#she says she doesn't think things will get better but i've been there. and things got better when i realized she would be there for me

[barcaatthemoon]

just a kid iii || jenni hermoso x teen!reader ||

jenni finally meets your girlfriend, but it doesn't go according to plan.

"chiqui!" alexia flinched at the volume of jenni's voice in the very public place. you jumped up from the table and ran over to jump into the woman's arms. back at the table, alexia shot carmen an apologetic look. your girlfriend had been warned by alexia, olga, and several of your barcelona teammates how you got around jenni. they had failed to mention how much worse it seemed to get after jenni had moved away.

"jenni, i missed you," you told her. jenni smiled as she cupped your cheeks and kissed the top of your head. tucked beneath her arm, you walked with jenni back to the table. "carmen, this is jenni. jenni, this is carmen, my girlfriend."

carmen stood up, standing just a couple of inches taller than jenni. alexia smirked at the look of surprise on jenni's face. she wasn't used to people being taller than her, especially not someone so much younger. it took jenni by surprise, enough so that she didn't mention the very obvious resemblance.

"nice to meet you. i've heard a lot about you," carmen said. she held her hand out for jenni to shake. things seemed to go back to normal once everybody had sat down again. alexia almost wished that jenni had stayed quiet, but she wasn't going to complain when it obviously made you happy to be around the striker again.

carmen seemed to get kind of quiet as jenni took over your attention. alexia tried to engage your girlfriend in conversation a bit more, but it didn't seem to work very well. as much as carmen looked like jenni, she acted just as much like alexia did. according to most of your older teammates, carmen would grow out of being so awkward around people eventually, you just had to be patient.

"hey, i think that i might head home soon. it's getting kind of late," carmen told you. for the first time in what felt like forever to carmen, she had your attention. however, it didn't feel as good as she had hoped it would. you looked hurt, a pout on your face as you prepared to ask her if everything was okay. "have fun, okay?"

"you're leaving now?" you asked. carmen nodded as she stood up from the table. she got money out to pay for her part of the meal, despite alexia's protests that she had it covered. "you're leaving alone?"

"yeah, i'm going to the gym early tomorrow. have a good night." carmen leaned for a moment, and you foolishly thought she was going to give you a kiss. instead, she offered handshakes to alexia, olga, and jenni.

"bye, i love you," you muttered quietly. it really wasn't loud enough for carmen to properly hear, but you were still hurt when she didn't say anything to you. alexia noticed your shift in mood and turned to olga for help, her girlfriend being a better choice of comfort for you.

"do you want to come stay with me for a while?" jenni offered. you shrugged, having hoped to stay with carmen at her new place. it had taken you nearly two weeks to get alexia to agree on letting you spend the night over there, and the one night you get permission, carmen left hastily without you.

…

"am i boring you, chiquita?" jenni asked as she nudged you with her elbow. the two of you had spent the day catching up with each other, but you couldn't tear yourself away from your phone for more than a few minutes. you were going crazy waiting for the good morning text from carmen that didn't seem to be coming. you knew that she was awake, you had seen the posts on her story from the gym.

"no, sorry. it's just that carmen usually checks in with me by now," you told her. jenni frowned as she understood what you were going through. "i'm scared that she's mad at me, but i don't know what i did."

"they say that she looks like me, but that girl is all ale. trust me, it takes time to realize what little things set her off. maybe you should go see her. talk to her, make sure that she knows you love her," jenni suggested. you were nervous about showing up to her place unannounced, but you couldn't just sit back and wait for her to text you anymore.

"who says that you and carmen look alike?" you asked. none of the team had brought this up with you yet, so you were a tad bit confused.

"alexia, olga, eli, pina, jana, mapi, ingrid, and um, everybody else who has met both of us." jenni's tone may have been a bit sarcastic, but she wasn't joking. you scoffed, not believing that at all. sure, carmen was tall with dark hair and a few tattoos, but that was about it. you hadn't put that much thought into her similarities to jenni at all whenever the two of you had started dating. you were just glad that the hot girl in the gym was giving you the time of day.

"whatever," you huffed. jenni teased you a little more as she took you to carmen's apartment. you made jenni drive off, promising to call alexia if things went badly. a part of you was terrified that carmen wouldn't want anything to do with you. if what jenni said was true about everybody believing that they looked alike, you realized that you had probably made carmen jealous. and so, you very nervously made your way up to carmen's apartment.

"(y/n)?" of all the people carmen expected to see as she came out of the stairwell, you were the last one. "what are you doing here?"

"i had to come check on you. it's been three days, and you haven't answered any of my texts or calls. i've been out of my mind worrying about you," you told her. carmen rubbed the back of her neck as she shifted from one foot to the other. she could easily see the evidence of what she put you through as you played with your fingers.

"i, uh, i'm sorry too. it was stupid, but seeing you and jenni interacting, i got kind of jealous. do you want to come with me to dinner?" carmen asked you. you nodded, happily taking her hand as she led you out of her building. you were finally able to enjoy your night as the weight of your worrying was lifted from your shoulders. that night, as you let yourself get comfortable in carmen's bed, you made sure to send both jenni and alexia texts that everything had been sorted out with carmen.

#woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso imagine #teen reader #platonic fic #jenni hermoso imagine #jenni hermoso x reader

[cemeterything]

This isn't a gotcha, so please don't take it as such, but would yuou be willing to explain what it is about VAL that makes her such a favourite of yours? I can't stand her myself, she comes across to me as a bully given god-like power that she abuses for her own amusement, and I've seen you acknowledge as much, but we draw completely different conclusions from that. I just want to understand your perspective.

i've been anticipating a question like this for a while now, so i'm more than happy to answer for you!

you're right, VAL is in some ways a "bully given godlike power" as you put it, and there's no avoiding that (nor do i want to). and yeah, i do like her in part because of that, because i have a fondness for horrible fictional characters and in particular "bad victim" archetypes, of which VAL certainly is one. but i think what makes her compelling to me, rather than repulsive, is that she is fundamentally a cautionary tale and a tragedy. in-universe, she's the scapegoat. the example. the "make the right choices or this could be you". she's inescapably, heartbreakingly human in her awfulness, and that makes her terrifying, but it also makes her deeply sad (at least to me).

i also strongly believe in rehabilitative/restorative justice, so for me, wanting better for VAL is about my real-world principles to a degree. i can't and won't argue that VAL doesn't function as an uncomfortable allusion to a lot of atrocious crimes against humanity (by humanity) within the narative, and that anyone who finds her upsetting or even hateful for these reasons is absolutely justified in doing so. however, she's still a fantasy entity at the end of the day. she's not a 1:1 stand-in for real-world abuses any more than, say, a vampire or werewolf, which plenty of people are more than happy to explore the nuances of. and there's also the question of what punitive measures would even achieve in her case, beyond personal satisfaction for the one administering or spectating them (which is not to say that wanting to punch VAL makes you as bad as she is, just that her arc is, among other things, about how cycles of abuse and violence perpetuate). the worst that could possibly happen to her has already happened. she's been tortured. she's been taken advantage of for her mistaken belief that working for and with the system has the opportunity to benefit her, and died for it. there's nothing to be "learned" from her punishment that hasn't already been shown to us. that she hasn't already internalised. if she were ever to develop a stable conscience, that would be punishment enough in my opinion.

despite being a victim of people not entirely unlike VAL, i personally am not her victim, so treating her with sympathy and kindness whilst acknowledging the elephant in the room that is her many (fictional) war crimes is not something that requires any cognitive dissonance on my behalf. i would cautiously argue that the narrative agrees with me somewhat in this regard - the few times VAL is treated to a genuine act of kindness with no ulterior motives, it shatters her composure and outward conviction that what she's doing is necessary for her personal satisfaction, and even prompts her to reconsider on occasion (sparing the woodsman comes to mind). i'm not saying anyone needs to hug her and tell her she's valid, but if all it takes is some genuine good intent to get her to engage in introspection, i'm willing to be the person to offer it.

#ummmmm yeah. i like her. thank you so much for the ask though! id been wanting to talk about this #VAL thesiltverses

[makeitastrength]

One thing I'm noticing in some of the fandom reactions to this breakup and the aftermath is that the characters have been put on a pedestal and are being judged against some pretty unrealistic standards. They get raked over the coals for every single mistake. I've seen it with both characters but recently I've seen it the most with Tim.

Don't get me wrong, in no way am I condoning his current behavior. He's made multiple mistakes and he's broken Lucy's trust and her heart. He absolutely needs to be held accountable for all of these things and he owes her an apology and that adult conversation and a whole lot more if they're gonna be able to be together again.

But what he's doing right now, his imperfect actions as he navigates this period of his life... it's very human. This is a man who is at rock bottom, and when you're drowning in the weight of your own trauma like he is, you often don't have the strength to see beyond that and understand how your actions are impacting the people around you. He's not being cruel (which, by the way, implies intentionality to one's actions) by breaking up with her or denying her that conversation. He's drowning.

He truly can't see that she's *not* better off without him. He can't see how much he's hurt her, and that he continues to hurt her with his actions. I don't even think he could answer her questions right now about why he did what he did, because he doesn't fully understand it himself. He can't see anything beyond his own lack of self-worth. Right now, expecting him to be able to fully comprehend what he's done and why is completely unrealistic.

Now, does this excuse his behavior? Absolutely not. But it does explain it.

And the thing that's bothering me the most is the posts saying Tim doesn't deserve Lucy's forgiveness. This is a man who has completely fallen apart but is finally taking the first steps toward healing. Shouldn't he be given a chance at redemption before being written off as unforgivable? And shouldn't Lucy be the one to decide whether to forgive him?

Again, I'm not defending his actions. He has a lot of work to do on himself and he has a lot of work to do to gain back Lucy's trust. It's not going to be easy. But to say he doesn't deserve forgiveness without even giving him a chance? That's pretty harsh. He doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life being defined by his worst moments. No one does.

#they're not perfect #they're human #if you want a characters that make no mistakes (and are therefore boring and shallow as hell) I direct you to John Nolan and Bailey Nune #Tim and Lucy are complex #and imperfect #and should be given a chance to grow and learn #rather than being cancelled for their mistakes #I sure hope if I ever screwed up like this but took accountability for it the people in my life would be more supportive and understanding #chenford #lucy chen #tim bradford #the rookie

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

[submitted 4/24/2024; 📂 for later reference]

WIBTA for reporting teachers to my school principal on the basis of the quality of their teaching?

Hello! For context, my school follows K-12 and I'm in my 2nd to last year (G11). Where I live (I don't know if it's the same for other countries) we all have to get into a track, and each track usually has its own teaching staff led by appointed coordinators who report to the principal every month or so regarding the performance of the teachers under them, though I've heard of some teaching in two or even three other tracks. This information will be important later on.

My first class in the morning is literature, more specifically 21st century literature, and it's taught by Mrs. G. The first thing that gave me a hint that the English-based subjects wouldn't be as great as I hoped was the fact that she was a nursing student. (It's on her Facebook profile. Nearly everyone I know in school posts concerningly detailed stuff about themselves on Facebook, and I just use it for the Messenger...)

Second or third in the morning on a normal school day is Ms. C. She's a DOST scholar which doesn't bother me in the slightest, but out of all the staff that handles the track I'm in, she's the only one who handles two subjects: Statistics and Reading & Writing, another English-based subject, one she doesn't have any certification for. (Again, from Facebook.)

Still, I know well that our system isn't perfect so I sat through their lessons. I was the kid that read a lot of books so I consistently scored high, but I noticed after reading a bit of DepEd learning plans that my classmates and I weren't getting the most out of their lessons for the competencies we were supposed to achieve - for literature, we needed exposure to representative texts from each continent, and for R&W, we were supposed to learn types of reading (archetypal, sociological, etc) earlier. The kindest I can say about them regarding their teaching is that they're deviating from the learning plans in a bad way + spoonfeeding the classes without making them think critically which I know is an important skill when it comes to their subjects.

I later learned from my mom who used to teach at my school that they're still able to hold their positions because they, for lack of a better word, bribe the coordinator with food and a bit of guilt-tripping since some of them are related to him, all to stay in the staff of my track because it's the most convenient one (2nd floor, one hall only). And the coordinator has let it happen for how many years already. It's a matter that should've been reported to the school principal and the division office, but I guess nobody's really had the guts to try and fix this for the sake of the quality of our learning.

I'm going to feel really guilty if I took up on that though. Mrs. G just gave birth this year and needs the salary to provide for her son, and Ms. C doesn't want to give up R&W so she can have enough teaching load + to keep staying in the staff of my track where it's safest to avoid her possibly abusive boyfriend, from what I've heard over the year. I want to do something, not out of malice, but out of concern that the next G11 batch wouldn't learn those 2 subjects and the necessary skills for them properly (because not all of them can afford to self-study).

So, WIBTA?

#aita #am i the asshole

[veliseraptor]

April Reading Recap

Stars of Chaos vol. 2 by Priest. I'm not quite grabbed by this one yet. I'm not not enjoying it, but the main relationship doesn't quite have me compelled, and the politics aren't quite sharp enough to get me either. I'm not totally sure I'll keep buying the published volumes, at least not at this time, and just read the rest online to see how I end up feeling about it as a whole before making the financial commitment.

Medea by Eilish Quin. Listen, I'm a Medea apologist, but I'm a Medea apologist who is very much of the "she absolutely did all the awful things she's accused of and she is valid" and the author here is going "she did all the awful things she's accused of but it's not as bad as you thought it was because she didn't mean it!" and I'm just. I'm not mad, just disappointed (again). I was so hoping for a book that would do something interesting with a Medea retelling but I probably should've known better than to think it'd be this one. Why, you may ask, do I keep reading myth retellings about my problematic faves when all I do is complain about them? Hope springs eternal, I guess.

She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. Exceptional. Might be my favorite books I read in April. I'd already read She Who Became the Sun back when it was first published and knew I'd enjoyed it (was rereading to refresh my memory for the sequel), but I felt like I enjoyed it more the second time around, and I might've liked He Who Drowned the World even more than its predecessor. If you're looking for works of just-barely fantasy with delightfully fucked up queer characters, come get 'em here. I won't say most of them are happy (they're not) or that things end well (they don't), but boy is it good reading.

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling. Decent horror but not particularly outstanding, in my opinion. I liked The Luminous Dead more.

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee. I continue to struggle with novellas. This was a perfectly good novella but it felt like it could've been a stronger short story, which I guess is better than the other way I usually come out of novellas, which is "this was a fine novella but it should've been a novel."

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. I really liked this. It has more of a thriller-ish edge than I expected, but for all that I think it's a thoughtful book with some interesting things to say, and I feel like it's one I want more people to read so I can talk to them about it. It's set in a sort-of spooky, near-future dystopia, but a lot of it is about, like, the nature of thought and consciousness. Anyway, I found myself compelled.

Islands of Abandonment: Nation Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn. I found myself reading this thinking a lot about The World Without Us, a book I read many years ago and would kind of like to reread, and which I think I liked more than this (at least in my memory). I was hoping for more analysis than I got from this book, which was beautifully written but more nature/travel writing than science. One thing I did appreciate was the attention paid to the human cost of the "abandoned" places examined in this book - the pain that abandonment often signifies, and the trauma it indicates, in spite of the beauty that may come after.

Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard. I really liked the way that Beard chose to do this one - namely, taking it by theme rather than by emperor, and breaking down different areas of the emperor's life over time rather than trying to tell a linear narrative. It also let her do some of the better "skeptical" reading of sources that I've read in a popular book on ancient history, where she was actually digging into the "rather than what this says about what this person may or may not have actually done, what does it say about expectations, beliefs, and tropes that people had" kind of reading. And after some of the other popular histories of Rome I've read, thank god for that.

Metamorphoses by Ovid, trans. Stephanie McCarter. Continuing on with my "reading new translations (by women!) of classical epics" run (started with The Odyssey, The Iliad is on my list). It was fun to reread Ovid! As usual one of my favorite parts of this was reading the translator's note and introduction, and I wanted about 500% more of that through the text (tell me about the assonance you're preserving in the Latin!) but did get some of (thanks for the information on the penis/pubic hair puns!). Overall would recommend as a good translation of Ovid that very much does not flinch away from - and makes/keeps appropriately uncomfortable - the sexual assault.

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat. Slightly more YA than I usually like, but I enjoyed it! I was a little :\ about it for a while, very much feeling the YA cliches of it all, but the late hour twist got me interested again, and I will be picking up the sequel. Did miss the full balls-to-the-wall iddy joy of Captive Prince, though, since I probably wouldn't have picked this book up without the author recognition.

Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other by Judy Klitsner. I really liked this one, particularly for its commentary comparing and contrasting Eve, and the other women of Genesis, with later Biblical narratives. I don't know how much I buy all of her arguments when it comes to intentionality of all of the comparisons she's drawing, but it certainly makes interesting food for thought, and a good sampler for me of what literary-based Biblical scholarship can look like (and an indication that I'm interested in trying more of it).

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. I read most of my way through this book continuing to really appreciate what Banks does with the Culture novels and planning to continue on reading the next one, but not enjoying this specific one as much as I did The Player of Games in particular, and then I got to the very end of it and went "hang on what the fuck???" but in a decidedly good way. And I'm still kind of thinking about That even though it's been a while, which I think is a positive. Anyway, I don't think I'd recommend this as a starting place for anyone to read the Culture novels, or as a must read, but it was on the upper end of a three star rating.

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid. I wanted this to be more gothic horror and less romance and it ended up being more romance and less gothic horror, was my feeling. Not necessarily the book's fault, but if anyone else is eyeing it wondering...now you know.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. I really enjoyed this one! I was kind of skeptical going in - I'm not a big magic school person, as a rule, and the more I feel like something is hyped to me the more I tend to drag my heels about it - but Naomi Novik is really good at what she does and she clearly had a lot of fun here. It's tropey for sure, but I enjoy the narrative voice (very important, in a first person narration), and the action moves along with what I felt was pretty good momentum. The other thing I was worried about - that it'd feel too much like this was just ~commentary on/against Harry Potter~ without saying anything for itself - didn't materialize for me. I'm looking forward to reading the next ones.

The Monster Theory Reader ed. by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. I'm so rusty on my academic/theory reading and I felt it reading this collection, some of which was definitely better than others. Kristeva's essay on abjection was particularly rough as far as "I'm reading words and I know all the words but something about the order they're going in is just not making sense to me." Overall...it was a decent primer? There were a few very interesting essays in there; my favorite might've been the one on tanuki in modernizing Japan's folklore, but there were a couple on "monstrous" bodies that made me wish I had someone to discuss them with. That's probably my main problem reading academic works these days: I want a seminar to dissect them afterwards and I just don't have that.

The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel. I'm trying to read something Jewish on Shabbat now and finally getting around to reading some Heschel after years of meaning to. I thought "oh, I'll start easy with something nice and short" - yeah, no, Heschel's got a very particular style of writing and there's a lot of theological depth packed into a very short volume. I'm looking forward to reading The Prophets, though.

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 5 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. I think we're juuuuust about caught up now with the official translation to where I started reading the machine translation, so I'm very excited for (a) things I don't remember as well (b) reading it not in machine translation. Also looking forward to everything about what happened with Nangong Liu and Nangong Xu making more sense this time around, on account of not reading it machine translated, because I didn't follow it so well on my first read and I feel like I'm already doing better. (Though that could also be because it's a reread, no matter how different an experience of one.) Still feel real bad for Ye Wangxi, on so many levels. Mark that one down for 'characters I'd love to know more about what they're thinking.'

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang. I really enjoyed S.L. Huang's other work with the Cas Russell series, and I liked this book a little less than those. It felt like an almost winner, for me. Certainly I read through it quickly enough, and I can say I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'd give it an enthusiastic recommendation. It falls somewhere in the middle between "a fun action/adventure story" and "something I can sink my teeth into" in a way that didn't quite satisfy either itch. Still, it did make me curious about the source material, which is one of the Chinese classics (Water Margin) and I might go and find a place to read that, if I can; if I'd had that background going in I wonder if my experience of this work would've been more edifying.

--

I'm currently rereading A Memory Called Empire so I can (finally) read the sequel (A Desolation Called Peace); I also checked out from the library the next two Scholomance books so I'll be reading those. I'm going to try to throw some nonfiction somewhere in there (maybe The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman, which I also have out from the library, but maybe something else), but I've still got the sequel to The First Sister sitting on my shelf (also from the library).

Outside of that I've got no big reading plans - I'm working my way through some of the unreads on my own shelf (despite what it may look like, about the library books) and eyeing The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky or a reread of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett so I can continue that series.

#long post for ts #reading recaps #sometimes i read things #sometimes i wonder if i should have more like. summary information on what books are about #but i am lazy and also that's not really the point #important text posts

[utilitycaster]

fascinating how some people are acting like Liliana’s one of the vulnerable teenagers the RV has recruited and not a powerful, presumably level 20 general who’s committed horrific atrocities in the name of predathos. it’s like saying alex jones is a victim of qanon instead one of the primary peddlers of it. I get having sympathy, especially for for the troubled young mother 25+ years ago, but genuinely. what is going on here?

Hey anon,

Something I've noticed in fandom, not exclusive to this campaign, though perhaps heightened, is that a lot of people really struggle with the concept that victimhood does not absolve you of wrongdoing. It provides context; but it doesn't take away what happened to others as the result of one's actions, even those actions were taken under extenuating circumstances.

Caleb Widogast is perhaps one of the most stellar examples of this in Critical Role. There were many extenuating circumstances. He was an abused and manipulated teenager. His parents are dead by his hand. These are both true statements. Part of what makes Caleb so compelling is that he is, on an intellectual level, well aware that he was pushed into this in many ways both psychological and magical, and that he was a child. He also acknowledges - truthfully - that it was still him putting the pieces together of "my parents are traitors, and so I should do as I'm told here." The story is about him finding a way to move forward and live his life, but the victims - his parents - cannot forgive him, and the campaign indeed ends with a very clear message that what is done cannot be undone.

But not everyone liked Caleb's story. Some felt he should have been less forgiving of others and killed the entire Cerberus Assembly for letting it happen. Some felt he was unforgivable even by himself for his actions. And some disagreed with him - including in-world - and argued he bore no responsibility, and, notably, Caleb consistently pushed back.

I don't think Liliana is quite at the level of Alex Jones (who is, in my opinion, pretty much wholly unsympathetic; I've read through some articles regarding the Sandy Hook defamation trials and this guy just wants to sell supplements and will do anything to do so). But yes, she is comparable to someone actively pushing dangerous conspiracy theories and bringing others in. That is, again, the thing about cults. Even if you're not at the top, if you're recruiting others, or, in the case of cults that do harm to those other than just members - which the Vanguard undeniably does - participating in harmful external actions, then you are perpetrating violence. You are also a victim. These can coexist, but victimhood does not negate the harm done. Liliana is sympathetic. She is also actively making the lives of many people worse.

Now, some of the problem is that there are people who think releasing Predathos is not, in fact, bad, and so to them Liliana is not complicit in a sufficient level of harm. I'm not really interested in wasting my time on them; that line of thinking is pretty fundamentally at an impasse with mine and as discussed previously I find it rests entirely on incoherent and presumptive arguments linked only by broken metaphors and rank hypocrisy. But moving on, I think some of the other people arguing in defense of Liliana not just as a sympathetic character (which, again, she is) but as someone blameless and deserving of endless patience are perhaps struggling to separate "it is not helpful to endlessly flagellate yourself over past wrongdoings if you have truly made a turn for the better" with "some people will not forgive you, ever, because you have undeniably harmed them, and you are not owed anything from them." You have to live with yourself; of course you should grant yourself patience. Those hurt by you do not need to do so. If someone is brainwashed by a cult and they kill someone, the relatives of the murder victim might forever hold this against the murderer despite the brainwashing, and I, personally, do not believe this is wrong of them. I don't believe it's "inspirational" to forgive someone who hurt you sufficiently badly except in the sense that it would be put in the "inspirational" section of an airport bookstore that really means "extremely Evangelical Protestant in outlook." I don't think you should hurt them back once they've stopped doing harm, but you might never want to speak to them or interact with them again and I think you are valid in that choice. I certainly believe that any forgiveness can only come after a sustained pattern of change.

In short: I think people want a very Good or Evil narrative about Liliana when the answer is "she's a victim and she's also victimizing others, and it's valid for those harmed by her or by those she works with closely to say "I am deeply sorry you fell into Ludinus's clutches but the devastation you are leaving in your wake isn't something I can ignore or, at this point, forgive." As Ashton says, the fact that Liliana is deep in a cult doesn't negate the fact that there's a very real chance that same cult will kill her daughter - indeed, they came within a hair's breadth of doing so - and that that hasn't stopped her.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

[mr-and-mr-diaz]

My thoughts on 7x06:

KEVIN AND CHIMNEY YOU HAVE MY WHOLE HEART

This was basically Chimney's version of a coma episode

The episode wasn't as confused and muddled as I was expecting, which was great! Was super coherent, unlike the acid trip of 7x05

However, the episode still had a rushed feeling to it, and not in a "satisfying fast clip" kinda way, more the "OMG so much to cover so little time ahhhhh" kinda way.

Kenneth Choi and Jennifer Love Hewitt are GREAT actors!! Really brought all the feels

LOVE how stripped back and simple Madney's wedding was in the end. Somehow that was SO THEM. And Bobby officiating was chef's kiss.

Buck outing himself with a soot beard was VERY HIM. My guy you don't got 2 brain cells to rub together (affectionate)

Buddie partying it up in the beginning is even more hilarious now that we know that they didn't lose track of Chimney, lol he was never there

No one else was there, really. Everyone ditched except Eddie. And so the two bisexually dressed men enjoyed someone else's bachelor party wrapped up in each other (I HAVE THOUGHTSSSS)

I still don't care for Tommy beyond a vague "he's nice." Happy for Buck's journey though, but praying bucktommy isn't endgame, at the end of the day it's just one more rushed, underdeveloped relationship for Buck, the fact that it's with a man, while cool, doesn't change that underlying emptiness of an underdeveloped relationship with someone who isn't the person I've been rooting for and they've been building for actual YEARS.

Hot take: Tommy has better chemistry with Eddie than he does with Buck. Not that I ship Eddie and Tommy, this is more a roundabout way of saying I genuinely don't see much chemistry between bucktommy tbh. Like the writers mashing 2 Ken dolls together. And this isn't me talking smack, I'm just observing what I see. Like the kiss was well timed and well executed, but it didn't make me sHivEr the way it does with two actors who SPARK, you know what I mean? (examples of kisses that SPARKED: RWRB first kiss, timlucy from The Rookie is a great example (when that happened I held my freaking breath), Oliver and Felicity from Flash was INSANE. Like you know when the magic is there, and for these two... they're cute? But they're not IT.)

As long as I'm dropping hot takes: Hen saying "It's about time" felt very fanfiction-y to me. Like it's likely that she's observed a thing or two (she's sharp and has eyes and gets to watch buddie hanging out FREQUENTLY) but narratively and on-screen there were no breadcrumbs leading us to that moment. There was never a moment we saw onscreen where she was wondering "huh, I think Buck is bi," even by dint of facial expression, which means that moment wasn't paying off anything, and because of that it felt so... fanservice-y.

#911 spoilers #madney #buddie #bathena #henren #madney wedding #7x06

[kismet-cat]

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot is how Jowd and Yomiel are parallel to each other. They’re both so stuck in worldviews that are blatantly wrong- Jowd thinking everything is his fault, and Yomiel thinking everything is the fault of everyone BUT him. To an outside observer, both these views are totally stupid, but the two of them feel like they HAVE to believe it or else everything they’re doing will be for nothing. If jowd is wrong, that means kamila did it, and he can’t let himself believe his kid could do that, it would destroy him. He’s so willing to take on the guilt because he feels responsible for not stopping the tragedy- even when it was literally impossible for him to foresee or stop. If Yomiel is wrong, then it means that literally everything he’s been doing since dying is useless and he’s the one responsible for the deaths of both Sissels, and he can’t believe that or he’ll sink even further down. So the two of them both push on, warping the truth until it suits their narratives, both of which are steeped in self-hatred. It’s a good thing they never met up before their respective character developments- like Yomiel said, Jowd would have loved to be executed by his own daughter. Sorry for talking so much I just think they’re fascinating!!! I love ghost trick!!!

No need to apologize, I love hearing other people's Ghost Trick takes/analysis! Especially along these lines!

This specific parallel is def one I've thought about too, and you put it very well! For me, it all comes back to the set of questions I posed in this post as being at the core of Ghost Trick's story:

1. When something terrible happens to you, what do you do with that trauma? 2. When you do something terrible, when you make a terrible mistake, what do you do with that guilt?

Like you said, Jowd is a person who, in response to both questions, internalizes all the blame; whereas Yomiel, in response to both (pre Chapter 17), externalizes all his hatred. And yes, from an outside perspective they're kind of ridiculous — just look at how many chatters in the secret sleepover society streams (and other lps I've watched) have been reacting to Jowd as a character.

But one of the things fiction arguably exists for is to present characters that take such ideas to such extremes for the sake of exploring those questions and making a greater point; it's the premise "What if there was guy who ___? Wouldn't that be fucked up or what?". And for me (and a lot of people, clearly) Ghost Trick succeeds in getting you to take those characters seriously, because they and the people around them take their own stakes seriously, while ultimately making it clear that their responses were irrational.

...And hey, while I'm here:

Cabanela's answer to the second question is to bury all evidence of it, to Not Think About It, to become (or at least project the image of) a person who would never make that kind of mistake. Meanwhile, his answer to the first question, if we say the terrible thing in question is his best friend confessing to killing his wife and asking to be executed, is to dedicate himself to trying to undo it, to set things right, everything else in his life be damned.

These answers are "better" than Jowd's and Yomiel's — they certainly cause less extreme collateral damage — but they still aren't ideal. After all, Ghost Trick is a game that highly values the forging/maintaining of bonds with others and being honest/open with them as the key to both parties' success. It's what saves the day in the end. Without Sissel, all Cabanela's efforts to save Jowd and protect Lynne would have amounted to nothing.

No, the person with the "correct" answer is Lynne. She doesn't really have to grapple with the second question (which is maybe my personal biggest disappointment with her character), but her answer to the first question is clear: Become the kind of person who prevents such things from happening to others, or who can be the one to help them when it does. Always believe in people, and in the ability of things to turn out right.

Now, it must be said: the reason she comes to this answer is not because she was born a perfect idealist. It's because, in that worst moment of her life, someone was there to save and then reassure her; to inspire her. Jowd.

It's her truth, but it's not, say, Yomiel's.

But. It's a truth that inspires the rest of the cast (Sissel and Jowd primarily). And, because of her insistence in it, they're able to go back, defy fate, and make it The Truth of the narrative.

(Sissel similarly only has to really deal with the first question because Reasons, and his answer evolves over the course of the game, from "focus on the wrong that was done to you and what you can do to make yourself feel better about it above everything and everyone else" (doesn't that sound familiar?) to be more aligned with Lynne: "use what you learned/gained from that unfortunate occurrence to help others". And Missile is basically on the "right" wavelength the whole time, which is why everyone agrees he's the Bestest Boy.)

#ghost trick #ghost trick: phantom detective #ghost trick spoilers #yomiel #jowd #cabanela #lynne #sissel #missile #ask time! #analysis #tl;dr all the main characters in ghost trick have a unique perspective on (at least one of) these 2 questions that make up the game's core #and their answers illuminate the Game's perspective from different angles #it's so cool! and so good!

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

I know you made jamie as a boy dad hcs but can you please please make jamie as a girl dad hcs too? (Cuz, unpopular opinion, i think he'd make a killer girl dad)

of course! i've always head canoned he has a daughter and a son bc i don't get boy dad vibes or girl dad vibes like for nash (girl dad vibes obvously). hope you like them <3.

they are both obsessed with food and love trying new things out. they would go visit all of these exotic food places just to try new things out together. they also aren't afraid to try new things at restaurants, etc.

they'd go to the pet shelter together to see animals bc avery doesn't want them to get a pet (she knows they're too irresponsible)

she wouldn't want to spend a second away from her father. she would hang onto his leg really tight whenever he was planning on going out so that he'd bring her with him. he'd always be walking around with his daughter hanging onto him.

he'd try to get along (and he'd succeed) with all of her friends and partners (i hc his daughter is bi).

when she was like five and would get mad at her father, she would ask him to crouch so that she could smack him in the back of his head with her tiny hands and then she'd walk away harrumphing.

we know jameson absolutely loves rock climbing, and i hc that she would learn how to so that rock climbing could become their father-daughter bonding activity.

she would love getting her nails painted and would get jamie to do it bc he was better than avery.

speaking of getting your nails painted, she'd never ask him to, but he'd always paint his nails the same color as his daughter so that they'd match.

she hates it when people read her bedtime stories because she prefers having her dad tell her about his crazy adventures. according to her, bedtime stories are boring.

they are suckers for movies and tv shows, especially shows like game of thrones and the witcher. they make a huge thing out of it. every week on fridays and/or saturdays, they binge watch things on tv with the biggest assortment of candy and popcorn you've ever seen.

his daughter would end up having avery's hair and facial structure (brown and wavy with natural highlights), but would have jameson's eyes.

she'd be really interested in photography (her interest in it came from grayson) and would ask jameson to ask grayson to teach her bc she was too scared (gray was surprised to hear she was scared to ask him, and made sure she knew that he would do anything for his nieces and nephews) (oh and he'd say yes)

i can also imagine her being really into robotics. she'd constantly be asking jameson to hold things still for her or hold two pieces together. she'd be ordering him around like a puppy.

her first word was game or puzzle bc jameson is always saying it

they'd constantly be making pillow forts. they'd go all out. take whatever you're imagining in your head (if you're imagining anything) and make it 1491030 bigger because they would 100% try to beat the guinness world record for biggest pillow fort.

whenever she had a presentation or project on her idol, she'd most of the time pick her dad. he has always been and will always be her hero.

jameson would have an obsession with running his hands through her hair. she'd have to softest hair you could ever imagine. he'd have so much fun buying tons of little bows for her.

jameson would have a pinterest board for all of the outfit ideas he has for her.

jameson wouldn't play games like peek a boo with his daughter, he'd invent his own, more interesting games (idk what they would be) because he doesn't want to be an ordinary dad. also, i hc she wouldn't even like peek a boo

she'd hate going to school as a kid bc she'd be really shy. jameson would kiss her hand everyday before school and tell her that all of his courage was in that kiss, and that she was now even more invincible than before.

he'd be the type of dad who doesn't give a fuck if his daughter were to ask him to buy pads for her or smth. he wouldn't be embarrassed, he'd just head to the store and get her some.

i mentioned that she'd be really into robotics. when she was younger, she'd ask xander to help her make little gifts for her dad (not just for his birthday but also on random occasions simply bc she wanted him to know he was appreciated).

whenever she'd cry as a baby, no one would be able to comfort her and get her stop other than jameson. people thought he had magical baby hands or smth bc no matter what anyone else did, she never stopped.

she'd would refuse going to the doctors unless her father was there. she said it was because he was her source of courage and comfort, and that without him she wouldn't be able to do it. jameson would assure her that she'd be able to do it alone, and at some point (when she was like 10), she demanded to be alone in the doctors office cause she realized she was a girl boss and didn't need a man.

whenever she'd have trouble falling asleep, she'd get jamie to sing her a lullaby. she found his voice reassuring.

speaking of having trouble going to sleep, if jamie's singing didn't work, sleeping cuddled up in his arms always did. she used to say that his arms protected her for all of the bad things in the world, and, that, as long as she had him by his side, she'd be fine.

they'd buy matching sunglasses bc they were convinced it made them look cool.

he'd be the type of dad who hates keeping secrets. he would tell her everything (even if she didn't understand) bc he also hates it when people keep secrets from him and he isn't a hypocrite.

he'd most definitely be the type of dad to sit down for hours with his daughter helping her with her hmk. she hates being alone, and he knows this so he makes sure she has company as often as possible

he'd also be the type of dad to know the name of each and everyone of her friends, teachers, enemies. he'd gossip with her and talk shit about the people she hates.

that's it! hope you enjoyed these <3.

#the inheritance games #jameson hawthorne #grayson hawthorne #avery grambs #nash hawthorne #xander hawthorne

[nottapossum]

Itty Bitty Sinners 1.11

Possum: Sorry for the late update guys! Family stuff was going on and I got burnt out 🥲I've been struggling to write!But I hope it's okay anyway. It's just wrapping things up, nothing too exciting I don't think.Anywayzzz!

TW: Cursing, Valentino, hidden regression, hidding ones emotions, self doubt, OCD, pressure, sadness, anxiety, panic attacks, (only mentioned) and jazzy jazz jazz song 🎵 😀Lmk if I should add.

~~~Alastor and Niffty:~~~

Alastor returns to his room and gently shakes Niffty awake. “Niffty? Darling, you need to wake up.” Niffty wines. “Mmm why?” She asks. 

“Because you need to go to sleep, it's late.” Alastor says. “It's time for mouselings to be in bed.” 

“I'll sleep here.” Niffty says simply, as if she just solved a problem.

Alastor scoffs. “How very generous of you to offer up my bed to yourself; here's a counter offer: go to your room and sleep there.” Alastor tells her sternly.

Niffty rejects the offer. “No thank you, I want to stay here.”

“And where exactly do you expect me to sleep tonight?” Alastor asks her. 

Niffty shifts slightly and gestures next to her. “There's lots of room!” 

“My, you are so generous, Niffty.” Alastor rolls his eyes. 

Niffty hums. “Alastor?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Is Angel okay?” She asks.

“Angel is fine. I promise.” He says. 

“I'm sorry I stole the papers.” She says. 

“It's alright, dear. You didn't know what they were, did you?” Alastor asks.

Niffty shakes her head. “But I stole.”

“We're in hell, Niffty. There are greater sins.” Alastor says, sitting at his desk to write a letter. 

“Do you think Angel is mad at me?” Niffty asks. 

“Perhaps.” Alastor says, dipping his pen in ink. “But, he'll get over it.” 

“Alastor?” Niffty asks. 

“Yes, dear?” Alastor sighs, turning to her. 

“Can I please bother you just a bit longer?” She asks. “I was alone all day, I don't want to be alone anymore.”

Alastor pauses…

Niffty doesn't bother him. A part of him hates that she thinks that.

But it's better than her thinking he loves her or something. 

He hates to think he just abandoned her all day. He does care for the little mouse.

“Alright, you win. You can stay here tonight, I'll figure something out.” He says, seeming genuine.

“Will you read me a story?” Niffty asks. 

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Alastor asks her. “You had a long day. You need sleep.”

“Please?” Niffty begs. “I want to read babymouse!”

Alastor sighs. Of course she does. 

Alastor hated himself for this, but he felt as if he owed her this. 

He summons the book, and he sits beside Niffty to read it to her:

“Introducing babymouse; A sassy young mouse…

With an attitude problem.”

Niffty crawls onto his lap, happily listening to the story and looking at the pictures. “Hey!” She says, reading babymouse's text with a laugh. 

Graphic novels are strange in Alastor's opinion, but he reads on: “She dreams of becoming queen of the world…but would settle for an invite to Felicia Furrypaws’ slumber party.”

“I never been to a slumber party, have you, Alastor?” Niffty asks. 

“Can't say I have.” Alastor says. Unless staying at his aunts’ house when he was a child counts.

“No one liked me, so they never invited me to play.” Niffty says. 

Alastor's ears fall, but his smile remains. 

He doesn't understand how someone couldn't adore Niffty. She's a remarkable companion.

“Keep reading!” Niffty demands. 

“Apologies,” Alastor says, continuing the story. 

“Will Babymouse be invited? Will her best friend forgive her if she misses their monster movie marathon? Find out in Babymouse, queen of the world.” Alastor hums. “Few books have a synopsis before the actual book.” 

“What does Babymouse say?” Niffty asks, as if they haven't read this book a million times before. 

Alastor reads Babymouse's dialogue: “You could always just take a peek at the end of the book.” 

Alastor reads the narrators’ reply:  “That would be cheating, babymouse.” 

“You're supposed to do voices!” Niffty complains. 

“You know I don't do voices.” Alastor says to her. 

“Can you try?” Niffty asks. “It's more fun that way.” 

Alastor sighs. “Alright, alright.” 

He continues reading, doing his best to make his voice higher and lower so every character could sound different. 

Niffty eventually falls asleep…and Alastor doesn't have the heart to move her. 

So he stays and pets her head gently as she sleeps soundly. 

~~~Vaggie and Charlie: The next day~~~

“Well…yesterday sure was really something.” Charlie says. “I think it's a good thing this happened, breaking some walls down. In order to get to Angel's core.” She says. “I just hope I didn't break too many walls.” 

“I wouldn't worry about it. He seems fine.” Vaggie says. “I'm sorry I lashed out at him.”

“I know you were just being protective.” Charlie says. “I appreciate it. You've always been there for me. But, I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know. But, you don't have to anymore.” Vaggie says. 

Charlie smiles and tries not to cry…

Thinking about how alone she felt before she met her wonderful girlfriend. 

Vaggie smiles at Charlie, too, but she doesn't dwell on the moment. “So, hey, I was looking over the test answers…as it turns out Alastors’ test isn't the only test with unanswered questions.”

Charlie tilts her head. “What do you mean?” 

“Take a quick glance through Niffty's answers.” Vaggie hands Charlie Niffty's test.

Charlie takes it and starts to look through it… “oh. Wow.”

Half the test was just scribbles of nothingness - 

She automatically assumed Niffty's test was unreadable because of her…peculiar nature. But, it looks like Niffty purposely sabotaged every other answer. 

“Why would she purposefully sabotage her test?” Charlie asks. 

“I mean, it's not exactly easy to admit when you're a regressor, you know?” Vaggie asks. “You're basically admitting that sometimes you need help. That's not an easy thing to ask for.”

Charlie nods. “Yeah…trust me, I get that. Do you think we should talk to Niffty about this?” 

“You're asking me?” Vaggie asks. 

“Of course, I go overboard sometimes. You're a lot better at understanding boundaries. It’s the balance I need.” 

Vaggie considers it. “Well, it can't hurt to talk to her. Maybe there's something more going on. Like with Angel.” Vaggie says. 

“Angel! Right. I have to give him his test, and then we can talk to Niffty together. Sound good?” Charlie asks.

Vaggie nods. “Sure, why not?”

~~~Pentious, Angel, and Husk:~~~

Angel and Husk were helping Pentious rebuild his Lego set. 

“Sssso, none of you care if I'm a little or not? You don't think it's…weird?” Pentious asks them. 

“That would be awfully hypocritical, don't you think?” Angel asks. “Considering I'm also a regressor?”

“We're friends, Pen.” Husk adds. “Of course, I think you're weird.” 

Pentious isn't sure what Husk means by that. He and Angel both look at him. 

“In the best way possible.” Husk adds to reassure them both. 

“I was worried what you both may think about it.” Pentious admits. “Especially when I don't know what to think about it myself.” 

“You don't need to be ashamed of who you are, Pen.” Husk says. “If regressing helps you, or it just makes you happy, then it's great, and you should be proud of yourself for doing it.” Husk says, trying to be encouraging. He's not used to lifting people up. 

Pentious smiles. 

“Yeah, also, trust me, there's way worse things out there than enjoying toys and cartoons as an adult.” Angel adds. “There's nothing you can tell me that would make me think less of you. So don't worry so much about it.” 

Pentious nods. “Thank you.” 

Angel doesn't want to continue this awkward conversation, so he changes the subject. “So, this is what you do while regressing? Build small buildings?” Angel asks, placing a few pieces onto the structure.

“Well, yes. Sometimes. It's fun and relaxing.” Pentious says. 

“And annoying, I've done this page five times!” Angel complains. “How can you possibly relax with this?” 

“Perhaps you need a less complicated set, I'm sure they make some meant for smaller children.” Pentious mocks. 

Husk chuckles, and Angel rolls his eyes. 

But Angel finds himself smiling. He sorta missed being in a trio like this…it was comforting. 

“What do you do when you regress?” Pentious asks him. 

Angel tenses. “Uhh, well-” 

“Angel, everything is set up for you…if you're ready.” Charlie tells him.

Angel looks at Charlie and nods. “Okay, I'll be there in a second.” 

Charlie gives him a thumbs up and heads to her office. 

Thank Satan, Angel wasn't sure he was ready to talk about his little self's hobbies of watching peppa Pig and crying himself to sleep. 

Angel gets up off the floor to walk to Charlie's office when Husk stops him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, good luck.”

Angel smiles. “Thanks, Husk.”

“The test is relatively easy. There's nothing to fear.” Pentious tells him. 

Angel smiles at Pentious and walks over to Charlie's office. 

Once the door closes, Charlie asks: “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this, Angel?”

Angel nods. “I mean, you already know I regress. What's the harm in it?” He asks.

Plus, he felt it was only fair. Maybe actually taking the test could help them forgive him? Proving he's actually serious about this redemption stuff? 

“If you're sure.” She shrugs.

 She hands him a piece of paper. “Here’s the test. If you have any questions, just let me know, okay?” 

Angel nods. “Alright.”

Charlie has printed out another test. She picks it up and smiles at him. “Call me if you need anything.” 

And with that, she leaves him alone to his test…

He looks at the first question...

‘What's your gender?’

Da fuck? 

 Who could possibly have an answer for that!? 

~~~Niffty and Charlie:~~~~

Alastor and Niffty had a late start that morning, so Niffty felt way behind on cleaning!

She had so much to do! 

So much to clean!

She's gotta clean! 

Gotta clean everything!!

“Niffty!”

Niffty looks behind her to find a smiling Charlie. 

“There you are! Would you mind if Vaggie and I talked to you about something?” She asks. 

Niffty nods and follows her wordlessly. 

What could she possibly want? 

What did she do? 

Was this about yesterday? 

Oh no! 

They're going to kick her out!

They can't do that! 

Only Alastor can kick her out! And he would never do that!

“Charlie?” Niffty asks nervously as they make it to the princesses bedroom. 

“Yeah?” 

“Am I in trouble?” Niffty asks. 

“Oh no, not at all.” Charlie promises. “We just want to talk about the classification test, okay? You're not in any trouble.” 

Niffty nods. “Mmm. Okay. I guess.” Niffty says, feeling a little anxious. 

“We have a feeling that maybe you weren't a hundred percent honest on the test.” Vaggie says. 

Niffty frowns. "Hm?" 

“It's okay, we just want to know why you wouldn't answer some of the questions.” Charlie says. "Half of them are either scribbles or completely blank." 

Niffty shifted in her seat awkwardly. “I- you, you can't know…" she mumbles. 

“Can't know what?” Charlie asks.

“You'll hate me…and think I'm weird! Like they all did!” Niffty says sadly. 

“We already think you’re weird.” Vaggie says.

“But we care so much for you. We want to take care of you.” Charlie says. “Don't you want someone to take care of you?” 

Niffty shrugs. “But that's my job.” She says.

“What?”

“To take care of things.” She says. “It's my job…right?” 

Charlie frowns. “Niffty, everyone needs being taken care of sometimes. You deserve to be taken care of too.” She says. 

Niffty frowns. “But…I can't be the mess!" She whines. 

"The...mess?" Charlie asks.

Niffty nods. "I take care of the mess, I can't be the mess!” 

"You're not a mess, Niffty." Charlie says. "You don't have to take the test if you don't want to...but we would never think less of you if you're classified as something different. We love you just the way you are." 

Niffty looks up at her. "Really?" 

"Of course." Charlie says. "This hotel wouldn't be the same without your creative and clenly nature." 

Niffty smiles. 

“How about this, we can go over the test together, no matter what happens, we will not think of you any differently. We love you and no matter what it says, it'll stay that way.” She promises. 

Niffty nods. “Okay.”

She trusted them. 

She just hopes that's not a mistake. 

~~~Everyone: Later~~~

Husk is cleaning glasses at the bar while Pentious and Angel are waiting in the main room. 

Angel keeps getting up, pacing anxiously, then sitting back down. He can't seem to sit still. 

“Are you alright, Angel?” Pentious asks.

“I'm fine.” He says, his voice irritated, he can’t seem to calm his fucking nerves!

So, Husk, noticing this, does something in an attempt to distract Angel. 

He turns on the radio: “I've got you, under my skin.” The radio sings. 

“I've got you deep in the heart of me.” Husk starts to sing along. “You're so deep in my heart, you're really a part of me. I've got you under my skin.” ~ 

Angel stops pacing and looks over at Husk.

“I've tried so, not to give in. I've said to myself, this affair never will go so well.” Husk continued, looking at Angel with a smile and a wink. 

“But why should I try to resist, darling I know so well?” Angel starts singing along. 

“I've got you, under my skin.” Angel and Husk sing at the same time.

Pentious smiles at the two, not familiar with this song, but finds the two entertaining. 

Alastor walks downstairs with Niffty following him. 

Alastor smiles brighter, deciding to interrupt their little duet. “I'd sacrifice anything come what might. For the sake of havin' you near, in spite of a warnin' voice that comes in the night

And repeats- repeats in my ear.” ~  

Husk offers his hand to Angel who takes it so they start dancing. 

Husk continues to sing, more so to Angel. “Don't you know, little fool, you never can win? Use your mentality, wake up to reality!” 

“But each time that I do just the thought of you

makes me stop before I begin.” Angel sings next.

Charlie and Vaggie walk out of the office with the results. 

“Cause I've got you under my skin!” All three guys sing. 

“Guys, be careful. Your 1900s are showing.” Vaggie mocks. 

“Hey, don't blame us because your music isn't as good as ours.” Angel says. 

“I always forget how young you all are.” Pentious says.

Alastor scoffs. “For your information, I died in the 1930s.” Alastor says, offended. 

“I died in the 1880s.” Pentious says, one-upping Alastor who glares at him like a child. 

“Mid to late 1940s… I think?” Angel adds. “Death was a little blurry.” 

“1970s for me.” Husk says. 

“So, I'm the oldest among you all?” Pentious asks. 

“I was seventy when I died.” Husk says. 

“That hardly counts.” Angel says. “We're practically the same age.” 

“What year were you born?” Husk asks.

“19….uhhhh.” Angel tried doing the math…it was so long ago! 

“How old were you when you died?” Husk asks.

“Thirty something?” Angel guessed. 

“So, you would have been born around the 1910s. I was born in the early 1900s. That's a ten year age gap.” 

“Well…I've been hell longer than you.” Angel says, crossing his arms. 

“How is that relevant?” Husk asks. 

“I have more experience!” Angel explains. 

Husk scoffs. “Please.” 

“I hate to break up this very interesting conversation, but we got both your test results.” Charlie says. 

Angel stands up as she hands him and Niffty each an envelope. 

Angel takes it and takes a deep breath.

Pentious and Husk look at him, then look away. 

Alastor's eyes were only on Niffty, smiling genuinely to comfort her.

Angel rips open the envelope…

“You want some space?” Husk asks. 

Angel shakes his head. “No, I know all of your results, I trust you to know mine.” 

The two smile as Angel opens the envelope and looks through it. 

“Well?” Pentious asks. 

“Seventy percent Little, thirty percent Guardian.” 

Niffty runs over to Angel: “Angel, Angel, Angel! Open mine! Open mine next!!”

Angel takes the envelope from her. “Are you sure?”

“Mhm, what does it say- read it!” She tells him.

“Okay,” Angel opens Niffty's letter. “It says you're fifty percent a pet regressor and fifty percent a Handler. 

“Is that good?” Niffty asks. 

Alastor pets her head. “It’s perfect, My dear.”

“Who knew our favorite Handler was also a little pet regressor?” Charlie says, smiling at Niffty who was also smiling back.

“Well, that's no surprise.” Alastor says. “I've been taking care of the little rat for years.” 

“Wait wait wait- what?” Vaggie asks him.

“What did you just call her?” Charlie asks. 

Alastor thinks for a moment. “...Rat.”

“She's a mouse regressor?!” Charlie asks, gasping. 

“Charlie, remember what I said about going crazy about little ones?” Vaggie asks. 

“That's so cute!” Charlie says in awe. 

Niffty smiles! 

This was her home, where she belongs!

No one was going to judge her again.

Angel's phone goes off, which causes everyone to look at him. 

Angel looks at who it is…and sure enough.

It's fucking Val.

Ange ignores the call and looks up at the worried faces that surround him.

Angel chuckles awkwardly. “Potential spam.” He lies and everyone seems relieved. 

…

~~~Angel:~~~

Throughout the day, Angel's phone continues to go off: 

‘Angel! Answer your phone!’ 

‘Angel, baby. Why didn't you show up for work today? Are you alright? You know how I worry.’

‘Angel, you'd better be at work tomorrow or so help me, I will make you pay for it!’

Val's texts don't stop…

His phone goes off again and again.

Tomorrow is really going to suck!

He looks over at the others, laughing and talking…

Val can do whatever he wants. He can have tomorrow, but Angel has today!

~~~The hotel: Even Later~~~

“Okay, everyone. I brought you all here because I have something new and fun for you all!” Charlie announces. She gathered (dragged) everyone to the main room, so excited she's finally able to introduce them to the next step!

“These are regression journals! I made them especially for each of you! Inside you will find some super cool prompts, activities, and mood trackers! These can be especially helpful for your caregivers- for those who have them I mean.”

Charlie opens her own journal to show them what's inside: 

“On the top you will write your name and the date, and down here you will answer these questions so we'll get a good idea of your progress and how you're feeling. The daily mood tracker for example:” 

“I am ____ years old today.

Today I (action, explain your day):

Today I'm feeling: 

I want ___ to know:”

“Now, this can be anyone.” Charlie explains further. “A friend, a caregiver, another little. If you're having trouble communicating, sometimes writing something down is easier, for example: if I'm the one writing in the journal. I can write, I want Vaggie to know that I love her. Or I want Vaggie to know that I want to be held.” 

"We have also provided some personalized stickers in case anyone is too little to write down how they're feeling, but feel free to ask me or Charlie if you ever need help.” Vaggie explains, showing them the stickers.

“There are also super fun activities inside! Coloring pages, worksheets, and some grounding techniques for help with anxiety and panic attacks, and a guide to help you regress if you need it.” Charlie explains. 

Pentious's journal was decorated in gear and dog stickers, smiling faces, and small doodles Charlie must have drawn on. 

Niffty's was decorated in mouse stickers, it was covered in glitter and small positive messages from Charlie. 

And Angel's was covered in hearts, piggy stickers, and pink glow in the dark spider webs. 

The three of them looked over their journals, while Vaggie answered the million questions Niffty had about it.

Charlie smiles as walks upstairs and knocks on Alastor's door. 

When she doesn't get an answer right away, she was going to just leave her gift and 

“Charlie?” Alastor asks, opening the door at last. “Can I help you, my dear?”

He was probably in  his woods or something.

Charlie hands him the journal. “This is for you.”

Alastor hesitates, but he takes it.

‘Alastor's regression journal.’

Alastor rolls his eyes. “This is very kind, Charlie. But I don't-” 

“I want you to keep it. Even if you're not a little.” Charlie says to him. “If you don't like it, just don't use it.”

Alastor looks over the journal, but he doesn't open it. 

He doesn't need it. 

“But if you do regress,” Charlie continues, “keep it close to you, you don't have to share it with anyone you don't want to.” She says. “But, you can always share with me if you want to. I'm always here for you if you need me.”

Alastor sighs. “Charlie-”

“Don't say anything!” Charlie says. “I'm going back downstairs, we never had this conversation.” 

Charlie turns away and walks downstairs without another word. 

Alastor tilted his head at her, but said nothing as he was asked. He walks back into his room with a sigh. 

He never should have taken that test- the hell was he thinking? 

Well, he was regressed at the time,thinking it was some hilarious joke. 

He shoves the small notebook in a drawer, he'll never need it! 

~~~Alastor:~~~

Name: Alastor

“I am ‘don't know’  years old today. Today I (action, explain your day): 

Smiled all day long, ate a deer, and magict!

Today I'm feeling: Sad. But only inside. Outside I'm happy as a lark.

I want 'Rosie' to know: I miss you. 

His shadow smiled, looking down. At the journal entry. 

Alastor just hopes he can show Rosie soon! She'd really like this! 

:)

♤

♡

♧

'Don't you know, little foolYou never can winWhy not use your mentalityStep up, wake up to realityBut each time I do just the thought of youMakes me stop just before I begin'Cause I've got you under my skinYes, I've got you under my skin.' ~Cole Porter

Part 1 is complete! 🎉Part 2 will be focused on Angel, Niffty, and Clara! I hope you're all as excited as me!I've had the idea for the journals for years! It was part of a draft in my old sander sides fanfic! I loved the idea but didn't end up finishing the book. So, I used it here too.

@todayimfour @babiegurlmuffin @ask-dusty-boy @im-not-paying-my-taxes @trophyxtissues2 @abby5577

#ittybittysinners #hazbin hotel agere #hazbin hotel age regression #Mouse regressor Niffty #Pet regressor Niffty #Little!Alastor

[friendlysociopath]

Been cooking a nice little piece of smut up, because I fell into the ghoulfucker rabbit hole again, but then somehow a fucking plot appeared and I'm impatient, because this one's becoming a long fuckin' ride, so here's a snippet.

Gn reader (anyone can love a ghoul)/Cooper Howard, one sided John Hancock/gn reader

Reader's a Deathclaw hunter here. Hey, Cooper's left them behind. They needed to drown their sorrows in blood and adrenaline.

Nothing nsfw here. Yet.

*** It's the 5th cigarette he's lighting when he feels Dogmeat pushing at his hand and hears Lucy's light steps on the stairs next to him. He doesn't want to look up, doesn't want to see pity in her eyes.

"That's it? We came all this way for you to leave your 'thing' behind?"

"You know, vaultie... sometimes your 'things' get stolen and there's ain't nothin' you can do 'bout it."

"Well, I doubt that your 'thing' got stolen, it's just waiting there 'unclaimed', because 'it' is nobody's right now." Lucy stomps impatiently, and now Cooper's genuinely lost as he's looking up at the girl.

"The hell are you on about, Vaultie? Rads got to your head?"

"Aaaah, come on now! I'm not stupid! I know that your 'thing' is not a 'thing' but the hunter you kept making doe eyes at. No, shush, and listen to me! Your hunter is not- that, that other ghoul is their friend. I've stayed to watch them interact, and then I had to go over because they'd been making murder eyes at me because they thought I was your, your 'thing' now, which just, no, and then we talked with the other Ghoul, John by the way, when the hunter went to the washroom. And we just, we cleared things up. They are friends, or like, like siblings, that's what I would call them. But not, they are not a 'thing'."

She takes a deep breath after her rant, muttering something about "almost fainting", as Cooper's trying to decode and make sense of everything she's said.

He gets up lightning fast as realisation settles, stomping his half-smoken cigarette out as he walks back to the bar. He's stepping in with slow, measured steps, not wanting to make the other patrons think that he's there to cause trouble. And he does want to stay unnoticed by your band of misfits for a bit, only to give him room to watch you interact with John. There are a lot of touches alright, and you are close, closer than Cooper's comfortable with. But he can see how those touches differ from a lover's, how they are more on the playful side. How you'd swat his arm or jab your elbow into his stomach at some things he's saying, how the Ghoul would push your arm away just as playfully. It's not what Cooper wants. He wants something more, something that would make him burn with desire and he can only hope it's something that you'd still be willing to give him, accompanied by your heart... Hey, a Ghoul can be hopeful, can't he?

****

"You know, they did make a move on me, a few years back," John started as he sat down next to Cooper at the bar, his words eliciting a menacing growl from the other. "Hold your horses ghoul, because I can be just as viscious as you are." He grinned, jabbing the point of his knife into the countertop to punctuate his words. Nobody paid any attention to the action, just another day at a Wasteland bar. "But. I kindly turned that down. Not because I didn't want them," John's grin turned almost feral, and there was that growl from Cooper again, louder this time. "Not even because I think that they deserved someone better, it's not how hearts work. Hearts desire what they desire, we can't reason with them. I turned them down because I'm not the ghoul they wanted. It's not me they used to shed ugly tears for. It's not me who their heart's aching for. It's a stupid fucking idiot of a ghoul who can't fucking realize what he's thrown away." And this time, it's Hancock's turn to growl those words at him.

There's a bit more here now, because fuck order, I'm bringing chaos, darlin'.

Aaand there's an alternative (nsfw) sequel now, here.

#reader x cooper howard #cooper howard #cooper howard x reader #john hancock #one sided john hancock/reader #the ghoul #reader x the Ghoul #fallout fic #fallout x reader #gn reader x cooper howard #gn reader

[barcaatthemoon]

unlucky || alessia russo x reader ||

alessia gets sick and has to miss out on the conti cup final, bringing up some feelings for both of you.

one thing you had learned early on about alessia was that she was not as slick as she thought. you had noticed alessia coming down with whatever was going around the training grounds just a couple days before the game. the conti cup final was a big deal, and alessia wanted so badly to win with arsenal, but you knew that wasn't going to happen.

arsenal's chances were good, but there was no way that alessia was making it to the game. she had been bedridden the day before with a migrane and a fever. alessia played it off like a minor headache, but you could hear the whimpers whenever she thought you weren't paying attention.

that morning, alessia had gotten out of bed and dressed herself up for the game. she had nearly managed to make it out of the apartment without waking you up. the crash in the living room from alessia tripping over herself was more than enough to have you running into the living room. you weren't exactly surprised to find alessia sitting on the floor, but you were definitely disappointed.

"come on, back to bed with you." you reached out to help her up onto her feet. alessia looked utterly miserable as you dragged her back into the bedroom. "what were you thinking less? you're still burning up!"

"i've got a game, and it's an important one," alessia told you. "i can't miss this, it's the final."

"you don't have a choice, and neither do i. if you really want to go, we can watch and support our friends, but you aren't playing," you told her. alessia pouted as she settled back in the bed with you. as much as you wanted her to get better, you were somewhat grateful that she was still too sick to really argue with you.

alessia was fairly quick to fall back sleep, still dressed in her kit. you usually loved watching alessia sleep, but this wasn't the same. alessia tossed and turned in bed, never quite able to get comfortable. your heart ached for her, knowing that the look on her unconscious face wasn't just because of her illness.

winning with arsenal was a big deal to alessia. she wanted to hold that trophy up for the gunners alongside her team. it was all alessia had been talking about since she signed. the season had gone well, even if there had been quite a few wrenches thrown into the plan. each of those times, alessia had been the picture of optimistic, but today she seemed utterly defeated.

"hey, how are you feeling lovely?" you asked alessia as she started to wake up. she sounded a lot less congested, but you weren't going to suggest going to the game for her. if she felt up to it, you were sure that she'd say something to you.

"i feel like everything i've worked towards doesn't matter," alessia grumbled. you sighed as you turned onto your stomach. the look on alessia's face was even worse now that she was awake. you didn't think that you had seen her look so upset since the world cup final. "i don't get it. i work so hard all of the time. why can't i catch a fucking break?"

"lessi, baby," you sighed. you tried to move in to comfort her, but alessia slipped out of bed. "come back to bed, please. talk to me, i don't want you to shut down, please."

"no, i can't right now. just, please, give me a few minutes to myself. i'm going for a walk," alessia said. you watched as she put a hoodie on to cover up her jersey. it was hard to watch alessia just walk out like that, but you knew that you had to give her space. she didn't ask for it often, and you knew better than to try and get close when she resorted to that.

you tried to stay in the bedroom, but you couldn't just sit there and wait for her all afternoon. it was hard, but you managed to get through most of your afternoon with alessia gone. she had sent you a couple of texts promising that she'd be fine, but that didn't stop your worrying. it didn't help that alessia's walk out turned into a pint before she made her way to the stadium to watch the game.

a part of you wanted to go and support your club, but you stayed in the apartment. you felt like alessia's bad luck was all your fault. the only times in the decade that you'd known her that she had gotten like this was after the two of you had begun seeing each other. it was like every single loss in alessia's life was your fault. she had hit a string of bad luck, and you were at the center of it.

sometime during the game, you had pulled out a few bottles of alcohol from the fridge. by the end of the game, you were definitely way past tipsy. you laid your head down, prepared to rest for a moment before you called the girls to congratulate them. instead, you completely passed out, only to wake up to alessia carrying you back into the bedroom in the middle of the night.

"less?" you cracked your eyes open. your head was killing you already, as if the alcohol had worn off just enough to give you a taste of what you'd get in the morning. "what time is it?"

"it's just a bit past 10. sorry that i stayed out so long," alessia apologized. she laid you down in the bed and pressed a kiss to your forehead. "the girls missed you in the locker room. katie tried to facetime you, she thought something was wrong."

"something is wrong, and it's all my fault. i'm like your little bad luck charm," you mumbled. you never would have said that sober, and alessia tried not to think about how long you had felt that way. "all the bad things happen because of me, and i'm sorry. you should leave me, find yourself a lucky girl because i'm like a goddamn black cat."

"i don't want a lucky girl. i don't think you're unlucky at all, not one bit," alessia told you. she pressed a kiss to the top of your head as the two of you settled down comfortably. you knew that it'd only be for a moment, but you were happy in her arms. "you didn't get me sick. in fact, you took off from your recovery to help me get better today. any time that i need something, you practically trip over yourself to get it for me."

"excuse me, but we are not all as clumsy as you, ma'am," you joked. alessia shoved your shoulder as you laughed at your own joke. "i'd do anything for you. missing today hurt me too, but i'm glad that you went to watch the game instead of getting drunk like me."

"oh my god, i'm an idiot!" alessia exclaimed. you flinched at the sudden shouting fit, which alessia quietly apologized for as she gave you a quick squeeze.

"i don't think you're an idiot, less." you leaned up to press a kiss to her cheek.

"you're injured. you've been injured for months now, and i miss one game because of a cold and i bitch all about it. i'm so sorry, i didn't even think about your feelings. how could i be so inconsiderate?" alessia looked like she was about to cry as she came to the realization that she had moped around for most of the day with you. you had gotten used to knowing that you'd miss things because of your injury, and alessia was always painfully careful about the things she chose to celebrate.

"don't beat yourself up, it's fine. i knew when i went down that it wasn't going to be on the six weeks side of things. this was big for you, and it was your dream to win with arsenal. you had to sit out on this game, but by this time next year, you won't remember how bad it felt when you're scoring hat tricks left and right," you said. alessia smiled, and you knew that she was thinking about that feeling. "but before you can do any of that, you've got to rest and get better."

"i don't know what i'd do without you sometimes," alessia admitted. she felt a bit foolish about how she had acted earlier, even if you repeatedly let her know that her feelings were valid.

#woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso imagine #alessia russo imagine #alessia russo x reader

[sageistrii]

I have been entertaining the thought that RM demanded a solid promotional campaign and rollout since he’s been witness to everything that panned out last year. He watched from the sidelines JK getting posters, ads, promotion videos, playlisting, radio, influencer collaborations, media play and more. And I believe RM is someone who understands charts a fair bit. He watched one of them get everything on a silver platter and now probably wants a better package for himself too. Good for him. I hope everyone gets it. They still won’t get the scooter package, but anything is better than nothing. I hope JM gets it too. He’s gonna go to new heights with a half decent, unsaboataged album rollout.

Yeah so far his promo looks better than for indigo, not necessarily because of the posters alone but because I've seen a couple press releases giving insight into the album, and that's always a good way to drum up excitement.

But in my opinion all that doesn't do much if he's not getting the basics, the things that actually drives streams up and help with chart positions, which is good playlisting. What's the point of doing these things that only armys are going care about if they aren't doing the stuff that will get his music to a broader audience.

If a TTH placement wasn't the most important of all, some hybe artists wouldn't be getting it for every release and spending months on there.

Also I saw a lot of armys saying new jeans got the playlisting and support that BTS solos didn't get, and I agree but do they also forget that one member got more than new jeans ever got which means that Hybe could give it to the other members but they don't want to?. Like I understand saying "oh this rookie group got this but not bts", but I'm not going to blame a group of young girls for a decision hybe made themselves. Yes mhj is a leech, but I highly doubt she stopped bang pd from giving the others playlisting. Armys talking about payola when when jk is literally right there. If jk could spend months on TTH with multiple songs then I think other BTS members could get a good placement as well.

Like we all witnessed seven being moved up multiple spots on TTH in a single week, when usually the playlist gets updated weekly. Do you know the kind of in you need to have to get Spotify to do that?

Posters mean nothing when there's no playlisting, radioplay or even a good amount of physical cd stocks. If those weren't the ultimate needs, jk wouldn't have gotten all of that with 50k CDs being restocked every week.

Yes Tae got versions (but no CDs mind you or TTH), Hobi got CDs (and posters according to someone) but still no TTH. Everything's worse because the members aren't even here to perform or promote the music at all so they should be getting other ways to spread their music. At this point they can only hope a miracle happens for them.

Y'all don't understand how much work playlists do for an artist but I do understand and that's why I always talk about it. It's how you increase your monthly listeners because more people are introduced to your music, it keeps your Listener count and streams stable even of you don't drop music for a while. The weeknd doesn't have the biggest streams debut but he has the highest monthly listeners in the world and stability because his songs are added to a shit ton playlists.

At this point it feels like Hybe is doing all these little things like posters and CDs (with not even enough stock available) to hide the fact that they are not actually doing anything. Like I seriously doubt jk had less than 50k CDs first week for all 3 of his singles, but here they go giving other members 10-20k CDs that never gets restocked again. But of course jk Stans will say "I thought y'all said x could achieve what jk did if the got the same promo?, well look at friend(s)"... Itunes pre-orders and a couple versions does not even begin to put a dent in the kind of promo and push seven got but ok. If Hybe decided to give the other 6 members the exact same kind of push jk got they would definitely go bankrupt so why would they do that?

So right now even with Jimin I'm not banking on them doing what's expected, my hope right now is that he's able to get a broader audience even without their help. Lots of other artists have done it and he could.

[adidegmez]

One last time

The bad batch s3 ep 15 spoilers

I am not okay.

Kids survived, some clones survived, tha batch survived What more could we ask for? Well i know Tech. I wanted Tech to return why couldn't he return. Why give us hope why? They convinced us cx2 is someone important and i believed he was tech. But no they just gave hope for nothing.

Ending caught me off guard. I thought someone was going to die i think everyone thought someone would ünd maybe even everyone dies. They survived all them i am glad by this its great.

I cried a lot. When they mentioned Tech i couldn't keep it together.

I am still sad. Ending was great we have everything we ever wanted except Tech.

Hemlock died, rampart died. Nala Se was good. Emerie helped the batch and now she and echo going to help clone underground(hopefully we will get a clone underground show with this artstyle). Everyone and everything is good again except tech i can't stop thinking the fact that they didn't bring hil back why???

If he doesn't have a hand to tremble, there is no trembling problem. They actually did that.

Echo is proud of Omega, hunter wrecker and crosshair knew right away zillo was omega's work.

I thought wrecker was going to die when he echo asked where Hunter and Crosshair are.

The hug omega gave Hunter and Crosshair, the scene where all the batch (except echo and tech of course) sitting in peace so beautiful.

Clone x troopers there are 4 of them. When i was watching i thought they might have been developed with special mutations like bad batch's. But this is not true probably one of those clone looked like a reg. They are all probably reg but how can they fight so good?

Btw I didn't think for even 1 second that the clones wouldn't help rescue their brothers. I like clones, their personality (and their voice ofc) is perfect.

I hope Crosshair knows tech wanted to save him(they must have told him right?). I wish Tech could've see crosshair's character development his story. I wish no could've knew he joined them. I wish... Tech was alive. They didn't bring him back but how could he be dea i still can't belive and now while writing this i am thinking why can't he still be alive maybe i am being so delusional but they didn't confirmed he is dead if there is no body then there is no death, right? Since the end of season 2 we assumed he was alive but they didn't do anything different in this episode than the whole season to prove he is dead. But we still believed he was alive why cant we still believe he is alive the show ended yes but maybe in the future they will make a clone underground show and maybe tech will return. He probably wouldn't return but i refuse to believe he is dead i will believe he is alive untul they prove he is dead but they probably wouldn't prove it. So in my mind tech will be alive and i don't care if i am being too delusional. 🤷🏻‍♀️

When i see older omega first i thought she became a liberater of ancient wonders but this ending made so much more sense. Omega left without saying goodbye to crosshair and wrecker. But Hunter and omega's conversation was beautiful. I think they made that place like a museum?

Crosshair and hunter together killed hemlock, they saved omega together, they believed omega, they believed eachother and themselves. That scene was perfect.

Everything went well, we got a better ending what i expected. But tech...

No matter how much we want some stories doesn't have a happy ending this is what i think about even though we have happy ending i will never forget how tech sacrificed himself for his family. in the end they didn't waste his sacrifice in s2 finale and they did what they were going to do before hemlock captured omega in s2. They lived a peaceful life in pabu they retired.

I keep coming back to the same thing, i know but i can't help it. Tech tech tech... Heroic tech.

I've written too many things too mixed up. But if you've read this far, thank you. And I'm so glad I can be a part of this adventure. I started by writing my thoughts about star wars on Tumblr. And here, theories, fanarts, headcanons, everything was beautiful. Thank you everyone for everything. I'm glad I was able to experience the adventures of Bad Batch with you. goodbye till the next adventure.

thank you dee bradley baker and michelle ang for bringing these characters to life. And thanks to everyone who worked on this beautiful show.

It has been a beautiful (sometimes painful an sometimes peaceful) journey.

goodbye to the bad batch, goodbye

Hunter

Tech

Wrecker

Crosshair

Echo

and Omega.

It has been an honor to know you and being able to watch your adventures. Goodbye o7.

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb hunter #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb omega #tbb s3 spoilers #tbb rex #tbb howzer #tbb gregor #tbb wolffe #tbb mayday #tbb cody #tbb batcher #tbb gonky #tbb phee #tbb ventress #tbb season 3 #goodbye

[tiffany-loves-broadway]

Someone on Reddit asked me what my major problems with Ward were. I figured I might as well port the comment over here; it's been a while since I've written a substantial Ward Bad post. Recommendation: don't read Ward.

---

It would probably be quicker to list things I didn't have problems with. I spent most of the story giving it the benefit of the doubt because I liked Worm enough that I assumed it was leading up to something good that would justify the buildup. As the story continued that became less and less likely, and as it wound down to a close I realized after nearly two million words that it wasn't going to happen. I would probably have wound up sour about it even if the final arc had been individually decent instead of the worst thing I've ever read from Wildbow.

The characters are good. Not better than Worm's like many say, but good. Wildbow's still pretty good at creating character backstories, whether they're major or minor.

The plot is bad. This includes the character arcs, which are bad. I think about this when people say that it's a better character piece than Worm.

The setting is bad. Worm's world feels like a living place; Wildbow spent many years conceiving of it. Ward's world feels improvised by someone who really doesn't want to be doing a Worm sequel.

The themes are bad. Worm handles its themes with great artistry and nuance; Ward handles them dumbly with a sledgehammer. Its message is bad; Worm had an unreliable narrator who was frequently corrupt and made dubious ethical decisions, while Ward has a hyperreliable narrator who Wildbow is terrified to allow to be wrong, which is especially a problem because she is often meaningfully in the wrong.

The callbacks to Worm are bad. Unfortunately, one of them is the protagonist (bad). The return of the Undersiders to central character status is particularly terrible. It's commonly said that Ward isn't a sequel to Worm, because it's a new story with new characters. In that sense, I didn't want a sequel to Worm, I wanted exactly the thing people say Ward is, a new story with new characters. I just wish that the ties it did have to Worm felt less like contrived trade-ins on fan nostalgia. I really could have done with less of them period.

The writing process was bad, and Wildbow has acknowledged this. The story constantly insecurely shifted to the whims of the crowd, contorting itself in a clumsy attempt to respond to misguided feedback or settle dumb fandom arguments. If you could go back in time and convince Wildbow to sever contact with his entire fandom while writing Ward, it would almost certainly have turned out better one way or another.

The individual plot arcs' endings were bad. Wildbow basically never really knew how to transition from one arc to the next; he frequently cut an arc short because the loudest fans were getting bored of it, and it fucking showed.

The final arc of the story was terrible. Artistically terrible and even ethically terrible. A culmination of every single other problem listed here. It is hard to convey how terrible it is without spoiling it. It felt like something you'd see in a documentary about a Heaven's Gate style cult as one of their pieces of rambling religious material distributed to members. And Wildbow apparently had no fucking idea what he was doing; asleep at the wheel on the freeway, suddenly swerving at the last moment away from death and into standard Ward-style triteness. It isn't surprising that he considers the end of Ward the low point of his career, or that it made him consider quitting writing. It showed.

All around, it was bad.

#parahumans #wormblr

[kayhi808]

Billy Mine - The Next Step

Masterlist

Bill's propped in the bathroom doorway watching Juliet put on her make-up. It's been a year since he found his Bunny again & he's fascinated by every little thing she does. "When are you going to give up this apartment and move in with me?"

Puts down her eyelash curler & blinks at her reflection in the mirror, "When are you going to give up your penthouse & move in here with me?"

"My place has more room."

Slowly turns. to Billy, with her hands on her hips, "This is a good sized apartment. I'm not in a cramped shoebox. I've always wanted to live in the Village." Billy wrinkles his nose. "You're such a snob. Just like my parents."

"You can't get better than the Upper East Side." Rolling her eyes, Juliet nudges Billy out of her way & goes to her closet to get dressed.

"Your place is cold. It has no warmth. Nothing about it says 'Bill Russo lives here.' It looks like some interior designer staged it for a showing. It's really nice, but..." Stepping out of her closet in a dress, she turns to Bill, lifting her hair so he can zip her up.

Dropping a kiss on her shoulder as he pulls the zipper up, "What if I let you redecorate it?"

Juliet spins around to face him, "Are you serious??"

Looking smug, "It may take some convincing, " wrapping his arms around her, pulling her up against him, "but i may be open to that."

"Or I could just stay here, " giving him the same smug look back. Billy growls as she shoves away, laughing at him. "C'mon we'll be late."

*****

Buvette's brunch line is notoriously long, but of course Bill pulled a few strings and got them a table. The weather is warming up, so they took to patio dining, enjoying the cool breeze. "So, back to our discussion. What is it going to take for you to move in with me?"

"You're serious."

"Dead serious." Taking her hand across the table. "Tell me what I need to do." Jules is silent & just stares at their joined hands. "What's wrong?"

"What if things change & you aren't happy anymore?"

"You think I won't be happy having you move in with me?" She shrugs. "We're together, what? 5 nights out of the week?" Trying to catch her attention. "I want more." Juliet can't help the smile that graces her lips. "I wont' be happy until i have you in my bed 7 nights a week."

Being with Billy Mine has been her dream since she was 3 years old. Even before she knew what love meant, she knew for her it was synonymous with Bill. Now that she has him, she is so afraid of losing him. The past year has been perfect, minus the Billy-getting-shot-at-her-father's-fundraiser fiasco. If it's not broken, why try to fix it?

"What if you discover some weird habit that i have that annoys you?"

Bill laughs so hard he's gasping for breath. Juliet glares at him. It's not that funny. It's a real concern. Noticing her stare, "Bunny, I'm sorry." Trying to sober up. "I dealt with you from 3-8yrs old. I already know you're annoying. I know that when you have too much sugar, you go off the rails. I know you're stubborn & hard-headed. You like Taylor Swift. You squeeze the toothpaste from the middle. You take my shirts without asking. You leave toast crumbs in the butter." Juliet giggles. "That doesn't bother me." He gives her a smile that melts her heart. "If there is something worse, please let me know, but I think I covered it."

"My parents got me my place in the Village. I don't want to sell it, but I'll rent it out."

"I don't mind selling my place."

"No, Bill!"

Shrugging as he drinks the last of his coffee, "You're right. I'm not attached to that place. It's a very comfortable & lavish hotel suite. We can look for a new place of our own, but I'm not living in the Village."

"Ok, we can figure out a different neighborhood." Breathlessly, "So...we're going to do this?"

"Absolutely! It's the next step."

"Next step to what?"

"Getting you to marry me."

@imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @e-dubbc11 @snowkestrel @bustlingcrowdsxorxsilentsleepers

#billy russo #billy russo fanfic #billy russo imagine #billy mine x bunny girl #billy russo x oc