#ALSO WHY AM I FRIENDS WITH SO MANY TEENAGERS IS NOT EVEN ON PURPOSE IT JUST HAPPENS!!!!

[llicorice]

hardest part of being an adult whos friends with teenagers is watching them make the exact same mistakes you did and being completely powerless to stop it

[arminsumi]

First request ever: Can you make a story about Gojo, where their both in a relationship but gojo had to end it because he was afraid that she would be in danger?

Thank you! Keep up the good work, I love your stories!!!

LET ME MARRY YOU

↳ GOJO さとる + fem!reader

The risk of dating you his too much for him to handle, so he breaks it off, only for him to come back to your doorstep years later and ask: "Let me marry you."

2k

Note : istg each time i edited this... the wordcount grew lol. i hope u enjoyyy 🥹💗 tysm for enjoying my work it means everything

Warnings : angst -> fluff (?) -> happy ending trust me, Shibuya arc spoilers (Ep 9), manga spoilers (chapter 221)

🍒 More from Jay : Gojo works / Gojo fave works / JJK works / oct. reqs open

The risk of dating you is thrilling when Satoru's just a teenager in puppy love. But as he grows older, and heads into those dreaded 20s, the risk makes him more and more nervous.

What if something happens to you?

He presses kiss after kiss to your forehead and feels his chest tremble, feels his lips quiver, as he refrains from telling you the truth about the Jujutsu world. Satoru just can't do it.

There are so many instances of him saving you from curses that you're oblivious about. He just smiles strangely, and you wonder why he looks like he's just seen a ghost. Because he has, those pretty eyes see ghosts. But those pretty eyes also see you, "What am I looking at?" he responds after you ask why he's looking at you so tenderly, "I'm looking at my future wife." he flirts just to fluster you.

That's at the cafe, when things are still simple. He keeps thinking to himself, as he lays with you in bed some nights;

I want to marry you.

I'm going to marry you.

Please let me be your husband one day.

As if he's trying to manifest it.

Everything is okay-ish... until he gets pangs of fright when your name starts to be known outside of his closed circle of friends.

It's October 11th.

Gojo Satoru breaks up with you.

He leads you to believe that the two of you are just "right person, wrong time". It all hurts an incomprehensible amount for him, to finally cut the string that tethers the two of you together.

He sits on the stairs, head in his hands, mourning.

He starts many mornings with crying spells that last until midday.

He destroys evidence of you and him. In case anyone ever finds it and thus finds your apartment, or work, or college... or anything.

But he can't part with a very special photo. It's you and him in Okinawa, sharing a cheesy kiss at the beach. In the moment this photo was captured, Gojo remembers having whispered some dirty joke in your ear and that's why you smiled so big into his kiss.

He drifts to sleep to the lullaby lovesongs that defined your love.

Years pass, he refuses to even talk to you. The heartbreak worsens with time, he laughs when he realizes that on his 27th birthday.

Isn't time supposed to heal all wounds? Someone said that to him once. Well, they must have been lying without realizing it.

The day Gojo Satoru is sealed, he looks into Suguru's eyes, and remembers you through them. When he resides in that awful prison realm, he only thinks of you you you you you you you oh god he misses you so much that it feels like the very thought of your smile stabs his chest. Every memory is painful. Every flashback puts one more crack in his heart.

"Can't I ever catch a break...?" He laughs to himself, chattering skeletons making their eerie symphony around him.

He thinks. Ponders. Wonders. Broods. Daydreams. All about you. Always about you. Never anything else. Just his first love, from the late spring of his 17th year.

His earthly goddess.

The purpose of his benevolent actions.

He cries. And sobs. And weeps. Because no one can hear him but the skeletons and he's sure they don't mind the sight or sound of a 27 man howling in pain over a lost lover.

It's not just your relationship that he's mourning. But the fact he can't feel you in this cube... that he can't feel your presence in the world... that's worse than the heartbreak. At least through all these years, he's been able to sense your existence. Feel the subtle ripples of your soul no matter how distant you are; you'd be stood in a coffee shop, he'd be at Jujutsu High teaching, and yet feeling you.

Because as he promised to you at 17, "Half my soul is yours. And half your soul is mine. I'll always be with you even if I'm not there."

He has the biggest breakdown of his life in that little cramped suffocating claustrophobic eerie creepy box.

It's 19 days later. He's out. He's back in the world. And he feels the sense of you, your existence, swelling in his chest, tickling his mind, prodding his heart.

"Gojo sensei, where are you headed?"

"I'm gonna go find my other half." he says cryptically.

It's a stark bright day.

Gojo Satoru knocks at your apartment door.

You open it.

He looks at you, and you look at him.

"Hi."

"...hey...? Wow. Haha... you grew into your features, huh?"

Your voice fills his heart with life.

"You too... glad you still live in the same place... I was worried you might have moved out..."

"... Ah, Satoru, you'd be able to find me no matter what corner of the world I resided in."

Your laugh fills his mind with pleasant memories.

There's an a magnetism between you and him just like there always used to be. It feels like two magnets connecting at last, after feeling the distant attraction throughout all these years of distance.

"You're right." Satoru says after a silence of just staring into your eyes.

"I'll always find my way home."

A silence ensues after he says this.

"...haha... don't cry... or I'll cry..."

"... Satoru... I thought of you every day after you left me at the station."

"... me too."

"... why did you leave?"

He stares at you.

"... I was scared of you being in danger."

He gulps.

"Me? In danger? But you're the strongest, why would it matter."

Oh god that's right. You said it then when you were 17, "You're the strongest" and he carried that title with him from then. And now you've said it again. He's reminded. He feels a bit stupid. A bit ridiculous. A bit...

"You're right..." he chokes up. "I am. I could have protected you I guess..."

"... yeah, duh."

He smiles meekly.

It was more complicated than that, sweetheart. But I won't tell you.

He hesitates. He contemplates.

"I have to tell you everything... will you promise to believe everything I say even if it sounds insane?"

"Of course. What is it?"

He inhales deeply. And instead of blurting out his whole life story of being a sorcerer in the Jujutsu world, he just leans in and kisses you hard and truthfully. Cups your cheeks. Closes his eyes. Tastes you like a sweet from his childhood that he hasn't had for years. Presses to you. Takes in your scent.

Yeah yeah... he'll tell you everything in a minute.

But for now just let him kiss you until he runs out of breath.

Let him just...

"Hey..." he pulls away, gasping, "Let me marry you."

"Haha, Satoru..." you take it as a joke and laugh, because it sounds as bizarre and unexpected as one. Then you realize there's that serious look on his face. "... Satoru?"

"Can I?"

"... what?"

"Can I please?"

"... huh??"

"Can I marry you, please?"

He looks at you and waits for your answer. His poor heart. It's palpitating. His whole chest cavity inspires with love for you. This man that you haven't seen in years has just asked if you'll let him marry you — with very specific wording.

Can he? Will you let him?

It's funny in a way, because you think to yourself; this is such a Satoru thing to do... show up unannounced years later on your doorstep and ask for your hand in marriage as if no time has passed, as if you know the full story.

"Satoru... what happened to you throughout these years for you to come back to me and ask for my hand in marriage?" you ask, genuinely baffled.

He swallows slowly. "I know I sound like I've lost my mind. But I promise I haven't."

"That's hard to believe. The Satoru I remember was always on the brink of mania. A bit insane but not quite."

You make him laugh. "Yeah..."

"So are you asking to marry me out of insanity?"

"No."

"Well alright then. I guess I'll marry you."

You make him laugh again, with that funny tone. He hasn't laughed genuinely in years... it's always been that plastic laugh. But this is his genuine laugh. Silky and quiet. The opposite of his demeanor.

"I guess I should be explaining everything to you properly... before I ask you something like that."

"You're damn right..."

"... don't scold me too hard when I tell you all the reasons I left. Or, if you do, then at least hold me while you scold me. And run your fingers through my hair like you used to."

"Satoru."

"Yes?"

His heart throbs. He looks at you.

"Stop standing at the doorway and come inside."

"Oh."

You sigh. He smiles. Then he bows his head so it doesn't hit the top of the doorframe. Damn tiny Tokyo apartments. Your archway always had it out for the crown of his head. You laugh when he bumps into it just like he always used to.

So the two of you sit down and just talk. And talk. Maybe cry a bit. Actually, you cry a lot. And he holds you. And he says he's sorry. He says sorry over and over, as if the word is a bandage he's trying to wrap around all your heartbreak wounds that he caused.

"I'm sorry."

Satoru's apologies aren't easy to come by, and when you receive them, they nurse your heart. It's the gentleness with which he says it, and earnest too. Each successive sorry means more than the last.

"My angel..."

When you call him this after he vents to you about his time in the Prison Realm, and his overwhelming duty of being the strongest, he breaks down completely and just weeps in your arms.

He sobs like you've never heard him sob before, like a dog.

Finally. At least for a moment. He could be weak. Let down his guard. Be raw. Be emotional. Not a teacher. Not a sorcerer. Just your boy. Your Satoru.

Your consolation is all he wanted throughout these years. He looks up at you, eyes red and sore, nose sniffling, and stares at you like he can see your soul.

"...Satoru?"

"Marry me."

You chuckle again.

"If that will stop your tears..." you joke.

He sniffles loudly and swallows, composing himself.

"I thought about marrying you so much when we were together... 'n I tried so hard to bite my tongue when your name nearly rolled off it while talking to my students some days. I was always..."

On the verge of saying your name.

He sniffles long and hard and waits for your hand to weave into his hair.

"Will you think about it?"

"I will."

There's a silence. Satoru feels hopeful. He lays on your chest, arms around you like you're his whole world that he won't dare let go of again.

"There." you say with finality. "I thought about it. Let's get married."

"That took you, like, ten seconds."

You laugh with him. "Yeah... I already knew in my heart when you asked me at the doorway... you know... Satoru... it's funny. When you left, it felt like half my soul was gone. And when you knocked on my doorstep, it felt like I was whole again. Does that sound freaky, or does it tie into all this... Juju... Jujutsu stuff?"

He's silent.

"I have no idea."

"Wow. My future husband isn't knowledgeable at all." you joke.

His heart flutters at 'future husband'.

"Sorry." he says, smiling softly, "My mind is blank when your fingers are running through my hair."

The two of you go on and on, until you're laid in bed sleeping at each other's side. Resting. And god, did Gojo Satoru need a good rest.

In your arms, he's no longer an insomniac.

© arminsumi

Do not plagiarize / repost / translate / copy layouts / etc.

Do not steal what I've worked hard to create.

[useless-catalanfacts]

One thing that really shocked me when I visited Madrid is that some people seemed genuinely offended when I said I only spoke Catalan. I'm from Germany and my boyfriend is Catalan. As he has a very strong Catalan identity and is very much an activist for the language it made sense for me to learn Catalan instead of Spanish. I don't speak it very well yet, but enough to make casual conversation. Trying to have a conversation with an acquaintance when visiting Madrid, I threw in some of my basic Catalan when English didn't fully work (not to piss her off, because I had no idea it would, but simply to make myself understood as English was failing us and I figured the Catalan might be easier and closer and sometimes even the same words as Spanish). This led to a lot of questions from the friendgroup, but this one person seemed personally hurt that I had chosen to learn Catalan and NOT Spanish. She argued that all Catalans spoke Spanish anyway and that my mindset was childish and "excluding the rest of Spain just to make a point". I thought this was such a strange way to look at it. I know this person is not representative for all of Spain, but I thought it was really worrying that some people think like that. She seemed convinced that there was no purpose of learning Catalan beyond "making a silly, political point" as if there wasn't an entire culture and history that came with it. As if Catalans speaking Catalan were like... being difficult on purpose and not.. you know... practicing their f*cking culture and living their damn lives. Good thing I actually am childish, and spoke exclusively in Catalan to her for the rest of the evening.

That's exactly how many Spanish people see it, it's a shame but your story doesn't surprise me. When I was a teenager I went for a few days to do a thing with other teenagers in Madrid and they reacted in a mix of disgust and offence when they heard me speak to my parents in Catalan on the phone. And I've heard quite a lot of other people explain very similar situations. It also reminds me of a video I shared a while ago (post here) where Judit Mascó explains that when she's working in Madrid and she answers the phone to her mother or friends calling, her co-workers told her it bothers them that she speaks in Catalan to other people, when she's not even talking to them.

Many Spanish people just can't understand that Catalan people would like to continue speaking our language, period. They are so convinced that Spanish is superior, that they believe that for our own good we should want to abandon our language and assimilate to theirs, and if we don't, well, then the only possible reason is that we're doing it for the sole purpose of excluding them, as if they were the centre of our lives.

They can see how they use their own language (Spanish) for their family, friends and the rest of their lives, but they can't give us the same amount of humanity and respect to imagine that we can want to speak our own language for the same purposes as they want to speak theirs. No, according to them, we must do it for bad faith proposes.

And let me say: you are doing very well in learning Catalan for your boyfriend. If your boyfriend speaks Catalan, I assume it's most likely that his family and friends speak in Catalan too, it's normal that you'd want to learn the language they use. This will bring you closer to his heart, because you can understand the words with which he has grown up and that are around him, it strengthens your bond. And it gives you the opportunity to communicate with other people around him and participate in conversation. Why would you not want to learn the language? Why would you, instead, want to learn a different language, and does that Spanish person expect you police what your boyfriend and his family/friends speak so not to exclude you (when you would have been the one to decide not to integrate)? It's just such a self-centered way of thinking from them.

[slutshamethesquirrels]

Shamesy's Suguru Analysis (Part 1)

so, recently, i have been what the ladies call "miffed as shit" over geto analyses i've seen floating around. so im here to give you ShamesysPookieBBG!Suguru , the way i know him.

firstly and foremost: a little bit of a warning, and something that i didnt see others tell their audience:

i am. an idiot. kay? i am a fat white girl from southern appalachia that sells fucking pottery for a living. i am not jesus christ, or gege akutami. i can only give you what i know from my countless re-reads and re-watches of jjk, particularly hidden inventory.

i have, however, recieved so. goddamn. many. compliments on the way i characterize suguboo in all the different AU's i throw him into.

what im saying is, take this less as fact and more as "if you wanna see geto like shamesy does this is how she got there".

also, it is my humble opinion that stsg is cannon. if that pisses you off, take your hatin' ass to the other geto analyses that refuse to mention it as if it isn't an extremely important part of his character.

alright boys, i got my la croix and my playlist, lets jump into it~~

Part 1: Anime vs Manga

In the beginning, Gege Akutami created the AU. And the ball swallower was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Mappa moved upon the face of the waters.

Okay, okay, I have briefly mentioned this before, but i'll reiterate here for those who dont know me: anime and manga suguru are two different beasts. both i appreciate, both i use for reference! however, for the majority of this analysis we will be focusing more on manga!suguwu because i am a believer in the word of gege akutami, as SICK and TWITEEEEED as his words may be.

i do, however, want to point out some things so my anime-only's get a better picture. and it starts with the FIRST WORDS out of this fuckers mouth:

In the english dub, he says "I'll absorb it later."

Now this is so nitpicky, and jjk is notorious for having god AWFUL english translations in the manga, and anime adaptions have to change things so that dialogue matches lip flaps for animation sometimes, but something about this sticks with me hard. The way he casually refers to himself and his curses as "we". We, who live in this body, we who work as a team, we who are one. Interesting, no?

I won't harp on it too hard as we have a lot to get through here but its so fucking fascinating to me how this seems to imply that Geto views himself as one with his curses.

now, i feel like i MUST talk about how mappa portrays suguru's emotions and expressions bc the difference is striking.

anime suguru is calm, collected, unemotional. manga suguru is a teenage boy trying to put up an unemotional front.

lets start with his expression when he talks about jujutsu's purpose, anime vs manga.

Anime suguru looks like he's trying to convince not only Satoru, but himself. His eyes are serious, dark, focused. He's telling the fact like he MUST believe it, not like he does.

Meanwhile, manga geto smiles at these words as he says them like they're an old friend. This is a principal he's held tight to his chest for quite some time now. He looks happy, proud even of being able to be a part of such an ideal. Bittersweet. His face acknowledges that this concept is hard, but ultimately is good.

we dont get a shift in this expression until gojo starts gojoing, teasing suguru (side note: look at those fucking eyes these boys wanna swordfight no metal ykwim). in this moment its coy, suggestive, in reaction to gojo's teasing him

....but when gojo challenges his ideals?

anger, frustration. why cant gojo just understand the truth he just laid out? it IS, after all, the truth... right?

this is just one of the many scene's where the anime dumbs down his very readable inner conflicts for thematic effect. lemmie splash you with some geto expressions rq:

manga: agitated, angry, one eye closed bc that happens when he gets really tied up in knots emotionally (something i think is SO CUTE POOKIEPOOKIEPOOKIE)

anime: sexy, sly, coy, maybe a little irritated but mostly chill, one eye like he's taking aim, not like he's really pissed

manga: huge dopey frogeto grin. boyish, so boyish and genuine it almost reminds you of yuuji, no? genuine boyish ignorance that infectious

anime: calculated, serendipitous, yes happy but intentional with providing comfort. not entirely genuine.

to round out part one, i wanna talk about one of the most underrated suguru scenes ever: the one where he milly whops that old dude into hallucinating his dead dog.

in both anime and manga, suguru approaches with confidence, so im not gonna go into it too hard, but theres something very important that happens here that is missed HARD by the anime, and i wanna point it out.

lets talk about when that old man busts through the window.

in the anime, we get a two second flash of getos face with wide eyes, and it doesnt key us in to much, but in the manga...

it is way more obvious that he was not expecting this man to do that. that is a face of pure panic.

so let's talk about his reaction to that panic. in the anime, he looks a little miffed, annoyed if anything, but ultimately this is nbd to him. anime suguru is calm and collected, remember?

manga geto goes full on dead in the eyes serial killer mode, immediately, with zero hesitation. almost as if he becomes one with the darkness of the curses that inhabit him, no? this is often missed, but its the first time we see suguru looking legitimately cruel. and why?

because someone almost got the upper hand on him. he doesn't like that, at all. he hates it, actually. it pisses him off beyond belief. keep this in mind.

of course, he tells the shaman, this was his plan all along.

but was it, geto? was it really?

this concludes part 1!! let me know what y'all think!! part 2 when i feel like it, we've got a a lot to cover!!

basically, the point im trying to portray is as a teenager, geto was led by his emotions so much more than what the anime will have you believe.

ill leave you off with the funniest screenshot ive ever taken.

shamesy out!

find part 2 here

[parachutingkitten]

Why is Pixane So Queer?

Some thoughts on Asexual Romance.

[warning, long post below the cut]

The Ninjago fandom had a very potent reaction to The Quest for the Lost Powers repeatedly describing Pixal and Zane as being 'very close friends'. This seemed quite contradictory to many who assumed the confession of undying love at the end of the last season might have been a small hint at a romantic relationship of some kind. However, after closer examination, it turns out Pixal and Zane don’t ever actually refer to themselves as a couple, and the show has never once referred to them being in an active relationship.

But there’s something here, right? Sure, it’s not explicitly stated, but you are lying to yourself if you can watch them and tell me there is zero romantic subtext going on here. A lot of people got very defensive that the children’s book stated they were friends, especially when it also seemingly confirmed that the much straighter straight boy ship, Kailor, was apparently canon, despite being only implied as a possible future for ages now. But I find this backlash to be a bit strange. Sure, Zane and Pix aren’t exactly ‘just friends’ but, what do you want them to say? That they’re boyfriend and girlfriend? You want these two to say they’re ‘going out’ with each other? You think these two robots are ‘dating’ each other, like they’re just susin’ out the partner pool. Are those the words that fit this relationship to you?

I found myself feeling weirdly offended at everyone, and I think the reason was that these two love-droids haven’t chosen to define their relationship in traditional terms, and so everyone’s insistence that they should be boxed into some sort of traditional term seems inherently strange. It’s like when two elderly people are dating, it feels weird when they say “this is my girlfriend” because despite it being factually true, there’s so much baggage that comes with the word, part of that implication being youth, which is directly at odds with the immediate situation. It’s the correctness of the word paired with the incorrectness of the societal implications which forces you to assess if those societal implications should exist. And that- that is what makes this relationship feel queer. That’s why there’s this undeniably different kinda energy radiating off of it. It’s that rejection of the traditional labels, the refusal to be put into a box, which forces it to be a-typical. But, why? Why does Pixane have this rejection of labels radiating off of it? Their ages, while being literally whack, are presented as being your typical teenage to young adult age romance. Their genders present as a typical hetero pairing. And it’s not like they don’t follow your typical cliche love at first sight plot. I mean, Pixal was pretty explicitly created as a generic love interest character. So, what is it? Why is this queer? Spoiler alert: It’s because they’re asexual.

So, what is asexuality? Strictly defined, it is a community of people who experience little to no sexual attraction to anyone. This is distinct from aromanticism, which is a lack of romantic attraction, and sexual engagement or urges which are their own separate boat, but often have overlap with asexuality. However, for our purposes, we are focused on just the sexual attraction part. You can think of it as the difference between finding someone hot and finding someone cute. That’s the distinction that made it click for me anyway.

Now, as a disclaimer, I am not going to be considering other queer interpretations of this relationship. Not to invalidate them, because of course they’re valid, but specifically because I feel there isn’t precedent for them in the text, and I feel there is for asexuality. This deep dive is particularly about validating asexuality as being queer, and so to do that we have to eliminate any other outstanding factors. People are extremely quick to pin asexual queerness to something else, and that in itself can feel invalidating, even if it’s only attempting to validate other communities as well. Asexual romance is so easily read as straight romance, that any queer undertones have to have an alternate explanation, because asexuality doesn’t seem like enough to cross the barrier. Yes, enby interpretations of Pixane are great, and fantastic, and I would die for your right to follow those headcanons, but to pin the in text queer vibes on the fact that they technically don’t have biological gender, despite having very clear presenting and unwavering genders in text seems like a real easy way to dismiss the asexual coding which is staring me in the face. While things like non-binary or aromantic readings validate communities who have immense oppression and are continually called fake or confused, which is insanely important, asexuality, especially as it stands apart from aromanticism, is often confused as not being a difference at all. You’re just pure! You’re just wholesome! You’re just so sweet and innocent! And yes… yes, I am, but also, it’s more than that. It’s fundamentally something different about the way my brain is wired, and I feel a need to defend the fact that it, specifically, is queer. And in no way am I trying to say that the aces are the most oppressed actually, I don’t want to start the oppression Olympics here, and if we were to, I would probably argue quite the opposite, but I am saying that there is oppression, and it comes from outside and inside of the community, and it is a thing. It’s a different flavor of thing that’s maybe not as severe, but also sits differently. Maybe it’s not as much a pressing thing as other things, but… it’s my thing. It’s what I feel. It’s something I can speak on. So, I’m going to speak on it.

Perhaps one of the largest factors asexuality has to offer is the necessary separation of romance and sex. The packaging of sexual attraction and romantic attraction is so ubiquitous that the term ace is often assumed to be referring to aro/ace people, despite there being a term for that… aro/ace! Asexuality is not an easy queerness to explain, precisely because of this deeply held integration. It’s not a difference of experience necessarily, it’s a lack of a certain experience. I’m not saying this is something you can’t understand, because, unless you’re aromantic, I know you understand it! You are going to be able to like and relate to and feel seen by asexual romances, because the main component it requires is that you have romantic attraction- which is most people. And so many people get confused when you point to an asexual thing and go “I get that! This! This is me!” Because they just respond with “You’re not special, I get that too. Is this supposed to be different?” And, yes, it is, primarily because everything else includes this giant other thing as well, which is sexuality.

When vegans get excited about finding a meal which is especially delicious and also meets their food restrictions, they get particularly excited. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that same vegan meal- no doubt it probably tastes incredibly delicious to you as well. But you likely won’t get that same feeling of excitement, because you don’t live under the same restrictions as vegans do. That’s the same thing I feel when I see an asexually coded romance. I can enjoy the full meal without having to pick things out or ignore vital parts. I have no doubt that others can thoroughly enjoy asexual romances, but you’re going to have to look at it in context of all the dominant romance stories in the world to understand why it’s so different and special to me.

Now, have I cracked the code on asexual romance in media? No. I only have my own experience with asexuality to lean on, and the very limited discourse on the topic I’ve come across while discovering my identity. All of this is simply a theory based on my own thoughts and observations, but these are some explanations as to what might possibly be included in a framework for an asexually coded romance, at least to me.

So, what makes romance asexual? It’s not simply a lack of sexual suggestiveness. Any number of romances aren’t sexually suggestive, but still glaringly heteronormative- especially in children’s television. And it’s also not a lack of initial attraction, as that would throw Pixane out of the running for sure. Well, I have a few things which I feel may contribute to asexual coding of a romantic relationship, and wouldn’t you know, Pixane is a great example of all of them.

Asexual romance may, as many have remarked, come off as more innocent. When you shove all of the focus of characters onto the romantic, emotional connection, rather than any underlying sexual tension, things end up feeling extremely innocent to the layperson. You get the sort of old married couple effect. Two people deeply in love, who just sort of stare at each other in awe, and that others can comment on how cute they are. Again, asexuals don’t necessarily find anything hot. Cuteness is the main operative factor motivating their attraction, so it follows that their interactions would radiate that factor back at observers. The characters might in fact be very touchy, have sex, enjoy that physical touch, but that’s not at the forefront of anyone’s mind in the story. This is an aspect of Pixane that can be read very clearly. Their romance is quite easily described as pure and wholesome by all who have the pleasure of observing them. The way they interact with each other is extremely gentle and supportive, and their level of old married couple vibes is by far the highest of any pairings in the show (aside from perhaps the actual old married couple of Ed and Edna).

Asexual romance, I find to often be less conflict driven. Take the classic enemies to lovers plotline- it’s built on a tension between an innate irrational attraction, and a perceived logical personality conflict. While romantic attraction is certainly not always rational, from my understanding, sexual attraction is often rooted in factors that aren’t at all related to logical compatibility or personality. This means the enemies to lovers plot is primed to work much better when sexually charged, because it presents a clear path to create the hate/love conflict. Not to say that asexual enemies to lovers is impossible, or that asexual partners don’t have conflict between them, but that it is less of an obvious threat to incorporate into asexual romance.  Because there are less factors and layers of attraction to get involved in, there’s less room for conflict and contradiction between them. It is much easier to get tangled up in a situation with more strings. Pixane is a relationship which certainly doesn’t hold much internal conflict. The one disagreement they did have is solved quite neatly with basic communication skills in the middle of season 8. Most of their conflict comes from external factors which separate them or cause misunderstanding, rather than conflict from within the characters themselves.

Asexual romance also has the obvious potential to challenge traditional dating norms. Because there is no impulse to escalate things physically, it makes sense that the progression of an asexual romance would differ from traditional relationships where that escalation is expected. Your asexual romance is bound to get emotionally intense with each other quicker, or at least have it be the focus of their story, because there is no other facet to deal with. Asexuals don’t commonly have sexual fantasies for themselves, but rather romantic fantasies. Not to say that most people don’t have romantic fantasies, but… that’s all we’ve got. And when your impulse is ‘let’s get married, and then maybe I guess we can kiss’, it might seem like things are progressing out of order to the average person. While asexuals don't all hate physical contact or even sexual connection, it isn't an attractive or motivating factor in the same way it is in most romances, so even on a base level, the level of physical contact is likely going to be less than average. Pixane progresses ridiculously out of order. Zane is willing to split his soul for her- it’s only at this point that they romantically hold hands for the first time. It’s the emotional connection between the two that comes first, and all classic tangible symbols of affection and romance that are secondary. The most pronounced physical contact we’ve seen is a cheek kiss, and their most common type of physical contact is enthusiastic hugging (which I’ll dive more into later).

Additionally, because physical affection is more of an afterthought, it would also make sense for labels to come slowly. If you have an incredibly close personal, soulful connection, but you haven’t kissed yet, it makes sense for people around you to assume you’re just really close friends, or perhaps just crushing on each other still. Terms like “girlfriend” and “boyfriend” invoke rather physical tactile images, and so to attempt to apply them to an asexual romance isn’t necessarily wrong but may feel a bit off putting because of this dissonance. Again, it’s this dissonance between the romantic meaning of the word, and the sexual undertones which forces discomfort onto the viewer. Pixal and Zane have yet to kiss each other after years of dancing around each other’s obvious romantic feelings. It remains unclear if they even are in an active romantic relationship at all, or are still mutually pinning, as no labels have been given to their relationship in show. I have no doubt part of this is the lack of planned dates or physical affection which are common outward signals of a traditional established relationship.

A lot of the saucy flirting which accompanies many classic heteronormative romances can seem rather pointless to asexuals. I would venture to say that asexuals are likely more direct and up front with their emotional vulnerability and feelings, because that’s the connection which they are seeking to make. To dance around it with innuendo and mind games is rather unproductive in achieving the end goal. There is less of a pressure to “perform” romance, and instead just be honestly romantic, because the romance isn’t a prelude to sex, or physical affection, it’s the end goal in and of itself. To only pretend to do it is entirely pointless. All of this is likely going to result in a romance which puts less focus on the “game of dating”. I mean, can you imagine Pixane ending up in a Jaya style love triangle? It’s almost an absurd pitch to make, right? There is no performativity to the Pixane relationship, it is exactly as it appears at first glance. And when Zane attempts more traditional, cheesy flirting tactics like in Ninjago Confidential, Pixal is nothing but confused and annoyed by his attempts.

The most prominent example which I feel exemplifies the inherently asexual coding of Pixane applies to many robotic romances- and it’s the characters’ relationship with skin. A lot of sexual suggestion and tension is based on skin. The revealing nature of skin exposure, the feeling of skin on skin being a sexual touchpoint, skin is essential to the sexual experience in most instances. This is part of the reason I love writing romance but have yet to write a kiss between anyone. The sexuality of a kiss is inherently uncomfortable to write for me because you’re encouraged to lean into the physical feeling of the touch of skin. Robots bring to the forefront the idea of this physical contact because their skin is often not exactly skin, and that in itself gives a sort of de facto distance from sexuality. There’s a moment which happens repeatedly with Pixane, and shows up in other robotic romances, like Wall-E and Eve, which I feel highlights this essential separation from the skin of sexuality. Pixane and Wall-Eve both have the ‘clink’ moment, in which intimate physical contact is made, (in Pixane’s case, all of their many hugs) and accentuated by the sound of their metal skin meeting with a loud clink. This sound not only highlights their lack of skin but serves to suck any sexual energy out of the interaction immediately and leaves it purely with the romance intended by the action. It’s not uncommon for people to find the sound humorous, precisely because of how desexualizing it is. It highlights the couples’ incapability of indulging in sexual skin on skin contact, and instead the closeness and companionship the act of touching provides.

And this is why I feel robots are in fact a decent candidate for asexual characters if done properly. Robots being coded as asexual can be a very negative stereotype, particularly when their asexuality is explicitly linked to their lack of emotion and feeling- but media about robots has been trending more positively recently. In fact, robots, if used correctly, may actually validate asexuality explicitly. Robotic characters are often used to explore the idea of what makes humanity human. If we give these robots human-like enough traits, when do they become human? Are they perhaps the most human? And it seems like fictional consensus agrees that sexuality is not required to achieve human status. Stripping away the excess human emotions may be part of what makes robots asexual (or aromatic, if your robot is also incapable of romantic love). The medium of robot literalizes the disconnect that asexuals have with their physical bodies, most notably their skin, and serves to put additional distance between the character and sexual contact, at least in the traditional sense. I mean, think about it, if you want your robot to be sexual, you need to go out of your way to establish that it has sexual capability, because no one is going to simply assume that your fictional robot was designed with that capability in mind. Why would it be, unless that was its explicit purpose? In a way, robots are sort of de facto asexual.

Pixane is queer because it’s asexual, and it’s asexual because they distill down only the purely romantic parts of a romantic relationship. They’re able to do this, in part because of their individual characterization, but also because of their robotic bodies, which make the separation between romance and sexuality just that much easier. They highlight the necessity to separate romance from all of the convoluted sexual layers which often accompany it, and so come out feeling distinctly untraditional and subversive.

That's the theory, again, all hyper based on my own personal experience with asexuality, which is of course not all encompassing. I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

[pluckyredhead]

☕️ sliiightly late but would love to hear your thoughts on Tom King (I get the impression you’re not a fan? - ive only read one book of his (heroes in crisis) and a couple issues of mr miracle but I always see people talking about how great some of his books are)

Lol I am indeed not a fan. BUCKLE UP, FRIEND.

So two things about Tom King that give him such a good reputation outside of fandom circles: one, he is regularly paired with some of the best artists in the industry, which means his books look incredible. I mean, just astonishingly beautiful all around.

And two, he is very good at including certain signifiers that indicate "this is a prestige comic." It's hard for me to describe it - it's an "I know it when I see it" kind of thing - but there are certain ways of writing and laying out a comic that signal seriousness, intelligence, boundary-pushing. Art with a capital A.

The easiest example I can give is the nine-panel grid, which is exactly what it sounds like: a page of three panels by three panels, all the same size. This is associated with older comics (like, Golden and Silver Age) because it's so simple, but also it's very very associated with Watchmen. So now when people trot it out there's an element of "Look at me! I'm just like Alan Moore!"

Tom King looooves the nine panel grid. He uses it a ton in Mister Miracle (Kirby used it a lot so this kind of makes sense) and Heroes in Crisis, especially for the therapy sessions. And there's this thing in the industry where people see a nine panel grid and they're like "Oh! This comic must be Smart." But if you scratch a lot of Tom King's work, it has very little substance beyond a sort of complacent nihilism.

(Geoff Johns also used the nine panel grid to signify that he is An Intellectual Writer now with Three Jokers, which was fucking hilarious. Geoff Johns is the Michael Bay of comics and he was trying to be Wes Anderson. It was embarrassing for him.)

And actually, speaking of Tom King and Watchmen, Heroes in Crisis has a great example of how he's using shorthand instead of, like, building a real story. There's a moment where Clark tells Bruce and Diana that someone anonymously sent all the superheroes' therapy footage to Lois, and they're like "She can't publish it," and Clark's like "She's a journalist. She did it 35 seconds ago."

This is a reference to a very very famous line in Watchmen, when Ozymandias is talking about his plan and then reveals that "I did it 35 minutes ago." But Heroes in Crisis has nothing to do with Watchmen, and Lois's actions (publishing private medical information for no reason) have nothing to do with Ozymandias's (dropping a fake alien squid on New York to end the Cold War; also, sorry for the Watchmen spoilers). It also has zero consequences, either within Heroes in Crisis or in later comics.

That moment serves literally no purpose except for Tom King to tell the reader "I've read Watchmen." Which...is not really much to brag about? I'm pretty sure it's the bestselling graphic novel of all time. Lots of people have read it, dude. The line has no story or character purpose, it's just the equivalent of like...teenage boys quoting Rick and Morty or whatever at each other to signal that they're an in-group. Except pretentious. It's like if teenage boys quoted Proust at each other. (That would actually be amazing.)

And in fact - and this is my big beef with King - the line actually harms the story, because it's wildly out of character for Lois (and Clark, who fully supports her decision here). Why on earth would Lois publish the private medical information of dozens of people, many of whom are her husband's friends, or even her friends and in some cases family? It's not newsworthy, it's deeply unethical, and she doesn't know who her source is. It makes zero sense that she would publish it, and equally zero sense that Perry would allow her to - they're the Daily Planet, not fucking TMZ. But she does it...so that Clark can paraphrase Watchmen. Okay???

And that's the big problem with King. He has no knowledge or understanding of the vast majority of characters that he writes, nor does he care to learn. He is a fundamentally ignorant and lazy writer. Heroes in Crisis really exposes this, because it uses so many characters, and he gets so many of them wrong, and it's so clear that he like...Googled shit with no context.

Like, take Kyle Rayner. King has him praying in Spanish, and like...okay, sure, Kyle's dad is Mexican. Except Kyle didn't know that until he was well into his twenties! He literally had no idea that his father was Mexican or that he himself was Latino until he was an adult, and while he does canonically speak a second language in the comics, it's Irish. In both HiC and Omega Men, King writes Kyle as devoutly Catholic, when Kyle has never been shown to be religious in any other comic. King just went "Oh his dad's Mexican, he must be Catholic and fluent in Spanish." Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't have comics where Kyle engages with his Mexican heritage, but this is just a stereotype.

King also has this trick where he goes back to a character's debut issue and does a close reading of it to inform his writing, and everyone congratulates him on his deep cut...but he reads nothing else about the character. In Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the only Supergirl comic he references out of 63 years of canon is her first appearance, which is all of 8 pages long. Way to dig deep in that research, champ.

His book Danger Street was touted as celebrating the obscure characters of the DCU, but it was really just utilizing this trick to the max, because it was all about characters from a comic from the 70s called 1st Issue Special, which was dedicated to trying out new characters and concepts, so it was a whole bunch of debuts. I only skimmed part of Danger Street while researching something else, so I can't claim an in-depth reading, but one of those 1st Issue Special characters was the blue Starman, Mikaal Thomas. King uses that 1st Issue Special debut issue and literally none of Mikaal's other appearances to inform his writing. And you might say, well, okay, that's an obscure character so who cares? But Mikaal is a historically significant character who was half of DC's first on-page gay kiss in a mainstream comic, and you can't even tell from King's take on him that he's queer, because surprise surprise, his queerness wasn't in his 1976 debut but was a later development. And everything Mikaal does doesn't have to center his sexuality first and foremost, but it would have been nice if it seemed like King was even aware of it.

King also doesn't understand, like...really simple themes. I thought Mister Miracle was really good when I read the first issue...and then the story kept going, and I was like "Ohhhh he doesn't understand the point of the Fourth World at all." And the Fourth World is, like...the least subtle Kirby ever was, and Kirby was never subtle. Anyway Scott Free is a hero and Orion is also a hero, and if you don't understand that basic fact and how it is the central theme of the Fourth World - that given the chance, good will always be stronger than evil - you need to go back to remedial comics school.

AND FINALLY (lol sorry), all of his comics are just...miserable. They're about terrible people being terrible to each other. Which...is fine, I guess? But it's not why I personally come to superhero comics.

So yeah: I don't like King's work because he doesn't actually know what he's talking about, he doesn't do any substantive research, and he's so cavalier with the characters that he's been given temporary charge of that even DC has made almost all of his writing out-of-continuity after the fact. And the fact that the comics establishment treats him like he's some kind of genius makes me want to scream.

[soliloquent-stark]

this is a bit all over the place, don't mind me. and don't keep reading if you dislike gooey stuff.

as you might know from the lovely asks i was sent (thank you, everyone 💗) it was my birthday yesterday. and unfortunately, as it often happens, some things didn't go so well. i won't go into details, but it was tough, and it sucked to cry on my birthday more than usual (teenage trauma throwback, am i rite) though i admit it was really handy to have a cake to absorb all the tears right up. 🤭

but good things happened, too! and almost all of them had one common denominator: k! (typing it out like this is so silly. she has a name. but for all intents and purposes, she's simply ✨k✨).

without even getting into the actual gifts that my fiancée got me this year—which are as always perfect and thoughtful and useful and just magic—or the cake, or the flowers, or anything else, i wanted to specifically showcase the marvel related stuff that put such a smile on my face:

yes, that balloon gave me heart attacks whenever i walked into the room. yes, i pretended to hate cringy cowboy seb then ended up giggling and blushing every time i looked at him. yes, the spiderman gift bag is from the children's section and we've gifted it back and forth at various occasions for over a year now.

also a superfamily celebration:

i loved feeling like a four year old little boy with my spiderman cake topper <3.

and i obviously won't share the rest of what she wrote, but the card included some sweet quotes i genuinely was so moved by, then i realised they sounded familiar, then i realised it's from my hedgehog fic (which was a gift to her, so honestly we're just throwing the same quotes back and forth pretending it's about steve and tony. it was never about steve and tony).

quoting my own writing back to me?? hello?? queen behaviour right there. also peak moment for me.

(side note, that's not even all the marvel stuff i got from her this birthday. i didn't include any gifts in this post. also, i wish there was a way to show everyone just how many marvel things we own (including fanmade posters, stickers, zines etc. support creators if you can. ❤️) and how much that shocks some people who visit us because it doesn't seem like it goes with the sapphic-grandma core we got going on. oh well, it does now.)

it would be impossible to list why k is the best person in the world without writing actual novels (believe me, i have tried and it was very long) and sharing way too much about her story. but just trust me when i say she is the best friend you could ever have, and she makes me feel so loved and appreciated every single day, which makes special occasions even harder because how do you even top that? well, she still manages to. every time. 🥺

i guess the point of this was to share some appreciation and further my k propaganda, because i can see all the effort and care she lovingly puts into everything she does for other people, and to let everyone know just how much of an angel she is. i don't care if it's corny. and if you've ever seen a comment written by whinysteve, or read her excited tags on a reblog, or directly talked to her, or simply perceived her existence in any form, you already know she's the fucking best. it's not an act, it's all real. should get my shit together and finally wife her up. 🥹

tl;dr: she makes any moment better by just being there; and when she sets her mind to it, you will feel the power of her kindness. at the end of day, to be loved is to be seen. and she's got the world record for best vision. ❤️‍🩹

[pedriscroquettes]

something fluffy with gio reyna? 🤧🫨

𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐑 – GIO REYNA

warnings. fluff, mentions of hockey (lots of them), scally!reader, angst, mentions of dead relatives, grief if you squint, and a very dramatic gio

summary. dyeing your brother’s and his best friend’s hair leads to suppressed feelings the both of you are ready to let out.

a/n. get him some toner omds!!!

“am i more of a sandy blonde or platinum blonde?” he looked at you seriously, completely depending on your answer.

“look, the two of you agreed to dye your hair and the color every other athlete uses for playoffs is platinums. so, unless y’all want to look dumb in front of a sold out stadium take the platinum.” gio just shook his head and your brother simply agreed.

americans didn’t have culture per se but they had tradition and one of those included teenage boys dyeing their hair an awful shade of blonde during playoffs for their respective sports. hockey boys did it all the time although they tended to lack toner. and now that you looked around the hotel bathroom you realized the boys sitting in front of you also forgot to get some.

“it’s so great that you both ended up professional athletes.” you sighed as you took the dye out of the box.

“hey, i had good grades and even took ap classes. if i’ve lost intelligence it’s a hundred percent because this dumbass has infiltrated his way into our lives.” joe completely threw his best friend under the bus.

“gee thanks. this is why your sister is the better scally sibling. she’s mean but not harsh.” gio scoffed as he placed the towel around his neck.

“i’ve always been the better sibling.” you reply as you grab the vaseline you bought from the bag.

“okay, joe close your eyes.” you instruct your brother and you’re lucky he’s always been the obedient child.

you carefully apply the vaseline along his hairline, behind his ears, and the area around his neck. you’re careful to avoid his mouth or eyes. you’re too focused on not wanting to cause your brother any discomfort you don’t catch gio’s stare. he’s looking at you with so much fervor. he’s always loved the way you don’t hesitate to help your brother out no matter how stupid he’s being. or the way you’d always bring something to his family’s estate in new york because you insisted on never showing up empty handed. oh, how badly he wanted to be joe right now.

“okay, starboy you’re next.” you stand in front of your brothers teammate.

“starboy? you never call me anything like that.” your brother whines.

“oh, sorry didn’t know our family was also involved in a huge scandal because the fans were mad you didn’t play.” you scoff.

gio can’t help but laugh at your joke. if it had been anyone else he’d probably be more than annoyed but for some reason he found it funny coming from you. after all you knew his family and you didn’t care about the rumors or the allegations. you’d claimed to him so many times that you would never speak ill of them on purpose because his family treated you as kin.

“come on, close your eyes.” you urged him.

it was never easy being in close proximity with gio. his bleu de chanel perfume that he probably started using since he was fifteen always found a way to make you nervous. you’d never come to terms with your feelings for the u.s. national always thinking you only felt so giddy around him because you’d never been so close to another boy. but, now that you have had your own share of flings and relationships you realized maybe there was something more. obviously you never acted on those said feelings in respect of your brother’s friendship with him.

not that your brother dictated who you could or couldn’t date but you knew that if you tried anything it could go one way or another. gio’s slow breathing somehow stops you from overthinking. the american boy loves the feeling of your fingers brushing through his hairline and behind his neck. he could get used the feeling. he imagines your hands on his neck after he wins the nations league because one thing he knew for sure is that he would win it.

he almost whines at the loss of contact due to you grabbing the gloves from the kit. the last thing you wanted was remnants of joe and gio’s stupidity all over your palms. you leave the bathroom again this time in search of a bowl to mix the dye unaware of the conversation occurring between your brother and gio.

“so, when are you going to tell her?” joe looked at the borussia player seriously.

“i was thinking about it. maybe after we win would be nice?” he tries to say but instead it comes out half a question.

“right. and if we don’t win?” joe almost whispers the question as if not to jinx them.

“we will.” gio sends him a smirk. “it’s just what if she- fuck it’s going to be all weird. my mom loves her and so does my dad. i can’t afford to lose her friendship.”

“well, we’ve already established that i’m not a problem. i’m always around the two of you all the time so i’m not worried about losing you. it’s just a matter of you confessing to her as corny as that sounds. i don’t know how my sister feels and i may never know if you don’t make a move. just make sure that there won’t be too many mini gio’s because i also have a professional career myself and won’t be able to babysit all the time.” joe laughs.

“babysit who?” you ask as you walk in with a bowl of the mixed dye products.

“uhm, zimmerman’s kids. yeah he brought them to las vegas and was asking around to see if anyone would take care of them while he took his wife out.” joe easily lies.

“okay, well who’s going first?” you ask as the two boys in front of you start rethinking this spontaneous decision.

an hour later you’re waiting patiently as the two of them take turns rinsing their hair. you already know it’s bound to be a disaster because of the lack of toner and the way the boys couldn’t keep still as you applied the product to their hair. for a second you thought you’d make their hair fall off. as the shower turned off you waited anxiously to see the final result. they’d either be the most talked about because it ended out good or bad. as the door opened you couldn’t help but bite your lip at anticipation.

“oh my god. you look exactly like the hockey kids from st. mary’s during playoffs.” you gasped.

“i’ll be sure to send trevor a selfie and add what you said.” gio talked about one of his friends who happened to play professionally in the sport mentioned.

“it’s not bad. it’s kind of-”

“nice?” joe asked

“cool?” gio chimes in.

“i was going to say cunty but yeah sure.” you stood up getting closer to them to analyze your work. you were sort of proud of yourself considering you lacked toner.

“cunty?” the two of them asked in unison.

“yeah, never mind y’all don’t get it so it’s not cunty anymore.” you sighed.

“oh, fuck. christian is coming over i got to go clean my room. i’ll see you both at the stadium later.” your brother suddenly stands up and heads out the room but not before winking at his friend. a wink you somehow don’t see.

“since when does he care about what people think about him? cleaning his room? he must have a crush on pulisic.” you scoff at your brother’s antics.

“do you have a crush on christian?” gio doesn’t mean to sound nosy nor interrogative.

“he’s not ugly but i don’t have a crush on him, no. plus it seems he’s already stolen my brother’s heart.” you chuckle quietly.

“will you be at the final?” he asks.

“why? you don’t want me there? i thought we were friends.” you whine playing with him.

“no, i- i do. i just- it’s just.” he pauses. “i don’t want you there as my friend.”

“oh? did i do something i don’t understand?” you look confused. what did he mean by that?

“no! i mean that- well i’ve known you since i was like an early teen. you’ve been with me through everything hell you were even with me in qatar. you helped me when i thought it was over for me. you were also there to comfort me when we lost the league. i just think that what i feel for you is more than just a platonic feeling. every time i see you it’s like my day can’t get any better. you’re constantly there making me feel better but you’re only there as a friend.” he starts.

“i want you to be there for me as a girlfriend a partner. i don’t just want to lean on your shoulder i want to leave kisses around your neck. fuck. i don’t know if you feel the same or if i over shared but i felt that if i didn’t say this to you all sooner i would die.” he finally stops.

“gio.” you face him. the boy you’ve loved for years. “your friendship with my brother wouldn’t be affected because of this?”

the only thing gio disliked about you was how selfless you were. specifically in moments like these.

“i told him how i felt and he said he’s no one to dictate how we feel. although, he’s worried about third wheeling that is if you like me. if not then this will definitely be awkward.” the two of you laugh.

“well, my dear nepo baby fortunately for you i find you very appealing. i’m not sure if i’m ready to be your girlfriend just yet or anything but i’m willing to give us a chance.” you say.

“how about wearing my jersey to the game tomorrow?” he suggests.

“now, wait a minute. i’m still a scally and as long as my brother represents this country i will be wearing our name thank you very much. but if you win we could possibly think of something else.” you state adamantly.

“so, i only get something if i win?” he questions.

“obviously.” you roll your eyes playfully.

“fine. if we win the competition you’ll dye your hair as well.” he insists.

“absolutely not reyna. i’ll give you a kiss at most.” you offer.

“deal.” he smiles.

“deal.” you shake hands with the newly blonde boy. you really hope this works out because you can’t help losing his friendship nor stop seeing that smile of his that made you feel like a little girl.

joe carefully helps gio make his way to the stands with his injured leg. although, the injury doesn’t seem to phase the new york native one bit. he’s insistent on making his way towards his family and yours wanting to celebrate the win to the fullest no matter his status. the surreal feeling of winning another competition for his country overtakes the pain he feels as he limps towards your section. with the help of his friend it takes him only six minutes to get to his family.

despite all the turbulent times his family had faced lately they were still the most important people to him. he wasn’t ashamed that they were here nor embarrassed. he hugged them like his life depended on it. he never admitted it publicly but every time his parents said they were proud of him after a win he would get all sappy inside.

“we’re so proud of you and so is he.” his mother told him.

jack. how he missed his brother and wished he was here to witness all the things they should’ve achieved together.

“you okay?” you ask noticing how distant gio was being.

“just thinking about him.” he looks up at the giant screens saying they were champions.

“i believe he would be very happy for you and proud of what you’ve accomplished. but, you knew him best.��� you brushed your hand through his hair. a habit of yours that had started when he randomly laid down on your lap during high school.

“well, i know for starters he’s happy that i finally asked you out. i like to think he was very proud when he saw my name on the squad list for qatar and i imagine he would be very happy for me today.” he smiles at the fond memories of his brother.

“i’m sure he would.” you agree with him. “are you okay though? physically?”

“oh, yeah just a few therapy sessions and it should be fine. although my leg is injured my lips aren’t. i’m still waiting on that kiss.” he smirks.

“you’re so corny oh my god.” you smack him playfully.

“oh please have you seen christian’s leaked snapchats? you should be grateful i’m not him. now, about that kiss?” he insists.

“here? in front of your family and the press? wow, you really hate me don’t you?” you ask him jokingly.

“oh, yeah i despise you. this has all been a big plan.” he plays along. “my family loves you already. trust, my mom has already planned our wedding.”

“well, your dad does love me more because my spanish abilities are better than yours and well i would die for your mom. but i’m not sure i’m ready to appear all over the internet.” you play with him.

“it’s not my fault i grew up in a household that only spoke english. anyways, i don’t want to pressure you-”

“come here.” you urge him to get closer to you so you could reach him better.

he scoots a little bit closer so now you’re in a close distance with him. his brown eyes look straight into yours and you internally smile at his features. you hope the gum you’ve been chewing for the past hour comes in handy as you lean down. the kiss is short but sweet. he can’t place his hand on your jaw to deepen it as he needs to maintain his crutches balanced. when you both pull away you notice his rosy cheeks and soon you feel yours heating up.

“by the way i’m going to need some toner.” he smiles up and you simply scoff after playfully smacking him.

[binnieceo]

"I don't support it in real life!"

Then why write about it? If for coping purposes, why post it online for others (especially actual predators) to see and consume? Then why portray those things in a positive light instead of condemning them?And you're seriously going to tell me that just because as an adult you want to see a fictional minor (that mind you, is usually designed to resemble an actual child) depicted in sexual situations doesn't mean you don't share that same view concerning children in real life? You find fictional minors attractive but not real ones? Why does the line between finding someone who is (and usually also looks like) a child sexually attractive get drawn at whether the child is real or not? I'm not calling anyone pedophiles, but if the shoe fits... And also no, I am not talking about 18 y/os finding 17 y/os attractive. Use your brain. Creating content of underaged characters is still questionable regardless of age, however.

I have some free time and you were polite in your ask, so I'll answer you since I believe you were genuine in your question.

I'll answer your question in parts, if that's alright with you!

"I don't support it in real life!" Then why write about it?

Well, it's not because I don't support something that I'm not allowed to write about it!

Fiction is just that... fiction. They are stories. I'm sure there are many stories in your folclore that depict hideous acts (such as murder, rape, incest, etc etc) but neither you or your people agree with them or think that the things done in those stories are okay to be done in real life—because stories are just stories and bad things done in stories are meant to stay in those stories.

And dark content is present in most media forms, whether you like it or not. I don't know which fandoms you are a part of (since you sent this ask anonymously) but I'll just list a few:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has canonical torture, murder, racism, self-harm and even genocide

The Dragon Prince has canonical racism, torture, murder, kidnapping, blackmailing and gaslighting

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has canonical slavery, racism, murder, torture, child soldiers, child abuse and much more (its been a while since I last watched SPOP so i don't remember)

Adult shows also tackle these subjects. Doctor House, Game of Thrones, Hannibal, The Simpsons, South Park... God, even the HOLY BIBLE has stories with rape, murder, slavery and much more in them! And that's a SACRED BOOK!

If for coping purposes, why post it online for others [...]

I don't speak for everyone who sees this post, but when I post online, I post for myself. My fanfics are all completely self-indulgent. And while I appreciate my readers, I don't write with them in mind.

But on that same note, the stories are mine and I can do whatever I want with them. This is the internet and I can post whatever I want, anytime I want. If I decide I want to post a rapefic on ao3, I will. If i want the fic to be private for me and my friends, it will stay private.

Plus, other people might find my stories and relate to them or even enjoy them! I write about rape and sexual harrassment, for example, because I am a survivor, and so many survivors have found my stories and messaged me about them, thanking me for putting into words what they couldn't. It's rewarding, really. Being able to connect with people so deeply over stories.

[...] (especially actual predators) to see and consume?

I'm gonna be completely honest with you. Predators, pedophiles and the like are NOT reading ao3 fanfiction. They are out there on chatting websites trying to prey on children, or going out of their way IRL to take advantage of young family members or unknown children/teenagers.

If I crave a hamburger, I'll go out of my way to eat it. I won't open a review talking about the burger or stare at pictures of burgers. The same goes for predators. NO PREDATOR OUT THERE is reading fanfiction about Klee Genshin Impact. Me posting or not posting my fanfiction WILL NOT CHANGE THAT.

But on the off chance that a pedophile really sees an underage fanfic of a fictional character, then... that's a good thing, don't you agree? I don't know about you but I'd much rather if a pedophile read smut of Klee Genshin Impact than if they went out of their way to abuse and traumatize a real, living and breathing child that exists in real life and will suffer for the rest of their lives because of it.

Characters are just that, characters. And in fanfiction, what we write about them isn't real, it isn't canon. They aren't even canonically traumatized by what we write, but real people are.

Why portray those things in a positive light instead of condemning them?

I don't know if you've ever read my fanfics or if you're just throwing this question out there, but to me personally, I have never written about rape/sexual assault and painted it in a positive light, much by the contrary.

As a survivor, I highlight how horrible the abuse made me feel and use my characters to talk about it. Not once have I glorified or written about sexual abuse in a positive light.

But if you're not talking about me personally, then I have to say... I'm sorry? Do you learn your morals from fictional content?

Ok fine maybe you can learn a few morals from MLP like "don't lie" and "be nice", but do you really open a show like South Park with racist, homophobic jokes and go "ah yes, this is a perfect example! I should base my morals off this show"? Do you?

Are you really unable to tell what is right or wrong by yourself? Does watching a slasher movie with a charismatic killer make you go "wow! Killers are amazing! I want to be like them!" Does watching action movies make you think that it's cool to commit arson and shoot people?

If your answer is yes, then I am so sorry but there is no other way to say this other than... that's your problem.

It's not the writers' duty to tell you what's wrong or right. They are not pre-school teachers who will grab you by the hand and point and tell you what you should or should not do-The writer has one and only ONE duty: To tell a story. They can portray whatever they want to portray in WHATEVER WAY they feel like, and you're supposed to be an adult about it.

And you're seriously going to tell me that just because as an adult you want to see a fictional minor [...] You find fictional minors attractive but not real ones?

Yes, because fictional minors are... fictional? They are not real? They DO NOT EXIST?

I'm so sorry but if I ever saw a child/teenager with the same proportions that lolisho/anime gives them then i'd be calling the authorities ON THE SPOT because THAT SHIT IS AN ALIEN AND IT IS NOT HUMAN.

Children don't look like that. Put up Klee Genshin Impact next to a real child. They are so incredibly different that once you notice how uncanny it is, you'll feel weirded out because she won't even look like she's human anymore.

You wouldn't accuse all furries of fucking real life dogs just because they think their blue dog fursonas are hot, would you? (what if anthro blue wolves were real? I'd be scared out of my mind to be honest,)

It's not because you're sexually attracted to something fictional that you find it hot in real life (god bless me and my breeding kink girlies who are sex repulsed and are terribly afraid of getting pregnant)

Hey, have you heard of like, lesbians who fall in love with fictional men? (like me lmao), do you think those fictional crushes make them any less lesbian? No, because these guys are not realistic. They have blue hair, extra limbs maybe, and were literally designed to be loved and to be perfect.

There are SOOOOO many examples I could give you, but I don't want to go on and on because I got my point across

But like, you do understand that fictional characters are... fictional, right? You can't even say that they are minors because... they aren't. They don't have a birth certificate, or a family tree saved in a country's government somewhere. They do not exist, you are aware of that, right?

When a "child" or "minor" is fictional, there is no child, there is no minor. You can't touch, groom, rape or abuse something that does not exist.

Law was made to protect the children who suffered, or who are, suffering because of abuse right now.

And by that i mean, real, living breathing human children who have their likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams for the future, and families that exist.

Fictional children/minors are nothing but tools, characters, a way of expression. THEY DON'T EXIST. They don't eat, they don't cry, they don't smile. They won't do anything unless they're commanded to by the writer.

They have no lives, no mind. And they will only grow up when the creator decides that it's time for that to happen. The line is there for this exact reason.

YOU CAN'T HURT OR PROTECT A CONCEPT.

You using your time to send this ask to "defend" PIXELS isn't doing anything to help or advocate for REAL CHILDREN who are suffering in the world right now.

Honestly, this only makes it seem like you're the one who doesn't care.

By the end of it all, i have no idea why you sent me this ask. Yeah I am anti-harassment but I don't think I've posted lolisho/underage content before? (again, I stray far from these because i find them icky and triggering) So I don't know why you focused so much on fictional children rather than the other things I do talk and post about on this blog.

And before I go, I want to shine a note here:

I'm not calling anyone pedophiles, but if the shoe fits...

I don't know how old you are, but you know damn well what you are saying and what you are doing. And I'm gonna say it again: Implying or flat out CALLING people pedophiles without proof can get you into real trouble.

Don't misuse that word. It has a meaning and a weight to it. I wasn't a victim of pedophilia myself but I know that real survivors would feel enraged at the way you're just throwing out words and accusations as if they were nothing, as if those people didn't suffer because of it.

I'm asking not for me, but for any other person who may come across this post, DON'T GO OUT THERE USING WORDS YOU DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF. You are causing more harm than good.

Also, send your asks un-anonymously next time. Don't be a coward.

Have a nice day!

[daughterofnoridoorman]

how does my uzi kintype affects a my identities, alterhuman and lgbt? the reason i love murder drones is because of the way the characters are portrayed. for example, n is more than just the dangerous-but-nice golden retriever. he is too nice for his own good, and by existing he goes against his designed purpose. being kind hurt him, and even though he seems fully aware of that he doesn't stop. this also applies to uzi- she's more than the angsty chosen one teenager. there are so many layers to her personality, which makes it pretty difficult to put a pin on the way that having her as a kintype affects me spoiler alert and mentions of su1cide+v1olence!

1- hooded crow theriotype in home, uzi "hacks" the mind of n (and also v's mind too. whatever) to prevent their memories from being wiped. during this, she takes the form of a hooded crow with the username 'darkxwolf17'. when i took this into consideration, i realized why my crow theriotype was so weird. i felt like a person in a crow's body, not a crow in a human's body, which is how i usually feel with my theriotypes. but being darkxwolf17, NOT a crow made so much more sense. it explained why i got bird shifts even though i didnt feel like a bird, why i felt that way, why i always wanted to make nests despite not wanting eggs. i am the body of a hooded crow, not the crow itself.

2- absolutesolver kin (violence warning) (note; when i refer to the solver, i am referring to the virus itself. not cyn, not yeva, not nori, not doll, not uzi. THE solver. not its hosts.) even though uzi neutralized the absolutesolver, it still 'lives' on in her programming. and it is a separate entity from uzi. in my mind, the absolutesolver represents intrusive, violent thoughts. that definition fits both the way i've come to see it and the canon. as someone who has struggled with intrusive thoughts for years, i've learned not to feel too much shame about them. in my experience, that only makes them worse. i know that it's not my fault i cannot control my thoughts, and i wont beat myself up about it anymore. this may sound like the thing your elementary school teacher would say if you got in a fight, but i may not be able to control my thoughts, but what i can control is whether i react to them or not. that's what uzi did. she learned how to block the absolutesolver from her mind. how to take control of what it gave her without it taking control of her. 3- monsterkin (suicide and violence warning) i am vampirekin and demonkin. for the sake of convinience, i will say 'monsterkin' and use it as a general term when i am talking about both of these identities. in cabin fever, uzi transforms into a 'monster' when she does not consume enough oil to keep herself from overheating. in my case, the consuming oil part is like seeking validation. i have always needed validation, but more than usual. i have tried too hard to be noticed and congratulated, but it never worked. and then, the overheating is like suicidal thoughts. without validation, i start to become suicidal. i need high amounts of validation to stay in a 'normal' mental state. uzi's classmates treated her as a monster, even before she transformed. just for being herself. as someone who is a queer alterhuman and has known that from a young age, this has really resonated with me. for just existing, i am a monster. a creature of sin. the subtle homophobia and transphobia i recieved from my closest friend, combined with the same hatred towards alterhumanity from even more people before i was even ten really messed me up. the way cabin fever is written just really connects to me. uzi's already so fucked up, she doesnt need another factor ruining up her life. but it does it anyways. she's proven to everyone how she's a monster. (im not elaborating for personal reasons) the fact that uzi's classmates at the end of absolute end didnt really care that much just really helps me feel better. they didnt care. why would my classmates care? 4- gender and sexuality before i even knew girls could kiss girls, i liked girls. in particular, i liked people i had a friendship with. however, my friendships were very messed up and i fell in love with anyone my age who could treat me with decent respect. i headcanon uzi as bi, and i didnt understand why (other than the doc martens) until i connected the dots that im uzi. i am bisexual. maybe? and theres also referring to v as hot at ep 8 so... angsty bi queen uzi but, although me, the almalgamation of kintypes and names that i am, the uzi part of me always feels bisexual. always. when i think of myself as uzi, i can only see myself as demisexual-bisexual and demiromantic-biromantic. this also applies to gender- i am an axenlector user. i collect xenogenders. i am cottoncandygender, i am gendersky, i am gummisharkgender, i am starricattic. i am more genders than i can count. and i dont care honestly. but once again, when i really connect to uzi, i can only see myself as feminine. this does vary from demigirl to rosegirl to just girl. 5- notes and stuff! well, thanks for reading all the way through! a like, reblog, or follow would be awesome! every time i referred to uzi as someone else it was like "why r u talking abt urself in third person! YOU ARE UZI DOORMAN!" but alas, i must differentiate between myself and my kintypes,,, maybe one day i will not have to,,, please tell me im not the only one kkkkkkkkk

[youhideastar]

Fit for Purpose Deleted Scenes VII: Grab Bag

The final batch of deleted scenes from Fit for Purpose are scenes that didn't fit any of the previous themes, featuring Jin Guangshan, Xue Yang, and WWX's feelings about being resurrected. Other deleted scenes posts are linked in the masterpost. I hope you enjoy!

This next scene is more of a sketch than a draft. Warning for Jin Guangshan being Jin Guangshan and Madam Yu being Madam Yu.

Jin Guangshan comes to visit.

He tries to talk to WWX alone.

WWX likes sex; likes making people feel good. Even guests, who he usually doesn’t know well. But he doesn’t like Jin Guangshan.

Still, he knows he should say yes – it would be good for Yunmeng Jiang, it would make for better relations with Lanling Jin, and it would especially be good for Jiejie, since she’ll marry into Lanling Jin someday—

Yu-furen interjects. “What do you want to discuss with our Wei Ying, Jin-zongzhu?” she asks, eyes like steel. “I insist on being part of the discussion, so I may share Jin-zongzhu’s insights with Jin-furen. I know she would be interested.”

Jin Guangshan backs off.

“Don’t be so shameless next time,” she tells Wei Ying.

Wei Ying says “yes,” says “sorry, Yu-furen.” He doesn’t know how to say, “I wasn’t.” Doesn’t know how to say, “All I did was be what I am.”

Then we have a little bit from the first encounter with Xue Yang. Again, mostly me getting high on my own worldbuilding—but for real, I didn’t want to make it seem like the mating-related stuff is the only thing that distinguishes betas from alphas and omegas.

“I still don’t get it,” A-Cheng fumes, after Xue Yang is defeated by Xiao Xingchen—Xiao Xingchen! Wei Wuxian’s heart is aflutter—with a little help from Wei Wuxian. “We didn’t smell a thing—”

“Xue Yang is a beta,” Xiao Xingchen says simply. “Stealth is his gift.”

A-Cheng narrows his eyes at Wei Wuxian. “Then why are you always as loud as a herd of water buffalo?” he grumbles under his breath.

“His amorality and viciousness, though, are purely his own,” Xiao Xingchen continues.

Then there was the phase where I felt like I needed to get into detail about WWX’s take on his second life. This was one of those scenes where it was useful for me to write it just to figure out for myself how this version of WWX felt about being resurrected, even though I didn’t use it.

When Wei Wuxian was brought back to life, traded for Mo Xuanyu, he hadn’t seen the point. His entire first life had been a failure – what was he supposed to do with a second one?

But then, there had been Wen Ning: not burned and scattered as he thought, still capable of being saved. There had been Jin Rulan – not a tiny infant who could be protected with charms and spells, but a snotty, insecure teenager who needed something more complicated: a teacher and a mentor, someone who would let him take risks but not let him take himself too seriously. There had been Lan Zhan: not his enemy after all, but his ally and friend, still true to him and to their vow to uphold justice. There had been A-Cheng, even, who learned the most terrible secret left between them and had brought him Chenqing in the end anyway.

And most of all, there was A-Yuan. The Wens’ A-Yuan, Lan Zhan’s Sizhui – grown up so well. Smart and sweet and kind and brave and humble – full of every virtue that the people who raised him had possessed, and yet entirely his own person.

So many people had died at Wei Wuxian’s hands, or by his faults and failings. And yet—A-Yuan had lived. Because of him. For all the things he did wrong, he did this one thing right.

Finally, here’s a second take on WWX’s feelings about being resurrected. I took multiple swings at this because it seemed weird to me, for a while, that I would have all these flashbacks and not have a flashback that deals with basically the most consequential event of the last 15 episodes… but then I figured out that I could do one ex post (with NHS), which would be way faster, and I also nod at these resurrection feelings in the flashback with LWJ on the bridge in the moonlight. So I think we got there in the end, without having to spend a whole flashback with WWX summing up his life so far.

Jiejie is dead. So are Wen Ning and Wen Qing and A-Yuan. Lan Zhan hates him. Jiang Cheng tried to kill him, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t even give him that. Jiejie’s son is an orphan, at Wei Wuxian’s hands—and the first time Wei Wuxian meets him, he taunts him for it, steals his dead father’s sword, and leaves him facedown in the dirt.

He’s a failure of a beta – everyone knows that. But that’s no excuse not to at least try. And his responsibility here is pretty clear.

YU-FUREN QUOTE

So he decides, staring down into the river water, to devote his second life to protecting Jiejie’s son. Sure, there’s a slight snag in that Jin Ling doesn’t know who he is and would probably try to kill him if he found out. And a slightly larger snag in that Jin Ling seems to be hanging around Jiang Cheng a lot, who almost certainly does know who he is and will definitely try to kill him.

Still, he has to do something with this redundant life of his. And if he ends up dying at Jiang Cheng’s hands or for Jiejie’s son, well… second time’s the charm, right?

Only it doesn’t work like that. Wen Ning turns out to be alive; Zidian fails to kill Wei Wuxian; and when he passes out, he wakes up in Cloud Recesses. In, as far as he can tell, Lan Zhan’s bed.

I spent a lot of time trying to get here, sixteen years ago, he thinks, still a little delirious.

And Lan Zhan looks up at him, eyes soft and hair unbound, and Wei Wuxian thinks… that maybe he was wrong. About a lot of things.

Maybe this is what a second chance looks like.

I hope you have enjoyed these deleted scenes! I probably spent just as much time figuring out how not to write this story as I did figuring out how I should write it 🤣 but I’m happy with the end result, and that’s what matters.

[tohjwcc]

Who am I? INTRODUCTION

Alright, so I've been here for like..half a year now? I actually don't entirely know, but ish 6 months. But I feel like I want to introduce myself. Idk why.

- So. Hi. I'm tohjwcc.. I honestly wanna change it, but I'm scared people won't recognize me if I do haha. So, I guess I'm stuck with it for a lil while longer. Guess I'm just a "normal" (heck I'm not, I'm weird as f-) 15 yr old girl...ehm, well, going to highschool after summer. Yasammy/cc/ct nerd, basically.

- My personality is complicated. For any camp cretaceous fan, I can easily describe myself as a softer version of Yaz. I have a strong Yaz side, but another big piece of my personality is just quirky and weird and funny (people say I'm funny.. so I hope they're telling the truth lol). But also, I've been told... SO. MANY. TIMES.... That I'm too nice for my own good. I'm kind and nice to everyone. I can't be mean to anyone. At least not on purpose. That is one thing that separates me and Yaz from being completely identical (personalitywise) (which again isn't entirely true, my quirky and weird side is bigger than my serious/Yaz side. I'm basically the yasammy icon. That quirky side could be referred to as Sammy lol.) But ofc there are other small stuff that also separates us two a little but yeah. (Tbh idk... I haven't really figured myself out yet. Idk what I am like, I just wanna be like Yaz cuz I love her so deeply and I can really relate to her in so many different ways. Idk, maybe I'm just not like her at all. Maybe I just wanna be like her...? Ugh, I don't know, I don't know myself. Dang it. My dream is to be cool. Like my girl Yaz. Okay, enough rambling).

- English is sadly not my first/native language, so any bad grammar or wrong wording could appear, so I apologize for that. I also like to make up new words, so if there's a word you've never heard before, it's probably one of my new creations. Confusion can appear, you've been warned.

- On this blog.. is it a blog? I don't even know. Anyways, on this account thingy I mostly post about camp cretaceous/chaos theory. That is where my main interest is. That leads us to my next.. ugh, me and words. I don't even know what it's called I'm my language. Paragraph, maybe? Let's go with that. That leads us to my next paragraph.

- Favorite shows. I've got a LOT, but the ones that might appear on this account are probably just Jwct/jwcc and the owl house. There's a chance like stranger things and heartstopper could be joining us too. I know nothing. I could be posting/reblogging random crap as well, so nothing is for sure.

- I started watching camp cretaceous when season 3 had been released. I was in my "Jurassic world era", so I had been watching all the Jurassic world movies (ish), so I guess I just wanted to rewatch some of them again, and then I saw it. "Jurassic world camp cretaceous". I was like "OoO". I began to watch it, and fell in love with it RIGHT AWAY. Also, a funny fun fact, I started watching it when I was 12. And now I'm 15. This means I was as old as the youngest character when I started watching it, and I am NOW as old as the OLDEST characters are in the show. This show has been with me through all my teenage years so far. I'm so greatful for this show and these campers. They helped me through so much, and I could never thank them enough.

-The jwcc character i can relate most to is Yaz. 10000%. Like I said before, she is so me. My friend says I'm a Yaz, and she once said I even looked like Yaz, which is cool, but idk how cuz I'm not a brunette haha. But these are the bestest compliments I've ever gotten.

Shoutout to everyone who even bothers to read this lmao. I might add stuff to this later, who knows.

Have a great day ^^

[cat-downthestreet]

Hey ladies! People with uteruses, women, AFAB people, however you'd like to be called. It doesn't really matter for this post; all that matters is that you have a menstrual cycle, because that's what affects this particular thing.

Also, be prepared for extreme cringe. I swear I have a really good and positive point to make here, I just happen to be cheesy and sappy and it rubbed off on this post.

So, today I read a couple comments online and felt a little inspired to make a post that I would've liked to see when I was in my teens. Here's my little nugget of wisdom:

You know the little bump on your stomach? That part that always seems to be missing in photos of women's stomachs and drawings of female characters? It's not always missing, we're getting better about that as a society, but you know what I mean. The little bit of fat that sticks out and makes your stomach seem less flat than you think it should be. I call it the Chub.

A lot of teenage girls spend their time in front of a mirror wondering if this is normal. "Is my stomach too fat?" "Do I need to exercise more?" "Am I eating too much?"

And believe me, I know what that's like. In the ninth grade, while enduring extreme bullying, I spent many weeks skipping meals a bit more than usual because I didn't know my body was normal. I thought the little bit of fat I had there was from laziness and gluttony, and not something natural. And mind you, I was already underweight. My frame and body type always makes it seem like I'm malnourished even when 115-135 pounds is a natural weight for me and people in my family. But during that time, I was trying to get my weight down to 100. It didn't help with the other thoughts in my head, thoughts that were telling me the world was better off without me. So I kept going without food, trying to get my weight down.

In the end, I survived. I was okay. I started eating more and moved to a better place, where I met some great friends and got a fresh start at a new high school.

But teenage me didn't know that it was normal for a teenage girl to have a bit of fat on my stomach.

How many teenage girls are out there right now, wondering the same thing without knowing how natural and healthy it is to have that extra cushioning on their stomachs?

If there are any teenagers reading this post, please remember this:

The Chub is completely natural to have and is even a sign of health!

It has a special purpose too: protecting your vital organs, especially the reproductive system. It's meant to keep what's in there safe, regardless of whether or not you intend on using that system. And it's completely normal to have, in fact, most AFAB people develop it around puberty!

(Quick side note: natural doesn't necessarily mean universal. Trans men often lose the Chub during HRT, and trans women gain it. Also, not every AFAB or transfem person will gain it in the first place.)

So then there's probably a nagging question in your mind: what size is a normal size for the Chub?

It's a little complicated, but that's only because the size fluctuates so frequently throughout your life that the answer doesn't lie in a one-size-fits-all type of deal. Especially since the reasons for why these fluctuations happen are varied among individuals and rarely universal.

So, here's a quick and easy guide to All The Things That Affect Chub Size!

The Chub may seem larger than usual if you put on a little weight over, say, a long break (which happened to me a lot in high school), or if your cycle sometimes comes with a bit of bloating or weight gain. Sometimes the Chub will get bigger just because you had a nice meal one night, and by the next day, it'll be small again. Stress can also make the Chub larger, just like how stress affects your menstrual cycle.

Your cycle- and, by proxy, the Chub- can also change due to the season or time of day, or even whether you've moved to a new place, made changes to your diet, or started a new big thing in your life.

The point I'm making is, the Chub will change a lot throughout your life. It's not going to go away, and it's not something you can get rid of by exercising or starving yourself. In fact, trying to get rid of extra fat like that- the starving, I mean- is extremely unhealthy and will only cause more pain for you. Exercise is good in moderation and with care. As long as you're doing it safely and not because you want to lose weight you don't need to, that's fine. But that won't get rid of the Chub either, because you'll still have it- just in the form of abdominal muscles that become more prominent as you exercise.

(This is not to say that overweight- or worse, obese people should not exercise to lose weight. I'm just saying that unless a doctor says you need to exercise to lose weight, you shouldn't be trying to lose weight by exercising. You don't need to lose the weight in the first place. Getting into shape could help make you feel more confident, though, so if you're exercising for that reason, go right ahead! But again, moderation and care are important. Make sure your body isn't suffering while you do it.)

And remember: the Chub is normal. Having a little extra cushioning anywhere is normal. It only becomes a problem when it's a threat to your health. Trust your doctors first and foremost when it comes to healthy weight. They know what they're doing, and if you really do need to change something to lose weight or anything like that, THEY WILL TELL YOU. Otherwise, you are fine.

Conclusions:

You are beautiful if you have the Chub. You are beautiful if your Chub also includes stomach rolls. If you don't have a Chub, that's fine, too! It's also okay if your Chub is a little small, or a little big. And it's okay if your Chub isn't limited to your stomach.

A little bit of fat is healthy, no matter where it is. The golden rule is, as long as it doesn't affect your health or well-being, it is okay to be a little chubby in some places.

And finally:

You don't have to love your Chub, but you should always remember that it's important to your health.

Take care.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)

No one requested this, but I answered asks for all the other main Christmas Carol characters last year, so it's high time I answered one for the iconic protagonist.

Favorite thing about them: His redemption arc, and how kind, generous, and full of joy he becomes by the end. Also the fact that Dickens breaks the standard rule of "Make the protagonist likable" and depicts a very unpleasant man, yet throws him into situations that make us engage with him even before he becomes likable, and then steadily earns our sympathy for him.

Least favorite thing about them: Well, he's obviously not a good person at the beginning of the story. That's the whole point.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I tend to be less social than many people are.

*I can be greedy and self-absorbed at times, though I try not to be.

*I try to be generous to those in need, as he is by the end.

Three things I don't have in common:

*I'm not an elderly British man.

*I'm not a business owner.

*I've never been a nasty miser.

Favorite line:

"If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart."

Explaining to Marley's Ghost why he doesn't believe in him:

“Because a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”

To the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come:

“Ghost of the Future! I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?... Lead on! Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!

How vow of redemption:

“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future! The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!”

His giddy joy immediately afterwards:

“I don’t know what to do! I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world. Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!”

His prank on Bob Cratchit:

“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend, I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore... and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

brOTP: In his past, his sister Fan, his fellow apprentice Dick Wilkins, Fezziwig as a mentor/father figure to him, and Jacob Marley, to whatever extent they were really friends and not just partners. In his future, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, the rest of Cratchit family, his nephew Fred, Fred's wife, and their soon-to-be-born baby.

OTP: Belle in his youth; in the present, none.

nOTP: Any of the ghosts or the Cratchit children.

Random headcanon: He's of Scottish descent. His family's surname was originally the Scottish "Scroggie" (from which Dickens may have derived his name in real life), but they Anglicized it to "Scrooge" when they came to England.

Unpopular opinion: Even though almost every adaptation shows him sharing romantic moments with Belle at Fezziwig's party, in the book I don't think their engagement took place until after his apprenticeship with Fezziwig. In the scene showing Belle with her husband and children on the night Marley died, her youngest child is just a baby, so she was still of childbearing age just 7 years before Scrooge's redemption. This seems to imply that she's much younger than Scrooge. I don't mind this fact; age gaps were common between couples of their generation. But apprentices in that era were usually teenagers, so unless teenage Scrooge started courting Belle when she was 10 or 11 years old, I sincerely doubt they were already sweethearts when he was Fezziwig's apprentice.

Song I associate with them:

Many songs from the many musical adaptations, but chiefly these.

From Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol:

"Ringle Ringle"

"All Alone in the World"

From the musical Scrooge:

"I Hate People"

"I'll Begin Again"

From The Muppet Christmas Carol:

"Scrooge"

"A Thankful Heart"

From Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens' A Christmas Carol: The Musical:

"Nothing to Do With Me"

"Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today/God Bless Us, Every One"

Favorite pictures of them:

These classic illustrations by John Leech:

Sir Seymour Hicks in the 1935 film:

Reginald Owen in the 1938 film (is it true or just a rumor that his wispy tufts of hair inspired the similar feather tufts of Scrooge McDuck?):

Alastair Sim in the 1951 film:

George C. Scott in the 1984 TV film:

Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol:

[turtlecleric]

assumption - others have said in need of a hug (yes true) but also,

may not have been praised in the way that you deserved growing up and instead others tried to dim your light because they were envious or wanted to see you fail (->im here to tell you they suck ass. you're everything and more; skilled; determined; worthy; and i love you so so much and i am so so proud of you)

Did you know that I would die for you? Did you know that I love you so goddamn much? Did you?

This is way too much personal info that no one actually cares to know, probably, but. I'm sort of avoiding work on purpose at the moment and I'm having a really rough day. Who needs therapy when you have asks on Tumblr to rant in? (I'm joking, to be clear. Actual therapy is so valuable and important if you manage to find a competent professional who clicks well with you. The only reason I stopped going is because of Covid, time, and money.)

Warning: VERY long vent ahead, please do not feel obligated to read or respond

My dad was really good about praising me in ways that felt genuine, actually, though that made the times he /was/ upset with me all that much worse. My dad isn't perfect, and he's done some things and said some things that I'll never forgive, that I'll never be able to forget, but I would also do anything for him. I know he's there for me when I need it, I know he'll answer when I call, I know that he actually cares about me. He and maybe like two cousins are the only family I would never be able to cut off.

My mom... I guess it was just sort of the baseline bare minimum expectation that I would do things well, so when I /was/ praised it was just like... oh, good job sweetie! Proud of you! But it didn't feel... I don't know how to describe why but... I don't know. Now, when people tell me I do things well I always have that voice in my head that's like "they're just being nice, they don't actually think it's all that great, they expected you to do a much better job than this, actually, why did you even bother sharing? Why did you think this was something to be proud of?" I read way too far into things, interpreting neutral reactions, or even positive reactions that aren't as enthusiastic as I might have hoped for, as proof that people are simply being nice and don't really like what I do or make or say all that much. I always get stuck in this mindset that I'm not allowed to create mediocre content, like it all has to be Excellent or else it's Terrible.

I also remember in high school, posting some drawings on Facebook that I was really proud of. Two drawings, one with hands in chains and cut up and the other with healed hands glowing with holy light and cradling a cross. It was supposed to show the difference between life without God and life with God (I was... VERY religious as a teenager. I am now agnostic.), but she saw the first picture and freaked out, super pissed, yelling at me to take it down, to not embarrass her like that, because people were going to see that and think I was abused or depressed or something (haha... me? Depressed? Nahhhhh). And that was the moment when I knew I could never ever ever share anything even remotely dark with her, that if I ever were to express something that indicated I was anything other than good and happy and perfect then she would react similarly. She's also very judgemental regarding mental health, often made comments about how "people who are/do x are sick, there's just something wrong with them, make sure you stay away from people like that" while I'm sitting on the couch like... oof. That's me. So all my venting went to Tumblr where she couldn't see, and even now I mostly only vent on Tumblr and through writing. I have many wonderful friends that would gladly allow me to vent to them (I love you all so much I love you I love you I love you, thank you for being so kind), but I simply Cannot. I've had a friend before where it felt like all they did was complain, they were always so goddamn negative, and it became a chore to talk to them. I started to get angry every time they said or did something defeatist, I stopped enjoying talking or hanging out with them, and I refuse to be that person. Even if I'm told over and over that I don't come across that way, I'm so terrified of it that when I think about reaching out I start to think of that friend and about how I shouldn't bother people and I panic. Unless I've gotten to the point where I truly believe that nothing I do or say will ruin the friendship, then it's really hard to push through that fear. But that's so much harder than it used to be because I /did/ lose a friend that I thought I would have literally for the rest of my life, I was so 100% confident that we would be 80 years old still hanging out with each other and goofing around, so sure we could go through anything together and stay friends, I knew in my heart and soul that we would be friends until we died, and I was wrong. I was wrong. I also had a different friend who was always there for me, always praised me, always listened to me when I needed it and told me kind things and made sure I felt welcome and loved and viewed positively, and then he fucking assaulted me one night when he thought I was asleep.

Anyway. When I /did/ fail at things growing up, it was either punished more severely than necessary or straight up laughed at. Mom was very hot and cold, too, you could never tell what kind of mood she was going to be in that day. (She is still like this. It's well known in my family that you never know which version of her you're going to get.) Things are fine one moment and then suddenly I'm in trouble for something I didn't even realize I did wrong (like with the drawings), so I'm just. Terrified of not doing well enough at things, of disappointing people, of people being annoyed with me or upset with me over something I didn't even realize was rude or mean or wrong to begin with.

"Don't overstay your welcome; don't bother people" was pounded into my head. I can't express how often I start to say or type something and then think, "No one cares. Stop bothering people. You're being too much, you're being annoying, they're tired of you, just keep it to yourself." I'm working on it but. Yeah. Half the time I still just stop talking or backspace and stay quiet. Even typing this, I'm like... you should delete this. You're basically just begging for attention, and if anyone says anything about this to you then it'll only be because they felt obligated to and they're going to start seeing you as a whiny, pathetic, manipulative person, and they're going to get tired of you and roll their eyes every time you say anything, even if it's not you venting, or they'll see this and think about how stupid or weird it is for you to put this information out on the internet, and even this sentence right here is proof that they'd be right because you're aware of all these thoughts and you're still doing it.

But then another part of me thinks that if I can't even vent on my own blog on a post that literally no one is required to read that is also hidden under a readmore and clearly states that it's a vent post, then where /can/ I vent? And if someone else posted this, would I be this harsh on them? And what's so wrong with seeking attention and comfort? Why is that unforgivable in yourself but admirable in others? Why are you crying at work? Why aren't you doing your job? Why aren't you better? Why aren't you better?

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Hi can I ask if you still do request? If so can you do one where Marilyn x Reader smut fic but the entire prompt is inspired by taylors song of False God and dress.

Yesss, here it is!!! I wanted to write it in a different way, you know, from the reader's Pov. I hope you like it!!! Sorry about the language mistakes :)))

False Goddess

Pairing: Marilyn Thornhill x Fem, Teacher! Reader

Warnings: Smut, reader POV

Word count: 2,707

Summary: You love me, I know. I try to show you why they are all wrong…

 N/A: Requests are open!!! Sorry about the delays, I’m working hard on your requests. I love you all!!!

I feel how my hands start to shake going down the stairs. Today is the day, it is the night. So much time thinking about you as if you were something impossible, as if I could reach you. Today is the night of the Rave'n dance, but for me it is the night that I have been wanting for a long time.

I remember how you approached me, how you confessed that you wanted to try, but you couldn't. I asked everyone for advice, and no one thought it was a good idea. Everyone thinks they know me, know you. Everyone thinks that it’s impossible, that there are many obstacles that are impossible to overcome. Everyone is wrong, you are wrong.

You said it was impossible, difficult,  too risky. Crap. I see how you look at me, how your cheeks blush when you see me. You're lying to yourself, you're lying to me. Your eyes tell the truth, no matter how much you deny it.

You want me and I want you, but we are alone. “We're good friends, (Y/N), I wouldn't want to spoil it.” Shut up, Marilyn, you're only hurting yourself, just like me.

I could give up, I could resign myself to never having you, not kissing you, not touching you. That would be the easiest. I'm not like that, I never have been that way. I don't mind fighting for what I believe in, I don't mind fighting for you.

There I am, touring Nevermore, with my new dress, a white dress, which reflects the innocence of my actions. It’s just a filthy  lie. There is no innocence on my thoughts, only desire, only intentions that go far beyond that shy kiss that you gave me the day you said that it was impossible. Why did you do it then?

I know that you are good, that your heart does not harbor any evil. Maybe that's what you make me believe with your angel face, with your looks and smiles. Maybe you are a monster that comes to punish me for the things I think when I look at you, when I dream about you...

I arrive at the door, surrounded by teenagers who just want to enjoy the dance. There you are, also in a new dress. You look at me, I look at you. There is no rancor in your eyes, just a strange glow that betrays the lies that were in your words. I know you're lying to me, I know I'm not lying to you.

“Hello, (Y/N), You… You look stunning,” you tell me, stammering. I smile, I can't help it. Every time you speak to me, that you say my name, everything stops, as if time itself were the only one that believed in what was between us. It's just my imagination. You believe in the advice of others, you think that age is a problem. They just want to separate us. They are dead with envy. You believe them.

“Thanks, you too,” I say, feeling my stance falter. I want to tell you that nothing is coincidence.  My new dress has other purposes. A couple of songs and Yeti-Tinis, and I'll be brave enough to tell you.

The music evokes better times, when I was just a teenager. It hadn't been doing that for long, but it seemed like a century ago.

You approach smiling and offer me a dance. My hands shake again. Help me mom, dad. Help me because I'm lost.

I hate that you pretend there's nothing going on between us. You pretend that your words meant nothing to me. “You are very young” you dared to say. You lie, I know you lie.

“How about the room? It has been worth spending so much time decorating it, right?”  You ask me, as if you could only talk about stupid, banal things. You don't even look me in the eye. You're fooling yourself, but soon you'll stop doing that.

“Yes, it’s been amazing,” I said to you, whispering.

You Smile. Damn, stop smiling. I don't want you to smile at me. I want you to love me. I don't want to be your friend, I want to be something else, I want to see you in my bed, I want to engrave your name on the headboard, I want you to tell me the truth, I want to melt in your kisses.

The night continues. Pop songs full of suggestive meanings. You are sitting at a table, alone.

It's time, I can't wait any longer. I approach you, I sit next to you. You look at me again. You're tired, I know, but the night isn't over yet.

“Are you having a good time?” You ask,  you don’t care. You don't care about anything that happens to me. Unlike you, I'm going to go straight ahead, I'm going to make things clear.

“Yeah. I would like to talk to you, without this strident music,” I say. I could have planned it better, but there's no time. My body asks me to tell you, my hands are still shaking. Every time you get close they are tempted to touch you.

You nod completely sure. You trust me, How curious. I thought you would never believe my words.

We go together outside the dance. The academy is deserted. No one is around there. If I don't take advantage of that opportunity, I will never be able to do it. I stop. You look at me, raising your eyebrows.

“What's going on?” You ask. I think I see your hands shaking too. Maybe I'm just going crazy.

Sigh. Silence takes over the place. I can try to be patient, but I don't want to. I want to tell you everything I feel. I want you to not be able to run away this time.

“I'm tired of waiting, to be patient. I know you didn't mean those words. I want to try it, Marilyn, and I know you do too.”

“(Y/N)…” You mumble, trying to avoid my gaze, why are you doing that? Are you trying to hold back your real feelings?

“I don't want us to be friends,” I say, gaining courage. The tremor now runs through my entire body. You look at me with open eyes. I know you're trying to say something, but the words don't come out. Not even you are strong enough to deny the obvious.

“Me neither. But nobody thinks that…” You say. I am surprised. I thought you were going to tell me that it would never be possible. It's even worse.

“They don't know us. I want to love you, I want you to know that I would give my life for you,” I whisper, approaching you. You don't move, you don't back down.

“I…I…” You stutter. You are not able to move, to pretend that you are not interested in me. It was too long holding the desire. I feel your breath on my face. You close your eyes. Your lips perch on my cheeks, on my nose. My hands stop shaking and go to your waist.

“I have to confess something to you,” I tell you while your lips get closer to mine. You stop, looking at me scared. Don't be afraid, that's what had to happen. “I bought this dress only for you to take it off.”

You didn't answer, you just kissed me passionately. That statement was of no avail. I had already decided, I don't know if it was that night, or you couldn't sleep regretting not having done it sooner. I don't mind. Your kisses take me directly to heaven. Now I know how it feels, I don't have to die to know it.

Your hands go to my neck, to my waist, to my face.

You have no excuse. There was no alcohol at the party. You won't be able to tell me how drunk you were.

“I love you, (Y/N),” you confess.

“I love you, Marilyn,” I confess.

Confessions in the light of the November moon. Sorry it took too long to arrive.

You weren't going to stop, you didn't want to.

Between messy kisses, we walk towards my room. Desire dominates us, we are unable to walk two steps without pushing ourselves against the wall. You gasp, I gasp. No one will have the right to comment anymore.

I open the door as best I can, trying to enjoy the kisses you give to my neck. It is inevitable to feel that your lips dominate me. They have become my new gods. I adore them, I revere them, I desire them.

“Take it off me...” I ask, panting.

I wanted that dress off my body. That's why I had bought it. Your hands are skillful. They know where they have to go. Maybe all of you would be my new goddess.

You unzip me, while I play with your hips. I could kneel to worship you. You are everything I want, and you finally let your feelings to guide you.

My dress falls to the floor, and you, my false goddess, kiss my neck. I think for a moment about all the advice those stupid people gave me. Nobody wanted us to be there. There weren't the promised problems.

They didn't know you, they didn't know me.

“You're beautiful…” You whisper in my ear, while my bra falls to the floor next to the dress. I don't know what you think, but it turns me on to imagine that you adore me too. Your touch is so delicate, so soft. You treat me like I'm gonna break. You kiss me tenderly.

You are not desperate, you are in love. I wish I could say that I'm not dying to have you, that I want to do things slowly. I can't, it's been too long, wanting your hands on my body.

I dropped on the bed and you climb on top of me. I look at you and you look at me. They are looks of apology, of love. It is no longer worth asking for forgiveness, now you have to love me.

I reach for the zipper of your precious dress, did you also want me to take it off? You were never going to admit it. You are my goddess, you show it with your kisses on my chest. Don't worship me, I'll take care of it. It's like you heard my prayers. You caress me, you kiss me. I'm afraid you'll go. That the opinion of others goes through your head.

My underwear slips off my ankles and now I feel you more than ever. I feel you in me. You are soft, delicate, affectionate. I don't need your love, I need your flesh. I love you and you love me no matter how hard it's been.

I feel how your fingers run through my interior. I moan hungry, desperate. I caress you while you look for approval in my eyes. Don't ask me, just do it. I notice how you love me, how you make love to me. I don't want to stop feeling it. Losing you would be worse than hell for me. I don't want arguments, fights, I want my life to be a continuous Rave'n dance like this.

I can't resist the pleasure you're giving me. It's too much. I try to be strong but I can't. You are my goddess, my false goddess. You love me and I love you. I let myself be carried away by the sensations that you send to my body. I enjoy being right, not being wrong.

I burst out moaning out loud. As if he wanted everyone to know how wrong they were. I want them to look, to realize their mistake, their shitty advice. They are wrong, I was right.

I can not wait. I need to worship you. I turn you around and lay you on the bed. I hate your dress, it prevents me from seeing you, from feeling you the way I wanted. I just pull on it and it goes down on its own. You smile, you gasp. I hope you think the same as me. May it not be just a dream or a hobby for you. I want you to worship me the same way that I do. I love you, you love me. I worship you, you worship me. We worship each other.

I kiss your neck, I pull your hair. I have always been rebellious, blasphemous. I like to play with the gods, I like that they unleash their wrath on me. But you are not a goddess, you are a false goddess. I can play with you, I can push the limits of your common sense without falling into the perdition of eternal suffering. I could only go down to hell if I lost you. You were not going to allow it, you were not going to allow it.

I come between your legs and I bite my lip. You are much better than in my dreams. I can touch you, see you, smell you, taste you. Your moans tell me that you accept my offering, that you are satisfied with my way of worshiping you.

Idiot, if you had only given in to your feelings you could have enjoyed my devotion to you long ago. I don't care, I don't hold a grudge against you. I prefer to be in heaven, with you.

I kiss you in that forbidden place. I enjoy your movements, your hidden despair. I know you, not them, they don't know you. No one could ever know how to make you enjoy, not the way I do. Admiration is strong, but devotion is much stronger.

You are ambrosia, you are beautiful, delicate. You are more than I could dream of. Now I have you at my mercy, I lick you, I kiss you, I make you feel loved. I would stay forever between your legs. I need to have you. The surface is only the first step. My hands were shaking again. I am touching sacred territory and my body knows it.

My fingers slide inside you and you gasp in surprise, what are you surprised about, Marilyn? I am young, but an expert. I know what do you need and I'm here to give it to you. I move smoothly, focusing my senses on you. I am touching you and it gives you pleasure. How I wanted it. It was more pleasant than when you did it. Would you feel the same as me? Did you think it was worth fighting for? It was early to say.

You go crazy, you're excited and profanity comes out of your mouth, insults, something inappropriate for a goddess, that's why I know you're a fake one. You lose control, your composure, while my fingers play with your sex. I never said that I wanted a chaste and pure goddess. Maybe I don't believe in gods. You may be the devil. If so, hell would be my heaven.

You scream, loud. Do you also want them to know? I don't retire, I continue making love to you. I like to see you enjoy, I like to see you happy.

Our bodies came together, moving in unison. No one can separate me from you anymore. I feel your heat, you feel my heat. I don't hear you complain, I don't hear you reject me. You may have been playing me. But I am faithful, I have blind faith in you. I would let you trample on me without that I could have you in my bed every night, and wake up naked next to you, every morning.

The moans fade away, the looks arrive, Not even me, who love you, who adored you, know very well what to say.

“I've been an idiot, (Y/N),” you say, lowering your head. I don't want apologies, I want your kisses.

“Let's try it, Marilyn, let me show you that it can work,” I plead.

You nod. That is more than a simple gesture. You grant me your blessing. I promise to worship you always, redhead. I'll show the world why it can work.

I love you, my false goddess.