#This problem is not only obvious but absolutely nothing is being done about it.

[dailyadventureprompts]

DM Tip: The Trouble With Treasure/ An Alternate Wealth System

If you’re a player or dungeonmaster who’s at all interested in game design you might’ve noticed D&D’s treasure and economy systems suck. You also might have noticed even if you’re not interested in game design, because the longer you play d&d the more it becomes glaringly obvious that the game doesn’t actually HAVE a treasure and economy system despite pretending otherwise.  This is a major problem given that seeking riches is one of the default adventuring motivations, and largely stems from the fact that back in ye-olden days gold was directly related to experience points, so wealth accrued exponentially in line with the increasing cost of levelling up. This is why magic items cost to damn much despite being not only a staple of the genre but absolutely necessary to the long-term viability of certain classes (as I discuss here in my post about gear as class features).  

After being cut lose however, nothing was really DONE with gold in d&d from a gameplay perspective: Treasure generation largely fell to dm discretion or random tables, and the useful things a party could buy steadily shrunk to the point where characters could be stuck with their starting equipment for an entire campaign.  “Too much gold and nothing to spend it on” became one of the major criticisms of d&d 5e, but only touched on the problem that without something worthwhile to spend treasure on the party has less and less reason to venture into the dangerous unknown, take dodgy contracts, or perform any of a half dozen other plot beats that make up traditional adventuring.

 The system likewise breaks down once you pass a certain threshold of wealth, or once you try to model larger economic activities: divvying up a lockbox full of dungeon plunder to reequip your heroes before launching out on the next mission works great for the first couple of levels, but completely falls apart when you're dealing common enough story tropes such as running a business, transporting cargo as merchants, or caring for the estates around a castle.

What I propose is splitting d&d’s economy into two halves: Wealth, which represents the piles of GP and other coins the party carries with them, and Resources, more abstract points which chart how plugged in the party is to local systems of production, trade, and patronage.

If you’d like an explanation of how these systems work, and how they can improve your game like they improved mine, I’ll explain both of these mechanics in detail below the cut, as well as subsystems that let your party open businesses, operate estates, build castles, and make a living as merchants.

Wealth:  I wanted to limit the amount of money my players kept with them without instituting an encumbrance system that might drag things down. Instead I wanted to rely on a more “common sense” method of tracking wealth, and get them thinking about their stores of gold as a physical object rather than a nebulous point pool they can dip into.

Conveniently, every character starts play with a coin pouch, which can hold up to 300gp (about 6 pounds). I use this as a “soft cap” for how much money a character can be expected to be carrying around with them, not including jewellery or small valuables like gems.

Theoretically a person could have more than one coin pouch, carry their wealth around with them in a chest (15,000gp) or a cartoon sack with a dollar sign on it (1500gp), but this becomes increasingly cumbersome and provides a greater and greater chance that the party will be targeted by thieves. I don’t need to add any more mechanical crunch to this factor, I just inform the party “ hey, you look like you’re carrying a lot of money, better be careful going forward” and plan my encounters accordingly.

Instituting this cap likewise prevents gold from losing all meaning once the party is high enough level to have found their second or third treasure hoard. Sure, they might be living it up in an aristocratic lifestyle back home, but when it comes to set out into the wilderness they suddenly have to think of GP as a resource along with spellslots and hitdie. Getting robbed, forced to give bribes, or simply losing their coin pouch suddenly becomes an actual threat to them regardless of level.

Resources:  The party has a pool refereed to as resources, representing their holdings, relationships with patrons, and personal enterprise. The party’s total resources are pooled, and are represented on a scale from 1-50.

Every week, provided they have contract with their economic network, each member of the party party receives earnings equal to 12.5 gp x (the party’s total resources) representing them drawing a living from the connections they’ve already made (working a trade, doing odd jobs, getting payouts from investments) 

In order to obtain a new level of wealth, the party must either invest 500gp per point of wealth they which to obtain into a new or ongoing business project (either their own, or that of a trusted contact).  Alternatively, the party can get their resource pool boosted by forming agreements with tradesfolk or wealthy patrons, who may grant the party such agreements out of friendship or as part of a reward for doing quests. Resources are recorded with a number beside them, representing how much of the party’s total resource pool they represent. This is so that if something happens to jeopardize that resource, the party knows exactly how much of their earnings are up in the air.

For example, a party that saves a merchant captain from pirates early on in their adventures might be rewarded with a share of her ship’s takings, gaining 1 point of resources. In the future, they may pour some of their adventuring loot into her business, increasing their total amount of holdings with her to 6, and their weekly payout to 75gp. If that captain and her ship were then lost in a storm, those resources would be frozen, halting the party’s payouts and encouraging them to discover just what it was happened to their friend as the base of a new adventurehook. 

Buying against Resources:  D&D is weird in that it prices magic items, ships and castles like they can be bought off the rack, when in any pre-industrial society most “new” things would have to be constructed from scratch with labours and artisans paid a steady amount over months or years until the thing was complete and then delivering it directly into the hands of the one who commissioned them. Sure a weaponsmith or apothecary would likely have a storeroom full of items to sell to clients walking in off the street, but shipyards aren't spending years churning out galleys to leave them waiting for a buyer like a used car lot.

Because plenty of games involve at least a section where a party might establish a fortress,  fix up a ruined estate, or commission a magical artifact, it helps to have a guideline:  Find the base price of the item, chop it in half if the party or one of their business contacts can source the resources (or if they’re fixing something that’s broken) Next they need to pay for labour, “reserving” points out of their own resource pool to hire on workers and supplementary materials, divide the item’s price by (500x the number of resource points the party is willing to spend) to find how many months it’ll take for the item to be finished. Note that during this time, the party’s effective resource score is reduced by the amount they’ve reserved. This makes it possible for a mid level party to start refurbishing their dream castle early, rather than having it simply poof into existence once they’re too high level to really get use out of it.

Ongoing Services: Rather than worry about keeping track of hirelings, or a number of other factors, I let my party reserve points off their resource pool indefinitly to retain the services of NPCs. Each “holding” the party has (buisness, ship, estate) likewise requires one resource kept in reservation for general maintenance, unless the party want to take a month off and maintain it themselves.

A party that owned a tavern then might reserve one resource to maintain their establishment , another to pay for the staff, and begin to think about hiring on some guards for a third as something is causing fights to break out more frequently.

Another party which owned a pirate ship, they’d reserve one resource to maintain the ship, another to pay the crew, and a third to bribe the harbormaster who looks the other way when they bring unsanctioned goods into harbor. After hearing about their big score however, their corrupt contact asks for yet another resource worth of bribes, potentially stretching the party’s resources a bit thin.

Using Resources to be a merchant:  If pirates come up often in this post it’s because I drove myself half mad several years ago trying to run a skyship campaign, and the logistics of hullspace v supplies v the staggering price of trade goods v market demand drove me up the wall. I lacked a simple system that would let my party FEEL like they were high-risk traders without having to slow the game down with accounting. Here’s my Alternative: there’s a special type of resource called “goods” connected to caravans and trade vessels, which can be expanded like any other. At the end of every month who’s ever in charge of that venture (Player or npc) makes a mercantilism roll ( possibly charisma, possibly wisdom, + some relevant proficiency) for each of those goods based against a DC set by the dm regarding how good trade is doing in that region.  If it’s a success, the markets are flowing, and the goods rating goes up by 1. If it’s a failure, they go nowhere, as no profit is made. If they fail by 10 or more, those goods loose one point due to bad investment, and if they succeed by 10 or more, the goods double. When the party receives their payment, they can chose to cash out for 500gp per point of good, possibly then reinvesting in the venture.

#dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #Merchant #caravan #pirates #dm advice #the loot overhaul

[infiniteko]

the reliance on an AI bot (or on anyone/thing for that matter) seems so counterproductive. a thought appears that says "i don’t understand", you identify with that thought and take it to be true, and then look for ways to resolve that thought because you consider it to be your problem that you now have to deal with. you think you don’t understand, you think you’re not there yet, you think you’re not fully realized and you act accordingly; you go to different sources, asking questions, seeking answers, collecting more useless information. but how do you know you "don’t understand" besides the thought that tells you so?

in reality, there’s nothing to understand because what you are cannot be understood. you can only be that. and you already are it, all the time.

the thought that you do understand, and the thought that you do not, are both equally illusory. the key is to do nothing* about any thought. stand apart from them. leave them alone. you act on the thought "i don’t understand" because you take it to be you, you self-soothe and read more, you think "now i understand" and are relieved momentarily, that thought eventually passes too, and then you’re back to square 1. stuck in a constant loop. thoughts are baseless. meaningless. they appear, then disappear. they are harmless. the only power (reality) they have is that which you give them by taking them to be true. you’re a slave to empty things that you have given authority to. 🫰wake. up. 🫰

there is absolutely zero knowledge to be gained. no more reading to be done, nothing. here and now, you are totally ready. you are at your full potential right this very instant, in every instance. at every moment you are choosing the experience. you are absolutely no-thing right now, dressed up as "this person" in "the world". you have the option to be any person in the world, to go beyond this illusory world to another one for that matter, to be/do/have literally anything… but you keep choosing the same experience out of habit and convincing yourself you’re "stuck" as this. you’ve got so used to what you’re doing that you don’t recognize it anymore, you think it’s forced upon you, that this is the life you were born into, but i promise you it’s all your choosing. investigate it just a little and see.

searching for more and asking more questions is totally useless. you are a dog chasing it’s tail. you can do absolutely nothing to become what you are seeking, because you are already that. act accordingly.

"you need not stop thinking. just cease being interested. it is disinterestedness that liberates. don’t hold on, that is all." —Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

*in case it’s not obvious, by "do nothing" i do not mean don’t eat/drink/walk/talk etc. you can never do nothing. even the act of doing nothing is doing something. staring at a wall all day is still a doing. continue to tend to your tasks, look after the seeming body, socialize with family and friends — just fix your attitude. don’t get involved. don’t be pulled in any direction by any thought. be like a calm sea, unstirred by whatever happens. know yourself to be beyond it all. when a thought arises, and the impulse comes to act on that thought, study it. inquire about it. peel it back. break down your beliefs. you will soon see how "reality" naturally follows your lead, bends to your will, moulds to fit your ideals, because it is all just you. you have always had total dominion.

Well said, thank you💯🕉️

#ask

[meraxesmoon]

I have an idea (idk if I should call it a request lol). What happens if the black team are yanderes to reader, but reader spends more time with the green team? What if reader don't like the black team? Let's suppose reader is Aemond's best friend, and because of what happened to his eye, he convinces reader to dislike Team Black, especially Lucerys and Rhaenyra, because her kids are illegitimate, and Nyra and Daemon really, really want to be something to reader (romantic or platonic).

I love this for so many reasons!

It fits so well when you think about how Aemond acted when he was younger, before the incident with his eye. He's so sweet and caring. He loves his siblings and his mother, and he actively tries to better his relationship with Jacaerys and Lucerys even though they tease him so much.

Aemond was so sweet, and his only friend is his sweet (Name) :(

They look after him and stick up for him when they can. You have to think, they can't do much because Jace is quite literally heir to the throne, and if they did something too out of turn, it could have them killed.

They meet Rhaenyra before Daemon. I absolutely love the idea of their darling being Helaena's lady-in-waiting, and since Rhaenyra adores her younger sister, this is how they meet. Rhaenyra instantly takes a liking to (Name), and they get along for the most part.

Rhae is so sweet towards her darling. She just adores them! She likes joining her darling and Helaena for afternoon tea. It takes Rhaenyra's mind off of all the stress of being at court.

The problem arises with Jace and Luke. They're all children, and the teasing is the two boys' way of dealing with the glares and rumors. They're depressed, and they unfortunately take it out on Aemond. He's teased and bullied for years before the incident, and his best friend is there to witness it all.

They try so hard to comfort him, but then his eye gets slashed.

It was an accident. Luke didn't stab. He slashed. However, it's done, and there's nothing that can be done to save Aemond's eye.

(Name)'s love for Aemond stops them from being able to even consider accepting Rhaenyra's care.

Years later, the Blacks return to Kings Landing, and that's when Daemon meets the person his wife speaks of so highly. Rhaenyra's obsession with (Name) only grew throughout those years away from the Red Keep, and she wants them.

They'd grown lovely, and Rhaenyra is devastated to learn that they're to marry Aemond soon. This makes her plans crumble instantly. She was hoping to keep her darling by her side, perhaps by marrying them to one of her own sons.

After she gets usurped, I can definitely see Rhaenyra ordering her darling to be kidnapped and brought to her. All bets are off once Luke gets killed, and Rhaenyra doesn't care anymore.

If we're going the romantic route, Rhaenyra and Daemon are fucking. Polygamy isn't allowed in Westeros anymore, so they can't marry their darling, but they make (Name) their lover anyway. If their darling is able to, Rhaenyra would definitely ask Daemon to impregnate their darling. Rhaenyra has no qualms against bastards, and she thinks her darling would be so pretty while pregnant!

Sort of problematic because their darling most certainly isn't willing, but that's okay! Rhaenyra is so coddling and sweet compared to Daemon's roughness, so I think their darling would develop some sort of Stockholm Syndrome eventually due to the mindset of trying to keep themselves safe.

On the other hand, platonic Rhaenyra and Daemon are just as bad. Rhaenyra has their darling marry Jace to keep them apart of the family. (Name) fights all throughout the traditional Valyrian ceremony, and Daemon has to threaten the Septon several times, but Jacaerys is eventually their husband by the end of the night.

Rhaenyra loves her children, and she wants her boy to be happy. Jacaerys had shown obvious interest in their darling, too, so it was absolutely perfect!

They may not want to be married to him, but Jace is a sweet and devoted husband. He's loved them for close to a decade, and Jace is just so happy that they're his spouse now! However, he's also very dutiful. Whichever route we're going, poor (Name) is made to have children if they can. This is less forced with Jace, though. He refuses to bed them (other than their night of marriage together) if they're not willing.

Jacaerys almost seems normal, but there are nights when he whispers of his jealousy over how Aemond was almost their husband if it hadn't been for his mother's actions.

I can see all of the Blacks trying to manipulate (Name) into gating Aemond after Luke's death. Jace especially.

"How could you defend him now? He's killed Luke!"

It doesn't change the fact that he'd be a coddling husband, and he's just so sure that he and his darling can have the perfect marriage! His darling just needs to put in some effort, that's all.

Overall, it's a very messy situation.

(Gosh. This is all over the place but I hope this wasn't too much 😭)

i absolutely loved this, not to mention i've been hyperfixated on hotd for a hot min

feel free to send in more <3

#young aemond deserved better :( #yandere team black #yandere rhaenyra targaryen #yandere daemon targaryen #yandere jacaerys velaryon #yandere aemond targaryen #yandere team green #yandere hotd #yandere house of the dragon #yandere headcanons #yandere imagines #yandere content #yandere #kay writes #rhxegal

[vigilskeep]

wait harker what is your beef with halsin? /gen

so on my first attempt at starting the game, i played a tiefling druid, which was quite an experience as i had no idea the first conflict i was about to walk into was between tieflings and druids. i found talking to kagha very upsetting for my character; it was obvious this was a place my character would normally feel at home, were it not for the bigotry that had taken root. the first thing kagha said to my character, after she was finished hurling fantasy slurs at and threatening a tiefling child who was crying apologies and begging to go back to her parents, was to dismiss my character as a druid on account of their race: “the treefather’s words spoken with a devil’s forked tongue”. if you read what’s on the table next to kagha, there’s a diatribe against tieflings, saying their allegiance is to the hells and implying they should all be sent back there. i also played a failed save where kagha was responsible for the little tiefling girl’s death and her only immediate reaction was to cover it up, and also where i foolishly attacked her and she commanded a full attack against the tieflings where i came back into the hollow to see dozens slaughtered and the rest desperately trying to defend themselves. so i was fully aware that kagha posed an existential threat to this entire group of innocent refugees with whom i shared common ground

(i swear all this context is necessary)

after all this, obviously i was glad to discover there was a quest to investigate kagha. i felt my character’s faith in their druid beliefs was pretty shaken, and they would be hugely pleased to displace kagha, search out the rightful leader of the grove, and see justice done and balance restored. i put some quite considerable effort into investigating kagha, stealing from her chest (and boy is stealth not my strong suit) and trekking all the way down the map to the bog to discover the truth. i was pleased to learn she was some kind of evil druid. she was an anomaly. all i needed was to get rid of her, and everything would be fine again. but i made a crucial mistake: i decided to rescue halsin first, thinking everything would be much easier if i had the true, good leader of the grove at my side before i started making accusations. after all, my character still wanted to believe in the druids, and had not felt like she would be trusted in the grove herself. it was a natural choice.

and halsin... just demoted kagha to novice?

like. that’s it. he didn’t even make her leave the grove that had been willing to support her in all this. kagha was willing to kill a tiefling child. she was willing to kill all the tieflings. if you show up before you go to rescue halsin, she’s willing to attack her own people. you can even tell halsin she was involved with these evil shadow druids, and he has almost nothing to say about it. and right after that, he had the nerve to say to my druid character that in another time they would have been a welcome addition to the grove, as if it wasn’t very clear how unwelcome people like them were, as if they would be willing to be the one exception. kagha wasn’t the only one who’d gone along with it or spat the word devil. then halsin wants to join me and leave the grove to deal with his own guilt, while bringing in some stranger to resolve the grove’s problems and restore its “purity”, as if any druids seem trustworthy neutral parties right now, and as if kagha and her influence wouldn’t still be right there, just as unchecked in his absence. and he got mad at me for the extremely minor questioning of that which the game let me do!

i absolutely do not expect anyone to share these opinions as they originate from an extremely specific experience of the game lmao. in fact, different players being able to have very different opinions based on how you experienced the game is one of my favourite parts of bg3 so far. but personally i don’t seem to be able to shake this opinion despite now playing as a different character—this current one having found out that he personally taught kagha??—and i... don’t think i’m being that irrational. i don’t like him and if i get an opportunity to drop him from my camp i will take it

#this is such an essay. sorry. if there are any negativity tags i should be using let me know #bg3 spoilers

[worlds-oldest-teenager]

Why I think Apollo is the golden child and not the scapegoat.

To me both Apollo and Athena are Zeus's golden children.

At first it makes sense that Apollo would be the scapegoat of the family cause of how disproportionate the punishment is when most of his family (Athena & Ares) Have done much worse. The way Apollo narrates as well makes him seem like he gets the blame for everything.

But if we really get into the head honcho himself's brain, the punishment is fitting for the crime Apollo's committed. In his mind Ares and Athena's crimes are excusable. Ares is violent, bloodthirsty and war bringing and he's given up on that child ages ago. (I'd argue that Ares is the real scapegoat of the family)

Athena is interesting. She's very clearly at fault for this war even more so than Apollo. So why doesn't she get punished at all?

I think the reason he comes down so hard on Apollo and not on Athena is cause of their motivations. Athena causing the schism over some statues was because of her righteous anger at the Romans for demoting her to a craft goddess. It was a decision she made millennia ago that any other god, at least in Zeus's opinion, would have also made. They literally stole her and made her nothing which is something no god takes lightly.

Apollo is a whole other story.

The reasons behind Apollo conspiring with Octavian are blurry but what we can acknowledge is that he at least promised to put him above Zeus which is complete high treason on Apollo's part for actually going along with it.

Hoping on Ares just invites disappointment. Athena's the golden child who's actions are perfectly acceptable in his twisted mind. But Apollo? Apollo should be the perfect son, and most of the time he is. He's got the most domains. He's won so many times that the very symbol of victory is one of his symbols.

Athena and Apollo's relationship, from the very little we've seen, also confirms this. They seem to have a deep mutual respect for each other and an understanding that comes from being in the exact same situation.  Apollo loves her enough to give her a nickname. Athena is (I think) the only god to almost stand up to Zeus when he blamed Apollo for the whole war. To me their dynamic doesn't really read as a golden child/ scapegoat dynamic but more like mutual golden children with one absolutely having the potential to kill their father. They're kind of ride or die but they would not die for each other lmao.

So I think Athena and Apollo share the same dysfunctional family role. It's just that sometimes Apollo goes a little astray yenno? He's learnt to sand down his rough edges since he was a godling but at least twice before, he's absolutely lost it and forced his father's hand. But it was nothing a little correction couldn't handle. Now he's back to being Zeus's perfect son and continues being so for thousands of years.

That's why him conspiring to overthrow Zeus is such a collosal betrayal. This level of anger and hurt doesn't make sense to me if Apollo is the scapegoat. It makes much more sense if he's Zeus's beloved son who he thought loved him as much as he did.

Even his confrontation with Apollo in blood of Olympus was blamey, sure, but it was also a bitterly disappointed kind of angry. I really feel like he was using the war to justify punishing Apollo so harshly for an affront against himself.  (Way to state the obvious).

Pjo Zeus just doesn't really seem to care about most of the problems anyone is facing  until there's real potential that it could turn deadly against himself. He has a prophecy of his son overthrowing him to think about. Golden child or not, nay especially if it's his golden child, they cannot ever think doing such a thing is acceptable or that they are capable of it.

And in that way the punishment kind of fits, right? Try to put yourself above the king of the gods? Get supremely humbled with the most embarrassing experience of your life fighting your nightmare of a nemesis who nearly killed you as a child.

Zeus and Apollo reuniting on Olympus after his trials cements my point. What is Zeus's confirmation that all is right and his son is back in his rightful place? Is it 'I apologize' or 'I love you ' ? No. It's, "You have done me proud ". Because this is who Apollo is meant to be. An object of pride that Zeus doesn't love so much as appreciate when the light from his trophy child reflects on himself.

#toa analysis #trials of apollo #pjo apollo #pjo zeus

[mangoshorthand]

Could you possibly do Five x Reader where Five and the reader have a fight and the reader storms off. The next time Five sees them, they're in the infirmity, comatose, and no one is sure when, or even IF, the reader will wake up. Five has to sit with his regrets that the last thing he said was something he didn't mean and that he wasn't there to protect them when they needed it. When the Reader wakes up, Five breaks down in happiness, giving the reader all the love he can. Heavy Angst with a bit of fluff cause I like happy endings. Lol. Thank you!

This gave me serious flashbacks to the end of No Hard Feelings. Hope you enjoy this. Nothing like a bit of angst. Here ya go!

Dickhead Sugar Daddy | Five Hargreeves / GN Reader Words: 2.8k, rated T

It was such a stupid fight. He didn’t even believe what he said the moment he said it.

He insisted that you take that money. He wasn’t the type of guy to beg, but he came damn close. He watched you struggling to pay medical debt for an entire year before you let him pay it off for you. Until then, you were too proud to accept his help. He told you again and again that it wasn’t a big deal. It was only in four figures and his father left behind more money than he could ever use, even when divided among all his siblings. 

“I’d give it to a friend,” he said, “even if you and I don’t work out, it doesn’t matter. Gotta be honest, I wouldn’t even notice if that amount disappeared from one of my accounts. You owe me nothing, okay?”

He could tell it made you uncomfortable and, truth be told, he didn’t much like the feeling of being a sexagenarian trust fund brat so out of touch with ordinary life that this amount of money wasn’t even a blip on his radar. After you finally accepted his offer, he hoped you could both just forget about it.

So why had he been such a colossal asshole?

The argument was about housework on top and booze underneath. Neither of you wanted to state the obvious fact that Five’s binge-drinking was becoming a problem so, instead, you fought about the consequences.

“God, turn that thing off, will you?” he shouted, irritably over the roar of the vacuum.

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

“Well, I’m sorry, darling,” he said, testily, “I just feel like shit, alright? I don’t need the goddamn vacuum in my ear.”

“Well, sorry Five, but the world doesn’t stop because you’ve got a hangover. My friend’s coming tomorrow and you promised we’d clean up today.”

“Here’s the thing: this is your friend, not mine.”

“But this is our home,” you snapped back, “we both live here and this is half your mess. You’ve been shitty about this all week.”

“Oh, so I can’t be busy?” he replied, smiling sarcastically.

“Oh yeah. So ‘busy’,” you said, doing the air quotes that would have made him punt you through a wall were you absolutely anybody else, “- busy farting around with math and looking for non-existent paradoxes around every corner.”

“It’s theoretical physics, moron. Maybe your tiny brain can’t comprehend what I’m doing, but I can assure you it’s more important than the shitty job you do all day.”

“Oh wow.” you said, laughing disbelievingly, “Well fuck you, dickhead.”

“Yeah?” he said, fire behind his eyes, “well don’t come crying to this dickhead the next time you need a sugar daddy.”

Your mouth dropped open. You stood there, frozen, looking into his face. Later, Five thought it could have gone either way in that moment: if only he’d apologized, perhaps he could still have stopped it. 

But he would never know, because he didn’t apologize: he just let his shittiest, most insolent smile spread across his face.

You threw down the vacuum, grabbed your jacket and left without looking back.

At the time, Five considered it a job well done, only glad for the opportunity to rest his banging head. Over the following days, however, he would play your departure over and over in his head, scouring his memory for everything that proved his guilt.

You were agitated; probably too agitated to pay attention: his fault.

You were hurt; perhaps hurt enough to do something impulsive: his fault. 

You were enraged; maybe your final thoughts as you stepped off the sidewalk were of how much you hated him. And it was all his fault.

He didn’t even know he was your emergency contact.

By the time the phone rang, he’d hauled himself off his ass and cleaned in preparation for your friend’s visit. He also guiltily made a reservation at your favorite restaurant, hoping to apologise over dinner.

So when he answered the phone, he expected your voice:

“Hi. Can I speak to Mr Hargreeves?”

It wasn’t your voice. It was a stranger. 

“There are a few of us,” he replied, “you’re gonna have to be more specific there.”

“Mr Five Hargreeves?”

“Speaking.”

“Right. Hello. Uh- I’m a paramedic. I found this number in a patient’s phone’s I.C.E.”

 He could barely register the rest of her explanation. As soon as he heard those four words: ‘hit by a bus’, his entire body went cold. His stalled brain could only repeat it again and again as horror encroached slowly into every fiber of his body.

Hit by a bus. A bus?...Hit by a bus?

He was only brought back to a sense of the here and now by the repeated summons of the voice on the other end of the line.

“Sir?....Sir?”

“Hit by a bus?” he asked, weakly, trying to keep a firm handle on his swimming head.

“Sir, I think you should sit down.”

He took the advice and collapsed into the straight-backed chair beside the phone, eyes fixed straight ahead of himself.

“I’m sitting down. I sat down.”

“Good. Now listen to me: you should try to get here as soon as possible. Give me your address and I’ll call you a cab, okay?”

“I don’t need a-”

“Sir,” the voice said, sternly, “give me your address. You don’t sound like you’re in a fit state to drive.”

Drive? He could as easily drive as he could fly right now. His legs trembled beneath him, his brain sending confusing, bewildered signals. He never folded in stressful situations, yet here he was shaking like a leaf.

“Sir?”

“My brothers,” he blurted, “I’ll get a ride from one of them.”

The paramedic was satisfied with this and gave him the hospital name again very slowly and deliberately. After accepting her good wishes and slamming the phone back in its cradle, he willed his body back into action, stumbling down the stairs and screaming for anyone who might be around.

Lila answered his call, and one look at his shocked, white face told her that this was serious. 

As soon as he could have expected, he was entering your hospital room. Lila offered to accompany him, but he dismissed her with muted thanks. This was something he had to face alone. 

Your face: bruised purple and cuts newly stitched. Your left leg: in a cast that went all the way up. But the doctors weren’t worried about the broken bones, they were worried by the head injury.

Comatose.

You were comatose because of him.

Standing there in the doorway, he was hit by his own bus. His guts constricted, breath catching in his chest. 

“Don’t come crying to this dickhead next time you need a sugar daddy.”

As his own words echoed back to him, he squeezed his eyes closed, shutting out the sight and trying to gather himself. But it was too late. He whooped in a breath and felt the hot sting of suppressed tears behind his eyes.

All he could do was wait, they told him. The brain had a remarkable capacity to repair itself, they said. You might wake up and be just fine...but you also might not wake up at all. 

He swiped at his face with his forearm. 

Seconds were useless now: you needed seconds as soon as you stepped out into the road. If only he’d followed and apologized like he should have done immediately, he would have been there. He might have stopped it happening before it did, or he could have wound back time and undone it. 

But now, hours since you were hit? His puny time-travel powers couldn’t help, not without decades of planning and tinkering and paradox-proofing. Perhaps more years than he had left to live.

If only he hadn’t been such a cunt in the first place. None of it would have happened.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered, from behind his own forearm held across his face, “Fuck. I’m so sorry.”

He sat at your bedside, teeth gritted against the tears he wouldn’t give himself the luxury of crying. He held your hand tight, as if torrential water might sweep you away were it not for him anchoring you.

He held your hand as if his grip might tether you to life.

And his mind preyed upon itself.

Yet again, his own selfishness had hurt someone he loved. And this time it was the person he loved more than anything. First, he abandoned his siblings for the sake of his own ego and now he’d probably killed you because he was a cruel, spiteful asshole.

“Don’t come crying to this dickhead next time you need a sugar daddy.”

He sat in silence for the rest of the daylight hours, listening to your heart monitor. Every new beep was a relief, the spaces between were looming and fear-filled. The silence held the possibility that the next beep might never come. 

When darkness fell and the hospital’s bustle fell to a low ebb, he leaned forward and laid his head beside yours on the pillow.

“Please don’t die.”

And hearing himself say it was all it took for the dam to break. He couldn’t keep the tears in anymore. He cried like he hadn’t cried since those first years in the apocalypse, when he’d still been young enough to sob ‘I wanna go home!’ and ‘I want my mom!’ into the unhearing wasteland. 

“Please.” he said, burying his red, tear-streaked face in your hair, “Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it. I promise I didn’t.” 

He tore in two or three gasping breaths.

“Please, angel. Don’t leave me. I can’t- I can’t-”

But he was crying too hard to speak. He raised his fist to his mouth and bit down on it to contain the wails clawing their way up his throat and threatening to burst bounds.

Cutting white teeth marks into his knuckles, he cried it out until he could control himself; until his voice could stay steady.

“You gotta wake up,” he whispered, “I can’t do this on my own anymore. I need you, okay? I’ll be better. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. Just don’t leave me.”

Another shaky breath.

“-you’re the fucking love of my life. I love you so much and without you I can’t even- I can’t.”

He screwed up his eyes again, trying to keep himself from re-dissolving.

“I can’t imagine getting up without you any more. I can’t imagine going to sleep without you. There wouldn’t be any point, y’know? I may as well just…”

He never finished the sentence. He felt like muscles and tendons in his chest were being pulled apart by strong hands.

Day time. He hadn’t slept, hadn’t washed, hadn’t eaten. He spent most of his time in the chair beside the bed, holding your hand in his, but he occasionally perched beside you on the bed, stroking your hair and talking almost nonstop.

“You’re gonna have to wake up soon, darling.” he said, “They say they’ll have to give you a feeding tube if you’re asleep for much longer. You won’t like that. So how about this: you always hate it when I don’t eat. You loom over me while I’m working and make me eat. So- how do you like this: I’m not gonna eat until you do.”

He made a satisfied noise as if you’d responded.

“Exactly- you don’t want that, do you. So you gotta wake up- it's the only way you can make sure I eat. I've got you there, haven't I?”

He looked down at his own hand over yours. 

“And, to sweeten the deal, if you wake up before they have to put the feeding tube in, you get breakfast in bed every day for two months after we get home. And I’ll massage your feet on demand. Shit, I’ll let the world end rather than miss a single minute with you. I’m going to be better. I’ll do better with the booze. I swear, I’m going to be the perfect man. You deserve that. You deserve better. Please. Just wake up.”

What started off as light humor had devolved again into the desperate bargaining of the night.

He looked down at his shoes and felt exhaustion wash over him. He rubbed at his eyes with the palm of one hand and wished he had the faith requisite to pray. 

A groan.

His head snapped back up so abruptly that it twinged his neck. His eyes scanned your face for any sign of life and found none. Just as he thought he’d imagined the sound, your hand twitched in his.

“Oh my God,” he whispered.

Eyebrows knitted, he sprang to his feet and called your name urgently, leaning towards you and resisting the urge to take you by the shoulders and shake you.

“Come on,” he urged, “say something. Open your eyes. Please, just let me know you’re in there.”

Slowly, and seemingly with as much effort as if your eyelids were weighted with iron, your eyes drifted open. They were vague and bloodshot, but they held his gaze.

“That’s it!” he said.

Tears, of joy this time, fell thick and fast again.

“Oh, thank fuck. I can’t believe it. Oh, fuck.”

Your mouth opened and a rusty voice spoke.

“Hello.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He bent towards you and held you to him as tightly as he could in your delicate state. His heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. Relief and euphoria rushed through his every atom. He kissed your forehead, each cheek and peppered several more across your nose and chin. He was too uncontrolled, too carried away by his own gladness to have finesse. Each kiss made a gentle smack against your skin.

“Who are you?” came your voice. 

And it was like the sun going in. He straightened up, cautiously. 

“It’s Five, angel,” he said, gently, “You remember me, right?”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

His breath caught in his throat. 

You had a brain injury. For some reason he hadn’t prepared himself for the fact that some things might be permanently broken. 

But then your face broke into a hazy smile, and a halting creak issued from your chest. If he wasn’t mistaken, that sounded like-

“Ah wait, you’re that dickhead sugar daddy I know, aren’t you?”

You were laughing. You were fucking with him.

Another wave of relief coursed through him. He bent again and kissed you with a pumping heart and tightening lungs. His lips parted yours, desperate, tender and giddy.

“I love you,” he said, between kisses,”I love you, I love you. I c-can’t believe you’re okay!”

And again he was sobbing. He laid his forehead on yours and cried unashamedly into your face. One of your hands drifted slowly upwards and came to rest heavily on his shoulder. He cried that way for a few minutes while you looked up at him dreamily. 

Eventually, when his crying began to lessen, you began to giggle slightly madly. He withdrew, looking down at you in a moment of confusion. 

And then it hit him: the dosage of medication.

You laughed harder, your hand coming to thump him on the shoulder as something hilarious occurred to you.

“Guess what. Guess what, Five: now I’m gonna have…even more…medical…debt!”

You dissolved into a peal of helpless laughter, which he couldn’t help but join in with despite all his tears.

“Don’t think about that now. Dickhead sugar daddy’s got your back.”

He continued more seriously when his laughter subsided. 

“I fucked up bad. I’m so sorry. I was sorry less than ten minutes after you left. I didn’t mean it.”

With the attitude of one who’s won a bet, you pointed at him weakly, 

“Now you have to make me breakfast in bed every day for two months.”

“I will,” he grinned, “if you say you forgive me?”

You smiled but didn’t answer, letting out another little burble of laughter.

He decided that now might be a bad time to talk about what happened in too much detail. There would be time for heart-to-hearts when you weren’t dosed up on enough pain meds to knock out a bull elephant. 

Instead, he kicked off his shoes and brought his legs up so that he lay on the very edge of the bed while taking up as little space as possible. He laid his head gently on your shoulder and heard you sigh with contentment.

Here it was: his longed-for second chance. 

He felt his eyelids growing heavy. All was right with the world now.

“I don’t want the perfect man,” you mumbled.

“Huh?” he said, rousing himself.

“I don’t want the perfect man,” you repeated, “I want you.”

Request masterlist >> HERE

NOTE:

Feel free to contact me with more Five requests, that was super fun and I want more! I'm fairly versatile in what I write (fluff, smut, angst, psychological character study- I'll try it all) but I will consider them on a case by case basis. See masterlist for more.

#the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy imagine #umbrella academy x reader #the umbrella academy five #umbrella academy number five #umbrella academy five x reader #umbrella academy five x you #five hargreaves x you #five hargreaves x reader #number five imagine #five hargreeves imagine #number 5 imagine #number 5 x reader #number five x you #five hargreeves x gn reader

[crazed-rambler]

This episode was absolute perfection! The writers are geniuses, the actors are geniuses, the directors, camera people, lighting, editors, everyone who worked on this episode are all geniuses and they deserve a MASSIVE round of applause.

There's so much to talk about but I wanna start by talking about the staging of the scenes where Buck is feeling jealous, because ugh it was so well done.

It's so simple but they just isolated him. And it's not that noticeable in some of the smaller scenes but I know many people noticed it with the teaser and stills at the airfield. It became obvious to me after Eddie gets injured, but here are some examples:

In all these scenes Buck is obviously in his feels (but when wasn't he tbf) and he's stood by himself, opposite to everyone else.

I found this really clever, because yeah, Buck does express that he feels like he's being left behind, but he's done that before so what's new? What's new is the very confusing feelings of romantic jealousy being thrown in the mix. But romantic jealousy over a MAN. This has never happened before.

Finding out you're queer can be so scary and isolating because your entire view of yourself is changing and if that's changing how are you supposed to be yourself around others who've only known you as heterosexual up until this point? Add in the fact that Buck is somewhat oblivious to why he is acting the way he is towards Eddie (his bestfriend who's done nothing wrong) for a time and he's going to feel even more isolated. It gets to a point where he's lashing out because he doesn't know why he's feeling like this. And even when he's hurt Eddie he doesn't even ATTEMPT to move towards him, he's just stuck where he is.

By isolating Buck at all these moments, both the initial problem that sparks the jealousy and Buck's subsequent internal struggle are portrayed to the audience in a such a simple way. Doing this allows the audience to truly understand what's happening. Queer audiences will recognise themselves in Buck's isolation and heterosexual audiences will gain a further understanding of how troubling a queer realisation can be, allowing them to empathise more.

Even when Tommy comes to the loft Buck still starts out isolated:

They move to either side of the kitchen and put two (2) tables in between themselves. Then as they work through their issues and Buck starts to realise just WHY he's been so standoffish about Eddie and Tommy hanging out they get closer. Then they start to connect over how cool they thought the other was and how annoying that was and end up toe to toe:

Buck's finally accepting what he's feeling and then BAM! They kiss and everyone screams with joy!

I don't know, l just loved all the little nuances they put into this episode that were subtle indicators of their endgame (bi Buck), and it made it feel like the creators really cared about this storyline and wanted to do it properly for the fans but more importantly for THEMSELVES, and not just randomly giving Buck a throwaway line of 'yeah I've slept with guys before' to establish his bisexuality purely for fan appeasement. So, to that I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone involved with creating this episode because I was sobbing for 10 minutes straight after it aired from being handed bisexual representation in such a loving but also unfussy way and seeing myself reflected in my favourite character. So on the off chance someone involved does see this, THANK YOU!

#911 abc #911 spoilers #911 7x04 #evan buckley #118 firefam #tommy kinard #bi buck #911 100th episode #buck bothered and bewildered #eddie diaz #chimney han #buddie #bisexual evan buckley #evan buck buckely #bucktommy

[cookiesupplier]

Every Rose Has Its Thorns - Part Thirty-Four

pairing: Ricky Olson x ofc x Chris 'Motionless' Cerulli

warnings/tropes: slow burn, soulmates, strangers to enemies to lovers, betrayal, angst, fluff, smut, language, online bullying, panic attacks, stalking, mental health issues.

summary: In a world where soulmates inexplicably receive a tattoo that will match that of their soulmate the moment they turn eighteen years old, being famous and covered in very visible tattoos can make finding your true soulmate a questionable fate. For everyone involved.

author’s note: Unbeta'd, readers beware as always lol.

To read from the beginning, check out the Masterlist Here!

tags: @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @jordynyingling0219 @faceless-mirror @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @wild-child-7747 @witchyweeb34 @black-damask1999 @jilliemiw86 @ilovesamkiszka @lyschko666 @lacktoesandtoddlerants @bngurngheart @collapsedglasshouses @laurpartyprogram @sunsshinesunny @malerieee @talialovesmiw @shilohrosechicken @thatchickwiththecamera @tamtam-elizabeth

Tag List is Open, please let me know if you would like to be added to it or in general.

Between the morning at the doctors for Chris, and then spending all the afternoon talking and dealing with the emotional revelations that were coming about from these tattoos. Something that none of them really could have fathomed how they would change their lives. How they might still. Talia wasn’t sure if she wanted to think about it. She was still just a visitor here. Sooner or later, she should go home. Right? She needed to, that was where her life was, wasn’t it? Her job, her friends, some of them, anyway, could she really abandon them? Talia was only supposed to be here to support Ava with her bond with Vinny, and even then, she still wasn’t sure how much she’d done that at all. Did Ava even need her, it felt like everything was the other way around.

Not to mention, that reason, that was when she knew Ricky wanted nothing to do with her. Sure, it was nice that at least that had changed, he seemed to at least want to be friends even if he didn’t want a relationship. He still hasn’t said anything about that changing, and she wasn’t about to make an assumption just because he had been more friendly towards her. These tattoos forcing them closer together wasn’t his fault any more than hers, and she wasn’t going to assume he felt anything for her. The worst part, as much as she still wanted to hate him just a little, for the things he’d done to her before, she kept seeing the glimpses of how wonderful he could be too. It was just, it… he… he was making it impossible not fall in to want more.

He didn’t want more, though, and she had to remind herself of that.

Then there was Chris. 

Was it right, to have the feelings she did?

What was happening with this tattoo that was changing on his shoulder? The way it was reacting the same way Ricky’s and hers were reacting was, it was, she wasn’t going to say it was obvious, because she had a feeling that Ricky was right. The sensations were subjective. They couldn’t know what they meant, what they were supposed to mean. A bad feeling could be anger, upset, jealousy, or even fear. Who could say what emotion was causing them at any time. Some they thought were obvious, such as when Chris had kissed her, or when Ricky had touched her tattoo. Both times their tattoos had gone absolutely crazy. 

Even then, for all she knew Chris’ tattoo would change back, for all they knew it was just, temporary. Whether for Chris, or for one of them? They should wait to hear from the people he was going to talk to before she let her mind spiral down that path about what his tattoo changing meant, for any of them. 

How could they even know if any of their feelings were real, and not from these tattoos pushing them closer. Or, were the tattoos the way they were because of their feelings? How could they possibly know? That in itself was the biggest problem with the phenomenon of the soulmate tattoos, and everything being theoretical.

That was what terrified her. 

She couldn’t have certainty, and after her time in that hospital, spending those moments when she started questioning herself, she didn’t need to feel that way again.

Swallowing, she shook her head, no, not again.

“Guys, I should probably go. Ava is probably wondering where I am.”

Ricky looked over at Chris, for some reason, something about the way she’d been looking while they’d been chatting just now made him wary about her leaving on her own, was that wrong? Was it him being an asshole? Chris help him here. They’d been looking over the photos of Chris soulmate tattoo, making out the shadow of the mark and seeing if they could figure out what it was changing into. Sure, Ricky could say exactly what he thought it was turning into, it looked like it might be, but there was still too much of Chris old mark blurring the detail to be able to tell for certain. When it got darker, and the mark more visible, separated from Chris former tattoo, maybe.

“Are you sure? You could stay for dinner, Chris makes a mean vegan chilli, it’s actually fantastic, and I’m not always big on the vegan dishes. Stay, Sweetheart, I don’t think any of us have had a night in a little bit that we haven’t had something to worry about.”

Well, they sort of still did have worries, but, as much as they could, they could at least try to relax, couldn’t they?

“Let us make you dinner, Chris can make his chilli, and I’ll make,”

Ricky paused, pressing his tongue behind his teeth slightly as he considered. With the way now, that Chris was looking at him expectantly, he had this little knowing smile on his face, as if he just knew Ricky was about to try to bullshit his way out of something. Damn him. 

“Dessert.”

There, he didn’t have to give a specific answer, yet, right?

“What’s going to be for dessert, Rick?”

Drawing his eyes back over to Chris, Ricky, give him a look, really, really, Chris?

All he got back for the expression was a wide cheeky knowing grin, and a raised eyebrow, smart arse. Turning his focus back to Talia, Ricky smiled, ignoring his smart arse best friend.

“Chris will make chilli, I’ll make dessert,”

“Which hopefully won’t kill us-”

“It will be fine!”

The fact that she started laughing at that Ricky was going to count as a win, no matter how much Chris had decided to be a comedian at his expense right then. Absolutely worth it.

“Now I have to say yes, just to see what Ricky makes, but, Rick, what ever it is, has to be made with whatever is already here. Though, if Chris has to leave to get something for the chilli, then I guess you can give him a list of ingredients to pick up while he’s out.”

Ricky blinked at her for a moment, Talia just smiling at him, he turned his head to look back at Chris, he held his hands up.

“I had nothing to do with this, don’t look at me.”

“So this is a challenge now?”

“Absolutely.”

Talia grinned, he was the one that was putting it out there, she was just making it a little more interesting.

“That is, unless you’re not up for it?”

Oh, he couldn’t have that.

“You’re on.”

Chris had chuckled as Talia, and he watched as Ricky got up from the couch and marched his way into the kitchen and started going through his pantry, his fridge. Mumbling to himself while he did. Probably considering all the different things he could make no doubt. Chris doubted this was going to end well. Next Ricky was scrolling on his phone, Chris tried to peek over his shoulder, only for Ricky to notice and make a disgruntled sound and shove him back, Talia giggling in response at his antics, Chris just rolled his eyes.

“You got ten minutes before I go out to get what I need for dinner, since there are things I need, had I known you wanted chilli yesterday..”

“Well it doesn’t have to be chilli..”

Chris shook his head as he looked over at Talia, smiling softly,

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s easy, and I love making it, it’s one of my favourites, and I know Ricky likes it.. And don’t worry, it's pretty mild, I don’t amp it up until I feel like going really crazy, and that is not going to be tonight.”

He was in no mood to test limits with everything that had been happening around them. 

“That sounds perfect Chris, thank you, though now I’m wondering what the amped up version is like.”

Chris offered her a wicked grin at that, laughing, considering the last time he made the intense version of the chilli and how that had gone down,

“Well, I won’t try to sway you with my opinion, others though, I’ve been told it burns off taste buds.”

Watching her expression freeze in place, her eyes going wide slightly.”

“Here! He’s also not wrong.”

Ricky had walked over to them, brandishing a slip of paper at Chris with a few items scribbled on it for him to get from the store that he didn’t already have in the house. He had no doubt that whatever Ricky was preparing to make was vegan, he knew how it went, or at least, he could make a vegan version for him.

“I’ve tried the amped version, if you don’t love spicy, and value your life, don’t do it.”

It was actually Ricky’s fault he made the stronger spiced version in the first place. Chris might never have gone to such extremes if he hadn’t taunted him about vegan food being bland and tasteless, despite him claiming to never really being one to enjoy eating it anyway. This was back when Chris was still learning more about cooking vegan foods, because it was really sink or swim when you were vegan, you either learned to cook it yourself, or struggled like hell half the time. Ricky, had been his chilli taste tester, and boy did he regret it for a time when it came to the spicier version… Suffer that he did.

“Serves you right, telling me vegan food was bland.”

That earned him a giggle out of Talia, he had a feeling she got the picture on how exactly that all went down from that alone. Ricky just rolled his eyes at him.

“Hey, you still can make a kick ass chilli now, can’t you? When you aren’t trying to kill me with it.”

Fair point.

This time when they were sitting around the dining table, Ricky would definitely say that it was far more relaxed despite the day that they had all had. Somehow they seemed to had let that go, Ricky grinned as he watched Chris and Talia tease each other across the table. Chris seemed to have more control over the effect of his tattoo’s reaction to being closer to Talia still. Ricky figured it was either because his tattoo wasn’t fully formed, or just that he had more self-control, he didn’t know. Ricky, chose to stay on the other side of the table for all of their peace of mind.

Maybe it was just him. Possibly Chris felt it all too, he just could handle it better. The fact was that every time Ricky touched Talia he was right back to those moments when they were alone. The way their tattoos flared up, and they were almost crippling with the need for release. He’d been in the middle of mixing the batter for his dessert to put in the oven, reaching across the counter. All she’d done was put her hand out in front of him at a certain angle and all three of them had felt it. Ricky had grabbed the edge of the bench, gasping for breath.. Not Talia.. He stopped himself.. He had enough control to do that, without Chris saying a damn thing, and Talia had excused herself as well. 

A splash of cold water, and they all calmed down.

Now though, with their dinner finished, Ricky lifted his glass of water to his lips to take a sip, Talia was looking across the table.

“Is something burning?”

“Oh shit, the dessert!”

Ricky couldn’t run back to the kitchen fast enough, the sound of the other two laughing was his backing track.

Talia sat at the table with Chris, laughing, she couldn’t help herself, it might be mean, okay, it was a lot more than just might be mean. She saw first hand how much work that Ricky had put in trying to get that dessert right. She’d watched him. Checking, double-checking, triple checking that list on his phone as he mixed the list of the brownie batter he’d been baking for them. They were supposed to be some fudgey amazing delights, and he had sounded so proud when he slid the tray in the oven that he’d gotten the batter just as the description had said it should be. Smiling, she had hoped that it would work out just as it should.

Everything seemed to be going to plan, just as it should.. Until they were eating dinner, and Chris caught the smell of something burning in the kitchen. She didn’t know what went wrong, whether he had set the timer wrong,

“Rick, do you need any help?”

She bit her lip as glanced over to Chris when he called out to Ricky after they heard a bit of clatter followed by a very colourful string of curses from the kitchen. Only for them to earn a shout back at them.

“DO NOT COME IN HERE!”

This of course had them pearling into more laughter, leaning into Chris’ upper arm as so she didn’t just slide right out of her chair as she laughed.

“Rick, you did set the timer, right?”

The groan that came from the kitchen in responses did not help her stop laughing at all,

“Of course, I set a damn timer!”

The grumbling that followed, she couldn’t make out, but she grinned, moving to get up from her chair only to have him should out again,

“I said don’t come in! I have a backup dessert, you stay out there! Both of you!”

“Okay, okay!”

Grinning over to Chris as he agreed and they both sat back down at the table. Twenty minutes later, Ricky was bringing out a tray of roughly decorated chocolate dipped strawberries. Of all the things she had thought he would make, she would never have thought he would make something that most people would assume to see as something so, romantic. Talia felt her face flush warmed at the very thought.

She cleared her throat seeing Ricky bite into one of the strawberries, with that knowing grin of his as if he knew exactly where her mind was going. Quickly she glanced over at Chris, and with the smirk as he licked his lips from a smear of chocolate on them, he was no better.

“You alright there, Sweetheart?”

Clearing her throat quickly, Talia picked up one of the strawberries,

“Just, just fine.”

Taking a quick bite of the chocolate dipped fruit, it wasn’t her tattoo tingling that was the problem, as she pressed her thighs together to attempt to stifle the feelings coursing through her body. Talia had no clue who they were for, because the thought of both the men at the table sent shivers through her.

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

#motionless in white #miw #ricky olson #ricky olson fanfiction #original female character #soulmates #fanfiction #miw band #soulmate au #ricky olson fanfic #chris motionless #chris cerulli #chris cerulli fanfic #fic: every rose has its thorns

[genericpuff]

To be fair, a country can have more than one head of state. Political systems aren't as consistent as we might think them to be and even absolute monarchies like Spain have a prime minister. Then you have things like elective monarchies and hereditary republics. From what I remember, the idea of an election isn't even really treated as that big of a deal... but that right there is the problem. The first and I think only time it actually gets brought up is when it's introduced for a single panel, and even then, it's only in relation to Persephone's trauma. No one really comments on it afterwards. Even in Apollo's own episode, he very briefly comments how he could do a lot as king—not president, but king! Ergo, overthrowing Zeus. So either the whole president thing was a dropped plot point or Rachel couldn't think of any other reason for Apollo to be on a giant poster.

Regarding Eros' comment, Apollo is the god of medicine and the literal god of doctors is his son. Even if Asclepius himself doesn't have a bad record, he'd have reason to be wary. It's why I don't blame Hebe for automatically believing Apollo that nothing can be done about the poison after he simply touches Zeus, given what one of his domains is.

And speaking of Hebe, again, to be fair, a lot of people don't notice their surroundings when they're grieving and her back was clearly turned anyway, so I don't think this should necessarily be a strike against her. I honestly didn't find anything off about Apollo gaslighting her either (I mean, besides the obvious; gaslighting is horrendous) and he'd also just threatened her, so I don't blame her for running away either. Plus, the episode just ends with her noticing the snow soon after, so it's not like we get her thoughts on this one way or another. I don't have fastpass, though, so does it show her actually believing she'd somehow poisoned Zeus in a future chapter, or...?

Hebe poisoning Zeus also wouldn't necessarily be outside the realm of possibility either if Apollo were to argue she did it for Hera's sake or something and then she just snapped. That said, it is still ridiculous she's the first deity he would frame, rather than someone alot more believable, like Ares. Didn't Zeus sleep with Aphrodite that one time? And we know how protective he is of Hera. Or hell, if he wanted to topple the current monarchy entirely, he could've just framed Hera herself! Maybe even Hades!

And if this were any other comic, I'd say Apollo returning to the scene of the crime and then calling the media is just him being a narcissist, because some narcissists can be really, really dumb. But the chances of it being framed that way are practically at the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Even a single panel of someone asking why Apollo called a journalist first is doubtful.

But yeah, not trying to slam you or anything and sorry if it comes off that way. I really like your analyses and I love Rekindled, I'm just trying to offer a few explanations here. I do agree with you overall, though! Rachel has alot of great ideas, but the executions of said ideas are just terrible.

Okay so, while I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into defending these points and I can totally get the points you're trying to make in many of them (and yes this is the part where I respond with my own points, as we do) I think the fact that you presented all of these "well to be fair" talking points is just highlighting and further proving LO's biggest problems in its writing, one that I've talked about before on here but I think bears repeating.

And that's the fact that we (the readers) have to make massive assumptions just to make the plot make sense.

Yes, to be fair, there are government systems that run with a dual-system of monarchy + diplomatic government, but there was never any implication of this being a thing in LO until all of a sudden Rachel dropped the "Apollo for President!" plotline in S3.

Yes, to be fair, Apollo is the god of medicine, but we've never seen him actually fulfill a single duty regarding that, Asclepius is far more qualified as an actual doctor than Apollo (*from what we've been shown), who we've only ever seen apply a bandaid to Persephone's hand five years ago.

Yes, to be fair, people in shock may not take in their surroundings fully, but it seems really silly to have Hebe positioned in front of a window that has a FULL VIEW of what's going on outside and still have her just freeze in time when she's offscreen so she doesn't see or hear anything that's going on just several feet away through a sheet of glass. Just get rid of the window and find another way to force Eros and Psyche into confrontation with Apollo.

Yes, to be fair, Hebe could have a motive, if she were written as someone with some vendetta against Zeus. But she wasn't. That version of Hebe does not exist and, as you said yourself, there are way more gods who would have reasonable motive to poison him. We've only ever seen her dote on him and love him unconditionally as her father, and we've even seen scenes of them in S1 where they have a functional father-daughter relationship (if anything I'd be more inclined to believe she'd have a vendetta against Hera for being an alcoholic mom during her childhood but I digress).

Through all of these "to be fair's" when do we actually stop and ask ourselves why we have to constantly have the benefit of the doubt and jump through all these logical hoops to make sense of the plot to begin with? Again, all this just lends to how poorly structured and written the comic is, and all of these 'to be fair''s you've presented cannot reasonably apply to LO because LO never wrote those things. They never showed Apollo being an actual god of medicine, they never showed Hebe having ill will towards her father, and they never showed Olympus running with a monarchy + presidential government system. So to fill in those blanks ourselves is to do the legwork for Rachel who's only managed to write half a plot. It's why it's so jarring for random plot points like this to happen because it's just like "wtf do you mean Apollo is running for president? He can just do that??" That's not something that should be established five years in, it makes it really hard to just give benefit of the doubt because if that was something that actually existed in this world, it should have been established ages ago when the foundation for the story was still being built. We're in the endgame now, this is NOT the time to be throwing in new random plot threads pulled out of thin air.

This is what I mean from my essay post earlier that Rachel constantly fails to provide context for things she's trying to say, while overexplaining things that are already being shown onscreen. It's completely imbalanced between what we have to know and what could have stayed on the cutting room floor, and it makes for a messy story where people have to make gracious assumptions and do all the thinking for a plot that was never fleshed out to begin with. Why should we as readers have to do all the thinking for Rachel's lack of storytelling ability, when she clearly couldn't be bothered to put any thought into the narrative or the worldbuilding or the characterizations to begin with? It's lazy low-effort writing.

#lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus #ask me anything #anon ama #ama #anon ask me anything

[shrimpathizer]

this is just a theory (i haven't looked into this bit that much) but I feel like the reason that misinformation is so wildly rampant in online communities about ADHD (probably also autism) is in part because of how inaccessible actual professional information about it is.

Like, I remember before I got my diagnosis (what started off this whole thing a while back), I was looking at the CDC website description of symptoms of ADHD with my mom and. If you thought you were neurodivergent and were looking at this thing trying to see if you should get tested, its basically saying "screw you. you're either a child who is going to be here because of their parents, or an adult who is also here because of another neurotypical."

one of the criteria was literally "is often 'on the go' acting as if 'driven by a motor.'" that means absolutely nothing. you are using undefined expressions to explain something to someone who historically is not good at understanding unexplained social norms (such as expressions).

plus, its incredibly subjective. "on the go" could mean something wildly different for one person then the next. and "often" could mean "all the time every day" or "only at school" or even "every other week." not to mention the memory issues that at least a lot of the people who I know with ADHD struggle with.

someone who might have ADHD has no way of knowing if they "often have trouble organizing tasks and activities" or if that is a normal amount. there is no way for them to easily know if they "often do not seem to listen when spoken to directly."

so it seems obvious to me, that they would turn to other people with ADHD. and the easiest place to find them these days is online. thats how I started wondering if I should get diagnosed. they're probably trying to find some other way to understand or know. and since its social media and social media is rampant with misinformation, of course they are going to be fed misinformation.

people are going to tell them "you see this weird thing that you do? I do that too. and its actually because of this much larger thing. trust me." and people will. because there really isn't much of another place for them to turn. they are going to self-diagnose with every disorder under the sun to make themselves feel at home and feel like they aren't weird or wrong.

maybe i'm way off here but I think that if you want people (teens in particular) to stop turning to social media for comfort and information, you should give them other resources that are accessible. that they don't have to pay to see, that they can understand clearly, that acknowledges all the weird things that they feel bad about.

and sort of as a side note: i remember in elementary school, early on (this might have just been my school/city/state), the school set up one of those mobile classrooms on the yard and would pull kids out for like a good couple months to do eye exams. because we've normalized that kids also have eye problems and thats normal. and maybe, could we also get a small little assessment. just to see if we can find neurodivergent kids early on and get them help so that they don't suffer for years and years.

and i'm not talking as someone who has had it hard. i have had it so easy compared to so many others. i have supportive parents and get good grades, and yet, i am constantly burnt out. i constantly feel horrible. not just because of depression. maybe i'm being too radical here but i feel like i shouldn't need a 504 plan to say that if i'm having a panic attack i can leave the room. that if i'm having trouble focusing i can go to the library or somewhere else. that i can get extensions on due dates. that i can see a copy of the notes or lesson for reference. i don't know maybe i'm just incredibly radical that i think people shouldn't have to be expected to work four times as hard to get anything done and then get blamed when they don't live up to the expectation. whether or not they are neurodivergent.

#miso speaks #vent post #rant #adhd #adhd things #adhd problems #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #neurodivergence #social media #misinformation #long post

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would happen if the Cullens were trapped in the town of Silent Hill?

If you're unaware, Silent Hill is a tourist town with a dark secret. It has the power to "call" those with darkness in their hearts or unresolved trauma and trap them in a nightmarish Other World. This Other World is a reflection of a person's mind plastered over the town, populated with monsters derived from a person's fears, vices and personal demons.

The only way to escape the Other World is to go on a journey the town creates for you to confront and come to terms with your past.

I'm just thinking, with all the baggage the Cullens have, Silent Hill would have a field day with them. Especially Bella and Edward.

So, who do you think would escape from Silent Hill? My money's on Carlisle and Rosalie, personally. Renesmee, Esme, Jasper and Alice I'm not so sure about. It could go either way. Bella and Edward though? Yeah, probably not.

Emmett, by far being the most grounded and, for lack of a better term, sanest Cullen probably wouldn't be drawn into the Other World. He's just stuck in a tourist town with a panicking Jacob wondering where the hell everyone is.

Interesting question, I haven't played the games nor seen the movie adaptations but I know there's a Pyramid Head.

But I can work with this premise. Alright, let's bullet point the Cullens. Who escapes from Silent Hill?

Alice

Alice has no memories of Mary Alice Brandon's traumatic past. It doesn't even seem to be repressed so much as a product of electroshock therapy in the 1920's. Alice also has very little angst about the fact that she's missing her memories and most of her problems are due to Edward's nonsense and are more or less easily solved if she works around him and the Volturi.

What I'm getting at is that Alice is never called.

She's also stuck with Emmett in this dumb tourist town wondering why they decided to vacation in Virginia.

Bella

Bella has no idea what the fuck is happening. The thing about Bella is she takes things at such face, literal, value that she would just think this is a town of monsters that has absolutely nothing to do with her. Even when it becomes increasingly obvious this is a metaphor for the choices she made, her own insecurities, and her own fears.

Bella tries to get out and gets increasingly frustrated when no solution presents itself.

She doesn't escape because she doesn't want to confront herself.

Carlisle

Ooh baby, yep, Carlisle's going. Canonically he seems to have unresolved issues with his late father, his witch burning past, the fact that he gave into loneliness and turned the others into vampires (especially when he learns that not all desired to become one and may rather have died) not to mention the whole Twilight saga which destroys his friendship with Aro and gives him increasing existential dread.

I imagine Carlisle has a horrible time in a town full of everything on fire.

However, as you note, I imagine he gets out. Carlisle in canon (for all we don't see much of him) does seem to have done a good job coming to terms with his own history and who he is. He confronts difficult things such as whether or not he should have turned the others and does vocally wonder about them to Bella. He notes that he went through great introspection over whether being a vampire made him evil and Edward notes he has great distress over what he did as a human to people who turned out to be innocent after all.

Carlisle would realize what this place is and that he has to go on this journey to confront the worst part of himself.

(True to hilarious Twilight fashion, I imagine he'd get out of this personal journey hellscape and find himself with his oblivious family who have no idea anything happened to him at all.)

Edward

Oh yes, Edward was made for this place. The thing is I think Edward would catch on very fast to what this is, that this is a place of his own personal demons (ah, hello Pyramid Head) but he wouldn't want to admit it or confront it. He would rail against it, he knows what he is and he knows he wants to do anything but confront or accept it. He saw the demon already when he nearly ate Bella in Biology, he has no desire to do so again.

I imagine as he continues to resist more terrible things happen (I am sure a copy of Bella gets eaten somewhere in here) and Edward chooses to embrace madness or the illusion rather than get through and let the monster consume him (as that's what he'd fear the answer is).

Edward doesn't get out.

Emmett

Yup, never goes.

He has no idea what's happening and where everyone went. He figures they'll show up eventually (hoping the Volturi didn't get them or something.)

Esme

Esme... you know, I think she might. Esme would find herself in a very lonely and unpleasant place, it'd take her a while, but I imagine she'd eventually realize this all has to do with her and that she never truly confronted the past or herself. She gave up on life and then immediately was handed everything she'd ever wanted and so had never had to face that.

Esme leaves and has to become a person again.

Jasper

"Ah, hello darkness, my old friend" Jasper immediately recognizes what this is and what's happening to him. Doesn't matter that it's a surreal nightmarefest, all of it's just somehow so very familiar.

I give Jasper a 50/50 chance. The thing is, Alice threw him a lifeline before and he's still clinging to it with all his might. He was never really saved from who and what he was, he just hopes desperately that Alice and the Cullens will keep him afloat.

This journey would have to show him that that isn't enough and he would have to realize as much and realize that Alice can't save him if he doesn't do his own part as well.

(Which of course, would be terrifying to him, because if Alice can't save him then Jasper sure as hell can't save himself).

Renesmee

What you get is essentially a surreal version of Bleach on the Brain by @therealvinelle.

Renesmee at first is very confused and terrified by all of this. She's separated from her family, this place is filled with strange monsters reminiscent of the Volturi, but slowly Renesmee realizes that these are her fears and insecurities, that she doesn't love Jacob and is terrified of him, and her family are strangers to her and she's not sure any of them love her.

I like to believe Renesmee would get out but it would mean letting go of the illusion of her family, the belief that she must matter to them, and learning to confront the possibility that none of them might care at all.

Rosalie

Yup, she's going there, and like Jasper she immediately realizes what this is for all she's horrified by it. I imagine Rosalie's in a state of panicked terror as she was supposed to be done with this: she'd gotten her revenge, murdered all of them, had put it out of her mind as fast as she could.

Rosalie would really struggle but I imagine eventually pull through. She'd have to recognize that Emmett can't fix everything, that there were some things she never let go, that she's still searching for affection and love she's not sure she'll ever receive (from Edward as well as Alice).

However, Rosalie's a very strong person emotionally who did face something like this once before and pulled through. She wants to get better, to be a better person, so I think she'd make it through.

TL;DR

Edward and Bella are the only one's I'd say definite no towards.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #the cullens #bella swan #alice cullen #edward cullen #carlisle cullen #emmett cullen #esme cullen #rosalie hale #jasper whitlock #renesmee cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion

[writingsofwesteros]

heeyy, love all your stories!!! the one with y/n being the second daughter of viserys and being in love with daemon was absolutely amazing!!! if possible, could you maybe write a second part where he somehow chooses her publicly and they get married and rule together, maybe a child or two... or something like that, very happily ever after vibes?? if not it's ok!!

AN: Hi, I hope you like it x

The death of your mother had you in deep mourning and all alone as your father as ever focused on your sister. It was hard to even leave your chambers in the morning; not that anyone noticed. Except him. Daemon was the only one that cared for you in this difficult period. And the love you had for him only deepened.

What you didn’t know was it was the same for your uncle too. He didn’t know how he had missed it all these years. Daemon knew he had a lot of making up to do, which he had done whilst being on his knees in your chambers. But he needed to do something more; something public.

He knew the tides were changing; his own aspirations for the throne still were held close but he knew Otto was seeking to further his own house. He could still persuade his brother in his weaker state, especially now that Y/N was pregnant. Not that she knew this, but it had been obvious for the past month now. Your grief had allowed your monthly visitor to slip your mind but the maids were beginning to notice now and it wouldn’t be long until such rumours made it to your father. It was how he found himself in front of his brother in the empty throne room. Well, it would be empty if you weren’t by your father’s side; your head hung low.

He hated that sight and his fierce eyes moved to his brother. “Is there something wrong?” Daemon finally asked. “Some information has come to my attention.” Viserys moved to stand; his eyes never moving from his brother. “What information?” Daemon played dumb for a moment. “Don’t hide from this.” His brother ordered and Daemon only raised an eyebrow. “She’s pregnant.” Viserys motioned to you. “I know.” Daemon answered without a care as he finally stepped towards you as shock grew inside you. “You knew?” You softly whispered to him, ignoring your father.

Daemon only nodded and gently cupped your face; his fingers softly stroking your cheek for a quiet moment. “Are you okay?” He whispered, leaning in to brush your noses together as you softly nodded your head. Viserys watched the scene in front of him. The situation caused a lot of problems but it also had its benefits. Especially if his daughter had a son. Your worry only grew even more at your father’s silence as you finally looked towards him. “Do you love her?” The King finally asked. Daemon stared at his brother, “Of course..I have done for a while now.” He whispered his admission. Your eyes widened at the knowledge and you couldn’t help the soft smile coming over your face.

“Well, this mess needs cleaning up and the only way is for you two to be married.” Viserys announced. “Marriage?” You whispered as Daemon only moved closer to you; his hand moving up and down your back. Your body hummed in happiness at the idea as your father only nodded and moved to leave. Daemon looked back down at you in complete softness as his brother finally left them alone. “Is that fine with you?” He whispered, his heart would be breaking if it wasn’t what you wanted. “Of course.” You whispered to him. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” You looked up and moved in for a soft, loving kiss as his hands moved to your stomach.

“We are having a baby.” You softly whispered; unsure and fearful as you remembered your mother’s difficulties. It seemed Daemon shared your worries as he gently stroked your gown covered stomach. “Don’t worry about anything..I’ll protect you.” He whispered sweet nothings into your ear.

1 YEAR LATER

“Long live the Queen. Long live the King.” The crowd’s cheers echoed around the throne room as you and Daemon stood in front of the thrones. Your pregnant belly just showing from your beautiful gown as your 4 month old baby slept in your arms. A boy that was a spitting image of Daemon. A lot has happened since the proposal. The pregnancy was easier than you thought; it was something Daemon enjoyed seeing on you so it was no surprise to anyone that you were pregnant at your coronation. You softly looked over to your husband who was already staring at you.

His hand reached for yours as the crowd still cheered. His fingers began to play with yours and the large ring Daemon had gifted to you in what seemed like another life. You looked down to see your son sleeping soundy even as the noise only grew. The crowns were soon brought out; all rubies and gold. They were gently placed on your heads. The cheers only grew before they slowly died down enough for the celebrations to begin. Thankfully, it seemed her sister had accepted the change in tides, especially after Viserys death. It had been a hard time for everyone and soon the Princess would be married to Ser Cole.

The food began to move onto the tables as Daemon gently guided you to the high table. “Are you well?” He whispered into your ear; his fingers moving through a lock of your hair before he looked down to his sleeping son. “I am,” You hummed up at him, resting your head on his shoulder for a moment. Daemon slowly filled your cup with fresh water whilst the food was placed in front of you. HIs hand still rested on your stomach whilst you both enjoyed the peaceful moment. “Are you happy?” You asked; looking up at him from under those lashes of yours. “Of course,” Daemon promised.

“I wouldn’t want anything else.” He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your lips. It wasn’t long before your baby boy sounded out and Daemon gently plucked him from your arms so you could eat. You could only softly smile at the display as you reached for some cake to nibble on; the eating for two was addicting. Daemon could only chuckle before looking down at his son; softly stroking his cheek as he watched the lights. You looked down and gently stroked your stomach whilst the gifts of the kingdom began to make their way to you. A dragon egg was presented for your unborn child whilst jewels from all corners of the kingdom were presented for you. 

All was well.

TAGLIST

@janelongxox

@writerslove2403

@severewobblerlightdragon 

@ivanna6026

@opheliax98

@savage-aespa 

@heartysworld 

@thekayarlene 

 @katie007123

#daemon targaryen x reader #request #second daughter

[heliads]

Discoveries at the Dance

Based on this request: "It was the night of the Prawn, Y/n & Addison were there but depressed as Zed & Wyatt can’t make it. Addison noticed that their dates had arrived they went to Zed & Wyatt. An earthquake happened so everyone followed it and found the moonstone. Y/n’s necklace (the moonstone one Wyatt gave her) started to glow, Addison suggested to put it on the moonstone & when she did she transformed into a Werewolf"

masterlist

It is the night of the school dance, and what should be one of the happiest evenings in your memory thus far is instead being spent trying to hold back tears. You’re only mostly successful. Across the room, your best friend Addison is experiencing similar levels of joy. Both of you have been looking forward to this night for about as long as you’ve been alive, but here you are– two girls, absolutely miserable. Clearly high school isn’t the place for high expectations, but you had rather hoped to at least enjoy yourself a little bit.

As if running through similar thoughts in her own joyless head, Addison gives a weak little laugh. “Well, don’t we look like we’re having a good time? We might as well get ourselves together, this night can’t get any worse.”

“Are you sure about that?” You ask balefully. “I’m pretty sure we can keep digging. Rock bottom isn’t real to me yet.”

Addison snorts in spite of herself. “Oh, come on. We’ve both been dreaming about going to the Prawn since we were kids and first heard about it. We have our perfect outfits and everything. Surely we can at least have a little bit of fun tonight, right?”

You look at her doubtfully. “We could, if it weren’t for the fact that we’re missing something even more important than a dream outfit. You know, maybe that our dates are all physically barred from entering?”

Addison grimaces. “I was trying to avoid thinking about that, but yeah, that does make for a bit of a downer.”

You laugh bitterly. “At least we look good. We have to show up eventually, right? Let’s swallow our pride and just be there. We can’t push this off any longer.”

“Are you sure about that?” Addison asks, looking wistfully at a framed photo of her and Zed on her desk.

“Positive,” you say grimly, “Now let’s go. The Prawn waits for no man. Nor monster, apparently.”

That’s the problem with the dance, after all. Everything about it is perfect– the decorations, the lights, the excited laughter of students billowing out from the propped open doors. The only thing you’re missing is the fact that the boy you love is not allowed to step foot on the premises due to the fact that he’s not entirely human.

See, you knew there would be problems when you first started falling for Wyatt Lykensen. Of course there would be problems. After all, look what happened when Addison started dating Zed. Despite the fact that she was a star cheerleader and he was single-handedly turning Seabrook football around, everyone in town had opinions on it, and most all of them were bad. Factor in the fact that at least zombies weren’t unfamiliar to the people of Seabrook due to the fact that they’d been present for years, and it’s obvious that the Zed situation was the best case scenario in a sea of really bad alternatives. 

Wyatt, on the other hand? Wyatt, who’s one of the werewolves, who will never know a reception into this town with open arms? He has none of Zed’s stellar reputation in the high school, which means that his entrance into the ranks of Seabrook students would only be received even worse. The werewolves may, admittedly, have not had the purest of intentions when they first showed up, but they want to be here now. Wyatt has convinced you of that a thousand times over.

You’re not the one who needs convincing, though. All of Zed’s hard work championing the cause of monster equality, everything the werewolves have done to try to make a place for themselves in the town, and it’s all come to nothing. The Prawn is humans only, something that you and Addison are deeply infuriated over tonight. There’s nothing you can do now, though– you already tried your hardest to avert this crisis and it still happened.

So, as much as you would love to be able to have your moment with your boyfriend, it’s not going to be happening tonight. You, Addison, and Bree are going in a group of friends out of solidarity for all that you’ll be missing. Addison is wishing Zed was there right now, you know for a fact that Bree wants Bonzo there to dance with her, and you’re looking out of every window in the hopes that you’ll somehow see Wyatt showing up to be there for you.

Needless to say, none of you are all that pleased with the way the school dance is turning out. Still, you’re going to show up out of responsibility. The three of you arrive at Seabrook High with low expectations, and even the twinkling lights and dashing pastel decorations can’t win you over. The dance could be taking place in the most detailed mansion and you’d still be thinking about the one person you want there more than anything.

The music is good, though, and you’re almost able to distract yourself from thoughts of wishing your boyfriend was there by dancing with Addison and Bree. All of a sudden, Addison taps your shoulder, her entire face rewritten with shock.

“Am I dreaming, or does the Prawn suddenly have a few new arrivals?”

You follow her line of sight to see a group of people racing towards the doors to the school. Your heart leaps when you realize that it’s a group of monsters, Wyatt at the front. They’re all dressed to the nines, and stroll right past the chaperones trying to keep them out like the angry yells were nothing more than flies. It might be the most wonderful sight of your entire life.

You run up to him, unable to stop yourself from spending a single second not by his side now that you have him for real. 

“You came!” You say, delight spiraling through the syllables. 

“Of course I did,” Wyatt replies, “did you really think I could ever leave my girl without a date?”

You laugh. “Not if you had a say in it. Although, not that I’m sad to see you, but I swear you didn’t have any say in this at all.”

Wyatt gives an easy shrug. “I’d like to see them stand in my way. Change doesn’t happen through silent compliance, you know. Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe is right, and I know this is right.”

You beam at him. “I’m just glad that you’re here.”

Wyatt smiles back at you. “I’m glad to be here too. Trust me.” 

He pauses a moment, then taps the necklace hanging in the hollow of your throat. “Although I am glad to see that you wore that even without knowing I’d be there.”

You follow his line of sight and understand what he means. Wyatt gave you a moonstone necklace identical to his about a week ago. You’ve treasured it ever since. When you found out that Wyatt wouldn’t be able to come to the school dance, it only made sense to bring some part of him there in his stead. In your opinion, the moonstone necklace did perfectly. It’s good to know that Wyatt agrees.

“I just wanted to feel like I wouldn’t be alone here,” you whisper.

Wyatt takes your hand. “Of course you’re not alone.”

He starts to guide you towards the groups of dancers in the center of the room, but the two of you have only begun moving when he stumbles. Wyatt is excellent at keeping up the charade of perfect health in front of most people, but you see straight through it and realize that he’s not nearly as infallible as he usually claims to be.

Eyes alight with worry, you reach for his hand. “What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Wyatt grins weakly. “I don’t think that’s the best compliment you’ve ever paid me, but I’ll take it as a sign that you care about me.”

Your eyes narrow. “Wyatt. An explanation would be nice.”

Wyatt sighs. “Alright, alright. We still can’t find the moonstone and it’s wearing on all of us. Look at Wynter, she can barely stand. We’re here as a show of strength, but we’ve got almost nothing left.”

You must look horrified, because he squeezes your hand and tries to stand up straighter. “Look, it��s alright. There’s nothing we can do about it anymore, and I’d rather have this night with you be worth something than spend the next few hours wondering about some mystery we can no longer solve.”

You pull him close under the guise of starting a new slow dance. “Just stay with me, Wyatt.”

It’s a promise neither of you can expect, but Wyatt agrees with it anyway. “Always.”

He starts to say something else, but his words are cut off by a loud cracking sound issuing from the ground nearby. It seems almost like thunder, but there are no storm clouds in sight. Instead, what you find is a massive divide splitting the ground nearby in half.

Addison finds you in the chaos, Zed right behind her. “It’s an earthquake,” she says, “Look, the ground is completely hollowed away underneath.”

Your brow furrows. “It looks almost like a tunnel.”

Wyatt nods slowly, eyes wide. “Yeah, and it’s glowing. Like a moonstone.”

Willa pushes her way through the crowds to reach your party, Wynter right behind her. “You guys are seeing this too, right? There’s no way the moonstone isn’t down there.”

Bree claps a hand over her mouth. “What are we going to do?”

You extend a hand towards the fissure in the ground. “Find the moonstone, obviously. We have to move fast, though. I don’t know how much time you guys have left.”

As if to prove your point, Wynter doubles over in a fit of coughs that leave her shaking and spent.

Wyatt nods grimly. “Let’s move.”

Thus your group descends into the earth in search of a mystical power source none of you truly know will be there. The only thing you can do at this point is hope that it will be here, or this trip with the werewolves might be their last.

In the end, though, you don’t have to fear. Zed manages to clear away some heavy rubble and you stumble upon a partially collapsed room, moonstone intact in the center. Wyatt and the other werewolves race towards it, and you swear you can practically see them come to life again as their moonstones are recharged. Wyatt turns back to you, triumphant, but as you watch his smile drops in an instant.

He holds up a trembling hand to point at the necklace he gave you. “Y/N, your moonstone. It’s glowing.”

It makes no sense, but you look anyway and he’s right. The small shard of stone at your throat is a bright pearlescent shade, and sends refractions of light dancing over your skin.

“That makes no sense,” you try to argue, “it should only glow if I was–”

Your words are swallowed up abruptly by the shock of your realization. Wyatt finishes the thought for you anyway, although it’s kind of pointless. Everyone in that room is thinking the exact same thing.

“If you were a werewolf,” he concludes.

You shake your head slowly. “No, that’s impossible. I would know if I were a werewolf.”

Willa shrugs. “I mean, your town didn’t even know about werewolves until we showed up. Surely it’s not that impossible to assume that you wouldn’t figure it out until now.”

Wyatt shoots his sister a look, muttering something about a poor bedside manner under his breath, then extends a hand to you. “We can test this. Come here, see if you can charge the necklace.”

You may not trust whatever is going on with your necklace and the moonstone, but you do trust Wyatt, so you take his hand and allow him to lead you over. You press your necklace to the moonstone just as he did. The second you do, you feel this rush of something wash over you. It feels like power. It feels like coming home.

Wyatt whistles under his breath. “I think that means you’re a werewolf.”

Addison nods. “Your eyes are glowing just like Wyatt’s. It’s true.”

You let out a shaky laugh. “Well, this really wasn’t the way I was expecting tonight to end.”

Wyatt’s eyes fill with concern. “But you’re not unhappy about it, right?”

This time, your voice is more sure. “No, I’m not. This is a good thing, Wyatt. A very good thing.”

And why would it not be good? This means you have a pack, an entirely new family to stand behind you when you need it most. You have your boyfriend, you have a fascinating future opening up in front of you. No, you could not be more happy.

disney tag list: @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie

#wyatt lykensen #wyatt lykensen imagines #wyatt lykensen x reader #wyatt lykensen oneshot #zombies #zombies imagines #zombies x reader #zombies oneshot #z-o-m-b-i-e-s #z-o-m-b-i-e-s imagines #z-o-m-b-i-e-s x reader #z-o-m-b-i-e-s oneshot #disney #disney imagines #disney x reader #disney oneshot #zombies wyatt #zombies wyatt imagines #zombies wyatt x reader #zombies wyatt oneshot

[savethevamps]

Top Tanin and The Reality Of Coercion

Disclaimer : Please leave your Top hate away from this post. I have no problem having a discussion about Top, but if you’re just going to blatantly hate & make comments that have absolutely nothing to do with this topic, keep it to yourself.

A few days ago I made a post explaining the scenes in which Top has been SA. In that post, I point out the two, in my opinion, most obvious times; however there is another time that I felt needed it’s own breakdown. Let’s talk about episode three of Only Friends, and the very harsh reality of coercion.

Before we get into the actual scene, I’ll be giving out some context to show how subtle coercion can be, and how it all adds up until Top finally “gives in”. So let’s first talk about coercion harassment (when someone pressures, repeatedly asks, or threatens another person in an attempt to change that other person's mind.) and how that leads to the scene we’re breaking down today.

One of our first Top and Boston interactions is them in the restroom, I won’t detail the entire scene, but we found out Top and Boston have had sex in the past. Boston expresses his interest in having another go at it, and Top tells him, “I already told you, once is enough for you and me.” Now what does this scene tell us? Well besides the fact that we know Top isn’t interested in a repeat, we also find out that this isn’t the first time Top has denied Boston. This is highlighted by his use of the word “already,” and the look he gives when Boston gets snarky with him after the rejection. After the first time in episode 1, we see Boston, on multiple occasions, try to urge Top to have sex with him again; even going as far as getting in a shower with him. I already made a breakdown of these other scenes so we won’t go into too much detail here.

For the record, it is completely fine to ask someone for a repeat performance when it comes to sex, I’m not saying Boston is wrong for that. However, problem arises when a person expresses that they do not wish to engage again, and your response is to try and convince them. With that being said, let’s talk about the day the scene happens.

They’re at a party, Boston waits until he sees that Top is completely alone before he acts. Top stands in the kitchen and Boston comes in to stand in front of him, we see Top try to leave and Boston uses his body to stop him. Myself and others have pointed out how being cornered seems to be some kind of trigger for Top, or just something that makes him extremely uncomfortable (rightfully so), and this scene is no different. Boston then proceeds to do what he does best, lie and talk. (I won’t go into the details of the dialogue in this scene since I’m on mobile, but I definitely encourage others to watch it back to see how gross it all is.) Top sees the picture of Ray and Mew, and is of course shocked by this but when he tries to reach for it, Boston moves it away. He then tells Top that he has something more to show him, a video. I don’t know what Top was thinking during the party or in the moment at Mew’s door, and I won’t pretend I do, however we can all tell that what he’s seen is still on his mind. He’s a bit snappy to Ray, which he usually isn’t, and keeps repeating that he’s Mew’s boyfriend.

Alright I know this breakdown is getting long but stick with me, it all ties together. I see a lot of people that say Top should’ve just discussed this with Mew, or that he should’ve ignored Boston but honestly? I think it seems fitting that Top went to meet up with him. Look, we see that Mew hadn’t been claiming him as a boyfriend (which is understandable from Mew’s perspective), Mew’s best friend (the one Top believes he kissed) has been rude to him for nothing, and Mew’s other best friend is now in his ear about apparent “evidence” of Top being played. Besides all this though, it’s never okay to say that a victim should have “seen it coming” or expressing what they should’ve done differently. Hindsight is 20/20 and everything obviously isn’t black and white, okay? Okay.

Now the actual car scene. Boston shows Top the video on his phone. While he’s watching the video, Boston is again in his ear about how he’s being played by both Ray and Mew.

In this scene, we see Boston do a thing that he does extremely well which is something called prevarication: meaning he skirts around the truth, or is purposefully vague about it. How does he do this? Well he tells Top that the video happened two years ago, but he immediately follows it up with saying something vague about how they could possibly still be doing it. He then of course brings up how Mew is definitely only dating him to mess with Ray. We all know this isn’t true, and Boston does too, but he does this in order to get Top where he wants him. I see a lot of people saying that Top shouldn’t care about something that happened two years ago, but that’s not the point. The point is that Boston, Mew’s best friend, is putting it in his ear that Ray and Mew are still fooling around and playing him.

It all comes to a head when Boston delivers the final blow, saying that of course he can do this too. Driving in the point he’s trying to make about Ray and Mew playing him. Now again, the point isn’t that it happened, the point is that it’s apparently still happening and he’s getting played. Also, for the people in the fandom who believe their own outlandish theories about Top, he’s not mad because he’s getting “outplayed”, or “losing at his own game”, Top genuinely likes Mew and is interested in him, so of course he’s hurt that this could be happening.

It’s also worth noting that during this entire conversation, Boston gets closer and closer to Top until he’s directly in front of his face. Which leads to Top being caged in and cornered once again. This is where I give everyone the definition of sexual coercion, which is when a person pressures, tricks, threatens, or manipulates someone into having sex. The scene itself is extremely uncomfortable to watch because of this, but also because of how reluctant Top looks in the first place.

To wrap this all up, this is another time Top was assaulted, and then made to be the bad guy. People keep bringing up how Top should’ve just explained everything to Mew and it’s a bit disheartening. I talked in another post about how I believe Top, just like most viewers, never sees himself as a victim. This is most likely because of the Perfect Victim Fallacy, and him not seeing himself as a victim explains why he wouldn’t tell Mew about this. Not only that, but it would be him against Mew’s best friend, of course he doesn’t think he can bring this up. As I said earlier though, hindsight is 20/20 and anyone can say what he should’ve done. I also see people talk about how Top “participated” in the end, and I need those people to read the definition highlighted above. Boston repeatedly corners Top, and tries to talk him into sex; this all adds up to what we see happen at the end. It doesn’t matter if he eventually “got into it”, the point is this: Top would’ve never laid a finger on Boston again if not for the days of manipulation he was made victim to.

#only friends the series #only friends #top tanin #ofts #ofts top #I can make another post about how shame can also subconsciously stop him from telling mew if anyone wants it

[yhuckloop]

Why so much hate towards Wendy?

I need to vent somewhere other than twitter I REALLY wanted to be the kind of person who had the courage to express my opinion like this by answering and facing it but I care too much about my image lol stan kinnie (and also because I think it's a silly reason to fight over a fictional character idk)

Unfortunately I had the displeasure of seeing a twitter account hating on Wendy (I won't divulge it here, but it's basically an account calling her a whore and other stuff) and unfortunately, one of the owners of the account was someone I liked and followed her drawings, fanfictions, etc.

I followed this person even though I knew how much she hated Stendy (which is my otp) and anyway, anything involving Wendy

Wendy is a very special character to me. I liked her from the first episode. I like how South Park portrays all the characters as flawed, they are human, they make mistakes and they learn from mistakes. Same with Wendy. She's made mistakes many times, but she's always learned from them. She is an inspiration to me, like the breast cancer episode, where she fought to defend a cause that was important to her. And then these people come to me and call her manipulative, selfish and mean? For God's sake! No one is forced to like her, of course, but it's good to know that the reason they hate her is just one reason that would be enough to hate all the other characters.

"Wendy is a manipulator! She blackmailed Stan in Season 1 Episode 7"

- She is a child. Her blackmail about combining fantasy with stan (or whatever the fuck she did, I can't remember) is no big deal. Also, Wendy apologized to Stan, acknowledging that she hadn't taken his feelings into account.

"Wendy never takes Stan's feelings into consideration. He's already treated her very badly but nothing compared to what she did to him"

- I really can't see all this harm that Wendy did to Stan in the relationship. She "cheated" on him with Tolkien because she clearly felt lonely. In the scene, Stan himself said he hadn't spoken to her in weeks! BOTH ARE CHILDREN they don't have maturity for a relationship, it's obvious that this would end up happening. It wasn't right for Wendy to do that, of course, but it's kind of understandable considering how old she is. Same with Stan. Wendy was a great girlfriend. She worried about Stan when he was depressed, inviting Kyle to visit him together (which Kyle himself refused to do 😱) and even hired specialists to deal with Stan's hoarding problem. She was worried about him and in the recent episode, we could see how much she loves and cares for him. The problem is that they both have different love languages, something they won't identify with being a problem with their age.

"Wendy is stupid, the only good thing she did was in the list episode" and "she didn't even help with the list episode, stan did everything himself" (I swear it was stuff like that on this account) The owners of this account swear to have watched the series and say that those who defend Wendy are those who have not seen the series. Like... really?

- 1: Absolutely in all episodes starring her, she is the heroine of the day.

Wendy showed the importance of fighting against childhood erotization, the importance of breast cancer, criticized the standard imposed on young girls and women by the media, in addition to which she has an irreparable critical sense. She is the real girlboss! Of course, Wendy has done things VERY wrong, like sending Miss Ellen into space, but come on? this is part of the humor of the series. Characters will always act stupid at some point because that's where the fun is. Like, when Kyle does stupid things and acts on impulse, in anger, to champion a cause, he's considered a boss. But when it's Wendy, they call her an "insufferable feminist". When Kyle does stupid things and acts on impulse, in anger, to champion a cause, he's considered a boss. But when it's Wendy, they call her an "insufferable feminist". When Kyle blew up Canada causing death to thousands of people because of his belief that Canada was a bad influence, he is considered a human with flaws, but when Wendy went on a TV show to talk about the importance of stopping the pattern of feminine beauty in young women, she is called a "dumb bitch"

- 2: Wendy who discovered the hoax on the list; she analyzed all the data and discovered that something was wrong, she faced her friends even though she knew that this could cause her harm. Stan did absolutely nothing but stand and watch, he didn't even know what to say when he got in front of the girls to argue. Wendy is the one who saved Kyle from burning down the school. SHE SAVED THE FUCKING SCHOOL

Anyway, other horrible things were said that at the moment I can't remember to rebut them and idk I don't want to waste my time on that. Sorry for the very very long text, I really needed to dump this somewhere

#south park #wendy testaburger #sp wendy #south park opinion #Stendy #sp stendy #i love wendy #why people are like this? #south park wendy

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for only caring about a specific thing and nothing else?

i'm 19 if it matters, and i absolutely love art in all its forms. painting, drawing, music, writing, architecture, design, movies, and so much more. truly anything you can think of, even if i have favorites. "art" is a bit of a loose definition to me but you get the idea

i love discussing art and learning more about it, as well as making things myself (i draw and write). this expands to consuming art as well, like books or movies, so they often come up in conversations too.

here's the issue: it's all i care about and i have a hard time caring about anything else*

(*i have other interests but they pale in comparison and they're a lot more volatile)

problem #1: when i have to talk about an unrelated subject (especially if none of my other interests align.) i put some effort to act interested, sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's insanely difficult, but either way i feel like it's obvious i'm faking it. i don't always have the energy to try pretending either, and it makes me feel like an asshole.

problem #2: nobody cares about it as much as i do. it's really upsetting when others don't show as much enthusiasm, even worse if i get ignored. it hurts so much i sometimes have to distance myself from the person. it's usually brief, but i've had to cut off some people for good because i felt so ignored by them i couldn't bear it.

problem #3: ever heard of the sentence "there's a time and place for everything"? i physically have to restrain myself from mentioning it even during serious moments (like when a friend is venting and i'm popping an artery trying not to go "this is just like this one comic-") and i've even done it in the past when i was less self aware.

look i kind of try to do damage control because i understand not everyone is as enthusiastic about art as i am, but still my behavior is... excessive. i'm being a big baby by only wanting to talk about what i want and getting upset when i don't get my way. my friends seem to understand it's important to me even if they can't always comply to my absurdities, and my therapist says it's good i'm so passionate about art, but i can't help but feel like an asshole for the way i act

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole