#you all deserve the guillotine actually!!!!!

[hotshotsxyz]

too little, too late

(8x08 coda) (buddie) (1.2k) the episode chose violence and so did i :) spoilers for 8x08, and hey, guess what? this is my 100th 911 fic! it feels right that it's an evil one <3

The real estate agent has an irritating voice. It’s pitchy and run through with vocal fry, and if Buck has to listen to her talk for another second, he might actually tear his hair out. And it’s definitely about her voice. Nothing to do with the largely helpful information she’s handing over to Eddie like candy on Halloween.

“Anyway, we can touch base again once you’ve had a chance to look over those listings. I’m sure we’ll find something for both of you to love!” the realtor says.

Buck smiles. It feels brittle and fake.

“Thank you so much,” Eddie says with all the sincerity Buck can’t quite muster. He ends the call and sits back against the couch.

“That, uh—that went, um—” He’s choking on the positivity he’s trying so hard to exude. “—well,” he manages.

“Yeah,” Eddie says. He runs a hand through his hair. “Seems easier than I thought it was going to be.”

Easy.

That’s—

Yeah.

“You know you—you don’t have to buy straight away,” Buck says as casually as he can manage, which is to say, not casually at all.

“Buck,” Eddie says with a sigh.

“I know!” Buck says, throwing his hands out in a gesture of surrender. “Just—maybe you want to make sure, you know? Before it’s—it’s permanent.”

“I can’t keep missing out on his life,” Eddie says quietly.

Buck swallows. He knows. He knows! Knows it like he knows there’s going to be an Eddie-and-Chris shaped hole in his heart for the rest of his goddamn life.

“I don’t want you to,” Buck says, and it’s maybe the first honest thing that’s come out of his mouth since he sat down on Eddie’s couch.

Bile rises in the back of his throat as he realizes this might be one of the last times he gets to sit on this couch, in this house, with this man.

Eddie drops his head into his hands. “I don’t—” He cuts himself off.

“Have you told Bobby yet?” Buck asks. His breath catches.

“No,” Eddie says.

“Oh,” Buck says in a rush of air. “That’s—” He wants to say good. He can’t say good. Eddie needs—he needs—

Eddie lifts his head from his hands and his eyes are shining. “I don’t want to,” he admits. “I thought—”

“That he’d want to come back,” Buck supplies when Eddie doesn’t finish his thought.

He nods.

“He still—he could still—” Buck starts.

“He’s not going to change his mind.” Eddie cuts him off. “He doesn’t hate me. It’s worse than that. He doesn’t care.”

Buck’s chest feels tight. “He—he loves you, Eddie,” he says weakly.

“Maybe before, but—”

“He does,” Buck insists. “And—and if this is what you have to do to make sure that stays true I—I get it.” He does. He gets it. He’d do anything for Christopher. He’d—

It’s the worst feeling in the entire fucking world, but he’d give up Eddie for that kid. Is. Is giving up Eddie for that kid. A sob jumps up in Buck’s throat. He fights it back.

“I want to believe you,” Eddie says.

Buck knows that he doesn’t.

“Have you, um. Have you talked to Chris about this yet?” Buck asks, feeling a little bit like he’s just laid his neck across the base of a guillotine.

Eddie shakes his head. “No, I—I’ve got to do this, whether he wants me to or not.”

All at once Buck’s angry. Angry at Eddie, angry at his parents, at fucking Kim, at himself, and maybe even a little bit at Christopher.

“Eddie, you—you told him he could come back!” He says, a little louder than he means to. “Doesn’t he deserve to know that’s not going to be an option anymore?”

Eddie’s gaze snaps to his. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He’s got—he’s got friends here, and—and Carla, and—” He can’t say it. He doesn’t have the right to say it, doesn’t have the right to feel like he’s already lost a limb and now they’re taking a lung, but— “and me,” he finishes quietly.

Something like devastation flashes across Eddie’s face. “Buck, I—”

“No,” Buck says quickly, standing up from the couch. “I shouldn’t have—I’m not—”

“Buck, wait,” Eddie says, following him as he retreats toward the door.

“I, um—I forgot, I have to—I promised Maddie,” he tries to lie.

“Please don’t go,” Eddie says, and god, how many times in Buck’s life has he yearned to hear someone say that to him and mean it. How many nights has he driven home from Eddie’s wishing he’d been asked to stay.

This thing building in his chest, this thing of anger and grief and regret—it hurts. Every breath he takes is a little more constricted, a little less effective.

Eddie looks at him, and Buck sees it. That thing he’s always wanted to see. That thing he didn’t even know he wanted from Eddie until right now and it’s—

There was a small, naïvely hopeful part of Buck that really still believe that if someone loved him enough, they’d stay. Eddie loves him, looks at Buck like he’ll break his heart when he walks out the door, and it still isn’t—

Eddie loves him, and it isn’t enough to make him stay.

Buck is in love with him, he realizes, and it doesn’t fucking matter because he’s leaving. Like Abby and like Tommy, except Buck didn’t know how much hurt he hadn’t even discovered yet, because this isn’t Abby or Tommy, it’s Eddie, and Eddie—

Eddie’s supposed to be the one that stays.

Buck shakes his head and shuffles back until the doorknob is digging into his spine. “I have to,” he breathes, a grossly distorted reflection of what neither of them has quite managed to say.

Eddie opens his mouth like he’s going to ask again, like he’s going to beg Buck to stay, to show him all these awful pieces of his heart that he’s just found so he can remind himself that it’s not too much to leave behind.

Buck’s out the door before he can say another word.

He throws himself into the Jeep and all but fishtails it out of Eddie’s driveway. He makes it three streets away before he has to pull over.

The first sob surprises him with its softness; the second with its violence. He wraps his arms tight around his stomach and, god, he tries to breathe. But there’s not—there’s not enough oxygen in the entire world to make up for the way his lungs refuse to expand in the face of this loss.

He has to—he can’t—Eddie needs him to pull it together. To—to help him. To support him, and god help him, Buck will. There’s nothing Eddie could ask of him that he wouldn’t give. Nothing Eddie could do, Buck’s realizing, to make him love him any less.

Hot tears spill down Buck’s cheeks. He takes a shuddering breath and wipes them away. His vital organs are crumbling, so what?

He’ll set himself on fire if that’s what it takes to keep Eddie warm.

[atopvisenyashill]

ive read this one theory that the dagger prophesy used to be commonly known in the targ family… BEFORE maegor. after that they started keeping it a secret. as like a way to explain how jaehaerys wouldve known about it. wondering if you had any thoughts about that idea?

That actually makes some sense! We don't get the sense that Rhaena is particularly close to any of Jaehaerys and Alysanne's children despite her being alive and in Harrenhal for about two decades after the oldest trio is born, so that combined with her general hands off approach would make me think it's not impossible she'd follow Jaehaerys' lead and not talk about it anymore. And I can see Rhaenys, Aenys, and Visenya openly speaking about it to their children as well, and it sort of being part of the House Mythology similar to Daenys' dream of the Doom. Then Jaehaerys, who in general takes a much more secretive approach to leadership and magic specifically (not that this ultimately helps at all) wants to keep it quiet for whatever reason (to keep things calm, to not sow fear, whatever).

I do think it's perfectly in character for Aegon the Uncrowned to have told Rhaena just before he dies about it, and that Rhaena told Jaehaerys though. Especially given that Aegon the Uncrowned had yet to have his own son, and was so close to Rhaena, and she was so hysterical about him leaving to fight Maegor - perhaps he told her his reason was that if the Threat From The North comes, it can't be Maegor on the throne.

[mellowwillowy]

𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐗

Featuring: Yan! King, Yan! Puppeteer, Yan! Knight, Yan! Priest, Yan! Aristocrat CW: Violence (on 𝐘𝐚𝐧! ����𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭)

The King has always favored you among the beauties in the palace. His affection soars the moment 𝐘𝐚𝐧! 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠's Queen was executed for conspiring with the other acolytes to bring him down.

He has always loved you so much that he will do anything just to have you seated next to his throne. He doesn't care about the advisors' bickering. They won't be able to speak anymore after all.

"Off with your head? No no, off with your tongue."

You might think 𝐘𝐚𝐧! 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 is someone heartless and manipulative no? While you are not wrong, you are not right either. Have you ever seen him playing with the puppet, making the puppet you talk and kiss him on his cheek?

He looks so adorable when doing it until you realize the puppet might actually be made of your own skin and hair.

"Ohh, I love you! Muah muah!" "Ohh, I love you too darling!"

As an honored knight, it's only natural for 𝐘𝐚𝐧! 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 to perform his duty earnestly, to bring down injustice, and to shield people from danger. So why would you even think that he is the person responsible for all the missing people?

All these missing people had done no wrong, and you have always been on good terms with them so you know, you know this person is not supposed to be publicly executed!

"Drop down the guillotine!"

The priest has always been a righteous man so why would you suddenly doubt 𝐘𝐚𝐧! 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭? He has taught you so much and this is how you are going to pay him? By doubting him?

Bent over the altar, the priest binds your hands behind your back with the rosary as he chants prayer upon you. He is not the gentle loving priest you remember anymore as he forces your head down the holy water.

"Repent, my child."

He has always been a revered man, one deserving of the respect people showered him with. So why would an ungrateful little brat like you deny his love and mocked him instead? What makes you think that it's a great idea to deny what 𝐘𝐚𝐧! 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 wants?

His gloved hand meets your face in a strong hit. Your cheek reddens immediately as you struggle to keep your balance. You fall onto the ground with a loud thud and before you can manage to regain your composure, he kicks you right in your stomach.

"You ungrateful pet. You dare to bite the hand that feeds you?"

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

It has been a long time since I've written for the CatboX's Casts so let me introduce them to my new guests who only know LIfE Project casts (lol).

We'll start off with the King's actor, Caelus! He ranks third in the last voting poll as brother Stefan! Erickson as the Puppeteer, he ranks fourth in the last voting poll! He also appears in a story as a crown prince and king. Noel as the Knight and Priest, he ranks first in the last voting poll!!! (MY CHILD!!!) He also appears in the same fic as Erickson.

Last but not least, our beloved XL, Marlon, plays as an aristocrat. She lost to HYC (Yan! Emperor) in the last voting poll...

[hismourningflower]

「 scary dog privileges | kiss (don't tell!) event 」 blade & cyno x gn!reader | fluff, established relationships | event entry. ↳ ohhh zenith~ (@lovingluxury), i'm your secret admirer for this year's kiss (don't tell!) event !! you get my very first attempt at blade, i'm so sorry but i'm so glad i got to practise him !! happy valentines my lovely, i hope this year treats you how you deserve it !! ↳ shoutout to my oc chrysalis for being on my mind for the entirety of blade’s part

the jade's guidelines | genshin m.list | honkai m.list | kiss (don't tell!) m.list

BLADE calls falling for you "a mistake," one that he made quite boldly. nonetheless, he only ever grumbles this under his breath and never actually aloud - he can't bear to see that faint grimace of hurt on your face. no matter how many times he says he doesn't care, he quite clearly does.

it's a well known fact that's not into all of the lovey dovey romance stuff you rope him into with a wide smile on your face, tugging his calloused hands in the direction of another pretty scenic backdrop for a couple selfie or when you place matching items into his rough palms. behind closed doors, he finds the pads of his fingertips tracing over the photo or item with some 'annoying' sense of longing.

blade is scary to a lot of people. he knows he is, it's unmistakeable when people cower at the sight of him. their eyes shrink in fear, lips trembling when they can barely stutter out words in his presence. this is precisely why he loves to loom behind you, even when you're unaware of him being there - in his defence, he's quite quiet when he tries - because the mere sight of him scares people off. you want to scold him but you're thankful for this newfound privilege when you're stuck in uncomfortable situations, regardless you know that blade wouldn't bat an eyelid and would simply ignore you.

he undeniably has a soft spot for you - this "mistake" of his. the other stellaron hunters pick up on it fairly quick, smug looks on their faces as they share glances every time the two of you are together around them. blade wasn't sure you'd get along with the stellaron hunters at all, can you blame him? they're an organisation that isn't exactly in anyone's good books. yet you seem to bond well with kafka and silver wolf... what a shame for him. unfortunately, this means he's prone to hearing silver wolf and kafka taunt him about this little soft spot of his; "what's wrong bladie? you're going soft," kafka chides with a sly grin, only to hear a disapproving grunt from the tall man.

in private, blade's personality doesn't change all that much. he's still grumbly, his scary demeanour hanging over his head like a guillotine thanks to his mara but there's a slight shift in his behaviour. he likes to lay with you, not that he'd ever admit that (aeons forbid if he did, he'd never hear the end of it.) in fact, it's his favourite thing to do, especially after a stressful mission.

when things get tough and the mara hurts just a tad too much, blade will always find a comfort in laying his head gently on your chest or your lap, regardless of what you're doing just so that you run your hands through his dark hair. just so he can feel the tips of your fingers rub against his scalp, feel the way you braid little - or big - braids into his long hair. he stays silent as you comb through his black locks, brushing out every tangle so gently he barely feels it.

he may claim that getting too close to you was "a mistake" but by the aeons, he knows damn well that he's lying to himself.

CYNO didn't intend to fall for you. it had been a mere accident but he'd never let the words 'mistake' fall from his lips, celestia forbid he even uttered 'accident' either. tighnari unfortunately had heard him say 'blessing' a tad too many times, however.

the general mahamatra... plenty of people in sumeru are relatively scared of him. why wouldn't they be? he's obsessed with his work, heavily devoted to his job of chasing down criminals and enforcing justice. even if they don't fear him, people most certainly know cyno - whether it be his name, his looks, his accomplishments or merely his rank title. despite this scary demeanour everyone sees when he's working, cyno really isn't as scary as people make out him to be.

cyno is incredibly self aware of people's thoughts and words about him. he knows damn well that people find him scary - that's the whole point of his comedy act and awful jokes he throws out without a second thought, his facial expression still as stern as ever as if he doesn't even find his own jokes funny. he tries not to let it affect him, in fact he's adapted; he'll use it to protect you.

don't get him wrong, he's perfectly capable at protecting you without instilling fear into the people bothering you but combat is tedious and you've scolded him many times for attempting to use hermanubis on some poor soul who rubbed him the wrong way. what's more better than looming like a threat, red eyes piercing into their very soul until they take the hint? sometimes he doesn't even need to go that far - the sight of him sends people running, they're not particularly looking for trouble with the general mahamatra after all.

despite trying to figure out how people work so he can soften the aura around him when people get too tense in his presence, cyno doesn't completely understand the lovey dovey things you rope him into. he understands to an extent, picking up the things you love the most so that he can do when you least expect it; he understands that it means a lot to you and that's all he cares about. you.

and undeniably so, he's ten times less 'scary' in private. kaveh and tighnari can't help but taunt him when he's brushing his tanned thumb over your knuckles, pressing slightly chapped lips to your skin in delicate kisses - what do you mean that's the general mahamatra? they'll grin but secretly, they're happy that cyno has someone that brings this side of him out.

one of cyno's favourite things to do outside of catching criminals so that they may face their judgement for their crimes (other than tcg...) is cook for you. when i say cook, i mean actual meals and not the rations he eats while he's out in the scorching desert or deep in the apam woods on dirt paths that have been worn into the grass from centuries of people walking through. he loves it, the idea of being able to provide something to you that he knows you enjoy and honestly, he's not a bad cook. however, you regret introducing him to non-native sumeru recipes when he mutters "wanna hear a joke about pizza?" oh no. even if you say no, he'll be quick to add "nevermind, it's too cheesy."

you're quite literally the most important thing to him other than work and if he has to use means he's not fond of just to protect that loving comfort you shelter his cracked heart with, then so be it.

⊹˚₊‧───────────────‧₊˚⊹

© thexianzhoujade 2024. | do not re-upload, copy, translate, etc. my works on any form of media.

[apocalypse-shuffle]

JASON TODD | RED HOOD (generalized fanon | maybe wfa)

—

“Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” (Jason Todd x Fem!Reader)

| Jason and you need to talk, the incident with Robin hanging over your necks like a relationship guillotine, but days later Jason’s realizing that shit is easier said than done.

| SFW, pre-established relationship, secret identity, reader’s hair is long enough to go into cornrows

| pic source: right= Batman Annual #25, middle= Red Hood: The Lost Days, and end= Batman: Under The Red Hood • all comics

| part of the meet the bats series

| 1k+ words

It’s been three days.

Three days of them easing around one another. Of this awkward balance of you not knowing how to best broach the topic and Jason knowing that but being too tense to push. For the last three days he’s been actively fighting the need to cut and run until it was silently agreed upon that you’d both just ignore that night and the appearance of Robin entirely.

That’s what you’re both doing right now actually.

Rarely, in your case, there’s nothing filling the silence around you. No music, no podcast, you yourself aren’t even cutting through the silence with your own voice. The only sounds between the two of you are the drone of the stove vent, the clicking of the oven, and the knife in Jason’s hand clinking against the wooden cutting board he’d gotten you last year as a housewarming gift; the sound of it knocking through his head like a taunt with every cut.

You’re keeping to yourselves in your little corners of the kitchen, a crude facsimile of your usual laughter-filled Sunday Dinner prep.

“Can you chop the parsley for me now, Jay?”

Jason hums and moves to fulfill the request, barely moving an inch to where the wicker produce basket is chilling on the counter and grabbing the herb.

He chops it all in under a minute and turns to swipe the hand full or so from the board to the bowl of ricotta, shredded mozzarella, and seasonings you’re mixing but when you turn to him his brain stalls a bit.

It’s not like he hasn’t seen you before now. This was your place and you’d greeted him at the door, but even the way you’d said ‘hi’ to each other had felt weighted. There’d been a slew of unsaid emotions locked behind both of your words but apparently catching sight of you now - slightly frizzy week old cornrows and a smear of hastily wiped tomato sauce on your cheek - is what finally unlocks his jaw.

You hold the bowl out for him to scrape the parsley in, not looking at him as you talk; your eyes, instead, on the stove top.

“I need you to taste the sauce before I add the ground beef, it’s kinda sour—”

“—Did you mean it?”

When you pause to blink over at him he finally remembers to scrape the parsley in.

“What?” Your face screws up before your head shakes. You put the bowl down on the counter behind you so you can cross your arms.

He does the same with his board, clearing his throat.

“That love and trust stuff you said the other night? That wasn’t just some shock induced rambling, right?”

The way you purse your lips bellies your frustration, but whatever his face is doing ultimately make you sigh.

“Yes, I meant it.”

He nods, doing a horrible job of looking like he’s not on the verge of bolting going off of the stare you’re pinning him with.

“Great,” he murmurs. He shifts, crossing his arms himself and leaning back against the counter. “I meant it when I said ‘love you too’…by the way.”

In response all you do is stare. Jason figures that’s fair and stays still under your scrutiny.

A minute of silence passes, only broken when you laugh a little and Jason can’t help but scoff at himself too.

“Fuck, you’re a mess.” You sigh, “I know, Jason. You wouldn’t’ve said it the first time if you didn’t mean it.” You raise your hand to make a so-so motion. “Run away maybe, but, you know?”

“Sorry,” he offers.

You shrug.

“Uh huh. So we talking about the Robin little brother thing now or…?”

“No, we can talk,” he cracks his neck, “You do deserve to know after everything with Dami and his sword.”

You cringe suddenly and Jason can guess why; waking with a sword to your throat will do that to you.

“I do, don’t I?”

“Hn,” Jason chuckles, but when he holds his hand out to you he’s holding his breath.

For a moment he’s really worried you’ll stare at his hand like it’s some kind of venomous snake and blow him off - he’s been distant, he gets it - but you only hesitate for a second before slipping your darker hand into his.

After that it’s a whole lot easier for you two to gravitate towards each other, colliding like two uncoordinated magnets in your haste.

Jason just holds you after that. Let’s the balm that’s rubbing his cheek against your soft hair and feeling your breathing so close with your arms around his shoulders wash over him as one of you slowly works y’all into a sway.

“The next time one of these things happen it cannot take three days for me to get an explanation, Jay.” Slowly one of your hands runs down his arm till you can tap the back of his hand, immediately he turns it over for you.

“I know,” he murmurs, “I’ll work on the confrontation thing.”

Your hand fits perfectly into his and squeezes once your fingers lace.

“You do that.” You press a kiss into his shoulder, drawing a low hum from him, and he can feel you smile against him before you continue. “I will also try making it more clear to you that I’m open to talk to, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jason agrees, pulling you closer and wrapping you tighter in his arms. He tenses up a little. “Is the stove—?”

“Stove’s good,” you squeeze his hand, “the lasagna noodles are still boiling so you’ve got a good eight minutes.”

You look up to smile at him - only somewhat strained - and Jason goes in for a short kiss. You’d said you weren’t going anywhere but he knows how overwhelming this whole thing can be.

“Alright, but you gotta promise not to freak,” he stresses.

You nod.

“Okay,” he clears his throat and makes sure to very carefully look into your eyes. “Most of my…’family’ are vigilantes. Including me.”

He leaves out the ‘sort of’ that he feels the need to tact on to the end of that sentence. He’s heaping a lot onto you as is and it wasn’t like you weren’t around when he first wreaked havoc on Bruce and overhauled Gotham’s criminal underbelly. He doesn’t regret it exactly, but it was still a point of contention.

“Right,” you nod before pausing. The way you look at him, mouth dropping open with a mixture of awe and something apprehensive, isn’t promising. “You’re not…Batman are you? Or one of them?”

Jason’s familiar with the theories that Gothamites make up about them - it came with the territory - but the way you dropped your voice to whisper that last question throws him. He would’ve never guessed you were such a conspiracist. Let alone a multiple Batmen truther. The theory wasn’t exactly wrong, but it certainly didn’t get the majority of the cowl switches correct.

He starts to laugh, only quelled after a slew of moments by the scowl that flashes across your face.

“No,” he chuckles. He wasn’t in the cowl for long at least. The grin he throws you manages to thaw that scowl at least a bit. “And thank god for small mercies.”

“Ah,” you tilt your head, “well - I mean as long as you’re not a rogue or like the Red Hood or anything then it’s not like it’s the end of the world,” you giggle to yourself.

Jason falls silent

When you look back to him, noticing the way he’s half cringing, your eyes widen and your mouth drops open.

“Shut the fuck up!” The beginnings of what might be a grin curve the surprised ‘o’ shape of your mouth as you take a step back. “You’re lying!”

Your eyes stay wide and your mouth fully forms into a wide grin. You smack him on the arm. Jason fights not to make a displeased sound at you taking your warmth away.

“You’re fucking lying— wait!” Your hands come up to frame your face. “Oh my god. What- what does this mean for our relationship?”

A sting goes straight up his spine and Jason surges forward to wrap his hands around your wrists, shaking his head.

“Nothing hopefully,” he says, “this doesn’t have to change anything if you don’t want it to. I’m still me, you’ll just be privy to a bit more of the inner workings of Gotham, but nothing crazy or too dangerous.” He grimaces. “The last thing I want is to endanger you.”

“Hold on. No, Jay, that’s not what I meant. I promise you this isn’t a deal breaker. Just…” you move to wave your hand still in his loose grip towards the sliding doors, indicating the rest of the city, “…I have something of a standing complaint with the Red Hood for blowing up my favorite bagel shop.”

“Oh?” He practically goes limp against you, letting go of your wrists after kissing the juncture of both to wrap his arms back around you. One corner of his mouth curls up. “Would you like to file a formal complaint?”

“I would, actually.”

He snorts, “In my defense it was a drug front for a group who was conspiring against me.”

You cast him a contemplative look before letting out a wistful sigh.

“Good bagels though.”

Simultaneously the two of you break off into laughter, hanging off of each other before sobering naturally as the timer rings and you’ve got to strain the noodles.

When you’ve got the water drained and are moving to set up the assembly station for the lasagna you throw him a grin.

“For the record, I think you would’ve made a great Batman.”

He laughs goodnaturedly, going over to add a pinch of sugar to the tomato sauce.

“Says you and nobody else but me,” he jokes.

“That’s alright,” you come up to press a kiss to his cheek from the side, using your hip to bump him out the way a little so you can slip one of the towels from the oven handles, “Gotham wouldn’t have been able to handle you, anyway.”

NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!

Funnily enough she’s technically meeting the Red Hood in this one to some extent, but I’ll probably write a more costume focused entry later on that is her fully meeting Red Hood similarly to how she meets the other Bats.

btw: if you’d like to leave a comment I’d very much appreciate it!

Tagged: @bandshirts-andbooks

[rotzaprachim]

I think one of the most uncomfortable aspects of the “absolutely no imprisonment or incarceration for crimes but also rapists deserve to die or be killed and if you think otherwise you’re a rape supporter” logic that’s proliferated among the left for some reason has a lot of terrible implications - plenty of people who are against incarceration in any circumstances also seem to have ideologies that involve forming “community brigades” or something which in Their minds aren’t just … extrajudicial militias - but one of the fallouts is less recognition and support of rape victims, not more. Because most people actually don’t want people to die, and the idea that all rapists deserve to die necesitates another idea that rapists are some closed off Other group that they will have no attachment to or contact with or will matter to no one or be some oppressor class they can just guillotine and move on with. They can’t accept that killing rapists would mean killing their brothers or comrades or friends or that killing rapists would mean killing other oppressed people or marginalized people, so it’s easier to believe that all those people couldn’t POSSIBLY have raped someone, rather that they did, and don’t deserve to die for it.

[ventique18]

"So you're here. I finally found you... LILIA!"

BITCH SHUT THE FUCK UP GO AWAY WE'RE HAVING A MOMENT HERE????? STFU JUST STAY A CUTE LIL BABY??? THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'M NOT HAPPY TO SEE MY HUSBAND LMAOOOOO

BTW the senate is filled with assholes who keep demonizing Lilia for everything. Lilia hatches Malleus and for some reason they find a way to say "EW DON'T TOUCH OUR HOLY DRAGON YOU'LL CONTAMINATE HIM WITH YOUR FILTH"??? Like OMG all of them deserve to be guillotined. It's actually unreal how much they worship the Draconias so they think anyone who associates with their pure, holy gods must be dirty rats and will contaminate them. Why do they even exist omfg... Malmal grow big and strong and kill every single one of them wtf.

[vodika-vibes]

as a hurt/comfort and general Whump enthusiast I pounced on that prompt list you shared like a cat chasing a mouse... anyways🤣

was thinking “it’s okay, show me?” And“deep breath, I have you,” with maybe Echo?

I know he’s a member of the bad batch but I still feel like he’s always deserving of more content and is underappreciated

if that’s not rare enough for you, you could also do Waxer😊💛

Gentle Touch

Summary:  Knowing that Echo is alive, and actually seeing it are two different things. But the man you love seems unwilling to have anything to do with you. Even going so far as to block your comm code. So when you’re kidnapped by Organ Harvesters you know that no one is coming to save you.

Pairing: TBB Echo x F!Reader

Word Count: 2365

Warnings: Reader was kidnapped by organ harvesters, death, angst with a happy-ish ending (I'm so sorry)

A/N: I...have no excuse and no explanation. I hope you like it, and if you see any typos it's because I typed it without my glasses on.

Click HERE to be added to my taglist

Your entire body throbs in time with your heartbeat as you stumble down the frigid corridor, your hand pressed against the wall both for support and to guide you.

Echo once told you that the best way to find the exit in a maze is to keep one hand on a wall at all times. You’re not sure if you’re in a maze, but since you’re having a hard time focusing, you figure that the advice might as well be put to good use.

You wish you remembered how you got in this situation.

You remember leaving work, you were going to go to the club with some of your coworkers for the usual meet-up before the weekend. The new girl had been so excited to be invited. You remember her saying that her husband offered to watch their twins so she could have a night out.

Something must have happened at the club.

The last thing you remember is taking a sip of something blue at the club while laughing at a joke that the bartender cracked. Then you were here. 

You woke up on a blanket on the ground, clad in your panties and the camisole you wear under your work clothes. Your shoes, jewelry, and everything else you had been wearing hadn’t been anywhere you could see them.

And you weren’t alone.

Yazmin, the new girl from work, had been stretched out on a blanket next to you…but no matter how much you shook her, she wouldn’t stir.

It wasn’t until you rolled her that you realized that she was dead.

You shudder and wrap your free arm around your stomach, to try and comfort yourself.

Since then, you’ve been walking, trying to find a way out of this building. 

The place seems deserted, but you know it can’t be. Because every time you come to a new room, there are more bodies. Of every species imaginable. 

Your immediate conclusion, that you had been kidnapped to be sold into slavery, has long since morphed into something far, far worse. You were kidnapped by Organ Harvesters.

Slavery would almost be better.

Almost.

You follow the wall around a corner and sigh softly as you realize it’s a dead end. A part of you, a part that’s growing larger by the minute, wishes that you were still in contact with Echo.

He’d come looking for you.

Well. He would if he still loved you. Or liked you.

You stop walking and slide down the wall to sit on the frigid floor, needing to rest your body. You feel awful.

But now that you’re not moving, you have time to think.

And that’s been your worst enemy for the better part of two years now.

Echo’s death destroyed you.

You couldn’t imagine living in a galaxy without Echo, and yet you persevered. You went to work, you spent time with your friends and family, and all the while it felt like there was a guillotine hanging over your head.

Then Echo came back. Injured, but alive.

And somehow your nightmare got worse.

Because he wouldn’t talk to you. Wouldn’t look at you. And any message you sent was ignored or deleted until you woke up one morning and found out that he had blocked you on everything.

You don’t even know what you did wrong.

But it must have been pretty bad for him to hate you so much.

You pull your knees to your chest and rest your cheek on them, turning your attention to the dimly lit hallway that you have to get back to soon.

Then something on the floor catches your attention.

Little dark red droplets.

Blood. A small voice in the back of your head offers, dispassionately. It sounds like Kix. You miss Kix. You’re bleeding. Kix’s voice continues.

That explains the pain, you suppose.

Slowly you stand and focus your gaze on the smear of blood on the wall where you were just sitting.

It looks like something you’d see in a horror movie. For some reason, the thought is hilarious as a short laugh slips from your numb lips.  

You need to keep moving. If you stop moving you die. Echo’s voice whispers in your ear.

Too bad Echo won’t care if you die.

Although, he does sound worried, so maybe you’ll keep moving. Just to keep him from worrying too much.

Slowly, you start walking again, your feet feeling like lead.

You’ll just walk a little more. Just a little further. Just to keep Echo from worrying about you.

You don’t know how long you’ve been walking. It feels like it’s been hours, though it might have just been minutes. You’re aware enough, for the moment, to know that you’re suffering from blood loss.

And probably the loss of other things.

The thought is hilarious, but you manage to smother your laughter. This is probably a good thing because you’re standing in the doorway to a room full of people who look like doctors.

 “That’s one of the subjects, isn’t it?” An old man asks.

“Yes sir,” A young woman replies, “We hadn’t done the removal yet, since there was the issue in the twi’lek room. I had the doctor sew up her back so she wouldn’t bleed to death before the harvest. I see now that that was a mistake.”

“Indeed.” The old man lifts a hand, “Kill her.”

Its probably the blood loss, but you feel strangely calm for someone who’s about to die.

And then a memory swims to the forefront of your mind.

“Hold it like this, cyare,” Echo’s voice has a laugh in it, “And bring it back by your ear, aim, and throw!”

The knife your holding hits the target in the center, and Echo spins you into a tight hug.

“You did it!”

“Why do I need to learn how to do this, Echo?” You ask as he kisses your cheek and then sets you down to collect the knives.

“You never know when you might need to know this.”

“Yeah, but most people have blasters.”

“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret,” Echo says as he returns to your side, “15 feet.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Even with your skill level, if you’re within 15 feet and have a knife, you win that fight.” He offers you a blade again, “Again.”

You had forgotten about that lesson, Echo never mentioned it again after that day.

The problem is, you don’t have a knife.

You take half a step back and bump into the counter. Your gaze flickers across the counter, looking for something, anything, you can use to defend yourself.

There.

Sitting in a plastic tub are dozens of scalpels. You pull the tub closer to you and carefully pull a scalpel out of the water.

It’s not a dagger, it’s not weighted for combat, but a blade is a blade, right?

You draw the blade back and fling it just like you remember Echo showing you.

The scalpel, as it happens, is sharper than the average hunting knife. You’re not the only one shocked when the blade hits exactly what you’re aiming at and pierces through your attacker's throat.

He crumples, but you know that he died the moment the blade pierced his throat.

The room falls silent and, much to your surprise, the people who were about to kill you are backing away from you. And not just them, either. The two people who planned this whole thing seem to be backing away nervously too.

Maybe…no one’s ever fought back before?

Well, you’re glad for it. You’re not sure you’re going to be able to stand for much longer.

The next thing you know, the group of people are fleeing up the staircase behind them.

But the moment they’re out of sight, you collapse to the floor, the pain and blood loss finally too much to bear.

Only moments later, though, there’s the sound of gunfire above you. The blaster fire doesn’t continue for long, and you wonder who won the fight.

You hope it wasn’t the organ harvesters.

Light appears at the top of the stairs, and heavy steps hurry down the concrete.

You no longer have the energy to lift your head, but a very familiar-looking pair of boots stops in front of you. A gloved hand reaches out to grip your chin and tilt your head back, you don’t even have the energy to try and pull your head away.

Echo peers down at you, concern and guilt warring for control of his features.

“You can’t be here,” You’re slurring your words, your tongue feels like it’s made of sawdust.

His scomp settles on your bare shoulder, “Why can’t I be here, cyare?” Echo asks.

Oh good, an easy question.

“Echo hates me,” Your answer is matter-of-fact, even through your slurred words. 

He winces, “I…” Echo trails off and then he presses his hand against your cheek and offers a small smile, “I know you’re badly injured. It’s okay,” His voice is somehow softer, more soothing, “Show me?”

Slowly, because you’re not sure if you can do anything fast anymore, you lean forward and press your forehead against his shoulder. You hear his sharp inhale, and you hear his call for a medic. 

Your vision is starting to go grey, but that’s alright because help is here, apparently. 

“I wish,” You mumble against Echo’s shoulder, “I wish I knew what I did to make him hate me so much.”

The last thing you hear before you let darkness claim you is a faint call of your name and a plea to stay awake.

“She’s alive.”

Echo pauses midstep, nods once, and then continues his rapid pacing.

Rex folds his arms and leans against the wall, “She lost a lot of blood, but she still have all of her organs. Which is a miracle, seeing as she was with them for over a week.”

Echo’s jaw clenches, and his hand curls into a fist.

“Seems like they bit off more than they can chew,” Rex continues.

Echo finally stops pacing, “How many people did they kill?”

“There were over 50 bodies down there,” Rex says, “But there were organs from a lot more people than that.” He steps away from the wall and lightly clasps Echo’s shoulder, “She’s going to be fine, Echo.”

“She thinks I hate her.”

“Well,”

“Rex!”

“What was she supposed to think, Echo? You wouldn’t look at her, wouldn’t talk to her, and blocked her without so much as saying a word.” Rex counters, “Of course she thinks you hate her! I would think that too!”

“I was just…I wanted her to be safe.” Echo says with a sigh.

“Well, that worked out swimmingly, didn’t it?”

“I thought you were here to help?”

“I am here to help. Sometimes my help comes in the form of calling you a dumbass.” Rex points out, “Which I’ve said to you. Repeatedly.”

Echo opens his mouth to say something sharply, only to pause when the medic steps out of his cyare’s room, “She’s waking up. I assume one of you want to be with her?”

“He does,” Rex says cheerfully as he shoves Echo toward the room, “I have work to do.” He glances at Echo and points at him, “Don’t fuck this up again, Echo.”

The last thing Echo wants to do is go into her room. He doesn’t want her to see him like this, more machine than man. But Rex is gone, and the Medic is staring at him, impatiently. So he follows him into her room.

He takes a seat at her bedside, watching her sleep.

She looks the same. The same freckles, the same birthmark, the same curl in her hair that falls in her eyes.

Echo finds himself falling in love with her all over again. Which is why he didn’t want to see her in the first place.

A soft groan reaches his ears, and his gaze snaps to her face. Slowly her eyes flutter open, revealing her pretty eyes to him.

Confusion quickly morphs into terror, her heart monitor starts going crazing, her breathing quickens, and Echo swears as he jumps to his feet to keep her from pulling out her IVs.

They should have figured she’d react like this.

He calls her name, his hand pressing firmly against her cheek, forcing her to look at him. She freezes as her gaze locks with his, which is exactly the reaction Echo was hoping she’d have. 

“Deep breath, cyare.” Echo orders, his tone brokering no argument. Then his voice softens when she immediately does as he asks, “I have you.”

Her hand comes up to frantically clutch at his hand, “Echo?”

“Yeah, it's me, I’m here.”

“But—” Her gaze frantically searches his face, “You hate me.”

“Never. I could never hate you.”

“But…but you…”

“I’m an idiot.” Echo interrupts, “Rex told me that Fives was dead, and I decided to run away from everything that made me happy. I told myself you’d be better off without someone like me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“I’m not the same Echo you knew before,” He holds up his scomp, “If you looked at me like I looked at myself those first days…” He trails off.

“Do you really think I’m so shallow?”

“No. No, never.” Her heart monitor is still racing, so Echo sits on the side of the bed, “You need to calm down. You’re still recovering.”

“I can’t be here, I have to go somewhere else, I—”

“Listen to me, cyare. This place is filled with clones and other former members of the GAR. None of us are going to let anyone hurt you.” Echo lightly strokes her cheek, “but, you have to stay here. Just until you’re healed.”

“I—”

“I’m not going anywhere, cyare. Not this time. I promise.”

Echo knows that he has a lot to make up for, and he knows that she’s going to be in a foul temper once she’s not in the hospital. He also knows that he deserves every bit of her ire.

But he’ll take whatever punishment she decides on. She’s worth it.

He’s fucked up with her enough.

@imabeautifulbutterfly

@n0vqni

@bad4amficideas

@justiceandwar98

@mira-loves-star-wars

@tiredbi-peach

@dukeoftheblackstar

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@continous-mistakes

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[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 13

PREVIOUS

“I can’t believe you would go out on Black Friday to grocery shop but I guess thanks for going out on Black Friday to grocery shop.” Aaron greets him with as FF moves over to the table.

Andrew and Captain Neil had apparently went out shopping.

Andrew and Captain Neil had apparently come back and have been in Andrew’s room for the past couple hours.

“Josten probably wanted to go to Excites for some gear. I don’t know what my brother sees in that Exy-obsessed jerk.” Aaron says as he eats his own smiley eggs and bacon. FF hears the sound of a hammer and a drill from Andrew’s room.

Heart in his throat he forces himself not to think about what Andrew and Captain Neil COULD be building.

(A guillotine, an iron maiden, that weird wedge thing that splits people in half at the groin, He should NOT have taken that Spanish history class. Oh god it’s probably a fence so he can’t escape whatever hunting ground Andrew is going to drag him to if he can’t buy his continued existence via baked good.)

“Shut up, they’re actually really sweet to one another.” Nicky chastises before turning to FF, “Because of that your final serving goes to Smithy. He deserves it more than you.” Nicky says and slides the final plate of eggs and bacon.

“He’s just as bothered by it as I am!” Aaron scowls.

“By what?” FF asks because there are a lot of things that bother him so Aaron is going to have to be more specific.

“By those two being all close. I’ve seen the way you turn and walk away.” Aaron reaches across the table for his bacon but FF just pushes the plate closer to him. The two plates he had already eaten were more than enough, especially after the full dinner that they’d had the night before. “You’re grossed out by it too right?” He asks as he goes to stab the bacon.

FF slides the plate away and Aaron stabs the table.

FF is NOT HOMOPHOBIC.

His gran raised him better than that.

“I don’t agree with you.” He says because he doesn’t but can’t bring himself to say anymore. He’s in Aaron’s house, he stole Aaron’s keys that morning to lock up the house.

(it was so rude but what if someone broke in because he left the house unlocked? What if someone got hurt just because he wanted to ensure his own survival? Isn’t it better that he just borrowed Aaron’s keys to make sure that no one in the house got hurt? Does FF still believe with every fiber of his being that Andrew Minyard is trying to murder him in this exact house? Yes. Can these concerns coexist peacefully? Also yes.)

If anything he finds Captain Neil and Andrew to be an incredibly nice couple. They talk about things together, they make plans about their future, their PDA was actually pretty minimal (especially in comparison to Aaron), and he had figured out the weird code Andrew talked in so he was pretty sure that Andrew and Neil loved one another.

The only issue he has with the couple is that they are out at a store probably buying supplies to torture and then kill FF.

Otherwise they were perfectly fine.

Aaron scowls, “You can’t be serious. You walk away faster than you run on the court when you see the two of them getting all gross.” He points with his fork and tries to grab the bacon again.

FF frowns deeper.

“I walk away even faster from you and your girlfriend.” He returns because Aaron and Katelyn are the couple who have been the MOST guilty of initiating something in front of him when he was in ‘Visible only when the sunlight strikes him at the exact right angle on the summer solstice’ mode.

 He had tried to clear his throat to get them to quit quite a few times but…well…he has heard Katelyn mention that one of her and Aaron’s favorite ‘hang out’ spots might be haunted….so he hadn’t been overly successful.

“PDA makes me uncomfortable in general. Captain Neil and Andrew are a very nice couple who you shouldn’t talk bad about.” He defends as one of the only people who would know exactly how thoughtful the two were to one another.

He hopes his Gran is proud of him for saying something.

Aaron looks at him with a twisted mouth for a while before relenting, “Fine they’re not that bad. It’s just a big brother thing.” Aaron rolls his eyes.

FF swallows down some acid in his throat and pushes the smiling eggs and bacon over to Aaron who smiles back at the breakfast and proceeds to eat it.

A big brother thing.

FF gets up and heads over to the final bag that Andrew had left out on the counter. FF had bought some additional offerings for his mortal soul to tide Andrew over while he made the brownies. It’s also where the incense and his latest two five hour energies should still be.

He finds the incense, wonders if he hallucinated the five hour energies (very possible), and hands Nicky a box of sour patch kids to distract him when he comes over.

“Smithy, why the hell are you lighting incense?” Nicky asks because the sour patch kids were NEVER going to be enough to distract Nicky. That would take something on the level of Swedish Fish but he’d been more focused on avoiding the candy thrown by an irate woman towards a member of Target staff because the grocery department couldn’t get her the redemption coupon for one of the flat screens in the Electronic department so he had FAILED to procure them. He’d even seen a box sail through the air is bullet time because his brain was too hopped up on Five Hour Energy but he’d let it go believing he could just grab a box at check out. THEN HE ZONED OUT IN THE CHECK OUT LINE AS HE STARED AT BOTH THE FUTURE AND THE PAST AND FORGOT HE WAS IN THE PRESENT WHERE HE HADN’T GOTTEN THE DAMN SWEDISH FISH.

“I’m going to make my Great Grandma’s brownies.” He says in response, “I’m hoping to channel her so I don’t mess up.” He says.

“Oh! More grandma baking goodies?! I can be your assistant baker! What do you need?” Nicky says visibly vibrating with excitement at the prospect. “We can listen to Mariah and I can lick the spoon!”

There is a noise of revulsion from the kitchen table.

“Don’t let him lick the spoon Smiths! He gets WEIRD about it.”

“That sounds like what someone who wants to lick the spoon would say.”

“Oh shut up!”

“That’s not a NO!”

The cousins continue to argue about spoon licking rights as FF gets started checking to make sure that the kitchen has all the necessary equipment to even make his brownies. He’d been so tired (last night? This morning?) that he hadn’t thought about even checking that the cousins would have things like a glass bowl, an baking dish, pie tin, etc.

Thankfully FOR ONCE luck is on his side and FF does not have to walk back to the Target.

So he finishes pulling out everything he’ll need, getting the oven pre-heated, and pulling out the ingredients for the brownies from the fridge.

He lights some incense with the stove top burners sends a quick prayer up and wonders if maybe a ouija board would have been better but if the Home Goods section had been a dangerous spot then the toy section would have been like walking into an active war zone. There are no laws as far as parents are concerned when it comes to getting the ‘it’ toy for their kids. FF has watched the highs and lows of humanity in the Barbie aisle more than once.

So he melts chocolate, he sifts flour and sugar, he separates eggs, and he uses every muscle that Kevin’s insane work out regiment had given his arms to whip those egg whites into stiff peaks. He knows his great gran is with him when Nicky and Aaron continue to argue (they are now talking about the ethics of licking the spoon vs. licking the bowl? He doesn’t quite get how they got there but alright) so Nicky doesn’t hear him say “Stiff Peaks Acquired” to himself because he knows Nicky well enough to know that he would have NEVER heard the end of it.

He uses all of the delicacy his gran had ever tried to teach him to fold those egg whites into the chocolate and then to fold in the flour and sugar. There are more steps, more ingredients, but unless you are family then those are CLASSIFIED.

Great Gran had always been the suspicious sort.

The oven beeps to let him know it’s done pre-heating as he’s carefully transferring his great gran’s life’s work into the baking dish.

He was so focused that he hadn’t even realized that Andrew was back until he turned to do the dishes and found Andrew holding the bowl and running his fingers through the scant remaining mix and shoving it into his mouth.

He is surprise that the scream remains in his head. He’s even more surprised that he stays upright. Maybe the nap did him some good even if it let Andrew and Captain Neil build whatever torture device they were intending to use on him.

He really needs to drink some pepto. He doesn’t think that Andrew will pause their ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ recreation to let FF manage his ulcers. Andrew is staring straight at him.

Andrew offers him the spoon.

FF declines. Raw eggs, sugar, and chocolate? With THIS stomach? He’d almost prefer to be chased through whatever enclosure Andrew is going to drag him to.

“When did you wake up?” Andrew asks.

“Hour ago.” He answers.

“Hm.”

“I’ll make the pie tomorrow.” he ventures trying to extend his life by another day.

Andrew shoves the spoon into his own mouth after that and walks out into the dining room. FF hears both Aaron and Nicky’s cries of anguish.

FF looks at the brownies in the oven at the incense burning on the counter and wonders if that was Andrew’s way of confirming his stay of execution.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

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As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t  get a notification there might be something switched around in your  settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

[sapphorror]

The relevance of chronology in IZ is dubious at best (in the show—it is flat-out non-existent in the comics), but I do kind of love to think about it regardless because there are so many weirdly specific points of internal continuity, practically and sometimes even emotionally, that we can't pretend there's absolutely nothing to examine there, even if the degree to which it matters is next to null. And anyway, I love a fool's errand.

So with that disclaimer I'd just like to talk about everyone's favorite organ harvesting episode and how much it kills me when examined in the context of an on-going continuity, because it's not just one of the most horrifying things Zim ever does across canon, it's really the first horrifying thing that Dib is present to bear witness to, at least on that scale. For all that NanoZim must've been scary and violating on a personal level, it was ultimately still a contained, targeted attack, and not even an unjustified one—not that Dib would consciously think of it this way, but Zim was acting in reasonable self-defense, he just chose to be really brutal and vindictive as he did so. Plus, Dib did come out on top of that encounter, so there were no real lasting consequences besides losing his evidence, which only put him back to square one. Basically, it was a great basis for forming a personal grudge, but it didn't really say anything about how generally malicious or threatening Zim actually was outside the context of their quickly-coalescing rivalry. Zim's only a monster at this point insofar as it's fun for Dib to have a dragon to defeat. The danger he poses does not yet hang over Dib's head like a guillotine.

Dark Harvest, though. In Dark Harvest, Zim shows just how capable he is of committing brutality on total bystanders at a mass scale under much less urgent circumstances without so much as a trace of hesitation or remorse—and by the end of it, Dib learns firsthand how severe the consequences for losing to Zim can actually be. Healed through the miracle of the status quo reset button or not... well.

And this adds a lot of context to why Dib spends the rest of the series so totally convinced of the danger Zim poses, even if most of the time that POV is extreme overkill. If he ever starts to doubt the necessity of his mission, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs, and that's irrefutable proof that Zim CAN accomplish terrible things if left unchecked. If he ever starts to doubt the morality of his intentions, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs (and would do so again!), and he can rest easy knowing Zim deserves every terrible consequence coming for him. If he ever forgets why he absolutely cannot afford to let his guard slip for even a second, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs, including Dib's, and now he remembers exactly why it's so important Zim's never allowed to gain the upper-hand. Even when he finally ditches Zim in Mopiness of Doom, it's not because he stops seeing Zim as a threat, it's that he's gotten too burnt out on single-handedly saving the world all the time to care.

(Gaz, of course, was there too and still thinks Zim is harmless, but Gaz also thinks expressing pain after having your entire lower body melted into off-brand bug spray makes you a whiner, so let's not put too much stock in her judgement here)

Even during Dark Harvest, Dib's immediate response upon finding Zim is to tell him this is totally beyond the pale, as if Zim might actually care—and while Dib trying to convince Zim he's acting totally unhinged isn't exactly unusual throughout the show, past this point he usually does so by appealing to Zim's self-interest ("stop trying to blow up the planet, you're still ON the planet") rather than any hypothetical better nature or good sense, can you even imagine. But that's exactly what he does here, reflexively or not, and that to me is a perfect demonstration of how this episode marks a radical shift in what Dib thinks he's up against.

And for some bonus meta? This also stretches into The Wettening in a really fun way, which is the second episode after Dark Harvest and the first with Dib. The sheer glee Dib takes in exploiting the new-found weakness for all it's worth, just because he can, makes a lot of sense in the wake of Dark Harvest and his new understanding of Zim as an out-of-control inhuman lunatic he has no idea how to stop. Seeing Zim vulnerable to something, openly afraid, and in obviously agonizing pain—well, humanizes would be the wrong word under the circumstances, but it cuts him back down to mortal size. He might be tough, and he might be terrifying, but he's not invincible. Even after Zim very unambiguously wins that fight and finds a way to protect himself from Earth's water, the important take-away is that there are things that can hurt him—Dib just has to figure out what they are. If Dark Harvest is the episode that shows Dib Zim is truly a monster, The Wettening is the episode to teach him even real monsters can be defeated.

[henrysglock]

Wonderful! A group of rich people died! Let’s dance on graves; I’ll get my good shoes.

But first, tell me:

Did the accident redistribute their wealth to the masses?

Did those deaths take out a harmful corporation in a way that makes life markedly better for those it was harming?

Did it enact any kind of helpful policy, regulatory, or socioeconomic change?

Or:

Are they just going to replace that CEO?

Is that wealth just going to get passed to their next of kin, remaining withheld from the masses who both need and deserve it?

Is this whole thing going to be forgotten by the next news cycle?

Is our collective glee just ‘bread and circuses’ type behavior that gloats over useless and frankly stupid deaths without any actual impact being made?

“People are justified in their lack of pro-social response to this event because of the socioeconomic state of the world.”

Okay, so show me where any of this changes the socioeconomic structure of the world. Show me where there’s anything worthy of “I hope they all die a slow, agonizing death for,” [checks notes], “hubris, a typical characteristic in most humans at some point in their lives.”

Was it all incredibly stupid? Absolutely. Did most of the dead have it coming? Absolutely. The tragedy in it is that there were no regulations in place to say “Uh…no?” when that voyage was in its planning stages.

And the worst part is? Nothing. Changes. So far, these are meaningless deaths.

Imagine we’re in ancient Rome. The CEO of Oceangate has convinced a group of his buddies (and the kid they dragged along) that “Hey, y’know what would be really fun? If we all dressed up as gladiators and paid to tussle with the lion. No, no, yeah there’s a chance you could die, but trust me, it’s gonna be so cool.” And then we all fucking ate it up, half of us cheering on the lion while the other half wept for those poor, poor rich people (yeah I know, I’m rolling my eyes too)…all under the watchful eye of our royal highnesses who put on the show: The Corporate System and The News Cycle, who both stood to profit whether the group of idiots lived or died.

Did the rich folks have it coming? Absolutely. Is it still horrific that it was allowed to happen at all? Yes.

This is why they don’t broadcast the other tragedies. It’s not good for them as a partnership. Those gut wrenching tragedies, the ones with true injustice? They don’t placate us, they upset us and turn us against those in power.

But dumb rich folks dying? On my TV? Oh goody, my fave show is on. Let’s see if it’s started another useless internet war, creating low-level enemies for us inside our screens so we forget about the real enemies for a while longer.

Not only that, but killing a CEO won’t change anything. That’s a replaceable employee, and the corporation as a unit cares about that person about as much as it cares about the rest of us (which is to say: not at all). That CEO’s wealth will just be given out to their relatives, and the money will stay contained within that family unit. The CEO will be forgotten in the next news cycle, when their death is no longer profitable for the news industry and the internet has moved onto its next useless spiral.

Guillotines in France worked because they dismantled the government, which also happened to consist of all the rich folks, to enact socioeconomic change. Thus: people celebrated the deaths of the rich, and rightfully so.

That’s not what this is. This isn’t “eating the rich”. This just the joy of entertainment, a good show.

Nothing ever changes. We stay entertained, temporarily placated by the deaths of a couple rich people.

Bread and fucking circuses.

[giantchasm]

Sir Uther: PEONY! HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST MARKETING SCHEME!

[He lies on the floor, facing up as if he was preparing for death itself]

Sir Uther: DO IT! DON'T HOLD BAAAACK!!

Of course, before authenticating any purchases, there's probably some legal jargon I should read off to you. Let me check my notes... Okay, yes!

Please be aware that the Haltmann Works Company™ and Peony Haltmann are not responsible for any injuries sustained while using the Haltmann Works Company™'s Super Guillotine™. The Super Guillotine™ is potentially dangerous and should only be handled responsibly. Refunds are not available for the Super Guillotine™. All purchases are final. Do note that now is a fantastic time to buy it, however, as the Super Guillotine™ is currently on sale for a low, low price of just three small payments of $995.95. Please ignore the fact that the Super Guillotine™ has 'been on sale' for as long as it's been on the market. Customers who point this out risk becoming product testers for the next model of the Super Guillotine™. Thank you for your patronage. The Haltmann Works Company™ appreciates your continued support.

Hehehe... exciting, yeah!? Surely I've sealed the deal~! Y'know, when it comes guillotines, I hear a lot of people saying nasty stuff like 'eat the rich' and 'viva la revolution,' but I think that's a little bit brash. What have billionaires or royals done to deserve that? I think people are just judgy! 'Exploitative business moguls' or 'oppressive tyrants' are plenty nice once you take the time to actually get to know them! Most people just don't give them a chance. But it would be a shame NOT to use a product as incredible as this, and so we've reached a dilemma: Who exactly should we be using guillotines on? If you ask me, I believe guillotine use is best reserved for Bad People. Y’know… deadbeat dads and wizard haters and stuff. If, in theory, there was someone who was both of those things… let’s call him Uir Suther for the purpose of this thought experiment— well, I’d definitely behead someone like that. Even if he WERE already just a walking head more or less. This is all just hypothetical, though, of course! Any resemblance to persons living or dead in this made-up scenario is pure coincidence. But enough of my rambling. You were going to stick your head in, yes? Do you think I got him? Usually I’d hesitate to be so direct, but the target of my marketing scheme here isn’t exactly the paragon of intellect. Something tells me he didn’t even hear half of what I just said. He'll probably fall for it hook line and sinker. I don’t know if this will actually kill him, mind you, but it’ll be rather funny either way, I reason.

Ohhhh, Peony.

I thought I already told you you were supposed to be putting out PROPAGANDA. Revealing you're a bootlicker is kind of the opposite, kiddo. I can't exactly blame you considering who your parents are, but all the same, I'm not sure this will boost your approval rating.

At least you're trying to kill Uther, though! Everyone in the tourney appreciates an attempt at that... and so who knows? Maybe you'll be fine. Just... read a book on economic theory sometime, won't you?

No-one tell her, by the way, that she's failed to successfully exclude her entire family from the list of people who deserve to be beheaded. If you were to point out her grandfather was, in fact, a deadbeat dad, I think she'd throw her little hands in the air and storm off angrily.

What a strange, strange child.

@kirbyoctournament

[dreamerwitches]

RIGHT! I'm going to judge everyone with their doppel choices!!! Get ready for long post

In all seriousness, you're entitled to your own opinions and this is just a bit of fun. I'm genuinely interested to see the most popular doppels and I KNOW there are no set rules for the votes as the account has stated so peoples choices may be for gameplay etc etc. So, no meanness, right? It's all in jest (m-mostly...)

Giovanna time! I agree very muchee, I'm not a big fan of swimsuit Giovanna. Yeah she's cute but I dunno I just don't like the sail and that's such a big part of it. I understand why og and anime are equal cause anime Giovanna was FIRE and the new take on it in-game works well. Og deserves well because duh, its the og and anime deserves well too cause it's on par. But Infinite Giovanna ough, left the girls in the dust. Beautiful colours, beautiful combination of Giovanna and Shitori Egumo. She's beautiful and she knows it!

The first disagreement. Tanabata Campanella falls into the 'its too busy i dont have a clue whats going on and thats not a good thing' camp for me. Yes the colours are pretty but damn there's too much going on. And the colours on her spine bit are way too much overall. I get it but it's not for me. I'm glad my choice is second though. Historia Campanella is.... is not Campanella that's the eiffel tower and anime Campanella is just ugly. They removed the lantern which is such a good part of the og. the hint of red works so well and the ugly four shoes are a) large and ugly and b) dont fucking fit! The only thing i like is the hat but do i like it more than og? Not really, its on par

Alright THIS is my first 'um hello, what are you guys doing?' Tiracchana is awful, what are you on? I definitely feel the magis are affecting choice here cause I know Yuna is popular. I'm sorry but her doppel is shit. So ugly and such a mishmash of bad aspects. I'm sad Merkava is so low in comparison cause her theming is cool and she actually looks good. Done dirty... But like, how the fuck is halifax winning? She's just a fucking guillotine for petes sake... Im not a fan because it irks me but come on this is not the best design. Lakehurst done dirty waaa... she's such a cool mix of animal and machine and she works so well. Not too busy and has a clear theme. I suppose the only thing that isnt so great is the tongue since its colour sticks out so much. Very disappointed in everyone...

W-Why none of y'all like Marguerite?? What's she done wrong?! She'd be my second choice. I think Cuauhtitlan is fine but I struggle judging her since Im not knowledgable on the culture. But she does look very nice and the colours are good. I like Marguerite for her kinda castle/tank-y feel. The colours are nice and the structure is interesting! She kinda falls into 'this doesnt look like a witch and moreso an object' bracket but its not that bad... im so sad she's unpopular... Now im surprised at Halomonas. Its just boring man... and she's definitely 'this doesnt look like a witch and moreso an object'. Just nothing in it is particularly fun or cool, I just find her so boring. I suppose Alexandra's integration is good though, but otherwise... Unbased. But I'm very happy with Vlastenske! I looooove clowns!!! And she's super creepy and fun! You should be winning, sweetie

Sigh. Hepialidae is shit, what are you on? Moths are so important to the theme and story magireco and yet this rando has a moth witch? It's so out of left field and doesnt suit her theme as far as I know. I wanted her to be a vampire witch so bad back in the day... The colours are ruined by the leg parts too. Like hello? Where do those ugly purples and greens come from?! I suppose Kushu's integration is nice though. I understand Henrietta's low score. She falls into the object category but at least she's pretty. Sad about Don Rocinante though... I get she is a little boring but I do have metal bias... (looking at my fave Gisela... ) But compared to the others I still think she should be higher And man, I know Konomi is popular but... it... it's just flowers... c'mon...

Yeah, shitty magirepo deserves to be last... I think all (not you rena-chan) are very good here and deserve to be equal. A little surprised Elfriede is lower... I suppose her theme is a little all over the place... the fingers at the bottom kinda come out of nowhere and the head is a little out of place. Cendrillon is very good but feels a tad like a number of things patched together. I think the neck and headpiece could be improved. I must admit I have a bias for Zola as Ive rather fallen in love with her (heehee oops!) I think she's so spooky and cool and the colours are great! It was kinda hard to choose out of three great doppels Oh uh, Cendrillon-chan... I forgot you were there... yeah Magirepo doppels are just lazy and awful, NEXT!

Kogetsu winning as she should be... im furious the shitty Blot is not losing though... Komatsu falls into the mishmash category and there's a little too much going on. I wish she was more insect-like. I love Kogetsu though, the dragon is super cool as well as Chizuru's integration. It's just so satisfying to have such a circular silhouette too, she pulls it off well. Drekka Minni... sigh... does not deserve to be second. ITS A FUCKING BOAT. The only part I like is the dragon head but even then it doesnt fit in with ANYTHING else on the witch. I can barely even call her a witch... ugh... Oh and dear sweet Blot. Her witch is pretty good! But the doppel... The doppel is like 1/6th of the witch and they didnt even choose a good bit. Ugly, boring, lazy, and Gunhild has a shit utilisation. If you voted for her we are not friends.

Cassandra deserves to be first for sure and I totally see why Vimala is low. Im not a big fan of Apebis but the design is still pretty good, deserves to be high. I see why Vimala is unpopular as she really just looks like an object. A very pretty object but just an object. Everyone is pretty good here so Im glad most are pretty equal. Magatsu is spooky and cool and so is Cassandra. Maybe they can be spooky gfs from across time

What do you fucking mean no one likes Gosirsa??!! I'm mad Oaji is high hissssss Tara is very pretty and I love a Yokai cameo but she's a little too busy for my liking. Oaji.... Oaji is an object c'moooonnn... she's way too simple why is she top??? There are aspects I like like the reflection and stark red but not enough there. Marita is beautiful so im glad she's at least second. The theme is creepy and the colours are so pretty. But why no love for Gosirsa?! She's teetering on mishmash but I dont think she's that bad! The colours are nice and I love the mechanical bull theme! I get the wheels look a bit weird and not great but that's only one part... Poor girl...

No Aztekium love... yeah, she's not great... the cactus rail gun is not made very well. It's just two objects splortched together... Glad Abigail is high cause she's super fun. Nice colours and fun theme. I'm surprised 9daime is so high since she kinda falls into mishmash... at least the colour scheme is pretty good. I dont like how most of the pieces just don't really go together. Makes sense that Oxford is second cause this isnt a very strong bunch. I hate Miyuri's shitty feet theme but at least Oxford has nice colours and although the legs are busy, I think its pretty okay and the mass of patterns are fun.

WHAT ARE YOU ON JING IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Very unbased. I think the magi chose this one... >:( But... most of these are pretty good... but that doesnt mean Jing can be so low! Catacombe is very cool and has a good overarching theme and colour scheme. Im not so fond cause her colours are a little drab. I think Totentaz is a little boring, not enough going on I suppose and I dont think the wispy arms work. Otherwise she's fine, pretty but a little boring. But mannnnn Jing is so beautiful! I dont understand... the Chinese opera theme is BEAUTIFUL! I love her flowers and the trailing parts and how creepy she is when you look close... sigh... Casuarius is my least favourite here. Dunno, just don't get with her. The colours are very good and I love the symmetry and how Mikage is framed but I don't know if I like how the head part is put together, feels a little like separate things smooshed together without much thought.

When I first voted Frederica was so high and I was SO mad. She's awful, one of the most boring witches. It's just eyes and a jpeg of flowers man... I'm so glad she's at the bottom now. I like the patterns of Hevelius but she is just a lump so I get why she's low. Etteilla is super pretty but I definitely prefer her witch. She's on equal par to Gibdaughter to me. I only chose her cause of my silly metal bias :)c heehee I love Gibdaughter, the metal punk bird is great and I love Kanae's unique hood. These two deserve to be equal

This was a hard pick between ED Catacombe and Totentaz. The first two definitely fall into 'too detailed' for me. Like, man, look at Catacombe she has a whole party going on on her. Dunno if Elfriede deserves to be so low but they're all good. I like her pumpkin theme. I only chose Catacombe because Im not so fond of Totentaz. Does she deserve to be so high..? Eh, no... I think she's only so popular because she's the one that hurts your eyes the least. I think she's good, I LOVE the head cage thing but her bone scythe is too ugly and lumpy looking. I know ED Catacombe does look a little silly with her Papyrus Undertale skulls but I just love the colours and theme. She just works better for me.

These are all pretty equal to me, no idea why Nenemu is so low. Do people just not like Nemu lol? Nolde is pretty, love her colours and matchstick theme. So is Nenemu though I get that she feels a little more busy. I love the eye hands and head, she's more spooky. I dont think Shitori Egumo deserves to be so high. She's nowhere near as cool as her witch but she's still good. Maybe my least favourite? But otherwise they're still pretty on par. I chose Sukhavati because I love her patterns, especially when she opens up. It's a bit of a disservice not showing that aspect. Plus I love a rafflesia lol

Hmmmmmm. You want some controversy? Charlotte's doppel isnt that good guys. You know what the best part of Charlotte is? Her face. Her eyes and her huge mouth. And here..? Um... tiny mouth and no eyes. They took away her best parts! So sorry not sorry she isn't that good. Doppel Oktavia is way too stout for me. Why did they make her so fat? (not fatshaming at all, a plus sized oktavia would be beautiful but she usually isnt) Her head is so iconic why did they remove it and totally change her visor? I just think they ruined such a good witch. And Candeloro absolutely does not use enough of the witch. Its so painful cause I love Candeloro and Mami... She does not need to be that small and insignificant. I chose Ophelia cause um, the witch is actually there!! And I think the horse utilisation is actually smart! This definitely looks more like a witch popularity contest and no one actually looked at the doppels...

Ehh... swimsuit doppels are hard... They're just always so... busy... Meh... Why does no one like Ophelia though??? You're lame... Oktavia is fine. I like the surfboard and colours. I think the different kind of fish is cool but she barely looks like Oktavia anymore... Swimsuit Candeloro is pretty and has nice colours but MAN its way too busy. Swimsuit Ophelia is a bit all over the place. Some colours dont fit in and the turtle looks kinda bad. Swimsuit Charlotte is probably my second fave cause the colours are nice and the mishmash theme kinda suits her but man, some of the pieces look so out of place. Stick with a consistent art style...

Why is Luca so high? Egh... I think Luca's shape is overall so ugly and not good looking. The decorations a kinda okay but way too messy to see what you're looking at. I find her so hard to judge cause I know there's a deeper meaning I dont quite get so she's always on the fence for me. Im a Breadman hater. Why is she so unique? Why is she separate to Sudachi? What makes you so special??!! Too weird, feels like they're trying too hard to be cute. Gothel is pretty. Love the colours and the rapunzel spin. And I love me a set of ribs!! Valentines Breadman is a little better to me, I think a mishmash really suits the chocolate theme. Should be higher than regular Breadman.

Naomi is one of the first doppels I saw so maybe im biased lol. Broiderie is too grey and complex for me. But otherwise she's very beautiful and suits the mushroom theme very well. Not a fan of her weird foot though. Sigh... Heide Jekyll (shit name). I get it, I really do. But you could have made the design better!!! I know its a sensitive topic but you've still gotta make something that looks good! Naomi is beautiful, beautiful colours, I love the dual heads and stark red between the bodies. I kinda wish the arms matched the rest more but otherwise a clear winner. Yeah, Ganni deserves to be last. It's just a helmet man... A very beautiful helmet but just a helmet.

Theresia at the top like she deserves! I LOVE how awful and grotesque she is! You go girl! Go torture someone! Yu Hong is good but a little boring to me. Wish there was more than just the balloon. Beatrice is very good but I kinda hate the bright purple and fleshy pink. Ouch that hurts the eyes. She's a little tooo weird for me (not a good overarching theme) but I like how grotesque she is (wow second time saying that, gross girls forever!) Also how was I today days old when I realised Beatrice-chan is differently coloured... fake fan... but still not great... Theresia sweep is deserved.

Hrrnngghhhh Old Dorothy isn't that good guys.... It's just a bunch of circles c'mon... and the Nightmare-esque creature is so out of place. Why does she have it? You know, the things Homura made in her isolation field? Eh... Sad McDougal is so low, she was my second choice. How dare you put her next to the shite that is Hund Balou. But... she isn't great... very object-y and what is going on with that pink thing? I think Im biased cause i love her magical witch. Winchester is a great translation of the witch. Love her, no notes (well...) Only critique is that the colours are boring but that's obviously her shtick. Hund Balou... is like one of the only doppels that just look so badly drawn. The hands are awful, the hair is awful and the headpiece looks stuck on. BUT... the colours are very pretty and I love her dress. Oh and Hanna's utilisation is so unbearably lazy.

This was kinda a battle of the worst for me... Only chose Winchester cause I like main Winchester. Old Dorothy is too busy, Yu Hong is just green with barely any additions, Cuauhitlan is WAY WAY too busy (but aside from the centre she is very pretty). Man, no one served at this party...

Huh, another battle of the worst... Can we please not have a variant doppel that is unbearably busy? I chose Oktavia cause her colours are really pretty as well as the additions. But... w-why is she fat again??!! (see before, nothing wrong with large Oktavia but she... she isnt in the anime so where has this come from?!) Totentaz is finneeee... but its just a little boring... The green is ugly and the arm bits detract too much from the rest of it. (though i like the repeated red stripes). Tara is just WAY too busy and so is Henrietta. It's so hard to see what's going on... They are pretty but man... tone it down a bit!

I hate Carola so so much its unbelievable. Its such a bad doppel... I need the full description to tell you how awful she is. I am so passionate about how much I hate this doppel (this is from a wip doppel ranking)

Final Carola is... better... I wish this was her usual but im so weighed down by its previous shitness that I didnt vote for her... The colours are pretty and so are the patterns. Caterina isnt a win for me. I have no idea why she has a butterfly theme and I wish it was more like a book. Its beautiful... but not Umika. Im biased for Antonio cause I just think he's so cool???? It's... it's not Kaoru (like hello?? Where is the football theme?) but I just like him aaaa... this was kinda another battle of the worst. I think Final Carola is the best here. (Kazumi Magica you deserve so much betterrrr)

I LOVE SYLVIIIEEEEE! :) ah, where were we... Im very on the fence with Vayu. My opinion changes every time I look at her... I like the shape and the utilisation of Shizuku makes sense but Im not so sure about the colours and the uhhh bag head..? Doesnt make sense to me. Her main witch works so much better. Gela is high for me cause I love cloowwnnnsss! Just kinda wish she wasn't 60% huge beige bag. Love a dual jester hat and two faces but the colours juusstt dont match so well. Tongue and wings dont work so great with everything as a whole. Mmmm heehee Sylvie!!!! I love wind up monkeys, I love maids, I love body horror, I love purple... hello? This diva has no flaawwssss! Why is Paparazzo so high.... its pretty lame... The colours are alright and I love the repeated circles theme but eh the camera body isnt doing it for me. And the eyes feel a little lazy. She's just a little lazy overall...

Forget battle of the worst this is battle of the best! A-and Kriemhild-senpai... Doppel Kriemhild is sooo good... it is a total shame she kinda isnt Kriemhild but a Portable reference wins brownie points in Kit's book! Original is great! No notes. Swimsuit is also very good but it wasnt the winner for me cause she is just a liiiiittle too busy... otherwise the colours are GORGEOUS and she is very good. Haregi Kriemhild is also so beautiful. I think the green is integrated well (they could have fluked that so easily) and the circular background works so well with her overall. Deserves to be on par with the other two, not that low :( And uh Kriemhild-senpai..? Oh look, we've run out of time!

Hrrnnnnnn...... okay Homulilly is great, very good interpretation of Portable Homulilly. Only gripe is that she's kinda one-note on colours. She could've used the red of Portable homu. Now... guys... cool Homulilly isnt that good... Rebellion Homulilly is such a good design and what did they use here?.... oh... oh uh... n-nothing... Where's the spider lily? Where's the gramophone? WHERES THE SKELETON?! It just doesnt do it for me, champ (and i know, this isnt specifically Rebellion Homulilly but c'mon! They were going there with everything else, why not go the whole way!) I think the Lotte are way too busy, if you were gonna do the Clara Dolls, do the fucking Clara Dolls, you have ALL the assets for them! No, she does not deserve to be top y'all are liars and skanks Swimsuit Homulilly... COME ON THE COLOURS ARE LOVELY! This was before variant doppels were stuffed to their britches with too much shit. She's so cute, I love the contrast of the blue and the cute spotty arms aarrghhh y'all are missing out... Haregi Homulilly is too busy and the colours are kinda wack. The 7 Gods of Fortune Lotte just don't work for me... it's too messy and ugly... very unbased here...

Wow that's all up to date! So? Did this make you hate me? I dont really mind lol Im half looking-forward-to, half nervous about what the rest of the results will be...

[starcrossedxwriter]

Men deserve less… like so much fucking less.

I stopped talking to this guy in NOVEMBER after I realized he had been like gaslighting and manipulating the fuck out of me for over a year. We basically ended it with “we don’t need to be friends or talk again.”

And like I deleted his number and moved the fuck on. And don’t get me wrong - shit was hard as fuck at first. I was super sad and just felt like I had messed up but I knew it was for the best.

I exorcised that man from my mind, heart, body and moved on. And I’m still a work in progress but just cutting him off did me so much good in terms of bettering my standards in relationships.

Fast forward to today and he texts me out of the blue. Like we don’t follow each other on social, I had deleted his number so it was so random and weird.

But what upset me really was the pure audacity of it.

He starts it with “I told myself I was gonna respect your wishes and never speak to you again, but…”

Well already babes, I’m seeing a huge issue with boundaries lol you are admitting that you know you aren’t supposed to be in my phone and yet…. Like let’s unpack why you thought texting me at all or leading with that was a good idea at all.

And here’s the real kicker. The real “‘men are never short on audacity�� moment.

You might be thinking that text was gonna follow with something actually important lol like life or death because why else would he be texting me out of the blue for no reason when he know I don’t want to hear from him?

Nope. He was texting me about House of the Dragon🫠

Do niggas not have friends????? Like why on earth is that what you break the silence for?? Any reason… any excuse just to get back on their fuckshit 🙄 and now I’m annoyed

Bothering me over some CGI dragons??

We have to bring back the guillotine. I cannot.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

Watched the recent episodes of Dungeon Meshi, 15 and 16 I believe. Man I love this story. First of all, episode 15, where you can really see how much each and every one of these characters care for one another! But then in 16, things get a bit... messy... first of all, everyone is here, which is quite nice! But then you see how the larger world works and how other people act, function, and think...

I really am actually feeling distressed at the position Laios finds himself in. It's like, he really does care a lot, but his care isn't quite reciprocated... Kabru notes that him not "exterminating" orcs is him failing his duties as an adventurer, Kabru puts on a front of delight when he hears about Laios and his monster eating habits... and just... god Laios resonates with me so much as a character and I just can't keep it in. In it's current state, Kabru represents something that I fear. The idea that every mistake I've made, every miscommunication, every dealing coming back to haunt me... and how he takes delight when he hears about the use of Black Magic, blushing with joy and thinking to himself "Oh wow! This is way worse then I thought!"... I'm sorry everyone... but someone like this awakens a visceral sense of distaste in me... I'm sure my thoughts will change as the narrative progresses... but the way Kabru, being a devout adventurer as he is, sort of in a way seems to represent that career, and what larger society represents... the sort of joy of a peasant, hearing that the town eccentric is being sent to the gallows... the idea that Laios and his party deserves to be locked up forever, with not even the corpses to return... after everything I've lived through... it sort of mirrors what I fear the most. The idea that every single mistake that I've made will come down on my throat like a Guillotine, and have my head rolling across the ground, to someone's feet, and they pick it up, look at my head, and say "serves him right".

Anyways, that got awfully personal, but it makes sense. It's an intensely personal narrative with intensely personal themes and characters. Time and time again Laios just resonates with me in such a special way. I myself, being autistic, just so viscerally feel and understand Laios. Being so passionate like that, having such intense difficulty interacting, but still wishing to do so out of love, the idea of wanting to share one's passions, only to be treated as a sort of freak... like, I'm sure if I were to share my interests in certain media and the philosophies they follow, and get into actual, sincere, media literacy, the average person would probably disparage me... it concerns me so... I would imagine Laios feels a certain way like that, with his passion for what it is to live, to consume, to be nourished by the flesh of monsters that he so cares about, and understands...

EDIT: Man I really have to bring my awful awful anxieties and insecurities into me posting my thoughts about Dungeon Meshi, huh?

[purplemninja]

Little Nightmares hot takes

[Feel free to comment or reblog with hot takes of your own]

Someone on the LN subreddit asked for people's hot takes and I commented a bunch of spicy ones that I have, which I will copy and paste here (though the last one will have something added to it):

1- People who say that Mono is an uwu-softboi or portray him as such are awful and are doing him a disservice. Like, you can not look at his battle against the Thin Man and pretend that he's a pacifist, not to mention the other kills he made in-game. His fight against the Thin Man and moving the tower towards himself is his most badass moment and these rougher edges to him make him a much more interesting character. So by taking that away and acting like he wouldn't hurt a fly really doesn't do Mono's character and arc any favours, it just ruins it, so people have seriously got to stop thinking that he's a 'pwecious widdle angel' when he clearly isn't, especially when it hurts his character and story.

2- I'm pretty sure that people are expecting this one but the fandom needs to lay off Six, and way the fandom makes it so that Six must either be totally good or totally bad and is not allowed to be morally grey (in between) is so irritating. Just like with Mono, taking away Six's rough edges or smooth ones hurt her character and make her way less interesting. Also no surprise that I say this but the way that the anti-Six people treat her is so awful.

3- In addition to what I said about the golden child Mono stans in number 1, the way that the FNAF books treat Henry is very much like how the fandom treats Mono - only his suffering matters, screw everyone else. Or some go even stupider and treat all of the characters in LN except Six sort of in the same way that the FNAF books treat Henry, basically like "Six and her suffering? She should shut up and suck it up" or even going as far to say that she deserves her suffering. While just about all the other characters (Mono most especially) have their suffering dealt with a gentle hand.

4- I'm pretty sure this is ghost-pepper level spicy but it's so dumb that the fandom claims that Roger is nice. Like bruh, he literally has blood stains on his vest, chases kids, you can hear one that he catches whimpering as he takes them away, wraps them up to be taken to the kitchen, and there's a bloody guillotine in vicinity. Just because he doesn't kill Six or RK on-screen means he's nice? What?

5- They should've made a LN2 DLC where you play the game as Six and get to see her perspective of everything that happened, especially that scene. Make them step out of their Mono/Thin Man tunnel vision and focus on Six and her suffering too for a change instead of making Mono's overshadow everything.

6- Six being the Lady would be disappointing AF and lazy that they're recycling Mono's fate. I'd be better off if Six was the next Lady and not the same one encountered in LN1, but I still prefer a different way for her story to go (or maybe make my new depressing interpretation of her ending (where she's not the lady but is still stranded at sea with no innocence or humanity left, making everything she went through all be for nothing in the end) the actual ending for her).

Plus, you're telling me that the remaining staff on the Maw (The Twin Chefs) were like "Oh, this kid that we tried to murder earlier is our boss now" and Six is like "Oh, I'm not going to kill these guys who tried to add me to the menu earlier. Plus I'll hire an exact copy of the Janitor and get a replacement for the one and only mirror I was able to fight the Lady with since it broke and try to board it up in the same room that I found it in. Yeah, it tooootaaaally would prevent another me from being able to get it in the exact same way that I did".

Not only that but they also put a child in charge of dealing with other business-related stuff on the Maw like shipments of coal and vegetables (or maybe someone else did that)? So stupid.

7- Runaway Kid's name is not seven!

8- The ridiculous double standards of self defence. Why are Mono and Runaway Kid allowed to defend themselves from monsters trying to kill them but Six isn't?

Mono - Smashes a bunch of bullies, pulls the trigger on the gun to shoot the Hunter, beats some living hands to death, probably burns the Doctor alive, kills some viewers by electrocuting them to death or luring them off of a ledge, and probably broke every bone in Thin Man's body before Thanos Snapping him.

Fandom - Eh.

RK - Electrocutes the Granny to death and disintegrates the Shadow Kids with his torch.

Fandom - Whatever

Six- Helps Mono shoot the same Hunter that kidnapped her and locked her in his basement (and she didn't take the gun off the hooks, Mono did), kills one bully after being kidnapped, tortured and hung upside down by them for who knows how long (which will eventually kill you), cuts off Roger's arms with a door when she was cornered, eats a rat when there's no other food nearby, eats a Nome instead of a sausage that she knows is made of human flesh, eats the Lady when there's no other food anywhere, and kills some guests who are reaching over to try and eat her on her way out of the Maw.

Fandom - Monster.

Now, I'm not saying that what Six did was good or what the boys did was evil, but people have to stop acting like it's okay for one character to kill to save their own lives but not the other.

9- This stems more from a certain artist that I won't name to avoid people going to harass them, but on top of the self defence standards, people also have to stop with the double standards of bad things happening to a character due to another character's actions. What I mean with this is that while yes, Mono had no way of knowing that Thin Man was behind the door and getting Six kidnapped by him was a mistake, that does not, however, undo the fact that Six still got kidnapped or that her kidnapping is not that big a deal all because it was an accident on Mono's part. Especially when people won't give Six the same leniency when it comes to Mono becoming the Thin Man. Six had no way of knowing that Mono would survive the fall, let alone him being stuck in a room on a chair for decades and turning into the Thin Man, yet that is a big deal despite her not knowing but her kidnapping isn't because it's also an accident?

And lastly,

10- Another ghost-pepper level spicy but AUs where Six pulls Mono up yet all the suffering she has to go through before that is 100% the same as in-game makes her a way, waaaayyyy better person than Mono. This goes double for AUs where Six realises that he's the Thin Man (you know, her kidnapper and tormentor) but decides to pull him up anyway. Like, Mono as Thin Man decides to kidnap and torture an innocent version of Six, cursing her with the hunger and making the child Mono have to torture her to save her, but Six decides to pull him up despite all of the pain he put her through. Even more so when she realises that he is her kidnapper. That makes her a much better person that him. Though it also makes her kind of spineless. I'm not saying that she should drop him, but in-game the player can abuse Six in some ways (running when holding her hand, which makes her stumble, throwing stuff at her, bash her with weapons (even if they don't do anything to her) getting her to fall off of stuff (yes, she respawns or teleports, but still), blinding her with the torch) but not once does Six retaliate until Mono attacks the music box, making her a bit of a doormat TBH. Yet some people in the fandom portray Mono as the doormat instead, it's like the fandom goes out of its way to get Mono and Six as backwards as possible.

Additionally, fan content where Mono doesn't apologise for getting Six kidnapped in the first place, or torturing her during his fight against her monster self makes him a huge jerk. Like, this girl has to suffer because of his actions (unintentional, perhaps. But as I said, that doesn't make the pain Six suffered go away or not matter) and he doesn't even have the decency to at least say sorry for the hurt he caused her? It pleases me whenever there's fan content where he does apologise, because not being sorry for hurting Six makes him a huge jerk.

It's long, but those are my hot takes.