#acting like we’re not actually the horrible people we know we are

[towards-toramunda]

Anywho Ashton has always agreed with Orym that the ruby vanguard is bad even though he doesn’t like the gods and has frequently opened himself to Orym as a support if he needs one and idk why we’re acting like he hasn’t been on Orym’s side or vocally anti vanguard this whole time? Like yeah they’ve got low charisma and Orym may think Ashton wouldn’t be there for him for whatever reason, but I thought we as an audience knew that Ashton is 100% on Orym side.

I again think that the reason Orym isn’t reaching out to the hells (specifically fearne and Ashton) and is instead reaching out to Dorian is cause he doesn’t know if he’ll get a response and its safer that way, and if he does get a response he doesn’t need to reply for 24 hours and that gives him time to compartmentalize his thoughts into 25 words. Also cause sometimes you just need to talk to someone who isn’t around you 24/7 to not go crazy. I think it’d be so juicy if Dorian showed up and joins the hells again and suddenly Orym shells up with him as well. Cause with Dorian in it, Orym would have to be strong for him now too. And suddenly he won’t have anyone to turn to cause he has to be the strong pillar (even if Ashton tells him he’s gets that its hard and he’s allowed not to be the strong one.) And to him being the strong one means being silent and holding it in to protect those around you.

I feel like holding this all in isn’t gonna make him explode but it will make him crumble. Hell, its already making him crumble.

Edit: I just… why can’t we allow the avoidant attachment style and lack of communication with those around him to be an unhealthy thing Orym’s doing as an avoidance technique instead of saying “well actually bells hells have all been horrible to him in these specific ways so he shouldn’t talk to them they don’t deserve it”

I see why orym’s doing it! I just think people are defending it too hard instead of allowing it to be an unhealthy coping mechanism

#critical role #cr spoilers #orym of the air ashari #ashton greymoore #cr discourse #I just… I’m not here for Ashton slander! thats my baby rock!

[thelikesoffinn]

„Astarion ending as the Vampire Ascendant is the correct ending for him, because it is what he wants.”

That is a claim I’ve been seeing pop up more and more often these days. And I think it’s both a very bold and a very odd claim to make.

But first things first: Hello, I’m a licensed social worker! So far, I’ve worked with children, refugees and youths with behavioural issues stemming from bullying and or abuse.

Please be aware that I will be mentioning different kinds of abuse, coping mechanisms, and victim/abuser relationships. If any of this is difficult for you, don’t force yourself through it. My jabbering about a traumatised vampire is not worth your wellbeing, not ever.

I will, however try to stick to Astarion and not use other examples. If, in any case, I do use a non-Astarion example, I’ll add a warning beforehand so that you can skip the part. And I’ll make it clear what will be discussed in the next bit, so that you have a chance to skip it entirely.

This is an effort to make this as accessible as possible for everyone that wants to indulge on a mad woman’s rambling – and I know there’s a few people that like this sort of stuff!

And, uh, there's obviously spoilers for all three acts. Serious spoilers, even.

Before I can get into the whole ‘why Astarion didn’t really want to ascend,’ we need to understand him a little more. And to understand this pretty boy’s brain, we first need to understand the gist of what we’re talking about when we throw around the word ‘abuse.’

“Abuse” is when someone is treated with cruelty, violence, or neglect – often to bad effect – on a regular basis. Repetitively. Check’s out for Astarion, I’d say, but we all knew that already. I mean, if one thing was obvious, it was this.

1. Astarions Abuse

Next we need to look at what kind of abuse Astarion faced over his long years of torment, seeing as different types of abuse will have different effects on the victim.

Not that that is anything we have to worry about with him – Astarion won the abuse lottery, to put it bluntly. In a horrible game of fate, he got everything. He himself indirectly mentions all the types of abuse he faced, albeit never using the correct terms.

The first we properly notice – fitting, seeing as it is often the most obvious form of abuse – is the physical abuse. Astarions scars are probably the biggest tell Larian could shove down our throats, only underlined by Astarion’s tale about the night itself. About how Cazador ‘misspelled something’ every time he flinched or screamed and had to do ‘many corrections. On top of this, Cazador locked Astarion up for months on end and tortured him – or had him tortured – on a regular basis both as a rite and as a punishment.

Next up, we have the fact that Astarion was forced to basically prostitute himself repeatedly. This is what we call sexual exploitation.

“I spent two hundred years using my body to lure pretty things back for my Master.” – Act 2

Two hundred years is a long time, filled with great many people. Now, we don’t know how many of those people actually tapped into the sexual exploitation and how many he could just lure back with other means, but the fact that it happened a lot is undeniable.

Next we have a form of abuse that we often disregard in adults: Neglect. It sounds odd, I know, saying that a fully grown adult was neglected. They can care for themselves, can they not?

Well. Yes and no.

Adult neglect is proceeded by the condition that one adult has to lean on another adult to fulfil their needs for whatever reason. This could be anything, from disability to income-based issues.  

Seeing as Astarion had absolutely nothing, while Cazador had everything, we can assume this was the case. Cazador had the house, the money, the power. Astarion owns but one pair of clothes, assumedly, that he has fixes over and over again. Fair to say, that’s pretty neglectful. (And it’s one more reason to shower the guy in pretty armour and camp clothes. Go ham, people.)

Last we have the form of abuse we actually get to witness later in the game – emotional abuse.

Once again, it’s undeniable that this happened. Especially since we’re all seeing it in the flesh upon meeting Cazador in his crypt.

“Have you no respect for yourself?”

“I strove for perfection in all things. Even those as imperfect as you.”

“A pity you amounted to so little, despite my efforts.”

“A pathetic little boy who never amounted to anything.”

All Act 3, Crypt

Here we have just a few examples of things Cazador throws in his face. It’s like reading a textbook on emotional abuse, this one (and it’s definitely a reason to throw hands).

Blaming the victim, keeping their sense of self and their self-worth as tiny as possible to make them cower and flee. A true classic.

This pretty much shows that Astarion suffered all forms of abuse we commonly see and it is implied – once again by Astarion himself – that at least a few of those instances were ritualistic.

Now, what does that mean exactly? Well, I fear I need to use a real example here, so please skip the next paragraph.

Ritualistic doesn’t refer to a proper ritual – it can, but that’s mostly a thing for those in a cult. So, we’re not necessarily talking about a ‘Vampire Ascendent Ritual’. A husband, beating his wife every evening after his third bottle of beer is also called ritual abuse. It happens regularly. It is part of a routine. Both parties know what will happen.

I can’t find the exact quote, so I’m working of my memory here, but at one point he said that when Cazador invited him to eat and he said yes, he would be served a putrid rat. If he said no, he’d be beaten.

The way it was phrased made it clear that it happened more than once and that Astarion clearly knew what would happen. So, this can be classified as ritualistic abuse.

2. A Note on Conditioning and Compliance

By default, abuse victims are conditioned to behave a certain way or in a certain fashion. This is a natural response to avoid further abuse.

In Astarion, the thing we see most often is his inherent need to please. Not literally, he doesn’t mind being an arsehole. But he initially feels the need to follow Tav’s orders, even if they go against his own wishes.

This can be clearly seen in the conversation with Araj Oblodra. Astarion very clearly doesn’t want to bite her. He doesn’t. But he will do so, if Tav tells him to. This behaviour is not conscious – he doesn’t know why he does it, he just does – and it is to be expected. This is how he kept himself save for two centuries, so of course he will fall back into his usual pattern when the pressure is high.

This goes hand in hand with the fact that most abuse victims don’t fight. Maybe initially, but not after long term abuse. Especially not after two fucking centuries.

This is true in Astarion – offered by his ‘siblings’ during act 3 and unhappily acquiesced by the man himself. Astarion stopped fighting and, once again implied, cowered, and did as he was told in order to survive.

3. The Astarion we know and love

Obviously, all that abuse does have an impact on our vampire boyfriend. He shows various common signs of abuse and just like with the forms of abuse, Astarion raked every coping mechanism he could find. (Not really, but it feels like it.) It’s also important to note that nearly all of the following things happen inwardly. Astarion is not one of the victims, that tries to rationalise and minimise the actions of his abuser. Quite the opposite, actually.

I’ll note from the beginning, that rationalisation will not be covered in this bit, as most examples will be important later on. But he definitely does it.

One of his biggest skills is to hide every ounce of fear or hurt behind sarcasm and snarky theatrics. He doesn’t seem to hide his anger much, though, so that’s something! Our boy is cool with anger, not so much with being afraid.

“Ahahaha, now that you mention it….I might have done…that.” – Act 3, regarding the Gur children

“The thing that will decide my fate forever more? Yeees, it’s been on my miiiind. Why?” – Act 2, regarding the Ritual

And there’s many more instances that prove this. Honestly, half his dialogue is sarcasm, so it would really be too long to get into and we all know what I mean, right? We have alltalked to the guy before. It’s obvious that he’s sarcastic to a fault.

This goes hand in hand with his penchant for defensiveness. I would personally state that he’s simply not really good with guilt. When talking about fear, he usually just opts for sarcasm or avoids the topic completely, but guilt especially has his defences going up. This is also when he’s most likely to shove all the blame off to Cazador.

“Don’t look at me like that. Cazadors orders.” – Act 3, Crypt

“I just did what I had to!” – Act 3, Crypt

And don’t get me wrong, he does that anyway. And with good reason. Astarion didn’t have a choice for the most part, but he’s still easy to shove things off.

This kind of connects to his penchant for denial.

Astarion doesn’t really like to talk about most things. He firmly believes he is an ‘action’ sort of person that just does instead of plans, which invertedly just means he’s great at pushing the thinking stuff away. He also likes to get rid of stuff, so that he doesn’t need to face it ever again.

“I never want to see these little scraps of misery again. The world doesn’t need to know my shame.” – Act 3, about the children

And yes, this partly rings true. He’s probably ashamed and doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s done. But it’s also very clear that he himself simply doesn’t want to face his own actions, something that is just  underlined by his extreme willingness to red rid of the other spawn.

As mentioned by Astarion himself, he’s big on manipulation. I mean, I don’t think there is much explaining necessary. The guy is willing to do a whole lot in order to get what he desires – which mostly revolves around safety and survival, to be honest – and he’s not really shy about it either. And that’s despite the fact that he doesn’t really like intimacy – especially in form of sex.

It’s not a secret that Astarion is not big on sex and anything surrounding it. This goes far enough for people to consider him either ace or ace coded.

A claim that, personally, I’m not super in line with.

Now, it’s not entirely wrong and if this is your head cannon I’m surely not going to stand in your way – but on a larger spectrum, I think he’s more traumatised than ace. And while those go hand in hand sometimes, it’s a bit difficult for the ace community if you attach traumatised characters to them because it can fuel a whole lot of stigma that is honestly neither needed nor wanted. But I digress!

If it comes to his own behaviour, he’s great at minimising his mistakes. Honestly, he’s a master of minimisation. A very obvious and famous example would be:

“’Killed’ feels like a…strong word. Not many corpses have your vigour.” – Act 1, after killing Tav

Astarion. You literally sucked poor Tav dry and left them flopping around, cold, and dead. Killed is exactly the right word and we all know it.

“Quite the deviation from my usual routine. Capture, not lure. I didn’t bring them in with sweet rolls or anything.” – Act 3, Gur Children

This is another attempt at minimising what he did, if a bit less obvious because at this point there isn’t much he can say. But at least he didn’t sexualise the gur children, right? They’re still spawn but whoo, at least that didn’t happen.  

The next point would be dissociation, which is extremely common in abuse victims – of all forms of abuse.

Astarion himself mentioned certain moments that could be classified as dissociation over course of the story, which is probably the coping mechanism I personally expected the most.

The pale elf has a penchant for violence, but he’s not entirely shameless or abhorrently vile, which gets clearer the more the story progresses. So, two hundred years of forced prostitution, torture and doing whatever other horrible things? Yeah, I’d be more surprised if he didn’t dissociate.

Examples of that would be:

“A moment of disgust to push myself through and then I could’ve carried on, just like before.” – Act 2, after Araj

“I felt nothing the moment I handed them over.” – Act 3, Gur Children

“Did you enjoy it? It felt like you weren’t fully there.” – Act 1, Tav after Sex

The latter is generally more of an assumption than actual prove, but with context it does make sense.

The last common sign of abuse we find in our boyfriend would be his low self-worth. It’s a consistent trait that stays over the course of all three acts, noticeable in many different conversations.

We can see it in his reaction to wanting to break up before finishing his story. We can see it in his genuine surprise when Tav picks him over any of the other characters. We see it in his insecurity whenever Tav asks to sleep with another character. He’s fine with it, but he still worries their decision to sleep with someone else is based on something he did.

It eases up ever so slightly after Cazador is dead, but even then he’s still struggling which is once again perfectly illustrated if you try to break up with him.

“Oh shit. I- Did I do something wrong?”

That is the first thing he asks and I think it speaks for itself. He genuinely doesn’t believe he has much to offer and for Astarion, it’s likely that Astarion will always be the problem.

4. "Oh, I tried them all none of them answered.”

Another big thing that’s important to note, is that Astarion was never saved. No one came to save him from Cazador. There was no darling boy on a white steed riding into that castle to rescue him and princess carry him away. Not even the gods answered his desperate calls.

So, he never received any kindness or luck. To him, the world seems as cruel and horrid as before because he didn’t have the chance to experience goodness in two centuries.

But worse than that, he didn’t even get to save himself. Astarion didn’t stand up to Cazador, he didn’t run out of his own might.

He was beaten to near death and ‘saved’ by Cazador, who would become his abuser.

He tried to save someone and, in turn, was locked up and starved for an entire year.

He was abducted by mind flayers, i.e., saved from Cazador, only to end up tadpoled and on the cusp of getting a fancy, squiddy beard.

Anything that’s good, any kindness, any selfless action…it all came with a ginormous price tag.

5. Over the Course of the Story

Astarions behaviour changes a whole lot over the course of three acts – which is important once we talk about his quests climax – so let’s review what we’re working with!

Act 1 Astarion is guarded as fuck. The man has walls around him that are so high, even the gods can touch them.

A lot of his behaviour in act 1 revolves around staying save and staying liked. He lies, manipulates, and flutters his lashes in order to get what he wants and needs. Instead of asking, like Wyll, Karlach and Gale do, Astarion uses all he has to offer to get by. He is still very much in survival mode and tries to weasel his way through an unfamiliar situation with familiar methods.

On top of that, and most notably, he’s absolutely not fond of kindness or selflessness.

#I saved a child and now my boyfriend is mad

Here, we are most likely to gain disapproval for doing the decent thing – unless you sent him outside for a minute whenever you’re being a good person.

And I’d assume that this is because of two things.

First: The very traditional ‘Why not me?’

As I mentioned before, Astarion wasn’t saved. He hasn’t experienced kindness in a very long time so seeing that the world is literally filled with kind people is hurtful. Why didn’t anyone save him? Why was he left to his own devices for so long? Why should he care about others when it’s so clear that no one ever cared about him? No, dead to all of them. If he didn’t get it, neither will they.

“And what am I owed? What about the injustices I suffered? Am I not entitled to anything?” – Act 3, Crypt

“I was in the prime of my life when I was turned. Everything was taken from me too.” – Act 3, Crypt

And secondly is the fact that, as I mentioned, goodness always has a price. And it’s one most people won’t be willing to pay. That’s how his life has been, so why would theirs be different?

This is precisely why Astarion may disapprove of kind actions, but he mostly neither approves nor disapproves if Tav asks for payment. That’s just how the world works.

Once you venture out into act 2, after getting to know him a whole lot more, he starts to mellow a bit – if only towards Tav.

“He’s afraid, so afraid, of everyone but you, who she should fear the most.” – Sceleritas about Astarion

His approval is a lot easier to gain – or at least keep! – and he tends to approve of some more proper actions. He doesn’t throw a fit if you promise to find Mol, he approves of Tav being kind to His Majesty, of saving Aylin and he even approves of Durge apologising to Isobel after threatening to rip her to pieces.

He's slowly starting to open up, allowing Tav to see some parts of him he previously kept hidden. He accepts their offer to help, if hesitantly and, by god, the man starts experimenting with boundaries.

The social worker in me is shedding tears at this. It’s my favourite thing to see in my clients and it’s no different here. Yay to saying no!

Of course, it’s still a bit hit or miss. If Tav urges him to bite Araj, for example, he will only to later notice that he didn’t fucking have to. He recognises this on his own and he calls Tav out on it. Just like he calls them out on not helping him with his Orthon quest.

Good job, chap. Good fucking job.

And the growth-train won’t stop going even as we reach act 3.

In act 3, there’s not many things he disapproves as of right now – those he does, mostly have to do with how Tav treats him and not with anyone else. In fact, he’s more likely to approve good behaviour now, like giving Yenna food or money.

And yes, we need to consider that this could simply be because he gets used to Tav’s behaviour and just learns to roll with it. But it’s also highly likely that he notices that there’s truly good people around. At least one person. And that person is not only good, no, they’re in the process of helping him break free once and for all.

They’re helping him save himself.

By act 3, he has learned that he can absolutely say his piece where Tav is concerned and he’s more likely to disagree with them on certain things. It’s seen during a lot of small dialogue that he’s no longer terribly afraid to be honest with them, willing to listen and talk and he’ll ask for help if he needs it.

“I can do this. But I need your help.” – Act 3, Crypt

Something that can be viewed both positively and negatively is that he’s definitely loyal to a fault. He will stick by Tav’s side, no matter what.

“I really hoped we could avoid being pawns for a dark god, but here we are, I suppose. I’m with you, my dear, wherever this might lead.” – Act 3, After Jaheira confronts durge

As I said, this can be both positive and negative. On one count, it’s a recipe for disaster, seeing as he could be waltzing into a really bad situation for Tav alone.

But on the other side…this is a man who only cared about himself because that is the only person he could afford to care about. He needed to survive. He now has enough room to breathe and the capacity to care for someone else and I’d be inclined to count that as a good thing.

6. The Crypt

All the progress he made in act 2 and 3 is nearly tossed into the wind as soon as the crew enters Cazadors castle.

It’s not an immediate thing, of course.

At first, Astarion tries to stay light and simple and he hides behind flippant tones and relaxed faces. The way he recounts this is almost comically disinterested and the façade is actually quite good.

It’s start’s cracking after we meet Godie, one of the people who tortured him on more than one account, but he mostly manages to remain as upbeat as one can honestly expect for the first half of the journey.

All that, however, is done for the very moment we meet Sebastian. His mask not only slips, no, it full on shatters and there’s none of his apparent lightness left.

Which, of course it does.

The man is suddenly faced with years and years and years of victims. Innocent, unlucky people he lured back to his master over two centuries. People he liked, people he pitied.

“It’s sickening, seeing them again.”

It’s basically a room filled with guilt, exclusively for Astarion. And, as we mentioned before…Astarion is not great with guilt.

The guilt, however, is not where it ends.

No, he’s also faced with reflections of his own past. The spawn pose as reminders of what he did, sure, but also as reminders of what he was.

Weak, desperate, hungry.

There’s an abundance of images of his worst moments, reflected back at him in the thousands. It’s probably like staring into a funhouse mirror, but instead of seeing yourself in a funky way he just sees everything he so desperately doesn’t want to be.

“It should be [who I am]! I don’t want to be like them. They’re pathetic, horrible…”

He’s forcefully made aware of how darn weak he can be, which claws at all the wounds he’s barely had time to close. Something, he of course won’t admit if asked.

“THEY DO NOT [remind me of myself]. That weakness in me is dead, IT’S DEAD. I have a higher purpose.”

The high pressure of the moment brings out all of his act 1 traits in but a few moments. You can pretty much watch how he starts to shut down mid conversation, one of his old walls snapping back into place to remove himself from the situation.

Thing is though, walls usually become a bit brittle after disuse. Especially when talking to a person you don’t usually want to wall out.

Or, in his case, when talking to Tav.

After meeting Sebastian, Astarion shows extreme reactions to Tav nudging any of his weak spots. His reaction varies on whatever choice you make, but it ranges from aggression to defensiveness, to denial and even to downright begging Tav.

“Don’t hate me. I just did what I had to. I swear I did what I had to.”

This probably the most shocking out of all of them, since that is not something we got to witness before. The begging is likely a mixture of intense fear of losing Tav, his low self-esteem and pre-Tav behaviour, since we can assume that Cazador made him beg more than once.

Another old coat he puts back on would also be the least surprising of them all.

Manipulation.

He falls right back into it, using Tav’s affection to get what he want if we trigger the right action.

“If they die and I ascend, I won't have to rely on the parasite to walk in the sun. I'll be free. Truly completely free. Isn't that what you want?”

This, to me, was probably the biggest tell that Astarion was back in survival mode. He’s panicking, for fucks sake, and who can blame the guy? He’s back. He’s about to face down his abuser.

Of course he’s fucking panicking.

Panic leads to an increased craving for safety and, in his case, power. This is why he clings to Tav, why he begs them to love him still. And this is why he jumps head first into the rationalisation pool.

“I will need to sacrifice them all if I want to perform the ritual. - [You can save them.] – What’s the point? They're as good as dead! I thought they were dead. If they are unleashed, they will cause incredible carnage. […] They must die. Better they serve a purpose.”

Another textbook example.

They must die anyway. They’re basically dead. No need to save them now. They’re dangerous, I’m doing the right thing by sacrificing them. I already thought they were dead, so it’s not changing anything for me. They’re a lost cause and I deserve  all this power. I deserve it, because I suffered and nothing will change if they die.

So, seeing as we already spoke about his usual behaviour in act 3 – behaviour he showed after we allowed him to breathe and be himself for a while – I think we can fairly easily conclude he’s not thinking straight.

Astarion is right back in survival mode, where all that matters is he himself. If it weren’t for the seven thousand spawns, he might have moved through this more gracefully, but seeing those tipped the scales and Astarion is absolutely losing it.

Remember that for the last section, per favore.

7. The Ascension

“Astarion wants to ascend and Tav manipulates him into doing what they want.”

That is basically the essence of what people often claim and I can’t help but shake my head at such a blatant disregard of everything he has become. This is completely ignoring the change and growth he has gone through over the course of their journey.

Astarion wants to be free. He wants to be safe. That does not mean he wants to ascend.

And the claim that Tav manipulates him into doing anything is even more baffling. We are all aware that Tav is not manipulative by nature, yes? That is entirely on you. You decide who your Tav is.

And then let’s remember: Astarion is panicked. He’s afraid and he’s not thinking straight. His abuser is on his knees before him and he still feels so weak. And there’s seven thousand spawns that need handling.

Astarion is very much not okay right now.

In fact, reading his thoughts just proves this theory.

“You can see the fear in his eyes but also the hunger. The thick smell of blood in the air and the promise of power being so close is intoxicating to him. All he can see is the power of the ritual and the freedom that power brings. The freedom to do anything. To be anything.”

Tav, however, has none of those problems. They can actually see beyond the current situation and they are fully aware what the consequences are. Astarion is not. As we previously established, Astarion is a doer. Not a thinker. He didn’t think this through, not at all.

The only thing Tav is doing – the persuasion roll – is reminding him of the very real consequences he is facing. The consequences he hasn’t thought about before.

"I know you think this will set you free, but it won't. This power will trap you, just like it trapped Cazador."

And that is the kindest thing Tav could do in this situation. They’re not bodily dragging him away from Cazador. They’re not even telling him to not do it. They’re just offering him the truth. He can do with that information whatever he desires.

“Astarion cries when he doesn’t ascend, that just shows that it was the wrong choice.”

A hare-brained point that I thankfully have only seen once so far.

That crying? That is healthy crying.

That is him, crumbling under the stress that suddenly dissipates. That is him mourning two hundred years of torment. That’s him letting out feelings he hasn’t been able to for centuries.

And, for the love of god, try to put yourself in his shoes.

Two hundred years of torment, ended in but a moment.

Astarion was abused and tortured for so long, afraid for so long only to see his tormentor die just like that.

Cazador died within a moment and all Astarion needed was a darn blade. Of course he fucking cries.

Seeing how pathetic a being the very core of your life’s misery actually is hurts. It hurts like hell because not only are you finally free – free! – no, you’re faced with the fact that this pile of nothing, the thing that’s bleeding out right in front of you…this was what tortured for so long.

This thing hurt you so much. That guy took everything from you, everything you once were, and broke it again and again and again over years.

You were so scared of this thing.

And yet he has the gall and the gumption to die just like that.

It was so easy.

And yet you suffered for so long.

8. Evil Playthrough?

An evil playthrough is really a different setting altogether.

All of this, as you can probably tell, is really only applicable on a good playthrough. Realistically speaking. I’m not sure how the game mechanics handle it.

On an evil path, Astarion never really gets to experience kindness and goodness. Evil Tav will just prove him right in his believe that the world is a vile and cold place, meaning that he realistically would be more inclined to actually want to ascend.

9. Final Conclusion

I think all of this should be enough to make it clear that no, ascended Astarion is not the best ending for the guy. In fact, it is probably the worst. Because it’s just him, running away. He’s running into a lonely and cold state of being, where cruelty and power lord over everything else and he’s running because he’s terrified of being hurt again. He’s running despite desperately wanting to stop running.

“I'll spend the rest of my life running watching the shadows, never feeling safe…no, this has to happen. Here and now.”

And, the worst part is: Nothing about Astarion is left after he ascends. Even his tone of speaking gradually changes, his theatrics fading. He’s slowly losing himself, until there’s nothing but an evil caricature left.

So, in the end, ascension will have proven him right.

That version of him is dead.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate #baldurs gate #bg3 #astarion #the dark urge #tav #astarion romance #astarion ancunin #astarion and tav #bg3 act 1 #bg3 act 2 #bg3 act 3 #act 3 #act 2 #act 1 #araj oblodra

[forever-rogue]

yayy now that ik you're open to write for joel, i propose smth angsty along the lines of "you came back for me" bc reader and joel got into a really big fight before getting separated. i just want the angstttt pls crush my heart tear it apart then put it back together by ending really fluffy plssss

AN | The inevitable has arrived - here we are foraying into Joel territory. Enjoy ❤️

Pairing | Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Warnings | Language

Word Count | 2.4k

Masterlist | Joel, Main

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You’re really stupid sometimes,” it was an exasperated huff that had your hands on your hips as you looked at him. You didn’t mean it - not really anyway. Joel was probably one of the smartest and most resourceful people you’d ever met. He hung his head with a heavy sigh before turning back to you. His expression was entirely unamused, “so foolish and - and stubborn!”

This got a laugh out of him, a bark of unamused laughter but nonetheless. He crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m stubborn? Have you met yourself? You don’t get what you want and you act like a petulant child!”

“I am not,” you hissed, trying your best not to stomp your foot; you didn’t need to help prove his point any further. Maybe he was a little right…Joel often was. But you also felt like your point was right too. Even if this was the middle of a weird zombie apocalypse you were now living in, you should be able to take some time out for yourself. Especially now that you had a more stable living situation, “it’s always work this and work that with you. We should-”

“We should do what we need to in order to survive,” he cut you off, refusing to meet your eyes. He knew, begrudgingly, that you also weren’t entirely wrong, “that is the most important thing.”

“What about us-”

“There is no us,” he insisted and damn. Those four little words broke your heart more than anything. All this time spent together, getting to know each other both on a physical and emotional level meant nothing to him. You should have known. It was almost funny in a horrible way. The older man refused to look at you and you couldn’t help but think him a coward. Maybe he was right after all - maybe you were just a child, “get that in your head and let’s get this over with. We’re losing daylight.”

He took a few steps forward, dirt and gravel crunching under his boots. You shook your head, more to yourself than anything but didn’t follow him. When Joel didn’t hear your footsteps behind him, he turned around, “I’m not going with you.”

“C’mon,” he insisted, “don’t be like this. It’s dangerous for you to be out here by yourself.”

“Well, how am I ever going to learn to survive solely on my own if I’ve always got you or someone else leading the way?” He was correct in reasoning though. It wasn’t safe for anyone alone. It was also recommended that people go out in pairs for that reason, “just go on and I’ll find my own way back.”

“Stop acting like this,” but you just shook your head and took a step further back, “can you just listen to me for once?”

“Actually, Joel, for once it would be me not listening to you. So…you do whatever it is you need to do, do it. I’ll go back and patiently wait. Then you can come back and tell me what to do,” you offered him a sticky sweet smile before turning on your heel and heading back in the direction from which you came. You took off before Joel could say anything, biting your lip in order to keep from making any extra sounds or letting your tears fall down your cheeks. 

You heard him call after you, your name falling from his lips in an increasingly exasperated tone. You heard him come after you for a few moments, but eventually he stopped, his signature sigh falling from his lips. But eventually he moved on and you continued back towards Jackson. 

Realistically you’d just proved his point by acting in such a childish manner. But you didn’t care, not right now. He’d hurt you, and you didn’t even know if he’d meant to or knew the effect his words were having on you. 

“Dumb, stupid girl,” you groaned at yourself, “had to go and mess everything up. And now you’re going to get yourself lost.”

Admittedly, your sense of direction wasn’t the greatest. But the path you’d taken to get to this point, the point where you’d picked an argument with Joel, had been a fairly linear path. Surely you couldn’t fuck that up.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

And yet…you managed to fuck that right up. 

It was dark and you weren’t back to Jackson yet and you knew that was wrong. It shouldn't have taken so long to get back. You should have been back already. Somewhere along the line you had either taken a wrong turn or missed a turn but you found yourself wandering aimlessly. It was too quiet out here, not even sounds of nighttime creatures reaching your ears. If there were anything out there with you, they’d probably hear you in a heartbeat. You’d just have to hope that there wouldn’t be any runners or stalkers or worse - clickers. You were glad you’d remembered to stash an extra knife in your boot and still had the shotgun slung across your back. You’d never taken one on your own, but you figured you could manage. You were going to have to. 

But you just hoped that you wouldn’t come across everything. You’d just camp out in one of the abandoned buildings you’d found until daybreak and then make your way back. That seemed like the most logical and smart thing to do. 

You went to check the front door of the building and, naturally, it was locked. Luckily there was an open window nearby that you figured you could use to get in. Hopefully that was a good sign that nothing else was able to get in either. You jumped the little bit of distance that you needed in order to climb up, catching your hands on the window sill and pulling yourself up. You managed to get in, but suffered a less than graceful landing as you plopped on the ground. And…managed to roll your ankle in the process. 

“Fuck,” you cried, clutching at your ankle in pain as you tried to stifle your whimper. Tears rolled down your cheeks as you slowly sat up and tried to massage the pain in your ankle away, “shit, damn it. Fuck!”

As soon as the words left your mouth, you slapped a hand over it to try and keep any further sound at bay. You sat still, and listened for a few moments to make sure you didn’t hear anything. After a few tense, still minutes had passed, you relaxed; it didn’t seem like anything was there with you. 

Crawling towards the corner, you made yourself as small as possible, sitting with your back against the concrete wall, and hugging your knees to your chest. Anything to make yourself as small and unimposing as possible. It was probably a stupid idea to sleep, alone and vulnerable, but it had been a long day and you needed some rest. Your eyes grew heavier and heavier and before you knew it you had succumbed to sleep’s siren call.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By the time your eyes opened up, heavy and dry, it was the morning. Daylight was streaming inside the room and you let out a relieved, but shaky sigh. You’d made it through the night. That in and of itself was a good sign that you’d make it back. It was safer in the light and you might even meet someone from Jackson on the way back. 

As you tried to stand up, you quickly remembered what had happened. The stabbing pain your ankle causing you to yelp as you leaned against the wall, using it to help support yourself. Okay, okay, okay - this was going to be trickier than you thought but you’d be able to get yourself out of there. Your survival instinct was stronger than that.

But before you could do anything or plan anything else you heard it. It was your name being called out in the distance. Gooseflesh erupted all over your skin as you tried to pick out the voice. It came closer and closer and it didn’t take long to figure out who it was. Joel. It made your heart jump before you remembered what had happened. You could just - fuck it. You needed him to survive and while you were stubborn among a whole lot of other things, you were willing to put aside. 

“Joel!” you held onto the sill so tightly that your knuckles were turning white. You poked your head outside and looked around until you found him a short distance away, “Joel.”

He stopped at the sound of your voice, and you could see the evident relief that washed over his features. He jogged over to you, and you offered him a tentative, nervous little smile. He shook his head when he realized that you were safe, running a hand through his dark hair. Joel exhaled slowly before looking at you, a hard glint to his, “do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” you rolled your eyes lightly.

“This isn’t a game,” his voice sounded between annoyed, worried, and relieved all at once. He reached over and gently touched your face, his hand resting on your cheek, “you thought you could just go off on your own and find your way back? You couldn’t even do that. I got back and you weren’t there. Do you even know what I thought? I-I…”

“I’m okay,” you promised, putting your hand on top of his and giving it what you hoped was a reassuring little squeeze. He wasn’t looking at you, instead looking up at the blue sky. It was almost funny in a way; if you looked up, staring into the bright blue sky, it almost seemed like nothing was wrong and the world was as it had always been, “look at me, please. Joel.”

“I thought something had happened,” he swallowed the lump in his throat as his eyes met yours. There was a hard edge to them, but they were still soft, “I thought I’d fucking lost you.”

“You came back,” you took his hand in yours, admiring the feeling of his calloused fingers against your surprisingly soft skin, “you came back for me.”

“Of course I did,” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, “that was never a question. You should have just come with me and none of this would have happened. You stubborn, foolish girl.”

“You…” it all seemed so trivial and silly now. Now that he was back and had come for you, “I…’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just left. Not with my sense of direction.”

“I’m sorry too,” he admitted and you raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was not what you had been expecting to hear. Joel Miller was a hard man and he didn’t generally didn’t experience situations in which he had to apologize, “I shouldn’t have said the things I did.”

“I shouldn’t have just assumed that you and I were…anything,” your voice dropped as you tried to blink back the tears that threatened to well up, “it was stupid of me and ended up causing both a lot of trouble.”

“You are extremely important to me,” his voice was gentle when it broke the silence that had fallen over the two of you. You couldn’t help the small smile that ticked up the corners of your mouth, “even if I didn’t make it seem like it. We’ll…figure it out, okay? But I want you to know that…I…”

“I know,” you did know. You knew exactly what he was trying to convey, exactly what was going through his mind. It was the same thing you were still scared to say, “me too, Joel.”

He brought your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to your knuckles, “c’mon. Let’s get you back home and we can…go from there.”

“There’s, um…just a small issue with that,” you put on a sheepish smile as Joel looked at you expectantly, “when I found this place last night - the door was locked. I didn’t want to make too much noise so I didn’t try to force it open. Instead, I climbed in through the window.”

“I can get you out of the window-”

“I hurt my ankle.”

“Of course you did.”

“Joel-”

“It’s always something with you,” he tutted at you, but there wasn’t any anger or malice behind the sound, “what am I going to do with you, huh?”

“Keep me around because I keep you on your toes?” you tried and he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. You looked at him with a gentle smile, “can you help get me out of here?”

“Of course,” he promised, “sprained or broken?”

“I dunno,” you looked at the swollen joint and grimaced, “I think just sprained. But I’m not a doctor so…”

“Kid,” affection laced the nickname that he liked to tease you with. He came closer to the window and held his arms out to you. You quickly wrapped your arms around him, letting him tug you closer to his body before he picked you up and swung you through the window. You thought he would set you down, but he didn’t. Instead he held to you his chest, “you’re okay. I’ve got you.”

“Thank you,” before you could stop yourself you kissed him tenderly on his scruffy cheek, “thank you for coming back for me.”

“I’ll always come back for you,” he promised and you knew he meant it, “always.”

“I know,” you hugged him tightly, “me too. I mean, if the situation were ever reversed. Which I doubt it would be, but you know, the sentiment is there.”

“I know, Kid,” you could feel the laughter vibrating in his chest, “I know."

#joel miller #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #joel miller x fem!reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller one shot #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #tlou #tlou hbo

[bp-zb1fics]

A little crazy

pairing: overprotective bf shanbin x s/o reader

genre: university au on unhingedness (same verse as perils, and no, it's not lasik), fluff

tw/tags: established relationship, some stereotypical characters, hanbin has a few quirks, character study lowkey, unwanted flirting, unintentional flirting, pet names, intimidation, he's sweet but a psycho, drinking, getting a lil tipsy, lowkey stalker vibes but not really, for plot purposes we will find it cute, threatening, idk how to tag this pls tell me if i missed something

wc: 2078

summary: your boyfriend is legitimately the sweetest person ever…except when someone tries to make moves on you. Then he gets…well…

a/n my advanced birthday fic for hanbin! Bc idk why I thought it was today I must have hallucinated but also idk if I have time to post on the actual day bc of real life commitments lmao whoops I struggle and try my best. Shout out to Kara aka @boysplanetmorelike for sparking this lil idea~

Check my pinned for more fics~

It’s not like he was perfect, even if people liked to think he was. Well, yes he is very boyfriend. That’s why he’s your boyfriend.

You, of all people, can attest to the fact he isn’t perfect. You’ve seen his hair in the morning. He’s definitely not at his prettiest. Sometimes he becomes a little control freak. You know that. You’re the one who they call to get him before he makes one of the poor freshmen cry unintentionally and then ends up feeling guilty about it and apologising profusely for the rest of the day, your poor soft-hearted man. And some might argue that yes he has his little ticks but they’re only minor character flaws if they can be considered flaws at all.

If only they knew.

Those who have had the pleasure of getting to know Sung Hanbin on a more, well, personal level are probably the only ones who will ever know. Poor souls, really.

And perhaps it isn’t as effective to explain as it is to show what exactly one of his more problematic personality issues is. Let’s take one unsuspecting, innocent afternoon.

Perspective. You’ve just finished class. It’s a pleasant day. You decide to meet at one of the benches under the trees outside your building. His class finishes a bit after yours so you wait, scrolling through your phone, peaceful, unbothered.

Enter unfortunate victim. For the purpose of this exercise, he shall remain unnamed. We’ll call him Victim #444. Or well, that guy.

He’s your typical fuckboy. Good looking in a sort of lukewarm way, hugely overconfident, probably thinks he has a bigger dick than he actually does, a horrible flirt, we’ve all met that type.

You share a class together. That’s how he makes conversation. Otherwise, he might not dare to approach at that time. Your talk goes something like this.

“Hey, you’re in Choi-seongsaengnim’s class too right?”

“Yeah?” You look up from your phone and he’s just there. He takes a seat on the same bench without asking. Well, it’s public property but he’s a little closer than you would like.

“He’s such a hardass, don’t you think? Like sure, he knows the lesson but he doesn’t need to act like this is the only class we’re taking.”

“Well, I mean-”

“-Like seongsaengnim, come on, I have a life outside of trying to figure out what the fuck your lessons mean.” You can add self-absorbed and stupid to this one’s list of notable traits.

“I think-” And definitely not letting you get a word in.

“Speaking of, have you got a partner for the latest project? Because, you know, I’ve been asked but I’m happy to make an exception if you want to pair up.”

“Actually, I already have-”

“Let me give you my number so we can contact each other? Maybe meet up, you know? I’ve got a nice little place to myself on the other side of campus.”

Ugh, as if. He’s leaning in so close that you can smell his cheap cologne. Before you can get up from the bench, arms wrap around you from the back and a very familiar voice coos in your ear.

“Ahh nae sarang, sorry I’m late.”

You turn your head, leaning into him.

“Hi Binnie-yah.”

He beams at you before directing his stare at the other guy. And so it begins.

“Oh, who’s this?”

You’re pretty sure Hanbin knew who this was. He knew who everyone was and at least one notable thing about them because he was quirky like that. Well, he wasn’t known as the university’s social butterfly for nothing. And you don’t want to spoil his fun so you let the guy introduce himself.

“Ah, you’re taking that major, yeah? So Junho-yah is your senior, how is he these days?”

“Oh, ah yes, Junho-sunbaenim’s been doing well, I don’t really see him around much actually.”

And bingo. The guy starts squirming. Faster than it usually takes. Your boyfriend’s made himself comfortable even though he’s half-hunched over and resting his chin on your shoulder, looking at the other guy with an unwavering stare. Sort of the way a spider would probably look at a fly before, well, you know.

“Really, well last I heard from him, he was complaining about how disrespectful his underclassmen are…but you’re not like that, aren’t you?”

“Ah, no, of course not sunbaenim.”

You can feel Hanbin’s smile get wider, his eyes crinkling in a way that you find adorable but you suspect might not be as cute for your unfortunate companion.

“That’s good, keep up the good work. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if any of my underclassmen were being disrespectful. Ah well, actually I can….”

He pauses and you swear that the guy stops breathing.

“...and I can definitely say that they’ll be very sorry that they even tried that with me.” Hanbin continues cheerily.

Suddenly he walks over and starts patting him on the shoulder. The guy flinches back.

“So next time, remember to be on your best behaviour and keep being polite, hmm? Don’t be so obvious? Maybe try not to be so shameless, yeah?”

“Ah, yes, of course, sunbaenim. Actually I- I just remembered I- I have to go- ah- sorry to disturb um- excuse me-”

You watch as he does a roughly 90 degree bow to both of you before walking off quickly.

“Less than 5 minutes, Binnie, that’s a new record.”

And your cute boyfriend is back, pouting and grabbing at your hands and squeezing them softly. If you were anyone else, you would have gotten whiplash.

“It’s not my fault if I want you all to myself, hmmm?”

Did you mention that your boyfriend was a little off in the head? Not in the should-be-confined-to-the-mental-hospital way but that slight sort of insanity that possesses him when someone tries to go for his little brother (rip Gunwook) or his little sister or his close friends or well, you.

And everyone else? Everyone else was not safe. If murder was legal, literally everyone else would probably be fearing for their lives. Which is probably a good thing that murder isn’t legal. Those incredibly lucky bastards.

Take one of the freshmen trying to chat you up during a party. They’ve been incredibly nice all evening, pouring you drinks and asking you all sorts of thoughtful questions about the major. So yes, you’re very happy to answer and give them little tips on how to ace a certain project.

“And it’s honestly fine if you mess up a little on your first test for Hwang-seongsaengnim’s class, he’s very nice when it comes to students forgetting a few names so don’t stress too much about it and make sure to ace the extra credit he gives.”

“Oh, thank you so much sunbaenim. That’s so helpful, I’ll definitely try my best.”

You can’t help but smile. So cute. Maybe it was the alcohol but you remember how it was like being a wide-eyed, overeager freshman listening attentively to your own seniors.

“It’s really no problem. Ask me anything, anytime. Seriously, don’t be afraid if you need advice.”

You reach over to pat them, swaying just a little from the amount of soju running through your body. They’re awfully red as well. You wonder why.

“How are you getting home, sunbaenim? Do you live nearby? I can walk with you if you’re comfortable with that, I don’t think it’s too safe to be out at this time.”

“Oh it’s no worries, I’ll be taking them home.”

“Ah Hanbinnie, meet my new dongsaeng” you’re not too sure when he got here or even why he’s here but Hanbin’s incredibly warm and his hands around your waist feel so nice. 

“This is my boyfriend.” You introduce him to the freshman. He dips his head in greeting as the other nearly tips over trying to bow. You make a concerned noise, making to catch the other but Hanbin firmly keeps you from moving, letting the freshman catch themselves instead.

“So nice to meet you, we’ll get going if that’s alright. It’s really not safe to be out this late, especially with someone you barely know.” You hardly register your boyfriend’s words but you’re not that drunk that you don’t know the smile he’s giving is about 95% fake and razor-sharp.

“Ah yes, get home safely, sunbaenim. I’ll find my way back so don’t worry.”

“Oh we won’t” You think you hear Hanbin say. Maybe. Could be your imagination. Because the next moment he’s nuzzling at your neck like a very spoiled cat, arms firmly holding you up as he guides you out of the bar and into the car.

“Nae sarang, you really need to take better care of yourself or I won’t want to let you out of my sight.” He says to you softly as he practically carries you into the passenger seat. It’s sweet, well the implication behind it is kinda creepy but you know he doesn’t mean it that way. (Does he?)

“You drove here?”

“Of course, I can’t let you go home all by yourself, can I?”

Like you said, there’s just a tiny screw loose in that head of his, considering the bar where you’re drinking is over an hour away from campus. You chalk it up to it being Hanbin. He can get a little paranoid on occasion. 

And sometimes, he goes a bit psycho. A little. Not a lot. Still, according to Gunwook, it’s terrifying. You really wouldn’t know but you’ve seen it.

You’ve come to wait for his dance club to finish when someone collides into you. It’s not too hard but it still knocks you off your feet and onto the ground with a thud.

“Yah, watch where you’re going, huh? I have a performance next week and I could have injured myself.”

It’s definitely one of the newer members because you don’t recognise them. Before you can say anything, Seo Won, one of the veterans, is already helping you up and asking if you’re okay. The one that knocked you over huffs and is about to say something else when Hanbin calls their name sharply.

Your boyfriend’s eyes narrow and maybe you’re a little lightheaded from the fall but also from the way his shirt clings to his body and his hair weighed down by sweat. It’s kinda hot but you’re not admitting that out loud. Not now, at least. He calls the other member’s name again and gestures him over.

He speaks too quietly for you to hear anything. All you know is that the other’s face pales drastically and he bows several times, walking over and apologising to you before practically hightailing out of the room.

Hanbin’s all over you in a matter of seconds, practically lifting you off the ground. It’s not good for your heart. Seo Won quickly backs off.

“My poor sarang, are you okay? Do you need anything? Ice? Are you bruised anywhere? Let me check.”

You don’t ever see the person who knocked you over again. Ever. You’d wonder about it but you’ve learned that it was better not to question sometimes. Especially when Hanbin insists on carrying you around for the rest of the day and practically waits on you hand and foot until the bruises fade. And it’s just a bruise. You do admit to him later that maybe you find it attractive when he’s a shade pissed and sweaty. Maybe you both get a little sweaty after that. And later, when you’re rightfully tired and sprawled out on top of him, you think about it.

Really, you wonder what goes through his mind sometimes.

[cut scene]

Hanbin smiles, all teeth and no sympathy. It’s like the serial killer before the murder.

“You speak to anyone like that ever again and I can do injuring for you, understood? No, don’t talk, just nod if you’ve managed to get it into that head of yours, hmm?”

A nod. Hanbin likes it when they’re like this. Quiet and white-faced and sweating nervously.

“Now go apologise to them. Sincerely. Like you mean it. And then, get lost. I don’t want to see your face for awhile, yes?”

Another nod. They take one step back and make to turn around.

“Oh wait.”

They freeze.

“Remember. Sincerely, okay? And don’t think I won’t know if it isn’t.”

A final nod.

“Very good. Now go.”

They go. Hanbin sighs. God, you’re going to drive him insane one day. (He already is)

#boys planet #boys planet fics #boys planet x reader #boys planet mnet #boys planet 999 #boys planet drabbles #zb1 #kpop fics #zb1 x reader #zb1 imagines #zb1 scenarios #zb1 fics #sung hanbin #sung hanbin x reader #sung hanbin imagines #sung hanbin fluff #sung hanbin fic #boys planet hanbin #zb1 hanbin #gender neutral reader #birthday fanfic #birthday fic #bp-zb1fics

[crowleysgirl56]

Wildest dreams wishes for Good Omens Season 3 which will probably not come true but I can still hope hey!

Number 17.

Sex! That’s right we’re going there. Because my latest random post got a lot of differing opinions (which was really just for shits and giggles. Nothing I say should be taken seriously 😜) I thought I’d address what my actual prediction and also wildest hope for season 3 is.

I think what we will get is an implied sex scene. For a number of reasons.

1. The tone of the show is not explicit. Even though you can definitely point to other Amazon Prime shows that will go there (exhibit A: American Gods), I don’t think we would get that for Good Omens.

2. It’s a comedy. So if anything we would get something that is almost silly. Probably to parallel the ridiculous and funny sex scene between Anathema and Newt in season 1 (think of them under the bed popping in and out of frame as papers fly everywhere). I don’t think the S3 scene would be specifically played for laughs, because this is the type of show that is very respectful of a same sex relationship. We’ve had way too many horrible experiences for decades of television programs playing up “men having sex = stupid/silly/funny/not serious/etc”. Neil would not let something like this happen (Exhibit B: American Gods, again). So I would suggest the situation leading up to the act would probably be ridiculous or something we can laugh at, but the act itself would not.

3. Neil reblogged a post a few months ago and annoyingly I can’t find it. But it had something to do with same sex coupling in media and how important it is, and he basically said something along the lines of “I don’t write these kinds of scenes but now I wish I did”. I think he was possible responding to someone saying “Neil wouldn’t do something like that”. That’s a pretty interesting thought and a very pointed comment to make at a time when he had either just started writing season 3, or right before it. Or at least that’s when I saw the post. This is Tumblr so for all I know it could have been posted 2 years ago (seriously, how does Tumblr work? I’ve only been here 6 months!).

So what do I think will ACTUALLY happen? I think we’ll get Crowley and Aziraphale passionately kiss, get to Aziraphale’s bedroom and then fall onto the bed out of shot. If we’re lucky we might get close up shots of hands intertwining, more kissing, some removal of clothing perhaps. Then the scene would shift outside to Whickber street. People will probably noticing a trembling in the ground. Maybe in Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death we see tea and coffee cups rattling on the table and Nina looking confused and concerned. Then a brilliant white light pours out of the upper floor window of the book shop. Cut back to Aziraphale and Crowley holding each other and panting, but it’s a tasteful shoulders up shot.

Subtle, implied, still pretty hot.

So in the mean time, if you want something explicit, to AO3 my fellow Smutgoblins!

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #crowley #aziraphale #crowley x arizaphale #i can dream can’t i? #david tennant #michael sheen #good omens season 3 #wildest dreams #smutgoblins #good omens headcanons

[harrywavycurly]

Summary: What’s the point of having a bestfriend if they won’t act like your fake boyfriend from time to time? Except this time it’s you being asked to be Eddie’s fake wife…at a wedding.

A/N: I don’t know why this exact scenario came to my mind but here we are I also don’t know if they are in love or not yet but I hope y’all enjoy, this is based off of these posts✨

-For more fake dating content look here!

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” You smooth out the top of your dress as Eddie looks around seeing if he recognizes anyone. “This is the stupidest thing we’ve ever done.” You mumble as you reach into Eddie’s jacket pocket so you can grab your lipstick.

“I think the time we almost caught Harrington’s pool house on fire is still the winner for stupidest thing we’ve ever done.” You roll your eyes as Eddie smirks at you while you reapply your lipstick.

“We? That was all you Munson.” You argue as you put your lipstick back in his pocket. “You’re the one who dropped the cigaret onto the stack of towels.” You explain as you look over Eddie’s shoulder and see people gathering around the doors of the reception hall.

“You’re the one who asked me for a smoke you asshole.” He states as he messes with the collar of his dress shirt, you know he’s uncomfortable so you just reach over and unbutton the top two buttons making him let out a sigh of relief as if he can magically breathe again causing you to playfully roll your eyes.

“I still can’t believe you told her we were married.” Eddie just shrugs as he runs a hand through his hair as you fiddle with the skull ring that’s on the ring finger of your left hand. “Why couldn’t you just say we were dating? Why’d you instantly go full on marriage?” You ask as Eddie reaches over and tucks some of your hair behind your ear.

“She asked how we were doing and I just kinda blacked out and said we were doing good.” He answers as his hand lands on your hip, something you’ve gotten used to over your decade of friendship with Eddie is how unaware of personal space he is so him having a hand on you at all times feels more normal than him keeping them to himself. “She got so happy when I told her we were together. Said something about how she always knew we’d end up together or some shit so next thing you know she’s inviting us to this because it’s a celebration of love and all that bullshit.” You lightly smack his hand when he tries to bring it up to his mouth to chew on his nails, one of his nervous habits.

“Celebration of love? It’s a fucking wedding Eddie. We are at Chrissy Cunningham’s fucking wedding pretending to be married. Do you hear how crazy that sounds?” You feel his hand slide from your hip to the small of your back as he moves to stand next to you as the announcement that the bride and groom have made their entrance.

“We act like we are married all the time what’s the big deal?” He asks as you shoot him a glare.

“Not in front of people we actually know.” You snap as his hand slides a little lower making you smack his chest. “Now is not the time Edward.” Eddie just chuckles as he gives your ass a light pat before he pulls you closer into his side.

“We know exactly one person in this room sweetheart and it’s the bride so I think we’ll be okay.” You let out a huff as you feel his lips press into the side of your head, you know to everyone watching this little interaction looks like a cute moment between a couple, not two bestfriends.

“Isn’t this weird for you? You’ve loved her since like middle school and we just watched her get married and now we’re about to eat horrible food and get drunk off cheap booze at her reception.” You lean into him a little as you wrap your arm around his middle. Eddie just laughs and shakes his head making some of his hair fall into his face.

“First off it was a crush don’t be so fucking dramatic so no, it’s not weird and secondly the food might not be that bad.” You just laugh as the two of you watch Chrissy maker her way through the crowd of people, slowly getting closer to the two of you.

“So how are we playing this then? Are we newly married and still grossly in love? Or have we been married for like five years and everything you do annoys me?” You ask as Eddie’s grip on your waist tightens as Chrissy smiles at the two of you as she heads straight for you.

“A mix of both? I’m annoying but you love me.” He answers as he leans over and places a kiss to your cheek making you smile.

“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see the two of you together.” You just smile and look at Eddie who’s already staring at you with a small smirk on his face.

“Well you know everyone has their breaking point and I think after the tenth time he asked me out I finally just had to give in to the begging.” You feel Eddie’s fingers dig into your waist as you reach over and pat his chest making Chrissy laugh.

“But look at us now honey.” You internally cringe at the petname making Eddie smile as he looks from you to Chrissy. “Happier than ever.” Chrissy just claps her hands together and lets out a little squeal and before either of you two can react she’s throwing her arms around you both.

“I just knew you two would end up together. It’s always been so obvious how perfect you two are for each other.” She gushes as she pulls away, you toss a glance over at Eddie seeing how he’s handling the situation and you feel yourself blushing when you see he’s looking at you with a small smile on his face.

“Speaking of perfect for each other, you two make a gorgeous couple. The ceremony was just lovely.” Chrissy just smiles at your kind words as she looks over her shoulder at her husband.

“He’s so cute isn’t he?” She jokes making you chuckle as you rest your hand on Eddie’s chest giving her a nice view of your ring.

“Oh he’s the cutest.” She just laughs at Eddie’s teasing and you realize she really hasn’t changed much since high school she’s still the giggly sweet girl who used to let you cheat off her in chemistry.

“Well I’ll be sure to catch up with you two later. I’ve got to finish making the rounds.” You and Eddie just smile and nod as Chrissy heads off towards another guests.

“Begging? Really? The beginning of our love story is that I begged you for a date?” Eddie asks as you both drop your arms from around each other. You mindlessly reach over and brush some of his hair out of his face as he looks around for the bar.

“What would you have preferred I said honey?” You watch a smirk take over his face making you roll your eyes, he knows how much you hate that petname.

“I don’t know maybe that you couldn’t resist my charming wit or my devilishly handsome good looks?” You bring your hand up to cover your mouth to hide your laughter as Eddie just glares at you.

“You’ve been reading too much Nora Roberts.” Eddie playfully swats your hands away as they come up to try to pinch his cheek making you laugh. You move so you’re standing in front of him and loosely wrap your arms around his neck. “If you get us some drinks I’ll be nice and tell everyone at our table we met and fell in love in a super cute cliché type of way.” Eddie’s arms snake around your waist as you try to bargain with him.

“Love at first sight?” He asks as he raises an eyebrow at you as you roll your eyes.

“Sure I’ll tell them you fell in love with me the moment you saw me.” You tease as you play with the hair at the back of his neck.

“You’re such an asshole.” He mumbles as he leans in and places a kiss to your lips. “Oh fuck sorry I didn’t warn you. This couple was staring at us so I just figured they’d look away if we were being-“ You cut off his rambling with another kiss making him smile as you pull away.

“You talk too damn much Munson.” You bring your thumb up to his mouth and wipe off some of your lipstick making him huff. “Now go get some drinks and I’ll meet you at the table.” With that his arms fall from around your waist as he scans the room looking for the bar.

“Double vodka and water?” He asks making you just nod as he reaches into his jacket pocket for your crystal light packets and lipstick.

“If this food sucks we are getting pizza on the way home.” Eddie just chuckles as you take your things from him.

“Whatever you want Mrs. Munson.” You just huff as he leans in to place a kiss to your cheek before he turns and heads for the bar and you head to your assigned table ready to put Nicholas Sparks to shame with the level of cheesiness you’re going add to the fake story about how you and Eddie met and fell in love.

#fake dating #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson concept #eddie munson x best friend reader #eddie munson x reader fluff #eddie munson x you fluff #eddie munson series #eddie munson fic #Eddie Munson #my little dungeon master baby #friends to lovers #eddie munson friends to lovers #chrissy cunningham #stranger things fanfiction #fake dating fic

[crying-over-really-dumb-things]

Man I don’t think I’ll ever really get over how the movie adaptation kind of ruined how the general public views Dear Evan Hansen.

In the stage musical, the narrative actively portrays what Evan is doing as wrong. There are several instances where Evan will have one of his sweet/motivational moments with Alana or the Murphy family, the moment will be over, and we’re left with only Evan on stage and then the instrumental music will shift keys to remind us that “oh yeah, Evan is lying to a grieving family right now.”

In Act Two he starts to really act like an asshole to the people around him, he stops helping with the Connor Project because he’s got what he wanted, he’s dating Zoe. And it all culminates to Good For You where he is finally called out by the people he’s being horrible to, the consequences of his actions are catching up to him. And he finally finally admits to himself and everyone else that he was lying, he was projecting himself and his own issues onto this imaginary Connor. He fully realizes what he’s doing is wrong and comes clean about it.

And our sympathy for Evan as the audience stems from the fact that he is seventeen, and teenagers will sometimes do horrible things when they’re in a bad state mentally. We as the audience know Evan is wrong and we want him to realize he’s wrong as well, we want him to get help and grow from it.

But then the movie comes in and cuts all the songs and moments where Evan could possibly be condemned by the narrative. All the times Evan is an actual ass are either removed or heavily toned down. Disappear and Good For You are completely removed.

It doesn’t help that they have a 30 something year old man playing the part, our sympathy that mainly stems from him being a child is harder to lean into when we’re looking at a full grown adult. It feels less like the story is saying “look at this kid doing horrible stuff, don’t you want him to stop doing the horrible stuff and get some help?” And more like “look at poor little Evan :( don’t you feel bad for him? Everyone’s so mean to him for no reason :(”

So after all that, people who hadn’t interacted with the stage production and only saw the movie come away from it thinking the show is horrible because Evan was an awful person but the narrative seemed to want us to root for him.

And this isn’t to say that DEH is a perfect show by any means, a lot of the criticism for the movie can easily be leveled at the stage production. I just think the original intent of the show got lost in adaptation, and the show that was fairly well received on its Broadway debut is now widely regarded as just plain bad.

#this was a ramble #dear even hanson #deh #broadway

[firecrackerhh]

I sometimes wonder if the reason (if not at least one of many reasons) why antis are so against Hazbin Hotel as a show (besides the obvious anti viv bullshit) is because the very concept of redemption is anathema to them.

They do not believe people can change, and thus the entire premise of hazbin, (and frankly helluva too) is something they literally cannot understand. Refuse to understand at the least.

They don’t care about other people, they do not care if their actions in the name of their own twisted form of justice causes undue suffering, they simply want to be seen as a “good person” without putting in any actual effort to be good.

Sure, it’s easy to find a shitty person online and rake them over the coals for things they’ve said or done years ago. Effortless. But it takes real patience, compassion, perhaps slight firmness but certainly no undue cruelty to convince people they need to change, and even then, that’s a personal journey that others can at most try to influence, but they can’t make people change.

And even if the person they’re bitching about does, it’ll never be good enough.

There’s nothing Viv can do to change these peoples minds, nothing we can do. No matter how many apologies she gives they will never accept it. No matter what we say they will never accept that Viv is not fucking Satan incarnate.

Engaging with these people is a waste of time. Always has been. If Viv is so irredeemable to them, they likely look at us the same way.

I wonder what skeletons people like this must hide, anyone who acts holier than thou about being a “better” person while engaging in reprehensible behavior themselves is a rather irritating form of hypocrisy that boggles my mind.

I am no saint, god knows I’m no fucking saint, but I know what’s right and wrong and antis are wrong every. Single. Time. Any evidence they claim to have of Viv’s awful behavior is either nearly a decade old and thus clearly irrelevant given the people who vouch for her in the present, doctored discord messages (which even if they were real, shows no dates, so we have no idea how old those are to begin with) or the ‘evidence’ is so flimsy that if a lawyer looked at it he would say you’re wasting his time.

I think these people don’t like Viv’s shows because they are morally incompatible with it. They do not believe in redemption. They believe once you’ve fucked up in life, that’s it, no second chances.

I fear what they must think of our current prison population. I fear what they might say.

These people have no moral high ground whatsoever.

They dare to talk shit about the fandom, Viv, anyone else associated with the show, pretending that they’re saying what they’re saying in the name of justice, as if attacking people with their past when they have clearly changed and made apologies is in any way a justifiable thing to do.

They don’t have to like Viv, they really don’t, but calling her irredeemable, calling us irredeemable, is fucking bullshit.

None of us are irredeemable.

The fucking conceit. The fucking gall. The fucking balls on these people.

Everyone has the capacity to make good and bad choices in this life. Yes, many people don’t make the best choices, but that doesn’t mean that they should be stoned to death for the most minor of offenses. For shit that’s long been in the past and apologized for.

I’m not going to say I think very highly of humanity as a whole, I’m a fucking misanthrope through-and-through, but I don’t think we’re incapable of being good, or doing good things, we just…choose not to, a lot of the time.

I also do not deny that there are some crimes so horrible that redemption isn’t even on the table, nowhere near it. But I feel like antis treat every perceived fault of Viv as some most grievous sin that must be met with full penance by…doing what exactly?

Apologize? Again, they won’t accept it.

Donate to charities or causes? She gets shit on for it, say she’s “flaunting her wealth.”

Get off the internet entirely? In an anti’s wet dreams maybe.

Her very existence makes them so mad. It would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking pathetic.

These people twist her words in every way imaginable to make her look like some horrible person undeserving of her success, without realizing they make themselves look far worse than her by several measures.

They claim she’s racist and queerphobic, but if anything acting as if BIPOC and queer people shouldn’t ever be shown doing awful things because “bad queer/ BIPOC rep” or whatever I think is just as racist and queerphobic. Minorities are human beings, and as such they are just as capable of being shitty. I already made a post about this before, so I’ll keep this paragraph short.

They claim she’s abusive to her coworkers when it seems the one person bitching about it has no problem putting other past co workers under the bus for their personal gain. Antis claim she’s abusive while engaging in downright emotionally abusive behavior (I know that sounds kinda dramatic but I’m making a point) themselves as they shit on us for the stupidest reason imaginable: liking a cartoon.

They cry about ableism while ignoring their own.

Not that I’m all that offended if I’m honest, it’s just more evidence that antis aren’t any better than the people they bitch about.

I could go on about this for a while but you get the point.

I repeat, these people have no moral high ground whatsoever.

Frankly, as much as it bothers me that they leak patreon shit and whatnot, many fans are actively warning against them, and I think the idea of someone actively choosing to give money to someone they hate just so they have more content to shit on is fucking pathetic and getting upset about it is exactly what they want.

They want you to be just as miserable as they are. They just want to suck all the fun out of this fandom, I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, these people are tar pits, trying to drown us in their muck. It’s pathetic and sad. No use in having sympathy, they don’t deserve any.

It’s funny how antis scream and cry about how awful we are as they ignore their own sins and mistakes, hypocrites.

If anything, their behavior is far more irredeemable than Viv’s has ever been.

I wonder when they will realize that, if they ever do. I can only hope some of them grow the fuck up and realize what the fuck they’ve done. If the ensuing guilt eats them alive, I can’t say I have pity for them.

Wonder how many of us would accept their apologies, if they chose to make one.

Alright it’s almost 7 am I gotta get to bed. Peace.

🔥🧨~Firecracker out~🧨🔥

#tis i the werebitch #vivziepop #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #btw to my followers #sorry I’ve been so extra negative lately #I just have way too much to say about this shit

[hueningshaped]

★ five men and a baby | ot5

▰ genre: fluff (no reader!)

▰ word count: 1.3k

▰ synopsis: soobin is given the responsibility of babysitting his nephew for the first time, and it’s going well but once his nephew is finally down for a nap, soobin decides to leave the other guys in charge so he can go to the store really quick. of course, as soon as he leaves, the baby (he’s actually four years old) wakes up. and txt is struggling… (don’t worry, they are trying their best!)

a/n: enjoy this word vomit :^) or not…

“Yo, whose kid is this?!” Beomgyu hollered over the cries of the toddler, who simply sobbed and rubbed his eyes with small fists.

“Beomgyu, hush! It’s Soobin’s sister’s kid!” Yeonjun answered dismissively. They all had registered crying from their leader’s room during the middle of a Super Smash Bros game in their living room; Soobin had told them he had some errands to run and to stay quiet since the child was finally napping. Too absorbed in their game, hardly anyone actually registered his words. And now that they were all standing around the weeping child, they regretted not having kept their mouths shut earlier.

“Oh, so you mean his nephew?” He asked and Yeonjun groaned, focusing on bickering with his younger before Taehyun clapped his hands loudly between them. That easily made them jump and return their focus to the matter at hand. He still cried and cried.

Kai crept in the room with heaps of his plushies in his hands, in attempts to see if anyone of them caught his eye and he’d calm down. But, it didn’t work. He continued crying and looking around at the men in front of him, perhaps horribly confused and scared and… dramatic, but that was neither here nor there.

“Why is he acting like he’s never seen us before?” Beomgyu wondered and plopped his butt on the corner of the bed, already normalized the issue. Taehyun chuckled.

“Because he hasn’t. Only we’ve seen him. He’s never met us actually,” the second youngest sighed. “You’d think Soobin would have at least let us meet him before he left us with him…”

Kai came to kneel on the edge of the bed near where Beomgyu sat, still set on offering each and every one of his many plushies — that he was okay with sharing. There were certainly exclusions… None worked. With every plushie that was rejected, Kai’s face transformed more and more into distraught panic. The child only shook his head and wailed, wiping his cheeks.

“Alright, nothing’s working!” Yeonjun whined, palming his cheeks with panic. “What do we do… what do we do… I’m good with entertaining kids, not with crying ones…” he whined a loud whine, emphasizing his state of worry.

“Soobin won’t pick up his phone, ugh. I’m gonna kill him when he gets back…” Beomgyu commented and placing it beside him with a pout on his face. That made the nephew cry a little louder. Taehyun came a little closer to the side of the bed, waving his hands reassuringly.

“No, he was just kidding! He was kidding! Look, he’s silly, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Yeonjun turned to him and dropping his voice to a whisper. “Do something silly. Goofy. Funny, please, hurry.”

Beomgyu eyed around at the ceiling, worried expression taking his features over. “Ah, oh my gosh, I don’t know what to do…”

Taehyun sighed.

“You do something silly all the time without warrant, are you serious right now?”

“You people are making me nervous. Haven’t we normalized stage fright…”

“For performances and recordings, yes! But, this is a child we’re talking about!”

“A crying child, might I add. It’s different!”

“How?! If anything it should be easier!”

Beomgyu sighed with his entire body.

“Why don’t you try it then! You’re the oldest, shouldn’t you have some kind of fatherly power since you’re a senior basically…”

Yeonjun’s eye twitched at that, fingers twitching to make a choke gesture.

“Oh, I’m gonna — ”

“No, come on guys. Please. This is gonna be too violent for the kid. Even for me.” Kai pleaded quietly, now holding his mass of plushies like one giant one and leaning his cheek on it.

“Wait, actually… try doing it. I just wanna see something.” Taehyun suggested methodologically, jutting his bottom lip out like an experimenter.

Yeonjun and Beomgyu stared at each other before the eldest shrugged with a smirk, “well, alright. If you insist…”

He gripped onto the back of the younger’s neck and shook his head, making Beomgyu let out a choked screechy laugh. The child’s loud wails subdued and came to a slow halt, his little mouth twitching slightly upwards. Round, dark eyes blinked in stupor at the cartoonish movements of Yeonjun’s havoc on his younger, who only let out even funnier sounds.

They all gasped, Yeonjun letting go. Beomgyu whined, feeling on the back of his neck.

Without warning, the eldest went in to do it again, earning a hilariously loud scream, and instantly, a wet giggle rang through the air, making them all pause and smile in realization.

The next few minutes were spent hitting each other or roughing each other up — within reason, of course — though for some, it seemed as if they were letting out steam that they’d been holding in.

From sniffles to joyous laughter and even applause, the guys could only smile, feeling rewarded for their hard work, and everything was working fine until one wrong move wrecked everything. It wasn’t even their fault since suddenly, like a switch, the nephew grew bored and began to weep again in an instant.

“What did you guys do?” Taehyun asked with a sigh, standing from above the youngest from when they had been wrestling on the floor to which the others began to argue. It was a loud multilayered bubble of sound: accusations on top of other accusations with wails flowing from the center.

It was getting too much, the little boy even doubling over to yawn in between his cries, and Yeonjun just decided to give up and resort to the last measure he thought would never work.

With a big pout, Yeonjun reached forward and enveloped the boy completely in a warm hug, pressed against his chest, and to everyone’s surprise, it slowed down the waterfall, steadying the tides of endless sobs. Yeonjun even sat back on the couch and fixed him better so his little chubby cheek was on the eldest’s broad shoulder. He ran a soothing hand up and down his back in motions that soon quieted the cries entirely. Everyone simply watched in amazement. Rocking back and forth, Yeonjun cooed and hushed in songlike steps, voice down to a whisper by the time the little boy had shut his eyes all the way in slumber.

Yeonjun sighed in relief, snuggling into the child, as if he himself was just as tired as the boy he was holding.

So as not to risk any noise, the others decided to lay down either on the sofas or on the mess of plushies on the floor. One by one, everyone dozed off with the child, complete serenity in the dorms finally back.

With such peace and quiet, Soobin eventually returned — an hour later, quietly grumbling to himself about his phone’s dead battery before looking up to the sight before him. He could only blink in wonder until his heart grew so full his eyes did just the same with tender, endeared tears. He sighed with how sweet everyone looked, throwing a few blankets around the sleeping bodies around him.

Soobin gently took his nephew into his arms, placing the blanket on Yeonjun, and placing another on him and the child in his arms.

If this was meant to happen every time his nephew came over, he was beginning to think his sister should entrust him with this all the time. Anything for peace and quiet, the leader thought to himself, before officially succumbing to the late afternoon nap.

#txt imagines #txt fluff #txt scenarios #tomorrow x together imagines #tomorrow x together scenarios #soobin fluff #yeonjun fluff #beomgyu fluff #taehyun fluff #hueningkai fluff #txt soft hours #txt soft thoughts

[milawritesstuff]

Hii love can you write something on the reader playing fifa with pedri and terribly losing everytime and pedri just can't handle how adorable she gets being a sore loser.

I am reader. The reader is me. I cannot play fifa to save my own life.

Alsooo I'm the person who requested the scar fluff! So glad you liked it

A/N: I combined these two. Hope you like it.

No warning ⚠️

•••

Your subscribers had been begging for you to have your boyfriend on a livestream with you. Your game of choice was Minecraft but the only way he had agreed to come on was if you played FIFA.

The livestream started and you chose your teams. He began to smile when he got Barcelona. You had tried to play this game before with him but had failed miserably. You knew you were going to lose and it was going to be humiliating in front of everyone.

Pedri scored the first goal. He got up and cheered as if he had scored a goal at Camp Nou himself. You rolled your eyes which caused him to chuckle. -I don’t know if you guys know this but Y/N is extremely competitive.- He said into the stream. Hundreds of messages came in with people saying they had noticed you hated to lose and how you would not handle it well if he beat you.

-I like to be the best at everything that I do.- You commented as the two of you continued to play. Pedri scored again and you threw your controller to the ground. He laughed and put his face in his hands. He knew you hated not only losing but being made fun of losing and he had to make himself stop laughing.

-Here, I’ll go easy on you.- He said as you were about to score a goal. You did but did not enjoy it. You smacked him lightly on his shoulder. -Ow, why?- He said laughing. -Because now you’re going to say I scored just because you let me.-

The comments started to come in about how horrible you were in the game and you should go back to streaming Minecraft or anything else but Fifa. You rolled your eyes as Pedri read off some of the comments. -Guys, I'm sure she will get better if she practices.- You scoffed at him.

-You know I don’t like this game. And I only did it for you guys, so we could get Mr. Golden Boy here with us.-

-So it was just a bribe?- He asked.

You decided to ignore his comment knowing someone would be recording everything the two of you said. Soon enough the comments were coming in talking about how they were sure you could have bribed him in some other way.

He scored again and the match was about to end. He stood up and celebrated again. You rolled your eyes at him. - Stop acting like you’re scoring in a real match.- You said annoyed which only caused him to laugh eve more.

The match ended and you weren’t able to score any more. The two of you sat there as you read off some comments. Pedri answered some and laughed at others. You sat there scrolling through the comments with a pout on your face.

-Is she mad at you?- He read off a comment. -I’m not sure, babe are you mad at me?-

You rolled your eyes. -No.- You said coldly. He laughed. -Well, I think she may be, even if she says no.-

He waited for you to say something but you didn’t. -Amor?- He said and still no answer. The comments started to come in about how sweet he was calling you amor but you didn’t care.

-I’m not mad you guys.- You said into the camera. -But it’s time for us to leave. Subscribe, comment below, and I’ll see you guys later.- You said as you turned off the stream.

-You could have fooled me, I thought you were actually mad at me.- Said Pedri as he stood up from the chair and walked over to you. He tried to hug you but you pushed him away.

-I am mad at you.-

-But you just said you weren’t.-

You took off your headset and placed it on the desk. -I said that so they wouldn’t start the rumors that we are breaking up.-

He looked at your surprised. -Wait, we are breaking up now because I beat you in Fifa?-

You stood there pouting in front of him. -No, I mean, we’re not breaking up but I’m not very happy.- He shook his head.

-I’m sorry?- He said.

-Sorry for what?-

He laughed and scratched his head. -I'm sorry for being better at you in Fifa and beating you in front of all your followers.-

You grunted and as you were going to storm out of the room he grabbed your arm and pulled you into him.

-As beautiful as you look when you get mad, can we stop this? I’m sorry okay? Next time I’ll mine or craft with you or do whatever you want.- He lifted your chin up so you could look at him. He placed a soft kiss on your nose.

-Eres tonto.- You said and the two of you began to laugh.

-You know I love you, right? But you have to stop getting so mad when you lose.- He said. -You are such a sore loser.- You punched him on the shoulder and laughed. -Don’t push your luck Pedrito.

TAG LIST: @cinderellawithashoe @httpswiftie @simpingmyassoff @bubblebeep69 @fictional-l0v3r @httpspedri26 @0alanasworld0 @l0verl4ne @gaviypedrisbride @footballerficsposts @fashphotolife @beaschampagneproblems @jvsgnjrtpdar5stkd-tv-m @ikkehehe @jjishotasf @quemirasboboandapaya @maricciardo @gaviswh0re @pedriwifefrfr @dustell @elijahslover @formula1mount

#pedri gonzalez #pedri #pedri imagine #pedri x reader #pedro gonzalez #pedri blurb #pedri requests #pedri fluff #pedri is so damn hot #pedri x you

[girlweepinginstairwell]

hi! :D i love your blog, so i wanted to ask, why do you think the barbie movie was bleak? i love hearing people's opinions on the film, and i thought that was an interesting adjective to describe it. you don't have to answer if you don't want to, ofc! hope you have a nice day!!! <3

oh you’re so sweet, thanks so much! ❣️ honestly i don’t know how intelligible this will be considering i spent a few days after watching the movie hashing out my thoughts with various friends and have mostly said my piece privately, but i thought it was bleak because it just… was…

like i did have fun because it is spectacularly produced & i guess in some ways it’s like oh, well it’s literally the BARBIE movie, what did you expect, but in other ways i was just like. oh my God, the faux criticism of barbie as a product, mattel as a company, and capitalism as a concept this film presents… i couldn’t stomach it! like how much of this are we supposed to believe is greta gerwig’s genuine artistic vision & how much of it is mattel indulgently financing a tongue-in-cheek critique of its own contributions to consumerism knowing it will only generate MORE of the same? i found myself reminded of a particular excerpt from chapter two of mark fisher’s capitalist realism: is there no alternative?, where he writes:

“…anti-capitalism is widely disseminated in capitalism. Time after time, the villain in Hollywood films will turn out to be the ‘evil corporation’. Far from undermining capitalist realism, this gestural anti-capitalism actually reinforces it… We’re left in no doubt that consumer capitalism and corporations… is responsible for this depredation… The film performs our anti-capitalism for us, allowing us to continue to consume with impunity. The role of capitalist ideology is not to make an explicit case for something in the way that propaganda does, but to conceal the fact that the operations of capital do not depend on any sort of subjectively assumed belief… So long as we believe (in our hearts) that capitalism is bad, we are free to continue to participate in capitalist exchange.”

i was so reminded of this passage while watching the film that the first thing i did upon leaving the theater was go through my copy to locate it.

there were also a number of scenes i found, ironically, to convey rather insidious anti-feminist messaging despite the movie’s reputation as (and attempts to live up to the title of) a feminist flick, but i won’t go into those in detail because i’m sure there are people reading this who want to see this film & haven’t yet. in the same vein, i found it to be massively spineless/inauthentic/confused? in the stances it takes because, in an effort to appeal to an audience so broad as to include Basically everyone on the planet, it… doesn’t really commit to any of the stances it presents at all. a lot of the points it tried to make about womanhood, feminism, capitalism, motherhood, and the patriarchy either fell flat or were completely undone by the movie’s end, which is why i found it very funny that some people thought this movie was TOO feminist when i thought it was, frankly, toothlessly feminist.

the sets and costumes were beautiful, the acting was genuinely solid, i liked a lot of the referential pastiche-y moments that cropped up throughout it and i laughed lots at its cleverness because it WAS very witty, but when the credits began to roll i did think, um. maybe we’re in hell. i’m sure some people loved this movie, but sadly i really could not! also mattel now has a Toy cinematic universe planned which is um… great! and doesn’t make me feel a horrible sense of despair or anything

#asks

[o0anapher0o]

Miss Lily and character stereotpyes

I’ve been re-reading @halo4life2017-blog's rewatch blogs and the discussion we had about Miss Lily and about how Lestat might at some point tell us he only killed her because she was actually planning on blackmailing Louis or something like that, and I had some more thoughts I need to get out.

The thing about Lily as Louis presents her is, she’s a stereotype. The ‘whore with the heart of gold’ is a common trope. It’s a cliché the same way the though, street-hard, black pimp is, or the rich European genteel who is abhorred by American racism, the stately southern matron who saves face at all cost even if it means waving off a guests outburst with a comment about the weather, the sassy little sister who supports her gay brother and only wants to see him happy, or the religious zealot who is really a gentle angel when he’s not possessed by the holy spirit. All those are sterotypes that Louis uses when he introduces the people in his life to the story, ways he tries to shape the narrative perception of them. Or maybe lies he tells himself about them.

And all of these stereotypes get dismantled within the first episode: Louis is really a sensitive baby gay who likes to read and cries at the opera. Lestat is a terrifying vampire, who we can rightfully assume has never cared about how black people are treated anywhere prior to meeting Louis, and really still doesn’t.  Florence is an emotionally abusive bitch who happily unloads her own grief on her child, Grace is mommy little princess who deserts Louis when he needs her most to side with Florence and Paul is a condescending brat who shamelessly uses his mental illness for the liberties it gives him (we don’t talk about it enough because mental illness is tricky and Paul is a great character, but the way he acts towards Grace’s fiancé and wedding, and how he talks to the priests when he goes to confession are on a level of entitlement that’s breathtaking. And that’s instances when he’s supposedly ‘right in the head’. My favourite is ‘I wasn’t being rude”, like, yes, you were. Just because the voices in your head told you to say it doesn’t mean it’s not rude to say it and the fact that you’re trying to justify it tells me you know that.).

You could probably make a similar case almost all other characters, Bricktop, Tom Anderson, Levi, all of them are initially presented in a very stereotypical way and later we’re shown they are not quite what they seem at first (Fenwick might be the exception here, he’s always a horrible racist pig). Except for Lily. She never gets the chance to be shown as more, because she gets killed off-screen and is never brought up again.

But we do get hints that everything isn’t as Louis presents it with Lestat’s throwaway comment on her wretched life, or the fact that it takes Louis two weeks to even notice she was dead, which tells me they weren’t as close as some people seem to believe. (Yes, he was a regular customer, one she might even have liked but they definitely weren’t friends.). So yeah, I won’t be surprised if we do learn about some nefarious goings on she was involved in. That’s not to make Lestat look better btw, he did kill her and the main reason was no doubt to get a reaction from Louis and/or to dismantle his support system, but I do think there was more to it than that just ‘she was a poor substitute’. And just as a side note: since we tend to treat Louis as an unreliable narrator (justifiably so) if and when the time comes we certainly need to look at Lestat’s story the same way, because I’m pretty sure if anyone is trying to make Lestat look better, it’s going to be Lestat.  

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv meta #there is also the question how gabrielle survived that long #louis de pointe du lac #miss lily

[moonlayl]

Even if all these people don’t actually care about the suffering happening in Gaza (which is beyond horrible, like these are lives we’re talking about) most seem to be completely ignorant of the fact that many people have family there. Some of my closest friends have lost dozens of family members this last month.

Like even if you don’t care because it’s happening in a different country, people you directly know could actually be deeply affected by grief, hate crimes, and intense survivors guilt.

From the article:

The disconnect and ignorance is insane. This is effecting millions of people both inside and outside of Palestine, including potentially your own friends, coworkers, acquaintances, professors, students, customers, employees, etc… to a devastating degree and so many of you, but mainly the government, does not care even slightly.

(Of course the destruction and horror the people of Gaza are facing does not even compare, but their families and friends also have to live with that loss and grief, and I’m not even talking about the very fact that it’s now been made clear that we have never been seen as humans or as equals even by a lot of liberals and leftists. Like we’ve always known to a degree but things have seriously changed after this. I can never look at most of the people I know the same ever again, online and in person)

Some of our lives have been completely and devastatingly altered and some of y’all are acting like this is just happening in a movie. Like it’s totally fine since it’s no where near you and since they’re Arabs and I guess it’s normalized for Arabs, especially Palestinians to suffer. Some of you have been desensitized to our suffering for way too long, it’s disgusting.

Anyways, please do not stop demanding for a ceasefire!!

#Palestine #free palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #free gaza #Gaza #anti Israel #occupation #genocide #oppression #survivor’s guilt #grief

[itsclydebitches]

There’s been a lot of talk in the fandom lately about this desire to downplay Ed’s atrocities in the first season. As others have discussed, this seems to largely be in an attempt to a) reach a kind of distilled wholesomeness for BlackBonnet that, for all the actual cuteness attached to the ship, doesn’t truly exist when you’re talking about the romance between two deadly pirates, and b) position Izzy as the sole bad guy so that Option A can flourish and/or simply because some fans don’t like him and yay demonizing the characters we’re not fond of. Great stuff, love all that I’ve read. To add onto the conversation just a bit, I think it’s worth emphasizing Izzy’s line in the finale:

“Blackbeard is himself again.”

With the giant caveat that I don’t believe Izzy wanted the Kraken—AKA this level of violence and deadly unpredictability. I mean, Izzy is the guy who was begging Ed for a plan, some measure of stability to stay safe, so he really doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d want to live on a ship where his captain will randomly enter his cabin to cut off toes, his masochistic tendencies aside—but this line is a crystal-clear acknowledgement that the original Blackbeard was at least somewhat like the Kraken is now. What characteristics do we see then?

A sudden and unprompted murder (Lucius)

Potentially circumventing the moral dilemma of that murder via a technicality (I didn’t kill Lucius, the sea did)

A maiming (something Ed has admitted to enjoying and he’s done this specific act of violence in the past)

Rejecting emotional expression (“Stop crying.”)

Downplaying the suffering of others (“It’s just the pinky.”)

Engaging in threats to keep others in line (“Threaten me again, ever… I’ll feed you the rest, understand?”)

Expecting the crew to serve their captain regardless of what they’re struggling with (Who cares if you lost a toe, Izzy, come find me ASAP)

Making good use of others before tossing them aside (the crew will get rid of Stede’s “old dross” and then he’ll maroon them)

The implication that if things don’t occur in what he considers a timely manner, more punishment will follow (“Quickly now! … Quicker! Quicker!”)

Kidnapping (Jim + threatening Frenchie)

Working under the belief that if he can’t be happy, no one else can either (let’s separate the other couples by killing Lucius and keeping Jim on board).

Basically, I’ve seen a lot of posts that engage with the potential nuances of Ed’s past, questioning how bad it really was, and usually ending up on the side of absolving him via headcanons. Maybe he didn’t really set a ship of people on fire, Calico Jack did that and Ed was just passively involved. Do we know that his subordinate actually skinned that guy with a snail fork, or was it just an order given in a fit of fury that Ed later pulled back from? Did he really maim people, or is that just a random example to reflect the violent life he wants to leave behind? And beyond the fact that I think it’s bad analysis to read so much of Ed’s actions as intrinsically up for debate when the narrative itself never draws them into question… yes, Ed maims someone right on screen. We watch him do that and Izzy’s response is, ‘Ah, Ed’s finally back to normal!’

It may well be a slightly more extreme version of normal, but the Kraken didn’t come out of nowhere.

The argument that Ed was healing until Izzy manipulated him into becoming a monster not only ignores Ed’s personal agency—getting yelled at by a co-working in a way they know will hurt you, while horrible, isn’t justification for assault and murder—but also that follow-up of, “Blackbeard is himself again.” Izzy can’t force Ed to become something he’s not if Izzy’s entire purpose here is to bring back who Ed previously was. He’s trying to restore a past behavior, not conjure up a new one that’s the antithesis to Ed’s robe-wearing personality. Even when he was at his happiest with Stede, Ed still gave the snail fork order, threatened the Frenchman for “oomph,” explained casually how to take a ship in a raid (that is, kill everyone on board), was prepared to shoot up a dining room after a bunch of assholes laughed at him, was romanced by Stede letting them burn alive, and his idea of pirate fun is getting whipped in the balls/having animals fight to the death. Ed is a violent person! Because of course he is. He’s a pirate. Izzy isn’t some mastermind who molded Ed until he was a shadow of his former, passivist self, Izzy threw one (1) temper tantrum, found a particularly cruel button to push—“pining for his boyfriend”—and that’s all it took for Ed to choke him out against the wall. “There he is.” Blackbeard was always there, right beneath the surface, a tiny nudge away, and if you go on that kind of murder spree from one cruel remark then, sorry, but those tendencies were never truly being dealt with in the first place. Blackbeard (and to an extent the Kraken) have always been here. They never left. They’re Ed. Izzy didn’t create them and as much as I love fluffy, wholesome, tooth-rottingly sweet BlackBonnet content in a fandom space, pretending that they’re canonically #PureBabies is a serious misreading of the text. To say nothing of a dismissal of one of OFMD’s biggest themes. Stede arrives wanting to change pirating’s “culture of abuse,” even while he romanticizes it.

Who do we think represents that culture and its romanticism best, if not the feared pirate legend Stede falls in love with?

#OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #Izzy Hands #mymetas

[bestworstcase]

Do you get the feeling WBY are just dead weight at this point? It feels like they sped through their arcs too quickly and don’t know what to do with them anymore.

i mean this in the most neutral possible way but you know the social phenomenon where people perceive women as dominating the conversation if they’re contributing more than about a third of the actual talking? because we’re constantly inundated by cultural messaging that devalues what women have to say and consequently develop subconscious biases that distort our perceptions because our brains are horrible buggy meat computers?

and you know the thing where if you’re, say, really hungry you suddenly see advertisements for restaurants everywhere, again because our brains are horrible buggy meat computers and we, in a very literal sense, see what we look for?

and you know inattentional blindness?

horrible. buggy. meat. computers.

anyway, the point is this:

rwby v1-8 is structured, narratively, around ruby rose being cast into a role—the hero, the ideal huntress, the silver-eyed warrior, the beacon of hope—and then stagnating there for, again, eight entire volumes of slow boil as the pressure built up bit by bit. and nobody noticed, because ruby had been put on a pedestal and ruby was also really good at acting the part, right up until she wasn’t and the pressure cooker exploded in v9.

meanwhile, ruby’s teammates spent v1-8 undertaking monumental journeys of personal growth and self-discovery across those eight entire volumes while ruby stagnated on her pedestal. and then for the first half of v9, they kept on keeping on and looked back on how far they’d come and affirmed their senses of identity and glanced nervously at the clusterfuck of fears and failures waiting for them back on remnant and then the ticking time bomb of ruby rose exploded in their faces with almost zero warning.

their character arcs in v9 weren’t wrapped up so much as they were unfurled to achieve maximum shredding by the narrative shrapnel of ruby abruptly having, like, eight entire volumes worth of repressed character arc erupt like fucking krakatoa. it only feels like wby getting shelved because it subverts the narrative expectation developed in v1-8, wherein ruby was fairly static (because all of her character development was happening down, not forward) in juxtaposition to the dramatic changes her teammates underwent. v9 is ruby catching up to wby and wby running full tilt face-first into the brick wall of oh shit ruby is not okay.

this is one of the major components of the narrative turning point; all of team rwby is on a more or less level plane now as far as where they’re at in their character arcs, and importantly wby have been made to confront their reliance on ruby and consequent harm. the path ahead is about figuring out the new normal and dealing with all the things that were NOT dealt with in the ever after—namely oobleck’s question (no, that is what you do! i want to know why you do it!) which was evoked but pointedly not answered during the mountain glenn reprise in 9.4.

and speaking of the mountain glenn reprise—to drive this home—remember how such a particular point is made of highlighting that ruby doesn’t get questioned on why she wants to be a huntress? and how she’s consequently left out of wby’s talk about what being a huntress means to them and the gap between their expectations and reality? this divide is echoed in 9.4, of course, through ruby’s inability to articulate what she is or what she wants to be. but there’s a second, more important character beat for ruby that also gets reprised in 9.4

what does a huntress do, the herbalist asks, and ruby says “fight… monsters, i guess?”

i want to be a huntress, says ruby in the very first episode, and ozpin replies, clarifies that, defines it as, “you want to slay monsters?”

and then it took eight entire volumes for somebody to confront ruby with the idea that she’s allowed to be more than that.

[tempting-andromeda]

Can I please have headcannons for Sadie with fem s/o who is secretly in love with Sadie. She wants to confess her feelings but is scared of how she might react. Fem reader drops little hints here and there and eventually confesses one night at camp when everyone is asleep and they are the only ones awake. I would love to see how Sadie and fem reader deal with being secret lovers in 1899 since it wasn’t smiled upon back then and very dangerous to be lesbian/gay/bi, etc and i would love to see how they are out, open and free with the other camp members and how they are comfortably out to John Abigail Jack uncle and Charles post RDR2. And please do a little fast forward to after the events of the game when John Charles and sadie k*ll Micah and sadie is happily settled down with fem reader and their poodle dog! Just living a quiet happy wholesome life where sadie works as a bounty hunter and comes home to fem reader cooking a delicious meal sorta life. Cozy, warm vibes and a happily ever after together forever 💖💖💖💖💖 sorry if this is cheesy and cliche I just love this little idea I have in my head of Sadie happily married to her fem s/o (low key of course because it was illegal to be LGBT in the 1800s and I would love to see how Sadie and fem reader navigate their life before and after the events of the game) !! Love your blog! 🥰✨✨✨

Sadie Adler

I think it would genuinely take sadie a bit to get back into a relationship

She’s traumatized and she just lost jake and so she doesn’t even realize you were dropping hints

You two get close and there’s this lingering emotion but she purposefully ignores it

It takes until like a month or so for her to finally acknowledge it and at first she doesn’t want to be in a relationship

Super against it because she’s a mess

When you confess she somehow rejects you but returns the feelings at the same time

Takes everything at a slow pace

It’s not like internationalized homophobia or anything…homegirl had like the worst experience ever a few months back

Likes to hold your hand

It’s such a tender thing

Separating your finger and bending them slowly while you both lay on your sides facing one another while you try to sleep

A very complicated “we’re not dating but we are”

Likes standing around you just to have your company but sometimes she just looks like a body guard with her arms crossed

Kisses your finger tips

Idk I just think she wouldn’t be ready for actual kisses so she works her way up

Everyone knows you two are somewhat a thing because even if you both wanted to hide it Sadie will practically growl at anyone who stares too long

Likes to go off with you and doesn’t tell you what you’re doing

Give you a quick “come on” and doesn’t answer any questions

Thinks anything can be a surprise if she wanted to to be

She wants to go to the gunsmith to get a new rifle? She’s gonna take you and act like she has the most romantic date planned

After the events of rdr2 she’s healed a lot more

She wasn’t on her own for like…8 years so she’s definitely grown

More into physical touch

Loves coming behind you and grabbing your waist while she nuzzles into your neck and kisses it

She’s a cheeky bastard

How can she do anything wrong she’s just a girl with a gun

Tells you all about her bounties and sometimes if you get her too into it she’ll recreate some moments

Jumping up out of bed to act out slashing a guys neck and getting blood on her

She’s so dramatic and she’s giving you a lopsided grin

Picked the poodle up as an apology for getting stabbed when she hunted down Micah with John

She saw how Abigail reacted with John and she didn’t want to be in the dog house

Always insists a meal needs more seasoning no matter how much you add

It either needs more salt or pepper

She’s real hesitant about pda and to other people y’all have an elaborate story about how both of your husbands died and you’re widowers together

Just besties

She has horrible jealousy isssues

She’s not worried you’d cheat

She just possessive

Tried to invite John and Abigail over for dinner frequently but after the first time she couldn’t do it again

Had to protect her peace

And she got tired of everyone mid way and didn’t know how to tell anyone she just wanted to nap with her wife

Whenever y’all do hang out with the marstons she somehow gets kicked out of the wife circle and is forced to Interact with John

She has fun but John is just so much to deal with

She’s absolutely shit at cooking

She can cook meat but anything else?

She complains if you try to get her to cook

If you do make her cook or you can’t she just goes into town and buys something that’s easy or already made

Likes to join you in the kitchen when you cook though

She’ll stand behind you with her hands on your hips telling you to cut the potatoes bigger or smaller

Whenever it’s just you two or any of your friends she loves to call you her wife

Smiles all goofy and everything

#sadie adler #sadie rdr2 #rdr2 headcanons #rdr2 sadie #I love Sadie #sometimes I do something wrong while playing so she’ll yell at me