#that I have any faith in executing anyway

[wickedtrio]

writing throuples is my bread and butter yall but I will never be able to actually conceptualize a gelphiyero/gliyeraba "fix it" fic because so much of the beauty of their relationship(s) is that it's doomed from the beginning AND the fact that this doesn't matter, because loving each other for even just moments at a time (and never truly all together) is still worthwhile (they're changed for good anyway)... and to take that away from them would be to take away their arcs and the footprint of change—and love through change—that they leave on each other forever. they would not be the same characters we love had they not met each other, but they also wouldn't be the same if they weren't able to experience both love and loss with one another

[depresseddepot]

I'm reading the winternight trilogy by katherine arden and I gotta be honest, I am obsessed with whatever fucked up nonsense konstantin has got going on

[historical-fashion-polls]

your blog is great but its a small sliver of the reason why studios will not care about period dress in film. like 9/10 before voting i already can pick which one is leading based on how silhouettes and other things that are consider more goofy to do in modern times. its not your fault and im not upset but i find it interesting even when looking at historical dress we still see it through a lense of modern styles and almost subconsciously probably prefer what looks more familiar. and well when you got hot actresses executives dont want them to actually dress like theyre speeve maxxing in 1896 bc sex sells of something idk

hi there anon,

I've spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to respond to this message, because I genuinely always try to assume that all asks are sent with the best intentions, but to be honest, I'm having a really hard time seeing this as anything but a bad faith reading of the blog

as I've mentioned many times, I run this blog entirely for fun and because people enjoy it. I've always intended it as a place for joy and whimsy where people can play pretend and imagine themselves wearing lovely garments from the past

if you read the notes of the polls and many of the asks that have been sent to the blog, I think you'll find there's actually a great diversity of opinion on garments from every era. many people have mentioned that the blog has even given them a better sense of the trajectory of historical fashion and has helped them improve their skills in dating garments

even if the majority of people almost always do pick the garment that is most resonant with modern sensibilities (which (1) I'm not totally convinced of, and (2) which is rather a subjective judgement anyway), the real goal here is that people have fun and get to enter an imaginative headspace where they can picture themselves wearing the various garments

there is definitely space for a conversation about what historical accuracy actually *means* and where we do and don't see it in media and why that might be the case, but to be honest I have a very hard time seeing how my little for-fun blog has any relevance to or influence over larger cultural tendencies in major media. if anything, people's responses to the polls are an outgrowth of opinions and ideas about historical fashion that are already extant in the cultural space, not something formed independently by the existence of the blog or by the experience of participating in the polls

I'm not sure how else to conclude except to say that I'm sorry that you feel this way about the blog and – at the risk of being too honest – I'm sorry you felt the need to tell me, because this did ruin my day a little 💔

[drabblesandimagines]

Hi there, I would like to request Cloud, if thats okay. A sparring session that leads into an unexpected kiss?

Just read you are feeling under the weather, hope you feel better soon!

Sweet anon, I'm sorry this took me literally months! Please lemme know what you think x

It’s late as you leave your room at Stargazer Heights, pulling the door closed behind you with a gentle click. The weight of your new sword still feels unnervingly foreign on your back as you head down the stairs carefully, not wanting to disturb any of your neighbours’ sleep with your heavy footfalls.

Just because you couldn’t sleep didn’t mean theirs should suffer in return.

Your beloved, trusty sword, after many years of faithful service in the Watch, had snapped clean in two after a particularly good thwack against a hard-shelled creature whilst on a job in the scrapyard earlier that day. If that wasn’t enough, it just had to happen in front of Cloud Strife, the blonde ex-Soldier who had joined the Avalanche ranks - temporarily, at least – and who you were somewhat hoping to impress with your mastery of the blade as common ground over the past few weeks.

“You’d be good for him, you know?” Tifa had teased over the bar one night, catching you staring a little too long as he sat down the opposite end, nursing a drink. You’d have told her to hush if Barret’s voice wasn’t booming around the establishment, meaning you were lucky to have even heard her comment in the first place.

Instead, you answer flustered. “What? I… He’s your… No!”

“I don’t like him like that, sweetie.” She’d reassured, patting your hand with a smile. “Plus, I’m pretty sure he likes you.”

“Me?” You scoff, shaking your head. “I don’t think he’s aware I exist, not with how Jessie has been all over him.”

“Mm.” Tifa purses her lips in thought before they pulled back into a knowing smile – she’d caught the merc’s gaze flickering in your direction before it settled back on the drink before him. “No, I think Cloud’s warming up to you. Let me see what I can do.”

“Tifa-“

Biggs’ warm hand wrapped around your arm and tugged you up from the bar and away from your protest in an instant. “Come on, you owe me a rematch and I’ve finally convinced Wedge to let us have a round.”

You concede, destroying Biggs at darts once again would be a good distraction from the blonde at the bar. Besides, what could Tifa do anyway?

--

What Tifa could do, apparently, was make it so whenever Cloud took on a job, Biggs or Wedge would insist you tag along to help him navigate the area – sometimes with Tifa, sometimes without – and that’s what had led you to today, stuck deep within the scrapyard with a broken blade.

You’d never been any good with your fists, nor could aim a gun straight – despite tips from Tifa and Biggs over the years – so, reluctantly, you’d been relegated to the back line for the rest of the outing. At the most, you could fling a spell or two from the materia still equipped in the broken hilt when you could.

Unfortunately, it meant you didn’t have anything really to defend yourself with whilst the materia recharged. A nasty hit from a retreating drake had sent you tumbling backwards, head literally over heels. It dived back down at you, realizing you were now easy prey, ready to go for a nasty bite when a certain blonde merc’s sword dug into its side, sending it flying over in Tifa’s direction who finished it off with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick – all before your life could flash before your eyes.

“Are you okay?” Cloud crouches in front of you, his sword already sheathed, and places a hand on your arm as he awaits your answer. His expression, usually stoic and unreadable, is marred by a slight furrow in his brow as he looks you over with concerned Mako-blue eyes.

He must find you at least tolerable, you’d decided, as he didn’t seem to protest as much when you joined them on jobs like this around the slums.

Though maybe not ever again after today’s pathetic display.

“Yeah,” you nod, feeling foolish. “Still in one piece. Thanks for that.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shrugs and gets to his feet, offering you his hand in assistance.

You take it, relishing the feeling as his gloved fingers wrap around your palm. He pulls you up with a little too much gusto – or maybe underestimates his own strength - sending you stumbling forward. You try and catch your balance, only to find your hand placed firmly against his chest, his other hand now on the small of your back in alarm.

“Uh…”

“S-sorry,” you stutter out and retreat back, bowing your head as your face feels horrendously warm. Somewhere behind you, Tifa poorly attempts to hide a giggle.

“It’s fine.” His tone is back to his usual curt manner. “Come on - we should head back.” And without another word, Cloud spins on his heels and storms off ahead.

“Cloud, wait up!” Tifa calls, threading her arm through yours to pull you along with her. “He’ll get there – don’t worry.”

--

You’d taken the blade in to the weapons store below the Watch’s HQ after reporting in, Cloud and Tifa following behind. The proprietor dutifully inspected it for a few moments before deeming it beyond reasonable repair - said he could re-forge it, but it would only last a hit or two before it snapped in two again and he didn’t want the bad advertisement. He’d offered some gil for the scrap metal value and waved to the selection of his ready-made wares. Even with the gil he’d proposed and from your own pocket, the prices made your eyes water.

“Can I pay in instalments?”

He scoffs.

“You know I’m good for it.”

“This ain’t a charity, kid.”

“Here.” Cloud had stepped forward then, placing a pouch of gil on the counter. “That should cover it.”

“What?” Your eyes widened in disbelief. Cloud had been hounding Tifa and Barret for his pay for days and you knew he still hadn’t received all of it yet. “No, I couldn’t – that’s yours.”

“You need a weapon.” He shrugs, Tifa bouncing on her heels behind him at his act of generosity, a told you so smile plastered across her face. “Pay me back in instalments, if you want. I don’t care.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods, crossing his arms. “You’re good with a blade, it would be a waste for you not to have one.”

Your scalp tingles at the compliment.

The blades all felt lighter - maybe you’d grown stronger over time? - though they were thinner in width in comparison to your old blade. You’d performed a cautionary test swing of each towards the back of the shop but they all felt off, unbalanced. Begrudgingly, one felt a little less odd to wield so you’d settled with that, thankful it was a mid-range price of the selection so you hadn’t needed the entirety of Cloud’s gil pouch.

“I’ll pay you back as soon as I can – I promise.”

Cloud shrugs, as usual.

--

You swing at the tower of boxes you’d assembled in the middle of the wasteland, trying to be precise and knock out the one in the middle, but as soon as you release the momentum you nearly lose your balance, missing entirely. If you were in combat, it would’ve been a pathetic sight to behold. Thankfully, you were the only one to wit-

“Hi.”

You jump, spinning on your heels to face the blonde mercenary, holding your blade aloft in a defensive stance to an unimpressed face.

“Cloud! Hi.” Your heart is pounding at his sudden arrival – how could you not have heard him approaching? You lower your blade to rest on the floor. “Sorry, did I wake you when I left?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep so I heard you leave.” He folds his arms, looking a little displeased. “You shouldn’t be out here on your own, you know? It’s not safe.”

“I wanted to get some practice in, that’s all.” You look down at the sword in your hand in demonstration. “There’s been no more wererats here since you cleaned out the nest either, so it’s safe enough.”

“It’s not just fiends I’m talking about.”

That’s true – unfortunately, you weren’t a complete stranger to the troopers that often patrolled the slums. All it took was one to recognize your face and you’d be dragged to Shinra HQ faster than you could blink.

“I really need to get used to the weight, though. Barret wants to strike any day and-“

“Fine. I’ll spar with you.”

You weren’t expecting that. “Really?”

“Why not?” He reaches back for his sword, before swinging it out in front of him playfully. “Unless you’re scared.”

You bite your lip in a smile. “Bring it on, Strife.”

Cloud holds back at first, acting more as a training dummy for you to swing at. He doesn’t even need to deflect any of your blows at the beginning, but as you become familiar with the weight and how the new blade swings, finally he starts to raise his sword in return, the sound of metal clashing echoing through the air before one firm blow sends you toppling back, the Buster Sword now inches above your neck.

“Better.” He pulls back his sword and offers you his hand, which you gratefully accept, bracing yourself for his strength this time to avoid what had happened that afternoon. “Try again.”

You’re not sure how much time passes like that, but steadily your confidence in your weapon grows and it turns into a proper sparring bout, both giving it your absolute all. As your blades clash, crossed in front of each other’s faces, you risk a smile at the blonde merc. Suddenly, Cloud’s forearms lose their tension, meaning you get an upperhand you were not expecting. You swing your sword out to the right and fall forward, Cloud toppling backwards, his sword to his right, and his head smacking into the ground as you fall on top of him.

“Oh… Shiva,” you gasp, heart pounding, your thighs somehow straddling around his. “Are you hurt?”

Cloud doesn’t reply, staring up at you in bemusement as he tries to catch his breath.

“Cloud?” You lean down, planting your hands either side of his head for balance.

He lifts his head, suddenly, and presses a kiss to your lips.

Your arms go limp and you drop into his embrace, his arm wrapping around your waist to hold you close as you return the kiss, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, fingers curling into his blonde hair, blissfully lost in the moment until there is an odd, inhuman sound from behind you.

Cloud sits bolt upright, twisting you as he does so you’re sat in his lap, one arm still wrapped tightly around your waist and, somehow, the Buster Sword back in his other hand as he holds it out in defense.

A cat sits a few meters in front of the two of you, flicking its tail back and forth curiously. You feel his muscles relax beneath your touch at the realization. You get to your feet then, grabbing your blade as you do so and securing it against your back. Though you feel flustered, you can’t turn down the opportunity to offer Cloud an assisting hand this time.

To your delight, he accepts, somehow twisting it as he stands in order to intertwine your fingers within his.

“We… We, er, should get back.” He mumbles.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He leads you back through the tunnel, silently, fingers still laced, and back towards Stargazer Heights. You climb the stairs together before he brings you to a stop outside your door, hesitating. Your stomach twists – does he regret what happened? Are you just to wake up tomorrow morning and it will feel like nothing but a dream?

A firm squeeze of your hand brings you back to the present, as if he could read your thoughts. “I’ve been thinking about that for a while.” Cloud whispers, cautious of his voice carrying through the neighbours’ door. “It’s… unfortunate that we were interrupted.”

You place a hand on your door handle and smile, coyly. “Would you like to come in?”

Cloud smirks. “Do you have any pets?”

--

Masterlist . Requests welcome . Commissions/Ko-Fi

Comments, follows, likes and reblogs make my day!

[fabydoll]

❛ . . . THE PREFECT TROPHY WIFE .ᐟ

ϑϱ⭒ ݁ waring ৎ ݁ ۪AU, dilf | himbo! jk ౨ৎ single daddy! jk ౨ৎ toxic behaviors ౨ৎ billionaire! jk ౨ৎ mentions of a milf | cougar! lisa ౨ৎ implied large age gap ౨ৎ implied foreigner! oc

masterlist ♡ next ♡

Jungkook was barely able to keep his large doe eyes from fluttering shut; he wasn't at all used to this—to any of this, from the countless and tiring meetings with the most boring and bland individuals he's ever met, to planning and making plans to better help maintain the company and keep investors interested. To keeping this multi-billion empire he had inherited running afloat, if he was going to be honest, he missed the days when all he had to do was look pretty and have crowds of people adore him.

Having no worries, no cares in the world, being free.

"Mr. Jeon, Mr. Jeon, Mr. Jeon!" His secretary annoyingly yelled, snapping Jungkook awake from his reverie, snapping back to his much more boring reality. He gave everyone in the conference room an apologetic yet charismatic smile.

Immediately going into handsome older CEO mode.

"Yes? Chaerin, is there something you wanted to tell me?" Jungkook smoothly asked, giving her his iconically heart-stopping gorgeous smile, totally acting as if he hadn't almost fallen asleep in the meeting, missing half of everything that was going on.

"Um… um, yeah, um," Chaerin stumbled, trying to collect her thoughts together, her cheeks flustered as she fumbled with the documents.

"So, ahem," she cleared her throat, adding an awkward chuckle, "INUV wants you to sign the documents to begin the process of expanding our companies together." Jungkook nodded; he only about half understood what she was talking about, but as Chaerin was handing him the papers to sign, she stopped—getting lost in his big, beautiful, doe-warm chocolate brown eyes.

Was he even real?

"Chaerin, Chaerin, Chaerin, Chaerin! The documents?! Please!" Chaerin's cheeks flushed an even brighter red than before. Jungkook just snatched the papers out of her hands, mumbling yet loud enough, "I swear, secretaries these days always thinking you're in love with them or something."

Everyone in the luxurious, opulent conference room laughed, some hiding their giggles under the table, their briefcases, or hands.

Chaerin just quietly and embarrassingly plopped herself back in her seat.

"Here," Jungkook said, handing the documents back to a disgraced Chaerin, who, without looking up from the ground, gave it to one of the INUV executives, who was still trying to hold back his laugh.

Jungkook cleared his throat while adjusting the buttons on his designer Italian suit, clapping his muscular and tattooed hands to get everyone's attention back on him. "Anyways, besides that little interruption," side-eyeing Chaerin, "it was an honor to do business with you all, and we promise to do nothing but our absolute best."

He ended by shaking hands with the lead executive before walking out as everyone clapped, with Chaerin clumsily following behind him. He needed to get back to his office to finish some more paperwork that would officially finalize the deal, not before stopping to give one of his employees his autograph.

Then, after that, head to Sweet Bears, his favorite bar, to relax and unwind.

Jungkook was already in the elevator about to push his own private floor number, but midway stopped, hearing Chaerin's annoying high-pitched voice yelling, "MR. JEON!!"

He cursed himself for not going faster, silently praying that those doors closed before she could make it in.

But God only hears those who are faithful.

She slipped in before the elevator doors could close, huffing a bit from the fact she literally sprinted in heels to get into the elevator with Jungkook. He rolled his eyes; he thought after absolutely embarrassing her at the conference, maybe she would quit.

But no.

Jungkook internally groaned as he felt her seductively eyeing him up and down, biting her lips as she held her files close to her chest. He felt like he was being sexually harassed. Chaerin was an amazing secretary, and she knew how to do her job; if he was being honest, without her, the company would probably have already lost a few million.

But her infatuation and borderline obsession with Jungkook was either a reason he would fire her or the reason he would snap her in half once he got fed up with her.

The only reason why she was still here was that she happened to be one of Jungkook's biggest investors and his father's best friend's daughter.

There was an awkward moment of silence with the background of smooth jazz playing, as Chaerin still eyed him like he was the finest eye candy she had ever seen, which he was, but still.

"Miss Shin, hope there's nothing wrong for you to have come running in the elevator like that," Jungkook said through gritted teeth as he plastered

a fake smile on his gorgeous face.

She didn't even deserve to have him give her one of his beautiful fake smiles.

Chaerin giggled, a stupid one, and twirled her hair as she held her paperwork close to her chest. "Nothing much, I was just going to ask you if you were off tonight?" she said as she bit her lips with a seductive, flirtatious gaze.

Ever since Jungkook's private divorce from the wealthy and powerful businesswoman Lisa Manoban, young girls, older women, and men of all ages have been throwing themselves all over Jungkook.

Lisa Manoban is one of the most influential self-made entrepreneurs in all of Asia, having multiple companies that are each worth billions of dollars. When I say she has power, she has power. She met Jungkook through a mutual friend; at first, Jungkook was her pretty himbo sugar baby before deciding to marry him at his 20th birthday party in Bali.

She was the breadwinner and wanted Jungkook to stay at home and be her pretty trophy husband and house husband that she could flaunt his beauty and youthfulness to all her other rich older milfs and cougar friends. Having someone young and as beautiful as Jungkook depended on you was a new type of power, one that Lisa had never felt before. It was addicting—so was his sex power in bed, because damn, was he truly gifted by Adonis himself.

Who knew a guy could taste so sweet in bed?

And also, all the bragging rights that come with having a pretty himbo, boy toy, beauty pageant king, and supermodel as your trophy husband and house husband.

But after giving birth to their adorable toddler, Kwan, they quietly separated but did not publicly divorce. But people still thought they were married and happily threw themselves at the new handsome but beautiful now DILF Jungkook.

Who could blame them?

He still looked as handsome as ever, looking like he was still in his 20s (and acted like he was still in his 20s), now just being a hot young DILF. He aged like fine wine, being as attractive and charming as ever with his fit and muscular physique and flawless golden-tanned skin.

He still kinda looked like the beautiful and young, naive doe-eyed himbo trophy husband he used to be.

"I'm actually very, very busy tonight. It's my 4-year-old son Kwan's school recital tonight, and I promised him that me and mommy would take him out for ice cream. I also have some work at the office I need to attend to," Jungkook said, lying through his teeth. Kwan was with Lisa in Thailand, as it was her week with him.

"Oh, um, that's totally fine. Maybe we can—" Jungkook had already walked out of the elevator, and the elevator had already closed before Chaerin could finish her sentence.

He needed to find some way to fire her.

Quickly.

Sweet Beer was his favorite beer parlor and bar. He remembered how, when he was young, he would skip class just to come to the parlor with friends and pick up girls, flirting with the cute waitresses that would end up in his bed later that night.

He couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes at the memories while driving there.

Those were the good times, when he didn't have a single care in the world.

Ting! The small bell rang as Jungkook walked in, causing the 50-year-old woman to turn around to see who it was, immediately stopping her sweeping, dropping the broom and happily running to him, arms wide open, like a mother who hadn't seen her son in years.

Koko!! You came!" Mrs. Yun happily yelled.

Jungkook happily embraced Mrs. Yun as they rocked back and forth, unable to hold back the overwhelming feelings of joy they felt; it felt like years since they had last seen each other. "Mrs. Yun—Eomma! How could I not come!?" Jungkook said as they kissed each other on the cheek.

As Jungkook pulled back from the hug, Mrs. Yun cupped his cheeks, holding his beautiful face in her hands. She felt like she was about to cry; it felt like yesterday when a 16-year-old Jungkook would run away from home to come to her bar shop, complaining about the unbelievable pressure his parents were putting on him and how he wanted to run away.

She was always the one to comfort and reassure him that with time everything would get better.

Here he was now, all gowned up, married with a kid of his own; time had gone by so fast. "Oh, Koko," she sweetly said, giving him another big, tight hug before letting go and wiping her tears with her apron. Jungkook sighed, adding a small laugh. "Eomma, don't tell me you're getting emotional?"

"Me? Getting emotional? No, no, I'm just shocked you've grown up to be such a gorgeous young man," she said, having a pretty sappy tone in her voice. Jungkook smiled a little. "But enough talk about the past, how's you and Lisa going? Is everything going well? Hope she isn't giving you any trouble. And Kwan too, how's my Kiki doing?"

Jungkook just let out an awkward laugh; he hadn't told Mrs. Yun about the divorce—not yet anyway. He was still a bit shocked by it, truthfully, and still didn't know how to tell anyone about it. Knowing how Mrs. Yun was, she would probably let it spill to his parents, and for a fact, all hell would break loose then.

"Everything is going good; it's going extremely well actually, and Lisa and Kwan are doing great," Jungkook said, giving her one of his gorgeous fake smiles. Mrs. Yun gave him a look; she always had the motherly ability to tell if he was lying. "Are you sure, Koko? If something is going on, you talk to me."

"No, I promise Eomma, everything is grea—" The sound of crashing glass hitting the floor and breaking cut Jungkook off, who looked to Mrs. Yun for what or who caused that sound. Mrs. Yun just chuckled. "Don't mind that; it's just my new barista."

"New barista?" Jungkook knew every single barista that worked here—totally just from encounters and not sleeping with them.

So, who was that?

Mrs. Yun pulled him by the arm towards the bar. For someone who was in her late 50s, she was strong, especially considering how much Jungkook worked out and how tall he was. Jungkook looked at Mrs. Yun; was someone supposed to just appear? Mrs. Yun just winked at him.

"Y/n, dear, I have someone I want you to meet."

At first, it looked like she was talking to no one. Jungkook was about to ask her if she had forgotten her medication yet again.

But then a beautiful young girl appeared from the door by the bar. She had long and somewhat curly yet straight golden blonde hair with beautiful and angelic lightly sun-kissed skin, with some of the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen; they were completely two different colors.

"Yes, Mrs. Yun?" she softly asked as she carried more empty glasses of beer, almost dropping them on the counter. Giving both Mrs. Yun and Jungkook an apologetic smile, Mrs. Yun just smiled excitedly, introducing them to each other. "Meet Mr. Jeon and Jungkook, my love, meet Y/n, my new stunning barista!"

The sun-kissed girl just blushed as she heard Mrs. Yun call her a 'stunning barista,' before extending one of her small and dainty hands to Jungkook, shyly saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jeon," who shook it, holding her delicate hand in both of his bigger and larger hands before kissing it, mumbling against her soft skin.

"The pleasure is all mine."

BOUNS ੭ ꒰ for all my ogs before my account got deleted 😭꒱

Jungkook was barely able to keep his eyes open, he wasn't used to this at all, as his executive was talking about the 3.4 billion won deal, they had with a company that would love to partner up with them. He never liked meetings, but they were important to keep his multi-billion empire running a float. "So, Mr. Jeon do you have anything else you would like to add?" His secretary chirped out as she was giving INUV inc. the paperwork to sign.

"No, I have nothing else to add. But it's an honor to do business with you and we promise to do our absolute best." Jungkook said using his 'boss voice' as he shook hands with INUV's executive.

As everyone in the luxurious, opulent conference room clapped.

As soon as the meeting was over, he made his way to the elevator he needed to get back to his office to finish some more paperwork that would finalize the deal, but his secretary, Chaerin, voice stopped him as he was entering the elevator.

"MR. JEON!!"

He silently prayed that those doors closed before she could make it in.

But not all prayers come true.

She ran in before the elevator doors could close, Chaerin was an amazing secretary and she knew how to do her job well but her infatuation with Jungkook was either a, be the reason he fires her or b, the reason he fires her.

The only reason why she is still here is because she happens to be one of Jungkook's biggest investors and best friend's daughter.

"Miss Shin, hope there's nothing wrong. For, you to have come running in the elevator like that." Jungkook said through gritted teeth as he plastered a fake smile on his gorgeous face.

Chaerin giggled and twirled her hair as she held her paperwork close to her chest. "Nothing much, I was just going to ask you if you were off tonight?" she said as she bit her lips while eyeing him up and down with a flirtatious gaze.

Ever since, Jungkook's divorce with the Lisa Manoban, young girls, older women and men of all ages have been throwing themselves all over Jungkook.

When he was still married to Lisa, she was the one who was the breadwinner, with her owning large companies and being a supermodel.

She wanted Jungkook to stay at home and be her pretty trophy husband and house husband that she could flaunt his beauty and enjoy his sex power in bed.

Due to the fact that when Jungkook was in his youth he was a pretty himbo and boy toy when he first met her and had won multiple beauty pageants and was supermodel too.

But times have changed (kinda).

He still looked as handsome as ever, looking like he was still in his 20s (and acted like he was still in his 20s) with him now just being a hot young DILF.

He aged like fine wine, with him being as attractive and charming as ever with his fit physique and flawless golden tanned skin.

He still kinda looked like the handsome and young, naive himbo trophy husband he used to be.

"I'm actually very busy tonight it's my 4-year-old son, Kwan, um school recital tonight and I have some work at the office I need to attend too." Jungkook said lying through his teeth, Kwan was with Lisa, as it was her week with him.

"Oh, um that's fine maybe we can-" Jungkook had already walked out of the elevator and the elevator had already closed before Chaerin could finish her sentence.

He needed to find a way to fire her. Quickly.

But first he needed a beer.

Sweet Beer was his favorite beer parlor and bar. He remembered how when he was young, he would skip class just to come to the parlor with friends and pick up girls. And flirt with the cute waitresses that would end up in his bed later that night.

He couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes at the memories while driving there.

Those were the good times, where he didn't have a single care in the world.

"Koko!! You came" Mrs. Yun happily yelled as soon as she saw he was entering the door, hearing the ding from the bells up on the door.

"Mrs. Yun! How could I not come!?" he happily said as they kissed each other on the cheek and embraced, Mrs. Yun was just like a second mother to Jungkook, she was there for him even when his own mother couldn't be there for him.

"Well, you know how much it makes me happy to see you come here, it's been such a long time!" Mrs. Yun said as she pinched his cheek. The parlor had been going a little slower than usual, but Jungkook's presence had really brightened up her mood.

"I know, I know it's been such a long time and I'm sorry it's just the divorce with Lisa, work and Kwan along with everything that's been going on lately."

"I know it must be so stressful, but come I want you to meet someone special" Mrs. Yun said as she pulled him, for someone that was in her late 50s she was strong, especially considering how much Jungkook worked out and how tall he was.

She pulled him until they were at the cashier, Jungkook looked at Mrs. Yun who just wink at him.

"Y/n, dear, met Mr. Jeon."

At first it looked like she was talking to no one, Jungkook was about to ask her if she had forgotten her medication again.

But then a beautiful young girl came out of the big walking closet/cabinet near the cash register, she had long silky hair and some of the most beautiful eyes Jungkook had ever seen.

"Yes, Mrs. Yun?" she softly asked as she carried more empty glasses of beer where she placed them on the counter.

"Meet Mr. Jeon and Jungkook, my love, met Y/n my new stunning barista!"

Y/n blushed as she heard Mrs. Yun call her a 'stunning barista', Jungkook couldn't help but to smile too, something he hadn't done for a long time, as he saw her cute cheeks turn a light pink blush.

She was so cute and pretty at the same time.

Maybe, Mrs. Yun was right she was someone special.

𝜗℘ㅤׁㅤ. . fabrianna's thoughts . . . yellow! I'M BACK! after my account got deleted i knew i still wanted to continue "the perfect trophy wife" series but changed a few things, like the first chapter i wanted to make it longer and with much more thought, detail and dialog. and i'm pretty happy with the finale result, tell me which one is better the original or new one? planning on doing the same thing with second chapter "Sweets of deals" but still don't know. i promise this time i won't just disappear and plan on releasing more ꒰ like a fanfic i'm currently with a dilf cop taehyung꒱ but anyway hope yall enjoy, toddles.

𝜗℘ㅤׁㅤ. . taglist . . . n/a

[itsabouttimex2]

“You need to do better.”

(This gets vitriolic, and is a full-blown criticism of Macaque’s portrayal in Season Four and Five. If criticism of a character/franchise you like upsets you, I do not recommend reading.)

Wow. I had no faith in his character writing, and I’m STILL disappointed.

And it only took one episode! How impressive!

Macaque, who has put in ZERO on-screen effort to become a better person or make amends to his victims, is criticizing Wukong for being a bad mentor! And does Wukong criticize him back? NOPE!

After getting screamed at and berated, does Wukong defend himself? NOPE!

Ooh, but there was a second long reference in a dual yelling match that mentioned that Macaque was a genuinely bad person who took glee in hurting innocent people! Oh, fucking delightful! Ooh, Wukong even points out in one episode that Macaque goes without consequences!

Pointing out a flaw in your writing does not make it less of a flaw.

Macaque will always be allowed to do whatever he wants to anyone he wants- power theft, attempted murder, insults, deceit, assault-

And the narrative and characters will never hold him accountable or force Macaque to look inwards or become a better person.

Macaque will always fall upwards into redemption without any obstacles or pushback.

There will never be a struggle to goodness with a satisfying conclusion. There will never be a moment where falters in his newfound goodness and questions going back to his old ways. There will never be explicit remorse or regret. He will never have deep introspections on his crimes and atrocities that provide a reason for him to want to change.

The sum of his “arc” will always be “you were a good guy all along”, and that lack of depth is where it will stay.

RIP Seasons 1-3 Macaque. You were fun and interesting and cool and lovable.

But the man they replaced you with was destined to be a boring and brooding “anti-hero” who has no real connection to the actions you selfishly and violently performed with your own two hands-

And you will always be a less interesting character for it.

The execution of the actual arc boils down to a single heroic (but ultimately self-serving) moment and then Macaque is immediately forgiven for all the crimes he’s committed and is a magically better person without any effort and nothing he’s done is ever brought up again.

It severely weakens any character’s arc to cut them off from their past actions. If MK forgot his traumas every season instead of carrying them forward- we’d all agree that doing so was a case of poor writing.

It was the reason that people disliked Mei’s portrayal in Season Four- she immediately moved on from the Samadhi Fire arc and “no longer wielded it” after spending a whole season gathering and learning to use it.

Why can’t we agree that it’s bad for Macaque, too?

You can’t “develop” a character by dropping an entire plotline and writing it off with one line.

You can’t “redeem” a character by pretending that they were a good person right from the start.

Sorry, bud.

I really did like you. I just wish I could like your writing.

——————

And, what is more clear to me now than ever?

People only defended Macaque’s shitty writing because they think he’s hot.

I know this now, because I’ve seen white-hot Li Jing arc hatred from fervent Macaque arc defenders.

So we all agree that an “I didn’t really mean it!” isn’t an excuse to abuse the people around you? That you don’t get to mistreat innocent people just because you’re stressed and upset?

Hmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

I wonder why people despise Jing for his dogshit “one nice thing redeems all your bad actions” arc but love Macaque for his??

(Because they think the monkey is hot.)

The funny thing, though?

Li Jing apologizes to at least one of the victims of his actions. He expresses regret and remorse.

Macaque doesn’t even have that.

——————

Anyways here’s a line that I hate because Macaque has in no way developed enough to have the right to deliver it-

AND NO, SUDDENLY HAVING AN AFFINITY FOR PERFORMING KIND OR SACRIFICIAL ACTS IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

HIM MAGICALLY OFFSCREEN BECOMING A GOOD PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT INNOCENT LIFE IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

IF ALL IT TAKES TO “BE BETTER” IS ACTING LIKE A HERO, WUKONG IS LITERALLY A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER OF A PERSON THAN HE IS

THIS LINE IS DOGSHIT

“You need to do better.”

Really, Macaque? Maybe you should take your own damn advice- try apologizing to one of the people you tried to hurt and tried to murder in cold blood!

Like when you trapped MK under his staff after stealing his powers and tried to murder him when he was helpless?

Or when you kidnapped MK’s friends and tortured the kid by forcing him to fight them?

Or you led a violent assault against a palace full of innocent people?

Or violently beat his dear friends until they were screaming in pain?

Or assaulted Tang, who posed no threat to you?

Or threatened to murder an innocent girl if you didn’t get your way, then ran away (and encouraged MK to abandon her) first thing when it put her into a life-threatening meltdown of raw power?

(Isn’t it cool how NONE of these people have interesting or varied reactions to him doing this and ALL immediately are cool with him like a gelatinous hivemind.)

(Oooh ONE mildly questioning line from Pigsy but no anger over his adoptive son nearly being killed multiple times over)

(Isn’t it cool that no one has complex or interesting thoughts on this.)

(Isn’t it cool that by robbing them of unique feelings on the matter they robbed Macaque and the Monkie Kids of compelling and interesting interactions that could’ve helped flesh out their personalities and strengthen their characterization.)

(Isn’t it cool that Macaque and the Monkie Kids are actively denied intriguing character dynamics so Macaque’s shitty “redemption arc” can happen faster.)

(Isn’t that cool.)

Why don’t YOU do better, Macaque?

(In a way that is more satisfying than “one kind-hearted speech from a kid that I tried to murder changed my mind and now I am a better person but all my character development happened offscreen and without personal introspection”, at least.)

Also what the fuck do you mean by “do better”?

Be heroic and put your life in danger? He already does that! He’s done it more than you have!

Just tell MK that he’s not alone? YOU COULD DO THAT YOURSELF, MACAQUE!

Help MK with his traumas and fears? MK doesn’t tell anyone about those! He keeps them bottled up, lock and key, and actively refuses attempts to help!

Wukong TRIED to reach out to him, and MK PUSHED HIM AWAY! Was he supposed to tie the fucking kid down and torture the information out of him?

He respected MK’s boundaries by not pushing any further and letting him leave!!

WHY IS THAT A BAD THING??

What the fuck, man

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

The anti-evangelizing attitude prevalent on progressive christian tumblr is problematic. And part of it most definitely has to do with a lot of progressive christians being universalists.

Now. I know this is a bit rich coming from me because I do not typically evangelize. My interest is much more in discussing the faith with people already in it. That said, it is one thing to not evangelize and it is another thing to be anti-evangelism.

And if you're a universalist, it makes sense why you wouldn't evangelize: everyone is going to be saved anyway right? If everyone is going to heaven why evangelize to them?

Except that's ridiculous. Not addressing the problems I have with universalism, assuming it's true that would not be a reason not to evangelize.

One of the definitions for "evangelize" is "convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity". But that's, I think, a poor tho technically accurate definition. A better definition is: "preach the Christian gospel." The gospel, ofc, is "the good news". More accurately this is "the good declaration". Because this isn't good news like "Oh the weather is 75 and sunny" this is good news like "Omg we have a new king who is going to execute justice, righteousness, and holiness."

In a lot of thought, sin is something inside of you that is wrong and depraved and etc etc. But that is not the only or even main way it's discussed in the bible. In Genesis 4 (where sin is first mentioned), it is a monster or beast that wants to devour you. One of Paul's favorite metaphors is that of a "Cosmic Tyrant". Sin is something that humanity and society on large is enslaved to, and Jesus has come to liberate them from that slavery so they can be who they were created to be: glorified images of God who rule and reign in the world through the power and love of God.

What does it matter if everyone is going to heaven after they die? Ofc on a certain level that matters, but that is not Jesus's concern, nor is that the primary concern of any biblical author. "Going to heaven" is not even a phrase used in the bible!! The focus is on life right here and right now. Union with God, the experience of his life-giving love and presence - that is available right now! Liberation from slavery to sin, the renewing of the mind, the enjoyment of the family of God - that is available right now and that is what Christ is offering people.

I understand not wanting to evangelize if your conception is "God is angry so God killed Jesus and not you so you can go to the good place when you die and not the bad." That's stupid and unbiblical. Plus, nonbelievers don't even know what "Jesus died for your sins" even means, so any conservative christians reading you've got to stop that it's also unhelpful.

I do not sing forever the praises of the God who didn't kill me. I dedicate my entire heart and being - my entire everything to the God who liberated me from slavery to Sin and Death by dying the death of a slave though he had no sin.

That is the gospel and should be preached to the ends of the earth.

[lady-redhaired]

On Veilguard and the Lyrium Dagger trick ending

Big Veilguard spoilers from here onward, obviously.

We all know the trick dagger ending is lazy and horribly executed. It's just a mcguffin you don't have to earn in any meaningful way and relies on the player not thinking past surface level about the viability or implications of it.

Of course Solas wouldn't ever fall for a random fake dagger made by a regular mage when he seemed to be the only one capable of crafting his own, which is made of pure lyrium (from Elvhenan), and has his own magical imprint.

But since I don't like to complain without offering my opinion on how a flawed concept can be improved, here's how I think the trick ending could've been satisfying and better earned. You would have to work hard for the chance to trick the trickster God.

The process should involve at least a couple of missions involving the process, until it's viable. And I believe the dagger should only be viable if it was made out of the fragment of Mythal they give you a chance to earn anyway.

You might get a choice to make the dagger out of lyrium, more easily, or out of her essence, with more difficulty. But in the end only one is viable because only one has ancient elven magic infused in it. Something like that.

The lyrium replica wouldn't work and would backfire on Rook at the end, so maybe you get an ending like the 'failing to fight Solas' one, where you're both trapped in the fade. Your overconfidence in believing Solas too easy to fool bites you in the ass. While the Mythal dagger allows you to successfully trick Fen'Harel. Of course, since you chose not to have faith in his ability to grow and redeem himself, and that is a flaw of your character, you're locked out of the choice to even attempt the 'good/redemption ending' this way. You win some, you lose some.

Idk, this is how I think it could've been improved and turned into a far more rewarding or engaging process and ending. Just my two cents.

[hazbin-but-good]

another hazbin hotel rewrite/redesign?

yup! and i'm so serious about it that i made a whole blog for it. i'm a white queer ex-cath tran doing this as an art and writing exercise, so feedback from other creatives + jewish and/or racialized folks is especially welcome.

i'm putting this post and only this post in the main tags for visibility. also, not gonna link my main, but i do make my own original stuff, and i encourage fans and haters alike to do the same.

anyway, here's a mostly good-faith 1.7k-word essay on the original. i think it's pretty funny and brings up some less talked-about points. correct me on the facts, disagree with my opinions, and ask clarifying questions, but don't come at me with any piss-poor reading comprehension.

the hellaverse is garbage, and here's why

cw: strong language, stronger opinions, intersectional feminist critical discourse analysis

1. vivienne medrano, the person

medrano was born as a well-off white-passing latina (salvadoran-american) in bougieass frederick, maryland. while attending new york's top art school, she got popular on deviantart-tumblr-twitter by being a prolific multifandom fujoshi furry who's more into ornamental character design than storytelling. upon graduation, she leveraged her fanbase and industry connections to make the hazbin and helluva boss pilots, get helluva made for youtube, and get hazbin made for amazon prime.

like every woman online, she gets harassed for no good reason, and as a certified autist, i will defend her right to be dumb, weird, annoying, and bad with words. however, there are legit reasons to criticize her:

racism, misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, some antisemitism, past transphobia, past ableism

shitty boss, bad friend

cowardly, vindictive, manipulative, thoughtless behavior

skeevy friends

sucks at taking criticism

in short, i think she desperately needs a PR person and someone to clean up her digital footprint.

2. medrano's art

incurious

inauthentic

noncommittal

creatively stagnant

overindulgent, and the indulgence isn't even fun

shallow and childish framed as complex and mature

bland and boring framed as shocking and subversive

to be clear, i'm at peace with the existence of suckass art like this; i just think the money, attention, and praise it gets are unearned and should go to more interesting works, of which there are infinite.

medrano's had the time, money, and social cache to grow as an artist, learn from the best, and take creative risks, but she hasn't. if she truly has nothing more to offer, she should let her collaborators take the wheel, but she doesn't do that either. instead, she keeps getting more and more resources to make the same baby bullshit, and that pisses me off. she could be the nicest person ever, and this fundamental arrogance would still make her art blow.

stop with the pointless guilt: liking medrano's work does not make you stupid or evil. however, if you stay in the kiddie pool of culture, if you refuse to engage with a diversity of art, if the hellaverse is your point of reference for anything media-related, you can't expect to have your opinions on art, media, or culture taken seriously. you have not earned a seat at the table. you gotta hit the books first.

i cannot emphasize enough how much incredible stuff is out there if you're willing to look further than what social media and streaming services put right in front of you. if you come away from this blog having learned about just one new artist or piece of art, i'll be a happy camper.

3. the hellaverse

a. empty and confused

hazbin and helluva's content and marketing has no clear target audience. the subjects are inappropiate for teens, but the execution is too childish for adults, and lemme tell you what i don't mean by that, first.

not inherently inappropriate for teens:

sex and sexuality

violence, including when it intersects with the above

politics and religion

not inherently childish:

animation (any style)

comedy

episodic writing and/or loose continuity

young characters

fun, happiness, optimism, the power of friendship, cuteness, tenderness, sincerity, etc.

what i mean is that these shows are literally about adult characters who fuck, smoke, drink, do drugs, go clubbing, work full-time, manage their own finances, and deal with stuff like bureaucracy, sexual violence, domestic abuse, marriage, divorce, late adoption, and family estrangement.

however, none of these "adult" things are given enough specificity to create drama or comedy. it's all too stock, vague, flat, weirdly sanitized, and thus utterly banal—pure aesthetics on top of bad saturday morning cartoons. it's exactly what i'd expect from a sheltered disney kid who needs to log off and get into their local gay scene ASAP so their only contact with things like poverty, policing, addiction, and sex work stops being facile movies and TV.

if the shows were aware of this and played with it, that could be amazing, but they're not. they give you the mickey mouse version of the world with a straight face and then play looney tunes sound effects to try to make you laugh and sad_violin.mp3 to try to make you cry. now that's funny.

b. old and tired

let's make like americans and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. even within the confines of the USA, home of the hays code, the red scare, and reaganite propaganda, this neopuritan fascist state ruled by 1000 megachurches in a trenchcoat, the indie/underground animation scene has been doing crazier shit for decades. anti-war films in the 60's, bakshi movies in the 70's, the simpsons shorts and r-rated movies in the 80's, adult swim and MTV in the 90's, flash/newgrounds/youtube in the 00's, streaming in the 2010's—so what are we doing in the 2020's with this wet white rice drowned in expired ketchup? i feel crazy making this point because it's obvious if you've watched these things, but if you haven't, you're gonna be like "well, there's gotta be something new here". no! there isn't! in the words of jimmy "the scot" jordan, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!

c. ideological purgatory

actually, there is one thing in these shows i've never seen before: the presbysterianism. shout out some interesting or at least intentional presbysterian art in the comments, because the way these ideas are presented here is not compelling. it just makes the rainbow neoliberalism even more confusing and contradictory.

i guess the big presbysterian things are protestanism, calvinism, and, uh, big church government? presbysterians, get your shit together. get your brand down. catholics have BDSM and vampires, evangelicals have TV and corporatism; what do you have? celtic crosses? no wonder medrano has such uninspired ideas on divinity.

d. queer deficiency

when i look at a piece of art, i ask myself: "what does this give me that i can't get from the hunchback of notre dame (1996)?" if the answer is as limp as "uhh, gay people, i guess", i can probably look for my gay shit elsewhere and rewatch the hunchback of notre dame (1996) in the meantime.

but let's say that you have no standards. you've been waiting for ages for a show about gays by the gays for the gays, and by god you're gonna get it. this is it! here we go! time for some

generic twink obliteration

male sexuality as aggression and dominance displays

WLW (sex and chemistry not included)

a couple straight femdoms

and the stalest sex jokes known to man

...yeah, it's not very queer. and by "queer", i mean "questioning or subverting gender norms (including sexual roles) within a given cultural context regardless of creator identity and intent". i'm not a queer studies scholar so LMK if there's a more specific term for this, but whatever you call it, it's not in the hellaverse much.

there's not even any transness, literal or metaphorical, just ancient drag jokes. i guess the writers thought we would've been too controversial. so much for an indie animation studio that prides itself in the diversity of its staff both above and below the line, bakshi-style. i wonder how medrano, a bisexual woman, would've felt if told that a lesbian main couple in hazbin would be "too controversial".

4. spindlehorse and the vivziepop brand

spindlehorse toons underpays its overworked staff and keeps outsourcing more and more labor to even more overworked freelancers overseas to cut costs. a rainbow sweatshop is still a sweatshop, and just because these practices may be "industry standard" doesn't make them any more ethical.

the studio has also been repeatedly accused by current and former employees and contractors of creating a hostile and abusive workplace. AFAIK, it still has no dedicated HR person, and victims are too afraid of retaliation like blacklisting and online harassment to speak out.

this is exactly the stuff that unions exist to prevent. as i'm writing this, the IATSE (the parent union of TAG, which is the parent union of all US animation unions) is negotiating with entertainment industry executives for better working conditions, and if the execs fuck around like last year, it's strike time again. so watch this space, voice your support, and don't cross any picket lines.

i hope spindlehorse unionizes, but until then and for these reasons, i don't think you should give money to the company.

first of all, all content on amazon-owned platforms is ok to pirate, and all youtube ads are ok to block. everyone involved in making the episodes has (or should have) been paid upfront, so you're not taking the bread out of anyone's mouth.

next, let's look at the succulent offerings of the official vivziepop merch shop:

$10 pins and keychains

$15 sticker packs

$20 mugs and acrylic cutouts

$25 shirts

$30 metal cards (not even tarot)

$40 lounge pants

$50 mini backpacks

random $80 skateboard deck

forgive my latin americanness, but this is all stuff you can get made by a local metalsmith, print/sublimation shop, or just crafty people in your life. it's cheaper, customizable, and better for the environment to skip all the shipping and packaging. also, not painting your own skateboard is poser shit.

the hazbin website also has $15 pins, one $20 keychain, and $6 trading card packs. people are weird about trading cards, so if for some reason you wanna gamble for a mass-produced bit of cardboard, plastic, and tinfoil, at least bulk-order for all the vivziepoppers in your area so it's less of a huge waste. better yet, trace the designs and make infinite bootlegs.

at the end of the day, buying merch is not activism. your bulk order of trading cards will not save any wage slaves from getting evicted from their overpriced studio apartments. however, the shop links you to all the credited artists/designers, and more of your bucks will actually reach them if you buy their designs directly, then turn them into body pillows or life-sized bronze statues or whatever the fuck.

go through the credits of any episode of helluva or hazbin, and you'll find even more creatives you might wanna support. get jinkx monsoon's albums on CD. subscribe to actually good artist, animator, and composer gooseworx. lots of voice actors now have patreon, cameo, or self-hosted pages where you can write better lines for their characters and have them read it. these things may not look as shiny as Official Merch™, but we all need less plastic shit and more culture anyway.

[shima-draws]

OOUGHHH been thinking about Grovyle lately and how much I just *clenches fists* love him. Listen to me. Listen,

He is the character of all time. He’s introduced as a wanted criminal stealing something SO forbidden that even the worst Pokemon criminals won’t even touch. That immediately shoots his coolness factor through the ROOF. And the fact that nobody is able to catch him;; AND we see that he’s ridiculously clever and smart and can worm his way out of just about any situation with a bit of quick thinking. And he’s always surrounded in this air of mystery and intrigue and you’re set up to think well yeah he’s stealing Time Gears and stopping time everywhere OBVIOUSLY he has to be an asshole. Except during your first encounter with him he’s very calm and collected and shockingly polite, and even apologizes when he attacks you?? Basically just the opposite of what you’d expect from a criminal. And then to top it off you find out he’s from the FUTURE?? Which is SO sick. And he’s got some secret history with Dusknoir. And when he’s finally captured and being brought into Treasure Town all tied up he doesn’t even act out UNTIL Dusknoir mentions the planet’s paralysis. Which is the first hint you get that things are a leetle sus.

And when you get taken to the future and are about to be executed…he helps you? He has literally zero obligation to do so, esp since you’ve attacked him before. And there’s another subtle hint that maybe deep down he’s got a soft side, that he’s actually not a bad person. And it’s heartbreaking bc he finally knows someone else who is a common enemy of Dusknoir, and he clearly wants to team up with you, bc all this time he’d been by himself in the past and having people he can trust would make things so much easier (and it’s startling how easy he trusts others, too, especially considering everything he’s been through). But your partner isn’t having it and you can FEEL the disappointment he feels that he’s not able to convince you, that you aren’t going to work together, that he can’t have someone else to rely on besides himself. But that little spark, that glimmer of hope comes back when you catch up to him and you’re like yeah we’re going to decide for ourselves what we think about all this. And you find out from Celebi that Grovyle’s always been hasty, always hurrying ahead to try and achieve his goals, and it’s admirable but also regrettable bc he doesn’t ever have time for anything else.

And THEN you discover the truth…that he’s been your partner all along…and he speaks of you so fondly and has such faith in you that he’s totally fine leaving things to you and letting himself get captured because he trusts you SO much. And the despair right after when he finds out you’ve been traveling alongside him the entire time. His precious partner is also going to get captured and executed and the world is doomed to fall into disrepair. But then your partner ignites that spark of hope again and it’s enough, and you make it back to the past, and suddenly things are different but in a good way because Grovyle suddenly has someone to rely on again, even without a memory to go with it. But he can also tell that because of your amnesia he’s no longer important to you, not by choice of course, but you’ve found someone else, a partner suited for you that brings out the best in you. And that’s fucking heartbreaking because everything the two of you shared is gone now, and you’ve moved on, and even though you’re THERE you’re also so far away and so different from the person he once knew. But he knows he has to let you go, had to from the start anyway, because of the sacrifice you were prepared to make. That BOTH of you were prepared to make. And despite the fact that you have no memory he still. Trusts you. Completely. Enough to sacrifice himself to take Dusknoir back to the future. And believe that you’ll follow through with the vow you made and prevent the planet’s paralysis. And he KNOWS you will so he doesn’t know how much time he has left but it doesn’t matter because he’s been prepared to disappear, to die knowing that he’s saved the future, that he made his mark and was able to shine in his finest moments. He can leave this world knowing he did what he set out to do and he made a difference and things will be better for everyone he’s leaving behind. Shut up. Shut UP. I care about him so much I am GOING to explode. THE character ever. You don’t understand,

[gaytommykinard]

*deep breath*

the thing is. the fucking thing is.

it's not unrealistic for someone to not dig deeper into their queer identity beyond what they know to be true, which might be "yeah i might be attracted to people of the same gender but i dont have time to get into that right now 'cause life is complicated and i'm in a relationship/i'm not interested in dating right now anyway so what does it matter"

(same goes for figuring out your gender identity. exhibit A:

[image description: a tweet by shaka (@/ScaredAsian) that says, “im probably nonbinary but i have a job so idrc about that rn”. In plain text, it says, “I’m probably nonbinary but I have a job so I don’t really care about that right now.” /end id])

but this doesn't work for evan buckley

who had his little freakout on his first date with tommy and went to talk to his sister who literally told him "now you're more than an ally" and that maybe he's not sure of his feelings but he'll figure them out. (sidenote: she should have said identity instead of feelings. but whatever.)

who has been in a relationship with his boyfriend for six months

who has been known to go on research binges because he has a curious mind and loves learning. tommy's sarcastic "oh good, you found a substack" tells us everything we need to know, y'all.

who has at least one very close queer friend and co-worker, hen fucking wilson; and one friend/acquaintance who is a queer man (we don't know how much he sees josh outside of visiting maddie at dispatch, and like, that one time he hang out with him and maddie and chimney, so it's a little bit up to fanon to decide if they're friend-friends but at the end of the day it is a trusted person and an openly gay man. i mean, we saw how josh stood up for tommy, and schooled the fuck out of buck. finally, a conversation about being queer between two canonically queer characters! only took 8 seasons, huh! i digress.)

and have i mentioned he's been dating his boyfriend for six months? like, if he was ever to have a conversation about being queer... tommy is right there. tommy opened up about his own experience figuring out his sexuality and coming out on their very first date and moreover reassured buck it's okay if he's feeling a little tense about them being out on a date in a public place.

point being: there are people in his life who would be more than happy to talk to him about his newfound identity outside of his relationship with tommy.

taking all of these things into consideration: it's not only inconsistent with the character they have established, but the timeline of it is also really fucking messed up.

and more than that: any faith i may have had in this show to handle a delicate matter like a character exploring their newfound sexuality has flown out the window. they broke the audience's trust with 8x06. i'm not interested in seeing how they're going to move this story forward, because 8x06 was such a particular fuck up, beginning to end, wrt the bucktommy storyline.

and honestly? knowing the format 911 follows, as a network procedural: this is not the right medium to tell this story, at this point in the timeline, because it has become way more complicated than it would have been in s7, immediately following buck's bisexual awakening.

tldr: the premise is sound but the execution is so bad it's practically unsalvageable within the scope of the show (but very manageable in fanfiction, where you can dwell in the character's headspace and dig into what goes on beyond the things they say and do. godspeed, everyone <3)

partly inspired by @firehose118's tags on their post and partly like, being queer. source: dude trust me

[y-rhywbeth2]

To-do list for the inheritor of the newly re-established office of High Primate of Bhaal of the City of Baldur's gate, circa 1480-something: politics, re-establishing the faith and getting Bhaal more sorely needed worship. And because there's only so much entertainment you can get being a group of twitchy killers living under the sewers.

Negotiate terms with local government for freedom of religion (presumably a private audience with the Grand Dukes, maybe the Parliament of Peers, maybe both, idk) Negotiations will probably begin with a more diplomatic version of: "I apologise on behalf of my Father for that thing where he manifested an avatar and went on a murderous rampage through the streets just over a century after my siblings almost drowned the world - and this city specifically - in blood. But also, considering the power just illustrated I think it's fair to say that it's in the best interests of a quiet life and an easier clean up that you just give us our temple back and let us worship in exchange for assassination and spying work on your behalf." This being the usual arrangement with evil faiths, it is in fact a winning argument. You don't kill anybody who matters (so criminals, travellers nobody knows, the homeless, etc) and honestly nobody will consider it worth the time and resources to stop you anyway. -

Weaken the political hold of enemy faiths Ilmater, Lathander and Helm have an established presence in the city, and the Ilmatari have done well enough since 14th century to upgrade from a shrine to a temple. All three of those faiths are better established, more influential, and will oppose the growth and activity of a Bhaalist presence, for some strange reason, -

Re-establish ties with traditional allied faiths (such as they are) Bhaal's traditional allies were Loviatar, Talona, Bane, Myrkul, Mask and Hoar. While none of these faiths hold the same level of sway in the city their enemies do, they all have at least one shared enemy. -

Eliminate rival/dissenting thieves and assassin guilds and organisations. Maybe establish some. Don't expect to have the thieves guilds at your beck and call (Mask is their patron god, but Bhaal generally worked with him fine - and you'll be fighting the Sharrans for influence too) but do make a space for yourself in there and ensure they understand that patronage and cooperation is mutually beneficial. Assassins? They're Bhaal's and he and his worshippers are going to expect all killers for hire to be paying their dues to the Lord of Murder or expect a "cease and decease" regarding their attempts to profit off of his domain without paying him back. -

Acquire Temple holdings Most of a temple's wealth and influence is going to come from owning land and properties. All members of the clergy of pretty much all faiths are expected to go out and claim some. Unfortunately being out of the picture for a century+ means the temple has lost a lot of its original holdings, so you might need to start working on taking some from the other temples... -

Network, Infiltrate and Recruit Gods always need more worshippers, and that goes double for gods who've been dead for a long time. Serial killers need the law to play nice. It's time to remind the peasantry to pay their "don't murder me taxes" (known as "tithes" for legal purposes) and find the city's more murderous members - even many who'd proudly call themselves upstanding citizens may just desire the execution of certain criminals the law won't touch or can't catch - and seek sympathetic ears amongst the rich and powerful... and remove and replace those who aren't. There are plenty of people like unscrupulous younger children whose ear you might have if only you helped them remove the pesky barriers standing between them and control, known as their relatives. And then you have blackmail! Things like that. Remember to wash the blood off before attending any fancy wine tasting parties in estates and pavilions in the upper city. You want your faithful in the ranks of the city watch and the Fist sooner rather than later. -

Establish presence in the Undercellar As the local criminal underworld hub where the law dare not tread (unless they're off duty and here for some crime themselves) this is where a lot of your "public" work and contracting is going to be. Remember to buy one of the back rooms for the "private shows". -

Consider a Daytime Identity, if you don't already have one An important part of being a typical Bhaalist is maintaining a separate, normal life outside the temple that allows you your own income and solid alibies... or you could just live in your dad's house, cling to your divine status and refuse to do any of that mortal stuff, I guess. -

Start repairs on the Temple It's been a dusty, out of date ruin for 100+ years. Consider the structural damage. Maybe have the butler do a bit of dusting.

[coraniaid]

I'm pretty critical of Buffy's final season (because ... well, I've watched it), but there are some things I think it does well and, since I'm trying to talk myself into working on my S7 AU fic again, I thought it might be worth trying to write down what they are.

I like the sense of completeness there is in going back to some of the show's beginnings. I like seeing Buffy in school again, but this time as an adult with a job. It doesn't just let us re-examine the high school years from a new perspective, it gives Buffy's arc over the last few seasons a nice sense of direction. I like what little we see of Dawn in high school. (I wish there were more episodes like Help.) In principle, I even like the fact that this season's Big Bad is a supernatural threat we've seen on the show before.

While I think there are a lot of problems with the execution (and even with the wider concept) of making the First Evil the primary (frequently the only) antagonist, the First being around does give you a lot of possibilities for having characters literally come face to face with their pasts. I like the final scene of Lessons and I like Conversations With Dead People and I like seeing the Mayor on screen again. I wish the show had done more with this concept.

I like meeting new (Potential) Slayers and finding out more about past Slayers. I like Robin Wood. I like Kennedy. (I wish the show did a better job making the audience care about any of the other Potentials.) I like that Faith comes back. I like that there is a focus on what it means to be a Slayer this season (compare how the show opens, with Buffy taking Dawn on patrol and telling her "it's about power..." [which Dawn doesn't have], to the scene in Chosen where Buffy asks the Potentials "what if you could have that power?").

I also (sorry) really like the fact that the writers resisted the urge to make Dawn a Potential or have her suddenly develop any magical powers as a result of being the Key (which there are at least rumours they were talking about doing). I like that the show stuck with the idea that Dawn is the part of Buffy who gets to be an ordinary girl.

For all its flaws (silly CGI battle against monsters I don't care about which is resolved by a random mcguffin from a different show; weird retcon about Sunnydale apparently being inland; a bunch of other unfortunate writing choices I won't get into here) I really do like Chosen a lot. It feels very fitting that the show ends with Buffy both finally getting to leave Sunnydale and with her no longer having to shoulde the burden of being "the" Slayer (or one of only two Slayers, anyway) anymore. I love how open-ended and hopeful that manages to be.

And speaking of Chosen, I like Buffy's "cookie dough" speech. I like the fact that the show lets Buffy end the series single, and recognizing that she doesn't have to be in a serious romantic relationship if she doesn't feel she's ready for one right now. (I like post-S7 Fuffy as a concept a lot, sure, but I think I prefer it as something that neither of them rushes into.)

I like that Amy comes back? I mean, I don't like anything the season does with her, but still: points for remembering she exists, I guess.

I like the fact that Willow gets to grieve Tara but also move on with her life and start dating again. [I don't know if I would have killed Tara off if I was writing S6 -- I think probably not -- but given that Tara did die I think this is the only good option.]

Empty Places is a good .... name for an episode?

For all my (many, many) issues with Andrew Wells this season (and in particular with just how much Andrew Wells is in this season, which is ... a lot), I think Storyteller is ... pretty good? I liked Jonathan, I think it's sad he dies (and his speech about missing high school now that he's left is another good moment from this season) but I wouldn't really have wanted to have him turn up and help save the day either. Having Andrew kill him (and then have to face up to the fact) feels like the right choice, to me, if you were going to bring either character back [I'm not really sure I would have done that though, to be honest].

Equally, for all my irritation at the time wasted on the "is Giles the First Evil?" subplot and at some of the other character deaths the writers did go for, I'm glad that the Core Four all survive. What the season actually does with Giles isn't very good, and neither Xander nor Willow are in this season enough (especially not in its second half), but at least they all get to live.

Oh, and Anya. I'm glad the writers didn't give in to the temptation to kill off Anya for some sort of cheap shock value, the way some leaked early drafts of Chosen suggest they were thinking of doing. Can you imagine how infuriating that would have been? I don't know if I would ever have accepted it. I might even now be living in denial. Thankfully common sense prevailed there and Anya definitely survived.

[possessesnightshift]

regarding the beautiful bisexual italian man who allegedly is responsible for the uhc shooting...

look, i totally get the impulse to obsess over this random guy and turn him into some kind of a working class hero. we're all desperate to root for someone who can take direct action against healthcare tycoons who make our lives so much harder.

but lately i've noticed a shift in the gravity of this discourse away from "why the hell did a man need to die to get pharmacies to stop rejecting all my claims?" and more towards "i want to hear the cute italian twunk moaning and gagging on it..." and like...

i do get it. not only is he just a very clearly attractive man (despite all the media trying in vain to find the worst pictures of him to show), but he has a grab bag of random personality traits that manage to make a lot of people relate to them, even if the claims are dubious at best

he was an avid reader, he was an elon musk follower, he went to an ivy league, he was a chronic poster, he had anxiety, he was a stemcel, he was bisexual, he had mein kampf on his goodreads list, he wanted a white girl to go bug on his dick...

all of these things combined are enough to make this man fascinating to almost anyone. some of them even make him sympathetic to a lot of people (even if stuff like the bi thing is most likely unfounded)

but i want to make something absolutely clear.

this is not. about. luigi mangione...

hell this isn't about ANY suspect that could be the perpetrator (we do not KNOW if luigi mangione can be found guilty until an actual jury goes into deliberation. otherwise we're just putting our blind faith into the nypd which is definitely sketchy, even if the evidence does seem to indicate it's him thus far...)

no this is about one man and one man only:

Brian. Motherfucking. Thompson.

even if this act had been done by some unglamorous 60 year-old trailer trash person instead of a fit, attractive 26 year-old, this shooting is still not about him or his politics or whether he should or shoudln't face justice

no this is about the fact that brian thompson was valuable enough to his company to be a multi-millionaire, but not so valuable that the meeting he missed due to his execution had to be postponed. not so valuable that his position wasn't filled in a matter of days.

this is about the fact that the unceremonious death of an "innocent" man was a better policy in terms of increasing people's access to health coverage than anything the democrats or the republicans advocated for in the past decade. it's the fact that brian thompson's death apparently hurt people very little and helped people a lot.

it didn't have to be this way.

they made it this precarious on purpose because they assumed they could get away with it.

gun to my head? i personally think luigi mangione doesn't deserve to see jail time even if he is guilty. daniel penny executed a black homeless man and he doesn't have to go to prison. kyle rittenhouse is a free man. meanwhile marcellus williams was proven innocent and executed anyway for the crime of not murdering anyone. you can't convince me there are no murders the state wouldn't just unconditionally support if it's in their class interest. if that's the way it is, we deserve to allow this man his "legal kill" that serves us in our defense against the violence of the capital class.

but even if he goes down, even if they make an example out of him, it does not matter.

because this story is not about the killer.

it is about the man who was killed...

and the question of why he had to die for our healthcare needs to be properly addressed...

enjoy the memes for this brief moment in time. but once the glamor and intrigue dies away and we can stop drawing horny fanart of the alleged shooter, we need to circle back to talking about brian thompson. he needs to be the centerpiece of this story. his actions. his ruthless drive to turn a profit. the community of billionaires looking out for themselves. THAT is what this should be about...

we are brushing up against severe disempowerment in the new trump administration. we CANNOT fumble this opportunity for class solidarity...

get it all out of your systems

and turn right back around and demand to know whether these ceo monsters are planning on rejecting our claims the moment this story has faded into the background

[purple-obsidian]

Thank you for answering my last ask, can I have your take on if the girl in ur last fic hadve gotten just a TOUCH more frightened after the knife incident and started openly weeping when jason started touching her (i feel like she was already on the brink) would he keep going? I don't think that would feel consensual to her, especially after the knife thing. It already feels like she's ½way a prisoner, given the fact that he just goes and re-abducts her when she tries to leave. Does he already understand that what he's doing is very dubiously consensual, and he's going ahead anyways bc he dgaf, or if she were to point out that Jason's got the threat of violence constantly hanging over her head and that she can't safely deny him without jeopardizing all her bones and her mental welfare then it would bring him up short? It really seems like Jason understands she doesn't really want him physically (at least not in the way he'll have her) and he's just gonna plow on ahead bc she did not specifically say no. “Will you get mad at me if I say no?” I think he would. I think he understands shes afraid already.

[fic referenced]

you're welcome, anon!

if reader had been more outwardly emotional and made it very clear to him that she didn't want him touching her, he would have stopped. i am not saying that jason's behavior is right or correct in any way (this is dark fiction, remember) but if reader would have told him to stop or pushed him away, he most likely would have gone to the couch or just turned over and internalize the rejection, giving reader the silent treatment.

to answer the next part, does jason know that what he is doing isn't exactly consensual or right? its complicated. i want to give a quick disclaimer and say that the reasoning i'm about to explain is not any sort of justification for similar behavior irl, this is just what is going on in the mind of a very traumatized, very broken fictional character with a devastating backstory.

the first few weeks reader was living with jason, he probably would have let her leave if she said she wanted to. if she disappeared? he would have gone looking for her, absolutely. and also be pissed that she didn't tell him where she was going, and that she went out on her own. in my little au, joker planted doubts about jason and reader's relationship in his mind just like he manipulated jason's feelings towards bruce and the others. so upon their initial reunion, jason was skeptical and angry, and was kind of expecting her to leave. but after weeks of constant reassurance and promises, he finally started to believe reader, even though his insecurities remain. once he started putting the smallest bit of trust and faith in reader, that's the point where he would not allow reader to leave. even if she wanted to, jason has it in his head that she promised to be by his side no matter what, and he would cling to that and use it to guilt her and justify him keeping her, potentially, against her will. [he wouldn't force himself on her physically, but he would for sure keep her from leaving.]

homeboy is in the middle of trying to de-program all the shit joker put in his head, he is constantly second-guessing his relationships and the people around him, and his relationship with reader is the only steady presence he is allowing himself to trust. so if she decided to go, at this point, he would fight tooth and nail to keep her. he would most likely be in denial, and cling on even tighter.

he can see that reader is scared, but he is so scared himself that it's hard for him to focus on anything else. the physical and psychological torture he went through has, in my mind, left him so broken when it comes to bonds and relationships that some of his logic is just not there anymore. i imagine this makes it even harder for reader, too, seeing him work on establishing himself in gotham's underworld and being so cunning and sharp when it comes to executing his plans, but being so sensitive and snapping at her and his men if the wrong thing is said.

joker taught him that fear is the ultimate tool for control. jason may deny it, but he's taken those lessons to heart, whether he realizes it or not.

appreciate your thoughts, sorry this took a while to answer.

xoxo sid

[dotthings]

tbh I am still pissed about the behind the scenes f*ckery that resulted in Misha being fired after S6. Going through that live as it unfolded was quite the unequaled horrendous media experience.

Like.

To this day.

My brain just goes spluh??? What the hell was that. Why.

But you know what, because the story on screen is compelling, and the long game arcs are satisfying, and it makes sense when viewed in the long game, the fact that Gamble and Singer tried to get rid of Cas for good and this character yet again ripped up the pages and overcame all the odds and returned and then stayed and stayed and stayed and stayed and only became a deeper, more fully rounded character and only got deeper and closer in the Team Free Will family and closer to Dean than ever before, where Cas's story, and his relationship to Dean, became things beyond what I could have ever imagined or hoped, when the character first arrived on the series.

That is a SERVE.

And it just makes Cas's story all the more powerful in a way, the things this character overcame.

There's never any doubt in my mind Misha Collins and his portrayal of Castiel is one of the best things to ever happen to spn and he became a seminal part of the series.

So, anyway, where I was going with this is I'll be ignoring the behind the scenes f*ckery with my meta posts and talking about the story as part of the long game. Treating it in good faith (even if the EP's in S6/7 didn't act in good faith).

Sometimes what winds up on screen, the execution of a story, is stronger than whatever dumbass biases or nonsense is going on behind the scenes, it's sometimes how art works.