#the UNDERSTANDING in having made terrible choices

[necromancer-at-abattoir]

I've seen this post before, and I wanted to argue against it.

Now, bear in mind that this is supposed to be a friendly debate and I don't want to offend you.

With that being said, let's look at the bullies that Percy's called out.

The teachers and students who bullied him at his old schools for his learning disabilities, Nancy Bobofit, Gabe, Dionysus, Tantalus, Ares, Hades (yeah he qualifies, he made Percy feel bad and Percy stood up to him. Go Percy, boss moment honestly) Clarisse, Matt Sloan and his gang.

These are people that Percy heavily dislikes (well, Clarisse is an exception, but at the time she bullied Percy, he heavily disliked her.) This makes it easier to call out their bullshit.

Annabeth is someone he likes. It's difficult to call out the bullshit of people that you like-very rarely can people can do this.

And we're forgetting that Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty. He's loyal to the people he loves and blind to their flaws, so he is the exact opposite of a person who'd be fair with both their friends and enemies.

Take Sally Jackson, for example. Sally herself admitted that she was selfish and kept Percy with an abuser so as not to be attacked by monsters instead of dropping him off at Camp where he would have been safer, especially with Poseidon's influence. Logically speaking, Percy should have resented her for this a little bit, right?

Now, for the morons who'll come to this conclusion, I am not saying that Sally Jackson is the devil incarnate. She was a struggling single mother stuck in between a rock and a hard place-there was no completely good option for her to choose here.

But she still chose to marry an abuser to keep Percy and herself safe. She knowingly married him knowing that he'd make Percy's life terrible and that Percy would be affected by this. This was definitely not a good choice on her part and it doesn't make her a good person (though she still is a good person, just not as good as one would make her out to be).

But Percy doesn't even think about this-he just idolises her (understandable, considering the circumstances, but still) and he never thinks about the situation from this point of view.

And Grover in Wrath of the Triple Goddess. Percy calls him out, but Percy later feels guilty for the stupid reason of Grover thinking he's going to be lonely when they (Percy and Annabeth) go to college, which is why Grover almost ruined the quest. Percy literally says that he should have been thinking about what Grover felt (Grover, who is responsible for his own self, Percy is not responsible for Grover) instead of, you know, thinking about himself and his future.

This is complete malarkey. It's a terrible reason for Grover's terrible actions. And what does Percy do?

He shoves it down, takes the blame, forces himself to be calm even though he should rage. This is another example of Percy not wanting to call someone's bullshit out because they're a loved one.

And Percy loves Annabeth. She's his friend, she went on his first quest with him, she's saved his life and she has a lion's share in his view of the mythological world since she was pretty much the first demigod that he really knew (discounting Luke who left after the first book).

All of this makes it pretty difficult for him to call out her bullshit-especially when she hates being called out on her bullshit, which she does.

Of course, he called out her bullshit during TLT and SOM regarding himself and Tyson respectively, but this is when they're not really friends. In the later books, where they're better friends and he likes her more, he doesn't do it.

And also, Percy has called Annabeth out on her bullshit, but she doesn't listen to him, so he becomes resigned to it.

Her calling him Seaweed Brain? He says that he's gotten used to it in TTC, meaning that he didn't like it but she didn't stop, so he just became used to it.

He says in TLO that he wanted to argue with Annabeth regarding his cabin inspection marks, but no good would come of it, so he just resigned himself to his marks.

He says that he wouldn't argue with her because she would beat him up.

Annabeth yells at Percy and blames him for leaving even though they both know that he was kidnapped. Does he call her out on this, tell her that she was wrong? No.

Annabeth pushes him off a cliff with no prior warning and he calls her out on it, but she brushes it off and so does he, because he doesn't have a choice at this point, or at least he doesn't think he does.

Annabeth makes Percy feel scared every time she brings up Rachel. This makes Percy feel bad and he does not call her out on it.

All of these are examples of Annabeth not listening to him and bulldozing her way over his protests, so he becomes resigned to it.

That's a common abusive tactic that I've experienced myself-don't listen to the victim and bulldoze your way over them until they become silent and resigned.

Now, I don't want to go so far as to call Annabeth abusive, but she is definitely pretty toxic towards Percy at times. I know that she loves him, I'm not denying that, but you can love someone and be toxic towards them.

Again, I don't want to be disrespectful and I respect your opinions. I'm just providing valid arguments as to why I think your statement was wrong.

when you say that percy is stuck in an abusive relationship with annabeth, you are not only insulting annabeth, you are erasing one of percy's best character strengths: how he is NOT afraid to call out people's nonsense and stand up against bullies no matter how bad or insecure they make him feel

[coffee-fueled-cookie]

The Eltingville Club as parents

Josh Levy

Is a girl dad through and through (trust me guys, all fat guys should be girl dads)

Probably grows up to be a big fan of anime, but they'd both share a love for Star Wars. They watched the spin-off cartoons and movies, and she definitely dragged him to the new movies

He has tried to sit and watch through her animes, didn't like the cutesy magic girl ones until he actually sat down and watched Madoka Magica

Does enjoy Dragon Ball Z, so trust he put her on that

As for his collection, there are still important pieces that he keeps in cases, he probably has a space dedicated to them, maybe his office, but if something just simply won't gather value overtime then he for sure passes it off to her

This resulted in him crying over a chewed up Darth Vader doll (she was teething)

If his daughter grows up to wanna do cosplay he's definitely gonna have to straighten up about hus behavior, if he imagines guys like Bill talking about girls like his daughter??? Oh god, he'll have a heart attack

Took her to her first comic-con and basically hovered the whole time. Did, in fact, knock the mask off some pervy storm trooper

They've definitely had the problem about him being so stifling and protective, he feels a lot like his mom amd thinks about her a lot

Jerry Stokes

Oh brother, like father like son, those two are absolute dorks through and through, his clone basically popped out of his wife

As soon as his son is old enough, Jerry is hopping on making him a character sheet. He's teaching him Magic the gathering, painting him little miniatures

Was the dad that made his kid pick a Pokémon starter on the 1st birthday

Jerry has since found his place and enjoys the friends he has, but having someone so close that he can understand him and vice-versa is refreshing, especially since it's his own kid

They go to ren-fair for sure, the costumes are suuuppperr dorky, but it's fun

Jerry definitely struggles with his kid growing up and going off and doing his own thing. He definitely worries about who his kid is making friends with

He just doesn't want his kid making the same mistakes he did, even if his kid has proved that he can make good choices and make good friends

Bill Dickey

Oh god, everyone run, it's Bill, but a girl

Yeah, he has a daughter. No one knows how tf it happened, but it did

She's super bossy, super particular, and it's hell on earth, especially because he ends up wrapped around her pinky

Divorced dad core, definitely not married to the woman that had his girl

Surprisingly very present though

She's into Star Trek and mostly everything he's into, but on top of that, she's probably doing amazing academically

Raising a feminist, and he can't give credit to himself

Probably got it from mom

While she's terrible and has his nasty attitude, they actually get along too well

Bill, at some point, finally drops that femoid crap, it's hard to unlearn but it happens

Does that mean he's a feminist? No.... They still fight as much as they get along, especially because he can kinda put her down and doubt her a lot, doesn't help she's his kid

'I know better than you' mindset, it's not good

The fights don't even get resolved, they just choose to forget and next thing you know they're bonding over some old ass show Bill watched as a kid

It's exhausting but hey, they make it work somehow

Pete Dinunzio

(If this shit went accurately, he probably pumped and dumped, so he wouldn't be raising his kid)

BUT LET'S IMAGINE OTHERWISE

The dad that picks up his son every other week/weekend. It's always awkward the first half hour, but usually, he lightens up

He has for sure fought with mom about the stuff he keeps in his house

It's mostly posters from rated r films and the occasional prop from Sick Mofo

Finally, he just throws all the shit in one room and calls it an office, as for keeping it locked? He doesn't think that far

"The fun parent" or rather the enabler. He kind of encourages bad behavior, the guy to be like, "You can drink/smoke as long as it's at the house."

If his kid ends up into the shit he's into, then awesome for him, if not? He's kinda indifferent

Fell asleep once while watching his boy as a toddler, woke up to the police at his door and holding his kid (he didn't lock the door and the toddler ran out)

If they all met up again as parents, the other kids would probably be advised not to hang around him

Not because he's like a predator, he's just a bad influence, and his boy probably grew up alongside those influences and wouldn't be very nice or sympathetic either

[forsetti]

On Consequences: What About Fuck Around And Find Out Don't You Get?

As anyone with two functioning brain cells could have predicted, people who voted for Trump and those who sat out the last election because “both sides are equally bad,” are experiencing the “Find Out” portion of “Fuck Around, Find Out.”

From MAGA farmers in the Heartland whining about losing their livelihoods, to “Latinos For Trump�� voters crying about their abuela being deported, to people who voted for Trump who are finding out they are losing their government jobs due to DOGE, the Find Out Portion of Trump’s second administration is just getting started.

Am I surprised? Fuck no! What would happen if he won again was blatantly obvious to anyone with a brain, moral compass, and basic understanding of…well…just about anything.

Do I care? Fuck no! It isn’t the fault of those of us who threw up warning flags, shot off flares, and screamed until we were hoarse that the things we said were going to happen if he got reelected, happened. That burden of responsibility is not on us, no matter how hard some try to make it so.

Should I care? According to those “Finding Out,” the media, and the moral scolds on the left, I’m supposed to care. Their arguments for caring come in three different forms: Compassion, Sympathy, and Non-Alienation.

I’m supposed to be compassionate towards those who are suffering, regardless of the reasons for their pain.

Really? The people who have spent the past twenty years bitching about participation trophies want one now because they are on the losing end of their play and want me to comfort them with orange slices, a big trophy that has “We Are Not Losers,” engraved on it, and a hug? Hell, even if I believed in a participation trophy culture, I wouldn’t extend it to those who voted for Trump or didn’t vote in 2024.

A soccer team of kids who get beat 20-0 at least tried their best. They put in the work at practices, played the best game they could, and lost. MAGA voters didn’t’ do jack. They didn’t put forth any effort to understand any issues. They walked onto the field of play, handed in their lineup, and didn’t do another damn thing. The people who sat out the election did even less.

What do I mean by, “they didn’t do another damn thing”? All the information about the Democratic Party’s agenda, Kamala Harris’ record, and policies were readily available for anyone to see. So too, were Trump’s. All the things Trump is doing were things he, or those close to him, said they were going to do. EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING!

Why in the fuck would I be compassionate to anyone who willfully denied and/or ignored this?

Fuck them! My compassion goes to the people who are going to suffer from Trump’s policies who did the right things, made the right choices, and actually put forth an effort. That’s who deserves my compassion. Not some farmer in Iowa who put a fifty-foot billboard of “Trump 2024” on his land who is now scrambling to save the farm that has been in his family for generations. Actions, choices, and elections have consequences. Hence the “Find Out” part of FOFA.

Along the same lines, I don’t have sympathy for these people for what they are going through.

Do I wish these terrible things to happen to people who made bad choices? Not really. But, that is the only way they might (very heavy emphasis on “might,”) learn. Until the consequences of their actions are severe enough, and maybe not even then, people are not going to learn. If they keep getting bailed out, financially, emotionally, culturally… there is no incentive for them to learn.

How many times do Republican policies have to fuck over rural America before they learn a lesson? It’s been almost all of my sixty-four years and they not only haven’t learned a lesson, they’ve doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on their loyalty to the GOP.

How many times do Democratic policies have to bail out these same people before they get any credit for it? Obama and Biden not only saved the US auto and energy sectors but helped make them better. Their reward for this? Having areas dominated by these industries vote Republican. This is just one of hundreds of examples like this I could give.

Am I supposed to have compassion and sympathy for these people? Fuck that!

I’m pretty sure the people pushing the “compassion and sympathy” arguments know they are pushing garbage which is why many of them have shifted to the more nuanced, though equally garbage, “let’s not alienate the Find Out crowd because that won’t get them on your side.”

This argument might sound reasonable except those touting it never can give examples of it working. Obama bent over backward to accommodate Republicans. The Affordable Care Act was more Republican-based than Democratic. What was his reward for this? Being called a Marxist socialist who was creating death panels that would end Pappy’s and Memaw’s lives, to provide on-demand abortion to drug-using moochers from San Francisco.

I have yet to see anyone provide a real example of a Democratic statement, position, or policy that actually changed a MAGA’s mind. The argument being made is basically:

1-Bad things are happening to Republicans because of their choices. 2-Dems should not point this out because it will alienate Republicans. 3-If Democrats don’t point this out, then Republicans will learn the error of their ways.

The faulty logic is in believing what Dems do or not do has any influence over Republicans. There is no causation here.

It is understandable, on some level, why people might believe this argument. Hundreds, if not thousands, of articles and even more media hot takes have been put forth pushing the causation between what Dems say/do and Republicans’ choices.

It’s not the Republicans’ fault they support a racist, misogynist, criminal. The Dems made them by (fill in the blank.)

The paradigm of this causation argument is whenever a Republican comes out and says something blatantly racist the justification they give for doing so and the excuse given for them by the media is, “If Dems hadn’t called them “racist,” they wouldn’t have said/done something racist.”

No ownership of their actions. No personal responsibility from The Party Of Personal Responsibility. They flip the causation completely around to justify their actions. It wasn’t what they said or did that led to someone calling them a “racist,” it was someone calling them a “racist,” that did it. It is Bizarro World Logic.

Today’s Republicans don’t want compromise. That concept has been beaten out of them through years of Newt Gingrich tactics, Rush Limbaugh talking points, and FOX News. As long as this is the mindset of conservatives, there is NOTHING Democrats can do or say that will not alienate them.

Everything the Democratic Party stands for would have to be abandoned, to partially satisfy MAGA. As the Democratic Party, whose rights are we willing to sacrifice, to win the vote of the farmer in Iowa who is upset Trump’s policies are going to cost him his farm?

I don’t fucking negotiate with terrorists. I especially don’t negotiate with white supremacist domestic terrorists. Once you do this, they will ALWAYS demand more. Roe v Wade WAS the compromise when it comes to abortion. How did that turn out? Were the right satisfied? Did they accept it and move the fuck on? Nope. Now that SCOTUS has said that abortion is up to the states, do you think the right is happy? Nope. Until they get 100% of what they want, they will never satiated.

If you understand the nature of modern-day American conservatism and its ties to Evangelical Christianity, then you know, without a doubt, they cannot be reasoned with, no amount of evidence, compassion, or sympathy, is going to get them to change their minds, at least not on any meaningful level.

This is why there are no fucks left in my basket to hand out to anyone, no matter how much they are suffering, for the choices they made on November 5th, 2024.

All my fucks are reserved for those who made the right choices but are going to suffer anyway.

The pragmatist, realist, and ethicist in me are fine with this. As my mom used to tell me, “You can’t change people who don’t want to change and until they hit bottom, they will never change.” Applying this to anyone, especially people who care about isn’t easy. Applying it to a good chunk of your fellow citizens is perhaps more difficult, but more important.

[tales-of-wocdes]

CN Suicide

I know that this is kind of expected with this story but for people just scrolling through, maybe a heads up.

I'll be honest. I was really surprised when Sheo actually did "kill" us. Like, most stories have these options but the other one always refuses and they live on. So when the happend I already kind of knew it would be a great story, even if that maybe comes of weird..

What I even less expected was that we could actually suicide in Havards arms..?!? I was a 100% sure he would manage to stop us. (I am terribly sorry, Havard. I didnt mean to hurt you.)

I am still not over that. The way you describe MCs feelings (in the whole story) just feel so fitting and really transports me into the character. Also the various trauma responses are just so realistic.

I cant wait for my little traumatated MC to finally heal with the people at the orphanage.

But back to the suicide in Havards arms..

How does Havard feel about that? In the moment? Afterwards? I really wanted to hug him so bad after I did this choice and apologize to him. I really thought he would stop MC. 😥

Thank you! I thought about it being too dark at time... but decided that I will just add the disclaimer at the start so it has to be seen and accepted before starting. That way I can go properly dark with a clear conscience.

I have been editing this bit about Sheo for a long time... I will only say that Sheo offered a choice, and MC made it. His conscience is not bothered after such a long time, like say Havard or Lexia would be. I understand what you mean, even if out of context it sounds a bit bad :D

As for the Havard situation.... yeah, he is not doing good after that bit. I did consider that choice for a long time, but I have decided on a philosophy to not shy away from choices that could end the story early. Even if I will offer a way back immediately.

Havard wasn't expecting it and it took him off guard, hence not stopping it in time. I think I have answered this before but it was near the beginning of this blog. I'll scroll down and see what I can find.

Came across this: What Sheo does with MC that chooses death.

Found it: Havard feelings if MC commints suicide in C1. This is marked with the adult label (violence) so if you can't see those, you might not be able to see it. It was also before the snippet era, so it is just a description.

[raptorific]

The thing is, none of that is what the story is doing, at all. It is not mocking the idea that pleasure must come at a terrible price, it is saying that, in our world, in real life, the comforts we enjoy DO come at a terrible price, and that the exploitation and human misery that makes such prosperity possible is now so ingrained that it's become loadbearing and everyone who benefits from it is complicit

The story asks you to reckon with your own complicity and culpability in the privileges you enjoy and the subjugation that makes it possible. It asks you to understand that simply attempting to shirk the benefits does nothing to help the people being subjugated, it's a selfish action that exchanges your own suffering for a soothed conscience while changing nothing. Staying and accepting the state of things means exchanging the child's suffering for prosperity. Staying and freeing the child means exchanging the child's suffering for the suffering of the entire population.

The whole point of the story is to put you in a situation where you are Complicit in something terrible no matter what you do, and ask you to come up with an answer, for yourself, as to what you can live with doing.

It's not a trolley problem in the "what would you do?" sense because the whole point of the story is that whatever you would do, YOU ARE ALREADY DOING IT. Especially if you live in the Global North, smart money says you're living on stolen land, cultivated by slaves, nourished by food grown and harvested by exploited agricultural workers, wearing clothes and shoes made by children in sweatshops, reading this post on electronics made from minerals mined by child slaves. You do not have the power to end all of this. You can maybe mitigate it best you can, but you do not have the power to fix the world. You could maybe MAYBE "walk away" and go out into the woods somewhere and build a cabin and grow your own food and make your own clothes and not use electronics, and it would make your life a lot harder without helping the child slaves or sweatshop workers one lick.

Do you, as Le Guin says most people do in the story, accept this reality and the dirt it puts on your hands if you continue to exist in this society? Now that I've read the story, I know I do. I'm making this post on a commercially produced electronic device, wearing factory-made clothes. I do what I can, where I can, to mitigate the suffering I see in the world, and work towards a world where my comfort isn't resting on a pillar of someone else's misery, but I have reckoned with the reality that just by continuing to exist in the society I exist in, I am complicit in untold atrocities around the world.

I can do what I can! If I am ever lucky enough to have the opportunity to end the suffering of others without causing further suffering for everyone (including them) I will take it in a heartbeat!

It is not a lie, in the context of the story, that the prosperity of Omelas is contingent on the child's suffering and that freeing the child would make things worse. Similarly, it is not a lie that if the horrifically exploitative agriculture industry ended its atrocities overnight, millions of innocent children would starve, including many of the children being exploited. It's also not a lie that if The Revolution happened, things would get a lot worse before they stood a chance of getting any better.

It's not saying you shouldn't do these things, it's only saying that whatever you do, you own what comes of it. The story takes care not to shame the people who Stay or the people who Walk Away, it only says that anybody who knows about the child's suffering and continues to live in the society dependent on it chooses to own that suffering, and anyone who walks away has to own that their choice has more to do with their own conscience than with the child, since it doesn't help the child if they leave.

To try and make an "actually the prosperity of the city isn't necessarily contingent on the suffering of the child, maybe there's a way to have Omelas Prosperity with NO child suffering" is to deny real-world atrocities. The citizens of Omelas aren't literal, they are us! The world we live in is built on the suffering of millions of Omelas Babies. Trying to make this a message about how not all prosperity must be built on misery misses the point, which is that OUR prosperity IS built on misery and we have to reckon with that if we ever want to build anything better

If you want a story that actually does mock the idea that Utopia Must Come At A Cost, then you should read NK Jemison's "the ones who stay and fight." It's a hacky screed written like a Twitter thread that fundamentally misunderstands the point of Omelas and makes its point with the subtlety of an episode of SVU that explicitly name-drops the headline it's ripped from. It spends the whole story admonishing the reader for being unable to imagine a utopia that doesn't require suffering, it's very poorly written and might be the most braindead piece of literary tripe I've ever wasted my time reading.

i have to say i think its kind of baffling when omelas is taken as a very literal trolley problem about a tortured kid instead of, like, pointedly making fun of the common idea that a positive world, social change, pleasure itself, must come with some sort of painful caveat in order for that happiness to hold meaning or exist in the first place... so many interpretations treat the idea of people walking away from a (very obviously hypothetical) utopia with an even more hypothetical evil underbelly as them lazily giving up on reforming Omelas the Real City, rather than them philosophically abandoning the idea that the (again, entirely theoretical) Omelas represents (that pleasure cannot exist without pain).

what is even the relevance of this to the "I would save the kid instead of abandoning it because I actually believe in changing the world" interpretations.

The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe happy man, nor make any celebration of joy. (...) Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing.

[imamotherfuckingstar-lord]

one sided

steve rogers x reader, fluff

With the way his life was going, officially a criminal on the run, nothing could really suprise Steve Rogers. He had seen more things in his lifetime then anyone should and it was a constant fight. So during the last two years, he had never allowed himself to think about you. Or what it would be like to see you again, if he would even get that chance. Sometimes, when the wall in his mind cracked, he thought about you.

The two of you were constantly bickering, bumping heads and everyone joked that you fought like brothers. But Steve didn't have a brother and if he did, he was positive he would never spend a second thinking about kissing him like he did you.

Opposites do in fact attract, but he had never really gauged if the feeling was mutual. You had been so closed off, reserved and rightfully so. He had knew of you background and how your life before joining the Avengers hadn't been ideal. Steve had been very understanding and never pushed things, but that hadn't stopped him from hoping that one day things would change.

Oh, how things had changed.

Two years without seeing you. Running from the law while you were enforcing it - and even that, he knew was an unfair judgement. Steve knew Tony had been the one to take you under his wing. He had been the one to provide you with a stability you had never known, Tony had given you a life that was filled with support. Your loyalty to him hadn't been surprising, Steve understood. He never expected you to run off with Sam, Natasha and him but he wished you had. But nothing surprised him, at least until now.

Steve walked away from the shadow of the night towards his friends, Wanda and Vision had ran into trouble. He had promised to always be there for his friends, so there he was. Angry but relieved to see everyone was okay. There was a collective sigh of relief in the air as he approached, but when his eyes met Nat's, something in her expression had him faltering in his steps. She nodded to someone in the back of the group. Steve drew closer and that's when he saw you standing next to Sam.

You stood there stunned, as if you brain was catching up to what was in front of you - of who was in front of you. Then within seconds, Steve felt a powerful force push against him, he stumbled back and felt two arms sliding up his back. He realized it was you, head buried in his chest; holding him tightly. Steve looked over to Nat and she smiled, whistling to the others to give you two some privacy.

Everyone started toward the quinjet and Steve said your name in disbelief, his hands at your waist. Your head lifted from his chest and his eyes soften.

"God, it's good to see you."

You held back tears and with a hand on his chest, you apologize for letting him go two years ago. "I should have gone with you, but you have to know, Tony is like a father to me."

Steve chuckled, wiping a tear from the corner of your eye. "He is old enough."

The two of you laughed and he said there was nothing to apologize for. "We both made our choices, but I regret leaving without you knowing how I felt about you. With everything going on, I still think about you every damn day."

Taking a hold of Steve's hand, you held it tight. "I know I've never been forthcoming about my feelings but you have to know, these two years have been terrible. It's made me realize that my past is just that and I should have told you how I felt a long time ago. Maybe then, we could have been together instead of waiting this long."

Steve smiled, tugging you closer to him. His body felt warm, strong against yours and when he leaned in for a kiss, it was just as you imagined it. His kiss was firm but gentle and when you finally pulled away - both of you knew there was no going your separate ways.

Holding hands, the two of you started toward the quinjet. "I feel something bad coming on, Steve."

He squeezed your hand, fingers interlocked. "Me too, but we'll figure this out. We always do."

"I think it's time to get the whole band back together..."

Steve agreed. "Let's talk it over with the others and figure out the next step."

"I like your beard, by the way. You should keep it."

This cut the tension of a dark, unknown future, and Steve laughed, leading you up the ramp. "Anything for you."

[gremlin-girly]

And one more request so you have options 🤭

Curtis Everett + "How much have you had to drink?" + Second chance

SIRIIII 😩 I'm on a bit of a Curtis kick rn so this was just perfect 🥰 angsty fic incoming but hey, good dollop of fluff too

Sober Thoughts

Pairing: Curtis Everett x f!reader (exes)

Tags/warnings: ANGST, FLUFF, (because i have to have a happy ending lol), alcohol mentions, being drunk, sweet smut implied, emotionally stunted Curtis (he's a warning)

Not beta'd and I do not give permission for my work to be reposted, copied, translated or put through an AI Machine.

Summary: Late one evening, a week after your break up, you find your drunk ex-boyfriend at your door.

Word count: 1.4k

This is part of the 20s Challenge

Navigation | 20s Masterlist | Curtis Everett Collection

Breaking up with Curtis was probably one of the hardest things you had ever done. The man was perfect in all ways but one; communication. He would bottle and bottle and bottle emotions before blowing up over something small and the floodgates opened. It frustrated you to no end, at first you were understanding, but told him repeatedly to speak with you about his feelings before he made you both upset.

He didn’t.

Getting Curtis’ feelings – true feelings – out of him was like drawing blood from a stone. Emotionally stunted didn’t even begin to cover the canvas that was Curtis’ stoic psyche and you were tired of helping paint it for him. Whilst everyone had their flaws, you didn’t want or need to expect a blow up every month in order for him to get his feelings off his chest. He was a grown man. Speaking to his partner should be second nature.

You loved Curtis, you really did, and you kept swithering on whether you’d made the right decision. Maybe you should have waited longer. Maybe you should have left sooner so it didnt hurt as bad. You were thinking of the future, what if you had kids? Would they have to be yelled at to? Would you have to console them and try to explain that’s just what he’s like?

Other than that, Curtis had been a perfect boyfriend. He was attentive and caring, funny when he wanted to be and made you feel like you were the only woman in the world. So that’s why, despite your best efforts, you were spending your Saturday curled up in a blanket, sobbing into your ice cream watching some God awful rom-com to try and cheer you up.

You sniff loudly as more tears fall into your ice cream. No. You’d made the right choice. Even if your heart ached terribly and you felt like throwing up.... Maybe that was the ice cream.

The knock at the door startled you. The pizza guy was early but wiping your face free of tears you went to the door and flung it open.

Before you wasn’t a steaming pizza it was a steaming Curtis. He stank of beer, cigarettes and a hint of whiskey; a cocktail of self pity if you ever smelt it. His cheeks were flushed but his blue eyes mimicked yours, puffy and red with tears. You were so taken aback by the sight you were immediately concerned about him rather than trying to close the door in his face.

“Curtis,” you whisper softly, your hand reaching out and brushing one of his hands on instinct, lingering for mere seconds before you pull it away again. The electric current between your bodies was still palpable and your fingertips that had touched his skin thrummed with energy. “How much have you had to drink?”

Curtis doesn’t answer, his lips quivering as fresh tears brim, but he rubs his face with his hands. You want to comfort him but you're apprehensive; trying to protect your heart from more pain is the least you could do tonight.

“Sorry I-“ He sniffs and feigns a smile, your heart breaking all over again. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t even know why I came here.”

“Yes you do.” Your heart speaks for you and you fold your arms across your chest, making a feeble attempt at being firm as you nod at him. “Tell me.”

For once in all the time that you’ve known him, Curtis unleashes a tidal wave of babbling.

“I miss you. So much. At first I was angry – more at myself than anything – I didn’t want to see you o-or speak to you.” He takes a shaky breath. “But at night I missed having you next to me, missed hearing you laugh and seeing your smile and I had to see you. Even if it was for one last time.”

You nod again, urging him to continue.

He was wrecked.

“God I-,” he hiccups. “I fucked it up didn’t I?”

You don’t quite know how to answer but offer a gentle smile. “Curtis-“

“No – no. I didn’t tell you I loved you enough. I... should have told you how happy you made me too. I’m sorry.” He says again. “For everything. I love you so much. And –“

You could feel your own tears forming. He shifts uncomfortably, his large frame looming on your doorway should be a little frightening, but with those big puppy dog blues you feel nothing but love fill the cracks of your broken heart.

“I know I don’t deserve to ask this,” He says quietly, sniffing again in an attempt to control his breathing. “But could I... could we...?”

He trails but you don’t need him to spell out the request. Curtis’ eyes are so sad, so pleading, that you consider the unspoken question. You’d never seen him in such a state before, and although it was the alcohol that spurred him to your doorstep, he seemed genuinely remorseful for his actions.

“On one condition,” You say firmly, heart beating excitedly when you see Curtis’ eyes widen in surprise. Clearly he hadn’t expected you to actually give him a second chance.

“Whatever emotions you feel, especially negative ones, instead of bottling it up in here,” you poke at his chest, directly over his heart. “You speak to me. We’re meant to be a team, Curtis. I need to to be able to speak to me.”

Curtis nods, eyes sparkling with joy. “I can definitely promise to try.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” You murmur, watching Curtis’ eyes flicker to your lips.

“As a trial, can I tell you what I’m feeling now?”

A giggle passes your lips as Curtis closes the gap between you both, taking your face in his large hands, a big stupid grin plastered across hisd face.

“I’m so fucking happy you gave me a second chance.” His head dips to give you a searing kiss that makes your toes curl, before pulling back and kissing you again and again like it was going out of fashion.

“I won’t disappoint you.” Curtis promises between kisses. “Never again.”

“Erm,” A voice coughs to get your attention and both you and Curtis look over to see a teenager in a pizza chain uniform standing awkwardly in the hall carrying your extra large pepperoni pizza. “Are you apartment seventeen?”

“Yeahhh,” You cringe slightly, your face still held in Curtis’ hands. “Curtis can you bring it inside for me please?”

“Yeah – uh – of course.” Curtis releases your face and takes the pizza, offering the teen a sheepish smile as you retreat into your apartment to laugh.

The next two hours of your night is spent eating pizza, begrudingly sharing the rest of your ice cream, swapping some of your favourite memories together and tactfully avoiding talking about your last week apart. It takes an hour before your touching shoulders as you laugh and chat away, after the second you’re both cuddled under a fluffy throw and discussing movie options. It’s second nature, utterly natural, and you know this is the right choice.

Who kissed who first fifteen minutes into the movie was irrelevant. You both mould together effortlessly; your legs intertwining with his thick ones when he pulls you onto his chest, his hands in your hair to hold you in place.

Curtis is making double the effort to be slow with you, gentle, and your heart pounds as you settle into the sofa. Your bodies move in tandem, perfectly in synch. At some point Curtis lifts his head, murmuring out apologies and how he couldn’t resist kissing you, that he should leave for the night and come back tomorrow, sober, with roses.

“What if I don’t want you to leave?” You murmur back, chasing his lips as he looks down at you with anxious joy.

“What?”

“I said, what if I don’t want you to leave?” And then a little more firmly you add, “I don’t want you to leave.”

Your hand finds his and you squeeze it hard. Curtis looks to you, then your hand on his, slowly turning it so his fingers can knit into yours.

“I don’t want to leave either.” He confesses quietly. “I want to be selfish and wake up to your face next to mine.”

You scrunch your facewith a smile. “Even with my morning breath?”

Curtis puffs a chuckle and sighs. “Yeah. Even with your morning breath.”

“Then it’s settled. You stay.”

Settling back down across your body again, Curtis resumes his kisses and whispered compliments while you giggle and attempt to kiss him back. The kissing and compliments don’t stop until you fall asleep in eachother’s arms, cuddled together naked under your sheets, enjoying the warmth and joy the other brings.

[cyborgrhodey]

ok it is important to me that the ship name i use is emetexarch. because it's a romance between emet selch and the exarch, not hades and graha tia. they're two exhausted, old, isolated men, and it is the weight of their titles that draws them together

[kaurwreck]

fav chuuya trivia: he’s a lightweight and a wine collector. combine it with the fact that poisons a weakness for him, ability wise, and too much alcohol is in fact poison. he chooses that often.

bonus: combine that with the fact that dazai’s coming of age came with going to a bar, and i don’t know what that means

anon cause shy

Untitled I. My dear, even though you treat me kindly, I'm stubborn. After we parted last night, I went drinking and berated some weakling. This morning, Waking up, I remember your kindness And sadly reflect on my vile behavior. And now, I, a total fraud, will here confess that, without shame, Stripped of all dignity, and therefore lacking honesty— I was urged on by my own illusions, raving mad. [...] III. In this world we sadly live in like this, your heart— Don't let it grow stubborn my dear Because I hope for intimacy with you Your heart— don't let it grow stubborn my dear.

[Excerpted from Poems of the Goat, written by Chuuya Nakahara, translated by Ry Beville]

[quietwingsinthesky]

oh, yeah, another thing i noticed that was odd about s5 in comparison to earlier seasons was how much they relied on like. not the history of the doctor, exactly, but the image of that history. whether from little easter eggs of the first doctor’s picture popping up everywhere to i think the two(?) times in the season we get a montage of past doctors. and i honestly can’t remember anything like that happening earlier (with the exception of the time crash short, which felt more substantial to me and was also like. 7 straight minutes of david tennant being allowed to fangirl.)

and i say ‘the image’ because hell knows the RTD era was pulling from doctor who past left, right, and center, but it rarely felt like a moment of ‘look at this old thing, you remember old thing? old thing was cool and so are we for continuing it.’ and more like ‘here’s a species/character/etc from classic who. and here’s how they’ve changed and fit into the new world we’ve built for the show.’

I guess, the difference here for me is that. i haven’t watched classic who. s5 shows me a slideshow of doctors and to me, those are the guys i once ranked by how sexy i think they are. and not much else. i don’t have an emotional connection to an image. but take, say, school reunion? an episode that was my favorite even back when i was a kid specifically because i adored sarah jane? i had no idea who she was then, i only just figured out a little bit ago which doctor she traveled with, and exclusively all i’ve watched of her is that episode in s2 and the sarah jane adventures. and yet, that episode, without the context there for me, managed to make sense to me. i’m sure it was probably even more impactful to fans of sarah jane from classic who, but it didn’t lose its impact without that knowledge.

so, that’s a shift. i don’t want to say it’s a negative one, exactly, because maybe people who have seen classic who like these references and i’m missing something. but, to me, it feels a little more shallow.

[kyouka-supremacy]

—

[raayllum]

The point of 7x02 to me isn't "this character is unreasonable" or "they're both being unreasonable" so much as it is pitting pain against love (things that you have to hold simultaneously). Ezran cannot punish Runaan without punishing Rayla ("Do you love your sister, Prince Karim?") and it is because of everyone BUT Runaan that he chooses forgiveness in the end, tbh. He chooses to forgive because of his love for his sister (Rayla), Zubeia ("they have given us a great gift, a chance to keep on living"), his own experiences of understanding what can drive someone to being an assassin ("I have to kill Aaravos), and his father, who -- unlike Callum -- Ezran never got to say goodbye to.

Runaan does not deserve to go free because he's suffered or because he feels guilty (and we know he didn't feel guilt about killing Harrow until after he was out of the coin, because he tells us: "But the moment I saw your eyes, I knew I had lied to myself"). Rayla directly challenges how and why suffering is a metric to judge salvation or mercy under ("How much suffering is enough to pay for the mistakes they've made?"). In all honesty, Runaan does not deserve to go free at all. Ezran was not being unreasonable in hating or wanting to punish him ("He killed our father. Isn't that enough?") and Runaan himself is aware of this: "I have a family I love. I have so much to lose, the very things I took from you."

He was a grown ass man who had Multiple opportunities to walk away and/or face the consequences of his actions, and Ezran was a child that he orphaned and would've killed without question; his and Harrow's sins are put in parallel. And Runaan is spared anyway. That's the whole point.

Breaking the cycle isn't about 'deserving' ("I know I don't deserve them"). It's about choices. It's about second chances, something that both Harrow and Ezran (a child) understood years and leagues before Runaan did.

To look at a Black boy and his loving Black father and king who did his best and wind back around to "it's okay that Harrow got executed because he was imperfect and was willing to kill a child" to then say that the white man who took that boy's father away AND killed that king when he did not have to!! and say that he's the victim in the situation? King Harrow did not have to be perfect ("My father made choices to keep fighting battles started hundreds of years before he was born, to punish children for crimes their parents committed") for his death to be a tragedy.

TDP often has victims and aggressors overlap, and Runaan was a victim (of Viren's), but in the assassination plotline, he is NOT one and especially not in comparison to Harrow OR Ezran. I've had enough of "my white fave didn't do anything wrong in his terrible treatment towards these complex Black characters who dare to make mistakes and/or not coddle him" for a lifetime, please.

getting fucking sick of people saying only rayla was unreasonable in s7. she WAS unreasonable, but so was ezran! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT! the reason he needed to go free wasn't because "it's his job" BUT BECAUSE HE HAD LOST A HORN AND NEARLY AN ARM, AND, OH YEAH, BEEN STUCK IN A MAGIC FUCKING COIN WITH NOTHING BUT SOUL-TEARING GUILT FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS. THAT'S PUNISHMENT ENOUGH. AND, this was literally said. absolutely ridiculous.

[wild-wombytch]

Healthy anxiety coping mechanism ✅:

using the sophrology exercises I learnt today before tackling the call with my brother

My toxic chosen anxiety coping mechanism ��� :

Sending a seething reply with thinly veiled threats to my ex harassing me/being creepy + filling it with radfem propaganda before having a 1min monologue with my brother's voicemail

[snickerdoodlles]

there's something magnificently terrible in stories that are so afraid of death that they'll invent a horror a thousand times worse and call it mercy

[cabeswaterdrowned]

I don’t think anyone understands how hilarious it was for me to watch those stans jump through hoops to convince themselves Camila ever had romantic feelings for Eddie / read romance into their two post cheating scenes (the one where she says goodbye to everyone but him avoids eye contact and looks mildly disgusted / ashamed while passing him by + the one on the balcony where she rejects him) while trying to jump through hoops to spin this tale about Billy having no feelings for Daisy that aren’t strictly shallow attraction… like very Billy coded of them to lie to themselves like this 😂

[nerdie-faerie]

Having a complicated relationship with your mum is so confusing. It's the knowledge that she taught me the best way to make gravy, how tie my shoes and how to make my bed. But she's also the one that made disparaging comments about my body growing up and is part of the reason I don't want to be a parent myself and why I moved across the country for uni. But she's still my mum and I still find myself wishing I could seek comfort from her when things get a little too hard but the mum I'm longing for doesn't really exist. And I see her in the colour of my eyes and in the way I grit my teeth when I'm angry. She taught me how to do my hair and how to cover up bruises. She's a part of me in all the good and the bad. And there's no way to say you hate someone that doesn't also acknowledge all the good because nothings as ever as black and white as that