#9. media reaction if anyone found out

[shootinwebs]

i mean i make jokes about angel being pregnant with crunchwrap supremes and about his IUD being autographed by asmodeus but if he did actually get pregnant it would be the most horrible thing ever for several reasons

[thestrangestthlng]

Thoughts and prayers rants...

So, now that I've had almost 48 hours to marinate on this and cycled through my emotions, I am in a much better headspace to talk on the whole 9-1-1 of it all.

But this bears repeating: We fell in love with Tommy because he made Buck fall in love with Evan.

So, first and foremost, I've decided that canon stopped for me at 8x05. lol. I am going to continue with my BT train like that shit show didn't happen. And for me, for a while, I am going to let the show end there. I will go back, probably after the hiatus, but not how I was. I do love all the characters on this show (some more than others) and I still want to be able to see their journey, but I need a break from that manipulation stunt. I'm still going to share all the positive BT stuff I see and all the beautiful Lou content I see.

Secondly, now that I am over the initial hurt of the breakup, I'm just mad. We were manipulated intentionally with 8x05 for us to feel worse when the break up happened. That was unnecessary. And that was cruel. And I know that a lot of this is because it was the icing on a shit week. Emotions were already raw due to the election and it was reallllllyyyy bad timing for this, but that doesn't make the way they did it okay, just that it can explain why there was such a strong reaction for many of us, on top of the completely justified anger.

Breakups happen, and that's okay. If it was the end of Tommy's time on the show, that's okay. I am a Buck girlie and I always will be. But... the breakup was reductive, stereotypical, and just poor storytelling. I get they want to leave doors open a crack, because you never truly know, but turning him into an OOC stereotypical biphobic gay man is disgusting. You had this beautiful thing and you shat on it. I am going to do another post about my personal relationship with groundbreaking storylines next.

That was a miscommunication. That was a breakup where someone chases after you and is like wtf actually just happened. It felt like whiplash, because that is not how breakups are formulated in media. You know how else you could have written him out of the story?

At the date (and the basketball tickets are actually a really sweet touch when you think about it) Tommy could have told Buck that he got a job offer in another city or state or that his parents are ill and he has to go home to take care of them and asked Buck to go with him. At the apartment, it could have been buck telling him that as much as he could see a future with him, he can't go with him.

Would it have sucked? Yes. But it wouldn't have induced this amount of rage.

For over six months Lou and BTs have been at the receiving amount of a ton of vitriol. And that's not to say that there weren't antagonizers on this side of the fence or that BTs never did anything wrong, but this isn't a both sides bullshit piece. People can suck everywhere, but only one "side" harassed an actor and his family with death threats, he read about the "stoning" calls, used slurs on a regular basis. All of this persisted for months for it to turn out that he was the only one who seemed to give a shit about the story and it's representation. There honestly doesn't seem like there would have been anyone better for it.

You know what's ironic? It was the Buddie's hate and vitriol that pulled me into fandom and made me love Tommy and then Lou. When they would run their mouths, I would look into it and I found a man who genuinely seems like (he is still someone we don't know) a wonderfully kind, sweethearted, genuine man. He looks like a bundle of light and his smile can warm even the coldest hearts. So their vitriol made me a fan. So thanks BoBs.

Buck and Tommy wasn't just about Buck's queerness and definitely not about "wanting to see two white men kiss". It was about our love for Buck. We saw him happier and more fulfilled than he's ever been. We see his life being lived and full of love and stuff and joy.

Again:

We fell in love with Tommy because he made Buck fall in love with Evan.

And you know what, not matter how reductive and all the phobics that breakup was, they can never take that away from us.

[simp-ly-writes]

Rat Boyfriend

─────── · · A Smosh FanFic

Pairing: Spencer Agnew x gn!Reader

─ · · SUMMARY: You hated Charles Spencer Agnew. Well... maybe hate was too strong of a word, severely dislike would be a better descriptor. But what happens when Spencer dresses up as your number one type, a rat boyfriend?

─ · · TAGS: gender-neutral pronouns, enemies (strong dislike) to lovers, slow burn, miscommunication but cute 💕, kinda cheesy, jealous!Spencer, rat boyfriends, attempt at humour, suggestive themes, part social-media au.

─ · · MASTERLIST | TAGLIST REQUEST | WORDCOUNT: 2,677

─ · · A/N: might retire after this one fellas 😮‍💨 (no like seriously, I feel like I cooked on this one and am worried to burn others- 😬) also these screenshots I took have me in the FEELS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

─────── · ·

You hated Charles Spencer Agnew. Well... maybe hate was too strong of a word, severely dislike would be a better descriptor. It would be too childish to say that you didn't like him after your first meeting but from hearing your name in multiple snippet conversations he had with others, you stood by your thoughts.

Your first meeting stung, it was your first day in the office and you already were feeling overwhelmed. You had never worked in an environment like this but had always wanted a more casual experience than the typical 9 to 5 office jobs you had worked in the past. You did not want to ask for help, already feeling like a burden to the productions and that further didn't help when you did get the courage to ask someone closest to you, a certain Spencer Agnew that just looked your over quickly before diverting his eyes to anything or anyone else in the room without another word.

It would be another crew member that had come up to you for help a few minutes later after noticing your anxious pacing before you were being thrown onto camera and trying to understand a game as you played it for the first time... lets just say after the crying bathroom was your vacation for the next hour.

This theme of not standing to have conversations with him would continue for your first few weeks and into your first month working for Smosh as a cast member. Everyone else had warmed up to you easily, was affectionate and friendly yet Spencer always had to have someone else in the room before even speaking to you.

He always was like this you thought to yourself before becoming even more discouraged seeing how closely he interacted with your work-best-friends Courtney and Amanda and it stung- hard. So much so that you thought he just didn't like you.

You would often feel his stare when you were in conversations with other guest stars or staff members yet when you would look back over at him, he never even took a second glance nor mentioned it when you tried to sneak it into the minimal conversations you held.

And the worst part of it all? When you would bring it up at the bar outside of work to your fellow co-workers, all they could do is laugh, smile, pat you on the shoulder or order you another drink as if talking down to you not understanding something oblivious. But what could be more obvious than the answer you gathered yourself. Spencer Agnew hated you, and subsequently you hated him for not giving you a fair chance.

─────── · ·

Eventually, once you thought he realized that you were staying for good. You found a way to get into conversations with him, or at least, a form of conversation since you both were competitive as well and the cameras did well to pick up on this as you both shouted and argued with one another over arbitrary games rules to who could name the most movies with talking frogs in them (you won that debate and was still something you brought up in every argument just to watch his expression change).

You loved getting reactions out of him, seeing his eyes light up in a debate or the way he would stress, toying with his hair and glasses yet you would never admit this to anyone... not even yourself. And it would be in these moments that even when you would catch and hold his stare once realizing he was looking at you, he would keep it and his eyes would offer a hint of a smile.

These moments would happen more frequently since the infamous frog event during Bored AF, the most substantial of these during a Shayne guesses where the whole cast and crew sat in for the episode. You sat beside Courtney and Amanda like usually with Spencer sitting in front of you with Alex and Ian.

You could barley keep the smile off your face as Shayne went through everyone's celebrity crush, you laughed and even at times cried from laughing so hard up until your choices came up and you suddenly had shut up. Spencer turned around with a raised brow, his eyes curious as to why your emotions had shifted so suddenly.

You glared at him back, thinking him to be judging your choices of "rodent boyfriends" that you had been gossiping to the entire office about, even holding pictures of them up by your desk on a bulletin board. Spencer held his hands up, turning back around to watch Shayne's reaction as you did the same.

"Ah yes, someone seems to be having a hella rat-boy summer over here so that narrows it down to a few people in the office. But if I've already guessed some of the others... it would have to be (name)," Shayne explains himself with a confident smile, looking over the monitor to gauge your reaction as you offer him a deadpanned stare before shooting Courtney a wink that has her bumping your shoulder.

"And why do you think its (name)?" Alex Tran asks, directing todays video, you knew this question was for the content but you were worried about how it could be cut in the final video.

"Well, how could I not think it to be them? Spencer glares at that bulletin board of these pictures of Barry, Timothée, and Jeremy every time he goes by the (name)'s desk!" Shayne says dryly as if commenting on the weather, as if this is something everyone already knew, and that annoys you must. Yet again you are feeling all of those past emotions come flooding back on the process you made as you fall back into your seat with a huff.

"And let's see if I'm correct... Yes! Let's freakin' go!" Shayne celebrates, pumping his fist as Amanda grabs your hand. "You doing alright?" you asks warmly, head tipped closer to your own making the conversation feel more private.

"Yeah just annoyed that everyone seems to be dancing around something I don't and its really tiring like- yes I know I'm still the "new guy" around here but if its an "in-joke..." I still want to know what exactly it is even if I will not understand it," you explain and Amanda can only offer you a sigh, wrapping an arm around your chair for comfort.

"Its nothing I can explain to you since it's not my space to do so... but I think that it'll all get explained to since someone else also appears to be anxious about it," Amanda does not look you in the eyes, instead watching as Spencer's knee bounces as he sits in front of you and you none-the-wiser to him overhearing your conversation as a que for, 'enough-is-enough'.

─────── · ·

Suddenly you felt like it was your first day at Smosh and in a way it was. It would be your first time preforming in a video for the main channel, the original channel as past of their new series 'bit-city.'

You would be doing a small background role as a bodyguard in the audience, only stepping in for a scene to remove one of your cast mates off the couch but it was a large moment in your Smosh career nevertheless.

Pacing around the set as members rushed around with lights, microphones and props. You were already in your suit and glasses, all ready and kitted-up. You had yet to see Spencer or Trevor even though they were listed on the shoot for today and it was getting closer and closer to the starting time and when that time came and past.

Worry ate up your insides as you rushed over to Angela to ask where the hell everyone was after the first section got filmed and the second was nearly completed. "Hey Angela, do you have a minute, I promise it'll be quick?"

"Yeah of course, whatsup?" Angela responds, taking a sip from her sticker-covered water bottle while offering you a reassuring smile.

"Where's Spencer and Trevor? I saw them on the document but haven't seem them all day, did something happen?" you do your best to level your concern, not wanting to stress her out before you all both have to get back to work.

Angela waved a hand in your face, offering you part of her snack that you graciously took, "Yeah they are off into studio C filming a side-bit for this production. Only here in the morning before continuing on a project for the Games channel, something to do with truck driving? I'm not too sure honestly..." Angela trails off, getting distracted by an email on her phone. "Thanks for letting me know," you smile as she throws you one back before returning to your positions.

─────── · ·

You never usually watch the videos your in, a rule to not embarrass yourself over something you said or did for the bit yet as you quickly skip through the video (as to not traumatize yourself) the audio catching you off guard and you force yourself to pause before hitting replay.

"Tired of straight guys ruining your dating pool? Introducing Straight OS 2025 in three new models. The rat boyfriend..." and the gasp you emitted within the comfort of your own apartment watching as Spencer was spun around 360 degrees in an outfit you swore to only have pinned to your infamous bulletin board.

"No. fucking. way." you whisper-shouted to yourself before letting the video continue. A guitar. A cigarette. And that stupid. fucking. beanie. You were going to- really you did not know what you were going to do the next time you saw him the office. Torn between wrapping your hands around his neck and strangling the man for good or doing that while pulling him in for a kiss...

You shake your head, confused as to where all these thoughts are suddenly coming from as you play the clips on repeat. The ways his rings climb up the neck of the guitar, the way he fixes his hair and tips his cigarette. You hate how suddenly hot the room feels as you rush for a cold shower that does little to calm your thoughts, feelings, or shame flooding your system and before you knew it, it was time to drive back to the office and lucky you... Spencer was directed the next Games video you would be starring in.

─────── · ·

It was harder than you thought not to stare at him and suddenly the roles were revered. You looked away every time he looked over, pretending as if nothing happened.

You did your best to mention your opinions on the recent video while you thought no one else to be looking or listening while lunch break was going on and even when inevitably you and Spencer had to speak, it was you who refused to make eye contact before he said something purposely outlandish just to catch your attention.

"I think I should start wearing this hat more if it gets you this worked up, will make it easy to win this time around," Spencer comments, knowing that you will have not heard a word he had said, and he would stand to be correct.

"Sorry, Spence-er, um what did you say?" you ask for clarification, a brow raised as he brightly smiles, head tilted every so slightly. "I just said that I am determined to win today."

"oh, I didn't know you were playing today?"

"Oh. I was always going to play."

"Okay then..."

─────── · ·

You struggle to get through the video and swear that Spencer knew he was dong something by the grin that fails to be swept off his face no matter how many insults or wins you gain only for him to loose yet he acts as though he has won only making your anger spike.

You storm off set in a whirlwind of emotions, no man you had ever dated has made you this much of a mess and had played with your emotions so well, it was extremely off-putting as you stomped your way to the parking lot before being stopped by the door.

"Hey (name)! wait!" Spencer jogged to keep up with you, failing to pause as you continued your steps towards your car- determined. "Wait, hey!"

"What. Spencer. Whatever could you want?" you question, quickly turning around, baring your teeth as you grip your car keys just about ready to quit and pull out all your hair already.

"Are you doing okay?" Spencer asks with utmost concern, while panting and hanging over his knees, he looks up, sweat dripping from his forehead and curls- your finger twitches yet you hold up your resolve.

"Am I doing okay? What sorta question is that, Spencer? Am I doing okay? Why would you even care to know? You have never in the past. fuck can't even make eye-contact with me, what the hell is your issue man? Because from what I've heard from everyone, its not me so its certainly something to do with you!" you argue as Spencer takes a step back, hands held up once more.

"Yes. It's me, I know I fucked up about doing this the right way. Fuck Spencer, he's a bitch, the absolute worst, yes. I know that. But I also know, even though this is the worst possible moment to say this-"

"To say what Spencer? Look I want to-"

"I love you.... okay? I fucking love you and was too scared to tell you it before. I have loved you since the day you walked into the office and since you could name more talking frogs in cinema than me."

You are left in silence, not even noticing as Spencer picks up the keys that have dropped from your hand as he presses them back into your palm. Holding your touch, intertwining your fingers for a brief moment before pulling away.

You can feel the sparks, the heat of his skin against yours in this California heat as you can feel the gravity of his words circling around your head, the answers you had looked so hard for stumbling into your lap just when you were looking to be done with it all.

"I-I can't- I don't believe you," is all you can say, eyes wide as he fixes his glasses, his cheeks red hot as he reaches out before letting his arm fall, deciding not. You can feel the way your heart drops, already expecting the spark of his touch once more.

"Then let me show you, please. I only ask for this one chance to show you and if you realize this isn't for you I will ask nothing of you because of it," Spencer pleads, you could see his knees ready to give out and beg.

You hold your hands out, not wanting to create a further scene than you already both probably have. "Spencer I-"

"Please, (name). Just this once and I promise to explain everything- it all."

"Fine."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

─────── · ·

🔔 (name)_(last/name) just posted to instagram!

─────── · ·

Liked by spennser, co_mill, bffs_username and others

(name)_(last/name) me + 🐀 = 💞

View all 7,342 comments

spennser I'm burning that fucking bulletin board

↳ (name)_(last/name) ummm sir? this is a wendys? ↳ spennser I'm being serious! ↳ (name)_(last/name) besties help-! ↳ co_mill don't worry bestie ❤️ I already have it saved for your wedding ↳ (name)_(last/name) I hate you all ↳ spennser I love you too 💞 ↳ (name)_(last/name) 😳 fuck off, all of you /kindly

ianhecox psst! what the fuck do these emoji's mean???

shayne_topp so unbelievably happy for you both!

username01 RAHHHH!!! what is life???

anthonypadilla I feel like I missed twenty episodes or somethin'

username24 I. am. living. for ianthony's combined confusion 🤣

trevorevarts Can you both get back to hating one another? its a bit too cute in here 🤢 /with love

olivia_sui so happy for you both!!

─────── · ·

─ · · A/N: no pt.2's to this one!

[funkytownwinchester]

SPN Gif Masterlist

Parallels

Jack and Cas - "I love you. I love you all."

Sam and Dean - "I can't do this alone."

Dean - S01 vs. S12

Misc (Actors)

Jensen and Jared pose for the camera

Jensen and Jared dancing/striking poses in blooper reels

Jensen's smile

Jensen winks at the camera

Jensen laughing in bloopers - part 1

Jensen laughing in bloopers - part 2

Jared laughing in bloopers

Misha laughing in bloopers

Jared looking good

Dancing in the cage

"I've got dialogue."

Jared's social media joke

Jensen squishing Jared's arm

Jensen throws a bottle at Jared's head

Misc (Characters)

Out of context reaction images

Sam helping Dean through moments of anxiety

Dean cradling Sam's face

Dean's nicknames for Cas

Crowley poses

Dean opens Sam's beer

Cas flirts with the camera

Dean's little wiggle

Cas and Dean dancing

Smiling family

Dean fights a pillow

"Why were you praying to him?" / "'cause he's my friend."

Dean eating a powdered donut

Dean clings to Sam

Dean's knees stop working

Dean in a vest

Dean tackles Sam

Click 'keep reading' for a list of all my gifs, separated by seasons.

Season 1

S01E01 - "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

S01E01 - Sam and Dean interview two girls in a cafe

S01E01 - Dean's boobs

S01E05 - Dean smashes the mirror terrorising Sam

S01E14 - Dean being a big brother to Sam

Season 2

S02E03 - "Lighten up, Sammy!"

S02E04 - Sam and Dean, the grief counselors

S02E09 - Dean refuses to let anyone hurt Sam

S02E10 - Ava attends therapy

S02E15 - Conjoined twins

S02E19 - Dean gets his mugshot taken

S02E19 - Dean and Sam bicker in front of Deacon

S02E20 - Dean escapes his djinn-cursed reality

S02E22 - "You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Season 3

S03E03 - Sam loses his shoe

S03E06 - Dean loses it when Bella has his car towed

S03E07 - Dean gets fed on and tossed around

S03E11 - "Rise 'n' shine, Sammy!"

S03E11 - Dean asks if a bra he found is Sam's

S03E11 - Sam makes it to Wednesday for the last time

S03E14 - Dean's little eyebrow wiggle

Season 4

S04E08 - Dean says 'please'.

S04E10 - Alistair chokes Cas

Season 5

S05E03 - Cas calls Raphael a little bitch

S05E07 - Dean's happy dance

S05E08 - Son of a bitch

S05E14 - Endverse!Cas laughing at everything that pisses endverse!Dean off

S05E17 - "Don't ask stupid questions."

S05E22 - Cas, the little angel

S05E22 - Dean's not gonna let Sam die alone

Season 6

S06E03 - Dean prays to Cas

S06E11 - Bobby's suicide joke

Season 7

S07E02 - Dean talking Sam down during hallucinations

S07E09 - Dean gets drugged by a sandwich

S07E21 - Cas giggles

S07E21 - The aftermath of Cas taking on Sam's trauma

Season 8

S08E04 - "Do I really say awesome a lot?"

S08E05 - Benny bickering with Cas

S08E10 - Cas is tormented

S08E20 -Dean asks Sam to punch him

Season 9

S09E05 - Dean hopes to interrogate a canine witness using a spell that lets him speak with animals

S09E11 - Sam the guinea pig

S09E11 - "It's the bloody mark of Cain!"

S09E15 - Thinman tries to kill Dean

S09E16 - "You don't know what it's like to be human!"

S09E22 - "I got this."

S09E22 - Cas and word play

Season 10

S10E02 - Demon!Dean looking hot.

S10E05 - "I'm gonna Barbra Streisand this bitch."

S10E06 - Murphy's law

S10E08 - Dean's pretend job

S10E14 - Dean collapses on Sam's shoulder

Season 11

S11E03 - Cas collapses from the attack dog spell

S11E16 - Bobby asks if Rufus has ever been nice

S11E16 - Sam holds Dean

S11E19 - Dean teases Sam for smoking in college

S11E21 - Dean informs Sam that he's babbling

Season 12

S12E09 - Cas doesn't regret saving the Winchesters (part 1)

S12E10 - Cas doesn't regret saving the Winchesters (part 2)

Season 13

S13E08 - Someone insults Sam in front of Dean

S13E18 - Ketch cares for Dean

S13E16 - "Be like Elsa; let it go."

Season 14

S14E03 - Dean makes fun of Sam's beard.

S14E04 - Sam's messed up childhood.

Season 15

S15E01 - Dean tells a joke while cleaning Sam's wound

S15E08 - Cas being sarcastic

[gottaluvharry]

sleepless months

carlos sainz jr x mclaren worker reader

summary: you had always felt like more than a friend to carlos, and when he noticed you’re being overworked he steps in to help

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carlos had always loved you. Ever since you were 2 young hellions, he would pull your curly locks to get a kick out of you, and when you would cry he would feel bad instantly. Same is true today; when he goes on and on about how ferrari is better just to see you get angry and defend McLaren. There was no tension between you because of your competing teams, it almost seemed as if nothing could get between you two- but in your eyes there was one small thing that could ruin things. The fact that you had always felt more towards Carlos was known by many except the man himself. You didn’t want to voice your feelings, just in case they aren’t reciprocated. You would be lost without Carlos, there was no way you could risk your lifelong friendship; he meant too much to you and knew you too well. Thats exactly how he found himself curled up with you asleep in his arms.

He had been starting to notice you at the track way more than usual. It seemed as though you always arrived before him, and always left way after him. When Lando and Carlos shared a podium, the entirety of both teams went to a club to party. The entirety of both teams minus you. He was starting to see less and less of you. You went from stopping in the paddock to chat with him, to you buzzing by him with hundreds of papers in your hands. You used to ask him to coffee after work or to hang out with him and his driver friends on friday nights during weekends, but now you were nowhere to be seen- except for work.

On this specific day, it was a rainy Thursday evening at Silverstone. All of the driver’s media duties had been carried out, and they were all on their way back to their houses to prepare for the upcoming race. While Carlos was on his way out, he couldn’t help but notice that you were still bustling about in the McLaren part of the paddock- always with a seemingly never ending stack of papers balanced in your hands.

“y/n!” Carlos called out from outside the building, trying to get your attention. You were too tired and too worked up to hear him as you kept scurrying about the room. As he entered through the McLaren doors he could tell in the way you were shaking that something was wrong. “y/n?” he repeated, hoping for a reaction this time. You spun around at the sound of another persons voice, you thought everyone had already left. “C-carlos? what are you doing here?” you questioned, your grip on your papers slowly slipping. “I got here a bit late so i had to stay longer to finish up a few things and on my way out i saw you were still here. Why are you still here?” he questioned back. “I have more work to do” you simply replied, your grip returning to your papers as you turned around to continue your current task.

Carlos knew from years of friendship that something was wrong. He also knew that something had been wrong for months. The pieces in his mind suddenly clicked- you joined the team at McLaren 3 months ago, you were always here longer than anyone else, you always had so many papers in your hands, and you always seemed to be busy. “y/n, how long have you been working today?” he asked, trying to seem nonchalant. “I don’t know, Carlos” you replied with a sigh, still focussed on your task. “Probably since, like, 6 maybe?”. He gaped at you when his eyes returned from his watch “y/n, you do realize it’s 9:30 at night, right?” Your eyes went wide as you looked down at your own watch, how had it gotten that late so fast?

“Oh my god” you mumbled, more to yourself but Carlos still heard. “Oh my god. It’s almost 10 and I still have so much to do. Oh my god, what am I going to do?” you set your papers down on the nearest table so you could hang your head in your hands. As Carlos watched the girl he had always loved and tried to protect fall apart right in front of him, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from pulling you into a warm embrace. “Carino (dear) what’s wrong?” he asked softly as you leaned into his warm touch. “I just, I still have so much to do and the day is almost over. H-he’s going to fire me if i d-don’t meet his expectations. I’m just n-not trying h-hard enough” you said, trying to choke back your emotions. Much to your dismay, Carlis pulled back from the hug and took a hold on each of your shoulders. “y/n” he started. “listen to me, you are trying hard enough. you are trying harder than anyone else here. I see how you are the first to arrive and the last to leave. I see how you are always spending your free time doing work, okay? I see you” he said, looking down so that his large puppy dog eyes met your sad watery ones. All you could do was nod your head and wipe your eyes, trying your hardest to keep yourself together. “How much sleep did you get last night bebé (baby)? You look tired” he said, pulling back a strand of lose hair and tucking it behind your ear. “I don’t know, barely any” you replied, embarrassed at your lack of self care. “When was the last time you got a full 8 hours of sleep?” he asked you, concern hidden in his voice. With a sigh, you replied “not since i started this job probably”

Without another word, Carlos picked you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist and snaked your arms around his neck out of instinct. “Carlos, where are you taking me?” you asked, too tired to put up a fight. “Somewhere where you can finally get a full nights sleep” he simply stated. As he carried you, you eyes slowly drifted shut and your head leaned into the space between his neck and collarbone. Carlos smiled at the feeling of you nuzzling against him, happy to have his girl finally calm. He carried you to his car and put you in the passengers seat, making sure to reach across you to buckle you in before going to the drivers side of the car. As he drove you towards the 5 star hotel he was staying at, he smiled and the sound of your soft breathing. When Carlos pulled the car up to the valet, he went around to unbuckle you and pick you up bridle style. Groggily, you wrapped your arms around his neck for the second time that night and leaned into his chest. The next time you opened your eyes you were inside of a luxurious hotel room, so it surely wasn’t yours. “Carlos, where are we?” you asked, your voice scratchy from your previous state of sleep. “My hotel room, do you want different clothes to sleep in?” he asked. As you looked down, you realized that your jeans were probably the last thing you would want to sleep in. With a nod of your head, Carlos turned to his suitcase to pull out a pair of sweatpants and a big shirt. “Arms up” he said when he made his way back to where you were sitting on the bed. Following his instructions, you lifted your arms up so he could peel your McLaren work shirt off your head to replace it with one of his many black t shirts. While they are usually form fitting on his strong chest, it is extremely lose on yours, and almost goes down to your knees. “Do you want me to put these on you, or do you want to do it yourself?” he asks, holding up the pair of grey sweatpants. “You” you mumbled, unable to keep your eyes open. He grabbed your hands and lightly pulled you up. You used him as a beam to lean on while he carefully unbuttoned your pants and pulled your jeans down. While he would normally jump at the idea of undressing you and spending the night with you, this was not the time for him to get excited- and he knew that. This was about him taking care of you, and he didn’t see it in a sexual way at all. He hoped you knew that he wouldn’t take advantage of you in this state, and you did know that. As he slid his larger sweatpants onto your smaller legs you smiled at the idea of him taking care of you. He tied the waistband tight enough so that they wouldn’t fall down, but the band of your underwear still peaked out until he dropped your shirt so it cascaded down until your mid thighs. Carlos led you to the bed and pulled back the covers for you, tucking you into the comfiest bed you’d ever felt. Your senses seemed to quicken though as you saw him turn from you and start walking. “Wait” you said sitting up. “You’re leaving?”

Carlos smiled at the sight in front of him. His beautiful girl sitting wrapped up in the covers of his hotel bed, wearing his clothes and asking you to stay. “No carino, i’m just going to get myself a change of clothes” he smiled. Your cheeks heated as you laid back down. All you could do was nod your head and try your best to stay awake until Carlos got into bed. When he did, he instantly pulled you to him as if you two were magnets. You snuggled into his neck and he wrapped his large arms around you, using his body as the comfiest blanket you’d ever felt. You hummed happily as you put one leg in between his and moved impossibly deeper into his embrace. One of his hands moved up to stroke your hair as he whispered sweet nothings to you about how much you mean to him and how important you are.

That night, as you were enclosed in Carlos’ arms and entangled with his body, you got the best nights sleep of your life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i am clearly so deprived of affection 😶

just a reminder that my inbox is open! if there’s anything specific you’d like to see for any other driver (or anyone really) feel free to suggest!

[youmakethelight]

I actually might delete this blog tbh. Not that anyone asked.

I made this side blog 2 months ago bc I loved season 10 of TWD so much that I got really invested in rewatching the whole series for Carol and Daryl, and I wanted to write my thoughts somewhere instead of continuing to annoy my friends who never watched the show. But all my thoughts then were really positive and fun and brought me joy. And now, ever since I've seen the reality of the turn things took in real life, it's just so depressing.

The way Carol and Melissa McBride are treated makes me feel truly fucking horrible. And I've tried to channel that into activism and using my voice in solidarity, but I'm finding it more and more depressing honestly. Most of the voices that made me feel stronger have disappeared, and I'm starting to feel hopeless. And that's especially when I realise how much shit already went on in the past few years before I was here.

It's been a whirlwind few months for me bc I stopped watching TWD years ago and just caught up and binge watched from season 9. After I finished, I found out about everything the fandom, Melissa, and Angela Kang went through regarding the spin-off. Knowing that even after that, we got Melissa back, gave me hope. But seeing how much AMC has ignored other issues and fans' voices makes me feel disheartened. It feels a bit like I'm exerting emotional energy only to be shouting into a void.

It feels wrong to try to move on and leave because the issues remain, and Melissa McBride, in particular, needs and deserves support. But I honestly don't know what I'm doing here anymore.

A week or so ago, I signed up to a website to write fan reactions, reviews etc. about tboc because I thought that could have some positive impact. So, maybe I'll do that... but to be honest, I don't think I've got it in me anymore. I guess I just feel like I'm doing significantly more emotional labour than will have positive impact.

Even when I try to consume feminist progressive media instead, I just keep being reminded of how shit it is that AMC can't do the same for Melissa and her fans, and anybody who works on or watches the show who isn't a straight cis white man. So, then I get upset by a thought I have and go on here or twitter to try to do something positive about it, but it feels sort of pointless. So, now I'm at a point where this blog doesn't bring me joy, and I don't feel like it helps anyone, so I just don't think it's worth it anymore?

I'm literally so bad at giving up on things, so there's a decent chance I won't leave. But to be honest, I want to. I'm tired.

[onboardsorasora]

Absolutely obsessed with ur tennis AU. Cannot wait for more instalments.

🥺🥺 omg hi! I cherish every ask I get about this au (honestly because I don't expect them) incidentally I wrote this yesterday during the Ladies' Finals.

Part 7 | Part 9

Pt 8 (how have we gotten here already?!)

Daniel wiped the sweat off of his brow as he cycled, in an attempt to cool down his body. He made a face when he felt the grit of clay still on his palm from when he had fallen onto his back in relief of his success.

He'd made it to the semis, by the skin of his ballsack. His opponent had a lot of unforced errors in the last few sets, mistakes he made that gifted Daniel with the points needed to gain advantages.

He felt Michael clapping him on the back, no doubt breathing a sigh of relief that they made it through.

"That was a fuckin' close one." Daniel greeted.

"But you made it. We live to fight again." Micheal, ever the optimistic one.

"C'mon, let's get you through media." Blake chimed, looking up from his phone to smile.

Daniel nodded blearily, exhausted. The match has gone on forever, they had been fairly evenly matched. His opponent tended to have more bad days than good and it was unfortunate for Daniel that today was one of his good ones. They made a charismatic pair though, so he knew at the very least, they gave the world a show.

Clambering off the bike, he accepted a cool towel from Micheal and dragged it down his face and neck in appreciation. He traded his sweaty match worn shirt (designed to look like one of his favourite party shirts) for a dry version of the same and the three men followed a volunteer down the maze of hallways to meet the media.

Sitting behind the desk of a thousand microphones, Daniel drank some of his electrolyte drink from a sponsor approved bottle and smiled winningly at the crowd. The questions at the very least were all easy, mentally he knew he couldn't manage anything more taxing. They asked him about his opponent, how he felt about all of the exciting long rallies of the last few sets and how he felt about his opponent's outbursts.

"It always sucks to knock out a fellow Aussie, Nick and I'll have a pint later."

"Those rallies were some of the best I've had all year, I can always count on Nick to bring the heat haha."

"I mean, with Nick I know there's a possibility for anything, so I just focus on me and my own game."

He felt good, they didn't know who his opponent would be, that deciding match up not happening until tomorrow. So Daniel felt confident that they'd let him go about his way with no more questions to ask.

"One last question, if I may." Came a voice from the back of the room. Daniel smiled for the female journalist to continue. "This match up created a social media frenzy as one would expect for the two charismatic Australian players that everyone love to talk about. And we couldn't help but notice that you seem to have collected a new fan base. Outside of the usual tweets and messages from footballers, cricketers and other tennis players, we also saw an uptick from the motorsport community. Have you found some new friends?"

"I was wondering where we were going with this," Daniel chuckled which brought out a smattering of laughs from the group. "That was a long question, but yeah I guess I have. I was at the Monaco Grand Prix a few weeks ago and I started collecting new friends like Pokemon." He stretched his arms behind his head, flexing his biceps a little in his amusement.

"A few world champions too, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso to name a few." She continued, open ended.

Daniel's smile twitched at hearing Max's name in the context of tennis. At hearing Max being spoken about by people who didn't know him in his sport. He was sure he caught his reaction before anyone else clocked it but it definitely threw him for a second. He was tired but his media brain was always on auto, especially after that 'Australian Open' fiasco.

"They get the best tickets." He replied with a laugh. The assembled group of journos laughed with him and then he was allowed to leave. He did so gratefully, eager to get away from all the cameras and hot mics.

Michael greeted him with a bottle of water and Blake with his phone, the device still vibrating intermittently. Daniel could only imagine how uncontrollably it was going off just twenty minutes ago.

The brain rot guided him to the middle of his notification panel to his text thread with Max. His dick twitched heart flipped seeing that his last received message was an image. Surly Maxy Max wouldn't send him nudes while he was playing for his life!

Surreptitiously he looked around before opening the text thread, his heart thundering in his ears so much that he was not listening to whatever more than likely important information Blake was giving him. The messages loaded up and it was actually two photos. Both not nudes, disappointingly.

The first was a picture from above of Max, still in his driver's suit, folded down to his waist, sitting in his motor home and watching his phone screen intently. Past the brim of his ever present hat, Daniel could make out the brown of the clay of the Roland Garros courts on the rectangular device.

He couldn't fight the tender smile that bloomed on his face even if he wanted to. Something bloomed in his chest, an itch that he'd been starting to associate with Max.

If he couldn't fight the smile at the first picture, he sure as hell wasn’t planning to stop the happy grin from dominating his face at the second. A screenshot of ticket confirmation for the Men’s Semifinals at Stade Roland Garros with Max’s name peered up at him from the screen.

“What’s got you so chuffed?” Micheal asked warily.

“Max is coming to the semis.” Daniel grinned at the two men who rolled their eyes in fond exasperation. He deserved it, he knew he’s been insufferable lately. But he just couldn’t help it.

“You sure you can focus without making googly eyes?” Blake teased.

“I’ll be focused I swear!”

“DR not sure if you know this but you can’t suck his dick while you play.” Micheal deadpanned, smirking as Daniel doubled over in honking laughter, drawing the eyes from people lingering in the wide hallway.

“Oh shit, what if I have to play Novak…maybe he shouldn’t come…” Daniel stopped walking, his face going through multiple complicated emotions. He wanted Max to watch him play for sure, but if he had to play Novak he wasn’t sure if he’d want Max there for the possibility of him being destroyed.

“Let’s not think like that, you don’t even know if it’ll be Novak. We cross that bridge when we get to it, besides, you can beat Novak.” Blake with the logic ladies and gentlemen.

“Just have Max promise you like a blowjob if you win or something. Give you that extra bit to play your heart out.” Aaand trust Mikey to bring the extra logic.

[skrunklowumbo64]

DISCLAIMER: Don't engage with a toxic user that's being called out, just block, report, ignore, & move one.

Remember when I made a public apology for making a callout tweet about a certain Tumblr group of IDW Sonic critics (a certain fox was one of them) on Twitter like roughly 2 years ago?

Yeah, I was in good terms afterwards, but a year later, when I randomly saw the edgy sadist fox man wishing death on a comic book writer showing up in my personal Twitter timeline, I took my apology back from him (plus some of his associates overtime) & gave my two cents about it.

The reason why he wished death on a comic book writer was because the satanically evil boogiestans were harassing & doxing his friend who had cancer. You know the old saying, 2 wrongs don't make it right. This isn't the only toxicity thing he has done & I got several evidence to show below.

CW/TW: Excessive Slurs, Bigotry, SH, & SA

(Uncompressed Image Link)

(Uncompressed Image Link)

BONUS EXAMPLES

Plus archived links to his Twitter & Tumblr accounts.

There are way more than what are shown in the images & I can't expect to find them all. Several or so of them are from a few years or nearly a decade ago, but it does prove that he's always been an heartless irredeemable sadist, even before IDW Sonic existed & before you pull that "years ago" defense card, his behavior hasn't changed for the better, like these for example (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).

What do I think about him?

He's overly smugged, to a point of being arrogant.

He gets overly insecure whenever, for example, any Sonic game gets any criticism &/or negative opinions from people who're either fans of Sonic or not.

Most of his "critiques" are in bad faith.

He has extreme accusatory behavior (I.E. He accuses people of hating Sonic & not playing the games for daring to like anything non-game Sonic related, getting things about Sonic wrong, & making AU fan fics that differs from the games).

He has a habit of blocking anyone over the most pettiest things (I.E. Anyone using the term, Mobius, being told to calm down, people liking transgender Bridget, people liking SnapCube & Team 4 Star (he also wants them banned over it), etc.).

He constantly relies on ad-hominem attacks & vulgar insults whenever he talks to anyone he doesn't agree with, either directly or behind their backs by screenshotting their posts then posting them in his clique chamber to complain about it or both.

He's got this obnoxious Anti-WokeTuber vibes going on despite claiming to be against bigotry.

He gets easily butthurt over people enjoying any non-gaming media or anything in general of not just Sonic, but also Kirby, Castlevania, Dragon Ball, TMNT, & more as well.

He's a massive hypocrite, like for example, he hates anyone making & enjoying non-canon Sonic material while he's faving/making rule 34 fan art & fan fics involving sonic characters voring each other or any other fetishy things (which are also non-canon material).

etc.

If you're wondering if I'm aware about his certain questionable fan fics & favs, I knew already cuz I was the one that caused a chain-reaction on Twitter in the first place by randomly DMing some one rando about it & I honestly wish they shouldn't bring it up whenever they argue with said fox. If you want me to talk about what I think of this Dwai guy nowadays, maybe, but not right now.

How do you think I found out? I just googled the username, checkout their account on some furry site, & went to their profile from some controversial bunny site that's publicly shown on their profile bio out of morbid curiosity. Before you ask, I don't have an account on that controversial bunny site & never will.

My reaction to said content on there was disgust & uncomfortable. I hardly engage with those UCP addict types cuz they're not the most pleasant people to talk to & they're always predictable.

Did you know that he was banned on Twitter seven times, plus all tweets made before 2023 aren't searchable & apparently his first 6 bans had something to do with involvement with you know what? If you're morbidly curious about it, examples here. Remember, don't waste your time trying to argue about it.

The more I see toxicity from him, the more I having trust issues increased & regret making an apology to him, to a point where I think he's too FUBAR to deal with.

If he sees this, he's gonna be like, "TWEEGARD ZNOHVWEHK!", "MUH VWEE ZPEECH/VWEE KONTWEE!", "DOT TEEL MEE WAT 2 DOO!", "PEEOHWEETON!", "KOHTIZT!" "VWEEN/EYEDEEDUBBAHEW STAEN!", "CHUHZT SEH YOO HEHT SAWNIK GEHMZ & GOH!", "YOO HEHT MEE CUZ I KWEETESEYEZD VWEEN!", "CHUHZT PLEH DA GEHMZ!", "SWAENDOHAHR!", "STAHKR & HOHWAZZAHR!" the no you card, strawmanning, "At least I don't (Insert whatever bad thing the stans did)!", ad-hominem attacks, the "Stans are being mean to me!" sob stories, the whataboutisms, screenshotting then whine &/or being smugged about me in his clique-ish echo chamber, & more, guaranteed.

If you're saying I made this because of that one argument or whatever, I always had issues with him before it, not because of different opinions, but because he's the most insufferable individual to talk to due to his arrogant, nihilistic, cuss-happy, & creepy nature regardless if it's about Sonic or not.

For those who're about to ask me to make more callout posts about the people associated with him, I'm not interested & please don't beg me into making them.

If you also have issues with him, share your thoughts here, it also doesn't just have to be about IDW Sonic or Sonic general.

[claireelizabethsblog]

~ August's Books Reviewed ~

The month started out strong with me riding a Sanderson high, then I did a thing that I objectively hate and know will 9 times out of 10 have me reading less, which is started several books at once.... as of the end of August I was reading three books at once, yet none of them were finished so none of them get included in August's round up... look forward to that in September I guess!

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

(763 pages)

The stress I felt reading this was unreal... which is simply evidence of how good it is. It genuinely was pulling actual visceral reactions from me and I physically could not put it down at points. I know this is a shorter review than usual, but I can think of nothing else to say.

I gave this book 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

(748 pages)

An amazing conclusion to a really really good trilogy. The twists and turns of this were so well executed and completely shocking in exactly the right way. The ending in particular I never could have seen coming. If this were a spoiler review I'd be able to go on more, but for now, I leave with simply the promise that if you love fantasy novels, Sanderson novels, epic twists and/or social/religious/political commentary then you should definitely give this series a try!

I gave this book 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(585 pages)

I was gifted this book and admit to being a little wary before committing to reading it, as a general rule books that blow up exclusively on social media tend to be a let down to me after the copious amounts of hype they've received. I'm pleased to say that was not the case with this book. If anything, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It was extremely uniquely written; it was emotional, clever and beautiful. The characters were all so complex and felt genuinely so real. I would say that was the highlight of this book, the characterisation. Every character you could relate to a real person. You sympathised with their decisions, or at least understood them. Like real life, there was no villains and heroes. Bad people and good people and somewhere in the middle people, sure. But also like real life, the last group was the most prevalent, and the first two groups different to each individual's opinions. I would actually really recommend this book to almost everyone I know who reads, I'm pretty sure everyone could find something in it that keeps their focus, be it the mystery, the love story, the characters....

I gave this book 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The twist of a knife by Anthony Horowitz

(373 pages)

I am like 90% sure that this was not the first book in a series, however it stood well as a stand alone book too! Like the other Horowitz book I read earlier this year, I found this novel a little slow to pick up at first, however I did get into it in the end. I found it clever and quirky and I loved the meta elements. Ultimately, it was exactly what it was advertised as - a light, humorous murder mystery - and actually, I'm not mad about taking a break for something silly every so often!

I gave this book 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

(422 pages)

After the success of The Seven Husbands, I felt brave enough to try another recent social media favourite book. I'd seen mixed reviews over this one, however my flatmate strongly recommended it and as usual, our tastes in books aligned and it was extremely good. Despite the predictability of the plot, I was fully engaged the entire way through which speaks to how well the characters were depicted that I was willing to look past the predictability of it all just to read more about the people. In fact, I would like to make this a formal call for more people to start writing fanfictions for this novel because I want to read even more about these characters and am being denied that currently based off the limited options on ao3 (if anyone has any good recommendations please let me know!) I think, if I had read this in another month it would have received five stars, however it was let down by the fact that it was read within the same weeks as Sanderson and The Seven Husbands which meant I could not in good conscience give it full marks when the plot was just a little too easy to see coming for me. Therefore....

I gave this book 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[dchan87]

Three now infamous paragraphs from Susan Sontag stung like a slap to the face in the disorienting days that followed the 9/11 attacks. Asked by The New Yorker to reflect on what had occurred only 48 hours earlier, Sontag found “stupid” the “confidence-building and grief management” that filled the media. “Where is the acknowledgment,” she asked, “that this was not a ‘cowardly’ attack on ‘civilization’ or ‘liberty’ or ‘humanity’ or ‘the free world’ but an attack on the world’s self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?” Most anyone with a heartbeat, and certainly anyone who could smell the acrid air of Manhattan at the time, clouded with the ashes of thousands of people, took offense at Sontag’s coldness. Her first error was one of timing and tone—surely there was a deeper context for the attack worth unpacking, but maybe wait just a couple of days? But even more appalling in retrospect was the shallowness of Sontag’s context, as predictable and one-dimensional as what George W. Bush would yell through a bullhorn at Ground Zero: To her, 9/11 was not a moment of American victimhood, but actually a revelation of American malignancy, proof of the country’s own victimizing nature. In all that would transpire in the years after 9/11, Sontag and others who shared her immediate reaction would have reason to consider themselves prophets: the invasion of Iraq, carried out under false pretense; the expansion of the surveillance state; the obscene torture at Abu Ghraib and massacre of women and children in places like Haditha; the whole extrajudicial existence of Guantánamo Bay; the dangerous expansiveness of phrases such as enemy combatant and even terrorist. Throttled by fear, America lost its mind.

[d2kvirus]

17/1/24 Fact or Fiction

Statement #1: John Wick: Chapter 4 was the best movie of 2023. ABSTAIN - As I haven't seen it (or, you know, John Wicks 2 or 3) I can't say whether it is or is not the best film of 2023, though I can say it would have to be pretty bloody spectacular to dislodge Oppenheimer, Godzilla Minus One or Suzume (due to the UK release being in 2023, it counts) from my personal top three. Thought there is one way to say John Wick 4 was the best film of 2023, and that is if I say that The Stray's was my second-favourite film of 2023, with literally every other film (including ones I haven't seen) ahead of it. You get the feeling that I thought The Strays was an irredeemable pile of shite, don't you...?

Statement #2: You want to see more “experimental” horror movies after the success of movies like Skinamarink and The Outwaters in 2023. FACT - Although hopefully not "experimental" as a euphemism for "half-baked crap carried by its visual style", because I don't want another Cosmopolis and/or Crimes of the Future experience if I can potentially avoid it

Statement #3: Moving forward, the MCU needs to pivot away from the Kang character and the “multiverse” in general. FICTION - The MCU definitely needs to pivot, as 2023 was the year where people caught on to how it is the very definition of "content" in the reaction channel definition of the word, but what it needs to pivot towards is something that shakes the formula up. Oh who are we kidding, this is Disney we're talking about, so they'll just do an MCU/Star Wars crossover

Statement #4: The Last of Us was the best TV show of 2023. FICTION - It was good, in fact it was very good, but Inside No 9 takes the crown for me, because which other show can have people raging about an episode being bumped for a gameshow and then getting wrongfooted as the gameshow was the episode? And that's barely scratching the surface...

Statement #5: The only thing left worth watching on network TV is live sports. FICTION - Partly because Inside No 9 is on network TV in the UK, and partly because live sports is either the dregs that Sky or BT don't want such as darts, snooker, darts, crown green bowls and darts, Six Nations matches other than England home games (which are on Sky, along with the one song their supporters sing when England are at least 10 points up with five minutes to go...) and because the live football is almost inevitably Manchester United's match in every single round of the FA Cup until they're eliminated

Statement #6: The producers of the Scream franchise need to do whatever it takes to get Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega back. Barrera already met with Spyglass Media a week or two ago, and that meeting lasted all of 45 second between her walking in and walking out again. In other words, Spyglass need to accept that they fucked it and put the franchise on the backburner

Statement #7: You find it annoying that streaming TV series can have any random number of episodes per season and new seasons can sometimes take years to come out without any explanation. FICTION - In terms of streaming platforms, there are far more annoying things they can do with shows, such as cancel them after a season or two, or what Crunchyroll did a couple of years ago and put 95% of their shows behind a paywall with zero warning, while All4 found a new way to be annoying in 2023 by heavily advertising a couple of shows but neglecting to mention that they'd be leaving the platform within a month. So if anyone would like to let me borrow their Apple TV account so I can finish watching The Girl from Plainview...?

Statement #8: We won’t see any theatrical events in 2024 like we did in 2023 with Barbenheimer or the Taylor Swift concert film. FICTION - Guaranteed somebody will try to manufacture one like that at some point in 2024. Actually, scratch that, attempts at forcing another Barbenheimer have already happened as we saw desperate attempts to make Saw Patrol a thing with Paramount even tweeting about it, though we were robbed of ExorSwift when Universal lost their nerve. That being said, if a cinema did happen to show Oppenheimer and Godzilla Minus One at the same time, there is still time to make Godzenheimer a thing. Come on, people!!!

[signeficunt]

can i hear all u have to say on 9/11 please i am way too interested in it also

omg ofc i'm always happy to infodump about my special interests lol!

(sorry this took a while this post became really long lmao)

i first became interested about 9/11 through the lost media community, when i saw ppl talk about the "LOL superman" video (supposedly an old shock video showing close-ups of the jumpers lying dead on the ground) though i personally don't believe it exists. but it was through that discussion that i found out about r/911archive, which is an amazing resource for anyone interested in 9/11, as it not only mostly factual (speculation does happen there ofc but conspiracy theories generally aren't tolerated) but it's also filled with thousands of kind and helpful people who are just as interested in it as i am lol

recently i've been watching lots of archived footage of the events, mostly news footage but some home videos too, and the naudet brothers who were filming a documentary about firefighters when 9/11 happened (they actually have footage of the first plane hitting the north tower! highly reccomend checking it out on youtube if you have the time!) i actually have a playlist with currently 28 videos in it that i can share if u want! i would say that the absolute best footage of that day comes from eyewitness news. This footage specifically (i hope the link works) is really, really good imo, as they actually caught the collapse of the south tower while standing basically a few meters away from the WTC, absolutely incredible footage imo!

Other footage which i find really interesting is from (i wasn't aware of them before since i'm not american and also born after 9/11), the way you can hear the audiences reaction to the news really hammers home how shocking this actually was, i can only speculate but it really feels like there was this attitude that the WTC, the pentagon and america in general were untouchable, and 9/11 kinda spelled out to people that this wasn't the case at all...

i will add one more video which i found interesting (otherwise this post will go on forever) and that's . i've often heard people who were alive when it happened say that they felt like the world stood still, and after seeing that video i think i understand.

people often trivialise 9/11 by making fun of peoples reactions to it and what not (and i agree that 9/11 has been used to justify awful things) but now that i've seen so much footage from that fateful day i just can't stand that kind of behaviour. and i've joked about it too in the past, in fact if you went through my archive right now you could probably find some post from last year mocking the event, but i really regret it tbh. like nearly 3000 people died (and many more died in the following war) so it's just not funny to me anymore

there's lots of footage which i find interesting but for the sake of this post not being super long i won't go on lol, but u can always send another ask or DM me if u wanna talk more c:

[potteresque-ire]

This post is Part 5 of the five-part meta series on the Zhang Zhehan (張哲瀚) Incident, based on what has transpired up to 2021/08/22.

1) The 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) & the Yasukuni Shrine 2) Post-War Sino-Japanese Relations; “Every Chinese should visit the Yasukuni Shrine” 3) The Summer of 2021: The Brewing Storms for One 4) My Thoughts on Zhang’s Incident, Part A 5) My Thoughts on Zhang’s Incident, Part B

5) My Thoughts on Zhang’s Incident, Part B

As a highlight to the mob nature leading to Zhang’s downfall, please consider the timeline immediately before and after Zhang’s losing his endorsements on August 13th (or, why August 13th really mattered):

August 12th, evening: Zhang’s 2019 attendance of a wedding at the Nogi Shrine (乃木神社) went on Weibo hot search, and into public awareness. The Nogi Shrine (乃木神社) is of far less fame than the Yasukuni Shrine, but was named after a Japanese general of the Imperialist Japanese Army who was also the governor-general of then colonial Taiwan.

August 13th, ~ 2 am: netizens uncovered photos of Zhang’s 2018 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which were spread onto Weibo and made the hot search.

August 13th, 1:39 pm: Zhang posted his first letter of apology that began with: “Today, I’m ashamed of my once ignorant self, and furthermore, wants to apologise deeply for my past inappropriate behaviour.” (今天我為曾經無知的自己而羞愧，更要對之前不當行為深刻地道歉。)

August 13th, 2 pm: Nabuo Kishi, Japan’s current Minister of Defence, and a right-wing member of the House of Representative, Yasutoshi Nishimura, made an un-announced visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. The date was 2 days earlier than the 76th anniversary of Emperor Hirohito’s surrender speech (August 15th), as customary for Japanese officials to avoid visiting the shrine on significant anniversary dates of the war.

August 13th, 4:39 pm: People’s Daily (人民日報) published an online critique of Zhang’s apology. “… As a public figure, to be so lacking in historical knowledge, so unfeeling towards the suffering of the nation, it’s too inappropriate. On matters of righteousness of the nation, testing is not permissible, challenges are definitely not permissible. If knowingly committed, one would pay a heavy price.”  (。。。身為公眾人物，對歷史常識如此匱乏，對民族苦難渾然不覺，太不應該。事關民族大義，不容任何試探，更不容有任何挑戰。若明知故犯，就得付出沈重代價。)

August 13th, 5:05 pm: CCTV News (央視新聞) posted the video of Nabuo Kishi’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

August 13th, 5:33: Zhang was dropped from his first endorsement. He would be dropped by all 27 of them within the next 5 hours.

August 13th, 5:35 pm: Zhang responded to People’s Daily’s critique piece, stating he shall repent and learn his lesson, and that as a Chinese, he loves his country and the CCP.

August 13th, ~6 pm: S. Korean news reported that the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned the Japanese ambassador in Korea to protest the visit of the Japanese Defence Minister to the Yasukuni Shrine.

August 13th, 6:26 pm: CCTV News (央視新聞) critiqued Zhang’s apology. “Whether to take photos in front of the Yasukuni Shrine, or to attend a wedding at the Nogi Shrine, Zhang Zhehan touched the wounds of history, hurt the feelings of the nation. It cannot be blamed on “once ignorance.” Just now, a Japanese Minister went to the Yasukuni Shrine for “demon worshipping” (Pie note: demon, from guizi 鬼子), China firmly opposes to this wrongdoing of Japanese high officials…” (無論在靖國神社前合影，還是到乃木神社參加婚禮，張哲瀚都觸碰了歷史傷痕，傷害了民族感情，不能簡單歸咎為「曾經無知」。就在剛剛，有日本大臣到靖國神社「拜鬼」，中方堅決反��日本政要這種錯誤做法。。。)

August 13th, 9 pm: China’s Ministry of National Defence answered press questions regarding the Yasukuni Shrine visit by Nabuo Kishi and Yasutoshi Nishimura.

Not only did Zhang’s incident happened in August, 2021, it happened on pretty much the worst day for him in August, 2021; the latest of his incident interleaved the unfolding news of the Japanese high officials’ visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

What I’d like to call attention to, however, is this: Zhang’s endorsements didn’t begin dropping until *after* People’s Daily criticism.

If the companies had been genuinely offended by Zhang’s action, why was the wait necessary? If their Chinese feelings were genuinely hurt, why hadn’t they moved earlier, in the morning of August 13th, when Zhang’s visit went on hot search? Were these companies also ignorant about history, the significance of the the Yasukuni Shrine? The Chinese government has far more important things to worry about than an idol, but what about these companies that had paid good money for their spokesperson? That watch the public opinion, the market carefully?

Even if they didn’t care about the war themselves, why hadn’t they dropped Zhang based on the expected public opinion? What does that say about what these market experts believed, or knew about the public opinion? What does that say about their assessment of whether their potential customers would, as their actual selves, stop spending money on their products because of Zhang’s Yasukuni Shrine visit?

Were the act of dropping Zhang, then, more an act of performative patriotism than anything else? Once the first company started, the rest raced to follow for fear of being the slowest one, viewed as the least patriotic one. Hence, the 5-hour storm of endorsements abandoning Zhang. This herd ... mob behaviour, in which actions were either not taken or all taken at the same time, was also observed in the timing of different online platforms removing Zhang’s works, and fandom content with his name.

A “bingo card” for netizens to cross out Zhang’s endorsements as the sequential drops happened. Similar cards for Kris Wu had circulated in July. 

Were WoH and Zhang’s other group projects removed because Zhang was unpatriotic, or was it because the online platforms (and the tech giants behind them) were trying to protect themselves? Youku explained WoH’s first-time removal as a technical glitch but then, as reports of other platforms removing Zhang’s content poured in, the series was removed again.  

How much is real when it comes to the thunderous online declarations of love and betrayal against China? 

Related to this: turtles may remember the Xinjiang cotton incident in March, 2021, how Chinese netizens harassed anyone who used, endorsed Nike. One may assume, with that outcry, that rage, that anyone with a reputation to keep, with ties to the Chinese state, in particular, have severed their ties with the brand.

As it turns out, the teams of the Chinese Super (Football) League, for example, have kept their Nike kits. The Chinese Football Association (CFA), which, despite being officially non-governmental and nonprofit, is managed by the State General Administration of Sports (國家體育總局), issued a statement on March 27th on Weibo that only criticised Nike’s “wrong actions in choosing its cotton source” (對耐克公司在棉花原料選擇上的錯誤行徑表達了譴責), and reserved “its right to further deal with  contract with Nike” (保留進一步處理同耐克合同的權力). It never cut off the contract with Nike: a 10-year sponsorship,  signed in 2018, which amounts to 3 million RMB (463,000 USD) in funds from Nike for each football club every year. The CFA statement was later removed from Weibo. Photos of the football players have simply had the Nike Swoosh covered up, or photoshopped away. 

Photos from the Shanghai Shenhua football club, with and without the swoosh (Source).

Life is practical in China … and darkly humorous, at times. As a Mao-founded regime should be, perhaps.

I got Asks wondering then: will our non-Zhang-related favourite stars and CPs, dramas and fandoms get affected by the incident?

At the moment, my guess leans towards a no. My basis is this: in the critique piece against Zhang, published on 2021/08/16, by 中纪委 Central Commission for Discipline Inspection—the CCDI, by the way, is the highest anti-corruption, rules and regulations body in China—I believe the reason Zhang was disciplined was clearly stated:

對於所有「拜鬼」行為，中國都堅決反對。但如果我們國內的公眾人物去靖國神社都不被譴責和追究，我們又怎麼挺直腰桿要求外國人不去呢？

“Regarding all “demon worship” behaviour, China holds firm oppositions. But if our own public figures going to the Yasukuni Shrine get no reprimands, no investigations of responsibility, how can we straighten our backs and demand foreigners to not go?”

This has led me to think the state has no ulterior motives in targeting Zhang: Zhang’s “sin” was limited to his visiting the Yasukuni Shrine as a well-known, public figure, and/but that was enough. And the punishment had to be given in a heavy-handed, high profile manner, given the “news “of Zhang’s visit broke out on August 13, 2021. The following observation may be my being over-sensitive, but in the timeline above, Zhang was reprimanded, and his first round of the punishment in full swing (dropping of endorsements), before the China’s Ministry of National Defence talked to the press, which happened later than it had to be (compare the timing with S. Korea’s). Short of removing Zhang’s hot searches—which netizens would’ve noticed—this ordering of events was necessary; otherwise, the Chinese government issuing a formal complaint against Japan for their Minister of Defence’s visit to the shrine would’ve co-existed on the hot search with the report of China’s own celebrity visiting the same place. I therefore believe the state’s reaction had nothing to do with how Zhang achieved his fame, the past and present projects he was involved in, the CPs he was coupled with. Other state agencies and media would likely be careful about not attaching these topics to Zhang’s case as well, so not to distract from the central message of the government that … the Japanese are very bad people in the summer of 2021.

(Whether they’ll attach them to the Clear and Bright campaign is another matter.) 

Another Ask ~ Will Zhang be able to make a comeback? In five years? Ten?

Looking that far ahead is difficult, but one thing has to happen for Zhang to return—the Japanese have to stop being very bad people according to the Chinese government, which isn’t likely to happen soon. The Japanese government has shown few signs that they shall soon revise their attitudes towards their World War II history  (Yasutoshi Nishimura, who went to the Shrine with Japan’s Minister of Defence on August 13th, is associated with a historical revisionist group), while China’s escalating military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region will be seen as a growing threat to Japan, likely push the country towards the right. 

And 5, 10 years later, Zhang will be 35, 40 years old. Even if he’ll be able to work in the industry again, it’ll be difficult for him to achieve the fame he has before. Also, just because the government no longer bans him doesn’t mean production companies will be willing to hire him; he’ll be considered high risk—policies of China are volatile, after all, and the decision to un-ban can be easily reversed.

(I’m so sorry, Anon, I wish I have a better answer for you.)

And... here’s a thought I’ll finally end this meta series with. I don’t see Zhang as the only loser in this incident. I don’t really see any winners in this incident at all. An industry is dangerous for its every worker if its narrative, its list of guilty is penned by cyber mobs and in the name of patriotism; if the accused cannot speak for themselves, aren’t allowed to grow; if its rules of appropriate conduct are every-changing (The Reporter in 2017 = OK; Zhang in 2018 = Not OK); if its workers are penalised not by their own deeds but their associations (the rest of the cast and production team of WoH and other Zhang-associated projects).

The think tank for the National Ratio and Television Authority (國家廣播電視總局; NRTA, ie, the Chinese visual media censorship board), in their criticism piece about Zhang, hinted at even rougher waters ahead, in light of Zhang’s (and Kris Wu’s) transgressions:

明星頻頻「犯事」，說到底還是行業內對明星藝德約束不夠嚴格。據瞭解，電影行業正在籌備全國電影界道德委員會，將對電影從業人員道德規範提出更高要求，並提出，要將明星藝德納入法治化的軌道中來，給明星藝德約束加一道法規之鎖，明確明星的責任和義務，將明星的個人行為與職業利益掛鈎。 “The ultimate cause of stars “getting into trouble” frequently is that the industry has not tied a sufficiently severe bind on the stars’ artistic virtue (Pie note: roughly, = professional ethics). Based on reports, the film industry is preparing a National Film Industry Morality Committee that shall raise the moral requirements for film industry workers. The industry has also suggested that the stars’ artistic virtue shall eventually be governed by laws, to add a lock of legality to the bind of artistic virtues for the stars, to make clear the stars’ responsibilities and obligations, to couple a star’s personal behaviour with their professional (monetary) gains.”

My interpretation of this: should the suggestions become reality, it shall be written in future film contracts that a star who commits an act that the state considers immoral will have to pay the investors the production cost of their projects, and possibly, the projected profit. 

To put some dollar signs to this interpretation: a high-profile star may work on one or more projects with a price tag in the order of 100 million RMB (~15 million USD); box office, merchandise sells, and long term profits expected from online streaming can raise that number by several fold. This is a sum that even the most affluent stars will have a difficult time affording—and that’s before considering the endorsements, for which current contracts already require the stars to pay the damages.

The key word here is that the offending act only has to be considered immoral, not criminal. Immoral acts range from not liking the CCP enough—an easy-to-understand offence—to deviation from the society’s 公序良俗 (“public order and fine customs”), which includes just about anything that disagrees with the state-defined mainstream values.

Stars are stars because they invite the imaginations of their audience, because they break boundaries: from the seemingly insurmountable humdrum of daily life, to something that can be much, much more.

Stars should, of course, be law-abiding; they should be patriotic. But a star who’s mainstream in every way? Are they still a star, something we regular people wonder about, dream upon?

Bind and lock, the NRTA think tank referred to these suggestions. It reminders me of a quote by the famous Chinese director, Feng Xiaogang (馮小剛), who, in 2014, complained to BBC—perhaps in a slip of tongue—that Chinese directors could be like “dancing with fetters” (戴著腳鐐去跳舞) when working with the country’s censorship system.

Yeah. It’s kinda like that.

===

The Zhang Zhehan Incident Meta Series:

PART 1  PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 <- YOU ARE HERE

[autumnalwalker]

Character Interview, Round 4

Time for the fourth of the set of adding to my own character interview reblog chain. Which means time for Sullivan Bridgewood.

Consider this a further open tag for anyone else who wants to do this.

1. Are you named after anyone?

Only if -

Really now, still orange text instead of yellow? Tsk. You people and "readability."

As I was saying, only if you count taking on my dearly departed wife's family name when I married her. My own family preferred more aspirational names for their children. Not that I've used that name in a lifetime. I've been through quite a few monikers since then. As I understand it, this most recent name means something along the lines of "dark-eyed one" in one of this world's local languages. An apt physical descriptor and an amusing metaphorical one.

2. When was the last time you cried?

A few years back on the first anniversary of when my wife shuffled off this mortal coil. The same day that my friend and I had our most recent falling out.

3. Do you have any kids?

As hilarious as it would be to produce one and send him back home to cause a succession crisis once he came of age, I believe that's what one would call "over-committing to the bit."

4. Do you use sarcasm?

You would besmirch my sterling reputation with the suggestion that I do? For shame.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Asset, adversary, or amusement. I've found most everyone can be fairly quickly and reliably categorized into one of the three. Subject to later reassignment as circumstances unfurl of course. I'm not a fool.

6. What's your eye color?

At this point, black, for lack of a common word for something darker. My wife had some fun with that after our marriage. "Peligin," I believe was her word for it.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

The former are more fun to watch others' reactions to.

8. Any special talents?

Yes.

...

Oh, you think I'm actually going to tell you? That's adorable.

...

Fine. I'm an excellent liar and [REDACTED].

9. Where were you born?

In a castle on a world you wouldn't have heard of.

10. What are your hobbies?

Other than [REDACTED]? Fine dining, theatre, art trading, creative financial investment, information collection, blackmail, breaking and entering, acquiring media from whatever convention I've been dragged to by my friend to help with a Masquerade breach and making them play "Wholesome or Disturbing?" afterwards as payment, and sundry other more esoteric pursuits of hedonism.

11. Have you any pets?

I considered it once but my friend talked me out of it. To be fair to them, I was mostly looking into something venomous I could train to bite on command. So these days I just have my wife's various creations she left behind comprising the house staff.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Does professional gambling count? It ought to. And then there was my family's penchant for talking about politics and court intrigue in terms of sport and game.

13. How tall are you?

Approximately one hundred seventy two centimeters. That's five foot eight for those of you that prefer metric.

14. Favorite subject in school?

I didn't have schooling as a child so much as tutors. Among those lessons, the ones involving practical and discreet applications of knives and similar small blades were the ones that brought me the most joy.

15. Dream job?

I've held many a title that most would only dream of. Princess, adventurer, gambler, confidence man, assassin, sorceress's test subject. Trophy husband. Ultimately, I've found that I prefer a life of luxury and leisure to any "job."

15 Questions: Character interview edition

Thank you for the tag, @words-after-midnight. I do enjoy writing in-character responses to questions.

Passing the tag to @cljordan-imperium, @theprissythumbelina, @blind-the-winds, @oh-no-another-idea, @dogmomwrites, and an open tag for anyone else who wishes to join in the fun.

Since this week's upcoming Empty Names chapter is from Ashan Glassheart's POV, I'll queue him up for this. I'm tempted to go do the rest of the Empty Names cast at some point in the future as well, like I did last time.

1. Are you named after anyone?

My grandfather, although I have not used that name in more than half my life. I still think of it a name of mine, but it is also a memento of a time I cannot go back to. Meanwhile, "Glassheart" is an homage to my teacher's epithet of "Glassgaze." As is traditional.

2. When was the last time you cried?

When I visited the tombstone my parents put up for me.

3. Do you have any kids?

No, and I would prefer to avoid the possibility. I may consider adoption one day though, particularly if I ever decide to take an apprentice.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Only sparingly.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their overall demeanor. Tone, body language, and etcetera. Useful elements for planning impending interaction.

6. What's your eye color?

Light brown. Someone once called them "amber," but that was an ill-conceived attempt at winning me over with poetry on his part coupled with odd lighting.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

There is more than enough fear out and about in the world. And besides, I have not seen a movie since I was a child. Perhaps I should amend that.

8. Any special talents?

Other than being a wizard? I suppose I am a passable dancer. My teacher insisted it was good exercise for staying light on one's feet.

9. Where were you born?

Earth, the local anchor world iteration of it specifically, despite having left young. My early childhood memories are of a rural small town. Pray forgive me not being more specific, but my family still lives there and even if they think I died years ago I would prefer to respect their privacy.

10. What are your hobbies?

Finding relatively secluded natural areas to meditate in is the first thing that comes to mind for such a question, particularly since spending hours in a library pouring over tomes on arcane theory and practice is largely considered part of my profession rather than a hobby, no matter how much I enjoy it.

11. Have you any pets?

No, nor is my preferred practice of magic one that typically incorporates familiars.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

The closest I have ever come to playing sports is the time my teacher signed the two of us up as contestants in a gladiatorial tournament of sorts. She said it would be a good learning experience and practical test of my skills. She was correct, as usual, even if I was eliminated halfway through. Meanwhile she made it to the final bout and I have long suspected that she only lost that because she was holding back for the sake of not upsetting my image of her.

13. How tall are you?

Five feet, six inches. Roughly the same as my teacher. Given how much of a role model she was for me, I suspect the Autogenesis Principle may be as responsible for this a genetics. "What is the Autogenesis Principle?" It is the tendency for the bodies of those exposed to the supernatural - particularly those from anchor worlds who had previously been unaware of its existence - to physically warp and change over time to align with their self-image. That is the simplified version at the least. In practice there can be any number of factors complicating this creation of the self, so that one person might be barely affected while another can undergo exaggerations that border on the monstrous.

14. Favorite subject in school?

I was still in elementary school when I... left home with the woman who would become my teacher, but the memories of reading classes are the ones that I recall most vividly. To her credit though, she did make a point of tutoring me in other subjects I was missing out on more formal education for alongside my magical training.

15. Dream job?

Being a wizard and helping those in need. As I am already doing.

[devildom-doll]

Explaining the Commotion of AX2022

Some don’t really know the context of this so I will give my firsthand experience with what happened. Hehhhhhh….

The commotion had to do with the autograph tickets for the Obey Me Boys:

The staff was probably not expecting so many people but…

This was the amount of people at the booth on Day 3 at AX. There were a lot more behind me when I took this as well.

We actually thought there was a line but there was another line heading in our direction being just as confused as us.

Staff looked rather stressed and I felt pretty bad, cuz they were telling people to move out the way for the rest of the Exhibit Hall but we didn’t want to loose our spot in the “line”.

Essentially we were playing musical chairs for whenever the booth was gonna hand out the tickets.

Apparently, about 75 tickets were going to be given out, and clearly that wasn’t enough. (I found out about this later and I had a hissy fit in the panel line, not really, I was just pissed and shocked, pishoked if you will).

Anyway, I left before they gave this announcement (I just knew there was no chance of me getting it), but they postponed the giveaway.

I don’t think anyone knew when they were coming back but plenty of us either left or gone to wait at the line for the panel.

So, this was outside the convention… Plenty of us were already at the panel line.

I was with a fellow MC cosplayer and her friend, her friend got out the line to hopefully get a ticket for her but turns out, the line to get the tickets was already long when he got there.

Surprise surprise, tickets sold out. Plenty came back defeated cuz of it, but for a good reason that were revealed days later:

Scalpers. This was a rumor I was skeptical at first but it turned out to be true. At the cosplay gathering I overheard someone saying that a man tried to sell them an autograph ticket for $300. There was even a rumor that someone tried selling the autographs they got on eBay but I could find anything. (Must have been an actual rumor)

(Haven’t Confirmed) No RAD profile was given:

So it goes: Because the tickets were not given by the staff, anyone could have gotten the tickets (aka scalpers).

I don’t have confirmation mind you, it would be nice if someone who actually got the tickets can confirm if this was the case. If you had to show your RAD profile.

One of the first things they did at the panel was apologize for the commotion. The team says that next year it’ll be better managed, so there is that.

Then this was posted on their social media later on.

That’s about it I believe, if there is more I shall update ( ._.)

Extra Stuff:

💕 Personal opinion: I don’t think 1 DV is enough as compensation…? I’d really like to know if that’s valid or if I’m just being ungrateful.

💕 There is a Premier Fan Badge at Anime Expo (essentially a VIP badge) that can give people access to the Exhibit Hall (where the booth was at) earlier than regular attendees. For regular attendees, it opens at 9:45 am ish.

If the Commotion didn’t happen, I think the number 1 complaint would be that the people with the money would have gotten them first, so it would be unfair for us regular attendees.

💕 Before the Panel

💕 Side Characters showing up in the first episode Live Reaction

💕 Me actually meeting some of the Boys

💕 Panel Recordings

I still got content so I might post more of it soon ( .~.)…

[midnightactual]

So what exactly would your reaction/thoughts be if Kubo came out on klub or social media and proclaimed Yoruichi straight? Would you accept it or rebel against God's judgement? Thanks for reading.

Some people have it in mind that an author can never write their own creations out of character because they created them. That is completely wrong just on the face of it for a wide variety of reasons, such as the author changing their own outlook and intentionality over time and having particular goals that the character can actively resist through a number of means. Furthermore, anyone who espouses that point of view is very literally trying to sell you something.

I think that the broader fandom sphere has absorbed this lesson pretty well due to the “efforts” of the author of a certain wizarding world: the original creation of a character (let alone holding the licensing rights to them or their likeness) does not make the person or entity in question God when it comes to understanding or interpreting said character.

The character exists independently of their creator or (inevitably) corporate owner. Canon in the capitalist sense is a concept designed to move copy and nothing more. It has no bearing on quality or propriety, only visibility and reach (and thus profitability).

So my thoughts with making Yoruichi straight would be that Kubo had lost the plot. And of course he would have: he has to keep several hundred characters in mind in a commercially viable franchise and doesn't have the luxury to truly deeply interrogate any given one of them, nor any reason to care to do so. She is just another piece to move around to him.

As for Yoruichi herself, if you want to look at her in the most purely canonical lens possible, then she is probably a grey ace demiromantic lesbian (with eyes only for Kūkaku if anyone at all). And honestly, most of the characters in Bleach fall into being grey ace because Kubo doesn’t care about relationships or sexuality if they are not of imminent plot relevance.

We know by comparing his very detailed answer in the Bleach JET Artbook interview on economics (question 14) with his very ambivalent answer about marriage among the Captains for question 9:

Q.9: I started reading bleach, and when I realised it, I had already become of marriageable age. Come to think of it, what’s the marriage situation like for the old-timers among the captains? Kubo: Now that you mention it, I’ve never given it any thought. —— J: That Byakuya was forthright about being married among other things, and for a cool/good-looking character of that sort found in manga to actually be married, it’s surprisingly a rare sight. Kubo: I guess I do get the feeling that they could all be married, but that sort of ambiance doesn’t seem to apply to the captains all too much…. Even so, I’d feel sorry if someone like Genryūsai, for instance, wasn’t married (laughs). —— J: Would their children come into contact with Kazui and Ichika? Kubo: The thought of perhaps a son belonging to Genryūsai sounds like a rather interesting topic to explore. I reckon he’d be quite formidable.

In other words, if he suddenly came out and said Yoruichi was straight, I’d view that as being about as serious and credible as a certain someone saying wizards shit on the floor and magic it away after spending a lot of time talking about their toilets.