#I can process the statements and what’s being said much better

[livingonsugar]

Bro, why is Jon so mean to him???? I haven’t even met Martin and I already feel bad for him. I just know in my soul that this guy is going to be the sweetest, most helpful assistant ever and Jon hates him because of his happy-go-lucky attitude

[slayfics]

Katsuki struggles to let you do things on your own.

650 words

Katsuki painfully watched as you fumbled around with the shampoo bottle attempting to pop open the top.

"Here," he grumbled snapping open the top, eliciting a sigh from you.

The room was filled with steam from the hot water that rained out in the shower. You had been home from the hospital for a few days following a major injury from hero work. Even though the doctors recommended that Katsuki let you do things on your own, he was having difficulty staying back. Including, accompanying you into the shower.

"Kats," you sighed. "You're supposed to let me do things on my own," you reminded him.

"I just opened the damn shampoo bottle," he said, but his eyes watched as you struggled to squeeze the shampoo out onto your hand. Hands barely being able to hold back from taking the bottle again to lather your hair for you.

Your hand strength wasn't back yet, and all your movements were painfully slow, making the most mundane tasks a challenge. Including squeezing shampoo out of a bottle.

"Want help?" he mumbled, being unable to contain himself.

"No," You snapped stubbornly. Frustrated at him, but mostly with yourself and your inebriated movements.

Katsuki's eyes snapped away from you, a small gesture that signified you'd hurt him.

You sighed again, finally getting enough soap in your hand to begin running it through your hair.

"I'm sorry Katsuki, I know this is hard for you," you sympathized with him.

"The hell do you mean hard for me? You're the one that's struggling to wash your damn hair," he pointed out. "Just let me help, brat."

"Katsuki if I don't start doing what I can on my own I'm never going to fully recover. I have to do it on my own even if it's hard or takes me way too long," you said refusing his help again. Katsuki grunted in annoyance.

"I get it, your love language is acts of service, so this is hard for you to not be able to do things for me," You clarified your early statement.

"You talking about that dumb test you made me take ages ago?" he asked, eyeing your slow movement as your fingers ran through your hair to work the soap in.

"Mhm," You hummed, placing your head back to let the water run over your hair. Satisfied, you moved out of the water again. "You show love by doing things for me, so this has to be torture for you to watch me struggle, but I have to. I want to get better." You explained. "Maybe just pretend your love language is something else while I recover," you joked.

Katsuki clicked his tongue, "Like what words of affirmation? I don't think so," he said.

"Awe, you did pay attention to the test!" You cooed at him. "Yeah, give it a shot, affirm me with your words" You joked, grabbing the conditioner bottle now and starting the painfully slow process again.

Katsuki watched as you struggled but eventually popped the top open, "Wow babe you're doing great," he said sarcastically, enticing a laugh out of both of you. "Fuck that was awful," he chuckled.

"What? No! That was good!" You laughed, feeling pain in your belly from your deep laugh. It had been a while since you'd laughed that hard.

"Fuck no, ain't doing that cheesy shit again," he stated.

"Fine fine," you agreed, laughter barely subsiding. "How about quality time then, just stay next to me, and when I need help with something I promise I'll ask," you suggested, washing your hair under the water again.

"Alight," he agreed.

"Here," you said handing him a loofah. "You can do my back for me."

You hadn't noticed how much tension Katsuki had been holding until his shoulders dropped and face relaxed at finally being able to help you with something.

"Thought you'd never ask," he smiled.

[andhumanslovedstories]

I've been running this writing experiment lately to cut out phrases like "I felt" in my fiction writing. Like I was looking at a sentence in a draft that said, "he felt as if character's eyes were pinning him in place." And then I was like, "well, does he think that or is it true? As a result of this person watching him, he's froze. It's not like a thing, it is that thing."

Oh and "almost"! I'm always going, "He felt almost relieved that it hadn't happened." Well, did he feel better that it didn't happen or didn't he? Or "somewhat", I'm always going, "she felt somewhat perturbed."

And like none of that is wrong, to be clear. I don't know if it'd improve your writing, I don't even know if it'll improve my writing, but I use this sentence structure all the time so every viewpoint is from a voice that thinks about what it thinks, hedges its statements, and offers the same ability for wry little jokes formatted in the exact same way. And I have a lot of writing like that and I think (!) that they're good, but read as a whole, I'm like, "god, they all sound the same." Like there's one melody that I write songs to, so even with different lyrics, it's almost (!) the same song. Something I've been struggling with in regards to my writing and why I've felt so blocked is how boring I found writing my usual way. I'd read something and enjoy the individual parts of it, but then I'd step back and I didn't like the whole. And I got good at this enough at seeing that I didn't like it to do it in real time as I was writing, which as you can imagine didn't improve the process of writing because now I was bored AND dejected about being bored.

There's this sentence-level structure fact that I use unconsciously. A pattern I find easy is short sentence, short sentence, short sentence, long sentence. So I write that. "He [verbed]. He [verbed]. Then he [verbed]. As he [verbed] to his [consequence], he [verbed] that [noun] was [statement of condition]." Which could work, it often does make for a nice rhythm, but it's something I reach for often because it's easier for me.

Just last sentence, I originally typed, "I find it easier for me." But if what I mean is "using this pattern is less effort than another pattern," then it's easier for me. One voice is hedging its bets and the other asserting. Either is fine! But they're different! And, again, GOD you would not believe how many words I've cut out of this paragraph as I write it. I'm so chatty. I love using twelve words when six will do. And that gives my writing a specific tone to my ear.

So if I am bored of that tone, why not try using just the six words? Why be understated? Why be afraid of stronger opinions? So right now with my fiction, I'm experimenting with cutting out as many self-reflective words as I can. Sometime you do need to draw attention to the face that this is the character's interpretation, but like you definitely don't need to do it as much as I naturally want to do it. You don't need to always go out of your way to allow the possibility that the narrative voice is wrong. During editing, I trim the weaker ones (I originally typed, "what I consider the weaker ones" Is that more accurate?). But I think them being there in the first place shifts my language which shifts my character's which shifts my plot. It's sentence structure all the way down!!

(this barely applies to my writing on here, btw. i try to do good but yknow this is a tumblr blog. i'm not trying to get a lit mag to accept it.)

Anyway blah blah (chatty!) the point is I've been trying to write in a way opposite of my interests. Something that doesn't take itself too seriously, that emphasizes EMOTION and ACTION instead of minimizing it, and that clips through scenes at a good pace. Doing this been amazingly fun. I've been having such a good time doing it. I am writing so much because I really enjoy doing it. The process of writing is so fun again.

This post is about two things. One is my new mood stabilizer and therapy day camp. The other is about the benefit of pretending to be MXTX.

[astroninaaa]

wtf is going on with cellbit - by a brazilian law major student

hey besties ever since the day cellbit released that PDF i’ve been keeping up with his shit bc as a law student (only two years to go!!!!) in brazil it’s kinda really interesting to see how it goes, specially since i don’t think we’ve ever had this sort of judicial action taken by an internet celebrity, like, ever. so i’ve decided to kinda explain what’s going on. if anyone has any questions after this i’d be really up to talk about it i love talking about law 🫶 xoxo let’s start. also sorry if anything reads weird english is not my native language okay

for those who don’t know, very recently, a judicial action taken by cellbit has made public. in this action, he’s suing over 200 people for the crime of defamation.

the action was taken to court in january, but it was under what we call “secret of justice”, which means only cellbit himself and twitter’s lawyers had access to it. now that there have been decisions by the judge and everything, the process’s been made public.

basically, cellbit started an action against twitter (NOT THE PEOPLE WHO COMMITTED THE CRIME YET), citing a little over 200 tweets that accused him of crimes like SA, psychological abuse, pedophilia, and others. all of those are real crimes in brazil — and accusing someone of committing crimes (specially as awful crimes as those) without proof is a crime in itself (defamation). he claimed that the tweets were harmful to his honor, mental health, and reputation, besides categorizing as defamation, since there’s no investigation going on against him for all these infractions he’s being accused of.

with that, he asked twitter to delete all the tweets, and to provide him with the personal information of said twitter accounts so he can sue them directly for defamation. he did these requests through something called “tutela cautelar”, which means the judge gets to decide whether or not twitter has to do these things before proof production and proper investigation, since, if twitter doesn’t do those things, the damage to his honor and reputation will be ongoing + he won’t be able to sue the proper people in time.

the judge conceded to his requests, and twitter has already deleted all the tweets. the main discussion going right now is wtf do they do about the international accounts — does our law apply to them? what’s gonna happen? we don’t know yet. that’s being discussed in court for the moment and, considering brazilian courts, it might take quite a while.

so, yeah, all those people aren’t being sued YET. but they will, probably somewhat soon.

it’s also important to mention that this lawsuit is from january and was only now released to the public. there’s probably a lot more coming after the whole fiasco that led him to releasing his statement, including a lawsuit against his ex herself.

now, other topics — could he sue other twitter accounts for cyber bullying or death threats? probably, but my personal opinion is that suing for defamation and focusing on accounts that were accusing him of having committed crimes was a much better move because it’s a much stronger case.

there’s very little room for discussion when a person has outright said “cellbit committed this crime”. death threats have more room for discussion: “oh, but they’re hundreds of miles away, it wasn’t a serious threat”, “they didn’t mean it”, “it was a joke”. same thing goes for cyberbullying: it can get too subjective.

defamation isn’t subjective. you accuse someone of a crime they didn’t commit? boom, defamation, at least according to our laws. so, to me, personally, it makes a LOT of sense for his lawyers to focus on that: he’s a LOT more likely to win than if he was suing for cyberbullying, threatening, insult, or any of that. also, he’s a lot more likely to win FASTER.

when he gets to sue the actual people who committed the crime, that is. for now, he’s only requested twitter to give him the necessary information to get to these people, which i think they’ll very likely be obligated to do. there are digital data protection laws in brazil, but a crime is a crime. digital data protection isn’t gonna protect you from the court.

another thing: LGPD (brazil’s general law of personal data protection) forces all social media companies to keep records of all the content posted by their users for AT LEAST six months. many companies keep it for way longer. that’s a law created for judicial purposes, in case something published to twitter, facebook, or instagram needs to be analysed by a court. that’s why even tho twitter has deleted the tweets, they still have them, and why it doesn’t matter if the people responsible are deleting the tweets, the accounts, the fucking app itself. the records are still there, and they will be used judicially.

i think that’s the overall for the situation, but i’m willing to answer any questions and to discuss it if anyone wants to! i’m a big law enjoyer. also personally i think cellbit is so fucking right for this like YEAH people don’t get to commit fucking crimes on twitter and get away with it. really interested in how this is gonna go law-wise, but in general also really glad to see someone take action like this.

[trippinsorrows]

through your eyes + au future

a/n: well, here i am, once again, with some smut for the hoes. 😭

masterlist

words: 2.7k // warnings: roman gets jealous and reminds solana who she belongs to. smuttttt. daddy kink. roman being mean.

The car ride is absolutely silent. The only sound coming from the auditory, muffled noises of city sounds that sneak past the closed windows and serve as a light backdrop against the void of conversation. 

Solana glances over at Roman and nearly melts into the seat. His knuckles are practically white with how tight he’s gripping the steering wheel. His chiseled, bearded jaw is clenched just as tight, and the tension—and anger—is radiating off of him.

He’s livid.

“Roman, I—”

“Shut up.”

And like a child who’s just been scolded for bad behavior, Solana does just that. She knows this tone of voice. Has seen it used with others, but never on her. Not until this moment. And it sucks. 

But, it’s also….also something else.

It’s annoying.

She’s annoyed. 

Roman has more or less ignored her for almost a week, and now wants to be upset with her? She gets why, but still. Maybe if he was around and actually had time for her, she never would have ended up in this mess in the first place.

It’s immature reasoning, almost. She recognizes this. But, it’s just how she feels.

And it’s better and easier for her to feel and think about that vs just how damn good Roman looks right now, even if he is at level 10. He still looks good. Too good.

Roman remains silent for the duration of the ride as Solana focuses on the passing scenery vs the man next to her who has her thinking inappropriate thoughts given the situation they’re in.

And when they pull into the private parking garage of his penthouse, she’s barely able to unbuckle her seatbelt before Roman angrily opens his door and slams it shut with so much force that she winces. But before that can even be processed, he’s ripping her door open as well and yanking her out the car. 

His grip on her forearm is firm, borderline uncomfortable. “Roman, you’re—”

“I said shut up.”

It’s the same tone as before, but instead of feeling embarrassed like before, she only gets more annoyed as he practically drags her into his place, Solana praying she doesn’t twist her ankle having to walk so fast in her heels. 

She manages to stay quiet until they’re in the privacy of Roman’s penthouse as he once again slams the door shut with unnecessary force. 

Kicking off her heels almost immediately, she heads for his kitchen, needing a bottle of water. “You don’t have to be such a dick,” she mutters. Somewhat to herself. Somewhat to him. Solana opens the fridge and grabs a cold thing of water, barely standing back up before the door is forced shut with an intensity that makes her jump away, her ass hitting the counter and bottle tumbling into the floor. 

“What—”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!”

Roman is standing before her, eyes burning with all the anger coursing through his big body, his tone comprised of unadulterated anger, voice bouncing off the walls. 

Solana isn’t sure just how to respond. Nothing she says is going to make him feel better. It’s a lose–lose situation. “You need to calm—”

He smiles, but there’s not an ounce of humor in his expression or voice. Eyes closed, he tilts his head back, warning almost, “I swear to God, if this wasn’t you….” He trails off, and she’s not sure she wants to know the rest of the statement. “What the fuck were you thinking, Solana?”

Again, that chastised child feeling returns as she shrugs, murmuring, “it was just a party—”

Roman reaches past her and swipes his arm clean across the counter behind her, sending random shit flying to the floor. 

“It wasn’t just a fucking party!” He snaps, and she leans further back into the fridge, hating how her eyes seem to be focused not on the fact that he’s yelling at her but how good he looks despite the anger, how good he smells being this close to her. God, she missed that. Missed him. Not this, obviously. But, everything else….yeah. “You were at fucking Kingdom, Solana. You know that’s Nightmare territory!”

Solana knew that. Knew it the moment Jaida brought up the idea of attending a costume party at some club. She recognized right away from the name alone that not only was it in Nightmare territory but that it was owned by Cody Rhodes himself. None of that was or is news to her. 

And yet, she still pulled out her skimpy little costume and went outside, shaking and throwing ass on video with her cousin like she wasn’t playing with an absolute inferno.

An inferno she’s completely engulfed in right now. “I didn’t think—”

“Of course, you didn’t fucking think because if you did, you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to put yourself in that situation—”

“I made a mistake, Roman, okay?” She cuts him off, taking the opportunity to jump in given the fact that his volume has decreased ever so slightly. “I—”

“And then what the fuck is this outfit?” He motions to her costume, and Solana finds herself frowning. 

“What—what’s wrong with it?” It’s a stupid question, maybe even a form of gaslighting, because she knows exactly why he takes issue with the outfit that practically has her ass hanging out and her cleavage on full display.

To his credit, Roman maintains the lowered volume, gritting out. “It brings attention to you. To your body.” She watches the way his muscles flex as he brings his arm above her, hand planted on the refrigerator. “Why do you think Rhodes came up to you, huh? Cause he liked your fuckin’ hair?”

Solana is feeling way too bold for someone in the wrong as she rolls her eyes, looks down at her feet, toes painted white, and murmurs, “at least someone’s giving me attention.”

It’s the absolute worst thing she could have said in this moment. If this was the titanic, her freudian slip was the absolute mega fucking iceberg. She knows it the second Roman’s volume levels down to dangerously quiet with the delivery of his next question.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

Looking away, she barely has time to process the severity of her slip-up when his hand jerks her by her chin, forcing her gaze back on him. “I asked you a question.”

If there was ever a time for an apology tour, this would be it. The time to get on her hands and knees and beg for much needed forgiveness, but that’s logic, that’s reason, that’s sensical. And there’s nothing logical or sensical about the way she’s feeling right now. Roman being so close to her is no good. It’s no good for a lot of reasons, because instead of being present for this very serious conversation, she’s thinking about the last time he’s been just mere inches away from her. The last time he’s been inside of her.

Too long.

It’s why she finds herself answering straight from her Id. “I said at least he noticed me.” Solana digs that grave just a lil deeper, adding. “You’ve—you’ve been back a week and haven’t come to see me.”

Saying it aloud is the recognition and acknowledgment of the uncomfortable truth Solana now realizes is the basis behind all of this. She’s never been one to need attention from men, to feel the need to be around her significant other more often than not. 

And then entered Roman Reigns. Everything about their relationship has been so fast and new and unexpected and raw. She craves him in a way she’s never experienced with any other man.

Not even Cruz.

Because Roman has been traveling a lot the past few weeks, his latest trip to Italy to handle some Cosa Nostra matters and yet, he hasn’t carved out the time to come see her in the almost week he’s been back. Something that’s evidently been bothering her.

And that recognition clearly isn’t something that’s just now become apparent to her. 

It’s clear to Roman as well too. 

Because in a matter of seconds she goes from peering up at him with those big brown eyes of hers to being spun around and pressed into the cool stainless steel of his fridge. “What—”

“Shut up.” 

This is the third time he’s said as such to her tonight, and on this tres time, she’s had just about enough. “Stop—”

Solana is silenced and cries out when his hand comes down, hard, on her ass. 

“I said shut up,” he reiterates, adding on as he palms her cheeks. “Daddy’s talking.” That should not make her moan the way it does, especially when he moves his mouth to her ear. “How many times do I have to fucking tell you?” She gasps when he spanks her ass once again, squeezing it this time in a way that has her biting down on her bottom lip. “You belong to me. Not him. Me.”

Solana feels her anticipation—and pussy growing wetter—as Roman starts trying to yank her shorts off. “I’ll kill him. Fucking rip him apart with my bare hands.” She winces when he gets the shorts off, somehow managing to rip them clean off her body. “Start a whole war. I don’t care.” Her soaked underwear, big surprise there, is the next thing to go. Solana would give anything to see the look on Roman’s face as he brings his hand to her cunt, cupping it, feeling her drenched and dripping. “Look how wet you are from me. How I got this pussy dripping just from my voice.” Roman tugs her head back and kisses the perimeter of her face. “You think that bleached bitch could do you like I can?” The answer is already no, but it’s a hell no when she feels his erection pressed against her ass. “No. No one can fuck you like daddy can.”

He’s not lying, and Solana finds the excitement building in hearing some shuffling behind her, a belt unbuckling, clothes shifting. And she nearly comes right then and there feeling his thick dick head rub up and down her slit. 

He’s teasing her, and it’s miserable. Solana tries to scoot her ass back against him, not beyond begging, “p–please.”

Roman chuckles against her ear, hissing when he teases the tip of his dick in her tight, gushy opening. “Please what?”

He’s so cruel. So so so cruel. “P-please, daddy.”

“That’s my good girl.”

Solana shouts when he slams into her, the intensity and stretch of him having her claw the cool steel in front of her. His thrusts are hard and deep, nothing slow and gentle like she expected their first time to be after so long. Something she was hoping for given his size, but that’s not what she gets.

Not when she’s been so bad.

And truthfully….it’s not what she wants. Not now, at least. Not when he’s fucking her like this, so rough and thorough. It’s delicious.

Solana’s moans grow louder with each time he slams his hips up against her fat ass, fucking her like the little brat she’s been. 

“You like making daddy angry like this, don’t you?” Solana whimpers as the force of his thrusts continue to push the side of her face into the fridge, her makeup smudging off from the combination of the light sheen of sweat and the impact. “Like me fucking you like this, huh?”

“Y–yes, daddy.” Tears are building in her eyes when Roman somehow pulls her body against his, his thick dick never once slipping out as he switches their positions so that she’s bent over his kitchen island, face now pressed into the granite counter while he slams into her. “Roman!”

“You was missing this dick, wasn’t you?” He taunts, hand on the back of her head, holding her still as he reminds her who she belongs to. “This what you been wanting? Daddy to pound this little pussy with his big dick?”

Her palms are pushed into the stone, her mind absolutely numb and illogical as he switches his angle, somehow even deeper in her. “Oh, shit. Y–yes, baby.”

Roman leans over her, and she’s practically sobbing at this point. He’s slamming nearly repeatedly against her g-spot, driving her to the brink of sexual madness. “Been missing you too, baby.” He groans, slowing down just a bit to kiss on the side of her face. “Fuck, you don’t know how much I missed you while I was gone. Missed being inside you like this.” Roman straightens up and spreads her ass cheeks a bit, moaning at the sight of his dick sliding in and out of her wet ass pussy. Doesn’t matter how many times he stretches her out, her shit grips him the same every time. Tight and needy. “Goddamn, look how wet you are. Shit dripping on the damn floor.”

That visual shouldn’t make her cunt pulse the way it does, the two of them moaning almost in synchronization. “Daddy’s sorry for leaving you like this.”

His verbal apology is appreciated, but his dick absolutely destroying her used and abused pussy is all the contrition she needs. 

Roman grabs her by her hair once again and leans over, resuming his relentless and brutal assault against her spot, that depth and angle having her seeing stars, angels, and everything else ethereal and heavenly. “You’re mine. You understand me?” He growls, voice dark and determined. Solana both hates and loves this. Loves how he can so easily slide back and forth between being almost loving to that possessive, borderline obsessive side that she secretly gets off to. “You ain’t ever leaving me. It’s us till the end, baby.”

Truer words have never been spoken. 

As is with most sexual encounters between them, Solana’s orgasm is the first to come upon her. That wonderfully blissful, euphoric feeling that never could and will never get old. She moans against the counter, whimpering, “Roman, I’m—oh my God.” It should be a sin how good he fucks her, how good he makes her feel, sexually and in every other way. 

He’s most definitely right.

It’s them to the end.

Roman is knowing, feeling the way she’s starting to clench around him. “You gon’ let me come inside you?” He asks, already knowing the answer. The same as it always is. 

“Y–yes, daddy.” 

He slaps her ass. “Damn right.” Plunging into her at that altered pace to account for her pending climax, he reminds. “Daddy always comes inside his pussy.”

Another truth that she can’t and won’t deny. Another secret love. Kink, even. The feel of him exploding inside her, filling her to the brim with his cum. It just does something to her. Something she can’t explain.

And that’s the exact same experience she has when their orgasms arrive upon them both with merely minutes apart. She’s the first, of course, followed by Roman. His body is hovered above hers, his mouth pressing kisses against her temple as they both come down from that delicious high.

Well, he does, because Solana groans a bit when he slides out of her and picks her up bridal style, carrying her to his room. Roman carefully lays her on the bed, completely uncaring of the mess she’s made all over his dick or the fact that her entire bottom half is soaked, his cum leaking from her puffy pussy. 

He lays down next to her, pulling her close to him. 

Solana sighs, so content in this single moment. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs into his chest, finger lazily tracing some of the patterns of his tribal tattoos. 

Roman kisses her forehead. “I just need you to be more careful, alright?” She nods against him. “I can’t ever lose you, Solana…”

“I know, baby.” She kisses his shoulder. “I will.” Eyes closing, they lay in absolute silence for a good few minutes. Her eyes start to flutter shut, Solana prepared to drift off into a peaceful sleep when Roman’s deep voice cuts into the silence.

“You don’t think we done, do you?” Looking up with all the confusion, she watches as he shifts them so that she’s no longer laying on his chest but just on her side. Roman sits up against the headboard. “You wanted daddy’s attention. Well, now you got it.” Her mouth waters as he starts stroking his still semi hard dick. This man is inhuman sometimes with his stamina. “Take the rest of them clothes off, get up here, and throw that fat ass back on daddy’s dick like you was doing in them videos.”

[the-raindeer-king]

“I’m getting a haircut today.”

A simple statement, and certainly nothing to phone the Prime Minister about. Except you haven’t gone in a couple of years. The last time you had gotten a haircut had gone poorly, leaving you with uneven ends that you had to go somewhere else to fix. So, you don’t blame yourself for being a little nervous about the appointment.

On the other hand, your boyfriend just hums in response, completely unfazed by the statement. Part of you appreciates how nonchalant he is, but it’s also a bitter reminder that you should also be feeling that way.

“Want me to take you?” Simon asks, barely glancing up from his paperwork. He pauses to take a bite of breakfast, before turning his hazel eyes back to the papers you’re pretty sure he shouldn’t have brought home. But that’s a different conversation.

“Oh, uh… I don’t know,” you admit, the anxiety in your voice obvious. You can’t help but wring your hands together, thinking it over for a moment.

That catches Simon’s attention, setting the papers onto the table. His gaze settles on you, scanning over your body language. He doesn’t understand why you’re so nervous. You practically jump at the opportunity to have him take you to your other appointments, eating up any excuse to show off your man. So, why hesitate now?

“Talk to me, love.”

It takes you a second to gather your thoughts, and then it’s all spilling out: the last haircut you got, the anxiety of having a repeat experience. It definitely doesn’t help that you’re getting your hair cut shorter than you ever have before. You’ve been working on your self-esteem, but sometimes it creeps up on you anyway. You ended the rant with a soft, out of breath, “What if I look ugly?”

Simon’s quiet for a moment, processing what’ve you said. For a moment, you feel more like a butterfly, pinned under the weight of his gaze. You’re tempted to run, to go hide in the bedroom and just miss the appointment all together. But you had been looking forward to this all week, and it sucks feeling so unsure now.

Simon speaks before you can.

“I’m never going to think you look ugly, love.”

You open your mouth to interject, but he holds up a hand to stop you.

“You could buzz your head, and I'd still think you’re the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen.”

And damn, if that one sentence doesn’t make you feel immediately better. You duck your head, trying to hide the goofy smile that grows on your face. Not that it does much to hide the heat rising on your cheeks. “Well… let’s hope we don’t have to do that,” you reply, quietly.

Simon snorts in response, but there’s a small smile on his face as well. He stands from the table, moving around it to press a kiss to the top of your head. “You’ll be fine.”

And wouldn’t you know it? You are fine, and you look fucking good with your new haircut.

[lokigodofmyheart]

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

Pairing: Loki x Stark!Reader.

Words: 9.281.

Summary: After the attack, Y/N offers Loki a deal for some short of freedom. A lot can happen when two people live together.

Warning/Content: small angst, smut.

MASTERLIST

A/N: Song: Like Real People Do - Hozier.

After the attack, they had locked Loki on a short of cell in the tower. After a couple of hours of being locked, Y/N went down to where he was. She walked in the room, nodding at the guards and stopping in front of his cell. She was a new face, one Loki didn’t recognize from the fight. Loki eyed her and raising a brow in slight confusion. He stood up and looked her up and down. 

“I don’t think we’ve met yet.” Y/N says, with a gentle tone. 

Loki smirked a tad, crossing his arms as he looked at her, tilting his head a little as he did “I suppose we haven’t, I would have remembered you if we had. And who are you?” 

She gave him a polite smile “You can call me Y/N.” 

He smiled a little at her.  “Y/N, it’s a pretty name.  Do you have a last name?” 

“I do.” 

“And what exactly would that be?” Loki leaned against the wall behind him. 

“You don’t need to know. For now.” 

Loki chuckled a little bit, finding her attitude rather amusing and entertaining “That’s not very nice. I want to know it though” 

“So...” she starts “big attack with aliens and all, huh?” 

He shrugged, crossing his arms behind his back as his gaze turned to the cell door for a moment before back to her “Yes, yes. My plan didn’t quite work out as I hoped for” 

“I can see that.” Y/N gave a small chuckle. 

Loki couldn’t deny that he found her chuckle endearing. He hummed a bit in slight annoyance as he moved slightly “You’re quite enjoying my current situation, aren’t you?” 

“I little, yes. I do recall you throwing Tony out of his own tower.” 

“And I recall him annoying me” Loki said, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice. 

“It’s his specialty. Annoy people.” Y/N shakes her head. 

Loki chuckled a small bit, finding that statement to be very true “Worried with your boyfriend?” 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” 

He nodded a little, taking that information and processing it. It made his smirk shift slightly “Right. And what is he to you?” 

Y/N smiled a little “Someone close. That’s all you’re getting from me.” 

“That doesn’t say much. How close?” Loki moved a bit, now walking around the cell slowly as he looked at her, his tone was rather casual, and it also held a slight hint of curiosity. 

“Close. And that that will never happen between me and him. It’s actually disgusting to think.” 

Loki chuckled at her statement, finding it quite interesting that she was grossed out by the idea. He smirked a little as he spoke “Oh? You’re grossed out by the thought? Why’s that?” 

Y/N chuckles, changing the subject “Aren’t you curious about what’s gonna happen with you now?” 

He hummed “I am curious. I figure I’m not gonna get a good future though” 

“Your lovely brother says he wants to take you back to Asgard, something about answering for your crimes, a trial and a cell...” 

Loki rolled his eyes as she told what his fate was gonna be, crossing his arms as he spoke “A cell in the dungeons of Asgard… of course. It was to be expected I suppose” 

“It didn’t have to be like that.” Y/N spoke, looking at him.  

That got his attention. He raised a eyebrow at her as she spoke, tilting his head slightly “What do you mean it didn’t have to be?” 

Y/N grins “What if I could offer something a little different. Not a cell...” 

He shifted a little bit on his feet as he spoke “What exactly are you planning on offering me?” 

“A bedroom.” 

Loki was surprised by that answer, to say the least  “A bedroom? That’s what you’re offering?” 

“I’m not offering you freedom, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m just offering you something better than a cell in the dungeons of Asgard. Better food. Comfort.” 

That definitely made Loki quite curious. A cell in the dungeons of Asgard and going back to Thor and dealing with the rest of Asgard… or whatever she was offering. He weighed his options in his mind, before speaking  “So I get a bedroom. What’s the catch though?” 

“Well, the bedroom is in this tower. And you would have to live with the rest of the team.” Y/N spoke. 

He chuckled, not liking the sound of having to live with the rest of the team, but it was better then going back to Asgard “I’ll be staying in the same place as the rest of your precious avengers?” 

Y/N also chuckles “I guess I could get you a room in my floor, if you promise not to kill me in my sleep.” 

There was a grin on his face as well as he spoke, his eyes flickering over her  “I see. I won’t kill you in your sleep. You have my word” 

She nods “That way you won’t need to interact with the team if you don’t want to. Oh, also you cannot leave the tower alone.” 

Loki nodded in response, listening to her as she laid down some basic rules for him. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal actually. A private room and no interaction with the team often, that sounded like a great deal. He smirked a little “No big interactions with the team and I can’t leave the tower without any of you. I can do that” 

“And not kill me. Or anyone else.” She smiles, having a litte of fun in this. 

He waved his hand in a ‘pft’ motion “No killing you or anyone else. I’m a man of my word” 

Y/N nods “I’m trusting you on this.” 

Loki gave her a small smile in response, finding it interesting that she was trusting him on it.  “I’m curious. Why exactly are you offering me something like this? It doesn’t make much sense” 

“The team might need your...how can I put this...your expertise sometime in the future.” Y/N says as she signals for one of the guards to come to them. 

He nodded “You expect you’ll need my magic at some point?”  

“Exactly.” Another nod. 

Loki chuckled at that, feeling a sense of pride knowing that she saw his magic as useful, and that he could be a powerful asset “So let me get this straight. I get my own room, you need my magic for the future, I can’t leave the tower by myself and I’m not allowed to kill anyone.”  

 “Oh, and no pranks. Thor said you used to do a lot of those in Asgard.” She chuckles. 

Loki smirked. Of course the thunder-brained oaf would say that. He huffed in annoyance at the fact Thor had mentioned them, rolling his eyes as he responded “Oh of course he mentioned the pranks. Well I suppose I can promise no pranks.” 

“So, do we have a deal?” Her tone was more serious now. 

He took in everything she had given him, making sure he remembered everything. He then gave a slight smirk, nodding his head “We have a deal.” 

“Great.” she smiles at him and nod to the guard to open his cell. Loki pushed himself off the wall as he watched the guards open the cell. He stretched once before walking out of the cell and standing in front of her, giving a small smirk as he looked down at her. It was a bit intimidating considering he had quite the height advantage over her. 

Y/N pulled an ancient bracelet out of her pocket, looking at it “They said I should put this on you...but I think I can give you the benefit of the doubt.” 

Loki looked at the bracelet in her hands, raising a brow slightly. He glanced at a guard that was near them before looking back at her  “What does it do?” 

She looks back at him “It blocks your magic.” 

He crosses his arms over his chest as he spoke  “A magic blocking bracelet. I see. Very nice.” 

“Can you blame people for not trusting you that easily?” Y/N asks but Loki just rolls his eyes. “Should I put this on you? Or can I really trust you?” 

Loki tilted his head as he looked at the bracelet and then back at her. He looked at her for a few seconds before sighing and hodl his hands out to her “Fine. Put the bracelet on me.” 

“Why?” 

Loki looked at her for a second before rolling his eyes. The sooner she put the bracelet on, the sooner they would be out of here “Are you really going to question why I’m letting you put a bracelet on that clearly blocks my magic?” 

“Yes. I was expecting you would put more of a  fight, saying ‘yeah, you can trust me’ or something like that.” Y/N was clearly surprised. 

He rolled his eyes again, sighing in slight annoyance, before looking at her and speaking again, in a slightly exasperated tone  “Can we just put the stupid bracelet on? We’re wasting time.” 

Y/N nods and closed the piece around his wrist carefully to not hurt him and immediately Loki felt the effect of the bracelet blocking his magic. He tried to make something with his seidr but when he tried to he felt the magic hit an invisible wall. 

"Come.” Y/N says walking to the elevator and Loki followed behind her. She looks at him for a few seconds after the elevator started moving. “Does it hurt?” 

Loki looked down at the bracelet again, feeling it’s slightly cold metal against his skin as he walked. “No, it doesn’t hurt. It’s just...limiting” 

Y/N gave a small nod, before she starts speaking again “My floor is one of the most privates one in the tower. I have my own kitchen, living room, two bedrooms with private bathrooms, one if mine, of course...”  Loki nodded as he listened to her explain the floor she was leading him to. He found he was quite okay with the sound of all of it. He’d have his own room, access to a kitchen and a living room. It sounded good actually. “Oh, and there’s a small library too, if you’re interested in reading.” 

His interest was peaked as she said there was a library too. A library? That sounded good. “There’s a library too?” 

She chuckles “Like I said, a small one.” 

Loki let out a small chuckle as well, the image of a small library was already in his mind “I must say, your floor does sound rather nice” 

“Well, you’ll see.” 

He nodded in response to that. “How often do the rest of the Avengers use your floor?” 

“Not much. We usually hang together in the common one, where there’s the meeting room, gym, a short of cinema room...” She explains as the elevator was almost stopping. 

Loki leaned his back against the elevator wall, continuing to look at her. He watched her silently for a moment, taking her in as he spoke  “A floor all to yourself too. Quite a luxury if I’m being honest. Stark must be really trying to conquer you.” 

Y/N chuckles “He isn’t.” 

Loki chuckled at that, finding it hard to believe that the great, egotistical and cocky Tony Stark, didn’t have at least some sort of crush or interest in her “You expect me to believe that Stark doesn’t have some sort of interest in you?” 

“Yes.” Oh, if only Loki knew. 

“You can expect me to believe that a man like him hasn’t at least attempted something with you?” He says studying her. 

Y/N laughs a little “Maybe one day I’ll explain why.” 

Loki looked at her as she spoke, curious to find out the answer to his question. He shook his head a little as he shrugged slightly “And why don’t you tell me now?” 

“It’s a conversation for the future.” Y/N knew that if she told him in the cell or now that she was Tony’s litte sister, Loki would never agree to this, he would think they would have a hiding agenda or something, since he clearly couldn’t stand her brother. Just in time to save her from this conversation, the elevator dings and open the door for them in her floor. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” 

Y/N showed him the whole floor as he followed her, looking around and seeing everything. She showed him the kitchen, living room, the small library until they stopped at the door of his new room. When she opened the door to his new room, he looked in and saw it. A large bedroom area, with a king size bed, a night stand and a dresser. A walk in closet and a private bathroom too. It all looked rather nice and comfortable “This will do nicely” 

She nods, looking around until she looks back at him in his Asgardian armor, groaning a little “I’m so stupid.” 

Loki tilted his head as he noticed the look on her face. There was a look a realization. “You look like you realized something. What’s that?” 

“I forgot you don’t have any clothes...or anything.” 

“Don’t worry about that.” Loki says, a hint of sincerity in his tone. 

“You still need clothes to live here, and product and everything. You can’t possibly be comfortable in that.” She points at his leather clothes. 

Loki huffed “Well I suppose you’re right. Do I have to go out? Or can I just order things to be brought in?” 

Y/N was already typing in her phone “No need to, I’ll ask someone to go buy it...Any color preferences?” 

He thought about it for a moment. He had always been a fan of the color green. It had become almost his signature color. “Green. My favorite color is green. Also some dark colors. And no leather.” 

“Why not?” She smirks “You're using a leather armor.” 

Loki chuckled at that “Exactly, it’s a armor. Is not really comfortable as clothes.”  

“Okay. Dark colors, no leather.” she keeps typing “T-shirts, jeans, jumpsuits...suit, shoes...shocks...boxers?” At this last one she looks at him to confirm. 

Loki raises a brow slightly as he listens to her list off what he needed. All of it sounded fine to him. “Boxer briefs will be fine, yes” 

“Okay, I sent the list. Probably will be here in a few hours.” Y/N says, looking back at him. 

He nodded in response and turned and looked around the room he’d be occupying I suppose I have time to just lounge around here until they get here then.” Loki looked away from the room and back at over her “I do quite like the room actually. And the whole floor really. 

“Thanks.” She smiles. 

He smiled back at her for a second “What now?” 

Y/N looked at the time, noticing it was almost dinner time and she was already hungry “What do you like to eat?” 

Loki raised a brow slightly, not quite sure why she was asking this. Nevertheless, he answered the question “I eat mostly anything. Why do you ask?” 

“I was just wondering if you have any preferences.” 

He shook his head. He didn’t really have any preferences when it came to food. He chuckled a bit before speaking again “Well, I suppose there is one food I do have a strong disliking for” 

“Let me guess, prison food?” She chuckles. 

Loki chuckled softly at that, his mind going to the food he’d been fed while in that cell. It had been absolutely revolting “Yes. Prison food is terrible.” 

Y/N laughs a little at this. “I’m guessing Asgard doesn’t have pizza...?” 

Loki raised a brow, looking at her a bit confused. He’d never heard that word before in his life “What in the nine realms is pizza?” 

“Just the best food you’ll ever eat. I’ll order for us tonight.” Y/N says excitedly. 

He chuckled slightly in response to her excitement, but mainly due to the fact he still had no idea what it was. Nevertheless, he nodded he head “I suppose I can try this pizza you speak of.” 

She smiles, getting her phone and ordering the pizza “You’re gonna love it.” 

“We shall see.” Loki chuckles again. 

“I’ll go finish doing my...stuff. In the meantime, feel free to do whatever you want. There’re books, a TV in your room and one in the living room too...” 

Loki nodded in response to her telling him to do as he pleases “TV?” 

She noticed the confused look on his face “You don’t have television in Asgard?” He shook his head, still confused as he looks at the TV on the wall for a second, trying to figure out what it does. “Okay. Here.” She got the remote and started to explain to him what it was and how it worked, how he could watch movies and shows, and everything. She even taught him how to use Netflix. 

He listened intently to everything she said, trying to understand what the hell it all ment. After a few minutes he spoke again “So you can just watch movies and shows on here all day?” Y/N nods at him. Loki looked back up at the TV on the wall, imagining himself just lounging in the bed watching whatever movie or show he wanted, anytime he wanted “I could get used to that.” 

“I think you will also need a phone, I’ll ask to my- uh, Tony, to get one for you.” Y/N says.  

Loki raised a brow, confused again “A phone? What in the nine realms is a phone?” 

Y/N showed him her phone, and briefly explained what it was. “I’ll teach you later how to use it when I get you one.” 

He nodded after she was done, looking at her “I see. So, I’ll be getting one of these as well then?” 

She nods “I’ll go meet the team, feel free here...” she smiles “and if you need me, you just have to say it to JARVIS, the AI, and he’ll let me know.” 

“Alright. I’ll call if I need you” He nodded his acknowledgment to what she said 

“I already ordered the pizza, it must be here in an hour or so.” She says. 

“Alright. Have fun with the others in the meantime” 

“You too. I mean, have fun here.” Y/N smiles before she left him. 

After more or less of an hour, Y/N got back to her floor and went to his room. She found him on his new bed, with a book in hand. When he heard the door open, he glanced up from the book and at her “You’re back��� 

 She entered his new bedroom with a lot of bags in her hands “I am. And here are your new everything.” 

Loki marked where he was currently at in the book and set it to the side as he sat up. He looked at all the bags that she had come in with, his interest peaked at how much there was “All that just for clothes?” 

She chuckles softly. Probably a prince of Asgard had never gone shopping in his life “Clothes, shoes, undergarments, hygiene products...everything is here.” 

He was a little surprise at the sheer amount of stuff she had brought in. He watched as she set the bags down “I didn’t realize I needed so much stuff.” 

“And this.” She handles him a cellphone. 

Loki took the phone from her. He studied it, looking at it up and down. He’d never held one of these before “And what am I supposed to do with this?” 

“I’ll teach you.” She sat by his side on the bed and turned the phone on. There was a cat picture on it. 

“Interesting choice of a lock screen picture” Loki raised a brow as he looked at the lock screen. 

“You can change it.” 

Loki chuckled a bit. He looked back down at the phone, his finger tapping around on the screen, trying to figure out how to change the lock screen “Alright. How do I do that?” 

Y/N then explained and teached him how to use a cellphone, how to make calls and how to text and use emojis. Her contact was already saved as “Y/N S.” Loki listened very carefully to the explanation of how to use the phone. His fingers tapping and moving around the screen as he followed along, exploring the apps and what they did.   

“Okay. Any doubts?” 

He hummed, thinking for a moment before speaking “No. I think I’ve got the basics of this down now...But what about that pizza you said you ordered?” 

“It must be arriving.” She says. 

Loki nodded when she said it would be here soon. He set the phone down, his mind going back to all the clothes she had brought in earlier “Oh and…where am I suppose to put all of that?”  

 “In your...closet?” Y/N was holding a chuckle, like it was so obvious. 

Loki mentally face palmed himself. That much should have been obvious. He had completely forgotten about the dresser that was in the room. He chuckled softly “Right. Of course.” 

“You should try them. See if everything fits.” 

He paused a moment as considered it. It would probably be a good idea to find out now if these clothes were too big or not after all “Fine. I guess I’ll try some of it on” 

“I’ll call you when the pizza’s here.” She says before leaving him alone to try the clothes. 

After almost 15 minutes, Y/N called him from the kitchen “Loki!! Pizza’s here!” 

Loki was still looking around the mirror at himself when he heard her call his name and call that the pizza had arrived. He had found that they were pretty good fits so far. “Coming!”  

 “Ready to try the best thing you’ll ever taste?” She says as she offers him a slice. 

Loki took the slice, still smiling as he held the pizza in his hand. He looked at it for a moment before bringing it up to his mouth. He took a bite and let the flavors and texture swirl in his mouth for a moment as he chewed. Once he had swallow that bite, his mind started processing the taste. It was actually quite good. Not at all what he was expecting. He looked to her, a smile back on his face “Well, I suppose this pizza actually is quite good” 

“Oh, come on. You can say it’s your favorite food from now on.” She smiles back at him. 

As they both continued to eat the pizza, Loki started thinking. He was enjoying this, the pizza and company both. The casualness of it all. It was nice. He took another bite before breaking the silence “Is this what it’s like for you all the time? Being able to eat pizza and chat and laugh like this?” 

“Mostly, yeah.” She nods. 

Loki hummed as he took another bite out the pizza. He swallowed, his mind still working as his gaze fell on her. He was just so curious about it all, this regular normal life. “This casualness. This normal day to day life…it’s so different to what we do and deal with all the time” 

“What was it like on Asgard?” 

Loki thought for a moment, trying to think how exactly to describe life in Asgard to a Midgardian “Not casual like this. There were no pizza for one. Life was much more formal. Always some kind of event happening or some sort of thing that we had to attend to” 

“Well, if you live with Tony, you always have some party invitation. He’s quite...popular around here.” Y/N chuckles. 

He chuckled at that “I suppose that’s unavoidable when you live with Stark” 

After a few more minutes of silence, Y/N spoke. “You know, for what they said, I was imagining your different.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow at that “Different how?” 

“More arrogant and difficult to deal. But you’re actually quite...nice.” 

Loki hummed in response.  “Maybe I’m just being nice out of politeness? Who’s to say I’m not actually like my past reputation?” 

“Hmm...maybe.” 

“You’ve known me barely a day and have already made such definitive statements on my personality hm?” He says with a small smirk on his lips. 

Y/N chuckles “I’m good at seeing through people...I’m gonna sleep, I have to wake up early. Try not to destroy my floor. Good night...” 

He nodded slightly in response to her good night. He watched her as she walked away and then returned to his slice of pizza. Chewing it, his thoughts again going down the rabbit hole of everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. 

Loki really started to grow quite close to Y/N over the months that passed as he was living with her. He quickly realized that he had grown quite affectionate for her, feelings of care and protective coming over him every time he saw her. Y/N had offered to him to take off the bracelet, but he still refused all the time. In this time, never left her floor and had little encounters with the others, mostly Thor and Tony. And he hated Tony. 

“Pizza’s here!!” Y/N called from her kitchen. 

Loki's ears perked up at the call. He had been in the living room, watching a movie, but as soon as she called out to him, he snapped himself out of it and got up. Making his way into the kitchen "That was fast.” 

“Right?” She chuckles. He moved up to the counter, his gaze drifting over to her a moment before he picked up a slice and Y/N did the same. “You know...I just realized you never told me when it’s your birthday.” 

“You never told me your last name either.” He says with a smirk as he eats the pizza. 

“Touché.” 

"So it's a tie" Loki chuckled, finding her response to be quite amusing. 

Y/N nods at him. Her phone buzzed and she already knew what it was. It was friday night, which means movie night for the team. Loki never wanted to go and that means she didn’t go either, because she didn’t want to leave him alone.  Still, they always texted her to invite. As Y/N checked her phone, Loki's ears perked up at the sound of it, curious as to what the message was. "Everything alright over there?" 

“Yeah...Nat’s asking if were going to watch the movie with them...” 

Loki found the others to be tiring, and the thought of sitting through a whole movie with them was almost unbearable "And are you going?" 

“Are you?” She looks at him. 

"No. I don't want to go to movie night" 

“So neither am I.” Y/N texted Nat before speaking again “You can’t avoid the team forever.” 

He leaned back against the counter, still holding a half eaten slice of pizza in his hands as he looked to her "I know… it's just that Stark…” 

“You really don’t like him, huh?” She chuckles. 

If Loki was being honest, Stark was possibly the single person he disliked the most "That man…I can hardly stand him. Everything about him annoys me. I don’t understand how you deal with him every day.” 

“My relationship with him is different...” Loki barely opened his mouth to say something, and she already cut him “and no, he’s not into me and no, I won’t explain.” 

Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes "I know you told me you won't explain. But it's strange. Especially with how annoying he is in general.” 

“Believe me, I know how annoying he can get sometimes.” She smiles a little. 

Loki's almost constant frown was replaced by a soft smile when she smiled. She was the only thing that could almost always get him to smile "Then how on earth do you handle him?" 

“Let’s just say I know him for a looong time.” 

He nodded slightly at her answer "That's fair. You still have my respect for being able to tolerate him for so long" 

Y/N looks at Loki for a few seconds... “You really hate him...” 

Loki's face and voice expressed how annoyed he was by the mention of Stark.  "I absolutely HATE that man. He truly is the most self-centered, cocky and arrogant person I've ever met. I bet his whole family is like that.” 

“Aren’t you exaggerating a little?” Y/N says. This would certenly complicate things between them. 

To him he was not exaggerating at all, and this was shown on his face "No. I am 100% serious. That man is insufferable, annoying, and cocky." 

“I mean what you said about his family.” 

Loki hummed, his expression still one of annoyance and dislike towards Stark "His whole family is bound to be like that. Look at Stark, his arrogance and cockiness, it must run in the family.” There was a pause for a moment, but he started speaking again, his tone going from mockingly confident to curious "Speaking of families… what's yours like? You haven’t told me about them.” 

“I have an older brother...” She speaks. 

Loki hummed, his head tilting slightly as his eyes stayed on her. He took another bite of the pizza slice he was holding "An older brother? What’s he like?" 

Y/N nods “Yeah...he always took care of me, especially after our parents die. I know he would do anything for me. He’s smart, caring…he always put me first, even if sometimes he’s a little overprotective.”  

A small part of Loki got a pang in his chest when she mentioned her parents being dead “Your brother sounds like a good guy. I’m sure I’d like him more than Stark.” Y/N just looks at him, not knowing what to say. He noticed how she seemed to pause after that last comment "You haven't told me his name, your brother's that is" 

She took a deep breath before answering “It’s...Anthony.” 

Loki couldn't help but chuckle softly at the coincidence "Are you joking? Your brother's name is Anthony?" Y/N just nodded. Loki had to hold back laughing as he processed the knowledge. The irony was almost too much to bear, but he was able to hold it in. His smirk growing as his voice came out, mocking and cheeky “How strange. That’s the name of our beloved friend Ironman...” She nodded again. 

He smirked again, thoroughly amused by this information "Your brother shares a name with that egotistical, arrogant, loudmouth… oh that is just…ironic, and hysterical.” Y/N just looked at him. He sure has realized...right? 

Loki chuckled, enjoying the irony and coincidence of her brother "Your brother seems like a much more decent fellow than Stark...”  

Y/N was still silent, just looking at him as she realizes he didn’t get it “Huh...Loki?” 

Looking at her, his gaze softened slightly “Yes?” 

“You didn’t get it, do you?” She says carefully. 

Loki looked at her for a moment, noticing the look on her face. He had been rather distracted that he had completely missed something that was rather obvious. He thought for a moment before his eyes widened and he suddenly realized “You’re kidding, right? Right?” His expression was one of absolute disbelief as it sank in “No. No, you’re joking. You have to be joking right now. Tell me you’re joking.” 

“I’m not...” 

There was a pause where Loki felt almost as though the room was spinning. He was trying to process this information, that his...friend, was sister of the man he hated the most, his mind in complete disbelief. He just stared at her, a dumbfounded look on his face. Eventually he managed to get words out “You mean to tell me, that your brother…the brother you were just talking about…is Tony Stark?” Loki wasn’t sure at this point whether he wanted to laugh, cry, or pull his hair out and scream “Oh this is…this is just brilliant…no…brilliant actually doesn’t even begin to describe this…this is…this is unbelievable” 

Y/N was confused. Sure, Loki hated her brother, but...why was he overreacting that way? “I think I lost something here...what’s the problem? Besides you not liking him?” 

Loki grumbled in irritation, trying to formulate his thoughts. He pushed back from the counter, turning to face her fully “The problem? Well, how about the fact that the man I hate is your brother. That definitely complicates the fact that I consider you my closest and favorite Midgardian” 

“So being his sister make us not friends anymore? Is that it?” 

He crossed his arms and let out an annoyed huff “That’s not the point. I’m not saying we’re not friends anymore…it just complicates things. It changes things… because you have a relation to him. I have very mixed feelings about this new information.” 

“You know what, I’ll leave you to think about it then since it’s so awful.” Y/N turned her back to him, walking to the elevator. 

He watched her walk towards the elevator, a pang in his chest as she got in and the doors closed. He was left alone in the kitchen now, still in disbelief at everything that just happened. Y/N decided to spend the night with the team, watching the movie Clint chose. They were happy that finally she was back with them. But of course, she didn’t tell anyone what happened. 

While she was with the team, Loki stayed in her apartment. He just sat on the couch, still in disbelief and thought. He was tempted to ask JARVIS where she was, but he didn’t want to seem needy. Ater the movie ended, she left them saying she was a little tired and went back to her floor. Loki was still sat on the couch when she came back. He heard the elevator ding and his head shot up. He sat up a little straighter as the door to the elevator opened. For a second, he just looked at her, unsure what to do or say. 

Y/N didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t even look at him as she walks past him on the couch and went straight to her room. Loki watched silently as she walked past, his stomach twisting itself into knots. He had never wanted to speak more than he did right now, but for once he was speechless. Watching her walk to her room, he waited for a second before deciding to follow her.  

He stood up, walking swiftly towards her room. He almost hesitated when he reached her doorway, he stood there for a moment as his mind went through what he wanted to say before he spoke in a soft and somewhat quiet voice “Y/N…” 

“What?” She replied without even looking at him. 

Loki entered the room slowly, a part of him feeling almost nervous “Can I talk to you for a moment?” 

Y/N kept her back to him as she was taking her necklace off “About what? That we can’t be friends anymore? That you can’t stand me because of my brother?’ 

His heart practically shattered upon hearing her speak like that. He hated how she thought that. He shook his head softly, his voice quiet and sincere “That’s not it. I never stopped being your friend, and I never will. And it doesn’t matter to me that Stark’s your brother, despite me despising him.” 

This made her finally turn to look at him. Seeing her gaze shift to meet his made his heart twist a little again. He took a few steps forward, now fully in front of her. He let out a shaky breath before he continued to speak “You’re still my friend. You always will be. Nothing will change that.” He looked down slightly, a pang of guilt hitting him “I…I didn’t mean it earlies. Not really. I was just…I was just in shock when I realized you were Stark’s sister. That’s all” 

He dared to look back up at her, his heart going as soft as his gaze. He took a step forward and was now standing right in front of her, his voice quiet and soft as he continued to speak “You being his sister doesn’t change anything. You’re still my friend. My favorite and closest friend.” 

Y/N sighs, her voice now gentler “I guess I should have expected that kind of reaction from you...”  

A small pang of guilt hit him when he heard her say that “I…” he paused for a moment, biting his lip as he looked at her “I’m sorry. For how I reacted. I should’ve handled it better…but I was just a little…shocked” 

“A little?” She chuckles. 

Loki chuckled too, a slight smile coming to his face now. He held her hand delicately, his thumb gently stroking the top of her hand as they spoke “Maybe more than a little.” 

They were looking at each other, holding hands, when JARVIS started to play a soft music and that made Y/N a little confused “JARVIS, stop.” But it didn’t.  

Loki’s head snaps to look at the ceiling when the music started. A small smirk came upon his face as he looked up for a moment “JARVIS is quite the wingman” 

Y/N shakes her head as the music kept playing. 

I had a thought, dear 

However scary 

About that night 

The bugs and the dirt 

Why were you digging? 

What did you bury 

Before those hands pulled me 

From the earth?

Loki couldn’t help feeling amused by JARVIS playing that particular song. He chuckled softly and looked at her, a smirk on his face “I wonder if JARVIS’S trying to hint at something…” 

I will not ask you where you came from 

I will not ask you, neither should you

 Y/N rolls her eyes “I don’t think he’s trying to make a hint exactly.” 

Loki chuckles again, still holding her hand, his slender and smooth fingers rubbing slow and gentle circles over the back of it “Then what would you call it?” 

Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips 

We should just kiss like real people do

 “I call it being direct.” Y/N chuckles softly. 

He chuckled under his breath again and smirked, his voice almost having a teasing tone to it as he spoke “I know one way to shut him up...” Before she can say another word, Loki does exactly what the music had suggested. In one quick movement he brought his free hand up to cup the side of her face. Within a blink, he had closed the small distance between them and connected his lips with hers. 

Y/N closed her eyes, kissing him back. He moves his lips slowly, softly over hers, feeling pure bliss. His fingers against her cheek were gentle while his other hand still held hers delicately. Y/N’s hand cupped his face as they kissed, making Loki smile faintly against her lips while he felt her hands against his cheeks. He parted his lips very gently, his tongue slowly and delicately caressing hers. He moved his hand from her face, up to her hair and her hands moved to the back of his neck. 

Loki let out a faint gasp, the action sent shivers down his spine. As he continued to kiss her, his tongue intertwined with hers and all his thoughts went out the window. The only thing that mattered to him in that moment was her. They kept kissing in a slow pace. Slow, soft, and gentle were exactly what Loki wanted. He was being gentle with her as always, yet there was a sense of passion and hunger in his kiss as well. He tilted his head and continued to kiss her for another moment, completely in bliss. After a moment he slowly pulled back, his breath coming out in a soft and shallow pant against her lips. 

He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes half-lidded and a light, almost drunken-like look in them.  He was silent, his mind was still hazy from the kiss they just shared, leaving him speechless.  

Y/N smiles a little before kissing him again. A small moan escaped Loki's lips and he kissed her back slowly. He moved one hand and placed it on her waist, pulling her closer against him and bringing her body flush against his. Loki smiled faintly against her lips as he felt her hands start to move down his shirt. His muscles tensed faintly underneath his shirt, the feeling of her hands sending a pleasant sensation through his body. Y/N slowly pulls up his shirt until she took it off his body. He stopped kissing her for a moment to allow her to pull the shirt over his head, leaving his upper body bare. His heart was thumping fast in his chest as he felt his body exposed, her hands against his bare skin. He took a second to adjust before he quickly returned to kissing her again. He tilted his head and re-connected their lips in a gentle kiss, his hands going to the hem of her shirt, tugging on it a little. Just like him, she broke the kiss shortly to help him to get rid of it. 

He quickly pulled off her shirt as well, discarding it somewhere on the floor before returning his lips back to hers. He let out a small, quiet moan against her mouth as he felt their chests just barely touch. 

Y/N’s hand went down his chest until it stopped at his belt, slowly undoing it.  A soft, shaky breath escaped his mouth as his hips subconsciously bucked forwards a little as she started to undo his belt, making her smirks into the kiss. He was practically aching for her to touch him without the obstruction of clothes in the way. She slowly opens his pants, pushing it down, and Loki let out a quiet gasp. He was wearing thin, black boxer briefs, which didn’t leave much up to the imagination. 

Loki moved his lips from hers and started kissing slowly down her neck. His hand once again went to her hair, gently pushing it to the side to allow himself more access to her skin. He moved his lips to a sensitive spot on her neck and gently started sucking and biting on it and that made Y/N let out a soft moan. 

He smiled faintly against her neck, the sound of her moan was making him feel drunk. Loki continued to gently kiss down her neck until his hands started working on her pants too and slowly push them down. He pulled her even closer to him, his hands roaming up and down her body, touching her anywhere he could reach.  

Their joined their lips again, the kiss was slower now, but hungrier than before. The feeling of their underwear-clad bodies pressed up against one another was already driving him crazy with desire to be even closer to her. One of his hands started to move up her back, unclasping her bra and gently moving the strap of the bra off her shoulder until her upper body was more exposed. 

Loki broke the kiss for a moment, panting faint against her lips as he took the sight of her in. He stared, taking in every bit of her exposed skin, his mind practically blank, completely focused on her as he brought his hand up to her breast, gently but firmly cupping it with his hand, his thumb gently caressing it. That made her let out a small gasp, and it only made Loki want to hear more of it. He started to massage her slowly, his touch gentle against her sensitive skin, and his lips returning to her neck, gently kissing it. 

Y/N let her hand goes down to his boxers, slowly rubbing his bulge. A quiet moan escaped his mouth as he felt her touch, his boxer briefs now definitely more tight than they were earlier. He let out a deep, shaky breath, trying his hardest to hold back any louder sounds. 

She slowly pushed his underwear down. Loki shifted his legs to allow them to be easier to remove, the black piece of fabric soon being pooled with his pants on the floor left him completely on display for her. With his boxer briefs gone, he pressed his body against hers again. With his lower body pushed up against hers, he gasped again as he felt her against his sensitive member now. He began kissing down her neck again, his hands slowly moving to her hips and started to push down her panties. He was desperate to feel more of her skin against his, completely wanting all barriers between them to be gone. 

Loki slowly pulled down her panties, leaving them both bare against each other. He didn’t hesitate to bring her even closer to him. The press of her bare body against his sent a wave of pleasure down his spine, leaving all coherent thought lost in his mind. All that he could think about in that moment was her. Loki let out a shaky breath as he felt himself rubbing against her wet folds. His thoughts were a mixture of pure lust and want, mixed in with a strange sense of love. He continued to kiss her slowly, his hands gently caressing the bare skin of her back. 

Y/N broke the kiss, grabbing his hand and slowly leading them to her bed. She laid down first. Loki followed her and hovered above her for a moment, taking a slow, shaky breath before speaking again “You’re so beautiful…so perfect…” 

“So are you...” She says almost in a whisper. 

He slowly closed the small distance between them until their bodies were pressed together again, gently caressing her side and moved his head down and started kissing her neck again. His lips went further down until he gently started kissing her collarbone while his hand slowly started to travel further down her body. Another moan escaped her lips while she helped him fit better between her legs. 

Loki started to kiss down her chest, moving his lips to her breast and then to her nipple and gently started sucking on it while his hand continued to roam down her body, trying to touch her as much as possible. Y/N moaned again. After a moment, his mouth started to move over to her other breast and started giving it the same treatment. The sounds she made went straight to his ear and almost set him on fire, the hunger for her growing with every sound escaping her mouth. 

His lips were on a mission to continue kissing every single part of her skin, his tongue sometimes darting out to taste her. While his mouth started moving down her chest and towards her stomach, his fingers gently started to caress her inner thighs. His mouth continued to move down her stomach until he was in between her legs. There, he slowly started to kiss her just above her clit, his hands gripping her thighs very gently to keep her legs apart. Loki slowly started to move his tongue across her wet folds and her clit, trying to be careful and not to overstimulate her. The taste of her sent a shiver down his spine and he let out a shaky breath, having to keep himself from pressing his own hips against the sheets to get some kind of release. Each time he moved his tongue on her, she moaned.  

The sound of her moan was heavenly to Loki. His tongue continued licking her and his hands stayed gripping her thighs to keep her legs open. His own hips were pushing against the bed as his member was throbbing and begging for more, desperate for some friction.  He let out a soft, almost drunken sounding moan, his voice vibrating against her core. 

Y/N’s moans started to get a little louder, especially when he slowly pushed one slender finger into her. Loki watched as she closed her eyes and could feel her tightening around his finger. He carefully pushed another slender and long finger into her, wanting to give her as much pleasure as he could.  

He knew she was getting close by her moans and the way she was responding to his every movement. He felt her tighten around his fingers and a few moments later, she came. She pulled him back to her, kissing him again.  

Loki smiled faintly against her lips, returning her kiss immediately. His body was on top of hers, his hips in between her legs, pressing up against her but being careful to not actually push into her yet. As he continued to kiss her, he slowly started to move his hips against hers until he could feel his cock rubbing up against her, the feeling immediately making him gasp against her mouth. He broke the kiss for a moment to speak “Y/N...” His voice was a little shaky, the feeling of being that close to her yet not being inside her was almost driving him mad with need.  

“Yes...please...” Her voice was full of lust and desire, and she wanted nothing more than him inside of her. 

The sound of her asking him to continue made him feel almost dizzy with desire for her. He slowly lifted one of her legs a little more up and used his free hand to line the tip of his member up with her before slowly, and carefully pushing inside, making her moan. 

Hearing her moan as he pushed inside her slowly made him gasp, his mouth next to her ear. She nods at him for him to move. He slowly started to move his hips, being careful to be gentle and not go too fast or hard. His own breath was coming out a little in soft pants next to her ear, but he tried his best to keep them as controlled as possible to not be too loud and he kissed her again.  

The kiss was a lot sloppier than before, both of them breathing heavily against each other’s mouths as he kept moving. He moved his tongue into her mouth and tangled it with hers, desperate for as much physical contact possible. He picked up the pace slightly, the feeling of being inside her making his thoughts foggy. Y/N moans into the kiss while he kept moving in and out of her. 

The sound of her moans gave him all the motivation he needed to keep moving. His hips started to move a little faster, but still trying his best to be careful and not to move too forcefully or hard. He broke the kiss and instead started to slowly kiss and suck on her neck. She wrapped both her legs around his waist. He groaned quietly against her skin as he felt her legs wrap around his waist, practically forcing him to go a bit deeper. He let his head rest against her shoulder as he continued to move, the pleasure growing more intense by the moment. 

The new angle made Loki hit just the right spot. When he hit the right spot, he heard her gasp and felt her getting tighter around him, so he repeated the same movement again, the feeling making him bite down on the skin of her shoulder to try and muffle the moan from escaping him. 

He slowly picked up the pace again, now moving a bit faster. At this new rhythm and position, a few more thrusts of his hips and Y/N orgasmed again. He let out a shaky breath as he felt her climax around him again, her legs tightening around him and his name leaving her mouth like heaven. The feeling was sending him over the edge, it was too much, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Without stopping he let himself go, a deep, quiet moan escaping his mouth as he came inside of her. 

 His hips continued to move but much slower, riding out the last bits of pleasure. He slowly came down from his high, his body coming to a slow still as he tried to catch his breath. He slowly picked his head up from her shoulder to look at her. Her face was a little flushed from the pleasure and he smiled faintly at the sight. After a moment of catching his breath, he gently leaned down and kissed her forehead, a gesture that almost felt a little tender. 

Loki laid down next to her, gently pulling out of her and letting one of her legs still rest across his lower stomach as he laid down. He let his body rest a moment, still breathing a little heavily, before turning his head to look at her and spoke “That was...heavenly...” 

Y/N nods, agreeing but still weak from everything. She laid her head on his chest and Loki gently draped his arm across her back, pulling her closer to him so their bodies were even closer together. They both laid there quietly for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of the other so close and listening to each other breathes. 

He continued to hold her close, now gently caressing her back while he looked down at her. He was quiet for a moment, before he spoke “I didn’t plan on this happening when I came to your room, you know.” 

She chuckles a little “I guess we have to thank JARVIS for this.” 

“Indeed.” He chuckled faintly and continued to gently caress her back, letting his hand slide up and down her bare skin. 

“Are we okay? About the whole thing of me being Tony’s sister?” She had to ask it. 

Loki lifted his head up a little bit to look at her, a soft smile on his face “Yes, we are good. You being Tony’s sister isn’t going to change anything. I can promise you that.  If Tony has a problem with what we do in the bedroom, he can always take that up with me.” 

“Oh, so we’re doing more of this?” She smiled. 

He raised an eyebrow at her question, that faint smile still on his face ‘Of course we’ll do more. You think I’m going to let you get away from me now, when I finally have you in my arms?” 

Y/N chuckles a little “I guess I should tell you that unlike my brother, I don’t fool around.” 

Loki lifts his other hand to gently brush her hair away from her face, his fingers tracing down her cheek. He still smiled at her faintly as he spoke “Don’t worry, I have no plans of just fooling around with you. That’s not my style either.” He held her close and gently resumed caressing her back. He was enjoying the feeling of her bare skin against his and how she was laying in his arms.  

“What’s on your mind?” 

He didn’t answer at first, his hand still gently stroking her back. After a moment of silence he spoke, his voice a little quieter than before “Your brother is not going to be happy if he finds out that we’re together, you know…” 

“He won’t...” 

Loki stayed silent again for a moment, before he spoke in a quiet, slightly mischievous tone “Just so you’re aware, I have absolutely no intention of being quiet and discreet with you.” 

“Good.” Y/N smiles “Me nether. I don’t care about anything. I want you.” 

He felt that strange and pleasant sensation fill his chest again, hearing her say that. He gently pulled her even closer to him, her body practically flush against his and his hand sliding down from her back to rest on her lower back, nearly above her ass. His fingers gently traced her skin, his other hand still gently caressing her hair “Then you’ll have me.” 

[electricbathsalt]

Things I want to talk about/touch upon/see people mention more but cannot compile individual coherent posts about:

1. The fact Pops’ daughter apparently had a “falling out” with Pops (over her marriage??) that caused her to completely abandon the yakuza and maybe also cut contact with Pops (the dude is suspicious guys)

2. The fact that in the Overhaul-LOV initial meeting, Chisaki had to have intentionally chosen not to kill Mr. Compress.

3. The idea that many of Chisaki’s thought processes at least partially stem from his time in AFO’s facility. And of course, Pops.

4. How much Chisaki seems to lack a proper reaction to any sort of pain (He was beat to a pulp by Mirio & Midoriya, exploded himself, & got his arms cut off and I’ve never heard him so much as yelp) while still complaining about how overhauling himself hurts?? Yet he doesn’t show it.

5. (Highway scene) How Chisaki only screamed once the realization he wouldn’t be able to ever wake up Pops sunk in (isn’t confirmed but. I’m convinced).

6. The fact that there’s absolutely no way Chisaki wasn’t negatively impacted by being raised in the Yakuza. It’s simply inherent.

7. The blatant disregard Pops had to have had for both Chisaki and Eri’s well-beings to have designated Chisaki as her caretaker.

8. The endless amounts of potential for Chisaki & Dabi/Touya dynamics post-war, platonic or otherwise. (Multiple fics with this premise in my WIPs, lol)

9. The fact Chisaki seems practically incapable of holding a grudge. Like, think about it; is there a character you can say Chisaki genuinely, wholeheartedly hates and wishes the worst upon. You know what—what IS his opinion on Shigaraki/the LOV these days??

10. Realizing that in the initial Overhaul-LOV meeting, Chisaki literally just tone-matched them. Look:

Mr Compress says all that, and then Chisaki later explains:

Which, once you break down what Mr Compress said/how he said it, and what Chisaki said/how he said it… blunt statement of facts. Mr Compress told Toga how faded out the Yakuza have become with no sugarcoating, and Chisaki took that and said. “Well. Yeah.” But then when Chisaki did the same thing (blunt but true & valid criticisms of the LOV/Shigaraki’s leading skills (bc let’s be real, he was an ass leader at the time in terms of actual planning and execution)), the LOV got pissed. He pointed out all the relevant flaws and mistakes in Shigaraki’s leadership and then said it’d be better if he was the leader because he actually has a plan, and they got pissed at the mere prospect of serving under somebody else. Do you realize how much the story would’ve been altered if the LOV didn’t decide to just start attacking Chisaki here?? 💀 Sorry I’m exceptionally passionate about this bc the fandom gaslit me for a while into believing Chisaki was the one starting shit here 😔 but then I read it (a long time after I'd watched it in the anime) and was like. "what. he didn't initiate literally any of this shit. and everything he's saying is true??"

There’s probably more I could add to this but it’s getting long enough lol.

[kinardsevan]

Prompt: Tommy has dyslexia and has always felt self-conscious about it. His Dad often made him feel stupid because of it. Buck helps him work through it all.

Tommy tosses his phone onto the table and sighs, running a hand into his hair. Evan glances up from the island where he’s currently working on tossing the salad together for their dinner, confused. 

“Babe?” 

Tommy glances up at him and sighs, shakes his head in irritation. 

“My brain isn’t braining right now,” he replies as he leans against the chair. 

Evan nods, but stares at his boyfriend for a few moments. It’s not the first time he’s seen Tommy like this, and it’s definitely not the first time he’s seen him get this frustrated in the past few days. Still, he doesn’t want to press him to talk about something he’s not ready to. 

“I can hear you thinking over there,” Tommy says after a minute, standing back up straight. He turns towards the island and walks over to it, grabbing bowls to take to the table. “What’s up?” 

“I mean, you’ve just seemed really frustrated lately,” Evan tells him. “Especially in relation to your phone.” 

Tommy nods, his expression pinched as he presses his mouth together, purses his lips in contemplation. 

“I…I’m dyslexic, Evan,” he states, mildly apprehensive. 

Evan nods, but doesn’t say anything. He likes learning new things about Tommy. They’re still in a stage where that happens regularly, although he’s finding more and more that it’s not so much the big things anymore, as it is little quirks and differences. 

“So you were having trouble reading something?” He asks, like it’s the simplest question in the world. 

Tommy stares at him for a beat longer than feels normal. 

‘What?” 

Tommy opens his mouth and his lips move minutely, almost as if they’re forming words that aren’t coming out, before he closes it again. The action concerns Evan and he settles the tongs in his hand inside the salad bowl, rounds the counter. 

“What? What was that,” he asks, referencing Tommy’s lack of a statement. 

Tommy closes his eyes, his head dropping as a pained expression crosses his face. 

“N…No one’s ever just jumped into it,” he murmurs, shaking his head as he sucks the skin of bottom lip into his teeth, bites down. “I always get the ‘just use audio’, or ‘have someone read it to you’. Or my favorite, ‘you’re just not paying attention well enough’.” 

Evan furrows his brow at the statement. “But you have auditory processing issues. So how is that supposed to help?” 

Tommy looks up at him like someone has never bothered to suggest such a thing, slack-jawed at Evan’s words. Evan gives him a small smile as he reaches out and tugs on the hem of Tommy’s shirt, straightening it. 

“Nobody’s ever said any of this to you, have they,” he asks. 

“No,” Tommy drawls slowly. “It’s…weird. Nice, but weird.” 

Evan nods. He leans over and pecks Tommy on the lips. 

“So I used to get told that I was absent-minded and just didn’t care,” he confesses. “I’d miss appointments, blow off classes, oversleep.” 

“Because of the ADD,” Tommy counters.

Evan nods. 

“And then like six months into my tenure at the firehouse, Cap looked at me and said I should go talk to someone about it.I was doing better, but I was always running everywhere I had to be, because I couldn’t be on time to save my life.” Evan walks back around the counter and starts working on the salad again. “My point being, until someone else suggested a solution that actually helped,” he pauses, shrugs his shoulders. “I felt stupid. Like…like eveyrone just thought I just wasn’t trying hard enough.” 

Tommy nods. “Yeah. I relate.” 

Evan finishes tossing the salad and offers the bowl up to him. Tommy takes it from him and turns towards the table, sets it down before returning to the island and grabbing more supplies as Evan removes the apron he’s wearing. 

“So tell me how I can help,” Evan tells him. “If I can read it to you, or help break it down in easier sections. I think I read something a while back about breaking up modes of instruction too.” 

Tommy gives him a half smile then, shakes his head. 

“You just dive right in no matter what it is,” he observes. Evan smiles at him, shrugging. 

“I just want to make it easier for you,” he admits. “Besides, I don’t know if it’s obvious yet, but I kinda like you, Tommy Kinard. Kinda like you a lot.” 

Tommy chuckles then, glancing away as his cheeks flush. 

“Kinda like you too, Evan. Quite a bit.” 

[cnnmairoll]

First Kiss

Pairing: Kozume Kenma x Reader Genre: Fluff a/n: day one of me coping with fanfics............. idk how this fic made me feel

You strolled leisurely through the park, hand in hand with Kenma Kozume, your boyfriend of three months. The late afternoon sun bathed the surroundings in a warm golden hue, casting playful shadows on the ground. As usual, you were the one who had initiated the hand-holding, gently intertwining your fingers with his. Kenma didn't resist, but his grip was always tentative, as if he wasn't entirely sure he should be holding on.

"Look at that," you said, pointing to a group of children playing on the playground. "They're having so much fun."

Kenma glanced over, his cat-like golden eyes taking in the scene briefly before returning to the path ahead. He had his portable game console in his other hand, but it was off, a testament to his effort to focus on your time together. "Yeah," he replied softly.

You squeezed his hand, feeling the familiar, comforting warmth of his touch. "You know, you could have fun too, if you let yourself," you teased, a mischievous glint in your eye.

Kenma's lips twitched in a small, shy smile. "I'm having fun," he said, but it was clear he meant it in his own quiet way. He was never one to get overly excited about anything that didn't involve video games or the occasional volleyball match.

"You call this fun? Just walking and holding hands?" you teased again, nudging him lightly with your shoulder.

He glanced at you, a hint of amusement in his gaze. "Being with you is fun," he murmured, his voice almost lost in the gentle rustling of leaves.

Your heart skipped a beat at his words. Kenma wasn't one to express his feelings openly, and such a statement from him was rare and precious. You leaned in closer, feeling bold. "You know, Kenma, if you keep saying things like that, I might think you actually like me," you teased, knowing full well he did.

Kenma stopped walking, turning to face you fully. His expression was as composed as ever, but there was a flicker of determination in his eyes. "I do like you," he said, his voice steady.

You blinked, taken aback by his sudden boldness. "Well, that's good to hear," you replied, a playful smile on your lips. "But you know what would be even better?"

Kenma raised an eyebrow, silently prompting you to continue.

"If you showed it more often," you teased lightly, poking his chest. 

Kenma looked down at where your finger had poked his chest, a faint blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks. He was silent for a moment, his mind clearly working through something. You were used to his quiet nature, his way of processing things internally before responding.

"I do show it," he mumbled, almost to himself, his eyes not meeting yours.

You couldn't help but chuckle, leaning in closer. "Oh, really? Is this your way of showing it? Because I think you can do better, Kozume," you teased, knowing how to push his buttons just enough.

Kenma's eyes darted up to meet yours, a rare spark of frustration flickering in their golden depths. "You just don't get it," he muttered, his voice a mix of irritation and embarrassment.

You grinned, feeling a bit triumphant. "Well, then, make me understand," you challenged, stepping closer to him.

Kenma's gaze hardened, his shyness momentarily overshadowed by a surge of determination. He looked around briefly, as if to ensure no one was watching, then took a deep breath. "I'm gonna have to shut your lips with a kiss," he declared, his voice steady but the blush on his cheeks deepening.

Your heart raced at his words. You had teased him like this before, but he had never actually followed through. "Go ahead," you replied, your voice softer now, almost breathless with anticipation.

Kenma stared at you for a heartbeat, his eyes searching yours as if looking for any sign of insincerity. Finding none, he stepped closer, his free hand coming up to gently cup your cheek. You felt the world around you blur, the park, the children, the sunlight—all fading into the background as Kenma leaned in.

His lips met yours in a soft, tentative kiss. It was brief, a mere brush of lips, but it sent a shockwave through you, leaving you momentarily stunned. Kenma pulled back slightly, his face mere inches from yours, his eyes searching yours for a reaction.

You blinked, trying to process what had just happened. Your heart was pounding in your chest, your cheeks felt warm, and you were pretty sure your face was as red as his. "Kenma..." you whispered, your voice shaky with emotion.

He bit his lip, his own expression a mix of anxiety and hope. "Was that okay?" he asked quietly, his shyness returning in full force.

You let out a breathy laugh, your hands coming up to cup his face. "More than okay," you replied, leaning in to press another, firmer kiss to his lips. This time, Kenma responded with a bit more confidence, his hands steadying on your waist as he kissed you back.

When you finally pulled away, both of you were breathless and blushing. Kenma's eyes were brighter than you'd ever seen them, a small, genuine smile playing on his lips. "I guess I can show it more often," he said softly, his fingers intertwined with yours once again.

You smiled back, feeling a warmth spread through you that had nothing to do with the sun. "I'd like that," you replied, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

The two of you continued your stroll through the park, the air between you now filled with a new sense of closeness and understanding. You teased him a bit less, content in the knowledge that Kenma's quiet ways of showing affection were just as meaningful as any grand gesture. And as you walked hand in hand, you couldn't help but feel that this was just the beginning of something even more special.

[adventuringblind]

Band-Aids are for Speed

Lando Norris x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Street Racer AU

Summary: The five times she patched Lando up, and the one time he patched up her.

Warnings: Injury descriptions, broken bones, cuts, bruises, blood, illigal street racing, car accidents

Notes: Author is not a doctor but has watched medical dramas... don't judge my knowledge!

Side Note: I hope le requester enjoys this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Masterlist // Request Form // My Website // buy me a Ko-Fi

The first time she met Lando, he was siting in the emergency room waiting to be stitched up. She quietly hums to herself while setting up as the other nurse changes places with her.

The deep gash on his arm makes her wonder what he did to get it, but she also knows better then to ask. He doesn't look like he's in the mood to talk anyway.

It takes approximately three minutes for her to retract that statement. "So, you come here often?"

The question takes her so of guard that she doesn't know what to do with it aside from take the next few seconds to process. Is it not obvious that she works here?

"Do you mean the hospital? Or in this room specifically?" She laughs lightly at the ridiculousness of her patient and blames the minor blood loss.

"Nah, I mean in my presence." He smirks.

She tries to focus on her work. "Can't say I have."

"Would you like to be in it more?"

He gives her his number before he leaves. He dots the 'i' in his name with a heart.

She texts him the second she gets him to ask if he's bless her with his presence again.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

In the few months they've been seeing each other she's learned that Lando is obsessed with cars. It's cute when he jumps into excited rants about his favorite subject.

With the amount they've been talking, it's not shocking that Lando texts her in the evening. She assumes it'll be another silly joke. Instead she's met with frenzied sentences and misspelled words about need medical attention.

She doesn't hesitate to drive to his place. In hindsight, she really should've asked him why he didn't go to A&E when he's bleeding all over the bathroom floor.

"Please tell me you didn't get jumped." She kneels down and sets about getting him a position where she can see what she's doing.

He groans in pain as she moves him. "Nope! It was spectacular though."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I crashed the car but still won." He lets out a triumphant hoot.

This man can never give her all the details at one. "You got in a car accident?! How is that winning?!"

"Because I won the money... duh." He's definitely delirious now. Probably has a concussion. "Oh, I didn't tell you? I street race."

There's that strange part of her that is intrigued and curious to know more, specifically because that adds to his sex appeal (like he wasn't hot enough already). The logical side of her brain that is currently staring at Lando bleeding says otherwise. "Uh, no... you didn't."

"Well isn't that unfortunate! You coulda seen me crash today if you had."

Lando is half asleep by the time she is done. She's barely able to wrangle him into bed with how uncoordinated he is. It's useless keeping him awake.

She turns the lights off and is about to leave - "Will you stay?"

"I can, yeah, do you want me on the couch or is there another bedroom?"

"In bed with me. You can stay here - with me."

Against her better judgment, she does.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

She doesn't usually work the weekend shift but one of the nurses is on vacation and she could us the extra hours. She leaves her phone on vibrate in her pocket in case of a 'family emergency.'

Said emergency being Lando who is more accident prone on the weekends. Somehow, less accident prone in the car and more when he's doing normal people tasks.

Sometimes she wonders if her gets hurt on purpose just so he has an excuse to see her. She keeps telling him he doesn't need one - just in case - but he still calls and she goes. It's not like she has much else to do with her time aside.

She really shouldn't be shocked when he ends up in emergency clutching his arm. He gives her a bashful smile and tries to awkwardly wave. "Hi."

"And what, my love, are you in for this time?"

"I slipped on the stairs..."

Another male, a tall brunette who she knows as George, hits him playfully on the head. "No he did not! This idiot decided it would be a brilliant idea to tie a skateboard to the back of Alex's car and sit on it while Alex drove."

She throws a stern look at Lando and his smile goes from bashful to downright embarrassed. "You're lucky it's just you're arm."

By the time he's set free into the world to make more impulsive decisions, she makes the executive decision to make him wait until she's done working. He puts a pout on his lips, but it goes away when she sends him to the cafeteria.

They drive home listening to the indie station. The one he's made her fall in love with.

"Thank you, again."

"You've got to stop thanking me, Lan. It is literally my job." She laughs a little at herself for that one.

"Yeah, but, that's not all. You're the only person who doesn't freak out on me for doing stupid shit. Like I know I shouldn't do it but it gives me that adrenaline that racing does." The sincerity in his voice nearly takes her off guard.

"I can't tell what to do, but I'll always be there when you need a patch job."

"And I'll be there when you need a ride." He winks.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

The first time she's at one of Lando's races, she can feel the thrumming in her heart. The excitement of the start and the fear that he could possibly die doing this.

He jogs over to her right before the start. His hands clumsily find her waist and he smash his lips on hers. "For good luck." He whispers as he pulls away.

She doesn't let go, however. She pulls a band aide out of her pocket and sticks it to his hand. It's a crayon, but she highly doubts he'll care to much.

"What's this for?"

"I had a little girl today who told me that Band-Aids give you speed. I thought you might try it."

"When I win, it'll be all because of you."

Lando does win. She buys more Band-Aids with some of the prize money.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

She's there when the crash happens. The boys had deemed her the official medical personnel. Which she's glad for, since they are the ones getting her to the crash site. In record time - it has to be - she's sure she's never gone this fast before.

She dives out of the back of the truck to the driver side door. Lando sits there, a few visible cuts, but he's smiling at her. She has half a mind to give the boy an earful, but refrains since he did just crash.

It takes her, Alex, and George to get him out of the car and into the truck. She stitches him up before they go home. In her car, mind you, since the one Lando drove is out of order.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be - just - please remember that I can't fix every kind of injury."

They curl up in bed together. The long night having drained them both of their energy.

"Maybe, but at least my odds of surviving until my thirties have gone up with you around."

"At this rate, you're more likely to die doing dishes then driving."

"That was one time!"

♡♡♡♡♡♡

It wasn't supposed to be this way. She was supposed to go home, not end up back at her job.

Granted, she's here for a different reason now. One that's not her fault and she's pissed about it. She's going to explode with emotions. Her body hurts so much.

Fucking drunk drivers. Who gave them the right to say it's her fault? Telling her she's lucky it wasn't worse.

A soft knock at the door draws her attention. Lando stands there look mildly disheveled. Still, he has his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes. "Whatever am I going to do with you, my love? Always getting into accidents!"

He comes to lay beside her on the bed and she wiggles to make accommodate him. He pulls out a box of bandages from his pocket and proceeds to put them everywhere she has a new mark.

The stress of it all finally breaks through. She sobs into his shoulder and clings to his sweatshirt. "Thank you."

"Hey, none of that. I owe you for all the Band-Aids you've used on me and all those times you've patched me up."

"Does this mean I can drive your car now? Since I have extra speed?"

Lando raises his eyebrows. "Maybe not drive, but I can think of other things we can do with speed." He wiggles said eyebrows suggestively.

"How about, a speedy recovery? You have plenty of those."

"Alright fine, a speedy recovery - and I'll be here for all of it with a plethora of crayon Band-Aids because I bought them all just for you."

[runnning-outof-time]

Hiii K, congrats on your 3.5k! That’s such an amazing milestone 🥳🤩 I’d like to send in the following prompt for John. 17. “How do babies get made.” I felt like this would go very well with John 🤭 Can’t wait to see with what you’ll come up with!

Hi Daisy @peakyltd !! Thanks so much for sending this in!! I was hoping that someone would choose John for this prompt because you’re sooo right - it fits him perfectly!!! I hope you like what I did with this! Also a special thanks to @raincoffeeandfandoms for letting me use the ‘little chimney man’ who brings babies…you’ve helped (Y/N) immensely here! Enjoy! :)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Part of my 3.5k celebration — find more stories here!

That’s Not What Dad Said

John Shelby x Reader

Warnings: awkward talk about babies being born, a playful smack with a newspaper

Word Count: 677

Summary: (Y/N) gets a surprise when she and John’s oldest child asks a rather interesting question out of the blue.

The question that six year old James Shelby asked just about made (Y/N) spit the tea she was drinking right back into its cup. “Can you repeat that again, dear?” she prompted the child, silently hoping that she didn’t hear him correctly.

“How do babies get made?” the boy repeated his question. It was the exact question (Y/N) had heard. Word for word.

“Umm, well…” she trailed off, taking a few moments to try and think of how she’d tackle this. The boy was six…he didn’t need to know about the actual process that occurred. “So when a mummy and a daddy love each other very much, they have a talk, and in that talk, they decide that they want to have a baby. Then, there’s a man who comes down the chimney after hearing the talk and puts the baby in the mummy’s tummy. In nine months, the baby is born, and that’s how babies are made,” she finished her extravagent story with the exhale of a breath and an unsteady smile, hoping that it worked.

James looked at his mother, not saying anything for a few moments. “That’s not what dad said,” was what he finally said in response.

His statement immediately confused (Y/N). “Wha—what do you mean?” she rushed to ask, her eyes shifting between her son and her husband, who was still reading the newspaper and drinking tea; completely unbothered.

“Dad and uncle Arthur were talking yesterday and uncle Arthur was telling him about a lady he was with and I asked dad what he meant and he said that it’s how babies get ma…”

“Alright, I’ve heard enough. Why don’t you go and get ready for school, hmm?” (Y/N) cut the boy off, already having an idea of where the rest of his statement was going. Her insides were doing flips just thinking about her husband and his brother talking about stuff like that in James’ presence.

“Ok,” James nodded, hopping off of the chair without a second thought. (Y/N) was thankful he didn’t question it and did what she asked. He ran off then, leaving (Y/N) and John alone in the kitchen.

(Y/N) looked over at John, seeing him glance over at her while holding the cup up to his lips. He tried to be nonchalant and revert his eyes to the newspaper, but (Y/N) caught his gaze. “Would you like to tell me why you and Arthur were talking about those types of things with your boy in the room?” she asked him, her eyebrows raising as she spoke.

“We didn’t think he was listenin’ to us,” John tried to defend himself, setting the cup down so that he could look at her.

“He’s six, John. He listens to everything…and then he only remembers the things he isn’t supposed to,” she countered, her frustration shining through her words.

“It was a mistake, love. It won’t happen again,” he assured her, surrendering the argument because it was one he knew he couldn’t win.

“It better not,” (Y/N) emphasized, standing up from her chair to collect the empty dishes from the table. She walked them over to the sink, sitting them in it so that she could do the washing. Before getting to it, she walked back to where John was sitting with the newspaper in his hands. “Let me see that,” she said to him as she stopped at his side, motioning to the paper he was holding.

“Here,” he said, handing the paper over without second thought.

(Y/N) didn’t waste any time. She rolled the paper up and used it to lightly smack John on the back of the head, the sound of the whack from it filling the room.

“Oww!” he exclaimed, turning to look at her with wide eyes as he rubbed the back of his head.

A grin spread across (Y/N)’s face as she locked eyes with her husband. “I meant what I said,” she said then, seriousness present in her voice.

Tagged: @the-anxious-youth @mystcldydrms @look-at-the-soul @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @shelbydelrey @theshelbyslimited @peakyswritings @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @stevie75 @dark-academia-slut @zablife @cillmequick @letal-y-poetica @depxiety @shelundeadxxxx @areyenotfondofmelobster @padfootdaredmetoo @crabat-the-queen @sebastianstangirl01 @everythingelseisextra @kmc1989 @papichulo120627 @brummiereader @adaydreamaway08 @kissforvoid @raincoffeeandfandoms @peakyltd @johannelis2302nely @wildheartsalwaysburn @dragons-are-my-favorite @jessimay89 @slaymybreathaway

MASTERLIST

[fqiryspit]

ahh congratulations on the milestone!!! you truly deserve it 💗 this is such a cool idea, i’m so excited to see what you write 💗

can i request smut 3, 22 and 27 pls? :) i really hope i did that right lol

hii babes! thank you so much! and yes you did it perfectly!

3, 22, and 27 = please kiss me, show me how much you need me, and do you think you deserve this?

bully!eren x nerd!reader

cw: dom!reader, pussy eating, sex in a classroom, squirting, whiny eren, and eren has a weird way of showing his feelings, reader wears glasses

leaning against the cold locker you picked at your nails, bored as ever.

as your glasses slid and halt at the end of your nose, you shake them back up just to see a face not inches away from yours

"shit!" you gasp, sliding up on the locker you were leaning on as he corners you in

"what the fuck are you doing?" he snarls, your features twist as you try and remember a time you pissed off eren intentionally

"what do you mean?" you relax, feeling angrier than frightened until he slams a hand onto the locker next to you, successfully closing you in

"last weeks quiz" he answers simply. you feel your shoulders tense as you recall him cheating off you, it's nothing new, except...well...you failed.

"you don't flunk quizzes, y/n." his jaw clenches down, eyes burning wholes straight through your frames

"well thank you" you chuckle, hiding how you desperately want to get out of this situation with humor

"don't try and be a smart ass now."

"what was so fucking fascinating you failed us both?" he asked, you were hoping he'd think you put the wrong answers on purpose and just erased them at the end. because that would've been a lot better from the truth.

"i-" you tuck your bottom lip in, fuck, you're probably so red right now

"holy shit" he remarks, you feel yourself sinking into the metal behind you as he barks laughter into your face "who was getting you so hot and bothered?" he asks, you turn away from him as you refuse to play into his torture

"oh, don't say it was-"

"armin."

eren was obviously taken aback by your statement, thinking it was him you'd be so distracted by. he felt the warmth pool to his cheeks before he could even digest what you just said

"oh." he slips out, disappointment thick on his tongue as your head shoots up from the lack of teasing

"what's so good about armin?" his question shocks you but you scoff before crossing your arms and looking up at him

"okay, well, first of all, he's not a dick...he's extremely smart, handsome, and-" suddenly you're being pushed to the room next to you, stumbling into the vacant art class

"what the hell" another pull and you're against the wall with his lips on yours, once you process what's happening you push him off you immediately

"eren! what the fuck!" you snap, wiping your lips off as heat pools your cheeks

"fuck- I'm sorry I-" he stutters over his words, placing a hand over his eyes to delete himself from this conversation

"what's...wrong with you?" you say a little more genuinely, eren...just kissed you? and now is, what...embarrassed about it?

"y/n, please I'm just- youstartedgoingoffaboutarminandimsorry" he says in one breath as you stand there, shocked.

soon you spit out a laugh, not taking him seriously until you watch him stare at the floor with shame

"oh, you're- you're serious?" you say through tears while walking towards him.

"so you being an absolute dick to be for the past, what, four months was just an act?" you yell,

"I'm sorry" "do you know how much you embarrassed me? made me look like an idiot?"

"do you think you deserve this? me?" you coo, going up to him as you even notice tears forming in his eyes

"aw, now you're gonna fucking cry" you taunt at him and he looks up at you finally. your eyes moving to his red ones, glossy and plump from the kiss you shared not moments before

"no, I wouldn't deserve you" he chokes out, you feel warmth pool in your panties. uncomfortably shifting as you decide to take a turn with this altercation

"show me..." you whisper, he stares at you, confused as you speak up again with more force

"show me how much you need me" his eyes blow as you move to kiss him, hands cupping his tan cheeks as your glasses squish into his face, your lips lap together frantically as you move to undo the belt he has on

with that, he follows and strips you of your jeans and spins you around, laying on the desk

moving to your soaked panties he rips them off hurriedly and moves to lick up your pussy, you've always heard the tall tales of the monster cock and unworldly fucking but never gave it the time of day, now you're living it.

your back arches against the glossed desk as you feel yourself unwinding already.

"fuck, eren" you moan out, moving to grip your own tit through your shirt as he continues to suck your clit until your cream spills on his face

he laps at the essence until satisfied and moves up to your face where his pupils were spinning and his chin was shining

"please kiss me" he slurs, deep voice rasping against your face as he waits for your move

you move up and kiss him, teeth knocking together as you move your lips rapidly

you feel his head nudging your entrance as you buck your hips toward it, he slides it in bit by bit as you try to relax as you take in his (now proven) monster cock

"holy fuck" you whisper, he kisses your temple as he thrust the rest of himself in, you moan into his tee shirt as he snaps his hips into yours, reaching down and rubbing your clit as he moves toward your ear

"I'm gonna make you fucking squirt on my cock" he says as if it's already set in stone, and honestly, with how he's treating you right now, you're gonna say it is.

"you terrify me ya'know" a hard thrust. "talkin' about armin like that" another. "like you fucking like him" again. "I'll treat you so well, you deserve it, especially after everything I did"

"I'm so sorry" he says but it goes through one ear and out the other

"eren," you move to try and catch his eyes with the pace you're being fucked at

"this is the perfect apology" you moan, he moves to kiss your cheek as you daze out, he rubs your clit again, pressing on it from time to time to tease you slightly

"fuck fuck eren-" you whine, feeling your orgasm approaching rapidly

"me too baby, fuck you keep sucking me the fuck in" he groans, speeding up his pace as he haphazardly rubs your clit

"fuck! fuck!" you can no longer control your moans, the bell rings out and you're forever grateful as you both scream freely when you cum

(as promised) you squirt everywhere, and you're laid limp on the desk as you feel a kiss on your head and the muffled chatter of students in the hall

he moves to kiss you again, finding your lips so addictive as he gets more before saying,

"c'mon, we gotta get to class"

an: ahhh! I hope you liked this! also, thank you so so so much for requesting! I was so stoked to see your request and I'm already having a lot of fun writing these <33

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Symptoms of a System Error: The Manifestation of Myungha's Depression in Love for Love's Sake

Ok I will almost certainly have more thoughts about this when I go back to rewatch Love for Love’s Sake in the next couple weeks, but I’ve been thinking about the finale for the last couple of hours and I want to get some stuff out of my head. Before I get too far in to this, I want to say that I think most of the ambiguity in the show is brilliantly executed in a way that allows people to take whatever meaning they want to from it without contradicting each other, without stepping on toes, and without having to twist or bend the narrative beyond all recognition to  make it make sense. 

So I want to talk about the use of depression in this show, because the way Myungha exists in the world is recognizable enough to me that these moments of choice, and the system errors were extremely legible. That doesn’t mean my take is the correct one (and I honestly don’t think there is one right answer here anyway) but it’s what I got out of it, so with the needless ramble complete, let’s get to it. 

Prologue

gif by @dramascene

I connected rather quickly to Myungha as a character from right near the beginning of episode 1 because of how passionate he was about the character of Yeowoon and how much he hoped for a happy ending for that character. As someone who processes a lot of my feelings, and who understands myself better through media consumption, I was quick to appreciate the fact that Myungha recognizes the parts of himself that speak to Yeowoon and to know that because Yeowoon is fictional, he has a chance not to suffer with merely a stroke of a pen. The Author could have chosen from the beginning to give Yeowoon a happy ending, and did not because he believes that there are people for whom bad things will never stop happening. But from the perspective of a fictional story, the Author should consider who he is writing the story for. Myungha connects to Yeowoon, and it sends one hell of a tragic message for how Myungha’s life will end up if even in fiction the people who suffer have no hope of happiness. 

Myungha tells the Author that someone like Cha Yeowoon, someone like him [Myungha] with awful lives can still be happy. Looking back on that statement with the knowledge that Myungha kills himself, sends a very clear message, at least for me, of the hope that he was clinging to and finally lost his grip on. The Author asks if Myungha can change the outcome, and thus begins our story.

Debuffs

Now, I don’t know that I will have much more to say here than what @jemmo said in their very brilliant post, beyond the fact I agree with their interpretation of the debuffs. But I am thinking about the debuffs as it relates to mental health and to Myungha’s independence. One of Myungha’s first missions is to befriend Cha Yeowoon, and we see the difficulties associated with doing so when it comes to the Fondness Level meter and the debuffs that happen as a result. I love what Jess said about the dichotomy there: the debuffs mean that every time Myungha gets close to Yeowoon, something bad happens, Myungha uses that as a reason to stay away from Yeowoon to protect him when in fact, being around Myungha and increasing his fondness for him is the only way to really keep Yeowoon safe. 

gif by @dramascene

And here again there is something recognizable to me in this dichotomy. Myungha likes Yeowoon, Myungha wants to be friends with Yeowoon, every time something bad might happen to Yeowoon, Myungha is there to intervene. But Myungha is convinced that the potentially negative events that might occur during a debuff are because of him, and so he avoids Yeowoon as much as he possibly can. To me this makes the debuffs a stand in for depression symptoms. Myungha has convinced himself that he is the cause of the bad moments in Yeowoon’s day. Myungha has convinced himself that Yeowoon would be better off if they weren’t friends, because he only makes things worse. And that is not something he can easily shake off, it’s not something he can logic his way out of, that’s the game, that’s just how it is. And so he withdraws until Yeowoon comes to him. 

And honestly thinking about it, nothing bad really happens during those debuffs. The light doesn’t shatter, the boys back off on the bus, Yeowoon doesn’t punch Sangwon. Maybe the reason why nothing at all happens is because Myungha intervenes. Maybe if Myungha hadn’t been there, the light would have broken, maybe if Myungha hadn’t been there Yeowoon would have punched Sangwon. But that is not a lens that Myungha is capable of viewing himself through, that is never an option that crosses Myungha’s mind because he is too focused on feeling like the cause of Yeowoon’s problems. 

System Errors

I know there is a lot of confusion or at least uncertainty around the system errors. Why are they happening? Where are they coming from? For me, I think the answer is Myungha himself. The first time we get a system error, it’s in Episode 6, what I think is the day after Yeowoon and Myungha have their first kiss and very soon after Yeowoon and Myungha kiss on the rooftop at school. The first error isn’t subtle, but it’s not explicitly stated. Myungha walks in to a room to take a phone call and walks in to the middle of band practice, falling through the world as he tries to remove himself from the situation until he (literally) runs in to Yeowoon. Myungha goes home that night and gets his first moments in the black abyss, and the first explicit mention via pop-up of a system error. I have not gone through (yet) to track every instance of what happens before a system error pop-up occurs from that point on, but I will say moment that was most legible for me in terms of indicating that these system errors were stemming from Myungha himself were when he gets the notification both times that Yeowoon looks directly at him and tells Myungha “I love you.” 

gif by @dragonsareawesome123

That moment was a guy punch for me because I was not able to see it any other way except that Myungha is so incapable of believing that people could actually love him that someone telling him directly and sincerely that they love him cannot exist in his world. He literally cannot compute it, and thus an error occurs. Again from the perspective of depression, or trauma, or what have you, this is familiar to me. It is perhaps the most reflective part of Myungha to my own psyche. Neither of us know how to be loved. 

Myungha is called out on this repeatedly, he is nice to everyone, he does so much for everyone and refuses to ask for help himself. I’m the same way, I will bend over backwards as much as I can to help the people that I care about, but it is a rare occasion where I can ask for help myself. I’m not sure if this is the case for Myungha, but for me at least a lot of that stems from needing to make myself useful to people in some way so they keep me around. And so I end up feeling like a commodity to the people that I care about and help, and merely tolerated by anyone else that I do not help but that interacts with me any way. Myungha is called out consistently by multiple people, real or NPC about this similar habit. Myungha does not want to be a burden, Myungha only cares about other people’s happiness, Myungha is not happy himself and has maybe never been happy and so he pours everything he can in to lightening the load for others. 

He loves Yeowoon, but to be loved by Yeowoon is different. To experience any moments of joy cannot possibly be real. Maybe I am projecting too much on to the character, but it makes complete and total sense to me that Myungha’s worldview would break down upon having someone state wholeheartedly that they want to be a support system for him. 

Cruel Choices

gif by @dramascene

With the enmeshment of depression and video game mechanics in mind, I want to talk about the scene at the end of Episode 6. I love this scene so much for a number of reasons: 

It turns the game on a head for me as we slip further and further in to a nightmare scenario

It raises the stakes and attempts to get Myungha to make a hard choice 

It forces Myungha to think about what is important to him 

It’s ultimate purpose and who is posting the mission is ambiguous/uncertain 

I’m going to focus on number four. I think it is a perfectly valid read to see this and all video game mechanics as designed by The Author in an effort to help Myungha change Yeowoon’s story in which case this mission feels particularly vindictive and cruel. @lurkingshan posed the question in a conversation we were having about Love for Love’s Sake, where she wondered why the game could not hold two sources of love for Myungha at once. I love that question because it made me realize how differently this show can be read and how important who you choose to read as the entity in control of this game is for what this scene specifically means and I love so many interpretations of it, I love the interpretation that is was simply cruel, I love the interpretation that in retrospect this was the Author being angry at Myungha for dying, I love the reflection from @jemmo that said this felt like a choice between staying rooted in the past (sparing grandma) or choosing a future (sparing Yeowoon)

For me, I think I am leaning heavily in to the pop ups are under Myungha’s subconscious control, his mind, the missions he thinks are important, the problems he thinks he is causing are what is driving the base game. Because of this my base instinct is to lean in to the depression/anxiety/trauma tent where things have been going a little too well for him lately and he has convinced himself that he is due for something bad to happen. I am happy to once again acknowledge that this probably projection, but I know that my own mental illness(es) does not let my peace linger for long. Myungha is spending so much time with Yeowoon, Yeowoon who grounds him when his world is literally falling apart. Yeowoon who cannot contain his smile whenever he is around Myungha, Yeowoon who is downright desperate to bestow love and support upon Myungha, Yeowoon who has accompanied Myungha to the hospital late at night to be there for his boyfriend in a stressful time, and Myungha can’t have that. He loves his grandmother, he loves Yeowoon, they both love him and so obviously means that something bad is going to happen to them. 

gif by @25shadesoffebruary

[As an aside I am thinking about what the Author said in the final episode about wanting Myungha to be able to see himself from the outside, and how I took that to mean Yeowoon is supposed to be a reflection of Myungha and a journey to self love, and how Yeowoon told Myungha that something bad always happens to the people around him in relation to this hospital scene]

Secondarily, I do think being confronted with this choice at all allows Myungha to have a moment of reflection, and is clarifying for him to know that both Yeowoon and his grandmother are important people in his life that he doesn’t want to lose. That’s fucking huge, in my opinion at least. And for all this mission was cruel, it was the first time Myungha refused to complete the mission. He was asked to save one, he decided to save both, and the game could have been cruel and taken his grandmother and Yeowoon away for refusing to choose, but it didn’t. They both got to live, and sure Myungha’s mission to make Yeowoon happy was shortened significantly, but I do think fifteen days was enough time to be successful in his mission if the depression and the grief had not gotten to Myungha instead. 

Grief 

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Something about grief that my therapist told me once was grieving people love helping others. And I think that is the case of Myungha here just based on the way he throws himself in to helping as many people as he can, especially Yeowoon. He knows Yeowoon is grieving, he knows Yeowoon is struggling, and he can distract himself from his own shit by helping Yeowoon instead. But once Myungha is confronted with the possibility that either one of the people that he loves could die, the penality for failing in his mission to make Yeowoon happy looms over his head like a knife. Just like Myungha considered himself the problem with the debuff, he knows how high of a likelihood it is that Yeowoon would regress, would isolate, would sink into a massive low. 

And it would be Myung’s fault (in his mind). 

Especially because Yeowoon keeps saying that even thinking about going on dates with Myungha is making him happy but Myungha’s mission isn’t complete. Myungha has started to get low, he is not as engaged in his relationship with Yeowoon, he’s convinced himself he is going to fail, and is thus setting himself up for failure because he decides 15 days is not enough time to find happiness, but it is enough time to break somebody’s heart in preparation for a devastating loss. And maybe, maybe Myungha would have snapped out of it with enough time to spare initially, but any hope of that being the case was shattered the second Yeowoon admitted that he wasn’t happy because Myungha wasn’t relying on him. 

Myungha is so used to be self-reliant there is no way for him to break out of that habit in just two weeks. Myungha knew his death would hurt Yeowoon, but the final nail in the coffin for him was learning that his life was hurting Yeowoon too. And he almost got there, he almost did it, he admitted that he didn’t know how to, but he withdrew at the last second. He has spent all this time, all this energy, all this focus in to changing Yeowoon, he does not have the space to do that for himself. 

The Choice 

gif by @supanuts

The last moment I will really speak to as it relates to my interpretation of this game being controlled by Myungha as a manifestation of his depression is the author’s pen. Considering the fact The Author asked Myungha if he wanted to try again, I do not think if the Author was controlling this game world that he would have had Myungha disappear from it. Because according to the Gaga subs, the change that Myungha writes is that he wants Yeowoon to be happy, and immediately upon finishing that request, Myungha starts to fade. 

If we hold these game mechanics as manifestations of Myungha’s depression, which I do, it makes complete and total sense to me that Myungha would fall back in to the pattern of believing that Yeowoon would be happier if Myungha wasn’t there. Yeowoon has a modeling deal now, he has some modicum of fame, he has friends now, he has supports in place that he did not have before, so what need does Yeowoon have of him, when his inability to let people love him is what is now causing Yeowoon to feel sad. 

And I think that massive server error at the end where the world is burning and the universe is melting in to the game is a result of Myungha realizing too little, too late that this isn’t what he wanted. But it can’t be undone. The line he says when he is sinking in to the water about how at the last minute before he died, he regretted it. The game, the drowning here are one in the same to me. 

And for me there was just something so beautiful and hopeful from Myungha telling The Author that he wants to try again. We started the show with Myungha telling The Author miserable people can be happy, and we end the show with Myungha and Yeowoon finally getting the happy ending they never thought they would have. 

gif by @junghaesin

God I loved this show.

[am-i-interrupting]

do you mind if i ask for a bimbo gn!reader who thinks they have an unrequited crush on vox all the while being oblivious of vox's own attempt at flirting, please?

Daft Dolls

All that training with Velvette about how not to just pace but run in high heels really did pay off. Not only was it a valuable tool to have in Hell of all places, it was also just pretty damn useful to know in general.

You weren’t running from loan sharks. No, you were running towards a specific hotel. You weren’t in trouble. Far from it. You were excited. You could not wait to see the look on his face.

The doors were slammed open as you barged in. You looked across the lobby of the hotel.

Vaguely you registered other people (a man dressed in red who just appeared out of thin air) but your eyes zoned in on the pink clad spider at the bar.

“The fuck you doing here, toots?”

“I got you out of work!”

Your voices overlapped. Angel Dust looked at you with a raised brow. “What?”

“I got you out of work,” you repeated as you walked towards him, the door closing behind you. “Well, not work but work work. You know, Valentino work. I know it’s not what you wanted but being on set with me is better than being on set with Valentino, right? At least, that’s what I was thinking ‘cause when I went to talk to him about it he was mad. Like mad mad. He threw bottle of rosé at me.”

“Are you okay?” Angel asked.

You batted his hands away from you. “I’m fine. It’s no big deal. He has shit aim anyway. He missed but with the help of Vox I was able to get you off of Val’s set and onto mine!”

Angel Dust just stared at you, absolutely silent.

As he processed what you said, a blonde woman came up beside you. “Um, hi, I’m Charlie. You’re one of Angel’s friends, I guess? It’s so nice to meet you.”

You took her outstretched hand (it was really soft) and shook it. “Nice to meet you too! Angel’s told me about you. I’m—“

“Vox helped you?” Angel asked, coming out of his stupor. “Like TV head Vox? Overlord Vox? That Vox? He helped you get me out of work?”

“Yeah,” you said shaking your head. “He was already up there with Val. I kind of just barged in. I wasn’t thinking. That was probably a stupid thing to do but you were on the news and then you were messaging me all freaked out about what Val was gonna do because you were on the news so I just kind of went up there to talk about it and anyway. Yeah, why?”

He downed the glass that was on the bar beside him. “You’re so oblivious sometimes,” he said.

“What?!”

He pointed a finger at you. “You call me at least once every two weeks and moan and groan about how—“

You clasped your hands over his mouth. “Can we not ta— Ew! Angel!” You yanked your hands back, now covered in his saliva. “Gross!”

He smirked at you and leaned in close, “Just making sure you’re prepared for that hand job he’s gonna get.”

You pushed his shoulder and he pushed you back. This led to you both lightly hitting each other with no real intent to harm one another.

That was until a different woman’s voice sounded through the room, “What the fuck is going on?”

The both of you stopped and turned towards her. Grey skin, white hair, orange eyes, she was gorgeous. You couldn’t help but say as much.

She looked completely thrown off by your blatant statement meanwhile Angel threw his head back with a laugh and Charlie looked over at her with a huge smile.

“Vaggie,” Charlie said in a sing-song voice.

“No,” the woman (Vaggie) immediately responded with. “Absolutely not.”

She turned around and started walking away. “Sorry,” Charlie said before moving to follow her. “But they’d be perfect for the Hotel!”

“No, we’re not having two Angel Dusts,” Vaggie said.

“But, Vaggie,” Charlie’s voice then grew too distant to hear.

Angel waited a moment but then he turned to you again. “You really got me out of work?” he asked, voice so close to sounding fragile.

“Course I did,” you told him. You grabbed his hand. “Your my friend, Angie.” You let go. “I need to go back though. I’m on my lunch break and it’s probably almost over. I just got so excited, I had to come tell you in person.”

Angel pulled you in for a hug and squeezed you with all six arms. “You’re the best, toots.”

“I know, I know,” you said. “Anyway, I gotta go. See ya!”

You blew Angle kissed as you walked backwards to the door. You spun around, prepared to open it when you saw the red clad man from before holding the door open for you.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Of course, my dear,” he said, a radio filter on his voice. “Please, allow me to walk you back. I’d love to thank our mutual friend in person for helping our other mutual friend.”

“You know Vox?”

“Yes, indeed I do, very well, in fact. I’m Alastor. Pleasure to meet you, my dear, quite a pleasure,” he said.

You gave him your name in turn.

The two of you walked together in silence. You did notice as the two of you walked, many people sprinted away which was odd, especially for you.

You were normally approached by people when you were out. They didn’t run away.

See, several years ago youd made a deal with Velvette. You were one of her models and she’d provide you with protection from Hell’s many dangers along with the occasional free clothes as a bonus. Time passed and you and Velvette actually ended up getting along fairly well. She’d put you in her streams, in her posts, she’d hang out with you outside of work. That’s when one day she heard you singing when she invited herself over. A couple days later, you were basically told you were going to make an album. The rest was history.

So, people running from instead of approaching you was different, weird, even strange.

You looked over at your company but he simply wore a smile. You could hear him humming actually, something upbeat and jazzy. You supposed if he wasn’t deterred you shouldn’t be either. Maybe it was just one of those off days in Hell, especially since it was so soon after the extermination.

Eventually you got to the three Vs’ tower. What you didn’t expect was for Vox to immediately teleport to the entryway.

His posture was straight which was normal but it seemed tense. If that wasn’t enough to tip you off the fact that he was still sparking was and his eye strobing definitely was. You followed his gaze to Alastor and found yourself suddenly very cautious of the man.

While Alastor didn’t seem that bad on the surface you’d known Vox longer. You trusted Vox. You more than trusted Vox actually but the point was you took a very lengthy step away from Alastor and toward’s Vox even if he was sparking.

“What marvelous company this one makes,” Alastor said, gesturing to you. “Wouldn’t you say, old friend?”

Vox took a step in front of you. “Get the FUCK out of my territory!” he said.

Alastor’s smile turned into something devious, something knowing, and something very unnerving. He gave a bow and then vanished into the shadows.

Vox placed a hand on your back and guided you inside. “Do not ever go around him again, understand?”

“Yes, sir,” you said. Not once in your half a decade in Hell had you ever seen Vox like this.

He sighed. His sparking calmed down and his eyes stopped strobing. “Sorry, just, um, I— he’s— it’s complicated. Just don’t associate with him.”

“Sorry, I was just going to that hotel Angie’s staying at. He insisted on walking me back, that’s all,” you explained.

“It’s— Wait, what? What hotel?”

“The Happy Hotel that Charlie Morningstar started. There was an ad for it on 666 today before Angel’s fight.”

Vox stopped. “Alastor’s back and he’s staying at a hotel run by Lucifer’s daughter?”

Prior to all of the things that happened two days after the extermination, Vox had already said (as what you assumed was a way to placate Valentino) that he would be personally in charge of directing your music video but it seemed like since Alastor he wasn’t letting you out of his sight. That was silly though.

He did come into your apartment in the tower though and just sat on your couch. That was normal though. Vox did that when he was stressed. He said your apartment was less noisy than staying with the other Vs. Whatever the case, you made him dinner last night.

Now it was the next day and Velvette was dolling you up as she was prone to do. She blended out your lipstick with her finger. Then she put a thick layer of lip gloss on top.

“Pout for me. Perfect. You look pretty, innocent, and fuckable,” she said.

She pulled you out of your chair and to the nearest full length mirror. She was right, as always. She’d given you a very soft blue makeup look for the most part with sharp eyeliner and bold pink and black lips. She had dressed you in a pastel pink cropped sweater, a matching miniskirt with a high pastel blue g-string, and tall white boots. She’d outdone herself but she always did.

She ushered you out of the dressing room after you both got done gawking at yourself and to the set. There you found Angel in a very similar get up but with the pinks and blues reversed.

“You ready to blow this shoot?” Angel asked,

“Wrong kind of shoot for a blow,” you told him.

He rolled his eyes with a smile. One hand of his went around your shoulders. The other went around the waist.

You both went to set and chatted while you waited for Vox to arrive.

It was only a few minutes before he was walking through the doors, a tray of three cups in his hands. He set it down on a nearby table. Velvette went to grab one but he cut her off, taking it instead. You caught sight of her offended expression before it morphed into a done but knowing look. One hand on her hip while the other plucked a different cup off the tray,

Vox turned, now two cup in hand. He caught sight of you and raised an eyebrow. Velvette doubled over laughing. You couldn’t help but wander why. It was too loud to hear what they were saying but it didn’t look like either of them had moved their lips.

Maybe one of Vox’s soundboard noises went off. That was known to happen occasionally but you couldn’t think of why.

You didn’t really get the chance to think of any reasons though as seconds later Vox was in front of you. He extended the hand holding the cup he’d taken from Velvette.

“You look nice,” he said.

“Thanks, Velvette’s work,” you explained, taking the cup from him. You hummed to yourself when you were met with your favorite drink.

“I’m sure that’s not all true,” he said.

You were too busy to notice how his eyes lingered on your face but Angel did. Throughout the next few weeks Angel noticed a lot.

He’d never really seen you and Vox interact before. He would just hear stories from you afterwards and holy fuck. You had to be dense to think this man wasn’t absolutely obsessed with you.

Vox brought you your favorite drink every single day. He complimented you every single day. He would correct and critique everyone else in a very detached way at best and frustrated way more often than not. But with you, he was calm, gentle almost. He took your ideas and incorporated them. He would go out of his way to physically correct your poses or guide you through specific motions. Once you mentioned off handedly that your feet were hurting and there was an early lunch break where he didn’t even eat, he massaged your feet for you.

When Angel brought this up, however, he was brushed off.

“He brought Velvette a drink too.” Yeah, one she complained tasted like piss.

“He does that all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.” Angel had never heard Vox compliment anyone in his nearly seventy years in Hell.

“He just knows me better, that’s all.” Not once had Angel ever seen Vox being even half as kind to Velvette or Valentino.

“I’m sure he does that with other people’s ideas.” Angel remembered being told multiple iterations of the same story with different people, all because they did something as small as suggest different shoes for someone to walk in because it was too loud.

“It’s probably just easier to do that than explain. He knows I’m used to being puppeted around by Vel.” He spent five minutes explaining to Angel what to do instead of just moving his four arms into position.

“Do you want me to give you a foot massage, Angie? All you have to do is ask.” Well, yes, but that wasn’t the point!

Angel watched as Vox laughed at something you said. “Fucking dumbass,” he muttered to himself as he grabbed a yogurt off the snack bar.

“I know, right?” Velvette said, scaring the shit out of him in the process. “You think this is bad? Ugh, imagine being surrounded by it all the time and Voxy’s just as bad and there’s no escaping him. I have to put up with his bitch ass whining all the time. It’s exhausting.”

Angel relaxed enough to lean against the wall. “Kind of makes you want to press them together like dolls and make them kiss, don’t it?” he asked.

“Yeah. . . Wait a minute! That’s it!” Velvette slapped Angel’s shoulder.

She whipped out her phone and started typing frantically. Her legs started kicking from where they dangled over the edge of the snack bar.

Angel peeled open the yogurt and tried to lean to have a look at what she was typing. She was too fast though and shut off her phone with a satisfied smirk.

Her eyes were glued to the pair of you. You pulled out your phone and saw a message from her. You looked over at her with furrowed brows. She just smiled at you manically. You shook your head but gave her a thumbs up.

When lunch break was supposed to be over, Velvette clapped her hands together loud enough it echoed through the room. “Listen up, sluts!” she said, taking control over the room.

You watched as she and Vox had a back and forth which ended with Vox confused on the set couch in a new outfit Velvette poofed on him. It wasn’t anything too far out of his usual style but it was a change. It was simple black slacks and a white button up shirt but the sleeves were rolled past his forearms and several of the buttons were undone. He looked. . . You were staring that’s for sure.

The music came on and you began lip singing. You put your hands on either side of his head. You threw your leg on the other side of his lap and straddled him. You moved your body up and down, not grinding on him due to not sitting on him but it was a close thing. Your face was right in front of his. You tried to hold eye contact with him but for some reason his eyes kept darting down.

“Fuck it,” he said under his breath.

Then an arm was wrapped around your hips forcing you down and a hand was in your hair guiding your head closer to his. Your lips met his and static filled your entire body. His tongue was caressing your mouth, making you feel like you had a mouth full of pop rocks.

You moaned when he flipped you so your back was pressed against the couch. He rolled his hips against yours and you could feel him through his pants.

“Fuck the music video,” he said against your lips. “How would you feel about filming a porno instead?”

“Mmm, kinky,” Angel said.

“I am so sending this to ‘Tino,” Velvette said.

[butch-reidentified]

Pitching New Terminology: GLAP (Gamete-Linked Anatomy and Physiology)

A little while back, I remember seeing someone on here talk about 2nd wave feminist attempts to coin new terminology/alter existing terms as part of their feminism ("herstory" and "womyn" for example) + my wife and I have been talking a ton for a few months now about how language can feel so limiting, as counterintuitive as most people likely would find that. One of the things my wife brought up is that it bothers and bewilders her that "sex" can refer to biological categories, to the state of being male or female, but can also mean intercourse. She said this feels very male to her, and thinks that this word being used to mean both of these things (both of which are very charged concepts with heavy connotations - but only because of patriarchy) is not only unnecessary, but arguably harmful to the feminist cause as well.

Not only that, but sex (as in maleness/femaleness) is itself very much in contention these days - its existence itself is challenged in addition to its definition and the parameters of its categories. Even outside of gender identity ideology (GII) and the conversation surrounding transgender identities, there is a fair amount of inconsistency in what exactly people think makes a human being male or female, be it large or small gamete production, the presence of either a penis or a vagina, some sort of checklist-like combination of sex characteristics, karyotype, hormone dominance, the infamous pseudoscientific "brain sex," or something else.

I agree with Dr. Rashad Rehman's succinct statement that "sex is defined by gamete production," from his paper (which I've posted on several previous occasions and you can read at this link) refuting both GII and the catholic church regarding human sex biology & intersex conditions. As I've said countless times on this blog and he says in his paper, this manner of categorizing human beings as male or female does not require successful production of large or small gametes. Rather, it defines a human being's sex according to which of two overall developmental pathways their body follows; has your body (your anatomy and your physiology, as referenced in the GLAP acronym's A and P) developed around the "intention," so to speak, of producing large gametes or small gametes?

This is what led to the acronym GLAP (for "Gamete-Linked Anatomy and Physiology"), which I introduced in a recent reblog. She and I coined this term together to offer a more precise, better delineated alternative to "[biological] sex," and an alternative bearing zero denotative or connotative relationship to sexual intercourse.

By not only defining sex in relation to gametes, but placing the very word "gamete" at the literal forefront of the term itself, GLAP leaves little room for debate or misunderstanding when it comes to discussions of maleness and femaleness in human beings. The importance of this is well-stated in Dr. Rehman's paper, particularly in the following section containing two quotes from the writings of MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne. The first of these two quotes references Brown-educated feminist scientist (and GNC lesbian!) Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, and the second cites Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex."

[Please let me know if image description is needed; screen reader test worked on my end, but who knows?]

We believe this terminology has the potential to combat misinformation surrounding human biology as well as to open doors within the discourse pertaining to GII and transgender issues. We suspect - and hope - that removing the word "sex," thus removing the messiness that tends to come along with the word, could perhaps reduce tensions and reactivity in order to allow for conversations to be had that otherwise would rapidly escalate or be avoided entirely. Additionally, introducing a new term like this requires providing an explanation of its meaning and purpose, the process of which we believe will help facilitate such conversations. We also feel that the novelty and hint of silly-sounding-ness could support the goal of reducing the tension and emotional charge currently embedded in gender discourse.