#and americans never seem to really get that like even americans that acknowledge it i feel still struggle to grasp the severity of it

[hella1975]

has that other anon ever met an upper class brit because i guarantee they wouldn't feel the same after encountering All That

literally 😭 like comparing classism is so dumb when it’s very much a subjective, varied conversation WITHIN a country let alone amongst different countries but that sentiment can and should coexist with the acknowledgement that british classism Does Not Fuck About

[uns4lted]

ꜱᴏ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ᴘᴛ. 3 ᴡ/ ꜱᴀᴇ ɪᴛᴏꜱʜɪ, ʀᴇᴏ ᴍɪᴋᴀɢᴇ, ʀɪɴ ɪᴛᴏꜱʜɪ

characters: blue lock pairings: sae x gn! reader, reo x gn! reader, rin x gn! reader genre: fluff a/n: this was long overdue cause i'm so busy with my preboards review these days </3 let me make it up to you guys :')) drabbles series: So High School pt. 1, So High School pt. 2

── .✦ sae itoshi

It’s always the little things with Sae. It’s the way he walks you home after school or practice, even when he doesn’t say much. It’s the way he glances over his shoulder during a game, searching for your face in the crowd. It’s the way his hand brushes yours when no one’s looking, a quiet acknowledgment that, despite his cold exterior, you mean something to him.

Dating Sae feels like a secret shared between just the two of you. He’s not the type to broadcast his feelings, but in those rare moments, you see past the calm, distant look he always wears. You catch glimpses of the softer side of him like how he casually brings you a water bottle after his games, or the way he waits for you by the school gate without saying a word, just standing there like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

It’s Saturday night, and instead of hanging out with his teammates, Sae’s sprawled on the couch next to you, watching a movie. American Pie plays on the screen, but neither of you are really paying attention. The warmth between you two is enough.

“You know,” you say softly, “I didn’t think you were the type to watch cheesy movies like this.”

Sae glances over at you, his face still calm, but there’s a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I’m not.”

“Then why are you here?” you tease, nudging him lightly with your shoulder.

He shrugs, eyes returning to the screen. “Because you are.”

And that’s all it takes to make your heart flutter. With Sae, it’s always like this: simple, straightforward, but the meaning behind his words is enough to keep you smiling for the rest of the night.

It’s never about big, flashy public display of affection or saying everything out loud. It’s the quiet moments, the way he leans in just slightly when you sit next to him, or how his hand finds yours when you’re alone together, as if he can’t help but reach out to you.

It’s the little things that make it real.

── .✦ reo mikage

You sit at your desk, staring at your math assignment for what feels like forever. The numbers and equations blur together, and no matter how many times you reread the problems, they just don’t make sense. Frustration starts to bubble up inside you, and you’re close to giving up when Reo drops into the seat next to you, his presence instantly making the air feel a little lighter.

“Need help?” he asks, his voice light and friendly as ever.

You glance at him, surprised he even noticed your struggle. “Derivative,” you mumble, feeling a little defeated. “I just… I can’t seem to get it.”

Reo smiles, not mocking but understanding. He leans in, eyes scanning the question that’s been causing you grief. “Looks like calculus,” he says thoughtfully, making it sound like it’s no big deal. “Derivatives? Chain rule?”

You nod, feeling a little more hopeful now that he’s here.

Without a word, he pulls your notebook closer, studying the problem for a few seconds. “Alright, let’s break it down. Here, you started off right, but this is where you went off track.” He points to the middle of your calculations, his finger lightly tapping the page.

You lean in to see what he’s talking about, and suddenly, you’re aware of how close he is. His arm brushes against yours, and you catch the faint scent of his cologne. Your heart races, but you try to focus on the math problem in front of you.

“So,” Reo continues, “instead of multiplying these two, you’re supposed to take the derivative of the function inside the parentheses first. Like this.” He takes your pencil, effortlessly writing out the steps in his neat handwriting. “See? Now it makes sense.”

You nod, trying to process the information, but it’s hard when all you can think about is how close he is. “Oh… right. That makes sense,” you say, even though your thoughts are split between calculus and how his voice makes everything feel a little easier.

Reo glances at you, noticing your silence. “You sure you get it?” he asks, his tone soft but a little teasing.

“Yeah,” you respond quickly, then hesitate for a second before adding, “How do you make it so simple? You're so good at everything.”

His grin widens, a subtle warmth lighting up his eyes. “I’m just good at helping you out, I guess.”

Before you can even react to the compliment, he reaches out and ruffles your hair gently, a soft chuckle escaping him. “Don’t overthink it. You’ve got this!”

Your heart skips a beat, your cheeks warming as his hand lingers for a moment before he pulls away. The motion is so casual, yet it leaves you flustered. “Thanks,” you mumble, hoping he doesn’t notice the way you’re blushing.

Reo stands up, his usual easy confidence back in place. “If you need help again, you know where to find me,” he says, flashing you that familiar, charming smile. Then, just before he turns to leave, he gives you a quick, subtle wink—so smooth you almost miss it, but not quite.

“Thanks, Reo. I really appreciate it!”

“Anytime,” he replies, and with a final ruffle of your hair, he walks away.

It’s hard not to admire him more. Not just for being great at soccer, but for being surprisingly smart too. As he leaves, the solved problem feels like a bonus compared to the quiet sweetness of the moment you just shared.

── .✦ rin itoshi

It all started when your seat was assigned next to Rin, and the group projects you were in also included him. At first, it felt strange to be so close to someone who often seemed so distant. But as time passed, those little moments in class turned into something special. Working together in groups naturally led to walking home after school, just the two of you. What began as a simple routine soon became a highlight of your day, feeling increasingly unforgettable.

You can’t deny the fact that you admired Rin, maybe because of how confident he seemed. But being paired with him in class changed everything. Those shared glances and casual conversations slowly built a connection you hadn’t expected. “Hey,” you say, beaming a little too brightly, trying to keep your voice steady.

Rin looks over, maintaining his usual nonchalant expression. “Hey,” he replies.

Now, walking beside him feels like a dream. You take a breath, feeling a mix of excitement and shyness as you stroll along the familiar path. Each step feels charged with unspoken words and lingering glances, and even in silence, there's a sense of understanding between you.

Your hand brushes against his. It’s light, almost accidental, but it sends a jolt through you. Rin doesn’t pull away; instead, he subtly adjusts his hand, allowing your fingers to linger together for just a heartbeat longer. A flutter of nerves ignites in your stomach, but before you can second-guess yourself, your fingers intertwine with his. The simple gesture feels memorable, igniting a cozy feeling within you. There were no clumsy talks needed—just you and Rin, quietly savoring this newfound closeness.

As you walk, everything else around you fades away, creating a quiet space that’s just for the two of you. With every movement, it feels meaningful, like a treasured moment that brings you closer together.

a/n: fun fact: i had to open my old math book just so i could make up something in reo's part cause this man smart af and i feel like i had to be smart as well (so hard being dumb) LOOOOL. anw, still looking forward in making these drabbles for the other bllk chracters ;)) likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated!

[cythena]

PURPLE HEARTS <3

❥ — ꒰ notes ꒱ yuuji x older!fem!reader, college au, american college system, yuuji is a college sophomore, reader is a college senior, 19-21 age gap, reader has a nice ass, oral (f receiving), p n v, unprotected sex, if you don’t like anything leave ig

❥ — ꒰ synopsis ꒱ yuuji meets todo’s older friend at his party and he’s hopeful to impress her ; 1.5k words

you were definitely the prettiest girl he’s seen. he stood next to aoi when you walked past with toge. he almost forgot about the stupid drinking game he was playing. his head followed you to the kitchen until you disappeared.

he felted so perverted. to be fair, your face caught his attention first. then his eyes trailed lower. first, the swell of your breasts then the arch of your back. the finally lingered on the curve of your ass.

he wasn’t hiding it from anyone. nobara had also let her head to drift to what distracted her friend. it was a girl. a smirk pulled the corner of her lips.

she noticed you waving to aoi and mouthing something to him. so she nudged his big arm to get his attention.

“hey, todo, who’s that girl you just waved to?”

todo didn’t take his eyes off the table. he brought the ping pong ball up to his eye level while he answered. “that’s y/n.” he tossed the ball and successfully landed it in the final cup.

with only a few cups remaining in the game, you decided to join as a spectator. you took your spot right next to yuuji. he was so grateful he didn’t turn around until after he scored.

you congratulated aoi first with a quick side hug. he stepped aside with yuuji, saying they’ll play in a moment.

“hi! i’m y/n, what’s your name?” you shouted over the music. yuuji swallowed his nerves before speaking. you were smiling up at him so sweetly. he barely tilted his head or else he’d catch a full sight of your tits.

still he smiled back at you. “my name is yuuji itadori!”

your eyes widened and you looked at aoi. “itadori! oh my gosh, todo is always talking about you! it’s so nice to meet you!”

“oh, what has he told you?”

“he says you’re cool, really good at beer pong too.”

your praise relaxed him but then aoi excused himself to join the game again. now he would have to talk to you alone. you were sweet enough, funny, a good listener.

now you and yuuji drifted onto the couch together. you had a decent view of todo playing beer pong again.

“how’d you meet todo?” he asked.

“ugh, my freshman year, he was in my dms for a little bit. we had like some class together that we ended up talking in.”

“wait so you’re the same age?”

you nodded. “yeah. when did you meet him again, last year?”

“i did. how have we never met?” he shifted his body to face you. you crossed your legs, accentuating your hips. he imagined how it would feel to put his hands on them.

he wondered if you were even trying. your words seemed innocent enough but your gaze seemed to say otherwise.

you sighed and placed a hand on your forehead mid conversation. “i don’t come to his parties much, but it’s my last year so i’ll come.”

“you okay?” he extended his hand to your forearm. you eyed him from underneath your palm.

“yeah, just need a break or something. let’s go,” you stood up and gestured for him to follow you. you even took his hand. he glanced over to nobara and inumaki, who smiled at him before he was led upstairs.

you took him to one of the empty bedrooms. yuuji waited for you at the door while you dimmed the lights. he didn’t even acknowledge the faint click of you locking the door. maybe he didn’t notice.

he did notice how you pulled him onto the mattress with you. you sat up and slipped the thin straps of your dress off your arms. he scrambled to sit up with you. the front your dress almost fell down before you dragged it up.

“yuuji,” you faux pouted. “i don’t usually go for younger guys, but you’re really cute.” you lifted your head to look at him. your free hand cupped his cheek.

the way you said his name, called him cute, touched his cheek. it all sent blood rushing to his cock.

you continued. “they never know what they’re doing. always so selfish, and needy, and they never care about me.” you ended up sitting in his lap, your arms wrapped around his neck. “do you think…that you can prove me wrong?”

your hands were clenched around his shirt. he hesitantly wrapped his arm around your waist. his hand pushed against your back.

“yeah. i’ll treat you right,” he breathed out.

yuuji held your legs over his shoulders as he laid between your legs. your hand tangled in his hair. his tongue slurped obnoxiously between your folds.

“you’re so f-fucking good at this!” you moaned out. you pulled your dress down to play with your own tits. opening his eyes, he could admire the gorgeous sight.

he selfishly rutted his cock against the sheets. he’s so desperate to taste you. your thighs clenched around his head like heaven.

one hand’s ring and index slide in and out of your cunt. he switched from his thumb playing with and his tongue swirling around your clit.

he pulled away with a gasp. “mhm, tastes so good. need more, please,” he panted. you let out another loud moan when he sucked on your clit. his fingers grazed your g spot one more time.

“yuuji! fuck!” you cried. you squeezed your breast and yanked his hair. the pain easily forced a moan out of him. tears formed in your eyes from the white hot intensity of your orgasm.

your chest rose and fell rapidly. your breath was out of reach. yuuji sucked on his fingers and licked his lips as he crawled up to your eye level with a stupid grin.

“you’re so good,” you smiled back. you pulled him down for a kiss, tasting your own cum during the sloppy exchange of your tongues.

“can i fuck you now? is that okay?”

how cute, you thought. “yes. please.”

he eagerly yanked his pants down it was adorable. you felt the tip. he was so thick. you wondered how it would feel hitting the back of your throat.

he moaned when he could finally enter your tight hole. even his fingers struggled at first. just the tip had you digging your nails into his arms.

his cock was immediately soaked. it was smoother than trying his fingers. the mixture of spit and your own slick coated his length. he loved when his pelvis hit your ass.

he was completely inside you.

he bent your knees and pushed them near your head. so open to him. he grabbed your thighs, as he slowly moved out. he could see the shine you left on him.

“can i go faster?”

“please.”

he lifted you up with his hands under your ass. your back arched once he hit your cervix again. it was deliciously painful. the new angle let him reach places you never knew before.

stars floated around in your vision. yuuji zeroed in on your expression. sweat stuck strands of hair to your face. the mascara on your bottom lashes smudged under your eye. he smeared your lipliner around too. it was so hot to see you in such a mess all for him.

“you’re so pretty, y/n. so pretty you’re gonna make me cum.” with that you came faster than you thought possible. such an innocent compliment twisted into something so dirty.

yuuji was something else to you. you never thought you’d find someone like this. the way he knew your body better than you was unatural. you moaned his name so sweetly. tears finally broke from your waterline to roll down your cheeks.

“yuuji, please.”

“where do you want it?” he groaned. he was so close. the more you chanted his name, the more you pulled him in.

“i-inside! i fucking need it,” you begged him, your voice cracking with another moan.

yuuji pulled you closer. his hand wrapped around your head so he could kiss you while his cum filled you up. your hole tightened around him, milking every drop. his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

when he finished, he rolled you both over so you could lay on his chest. you rested your eyes for a moment and his hand stroked your back.

aoi naturally barged into yuuji’s room. yuuji was lying on his bed. he lifted his head up to see what he wanted but he was scooped into a hug.

“congratulations. i know what happened.”

yuuji was already used to these dramatic scenes with him. he waited for aoi to put him back down. “what are you talking about?” he asked.

“with y/n. i’m so proud of you.” aoi gripped yuuji’s shoulder emotionally.

it clicked in yuuji’s head now. his face flushed. he wasn’t expecting his friend to invade his dorm room to talk about sex, especially when it was with his friend.

he collapsed onto his bed again, “that’s kinda embarrassing, todo.” he pushed a pillow against his face.

“you, my dear brother, have accomplished the impossible.”

“huh? oh yeah! she told me she never let you-”

— © cythena 2023. do not share on tiktok, plagiarize, repost on other platforms, copy, or translate.

[doberbutts]

you don't actually get to cry "ally yourself with trans women" while actively talking over trans women whose traumatic experiences with transmisogyny are wildly ignored in favor of how hard transmisogyny is on the cis women. like why don't trans women get to say privilege plays into how much transmisogyny affects people?

do we not characterize white privilege as being what protects white americans from the systematic racism that permeates the US?

again, what is the preferred way you would have us refer to that privilege? because I am right here telling you that privilege is a part of the construct of tme/tma but you don't really care that trans women are more affected.

like it's crazy that you seem to think my problem is with the transvestigation playing out against a cis woman and not the way everyone pays attention when it happens to cis women but ignores the rampant transmisogyny when it happens to a trans woman. like you don't even pause to look at why there were no trans women at the olympics to transvestigate in the first place so they turned to the next marginalized option, intersex and women of color, when discussing how trans women deserve better.

Hi I'm the trans woman I deserve better from you specifically

To be completely honest this is looking less and less like a good faith discussion and more and more like you simply accusing me of stuff I didn't say.

You say I am actively talking over trans women. How so? How is "we need to address transmisogyny at its root if we want things to be better" ignoring the plight of trans women?

How is it that I have *repeatedly* acknowledged that there is privilege there, and yet apparently I am ignoring it?

if you want to use the race example: white privilege exists. Racism also affects white people. If white people want to stop being affected by racism (welfare regulations, the war on drugs, low income housing, social programs for community aid, to name a few) then maybe they should ally themselves with people of color because the root of what's causing issues with these things is racism. That doesn't mean white privilege doesn't exist just because a system of oppression affects everyone under said system. It doesn't even mean that the primary target has changed. It's just what makes this a system rather than an individual occurrence.

Never once have I said that cis women are more affected and, in fact, in followup posts I have stated that it *is* quite annoying that people have only been talking about this because this year's Olympics included approximately 0 out trans women. I have been saying that this was the clear end result, once they were rid of the trans women they'd go for whatever cis women they could feasibly get away with, and this time it seems they overplayed their hand.

Castor Semenya is a cis woman who only found out that she is intersex due to being transvestigated. She is, by definition, TME. Except she's not, is she, considering the same rules that apply to trans women apply to her. That's why I brought her up! And- correct me if I'm wrong- but out trans women still competed after she was forced to leave the Olympic running. That is why I'm saying that things maybe are not quite so clear cut as "have" and "have not", because I can point to an example of someone that the definition labels as "has privilege" that according to Olympic ruling bodies no longer counts as a woman either despite being afab TME cis.

If you want to continue to put words in my mouth, then we're out of things to say to each other, and it becomes clear that this was never intended to be a good faith discussion in the first place.

[natalchartnurtures]

PAC: Mitski, what about me is eternal like the.. moon?

I had so much fun doing this

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 1:

'Cause my love is mine, all mine I love mine, mine, mine Nothing in the world belongs to me But my love is mine, all mine, all mine

I'm sitting right in front of your cards in utter awe. I got goosebumps when I laid eyes on your cards, pile 1. Let me begin by saying this: you've seen some DARK and truly terrible times, haven't ya? Even as I say this, it feels like an understatement. There have been times when you were stripped down to bare bones, and you had to "grow back the rest of you." I apologize for the gruesome metaphor (but hey, I'm just the messenger; this ain't really coming from me :p). Maybe you've had to encounter times when you felt painfully lonely, stuck in your head and in your general life too, like your spirit was beaten down. Or maybe it felt as if the universe snatched away something you thought was incredibly precious? But I hear that it wasn't what you thought it was; that's why it had to go. You probably didn't see it that way at all, and THAT'S ALRIGHT because we don't have Spirit's perspective, now do we? I see that you really struggled to put yourself together after that somewhat 'impossible-seeming' loss. It seemed like it came outta left field.

BUT GUESS THE FUCK WHAT. You, my friend, took this PAIN and these fucked up times and turned it into a damn palace of gold. You read that right. What's eternal about you? Your alchemy. Your fire. Your willpower. Your ability to take life by the balls. Your refusal to let it beat you to dust. Your refusal to be small. Literal goosebumps, you feeling it yet? It's your connection to God/Source/Universe. Your faith. Your mastery of your mind, babe. Yeah. You've somehow mastered your mind in this process of putting yourself back together. Acknowledge that ish! 'Cause you really did do that.

Nothing can ever get you to stop dreaming, and much less trying to stop you from achieving them, love. You're a powerhouse of energy, and God bless anybody who ever underestimates that (you included side-eyeing you right now). Not you getting low key called out, haha.

Don't get me wrong, though; being a powerhouse of energy doesn't necessarily mean being in everybody's face trying to assert your dominance, y'know? It can look like silent crying in the middle of the night and waking up the next day determined to overcome the thing that made you cry the day before.

Your light is what's eternal about you. It never goes off. Like ever. Your dedication to learning and growing through whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, life throws your way is what will never die, sweetie. It's like a part of your essence at this point. I hope you're proud of that and know that it's what will bring you to your success in life, whatever that looks like for each one of you beautiful ass people reading this :)

Haha, that's so cute; I just heard Spirit go "you're going places, sweetheart" ><

And with that, let's end your FABULOUS, goosebumps-inducing (btw, I don't say that about just ANYTHING), and awe-inspiring reading here.

Thank you, pile 1, for sharing your energy with me today. I love you guys so, so much and… not gonna lie, I'm low key honored to have been in your presence today. Haha, see ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 2:

My baby, here on earth Showed me what my heart was worth So, when it comes to be my turn Could you shine it down here for her?

My god, why is there so much happening as I tap into your energy, pile 2? And I mean it in a nice way, though. I heard T Swift's song "The Last Great American Dynasty" as I was shuffling for you, and I heard Spirit go, "she's sweet and salty," lol. We'll see how all that plays into the reading eventually.

The first thing I noticed was your incredible balance within your mind and heart. It's shocking. Maybe you've been working on getting these aspects of yours to agree with one another and balance each other out, or it's simply your personality, but… pile 2, this beautiful mind-heart balance is what's eternal about you, love. Your peace. Your calm. The childlike innocence of your heart blending seamlessly with your mind's unending curiosity for life. Your emotional intelligence. The way you flow… like water, I heard. Wow! I find that so amazing, ugh, like can we be friends, pile 2? T-T, 'cause I definitely need some of that in my life right now, not gonna lie, haha.

There's that AND then there's a whole other dimension to you where you give 'life of the party' vibes as well. OH, so maybe that's why I heard Spirit say "sweet and salty," like two very different things but produce a wonderful taste together. Complex. Addicting. You make people want to come back for more, pile 2. Mmmmmm! Love that!

You have this laid-back vibe to you as well that a lot of people in your life appreciate. I see that your ability to lighten anybody's day is what's eternal about you awwww. I heard "she's the sunshine of my life." UGH, this is too wholesome for my heart; please save me. You seem to really perk up people's day/week or just life in general. You give, like, Saggi vibes, bro. It doesn't matter if you have that in your chart, but it's just your soul. The eternal aspect of you feels bright, expansive, loving, and so vibrant in energy, my god. You've also got strong feminine energy too… you must be really good at attracting 'cause you're strong in your feminine energy AND you're chill and detached from it at the same time. Effortless manifester, master manifester are some words that come to mind as I describe this.

Your divinity is what's eternal about you. Your 'witchy vibes.' Your embodiment of your highest truth. Your commitment to maintaining this divine connection in your day-to-day. Bro, what's eternal about you is that you can turn any old mundane task/thing into something fun and magical and full of meaning and symbolism. You live life deep, and even though there aren't a whole lotta people who can join you there, you wouldn't have it any other way. It's your raw authenticity, babe. Circling back to "The Last Great American Dynasty" song, maybe you're like Rebekah that T Swift sings about, "the most shameless woman this town has ever seen." People tend to call raw, authentic women shameless, but you couldn't care less. You will forever do what you like 'cause you're a free-spirited divine mystic in the body of a teeny lil human. Love it.

That's all I have for you, pile 2. Thank you for spending time with me! I love you so much <3

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 3:

Moon, tell me if I could Send up my heart to you? So, when I die, which I must do Could it shine down here with you?

Ah, my divine activators. What's eternal about you? Your intensity. BS detection might as well be your middle name. Sherlock Holmes who? 'Cause you're the new detective in town, baby, sniffing out illusions, falsities, fake people, LIES, victim mentality. None of that runs free with you around, I'll tell you that. It's your capacity to hold divine truth, lovingly, which is INCREDIBLY hard, btw. You can't stand half-assed people and people who seem to not have their "heads screwed on straight." Lmao, what kinda people are you surrounded by, pile 3? Ooh, I heard that you're divinely planted where you are so you can activate a lot of people into awakening to their true selves, but it looks like nobody wants to actually awaken. Lmao.

-Side note: My heart goes out to you if you've been surrounded by really difficult and chaotic energies that bring you down a lot. That SUCKS so hard, bro. Been there myself too lately, and it's not a fun merry-go-round to co-exist with. Just keep being your amazing cool-ass self, ok? Things will work out eventually. You already intuitively feel that things will get better, so trust that feeling!-

If I could describe your energy, I would use the Phoenix rising from the ashes symbolism to do so. Ohhhhh, as I told you that, I saw a vision of T Swift's music video of "Look What You Made Me Do," where she comes out of the grave and sings, "Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time." I'm a fan, pile 3. Omg. That's some badass ballsy energy, and I'm so here for it right now. You're the epitome of what psychological death and rebirth looks like. You're the textbook definition. And THAT'S what's eternal about you. No matter where you are or what you end up doing in life, you'll always be able to "rise up from the dead" and do it iconically too. Haha, I literally heard that. Lmao. This ability of yours is an extension of the greater aspect of you - your higher self. Whoa… I just heard you've had this ability for lifetimes and you will take it strongly with you to the next ones as well. Powerful. It's etched in your soul, pile 3. You know what you want and how to get it, even if not immediately; you always do eventually. It's the security you possess within yourself that's eternal, love. Nothing can really shake you at this point. Lmao. You've got a strong-ass foundation.

-Side note: I'm really seeing a healed and fully realized root chakra for you. If you haven't gotten there yet, you're well on your way! Good job! Root chakra work is the most brutal, btw, so… you really have my respect. Haha, moving on-

You have warrior energy present quietly in your personality as well. You give spiritual warrior vibes. You don't prefer to live in it 24/7; it's simply something you tap into when a situation calls for it. Otherwise, I see you being quite heart-centered, full of love, looking at the world with rose-colored glasses. Your inner child is what's eternal about you. Your divine sensitivity and your capacity to hold your emotions without judgment and live big from a place of heart. You embody the energy of water in my eyes, tbh. Life-giving but also destructive if need be, and there's absolutely nothing weak about water. Phew. You are eternal as the oceans are.

Ahhh, pile 3, that was sooo much fun! Thanks for stopping by, and I love you soooo much!

~~~~~~~~~~~

[quasi-normalcy]

Which Star Trek series should you start with?

The Original Series: Advantages: + The one that started it all + Has some sophisticated and socially conscious science fiction that has held up exceptionally well + The lead characters all have really good chemistry and fun to see play off of one another + It's what most people probably think of when you say Star Trek (together with TNG) Disadvantages: - It can feel very dated and kind of sexist, particularly in its treatment of women - The sci-fi and social commentary may have held up, but damn it, the special effects really haven't - When TOS is bad, it's really, really bad.

The Animated Series: Advantages: + Basically just more TOS. Disadvantages: - Basically just more TOS, but substituting extremely cheap animation for bad special effects

The Next Generation: Advantages: + Probably the most popular one at this point + The crew is full of interesting characters and they're fun to spend time with + Just really smart people solving Space Mysteries + Socialist space utopia + Geordi-And-Data! + Lots of cool sci-fi concepts and social commentary + It's what most people probably think of when you say Star Trek (together with TOS) Disadvantages: - Although not in the same way as TOS, it can feel dated at times, particularly in terms of its treatment of women and it's near complete refusal to acknowledge queerness - Without wanting to bias viewer opinion, the first season is widely considered to be pretty bad - The series makes no bones about the fact that the socialist space utopia is better than every other society that has ever existed and will reiterate this point over and over again

Deep Space Nine: Advantages: + The most popular Trek series on Tumblr + Has a complete story arc, as well as arcs for all of its characters, including the extremely minor ones + Plain, simple, Garak. The humble tailor. + Garashir, if you're into that + Seriously has a really sophisticated treatment of things like post-colonial politics, anthropology, worldbuilding, and the horrors of warfare + Just the characters in general + Is the only Star Trek prior to the 2010s to even look meaningfully at queer representation Disadvantages: - Has an absolutely massive inferiority complex with respect to TNG and this drives a few poor writing decisions that seemingly exist just to poke the Socialist Space Utopia in its eye - Introduces a space religion and then just slowly turns it into Christianity with the numbers filed off - Seems to think that sexual harassment is just a quirky eccentricity - There's no women in its writers' room, and frankly it shows

Voyager: Advantages: + Probably the clearest instance of found family in space + Lots of really good episodes + Lots of fun new characters + Strong female role models + "Set a course...for home." Disadvantages: - Continuity? I never knew her! - Probably about 90% of Trek's reputation for technobabble comes from this one series - Even less queerness than TNG. - Only like...3 characters actually get arcs. - The first few seasons lean very hard into bullshit fake "Native American" spiritualism with one of the characters - How do these guys have warp drive but can't find any water?

Enterprise: Advantages: + Chronologically the first series + 90% less technobabble + The only series to plausibly frame our heroes as astronauts...on some kind of...star trek. + Still has probably the best production values of any series + Makes alien cultures of the week feel somehow richer and deeper than other series + Faith of the Heart is good, fuck you. Disadvantages: - Oh my god, the decon scenes - Seriously, if you've ever wondered what a "sexy" series written by a 14 year old boy who's only ever seen a bit of scrambled softcore porn on late-night cable would be like, this is the show for you - Somehow feels more sexist and racist than the show from the '60s - Seriously, the POC characters mostly exist to fill seats on the bridge; the women constantly have to undress themselves - Hellooooo, Bush II-era political analogies - Scott Bakula is a good actor but you wouldn't know it from this series - In season 3, they add a tambourine beat to Faith of the Heart and ruin it

Discovery: Advantages: + Noticed the lack of queer characters in the first 50 years of Star Trek canon and decided to make up for lost time + Seriously, the "Bury Your Gays" tally for this series is like...negative two + Just incredible representation in general + Some really good science fiction plots, particularly in later series + Some really fun, memorable characters + It's still running, so it has an active fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - Makes Elon Musk out to be one of the great visionary geniuses of history - Not really representative of Star Trek as a whole - The series swerves wildly in tone because of constant, behind-the-scenes churn in the writers' room - Offputtingly grimdark first season - Let's be honest, none of the season-long arcs have actually had satisfying conclusions - Half the cast feels like it's just there for exposition and to be killed for cheap drama

Picard: Advantages: + Has the best dramatic acting of any Star Trek series by a fair margin + Has the best musical score of any Star Trek series + Introduces a whole crew of fascinating new characters + Introduces all kinds of fascinating transhumanist concepts + AGNES. JURATI. Disadvantages: - You know all of those fascinating new characters that I mentioned? Yeah, it unceremoniously gets rid of all of them to bring back the old TNG gang. - You know that all of those fascinating transhumanist concepts that I mentioned? Yeah, it gets rid of those too so that to give us some generic action - Oh my god, someone teach the set designers to operate a fucking light switch - Grimdark - Nossssstalgia - Each season is basically unrelated to every other season - Depends so heavily on TNG that its final season is basically unwatchable if you haven't already seen a 30-year-old TV series

Lower Decks: Advantages: + It has probably the most efficient storytelling that I've ever seen; seriously, it's incredible how much it can fit into a half hour episode + It has a bunch of delightful, archetypical characters you get to know and love + You like hanging out with these people + The ship is kind of crap and you will learn to love it that way. + Basically a sitcom version of TNG. + Has a big fandom on Tumblr Disadvantages: - The art style is pretty Rick & Morty-ish - It takes most of its first season to really strike a good balance between being a sitcom and being a Star Trek series - The main character, Mariner, is kind of unlikable for the first season or so (she gets better) - Lots of callbacks to other series (though always either incidental or clearly explained) - Given that it's the first Star Trek sitcom, the comedy is honestly kinda the weakest part? Subjective I know.

Prodigy: Advantages: + Absolutely gorgeous to look at; the most visually stunning Star Trek by quite a ways + Lots of fun new characters on a cool ship + Gives you clear on-boarding notes to the Star Trek franchise if you're watching it for the first time + Can be watched on its own, but also works as a direct sequel to Voyager and a prequel to Picard (making both of them retoractively better, in fact) + Kind of like the Clone Wars or Rebels of the Star Trek universe, I guess? + Found family in space! The next generation! + Soon to be running on Netflix, so if you already have a Netflix subscription, you don't need to pay for another service + Written for a younger audience. Not necessarily an advantage, but nice if you happen to like family friendly animation or YA. Disadvantages: - *sigh* You basically need to pirate it. Thanks, Paramount. - Has a second season that we may or may not ever actually get to see even through piracy. Thanks, Paramount. - Isn't airing on the same streaming service as all of the other ones. Thanks, Paramount

Strange New Worlds: Advantages: + Basically what the original series would be if it were released today, rather than 57 years ago; all of the cool, socially consciousness sci-fi adventure, none of the weird 60s sexism + Fun, awesome characters you get to like spending time with right away + Incredible visuals + Nifty sci-fi concepts, mostly without the 90s-style technobabble Disadvantages: - A huge cast with only ten episodes a season, so many of them feel underdeveloped - Unfortunately, a bunch of its characters are younger versions of the characters from The Original Series, and they hog most of the spotlight; and the characters whose futures aren't locked in stone are kind of treated as disposable - In general, it needs to spend less time being a prequel, and more time being its own thing - "What if Starfleet ran into the Xenomorphs from Alien?" "Well, they'd probably kill them." "Okay, let's spend several episodes on this."

[grussellsprout]

Is This Where It Ends?

Authors Note: this is my first smau fic I have written or fic in general so please leave any suggestions down in the comments that I could do better on when writing and feel free to write any requests in my inbox for current or past drivers on the grid! This is probably gonna be multiple parts and is inspired by Bailey Zimmerman's "Where it ends"

Pairing: Logan "wanna be Captain America" Sergeant x mixedblackcountrysinger! reader

fc: Various pinterest girls

Trope: Childhood best friends to lovers to ex's to ?

Warnings: Logans gonna be problematically toxic sorry guys.

Background: You and 2023 F1 rookie Logan Sergeant grew up together while being neighbors and moms being best friends with each other growing up. The both of them trying to push their kids into a relationship since they were teenagers because of their own teenage dreams of becoming each others in laws. What happens when Logan and you finally give in and give it a shot falling in love however with your music sky rocketing and his racing career going not as expected. What happens when your sweet childhood best friend turned "love of your life" gets resentful of your success and taking you, your love, and support for granted

youruser

liked by logansargeant lilymhe and 954,649 others

youruser Finally got around to making my debut album after much anticipation from y'all. American Romance is out now! featured pic of the inspiration of the album overfilled with love and admiration for the absolute love of my life.

Tagged:logansargeant

logansargeant I love you so much my cowgirl. So proud of you baby!

| youruser awww I love you too Logie Bear thank you sm honey 💕💕💕 liked by logan sargeant

user3 Anyone else feeling incredibly single after listening to her album? just me?

| user2 ALL OF US DO

| landonorris felt incredibly single mate after that listen

| user2 LANDO? damn even the album got to him

lilymhe When do I get my own song or an album @youruser ???? Thought I was the love of your life

| francisca.cgomes get in line for your own song I get one first bc I'm really the love of her life????

| youruser You both will gotta leave the best for last @francisca.cgomes @lilymhe

user7 mother is mothering again

user5 SLAY THE HOUSE DOWN Y/N

With the debut of the new album my social media was exploding and the songs were absolutely everywhere you went. I had interviews left and right on the most know late night shows, even getting to host an episode of SNL as the music guest. Even reaching the media on the paddock being a topic for everyone on the grid as it was blowing up. However it was the only thing that they were discussing with Logan, I could tell it was starting to get to him especially with the his and the team performance in Australia and it heading into the Montreal GP. I tried to make him feel as supported by me in his career as I could. I started to cancel interviews to go to every GP there was on the calendar for the season when he started to show the slightest of signs the media attention getting to him but he just kept pushing me away. No matter what I did to try and give him the support and attention I thought he needed or wanted from me. However it just never felt enough even though I was giving it my all. Showing up to all the sessions with him (attempted to be hand by hand) early in the morning and not leaving the paddock until he was done and set while giving my entire attention to him, even while he was in the garage talking to his mechanics; there I was following him around like a puppy just happy to be there. Meanwhile whenever he did seem to acknowledge my presence, his girlfriend's presence, all he could do was give me a scowl because I was in his way, or distracting the team, or something to get me away from him. We were never like this before, he was never like this before. I was starting to regret releasing the catalyst to what feels the ending of my relationship with who was my everything, who i thought was gonna be my forever.

F1gossipandwags

F1gossipandwags Fans saw y/n l/n looking extremely shocked and confused while upset outside of a restaurant in Miami on Sunday night after Logan Sargeant’s DNF earlier that day. Reports shown while in the restaurant y/n with Sargeant she seemed to be comforting her childhood love while it was only appearing to be irritating Sargeant causing him to “flip out” and storm out of the establishment dragging the music star with him breaking off the 3 year relationship.

user43 WAIT WHAT??????

[interstellarsystem]

Experiences With Being Out as a System

So, our parents know we're a system. It's all good, they understand that when we suddenly speak like someone from London that it's just another guy taking the body for a spin real quick and that they don't need to question it too much.

The thing is... They don't know our names, or anything about us as individuals. We don't have enough open communication with them to actually discuss the inner-workings of the hundreds of little guys in our brain and who they are or what they like, but even if we did, it's not actually important to them. It almost seems like it's swept under the rug.

Our mother said that she doesn't get why she should have to know anyone else when we're all "us". We're all just a collective to her still, a bunch of bits that make up her child, even though she knows we're separate. Her child, the original, isn't here anymore. But the thing is.. some of us want to get to know her and the family individually. Even beyond just being seen as who we actually are, we want to be a part of it aside from being treated as someone who is gone. But it's not a thing they understand despite our explanations of what it means to us, even despite the fact they know the original is dormant and has been for years.

The most anyone in our family knows about us is our mother, and she only knows anyone with a voice similar to Sark as "the american one". She doesn't know that there's even multiple who sound similar to him.

Technically, we're out as a system. Effectively, though... We're still closeted. Though not really because we're staying in it, moreso that we left but it follows us around like a shield within our own household, but it's not shielding us. It's shielding them from us.

Our experience with talking to medical professionals has been hard because of this--sharing bits about ourselves has been scary. It's scarier to show them pictures of our nonhuman headmates and say "that one is me", but it's never actually been bad when we've mustered up the strength to do it. One of them looked at Mal and saw his horns and said he looks like a faun from Greek mythology. Even though he's not, a positive response like that was empowering. That same one said Filigree's hair was cool. Little acknowledgements about who you are when you've tried to be seen before is great.

With our IRL friends, we expected the situation to be similar to our parents. Swept under the rug like a taboo and given weird, uncomfortable looks when spoken about. But it's been completely different.

We get asked who is fronting, we get acknowledged as separate people, hell, we even felt comfortable telling them about our actual fictive identities and letting the ones who wanted to follow this blog (hey guys if you're reading this <3) get access to it. They acknowledge our nonhumanity and nonhuman parts, share things about our sources with us because it reminded them of us, etc. Sometimes, now, because we've been open about it, we get people actually ask "is x fronting" and we say yes and they say "I knew it".

That specific feeling of being recognised even when your outward appearance doesn't change is absolutely amazing. Little manerisms, little ways our voice sounds even when masking accents out in public, even the words we choose to use are tells toward who is actually controlling the body and they pick up on it--even things we might not recognise we even do. Sure, there's hundreds of people in here and people won't know every single one off by heart, but the ones who are out here often are being recognised and that, to me, is amazing and validating to all of us.

I guess the point here is me sharing our experiences, but also.... You will be able to find people who see you for you. You as a system, you as a nonhuman, you as a disabled person, you as a queer person--you'll be able to find your people. And you know, I hope you do soon--because the feeling of being known is great.

[mariademetal]

౨ৎ⋆ ˚｡⋆ competition itadori yuuji / fem!reader ©mariademetal 2024

cw ... yuuji calls reader babe, everyone is a little stupid, idk what else, lmk if i should add anything note ... this was actually sooooo much fun to write, i luv yuuji so much and this idea came to me like a vision from jesus himself, i hope u all enjoy too (❁´◡`❁) word count ... 1.1k

You've always liked Jennifer Lawrence.

You liked the Hunger Games growing up, but never bothered to read the books. When you turned a little older, you liked Silver Linings too. Maybe you didn't like her as much as some of your peers, maybe you never dressed up as Katniss for Halloween, but you certainly never hated her. She's pretty, she's a good actress, and although you wouldn't necessarily call yourself her fan, you can see why, hypothetically, someone might. You've always liked Jennifer Lawrence.

You've always liked Yuuji, too. He's always been a good friend to you, but now that your relationship with him is blossoming into something bigger, more important than friendship, you can't quite jump over the hurdle that is Jennifer Lawrence. Despite the fact that you have, as a matter of fact, always liked her, you feel nothing but mild discomfort and irritation as you make unrequited eye contact with the poster of her hung on Yuuji's wall.

What else are you meant to look at?

At first, it was easy enough to ignore her. Whenever you came to Yuuji's room you'd make a point to sit on his bed, back against the wall, safe from any unwanted eye contact with Jennifer's boobs. But the talking stage is weird like that— if Yuuji's already sitting on his bed, you certainly can't, and then you're forced back into a standstill, an ugly competition with a poster that cannot fight back.

So, the two of you start hanging out in your dorm. You would be lying if you said you hadn't considered getting some sweat mag poster of some ludicrously built American actor yourself, just to see Yuuji's reaction. You, thankfully, came to your senses and acknowledged that Yuuji would more likely ask to take it to hang on his own wall than ask you to take it down for the sake of his ego before you spent any money on your silly idea.

Unfortunately, when Nobara leaves her window open after a particularly humid day and finds that she's invited a mildew infestation into her dorm, she asks to shack up with you until her new room is set up, and thus you and Yuuji are forced back to his room.

Still, it was easy enough to ignore Jennifer. She was an unwelcome, near-overbearing presence in your relationship with Yuuji, but it wasn't like he mentioned her in your conversations, nor did he ever compare the two of you— it was just that stupid poster hanging above his bed and the knowledge that he has called her his type, whatever that really means. So, it was survivable.

And there are so many other things you adore about Yuuji, too— like how he gives you his jacket when he feels even a draft, or how he takes pictures of things he knows you'll think are cute or pretty, or how he lets you prop your legs over his thighs whenever you watch movies together. You like what you have with him— you don't like that fucking Jennifer Lawrence poster. Unfortunately for you, they seem like a package deal.

It was easy enough to ignore Jennifer— emphasis on was. You could ignore Jennifer as long as he never mentioned her to you. For a long time, he didn't— no one's ever called Yuuji a genius, but he's always had the good sense to avoid the topic of a certain blonde actress with you. He had a spotless track record, apart from the existence of the poster itself— he was doing so well that you started to think you really could live with Jennifer— then, he had the bright idea of asking you on a date to see her new movie.

The two of you were walking together when he asked— the sun was setting, he'd just bought you a drink from the vending machine, your shoulders were touching— then, he just had to ask that wretched question. You don't think you've recoiled from another person's touch so fast before in your life. You also don't think you'll ever forget the look on his face after you replied to his question with, "Are you fucking with me?"

He asked if that meant the answer was no. (Again, no one ever called Yuuji a genius.)

So, after that display, why are you here, in his room, making the same awkward eye contact with Jennifer Lawrence's cold, dead, photographed eyes that you've been avoiding so fervently these past couple of months? Because you're making your final stand against Jennifer. She's got to go if Yuuji wants your relationship to go anywhere. You refuse to look at her bikini any longer than you've already been forced to.

That said, you can't exactly make your final stand against Jennifer until Yuuji is back from... wherever he is, so you are, unfortunately, stuck looking at Jennifer Lawrence's bikini for even longer than you've already been forced to.

It's only when Yuuji does come back that you realize how weird of a position he's caught you in— just standing in the middle of his room, bag discarded on the floor next to you, staring at his damn poster like you're admiring a piece of art in a gallery.

He looks excited, at first, to see you, then excitement turns into confusion, probably at the fact that you're just... standing there, then concern. "What're you doin', babe?"

"We need to talk," is the first thing that comes out of your mouth, deathly serious.

Yuuji gulps. Literally gulps. "About what?"

"Jennifer."

You can see the relief painting his face when he realizes that you are not, as a matter of fact, breaking up with him. "What about Jennifer?"

"She needs to leave," You emphasize the last word in a way that makes your request sound less like a request and more like a plead. "I feel like the other woman."

"Okay, don't be dramatic—"

"Don't call me dramatic!"

"I'm sorry!"

Yuuji purses his lips and brings his hand to the back of his head, as if he's weighing to pros and cons to standing his ground and keeping the poster. Just when you think you've finally won, that the cons outweigh the pros, he says, "Aren't relationships about compromise?"

"Yuuji, I swear—"

"See the movie with me, and I'll take the poster down."

"Deal."

Maybe you should've thought about it longer. Maybe you should've weighed the pros and cons of this date, too— then, you see Yuuji sulking, watching from the corner of his room as you gleefully climb onto his bed to peel off the tape that attaches the poster to his wall, and it makes it all worth it.

You kiss him on the way out, and the goofy smile on his face tells you he feels the same way.

It'd better be a good movie.

[starmessngr410]

NCT WISH Scenarios - Types Of Crushes At School

Requested? Yes / No

My Own Idea? Yes / No

Disclaimer: These imagines are in no way depictions of the idols actual personalities, these are strictly for entertainment purposes. In these scenarios, the reader is gender neutral (as much as I can try) and is around the same age as Ryo and Sakuya. This I simply because I'm around that age, and it feels a little difficult to write it any differently. Also, I'll be writing with the mindset of a mix of an American and Japanese school, from what I've experienced and what I've heard from people. Let's also pretend that all of them would be able to go to school together for plot purposes. Also, sorry if some of them are a bit lackluster, I really just wanted to finish this in the time frame I set for myself. But, I hope everyone enjoys!

SION; Your kind upperclassmen - Sion is in your math class and sits near you. Near enough for you to develop a crush on him. But you would never tell him, of course, you would never tell anyone, except for your friend. You walk into math class early in the morning again, and you see Sion there as usual, but he seems a little tired this morning. You sit down at your desk and whisper over if he's alright. He says that he stayed up studying for a test in a different class and ended up forgetting to finish the homework. You tell him that he can look at your homework to get an idea before class starts in 10 minutes, and he asks if you're sure, but you assure him it's okay. You go through the rest of class and have a field day thinking about it all day. The next day, you walk into class and see something in your desk. It's a note and [your favorite fruit] juice, thanking you for the work saying that he would help you with anything you need when you need it. Man, if only he wasn't nicer, you wouldn't keep falling for him...

☆

RIKU; Your cute art partner - First meeting Riku, you never thought that you would get along like you did now. This is because, at first, he seemed to be very much into his own abilities, constantly hyping himself up. This, once you got know him however, was false. He mainly did it as a joke with his friends, and was genuinely just talented at most things. You found yourself being drawn to him more and more, he was also talking to you more, you noticed. You ignored this though, as you've never been so lucky for someone to like you when you like them. The next day in art class, Riku surprises you and asks to be partners for the next project. Though you both aren't extremely close, you aren't strangers to each other. And though Riku always usually pairs up with his friends for projects, he decides to pair with you the one time there's a romantic theme, oh how the universe hates you. You two meet at the library Friday after school so you both can work with extra time. You're already at the library, when you see him walk in with a bunch of art supplies. When he sits down, you tell him you're surprised he chose you for the project and that he brought so much stuff. He tells you first, that he wanted to get to know you more because he's noticed you don't talk a lot in class, and that he just wanted to be prepared with the supplies. This catches you off guard, 'you didn't know he noticed you in class before, had he looked your way without you knowing?'. You nod in acknowledgement, and get to work. Later in the day, you start to get a bit tired because you've been at school all day and it was getting colder, and Riku actually lends you his jacket and drapes it over your shoulders. You're actually able to fall asleep a bit easier now that he was closer. He ended up stopping as well, and taking a nap right next to you...

☆

YUSHI; Your funny but nice P.E. partner - You were never good or confident in physical exercise, so Yushi always offers to be partners or do the exercises with you. Even though you guys only talk to each other during P.E. because of the shared class, you still find your heart fluttering a bit. Whenever he helps you, he's always so nice and patient. Today is no different, as this time your class is learning a new sport for the month. As usual, Yushi steps up next to you and offers to help you again this time. You, of course, agree, and he helps you stretch before the group game starts. You both start doing the activity and and you almost get hit by the ball, but as usual, Yushi hits the ball away from you. You thank him for protecting you and blocking the ball from hitting you, but he stops you and says that it's fine because he wanted to protect you. This made your heart fluttering a bit, but you convinced yourself that he was just being nice as a classmate and that that comment meant nothing. But you kept thinking about it, until the next day. When you get to P.E. the next day, Yushi's not there, but his friend is there before class. He gives you a note from Yushi. It says to meet him behind the bleachers after class!...

☆

JAEHEE; Your caring baking partner - You're new to the school, and you got into baking class. You're excited, but you don't know much about the school. That is until you get put in a group with Jaehee. You used to know Jaehee before when you were both little, but ended up losing track of each other. When you finally meet him again, you guys catch up and start being able to keep in touch again. The next day in class you both talk before you have to start baking. The whole group did a great job working with each other, the baking teacher even said that your pastry was really good! However, the dishes... No one wanted to do them, and sensing this, both you and Jaehee volunteered to do them. You were a bit annoyed at first, but eventually you both start to have fun cleaning. When you both get to the dishes, you decide to wash while he dries. You start talking about how you two were so close when you were little, and how you missed spending time with him. This makes Jaehee pause, 'what did you mean by that?'. He was about to ask you, when one of your other group members walks back into the cooking room, and tells you both to hurry before the bell rings for the next class. You look back at Jaehee one last time and say goodbye before leaving and taking off your coat. You tried messaging him when you got home from school that day to tell him that you were sorry for running out, but he didn't respond or open the messages to show it was read. This made you worried, 'after just getting back in touch again, did you make him upset by leaving early?'. The next day in baking class, you see Jaehee is already waiting for you before class like always, but he looks deep in thought this time. You notice he's holding something in his hand, 'is it for the teacher?', you think to yourself as you make it over to where he's standing. He stops you before you can even answer, and gives you the letter he was holding while looking slightly away from you. You accept the letter but look up at him in confusion, 'is this a confession?'...

☆

RYO; Your friend from childhood - Ever since you and Ryo were young, you've been inseparable. This continued into high school, you both luckily having most of your classes together. You both sit down in science class together and start talking about what you'll do after school. He suggests you both go to the arcade to play games together like you always do. You both look at each other with a glint in your eyes. After school ends, you both basically run to the arcade from the front gate of your school. Ryo beats you through the door of the establishment and brags the whole way to the counter, with a smug look on his face. When you both find a game (a racing one), you both sit down and put your tokens into the machine and choose your cars. When the game starts you both focus so intensely, you almost don't notice the mini crowd gathering around you both as a few minutes pass. As the last couple of laps end, they start to cheer, as you both get up from the seats the mini crowds start to clap and congratulate you both as you move on to the next game. One of them says something about someone beating their boyfriend in the game, and though you did beat Ryo that time in the game, you both aren't dating. And you guys are just best friends, right? But, when you both finally finish playing and walk over to the ticket counter, the person at the counter says that you and your boyfriend did well, to you. This caught you off guard, and you looked towards Ryo who was already looking towards you with a tint to his face. This caught you even more off guard, did...Ryo like you too?...

☆

SAKUYA; Your generous desk mate - Sakuya sits next to you in history class, and he always eats bread in class, which the teacher never says anything, so you think it's okay. He brings other snacks as well, like chocco cookies, and shares them with you. And since the teacher lets you pick your partners for projects, Sakuya always chooses you because you're not as greedy as your other classmates are with his snacks. When you two arrive at the café near your school early in the morning on Saturday, you already have all the supplies you'll need for the project. You both sit down and order while you work on the project. Sakuya orders a plate of crossiants and a cappuccino, and you order a slice of strawberry shortcake and a strawberry flavored drink. As you wait, Sakuya asks if you want to share his crossiants when they come, but you refuse and say you couldn't take any of his precious bread. When you both get your orders, he gives you a crossiant anyway, and you trade with a piece of your slice of shortcake. He eats the piece, and you eat the crossiant. You both don't say anything about it. The next time you both see each other in class, Sakuya shares his bread with you, and you think nothing of it. You get to the end of class and find out that Sakuya never shares his bread with anyone except you. Sometimes, you hear your classmates talking about how Sakuya might have a crush on you...

☆☆☆☆☆☆

[revolutionarygirlkaasy]

Thoughts on sympathy for James in SH2

I was originally going to write this in response to somebody else's SH2 post, but I think I should start my own to say this. Spoilers ahead.

Silent Hill 2 depicts misogyny. It depicts ableism. It depicts abuse and murder. And we know depiction is not endorsement, but neither is approaching a wrongdoer's story with nuance and sympathy.

For the record, in the 20+ years since SH2 came out, I've never seen anybody seriously argue that James was justified in killing Mary, or even that what he did is excusable. In the old days it was actually pretty common for people to say James is a murderer, that's all there is to it, and the only appropriate punishment is if he kills himself or whatever. And to be fair, James himself may agree with that depending on the ending you get.

Fortunately, the average player's interpretation of SH2 seems to be maturing with time. Nowadays there's greater acceptance of the idea that the nightmare Silent Hill shows to James does not depict the whole truth, but rather what James hates about himself and cannot accept. Fans are also more willing to consider what terminal disease is like from a caretaker's perspective, or the expectations (and entitlements) of manhood, or the secret suffering within the modern family unit, or even the disaster that is the American healthcare system. The game doesn't offer an exact explanation for why James broke, which is on purpose: it's up to you to imagine that grim situation and pepper in the details on your own. It's up to you to imagine what would push you to make that kind of choice. James' suffering is not suggested to have eclipsed Mary's, of course, yet you are meant to acknowledge that it was there.

And so James killed Mary. Much like in Crime and Punishment, one of the inspirations for SH2, the protagonist's situation had gotten so bad that killing seemed like a reasonable solution. But despite the grumbles I've been hearing, if SH2 wasn't condemning James' actions, then why would this story be told in the form of a horror game? And if the game didn't think it was worth knowing the ugly truth, or asking whether James can be redeemed, why would we have this story at all?

I guess what I'm saying is that if current fans seem overly kind to James for your tastes, it's fine to feel that way. And if you hate James because you personally really relate to Mary, I'm sorry. Still, I won't miss the days of zero sympathy takes on James. While it's definitely not true that anybody would do the same in his shoes, this is not the story of an evil person showing his true colors when put to the test. This isn't a story where we explore the circumstances that justify a murder. This is a story about people, not just James, reaching a breaking point and fighting to live with themselves afterward. These are tragic characters, and they should be treated as such.

[humiliationstories124]

New college friends get a show

My junior year in college, I went for a study abroad program in Australia. This was a big step for me. I was a naïve farm boy from rural Pennsylvania. I had never been on an airplane before. My mom is afraid of heights; my dad is afraid of water. That combination meant that any family vacations were limited to short jaunts in the car.

My social development was a bit hindered by my upbringing. Growing up, my mom's best friend had been a duck. I, myself, wasn't quite that sheltered, but I still had missed out on many of the social opportunities of my peers. My mom was a neat freak, and thus never let me invite any friends over.

So, going to Australia was my first opportunity to escape the (over)protective wings of my mother. Maybe 10,000 miles was overkill -- but I had gone as far away from home as possible. The "you must be home by 9pm on weekends" and other assorted rules imposed by my mother would no longer apply.

Although I was now free of my familial restrictions, I was still a shy guy. I hadn't yet learned how to be comfortable in social settings with other people. For the most part, my Australian experience consisted of going to class, going to the beach (by myself), and teaching myself how to cook.

One thing I learned through my Lonely Planet Guide was that there was a nearby nude beach in Swanbourne. It was just a bus ride, followed by a short train ride, away. It became my escape. The farm boy in me loved nature. The introvert in me was uncomfortable among people. But, I could venture off to the beach by myself. The beach was never really that crowded, and I could set myself up on a towel and enjoy some solitude, either reading a book, watching the waves, or just taking a nap.

I really didn't make that many friends at university. A few times, people invited me out, but the shy guy in me said "no" even though I didn't have any plans.

Many of my classes were quite large; i.e. 200 students in a big theatre-type classroom. It was easy to blend into the crowd and go un-noticed. However, one of my classes (cross-cultural psychology) had just 15 students in it. It was a late afternoon class, and thus was probably half comprised of "non-traditional" students at the university, which did cater to a large commuter population (as opposed to residents like me).

In the class, we would often arrange our chairs in a circle and have group discussions. In my other lectures, I could safely avoid being called upon. But, in a class of just 15, you really couldn't hide. So, this was really the first opportunity that a small segment of my classmates had an opportunity to get to know me, as I presented my ideas in class.

Following one of the classes, two guys asked me if I wanted to go grab a drink. My brain was thinking "no", but for once, the inner introvert was overruled. I guess it was helped that these guys seemed "normal" in class, and so I conceded.

They took me to a bar in Freemantle. With a few drinks, the conversation began to flow a little more easily. It was obvious (from my accent) that I was an American, and they asked the typical questions about where I was from, how I liked Australia, etc. One commented on my tan and cautioned me about the hole in the ozone above Australia. I acknowledged that I was aware of the hole, but I just loved the beach too much. The other asked me what beach was my favorite. I replied, "Cottesloe."

"Oh, are you sure it isn't Swanbourne?" the other asked me.

"No, I don't go there," I said, blushing.

"Are you sure?" asked the other.

I don't know why they were pestering me with such questions. I was embarrassed to admit I went to a nude beach. I pretended that I had never been. However, for some reason, I sensed they knew otherwise. Maybe they were scholars of psychology and I was not a good liar? But, then I started questioning myself -- maybe they had seen me at the nude beach? Was that possible? I had no recollection of ever seeing them there.

It's probably no surprise, I was still a virgin at this point in my life. In fact, I really hadn't even contemplated my sexuality. I assumed I was straight. I had no experience to back up that assumption. I also had no experience in identifying if others were gay. Well, basically, I thought all gay men were like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Yet, something about these two men from my psychology class made me start questioning. I ran through various scenarios in my head, and I concluded that these two men were boyfriends.

I really can't explain how the thoughts in my brain evolved. I was confused by the interest of these two men. Was it just the Australian friendliness, and I was reading way too much into it? No one had ever really gone out of their way to befriend me before, and while I was confused, I was also becoming aware that I liked the attention.

Sometime before the next class, I concocted a "scheme". Granted, it wasn't all that well thought out of a scheme. It was a chess game, and I was only thinking of my next move. That afternoon, I put on a scooped tank top. It was my favorite tank top. It was probably more appropriate for the gym than for a class, but then again, everything in Australia was so relaxed (many students even went barefoot to class). The deep arm scoops in the side of the tank top gave good visibility to the sides of my pecs when I raised my arms. And, although I was no muscle god, years of working on the family farm had given me a lean body that, admittedly, I enjoyed looking at naked in the mirror.

I also wore my favorite pair of umbro shorts. Designed to allow unrestricted movement while sprinting during a soccer game, the umbros had considerably wider leg openings than most shorts. I had modeled these shorts in front of a mirror many times before. I knew that, when positioned just so, it was easy to see up the leg holes of these shorts.

So, for that next class, I deliberately selected a seat in the circle sitting directly opposite my two new friends (they always sat side-by-side in class). The classroom was just a circle of desks/chairs, with nothing in the middle. I knew that the two guys would have the ability to take an unrestricted view up my shorts. But would they even look?

I can't even recall what that lecture was about. I was focused on my 'tease' of the two guys. I didn't feel threatened by them. I knew they were boyfriends, and thus they weren't seeking something sexual with me. But, if they liked to look, I was going to let them take a peek.

My suspicions were rather quickly confirmed. I would look over to either my left or right when another student was speaking, and when I returned my vision straight ahead, I would notice the two guys quickly looking away from me.

We went out to drink after the class and several that followed. These guys were becoming my first two friends. A couple times we went to bars, and I learned of the Australian custom of "shouting". Basically, if it was someone's birthday, they bought the entire bar a round. It was a nice surprise of getting a free drink and not even knowing the person.

However, my 21st birthday was approaching, and I was nervous. I was finally coming out of my shell. You only have one 21st birthday, right? But, I knew that I couldn't afford to buy a round of drinks for an entire bar. So, I was contemplating staying in on my birthday.

Ryan and Paul knew my birthday was coming up, and at first did not understand my apprehension about going out on my birthday. "Don't worry. It's custom -- but you don't *have* to do it," Ryan explained.

"Oh," I said, feeling quite relieved.

They arranged to pick me up on Friday night and take me out. Rather than the typical sports bar where we went and watched footy (or rugby), they said they had a different place in mind.

The first thing that struck me when we walked into this place called Connections was the drag queens. I asked Paul, "Is this a gay bar?"

"Yes, it's a gay bar. But, in Australia, it's not like America. Both straights and gays go to the gay bars. Straight people come here because they love the drag shows," Ryan replied.

Still, as I looked around, this bar seemed to be about 85% men. And some of the women -- I wasn't entirely sure they were women.

Perhaps I hadn't thought far enough ahead in this chess game. I had assumed that Ryan and Paul just had "friendly interests" in me. Why did they bring me to a gay bar?

So, we walk up to the bar. Ryan greets the bartender, who appears to know him. "Guess what, it's our mate, James's birthday," Ryan says.

"Oh, so a round on you, eh?" the bartender says, looking directly at me.

"No, no. I can't," I say, turning to my two friends.

"But, you have to. It's your birthday," says the bartender.

"I can't," I reply, beginning to think how miserable my 21st birthday was becoming.

Ryan turns to the bartender and says, "I guess we have to invoke the exception alternative for James."

"Alternative exception?" I ask.

"On your birthday," the bartender says, "you have one of two options. Either you shout a round for the bar -- or you strip to your birthday suit!"

"Wait -- what?" I stammer.

Ryan replies, "Yes, those are the two options."

"Oh shit!" I think to myself. I look around the bar. There's probably 150 to 200 people. But fortunately, I don't know any of these people...well, except for Ryan and Paul. I didn't have anywhere near enough cash on me to buy a round for the whole bar. It was apparent I had no other choice.

I took off my shirt.

"Wait," the bartender said, "You're stripping?"

"Yes," I replied meekly.

The bartender then turned around and reached up and rang a bell. "Birthday boy in the house!" he screams.

Oh man, this was way more attention than I had expected. Now it seemed like all 200 people were looking at me. Although, I guess at first, they were scanning the bar trying to figure out whose birthday it was. But, I presume that became apparent as I started taking off my shirt.

"Take it off. Take if off!" a few guys started chanting from a nearby table.

I can't say that I gave a seductive strip show by any means. Instead, it was really more of a 'get this done as fast as possible'. I unbuttoned my shorts, and pushed my shorts and underwear down. I was wearing flip-flops, and thus it was rather easy to step out of my shorts and underwear. I put my clothes on the barstool next to me.

I noticed Paul pick up my clothes and hand them over the bar to the bartender. For my safekeeping, I presumed, so that no one would steal them.

Not even Ryan's giving Paul a high-five made me realize that in fact, *they* were stealing them.

So, at that point, my hopes for my 21st birthday became 'sit at this bar, with my back to everyone, and drink until it's over.'

However, Ryan and Paul would have none of that. First, they insisted we play a game of darts. I couldn't help but feel that the patrons at the bar were taking more than the typical level of interest in an 'USA vs Australia' game of bar darts.

Then, they insisted we should dance. At first, it was line dancing, and I managed to hide near the middle of the floor. For some reason, though, the 1 or 2 lines of people in front of me would seem to fall apart as the song continued, and I found myself in the front line as we 'boot scootin' boogied' on the dance floor.

Ryan asked me what my favorite song was, and I replied, "It's Not Right, it's OK" (Whitney Houston).

Ryan went to the DJ and made a request. Next thing I know, "my" song is playing. Paul points to a box (a stage/platform) and tells me to hop up. "No, no. I can't," I protest. But, Ryan and Paul each grab me under one armpit and hoist me onto the stage. I can't help it; it's my favorite song. I danced.

For some reason, whoever was the lighting/stage manner at the club, instead of rotating the light around the dance floor like I had usually seen done, was instead shining the light directly at my box. It was kinda blinding, to be honest.

Then the unexpected happened. Well, I guess it shouldn't have been too unexpected. When I used to dance alone, by myself, naked in front of the mirror at home, as I would sway from side to side, my dick would become longer and longer, until it became hard.

Whitney was doing it to me again. The beat was too catchy. And I could tell that as my penis was flopping around, I had reached the 'point of no return'. As much as I was trying to mentally stop it, the floodgates had been released and inflation was a one-way proposition at this point. By the time the song ended, I was pointing nearly straight up (like 11pm on a compass dial).

I jumped off the stage, and Ryan and Paul caught me. Each one managed to catch an arm. At that moment, a young man walked up and asked if he could take a photo of the three of us. I started to say "N...", but Ryan had already said "Yes" to the guy. Paul was on my left; Ryan was on my right. The way I had landed, I had wound up with one hand on each of their shoulders. As I tried to move my hands to cover my privates, Ryan and Paul each gripped one of my arms pinning it to the back of their shoulders. "Oh my god," I thought to myself, "This stranger is taking a picture of me completely naked."

Then, Paul pulls his phone out of his left pocket and hands it to the stranger. "Can you take one with my phone, please?"

"No way!" I thought to myself. It was one thing if it were a stranger, but this is a person I know. These two guys -- my classmates -- are going to have photos of me completely naked. But, in a couple instants, it was over, and the phone was back in Paul's pocket.

I don't remember much more of that night. I know there were a few more times that guys walked up to me, or more often to Paul and Ryan, and asked them if they could take a picture of me. At that point, I had become numb to it. The alcohol had loosened me up a bit. "What, you've never seen an American dick?" I teased one guy as he stood taking photos of me.

When the night was finally over, I walked up to the bar and the bartender handed me my clothes. A young man sitting at the bar asked me, "In America, is it a tradition that a guy strips naked in a bar on his birthday?"

"No, not in America; it's not," I replied.

"Then why did you do it?" he asks me.

"Because it's a custom in Australia," I reply.

"No, it's not," the young man says.

And then I notice that Ryan, Paul, and the bartender have the biggest, shit-eating grin on their faces that I have ever seen in my life.

[jolieblack]

Jolie’s thoughts on

The Dancing Men (Sherlock & Co. podcast)

OK, deep breath.

What a ride.

There’s a reason why I’m so late putting my thoughts into words this time round. This case really hit different, at least the final 15 minutes did.

Let’s talk about the earlier four fifths first… Lots of great moments as usual!

John getting into another tussle with London water fowl. "Get a life!" Who needs to get a life, we wonder fondly.

"I bring soup, glorious soup!" - So sweet! Even sweeter with the reversal at the end.

"Never mind Sherlock, his best mate is that bloody microphone." - Not the most hilarious punchline ever, Stamo, but what I love most about this comment is how John doesn’t find it funny at all.

John being a tech nerd with the audio editing of the cryptic message! Pop culture knowledge and tech nerdery doing what Sherlock Holmes couldn’t. Wa-hoo!

Another highlight: The Stamfords singing for fun (and John ruining it by insisting on singing along). And *then* the Stamfords becoming absolutely instrumental in making the final musical puzzle! (Not that they couldn’t just have used a regular recording for their trap, like Abe did for his message to Elsie, but then where would have been the fun. I’m surprised that Sherlock can’t hold a tune, btw. I’m even more surprised that he was trying to sing for an audience.) But the whole music puzzle theme was lovely altogether. Very clever, very creative. "The Police! It’s The Police!" 😂

Not entirely sure what to think of the NYPD behaving like a third rate action drama NYPD… but yeah, we got the message. And I guess it was also a necessary preparatory scene for the end of Part 3. I mean, there’s actually no way in hell that the London police would set a trap for a murder suspect pretty much with the main objective of killing him right away, rather than arresting him. There’s also no way in hell that the London police would shoot at two nerds running around in their crime scene just like that. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I was left wondering after Part 1 what the significance of the Lost Rivers of London was going to be. That mention and the explanation seemed just too random to be random. And then it came back in part 2… And then I turned out to be right. Yay!

Poor harassed Inspector Martin is a whole mood. 😆

And then - tadah - we finally find out about "Lestrade"! 🥳 Didn’t I say she was the character I was most interested in meeting? Love "Gwen", which I’m taking as a nod to "Greg", my personal favourite Lestrade of all time. Also, good choice to make her a very high ranking officer, to explain why it’s OK for the police to cooperate with an irregular freelancer like Sherlock (a major headache in any modern adaptation).

"A lot has changed in those 8 seconds" - This is just bound to be another absolute classic in our fandom.

John playing a BBC presenter! Dream on. And boo John for not acknowledging how absolutely correct Sherlock’s comment about war never being "other news" was. I love that they got to officially hijack the actual BBC for their stunt though.

John getting a too-tight bullet proof vest and making a new friend. 😝 Seriously Sherlock, your status was never in question here.

"Don’t stereotype Americans!" - "He’s from Chicago, for God’s sake!" - Love how John just never takes his own advice.

And THEN…

I have so many questions. Sherlock and John should have so many questions, too, for themselves and for each other.

I would like to know what John thinks it is that makes him run after Sherlock into situations so frightening and dangerous that he literally wets himself. That really is no joke.

I would also like to know why these two are convinced that they’re fine going after an armed, mentally unstable killer on their own, especially when a police team armed to the teeth is standing ready just around the corner. Is an unhealthy adrenaline addiction a necessary prerequisite of being Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and if yes, will we see (hear, I mean) them actually talk about it, reflect on it, deal with it? Nobody forced them to confront Abe with zero backup like that. Are they just OK with it?

Yeah, like all of you, I forgot about the bullet-proof vest, too. Not that I could tell, in audio format, that John *didn’t* get shot in the head or in the leg or in any other place that might as well be fatal…

The way Sherlock says "please" kills me.

As does the way he goes back and forth between "John" and "Watson" in this scene, depending on whether he’s being coolly calculating or horribly worked up emotionally.

Is John actually telling Sherlock to shoot Abe before Abe shoots them (again), when Sherlock is about to drop the gun? Our Jonk, who hates gun violence and who keeps telling Sherlock that he can’t just shoot people, even if they’re very bad people?

I won’t be shouting and screaming and yelling about Sherlock completely losing the plot and taunting and abusing a dying man (a certified mentally ill man, too) and - according to the official transcript - actually strangling him, too, because we’ve been doing nothing else for a week now. But I want this addressed, too. I want this to be reflected on by the characters. I want them to figure it out live on audio where that came from and what it means. If I was John I’d be effing *scared* of my flatmate after this, even if he called me his best friend in the same breath.

A lot of us are seeing the parallel to the showdown of the first episode of BBC Sherlock, of course, and what Sherlock does to the dying bad guy in that scene… and I think it’s legit to wonder what this parallel means for the podcast. Especially since it has no equivalent in ACD canon. ACD’s Holmes does taunt bad guys sometimes after they’re defeated, but only ever verbally, and not when they’re physically hurting, let alone dying. And he sometimes lets fate run its course, rather than stepping in and saving a bad guy from the consequences of his own actions (like Baron Gruner, or Charles Augustus Milverton), but that’s only *allowing* bad things to happen, not actively inflicting physical and/or emotional pain on an already suffering/dying villain with his own words or hands. BBC Sherlock could plausibly do it because that was still the Sherlock without John, the Sherlock before John, the Sherlock that eventually got changed for the better by John’s positive influence. Here in the podcast, Sherlock has been sharing his life with John for months already and he’s *still* doing this? I find that disquieting, to say the least.

I guess what I want most from this episode is CONSEQUENCES. And I’m worried that we’ll just not get any. Starting with John needing at least one broken rib after being hit by a bullet at such close range, if not several. But more importantly, consequences in terms of "what the fuck did we do there and let’s count in how many ways it wasn’t OK". I mean, seriously, our boys are in for YEARS of therapy now.

I am so curious to find out just how badly that will all be glossed over in the upcoming episodes. I mean, I know this is fiction. I know the Podlock Universe is a place where you can be back making music within a day or two of shooting yourself in the head and being in a coma. But I don’t want realism for the sake of realism, I want it for the sake of the characters' journeys and their relationship.

I also want to know how on earth Joel is planning to top this one once he gets to the Three Garridebs.

[mllemaenad]

Not that you are by any means the worst offender in this regard, but it rubs me ghe wrong way how much leniency the NCR gets when it comes to considering the effects of their actions, and perhaps more importantly, their intentions.

Groups like Caesar's Legion, The Brotherhood of Steel, House's factions, The Unity, The Enclave, and The Institute are treated as villains if anyone is even indireehurt because of them.

If two human surface-dwellers kill each other in Diamond City, people blame the Institute.

If the White Legs emulate Twisted Hair cultural traditions without fully understanding them, Ulysses blames the Legion.

And yet... the NCR is treated by fans as well-intentioned and good-natured despite the harm they cause. The situation in Nipton was the fault of the NCR. Its corrupt Mayor was from the NCR. The Powder Gangers were only in the Mojave because the NCR moved them there.

Vulpes set up his lottery (not that I'm saying it was a perfect solution) to address a problem that had gotten out of hand, a problem downstream of the NCR... and yet most fan discussions blame the Legion for what happened in Nipton.

ThevNCR seems to get a pass because people see their goals as noble... but their goals are to recreate the exact conditions that caused the Great War!

We see the exact same phenomena in pre-war terminals as we do in contemporary NCR. A government more obsessed with maintaining its own power than solving problems, a corrupt justice system that favours the wealthy, an obsession with democracy that makes decisions slow and bureaucratic, and a rapacious desire for resources that leads to expansion and conflict eith other factions.

Why is Caesar condemned for his ego, and his shortsigtedness, but Kimball is not?

Why is Roger Maxon blamed for creating an organisation that has hurt people, but not Aradesh?

Why is Justin Ayo blamed for his secrecy and lack of trust, but not Colonel Moore?

It's a double-standard. Others are blamed for trying something new, the NCR gets carte blanch to repeat old mistakes!

Hi, anonymous person.

So ... I've read this, and I've read it again, and again after that and ... I'm a little puzzled about what's bothering you. The NCR is broadly attempting to feed, clothe and house hundreds of thousands of people ... and fans tend to give them a little more leeway when they fuck up than they do, say, the Enclave, which is a fascist organisation bent on global genocide and this is ... bad?

Honestly not really seeing the problem there.

I've barely written anything about the NCR, and certainly not in depth character profiles of the people you bring up, so I'm not completely sure why this is directed at me. If you're saying that there are fans who refuse to acknowledge that the NCR has flaws ... well, I haven't met those people, but if you look for an opinion on the internet you'll probably find it, so I'm not going to try to claim they don't exist. I've seen people claim women don't play Fallout, which is kind of a problem, from where I'm sitting. :)

But. Well, okay.

It's a double-standard. Others are blamed for trying something new, the NCR gets carte blanch to repeat old mistakes!

Nobody's trying anything new. That's kind of the point here. War never changes. Just to do the main antagonists ...

Richard Grey/The Master is just doing eugenics with a sci-fi twist. He's going to forcibly convert everyone who can be into a super mutant, and prevent any remaining humans from breeding. One of the ways to beat him is to tell him that his "master race" is sterile. It's a horrifying plan.

The Enclave are American fascists. They believe that only their people are truly human and that everyone else should literally die.

Edward Sallow/Caesar is ... I mean he's just cosplaying as Caius Julius Caesar because he thinks it looks cool. That's an actual human being who lived, and who quite famously got stabbed to death. More historical precedent than you could shake a gladius at. Sallow got over excited when he read Caesar's Commentaries and decided he wanted to be Caesar. Presenting "doing ancient Rome" as new is ... certainly something, and particularly hilarious as a plan for a civilisation given the decades long clusterfuck that was the fall of the Roman Republic, plus fun subsequent imperial followups like "the year of the four emperors".

The Institute has just reintroduced slavery, only this time let's 3D print the people instead of abducting them so literally no one will care what we do to them! They also lean into the idea that they are the only real people, although they are not quite as committed to this as the Enclave.

What's new and exciting here that I should be willing to give a try? They're all old ideas, and ideas that seem to involve a lot of genocide, enslavement and general misery for anybody who isn't part of a specific in group.

Vulpes set up his lottery (not that I'm saying it was a perfect solution) to address a problem that had gotten out of hand, a problem downstream of the NCR… and yet most fan discussions blame the Legion for what happened in Nipton.

I ... what? Yeah, I'm going to disappoint you here. The massacre at Nipton was the Legion's fault because they were the ones who walked in there and, you know, massacred people. Mayor Steyn was absolutely engaging in a round of "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" and if anybody tries to argue that he was competent I will dispute that wholeheartedly. But there was only a massacre because the Legion actively set one up.

There's political corruption in Nipton, but the problem of the Legion is that they think a lottery that decides who gets beheaded, who gets crucified and who gets sold into slavery is some sort of solution to that problem, rather than an atrocity. That's why they're still the bad karma choice, even if the NCR is kind of fucking things up.

Also ... ha. I promise you imitating ancient Rome is not going to solve your political corruption problems. I mean ... I know Vulpes Inculta makes his little speech, but Rome never did solve the problem of profiteering governors and corrupt politicians. This is not a problem that is going to miraculously disappear under Legion rule. And the idea of Rome somehow getting rid of prostitution is just ... Honestly, Caesar's Legion would be hilarious if you didn't have to have these conversations standing next to people dying on crosses.

If two human surface-dwellers kill each other in Diamond City, people blame the Institute.

... Diamond City is run by the Institute, under the synth-replacement of Mayor McDonough. The leadership actively plays up the paranoia in the city by refusing to investigate disappearances. The particular scene you are describing is paired with one that occurs in Goodneighbor, where the neighborhood watch is able to accurately identify a synth infiltrator – because they are not Institute run.

It's also a feature of gameplay that an inhabitant of one of your settlements may be a synth infiltrator and become hostile to the other settlers. So I'm pretty sure people are blaming the Institute for things they're doing.

If the White Legs emulate Twisted Hair cultural traditions without fully understanding them, Ulysses blames the Legion.

... The Legion massacred Ulysses' people. They enslaved some and crucified the rest along the roadside, like Spartacus's army of old. That's why he's the only one left who understands what the braids mean. His reaction is somewhat unfair to the White Legs, yes, who had no way of knowing what they were doing was wrong ... but I can't see why blaming the Legion would be a problem. They did, in fact, exterminate his people.

ThevNCR seems to get a pass because people see their goals as noble… but their goals are to recreate the exact conditions that caused the Great War!

There's a line I like, that Deacon says in Fallout 4.

I never really much cared for the Minutemen. The idea sounds great. But you give small men big power and sometimes you'll pay for it. –Fallout 4, Deacon Miscellaneous Dialogue

In the context of Fallout 4, the Minutemen are the scrappy underdogs you root for. They're helping to rebuild the shattered settlements of the Commonwealth and they're a potential source of resistance against the Institute. But if you talk to Preston, you get hints of the politics and infighting that brought them down the first time. There's no reason that couldn't happen again. They could become a controlling and exploitative organisation.

Do I think that means you shouldn't work with them? No, of course not. You deal with the situation in front of you. You try to support the people who aim to make life better for everyone.

If we roll back around to the Commonwealth in Fallout 8 or something (assuming I haven't died of old age by then) and the Minutemen have become a military dictatorship ruling the people with an iron fist ... well, we go deal with the fucking Minutemen then.

Deacon's right about the threat, but if you don't take the chance on trusting people, you never build anything.

It's a thing in Fallout. War never changes. There are some truly evil, terrible ideas that turn up again and again and need to be slapped down. But there is no perfect Utopia on the other side of it. There are just communities banding together to try and make it work. What stops them from going bad? Nothing. It can always happen. You make the best choices you can in every story, given what you have to work with.

Or you do an evil playthrough. Your choice. Not my business.

The NCR is supposed to hurt. Watching them fail is supposed to hurt. It's no good if it doesn't hurt. No one cries when you blow up the Enclave. That's a job well done. You can't say good things about them.

The point of the NCR is that you can. They have some runs on the board! Democracy! Agriculture! Education! You want them to make it work. And yeah, it lets you ask much more interesting questions like: how many fuck ups do we let slide?

We don't need the Enclave, or the Legion, to fuck up to know they're bad news. Their goals are bad. We want them gone. But with the NCR ... how much bad are we okay with, to keep the good?

You haven't given me any examples to work with, so I can't reasonably speak to what fans say. But I don't think the games give them any sort of uncritical pass. Fallout New Vegas is ... absolutely about the problems of colonialism and aggressive expansionism. It's very clear that the NCR has not made good choices recently. The game gives you a lot of room to figure out what you want to do about that, and no answer is perfect.

It's only with regard to the Legion specifically that it's an obviously moral choice – and they level the playing field for you there. Both the Legion and the NCR have imperial pretensions, and those are not good. But since that specific thing is the same, well, we're supporting the people who aren't implementing mass slavery and treating women as "breeding stock", right?

If there are people who won't admit flaws in the NCR, well, yeah, I'd call them wrong. But I don't really think it's a double standard to favour a group that doesn't have "wouldn't it be great if we murdered everybody" as a core philosophy over one that does.

[imperatorcaesaraugustus]

it's that time, that ThoughtD: thoughts on HotD time. this episode, season 2 episode 4, was a lot, so i suppose we should get to it

after hearing her speak for a bit longer, i realize that Alys Rivers does not have an american accent as it seemed to me last episode. she just has a british accent that happens to be rhotic

Alys Rivers has such a weird energy to her, it's very compelling

personally, if i were Daemon, i would never drink anything she gave me, but that's just me

for those who don't recall, in season 1 Rhaenyra went on a tour of the realm looking for a potential husband. the one scene we saw of this was one of her suitors leaps onto another and repeatedly stabs him. that suitor is the Blackwood who meets with Daemon this episode

it didn't really occur to me until now that I don't think Rhaenyra ever names a hand, even in the book

i'm glad they've introduced cole being referred to as the Kingmaker, considering it's the one thing that's said about him in the main series (a feast for crows, specifically). it doesn't actually make much sense, since cole really had very little to do with Aegon becoming king, but that problem also exists in Fire and Blood

i sympathize with Aegon quite a bit in this one. while Alicent is correct that he's not an expert and should listen to the advice of his council, the fact that he's never consulted and is kept out of the loop is absolute bullshit

weird interaction between Rhaenys and Alyn (or is that one Adam? i can never keep the names straight). of course, in the book Adam and Alyn don't show up until after Rhaenys dies, so the awkwardness is avoided

i'm glad the characters acknowledge how insane the meeting between Rhaenyra and Alicent is. especially if she's not going to establish a clear chain of command in her absence

i really like the look of Sunfyre

no one has any right to get mad at Aegon for not following the plan when he wasn't told the plan. that's cole and Aemond's fault

interesting choice for Aemond to kill Luke by accident but burn Aegon on purpose

Rhaenys what are you doing that is Vhagar get the fuck out of there

less comments on this episode than usual. i mostly just found it very impactful, the battle of Rook's Rest really changes things going forward. can't wait for next week

[anamericangirl]

I am fully on Israel and the Jews side during this war; but omg some of the hardcore Jewish leftists. I want to say I feel frustrated but I actually feel so bad for them. I saw a post where a christian girl was expression how stupid and evil she found Christians being antisemitic, and the post got full of people saying stuff like “but christianity is inherently antisemitic! It’s built into the very fabric ! It and you are always going to be antisemitic!” Like saying that on a post where someone is literally condemning hatred in their own community is ????? The whole “I have decided you are a bigot and can never stop being a bigot” talking point has always been one of my least favorites. And the posts I’ve seen where leftists Jews are expressing how terrible it is that Jews are now being seen as white, and they acknowledge that it’s being used to excuse any and all hatred towards them, and how they need to get people to realize they are a middle easter group. Which yes, you guys aren’t white, you are middle easterners; but shouldn’t this be making some of ya’ll question the whole notion on the left that white=bad and that’s it’s not okay to categorize different people in that way? It’s just sad to see so many of them going through the utter betrayal they have but are still clinging to the super left way of thinking and just seem totally lost. And I’m not even saying to go right; but to at least acknowledge that maybe the whole black and white “white straight Christian American=Bad Everyone Else=good” rhetoric was always going to go bad for anyone who peddled it? It happened to Asians too in recent years. And I’m absolutely not trying to say this is a Jewish thing, just a far leftist thing, because I can remember all the Jews (and Asians, and Latinos, etc,) who were really trying to sound the alarm that once they lost their place on the oppression hierarchy, a lot of these far leftists treat the minority groups they used to champion even worse than how they treat white people. I don’t know. I just feel sick to my stomach seeing all these people feel so heartbroken and betrayed by what they considered their close friends and community. I just wish this didn’t have to happen to them this way.

It really is sad watching it happen. It should be a lesson to them of the dangers of playing so hard into identity politics. It's an inherently bad way of approaching situations and they approach every situation that way. Wars are a little more complex than this skin color = good and that skin color = bad but they've let their brains get so damaged by that way of thinking over the years that they're really going to have to put in the work to change and I just don't see that happening.

It's such a shame.