#and I haven't seen that acknowledged during this strike at all

[anyroads]

Posts I've seen in just the last week:

AO3 is one of the most visited sites in the world

It's ok if your fanfic [that you're writing for free in your spare time] is unfinished! You do you!

How very dare these WGA writers not finish writing my stories for me [that they spend full work days every day working on] just because they don't get compensated fairly for their paid labor and decided to go on strike?

Respect unions! Unionize your workplace! Respect picket lines!

Posts I have not seen ever but maybe it's just me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

AO3 would not exist without the paid writers who are currently striking. You would have no stories to write fanfic of. The entire world your fic exists in was created by someone else's labor.

[sixosix]

YOU GOTTA LEAVE BEFORE YOU GET LEFT | LYNEY

warnings profanity, angsty fighting (violence but it’s not descriptive), 3.7k words!

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The House of the Hearth is quiet around this hour, save for the soft snores coming from the rooms, or the clink-clink-clink of your polearm when hitting your arms. Lynette has already crashed somewhere, but Lyney can’t sleep a wink. At least, if you asked him what he’s doing in the training room alone watching you, that’s what he would say.

Thankfully, you haven’t asked; didn’t even acknowledge when he slipped into the room.

Lyney hasn’t been able to stop thinking about a few nights ago when he saw a glimpse of something real from you. Your smile and his newfound determination to defeat you to see more of it.

Sweat rolls off your temple, your breath visible in a silhouette of a misty cloud. You strike the air as if it’s insulted you greatly. With one final swing, you pause, turning to look at him.

Lyney can tell something is wrong. Your eyes are heavier; your movements are more sluggish than usual. This is the first time he’s seen you in a few days, with him going out for missions and coming back to hear that you’ve been cooped up in the training room day and night, frustration rolling off of you in waves.

Lyney smiles instead. “Would you like to spar?”

Your gaze is intense. Lyney could see a flame sparking in them when he asked you. But it fades when you ask, “Lyney, ‘Father’ has just returned yesterday, right? Has she talked to you at all?”

Lyney blinks. “Oh, um. No, I haven't really seen ‘Father’.”

Your shoulders loosen. “Alright.”

Then, you stand before him—all Lyney needs as an answer.

He’s gotten better with a bow, his only form of weapon during missions when they get a little more dangerous than prying information. But he only gets to feel the thrill of it when he’s facing you, who’s always one step ahead.

He bows. “It is an honor.”

Something of a smile flickers on your face when he looks back up. “You always say that whenever we do this.”

Lyney beams, pleased to hear you speak to him beyond anything related to training. “It’s no lie.”

“Then,” you twirl your polearm around in a hypnotizing circle, and Lyney feels a near-maniacal grin creep up his face, “overcome me.”

Lyney takes the first shot, no longer surprised when you barely flinch as you swerve. You move as swiftly as his arrows. He fires another shot, then another, and another at a rapid pace. As expected, you dodge and deflect all of them with ease. Even when not at your full best, you can easily conquer everyone.

But Lyney’s been watching closely. His eyes follow every shift, catching each minuscule movement of how you favor one side more than the other or how your eyes are fixed on his weapon and nothing else.

You start drawing closer, your steps so fluid that anyone else wouldn’t have noticed it. Lyney conceals a smile.

Your eyes widen when Lyney disappears into a twirl of cards, fading out of view, disappearing into nothingness, just like that.

You pant, looking around warily, “How did you—” only for your breath to hitch when Lyney materializes right behind you, kicking your weapon off your staggered grip and aiming his arrow right at your head.

His eyes are narrowed as if facing a real enemy—as if preparing to actually shoot with one wrong move. But that’s not right, because how could Lyney ever bring himself to hurt you when you smile at him like that?

“That was…new,” you say, breathing heavily. Your exhaustion is getting to you now.

Lyney’s lungs are doing just as bad. “Thank you,” he manages to say, sensing a compliment when he hears one. “It’s only right for a magician to have tricks up his sleeves, right?”

He doesn’t know how to tell you that he’s taken advantage of your state. Had you not been visibly tired, you never would’ve fallen for his trick. It’s victory, but he doesn’t feel as if he’s really won.

Now that you admit defeat, Lyney says, “Let’s take a break.”

To his delight, you murmur a yes. Now that’s victory.

The orphanage has become used to the sight of the magician twins tailing after you, with Lyney grinning smugly and Lynette close behind because, really, her brother was just tagging along. And some other times, they’ve become used to the sight of Lynette curled up on the couch with Freminet resting his head on her lap while you yell at Lyney to piss off, and he doesn’t piss off.

You’ve even come to admit them as friends. Mostly Lynette, though. Lyney’s just there because they’re twins.

Lyney pouts. “I mean, we’re basically friends now, right?”

You send him a strange look. “What are you talking about? No, we’re not.”

“Whaaat?”

You push his face away when he’s decided to come up all over your personal space. “I like your sister better.”

“Lynette and I are twins!” he whines.

“Completely different people, still.”

Lynette does a mischievous half-smile, blinking slowly. “Don’t tease him too much,” she said. “He’ll cry when it comes to you.”

Lyney splutters. “Lynette!”

Thankfully, the Archons are on his side. You don’t look too deeply into Lynette’s words, simply laughing and returning back to your food, chatting comfortably with his sister and Freminet. Despite all the bickering, Lyney feels warm inside.

“Lyney,” you say, catching his gaze. “Do you want to spar later?”

Lyney’s heart soars. “Yes, of course.”

In the comfort of their own room, Lynette strikes.

“Y/N is really nice,” Lynette says when Lyney is practicing tricks with his hat. “You think so, too, right?”

Lyney doesn’t know where this is going. He fumbles with the rose. “Mhm. Yeah.”

Tonight is particularly cold; the old-fashioned fireplace is barely doing anything. Lyney wants to check on the training room—it’s always much warmer there.

Lynette shifts beside him, and Lyney can feel the weight of her infinitely keen stare. “And you also think that you should tell me who you’re practicing those flowers for, right?”

“I—what—” Lyney’s face goes hot. “It’s for my tricks, Lynette! What are you trying to imply?”

His sister sniffs, as if Lyney is just an insignificant little thing. “I don’t know what you and Y/N have been doing lately, but I'm happy to see you happy.”

Lynette smiles at him. “I haven’t seen you like this for so long. I’ll do my best to not let anything take this away from you.”

Speechless, Lyney could only utter: “Lynette…”

In all honesty, Lyney doesn’t know what changed—doesn’t know how it shifted into something else he can’t quite put a finger on. Maybe it’s the fact that he and his sister have a home now, despite the fact that it’s an intelligence source for the Harbingers. Or maybe it’s…something deeper than that, something to do with you.

“It’s really nothing,” Lyney says softly. “You don’t have to do anything, okay? I promise you.”

Lynette nods, trusting her brother easily. “Okay. I just don’t want you to lose this.”

Ha, as if he could even bring himself to do that.

“Hey, is Lyney in this room?” someone yells, rapping on the door frantically. “Father’s looking for Lyney. Is Lynette here?”

“What…?” Lyney mumbles, turning to the window and belatedly noticing sunlight peeking through from the sides of the curtains. “Oh no. I didn’t get any sleep.”

“And ‘Father’ is looking for you,” Lynette says, amused. “Go, Lyney. Shoo.”

Lyney scurries off and nods politely at the person who had summoned him. He pads over to the dining table, where ‘Father’ is always waiting, desserts laid before her.

“Lyney,” she greets. Lyney felt the hair rise on the back of his neck, but also warmth spread throughout his chest, happy to see the person who had changed his and his sister’s life. “Come. Would you like a plate?”

Eating something sugary while he lacks sleep is not the brightest idea. “No, thank you, ‘Father’.”

“Alright,” she says lightly, taking a bite and indulging in her cake for a long pause. “You’ve been training hard, haven’t you?”

“Yes, ‘Father’.” He sits somewhere that’s a chair away from her, too nervous to sit close and too afraid to sit too far. He still doesn’t know what ‘Father’ thinks of him, or what to think of ‘Father’.

“And you’ve gotten stronger since receiving your Vision.” It sounds like a question, but that’s not right. ‘Father’ always knows what’s happening in the House of the Hearth.

“…Yes,” Lyney says slowly, unsure where this is heading.

Arlecchino leans back, pleased. “Hm. Good.”

Lyney isn’t quite sure what’s happening, but she asks about how he and his sister are doing, and they get involved in an almost-something-of-a casual conversation. Lyney’s nerves are on high alert the entire time, as if suspecting that this is a test. But after that, ‘Father’ dismisses him before Lyney can start being suspicious.

He doesn’t think too much of it. He leaves the room and feels as if he could melt on the floor from exhaustion.

Someone sees him and claps him on the back, startling him enough to wake him up. She glances at the door he just came out of and hums lowly. “Did ‘Father’ call for you?”

“Yes.”

“Ha,” she snorts. “Guess that’ll happen a lot when you're the next successor, huh? Lucky you.”

“Yeah,” Lyney agrees, though he doesn’t really know what it means. He doesn’t really care because at least ‘Father’ still wants to keep them around.

Most importantly of all, in this orphanage, Lyney has been having the time of his life. His sparring with you has led him to a tentative friendship of sorts. He can confidently say he knows you as well as he knows Lynette and Freminet. He’s been living in bliss, always pleased to have a home and a family to come back to, no matter how gruesome the mission they’re sent to.

He and Lynette have been seeing the House off with missions successfully fulfilled, and ‘Father’ has acknowledged their loyalty. Their worth. Whispers about successors get louder. Lyney pays them no mind—this is only them acknowledging his worth.

Days would pass. Lyney would perform tricks for his fellow orphans. Lynette would tell him that she’d rather not be in the spotlight. Days would pass. You would keep on overworking yourself, and Lyney would try to pull you away from it.

“Y/N,” Lyney announces his presence with just your name, standing by the doorway.

You don’t flinch nor even waver from your moves, nearly dancing with how swiftly you move across the grassy field. It’s easier to talk over the slash over your weapon this time, at least, with the sounds spreading across the evening air. Lyney can shout and he doesn’t have to fear waking up anyone.

He has to wake you up first, though.

“Y/N,” he tries again, his fingertips beginning to burn underneath the steaming plate. Despite his connection with fire, his skin is beginning to feel irritated—or perhaps it’s proof of how long he’s been carrying your dinner. “Your food’s gonna get cold.”

“Leave it there,” you finally answer, slowing to a halt. Your back is facing him, posture perfect, and Lyney’s star-struck even in moments like this.

“And you’re going to eat it?”

“I will.”

That’s what you said last time, and Lyney came back to a full plate, untouched even by ants. Lyney decides to stay, content with watching over you until you tire and give in. He’s been hearing that you’re relentless, not even sparing a single glance to anyone.

“Why have you been practicing so hard recently? Is ‘Father’ punishing you? Did you sneak out again?”

You deign to face him with a fierceness that could match the fire of his Vision. “As if ‘Father’ has even looked at me.”

Lyney blinks slowly. “...What?”

Then—it was that moment that Lyney realized this was more serious than he realized—you school your expression into something blank. He was asking the wrong questions. He feels like there’s an invisible wall between the two of you, even when he’s already far away.

“You all have something I don’t,” you say, lowering your weapon. “Tell me, Lyney, if I start slacking off, will she even look at me the way she does to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Your expression grows colder. “You wouldn’t understand. Who am I kidding? Just leave the food; I’ll eat it.”

“How do I know that?” he asks weakly.

“Take the hint, Lyney. I want to be alone right now.”

Days would pass. Lyney gets busier—his life gets more hectic. He starts performing on stages, small ones, but stages with props galore nonetheless. Lynette starts to feel more confident joining him, but she still has to work on her expressions. Days would pass. Lyney sees you less often. Your thread is snapping.

He enters the training room, where it’s been eerily silent. Not even Freminet nor Lynette tried to train today as if sensing danger from inside. But all he sees inside is you, staring silently at the wall, heaving.

Lyney sees your state and winces, your shoulder hiked to your ears and your expression unpleasant. “Y/N,” he calls out softly, “Are you okay?”

You’re really not, and it’s obvious, but how else does Lyney approach this?

You take a too-long moment to respond, eyes distant. “I’m…fine.”

Lyney hesitates, wildly looking around the room for something to distract you with. “Do you want to spar?”

“No.”

He should’ve known the moment he noticed you were acting strange: there’s something bothering you enough to leave you trapped in the training room. He tries to think hard about it, looking back at the first moment you were acting off. He comes up with nothing.

“Lyney,” you say, “you should leave.”

“No,” he says firmly. “I’m not leaving if you’re going to keep this up.”

“Lyney,” you say, facing him fully with a scowl. “That was not a question. Leave.”

“Y/N, I…” Lyney thinks and thinks. What has been happening recently? He’s been sent off for missions far too often that he hasn’t been able to notice this sooner. How long has this been happening? Why is this happening?

If anything, you’re far too prideful to show your weakness. To break down like this so suddenly… How will ‘Father’ react to this? Surely, she would put a stop to it if you were always next to her. But he hasn’t seen you next to ‘Father’ in so long. In fact, he’s…

Lyney stares cautiously. “Are their words bothering you?”

“They’re always talking.” That’s not a yes, but Lyney feels like he should take it as one. “Lately, they’ve been talking much louder than before.”

“That’s it, isn’t it? It’s about ‘Father’’s successor?”

Your mouth curls up in a snarl. “Don’t rub it in my face. You, of all people, shouldn’t ask that to me.”

Lyney’s heart sinks. So it was him who was causing this. “Whatever you’re hearing isn’t true.”

“What? Don’t make me out to be so stupid. You spar with me to gauge my weaknesses. You want to become the next successor.”

“I don’t want to become the next anything,” he pleads, instinctively taking a step back when you inch closer.

“That’s what it is, right? You see me as a challenge? So that’s what you meant?” Something is terribly wrong. You’re looking in his direction, but he doesn’t feel the weight of your gaze—like you’re only seeing through him.

Lyney frowns. He’s being cornered. “No, what—”

“I changed my mind,” you say, your shoulders tensing and the grip on your weapon tightening until your knuckles turn white. “You don’t want to leave? Fight me. Now. Prove that you’re worth more than me.”

“Y/N,” Lyney says lowly. “You’re not thinking straight right now. I don’t want to—”

You strike at his side. Lyney only manages to block it because of his experience with close combat from you, but this one is different. His eyes widen. That one hurt bad, leaving a buzzing ache on his skin. That’ll leave a bruise that won’t leave for weeks.

“Fight me,” you whisper, desperate, crazed. “Fight me.”

You demand it, but you don’t give Lyney a chance to react, attacking once again. Lyney blocks it off with his body and bites down a whimper of pain at the impact; at what sounded like the crack of bones.

“Y/N, stop—”

“Shut the fuck up,” you snarl. “Bring out your weapon. Fight me. You’re the next successor, aren’t you?”

“Y/N,” Lyney says, trying to get a hold of your wrists. “Y/N, you’re crying.”

“I’m—” You inhale sharply, a sob wracking through your shoulders. “Shut up. Stop talking. You don’t know what’s happening. Fight me—just fight me. Why aren’t you fighting back?”

Lyney hates that you’re right—he doesn’t know what’s happening. He feels entirely useless. The person he looks up to, who has made him the better version of himself, and made him want to excel in everything he does for praise, is losing her mind right in front of him—he can’t even give you what you want.

“Why aren’t you fighting back? Isn’t this what you wanted?!”

“I didn’t want this!” Lyney shouts, moving swiftly to dodge the swing of your polearm. It misses him by a hair's breadth. Your fervid cries are making him lose composure. He doesn’t know what to do—doesn’t know how to make you stop.

“Pathetic,” you say, knocking him down. “This is who they’re calling the next successor? Beaten by someone who doesn’t have a Vision.”

Visions. Lyney learned that oftentimes, they dictate the fate and the potential of the orphans here. Those with Visions are sent off on more dangerous missions, drastically stretching their capabilities. And it’s true—Lyney wasn’t allowed to join Lynette on missions when she was the first to get one out of the two of them.

“You are still weak.”

“Shut up,” Lyney says, forcing bile down his throat. He doesn’t want to believe it. He wants to convince himself that you don’t mean that, but that means nothing if he thinks it, too. “Visions mean nothing.”

“To you, they don’t!”

Then, to Lyney’s horror, you swerve your entire body and strike to attack him with your everything. The bruises all over his skin sting, and his brain chants danger, danger. He panics, forcing a wave of fire to crash over and protect himself, but blue washes over his vision for a split second, and then he’s face to face with a tsunami of ice.

Ice.

Lyney blinks once, then looks down at his arm and realizes it’s been frozen over. It’s covered in ice, extinguishing the fire that’s enveloped his skin.

“What…?” he says dumbly, more confused than anything.

He turns back to you and sees you shaking uncontrollably, clutching a Cryo Vision to your chest. You’re looking at it as if it’ll bite you.

“No, no…” You look back at Lyney, eyes round. “Lyney—”

His eyes widened. “No, Y/N, I’m sorry. I attacked you—you were just defending yourself—”

“Don’t console me, you idiot! I don’t know how to—get it off—” You cry out, roughly wiping away tears that are trickling down. The frost is creeping up on your face, turning your lips to blue. “Get away from me…!”

The numbness is getting to his arm, and he’ll probably get hypothermia if he keeps on ignoring it, but he can’t bring himself to do anything when you’re wailing and terrified of your own self.

Lyney’s hands hover around you, unsure if he should touch you and risk it. “It’s okay, I promise, just—just breathe—”

You slap his hand away, crumbling even more at the sight of his frozen arm.

“Y/N,” he breathes.

Then, your face is carefully blank, shutting him off—worse than any wall of ice. Then, you snatch your polearm from the ground and scramble away. Lyney rushes to follow after, but you’ve flicked your hand, and the door is blocked off by a thick wall of ice. Great. Just great.

Desperately, Lyney melts them away, but your footsteps have already gone out of earshot. It’s an answer in itself: Don’t bother. Take the hint, Lyney; you already messed it up.

“Fuck!” Lyney hisses, throwing his bow to the ground, causing it to crack and splinter against the cold tiles.

“Calm down,” he says to himself, thawing his arm with his Pyro. The sudden change in temperature hurts, but that doesn’t compare to what he’s feeling right now. “Y/N will be back. Calm down. Patience.”

It’s pouring uncontrollably outside. You shiver, shaking with each desperate step you take to get far, far away from the orphanage—from Lyney. The rain has melted the ice that’s crawling all over your face and fingers, but you can still feel it humming under your skin as if one wrong move and you’d kill something.

How ironic. Goading Lyney into using his Vision led to you getting yours. What a fucking joke.

You navigate through the crowd, hiding your Vision and speeding through. The gods have perceived you and blessed you because you’re worthy. Why only now? Why is it that it’s only when you’ve accepted you’re not worthy compared to Lyney?

You are still weak. You said it aloud, but you know more than anyone that it was not meant for Lyney.

A door swing opens, and you nearly slam onto it, if not for you skidding to a halt a second off.

The woman with brown locks and bright eyes who opened the door blinked curiously. “Hey, kid. What are you doing out here in this thunderstorm?”

You must look like a sight. Bruised and freezing, as flighty as a frightened animal. “I—U-Uhm…”

You’re given no script to follow this time. What should you say? What do you do?

You can feel all your limbs trembling. No—you can barely feel at all. “I’m fine. Miss. I was just… playing. I mean, running back home.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” she says, taking it upon herself to ruin her dry dress and usher you inside. “Don’t worry. Come. Seek shelter here while waiting for it to die down.”

“I’m fine,” you try to say, but the inviting warmth inside has your next words dying. “You don’t have to do this, miss… I’m…”

Dangerous. Nearly killed the person that warmed his way through your heart. You frightened him. You frighten yourself.

“None of that.” She pokes your forehead, making you blink up at her in bewilderment. “You think too hard for your age. Come, I have tea and spare clothes.”

You obediently sit. Perhaps tea will help. With how tight you’re clutching your Vision, its frost is beginning to crawl up your arms.

i found it rly interesting lyney doesn’t wanna become the next successor, so i used it for plot! >:) ty for reading!!! if u reached all the way here im giving u a kiss on ur forehead

TAGLIST.

@thenyxsky @aeferkssr @1mewo1 @lacrimae-lotos @meigalaxy @hyacinth-daze @miwafei @popochakku @svasilios @heyhazelnut101 @kruinka @waveto-earth @superstar-ethereal @mxplesyrvp @achilleas-dream @episodecete @jellifizz 

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

サスケはオレにとっちゃ深いダチって訳 でもねーし.... 別に好きな奴でもねェ

Sasuke wa ore ni toccha fukai dachi tte wake demonē shi....betsu ni sukina yatsu demonē

Sasuke is not my deepest/best friend and I don't.... I don't even like him

Here Shikamaru is openly admitting that he doesn't like Sasuke.

Even though he doesn't like him personally.... he is willing to put his life on the line to rescue Sasuke. Why?? Chouji and Neji went to the brink of death during the Sasuke retrieval arc. We haven't seen these boys have a friendly interaction with Sasuke yet. So, Why are they helping him?? Nakama is more like an associate amongst a group of people or people who are in the same team/group and have the same goal, dream, or purpose. Nakama also means one that is of the same nation. Even if they don't like or get along with each other, they are still your '仲間 nakama'. That's why they were willing to risk their lives to rescue Sasuke because Sasuke also belongs to the same village as them. After they heard about that Sasuke was joining the Akatsuki, an organization that destroyed Konoha, the Konoha 12 decided to kill Sasuke.

✲ Even Sasuke is a nakama of Naruto, but the nature of their relationship is not the same as between nakama.

✲ A boy who worked hard to gain the acknowledgement of others, leading him to the dream of becoming a Hokage. A boy who refused to die until he became Hokage. Ready to die with Sasuke

✲ persistent uncertainty, doubt and confusion about their relationship.

✲ longing

We know...Naruto always saves others because he can't leave someone so similar to him alone.

In Gaara's case, Naruto understood him, but on the other hand, he was literally threatening to kill him if he didn't stop his rampage. From the panels above you can see how the expression in his eyes changes, his eyes with angry veins show that his emotions are heightened.

If Sakura was included among his important person, he could have saved her from Gaara. She became important in here only because Sasuke was on that team.

If he considered Sakura as an important person, Naruto would never smile like this after Sasuke literally tried to kill her.

And he clearly stated that his only bonds are Iruka and Sasuke.

Naruto empathized with Gaara and tried his best to save him. And he was crying. That's understandable! But, Why is he mentioning Sasuke here?

Seeing Gaara's dead body... He said: ぶん殴ってやる = bunnagutteyaru -> (I'll) beat the hell out of (you). Then he strikes Deidara repeatedly with his fists as he said. But when Sasuke died, Naruto's words and feelings were very different from Gaara's. Kishimoto did the scene very vaguely. Zooming out of the panels as Naruto leans into Sasuke and slowly closing their gap it's as if Kishi is giving them a private moment.

When his master Jiraiya died, he did not go into a rage because he chose not to voluntarily seek the power of the Kyuubi. But he cried a river of tears. But, At the end of the Pain arc, even though he wanted to kill them so badly, we saw a new and more matured Naruto as he forgave the enemy who destroyed his home and killed his master. And he also wanted to end the cycle of Hatred by carrying on Jiraiya's Will.

But this all turned upside down when he heard that Danzo had decided to eliminate Sasuke and Raikage has decided to kill Sasuke.

Naruto wouldn't let them kill Sasuke and or stop the chain of hatred by forgiving them. Naruto implies that if Sasuke is killed there will be a war.

友情 yuujou is a common word for "friendship". 友情- you and me. You can use this word when you want to refer to a good relationship of friends. 友情 refers to the wonderful feelings such as affection and love that occur between 友達 tomodachi - close friends. You can sacrifice yourself for other people. 友情 is a deeper and more personal friendship.

As you can see, Naruto calls Sasuke his Tomodachi in the panel above, and here the Raikage tells him that this is not considered friendship in the shinobi world.

✲ Have we ever seen a moment where he said he would start a war when Jiraiya, Gaara, Kakashi or any other Nakama died?

✲ Have we ever seen Naruto kneel down and beg in front of others?

✲ Have we ever seen him say that he can't become Hokage if he can't save others?

✲ Have we ever seen him offered to give up his life for anyone?

He did all this only for Sasuke. Just only for him. Sasuke alone. Because his feelings goes beyond Friendship....

And also, Naruto starts hyperventilating and has a panic attack when he learnt that everyone turned their back on Sasuke.

[itsclydebitches]

I find it striking that the show gave us two shots of Trent stopping a door right before it closes, in back-to-back episodes, with the first instance inevitably informing our reading of the second. Meaning, once that particular, distinctive shot is associated with Trent following Colin to come out to him/reassure him about being queer, seeing that shot again - especially so soon - automatically makes us go, "Okay, so what does this have to do with the themes of queer sexuality and coming out? Is this another case of Trent, on a literal level, running after a queer man?"

In a very general sense, this scene did have Trent 'come out' again: as a "dork," as autistic (based on many fans' reading of his enthusiasm and body language), as a total convert to the "Lasso Way," as a genuinely happy person after nearly three whole seasons of playing the cool, collected, despairingly cynical journalist. However, the takeaway is not just that Trent is finally comfortable enough to fully express himself, it's that he overtly acknowledges that Ted is the one who brought this about. Remember, "sport" is the metaphor and here everything Trent discusses about Total Football is really just a figurative expression of his love of Ted.

He's not even subtle about it, what with his language entirely focused on Ted's individual influence, rather than emphasizing the work the team has put in, or their own significant influences. (It's a biased focus that Trent indulges in despite Jamie straight up saving the day an hour before with Trent right there, watching him do it). He starts the scene by screaming Ted's name, says the strategy will work because of the Lasso Way, you haven't switched tactics, you've done this over three seasons. Trent might think that the fourth point doesn't matter, but really he's already discovered it. The last piece of the puzzle is Ted (or more broadly, the love that Ted helps flourish). A team can have conditioning, versatility, and awareness, but if they haven't formed the kind of bond we see when the boys are putting that water bottle into Will's basket, all of those others skills will come to naught when pit against the fluid, trust-based tactics of Total Football. That's the final condition that Ted has brought about and Trent's celebration of it is, by default, a celebration of Ted himself. Coupled with our opening door-stop that invites a, 'What gay quest is Trent heading out on now?' question, it's no wonder I've seen so many, "I thought Trent was going to kiss him" comments the last 24 hours. YEAH because that's how this scene is framed! Trent is newly out to the audience. He's paralleling his previous queer-focused plot-line. He's the most himself we've ever seen him while enthusiastically celebrating the existence of the man in front of him. What isn't romantic about that?

I also can't help but think about the door itself as a metaphor; of a possibility almost closing... only to be halted at the last possible second. We have the expression "When God closes a door he opens a window," yet in this episode we're explicitly told that God is not a part of this dynamic, so instead it's Trent - the supposed "observer" - who stops the door before it can close in the first place. He kept alive the possibility that Colin could find peace with someone about his sexuality and now he's keeping alive Ted's faith in his own coaching style... as well as the possibility for their romantic involvement (canon-based or fanon-based).

I know the "straight" comment disappointed a lot of fans, but the way I see it we have an episode where Ted's sexuality is framed in the past tense, while we get a shot of Trent giving him a I Know What You Are look similar to what Colin received, right after Ted gushes over loving a great head of hair + a clean-shaven look (Trent's vibe), alongside the meta (Lance's interviews) and canonical ("No, Sir / Yes, Ma'am") queering of Trent's gender, during a stint where a whole group of men are tied together by red strings of fate, right before one of those out men literally runs rom-com style after another to gush over how much he adores him while they're connected by their own strip of red.

[gnashing, wailing, etc. etc.] I BELIEVE

[bitterie-sweetie]

Set it up

Pairing: Seokmin (DK) x reader Genre: fluff WC: 6.2k A/N: happy bday and seokmin day nat @syuperseventeen !! this is the fic that i've been writing in our dms foreverrr and now it's finally here (*´∇｀*)

You have absolutely no idea how to get closer to your crush, but perhaps asking his best friend for some advice is the way to go.

The whole point was to get close to Mingyu. That’s really all you wanted.

You don’t remember when you first met him, exactly. For the longest time, he’s just been someone who’s there—the tall one at the center of the group, the one cheering for you when you finally scored a strike during bowling night, the one waiting for you by the bathrooms when the rest of your friends have already headed out the door. He would smile at you and ask how you were doing, but otherwise, the two of you have never really talked. Truthfully, you’re not sure he even knows your name.

But despite that, you do end up learning a lot about him at all these events your friends drag you to. You know he's a lefty, and that he's good at bowling and just about any sport under the sun. You know he's an amazing cook, or so everyone says, and on top of that he also likes to clean. Though what really sealed the deal might have to be the time he let you walk on the inside of the sidewalk, as if he were a character straight out of a drama.

Now, months later, you’ve finally acknowledged these budding feelings for Kim Mingyu. But while acknowledging is one thing, the problem that remains is how do you get closer to him? You’ve tried to strike up a conversation many times already but what is there to talk about? At the pizza place a couple of weeks ago, you nearly mentioned the Marvel movie you saw the previous weekend only to stop yourself—what if he’s also a fan and you accidentally spoiled the entire thing? Or maybe he's not a movie person at all and would just smile awkwardly and pretend he didn’t hear you. Is he a book person then? He might be. But you also couldn’t ask about that when you haven't read a single book since high school, and there's no way you'd be able to keep up with the conversation if that's what gets him talking.

So here you are, finally turning to his best friend, Seokmin, for advice. Saturday morning has you out at a cafe instead of getting your eight hours, but such sacrifices are necessary for the sake of love.

Seokmin comes back from the counter, carrying both of your drinks and setting them down on the table in front of you. He’s wearing his usual bright smile that you’ve seen a few times before, and it calms your rapid heart a little. You try to smile back at him.

Out of the people you know to be Mingyu’s friends, Seokmin seemed the most approachable. He’s friendly and outgoing, loves to laugh, and during your group outing at the arcade, the two of you even played a few games together. Besides, you definitely weren’t going to ask the one with the glasses when he hardly spoke and never looked your way once, and the one that dances—Minghao, according to Soonyoung—might just laugh at your request more than he’d help. Thus, Seokmin was the obvious choice. You thought that if anyone could help you out, surely it’d be him.

“So?” He looks at you, unblinking. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

You open your mouth, and then close it again when the words feel like they’re sticking to your throat. Maybe you shouldn’t have done this. Is it too late to turn back? But you remind yourself that it’d be a waste to have come all this way just to not go through with it. “Um, you know your friend Mingyu?”

“No, who’s that?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you how I could get closer to him. Like, maybe you can tell me what his ideal type is? What are his interests? Does he have siblings and is he close to his family? Do you think you could maybe put in a good word for me the next time you talk to him? Maybe even… set us up on a date or something?”

Seokmin simply stares at you for a while and then blinks. Silence lingers in the air and each second that passes only makes your cheeks heat up more and more. Great, you said way too much. What kind of person bombards their crush’s friend with a random session of rapid-fire questions anyway?

And then, just as you imagined in your worst-case scenarios, he laughs. "Oh? You want me to be your wingman or something?" He manages to squeeze out.

Oh.

You don't laugh with him.

He stops laughing. "You can't be serious?"

"Well, not exactly a wingman but you're Mingyu's friend. Maybe you could give me some advice? Help me out a bit?"

“Hmm,” Seokmin considers for a moment. "Yeah, I've known Mingyu for a long time..." He raises a brow, and the corner of his lip lifts a little. "He's a tough person to get to know; usually he’s so friendly with everyone that you'd never know what he actually likes.”

“Right, that’s exactly why I need your help.”

“Are you sure about this? Because you're going to need some intensive training."

You don't know what he means by that. Is he saying you’re unworthy? That you’ve got no game? That—well, actually, he’s probably right. You’re here begging for his help after all. But despite this being a slight bruise to your ego, you’re sure whatever advice he can give must be better than the things Soonyoung has been telling you to do.

“Yeah,” you give a firm nod, “I’m sure. Let’s do it.”

“Okay!” Seokmin lifts his cup, holding it out for you to bump yours against, and then the deal is sealed.

And so, the plan begins.

After the initial meeting at the cafe, you meet him every few days when the two of you have time. Tuesday afternoon at the library is when Seokmin tells you where Mingyu usually hangs out—at the lounge in the finance building—and then Wednesday is when you swing by and entirely miss him. You get dinner with Seokmin on Thursday, just in time for your next opportunity, which presents itself as another group outing. This time at a board game cafe.

“I’ll create an opportunity so that you can sit beside him,” he says nonchalantly like it’s the easiest thing in the world, then proceeds to shove nearly the entire sandwich in his mouth.

“Right… but then what? What do I do after that?”

He looks at you mid-chew. You wait. Ten minutes go by. “The rest is in the hands of the OTP gods, Y/N.”

You do end up sitting next to Mingyu, with Seokmin on Mingyu’s other side, but that turns out to be the least of your worries. Sitting there has you picking up a stack of twelve cards during a game of Uno, when the two best friends stack their plus four cards to pass the punishment along to you. So much for sitting beside Mingyu. At least it gets him to laugh, though it’s Seokmin who’s having a good time at your expense, eyes sparkling and lip curling automatically when he meets your gaze.

Then the Saturday cafe session comes around again.

Seokmin sits down and crosses his arms, face unreadable. "Y/N, I barely pay attention to what’s going on around me and I still managed to see the way you tried to not-so-subtly get Mingyu's coffee order out of him yesterday. Please tell me it’s something you’ll never do again. You’re way too obvious. I am embarrassed for you."

Oh. So that’s what this is about.

"Okay, well," you frown at him, "if that was so bad then how would you do it then?"

"For starters, maybe don't mention it five times in a row while intentionally staring at him like you're waiting for an answer." He gives you a pointed look.

It was more like three times! Not five! "I wasn't staring," you mutter under your breath, though you know he's right. You're probably a lost cause at this rate and you still don't know what to do with the information that Kim Mingyu likes americanos.

As if he can sense your displeasure, Seokmin stops with the teasing after that. "Okay, first you just have to act natural. None of the googly eyes, the strange walks by his table when we're hanging out, and especially no interrogation questions."

“Uh huh.” You're skeptical. He’s making it sound way too easy. “And then what?”

“Then you talk to him like he’s just some guy.”

In the next moment, Seokmin puts on an impression of Mingyu so awful that it makes you entirely forget that you’d embarrassed yourself this time.

Soonyoung picks the arcade for the next week’s outing, and Seokmin tells you about all of the games that you could play with Mingyu. Shooting games, he says, are especially a good team bonding experience. Or you could battle it out on the DDR machines. But two rounds into the shooting game, Mingyu’s character is already dead, and while you manage to score a D on the DDR game, he ends up failing halfway through the song.

“So much for that plan,” you mutter, putting down the gun from the shooting game you’re about to quit. “Do you think I should’ve picked something easier?”

“Nah, that wouldn’t be fun.” Seokmin shakes his head and then takes out some tokens from his pocket. He puts them into the slot, then joins you by the spot where Mingyu left a moment ago. “We didn’t get to the end of the story last time, remember?”

You nod, feeling the grin creeping onto your face already. Seokmin is a good shot based on when you played this with him last time, and the two of you have perfect teamwork. “Let’s get it,” you say, high-fiving his outstretched hand. And before long, the night flies by and the two of you have used up all of your tokens.

Just like that, the two of you fall into a routine. Seokmin would give you a piece of advice, you’d attempt to use it the next time you see Mingyu, and then it’d fail. Then rinse and repeat.

It’s far from terrible, though. Seokmin might tease you a bit about your embarrassing moments and lack of progress, but you can’t be mad about it at all when spending time with him is ultimately a mood booster. He’s great at distracting you from not only your failure of a love life but from all of your school stresses as well, and more often than not, your hangouts tend to derail into something crazy and fun.

Sometimes you find yourself joining him in doing the awful impressions of your favourite Marvel characters, and other times you’re going to the convenience store to get late night snacks while having the world's largest debate over which kimbap flavour is the best. At some point you even dare each other to slurp the last of your bubble teas in the library as quietly as possible (spoiler alert: it doesn't go so well).

Even when it’s not so crazy, there’s never a dull moment with Seokmin. You get to learn a lot about him—after getting kicked out of the library, he shares his secret spot on campus with you and the two of you end up studying together there into the early hours of the morning. When you ask for a drink recommendation, he shares his extra customized Starbucks drink recipe. And when the sunrise slowly appears on the horizon and the two of you have given up on studying for the next midterm, he doesn’t shy away from telling you what he aspires to do after graduation, what he’s always dreamed of.

You end up falling asleep on his shoulder, and you think he’s going to make fun of you forever for it, but he simply smiles at you. An extra warm smile, washed by the golden rays of first light.

Then the two of you part ways and promise to meet each other again in a few days, although it never takes that long before he texts you a meme and you swing by his secret spot.

It does, however, make your friends notice your absence. Soonyoung corners you after your shared class one day to ask you where you’ve been, what you’ve been up to, and why he doesn’t seem to ever see you when you’re supposed to be best friends.

“Y/N, you’re not even going to study with us?” Soonyoung stands there, jaw dropping and mouth open in shock when you stand up to leave. Beside him, his girlfriend wears a milder version of the same expression. “Where are you going? We barely get to see you these days.”

“I have to go meet Seokmin now,” you say, picking up your bag. “I’ll see you guys next time, okay?”

He gives you a strange look. “Seokmin? Why are you meeting him? Did you guys become besties or something? Is that why you’ve been so MIA lately?”

“Yeah, kind of. Something like that.”

“Something like that,” Soonyoung repeats, unconvinced. “Are you guys dating?”

“What?” It’s your turn to give him a weird look. “No, Seokmin is just a friend. We’ve been hanging out and studying together, and he’s helping me with—”

Mingyu.

Kim Mingyu.

Even his name sounds unusual in your head, as if it’s a word you’ve repeated so many times that it has lost its meaning. But you know it’s the complete opposite of that: Mingyu’s name is unfamiliar to you because it hasn’t come up in a very long time.

“Y/N? You good?”

“Um, never mind. It’s a long story,” you quickly say, forcing a smile on your lips to hide the way your world has abruptly flipped upside down. “I’ll hang out with you guys next time, okay? I’ll even treat you to coffee.”

At the sound of that, Soonyoung’s frown turns into a grin but you barely have time to glance at it before you’re taking off.

The student center looks the same as it did last week and the week before that, and yet, it feels completely different this afternoon. You’re taken back to the first day you stepped in here to meet Seokmin, months ago, long before your memories of this place were filled with laughter and his funny impressions and all of the silly inside jokes you share.

Because how could you have forgotten the reason why you started all of this in the first place? How could Mingyu have slipped from your mind? You like him, for goodness’ sake! Perhaps you should be glad that Soonyoung’s questions served as a wakeup call and yanked you out of whatever reverie you were in, but now your stomach feels all queasy at just how far you’ve managed to stray from your original intentions.

“Hey,” Seokmin greets with his usual bright smile. He takes a seat across from you, and you can feel the corners of your lips instantly curving up. It really is that easy to forget, you think. One look at that smile and you’re in a bubble, with the outside world melting away. But you can’t forget any longer.

“Hi.”

He nearly does a double take. “Everything okay?”

“Um, yeah.” You need to figure out how to bring this up without making it weird, but at this point, it’s going to be weird either way. “I was just thinking about, um, well, we haven’t really gone out as a group for a while since everyone’s been busy and all. Maybe we can go after midterms.” You throw in a shrug to keep it nonchalant. “And maybe you can tell me if… Mingyu would be interested in that trendy restaurant we went to last month.”

You’re bringing that time up because it totally could’ve been a test run, or at least that’s what you tell yourself. That day, the rest of the group had cancelled on the original plans since some of them were busy, and so you and Seokmin spent the night looking for something fun to do followed by some good food. But maybe it’d be a good date spot with Mingyu; it was a great place after all. Maybe you wouldn’t feel like throwing up if you keep telling yourself that all of these activities you did, all the time that you invested over the past few months were for Mingyu.

You can see the moment Seokmin realizes it. The light that’s ever present in his eyes slowly fades until it completely disappears, and for the first time ever, his smile is gone. It makes one thing clear—you weren’t the only one who’d forgotten about Mingyu. Seokmin had forgotten about him too.

“Right,” he nods slowly, “I can ask him about that.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

There’s a silence that settles between the two of you, but not in the way it’d felt before. This time it’s dense, suffocating, foreboding, although you can’t exactly tell why you feel it and what it’s leading to. What’s the big deal about having gotten off track anyway? You can just correct your route and continue.

“Seokmin? And Y/N? Wow, I haven’t seen you guys in so long,” a voice comes floating over.

And when you look up, it’s Mingyu. Right in the flesh.

You can tell that his hair has grown out a bit and he’s dressed far more casually than you’ve ever seen him, but he still looks as good as always.

The two of you mutter your hellos but when no one seems to pick up the conversation, Mingyu ends up looking between you and Seokmin in a way that might lead to the same kind of misinterpretation that Soonyoung experienced.

No, you can’t risk having him get the wrong idea. “Mingyu,” you impulsively say, “do you want to go out for dinner with me this weekend?” There’s a slight emphasis on the me, so he doesn’t think it’s an us question.

A questioning look briefly flashes across his face, but to your surprise, Mingyu ends up nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

If it were the you from last term, there’d be no way such a bold question would ever come out of your mouth. But now, things are different. Now you can rashly throw out such propositions all for the sake of correcting yourself and getting back on track before more people get the wrong idea.

After chatting for a while, Mingyu leaves the two of you and says he'll talk to you soon. Oddly enough though, you barely feel any satisfaction afterwards—you're not jumping for joy or squealing in excitement like you once thought you’d be when in this situation. But isn’t this what you wanted?

Well, it’s no big deal. You tell yourself it’s because you’re still dumbfounded over his answer, especially when the two of you haven’t connected recently. Yes, that must be it. That must be why he slipped your mind in the first place; it’s not that your feelings for him faded, but just that you’ve been too busy.

You pack away the other thoughts into a box and seal it tightly. What would you do with the fact that you asked Mingyu the question thinking he’d turn you down, and weren’t upset at the thought of being rejected?

Across from you, Seokmin also appears to be taken aback by this whole encounter. He's quiet for once, almost as if he doesn't know how to react, and there’s a neutral expression on his face that you’ve never seen before. When you meet his eyes, they’re missing their usual warmth.

“Congrats, Y/N. You won’t be needing my help anymore.” Then he looks down to check the time on his phone. “Ah, I have to go for my tutorial session now,” he mutters, standing up and then slinging his bag on his shoulder without giving you another glance. “Have fun on the date.”

“Yeah—” you start to say, but he’s already out of earshot.

It’s only after you get back to your dorm that you realize: Seokmin doesn’t have a tutorial session today at all.

The rest of the week passes by quickly. You don't get a chance to see Seokmin when you're wrapped up in assignments and latched onto by Soonyoung, who insists on dragging you from store to store to pick an outfit for your date. And while you’re looking forward to the date and you’re content that everything is back on track, for some reason the stone in your chest doesn’t disappear. You feel it pressing down on you every time your eyes drift to your phone and see the lack of notifications.

Soon enough, the weekend approaches and it’s time for your date with Mingyu. You end up reluctantly wearing what Soonyoung picked out, figuring it can’t be any worse than what you have in your closet, and then head out to meet Mingyu at the restaurant you agreed on.

The night starts off just a little awkward—he speaks so quickly that you only end up catching half of each sentence, and the noise in the restaurant definitely doesn't help your case. Is it too much to hope he doesn't ask any questions and that your half-laugh is enough to cover yourself? Oh and you end up dropping a fork. Unintentionally. But it turns out to be the best thing to happen, for when you meet Mingyu's eyes after bending to pick it up, the two of you burst into laughter and it's like all the ice between you melts away.

After that point, it's pretty much what you expected: the food is good, the vibes are nice, and it's everything you could've hoped for. Mingyu is really nice and talking to him reminds you of what caught your eye in the first place, and the night seems to quickly fly by.

But if you expect your heart to flutter at every smile Mingyu shoots your way, and for your cheeks to heat up when you accidentally bump your knees against his, then you’re left hanging. This feeling is like the same, strange emptiness you felt the day he agreed to go on the date with you.

Perhaps it could very well be due to how distracted you are, though. Every embarrassing moment, every funny joke—they all turn into stories that you save in your mind to tell Seokmin the next time you see him. It’s all too easy to picture him gawking at some and then laughing until he’s crying at others, and it’d be a fun time. Plus you’re acting natural just like you practiced, and when you tell Seokmin, he’d be so proud of how far you’ve come.

At the end of the night, Mingyu walks you to your dorm and even gives you his jacket to wear when the wind becomes colder than you anticipated. You thank him for a good time, and then you say your goodbyes and that’s that.

Afterwards, life goes back to a time before you ever knew Mingyu or Seokmin.

You find yourself studying in the library with Soonyoung instead of going to any secret spot on campus, and when he asks for all the details about your date, you have nothing to say.

There’s only one person you want to talk to about it, and he’s nowhere to be seen. He doesn't answer your texts, leaves them unopened, and stops posting on social media entirely. You can't even tell if he's purposely avoiding you or if he's just caught up with school work or other things going on in his life.

“You know what’s funny?” Soonyoung abruptly sets down his pencil, the noise of it making you flinch. He’s probably had enough of your endless sighing all throughout the hour that you’ve been at the library.

“No.”

“I haven’t seen you this miserable before,” he says, narrowing his eyes at you. “And that includes the time you didn’t get into your exchange program and when you failed the midterm in first year.”

“Are you done yet or—”

“That also includes all the times you got ignored and rejected by Mingyu.”

You stop typing. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Y/N, you went on a perfectly good date with him and you’re about to go on a second date, yet you’re here, more miserable than before when he used to barely look at you.”

Yes, you’re willing to admit that you’re miserable. But Soonyoung likes to talk around the point a lot instead of directly addressing it, and you’re tired of trying to figure out just why you feel this way when everything should be perfect by now.

“So?” You heave a sigh. “Soonyoung, what are you trying to say?”

“Y/N.” He turns so that he’s facing you, rolling his chair forward so that he can put his hands on your shoulders like he’s giving you a pep talk. “You’re miserable because you think you’re supposed to like Mingyu, but really, you’ve completely fallen for Seokmin instead. And now you have no idea what to do about it, hence your state of denial.”

You’ve completely fallen for… what? You study Soonyoung’s face, trying to tell if he’s cracking another one of his jokes, but nothing indicates that he is. He’s completely serious which makes it all the stranger why he’s saying you’ve fallen for Seokmin. Because how can it be true? Seokmin is a great friend and you’re really missing him since he’s been avoiding you and all, but having feelings for him? Is that possible?

“Wait, are you for real? You actually didn’t know until I told you just now?”

“Um…” You don’t know what to say to that.

Soonyoung looks at you for a moment longer before smiling and patting your arm. “It’s okay to not know. Take some time to think about it—what is it that you really want? Who do you think of when something good happens to you and you want to share it with someone? And don’t lie; I know it’s not me.”

You give him a weak smile, unable to deny the last bit, and then the two of you part ways to head to your respective classes.

Over the course of the week, you do give it some thought. You slowly go through all of your past interactions with Seokmin, examining them from different angles to try to pinpoint whether you might’ve actually developed feelings for him. And when that doesn’t give you enough information, you take a closer look at the moment Soonyoung inadvertently reminded you that Mingyu was the start of all of this.

Why did you feel so disappointed at the time? Was it really because your brilliant plan had been derailed, which meant no progress with your crush, or was it because Mingyu was simply the excuse to keep meeting up with—

A loud ring cuts through the silence of the room, pulling you out of your thoughts. It’s your alarm. Great, if you don’t head out right now, you’d be late for your date with Mingyu, so you quickly grab your things and leave the house.

This second date has your stomach in knots. You don't know why you agreed to it, but at the same time, you didn’t exactly have a reason not to. Truthfully, you never expected him to ask for a second date, and you didn't expect to see him again. And it’s not that the first date went badly at all; no, it was fun and enjoyable and just an overall good date. But that’s all it was. You could probably be having an even better time with Seokmin—

Seokmin.

Already, Soonyoung’s words are echoing in your mind again. Okay, maybe he really was onto something.

This time your date with Mingyu is at a new cafe a block away from campus. By the time you get there, he's seated at a table and looking as handsome as always with two drinks in front of him.

“Hey,” you greet, sliding into the seat across from him.

“Hey, Y/N.”

It’s far more awkward than the first time. The two of you exchange small talk and you ask about how school is going, what he’s been up to lately, and he tells you he started that show you recommended. You tell him you tried his favourite food stall. Then the conversation dwindles, and you can’t help but feel held back by the thoughts swarming your head. Should you talk about what’s really on your mind? Should you, Y/N, ask him, Kim Mingyu, about his best friend, Lee Seokmin? When you’re supposedly on a date? Should you—

"So... you and Seokmin, huh?” Mingyu says slowly.

Oh.

You can't believe what you're hearing.

“W-what?”

He lets out a sigh, a wistful smile appearing. "Yeah, I know all about it. The two of you weren't exactly subtle."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you were talking about Seokmin that night when we had dinner, and when I saw the two of you in the student center that day. It's pretty obvious that the two of you have a connection."

You open your mouth to deny it, but you can't.

You can't, because it's true. There's no doubt that this is why you've gone through the five stages of grief or whatever just because Seokmin hasn't texted you back in weeks. This is why the first date with Mingyu seemed underwhelming, and why you feel slightly reluctant to even be sitting here with him now. Beyond the initial favour you'd asked of Seokmin, none of this was ever about Mingyu. It has always been about Seokmin.

Soonyoung was right, and it seems like everyone around you could see it perfectly clearly. And now, it all makes perfect sense.

You swallow nervously. “Um, yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Look, Y/N, I’ll be straightforward and tell you that’s why I asked you to come here today. We had a great time the other night—don’t get me wrong—but I think we both know that’s not where your heart lies.”

You nod, and it’s like the weight in your chest lessens just enough that you can breathe again. That had been part of your worries—how were you supposed to tell him that you’re no longer interested in him? That maybe you never really were in the first place because you’ve fallen for his friend? The last thing you wanted to do was to mess things up between friends, so hearing Mingyu say that this date isn’t a date at all is truly the light at the end of your tunnel.

“I don’t know what happened between the two of you specifically, but he hasn’t been himself lately, and I get the feeling that it has to do with… us.” He grimaces. “I talked to him, but I think this is something you should clarify.”

“Trust me, I’ve been trying. He’s been avoiding me though; he won’t reply to my texts and I can’t seem to find him on campus anywhere.”

Mingyu stares at you for a moment and you can’t tell at all what he’s thinking. “Tonight at seven. Meet him at your usual spot.”

“What?”

“He’ll be there.” He nods firmly, and then stands up. “Go for it, Y/N.”

“I’ll be there. Thanks for letting me know.” You stand up as well, picking up your unfinished drink. “Oh and—Mingyu?”

“Hmm?”

“If you knew that there was something going on between me and Seokmin, why did you agree to the dinner that day in the first place?”

Mingyu hesitates for just a moment as if the question takes him off guard, but then a smile starts to appear. “I thought you wanted to talk to me about him.”

“Ah. Right.” You give him a quick smile, wave, and then leave the cafe.

You’re never asking a crush’s best friend for advice ever again.

You practically count down the hours, staring at the clock on your phone every few minutes.

There’s still no word from Seokmin himself, and your heart pounds like crazy over the fact that you’d have to blindly trust Mingyu and believe that he’ll show up. What should you even expect from this meeting? How could you possibly prepare for it, having no idea what Mingyu has told him?

And what’s more than that is the other thought that pops into your head: what if he doesn’t feel the same way? Sure, everyone may have implied there was something going on between the two of you, but what if his avoidance was because he thought you used him? That the two of you were becoming friends—nothing more—and that you tossed him away the moment Mingyu looked at you? What if all of this is yet another misunderstanding?

Well, you figure it doesn’t matter anyway. You’ll go in there and tell him the truth regardless of whether you get rejected or whether he never wants to see you again.

So you get to the student center and then climb the stairs two at a time, unsure of whether you want to get there faster or slower. Because this time, there’s truly nothing to hide behind. This time when you see him, you’re no longer using Mingyu’s name as your shield or excuse, nor is Seokmin your crush’s best friend.

When you step into the room, you immediately see him curled up on the couch. It’s just as Mingyu said—Seokmin doesn’t look like himself. The usual brightness is missing from his face, seemingly replaced by the dark circles under his eyes, and the smile that he attempts when he sees you is just an attempt.

You gently take a seat at the opposite end of the couch. There was some sort of speech you practiced on your walk here, but after seeing him, everything leaves your mind at once.

“Hey,” you start. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Seokmin nods. “Yeah, um. It’s—sorry. I have no excuse for avoiding you. Just needed some space and some time to think.”

“Yeah, of course.” Then silence. “Seokmin—”

“Um, I—”

You stop. “You can go first.”

He hesitates, but ultimately continues. "I'm assuming your date with Mingyu went well? That things are going well between the two of you?" He doesn't wait for a response and simply nods to himself. "That's good. The two of you are good for each other."

"What?" You're almost worried for him because what exactly did Mingyu tell him? Nothing, judging by the sounds of it, or it’s that Seokmin has decided not to believe any of it. "What are you saying?"

He turns to you. "I know you were trying to get Mingyu to fall for you, but I think it worked on me too."

Oh.

Suddenly, it's like his confession makes everything click. You aren’t the only one who thought it was way too easy to forget Mingyu's name over the course of your hangouts, or to not have him cross your mind entirely until you were reminded. And you’re not the only one who was disappointed when his name was brought up again, or who wasn’t excited about your date with him.

Originally, you might've wanted to get advice from Mingyu's best friend and then developed feelings for said best friend along the way, but now you know that said best friend has also fallen for you.

“Too?” You shake your head. "No, it didn’t work on Mingyu. It never did; he only went on the date because he knew I—” you pause to take a deep breath, “he knew I liked you. He thought I asked him out because I wanted to talk to him about you.”

Still, Seokmin doesn’t say anything.

“But I'm not here to talk about Mingyu. Our hangouts might've started because of him, but we've spent more time forgetting about him than talking about him. And I think I must've spent more time talking about you than about myself during my date with him."

“Why would you do that? What do you mean…” he trails off and then meets your eyes, and you can see the moment it clicks for him. The light in his eyes—it seems to come back gradually like a candle flickering back to life or colour restoring in a monochrome landscape. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yeah, Seokmin. I don’t know when it started to happen, but the whole asking you for advice thing turned into an excuse to see you. I didn’t know it at the time when I asked Mingyu out and just—I freaked out and messed things up.” Your pulse is racing at this point, and it’s hard to swallow but you have to push on and ask one last thing. “So maybe… you can give me some advice on how to win your heart instead?”

“You already have, Y/N,” he says softly, and the warm smile that you missed so much is now back and glowing more than ever.

Then a moment later, as per typical Seokmin behaviour, he bursts into laughter. He laughs like he's finding the whole situation absurd—which it is—and soon, you join in too. You laugh at how Mingyu is the one who unknowingly brought the two of you together, how asking Seokmin for a mere favour has bloomed into an unlikely friendship.

And now, maybe into something more.

[theragethatisdesire]

i’m sorry ur not feeling well 🥺💗 sending you positive vibes tonight!!

for the slumber party plz tell me allll about your favourite character that you don’t currently write about 🙊 i wanna hear all the secret deets

HEY TIFFFFF i appreciate it :( i hope i'm not like being annoying venting on here i'm just so miz and i know my irls are sick of hearing it lolol anyways!!!!

okay my current obsession is gojo. and bc i haven't actually started the fic yet, i don't technically write for him often, only per request. does that count? idk i wanna talk ab gojo lol

just gonna throw everything below a cut because idk where i'm headed with this. minors stay away!

this is like, canonical, but gojo's so fucking annoying LMAO like i just know he is the most obnoxious, can't-sit-still, sarcastic asshole on the planet. he really makes it hard to love him sometimes.

this....is not a spoiler for a fic i'm def not writing (wink wink) but i just don't think gojo could really properly fall for someone who was not powerful. like i think part of his distance from others is his (admitted) narcissism that is somewhat well-earned considering he is....gojo fucking satoru. he needs someone that is at least somewhat towards the top of their ranks in whatever they do.

i also feel like gojo would be encouraging to a fault? like always pushing you further towards your goals, stepping in obnoxiously if your boss doesn't notice you've been working your ass off for a promotion (again, annoying). like he won't rest until you've made progress.

gojo also gets baby girl-ified WAY too much

like hear me out

we see him through the eyes of the kids/around his students in most of s1, and that's not to say he doesn't have the potential to be a playful, lighthearted person *when he wants to be*

but remember that scene of him talking to the jujustu higher-up where the guy tells him to watch his mouth and gojo laughs in his fucking face??

he's an egotistical, all-powerful, ballsy maniac. like gojo is not braiding your hair and cooing in your ear 24/7.

he is slowly backing you into a wall and taking what he wants from you. like sorry he just is.

also gojo strikes me as someone who is ....nasty. like, blood and knife play, gun play, psychopathic kind of nasty in the bedroom. idk if i would personally ever write that, but he's been through so much and seen so much gore you know that that's fucked with his....tastes, so to speak

i do think however that gojo would be absolutely devoted to his partner

like it would take him forever to come around and accept that he now felt responsible for protecting yet another person and that he had accidentally formed a connection (i see gojo as also having a very weird relationship with his humanity vs. his divinity but more on that another time)

but once he's around? he's in it for life. i mean, even if you don't ship stsg, you must acknowledge that gojo has never been willing to truly let geto go. he couldn't kill him, refused to believe geto had done that even though geto was showing signs of deteriorating mentally.

he's the same way with his partner. good luck breaking up with gojo because it's going to be a years long process.

gojo loves someone who can push back at him. he doesn't want an entirely submissive partner (kinda like eren!)

he likes someone who will put him in his place, has a sharp tongue, isn't afraid to stand up for themselves or others.

love language is absolutely gift-giving like that man has to spoil his partner he can't help it

size kink. turns his infinity on mid-sex to punish you. wants to have sex where he stands overlooking tokyo in the s1 opening. always takes the blindfold off during sex. huge public sex guy. i said what i said. it's hard being correct.

i could literally go on for HOURS tiff you have no idea the grip this man has on me. i cannot wait to write this fic!!!!!!!! ah!!!!!

thanks for coming to my slumber party lovie kisses from me to u :)

[shipwreck-letters]

Casimir's Beast HCs

I said it would be a while before I posted something, right before I just sat down and wrote an entire scenario/imagine/headcanon thing. Strike while the iron's hot, I guess!

I haven't edited this much, I just wanted to post this while I still had the attention-span. Shoutout to anyone still into Monster Manor, I sure am. ✌🏽If you have any ideas or requests, my inbox is open as always!

-It’s hard to see on certain occasions, as Casimir tends to crouch and bend lower to the ground during his transformation, but he has a heart-shaped pattern on his abdomen, towards the side of his ribcage. It’s a pattern that shows on his fur more prominently, and shows up as a small birthmark in his human-form. 

-He’s embarrassed to admit or acknowledge its existence. 

-Casimir tends to walk on all fours, but standing up, reaches ~7 feet tall, and his steps are very long; He can close distances very quickly that way, which makes for a more terrifying thought. 

-According to Casimir, the deity that cursed him planned for him to act as “prey”. However, in the main story, and according to the tales of the Beast of Gevaudan, it seems more of a “predator” type of attack. So…I headcanon that Casimir was meant to be a prey animal, but his anger, grief, and frustration twisted the curse’s effects until he was lashing out at himself and others for years. 

-When confronted with your nature, a little bit of that aggression dissipates more and more, thanks to your self-preservation and the House’s refusal to let Casimir hurt you. Not that he would want to, anyway. 

-For the first few times after that first transformation, Casimir hides away until the curse passes. It’s hard to find him, as he moves to the more unkempt parts of the House to withdraw from you, not wanting to be seen, or risking hurting you. 

-However, as time goes on, you’ll find glimpses of the beast lurking around corners and walls. Not threateningly, but….Almost hesitant. Scared. He recoils from your attempts to reach out to him, and sticks to sniffing your hand and growling, before slouching away to sulk. 

-It takes a while for him to finally approach you…Looming over you in wait. Waiting for what? He doesn’t know, and neither do you. So, with caution but kindness, you talk to him, keeping your physical touch away. You assure him you’re not going to hurt him, you’re here to help, just like you always have. 

-It takes even longer for him to sit next to you, to sniff your hair and hand, keeping the sharp horns away, his teeth hidden and claws curled. The untransformed Casimir knows you, and knows your intentions. This beast does not, and so it’s building another relationship from the ground. Just….With a little more danger. Neither of you want to be hurt. 

-When you tell Casimir your progress, he’s…Baffled? Flabbergasted? Shocked, horrified- You get the idea. 

-”You’ve been doing what??” 

-He is not aware of any of this, and can only imagine glimpses of you if he really tries. When he transforms, it is out of his control, and his mind. 

-When the initial emotions simmer down, he’s not sure what to feel, or what to think. For 200 years, more than that, he’s been a threat and a danger to everything and everyone around him. And now, what you’re telling him is….He’s changing. For the better? It sounds impossible. 

-But, somehow, you’re a master of the impossible. And so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. 

-He makes another vow, and takes the effort, too, to make the House a better place. It’s the least he can do, but he wants to do something. 

-He still has many thoughts and feelings about his curse, too complex to get into. It sends him into bouts of silence sometimes, as he ponders over a project or task. He does what he can to make you feel safe and comfortable, and reminds you to please…Be careful. 

-And you do. The beast seems to understand that as well, still shy of your touch and apprehensive at best. But you can’t help but smile a little at the progress, seeing Casimir sleeping in a block of sunlight through a window. 

-There are things you might not ever understand, or see for yourself. But you can at least attest to one thing: 

-One step at a time, things are getting better for them both. 

[that70sshowgoldencouple]

What do you think happened to Laurie in the T9S universe?

Is she riding around on a motorcycle in the sunset like Hyde?? 😂

Or something more morbid or happy?

Thank you so much for the ask! It's a question I've kinda been thinking about a little more lately.

Okay so here's the thing, when I first went to my first taping That '90s Show, my eyes were roaming everywhere, especially when I walked in, I wanted to catch a glimpse of anything and everything, but they were also rushing us to our seats. Well on the way to our seats we walked by the monitors of I guess a computer that had some of the scene photos from the previous episode. I caught a glance of the screen and saw Kitty sitting at the table with a young blonde woman-i was sure this was Laurie. Thought Christina Moore was back or they had recasted again. So I was hopeful and thought we'd be getting Laurie in the reboot.

Months pass and I go to the second taping which was the finale of the season and I meet the character of Sherri. Quickly I realized that it was Sherri that was sitting in the kitchen with Kitty in the photo I had seen not Laurie.

The series came out and Red's quick mention of Laurie was not lost on me-I was happy they had at least acknowledged her existence. Before Red's mention I had even thought that maybe Laurie was the reason behind Red's new vegetable garden hobby that she had maybe taken up gardening and helped him start it during her last visit or maybe she owned a plant shop somewhere out there. I liked that thought and I've always hoped Laurie would have a happy ending.

But then I rewatch that scene where Red talks to Kitty before her job interview, it's so sweet I rewatch all the time, and it starts to strike me odd that Red doesn't even say Laurie's name and I wonder if maybe it's too painful for him...

I have a fic planned that takes a darker look at the time between That '70s Show and That '90s Show and Laurie's got a pretty important role in it.

I would love if the series gave Laurie a happy ending and in that way honored Lisa Robin Kelly's memory, just a quick mention of her living in Canada with a successful tanning business or something. That seems to fit the tone of the show more but I would not oppose to seeing Red and/or Kitty having a more serious moment where they talk about Laurie and what happened to her. I've seen both Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp in dramatic role, they will break your heart but the moments are SOO good!

Side note Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp did mention the character of Laurie in interviews for the show, nothing major but it just told me that they haven't forgotten the character and I have a feeling we just didn't have enough time in season 1 to find out about her but we might in season 2. :D

Thank you so much for the ask! Love talking about the two shows :D

My inbox is like The Forman House, it’s always unlocked and open! Stop in anytime 😀

[unseededtoast]

Rectify | Bucky Barnes

Part 4/37 | Part Three, Part Five

Summary: I've lived every day for the past five years looking over my shoulder. I knew they'd come for me, it was inevitable. I was foolish to think I could outrun my past. It's followed me everywhere I go, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Never would I have anticipated that the shadows would lead me to the light.

Bucky Barnes x OC

Series Warnings: Discussion of human trafficking, alcohol consumption, graphic depictions of violence, sexual content, discussion of suicidal thoughts.

a/n: Hi everyone, thank you for checking this out, I appreciate any and all support! This series is also posted on Ao3 and Wattpad if you prefer those formats/platforms! This is a completed series, and it's going to take some time for me to transfer it to Tumblr, so please bear with me!

"I know who you are."

Out of a dead silence, chaos. Tony stands from the table and starts yelling at me, claiming I'm a spy and only here to end the Avengers. The rest of the people try to calm him down, but he's relentless. I sit quietly, knowing I deserve everything he's saying even if it isn't true. If the roles were reversed I can't say as if I'd react any differently. The redhead woman finally escorts him out of the room, leaving Fury, Bruce, Steve, and myself.

"I'm sorry, Adalyn, he's not usually like this. I'm gonna go check on him." Bruce excuses himself from the room, and I give him a small nod of acknowledgement. Fury is the next one to speak up.

"Well, the dirty laundry has been aired. Tony will come around kid nobody here is completely innocent." He gets up and leaves the room. I look to Steve, his arms are crossed and he's staring at me intensely, jaw set firmly.

"I grew up with Bucky, he was my best friend. I was there when he fell from the train. I know that's not him doing these things, and I know the real Bucky is in there somewhere. Sometimes good people do bad things, sometimes they don't have a choice. And if you're the one who designed whatever is in his mind right now, you know it better than anyone else." His voice is soft and tender, sincere. I don't know everything about Bucky's history, and I definitely would not have expected his childhood best friend to be Captain America. I can see from the look in his eyes that Steve wants nothing more than to have his friend back.

"I appreciate you giving me a chance to correct my wrongdoing, even if nobody else here will. I give you my word that I will do whatever I can to get him back. It's been my biggest and only regret of my life, what I did to him." I retain eye contact with him, showing my sincerity as well. The situation is shocking to me, there's a lot to process, but I feel inclined to promise this to Steve. He stands from his seat and motions for me to follow him.

We walk out of the door and are met by Fury, who joins us. The two walk ahead of me, taking much quicker strides than I'm used to. I feel like a toddler trying to keep up with Olympic sprinters, and the exhaustion from the day doesn't make it any easier. We get into an elevator, and head to a lower level. There are barely any people on this level and it's darker as well in terms of both color and lighting. There are reinforced steel doors along the walls, telling me they keep some unsavory things, or people, down here.

Fury unlocks one of the doors and allows Steve and myself to step in before he shuts it behind him. We're in a small hallway, with glass on one side, allowing us to see what's being kept in the room. I see a big glass container in the center of the room, with the Winter Soldier strapped in the chair. I'm unable to tear my eyes away, it's as if my feet have been welded to the floor. I haven't seen him in five years, but have thought about him every day during those years.

I notice that he looks worse than he did when I left, my heart breaks for him. What a poor, tortured soul. I've missed him so much. My eyes sting with tears and a lone drop streams down my face. Steve stands next to me, arms crossed once again with a hard look on his face.

"He's been here for about two weeks now. Nobody's been able to get near him safely so we had to sedate him. Bruce and Tony are trying to figure out how to undo what Hydra put in his mind." Steve explains as I continue to study the Soldier. I never expected to see him again, it's all surreal.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm more shocked to see him or more shocked to learn that Hydra was able to use him in my absence. I still am not quite sure how they figured it out, but that answer will have to wait for another day.

"I can. I can be around him safely." I simply state, breaking my stare to look at Steve. He sighs and looks back to his best friend in the other room.

"We can worry about that tomorrow, it's been a long day." Fury says and ushers us out of the room.

A wave of exhaustion rolls over me, and I agree with the Director. Bright and early tomorrow is when I'll start reversing what I did many years ago under Hydra command. I can use tonight to brainstorm some ideas and get a head start. Steve and I end up going to the same hallway. He opens the door across the hall and bids me a goodnight, and I return the sentiment.

The morning rolls around quicker than I would've liked. I get up and check the dresser drawers, not having anything to wear except the clothes I came in, which have small blood spatter stains. Shield confiscated what I had brought, they're probably going through everything with careful detail.

Thankfully, there are uniforms in the drawers, all identical to one another. The top is dark blue and long sleeved, it clings to my arms though I wish it was a little looser. The pants fit the same way, just a little too tight for comfort. There's a knock at the door, and I go to answer it.

"Good morning, I thought we could get a head start on the day." Steve smiles slightly. I return his smile and nod,

"That's exactly what I was hoping to do." I shut the door once I'm in the hallway and follow Steve back down to the basement. As we're walking, he decides to fill the silence with small talk,

"I still can't believe this is happening. What are the odds that you would be here after we found him. Some of the others, they think this isn't a coincidence that this is happening at the same time we found Hydra spies and they're skeptical of you, but I have to put my trust into you. For Bucky." I sigh, knowing it was no coincidence either.

"Well, it really isn't a coincidence. Hydra was obviously in the area on some mission and spying on Shield, plus they had found where I was hiding. Lucky for them we just so happened to be in the same area. I had to kill a man to get here, they tried to take me back to Siberia. I killed him in my kitchen and ran." I admit, hoping that this oversharing wasn't going to damage Steve's newfound trust in me. He didn't skip a beat,

"You had to do it. Like I said yesterday, sometimes good people do bad things, sometimes they have no choice. I've killed people before, we all have here, some more than others." He says, and though the statement should've made me uneasy, it brings some comfort knowing he doesn't think any less of me just like I don't think less of him.

I'm grateful that both Steve and Bruce have been welcoming to me, and hopefully in time the others see me for who I am, not for what I was forced to do. We reach the glass hallway again, and the Soldier is just as he was last night. Nervousness courses through me, I'm not entirely sure how he's going to react seeing me, if he even remembers who I am.

"Can we take him off sedation?" I ask and Steve nods, messing with some levers built into the wall. I'm hoping he has permission to do this, but I don't ask questions for fear of delaying this encounter.

Due to the serum running through his veins, the Soldier wakes up rather quickly. After giving him a few moments to wake up and take in his surroundings, I reach for the handle and give Steve a short nod before going into the room.

His eyes are locked on me from the second I enter the room. Like a lion watching a gazelle. I approach the glass container he's being kept in, anger and confusion both etched into his face.

"I'm not here to hurt you." I say in a soft voice. His expression doesn't falter.

I stand right in front of him. I feel sadness and guilt wash over me once again, but I suppress these feelings, I know I can't appear weak in front of him. I begin assessing his condition, and it isn't good. His hair is tangled, there are deep dark circles around his eyes. He's lost weight since the last time I saw him. I know from his physical appearance that his mental wellbeing has also likely gotten worse. Nobody has been taking care of him, it's obvious.

If he's been contained here for two weeks without being placed in cryogenesis or having the programming reset, it's likely he's dealing with a lot of random resurfacing memories from his time as Bucky and also the Soldier. The programming was designed to be intense for short periods of time, over time it grows weaker and he begins coming out of the fog. He was never supposed to be out for more than a week at a time.

The experience is probably frightening for him, I can't imagine the feeling of loneliness and helplessness he may be facing. He's probably confused about what's happening and there's been nobody to help him. At least I'm here now, hopefully I can alleviate some of his suffering.

"My name is Adalyn, I am here to -"

"I know who you are." He cuts me off, his voice deep and gravelly. I freeze in place, not anticipating him to say anything.

"I am here to help you, I am not going to hurt you." I say, keeping my voice delicate and soft, yet sincere. He stays silent, I know he doesn't believe me. I lick my lips and try to keep my voice from wavering,

"I am going to undo everything that's been done." I say, and against my strongest efforts, feel tears begin to well in my lower lash line and a lump form in my throat.

His expression is still hard as stone, and I turn away to leave knowing I can't fight back the tears. This is all too much too quickly and the gravity of the situation hits me like a ton of bricks. I get back into the hallway and the tears run free. Steve stands, unsure of what to do as I wipe my eyes, looking into the room where the Soldier sits bound against his will. Through tears and a shaky voice, I look to Steve,

"I need to go to the lab, can you take me?" I ask and he silently nods and returns the levers on the wall to where they originally were, putting Bucky back under sedation. Steve leads me to the lab where I met Bruce yesterday in silence, probably replaying everything he just saw. I'm usually good at hiding my emotions but my entire life has just been turned upside down in the matter of two days and I haven't had time to really process what's happening, it still doesn't feel entirely real to me.

As I step into the lab I see Bruce, along with Tony. The grad student isn't anywhere to be seen. I thank Steve for taking me and he walks away quietly.

"Good morning Adalyn, is everything okay?" Bruce asks, walking up to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. I nod knowing it's apparent I was just crying,

"Things will be okay, I just need to get to work." We walk over to the tables and Tony disregards my presence. They're still looking at the microscope slides, the same ones from yesterday. I would offer to explain things to Tony, but I have a feeling he doesn't want to hear anything from me.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Bruce asks and I nod my head.

"Yeah actually. I had a book that I brought with me. I'm going to need that." Bruce nods and I hear Tony scoff,

"Of course, I'll be right back." Bruce says and leaves the room, now it's just Tony and myself. I can tell from his body language that he's less than thrilled to have me here.

"I know you don't trust me and that's fine, I probably wouldn't trust me either if it were the other way around. But I'm telling you I know this better than anyone on Earth. I'm only here to help." I say, trying to break some of the tension and clear my name of being an alleged Hydra spy. He stops what he's doing and stares at me with an eyebrow raised.

"You just expect me to trust your word? You may have the rest of them fooled but I'll believe it when I see it." He stares, waiting for my reaction.

"That's alright with me." I smile at him, which probably made him more mad than anything else. He squints his eyes and tilts his head,

"If you so much as try to sabotage anything or anyone in here, I promise you will never see the light of day again. These are my people, this is my work. I will not have either jeopardized." I brush off the threat and sigh, I don't think I'm going to get through to him, not yet at least.

"I understand you think I'm a spy, that's reasonable considering recent circumstances. I'm here to fix my mistakes, right my wrongs. If you can't accept that, that's not on me but I made a promise I intend to keep." I say. Tony goes back to looking at the slides without saying another word. Bruce walks back in, with my book in hand.

"It took some serious convincing to get this thing." Bruce hands it to me, and I take the red leather in my hands. I flip through the pages, it looks untouched though I know they probably made a copy somewhere. I know for a fact I took detailed notes about how I designed the program, it's just a matter of reverse engineering it. I think it's possible, it might just take some time to figure out.

"Can I get some paper and a pen?" I ask and Bruce hands the supplies to me, watching what I'm doing. I rewrite in English the steps I took to install the programming within the mind. I show the paper to Bruce,

"These are the steps I took to suppress memories, I think I can reverse the effects." I softly smile and watch him read over the paper,

"How can you reverse this? I'm not even sure what exactly it is." He admits.

"The Winter Soldier never had his memories erased, they were just buried very, very deep within his brain. Over time with no intervention it's highly likely they'll resurface on their own. When they resurface it's possible that his pre-serum memories will be entangled with his memories as the Soldier, and that's less than ideal. My plan is to reverse engineer the programming to remove it completely from his brain, or at least figure out a way that makes the trigger sequence obsolete. Doing that removes the threat of the Winter Soldier making a reappearance, but I'm not quite sure where to start just yet. In the meantime, I will use therapeutic techniques to guide him through the resurfacing process the best that I can because there's no way I can stop that." I explain quickly, giving them the SparkNotes version of what I'm envisioning and thinking. Bruce has a hand on his chin as he processes what I just said.

"So you're saying that even if memories get suppressed, it's possible to get them back?" I nod,

"Yes, I believe in his case there is a good chance of his memories resurfacing just based on the way the programming is designed. Though some of the memories may take longer to come back than others. I'm not entirely sure of the long-term effects this is going to have on him, but I think there's hope." I say, feeling a tinge of hopefulness for the first time in a very, very long time.

[chonidale]

I'm probably more disappointed that no one except lili really posted any bts photos or really acknowledged the show ending than I was watching the final ep lmao. (probably bc ive seen other casts from shows I've watched do it)

Maybe they really haven't got many others than the ones we've already seen since mads used the same one in her story 🤷🏽‍♀️

everyone be moving on when it doesn't feel like I've said goodbye yet 😭

i wasn't disappointed watching the finale (i had my issues but i was ultimately satisfied for where my expectations were) so that's not a comparison i identify with, but i too am bummed that lili is the only one posting any bts, especially since not many of them are of interest to me since she didn't have many scenes with my favs. i'm hoping she has some good ones for the finale, but i'm not holding my breath.

i have no doubt both madelaine and vanessa have great pics from the last five episodes that they either don't want to share or don't care to. like you're crazy if you don't think they had a whole photoshoot with river and their wedding rings filming that flash forward and they're robbing us of it. that's honestly the thing that's most surprising, like i get that they're moving and wanting to distance themselves from the show as they establish themselves outside of it but that's the kind of thing we all know they would have spammed us with at the time if the strike wasn't on, so i can't believe they haven't even given us ONE pic. very sick and twisted.

i know they were in their feelings during wrapping and they had some sense of goodbye then, but it's not the same, at least not for the viewers that want to hear their thoughts on their characters endings now that they can talk freely. like what do you mean that the two women that fought for and preached the choni endgame agenda haven't even acknowledged it???

[suprememayobros2]

Everytime I hear about the uk working class its always the retired elderly in Northern mining towns or people old enough to have been alive during thatcher and may have some memory of the miners strike. The working class people who voted for brexit were largely the elderly. Manual workers, considered the last gasp of the traditional working class in an age of service sector economies and white collar office or retail work for all are usually seen to be around the 40+ range.

But I've read and heard jackshit about the young working class. The 18-29's (maybe early 30s) people on zero hour contracts, disproportionately unrepresented in and by unions even taking into account the general decline of union membership. People who usually work retail or in the arts, public sector workers like carers, some of course will do manual work though it seems not as common as older workers. When a political party in the uk talks about the working class and the labour parties struggle to connect with them, who are they referring to? The traditional working class? All older workers nearing retirement (some actually retired and haven't worked for 10 years or so) the people who supported brexit, the people less receptive to culturally liberal views. The people who still read newspapers like the mirror, the sun, the mail and the express.

Not one party has made any attempt to appeal to young workers. Even labour tossed em aside after corbyn resigned and starmer and his cronies took the keys. Of course with this lack of effort into appealing to young working class people comes a lack of young voters. I registered to vote at 17 and have voted in both elections ive been eligible to vote in so far but I'm in the minority. With all this talk if making older working people happy with immigration control, the promise of socially conservative values and economic growth without actually acknowledging that growth has not actually helped struggling working class people without investment in public services. What is there to represent young working class people?

Even the online left, the only time I hear us talk about young working class people is about the consequences of climate change and how we will be left to salvage what remains of the world after the boomers are all gone. But what about the here and now? what about every other issue?

[theangrypokemaniac]

I've been on Tumblr ten months now, and this blog has existed for nine of them. During that time I have noticed something.

The majority of the posts I've come across have been by and for the S&M scene, as is to be expected.

The second-most frequent are Indigo League, which I don't think is bad going considering it was broadcast before most Tumblerries were born.

Third-most popular I would say is Sinnoh, probably for being the introduction for many here.

After that I've seen bits on Johto, a smattering of Orange League (unsurprising given it's briefness) and maybe a single item on Hoenn.

No one likes that then? Is it Max? Go on, it is.

What I find odd is that, in all that period, I haven't seen anything on Unova or Kalos. No fan art, no screen shots, nothing.

I'm sure someone can point to a bounty of pieces I've overlooked, all done within the last year, but if so, they're well-hidden, as none of the people I follow have shown any interest in re-blogging them.

If you have done any, you must admit the amount has depleted considerably.

Why is this? Is it of no interest anymore?

This in itself validates my own opinion. Had I been here when Unova and Kalos were broadcast, I presume over half of the posts I'd see would've been devoted to them. If I then spoke harshly of either, that would not have been well-received.

However, if dropped, both by the audience and writers as soon as the latest generation arrives, wasn't I right to not be impressed?

If cast aside by those who claimed to worship them, were they really of any worth at all?

Well the same fate has now befallen Alola. I make no secret of how much I despise it, and can not grasp its appeal for anyone.

I don't know how Pokémon even has a fanbase anymore, given that it's ugly, boring and repetitive.

Prior to the arrival of the S.S., I suspected that Alola material would drop, vanishing altogether once a year's worth came to a close, and so it has proved to be.

It's gone from making up roughly 60% - 70% of dashboard posts to about 10% - 20%, in only a few months. Is it that bad then?

It can't be explained as excitement for the new, not with the amount of coverage Kanto gets, and even that isn't motivated by reminiscence, given the average age of the current viewer.

Why are you still posting about something that old? It reminds me of my wasted youth, but what's your excuse?

Why, when the writers want to wallow in nostalgia, do they hark back to Kanto, which no modern fan can remember?

Is no one looking with misty-eyed fondness at Iris and Cilan? Why not?

Or is that an admission that it was so appallingly bad even the writers recognised it, that's why it's been so hastily forgotten?

You could watch Pokémon from the beginning to the close Sinnoh, skip the next two eras, starting again with Alola, and you would never know there'd been a between.

Unova is described as a 'soft reset', with regards to its inverted nature. The arrogance of those writers is staggering:

• Trying to erase all that'd gone before, supplanted by their half-arsed efforts.

• Redesigning everyone with Fish Eye and flat profiles.

• Resetting Ash as not even knowing the basics.

• Warping Team Rocket's established personalities into disgusting, soulless lizard people robbed of all charm and charisma.

• Only new Pokémon existing.

• Catches kept with Juniper not Professor Oak etc.

The irony is that Unova Pokémon are copies of the first 151, so whilst deliberately ignoring the past, they can't resist imitating it, thanks to their own woeful inadequacy. I suppose they hoped if they didn't notice, we wouldn't either.

They then undermined their own decision by stuffing everything available into the third run, as a blatant effort to win back the crowd, including:

• Reverting to Team Rocket's actual motto, not that embarrassingly pretentious codswallop.

Too bloody lazy to make it rhyme now!

Notice they opted not for the Sinnoh one, although more recent. It was straight back to the beginning.

• Look at these hundreds of Pokémon we suddenly remembered!

Just before Giovanni's mid-life crisis, Ash spotted a Rattata, but it having been so isolated from the outside world, his brain fell to mush at the concept, and pronounced it 'retarda'.

Idiots are so easy to please!

• Charizard! Genwunners love Charizard! Give 'em Charizard and they'll forget everything else we've done! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless retelling!

So, Charizard was there to bait the first wave, and yet we had the plot we know repeated to us anyway?

Don't refer to the past and everyone will think it's brand-new!

It makes no sense. How could this be done with the hope of drawing in old fans, and yet filling up an episode with it as plotline isn't an issue, when the intended targets know it's been done before?

• Butterfree! Genwunners loved Butterfree leaving! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless rehash!

Why would they remain when finding the same thing again, absent of feeling and subtlety, not to mention upon discovering the damage done elsewhere?

Recent incomers, who might assume it's a fresh idea, have no emotional connection with Butterfree, so who is it meant to please?

Why is Mewtwo a woman?

• Mewtwo! Genwunners love Mewtwo! Let's copy its background for Genesect rather than be creative! Look, it's Mewtwo! Watch it!!!

Erm... It's not the same Mewtwo...

It's not the same Mewtwo?

You believe the way to an original fan's heart is to lie to them, and in the process smash a fundamental principle of canon that there can only be one Mewtwo?

The writers get a deserved excoriation round these parts, because someone has to, as what part of that film suggested the current crop give the tiniest toss about what matters to you and me?

I'm glad Unova is labelled 'the Dork Age' as every series since its dawn has been atrocious.

Hoenn and Sinnoh held massive flaws, but they're masterpieces compared to what followed. At least they felt like Pokémon, albeit a watery interpretation.

Unova has to be truly lowly for the dunces responsible to recognise it, and neither Kalos or Alola have been as cut off from their predecessors.

I don't believe that's a sign of contrition, more a matter of necessity. Thanks to the same personal limitations there just weren't enough new Pokémon in either era to make such insularity possible. Even between the two it'd be a scrape.

Except whilst previously invented Pokémon designs may be involved, there's no sign of actual familiar characters.

Ash took his original team to Johto, and even in Hoenn and Sinnoh, where local catches took precedent, older Pokémon were still referenced and came back for the League, but that stopped with Unova.

It's evil influence strikes again!

Despite flimsy nods to the past, which can't be avoided, each generation is now a world unto itself, to the point that individual episodes live by their own canon, a feeble web of strands unrelated to anything else.

Why is it considered 'retro' enough to say, have Forms of Kanto Pokémon, for which we're expected to be so grateful, when there's no mention of Ash's earlier squad?

Remember Tauros? And Kingler? And Muk?

Remember Bayleef? And Noctowl? And Heracross?

Remember Corphish? And Torkoal? And Swellow?

Remember Buizel? And Gible? And Torterra?

They don't. As far as I can tell none of them exist anymore, and maybe aren't meant to ever have done.

Same as Gary, Cassidy and Butch, Jessibelle, Tracey, and so on. Until they do, and don't again. Whatever is convenient to today's storyline.

My typical attitude is that the first series is the best thing ever, and it's all been downhill from there, with Unova and all that came after reaching incredible depths of tedium. I don't suppose you like that, but the ephemeral tendencies displayed on Tumblr hardly help change my opinion.

At some low ebb I'll get round to watching Galar, which I'm confident I'll hate as much as the last few generations, based on what I've already seen and heard.

There's little point doing otherwise. Why bother getting involved with the 'plot' or characters if, when it's over, they'll never be spoken of again?

What incentive is there for me to even force myself to like Galar when, once the ninth generation (Pokémon Keenan and Kel) emerges on the distant horizon, those who've sung its praises for three or four years and scoffed at criticism, will drop it without a backwards glance?

Yet talk about the Indigo League is ever present, somewhat proving its superiority. Attachment to it is a subconscious acknowledgement of the dearth of quality in the modern mentality, but which no one can bring themselves to admit.

[donewithcapitalistfrayers]

excellent statement overall.

Three notes:

The US congress aims to triple military aid to Ukraine this year to $1.2 billion including more than $500 million worth of foreign military financing to sell excess weapons, $200 million worth of drawdown authorization for the US president to transfer war matériel in US stockpiles to non-US militaries, and other measures. The US has already allowed its NATO allies Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to send US-made weapons to Ukraine. The US, furthermore, has offered a $1 billion sovereign loan guarantee and support from the International Monetary Fund to secure its puppet regime in Ukraine.

By flooding Ukraine with weapons, the US aims to stoke the war of its puppet Ukrainian government against the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic in the Donbass region (west of Ukraine), and press for the re-annexation of Crimea, in the hope that this will further provoke Russia. Such aggressive action violates the Minsk II Agreement which gives the Donbass region a special status in Ukraine.

No mainline US-based "anti-imperialist" org statement i've seen so far references this the "flooding" of weapons — and which are contested by some european powers in a serious inter-imperialist conflict that are in small part referenced in the statement — and on the level of specificity required to actually disrupt (not a peacenik rally that means nothing does nothing). There are concrete measures that must be concretely condemned and opposed. Or at least acknowledged and analyzed since there is no possibility of actually stopping these imperialist operations given their scale.

The statement doesn't say this, but analysis from other places such as the Events in Ukraine guy have made the strong (and obvious) case for the loans as conditional on so-called "anti-corruption" purge of judiciary which are required in order to consolidate and expand refeudalization of the Ukrainian countryside. If Ukraine is to be a proper neocolony, then it's land must be controlled with a suitable property regime. This is a core aspect of US-led imperialism's agenda which is why it is correct to characterize this as not just a potential war on Russia and a fascist war on Donbass, but primarily an imperialist war on all of Ukraine in a struggle over the economic colonization of the country by only the US-led imperialists.

Which leads to the next part:

It cannot be an 'inter-imperialist rivalry because Russian firms do not compete with US-led capital. This statement lists Russian actions, none of which fall under imperialism in a comprehensible Leninist sense, only to conclude in a note about "Russian bullying in Ukraine." Russia is indeed "bullying", i.e. military exercises not in (excluding Crimea, where afaik there haven't been reports of major military exercises anyways) Ukraine but in neighboring Russian Oblasts to raise the issues listed in the piece:

Russia is pushing for renewed negotiations to reaffirm previous agreements surrounding the Donbass region, explicit prohibition of the eastward expansion of NATO to Ukraine and other countries, and a ban on US and NATO intermediate-range missile in countries within striking distance of Russia.

So the slip to "in Ukraine" is misleading. But it's likely connected to the necessity of remaining in the 'US-Russian inter-imperialist conflict' mode of analysis. This is a miss.

Next, to the paragraph on Ukrainian history, in broad strokes it's OK but:

Ukraine was reduced to an appendage of imperial Russia as a supplier of grains during the period of capitalist restoration under modern revisionism from the late 1950s onwards

I really want to know where the analysis in the bolded part is derived from since Soviet Ukraine only became more industrialized over time in relation to the other federated nations of the USSR including Russia, not less.