#I actually kinda like how it turned out though

[arcadia-smith]

I can fix you

Hockey AU Simon 'Ghost' Riley

Pairing: Hockey player Simon Riley x data analyst fem!Reader.

Summary: Tention rises as you try to improve his performance. Spoiler alert- he's not a fan at first.

Word count: 4,100 something.

Warnings: Light smut.

Note: I might be making more of this AU, because I am kinda back on the Hockey fanfics at the moment. (Might not really be Hockey accurate though.)

You weren’t supposed to be here.

Your job was simple: analyze the numbers, track player performance, and keep your head down. You were a data analyst, not a coach, not a player, and certainly not someone who should be arguing with Simon Riley in the middle of the rink.

But here you were.

"You skate like you're afraid of breaking something," you snapped, arms crossed against the biting cold of the arena.

Simon—Ghost, as he was known on the ice—tilted his head, eyes glinting under the shadow of his helmet. "And you talk like you know what you’re on about."

Your jaw clenched. The man was infuriating. He was also one of the best enforcers in the league, a defensive powerhouse with a reputation for being impossible to get past. He was ruthless, strategic, and, unfortunately, absolutely terrible at taking advice.

"Your speed's down this season," you said, stepping closer. "You're holding back."

Ghost huffed, a short, unimpressed sound. "And what? You think your little spreadsheets can tell me how to play?"

"Yes, actually," you shot back. "And if you weren’t so damn stubborn, you’d listen."

He smirked— just the barest hint of amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. It was almost worse than his usual blank stare because it meant he was enjoying this.

"Alright," he drawled, voice low and edged with challenge. "Show me."

Your pulse jumped. "What?"

"You think you know how to fix my skating? Prove it." He tapped his stick against the ice. "Get your skates on."

Your stomach dropped. It had been years since you'd been on the ice properly, but there was no backing down now. Not with Ghost watching.

And definitely not with the way his gaze lingered, like he already knew you were going to fall—and was waiting to catch you.

You weren’t sure what was worse—the fact that Simon Riley, had just called your bluff, or the fact that you were actually considering going through with it.

You stared up at him, his smirk carved into his face like he already knew you’d back down. Like he was daring you to try.

Shit.

"Fine," you said, your voice sharper than you felt. "But if I prove you’re holding back, you listen to me."

Ghost’s smirk deepened. "Deal."

Your skates cut into the ice as you glided forward, adjusting to the familiar but slightly awkward feeling of being back on your blades. It had been years, but muscle memory kicked in fast. You weren’t a pro, but you weren’t half-bad either.

Ghost skated a slow circle around you, watching. "Didn’t think you’d actually do it."

"You should stop underestimating me."

He let out a low chuckle, barely audible over the distant echo of a puck hitting the boards. "Alright then. Show me."

You took a breath, planting your stick against the ice. "You’ve been pulling up too early on your stops," you started. "You’re bleeding momentum before you need to, which slows you down in transitions."

Ghost raised an unimpressed brow. "Or maybe I just know how to control my movement so I don’t go crashing into people like a bloody wrecking ball."

"That’s literally your job, though."

He grunted, but didn't deny it.

"Watch," you said, skating ahead.

You picked up speed, your movements steady but aggressive, before shifting your weight and digging your blades into the ice. You came to a clean, sharp stop, sending a spray of ice in Ghost’s direction.

His mask did nothing to hide the way his eyes flickered with something unreadable.

"Now, your turn Ghost." You said, turning your attention to him, while trying to catch a breath and don't make it too obvious. His stance was wide, solid, but you could see where he hesitated just a fraction of a second before his stops, just enough to take the edge off his speed.

"You're compensating for something," you said, "Left knee?"

Ghost’s expression darkened.

Bingo.

"Not injured," he muttered. "Just... old habits."

You skated closer, your fingers flexing around your stick. "You trust me yet?"

He just watched you, his jaw tight, something unreadable behind his gaze.

"You always this stubborn?" he finally asked.

You smirked. "You always this difficult?"

Ghost exhaled through his nose, like he wanted to be annoyed but couldn’t quite get there. "You’re trouble," he muttered.

You weren’t sure if it was the cold or the way Ghost was looking at you that made your pulse pick up speed.

"Alright," he muttered after a long pause. "Say you’re right—say I’m slowing down."

"You are."

His eyes narrowed. "Then fix it."

That caught you off guard. You blinked up at him, breath still coming a little faster from skating. "You actually want my help now?"

He exhaled sharply, like he wasn’t quite ready to admit it. "You’re a pain in the ass, but you’re not wrong."

Coming from him, that was the closest thing to a glowing endorsement.

"Alright," you said, shifting your grip on your stick. "We’ll start with edgework. If you can get more confidence on tight turns, you won’t instinctively brace as much."

Ghost made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a scoff. "I don’t brace."

You tilted your head, letting your smirk show. "Then you won’t mind proving it."

Something flickered behind his gaze and suddenly he was moving—fast. Before you could react, he cut a tight circle around you, his skates carving clean, efficient arcs into the ice. He was controlled, powerful, and when he stopped—right in front of you—the spray of ice nearly hit your face.

You stumbled back half a step, startled.

Ghost caught your wrist before you could fall.

The contact was brief but solid, his glove warm against your sleeve, his grip unyielding. You inhaled sharply, eyes snapping up to his.

He was too close. Close enough that you could see the way his breath misted in the cold air, close enough that you could catch the faintest hint of something—cologne, sweat, a lingering sharpness of the rink.

His fingers flexed around your wrist before he let go.

"You alright?" he asked, voice lower than before.

You swallowed. "Yeah."

Liar.

His head tilted just slightly, like he could see right through you. Like he knew exactly what effect he had.

Then, as quickly as it happened, he skated back.

"Try to keep up, then," he said, his smirk making a slow return.

Your pulse was still racing by the time practice ended. You weren’t sure if it was from the skating or the way Ghost had looked at you when he let go of your wrist.

You tried to shake it off as you made your way through the tunnel, past the locker rooms. The team had filed in already, and the distant sounds of showers running, sticks clattering, and voices arguing over game footage filled the air.

You weren’t supposed to be in here. But you also weren’t supposed to be coaching one of the most stubborn players in the league, so at this point, what was one more bad decision?

Ghost’s locker was near the back, separate from the others. He wasn’t one to linger, always the first to leave after, rarely talking unless absolutely necessary. But tonight, he was still there, taping up his stick with slow, methodical movements.

He didn’t look up when he spoke. "You lost?"

You crossed your arms. "I don’t get lost."

Ghost huffed out something that could have been a laugh. "Right."

The air in the room was warm from the showers, a stark contrast to the cold rink. You ignored the heat creeping up your neck as you leaned against the wall. "You were faster by the end of practice."

He didn’t respond, just tore another strip of tape and smoothed it over the blade of his stick.

"You gonna pretend that wasn’t because of me?" you pushed.

Ghost finally glanced up, his gaze unreadable. "You want me to say thanks?"

You shrugged. "Would be nice."

He made a low sound, somewhere between amusement and disbelief. "Don’t hold your breath."

You rolled your eyes, pushing off the wall. "You really are impossible."

"Yet you keep coming back."

Your steps faltered for half a second. It wasn’t just what he said—it was how he said it. Like he knew something you didn’t. Like maybe, just maybe, you weren’t the only one feeling the pull between you.

You opened your mouth, ready to argue, ready to shut it down before it could turn into something more. But before you could speak, another voice called out.

"Oi, Riley! You done brooding, or what?"

You turned just in time to see Johnny MacTavish rounding the corner, towel slung over his shoulder, still damp from the showers. His gaze flicked between you and Ghost, brows raising slightly at the tension in the air.

Ghost sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah. I’m coming."

Soap smirked, clearly picking up on something. "Didn’t mean to interrupt."

You felt your face heat. "You weren’t."

"Sure, sure," he said, grinning like he absolutely didn’t believe you. "See you ‘round, then."

He clapped Ghost on the shoulder before heading out, leaving you standing there, still caught in the moment you weren’t sure how to walk away from.

Ghost exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. "You really that determined to fix me?"

Your stomach twisted. "I don’t think you’re broken, Riley."

Something flickered in his eyes—something quick, unreadable. Then, just as fast, it was gone.

"Get out of here," he muttered, reaching for his duffel. "Before you start thinking I might actually listen to you."

You smirked, stepping back toward the exit. "Too late."

You told yourself you weren’t thinking about him.

You told yourself you weren’t replaying that moment in the locker room—the way Ghost had looked at you, the way his voice had dipped just enough to make your breath hitch.

You told yourself a lot of things.

But then the road trip happened.

The team bus was packed with gear, exhausted players, and the hum of pre-game tension. You had claimed a seat toward the middle, laptop open, reviewing analytics for the match against Dallas.

You were not paying attention to the man sitting across the aisle.

Ghost had his hood up, arms crossed, a pair of headphones resting around his neck. He wasn’t asleep, but he also wasn’t acknowledging anyone—classic Ghost behavior.

You tried to focus on your work. You really did. But then Soap, sitting in the seat behind you, leaned forward with a shit-eating grin.

"So," he said, voice low enough to not attract too much attention. "You and Riley, huh?"

You kept your eyes on your screen, fingers stilling over your keyboard. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Soap chuckled. "Aye, sure you don’t. Just sayin'—never seen him listen to anyone the way he listens to you."

Your lips pressed into a thin line. "He doesn’t listen to me."

"Noticed he’s stoppin’ cleaner, though," Soap mused. "Movin’ faster. That’s you, yeah?"

You didn’t answer.

"Relax," Soap said, clapping your shoulder before leaning back. "Just don’t break his heart, alright?"

Soap just laughed, shaking his head like he knew something you didn’t.

And across the aisle, Ghost’s fingers tapped once against his knee—just once, barely noticeable. But you saw it.

Like maybe he’d heard everything.

The game had been brutal. Hard hits, dirty plays, and a one-goal lead that had come down to the final seconds.

Ghost had been a force, shutting down every attempt on net, getting under the other team’s skin until fists started flying. You weren’t sure if it was the strategy sessions or the sheer stubbornness, but he’d been faster tonight. More aggressive.

More himself.

The team was celebrating in the hotel bar, but you weren’t drinking. You were tucked into a booth in the corner, reviewing the game footage. You were so focused you didn’t notice him until he sat down across from you.

"You’re avoiding me," Ghost muttered.

You looked up, caught off guard. "I’m working."

He huffed, shaking his head. "Bullshit."

You tensed. "What’s your problem?"

Ghost leaned forward, forearms braced on the table. "You got in my head."

Your breath caught. "What?"

"You heard me." His gaze was heavy, unreadable. "Every time I skated, every time I stopped, I heard your voice. You sure you’re not tryin’ to fix me?"

Your mouth felt dry. "I told you. You’re not broken."

Ghost exhaled slowly, like he wasn’t sure what to do with that.

And then, before you could stop yourself, you said it, "You were better tonight."

His fingers curled into fists on the table. His jaw tightened, like he was fighting something back.

Then, without a word, he stood up.

The hotel was quiet.

Most of the team was still downstairs celebrating, but you had slipped away, the weight of the game and whatever the hell was happening with Ghost pressing down on you.

You told yourself you were just tired. That you weren’t replaying the way he looked at you in the bar, like you had gotten under his skin in a way he hadn’t expected.

But then—a knock at your door.

Your stomach flipped.

You already knew who it was.

You took a slow breath before opening the door.

Ghost stood there, still in his hoodie, hands shoved into his pockets. His mask was gone, leaving his face shadowed in the dim hallway light. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes—God, his eyes.

You swallowed. "Ghost—"

"Simon," he interrupted.

You blinked. "What?"

His jaw clenched, "Call me Simon."

He never let people use his real name. Not teammates, not coaches, no one.

And yet, here he was, standing in your doorway, demanding it from you.

You felt lightheaded. "Simon."

His eyes darkened.

Then, suddenly, he was inside.

You barely had time to step back before he pushed the door shut behind him, crowding into your space. You should have been nervous—he was so close, his presence so overwhelming—but you weren’t.

"You got in my head," he muttered. "You’re still in my head."

Your breath hitched. "Simon—"

"You’re pissin’ me off," he growled. "But I—" He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "I can’t stop thinkin’ about you."

The words hit you like a body check against the boards.

"What do you want me to say?"

His eyes flickered down to your lips.

"Tell me I’m not losin’ my mind," he muttered.

You swallowed hard. "You’re not."

Something snapped.

Then—his mouth was on yours.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t careful. It was desperate, all sharp edges and frustration, like he had been holding back for too damn long and finally let himself break.

You gasped against him, but he didn’t let you pull away. His hands braced against the door, caging you in as he kissed you like he had been waiting for this since the moment you first challenged him on the ice.

You didn’t know who moved first, but suddenly your hands were in his hoodie, grabbing at the fabric, pulling him closer.

Simon groaned—actually groaned—into your mouth, pressing harder, like he was trying to prove something. Like he was trying to make sure you knew this wasn’t just a mistake.

Like he was staking his claim.

And God help you—you let him.

Simon kissed like he played—hard, relentless, and with no intention of letting you walk away unscathed.

His mouth slanted over yours, demanding, pushing, devouring. His hands, huge and impossibly steady, bracketed your face, fingers threading into your hair as he backed you up against the hotel door.

You should have slowed down. You should have stopped. But the way he kissed you—rough and unyielding, like he had been starving for this—made it impossible to think about anything but more.

A gasp slipped from your lips as he moved lower, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down your jaw. His breath was ragged, his stubble scraping against your skin as he pressed against you, all muscle, all heat, all Simon.

"You have no idea," he murmured against your throat, "how long I’ve wanted to do this."

Your legs nearly gave out.

But Simon was already there, catching you, pressing you against the door like he didn’t trust himself not to tear you apart right there.

"Bed," you managed to whisper, you grabbed his hoodie and yanked it over his head.

His shirt went next, and—fuck.

You had known he was built—obviously—but seeing him like this, bare, scarred, solid, was something else entirely.

Simon didn’t give you long to stare. He was already on you again, kissing you deeper, rougher, guiding you backward until your legs hit the bed.

Then—you were falling.

Simon followed, his body covering yours, heat pressing into you, his hands already working your clothes off. Every inch of skin he revealed, he touched. Every inch of you, he claimed.

You weren’t sure who moaned first when he finally got you bare beneath him, but it didn’t matter.

"You sure about this?" he rasped, voice strained, like he was holding onto the last thread of his control.

You pulled him down, lips brushing against his.

"Shut up and fuck me, Riley."

His control snapped.

Simon wasted no time. One hand gripped your hip, the other slid between your legs, finding you soaking, ready, desperate for him.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered, nearly losing it right then and there. "Look at you."

Your back arched as he teased you, dragging his fingers through your slick, his breath hot against your ear.

"You want me?" he rasped, pressing against your entrance but not quite giving you what you needed.

"Simon," you gasped, nails digging into his arms.

"Say it," he demanded, voice low and dangerous, like he needed to hear it just as bad as you needed him.

Your head fell back against the pillows. "I want you."

That was all he needed.

In one smooth, powerful thrust, Simon buried himself inside you.

You cried out, legs wrapping around his waist, nails scraping down his back as he stretched you, filled you, ruined you.

"Fuck," he groaned, forehead dropping to yours, fighting for control as your body squeezed around him.

But you didn’t want control.

You wanted him raw, reckless, gone.

"Move," you whispered.

Simon set a brutal pace, his hips snapping into yours, taking you apart one deep thrust at a time. Every movement, every sound, every ounce of tension that had been building between you for weeks, months, longer than either of you wanted to admit—it all exploded into this moment.

He fucked you like he played—ruthless, unstoppable, and completely, devastatingly yours.

"Mine," he growled against your throat, his hands gripping your hips so tight you knew there would be bruises.

You barely managed to gasp out, "Yours."

His rhythm stuttered, his breath came ragged, and his hands pinned you down as he chased his high—dragging you with him.

And when you shattered—when pleasure tore through you so hard you thought you might break—Simon was right there with you, cursing, groaning, burying himself deep as he spilled inside you.

For a long moment, neither of you moved.

Your chest heaved, your body still trembling, every nerve burned raw from him.

Simon stayed inside you, his forehead pressed to yours, his breath hot and uneven.

"You," he finally muttered, voice hoarse, "are the biggest fucking mistake I’ve ever made."

You swallowed, trying to steady yourself.

"But?" you whispered.

His fingers brushed over your jaw, his lips ghosting against your temple.

"But I’m not sure I give a shit anymore."

You were fucked.

Not just because you had let Simon Riley break you apart in a hotel room last night—more than once. Not just because you could still feel the ache between your legs from the way he had taken you like he had something to prove.

But because now, by the ice at morning skate, you couldn’t stop looking at him.

And worse—he was looking at you, too.

It had started the moment you walked onto the rink.

Simon was already there, stretching near the bench, looking every bit the same as always—broad, unreadable, perfectly in control.

Except he wasn’t.

Because the second you walked in, his eyes snapped to you.

It wasn’t obvious. Not to anyone else. But you felt it.

And then—he smirked.

Smirked.

The bastard knew exactly what he was doing, standing there like he wasn’t the reason your entire body was still on fire from last night.

You clenched your jaw, forcing yourself to focus, forcing yourself to act like nothing had happened. But it was impossible. Because every time he moved, every time his voice rumbled across the ice, you remembered.

You remembered the weight of him, the way he had growled your name, the way he had—

"Hey data girl."

Simon had skated right up to you, stopping by the boards, just close enough that you felt the heat radiating off him. His face was unreadable, but his eyes weren’t.

You swallowed hard. "Riley."

His lips twitched. "You look tense."

Oh, this fucker.

"Stretching helps," he murmured, low enough that only you could hear. "Wouldn’t want you getting all stiff."

Your brain short-circuited. Last night. His hands. His mouth.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

You forced a neutral expression. "You here to skate or run your mouth?"

Simon’s smirk deepened.

"Both."

Fucker.

You should have expected it.

Simon had always played hard, but today—he was on a mission.

And apparently, that mission involved driving you insane.

Every time he came near the bench, he would stop just close enough to make you notice. He’d glance at you, barely smirking, his gaze dark and knowing.

But the worst part?

He was playing better than ever.

Faster. Sharper. Completely in control—unlike you.

And then—the hit happened.

It was mid-scrimmage, a full-contact drill, but when Simon slammed an opposing player (who, by the way, was trying to hit you up before the game) into the boards with enough force to shake the glass, you knew.

That wasn’t just a hit. That was territorial.

The other player groaned, shoving at Simon's chest. "Jesus, Riley, calm the fuck down."

But Simon barely acknowledged him. He was already skating away—backward.

Looking at you.

Only you.

And you knew, without a doubt, that the hit had nothing to do with the play and everything to do with last night.

Your grip on the boards tightened. Fucker.

The second the final whistle blew, you were already moving.

You didn’t wait for the team to clear the ice. Didn’t wait for the knowing glances from Soap, or the way Simon had skated past you one last time with that same infuriating, cocky smirk.

You just walked.

Straight to the locker room.

You barely had a second to catch your breath before he was there.

Simon stepped inside, shutting the door behind him, his skates slung over one shoulder.

You spun to face him, still fuming. "What the hell was that?"

His expression was maddeningly blank. "What was what?"

Oh, you wanted to hit him.

"The hit," you snapped, crossing your arms. "The staring. The smirking. The—"

"The fucking?" he interrupted, tilting his head.

You froze.

Your pulse skipped.

And he knew it.

"Careful, love," he murmured, stepping closer, invading your space like he had every right to be there. "People might start to think you actually enjoyed yourself last night."

Your jaw clenched. "You’re an asshole."

Simon hummed, reaching past you to set his skates down on the bench. The movement brought him so close you had to fight the urge to back up.

Or worse—to close the distance yourself.

"You’re not mad about the hit," he muttered, voice dropping. "You’re mad because this time I got in your head."

He was right.

And he knew it.

You squared your shoulders. "I’m mad because you can’t keep your shit together on the ice."

His gaze darkened.

"Can’t keep my shit together?" he repeated, stepping even closer. "Right. Because you weren’t in the stands, watchin’ me. Because you weren’t picturing my hands on you the whole time."

You hated that he was right.

But you hated even more that your body betrayed you.

Your breath came quicker. Your pulse pounded. And Simon—fucking Simon—just smirked.

"You liked it," he murmured.

You swallowed hard. "Shut up, Simon."

His eyes flickered. Something changed.

"Say it again."

You frowned. "What?"

"My name." His voice was rough. Low. "Say it again." his fingers were flexing at his sides like he was seconds away from grabbing you.

And God help you—you wanted him to.

But not here. Not like this.

So you did the only thing you could.

You took a slow breath, tilted your chin up, and said—

"Try to keep up, Simon."

Then you turned, pushing the door open, leaving him standing there.

Breathing hard.

Watching you go.

And if you weren’t mistaken—

Smirking.

[digitalsymbiote]

What makes a Mech a Mech?

Now you might think it's the shape: Humanoid, bipedal, articulated limbs. And once upon a time that might have been the case. These days those machines are a lot more diverse though, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; you got quadrupeds, winged mechs, hell sometimes ones that don't got any arms or legs at all.

No, what makes a Mech a Mech, is the Neural Link.

Mechs are unique in the way that their pilots get wired into them. They plug their brain into a machine and they become that machine.

Y'see that's why so many of the early models were so standardized, modeled after our own anatomy and musculature. Back when the tech was first being developed, the test pool was pretty limited. All military types, foot soldiers and the like. Those folks tend to have something of a limited imagination, creativity and individuality gets beaten out of 'em until they conform to the template of what the military wants 'em to be.

Which means they aren't all that great at imaginin' their body as anythin' other than what it is.

So all those early prototypes had to conform to that. If they wanted a pilot to have a decent enough Link Aptitude, they needed Mechs that the pilots could see themselves as. Folks were already used to havin' two arms and two legs, replacin' 'em with metal instead of flesh was a short enough leap that those folks could handle it.

But y'see then they started expandin' the applicant pool; researchers and developers moved outside the military in search of folks with higher Link Aptitude. And they found that humanity is a lot more diverse than that template the military beats into its soldiers. Turns out folks can be a lot more creative with their body map. Not everybody fits into that standardized definition of what humanity is.

They were lookin' in the completely wrong place with the military, turns out. Conformity is all well and good when you're trynna rush somethin' off the assembly line, but when you're trynna really push the limits of what's possible? Well you gotta get a bit more creative with it.

That's why you don't usually see the jugheads piloting mechs anymore. They ain't as good with all the fanciness companies are packin' into them these days. Now y'know who is good with all of that? Queer folks. Transgender folks especially. Turns out growin' up in the wrong body and learnin' to deal with that makes you real good at dissociatin' and messin' with your body map. Makes it a lot easier to trick your brain into thinkin' some weird part of this metal colossus is actually part of your body now.

Once they sorted that out, synchronicity rates skyrocketed. Led to a lot of other good things too. Y'see suddenly Queer and Trans folks were prime candidates for bein' pilots, corpos needed 'em. Which meant they had to make it safe enough for folks to be those things, or at least enough to admit it to the recruiters. Kinda funny thinkin' back, that that was what tipped the scales, but I suppose you can always trust corpos to do what corpos do.

But anyway, that's why so many Mechs are custom made to their pilots nowadays. That's why they craft the IMPs alongside the pilots through basic training. You gotta build a system that'll fit the pilot's body map, and ideally one that'll make the most of it.

If that pilot's more comfortable with a tail? Give that Mech a tail. Digitigrade legs? Quadrupedal? Fuck it, if it works for the pilot, throw that shit on there. Y'see ultimately, through the Neural Link, all you gotta be able to do is trick your brain into thinkin' that Mech is your body, and then it's off to the races.

And that moment, when your mind slips into that metal monstrosity and suddenly you feel more at home than you ever did in your own flesh and blood? That's what pilots live and die for. That's how you know the engineers did a good job.

And that's what makes a Mech a Mech.

[himbosandhardwear]

Two Truths I 1.3k I NSFW-ish

“How'd you get it to stay?”

“Soldered it into one solid piece,” he brags, cigarette caught in the corner of his smile.

“You're insane. I can't believe that was you the whole time.”

“It was Ronnie's idea, I just made it happen.” He taps his cigarette out in the crystal ashtray balanced on his knee. His legs are spread open, so Steve can reach the ashtray if he needs to. “I thought he looked very metropolitan with an earring. Chic even.”

Yeah, the gold hoop earring in the mascot tiger costume was ultra modern. Steve rolls his eyes but doesn't argue. He doesn't give a shit about defending a stupid High School mascot over a harmless prank from five years ago. Eddie's antics are a thousand times more entertaining than any of his stupid basketball stories.

“You know what game you'd kill at?”

“Monopoly? Dog! I called it, you can't have it, I'm always the dog!” He nearly dumps the ashtray in his excitement.

“No, shut up. I'm the car anyway, duh. I was gonna say, Two Truths and a Lie. That's your game.”

“Hmm, never played.” He rolls his head around the back of the couch, his haphazard bun goes even looser. “Is it a drinking game?”

“Doesn't have to be. Just a guessing game really. You just say two things that are true and one lie and the other person has to guess which one is the lie. But it can't be like, ‘I have brown eyes, I have brown hair, in 1983 I helped defeat a monster from an alternate dimension.’”

“You have hazel eyes.”

Steve blinks for a second. “Yeah. But anyway, it has to be less obvious, is what I'm saying.”

“Got it. So, like, okay… My dad is in the penn for Grand Larceny, Wayne's only confirmed kill in ‘Nam was a poor defenceless monkey, and my favorite subject in school was Home-Ec.”

“Shit. I don't know if I want the monkey thing to be true or not.”

Eddie's dimples make an appearance. “My favorite was Theater. Home-Ec was a close second though. I made a pillow and used it to sleep through Algebra.”

Steve cracks a laugh. “Yeah, that tracks.” Okay, his turn. His life suddenly seems boring in comparison, even with all the shit he's been through. He used to be good at this game but he's kinda set himself up for failure here against Eddie.

“Dying of boredom…”

“Shut up! Okay, how about this… My paternal grandparents were from Scotland, I have a B.B. permanently lodged in my ankle, and my first three-way was with Tommy and Carol.”

Eddie chokes on air, making Steve laugh in delight.

Once he's got his breath, he looks at Steve in suspicion. “I'm gonna assume you didn't actually get close to Hagan's freckled weiner.”

Steve's grin feels mean, like whenever Tommy said something particularly scathing to some anonymous Freshman. “B.B. is stuck in my thigh actually.” He pulls his shorts up enough to show him the white scar.

God, the look on Eddie's face - perfectly, comically shocked, mouth open, eyes white around the iris - makes him feel so good, to have something like that up his sleeve, something to shock the wildest guy Steve knows.

“You're gonna catch flies like that,” he says, smug. “It's your turn.”

Eddie snaps his mouth shut, teeth clacking audibly. “Fine. Let's see,” he taps his finger against his chin, “raising the stakes…” He slips Steve a look, conveying his playful scheming. “I've had sex at school, I've had sex at the Hideout, I've had sex at your house.”

His immediate instinct is to call bullshit at Eddie fucking here, because when exactly would he have accomplished it, but then he remembers who provided the favors at most of his parties and he hesitates. Eddie watches Steve go through this realization, watches with a smugness that he wants to wipe off.

“It had better have been on my parents bed,” he concedes.

“Laundry room actually.”

“I hate you.” He crosses his arms and pouts, nearly asks who with but he's not sure he wants to know. “So which one was the lie?”

“School. Obviously. My dick couldn't get hard there even if I wanted it to.”

Memories of sitting in class surface, trying desperately to hide his boner, but he's not gonna admit it. Even though he's certain Eddie had the same problem at least once. It’s basically a rite of passage for dudes.

“My turn, you absolute freak.” Now what does he admit to to top getting it on with some mystery person on his parents dryer? “Hmm… I put actual notches on my bedpost, I've got a pair of girl's panties stashed in my underwear drawer, I used to jerk off with Tommy when we were younger.”

“Okay, now I know you're fucking with me,” Eddie exclaims, arms flailing.

“Which one, Munson? Take your pick.”

Eddie continues to stare, which is a bit nerve wracking but Steve maintains his composure. He's 99% sure Eddie is gay, and therefore won't judge him on this, but there's always that small chance Steve is wrong and this whole thing goes sideways. Three-way with Tommy? Could be a drunken mistake. Teenage jerk off sessions? It happens, no big deal. But both? At one point in Steve's life he'd been able to write off both as normal but Robin had put the writing back on the wall, so to speak.

“That's why he said he didn't want your sloppy seconds,” Eddie mumbles.

Steve blanches. “Who?”

“B- Nobody.”

No fucking way. No. Fucking. Way.

“Eddie. Did you fuck Billy Hargrove in my laundry room?” His voice is eerily calm.

“No.”

Steve waits a beat. “Did Billy Hargrove fuck you in my laundry room?”

“.......no.”

“Your turn,” he growls.

“Wait, which one was the lie?”

He crosses his arms, still pissed off beyond belief. “I don't put notches on my bedpost, that's tacky.”

“On the belt then?” He tries to snark but it falls flat. Steve just stares until he looks away. “Fine. Let me think.”

If he admits to fucking Billy, Steve doesn't know what he's gonna do. The very idea of it makes him want to tear his hair out.

“I over-charged you on weed for years, Gareth is mean to you because he has a crush, I'm sorry I gave Hargrove head in your laundry room.”

Steve gets up and leaves the room. Eddie doesn't call him back. He stomps all the way to the kitchen, yanks the fridge open, grabs another beer, and chugs the entire thing standing there with the door open. When he gets back, Eddie is standing in the middle of the room, awkwardly shuffling like he wants to leave.

“Sit,” Steve barks, “we're not done here.”

Eddie complies but with a stiffness that reads like he may bolt at a moment's notice.

“I fucking know you over-charged me for the weed so I have to assume Gareth does not, in fact, have a crush on me.”

Eddie nods, sheepish. “Hates you for the usual reasons.”

“Right.” The important takeaway here shouldn't be that Eddie had sex with Steve's arch nemesis, it's that he's admitting to being queer. Good. He stares at the side of Eddie's head. “I was straight, I am bisexual, I have bad hair days.”

He watches as Eddie's entire body rotates around to stare directly into Steve's soul. His tongue makes an appearance, wetting his lips.

“I am gay, I am very gay, I am the most gay anyone has ever been.”

That's comical. “No, the most gay anyone has ever been was Robin when she left the room during that scene in The Hunger.”

Eddie matches Steve's smirk. “Correct.”

“I want to kiss you, I want to make you forget Billy Hargrove’s name…..I have brown eyes.”

Eddie's grin rivals that of his grand theft auto exuberance. “Your eyes are hazel.”

“Correct.”

“I am going to kiss you, Billy Who, and…oh, who gives a shit.” He tackles Steve into the arm of the couch.

They don't make it to the laundry room but there's always tomorrow.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

I would like to humbly request any Genshin Pyro ladies of your choice warming up their S/O with their Visions.

(Genshin Impact) Amber, Xinyan, Dehya, Hu Tao, Yoimiya warming their S/O with their Vision

Amber knows how to warm S/O up!

She lights one of her arrows on fire light the fireplace, smiling proudly at herself.

(Amber) "Hah! I knew I should've tried that a long time ago!"

S/O chuckled, moving their seat closer as they turned to Amber.

(S/O) "You mean this is the first time you've tried it?"

(Amber) "My Vision keeps me warm usually, so I've never really had a need to!"

(S/O) "...Fair point."

Amber sat with S/O, snuggling closer to them, her smile growing bigger.

(S/O) "Thank you dear.~"

(Amber) "Hehe...! Want me to make you a baron bunny blanket?"

(S/O) "As long as it doesn't explode...wait, can you make something like that explode?"

(Amber) "I...dunno, actually. Hm, that sounds kinda cool!"

Xinyan's first move was to grab an extra blanket for S/O, like a normal person.

Until S/O spoke up.

(S/O) "Wait...can you use your vision to make it a little warmer?"

(Xinyan) "My visi-?...Now, why in the heck would I use my vision to warm ya up when I could just getcha 'nother layer?"

(S/O) "So you don't have to get up...!"

(Xinyan) "...Ya just wanna see if yer idea works, don'tcha?"

(S/O) "Would you say no if I said yes?"

Xinyan sighs and decides to tap into it, ever so slightly so she doesn't burn S/O and the rest of the house down.

And much to her own surprise, the warmth emanating from her body worked like a charm for S/O.

(Xinyan) "Well, I guess if it ain't dumb if it works..."

(S/O) "Hey, what better way to sleep off the cold with my very hot girlfriend?"

(Xinyan) "Did ya go the trouble of asking me just to make that dang pun?!"

Dehya wasn't surprised S/O was cold. Nights in the desert was unforgivingly frigid.

Even inside their tent and sleeping bags, S/O was shivering. Dehya meanwhile was relatively fine, surprising given the lack of clothes she normally wears.

Then again, she was used to this by now.

So, she scooted closer to S/O and used her vision to warm the tent up subtly, smiling once she saw their shivering stop.

(Dehya) "Much better, huh?"

She knew they couldn't hear her, so Dehya just kisses their cheek and rolls onto her back, smiling and falling asleep.

Dehya never thought her Vision could help with something so small, but now she was glad more than ever to have it.

Hu Tao just wants to give S/O a heart attack by shooting out a sudden flame.

(Hu Tao) "Cold? No you're not!-"

S/O yelps once a small flame shoots past them and onto the candle.

(S/O) "What the heck are you doing?! We're inside!"

(Hu Tao) "I know! That's why I did it!"

S/O sighed, shaking their head while Hu Tao simply laughed.

(S/O) "I swear...-"

(Hu Tao) "I'm not hearing a thank you, S/O!"

(S/O) "I'll thank you to not burn the house down, Hu Tao."

(Hu Tao) "Your welcome, I can do it any time!"

(S/O) sigh

Yoimiya used her Vision to light up her fireworks all the time!

But she never really thought about it using it like a heater at night, though that was mostly due to Inazuma's climate in general.

S/O was cold, them hogging the blanket being a telltale sign.

And so, Yoimiya knew what to do!

She closed her eyes and focused the power from her vision-

Accidentally setting off a firework that was outside rocketing into the sky and startling them both awake.

The power was a little too intense it seemed.

(S/O) "W-WHA?!...Ugh, Yoimiya...!-"

(Yoimiya) "H-Hey! I swear this time it wasn't on purpose! I just wanted to get you a little warmer!"

(S/O) "It's appreciated sweetie but...I thought you got all the fireworks put away."

(Yoimiya) "I...hah, guess I didn't...?"

S/O just rolled over and hugged Yoimiya tighter, a tired chuckle escaping their lips.

(S/O) "I think this can warm me up too."

(Yoimiya) "Hm...Yeah, I think I like this better too..."

Next time, she was triple check if there was anything outside that could be lit and prevent it from ruining her romantic moment!

[h8aaz]

❝ 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 .ᐟ ❞

SUMMARY .ᐟ . . . you and hughie are left to watch over soldier boy in the motel. while the three of you are watching tv, an old ad from when you worked at vought comes on and the song you sing in it is immediately recognized.

WARNINGS .ᐟ . . . slightly angry ben . ex-supe + fem!reader . powers + name are never given . swearing bc DUH . hughie lowkey kinda fangirling . kinda a song fic but also not really ? also a soldier boy x reader fic but not really ?

GABS YAPS .ᐟ . . . based on the soldier boy performance of rapture by blondie. thought of this while listening to the song bc i have sb brainrot. likes, comments, + reblogs are very appreciated!!

you sat on one of the beds in the motel room while soldier boy sat on the other and hughie on the couch. the tv across the room began to play a commercial, your commercial. and soldier boy recognized the beginning of the background tune.

his eyes widened when you appeared on the screen, advertising some beauty products vought had forcefully plastered your face and supe name onto. he slowly turned his head to you, brows furrowed and nostrils flared. "you did rapture?"

you heard the slight annoyance and anger in his voice, making your eyes pop open as you did the same slow turn to him. "uh...y-yeah?" your voice broke into a higher octave at the end.

he scoffed and shook his head turning back to the tv. you shared a look with hughie across the room, both of you shrugging and wincing at the angry huff ben let out. "they'll give the rights of that shitty song to anyone, huh?" he sneered at the screen.

"it's not shitty. it's actually pretty good." you defended the song, hughie nodding in agreement with a small 'yeah'. ben gave you the dirtiest look known to man. "you're fucking kidding, right? rapture. by BLONDIE. is 'pretty good'? what the fuck does that even mean? if it means it's complete ass and you're being nice, then yeah, i guess i agree with you."

"it's not ass!" you exclaimed, sitting up straighter to face him. "the song did well for a reason. plus, you kinda boosted it's streams or...whatever you called it back then when you performed it." hughie joined in while pointing at ben, who rolled his eyes.

"of course i fucking did, because i did it better than them." ben said before taking a sip of his drink. "oh, you did NOT do it better than them!" you practically laughed. "yeah, dude. maybe it was good then, but you've been shown up." hughie then pointed to you, "and she actually got blondie in the commercial next to her."

you nodded, "yup! yes, THANK YOU, HUGHIE!" you gestured to the slightly younger man. "did you actually sing or whatever in it?" ben asked. "indeed i did. and people loved it, loved me. but of course there were these old ass bitches who probably got fucked by you once saying yours from 'back in the day' was better." you grumbled the last part.

"but the ratings and amount of products people bought settled that debate." hughie added before ben could try and spin your words to inflate his own ego. "although i think everyone agreed that a skincare and makeup line didn't call for all of this, let alone a cover." he gestured to the tv, where the whole collection was being shown with outrageous graphics that reminded you of how much you wanted to throw up when seeing it for the first time; not like that feeling hasn't changed from then to now.

"yeah, this looks fuckin' terrible." ben commented. "did that shit even work?" he asked while gesturing to his face with a look of pure disgust. you shrugged in response, "i actually don't know, but it's all made by vought, so i'm sure some number of people died or got poisoned from it." you sighed, "not my problem now, though."

the part ben and hughie, especially hughie, anticipated but you dreaded came on. you and deborah harry walked down aisles filled with your products with background dancers holding them while you began to say the lyrics.

fab five freddy told me everybody's fly

DJ spinnin' i said, "my my"

"oh my god, yes!" hughie cheered while you exclaimed a pained "dear god, no!" at the same time. you stared at him in bewilderment, "you actually liked this?! are you serious, hughie?" you shouted in shock while he laughed.

"it was so unnecessary but honestly, really good? you could ask my dad, i rewatched this countless times when i was younger." he grinned at the television, watching you dance as you 'sang'.

flash is fast, flash is cool

françois c'est pas, flash ain't no dude

ben nodded, squinting his eyes as he listened to your voice and silently, yet somewhat proudly, examined your body as you danced before looking over everyone else in the ad. "it's pretty good. and not like, 'this is so ass' good, but like actually, uh, really good." he complimented, which took you by surprise. "thanks." you mumbled quietly, still embarrassed as you watched your younger self do the moves that took way too long to rehearse because you simply didn't know what the fuck you were doing.

and you don't stop, sure shot

go out to the parking lot

and you get in your car and drive real far

your cover of the song continued to play while the products and their prices were shown one final time along with the stores they were available at. you cringed into the bed with a long and loud groan of great regret, all while hughie continued to speak the lyrics of the song and ben fully bellowed a laugh at the situation.

when the commercial ended and the screen began to run a different one, the two men began to sing the lyrics at you, which pissed you off to no end. "oh my god- I HATE BOTH OF YOU! SHUT UP!" you yelled while they continued, even when you sat up and threw pillows at them.

tags: @soldiersgirl @j2archives @sunsbaby @bejeweledinterludes @dulcescorderitas @legalmente-loca @starzify @bluemerakis @deansbeer @immodestly-marina

[linddzz]

Idk if you've talked abt this before, but how did u think the jayvik divorce was gonna go pre s2? Because I thought i kinda knew were this was going, with Jayce getting involved in politics and Viktor getting sucked into dark magic; and the ominous line "Jayce will understand" (I thought this was an obv setup and that he wouldn't, of course) and then SEASON 2 CAME AND PULLED THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER ME, like whatever i expected it was NOT WHATEVER THIS WAS

I think I've just mentioned it offhand when ranting about how fucking nuts they went but yeah I don't think anyone expected what happened??

My expectations were pretty similar to yours. I figured the attack would get Jayce more radicalized and would build on the growing fear based prejudice he displayed on the bridge, and hextech weapons would be their breaking point. With shimmer being what made Jinx more powerful, and Viktor using shimmer on himself...yeah I also assumed the "Jayce will understand" line was going to become tragically ironic. I actually kind of dreaded season 2 because I liked Jayce, couldn't see things playing out any other way for him, and didn't want to watch him go down a path of embracing weapons and reacting badly to Viktor's self experimentation! I didn't want to see the rift they had just started to repair get torn apart again!

I couldn't guess at all about Viktor though. I had some ideas of how he would end up as the machine herald by increasingly augmenting more and more parts of his body with the shimmer and hextech combo, but couldn't see how he could get there. At the end of Season1 he seemed pretty resigned to death and fully against using the hexcore. I just couldn't figure out how someone as resolute and firm in his principles would change on that decision.

Which ...I guess means I understood Viktor as a character way more than I understood Jayce lmaoo. Turns out I was right! Viktor wouldn't have changed his stance on using the hexcore on himself to save himself! Even with all my jokes about how Jayce couldn't stay out of Viktor's personal space, I did not anticipate "Jayce will understand" being CORRECT and that Jayce would understand so much that he would use Viktor's own notes.

Technically, Jayce making hextech weapons was why Viktor left I guess??? But it took a second attack to make Jayce break on that stance, which made said decision more understandable, and you'd only catch that the weapons were part of why Viktor left if you noticed that he was staring at their blueprints before he said that he needed to leave.

Tbh every act of season 2 had me going "ok I think I know how this divorce may play out now" only for Arcane to go "champ, you have no idea how insane they are about each other"

[amanda-519]

Ugh, I wrote like so many paragraphs but I had to put my phone down and when I opened Tumblr again my post was GONE. Not even in drafts so I have to write this AGAIN.

but, yes, I agree with you I'm also a huge Cecil apologist

I can understand completely why Cecil did what he did. Nolan almost took over the PLANET and Mark has the potential to be as strong as Nolan is. Of course the director of the GDA would try and come up with countermeasures!!!

.... But I'm also a Mark apologist. Like, imagine being Mark. Imagine growing up and having Nolan be gentle with you, be kind, be supportive. Mark grew up believing that his dad would never hurt him.

In season 1 when Nolan punched Mark, Mark was surprised. As he's on the ground he sounds like he can't believe his dad would actually hurt him. And later actually admits that he was surprised (and scared) that his dad hurt him.

Mark believed that his dad would never hurt him. That he would never hurt anyone.

After Nolan kills the Immortal in front of him, Mark immediately thinks that his dad is being mind controlled. His dad would never kill anyone. His dad LOVES him, his dad loves his mom.

And Nolan betrayed and broke that trust by killing all of those people, and almost killing Mark.

I feel like Mark kinda saw Cecil as a father figure, in a way. He was an older man in a position of power. He was wiser, more knowledgeable, and powerful.

Cecil was abrasive, stern, and a bit controlling. But I think Mark needed that. Nolan was shady, he could turn off his emotions. He could be at the guardians funeral and call them friends, and then come home and call them coworkers and not seem sad at their deaths.

Mark needed someone he felt like would tell him how it is. And I think he looked at Cecil for that.

Which is why Mark argued to work for him. To be on call. Why he trained with Cecil (like how he trained with his father).

Mark believed that Cecil wasn't like his father, on some level. Cecil worked for the GDA. He worked to PROTECT people.

I don't think that Mark's reaction to Cecil working with Darkwing or Sinclair was entirely because they were murderers, I think it was also because, in Mark's mind, he betrayed him.

Mark believed that Cecil was good, that he wouldn't hurt anyone, that he wouldn't work with bad guys (like how his father is working for the viltrumite empire), that he wouldn't hurt Mark (like how Nolan hurt Mark).

But then Cecil did.

Like imagine being Mark in that situation. Growing up thinking the world of your father, that he's a hero, that he loves you, that he loves your mom.

Only for Nolan to betray Mark so badly.

And then enters Cecil. An older man in a position in power, who has never been anything but nice (if a bit abrasive). (Remember, Mark didn't know Cecil was willing to let the giant tentacle thing kill him along with his dad)

Nolan helped Mark. He put him back on the field, made him feel important.

And then Cecil turned around and worked with murders and hurt him. Just like his dad hurt him.

But I can also understand why Cecil did what he did. I bet Cecil feels responsibility for what Nolan did, that he didn't stop Nolan before, that he didn't put in place countermeasures.

Cecil knew that Nolan was lying when Nolan showed up. But he hoped for the best. He was optimistic (naive) about Nolan. That he would help. And Nolan did, for 20 years. And then Nolan betrayed them. Betrayed him.

There were no countermeasures in place for Nolan. The giant tentacle thing they brought out was something they discovered recently. Even though Cecil knew that Nolan was lying when he showed up on Earth, he didn't try to think of a way to take Nolan down.

And it's not like it would have been hard to find a way, the screeching sound is a weakness. And I bet in 20 years Nolan came across something akin to that. But Cecil wasn't looking, he probably didn't pay attention to it.

And I bet that thought keeps him up. The fact that Cecil knew Nolan was lying and yet didn't try harder to think of a way to put Nolan down.

Nolan betrayed both Cecil and Mark, and that betrayal hurt both of them deeply.

I think both Cecil and Mark both, on a subconscious level, saw each other as a "do-over" for Nolan.

For Cecil, he saw Mark as a fresh viltrumite (like how Nolan was a fresh viltrumite when he first came to earth). Except this time Cecil is going to keep Mark on a shorter leash. He's going to put in countermeasures from day one (Cecil put the chip in Mark's brain right after Mark finished fighting his dad).

Cecil felt so out of control with Nolan that he wasn't willing to do the same with Mark.

I think Cecil pulled out the switch so fast because Cecil didn't like the idea of losing even the smallest bit of control of Mark. He was scared, sure, but he was also scared that if he didn't act now, that if he didn't get Mark back into control now, that this would be another Nolan situation.

For Mark, he saw Cecil as an older man he could trust. That was like his father in some ways (powerful, more experienced) but different in others (abrasive, says what he wants).

So when Cecil turned out to be working with murders Mark freaked out because he felt like Cecil broke his trust (like how his father broke his trust).

In conclusion, I can understand why both of them did what they did, lol.

ngl I’m a Cecil apologist

S3 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

like I mean come ON he tried so many times to get Mark to chill and talk and at least respect what Cecil was trying to do. Like no a nineteen year old doesn’t get to single-handedly determine moral high ground just because he’s superboy.

Mark needs to be able to have huge unconquerable disagreements without resorting to violence. Or menace and the fact he can’t check how scary being flown after is to Cecil is giving those six right men who don’t realize yelling at women is INSANELY scary to them for systematic reasons.

the fact nobody in marks life except maybe his mom can go “Mark stfu and sit down we need to talk like adults” without having to FRY HIS BRAIN is scary. Cecil’s job is to keep the world safe. Mark just made it very clear he’s willing to exploit his supernatural abilities when he has a conflict of opinion. That’s not good. What if Mark, like naive young adults do, discovers political extremism? Or idfk, Vilrtumite ideology. Who saves earth when its protector disagrees with the people he’s trying to protect? Who keeps the invincible in check?

[hollow-lime-green]

hi, anon from "t/b discourse is dumb" ask here 👋 this conversation actually is really interesting and i wanna add a little more if thats okay. (how long is the average anon ask? im not new to fandom but i am relatively new to tumblr and its etiquette... so sorry if this is too long. ive done my best to condense it 😭 there's just too much to say and im a rambler)

i hope i didn't come off as blaming anybody for their response to harassment and such, i don't want to contribute to that. my ire is only pointed toward people who make it their business to hurt others over innocuous fandom happenings, those people who leave dickish comments on fics and send anonhate and mass qrt on twitter. but like i said, expecting those kinds of people to go away any time soon is not really something i have hope for at this point. you put it well: people get so emotionally invested --- and i too Love getting emotionally invested when it comes to fiction --- that logic stops being a factor. people all over the internet also tend to struggle with simply disliking something and leaving it there. you're allowed to dislike/disagree with something without turning it into a moral failure when it's all down to preference and the characters involved are not Real

i just wish more people saw the value in Healthy™ discourse. hell, even if someone's opinion ticks you off, that doesn't mean you can't engage in an open minded discussion with them, if you want to. but people can't do that even outside of niche online fanbases.

i would love to share my own opinions on t/b dynamics for satosugu and to learn why others may feel differently. actually, stsg is the first yaoi ship ive been this invested in, though it's been a while now, and reading fics for them has opened up a Lot of doors of thought for me that i wanna talk to someone about. but there's such hostility around the topic that opening that discussion up to the general fandom public hardly feels worth the risk, as much as i want to. that kinda leaves one floating out at sea here. so i have these conversations where i can, but i'll also block people over simple things. not because i think they're evil or their opinions are invalid, but because i really do just want to have fun, and previous fandom experiences have exhausted me with how much of the same repetitive venom i can personally handle at once

welcome back anon, and feel free to ramble away. honestly this has been a nice side quest for me during the thesis-ing, believe it or not.

if you want to have discussions/share takes on stsg (or fandom meta), then feel free to keep sending them anon, and i am happy to host that discussion in our friendly little corner. i haven't gotten anything nasty in my inbox, and i think everyone commenting and engaging with the posts on my blog is pretty friendly and level headed :)

i think it's possible that some people could get offended by your previous ask? but it's very obvious, to me, anyway, that what you are saying with "t/b discourse is dumb" is "this drama is dumb why are we doing this why can't we just have fun". you can twist the words, but that's the clear sentiment that I think 99% of us are trying to get across here.

and that also does not conflict with empathizing with and supporting people who have been targeted by this harassment. in fact, i would say out of anyone, they are probably most securely in the camp of "this drama is dumb please let's stop".

as @fushiglow pointed out, part of the reason fandom can get so vicious is due to depersonalization. none of these people would be acting so fuckin foolish in person. but across the screen, it is a lot safer and easier to be an absolute asshole than when you have to look someone in the face as you tell them that they are literal scum for your opinions on dick in ass, or something.

over the past few months i have been struggling with this in reverse, actually. one of my gaming group members almost definitely voted for trump (white women... we need to talk). i get so worked up when i think about it, because i hate her for it, especially her reasons for it (she is antichoice). and yet, when I see her in person, when we hang out, it is so easy to remember that she is my friend and she held my hair back when I was puking after my other gamer friends gave me too many free beers (blue moon isn't worth it guys).

one other thing i would like to add, and part of why i'm so happy to post this ask, is that conversations are not sentences. you get to clarify. you get to add. you get to change your mind. real 'discourse' (note: this word has lost all meaning in the year of our lord 2025) or debate is an exchange of ideas, whether it's about dick in ass or how we react socially in the situation of being attacked for dick in ass. keeping the conversation going to clarify these things, like your intent with the last ask, is important and necessary! it's what keeps us from being xitter/bluesky. we don't need to live as zingers and soundbytes on a text-based forum. we have the space to express ourselves fully, as many times as that takes. and i think that helps build back the empathy that is lost with the lack of face-to-face, voice-to-voice communication in online spaces.

so in the words of the great philosophers re: t/b discourse:

any hole's a goal

[femnoah]

I’m so curious, how would the rest of the cast react once it’s revealed that ‘Noah’ is actually Neha?

Plus I could only imagine Neha revealing this information in either a very dramatic way (ie a challenge where they have to tell a secret) or be hilariously nonchalant about it and acting like she thought everyone knew the whole time just to mess with the cast

Owen's reaction is basically just "my little buddy is even more adorable!" He takes his job given to him (ward off the pretty boys) by the brothers even more seriously after the reveal.

Most of the cast are just shocked.

Lindsey and Beth try to befriend her.

Heather begrudgingly respects her for it.

Justin feels like ripping his hair out cause 'Noah' may not be the first guy to not show interest in him but Neha is definitely the first girl, it just convinces him more that she's secretly a demon.

Alejandro has an 'oh shit' moment.

I've got so many different scenarios for the reveal but they mainly fall into three categories:

Third party in the future

Her family reveal it

Reveal in the competition

Third party in the future:

She does achieve her dreams of working as a host and becomes super famous (as Neha). She gets invited on a big talk show (one with a live audience, Eva and Izzy are in said audience cause they're proud of their sister) and is asked about her first experience in show biz.

She mentions total drama and the host gives her a pitying look, asking if she worked as an intern on the show. Neha just laughs and says she was one of the original contestants. Obviously, the host and audience are confused because they don't remember the girl in the first couple seasons.

(I honestly believe that Chris made intros for the more iconic groups after World Tour to reel in more viewers and since team escope were the fan favourites, they definitely got one and it became famous)

She gets Izzy and Eva to come up on stage with her and Izzy hands her something. She ties her hair back, prods at her throat a couple of times before nodding to Eva who presses a button on her phone. The three girls then turn around so their backs are to the audience.

Chris' voice rings out and there are a couple of gasps from those in the audience who recognise the intro.

"They're the nightmares of manipulative pretty boys! They're the natural enemies to the sane and the nice! They're the very unlikely friend group! They are-"

Neha turns around posing with her one hand on her cocked hip, with the wig on her head and in a very familiar deeper, snarky voice says "The brains"

Eva then turns around, cracking her knuckles and grinning in a feral like way and says "The brawn"

Izzy turns around and jumps on the two so that her arms are around the girls' shoulders and chirps out "And the Crazy!"

Chris' voice continues out from the phone's speakers "It's everybody's favourite trio.... Teaaaaaaam Escooope!"

It becomes a viral meme and coincidentally how a lot of the cast found out that she was a girl.

The host then asks about how and why she managed to keep this from the whole world for so long and she shrugs in response.

.....

"my brothers bet me that I couldn't do it so I did, then I kinda forgot I did it"

"were any of the other cast mates aware that you were a girl all along?"

"I-" she furrows her eyebrows and thinks for a second. "I literally have no idea, I can't remember if I told any of them or anything..... Did I?" she looks to the other two girls for help.

"No clue!!"

"dunno why you're asking me, I barely talked to any of them"

She turns back to the host "I'm going to say I did because I feel like either I did tell them or I thought about doing it, I honestly can't remember though"

She did not in fact tell any of them.

Her family reveal it

After World tour (ridonculous race isn't canon in this) had finished and most of the competitors had went home, Team Escope took a selfie on the Hawaii set in their total drama outfits. The only difference was that Neha wasn't wearing her wig, instead Izzy had it on on top of her hair, in a way you can tell it is a wig. It was posted on Eva's social media account captioned 'when one of your best friends cons the entire world and her competitors into thinking she was a boy for three seasons because of a bet #teamescope'. It goes viral.

The other one is that after World Tour the families come to pick up the contestants (free trip to Hawaii), talk with the staff and mingle. It's pretty calm until the doors slam open and a hoard of attractive guys come in (Katie faints and Justin looks offended) and practically runs towards the resident snark. A gorgeous woman trails in after them looking highly amused.

By now everybody who's in the room is watching them wondering what's going on (Alejandro is mildly horrified because that's A LOT of what he assumes to be brothers based on how old they look).

'Noah' gets lifted up so 'he's' sitting on one of the guys shoulders and all of the brothers just start chanting "Neha!" Like they're at a football match.

The woman walks over to Izzy and Eva who are just laughing at the antics and they start getting fussed over by said woman. Everybody else is confused.

'Noah' is flushed bright red and basically begging "put me down!!".

The woman then makes her way over to the larger group with the other two girls in tow and gives them a look. 'Noah' is put down and she starts fussing over 'him' as well.

.......

"Mamaaa!" She whines as her mama just peppers face with kisses in front of everyone, she had a reputation to uphold dammit!

"Aww, my कीमती छोटी लोमड़ी, I'm so proud of you!!" Her mama replied, clearly not getting how serious the situation is, she could hear Duncan, Heather, Courtney and some of the others laughing at her misfortune.

Her mama smiled down at her and no, Neha was not pouting- "but Neha darling, you won, are you not excited?"

She froze. "What?"

"I spoke to McLean out in the hall and he told me that your contract from the first season is officially over, and since you didn't sign one for this season specifically you are no longer contractually a part of the show!"

A sharp smile grew on her face as she felt her brothers freeze up behind her. She turned around dramatically and clapped her hands once. "So! My contract is over and I didn't give myself away. Those were the terms right?"

She walked over to her brothers, savouring her victory. She fully planned to boast as much as she could. It's not often that she gets to dictate all of her brothers' actions for a day and she was going to enjoy the payback for all of the embarrassment she went through because of the bet. She told them this.

"I won the bet and now I have the power to make you suffer like I have on this Godforsaken show!" Okay, maybe she was being a little dramatic but she's their younger sister! It's basically her job!

"I'm going to make you all regret making this bet so much" it was only thanks to her ingrained reflexes that she managed to avoid the youngest of her older brother's attempt to grab her (she is not getting tickled in front of all these people, that is a line she'll never let be crossed). Neha darted behind Eva. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to avoid the swipe at her hair so she didn't notice until it was too late when the wig came off and her hair fell down, framing her body. She glared at the offending brother.

Her mama just giggled and she felt even more betrayed. (Wasn't her little girl adorable, she looked like an angry kitten all puffed up).

Neha was not prepared for Izzy to suddenly pick her up and shove her at Eva before sprinting towards the door yelling "protect the baby!!!". Eva looked down at her and Neha shook her head trying her hardest to convey ' do not. Don't you even dare iron woman.' unfortunately it didn't work cause the other girl just smirked at her and sprinted to catch up with Izzy, still carrying her.

Not even seconds later her brothers all seemed to telepathically come to an agreement and they also all rushed to the three girls who had left the room by now. "Capture the triplets!" "We cannot let them steal our youngest sister! That's our job" "Charge!" "The baby!"

Neha's mother just looks to the closest person (who just happened to be Alejandro's mother) and cheerfully chirped "Children can be quite a handful can't they!" " Ah, si, though it seems as though you may need more hands than I do" "too right! You seem to be quite a reasonable woman, can I have your number? Perhaps we can arrange a play date between our children" she winked. The other woman just laughed and gave her her phone "si si, I'm sure my husband would be thrilled to see our boys making friends!"

Neha's mother then walks out of the room ignoring the catatonic state of shock her मीठी ग्रेमलिन्स left most of the room in.

Reveal in the competition

Either Neha gets into a scrap with one of the competitors (probably Duncan or Justin, she does not get on with either of them, like at all) and her wig comes off in the process or Chris designs a challenge where she has to reveal herself for the sake of drama.

The challenge could be a guess the secret one where all the contestants' greatest secrets are listed out plus a few red herrings. Whoever guesses the most correct secrets wins as well as whoever has their secret guessed correctly the least. Neha wins this challenge cause only 3 people correctly guessed her 'secret' (her, Eva and Izzy) and then she gets revealed as proof and spends the rest of the season as herself.

Another one is if they had all of the OG cast in a new season. Neha would 'reveal' herself to the viewers first. I think it would be funny if they are playing tag hide and seek with the contestants as a challenge in a city.

One of the teams are seekers and everyone else are hiders, they're out if they get tagged and join the taggers in hunting the rest down. The original taggers win if they get everybody. If they don't then whoever is left wins.

Neha wins the challenge.

She just takes off her wig and the first layer of her outfit, unbuttoning the top of her shirt and walks around. Multiple contestants walk past her but they don't notice her. She actually had a pretty fun day: she had a nice cup of tea, read a couple chapters of her book and explored the architecture in the city. At the end of the day she puts her wig back on and walks back to the hosts. When asked where she was she just says that she saw them multiple times and they were clearly just blind.

Basically the entire season is her gaslighting the rest of the cast. Like, she's not trying hard to hide it at all anymore, they just don't notice it cause they're kinda dumb. (-okay, maybe the eel does notice, she'll give him that) eventually Chref and Izzy join in on it.

"I keep tampons in my pockets to sell to Molotov, that bear is like really weird"

*After threatening Alejandro to get him to behave about Owen and getting a bit into it- crowding against him, forgetting that she was currently not wearing her compression vest and her boobs are kind of obvious* "what do you mean you could feel breasts pressing against you? Obviously it was my pocket books, I keep them in my breast y'know pocket. Pretty silly of you to get them mixed up dude."

"how do I know what periods feel like? Courtney... I'm kinda disappointed in you, I thought you knew I'm psychic"

"Noah's like the best person to talk to about wigs, he knows all about them!" "Wait, really?" "Yeah, apparently there's like a ton of different types of earwigs! I thought that there was only one tbh!"

Eventually she just walks out to a challenge as herself and acts like she wasn't pretending to be a guy the entire time.

"uhh, I've always looked like this, are you blind?"

"and finally the snark is here, you look a bit different, did you leave one of your books behind?" "Yeah" she gives herself a look over, ignoring the gob smacked expressions " I didn't think it was that noticeable though, I thought I should go for a change and I finally finished the book so why not. I honestly feel so much lighter without it already"

[tiredspacedragon]

So we finally got a proper Legends: Z-A trailer

Saw a few other people posting their thoughts, so I figured I might as well join in because I do have a lot to say and not too many people to say it to. So here's what's going through my head looking through the trailer and website.

Long post ahead.

I was right. I told y'all and I was right and I am going to be smug about it because I said so. Present. Freaking. Day. I said the clothes in the reveal trailer proved it wasn't set in the past and I. Was. Right. Could still be time travel involved I suppose, but the majority of the game is set in the present and I am vindicated.

I wonder if the train station we arrive in, or I guess I'm just assuming this is a train station, is the same one that takes you to Kiloude in XY. Still want to know what "the usual place" is and if it has anything to do with the ghost girl.

The male protagonist kinda looks like Professor Sycamore to me. I wonder if we're gonna be a nepo baby in this game.

No gym logo on Prism Tower anymore. Which could mean anything really.

Actually a little disappointed about the "wild zones," I'd have preferred to see the Pokémon just out and about wherever. I think they may still be? But just mostly confined to these places. Bit of a bummer, not that bad.

The starter trio is...weird. I am disappointed to see that neither Snivy nor Piplup are part of it, feels like that was done on purpose just to subvert expectations. But subverted expectations don't guarantee the surprise is better, y'know? But yeah, Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. I mean I don't dislike any of them, I'm happy to see them getting some love, they desperately need it. But having two of them be from Johto is really strange. Kanto and Hoenn probably weren't options because their starters already have Megas, but that still left Sinnoh, Alola, and Galar to pick from. So here's hoping they've just got something really good cooked up for both Meganium and Feraligatr that they just couldn't wait to show off. I'm really not sure if this game will follow in the footsteps of the previous Legends game and give us regional forms for these guys, or if they'll just get Megas instead. Both is possible, but unlikely, while just Megas feel like the most likely. Which kinda sucks because I like regional forms and would like to see more, but Kalos is the Mega region, sooo... I mean they could give these guys regional variants and then give us Megas for the Kalos starters and have us get one of them a la how we got a Mega Kanto starter in XY, but that's pure speculation. Anyway, these guys are neat, if a little odd. I like 'em fine. Also first time getting two quadrupeds in one starter trio so that's cool. Yeah Tepig's gonna stand up but it's still a first for the base forms.

Looks like the catching system works the same as it did in Arceus, which suits me just fine, because I had a lot of fun with that.

Ooh, we can go on rooftops. I notice, though, that there's no sign of catacombs yet. Still holding on to that little hope. Come on Game Freak, it's a whole game set in Poké-Paris, there have to be catacombs.

Rival picks the starter weak to yours. Lame.

Okay, so real time battles. That is...very interesting. I doubt this will become a series staple, at least in the mainline games. The turn-based Pokémon metagame is far too deep, intricate, and honestly well-crafted for them to just throw it out, but it is a neat idea for a pseudo side game like this. The faster pace will make the battles less methodical, less about taking your time and coming up with strategy and more about thinking on your feet, which could be a neat challenge. And I'm looking forward to seeing how certain moves' mechanics change in relation to this new system. The above screenshot, for example, shows a Lucario using Protect, which is normally not a very good move for playthroughs as it doesn't do much in most single battles other than waste a turn, but now in this game it will be invaluable. Being able to completely block an enemy attack without worrying about dodging and repositioning is incredible. It looks like each move is on a cooldown timer too, so you can't just hammer away with the same move over and over again. Guess that keeps the battles more dynamic. Also I wonder if this means they'll do away with PP. More powerful moves may just take longer to recharge. Hmm. There's a lot more I could say here, but I don't want this post to go on forever. Still this is neat, especially since I've been musing a lot lately on the differences between battles in the games vs how they're depicted in the anime and such.

I see the player character still has a dodge roll, so I assume the Pokémon can still kill us? Hope so, that was a big part of the fun last time.

So Mega Pokémon are all permanently iridescent now? I...actually don't mind that, it looks kinda nice. Sorta reminds me of the Terastallization crystallized effect. Pretty. Also I like the new bronze-coloured Mega Ring. Also pretty.

So the CEO is evil, right? That's kinda the way these things work in Pokémon. Of course it could be a double bluff and she's actually chill because they know we're expecting that trope by now, but we'll see. The big manly man secretary with the Pancham and Buneary hair ornaments in his man bun is cute though.

They put AZ in a SUIT?? Man looks clean! Like he even washed his hair! And he's smiling! He recovered and he's actually happy! Oh you love to see it. Still though, my guy, I get that you're three meters tall, but you live in Poké-Paris. You could have found a tailor. So I guess the stitched together clothes are a fashion statement.

Also we are so getting that Floette.

I never noticed that Zygarde 10% has a butthole before. A hexagonal one at that.

Looks like some parts of the city are still under construction. There's scaffolding up. That's cool, adds more of a 3D element to the environment. I do like climbing things.

Also, speaking of the city, it's split into five sections, and now they're all colour-coded. Which is kinda funny looking, but I mean I'm here for it. The colours match the plazas Lumiose had in XY that were named after colours...almost. The red section is where Magenta Plaza should be, and the section where Rouge Plaza should be is a very pale pink. So did they change the order, or are these colours someone's very mixed up idea of what magenta and red look like?

Okay so the rival is the protagonist you didn't pick with a palette swap and wardrobe change. That's cool, it's been a while since we've seen that. I mean I guess Arceus did it, but that was to match DP having Lucas and Dawn appear in game. The last time it happened with totally new characters was...XY. Huh. And of course changing their look is totally new. The names are a little goofy though. Urbain and Taunie. Sometimes Pokémon can be subtle with the protagonists' and rivals' names, but Urban and Townie here are not an example of that.

Speaking of, no names for the protags yet, but they are totally new designs, not makeovers of Calem and Serena, at least not obviously. I wonder if they'll be referenced at all. I highly doubt either will actually appear, but some mention of "the hero who stopped Team Flare x years ago" would be pretty standard Pokémon fare.

It is interesting how things in the wild zones seem to have just been left as they are. Like they weren't cleared out or turned into parks, there are cars left crooked on the side of the road and tables and chairs abandoned where they sat. I wonder if that's going to be a point of tension in the plot, people opposing the redevelopment plan because they were forced out of their homes. Seems unlikely for Pokémon to get into anything like that too deeply, but they may touch on it. Why do they look like that?

Sooo that's a Chikorita that knows Disarming Voice, which it cannot learn by any means in the mainline games. I smell a Grass/Fairy Meganium form in our future. Mega or regional, whichever. Tepig is shown using Rollout and Totodile is shown to know Bite, but both of them learn those moves normally, so that's no guarantee of Rock or Dark types for them. Fairy moves are new for Chikorita though, very very new.

Either that is the world's tiniest Onix, or Pokémon won't be properly scaled in this game. Again :/ Come on guys, you made it work last time. Yeah, visible size variation has been a thing in the last couple games, so maybe there's hope, but that itty bitty Onix sucks to see.

Okay hold up. Bottom right corner. It looks like Mega Evolution is on a timer. Don't tell me it just ends after that runs out. Oh I don't like that. Not at all. The whole point of Mega Evolution is that it's once per battle but it lasts the entire battle. That better not mean it only lasts until that timer runs out, that just makes it reskinned Dynamax. But I don't know what else that could mean. Ugh. Not a fan of that, no sir.

LOOKER BUREAU SPOTTED!!! Oh please tell me we get to check in on Emma. I would love that.

Okay, so this is the last thing shown in the trailer. A logo showing what looks to be the Prism Tower with a Poké Ball atop it, just after the text, "PROMOTION MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT." So what I would assume that means is that there are some kind of promotional battles, maybe a tournament, being held in Prism Tower? Possibly to fund the redevelopment project? I expect they'll use this to have a bunch of old characters show up with updated designs, which I love, so consider me stoked.

[lezleonardo]

Ohh yess I 100% agree with you, it is also quite baffling for to me (as someone whos been marinating in different danmei fandoms for quite a while) that mdzs is the novel that ended up with the fandom that refuses to admit antagonistic characters faults; especially since the novel basically spells it out for you multiple time; and fans always chalk up this stuff as like "Oh it's just how I interpreted the novel" and it's like their is nothing wrong with differently assessing smth; but when it comes to stuff that is spelled OUT for you you really have to to start thinking "am I going about this wrong?"

And yk the worst part? It's always the scenes that are SPECIFICALLY showing you the red flags that they use as evidence, Oh Jc kidnapping a wwx (who he already had enough evidence to fall under the impression that it was NOT wwx?) "That's because he missed his dear brother!" Oh... *insert Literally anything jgy did within the novel* "Ugh! He came from a bad background.... *and than they usually continue to degrade wwx I'm favor of jgy*

And I've said this before, (I am unsure if you've watched the cql yet) But the reason for such major misinterpretation could also majorly do with the cql, Since in the cql a lot of the blame gets directly put onto the Jins, And tbh... the cql kinda villianifies wwx a bit, and weirdly enough it clashes with some of the novel themes of having the wens (specifically wn&wq) innocent as they turn them into spies for wrh (Which to be fair, they use the excuse that wrh is forcing them into the role, but it still feels icky) and let's not forget the softening of jcs general character (Tho I could argue he's even worse in the cql because of the whole Wq/Jc plotline they tried to force) I am unsure if some fans have just completely confused the untamed canon with the mdzs Canon, or if its just them being willingly blind (actually i feel like thats probably also a part of it, literally had someone tell me "Jc turned Jl into a spoiled and rotten person! Out of love!" The other day , but honestly I've read a majority of fics where the jins are the "Complete bad guys" so I honestly do believe the untamed may have had a hand in it.

Though yes I agree with everything you've said so far, it's super infuriating for me and I'm not even usually a person that gets angry or upset over fanon misinterpretation, but the mdzs fandom just takes it to another level.

the myth of helplessness and the “hands-tied” rhetoric for authority figures in mdzs

i’m pretty sure every one of us has seen this notion echoed around for atleast one of the clan/sect leaders when it came to their compliance and/or active participation in the wen remnants’ genocide as well as their prior lack of help/refuge for the wen remnants once wei wuxian had rescued them. while this goes beyond just the way the cultivation world’s leaders handled the aftermath of the sunshot campaign (namely, their lackadaisical approach to helping civilians, exploiting those weaker than them, etc.), i’ll start with the genocide because that’s the crux of it all. that’s the nail in the coffin, that’s the biggest proof of why i feel so fucking angry whenever i see this sentiment of excusing/justifying/or even explaining why the sect leaders did what they did.

and like most skewed interpretations of mdzs (and i don’t mean this in a haughty superior way of only MY way of reading the text being THE right way but i feel like this is something we all have noticed after traversing the fandom waters for a while), this too begins with jiang cheng.

now, let me clear: jiang cheng, in full sobriety and clarity of thought, led the siege of the burial mounds to kill a group of innocent people, which included elderly women and men and a child. you would think this should be obvious but i’ll retierate: NOTHING justifies this, nothing excuses this. the same applies to every single sect leader and sect affiliated member who went for the siege that day and participated in the killings, whether directly or indirectly. this isn’t a nuanced situation and i personally feel that a discussion that begins with the premise of muddying the culpability of the people involved in the genocide shouldn’t even be entertained because the reasons do not matter. they just don’t. it doesn’t matter that nie mingjue’s personal philosophy stemming from his upbringing and loss gave him a narrowminded view of the “wen-dogs”. it doesn’t matter that jiang cheng was sunken in grief and rage after losing his sister. it doesn’t matter that the lans were convinced of wei wuxian’s deviousness and found it paramount to put an end to him and his affialites. it doesn’t matter that some were operating on half the information because when you march into the temporary residence of your supposed foes and kill them all in cold-blood despite them being unarmed and untrained—the weight of ensuring that your violence has a meaning, a justification is on YOU! if you’re committing this act, you have to make sure you aren’t being led blindly by manipulating rumors and ideals.

even before the genocide, before the nightless city massacre, before the qiongqi path ambush—the way i’ve seen handwaving of jiang cheng’s mindset regarding the wens is a little baffling. “he had the burden of being a sect leader” “he had to protect his clan, his hands were tied!” jiang cheng wielding power and authority are often repackaged as baggage that his poor self is so tragically saddled with. it genuinely puzzles the shit out of me. have we all forgotten about “with great power comes great responsibility”?? jiang cheng’s responsibility as a cultivation sect leader goes beyond just the immediate thought about his sect and towards the cultivation world as a whole and how injustice was taking place by a fellow prominent clan. we know this is extremely important because the whole reason the sunshot campaign happened and why it came down to a war was because of prior negligence by the clans towards the congregation of power by the wens. to recognise the same methods now being employed by the jins was, infact, part of jiang cheng’s responsibility. just saving your own neck doesn’t work, when the larger picture is considered. besides, giving the wens the backing of the jiang clan would NOT have brought down instant doom upon the jiangs. that was the whole point. that was why jin guangshan felt it necessary to put ideas into his head and lead him to a path of hostility towards wei wuxian (which is still a choice jiang cheng made, mind).

also, while we’re at it, you’re telling me that the jiang clan rebuilt in part due to wei wuxian’s insane gravitational pull towards aspiring cultivators, would NOT have stood behind wei wuxian if jiang cheng had only tried? hell, i would go far as to say that some jiang disciples would have WANTED to join wei wuxian’s side. there was risk. there would be trouble. but that doesn’t mean jiang cheng had no option. the path of least resistance leads the crooked men, does it not? besides, being a leader is not about tucking tail and keeping your head down. it’s about making the difficult choices and yes, for jc, in this scenario, refusing to help the wens and wei wuxian was the easy choice.

also this whole myth about the sect leaders not being able to do anything because their clans would become targets is sort of antithetical to the whole premise of them being sect leaders in the first place. they’re the only ones who can do something with comparatively less risk to their person and those they’re “protecting” because they have the power of organisation. if the holders of authority cannot make decisive lines in the sand and push for change and resist, who can? the disciples or civilians would have an easier time opposing the clans individually or in groups, you think? they would have less to lose? (we already have an example in the form of mianmian; the waves had to be made from the top in this time-sensitive situation).

these fanon tropes originate from somewhere i know. it’s interesting to think of how these authority figures perceive their power as burdens, how the prince doesn’t want to become king but is forced into the role, how inheritances, even the ones that favour you, can feel like shackles around your neck.

but this kind of sympathetic view of the antagonists and the wrong-doers in mdzs leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because time and again, we have been shown how these sect leaders are blissfully happy to reap the fruits of their inherited power and generational wealth and are the ones most protected by the system. jiang cheng was perfectly fine being the sect leader by default and his grievance was moreso that wei wuxian wasn’t around to be his subordinate. the less that is said about jin guangshan the better. even lan xichen’s troubles didn’t come from him holding power but from his prolonged semi-wilful ignorance regarding jin guangyao. nie mingjue, while alive, used his influence to make his voice heard and condemned the wens because that was his unshakeable opinion on the matter.

now, this isn’t to say all the sect leaders were the same brand of callous and incompetent. yes, they had their problems. yes, their positions didn’t automatically make them immune to harm. but they were not the poor little burdened leaders with “pragmatic” point of views, trying to keep their boats afloat.

the ones with their hands tied were these: the lower classes in the pyramid. the ones who relied on the clans for shelter and food. the civilians whose requests for help were denied by the cultivation sects. the wen remnants who couldn’t do anything to save themselves. wen qing and wen ning. wei wuxian, whose every avenue of help was closed. mianmian. and even, imo, lan wangji.

there’s another similar notion towards wei wuxian that because he was a subordinate and because he has lesser social standing, he had more “freedom”. what ass-backwards logic is this, to be honest? when has having lesser social status, political power and monetary resources given a person more freedom? more freedom would mean that wei wuxian could do anything he wanted and go unquestioned. more freedom would mean that he would be able to practice the ghostly path without every second person accusing him of demonic activities. you know who had more freedom? the nie sect! their resentful energy dabbling went unquestioned because they had more freedom, they were protected by the reputation and might of their clan. nie mingjue’s hypocritical stance went unquestioned because he had freedom, precisely because he had more power. wei wuxian having a big personality, being flirtatious and not being a picture-perfect version of properness (he had good manners regardless) is not having more freedom. if he had that personality and no one accused him of being arrogant and if it wasn’t used against him as means to sully his reputation, then yes, that would be true freedom. this last part is probably redundant but hope the point of it was relayed. just because wei wuxian’s able to authentically be himself despite the backlash he receives for it does not make his social standing somehow a more advantageous position to be in compared to the literal leaders of the cultivation world.

in conclusion, the sect leaders did not have their hands tied by some inherent circumstance, their thrones of power were not ill-begotten curses they were trying to escape from but all the tying was done by them and their ropes which they gleefully tied around the necks of the wens to silence them forever. and if that sentence makes you uncomfortable, great. because that’s the reality of what these people did.

[cloudymistedskies]

CLOUDY OMGGGG I HAD A CUTE IDEA

can you draw Milo and Tanjiro slow dancing in the rain pls??

…Well… Close enough!

Usually, I wouldn’t really color and shade my art reqs buuut I really needed to make up for not doing this asap so jdndnJSHSNSBSNSJJS

Hopefully this is a satisfying result, Milo !!! Sorry for the late req

[aerequets]

the mortifying ordeal of being known

--

I think with Yor being so perceptive, she picks up on little things often (like we saw in ch 103). i believe this would impact loid more so than the usual person, because he is a spy and fakes every part of himself, so to be seen is simultaneously desirable and horrifying. like, it makes him torn between wanting to accept and reciprocate the love, or distancing himself so that it doesn't happen again.

thats mostly what the last panel is about, that dichotomy between 'omg this person noticed this about me, is this love' and 'oh shit this person noticed this about me, is this Doom'

just some thoughts i had🤪

[screwpinecaprice]

I was trying to eat noodles neatly and for some reason I got sad midway. So I drew them messy eating a biscuit and a strawberry to combat sad noodle blues.

[skeletalheartattack]

i finally finished my sketch-over of Gelato from the other day, and i'm happy with how it turned out :)

[murdleandmarot]

@acuriouscat THE THEM FOREVER 🫶🫶🫶