#and dragging their judgements and standards with them

[oneknightlight]

2024 cosplayers who participate in cringe culture would shit and piss themselves if they were exposed to a convention pre 2018

[keferon]

Part 4 of Drift/Deadlock and Hot Rods adventure in the mecha au!

Here comes the Sun do do do do- here comes the Sun at Mach five.

———————————————————————

Deadlock needed to kill something. Badly.

He’d kept it together through Ratchets confession. And he kept a relaxed mischievous banter going from the Hangar all the way to Ratchets makeshift clinic. When they finally arrived in Dead En-

The refugee camp. It was called a refugee camp and nothing else.

Deadlock almost transformed in the fragging middle of a refugee camp.

The memory snuck up on him okay?

Ever since he cracked open that one, tiny, memory from before he was Deadlock, pieces of Drift kept floating to the surface.

He gave Ratchet a quick goodbye, saying he needed something to eat. And sped off before the medic could question him.

He needed violence and isolation. Needed to reset his whole damn processor and banging his helm against a hard-organic-stick-thing? Whatever the fuck. Frag? Ugh. It wasn’t working.

He was shaky, couldn’t focus. His chassis felt like it was put inside a vise and someone who hated him had control of the handle.

Ratchet had been a breath of fresh air when Deadlock hadn’t even known he was buried alive. And since then the medic had been stubbornly digging him the rest of the way out.

It. Just felt good.

Being cared for. Being able to relax around someone. And knowing with absolute certainty it wasn’t just an act.

He got used to it. Comfortable with a certain level of vulnerability. Then Ratchet brought in Hot Rod.

If Ratchet was a breeze that slipped inside Deadlocks mental fortress, then Hot Rod was a Fragging bunker busting missile. None of it felt like he deserved it.

Ratchet laid out his spark for judgement. Because Ratchet, amazing and wonderful and impossible Ratchet, didn’t want Deadlock to be stuck with someone like him.

Something shitty inside him whispered, “What if Ratchet doesn’t want to be stuck with someone like him?”

He ignored it. Pushed it down. He didn’t leak coolant over slag like that. He didn’t need people like Ratchet or Hot Rod in his life. He just really, really wanted them in his life. For completely selfish Decepticon-y reasons.

You’d die for them you know.

Shut up.

Deadlock’s processor wouldn’t stop spinning.

He felt exposed.

He felt like slag.

He felt like Drift.

So Deadlock set out to do the most Deadlock thing he could think of.

———————————————————————

Deadlock fucked up.

Deadlock fucked up very badly.

Snow was getting caught in his optics, melting on contact into a slush that made it that much harder to see.

The fragging swarm of quintesson scouts surrounding him were not having that same problem.

They moved in a pack. Smaller and smarter than the standard issue quints that normally devastated the planet, these things unfortunately had a tiny sense of self preservation which made mowing them down that much more difficult.

Deadlock was forced to constantly turn on his peds to avoid the majority of the quints that kept going after his back. There wasn’t a moment he wasn’t beating them off with the stock of his rifle. He couldn’t switch to any close range weapons because if he stopped fighting them off for even a second, the quints would rush him all at once, forcing him to continue.

Couldn’t stop moving for the same reason.

They kept trying to get behind him. Snapping barbed tendrils at the backs of his knees, the gaps of his armor. Trying to force him down.

If I fall I’m dead.

Deadlocks vents were screaming. A brave little fragger went for his face, Deadlock swung his rifle like a bat.

Distraction.

Shooting pain went through the back of his left knee joint. Something with barbs was forcing it apart. Something tore.

Deadlock immediately brought down the barrel through an eye socket and pulled the trigger. Didn’t have time to register if the quint was dead before another one came at him from the opposite side. His peds dragged furrows through the earth and snow. Spinning. He had to keep spinning.

He was slowing.

If I fall I’m dead.

The quints redoubled their efforts to get behind him. More lashes at his back. Another quint darting the other direction. Didn’t even attack. But Deadlock wasn’t ready for the feint and swung at empty air.

The pack leapt at his back as one.

I’m going to die.

Deadlock wedged his rifle between him and the ground. The quintessons tore into his back but the weight was too much to throw off without help.

I’m not gonna see them again.

The rifle dug into his pauldron.

I don’t want to die.

A tendril wrapped around his neck. He clawed at it.

I don’t want to die like this.

One of them was dragging a ped backwards. Forcing his weight onto his injured knee.

I don’t want to die alone.

Drift screamed.

For a moment, from the corner of his blurry optics, he saw a light growing brighter and brighter.

“Huh”, Drift thought deliriously. “I always figured the last light you see before death would appear in front of you.”

IMPACT against the mob at his back sent Drift and the quintesson scouts scattering across the ground.

He fell.

He wasn’t dead.

Deadlock scrambled into an upright kneel, ignoring the lightning like pain shooting up his knee.

Leaning on his rifle, Deadlock saw another mech. Orange and gold with propane blue lights, he had multiple quints trapped in a bear hug. What hit him the hardest was an EM field overflowing with wild, unrestrained joy.

“HOT ROD?!?”

The mecha pilot only got about half the squirmy, bite-y little scrappers in the hold. The other half were quickly shaking off probable Roddy-induced concussions and began leaping at the nearest, newest prone target.

Hot Rod waved.

“Hey dude! Holy shit, that gun looks awesome!” Deadlock looked on in disbelief as more quintessons piled onto Hot Rod.

“What are you doing?! Rod get up!” Deadlock lurched to his feet, his last few thoughts repeated like a skipping track.

I was going to die. I was going to die. Hot Rod is going to die.

The cybertronian rushed towards the mecha. Hot Rod released the remaining quints who quickly turned to join the crushing mass subsuming him.

Hot Rod raised a hand, “Stop! Stop! Don’t get closer!”

Deadlock stopped just short of where the quints would turn on him. “Are you insane?! I’m trying to help you!”

“Just trust me!” Half of Hot Rod’s helm was covered in blackish tendrils. “And then help me in about five seconds!” Orange and gold disappeared under the writhing mass, the light snuffed out before Deadlocks optics.

He finally subspaced his rifle, switching to duel short range handguns that were both messy and loud. He counted five, fucking human seconds.

Something happened to the mass. The squirming suddenly stopped, and in the gaps of the knots surrounding Hot Rod, Deadlock saw something start to glow.

In the next instance, the quintessons exploded off of the mecha. Partially from the act of fleeing, entirely because Hot Rod was completely engulfed in flames.

“WOO! Now the party can get started!” Hot Rod wasted no time in engaging duel flamethrowers and began chasing after the remaining quints with manic glee.

Deadlock stopped questioning shit and started shooting with a vengeance.

Soon enough, the field around them was littered with the quintesson scouts burned and shredded remains.

Deadlocks vents were finally kicking down from maximum and he finally managed to wipe the stupid slagging slush out of his optics.

For the moment his eyes were offline, Deadlock felt a spike of happy that almost bowled him over. A half second before Hot Rod physically bowled him over.

Deadlock’s overtaxed fight or flight systems just gave the fuck up and let the tackle happen.

Hot Rod had him in a tight enough embrace he wasn’t sure he could have gotten away anyways.

“Holy shit I thought you were going to die.” Hot Rod crushed him to his chassis. The twin waves of Worry and Relief were doing things to his processor again. Deadlock (Drift?) was still feeling the aftershocks of it all. Memories skipped again. I’m going to die.

Dea-Dri- he wrapped his shaking arms around Hot Rod. Later, he could just say his knee gave out. Everything was spinning. Wait. No. Hot Rod picked him up and was spinning with him.

“You’re so lil now!” Hot Rod was ecstatic.

Deadlock was back. “Put me down. Gently.”

Hot Rod acquiesced, but seeing Deadlock nearly fall on his own, took the liberty of slinging one of his arms over his shoulders.

“M’kay. You look like shit. Need help walking back to Ratchets? Or can you drive?”

Deadlocks knee and entire back ached, but it wasn’t so debilitating once he’s had a chance to process it for a click.

“Uh, I think I’ll be okay to drive once I get to a road.” Hot Rod pulled him a little more securely into the supporting hold and started walking in the direction of the nearest road.

“Man, that’s still so cool you can do that. I wish I could turn into a car.”

Deadlock snorted, “Oh I’m sure if you keep practicing you’ll figure it out. Try stretching.”

Hot Rod laughed. It was so weird to think there was just a little guy in there. Sitting in like, a fancy cup holder. He sounded like the real thing. Moved like it too. If Deadlock hadn’t met Hot Rod the human first, the uncanny valley would have tipped him off something was wrong, but teeny tiny guy in a big person-puppet would not be his first guess.

Hot Rod stopped short, snapping his helm toward Deadlock.

“Wait. Do you ever drop off Ratchet at the shatterdome?”

Deadlock rolled his optics at the third near spark attack Hot Rod had given him that day.

“Yeeeah?”

Excitement started bubbling over.

“YOU’RE THE MOB BOYFRIEND?!” Hot Rod was stomping his peds while scream-laughing, probably because he couldn’t go for a run without dropping Deadlock.

“Dude! Dude dude dude. Pharma haaates you!”

Well that put Deadlock in a better mood. Albeit, only due to a “misunderstanding”.

“S’not like that. I just give him a lift sometimes. Make sure he doesn’t forget his lunch. Or to take care of himself. We’re not, you know.” Deadlock was pointedly looking the other direction.

Hot Rods cackled at the confirmation of the rumor, and his field steadily shifted towards mischief.

“Oooh Ratchet!” Hot Rod had begun speaking in a falsetto voice. “I love you sooo much! I’m from space but my favorite stars are the ones twinkling in your eyes! I wanna drive you to every beautiful place on this planet and when we finally come home we can watch Golden Girls while you pet my big bald metal head!”

“I’m going to punt you into a fragging Sun.”

Hot Rod laughed harder. He started making some weird wheezing noise that Deadlock hoped meant the imaginary strangling he was doing was working.

“THE UNICRON DAMNED SUN.”

Deadlock’s threatening was severely undercut by the fact that he was laughing now as well. They’d just about made it to the edge of the forest when Hot Rod asked a question that made Deadlock freeze.

“How’d you piss off so many scouts at once anyways? They’re normally way too spread out to all be grouped together like that.”

There were only two times when a pack of quintesson scouts were all gathered in the same place. When they first get dropped off, and when they gather to get picked back up.

Deadlock unhooked his arm from Hot Rod, turning behind them.

The change in air pressure made his finales tingle. Between the snow and the darkness, it was almost impossible to spot with the untrained optic. The snow had stopped falling. It was being blocked.

“Oooh shit.” Hot Rod checked the fuel levels on his flame throwers, glancing between those and the telltale green bio lights of the fuck off massive quintesson descending like the lethargic offspring of a meteor and a shark.

Deadlock brought out two of his heaviest duty guns. And then a third he handed handle first to Hot Rod. Ratchet had only warned him against encouraging Hot Rod’s stupid ideas.

Hot Rod was now looking rapidly between three points of interest.

“Wha-?”

Deadlock gave Hot Rod a gun.

“Do not tell Ratchet.”

Hot Rod held up the side arm. Focus zeroed in. Pretty nasty piece that looked more intimidating than it was. Slagged range but it packed enough of a punch to be worth keeping. Covered in spikes and blades and heavy enough to act as a crude but very nasty club, it was also one of the most over the top looking things Deadlock owned.

Hot Rod’s free hand started flapping faster and faster. His peds similarly bounced rapidly in place, until Deadlock was certain he was about to combust. Hot Rod was making A noise. One that was steadily rising in both pitch and volume. His field going supernova.

The quintesson broke through the clouds, maw open, carving up the earth before them with the bottom of its jaw. A cliffside of teeth was closing in at speed.

Hot Rod screamed.

And Deadlock followed suit.

Sprinting towards death, guns blazing and voices raised in preemptive victory, Deadlock and maybe also Drift, had a suspicion the he and Hot Rod were friends in every universe.

Much to the terror of everyone else.

———————————————————————

And that’s the soft finale to this tale!

Over the course of writing this, the story kept getting longer, but the two scenes it started with were “Hot Rod Meets Deadlock” and “Hot Rod Saves Deadlock” and then more ideas kept popping in between those two scenes.

There is more I plan on writing for these dipshits as well as Jazz and Prowl now but we’ll see what comes first.

I just wanted to say as well that @keferon you are a very talented writer and you’re the reason I was brave enough to share my own stuff. You fit so many little details into your work that just hits like a hammer down the line.

-SSTP

THE SWEET SWEET COMFORT YESSS THE SHENANIGANS!! ABSOLUTELY. Y E S. PL E A S E fklgjgidowjehrkrndhdof

Oh this is amazing. The dynamic you give them. The enERGY. It's like a candy for my soul I love it so so much ogkfhdgd I'm so happy you decided to share your writing! It's filled with joy and and I-dont-fucking-know purified enthusiasm?? I can't remember the right words rn but hopefully you get what I mean haha

[hoejosatoru]

Worth the Wait

Pairing: Fem!Reader X Togame jo, character all 21+, readers hair color/texture and skin color unspecified

Summary: You never thought much of you're little brother's best friend when you were younger. He was just another annoying kid your brother brought around. But Togame grew into himself in adulthood, totally changing your view of him. Little did you know he has been crushing on you for quite some time.

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: smoking, Togame has like some pervy thoughts I guess, face sitting, unprotected sex, cream pie, Choji calls while they're fucking and Togame answers, don't read if aging up characters bothers you. Not proof read. MDNI

Togame could remember the first time he saw you easily. The sight of you laying out in a bikini was quite literally seared into his brain.

He'd been friends with Choji for awhile at that point. They became fast friend after Togame had moved into the neighborhood and started at the same middle school as Choji. They bonded over their mutual disinterest in academics and a shared interest in getting in trouble.

That day was the first time Togame went to Choji's house. It was warm, one of the first days of summer break. Togame was excited to have a whole 2 months of freedom from the drag of classes and homework. He was certain this first summer in Choji's friend group would be one to remember. But first, they needed money for the arcade.

When Togame rounded the corner into Choji's backyard and saw you laying there he stopped dead in his tracks. Choji had mentioned he had a sister, but pretty much only spoke of you being a bitch. Togame really hadn't thought much of what you'd look like. Really, he just imagined Choji with long hair and lipstick, which wasn't a pretty sight. It was safe to say you were nothing like he expected.

His eyes had shamelessly raked up and down your body as you tanned. The skimpy bikini you wore made him damn near weak in the knees. He could tell you were older, probably in high school. Realistically, it was only a few years older than he was, but it made you seem so adult, so out of his league.

"What are you losers doing here?" You had grumbled when you noticed their presence. The look you gave them was disinterested, bordering on rude, but it sealed Togame's fate. He reckons his affinity for mean women was sparked in that moment.

And so for many years he's harbored this crush on you. Of course he had other girlfriends and hook ups, but none could live up to the enigma that you were. His want of you was the only secret he kept from Choji, considering it to be bad bro code to tell your friend how hot you thought their sister was. His secrecy proved to be good judgement.

Every once in awhile, some idiot new recruit would make a comment about how hot you were within Choji's earshot and let's just say they met a very unpleasant ejection from the gang. The worst he saw was the guy who said he'd 'like to have your lips around his dick.' Nobody dared even look at you for a while after that.

That comment was crude, even for Togame's standards. But he would be a hypocrite if he didn't admit he thought things like that. He wasn't particularly proud to admit what he'd done with those thoughts. Many times he had fisted his cock to the thought of you, wishing he could blow his load inside you rather than in his hand.

He'll never forget the time he was over and you walked out of the bathroom in just a towel. Your skin was flushed and glistening from the shower. "Out of my way weirdo," you had snapped, pushing past him. He hadn't cared you called him a weirdo, not one bit. Your skin had brushed against him, all while you were wearing nothing but a towel. The thought of just a single strip of fabric separating your naked body from him is what really did him in. He ended up jerking off in the bathroom, shooting ropes of cum into the toilet. Definitely not his proudest moment, but better than having someone notice he was rock hard.

For you, Togame was not someone you payed much attention to for the longest time. When Choji was a kid he was... a bit much. He often didn't keep friends long and so you never bothered to learn names or even faces. Togame, though, was the first friend Choji had that lasted. But that didn't really change your opinion of him for awhile. He was just another one of your brother's weird friends.

However as you got older, the bickering between you and your brother lessened and you developed a closer relationship. Because Choji and Togame spent so much time together, it naturally led to you becoming more acquainted with him.

On this particular evening you were at a Shisitoren party. Choji tried to keep you from attending his gang's parties for the longest time, but it would be a cold day in hell before you let your little brother tell you what to do. When you slipped out of the packed house to get some air, you found Togame smoking a joint in the backyard.

Togame had changed a lot since you met him. He'd always been on the taller side, but lanky in his youth. In adulthood he had shot up even more, towering over you. But it wasn't just height that grew, it was his whole stature. He'd become so much broader, muscle defining his body. You would have once described his eyes as goofy, too big for his face. Now they sat perfectly with his features, the emerald tone entrancing. It hit you one day that you found your little brother's friend attractive and you didn't really know what to do with that.

"What are you doing out here Togame?" you questioned, pulling his joint out of his hands and taking a hit. If anyone else did that, he'd find it annoying, but from you? He loved it. He couldn't pull his eyes away from your lips as the wrapped around it, his mind immediately going to a very inappropriate place.

"Think you've known me long enough to call me Jo," Togame replied, purposefully brushing his fingers against yours as you passed the joint back to him. He could taste your gloss on it as he took another hit. It was sweet, like candy. He wished he could taste it on your lips.

"Guess you're right about that," you said. Togame held out the joint for you to finish. Instead of taking it, you leaned and allowed him to hold it as you took a hit. "Thanks Jo." You made a point to over emphasize his name as your eyes flicked up to his. Togame grinned, the sound of his name as you smoked his weed making his body buzz.

"You never answered my question by the way."

Togame shrugged. "It was a bit crowded in there. The new recruits are..."

"Lame?" you finished for him. All of them seemed too nervous to talk to you. It made these parties rather boring.

"Ya know if someone talks shit about our guys I'm supposed to kick their ass," Togame replied.

"I'd like to see you try. Choji isn't the only one in the family that can fight," you said.

Togame smirked. "That's kinda hot."

The last few months, your relationship felt shifted with Togame. You weren't sure if it was just because you realized you were attracted to him, and thus you were reading into things more. You noticed he dropped little comments like that, seemingly a joke but certainly could be suggestive. Not that you were innocent of this; you had done your fair share of flirting recently.

"Just kinda? That's disappointing," you replied. "Though I guess that's all I'm gonna get from you Shisitoren guys. My brother's got you all on a leash."

"The guys are scared of Choji," Togame shrugged. "You know how he is."

"Well I'm not scared of him. I'm his older sister, I don't need him trying to control me," you said.

Togame put his hands up innocently. "Hey don't shoot the messenger. I'm just saying that's what the guys are thinking. They fuck you or something and Choji will be on their ass." Togmae couldn't contain his interest. "Is there a guy here you're trying to hook up with?"

It was moments like this you felt that Togame could look right into your head and read your thoughts. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Togame grinned. "Oh I would." He was silent for a beat, considering his next move. Maybe it was the weed lowering his inhibitions, or the way you've been more flirtatious, or just his patience wearing thin after all these years, but he was feeling bold. He took a step closer yo you, his scent filling your lungs. You had to tilt your head up to look at him. "But you may like to know that I'm not scared of Choji."

Oh?

"Hmm, I think I'm gonna need you to prove that to me, Jo," you challenged.

Togame's eyes twinkled with desire. He had a good feeling you were gonna take him up on the offer, but hearing you confirm it made him almost giddy. "We could leave now and no one would notice." Togame gesturing to the party going on inside. "You have your own place now, right?"

And the next thing you knew, Togame was on top of you in your bed. He kissed you deeply, his mouth confident and languid against yours. You had a sneaking suspicious Togame would be a good kisser and you were absolutely right. You slid your fingers into his dark hair, gripping it to pull him closer.

"Fuck," Togame pulled away, slightly breathless. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." His eyes slid over your body, licking his lips at the thought of stripping your clothes off you.

"Don't tell me you've had a crush on me Togame," you teased. You nipped at his neck, grinding your body up against his.

"Guilty," Togame replied, slipping his hands under your shirt. "I'll never forget the first time I saw you. You were in this tiny little bikini. Been dreaming bout what your tits look like ever since."

You laughed, vaguely remembering the day he was talking about. "But I was such a bitch to you."

Togame squeezed your tits over your bra. "That's why I liked you." He yanked your top off and made quick work of your bra. "Even better than I imagined," he grinned. He licked up the valley between your breast as he massaged them with his hands. His lips found your right nipple, sucking on it to the point of sensitivity while he rolled your left nippled between his fingers. You let out soft moans, rubbing against him for friction. He could feel himself getting harder by the minute, but he was not rushing this after all this time. He kissed is way over to the other breast, repeating the process.

When he finally pulled away, he couldn't help but smile as he admired his work. Your tits were red and swollen from his sucking, glistening with his salvia. He wished he could take a picture.

"You look hot like this," he mused. You took the opportunity of him being distracted to flip him over so you were on top of him straddling his lad. Togame looked up at you with surprise and desire.

"Bet I look even hotter like this," you replied, slipping your hands his shirt and pulling it off. Togame couldn't argue with that. He went to grab your tits, but you slapped his hand away. "No touching till I say so."

Togame let out a groan as you pinned his hands over his head and kissed him. It was maddening, feeling your lips and tongue tangle with his all while you rocked your core against his hardened cock. He wanted to touch you so bad, but not being able to mad it hotter some how. He'd never been with a woman who took charge at all and he loving every second. You both knew he could over power you if he really wanted, but he didn't. He enjoyed feeling at your mercy.

"What do you wanna do to me, Jo?" You asked against his neck. You licked and sucked at his skin.

"Wanna taste you so fucking bad," he replied, his hips grinding up against your. His cock was staring against his boxers and pants, desperate for release, but there was no way he was passing up an opportunity to bury his face in your cunt.

"Mmm want me to sit on your face, huh?"

"Please." There was an edge of desperation to his voice that drove you wild. You released his arms, allowing him to help you out of the rest of your clothes. He licked his lips as you crawled up his body, positioning yourself over him. Togame gripped your hips and pulled you down on to him. He moaned into your cunt as he licked up your slit.

Togame took his time, exploring your cunt with lush, languid strokes of his tongue. He swirled around your clit, sucking it lightly, before teasing your hole. He pressed his tongue deeper inside you, pulling a sensual gasp from your lips.

"Fuck Jo." You rocked your hips against his face, chasing the high that was building up in your body. His nose brushed against your throbbing clit, heightening your pleasure. Togame fucked his tongue into faster, desperate to feel you cum on his face.

His wish was granted with just a few more flicks of his tongue. You cried out his name, the sweetest sound he ever heard, as your body pulsed with pleasure. Your release coated his lips and and tongue and he drank it all in.

"Fuck you're so sweet," Togame panted when you finally slid off of him. He was shamelessly licking his lips clean. He climbed on top of you, an eager glint in his eyes. "If I have to wait any longer to be inside you my dicks gonna explode."

You snorted and rolled your eyes. "How charming."

Togame stripped off his pants and you shamelessly stared at the size of him. Not only was he long, but deliciously thick. Your thighs rubbed together in anticipation.

Togame couldn't contain the deep groan as he slid inside you. He's fantasized about this moment countless times. He's dreamed of how it would feel to have your cunt wrapped around him, sucking him into your wet warmth. Not one of his fantasies compared to the real feel of you.

"Fuck angel you feel amazing." He slowly rolled his hips, savoring every inch of you squeezing him. He couldn't go any faster, not just because he didn't wanna rush this moment, but because he didn't trust himself not to bust too quickly. You were happy to let him take his time as you adjusted to stretch of him deep inside you.

Suddenly, Togame's phone buzzed on where he left it on your nightstand. "Shit it's Choji," he grumbled.

"Are you seriously answering that right now?" you questioned.

"I gotta, he'll be suspicious if I don't." You were about to protest, but Togame already clicked the little green accept call button. "What's up Choji?" he said casually. You could only hear one side of the conversation, but you got the gist of it.

"Your sister?" Togame replied. His eyes dropped down to where he was buried deep inside. "No, sorry I don't know where she is." He winked at you, smiling wickedly. You rolled your eyes, not a Togame, but at your brother for questioning your whereabouts.

"Oh, I'm sure she's doing just fine," Togame smirked at you. "Probably just got bored and went home... yeah I went home too, recruits were boring the shit out of me... sure, if I hear anything about it I'll call you." Togame hung up and tossed his phone aside. "You might wanna text your brother, he's annoyed he can't find you."

Your grumbled, reaching for your phone. The last thing you wanted to do was text your brother while a man - his best friend no less - was literally inside you. But you didn't trust him to not show up unannounced. Unsurprisingly you had a few missed texts from him.

Relax dude I just got tired and left

And I don’t need you calling Togame to hunt me down

"Alright now you better fuck me good enough that I forget you literally answered a call from my brother mid sex," you snapped at him. You wrapped your legs around his hips and pressed him deeper into you. The pressure caused him to lean lower over you, his face just inches from yours.

"My pleasure." Togame was so deep in you as fucked into you. You nipped at his neck and shoulders, stifled your moans against his warm skin. "God, you feel so fucking good," he babbled, "Never had pussy like this."

Your cunt fluttered at his words, only egging him on more. You could feel him throbbing inside you as you dragged your nails down his back. Togame gritted his teeth, loving how the pain of it missed with pleasure. It didn't take much more of his fat tip brushing your sweet spot to pull another orgasm from you.

"Jo -ngh." Your whole body shook with bliss. You clamped down on Togame impossibly harder, pulling a string of curses from him.

"Fuck, can I cum in you?" Togame groaned. He was so grateful that you nodded eagerly because honestly he wasn't sure if he would have been able to stop himself. With a low grunt his hips stuttered and spilled inside you. You rolled your hips up to meet his, savoring the full, warm feeling. Togame held thought he died and went to heaven.

"My middle school self would be so proud of me right now," Togame said when he finally rolled off you. "So worth the wait."

"You're still kinda weird," you replied, "but that was good enough that I'll let it slide."

Togame grinned. "That's all just part of my charm." You rolled your eyes and reached to check your phone. 5 missed texts from Choji.

Okay good. Don't leave without telling me next time

Wait... how did you know I called Togame?

Are you with Togame?

Y/n fucking answer me

I'm going to fucking kill him

Shit.

"Uh, I may have gotten you in trouble," you said. You flipped your phone over for Togame to read. You expected him to get angry or freak out, but he only shrugged.

"Like I said, I'm not scared of him." Togame yawned, truly unbothered. "Besides, you were so worth as beating."

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

No, “Evil” doesn’t “loves only Itself” in Tolkien lore

One quote in particular that gets thrown around a lot when discussing Sauron x Galadriel is “evil loves only itself” because Charlie Vickers mentioned it in one of his interviews. The “Rings of Power” fandom atributes this to Tolkien. But is it really?

This quote is not from Tolkien. Nor Charlie ever said it was, he refers the correct author on his interview, so I don’t know why folks keep taking his words out of context.

He [Sauron] offers to make her [Galadriel] his queen. Is that a marriage proposal?

That’s something I thought about a lot, but I don’t think so. W.H. Auden wrote an essay on Tolkien, and he said something along the lines of, “Evil loves only itself.” [“Evil, defiantly chosen, can no longer imagine anything but itself.”] So I think in his pitch to Galadriel, it cannot mean that he loves her or that there’s any kind of romantic relationship. There should be no ambiguity around the fact that Sauron is evil — he’s terrible, and he’s using Galadriel to enhance his power.

Now, what Charlie is doing here is trolling. Because he knows Tolkien letters, and has studied them as preparation for his role as Sauron. This fact is mentioned in this very interview: you once mentioned that you found useful things in Tolkien’s letters, although you didn’t specify which ones.

And so, Charlie is perfectly aware that “evil loves only itself” was written by W.H. Auden on his essay about the nature of Good and Evil, when reviewing “Return of the Ring”, in 1956. And he’s also perfectly aware that Tolkien didn’t subscribe to this way of thinking, at all.

Tolkien Letter 183 is the reply to Auden’s essay and his wild takes of “evil loves only itself”. In this letter, Tolkien not only disagrees with Auden’s views of his work, but denies them, entirely:

There are also conflicts about important things or ideas. In such cases I am more impressed by the extreme importance of being on the right side, than I am disturbed by the revelation of the jungle of confused motives, private purposes, and individual actions (noble or base) in which the right and the wrong in actual human conflicts are commonly involved. If the conflict really is about things properly called right and wrong, or good and evil, then the rightness or goodness of one side is not proved or established by the claims of either side; it must depend on values and beliefs above and independent of the particular conflict.

A judge must assign right and wrong according to principles which he holds valid in all cases. That being so, the right will remain an inalienable possession of the right side and Justify its cause throughout. (I speak of causes, not of individuals. Of course to a judge whose moral ideas have a religious or philosophical basis, or indeed to anyone not blinded by partisan fanaticism, the rightness of the cause will not justify the actions of its supporters, as individuals, that are morally wicked. But though 'propaganda' may seize on them as proofs that their cause was not in fact 'right', that is not valid. The aggressors are themselves primarily to blame for the evil deeds that proceed from their original violation of justice and the passions that their own wickedness must naturally (by their standards) have been expected to arouse. They at any rate have no right to demand that their victims when assaulted should not demand an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth.)

Similarly, good actions by those on the wrong side will not justify their cause. There may be deeds on the wrong side of heroic courage, or some of a higher moral level: deeds of mercy and forbearance. A judge may accord them honour and rejoice to see how some men can rise above the hate and anger of a conflict; even as he may deplore the evil deeds on the right side and be grieved to see how hatred once provoked can drag them down. But this will not alter his judgement as to which side was in the right, nor his assignment of the primary blame for all the evil that followed to the other side.

In my story I do not deal in Absolute Evil. I do not think there is such a thing, since that is Zero. I do not think that at any rate any 'rational being' is wholly evil.

This is Tolkien, very eloquently, telling Auden to f*ck off with his basic and narrow views of Good vs. Evil, because he’s misunderstanding what Tolkien actually wrote on his books. And this was a grievance Tolkien, himself, had:

Some reviewers have called the whole thing simple-minded, just a plain fight between Good and Evil, with all the good just good, and the bad just bad. Pardonable, perhaps (though at least Boromir has been overlooked) in people in a hurry, and with only a fragment to read, and, of course, without the earlier written but unpublished Elvish histories. But the Elves are not wholly good or in the right.

Tolkien Letter 154

Some critics seem determined to represent me as a simple-minded adolescent, inspired with, say, a With-a-Flag-to-Pretoria spirit, and willfully distort what I say in my tale. I have not that spirit, and it does not appear in the story.

Notes on Letter 183 (still about Auden’s essay)

Charlie is very much aware of Tolkien response, and he knows that, in Tolkien legendarium, evil can love and it doesn’t make any less evil, because Tolkien doesn’t deal with absolute evil in his world, nor is Sauron pure evil; as I already talked about in this post.

Why did Charlie say these things, then? Probably to avoid spoiling the story of the show, where Sauron is in love with Galadriel.

[usagi-lilac]

How to break a dom

(MDNI, nsft. Too spicy for young eyes)

(Lucifer, Satan, Diavolo, Artem, Marius, Gojo, Nanami, Zhongli, Kaeya)

a lot of strong, "dominant" men have a concrete idea of what they like in bed. It aligns with their firm values and high standards of themselves. Societal norms often dictate people's assumptions about these men, and so everyone around them begins to expect that same behavior and act accordingly. They end up internalizing those judgements based on how people respond. For example "He's protective, he's stubborn, he's powerful, he's got to be a Dom". And so..those assumptions guide their experiences, because sex isn't a solo act. All of their sexual experience backs up the "Dom" narrative when their partner is expecting that of them, and presumes a submissive role. expecting to be bossed around, guided, moved into whatever position he wishes, and actively longing for it. If his partners all fulfill the notion of his "ideal" dominant self as desirable...it starts to become the fantasy. It becomes a straightforward dopamine rush. We chase after the praises that we've tasted once before.

But if you want to drive him truly crazy..break that algorithm. Nothing makes a genuinely strong man with good self esteem weaker at the knees than an equally strong partner who ignores all of those assumptions.

A partner who's not afraid to talk back, to take control, to be just as confident in theirself. Brazen and bold and unafraid of consequences.

It's almost as if some barrier is broken, a wall crashes down, when they realize they don't have to put up a front. They realize there is more to pleasure than a repetitive act...the tables do turn. it's a whole new world.

Back him up to a wall when he's not expecting it, one knee glides up between his things to rest against his bulge. Let the warmth of your body drive him crazy as you kiss him slowly and passionately. Lead him by the tie and sit his fine ass down on the nearest flat surface. Climb onto that lap and straddle those thighs.

Get on top. Drag your tongue from his collarbone to his jawline, with one hand holding the back of his head- fingertips at the nape of his neck and thumb grazing the curve of his jaw, guiding it upwards. The other hand placed firmly on whatever surface is behind him. Grind against him slowly, mercilessly, while nibbling at his ear, nuzzling into his hair, leaving kisses on his neck like a sweet, tender peach. Surround him in your scent...and then make him wait. Let him tremble. Let him grasp at your clothes in a silent plea for more. Let him buck his hips in anticipation.

It would be a whole new world.

[imagine-silk]

I hope you are doing okay. I would really like a rather simple Idea of the Yan Fallout 4 boys whose obsession confesses that they have a crush... on someone else. But that someone else has no Idea.

》Ah, I see you crave violence.

【Codsworth】 "You can do so much better."

As much as he has no desire to date you he sees how great you are and you deserve someone just as lovely, maybe even more than you if someone like that existed. Who you've picked is subpar. Oh, they can make you laugh? Do higher your standards, please. For his non-existent heart.

【Danse】 "What do they have that I don't?"

In his heart he gets it; he is a broken man who isn't even human. But this was the last bit of sanity he could take. You try to explain yourself, whether it be the other person never spat at a ghoul or simply has their life together. He knows he can't change the past and he doesn't want you to leave him. Against his better judgement he goes to that person and fights them. He wins too.

【Deacon】 "How could that happen?!"

Deacon would consider himself lucky man, and he was very lucky you told him while you were on an investigation. This person lived quite comfortably and had a very stable life. Imagine everyone's surprise when someone found a letter on him saying he was going to let the raiders into Diamond City because no one would suspect him to be up to no good. Who told the guard? Don't worry about it.

【Hancock】 "Here's how this is going to go."

The second they set foot in Good Neighbor they are dragged into his office. He talks to them with thinly veiled threats and tells them to back off. When they say 'no' and stand their ground he says, "Whoa, you see that Glory?" with his hands up. She then proceeds to say she did, that they had a gun pointed at him. When they still don't back down and try to deescalate he has her shoot him. Even though everyone in Good Neighbor knows what happens the official story is that they pulled a weapon on the mayor and Glory had to save him. No one betrays that story.

【MacCready】 "Who?"

He plays dumb and asks you to tell him who they are. And you had no reason to think he had any ill intentions. Afterwards he brushes it off with a, 'good luck with that' kind of dismissal. However, now that he knows their name, where they live, and where they work, he kills them from long distance. No one can point the finger his way because he never knew the person.

【Nick】

♤If Platonic "When do I get to meet them?"

He's gonna do an impromptu 'If you want to date my daughter' kind of dinner with them. The entire time he's watching them with great interest, making threats in just the right way to be completely permissible. If and when you excuse yourself for a moment he fully tells them they have one shot to play this out and if they get it wrong no one will find their body. Don't be surprised if they dump you the next day.

♡If Romantic "Stay away from them."

He didn't mean to say it but after he did he had to roll with it. His silver tongue got him in and out of a lot of places so it's not hard to craft a story about how the person in question exhibits strange behaviors, enough that he needed to look into it. Just to make sure his story goes unchecked he pays them a little 'visit' and tells them to never speak to you. Ever.

【Preston】 "Really? That's great!"

He immediately supports you in your endeavor but later when you go to sleep he finds that person. He takes them out of earshot of the town and kills them, throwing their body into the river after. In the morning they are nowhere to be found and you're heartbroken. It's okay, Preston will help you look for them. He'll be right next to you.

【X6-88】 "I see."

He wants to tell you you're too good for them but that would be a waste of time. No, he needs to be smarter than that. Excusing himself and then finding them dead would be too suspicious. He was by your side the entire day and they suddenly collapsed. They died in your arms. Say what you will about that strange tragedy, you can never say you suspected him.

[atoltia]

Thanks for worrying, but I'm fine.

March begrudgingly posts a request on the notice board for ore. He didn't expect that he'd have to handle the newbie in town like that.

TW: some blood, some swearing

-0-

The past week was particularly rough.

Ever since Adeline began the upgrades for the town, things have been hectic at the forge. The usual order of nails, screws, and bolts were quadrupled, and alongside the massive order for reinforced tools it had been hell for both him and Olric so much that they had to resort working around the clock just to keep pace with the schedule.

It would have been fine. March was used to high production work, even though it got mind numbing plenty of times. Pressure was nothing. The physical labor of it all was manageable. It would have been under control.

If only they didn't start to run out of fucking ore.

March found out quickly when taking stock. At the rate that they were going, they were gonna run out by midday Thursday, if not Wednesday evening, next week. Olric offered to go back to the mines but he vehemently declined, stating that they would be delayed even more if he went (and he definitely didn't say that didn't want to see his brother hurt).

Getting the ore from Balor would cost them a fortune. And that's assuming the man has the ore in stock in the quantities they needed in the first place.

If they didn't get the necessary materials by then, the entire initiative would be delayed by at least 4 days and he will not have that.

So against his better judgement, he decided to make a request on the notice board.

-0-

He didn't expect much from it

The notice board was often used for small quantity items like missing ingredients for the Friday Night stew or a few sprigs of foraged herbs. Not a fuck ton of metal.

March managed to wrangle a deal with Balor to get the entirety of his stock at a discount, but it wasn't even close to enough. The next town was days away, and ordering from the closest guild would take them a month. He was getting to the point where he would have relented and allowed Olric to go mining and leave him at the forge.

But apparently he didn't need to.

He started noticing it late into the night.

Both the brothers haven't seen Sandra much lately, with everyone being too busy with Adeline's plans. March would see her every now and then, zipping through the town hauling wood and stone from days on end. She'd stop by the inn every once in a while, but she'd only eat her meal, chat for a few minutes, and head back to wherever the fuck. It was insanity.

He'd been seeing her dragging herself through town, the pickaxe that she bought from him weeks ago strapped to her waist, at almost the same time every night. It became a such frequent occurrence that when he'd look out the window at that exact timeframe, she would be there.

She wasn't carrying anything else, not that he could see, besides the pick and a small bag.

Besides maybe the exhaustion.

He could see it in the way she walked - the slow, dragging of her feet instead of the usual confident stride. The loose grip on her bag, the slight unfocused look in her eye.

March didn't know why that sight of her pissed him off.

-0-

The deadline loomed over him as he made the orders to his standard. Olric managed to haggle a few crates more of iron from a few travelling merchants and the cost of them made him very unhappy. But at that point, there was nothing else they could do. It didn't help that Olric injured his arm so the option to go to the mines was no longer on the table, as well as March having to work even more although his brother insisted that he still could be of assistance.

Neither of them has seen Sandra at all since yesterday, but that didn't matter. It really didn't matter.

(And yet why was he annoyed that she kept passing through his mind?)

-0-

They were in trouble.

There was only a small bucket of bars left and still a fuck ton of nails and fasteners to make. None of their contacts pulled through and Balor still hasn't come back from his emergency supply run. Adeline kept asking him if they would make the deadline.

He was at his wit's end.

That was why he was particularly annoyed when someone knocked on his door that night. It wasn't his brother, Olric wouldn't have knocked if it was him.

Tossing a rag rather harshly on a nearby table, March stalked towards the door and yanked it open, snarling when he saw it was Sandra of all people.

"What do you want?"

The woman merely smiled and stepped aside, revealing a trolley stacked with crates. The crates were full of ore- all the copper and iron that they could possibly need, stacked neatly on top of each other. He couldn't believe it.

"Your order."

March looked up and she held up the request he pinned to the board days ago, all crumpled up and torn at the edges with several colors of dirt smeared on it. He was aghast.

"You're insane."

A laugh tinkled the air as she leaned against his doorjamb, her arms folded over her chest, her long, dark hair mussed over her face. A satisfied smile rested over her face. "I'd like my reward now, please."

"Right."

He didn't exactly expected this to happen, but he got the reward as promised. A bag full of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Without a second thought, he grabbed the rather large sack of tesserae beneath the counter to give alongside it.

He wasn't prepared for the frown that crossed her face when he handed her both items. "Anything wrong?"

"I thought it was only the jewels?"

The redhead shrugged, waved his hand at her. "You've given us enough to last for months. Just take it."

The frown never left her face, and he really didn't know why it annoyed him even more. His jaw dropped when he watched her give it back.

"Thank you, March. But I don't need it."

"Just fucking take it."

"No."

"God's above." The snarl came back as he grabbed the sack from her outstretched hand, but hastily withdrew when he saw her flinch ever so slightly.

It jarred him.

He looked up with a brow raised, finally taking the time to look her over. She was covered in dirt and grime, her clothes were damp as if she fell into a river hours ago and just left it to air dry, her hair was a tangled mess.

Her usual pristine clothes were torn in several different locations, her hands were raw, scratches riddled her arms and legs.

There was a deep gash on her leg. Blood pooled on the stone at her feet.

Sandra's breath was labored, her eyes almost dead from fatigue. She wasn't leaning against his doorjamb to relax, no. She was leaning against it so she wouldn't collapse.

It infuriated him.

"Fucking damn it, come inside."

March rolled his eyes when he saw her raise a brow, not moving an inch.

"I don't want to track blood on your floor."

"I don't care."

"It's alright, March. I'll just go home."

"You are not," he snapped. With a huff, he took his coat and stepped out, pulling her to him. "I'm taking you to the doc-"

It was quick enough that he didn't fully process it. One moment he had his hand on her elbow and the next he was pressed against the wall of his shop, both his hands gripped tightly behind his back.

His body tensed as he felt her chest press against his back. The warmth of her breath tickled against his ear. He didn't know if the loud pounding was the blood rushing to his ears or the fact that his heart started to beat radically against her close proximity.

"Please don't." Her voice was low, dangerously so, as she gripped him tighter, making him wonder where she got this sudden strength as she was so close to toppling over just mere moments ago. "I don't want to hurt you, March."

With that, he felt her loosen her grip, gently pressing at his wrist in comfort before taking a few steps back as he turned around. The amused smile was once again on her face.

"I appreciate the worry, March." Her voice was a little strained, but lighter compared to before. "Really. But I just want to go home." And with one last salute, she left him there without much of a backwards glance.

And still, he couldn't get the scent of her perfume off of his senses.

-0-

Two days later, he wouldn't ever tell a soul that he sent her a perfected silver pickaxe.

---

This became way longer than I anticipated it to be lmao

I like to imagine March likes being manhandled asdasfas

This is the third installment of my March x Farmer series, you can check out the rest here!

Previous story: What his eyes can see, part 1

Next story: Lean on me

[randomnumbers751650]

I finally have time to talk about Lone Trail. I will be focusing on its depiction of science, technology and its progress. Will get a bit political, but funnily enough less than I imagined.

The thing that called my attention most in Lone Trail were the discussions on the nature of scientific progress. This is a theme that’s dear to me and the stuff I research about. It’s easy to think of scientific progress like an inevitable march forward, like an escalator. After all, we are much richer than we were before, right? Go to OurWorldInData dot org to play around with economic statistics in time – make sure to check the World GDP chart, from year 0 to 2000 and see it taking off like a rocket from year 1700.

What kind of Uncle Ted fan or neoluddite would go against that? Haha…hah…

Truth is that, although its effects are there, it’s not a clear if this is the little, neat process techbros want us to believe. It’s new and produces more, therefore it’s good, right? I could be writing this as a new wave of AI-generated NFTs pollute my algorithm.

That’s what makes the storytelling in Arknights so effective: it mashes together fantasy and sci-fi to really tell stories on the role of beliefs, technology, science and religion. The Rhine Lab saga is definitely an exploration of technology, with focus on the equivalent of the United States. During the period before the First World War, 1870-1913 (which is the one that Arknights draws most from), the world underwent through the so-called Second Industrial Revolution and I’ve read economic historians considering it the most innovative period in human history. I mean, obviously, there is an absolute number of inventions in our current age, but in relative terms 1870-1913 experienced a much larger number relative to the previous one.

The escalator narrative constructs scientific achievements as work of daring people (mostly men, but there were women like Marie Cuire), that combined science and technology to help mankind, like Prometheus giving mankind fire from the gods (in fact, one of these books is even named “Prometheus Unbound”); more than often they have to fight against the establishment. Remember Ignaz von Semmelweis? He just wanted doctors to wash their hands. Even I learned this standard narrative in the university. But that’s not the entire story.

The positivistic paradigm – of a science free of value judgements, made with the power of math – has actually helped build this escalator narrative. In reality, some scientists and scholars are horrible people. Later, I learned that Semmelweis, as much as he campaigned for the right thing, was a very arrogant person, who abused everyone around him, to the point few people went to his funeral.

Narratives focusing on one single hero are easy to sell and the ones building them are always on the lookout. Remember how ten years ago, a lot of people tried to push the narrative Elon Musk was going to create a new industrial revolution? Nowadays he’s just an arrogant loser who keeps dragging on his midlife crisis. The 1880s also had similar people like that, such as Thomas Edison.

Kristen Wright is definitely better than them both, because she is actually an engineering genius. But she’s also just like them, in the sense of unethical experiments, collusion with the military-industrial complex and being an overall superficially charismatic, but rotten to the core person. And she’s surrounded by a lot of people like Parvis and Ferdinand.

Breaking this line of reason, I have to say how much I hate Nietzsche’s ubermensch and master-slave morality, I hate Great Men theory, I hate Ayn Rand; these people are sheep who think themselves wolves. And before you say that Nietzsche didn’t consider himself an ubermensch, well, neither did Parvis and his reasoning was the same. For every person fancying themselves ubermensch, there’s a lot of those whom he’d call untermensch to clean up their messes. You have no idea of how times I stumbled upon people (especially libertarians) that advocate lower barriers to regulations that were written in blood, so that progress can happen quicker. Creative destruction works, as long as some people get “creative” and others clean the “destruction”. Deaths and injuries? Acceptable, just give them a pension (but fight tooth and nail in the court to not do it beyond the barest of the bare minimum, because it’ll lower the shareholder profit in 0.01%). Increase in inequality? Nobody will care in a few years, it’ll make everything cheaper anyway (look up Baumol’s cost disease to see how wrong that statement is, without being incorrect). I’m not exaggerating, sometimes the people saying that don’t even bother lacing it in politically correct language.

Because Lone Trail showed it “worked” – Kristen Wright broke off the ceiling over Terra and that will have consequences (especially with Endfield coming closer). The data from her experiments will advance science, the sight of a broken ceiling will inspire artists and prompt politicians to act. Was it worth it? Well, it will depend on who you ask (like, Ifrit or Rosmontis would have strong feelings), but it’s just there now. Serious history isn’t kind on this question as well – many technologies have a lot of transgressions, both legal and ethical, in their supply chain (both the American and Soviet space program come to my mind – guess who helped them); the difference between an entrepreneur and a criminal are contextual, because both are finding new opportunities of profit and both interlock frequently.

In the end, anyone can put an equation that has its uses, not mattering if it’s a good person or not. But that is no excuse to find good ethical practices. Silence saw everything with her own eyes and I’m really glad she’s leading the initiative for a more ethical science in Columbia – especially because people who are willing to break moral rules tend also to be willing to break research rules (this is why the “research” made in concentration camps is actually useless, it didn’t respect experimental rules). So I’m really glad for the Arknights writers for understanding these nuances and communicating them to the audience through one of the best stories of the game.

[doggirlviscera]

What is one character that you think should get more attention in any media?

ive gotta say. ellegaard mcsm. and by extension, magnus mcsm as well. im sorry anon i know you said just one character but they are a package deal they parallel eachother so much its really just impossible to have one without the other. a lot of people really just only care about ivor and soren when ellegaard and magnus are just such interesting and complicated characters (and when people DO care about them they tend to mischaracterize them so bad ... it pains me /silly)

ellegaard and magnus are complete and total opposites, yet manage to be so alike at the same time. ellegaard is put-together and calculating. she's intelligent, and she knows it. as a person, she's extremely judgemental, and has incredibly high standards for everyone around her, herself included. she's very withdrawn emotionally, she doesn't tend to let people stick around for long (as is implied by how she goes through assistants so quickly), and her opinions of you can sour in an instant if you make one wrong move -- for example, how olivia fainting in front of her made ellegaard view her.

ellegaard is also selfish, and stubborn. she refuses to drop the command block project, even when jesse and olivia beg for her to leave and help them. however, as soon as the witherstorm attacks redstonia, she shows zero care for the people there, only focusing on getting herself, olivia, jesse, and reuben to the portal. she doesn't even think one bit about the people of redstonia that are in danger, she doesn't try to evacuate anyone, she doesn't even comment on the fact that her people are being abducted and killed. she is focused entirely on herself.

magnus, on the other hand, is impulsive, and obnoxious; but while yes, he's just as stuck up and self-absorbed as ellegaard is, talking down to the citizens of boom town and even Spitting On Their Heads (which yes they allow him to do that. that is an actual thing), he shows a lot more care for the people around him beneath his rough exterior (however he is still a huge asshole do not get me wrong he is a DIIIICCKKKK). when boom town is attacked, he's extremely distressed, and tries to go after the witherstorm at first before being dragged off by jesse. compared to how ellegaard views olivia, he also views axel in much higher regards, even if axel takes over his kingdom.

the two, of course, hate eachother. they can't stand being in the same room without getting into a fight, much to the group's dismay -- but, yet, they both are shown to care deeply about eachother. when one dies, the other is shown to be extremely affected by their death; they approach to say something, anything, as the other goes limp in soren's arms, but by the time they even step forwards, they're already gone.

their demeanor when talking about the other after their passing changes drastically; and in a way that also showcases their parallels from before. magnus drops the shit talk almost entirely, reminiscing fondly about ellegaard after she's gone, while ellegaard continues to insult magnus -- however, now in a teasing and fond context.

if the group saves petra first, the two run off with axel to distract the wtherstorms once the group all separates. somewhere along the line, reality fully sets in, especially once the two are attacked by one of the storms. and so, whoever is left alive between magnus and ellegaard runs off to fight the storm; telling axel they had to make up for the mistakes of the past.

mistakes of the past could be many things. lying about the ender dragon, letting the order fall apart, being too scared and selfish to do anything about the witherstorm the first time. how cold the two had been to eachother. how they wish they hadn't spent the short reunion, the small amount of time they had left together fighting and hating eachother.

the two complete eachother, down to their specialties; redstone and griefing. you can't create traps and explosives without some sort of redstone wiring, you can't have a machine without destruction being inevitable in the end. oddly fitting.

sorry for the long ramble anon i have mcsm autism. thank you so much for the ask i love talking

[cozzzynook]

Could we get some.kermay dratchrod?

Rodimus and Ratchet being two calm mers in the rescue center, Drift being a angry and aggressive mer. So they put Rodimus and Ratchet in a tank with Drift, and maybe Drift was beginning his heat, thus got aggressive, so the two offer some mating gifts, which are accepted. Drifts fragged senses and the staff maybe are lost when weeks later Drifts the calm one, and Rodimus and Ratchet get a bit aggressive l, they learn those two knocked up the in heat mer

This is really cool.

Drift comes in aggressive because regular bots are known to do terrible things to merformers and so he’s on guard and the stress triggers his heat which makes even him more aggressive because he’s wanting to mate and he’s scared because what if they use him as a breeding mer and do horrible things to his spark pups?

But then he’s not given a stud but two calm mers who smell concerned for him and try to give him space while also trying to take care of him.

They make it known they’re friendly and mean no harm while tilting their neck cables in submission as they bring him food.

They swim off and watch at a distance to make sure he eats and they never fail to bring him enough or even snacks if he looks peckish still.

The tank is extremely large with its own ecosystem and Drift has plenty of room to make his own nest that feels so lonely because he accidentally made it big enough for the other two.

He’s on day three of his heat when he feels the water shift and sees the two with both food and a courting jewel in their servos.

A perfect decoration for his helm fins and they even noticed he was a skilled mer fit for combat seeing as they fashioned the hilt and stone of a sword together.

They presented the courting items to him and backed away to give him room for judgement.

He debated accepting not out of fear of them hurting him but because he didn’t want to seem desperate and rush.

The two were extremely attractive by their peoples standards and while one was a whale mer and the other a smaller tropical mer he had no qualms about mating them.

He was honestly surprised they’d even want a shark considering how territorial and vicious his sub species could be.

They proved themselves more than able to handle him though.

Taking his bites and claws in stride as they spiked him and filled his forge sack to the brim with transfluid and eggs.

His heat lasted a few more days than it normally did and within two weeks he understood why.

His tail and lower abdomen was beginning to swell and he felt hungrier than usual.

They’d managed to spark a pup or two inside him during their mating and he was oddly pleased with the outcome.

They spent a few more weeks within the caves of their home getting to know each other and bonding, getting his abundance in food and transfluid his mates happily provided for him before coming to the surface where the bots could see them.

One tried to get too close and was almost dragged down into the water by Ratchet if it weren’t for them gripping the railing for dear life.

The bot left energon marks on the dented pole and the others knew to stay away.

It wasn’t until he was really showing did they try coming near him again did things take a turn.

He was swimming with his mates near the opening when a bot tried to shoot a dart at him only for Rodimus to push him out of the way in time and take the shot.

He was so worried for his mate only to see him swim quickly to the surface and latch his fangs into the bots neck cables ripping them out digging his claws inside and using his venom to melt their cables and plating.

Ratchet wasn’t any better using his weight to tip over their attached dock that allowed them to dive in. Drift watched as Ratchet grabbed a bot off Rodimus back that shocked him leaving parts of his scales burned.

He’d never been more angry in his life.

Ratchet managed to grab the bot who shocked Rodimus and dragged them down into the water where Drift showed them just because he was pupped doesn’t mean he wasn’t still the most dangerous mer in their facility.

He was painfully quick in circling the bot before attacking his neck and dragging him all the way to the tanks floor where he began to dig in.

His mates watched his back as he ate and the bots on the surface did nothing as he fed.

It was later on that night his mates Ratchet and Rodimus told him that the few surface bot words they understood were, “pupped,” “territorial,” and “new worker.”

As mer it was in the sires nature to kill if their pups carrier was in any perceived or actual danger and carrier were known to be calm unless provoked.

And so they weren’t at fault for the situation because the facility should’ve never electrocuted Rodimus or antagonize a carrying mer.

Drift was happy the facility wouldn’t do anything to them but he was also more weary of them along with his mates.

By the time their pups came things were calmed down and he was relaxed again.

He was more than happy to be laying in their nest with their twin pups on his chassis.

[worriedvision]

"I'm a lover not a fighter" (Part 2)

Gender neutral reader, part 1 here. Angst with a happy ending. A warning here, the reader enters a relationship with a verbally hurtful man, however Cyno and Alhaitham come along.

--

The months after that breakup, you still didn't see Alhaitham looking at you. He made his opinions clear, and you understood that he felt like you were not entirely honest with him. The love person, it turns out, was trying to break you two up so Alhaitham would be 'on the market'. Your friends would ask what happened, and they'd feign pity when you explain it was your mistake that ruined the relationship.

In a lapse of judgement, you still thought you needed to be having verbal altercations with your lover unless you wanted problems. Along comes a subordinate of Cynos. To everyone in public, he was the sweetest man. You find yourself drawn to him, and you decide to take him up on the offer of a date. In public, he was on his best behaviour.

Behind closed doors?

He yells at you whenever he finds a part of the house dirty, or the groceries weren't replenished, or some other thing you weren't used to being yelled at for. It wasn't even a simple one line before apologising either. He belittled you every time you did something not to his standard, constantly bringing up your ex and saying he was lucky to be rid of you. You yelled back once, asking why he was still dating you, but he spits venom at you. He manages to convince you that he is your blessing, and you need to be at his mercy.

In public, you found he started to demand you walk in a precise way. Not relaxed, proper and professional. You were not to speak until he give you the okay, and it worked until Alhaitham grew rather worried about you.

While you were keeping yourself down to keep this 'man' of yours happy, Alhaitham was constantly getting asked out. He wasn't interested in most of these people, and the one person that seemed tame turned out to be the most blatant with making their intentions clear. They wanted to be his house spouse, his 'cushy' jub as the acting grand scribe being the sole reason for this.

To their dismay, he got out through the back exit - leaving them with the horrendously high bill. After that experience, he truly couldn't help but start to think back on your relationship. Your friends must have grown jealous, that must be it.

That's when he saw you. You didn't look happy, and you were so rigid with this man practically walking you. He calls out for you, your head snapping up as you look forward to possibly working on fixing your friendship, even if it was destined to solely be friends. After all, you were now taken.

Your man isn't happy, however. Before Alhaitham can begin to talk to you, your boyfriend is dragging you by the arm. He slams the door, and Alhaitham hears your terrible excuse of a boyfriend yelling at you because of 'being a whore'.

As much as he wanted to act now, Alhaitham knew in this moment you'd just run back to this horrible man. Nodding to himself, he starts to look for the general Mahamatra.

--

"I'll cut to the chase." Alhaitham explains, Cyno already concerned that Alhaitham requested him specifically. "One of your subordinates is being abusive to their partner. It is clear to me that they are taking advantage of the position, and I won't start for it."

"I want a name." Cyno responds. "I will carry out an investigation, and the moment I have proof, I will act."

"No. Contact me." Alhaitham stops, Cyno tilting his head. "I still have that favour to use. I won't cause permanent damage. Once I get a punch in, then you act."

"...Fine. As long as nobody is around." Cyno shrugs.

--

Turns out, this didn't take long. Cyno found evidence that his subordinate had been shouting abuse at you via your neighbours, some neighbours even noted how often your boyfriend brought up his 'very important job'.

Cyno figures it was as well he got this dealt with swiftly, so he keeps a very close eye on the house after informing Alhaitham he has collected enough evidence.

Turns out, Alhaitham had told Kaveh about the situation. Usually arguing with one another, Kaveh immediately agreed to help. Initially, he states he will hold your boyfriend down as Alhaitham hits him, but Alhaitham responds saying. That all he needed to do was to keep an eye out for any possible witnesses, and to shoo them away.

That night, Alhaitham heard your boyfriend shouting at you for an underseasoned meal. Absolutely pathetic. A man that doesn't know how to cook, and he had the audacity to tell you that you didn't season it to his taste?

The door opens and closes, your boyfriend now out of the house, and he turns to see your ex boyfriend. Before he can react, Alhaitham reels back his arm and lands a swift punch to the man's face, knocking him out.

Cyno goes to tell him off, but he figures this gave him time to apprehend an incapacitated criminal. Alhaitham knocks on the door, entering after he hears nothing concerning, and he calls out for you.

"O-oh, Alhaitham." You clear your throat, clearly trying to stop your crying. "M-My boyfriends not here, I'm afraid I cann-"

"He's been arrested." Alhaitham cuts you off, your eyes widening in fear.

"But he's a-"

"He's nothing that special. After informing the General Mahamatra of my concerns, I discovered that the man had only recently been hired."

"..."

"You don't deserve that." Alhaitham continues, you are finally looking at him. "You do not deserve verbal abuse. That is very poor communication."

"You know I'm not that good with communication. I went to a 'love expert' for advice after my friends implanted the idea of-"

"I should have also recognised the reason why your friends did that." Alhaitham sighs. "After the time apart, I concluded that you are a worthy partner."

"...Could we take it slow?" You ask. "I need to take things slow. I moved in with this guy after a month of knowing him..." You admit.

"I have all the time in the world." Alhaitham smiles.

You look down at his fist, the one that collided with your boyfriend's face.

"I...also may have had to deliver my own form of punishment."

"I'll get the first aid kit."

"And that's why you're a good match for me. You don't shout at me for losing control of myself."

[randomthefox]

Honestly, I believe the knee-jerk defense of IDW by its stans (though to be fair, what I'm about to describe applies to more fandoms than just IDW) comes from inability to understand one aspect when it comes to genetal critique.

All of their overemotional rants, strawman fanarts, memes, insults, walls of text can be boiled down to a single sentence.

"Well, I like it, so shut up!"

But here's the thing, who cares what you like?

When people criticize the way writers approach an established character and setting, personal likes/dislikes factor very little, if not at all. Some people out there literally eat feces, so does that mean all the local supermarkets should now stock shelves full of canned shit? And if you don't want to eat it then you are just a hater who wants everyone to only eat pork?

Or how about another franchise with a split fandom for an example: when Chris Avellone in Knights of The Old Republic 2 manages to do a thorough deconstruction of Star Wars' setting without destroying the player's immersion or breaking established laws and rules of the series in half, it's a good example of an author's approach. When Disney ignores it's own established logic to prop up a mid love couple, nullifies feats of established characters and also drags them through the mud for the sake of muh gray morality, that's an objectively bad work no matter how many "hints of potential" you see in it.

But since consumerism has successfully fooled people into thinking that expressing critique of the work means that the person who likes said work is a bad person, you get such reaction.

Yeah that's a very good point. And since they're narcissists devoid of the capacity to put themselves in someone elses shoes and try and understand something from another perspective, they think everyone else thinks the same way they do. That's why they always respond with "omg Sonic isn't ALLOWED to do anything" and stuff like that when we criticize the comic. Because they think WE'RE approaching media analysis the same way that they are. They think we're basing our appraisals and criticisms off of our personal desires and opinions.

The fact that we're basing our judgement off of an objective appraisal of the source material of the video games is INCOMPREHENSIBLE to them. Because A: they hate the video games and literally cannot conceive of the notion that anybody likes them, and B: they view all art as "this needs to personally appeal to me or else it's bad" and again LITERALLY CANNOT CONCEIVE OF THE NOTION THAT ANYBODY WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT STANDARD OF CRITICAL JUDGEMENT.

[cross-my-heartt]

Appreciating Rebels Thrawn: Atollon

Okay folks this one is going to be different from my Rewriting Rebels Thrawn series. I wanted to take the time to appreciate this arc because I think it's very in line with what we know about book canon Thrawn.

So this is going to be an analysis of why Atollon works, especially in the sense of what failure looks like for Thrawn, with some teeny tiny scene tweaks and suggestions at the end for how it could be brought even closer to book canon.

So without further ado, let's get into it. (As always, spoilers for the books ahead).

In terms of chronology, we're at a point where Thrawn has recently been promoted and given command of the Seventh Fleet, and been assigned to deal with the rebel threat on Lothal. This is important because it means he's had limited time to handpick and mentor his subordinates. Something that's vital to the success of his convoluted plans.

To put it simply, Thrawn's way of leadership requires trust and competence (both of which he does his damnedest to cultivate in the books). Otherwise his sand castle tactics are likely to fall apart as soon as something minor goes wrong. And a lot of things go wrong at Atollon.

In the books, he's at his most successful when his forces follow his orders to a t. When they trust him to know what he's doing and his officers can keep up with him after working with him long enough and absorbing his teachings.

The best examples of this are Karyn Faro and Eli. And during the Atollon attack, Eli is with the Chiss while Karyn is a later introduction to the franchise that sadly doesn't make an appearance in the show.

All of this to say that Thrawn is now left with Konstantine and Pryce at the helm and, surprise surprise, both of them make huge, costly, stupid mistakes. (Way to go guys.)

There are three major factors to Thrawn's failure:

Konstantine's stupid stunt, resulting in the interdictor's destruction, Ezra's escape and the subsequent arrival of reinforcements

Pryce's handling of Kallus' imprisonment

and the Bendu, ie some serious Deus Ex Machina force shenanigans

And honestly, objectively speaking? None of these are Thrawn's fault. Which is good because after reading about the ridiculous uber talented things he pulls off in the books, we need a damn good reason for him to fail so spectacularly.

Moving on, Konstantine's blunder is the result of him disobeying Thrawn's orders out of pure stupidity. In that moment he's motivated by his own petty ambition, the kind of thing Thrawn doesn't understand (and would have a difficult time foreseeing) because it's not what motivates him.

Pryce's handling of Kallus on the other hand is an emotional reaction. She gets angry, sends Kallus to get killed (something Tharwn would never do because it's a waste of resources) with minimal security and Kallus escapes.

This is again something Tharwn would have a hard time foreseeing because he rarely, if ever, allows emotions to cloud his judgement.

There is also the fact that Pryce is someone Thrawn has to work with not because he wants to but because he has to. She's his political mediator, someone he needs to help him navigate politics and do damage control for his blunders.

Which is a detail I find really neat because it means that a) he can't get rid of her despite her not meeting his standard for competence and b) he's in this position because Pryce dragged him to deal with the rebels on Lothal as part of their deal.

And then we have this moment:

Which is

hands down

MY FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE WHOLE SERIES.

My man is befuddled. He is bamboozled. Baffled. Discombobulated. Stunned. Because for the first time there's been a wrench of such epic proportions thrown into his plans that we see him thwarted in every direction.

This is Thrawn faced with an unknown he couldn't have foreseen or factored into his plans in any way. And I love to see that.

All in all this arc serves to demonstrate how fragile Thrawn's tactics can be. How his plans are not necessarily flawed but their success relies on things going exactly how he needs them to and people doing exactly what he tells them to which isn't always the case.

Back in the Ascendancy his success rate was higher because of the people he worked alongside and the familiarity of his circumstances. Here, he doesn't have that same stable footing and it only makes sense for him to stumble more often as a result.

And this is why I like this arc in general.

Other notable moments are Kallus' 'You talk too much' because yes, Thrawn does indeed talk a lot. He explains, he elaborates, he muses he very much loves including people into these musings and explaining every minor detail of his plans.

Then there is Kallus being present when Thrawn explains how he's found Atollon and for the subsequent battle. Some fics have interpreted that as an necessarily cruel 'making him watch' and 'gloating' moment. Which may very well be the case from Kallus' pov.

But in reality this is a tactic Thrawn often uses in the books: observing his enemies' reactions to things (sometimes events he's gone so far as to fabricate for this very purpose) and using that to extrapolate information. And Kallus' visible reaction to Atollon's location may well have been the final confirmation that Thrawn needed (smh, Yularen would be so disappointed).

I also love the moment where Thrawn cuts Konstantine off and emphasizes the importance of him doing exactly as Thrawn has ordered. Because as we've already said, that's key to the success of his plans. But it also shows that despite Thrawn's difficulty in predicting some people's motivations, he does have a good sense for his subordinates' competence. Part of why he's so good at curating competent crews. And he is not loving Konstantine's vibes here.

As for the things I would (personally!) tweak to bring show and book canon even closer, they're both very minor and have to do with dialogue.

Like Thrawn's line to Kallus:

I do not require glory, only results (this is where I was screaming YES) for my Emperor. (and this is where I was screaming NOOO).

Yes, Thrawn values results over everything. He values results over etiquette (his words to Samakro), he values results over rules and he values results over rewards.

One thing he does struggle with however is convincing Palpatine of his loyalty to the Empire - something that has very real consequences for him in Alliances. That's because Thrawn isn't actually loyal to the Empire. He's loyal to his people first and foremost and when he does try to convince the Emperor, or Vader, of his loyalty it's by arguing that his people's interests coincide with the Empire's.

So this part of his line doesn't sit well with me.

The use of my in 'my Emperor' especially tilts the line towards a personal loyalty to Palpatine which couldn't be further from the truth. Saying 'the Emperor' would be a bit better but I'd remove the Emperor part altogether.

You could argue that he's doing it to create an illusion of loyalty but seeing as he had difficulties doing that with Vader, I don't see why he would bother attempting it with a rebel prisoner.

Thrawn has no trouble lying when it's part of his tactical maneuvering, when it's for the sake of misinformation and positioning an opponent into a trap, but this kind of lie is more in the realm of political manipulation. Currying favor with allies and superiors. And that's an area he notably struggles in.

And finally: 'You misunderstand, Captain. I'm not accepting surrenders at this time. I want you to know failure, utter defeat, and that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you.'

Again we start off great: Thrawn is blunt and he doesn't hesitate to present his enemies with hard facts, especially when he has them cornered and right where he wants them to. Call it an intimidation tactic or just part of his habit to lay things out.

The next part though, I would cut out completely. Because if there's one thing Tharwn is not, in my opinion, it's gloating. The canon books don't give you the sense that he's a character with a bloated ego or someone who engages in unnecessary comments just for the sake of his own malicious satisfaction. So it's a no for me.

But I'll stop myself here before this becomes too long... or, well, longer. All in all, an amazing arc that gives us great character moments and one I could rewatch many times over.

[bradandchris]

Brad knew there was no more clear or better place to be free to express yourself, to be who you are without judgement, and to promote positive self image of men who like men, than a fiercely competitive nationally televised drag competition that culminated in a paraded showdown of its self-proclaimed losers deemed so via unquestioned, ambiguous, and unwritten rules.

Did you get all of that? Read it again if you need to. The library will be open for a minute.

It was true. Just in the last ten minutes of that show viewers were forced to jump through more flossy hoops than in Fergie’s earring collection just to justify their own sanity and get hooked for another episode. It was hardly surprising straight women could relate. When it came to meeting the many sets of expectations and double standards put forth by society, were we not all consumed in various orders of intricate dance?

Brad knew he could make anything WERK in part because as a gay man he had to from the get go. He could make whatever was thrown at him WERK in the very same sense slapping the word irony on anything instantly made it ironic. The difference of course being irony didn’t actually take any work. What presented itself on the show was WERK, a hole different level (yes, hole is spelled correctly), and according to gay legend that made drag OK.

Anyone could make something ironic, and it’s usually by accident. Where it gets tricky is doing it with any thread of intention. You sure better make like Madonna and make it an art or you are that person wearing the printed t-shirt and the embroidered hat that does speak truth as proclaimed but don’t realize it’s actually about them.

Eeek. That’s always painful to come across for many reasons. For one, it’s a good guess the poorly threaded failed to friend any gay men or black women because neither have the time for something like that. Each would save the other a step at the register and likely ask for the money since they’re just throwing it away anyway.

Slap a WERK on instead, and what you already knew to be nothing is suddenly something because the gays navigate more than a google of hoops just to walk out that front door. Yes. That was worth repeating.

That’s right. No need to ask ladies, the ‘Amens!’ are are all up in here already. It is just how it is right now. At least that’s what it felt like to Brad.

As many in the erotic dancer and male model industries, Brad held no doubt that show went mainstream via the same well mirrored thread as the flick Pretty Woman just with the reverse set of players. Not everyone was on board, but it was enough sassy razzle dazzle in the right place at the right time with just enough tattered frames of attention to get through.

Both earned enough money to let ruffled feathers go, and it remain tolerated by the others as it’s understood as a one time deal. Once deemed ironic something can’t be made more ironic. The same notion apparently applied here.

Brad also knew if you make the impossible WERK the first time, you’re not going to go through it again. It’s far too exhausting and who wants to live by the skin of their teeth where they already do? You’ve been there. You are there. You made it happen, and any decent queen knows how to make her peace…

‘Did everyone not see the mf rain just now?!? Sky. Water. Fell. You’re welcome. Ok then. I gots to go!’

The door slams and that’s what happened.

WERK!

The show goes on because it must.

It was here Brad heard the snap of his own finger.

Pulled out of his own thoughts and still leaning against the palm tree in his shiny new speedo, Brad realized he was really gay. Like really really REALLY gay.

Brad let out a sigh and took note of his bulge.

Well, that certainly explained having a boyfriend.

It explained quite a bit actually.

Looking at things a little closer, Brad could say this much as to his newly realized gayness…

As long as he put out, Brad felt confident his boyfriend Chris would be ok with everything.

And that he was.

[cirrem]

Read "Les Miserables" for my "intro to humanities" class and it was really good so I'm going to dump about it here. it was an abridged version, so i may have missed some things. I may be incomprehensible towards the end. SUPER MAJOR SPOILERS

also trigger warnings for death, suicide, and christianity if you care about that.

first off, Jean Valjean is one of my new favorite characters in fiction. he's screwed up but in a way that makes him a better person.

The romance between Marius and Cosette was my least favorite part of the book. it dragged on, but then you look back and they only had 2 conversations before getting married but it talked about the romance for soooooooo long. I'm not Victor Hugo, but I would have definitally trimmed that down and introduced a multi-month time skip between the resolution of the barricade and the marriage.

Eponine is really stupid, and her death was completely avoidable. First: there are plenty of fish in the sea, you could have moved on so many different times. Second: don't bring the man your in love with to a death trap so you can die together, especially if he doesn't love you, and especially if you tragically sacrifice your life to save his and he ends up not dying.

If you don't like religious discussions I suggest stop reading here because I'm going to talk about the religious themes and the suicide and I know some people on tumblr will get upset if I don't preface it

Javert is a coward. He owes Jean Valjean his life, he knows that Jean is not a bad person, and he pays the debt, letting him run free. What makes him a coward is how after this impulsive decision, where he let him free only to settle his debt, he decides "if my worldview is wrong instead of changing and growing I should just kill myself" and does so.

I know he's supposed to be like "the overabusive law system" or whatever, but killing yourself because the guy who is being sent to jail for life, (because of the heinous crimes of: escaping jail, not telling people he was in jail, and stealing 1 loaf of bread to feed his sisters children) may not actually be an irredeemably horrible monster incapable of change, growth, or being someone who you shouldn't send to jail is incredibly dumb.

Now heres where religion comes in: I think Victor Hugo is intentionally contrasting the laws of man with the laws of God (in the bible, new testament). (Specifically, the beatitudes and life/teachings of Christ. For those unaware, I can give a very oversimplified summery: Be kind and merciful to others, even if they suck or you dont like them or they hate you or you hate them. (if you want to at this point bring up modern or historical actions of those claiming to follow or speak for christ when that contradict this, please move on. I am aware that people call themselves christians without following his words))

to summerize my thoughts: javert represents the "laws of man" which are fallible, and not actually just. Specifically, there is 1) only punishment for the wicked, no blessings to the righteous 2) no allowance for change as a person in judgement, once wicked always wicked. Compare this to every time a religious person does something in the book: the bishop takes mercy on valjean, and sends him away with more gifts, valjean becomes religeous, forgives javert for suspecting him, saves the life of someone who hates him, later, valjean sacrifices his life, revealing himself to secretly be a convict to save a stranger from lifetime slavery, a nun lies to protect valjean (the narrative states she never had before, she did something at cost of her own standards to save his life), valjean finds and saves cosette from the theadears and they take refuge in a nunnery, and get in only because of the man whose life he saved earlier. Finally, Valjean has the chance to kill Javert, in the revolution (Javert is tied up, and Valjean has a gun) but valjean sets him free. The book is really emphasizing the importance of mercy, even when it comes at a cost to yourself, and it would be easier to punish those you dislike. Every time someone is merciful, it turns out fine, even benificial in the long run. (and specifically the mercy as outlined by christ, as everyone that acts mercifully is explicitly religious, and it follows what he taught pretty closely imo).

Gods law of mercy, allowing and helping people to change for the better, even if they don't deserve it, is constantly shown to be superior to and more benificial to society than the harshness of man's legal system, which treats a criminal as always a criminal, and never gives to those in need.

Except, hear me out: this isn't about legal systems at all, this is about how we treat ourselves and those we care about.

We need to have mercy, both on others around us, and on ourselves. Valjean revealed the worst of his past to marius, but he wasn't that person anymore. Marius had to learn that Valjean saved his life from Thernadair! What! He is wastes away and DIES because of his shame of who he was, and his insistence that he is still as guilty as he was then. He had mercy, even for those that would chase him down, toss him into chains, and force him to work until his death, but he had none for himself, and he suffered for it. However, because of how he was kind, he was able to save and touch many lives, and drastically improved the lives of those around him.

Compare this to Javert, who rather than be kind to anyone, or himself, threw himself into the sea, never improved anyones life, and would have been killed if Valjean didn't offer to kill him (then not kill him). I know who I'll rather be, and I think thats kind of the point of the book.

anyways, if I have to write an essay on this book I think I'll be fine.

valjean and the bishop are both incredibly based characters. Eponine was more interesting than Marius and Cosette combined.

[cerberusthenking3]

A Flower to be Seen Not Heard

No image,which is rare,but this is an OC from my own creative universe so no art

It's much darker than my usual stuff but not to a huge extent

Warning:Soft,safe vore,possessive pred,child prey,mentions of sexual and physical abuse,extreme cuddling,aftercare,darker undertones

Blossom POV.

The cart pulls to a stop as I step out of the door held open by the guards sent to watch over my arrival.I step out as one guard says,"Hello ma'am,Lord Tergu is very excited for you're arrival"I nod and say"Let us go then,mortal"I look up and notice in the crowd that there is a young female human wearing some sort of dog collar,she staring at me with wide eyes and I notice a larger male human has a sort of leash in hand and watch as he pulls it and thus the child away from the guards and into the crowd.I raise a finger as a single flower petal flies towards the child before touching her arm and fusing into her skin,what I have just seen is concerning but I need to speak to Tergu first.I turn to the guard and follow him through the streets to his palace,arriving at the large building in under five minutes and I look up with a blank expression which quickly shifts into a warm smile as I see a young man run out of the palace door and stops infront of me before saying"Blossom my friend,how are you?"I smile softly and say,"I'm good,Tergu,you?"He waves the guards at the door aside as he walks me in while saying,"I'm good,I hope the journey wasn't too stressful."I look over to him and say,"Not at all,and I'm sorry if I sound distracted,I saw something concerning during my arrival."He looks over with a worried galnce before saying,"What is it,I have noticed your distaction?"I respond by saying,"A young child with a collar,and a grown man dragging her around like a pet."I notice the look of horror on his face before he responds with"Before we took this city,I visited once and noticed that the Lord,Hamuisis I believe,dragged around the woman he took as prizes like that,his nobles followed the same standard"I look up thoughfully and say"Could that man be a noble who escaped your.....judgement?"He raises his hand up to his face,and I notice that his claws are showing and starts biting his first claw.I look up and say,"It could be nothing,but we should still go and make sure that the kid is okay,obviously I placed a petal on her,just to make sure we can find her if something is wrong"He nods and walks out of the room and after about twenty minutes he walks in with a group of soldiers who all seem to be ready hunt if the man gets away.I close my eyes and focus on the petals location and step forwards as I discard my main kimono and am left in only my light armor and a decent t-shirt and shorts.Tails flick out from my tailbone as I reveal the vulpine form of my birth before leaping out of the window with them following out through the door.

Rose POV.

I lay on the cold,tough earth as I hear my master and his friends laughing inside of the nearby building.My hand slips off the new bruses on my chest from being slammed into the table and up to the tight leather collar and try to pull it off without any success.I sigh and lay back down before hearing a soft growl behind me and turn to see a large peach and white colored fox,it's fur has a wierd patchy look to it with blotches of peach fur and a main base of white fur.I murmer slightly as I look at the beautiful fox and try to convince it to come over so I can pet it when I hear a mans voice speak softly"Are you okay kid?"My eyes flick to the side as I see a man in weird shiny armor with a sort of crown on his head with the visage of a dragon wrapping around the midsection of a fox.....no kitsune with a splattered gold and silver body.I look over at the fox again without thinking and notice that it has nine long tails fluttering back and forth behind it and nervously respond to the man"I-I'm f-fine sir,m-master will let me in after his friends leave"The fox approaches me and it's fur melts with its body and I watch as it shrinks down into the beautiful woman who had arrived in the expensive carriage earlier that master made a lewd comment about before taking me home to take his frustration out on me,luckily only hitting me.She reaches towards me and says softly"That doesn't answer the question he asked,Are you okay"I stare blankely at her and say"Yes ma'am,I'm okay,why?"She leans down and pushes my kimono to the side and lets out a horrified gasp before turning to the soldiers and saying"Go in,she's hurt and from the smell in the air,we're correct"The soldiers rush past me and the man with uer approaches masters home before banging on the door loudly and yelling"ANY PERSON WITHIN THIS BUILDING MUST EXIT IN UNDER TEN SECONDS,ELSE I WILL SEND MY SOLDIERS INSIDE AND THEY WILL TAKE NO PRISONERS!"And after a few seconds,master and his friends come rushing out of the door as a few of the soldiers burst in while he and most of the soldiers stay outside to watch them.

Blossom POV.

I hold the human carefully as I glare at the grown men who are knocked to the ground as the house is torn apart for any stragglers.The largest man,who was with the kid,is glaring daggers at the child as I summon my tails to hide her from his gaze as I smile at the look of horror on his face which morphs to disgust as he realizes what I am.Usually I wouldn't show my tails off to random humans but scaring the shit out of an asshole with the added bonus of the little kid seemingly enjoying looking at them.I look down and say"You may pet my tails if you'd like to,just be gentle"I see her eyes light up as she gently runs her hand through my fur and I watch her eyes sparkle in joy.I hear Tergu say"Go back to the palace Blossom,I don't want the child to see this"I look down at the kid and say"Don't worry,we'll take care of you,you're safe now"I morph back into my true form before grabbing the human by the scruff of her shirt.I leap up into the tree's and flick through them at high speed,making sure that the human is held tightly and doesn't slip of while I'm atleast two hundred feet off the ground.After a moment I arrive at the palace and slip through the window easily as I land in the guest room I usually stay in when I'm here.I lay her on the bed and carefully curl around her while allowing my tails to fall over her.She looks up and says"Why are you helping me?"In a very confused and worried tone before continuing with,"What will you wan't me to do if it's not a problem to tell me?"My tails tighten a little bit without trying to hurt her.I ask her."Whay do you expect to happen?"She looks up confusedly as I feel a scent hit my nose,It's horribly wonderful.I look down and realize that she is bleeding from an open injury on her leg,salivia begins to fill my mouth as I give a soft and tentative lick.I fucked up,I fucked up,I should not have done that,I look up at her and shakily mutter"O-ok kid,w-why dont you run out to a guard,tell him I'm locking the door and to send one of the prisoners,okay?"I nudge her to the door,but when she gets there, I feel myself slipping,and I watch in horror as she stops at the door and turns around to ask,"Are you okay,ma'am?"Too late,all I can do is not hurt her,leaping towards the child I knock her to the ground.My tail pads the fall and I stand over her as I watch her just freeze,she doesn't struggle or scream but she just lays there while breathing heavily.

Rose POV.

I stare up at the nice kitsune who just slammed me into the tile floor.She leans down and licks my face roughly,and I cough heavily,gasping for breath after her tongue leaves my face.She opens her maw and drops of heavy salivia fall onto me,fear flooding my mind and I feel my body tense up and I pull my legs and arms closer to my body and squeeze my eyes shut.Soft warmth envelopes my body and I feel something incredibly sharp slide over my back and I flinch,expecting her to bite down on me but I hear her swallow heavily.I feel a slightly tigher ring and warm wet liquid,likely salivia,slide down her throat with me as I go down the tunnel that fully engulfs my body.I slide down into a massive pouch which is glowly dimly pink and it has similar pattern of pink and white patches,while scared I feel curiosity overtaking the fear and I reach a shaky hand towards the wall and when I touch it the organ pulls my hands into the wall and lightly squeezes it.I hear her voice echo from all around me say"Curious little thing aren't you,don't worry,you're alright,my tummy won't hurt you"Her voice is much lighter and sounds almost playful,unlike her more serious and worried tone she had just a minute ago.She happily purrs as the stomach clenches and churns around me but as I thrown around I hear her clear her throat and the organ steadies around me and she talks in her normal tone with a bit of a purring undertone"Sorry,I let my instincts take control for a moment,I'll spit you out and get you some food"I sigh in relief when I feel my vision slowly darkening and I quietly ask"Is it really safe in here ma'am"I hear her respond confusedly"Yes and I'm Blossom but why?"I say,"I'm Rose,and if it's okay with you,may I sleep in here?"She stops and says,"Oh,of course,I just thought you would be scared,you may sleep,and I'll let you out tomorrow,but first,I'm going to morph back into a humanoid form,it will get much tighter,is that okay?"I curl into a tighter ball and say,"Yes ma'am,I'm used to sleeping in the cold,and the warmth in here is great,im not afraid of tight places so it's worth it"The stomach,as promised,goes much tighter and snaps around me,I quietly say"Thank you ma'am"before snuggling into the walls around me and fall into sleep.

Blossom POV.

I pull my armor back over my slightly bulging stomach and then carefully stand up as I hear the soft snoring.I grab my kimono off of the coatrack that the guards placed it on and slip into it before walking out of the room and to the hallway.I lick my lips and get the amazing orange-like flavor that Rose possessed,amazing,she's so much better than those bitter prisoners I usually use to sate my hunger.I hear a soft growling noise so I walk to where it its coming from and see Tergu walking through the door with blood all over his face and arms.I slip up to the ceiling as he walks under me,my muscles tense and he goes under me.I release the ceiling and fall straight onto the young lord,knocking him onto the ground and he yells out in suprise as I grow rapidly into my true from and open my mouth,pulling him in and licking all over his body,pulling the blood of and sending it down to my actual stomach before spitting him out in a puddle of salivia where he looks at me,gasping for breath and with a confused look.He asks"Not that I'm complaining but why did you spit me out,you usually swallow?"He looks at my stomach just as Rose moves around a bit, and his eyes widen, and he asks."Is that........"I nod and quickly shift back into a human before saying,"Don't worry,she's alright.Do you want to go in with her?"He thinks for a second before saying,"I don't think I have a choice in the matter,do I?"I shake my head and shoot towards him,quickly morphing back into a big enough form to hold them both and drag his entire body into my maw,easily engulfing the young lord and sending him down.He slides into my pouch as I adjust it around my charge and the young lord to let them both lay comfortably on the separate sides of the organ.I cuddle it around the two of them as his fingers brush against the sensitive flesh as it pulls his hand in like Rose earlier and and I start purring as I allow the organ to gently churn around them.I stand up from my blissful state and walk past quite a few confused guards but once I see the head of the guard he waves off the humans following me before holding Tergu's door open and letting me into his room.I leap onto his bed and wrap around myself,using my tails to pull the comforter over me.I softly purr as I slowly fall asleep,I was planning on finding the childs family but maybe I'll just keep her for now,I could use another human toy and cuddle pet to protect.