#the whole point is that they shouldn’t be here and generally aren’t here) and that leads to this discourse

[whitmore]

hm. i think acting like the current discourse is a first reaction to one misstep is a little reductive and misinformed, and i think there have clearly been underlying issues for a while now, dating back to the french joining and being ignored at every turn or the eggs going missing arc or purgatory or whatever view-changing event you want to begin your analysis from. it’s reasonable for fans to be frustrated about it, especially if it’s dismantling a section of the media they enjoyed the most; and as much as you can say sit back and let the admins work their magic, i think over the course of the past few months and mistakes a lot of viewers have lost faith solely bc there have been a lot of missteps and on top of that missteps without reconciliation, and there is a fear and very real possibility that it will not get resolved. and that’s ok too! people are also allowed to blog about that though like this is the blog site

[riality-check]

More roadie shenanigans, keeping feedback from this post in mind! part 1, part 2

ao3

It’s before the second show, and they’re already fighting.

“You can’t chicken out,” Gareth says.

“I’m not gonna chicken out!”

“Good, because I’ll tell Wayne if you do,” Jeff says.

Eddie glares at him. “You’re an asshole.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Shut up and get out of here!” Archie says, pushing Eddie toward the tech booth. He complies, but not without another scathing look over his shoulder.

His friends laugh because of course they do. They’re assholes, but, luckily, they’re the same kind of asshole that Eddie is.

He straightens out his shoulders, breathes, and prepares to grovel.

Robin and Steve are setting up just like they were at the last venue. It looks like a mess of cables and boxes from Eddie’s perspective, but Steve and Robin work with ruthless efficiency, alternately talking and signing when their hands aren’t full.

“Um,” Eddie says. G-d, he’s never been this awkward in his life. But this matters, like, really matters to him, and he’s gotta do right.

Neither of them pay him any attention.

“Excuse me?” he says a little louder.

Robin turns around. When she sees him, her expression instantly sours.

“Hello?” she drawls, sounding bored out of her mind.

Steve turns around, too. When he sees Eddie, his face-

Well, Eddie isn’t sure what that expression is supposed to mean. If he had to guess, he’d say mild annoyance.

Mild annoyance shouldn’t look that hot.

“I just wanted to say again that I’m really sorry,” he says, making sure to talk clearly and loud enough to be understood. He’s not an idiot, he knows that shouting is rude, but he makes sure he can be heard over the general chaos of setting up for a new show. “It wasn’t any of my business, and even if I meant well, it’s not an excuse.”

Steve’s face softens a whole lot as Eddie stumbles through his apology, and then he reaches up to his ears to take out ear plugs.

Huh?

“Mind saying that again?” Steve says with a smile.

Eddie is. So confused.

But then Steve laughs. “You should see your face, dude. I got the gist. Apology accepted, we’re cool.”

Okay, that makes Eddie feel better. A lot better. But he’s still confused.

And his mouth always moves faster than his brain.

“Why are you- why do you have- what-”

Robin rolls her eyes fondly. “This idiot,” she says, pointing at Steve, “always tries to do the first show without the ear plugs he needs-”

“Not this shit again,” Steve mumbles.

“-because, as it turns out, your ears do a lot more than just hear. Like balance-”

“You’re one to talk about balance, Buckley,” Steve says, giving her a light shove. She nearly topples over if not for the fact that he immediately grabs her arm to steady her.

Eddie thinks he might know even less than he thought.

“I want to make it up to you,” he says, and Steve and Robin stop bickering.

“You don’t have to do that,” Steve says, and Robin elbows him.

“I want to,” Eddie insists. “What’s your favorite song? We’ll play it at the end of our set.”

Naïvely and terribly optimistically, Eddie hopes Steve might say something that’s already in their set list, or maybe another one of their songs.

From the way that Robin and Steve are looking at each other conspiratorially, he doesn’t think that’s the case.

“No,” Steve says, laughing and shaking his head.

Robin sneaks a glance at Eddie, smirks, and starts signing at Steve.

The only thing Eddie understands about the conversation as their hands move is their facial expressions: Robin with a smirk, and Steve trying desperately not to laugh.

He’s so cute. He gets this little crease on the side of his mouth that Eddie wants to smooth out with his thumb.

Slow the hell down, buddy.

“Fine,” Steve says, throwing his hands up in the air. He turns back to Eddie. “Pretty Fly.”

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Eddie blurts.

Steve’s eyes narrow. “Didn’t you just apologize to me?”

“Sorry,” Eddie says. “It’s just that my bassist and lead singer have been gunning for this song for, like, 6 months. Archie chomps at the bit for fun bass lines, and Jeff just thinks it’s funny as-”

“Slow down,” Steve interrupts.

Right. He talks too fast.

“I’ll play it, but it means caving to my asshole friends,” Eddie says.

Robin cackles. “Told you it was a good idea.”

“Yeah, I love a good bass line,” Steve says. His face is softer again, and Eddie thinks he loves that expression.

He checks his watch. “Soundcheck is soon, so I’m gonna head back. Sorry again.”

“Eddie,” Steve says, and oh.

Eddie loves how Steve says his name.

“We’re good, okay?” he continues, small smile on his face.

“Well,” Robin chimes in. “After the apology song you will be.”

Eddie laughs. He really likes her now that she’s warmed up to him.

“Noted,” he says.

He heads back with a final wave and ducks backstage, where the band is tuning their instruments.

“Well?” Gareth asks, tightening his snare.

Eddie grabs his guitar, closes his eyes, and sighs. “He wants us to play Pretty Fly as an apology.”

“Let’s fucking go!” Archie roars, and Jeff gives him a high five.

“No way-”

“Gareth, I know-”

“You dick-hungry traitor.”

“Hey!”

“The fucking Offspring, Eddie? Punk? Are you shitting me? Punk just because you want a shot with a hot guy?”

Archie starts plucking out the bass line. Gareth throws a drum stick at his head. Jeff beams it back at him and misses.

“It’s one time,” Eddie says.

“Unless your cute roadie likes it enough,” Jeff teases.

“He’s not my anything.”

“Not yet,” Archie adds.

“Not ever.”

“Fucking pessimist,” Jeff says.

A tiny crashing sound makes them all turn toward the drum set, where Gareth is lightly thumping his head into the hi-hat.

“I’m gonna have to do the backing vocals for Pretty Fly,” he mutters.

“Your fault for sounding like a pre-pubescent chihuahua.”

Gareth throws his other drumstick at Jeff. “I’m not begging you for shit.”

“Do it for the bit,” Archie says. “You love doing it for the bit.”

Gareth picks his head up. “I do love doing anything for the bit.”

“Soundcheck in five!” someone calls.

“Thank you five!” Eddie yells back. Shit, he’s gotta tune his guitar.

Soundcheck is a breeze, and, after that, the time flies. Before he knows it, they’re out onstage, playing their usual set list.

Eddie doesn’t think he’ll ever get enough of this. The energy, the lights, the sounds, G-d, all of it. There’s nothing like being onstage and playing until his fingers hurt, nothing like joining in on the backup vocals, nothing like hearing the crowd roar with them.

It’s perfect. Touring is everything he dreamed of and more.

Eddie wants to do this for the rest of his life. They’re gonna headline one day, he knows it, but this is an amazing start.

What Eddie doesn’t want to do is talk, at Jeff’s request.

“Okay, okay,” he says, getting the crowd to quiet down. “We’ve got two more songs. The first one is one we’re playing because I fucked up.”

“And because he finally caved to us,” Jeff adds.

The crowd laughs, but it doesn’t feel mocking. Eddie laughs with them.

“So, Steve, consider this the final part of my apology-”

“And my peak embarrassment!” Gareth adds.

The crowd laughs again, and Eddie sighs, fondly long-suffering. “Let’s do it.”

The backing vocals are fucking embarrassing. Eddie’s with Gareth on that one. They suck, and he feels himself flush for reasons other than the heat.

But he imagines Steve smiling as he watches the show, and Archie is clearly having the best G-ddamn time on the bass, and Jeff is basically cackling his way through the song, so it’s worth it.

They get through it and then their closer without a hitch.

“We’re Corroded Coffin!” Jeff tells the crowd. “Y’all were amazing, so keep that energy up for the other opener and for the main act!”

The crowd roars, the lights black out, and they make their way backstage.

In the green room, on Eddie’s guitar case, is a note.

Apology more than accepted. Here’s my number in case you want to apologize again. Or maybe grab a coffee.

Text, don’t call. In case you haven’t noticed, my ears don’t work.

-Steve.

Eddie has never added a contact faster in his life.

I think I saw a 24 hour diner down the road. Hopefully they have good coffee.

Steve’s response is immediate.

Do you really think I care about the quality of the coffee?

You could be a coffee connoisseur for all I know, Eddie types back.

I don’t know a lot. Hence the date.

Date.

Woah.

Eddie tries to get his heart rate under control and text Steve back. He’s never been good at multitasking though, so by the time he’s able to formulate words again, the lights have gone down and the second opener is on. Steve’s working, and he shouldn’t be bothered.

Besides, Eddie should probably use the time between now and the end of the show to think before he speaks for once in his life.

Yeah fuck it I’ll keep the tag list (or you can follow the shiny new tag #gi;pe au): @vampireinthesun @paperbackribs @littlewildflowerkitten @estrellami-1 @messrs-weasley @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @omgshesinsane @bestwifehaver @marklee-blackmore @gleek4twd @steddiestains @chaoticvictorianspirit @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @alienace @7shrewsinatrenchcoat @punctualhowell @pluto-pepsi @voidpacifist @sunfloweringstories @anaibis @evillitteguy @hallucinatedjosten @avi17 @b-u-g-g-y @shinekocreator @l0st-strawberry @brassreign @abbiecadabi-blog @rainbow-freckle @gregre369 @rehfan @just-a-tiny-void @weirdandabsurd42 @satan-is-obsessed @honeysucklesinger @coyotepup345 @gayafmermaid @thegingerrapunzel

[willows-writings]

‼️This post is part of a choose your own adventure series and is not meant to be read stand-alone. Click HERE to go to the masterlist and Chapter beginnings‼️

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Ask if he's ok

Chapter 2

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Your concern wins you over and you pull back from the kiss. As you pull away Josh lets out a small groan and reaches up to try and kiss you again. You laugh and gently place a hand on his mouth. “Josh, wait, are you doing ok?”

He groans “Y/n no offense but we are not a one night stand who just met each other, we don’t have to do the whole get to know you thing.” he mumbles from behind your hand.

You grin for a moment before your face goes back to serious. “No I mean, with all the guys being here, and I guess… just being here in general.” You remove your hand from his mouth.

His face falls and he moves to sit up, scooting back so his back rests against the headboard and pulling your body with him so you remain on his lap. “Look y/n, in all honesty it freaks me out a bit, I miss them but more than anything I’m happy they all came up here, happy you're here.” He trails a hand down your face and you lean into it. You know there’s more, but you also know these next few days aren’t the time to interrogate him about it. 

“Ok,” You whisper and move your face to press a kiss to his hand “Ok, anything you need I’m here” 

He smiles at you and hugs you close to him. 

Suddenly you hear a noise from outside the room. Josh groans “Someone definitely just broke something, fuck.” He moves you off his lap gently, stands and starts to walk to the door while you remain sitting on the bed.

“Hey,” he turns to your voice, “what if… we just stay here tonight? I mean tension in the group is still running high, there’s a good chance everyone else will stay split off or just go to sleep. We could make hot chocolate and popcorn? Watch a movie? I got a few of those horror films you like downloaded on my computer? It’ll be fun!” You know at this point you're rambling but you can see his face softening the more you talk. 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” He briskly walks over to you so he can plant a dramatic kiss on your forehead. When he looks at you again there’s a huge smile plastered across his face. “I’ll check on everyone else and get the food and you can stay here, pulling up that movie, and just stay looking pretty for me which shouldn’t be too hard cause you always are.” He winks and you roll your eyes. “I’ll be no more than an hour, maybe get some rest, it’ll be a long night.” He says the last part while walking out the door in a sing-songy voice. 

You smile before remembering something from earlier. “And you know Chris told me about that snow angels comment from earlier.” He leaned back in the room, his interest peaked. “That will not be happening.”

Josh lets out a laugh as he closes the door behind him.

The door closes behind him and you lay back onto the soft pillows, he’s right, a nap would be nice right about now. You close your eyes and let sleep overtake you.

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End of Chapter 2

You got: Ending #4

Chapter 3: Beginning #4 (coming soon!)

OBaC Masterlist

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I like to think if you were actually playing the game this would be the choice that would increase your relationship with Josh the most.

For anyone confused when this takes place it’s around the time Mike and Jess are walking to the cabin, and before Josh goes with Chris and Ashley. Sam failing to turn the heater on alone was the noise.

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

OKAY here is the completely nonserious percy jackson npmd au thats been taking up space in my brain for weeks now because it simply needs somewhere to go:

New campers-

Stephanie Lauter:

I'm not overcomplicating this one: Steph is a daughter of Aphrodite

Solomon Lauter saw the hottest woman at some party where he was campaigning, and he’s is nothing if not ‘passionate’ and successful (by design) so it worked out

As far as Steph knows until her teens her mom ran off on her dad when she was a baby, and that’s fine, she doesn't give a shit, she’s never looked into it

Until, when she’s sixteen (because somehow she’s made it this long) Grace Chasity starts a rumor, her dad sends her to Abstinence Camp and the monster in the woods chases her right into camp halfblood

She gets claimed pretty promptly and Is Not A Fan

She’s thinks it’s pretty sexist and conceited and stupid and problematic for a whileeeee and refuses to look into it any more than ‘pink and pretty and misogynistic’ which like, doesn’t go well for her but she’s nothing if not stubborn

She’s fluent in French because of her mom but she doesn’t know that until she gets to camp and is genuinely so pissed off that the one school subject she thought she was good at isn’t even on her own merit

She’s got some vague appearance manipulation stuff, and once she realizes she does she exclusively uses it to change her hair color and make her eyeliner look good

She’s probably like camp way more if she knew about it earlier but the combo of her had having kept it from her and who her mom is and all the stupid games/worship expectations piss her off and she bails on most of the events/training/campfires out of spite

She definitely uses some close up weapon like a dagger or short sword

Grace Chastity:

Grace is a daughter of Ares 

(Her finding this out goes very poorly)

Im ngl i feel like somehow Ares ended up with Mark Chastity, I refuse to examine this thought but i think Mark Chastity had his first gay experience and woke up the next morning with a baby there somehow because Ares thought it would be hilarious and wanted to see what would happen

She gets chased to camp with Steph from Abstinence Camp and is fucking livid, the whole thing is insanely scareligious and ridiculous and everyone there is going to hell and she is so heated that Ares, once again thinking it’s really funny and slightly proud, claims her on the spot

Grace Chastity is out here with her sacreligious two gay dads

She really resents specifically who her dad is because in her head she is made for peace and love and spreading the word of god, she hates the idea of war or violence on principal, so she spends a lot of time at the strawberry fields or Pegusus stables because she does really like the flying horses :)

She refuses to take place in any camp activities or training and all her siblings hate her

At a certain point she’s able to harness a level of odikinesis (enhancing feelings of hatred and war) and it doesn’t go well

Chiron honestly is forcing her to stick around because he’s REALLY so very nervous about how the fuck it would go to have Grace loose on the mortal world right after she finds everything else

Her weapon is an axe

Obviously

AND THEN we’ve got the established campers-

Peter Spankoffski:

Okay so forgive me for my special little blorbo-fication of my guy but:

Pete’s a son of Nyx

He super fucking shouldn’t be, there aren’t demi-god children of Nyx, just monsters and minor gods, but him and Ted were kind of just… thought experiments? Like she was bored and very curious so she took a really shitty human and had a child with him (Ted) and then, in what Nyx’s head was barely any time at all but in human years was straight up 18 years, has another one (Pete)

Ted raises Pete for a couple years, but children of Nyx in general are just bad omens, and human children of Nyx who probably shouldn’t exist are no exception, so they get hunted down by monsters hard

Ted dies or disappears by the time Pete’s ten or eleven and he ends up at a camp

He’s a year round camper and lives in the hermes cabin because obviously Nyx doesn’t have a cabin (look okay i know that percy fixed that, but that bit of lore where any unclaimed or minor god children live at the hermes cabin is so fucked up and rife with angst and hurt/comfort potential is too much for me to resist so this is a universe where percy jackson does not exist)

His luck is horrible, like it’s a magical demigod ability how horrible his luck is and he’s well on his way to systematically having broken every single one of his bones one by one, they know him so well in the apollo cabin

NO ONE (and I mean NO ONE) likes him and he’s considered a camp wide jinx so he takes one for the team and personally exempts himself from any team events like capture the flag because no one is willing to have him on their side

A lot of newer campers generally assume he’s an Athena kid because he really enjoys learning/strategy/by-the-book stuff because it’s a lot easier than trying to get involved with the more dangerous athletic shit 

Because his mom is the goddess of night he’s very into outer space

His weapon is a bow and arrow, but he’s pretty good with most range weapons/anything that he can calculate aim for 

Ruth Fleming:

Ruth is a daughter of Demeter and she’s pissed about it

Her dad told her about being a demigod a couple years before she went to camp but he didn’t know who her mom was so she got very very into greek mythos and shit and was convinced she was a daughter of Athena or Aphrodite or someone else nine-year-old-girl-cool and was fucking devestated when it was the goddess of farming

Like, she’ll do all the things she’s expected to (helping in the strawberry fields, weeding, etc..) but she’s going to complain about it

She doesn’t even have any cool powers to go with it!!! it’s so unfair >:( 

She’s also involved with the camp’s theater department and is convinced it’s rigged against her because of who her mom is in favor of Apollo and Dionysus kids (in fairness…. it probably is) which is why she’s always stuck on tech 

She’s definitely got a crush of Richie’s dad

She’s a summer only camper for sure, monsters don’t hunt her down for any reason in particular or en mass so she can get away with it and fight off the ones that do, but she does kind of take offense to the fact that even monsters don't want her (even if they’d just kill her) 

Her childhood greek mythology obsession carries over so she knows every dumb little detail about every myth and will bring it up unprompted

Her main weapon is just a celestial bronze sword but i feel like when she first got to camp at 12 she bribed a child of Iris to change the color of it so it looks like… rose gold lmao

Richie Lipschitz:

Richie is a son of Dionysus

And sure, okay, I know what you're thinking: that doesn’t really fit…?

But to that I say oh boy it does, just not for Richie

For his twin brother Trevor however– 

Richie is kind of like the black sheep of his cabin, not that there is many of them, because his brother is perfectly cookie cutter what a Dionysis kid should be (he’s a theater kid, he throws good parties, he’s generally popular) and Richie is not

They both started camp at probably 10-ish, a little earlier than traditional because there were two of them which drew more monsters

His eyes are violet though which he thinks is very cool so he dyes his hair purple to match them

He sorta-kinda has chlorokinesis, specifically for grape and strawberry vines, which a. he also thinks is very cool, and b. he uses as an excuse to get out of training so he can hang out with Ruth

He's also really good at swimming and trying to work up the courage to ask his dad if he'd possibly be able to grant him the ability to turn into a dolphin but just like... only when he wanted tot and he could turn back

He really wishes his was an Apollo kid (though, obviously he’d never say that out loud) because of the artistic stuff, so he sort of just tries to gaslight everyone that because his dad is the god of the Arts that includes physical art like drawing so obviously that’s why he’s good at it

He’s a summer-only camper too but for the dumbest reason; their parents gave the twins a choice, but Trevor wanted to be able to go back to school to do school plays and Richie can’t watch anime at camp so they chose summer only

His weapon is just a normal sword but he’s campaigning to get a child of Hephaestus to make him a Katana

(They’re all three kind of outcasts in terms of their own godly parents, because Ruth and Richie don’t really fit the mold of ‘normal child of [blank]’ and Pete’s kind of just generally disliked because of his parentage, so they all sort of came together as friends out of necessity but now they’re just actually buddies and they hang out)

anyway who knows if ill do anything with this but its FUN and id love to talk about it forever they're just little demigod losers I love them

[revserrayyu]

Real quick Wardance thoughts [part 2]

**SPOILERS** for everything happening after the final match. Basically some story stuff and a bunch of goodbyes, but it’s mostly just me loving every second the Yaoqing trio is on screen.

Seeing a younger Jing Yuan is precious, but it was made even better hearing Alejandro’s natural voice during this short scene.

I know Igor was mentioned at the very start of this event and was sort of a constant, small side story amongst everything else, but his history and reason for entering the Wardance really was unfortunate from what I remember (which isn’t much.) Shame he’s no longer around. I would’ve definitely tried pulling for him if he ever had the chance to be playable.

While Jarilo-VI is no longer a small, unknown ball of ice floating in space, I was not expecting it to have more visitors so soon. I wonder how the Belobogians reacted to seeing their first foxian. & is it safe to assume that our pilot, who refuses to fly anymore, took the Astral Express here? Because that’s what I’m going to believe. Also, Seele spotted! Huzzah!! (no Serval at all though. I cry. or Clara now that I think about it.)

More allies, let’s goooo! Dang, imagine how awesome it would be to see Belobog experience other seasons aside from a perpetual winter. Or to have the residents able to travel outside the city’s walls, free from any danger. I adore everyone from Belobog so much and I hope they get the chance to live such fulfilling lives. They deserve it!

I have not checked the museum for myself yet, but if this photo is actually displayed there now, then that is so cute. And I know I can’t be alone in thinking this, but because of the striking red hair, Igor must be some sort of ancestor to Luka, yeah? It might be a stretch but they even got similar big grins too.

Alright, enough of my favorite planet and onto my favorite trio. Jiaoqiu sweetie, I treasure those few days so much! I just wish you were spared from all the trauma.

What a way with words. A poet, even. And yes of course I chose the first option. I feel bad pointing out his little slip up, but I wanted to know his reaction even more.

Pfft, the fact they let him talk for so long without mentioning he was facing the wrong way.. I’ll admit it is a bit comical.

Awww honey no! Don’t apologize! If I were them, I’d move myself in front of whatever direction he was facing so he wouldn’t feel bad.

It’s okay, we don’t blame you! At least he says it’s only his eyes that aren’t of any use instead of himself. That’s thinking positively I guess. I’m sure he’s still quite capable in doing many things, even in a kitchen. I mean, the guy had his eyes closed 90% of the time anyway, so surely he can still cook up a decent meal while blind thanks to muscle memory and his expertise. The other two would gladly assist him as well.

How much you wanna bet our Jiaoqiu isn’t going to listen to any doctor’s order because he’s a healer and knows his body better than anyone else? Feixiao & Moze are gonna make certain he heals up properly. But maaann, I wish they showed us Feixiao in the crowd during the final match, if only for a split second.

A perfect trio. One who can’t compete because of rules, another who wouldn’t fight because that’s not his job and the other who shouldn’t, lest he end someone’s life by accident. Pretty fair reasons.

Moze is an absolute mood. I’m not a big fan of chatting either. Quite ironic, given how much I can ramble on about this game and its characters, isn’t it?

Her whole “lacking in worries, regrets and rivals” outlook on life is wonder and I love it but NOW our Lacking General has but ONE REGRET! Aaaah.. honestly, I do too. I regret not pulling Jiaoqiu, but IN MY DEFENSE.. Feixiao was right after him and I needed to save big for her. I also didn’t really have a team suitable for our healer to excel in.. but next time for sure! I’ll bring him home!

Son of a bitch they’re so precious and sweet I wanna scream. It’s a blessing in disguise that this entire goodbye scene wasn’t voiced because if I had to hear all the emotion in their voices for this conversation I would’ve been an even bigger, sobbing mess.

Pfftt, thank you Moze for focusing on the task at hand. We can always count on him to be blunt.

Yeah how about NO. I do not wish to see you guys leave me! I’m holding onto that “for now” with such a tight grip. Y’all better return sooner rather than later, you hear me??

I absolutely took my time taking photos of them. I love ‘em with all my heart and can’t wait to see them more in future arcs.. as long as nothing else bad happens. Surely my devotion shall protect them from any troublesome plot! You hear me, Hoyo? Only wholesome and heartwarming stuff from here on out!

I am kinda bummed Huaiyan turned out to be nothing but a unique looking npc. He might not have been a character I might’ve pulled for if he was playable, but he would’ve definitely had some cool combat animations I’m sure.

I know I’ve said it somewhere before, whether in a post of my own or in comments, but Fu Xuan is probably my least favorite character. I just.. don’t vibe with her at all. I dunno. With that said, I didn’t mind that she was practically absent from these entire last two patches. So yes, I called her sassy, lost and short.

Astral Express parents showing up fashionably late to the party. Ya think a black hole or orbital laser could’ve destroyed Hoolay’s blood moon? We shall never know. I do wonder how their own task with those fossils and Ruan Mei turned out though. That’s something I’m looking forward to hearing more about, especially since Yaoguang mentioned at the end of the 2.5 story that our mad scientist has just boarded the Luofu too.

Huzzah, the end~ Much less serious this time around but at least we’re finally done. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Xianzhou during our initial trip here during the story, but these last two updates were some of my favorites for sure. (and I promise it’s not only because of my Yaoqing trio bias)

[alyheartsjess]

ok so since people didn’t cut my head off for my unpopular opinions i’m gonna expand on the second one. so for people in the gilmore girls fandom it’s pretty much the general opinion that luke is a saint for taking jess in and that jess screwed things up and that it’s his fault luke kicked him out. ”he got himself kicked out”. even people who like jess seem to think this is fair. so as someone who watches gilmore girls mostly for jess i have a different perspective that i’ve never actually vocalized but i figured maybe this little corner of the internet wouldn’t hate me for this, as long as it doesn’t make it out of here.

so i also first of all think that the fact that jess has to work at luke’s and graduate in order to stay there is a bit sad. like everyone around him his age has somewhere they can stay without conditions, and people wonder why he’s the only one worried about making money. and yes, it’s a fine idea in theory, he has to change his ways if he wants to stay with luke bc that’s the point of him being there, sure, but luke could stand to NOT always bring it up to jess during fights that can’t stay with him if he violates the conditions.

bc the thing is that luke very clearly makes it known that he doesn’t want jess there and that the whole situation is kind of a pain in his ass that he’s doing out of obligation. a minor is entitled to a place to stay where they can be an asshole unconditionally, actually, and they shouldn’t have to be constantly grateful to have that. and if luke didn’t want to fully commit and be that place, he should have said no to taking jess in. you don’t get to get all the praise for doing a good deed and then get all pissy about actually following through with it.

like i know luke and jess aren’t the main characters and that their scenes and dynamic are for comedy. but then they play off jess leaving as serious so i should be allowed to analyze their scenes seriously. and my conclusion is… luke is not that nice to jess LOL. like i can’t think of a single scene where he responds to him in any other manner than pissed off or annoyed. he never stops treating him like a bad kid. we know luke cares about jess but does jess have any reason to believe that? or does he think this is all for liz? like i know their scenes are jokes but for someone who complains so much about what a difficult person jess is to connect with, i think luke missed a lot of moments to do it.

luke taking jess in in general is nice, YES, but i’m not talking about just good intentions here. and i know that it was a very good intention but i, again, just super dislike the whole ”you wouldn’t have anywhere to stay if it wasn’t for me, so watch it”-attitude. even in season 4 luke basically said that jess had to come to liz’ wedding because he was there for him when no one else was. and i think that’s a shitty thing to say to someone who deserved more. i know luke didn’t have to do it bc he’s not his parent and that’s why people forgive him and not liz, who is his parent and did have to do it. but i think luke agreed to be jess’ parent and if he didn’t want to, he could have said no to his sister for once in his life. anyways, i think i’ve made my point.

also, i love you luke, my world just revolves around your nephew. i know i’m putting a lot of unrealistic expectations on a guy who’s pretty emotionally constipated. and he did come through with the big things, like giving jess money in sesson 4. but i’m talking about the little things that could have made even more of a difference. just don’t get it twisted ok, luke and jess’ relationship is my fave on the show, i may like it even more than rory and jess’, but when i enjoy something i analyze it. so don’t think i don’t love them, because i do! i just want to squash the idea that luke did everything he could but that jess ultimately was too difficult, because i disagree with that.

[mjso-soupp]

Meet me in the South

(Subaru Sakamaki/American!FemaleReader)

Word Count: 3.5k

Summary: Reader begs Subaru to escape.

Notes: This might just be like the introduction to the story? There’s no major plot points and more of just a feel. Also shoutout to @fangsforiris for creating the beautiful moodboard above!!!

I’ve dreamed since I was four years old

That the house is slowly on fire

And I can’t get you to leave it

—Alice Notley, In the Pines

————————————————————————

The weather back where I lived was blazing and relentless, the sun would cast an unbearable warmth and all I could do was sit inside, sighing while hoping my ride to the pool would be here soon enough. My hair was always frizzy from the humidity and skin burned a bright red, I had also developed white lines running along my back from the overused swimsuit I wore every trip to the pool.

My last memory of being there was of walking down the road to the convenience store with my friend. We grabbed a couple of cokes and sat on the park bench talking about what my life in Japan would be like. She claimed I was the one who had finally gotten out of the old, small town life. When I gave her my last goodbye, I felt the twinge in my heart knowing it would be a while before I could talk to her like this again. With the warmth clinging to us, to our bodies. At the airport the choking feeling just grew, my mama drove me, she was silent the whole way but when we arrived she eventually started talking.

”You’re sweating bullets, have you been wearing the lotion the doctor gave you?”

”Yes, but it doesn’t really work that well. I’ve been applying it more than often.”

“Maybe you aren’t applying it like you’re supposed to, it says on the package counter clockwise—make sure to rub counter clockwise!”

“Mama, it’s okay, I hear where I'm moving to, it's cold anyways.. “

My mom looked at me and gave me a sad smile, the wrinkles on her cheeks made my heart throb, I also wouldn’t be able to see those wrinkles till I came back.

”You’re nervous, aren’t you? It’s going to be okay,”

”Yeah, a little—I'm okay though, It’s gonna go away when I'm settled over there, I hope.”

She squeezed my shoulders and took a deep breath,

”Smell the air one last time, maybe it’ll calm you.”

I took a breath of the air around me, I could smell strong gas leaking from the taxis, freshly cut grass and the yeast smell from the bread factory I would drive past everyday to and from school.

“You’re safe here mama, I feel a bit better though.. I'll be back soon, just gotta finish my studies… When I'm back, I’ll take you to get some ice cream.”

I could see the tears in her eyes form, she pulled me into a tight embrace—It was short but it eased my nerves for the duration of the trip. My mom didn’t like to cry in front of me, but I guess it was one of those times it was acceptable to. I pulled away and gave her one last look,

“I have to go now, I have everything—don't worry, bye mama.” I kissed her on the cheek before reaching for the handle of my suitcase, “Ice cream, mama.” I smiled before walking away to my gate. That was the last time I talked to my mama.

When I arrived in Japan, people stared—a lot. I could feel their eyes judging me, they definitely knew I was an American. Who could blame them though? My appearance didn’t help my case either: My skin was red and tan as opposed to the glossy paleness over here. My hair was also crazy from sleeping on the plane, and I was in pajamas. I struggled to walk in the airport without getting bumped into for more than a couple of seconds, everyone was moving so fast I couldn’t keep up, back home everyone was more relaxed, but there really wasn’t anywhere to go. The drivers refused to take me to the address that apparently was in the middle of nowhere, I bet you they also thought I didn’t have any money. Eventually, an older man agreed to drive me the hour long way, I thanked him profusely and tipped him a generous amount after. I shouldn’t have thanked him, he probably worked for them. I didn’t realize the danger I was stepping into then. I believe that was the last time I was truly happy— I smiled, laughed, and imagined what my life here would be like the entire plane ride. Now, I want to go back to that very moment and tell myself to run—as far as she can and fast.

Introductions were far from conventional: Instead of my host greeting me, a young blonde girl named Yui—who’s eyes were so red I could feel my arms forming goosebumps, welcomed me with open arms. She had this anxious demeanor about her which should’ve alarmed me, and then there they were, all six of the brothers residing in the entry hall. The only one that really stood out to me was the pale, silver haired man in the back who’s face seemed to always be locked in that scowling, annoyed expression—again, with the blazing red eyes.

I attempted to focus on my studies but after the realization they were indeed vampires, it was hard.

Eventually winter break, the relief for everyone in the household had finally arrived—the brothers spent it like normal. Subaru and Ayato were fighting like always, Reiji was still annoyed with Shuu and the triplets wouldn’t give Yui up. No one really bothered me, unless it was to bleed me and I had gotten used to being alone in my room doing whatever I could to keep busy, I took comfort sitting on the alcove in my room, watching the endless amount of flakes fall from the sky. They fell so gracefully—like they were dancing, but I forgot what it felt to be like that. Laying next to the window also reminded me of the time when my friends would fling pebbles at the panes, waking me up earlier then needed on a summer day just to go run off to the community pool, and to get a couple of cokes for the walk back home—I would always forget to bring a towel so my sandals would squeak loudly when I strolled back home on the pavement, in that hot summer town, I dreamt of when I rested my head against the now still, freezing panes.

“You’re always sitting there, looking so helpless.”

It was Subaru, the brother everyone avoided because he was just too aggressive. For being so strong, he sure had soft features: His hair was like a white rose, the cleanest pick from the bouquet, he stood tall and composed, and his eyes were like early picked cherries, not ripe, but still so red and bright. He was hungry. I started to pick up on that glint in their eyes whenever they were hungry: Their eyes normally had that abnormal gloss that stole all reflection from light near, but when they were hungry—all signs of that were gone. Beautiful orbs were dulled and fogged with their lust for blood or just to satisfy their sadistic needs. The first time one of them tried to feed from me, it was him. He was angry I didn’t comply, leading to purple bruises forming around my wrists that ached for days.

“I like sitting here, it's comfortable.”

“Tch, you know what I’m here for, you should hurry up and get over here so I can get this over with,”

He glared at me from the door with his arms crossed waiting for me to come to him, I knew standing my ground wouldn’t help so I just obeyed him. I hesitated but eventually took step after step to meet him, I unbuttoned my shirt down just above my bra.

“It’s no fun when you don’t fight back…” He grabbed my hair in his fist whilst tilting my head to the side. “I’m too thirsty to complain though.” My heart beat would just race whenever he was with me, him. Just him, feeling his tongue travel on my neck would send shivers I hadn’t previously known of. Even to the sound of his fangs digging into my neck, I wasn’t used to being held so closely by someone—much less a man.

“You’re.. enjoying this? Of course you are, I should’ve expected this… Nn…” My knees were beginning to buckle under my weight, my entire body felt numb I couldn’t see straight—or think.

“Subaru—I think that’s enough..” I placed my hand on his shoulder,

“Damn it! Just let me fucking have this,” The grip on my hair became stronger, he was tugging on it with an even greater strength.

“It h-hurts Subaru!” I pushed against him once more causing him to grab both of my arms,

“I won’t let them get to you—from now on you’re mine.” The grip on my hair eventually loosened, my heart was racing and I looked into his eyes, they weren’t back to that abnormal gloss though: His eyes were still foggy but this time with rage— or sadness, I couldn’t tell.

“The fucks that look for? Tsk, I’ll make sure everybody in the house knows that you’re my property now, and you have no say.” Subaru always dragged that sad presence around him no matter where he roamed, sitting alone on the rooftop, when he stared at Yui smiling with Shuu. Right now I didn’t feel that sadness, instead I could feel him shaking from anger, the anger everyone in the house avoided but I had just gotten myself caught into. Causing me to get pinned down on the hardwood flooring of my room, getting bit over and over again that night.

Later, when I had gotten one of those rare moments to speak with Yui, she told me Ayato convinced everyone for a darts game. Shuu had won the prize—Her and all the brothers watched Shuu bite her to mark his territory, including Subaru. Yui told me she saw Subaru storm out the back door when Shuu sank his fangs into her neck. Yui had been claimed by the vampire who could care less about titles, or existing, she was claimed by a dead man—with no lust for life, instead a hatred for the world he was born into.

“He came into my room, I suppose after, and he just… bled me dry that night. It just feels.. Wrong, I feel something is changing.” I paused for a moment,

“He’s always been sweet on you Yui, I hope you notice that.”

Her eyes saddened and lowered her head down to the ground. Her blonde locks shielded her face, she began sniffling quietly. I just placed my hand on her shoulder, hoping that would soothe her. She didn’t ask to be in this situation, nor did I. Yet, she was always so poise, her will never faltered. Whilst I would lay on the bathroom floor sobbing— grieving the life I had, and lost. She was the spitting image of ideal for the brothers and I trailed behind her, collecting the bits and pieces each one of them had broken—hoping to grasp some of her femininity and hope.

“I don’t want any of this..” She spoke quietly, her voice cracking.

And the break ended. When we returned to school, Subaru made a case of being near me at every moment. A fellow male student had made the simple mistake of bumping shoulders with me in the hallway and apologized profusely when he saw Subaru lurking in the back. He also kept count of which brother had taken blood from me that week or day. Yui was officially Shuu’s so she was out of commission, that left me. A new bride was sent to the mansion—except this one wasn’t under protection like Yui. She was like me, patiently waiting to get murdered by one of these bloodthirsty vampires. Shaking in bed at night from every creek the flooring would make, hoping it wasn’t one of the brothers for their feeding, trembling, knowing they could snap your neck with ease—if they even cared enough to do so, they would’ve much rather watched us writhe in agony on the floor then spare us mercy. She fell under the hands of Laito. He filled her head with false promises anyone would have trouble turning from, I didn’t see her again after he had taken full possession of her. Lord knows what happened to that sweet girl, what a shame, she was so beautiful too. I just remember hearing a wailing cry from the balcony a month after, and a quick snap.

I assume Subaru also heard it, he came into my room demanding blood again—I knew why he was upset, he was wondering what would happen if that instead was Yui. He couldn’t run to her of course, asking if she was okay. So he ran to me, the second choice. I felt like I could read his mind when he mumbled those words under his breath,

“Idiot, could’ve been you…”

I had to accept the fact I would never be Yui. She was the one I needed to model after, but could never be. In reality, she was the missing part of the equation while I could be factored right out. If you asked me why Subaru gave me a chance, I couldn’t respond to you. But if you compared us like how I had compared Yui to myself, I would be Yui, and he would be me. Back in town I had a handful of friends, we would always spend time together in the back of someone’s pickup truck, or in the basement of church after sleeping through the sermon. I was out all day and alone at night, and I liked it that way. Meanwhile, Subaru was alone all day. He was the type to stand by, watching us laugh with our tongues blue from the slushies someone had bought for all of us, excluding him. He would scoff and question why we were laughing at a joke only we would understand. Subaru is someone the boys in my group would call a freak, and whisper to us why we should stay away.

That was the conflict between us: He knows how different we are. When he would blow up in my face about how stupid and delusional I was, I would just admire such passion and emotion. The type everyone suppressed—he wouldn’t, he was real in all ways. He picked up on it, I wouldn’t lower my gaze in fear, or disgust. Just keeping eye contact, analyzing all his little quirks and habits. Truly falling for him.

“You have to leave, it’s not safe here—eventually, they will kill you.” His face was sullied with worry, yet another sacrificial bride was sent and this time, she was Reiji’s.

“N-no, I’m not going to leave you here. I want to stay here with you!”

“You’re not listening! You will die. Here, take this.” He pushed the knife into my hands, I couldn’t react—except for just standing with my mouth agape.

“What is this for?”

“To kill me,”

“What?! Why would I do that! No—take this back, I won’t do that.” My heart was shattered, how could such a beautiful person want to end their life—or have someone just end it?

“Come with me, we can leave—I’ll show you a new life.” His face lost all emotion, he just stared at me—he wasn’t expecting that response.

“It’s not that easy.”

————————————————————————

I jolted awake, it took me a couple of seconds to realize just where exactly I was—I fell asleep watching the snowfall from the sky from the alcove again, It was pitch black aside from the moon shining over the view of the white garden, and Subaru’s pale face peering through the window.

“About time you wake up, open the damn window! Before I break it down!”

I stared at him groggily for a second before fully snapping into reality,

“Oh my… Why are you outside my window?”

I crawled to the other side and unlatched the lock, this was the first time he did this—he liked making appearances. He slid the window open, allowing the night chill in,

“Hurry—get in, the cold air is getting in.”

I watched him crawl through the narrow opening and closed it immediately after,

“I have a door…”

I sat back down in my spot across from him, I huddled in the blanket in an attempt to warm myself from the cold.

“It’s easier through the window, besides it’s a full moon.”

Even after a year of living here, I couldn’t adjust to the chilling air and cold corners all around the mansion. I had begun wearing an extra layer of cotton to keep my fingers and feet from falling off.

“Weakling, it’s not even that cold outside, you’re just too dramatic.”

“You’re not human how would you understand?”

His face dropped, he wasn’t expecting that response from me.

“Are you on your fucking period or something? You’ve been acting all different this past week, and I’m sick of it!”

He pulled the blanket away from me, I shivered from the sudden cold air once again and groaned.

“If you were as cold as I am, you would understand.”

I moved closer to him and draped the blanket around the both of us, I felt the cold pane slick with condensation press against my back and dampen my sweater.

“Tch, you didn’t answer my damn question. What’s been up with you?”

I got quiet for a second, I wondered if he thought it through—or if he was up for it.

“Would you ever leave Subaru?”

he was bothered I avoided his question but I needed to get it out of me.

“Tch, not this bullshit again. I already told you, it’s not that easy.”

He went quiet for a moment,

“What a stupid question, why are you still even thinking of this? I don’t know… I don’t have much here to hold onto— But I have nowhere else to go.”

I listened to him mumble, he did that when he was conflicted. I laid my head against his shoulder and sighed, I closed my eyes thinking of my next question.

“But what if you did have somewhere else to go?”

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, he looked down at me confused.

“What do you think… That man would never let me leave.”

I grabbed both his hands and held them, turning to face him fully.

“But imagine if we left! Just took a plane…and never came back? It would work—we could go to America! I k-know where we could stay—“

“No, you’re fucking crazy, we’re not leaving. I mean why would you even wanna leave with me? You had your chance to escape that one night. You were just too much of an idiot to not listen to me.”

I frowned,

“Please, just think about it. None of your brothers would have to know..”

He scowled and turned his head away, he snapped his hands back from mine.

“Who the hell are you to tell me to do stuff?”

He grumbled, I wanted to beg him—on my knees to come with me but I knew he would just scoff and walk away. I figured another way of persuading him would work maybe, quickly getting up, I reached under my alcove and the hidden compartment under. I was scrounging for the box of stuff I had hidden for so long.

“Where is it…? Here.”

I returned to my spot and looked at him.

“What is that…? You're hiding stuff from me now? Give me that.”

He snatched the box from my lap and ripped the lid off. The look on his face changed when he realized what it was, I stared at him intently watching for a reaction.

“It’s photos… of my life back there.”

He reached for the photo of me and my friends swimming, I had my arms propped onto the deck with my sunglasses on, I was smiling with my face red. You could see the white lines from the pattern of another suit. My hair was stringy from the chlorine but that didn’t matter, I was happy. My friends were photobombing in the back of the photo. What a cheesy photo.

“Look at how tan I am, you can see the pattern of my bathing suit—those are my friends.”

“You’re just trying to convince me to. You’ll get tired of me quickly and just leave to fulfill your plan.”

I frowned, he didn't trust the idea—or me even.

“I’m just showing you what it was like, look at how clear the sky is.”

I gestured toward the blue sky, as opposed to the cloudy night sky with specks of ice falling slowly.

I smiled looking at the photo. It was one of those days you couldn’t forget, the heat—It was hot, so hot, and I was awakened in the early morning by those rocks being thrown on my window. I scrambled to get ready but I eventually caught up with them, of course leaving my towel behind.

“You’re crazy, we can’t just… leave.”

“Do you really want to live here for the rest of your life? With your brothers? You’ve never even traveled, Subaru..”

I squeezed his shoulder and stood up, “Atleast think about it.” I left the box on his lap, the next picture facing up was a motel, The Safari Inn.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

I totally get you with the bait vibes and I am apprehensive about buddie/its timing this season. My only thing is that Oliver has spoken so much in the past over worrying about baiting people with buddie and Ryan has spoken with so much care about these characters together that I just can't see either of them suddenly going all in on baiting with buddie without knowing that there are good things coming for them. Not saying they'll go canon in episode 2 or anything but they likely know the general arc/storyline for the season and knowing how much we and they care about buddie, I don't see Ryan or Oliver toying with the fans for fun and being careless or meanspirited about it unless they felt assured about where things might be going this season

this is why the fact that it’s on the official 911 account worries me. because it’s not just ryan and oliver posting, it’s olvier filming a video he was told to for the official account that ryan was also in, and the conscious decision for that video to be posted was made by someone who knows all the attention buddie brings in. if it was for olvier’s personal instagram then maybe id be a little less concerned about it, but the simple fact that it was for a video on the official 911 account doesn’t give me good vibes

i think often times in fandom we view the actors as having a lot more say in things than they actually do… obviously i don’t know what rules and regulations regarding social media involvement the cast have to follow, but i think the fandom automatically assumes that ryan and oliver get veto rights on things just bc of how involved in the show they are, when that’s often not the case— most of the time in show business, actors have to get things approved before they post them to keep from accidentally spoiling things.

that video wasn’t just ryan and oliver goofing off on set (i mean it was); it was intentionally chosen by someone on the 911 team and approved for the official account. it was chosen and approved bc ryan and oliver together means fandom interaction. it’s the same reason we had so many ryan and oliver interviews before s7 with all this pr talk of “they get closer than ever” and “they have such a strong bond” just for buddie to have very few actual meaningful moments onscreen. it’s textbook baiting, and tim has shown he’s not afraid of that.

i know oliver and ryan both feel strongly about buddie and both want to be careful about not baiting, but they’re not the issue here; the issue is that they are both employed by this production, and that means that sometimes they aren’t allowed to say “no” to how something is promoted.

(small addendum)

in regards to the “general storyline of the season” thing you mentioned (and i do not meant this to come across bitchy or rude at ALL) but tim has also stated that he doesn’t plan out seasons. he may bring up storylines he has ideas for and have an idea of where he might go, but he himself has said he doesn’t plan out full seasons (which is….. kinda what his whole job is supposed to be but i digress) and on top of that, we saw in s7 how quickly he made the decision to completely scrap his original ideas for 7b, scrapping a storyline w abuela that was mentioned, as well as bringing e*y and l*u back for more episodes than they were originally supposed to appear in, and creating that god awful “vertigo” mess…

im sure ryan and oliver are told “oh yeah we’re aiming for buddie canon this season” just like the show tries to do to us with the interviews and bts content, only to change their minds a few episodes in because they intentionally convolute/switch up the plot and say “ohhhh it just didn’t go there naturally :/“ (which is complete bullshit for reasons i shouldn’t have to explain to anyone)

overall i think fandom is too disconnected from how the show works/has worked in the past, and that we often ignore things that have been said in favor of the shiny buddie bait from the production (which is the whole point of the bait to begin with) and all that does is sets us up for disappointment in the long run because we convince ourselves that buddie is happening based on oliver and ryan talking about it, when oliver snd ryan most likely are also being strung along, and don’t have any veto power in that.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Fictober 2024

Day 7: Follow Me If You Want to Live 

“I hope you aren’t expecting five-star accommodations, Mr. Allen. Maybe the dirty money you were collecting from the Candy Man would’ve let you live out the rest of your life in luxury if you’d managed to escape to the Caribbean, but it’s not going to buy you any special treatment in state prison.” 

Barry Allen wasn’t sure what the most sickly ironic part of this situation was. The fact that it had been his own beloved Iris who had brought attention to the corruption in the police department? The fact that he had been framed for bribery and tampering with evidence by the very young man he had advocated to have hired as a new police scientist? The fact that his crusade for justice as the Flash had created the absences that his crooked cohort had used to cast further suspicion on him? It was a crowded field. 

“But I—” 

“You disgust me, Allen. The only thing worse than a crook is a crook who hides behind a badge,” the guard said. Barry actually agreed with the guard’s general argument—just not that it applied to his specific case. Because, of course, he hadn’t actually committed any of the crimes of which he had been accused. 

“But I’m innocent!” The guard snorted. 

“Sure you are. So’s everyone else in here.” As the guard led Barry along what felt like a never-ending cell block, he could see various prisoners pointing at him and whispering to each other. He couldn’t hear everything that they were saying, but what he could hear left him with the distinct impression that he wasn’t especially popular amongst the prisoners who had seen his trial on the news—which, given how televised it had been, was probably most of them.

Barry swallowed hard. Maybe he should have taken the intake guards up on their offer of solitary after all. Loneliness and boredom couldn’t kill him, but getting jumped and shanked could—and there was only so much he could use his super speed without revealing his secret identity. 

Suddenly, the guard stopped short in front of one of the cells and rapped on the bars with his baton. 

“You’ve got a new cellmate, pal.” 

“Oh, boy. I’m on cloud nine to hear that, really.” Whoever was currently inhabiting the cell was too far away from the bars for Barry to really see him, but his voice definitely sounded familiar. That being said, given the sheer number of criminals he encountered either as the Flash or as police scientist Barry Allen, he imagined that there were probably quite a few convicts in state prison whose voices he would find familiar. 

“The two of you’ll get along great, I’m sure. Now stand back—and don’t try anything funny.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don’t take all day with it. It’s drafty enough in here as is.” The convict’s voice really did sound very familiar, but frustratingly, Barry just couldn’t place it. A few seconds later, the guard unlocked the cell door and slid it open with a loud clang! 

Barry wanted to run away and never stop running, but he couldn’t. Running away at super speed would be as good as telling the whole prison population that the Scarlet Speedster was secretly perpetually-late police scientist Barry Allen, and running away at normal human speed would just get him tackled to the ground and probably sent to solitary. Instead, he took a deep breath and let the guard pull him into the cell. As soon as he was inside, the guard slid the door back into place, producing a loud screech and then another clang!, before locking the cell shut again. 

“Play nice, boys.” With that, the guard started walking back in the direction he and Barry had come from, and Barry started glancing around his cell. 

Four gray walls. One small window. A rather large pin-up of…was that Daphne Dean? It was. Barry supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to find that his cellmate had a crush on her—she was, after all, a famous and beautiful movie star–but it seemed very wrong to see the face of his childhood sweetheart in a place like this. Of course, it wasn’t any less wrong than the fact that he was in a place like—okay, bad train of thought. Focus on your surroundings. That’s less painful. 

Toilet. In a shared cell? How did that work? Did he even want to know? Probably not. Barry liked his privacy, and he was getting the sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to be having very much of it until Iris and Wally managed to prove his innocence and get him out of here.  If they ever got him out of here. No, bad train of thought. Keep your mind on the physical details of your cell. No sense in having an emotional meltdown. 

Okay, what else? Grimy sink. A surprising number of novels—all by Mark Twain, for some reason—-strewn all over the floor. One very rickety-looking bunk bed, that looked like it might collapse in the middle of the night and crush whoever was on the lower level—which, with his luck, would probably be him. 

“Not exactly the Ritz, huh, Crewcut?” At the sound of the very familiar voice, Barry snapped his eyes up to the top bunk, where a slender man with brown skin and wild black hair was lounging casually.

It was official. He had found the crowning irony in the series of cruel ironies that was apparently his life now. 

His new cellmate was the Weather Wizard. 

“You…you’re…” 

“Mark Mardon. But unless you’ve been living under a rock—which I can’t rule out, given that haircut—you probably know me as the Weather Wizard.” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in maximum security?” 

“You’d think so, huh? But no, the warden says that he’s more concerned with keeping the murderers and drug dealers on lockdown than ‘a bunch of guys who play dress up’. It’s embarrassing, really. What’s the point of being a weather-controlling supervillain if nobody takes you seriously?”

 If I ever get out of here, Barry thought, I’m going to have the Flash pay the Warden a visit. If a man who can create tornadoes doesn’t warrant maximum security to keep him from escaping, what in the world does? 

“So, Crewcut, what are you in for?” 

“First of all, my name is Barry Allen, not ‘Crewcut’. And second of all, I’m innocent.” Weather Wizard laughed. 

“Almost everyone says that, Crewcut, but I’ll play along. If you’re innocent, what are you in for not doing?” Barry was almost surprised that the Weather Wizard didn’t already know. 

“Do you not watch the news?” 

“Not unless I’m on it—and I’ve been here for the past seven months. You’re my third cellmate so far.” 

“What happened to the other two?” 

“The first guy—he was a second-storyman, I think—finished his sentence and got released two weeks after I came in. The second guy—he was definitely an arms dealer for Handsome Jack Giacomo—got transferred to solitary after he made the brilliant decision to tell everyone that he had an affair with the boss’s wife. And he was lucky to even make it there—some of Giacomo’s other boys jumped him and stabbed him three times.” 

“Well, if you had watched the news, you would know that I was convicted for dealing heroin out of the back of my laboratory—I’m a police scientist for the CCPD—and for falsifying evidence on behalf of the Candy Man,” Barry said. The Weather Wizard let out a whistle. 

“Well, what do you know? You actually are innocent.” Barry looked up at him in confusion. 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Because if you weren’t innocent, you’d know better than to say you were convicted for being a corrupt cop. The only thing most of the guys in here hate more than a cop is a corrupt cop.” 

“But I’m not a police officer. I may have a badge, but I don’t make arrests.” 

“I hate to rain on your parade, Crewcut, but you work for the CCPD. That makes you a cop.” 

“But there is a difference. While I have nothing but respect for my fellow officers, I’m not a law enforcement official in the same way that they are. The requirements for being a police scientist are different from the requirements for being a police officer. For one thing, you have to have a degree in forensics in order to be a police scientist, which means earning at least a bachelor’s in the field. For another, you spend much less time out in the field—I’m not even authorized to carry a gun in most situations. You see, the primary function of a police scientist is to—” Barry was cut off by another burst of laughter from the Weather Wizard. 

“What do you think this is, Crewcut? Career Day at an elementary school? You are in prison, and the only aspect of your job anyone is going to care about is the part where you work for the CCPD. And trust me, you can’t weather the kind of storm you’ll bring if you keep running your mouth about where you used to work.” 

“Well, what do you expect me to do if someone asks me? Make something up? I’ve always believed that honesty is the best policy, so I’m not a very convincing liar,” Barry replied. It was, in fact, that very inability to lie convincingly that was partially responsible for him having been convicted in the first place. Since he couldn’t tell anyone that he was the Flash, he’d had to make up another alibi for where he had been while the crimes he had been framed for had taken place—and even he had thought that the stories he’d been forced to come up with had sounded very fake indeed.

The Weather Wizard gave Barry a funny look. If he hadn’t known better, he would have said that there was almost a fond expression on the man’s face. 

“I don’t even know if it matters if you’re a good liar or not. If somebody in the prison grapevine knows you’re in for being a corrupt cop—and trust me, somebody knows—- everyone in the prison’ll know by tomorrow morning.” 

“Well, I am supposedly on the Candy Man’s payroll. Maybe that’ll be sufficient to keep me from actually getting attacked,” Barry said. 

“You know, the sad thing is, if you were guilty, you’d probably have a point. The Candy Man looks out for his pawns, if only to make sure that they don’t testify against his operations. But since you’re innocent—well, he’s not going to waste any time trying to protect someone who’s not on his payroll,” the Weather Wizard replied. 

“To be honest, I don’t know if I could have used his name to protect myself anyway. The idea of pretending to work for a drug dealer makes me feel ill.” Weather Wizard gave Barry that strange look again. 

“How long are you supposed to be in here for?” Barry sighed wearily. 

“Ten years. The D.A. wanted to make it longer, but the judge said that because I was a first offender he would be lenient.” The Weather Wizard’s eyes went wide. 

“Ten years for a first offense is lenient? I got six months for mine!” 

“You weren’t convicted of falsifying evidence and dealing drugs in the employ of the biggest crime baron in the city,” Barry pointed out. 

“Yeah, I guess that would be a bit of a step up from going through someone’s unlocked back door, grabbing a few hundred dollars, and then tripping over a lamp and twisting your ankle. I barely managed to get out of the house before I got arrested.” Barry had known that Mark Mardon had been arrested for burglary three times before he became the Weather Wizard, but this was the first time he had heard the specific details of any of the cases. It seemed that he had been an ever more pathetic small-time crook than Barry had initially assumed. 

“How old were you?” 

“When I was arrested the first time? A lot younger than you, that’s for sure. Maybe two months past my eighteenth birthday. The news came as a real disappointment to my parents. I hadn’t contacted them since I ran away at sixteen, and I think they were hoping that I had died,” the Weather Wizard said casually. 

“You think your parents were hoping that you were dead?” Surely not. If Wally ran away, didn’t contact him or Iris for two years, and then showed up again as the result of a burglary arrest, Barry knew that he would be deeply disappointed—but also that he would be absolutely thrilled to know that Wally was at least alive and unhurt. 

“I was a lot less embarrassing to them that way. If I had been dead, they could have just forgotten that they ever had a pathetic failure of a son named Mark. Me dead would have been very convenient. But me being alive and arrested? That was a problem. It meant that they were constantly being reminded of the fact that they had a son who wasn’t a genius scientist with plans to save the world.”��

Barry had never met Dr. Clyde Mardon, but he had known of him by reputation. He really had been a genius—a prodigy who graduated from high school at seventeen and had somehow earned his doctorate in meteorology at twenty-one. His dissertation, which Barry had perused when it was published in one of the most respected meteorological journals, had been on the theoretical principles that could be used to construct a weather-controlling device, and he had barely graduated when LexCorp, Wayne Enterprises, and S.T.A.R. Labs offered to collectively fund his construction of the first prototype. 

Dr. Mardon had also, somewhat notoriously, been something of a hermit. As soon as he graduated college, he moved out to a small cabin on the isolated Big Water Lake and converted it into an observatory. It had been in that observatory that he had started his work on the prototype—and it had also been in that observatory where he had died of congenital heart failure at twenty-three. What no one had known, at least until several weeks later, was that Dr. Mardon’s prototype had been much closer to completion than anyone had thought. It had been so close to being finished, in fact, that his younger brother had been able to get it in working order merely by following the notes that he had left behind. 

Mark Mardon, a cheap crook so desperate to avoid going back to prison that he had jumped off a moving train, had gone into Dr. Mardon’s observatory and found his brother dead. When he came out of the observatory with his brother’s magnum opus, the weather wand, he had become the Weather Wizard. And Barry knew from his extensive experience as the Flash that the Weather Wizard did not like talking about his brother. 

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked. 

“It’s a good question. I shouldn’t be—I don’t need anyone telling the rest of the prison that the Weather Wizard used to be a two-bit wannabe burglar—but you…you remind me of him.” 

“Of who?” 

“My brother. Claudio. If you’ve heard of him—you probably have, actually, you’re a scientist just like he was—you’d know him as Dr. Clyde Mardon. He was a good man. The best one I’ve ever known. A bit of a chump—I mean, really, what did he think LexCorp was going to do once they got their hands on the wand, use it to feed starving orphans?----but a good man. He actually wanted the best for everyone, even his stupid screwup of a brother. You’ve got that same golly-gee-whiz earnestness that he had. It makes me want to smack you, but—-it’s also why I’m going to be watching your back in here.” Barry’s mouth fell open in shock. Who would have ever thought that the Weather Wizard had a sentimental streak? 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean that if anyone wants to mess with you, they’ll have to go through me first. And trust me, nobody’s stupid enough to tangle with a guy who can put a tornado in their guts,” Weather Wizard replied. 

“But you barely know me!” 

And you’ve made a career out of trying to fry me with lightning, not that you know that. 

“Maybe not, but you remind me of my brother—and he died five years ago today. I figure that after I stole his wand, I owe it to him to do one good deed every once in a while. Might as well protect the first person I’ve ever met who’s as earnest and good as he was.” 

“But—” “Do I need to put this in nerd talk or something?” 

“Nerd talk?” The Weather Wizard ignored him.

“Who am I kidding? You’re like Clyde, of course I need to put it in nerd talk. So here you go, Crewcut: Follow me if you want to live.” In spite of himself, Barry actually laughed. 

Who would have ever thought that the Weather Wizard would volunteer himself to keep his greatest enemy safe? 

[samcarpentersgirlfriend]

i have a request for wes hicks, so make a fic where it’s wes last day and like they have a date and all before he gets killed and then after the reader finds out he’s dead the next day, if that makes sense 💀

sorry this one took so long!!

YOU’RE ALL I WANTED || WES HICKS X READER𖤐₊˚.

summary: above

word count: 3k

warnings: fluff to angst (non happy ending), swearing, use of y/n + y/n/n in some places,

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹

“Can I open my eyes yet?”

“Nope.” You dont have to be able to see Wes to know that he’s smiling that boyish smile of his.

“But Wes, I can’t see.”

“Huh, it’s almost like that’s the point,” he replies sarcastically, laughing when you swat at what you guess is his arm. “Come on, we’re almost there, I promise.”

“You said that five minutes ago!” You all but whine, a pout on your lips. You were willing to humour whatever Wes was planning, but if you had to stumble through darkness any longer, the anticipation was probably going to kill you. You’d gotten out of the car what felt like an eternity ago at a place you didn’t recognise, and Wes had been leading you ever since then. And you had no idea where you were heading - or what you even were supposed to be doing.

You open your mouth to speak once more again, but before you can, Wes takes his hands from over your eyes with a flourish.

“Surprise?” He says hopefully, pointing towards something that you can’t quite see yet. It’s a beautiful day today, and you squint as your eyes adjust to the bright light. But once you see it, you can’t hide the grin that appears on your face.

“Wes!” You gasp, “You shouldn’t have!”

It’s a cliché thing to say, you know that, but he really shouldn’t have. He’s led you to a field - a beautiful one, with flowers of all kind blooming off to the side - and in front of you lays a blanket with all your favourite snacks upon it. Fruit bowls, chips, cupcakes - the fancy ones that Wes knows you love even though they’re totally overpriced. It’s completely and utterly perfect. And without a doubt, the most thoughtful thing anybody has ever done for you.

You tell Wes as much as you throw your arms around him and and press a kiss to his temple, and you don’t miss the adorable way that his cheeks flush in response.

“It’s nothing,” he says nonchalantly, even though this whole thing must’ve took a hell of a lot of planning and most definitely not nothing. “Honestly. And you deserve it - all of it.”

He says that casually too, like it doesn’t fill your chest with warmth and make your heart skip a dozen beats. It’s like Wes doesn’t realise that he’s too good; too good at this whole date planning thing, too good at being your boyfriend - too damn good in general. You’ve only been together for a couple of months, but honestly? It’s the happiest you’ve been in a long time. It’s like you’re in a constant state of bliss with Wes, your whirlwind romance lighting up your days in way that puts the sun to shame. Texting with him alone is enough to make you practically giddy, so being here with him now is your own little idea of heaven.

“So,” you ask in between a bite of a cookie once you’ve sat down,“what made you think of all of this? I mean, it’s seriously like something out of a movie!”

“Just wanted to do something nice for you.” Wes replies with a smile and a shrug. “I didn’t know what, but then I remembered this place. I haven’t been here in years, but it hasn’t changed a bit.” Wes pauses, and you notice his expression falter for a moment. “I used to come here when my parents argued - when I needed to clear my head, you know? I don’t know, it’s probably stupid, but…”

Wes trails off awkwardly, dropping his gaze. You know that his parents aren’t together - haven’t been for years - but Wes barely talks about his sorry excuse for a father. In fact, you think this is the most he’s ever spoken on the issue to you.

“Hey,” you say gently, pressing a hand to Wes’ cheek and carefully turning his head so that he’s looking at you once more. “It’s not stupid. Not in the slightest. I get it. It really is a beautiful place.”

Wes nods and his eyes gain their light once more, and he places his hand over yours. Wes had never really been big on public affection, but it seemed as if the two of you were the only people around. It doesn’t matter anyway - it certainly feels like you are. You could stay here forever like this, the sun on your skin, legs messily interlocked. It’s all you’ve ever wanted.

“Thank you for this, for today.” You say quietly. You’re still trying to make sure that you remember it all - the food strewn across the blanket, all of the different types of flowers and all their different hues, the smell of strawberries and your boyfriends’ coconut shampoo - it’s something you never want to forget. In fact, when the two of you pull way from each other, you take out your phone and snap a picture of the setup just in case, before taking one of you and Wes too - the two of you smiling, the photo slightly blurry but still somehow perfect.

Even though you’ve been out for most of the day, you still can’t help but be disappointed when the sun sets and the two of you have no choice but to leave - especially when Wes’ mom tells him it’s way past his curfew and sends him one not - so vaguely threatening text about the dangers of staying out past dark.

Still, it feels as if you’ve barely stopped smiling today - but you haven’t had much reason to. Even as Wes drives you home, his free hand loosely interlaced with yours, you still can’t shake the butterfly feeling in your stomach. Maybe it was just the “honeymoon” stage of your relationship, but it felt like it was so much more than that. Maybe this was just how dating Wes was going to be - constantly feeling like you were on cloud nine. You’re more than okay with that.

“You know, you don’t have to to walk me to my door,” you tease as Wes exits the car when you reach your destination what feels like far too quickly.

“I want to,” Wes responds simply. “Besides, you never know what could be hiding in the bushes.”

“It’s a thirty second walk,” you laugh, letting him trail besides you nonetheless. “But thank you, my knight in shining armour.”

Wes simply chuckles. “Thanks for coming today. I had a really great time with you.”

You frown in disbelief. “Are you kidding? Thank me for coming? Wes, you set up this whole thing? I need to be thanking you. I loved it - I love you. It was more than perfect.”

Wes’ eyes widen ever so slightly, and you belatedly realise that you don’t think you’d ever said those words out loud before - I love you. Not because you didn’t mean them, but because you were worried that you’d look too eager, too desperate. It wasn’t something you said early on in a relationship, it just wasn’t.

Oh, to hell with it. You meant what you said, societal rules be damned. You love Wes, love spending time with him, love the way he makes you feel. Love his beautiful blue eyes and his infectious smile and just how damn thoughtful he is. You love Wes Hicks, plain and simple.

And by the way he wraps his arms around your waist and presses his lips to yours, you’re left to assume that he feels the same way. Well, you don’t even have to assume, not when he tells you as much when he pulls back, tells you that he didn’t want to scare you off by saying it before and isn’t that just ironic?

The whole thing almost makes you forget that Wes has to leave, and you can’t contain your sigh when he reminds you that he’s already late back. “I’ll text you when I’m back,” he assure you, “promise. I love you, okay?” Now you were both ready to say it aloud, you had a feeling you’d be hearing those three words a lot from now on

“Love you too. Night, Wes.”

Wes simply grins as he walks away and gets into his car, sparing you one last glance before he waves and drives away. You stare at his empty spot on the road for a minute, before you realise that staring into the empty sidewalk in the dark probably makes you look like a complete creep and make your way inside your house and up to your bedroom.

You receive your promised text almost twenty minutes later, just after you’ve climbed into bed. It reads:

wes: at home now

wes: are you still awake?

y/n: yeah

y/n: glad you’re home safe ♡

wes: thanks baby

wes: I’ll call you in the morning, okay?

y/n: okay

y/n: night wes

wes: goodnight y/n/n

wes: sweet dreams <3

Sighing in contentment, you put your phone down onto your bedside table and flick off your lamp. It’s like the events of today have suddenly caught up with you all at once, and you feel your eyes start to flutter closed, consciousness slowly slipping away. You briefly wonder if you’ll dream tonight - although you doubt anything your sleeping mind could conjure would top your date today.

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

 It feels as if you’ve only just closed your eyes - although the light shining through your curtain tells you otherwise - when you’re awoken by the sound of buzzing. It’s strange, you think to yourself, you didn’t set an alarm - although you cast your mind back and remember that Wes did say that he would call you in the morning.

Blinking blearily, you pick up your phone to see that it’s not ringing at all. No, instead you’re greeted with a plethora of message notifications from all sorts of social media platforms. That’s even stranger; your phone never blew up like this, especially not this early on a Sunday morning. It freaks you out a little bit, but you’re more curious than anything.

Especially when you see some of the names of the senders. Liv. Amber. Chad. Tara. Mindy.

Your boyfriend’s friend group. That’s not to say you’re not friendly with them, but they were still definitely more Wes’ friends than they were yours. And they rarely messaged you - especially not all at once.

And from what you can tell - all your of them are basically saying the same thing.

liv: oh my god

liv: i heard the news and I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now I’m so sorry

chad: hope your doing okay after everything

chad: i get if you need space but if you need anything, you can call me.

tara: i know there’s nothing I can say to you to make this better but god I’m sorry, if you need anything, we’re all here for you, always.

Your eyebrows knit together in a confused frown. I’m so sorry? Sorry for what? Everybody was sending you well wishes, but you had no fucking clue why. Had Wes broken up with you without even knowing? No, he couldn’t have. Not after yesterday. Why go through all of that effort to dump you the next day? It didn’t make sense. None of this makes any sense.

You decide that the only way to clear any of this up is to call Wes yourself. Sure, it was still early, but he was a light sleeper and the ringing of his phone would be more than enough to wake him. You unlock your phone and click on his name in your contacts and wait expectantly for him to answer.

Except he never does.

“Hey, this is Wes. I’m probably doing something, so, uh, leave a message.”

Groaning in frustration, you try again. And again. When Wes doesn’t pick up the forth time, you send him a message instead.

y/n: call me right now

y/n: it’s urgent

y/n: you need to explain everything to me now

Unlike usual, typing bubbles don’t appear within a minute. Not even after five. Sure, this is probably all just a misunderstanding that Wes will clear up for you when he’s awake, but if he’s done what the ugly voice in the back of your head is telling you that he’s done, then he owes you answers immediately.

Growing frustrated, you start to type a reply to Tara, asking her what the hell is even going on, but your phone chooses that exact moment to die and power off. It makes you want to scream.

You feel sick. You feel stressed and irritated and like you desperately need to punch something. You find your charger and connect your phone to the wire, bouncing your leg as you anxiously wait for it to turn on. You need answers.

Within the space of a minute, it feels like centuries have passed. And it’s not doing anything to help your nerves. In an effort to calm them, you reach for your remote and turn your TV on, flicking through the channels until one catches your eye.

BREAKING: TWO FOUND DEAD IN WOODSBORO - SUSPECTED COPYCAT ATTACK.

Your initial thought to that headline is again, really? You still remembered seeing almost the exact headline when those two highschoolers tried the same thing almost ten years ago. Your second thought is much more macabre. What if it’s somebody you know? It had to be: Woodsboro wasn’t a huge place, everybody practically knew everybody anyway. It was bound to be- no.

No.

It couldn’t be.

It’s all starting to make sense now, but you desperately wish it wouldn’t. Wes’s friends messaging you with their condolences. Your phone blowing up. Wes not picking up his goddamn phone.

No.

You turn up the channel, wishing the fucking reporters would just get to the damn point already and tell you what you needed to know. You listen to them ramble on about how horrifying and utterly tragic the whole thing is but you’re only half listening - will only be half listening - until they utter that name. His name. You need your phone to turn on. You need to call Wes, hear his voice so you can laugh and tell him how paranoid you were and how much he scared you. How much you need him. You need to breathe.

But you can’t. You’re feeling like you’re suffocating and it’s stupid because you don’t know anything, not yet, except you do. You can feel the dread deep in your bones, the horror in the out of your stomach. It’s Wes.

Like some twisted coincidence, it almost at that exact moment when two pictures pop up on the screen. You don’t hear the accompanying words, not over your sob. Because it’s him. His yearbook picture, the one that hung in his living room, the one you helped him get ready for and assured him he looked absolutely beautiful in. His mother’s is the second, the same picture that was on her badge. The badge she was so proud of.

No. It isn’t true. This is all some twisted nightmare and you need to speak to Wes and he’ll tell you everything’s okay because he always does and your phone is finally on thank God and you call Wes again and why won’t he pick up he needs to pick up and you can’t breathe-

The tears streaming down your face make it hard to see anything. You don’t want to look anyway. Not at Wes’ smiling face because he’s not smiling, not anymore. He’d never smile again, you’d never hear his voice again, because he was dead. Wes, your Wes, who was the kindest person you had ever met and had never done anything to anyone, was dead at the hands of some psychopath fulfilling his sick fantasies. It’s not fair. None of this is fair.

You can’t wrap your head around it. Wes is - was - so alive. You saw it, in every crease by his eye when he smiled and the way his whole body shook when he laughed and the way he kissed you like it was the most important thing in the world. He was the most important thing in your world.

A world that was plunged in darkness now, because how were you supposed to live out the rest of your life after Wes? You knew how happy your felt with him, how much you adored him and felt adored, and how were you supposed to carry on knowing you’d never feel that again. You can’t. All you can do is cry, your body shaking with the efforts of your sobs. It isn’t fair. It isn’t fair. It isn’t fair.

Your phone starts buzzing once more, and although know it’s not him, can’t be him, you can’t help but check anyway.

Your naïve hope is stupidly misplaced. Of course it isn’t Wes. Just an influx of messages from family and classmates whose names you only half recognise telling you how sorry they are. You don’t fucking care. Sorries don’t bring your boyfriends back to life. They won’t let you be able to hold him again, tell him how much he means to you. How much you love him.

You can’t deal with them. Not now. You go to turn off your phone, and it freezes for a second on your lock screen before fully shutting down once more. The lock screen you changed on the car ride home yesterday, the one where you’re looking to the camera and Wes is looking half to the side but it’s okay because he’s still smiling nonetheless.

Still alive.

[madisonfilmss]

I Am Yours - austin x reader

Inspired by I Am Yours by Andy Grammer 

You would always be proud of Austin for chasing his dreams. You were proud to have a front row seat to his life changing. Most of the time. It was days like this you feel unworthy to be loved by Austin. It’s currently 10:30 your time which means it’s about 6:00 am Australia time. You haven’t been able to talk to him since yesterday morning due to your conflicting schedules. You would have gone with him to Australia but you had business back home you had to be present for. 

You have a tendency to overthink the littlest things, not just with your boyfriend but in general. If someone’s tone is off, you notice it and then think about it for the next month so not talking to Austin for as long as you have makes you believe the worst. 

He’s found somebody else. 

I should have gone with him. 

He forgot about me. 

Your phone rings and you look to see Austin’s contact photo flash on the screen. Your mood is ruined now. He’s gonna pick up on it. You can’t do it right now. You decline the call hoping to pull yourself together but Austin doesn’t give you the chance because he calls you back immediately. 

There’s nothing you can do because you know if you decline it again, he’s gonna be upset with you because you aren’t answering his calls. 

You slide your finger across the screen, his bright smile lighting up the screen. You decided to keep the phone laying on your desk, hoping to gain your composure before having Austin see you upset. 

“Hi love.” Austin says as the phone call connects. 

“Hi love.” you reply 

“Where’s my girl?” he asks curiously

“I have a lot of work to do tonight, babe. I’m so sorry.” 

Honestly you were doing whatever possible to get him to hang up. You wanted to overthink in peace. Maybe even sob into a pint of ice cream, 

“I know you and I know that’s a lie. You always make sure to have your work done just in case I call you.” 

Damn it. He knows you too damn well. 

“Not to mention, you haven’t made eye contact with me once. You only do that when you’re thinking. When you’re thinking, I lose my girl.”

“Austin, I’m fine.” you say trying to get him to focus on something other than you. 

“Hey, no, we don’t do that. Talk to me.” 

“It’s stupid.” 

“That is the furthest thing from the truth. If it’s on your mind, I would really like to be let in so I am able to help you. I understand if you don’t want to tell me everything right away. All I ask is for a little insight. It doesn’t have to be much.” 

“I understand.” you say. You take a moment to finally make eye contact with him. You realize what people mean when they say “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” As you look at Austin, you realize that his soul is made up entirely of you. 

What are you doing? Why aren’t you talking to him? He’s here for you. 

“If you need a minute, I’m happy to just sit here with you. You are allowed to tell me as little or as much as you would like. Take all the time you need.” 

You nod before closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, 

“It’s just– I’m not there with you and the time difference and the headlines and gossip. It makes me feel like you’re going to forget me. I’ve seen the paparazzi photos, Austin. You and Olivia look pretty damn cozy.” you take a breath trying to calm yourself down. 

You didn’t realize how upset you actually were about this whole situation. 

I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.” you say as you make eye contact with Austin. 

“Love, you have every right to be upset. I completely understand. Would I like you here by my side every minute? Yes. Do I wish when I got anxious before press and events you were by my side? Yes. Do I wish afterwards it was just the two of us? More than anything.” 

“Austin, please.” you practically beg him. You already feel bad enough not being there with him. 

“Just let me finish. There is a point to this. I promise.” he says. 

You look at him, waiting for him to continue. 

“I also know that you are kicking ass back at home and as much as I wish you were here with me, I could not be more proud of you.” 

Your eyes were welling with tears. 

“For years I have been lost. Lost without you. I didn’t understand what my purpose was in this life. But I know who I am now. I am yours.” 

You were full on sobbing now. 

“I am yours now and always. I wouldn’t dream to be anything more. You take my breath away every time. I honestly still can’t believe it when you say you’re mine.” 

This distance was hard on both of you but moments like this makes you stop and realize that you don’t want anybody else. 

“Love, I don’t think you will ever truly know how much you saved me. It was the first time that you smiled at me. I knew right then that I was put on this earth to love you.” 

“I will tell you that as much as I need to in order for you to believe it. I love you so much.” 

“I love you more than you know.” 

You were going to bed that night wondering how you got so lucky to be loved by Austin. 

[willows-writings]

‼️This post is part of a choose your own adventure series and is not meant to be read stand-alone. Click HERE to go to the masterlist and Chapter beginnings‼️

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Ask if he's ok

Chapter 2

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As you pull away Josh lets out a small groan and reaches up to try and kiss you again. You laugh and gently place a hand on his mouth. “Josh, wait, are you doing ok?”

He groans “Y/n no offense but we are not a one night stand who just met each other, we don’t have to do the whole get to know you thing.” he mumbles from behind your hand.

You grin for a moment before your face goes back to serious. “No I mean, with all the guys being here, and I guess… just being here in general.” You remove your hand from his mouth.

His face falls and he moves to sit up, scooting back so his back rests against the headboard and pulling your body with him so you remain on his lap. “Look y/n, in all honesty it freaks me out a bit, I miss them but more than anything I’m happy they all came up here, happy you're here.” He trails a hand down your face and you lean into it. You know there’s more, but you also know these next few days aren’t the time to interrogate him about it. 

“Ok,” You whisper and move your face to press a kiss to his hand “Ok, anything you need I’m here” 

He smiles at you and hugs you close to him. 

Suddenly you hear a noise from outside the room. Josh groans “Someone definitely just broke something, fuck.” He moves you off his lap gently, stands and starts to walk to the door while you remain sitting on the bed.

“Hey,” he turns to your voice, “what if… we just stay here tonight? I mean tension in the group is still running high, there’s a good chance everyone else will stay split off or just go to sleep. We could make hot chocolate and popcorn? Watch a movie? I got a few of those horror films you like downloaded on my computer? It’ll be fun!” You know at this point you're rambling but you can see his face softening the more you talk. 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” He briskly walks over to you so he can plant a dramatic kiss on your forehead. When he looks at you again there’s a huge smile plastered across his face. “I’ll check on everyone else and get the food and you can stay here, pulling up that movie, and just stay looking pretty for me which shouldn’t be too hard cause you always are.” He winks and you roll your eyes. “I’ll be no more than an hour, maybe get some rest, it’ll be a long night.” He says the last part while walking out the door in a sing-songy voice. 

You smile before remembering something from earlier. “And you know Chris told me about that snow angels comment from earlier.” He leaned back in the room, his interest peaked. “That will not be happening.”

Josh lets out a laugh as he closes the door behind him.

The door closes behind him and you lay back onto the soft pillows, he’s right, a nap would be nice right about now. You close your eyes and let sleep overtake you.

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End of Chapter 2

You got: Ending #1

Chapter 3: Beginning #1 (coming soon!)

OBaC Masterlist

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Theoretically if you were actually playing the game I think this would be the option that would increase your relationship with Josh the most.

For anyone confused when this takes place it’s around the time Mike and Jess are walking to the cabin, and before Josh goes with Chris and Ashley. Sam failing to turn the heater on alone was the noise.

[tamersa]

The shitiest translation of a book (known to me) aka why Polish translation of Good Omens sucks hard

Let me take you on an adventure! Sadly it won’t be  one during a nice and sunny day with happiness and laughter but rather a dreadful and containing mad giggles. What is that adventure you may ask? Why it’s an official Polish translation of Good Omens! Look at the photos below:

See all the plastic markers? Those are the mistakes I found in the book. But let me tell you. Those are not all of them! Just the major ones or ones that offends me the most.

You may ask: why did I use up most of my free time for over 2 months to do this?

Many years ago when I read the book for the first time I felt slightly disappointed. The book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It was weird, because I really liked T. Pratchett books from Disc World series. Maybe because there was other author? Or maybe the whole concept how the world was built? At that time I couldn’t even know that I would quite like the book in the future, and it wasn’t my younger mind fault that it was so confused. But the translation. Years later after watching the series I was wondering, why the book felt a bit off to me. And then my friend opened the book at a random, it was page no. 382, and found a mistake there. I thought it would be fun to compare both the original and the official translation. Oh what ‘fun’ it was.

THE HISTORY

First few facts to settle it in the time line.

The book was first published in 1990. T. Pratchett was 42 then, and N. Gaiman - 30. They co-wrote modern book settled in more or less the same time as it was published. It is important information to take here, because it might explain some of the terrible translation errors.

Polish version was first distributed in 1992. It had 2 translators Jacek Gałązka and Juliusz Witold Garztecki. It’s hard to tell more about the first one, but the other was 70 when he translated the book. Yes 70! And in his biography you can read, he was mostly rewarded for his books about army thins. My point is, while I don’t know much about this person I don’t think he was the right one for translating a book such as Good Omens. Maybe I’m biased, but just because there are some army men and some war themes in the book  doesn’t mean it has the right vibes.

But let’s dive into the errors and just wrong stuff I found by getting Polish book, English version paperback and pdf version for faster search of phrases.

There are 2 major types of errors:

“Editors” (errors that are not based off wrong translation per se, just lazy editing and some weird choices of the redaction).

Prologue and 2 part switched – the book should start with Eden scene not the character names introduction. Yeah in many old fashioned books it was other way around but this is author decision! You shouldn’t switch it because it looks better for you that way!

-        Chapters with numbers that not correspond with the parts in the book – yep in PL version chapters have numbers. What for? I don’t know, because there isn’t any table of content. And some chapter begin randomly not like bigger parts of the book.

-        Lack of days of the week – It is important for the flow of the book yet we can’t read it like in the original at the begging of some pages 130-        Lack of the dividing signs between paragraphs – sometimes there aren’t any. Because why to bother.

Lack of starting dialogue in a new line – there were few cases where someone didn’t drop a new line for dialogue and I was so confused who said what.

Lack of dialogue lines – in few places whole dialogue lines are missed

Interpunction mistakes, fast speaking with the comas not the dots – so pacing, that changes the flow of the book

Splitting text in general was terrible.

The capital letters, cursive and normal dialogue – in this book it is important what kind of font property we use – normal dialogue is different than Death speaking or Aziraphale talking in different bodies. But in this translation it is messed up. The angel speaks with capital letters like Death. That so not cool for me… and take those small pleasures reading the book.

You can also see PL version of the book has distinct change of tone in the middle. Why? Because you can tell almost exactly when the other translator started to work. And well, I think they didn’t communicate (don’t know the reason) because same stuff ,same words, even same names aren’t corresponding! You will see it later in the text.

story errors:

The first translator: looks like bitter man, who wants to correct the writers, adding 234532 not needed words, have sexist wording, and sometimes archaic speech. Makes one good joke and his translation of Agnes speech is nice. Maybe because he is closer to her times than to the times the book was written.

The major mistakes: too many words even for Polish version; Polish words are generally longer than English ones and sometimes you need to add words to have the same context. But this man goes so far with it is ridiculous. He takes 2 lines of good, easy translatable text that in PL would make max 3 lines and makes it to 5 lines. Why to add unneeded stuff?

Weird figures of speech that are not funny - those are really strong point in the Disc world book and in the original Good omens too. But the translation butchered those, drowning the wit and throwing random, sometimes even archaic, lines.

Crowley name – context mistake – Crowley name was Crawly first, the demon changed it later. Not in PL ver. Form the first line he was always Crowley.

Changing the text so context is changed too: like making an island form the a mountain, or changing a word that we don’t know if it’s a flame because the description is so vague. Or sometimes it is just translated wrong in general, changing the meaning.

Archaic words – like I’ve said it was modern book in the 90’. It wasn’t written in the 60’. Also new version of the book could be upgraded. Like in the 90 word ‘weekend’ wasn’t popular in Poland but now it is. So why do we have Saturday-Sunday and not just weekend…

The vulgarisms: bit too hardcore for a book that was co-made by terry Pratchett. Real Polish language has best vulgarisms and I love them but this book is not the place for most of them. Also because when they are there we could feel the impact. But you know what? Azz didn’t say his ‘Fuck’ line in PL version when being called back to heaven if page before it in translation he swears quite badly ( which also changes context…) Yep no “Fuck”… why the translator didn’t write “noż kurw…” or something? I don’t know…

Added words like “black Bentley”. In the original that phrase was used once or twice not like 10 times. The reader remember this car is black I can assure you…

Added whole sentences: sometimes the translator adds whole sentence without a reason. It is not his book… really…

Billion in Polish is not billion or million it is MILIARD – yep, those people are not great with numbers.

Lack of sentences: too many lines before? Let’s cut some of them out… I don’t know why but such a thing happens here too. Example is the Crowley pen scene.

Context mistake with the Bentley bullet holes – one of most confusing paragraph in PL version. I didn’t know what the hell (or heaven) is going on. So I read the original and everything made sense. Crowley put new window glass with holes. It was that easy. In PL version it sounds somewhat different.

Mr. and ‘Pan’ – mister in Polish is ‘Pan’, but somehow the book uses the Mr. shortening and sometimes Pan. Why not Pan all the time? Why to use Mister word in Polish version?

Spanish Inquisition – this scene is so butchered I just can’t… in Pl version it sounds like someone told him it was fun not that the hell congratulated Crowley for the inquisition

Lack of consequent translation: Asmodeusz I Wormwood – names: this is same name in English version. Also sister Mary’s surname once is translated and later is used as it was in the original (in my opinion it should be translated so the reader would understand it better)

Kraken!! – do you know that first translator didn’t knew that Kraken is a name of underwater past and thought it is some kind of light vulgarism? I couldn’t make that up myself…

Ineffable – this word is translated on many occasion in a different way, sometimes changing the meaning like Az said it is ineffable and in PL version is “Azz couldn’t find a way to explain this” really. Only later in the book the word is translated better. And as it is a running joke in the book it should be translated consistently in my opinion.

No food joke with deviled eggs and angel cake. And it was completely spoiled. The translator either didn’t know what deviled eggs are or thought it is overcooked food and made Aziraphale not like it.  Even after one drink I thought out how to make food pun and not spoil the part…

Fell’s name – I like the small pun that Az took last letters of his name to make a fake family name, however in Polish version translator didn’t see the joke and put there some weird ass cringe pseudonym.

And of course homophobia…– and not one that Az look like a stereotypical homosexual man no… also the “southern pansy’ is translated each time differently and at least once so much more vulgar and offensive.

Killing the joke about healing the bike – I love this joke. It is silly and light but in PL version Crowley says it like it was some offense.

Snowballs in hell – Polish has equivalent idiom “hell freezes over” but translator somehow didn’t  use it and instead wrote “there are no chances for it in hell”… the meaning is lost

Being mean – translator makes some characters mean without reason

What is a bully? The translator apparently didn’t know and messed up by saying it’s same as a loser

Recycling paper is same as recycling toilet paper for the translator – disgusting

Famine – the 6 letter word. In PL translate as “głód”. So a 4 letter word. Yet the character wrote his name in 6 letter in PL version…

Pepper reads erotic magazine for teens in PL version, not some stuff like Bravo… really? Pepper is 11.. she reads about boybands and shit…. Really…

Racism - the joke about men’s underwear (when Newt answered the phone) was changed to literally “painting Chinese people white”….

Shadwell - and his hate of southern people was changed to him hating English people… why? Also his “southern pansy” saying, is translated as “ English fag” but also “funny guy”… yeah

Pollution - powietrze morowe and skażenie – one translator gave Pollution a super weird name, the other one gave a proper one. That means book holds 2 names and people will be confused reading the second ‘chapter’ and later parts of the book.

Second translator was bit better. He didn’t add so much from himself and didn’t make as much mean comments and mistranslated. His errors are mostly literal translation of the words. That means whole sentences and even paragraphs sounds at least weird but in the long run, some doesn’t have much sense at all  and sounds AI generated. But it was written in then 90. Well I don’t have the 90 copy but the translators are the same on both covers so I think it is a very sloppy translation, or one was a complete amateur.

Also the translator doesn’t understand the difference between chips and crisps. I don’t know why he thinks kids eats fries and not thin potato snacks all the time.

I really can’t write how the translation of the second part of the book is stiff and  not flow enough. Look at this:

read the yellow part… it sounds so off..

Sometimes the translator is too lazy to find a word in Polish so he uses an English one and then puts description bellow…. Why do that when there are Polish words for it?

Also why are most numbers written with letters and not numbers? Maybe it is normal to do so but for me reading the name of a number is more confusing than just seeing the number ( like writing five hundred and not just 500)

Also they had to explain what sushi is :D now really in 2019 the this book was re-release most people know what sushi is. Besides, even that description is wrong…

There are also places when you could use Polish names for stuff or people. Like the painters to describe Tadfield. Most Polish people don’t know ones in the original book. But when you use famous Polish painters the parallel/joke would be better.

The translator doesn’t know or remember proper Polish idioms like kopnąć w kalendarz (kick the calendar - in English it would be “kick the bucket”) means to die, using weird ‘punch the calendar’ why?

Again sometimes when there are citations from the song one translator keeps the original, while the other one translates it. It’s confusing but in the end the reader should know what the words means.

Translator doesn’t know that sometimes you can’t turn back(?) on the  road and for sure doesn’t know how to translate it.

Second translator sometimes also used the language calque and not proper words.

The first translator wrote too much. This one cuts sentences sometimes.

And why is there explanation what Beelzebub name means?

Ending – where is forever? – ending of the book has a warm and slightly philosophical ending. With word ‘forever’ as the last word. I don’t know why Polish ‘na zawsze’ wasn’t written there? it really takes away from the ending…

There are hundreds of small and big mistakes really… ( movie clip if I can)

To sum it up: someone had bright idea to give a modern book to 2 older men to translate, when they weren’t really good with translation, or vibes etc. The book has been butchered ant that’s super sad. It could make potential reader to not like it even if they read the original it would be fine.

I wish the publisher would hire someone re-translate it in or give it to another publisher.

I’m not someone with a degree in English language but when someone like me can ‘catch’ all the mistakes and errors, I wonder what professional would say. Good for me I can read in English enough to enjoy  the original, for all the others: better watch the series.

[mspaesthetic]

Tidbit: Font Size Incongruities Due to PPI/DPI Resolution

Frequently, an individual will ask what font was used in a certain panel and another person will answer along with the font size to use. And just as frequently, the inquirer will then later assert that they must be wrong, because the text doesn’t match up at all. The problem usually lies within whether they had specified the font size in pt (points) rather than px (pixels), or if the inquirer uses pt without even realizing it or knowing what it means.

You see, using points as the unit of measurement for your font size hinges on what your document’s PPI/DPI resolution is currently set to. I can’t be assed to go into further excruciating detail because the technicalities get a little abstruse and I just really don’t care, so here is a handy Wikipedia article I screenshotted that you can read instead:

TL;DR:  Basically, a point is proportional to the pixel density value that is Pixels Per Inch (PPI), or Dots Per Inch (DPI) (the latter of which is only relevant for printing, but otherwise they both mean the same thing). For displaying images on the web, it absolutely does not matter what you set this as, but for creating text in your graphics editor, it may or may not matter depending on whether or not you can use pixels instead of points and inches (you shouldn’t be using these units anyways unless you’re in the business of printing things out).

Here’s a text layer with a font size of 12 pt and a pixel density of 72 PPI:

Now here’s the same layer, with the same font size, but a pixel density of 96 PPI:

No, nothing’s been zoomed in or scaled up, no trickery here. The image document is the same size in pixels, but if you were now to translate it into real world units such as inches, it would be slightly smaller than before. One-third smaller, in fact.

If we chose to resample (i.e. “resize”, scale up or down. Technically, changing the PPI resolution is called resizing. It’s distinct from resampling which adds or removes detail/pixels to the image) the image while changing the PPI resolution...

The image’s dimensions in pixels are now one-third larger, but would still physically be the same size printed in the real world.

If you’ve ever foolishly used MS Paint to make your own fanventure believing Hussie actually did (he didn’t), you’ve probably used the text tool at some point. If you aren’t painfully aware of this already, the program as a whole is too severely limited in its options. 

You have the option to change the 𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒕, bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough your text, as well as the size, but no option to change whether to use pixels instead of points, which MS Paint uses by default. You’re unable to change its default DPI resolution of 96, too.

Paint.NET, being slightly better than MS Paint (although by not much), you’re at least able to change the DPI resolution, but are still forced to use pt. Changing the DPI to 72 will make the sizing consistent with px, though.

Generally, changing the DPI resolution shouldn’t have to be a concern in most other photo editors/drawing programs (for desktop applications. No idea how bullshit mobile apps are). Any editor worth its salt will allow you to choose whether to use points or pixels for text. I urge you, though, to please use pixels when you can. 

[the-siberian-wolf]

I would like to start this out by saying that it is by no means a gacha argument, I am generally curious as to your opinion as someone who is anti proship.

You have made posts about how you are against self diagnosis because the individual in question is not qualified and therefore does not have the knowledge about the whole situation, disorder, potential problems, etc.

However, you have made posts in agreement with people saying how therapists wouldn’t allow or agree with writing problematic content. Even saying in one post how it’s possible for the therapist to be a creep themselves.

I could be misunderstanding you, which is why I am coming to you directly, but shouldn’t the arguments be the same?The random people on tumblr aren’t qualified to discredit things that were advocated for by therapists just the same way that they aren’t qualified to self diagnose themselves. In a sense, it’s a conversation about subtly diagnosing others v diagnosing yourself.

But, maybe I misunderstood your train of thoughts. So, I would love to have a discussion with you about it.

@proship-anti-discussion

You're missing a key point here: "However, you have made posts in agreement with people saying how therapists wouldn’t allow or agree with writing problematic content".

No, I'm saying I doubt their therapists told them to POST it online. Writing it is surely therapeutic (although the way some fanfiction and fanart are shown they're more glorifying it rather than treating it as therapy, but that's another topic)

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

ok i just finished season 1 of daredevil and i will have articulate things to say about it at some point but for now here's the stream of consciousness notes i took while i was watching:

-I like Jack Murdock as a portrayal of a loving but flawed parent — like he clearly cares for Matt so much and he’s doing his best but there’s some parts of a “normal” childhood he just doesn’t really have the resources to provide. That being said being stupidly self-sacrificial clearly runs in the family. Just take the dive and collect your money my guy 

-“you shouldn’t be sneaking around at night you could get hurt”/ “we need to do this within the legal system” Matthew you fucking hypocrite (affectionate)

-weirdly fascinated by the way Fisk & co. translate for their sketchy group meeting that always seem to take place in abandoned parking garages, especially with how Wesley gives the general idea of what they’re saying instead of a direct translation — ok update i suspected this was because Fisk actually understood what everyone was saying and I was right!

-I like Foggy but I disagree with him about the purpose of a defense attorney — he wants to represent people who aren’t guilty/were justified in what they did but everyone deserves representation even if they 100% did the thing and were 100% wrong in doing so 

-Honestly probably worked out better for Matt that Stick was only around for a couple of years at the most. Also symbolic that he left before teaching Matt to use knives — Matt never fully goes down the road of lethal force (I mean some of the things he does definitely would kill people in real life but in real life he’d also be dead so it evens out) or fully cuts off the people he cares about. Also are they implying that the reason Matt doesn’t permanently have broken ribs and/or major blood loss that he meditates? I mean suspension of disbelief obviously but that is. very funny 

-Fisk is, on the one hand, very detail-oriented, but he’s also impulsive and emotionally reactive, so he has to come up with plans to cover for it. Also I feel like his and Wesley’s relationship is going to implode at some point. Or one of them (probably Wesley since Fisk is like. the main villain) is going to die

-are they sponsored by Dell 

-obviously I know why they do this for cinematic reasons but it’s very funny that in-universe Fisk gives his entire speech in 1x08 without actually saying his name until he dramatically announces at the end. Although maybe that’s just for dramatic effect and in-universe he's just repeating it? Also don’t throw your computer Matt you have no money 

-Matt’s smug little smile when Karen says the man in the mask looks badass flipping around :3 

-“the whole wounded, handsome duck thing” 

-i love how much they dwell on the actual implications of finding out your friend is secretly a vigilante/has had superpowers the entire time you’ve known each other, and that knowing they go out at night to beat people up, even if it’s for the “right” reasons, would still be alarming 

-actually not bad on the nighttime colour-grading front! I can see what’s happening which is better than most shows 

-I appreciate that there’s an actual plot about/explanation of how Matt gets his body armour 

-Wow who could have guessed leaving the gun in the middle of the table was a bad idea. I kind of liked Wesley but honestly what a dumbass way to die. Do admire the bluff though “you don’t really believe I’d put a loaded gun where you could reach it?” 

-love the approach to superhero realism here — not necessarily in the abilities or the way the plot is constructed (although that’s good, too) but in the characters’ reactions (Foggy finding out about Matt; Karen when she kills Wesley, Fisk when he finds out Wesley is dead) 

-“I thought your days of being relevant were past” ouch 

-reasons Wilson Fisk is evil: murder, drug dealing, doesn’t like cat videos 

-I do like that Fisk kind of gets the power of friendship thing though? But like it makes him worse 

-I’m very much not the most qualified to make this judgement and I’d want to check what people who actually *are* in a position to judge have to say about it, but I feel like this show has a bit of an… orientalism problem, I guess? But orientalism that also includes Russians, and also I know this is partly an extension of her being a very minor character but Doris (Ben Urich’s wife) is the only character who seems like she’s *only* there to like. encourage others through her wise words and doesn’t have much of an internal life of her own (besides the priest I guess but I feel like with priests that’s kind of their job) 

-Did Foggy not go to Ben’s funeral? 

-Fisk is also going to kill Leland. Maybe stop killing all your allies Fisk 

-I think it’s cute that Matt still holds onto Foggy’s arm when they’re walking even when it’s just the two of them and Foggy already knows that he doesn’t need to do it 

-Why does Marvel keep naming wise mentor figures who die Ben? Matt and Peter Parker should make a club (is Ben Urich in the comics? I haven't read the comics)

-“while actively being arrested” has got to win some sort of award for worst marriage proposal but I guess I admire that he just went for it? 

-Ominously large number of minutes left in this episode after the seeming resolution 

-Matt’s dumbass little horns <3

-Fisk: “You think one man in a silly little costume will make a difference?” bro *you* thought one man in a silly little costume would make a difference when you were the one man. Also I hope the silly little costume protects Matt from blunt force trauma 

-I’m honestly still not entirely sure how/if Nelson & Murdock actually made any money

-I feel like that bit near the beginning where Karen and Matt both have secrets and Foggy’s like “I wish I had a secret” describes their dynamic basically