#You're allowed to disagree and we can still be friends

[viktheviking1]

Unpopular opinion: the new casting, at least for Alastor, is a good thing.

Yes. Edward Bosco is great. He clearly is a great voice actor and I hope he gets some really big roles in the future.

But can we all at least all agree that a white voice actor playing a mixed race Creole character is a bit problematic?

The original pilot was made with limited resources and contacts and such. The change was needed.

I mean at least now the voice actor is a minority. The wrong minority, but a minority.

Look, I don't know much about doing race right in movies and television, but so far, spindlehorse and amazon prime have been doing it wrong. And I say this as a fan of the show.

I have been informed that the reason he was chosen has to do with his role in the Broadway production of Annie. He plays the radio host whose voice Alastor's is based on.

Thanks @diamondkat

[creatingblackcharacters]

Do you have any advice/suggestions/requests for non-black members of fandom as far as how to respond to racism in fandom spaces? Obviously we shouldn't be speaking over black voices, but it doesn't seem fair for black members of fandom to have to do all the work of making a fandom space safe and welcoming for themselves.

You are correct! Tbh, these are tips for being a good ally in general:

Amplify Black Voices!

Odds are, whatever manifesto you have in your mind about the injustice of antiblackness in your fandom, a Black fan has already said it multiple times. While I appreciate the sentiment, I must admit I'm salty when I see that people are more supportive of (usually white) voices that discuss my lived experience, over my own voice and my lived experience. What does that really solve? You need to be following Black fans too, that way you're actually in the know when these things are happening.

Don't be a Bystander!

If I'm getting jumped and you (who had the power to help) show up afterwards to say "I really empathized with your pain", I'm not going to think "wow they cared, I'm so grateful". I'm going to think "WOW they really let me get my ass beat!" Same idea with this. That's honestly the most painful part for me; it's not the lone racist themselves, but the hordes of people who back them up, and the rest (some of whom you may even consider a friend) who might disagree but say absolutely nothing.

When you see that a Black peer is being railroaded and you KNOW it's wrong, step tf up! Be willing to say "you're out of pocket for behaving this way, and I will not be supporting you now that I know you're a racist". I will never know you're an ally if you're only an ally in your head! It's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!!

It's going to be uncomfortable! Stand on it!

If you share that you're against antiblackness in fandom spaces, but next you're reblogging whitewashed art, or an artist known for whitewashed/racist pieces, or still following someone who's made covert/overt antiblack statements, etc. just bc you "enjoy their stuff"... You're not being an ally. Be willing to hold those creators accountable, and when they disappoint you, unfollow them. Be willing to tell your friends, "hey, that person did/said this thing that was anti-black and were unapologetic about it". And if your friends don't care? Now you know who's around you. I'm not saying it's easy, but... Do you stand on business, or would you rather allow racism so that you can stay comfortable? Because your Black peers have to live under this discomfort you're only momentarily experiencing. It's far harder for me to approach these people and hold them accountable. And if I see that you're still kicking it with known antiblack racists... I'm probably not going to assume highly of you, either.

Educate yourself on what these aggressions look like!

You might not know what to look for, and if you don't, you're gonna miss a lot. What is actually antiblackness will often be posited as "drama" or "fandom wank". Or, if they're really trying to sound progressive, it'll reveal itself as dogwhistles in other important topics like queer representation or misogyny (e.g. how white women often claim misogyny when confronted with their racism, or TERFs). That's how it gets swept under the rug. Learn to recognize microaggressions, learn to recognize the signs. It requires work! Listen to and believe your Black peers when they explain what they saw! Bc trust, once you see it... You'll realize there's a lot of it lmao. And that's what many fans are afraid of confronting.

That's what I have for now, if anyone else has anything to offer. 👍🏾 Thanks for asking!

[wileys-russo]

dog whisperer (before the void blurb) II a.putellas, j.hermoso

part of the filling the void universe dog whisperer II a.putellas, j.hermoso

"mami he is too bouncy, he will knock her over!" alexia argued in a hushed tone, glancing to the door to make sure there wasn't a set of little ears listening in.

"she has met him a dozen times ale, your hermanita will be fine." eli reminded, not even looking up from the book she was reading as her eldest daughter scoffed.

"sí when he has been tied up or there are a million other people around for him to play with. mami she's too little he will hurt her!" alexia continued to disagree, crossing her arms and scowling.

"alexia, hija it is for a week and it is for family. angel will be here tomorrow, que es definitivo." eli warned firmly. "but mami-" a sharp look had alexia's words dying in her mouth as she signed, the pitter patter of small feet entering the room.

"i want angel to come! he's my friend!" you demanded, shooting through your sisters legs and skidding to a halt at the end of the bed. "lo sé fresita, and he will be here tomorrow." eli smiled while alexia rolled her eyes.

"hermana, ven aquí." your sister squatted down and pointed to the floor in front of her as you made your way over, her hands resting on your shoulders.

"now fresa, angel can be...too friendly sometimes. he can jump and bounce and bark and play rough-" alexia warned, glancing over your head as eli cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow, snapping her book shut.

"so he is going to stay outside, and you are only allowed to go and see angel if someone bigger is with you. like me, or alba, or mami, or-" alexia was cut off as you stomped your foot.

"no. angel is my friend, he's not staying outside what if it rains? he would get wet, thats mean!" you protested with a scowl, trying to wriggle away as your sisters hands tightened on your shoulders.

"nena angel will be fine outside. he has a comfortable bed and lots of toys and a water bowl and-" again she was cut off as you grunted trying to pull away. "no! no, no, no-" you chanted over and over, alexia letting you go at eli's warning.

"angel is not staying outside. mami, you tell her!" you ordered, turning toward eli who smiled. "we will see where angel wants to stay, he should get to choose hija no?" you settled at that, hesitating before nodding in agreement, alexia throwing her hands up in annoyance.

"angel isn't gonna like you if you're mean to him hermana." you warned your sister with a glare, smacking her leg and stomping your way out of the room in the most dramatic way a five year old could.

"watch the attitude pequeña!" alexia called after you as you turned and poked your tongue out, racing quickly away as she stepped menacingly toward you. "what?" the girl looked to eli with a frown who chuckled.

"she is exactly like you." eli smiled fondly causing her eldest to roll her eyes. "me? no thats all alba." alexia scoffed, shaking her head in disagreement.

"good! i don't wanna be like you anyway ale, you're mean to dogs!" you sang out from the living room, clearly still eavesdropping though out of sight.

"fresa." alexia groaned throwing her head back and coming to find you. "i thought we were going to the park?" your sister reminded as you scowled at her from the lounge, staying silent.

"you know, jenni will be there." alexia added on, watching your eyes widen slightly.

"really?" "really."

"lets go!" you changed your mind, smile plastered on your face as you jumped down and raced for the door, stopped in your tracks as your sister snagged the collar of your top.

"ale!" you whined trying to pry her hand off. "you need shoes tonto." alexia chuckled, spinning you around and gently pushing you in the direction of your bedroom as you sprinted away.

"and you have to wear socks with them fresa!"

~

angel sure enough arrived that next day though you weren't home when he did, out at a play date with a friend. you'd started to have quite the active social life now you were in your first year of school.

angel himself wouldn't hurt a fly on purpose, but the dopey chocolate labrador belonging to your tio was not aware of his own size, forever knocking things over and smacking into walls as he ran about too fast to stop himself.

he'd failed puppy school twice, and though he'd sit for a treat that was about all the lab would do, when it came to anything else he was seemingly as deaf as a plank of wood.

when you got home you were disappointed to see angel wasn't there, your sisters having taken him out for a walk in hopes to wear him out for the evening.

waving goodbye to your friend and her papi at the front door and ignoring elis' open arms for a hug you raced past her inside as your mami chuckled and grabbed the backpack you'd abandoned at her feet.

"mami where's angel?" you frowned sadly after searching everywhere you thought a dog could be in the house but coming up empty handed.

"your hermana's took him for a walk, they will be back soon. now how was your afternoon nena?" eli lifted you up and onto the counter, disappointment gone as you perked up and busied yourself rambling on and on about every single little detail of your day.

your sisters meanwhile were not having a good time.

to any onlooker who passed it would be hard to tell who was walking who, angel practically dragging alba who stumbled not to fall over as alexia repeated the commands given to her by his owner over and over with no luck.

"angel, stop. sit. slow down!" the footballer repeated, almost jogging to try and keep up as alba's hand started to go red from the lead tugging against it.

"and we have to do this for a week!?" the younger girl groaned, turning onto their street and breathing a sigh of relief as finally angel stopped pulling, eagerly sniffing around in the grass.

though when he began to turn in circles both putellas sisters eyes widened, wincing as the dog squatted and sure enough nature took its course as both girls spun to look at one another and spoke in unison.

"you're cleaning it up!"

you were midway through a very thorough recount of what you had for lunch when you heard the front door, head swiveling toward the source of the noise.

"angel sit! angel sit! sit!" alexia ordered, remembering her tio's instructions to get the lab to do so before his harness was removed, however all he did was pull and fight against her hold on the lead.

"estúpido perro de mierda!" the girl swore, giving up and just unclipping the leash as the dog raced off still with his harness on, nails clacking against the floorboards. "you said a bad word!" you yelled from the kitchen, alexia wincing as alba snickered.

"angel!" you cheered happily, laughing as he tried to jump up to reach you on the counter, alexia quickly scooping you up and pushing him away with her foot as he continued to jump and ignore everyones instructions to calm down.

"put me down." you grunted trying to wriggle out of your sisters tight grip as alba tried to wrestle angel into a sitting position with her hand on his collar. "he needs to calm down hermana, he might hurt you." alexia warned ignoring your request.

"no he won't he's friendly!" you defended the lab who barked loudly as eli shushed him. "he's too excited, mami i'm putting him outside until he calms down." alba grunted, struggling to pull the dog toward the back door.

"no! leave him alone." you huffed as alba too ignored you, throwing open the back door and pushing angel out, breathing a sigh of relief as he raced off to explore the garden and she pulled it close again.

"don't you kick me." alexia warned sternly as you dug your foot into her side, eli telling her to put you down as she did so with an eye roll.

"fresa no don't you open that-" eli's words fell on deaf ears as you reached up and flung open the back door, three pairs of eyes widening as angel turned and came sprinting over.

"angel sit!" you yelled with a hand up, silence falling as the dopey lab did exactly that, skidding to a stop right in front of you and sitting back on his hind legs. "did he just-" alba started in disbelief.

"lay down." you tapped your foot against the floor, alexia's jaw dropping as angel did exactly that, flopping down onto his stomach as his tail thumped excitedly against the deck.

"buen chico." you clapped happily, throwing your arms around his neck and giggling as he licked all over you, still remaining laying down as he rolled onto his back and you hugged him tightly.

"is he...listening to her?" alba questioned again, both her and alexia watching on gobsmacked as you ran off and clicked your tongue, angel racing after you as the two of you raced about the backyard in circles.

"sí, i told you both not to worry so much. it would seem your hermanita is a dog whisperer." eli laughed, resuming her dinner prep as you and angel started a lively game of fetch.

"do you think she knows that is not how fetch works?" alba couldn't help but chuckle watching as you'd throw a toy and angel would chase it, sitting by it happily and waiting for you to run over and throw it again instead of bringing it back to you.

"why does he listen to her? he would not do one thing alba and i asked him to on the walk!" alexia scoffed, eli calling both of them over to help her as they took turn washing hands and watching angel be uncharacteristically well behaved for you.

"i told you nena's, it would seem la pequeña is a dog whisperer."

"fres don't feed him. he has had his dinner!" alba warned later that night watching you grab a piece of steak and try to sneak it to the dog laid down at your feet, giving up with a frown and putting it into your own mouth instead.

"what if he's still hungry?" you questioned once you'd swallowed your mouthful.

"dogs are always hungry but if you overfeed them hija they get sick." eli warned as you seemed to accept that, nodding and launching into a very animated recount once again of what you did with your friend earlier, alexia listening along attentively as alba pretended to.

later that night it would seem your dog whispering ways had their benefits, the chocolate lab who refused to leave you alone dead asleep in the corner of the bathroom as you were struggling to keep your eyes open in the bath.

you jerked back awake as water rushed over your head, eli massaging the conditioner out of your hair and chuckling at your exhaustion, both you and angel having well and truly tired one another out.

the next part of your routine would normally be arguing with whoever was tasked to put you to bed about not wanting to go, forcing them to read you a story or watch something for as long as you could con them into letting you stay up.

but again barely able to keep your eyes open as you were changed into pyjamas you made no move to argue as eli lifted back the covers on your bed and slipped you in, blinking sleepily and exhaling.

the woman stepping out for two seconds to grab you a glass of water she couldn't help but smile as she returned to your room, angel curled up on the end of your bed as you'd wiggled your way out of the covers, head on his body as you lay almost upside down in bed together.

with a quiet chuckle eli grabbed a spare blanket from your wardrobe, laying it over the two of you and kissing your forehead as you stirred but didn't awaken, your mami backing carefully out of the room and closing your door, leaving it open just a crack so angel could get out if needed.

"mami we can't find-" alexia appeared in the hallway, eli putting a finger to her lips and nodding behind her at your door. "he's decided where he is sleeping." the woman smiled in amusement, alexia frowning curiously and pushing your door open a crack, peering in.

"dios mío she really is a dog whisperer."

though there were also some downsides to your bond with angel.

"ale. ale. ale. alexia!" the brunette jolted awake at the light slap against her cheek, sitting up so quickly she almost sent you flying off where you were sat on top of her. "pequeña? estás bien?" the midfielder asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"angel wants to go for a walk." you notified pointing down to the chocolate lab who sat eagerly on the floor with his lead in his mouth, your sister groaning tiredly and flopping down into bed, jenni stirring beside her but making no move to get up.

"come back in a couple of hours fresa, it is too early." your sister grumbled, covering her face with her arms as you huffed.

"he likes going early! theres birds to chase, its not as hot, theres more dogs around for him to play with, the beach is not busy, the sun is not too bright-" you ticked off the reasonings with your fingers.

"vale, vale, bien!" alexia's hand shot to cover your mouth, knowing full well once you set your mind to something there wasn't much anyone could do to change it.

"go get your shoes." alexia sighed in defeat as you wrenched her hand off and leapt off of her, hitting the floor with a thump and racing off as angel chased after you.

"jenni, levántate." alexia shook her girlfriend beside her who pushed her hand off. "she asked you to go for a walk amor, not me. but have fun!" jenni smiled, eyes still closed as alexia's jaw hardened, though before she could open her mouth to say anything you beat her to it.

"jenni has to come too!"

though the real downside of your bond with angel, was not understanding why you had to say goodbye once his week with you all was over, your tio due to come and pick him up tomorrow morning before you left for school.

"but why can't he stay? i'm his best friend!" you whined, arms locked tightly around the labradors neck. "because nena, angel belongs to tio danny. do you want to make tio danny sad if we tell him he can't come get angel? he has had him since angel was a puppy!" your mami explained gently as you sighed deeply.

"we will still see angel whenever we see tio danny, maybe we can ask him if he can come and take you to walk angel once a week after school. would you like that?" eli offered as you nodded, pout still permanently etched into your face as you pressed a kiss against angels neck.

"hey pequeña, how about we go to the pet store and you can pick out a special toy for angel to take home with him. that way he always has a reminder of you!" alexia tried next, heart breaking a little at the obvious sadness in your face.

"i think angel would like that hija." eli added on as you nodded in agreement, letting go of the dog and patting him on the head, giggling as he licked you and everyone else cringed, jenni and alexia getting up to take you.

~

"fres i think we have looked at every toy in the store at least five times." alexia sighed, jenni giving her a look where she was crouched down beside you. "i can't pick! can we get more than one?" you asked hopefully, your sister firmly shaking her head as you deflated.

"what about this one? it makes a funny noise!" jenni tried to help, honking the small burger as you shrugged, the girl changing tactics.

"you know chiqui, if you hurry we can get ice cream on the way home before the shop closes." jenni bribed as you perked up, frowning for a moment before grabbing a plush dinosaur and holding it up.

"this one!"

"you couldn't have said that a half hour ago?" alexia mumbled to her girlfriend as they followed after you, jenni pinching her with a grin making the brunette roll her eyes, grabbing out her wallet.

"woah." you exhaled, pressing your face to the glass of the rabbit enclosure, smiling at the little bunnies hopping around inside.

"ale can we-" you turned to your sister after she paid, taking both her and jenni's hands. "no." alexia answered before you could even finish the question.

"what about a-" "no." "or maybe a-" "nope." "but what if i-" "no."

"you didn't even let me finish asking!" you protested unhappily as jenni chuckled. "no pets hermanita." alexia smiled down knowingly at you as you huffed, letting go of her hand but still clinging tightly onto jenni's.

"but i looked after angel! why can't we get a dog?" you whined. "because owning a dog is a lot of responsibility, and you're still a baby." your sister's foot kicked at your behind sending you stumbling forward, jenni quick to help you catch your footing.

"i am not!" you glared up at alexia who grinned. "are too." she teased, hand shooting forward to press against your forehead as you let go of jenni's hand and launched at her.

"oh i am so scared." alexia mocked, easily holding off your swinging fists with her hand against your forehead as you grew tired and gave up with an annoyed grunt, dragging your feet as you walked inbetween the two older girls.

"can we get a dog?" "no." "a cat?" "no." "a bunny?" "no." "a turtle?" "no." "a lizard?" "no." "a bird?" "no." "a frog?" "no." "a chinchilla?" "sí!" "really?!" "...no."

"alexia!" you ran out of animals at that stage, deflating and dragging your feet even slower in protest, shaking your head at jenni's offer of a piggyback.

"you can have a pet rock?" your sister offered as you glared up at her. "a rock is not alive." you warned, jenni gasping from your other side. "fresita! that is not nice, you will hurt his feelings." she pouted holding up a rock she'd swiped from the ground as you merely gave her a silent deadpan stare.

"yeah alexia rocks aren't alive! idiota." jenni scoffed, throwing the rock over her shoulder and grabbing you, tossing you up into the air earning herself a giggle before placing you back down as you arrived to the ice cream shop.

"what flavor chiqui? chocolate? mint? rainbow?" jenni pondered sarcastically, both her and alexia already knowing all too well what you wanted.

"no! strawberry, duh." you rolled your eyes as jenni gasped and smacked her palm against her forehead making your sister smile.

"of course, estúpida!" she tutted, ordering for the three of you as you smacked away alexia's hand which tugged on your hair, the taller girl darting back as you swung at her time and time again.

"hey, ale!" you protested as she took a bite of your ice cream before handing it to you. "i had to poison test it!" the brunette defended as you scowled unhappily, snatching the cone off of her and stomping out of the shop.

"leave her alone, such a bully!" jenni shook her head, alexia knocking her shoulder into her girlfriends as they followed after you, the three of you taking a different route home.

"what if i find a pet? can i keep it then?" you asked hopefully as you arrived home and walked up the driveway, ice creams long finished as your sister paused and gave you a suspicious look.

"vale pequeña, spread em!" your sister gestured as you sighed but held your arms up and moved your feet apart, jenni watching on in amusement as your sister patted you down to make sure you hadn't snuck home a new friend.

"ew fres!" alexia winced, pulling out a soggy ice cream soaked tissue from your pocket as you shrugged, jenni collecting it from her and running it over to the trash bin. "alright, you're clean." your sister sighed once she was content you didn't have any sort of animal hidden on your person.

"i just want a pet." you pouted, kicking your feet and huffing unhappily, alexia frowning at the sad look on your face and kneeling down to your height.

"i know hermana, but like i said pets are a lot of responsibility." alexia reminded softly as you nodded, turning the pout to her and making her chuckle.

"that is not gonna work this time, we're not getting a dog." she pinched your cheeks and stood as you groaned, waiting for her to unlock the front door as jenni returned.

"how about a fish nena? we could start with getting you a fish?" "you can't walk a fish!"

[frownyalfred]

Do you think new league members ever get surprised by the built-in nepotism? Like Bruce being who he is like codified rules of hero title succession (like Dick taking Bruce's place as Batman and with it, all his founder status) or the Flash being a titled with a long history of being passed down. I mean, Bruce is even planning on Dick inherenting the league to become it's leader.

Do you think new members look at the member handbook, in the students, apprenticeship, partnerships, and sidekicks, and go "huh. That seems kinda... rigged??". Because honestly? If you're great, sure you can gain a lot of respect and power in the league but you'll never gain more power (from admin power to social power to beyond) then the founding members and founding membership can be inherited.

It's an interesting question. I can't speak to the canon responses very much, but I imagine it has a lot to do with people respecting the hell out of Dick Grayson/Nightwing and knowing he truly is the best leader to inherit Bruce's role. Batman's motivations in assigning that role to Dick isn't for some personal benefit, or a continued stake he wants to maintain in the League. He's not giving the position to Dick, essentially, to benefit himself or Dick -- he's giving it to Dick because he truly believes Dick is the best person to pick up the cowl after him. If he wasn't, I don't think we'd see Bruce handing off the League and Batman to someone who wasn't ready or wouldn't ever be ready.

I will also note that this 180 on nepotism is a very very new gen z phenomenon. I'm not saying I agree one way or another, so don't reblog saying frownyalfred says nepotism is okay. But also, we need to take a step back and realize that for a very long time in this country's history, nepotism, especially in "family" businesses, was damn near expected. Parents gave their kids their businesses when they wanted to retire. Dads hired their sons in their offices, etc etc. There were shades of nepotism, too -- giving a random son a title he didn't earn, versus hiring your accomplished son who just graduated top of his law school. It's not as clear cut as people online would like you to believe, that all nepotism is horrible, that all positions are unearned if they are given by family/friends, and that the worst thing in the world you could do is commit an act of nepotism and not, like, anything else more horrible. That's a tumblr/tiktok thing, which I feel I'm allowed to call out as a fellow member of gen z.

The Justice League isn't a business per se, but it is still something Bruce built and funds. So while we might see some mutterings about nepotism, yeah, I don't imagine anyone is going to get in Bruce's face and give him grief for giving his 1) highly qualified son a 2) position he trained for, for years that 3) Dick is ready to take when Bruce is done 4) in Bruce's own damn house (satellite).

Looking at hero succession through the lens of nepotism does the characters a disservice, I believe. We're applying a 2020's phenomenon (which is shedding important light on irl inequality and inequity, don't get me wrong) and ideas of "fairness" when the subjects are vigilantes and heroes.

And, disregarding everything I just said, the League itself does things by vote -- voting in Dick Grayson and having those checks/balances to Bruce's own goals is important, which is why he built them into the League itself. He can lobby the League, propose Dick, indicate his own preferences as a voting member, but if the entire Founders' table disagrees with him? His hands are kind of tied.

[longing-for-rain]

what exactly is Aang's toxic masculinity that you're talking about? there are no examples of such behavior on his part in the show. he is not an ideal person, he is a child who sometimes behaved incorrectly, just like all the other children in the show (Katara, Toph, Sokka), and this is normal.

in addition, we see how he regrets some of his wrong actions and gets better, while Zuko does not regret his toxic behavior, doesn't apologize and doesn't face the consequences of his behavior (racist jokes about Aang, demands that Katara forgive him as if he has the right to her forgiveness, an attack on Aang to "teach him a lesson" and many other things).

Hi anon, thanks for the ask! This is a very good illustration of what I was talking about in this post when I mentioned that I feel toxic men are overlooked more often for appearing “nice” than they are for being conventionally attractive.

No examples of toxic behavior in the show? What do you call this then?

I know what I (and the law) call it:

But you see, he’s “nice” right? This is just a misbehaved child, as you put it? Yah, no. He knew better and still did it because he was possessive; this whole interaction started because he was jealous that an actress playing Katara was interested in men other than him. And the show proceeded to frame the situation in a way that made Aang sympathetic, despite being the aggressor and the one behaving irrationally. How much more “toxically masculine” can you get than that? But he put on a flower crown once so we’re supposed to think he’s a soft uwu feminine boi (even though he was absolutely enraged that a female actress played him).

I also find it very interesting that you describe Katara and Sokka as “children” while Zuko is omitted from that list despite being the same age. Are you admitting you agree he’s more mature, or are you admitting that you hold him to different standards?

But, anyways. You asked about toxic behavior on Aang’s part, which I’ll get further into now that the most egregious example is out of the way.

Let’s break down what you consider unforgivably toxic behavior on Zuko’s part and compare it to Aang’s behavior in similar situations.

1. “Racist” jokes

I’m guessing this is made with reference to the “Air Temple preschool” comment. How exactly is this racist? In context, Aang is the one trying to force his beliefs on others, and Zuko makes this comment to a) tell him to back off and b) point out that Aang is, in fact, a child who doesn’t have any business telling Katara how to feel.

This point is particularly interesting to me, because it implies that the simple fact that Zuko doesn’t agree with the philosophy of Aang’s culture makes him racist. By this logic, Aang is also racist against Katara’s culture, because he clearly disagrees with her philosophy and is openly telling her that his culture is morally virtuous over hers. And well. That’s even more believable considering Aang’s previous reactions to Water Tribe culture.

Ah, yes. Playing with a cultural artifact like it’s a toy because you were upset about not being the center of attention for once, and telling everyone how disgusting you think cultural food is, what great ways to show the supposed love of your life how much you respect her culture!

I know your response to this point would be something like “uwu but he’s a kid he didn’t knowww” ok well. The same logic can be applied to any alleged “racism” on Zuko’s part.

2. “Demanding” forgiveness

Zuko: What can I do to make it up to you?

Ah, yes. How demanding of him. He’s clearly so self-centered and only thinking about his own values and agenda here.

It’s not like he…

…told his friend how she’s allowed to process her grief and try to impose his own morals…

…or demanded to know if his crush liked him back, wouldn’t accept “no” as an answer, and forced a kiss on her…

…or told an abuse victim he was wrong to want to kill his abusive father for trying to commit a genocide…

…oh, um. Yeah. Sorry, but after actually watching the show it’s very clear to me which character doesn’t seem to regret or see the flaws in any of his actions at the end of the show, which is when all of these examples took place.

3. Training in the finale

“Attacking Aang to teach him a lesson” … wow, that’s a very dishonest way of phrasing that situation. I’m impressed, I have to say. I’ve seen lots of dumb takes from Aang stans over the years but this is a new one.

Well, luckily I actually watched the scene in context, so my reaction was the same as all the other characters’ reactions in canon when they learned the context behind this “attack”:

They agree with him. Yeah. Obviously, when nobody is taking training seriously when the world is about to literally go up in flames, you might need to do something to get their attention.

“But it was dangerous!” you might argue. Well… yeah. When magic and bending is in the equation, training in the Avatar universe has been shown to be somewhat dangerous at times. As an example, from this very same episode, Toph very nearly smashed Sokka with a giant flaming rock. That was way closer to hurting someone than Zuko was in this incident. If you’re going to fault characters for making their training exercises too dangerous, I guess Toph is mega cancelled.

Now back to Aang. What was his reaction in this situation? How did he react to the end of the world being days away? He ran away with absolutely no plan. Just like he did at the very beginning of the show.

I mean, think about it. This is a critical flaw (and toxic trait) in Aang that is literally never addressed, because he starts and ends the show the exact same way: he’s faced with a problem, he runs away from it, then he’s saved by an in-universe equivalent of an Act of God. Wowie, such great character development. Not fixing your core flaw and having a mythical plot device materialize into existence to solve your problems for you. Aang’s whole arc is a big blah, because the writing fails to address any of his flaws or have him meaningfully question any of his values.

Meanwhile, Zuko has consistently been a fan favorite because he’s the opposite. His flaws are meaningfully addressed, he does admit he’s wrong and fix his flaws, and his character shows a critically acclaimed change throughout the show. His arc is written so well that despite being a cartoon character, Zuko is widely considered the poster child for a good redemption arc across all forms of media.

So anyways, miss me with the double standards… there is a reason why Zuko is the fan favorite, and it’s not just his abs 🔥

[thebigbadbatswife]

Day 3 - Hate Sex

Pairing - Arkham Knight!Jason Todd x F!Vigilante!Reader

Warnings - 18+ content, if you're under 18 leave immediately! Hate sex, rough sex, table sex, ass slapping, name calling, degradation.

Summary - The Arkham Knight finally gets you right where he wants you.

You’re sure that he is smirking beneath that stupid Batman-esque helmet of his. Why wouldn’t he be? He has you pinned to a desk, on your front, your hands being held behind your back by one of his much larger ones and his thick cock pumping in and out of your dripping cunt. It’s embarrassing, not only because of how wet he has made you, but how much you’re enjoying it. The desk creaks beneath you from the force of his thrusts and just as you start to wonder whether or not it’s going to hold up or collapse beneath you, he gives a particularly hard thrust that hits a spot that finally has you moaning.

The Arkham Knight chuckles and does it again, making you moan louder. Until now you had been doing a good job at holding them back, not giving him the satisfaction. Mentally, you scold yourself. 

Your weapons lay scattered across the floor. The condom wrapper glistening in the light of the street lamp pouring into the office, from the window. At least he had those on hand otherwise tonight would have turned out completely different.

“Didn’t know that Batman had started allowing such whores into his ranks,” he taunts. “Wonder what he would think if he was to walk in on us right now. Bet it would piss him off seeing you bent over and letting me fuck this sweet hole of yours.” 

“Fuck you,” you spit, glaring at him over your shoulder.

“It’s the other way around, baby.” To prove his point his next thrust was even harder, making the legs of the desk scrap against the wooden floor. You mewl loudly, the head of his cock hitting a spot that had your eyes rolling into the back of your head. “Yeah, Batman will be really disappointed knowing his brand new friend is such a slut. Do you think he’s listening in right now? Hearing how much you like having my cock inside of you?” 

He wasn’t. Batman couldn’t be. You had switched off your comms before coming here. Not to mention the man in question was currently AWOL. He would have no idea where you are or what you were doing.

He pushes one of your legs up onto the desk, letting his thick cock hit deeper, making your moans louder. He leans forward, trapping you beneath his body so he can lean in. “I bet he is listening, isn’t he? That’s why your cunt is trembling so much around me. You want him to hear us.” He stands up straight again and suddenly the palm of his hand meets your ass cheek. Pain and pleasure from it has a high pitched moan leaving you.

“Hear that Batman? That’s your partner being a complete whore for me! Bet she didn’t even know what a cock hungry slut she was until she saw my cock!” He almost sounds manic as he yells out. “Maybe he should have you fuck the rest of Gotham’s rogues. Maybe you could even set some of them on the right path with this sweet hole.”

“Shut up! That’s not true!” You can feel tears forming in your eyes.

“Of course it is,” he slaps your ass again, forcing another moan out of you, while his thick cock keeps driving into you. “Why else would you be so easy? Moaning and creaming all over my cock? Finally someone who knows exactly what to do with a whore cunt like yours and you’re loving every fucking second of it.”

“I hate you. I fucking hate you.” Venom drips from your voice and your blood boils with hatred for him, but your body disagrees. Your words only drive him on as he keeps fucking each inch of his fat cock into you. Despite your very best efforts not to, your body reacts to his, your walls tightening and stars starting to dance behind your eyes as the only thing your brain can focus on is the feeling of his cock still drilling into you.

Then he pulls out of you and gives your ass one last slap, already stuffing his cock back inside his pants and zipping them up. “I’m sure that we’ll do this again sometime.”

[qlossytbh]

𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 - 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 you get an unexpected visitor at headquarters after one of your old high school friends was murdered and rossi has ideas as to how to catch the killer.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 usual criminal minds content, mentions of killers, mentions of a phsycotic killer :D, mentions of murder, mentions of underage drinking (if i’m missing anything pls let me know)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 4.4k

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 we’ve finally got our first flashback ;) i know it’s kinda slow but we will get more spencer x you content in the next chapter, pinky swear. also this is kinda wordy but whatever

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

"Come on, it's not that bad!" You smiled, pushing at Spencer's shoulder as he took a sip of your coffee, face screwing in disgust. "You're such a baby."

"No," He disagreed, voice hoarse as he handed you your coffee back. "That is disgusting."

"Just because it doesn't have about 3 pounds of sugar," You taunted, looking down at his mug with disapproval. "All that sugars gonna' catch up to you one day you know."

"Actually," He started and you felt yourself beginning to groan. "White sugar is a type of carbohydrate that provides energy to the body so what happens is the body breaks down sugar into glucose that can be readily used for energy and to carry out various functions. It improves brain functioning—"

"Spence, it's eight in the morning," You said, resting your forehead on his arm. "As much as I care about you, you are not allowed to go wikipedia on me at this time."

He stifled a laugh, glancing down at you with a soft smile. He took no offense to what you were saying since he knew your favorite thing was to listen to him. You pulled away, taking a sip of your coffee. You looked up at him, opening your mouth to speak but being abruptly interrupted as the kitchen door burst open, causing you to jump and stain your white blouse with coffee.

You looked down at the shirt, hissing in complaint. "Are you fucking—"

You turned, face twisted with anger. Spencer shrank at your demeanor looking over at the door to see who was about to receive the latter end of your anger. He took a sip of his own coffee when he saw  Derek standing by the door. The anger in you began bubbling even closer against the surface. "Really Derek?!"

Just as you were about to scold him even more for being such a brute at eight am, you noticed the features in his face laced with an all too familiar tensity. Realization dawned upon you. He started "Looks like we've got a visitor,"

You watched him, glancing briefly back at Spencer before setting your mug down. "And they're asking for you."

The case currently at hand, although pinching a little too close to your past then comfortable, wasn’t overwhelming you. It made you fidgety and a little more anxious than usual, sure, but you weren't overwhelmed by it. All it did was irritate you, how you always tried so hard to keep your past out of your present, and the present away form the past.

All you wanted, was to find the UnSub and move on. Still, you sighed heavily, popping out of the nice bubble Spencer and you had isolated yourselves in. You left your coffee mug long forgotten as you followed Morgan out of the room and across the hall, Spencer following very closely behind.

"A girl who barged in here, asking for you," Derek explained. You continued your stride across the hall, wondering who could possibly be asking for you. "She said she doesn't wanna' answer any questions until she's spoken to you,"

"Does it have to do with our recent case?" You asked, knowing otherwise but still hoping the answer was no. When Derek's lips pulled into a tight line, you sighed in disappointment letting your shoulders slump. Just as you rounded the main hall, you saw a familiar mop of red hair ranting at Hotch in a blazing fury. You froze in your tracks, almost causing Spencer to knock into you. You watched as she pointed her finger at Hotch, stress, and anxiety written all across her face.

"Claire..?" You said, voice barely above a whisper. All the anger in her face untwisted as she turned to you, her features suddenly soft and all too familiar. She hadn't changed a bit in the ten years you haven't seen her.

"Oh my god," She said, relief flooding her voice as she rushed over to you, pulling you into a tight hug. You remained still, not reciprocating the affectionate gesture as Hotch eyed you from behind her with a questioning look. You shrugged slightly at him, remaining completely neutral.

"I can't believe it," She said, voice soft as she pulled away, grabbing you by your shoulders. You noticed the eye bags and the panicky look in her eyes and suddenly things started clicking for you.

Back in high school, you, Easton, and Claire had been each other's rocks, always going everywhere together and relying on each other greatly. The three of you were best friends and you had been for all four years of high school. After what happened during and after your senior year, you fell out with the two of them and continued your advanced studies, not necessarily making any time to ever see both of them again.

Claire had always been the mediator in the trio. You always felt closer to her than you ever did to Easton. Claire always listened, and she gave the right advice when you needed it. You would've loved staying friends with her after highschool, but since she was so close to Easton, it remained impossible. You'd be lying if you said that seeing her again after all this time didn't tug at the strings of your heart in the slightest.

"You haven't changed a bit," You said, giving her a small smile. She did look the same, all of her sharp features still in tact the same way they were back then. There was a silence. She looked behind you momentarily and you turned, realization hitting you. "Shit, uhm—“

You turned, causing her hands to fall from your shoulders. "This is SSA Derek Morgan, SSA Aaron Hotchner and Dr. Spencer Reid,"

You introduced everyone, pointing at each of your co-workers referringly, to which each responded with a small nod or smile. Her gaze lingered on Spencer, who stood closely beside you. She smiled politely at them all, apprehension still laced in her gaze.

"It sucks that our reunion has to be under such shitty circumstances," She laughed, hugging herself protectively. The humor hadn't quite reached her eyes which caused you to shoot her an empathetic look.

"How are you holding up?" You asked. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She sighed heavily, reaching up to cover her face with her hands. She shook her head.

"I cant believe any of it," She sighed, looking like she hasn't had a single ounce of sleep in days. "It seems like just yesterday she was coming back from her honey moon and now, she just—“

You felt for her, you really did. Even if you and Easton had your own history, you knew her and Claire remained great friends after high school. You didn't know they had still been friends after all of these years though. "Were you at the wedding?"

"I was her maid of honor,"

Oh,

"We're very sorry for your loss," Spencer added. You looked over at him, smiling sadly and appreciating his efforts to be empathetic with her. You reached out, rubbing the side of her arm. She smiled at the two of you weakly. "I'm sure this is all extremely hard on you."

She reached up, rubbing her eyes rapidly, as if trying not to get sensitive in front of everyone. It was understandable, suddenly being surrounded by people she had no clue of, and losing someone close to you is not easy and it could be very overwhelming.

You looked over at Hotch before starting. "We're trying our hardest to figure out who could have done this to them,"

"Do you mind coming in for some questioning?" You asked. Claire looked over at Hotch apprehensively, clearly not approving of him.

"We think you can help us determine if there was anyone that may have wanted to intentionally hurt Easton and Michael—" You explained, trying to ease her up. "—And Sarah and Adam.."

She sighed heavily, nodding her head with acceptance "Yeah, that's fine.."

"I promise, we'll catch up afterward," You smiled as Hotch and Morgan guided her towards one of the interrogation rooms. You watched her intently as she walked away. With a beat, you looked down at your watch, huffing quickly and furrowing your brows.

"Must be hard for her," You stated. Spencer took notice of how unbothered you seemed, and he didn't skip out on calling you out.

"And what about you..?" Spencer asked curiously, shoving his hands into his pocket and staring you down from his spot next to you. You turned to him, tilting your head.

"What?" You asked.

He shrugged, looking to the side momentarily. "For a case hitting so close to home, it would be normal for this to affect you,"

You pursed your lips and responded truthfully. "It doesn't,"

Spencer looked you in the eye and did what he always tried doing when he suspected something was up with you. He tried profiling you, something that with time, you knew how to fight against, especially when it came from Spencer. His brows crinkled with a familiarity that was only present when he was worried about you. You reached up, rubbing your thumb against the furrowed skin of his brows and smoothing it out gently. "You worry too much."

"Haha." He shoved your hand away as you snickered to yourself. You were glad that with everything going on, you could still find the time to laugh. Spencer made that very easy.

"You," You reached up to link your arms with his as you began dragging him down the hall, all the way to Garcia's office. "Are going to accompany me to visit our lovely technical analyst,”

You watched as both Easton and Claire downed whatever drink it was they had in their hands, music blaring loud and people waltzing around intoxicated at every turn you made. Not completely sober, but not all that drunk either, you found yourself feeling as if yet another Friday night had gone to waste.

"Can you believe we're already seniors?" Easton cheered, throwing her hands around both you and Claire. You stifled a laugh at her slurred voice, knowing the hangover she was bound to have tomorrow was going to be brutal.

"This year is going to be absolutely insane," Claire said, excitement laced in every syllable of her voice. You rolled your eyes and cringed internally, swirling your drink in your hands and debating whether or not you should throw it out since you weren't really in the mood to drink anymore.

You knew you had to get a lot of studying done tomorrow because you were taking some advanced courses that would get you ahead of certain subjects, effectively allowing you to finish the school year earlier and begin your college studies ahead of time.

You had always been very different from Claire and Easton, but you had never seen a problem with it. Claire cheered you on whenever you decided to focus on school work rather than go out on a Friday night, claiming that she could never have your willpower, but Easton always teased you and pushed you to 'let loose'. Of course, you went out with them sometimes, but you also knew when to stay in and focus on yourself, and you never saw that as a crime. It was like enjoying the best of both worlds.

Although lately, going out with Easton felt more like a chore than something you genuinely enjoyed doing.

"Are we finally going to attempt to loosen Y/n up?" Easton shouted over the blasting music, pulling you into a side hug. You laughed awkwardly, a very small feeling of annoyance bubbling in your stomach.

"Oh shush Easton," Claire slapped the girl's arm, rolling her eyes indefinitely. "We know Y/n is going to rock it this year in her own special way."

"Shoving her face into a book isn't my definition of rocking your senior year," Easton added.

"Well shoving my face into someone else's twice a week isn't my definition of rocking my senior year, but you don't see me shaming you, huh?" You bit back, deciding to defend yourself rather than let her step on your toes for what felt like the fifth time this week. You and Easton worked like that. Sometimes it was complicated though, since it was hard to draw the line between teasing and passive-aggressive comments.

"Not my fault you're a prude," You sighed, crossing your arms as she let you go. That's the complicated line you were talking about. Claire shot a disapproving look towards Easton.

"I'm kidding!" She shrugged innocently, holding her hands up in defense. "But like seriously, isn't there anyone that sparks your attention? Not even a little bit?"

You sighed once again, knowing this conversation was popping up. Easton was a very 'out there' person, to say the least. She had a very bad habit of agreeing to hook up with any 'hot man' that breathed. And being part of a private school, everyone seemed to be connected to everyone, somehow. If someone didn't know your business, it was someone else's personal goal that they did, and so the story goes on. And for some peculiar reason, Easton was very vocal and passionate about the fact that you didn't throw yourself at anything that breathed.

"No Easton,"  You set your drink down on the small stool that was available right beside you, not in the mood to drink at all anymore. "Just like I said last time you asked me."

"What about Henry? He seems cool," She pursed her lip in thought. Claire's face twisted with disapproval.

"Henry's a total jerk," Claire warned. Easton sighed in defeat and began scanning the room attentively. You watched her, unamused and annoyed, up until her face popped with excitement.

"Wait a second," She said, reaching out for your arm and pulling you in closer to whisper. "What about the guy in white, over by the kitchen aisle that's practically drooling at the sight of you?"

You deadpanned at Easton but looked in the direction she pointed to anyway. As you looked over, your eyes suddenly fell on a man in a white-clad t-shirt, who was in fact, looking over at you with deep curiosity. You suddenly, for the first time in who knows how long, felt nervous under the gaze of a man. He smiled at you softly from the other point of the room, to which you uncontrollably returned and your heart flipped inside your chest. Just as you opened your mouth to protest, the man began making his way over to the three of you.

You had spent all afternoon skipping through file after file and picture after picture with Garcia and Spencer, while Hotch and Morgan interviewed Claire. Rossi, JJ, and Prentiss called you every few hours to dump more newly acquired information on the victimology report based on what they were seeing over at the crime scene. Your brain was practically about to melt out of your ears. The comfort of the conference room chair seemed overwhelming once you sat down, finally giving your back a break.

Claire had left headquarters just only a few hours ago which now left you all to lay out and create a new profile. Everyone sat at the table until Hotch and Morgan walked into the room.

"We've interviewed Claire Thomspon for more accurate victimology reports and further insight on our Unsub's possible motives for killing both pairs of victims," Morgan stated, rubbing his chin absentmindedly. "Claire declared that Easton had various romantic and sexual relations during high school and every relationship she started was as soon as she ended a previous one,"

"So enraged ex that most probably wanted revenge?" Prentiss said.

"But then what connection would Sarah and Adam have to the murders?" You asked, furrowing your brows in contemplation.

"His murdering methods reflect his psychological state and motivations. For example, if he meticulously plans and execute his killings with precision and calculation, which clearly isn't the case here, it could suggest a need for control and dominance, but since his methods are more frenzied and impulsive, it could indicate overwhelming emotions, and a lack of impulse control." Spencer explained, looking over at you. You nodded, glancing down at the file report and scribbling something across the side of it.

"Meaning Sarah and Adam could've just been collateral damage," You finished, looking back up at him from your seat across him. He nodded.

"If this is revenge, the Unsub may experience, intense feelings of powerlessness, and a need to exert control over others as a way to cope with his emotional pain. Slaughtering married couples could serve as a twisted form of retribution symbolizing the perceived betrayal and abandonment he experienced." Spencer continued, hands dancing around freely, something that always happened when Spencer talked on like this, he was very expressive with his hands.

"By targeting couples, he may be projecting his own feelings of envy and resentment towards those who have found happiness and stability in their relationships." You completed, giving Spencer a proud smile.

And this is exactly why Hotch thinks the two of you work best together, it’s as if your minds were synchronized and every blossoming thought was finished by the other.

"Do we have any leads?" JJ asked.

"We've asked Garcia to pull up some names of people who have a past with Easton." Morgan explained with ease, you looked down once again.

"That's gonna be a long list," You mumbled, low enough for anyone to hear.

It was true though. You weren't shaming her for sleeping around. It was simply a reality that she broke a lot of egotistical men and saw having sex with them as a way of feeling good about herself. You even heard her say once that 'men were just trophy's waiting to be collected by her'. It worked, she felt amazing about herself, and she truly had any man she ever wanted.

"So what would you say our profile is?" Rossi finally spoke up, being awfully quiet as he silently drew his own conclusions.

Hotch began. " We're looking for a 27-year-old male with an unremarkable, physical appearance, something that allows him to blend in with the general population."

You allowed yourself to think back on your past, dwelling if you remembered anyone that might fit the Unsub report.

"He maintains a fit or athletic build which helps him overpower his victims and he leads a relatively solitary existence, avoiding social interactions." He continued in a serious demeanor. "He exhibits narcissistic tendencies with a sense of entitlement, believing that he deserves attention or admiration. He's adept at manipulating others and his actions may be driven by impulsive, completely disregarding consequences, leading to reckless behavior."

"He also harbors a severe paranoia, showing irrational fears and suspicion leading to a heightened sense of vigilance and a tendency to see threats where non-existent." Morgan said, closing off as he sat back down into a chair. Rossi pursed his lips in thoughts.

That described about half of your class though— unfortunately. You rubbed your temples, lowering your head and processing the information, trying to rack your brain on anyone viable who gave you 'serial killer vibes' back in the day. You looked back up, and turned your gaze towards Hotch, opening your mouth to speak

"So wait, if our UnSub presents a lack of impulse control, couldn't that mean that he could strike again even if Easton is dead?" You asked. Hotch nodded and you felt your hands begin to grow clammy.

"We asked Garcia to pull out the names of the couples that have been married in the last year or so from the class of North Virginia High School,"

"How many married high school sweethearts are there in one graduating class?" Emily asked, looking over at you in disbelief. You leaned back in your chair and scoffed.

"Our class was compared to an orgy," You stated, an unamused stance settling your gaze. "That says enough,"

You couldn't even count all the people in your class that had either hooked up, had sex, got together or got married, with your two hands. You never understood what the desperation was at the time, apart from the raging hormones— and its not like your class was full of A-list celebrity lookalikes.

Easton had always wanted you to have your fair share of hookups with the guys in your class, but you had fortunately settled your low scale of bodies on a whooping number one. 

"So, we just—" Emily's brows were furrowed deeply. "—wait until our Unsub shows signs of attacking one of our couples?"

Everyone waited for an order. You didnt believe that was the smartest idea, because yet another two people could possibly end up killed if you didnt play your cards right. You felt uneasy as you waited for Hotch to put together a plan that you could all follow, but he even he was struggling to decide how to love on. Suddenly, Rossi's voice cuted through the air.

"No, that would be stupid." He hummed, narrowing his eyes in deep contemplation. "We need someone from the inside."

You stopped, peering intently at Rossi as you gave Morgan a quizzical look, slightly stupefied by Rossi's sudden intervention. He shrugged his shoulders at you, clearly just as lost as you were. Sometimes, it was hard to follow along with Rossi's thought process, which was surprising to say the least, since you completely understood Spencers.

"We could use you, as a decoy," He said, cutting his gaze over to you and pointing a finger. You froze in your seat, shrinking at the sudden call out. You choked on your own breath, being completely taken off-guard by him. Not because you didn't have it in you to go undercover but because—

"Uh—" You cleared your throat, coughing once or twice. "Sir, I'm not married..."

"Yet." Was all Rossi said.

You tilted your head, truly not getting a single word coming from this man's mouth "Come again?"

Everyone shared dumbstruck looks. When you looked over at Spencer, he was just as confused as you were. You shared a silent conversation but all you could answer with were confused shrugs. Hotch looked ahead, suddenly seeming to grasp onto Rossis implications.

"You mentioned Claire was still in contact with many of your ex-classmates, right?" Hotch asked. You pursed your lips, blinking slowly and turning to him.

"Uh, yeah, she mentioned something like that earlier—"

"So then you lure the Unsub in," He stated, explaining what Rossi's brilliant mind was getting at. You closed your mouth and narrowed your eyes just ever so slightly. "You and Reid go undercover as a newly wed couple, and you lure the Unsub in, making yourself the next posible target."

Your mind screeched to a halt as you straightened up in your chair. Suddenly, Spencer was heard choking on his own breath in his seat in front of you. You felt your minds racing hit a brick wall, silence and stillness hitting every fiber of your body. "You want me to—Huh..?"

You weren't even quite sure how to process anything that had just been said. Questions began dawning at you, because one, why you? And why Spencer? And why together— as a married couple?

"It'd be a complex operation, that would include meticulous planning but," Rossi suddenly pulled out papers and began scribbling down. "Comprehensive security measures would be implicated, and with Claire in the mix, you two can find ways to get yourselves to interact with the high schools graduate community and it's very probable that the Unsub, is baited in, especially with Y/n being an ex-classmate."

"Actually," Emily started, looking between you and Spencer, who both shared the exact, red painted look on both your faces. "Thats not a bad idea."

"Wait, wait— You want me, to go undercover as a married couple, with Spencer..?" You asked again. It all started slowly falling, like dominos. You finally allowed your minds gears to rear back into movement as you shook your head slightly.

"Yes,"

Pretending to be a married couple implicated everything being a married couple was. And Rossi was implying, that you pretend to be a married, romantic, madly in-love, head-over heels about each other, couple with— Spencer? Which meant living in the same house, sharing the same things, going everywhere with each other, hugging, touching, kissing, sharing the same bed?—

Okay, now you were overthinking it.

You felt a sudden patter in your chest, that traveled all the way to your skull and through your ears, pressing against your throat. You felt heat rush to your cheeks at just the thought of all of that, and if you weren't mistaken, you could've sworn you felt your stomach flip in circles.

Spencer was your best friend yet why did this feel so incredibly exposing..?

"If you think about it, Reid and Y/l/n would be the only ones able to convincingly portray a married couple..." JJ shrugged. You glared over at JJ wondering what the hell she meant by that.

Suddenly, things were moving all too quickly and all too suddenly. You dared yourself to look over at Spencer who was surprisingly, in the same shaken up state that you were. His cheeks were glowing red, and something in his gaze was silently speaking to you. You looked back at him, feeling an unfamiliar uncertainty begin to nip at you. You were too scared to speak up, and for the first time, you truly couldn't read a single thought behind those hazel eyes you had grown to care about so deeply.

"I—uhm," You said, voice hoarse and weak. "You really think this is a good idea?"

"I think it's our closest shot at catching this guy without anyone else getting hurt." Rossi stated.

"But we only do it if the two of you are a hundred percent willing to do so," Hotch reminded. You looked back at Spencer, not knowing what to think, or what to say, or what to do. His gaze relaxed, in constrast to your panicky one, and he gave you a small nod of encouragement. You swallowed thickly.

He looked over at Rossi, nodding slowly. "Okay, we'll do it."

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 @yondiii @r-3dlips @moonchildohh @rubyirene @sp3ncelle @alisyacsa @pleasantwitchgarden @landooscurls @chonkybonky

[jewishvitya]

Tal Mitnick, an 18 years old Israeli that refused to serve in the military:

It's not just a couple of soldiers that are bad soldiers or that enact violent occupation on Palestinians, it's actually a whole system of violence. Of pulling people into the army and making them work for the occupation and for oppressing Palestinians.

Militarism in Israel is very entrenched in society. And the military is some golden goose that you're not allowed to touch. You're allowed to criticize the government, you're allowed to go out for gay rights, for women's rights. But when it comes to criticizing military action against Palestinians or other oppressed communities, this is totally out of the norm. You cannot speak against the military because it's so entrenched in society.

A lot of conversations start with the military, and because most people did serve, it's seen as this kind of thing that everyone needs to pass in order to become an Israeli.

So. Yeah. When you're older you don't feel ostracized as much because after a while it's less relevant to daily life. At least in my experience, I didn't serve and it's not really talked about much at this point.

In Jewish Israeli society, the military is trusted more than most other institutions. Tbh, more than any other institution I can think of. And it's seen as a right of passage. Some people will be okay with you if you volunteer for a social service instead - work at hospitals, schools, etc. Others think you shouldn't get the choice, and unless there's a medical issue you should be going to the military.

The narrative of self defense is absolutely believed, so by refusing to serve, those kids are seen as saying "I will enjoy the sacrifice made by others, but I will not contribute myself." It's seen as ungrateful. But that's if you don't express a moral objection to the military.

If you challenge the military itself, you're challenging Israeli society. And that's how it's taken. "I refuse to participate in the occupation" - "So you're saying I did something bad by serving. You're saying I'm a bad person." And when most of Israelis served in the military, and those that didn't serve often still support it or have loved ones that did or still do, this is challenging the moral character of pretty much all of us. Which, it should.

The military nurtures a mindset of dehumanization to a scary degree. I listened to a few interviews with stories from Breaking the Silence, an organization meant to bring to light the way the military abuses Palestinians, and there's something described by Yehuda Shaul.

He tells the story of serving in Hebron, in the West Bank, and he describes the daily stated mission of soldiers there.

While on patrol at night, they pick a random Palestinian house - explicitly one that they have no intelligence against, a civilian family - and they get in, wake the family up, separate men from women, search or something, get on the roof, jump to the next roof, get into that house, wake that family up, treat them the same way.

Again, at random. And he described two goals for this:

One, to create the feeling of being persecuted, and two, to make our presence felt.

They want Palestinians to feel beaten down and powerless, and they want them to feel that the military is everywhere, so they're too scared to resist.

This isn't random rogue soldiers, this is what the military does there on a normal day. And he said it's impossible to treat a population this way without seeing them as less human than we are.

I don't know if I can just say that the military is another tool for indoctrination in addition to everything else it does. But as a kid, I had a left-leaning friend from the Tel Aviv area, and we'd argue a lot. Because you don't need to be a full on leftist to disagree very strongly with a teenage settler. And as I was going through the process of changing my mind, I saw him going through the same process in the opposite direction - he became way more right wing during his military service. He told me the stories of why, and all those stories did was make me feel like I don't even know this person. I wonder sometimes how many young people go through the same.

[mytragedyperson]

possibly unpopular Pjo Opinions

Also, if you disagree, that's fine. people are allowed to have differing opinions. But, if you decide to be dick about it in the comments, the comment will be deleted. we can disagree but there's no need to be rude about it. However, if you'd like to respectfully and civilly discuss the differences in opinion, I'd be happy to. I always enjoy hearing different opinions. However I will warn you, while I'm not strictly anti-percabeth, there are some anti-percabeth or negative towards percabeth opinions in this post. If you're one of the toxic percabeth stans who hates on anyone who dislikes or says anything negative about the ship, you have been warned, any toxic comments will be deleted. I won't be arguing with you because it would be pointless. You're not going to change my mind and I'm not going to change yours. civil and respectful discussions only

Is it bad that I don't like Bianca Di Angelo. Like, don't get me wrong, I don't hate her, I don't think she's terrible, she's 12, she's a child, but try as I might I just can't understand her choice. I get that she's 12 and left to take care of her brother but they have no one else at that point and the first chance she gets she agrees to leave him. She agrees before they even get to camp, before she's even made sure it's safe and I've said it before I don't think there's a world where Nico stays at Camp Halfblood. I don't think Bianca necessarily dies in every universe. There must be at least some where she actually listens when told not to touch anything or even where she, an untrained, inexperienced 12 year old isn't picked for this quest where they know one of them will die because it's been prophecised, but I do think Nico, at least in every universe where Bianca agrees to join the Hunters, always leaves camp after discovering he's a son of Hades, and then he's really not safe. they're each other's only family and she chooses to leave him. In 2 years he'll be the same age as her, and a year after that he's older. He'll live his entire life while she pops in and out when they can, maybe sees him if he's at camp halfblood at the time. and, to be fair to Bianca, I don't think the Hunters should offer this to 12 year old anyway. but, no, Bianca will either be dead, or 12 forever as he younger brother grows older, as he nearly dies trying to save his friends and help his family. Although I would love to see her and the Hunter's reaction when Nico shows up in the fifth book, same age as Bianca, with 3 gods and, if I'm remembering correctly, an army of skeletons, as she realises her younger is growing up. Honestly I could see them finding a way to send messages and Nico, despite knowing there's no place for him there, going to Camp Halfblood when he knows the hunters will be there so he can see his sister. see, i like the idea of alive Bianca that lives in my head, because i love the angsty idea of her seeing her brother get older and get married and make new friends and meet the half sister and her still being physically 12 but so much older mentally and wondering what could have been if she hadn't agreed to be a Hunter. But canon Bianca? i get that she's young but, maybe it's because I'm the youngest of a family with quite a few cousins that are very close but I can't imagine a world where my older brother or one of my older cousins agrees to just leave me somewhere without first making sure it's safe, even if they were 12. and the fact that they're each other's only family on Earth at that point? and then in book 4, instead of appearing directly ti Nico and telling him not to come to her, she uses Percy as a middle man? Nico is not Percy's responsibility. No, you agreed to join the Hunters, you agreed to go on this quest when you were untrained and inexperienced (because somehow there was no one more qualified or better suited after the other Hunter couldn't go).

Honestly, maybe my problem is more with the Hunters than Bianca herself now that I'm thinking about it. The way they act like they're better than everyone's else but get upset when they retaliate. The way they hate all men. There's just something about their attitude in the third books I hate. Maybe it's because it's from Percy's POV but, I don't know, they just rub me the wrong way. Maybe it's because they're supposed to be feminists but they're written by a man who thinks the extent of feminism is "we as women hate all men and think we're better than them" which, while is admittedly how some women are, is not supposed to be the point of feminism. I was taught feminism was equality between men and women, not one being better than the other, not hating on one while hating one the other, both men and women being equal. Is this where I realise that my problems actually boil down to problems with Rick Riordan writing women and girls? Zoe's dislike does make some sense and I do like her character but it feels like the other Hunters are, like, radical feminists who believe men and women should be separate?

Also while I'm here, might as well add, as someone who read the first five books but does plan to read the others, Percabeth means literally nothing to me. I don't hate them but I don't ship them either. They're fine as friends but as a couple? I'm sure there are much more interesting ships for both of them. The first five books is more or less them not being together but getting jealous of anyone of the opposite who talks to them, (though Percy's is also annoyance because, you know, Luke tried to kill him and Annabeth still has hope she can get through to him even though he's betrayed them. Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty, he doesn't take betrayal well, we saw how he reacted to Nico's perceived betrayal), and (Usually Annabeth but Percy sometimes) picking arguments. Ah, yes, the old married couple. Now, the moments where they actually bond outside of quests and camp halfblood? Not many of them. They have a couple of cute moments but, as a couple, I don't really care for it. I don't mind them as friends but, as more than that, not really. Annabeth chose Percy over Luke? oh great, and so the rest of camp Halfblood, the others who stay there all year? They mean nothing? If it was't for Percy, she would've just left them? Interesting. Percy gave up immortality for Annabeth? Not really, sure, she may have been part of it, but the main part was making sure children of all Greek gods had somewhere safe to go and would be claimed. also, why would a depressed, possibly suicidal teen want to be immortal? want to be with the gods who have just used him and his friends and half of whom hate him? Also, next to Annabeth Percy is always made out to be the dumb one but he's not really. Sure Annabeth is better at planning but Percy is better at improvising when things go wrong. See: him tricking Crusty. Also in that first book Annabeth also makes some not so smart choices. See: going to the Arch to sightsee in the middle of the quest. Percy is also the one who figures out The Lotus Hotel situation, not Annabeth. They have different types of intelligence but Percy is not dumb.

[sun-gut]

Rambling thoughts about the state of the vore community.

I'm quite frustrated with it in how it perpetuates minor-adult interactions, even if the interactions are trusted to be entirely nonsexual by both parties. Even if things are kept "SFW."

Before anything else, since I very likely have any people who disagree already blocked - if you want to have a good faith discussion about this, I will turn anons on. The catch being I will only respond if you have your username in the anon. If you are only here to invalidate my experiences or to flame me for being concerned about how there's groomers within this community who are taking advantage of how easily they can talk to children under the guise of the interaction being 'nonsexual,' then we have nothing to entertain and you will be ignored.

So, when I was quite young- around 14 or 15, I was very active in the vore community. I started reaching out to people, mainly adults, to talk about it with since I felt incredibly isolated with enjoying it nonsexually. The first person I knew through this, let's call him V, seemed to have understood that my interest in this is nonsexual, and responded in same. He knew how old I was. I knew he was in his mid to late twenties/early thirties. We'll get back to him later.

Around this same time(~15 y/o), I started a Kik group for nonsexual vore that allowed both minors and adults alike. It soon was filled with many people, and in that time I'd have made relationships with people who I also thought enjoyed it in the same way I had.

Until they showed otherwise, either directly to me or indirectly through sexually exploiting other minors in the chat. This carried over into a Discord server I made for the same thing- these people would seek out the kids in the chat and DM them. Seeing if they could find any children who were exploring their sexuality through vore, and then engage with them on that level. Even if they initially claim that they liked vore nonsexually. This happened to me too. Adults who targeted me because they liked my art, and would slowly pressure me to engage with them sexually or make sexual content for them. Even if there were never any genitals, they still found sexual pleasure in a child drawing fetish content for them.

This also happened to someone else I knew ("B", 15 y/o), who was in the Discord chat, but felt like she couldn't tell anyone because a person ("F", 18-20 y/o) established himself as a "safe" person in the community, both here and on Tumblr. Behind the scenes, even if he was only talking about vore nonsexually in the chat, F was sending B gore porn and pressuring her to engage with him.

V was like that. When I met one of his friends when I turned to an adult, I learned through them that he saw vore as a sexual fetish the entire time. He was secretly mining vore content out of a sex-repulsed ace child, telling me that it wasn't at all sexual. That he was like me. That I could trust him. How the fuck do you weed someone out of a community like that? How are you able to trust that the adult or child you're talking to about kinks isn't doing it for their sexual pleasure?

On top of that (when I was still a minor), another popular user who used to frequent Tumblr (bioluminescent-bat/nickname "Redla"), along with a Tumblr user named Glowinside, had a "SFW" Discord where Bat let in a child who was into unbirthing and openly talked about it. When I had brought up this as being an issue, I was entirely ignored. I left very soon after. These types of "SFW" servers are not uncommon to come across.

If you're an adult engaging with a child like this, and it turns out the child liked it sexually the entire time, that's you engaging in pedophilia. And if you're a child talking to an adult like this, and it turns out they liked it sexually too, you've just been sexually exploited. It's so, so fucking easy for people to lie about their intentions, and no matter how much you try to isolate yourself from the "dirty fetishists," these people follow. They do not magically disappear when they're deliberately looking for spaces to groom or sexually exploit. They seek you out because they don't fucking care if you like it nonsexually, they're trying to find minors who they can bend to their will. We have seen this happen, time and time again, with "safe" adults in the community. People who especially like to dictate themselves as being a child-friendly vore kinkster, and that any child can talk to them about vore.

On top of that, you wouldn't find this to be acceptable in other fetish communities, right? There's people who are nonsexually into BDSM. Or feet, gas, inflation, bodily fluids, diapers, etc. Would it be appropriate for adults to talk to children about their nonsexual kinks around that? Even if these are things that show up in kids' TV shows?

This is why I have so much concern for the vore community. Because I see children and adults alike interacting, and then see time and time again that someone gets groomed or sexually exploited. People who I considered friends exploited me, and people I knew were abused in the same way, as children. Their spaces should be kept entirely separate, and I'm extremely suspicious of anyone who disagrees with this notion.

[mytheoristavenue]

MHA Mezo Shoji x Reader - Make Believe - III

Summary: You ask Shoji to pretend to be your boyfriend for a dinner with your parents.

Warnings: long, muli-parted, mutual pining, fake dating trope, fem!reader

Embarrassed, you both disembark from the train, stepping onto the platform, Shoji's arm still securely around your shoulders for stability on clearing the gap. There's an obvious elephant in the room, but it's almost as if it's a secret, even for the both of you, neither wanting to speak on it for fear of the other being unaware.

Eventually, you feel his touch begin to slip away, making your heart sink, missing it as you both begin to walk toward the train station exit. Finally, you break the silence. "My parent's place is pretty close by, just a few blocks from here, actually."

"Living so close to the tracks must be difficult," he thought allowed eyes stuck forward.

"It isn't so bad, once you get used to the noise. Before I moved to the dorms, it was like I couldn't even hear it anymore." Shoji could care less for the idle chatter, his mind still on the ride here. He was never one to beat around the bush, so he decided to speak up.

"Hey, (Y/N)? Why did you say that this was a bad idea on the train?" He asked, voice calm, but with a hint of somberness. "Do you regret bringing me?"

You glanced up at him, surprised by his genuineness. "What? Shoji, no! It's nothing to do with you, you've been perfect!" You confess, stopping on the sidewalk, and staring down at your shoes. "I'm the problem."

"How so?" he asked, eyeing you with uncertainty.

"I feel like I should have planned this out more..." you admitted. "I mean, what am I gonna do when the holidays come around? I could just say we broke up but if my family likes you, they'd be sad, or they'd belittle me for bringing someone home before the relatsionship got serious-"

Your rambling was put to rest by a sturdy, comforting hand on your shoulder. "Hey, calm down," he soothed, stroking his thumb over your skin. "We can cross that bridge when we get to it. For all we know your parents could hate me and be overjoyed to hear we broke up." he laughed, comforting you.

"That won't happen..." you said, awkwardly rubbing your arm. "I...I picked you because you have all the qualities they'd love to see in a partner for me. You're strong and protective, kind and gentle, intelligent... You're a walking green flag."

Shoji could help but avert his gaze, cheeks aglow from your praise. "T-That's not true," he dnied, weakly, secretly hoping you'd continue to disagree, and to his delight, you did.

"No, Shoji, I'm serious," you persisted. "You're caring and passionate about your friends, you're handsome... You'd be the perfect boyfriend to anyone... I'm just sorry you're having to waste that on me."

"I don't consider it wasted..." he confessed bashfully. "But, for the record, I'm willing to be your fake boyfriend as long as you need. Even if it means coming back for the holidays."

"Shoji..." you mutter at his words, stunned by what they could potentially mean.

"Please, call me Mezo," he corrected, wrinkles forming beside his eyes, indicating a sweet smile under his mask.

"M-Mezo..." you stammered, unsure of whether or not to let the words fall off your lips. "There's another reason I asked you over anyone else..."

"Oh?" he stiffened a bit, offering you space to continue. "What is it?"

"Well...I think I might have a little cru-"

Suddenly, you jump at the sound of your phone ringing, startling you both. Taking it out of your bag, you notice that it's your mother calling. Anxiously, you slide the button to the right and answer the call. "Hey, Mom-"

"You didn't miss your train did you?" she immediately asks, worried.

"No, Mom, I made the train on time." You groaned lightly.

"Was it delayed?"

"No, Mom-"

"Well, did you make it to the station?"

"Yes-"

"Well, what's taking you so long? Did you get lost? Do I need to send your father to pick you up? Where are you-"

"Mom, please," you begged with an annoyed sigh. "We're like a block away, we'll be there in a few minutes."

"We?" she asked, confused before squealing. "Oh, you brought your boyfriend?!"

"Yep," you replied, nonchalantly.

"Well, hurry up and get here, we all can't wait to meet him!" Your heart suddenly sank. There were only supposed to be a few people there, what did she mean 'all'? Before you had a chance to ask, she spoke again. "Listen, I gotta go, honey, the soup needs stirring! Hurry home, love you!" With that, the line fell dead. Slumping your shoulders, you turned to face Shoji again.

"My mom says to hurry home..." you trailed, wishing to pick up the conversation where it left off. "And I think she might have invited more people than she told me. I'm sorry in advance."

"Don't be," he smiled. "I'm sure they can't be that bad." Reassuring you, he offered an arm for you to take as he began to walk forward again. you took it gratefully, not even caring about touching him anymore, you were just happy to have a comforting gesture from him. Within minutes of walking, you crested a hill, and your parents' apartment building came into view. It was a tall complex with many floors, the eighth being the one you called home. Stepping into the front entrance, you were greeted with a familiar smell which gave you a warm feeling of nostalgia as you made your way to the elevator, followed by your 'boyfriend'.

"What floor?" he asked, stepping forward to push the button.

"Eighth," you replied with a smile. "Thank you." You stood stick straight, hands clasped in front of you, overly chipper grin plastered on your face.

"Are you alright? You seem anxious." He noted, inching closer to your side, wrapping an arm around you, something that was beginning to feel like instinct at this point.

"I am a little," you admit, smile faltering as you glance up at him. "I want this to go well."

"You don't think they'll believe it?" he asked, tilting his head as he looked down at you.

"Not that," you sighed, perfect posture crumbling against him. "The last time I saw my parents, it didn't go well..."

"I see," he realized, nodding. "I won't push, but if you'd like to talk about it, I'm all ears." he offered, morphing all his extra limbs into ears. "Literally."

You snickered, shining a bright and genuine smile. "Maybe another time,"

"There she is," Shoji teased, ers morphing back into hands and lightly tickling your neck. "Knew I could make you smile. Your real smile is so much prettier than your fake one."

It was moments like these that made you question the reality of your relationship with him. If this all was fake, would he say things like that? Would he say them if they were real? Though the honeyglow in your cheeks and butterflies in your stomach were hard to ignore, his sweetness confused you so much. Before you could bring it up, a chime filled the air as the elevator slowly ascended to a crawl before stopping entirely. Glancing at him for reassurance, you stepped out of the elevator when the doors opened and turned left to make your way to your parent's door.

Standing in front of it, you glanced at him again, this time finding him already staring back. "Well...this is it, I guess?"

"I guess it is," he smiled, bringing up his fist and knocking firmly before stepping back. His warm embrace retracted from you in order to take your hand in his. He thought it'd be a better look for him to be holding your hand when the door opens, rather than having his arm around your shoulder, though he couldn't explain why.

Within moments, the door opened revealing a woman that looked remarkably like you, though a little more than twice your age. Excitedly, the woman threw her arms around your neck, hugging you tightly. "Honey, you're finally home, I've missed you so much!" As the woman's eyes fluttered open again, they landed on Shoji, prompting her to squeal. "Oh, and this must be that Shoji boy you're always telling us about!"

Your cheeks burned at the revelation, but you were too stunned to say anything.

"That would be me, ma'am," Shoji, bowed, offering her his hand as she released you. "And you must be (Y/N)'s older sister,"

The woman shrieked again, giving her hand for him to shake."Oh, stop!" she gushed. "Hun, you didn't tell me he was so charming!"

"Yep," you gulped, nervous about what to say next. "He's my prince charming!" Anything would have been better than that, you cringed. "A-Anyways, Mezo, this is my mother, Mom, this is Mezo Shoji, my boyfriend."

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Shoji, welcome to our humble home!" your mother greeted, bowing her head slightly.

"Please, the pleasure's all mine."

[h0ranghaae]

from the first hi to the first i love you, chapter I:

the first time we stayed alone (but in the crowd)

mason mount series

genre: angst, fluff, smut, comedy attempts

warnings: language

word count: 2,7k

a/n: god knows i wanted it to be a one-shot thing, but then i realized how many chapter ideas i got, so i didn't want to rush and make it look like a brief description of each timeline. please, please tell me what you think about it 🤧 all genres and warnings will depend on a chapter!! (the story starts on may, 14th, 2023)

"Babe, I'm really sorry, but they'll eat me alive if I don't finish it in time," your best friend, Sonia, says with pleading eyes, and you pout. You came to London from Manchester to spend your week off with her, but her boss had different plans. "I know, I promised you a fantastic time here, so I've figured things out for tonight."

"How so?" the interest in your voice is genuine.

"I asked Mason to take you out today, so get ready for The National Gallery, the tickets are already boug-"

"Whoa, stop talking so fast – I know you want to confuse me so I will say yes," you place both of your hands on the kitchen table to steady yourself – mentally. Sonia looks closely at you across the table, so you continue. "Firstly, my fantastic time can only be spent with my best friend, not with her husband's friend."

"But you've known each other for around three years," she scowls. "He gave you so many rides."

"When I was with you," you protest. "When your Ricky was with us. And, secondly, The National Gallery? I can admire you, sitting in front of your computer, with the same pleasure."

"No, you’re going with Mason. You need to get out. Besides, he already bought the tickets. When he’s done at the training center, he will pick you up – so you have, like, two hours to get ready."

You sigh. Sonia feels guilty for not being the best entertainer – but you never expected her to be one. Still, she comes up with the weird decision you can’t decline yourself, because then you will be the one who feels guilty. Also, you are pretty sure Mason said yes to her for the same reasons.

Mason is a nice, polite, funny guy with warm doe eyes and a perfect nose. But he is not your friend. You don’t really know how to act around him – partly because you are sure that if not for Ricky, your paths will never cross. He is from a different planet – a planet of fame, interviews on national channels, trips all around the globe, and big money. And you don’t have a rocket to visit this faraway planet.

There is another reason to avoid him like a plague, though.

You have a little – or medium-sized – crush on him and you can’t allow it to gain any control over your brain. Or your heart especially.

"Do you want me to help you with your hair?" Sonia asks you, and you narrow your eyes at her through the bathroom mirror.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" you huff, wrapping a strand of your hair around the barrel of the curling iron.

"I took a break," she rolls her eyes. "It's like you're getting ready for prom and the school heartthrob is already waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs. I can't miss it."

You shake your head at her giggles. "You're acting like a crazy teenager."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because you're funny!" you exclaim. "It's just Mason, and suddenly you're making a big deal out of it."

"But you're finally getting to the next level with him," Sonia raises her eyebrows, and you finally turn to face her, finished with your preparations.

"Yeah, from getting lifts anytime I'm in London to going to museums without even planning and wanting it. Besides, don't forget there is Jacob back in Manchester."

"Yeah," she rolls her eyes for the second time in less than three minutes. "When was the last time you saw him? Two weeks ago? Three? Sounds legit, for sure. Absolutely worthy."

Your weak attempt to disagree is killed with the sound of the intercom, and you're relieved you don't have to come up with delusional excuses to make your (almost) relationship with Jacob look not that bad as it is in reality.

You really like him, and you're so ready to open your heart to him – if you haven't done it already – but the local DJ (and you're wondering why this pathetic fact of him still doesn't give you an ick) is too busy, afraid, or just stupid to commit to anyone.

Or just to you. Or it's you who are just stupid.

"The heartthrob's here!" Sonia yelps, already pressing the button to let Mason in. You've never seen her move that fast. She was the worst at PE in high school.

"Oh dear God," you sigh, while putting on your jacket. Well, it's way easier to act annoyed when your knees are weak because of how nervous you are. You're right, you tell yourself, a very pale version of yourself in the mirror, it's just Mason, the old good lad Mason, and you're just making yourself crazy for nothing. At the end of the day, you really like Mason and don't want your frustration to be projected onto him.

Things with Jacob will get better, and even if Mason isn't your friend, you can still have a good time together tonight. And he can become your friend. And just the thought of it makes your heart swell.

"Hi there," you turn your head toward his gentle voice, always remembering how surprised you were the first time you heard him speak. His voice is so delicate and warm — the exact opposite of how manly he looks.

"Hi," you return his smile, letting him pull you in for a side hug.

"I didn't know you were in London until yesterday," Mason says.

"Yeah, because you weren't on my bingo card," you muse. "But the best event planner ever knows better, I suppose."

"Oh, get out already and let me work and you have fun. And don't come back earlier than after 4 hours. You know the directions, Mason, so take my bestie and go," Sonia taps on the wall next to the front door.

"Never felt more welcomed, bestie," you say, following Mason out of the apartment. And while he's standing in front of the lift, pressing the silver button, you turn to Sonia to whisper, "Text me every two minutes, so he won't think I'm some sort of hermit."

"Constant notifications can kill the vibe," she whispers back.

"What the fuck?" you make your words audible only for her. "That makes no sense."

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but the metal carriage is waiting," Mason distracts you, and Sonia takes this opportunity to shut the front door of her apartment. "After you," he gestures for you to step into the lift first, and you can't help but smile at him, entering the cabin.

The doors are closed now, and you're standing extremely close to him so you can smell his cologne – magnetic and just... Delicious.

"I like your perfume," you blurt out. "Is it Tom Ford?"

He hums in agreement, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. "You're lucky, I took a shower after training. Just for you."

"How thoughtful," you reply. "But if I'm really lucky today, the universe will spare me from your amazing jokes."

"Nah, you're not that lucky, sorry," and with this, your trip through eighteen floors of the building is over. "Buckle up and let's explore the art. But let me warn you," he places his hand on your shoulder in a secretive manner and whispers in your ear, "The real art is you and me, so be ready – people will stare."

"Are we late?" you ask, and Mason just shrugs, scratching the back of his neck, totally unsure. The doors of the gallery are closed, despite his several attempts to pull and push the door handles.

"It seems to be fate," Mason says with a smile. "So, Starbucks for starters?"

"Just admit you manifested it," you follow him, silently appreciating that he slowed his usual pace for you. "I doubt you ever wanted to go here."

"Yeah, that's why I picked you up at five o'clock – I knew they close at six."

"Really?!"

Mason stops and looks at you in pure disbelief, "Of course not," he huffs. "It was sarcasm," he explains, but can't suppress a giggle escaping his mouth.

"You're so unserious," now it's your turn to huff, but when he places his hand on your lower back while you cross the road at the green light, you're suddenly out of words.

Your skin burns at this spot despite two layers of clothes – not a good sign at all. But the questions that are generated in your head – oh, they're even worse. Why does he do it? To make sure you're matching his pace? Does he want you to be safe? Did Sonia ask him to do so? Do all well-mannered men do it?

Does he like you?

The disgustingly sweet coffee you both ordered at Starbucks helps you get rid of these confusing and unnecessary thoughts. Not for long, unfortunately.

"I can feel my teeth rotting at this moment," Mason moans after taking a sip from his cardboard cup. "But it's so good. Let me taste yours."

You willingly hand him your cup, and he wraps his palm around yours, positioning both of your hands higher – this simple action makes you hold your breath without even realising it.

"Wow, that was easy to get," he laughs and wraps his lips around the straw.

"Drink it already," you roll your eyes. "And I will start praying that you don’t have any contagious diseases."

He makes a face at you, swallowing the coffee like it's fish oil – or something even worse tasting. "You should have warned me – it's terrible. Right now, I'm doing my best not to stick out my tongue in disgust."

"Oh, Mason, you're so brave. Thank you for telling us your story," your hand slides out of his tender grip as you continue to walk. "For the record, mine has one syrup less than yours."

"It's what you call a difference maker."

"Stop it already, I know it's a reference to you on the pitch," you laugh. You genuinely laugh. Mason is effortlessly funny – you knew it already, but today you finally had a chance to experience it to the maximum. And he's witty too – amazing with words, and you really like the way he talks – passionately, but in a calm voice, looking straight in your eyes, following every reaction of yours.

Mason closes the distance between the two of you in one wide step and lowers his head to your level. "By the way, I don't have any diseases," his whisper causes goosebumps all over the skin of your neck and you hum in response. "For the future."

The future and you are divided by a distance, you think, while Mason and you, at least at this moment, are not.

He insisted that you have to sit not across from each other at this fancy restaurant in the heart of London, but next to each other, and you silently agree, not wanting to miss the opportunity to feel him closer. His shoulder brushes yours when he's slicing the steak, and you turn your head to him.

"Did you make the reservation months in advance or did your fame help you sneak in ahead of turn?"

Mason just smiles at you, even though he's not happy that you asked the question while he's chewing and can't respond to your words, and you raise your brow.

"I'm surprised you're not talking with your mouth full," you mock him, and he playfully rolls his eyes.

"I booked it three months in advance," he says as you thankfully nod at the waiter refilling your glass of wine. "Three months ago, I knew that May fourteenth would be marked as our first date on my wall calendar."

"Oh, that infamous Mason's wall calendar with pictures of kittens?" you half expected him to say something along those lines, something bold yet simple, but what you didn't expect was him handing you his fork with a slice of meat on it. The gesture was nice, caring, and... heartwarming?

"Kittens in flower gardens," Mason corrects you as a content smile appears on his features when you take the slice off the fork and into your mouth, chewing slowly.

The food is great, the wine is even better, and your entertainer is one of England's most eligible bachelors. Sometimes life is good.

"It's a shame you can't drink," you whine, holding Mason by his forearms, and he shows his perfect teeth, still not destroyed by the sugary coffee he had, in a wide smile.

"Let's drink when I'm on summer break?" he suggests, his hands rubbing your sides. His chocolate eyes follow yours, and you can't help but get magnetised by his soft gaze. He calls your name softly, feeling that he has to get the needed answer from you. "So, how does it sound?"

"See you on your summer break then," you lightly pat his chest and he laughs.

"What about before? You know I'm all fun even sober."

"Let's see, Mason. It's not like I have a door in my Manchester flat that leads me directly to you."

"It's changeable, though," he says, looking above your head. It feels like he's talking more to himself than to you, but you elaborate anyway.

"Changeable? Mason Mount, are you a constructor of a teleportation machine?" you ask in mock disbelief.

"Maybe so," he plays along, and you laugh. Suddenly, after five glasses of fine wine, everything Mason says sounds even funnier than before.

He wraps his arms around your shoulders, and you mirror his motion, holding onto his waist.

"Thank you for today," your voice is muffled as you mumble into his beige bomber jacket – which smells just so amazing, enveloping you in an aroma cloud. "I really liked it."

"So did I," Mason says, and you're thankful he doesn't reject your clingiest side, never breaking the hug you dragged him into in the first place. "Pinky promise we will go out more?"

"Sure, but I'm done for today," you say. "It's a good thing you didn't drink, though – at least I have you as my personal driver back home."

"Oh, look at you," he imitates an adoring voice. "Making me feel so needed and desired."

"In high demand, yep," you confirm. "Promise me I'm your favorite passenger."

You can feel Mason pulling back from the hug so he can raise his pinky, and you shove off his hand with a smile. The dark-haired man smiles back at you, so sweet and tender – it makes your poor heart beat a hundred times faster.

"Oh my god," Sonia squeezes you in a hug as soon as you get to her apartment. "You look so happy! And... Wait a second, are you drunk?"

"Not drunk, just a little tipsy, that's all, but-"

You tell her everything, trying not to sound too excited, and Sonia, being the best friend ever, asks for every possible and impossible detail. Seizing the opportunity, you ask the same question you asked Mason in the restaurant.

"Does it matter?" Sonia asks in return. "Other things are way more important!"

"No, they're not. What if the only reason we ended up in this restaurant was that he was dumped by someone? Or did he dump someone? And here I am, just a backup plan."

"Oh, shit," Sonia breathes out, and you lift your head, your fingers stopping their random patterns on the soft material of the cushion. Well, you’re anxious now. "You're already thinking about it, aren’t you?"

You roll your eyes as she laughs, but when you stay silent, she goes on. "I’m pretty sure he’s famous and rich enough to get a reservation in four hours max. You had a wonderful evening – all kudos to me – so don’t spoil the aftertaste with your thoughts!"

"Yeah, my thoughts… Completely unnecessary as always," you laugh, raising your hands in defeat.

It was a wonderful evening, and you even want to jokingly think that this evening proves that all "bros before hoes" manifestos can be thrown out of the window, but, in reality, you can’t. Because Mason, as you thought before, is closer to becoming your bro than anything else. But at the end of the day, the distance will divide Mason and you again. You and your long-distance friend.

[impactedfates]

“But Mr Kamisato…” - Ayato x GN!Reader (Modern AU)

A/N - Just a random ass thought I had with a Modern AU Ayato. According to my friend it’s a brain rot?? In any case have random scenarios I have about this AU before I go to bed >:D

Imagine working at a restaurant. Nothing fancy, just your regular restaurant with your usual annoying kids in the corner and Karen in another. Yet for some reason, one of your regulars is Mr Kamisato himself, quite the popular and rich individual that could easily eat at any fancy restaurant he wants yet he chooses the one YOU work at, simply because he seems to have fallen for the lil waiter there :>

Ayato can and will plop himself in your section even if the table is dirty, he just wants to see your pretty lil face as fast as he can.

Will always tip you, and by quite a bit. He advises your boss/manager that whatever money he tips is ONLY for you. And should not be split between your co-workers, and who are they to disagree?

Despite him coming there so often, that he should know what every item on the menu is. He will always point to one menu item and ask about it or even asks for your recommendations even if you always say the same things. He just wants to hear your voice.

When he first brought his sister and Thoma over, they stared at you intently. You tried introducing yourself and all they could say was a strained out "We know…" Seems like someone always talks about you at home.

He refuses to get served by anyone else but you. If someone else is his waiter, he’ll request for you, and if you’re not working that day? He’ll politely excuse himself and leave.

If we pretend he’s a CEO for a famous and successful company, imagine all the stares he’d get as he happily munched on his mediocre fish and chips.

Speaking of all the stares he gets, he doesn’t pay any attention to them. His eyes are only on you. And you alone.

Bro goes into the restaurant so many times (or as many times as his work allows it) that there’s just a designated table for him and co-workers and your manager just know to call for you when he arrives, knowing he won’t take anyone else.

Left his number on a napkin. Whether you decide to text him is up to you. If you don’t he understands, but if you do choose to text him he’ll be over joyed. Expect sweet and cute “Good Mornings” and “Good Nights” even if you two aren’t dating.

He tries to make you call him Ayato and not to be formal with him. But it’s just a habit! Plus it’s respectful, how can he expect you to casually call him by his given name so casually??

Y/N: Mr Kamisato? You're here again? Ayato: Hm? Just Ayato is fine Y/N: But Mr Kami- Ayato: No

Ayaka and Thoma are very much done with him and his constant rambles about you. Don’t get them wrong, they’re happy he found someone he really likes…it’s just…

Ayato: And then they gave me my order with a smile :D Thoma: My lord…that's their job

Ayaka: So how much did you tip them? Ayato: €500 Ayaka: ON A €12 MEAL??

================ IWHEJSUD I’m still in love with this AU. Maybe it’s partially because I’m a big Ayato simp…I didn’t write a meeting scenario, y’all can let your imaginations run wild with that 👀

If youse like this I’m more then happy to write more :D

[userparamore]

I get that you don’t like Taylor but can you not see paramores growth as band because of the eras tour they seem so happy to be on that stage every night be grateful for that

first of all i don't really understand why you're coming for me over post that isn't even mine. second of all i'm allowed to be a fan of a band and be critical of them at the same time, and i've expressed my disappointment over this since the tour was announced. i'm not gonna beat a dead horse and bring up why i'm critical of this tour again in this answer, but the act of them being on this tour really says a lot about them for me in a negative way, and i think it's hypocritical of them after preaching about sustainability and equal rights for all.

paramore is also not some small indie band no one has heard of. they've been doing this for 20 years, they've sold out big venues, played madison square garden multiple times, they played their biggest show ever on the this is why aus&nz tour with 26,283 tickets sold in sydney. multiple of their biggest songs on spotify is close to a billion streams and they have 21 million monthly listeners. all this growth they've done, they've done on their own- sure it's nice that more people discover them, but they didn't need this tour to be successful. they already were.

also for me personally, this tour leaves a bad taste in my mouth. i come from a country where if i'm lucky they tour once every album cycle. i've been lucky to see them 2 times and the last time was in 2017. they played a festival so i didn't get to see a full set. they've been to my country four times total and 1 concert wasn't a festival. the eras tour didn't have a show in my country, and i wasn't about to fight swifties for tickets that are extremely expensive. in the end my friend ended up having a spare ticket to one of the vienna shows bc the person they were originally gonna go with ended up not being able to go, and i was asked if i wanted to go. me and this friend first became friends bc we both liked paramore, and they've never been able to see them live. travelling to vienna to have that experience together, i would sit through 3h of taylor swift for. i spent close to 2000 dollars on the whole trip including the ticket, for it to end up being cancelled. very happy we didn't die, but it still sucked to have spent all that money and the not be able to go. especially since this would've been my friend's first paramore live experience.

i'm happy they're having fun playing their greatest hits for 3 months. i'm happy for my mutuals who's been able to go and have had a good time. the money they earn will probably go to their new label, and hopefully we won't have to wait 5 years for new music. but don't tell me to be grateful.

i try my best to make this community a welcoming space. i try my best to contribute with gifs and edits, and post news when there are news. i've hosted countdown events, i've hosted/made zines, i've hosted gif challenges. i want to do all these things bc it's fun to be part of this community and i love the friends i've made here. but i can still do all those things, and not have to kiss paramore's ass. i can still express myself and speak on the things i don't agree with bc it's my blog. we've had "debates" in my inbox before, people have expressed their opinions on paramore before, and it's always respectful which i appreciate. we as a community can disagree on things and still be a community.

[brokenorbornthatway]

Rant time:

If you're against youth lib, we are not and can not be friends. I'm willing to have civil discussion, but fuck you if you're adamant that children deserve their current place in society. My sibling is but a few months from 18 and still our parents subjucate him. When he disagrees with their abuse too loudly, they respond by locking down his phone so hard he can't even contact CPS when he wants to report the abuse and the call wouldn't go through when he called the police to see if they could put him in contact with CPS. When the cops showed up at the door, my parents proceeded to turn off his phone service so that he is completely unable to reach out for any sort of help and support. I have no way of knowing if he's okay or not. He has a bedtime of fucking 10pm still. He isn't allowed to get a job so that he can make some money to buy himself a burner phone. He isn't allowed to get up at night and eat a fucking donut. He isn't allowed to make his own choices about his diet at all so he does what nearly every food denied kid does; hides food in his room and sneaks food when they're asleep. He's outright terrified of spending the summer with them and has no freedom to choose otherwise. My mother tells him that he's the abusive one and threatens to hit him and to call the police when he responds to her abuse by doing things like cutting off the heads of the roses my step father got her. I had to explain to him that he cannot be the abuser when he has none of the power and she has all of it and what darvo is. He's almost an adult and has no freedom whatsoever. He's a prisoner in their household with his only reprieve being mental health facilities that treat him poorly in different ways.

No child deserves this. Children are fully autonomous people who deserve to be treated as such. Children should have the right to get themselves help and to basic freedoms. Children deserve the ability to say "no, that's not right, you shouldn't treat me that way" and not be punished for it. A 17 year old ought to be treated as and have the freedom of a near adult. No child should be forced to choose between finishing school in an abusive home or dropping out to move out as soon as they turn 18. If you think that parents know best and that the current system of parents having 100% of the power is the correct course of action, I want nothing to do with you.

[3hks]

Tips to Create a GOOD Relatable Character

Let's be real: we all love a good character that's unique and stands out from all the other boring ones because they're so different. They diverge from what we're used to. Thus, if the author pulls it off correctly, they become a fan favorite! Though they may be dissimilar from the other characters, they may be more alike to you than you initially assumed. Authors do this by keeping the character distinctive while throwing in some relatable qualities. Now, most people won't consciously notice these similarities, but they will be able to register them!

When creating a major character, relatability is one of the most important yet overlooked characteristics. It is able to fuel empathy within the reader, which keeps them interested in the story. And these are a few tips on how to create this effect!

There are several things you must remember when writing. Firstly, books and novels are shared with people. They are meant for others to read, but your purpose for writing shouldn't be for society. Write what you want to, what you believe in! Write for yourself! This allows you to express your ideas and emotions freely on paper. Secondly, you aren't alone. People have gone through what you have before, and while some experiences are unique to you only, there are definitely experiences we all share. The point is, someone will find parts of your character relatable and someone else won't. That's okay. Thirdly, you don't need to express yourself through only one character. Personally, I spread traits I have over many of my different characters as I see fit.

I think that those basics help you realize that your character's relatability should be built on what you believe, what you feel, and your experiences. Not anyone else's. And don't worry, many readers will still be able to connect with such traits! Now, onto the REAL thing! :D

You must understand yourself and your emotions on a deep level. Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? How did it feel? Did you break down? Did you not care? If something you've been through does happen in your writing and you find your answer similar to an answer your character might have, include it! Because then, you're writing from your heart, the event means more to you because you lived it! For the readers who haven't been in such a situation or reacted in an akin way, they will still notice the quality of writing and don't think that they won't empathize!

Your character does not need to consistently be relatable to the reader, it can be overwhelming and not to mention, a wide spread. In addition, the character will seem more basic. Sometimes, just a humane act from someone that isn't so benevolent will gain the audience's empathy, and that's really all you're trying to achieve. You want people to understand your characters. (This can also apply to the type of character I mentioned in the first paragraph). Perhaps you have a cold character with violent tendencies. A humane act for such a character may be saving or showing compassion for someone, but you have to consider their personality, it's most likely that they won't save a random stranger. Instead, it might be someone close to them. If you really want it to be surprising, then maybe they save an enemy! When the reader sees something like this happen, it will slightly alter how they view the character, and the moment will be more impactful because it's unexpected.

While in my opinion, the best way to create a relatable character is by channeling yourself into them, some people will disagree. In this case, you may want to focus more on feelings because more people will understand the emotions a character goes through better than their choices. However, this will work best on a more simplistic yet important character. One that isn't too complex, and will act like how most people would in their shoes. This could be the main character, even, as many authors try to make their lead relatable to the reader.

This is getting too long, (apologies) so in conclusion, you cannot make every character relatable, they all act and think differently. Reveal their qualities through small snippets at a time during appropriate moments! Different people will find different things relatable, anyway, so use your experiences as a guide! I hope that this will help!

Happy writing~

3hks :)