#I was going to do a video but it wasn’t working

[5sospenguinqueen]

Please, Please, Please | Max Verstappen x Singer! Reader

Summary:  What do you do when your ex-girlfriend moves on with another guy? Become needy and pathetic. But, when the guy brings you to tears, Max knows it's his time to save you from further heartbreak.

Warnings: barry keogan (i couldn't find any other men with her that worked), swearing, toxic relationships, pathetic max 

Requested: yes by many of you on the previous part 

Faceclaim: Sabrina Carpenter (she was used on the last one and yes, she's used a lot but I stole her song and her job so I'm also stealing her face)

F1 Masterlist

prev. || next.

part 4 will be the last part so it may seem a bit rushed but i didn’t plan anything else. sorry! these just seem to be getting worse as well, so i’m also sorry about that 

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maxverstappen1 just posted

liked by danielricciardo, liamlawson30 and others

maxverstappen1 a good effort from the team to start on the front row tomorrow 💪 let’s keep pushing tomorrow 🇺🇸

6,633 comments 

user1 twitter is claiming that max and kelly broke up

user2 okay but i actually can’t function until i know if max is free from kelly once more

user3 max please tell us if you and kelly have broken up

user4 i need max and kelly to be done forever this time 

user5 is it true that you broke up with kelly?

→ maxverstappen1 yes. now can we focus on the race

→ user6 @/yn_ln this means you can give him another chance 

→ user7 why would she want to after he ran back to kelly

(comments have been limited) 

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yn_ln just posted

liked by mclaren, actorbf and others

yn_ln surprise! if you have any questions, you can refer to my new single please, please, please 💋

13,850 comments 

user8 the two of them are so cute 

jennaortega i’ll give you all the kisses 

→ user9 i wouldn’t. not with all the men she goes through

→ oscarpiastri whoa now, there’s no need for that 

user10 don’t get me wrong. i’m loving all the new music. but my heart can’t handle all the new layers to this drama 

landonorris okay, little miss hollywood. that music video just proved you’d never do well in a film 

→ yn_ln oi, i act better than you do, mr hilton 

→ hilton we’d be happy to have you both

user11 ew, so she went from a hot motorsport driver to a subpar actor?

user12 wait, what? this wasn’t supposed to happen. she’s gone off script. max is single now, they were meant to be getting back together 

→ user13 she’s not his back-up plan. plus she’s way out of his league 

user14 don’t you think you might be putting strain on her new relationship? i doubt her new guy likes to see everyone preferring the old guy 

→ user15 hopefully that means he’ll leave and we can get her and max back

user16 has anyone checked on max?

(comments have been turned off)

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yn_ln just posted

liked by charles_leclerc, verstappencom and others

yn_ln how to lose a cake in 10 minutes 

16,334 comments 

alexandrasaintmleux the most beautiful birthday girl 

→ francisca.cgomes this dress is going to live rent free in my head 

→ yn_ln thank you for letting me show you both twenty different dresses

→ alexandrasaintmleux just wish you were taller so we could steal some of them 

→ yn_ln can’t believe you’d do this to me on the day of my birth 

→ oscarpiastri technically your birthday is tomorrow. this was just your birthday party

→ yn_ln thin fucking ice, piastri

user1 guys guys guys. verstappencom liked this. i repeat verstappencom liked this

→ user2 okay but that’s not max

→ user1 but it’s an advocate for max so 

landonorris dicaprio wouldn’t want you anyway. you’re too short

→ yn_ln i’ll make my boyfriend fight you 

→ landonorris i’m not scared of your polly pocket boyfriend

→ mclaren you can’t say stuff like this publicly, lan

→ user3 i swear none of them actually like her boyfriend 

→ user4 showing their support for max. he’s the only person who matches her beauty 

user5 no but the hand in the dress is somehow cute and hot 

→ user6 not with that guy. it should be max 

redbullracing happy birthday to our favourite popstar

replies

user7 what do you mean she had to pay for her own birthday meal on her birthday because her boyfriend wouldn’t

→ user8 not even wouldn’t but flat out refused 

→ user9 streets are saying it’s because he’s broke. not exactly like he’s raking in the job offers 

user10 so this man is lucky enough to get a chance with THE y/n l/n, then he refuses to pay for her dinner, and then he yells at her?? all on her birthday???

→ user11 he’s punching above his weight and clearly that angers him

→ user12 especially with the way she looked in that yellow sparkly dress today 

user13 someone clearly isn’t very smart. she writes a song for him - the first one she’s written recently that isn’t about max - and he does exactly what the song asks him not to do 

→ user14 how dare he try to embarrass our queen by yelling at her in front of so many people

→ user15 i’m starting to question if our girl does have good judgement. how could two men do this to her? 

→ user16 definitely doesn’t have good taste

user17 the audacity to yell at her in a restaurant of people, and then continue to do so after you were asked to leave because you were yelling at her

user18 and if i said i saw max verstappen pass them in the street, stop and turn, and start defending her, then what?

→ user18 he was literally yelling at this man whilst holding a crying y/n behind him, and rubbing her arm soothingly 

→ user19 we’d say you’re full of shit and have no tangible proof 

→ user20 this could be true because he was hanging out with charles and some of the drivers. and i just know alex sm got on the phone to her boyf and begged him to send the love of y/n’s life to save her

→ user19 pics or it didn’t happen

maxverstappen1 posted a new story yn_ln posted a new story

landonorris replied to maxverstappen1 i recognise the birthday girl's dress

landonorris replied to yn_ln who’s the 3rd person 👀 → wait why wasn’t I invited

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[bakuchrome]

WILDFLOWER -K. Bakugo

Katsuki Bakugo x Reader

Master List

Bakugo never cared about his reputation. He was a hero, a damn good one, and that was supposed to be enough. But with every explosion, every pissed-off rant at reporters, and every viral video of him telling a villain to "sit the hell down," his agency wasn’t exactly pleased.

They wanted him softened. More palatable. Someone the public could root for in a safe way. So they made a call.

And that’s how Tsuyu Asui became his fake girlfriend.

It wasn’t her idea, but she agreed— calm, logical, a perfect contrast to Bakugo’s temper. The media ate it up. Headlines praised his 'gentler side.' Paparazzi photos of their staged coffee dates were plastered everywhere. People started to believe that maybe Dynamight had a heart underneath all that fire.

But you?

You knew the truth.

Because Bakugo Katsuki might have been 'dating' Tsuyu for the world to see, but behind closed doors, in stolen moments, and in the way his hands always found you in the dark— he was yours.

The first time you heard about the fake relationship, you laughed.

"That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard."

Bakugo glared at you from across the room, arms crossed, a vein threatening to pop in his forehead. "Yeah? Well, tell that to the dumbasses at my agency."

You tilted your head, watching him. He was tense, more than usual. And that meant something.

"Does Tsuyu know this is fake?"

"’Course she does, idiot," he scoffed. "She doesn’t give a shit— she’s just helping me out."

"Right." You leaned back, crossing your arms. "And you’re fine with this?"

"Obviously not, dumbass!" His voice spiked, and he groaned, rubbing his temples. "But what the hell else am I supposed to do? They’re threatening to pull my damn endorsements— say I’m 'too aggressive.'"

You stared at him. His jaw was locked, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"You are aggressive, Bakugo."

His red eyes snapped to yours. "Yeah? And you like it."

The words sent a rush of heat down your spine. Because he was right.

You had known Bakugo for years. You had seen every side of him— the ruthless fighter, the stubborn idiot, the boy who loved so deeply it scared him. And this? This was some PR bullshit that didn’t belong to him.

"You could say no," you said softly.

He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "And what? Let them ruin my image? Make me out to be some kinda—" He clenched his teeth. "—villain?"

And that was the part that killed him the most.

Bakugo had spent his entire life proving he wasn’t like him. That he wasn’t another Shigaraki, another Dabi, another cautionary tale of power left unchecked. He had worked for this. Bled for this. And now, the world wanted him to play nice, or they’d take it all away.

You swallowed hard.

"So, what now?"

Bakugo sighed, shoving a hand through his hair. "Now," he muttered, "I pretend to be in love with someone else."

And you hated how much that hurt.

The first time he kissed Tsuyu in public, you saw it on the news.

It was a quick thing— just a brush of lips outside a café, cameras flashing, a reporter gushing about how 'Dynamight is finally showing his softer side!'

You had to turn off the TV.

Because the thing about Bakugo was— he didn’t do half-measures. If he was pretending, he was going to make it look real. He was going to sell the lie.

And it made you sick.

That night, he showed up at your door.

You almost didn’t let him in.

"Go home, Bakugo."

"Open the damn door, please."

You froze. Because Bakugo never said please.

When you opened it, he looked— wrecked.

His hair was messier than usual, his eyes dark with something unreadable. He wasn’t wearing his usual scowl, wasn’t posturing like he had something to prove. He was just— there

"Don’t," you whispered. "Don’t come here after you just—"

"It’s not real," he said, stepping closer.

You clenched your fists. "It looked real."

His jaw tightened. "I know."

"Then maybe you should go back to her."

His eyes flashed. And then— before you could push him away— his hands were on your waist, his lips crashing into yours, desperate and real and nothing like what you saw on the news.

You gasped against his mouth, fingers tangling in his hoodie as he backed you against the wall.

"I hate this," he rasped. "I hate this fucking lie—I hate that I gotta do this when all I want is you."

Your heart slammed against your ribs. "Then stop."

His breath was ragged, his forehead pressing against yours. "I can’t."

"Why not?"

"Because they’ll take everything from me," he murmured. "And I can’t lose this."

You swallowed past the lump in your throat. "And me?"

His grip on you tightened. "I’m already losing you."

The words knocked the air from your lungs.

Because you knew— you knew— this wouldn’t last. That eventually, something would break. Either you, or him, or this whole stupid act he was playing at.

But for now— just for tonight— his hands were on you, and his lips were on yours, and he was saying your name like it was the only thing keeping him breathing.

And you let him.

Because if Bakugo Katsuki was a wildfire— then you were already burning.

[littlestl4mb]

you should make a little blurb about jealous lu!

PS: I love your work you are so cutesie

thank you dear anon!!!! i will put this under the cut because i kinda wrote more than i meant to lol oops

okay so i was thinking about this heavily. at first i thought hmmm luigi doesn’t strike me as the jealous type idk… he’s so intelligent and he’s an engineer so like… you know that mf is as logical and solution-oriented as they come. for better or worse. but then... i thought about it again and i went no YEAH lu definitely gets jealous... i think college lu FOR SURE would. and it drives him mad bc he knows his jealousy is stupid. it’s a foolish feeling, he probably thinks. yet one he can’t shake himself free from. especially when you’re first seeing each other but it’s not completely exclusive yet. when things between you are casual because you’re just getting to know each other?? yeahhhh his brain is going wild 24/7. he can’t stop thinking about you. he can’t stomach the idea of you spending your time with another person that isn’t him. he hates it too because he just knows he’s being too obsessive, that he’s being way too much. he has a lot of self awareness— he knows how to rationalize his heart with his head. but… he can’t stop the compulsive bitterness he feels towards anyone that shows you any sign of affection!!! the hormones just go crazy in that man’s head. he tries to keep a cap on most of his feelings, but when it comes to you it’s nearly impossible. and it only drives him more mad because he’s soooo aware of his jealousy and how futile such a feeling is, but he literally cannot save himself from it. 

he sees you walking down the sidewalk with some guy, and he hates the way his stomach drops. he acknowledges the fact that he has no autonomy over who you see or hang out with, and still he can’t stand it. loathes it. feels so powerless to an emotion that is eating him alive inside and out. the worst part is he kind of knows the guy you’re walking with too. not very well but enough. the kid isn’t even that bad— has exchanged some kind words with luigi before in passing. but all it takes is for the guy to be in the place that luigi has self righteously already claimed as his in his head, and now luigi fucking detests the guy. 

he rants about it to his friends the moment he sees them, “i just don’t fucking get it. the guy has no hobbies. he can’t write. have you seen the books he chooses to read around campus? horrible taste. i don’t see what she sees in him.” — and all his friends are telling him he needs to cool it because it’s out of his control. 

don’t worry though, luigi does not believe in cooling it. in fact, he calls you up on the phone and leaves you a 3 minute long voicemail. he’s not afraid to say how he feels so he lets it all out. he’s telling you how “you’re wasting your time with whatever-his-name-is.” says something like, “does he even do anything? i mean it. does he? at least i started the video game development club.” 

luigi is going OFF in his little voicemail. you listen to the full thing when you’re out of class, generally surprised by how out of the blue it is. the thing is, you didn’t even see luigi earlier when he evidently saw you. he must’ve spotted you and then slipped out of sight immediately.

you have another class to attend to, and not enough time to deal with whatever melt down the man is having. so all you can text him is ‘luigi, he was walking out of class with me and we were talking because we just got put together for a group project.’ it’s the truth too, there wasn’t anything nefarious going on between you two. 

of course, luigi calls you right away. you can’t pick up, but that doesn’t stop him from calling about 5 more times. when he finally sees you later, he probably stands by his word. he’s got too much pride to admit his wrong doing. or the fact that he jumped to conclusions so fast. 

…and then i think once you’re in a proper relationship, the way in which luigi gets jealous shifts. it’s not so much over the simple and stupid stuff. not the silly little things that you get jealous of when you’re young and think you’re the center of the world. when you’re finally exclusive with each other, he has no insecurities that you’re all about him. but … he is a taurus man and every taurus man i’ve ever known is jealous in the most covert way. and in my experience it’s in a very specific way too?? which i would call the “i have to know i’m important in your life” kind of way. 

it’s not so much about being jealous of you hanging out with others. no, in fact he likes that you have your own ways about you and you’re independent. but there’s still a part of him that needs the reassurance that he’s very much important to you. i hope this is making sense. like, he wants to know when you think of him, and he wants you to admit when you’ve missed him. he’d straight up tell you this too. “can you just admit when you think of me? i can’t just know it. i have to hear it in person from you.” 

also, i think he’d have this strange kind of possessive jealousy, where he has to know you through and THROUGH. he has a need to know you as much as humanly possible. he needs to be closer to you than anyone else. he gets jealous and bitter at the thought of others knowing you better than he does.

he’s observant, yes, and knows you that way. but he likes hearing you talk about everything and anything too, so that he can understand you more than anyone else ever has. he needs to know the memory you have of being a little girl and walking down the street, and how the people and buildings were just so tall. something so mundane that you never bothered telling anyone else, he has to have that knowledge like it's a drink of water when he's been walking through the desert for months. and i’m telling you right now— that man wants to know the block you grew up on. he wants to go there by himself and walk down it. he tries to see what you saw as a little girl, wants to see things how you saw them when you were young. thinks that if he does that, he can fathom your thoughts a little better. maybe be able to think your own thoughts himself— that he might know you so well that he becomes a part of you. 

[chrrybbmb]

can we heave jealous!dumb baby kook, pleasepleasepleaseee??

STARRING ... J. JUNGKOOK X BIMBO!READER

A/N ... thinking about them... i acually love them so bad T^T. first request done!!

NOTES/WARNINGS ... smut (18+/MDNI), possessive!kook, dry humping, p in v, unprotected sex, jealous!kook. if i forgot anything let me know.

WORD COUNT ... 3.7k

...

days off with jungkook were your favorite. days when he didn’t have to rush off to work, didn’t have to wake up early, didn’t have to do anything but spend time with you.

so you cling to his arm, fingers wrapped around his bicep, soft giggles spilling past your lips as the two of you wander through the busy streets. your head rests against his shoulder as you talk—about your nails (you just got them done, all pink and sparkly), about a video you saw last night, about how you think pigeons are kinda cute, actually.

"like, they’re just little guys," you ramble, lips pursed in thought. "people are so mean to them, but they just mind their business."

jungkook hums, amused. "thought you hated pigeons, baby."

"nooo," you whine, squeezing his arm. "i said i don’t like when they fly at me. ‘s different."

he just nods like it makes perfect sense, because to him, it kinda does. and you keep talking, bouncing on the balls of your feet as you spot something in a store window, dragging him over without letting go of his arm.

“ooh, koo, look! isn’t it cute?" you point excitedly at a tiny plush keychain, eyes big and sparkly as you turn to face him.

he doesn’t even look at the keychain, just looks at you, nodding along to whatever you say, because he likes the way you light up over the smallest things.

"yeah, baby," he grins, squeezing your hand. "real cute."

so you pull jungkook inside, fingers still curled around his arm, eyes flicking from one thing to the next like you can’t decide what to fawn over first. everything is just so cute, and you’re already holding up different keychains, pressing them against your palm like you’re testing how they’d look hanging off your bag.

“should i get the bunny or the bear?” you ask, lower lip jutted out as you glance up at jungkook.

he pretends to think, tilting his head, but he already knows what he’s gonna say. “bunny,” he grins. “kinda reminds me of you.”

your pout melts into a giggle, cheeks warm as you swat at his arm playfully. “shut up, koo,” you mumble, but you’re already holding onto the bunny keychain like you’ve made up your mind.

you barely notice when a store clerk approaches, but jungkook does. a guy, early twenties maybe, wearing a friendly enough smile, but his eyes linger too long, flicking over you in a way that makes something curl in jungkook’s stomach.

“hey there, need any help finding something?” the clerk asks, voice smooth, gaze settled on you like jungkook isn’t even there.

you shake your head, still bubbly, still bright. “nope! just looking, thank you!”

your politeness is sweet, effortless, and jungkook knows you don’t notice the way the guy’s eyes drop just a little lower before flicking back up to your face.

the clerk nods, but there’s something in the way he smiles, something too warm, too friendly, as he adds, “well, if you do need anything, just let me know. i’ll be around.”

jungkook’s jaw tenses. because that wasn’t just customer service. that was something else.

but you just nod happily, already turning back to the keychains, completely oblivious.

and jungkook just watches, watches the way the guy hesitates before finally walking away, throwing one last glance over his shoulder.

yeah. he saw that.

and he really doesn’t like it.

jungkook doesn’t say anything at first, just watches you as you hum under your breath, still turning the keychain over in your hands like it’s the most important decision of your life.

“what d’you think?” you ask, holding up a second one—a little chick this time. “this one’s cute too.”

but jungkook isn’t looking at the keychains. he’s looking past you, toward the register, where the clerk is pretending to be busy but keeps flicking glances in your direction. and it makes something tighten in his chest, a slow-burning irritation settling in his stomach.

because he knows you don’t notice. knows you don’t realize when people look at you like that, when guys flirt with you in that way that’s too careful, too subtle, banking on your sweetness to keep them from getting shut down.

he exhales through his nose, shaking his head a little. “bunny,” he says, finally looking back at you. “definitely the bunny.”

you grin, triumphant. “thought so too.”

you don’t notice the way jungkook’s fingers tighten just slightly around yours when you head to the register. don’t notice the way the clerk perks up when you step forward, his smile a little too eager, his eyes flicking over your face like he’s waiting for something.

“cute choice,” the clerk says as he scans the keychain, and his voice has that same tone, that smooth, easy lilt that’s meant to sound casual but isn’t.

and jungkook notices. oh, does he notice.

but you just nod, oblivious as ever, beaming. “right? my boyfriend picked it!”

the way you say it is so effortless, so sweet, and jungkook smirks when he watches the way the clerk’s expression shifts—just a flicker, but he catches it.

and yeah. that’s right. boyfriend.

jungkook doesn’t say anything, just lets his arm rest around your waist as you take your bag, already tugging him toward the door without a second thought.

and maybe it’s petty, but he throws a glance over his shoulder, meets the clerk’s gaze for just a second before smirking wider, pulling you in closer.

yeah. that’s what he thought.

you’re barely two steps out of the store before jungkook is tugging you back, fingers wrapping around your wrist, spinning you toward him.

“koo—” you start, but your words barely get out before his lips are on yours.

it’s sudden, hot and needy, nothing like the usual soft, teasing kisses he gives you in public. no, this is different. this is desperate. this is his hands gripping your waist, his body pressing close, his lips moving against yours like he’s trying to make a point.

you make a little sound, surprised, fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie as you tilt your head up, letting him kiss you like he needs it, like he’s been waiting too long.

it’s only when you whimper against his lips that he slows down, nipping at your bottom lip before pulling back just enough to look at you.

“what’s that for?” you blink up at him, lips glossy and parted, cheeks warm from the way he kissed you like he didn’t care who was watching.

he huffs, glancing back at the store for just a second before his eyes are back on you, dark, unreadable. “just felt like it.”

you blink, tilting your head. “feels like you were tryna prove something.”

jungkook clicks his tongue, squeezing your waist. “maybe.”

you giggle, looping your arms around his neck, fingers playing with the short hairs at his nape. “you’re silly,” you hum, swaying a little. “but i like when you kiss me like that.”

his fingers dig into your waist, jaw clenching slightly. “yeah?”

“mhm.” you bat your lashes, all sweet and playful. “wanna do it again?”

and jungkook groans, running a hand down his face, because you have no idea, no idea what you do to him.

but then you’re pressing up on your toes, brushing your lips against his jaw, and yeah. yeah, maybe you do know.

jungkook exhales, heavy, hands sliding down to grip your hips like he needs to steady himself. you’re looking at him with that innocent, wide-eyed expression, lips still pouty and glossy from his kisses, and he knows if he lets you keep playing like this, he’s gonna lose it.

“let’s go home,” he says, voice low, already tugging you closer.

but you whine, leaning into his chest, fingers still tangled in the back of his hoodie. “but i don’t wanna,” you pout. “s’posed to be a day out, koo. i wanna stay out longer.”

his grip tightens at the way you’re clinging to him, warm and soft, eyes fluttering up at him like you don’t even realize how much you affect him.

“baby,” he warns, shaking his head slightly.

but you’re stubborn, pushing further, pressing up on your toes so your nose brushes his. “just a little longer?”

and jungkook groans, shutting you up the only way he knows how—by kissing you again, firm and decisive, swallowing whatever little protest was about to slip from your lips.

you squeak, hands tightening around his hoodie as his lips move against yours, taking his time, making you forget whatever you were whining about in the first place.

when he finally pulls away, you’re dazed, blinking up at him all slow and hazy, lips parting like you’re struggling to catch your breath.

“still wanna stay out?” jungkook murmurs, thumb rubbing little circles against your hip.

you swallow, eyes flickering between his and his lips. “mm… maybe we should go home.”

his smirk is slow, knowing. “thought so.”

and just like that, he’s pulling you along, arm snug around your waist, grinning to himself because—yeah. he knew that’d work.

when you get home, the door barely clicks shut behind you before jungkook is on you.

his hands are on your waist, his lips at your neck, pressing you up against the door like he can’t stand another second without touching you properly.

“koo—” your voice is soft, breathy, but it’s cut off when he tilts your chin up, kissing you deep, like he’s been holding back all day and finally, finally, he can let go.

his hands are firm, sliding down to grip your hips, tugging you closer, pressing his body against yours until there’s no space left. he’s warm, solid, overwhelming in the way only he can be.

“you have no idea, do you?” he murmurs against your lips, voice low, thick with something dark and unshaken. “the way you talk, the way you cling to me—drove me fuckin’ crazy all day.”

you blink up at him, eyes wide, breath shaky. “i—i didn’t mean to—”

“i know, baby,” he coos, lips ghosting along your jaw, hands gripping tighter, like he needs you closer even though you’re already pressed flat against the door. “that’s the thing. you don’t even realize what you do to me.”

your lips part, a soft whimper slipping out, and jungkook groans, his fingers tightening, his knee slotting between your thighs just enough to make you gasp.

“so sweet, so pretty,” he breathes, kissing along your jaw, down your neck, his touch insistent, like he’s desperate to have more. “you’ll let me take care of you, won’t you?”

you nod, swallowing hard, hands fisting in his hoodie. “yes, koo.”

he chuckles, dark and knowing, lips brushing against your ear. “good girl.”

jungkook hums, pleased, his nose brushing against your jaw as his hands roam—sliding down, gripping, squeezing like he’s mapping you out, relearning every curve even though he already knows them by heart.

“so good for me,” he murmurs, his lips trailing along your skin, leaving little kisses, little bites that make you whimper softly.

your head tips back against the door, your body pliant, melting under his touch. jungkook loves it—loves how easy it is to have you like this, soft and sweet for him, waiting to be told what to do.

his hands slide lower, fingers teasing at the hem of your skirt, brushing against your thighs, and you squirm, gripping at his hoodie, looking up at him with wide, needy eyes.

“koo,” you breathe, barely above a whisper.

he lifts his head, eyes dark, a slow smirk tugging at his lips. “yeah, baby?”

you swallow, your lips parting, but you don’t know what to say—you just know you need him, need whatever he’s willing to give you.

jungkook chuckles, one hand sliding up to cup your cheek, thumb stroking over your heated skin.

“s’cute how you get all quiet when you want something,” he teases, tilting his head. “got so much to say all day, but now you don’t know how to ask?”

your cheeks burn, embarrassment bubbling up in your chest, but you can’t even think straight when his hands are on you like this, when he’s looking at you like that.

you press your thighs together, shifting against him, but he clicks his tongue, shaking his head.

“nuh-uh,” he murmurs, gripping your chin gently, making you look up at him. “use your words, pretty girl. tell me what you want.”

your breath catches, your fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie, and you know he’s not letting you off easy tonight.

your breath is shaky, fingers tightening around the fabric of his hoodie as you try to steady yourself. your mind feels fuzzy, warmth pooling in your stomach from the way jungkook is looking at you—expectant, teasing, like he’s got all the time in the world to watch you squirm.

“i—” you start, but your voice is too soft, too hesitant.

jungkook’s thumb strokes your cheek, his grip still firm but gentle, his other hand resting heavy on your hip. “c’mon, baby,” he coaxes, voice smooth, deep. “you were so chatty today. don’t get shy on me now.”

your face burns, your lips parting, but the words get stuck in your throat. it’s embarrassing—saying it out loud, telling him exactly what you need. but jungkook doesn’t move, doesn’t let up, just watches you, waiting.

when you still hesitate, his grip tightens slightly, his lips brushing against your ear. “need me to help you?” he murmurs.

you nod, swallowing hard.

jungkook smirks, his nose trailing along your jaw before he kisses just beneath your ear. “you want me to touch you?”

you nod again, but that’s not good enough.

his fingers press into your hip. “say it.”

your face feels impossibly hot, and you squeeze your eyes shut, the words barely above a whisper. “want you to touch me.”

jungkook groans, low and approving, his fingers flexing against you. “see? that wasn’t so hard.”

his lips find yours again, slow but deep, stealing your breath, making you weak in the knees. he presses closer, pinning you against the door, his hands roaming, teasing, making you whimper softly into his mouth.

“such a good girl,” he breathes, kissing you again, hungrier this time, his touch firmer, more insistent. “always so good for me.”

jungkook doesn’t waste any time. the second those words leave his lips, his grip tightens, fingers digging into your hips as he presses himself flush against you.

you gasp at the feeling of him, hard and insistent against your thigh, your body reacting instantly—back arching, hands fisting in his hoodie like you need something to hold onto.

“fuck,” jungkook groans, burying his face in the crook of your neck, his breath warm against your skin. “you feel that, baby?”

you nod, swallowing hard, heat curling low in your stomach.

“been like this since the store,” he mutters, voice rough, his hands roaming, gripping, pulling. “since you started whining about staying out longer, since that guy looked at you like he had a fuckin’ chance.”

your breath stutters, fingers curling tighter. “koo—”

he growls low in his throat, cutting you off as he rolls his hips against you, slow but deliberate, the friction making you whimper.

"yeah?" he pants, watching the way your lashes flutter, how your lips part on a shaky breath. "this what you wanted?"

you nod desperately, head tipping back against the door, your body melting into his.

“fuck, look at you,” he murmurs, dragging his lips along your jaw, his fingers tightening at your waist as he grinds against you again, slow but firm, the drag of denim against your clit making your legs shake.

your hands slide up, clutching at his shoulders, nails digging in through the fabric of his hoodie. “please,” you breathe, voice airy, needy, barely there.

he hisses at the sound, hips snapping forward, rougher this time, sending a sharp jolt of pleasure straight through you.

"needy little thing," he teases, breath heavy, voice dripping with something dark and teasing. "could’ve just asked for this sooner."

you whimper, pressing your forehead against his, your body moving on instinct, hips rolling up to meet his.

jungkook groans, jaw tightening. “fuck, baby—”

his movements get sloppier, desperate, each roll of his hips more insistent than the last, chasing the feeling of you trembling under him.

“gonna make a mess,” he pants, forehead pressing against yours, his breaths ragged, his fingers digging into your hips, dragging you against him again and again. “s’that what you want?”

your head is spinning, your body burning, the friction building, unbearable and perfect all at once.

“yes,” you whimper, barely able to breathe.

jungkook groans, biting his lip as he ruts against you, faster, rougher, the feeling of you making him unravel.

and when you whimper his name, all soft and needy, your thighs squeezing tight around him—he loses it. his fingers slide lower, fumbling with the hemline of your skirt, tugging just enough for it to bunch up around your hips.

“gonna let me have you like this?” he breathes, voice wrecked, barely more than a whisper. you nod instantly, eyes glazed and lips swollen. “words, baby,” he rasps, his knuckles brushing against bare skin, sending a shiver down your spine.

“yes,” you whisper, hands gripping at his hoodie, tugging him impossibly closer. “yes, jungkook, please—”

he groans, low and guttural, like he’s barely holding himself together.

his hands move fast, unbuttoning his jeans and tugging them low, just enough for his aching cock to spring out, hard and heavy—because neither of you have the patience for anything more.

“fuck, baby,” he groans, jaw clenched as he presses forward, pushing your panties aside and finally sliding himself into your needy, dripping cunt. you gasp, hands flying to his shoulders, clinging to him, nails biting through fabric.

jungkook curses, a shudder rolling through his body as he presses his forehead against yours, breath ragged.

“so warm,” he murmurs, voice breaking, hands flexing against your hips as he slowly rolls his hips forward, testing, savoring, dragging out every little bit of friction. "so tight, every fucking time."

you whimper, thighs squeezing around him, pussy welcoming him like he’s exactly where he’s meant to be.

“shit—” he hisses, arms caging you against the door, pressing his weight into you as he thrusts forward again, just a little rougher, just a little deeper, tip kissing that sweet, spongey spot inside you.

the sound you make—soft and desperate—nearly drives him insane.

“so good,” he pants, gripping your hips tighter, setting a rhythm, slow but firm, each roll of his hips perfectly dragging against sensitive gummy walls.

you can barely breathe, barely think, barely do anything but hold onto him, body pliant, following his lead, letting him take what he needs, what you need.

“jungkook—” you gasp, legs trembling.

he groans, pressing his forehead to yours, nose brushing against yours, lips hovering over your own.

“i got you,” he whispers, voice thick with something raw, something deep, something only for you. “i got you, baby. just hold onto me.”

and jungkook isn’t holding back anymore. his pace turns frantic, all restraint snapping as he grips your hips and drives into you, fast and deep. “fuck, baby,” he groans, voice rough, forehead pressed against yours. “you feel so good—”

your breath catches, a high-pitched whimper slipping from your lips as his movements become rougher, more desperate, each thrust sending sparks shooting through your veins.

your hands fist in his hoodie, clinging to him, your body rocking against the door with every push forward.

“koo—” you gasp, your voice barely there, lost in the dizzying pleasure.

“i know, baby,” he pants, his grip tightening, holding you in place as he drives into you again, again, again. “i know—fuck, you’re so good, so perfect for me.”

you whimper, legs trembling, overwhelmed by the way he’s moving, fast and hungry, chasing his high. his hands slide up, fingers tangling in your hair as he pulls you in for a kiss, messy and desperate, all tongue and heavy breaths, swallowing every sound you make.

“tell me you’re mine,” he growls against your lips, his hips snapping forward with sharp precision, making you cry out. “tell me—”

“yours,” you gasp, nails digging into his shoulders. “only yours, koo—”

he groans, low and deep, his pace turning erratic, his fingers gripping you so tight you know you’ll feel it tomorrow.

“shit—” he curses, his movements stuttering, his body tensing. “baby, i... i'mgonnafuckingcum—”

you whimper, clenching around him, your entire body burning, dizzy, entirely lost in him. an almost pornographic scream tears from your throat with the force of your orgasm, your back arching off of the door.

jungkook shudders, his grip crushing as he buries his face in your neck, his entire body going taut before he finally lets go. his breath is hot against your skin as he groans through it, spilling his load deep, filling you up over and over.

the room is quiet except for your heavy breaths, your bodies still tangled, his arms still wrapped around you like he has no intention of moving.

you blink up at him, dazed. lips swollen, cheeks flushed.

he exhales, pressing a soft kiss to your temple, his grip finally loosening, hands smoothing over your sides in slow, soothing strokes.

“shit,” he breathes, pulling back just enough to look at you, a slow, lazy smirk tugging at his lips. “you okay, baby?”

you nod, still breathless, still dizzy.

he grins, pressing a kiss to your nose. “you did so good for me.”

your cheeks burn, your fingers curling further into fabric. “you— you were kinda intense.”

he chuckles, kissing you again, softer this time, slow and lingering. “yeah?” he hums against your lips. “s’what you do to me, baby.”

and when he finally steps back, pulling up his jeans and helping you straighten your clothes, his hands linger, his eyes still dark and hazy as he takes you in.

“think i need another day off soon,” he muses, his thumb stroking over your hip.

you giggle, still leaning against the door for support. “yeah?”

he grins, kissing you one last time before scooping you up, carrying you toward the bedroom. “yeah,” he murmurs. “but next time, we’re not making it past the front door.”

...

taglist : @angellekookie @glossdebut @haru-jiminn @rpwprpwprpwprw

[mareastrorum]

Story time.

When I was a kid, my mom signed me and my siblings up for Tae Kwon Do classes for various reasons. One of the more fun reasons was that Dragon Ball Z was on Toonami and it was a thing we all enjoyed, so it was easy to convince us to behave for an hour a day several times a week. Easily half of the kids in class were DBZ fans. The owner was a DBZ fan. The giant hulk of a Navy vet who sparred with me was a DBZ fan. We all loved the show.

The classes were taught about half a mile down one road from where we lived, so on Saturdays, we would walk the whole way on our own to and from class. One of the fun reasons was that there was a comic book shop about halfway there that sold manga and Japanese merch, so we left early and spent maybe $1-2 of money we had each hoarded on cards, comics, etc. (I’ve worked since I was 7ish doing stuff for cash.) I had a collection of DBZ trading cards and comics in Japanese. The shopkeeper was sworn to secrecy lest he lose sales because we weren’t actually supposed to have spending money.

One day, on the Computer, I learned that a DBZ video game for PlayStation was going to come out in the U.S. and it was going to have the newest characters in it and some characters from the rumored GT sequel that wasn’t even translated to English yet. HYPE. I eagerly awaited news only to find none. I couldn’t call retailers to check if they had it because this was back when calls were charged per minute and most of the big stores were technically not local even though they were in the same county. I asked the comic book guy if he knew what happened, and since he was also looking forward to the game, he checked around. Not available anywhere nearby. I’d have to go to downtown Los Angeles in person to maybe find a copy. It may as well have been in Siberia.

>:(

I looked on the Computer to see what other people were doing on the various Geocities fan webrings whose URLs I had memorized (because I couldn’t bookmark any of them or my mom would find out I was spending money on stuff). Online shopping wasn’t really a thing yet, and the only thing they could find was that the game was supposed to be available in the U.S., but it was either bullshit or there were basically no copies made. Apparently, it was a hit in Japan, and the most I could find was a picture of the cover art.

>:(

I went to the comic book guy to complain the next Saturday, and he introduced me to a new idea: there’s a Japanese version of the game that he saw on eBay, this new website where people sold their stuff online. But the game would only work on a U.S. PlayStation if I used a kit to circumvent the DRM. It wouldn’t be in English, but at least I’d be able to play.

Off I went home to learn about eBay on the Computer. THERE WAS THE GAME. A whole $20 plus shipping. I had to look up what shipping was because I didn’t know the term. So more like $30. And I needed a bank card or credit card to buy on eBay. (I didn’t care about the 18 or older disclaimer because I had lied about that on every website I had ever visited.)

>:(

I did not make a plan. I went and got my cash box (I’d bought it at the flea market) that I hid in the box spring under my mattress and counted out $30. I then immediately confronted my mom when she got home. I WANT A GAME. HERE’S THE MONEY. BUY IT ON EBAY. I had to explain eBay. She did not ask where I got the money because I had perfect grades and that was all that mattered.

A month later, the game arrived from Asia, and I cannot recall if it was actually Japanese on the shipping labels or if it was Chinese because I couldn’t tell the difference. It had the right box art though. Tried it on the PlayStation, and indeed, it did not work.

Next Saturday, I went to the comic book guy to buy the kit to jailbreak the PlayStation. He did not believe me that I had bought the game. I showed him the error message that popped up on the screen because I wrote it down in my notebook. He eventually relented and sold me the kit. Another $7! (But I’d brought $10 because I had learned this bullshit was expensive, so I got more comics and cards too.)

After class, we ran home. We were martial arts kids, that was practically a cooldown.

THE KIT WORKED. I added a spring to the mechanism to keep the lid open, started with a disk that tricks the regional DRM, then switched the disk at prompting to start the game. We had no idea what any of it said, but it was a simple fighting game, and all the characters had portraits anyway. Button mashing paradise. I was the coolest kid at TKD classes because I was the only one anyone knew with this DBZ game.

I charged kids a quarter each to come with us after class to play my regionally jailbroken Japanese (or maybe Chinese) DBZ PlayStation fighter game. I made my money back by Christmas.

>:)

I was 9.

[asaka-lucy-hl]

Report on the 3rd Online Meeting of the Last Defense Academy School Council (Held on February 28)

The archived video is now available for the School Council members, so I’ve listed the key points and comments from Kodaka and Inou (THL’s producer) that I found particularly important or amusing. Part of the report is written in the form of a conversation, and the person named Miyokawa who appears in it is the editor-in-chief of a Japanese gaming media outlet called Famitsu.

Q: There are now 55 days until release. How are things going? Kodaka: We’re working on some patches, but development itself is basically finished. Until recently, I was making final adjustments to the parts I was responsible for, as well as checking the balance of the SRPG sections. But now that’s all settled, so I’ve been playing through the parts written by other writers—the ones I wasn’t involved in during development—as a player.

Q: So you're playing THL from a player’s perspective? Kodaka: Yes, exactly. There are parts I didn’t oversee at all, so I’m experiencing them for the first time myself.

Q: The demo’s reviews have the status of “Overwhelmingly Positive”… Kodaka: They’re all fake reviews. (Everyone laughs) Kodaka: We paid people 100 yen each to write them. Miyokawa: That’s cheap. (laughs) Inou: I personally wrote about 30 of them. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: Let’s not make jokes like that—it could spread in a weird way. It’s not true! (laughs) Right now, there are around 806 reviews. Kodaka: It’s really nice to see so many reviews for just the demo.

Q: Do you feel the impact of the feedback? Kodaka: Yes, I do. With Rain Code, we didn’t release a demo, and while DRV3 had a demo, there wasn’t really a place for people to leave reviews like this. So being able to see this kind of reaction is really valuable. We’ve even used some of the feedback to make adjustments in patches, so in that sense, I’m glad we released a demo. Also, as I mentioned in my Famitsu interview today, seeing the reactions to the demo has been a relief. My worries have eased a bit. Before the demo was released, I was thinking, “What if we only sell 600 copies...?” But now I know we’ll at least sell 800, so I feel a little better. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: I don’t think 800 copies is a number you should feel reassured about. (laughs)

Q: The SRPG sections were more challenging than I expected. Kodaka: That’s true. I think that’s one of the aspects that received particularly good feedback. When it comes to the story, a lot of people commented that it felt “Danganronpa-like” and nostalgic, but for the SRPG sections, it seemed like many players only truly understood what they were like after playing them.

The SRPG has a system where, if you get a game over, various relief measures kick in, making it progressively easier. Personally, when I play action games and keep getting game overs, I always think, “Why doesn’t this game have some kind of relief system?!” Since I’m more of a casual gamer, after dying three times, I just want the game to let me clear it already.

Miyokawa: So THL has that kind of relief system? Kodaka: Yes. Since I’m the type of person who wants that kind of feature, I made sure to include it.

Q: Since we have Kodaka here, I’d love for the School Council members to share their thoughts directly with you. But at the same time, many fans are hesitant to say too much because they’re worried about spoilers.

Kodaka: Yeah, but honestly, what’s playable in the demo is really just the tip of the iceberg—actually, more like the tip of the tip of the iceberg. I’ve seen a lot of reviews commenting on how surprisingly large the demo is, saying things like, “I can’t believe they released this much content.” But in reality, it’s just a small fraction of the full game. So many more things are going to happen from here on.

On the other hand, since the development team talks openly about all this stuff among ourselves, I sometimes worry that I might accidentally slip up and drop a keyword or something.

Most SRPGs tend to have a fantasy feel, but I think this demo really conveys just how much of a 'chuunibyou' (edgy, over-the-top) vibe the game has.

(Everyone laughs)

One thing that’s always bothered me about SRPGs is how, toward the end, the gameplay often turns into just surrounding the last enemies and bullying them. At a certain point, you realize, “Oh, I can’t lose anymore,” and the tension disappears. I wanted to reduce that as much as possible.

So, I designed the game around "comeback victories." The more allies you lose, the stronger you become.

I set it up so that, near the end, you might think, “Only two of us are left... but if we risk everything, we might just pull this off... We did it!!!” That kind of dramatic, high-stakes moment. I feel like that also adds to the game’s chuunibyou spirit.

---

<Kodaka's Comments During the Fan Q&A Session>

Darumi is the kind of character that seems like they could fit into Danganronpa but actually can't. If you have a character like that, they’d basically have to be killed off early on. So, while they might seem like a Danganronpa character, they actually wouldn’t work.

Maruko wouldn’t fit either. Someone that much of a coward would be hard to use in the story. Ginzaki as well—if he keeps sinking into self-loathing every time he speaks, the Class Trial wouldn’t progress at all. Surprisingly, there are a lot of characters that seem like they could appear in Danganronpa but actually wouldn’t.

For the first nine characters (except for Takumi), I wanted them to feel a little more relatable, a bit more grounded compared to the ones in Danganronpa or Rain Code. Maruko, Kawana, Shizuhara—they don’t have over-the-top appearances. Since this game has war as a theme, I wanted to include somewhat realistic reactions to that. So, at first, I aimed to depict real high school students with these nine characters. ...But I couldn't really do it. laughs In the end, I just kept adding more and more, and it turned out the same as always—intense characters all over again.

(Everyone laughs)

Kodaka: Still, I think the designs are slightly more relatable than those in Danganronpa, don’t you? Miyokawa: Darumi might be a bit extreme, though. Kodaka: Yeah, that’s true. But then all the characters that got added later ended up being way too intense, which made for a really unbalanced mix. laughs

Q: Are you participating in the 100-day login campaign? Kodaka: I haven’t logged in once. (Everyone laughs)

Q. The controls with the keyboard are difficult. Can they be improved before release? Kodaka: To be honest, I strongly recommend using a gamepad. Well... making adjustments for keyboard controls costs money, you know. Inou: Yeah, it’s not like we didn’t consider it, but given the budget, we decided it was better to just ask players to use a gamepad.

Q: Will there be any shocking announcements before the release? Kodaka: Honestly, we’re still debating how much to reveal. From a marketing perspective, it would be better to make an honest announcement that "This and that happen," people would go, "Whoa, this game is insane!" But at the same time, I want players to experience those surprises firsthand. So I’m thinking maybe it’s best to hold back and rely on post-release word-of-mouth instead. I don’t want to ruin those moments of shock for the players.

That said, I was looking at the demo reviews, and it seems like a lot of people were really reacting to Aotsuki’s event CG from Tokyo Game Show. Maybe that’s because, after playing the demo, they understood the characters better?

Inou: Yeah, that one definitely got people buzzing and stirred up a lot of "What!?!" reactions. Kodaka: At TGS, we had a bunch of event CGs on display at the booth. And we figured, "Hey, let’s throw in something fun at the edge of the lineup!" So we deliberately included one of the more intense event CGs. But I think it’s still hard to understand why things turned out that way.

There are over 600 event CGs in the game, so I doubt many people will see all of this.

---

On the development process

Kodaka: Today, various sections of the team were interviewed, and while reminiscing about the road to release, our staff kept saying things like: "I never thought we’d finish this game." "There’s no way this is possible."

Honestly, for the past two years, I’ve been hearing nothing but people saying, “It’s impossible! We can’t finish it!”

Miyokawa: Sounds like the whole Tookyo Games team was in despair. Kodaka: Yeah, Tookyo Games was in despair. Even Media.Vision (the company handling the SRPG sections) was in despair. Inou: Right. And since I was managing the project, I was in despair too. (Everyone laughs) Inou: So, at some point, I thought we had to force ourselves to finish it. Speaking of which, someone started saying scary things like, "If we had another year, we could have done even better..." Kodaka: It would never be finished at that rate. laughs Miyokawa: That just shows how ambitious the game was. Kodaka: Yeah, and I think the quality turned out really high. The character sprites and music are really abundant, too.

Plus, in the ADV sections, the scripting was all handled by the actual scenario writers. For the sections I wrote, I also did all the scripting myself. In fact, the entire ADV section of the demo—I handled all the scripting for it.

That’s probably why people kept saying in reviews that it feels like Danganronpa—because everything, from the way sound effects are used to the way music changes, was all done in my style.

While working on this, I realized that I’m actually really good at scripting. Maybe even better than writing scenarios. I genuinely feel like my directing makes things more engaging.

Miyokawa: Do different writers have their own distinct styles? Kodaka: Yeah, you can really tell, especially with Uchikoshi—his writing stands out a lot. There are some sections where you just know it’s him. But I think that’s part of the game’s charm—there are so many different routes, and multiple writers contributed to them.

---

[Closing Segment]

Miyokawa: Now then, does anyone know what day it is today, February 28th? Kodaka: Monster Hunter release day! Miyokawa: (laughs) Oh, the team members know what I mean. That’s right—it’s Ginzaki’s birthday! So, we have prepared a cake for him!

What do you think? Kodaka: That’s impressive. It does look a bit like his ears are melting though. Miyokawa: Well, is he really that beloved? Inou: I believe a lot of people will end up loving him. He’s already popular at ANIPLEX, and he’s one of my favorites too. Kodaka: He does have a great range of expressions. A lot of them are annoying, though. (Everyone laughs) Miyokawa: Even the expression on the cake is a little irritating, right? He doesn't seem to be aware that he is being celebrated. ---

Miyokawa: Lastly, do you have any message for the School Council members? Kodaka: Well, after the release, I’d love to have a meeting where we can share our thoughts without worrying about spoilers. I think a lot of different impressions will come up. Probably, about a month after the release, people who have played it will have completely different opinions, so I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts at a good time. I think this is a work where sharing impressions will be a lot of fun, so please look forward to it and wait until the release.

---

That’s all for now. Please note that this post only highlights the parts of their statements that I found interesting, and some sections have been edited for flow, as they were not originally consecutive.

I hope you find some parts of it enjoyable to read. Thanks for reading! 🌟

[felassan]

Podcast: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Episode: 'Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder BioWare' – [link]

Episode description:

“Greg Zeschuk is the co-founder of BioWare. While a medical student at the University of Alberta he told his future wife that, if he could, he’d make video games for a living. After he graduated, the dream came true when, in 1995, he and two friends founded BioWare in his basement. The following year the trio released Shattered Steel and, two years after that, Baldur’s Gate, which revolutionised the world of computer role-playing games. In the years that followed BioWare released a string of blockbuster hits, including Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2007, just 12 years after its founding, the company was sold to Electronic Arts as part of a deal worth $860 million. In recent years, my guest started a brewing company, Blind Enthusiasm, and today runs two microbreweries and a restaurant in Edmonton, where he has spent most of his life.”

The whole episode is worth listening to.

But here are some select quotes/notes from the episode, under a quote due to length:

Greg Zeschuk: “I think also, fan expectations are just so incredibly high. […] I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard two weeks ago. I had a lot of fun with it. […] I take it as it is, as a fresh piece of content, and I really had a fun time with it, there’s so many good things I liked about that game. But then the feedback was pretty tough, like I think it’s been very mixed, which I feel makes me sad, because I think at the heart of it, it’s still a really great game. But like, man, it’s tough being in the games business.”

Greg Zeschuk on the Mass Effect 3 endings: “I think intentions are good, you can never do anything perfectly, and I think that that’s one of the challenges as a game developer. To some degree, especially when there’s high expectations, you think of a series like Mass Effect, absolutely beloved, an incredible overall experience. And then to maybe not reach the players’ expectations of agency and decision-making at the very final step, and providing a more nuanced ending, yeah, it’s complicated. I mean, speaking fully honestly, I was a slight bystander in it, because I was really working on SW:TOR. That was the game I was responsible for and launched. So I was kind of in the mix, but not in the firing line if that makes sense, but I really felt for the team, because I understood the purpose. […] I think the thing is, your dream scenario is, release a game no-one’s ever heard of and do it really well, because as soon as the expectations are there, it’s just tough.”

“The other unfortunate extreme pressure, you’ve got these giant business conglomerates that are pushing for certain release dates and release times. I think at BioWare, when Ray and I ran it, our most effective thing was actually pushing for the dates that made the most sense to get the best possible product and make the best possible game. We would play something and declare, with lots of research, that it wasn’t ready and then like make it happen at a later date. I think it's very hard, like I look at a game like Anthem and I go, man, there was such a great core to that game, but yeah it needs to bake for another year. […] Yeah, we were just always really good at ensuring that we were pushing for the best possible outcome for the game, which also was the best outcome for the fans, the players. I think that’s lost in the industry, like Ray and I had a reputation where we could, like, fight with executives. Didn’t happen very often, but we could and we did and we always won. There wasn’t a choice, because better games resulted. For us that was some of the nuance of what we did in the business, we just made sure the games were good.”

“The sale to EA was funny because people always ascribe that to ‘the doom of BioWare’, it’s like, not really, like EA was actually, I like to comment that EA gives you enough rope to hang yourself, and what I mean by that is, you have to learn to work within the structure, and I think we did quite well, like if you look, the Mass Effects came out in there. It was actually a pretty successful run, but you have to understand how to work within a big company. And for me, that was like, that was the end, was like, oh, I don’t like big companies. And so I knew by year two that I was gonna leave at some point, I just didn’t know when. I didn’t like big companies. There’s no entrepreneurish-ness, big companies exist to exploit properties, like exploit games. They don’t typically, there’s very few examples, some of the Japanese guys do, but most of the big North American guys, they're just good at like, hey let’s squeeze the most money outta this franchise. […] I like making, I don’t like just operating.”

“[SW:TOR] was like my swan song in the industry. […] If it was super-duper successful, Ray and I would’ve probably launched a bid to try take over EA from the inside, being the corporate pirates that we are, but it needed to be like, $2 billion a year successful. But that didn’t work out.”

“It was good though, EA actually, they gave us more input into publishing, into marketing, like we had a lot of really great opportunity. I think people like to ascribe how evil they are, it’s like, that’s not it at all, it’s like people just don’t know how to operate in it. It’s also kinda tiring, like if you’re kinda battling a lot, if you have to be successful, that’s the tough thing about it. As soon as you stop being successful, that’s when it gets hard.”

“There’s all kinds of shenanigans we did [when BioWare was with EA], like we actually made Facebook games under false pretenses, like false names actually. […] We weren’t allowed to do mobile stuff, so we would like make a fake company within the company and do this, and launch a game, just to see what it was like. We like to try stuff. I think [EA] are just restrictive. And I understand, like I mean, you can’t have a company of cowboys. And we were, I wouldn’t say we were cowboys, we were usually somewhat calculating in what we did, but we like to try stuff. So when they discovered that we had a couple Apple development licenses and we weren’t in the mobile division, they were like, woah, woah, what are you guys doing? ‘Oh, we’re just gonna see. Maybe there’s an integration into our console and PC games.’ They were like, ohhh, we’re suspicious of you guys, which they should’ve been. […] Big companies, they kinda want you to stay in your lane, you’re supposed to follow the rules. […] The big thing I always found [with big companies], we’d make a bunch of money on a product, and say, hey can I have some of that money to make another product, outside of the ones we’re making? They’d go like, no, that has to go back to the company. Oh, but what if I wanna make something different? They go you can’t, or you can fund it from your other games. Well then I have to cancel one of my other ones to make a new one. Yeah. Like, so your budget. But if you’re super successful, if you made a ton of money, then you usually get more leeway. We were pretty successful. […] So it was almost like, well what level of success do you need to actually like create that kind of latitude? There’s no autonomy in a company, unless you’re in charge, and even then if you’re the CEO you have to respond to the board. And if you’re the board, then you have to respond to investors. It’s like this tower of responsibilities. […] I don’t think there’s anything [intentionally evil? I think he was saying here? I'm not sure] that they do actively, it’s just, the very substance of what a company is, a big corporation is, it stifles innovation. And that’s why like, if you look at most of the big companies, they tend not to be able to create things internally, they tend to have to buy external, and then they kinda exploit, and then they kinda repeat that cycle as much as they can. That’s why I make beer in a small little brewery.”

 “When we started the studio in Austin, the SW:TOR studio, it was really interesting, because we’d started it, we were independent. Then all of a sudden, EA buys us, and it’s a pretty giant deal. […] There was like a pretty heated all-hands in the studio there, to talk about the sale, and [if] EA [was] gonna force its philosophical work-life balance onto us? [context: at that time in BioWare’s history, the devs there were young and spending crazy hours in the office, staying in the office sometimes to game as well etc] But like we actually all did it to ourselves. We were the ones that were immature, so we were also the ones that could get us outta that. […] We tried to do it better, I don’t know if we did.” [on leaving BioWare] “I kinda realized that was really unhealthy, and I think also, personally, the creative, I’d done everything I wanted to do. Landing SW:TOR was the hardest thing I’d ever done, and it was like, a good time to stop. I think we did better, I know they continued to improve on the work-life balance stuff.”

“Ray and I had to kind’ve give notice way ahead of time, leaving, so we actually told them, the EA folks, way ahead, and then there was this sorta like, activity around trying to kind’ve, bringing us back in, and keep us there, and we were like, nah, it’s just over. And then you get kinda shut out of everything. It’s like, your email still works, but I don’t think it goes anywhere, and all these meetings happen [that you aren’t in]. And you become, like, dead man standing. Which is actually okay. […] Both of us had kinda reached a point, where we were just worn out. We both emotionally felt that that was the time to go. […] It’s a little bit sad, but it’s like, you know, it’s in good hands. Just kinda go off into the sunset and live your life.”

If Greg Zeschuk could go back and change one thing about his career at BioWare: “I’ve always said this: […] One gap we had sometimes was [between?] sales and marketing. That was our biggest weakness. Jade Empire was a really good game that was launched at the very end of, I guess that would be the original Xbox cycle. Microsoft was like, no no, you should release it now, right at the end of the cycle, because it’s a great time. This was the worst advice, absolute moronic advice from them, the stupidest thing ever. […] We should’ve pushed that to the beginning of the 360. We could’ve rezzed it up, we could’ve amped it up, we could’ve said ‘no we’re not gonna’. I would’ve loved to go, you know what, this is a terrible mistake, give us six months, give us a chance to make it a launch title for the 360, and we’d have another franchise. Like, I just think it would’ve been a way more successful product at the beginning of a cycle, versus at the end. […] And also we needed to tune the combat, combat wasn’t as good as it could have been in that game. It had the potential to be amazing, and at times it was, we were close. The artistry and cinematics of the game for the time were tremendous. Just that one little thing, I think could’ve changed our trajectory, and it wouldn’t have been impossible, I think we would’ve been able to convince them to do it. I regret not realizing that. It just never dawned on us. […] Yeah it would’ve cost a  couple million dollars more, but it would’ve made maybe ten times as much. […] And then be a franchise, right.”

[source]

[milzone]

fever pitch - l.jy

SYNOPSIS: Juyeon knew how wrong it was to think of you — his fellow idol — in such a lewd and filthy way, but he just couldn't help himself. He was obsessed with you, and he needed a release.

CONTENT WARNING: 18+, male masturbation, mentions of blood & biting, idol!au, basically this is loser juyeon fantasizing

WORD COUNT: 1.7k | oneshot

A/N: a bit rusty since i haven't written in like… two years... so pls bear with me! though this isn't my first time writing, it is my first tbz fanfic ^^ (as well as my first time posting here) but anw, this isn't proofread :p happy reading!

His breath catches in his throat when your eyes meet from across the stage, cheeks flushing red from being caught staring.

“Great, how obvious could I be?” Juyeon scolds himself, bringing his focus back on the freshly debuted boy group on stage. They were good at what they were doing, no lie. He thought those kids had a bright future ahead of them, but in spite of that, he couldn't bring himself to fully place his attention in their performance.

Juyeon swallows the lump in his throat, fixing the collar of his shirt that suddenly felt too tight. Shifting in his seat, he sneaks another quick glance to your figure clad in a tiny black pinstripe dress that hugged your body so well it left little to his imagination. The way the fat of your thighs spill over your white knee-high stockings and how the buttons of your dress seem like they’ll pop with just one wrong move sends his mind to places it shouldn’t be.

The rational part of him knew it wasn’t right to think of you this way — a co-idol, no less, but it was difficult for him when you were just so, so fucking erotic. Your performance earlier had Juyeon rushing to the restroom to rub off a quick one, gaining weird looks from the other boys as he stumbled on his own two feet. It was embarrassing how tight his pants felt, even more with how quickly he came when he thought of how your eyes met for a fleeting moment as you danced on stage. The tip of his cock was an angry red, pulsing in his hand as he hissed from how sensitive it felt — and never in his life did he feel so pathetic.

“You good, dude?” Kevin asks, patting his back as Juyeon once again squirms in his seat, “You’ve been acting weird since you came back.”

Juyeon nods his head, releasing a shaky breath as he addresses the concerned man. “A-ah, yes,” he loosens his tie. “I’m fine, don't worry.”

But Kevin isn’t convinced, not one bit when he sees how Juyeon’s pupils are blown and how the beads of sweat rolled down the man’s forehead and down to his neck. This was the first time Kevin saw the usually calm and collected Juyeon this way — the first time he saw him so… out of it. Normally, he’d press on and ask Juyeon if he really was okay, but something in his head told him to leave the man be, and if there’s one thing that Kevin could trust with his life, then it was his gut.

It’s long past midnight yet Juyeon was still wide awake. He remembers getting home at around 11:27pm with the other guys but no matter how tiring the day was, he just couldn’t sleep. He’d been trying for hours now, tossing and turning in bed to no avail. From simply closing his eyes, watching boring videos, and counting sheep. Juyeon had tried everything to put himself to sleep, but clearly, nothing was working.

The thought of you kept him wide awake.

The air-conditioner was turnt up to the coldest setting and yet his body felt like it was on fire, his cheeks burned red and the clothes he was wearing felt so unbearably constricting that he had to take it all off save for his boxers. He’s near naked now, and yet everything still feels so hot. Sweat dripped down his body in buckets, and Juyeon felt like he was about to have a fever with the way things were going.

He knew what he needed — knew that a release would do him wonders, but he already felt bad enough from doing it one time earlier at the show. Felt even worse when you bumped into him after and he got a hard-on from seeing your tits bounce within the confines of your skimpy top.

“Fuck!” He hits the wall next to him, rubbing a hand over his face as if it would help rid him of the shameless thoughts running through his head.

He was so down bad to the point of it being embarrassing. What makes it worse is that the both of you weren’t even friends in the first place. Sure, you’d greet each other time-to-time when passing by each other at music shows out of respect. He’s heard of you and you’ve heard of him. He shows up on the news often and you do too. He’s watched a lot of videos of you online (he's not sure if you have), and you could even say he was a fan, but having a proper conversation in or outside work?

No. None at all.

Juyeon felt so disgusting and pathetic to think of someone he barely even knew this way. A sinner, that’s what he was — his morals, values, and beliefs being thrown out the window just because he couldn’t control that thing between his legs that stood up at just the thought of you. Juyeon truly didn’t know what was wrong with him, he normally didn’t have such a high libido, and yet…

A strained moan slips past his lips, hand trailing down the expanse of his torso leading to the waistband of his boxers. Juyeon felt how hot his body was beneath his fingertips as he reached under and wrapped a shaky hand around his throbbing cock. He knew it was wrong — knew it was so, so wrong to touch himself to someone who’s only shown him good.

You were so pure, so innocent. Everyone sang you praises wherever he went. An angel, that's what you were.

But Juyeon was desperate. And he needed a release.

He sucks in a breath, moaning your name as he traces the tip of his cock with the rough pad of his thumb. The feeling sent shivers down his spine, throwing his head back as he digs his nail into the slit of his length. His body was so hot. Everything felt so hot he'd think he was in hell.

Shit. Was he coming down with a fever?

“Mm, please…” He starts with slow languid strokes, body tired and weak from the events of the day. He squeezes at the tip with each pump of his hand, biting his lip to tone down the whimpers trying to slip past his lips. Juyeon felt so naughty, so dirty knowing that only a thin wall separated him from the other members.

What would they think if they found out he touched himself to the thought of you? The nation’s sweetheart, loved by all for her charm and kind personality… Would they look at him with disgust? Contempt? Would they kick him out of the group?

“A-aah!” Juyeon slaps a hand around his mouth, cursing himself for being unable to control his moans. Every time he looked your way, all he wanted to do was bite. Bite until your skin bled red — bite until you were covered in purple. Juyeon wanted a taste of your skin — your flesh. He wanted to know how sweet you would taste beneath his tongue and teeth.

Would you taste like caramel? Vanilla? Or strawberries? He quite liked fruit.

The skin of his lip under his teeth start to rip from how hard he was biting it, the taste of iron on his tongue making him cringe, and yet while all of this is happening, the pace at which he’s thrusting into his hand never falters. Juyeon felt nauseous as he reached for his sack with his other hand, massaging it between his fingers while imagining you.

The thought of you was torture to him. You ran through his mind at every minute of every day, and yet still — how ridiculous it is that you are still all he’s ever wanted. He knew that this desire — this obsession of his was unhealthy. There were so many things he wanted to do to you, but many more that he wanted you to do to him.

Even during the day, he let his fantasies run wild. Juyeon has imagined you on top of him, warming his cock as your hands wrapped around his throat until he couldn't breathe, till he was suffocating and till he turned blue and passed out. He thought about pounding into you missionary while you scratched at his back and pulled at his hair, nails digging into his skin until they oozed crimson — until the scarlet color of his blood was ingrained into the tips of your fingers. He wanted you to suffocate him with your legs, face wet with your juices as he ate you out until he couldn’t no more.

At this point, he’ll take anything you gave him. Juyeon was hungry, so hungry that just a brush of your shoulders would suffice. It would be enough to make him cum for the next year or two. It was so bad, so, so bad how much he wanted you — needed you to be all his that he was tempted to get down on his knees the next time you met to beg for just a taste. 

The strokes on his length quicken as a heavy feeling starts to form beneath his stomach, trailing a hand up his warm body to tease his nipples. His cock throbs in his hand, begging for a release as your name slips past his lips like a prayer. Juyeon was crying now, tears cooling down his body that felt like it was on fire. He felt delirious, the world around him was spinning and yet he still couldn’t stop himself from thrusting into his hand, pre-cum dripping from his slit and lathering his dick.

As Juyeon feels his release creeping closer and closer, hands sticky as he pumps his cock, it was the thought of the eye contact you made earlier in the day that has him cumming rope after rope of cum. The white coats his hands and stomach, dripping down his waist and ruining his bed. And at that moment, Juyeon couldn’t find it in himself to care about the condition of his bed or how pathetic he looked — naked with cum all over him.

He was tired and spent and he just wanted to sleep.

When Juyeon wakes up the next day, he finds that he came down with a fever.

[jbuffyangel]

Hello Barry Allen: Arrow 2x08 Review (The Scientist)

It is bittersweet to remember how much I loved Barry Allen, before The Flash made me hate him with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns, but that’s a topic for another time. Let’s just enjoy this precious golden retriever who comes to Starling City to be the third point in an Olicity love triangle.

And y’all – I love me a good love triangle. Let’s dig in…

Olicity and Barry Allen

Full disclosure I did not know Barry Allen was The Flash when Grant Gustin guest starred on Arrow. I missed every foreshadowing moment of the forthcoming spinoff because I barely knew who The Flash was and really didn’t care.

The husband, of course, filled me in and oddly enough it didn’t tick off in my brain that they were pairing FELICITY SMOAK with one of the most famous comic book characters – a character even more popular than the Green Arrow. This is not something you do if the female character is simply comic relief. (No, I am never letting that Katie Cassidy comment go. Should I move on? Yes. Will I? No.) Season 2 Jen wasn’t that smart y’all. Bottom line, if Season 2 is a chess game, then Felicity Smoak’s pawn will become a queen. 

There is a break in a Queen Consolidated warehouse and this is where Oliver, Diggle, Captain Lance and Felicity first meet Barry Allen.

Lance: Who the hell are you?

This is one of Oliver’s all-time best comedic lines. Stephen Amell is bringing humor to Oliver’s blinding jealously, which is a lot of fun. It also offsets Oliver’s egomaniacal hypocrisy and makes him far more tolerable. Good choice, Mr. Amell!

Barry: I’m Barry Allen. I’m from the Central City Police Department. I’m with the Crime Scene Investigation unit. We’re working on a case with some similar unexplained elements to Central City. So, when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain sent me up here.

I bought his story. Oliver does not.

Barry is convinced it’s one guy who broke down a door of reinforced titanium and the security footage seems to support his theory. Also, the bruising pattern on the dead guard’s neck suggests someone used one hand to break it.

Barry: I’m guessing you don’t know how hard it is to break someone’s nec.

Oliver: Hmm? No. No idea.

Barry also figures out what was stolen – an industrial centrifuge (it separates liquid), which is a very big and heavy machine the thief ripped out of the ground.  Felicity offers some explanations, and Barry adds his two cents and soon these two adorable nerds are sparking off all the science.

Felicity: What did you say your name was?

Barry: Barry. Allen.

Felicity: Felicity. Smoak.

Source: @buffysummers

Barry looks at Felicity for about 1.2 seconds too long and Oliver gives him THE LOOK. Let’s keep those eyes on the centrifuge, Mr. Allen. I’m cackling. Jealous Oliver is one of the best Olivers.

The thing is Barry’s theories are based on evidence and Oliver is taking them very seriously because he knows exactly what can produce that kind of strength in one man.

Both Diggle and Felicity find additional evidence (and video footage!) that proves Barry Allen is dead on. The pup has some smarts! He arrives at Queen Consolidated at Felicity’s invitation. I just love that this young buck is popping up on Oliver’s turf and annoying the crap out of him.

Source: @oliver-and-felicity

Barry makes Felicity laugh and Oliver finds this puzzling. Felicity enjoys laughter and not a simmering pile of brooding man pain??!!

Felicity is socializing with another male. This cannot be born. Oliver gently pulls Felicity toward him, and more precisely away from Barry Allen, to ask a very important question.

Source: @kurtweller

The way Stephen’s voice rises to a full soprano is flat out hilarious. I accept no other interpretations.

Felicity accurately points out that forensic science is not really her thing, and she could genuinely use Barry’s help to figure out this latest mystery. Oliver agrees, and boy he is not happy about it, but all he can do is make sad puppy eyes as Felicity flounces off with her new “friend.”

Felicity and Barry gather evidence, and this is the first time Emily Bett Rickards has an equal sparring partner to banter with. The reason Barry and Felicity click so much is because they are basically the same person.  That said, inviting Barry into the home office is putting him precariously close to Oliver and team’s nighttime activities and, just like Felicity, Barry is no dummy. He’s done his research on The Vigilante, and it is safe to say that Barry Allen is a fanboy.

Source: @lyricalarrow

Barry: Green. That’s interesting, right? I mean, why green? Black would be better for stealth and urban camouflage, but personally I think that he trained in some sort of forest or jungle environment and the green is a nod to that.

I love Grant’s reading of this line because no detail is too small for Barry – he’s fascinated by Felicity’s attempt at monosyllabic. But more worrisome for Felicity is Barry, once again, is dead on.

Felicity: I don’t give the vigilante much thought.

Oh girl. You are so bad at lying.

Barry: Police reports show that he uses carbon arrows, but if he switched to an aluminum carbon composite, he would have far better penetration.

Source: @eddiethawne

This inadvertent sexual innuendo is almost as bad as “It feels really good having you inside me.”

Barry is also convinced that the vigilante has partners. Ok, so let’s just give the kid a job and call it a day. I do like that the writers acknowledge all the obvious things the police should figure out about the vigilante through Barry Allen’s obsessive fanboy investigation. In this way, I feel a kinship to him.

Felicity is curious as to why Barry is so curious, which gives us his character’s back story. His mother was murdered. They never caught the guy who did it and maybe the vigilante would. Barry Allen is looking for a hero. (SAD PANDA)

Barry and Felicity found the truck that stole the centrifuge, and it was just used to rob a blood bank. Oliver pressures Barry for more information about his “similar case” in Central City, but Barry is equally as bad of a liar as Felicity. Actually, he’s worse. Oliver is done with the close proximity to Felicity and the lies.

Oliver: I want you to look into this Allen kid. There’s more to him than he’s letting on.

Diggle: His intentions seem pretty clear to me.

This is why I love Diggle, and he will forever be the number one Olicity shipper. He will nudge Oliver about Felicity when necessary. This teasing remark is also a direct message to Oliver, without flatly calling him out. Barry is being clear about his feelings for Felicity and Oliver is not. Diggle lets Oliver know he has some competition and it’s time to get in the game. But Oliver, no matter how much he knows Diggle is right, is nowhere near ready to do that. Hence, his absolute dejection.

Source: @oliver-and-felicity

This is why Barry Allen is so necessary. It’s been quite a run of Olicity episodes thus far. First, we have the Russia debacle, with Oliver sleeping with Isabel and Felicity was hurt and jealous. Oliver also takes the opportunity to tell Felicity that even though he feels something for her he will never be with her. It’s a pretty definitive slamming of the door on any potential relationship between these two, except these feelings keep brimming to the surface.

Oliver heroically saves Felicity from the Count like a scene straight out of a romance novel. Nothing bonds two people like shared trauma. Oliver also tells Felicity that he will always choose her because nothing is more important to him. I mean honestly this man set the swoon standards.

But these are also some very frustrating episodes – for both Felicity and the viewers. He clearly has feelings for her, will die for her, will kill for her, betray his code for her, but refuses to be with her. So… where the hell does that put them? Oliver and Felicity are in a very murky gray zone.

Oliver knows Felicity wants to be with him. Even if she was trying to hide it (like she is in this episode).

Source: terushimasyuuji

The pain of the Russia debacle made Felicity’s feelings clear.  Even Oliver isn’t that stupid, which is what prompted the “I have feelings for you, but I’m going to let you down easy because I’m a selfless hero who is also the dumbest of pine trees to ever exist.” Of course, Oliver likes all Felicity’s attention and concern (because he’s in love with her even if he won’t freaking admit it). Whether they want to admit it or not, there is a serious power imbalance between the two of them. Oliver is calling all the shots.

But it's Felicity's life too. Felicity is asserting her independence with Barry. She is taking Oliver at his word. Ok, you don’t want to be with me? Fine. I will move on. Felicity isn’t trying to make Oliver jealous. In fact, I don’t think she notices he’s jealous at all. I think there’s a large part of her still feels, despite all the moments she’s shared with Oliver and the things he’s said, that he will never feel for her what she feels for him.

Felicity’s feelings for Barry are genuine, which is why it’s driving Oliver crazy. He’s been able to enjoy all the emotional benefits of a relationship with Felicity, without actually being with her. Barry Allen a big bucket of cold water on all the warm fuzzy feelings.  He’s also a flashing red warning sign. Oliver needs to understand there is a shelf life to all this “I must suffer because I am undeserving of love.” His trauma will cost him Felicity.  She will not wait forever for him. 

And there was some part of Oliver, deep down, that thought Felicity would wait forever for him. This is where the egotistical hypocrisy comes in. It’s okay for Oliver to have girlfriends and sleep with whoever he wants when he wants, but Felicity so much as looks at another man, and Oliver is ready to break his neck with his bare hands.

Felicity is a hot ticket. Some guy will absolutely cut in front of you to be with her. This is so Dawson Leary. Yuck. Take it away Pacey Witter.

Pacey: Look at that girl, Dawson. Just take a good look. She's a freaking goddess, man. How long did you think it was gonna be before some guy comes along and is interested in her? I mean, really, dude! And when that happens, what are you gonna do?

Dawson: I'm just gonna take it all as it comes.

Pacey: You're gonna take it as it comes. Oh great, well perhaps you should start figuring out right now because the guy that comes along is not gonna be your best friend and he's not gonna ask for your permission. The guy that comes along is gonna take one look at that woman and just cut right in on ya.

So, am I that bothered that Oliver gets the crap beaten out of him a couple times? Nah. Not really. He had it coming. Maybe the Mirakuru soldier can knock some sense into his concrete head.

Source: @olicitygifs

This was so overly dramatic. Oliver is an enormous man child with muscles. He’s not upset Felicity was a little rough with the medical tape. Didn’t this man use to suture his own bullet wounds, but he can’t handle Felicity’s soft womanly hands against a little scrape? Boy, please. He can’t yell at her about Barry, so he yells about her nursing skills.  

Oliver decides to come clean with what he knows about the super strength thief. He tells Felicity and Diggle about the serum on Lian Yu designed to create human weapons. Oliver assures them that Ivo and anyone injected with the serum are dead (spoiler alert Oliver, jeez) and he burned the last of it on the island.

Oliver asks Felicity to analyze the blood on the bent arrowhead.

Felicity: Barry and I will get right on it.

Diggle: I think our Miss Smoak is smitten.

Both statements cause Oliver physical pain. The man can barely breathe. Alright, I’m starting to feel a little sorry for him.

Diggle confirms that Oliver’s suspicions are right about Barry. He’s not being honest about who he is. A very pissy Oliver comes in hot, pumped up on jealousy, testosterone filled overprotection and raging hypocrisy, to confront Barry for lying about who he is – in front of Felicity. Naturally.

Barry immediately confesses the real reason he’s in Starling City. His father is in prison for his mother’s murder. Barry knows his father is innocent because he witnessed the crime. A blur with a person inside killed Barry Allen’s mother. Nobody believes him because that’s crazy. So, he seeks out the crazy cases like a super strength thief in the hopes it will lead to his mother’s real killer and freeing his father. He’s so damn earnest and hopeful, it’s like watching Oliver beat the crap out of a fluffy bunny. This is not a good look when trying to show your not-wife what a douchebag her new boyfriend is. Barry leaves town, which also costs Felicity her date to Moira’s welcome home party Oliver randomly decided to throw.

Instead of immediately apologizing to both Barry and Felicity, Oliver doubles down and defends what he did. Apologizing is not really his forte, so this is not unexpected.

Source: @owenelliots-blog1

I love my unproblematic queen who can acknowledge the mountain of hypocrisy Oliver is standing on. YEAH, BIG GUY. YOU LIE ABOUT YOUR IDENTITY EVERY DAY AND USED TO KILL PEOPLE ON THE REGULAR. TAKE SEVERAL SEATS.

The party for Moira is a disaster. Shockingly nobody shows up to celebrate the freedom of the woman who helped kill hundreds of people in Glades. What a shocker. I love you Oliver, but you are so out of touch sometimes with normal people. Also, the elitist rich of Starling City don’t want to be tainted by associating with the Queen family.

Oliver has thought about his actions and acknowledges he overreacted about Barry.

Source: @dianaclairmonts

I love that she doesn’t let him off the hook right away. Felicity is mad and she has every right to be. Barry shouldn’t have lied. I agree with Oliver on this one small point. But both he and Felicity know it wasn’t all nobility, like he’s some standard bearer for the truth, that made Oliver confront Barry like he did. Oliver was trying to obliterate any potential “something” growing between Felicity and Barry – and they both know it.

Source: @o-rigamii

My kingdom for these two to dance. Let us not speak of how long we had to wait for it to happen. YEARS, people. YEARS.

Oliver: I know. That’s why I called him. They will card him at the bar.

Awww. He called Barry. Oliver is trying to make it right. I’m even going to allow the snark because it was hilarious. Did you notice Oliver immediately racing to the bar and downing a shot with Isabel to avoid watching Felicity dance with this kid? I did.

Oliver’s acknowledges he has no right to interfere in any relationship Felicity wants with Barry, primarily because he refuses to give her one with him. Oliver is trying to be the better man, to stand back and allow Felicity the happiness he feels he cannot give her. But all I want is for Oliver to cut in. Diggle is right. He needs to get in the game!

Whatever may be happening with Barry – it’s going to be long distance because he needs to go back to Central City, or he’ll be fired. He leaves without kissing Felicity. They are both wistfully hesitant. Interesting.

Is it too soon for a kiss? Yes, especially in the land of television. I like Barry, but I don’t actually want Felicity to end up with him. He’s the third point in the love triangle and that’s all. He’s a mechanism to get Oliver’s ass in gear. I don’t need to see them make out. Also, Barry Allen has always been a little asexual to me.

For Felicity, it’s one thing to say you’re moving on. It is another thing to actually do it. Maybe it’s not so easy for Miss Smoak to put Oliver behind her.

Source: @oliverqueenz

Barry and Felicity determine the sedative in the thief’s blood is Ketamine. (Isn’t that shit for horses?) The only place that has enough for the centrifuge is an ARGUS disaster bunker. It’s time for Oliver to suit up, but Felicity is not sure he should go.  The simple fact is the thief’s muscle mass is the same as concrete. Oliver is going to be punching a literal brick wall.

Source: @oliverqueenz

Oliver is a little taken aback. It’s not like Felicity not to believe in him. But this is not lack of belief, it’s a legitimate concern when faced with a scientific reality. Sure, Malcolm Merlyn was bad, but he wasn’t made out of concreate. You can push those romantic feelings as far down as possible, but they will always rise to the surface when the person you love is about to face mortal danger.

Like it or not, Oliver Queen is the Arrow. It is his responsibility to stop guys like this, so he faces off with the super soldier – and gets his ass handed to him on a platter. This guy bounces Oliver around like a ping pong ball. Oliver was also injected with an unknown substance during the fight.

Source: @mrsmaudlin

Diggle and Felicity find him unconscious, but don’t know how to save him because they don’t know what substance he’s poisoned with. Diggle is ready to call 911 and blow the whole vigilante cover to smithereens, but Felicity has another idea. One that can save Oliver and protect his identity – if this person will keep his secret.

Source: @bifelicitys

One second Barry Allen is waiting at the train station and the next he’s waking up in the Arrow cave, with Felicity begging him to save Oliver.

And Oliver is not going to be happy with this turn of events.

Slade and Shado

Slade is in serious trouble. He’s burned half to hell and fading fast. So, is it a little odd that Shado chooses NOW to question Oliver about his romantic life? Yes, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Shado: How do you know that girl?

The girl in question is Sara. ISN’T THAT SUCH AN INTERESTING QUESTION OLIVER? Yes, please do explain to Shado how you know Sara.

Oliver: Sara was on my father’s boat… with me.

Shado: What about the girl in the picture? Laurel. The girl you told me you were in love with.

Oliver: Sara is her sister.

Shado is disgusted, which is the natural and appropriate reaction to anyone finding out about Oliver cheating on Laurel with her sister. This is a canon event, Shado. We can’t interfere. You must realize for yourself why it is impossible to ship Oliver with either Laurel or Sara. I bet Slade isn’t looking so bad right now.

Sara: I guess a lot happened in the last year.

Shado finding out about Sara. Sara is finding out about Shado. Oh, what a tangled web Ollie weaved. Honestly, he was just so slutty.

Just imagine you are Sara. I’m choosing Sara since she’s known Oliver longer, but Shado has every right to be angry too. But imagine you are Sara, and you betrayed your only sister for a guy who hooked up with someone else after you’ve been barely “dead” a year. We know Oliver didn’t forget about Sara, but that’s exactly what it feels like. Such a mess. I can’t imagine Sara loving the choices she made right now.

Did you notice Shado said, “The girl you WERE [Laurel] in love with.” That’s past tense my friends and Oliver doesn’t correct her. Now, Shado might believe Oliver is in love with her (although neither has said these words in a year). Oliver might not want to correct Shado in front of Sara. There could be lots of reasons. It’s difficult to juggle three love interests at the same time. But I don’t think this past tense reference is a small thing. 

Team Flashback is on the run and looking for a way to save Slade. Eventually they find the serum and must decide if Slade should take it. They don’t have all the necessary ingredients for a successful super soldier, however.

Oliver: What happens if we give it to Slade without the sedative?

Sara: He’ll die for sure.  

Shado: He’s going to die anyway.

That was dark Shado. Dark but true. Ultimately, it’s Slade’s call and he tells Oliver to inject him with the serum. But before he does, Slade uses his last moments to apologize to Shado.

Slade: I’m sorry. For not telling you how I really feel.

Then he touches her hair. SOB. I know some people think this storyline with Slade and Shado came out of nowhere, but I don’t agree. They built this relationship since Season 1, and it makes absolute sense that Slade fell in love with Shado. And it makes absolutely sense why he hid his feelings for so long.

Oliver is SHOCKED by Slade’s confession. At least he is consistently clueless about love in all timelines. What I love more than anything else is Shado doesn’t give two shits about Oliver’s reaction. Her focus is on Slade and only Slade. See? She’s making better choices too.

Slade’s reaction to the serum is violent, complete with bleeding eyes, and then he dies which was slightly anticlimactic to be honest. Oliver and Shado have barely begun to mourn him when Ivo shows up and kidnaps all three. This guy is like a bad case of herpes. He just won’t go away.

Moira and Malcolm

Malcolm is back and he wants Moira to tell Thea who her biological father is.  

Moira: You killed Tommy. You killed your son. You cannot have my daughter.

Murdering your child should disqualify you from ever parenting again – I feel like that should be a law. We need to ask why Malcolm cares about Thea now when he never did before? Well, he’s a sociopath so there’s that. Malcolm is all about his “legacy” and now that Tommy is gone – Thea is it. Not that he was ever happy with Tommy in the legacy department, but Thea isn’t replacement Tommy. You don’t swap one child for the other. Doesn’t work that way.

But this isn’t the Moira of Season 1. She’s done fearing Malcolm. When his villain monologue reveals he trained in Nanda Parbat, Moira makes a couple calls. She notifies Rha’s Al Ghul that Malcolm is in Starling City.  Since he’s alive, this allows Rha’s AL Ghul the pleasure of killing Malcolm for the Undertaking betraying their code.  Is this the first Rha’s Al Ghul mention? The Batman fan in me is geeking out.

Moira: So, my advice to you, Malcolm… run.

I am here for bad ass Moira not taking any more shit. She still doesn’t tell Thea about Malcolm and quite frankly I’m fine with it. I don’t want Thea to know.  Can the Queen family just be happy for five minutes?

Stray Thoughts

If you are wondering where the pink in my blog comes from – it’s this dress. I think the only dress I love more than this one is the 3x01 red dress.

Oliver and Felicity looked so good this episode. Oliver in suspenders is a lot. I am amazed at their self control.

Felicity: Is it ok to laugh because I was ordered to say anything about you being in prison just to avoid any awkward exchanges.

Oliver: Like that one.

I would die for her.

“Why couldn’t you be marooned in Aruba?” Felicity is so real for this. I’ve been to Aruba. I would love to be marooned there.

“Oliver is a good son, if not the best judge of character.” SHOTS FIRED!! Moira vs Isabel is the Bitch Off I’ve been waiting for.

Put the purse down, Felicity. You aren’t going to get ripped off while dancing with Barry at the Queen mansion.

Sara learned all the science last year. I guess she didn’t have cable tv, so I’ve chosen to find this believable.

Roy is getting a little too close to this Max/super soldier thing and Oliver wants him to back off for his safety– especially since Thea is involved. When Roy refuses, because he’s Roy, the Arrow shoots him. I love Oliver’s Season 2 problem solving skills.

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 2x08!

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me!

[baekhyunsbestie]

baekhyun saw you once—just once—and decided that was enough. he was in love. struck. completely, irrevocably doomed.

but instead of, you know, being normal about it, he did something that would have any sane person running for the hills. in the span of a heartbeat, he pulled out his phone and hit record, capturing you in all your unknowing, breathtaking glory. it was barely a five-second clip—just you, minding your own business, oblivious to the man whose entire world had just tilted on its axis.

and then, because apparently, restraint was not in his vocabulary, he slapped that video onto tiktok with a caption that instantly cemented him as a walking red flag:

“saw the prettiest angel today… but she flew away before i could shoot my shot. do your thing, tiktok.”

unsurprisingly, the internet did exactly what he asked. the video exploded in record time, flooding fyp’s, group chats, and timelines like a digital wildfire.

your phone was the first casualty.

text after text, notification after notification—your screen lit up like a christmas tree. friends, family, coworkers—everyone and their mother had something to say.

“uhhh… why are you going viral on tiktok???”

“girl. GIRL. IS THIS YOU??”

“not you getting soft launched by a stranger LMAO”

and because curiosity got the best of you, you did the only reasonable thing left to do.

you slid into his dm’s.

baekhyun saw your message the second it came in.

he had been waiting—refreshing the app, pacing his apartment, checking his notifications like a man possessed. he'd taken a risk posting that video. sure, he'd been confident the internet would work its magic, but he hadn't accounted for the fact that you could’ve seen it and just… ignored him.

so when your username finally appeared in his dm’s—accompanied by a profile picture that confirmed it was you, the woman who had completely derailed his world in a single glance—he nearly fumbled his phone in his rush to open it.

you: sooo, did you know recording strangers in public is kinda weird?

your heart was still hammering from the decision to even message him. you had debated it for hours—oscillating between this is unhinged, i’m blocking him and well… i mean, it’s kinda flattering? against your better judgment, curiosity won out.

and then, of course, he responded immediately.

baekhyun_inb100: sooo, did you know ignoring your soulmate when fate literally put us in the same place is kinda rude?

your brows shot up. okay. bold. he had zero shame, apparently.

you scoffed, thumbs moving before you could think better of it.

you: fate didn’t do anything, you just weaponized the internet.

baekhyun laughed under his breath, leaning back against his couch. he liked you already. sharp. fast. no nonsense. if he had been on the fence about you before (he hadn’t), he definitely wasn’t now.

baekhyun_inb100: ‘weaponized’ is a strong word… i prefer ‘used my resources creatively.’

you: so creatively you had an entire app tracking me down?

your fingers hovered over your screen as you hit send, biting your lip. you weren’t gonna lie—there was something entertaining about this. he was flirting, obviously, but in a way that didn’t immediately make you want to throw your phone across the room.

on the other end, baekhyun grinned, practically buzzing with excitement now. he hadn’t expected this conversation to be fun. he figured you’d either chew him out or leave him on read—both outcomes he was willing to risk.

baekhyun_inb100: what can i say? desperate times call for viral measures.

you leaned back against your couch, exhaling a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. the weird thing was—you should be annoyed. or at least mildly unsettled. but instead, you felt… amused? intrigued? maybe a little flattered, though you’d rather die than admit it.

you: and what exactly were you planning to do if tiktok didn’t find me?

baekhyun smirked at his screen, shaking his head. you were good.

baekhyun_inb100: suffer. dramatically.

you snorted.

you: and now that tiktok did find me?

your fingers hesitated as you typed the question, surprised by how much you actually wanted to know his answer.

baekhyun, on the other hand, barely even had to think about it.

baekhyun_inb100: take you on the best date of your life. unless you wanna break my heart right here in my dm’s. your call, angel. no pressure… kinda.

your breath hitched, caught off guard by the sudden shift. you had been expecting more teasing, maybe another joke. but no—this was direct. confident. flirting laced with just the right amount of sincerity.

he was smooth. dangerously so.

but you weren’t gonna make this easy.

you: how do i know this will be the ‘best date of my life’ if you didn’t even have the balls to go up to me in person?

baekhyun groaned, dragging a hand down his face. okay. fair. but also—ouch.

baekhyun_inb100: okokok… first of all, RUDE? second of all, i was strategizing! clearly, it worked because now you’re here.

you rolled your eyes, smirking at your screen.

you: ohhhh, i see. so you’re saying the charm is only digital?

baekhyun clutched his chest, letting out an exaggerated gasp, even though no one was around to witness his suffering. digital only? please. he was dripping in real life charm. you’d see.

baekhyun_inb100: ouch... now i HAVE to take you out just to prove you wrong. lemme know when you're free, and i’ll make sure it’s the best decision of your life.

your heart skipped. you were not supposed to be this affected by some random man in your dm’s. and yet—here you were, staring at his message like an idiot.

finally, you typed back.

you: fine. one date. just to see if you live up to the hype.

baekhyun nearly whooped out loud, punching the air like he’d just won a championship. instead, he settled for a self-satisfied grin as he typed his reply.

baekhyun_inb100: spoiler alert, angel: i do. but i’ll let you find that out yourself.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Caroline Orr Bueno at Weaponized Spaces:

As Elon Musk and his crew at DOGE have taken a wrecking ball to the federal government over the past several weeks, I have been doing a little thought experiment, the results of which I will share with you in this article. (They’re not good.) First, let’s get you up to speed in case you haven't been following the rapidly devolving situation in Washington. Newly elected president Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk to lead a non-existent government agency (DOGE) tasked with reducing government waste. It bears repeating here that this is not a government agency — it’s a “special” agency, according to the Trump administration — and does not have much of any authority beyond what we bestow upon it by accepting its legitimacy. Unfortunately, much of the country, including elected officials in Congress, have decided to play along (at least for now), granting Musk and his crew enough manufactured legitimacy to convince the public to go along with it, too (aka, manufactured consensus). We’ve heard a lot of talk in recent years about the fragility of democracy and the need to actively reinforce our commitment to democratic values and principles, and this is exactly why those warnings were needed. Timothy Snyder wasn’t just waxing poetic when he told us, ”don’t obey in advance.” He was giving practical advice for situations just like this. Unfortunately, that advice wasn’t heeded by a lot of our fellow citizens. And so here we are, with a fake government agency being weaponized by an unelected billionaire in an effort to dismantle actual government programs and services.

[...]

As I’ve watched the events of the past few weeks unfold, I have started to notice some interesting and uncomfortable parallels between the way Musk and his crew are carrying out their assault on our institutions, and the way a malicious computer program might try to infiltrate and immobilize, take over, or destroy a computer network. While it may seem that they are acting haphazardly and running around government like a bull in a china shop, it appears to me that there actually is a method to their madness — a method that seems to be rooted in a system of logic that functions a whole lot like artificial intelligence. This is where my thought experiment started to take shape. “Would this situation really look that much different,” I asked myself, ”if instead of dealing with Musk and his crew of barely-legal college kids, we were dealing with a rogue AI system seeking to seize control and ultimately incapacitate our government?” The startling answer I arrived at was “no” — it wouldn’t actually look all that different. The main difference is that it would likely be far more inconspicuous if an AI system were carrying out the same agenda as DOGE, because the AI wouldn’t be holding press conferences, taking pictures and video, and documenting its deliberate destruction of government on social media for all to see. It would do its work quietly, unknown to all or most of us, and may not become apparent until it had its tentacles wrapped around all of the systems that keep our government running — systems that control our nation’s finances, maintain critical infrastructure, safeguard public health, warn us of national security threats, and more. If we aren’t equipped as a society to stop an authoritarian takeover of our government led by a billionaire and a group of college kids doing his bidding — and as the past several weeks have shown, we aren’t equipped for that — then we definitely aren’t in a position to be able to identify and stop the hostile takeover of our government, or at least the systems that our government relies upon to function, by an advanced artificial intelligence system. That’s a problem.

[...] We know that the DOGE team has accessed a number of sensitive government databases and copied or transferred data from at least some of the systems they have gained access to. Although they appear to have read-only access to most systems, they have also sought access that would allow them in some cases to edit sensitive data such as payment records, bank accounts, social security numbers, and more. When they’ve gotten that type of access, they’ve used it to do things like lock career employees at the Office of Personnel Management out of key databases. At other times, they’ve used their access to post classified information online, like when they publicly shared the budget and staffing levels at the National Reconnaissance Office. In other instances, certain government websites, like the website for USAID, have been taken offline entirely, and have not yet been restored. DOGE also recently deleted information from its own website when it was revealed that its “Wall of Receipts” — which was meant to tout how much money the (non)agency is saving — was actually riddled with errors and miscalculations. Only time will tell how much Musk and his acolytes actually altered the systems they gained access to, but that’s sort of the point. By making it difficult or impossible to track exactly what they’re doing in real time, Musk and his team have essentially bought enough time to make sure they’ll be gone by the time all of their handiwork is uncovered. There is one other important way that Musk and his crew’s actions mirror those of a rogue AI system, and this one is the most concerning. As Musk has swept through government agencies looking for waste and excess spending, he doesn't appear to be applying any sort of human-centered value system to his decision-making. To him, $1,000,000 spread out to pay 10 salaries is equal in value to $1,000,000 spent on software licenses. It either doesn't matter or doesn't compute to him that taking away $1,000,000 on software licenses will not leave anyone unable to put food on the table or support their family, while mass firings to trim down spending will result in people who lose their homes and experience other unnecessary hardships, many of which will also extend to their families. He also doesn’t appear to understand or care about the potentially dire consequences of cutting back on forest service employees amid intensifying wildfires, or the catastrophic outcomes that could result from firing our country’s nuclear safety workforce. Sure, maybe this time he was able to rehire them before the worst case scenario became our new reality, but how many times is he going to put human lives on the line just to see what happens?

If you think DOGE is bad, wait til you see rogue AI.

[thedawningofthehour]

Unfortunately for Leo, the government knows who he is. I'm still on the fence about how long they've known, but they haven't exactly kept a low profile in the past two years.

(this is off-topic, but I really do love the subtle storytelling of the turtles slowly dropping their secrecy act as time goes on and more people get mutated, because New Yorkers just don't give a shit)

Gale also didn't built nukes, that is slander from Leo's side. Draxum doesn't think weapons of mass destruction should exist (his logic is that you're also screwing yourself since weapons of that caliber can't be controlled and then you inherit the ashes, not to mention it doesn't distinguish between enemies and civilians) and if he has to threaten mutually-assured destruction to not lose, he's already lost. Now, Gale has made lasers that can preemptively detonate a nuclear warhead, so the effect is somewhat similar to if Draxum was sitting on a nuke like a hen incubating a very radioactive egg-the US launches a nuke at Gale, a nuke will blow up somewhere other than NYC. Gale plans to do so over a national forest in Pennsylvania to minimize casualties, if it's ever necessary, but the EPF doesn't know that. Now that I'm thinking about it, they 100% don't know for certain that Draxum doesn't have WMDs, and I mean-the US has literally gone to war over imaginary WMDs before, there's precedent for this to the tune of $8 trillion and 4.7 million people dead, they would absolutely treat Gale like the weapon of mass destruction he is.

#Sure Gale is more valuable than Leo to them so he might get treated better#but#I am pretty sure that Gale is getting all types of medical shit done to him#…#on the other hand#if Leo IS put in a concentration camp or something he is very fucked#Like Auschwitz had over 800 people who tried to escape; some of them insanely clever#but of those only around 140 made it#did u know they wouldn’t separate children from their mothers in auschwitz#that would have been too much forceful work so they just told the mothers they would need baths#and send them with their kids together in the gaß chambers#my sisters class also had to visit the crematory and her friend got in trouble for puking#ok I mean Doth is very dark sometimes but I don‘t think you will go Joseph Mengle with it right?#Like the guy who experimented on Tiger Claw as a kid but that wasn’t graphically shown; just told from TC as a memory#oh I remember Mengle had an obsession with experimenting on twins#given that Leo and Gale couldn’t be further from twinship rn I doubt that’s relevant#Idk how you will write Bishop but the 2003 version is very pragmatic#but yeah no Gale is in for a horrific time#with Leo it depends I think#I wanted to ramble more but I looked up articles about Mengle and now I feel sick#I‘m going to watch cat videos now#love u fai#where ever you take the boys I‘m excited to read your writing

From my understanding, Mengele was only interested in identical twins. (or at least twins that looked identical-I don't think they knew the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins in the 30s and 40s, they just knew sometimes they looked alike and sometimes they didn't) He liked to experiment on them because one would serve as the perfect 'control' while he did horrible experiments on the other, and then he'd kill them both to do the autopsies and compare. Though I feel like I remember one instance where he took a male-female pair of twins and tried to graft the brother's genitals onto his sister, but that might have been the Japanese who did that. (the shit the Japanese did during WWII and the Cambodian genocide, reading about those subjects marked two of the very rare times I've ever read something and gone "okay, I mentally cannot handle any more of this today.")

But yeah, even if Leo and Donnie were the same species from the same clutch and could therefore be considered twins with only a bit of stretching the definition, they'd still be fraternal twins so that wouldn't apply. It is interesting that you mentioned it though.

Yeah I'm probably not going to put in an equivalent to Mengele, I haven't wanted to spoil much about Bishop but one thing I think is really important in this story is that all the warmongers have understandable motives. Because that's overwhelmingly how it is in real life. I feel like the constant dehumanization of Nazis and harping on only the most evil, horrible aspects of the genocide has been more counterproductive than anything else, because we end up distancing ourselves from the reality of it all and the choices that went into it. You can't relate to a man like Mengele. He's too horrifically evil, his sadism and complete lack of humanity is just incomprehensible to most people. The things he did, it's hard to wrap your head around the level of suffering and cruelty, it almost doesn't feel real at times. It's too hard to conceptualize.

We focus on the monsters like Mengele because-well, let's be real, partly morbid fascination, but also because he is an easy figure to hate. He was an intrinsically evil person, there's no debating that. His own son wouldn't accept his remains and refused to bring them back to Germany. It's easy to denounce him, because there's nothing about him that would hit close to home.

The vast majority of Nazis were not Mengele. They did not wake up one day and suddenly go "I hate Jews because they're smelly and I'm going to kill them now." Yes, there was an antisemitism problem in Germany already, but not like that. There were plenty of people who weren't antisemitic before Hitler rose to power. Hell, there were Jewish Nazis. They were some of the first people loaded up on trains, incidentally. (tokens get spent, after all) Nobody flipped a switch and turned these people into frothing antisemitic monsters overnight, it was a long process of exploiting people's fears, scapegoating 'others' and manufacturing hatred, eventually conditioning people to accept and even aid in increasing levels of violence against them.

And for total clarify, fuck these guys. I'm not trying to sympathize with fucking Nazis here. They did terrible shit, they deserved what they got in return, and they deserve to have their names dragged through the mud. They were horrible, depraved murderers. But most of them weren't born that way. They were radicalized. And that matters because the same methods that were used to radicalize them can be used to radicalize again.

To me, Mengele is not representative of the horrors of Nazism. Nazism didn't make him evil. He was already like that. He was an intrinsically evil man on the Nazi side, just as there were 100% intrinsically evil men on the Allied side. The difference was that Nazism gave Mengele the platform to carry out his evil and supplied him with victims. That's what makes movements like Nazism evil, not because evil people exist within them but because it allows evil people to flourish, encourages neutral people to do evil, and keeps good people from stopping them. Nobody reads about Mengele and learns how not to be Mengele. They need to read about the father of three who became a Nazi because he feared for the future of his children and Nazism told him there was an easy solution to all his problems. They need to read about that because that's going to be the thing that clicks and makes them go "I need to have a fucking talk with my dad about his attitude towards immigrants."

There are definitely people like Mengele in the EPF. I don't foresee myself writing about them. There is nothing to learn from them.

[rosicheeks]

🫣

[blossoms-phan]

if y’all see me checking in here at 5am for the next month mind yo business

[shewhoeatssand]

I want to befriend Kaneki and meet with him and email him forever

[frightfulmouse]

not writing not doing my job literally just spending every moment of the day fucking around and thinking about how time is passing and i'm fucking it up with every second. OOOH i'm fucking it up!!! i hope a piano falls on my head!!!!!!! there. is. NO. reason of this 🕺🏻 My job is not hard. i just need to FOCUS on it and i don't WANT TO and it's PISSING ME OFF that that's all it apparently takes for me to do FUCK ALL!!!!!! my work window is sitting literally RIGHT THERE and i make ZERO effort to move my mouse over there because then i'll have to do the work and i hate it and it's not fun and i don't care!!!! and i'm bad at it!!! it looks like shit and i don't care when it's over and i don't make enough money and i'm not motivated enough apparently to actually work harder and make more because i am a stupid immature brat who can't lock into anything unless it interests me. I'M SO FUCKED!!!