#and I think he managed to do a pretty good job

[l1tw1ck]

Thunder

Bottom!FTM Cloud Strife x Top!Male Reader

⛈️ Word Count: 1,799 ⛈️

While out on a mission, you and Cloud get caught in a sudden thunderstorm, forcing you to find shelter for the night until it stops. But after a couple days, there aren't any signs of it letting up

AFAB Language Used | I had writer's block and got bored so i decided to finally continue playing final fantasy. I stopped like 30 minutes in to write this fic at 12AM. i put down the game (temporarily! i love it) after the section 8 stuff so i'm sorry for any inaccuracies, just needed to take advantage of this burst of motivation

CW: Rape/Non-Con, Somnophilia, Power Imbalance, Frottage, Teasing, Creampie

You peek outside the window, or what was left of it, of the broken down building you're in then turn to Cloud. “Looks like we’ll have to stay the night.” Lightning strikes to reinforce your words. “Think you can handle it, pretty boy?”

“Stop treating me like a rookie.” Cloud sighs. “And stop calling me pretty boy.”

“It's hard when you look like an adorable little kitten.” You smile.

He rolls his eyes and looks around for burnable items.

“It's like watching a lion cub hunt and gather.”

“I can't wait for this night to be over.” He groans. “How about you do something useful, captain?”

“Like what, kitty?”

Cloud grips the damp piece of wood in his hand in annoyance. “Like maybe finding things to keep the water out of here.” He tosses the wood aside.

“Sure.” You stretch.

The two of you worked together to make the old building livable for the night and went to sleep thinking it’d be over by morning.

Cloud wakes up to the loud sound of thunder and sighs. He sees you leaning against the wall. “It's still raining.”

“It sure is.” You chuckle. “We might be here for a while, kitty. Unless you want to run out and somehow dodge all that lightning?”

The two of you are way too far from the base to even consider doing that. The job pays well but not enough for Cloud to not be annoyed with this sudden detour. “I better get a bonus for this.”

“Of course. You could get paid even more if you did me a little favor.”

He raises an eyebrow.

“About 60,000 gil plus your bonus pay.”

“What is it?” He asks, attentive.

You smirk. “Since we're gonna be stuck here for who knows how long, I think it’d be nice to do something as a…pastime of sorts.”

“Stop beating around the bush.”

You motion for him to come over. He rolls his eyes and gets up. “I know you're talented in so many ways,” You grab his wrist and pull him close to you. “And I wanna see if you're talented in this way too.”

He pushes you and steps back, his cheeks red. “Don't even think about it.”

“It was worth a shot.” You laugh.

He shakes his head and decides to explore the building more, far from you.

The sun set and the sky continued to pour. Then days passed. You rationed food and managed to find other edible things to keep yourselves alive but the situation isn't all that great for you. You're still functioning, but just by a small margin.

The two of you were able to collect rainwater to drink and help yourselves clean up. Cloud insisted on doing it upstairs so you wouldn't watch him. You promised you wouldn't but you were lying.

As time went on, it was getting harder and harder to keep it in your pants. Your mental state started to get a little wonky thanks to your body not getting all the nutrients it needs. You couldn't stop thinking about how much you wanted him, especially since it was better than thinking about food. It got to a point where you couldn't even fall asleep.

You look at Cloud’s sleeping face, studying the slight movements in his facial muscles as he dreams. The soft glow of your lamp allows you to properly see him despite the darkness. His chest slowly rises and falls. You know if you made an attempt, he’d wake up, any good soldier would. But it's getting hard to control yourself. Being in such close proximity with him is driving you mad. You hesitantly, and very softly, touch his shoulder. He doesn't react. You poke his cheek. Nothing. You pause.

You trace your finger down his chest and to his pants. You carefully unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. He doesn't seem to notice you pulling them down. You take in a small breath. You're so nervous it feels like there's a hole in your chest. You remove his boxers at an agonizingly slow pace. You gulp as you start to see his pussy. Light blond tufts of hair beautifully surround his soft, pudgy cunt and his t-dick. You look at him. He's sleeping peacefully. He must be more tired than usual tonight.

You gently pull his underwear down his ankles and place it on the end of the blanket he’s laying on. You carefully spread his legs and slot yourself in between them. As you begin to free your aching hard dick, you start to feel a little bad. You tell yourself to give him a huge bonus after this. You gently rub your cock along his pussy, knowing you can definitely get off just by doing this. You don't want it to hurt, at least not too much, so you decide not to penetrate him since your luck would probably run out if you tried to prep him properly.

You bite down on your lip. The view is making you feel dizzy. Your ears drown out the sounds of the thunder storm and focus entirely on Cloud. On his soft, gentle breaths and the squelching sound of his wet pussy, aroused by your cock pressing itself against it. Your heart starts to pound louder, ruining your focus on Cloud.

You let out a breathy gasp as you begin to feel your climax approaching. Your eyes flicker over to his face, watching to make sure he's still asleep. You don't know how you’ve gotten this far but you're no longer so sure that you’ll be able to stop here. Your movements stutter as your cum splatters on his body.

“Cloud..” You whisper. His lack of reaction emboldens you to keep going. You move back and slide your middle finger inside his cunt. Squelch. It sucks it in with ease, and same with your ring finger. You slowly open him up while using your free hand to jerk yourself off. He twitches. You pause and look at him before continuing.

You eventually decide to stop and finally get to the good part. You gently lift Cloud’s legs and position the tip of your cock in front of his entrance. You take your time easing into him while constantly checking if he's awake.

Once you're finally fully inside, you take a couple minutes to take everything in. You're in serious disbelief but way too horny to be concerned about it. You know that, at this point, if he wakes up, you’ll be able to overpower him.

You slowly thrust into him, happily indulging in the wonders of Cloud Strife’s pussy. You gently caress his t-dick, smiling when you start to hear him whimper. “You feel so good, Cloud– ‘s like you were made for me, to tempt me..” You murmur, gradually picking up the pace. “I didn't think it’d be so easy…”

“Maybe you're not even asleep. No properly trained soldier would sleep through something like this…I wonder if you're enjoying this. Getting off on me assaulting you in your sleep like a slut.” You notice his cheeks starting to turn red. A chill runs down your spine as you start to get a feeling your assumption is correct. “You like this, Cloud? Letting yourself get taken advantage of? Does it feel good getting treated like a cocksleeve?”

He whimpers, his cunt squeezing you.

“I know you're awake. Answer me.”

His eyes flutter open, his face flushed and deliciously seductive. “It– it feels good-!” He moans.

“Good boy.” You grin. You never would've thought Cloud would be into something like this. You roughly pound into him. He cries out in pleasure, feeling his orgasm approaching. “‘M gonna come inside and you're gonna take it like the good kitty you are.”

“Ye- yes–!” He shuts his eyes, squirting on your dick. His mouth hangs open as the aftershocks hit him. He smiles dreamily as he feels your cum flow inside of him.

You stop and catch your breath. “Did you reject me hoping this would happen?”

Cloud nods softly. “I didn't think it would…but I wanted it to.”

…..........

He pushes you and steps back. “Don't even think about it.”

“It was worth a shot.”

He shakes his head and decides to explore the building more, far from you.

Cloud climbed the semi-intact stairs and explored the second floor of the building. There wasn't anything noteworthy inside but it did give him much needed privacy. No room to lay down but he didn't need to anyway.

He walked behind a wall to hide himself in case you decided to follow him, and unbuckled his pants. He stuck his hand down them and gently caressed his t-dick. He always knew you were attracted to him, it wasn't like you were hiding it, and he pretended that he hated it. He loves your pet names and the lustful way you look at his body. Part of him hoped that one day, you’d just force yourself on him and claim him like a prize. He didn't think it'd ever happen but he never got tired of fantasizing about it. He hoped he'd have some sort of opportunity for you to finally make your move.

He'd imagine you cornering him in the locker room showers and covering his mouth to make sure no one finds out.

Cloud sneakily rubs his sensitive nipples against the cold wall tiles as you enter him. “Shh, this is what you get for being such a tease.” You spank him, your cock forcefully entering his pussy. Cloud shivers at the sounds of your heavy breathing. He can tell how aroused you are and how much you love his body. He rolls his eyes back as you stretch him wide open, his own heavy breaths making him feel lightheaded.

Or he’d imagine you giving him an ultimatum and forcing him to submit to you in exchange for keeping his job.

Cloud fakes a look of disgust as he stares at your rock hard cock. He looks up at you then back at your length, hesitating before enveloping it in his mouth. “There you go, Cloud, finally doing what I hired you for.” You praise him. He shudders at the thought, his pussy throbbing with need. “This is what you should be doing, not out on the battlefield but here, pleasing me.”

He looks up at you, trying to look angry. You smirk and push his head down, forcing him to shift his focus back.

His latest fantasy was about being trapped together. He hoped that something would happen to keep the two of you together for a long time. And he’d tease you even more to frustrate you. Then you’d finally do it.

He didn't think that exact scenario would actually play out.

[saveyourblood]

Pretty Boy - Ch 15 (Buddie x Reader)

Summary: Buck’s hands trail down to your hands. He takes his in yours. “Do you love him?” “Buck.” “I know you love me,” Buck continues, playing with your fingers. “You know I love you. But I’m asking if you love him.” The one where you’re an advanced paramedic, Buck and Eddie are firefighters, and you think you might be in love with both of them.

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14

(gif made by me) Word Count: 3.1k Warnings: angst, discussion of feelings (idk it feels worth a warning)

You slowly blink awake, wincing at the harsh sunlight flooding Eddie’s bedroom window. You roll over and sit up, stretching your hands over your head. You let out a groan as your spine cracks in protest.

You yawn, rubbing your hand down your face as you walk out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Your throat dries when you see Buck and Eddie sitting at the kitchen table.

“Hey,” you greet awkwardly, then make a beeline towards the coffee maker.

“You aren’t supposed to drink coffee if you’re…”

“If I’m what, Buck?” You chuckle lightly as you grab a mug. “You can say the word ‘pregnant.’ It’s not a curse or something.”

Buck lets out a breath that resembles a laugh. “Right. Sorry.”

You shrug it off. “Besides, pregnant people can have 200mg of caffeine a day, which is about a cup and half of coffee.”

Buck looks at Eddie.

Eddie raises his eyebrows. “Are you gonna take it away from her? Because I’m not.”

You lean against the counter with a satisfied grin.

Buck takes a sip of his own coffee. “So, we’re really doing this?”

Your grin fades and your mouth fills with sand. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, this isn’t how I imagined it happening, but… I always knew I wanted at least one kid.”

You’re not naive; this is far from the ideal circumstance. Your jobs are demanding and unpredictable, and adding school on top of it, your life is already chaotic. Adding pregnancy and an eventual baby to the mix? You have no fucking idea how you’ll make it work.

But… you should make it work. Because even if it’s the wrong timing, you have a lot of factors working in your favor. You have a successful career that earns you a decent income. You have not one, but two committed partners. You’re nearing your 30s. It’ll probably never be a ‘good’ time to have a kid, so this might be as good as it’ll get.

At the end of the day, though, you’re only in it if they are, too.

“What do you boys think?”

“I think…” Buck starts, then leans back in his chair. “I think it’s your decision.”

Oh. Wow. He’s… considering other options. Or at least, he’s putting those options on the table. And you know why: it’s because he’s a good man. He doesn’t want you to feel trapped. He’s giving you an out.

But you don’t want an out. And him giving you an out means you can’t help but wonder if he also wants an out. And thinking about that makes your heart fall into your stomach.

“Okay,” you eventually say. You somehow manage to keep your voice level. “Eddie, what about you?”

Eddie breathes in through his nose. You watch his chest rise and fall. “Honestly?”

You nod. You want — need — nothing but complete and utter honesty.

“I’ve always wanted Christopher to have a sibling.”

You smile. You can see Buck nudge Eddie’s foot under the table.

“But, of course, it’s your body, so it’s your choice,” Eddie quickly adds.

You set your coffee cup on the counter behind you so you can wrap your arms around Buck’s shoulders. “I wanna do this.”

Buck turns in your arms to look up at you. “Yeah?”

You nod. “Yeah.”

A smile creeps across his face. He gently pulls your arm so you’re to the side of him. He sets a hand on your stomach. “There’s a baby in there.”

You run a hand through his hair, then look across the table at Eddie. “ Our baby is in there.”

Eddie smiles. You cock your head, silently prompting him. He takes the hint and pushes away from the table, joining the two of you on the other side. He stands between the two of you, setting a hand on each of your shoulders.

“Hey, you have a pregnant girlfriend now, so you can’t be doing stupid shit,” you say softly, wrapping your free arm around his waist.

Eddie’s smile softens a little as he nods. “I’m gonna talk to Bobby, get set up to talk someone.”

“Good,” you say, kissing his cheek, “because we need you around. All three of us.”

Eddie kisses your forehead, then the top of Buck’s head.

Eddie doesn’t talk about his feelings. It’s probably because he grew up in a house where people didn’t talk about their feelings. Sometimes, though, Eddie really thinks it’s just the way that he is. Some people have no problem discussing emotions, and some people… are Eddie Diaz. It’s not a big deal. It shouldn’t be a big deal.

“So… what would you like to talk about, Eddie?”

“I… don’t know,” Eddie says with a sigh.

There are a lot of things he probably should talk about. There’s probably a lot of childhood trauma to unpack, and don’t even get him started on the dead wife and sudden single father thing. He could talk about his parents or his time in the army. The thing is, though, is he doesn’t want to talk about any of that. He’s not here for his inner child, or his dead wife, or his parents, or his army buddies.

He isn’t doing this for himself. He’s doing it for you and Buck.

Eddie opens his mouth, then closes it. He furrows his brow in contemplation. “Nothing I say leaves this room, right? I mean, if I tell you something, you can’t tell my captain, right?”

“As long as you don’t plan on hurting yourself or anyone else, nothing you say leaves this room,” Frank replies.

Well, if that’s the case, he may as well talk about the actual reason he’s here.

“My partners are worried about me,” Eddie eventually says.

“Your work partners?”

“No. Well, yes, technically, but…” Eddie sighs again, pinching the skin between his eyebrows. “God, this is so stupid.”

Frank doesn’t say anything, waiting for Eddie to elaborate.

“I have a girlfriend, I have a boyfriend, and we all work together. She’s a paramedic, he’s a firefighter.”

“Do they know that you’re dating both of them?”

“What? Oh, yeah, they were dating each other before I started dating them,” Eddie explains. “It’s… complicated.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

Eddie shrugs. “I guess. That, and the fact that she’s pregnant.”

Frank pauses, looking up from the binder sitting in his lap. “...Are congratulations in order?”

The question brings him back to his conversation with Buck, the one they had before you woke up.

“So… we both want this.”

“Of course.”

“Okay, great! But… if she doesn’t… we have to respect that.”

“Of course.”

“And we have to mention it right off the bat, just in case.”

“Okay.”

“We can’t influence her decision in any way.”

“Alright, Buck.”

“It’s her body, so it’s her choice.”

“Yeah, Buck, I get it!”

He smiles. Eddie hopes you know how much Buck loves you. His smile falters a little. He hopes you know how much he loves you.

“It’s a good thing,” Eddie confirms softly. “It’s great, actually. I’m excited to be a dad again.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I’m here because my parents are visiting.”

If Eddie’s going to therapy, Buck figured it only makes sense if he also goes to therapy. When he initially brought up the idea, you were supportive, of course, but you also poked a little fun, which he should have expected.

‘ You just have to do everything Eddie does, huh? I’d make a joke about following him into a burning building, but given our job, it doesn’t feel appropriate. ’

In Buck’s defense, he isn’t just doing it because of Eddie — he’s thought about going to therapy for a long time. So when Maddie said their parents were coming to town, Buck figured it was the closest thing to a sign from the universe he would get.

“Well, if them visiting brings you to therapy, something tells me the relationship isn’t great,” Rosemary notes.

Buck figured it was a conflict of interest if Frank was also his therapist, so Bobby set him up with Rosemary instead. She’s a nice-looking woman; not in the sense that he’s attracted to her, but in the sense that she looks like a nice person to be around. Her hair is light grey and curly, and her circle frame glasses cover the smile lines around her green eyes. She looks like someone’s sassy grandmother or maybe a fun great-aunt.

“It’s not great,” Buck says with a light chuckle. “It always felt like it was me and my sister versus them.”

“How so?”

“They… didn’t pay attention to either of us.” It sounds so juvenile when he says it out loud. “I mean, it felt like they only cared about me when I got hurt; I was a pretty reckless kid.”

“Sounds like they were a contributing factor to that,” Rosemary observes. “Children tend to take attention however they can get it, even if it means hurting themselves or others.”

“This sounds crazy, but… it didn’t even feel like I was fighting a real person. They were just a moving punching bag.” Eddie laughs humorlessly. “Kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it? I would spend the whole day helping people, then I would turn around and hurt them.”

Frank taps his pencil against his binder. “You said you didn’t feel like you were fighting a real person. Tell me more about that.”

“What’s there to tell? That’s how I justified it. It’s how I… coped, I guess. If they weren’t real, I wasn’t hurting anyone, and if I wasn’t hurting anyone, it meant I could keep doing it.”

Frank hums in acknowledgment. “How do you cope now?”

“Huh?”

“You changed the way you act, but that doesn’t change the way you feel,” Frank says. “It doesn’t change the fact that you need an outlet. So, how do you cope now?”

“I cope by avoiding them.”

“You’re having dinner with them,” Rosemary points out. “How well do you think avoidance will work when you’re in the same room with them?”

Rosemary may look like someone’s fun great-aunt, but she speaks more like the drunk uncle — with brutal honesty. Buck appreciates it, but he also wants to wince every time she opens her mouth. It’s a confusing combination.

“Probably not that well,” Buck eventually says.

Rosemary smirks. “So how do you plan on getting through it?”

“Maddie,” he says instantly. “Like I said, it’s always been me and her versus them.”

“Even though Maddie’s the one that invited them. Without telling you.”

Yeah, Buck’s been trying not to think about that too hard.

“She wants her daughter to have grandparents,” Buck says.

“What do you want?”

“I want this. It just… isn’t how I pictured it.”

“You didn’t picture yourself marrying Shannon. You did that.”

“Yeah, well, my family was happy to hear about that one,” Eddie expresses. “This? Not so much.”

“You’re afraid of what your family will think.”

Eddie scoffs. “I’m not afraid — I know what they’ll think. And I don’t want to deal with it.”

Frank turns his head. “You must love them a lot.”

Something about that sentence makes the back of Eddie’s throat burn with bile. “W-what?”

“You think your family will be disappointed in you, which will hurt them. You don’t want to hurt them because you love them.”

Eddie’s jealous of you and Buck for a lot of different reasons. He’s jealous of Buck’s close relationship with his sister. He’s jealous of your skills and ambition. Not once, though, has he ever envied either of your family dynamics.

Until now.

See, Maddie figured out the whole ‘throuple’ thing pretty quickly, mostly because Buck can’t lie to her. It took her a while to adjust, but she doesn’t care — she doesn’t judge. The only family you have to tell is the 118. Buck doesn’t have a relationship with either of his parents, and you don’t talk to your only living parent.

He’s jealous of how easy it is for the two of you. Neither of you has to explain the relationship to your elderly grandmother or preteen son. Sometimes, it seems like the two of you get all the good parts of being together, and he gets stuck with the sucky parts. It’s not fair to feel that way, he knows that. But he can’t help but feel it.

“My parents had a lot of expectations for me,” Eddie says. “Dating two people at the same time and possibly knocking up one of them? Not one of the expectations.”

“You’re not going to tell them, then.”

“I just don’t see the point. All I would be doing is giving them more ammunition.”

“Hmm.”

Buck narrows his eyes. “What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

“Well,” Rosemary sighs, “from what you’ve told me, it sounds like you aren’t all that interested in establishing a good relationship with your parents.”

“I’m not.”

“So why not tell them about everything ? How you feel, your relationship…”

“Because it would end in screaming and crying,” Buck says. “I don’t think that was Maddie’s intention when she invited them.”

“Do you always base your actions on what’s best for others, not yourself?”

Eddie gets done before Buck, so he takes a seat in the waiting room; they scheduled their appointments at the same time so they could carpool.

Buck walks out a few minutes later. Eddie pockets his phone and greets him with a smile. “How did it go?”

It probably would have hurt less if Rosemary just slapped him across the face. As it turns out, healing isn’t supposed to be comfortable. Really, Buck would describe it as painful, like the dull ache of a tooth growing in. It’s the type of pain that’s ultimately worth it, but when the end isn’t in sight, it just hurts.

“Fine,” Buck says simply. “You?”

Eddie isn’t sure if he and Frank click. Then again, Eddie isn’t sure he’ll click with anyone who expects them to bear his soul to them. It’s hard to feel comfortable around someone whose every other sentence makes you itch. It is not a simple surface discomfort, either: it’s the kind of twinge you can feel in your bones.

“It was okay.”

“How was it? Did you boys share all of your deep dark secrets?”

“That’s next week,” Eddie jokes. He kisses the top of your head as he walks by you in the kitchen.

Buck grins, taking a seat next to you at the table. “What have you been up to?”

“Homework,” you groan as you close your laptop. “God, all of this better be worth it.”

“It will be,” Buck promises, setting a hand on your knee.

You smile. “Oh! I have something for you both.”

Eddie frowns, sitting across from Buck as you dig through the backpack on the floor beside your chair. You return with a series of black-and-white photos. You hand one to each of the boys.

“I went to my OB a few days after the ER visit,” you explain. “I wanted to make sure I actually had something to tell you.”

The ‘baby’ isn’t more than a white blob on the sonogram; you can barely make out the difference between the butt and the head. When you were in the office, all you could feel was shock. Now, though, watching the men you love stare at the sonogram with wide eyes… you feel nothing but joy.

“It’s a girl,” Buck says, pointing at the white blob. “I can tell.”

“You can not ,” you snort. “It’s literally impossible.”

“Trust me, it’s a girl,” Buck says. “Don’t you think, Eddie?”

You both look at Eddie. He’s staring at the picture with watery eyes.

“Eddie?” you ask softly, reaching out for one of his hands. “Are you okay?”

Your voice snaps him back to reality. He looks at you, then the sonogram again, then at you again. He lets out a breath that sounds sort of like a laugh.

“I’m okay,” he assures. “I’m… I’m just so happy.”

His response makes your eyes well up — damn hormones.

Eddie scoots out of his chair and leans over, pulling you into a hug. Moments later, you feel Buck wrap an arm around your shoulders, and without looking, you know his other arm is around Eddie.

“So… really, what did you guys talk about?”

The three of you are lying in bed. Buck is laying on top of Eddie, who has his arm wrapped around you. Buck has an open hand set on top of your stomach. They both turn their heads to look at you.

“Unless you really don’t want to talk about it, which I would respect,” you quickly add.

Buck shrugs. “I mostly talked about my parents.”

You raise your eyebrows. You shouldn’t be so surprised: out of all the topics in Buck life that require therapizing, his parents is probably at the top of the list.

“Funny, I talked about my parents too,” Eddie mentions.

Buck turns his head so his chin is resting on the space right below Eddie’s sternum. “Really?”

“Yeah. I told Frank how excited I am to be a dad again, but I don’t think my parents will be thrilled.”

“Were they happy the first time?” Buck frowns.

“Not… exactly,” Eddie cedes, “but I think this time, it’ll be worse.”

“I guess I luck out in that area,” you note.

You know that polyamory is still a very taboo topic. The people in your little bubble are supportive, but they’re just that: in your bubble. You know the rest of the world, including parents and other family members, won’t accept your relationship so easily. It’s easy for you to shrug that reality off, considering you don’t have any family you’re worried about disappointing. You know Eddie doesn’t have it so easy.

Your phone rings on the nightstand table. When you pick it up, you see that it’s an unknown caller. You recognize the area code, but it isn’t one in LA. Hell, it isn’t one from California.

You click ‘accept’ with a frown. “Hello? …That’s me, yes. Why are you calling me?”

Buck and Eddie share a confused look before turning back to you.

“Yeah. …Mhm. …Oh. Okay. Yeah, I’ll… figure something out and call you back. …Thanks, you too.”

You hang up and set your phone back down. You stare straight ahead, your eyebrows still pulled together.

“Who was that?”

“Stillwater General Hospital in Seattle,” you say slowly. “My, uh… my dad is dying.”

[riddlessecretss]

Come to bed, cariño.

Carlos sainz x !painter!reader.

Wc-630.

Warnings- just some kisses, just fluff.

Summary- Staying up late to finish your painting before the deadline until Carlos gets too needy.

You listen to your music singing along adding white strokes to help let the water waves shine. This past week has been very stressful trying to get all your artworks done, your are now starting your fifth piece out of eight. Carlos hasn’t had a problem with you being in your art room 24/7 since he has so many workshops and media trips, but at night you both made a promise to go bed on time with each other if we are together. So when you are late to cuddle with him he comes looking for you.

“Baby? Come on let’s get some sleep you can finish this tommorow!” He rushes you sweetly, waiting for you to make a move before realising you have headphones on. You take them of feeling Carlos’ hands warm a place on your shoulders. “Hey guapo, you ok?” ~handsome~ You look up to see Carlos’ wet hair.

“Yeah, are you coming to bed I want to hear about your day cariño, hmm?” He smiles and kisses your cheek.

“Yes im coming darling I just need to finish this, all I have to do is add varnish now.”

You get up aiming to get the varnish but Carlos grabs it and holds it above your head. “Carlos I know what you’re doing but if I leave the varnish for tomorrow it won’t set in time, I need to do this, this is my job!” You get on your tip toes pulling his arm down to try and grab the bottle.

“You don’t need a job anyway, you know I can aid you for the rest of your life. Come on baby.” He whispers the last part while leaning down to hug you.

You take this opportunity to grab the bottle from his hands and kiss his cheek. “Now sit down while I do this ok? I’ll make it fun..” you giggle before playing ‘smooth operator’ by Sade after he sits down watching him smirk. He quietly sings along as you paint over the thin coat. “

Let me just wash my hands ok?” I smile standing up and stretching.

“Yeah what set do you want to sleep in mi vida?”

“Umm you pick, im guessing you’ve already had a shower judging by your wet hair, but I’m just going to have a quick five minute one to get off the paint from my arms and chest.” You follow Carlos upstairs after turning off all the lights.

“Tomorrow we are going to visit my dad and piñon my mum won’t be there but if we stay a bit late we can see her, are you coming?”

“Yeah I will come I love piñon.” You start the shower as Carlos brushes his teeth and waiting for you to get out. As you leave the shower and get ready for bed you have a good idea. “Carlos? Can we get a dog?” Carlos smiles and walks over to you, “how did you know I wanted one? I’ve thought about it for a while. Even when we are gone they can play with piñon.” You smile and kiss Carlos softly, “what a good idea my love.”

You smile warmly into your hug then settling into bed. Carlos cuddles you and you cuddle close to get warm. “So how was your day cariño?” You take a second to think about what you have done apart from painting, “well I pretty much just painted the whole day but I also had a meeting with my manager and my pay is going up. That’s why is was so important for me to finish that piece.” You smile and turn to face Carlos.

“Mm well done my artista.” You giggle and kiss Carlos romantically,”I love you baby.”

“I love you too cariño even when you’re stubborn.”

[fakeusernamelol]

Stan and Ford deserve to raise their incest babies together :,(((

YOU KNOW WHAT ANON? FUCK IT, YES, WHY NOT, THE STANCEST NATION DESERVES SOME HAPPINESS FOR ONCE 😤😤😤💖💖💖

For my part i already had the bad ending au and the original BUT WHAT IF I MADE A (really) GOOD ENDING AU??? 🤭🤭🤭

I KNOW IT SOUNDS FUNNY BUT I ACTUALLY ENDED UP LIKING IT so let me explain a little about this other spin-off au??

Its pretty much the same as the original but in this au the science fair accident didn't happen BUT also does a fight nor anything, the boys are a little (WAY) more able to communicate and express themselves and so when ford gets the change to go to west coast he decides to make a plan in order to not leaving aside stan and the kids in new jersey but to go all as the family they were! And so the plan was that they will stay in the college dorm (in secret, good thing they were twins so stan could get access easily and the kids are still little so they can hide them 😉) while stan worked and save enough money to get a small apartment for them to live in same time maintain their childs lol, and with the money stan has already saved all these years since he left school to study they manage to get the kids into kindergarten so they wouldn't be such an issue while both his parents are busy

Plan sounded easy that it really went and it took them harder to get it (at least 3 Ford's phd and a lot of bribery for the roommate not to say nothing about the family living in the campus 🤷) but they finally managed to do it and start to accommodate their lives a little better. About Stanley he's been working in whatever he finds to get as much money he can to his family, say it and he probably has done it: removalist, taxi driver, house painter, cleaner, cashier, yaddah yaddah, He has also had more than one job at the same time but it's not until he saw and ad about boxing matchings with prize included and without thinking he decides to join to get some more money and also why not? Have a little fun 🤭 hes a little rusty because he hasn't practice his boxing skills ever since the twins birth but he still remembers how to give a good left hook and even with all the changes in his body he's still trong so he feels able to. And while Stanford was doing his way into the science world just like he always dreamed, Stanley was slowly gaining a name as a new promise for boxing!

AND SORRY BUT IM GOING TO CUT TILL HERE, I WOULD EXPAND MORE FOR SURE BUT ITS 3AM AND IM SO SLEEPY (was also going to do a drawing of them kn the college years but 😭😭) so yeah sorry it's possibly not the best BUT PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU FW WITH THIS because this au has become a very important to me and i love making silly variations finally some happy shit here 🥺🥺💖💖

[gilgil-machine]

Like seriously, I'm so tired of people hating on Gil (even though sometimes it's quite justified and sometimes I hate him too) but also not accepting him outside fsn trilogy or treating him like completely different entity or treating his character development like something bad or saying that it was made just for profit. And yeah, sure, the last bit is technically true, because of his character popularity Nasu decided to give him a backstory, give him some depth and meaning instead of just leaving him the way he was, a shallow villain from eroge game, so why treating this development like it's a bad thing?

[victory-cookies]

nearly done my first shift and y’all. this may actually be a good workplace. I think I found it

[niuxita21]

[gingersnapwolves]

So today I want to talk about puberty blockers for transgender kids, because despite being cisgender, this is a subject I’m actually well-versed in. Specifically, I want to talk about how far backwards things have gone.

This story starts almost 20 years ago, and it’s kind of long, but I think it’s important to give you the full history. At the time, I was working as an administrative assistant for a pediatric endocrinologist in a red state. Not a deep deep red state like Alabama, we had a little bit of a purple trend, but still very much red. (I don’t want to say the state at the risk of doxxing myself.) And I took a phone call from a woman who said, “My son is transgender. Does your doctor do hormone therapy?”

I said, “Good question! Let me find out.”

I went into the back and found the doctor playing Solitaire on his computer and said, “Do you do hormone therapy for transgender kids?” It had literally never come up before. He had opened his practice there in the early 2000s. This was roughly 2006, and the first time someone asked. Without looking up from his game of Solitaire, the doctor said, “I’ve never done it before, but I know how it works, so sure.”

I got back on the phone and told the mom, who was overjoyed, and scheduled an appointment for her son. He was the first transgender child we treated with puberty blockers. But not, by far, the first child we treated with puberty blockers, period. Because puberty blockers are used very commonly for children with precocious puberty (early-onset puberty). I would say about twenty percent of the kids our doctor treated were for precocious puberty and were on puberty blockers. They have been well studied and are widely used, safe, and effective.

Well. It turned out, the doctor I worked for was the only doctor in the state who was willing to do this. And word spread pretty fast in the tight-knit community of ‘parents of transgender children in a red state’. We started seeing more kids. A better drug came out. We saw some kids who were at the age where they were past puberty, and prescribed them estrogen or testosterone. Our doctor became, I’m fairly sure, a small folk hero to this community. 

Insurance coverage was a struggle. I remember copying articles and pages out of the Endocrine Society Manual to submit with prior authorization requests for the medications. Insurance coverage was a struggle for a lot of what we did, though. Growth hormone for kids with severe idiopathic short stature. Insulin pumps, which weren’t as common at the time, and then continuous glucose monitoring, when that came out. Insurance struggles were just part and parcel of the job.

I remember vividly when CVS Caremark, a pharmaceutical management company, changed their criteria and included gender dysphoria as a covered diagnosis for puberty blockers. I thought they had put the option on the questionnaire to trigger an automatic denial. But no - it triggered an approval. Medicaid started to cover it. I got so good at getting approvals with my by then tidy packet of articles and documentation that I actually had people in other states calling me to see what I was submitting (the pharmaceutical rep gave them my number because they wanted more people on their drug, which, shady, but sure. He did ask me if it was okay first).

And here’s the key point of this story:

At no point, during any of this, did it ever even occur to any of us that we might have to worry about whether or not what we were doing was legal.

It just never even came up. It was the medically recommended treatment so we did it. And seeing what’s happening in the UK and certain states in America is both terrifying and genuinely shocking to me, as someone who did this for almost fifteen years, without ever even wondering about the legality of it.

The doctor retired some years ago, at which point there were two other doctors in the state who were willing to prescribe the medications for transgender kids. I truly think that he would still be working if nobody else had been willing to take those kids on as patients. He was, by the way, a white cisgender heterosexual Boomer. I remember when he was introduced to the concept of ‘genderfluid’ because one of our patients on HRT wanted to go off. He said ‘that’s so interesting!’ and immediately went to Google to learn more about it. 

I watched these kids transform. I saw them come into the office the first time, sometimes anxious and uncertain, sometimes sullen and angry. I saw them come in the subsequent times, once they were on hormone therapy, how they gradually became happy and confident in themselves. I saw the smiles on their faces when I gave them a gender marker letter for the DMV. I heard them cheer when I called to tell them I’d gotten HRT approved by insurance and we were calling in a prescription. It was honestly amazing and I will always consider the work I did in that red state with those kids to be something I am incredibly proud of. I was honored to be a part of it.

When I see all this transgender backlash, it’s horrifying, because it was well on the way to become standard and accepted treatment. Insurances started to cover it. Other doctors were learning to prescribe it. And now … it’s fucking illegal? Like what the actual fuck. We have gone so far backwards that it makes me want to cry. I don’t know how to stop this slide. But I wrote this so people would understand exactly how steep the slide is.

[itsalwaysdark]

and also it doesnt even matter if i miraculously get a job tmrw bc we don't have a car . and im too out of shape to walk anywhere bc everything is far away . so i genuinely dont jnow what to do

[kianamaiart]

"Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl" Bios!

NAME: Aika (she/her) AGE: 15 Main Protagonist CV: Anairis Quiñones

BIO:

Aika is an easily excitable and energetic girl. She's generally optimistic and very friendly. She's always eager to try new things as long as it's not her fulltime job of being a magical girl.

As soon as her magical girl duties are brought into the picture, her demeanor changes. She checks out, and often looks for the quickest solution to solve the issue. No flashy transformations and special moves here. She's good with a metal baseball bat or a rocket launcher.

All Aika wants is to live a normal life, make friends and go to school. Unfortunately, like every main protagonist, trouble manages to follow her wherever she goes.

___________________________________

NAME: Zira (she/they) AGE: 16 Love Interest Best Friend CV: Bennett Abara

BIO:

Zira is everything Aika wants to be. Painfully average, under the radar and a self proclaimed loser.

She's a smart girl but has a hard time applying herself. Instead of paying attention in school, and doing extracurriculars, Zira would much rather be reading her favorite magical girl manga "Moon Sailor".

After Aika forces her friendship upon them, Zira now has to tag along on all of Aika's escapades and experiences new things. Ew. However, they admire Aika deeply and admire her even more after Aika's magical secret comes to light.

___________________________________

NAME: Hoshi (any/they/them) AGE: unknown Magical Sidekick CV: Christine Marie Cabanos

BIO:

Hoshi is a magical star being sent to Earth to find the chosen one. They made a great choice with Aika, as she's amazing at her job. The only issue is she hates it and is often trying to dodge responsibilities (and Hoshi).

When Aika first started, and still had her heart in it, Hoshi was definitely more neurotic and acted as your typical mentor/magical sidekick. But over time, they gave up on trying to tell Aika what to do and also became a little more apathetic. Aika was getting the job done at least, so what's the problem?

Hoshi still has to make sure Aika doesn't completely give up on being the Star Guardian: Guardian of the Stars, which Aika finds annoying.

___________________________________

NAME: Eclipse (he/him) AGE: 15 Minor Antagonist CV: Aleks Le

BIO:Eclipse is a flamboyant and theatrical individual whose showmanship is out of this world. He refers to himself as

"Eclipse: Servant of Darkness".

He was a D-list antagonist that Aika and her team would fight on occasion. Mostly just saving citizens from him being a nuisance. Eclipse has deluded himself into thinking that he's Aika's rival, main antagonist and love interest. Their love is simply forbidden as he's chosen the path of darkness and her, the light.

After Aika ran away, he managed to find her again. However this time he actually has powers??? Where did those come from? It's as if he's made a deal with darkness itself.

___________________________________

NAME: Lady DeVoid (she/her) AGE: Old Main Antagonist/Big Bad CV: Shara Kirby

BIO: Lady DeVoid is darkness itself. She's a mysterious being with an incomprehensible amount of power. Power that is currently weakened and that she actually has no idea how to use. She can't seem to remember for some reason...

All she knows is that a long time ago she was defeated and banished by a Star Guardian and that she now wants revenge. The only power she has at her disposal is creating particles of darkness that she can use to possess animate or inanimate objects to create monsters. She prefers others do her dirty work.

She enlists the help of Eclipse to spread these particles with the hopes that it'll eventually destroy the Star Guardian.

___________________________________

NAME: Miss (she/her) AGE: 39 Side Character CV: Michele Knotz

BIO:

Miss is Aika and Zira's very tired teacher. Looking at her, you might assume she hates her job, but it's quite the opposite. She pours everything into her work and into her students, leaving very little time for her personal life.

She's recently started trying to get it together (after her ex-wife left her) but is still struggling to find that work-life balance.

Prior to Aika enrolling, Miss was Zira's only friend at school and, though she'd never admit it, Zira's probably the closest thing she has to a friend also (oof). She's subsequently become a secret Moon Sailor fan too.

[boyapologist]

I'm on fucking FIRE this flight key what the hell. I don't think I've ever gotten so many compliments in like. my life time

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Ways I can think of that “DanDaDan” differs from other shonen series:

* Female MC is as important as male MC

* Canon romance gets consistent development through the series. I think that’s part of the reason why the MC ships with the rivals (Aira, Jiji) aren’t as popular with the fandom for once. The main ship is actually getting good development, so the fanbase doesn’t have to make up headcanons to fill in the space.

* Flips the found family trope on its head by having the main group despise new people whenever they show up and they even actively try to kick them out. The new people only end up staying because they keep lingering around to the point that the main group just gives up and lets them stay.

* The rivals aren’t emo or angst-ridden. Aira is a delusional tryhard popular girl while Jiji is a himbo drama queen. I’d even go as far to say that the MCs are the ones who are emo and angst-ridden.

* Supporting cast is more than just important, they become integral to the story. I’d say that the further you read into DanDaDan, the more it becomes an ensemble cast where everyone is a protagonist in their own right.

* World-building is all over the place, but in a good way. Most other shonen are pretty consistent with what kind of world their characters live in. MHA is superhero-based, Naruto is ninjas and magic, Bleach is spirits, and so on. DanDaDan feels like the author just throws whatever cool shit they can think of into the story. That’s actually the reason why I wrote in a different post that DanDaDan reminds me more of Marvel/DC than any other shonen series, it manages to capture the catch-all insanity of those comics.

* Doesn’t rely on hidden power-ups. The main characters either have to outsmart the villains or they have to train to get better with the powers they already have.

* The pervert comic relief guy is actually endearing for once. Not because of his pervert tendencies, but because he’s so oblivious to how socially inept he is that it’s kind of funny. This is gonna sound strange, but he sorta reminds me of Thor in Thor Ragnarok. Full of himself and oblivious to how dumb he can be. He’s Thor without the good looks lol.

* Flips the “nerdy outcast loser somehow gets a harem” trope. Instead of making Okarun cooler than how he actually is, the story emphasizes that the women who fall for Okarun are as weird as him. Momo is a weird outcast, Aira has main character syndrome, Vamola doesn’t understand how to human because she’s literally not one, Rin thought Okarun was a vampire (and wanted him to be).

* Flips the “elderly figure in charge of the teenagers” trope. I don’t really get motherly figure vibes from Seiko Ayase, I get more “cool wine aunt who is stuck with her niece” vibes. In fact, there was the arc where Okarun showed up to her in spirit mode to get her help with fighting off the alien invasion and Seiko’s response was, “Well, I’m not in the area and I have other shit to do, so you kids figure it out.”

* The series takes the piss out of the trope of mystical/magical items that the group acquired to get their powers. I mean…the main mystical MacGuffin in the series are Okarun’s balls.

* Okarun was about to go into an “I’m weak / I wish I was stronger / I want to get stronger for my friends” breakdown, but Turbo Granny told him to shut up and keep fighting.

* Not afraid to put the “cool girl” in as many funny situations as possible. Off the top of my head, the series built up Momo as this cool, tough girl who doesn’t take shit from anyone…then several chapters later, Okarun found out she got a job at a maid cafe.

(Feel free to add to the list!)

[madamechrissy]

Eat that girl for lunch

Nsfw- Choso x fem reader- explicit- pussydrunk Choso lol

Choso could eat you out forever, he can't stop his mouth from latching on your clit, sucking on it and flicking it with the barbell of his tongue ring, making you cum all over his face as you yank on those dark pigtails. He has been at it so long, you can't think or function anymore, cunt throbbing around nothing as you whine out.

"P-please... get up here..." He's staring up at you with those violet eyes, lidded and pussy drunk.

"S-sorry baby, can't stop. Need more of you all over m'face. Once more?" He asks, slipping two long, thick fingers inside your pussy, you whine at it, so overstimulated, his other hand pressing into the plush of your thigh, dark painted nails pressing against your skin.

"Can't anymore, too much, I... Choso!" You're gushing as his fingers fuck into your gummy walls, he's hitting that spot he knows so well, exhaling and flicking that ring on your clit again, your hips buck up against his face.

"You taste too sweet. You're too pretty." He's cooing as his fingers squish into your soppy cunt, you hear how loud it is in the room, gushing all over his fingers now, dripping down those black rings he wears. "You're doing such a good job."

"Please, fuck me... please..." You give him the puppy eyes, but he gives them right back, slipping a third finger, your pussy sucks him up greedily.

"One more?" He's back down, you're yanking on his pigtails, whining out, Choso may seem so sweet, but he loses it when he licks you, when you cum all over his handsome face, covering him with your slick. "Another?"

You glare now. "Choso! Get your dick in me now."

"S-sorry baby!" He leans up now, lining his cock with your entrance, you're so overstimulated you're crying, he wipes them gently, full lips pouting. "I got carried away again."

You exhale in relief when he fills you finally, it's been an hour of this, you're kissing yourself off him, tasting the sweetness. "S'okay Cho, please..." He finally sinks into you, walls fluttering around his thick length, piercing on his cock hitting just the right spot as he entwines his fingers with your own.

"Better, baby?" You can't manage an answer, but Choso takes your eyes rolling back and thighs tightening on his hips as a yes.

Choso needed a drabble aha- Choso fic heerre: Keep This Lowkey

[lumsel]

chinese room 2

So there’s this guy, right? He sits in a room by himself, with a computer and a keyboard full of Chinese characters. He doesn’t know Chinese, though, in fact he doesn’t even realise that Chinese is a language. He just thinks it’s a bunch of odd symbols. Anyway, the computer prints out a paragraph of Chinese, and he thinks, whoa, cool shapes. And then a message is displayed on the computer monitor: which character comes next?

This guy has no idea how the hell he’s meant to know that, so he just presses a random character on the keyboard. And then the computer goes BZZZT, wrong! The correct character was THIS one, and it flashes a character on the screen. And the guy thinks, augh, dammit! I hope I get it right next time. And sure enough, computer prints out another paragraph of Chinese, and then it asks the guy, what comes next?

He guesses again, and he gets it wrong again, and he goes augh again, and this carries on for a while. But eventually, he presses the button and it goes DING! You got it right this time! And he is so happy, you have no idea. This is the best day of his life. He is going to do everything in his power to make that machine go DING again. So he starts paying attention. He looks at the paragraph of Chinese printed out by the machine, and cross-compares it against all the other paragraphs he’s gotten. And, recall, this guy doesn’t even know that this is a language, it’s just a sequence of weird symbols to him. But it’s a sequence that forms patterns. He notices that if a particular symbol is displayed, then the next symbol is more likely to be this one. He notices some symbols are more common in general. Bit by bit, he starts to draw statistical inferences about the symbols, he analyses the printouts every way he can, he writes extensive notes to himself on how to recognise the patterns.

Over time, his guesses begin to get more and more accurate. He hears those lovely DING sounds that indicate his prediction was correct more and more often, and he manages to use that to condition his instincts better and better, picking up on cues consciously and subconsciously to get better and better at pressing the right button on the keyboard. Eventually, his accuracy is like 70% or something -- pretty damn good for a guy who doesn’t even know Chinese is a language.

* * *

One day, something odd happens.

He gets a printout, the machine asks what character comes next, and he presses a button on the keyboard and-- silence. No sound at all. Instead, the machine prints out the exact same sequence again, but with one small change. The character he input on the keyboard has been added to the end of the sequence.

Which character comes next?

This weirds the guy out, but he thinks, well. This is clearly a test of my prediction abilities. So I’m not going to treat this printout any differently to any other printout made by the machine -- shit, I’ll pretend that last printout I got? Never even happened. I’m just going to keep acting like this is a normal day on the job, and I’m going to predict the next symbol in this sequence as if it was one of the thousands of printouts I’ve seen before. And that’s what he does! He presses what symbol comes next, and then another printout comes out with that symbol added to the end, and then he presses what he thinks will be the next symbol in that sequence. And then, eventually, he thinks, “hm. I don’t think there’s any symbol after this one. I think this is the end of the sequence.” And so he presses the “END” button on his keyboard, and sits back, satisfied.

Unbeknownst to him, the sequence of characters he input wasn’t just some meaningless string of symbols. See, the printouts he was getting, they were all always grammatically correct Chinese. And that first printout he’d gotten that day in particular? It was a question: “How do I open a door.” The string of characters he had just input, what he had determined to be the most likely string of symbols to come next, formed a comprehensible response that read, “You turn the handle and push”.

* * *

One day you decide to visit this guy’s office. You’ve heard he’s learning Chinese, and for whatever reason you decide to test his progress. So you ask him, “Hey, which character means dog?”

He looks at you like you’ve got two heads. You may as well have asked him which of his shoes means “dog”, or which of the hairs on the back of his arm. There’s no connection in his mind at all between language and his little symbol prediction game, indeed, he thinks of it as an advanced form of mathematics rather than anything to do with linguistics. He hadn’t even conceived of the idea that what he was doing could be considered a kind of communication any more than algebra is. He says to you, “Buddy, they’re just funny symbols. No need to get all philosophical about it.”

Suddenly, another printout comes out of the machine. He stares at it, puzzles over it, but you can tell he doesn’t know what it says. You do, though. You’re fluent in the language. You can see that it says the words, “Do you actually speak Chinese, or are you just a guy in a room doing statistics and shit?”

The guy leans over to you, and says confidently, “I know it looks like a jumble of completely random characters. But it’s actually a very sophisticated mathematical sequence,” and then he presses a button on the keyboard. And another, and another, and another, and slowly but surely he composes a sequence of characters that, unbeknownst to him, reads “Yes, I know Chinese fluently! If I didn’t I would not be able to speak with you.”

That is how ChatGPT works.

[gibbearish]

Congrats on sending that application!

THANK UUUUUU

[qqueenofhades]

I think its genuinely fascinating how Biden has somehow become the bad vibes sin eater for the party. I'm seeing people who were doing the whole "voting doesn't matter both old men are the same" pivot hard into voting as harm reduction. The anti voting rhetoric has COMPLETELY lost The Youths on tiktok. People suddenly remember the good things the Biden administration has done but don't associate Harris with any of the things they didn't like. In my swing state volunteers are signing up in droves. People feel ENERGIZED, the vibe shift pre and post Biden dropping from the race has just been insane

Y'know, that is a... good way of putting it. It's also why I'm quite sure that Biden has probably been planning it for a while. I don't think he was intending to step down, and didn't want to be forced out at the drop of a hat, but after he realized that the circus was never going to stop until he did, he did the honorable fall-on-his-own-sword thing and definitely, DEFINITELY spent some time choreographing this behind the scenes. Because while the roll-out has been very smooth, it could just as easily (as many of us were expecting) have been a total disaster, and that doesn't happen without SOME planning. It's also entirely possible that the campaign staff flipped from Biden to Harris are superhuman, to come up with a massive online roll-out, new branding, new signs (they had plenty of 'em in Wisconsin yesterday), new everything, but I'm guessing it's a combination of both. Biden has spent his entire political career being underestimated, and after we literally made a meme out of Dark Brandon juking the Republicans out of their shoes, we should definitely give credit where credit is due in how masterfully he pulled it off.

Because we have had eight years defined by the central question of Whether The President Is a God King Who Should Serve For Life (the MAGAts obviously think yes), the sheer idea of a president willingly giving up his power BEFORE he had to is also novel and admirable. It's sad that this is the case, but so be it. The Republicans also got a heaping helping of Be Careful What You Wish For that was undoubtedly brilliant; they've been yelling for years that Biden is old and frail and can't serve and should step down. Biden went "lol okay" and gave it to them, and now they're fucked.

Aside from that, on the most basic level, it's far, far easier to see the actual difference in the parties with Harris as the nominee, just because it shows that one party is willing to make progress and reflect the new demographic reality and social mores of America, and the other one is not. Now to be clear, Biden deserves an incredible amount of credit for coming out of retirement (he was ALREADY 77 years old when he became president and had had decades of a long and respected career in public service behind him) to fight, beat Trump, and deliver an incredibly successful presidency. He held the line against authoritarianism at home and abroad, he rescued the trashed American economy and managed a world-leading recovery from Covid, he stood up for democracy, he spent four years filling the benches with liberal judges to reverse even some of the Trump/McConnell hack job, he finally passed comprehensive infrastructure investment and the Green New Deal under the name of the Inflation Reduction Act -- and so on. Many of these priorities had been languishing for decades or were completely trashed under Trump, and he could not have done so much in just 4 years without all that age, skill, and experience. Hence why all the Ageism!!! was (aside from being a Republican/media smear job) dumb. He's able to do the job because he has had decades to study. Turns out that makes you actually pretty damn good at it.

Yes, Biden could not do as much as he wanted or originally planned, had to deal with MAGA Republicans and Joe Manchin/Kyrsten Sinema sabotaging him the whole time (lololol Manchin, possible possessor of the World's Biggest Ego and with Trump around that's saying something, popping out of obscurity to self-righteously announce he would not be willing to be Kamala's VP. YEAH ASSHOLE. LITERALLY NOBODY ASKED YOU. NOBODY WHATSOEVER. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS AT LEAST WE WILL SOON NO LONGER HAVE MANCHIN IN THE SENATE). And yes, Biden made some serious mistakes of his own, because he IS from an older generation and a different style of doing politics/different beliefs that no longer resonate with the younger segments of the electorate. But this old white Catholic guy at the age of almost 80 still managed to be the most progressive president ever, coming in at a moment of incredible domestic and international crisis and getting us safely to the other side, and all cynicism, criticizing, and caveating aside, he deserves an incredible amount of credit for that. I mean that absolutely, and I am very grateful.

As I said, willingly relinquishing that power takes guts, and when Biden saw the writing on the wall that he had to sacrifice himself, he took his time, he didn't jump too early, and he didn't jump too late. On the most basic level, it becomes a hell of a lot easier to make the "both parties are not the same" argument when one is running a (comparatively) young brown woman and the other is still running their loathed felonious old demented orange traitor. Most Americans are not plugged into policy minutiae and details. They look at Biden-Trump, they see two old white guys. When you take one of those old white guys away (who goes in a self-sacrificially heroic manner and in sharp contrast with the coup-happy fascist) and put Kamala Harris in there instead, it generates an obvious jolt. People can see for themselves that there is a real difference that doesn't rely on closely reading news and tracking complex policy, because as noted, most Americans simply don't. The brown first-generation American daughter of brown immigrants is a quantifiably different story from "old white guy career politician," which for better or worse is how Biden was seen, especially the old part. We needed that establishment expertise to beat Trump in 2020; I still think Biden is the only one who could have done it, and as noted, we owe him a great debt for doing so.

However.... 2024 is not 2020, and it is not 2016. There has been this HUGE and unbelievable swing to Kamala because she represents the antithesis of what the last eight years of Trump-induced anger, fear, panic, chaos, and hatred has stirred up. That's why people are so ready to rally around her, just as they were (I daresay) around Obama in 2008, after the exhaustion, chaos, war, and mounting economic misery of Bush. Trump has been out of office for the last four years, but his shadow over the American political landscape has been omnipresent. Now people know that we finally have a real chance at getting rid of him forever, and just as Biden was uniquely positioned to capitalize on that in 2020, so Harris is now. Which is why, however tough it will be, she has a real shot at winning. I can guarantee the Republicans know that, and are shit scared. Because the Black Lady Army of Democracy has indeed arrived in force to Get This Shit Done and I don't know about you, but I found that incalculably comforting:

Yikes! All lined up for Kamala pic.twitter.com/Dt4OCDp7WX

— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) July 24, 2024

This, at the most basic level, is what scares fascists the most, it's exactly what we need now, and what Harris is uniquely positioned to mobilize, along with her gangbusters appeal to young voters:

This is the energy we need. This is what Biden saw and planned for and which he launched us into, and where all that experience and age paid off. This is why people, even people otherwise disengaged, disillusioned, or checked out of the tedious and mind-numbering drudgery and depression of American politics, are responding to it. Because it's easy to understand, it offers hope, and it tells a very simple story that is nonetheless long overdue:

Thanks so much, Joe. Go absolutely waste that orange fucker, Kamala. We got your back.