#I'm assuming you understand what I meant by saying I didn't think we were using that thing the same way. hopefully cuz

[fadingstrawberrynightmare]

i miss You already

[mr-ribbit]

gonna rant again bc im seeing a lot of trans women on my dash having to carry the heavy lifting to argue for their basic respect and a lot of other queer people who want to ??? get mad about that apparently. for the record as usual: im tme, im not speaking for anyone besides myself and my perspectives, but I am trying to reach out to fellow tme people to level with y'all from inside the house.

i thought we all got past the 'calling people gendered terms when theyve asked you to stop' thing in like. 2012. i swear we were allllll on board with not calling women dude anymore, nerfing sir and ma'am, neutralizing collective terms for groups, and all of that was like, during the onceler era. that's how we got off-putting shit like folx into the mix - remember???? why are we here again.

to those who I've seen claiming that they REALLY genuinely don't want to offend anyone, and that theyre trying to understand the dude thing, and they don't want to be seen as transmisogynistic when they aren't: ok. let's talk about it. step one, stop sending that really loaded anon to a trans woman you don't know, and close that in-group hatepost with 100 replies from people name-dropping trans bloggers they don't like. try to open your mind and assume for the duration of this post that I am not cynically trying manipulate thousands of tumblr users into making Bro the next big swear word, but a fellow queer human being who thinks you're all being pretty intentionally obtuse about an upsetting trend in our community

to be clear: this post is about the issue of trans women being called bro, dude, man, etc., particularly in recent tumblr discourse about transmisogyny, and the backlash they face if they get upset about it. this is also maybe moreso about the shitty ass excuses I see tme people make for why they supposedly can't stop doing this.

so let's go through some of the things I've been seeing people say they don't understand, supposedly in earnest, about this issue

"I DIDNT USE DUDE AS A MASCULINE TERM. I CALL EVERYONE BRO. MAN IS A GENDER NEUTRAL TERM"

I'm not actually going to exhaust my list of reasons why dude/bro/man are not strictly neutral, but you should be pretty aware that all words have context. Dude might be seen as neutral in many contexts, sure, but 'woman who is frequently called a man by others' is a situation where the context adds extra meaning to your words, just like calling someone "sweetie" might be neutral in some cases, but if you've got the context of knowing that's your coworker who's half your age, it's a bit less neutral. If you're not capable of reading that context and being tasteful about when you say dude, then you need to at least be ready to respond gracefully when someone asks you to stop. This is the part I'd rather focus on.

"BUT I DIDNT MEAN IT THAT WAY. IM NOT TRANSPHOBIC"

I think you should consider broadening your perspective *beyond* your intention behind the word. people may already understand that you meant the word neutrally and therefore didn't have transmisogynistic intent, but that's not really the entire scope of what people are saying. if that's your only concern, you're just trying to clear your record, not actually listen to what they're saying.

there are lots of words people don't enjoy being called, and in most cases, when they say 'pls don't call me that', people respect that and move on. even if the word isn't a slur, if it hurts someone's feelings, we all as a society have agreed that it's pretty shitty to keep calling them that. if your friend asked you not to call them 'buddy' anymore because their dead grandparent called them that, or something equivalently personal, you'd probably respect that instead of telling them 'but I call everyone buddy!!' right? even if you didn't really understand why it bothered them so much?

there is a prominent tendency for trans women to be denied this privilege, and when they ask not to be called dude or bro, people don't seem to respect this request as much as they would in other situations. when I accidentally use a gendered word and someone tells me they don't like it, I try to respond with something like "my bad, I didn't mean it as misgendering but I can see you were still bothered by it, so I'll try not to keep saying it. sorry!" and most people are willing to accept that. when trans women ask people this favor, a lot of people get VERY defensive, and treat the request as inane or unfair, instead of just apologizing and moving on. this is why people are upset when this happens, and it's why people are calling your actions transmisogynistic

also like you might not be doing this, but a lot of people DO use dude and bro in an intentionally gendered way to make trans women uncomfortable. it's a power play bigots use to talk down to them or otherwise maliciously harass them. do you know what arguments they use to defend that behavior when called out on it? 'oh I call everyone that' 'dude is gender neutral calm down' 'dont overreact its just a word'. by acting like this, youre all just giving credence to those same arguments.

"WELL THEY SHOULDNT GET SO MAD AT ME WHEN I DIDNT MEAN ANY HARM"

they can get as mad as they want!! also, are you sure they're 'mad'? or are they just expressing their feelings about a negative topic to you, and it makes you feel bad, so you have to make them out to be unreasonably emotional? how do you think they should have phrased 'dont call me that' to better spare *your* feelings?

also like, in most cases, these women do not knowww you. if your main response to someone saying you disrespected them is to say "I didnt mean it that way, I meant it in a friendly neutral way", well that's NOT YOUR FRIEND! she has no idea what your opinions are or what you think of her!!! she has no reason to assume you only upset her in a friendly way and not a bad unfriendly way! but she did get upset, and she did the one thing she can do which is *tell you what upset her* and your response is to say "well actually you shouldn't be upset at all"??????

and another thing:

it's not just the issue of using the word 'dude', it's because you're coming off extremely dismissive of women who have asked you to stop doing something that harms them, and because your argument is basically that they just shouldn't be so bothered by it. or that they're stupid, irrational, or otherwise crazy for telling you that it bothered them at all, just because you Technically used a gender neutral word according to Your Rules. be honest, does that seem fair? If people were calling you something that bothered you enough to ask them to stop, and they responded like this, how would it make you feel?

focusing solely on your intent and what the words mean when you use them is the same thing as saying "just get over it". no woman should need to Prove to you that 'dude' is gendered for you to care about what she's saying. the fact that you're asking people to do that sucks and makes you look bad, which is why people are arguing with you and calling you a misogynist.

especially those of you who are only doing this with trans women who are actively arguing with. you're wielding misgendering as a cudgel and we can all see it, grow up please.

[twilightcitysky]

Everything Is Meant (long S2 analysis, part 2)

Part one here

Okay, so that's how I think the pre-creation scene and Gabriel's arc connect to Aziraphale's choice. I also think the ineffable bureaucracy speedrun exists to prove totally different things to Aziraphale and Crowley: Aziraphale loves that they can love each other but notes they have to run away to be together; Crowley sees this and immediately thinks "hey, we can do that too!", forgetting that running away is not a solution Aziraphale has ever been interested in. It's the mentality of an individualist vs a group-oriented mind, and neither of them is necessarily wrong, it's just that their priorities are different and they HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT, which they don't.

Continued analysis under the cut:

3. Let's take the Job minisode. Why include it? We already mentioned that it proves Aziraphale remembers Crowley as an angel, since he mentions it. And he believes Crowley is the same person he always was, and that he doesn't want to harm Job's crops or animals or children. Crowley tries to convince him he's a Big Bad Demon who is all in on this assignment, but fails utterly to kill even a single goat, soooo... Aziraphale comes to the conclusion that he knows what Crowley wants. Alert! Alert! This is a big problem! Crowley says, "What do you know about what I want?" Aziraphale: "I know you." Crowley: "You do not know me." But because Aziraphale got it right this time, he goes ahead assuming he'll always get it right, which is a crucial failure when it comes to the final reckoning. He doesn't ever ASK Crowley what he wants, he just assumes. When you assume you know what someone wants, you usually assume their priorities align with yours... he couldn't be more wrong about that. The Job minisode sets up this dynamic for them, and they never really manage to change it.

The other thing happens at the end of the minisode. Crowley acknowledges two crucial points: 1) he's lonely ("But you said it wasn't!" "I'm a demon. I lied"), 2) he doesn't think Aziraphale would like Hell. Aziraphale DOESN'T like Hell. Aziraphale hates Hell for what they've done to Crowley. He doesn't see Heaven as innocent or benign, but importantly, Heaven has never tried to hurt Crowley directly. They never threatened his safety. They never tortured him (as it's heavily implied that Hell did). Fast forward to the last ten mins of season 2: Aziraphale excited to tell Crowley that he can be an angel again BECAUSE: he never has to go back to Hell. They can never hurt him again, not the way they did before. And he doesn't have to be lonely anymore.

Last point before I leave Job: Crowley has the chance to cause Aziraphale to Fall, here, probably. ("I lied to Heaven to thwart the will of God!" "You did, but I'm not going to tell anybody. Are you? ...good, then nothing has to change.") He doesn't take it. He doesn't want Aziraphale to be a demon. He loves Aziraphale as he is. "Angel" as an affectionate. Aziraphale certainly doesn't use "demon" as a pet name for Crowley. I think they set up this scene to contrast the final one, and show how deeply hurt Crowley is that Aziraphale suggest he change.

4. Moving on to Victorian Scotland. This one confused me at first. I was delighted that they brought back the "the lower you start the more opportunity you have to rise" dialogue from the book, but apart from that I didn't really see the point of it. It seems like the statue of Gabriel and the fact that he and Beelz ended up at that pub in the present were more or less coincidental.

The point, I think, is actually not the girl, but the doctor. He's a person who is trying to do good by working in a system that's deeply flawed, and engaging in questionable moral practices for the greater good. (Cadaver dissection is still an essential part of medical school. You need dead bodies to understand living ones.) He shows Aziraphale a tumor he removed from a child who died, and Aziraphale clutches it to his chest. The camera zooms in and lingers to tell us that this is a guardian through and through. He wants to protect people. He wants to do good with every fiber of his being.

To Crowley, it's enough to just "be an us" with Aziraphale. He doesn't really want anything more than that. That's an issue! For one thing, it fosters unhealthy codependency, and for another, Aziraphale would never be happy without the opportunity to help and protect people. It's an essential part of who he is. Metatron knows that, and he plays Aziraphale like a fiddle. The doctor showed Aziraphale that you can make a difference even in systems that are flawed, and even if you have to do things you'd rather not do. Aziraphale doesn't want to go back to Heaven, but he truly thinks he can change things; thinks he can be a guardian with some real power. In his mind, that's the right thing to do.

Last thing that happens in Scotland: Crowley saves a soul from Hell, arguably, by preventing a suicide. He gets in Big Trouble. Whatever happened to him downstairs resulted in him coming back up, leaning on a cane, and asking Aziraphale to give him holy water. Go back and watch that scene knowing what we know now about the Victorian minisode. Ask yourself how Aziraphale must have felt. He likely blamed himself for what happened, because if he hadn't meddled then they never would have been there in the first place. He knew where Crowley was, and why he was there, and he had to sit with that knowledge for years. He desperately wants Crowley to be safe; is perfectly willing to push him away to keep him safe-- which is what he does do, the minute Crowley gets back.

Now think again about what Metatron offered him. A chance to keep Crowley safe forever. He'd never be harmed again. Aziraphale is going to take that offer, no matter what else is asked of him. He's shown over and over again that he'll sacrifice his own happiness to make sure nothing happens to Crowley. And he'll do it without talking to Crowley about it first, because he is a moron who doesn't know how to use his words. Leading Crowley to assume that Aziraphale doesn't love him. The idiot angel is doing it all out of love, but because he doesn't make himself clear Crowley doesn't know that.

Part 3: Maggie and Nina, and their roles as mirror couple/ Greek chorus!

[mrsnancywheeler]

finnick odair x sweet & oblivious!partner hc's

based off this request

masterlist

finnick usually considered how sweet you were one of the most endearing things about you

except when it was towards certain people who didn't seem to understand it was just your way, being so sweet, in a tooth rotting way, that they assumed you must be flirting with them

additionally you always assumed they were doing the same back even if their flirting was egregiously overt

someone could wink and comment on how nicely your jeans fit, yet you'd assume it was genuine, smile, and thank them even tell them where you got the pair

finnick was constantly in your ear telling you that people were hitting on you, which you'd laugh off and deny

you'd try and make an effort to be more conscious of it when you could see how much it upset finnick that other people would act like you weren't with him

finnick of course never blamed you, it was just how kind you were that would draw everyone in

he adored the sweetness though

the way you'd dedicate lengths of time to find or make something he liked, spend hours with mags and annie to keep them in good company, the way you'd softly take care of him if he wasn't even slightly feeling well, when he was sad you'd cradle him, kiss him, say the loveliest things he imagined a person could no matter how cheesy

"you don't have to doubt us, finn, I'd stay with you past the time when everything's dust, I'm never going to let you go"

"you're my everything, the sea, the sun, the moon, the air, the wind, the grass, the dirt, it's like the angels decided we were meant to be."

"I think I'd be yours in every lifetime and you would be mine, we'd always find each other."

you'd call him handsome, say he was hand sculpted by angels, what a pretty boy he was, literally any time you had the chance

your kisses were so soft, hugs so warm, finnick felt like he genuinely could lay with you for eternity

you'd write him cheesy little poems that would have him blushing and kissing you until you were giggling and kicking your feet as he peppered you with kisses

finnick couldn't understand how someone as sugary sweet as you were could ever love someone as damaged, as ruined as he felt

but if you even saw a glimpse of those feelings you'd fall into pure prose of how worthy he was of love and you could pour buckets of it on him every day

even if he had enough money to buy a new closet for any piece of ripped clothing you'd insist on stitching things back together for him, it's what you parents had once done for each other so you adored doing it for finnick too

nsfw - finnick also was enthralled by the times your obliviousness came into clutch for him, he'd see how far he could go before you even realized what he was trying to do to you, all the comments he could make without you realizing the intentions, it was always adorable when you finally did manage to catch on

you'd bake him his favorite sweet treats, make breakfast and feel guilty if he ever didn't wake you up when he woke and ended up making it for both of you

finnick loved it and seeing the way you insisted on doing anything else to make up for it

finnick would move the heavens and the earth for you and all your kindness, he could never do enough for all the things your big heart would do for him and others

maybe you thought he was made by angels, but he was sure you were one, in the flesh, his own guardian angel intent on showering him in love

[lizardkingeliot]

Fair warning this is going to be a mess and my brain is running on fumes so... bear with me lol.

I'm thinking about Louis not uttering Lestat's name for 23 years until he starts unloading on a stranger trying to convince himself Lestat was nothing to him. He wasn't in LOVE what are you TALKING about. He wasn't a great musician who wrote me love songs so infuriatingly perfect I swam the Mississippi to bite him like a cat and fuck him on the floor! Lestat wasn't that great at all I promise look at me, Daniel, do I look like the sort of guy who would lie about something like that!!!

I'm thinking about how what Louis was doing here wasn't actually that at all. Armand read him for filth because he's always known who the real love of Louis' life is, hasn't he? And Louis couldn't bear it anymore. He couldn't find Lestat (which begs the question WHY they were separated after Paris if Louis knows he isn't dead at this point but I guess the show will tell us that in the upcoming episodes lol), and this was going to be his way out. Had he been searching for him in secret? Did Armand know? I'm thinking prooooobably not but I guess we'll have to see what happens in Paris and in the final three episodes to be sure why Louis was so INSISTENT he didn't want to see Lestat even while very obviously trying to do just that. I assume it has to do with the events surrounding The Trial???? A desperate attempt to protect Lestat (wherever he may be) from Armand? Who knows!

I'm thinking about Louis insisting all he did was talk trash about Lestat and Armand immediately answering... that's not exactly how you talked about him to me. Yet Armand says Lestat's name hasn't been uttered in 23 years. Which would have been around 1950 in the timeline. Right after Paris. So clearly we're meant to understand Louis confided something about the true nature of his relationship with Lestat to Armand. Yet Louis insisted right there in that coffin that Lestat was his maker and nothing more. Again, I guess we'll just have to wait for the end of the season to see how we're meant to piece that whole thing together lol.

I'm thinking about the way the show let us hear Lestat's voice as he spoke to Louis through Armand. They let US hear Lestat insisting Armand tell Louis "I love you". Yet that's not something Louis could possibly remember because he didn't hear it. Which seems confusing but it's actually confirming this theory I've had brewing in my head that the show intentionally shows us things Louis isn't actually saying in the interview. Like making out with Dreamstat in the park. If you rewatch 2x03 there's no way Louis actually told Daniel and Armand about that. Or in this case, it's the show showing us something Louis can't possibly know himself.

And I'm thinking... why? The only real reason to do that is to drive home that what we're watching is in fact the Louis and Lestat love story at its core. I mean... think about it. Every iteration we've seen of Lestat this season has been so ROMANTIC. They were so in LOVE. All the stuff Louis tried his best to omit in season one is leaking in around the cracks like sunlight through the slats of a window shade and it's only a matter of time before that shade is opened...

Also. One more thing. Not to dump allll of this in one post but....... we finally got confirmation in this episode that Armand IS messing with Louis' head and erasing things and overwriting memories and I am foaming at the mouth waiting to see what else is in there Louis doesn't know about...

[wenellyb]

9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 4: Was Buck lying when he said he was trying to get Tommy's attention?

I'm a little frustrated about the people who said that Buck was lying when he said he was trying to get Tommy's attention because according to them, he was trying to get Eddie's attention not Tommy's, and the argument they use is the gym scene...

I'm frustrated because I want to ask them: "Have you guys never watched a TV show, ever?"

TV showrunners have different way of structuring their episodes, some episodes are set up to be emotionnal, some are set up to be dramatic or romantic, some are heavy on the action scenes and some are meant to get a surprised reaction by introducing a plot twist the audience didn't see coming. It can be a big plot twist like the finale of the 1st season of the Good Place or it can be a smaller one like in this episode of 911.

And whenever they want to set up a plot twist, the writers will put small hints along the way, that are not obvious right away but will contribute to the "ah" moment when everything clicks into place after the plot twist is finally revealed.

The whole point of the episode was for people to think Buck was trying to get Eddie's attention because he was jealous of his best friend spending time with someone else and BAM, it's revealed that in fact it was the "someone else" Buck had been interested in all along.

And if you look closely, there are clues throughout the episode showing that it was about Tommy all along.

1. Buck asking Tommy for a tour.

At first we think that Buck was just testing the waters and thinking about switching jobs but at the end of the episode Buck reveals it's because he was trying to get Tommy's attention.

Moreover, a lot of people assume Buck was disappointed because Tommy left with Eddie and he was jealous about Eddie. But if you pay attention, Buck's smile drops the moment Tommy turns him down for drinks, and that was even before he saw Eddie in the car.

2. Buck's rant to Maddie

Buck was complaining about Eddie spending time with Tommy and even going to a basketball game with him.

And later when he talked to Maddie after accident accidentally injuring Eddie, he admitted he did it because he felt left out and was trying to get "his" attention.

But in retrospective, he never specified who he was trying to get attention from. He could have meant Eddie or Tommy.

And it's confirmed that he was indeed talking about Tommy when he says this.

3. The gym scene

We all assumed Buck was trying to get Eddie's attention when he was at the gym because he wanted to spend more time with him. But if Buck had wanted to hang out with Eddie, he would have just asked, they're best friends. Buck ordered the basket Ball because he wanted to be invited to the basketball game because Tommy would be there. Same for the karaoke. Buck never had a problem with asking Eddie to hang out, the only differentiating factor here is Tommy.

Why would Buck suddenly be so awkward around Eddie? He was trying to get an invite so he could see and when it didn't work he asked Chimney.

4. The basketball game

Buck admitted that he accidentally hurt Eddie because he was trying to get Tommy's attention.

5. The "big reveal"

Up until the very end of the episode we were made to believe Buck was being jealous of his best friend having a new best friend.

Even Tommy thought so.

It's not until Buck reveals he wanted to get to know Tommy and was trying to get his attention that everything clicks into place for the audience and we understand why Buck was acting like that.

We weren't watching someone being jealous over his best friend spending time with someone else but someone acting like a fool because he had a crush.

TL:DR: Buck was trying to get Tommy's attention all along. The show just set up the episode in a way that would lead to a plot twist, a "big" reveal and a romantic kiss.

What do you guys think? Was Buck trying to get Eddie's attention as well?

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam! Because I just saw the post on ao3 and donations, and a different post about ao3s updated statement regarding chatgpt/ai generated fiction, and you generally have a good read on things like this - what's your opinion on it, and how its meant to be interpreted?

(I want to good faith believe, and its a complicated/ongoing topic, but wanted to hear your thoughts)

I don't know which post about the update you mean, Anon, but I assume the update referenced is the one the OTW posted on 5/13 about AI scraping and ChatGPT. I do have some thoughts but I want to go through the post a little because I don't think I'm actually needed to interpret this one -- I think with some critical thought anyone can, but a lot of people don't get critical thinking training in school, so I want to do a little demo of it.

Pre-emptively, this is a list of things I'm not an expert on: copyright law, data scraping, AI, website design, and the legality of certain forms of freedom of expression. But honestly for this you don't need to be.

First and foremost, we really have no reason to disbelieve OTW when they speak on this subject. While there's debate and discussion about AO3 and certainly it's imperfect in a number of directions, they are pretty transparent, generally speaking. I don't believe there is a reason to approach AO3 with an assumption of disingenuity in a general sense. However, the organization is run by humans, who are imperfect and can sometimes be deceitful, so it's good to always approach public statements with a critical eye.

So the post is talking about two separate but related issues: preventing AIs from scraping AO3, and policy on AI-generated works being posted. What we are looking for, from both, is a combination of things: we want what they're saying to make sense both in the world, and within the statement -- no contradictions, nothing that seems illogical, nothing that seems like baseless assumption or generalization. We want simple prose, and we want a look at the reasoning behind the actions they're taking.

When talking about AI scraping, they start with what they've done to counteract scraping, speaking in relatively simple terms but with enough specificity that if you wanted you could look up anything you didn't understand. They list what they've done to prevent scraping, and they also discuss the issues with the kinds of measures that would need to be implemented to fully prevent it. They mention specific examples that people were concerned about, and they talk about what they'll be doing going forward.

In terms of the text, this all makes sense to me -- here's what we've done, here's the problem with doing more, here's what we plan to do next. Internally, no matter what the topic is, this section is logical, there are no contradictions and no particular evasions. Critically it passes muster. Additionally, with the knowledge I do have of website design and data management, I can tell that they're doing all they reasonably can. From a standpoint of ignorance, the statement makes internal sense; from a standpoint of knowledge, they're doing what I would do in their place.

When talking about AI-generated works, likewise, they're pretty open about their process and reasoning. They say look, this isn't against TOS as it stands, and here's a reminder of why, followed by a mission statement. The bolded text of that statement is very clear, and correlates with what I said in an earlier post: their policy is maximum inclusivity of fanworks. This statement is consistent with policy AO3 has held for years, which is well-known to the community.

They go on to discuss how AI-generated work could violate spam policies, but those spam policies apply to everyone everywhere, and they remind us that we can always have the Policy & Abuse team examine a work we're skeptical of. (Inside baseball, I know some people who have beef with Policy & Abuse for being unresponsive, particularly in certain cases where harassment is involved. However, within this document, they are saying both "here's why we do this" and "if you have a problem, here's the first step.")

Again, after saying what's happening and what's being done about it, they move on to say that these are only current policies, and may change depending on future developments, and that those changes will be made available for public discussion. This is once more internally logical, and with the benefit of outside knowledge, perfectly rational.

Because I agree with them -- when I saw there was an "updated" statement from OTW on AI-generated prose I was frankly alarmed because I think banning AI-generated prose from AO3 causes way more problems than it solves. It's pretty restrained of them not to bring up the issue in more detail, but it's not difficult for those of us familiar with the community to project outwards as to why banning AI prose might be a bad thing.

So, think about what happens if an AI prose ban goes into effect and you read a fic you think was AI generated. How can you tell? Have you read some of the human-generated prose on AO3? Some of it's not great. So really in that case, what you're banning is someone saying they AI-generated the fic, which means AI-generated fic would still show up, it just couldn't be tagged as such. It's like Prohibition -- they banned alcohol and people still drank. They poisoned the alcohol and people drank the poisoned alcohol (check out paragraph five for specifics). If you ban something off the archive it'll still show up there, it just won't be tagged, so instead of a bag labeled "dead dove, do not eat" you just step on a land mine in your kitchen. AI prose is not content in the way that say incest or underage sex is; I'm against banning those as well, but at least with those you can pretty clearly say "yes this is" or "no this isn't" based on objective criteria. You can't do that with "was this made by a human or a machine" when it comes to prose.

Which leads to the second issue: if a text is reported as AI-generated and the author says "No, I wrote that," how do you prove otherwise? If you report an author for uploading AI-generated prose, all that will happen is either they just say "No, I wrote that" or someone on AO3's abuse team unilaterally decides that yes, this is AI prose, and punts someone off the website who might just be kind of a crap writer, which is not a sin or a crime. Either way it's a waste of time. So introducing a ban on AI prose is really just introducing either a useless show-law that will still cause AI prose to be posted there, just without proper tagging, or a tool to harass people with. Harassment is already an issue on the archive.

And we can reason all this out for ourselves simply by asking "What is the good-faith reason for not banning AI prose?" Assuming good faith isn't just for blindly trusting, after all; it's also for reasoning out other peoples' motivations for things.

And frankly fandom gets a little weird about assuming bad faith when it comes to anyone who has the least bit of power within the community. It's something I've encountered personally, as someone with some clout in fandom who is occasionally assumed to have weirdly malevolent intent. I'm not malicious. I'm just an awkward dumbass. But this is just something fandom does, so it's also good to check oneself and go, "Hey, is this person being genuinely malevolent or am I just assuming wickedness because it's easier to be mad at a villain than to explore the complexities of these acts?"

It's why I deliberately didn't speculate about the person who uploaded an AI fanfic and didn't respond to others doing so in comments. That person is right there. You don't have to assume any intent at all, you can just ask them. And it's so much more educational to do so!

So yeah, actually real props to whoever wrote that post by the OTW -- it's internally logical, reasonably transparent, simply written, and avoids a lot of prose pitfalls that I would absolutely fall into (did fall into, in this very post). I think within this area, they are doing what they can to prevent scraping and making the correct decisions, for now, regarding AI content on the archive.

[bitchimasnake-sss]

unwinding after a long day ft. luffy!

in which, after a long day, he comes right back to you <3

ft. luffy x fem!reader

set-up: its been a tiring day for him, good thing you're right here to offer your services (wink wink)

warnings: both sfw/nsfw headcanons for this dumbass; nsfw stuff includes penetration, cockwarming, raw!fucking (kids use protection pls 👍)

luffy:

sfw!!

- after a long, long day of eating, running around the deck with ussop, defeating like five sea kings, enduring 53628 kicks and punches from the crew (how is this man a captain is beyond me sometimes), luffy is bound to be tired - you're laying on your bed post-dinner, absent-mindedly chipping away the nail polish - you feel the mattress next to you dip lowly as he jumps next to you, face-first - "ynn-" he's whining, wrapping his hands around you and intertwining his legs between yours, "ynnnnnn" "hmm?" you hum, still busy picking apart the colour on your nails "i'm so, so soooo tired" a laugh escapes you, "really? is it due to all the running?" and now he's pouting, "are you saying it's my own fault?" - you peck his cheek, then flash him a grin, "how can i ever say that?" - most of the nights, you silence him by giving him a massage - you don't even think you're good at it but holy shit this boy is obsessed with getting a quick massage from you. - and this has led to quite the number of misunderstandings. "yn," he had asked you when the crew were eating dinner together, "can we do that thing at night? i really need it." "WHAT THE FUCK-" nami is punching luffy in his guts, his food is being thrown out of his mouth and onto zoro, "WE ARE EATING." - he meant massage. - you knew it, he knew it. the rest of the crew? they assumed you were fucking (they aren't wrong, per se. they just didn't want to believe that all the sounds of bed creaking wasn't from you both jumping around, rip them) - yeah ussop threw up and sanji fell to his knees and cried for like 57 mins because how did luffy manage to bag you??? - zoro hasn't spoken in two days from the shock of it (and the traumatic experience of having food spit on him) and nami has retired to her room for a whole business week, she is now only conversing by using chopper as her message carrier - chopper is confused (poor bby 😭😭, he assumed it was massage or something and he is the only one who's correct) - anyways, other than getting massages, sometimes he starts rambling on about something or the other till he falls asleep mid-conversation - rest assured because he will continue whenever he wakes up "where was i?" he's shaking you awake "luffy" you groan, "it's like two am, go to sleep" "oh right, so ussop told chopper than reindeers are called reigndeers because they used to be actual kings back in the ancient times and so rein means reign and not rain like most people as-" he falls asleep again mid conversation - tf are you supposed to do with this man?? - peak, sheer dumbassery even when he's tired

nsfw!!

- this man refuses to entertain one-sided favours - your soft hands were kneading away the tension on his biceps a few minutes ago, so obviously he should return the favour back by massaging your back - you refuse many times because as much as you love luffy, this man does not understand his own strength - so you have a very valid fear that he would break your spine as he gives you a massage - "this isn't fair, let me do it too ughh" "how about no" "okay then let me fuck you, you'd like that right?" - didn't even blink twice plz 😭😭 - this dude is dead serious. - he gotta make up to you for being such a sweetheart to him one way or the other - that explains how he was pulling your top off, sucking sweetly on your tits, fingers gently rubbing over your clothed pussy - that also explained how he pulled you onto his lap, slipping in his dick inside you, stretching you out with a loud moan "you always take it so well, don'tcha?" he grins at you, tipping your head upwards and kissing you - refuses to move tho. - basically baited you into cockwarming him - what a royal asshole. - "what is it?" he coos when he feels your walls clamp down on him, your fingers desperately toying with your clit to get some sort of relief "pl- pleasefuckme-" there's tears clinging onto your lashline, your lips are red from how long you've been biting and chewing on them "hm?" he grins at your state, "what was that you said?" "please-" your breath hitches as he thrusts into you suddenly "fuck you?" "go- god. fuck, yes" his thrusts are merciless, pounding into you at a speed that has your overstimulated cunt spasming in seconds - doesn't let you go till he feels like he's paid you back enough "that was fun" he nuzzles into your neck, breathing slowly "mhm" you feel yourself dozing off he lays you down before snuggling into you and falling asleep - will end up giving you a massage in the morning anyways - although he can be just a little bit of a dick sometimes, there's no one you would rather unwind with

bonus!!

- ussop (while crying) had to relocate from his cabin to sanji's because the walls are really not that thick and he was next door - "i can hear them-" ussop sniffled, standing at sanji's doorstep, "omg i can hear luffy-" "ussop, you have to learn to face the horrors of the world." sanji spoke firmly, although his expression betrayed the confidence in his voice - actually they both just cried and ate the secret stash of ice-cream sanji had saved up - you and luffy need to pay for their therapy now im afraid 😃

zoro's part <3 sanji's part <3

[ynnova]

blindsided

' GLIMPSES OF THE PAST ' ask game // blindsided 📼

blindsided – for a scene from my muse's past in which they were betrayed or shocked by what someone did.

time period . 2020 | wc . 1.1k | tw . language, cheating (not on y/n), making out, ooc seonghwa, context for seonghwa's pov is missing so... miscommunication (sort of)

"oppa, are you okay?" you ask the eldest member of the group. you notice he's been distracted the past week, but none of you are completely sure as to why.

thankfully, it was just the two of you currently in the practice room, so you could have a moment alone with seonghwa. to maybe figure out whatever it is that's bothering him. you walk over to where he's sitting on the floor and sit down next to him.

"oppa?" you say again, putting a hand on his knee which seemingly earns his attention.

"huh? oh, sorry, y/nnie, i was just... thinking is all."

"do you... want to take about it? can i help in any way?" you offer and seonghwa looks to meet your eyes for a moment before he's looking away.

"me and haneul are having some... issues. she's jealous of you and the others, so we're... taking a break," he confesses and you look at him shocked. the news took you completely off guard, no way was seonghwa and haneul taking a break. the two have been dating since before seonghwa joined the company.

you always thought that nothing could go wrong between them. you were honestly a little jealous at how perfect their relationship was. guess not everything was as perfect as it seemed.

but then something hits you, "jealous? of me and the others? what are you talking about?"

"she thought the nine of us asked a little more... than just bandmates and friends," he explains.

"but..."

"y/n," seonghwa says softly, looking towards you, "she means we were acting more than just friends. which i understand what she's saying when she sees you and the others, but of course she doesn't know you all are dating."

"i'm sorry, oppa, i didn't mean to cause any issues with haneul," you tell him and seonghwa gives you a smile that makes your heart do backflips. you know you shouldn't have a crush on seonghwa, you know it was wrong especially since he was already taken, but... damn did he make it hard not to like him.

"its okay, maybe haneul and i just wasn't meant to work out," he says and you can tell by his tone that he sounds... not upset, almost at peace with the idea of not being with haneul.

the two of you sat in silence, neither of you saying anything more for several minutes until seonghwa finally speaks up again.

"the truth is... i don't like haneul anymore," he says suddenly, looking away from you. "i've been... i have feelings for someone else recently and she's starting to pick up on it."

seonghwa's words come crashing over you. what is he saying? doesn't like haneul anymore, likes someone else?

"who is it?" you ask before you can even realize the words left your mouth.

seonghwa lets out a small chuckle, "is it not obvious?" he says, a teasing tone dripping off his words. you feel like the answer is obvious, but you still want to hear him, himself say it. not just you assuming you know the answer.

"say it," you say looking at him, and he turns to look at you. a little surprised that you would that.

"can i kiss you?" he asks, you feel your heart pounding in your chest, thumping loudly in your ears before you're nodding your head and suddenly his lips are on yours.

seonghwa's lips are just as soft as you imagined them to be. they slot against yours almost too perfectly as his hand comes to cup your face. your own hand coming up to run through his hair and it's equally as soft as his lips. you can feel your breath slowly begin to leave you the longer the two of you kissed.

pulling away a little bit to take a breath, you didn't waste a moment in kissing him again and seonghwa eagerly welcomed your lips. you let out a small gasp when you feel his teeth nibble a little at your bottom lip. you do your best to hold back a smile as you open your mouth to let seonghwa in. his tongue slipping past your lips as his arms wrap around you to hold you more securely to his body. your chest flush against his as his tongue plays with yours.

you find yourself basically drunk on seonghwa's lips, not knowing how long you had been kissing until the male finally pulls away. a trail of saliva connecting your lips, your tongues, together before it thins out and breaks. you're both breathless as seonghwa still holds you close, so close you're sharing heavy breathes between each other. seonghwa's cheeks are flushed and you're sure you look equally as flushed thanks to the heat that had built up on your face.

seonghwa opens his mouth to say something, but the opening of the practice door tears you too apart. you quickly slide a good distance away from your member and pull your phone out to seem occupied. your eyes flicker up and you feel the color drain from your face, haneul had just walked in. a smile on her face as she walks over to seonghwa.

"hwa~" she says and you feel your heart start to sink into the deepest pit of your stomach. you're such an awful person, how could you have kissed seonghwa while he was still dating haneul. how could you give in to your selfish desire and make-out with your taken bandmate?

your eyes flicker over to seonghwa, haneul has now easily taken your spot next to him and you feel something tear at your insides. maybe... he didn't actually mean what he said. maybe he was just... confused and he still loves haneul.

you feel like a fool. like you were just blindsided with the cold, hard truth.

couldn't stand being in the same room as them, quickly getting up and gathering your things, you make a mad dash out of the practice room and towards the one place that felt safe.

hongjoong's studio.

your eldest boyfriend opens the door to his studio with a confused look, letting you in as you set your stuff down and collapse onto the small couch.

"what's wrong, muse?" he says, coming to sit next to you, rubbing your back as you hide your face in your hands.

it takes you a moment to gather yourself, trying hard not to cry, after all did you really have a reason to cry over seonghwa? over letting him take your heart and crush it? finally, you took a deep breath, lifting your head up to look at hongjoong who was still waiting for you to talk to him.

"me and seonghwa kissed."

[yazzwrites6962]

Falling For You ♡ Shigaraki Tomura ♡ Part One

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Shigaraki Tomura x GN!Clumsy!Quirkless!Reader ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Author's Note: UNEDITED! I have not really been keeping up with MHA very closely, if I'm being honest. I was so obsessed with Shigaraki and Bakugo back in high school though. Sorry for late posts too! I have been drowning in finals. Italics are flashbacks. I don't own any characters/images.

Genre: Fluff/Angst

Summary: After an unfortunate run-in with the League of Villains, you find yourself trapped in a world you never belonged in. Clumsy, quirkless, and out of place, you're kept alive only by Shigaraki's inexplicable decision to spare you. Despite your constant mistakes and his harsh words, you slowly discover that the leader of the League may not be so heartless after all.

Word Count: 1706

Warnings: Threats/Mentions of violence, light emotional manipulation, power dynamics, swearing,

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

You didn't belong in the League of Villains. At least, not really. In fact, you were more of an accidental recruit. It started out as a simple mistake. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, overhearing things you were not meant to hear. You hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but when a rogue villain noticed you, your life took a turn.

You were lucky not to be killed that day. You thought you would be. Yet, it was quickly discovered that you were nothing more than a quirkless civilian with a stroke of bad luck. Still, you were a threat to their plans. You knew too much.

Bad luck seemed to follow you everywhere. If it wasn't insisted by your doctor, you would've assumed bad luck was your quirk. You were clumsy, always seeming to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was a frustrating way to live.

"What kind of quirkless idiot gets themselves in a situation like this? Maybe you're more trouble than you're worth." Shigaraki was ultimately the one who made the final call. "Whatever. If you're determined not to die, we'll find a use for you." You let out a sigh of relief, knowing that you would not be killed. At least, not yet.

It felt almost comforting to be seen as possibly useful. All your life, tasks were delegated to you last. You were the "screw up", always left on the sidelines. However, that relief was short lived. Being useful to the League of Villains was no comforting notion. It was constant anxiety.

Many didn't view you as a person. Rather, you were a tool. Someone to keep around for menial tasks, which you often failed miserably. You were a klutz, in every sense. You were Murphey's Law personified. Several members of the League began realizing this and losing their patience. At least, what little patience they had.

"Stop getting in the way. I have no problems with killing you. If you're going to do tasks wrong, I'll just do them myself." Shigaraki would often warn you after every mistake. Despite his warnings, he never did kill you. Maybe you were more like a pitiful little pet to him than anything. You can still vividly recall Dabi's understandable hesitation when Shigaraki chose to keep you.

"Awe, I think they're so cute!" The blonde girl chirped, skipping towards your trembling frame. She crouched down to you, pressing a finger to your cheek. "Look how scared they are. How pathetic. Can we keep them? Please~?"

"Really? This one?" Said the burnt looking stranger leaned against the crumbling wall; arms crossed over his chest. "They can barely stay on their feet. What are we supposed to do with them? Trip them into the heroes and hope something works in our favor?"

You wanted to speak, defending yourself, but the words were caught in your throat. What could you say? They were right. You didn't belong there. You couldn't fight. You had no quirk. You could barely make your way across the room without bumping into anything. Yet, the mysterious man with light blue hair silenced them with the wave of his hand.

"Enough. They stay until I say otherwise.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

The first few days in the League were the worst. It was a struggle adjusting to your new life. You wondered if anyone missed you, or even noticed you were gone. You were given small tasks: Clean Toga's messes, fetching things for Kurogiri, and organizing files you didn't really understand. Your clumsiness didn't help. You often tripped over wires, spilled drinks, and knocked over stacks of plans you had only just sorted.

"Are you trying to sabotage us, or are you genuinely this useless?" Shigaraki sneered. He had grown obviously irritated with your many errors. His tone was sharp, but his eyes betrayed him. There was a flicker of something else: Pity, or maybe curiosity?

"Ah- I'm s-sorry!" You apologize for what must've been the thousandth time that day. Your cheeks flushed with shame. "I- I don't mean to- I'm so sorry." You were terrified of the idea that at any moment, he would change his mind about you. Your life was on the line, after all.

"Stop apologizing. It's disgusting."

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Over time, you noticed something strange about Shigaraki. Despite his sharp words and constant threats. he never actually followed through with them. Others in the League had taken bets on how long you would last. Yet, there you were; Still alive, stumbling through your "usefulness".

You began noticing the little things. You noticed how he would grumble under his breath whenever you nearly broke something, but he never raised his voice to you. You noticed how he would occasionally hover nearby, as if watching to see what you would trip over next. It was oddly endearing.

"I don't belong here." You grumbled under your breath one day after spilling an entire tray of drinks onto the floor. You crouch down to clean up the mess. You didn't think anyone heard you, but then Shigaraki spoke.

"You don't." His gruff voice startled you. You glance up quickly, meeting a pair of deep red eyes. "You're pathetic. Weak. Useless, really." He continued, an ever-present scowl on his face as he scratched at himself.

Ouch. As if you didn't already know this. You'd been down on yourself your entire life. It's not like you didn't try your hardest to do the best you could. Your best simply wasn't good enough. You held back tears as you continued to clean, silent from Shigaraki's words.

"Yet, you're still here." He said finally, after a long silence. He leaned down, crouching beside you. "You don't fight back. You don't try to be something you're not. You apologize too fucking much, but that can be overlooked. You are honest, in the worst ways. I... I don't hate that."

He almost sounded tender and comforting, as if he were recalling a fond memory. The tears met your eyes for a different reason now. You paused in your cleaning, taking a moment to truly admire the look he gave you. Behind the scowling, pitying expressing, there was a softness to him.

"You don't hate me?" You regretted the words the moment they left your mouth. Your voice sounded weaker than you wished. It sounded like you choked on the question before letting it out. Shigaraki let out a breath, something between a scoff and a chuckle.

"Don't let it get to your head." He stood, towing over you. "Just clean this up before I change my mind about keeping you alive today." Despite his harsh words, the air felt different. Lighter, somehow. He didn't hate you. That realization nestled into your chest like a warm ember.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

"Tomura's going soft on you~!" Toga whispered in your ear one evening, a sly grin on her face as she leaned against the table. Startled, you dropped a glass, which luckily didn't shatter. Dabi, who happened to be nearby, huffed.

"W-What?" Your cheeks heat up as you pick up the dropped cup, inspecting it for damage. You take a breath, trying not to stutter over your words. "Don't be silly. He is not."

"Yeah, he fucking is." Dabi rolled his eyes at your nervous behavior. "He didn't even yell at you earlier when you nearly wiped out over those cables."

"He likes you!" Toga squealed, bouncing excitedly. "That's so cute! He's falling for yoy, you little clumsy thing!" She leaned closer to you, puckering her lips and twirling a piece of her hair teasingly. You smile, taking away the dishes you hopefully wouldn't be breaking any time soon.

"He is not falling for me." You insisted, ignoring the way your heart skipped at the mere thought. "He probably just doesn't think I'm worth the effort." Even if he were falling for you, you couldn't possibly reciprocate those feelings... right?

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

The truth hit you on a stormy afternoon.

You had been tasked with sorting some more files when the sudden crack of thunder roared through the building. You jumped, sending a stack of papers flying in every direction.

"Seriously?" You groaned, kneeling to gather them. Your back ached. You must've bent down to pick various items up at least a hundred times that day. Exhaustion washed over you. It had been an especially taxing day.

"What happened this time?" Shigaraki's voice made you freeze mid-reach. You looked up to see him casually leaning against the doorway, scanning over your every move.

"I- Um- It was the thunder- I'm sorry-" You stammered, flinching as another rumble shook the building. He stared at you, expression unreadable. Was he judging? His silence was uncomfortable. Then, to your utter disbelief, he sighed and crouched down. He began carefully gathering the papers, being sure to pinch them using only his index and thumb. "You... You don't have to do that-"

"Shut up." He didn't look at you, but his tone lacked the usual harshness. The two of you picked up the papers in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "What are you still doing here?"

"What?" You questioned, looking between him and the papers. Was there another task you were meant to be completing? Did he want you to leave? You were about to question him further, but he began before you could.

"I've given you plenty of chances to leave. To run. To escape. I wouldn't have wasted my time going after you." Ouch. "So why are you still here?"

"Where else would I go?" You gulp, stacking the last of the papers. "I... I have nowhere else to go." You admit, standing as you both finish stacking the papers. He stared into your eyes, as if searching for your soul in them.

"Tch. You're an idiot." He muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He began to walk away. Before leaving the room entirely, he made sure to glance back at you one more time. "You belong here, more than you may think." Your heart skipped a beat. Maybe, here, you weren't so useless after all. Maybe you did belong with the League of Villains.

Maybe Shigaraki wasn't as heartless as he wanted everyone to believe.

[the-heart-of-leo]

Nick's so far under the bus that they might as well change the oil while they're under there.

Okay, because I'm a bit of a masochist and I have adblockers...

I'm going to count how many times James throws Nick under the bus:

@2:40 – 'This fell upon Nick as well, as a non-binary person on the ace spectrum, they wanted to include asexuality and non-binary representation to our videos. But because Nick's experience is not universal – There is no universal experience – people felt that we were delegitimizing their own experiences because we focused on Nick's.' (The reason we were acephobic was because we (meaning Nick) didn't think other ace people had problems and when it was pointed out to us by The Ace Couple that ace people did, in fact, face discrimination and conversion therapy, we (meaning James) accused them of homophobia and sicced their followers on them.)

@6:38 – 'The work Nick and I were doing on the channel...' (Because Nick was here too! Not just me!)

@10:46 – 'I was much more interested in the production of the videos than the writing of them, at this point. So after three or four videos, I brought Nick on as a main writer for the channel. The idea is that they would write the vast majority of the scripts. I would film, voice, and edit the videos and we'd split the money that came in.'(Nick was the main writer for the channel! In case you forgot...)

@14:40 – 'And then my mom died... and I became completely useless. I couldn't think straight, at all, so Nick had to completely take over writing duties.'(DID I MENTION NICK WAS THE MAIN WRITER. ALSO MY MOM DIED; FEEL SORRY FOR ME)

@19:44 – 'When Nick got back, he believed the script needed a first page rework. This was also when he told me he was going to be moving back to Ontario permanently soon as he wanted to live closer to family and live in a bigger city with more opportunities. This was a punch to the gut for me. We'd been living together since 2015 and had become quite dependent on each other. I felt like there was no way I could make this movie without him.'(We couldn't make the movie we promised because SOMEONE DECIDED TO MOVE and since I'm co-dependent on him, I moved with him and screwed up everything. Oopsie.)

@26:32 – 'But by accepting as many sponsors as we did, which became very important when Nick and I started living apart and suddenly had two rents to pay, we ended up needing to produce even more videos. Which, along with the work on Telos and making sure everything was okay with my dad while living thousands of kilometers away meant I had even less time for writing – putting more stress on Nick and leading to even more copy and pasting from me.' (See what you did, Nick?! We have to pay TWO rents now and we need to make even MORE videos. I'm not creepily co-dependent on my asexual ex-roommate at all!)

@32:50 – 'I know what misinformation had made its way into our past videos. That was not something we intended; in some cases it was information I was told by people I considered experts. In other cases it was information that we had researched. In other cases it was things that Nick had learned in university.'(Nick told me some of this stuff! ((which is fair because NICK ADMITTED HE DOESN'T DO RESEARCH)) In other cases it was because I assumed I knew what happened because I'm the smartest person I know so of course Lesbians had it easier! I just forgot that Radcliffe Hall's books were banned and destroyed because of that head injury I talked about earlier.)

And here's an honorable mention where the smug “I'm smarter than you” BS comes to visit:

'To those who say I plagiarized the plot from the novel Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix – Read the book. It's nothing like the plot of the movie. And 'The Final Girl' is a trope in horror movies so if using the Final Girl trope is plagiarism then basically everyone who's made a slasher movie since Texas Chainsaw Massacre owes the Toby Hooper estate some money.'

So, much like how James doesn't understand why people aren't upset at him because of citation issues, he doesn't understand that it's not the fact that he's using the 'Final Girl' trope... it's the fact that he stated the book as a favorite of his and then... suddenly he's writing a movie about the aftermath of the Final Girl. And given the plagiarism, it can not be taken in good faith.

First off, if you just google 'First Final Girl', it just says Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the earliest examples. Another possibility for the 'First Final Girl' was actually Black Christmas which was released the same day in Canada so it is literally tied.

Secondly; the final girl trope is not required for slasher movies. One of the first 'proto-slasher' movies was actually Psycho so there were a few good decades between that and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (I could try and make a case that Lila Crane should count as a Final Girl; maybe even Mrs. Bates/Norman as a subversion... but I'm not that invested or interested.)

So... James was true to form, he just wanted to be a smug asshat and try and seem smart over something easily googled.

[radiant-reid]

Omg blurb idea! Imagine Spencer and r are out somewhere and someone assumes she’s his wife (ex they r out at date night and the waiter is like and what will your wife be having?) honestly could be any scenario u want but she immediately is like I’m not his wife!!! And Spencer gets all pouty bc why didn’t u let him think u were my wife? U don’t want to be my wife?! But really it’s just r got scared since they have never discussed marriage or something

It's a fancy place, and you're both dressed to the nines. This date night has been long-overdue, and you're happy Spencer's home from cases for a few days. It's a sleek place where the menu doesn't have prices and they have a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

The dimly lit ambiance and the soft murmurs of conversation set a perfect backdrop for your intimate evening. As you peruse the menu, lost in your own world, a waiter approached the table.

"Good evening. What can I get for you tonight?" He asks, his gaze shifting between you and Spencer with a friendly smile.

Spencer responds, not butchering the French words of the dish like you're sure you're going to.

Then the question is directed asked of you. "And what will your wife be having?"

You don't think it's odd, since this is the type of place where guys order out of etiquette, but the assumption you're his wife makes you freeze as your eyes widen.

"Oh, I'm not his wife." You say nervously, not braving looking at Spencer.

"My apologies." The waiter sincerely replies, and you quickly give him your order to avoid any more awkwardness.

Your clarification makes Spencer look more shocked and hurt flashes across his face. "You...you don't want to be my wife?" He asked, his voice a mixture of disappointment and confusion. "Why wouldn't you let him think you're my wife?"

Your heart sinks at the implication of your hasty response. "Spencer, that's not what I meant." You quickly clarify, reaching out to touch his hand. "I just... I got scared because we've never discussed marriage, and it caught me off guard."

Spencer's pout softens, his brow furrowing as he processes your explanation. "Oh, I see." He mumbles. "I didn't realize it needed to be more of a discussion." You sit there quietly, cheeks hot. "So would it be wrong for me to ask if you ever think about us that way? Like, if you see that in the future for us?"

You squeeze his hand, assuring him your answer isn't negative. "Yeah, I do, Spencer." You assure him. "It's just sometimes, the idea of marriage feels overwhelming. It's not that I don't want it, it's just... I wasn't prepared for that assumption tonight."

Spencer's gaze softens, his thumb caressing the back of your hand. "I understand. I should have made sure we were on the same page. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or put pressure on you with my question."

You offer him a reassuring smile. "You didn't, Spencer. I want that, but I also think we should take things at our own pace."

He nods eagerly, his heart lightening with relief. "I agree. As long as you know that's my intended plan with you."

It does sound much better knowing that there's no pressure, and it's something you can let yourself get excited about. "Okay, I want that too."

[midnight-mourning]

Sending a couple request ideas!!

Mayhaps some sharing Christmas with the merbois, giving them presents (maybe some mistletoe smooches)

Or alternatively! An au of your choice where the bois see snow for the first time :0

Fishy Traditions

❄️❄️Midnight's DCA December Day 28❄️❄️

back at it again with ANOTHER mer au (making this my second mer fic ever, yippee), enjoyed writing this one as well, hope you all like it too ^-^

Prompt: See Above

Word Count: 1502

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

"Put more over here, Sunbeam!" Sun calls out to you. "And here, and here, and here!"

You laugh, but oblige him, heading over to the sections of the cave he directed you towards, bundles of holiday greenery in your hands. "Okay, okay. I'm on my way."

You'd considered other, brighter decorations, but you worried about things that were artificial potentially harming either mer. There was also the concern of them trying to eat it, given they've attempted such with things like your phone before. You wouldn't outright say you didn't trust them but... you were certainly thinking it. 

So, you settled on what you were assuming—hoping—were mer-safe decorations. Things like fir boughs, mini Christmas trees, and of course, mistletoe. You hadn't told them the significance of that last one yet, you think they might go a little crazy over it and you want the place to be decorated before that happens. 

Moon tsks as Sun points to other spots for you to set things. "You're going to crowd the place and then it won't look good anymore. And all their hard work will be for naught."

"I'm not doing anything of the sort! You're just jealous I have a better understanding of this holiday than you." Sun sticks his tongue out at the other mer, who growls in response. 

You turn around to continue hanging things up, laughing at the two of them. When a wave of water hits you in the back. You jump, turning around in time to watch the two of them wrestle in the water, bickering about who's right and who's wrong. 

You clear your throat loudly and the stop, looking over to you as you turn around and point to your back. "Let's settle down now, yeah?"

Mumbling apologies, they separate, but not before grumbling and shoving each other at least one more time. 

You shake your head, sighing as you trudge over to a rock and sit down, having to remove your jacket and shirt to change. Luckily, you'd been planning to stay the night with them, so you could celebrate the following morning. Therefore, you had pajamas to change into, laying your wet clothes out to dry. Now the only issue was making sure you stayed dried the rest of the evening. A daunting task in and of itself. 

Once you're settled, you get back to it, finishing up decorating their cave a little bit after that. All that was left was to decorate the tree, with fish-safe ornaments or course. 

This meant two options really, candy canes and strings of popcorn. Both of which had your mers eyeing the tree hungrily. Maybe you should have left it bare after all. 

"You can't eat the decorations." You scold, swatting Sun's reaching claw away from the tree's base. "At least wait until tomorrow, anyway."

"But I know they'll taste so good." Sun whines, making grabby hands for a low-hanging candy cane. "Just a nibble! You won't even notice!"

You laugh, using both hands now to push back against his forehead. "No, then you'll want more, and more, and then we'll have a sad looking tree!"

"Sunshine I'm starving. Please, I'm going to wither away here." Sun's hands grip your wrists, pouting as he looks up to you. 

You huff. "We literally just ate dinner!"

Finally, you have no choice but to relent. Tossing not one, but both of them a candy cane to quiet their begging. 

You almost don't want to put their presents under the tree, knowing it won't end well for you. 

However, you think you're able to distract them with explaining more of your traditions. Keeping your gifts safe in the meantime. 

"And as a kid, we'd go drive all throughout the neighborhood to look at the lights. I always ended up falling asleep before we made it home." You're lying on your stomach, facing the water, as you explain to them. 

"I still don't understand these 'cars' you talk about, but that sounds similar to how we'd stargaze during winter migration." Moon's floating on his back, gaze unfocused as he reminisces. "The sky always seemed clearer in the colder months, brighter."

"You always fell asleep earlier, you missed all the good parts." Sun snickers. He's closer to you, holding your hand and snuggling it against his head as he rests against the pool's edge. 

You divert that argument before it can start, snapping your fingers on your unoccupied hand. "Oh! I haven't even told you one of the best ones." You reach behind yourself, grabbing a little bundle of mistletoe you had left over. "You see this herb?"

They both nod, heads tilting as they watch you curiously. 

It makes you laugh as you scootch closer to Sun and once you do, you lift the mistletoe above the two of you, giving him a kiss on the cheek. 

You pull away after a moment, grinning. "When two people meet under mistletoe, they're supposed to kiss. It's like a cute way to—hey!"

Sun snatches the mistletoe from you, now holding it up himself as he starts to pepper your face with kisses. You start laughing and putting your hand up to get him to stop but it does nothing. All of the sudden he's stopped, and looking up you see that Moon's dragged him under the water. You push yourself up into a sitting position and watch the two of them fight under the water. 

Suddenly, Moon emerges and swims over to you, grin sharp as he holds the soaking wet herb above his head. 

You roll your eyes, and give him a quick kiss. "You act as if I'm not going to be fair."

"Best not to take any chances, Star." He snickers, kissing you several more times before Sun gets revenge, dragging him back under the water. 

By the time they're done the mistletoe is unrecognizable. And to settle things you have to give them each their own bundle so to stop their arguing. 

After that, it becomes a game for them of who can get more kisses with you in the shortest amount of time. It gets to the point you have to back away from the water's edge to catch a breather. You're reveling in the attention, but damn. 

Finally, after sharing more traditions in the form of singing carols and telling stories, you start to tire out. You're ready to curl up in your sleeping bag and go to sleep, when you're suddenly surrounded on all sides by mers. 

"You two cannot be out of water for eight hours." You protest. "It's not safe!"

Sun flicks his tails and you hear a small splash. "We're partly in, that's enough."

"Besides, we at least want to give you your gift up close." Moon says, and shifting presents you a package wrapped with dry seaweed. 

You sit up slightly, taking the gift into your hands. "Oh, you guys didn't have to get me anything."

"Of course we did!"

"You got something for us."

You shake your head. "Still, thank you."

"Go on, open it!" Sun encourages. "We think you're really going to like it."

"We do, at least."

Sun hushes the other mer, hiding his face for a moment as Moon snickers. 

You're not sure what it means, and let it go as you unwrap your present. 

Lying inside is a beautiful necklace, consisting of tiny shells and little glass beads. Sea glass, you recognize. The center charm is a small sand dollar, with a sun and moon carved into it. Looking closer, you can see writing in their language. If you remember correctly at least part of the inscription includes their names. 

"Guys, this is, incredible." You rub your thumb over the carvings. 

"We wanted something that suited you best, compared to the typical choices."

You aren't sure what he means by that, but you don't get to ask as Sun rests his head on your shoulder, eager. "So you like it? You really really like it?"

"It's beautiful. I love it. Help me put it on, yeah?" You hold it out, and they take it, putting it around your neck together. 

Once it's done you reach up, adjusting it so the main charm rests properly. 

"Well, how's it look?" You ask. 

"Amazing."

"Just like you."

You feel heat briefly rush to your face. "Thank you."

You give them each a quick kiss, then settle back in their hold, content to fall asleep then and there. 

"So, can we open our presents now?"

You crack an eye open, frowning. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's only fair, Starlight." Moon argues. 

You sigh. "And I was just about to fall asleep. Alright, fair's fair."

You haven't even got the words out before they're reaching over, shredding open the packaging to see their gifts. The chaos of it makes you laugh, and you bask in their excitement and joy at the presents, clutching your own gift in your grip. 

It's a Christmas to remember, that's for sure.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Thank you for the request @baby-bloos! Twas a fun one to do esp since it gives me the chance to take another crack at mer things :)

Masterpost link

Tag list (if you would like added, see this post for more info, you can also dm me!):

@scarletcowboy @beemyhuneybee @fishm0ther @deviouscrackers @elsajoyagent8 @luckyyyduckyyy @zenkaiankoku @jogimote @local-shrub @milosmantis @robinette-green @everlightreader @sinister-sincerely @starredeclipse @dangerva @juukai @crystalmagpie447 @mothgutz236 @lizyxml @divinit3a @amarynthian-chronicles @crystalfay

[spoopy-arcade]

The hate on Roxy because she's a "bitch" and a "narcissist" and... wanting to get Gregory? (When literally everyone besides Freddy is also trying to kill him???) Is so fucking stupid and just shows how much you people hate female characters. I'm about to go in-

First of all, the bad talk at Gregory in SB was because she was hacked by Vanny, (even her behaviour when you see her through the vents in her room) obviously there was no way she'd actually talk like that to a KID, but alot of you seriously believe that. And yeah, ok, she says a few mean things, so what? SO WHAT? If this was Monty's, or maybe Bonnie's personality instead, would you be spewing hate at them, or continue to simp for them and call their behaviour hot? I know for a FACT that a lot of you would. Not all female characters have to be too sweet or quirky and silly for you to like.

Back to Roxy's bad talk, you may think "Well, none of the others bad talk him!!" Yeah, it's because everything Roxy says to him is actually targeted to herself. The game clearly showed us how she actually feels: crying alone in her room, constantly telling herself that she's not a loser, and questioning if everyone loves her. Her praising herself are reminders to feel like she's still loved more than anything.

And the one thing that boosted her confidence alot was her looks. Her looks clearly meant so much to her, and we see this in Help Wanted 2 as well, so obviously she would be furious and lose it if someone took that away from her, including her ability to see.

And before I say anything else, I just wanna say that no I'm not angry at Gregory at all, he is just a child who was doing everything he can to survive, and if I were in his place, I would've done the same as well to protect myself. But at the same time, I understand Roxy's anger too. If I were someone who had very low self esteem that I reassure and prepare myself everyday to hang on, when one day, suddenly someone hits me with a whole go kart that shatters my entire body, and on top of that, they steal my eyes too? Yes, I wouldn't just be devasted, but I'd be very angry as well. Roxy was taken everything away from her, and was left to rot alone, I don't blame her for being angry at all.

Now more onto Ruin, which shows us her true side all along.

In the dlc, I don't think (Or it's clear at this point) that any of them are hacked anymore, since we assume that Vanny left with Gregory and Freddy in the good ending, and Glitchtrap is gone. But with Chica and Monty, I feel like they've just lost themselves and are completely broken. Even when seeing Cassie, they still tried to kill her. But with Roxy, she was the only one who recognised her when she heard her voice, and even apologized for grabbing her.

Later on, when Cassie stumbles onto Roxy again, this is where we see her TRUE self. Where she's sweet, soft, and not as mean as everyone made her out to be. (The way she gently speaks to her and holds her hand will never not make me cry) We know that from Roxy's lines, she was one of few who actually showed up to her birthday, since her friends didn't and was the reason why Cassie was crying in one of the cut outs we see. But Roxy was there for her, and she still remembered her special day, her favourite cake, and she was her number one - twice.

This part CLEARLY shows you that Roxy isn't a selfish jerk who only cares about herself, she cares about the kids, and she cares a lot about Cassie. There's a reason why she's Cassie's favourite, right? And don't forget that she literally went up against the mimic to protect her!!!

And I do wanna say that, no, this post isn't telling you that you're not allowed to dislike Roxy or criticise her at all, the issue is hating her character and personality when she would've been praised for it and called "hot" if she were Monty, Moon, Bonnie, or if she was Glamrock Foxy instead. (Which is... literally misogyny) Like, even before Ruin, there were people who hated Roxy for being a jerk, but then turn around and praise Monty when we see him being way more aggressive, while theorizing that he was the one KILLED Bonnie over jealousy. Not even because he was hacked, just... jealousy, and that's not him being 10 times worse than Roxy???

Don't forget the details in Monty's Gator Golf minigame, where in some levels, Freddy was always seen separated from the gang, and in the last level, you see Monty performing along side Roxy and Chica, while Freddy was thrown in the trash...

To me, this is clearly because he's jealous at Freddy, and wants to be the star instead. And along side him possibly killing Bonnie...

I'm sorry, but while I do like Monty, he is literally WAY more of a jerk. Alot of you people believe he killed Bonnie, is extremely jealous, way more aggressive, and yet Roxy is the worst of all for saying "I bet you don't even have friends" to a child when she was HACKED? But yeah, also praise the literal child murderer and abuser for being "interesting" and a cool character, but no, Roxy is the worst because she's a bitch. It's just so ridiculous, and I'm not surprised in the slightest, female characters will always get this treatment.

Alright, it's finally out of my system, anyway stan Roxy.

[sadistic-kiss]

🐺House of Alphas🐺

(Jujutsu Kaisen Omegaverse )

Summary: Waking up in a world that was not your own was problematic enough. Being the villainess was another. However, the possessive alphas might take the cake.

Disclaimer: Angsty but I ain’t Gege

Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sukuna x Alpha!Gojo x Alpha!Toji x Alpha!Nanami x Alpha!Getou

Chapter 64: We Celebrate With a Hunt

~

...

You were a natural.

You were working on autopilot. You could sense your kill- feel it approaching. Like you were surging through water and ready to breach the surface. Your claws readied and your teeth slicked with saliva as you leaped out at your target ready for blood. As you pounced on the Deira it let out a pitiful cry, falling to the ground with you on top of it.

It all happened so fast. You heard a noise and as you looked up you saw a baby deira looking at you with frightened black beads for eyes. The animal under you let out a cry that you could only assume meant run. The baby seemed to hesitate before darting off with whimpering that shattered your entire heart.

This- this felt terrible.

That hunt and rush you felt sizzled away as swiftly as it was lit. You looked at your bloodied clawed hands and the gaping wound upon your prize. It appeared the animal had already given up, its life slowly drifting away as the light began to disappear.

“Fuck- heal!” you quickly placed both of your hands on the deer so your holy energy could seal the wound.

“What are you doing?” Sukuna snapped as he landed aggressively.

You frowned, still feeling quite discombobulated from the whirlwind of emotions. “This just didn't feel right.” You felt the knots in your stomach untwist as you watched the deer-like animal revive back to life, yet feeling the presence of your alphas it stayed as still as possible frozen in confused fear. You pushed it gently helping it get up.

“You caught it! Ni…” Toji began but realized you were letting the Deira go.

You could sense everyone's silent confusion as they watched you send the Deira away.

“Go.” you patted its bottom as it looked shakily between your ferocious fiends and then skipped off to be with its baby.

“Oh you sick girl, healing it to chase it again! Let's go!” Gojo skipped past you but you grabbed his arm before he could enact on his twisted delusion of what was going on.

Holy fuck if you were truly that wicked-

“No no…” you sighed looking toward everyone. You could see the smoke spewing off on Sukuna as he stared at you with his arms crossed.

“You let it go?” Nanami raised a blonde brow.

“What the fuck is it this time?” Sukuna barked out but Toji stepped in.

“Stop, she may never-”

“Don't you dare say ‘killed a beast before’ because she has slain plenty.”

“Ok well this one just felt different!” you threw your hands up trying to defend yourself. “…I felt bad…” You could see that your alphas didn't seem to understand but tried to- of course Sukuna was more… Sukuna about it.

“How? You literally ate a Deira the other night.”

Gojo shrugged, “Maybe it's the killing part.”

“Would you like us to do it?” Nanami offered.

“No…” You shook your head. “I think… seeing the Deira and her baby…I don't want to take its mom away…or any of their family.”

Sukuna scoffed, “The other beasts have family too!”

“Does this mean we cant have deira anymore?” Getou questioned.

“N-”

“Or any beasts at that…”

“That's not-!”

“Aw, man do we have to eat plants?”

“I can live off candy.”

“I'm not eating fucking grass I'm a damn alpha!”

“Baby you have to eat meat-”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I'M SAYING!” you shouted while rubbing at your temples. You could not believe how left field all of this went. You were not ready to talk to your pack about going fucking vegan!

...

~

*Read More*

[hnbka]

BYLER and SUBSTITUTING

like this:

Because, I mean, without you, we'd all fall apart. Even me. Especially me. These past few months, I've been so lost without you. It's just, I'm so different from other people, and……when you're…when you're different, sometimes……I feel like a mistake. But you make me feel like I'm not a mistake at all.

which is the most OBVIOUS substitution in byler history because it is clear the audience is meant to pick up on it. it's not subtle. but-- mike does this too.

“It's not my fault I don't like girls. I'm not trying to be a jerk. Okay? But we're not kids anymore. I mean, what did I think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?”

the difference is mike is projecting onto will rather than a side speaker. and you might think this isn't supposed to be used as a substitution for himself. but will is not the odd one out here. dustin wanted to play games and he had a girlfriend. like, logically, its two v two because they knew dustin would also want to play dnd. (and i'm not assuming, they say it in the fight.)

another important line here: we're not kids anymore.

okay, michael wheeler, let's look at byler speeches from when you guys were kids.

Do you remember the first day that we met? It was... It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and... I just felt so alone and so scared, but... I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you and... I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done.

nothing's in red. nothing's crossed out or changed. because mike said exactly what he meant here (hoorah!). back when they were kids when they could actually tell each other their emotions and feelings because it didn't have to masquerade a romantic love. that love was normal to them until it was ostracized through internalized and externalized homophobia.

and what is stranger things at its heart??

a sci-fi show with villains and superpowers and lore YES BUT BEYOND THAT AND INTO THE CHARACTER ARCS

it's a show about kids growing up (and also jopper).

so? so, the change in their substitution says a lot. it says how hard they are hiding their feelings from each other, how it increases as they get older. which leads us back to their true feelings, aka season 2 ish, where they were pretty openly in love, in my opinion. holding hands, comforting each other, making freaking love confessions as seen above.

and juxtapose that with season 4, with all its red and changes in meaning?? we as viewers should understand that nothing the boys say is what they mean. they are hiding!!!

aka byler endgame