purpose of sex is complicated.

Everything is complicated. Everything is layered. Everything is multifaceted.

Van Gogh painted The Starry Night when he was an a psychiatric hospital in 1889 after he cut off his ear during a maniac episode, so due to the time period and the timing, it was probably a horrible experience. The scene is based on his view he could see outside of his barred window. And yet, despite all the dark reasons he was there and the night setting, the painting is bright. It blends the darkness with the light to bring hope.

So despite the darkness of his cage, there is light. And it comes in the shape of a phone that allows communication between two lost souls going through a horrible experience.

And Fujisawa destroyed it.

Nothing is one thing.

Yin and yang are meant to reside in everyone because good and bad are part of everyone. Therefore, nothing is simply black and white.

Hagiwara is rejected yet full of warmth. Sei wants affection but is cold toward others. One is dark coded and the other is light coded. One is warm colors and the other is cool colors. Sei comes off as polished, but he is rough. Hagiwara comes across as fun, but he is serious. They are layered, which is the key to balance because balance could never be about just one thing; balance is about bringing several elements into harmony.

But first, we must acknowledge that different aspects exists.

Because nothing is one thing.

[mellifera38]

I think you kinda hit the nail on the head here. I think it's a big part of why a lot of people left the campaign feeling less attached to Bells Hells compared to the Mighty Nein.

You got a little of this flavor in the beginning as Bells Hells got to know one another and kind of tackled some of their background baggage, but as the campaign left the honeymoon period and headed into The Main Plot, you got less and less inter-character moments. Huge stretches between them that left you going 'so how are they feeling??? When are they going to get some downtime to process all this?' We kept being left waiting, sometimes for like three episodes. We as the viewers were used to having that after C2, its like the treat at the end of the stressful fight. All we got instead was Stress Stress Stress for like 70 straight episodes.

Once all hell had broken loose on the apogee solstice, the whole thing felt like a big rush to the finish line, and Character Time was mostly over. It's dnd and you can play it however you want, but I think not getting that time contributed to them not really knowing where they all stood at the end or what they should do, which then caused us frustration as viewers.

To expand just a bit, to me, it felt like we had a specific group of heroes who were very suddenly thrown into some other group's religious story narrative and forced to make a decision that very few of them had personal stakes in other than 'I hate Ludinus'. Their backstories were not religion focused other than FCG. They didn't really have the chance to form new beliefs until after they already had the weight of the world on their shoulders and every interaction with the gods made them feel they were just being used for survival. If a god had reached out previously to help them unbidden in a time of need (other than The Cleric), they would have had a completely different motivation to pick a side bc it would feel like the gods genuinely cared for their children. Even a storyline to pit them against the gods instead of just feeling like they were invisible to them could have been beneficial to their larger character arcs in relation to The Plot.

It was an interesting experiment to put these very neutral unbiased people in charge of that kind of situation, don't get me wrong, but then the vast majority of Character Moments we did get were the constant confused/angry circles of 'why do we care about Them?' and 'but what happens if we do nothing' and it got repetitive and tiresome and people got pissed off at different characters and none of them really even changed. They still didn't really understand one another. In the end, even after learning about the eidolons and the Dawnfather being a dick and talks with the Matron and the Arch Heart, the only thing that STILL tethered them personally to the story was 'Let's stop Ludinus because we hate him for getting Laudna/Oryms husband killed and at least we know he's bad and we'll figure it out this god shit when we get there.'

Not the most compelling but hey, it got them to that finish line.

I think at least some of these unsatisfying pitfalls could have been avoided if they'd had more chances for character/relationship exploration beyond like the first third of episodes and maybe with some more religious theme overtones. It was also kind of a shame that all that build up of the new setting at the start was completely left by the wayside. They Needed a Longer Honeymoon. The apocalypse just rolled around way too early.

I love the C3 characters a lot, but its not the same kind of way I love the M9, and I think its mainly because this campaign was a vehicle for the world's next historical era. There's nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but it is polarizing, and a huge shift from C2. With the M9 we had 140 episodes exploring these characters and who they really were as people and where they came from and how they helped each other heal. You can't get that in just 40 episodes leading into an apocalypse speedrun. They are just two completely different kinds of campaigns. It really is a matter of taste but I'm also quite certain that if Matt could go back and do it from scratch knowing what he now knows, he might have approached this very differently. I do think even the players were left floundering and trying to understand what the narrative wanted from them. This kind of Big Picture History Story needed characters at least a little bit built to theme, I think. This is why Brennan's EXU mini-series are so successful.

Sorry if I took your post a little off topic I just suddenly had a lot of thoughts and I haven't talked about any of this yet lol.

Whatever C4 ends up being and whenever it is, I really hope we see a return of the consistent "I go over to *insert character*" that was lacking this campaign. It's something so simple but so foundational to why I love CR. It used to be so consistent and made even the most mundane things like setting up camp, night guard duty and travel something to look forward to.

I can't tell you how many of these moments with characters just simply talking to each other about anything and everything became some of my favorite moments in all of CR. I remember so many episodes where I looked forward to these breaks more than even combat or some story elements because it immersed me so much in every aspect of the campaign.

To me this is when CR is at its best, it is the foundation that separates it from other AP's and is what pulls you in and hooks you so you're equally as invested to the story or action or honestly anything just like the characters and the cast.

[ihopesocomic]

It's 2025 and it's been years since the last episode/update: can we as a species please move on from shit like MP? Every time I read about some new defense that MP fans are coming up with just so they can watch it guilt-free, I can only sit and think why? Even if the show was written decently: the creator is transphobic, she slapped multiple people (including a trans VA) with false allegations because her fweelings got hurt and she bailed rather than face criticism. Stop supporting her already.

I think the saddest part of all of this is Tribble doesn't even like her fans. So many creators in and out of the industry keep in contact with their fans because obviously without them, they wouldn't be where they're at. There's an innate gratefulness there. Tribble can't even be bothered to tell her fans that Season 2 is never happening, she's never making a comic, or whatever crumbs everyone is groveling for. I'm sure she'll be back if she needs some money from Makeship or whatever, with continuous months of no news. Is that someone who respects you? Is that someone who's worth your undying fealty?

I know a lot of her remaining fans are young teenagers who would rather watch a cartoon than read, but no one's forcing her to do a cartoon or nothing with her own content. She's already offered to write it as a book (like she also offered to do with COTW) but then she says she's only willing to do it if people subscribe to a Patreon, therefore getting fans' hopes up for no good reason. Whatever her reasons are, she certainly has enough drive to test the waters and see how far she can get by doing the least amount of work possible. Proof is in her community tab for the doubters who insist we're wrong.

Tribble always intended to leave because people were already openly criticizing her and seeing her for the person she truly was for nearly a year before we said or did anything. Because she's a thin-skinned coward and because MP wasn't raking in the opportunities she thought it would (who could've predicted this?). Her fans just don't want to accept this because 1) the mental gymnastics of blaming us for "driving her away" are too great to resist and 2) they don't actually care about what she did and actively play things down as opposed to us saying that her show isn't that great. God forbid.

You'd think that RJ having followed her work for years and us having years' worth of conversations with people who have worked for her on top of everything else out in the open would be sufficient evidence that we're not just making shit up. (Ironically, making up reasons to like/hate something is what these people excel at.)

Some have come to terms that Tribble just used them so she can get paid and bounce, but too many still have a vice grip on this embarrassing slop that only exists because Tribble has Warrior Cats views on Youtube. And since people confuse YT popularity with quality, well, we all know the ending to that sad story. Because of that mentality we get more slop like HH/HB.

The majority of these people have to make something up in their head to "defend" MP's writing, like quite literally all the "explanations" for characters' actions are 100% fabricated and was more effort than Tribble put into her own show, so how exactly do your headcanons cancel out anything that's there in front of your face? And these are the same people who have the temerity to say shows like Big Mouth and Velma are bad but MP and HH/HB are good, when MP and HH/HB are also offensive shoddily written dreck made by privileged individuals who don't care about you until they want more money from you.

And then people want to turn around and say IHS sucks because it's "not realistic" (even though we've never said we're trying to be realistic) or "just like Warrior Cats or TLK". Pick a real reason to not like our comic, I'm begging. If our comic was "just like Warrior Cats", hell they'd probably like it because it would have no gays and enough ableism to last them a quarter of a century, ha. But I'm clearly not interested in pandering to these smooth-brained goons whose highest standard for xenofiction is "no gays", if they can even get as far as opening so much as a Kindle or Audible app.

And I don't feel bad for saying this. Even other once-fans of MP can concur that current day MP stans are some of the most homophobic, transphobic, sexist, ableist, victim-blamey trash we've ever had the misfortune of giving the benefit of the doubt. (It's no wonder why they like the show so much because the characters - like Hover - enable this kind of atrocious behavior.) Quite a few of these testimonies are on our review alone. And I'm over it. The shit that's going on in the world has driven me to be exponentially less tolerant.

We now live in a point in time where being LGBT+ is considered a legit federal offense and we're just done. Some of you can piss and moan all you want when we say "no" and block you when 90% of your complaints about our comic concern it being LGBT+ and the other 10% is made-up or incorrect nonsensical bullshit that isn't worth writing on toilet paper. Why should we listen to you exactly? Why should we take everything out of this comic that - whether you like it or not - provides solace to people just to satisfy your bigotry that you try and hide behind a veil of pretentiousness? Get fucked. lol

And I am beyond tired having to keep explaining this to people who appear to not be used to the idea that maybe the thing they like has a ton of problems that far outweigh anything good about it. But then they go ahead and take it personally, because people are so chronically online, their identity is welded to "entertainment". Bot behavior, truly.

Even the existence of I Hope So is tainted, simply because MP was so indefensibly awful about queer/disabled representation. IHS shouldn't need to exist, but because of people like this it has to. Some people just want to read something that has animals, queer rep, and no ableism. But to some of these people, we may as well have killed their dog in front of them. We have seen people who have all but made it their life's mission to purposely misconstrue the whole comic. They should thank whatever space fairy they pray to that they're a bunch of nobodies whose only value is being a lolcow.

The best thing I can hope for these people is them moving the fuck on to literally anything else. They'd be happier for it, or less miserable at the very least. There has been so many good comics and cartoons to come out over the last 4 years. Maybe if people removed their head from their ass for two seconds, they'd manage to see some of it. - Cat

[basmala260]

For the sake of valentine's day, Kagiura's love for Hirano

We spend most of our time analyzing the characters and some of the more obscure scenes, so let's take a moment to appreciate what's already clear,

One of my favorite things that he's not trying to make Hirano love him blindly, he's trying to make Hirano love him, not someone else, he's not trying to show Hirano a better person or someone who suits Hirano since their personalities are far from each other, This is where it comes to light that Kagiura tries to show Hirano "how awesome he really is"

but he doesn't show himself flawless either, he doesn't feel embarrassed to show Hirano his worst, he always tries to be awesome, but when something bad happens, we can't find him doing anything but complaining to hirano.

Kagiura tries to face the complexities of their relationship, not avoid them, He cherishes Hirano so much that he fears the accumulation of these complications, In chapter 15, even though he knows that being jealous over something dumb is a bad thing, but he still talks about it, even if it ends up with Hirano accidentally hurting his feelings.

Some may not agree on this point, but I'm talking about the complexities of their "relationship" and not "his own feelings", he knows full well that his feelings hurting him is his problem, and nothing to do with Hirano, he tries to keep Hirano away from worrying about his feelings (Kagiura's) as much as possible, and starts thinking about his own feelings, So he doesn't try to force his feelings on him like some say, giving Hirano this much time to think, just because he thinks he has other chances, and because he knows that Hirano sees him only as a younger brother and only cared about him, so he forgot to think about his own feelings.

Yes, the most obvious feature of Kagiura's whole personality is how childish it is, but he doesn't just want to be like his parents, he wants to have his own story, but at least he can realize that his parents are everything to each other, And that's what fascinates Kagiura the most, so Kagiura's idea of being away from Hirano seems impossible, because he can't imagine how he would be happy without him. He keeps saying how much he loves Hirano, to show him that he has someone who considers him the world to them, it's a painful feeling for him but a beautiful feeling to know, so he always tries to convey it to Hirano, I'm not sure about the idea of Hirano's platonic love for him, but I know that Kagiura will love him no matter what he chooses, Because that's what makes him special, his love and his desires are very childish.

[deception-united]

hi! do u have any prompts or tips for writing miscommunication?

Hi, thanks for asking! Miscommunication is such a powerful tool in storytelling—it can create tension, humor, heartbreak, disaster, deepen conflict, and make relationships feel more real, all depending on how you use it. Here are some tips and ideas!

1. Give them a reason to misunderstand.

Miscommunication isn’t just about bad hearing or unclear words—it’s about perspective. Each character brings their own biases, fears, and assumptions into a conversation, which shapes how they interpret things.

Examples:

Misreading the other’s tone as disinterest or rudeness, or taking sarcasm seriously.

Being too embarrassed to ask for clarification and pretending to understand.

Hearing part of a conversation and assuming the worst before getting the full story.

2. Use context & distractions to twist the meaning.

Realistic miscommunication often happens because of outside factors, like background noise, stress, exhaustion, or missing context. If your character is in a high-stakes situation, they may be more likely to misinterpret things.

Examples:

Two characters are arguing, and one storms off before hearing the other’s explanation.

A message is delivered at the worst possible time, leading to an unintended misunderstanding.

Assuming they’re being talked about when the topic is something or someone else entirely.

3. Non-verbal miscommunication.

Miscommunication can come from texts, body language, cultural differences, or even personal insecurities—it doesn’t always have to be verbal.

Examples:

Assuming a friend is ignoring them when they’re actually distracted or dealing with something else.

Sending a message to the wrong person.

A nervous laugh at the wrong time, making it seem like they’re mocking someone’s pain.

4. Let it snowball, but not forever.

A small miscommunication can grow into something huge, but at some point, it should ideally be resolved. The longer it lasts, the more consequences it will have, which may be what you’re going for, but it also makes it more frustrating for the reader.

Examples:

Holding a grudge for months over a misunderstanding.

One person finally explains the truth, but the other is too stubborn to believe them—until undeniable proof forces them to see it.

5. Use miscommunication to reveal character flaws.

How your characters handle (or fail to handle) miscommunication can reveal a lot about them. Do they get defensive? Do they double down? Do they laugh it off? Their reaction can reveal a lot about their personality.

Examples:

Always assuming the worst and jumping to conclusions.

Refusing to admit they misunderstood and instead blaming the other person.

Habit of overexplaining, making things even more confusing.

Hope this helped! For more specific prompts, feel free to check out my previous post, linked here.

[ghost--reader]

Lost Fics!

hi! im kiana, this is a list of some cod fics that I loved and would like to revisit but i can't find them anywhere. please tag me, comment or reblogs this post if ever you might find one that fits the description or even just comment or reblogs the name of the author, thank you so much for reading, sorry for the bad english it's not my first language.

1. Writer!reader X Husband!ghost

- the reader is an author that writes accurate fight scenes with the help of her husbands input

This one has been found!!!! Thank you so much vinta4geroses! The lost fic is actually by the author sunni-stuff.

2. Dead?ghost x reader

- i didn't get to finish this one 😞😞😞 but the story so far was that ghost died leaving behind his wife and their son (baby at the time) leo and time passes by and their son is older but the reader believes ghost will come back home and reader rejects all suitors, refusing to move on then some guy called anthony(? i think) tells the son (leo) that he needs a dad (and a bunch of other insulting comments) and leo squares up. i don't know what happens next because I never got to finish reading it before I had to do something else and for some reason my tumblr closed on it's own and i forgot to like the post and now im like three seconds away from a breakdown pls help 😭😭😭