#they chose to be worse than they had to be

[nachrosas]

GONE | e.prentiss x reader

summary: in which your love for Emily dies the same day she comes back pairing: emily prentiss x reader content warnings: sad vibes, mentions of death, lauren arc word count: 442 a/n: this is my entry for the 1k event made by my beautiful @mggslover! i used the lyrics from "Kaleidoscope" to write this one and chose to write for emily to be a little different from everyone! i hope it turns out to be good? hope everyone likes it!

The rain in the sky had recently stopped, and the smell of wet earth permeated the air. Emily felt the cold wind blow through the thin fabric of her blouse; it had definitely been a bad choice, but she couldn't give up now. She was there for a reason.

You were sitting on the grass, your hands clasped in your lap, your jaw tense. The silence between the two of you was almost palpable, as heavy as the gravestone Emily had never seen, but had always known existed.

When your voice finally came, it was low, almost a whisper.

“I used to come here every week.”

Emily didn't answer. She didn't even blink. She just waited for you to continue.

“I brought you flowers. Always the same ones. White lilies. Remember how much you liked them?”

She remembered. But what did it matter now? You weren't even looking at her.

You let out a bitter laugh, looking away.

“I used to talk to you. As if you could hear me. The same way you did during our eleven years of friendship.”

Emily closed her eyes for a second. She wanted to say that she could. That, somehow, she had always known the pain she had caused. But no words seemed to be enough to express what she wanted to say.

So she remained silent.

The silence between you stretched out, dense and impenetrable. You pressed your fingers against your palms, trying to contain the growing feeling of suffocation. The words you had said still echoed through the room: “I used to come here every week.”

Emily wanted to say something. Anything. But what could justify the lie, the months of grief she had made you carry alone?

The knot in your stomach tightened. The weight on your chest seemed to crush you. You knew that Emily had chosen to survive. But in doing so, she had condemned others to worse pain.

She tried to open her mouth to speak, but stopped. What could she say? Apologize? It wasn't enough. It would never be enough to get you back.

You looked away, blinking rapidly as if trying to hold back the tears that insisted on coming out. You took a deep breath before murmuring, your voice breaking:

“You died for me, Emily Prentiss.”

Emily felt the impact of those words like a punch. A shiver ran down her spine, and for a moment, the silence screamed louder than any answer she could give.

Eleven years. One hundred and thirty-two months. Four thousand and seventeen days. Ninety-six thousand four hundred and twenty-six hours. That was the total time you thought you knew Emily Prentiss.

[yangjungwonisms]

7 Minutes in Heaven-YJW

warnings: NSFW in the middle| MDNI 18+

It was all a misunderstanding, at least that’s what Jungwon swore to you up and down when you caught him in a lie. He had been coming home late from work all week, which wasn’t like him at all. All week long he had been telling you he had to stay later at work to finish work on a big project. You’d never had any reason before to doubt what he was telling you, but when one of his coworkers who was supposed to be working late with him messaged you asking if you two wanted to get a late dinner you became confused. You tried to calm down and give Jungwon the benefit of the doubt, but when you messaged his friend back asking if Jungwon had been working late that day and they said that he had been leaving at the same time as him everyday that you started to second guess things. So naturally, you called Jungwon but he didn’t answer. So you decided to go to his office to see if he was there and maybe his friend had been mistaken. The office was closed, you figured that out in just enough time for Jungwon to call you back. “Hey baby, sorry I didn’t answer I was caught up at work. Is everything okay”? You didn’t know how exactly to feel upon learning your boyfriend of 2 years had been lying to you. But you were trying to keep your cool because you weren’t keen on having an argument over the phone. You had been silent too long for his liking and he was started to panic. “That’s actually funny you say that, I’m standing outside of your office, Sunghoon invited us for dinner. I'm a little confused because isn’t Sunghoon who you’re working on your project with”? He said nothing, he had been caught and he knew it. “So tell me, Jungwon. Where have you been going everyday after work”?

“It isn’t what you think baby”. Why couldn’t he have just answered the question, that’s what was pissing you off. Because if it was truly nothing he could’ve just told you. “Okay, if it isn’t what I think then you should have no problem telling me. Where have you been”? Within seconds of you sending that text Jungwon had called you, wanting to have this conversation over the phone instead of text. “Baby, it’s nothing I promise”. You took a second, sighing trying to calm your nerves but it was a battle you were slowly losing. “So then if it’s nothing just tell me Jungwon”. Now he was the one who sighed, in your relationship there were very few times you or Jungwon ever got into arguments. In fact, you’d almost never seen or heard him lose his cool. But now you were starting to see his demeanor slip. “Can’t you just trust me? You’re making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be babe”. Now you were pissed. “That’s not what this is about Jungwon, you’ve been lying to me every day telling me you were at work when you weren’t. I think I’m owed honesty from you”. That seemed to set him off. “I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me, so I’d appreciate the benefit of the doubt”. He made a point but you couldn’t concede, you hated lying and if it truly was nothing then why couldn’t he have just told you from the start. “And I’d appreciate my boyfriend not lying to me”. He immediately started trying to defend himself and push you away from the fact he lied. “Jungwon let me ask you this, did you stay late at work this week”? All you heard was silence, before he sighed answering with a short “no”. “Will you tell me where you were”? He knew that his answer was going to make things worse yet he chose it anyway “I can’t baby”. You were crying at that point and reaching the point of exhaustion after having argued with him for what felt like hours at that point. “Okay, well, I would appreciate it if you found somewhere else to stay tonight and for the foreseeable future”.

It was now a week later and you and Jungwon still weren’t speaking. He still wasn’t sure how he had managed to fuck things up so badly. He knew how it looked, and yes he had lied to you but it really wasn’t what it seemed. He had been at Jay’s house after work getting his help with something. Jungwon had recently started planning to propose to you, but after a little bit he realized he needed help. The only person he thought to ask that wouldn’t tell you accidentally was Jay. He hadn’t wanted to ruin the surprise so he just made up the first excuse that came to his mind. He hadn’t even considered that you would find out he was lying. Even still, when you confronted him he could’ve just told you the truth. But he couldn’t lie, hearing you refuse to take him at his word had pissed him off. He had always done everything in his power to be open and accessible to you. But seeing how easy it was for you to doubt him had wounded his pride. So, even though it was childish if you didn’t want to talk to him, he wasn’t going to talk to you either.

Now here you both were, too stubborn to talk to the other first. Jay, who had been letting Jungwon crash at his place for the last week was losing his mind at how stubborn you were both being. There were several times he himself had considered just going to you and telling you what was going on. But it wasn’t his place. He as well as your other mutual friends had; had enough of the moping around. They were tired of hearing you both complain about an argument that should’ve been over by now. So they came up with a plan, without telling either of you, they dragged you both to a party at another friend's place.

You were beyond pissed at your friends, you were pissed at a lot of things this last week. Pissed that your friends tricked you into talking to your boyfriend. You were pissed that Jungwon wouldn’t just tell you what he was doing. Jungwon was pissed just the same but for different reasons. Still even though you were mad at him, you missed him more than anything. You two never fought, and on the rare occasions you did it was always over before it really ever began. So when Friday had hit and your friends showed up at your apartment wanting to take you out, you were thrilled. It was just the distraction you needed. All week long you had been spiraling over the fact that Jungwon still hadn’t reached out to you, so you very much needed to get your mind off of it. So maybe you had drank a little more than was necessary, but you were having fun nonetheless. That was until you looked across the room and saw Jungwon staring daggers into you. Frantically, you turned to your friend pulling her into the hall “what the fuck is Jungwon doing here”? Your friend rolled her eyes moving to push past you “he’s here because you two need to grow up and make up already”. You knew your friend was right but you weren’t ready to put your pride aside yet.

Jungwon on the other hand, was livid. He hasn’t seen you for over a week and the first time he does, you’re out drinking in a tight little dress. He hated how it made him feel. Normally he would’ve had the smug satisfaction of knowing that you were dressed up for him. But he didn’t know who this was for. You had yet to realize Jungwon was there, so he had to watch you unabashedly accept drinks from every stranger that walked by. He’d had enough of it, before his brain caught up to his body he had already walked across the room to you. “What the hell are you doing here”? You didn’t have to look to know who it was that was talking to you. “I could ask you the same thing”. He stood there seething with every second that passed. “I asked you a question baby, answer me”. He had a lot of nerve to get an attitude with you when he’s the reason this argument was even happening. “Why should I tell you anything? It’s not like you’ve been answering any of my questions lately”. That seemed to piss him off more.

Within seconds Jungwon had grabbed you by the arm dragging you into the next empty room. “You’re pissing me off right now baby”. Jungwon wasn’t proud of how angry he was getting, but he had been drinking after all and was hardly able to control his temper. “How am I pissing you off? This is the first time I’ve seen you in a week”. His only response was to slowly back you up against the door, he had been slowly inching forward and all that remained between you two was a couple of inches at most. “Because, you look so fucking sexy in that dress and it’s driving me crazy. Not being with you this week is driving me crazy”. The atmosphere in the room had flipped at a blinding speed, by his sudden confession. “Yeah, well whose fault is that won”? His body was flush against you at this point, you could feel how hard he was against your leg. “Fuck baby, it’s mine I know it is. I’m sorry”. Him being so close to you, did more harm than it did good. You were okay being mad at him from a distance but up close and alone with no buffer your body was succumbing to him. “Oh fuck this”. Were the last words you said before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him into you.

Your bodies were moving on autopilot at this moment. You had both had a long week and you were both exhausted pretending you didn’t need the other. The only sound in the room was the sound of your heavy breathing and kissing. It didn’t take long before Jungwon had pulled you across the room until he had you backed up against a desk. “baby, I need you. Been thinking about fucking you all week”. You couldn’t judge him for it, because you, yourself had been thinking about him railing you all week. “Then shut up and fuck me already”. That seemed to set him into action, he grabbed you, turning you around and pushing you down onto the desk. He didn’t bother taking your clothes off, instead he just pushed your dress up and pulled your underwear to the side. “Fuck baby, so fucking wet for me. Gonna stretch you out real quick so you can take my cock”. He did just that, his movements were quick and impatient with the way he pushed two fingers into you and started fucking into you vigorously. He was quick to slap a hand over your mouth, not wanting anyone to know what you two were up to in that room. “Baby, I need you to shut up and take what I give you. Can you do that”? You simply nodded your head, he took that as his sign to continue. He removed his hands from you and moved them to quickly undo his pants.

He started fucking into you so hard that you couldn’t even remember what it was you were mad about. You could feel how frustrated he had been in the rough way he was handling you. “Feels so fucking good baby, missed you so much. Missed your pussy so much”. You don’t say anything, partly because the way he’s fucking you is so intense that you genuinely can’t form sentences. But also because you are still just a little angry at him. Jungwon noticed how quiet you were being, faltering ever so slightly. “Are you feeling okay baby”? That snapped you back to the moment, deciding that you needed him more than anything else. “Feels s’good won. Fuck me on the bed please, need to see you”. Wordlessly, he picked you up and moved you to the bed, readjusting before starting to fuck you in missionary.

Time moves by in a blur after that, he must’ve fucked you 3 times before you two finally pulled away from each other. When you had finally recovered enough to get up and get dressed the tension in the room had set in. You were getting ready to walk out of the door before Jungwon grabbed your arm and turned you to face him. “Baby, wait. Will you let me explain”? You look at him nodding, moving past him to sit on the desk allowing him the opportunity to speak. “I’m really sorry I lied to you”. You take a second making sure he’s done speaking before responding. “Then why did you”? He moved across the room standing right in front of you before kneeling down in between your legs, grabbing both of your hands in his. “I was trying to plan a surprise for you and Jay had been helping me. That was the reason I didn’t wanna tell you. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise”. You make eye contact with him for the first time that night, shaking your head and pulling him in for a brief kiss. “Okay. I accept your explanation. I’m sorry for being so stubborn. I love you”. Jungwon felt a weeks worth of stress dissipate when you kissed him. “Does this mean I can come back home? I’m sure Jay is tired of me and I’ve missed you so much. Plus, I’m out of clean clothes”. You can only laugh at that before standing up, grabbing his hand in yours and walking out of the room. The minute you two step out, all eyes are on you. From the corner of the room you hear Jay yell out “who bet they’d have sex in Jake’s room before the end of the night”? The only response was Jake yelling from the kitchen “you’ve got to be kidding me”.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Hey. I hear you. And I understand why you think this is an empathetic or thoughtful response to have to OPs point but I'm gonna push back just a bit.

For many people, that's WORSE actually than you taking the time to cultivate a healed relationship with your actual home-land. It can be DEEPLY disrespectful to the people forced from their land on your behalf to assert that your guilt and shame is enough to alienate you from that which was STOLEN from them.

My wife and I have this circular talk on occasion where she has to remind me sometimes "my entire history was taken from me and the closest I could ever come to having any of it back is guesswork and a semi-appropriative (in her experience of how this plays out for her, not an inherent judgement on others) relationship with the cultures that MIGHT be hers. We both have "stolen homes, genocide, and forced relocation" in our history, but where I get periods of record keeping and cultural exchange to anchor me to my past, my wife doesn't, and that was inflicted on her family ON PURPOSE by people like my OWN family ancestors. She has shared with me before how hurtful the idea of unattached alienation from the land can actually be for someone with nothing BUT connection to physical land itself to help her make meaning of her history, and even that is rarely accessible.

So if this is true, consider challenging it a bit. Why do you think that "two wrongs make a right" here where if you hate your people publicly enough you won't have to actually do the painful work of exploring and reconciling your relationship to land, power, and shared social connection? Why would you rather abdicate all responsibility for your relationship to these things than truly undermine the "us vs them" mindset on display in this kind of conversation?

You aren't more righteous for hating what your ancestors did, and OPs ask had nothing to do with your shame. Why did you feel it appropriate to center those things in a close-ended response that decentered the actual experiences being discussed in order to narrow the scope down to a black and white immaterial stance?

I understand these may feel like aggressive questions, but I am asking them with care and openness here, because I know I've needed that in the past when shame was blinding me to the ways I was being cruel or dismissive of the pain others chose to share with me.

the reason that white Americans going "I'm going to move to ___" during all this insults me so much is not bc I care whether they leave or go. I think it bothers me deeply bc it shows such a... Lack of attachment to the land that so so SO many people suffered and currently suffer for.

The indigenous peoples here were mass murdered for centuries for their own land. My people were brought here in chains for centuries, then bred like they were lower than animals, just to work this land. People of color here and abroad suffer just to maintain this place's spot in the global hierarchy.

A lot of BLOOD went into this soil that y'all's ancestors wanted so fucking bad, a lot of privilege (whether you want it or not) was built through so much suffering for you to have. And as soon as the going got tough, your only comment was "well, I wish I could settle somewhere else now". 😐 It just is truly a slap in the face, that y'all don't even care that much about what was committed for you to stand where you are.

And maybe if people acknowledged that privilege more I'd be less mad, but no. They claim to not even know 😭 like all right then

[androdetective]

I wish people talked about the recruiters backstory more. His story is one of exploitation and class tensions. He came from poverty and was a young guy who became a pink guard. Who eventually caught Oh Il-nam's interest, which is what got him promoted from soldier to manager to recruiter. He was only able to become successful because a rich guy happened to notice him. That was all entirely based on luck. We know he's rich now from that recruiter morning routine video that was released. He's one of the very rare people who actually went from poverty to riches.

When he was at his lowest when young, he was swept up by bad people who gave him the worst mentalities. But that's what caused him to be able to live a comfortable life. The way he talks, he talks exactly the way Oh Il-nam (and even the front man) talk about the games. How he's just a messenger who delivers messages, how he told himself during his guard years that the poor people are trash with no purpose. It's the simplification of horrible things. The mindset of the games/system got a hold of him. His poverty roots are irrelevant to him. He probably thinks he was different and a hard worker, which is why he made it unlike the other trash.

When he gives that "you're just another piece of trash who made it out of the garbage" speech to Gi-hun and how he only made it because of luck, that entirely applies to him. He had a millionaire VIP to help him, compared to the other hundreds of regular guards. It's unbelievable luck to have a millionaire to help you up the ranks/class. He is a self-hating class traitor. He's those types of people who went from poverty to upper class. And because they managed that, they swear that the system works and will be horribly classist to people below them. They think that lower class people are garbage and need to work harder just like they did. Ignoring the fact that they only managed to because of luck.

We know that outside of his work, he messes with poor people through games/social experiments. When he gave the homeless people the choices between bread and a lottery ticket, everyone but one chose the tickets. Which is already cruel, considering it takes extreme luck to win. It's even worse than a 1/456 chance. When he's finished, he dumps the bread and stomps on them. He then blames all the homeless people for wasting the bread because they chose unlucky tickets. This isn't even a part of his job, but he does this to reaffirm his belief in the system/game. It's a special type of cruelness because the money he spent on the tickets and bread was nothing to him. He could've given each person both of each and continued to be rich. But he doesn't because he views them as wastes who don't deserve it.

When holding Kim and Choi Woo-seok hostage. He ties them up and bounds them with dog bone gags. Something he probably got from the love hotel on such short notice. There are countless jokes about the gags, but I do think they have meaning. The recruiter is called a dog by Gi-hun. Something that means he's below his masters. He did not like getting told that by Gi-hun. We know the recruiter likes putting others below him. The show choice of specifically dog bones, to me, is another instance of him transferring that powerlessness to those below him. To have a sense of power and control. A reminder that he's made it. He even plays a classical song during the game (and even during russian roulette). With the song named "Time to Say Goodbye", it's one last mocking. Classical songs are seen as very high class. It's the kind of music played in the games. And that's what the recruiter enjoys and strives for.

We know that during his pink soldier days, he ended up shooting his dad. There are two beliefs people come to about him. That he was either a regular dad or a bad one. If he was a regular one, it shows that the trauma of poverty and capitalism can make you turn against loved ones. If he wasn't, it shows that already vulnerable people with no support are more likely to get preyed on by the privileged. The recruiter ends up saying a line I found interesting, "One day, they gave me a gun. I liked the way it felt. It was like someone had finally acknowledged my existence. " This was the most vulnerable we've seen him. This implies he didn't feel he had support until he was given power. A bad kind of power given to him by Oh Il-nam. He was being set up to become a valuable asset, not a person. That line could imply he didn't feel acknowledged not only by nobody before the games, but by even his family. If that's true, then that could further explain his happy attitude when he talked about shooting his dad. If he already sucked, then he was even worse by being desperate enough to play the games. Even all that aside, his feelings about his dad didn't matter. He had a job to do. If he couldn't do his job, he could get killed. It's either his dad dies or he dies. And that's exactly how the system works. He knows it's a dog eat dog world.

He becomes such a strong believer in the system he is willing to die for it. He followed the rules of Russian roulette because if he didn't, he'd go against of the rules of the system he wholeheartedly believes in. The system who got him to greatness. The system wants you to kill and die to uphold it, so that's why he does it.

Before he shoots himself, half his face is confident while the other half is scared. Gong Yoo has said he did that on purpose. Even before death, he was putting on a confident performance. But his fear, from seeing that HIS luck with the system ran out, was enough to crack through. From what we've seen of him, he's almost never genuine. He puts on a customer like service kindness. When we know he hates the people he recruits/interacts with. The most genuine we've seen him was during rock paper scissors and russian roulette. And even then, he's putting on a show trying to freak out the players. He looks down on them, and he wants to be the one in control. He's not allowed to be genuine with those he recruits, nor does he let himself. He's a good employee who does his best for his employers. And that's exactly it, he's another employee who's easily replaceable. After the recruiters' death, we don't see In-ho worry about it. No one cares because there's others like him. As Gi-hun has said, he runs around, barks, and grovels like a dog for his master. The recruiter is no one special, no matter how much he sucks up to those in power. It shows best in his lack of a name. His personhood doesn't matter, what matters is his job.

[starheirxero]

Also, on the end part of "Lunar breaks down" with Earth, I just have to say the posts I saw made that scene sound like she had looked Lunar dead in the eyes and went "I don't wanna help you" and walked away but like... She just accidentally overheard Lunar's breakdown and went "ah. fuck, i'll... let them cry it out first. i'll take a lap and come back."

Like that's? I feel like that's not even a bad or mean thing. If we're being real here, too, Lunar probably would have clammed up and tried to make themselves stop crying if Earth had walked in—which is arguably worse than crying it out for however long they needed to. There isn't anything she could have said to help either, this is evident in the fact there wasn't anything to say when Lunar properly came to the family about the matter the next day.

She didn't do a bad thing, she just... made a choice. Not even a notably bad choice. She just said "I can't help, I'll trust them to come to someone about that when they're ready." Like that's... that's fair. That's not even Earth having a flaw either she literally just chose to let Lunar have an alone moment like c'mon HDKSNDM

[marauderslibrarian]

(Lesser Known) Marauders Fic Recs, part 2

Downfall (by Lunarde) -

They say villains and heroes are two sides of a the same coin.

Regulus always understood that but to Sirius it was impossible to fathom. Despite having grown up together, they became very opposed to each other. Still, they held onto tight to preserve their bond. But the tensions building in the wizarding world might be the finale straw that'd lead them on two very different paths.

Bitter Waters (by way_too_many_fandoms) -

This is Remus Lupin. He is seventeen years old and priming himself for uni, just hoping to get through his last year of secondary school. Remus knows many things; he knows that leaving Wales was probably a good decision, that his mother was trying her best, and that life can really suck.

What he does not know is that he is about to meet a boy that will change everything.

The Hand That Feeds (by Rollercoasterwords) -

Marlene McKinnon is a mess. She can’t sleep, she’s almost certainly going to fail all her NEWTs, and she’s 99% sure that if they don’t win the Quidditch Cup this year James Potter will throw himself headfirst off the Astronomy Tower. On top of all that, there’s a war on, yet their professors seem determined to pretend that the biggest problem any of them are facing is finding a Ministry internship. Marlene’s final year at Hogwarts has barely started, and she’s already pretty sure it couldn’t get any worse—that is, until she shows up for her first Potions class and hears the assignment. /// Dorcas Meadowes is a stone-cold bitch. At least, that’s what everyone says. She doesn’t need well-meaning professors or overeager classmates or teammates or boyfriends or friends. She doesn’t need anything except to be left alone, the way she likes, until the day she finally leaves school. And she certainly doesn’t need Marlene McKinnon, with her sharp tongue and her snorting laugh and her stupid shiny hair, who seems intent on ruining everything that Dorcas has been working towards for the past two years.

I adored you Madly, Extravagantly, Absurdly.  (by MiriamMT) -

The Blacks want to marry off their youngest child. He begs Sirius for help and tells him a secret: He is a man and would rather die than be forced to be anyone's wife. Panicked, Sirius arranges a marriage between his brother and his friend James Potter, knowing that Regulus can be the man he is in the English countryside on James' estate.

James wants to ensure Regulus' happiness, even at the expense of putting his life on hold for a while. Regulus wants to ensure James doesn't fall into societal ruin because of him. Sirius wants to be loved. Barty must decide whether he wants to keep causing destruction or choose redemption. And Remus is just a very tired butler who watches James and Regulus dance around their actual feelings (literally).

Frozen Pines (by yourfriendlygryffindor) -

After being rejected by Lily brutally, James finds himself falling for his best friend's brother. As they get pushed out into the world, they find themselves manipulated into joining the war efforts. When James and Regulus realize this, it's too late to save themselves from the pains of war, so they take things into their own hands.

Bury Our Secrets Shallow (by writtenicarus) -

Sirius knew that he wasn’t considered a good person. As a matter of fact he wasn’t good at anything at all. Not a good son or brother or student or cousin or protector. But the truth was that he tried. He tried so hard, too hard. It hurts when his younger brother keeps pushing him away after they left their parents home and chose to move in together, but if Sirius can’t be good, he wants to find something good to live for.

When they moved to a small town in rural England after escaping their parents, Regulus was determined to ignore his older brother at all costs. What neither expected was for their lives, relationships and friendships to intertwine so deeply they had no choice to face each other and reconcile with how much they had suffered.

—

OR a small-town AU. the kids aren't alright.

The Brightest Star (by Badfoot) -

And oh.

Oh.

Oh he was kind of beautiful wasn’t he? Had Regulus always been?

To anyone else, he was all sharp edges and scathing remarks, but not to James. He could never be just that to James.

He could never just…be, to James.

And oh no.

That was new.

Like Real People Do (by Arins_Writings) -

Regulus Black miraculously survives the cave of Inferi. There isn't a single soul that he trusts, given that his brother is now locked up as a Death Eater Sympathizer and James Potter is dead.

James Potter.

The single most loyal person that Regulus Black had ever had the unfortunate luck to meet. He was annoying, and loud, and impossibly Gryffindor, but James would have done anything to win the war.

Even working with his best mate's baby brother, the real Death Eater.

The Road Not Taken (by MollieMaryMarie) -

Ten years ago, Remus broke the heart of his best friend. Just before that friend became world-renowned pop icon, Sirius Black. Now, his other best friends are having a baby, and they've named both Remus and Sirius the godfather of their unborn child as some convoluted plot to get them back together. They pretend it doesn't work while simultaneously, and secretly, finding their way back to one another.

[bitch-i-migth-be]

I love your brain, please have a biscuit.

I kept thinking about the og baby a lot while I was writing that. Poor thing, just made up so he can die for the sake of the plot.

Also imposter syndrome.

In this case, for example, it would be interesting to see that even if Tim can relate to Kon- it’s not actually the same, because while Kon was made to replace Superman he never actually had to do it, he got to be his own person.

Tim doesn’t get that here.

He did replace someone. Even if that wasn’t the objective of his creation. He is actively living under the name of a dead boy (which later gets even worse after Jason dies and the whole Replacement Robin situation happens), . he didn’t get to be named by people that loves him or even choose one himself.

If anything the scientists who made him gave him some serial number and called it a day, because you know that cloning Danny isn’t easy, it got to have taken many many tries. Tim would be lucky if he doesn’t have it tattooed somewhere in his body like cattle, the GIW was interested in his biology not his aesthetics.

He didn’t have any other option or resources when the Drakes ‘took him in’, and by the time he could have actually done something about it he was already far too deep in his life as Tim Drake. Far too deep in the vigilante life, far too deep in a family and friends

Before becoming Robin, Tim didn’t think he would get that. He thought he would have to bide his time, be the Perfect Little Son he was purchased to be until he actually had a shot at disappearing with the minimum risk of being dragged back to the labs or the Drake’s;

Following the Dynamic Duo around was never supposed to be more than a pass time, and then maybe doing some wishful thinking about how maybe they could help him, and battling with himself about whether it was a good idea to drag them into his mess.

And then the Joker fucked it all up, his chance was gone and he had to step up before Batman managed to kill himself in his grief because no one else would do it.

Can you imagine if somewhere in his archives he actually has a file with a life he invented/built for himself before being Robin? a name he chose?? With so much care because this was supposed to actually be his. Maybe he still tweaks it up from time to time just because he can’t let the idea go, even now.

And if any of the bats ever finds it they would just think it’s another one of Tim’s alias, like Alvin Draper, and maybe they make fun of him because ‘some of those things are really cheesy, Timbo. how did you came up with that??’

And Tim just has to pretend that he is Fine TM ‘yeah, haha, laugh it up’ like it doesn’t hurt because what is he supposed to say at this point?

It was never supposed to get this far. He was not supposed to get attached, to have people he actually cared about and then lie, lie, lie. Not while he was still Tim.

He should have been gone by now, to have finally laid the memory of Timothy Jackson Drake to rest and become his own person.

But He doesn’t want to loose this. He is catastrophizing whenever he is not in deep denial about the situation but it doesn’t change the facts.

He got an actual life now, with family and friends like he always wanted.

But it’s still a fucking lie

In which Jack & Janet Drake manage to neglect their toddler to death and have to find a replacement before the police or, god forbid, the media tears them apart.

It’s a good thing the US Government is getting rid of the GIW’s highly immoral test subjects before the JL can crack down on them.

Ha. Jokes on you, Jason.  ‘Tim’ has always been the replacement.

[gomzdrawfr]

Cash and Strawberries

♡︎ sugar daddy!Price x sugar baby!Raven, ftr [oc] Orion and Gaz ♡︎ they're both new to this, so unconventional sugar daddy/baby dynamic I guess? slow burn, mutual pining, eventual smut...no promises ♡︎ brief mentioned of injuries part 1 (you're here :3) ⋆ part 2 ⋆ part 3(?)

Price didn’t think he’d ever end up where he is right now, reclining against his couch, scrolling through a bloody sugar dating site like some desperate sod. He wasn’t lonely, Well, maybe a little. It was a different kind of loneliness. 

He had his friends, his job, his entire life structured around a routine and responsibilities. He was used to this lifestyle, but the emptiness gnawed at the back of his head sometimes, like he was missing something. 

A wife, but that would be a stretch, consider his work and the life he led. Not to mention, he’d had enough of messy entanglements that turned his already complicated life into a disaster. He didn’t want commitment. He wanted company, a little softness. Someone on his side when he wanted, no strings, no attachment, no expectations.

Something easy.

He never considered himself the sugar daddy type, but Kyle had a way of convincing another, planting ideas in his head.

“You’re lonely, mate, and there’s nothin’ wrong w’ that,” Kyle mentioned, beer in hand and amusement in his eyes. “Try it out, worse comes to worst, you can just drop ‘em.” 

Price had been sceptical but decided to give it a shot. 

His first experience was horrible. The girl he requested on a whim had been pushy, greedy and treating him like nothing but a blank cheque with legs. He never imagined he could develop such disgust towards perfume until that night, when the sickly, nauseating sweetness clung to his shirt so stubbornly he had to throw it out. So much for his favourite T-shirt.

Never again.

Well, until he met up with Kyle again, this time the lad had brought along someone. Sweet, charming, soft-spoken in a way that was natural.

“How the hell did you find her?”

Kyle, the smug bastard he was, grinned. “It’s all about filters, mate. You gotta be picky, can’t just click anything you first saw. Read the reviews, ratings, check the preferences and so on.”

Reviews? Ratings? Preferences?

Begrudgingly, Price asked for more help. He learned the ins and outs of the site, what each symbol meant, studied the grading system, set up a proper profile, refined his preferences. He sure as hell wasn’t about to get suckered again.

The screen refreshed. 

“Don’t go for the new ones, though,” Kyle advised, rambling off. “They don’t have ratings yet, so—"

Price stopped listening after he saw her.

Raven.

No ratings. A new member. Joined roughly three weeks ago. Simple profile with three sets of photos. Black hair, possibly mixed Asian, multilingual. Preferences that nearly mirrored his: discretion, quiet, no unnecessary chatter, looking for a mutual agreement of presence rather than performance. Sexual preference wasn’t checked—a shame, but he could work with that.

So he chose her, much to Kyle’s side eye and obvious disapproval. 

Raven never thought she’d find herself here. Hell, she never would have considered it if she’d had any better options.

Becoming a sugar baby hadn’t exactly been on her list of options, but life had a way of making things difficult. She had lost her job a few months back—an injury to her wrist made her old work, and any similar jobs that required precision and repetition, nearly impossible. Other fields felt tedious, like a downgrade, and money was running tight. Choices were slim. This… sugar baby business… seemed easy.

In theory, that is. 

Orion had first proposed the idea over a cup of tea, offhandedly mentioning that plenty of rich schmucks would pay good money just to have a pretty girl on their arm. Raven had been curious despite the feign disinterest, but with the strict boundaries she set on her profile, she knew she had put herself at a disadvantage among hundreds of other girls willing to offer more.

“You’re not going to get any man like this, rotisserie chicken.”

 “Shut it. I don’t want weird old men, alright? I still have some dignity.”

 “No one wants a sugar baby they can’t coddle, y’know.”

Hours were spent refining and adjusting her profile, much to Orion’s amusement. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. If she could land just one decent client, she might be able to survive for roughly three months or more if she was lucky.

Three weeks passed with nothing. She had nearly given up, considering swallowing her pride and taking the job at the car shop instead, despite the ominous boss with the skull mask—

Ding! New match! JP.

Raven had never dropped everything in her hands so fast. Pressing herself into the corner of her bed, she flicked through his profile.

Military. Captain. A little older. Blue eyes. Serious in most of his photos, but he almost looked like a quokka in one of his smiling photo for some reason....cute?

She tried to ignore the weird flutter in her heart as she filled up some forms. His profile was just as minimal as hers. But their preferences aligned.

Surely, this wasn’t a scam. 

She stared at the screen, lingering on the smiley face longer than necessary, then shared the news with a very stunned Orion.

“Holy shit, you lucky bird!”

Holy shit indeed.

Raven was every bit as composed in person as she was in her profile, arriving precisely on time, dressed in a simple but elegant dress. She greeted him politely, proper and quiet, but Price wasn’t fooled.

Beneath that poised exterior, he could tell she was nervous, likely inexperienced. The signs were subtle, her gaze lingered on him for half a second longer than necessary, the few times she adjusted her dress, the slight pause and hesitation when she first looped her arm around his as they moved, the stiffness in her walk.

It was…endearing, sweet in her own way. Breath of fresh air. He didn’t pressure her, just offered a small, patient smile.

They didn’t talk much, just like they agreed. Content to walk down the block and have a meal. She noted he didn’t care about the formalities of fine dining, much to her relief, he ate with whatever utensils he deemed fit and had been nothing but a proper gentleman the entire time. It eased something in her, the tension loosening just a little. 

But, sitting across him at dinner, she wondered if she had overestimated herself. While Price—his name, as she’d come to learn—has not expressed anything thus far, at least negatively, she couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of her.

She wasn’t prim and princessy. She wasn’t giggly, overly affectionate, or flirty. None of those qualities were things she wanted to pretend to be either. She was pragmatic, quiet, logical, a nervous wreck. But she wanted to try. Compelled to do at least something to make his money worth.

So she scooped a bite of food and hesitantly, gestured for him to lean forward. 

Price blinked at her, caught off guard. That made her cringed internally, almost pulling away with regret.

Too much, too soon?

But then, he leaned in and took the bite from her spoon. A flicker of approval showed in his expression, whether it was towards the food or her, she chose not to think too much of it.

He didn’t know why that moment nearly made him short-circuit, but it did. Something about the gesture, so small and yet so intimate, made his stomach twist in an unfamiliar way. Maybe it was the way her shoulders relaxed, or the way her eyes light up slightly when he smiled back, or the way she was eager to feed him again.

Strawberries never tasted sweeter while fed by a pretty girl. 

He thought he was done with surprises, walking her back to her place, or rather, the place she said she was staying. One look and he knew it was a lie. 

Smart girl. He didn’t press.

Outside the door, he handed her the envelope, watched as she opened it and counted, making sure the amount was right in front of him before giving a small nod of satisfaction, albeit awkward.

Likely not used to this much cash in your hands, birdie?

Then, just as he was about to say goodnight, she tiptoed closer and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, whispered a quiet, “Goodnight, Price.”

His cheek burned where she’d kissed him, rendering him speechless when she disappeared inside hurriedly, his heart doing an embarrassing little flip.

He stood there for a good ten seconds before he exhaled, shaking his head to himself as he turned to leave.

Yeah.

He was definitely requesting her again. 

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

I think you might have been a father to me, once.

You used to be more than just another man who hurt me in my life.

Reference pic!

[lgbtlunaverse]

Obsessed with characters who portray themselves as worse than they are. Who are lying to everyone including themselves about it. People generally assume if someone's lying about themselves they're trying to look better but sometimes they're trying to look worse. They attribute agency to where they had none, add intent to accidents, try to convince everyone that this is something they did instead of something that happened to them.

[hypnagogics]

LYSSSSSS!!!!!! oh you genius. ima start this all off by saying this is my favorite lyss work to date…you absolutely NAILED IT. the weaving of plot, the banter and dialogue, and ellie????? peak characterization, you really don't see skill like this every day. tbh sometimes it pains me you aren't able to see just how good at writing you really are, but oh well. guess i'll have to make it my life's mission to convince you! you'll believe me when i'm done, i'm sure of it :)

first of all the photo you chose— elliesgalaxy is genuinely not human methinks, how tf do you make a pixel look like that. i want to eat her.

she lingered outside, shifting her weight like she was debating whether to knock. but since this had become clockwork, you were already pulling the door open, and she shuffled inside uttering a, “don't make a big deal out of it.”

MY BABYYYYYYY. stop…no STAHPPP. i would not mind at all patching her up, my babyyyyyy she is so cute. the shuffling, the awkwardness and the silly internal battle— UGH LOVE IT. with your writing, i've noticed you are an expert in the ‘show don't tell’ idea, and i'm quite jelly!! you're a master of subtleties wherever they go,and i'm always in awe of how you paint such a vivid picture.

she'd been through hell and back.

what if i sob so hard i flood the earth huh…what are you gonna do. i just want to kidnap her and keep her safe in my basement so nothing could ever hurt her, and i'm the crazy one?

your lips pressed into a thin line, but you didn't protest further. you knew how much patrol meant to her— how she needed it. how ellie seemed to rely on it to feel like she provided something useful to jackson.

AGAIN WITH THE SUBTEXT HOW DO YOU DO THATTTTT i am going to cast a spell and steal all your talent…jk i would never do that it's all yours. but omg :( jackson is baby's home…thinking of the game's storyline and when they first got to jackson, this draws up such nostalgia. in between games one and two, i really do wonder how ellie adjusted, but before we go too far off topic i must continue to gush!

also i love love love your use of “said” when mentioning her burn, maybe i'm looking a bit too deep now, but it gives off almost a little suspicion..almost. can always count on you to be two steps ahead of all of us.

and your dialogue!!! i tell you this all the time but it's seriously so so good, i can hear the banter so perfectly in my head, TEACH ME YOUR WAYSSSSSS

i did also mention i love your use of “pitchy lilt” such a poetic description but it's so illustrative and clever!!

[...] made your stomach do something stupid.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. ok normal calm zen and chill but real!!! her dorkiness istg…there's nothing better than that. like yes she makes me weak in the knees yes i want to kiss her till she's dizzy WELL, YES!

you'd both insist, later, it was simply the sting of the antiseptic anyway, as if she hadn't weathered worse injuries before.

i. need. to. calm. down. the bloody tension????? are you trying to kill me in cold blood is this what this is. i am such a sucker for almost a slow burn like this, both of them not sure, but the subconscious never lies. GOD

“i think you're helping me all the time ‘cause you've got a soft spot for me.”

YES! YES! BINGO!! YOU'D BE CORRECT!! RIGHT ON!! WONDERHOYYYYYYY BOOM SHAKALAKA YES GAWDDDD okay my heart. it's gonna fuckin explode. i will charge you for murder lyss, this isn't funny.

the whole next chunk has me literally biting my firstbecayuse first of all how dare you, secondly, this is the most perfect thing i've ever read, thirdly, the characterization is honest to god so out of this world unreal, you make me fall in love with ellie more and more, with each post. truly, no one does it like you.

".....a kiss.”

insert feral monkey noises. insert squirting noises. insert blowing up the entire world noises. insert killing myself with a gun noises. ok i have no words. wtf are you doing i will be brought to tears because of this fucken pixel its so unfair…

this fic. this fic is everything to me, you don't understand. it makes me wanna laugh it makes me wanna cry it makes me want to scream into the void— you write ellie so true to life it makes me SICK! ILL! in the best way though, always the best way. my dramatic little baby, ugh. i'd give anything in the world to kiss her until we're both suffocating, but i suppose i have to deal with something close because that isn't an option, and that's gotta be to tell you how much i adore your writing every chance i get. 💚

becoming ellie williams' personal nurse was absolutely not part of your grand plan. in fact, being ellie williams’ anything hadn’t crossed your mind until an unexpected run-in left you the only one available to patch her up after a rough patrol. you’d spoken fewer than ten times before that, but after that night, ellie unilaterally decided you were the only person allowed to help her when she got injured. you didn’t fuss as much as maria, or dina, or anyone else—and that was enough for her. or at least, that’s what she claimed. it certainly didn’t hurt that you were cute.

that's how you found yourself falling into a routine—ellie 'just happening' to show up at your door, flashing those worn green eyes and grumbling about how "it's not that bad" to garner enough pity until you inevitably caved and fixed her up, sparing her yet another lecture from maria.

tonight was no different. she lingered outside, shifting her weight like she was debating whether to knock. but since this had become clockwork, you were already pulling the door open, and she shuffled inside uttering a, “don’t make a big deal out of it.”

you sighed, already moving to nab your ever-growing stash of first-aid supplies as she dropped into your desk chair. ellie had tried to clean herself up beforehand, but it was fruitless—her green jacket, the one now being hastily shrugged off, had been covering the worst of it. a deep gash on her arm, the lingering traces of a nosebleed, fresh cuts along her cheek. she’d been through hell and back.

"ellie," your voice carried a warning as you approached, reaching out to cautiously inspect her wounded arm. "this isn't just some scrape." ellie exhaled sharply through her nose, taking the accosting while settling in the chair she'd visited many times already. "it's nothing. i don't want maria finding out and pulling me off patrols."

your lips pressed into a thin line, but you didn't protest further. you knew how much patrol meant to her—how she needed it. how ellie seemed to rely on it to feel like she provided something useful to jackson. so instead, you got to work, gently cleaning the cuts along her forearm. ellie winced as the antiseptic hit raw skin, her fingers twitching against her thigh. unfortunately, the cut had grazed her tatted arm. you made a valiant effort to be delicate enough to mend the cut without disturbing the tattoo—luckily, it had missed the chemical burn ellie said she'd gotten on that arm years ago.

"oh, stop whining," you chided over her complaints. "shouldn't you be used to the pain by now? little masochist. and what's with you aiming for this poor arm so much? you've got two to work with, you know.” ellie scoffed at your chastizing, biting the inside of her cheek as her expression shifted to annoyance but not full offense. "right, lemme plan my injuries better next time."

you dabbed at a shallow abrasion beneath her cheekbone. ellie's eyes flickered up, trying to capture yours, but you wouldn't budge from the injury. she bit her crimson-stained lip, like she was weighing her next words wisely. "you keep patching me up, though. makes me wonder... i mean, i dunno..." ellie stilted her delivery, partly out of nerves, partly to grab your attention. "maybe you like seein' me all banged up," her tone took on a pitchy lilt as she kept peeking up at you.

the way she said it—less of a tease, a tad second-guessing, trying to dare a reaction out of you—made your stomach do something stupid.

"a better patient would stop causing such a distraction," you shot back, deliberately avoiding her gaze while keeping with the 'strict nurse' facade. you couldn't suppress a hint of a smirk though, briefly wiping your mouth to try and shield the small break over her nervous attempt at flirting. you just hated how right she was—no one was forcing you to do this, to put up with her maddening stubbornness and save her hide time and time again. all ellie had to do was bat those ridiculously pretty greens, and your defenses crumbled.

ellie huffed, pleased with your accidental admission but now more determined to coax more from you. she shifted slightly—and that's when you felt it. the light press of her fingers against the dip of your waist, like she had just meant to steady herself but forgot to pull away. her fingers curled slightly into the fabric of your shirt, sending a shiver up your spine. you said nothing, pretending not to notice. maybe she hadn't even meant to. you'd both insist, later, it was simply the sting of the antiseptic anyway, as if she hadn't weathered worse injuries before. neither of you moved.

ellie couldn't disguise her beaming when your strict charade allowed the gesture. she swallowed, like she was trying to decide whether to try her luck. her fingers tapped your side, hesitant.

“i think you're helping me all the time 'cause you've got a soft spot for me."

your breath hitched, warmth creeping up your neck, but you weren't about to let her win that easily. with a little head shake, you willfully regained your composure and lightly patted ellie's uninjured cheek before schooling your expression. "hush. you're being disorderly. i can't fix you up with all this blabbering."

ellie let out an exaggerated hiss, scrunching her eyes shut dramatically. your stomach clenched in brief panic, helper mode reigniting—until you realized she was full of shit, twisting her head like she'd been mortally wounded when, in reality, you had barely touched her.

"you're impossible," you muttered, smacking her good arm lightly in playful retaliation. "your life is in my hands. don't forget that." ellie leaned forward just enough to close the space between you, her voice dropping. "yeah, yeah, and every time i show up like this, i'm choosing to put my trust in you."

she wavered briefly, then added, softer still—only brave enough to say it now because she was already committed to the bit—"and that’s also why you won’t look at me."

you froze, and the second you met her gaze, it was over—long lashes framing those round green eyes, a smattering of freckles, some loose auburn strands that had escaped her barely-held-together bun sticking to her skin from the leftover sweat of patrol. with scraped skin and blood-streaked face, ellie was a proper mess—and yet, here you were, fighting every aching urge screaming at you to throw yourself on top of her.

you swallowed hard. the unassuming, bashful, loserish ellie was nowhere to be found. replaced by an ellie probably still riding the adrenaline of her close call with a horde of infected earlier, caring a little less about the consequences of her words and even further fueled by your easily cracked stoicism.

ellie seized your defeated, flustered silence to keep going. "also, as my nurse, i'm surprised you don't know the best cure for any injury."

you inhaled to brace for whatever nonsense was about to come out of her mouth. "oh, yeah? what's that?"

".....a kiss."

a drawn-out groan escaped you. "jesus," you muttered, cheeks burning. but fine—just this once. you weren't giving in completely, but you leaned in, pressing a fleeting peck to the tip of her nose.

the way ellie's face immediately split into a stupidly giddy grin was almost worth it. almost. her whole expression flushed a rosy pink, too.

"oh, on the nose? that barely counts," ellie teased, her voice dipping into something softer, more expectant. definitely hoping she hadn’t pushed her luck too much.

"deal with it, williams," you murmured, but your mind was already betraying you.

despite your best efforts, you couldn’t stop yourself from wondering what it would be like if you really gave in. if you disregarded all medical safety and climbed into her lap and kissed her senseless, letting your hands explore each other in desperation and recklessly savoring the taste of metallic red left on her soft lips.

snapping yourself from that less-than-holy thought, you deflected under the guise of needing to retrieve more supplies for another small cut you had overlooked.

when you came back, ellie was still watching you, something unreadable in her expression. you hesitated for a moment, then finally gave her a little glimmer of hope to cling to.

"tell you what," you started. "don't be an idiot—which i know is hard for you—and let everything heal," you let the jab sit for a second to build suspense, "and i’ll grant you the other half of that kiss."

ellie's smile widened triumphantly, though her posture was beginning to laze as exhaustion from the day's chaos caught up with her.

"anything for the nurse."

"yeah, yeah. now hold still so i can finish fixing you up."

and, for once, ellie williams actually listened. pic creds @/elliesgalaxy

[serpentface]

WARDI WRITTEN LANGUAGE (BASICS).

Couya's full name (properly 'Haidamane Couya') written formally and with common handwriting conventions.

The Wardi written language derives from earlier proto-language systems consisting exclusively of logograms without direct phonetic meaning or grammatical structure. These symbols gradually became simplified and abstracted to the point of many having little intrinsic clarity, and combined to communicate abstract concepts.

The development of a full written language did not occur independently (as very few written languages do), and its phonetic elements (namely its use of syllabograms) were largely derived the 'ancient' Burri writing system, gradually synthesized with native writing conventions, and in the contemporary forms a wholly distinct system. The language's Relatively universalized form is a very recent phenomena, developing within the past two centuries with the region's conquering/unification into a single entity.

The contemporary written language is a mixture of logograms and syllabograms. It is read from right to left and arranged in horizontal columns. The most formal variant of this system contains each character within a square outline, usually separated by a small space. This outline confers little phonetic or symbolic information beyond making distinction between syllables exceptionally clear, and can be (and often is) omitted in handwriting. The separation of words is conveyed through a narrow rectangle or line in formal contexts, and again often omitted in handwriting (instead indicated instead by a wider blank space).

The pure logograms that have been retained in this writing system tend to be those of very common words or specific concepts (most logogram characters for types of livestock, key crops, water, major body parts, etc are widely recognized and in common use). There has not yet been any attempts to fully 'formalize' the language and omit potentially unnecessary logograms, and they remain frequently used as shorthand while conveying the same semantic information.

Many of the syllabogram characters are directly derived from logograms that depicted monosyllabic words. For example, the spoken word 'gan' means 'cow', and the character for the syllable 'gan' is identical to the common logogram for 'cow'.

The name Gantoche (literally "cow-eye") could be written either fully with syllabograms as:

or through logograms as:

Both ultimately communicate the same meaning, but the former clarifies pronunciation (the words gan and atoche are contracted, it's gantoche and not gan-atoche).

It is a relatively easy written language to learn, as the pure syllabogram characters indicate their own pronunciation with little ambiguity and often have consistency to their construction (ie the character for the syllable 'man' contains most of the same elements as that for the syllable 'wan'- the dot placement in particular has indication of the vowel sounds).

The inclusion of logograms in general and many of the syllabic characters being directly imported From logograms complicates matters. These characters lack visual consistency, and can be confusing to the large swath of the public who know common logograms but not the full written language itself. Ie: the word 'ungande' meaning 'liver' will be composed of logogram-derived syllable characters for 'un' (which alone means 'hand') and 'gan' (which alone means 'cow'). Someone who is only semi-literate in common logograms may be confused at the meaning, especially since these same exact same characters may be used elsewhere on their own to indicate 'hand' or 'cow'.

One major exception to this tendency is that current religious doctrine requires established logogram characters describing God to be used in place of syllabic characters. The word for god is 'Od', and has its own unique character (as do each of the Faces, the capital F 'Face', and Its deified pronoun). The syllable 'od' [oʊd] is very common in the Wardi language, and a wholly separate character is used for the phonetic sound when it is not a reference to the deity (ie 'lion' (odo [oʊdoʊ]) does not contain the same character for God in spite of its first syllable having the exact same pronunciation). Names are a bit of a gray area (ie: the name 'Odabi' is very common and carries the meaning of 'gift/blessing from God'). Religious leadership is currently experiencing a mild schism on whether the written character for God is separated due to being wholly sacrosanct (and thus inappropriate to include in the written form of a personal name) or as more of a functional delineation of the sacred and mundane.

[cjlouwho]

✌🏻

[always-a-joyful-note]

Welp. Tag tagged by @justplaggin for the game

rules: spell out your name or url with songs

I couldn't resist, and thank you very much for it, Jay/Plagg!

To challenge myself, I'm gonna see if I can stick to songs from anime East Asian shows/stories

A - All-in (Alien Stage)

L - Last Dimension (TRIGGER)

W - wi(l)d-screen baroque (Revue Starlight)

A - Artistic Partisan (ALKALOID x Valkyrie)

Y - Yumemiru Architecture (Kagehira Mika; Enstars)

S - STRONGER & STRONGER (Zool)

A - Ame (MEZZO)

J - Joker Flag (IDOLiSH7)

O - OMEGA (STEREO DRIVE FOUNDATION; Yuukoku no Moriarty)

Y - Yume Shizuku (Re:vale)

F - Forever Note (MEZZO)

U - Until it Dies (覃云; Link Click)

L - Lily (Luck Life; Bungo Stray Dogs)

N - Now and Then (Re:vale)

O - Or the Beautiful Golden Drop (Knights; complete version out on May 22, so have the game version)

T - THE POLiCY (IDOLiSH7)

E - Eccentric Party Night!! (Five Eccentrics)

19 songs...and I tried to find ones that I genuinely enjoy right now (RIP to me making this challenge harder), so hence, the above mostly-Japanese-dominated list.

No pressure tags: @bobisnolongerhere @lizzieonka @rosencrantzsguildenstern @msperfectsheep-posts @mahounonbinary @praise-the-lord-im-dead @nitunio @akitchenknife @teslathelame @koi0boi @mihai-florescu @forebodinglight @imissthembutitwasntadisaster and anyone else seeing this because i am now incredibly curious about what songs you will choose (im so sorry if I forgot someone)

[bookshelfdreams]

americans learn what the middle ages are challenge

[theodore-lasso]

Colin's sexism barely made me blink an eye tbh as a gay transmasc that's just...... How a lot of gay men are. In fact I quite often find that they are More sexist than my bi or straight friends because very often they don't spend any real time with women at all and don't really "have to" consider sexism at all. Gay men definitely still benefit from upholding the patriarchy and let me tell you... They do. This isn't just a dunk on gay guys since I am one but just a reminder that queerness does not exempt you from sexism, and experiencing homophobia really doesn't mean you won't perpetuate sexism. He's not just deflecting so people won't know he's closeted, he chose to be sexist when he didn't have to be. Not when Sam was there being like.... normal (respectful). I really wish there was more talk of toxic masculinity inside of gay spaces *and how it effects people outside of those spaces* and I thought it was very interesting that Colin was exactly that. Very glad he's not babyboyified in this narrative but euggghhhhhh gays like this irl are so annoying

Like let's be real, a gay man brought up in hyper masculine locker room culture, he's never seen a bottle of respect women juice in his life until Ted showed up and started to shift that locker room culture