#''does this mean i was wrong'' NO FOR FUCKS' SAKE IT PROVES YOU WERE RIGHT

[boomstab-papa]

re: “How do you prove a negative? Maybe you will meet someone in twenty years and feel that proverbial spark.” and don’t worry if you feel attraction someday, etc

I say this all the time but I’ll say it many more times: an easy way to “prove” a negative is actually to HAVE an exception.

Let’s be clear: you don’t have to ‘prove’ anything to anyone. And this is also not to say that gray-romantics or gray-asexuals are “better” for having “exceptions���, or to dictate anyone use one microlabel over another because they experienced an “exception”, but let’s write this one out again today for the sake of the argument.

The easiest way to assess with reasonable certainty whether or not A Given Result happens is to have it happen at least once, even if it never happens again. That way you know for sure That Was A Thing That Happened, we observed it, we recognized it, and we can confirm that event NEVER happened on any other occasion. “The exception proves the rule”, if you will.

If you live your whole life not feeling romantic and/or sexual attraction, and then a rare instance pops up like “WOW WAHT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, this is certainly not something I normally experience!,” that kind of PROVES that you knew what you were talking about when you said “I don’t feel romantic/sexual attraction.” You were RIGHT. And it may well be that it rarely or never happens again. You use whatever label you want to describe that. You’re not disqualified from using the aro/ace labels. You’re also not obligated to start using gray-ace/aro labels.

The exception doesn’t negate the rule here. It proves the rule exists.

Or existed. Maybe it becomes past-tense in the future. Who knows.

Like OP said, if your feelings DO change later, it’s ok to change labels later! Maybe you will start experiencing attraction more regularly later. Maybe not. It doesn’t mean you were wrong or lying now! If the label is useful now, then use it now!

You go ahead and claim that label.

I get the hesitancy to claim a label when you're not completely sure of it yourself. This is especially prevalent in the aro and ace communities because how do you prove a negative? Maybe you will meet someone in twenty years and feel that proverbial spark. But here's the truth: it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if it's a phase!! You are living in this body, in this moment, in this label right now. Who you are now matters just as much as who you might be.

[jjkbambi]

is it new years yet? luigi mangione x reader (18+)

summary!!! you run into ex-boyfriend!luigi mangione at a nye party! smut!

warnings: fratboy!luigi, darkfic (very much implied he slips something in ur drink), cnc?, long fic, mentions of calvin harris music, inspired by the fact that he had to nominate himself to win this category

masterlist

the new year was meant to feel different.

yet, the doors at phi kappa psi open for you and a chances of anything more seems to slim. a record number of beer cans trashed in the hallway, the kitchen buried in chaos, and the overwhelming stench of beer clings to the air, impossible to ignore. you were surprised at how easily they’d let you enter—the bouncer was known for being a bit mean, strict on names and IDS and ages and sorority associations, yet one short smile was enough to get you and your best friend, lacy, into their annual new years eve party.

there wasn’t a second break from avicii or calvin harris, the crowd bouncing with red solo cups in hand. about a dozen of drinks were spilled on you already, and you were sure this was an indicator of a good night.

“is that him?” your friend’s nudge proves your prophecy wrong. your stomach drops immediately as you turn to the direction she was staring in—and yes, there he was, shirtless and six-packed on new year’s eve, surrounded by his pack of fraternity brothers.

the world suddenly feels so much smaller. you turn quickly. “lacy, he cannot see me.”

“have you spoken since the breakup?”

“if i had, id be in classier heels,” you retort, shaking your head.

you show her the reason you’ve been off your phone so much recently. about 34 days since you’ve seen each other in person, and a stunning 78 texts and 29 missed calls left in lieu of a breakup conversation. it honestly felt like too little an amount considering how long you’d been dating, but perhaps that was the least of your relationship problems, seeing as though you’d caught him making out with another girl at a football game.

she groans. “why’d we have to come to this house?”

“free entry? fireworks?” you come up with a lie that’ll make the both of you feel better. “i honestly don’t think we’ll run into each other. it’s such a big place.”

“he’s walking over here.”

“aaand we’re moving,” you sing, dragging her into the crowd of calvin harris enjoyers. for two hours, slipping in and out of the chaos seemed to be a surefire solution in avoiding your ex-boyfriend. that is, until you turn and suddenly your best friend isn’t there. you stiffen immediately, backing into the kitchen. in that step back, you bump shoulders.

“y/n,” an all too familiar voice says.

oh for fucks sake.

you smile tightly at the sight of luigi, trying not to make this already awkward situation more awkward. he looks different than he did the last time you’d seen him. his usually short hair had grown out longer, his beard more prominent. he looks… grown.

“hey!” you say, attempting to make a swift getaway. “happy new year, man!”

“get back here.” he grabs your wrist, pulling you right back to him. “what’re you doing?”

“it’s new years!”

“what are you doing here? wearing that?”

you smile, feigning innocence. “getting a re-fill!”

luigi’s eyes were dark and his grip firm. your air of innocence is almost completely defeated at his warmth, his body leaning into you, intent. “i’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

no, you can’t do it. this was gonna be a new year for you. no setbacks, no cheating ex-boyfriends.

“i’m surprised you even noticed, with all your other distractions.”

luigi’s head tilts. “what does that mean?”

“you know what it means.” you pull away from him with as much force as possible. “seriously, lu, it’s over.”

“no, it’s not.” he argues. you shake your head as you walk away. “y/n, we’ve got to talk about this—“

“just leave me alone!” you leap out of the kitchen as soon as opportunity arrives, and pour the entirety of what’s left of your cup into your mouth. the wicked sting of alcohol had never been so relieving.

minutes pass but the sound of avicii is constant. phi kappa psi has promised fireworks and began to gather in the backyard and you want nothing more than to join in on the party—but lacy. your best friend. you need to find her. the recovery mission begins with a stumble down the hallway and a headache. it’s more than a headache, it all of a sudden feels like you reallyreallyreally need to take a nap.

“hey, hey, i’ve got you,” it’s luigi again. you can tell by his warmth and his scent and the way he grabs your hand. “where are you going?”

“lacy.”

he takes the drink out of your hand, then lifts your arms to wrap them around his neck. and suddenly, the warmth of his body isn’t so intimidating anymore. “that’s not my name.”

“i know.”

he leans in closer. “come on then, what’s my name?”

“lu,” you murmur. “i need to go.”

“you’re not going anywhere.” luigi promises you.

within a second, his lips are on yours, and suddenly his warmth is everywhere. you whimper into the kiss, trying to spell out protest but you’re too weak. “relax for me,” he tells you.

you were entirely too relaxed. any reasonable part of you wouldn’t allow for him to be this close. but before you can stop him, his hands slide down to grip your thighs, pushing them apart to accommodate him, and you gasped at the feel of his length pressing against you. he’s so hard.

“i love this dress on you,” he murmurs.

desperate, you try to push, “no, no, we need to find—”

“we’re taking care of her, too, baby, don’t worry.”

you squirmed underneath his touch, which only made the friction hotter. “what?”

he doesn’t care to tell you anything more grinding into your resistance mercilessly as his hands clamp around your hips, rocking your body back and forth on his thigh.

“you’ve got some fuckin’ nerve, you know,” he grumbles into the kiss, his voice so low and gravelly, you felt its deep tenor roll down your spine and settle in your core. every kiss he gave you was hungry and heated, and you gasp when he goes to nip at the sensitive skin of your neck. “walking around my house dressed like a fuckin’ slut. got me all worked up in front of everyone.”

you despise the helplessness that washes over you as he holds you down. tears sting at your eyes as you beg, “lu, stop.”

“pull your dress up,” he orders, drinking in your scent. his scruff scratches your skin.

“no.” you shake your head again, though his kisses are persistent. “luigi, we can’t.“

“you’re right,” luigi agrees, chuckling into another kiss. “i’m not fuckin’ sharing you.”

his lips don’t leave yours—theyre all over your lips, your cheeks, your neck, your tits—as he carries you into the nearest room, and you’re too lost in the moment to notice whether it’s his own. your dress hits the floor and his hands are all over your nude. the mix of confusion and pleasure leaves you breathless. before you can process it, you’re on the bed with your ex-boyfriend on top of you.

“you know how many other guys were looking at you tonight?” he growls as he flips you over. “swear ill fucking kill them”

he was so big and your body was so unprepared that you’d screamed, which only made luigi laugh. a choked gasp left you, and your mouth was soundlessly parted as he started to thrust into you, hips snapping against yours every time.

“fuckin’ knew it,” lu groans. your teeth sink into your lips as you tremble underneath him, his hard length relentless in its assault. “knew you’d take it f’me like this, yeah? like a good fuckin’ girl.”

the bed shook beneath you as he pounded into you. he goes to bite your neck, his curls tickling your skin. he feels so good, but the weight of how wrong it is lingers in every touch. “lu,” you moan.

“what?” he says, smug. “what d’ya wanna say?”

“it hurts,” you whine.

”i don’t care,” luigi says in your ear, grinding his cock into the depths of your cunt until you were whimpering beneath him. “you know how fuckin’ long it’s been since ive had you? no, you’ve got no clue. drove myself crazy thinking i’d never have this pretty pussy again.”

“it’s your fault—“

“shut the fuck up.” his hand comes down hard on your ass and a whimper slips from your lips. he growls low, feeling how tight you’re holding him. “you’re mine,” he grunts. “don’t you ever forget that.”

“luigi, wait,” you moan, your mind going blank. it’s too much—wrong in every way, yet too good to resist.

you feel him smirk against your neck. despite yourself, you felt your cunt clench hard around his stiff length as a flood gushes from your trembling core. he chuckles darkly, mocking your resistance. “can’t take it? too much?”

“lu, please.” your voice was embarrassingly breathless. he goes faster, which felt entirely impossible.

he must’ve heard the plea this time, because he doubled his efforts. he picked up the pace of his thrusts, fucking you hard and fast, spanking your ass mercilessly while his other hand went to massage your clit. you could hardly breathe.

“so good,” he groans. “be a good girl and cum for me, princess. all over me, come on.”

“please,” you whimper again. you’re not sure what you’re asking for, but it hardly mattered. the most devastating orgasm of your life was building deep within you, an unstoppable force growing stronger with every moment—and you were desperate to chase it.

“you’re all fucking mine,” he laments. “i wanna hear you say it.”

you couldn’t possibly. your mind goes blank as he ruts into you, pounding into your cunt and ass so hard that the clapping of his hips against your skin was filling the room and almost drowning out the sound of the new year celebration.

“tell me what i wanna hear.” he demands.

“yours,” you mewl.

“good girl.” he bit out, his mouth brushing against your cheek, his stubble rasping against your skin and making you shiver. he fucks you harder, faster, slamming into your slick cunt like he was trying to leave a mark inside you.

you couldn’t take it anymore. your pride snaps inside you and you felt liquid gush between your thighs, coating his massive cock in your cunt. pleasure consumes you until all you knew was the sensation of ecstasy drowning out everything else. he groans at the sight of your orgasm, his cock still driving into you, his thrusts turning wild and desperate as he growled in your ear.

luigi grumbled a soft, “fuck,” and then pressed deep, burying his cock deep into your still pulsing cunt as he came. he let out a long moan, his cock twitching against your inner walls while he emptied his balls into your pussy, the warmth of his cum filling you up.

“i’m so glad you came around, so glad,” he murmurs, turning you over to kiss you over and over and over again. “i love you, baby, you know that, right?”

the day after

[gay-dorito-dust]

Can I request headcanons for Remy, poly! Logan, and Wade reacting to gn crush telling him that they had been told by their crushes that they're not good-looking and interesting please?

Poly! Wade and Logan

Bullshit! That is such utter bullshit! You’re so sexy don’t cry! - Wade

The idiot doesn’t know what he’s missing out on if that’s how he thinks - Logan.

Want me to kill them?’ - Wade

Logan would smack Wade on the arm ‘pack it in.’

Both of them didn’t like the prick, they never did but didn’t say anything about it for your sake.

Now? They’ll gladly drag that bastard through the mud and more for making you feel as though you weren’t shit. You are the shit when Logan and Wade are concerned.

Wade will be your hype man during this sensitive time but his affirmations were mainly things like:

You are sexy, you are fierce, you will crush that fuckers skull with your thighs the next time that fucker opens their mouth!

Dog pool likes you more than that fucking disappointment.

Emotions are neither of these men’s strong suit so they’re not going to be the best in comforting you but that doesn’t mean they don’t try to take your mind off of the whole thing.

Logan would be your shoulder to lean on for the teddy bear of a man wouldn’t bring himself to move as you openly ranted to him and Wade about the now former crush.

‘What did I do wrong?’

‘You didn’t do anything wrong and you know it, so stop trying to find a plausible way to blame yourself when the fault falls upon the fucking idiot who rejected you.’ Logan would say as Wade hums in agreement while painting his nails.

Pookie is right- Wade

Don’t call me Pookie- Logan

Pookie and I don’t want to see a cutie like you cry over yesterday’s news, if anything you should be strutting down the hallway to show that you don’t give a fuck.’ - Wade continued with a smile. ‘You don’t need someone like that who’ll abandon you upon the first sign of hardship and instead people who’ll gladly get their hands dirty regardless.’

These two may not know what they’re doing or whether they are doing it right but they’re doing their best to make you feel better and make you feel special, which they already do with Wade’s surprise cuddle piles, but that’s all that counts for you.

Out of the two Logan gives the better advice out of the two whereas Wade will want to trash your former crush’s stuff without getting caught. They both show their care in vastly different ways but you always come out of them with a smile and tad more confidence in yourself.

Remy LeBeau

‘They lie mon Cher, you are far from what they say and more.’ Remy would say while trying to bite back his own tongue.

This crush, or former crush now, must’ve been the most stupidest person to have ever lived to have called you uninteresting and not good looking.

To Remy you were by far the most beautiful souls he has ever come across and had nothing but love and respect for others you acquaint yourself with, not to mention you had anyone and everyone paying close attention on what it was you had to say.

He didn’t like seeing you become so unsure of yourself from one persons words and would do anything and everything just to prove that they were a bunch of lies made up by someone who doesn’t see you the way he does.

Remy would shower you in affection and praise that didn’t overstep any boundaries.

He’d spend all day and night with you if he must to show that you were more then some words made by someone else, he’d look at you as though you hung the stars in the sky, he’d look at you as though he could see you rather see through you.

It was beautiful to be seen and or looked at the way remy looks at you that it made you forget all about your former crush. He’d remember everything you’ve ever told him, would greet you in the morning with a tender kiss to the back of your hand while comparing you to the most beautiful rose in the garden.

How are you not meant to fall for him when he’s done nothing but sing your praises and listen intently to everything you’ve ever said.

‘Don’t let people like them get to you mon Cher, that’s what they want. They want you to be as miserable as them instead of flourishing like you should be.’ Remy said as he held your hand.

‘But I thought they-‘

‘Were the one?’ Remy asked. ‘We all think the first people we met are the ones for us, until we are proven to only have been blinded by the sweeter aspects of the relationship that we forget that the person we think we will love forever is as flawed as every other human.’ Remy adds as he lets you rest against his side, pressing a reassuring kiss to your forehead. ‘You’ll find your person.’ He smiled at you.

‘I hope they’re like you then.’ You said as you melted into his side.

‘Or you could just have me yourself.’ Remy would reply.

What’s your answer, will you have him Or wait.

[snowsinterlude]

🍓 - prove a point

(incel coriolanus x f. reader)

summary: for you to prove your point, you decided that for your incel boyfriend to accept that he wasn't as much of a dom as he claimed, you took the lead to be the submissive girl he always wanted you to be.

c.w: p in v, sub incel coryo failing to be dom, reader being submissive and dominant, dirty talk, smut, nsfw, degrading, praising, overstimulation (m. recieving), incel coriolanus, dom reader, humiliation, reader calling coryo puppy, dumbification of a male

"go on, coryo." you invited him, legs wide apart as you showed him your lacy panties under your skirt. "isn't that what you wanted?"

it didn't felt right. even if his cock was throbbing while grinding in your clothed pussy, your sweet, incel boyfriend felt confused. isn't that how it was supposed to be? if it was, then why it felt wrong?

it was the third time you both were on this position, you under him, legs spread as you let him take control. however, he didn’t seem to know how to control you, how to dom you. it felt terribly unpleasant, even if his cock was hard.

the words didn't seem to match the situation. seeing you being submissive and telling him to fuck him rather than calling him a whore felt wrong. calling you a slut and seeing you smile instead of saying he was the slut and calling him a bitch felt wrong.

"i can't, i can't." he admitted, eyes tearing up from his sense of humiliation. even if he was still humping on you, he wanted you to take the lead. to tame him.

"why, coryo?" you asked, grinding back on him. "have i been a bad girl? why don't you punish me for being a slut?" you teased.

"please stop that," he pleaded, biting his cheek while trembling his soft, pretty lips. "you know this is not supposed to go like this." he said.

"like this, how?" you teased more. "you were right after all, aren't you happy? i feel much better being fucked by you than fucking you, wasn't it what you wanted? a sub, obedient whore?" you asked.

"yes- i mean, no- stop confusing me!" he growled, watching you take your panties off and play with the fabric in your fingers.

"so you want me to be the one doing the fucking? god, are you a whore?" you asked, changing the positions and getting him to be under you, his cock angry throbbing against you.

"yes, fuck it. for god's sake, i need you to! you were right"

"i was? about what was i right?" you asked, pushing his buttons as he frowned a humiliated face.

"about everything. you're... you're right. even about me being a... that thing you said."

"a whore?"

"yes"

"a bitch in heat?"

"...yeah." he looked down to the bed mattress.

"a slutty bitch who can't keep his dick in his pants?"

"fuck, yes. yes, are you proud? you're right. i'm a whore who craves for everything you have to say about me, degrade me, praise me. i need those things! i need you!"

you chuckled, kissing his temple. such a pretty boy.

"see? it wasn't so hard to admit." you said, pumping his cock in your hand as he groaned. "you're so good when you admit your true colors. who would imagine that the great, perfect coriolanus snow would admit to being a bitch in heat?" you said.

twenty minutes in and you already made him cum three times. he was a crying mess right now, cum on his stomach and on your hands as you teased the tip of his cock, kissing his face as the cumshot he just let out smeared against your cunt. he was a overstimulated, humiliated and cumming mess, begging you to let him into you.

of course, you denied it until he was a crying mess, face red with shame as you let him pound into you, earning some feel moans and praises from you.

"look at you, such a pretty mess!" you said, licking his tears and kissing his lips softly. those small pecks were taking him to the edge. "hmm, so good, isn't it, puppy?" he thrusted into you, nodding pathetically. "how does it feel, hm? describe it to me."

"w-warm." he said, too dumbfucked to think rightfully. "It feels warm. a-and good- too good!" he groaned, thrusting again and again on your cunt, the friction on your cunt and his balls made him shiver, and when you came around his cock, he felt proud, even hungrier, at least. he sucked on your tits like a starving man, like he needed that to survive.

and then he came again. four times in a row, filling you up and looking down at your face. you looked so pretty. a mess was made out of your hair, your face was flushed and your mouth was opened to let your moans out, and he couldn't help but kiss you, groaning when you pulled yourself out of his sensitive cock.

"good boy." you said, letting him kiss you. "now, you have to stop asking for a submissive girlfriend if you don't want me to slap your soul out of your body, okay?" you said, and he nodded obediently, cuddling with you.

you were the only one capable of taming such a beautiful beast. and he was partially glad you did it, even if his ego was crushed.

[sevikas-biceps]

[TLDR: me rationalising and then ranting about why Caitlyn and Cassandra are both in the wrong]

Y'all. We love Cait, and we do stan Cassandra in some regards—but be fucking for real. Think of them as real people, in the real world, doing real things. Y'all would hate them. I'm putting Cait's gay love and Cass' gay support aside—because I really do feel like a lot of people gloss over their flaws just because of the queer rep and allying.

Think of it. The Kiramman's ventilation system was the bare fucking minimum being done for the people of Zaun. Caitlyn weaponising it is literally a violation of human rights practices. We know how privileged Topside is, we know there are at least sympathetic characters out there—and both of these are true for the Kirammans. What does this imply? That the Kirammans were essentially one of those at the top of the hierarchy, and this put them in a complete position of ability to help.

But they didn't. That's the issue, people.

One of the previous matriarchs putting the vent system into place was to solve the matter of the air pollution, yes—but arguably, the people of the Undercity shouldn't have had to deal with that problem to begin with. Cassandra might've been aware it existed; she gave her daughter the key, after all. However, that does not mean she actively came to the aid of the people of Zaun. Hell, do you think she was even aware of Silco, for instance? At the beginning? Maybe she'd've heard whispers from informants, about some old peacekeeper people called the Hound, and then about some mysterious tycoon taking his place. Maybe Grayson said something about the Undercity's concerns in the past, during the time of the first insurrection, but the Council took no note of it. Maybe Cassandra had someone else in place to make her dealings, if ever she dabbled in that black market shit.

Whatever else you can think of with that line of thinking; at the end of the day, it just proves that Cassandra herself was only another person stuck in the cycle—she did her job, she was cunning and selfish, she played the game. It's just business. It's just politics. No more, no less. The original line-up on the Council had members that were either ignorant, negligent, or corrupt (and yes; that includes Heimerdinger, Mel, and Jayce you guys)—and Cassandra was no better. Again, they all were part of the same damn cycle to begin with.

What makes Cassandra remarkable as a character—to us, the audience—is that she's remembered as someone redeemable because of her love for her family, for Caitlyn; that she was willing to try for her daughter's sake and happiness. Caitlyn. Not the city, not her kid's new girlfriend, and most certainly not Zaun. Above all else, it boils down to her little girl. Her only child. Cassandra being on the Council meant that she could give that child the best life that she could; Cassandra being on the Council meant that the child has a future. It implies that peripherally, she was aware of the Undercity's issues—hence the little frustrations exchanged about Caitlyn becoming an officer and venturing into the Undercity in Season 1.

That's her redeeming quality. Duty for family.

[If you want a visualisation of her actual nature, I'd honestly recommend using Olenna Tyrell, Tywin Lannister, and Jon Arryn from ASoIaF/GoT as points of reference.]

Now, onto Caitlyn herself. Credit where credit is due; the girl is in the middle of grieving, and she's being denied the chance to have even that. She doesn't deserve that. No one does. It would be unfair to deal her an amount of resentment for going unstable, when we'd all been rooting for Jinx for half of the same reasons in Season 1. But that's the issue: half of the same reasons.

Let's be honest for a quick second here. Do we really think Caitlyn would've ever gone down to the Undercity had Jinx never attacked on Progress Day? With someone like Marcus hot on her trails, if he lives in this hypothetical alternate reality, I imagine she wouldn't even be placed near the bridge(s) to begin with. And if, in canon, he'd survived the explosion, I can also see Caitlyn being put on house arrest—because if Marcus himself is outed as working with Silco (similar to how Grayson did with Vander), then that's all the more reason to keep the Kiramman heiress away from danger, or worse, death. If things are so bad that the Sheriff, symbolically a paragon of justice and protection, resorted to consorting with the enemy...well, what then? What does that say about the system? What does that say about Piltovan society?

Back to Caitlyn. I'm a firm supporter of the idea that she never would've been put into a potential line of fire had life gone on normally. If Jinx never stole the hexcrystals, then Caitlyn would have no reason to snoop around; Vi is still in Stillwater, Silco is at large, and so on and so forth. Caitlyn remains largely ignorant of the world she lives in. It's noble that she genuinely wanted to help people. But in a place like Piltover? She'd be worse than Jayce when Season 1 began. I'm sure she'd no doubt notice the surrounding manipulations in her life, or how flawed their reality could be—but the point is, at the end of the day, it's still a privileged life that she leads.

Let that word sink in. Privileged. This isn't to disparage her original desire to make her society a better place—I do think that Caitlyn has the potential to do so if she exerted her efforts into long-term developments that could fulfil that vision. But this is where it gets tricky—especially in the context of Season 2. She had all of those resources at her disposal. She was aware of the consequences in using them—how it might affect civilians, innocents. And she still did so anyway. Strike one.

For all that she was a decorated officer, it's really the personal vendetta against Jinx that made her unfit to lead the strike team to begin with. I imagine Vi refused the enforcer position at first not just because of her and her people's history with the authority, but because it's so blatant that doing so enabled Caitlyn to act in her anger. By accepting the badge, Vi validated Caitlyn's need for vengeance. Not that Caitlyn is unreasonable in wanting such a thing, mind, but what is unreasonable was how tone-deaf she'd become in the process of grieving, forgetting that it's not just her own interests on the line, but others' too. Strike two.

There's nothing wrong with Caitlyn at the beginning—the girl just wanted so solve a crime. But then circumstances came up. And then, all of a sudden, she has to choose between duty or self-interest. What the show does is that it gives a convenient solution for Caitlyn to be able to serve both her duty and her own self-interest(s): invade/scour Zaun, she catches a criminal and delivers justice for the Council; find Jinx, Cassandra is avenged and Vi may find closure. The fight at Janna's temple is where it all indeed goes to shit, as we can see, and that's where Caitlyn really slips off in my opinion. She'd toed the line when she asked Vi to wear the badge—but it's really when Isha (a child) got involved and later on when she struck Vi herself (a betrayal), that her motives get warped. Strike three.

My main argument is that Cassandra and Caitlyn were both in the wrong, in one way or another, albeit for different and varied reasons. The former didn't do enough for the situation at hand, and the latter seems to be doing too much at once. Cassandra herself seemed to have enabled her daughter's worse traits, too, whether directly or indirectly; and this is what makes up much of the character that we see Caitlyn evolving into.

There are many aspects of both mother and daughter that have always been there, or, at least, have had the potential to be there, such as: the ruthlessness, the narrow focus, the determination, the strictness—and, most of all (and I have a feeling this is going to be controversial), the hypocrisy. We know, for a fact, that Caitlyn and Cassandra are at least self-aware. To merely label them as naïve or inexperienced (to life) is a gross disservice to their characters. On some level, they're cognisant of their status and ability in society (evidenced by baby!Cait's scepticism regarding Grayson's trophy, and Cass' agreement to support their case at the Council meeting)—and they both have exacted measures in the face of what is demanded of them.

This is the reason that Caitlyn weaponising the Grey, using the Kiramman's ventilation system, is more or less unforgivable. Just because it had Vi's hesitant approval, it didn't make it right. Vi counts as an unreliable narrator in this case—when we know that she, in multiple instances, easily caves when someone she's attached to doubles down on her.

We, as the audience, can at least agree on the moralities regarding the authorisation of the strike team; and that means that we, as people analysing the show, can also agree that the effects of an act such as using the Grey can be devastating. We see this in Viktor's chronic illness, we see this with Silco's asphyxiation trick on the Chembarons, we see this when Jinx knocks out Sevika, we see this in Cassandra's notes. Stop trying to downplay the Grey. Stop trying to justify a fucking war crime. 'Oh, but it's just knock-out gas'—baby, no it's not. It's really not. Smeech explicitly says this: factory smoke trapped underground. Smoke. It's still gas. There's no safe way of administering it in high doses. That's like smoking Marlboro Reds taken beyond the extreme, and fuelled by gasoline of all things.

I'm not villainising Caitlyn, but some of y'all also need to stop excusing what she did—and I'm saying this because a lot of you also did the same with Jinx in Season 1. For the lack of a better example; it's very much like excusing what serial killers of the past had done because they were 'interesting' or 'charming' or hell, relatable. Be Gay, Do Crime is most definitely not applicable here, you guys. Seriously.

That is literally the reason Vi snaps at Caitlyn after the fight with Jinx. Why are you the one acting like her? It's not just a comparison between Caitlyn and Jinx, it's not just vendetta against vendetta; in a broader context, Vi is asking: Why are you resorting to the same acts of terrorism? Why are you enforcing the same tactics your predecessors used? Why are you turning into what you once swore not to become? Why are you doing this? What are you turning into?

Vi asked Caitlyn to promise her not to change. But she did.

Why are you betraying yourself?

[prongss78]

pov: reg never told james abt being sirius' brother/ remus never told sirius abt being friends w reg (!!!)

“James, just.” Regulus just shakes his head, a slight frown on his lips. He shakes his head again, “I should’ve told you but, would you still have wanted this?” The words burst out of his mouth as if he’s trying to stifle them.

“I care about you because you’re you, Regulus.” James murmurs and he watches as Regulus scans his face with his eyes but James doesn’t know what he’s searching for. 

“I guess that doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?” Regulus mumbles, chuckling bitterly as he looks around the room, not meeting James’ eye.

“It can,” James whispers, pleading almost- because as much as he’s hurt that he’s been lied to, he doesn’t think he’s ready to give up the boy in front of him.

“No. It can’t, James. I don’t want it to.” Regulus says, a note of finality in his tone. “This was a mistake. We both agreed on that.”

James feels his stomach flip, nausea and hurt expelling across his body and settling into his bones. He feels like a fucking idiot.

Shaking his head and shoving his hands into his pockets, “Right. I’ll see you later, Regulus.” James sighs before turning to leave.

“Bye, James.” He hears the boy behind him whisper. 

James turns to look at him again before the door shuts behind him and sees Regulus standing in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around his middle and his head down, staring at the floor. The door shuts and James lets out a deep breath before turning towards the sound of yelling. 

Did he just get... broken up by someone he wasn’t even in a relationship with? That’s a new low, even for him, he thinks.

He finds the bedroom Sirius has locked himself in, stuck in a daze, he barely remembers walking there, his mind still reeling from this whole ordeal- He thinks he passed Marlene and she pointed down the hall.

“Pads, it’s me.” James knocks softly. He hears some shuffling before the door opens a crack. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to just hide.” Sirius mumbles as he lets James inside and locks the door behind him. “I’m just so… So… God, why didn’t he just tell me, James?” He bursts out once they’re inside.

“He was probably afraid of the reaction you would have,” James suggests gently, forcing himself to focus on his best friend and not the fact that he’s been- Fuck. How the fuck is supposed to tell Sirius?

“Rightfully so, I guess. Just proved him right.” Sirius sighs, flopping down on the edge of the bed. James sits down beside him and they both let out a sigh before glancing over at each other, “What’s wrong Prongs?” Sirius asks quietly and James just shakes his head,

“Let’s figure out your thing first; don’t need additional stress,” James tells him, and Sirius gives him a flat look, 

“Humour me.” 

“Sirius, this is like. Like bad. I’ve done something bad.” James whispers, suddenly feeling even more sick than he already does.

“As bad as Remus? Were you secretly friends with my brother this whole time too?” Sirius asks sarcastically, arching an eyebrow with a slight smile on his face.

James freezes. He doesn’t know what to say and Sirius must be able to read it on his face because his smile drops instantly.

“James.” Sirius starts, standing up and facing him, “You’re going to have to explain what bad thing you’ve done before my mind starts making it ten times worse.” He warns quickly.

“Sirius, I-“ James tries but he doesn’t even think he can explain this, can he? He’s been sleeping with his best-friends little brother- No, scratch that, he’s not even just sleeping with him, he cares about his brother, he likes him, wants to be his boyfriend for fuck’s sake.

“James!” Sirius exclaims, his face going pale. He paces back and forth in front of James as he starts ranting, “So you what? You also know my brother? How? I mean, how on earth could you possibly-“ He freezes, his head turning slowly to look at James, his eyes narrowed. “Reggie.” He breathes out and James just ducks his head. “You’ve been fucking him?” Sirius practically shouts, his eyes widening comically. 

“Sirius, I didn’t know,” James tells him, bracing his elbows on his knees. “I didn’t know until I just saw him.” 

“What the fuck do you mean, you didn’t know!” Sirius demands his hands reaching out to grab at his hair. “I mean good fucking god, Prongs, my brother?” He starts pacing again and James just sits and watches him. “How the fuck am I supposed to even respond to that.” He splutters and James pinches the bridge of his nose,

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He admits and Sirius freezes again.

“But Regulus knew, didn’t he? That stupid fucking- I’m going to hurt him. I’m going to hurt him and I’m going to fucking enjoy it.” Sirius says darkly and James stands, catching his arm.

“Padfoot, wait.” 

“What? You’re protecting him now?” Sirius snaps, “You know what, James? Just fuck off for a minute, alright?” He glares, ripping his arm away from James and storming out of the room. 

James lets out a weary sigh and sits back down on the bed, and puts his head in his hands, what the fuck is he supposed to do now?

[kenshimybeloved]

Part 2 of me talking too fucking much about these men!

At this point in the story, we start to see Johnny filming everyone/everything that he finds interesting enough to include in his stories. The first thing we see him film is an interaction between Kung Lao and Raiden at Wu Shi Academy. As pictured, you can see Johnny finds them important enough to the story to film, but his face and body language aren’t exactly giving excitement- he’s more so just doing a task. Again- not that he dislikes Kung Lao and Raiden or that he finds them super boring- but at this point he’s just kinda filming to film. He then approaches the two and starts complaining about how long this all is taking, and how he needs something crazier to happen to include in his movies. This is when Kenshi walks up

[side note: THE WAY HE SHOWS UP ON SCREEN STRETCHING IN THIS SCENE DOES THINGS TO ME]

and immediately begins an argument with Johnny over his motives for being here. Despite training together for months, the two are still butting heads at every interaction- or so you’d think if you were any of the characters in the game. I want to take extra time here just to fully acknowledge the fact that this interaction is not only happening in a public space but directly in front of Kung Lao and Raiden who are the two original people of this conversation (Johnny really saw them having a good time and decided he needed to come in and whine about shit and Kenshi saw that as an opportunity to start an argument with him- can these bitches just let Lao and Raiden be happy together??). The conversation leads to the comment ‘my ex’ll rue the day she gave up on me’ from Johnny which immediately earns an eye roll from Kenshi and the sarcastic reply ‘so selfless.’ I want to note that Johnnys been here for months- he says “ex” casually enough to imply that at least most people know he’s going through a divorce but most people don’t know enough to know her actual name. Or, he’s specifically putting emphasis on the fact that they are very much over and Johnny is very much single in front of a certain somebody. Maybe a healthy balance of both. I also want to note that the way Johnny speaks of his ex wife is very much indicative of the fact that Johnnys motive currently is to redeem himself and prove to everyone that he isn’t a lost cause. These movies becoming a success is his only hope at this time. However, this also means his focus should be shifted from Sento onto his movies now, right? Wrong! You’d think since now he’s putting all of the pressure of getting his life together on these movies he’s be willing to give up the sword that used to symbolize his past life, but no. Even tho his focus is now on something he can do currently/in the future to get his life back on a track rather than fixating on an object from his past, he’s still clinging to Sento. Though he’s now looking forward, his goal is still centered around people from his past (him wanting to prove to everyone that left him that they were all wrong about him rather than fixing himself for his own sake). The argument escalates to Johnny calling Kenshi ‘tattoo’ and tells him he’s only here for his sword anyways.

[side note: him calling him tattoo despite Kenshis effort to cover up the majority of his tattoos means a couple of things- Johnny is studying Kenshi. As mentioned in my previous post, Johnny is absolutely infatuated with Kenshi and wants to know everything he can. It also means he’s poking at Kenshi, letting him know that though he may try to be reserved, Johnny will stop at nothing to get to know him. He’s just going to keep observing the little things about him until Kenshi can open up about the realer shit]

IMO, Johnny very clearly knows what Sento represents for Kenshi and saving his family is much more important than the sword itself (at this point it’s important to remember nobody knows of Sentos powers- it’s just a symbolic thing to Kenshi since it’s his family sword). Deep down he knows objectively this sword should go to Kenshi, but he’s unwilling to admit it. Here’s where a lot of headcanoning happens for me- since this is a new timeline, we can’t guarantee things we know about these characters from previous games are still true. However, based on how Johnny behaves, I think it’s safe to assume his relationship with his dad was still rough as a kid (is this mentioned in this timeline? I can only seem to remember it being mentioned in MK11). I headcanon that while his dad was abusive, his mother was his rock. Unfortunately, living with both a negative and a positive parent in the same house creates instability and often leads to things like NPD, BPD, Bipolar Disorder, etc. I don’t specifically think Johnny has any of these, but maybe just aspects here and there that show up. For example, when you grow up with your needs unmet and never being a priority of your parent’s, you learn to provide for yourself. Sometimes this can be in a healthy self sustaining way, and sometimes this can mean over compensating when you perceive that somebody doesn’t think your problems are very important- like Johnny knowing that Kenshi deserves the sword more than he does, but hearing him say it leads Johnny to double down and cling to the sword with his life. Anyways, this is getting too long so there will have to be a part 2 of my analysis of the scenes at Wu Shi Academy.

[liquidstar]

wait speaking of getting isekia'd via truck, a couple weeks back me and a friend on were talking abt portal fantasy/isekai tropes (mostly bc i was infodumping abt rz again), and it made me think abt a fun concept for an ocverse. tho its possible similar things have been done obvs with just how inflated the genre is, just hear me out OK

story starts in the normal world, with a typical Nerdy Guy going about his daily life, expositing about how he feels bored and longs for adventure and magic, just like in all of his favorite media. as he's crossing the street, distracted by his mobile game, he doesn't notice The Truck(tm) coming straight towards him. except he's not hit by it- he's pushed out of the way in the last second, saved by a passing girl who gets hit in his place. this is who the story is about now.

mc gets sent to that sort of intermediary dimension that some isekai have, where she meets the Goddess Lady or whatever that was in charge of the whole isekai situation. goddess lady proceeds to freak out, because she nabbed the wrong person, and she's going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE. she starts questioning the mc, only to find out that this kid has a good social life, does well in school, is in sports, and has barely ever played a video game. basically the opposite of the socially introverted, underachieving, repressed, genre-aware guy she was supposed to have reincarnated. for the sake of fulfilling somekinda hero prophesy or whatever. and the mc kinda bargains to be sent to the fantasy world anyway bc, well, its that or death i guess. so the two of them kinda have to team up to course-correct this mix-up.

mc is kinda given a list of tasks to do that basically mirror how a typical story like this Would Go, expected to fall in line with the tropes in order to achieve the ultimate goal, but kinda ends up failing at all of them... or not? failing backwards, maybe. doing it in a way different from how its meant to go- using the wrong formula, but somehow getting the right solution. while sort of continuing to question the insanity of the whole situation, and the nature of this whole fantasy world. just fucking up all the tropes.

but a layer i'd wanna add on top of all that is the fact that the hero prophesy (or whatever) called for a man. so upon arriving to this new world, the mc is basically put into a "gender swapped" body and... doesnt seem to mind. this isnt an uncommon isekai trope either, but i hardly see it tackled with much care to really explore whole Gender Thing beyond gags about the "mismatch" (which can be in poor taste) or the conclusion that "well because their Body is now this gender, their gender identity changes to match" which i feel is a pretty shallow and binary take-away to draw abt bodies and identity.

but i think there can be more to explore w the prospect if you actually wanna get into gender stuff. in this case, i'd particularly wanna get into the idea of imposter syndrome. the main character was not MEANT to be... the main character. seen as a phony fighting tooth and nail to meet expectations, and constantly fumbling. not a real hero, or a real man. but its meant to be an act anyway, so why does that bother her? it was like that back on earth too, trying as hard as possible to be the perfect girl. a good social life, does well in school, is in sports.... but that good girl thing always felt fake too. or desperate. what was she trying to prove? how long as this BEEN bothering her, actually? why does it feel easier to breathe in this body, despite everything? the way this whole act makes her happy is scary, because its fake isn't it? but wait, which part was fake? the before or after? is it all fake? isn't this all just a mistake?

was it really a mistake? who is more heroic; a guy too focused on a mobile game to pay attention to those around him, or the person who risked their life to save a stranger? but the hero prophesy was for a "man," right? what does that even mean?

[miss-nandini]

Can I request some Azul x f!reader angst? Like she accidentally sees him in his true form and he lashes out at her because of his insecurities and she tries to reaffirm him that she doesn’t mind what he looks like, but Azul keeps lashing out not listening or believing her until she yells at him that she loves him no matter what he looks like or what he has done and reader and Azul both realized that she just confessed to him (Happy ending please and thank you! 🥹🖤🖤🖤)

A/N: I wanted to write something like this for so long, thank you 💜💜💜

All about you! (F! Reader)

It was accidental, really. You didn't mean to pry. It just...kind of happened. What you didn't expect was, you and him ending up quarreling.

He thinks you hate him now. All this time, he kept his best act up so he can prove himself worthy of you. But now? Well, who can love a stupid, ugly octopus like him? Honestly, he blamed himself. He can't stand his true form then how will YOU even LOOK at it?

You, on the other hand tried to console him. You told him countless of times before that his looks doesn't matter to you. You love him for him. But, he doesn't seem to believe you at all.

"Oh, shut up (Y/N)! What do you know? Why did you even come in here?"

"Seriously?! Azul come on, you know I love you; right?"

"Yeah, right."

"Azul, I would never lie about that!"

"Everybody does. What makes YOU different, prefect?"

"I love you Azul, that's the difference!"

"No, you don't! Nobody can love someone like me! I know you hate me! So stop lying already!!"

"For God's sake, I'm not lying!! I thought I knew you. Did I?"

"Well, did you? Angelfish."

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"Leave."

"What...?"

"Leave and don't EVER come back."

Well, that was that. After his outburst, you left and continued with your classes. His accusing tone hurt, the fact that he doesn't trust you hurt. The whole day you were at the verge of tears. At some point even your friends suspected something. But, you brushed off their concerns.

It was around 10:00 pm when you found Jade at your door. You were confused. It's not normal for Jade to show up out of nowhere, unless there's something wrong. But, to be honest the Octavinelle trio were the last ones you wanted to see after your argument with Azul. You wanted to ask what's wrong but Jade beat you to it.

"Azul is locking himself up in his bathroom. He just wouldn't come out. Can you go see him?"

"He told me to fuck off, Jade."

"...You out of all people should know that is the last thing he wants."

"...Fine."

Soon enough, you found yourself near his bathroom door. You were ready to bang on the door for the heck of it, but to your surprise, the door was slightly ajar.

"...Azul?"

You poked your head inside and there he was, sitting in the bathtub in his octo-mer form. He was sobbing the life out of himself. You suppressed a long sigh and stepped in the bathroom and locked the door behind you.

That caught his attention. Oh, of course it's you—wait a damn second, it's YOU?! How?! After all the nonsense he spat, he never imagined in his wildest dreams that you will come back for him.

"(Y-Y/N)...? W-what are you doing here...?"

"Well, can't let you drown in misery alone, can I?"

"...(Y/N), you should hate me—

"Oh, for fucks sake Ashengrotto, how many times do I need to tell you that I LOVE YOU! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU LOOK!!"

You yelled and he flinched.

"...Look, you can be an octopus or whatever. But, I only see the amazing boy I fell in love with and you know what? Your true form looks perfectly fine to me."

"Just because you said it, doesn't make it true." He chuckled bitterly.

"I'm not only saying idiot, I'm seeing it."

"Oh really?"

A sloppy smirk painted his face. "Then you better come here, so I can make it up to you."

His tentacles pulled you in the tub with him before his lips landed on yours.

"...I'm sorry, angelfish..."

"Apology accepted."

[dykeulous]

Don't you realize that male and female are social constructs? They're ideas. Scientists don't even believe biological sex is a thing anymore, we're all just people. Gender is almost like religion, it can change, some people are really sure on theirs and others aren't, forcing someone into one is always wrong. Do you know why you're cis? Do you ever think about the possibility that you're not, about what it would be like to be something other then what you were born as. Would you still feel like a woman if you didn't have a womb, if you didn't have breasts or genitals or estrogen? It was a combination of contemplating these things, and mystical experiences with the goddess Hel that got me to realize I was agender. I thought I would lose certain things when becoming nonbinary and genderless, but I didn't. I don't know about you, but know you can be happy as an enby or a boy, you can be loved, and cherished and comforted as an enby or as a boy. I don't know if you're nonbinary like I am. You might find you really do identify with womanhood, but if you do really want to be a woman, then know that that's the same feeling amab women have. I know what it's like to think the way you do, I used to think that way, and I've had bad experiences with men and with the expectations society has for people with bodies like mine. But you don't have to take your pain and call it womanhood.

first of all, i’m not sure what post of mine inspired you to write this yapping-tea-party-ramble, but it is very clear you stumbled upon my account & ran to the inbox without even having read my bio, yet alone any of my posts. i am very open about being trans on here. i make multiple posts and reblog a whole shit ton. i am a trans man, holy fuck– “how do you know you’re cis?”– i’m not!

anatomical differences between females & males are real. you just look funny as hell trying to claim otherwise. the differences being real quite literally allow for sex incongruency to even develop in the first place. biological sex is not a social construct. rigid sex-gender categorizations, which harm intersex, trans, and cis people alike– are social constructs. biological sex itself? no. stop spreading misinformation.

but i just have to post this because. you make an excellent point about gender being like a religion, actually! gender is a cultural, ideological, and religious system based on the oppression of female people, actually! you are exposing “your camp” real bad with this one. radfems never denied the fact that gender is a religion. we are in agreement here. it’s just that you seem to be connecting religion to something morally pure, while i see it as destructive. i do not believe in any gender feels. no one is entitled to play into your gender feels and your woman-man-enby soul. your soul is not gendered. a soul does not exist materially. your system is fallible and idealistic. by all means, believe it in– but, for fuck’s sake– do not force others to also believe in it. you are proving all the “man-hating anti-theist terfy terfs” right when you imply everyone must subscribe to your religious system.

i do not “want to be a woman”. i was born female, and that is my reality. cis women’s womanhood is not the same as trans women’s womanhood is. it’s not violent or bigoted to point that out. both camps have unique experiences & face unique struggles. this still does not negate the fact that most cis women do not, in fact, have any internal “gender feels”– and you’d be surprised as hell if i told you that the majority of trans women do not, either. modern, western trans community is trying to rewrite lgbt history by implying trans people’s experiences are gender role, neuro-sex-oriented; when that has never been the case. i believe a whole shit ton of youth is currently wrongly identifying as trans, or at least for the wrong reasons. either way– some trans people do not have gender identities at all [yes, “agender” is a gender identity], and a lot who do [including myself], do not connect it to any “innate neuro-sex gender-soul feels”, but rather as a way of conceptualizing one’s dysphoria. most, if not all, cis people do not have a gender identity in any way, shape, or form.

you did not “use to think the way i do”, because you do not know what i believe. you didn’t even bother checking my bio, where i explicitly state that i am a trans guy, and a believer of transandrophobia.

[my-own-worst-critic-arina]

Prove it.

Gojo satoru x reader

Storyline - Gojo is your brother’s best friend. Things take an interest turn when your parents and brother are away.

Warning - this contains indecent language and smut.

Is it possible to cut your own ears off and still live? 

I mean, it sounds likely. Maybe I should google that right after I murder my brother and his idiot of a best friend.

It’s 1:00am on a Wednesday, and these two fools choose to play Slim Shady by Eminem at the highest possible volume there is on the speaker. How do I know it’s the highest volume? 

That’s because if it got any louder, my eardrums would explode. 

I tried to ignore it. I did everything I could to avoid having to go into my brother's room, not because I was scared of my brother; why would I be? I could always tell my parents when they got back from their trip. I’m my dad’s first daughter, so of course dad would be on my side. After that, I’ll shed some tears, and boom, I’ll have mom on my side. It’s too easy, honestly.

The actual reason I was avoiding going into my brother's room is far more complex. May I introduce to you my brother's best friend, Gojo satoru, also known as the Bain of my existence.

Satoru, or Satan’s son, as I call him, has been my brother's best friend from the time they were born until now, and in my brother's eyes as well as those of my parents and everyone else's, Gojo satoru can do no wrong. 

Which is highly incorrect. Gojo is an arrogant, supercilious, overbearing, bossy prick. I could go on, but for the sake of time, I won't, and the worst part of it all is that I seem to be the only person on the planet who thinks this.

Does that mean I’m wrong and satoru might be a decent human being? 

No, of course not; it just means everyone else is stupid, and I’m the only one who can see through his whole nice guy act. 

There you have it folks, the grand introduction of Satan’s firstborn. 

Suddenly the music stopped, only to start again, this time playing It’s Friday by Rebecca Black.

…..

Oh hell no! 

That’s it, anymore of this, and I will actually cut off my ears regardless of whether I live or not. And with that, I marched my way to my brother's room.

I don’t even bother knocking; I just open the door and walk right in, though I wasn’t expecting that, mostly because my brother always locks his door. That’s a little weird, I thought. As I look around the room, My brother was nowhere in sight, but I did see a very hot-looking body lying on his bed, with headphones on.

You . have. got to. be. fucking. kidding. me.

Without wasting any time, I walked straight up where the demon's head rested on the pillow, and I yanked the headphones off of him. His eyes instantly opened, and he began yelling at me, like a mad man. It was hard to make out what he was saying, but I’m guessing it was something along the lines of “what the fuck is your problem?” and “where did you even come from?” 

After a few minutes, the dork finally realized I couldn’t hear a damn thing he was saying because of the stupid music. 

He jumped off of the bed, walked over to the speaker, and, thank the Lord God, turned it off.

Wow, I never knew silence could feel this good; however, it didn’t last long.

“What are you doing here?” 

“I live here.”

“You know what I mean, don’t be a smartass,"  said the son of Satan as he made his way to me. 

“Better to be a smartass than a dumbass like you,” I said, giving him the death glare, which he of course returned. 

If looks could kill, I would be at least 8 feet under

I finally decided to speak since it looked like he wasn’t going to do anything other than stare at me as if he could just snap my neck any second now.

“Where’s my brother?” I asked 

“Suguru went out with shoko, they won’t be back for tonight. Shoko’s parents are out of town,” he replied.

“So then, why are you here?”

“None of your business,” he replied, as if I were being a pest to him.

“It is when you are blasting music at 1 in the morning on a Wednesday.”

“So what if it’s Wednesday?” 

“I have school tomorrow,” I replied. At this point, I am still fuming, and he isn’t making it better.

“And your point is? When me and your brother were in high school, we partied any day of the week, and you’re tripping over some music? Huh, you really are boring,” he says, looking me dead in the eyes. 

“I’m not “tripping” and I’m not boring,” I replied firmly. Well, as firmly as I could. It’s not easy to focus when his eyes are so distracting. Oh, did I forget to mention satoru happens to be extremely hot? He seems to be God’s favorite for some reason. 

I was so distracted, I almost didn’t hear when he said 

“You are right. you’re just a prude who doesn’t know how to have fun.” 

What did he just say? 

“Excuse me, I’m not a prude, and I know how to have fun more than you do.”  

He starts laughing. The fucker throws his head back and starts laughing as if I just told him the funniest joke ever.

How fucking dare he

I’m not a prude. 

I know how to have fun. 

He’s just an asshole. 

I glare at him, and he finally stops laughing and looks at me.

He then says, “Oh yeah, prove it.” 

Without thinking, I replied, “How?”

He smirks at me, grabbing my hand and sending shivers up my arm as he drags me out of my brother's room and into mine. 

He sits on my bed so that his back rests on the frame. 

“Are you sure you want to prove it?” 

 

I nod my head.

 

“Use your words, sweetheart.” 

 

“Yes” 

 

“Yes what?”

 

“Yes Satoru ”

 

“Good girl, now fucking strip. Do it slowly.

 

I looked at him in shock before I began to slowly undress. I never thought I had a sub-bone in my body, but yet here I was stripping naked in front of my brother's best friend and listening to his every command.

 

I had to admit that it felt good to be told what to do in such a demanding yet incredibly sexy way. 

 

Once I was completely naked, I finally looked up to see him staring at me with lustful eyes. I also noticed the impressive bulge in his pants. But before I got the chance to stare, he spoke. 

 

“Come here and straddle my thigh now.” 

 

I lower my head as I walk to him, then slowly straddle his right thigh. 

 

He grabbed my jaw with one hand, forcing me to look up at him. He placed his other hand on my hip. 

 

“Kiss me,” he said. 

 

I sat up a bit so I could place a soft kiss on his lips. 

 

“What the fuck was that? Kiss me like you mean it, like you want me to fuck you so hard you can’t walk for days,” he said as if I had insulted him. 

 

So I kissed him again, this time I slipped my tongue into his mouth. He tasted like peppermint; it was warm and soothing, but at the same time rough and dominant. 

I felt like I was on cloud 9. I never thought kissing could feel this good. 

 

I could still taste the sweet peppermint flavor on my lips even after he had started trailing butterfly kisses from the top of my neck to my breasts. 

 

“Grind yourself on my thigh.” 

He said as he sucked one of my nipples into his mouth while his hand played with the other. Still keeping a firm hand on my hip, he helped me move myself onto him. 

 

I couldn’t help but moan; it just felt so good.

 

“That’s it, princess. Moan for me. Let me know how desperate you are for me to fill you,” he said in a husky tone. 

 

With that, I moan again. Moving my hips against his jeans felt like heaven. I can only imagine what it would feel like to have his cock buried deep inside me. 

 

I suddenly realized I was naked while he was fully clothed. 

“Aren’t you taking your clothes off?” I ask

 

"Patience, baby, don’t rush. Just relax and let me make you feel good,” he replied as he delivered a spank to my ass. 

 

I moaned at the sensation.

 

“You like that, don’t you, baby? You like when I spank you like a little slut.” 

 

I don’t reply. I’m too caught up in the pleasure of grinding myself onto him.

 

He spanks me again. this time harder 

“Answer me”

 

“Yes! I like it when you spank me.”

 

“That’s my good little slut,” he whispers sweetly in my ear, as if he isn’t degrading me, not that I’m complaining. 

 

I started grinding faster as I felt a tingling feeling of ecstasy, and before I knew it, I was screaming satoru’s name as came on his jeans-covered thigh.

 

“That’s it, baby. Scream my name. Let everyone know who you belong to,” he whispered in my ear as I rested my head on his shoulder and continued to ride out my orgasm. 

 

I kept my head on his shoulder while I tried to stabilize my breathing. 

 

Gojo placed a sweet kiss on my head. 

“Don’t get tired on me now, sweetheart. we’ve only just started,” he said in a soft tone. 

 

“I’m not tired. I was just giving you some time to catch your breath.” 

 

“If you say so, break time up. Take my clothes off,” he says as he gets up from bed and stands beside it. 

 

I slowly hop out of bed and begin to take off his clothes one after the other, all the while keeping eye contact with him. 

 

As I’m about to take off his boxer, he stops me, grabbing me by the neck and kissing me. The kiss is full of pure dominance. After what felt like forever, he finally pulled away, allowing me to catch my breath. Resting his forehead on his mind, he says, “You’re so fucking perfect.” 

 

That makes me smile. “I want to do something for you." I tell him as I place my hands on his chest. 

 

“You don’t have to,” he said firmly. 

 

“I want to,” I replied. 

I kiss his chest and work my way down, leaving hickeys as I go. Before I knew it, I was on my knees, looking up at him.

 

I removed his boxer, freeing his massive cock. I have to say I’m impressed.

He had to be about 10 inches...

 

I placed a soft kiss on the tip, then 

I lick from the base of his cock to the tip, once again placing a kiss on it.

 

“Stop teasing me,” he groaned. 

 

“You can’t make me,” I replied. 

 

“I can’t?“ he mockingly asks as he grabs my hair, pushing my head forward so that I take all of his cock into my mouth. 

 

"Fuck,” he moans. 

 

I started I sucked his cock, bobbing my head up and down while my hand played his balls. I did this until I decided to try something a bit different. 

 

I stroked his dick with my hands as I sucked on his balls. 

  

“Just like that baby, you’re doing so well.” 

 

After a while, I go back to sucking on his dick, this time bobbing my head faster. 

 

I moaned at the taste of his precum on my tongue. 

 

"Aghh, fuck that feels amazing; you’re going to make me cum,” he says in a rough voice. 

 

Satoru uses his hold on my hair to guide me, pushing my head down until I gagged, then letting me up for a split second before pushing me down again. 

 

He moaned my name, pulling my hair back, making me look up at him as he came into my mouth. 

 

"Swallow,” he said, looking into my eyes.

 

all the while. Maintaining eye contact with him, I swallowed his cum.

 

“That’s a good girl. you look so fucking good on your knees for me. I want to taste you,” and with that, he lifted me by my thighs and placed me on the bed. He kissed me passionately before moving downward, placing butterfly kisses from my neck to my hip. He then started to bite and suck the inside of my thighs, all while maintaining eye contact with me. Teasing bastard. 

 

"Please,” I begged. 

 

"No,” he paused, thinking before he said 

“If you want it, you’re going to beg like you need it.” 

 

“Please satoru. Please touch me. I need it so bad, please,” I said, looking at him with teary eyes. 

 

"Hmm, how can I say no to that?” 

He hooks his hands around my thighs, pinning me down onto the bed. 

 

Finally breaking eye contact with me to look down in between my thighs. 

 

“Such a pretty pussy, I haven’t started yet, and look at how fucking wet you are.”

 

He leans in and licks up my slit.

I pushed my hips forward against his face. 

He pinches my clit “bad girl.”

 

“Good girls wait and take what is given to them. you want to be my good girl, don’t you?” He asked as he rubbed my clit.

 

"Yes, satoru” he said, nodding at me before devouring me like a starving caveman. 

 

“Fuck, you taste incredible, baby. you’re going to make me addicted to you.” 

 

When he started sucking my clit automatically, my legs began shaking. I was pretty sure if it weren’t for his hold on them, they would have collapsed. 

 

I started to feel a familiar sensation creeping slowly towards the climax.

I screamed his name as I came on his tongue. 

 

“What a magnificent sound, I just want to hear it again and again and again.” He said this as his eyes slowly trailed from my eyes down to my legs. 

 

“I need to feel you wrap around me,” he said as he moved so that we were in a missionary position. 

His fingers dug into my hips as he held me in place, looking into my eyes as if asking for permission.

 

I nodded my head. 

 

“My girl, you’re so beautiful,” he says. As he rammed into me with one powerful thrust, he moved his hands so that one was pressing down on my lower stomach while the other he used to grab on to my neck, giving it a squeeze every few seconds. 

 

“Come on, rub your clit for me like the dirty little slut you are.” 

 

Follow his orders. I started rubbing my clitoral area, and gosh, it felt amazing. 

 

“Does that feel good, baby?” 

 

I once again nodded, too caught up in pleasure to speak.

 

"Yeah, I fucking bet it does.” 

 

He persists in thrusting in and out of me, making me see stars. 

 

“Fuckkk…… You’re so fucking tight.” 

 

Hearing him moan and whimper in my ear because of how good I felt around him was the hottest thing in the world. 

 

“I’m so close, baby; I want to come with you.”

 

He continued to thrust into me, this time hitting my cervix, causing me to scream out a loud moan as we came together.

 

We just stayed like that, connected together, looking into each other’s eyes. He slowly pulled himself out of me and readjusted us so I was lying on his chest as he moved his fingers up and down my spine. About 15 minutes passed before satoru lifted me up bridal style and walked towards the bathroom, where we took a relaxing shower together. 

I felt like I was in heaven and couldn’t stop admiring him as he took care of me, gently washing me clean and then placing a kiss on my forehead when he was done.

 

After the shower, I put on his t-shirt and a fresh pair of pants while he wore his boxer. Satoru once again lifts me and gently places me on the bed.

He laid his head on my chest and positioned his legs in between mine. Reaching his hands down, he started to massage my thighs. 

 

“You know, I never truly hated you. I just needed to tell myself that because the truth is, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You were on my mind day and night, yet you seemed to not even care that I existed, so I started to annoy you as a way to get your attention. To be honest, I even bullied you a bit, but I promise you, I never did anything with the intention of hurting you. I would never hurt you. You’re mine; always was and always will be.” 

 

“And what about you? Are you mine?” I asked. The truth is, I had a crush on satoru when I was younger, but I thought he was out of league and would never go for someone like me. It hurt to know that, and when he started to be an arrogant asshole towards me, it just made it so much easier to hate him. 

 

“I’m yours," he said, moving his head so he was now looking up at me. He continued, "y/n/n), you fucking own me. I have loved you for as long as I can remember, and nothing is ever going to change that. Go on a date with me, please. I promise, if you give me a chance, I'll try my hardest and be the best fucking boyfriend there ever was, because that’s how much I love you.

I love you, ( y/n ), with all my heart and soul.” 

 

I smiled as I replied, “I love you too, toru, to the moon and back again, and yes, I will go on a date with you.” 

 

He smiles back at me and then kisses me. This kiss was different; it felt passionate and soothing.

 

Everything about this moment was perfect, and I never wanted it to end. 

Author note: Thank you for reading my honey bunches of oats✨💜

See you in the next post.

[wordsandrobots]

I just wanted to say I have so much respect for the incredible essays and fic you write for IBO, and I’m so grateful you’re in this fandom.

I was wondering, have you talked previously about McGillis’ line of “Is there such thing as true happiness and fake happiness?” especially when considered alongside his line of wanting to make Almiria happy? If not, what do you make of that?

It’s been floating around in my head ever since I watched the show, but I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what to make of it and haven’t had the time to rewatch the show yet.

Thank you! My brain has been set to overdrive on the subject of Iron-Blooded Orphans for more than three years now (please send help) so I'm not sure I could have stopped if I tried.

Anyway. Oh boy. That line. No, I haven't written commentary on it previously, at least not directly. But it underpins literally everything I've done in terms of fanfic spiralling out of McGillis' actions, so I have thought about it quite a lot.

For me -- apart from being the moment Gaelio realises precisely how far he's fucked everything up -- that question is the distillation of McGillis as a character. And as much as he says it about his treatment of Almira, it also serves as an excellent vector for examining McGillis and Gaelio's changing relationship throughout the entire show, specifically with regard to why Gaelio is Always Wrong (TM) about his best-friend-turned-mortal-enemy.

The context here is important, since this final scene is the one point in the entire show where we can uncomplicatedly say McGillis is being completely open. He's lost. He's dying. Everything he hoped to achieve has fallen to pieces. Visually, he's been stripped back to his child self, hair fallen wild and expression dulled. This is McGillis undone. It no longer matters what he does or how he presents, so he's finally able to be honest with Gaelio. All the masks are off.

Gaelio, of course, is in full avenger mode, demanding McGillis stay alive long enough to look directly at the consequences of his actions and face his crimes. And McGillis finally admits that all the jumping up and down and masked-ghost shenanigans was unnecessary: he'd *always* seen Gaelio and always held affection for him. He wasn't some cold traitor, saying all the right things to get close enough to stab everyone in the back. Gaelio and Carta were his friends, and though that was anathema to his desire for power, it wasn't a fraud. He even promised to make Gaelio's sister happy for the sake of their friendship.

The English dub script adds the phrase 'no matter the cost' to the end of this statement and I think that's a very acute sentiment, given McGillis nearly dies sooner due to the wound he suffered stopping Almiria from killing herself. His own actions prove he means what he says: even at the cost of harm to himself, he was determined to honour his word on at least this point.

Predictably, Gaelio responds by reiterating the accusation of McGillis spreading delusions. Any happiness McGillis gave to Almiria could only be fake (due to the scheming, backstabbing, brother-murdering and so on). Which leads McGillis to asking, does it matter?

Are there such things as true and fake happiness?

I mentioned masks. For Gaelio, that's a literal object, a disguise to conceal his survival (from anybody who doesn't have the official height chart to hand, at least), that is literally discarded at this point. But for McGillis, the masks always run deeper. Indeed, if there's one thing we can say about his Montag persona and the attendant jester's visage, it's that it allows him to act more like he really wants to, to the point he starts getting a little giddy.

No, for him, masking is performance. Acting. The construction of a surface persona to meet the demands of the situation he's in. Gaelio draws attention to this when describing how McGillis changed as they grew into teenagers, opting to actively fit in with the social scene around them and only seeming to share his 'true' feelings when the two were alone. As the audience, though, we can trace his chameleonic nature back further. In the montage of McGillis' past, we see him adapting to the various situations he is forced into, first by teaching himself to commit violence to establish dominance, then by cultivating studiousness. It seems unlikely McGillis being chosen as Iznario's heir was disconnected from how hard he worked on building himself up in order to survive. Learning how to navigate social and political environments is a natural progression of these efforts.

That this *is* conscious construction is key. Because McGillis also sets out to transform himself into the ideal Agnika Kaieru represents. Ultimately this culminates in physically altering his body so he can use Gundam Bael, but it's far more than that. He trains himself in the two-sword fighting style Agnika used, long before he's anywhere near achieving his goal. He immerses himself in Gjallarhorn's hierarchy and assists skilled, lower-class officers like Isurugi. He dispenses with his childhood sombreness in favour of an authoritative, rigorous, charismatic professional persona. All of this serves his goal of achieving absolute power, yes. It's also about shaping himself into what he thinks he should be -- the embodiment of the characteristics he attributes to Agnika.

There are a few positive aspects to this. Gaelio, operating on the assumption McGillis is a cynical back-stabber, thinks he goes to Mars to survey the mobile armour situation for personal gain. But in truth McGillis goes to ensure Hashmal doesn't awaken. It's the kind of move someone in Gjallarhorn *should* make, so he does. That he is later inspired to go after the Order of the Seven Stars as Gaelio originally imagined he intended is a reaction to things spiralling out of control and exciting him with the world's most ill-advised historical re-enactment; it's not where he comes into the situation. Likewise, he seems to have been a fairly good inspector, exposing corrupt officers like Coral and later doing due diligence on pulling the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet (oh cripes I can write than from memory) into proper fighting shape.

At the same time, it means McGillis is always dishonest with other people. He's always got an angle, is always holding something back, always tries to fit everyone into his plans, somehow. Even when he is truthful (such as saying he's admired Carta for treating him as an equal when they were kids or sharing his faith in Agnika's principles with Almiria), there are other factors to consider. His scheme to gain power inside Gjallarhorn, his need to keep things running smoothly, his obsession with being the individual who can transform the world -- these are in play right up until he is bleeding out on the floor.

It's natural, given this, to ask 'who is the true McGillis?' What really exists underneath the layers of performance? However, I think doing so is to repeat a lot of Gaelio's mistakes because, as we eventually find out, McGillis himself fails to draw a meaningful boundary between 'real' and 'fake'.

He promised Gaelio he'd take care of Almiria while in the act of killing him. It was politically prudent to maintain the engagement and he also considered Gaelio a true friend, so there's good reason to honour the promise. On top of that, Almiria is someone he appears to care greatly for, perhaps out of fellow-feeling since she is as much a pawn in others' games as he once was. Thus, her happiness becomes one of his chief goals. To this end, he accommodates her wishes to be seen as a grown-up lady (as imagined by a nine-year-old) and explains how what he is doing will benefit them both. He goes so far as to stop her from harming herself once his deception is exposed, promising that one day, she will be truly happy despite everything.

And the next time he refers to Almiria in any way -- the last time, prior to his final confrontation with Gaelio -- it is to internally chide her for being so troublesome as to leave him with a wound that negatively affects his battlefield performance. Placed alongside his earlier lines to her and the act of putting his hand in the way of the dagger she aimed at her throat, it's an *incredibly* dismissive reaction. It would be easy to read this as him having only pretended to care about Almiria all along, concealing a real disdain. Except, again -- he put his hand in the way of that dagger, without hesitation.

What's going on here?

Well, McGillis presents in whichever way he needs to in order to navigate his circumstances, saying whatever he thinks is most likely to get the outcome he wants. That's his base state for interacting with the world, as a consequence of growing up the way he did. Seeing no distinction in the veracity of happiness speaks to a very outcome-focused view on human interaction. What difference does it make if a positive reaction is prompted by sincerity or by moulding oneself into a form best suiting the other person? They're still happy. Or giving the appearance of it. That's enough, right?

We eventually see this approach fail with Tekkadan, owing to McGillis' misunderstandings about them. Towards the end of the show, stripped of material superiority, his appeals to their fighting spirit fall flat. He tries to sway them on the level he thinks they operate (pride, desire for power, strength of will) rather than the shared loyalty and familial bonds that actually drive them forward. He simply doesn't realise the things they have pursued were always a means to an end -- each other's safety -- rather than the end itself.

That failure highlights both how important it is to engage with the reality of what you're trying to manipulate (the critical distinction separating him from Rustal) and how genuine McGillis is about his stated goals. He really does want to become the all-powerful leader of Gjallarhorn and believes that will allow him to make the world better. He'd do anything to achieve it. Just like he really means to ensure Almiria's happiness, however much he needs to cover up and present differently -- or even suffer physical harm -- to do so.

That right there is the fundamental problem with how Gaelio sees him throughout Season 2. He doesn't get that McGillis' performances are not strictly falsehoods but tools used to obtain the outcome he's proclaiming to anyone who'll listen. The act may be pieced together from truth or lies or force of strength; what matters is that it *works*.

I spent my essay about Agnika focusing on McGillis' ideology. What the true/false happiness line exemplifies is his methodology or, more strictly, the survival strategy he adapted into a generalised approach. It's the Tekkadan strategy error -- applying the same methods over and over in situations where they are increasingly counter-productive -- writ on a subtler scale. A compulsive need to treat every interpersonal encounter as having a specific outcome, where the actual content, the human connection, and the emotional impact lose any significance beyond 'if X then Y'.

The kicker being that, when McGillis does have to deal with genuine emotions on their own terms, he shoves them as far away from himself as he can. Carta and Gaelio should have been his closest allies and loyalist supporters, not to mention a positive impact on his wellbeing due to, you know, actually caring about him as a person. Instead, he kills/tries to kill them, not just because their deaths serve his ambitions but because they gave him something other than his ambitions -- full stop. Something else. And he couldn't have both.

McGillis could not build himself into the perfect embodiment of individualism while keeping his friends close. He couldn't continue to persist on an outcome-focused approach with unprompted, un-targeted happiness just happening to him. From everything else about his character, I'm not sure he could ever have trusted the feelings Carta and Gaelio induced in him. Far better to construct the happiness he thought he wanted. Far safer. Far more natural, for someone under no illusions about the world's hypocrisies, or what people do in order to survive.

The tragedy is that this is an inescapable problem. McGillis was always going to chose the constructed ideal future over the reality that lay within touching distance. The damage, for that's what this is, was done long before anyone who cared was in a position to intervene. This is somebody who'd execute the people he cares for and who cannot understand his best friend crying over his dying admission of affection, any more than he can grasp why being willing to do anything to ensure a little girl's happiness isn't necessarily laudable. Where would you even begin trying to unpick that?

Which of course is exactly what makes him so effective within this story. There's a paradox at the heart of McGillis, which is part of why I've never tried to write his perspective in my fic, where he manages to be profoundly honest and chronically self-deluding, the signifiers of a manipulative bastard twisted around into . . . I don't really want to call it pathology because I think that undersells the active choice to be who he is. But we see how he got there, the trauma that went into making him, how different aspects of it meshed together, shaping him one after the other. It's not just the homelessness, or the sexual assault, or being trafficked, or being made a pawn in a political game, or fixating on a historical figure. It's all of them put together, and I think it's a fantastic bit of character work.

There simply isn't a solution. Just an inescapable arc towards disaster, and the devastation of a pair of siblings who each loved him more dearly than he could possibly conceptualise.

-----

That's more or less where I land on things, anyway. Hopefully this was mostly coherent, as rambles go? Like with everything to do with McGillis, I can never just pull one thread. The man's a living rats-nest, which I love about him but does make it difficult to be succinct!

Thank you very much for the ask, and for your kind words. I will admit to feeling a degree of 'if there's no active fandom for this show, I'll damn well do it myself' when I started writing the fic and the essays, so it delights me no end to know there are people getting a kick out of them. :)

[brynnsasha191]

I'm tired of Zutara stans doing the most insane mental gymnastics to justify their crack ship. I'd have so much more respect for them if they just admitted that Zutara is more VISUALLY appealing and that's why they like it.

I'll just list some insane mental gymnastics and then I'll debunk all them

Aang isn't empathetic to Katara, Zuko, or anyone for that matter

Literally what? Someone actually said that a couple months ago. He is the character with the most empathy in this series. He's written that way. He extends an invitation of friendship to Zuko as early as episode 13. Zuko owes Aang his life twice over because in s1&S2 he's the only one who cared enough to never leave him to die. And Aang is always the first one by Katara's side when she's distressed and vice versa. In s1, Katara gets them all kidnapped by pirates and he still assures her it isn't her fault and he always forgives her when she does something wrong (which she doesn't often)

Zuko and Katara both lost their mother's so they understand each other and Aang has never experienced that grief

Brother ewww, what's that brother? Also yes, someone did actually say this on Tumblr a couple months ago. Aang lost his entire race, the show is called 'Last Airbender' for fucks sake. He grieves for his people the entire show. Also since when did people have to share pains to understand them. I've never lost a mother but that doesn't mean I can't understand that it's one of the worst pains in the world. They both lost their mother's but that's where the resemblance stops, they lost Kya and Ursa in very different ways. And Zuko got Ursa back.

"Katara is a lot like me and I would never love Aang so she wouldn't either"

Someone on Twitter made an anti Kataang post and the gist was basically this. Here's the kicker; Katara isn't you. You may see yourself in her but she's not based on you, you did not write her. Aang is the right person for her, Zuko is not.

Aang is too young for her

The age difference between Zutara and Kataang is the exact same. Two years, well for Kataang it's actually a year and a half. Aang was 13 when the show ended and Katara was 14. But I do think if Zuko, Katara, and Aang were all the same age then the fandom would be much more equal but never the fuck mind.

Kataang is rushed

Katara saw Aang as a love interest since S1E17. Saying they're rushed compared to the THREE EPISODES that Zutara was on remotely good terms is crazy.

Kataang is sibling coded

"Ship so good you have to call them sibling coded" They quite literally are not. They were always intended to be endgame, Joshua Hamilton was wrong when he said different on avatar extras. Zuko and Katara are written as a foil to Zuko and Azula so they are objectively SIBLING CODED.

Aang is a creepy rapist for kissing her without her consent

*sigh* He's a 13 y/o kid who misread the situation and signals. She told him off for it and he never did it again. And obviously it was a mistake, I don't condone that stuff but I give grace for it when it's a 13 y/o who was eventually forgiven for it and corrected his behavior later on.

Literally anything other Zutara point

Sokka ships Kataang so you should to.

Alright I'm done. I'm not anti Zutara, I'm anti Zutara stans. They're so disrespectful in order to prove their points. And they constantly misrepresent Aang and Mai for their crack ship. Poor Aang and Mai. Pro Kataang

[ae-cow]

Hearts & Havoc

#1 of The University Series, Jake Sim/Sim Jaeyun

Warning: Swearing, possible spelling errors and I think that’s all, do tell me. NOT AN ACTUAL STORY THIS IS JUST AN IDEA OF MINE. These are all works of fiction with nothing to do with the idol's actual life. I do like some feedback. If you ever feel like "Hey this is very offensive." do tell me.

Pairing: Jake x fem! Oc

Summary: Jake writes an article on Why we put titles on Women and not Men? Well… it was mostly a write-up on how beautiful Noh-Hart Chanel is.

Word Count: 1k Words

A/N: This was so fun to write. Based on an old fanfic I wrote back in 2022 and also based on a YA Novel, Not Here to Be Liked. We love feminism!

Written: 4 July 2024

University Series Masterlist Here

Masterlist © ae-cow. Do not claim, steal or repost. All rights reserved

Noh-Hart Chanel is a Veterinary student who as soon as she stepped foot at HYBE University was dubbed Campus Beauty. A title that man no boys of HYBE decided to use to label her.

Noh-Hart Chanel, I mean come on, naming your Children after Brands like Versace Or Yves is honestly a good move. People will say how they like Versace and others will be like "The brand or Noh-Hart Versace."

Her parents also decided to have their surnames combined for their Children. Being a Wasian, her name not only stands out but also her facial features.

Literally, all her parents' good genes went to her, beautiful almond-shaped green eyes with Cupid's bow lips that looked like Cupid made a match made in heaven which he has. Long luscious dark hair that could slap me out of my senses and a model-like height from her dad.

I do think she's very very pretty there's no denying that but why is there a freaking competition on how girls look? You don't see boys having articles on their looks just maybe baseball.

Because of this article, the whole of Hybe Uni thinks Jake Shim, likes Chanel.

-

“URGH! I TALKED ABOUT WHY IS THIS A COMPETITION AND EVERYONE IGNORED IT AND JUST FOCUSED ON THE IRRELEVANT THING I WAS TALKING ABOUT,” Jake clumps his hair in frustration

"You do realize that you talk less of a quarter about the competition and more about Chanel?" Sunghoon points out as he stares at his friend

"I don't like Chanel, just think she's gorgeous, I call you gorgeous and no one thinks wrong.”

"That's because you went on to talk about her features as if you stare at her face every,” His friend said

"I have no choice I sit across her,” Jake said

Sunghoon chuckles "Your statement isn't defending you, it's more of proving other people's case that you have a fat crush on her."

He stood up abruptly "But I don't!"

"You don't have to proof it, it will go away I'm sure of it.”

-

"So... you wrote a whole article on me on HYPE with us?” Chanel questioned

"First of all, I did not post that, someone did! And I don't like you Chanel, I just wanted to clarify that,” Jake said

"You sure?" She tilts her head, She knows that this small move can make a man go feral especially when they find a girl attractive

He coughs "Y-" His voice cracks "Yeah, sure of it."

"But those words were written by you right?"

He sighs, nodding

"I think you're gorgeous, there's a reason why you're dubbed Campus Beauty though I do not support that the students here decided to call you that,” He explains

"However me finding you attractive does not mean I like you, I don't even know you aside from word of mouth."

-

Chanel feels frustrated by the superficial attention her looks receive rather than her academic achievements.

“I’m a veterinary student for fuck sake, I study animals, and microbiology and am even on the dean's list!”

“W-where is this even going?” Jake asked, confused

“Yet I am known for my looks, which has its perks like how a hallway full of students would see me and instantly move out of the way for me, or how I'd get free food,” Chanel continues

“Again where is this going??” He repeated himself

“I want to bring down the patriarchy!” Chanel suddenly stood up, gaining attention from others around

“If I'm campus beauty then who is campus handsome? If some girl gets called a slut then what about the guy? He’ll get complimented for getting it.”

“And I do too much, I'm asking for it and if you did too much people will try to give an excuse and I'm done with it!”

“Alright then!” Jake too stands up, extending his hand, for her to shake “LET'S BRING THE PATRIARCHY DOWN!”

-

Chanel and Jake were teaming up to host a campaign, it's a collaboration between both their clubs, The feminism group and HYBE with Us.

They are now in charge of painting the banner. Jake takes a chance as he sees Chanel concentrating on writing the words “BRING THIS HYBE HOUSE DOWN.”

“Jake what the fuck!” Chanel looks at Jake, angered

“What?” He pretends to be clueless

“You just put paint on my face, I look like a clown” Chanel said

“It's fine,” He said, continuing with his side

“Oh yeah I'm sure, my pretty face looks fine to you,” Chanel said

“Hey remember I wasn't the one who posted that,” Jake said “But I remember you were the one you typed that!”

“You!-“ and a peck appears on his cheek

Chanel laughs hard “That look on your face! You were about to kill me and then-“ Chanel stopped when she noticed how close he’d gotten, he was wiping her nose with a tissue

“And then what??” He looks into her eyes

“I- nothing, nothing,” She grabs the tissue, trying to ignore the blush plastered on his cheek

-

“People are going to talk, I, Chanel made out with Jake Sim, a guy, you won't get the same treatment, I'll get looks, disgusted looks while you will get proud looks as if you achieved something.”

Hello everyone, you might know me for that article I posted about Chanel the campus beauty, but her appeal goes beyond just her looks. She’s an advocate for gender equality and is involved in various feminist causes. She’s deeply passionate about bringing down patriarchal structures both within and outside the university. Chanel leads a campus organization focused on women’s rights and social justice, using her popularity and influence to drive change.

I've gravitated towards her compassion and would like to use this platform to show everyone that HYBE with Us and the feminist group will be teaming up to organize a campus-wide campaign aimed at raising awareness about gender inequality and promoting policy changes within the university.

Some of you might also be reading this after finding out what had happened between the two of us. But there's a reason why my typing this out. If Chanel gets called a slut and what does that make me? A slut too. I’ve gotten praise whereas Chanel got slut shamed. This is the point of why the word feminism was created. It is about gender equality.

-

[itsblasttothepast]

I'm not sure if I have the strength to keep going right now. This week was bad we have one last race and apparently ESPN (if you want to read it but it's quite depressing) confirmed that Sergio is out, I don't know what sources they have but they were right about Newey and I just feel sick (too much stress and too much helplessness) - I kind of blame myself too, it always goes wrong for dirvers that I start to like. All we needed was one good race, one race where the car was working - and it was going so well, Sergio was doing so good, Bird wasn't useless in communicating and then? Just like Baku, all hopes down the drain in less than 5 second. And people spinning the car giving up to be Checo's fault? He did what he could, the entire weekend he was a lab rat and it helped them so much, I mean - Max won for fuck's sake and it didn't seem possible on friday. And yet the hate is like a ever growing wave and it's just too much for me right now. Horner's words were... Weird? Sergio was still insisting he has the seat, he said that nothing changed in his contract but the whole situation is just disgusting. I read the Horner thing with a lot of wariness but it sounded weird to me but I agree with you, it's like he is asking him to quit on his own (which would prove our Markorner theory of destroying him slowly to push him out - the message is clear, they don't want him in RBR anymore). But it was also kind of nice??? Like, compared to how earlier (before the mess got worse and we knew even less than now) he called Sergio 'unsuitable' and all and now he was choosing his words wisely? - I agree with you that the 'adult thing' sounds awful and it does have a double meaning (so he's feeding the media again - it's either Sergio's staying and they can't do nothing about it or they expect him to leave on his own). The lunch was suspicious for me too but I decided to take it as a 'we got more wind tunel time and that was the goal so it's okay' because I was feeling naive but right now I have no words anymore. Horner acting like this wasn't the plan, him saying that Sergio did what he could while at the same time telling him to fuck off? Crazy. I just want it to be resolved and for people to stop hating on Sergio. Liam has something against older drivers and if he thinks Fernando will let that slide he is very much wrong. I don't want to get optimistic just to have reality hit me again so I'll say this - whatever happens I hope Sergio is aware of everything and will be able to make the best choices. The chestappen baby is not important to RBR apparently :(

Max silence is also gving me bad vibes. I know he can't (and he didn't) defend Sergio every race but just at the last stretch the silence is making me paranoid. But maybe it's because of that congratulation video from 'all RBR family' that Sergio wasn't in - could they make their opinion on Checo any clearer? I get the academy thing and all but it was a low blow from them anyway. Jos is the wildest card in this entire mess, I hope he keeps his silence 'till the end of the season, we have enough with Horner and Marko being snakes. This last week will be a nightmare so the rumours might be as well:

Valtteri actually signed with RBR but they told him to keep quiet

Sergio is out but he's taking a lot of money with him and that's why Horner is salty about P3 in WCC

RBR20 becomes a decent car at the last race just for funsies

Ford CEO first demand as the new partner will be to fire Horner and Marko

Max locks himself in the office and refuses to race if RBR won't confirm Sergio for 2025

Sergio is staying out of spite and British media will combust from anger

It was a long way since the beautiful Suzuka race, huh? We have fallen so low and I can't believe that people can't remember Sergio getting P2 every race at the start of this season. I know it sounds bad but Max really is just that good to make the car work even if it's a piece of crap - which he said it was many times, alongside Sergio but apparently nobody heard that. RBR sacrificing Sergio for the 'developement of the car' so Max can defend his WDC, laughing at him when he first told them the problems and blaming him despite having the data, leaving him alone to deal with the hate and even feeding it just to say that he should leave on his own is crazy. Either way - I hope we survive this.

It's really hard with all the headlines and I know ESPN is a reliable source (I guess, honestly by this point I don't know anymore), and I wish they just come out and say whatever is going to happen, but I know that Checo is the one pulling all the attention, I mean, there are tons of things happening in Abu Dhabi:

Charlos divorce.

The fight for the sub-championship between Norris and Charles.

The last race of Lewis with Mercedes, ending an era.

Esteban not being able to race, and practically leaving Alpine without a farwell or something.

The Haasband divorce.

Zhou and Valtteri also having their last race and deserving all the attention, particularly Zhou who was the best driver.

Franco Colapinto leaving F1 (momentarily, we know he'll be back because he's awesome).

And for the gossip, the whole Max-George drama should keep the press fed, but NOOO, they want to focus on Checo, again, like they have been doing all year.

Anyway, to be honest many of the experts in México don't believe about the whole leaving RBR thing, at least for 2025, but they think he will leave in 2026 (and others also think that Max is leaving as well in that year), but statistically I know there's a chance it could happen. If that's the case, we should look the positive outcome, even if he doesn't have a seat for next year, at least he will breath again being away from this hell team, and I sure hope he gets enough money to screw them over, and he goes loudly and airing all the dirty laundry. And there's always 2026.

The rumor of Checo in Mercedes is the one who honestly made me laugh. People can be so delusional, I mean, I love Checo, but I know he isn't Mercedes' choice by a long shot.

We care about Checo and the Chestappen baby, so whatever happens, we will be together, with him, eating kitkats and knowing he'll return as the king he is.

The only way to survive this week is not letting them get to us, we need to be wilder and crazier than them!

My only rumor this time is... Checo actually bought RBR last year, and he's testing the loyalty of every member of the team to see who he will fire next year. Of course many failed, and he's taking notes. Also he's marrying Max because he can't have a kid out of wedlock.

Oh, and Charles is Max's best man, while Fernando is Checo's. Franco is the ring bearer.

Yeah, the year started so good... so happy and hopeful, it feels like we age 100 years with this hell season.

We shall survive my friend, if only to not giving RBR the satisfaction of defeat us.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Furina, and Genshin Stans' Inability to Handle Criticism

*SPOILERS*

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The introduction of Focalors as a character in 4.0, did what it should. She was a very polarizing character and had people forming very specific opinions that would be damn near impossible to change.

Most everyone enjoyed the fact that she wasn't kissing the Traveler's ass, wasn't flirting with the Traveler from the jump, and was dramatic. However, that did not mean that many of them came away liking her as a character. It wasn't translated as 'simply bratty' or 'adorable tantrums' to many of us.

People are capable of liking the fact that she was written differently even if we didn't like her personality.

Personally, I still don't like Keqing even after everything that's happened so far. I find her attitude to be very annoying, and her stances on many things piss me off, but it's also nice for her to not be up the Traveler's ass when they come around. It gives every scene a nice air to experience.

Furina's story ending up incredibly tragic does not mean people have to suddenly pander to her.

At most, she was disliked by many for appearing to be lazy and not actually doing anything useful for her people the whole time. And Arlecchino had a right as a citizen of Fontaine, to call her out for her inaction and chosen lifestyle. Just because it was revealed that Furina was playing her part in order to fool Fate and the Heavenly Principles, does not mean Arlecchino is in the wrong for what she said(attempting assassination is another matter entirely).

Furina still called Paimon an object and tried to ignore her living, breathing sentience just so she could try to get the Traveler on trial for a fake accusation. Even if that law actually exists(per Neuvillette's voice lines) Paimon is not an object. Those of us with common sense recognized how fucked up that was, and how bullshit it was to try something like that just to... prevent the Traveler from wandering around and getting involved in stuff.

Y'all realize the Traveler would have ended up in the Fortress of Meropide for a crime they did not commit, right?

No one held a gun to Furina's head to make her do that. She could have completely avoided the Traveler entirely, but instead SHE CHOSE to make that their first meeting. The Traveler and Paimon base their impressions on her off of that meeting. And even after months in Fontaine, she did not prove to be much better at anything else.

In the end, Focalors' plan proved Furina wasn't being useless. She was actually doing her part as faithfully as possible, but that's all it really did. The accusations of her not caring and being lazy were wrong. She cared a lot and she worked very hard to exhaustion(both mental and physical).

But Furina spent 500 years treating people a certain way, and that has results. Those not from Fontaine are not as blinded by the glamor of her behavior and don't see it as acceptable. And guess what? Her introduction to the Traveler involved racism and dehumanizing the Traveler's companion(even if Paimon isn't human, she's sentient and living and humanoid) for the sake of a farcical court trial.

Then, she made false accusations against Lyney not long after. And the investigation by anyone but the Traveler was truly lackluster with barely any effort put in. To make things worse, she couldn't find any proof for her claims, so she just threw a group of orphans under the bus because... for some reason the Fatui has to be the ones to take in Fontainian children so they're not living on the streets.

It's not a good look.

Furina has suffered and has done her part to save her people, but she's also done some fucked up things and hasn't apologized for them.

You can't clamor for Arlecchino to apologize for what she said, or for Paimon to apologize for pestering her over and over to help out that theater troupe, and then sit there quiet over her behavior that had NOTHING to do with her cover as a 'god'. She could have easily kept up that cover while demanding for the case to be investigated better(NO ONE thought to look into the possessions of the troupe members before the Traveler asked? NO ONE thoughts to look in ALL the boxes while down int he basement?).

Many people got to learn that Furina is not a shitty Archon. She protected the people in the only way she knew was possible. She held that secret and was willing to take it to the grave.

She's also made some mistakes and never apologized.

The Traveler and Paimon not really knowing who the real Furina is or what her personal values are, doesn't mean they're being callous to her. Paimon saying she had no idea Furina would feel a certain way over something that happened, isn't her being mean. It's her literally not knowing and saying it in surprise.

The Traveler and Paimon thinking of Furina first after hearing that someone needs an expert in drama and theater, isn't them being mean. She's literally a celebrity known for performing on stage and is the only actress they were aware of in Fontaine. Common sense, people, learn to use it.

At most, the constant pushing was the actual bad part, and even then, this is Paimon... who needs things said 2 or 3 times in different ways before she(and by extension the playerbase) understands what's going on. That's just her character to repeat things just to get the clear picture. She's been doing it since the start of the game, and we all hate it. This isn't new.

Adding on... Neuvillette literally also did the same shit when he heard Furina was involved in a theater troupe's last performance. He tried to urge her to take to the stage once again and was quite insistent over it as well. He even used his own emotional ties to her to try and get her to change her mind. Yeah, he's hot and cool, but if Neuvillette doing the pestering is perfectly okay, then it was never the pestering and 'guilt-tripping' y'all had a problem with. It was just the people it was coming from.

Apparently, if it comes from a stranger that you aren't friends with, it's evil and horrible and despicable, but if someone you've known for 500 years keeps bringing up how they wish you'd change your mind on doing the thing you said you won't do anymore, all because they enjoyed watching you do it, then it's alright and just friends looking out for friends.

Furina is complex and more compelling as a character now, but she's still got a long way to go and all the time in the world to get there.