#we stan one (1) horse

[justburningdaylight]

Operation Love Me

Steve Harrington x Fem Reader

Summary: Reader has been with Steve for almost two years. Recently he’s been pulling away. She believes he’s fallen out of love, so she devises a plan to gain his love back.

Warnings: angst (again, sorry besties), but also lots of fluff, happy ending, mentions of nightmares, i think there’s a curse word somewhere, a few kisses, my inner stevie nicks stan pops out, dustin overstays his welcome a couple times, let me know when you spot the all too well reference, no spoilers !

Word count: 2.2k

a/n: just a lil something i whipped up for you guys <3 i had a looot of fun with this one ! p.s. requests are open, come chat with me !

When Steve Harrington asked you to be his girlfriend, it was a transcendent experience. You were almost certain it was a dream, some empyrean reverie concocted within the confines of your mind.

In the near two years since that metamorphic experience, things had shifted poignantly.

More specifically Steve had shifted. And you knew why.

He wasn’t in love with you anymore.

He never verbalized this, but he didn’t have to. The agonizing truth lingers in the air of his presence. The veracity of the situation persists like a never-ending storm, the tenacious, violent rain showing no signs of halting, leaving no room for the possibility of basking in the warm, ethereal glow of the sun.

He may have fallen out of love with you, but you were still in love with him. Desperately, in fact. Which is what led you to the conception of your ingenious 4-step plan to win back his affections.

Step 1 : Make an effort

Steve was the antithesis of a man who judged you on your appearance. He used to vow repeatedly that a person could never look more beautiful than you did in the morning.

Your face would still be riddled with exhaustion, the evidence of your tranquil slumber tucked comfortably away in the corners of your eyes, and Steve would adamantly insist that you were a veracious vision of grace and divinity.

You can’t remember the last time he’d done that.

You didn’t intend to make any fundamental changes to your appearance; You still feel a twinge of dissatisfaction when you think about Allison Reynolds in The Breakfast Club, they extracted every physical characteristic that made her unique and tried to sell that she was better off than before. Wild horses couldn’t drag you to that point. You were, however, open to the idea of enhancing some of your own preexisting characteristics.

You styled your hair the same way you did for your first date with Steve, applying a similar ample amount of lipgloss. The new dress you’ve been saving for a deserving occasion clings faultlessly to your body as you wait anxiously for Steve to arrive. It’s almost farcical, you suppose, being nervous to see your boyfriend of nearly two years. Yet you can’t shake your concern for his impending response.

The mollifying sound of your front door opening resonates through the apartment and, while you were expecting Steve’s appearance, you were confounded by the hindering addition of Dustin.

“Hey (y/n)! You look nice. Got a hot date or somethin’?” Dustin’s playful voice sounds as he brushes past you, adolescent hands juggling a variety of VHS tapes.

“Did you have plans? I thought we were supposed to hang out tonight.” Steve asks, his magnetic caramel eyes searching your own in a delicate display of adept obliviousness.

“No. No, nothing special.” You sibilate dejectedly.

“Good ‘cause it’s move night! And Steve cheaped out on snacks, so you’re gonna want to make some popcorn.” 

“Right.” You enshroud your abasement with a counterfeit smile and venture into your kitchen to make Dustin his popcorn, the familiar notes of Eye of the Tiger resounding through your apartment as Rocky IV begins playing on the tv.

So your first attempt was met with an expeditious defeat, but perseverance can be rewarding. Right?

Step 2 : Remind him of the good times

You jolt awake from your slumber, the cold sweat clinging to your body serves as a physical reminder of the macabre scenario you just narrowly escaped in your nightmare.

In an effort to suppress the unsolicited atrocities racing incessantly through your mind, you surreptitiously make your way out of the bed you share with Steve, delicately extracting yourself from the steady grip of your unconscious boyfriend’s gangly arms.

You cautiously venture down the hall to the kitchen, momentarily detouring to the living room to clandestinely place Rumours by Fleetwood Mac on the turntable, ensuring the volume is at a near imperceptible sonority so as not to rouse your boyfriend from his tranquil sleep.

You pour yourself a glass of glacial water, condensation generously gathering along the perimeter of the cup, the dull glow of the open refrigerator acting as your light source.

“D’you have another nightmare?” Steve’s sleep-riddled voice questions gingerly as he wraps his arms tenderly around your midsection from behind.

“I just want to stop seeing it in my head.” You turn in his arms to face him, appreciating how magnificently the light of the refrigerator illuminates his divinely celestial features. 

“I know,” He begins delicately, “I’m sorry for dragging you into it. You should have never been anywhere near those things-”

“Steve, it’s not your fault, okay? I need you to know that.” You interrupt before he can incur being the responsibility of your nightmares’ source. He’s not culpable for anything that came from the Upside Down.

He gazes at you solemnly, nebulous eyes emanating with immense emotion as he hesitantly nods his head.

The gentle melody of Songbird begins, floating through the kitchen, causing a lithe smile to form on your gentle lips as you appreciate the mellifluous opulence of Stevie Nicks’ voice.

“May I have this dance?” Steve asks, donning a heavenly smile.

“I’d be honoured.” You answer as he begins swaying you adeptly in his agile arms, your modest grin blooming into a broad smile.

And so the two of you danced around the kitchen, with nothing to accompany you but the gentle glow of the refrigerator light and the seraphic sounds of Fleetwood Mac on the record player.

That night solidified Songbird as your song. Which is the rationale for why you’re standing alone in the living room at one thirty in the morning listening to Fleetwood Mac.

“(y/n)?” Steve’s fatigued and perplexed voice sounds as he advances down the hallway.

“Hey.” You’re apprehensive now, equal parts regret and hesitance swim through your bloodstream like a resolute fish headed upstream in a particularly vigorous current.

“What are you doin’? It’s like one in the morning. Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, no yeah I’m- I’m fine.”

The look he gives you is filled with concern, but there’s a glimmer of something else hiding in the shadows, regret maybe? You can’t accurately discern it, and it disappears before giving you a chance to unravel its connotation.

“Okay, well, if you’re fine, I um- I work in the morning so I’m gonna go back to bed.”

“Yeah. Go ahead, I’ll turn it down. Sorry.” That wan’t mortifying at all, you introspectively reprimand yourself, feeling a sense of dejection you’re beginning to grow painstakingly familiar with.

That could have gone better.

Step 3 : Spend some quality time together

You’re veritably hoping that there’s some authenticity to the phrase third time’s the charm.

Adorning a particularly whimsical sundress, you sit contentedly on the plush blanket you’ve laid atop the flexible sage grass in the park, ardently awaiting Steve’s arrival.

Your previous attempts to re-obtain his affections have been met with the abrupt emergence of failure, but the outcome of this experience was going to be different. What could go awry at a picnic?

“Hey. You look nice.” Steve’s symphonic voice sounds from above you, as he assuredly makes his presence known.

“Really? Thank you. So do you.”

Steve respires an exiguous chuckle at your response, taking a seat parallel to you on the thin blanket. You can’t contain the smile that accumulates on your face, outwardly displaying your pride at the small victory.

“So, how was your day?” You inquire earnestly, handing him the sandwich you prepared for him.

“Thanks. It was good. Y’know, busy. People really love their movies.” 

“How’s Robin? I know how much she-” “Steve! (y/n)! Hey!” Dustin’s voice reverberates through the air, effectively silencing your queries.

Seriously? There’s no way this is happening. Again.

“Hey! Dustin’s here! Look at that (y/n), what are the odds?” Your boyfriend’s usually endearing rambling holds a discernibly nervous undertone.

“I don’t know Steve, what are the odds?” You question, failing to cultivate eye contact as he’s currently preoccupied with looking anywhere besides your eyes.

“Gotta be one in a million! So weird,” Dustin lightheartedly interjects, “Actually, it’s a good thing that you’re here Steve, ‘cause I really need you to come help me with something.”

“What- Seriously? Now?” 

“Yes, (y/n), now! It’s very important stuff. Could be life or death.” Dustin emphasizes his point with resolute hand gestures.

From the repentant look in his sparkling eyes, you’ve already predetermined Steve’s next words.

“Go.” You preempt, dispiritedly.

Your boyfriend’s saccharine eyes are filled to the brim with a myriad of unidentifiable emotions as he scrambles onto his feet, sandwich still clasped between his lithe fingers, his smooth sorrowful voice mumbling a doubtful vow, “I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” You nod pessimistically.

“Do you mind if I just grab one of those sandwiches? ‘Cause they look delicious.”

You hand Dustin a sandwich, temporarily suppressing each melancholy thought running around in your mind as you give him your best attempt at a smile.

“Sweet! Thanks.”

Third time was, decidedly, not the charm.

Step 4 : If all else fails, profess your interminable love

Step four was only ever thought of as a contingency. Existing solely for emergency use only. The invocation of this step means that there was a significant lack of reception to the previous three steps. You’re feeling particularly grateful that your antecedent self had included a backup plan.

“Oh hey, I didn’t think you’d still be up.” Steve’s delicate voice holds an air of surprise as he shuts the front door behind him, swiftly removing his jacket and shoes.

“Yeah,” You start, fiddling with your fingers in an effort to calm the anxiety coursing ferociously through your veins, “I thought maybe we should talk.”

“Talk? About- About what?” 

“About um- just us, I guess.”

Steve’s stately features are shrouded in a warm cloak of confusion and uncertainty.

“Are you- Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.” He pleads after a moment, finally shattering the suffocating silence.

“What do you think I’m going to say?” It’s as though you two have traded emotions, now it’s you who stands perplexed as your boyfriend gently paces the floor in an attempt to reduce his anxiety.

“You wanna break up, right? You don’t want to be with me anymore. Everything’s too complicated now, isn’t it? All the monsters and shit, it’s just too much. I know it is.”

It takes you a few moments to wrap your head around his words. You want to reassure him, as tenderly as possible, that his assumption couldn’t be any further from the truth. Instead you say, “Are you crazy? Did you hit your head or something?”

“Did I-? What?”

“Steve, I’m not breaking up with you! I’d never break up with you. I just spent the last week trying to get you to fall back in love with me!”

You both go still at the nuance of your sudden confession. Steve’s chestnut eyes are filled with salty unshed tears as he takes gentle, purposeful steps toward you.

“Fall back in love with you? (y/n) did you hit your head?” He places a delicate hand on your cheek, nimble thumb grazing your satin skin in a circular motion as he continues, “I love you, okay? I love you so much that I don’t even know how to think straight.”

You place your hand over his own as it traces the curvature of your face. Your heart is pulsating so immensely furiously that you’re shocked it hasn’t beaten entirely out of your chest and fallen onto the floor where you stand. 

“Then- then why have you been avoiding me? Like every time we’re supposed to hang out, Dustin magically appears out of nowhere! It feels like you never want to spend time with me anymore, especially alone.”

“Oh my god. I didn’t- That’s not what it was, okay! I just-” He sighs, moving his gaze earnestly down toward his feet before bringing it back up to your eagerly awaiting eyes, “I got worried. After all this monster stuff. I mean, you’ve been having nightmares! And I know you say it’s fine but it’s not! And I was just- I was worried that you’d realize it was my fault and you wouldn’t want to be with me anymore.” He exhaled deeply, once again dropping his gaze from your own.

“Steve,” You start, benevolently tilting up his chin in order to greet his warm chestnut eyes with your own resolute ones, “I would have a million more nightmares if it weren’t for you. You saved my life, okay? In every single way. And I already told you that none of that monster stuff is your fault! So I guess I’m just going to have to keep telling you as many times as it takes for you to believe it. Because I’m not going anywhere. Ever. Sorry to break it to you but, you’re stuck with me Harrington.”

“Good. ‘Cause that’s exactly where I want to be. Always.” Steve fixes you with an angelic, rapturous smile before bringing you into the solace of his steady, comforting embrace. 

“I love you too, by the way. Just in case it wasn’t obvious by now.” You mumble into his shoulder, intent on remaining in this position as long as possible.

“I know.”

“Take it down a notch, Han Solo.”

Steve chuckles euphoniously before pulling back to give you a lingering, ardent kiss. It was filled with emotion, longing, and passion, and oh boy did it take your breath away.

“You wanna keep doing this, or did you need to go call Dustin?”

“Shut up.” He mumbles reverently, bringing you in for another godly kiss.

Your contingency plan was a resounding success.

Mission accomplished.

#stranger things #steve harrington x reader

[charcubed]

Disneyland's Rogers: The Musical, propaganda that turns Steve Rogers into more myth than man, and revisionist history (possibly) to a purpose

Any of my thoughts in this post could just be me reading too far into things. I'm very aware of that, and please know that this post exists just because this sort of thing is fun for me! This is a thought exercise where we propose "What if we live in a world where the MCU is actually doing a cool and interesting thing as a longcon?" If you have anger at Marvel, that's valid and relatable, but please don't get angry at me or imply I'm an MCU stan who doesn't think critically about the mouse. Thanks!

Breaking news: I'm back on my bullshit!

A quick personal recap: I infamously hated Avengers: Endgame for a long list of reasons (and I even rewrote the movie). One of those reasons is that I've always taken issue with Steve's ending. But in the years since then, and as the MCU's phase 4 has evolved, my frustration at Steve's "ending" has turned into an ongoing and legitimate theory that the MCU could be slowly leading into a loosely adapted Secret Empire plot line. I know we've all been joking about Steve being trapped or about an imposter Steve since 2019, but uhhh, it's kind of not a joke to me anymore? It feels weirdly plausible at this point and so I enjoy discussing the potential.

You can find a full elaboration on that here, where I wrote out my "Steve was snatched by HYDRA" theory in 2021.

In that post, one of the things I mentioned at the time was Rogers: The Musical being in the Hawkeye trailer.

[The musical's] very existence is an example of how in-universe the stories of the lives of the heroes are being commodified, especially (in terms of how they’re framing it) for Steve’s. The heroes are no longer seen as people, if they ever were. They are, as Kate Bishop says to Clint in a recently released clip, more about “branding.” Sam Wilson will be redefining the shield moving forward in a Cap context, but simultaneously, the world is still enamored by Steve Rogers as a symbol in his own right. And that is ripe for manipulation as a Trojan horse to control public opinion… whether in the context of things like this by themselves (is the musical portraying Steve accurately, or is it painting an inaccurate picture of him the world accepts as fact?) or in future (is this propaganda that makes the public see Steve a certain way and continue to love him, to set up a fake or brainwashed Steve coming on the scene later?).

Now a form of the musical exists in full, at Disneyland and all over Youtube. Considering some of its baffling content – which I will break down below – this perspective seems even more strongly worth considering.

I have two main reasons for why I'm defending examining this musical so closely:

1. It is (arguably) an in-universe piece of media that has bearing on the MCU canon. It isn't like any other typical Disneyland attraction; its very existence is meta and it was in canon first. Obviously it's seen in Hawkeye, but there are also posters for it in several different phase 4 properties. It's lurking in the background indefinitely. So what can this musical tell us about what the wider public within the MCU is being told about the life story of Steve Rogers?

2. This Secret Empire graphic – which is animated in the center of the stage of a prolonged period of time – feels like a literal sign to pay attention.

Granted, this is obviously still ancillary material. 99% of the MCU audience will never see this musical, whether in person or on YouTube. But just because it isn't a vital piece doesn't mean it's automatically an entirely irrelevant piece.

They've given me an inch with that sign and I'm taking a mile.

So if you're interested, please join me on this journey :)

For the record, let me just say that I salute the creative team behind this show. It's pretty fun and the songs are catchy, the sets and costuming are cool, and the cast is overall very talented.

It's also fucking maddening. LMAO.

Why? Firstly, because of the seemingly deliberate ahistorical inaccuracies. We all know Ant-Man is wrongly shown in the Battle of New York, which originally "came from [the Hawkeye showrunner] and Marvel, as something to further aggravate Hawkeye as he watched the show, and also as a comment on how movies and articles and people always get something wrong." It seems like they expanded those meta nods, but most inaccuracies are now in service of glorifying Steve and Peggy's "love story." Yes, romance objectively makes for good theater; but again, I feel that this is worth examining considering the full context.

And secondly, Steve's ending is framed as an offer presented to him, convincing him it's the happy ending he deserves because he's tired. In my mind, these two big elements go together, and I'll walk you through the details of what happens in the musical before I tie the thought threads back around into some theorizing.

For your reference, here's a list of the main songs and story beats:

• "U-S-Opening Night" - the Starkettes (who are basically a Greek chorus) frame the show's story, and then it turns into an ensemble that loosely takes place at the Stark Expo. • "I Want You" – Steve's "I want" song about trying to enlist in the army. • "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" – Steve performing on the USO tour obviously, and then there's a reprise with an added voiceover that (very briefly) covers the Howling Commandos' rescue + the war via comic book imagery. • "What You Missed" – Fury and the Starkettes tell Steve some pop culture things he missed while he was frozen, + they tell him about the Avengers. Then Fury goes down a list of other hero characters, including the Guardians? Doctor Strange? Wanda?? It plays loose and fast with time, because many non-2012 characters are bafflingly mentioned in this nonlinear Avengers list – including the Winter Soldier (???). • "Save the City" – this is the song seen in Hawkeye, with the civilians + the Avengers all involved, but it's slightly different here and expanded to also reference other battles. • "End of the Line" – Old Steve presents main Steve with the time stone as an opportunity for his happy ending, and they reflect on things together. (Yes, this is insane.) • "Just One Dance" – Steve and Peggy reunite and sing about their love. • And then there's basically a reprise of "Save the City," with the Starkettes and the whole cast closing the finale out.

Right out of the gate, let's address this: the main reason you're going to see some fans pissed about this musical is not only that Steve and Peggy's ~epic romance~ is made a pillar of the story... but also that Bucky's importance/involvement in Steve's life is minimized as much as possible.

And they took Bucky-related elements from canon and made them center more around Peggy instead.

• For some weird reason, Peggy is in the Stark Expo scene. When a soldier is hitting on the Starkettes ("hey sweetheart, I wanna dance!"), Steve tells the soldier to show the ladies some respect. The soldier grabs Steve and throws him down, and then Peggy swoops in to yell "Pick on someone your own size!" and punches the guy before walking away. So she's given Bucky's TFA line verbatim, and she is given the role he had of saving Steve from bullies. There is blatantly no reason they couldn't have had Bucky still serve that function and be truer to "history," because he briefly enters this scene in uniform less than a minute later to announce he's shipping out to the 107th – and then he spins off with a date on his arm. (We don't see Bucky on stage again until the full cast comes out for the finale!)

• After the Star-Spangled Man show, Peggy rushes in to talk to Steve. Steve is excited about his USO performance (???) but she urgently tells him to listen as she says that the 107th has been captured. Peggy apparently knows it's Bucky's division, and she knows Steve is going to go, so she tells him that she's already arranged transport for him. This is a subtle twist from the truth of how it went down in TFA, in which Steve recognized 107 as the number of Bucky's division, and his dogged determination inspired Peggy to relent and help his rescue mission. Here, Peggy is given a stronger role in the Cap origin story. And before Steve rushes off, Peggy sings a short untitled ballad hoping for their dance, so Steve pauses before he leaves to ask her to go on a date with her when he returns. • The most egregious Bucky-to-Peggy change of all is the song "End of the Line," in which the infamous Steve and Bucky line/promise (that broke Bucky's brainwashing...) is re-contextualized to be about ???? Peggy waiting for Steve in the past??? Old Man Steve and regular Steve sing it together. But we'll go back to that in a minute.

Again, I get it, yeah? It's for theater. Whatever. But in reality, the obvious logical truth is that Peggy is centered (to the point of taking elements from Bucky's story, and in turn Bucky is downplayed) because they needed to convince the audience that Steve going back in time to be with her makes sense. Steve's time travel ending had to be justified, so the Peggy and Steve "love story" had to be a pillar in this with everything else being given lesser weight.

And the inherent selfishness of him doing something as big as going back in time also had to be justified... which is why they do their best to convince you Steve fought so much he deserved it.

Let me elaborate on that by describing the lead-up to the "End of the Line" song.

So, right before "End of the Line" is "Save the City" – which includes Steve belting "I can do this all day!" repeatedly, of course. It's the 2012 Battle of New York as the Avengers come together to win.

As they begin to disperse, the song then transitions to a voiceover alert mentioning Sokovia being under attack by artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Age of Ultron). The Avengers group rushes back to center stage to say "Save the city! Help us win!" together for battle again.

And then things get fucking weird.

Because the next voiceover threat is "Washington DC. Attack: the Winter Soldier." This is not accurate to the order of events! The Winter Soldier events were before Age of Ultron; the public of the MCU would also know this.

And suddenly on stage Steve is now in the center while everyone else gestures to him. Instead of singing with him, they're telling him "Save the city! Help us win!"

Then, another voiceover: "Wakanda, under attack" (Infinity War) and again, Steve is centered while everyone else points to him. The ensemble says, "Save the city, help us win! Save us all from the state we're in! Got to hear you, got to hear you, got to hear you say..." as Steve is buckling to his knees under their pointing. And as the lights go down to one spotlight on him and everyone else leaves, he says "I can do this all day" one last time, but now it's subdued.

The implication is that Steve has been fighting and fighting, people leave him or he loses them, and he's tired.

And then fucking Old Man Steve arrives.

He says "On your left," because yes, they gave him Sam Wilson's line. BATSHIT.

So now there's two Steves on stage! There has been no mention of Thanos or infinity stones or anything up to this point! (I can only assume that's because in the MCU universe no one would want to be reminded of the trauma of "the Blip" – though it's pretty wild that they're allowed to know about magical time travel?)

Steve is baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival. I, too, was baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival.

As Steve questions how this is possible, Old Man Steve shows him the time stone from his pocket – and only the time stone – which Steve recognizes.

OLD MAN: "You've got to remember where you've been to know where you're going." STEVE: "Where am I going?" OLD MAN: "A date with destiny." STEVE: “Destiny. So we’re the hero till the end?” OLD MAN: “That’s the thing about endings, Steven. They can be rewritten.”

Lmao???????

Steve starts singing about how he hopes this means they "win" and calls himself a "tired hero."

STEVE: "But sometimes I wonder, who will save the savior? Can we really do this all day? So here I am, now and also then. Just a man, looking back at where he's been." OLD MAN: "The road is rough but wounds are healed by a thing called time. You can't forget what's waiting at the end of the line."

Me, watching this: the fact that he says this out of the blue makes absolutely no sense.

There's a bit more singing, including "end of the line" repetition, and then Old Man Steve pulls out the time stone to essentially show visions of... I don't fucking know. Past, present, and future?

That's pre-serum Steve, Steve with Mjolnir, and Sam Wilson as the new Cap. This is the only reference to Sam in the whole thing.

More singing, and then: Peggy's silhouette.

OLD MAN: "Can't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "I can't forget who's waiting..." BOTH: "Don't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "At the end of the line."

At this point I'm like, what in the hell?

Did Old Man Steve just brainwash normal Steve into thinking "end of the line" is now about Peggy? Because uhhhh, sorry, that's what it feels like!

Then Steve uses the stone to go back in time, reunites with Peggy, etc. etc. finale.

It's truly some crazy shit.

[drags hands down face]

Look... there's a lot to unpack here, and there's a lot that gets me about it. I know this is dramatized for the stage! I KNOW! But the fact that Old Man Steve shows up to convince Steve he should go back in time makes me want to gnaw on furniture.

Another person essentially uses the lure of a life with Peggy to tempt Steve into doing this, dramatized or not. That is how it's framed.

It's a hell of a way to frame it, and it makes Steve's ending stand in even starker contrast to so many other things in phase 4. Desperately trying to go backwards when you shouldn't or to bring back a lost lover is an evil temptation, and it results in a trap or negative cosmic consequences for basically all of the other characters in the MCU.

• In Shang-Chi, Wenwu is tempted by the Soul Eaters beyond the Dark Gate. They use the voice of his deceased wife to convince him to set them free. • In "What If" episode 4, Doctor Strange becomes evil in a desperate bid to save Christine and he destroys his universe. Along the way, he tries to tempt/trap the good Strange who's fighting him by using visions of Christine, but good Strange knows she isn't real. • Wanda's grief and desire to bring back Vision leads to – well, you know. • In No Way Home, Peter trying to undo things is what causes the multiverse problems.

And the fact that they frame it as Steve being tired, so basically the argument is he deserves that time travel ending (just like MCU fans who defend Endgame say in real life)... Well.

There's no way to make it hold up, especially because in "What If" they explicitly subverted that and had Captain Carter not go back in time despite how she felt she'd "earned" it.

Lastly, in this musical as Steve decides to pursue time travel as his course of action, he basically has the meaning or memory of "end of the line" rewritten for him. I refuse to not think that is some nefarious shit. Yes, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's just some general Disney erasing Steve and Bucky nonsense.

But... this is on another level to me. I do think that it's a blatant choice that they had to be aware even general MCU fans would call bullshit on. Everyone knows it's inaccurate. "End of the line" is embedded in pop culture consciousness as being connected to Bucky. It just is! Surely that means it's not a stretch to theorize it could be deliberate meta commentary.

How, in the MCU world, would the in-universe playwrights even know the phrase "end of the line"? How the fuck would it be accidentally applied to Steve and Peggy? Not to sound like a crazy person, but who the fuck was rooting around in Steve and/or Bucky's personal business or their brains in order to obtain that knowledge and then remix it, and why? Neither of them would flippantly mention it in the public eye or interviews ever. So where did its inclusion come from?

And in the finale ensemble, this is Bucky's line when he comes out on stage and salutes + points to Steve: "Don't forget who's waiting..." And Old Man Steve completes it with "...at the end of the line."

What on God's green earth am I meant to do with THAT?

Smh.

The vibes are fucked, folks.

The MCU public wouldn't know enough to say the vibes are fucked. The MCU public wouldn't know the origin of "end of the line" as a phrase. But us? The ones who know the "true story" via the movies? We can call bullshit.

Whether the creative team behind this musical did every aspect of this consciously or not, in my opinion the fact that they had to tweak canon "history" to A) make Peggy's involvement in Steve's life more central and B) emphasize Steve as a tired hero all works as commentary on and almost a condemnation of Endgame's frustrating ending. In a way, it's also what Endgame did with the compass and 1973 moment with Peggy as well.

Steve's ending had to be convincing.

It's theater.

And so, maybe the same is true for the in-narrative perspective of this musical in the context of the MCU world. What purpose would it serve to tell the MCU public a feel-good narrative about how all Steve Rogers wanted was to no longer be a tragic man out of time and get to make a life with his best girl? To frame it as being about how he fought so hard for years and so he earned a happy ending? To minimize and nearly erase Bucky's importance in his life?

Who would want to do that sort of propaganda, and why?

The MCU civilians are given this happy explanation and maybe don't widely question it. Who cares about the details or logistics if it makes a good story, I guess. It's a stretch, but maybe they mostly applaud it. Maybe they're happy for "America's favorite son" (not unlike people who uncritically liked Endgame). In a way, it's even a rehabilitation of his image (after the Accords) like putting the shield on the Statue of Liberty. And maybe they'd even be ready and waiting to applaud if Steve ever made a dramatically selfless and de-aged return to the spotlight or a position of authority.

But mostly, the public is being conditioned to not know or to forget that anyone else like Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson would possibly know Steve Rogers the person well enough in the modern day to call bullshit on any of this – or on his hypothetical miraculous future return.

So. Sure, it's probably nothing.

But what if it's not?

-------

UPDATE: @faeriecap added to this post with some incredible information and further behind-the-scenes context about the MCU/Marvel stuff at Disney parks! Check it out here :)

#rogers the musical #rogers: the musical #steve rogers #captain america #captain america meta #marvel meta #imposter steve #anti-endgame #peggy carter #stevebucky #mcu #marvel #stucky #anti-endgame steve #char writes things #me: is anyone else going to write about this being propaganda? no? fine I'll do it myself #I should not be posting it after midnight but I don't want to be tempted to fucking look at it again tomorrow. be gone you monster

[fromtheseventhhell]

I'm not sure how to get it into people's heads that Arya is a female character. She's not a boy, not nonbinary, trans, agender, or genderless. I don't intend this in a way to be negative or wanky, but her girlhood is imbedded within her character. The problem isn't that Arya stans are missing the point by overemphasizing her femininity and wanting her to be a barefoot tradwife baby making machine, but that we're stating it exists when the majority of fandom and the show itself have gone out of the way to minimize the relevancy of her gender. I'm fully convinced there are a lot of people who think Arya would be the exact same character had GRRM created her as a male character named Arry instead, perhaps they'd do a better job at acknowledging her importance.

What's most ironic to me is how these same fans will gush and coo over the sisters being more alike than we think, but only if it involves giving Arya's characteristics to Sansa. Well acktually, Sansa likes to ride horses just as much as Arya does! They're so alike uwu! But dare acknowledge that Arya has traits and aspects commonly associated to Sansa then not only does that get accusations of wanting Arya to become Sansa, but that it's solely about showing Sansa up and wanting her to grovel in Arya's shadow and superiority 🙄 Hypocrisy and projection showing itself.

Somewhat of an aside, but I recently saw a post on reddit complaining about the fact that all four of Daemon's children survived the Dance specifically focused on the fact that both Rhaena and Baela lived. According to the OP, one of them should've died and their post-war roles in the story should've been given to only one of them. Which at its core is really the main conflict between Sansa and Arya stans, no matter how much the Stansas want to cover their ears and play dumb. It's not about Arya stans projecting their sibling squabbles onto the two of them but simply the fact that it's not possible for two characters to fulfill the same role in the story, specifically when it involves two female characters. The existence of two Stark sisters is an inconvenience for the people who want the story to revolve around Sansa.

I have to believe there's some bubbles that they don't want to admit will burst if TWOW will ever be released and that's why they cling to the idea that Arya stans are the delusional ones. They have to believe that the parts of Sansa's seasons 5-8 storyline they like came from GRRM instead of D&D or else their Jonsa and QITN fantasies will fall apart. I have no idea how someone can watch the scene where Sansa tells Arya she couldn't survive what she had while Arya can only sputter out that she was training and believe 1) it makes sense for their book characters and 2) D&D didn't blatantly favor Sansa and Sophie over Arya and Maisie.

This ask came literally seconds after I drafted a post talking about this exact topic and it's so wild to me that we were both up thinking about Arya + her girlhood and wanting to discuss it 🥹

As for this ask, you really hit the nail on the head. Arya's gender is an essential aspect of her journey but fandom ignores that because they've decided that there's only one "right" way to exist as a female character. Arya's self-esteem issues stem from her being a non-conforming Lady in a misogynistic society, she has to disguise herself as a boy in part because of the threat of sexual violence, in Harrenhal she is assigned gender-specific tasks/labor, political matches are made without her knowledge/consent, she is threatened with sexual violence multiple times, and even her role within the FM is influenced by her gender. Her being non-conforming doesn't mean she's the complete antithesis of everything feminine. The obsession with propping up Sansa has ruined people's ability to perceive complex female characters, ironically including Sansa herself. They genuinely would've respected Arya more if she had died passively rather than fight for her life and you can't tell me that isn't misogyny.

That Reddit post is a great example of how people genuinely can't (or refuse to) comprehend the idea of two female characters occupying the same space. Cause you're right, that is the root of the issue. I think the only reason they bother with the fake "Stark sisters uwu" crap is because they've backed themselves into a faux-feminist corner and they don't want to look hypocritical for disliking Arya. So instead, they pretend to care all while rewriting her to serve as Sansa's prop. This is also why so many Queen!Sansa truthers are also anti-Dany + think that Sansa becoming Queen depends on Dany's downfall. They desperately cling to the show as canon, when D&D have openly admitted they changed the story because they favored Sansa/Sophie. They're fine with how show!Arya is written because to them, that's exactly how she should be; a subservient lapdog for Sansa. TWOW is definitely going to ruin that illusion, and one of the reasons I'm optimistic about it being released is getting to see fandom's reaction.

#ask #anon #arya stark #anti sansa stans #anti d&d #anti got #this fandom is bullshit but getting asks like this is why I'm never going to leave #cause I enjoy discussing Arya's character with people who just /get it/ more then I hate seeing delusional takes about her #I will continue to celebrate her character and call out nonsense for as long as I can #also the timing of this particular ask was just perfect *chef's kiss* #honestly I'd prefer that stansas just admit they don't like Arya instead of constantly downplaying her intelligence and trying to #gaslight Arya stans every time we make book accurate posts/theories #no we aren't delusional for thinking that Arya will be a leader lol and they don't really believe it either which is why so much #of their time is spent pilfering skills and plot relevance from Arya to boost their fanon Sansa theories

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

New Blog Bio:

I do not tolerate pro-israel, zionist shit anywhere near me. I don't tolerate anti semitism anywhere near me. I will not tolerate anyone who is upholding or supporting the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinians. if you do, BLOCK ME

if ur gonna follow or interact with my blog pls realize I am very critical towards most acotar content, especially if it involves Rhysand. I am more-or-less a Rhys Anti until further notice and I am hard-core side eye towards Cassian until Rhysand is held accountable for being a shitty person for more than like *checks notes* two pages

I'm not a Tamlin Stan, nor do I particularly care for him, but I have been engaging in thoughtful criticisms of his actions often which involves character analysis so you v likely will see that pop up every now and then

likely you will find:

anti Rhysand

anti/critical IC

anti/critical/pro feyre

anti/critical Cassian posts, maybe MAYBE pro cassian

critical/pro Azriel- I'm pretty neutral towards him

anti/critical/pro elain content [often. w/o being tied to a ship]

pro Lucien

pro Nesta

pro Eris

most pro tog characters

anti/critical chaol (he just annoys me with his high horse)

Pro Ships:

Azriel/Eris/Nesta

Tamsand (lmao)

Feylin [book one]

Elucien

Nesta/Lucien [idk the ship name]

Feycien

Feyssian

Mesta

most tog ships

aelin/manon

malide

chaorian

Anti Ships:

Nessian

Feysand

Elriel

lysaedion

chaolena

My Specific ACoTaR Meta:

SJM + Eugenics + Ableism in her Writing

CoN + the Eternal Perpetuation of Abuse and Toxicity

SJM and the vilification of Ireland in acotar and tog

SJM could have had the HLs give their power to resurrect her wo Rhys forcing them if she played by Faerie Rules

Rhys physically assaulted Nesta

Class Warfare + Class Traitors in ACoTaR

Rhysand + Morally Grey Behavior

My Meta / Aus / etc Posts

tag -> #justice for poor cassian and poor archeron Sisters

tag -> #glasses!elain propaganda

tag -> #slavic archeron Sisters au

tag -> #fix cassians characterization challenge

tag -> #scottish!tamlin

tag -> #welsh!rhys

tag -> #disabled!Cassian

tag -> #my acotar world building

tag -> #appropriated faerie lore in acotar

tag -> #hybern Ireland

tag -> #white feminism in acotar

tag -> #eugenics in acotar

tag -> #eugenics in tog

tag -> #classism in acotar

Other Acotar Meta:

Mor SA'd Cassian

tag -> #acotar tiktok meta

tag -> #acotar meta

tag -> #racism in acotar

tag -> #Nesta is not an alcoholic send tweet

Other:

A Synopsis of The Ballad of Tam Lin

If You're interested:

Mission to have my own Bookstore:

tag -> #mission: cheshire books

TVDverse:

leave season 1 Caroline ALONE. she deserved better 🥺

Damon and Rose's Friendship that is ALL

Esther is Mikaels victim too stop this irritating 'Esther is the real villain'

tag -> #can we stop the overt vilification of Esther Mikaelson and the UwUization of Mikael Mikaelson

tag -> #tvd tiktok edits

tag -> #Damon Salvatore

tag -> #Caroline Forbes

tag -> #Vincent Griffith

tag -> #Shelia Bennett

Shadow and Bone / Six of Crows:

The Darkling Meta

tag -> #David kostyk

Once Upon a Time

tag -> #cora mills

The Hunger Games / A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes:

Coriolanus Snow Meta

tag -> #thg tiktok meta

tag -> #coriolanus snow

tag -> #reaper ash

tag -> #wovey

Percy Jackson

tag -> #nico di Angelo

completely irrelevant:

tag -> #rural iowa

more to be added!

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #throne of glass #nesta archeron #anti rhysand #sjm critical #elain archeron #feyre archeron #lucien vanserra #anti cassian #aelin ashryver #aelin critical #rowan whitethorn #Rowan critical #manon blackbeak #manorian #malide #anti chaol #dorian havilliard

[wingsofhcpe]

Mar's BBC vs Book Canon Musketeers Assession: a Short Yet Comprehensive Guide

(read under the cut!)

bbc d'Artagnan: baby. has not done anything wrong in his life ever, actual angel, just very stupid.

vs

book d'Artagnan: has the power of god and anime on his side, most annoying little bitch you'll ever meet, broke, has a stupid horse, perpetually single.

*

bbc Athos: depressed older brother figure that's not-so-secretly very soft and loving of his found family and would die to protect them, also still horny for one Milady de Winter. Carries the communal garrison braincell.

vs

book Athos: drunk misogynist who yearns for death and whose only reason to live is his son Raoul. All his braincells have committed self-murder.

*

bbc Porthos: feisty ray of sunshine who has never had a single evil thought in that silly head of his, actually quite clever, complicated and emotional, deserves the world.

vs

book Porthos: vainest person you'll ever meet, doesn't know when to shut up, sugar baby who cares only about himself (and maybe Aramis), has not had a single intelligent thought in his entire existence.

*

bbc Aramis: cinnamon roll, golden retriever, actually quite clever, troublemaker who can't keep it in his pants, lovable self-sacrificial idiot who would get himself killed in a heartbeat to save his loved ones, brightest smile in all of Paris. Invented bisexuality.

vs

book Aramis: mean, edgy, probably secretly a vampire, would sell you to satan for one (1) corn chip, one bad day away from going on a murder spree. Also invented bisexuality.

*

bbc Treville: exasperated dad.

vs

book Treville: extremely exasperated dad.

*

bbc Cardinal: genius evil mastermind played by Peter Capaldi.

vs

book Cardinal: genius evil mastermind sadly not played by Peter Capaldi.

*

bbc Rochefort: worst person you'll ever fucking meet, arguably the only downgrade in the show.

vs

book Rochefort: sneaky lil bastard that's also the bestieTM, we stan.

*

bbc Constance: feminist icon, beautiful queen I'd kill and die for, gaslight gatekeep girlboss.

vs

book Constance: she's just there and then she dies ig.

*

bbc Milady: my cunning evil murderwife, would die for her, deserves the world.

vs

book Milady: actually I believe Athos should have strangled her with his own hands, fuck her.

*

bbc Bonacieux: evil greasy little man, fuck him.

vs

book Bonacieux: he's just... kinda... there I guess? Idk man Dumas looked at the Bonacieuxs and went "nah".

*

bbc Louis: annoying little shit but he's kinda cute and nice sometimes

vs

book Louis: manchild, just There ig.

*

bbc Anne: radiant angel who has done nothing wrong in her life ever and she's also perfection itself.

vs

book Anne: literal drama queen.

*

BONUS ROUND- GRIMAUD

bbc Grimaud: hot evil emo dude, idk what his problem was tho

vs

book Grimaud: actually he just doesn't get paid enough for this shit so if he wanted to murder Athos like in the show I'd understand that lmao

#bbc musketeers #the musketeers #the three musketeers #les trois mousquetaires #alexandre dumas #athos #porthos #aramis #d'artagnan #constance bonacieux #milady de winter

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I find it interesting how Jungkook's Seven is given the Dynamite treatment. The situation is sort of similar too. A full English song written by other people, given to an artist/group that had no contribution to it except recording it. It is gp and radio friendly, promoted extensively and spread throughout a longer period of time, a lot of versions that help get those records and a celebrated song thanks to its chart positions, including the no. 1 on BB 100. Army loved Dynamite and how it was handled. Any potential criticism was dismissed but now that the situation applies only to one member, all the strategies used for Seven (and Dynamite) are considered unfair.

Perhaps it's time to just accept that Jungkook was chosen to continue the BTS mid-range quality songs that they started putting out with Dynamite only to advance the position in the US with a GP. Someone has to carry the mediocrity torch until a possible comeback. Jungkook is exactly the figure that can do that. He can dance, sing, adapt to what is needed for a song and he's one of the most famous in the group, his Weverse numbers stand as the proof of that. BH is betting on the horse that has the highest chances of winning. He is the needed blank slate for the strategy.

This entire situation might sound ideal for some fans (including JK stans and those who wish the same treatment for other members as well). Others, perhaps, realize that getting a "Dynamite" treatment is nothing but pushing for commercial success and music cannot be only about that. There are songs and albums out there loved by millions of people that never got the highest on charts. Differential treatment should be pointed out, but an artist's career is more than numbers. They do matter, but if we're to focus mostly on that, we will forget about the artistry (if there is one) that in my view, should take the first place.

#m thoughts #jungkook #jungkook seven #big hit #bts dynamite #for any pjms reading this post please read carefully this post especially the second paragraph before coming with complaints in my inbox #it won't be necessary

[vemaro]

under these circumstances

[PART 2]

Here’s a link to PART 1 if you haven’t read it!

Pairing: Astarion x Tav (female Tav) // also minor Karlach x Dammon

Word count: ~2900

Notes: Sorry this one’s a bit longer. Couldn’t find a good spot to end it so I just left it as is. Man, I am soft for how Astarion approves of you helping children in Act 3. So soft. And in this house we stan Dammon!

Enjoy!

…

Astarion got roped in by the tieflings to come and see their former leader. And by roped in, Karlach literally dragged him up from the Underdark. Against his will. It’s not that he doesn’t want to see Tav. Of course he wants to see her. He wishes she never left his sight. Astarion just has absolutely no desire to see the woman he’s madly in love with living a lavish life with someone else . Sure, he understands it’s his own fault. The vampire made no shortage of mistakes along the way; holding her at dagger point upon introduction, plotting to seduce and manipulate her, telling her he hoped she died screaming because she stopped him from completing the ascension ritual, the list goes on. His biggest mistake, however, was not confessing when he still had a chance. That or screwing up his manipulation plan so spectacularly he ended up developing feelings in the first place.

On second thought, both mistakes are equally stupid on his part.

Tav irrevocably changed Astarion’s life and his worldview. She made him a better person, a better man, an upstanding citizen of society who’s willing to help others without a second thought (sometimes). If not for her, he might’ve ended up dead, still under the control of his now dead master, or, worse yet, he could’ve turned into Cazador. For as long as he’ll live, no one will ever mean more to him than that kind hearted woman. Which is why it hurts to see her here and now. She’s married with a child, albeit an adopted child and the marriage was for purely political reasons.

To add salt to his wound, there’s also the matter of said child, Callum himself. Astarion is not immune to the boy’s charm. He’s actually quite fond of him. Hells, he would kill for Callum. By some cosmic fluke, the boy seems to share the sentiment (just to be clear, the fondness, not the killing). He can’t help wondering if Callum gets this excited seeing Tav’s husband. It would be rather uncouth to ask, right?

Astarion smirks, perfectly masking all of the rampant thoughts clouding his mind. “I was wondering when you’d notice me,” he says. “I was starting to feel neglected.”

Callum charges at Astarion like a horse wearing blinders, who then scoops him up with practiced ease. The vampire gets a small poke from the sword for his troubles. “Ah, do mind the blade of your weapon, Mr. Monster Slayer,” he tuts. “This monster is on your side and won’t require any slaying, thank you very much.”

The little boy gasps. “You’re not a monster, Asty! You’re so nice!” He throws his little arms and hides in the man’s neck, ironically on the side with the bite marks. “I love you!”

Astarion isn’t too proud to admit he’s grown to have a soft spot for children (and cats), but Callum has him wrapped around his little finger. That doesn't make the unprompted proclamation any less nerve racking. Gods below, he is so much like his mother, ready to befriend almost anyone. If they were alone, he would’ve waxed poetic about his odd friendship with Callum, but today there is an audience, a very particular audience. “Thank you. I … I love you too, Callum,” he says back, refusing to make contact with anyone but the boy. For fuck’s sake, he has a reputation.

Karlach takes this prime opportunity to tease the vampire. “Awe, is that a faint blush coloring big bad Astarion’s cheeks?”

“No,” he’s quick to say. Too quick. Even if he really was blushing, he knows the callout would’ve caused more blood to rush his face and ears. But he is not blushing. Curse Karlach for bringing him here. “For your information, I haven’t fed in a while so that’s not possible.”

Tav, amazing and kind and sometimes alarmingly generous Tav, frowns. The crinkle in her brow oozes concern and it makes his undead heart ache. “Oh no, are you okay, Astarion? Later I could let you …” She lets her words trail off, but the implication is obvious. No one’s hidden the fact that he’s a vampire from Callum. They do tend to spare the gorier details for good measure.

He shakes his head. “Thank you, dear, but I simply couldn’t.” She’s only offering because her husband isn’t around. He’s also aware of Astarion’s condition and gets this pinched look on his face whenever Tav invites through the front door. Or perhaps he’s aware Astarion is in love with his wife. Who’s to say?

“Yes, you can, Astarion, because I’m offering.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

“But I insist.” He wants to accept, not only to be close to her again, but he’s genuinely thirsty. Most of the blood that crosses his path these days goes to the many ravenous spawn who followed him and siblings after the fall of Cazador.

Karlach snorts. “It’s either her or me, Fangs.”

Astarion blanches at the tiefling. “Er, no. I’ll have to pass, Karlach. Despite fixing your overheating problem ages ago, your blood is still much too spicy for my taste.” It’s the equivalent of biting directly into an Altheian chili pepper. Walking directly into the sun would burn less than stomaching her blood.

Tav shrugs. She puts on an airs of nonchalance since she thinks she’s won this argument. “That only leaves you one choice then, doesn’t it?”

He has a comeback though. “Ah ah, incorrect, my sweet. I also have the choice of not eating at all.”

Callum jerks back suddenly, a devastated expression on his face. “You have to eat, Asty. You have to. Food is good for you.”

Tav has crossed the room so she’s standing on his opposite side. Fantastic. Now he has both mother and son staring him down. “Exactly, Callum’s right. You need to feed.”

And, of course, Karlach, the loud mouth, has to throw her two gold pieces in. “Yeah, Fangs. We can’t have you starve to death.”

His eyes nearly roll to the back of his head. “That literally can’t happen—” Which all the adults in the room are fully aware of. Fuck you, Cazador. Burn in whatever level of the Hells he got shoved into. “—but alright, fine. Later.”

Relieved, Tav smiles and places a hand on his free shoulder. “Thank you.”

Astarion scoffs. “You’re thanking me? You’re the one offering bl—” A quick glance to the child makes him remember to rethink his words. “Food . You’re offering me food when you absolutely don’t have to. Thank you, Tav, you stubborn, selfless woman.”

Her hand slides from his shoulder to his back, finding the space between his shoulder blades. She rubs soothing circles there. “Of course. You’re one of my best friends. I worry about you.”

The contact sends goosebumps all over his body. Hold it together, Ancunin. “The concern is appreciated, darling, but I can handle myself.”

“I know, Astarion,” she says. “But still. That’s what friends do. We look after one another.”

He both loves and hates the title. It causes his stomach to do a somersault and also drop like a heavy stone.

“You’re my best friend, Asty!”

A better distraction couldn’t have come along. “Am I now? Well, I feel honored.” He tosses a cheeky grin at his competition. “Hear that? I’m his best friend.”

Karlach’s jaw drops. The next few minutes are about to get interesting. “I thought I was your best friend, Callum.”

The little boy taps his chin in deep thought and points between them respectively. “Um, Asty’s my best friend. And Karlach’s my best friend. And Dammon’s my best friend.”

The blacksmith shrugs. “That’s fair. Though I’m just happy to be included.”

Astarion swivels so Callum’s back is to the rest of them. “Yes, of course, we’re all your best friends. How sweet and diplomatic. But I’m your favorite, right?”

Karlach rushes over, and is it suddenly a little warmer than it was a second ago? “I’m his favorite.” She tries to place herself in Callum’s line of sight, but Astarion swivels away again. And again. And again.

At this point he’s spinning in a circle. “Excuse me, you saw how utterly delighted he was when he saw me.”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Karlach starts walking in a circle too, following Astarion and Callum’s rotation. It’s officially a game of keep away with Tav’s son. “What? He didn’t even notice you at first, you said so yourself.”

He waves her off. “It’s hard to miss the large, exuberant, bright red tiefling smack dab in the middle of the kitchen.”

She sticks her tongue out. “Whatever makes you feel better, Fangs.”

Who cares if she could throw him and Callum over her shoulder like it’s nothing; he’s going to throttle her. “If you don’t believe me, ask him.” Astarion abruptly stops, grabs the boy under the arms, and holds him out. “Callum, dear sweet and so very brave, Callum. Tell that wretched Karlach I’m your favorite best friend. Also, you’re very adorable. And a great swordsman.”

Karlach elbows the man none too gently. “No, Callum. Tell yucky, stinky Asty I am your favorite.”

Meanwhile, Tav and Dammon stand back, amused and entertained. “How is my four year old more mature than these two full grown adults?”

“Baffles me as well,” he says. “Still love them though, right?”

Tav has to look away, hoping he doesn’t notice the blood rushing to her face. “Mhmm. Still love them.”

“Callum.”

“Callum.”

“Callum!”

“Tell him, Callum!”

“Stop,” Callum shouts, shocking both of them. He points his sword to the side. “I love you both. But … Mama’s my favorite.”

Dammon barks out a laugh at the plot twist. Tav glides in and takes her son into her arms, even does a little twirl. “Awe. You’re my favorite too, Callum.” She pulls him in for a big kiss on his chubby little cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mama.” Tav peppers a dozen more kisses all over his face, resulting in a fit of giggles and squeals.

Astarion averts his eyes, trying so hard to ignore the roil of yearning churning in his gut. Is he really jealous of a toddler? Pathetic. Someone clears their throat, making him look back up. Karlach is staring at him, hard, and she flicks her eyebrows. What’s this about? He narrows his eyes trying to discern her intentions, to which she smiles knowingly then looks back at Tav. She makes eye contact again then silently mouths tell her now.

As if it’s as easy as that! As if Astarion could just walk up to Tav and just tell her he loves her with every fiber of his being. He’s fucked up way too many times for that to ever happen. He’s fucked up too many times for her to ever return his love. And even if by some miracle she did love him back, she’s in a publicly favored marriage. (To be honest, he’d be perfectly content as the mistress, but he would never put her in that position.)

Karlach’s support, however well-intentioned, is ultimately pointless. The pale elf and the sunny druid are not meant to be, much to his chagrin. Because he apparently can’t help it, his gaze drifts towards Tav again. Mother and son glow with love, affection, and warmth, something he was forced to leave behind when they’d finally rid themselves of the parasites. It’s too much for his heart to take. Without a word, Astarion turns on his heel and heads for the front door. Best to commiserate in solitude, maybe back in his fortress in the Underdark, but …

“Asty? Where are you going?”

Shit. So much for being a stealthy rogue. Now to have a go at persuasion. “Just stepping out for a moment, little bird.”

Callum pouts in the most irritatingly precious way. “You’re leaving?”

Great, now he feels bad. He really is wrapped around the boy’s finger. “No. I was in need of some fresh air, is all. I’ll be right back.”

The boy wiggles until Tav places him down. Then he runs over and grabs Astarion’s hand. “I’ll go with you. I’ll protect you from the scary monsters.” He punctuates the statement with a slash of his new sword.

Tav can sense something is wrong, though she has no idea exactly what it is. “Um, Callum, perhaps you should wait here with me.”

Right on cue, the dramatic, overconfident facade slips back into place. “But what if there’s a monster, dear? You would leave poor little me defenseless? Now who’s the monster?”

As always, she sees right through it. “Are you sure?”

He keeps at it. “Absolutely, darling. He’ll have me back within the hour.”

“Okay.” Tav has that wrinkle in her brow again and she crosses her arms. He is in for an interrogation later. “Be safe. Both of you.”

“Bye, Mama!”

She waves back. “Bye.”

Astarion catches her eye and gives a playful wink before speaking to Callum. “Let’s go, Mr. Monster Slayer. I think I saw a vendor in need of saving on our way in. He might give you some sweet treats as a reward.”

“Yay!”

The pair leaves as Astarion goes into some tall tale of his adventures since he’d visited last. Tav is left trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. They’re friends. Tav and Astarion are friends, nothing more. He made it abundantly clear in the past that he has no romantic interest in her. And she insisted they be friends. Not to mention she’s married now. To a widely known public figure. It can never happen. Never ever. As much as she wished it could.

And yet the druid can’t rid herself of the image of Callum’s face when he laid eyes on Astarion. He doesn’t even get that excited when Terrick, the man raising him, returns from his business trips. Not that she can blame her son. She definitely prefers the company of the vampire over her husband. She prefers any of her friends’ company over her pretentious husband.

Not that she’s ever voice that out loud.

She roughly has half an hour to get herself under control. When they return, she’ll send Dammon, Karlach, and Callum outside for the ‘sparring session.’ Inside, she’ll allow Astarion to feed then question him about whatever seems to be a bother. She won’t be able to focus properly if she’s too busy staring lovingly into his beautiful ruby red eyes or imagining herself dragging her fingers through his soft hair or—no, stop it. Stop it.

It’s been years. Get over it. Focus.

Tav suddenly claps her hands together, starling her remaining guests. “Okay. While you get settled in a guest room, I’ll put together some snacks. Dinner won’t be ready for another hour or so.”

Karlach opens her mouth to say something, but Dammon grabs her by the hand and starts pulling her out of the room. “Sounds perfect, Tav. Thank you for letting us stay the night.”

She’s too preoccupied with forcing herself to compartmentalize her feelings to realize she missed something. “You’re welcome.”

In their room, Dammon shuts the door and looks at his partner disapprovingly. He’s got his arms crossed and one foot tapping a steady rhythm on the rug. Karlach hates it. “What?” she whisper-yells.

“You know what.”

She begins to pace because she is not a fan of standing still. “They’re my best friends, Dammon! And they’re totally oblivious to each other's feelings.”

“I know, but it’s not your place.”

She smirks, hoping to lighten the mood. “Isn’t it?”

He pinches the ridge of his nose and sighs. “No, love, it’s not.”

She pouts. “Why not?”

He rolls his eyes. “Because they’re both adults. If they wanted to express how they felt for one another, they could do it themselves.”

Karlach throws her arms out, but keeps her voice at a whisper. “But they won’t express how they feel because they both think the other thinks of them as just a friend because of all the shit that happened when we had worms in our heads.” Miscommunication, manipulation, and misinformation. It was truly a mess back then. Still is, apparently.

Dammon sits down on the bed and leans forward with his elbows on his knees. “That may be true, but it’s still not your place to speak on behalf of either of them.” He cocks an eyebrow. “Need I remind you that Tav is currently married.”

It’s her turn to roll her eyes. “She doesn’t love that soggy sponge, Terrick. She only did it so she could help the city. Bloody hells, she held her wedding outside, at night just so Astarion could attend.”

She makes a fair point. “I know, I know.”

The big red tiefling sits down next to him. “I want them to be happy, Dammon. They’re not happy.”

“Under these circumstances, they can’t be together.” Karlach lets out a frustrated growl. “Things can change though. Circumstances can change. There’s hope that one day those two will finally wake up and see what’s right in front of them with no obstacles in the way.”

“You really believe that?”

He straightens up and reaches for her hand again, this time meshing their fingers together. “That’s what I want to believe, love.”

She huffs. “Me too.”

He gives her hand a squeeze. “Promise to leave them be during our stay?”

And there’s that pout again. “Ugh, yes. Promise,” she grumbles.

“Thank you.” Dammon tilts towards her and places a light kiss on her cheek. Their tails intertwine behind them. “Now come on. She may not be happy, but I think having friends around makes things better.”

“I think so too.” They both stand up and head for the kitchen again. Just before opening the door, Karlach blocks it and grins wickedly at her partner. “But I know what would make her even happier .”

“Karlach.”

She relents. “Gods, kidding. Just kidding, Dammon.” Mostly.

…

Thank you so much for reading!

#bg3 #astarion #bg3 astarion #astarion x tav #astarion ancunin #bg3 tav #tav #karlach bg3 #dammon bg3 #tavstarion #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #astarion bg3 #vemaro

[gildeddlily]

we stan adam (paul bby what are you doing)[about to make this a series]

again with this. about to die because of them (chuuya looks so young in every Stormbringer art I'm crying)

(1. We Stan The Flags)

2. We stan Adam (Paul bby what are you doing)

he comes out of nowhere and pull out this (they were about to kill him and he was like "oh wow you're kinda mean I expected a better welcome")

ADAM STOP the first time I read stormbringer I fell in love with him right here. like the first thing he said I already was head over heels for this beautiful robot (people who don't like Adam scares me. he's so precious. the perfect assistant, fighter and comic relief)

chuuya's so hilarious- he's about to become one of the strongest character of the bsd universe and an european guy he doesn't know crash his mafia birthday party and ignores the attacks of some of the strongest people he knows, and then said guy proceeds to say that he's here to protect chuuya and kneels before him? (I'm already hearing chuuya's voice actor. it's a dream but let me indulge myself)

(me talking to my sister cause I'm a dumbass) yes I already said that, the flags' bond and interactions are so familiar it's making me cry. Albatross is the classic dumb cousin or little brother that deep down is smarter than you but incapable of doing basic things, and Lippmann the successful third-grade-cousin everybody hates cause he gave them inferiority complex (Iceman neutral chaotic forever)

Chuuya's the king of emotional constipation, and they love seeing him express his feelings (they've welcome him in their group and dynamic, and truly cherish him and wish the best for him. they're so honest it hurts) (everybody ab this thing hurts) (I just know that at least once they gang up against him and started showering him with compliments and he almost cried and they were flabbergasted)

HELLO WHAT IS THIS Doc is literally so me guys (yk the voice) wish I was Chuuya rn (not really considering what's about to happen) (but still)

yeah cause Chuuya near him is like a cat hissing at a horse. I can understand Adam for holding him like and Amazon pack, not for saying to a teenage boy's face that he was short but for the rest ofc (he has his programs and he knows what to do but not really and it's so cute) (Chuuya after a year still wishing for his so wished growth spurt is sad) (but I just know that he doesn't care about it, at least not really. he could still smash someone's face with his pinky finger)

Yes Adam it was (I wish for our society to be ruled by robots too) (imagine Adam being your prime minister. maybe someone explains to him social clues) (Chuuya's so confused) (random robot guy tells him jokes and that some overpowered guy wants to kill him)

...Paul fuck is this the way to tell someone you're their "brother" ? A little of decency please (Chuuya's about to suffer so much I can't continue) (I will) Adam's scream was a little terrifying the first time I read it, the "That man is Paul Verlaine!" shout made me shiver and still does. Still love them

The sad thing about this first interaction, is that Verlaine is honestly sad "like the sea at night", and honestly wants Chuuya to believe him, he truly thinks of themselves as anything but humans. He doesn't do it out of malice (one of the reason he's still alive down those fucking dungeons I know it) and it all makes hating on him hard. If you're able to hate characters like verlaine I envy you

It is a call for help, and his personal way of saying "Hey, I've never felt understood by anyone cause I'm not human and I don't feel as one, wanna come with me and be two non-humans together?", but it came out a little bit more like "Let's be non-humans together, but anyone who ever tried to tell u you were human should die, so everyone you love rn. Hope you don't hate me, kiss kiss"

here is why I didn't want to read it. he is ready to listen to Verlaine. Chuuya doesn't think of himself as truly human, so he wants to listen to him, but his first thought is about the Flags, and sometimes I wonder what would have happened if the french guy didn't kill his friends. got to thin ab it now

yes, darling, there's a difference between love and control. I'm sorry no one ever explained it to you, you boyfriend didn't have the possibility to. and like always Asagiri's able to portrait questions like this in his stories, cause it's a difference not everyone understand. or that not everyone cares about. Verlaine probably didn't really care, desperate how he was about having someone to understand him

this makes me hate every panel where Chuuya uses Corruption (hate on Mori, don't hate on Dazai he was the only one to ever give him a choice. well, it was at least a choice from Dazai's point of view. he was like "do what you want, I don't really care if the Mafia fall! just follow your heart<3" but ofc Chuuya would have never let dazai and the Mafia fall. as if. it's still sweet. now cry with me)

He should leave himself suffer and feel. he's not going to. he should. able to dream or not, he will have from hallucinations when drunk or high or whatever situation he's in and see their mauled bodies. he will always remember the room he spent beautiful moments with his family in as covered with the blood of said family.

this is basically self harm bby, stop it. he wants someone to confirm the truth, and is so horrible to himself to ask this to an android (what's thaaaaaaaat) who is unable to say something like "It wasn't your fault, he was to one to kill them. he's more powerful than you, you and your friends couldn't have done anything. he wanted you to give up on your life for someone you met from not even ten minutes. he had already killed them", the truth. he can only analyze the situation without any emotions.

little thing from the first scene at the bar, albatross making period jokes to his bro (he's about to die in his "bro" arms. he's about to gift him his bike as his last words. but he made a period joke)

(first chapter done and I'm done with myself) (and this light novel) (it's everything but light)

#stormbringer #bsd light novel #chuuya nakahara #bsd chuuya nakahara #the flags #bsd storm bringer #bsd #bungou stray dogs #random thoughts #shut up #love tumblr tags #soukoku #paul verlaine

[genericpuff]

ULO user here! I recently went back and found several old comments I'd made on LO while I was a huge fan of it in 2019.. so embarassing looking back lol. You mentioned that you used to send a bunch of "fangirl" messages back in the day- would love to see your old thoughts/opinions back when you loved LO to compare as a fun(if a bit melancholic) journey, if you'd be willing to share a few? Your thoughts/analysis are always amazing, but I'm super curious as to how you felt back before you realized what a shitshow it was

Haha yeah, I was a fangirl in the sense of like... always being on time for new updates, even if I was out doing other things, messaging my real life friend who got me into the comic to talk about it. Back then Saturday was the height of my week, sometimes the cliffhangers would get me so excited I'd spend the entire week thinking about what could happen next. I suppose I do still look forward to Saturdays now, but for much different reasons.

It's a lil' shameful looking back but I did used to be one of those "don't like it don't read it" dickheads LOL I also used to "not see the issue" with the age gap thing, not because I was okay with age gaps, but as someone who tends to write about immortal beings, I followed the same line of thinking that "they're gods, it shouldn't matter", until I realize just how silly it was that if that were the case, the comic wouldn't be constantly calling out the age difference and drawing Persephone to look as young as possible. I had to really sit on LO for a long time before I started seeing the issues with it. Ironically what opened my eyes to it was lurking in the #antiloreolympus hashtag every now and then, I'd be reading the opinions like "these opinions suck! they don't get it! they're just being nitpicky/mean/etc.!" and yet I duped myself by doing just that because it exposed me to other points of view which became more and more relevant as the comic declined in quality. I think it was around the trial arc that I started to notice the holes (one of the big tells for me that maaaybe LO didn't know what it was doing was when Persephone chose Hades to be her lawyer despite him being one of the judges and someone she was romantically involved with, like hello?) and then when the series returned from its mid-season hiatus and skipped right over Persephone's time in the Mortal Realm, that was when I realized the criticisms weren't coming from nowhere and I got off the high horse and started to read their points with more of an open mind.

Of course, I can safely say I wasn't as shitty as some of the stans can be, most of my opinions were just in the weekly discussion threads in the LO sub, but I was still giving my opinions on LO as if it was a Canvas comic, failing to recognize that 1.) just because webcomics are a budding industry doesn't mean they should be exempt from criticism, and 2.) LO isn't anywhere near the same level as Canvas, it's a #1 NYT best selling book with a creator who's won awards, so it absolutely should be subject to criticism and analyzing as LO is representing that same budding industry in a lot of ways.

I'm trying to find stuff from my pre-ULO days but unfortunately nothing from my main profile is loading past the last 9 months LMAO But if I do find any specific examples I'll definitely post them so we can roast past me together (*≧︶≦))(￣▽￣* )ゞI definitely remember back when ULO was created, it came at a perfect time I think LOL

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

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

Honestly, what’s so bad about caring about and loving Jimin only and not the others though? I respect and admire them all, I just don’t love the others as much as I love Jimin. OT7s seem to love crucifying “PJMs” or “solos”.

This is an old ask but everything is still valid today.

There's nothing wrong about it. Armys are just entitled and they want to control everything people do and say. Trying to dictate who you can love/like it's plain insanity. Even in a real life group of friends you don't care about everyone in the same ways.

Same goes for shippers, because they can wholeheartedly believe one member cares about other the most, but get angry if someone else believes a different thing? Either we all agree that they all care for each other the same or we're all allowed to have our own opinions about it.

They have it against Jimin solos probably because they've always made themselves known and spoke out. Also, because most of them are taekookers or JK stans or Taehyung stans, and that's self explanatory. Most of them are literally solos of taekook, but of course they have their little armys accounts and pretend that they love all of them. Then they log in to a different account and write defamatory pieces on Jimin. How many of those accounts lately haven't been exposed for liking a tweet from a Jungkook akgae?

The truth is that 90% of the people that like Jungkook, hate Jimin. And that's just how it is. Be it because they're taekookers or because they're JK akgaes, they have ALWAYS been the most hateful towards Jimin. But they pretend and make everyone believe their little ot7 act because they know army is Jungkook's only and biggest fan base. Even as solos they lick armys ass because they know who's pulling the weight. Pjms have never begged armys for nothing, and I really mean nothing. If they're calling them out about something, it's because army is supposed to be Jimin's fandom but not really because pjms like them or need them.

I'm not saying alllllll armys are bad and I actually defended them plenty when face came out because they also supported it, though only for a week and their support has never really been for the right reasons but well. Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth, I guess.

However, they can't see how much space they're giving to other solos to thrive in the fandom because they're only looking out for pjms. 90% of those "JK biased" armys and even jikookers are literally Jungkook akgaes.

I've talked a lot of times about the way jikookers have weaponized Jimin's love for JK; they used it to fight taekookers and others and Jimin only got hate in the process because it was an easy target, I mean it was already a weapon anyways. You only use a weapon to defend the person behind it, which was Jungkook in that case. They still do that, "Jimin loves him how could you hate him!1!!1". What does that have to do with anything.

They couldn't and can't use Jungkook because his "affection" was so easily debunkable. For most of the decade, they barely even had moments they could use of Jungkook being nice to Jimin. Jimin's travelling with him to his debut and posting about all of his releases and chart positions. Jungkook: one (1) single weverse live is all they got in 10 years lmfao.

And got hate too because I will keep saying it, people who like Jungkook, don't like Jimin. Pjms realized this long ago, that's why they're so against jikookers. They knew that nobody who liked Jungkook would ever be their or Jimin's ally. As opposed to Jungkook and Taehyung akgaes who have each other's backs -because they're both the same.

Armys have also weaponized Jimin's love for the members but against pjms. They use it as a reason for pjms to not love him, that's madness???!?!?!!?! All those tweets the last couple of days basically going "do you really love a person as kind and supportive as Jimin? Ha! It must suck for you." Do they even hear themselves.

By their logic, shouldn't they support Jimin the hardest? I mean, he's literally the only one who's supporting the members they love, so why the resentment? Why use that against Jimin and not use it in favor of Jimin? Let's not even go on what does that say about the other members support for Jimin. Which is close to being nonexistent. No, Jungkook watching lives to an audience full of armys and his own akgaes that despise Jimin wasn't support or promo either.

[swiftie-as-a-coursing-river]

Hi! Heard you are Nikolai Lantsov's no ! stan. I love that man. What songs do you think would associate with him?

LMAO I LOVE THIS ASK SO MUCH OMG.

I actually have so many I associate with him, it’s a little crazy, but I’ll list some of my top ones (they’re all Taylor swift lmao)

*apologies for how long this is and how bad I am at explaining things LMAOOOO

1. Castles Crumbling by Taylor Swift- I could write PAGES UPON PAGES about this. The whole song is him but that BRIDGE?

“Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor/People look at me like I’m a monster”

TELL ME THAT WASNT WRITTEN ABT HIM?!

2. The Archer by Taylor Swift- Don’t even get me started. I’ve seen so many edits of him to this song (and I made one myself but it’s not on my edits tumblr yet). Once again, the BRIDGE of that song?!

“They see right through me”

“All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put me together again”

“Cause all of my enemies started off friends”

But also a lot of the lyrics outside of the bridge

“I never grew up, it’s getting so old”

“I wake in the night/I pace like a ghost/the room is on fire/invisible smoke”

This song is insanely Nikolai coded.

3. Mirrorball by Taylor Swift- I saw the most insane edit to this months ago that lowkey changed my life. It was to the speech from the long pond studio sessions film where she discusses the song, saying:

“We have mirrorballs in the middle of a dance floor because they reflect light, they are broken a million times and that's what makes them so shiny, we have people like that in society, too. They hang there and every time they break it entertains us. And when you shine a light on them it's this glittering, fantastic thing, but then a lot of the time when the spotlight isn't on them they're just still there on a pedestal but nobody's watching them”

If this is not Nikolai I don’t know what is. Some other lyrics I connect with him are:

“I can change everything about me to fit in”

Really reminds me of how he kinda completely changed himself and his various identities to match what others wanted

“I'm still a believer but I don't know why”

“I’ve never been a natural all I do is try try try”

“I’m still on that trapeze/I’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me”

4. Dear Reader- Taylor Swift

This song has always been a Kaz song for me but is insanely Nikolai.

“Dear Reader, get out your map/pick somewhere and just run”

“Dear Reader, burn all the files/desert all your past lives”

“And if you don’t recognize yourself/that means you did it right”

All of these make me think of how Nikolai grapples with self image and identities throughout the books. The second part makes me think of Sturmhond, the demon, and also lowkey Isaak.

And then the BRIDGE?

“So I wandered through these nights/I prefer hiding in plain sight”

“These desperate prayers of a cursed man”

“You wouldn’t take my word for it if you knew who was talking”

“To a house not a home all alone cause nobody’s there”

“No one sees you lose when you’re playing solitaire”

That’s all I’ll be talking abt for now but there are so many more. Some honorable mentions are:

The Lucky One

The last great American dynasty

You’re on Your Own, Kid

Bejeweled

Anti Hero

epiphany

And so many more. I’ve actually made edits to a lot of these at @to-assess-the-equation-of-you and on tiktok @cassles.dazzles! I could talk about this all day and sorry for how long this was 😭

#grishaverse swifties #six of crows #grishaverse #shadow and bone #taylor swift #swifties #nikolai lantsov #Nikolai shadow and bone #king of scars #rule of wolves #Cass explains #asks

[kingkennny10]

Please Please Please

SP Apocalypse AU

Pt. 1 Inseparable

this is in fact the teaser to my apocalypse au with poly stenny, i have so much planned out for this and i couldnt be anymore excited, comment characters you wanna see, also, for some it might be a lil confusing reading cause im not gonna write it linear with one set group, youre gonna see other groups aswell, maybe a couple little sub plots here n there 😈

gn!reader, in future chapters there will be plenty of gore!! But not this one 🥱

I remember when we were all kids and used to hang out. Me, Stan, Kenny, Kyle, Eric, and Butters. Playing whatever made up game we could think of. Sometimes playing horse at the basketball court. It was a lot of fun back then, we thought nothing could ever separate us.

Middle school came along and it kinda did split us up, Kyle and Stan became their own little duo, they got tired of Erics crazy schemes. Me, Kenny, Eric and Butters stuck for a while still doing some of the old things we used to do all together.

High school came next and I ended up getting real close with Tolkien, Jimmy and the rest of their friends. We all got super close for a while. No one wanted to be around Eric anymore, he never changed. I ended up seeing Stan and Kyle more at that time because Stan picked up a job at the Tweaks Coffee Shop which led them to get close with Tweek and Craig. Kenny really only hung out with Butters by then, sometimes we would make passing conversations in the halls. Eventually when graduation came around it was just me, Jimmy, Tolkien and Clyde. Clyde left too after a couple months, he was always too busy to actually be friends with us.

After around a year and a half I could still see Stan whenever I’d pop in randomly at the Tweak’s coffee shop, found out him and Ike got real close. Butters still worked at the ice cream parlor that me Jimmy and Tolkien would catch up at maybe once a month. We stopped seeing Tolkien after he left for the police academy, he would still text at random times to check up on us. Since then the last I’d heard about everyone was that Kenny and Butters were living together, and that Kyle and Stan bought back the original Marsh family home together. Im glad there’s still remnants of the old group, maybe we are inseparable after all.

alright fellas, this is the first lil teaser snippet, this au is my baby rn, i have the next like 3 chapters set for it BUT i think ima post on wednesdays only, so tomorrow you will get another chapter! doin slow posts cause im just a lil bit evil and dont wanna burn myself out, in typical me fashion this au does have a whole damn playlist, cause lord knows i cant live without music 🙄

#south park #south park x reader #kenny mccormick #kenny mccormick x reader #kenny x reader #south park kenny #stan marsh #south park stan #stan marsh x reader #Please x 3 #apocalypse au #px3 #poly!stenny x reader

[cowboylikemeaaron]

Masterpost on taylor and olivia's relationship (but taylor is at fault)

it's an ugly theory for taylor.. so if you can't handle criticism for her please don't read!

I'd like to start by saying I'm not an olivia stan, I've been a taylor stan for 10 years but this is the theory I found to be logical.

Firstly , let's look at this blind item posted on may 22/2023 because it's the spark for this theory

AA is taylor, AB is Matty healy, AC is olivia.

AD could be beyonce or Ariana but it is irrelevant

AE is deja vu and AF is hayley william

AG is good 4 u

So anyways now that we have layed the ground for the theory let's discuss

From olivia's dawn of time to April 2021:

Olivia has always talked over and over how she's the biggest swiftie on earth.. and in January 2021 taylor commented the famous "I say that's my baby and I'm really proud" and she was also sending Olivia gifts.

And then Fearless TV is announced, and the also famous reel of Olivia and Conan on White Horse TV

Also note that taylor sent olivia the Red ring and olivia talked about it which was in march 2021

So far everyone is everyone's bestie right and they're both in each other's business?

And it continues, and they meet in 11 May 2021 in the BRITs awards where they photographed together and it's all very cute

Now before we move on to the sour release let's talk about olivia for a little:

She was just 18 at the time, she was resembling to taylor's style in many ways:

She wrote about her personal life and had drama around her with her ex and how he cheated

She wrote all her songs and her style is close to Taylor which is fast songwriting and just gets the idea and write about it.

BUT also she differed from Taylor in the following and I'm here talking about late taylor pop album Lover because folklore isn't in the same category:

She made her album very short which helped in the streams

She chose the best singles for her album

She got viraled on tiktok with most of her tracks

Now keep in mind that lover technically flopped (IN TAYLOR'S EYES ONLY), and while folklore has just won AOTY, fearless TV also wasn't that huge of a success (which might be okay as i don't think she thought that the rerecords would make that much of a hit) and ofc evermore also flopped in her eyes (I just know that the willow flop incident is still hunting her), and as a Taylor fan we all know how crazy she gets when her albums aren't breaking all records left and right, and how especially in the lover era she was talking about how she's never gonna get more famous, but then ofc folklore happened, and she started gaining some new fans this time and also the rerecording thing boosted her, but in her head she had about 3 out of 4 albums that weren't up to her standard.

Panic in swift city:

Sour release May 21

Sour is released, olivia is breaking every record left and right and taylor's records, and her spotlight, and her fans because everyone saw that they were friends so they were double stanning. And ofc, miss swift who wrote nothing new would start to feel threatened right? She did.

Sour dropped and taylor had "non collaborative credit" on a song, which is "1 step forward, 3 steps back" that was sampled from new year's day, now of course Olivia got approval for this her and Taylor are besties, and when the album dropped taylor had credits for this one song, and knowing taylor which is also miss "get a good lawyer" she wouldn't let Olivia not write her credits on only one song if there was another..

Video below has olivia talking about the album and she mentions she got approval for 1sf3sb

Now let's talk about the first thing that could be shady:

May 28 2021: evermore vinyls release

So after 1 week of sour, taylor finally drops the evermore vinyls. Like imagine if the situation has been reversed and another huge artist drops something 1 week after taylor's album release? Girl would have eaten them alive. BUT ALSO, she could have scheduled it from early. But also also, she could have postponed it for 1 week. I can't really tell but it just seem weird to release them when Olivia is your baby right?

Which btw resulted in Taylor of course dethroning Olivia the next week. Yes it is weird.

July 9th 2021

Taylor and Jack got writing credit for deja vu which was a mega successful hit, which is weird.. why now? And they say it's because "cruel summer" influenced deja vu, which if you ask me doesn't make sense if you listen to the songs, but anyways it happened suddenly?

My theory is, taylor saw how sour preformed, and how big deja vu was and of course olivia has told her that cruel summer inspired that, and probably asked her if she was okay with it, and taylor said yes. But then she changed her mind with how well sour got and wanted a piece of the pie, so maybe she threatened a lawsuit? Maybe she just said she'd unleash the angry swifties? Maybe olivia just wanted to be polite? Who knows

After that and for most of the year, they stopped mentioning each other and it was radio silence.

December 6 2021:

Grammys change their rules, which meant that taylor wouldn't be getting a grammy for sour.. which of course made taylor even more mad because we all know how much she loves getting a grammy. Now ofc red tv was released and she was getting more loved by everyone and she was everywhere. But nothing is ever enough for taylor on a famous level, or a grammy level.

April 4,2022:

Taylor and Olivia are at the Grammy, supposedly they're still friends, taylor should be supporting olivia for her album with 2 taylor influence right? no. They don't interact all night and sour wins 3 awards and does a 2009 Fearless Taylor moment, while Taylor gets 1 award which is still huge, but Taylor gets jealous of Olivia being in the spotlight for 1 year, and wining all those awards and most of all, being compared to her all the time.

Keep in mind that swifties were dragging olivia left and right and they kept saying she was benefiting off taylor and she was a fake because they claim olivia betrayed taylor for some reason, olivia was (and still) gets hate everywhere and even snake emojis. Which is something taylor could stop with a tweet/story mentioning Olivia in any good way which will result in swifties stopping acting like assholes.

After and until now, olivia never mentions taylor, only Conan Grey who is olivia's bestie and also a diehard swiftie as he used to claim said that he didn't get a chance to listen to midnights which fueled swifties.

Now there could be 3 things:

1. Taylor was really jealous and threatened by Olivia so she cut her off and took the credit out of jealousy and probably in a not nice way in july 2021.

2. Olivia wanted to separate herself from Taylor because swifties were saying she's using taylor for clout (that's the most popular narrative)

3. Olivia is the shady one and didn't want to give taylor credit (highly unlikely because she was just debuting and she's a huge fan of Taylor)

Personally i do not think olivia or her team would let her be stupid enough to start a feud with taylor, we all know how this ends. And especially when Taylor is a role model to her. So why would she fight with taylor and risk her getting angry and get endless hate from her army that holds grudges till the end of time against anyone that comes near taylor? Additionally, I think even if there was a little tension, olivia still wouldn't cut Taylor off because she's useful to everyone who's her friend as i said swifties hold grudges but they also worship anyone who's her friend. So my guess is taylor is the one who started this thing, and regarding the second possibility, maybe olivia wanted not to be in the shadow but Taylor got hurt over this.

Let me know what you think!

#taylor swift #olivia rodrigo

[goat-and-a-pig]

Chapter 2

Stan was running from the law… again. If he thought about it, he supposed he’d been running his whole life. First from responsibility and blame, then from his mistakes that got him kicked out, and now, from the law, like he had been doing for the past forty years- or his whole life if you thought about it-

“Hey you! Stop in the name of the law!”

Oh right. He was being chased. “Try and catch me, suckers!” He stuck his tongue out at the Royal Guard.

“Stud! Focus on running, you idiot!” Right. He also wasn’t running alone. “Don’t worry, Gleeful. I got the journal. This way!” Stan took off down a corridor with Bud and Gideon Gleeful trailing behind him. They ran and ran until-

“Excuse me?” Stan ripped a poster down. “Do you see this? This- This-” he sputtered. “-MONSTROSITY?”

“What in tarnation are you blathering about?” Gideon glared at him.

“They spelled my name wrong!” Stan held up the poster. It read, “WANTED: STUD PILFIR”

Gideon just stared at him. “Are you KIDDING me?” He demanded. “Hate to interrupt,” Bud interrupted. “But we are still on the run. We need to go.” Stan huffed in annoyance, stuffed the poster into his bag, and dashed off again. They came into a backup ballroom that seemed familiar. And dusty. There was a staircase leading up to a balcony with a door and a hallway that was above a stage. There was no visible staircase leading up to the balcony, but they didn’t have time to waste looking for it. Stan looked at the situation, then came to a conclusion.

“Lift me up to the balcony. From there, I’ll pull Gideon up and we’ll get you up together, Bud,” Stan explained. “Alright, but give me the journal first.” Stan stared back in mock shock. “You don’t trust me? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Nope.”

“Ouch.” Stan held a hand over his heart, then sighed. “Fine.” He handed Journal 1 to Gideon. They lifted him up to the balcony with much effort.

“Now,” Gideon heaved. “Get me up there, Stud.” Stan pretended to consider it for a moment. “Nah,” he decided. “I’m okay.”

“B-but we had a deal!” Gideon stammered. Stan laughed. “Yeah- to steal Journal 1, not to help each other escape.”

Gideon smirked. “We still have the journals. You can’t leave without them. And I’m not giving them to you! You went back on your word! We were supposed to rule the world!”

Stan chuckled. “I’ve never wanted to rule. I just want my-” he caught himself. “-Money,” he finished. “Besides, I don’t need you, I’ve already gone ahead unburdened you of both Journal 1 and Journal 2. You’re welcome.” Gideon looked around in his pockets in shock. Stan held them up. “Thanks anyway. Enjoy jail!” Gideon waved his fist at him angrily. “I rebuke thee, Stud Pilfer! I rebuke thee,” he whispered creepily.

He heard footsteps getting closer, so he jiggled the doorknob. It was locked. He got out his lockpick kit. “Come on, Stan. Just like in Columbia,” he whispered while the Gleefuls struggled to get on the balcony.

“Aha! He exclaimed as the lock popped open. “¡Adiós, amigos!” He shouted as he closed the door behind himself and the lock clicked shut.

_____

Stan’s legs ached from walking down all of the stairs. He’d already had to run at least a mile today, now he had to walk down a bajillion stairs?

“Finally,” he grumbled as he finally saw another door. Would he ever make it out of this stupid castle? His whole life he’d been trying to- “Hot Belgian waffles!” He exclaimed as he opened the door. Inside was an odd contraption that was shaped like an upside down triangle. But Stan knew that only one person could have built this, only one thing that it could be-

“The portal,” he gasped in awe. Stan was dumbfounded. He stole Journals 1, 2, and 3 (he’d liberated it from that stupid guard that was too fast for his own good. Why was he sort of a horse? Why did he have Journal 3? Why was he a guard? He looked like he was ten or something! Ugh.) for this very purpose. And lo and behold, he found it fully built with the supplies needed to fire it up right beside it! This is the king’s portal. I’m just surprised it’s still fully stocked. Well, he considered, maybe not too surprised.

He got to work.

_____

Stan was sweaty. Those barrels of waste were really heavy.

But it was done.

It turned on, the timer finally finished. How long had it been? Stan felt like he hadn’t slept for days. But he was finally finished.

“It will all have been worth it…” He jumped.

_____

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Stan yelled out into space. Eventually he walked into view of the strangest thing he’d seen all day. (And that was saying a lot.)

It was tall, silver, and looked somewhat like a cartoon rocket ship, with strange symbols running down the sides. It had one circular window near the top. (Stan wasn’t dumb enough to think that real rocket ships looked like this, so what was this weird one doing here that definitely couldn’t actually fly?)

“Hello? Is anyone up there?” Stan tried again. Well, he thought, I’ll just have to get up there myself. I’ll see much better up there anyway. So he took out his grappling hook and rappelled himself to the window-looking thing. When he went inside, his eyes popped out of his forehead.

“Ford?”

#see the light #chapter 2

[madamelyle]

Is Verosika Mayday in the right?

Helluva Boss/Subject: Verosika Mayday

Todays subject is Helluva Boss's most infamous succubus, Verosika Mayday. Despite her being one of the main protagonists for IMP I have wondered if maybe Verosika isn't wrong for her dislike of Blitz. This is probably not a hot take because many people stan Verosika. I will still be giving my two cents thou.

Verosika's first appears in season 1 episode 3 were in the most villainous act of man demonkind steals IMP's parking space. There it is revealed that she and Blitz were once a couple. It is made explicitly clear very early on that they did not break up amicably.

Here we get a glimpse of their former relationship:

"Aw you made Blitzo? Are you gonna run off, leaving someone else to pay for the hotel room. Steal their car and run three rings around wrath and max out my credit card on shitty horse riding lessons!"

(both Blitz and Verosika are speaking at this point)

"God damn it whore you will not let that go!"

Clearly Verosika has an unsettled grudge against against her former beau. Blitz's answer is to essentially tells her to get over it. I would be pissed in her position. Like really pissed. Also when you wrong someone it isn't really up to you when they should get over it. Especially when it sounds like Blitz hasn't made any attempt at making amends. Ive heard people say "well she was probably mean to him so" or other stuff like that but there is no evidence of that. Sometimes people will defend a character just because they are the protagonist.

"Yet you still shove away anyone who gets too close until they resent you for being a selfish (I couldn't understand what she said after that)" This is when Blitz is having a hallucination and we are literally in his subconscious. We witness Blitz face his worst fear. And we can't push this away as another lie because this is literally happening inside his head. When Verosika appears she berates him and its not just her talking but what Blitz thinks. This means on some level Blitz knows he was not a great partner. After the illusion Blitz has the closest heart to heart with Moxi that he has had so far. This shows the clear impact the hallucination had on him. Even though it was mostly focused on his relationship with Stolas Verosika's part is very important. Observing Blitz's relationship with not just Verosika but most other demons shows his difficulty in being venerable and treating people well. The best example of this is when he is around Stolas. Its very clear he feels something for him but any time they get too close Blitz pushes him away.

Verosika's last appearance was in episode 7 final of season 1. When Blitz takes Stolas to Ozzie's he is forced to face several of his adversaries, Verosika included. In her song there are two lines that stand out:

"I'd stroke him, I'd fellate him, Yeah, but when it was my turn, He did no reciprocatin." "A selfish Imp in the sheets, And just as bad in the streets, A reckless, heart-breaking freak!"

The first line indicates that Blitz was a selfish lover. And I can honestly sympathize with Verosika. If I were in the same scenario I would be pissed off. And Blitz not even showing any guilt makes it even worse. It is not just what Verosika says, but the look on her face. She looks enraged. This is done when she says "heart-breaking freak!" which also implies that Verosika loved Blitz at one point. Verosika loved someone and tried to treat them well (at least as far as we know) only for that person to not treat her well in return. And its perfectly in character, just look at the issues he has with Stolas.

This is why I disagree when people call Verosika simply "a jealous gf" because there is so much more to her. We tend to side with the protatonist(s) because in most cases they are in the right. But some stories will shake up the dynamic and make the issue more complex. Also this is Helluva Boss where everyone is an asshole so Blitz being an asshole isn't surprising. I am not saying Verosika is some saint but she certainly ain't wrong in this case.

#helluva boss #verosika mayday #helluva boss verosika

[cakejerry]

I need to hear more on why you dropped BTS before

Ok. Tl;dr desperation for american validation beginning in 2017

Pretty normal scope of events actually.

1. Fucking hated spring day when it dropped, snoozer ballad, liked not today better. It doing so well on the charts only made me angrier. I had preordered both versions of the album and it turned out to only be a shitty repackage beating a dead horse (hyyh symbolism) into the ground. Stopped paying attention to their live shows as much but still kept up with the fandom.

2. Then boom they're being invited to billboard for a fake ass popularity stunt and everyone's acting like it's such a big deal. Bitch what the fuck is billboard? I genuinely dgaf. American validation desperation starts. I keep up with their releases even less. They're being cringe as fuck selling out to america and bringing in idiots to the fandom. I start hating the way namjoon is acting, as I look back on those days now he's trying WAY too hard with the aegyo and it's fucking annoying.

3. Bts outcast. I just... So cringe. So, so cringe. And everyone was acting so... Idk. People tweeting about jimin dying and laughing and making it blow up until there were actual billboard articles being written about it. Google it if you dont know what im talking about. Some of my tweets from the period:

4. Love yourself concept teasers drop. There's a bunch of random girls for no reason, giving all of them het plotlines in a story about friendship. Cringe. Someone tweets "dont sexualise their relationship with the girls don't disrespect them like that!" and someone replies "yoongis girl is going to eat his ass i can see it in her eyes" (very important to the narrative). I start feeling disconnected from jimin and start finding jungkook very attractive.

5. Dna teaser drops and im like ohhh this about to be good they're bringing retro back!! Turns out... They're going to be having the debut stage in america. I stay up with a friend all night watching it. Its exciting, but.... I don't care about america. I don't, i dont i dont. I truly dont. Oh yeah THE CHAINSMOKERS are on the album. I fucking hate collabs. I hate americans. But, whatever. The album is good. Like, really good. Serendipity is a jimin solo song, and I still love him despite my best interests. Best of me is good, pied paper is good, bojok is good, dna is GOOD... mic drop is fine, basic people are going to blow it up like they did with baepsae, but its okay. Im STANNING! But then the problems start arising.

6. Mic drop steve aoki. Need i say more. The lyrics... The sound... We get it, you're hardcore. You're embarrassed to promote colourful pop like dna. You're tough boys who misuse aave. Its so cringe. No one says anything about it. Great. The collab... WHO IS STEVE AOKI??? IDGAF!!!

6.5 deliberately leaving this one out just to check if anyone is still reading... The worst betrayal of my life *shiv gif*

7. And then... the american promotions. I stop paying attention completely. I start resenting everything. The way they look, the way they talk. Fans start making fun of a pic of jimin where it looks like he didnt cut his toenails. Rumors start circling that he got his chipped tooth fixed. I... Idk. It's the little things. I can't describe how awful the fandom space was, you just had to be there. The american influx was awful. Burn the stage drops. Another cash grab. People make fun of jungkook being sick. The love yourself concept feels hollow. I go back to wings and realize we have lost the plot.. hoseok is singing about his real life mother and people are creating theories about how it all relates back to the hyyh storyline. Jungkook is singing about how much he loves his hyungs and he didn't even write the words; rap monster did. I hate rap monster. Rap monster changes his name to RM- its less cringe to the americans that way. They change their logo- its minimalist now, to appeal to the americans. They're not the bulletproof boyscouts anymore. They're beyond the scene. Its hybe, not bighit. They're embarrased. They're changing themselves. They write all of their songs. (They really dont.) No but they do! We have to chart. (Inflate those numbers guys!) They're the only kpop group worthy of success. They paved the way! They write their own songs. We can tell! (Stream stream stream). Im completely removed. I only hear about them through 3rd hand sources. Bt21... Merch... Money.. sell... Buy... Book, movie, another repackage album, another movie, a game, another game, buy, sell, money.... I see the video of jimins voice breaking in fake love-- I laugh. Oh they made him show his abs for that comeback... Great. We only love him for his body, anyways. Oh, they're collabing with some random white bitch.... Okay.... Its called boy with luv?... But boy in luv will forever be MY baby. They're BIG now. People talk about them. They don't know them like I do. I don't know them like you do. Idol drops and I catch glimpses of it. Its.. too much. Its awful. Everyone calls it the worst song ever. Hearing snippets on the radio at the gym, im bound to agree. I hear nicki minaj's voice. Shout out to korea. Why is she here? What is going on. Why.. why are they doing this. This isnt bts. I hear dynamite on the radio in the grocery store- i only know its bts because of Jimin's disgusting awful dying cat voice. I post about it. Its funny. I love to hate. The song is shit. The song is being payolad onto the radio in my small ass country because bts fans are genuinely crazy. Steam. Inflate. Buy. Break records. Pave the way. NO multis, ONLY solo. Someone says borahae. I don't know what it means. A japanese group i like covers butter. I cant listen to more than 3 seconds of it- it sounds like shit. Its in english. Why is it all in english? The rhymes sound like a third grader wrote them. Is this what my.. my bts are releasing these days? Are they not embarrassed? They're decked out in gucci and lv.. it looks like shit. They look like shit. Theyre embarrassing themselves. Theyre everything they swore theyd never become. Theyre the people they made fun of. They neglect the korean audience. They stop promoting on music shows- its all special release this, single package that. But lets mass buy it. Lets show our love. Money. Money is love. Money will buy them leopard print and tacky sandals. Are they still the same bts i knew? No... No, they're not.

I remember a jhope fansite dying back in the day. I remember that I had never heard about her before, but I remember feeling devastated. I remember feeling connected to her. As I write this, I am praying that she is well. We all came together and shared our condolences. It wasn't an event- we didn't trend anything. But there was a feeling of remorse that day in the fandom. Of community. I remember huddling around the phone with my friend- I had just gotten a twitter notification from bts. They just finished a concert in their red bullet tour. They post a group photo. It gets 10k likes.

Now every time I listen to a bts song in public this flashes in my mind.

I hate bts.