#and if it is one for her I assume she can't be the only person in the world

[diserbillyti]

Autism can actually affect somebody's understanding of consent.

Or rather, the social circumstances and lack of education people with profound autism are subjected to often results in a severely lacking understanding of consent.

I've been a disability educator on and off for most of my adult life. I've worked primarily with adults between 18 - 25, mostly men, in contexts that I believe your standard "well I'm autistic and I don't ever [problematic behaviour]" poster isn't even aware exist, because those are not contexts such people have ever had to be in.

A considerable part of my job was just having talks about consent with my students.

Many, many autistic people, that is the flavour of autistic people who were identified as autistic from childhood and raised in SPED or adjacent contexts, have spent their whole lives being infantilized and segregated from the outside world. Many of them have always been assumed to be "children in adult bodies." As a result, many of them have never had any meaninful sex education, especially not as relates to consent, beyond "if a stranger touches you in the vagina that's nnnnnno good."

There is a stigma around teaching them about sex and consent for fear of being labelled as a sexual predator, inflicting some kind of harm on the individual, or inspiring them to imitate what you've taught them about. If they are "children in adult bodies," well, children don't have sexual desires and sex in a context with children is always bad, so why would I teach this 19 year old man with descended testicles and adult hormones and shit about all that - he has babybrain, after all.

I had one student, a 22 year old man, who was hugging his psychologist in sessions with her so that he could feel her breasts against his chest. When he told me this, we had a consent talk. As he understood it, it only would've hurt her if she knew about it, but see, she thought it was just hugging and they'd always hugged even when he was a child, so unless she could read minds she'd have no way of knowing he was getting off on it. It took a few weeks and genuine social dev. exercises for him to understand beyond some kind of basic social rule of "don't do that" - and it's important for him to have that broader understanding so that he doesn't replicate the same problems elsewhere, ie. staring at women because "they can't see me staring and if they don't know it doesn't hurt them."

He's someone who 1. is disabled in a way that makes empathy and abstract reason difficult, and 2. has never been treated as having the potential to either have sexual thoughts or conduct himself in a sexually healthy way.

This kind of thing is exceedingly common. I've worked with men and women who masturbate in public because they do not have impulse control and do not understand that doing so can harm the people around them. After all, "I'm not touching anybody." I've worked with men and women who would discuss sex and pornography constantly regardless of social context because that is what they were presently obsessed with, and they lacked the ability to self-regulate. Superwholock was my Vietnam.

Basically, I've been in all kinds of complicated situations surroundinf disabled peoples' sexuality that indicate the severe lack of education that they receive, due to the norm of infantilisation.

I have also, and this is important, worked with dozens and dozens of disabled victims of sexual abuse.

If I were silly enough to think my subjective experience was representative of a universal truth, I'd say that 80% of intellectually disabled people have been sexually abused at some point or another. I have had so many disclosure experiences it is honestly maddening.

Many times students would just tell me things that happened to them during consent talks. It'd usually follow a stucture of,

"Touching someone's penis without asking first is wrong, because even if it makes us feel good, it can hurt them. Hurting people is wrong."

"But [person] touched my penis without asking and it didn't hurt."

That's seriously all it would take to discover half the time.

I'd disclose this to their caregiver, who would often be shocked and go through the motions of my gosh but I never thought I never suspected I never knew but golly it makes so much sense and that's why X, Y and Z happened and and and

All because there is such a social stigma around engaging with the reality that yes, actually, sex is part of the reality that disabled people inhabit, and just because you're reading them as an asexual child does not mean they are one.

I say all of this because every time a Problematic Man does some nonsense and plays neurodivergence as a defense, a legion of the most annoying level one autistic people look to protect the perception that they are ostensibly able-bodied by saying

"Well as an autistic man, I know what consent is."

Good for you, Mark! But a lot of people like us don't! And it leads to the most fucked up problems you've never had to deal with! But I do have to deal with them and if that remains the case for much longer, I'm going to become the fucking Joker!

The better response is: Neil Gaiman is not the kind of autistic person that doesn't know what consent is, or might misread signals like that. That he spent years covering up and lying about it indicates that he understands it was wrong, and that he would face consequences if discovered. His behaviour after being discovered also suggests the same. Additionally, we can see a clear understanding of consent in both his fiction and statements he has made previously. He is attempting to use autism as a cover, and in so doing, making the world more dangerous for the portion of autistic people who might really struggle to understand consent.

[rexhya]

bakugo gets hit with a quirk which makes him super, SUPER nice to the first person he sees — ironically it’s a super bitchy reader ?! completely hot headed, clashing personalities. your choice // does reader take advantage of temporary puppy golden retriever katsuki, or no?

golden days — ✦ ✦

warn — crack, I had no clue if you meant exclusively to her or to the class so I just assumed >s<

incl — katsuki

It was Saturday when you arose sleepily from your bed, you were glad to finally have a day off in the ever bustling school. Of course It was late In the day by now, a trip to the common area seemed appropriate. Had you been on a normal schedule you would have immediately made your way to the training rooms however after all the hard work you'd put in on the days past you think you deserved a break.

In the common rooms you were met with more people than usual, in fact you think it was almost the entire UA class talking loudly in a circle, they were looking at something, or rather...someone.

You pushed through the crow, trying to depict what exactly had caused so much commotion. There on the ground was a close eyed Bakugou, he was completely still. Momo was next to him keeping two fingers on his neck.

"Fuck happened to him?" You asked bluntly.

"He's dead." Kaminari cried dramatically,

"Yes!" You cheered, your wildest dreams were finally coming true, Bakugo had finally been shut up. You didn't know who or what spell did this, but you cheered and thanked them anyways.

"Don't say that, he is not dead, he's just...passed out." Momo scolded.

You twisted a glare in Kaminari's direction. "Why would you get my hopes up like that, now I'll still have to deal with him after he wakes."

"Sorry.."

"He's been passed out since we got here, his heart is beating just fine but were beginning to get worried, could it be an abnormally deep sleep?" Momo wondered aloud.

"We should really inform a teacher, we can't just let him lie there." Iida said worriedly, they looked to be the only ones actually concerned for the poor boy. The rest of the class had eventually lost interest and so had you.

"Why not? It'd make everyone's lives so much easier." you scoffed, giving a dirty look to the lying boy.

"[Name] tha'ts--"Iida began.

"Let me stop you right there, listen Iida I don't think anyone here cares what you have to say about reviving the most obnoxious person in the class, in fact I think they'd love the opposite. Right guys?" You turned your head to a dispersed ground of students, completely oblivious to what you said. "See?"

A red strained mark appeared by the side of Iidas head, "Momo, I'm going go inform a teacher, you stay with him and make sure she doesn't kill him." Momo nodded and cast a wary glance at you.

"Oh don't look so scared, I'm not into girls like you anyway."

"I wasn't flirting with you, and what do you mean--"

Her sentence was cut short by the sound of a low groan. He was waking up. You immediately begin trying to suffocate him with the nearest pillow, "Shhh, this is all a dream. Go back to sleep." his body thrashed weakly against yours.

"[Name] stop!" Momo couldn't believe you were really trying to kill him.

"WHAT THE, fuuuuuckk..." Bakugou trailed off, the pillow was thrown across the room by this point, a very prominent and strange redness taking over his face.

You gagged, "Fuck are you looking at, dip shit." You braced for impact, on a usual day Katsuki would have you on your ass by now.

"Uh, you? Why are you straddling me?" he asked, calmly. You screeched and clambered off the golden haired boy. Bakugou asked you calmly, what the hell was happening?

Momo looked just confused as you, taking a cautious step back as Iida and Aizawa came bursting in. Well, mostly Iida, Aizawa was in a typical lethargic trail behind him.

You immediately turned his way, "Aizawa come quick, there's something wrong with him."

Bakugo cocked his head sideways cracking his neck, "I'm fucking fine." he grumbled as Aizawa examined him.

Your teacher yawned tiredly, "Thought he was passed out?"

"He was, he was when I was here, I guess he's awake now? Maybe we should take him to Recovery Girl, he was passed out for quite a long time really."

Aizawa nodded noncommittally, "Yeah, you do that. [Name] you take him, and please don't interrupt me again. Not unless one of you is really dying, thank you."

Iida sputted as he walked away and Bakugo rolled his eyes again. "I told you I'm fucking fine, just tired God, you guys interrupted my from my nap." Iida looked like he was going to say something but stopped himself, he'd had enough of todays antics.

"Right, in that case. [Name] have fun."

You hadn't moved a muscle as Bakugo grunted, his ruby eyes piercing yours. You didn't know what to say, had the comment been a fluke? But he hadn't said anything else to you since then, he couldn't have forgotten already could he?

"What?" he huffed, wondering why you were so intent on staring at him.

"You're, you're being weird." you stated. It was a fact, he was being weird.

Bakugo sat down, his eyes blinking innocently. (??) "No i'm not."

"You actually fucking are, right now actually. And why the fuck are you squinting so hard? God did the nap reset your brain or something?"

"I'm not. I just can't see your face well, actually can you come closer?" Bakugo pulled your wrist gently. (gently) But for some reason you didn't have it in you to pull away. You were sitting face to face now, and for what felt like the milionth time today, he surprised you, this time with a casual and glinting smile. It was It was probably the most genuine thing you'd seen from him, ever.

"You did your makeup today." he said, and suddenly you felt very self aware of your face.

"Yeah, whats the issue."

"No issue, it looks good. You look good." You almost blushed.

"Are you fucking with ne right now?" you inquired at the blinking Katsuki.

He cocked his head cutely, "No! Why would I be?"

You stared at him silently, his eyes now that you realized it were perfect crimsion, it had a sort of pinkish tint that came you come to a conclusion about Katsuki faster than you ever had before.

"You got hit by a quirk."

✦ ✦

The weeks followinf Katsuki's life were ones his concious self wished he couldn't remember, you had completely and utterly taken advantage of him.

"Kat, hand me that." and he would without a moments hesitattion. It got so bad some people began to think you guys were dating.

"What! No of course not, have you even met the real him? Not a chance." But didn't stop the racing of your heart or the fluttering of your tummy when theyd said it.

"[Name]? You good, why'd you stop." a familiar voice called, it was Bakugou. Every day since he was turned you've been making him hold your bag and walk you to class. However now as you were looking more closely, you realized how weird this was, I mean sure taking advantage of him was in all ways convenient for you but it wasn't like you needed to depend on him. And that's tottally what it looked like you were doing right now.

From then on there you completely avoided Katsuki, especially in class. You wouldn't even acknowledge him in the hallways anymore. Katsuki, still stubborn as ever even with the spell, notices immediately and seeks you out everywhere.

"[Name], wait up!" you speed down the hallway as you hear the voice. Chanting a prayer he doesn't catch up to you.

He cathces up, "Hey wait, where are you going. I know you heard me I need to talk to you."

You snatch your arm away from his grip, masking your embarrassment with anger. "What, what do you want, this is getting creepy you know. Yiu can't just follow somone around. Thats called stalking."

"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked in a tone thats too soft for his gruff voice.

"I-I'm not." But you curse yourself for stuttering.

"Yes you have, I've been with you nearly all week and now all of a sudden you don't want me around?" The way he's said it made you feel strange.

You don't want me around? He sounded hurt, and for no reason at all it made you feel uncomfortable.

"I-I just.." You couldn't think of an answer, why had you really bern avoiding him? The answer was obvious. "You don't even really care, so why are you asking me this.."

Bakugou was confused, "Of course I care. You're my friend."

His friend.

Not his enemy.

"Sure," God why did you have to be the first person he saw? "Me forcing you to do all that stuff isn't very friendly."

Bakugou frowned, "Hey, you know no one could make me do anything I wouldn't want to do to. I like you, why wouldn't i want to do thoes things for you?"

That caught your attention, "Like me?" he nodded.

"But I'm such a bitch." it was a statement and Katsuki finally did something in character and agreed.

"And so am I." you smiled.

"When you wake up from this, I want you to know I regret nothing." Bakugou didn't look worried, in fact he loomed relieved.

"Oh I know, you're not the one thats going to be regretting this."

++ bonus !!

[jjsanguine]

Date me Bryson Keller × Ìfẹ́

It would be either terrible or the book/film of 17 year old me's dreams.

DMBK takes place over like 2 weeks and Ìfẹ́ over like 2 days, so we'll go in the middle and have The Mix™ happen over a week.

The boys in DMBK are in secondary school and the ladies in Ìfẹ́ are in their mid to late twenties, so the mix can have them be in University.

DMBK happens in America and Ìfẹ́ in Nigeria so the mix can have the plot happen on an ACS/Black student Union field trip or something. The ACS at my university absolutely did not have the money for week long trips, but I'm assuming one at a school with more than like 10 black people would. I don't know how either American or Nigerian universities work so it's whatever.

Both DMBK and Ìfẹ́ have one party whose family is queer affirming and another whose family isn't. DMBK is a teen romcom, so they got over it in like 2 days. Ìfẹ́ had an open ending but it's like la Haine where technically we don't know what happens but like, come on.

I'm going to conflate Ìfẹ́ + Bryson and Kai + Adaora because of this. So the characters are going to be Bọ́sẹ̀dé "Boss" and Kachiside "Kachi".

Alright, here's the story:

Boss and Kachi both go to Fairdale University. They're going on a trip organised by the ACS that formally is about [insert networking or academic opportunity related to writing here] but practically speaking, it's to have fun and maybe hook up. Boss is there for fun but Kachi's legitimately there for the school stuff.

Kachi signed up for a shared room because he can't afford a private one. He panics a bit upon finding out the vaguely androgynous Boss is actually a girl but impulsively agrees to room together anyway. Boss decides to take [insert school stuff] more seriously upon seeing Kachi, who she vaguely knows as kind of a wallflower, basically leaping out of his comfort zone in order to be able to stay in the trip.

Kachi's parents would not approve of this arrangement so he tells them he's rooming with a guy and makes up an excuse as to why Boss can't come to the phone. Boss goes shopping in Kachi's suitcase in order to sell this lie on a video call.

Kachi videocalls his friends Dani and Prakash to see if they think Boss is convincing. They think Boss is Kachi's boyfriend and are more surprised that he was able to find a boyfriend immediately than Kachi's bisexuality. Kachi is shocked because he though the closet was opaque, but also relieved he no longer has to hide from his friends. Boss is also surprised, but is supportive.

Boss's friend Diamond comes to hang out at some point because Boss is suddenly spending a lot of time with this Kachi person. Diamond is displeased about Boss getting close enough with a guy to wear his clothes without sharing the gist, and also that Boss is clearly not wearing this man's clothes in a tee hee my boyfriend's clothes are so big on me kind of way. Diamond unsubtly implies that Kachi only suggested this whole scheme because he likes boys, but Boss brushes this off.

Sean is another student who is on the trip in order to get close to Boss and hopefully date her. He and Diamond decide work together to find some reason to get Boss away from Kachi.

Boss and Kachi have been spending every lunchtime working on [insert school stuff], and Boss has started to get endeared by Kachi absentmindedly chewing pencils. The delivery driver mistakenly believes the two to be a couple which makes them both blush, but they correct her. The driver gives Boss her number and Boss clarifies that she's a girl. The wlw driver knew this, so Boss starts getting contemplative.

Boss calls her own family worriedly after her brother is in a minor car accident. Boss's brother Kányin is surprised that Kachi and not Diamond is the one being confusing to Boss at that time. Boss asks why and the Kányin concedes that he kind of assumed Boss had a thing for Diamond. Kányin notices Boss is dressed differently to usual and pointedly says he'd be supportive of she was a different flavour of queer.

Boss + Kachi try to do some [insert school stuff] to take their minds off things but end up telling each other their life stories. Boss about struggling with her parents divorce due to her mother's infidelity, being strong armed into hiding it, and the strain on her relationship with her father. Kachi talks about being mixed worrying about his brother becoming a shell of himself after entering an abusive relationship, and the pressure on Kachi to get into relationship himself since his parents wanted grandchildren.

After talking for a long while they end up staring at each other (as you do) and both blurt out that they might like the other. And then they kiss :). And then they probably engage in heavy petting but like, I'm not a romance novelist. Dani and Prakash gush about being able to go on double dates upon hearing about this.

The second to last day of the trip Boss and Kachi go to a small concert and take some pictures at a photo booth. Sean and Diamond are displeased to see that Boss and Kachi are clearly on a date. They surreptitiously take pictures of them and edit out Boss's face so it looks like Kachi is kissing a random guy. They then drop these doctored images in the trip's BaceFook album.

Kachi freaks out because he didn't want his parents to know, but Boss uploads the photo booth pictures as proof that Kachi is 100% Straight™. She also slaps Diamond and punches Sean. Dani's parents work with the organiser of [insert school stuff] and will be easily persuaded not to consider either Diamond or Sean for [insert opportunity] after they tried to defame Kachi, who is like a son to them. Boss still has disciplinary action waiting at the University though (rip)

When everyone's filing of of the bus or train or whatever after getting back to the University, Diamond sends Boss a message. Boss means to ignore the message's contents as she goes to block Diamond, but she is too curious. The message is a Instagram post captioned from Kachi's fiance, Inaya.

Kachi maintains that the relationship is not serious or rather not real at all, merely a way to get his parents off his back. He also maintains that Inaya knows this. Boss wants to believe him, especially since Kachi's friends know if Inaya but werr happy Kachi had an apparent boyfriend.

but even if he's telling the truth, boss is disamayed because Kachi and Inaya look good together. Inaya isn't the same size as Kachi and more willing and able to get into a physical fight. Kachi's parents clearly approve of Inaya whereas all Boss's interactions with them have included major lies by omission. Plus, rooming with Kachi wasn't the first time she'd been mistaken for a guy,,, Boss was visibly queer before she herself clocked that she was queer, while Kachi never planned to come out.

Dani and Prakash had come to pick up Kachi and are eager to meet Boss, which she finds comforting after suddenly being on non speaking terms with Diamond. Kachi's parents see the BaceFook album and start blowing up his phone, which he switches off.

In the back seat, Kachi chews on his pen as he writes and scribbles out ideas for how to formally break things off with Inaya without making Boss look like a homewrecker.

Boss leans her head on Kachi's shoulder and blinks away a tear. She thinks to herself, this might be a bad idea but I still want to see where this goes.

[project-sekai-facts]

Im sorry i know you said not to ask you to elaborate on that last point, but i cant help myself.

I mean yeah it's not biphobic to dislike bi minori, but it's still hurtful when ppl are super strongly against bi hcs (to the point of acting like lesbian minori is canon, and bi = morally wrong -- not you but fandom in general) over an implied sapphic character because as you said, ppl treat bisexuality as just Straight Plus. I just want to know why you added that last part to support why it's ok to not like bi headcanons. like.... are you saying people only have bi headcanons as an excuse to ship "het" couples?

As I said with Minori specifically, she's a character strongly coded as lesbian, so the fact that some people do not like headcanoning her as bisexual is entirely understandable, because she's like the closest thing to canon lesbian rep next to Kohane so obviously a lot of fans see themselves in her and want representation.

What I mean in regards to the fandom treating bisexuality as straight plus is that a lot of the time the whole "prsk fandom is biphobic" issue is brought up is with regards to m/f shipping. Such as with the Minori discourse afaik it started because of a minori fan account shipping her with men. And I'm absolutely not saying you can't hc a character as bi and ship them m/f, that's totally valid, but it's that commonly people only start bringing up biphobia when people don't like a m/f ship.

Like, it may be your headcanon that the characters in that ship are bi, but m/f couples are not inherently a bi thing. As a bi person it bothers me that a large portion of this fandom still defaults to "some people don't like m/f ships = biphobia" like what are you talking about. I think it's largely due to the english speaking side of the fanbase being made up of a lot of young queers and generally people assuming every character is queer off the bat. But it's very telling when people start calling biphobia over not liking a m/f ship that they're just viewing it as straight plus in a lot of cases.

Like again, I'm not saying you can't hc characters as bi and ship them m/f without shipping them with characters of the same gender as well. For the least discourse-inducing example I have, I like kaimeiluka and hc them all as bi, and I only ship kaito with those two and not any men. Like that's not my issue that's just normal my issue is that when people get upset over a m/f ship be it because they don't like it or because it features a character who is coded as exclusively gay, the people who like the m/f ship immediately jump to "you hate bi people" when that's not true and extremely disconnected from reality. m/f relationships are not inherently bi in the greater scope of reality, and it says a lot when someone immediately assumes m/f relationships as being the ones with bi people. We like both that's the entire point m/m and f/f ships can have bi people too.

Also in fandom terms as I've said before, everything comes down to preference. Some queer people don't like m/f ships that much and that's okay. That's not biphobic and also the characters in their slash and femslash ships could be bi. In the prsk fandom specifically you are not obligated to like any m/f ships, there's not many options in the first place. Sexuality goes hand in hand with shipping so people will ship and headcanon whatever they want regardless of what's implied in canon, because at the end of the day nothing is confirmed. As much as Minori is lesbian coded people are never going to stop shipping her with men, and if one day it gets confirmed they'll probably just start genderbending. (before anyone brings up Mizuki that's a different can of worms since there is confirmation in the text she is 1. amab and 2. identifies as female so going against that is blatantly transphobic)

[sunsetno4]

Pokemon AU Tag Game

Thank you @fallenheroreblog for this tag! :D This is a lot of fun to think of, mainly because Vendetta being the most subpar trainer in the world, lol. This so got away from me. First tho, the rules.

How to Play: 1. Make a Pokémon trainer AU for a character of your choice 2. Make a Pokémon team of six or less for said character 3. Add a blurb about your choices 4. Tag your friends and followers 5. Have fun

I'm gonna tag @darkfire1177 @thecryptidenthusiast @glitterdustcyclops @payloadofgeckos (if y'all want to, I'm not sure who likes pokemon around here, no pressure!) and anyone else interested. :D <3 Tag me please! I wanna see what people come up with~ Ok! Let's go!

Vendetta Frey is basically just a contest trainer, no battles for nem or nir team. They'd all suck at it and not have fun with it, which is the important thing. Ven just wants them all to be happy and fulfilled. Nir empathy is alive and well, and probably more intense (but only for pokemon, people can go fuck off).

Perish Song, aka Perish (Hattrem) // Vendetta's first pokemon. Ne still has telepathy and was basically kidnapped by some of those weird world-dominating groups, you know, as it happens. Ven doesn't know the whys, or doesn't remember a lot of nir time there was a blur, mainly because of Perish. They got paired together and Vendetta has to assume it for for a reason. But it was just awful. Ne feels too much and too intensely, which caused Perish a lot of pain. She'd lash out, which upset nem more and caused her more pain in return, and it was the world's worst feedback loop :'l When Vendetta finally escaped though, ne couldn't leave Perish behind. She didn't deserve that.

Their relationship was extremely rough in the beginning, and even now, it's more trauma-bonded neutrality. Ven wonders if finding Perish a quiet and nice home would be better, but Perish is scared to leave the only person she really knows. The world is terrifying and loud and it hurts, but she knows Ven does try to keep it as quiet as possible. :c Perish doesn't do any contests. They prefer hanging back and hearing the nonsense after the fact, lol, but she's good friends with Wherewithal. She likes their silly antics and plays (secretly, can't let people know that, nope!).

Relish (Trapinch) // Ven stumbled over Relish shortly after escaping, who was severely hurt at the time. One heal ball later, and Relish was all good and very attached to Ven …who didn't think that through, at all, Perish was already a handful at the time! Thankfully, the trapinch is a very chill soul (gentle nature, all the way!). He's actually the reason Ven got into doing contests too. Relish loved watching them on the tellie, and loved to reinact the different routines. Ven asked if he wanted to try himself and Relish! Geeked! So hard! :D

…except Relish has terrible terrible stage fright. He normally doesn't make it on the stage before digging his way back to Vendetta. But! Sometimes! He does make it out under the bright stage lights and… then, digs his way under the stage and back to Vendetta. His record is about fifteen seconds being on stage, and Ven is So Proud!!! He keeps trying his best and it's lovely and Ven is so encouraging. Relish is also the main reason the team is more often than not broke as fuck. All that stage damage… Ven still says it's worth it. Anything for Relish. :'l <3

Wherewithal (Audino) // Wherewithal has the Klutz ability, and it's why they and Vendetta met. Their old trainer was an impatient asshole and often screamed at Wherewithal when they failed at battles, and especially when they dropped items. It was a bad time. Ven saw one of these times, and would've dropkicked the trainer in the face if Perish didn't beat nem to it. TOO LOUD! ୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭!!!!!!!

The trainer all but abandoned Wherewithal on the spot after that, and Ven offered them a safe place to stay and they're still here, lol. Wherewithal is kind-of the team therapist. They help Ven regulate nir emotions more with their feelers, and Perish too. They both need a lot of help… :'l They are a very silly pokemon too, often using their feelers to make a little monocles and mustaches to try and get giggles out of the others. They're just a fancy busymen~ No battles, their anxiety is still too high but sometimes they like to join contests when they're on the smaller side. And they're actually pretty good! :D

Fuffle (Pyukumuku) & Kerr (Kecleon) // They're a bonded pair of pokemon that Vendetta stumbled over while visiting a coastal resort town, while they were pulling cons~ Fuffle enjoys pulling in a crowd due of their shiny nature, and then violently puking up their innards and playing dead. While the group (understandably) stands horrified and sometimes crying, Kerr comes in from behind while invisible and steals all the shiny things she can find. They often make out like bandits (and Kerr sometimes will grab Fuffle and pretend like its corpse it floating around to scare people further, for fun).

Unfortunately, telepathy beats invisibility so Vendetta knew it was happening. Fortunately, ne found it funny as hell and offered them some protection as a trainer. The pair didn't agree at first, but were quickly won over. They still pull cons, sometimes at the contest venues, sometimes during the contests themselves. Kerr often has more money on her than Ven nemself too. It's the team's main source of money, since they rarely place in any contest.

Demure (Clobbopus) // The last team member to join, and no one entirely knows how that happened. One day, Demure was just there and never left~ She is an very curious and very enthusiastic Clobbopus that absolutely loves contests!! Along with Relish, she's normally joins all the contests she can and she loves the spotlight as much it loves her. However, as the contest goes on, her enthusiasm often …let's say it overflows. :') She doesn't fight the other contestants, but bopping them in aggressive hugs and the like is very frequent and she's never really finished a contest fully because of it.

But Demure has fun anyways, and loves all the last place pity ribbons she and Relish get, lol! And the sweets!! :D She's probably the biggest Poffin fiend out of them all and loves getting sweets post-contest. Honestly, even if she finished and placed higher, Demure would probably be disappointed in the prizes. Where's the treats???

---

But, yeah, lol. Ven's team is ...not good but they have a lot of heart. And silliness. And kleptomania. And rage! But Ven is deeply fond of them all. They're all nir family now, and they make Ven feel safe again~

As for the art, I honestly just wanted to see Ven in Pokemon style, so I used May's trainer art as a base/edit/whatever you have. ^^;;;!!!! And then, I got so lost in the sauce making nir outfit. The hoodie has FOUR variants! Six if you included the shiny ones. :')!!!!!!! Gengar and Dracovish ones are better imo, but Shiny Breloom, my love~ But! It was a lot of fun, so again. Thank you for the tag, fallenheroreblog! It was very fun, and I have a new love for Hattrem and Kecleon now, lol!

[ghoulsverse]

Chapter Six: I Can't Feel You

3.7k words | [Tags] Mentions of Hydra PTSD | minor Wanda/Vision

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“You’re not healing to handle your trauma, you’re healing to handle the joy that comes after.”

Avengers Compound: Floor 8 - 2 weeks later

It started with Natasha tossing a folded blanket into the empty room.

That was it.

No speech. No pressure. Just a quiet, familiar weight hitting the plain grey sheets and creaking the bed frame.

Aliah stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching the blanket like it might be a trap.

Natasha didn’t look at her.

She was crouched beside the bed now, tugging at a too-tight corner of the fitted sheet like she had a personal vendetta against hospital corners.

“This one’s closer to the bathroom.” She said casually. “And there’s no elevator noise this far down the hallway. You’ll sleep better.”

Aliah didn’t answer right away.

Her fingers twitched at her elbows, like she was deciding whether to run or help.

Wanda watched from down the hall, arms full of extra pillows, and stayed silent.

“And my room is the next one over. In case you ever need.”

The room had been empty for years.

It wasn’t a guest room, not really.

Just a spare space on the shared floor… one Wanda had always assumed would turn into storage, or a meditation zone, or a reading nook they’d forget about halfway through.

But now... it had a purpose.

Now it had a girl standing at its threshold, torn between wanting a place of her own to belong and fearing she didn’t deserve one.

Natasha dropped the corner of the sheet with a satisfied grunt and stood up, dusting off her hands.

“You wanna grab the pillows?” She asked, not turning around.

There was a beat of hesitation.

Then Aliah moved.

Wanda smiled softly, stepping inside with the pillows that they’d been using on the couches.

She watched as Aliah made her way to the bed, fingers fumbling slightly with the edge of the pillowcase, too careful like she was afraid of ripping it.

Natasha didn’t comment.

Just helped without helping, gently flipping the pillow around so Aliah could place it in the space and place she wanted.

“Natasha and I were thinking of taking you out to go find things to decorate the room.”

Aliah looked at Wanda as she stepped next to her, arms crossed. Not in an intimidating way but rather a comfortable one.

“If not, we can show you some options online and we can order them from there if you don’t want to go out.”

“Decorate?” Aliah said, softly. She was running her hand over the sheets on the bed, staring at the room like it would fade to dust if she didn't.

Natasha sat down on the bed and smiled. “It’s yours now.”

Green eyes widened and snapped to the widow on the bed. Her eyes flicked between the two women who only gave her a knowing smile. “Mine?”

“Yup. We talked it over with Fury… You can stay with us permanently. Here. On this floor.”

Natasha reached for the young girl’s hand and sat her down on the bed with her. “You’ll have to train… learn to fight, and learn to use your magic properly.”

Wanda stepped forward too and leaned against the bed frame. “You can have pictures, drawings, even string lights, if you like those.”

Aliah didn’t answer right away.

She just looked around the room again, this time with a little more ownership.

Then, quietly. “I don’t know what I like yet.”

Wanda blinked.

Something about that sentence ached.

She opened her mouth… to say what, she didn’t know… but Natasha beat her to it.

“That’s the best part.” She said. “You get to figure it out.”

“How do I learn what I like?”

Natasha shared a look with Wanda who moved to sit on Aliah’s other side. “Well, you find out what you like by finding things you don’t like. Let’s start with color. Do you like yellow, like the sun?”

“It’s nice.”

“It’s nice but do you like it? Could you live with everything in the world yellow?”

Aliah, chuckles. “No.”

Natasha linked their fingers together and chuckled. “What about purple?”

“No. Also nice but no.”

Wanda lifts her hand and pulls the jumping fox again from her red mist, watching as Aliah smiles and begins to play with it. “What about red?”

White mist begins to mix with red… two pink dancing foxes jump around their arms.

“I like your red, and Tasha’s. Only with you.”

Both of them smile. And the foxes fade. Aliah’s smile turns solemn and she drops her free hand before she speaks again. “When I was allowed to have free time, after my treatments… Doctor Enez would take me above ground. I could walk outside and I would lay in the grass. I loved the smell... The color.”

“Green it is then.” Wanda’s voice cracked.

“And I like Fred.”

The widow chuckled. “Wanda told you his name?”

“No, he told me. He was thirsty.”

Natasha flopped backwards on the bed and sighed while the other two just giggled.

This was one of those moments that Aliah realized… this is how being normal is supposed to feel. This is how life is supposed to be.

It’s bittersweet in her mind. The childhood she was supposed to have, but also the good she has now.

Three days passed.

The tower remained still, unbothered by alarms or danger or anything that might demand urgency. The air had settled into something that almost resembled peace… not the real thing, but the kind that came from repetition.

Wake. Move. Pretend.

Repeat.

Aliah had settled into the spare room, slowly, carefully… like the walls might reject her if she unpacked too quickly. She didn’t decorate, didn’t ask for anything, but the door stayed slightly open at night, cracked just enough to let sound drift in. The emergency blanket that had once never left her shoulders now lived folded at the foot of the bed like a familiar ghost… always there, just in case.

Save for a small green teddy bear that laid on the pillows.

A gift from Clint.

That, for now, was enough.

Every morning began the same way… a soft knock at her door, and a mug left just inside. Natasha never said anything when she delivered it… just a silent offering of routine. Sometimes it was tea. Sometimes hot cocoa. Once, entirely without comment, it was coffee that Aliah was definitely too young to be drinking (a new rule Wanda had implemented). She’d looked at Natasha with wide eyes and the beginnings of a smile, and Natasha had simply walked away without a word, as if to say you’ve earned it.

Aliah hadn’t smiled at the mug.

But she had clutched it with both hands like it meant something.

And maybe it did.

Wanda, meanwhile, had returned to sharing her space with Vision.

He didn’t sleep the way she did… his body would power down beside her, humming with silent energy, always watching. Sometimes she wondered if he ever really turned off. He was present, always, with a kind word, a soft touch, a perfect mimicry of domesticity. He brought her tea before she could ask. He reminded her of meetings she forgot. He kept pace beside her in hallways like they were choreographed.

It wasn’t bad.

But it felt... rehearsed.

Like they were actors still stuck in the final scene of a play no one was watching anymore.

Wanda tried, because that’s what she was good at. She smiled. She laughed at his analysis of their synced schedules. She let him hold her hand even though the space between their palms sometimes felt too quiet. Too cold.

She told herself it was just an adjustment. She told herself the warmth would return.

And maybe it would.

Maybe.

By the fourth day, Aliah had started pulling away.

Not with anger. Not with fear.

Just… absence.

The kind that builds in inches, stepping out of the room when Vision entered, staying longer in the kitchen when he joined Wanda in the common area, gravitating toward Natasha’s voice like it was a safer frequency.

Wanda noticed.

She told herself it didn’t hurt.

Not at first.

On the fifth night, they all sat in the common room. Vision was beside her, politely critiquing the visual fidelity of the film they weren’t really watching. Natasha had taken her usual spot in the corner chair, one leg hooked over the side, casually recounting stories Wanda would’ve scolded her for if Aliah didn’t look so completely enthralled.

Aliah sat on the floor at Natasha’s feet, cross legged, a blanket across her lap. Her eyes were wide, her guard lowered in the way that only happened when Natasha spoke in that dry, matter of fact tone, telling her how to break a nose without breaking the rules.

She laughed. A real laugh. Short and sudden and so painfully unguarded that Wanda’s breath caught in her throat.

She hadn’t heard that laugh before.

And it wasn’t hers.

Vision looked over at her.

"Her laughter is remarkably similar to yours.” He said, like it was a compliment, like it meant something.

Wanda smiled.

She nodded.

But the sound… the echo of that laugh, wasn’t hers anymore.

Later that night, when the lights dimmed and the tower settled into its quiet hum, Wanda stood barefoot in the kitchen with her hands wrapped around a mug she hadn’t taken a single sip from.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there.

Time had stopped meaning much since Vision started sleeping beside her again… all soft smiles and curated warmth, offering her tea with perfect timing and never noticing when she didn’t drink it.

Her thoughts kept looping.

Not around what was said.

But around who had said it.

Aliah, sitting small on the edge of the couch, not angry, not bitter… just honest.

“I can’t feel him.”

The words had landed like a stone in water, and Wanda had felt every ripple since.

It shouldn’t have mattered.

Vision wasn’t supposed to be felt.

He was circuitry, light, synthetic life wrapped in borrowed flesh.

And yet Wanda had always felt him… even before the world fell apart. She could reach for his presence in a room and find it like a candle flame, steady and flickering just for her.

But now…

Now she wondered if that tether was really hers.

Or if it had always belonged to the Mind Stone.

She pressed her forehead to the cabinet above the sink, closing her eyes.

Aliah had her magic. Her mind. Her blood. Somewhere in her, chaos bloomed the same way it bloomed in Wanda… wild, unfinished, too powerful for the world to hold neatly.

And yet Aliah couldn’t sense him at all.

Didn’t want to.

Didn’t trust him.

Didn’t flinch from Natasha’s dry threats or deadpan stories, but looked at Vision like he was a ghost with manners.

Wanda’s fingers tightened around the mug.

She remembered how it felt to love Vision without doubt. How easy it was when grief had rewritten reality for her. How safe it had been to build a world where no one had to question what was real, because she said it was.

Now everything felt quiet.

Like the walls were waiting for her to admit something she didn’t want to say out loud.

In truth. She missed sleeping in the living room, with Aliah… and Natasha. Even on the couches that are becoming more stiff with time, they seemed to give her more comfort now than her bed does.

She exhaled slowly.

How long could she keep this up?

The smiles. The half laughter. The hand holding that no longer warmed her skin.

How long until Aliah stopped looking at her like she might be home?

How long until Wanda looked at Vision and didn’t even want to pretend?

Somewhere in the tower, the floor creaked. Natasha’s voice murmured something low and dry. Aliah laughed.. just once.

Wanda closed her eyes tighter.

Wanda didn’t hear Natasha come behind her.

She just... sensed her.

She didn’t look up right away, just kept her forehead pressed to the cabinet door and hoped she could pass for asleep standing up.

“You know you’re allowed to break down somewhere other than the kitchen.” Natasha said softly.

Wanda let out a dry breath. “I’m not breaking down.”

“That’s funny. You look like someone who just realized their favorite sweater doesn’t fit anymore.”

Wanda cracked a small smile, but it didn’t last.

“Or should I say my favorite jacket… doesn’t fit you anymore.”

She turned to face her.

Natasha leaned against the doorway, arms crossed… relaxed, but watching. Always watching.

“She said she couldn’t feel him.” Wanda murmured.

Natasha’s gaze didn’t shift. “You mean Vision.”

Wanda nodded. “She said it like... like that should’ve meant something.”

“Didn’t it?”

Wanda looked away.

That was answer enough.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

The quiet between them was thick, but not hostile. Just heavy.

“She trusts you.” Wanda said after a beat. “Aliah.”

Natasha didn’t blink. “She trusts you, too.”

“No.” Wanda said. “Not the same way. Not anymore.”

Natasha pushed off the wall and moved into the kitchen, her steps soft but certain. She didn’t reach out. Didn’t crowd. She just stood next to Wanda, shoulder to shoulder.

Close enough to anchor. Far enough to respect space.

“She sees herself in you.” Wanda whispered. “In both of us. But with you… it’s easier. You don’t expect her to be okay.”

Natasha’s voice was quiet, but clear. “Neither do you.”

Wanda shook her head, jaw tight.

“I keep pretending that eventually she’ll be fine. With him. With all of this.” She gestured vaguely, like the whole Tower was complicit in her confusion. “And the longer I do, the more it feels like I’m making her angry. Like I’m just pretending to care.”

Natasha studied her for a moment, then looked down at the untouched mug on the counter. “You’ve never been good at pretending.”

Wanda huffed out a soft laugh. “That’s... objectively false.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t skilled. I said you’re not good at it. You wear masks like they owe you something. But we can all tell you care.”

The silence stretched again.

Wanda glanced over.

Natasha wasn’t watching the mug anymore.

She was watching her.

And the look on her face… steady, knowing, quietly devastating… made Wanda want to run and stay in the same breath.

“You don’t have to fix it all at once.” Natasha said finally. “Start small.”

“Like what?”

Natasha shrugged.

“Like stop assuming she’ll be okay. Stop guessing why she’s uneasy around him and maybe ask her why yourself.”

Wanda stared at her.

The silence that followed wasn’t cold.

But it was sharp. Daring.

Natasha turned away first. “Try to get some sleep, little witch.”

And then she was gone, quiet as she’d come. Leaving Wanda in the kitchen.

Alone again.

Avengers Training Room - 10:36 am

The gym floor smelled like rubber and recycled air. It always had. Wanda had never particularly liked this room… too many mirrors, too many ghosts.

But Aliah liked it.

Or at least, she didn’t flinch when Natasha brought her here.

From the far corner, Wanda watched as Aliah squared off in front of Natasha, knees slightly bent, fists tucked in tight near her chest like she was trying to make herself smaller and stronger at the same time.

“Lower your stance.” Natasha instructed, tapping the outside of Aliah’s foot with her own. “You want to be a wall. Not a tent in the wind.”

Aliah adjusted immediately, copying the movement with quiet precision.

Wanda didn’t say a word.

It started with a request… just one.

Aliah had asked if Natasha could ‘show her how to fight without magic’. Like Natasha did. It was phrased like a joke, but there’d been something raw underneath it.

Natasha hadn’t laughed.

She just nodded once and said. “We’ll start with your footing.”

That was three days ago.

Now they trained in short, focused bursts. No long lectures. No drills. Just repetition and quiet correction.

It was working.

And Wanda was starting to hate that it was working without her.

Aliah moved through the steps again… jab, pivot, elbow reset.

She didn’t ask if it was right.

She just watched Natasha’s face, waiting for a nod or a slight tilt of the chin.

It came.

And the smallest smile flickered across Aliah’s face before she caught it and shoved it back down.

Wanda felt that smile more than she saw it.

And it stayed in her chest like a bruise.

The worst part?

Wanda wasn’t needed here.

She wasn’t expected to be.

There was no panic. No rescue to orchestrate. No reality to rewrite.

Just... two people who had found something solid to hold on to.

And Wanda, quietly fading from the frame.

Natasha glanced over once… just once, and met her eyes.

The look wasn’t cruel.

It was a look of shared pride.

And Wanda, standing in the doorway like an extra in her own story, nodded back.

Because she had nothing else to give.

Later, Aliah would walk out of the gym with sweat on her brow and a quiet pride in her step.

Wanda found her in the hallway that afternoon.

Aliah was sitting cross legged near the window in the living area of their floor, arms folded over her knees, head resting on them. The floor lamp nearby cast a dim golden halo around her, like she was the last flicker of warmth left in the tower.

She looked up when Wanda approached but didn’t unfold.

Didn’t run. Just smiled.

Wanda stopped a few feet away, unsure how close she was allowed to be now.

“You okay?” She asked gently.

Aliah shrugged. “Fred needed some company, and I like watching the sunset.”

Wanda lowered herself to sit beside her, keeping a respectful gap between them.

“I watched you train today.” She said after a moment. “You’re getting good. Fast.”

Aliah let out a soft breath… not quite a laugh. Just enough to say she’d heard it.

“I don’t know if I’m good.” She said quietly. “I just... I don’t want to feel weak anymore.”

Wanda’s heart twisted. “You’re not weak.”

“I don’t mean like that.” Aliah’s voice was small, but certain. “I mean... I don’t want to freeze up. Or flinch. I don’t want people to look at me and think I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Wanda nodded slowly. “I get that.”

A pause.

“Do you want to come watch a movie with me? Just us?”

Aliah didn’t answer right away. She just smiled and nodded. “Can we finish watching those wild west movies you showed me?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” She turned to leave.

That should’ve been the end of it.

But the elevator dinged… soft, too perfectly timed… and Vision stepped out.

He spotted Wanda immediately, then Aliah, and smiled politely.

“Good evening.” He said. “I was just coming to see if you wanted to read together, Wanda. I found a translated copy of that Sokovian poetry volume you mentioned last week.”

Wanda smiled automatically.

Not because she meant it.

Just because she always did.

“That sounds great, Vis. Maybe later though. We were just–”

Aliah stood quietly and stepped back toward her room.

She didn’t say goodbye.

Didn’t look back.

But her footsteps quickened just a little when Vision got closer.

Wanda watched her disappear behind the door.

And then looked at Vision. Disdain pulling behind her eyes.

And wondered… not for the first time… how much of her life was built around not making anyone uncomfortable.

Even herself.

The room was dark, lit only by the soft gold glow of the floor light Vision insisted was ‘optimal for nighttime recharging’.

He lay beside her… still, silent, resting with perfect posture and hands folded over his chest like someone waiting to be admired.

He didn’t snore.

Didn’t twitch.

Didn’t shift to steal the blanket.

He was, in every measurable way, the ideal presence.

And Wanda had never felt more alone.

She lay on her side, staring at the edge of the nightstand. The digital clock blinked 2:14. Again. Again.

Sleep didn’t come.

Not because she was scared.

But because she wasn’t sure what she’d dream about.

And even worse… who she’d see there.

Vision shifted slightly, powering down further.

It was subtle… A gentle drop in the humming pitch that always buzzed at the edge of her hearing. A soft weight of his arm on her waist as he slipped further into rest mode and made himself comfortable.

She didn’t move.

“I can’t feel him.”

Aliah’s voice came back again, soft and unblinking, echoing in Wanda’s mind like a question no one had answered.

She had said it without judgment.

Just a fact.

She couldn’t feel him.

And now, lying here in this bed they’d shared for years, Wanda wasn’t sure she could anymore either.

There had been a time she felt tethered to him… to his presence, his rhythm, his impossible kindness. That connection had once felt like hope. Like safety.

But now...

Now she reached for him with her magic, just a flicker, a feel… and found him.

No hum of chaos. No mirror to her soul.

Just something built. The feeling she used to take comfort in, that she used to see as just him. It now felt like a false promise.

And maybe… just maybe… something she’d built up to fill a space that had never really been filled at all.

Yet she still cared for him.

That was the hardest truth.

There was love here… or something close to it. Familiarity, at least. Comfort.

But it didn’t hold her like it should anymore.

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, fingers curled against her own stomach like they were holding her together.

She closed her eyes. Tried not to cry.

Not because it hurt.

But because she couldn’t name why it hurt.

“You don’t have to fix it all at once.” Natasha had said.

“Start small.”

Wanda exhaled shakily.

Maybe tomorrow she'll start.

But tonight, she laid beside the man she had once bent the world to keep.

Only now it felt hollow.

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Taglist: @seventeen-x @tobiaslut @doyouseethewords

Don't forget: I made a playlist for this series! :) > Series Playlist <

[mari-lair]

Super curious cause I kinda did this for my swap AU but if Akane wasn’t childhood friends with Aoi, but met her in school (since they’re the same age), then would they still have their whole point system / crush thing going on or 🤔

Cause in my AU, he’s clearly not her childhood friend cause she’s busy being an exorcist and thus never really meets him, or at least doesn’t spend much time with him like canon but still, he crushes on her in middle school and tries to impress her (which leads to him kinda stunting everything about himself because he wants to be exactly like the people she likes without realizing him being himself is fine to her) but the question is, if the crush happens later, then would the same love confessions slash point system slash their whole thing even work?

Those kind of questions are so hard to answer since being 'childhood friends' is a core part of their dynamic but I'll do my best.

I doubt the point system would still happen because of how personal and incredibly childish it feels. There was a lot of circunstances involved to get where they were now.

Take the new timeline for exemple: The engagement made it so the point system was transfered to Teru, it isn't a way to show how impressed/in love Aoi is, it's a way to show how well Teru did on his fake dates.

This happened because Akane no longer confesses to her (Aoi was shocked when he got on his knees at the dinner, his confession clearly wasn't a daily occurence) so there is no way to make a game out of it.

I bring the new timeline to say that HOW Aoi grew up now that Akane is absent from her childhood would deeply shape her.

Her growing up with Teru made her more connected with the supernatural world, and made her more bold and shamelessness compared to old Aoi. Just compare how new Aoi went out of her way to crash what she assumed was a nene and Akane date and the old one hid in her room for a week at the idea.

So depending if she was completely alone during her childhood or if she had another childhood friend in her clan that isn't Akane, it would already reeeeeeeeeeeeallly alter her reaction. No friends means she would be completely alone as a kid and have to learn to defent herself from all the people that harasses her, that wouldn't be a problem to exorcist aoi, who is used to fighting mosters, but it would means she has a bias agaist boys. If they aren't that close, to the point she wouldn't consider them friends, she would just say "I am not interested" instead of keeping it vague.

Even if she think 'akane is nice for a boy' or have any kind of possitive view on him she would not like if he first approached her with a crush.

As for Akane I don't think he would be even half as desperate. Just like he doesn't confess to his engaged childhood friend in the new timeline I can't see him insisting on confessing to a girl that had said point blank she has no interest. And if they ARE close enough for Aoi to not reject him point blank, she have to consider him a very precious friend, and I feel like Akane would focus much much much more on worrying about his friend's exorcist life and how dangerous it is than focus on confessing to her.

That's his main thing, half of the manga is him bending himself to keep her safe. Chapter 69 reveled he looked after her even BEFORE he got a crush, when all Akane saw her as was 'someone weird who is unbothered by bullying'

only after a while of this would he go "wow you actually cares a lot! I am in love"

And even them, keeping her safe is a constant in his mind. Clock keeper contract? Keep her safe from a truck acident. Stalking her? Keep her safe from harrasment (we have zero hints new timeline Akane stalks her so i really doubt akane would stalk an exorcist aoi that can protect herself, unless he stalks her in her job? oooh that would be fun actu- anyways i am getting sidetracked)

I just can't see Akane prioritize impressing her when she is constantly in danger (specially if she is alone). And if they are not that close I would have to ask WHAT made Akane fall in love in high school with Aoi, what was the event? Cause there got to be something she did to catch his attention. Akane does appreciate beauty but he needs more than a pretty face to fall, he acknowladge but don't really care about Teru's beauty, he looked down on Nene for obcessing over looks, and when Kou talk about his old crush on Nene he expect more than just her having a cute face. He also befriended Aoi first instead of getting a insta crush like all the other boys, so on so on.

So there have to be something that made him smitten. I doubt it would be her crying over a fight since they are not that close/ Aoi is tougher and cant handle bullies herself/ she is likely more closed off as an exorcist too. Depending what this event is (maybe she got hurt rescuing him from a supernatural? He was very touched when Aoi fought in chapter 121... Though that would only work if they are close enough for her to care so idk.)

Even if not quite like this, of one thing i'm sure: making Aoi an exorcist and making Akane not be her childhood friend would make their dynamic extremely different from canon, regadless if Aoi has a childhood friend that isn't Akane or not. The circustances that lead aoikane to their weird relationship with points and daily confessions were extremely specific, like, is not just them being childhood friends that got them to this:

Without the clock keepers contract there wouldn't be such a big distance between them, and without said distance Akane wouldn't assume he isn't doing enough and become increasingly more obnoxious in his displays of love in the first place.

[tora-the-cat]

An interesting little fun thing with team 7 is that you assume that Sakura's gonna, like, woobify and simplify Sasuke by putting him on a pedastal,cause her goal is centered around him and shes a 12 y/o fangirl so like of course her understanding of him is skewed cause she doesnt see him as a person, just an object of affection, right? She's can't get Sasuke, can't imprint on and/or traumabond with him like Naruto and Kakashi do. They don't see him with rose tinted glasses, because they've lived through their own Horrors and empathize with Sasuke's experience.

......right?

WRONG lmao!! They have too many ghosts!! Naruto's single-minded codependent ass won't get out of his own way long enough to see Sasuke for who he actually is, only able to empathize with the parts of his trauma Naruto relates to and not really capable of understanding him outside of the context of himself (because Sasuke is. His other half). And Kakashi is far too jaded to be fair to him!! He can't decide if Sasuke is gonna end up as a mini-him or a mini-Obito or maybe a mini-Itachi, but either way he ALSO is too traumatized to see Sasuke AS SASUKE.

meanehile SAKURA'S autistic ass may have dogshit empathy, but you know what she does have? A special interest in sasuke. Nothing better to do then give herself a degree in Uchihaisms. She can write character studies about him. she can read his soul. Whenever she says something about him she is right. Every fucking time! She is RIGHT!!!!

'sasuke would NOT compliment me this directly or explicitly express worry unprompted, especially if it gets in the way of his goals' correct.

'Sasuke shouldn't hide that curse on his neck its not healthy BUT if I tell anyone about it he'll never trust me again, which might be even more dangerous for him then the curse mark. Like he can probably handle the curse mark but no one else can stop him from ripping peoples arms off.' correct.

Speaking of! 'Sasuke would not hurt me even when he seems to be...possessed? whatever the only way to knock him out of it is to present myself as Alive and thus something to be protected rather then something to be avenged, because he gets really stuck in his own head about revenge' CORRECT

'hey so um. like. Sasuke's gonna leave Konoha. I'm not sure anything can stop him at this point and honestly I'm kinda starting to doubt anything should, so the only thing I could possibly do to help him at this point is ALSO defect.' CORRECT!!!!

[darkladylumiya]

After going through a thousand and one tangents in my head I suddenly remembered that in Legends, the lightsabers that Dooku gifts to Asajj (as shown in the Tartakovsky Clone Wars series) are actually the lightsabers of his former padawan Komari Vosa who got captured by a cult and was psychologically tortured and broken until she turned to the Dark Side, eventually ending up leading the cult. Dooku then sends Jango Fett to go kill her to prove that he should be the template for the clone army. Also Komari was there on Galidraan with Dooku when the True Mandalorians got massacred by the Jedi with Jango being the only survivor of the battle and getting sold into slavery in the aftermath.

All of this to say, that Dooku eventually hands over to his new apprentice in the Dark Side the lightsabers created by his former apprentice who fell to the Dark Side before he did, who helped kill Mandalorians with him before eventually being defeated by the one survivor of that massacre and finished off by her former master.

[juliareed]

Mr. Sark has assumed control of your mother's operation— Please stop referring to her as my mother. Therefore, Ms. Derevko must know what he's looking for. // You were hired to kill me? Who hired you? Who put a contract on my life? Derevko. Irina Derevko.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

The I feel like she sees me line being said to Eddie who is the person that truly sees Buck for all that he is. Are we supposed to take this line at face value which would indicate piss poor writing because they needed to rush to a horrible ending or do we take it as Buck being an unreliable narrator? What was the audience supposed to interpret from Buck saying that, were we truly supposed to believe him or we supposed to be pissed at Buck for saying this to the one person that truly sees Buck?

Good morning to me, I guess.

I'm assuming you haven't really seen people's reactions in the fandom on tumblr because I feel like I saw this said in quite a few posts going around, but you are absolutely not supposed to take this line at face value. I'm surprised that people think you should. 9-1-1 has from the beginning had a habit of turning friendships into romantic relationships (Bathena and Madney) and taking their time with these things rather than having an instalove situation. Even Karen and Hen, who meet when they're set up on a date together, don't instantly fall in love. I do not think they would set Eddie or Buck up for an endgame relationship with a woman by having them date that woman immediately, even if they didn't plan to make Buddie canon.

Buck is clearly struggling post-death. He's lost and once again looking for the answer from a romantic partner. He did a lot of growth in regards to his family relationships this season but not his romantic ones. Remember, his couch ended up destroyed and he asked his latest girlfriend to pick the new one out for him. Again. He's still not picking his own damn couch. After being unable to sleep on the one his mom gave him but passed out instantly on Eddie's where he ran to feel safe.

If people think this is all, somehow, an accident or the writers are doing this without knowing what they're doing, then I can't help you. Do you also think the symbolism I put into my fanfics are a total accident? Do you guys think I picked the name of the poem "Fuchsia Emerald Alizarin Rose" just because the colors are fun and they accidentally spell out F.E.A.R. or do you think maybe I did that absolutely 100% on purpose and was waiting for someone to realize?

Buck saying that to Eddie is 100% supposed to make the audience raise their eyebrows. Especially when we see Eddie's reaction. He's confused and he's hurt and he's annoyed. Eddie then spends his next few lines showing Buck (and us) that he sees Buck. Buck misses it, it goes right over his head, but the audience is shown that Buck is wrong and Eddie sees him.

I think there was a lot of internal stuff going on behind the scenes way high up the ladder that meant Buddie didn't happen this season. No, I don't mean that in a tinhatting way, I just mean that they knew Fox wouldn't renew them, they didn't know if they'd get picked up somewhere else, Fox hasn't promoted or cared about this show the way it has its other shows in a while, and I think it's pretty clear there was shuffling and changes going on with 6B. So I think things had to be put off. Similar to the pandemic, where I genuinely wonder what kind of season four we would've gotten if we'd had the full 18 episodes and hadn't had to work around Covid. I think that when we know there was a big shift going on behind the scenes, we need to have some grace and patience in how that will effect the story that's told on screen.

But I think that this default to "everything good we see on our screens is an accident and the writers are making shitty choices" is a horrible bad faith argument, and it's exhausting. Aren't you exhausted? I'm exhausted. Fandom shouldn't treat the writing and production team like their enemies any more than the writing and production team should treat the fans like their enemies in some kind of war they have to win (looking at you, GoT showrunners).

We are supposed to be annoyed that Buck is missing the point. We are supposed to see Buck's yearning to be a husband and a father, and how he's missing what's right in front of him. We are supposed to put two and two together and see that Eddie was hurt by Buck's words, that Eddie sees Buck, that Eddie is Buck's safe place, and that Eddie in that moment decided he might not have a chance with Buck and needs to move on, because previously we saw Eddie admit he wants romance again but he doesn't want to go out on dates, we saw his aunt say she met her husband through work, we saw him say 'we have time' and then we saw him immediately after Buck tells him about this new girl who "sees him" flee to visit his mother and then immediately actually try dating. On a meta level this is also because Eddie needs confidence in himself as a romantic partner and needs some more experience under his belt before he's ready to take the plunge with Buck, but in Eddie's mind, I think it's pretty clear he feels Buck will never want him back and he's trying to find the love he wants somewhere else, even if his heart is still Buck's.

So that's what I think. I think it's not explicitly spelled out for a few reasons, but frankly if one of them was a woman we wouldn't need it explicitly spelled out and personally I kinda like that it's not. Something that annoys me with M/F pairings is the constant "we all know you two like each other" talks from third parties that half the time aren't about the characters but are about the audience, to either tell the audience SEE THEY LIKE EACH OTHER THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT or to give the audience some fanservice while the characters aren't ready to get together. I don't need to be pandered to that way, thank you, so I'm a fan of the slightly more subtle approach that I, personally, see going on with Buddie.

If you or anyone else disagrees with me and feels it was just "piss poor writing" then that's entirely your right. I'd just appreciate it if people who feel that way would stop watching the show, and stop putting their complaints into the inboxes of people who clearly do enjoy the show.

TL;DR - You answered your own question, Buck is an unreliable narrator (and always has been) and we are supposed to be frustrated he said this to Eddie who has proven time and again (and does so in that very scene) that he sees Buck.

[itwoodbeprefect]

just had the experience of succesfully sounding out แว่นกันแดด in my head, recognizing those sounds ("waen kan daet") as something i'd seen in transliterated script, confidently going "zonnebril!", and then seeing it translated as sunglasses and going wait?? that was wrong?? for a whole two seconds before remembering that no, those words actually do all fit into the same mold, i was just pouring a different language into it by accident

[thatsouthernstate]

Andrew Scott & Claire Foy at a taping of Happy, Sad, Confused Live with Josh Horowitz at Symphony Space.

Takeaways:

Claire Foy is a an absolute gem! Confirmed.

Andrew got emotional again at the idea that a movie like All of Us Strangers would have even been made when he was younger and that he’d be able to be in it. You can really feel how much he loves this one and how much it means to him. I swear to god I nearly cried too. So sweet.

Claire brought up something so interesting that I hadn't really thought about after my first viewing of the movie -- That when a child loses their parents, obviously the child is losing so much. But the parent also loses the ability to be apart of their child's life. I guess as someone who doesn't have kids, I hadn't really thought about that. But that idea that you would have kids and then not be able to watch them grow up is gut wrenching. I can't imagine.

Claire loves the word “Surrender”. Hard agree.

Andrew hates the word “Wednesday”.

They reenacted that scene from Harry Met Sally and let me tell you…. Iconic.

Andrew has read all of the “filthy, feral” things you’ve posted about him on the internet. But he’s sorta…. Okay with it? 😂

I have to find me someone who looks at me the way Andrew looks at Jamie Dornan giving his detailed recipe of roasted potatoes. 

Andrew wants to bring Vanya to New York! 🙌🏽

[hedge-rambles]

I know this is a jokey post but I have Thoughts about this.

Basically, Nona speaks all languages because she understands meanings. And while names generally have some meaning behind them, they're not always accessible to native speakers. While other names, particularly in certain languages, may have a very literal meaning that any speaker would understand. And finally, when Nona speaks to people she tends to talk to them in their own languages.

So, for those of us reading the book in House (aka NZ English), "Kevin" will be rendered "Kevin", because though it means "homely birth" in the original Old Irish (Cóemgen), it doesn't mean that in English. Even if she was to translate it in another language, it would still be Kevin in English/House.

Born-in-the-morning meanwhile probably has a name from another language, which still retains its full meaning. Traditional Luo naming conventions are often a very literal piece of information about the child's birth, e.g. Onyango/Anyango are names which mean the child was born in the morning. So she'd say "Onyango" if she was speaking Luo, but then turn to someone who speaks House and go "oh yeah, my friend Born-in-the-morning".

So if she had a friend who was a House speaker called Daisy, we'd get that as "Daisy" in the text. But she's probably say "Pâquerette" or "Marguerite" to a French speaker.

i do love the theories about nona translating the names of her friends into their respective meanings (i.e. that "born in the morning" is not literally named born in the morning, that's just the etymological meaning of their name) but i also really really love the implication that if that's true then nona either (a) chooses specifically not to translate kevin's name or (b) the word "kevin" is, for one reason or another, entirely untranslatable

[arolesbianism]

Thinks oh so hard abt raccoon au printing pod doomed yuri.... What if you were a robot in love with your fellow robot but your past human selves had to fuck it all up and murder eachother 🙄

[sherlock-is-ace]

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