#and two quite frankly i think shes a bitch who should not be having any more children

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

would it like. kill my mother to have safe sex or smth. like is she allergic to condoms and birth control

[zoropookie]

SWEET MELODY

☆ chapter twenty — get the fuck out (🎂)

The wind was carrying a chill on his skin like it lived on his being, a cold damp fog.

The sun was sinking beneath the homes, and the evening seemed to hold his break with him. He, Ei, and Yae were standing there in front of the familiar door they've all frequented. One leading the way, calm and resolute, the other begrudgingly trailing behind her while his mind gloomed. The third? Amused, eyes glimmering with merriment at the mother-son relationship.

"I reckon you tell them that you'll leave them alone," Yae suggested. "All of it is quite petty, I'm sure they'll understand why we're here to have you two make amends anyway."

"I have no doubt that's what you think, especially since you both love to be resolute bitches about it—"

"Oh? No, continue, I'd love for you to finish that thought." Ei replied, standing tall and unmoving, face of quiet authority. After a brief interlude of his quietude, she ground her teeth. "Do not cross me, you are already in hot water."

Ei's gaze burned into him in front of that door, she knocked, the sound echoing with enough command. Kuni's throat tightened in disgust, mind racing for an immediate escape, any way out of this predicament, but Ei was always one to play her cards well. He was trapped here whether he liked it or not.

The door opened slowly upon looking through the peep hole, revealing you, who looked at all three of them with weariness. "Hello..." You said awkwardly, but there wasn't much of a smile on your face than usual. Kuni's heart skipped a beat, and there was a heavier feeling to the air that he couldn't shake from you. It was easy talking shit to them on the phone, but when he knew something was wrong here, it was strange.

"We won't take up much of your time, I apologize if we burdened you right now!" Yae chirped. "I'm so glad to see you yet again. You get cuter and cuter each time I see you, (Y/N). Like a little button."

You didn't know how to respond to that, frankly, except with a half-hearted smile. Your eyes moved back to the other two, your heart dropping at the situation. Ei's grip on Kuni's hair was sudden and firm, her thin fingers weaving through his mauve filaments with a controlled ease. She forced his head down, tugging him into a bow.

"No more. No more fighting, no more altercations. Apologize, Kunikuzushi," She said, her tone ironclad. "For all of it."

He bit the inside of his cheek, losing the hope he had for this going how he wanted it. He refused to let his own pride be threatened as it roared in seething rebellion. Up his neck creeped humiliation, but his mother's grip tightened. She refused to let go. His head still bowed, he forced the words out, all of the syllables dripping from his lips were involuntary.

"You've been through a lot because of me. I shouldn't have done what I have, and maybe I should have also realized that when I was doing it. I'm still learning how to regulate, it doesn't come to me naturally." Kuni said, hollow, half-hearted. He couldn't help it. Every tendril of his being wanted to rip away from how pathetic this display looked.

He felt their gazes on him, like a lion in a circus, studying his every move and reaction, waiting for him to crack under his own ego. "Oh, you think that's enough?" Yae said, tilting her head. "You're still acting as if this is a game, but there's no place for them anymore. How unfortunate."

"...We will move on from this. Please consider forgiving me in the future, when your heart allows it." Kuni hissed through clenched teeth, fist trembling at his sides. Fury boiled under his skin, but he kept his eyes locked on the ground like he was commanded, avoiding eye contact, wincing at his mother's nails digging into him. "Let me go. You're fucking hurting me."

"Words. All words, but I haven't heard an actual apology yet." Ei replied calmly.

You didn't know how to react still, all of this rushed in your face like it was a surge of energy. You seemed calm and measured, but looking at how your ex-boyfriend was being handled by his mother yet again, watching him struggle with the prospect of even apologizing to you, knowing that you hardly deserved one yourself...it was hard. Too much to deal with right now.

Your heart tightened, eyebrows furrowing as you avoided eye contact with Kuni as well. "...This seems like a waste of time. Get home safely." You said, the emotional storm raging moments before in your mind was rid of promptly, more stoic and irritable with your speech. You turned around, shutting the door quickly behind you, cutting through that moment with air taut like a wire.

To what you thought was normal, infuriated him. Kuni's teeth grinded together, his eyes darkening in annoyance. The way you said that so casually, like you just washed your hands for ten seconds of the entire ordeal and left it. Like you were already miles away from him, digging under his skin tauntingly. You got the last word in, watching him be humiliated under the guise that you deserved that forgiveness.

He couldn't stand it. Being dragged here, forced to grovel, after he had swallowed his own dignity while it tasted raw and bitter in his throat. Spitting out an apology to you...one you hardly had any business responding to. You dismissed him, as if none of what he did matter. As if he didn't matter. It was gnawing at his core, left sweltering in his mess.

His movements were stiff and jerky as he followed the two women to the car, silently fuming. You were not going to take control of what he thought he was warranted.

It was surreal to think that the remains of your brother were in your hands rather than his own arms encompassing you. In those warm, now unfamiliar feeling hugs he gave you.

The day had been spent finalizing the plans for Kazuha's funeral. The weight of your heartache overwhelmed you a lot, especially when Kuni and his family stopped by. The bakery had closed for the day, and your employees, more like family than staff, had insisted on joining you as moral support. You didn't feel comfortable with their continuous acts of kindness towards you, but you accepted anyway. Who were you to deny any more help, anyway?

It was a private funeral, bringing you strange comfort barely anyone except other family members and distant friends knew about it. Their faces softening the edges of your overall sorrow.

You sat in front of the altar with tired eyes, rubbing them to rid of your tears and to ebb the exhaustion. Your hands shook as they rested on the smooth, cold surface of the urn that held his ashes. It wasn't real to you, the only one after your mother's death who was always able to help you live in quiet grace, had been reduced to this. You lived yet again in your sorrow, except extra this time.

With no energy left to think about anything else, the details crafted with care in Kazuha's funeral spoke wonders. The cherry blossoms arranged, incense burning softly, candles delicately flaring. There was nothing left to distract you from the possibility that he was gone.

The filling air of sandalwood neighboring the air while the incense curled smoke into the room. White lilies around a large photograph of Kazuha that you had to retrieve from your mothers room. No longer dusty, but the sanctity of the promise that you kept to Kazuha disappearing as well. You didn't even want to look at it, feeling the sense of betrayal rotten your heart with guilt. He was in the peak of his youth, eyes bright with the amicable, ethereal tranquility of his beaming face. A smile so gentle and sincere, haunting you forever. You never saw the photo before this, and now that you have, it'll follow you like a ghost.

Your flood gates cracked and spurted out, until your tears began to pour out uncontrollably again. Sobs raw and aching as your entire body wracked, echoing through the mildly quiet room. Your body was heavy to you, every bone in your body converting to stone, with a misery so sagacious that you weren't sure if you were stuck there for the next few minutes or hours.

Weeping like a baby, allowing your tears to drip onto your clothes, the memories you could never share with him again, for the future planned that would never come to pass. He died in the past, the reassurance he left you with when you were just breaking up with your ex-boyfriend and you were shattered once again. But not like this, not like how you wept for the moments you had taken for granted with your family. For the times you assumed you would have more time.

Xingqiu, Chongyun, Bennett, Beidou, and Gaming stayed there beside you, presence warm but quiet as they ruminated in the sorrow themself. One by one, they knelt beside you and bowed their heads in respect to the memory of Kazuha, a quiet prayer escaping their lips every now and then that you could hear.

"It's okay," Beidou softly whispered, rubbing your back. "It's okay to take your time. There's nothing wrong with taking a break, kid. Feel out your emotions."

"To you." You choked out, tone exerting a little snappy.

As Beidou's eyebrows raised, your gaze sharpened as you stared at the photo again. This time, a glint of hopelessness and null in your expression.

"I genuinely hope that none of you ever have to feel what it's like to come home, and be crushed by your own dejection. To feel like there's a giant anchor pressing down on your chest, every single second. Pummeling you from the inside out, stripping you down until you're weaker and weaker." Your voice trembled, leaving the rest of them quiet again. "I don't have the luxury to feel out my emotions, or I crumble again. I'm so tired of crumbling."

The following days, the bakery remained open after the funeral. You didn't give yourself time to exactly take a long break. It should have been expected of you, or forced, but the rest of the employees figured it would a better idea to let you do what you need to do to cope with it.

The bakery was dimly lit, with the television in the corner of the room playing Balladeer and the Cult's new music video for the fourth time today. The entire staff were quiet other than the frequent chatter, and the soft clinking of dishes as the workers cleaned up for the night. It was the kind of silence that would tell tales of wonders involving your situation. You were in the back, wrapping everything up and making sure you wrote what needed to be stocked for the morning.

"I like when they do that fun lyrical thing that starts with 'I had my pants on my head like a hat', and ends with...'the police department's refusal to comply in a timely manner with open records request is a middle finger to the marginalized'. You know what I'm saying?" Gaming rambled.

"No clue." Xingqiu said dully.

"They have to make the feds give up early on the song, so they turn it off before they get to the part that calls it out." Chongyun grinned.

"It's like when you steal sandwich bags from the burger shop across the street, and you think the sandwich bags have shit in it, right? No. The entire layout to a compartment of different type of bombs located in Natlan."

"Why are you stealing sandwich bags from them? I'm telling." Xingqiu's eyes narrowed. "Snitching to the court."

"You do that, and I'm not letting you use my Dreamcast anymore. I'm tired of you ratting me out." Gaming scrunched his face up before walking to the back to clean the kitchen with Beidou.

The atmosphere was considerably lax, but there was always a shade of apprehension all of them shared with your newfound attitude. You forced yourself to focus on closing, the others trying to keep a bright side about them. You could only target yourself to think about Kazuha, the pain of absence. Knowing that when you go home, he'll be there, but not as a physical body.

The sound of the front slamming open jarred everybody who heard it, the small bell above the door rattling aggressively against its frame. Chongyun stiffened at the abrupt sound, it being cut short as they all turned toward the person who walked in. The boy's jaw dropped, blinking twice to make sure if who he's seeing wasn't the guy who was just on TV.

"Uh—" He wanted to keep his wits about him and start spilling fan-made excitement, but he was too floored to even do that. "We're...about to close, sir!"

"Not here for bread, or whatever the fuck you guys have. Fetch (Y/N)."

Xingqiu's eyebrows furrowed. "They're...not here right now. If you want to talk to them, come back tomorrow, we'll be open for a while."

"Oh, are they not? Crazy, considering I see their car behind the lot. I checked, don't think I'm one of your little customers." Kuni cut him off, voice dripping with venom as he sized the workers up. "I'm not in the mood. Either go get them now, or I'll run through all of you."

Chongyun hesitated, awkwardly turning his body towards Xingqiu who shrugged in response. He headed towards the back to relay the information, while you were still working. When he reached you, his voice went quiet while he told you what was going on, almost apologetic. Your blood ran cold.

There was an anger that swelled in your chest, hands squeezing into fists. Without a word, you stormed out quickly, expression set with burning fury. The sight of him again, this time in casual clothing and a neutral demeanor, your vision blurred with rage and small guilt. "Why are you here?!" Your voice shook with rage, your voice could barely raise at him. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Have I done enough? Understand this, you bitch," He immediately started coming closer to you. "You're not off the hook for what you did. You may be used to people forgiving you instantly after batting your eyelashes and giggling like fucking Minnie Mouse, but I'm not the one.

"Okay? Then, what do you want from me?!" You grit your teeth. "You say all this, and then have a hard time not being vague. What is it?! Tell me!"

"Coddled your entire life, skipping out on your responsibilities because things got a little hard," He took a step closer, which lead for you to open the distance again. Except this time, his hand swiped the entire row of glasses that were on display down on the wooden floor with a loud crash. Your eyes widened. "Now you get to stay here, complacent in my misery, just because you think you deserve it? I'll take all this shit away from you."

His anger marinated long enough, it bubbled to the surface like a volcano ready to erupt. His chest was tight looking at you, suffocating in his grip of emotions he buried deep for too long. Enough was enough, he felt sick with the flour and sugar clinging to every surrounding. Everything was quiet to him here, too perfect. And for him, wrong.

A sneer warped his lips, and there were more crashes. The noise cut through the bakery, the workers flinching, but you couldn't even move. Beidou immediately ran to the front, her face twisted into rage. "Get the fuck out, now! You have no business being in here."

She was about to rush over to kick him out, but you shook your head, subduing her form from going closer. "You're not mad because of me, get your facts straight before you start talking to me like that."

His chest heaved at that, and he could only laugh. The sound of his ragged breaths became aggressive, grabbing at dishes and sending them all careening across the floor with a brutal snap of his wrist. "All of this shit," Another one, the sound harsh against the floor. "ALL OF IT, I want all the good things to fucking rot for the part you played in ruining the good things we had."

Your heart pounded in your ears in moderate fear, louder than the crashes and the gasps coming from the rest of your workers. You felt yourself become suffocated, like there was thick smoke restricting you. Everything felt too tight, your skin and the walls of the bakery itself. He kept shattering your things, breaking every single item that came across his path. There were crimson cuts on his hand, the bleeding on his hands and the glass embedded on his skin making you flinch. He welcomed it.

"Deluding yourself with all of this! You're fucking delusional!" He screamed in your face, "Why can't you wake up and take fucking charge of your own destiny, rather than following a dream you made up because you don't want to be reminded that HE'S FUCKING DEAD. WHERE ARE YOU?"

You could only laugh at him, feeling your cheeks burn from how flustered you were. "Get out." Your voice was dangerously low, trembling as you barely controlled your fury. Those words poisoned you, and tears immediately started rolling down your face, lip quivering.

Kuni just stood there, taking in your words as his breath labored, chest heaving up and down, eyes scanning you in disbelief. But you couldn't stand to see him anymore, because you knew what he was saying about you was true. You grabbed your own glass from the counter and hurled it at him, "Get out," smash, "GET out," smash, "GET THE FUCK OUT."

You grabbed another, and another, before entirely ridding of the glass pieces and started throwing chairs at him for him to swiftly dodge. Your hands were shaking uncontrollably, feeling humiliated that you were losing your mind in front of your employees, but you could not do this anymore. "You didn't want to see me anymore, right?! You've got it. Get out! I don't EVER want to see you again."

"So he is dead?" He taunted, voice lower as he started laughing too, his throat hardly making out the sound while it only came out choked as well, too stunned to care. "How's that fantasy working out for you now? At least persistence is a great substitute for actual talent."

Your knuckled connected with his jaw as soon as he leaned in closer, and you fucked him up hard. Sound coming off as a dull thud, followed by a grunt coming from Kuni's throat. You got him in between his lips and the center of his nostrils, causing the crimson blood to sputter immediately once he stepped back. He held onto his nose, instinctively going for his face while his liquid red stained exterior dripped.

The bruise was already beginning to form where your punch had landed. He hadn't expected you to fight back, but something flickered in his eyes. Something that wasn't rage this time, but delightfulness? You stood there, panting, your own hand now pained from how hard the clash was. "Leave," Your voice cracked. "Leave...before I do something worse."

It was obviously a serious reaction, he realized it by the time you were screaming at him. So as the adrenaline dissipated, the power of everything hit him all at once, and he narrowed in on your tear-filled gaze with incredulous relief.

"Welcome back." His pride fought him again to say anything else, so he wiped the blood on his lip, and turned on his heel to leave.

previous ☆ masterlist ☆ next

THERE ARE not many things that can sway your interest ever since the "incident", but in spite of that, you pushed forward. you are now the owner of the biggest bakery chain in your city, consistently seeing couples and catering to them as such. you've been a big host at weddings, events for celebrities, and even a big support for your friends and family. you've even earned yourself a niche following as well by how sweet you are to everybody around you. but, even with your kindness, you don't have a particular spark that keeps you going anymore these days. that is until one of your employees starts suggesting you write love letters to customers who request your services. at first you thought it was a horrible idea that could easily turn into trouble, but that was until you were tasked with writing one to your own (very very famous) ex-boyfriend.

taglist ☆ — @seternic @chemiru @coquettemaiden @1kio0o @emiixuu

@agaygothicmushroom @yomishen @jingyuan-wife-real @toruscorpse @whoooismkeee

@sketcheeee @st4r4ngel @xionri @scaradooche @lightyagamifan

@pwushizz @alatusorrow @eutopiastar @magica-ren @slu7

@vaxmpi @theyluvkatt @kyon-cherri @suzydarling @mimi3lover

@auroratumbles @heusalettle @yourfavoritefreakyhan @kunimylovee

@czerwka @little-honey-the-third @featuredtofu @simonisferal @peachystea

@liuaneee @skyoverkill1 @mellowberrie @lalalaloveallmydays @mostlymoth

@mtndewbajablasted @vernith @lovekeychains @danhenglovebot @elizshade

@balladeersflower @kazumiku @bananasquash @neversore @yevurin

@franaby @vicslz @kamiboo @thegalaxyisunfolding @morgyyyyyyy

@feikyuu @tamikahoshiko @kissingkzuha @bbysatoruuu @rvoulte

@kinvasions @kukikoooo @adriannauodi @pumpkincitrus @usagiarchive

@eunseok-s @state-of-grac3 @ariesloves @trulyylee @lyzeivr

@suniika @animeobsessed56 @kamisstufff @samyayaya @scarawiki

@mywillt0live @lxkeeeee @sundays-prince @imnotyizhuo

[listofwhyyouloveher]

PLEASE DO PART 3 of GANG CRUSHING ON YOU ITS SOOO GOOD

Summary: Part 3 of the gang crushin' on you Warnings: none Author's Note: running low on ideas for this one, what plotline should it follow? Quite frankly, the news of the Curtis gang all having a crush on you ruined your life. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing one of them and remembering. Every where people were talking about it, gossiping about you, asking who you were going to choose, making all these crazy shit stories up about you and the gang. It was really getting on your nerves. You were chilling at the drive in with the same friend who told you about this 'life-changing news'. She sipping her coke when she turned to you, doe eyes feigning innocence. "So, Y/n," She started, slowly at first as if she was easing you into the conversation. "Yes?" You asked, brow quirked in knowing confusion. "All this talk about the gang like you and all got me wondering," You sighed, turning back to the movie. "Wait, let me finish!" She said, grabbing you by the cloth of your sweater. "Look, I'm really sick of all this talk!" You said, folding your arms, "I mean, just think about what I have to deal with. What if it this destroys their friendship?" You chewed at your nails anxiously. "Ok, Y/n thats worst case scenario. But just think, don't you have any feelings for at least one of them?" She asked, stressing the idea. "You're nuts" You scoff. "Oh don't play innocent," She nudged you, giggling. You smiled shyly. "Sure, they're pretty cute, but I know better than to go for a situation like that." She nodded along but intuerrupted before you could go in depth. "Ok but this is a hypothetical! You get no consequences, which one do you chose?" She smirked. You thought it over. "Well, I don't know. Ponyboy's so intelligent that it's amazing, Johnny has got the cutest baby face, Sodapop's just a doll, Steve's free and fun, Two can make me laugh like a hyena, Darry's built and caring, and Dallas..well it's Dallas, even if you hate him you secretly like him for god knows what," You rambled, clearly not chosing one. "Oh my god, I am so telling them you said this," Your friend joked. "You're such a bitch" You laughed.

[usernameforaboredcat]

Wasn’t Fated To Succeed

{Spy Ace X Marine Reader}

(I thought of this idea from a manga side story where Ace breaks into a Marine headquarters and fucks around n thought “hey, I can make sum angst with this shit🤷🏻‍♀️” so tehe like look at him!!

He’s such a silly goofy guy I love this mf so much!! Anyway-

Warnings⚠️: Angst, very sad angst, smut, p in v, virginity loss, use of nicknames "princess" "sweetheart" "good girl" ect, fingering, groping, very very slow burn, like this might take a while to read, death, daddy isn’t the best lol

It didn’t take long for him to notice her.

Who?

That young woman maybe a year or two younger than him, sitting at the large table, leaning comfortably in her chair with her arms and legs crossed with an annoyed and tired scowl on her face. Whist on his infiltration mission, Ace got dragged into a Marine meeting. He was more in the back, hiding himself to stay unnoticed while listening in.

Something about her was trying to telling him something he couldn’t hear, and he was trying desperately to make out what it was. To be fair he had been listening to everything, making as many mental notes as possible.

“What about that Straw Hat kid?!”. His ears perked up. “That punk has caused enough trouble as is!”. A loud disgusted “uhg” echoes through the room, drawing all eyes to that girl. She’s wearing a white low cut sailor dress with a beautiful pink flower in her hair. “Is there something you’d like to say?”. She gets asked, the man talking in an angry tone. “First of all I don’t quite appreciate that tone of yours when talking to me”. She starts, her eyes like daggers.

Ace felt a shiver run down his spine, her cold tone freezing the temperature of the whole room. “And second I don’t think that child should be a problem of ours”. She leans forward in her seat, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her laces together fingers. “He is a child, gentlemen. Us marines should be adult enough to not get too affected by him”. She finishes. “But miss! Haven’t you heard all the trouble he’s started! Lougetown! Alabasta! Water 7!?”. A man yells.

The girl rolls her eyes dramatically at his words. “Please, I quite frankly think we have much higher risks and problems than him! And even if we did follow through with his antics and arrest him, what exactly do we do? There’s no laws regarding child pirates so what? Do we execute a child? Just like how if a grown ass man committed theft we just give him a smack on the ass like a child who stole a cookie from grandmas kitchen?”. She questions.

The room goes silent, no one knowing how to respond or even daring to respond. Something switched in Aces mind, something that felt weird and funny and new. Seeing such a ice cold girl with a burning fire of true justice set his heart ablaze. She wasn’t wrong, there aren’t any laws about punishment for pirates under the age of 18. He couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle.

The girl stands up from her seat, resting her hand on her hip. “Now, personally I think we have more important things to deal with at the moment! Send a team out on a patrol of the city and see if there are actual problems we should take care of, report them back to me by the end of the day”. She explains as she starts to make her way to the door. “And if I find out that there’s been an incident that hasn’t been reported to me I’ll make sure to serve you at the next hot pot in the hot pot”. She threatens, then exits the room.

The room bursts into whispers and murmurs. The room started to clear out, the meeting ending basic after the girl had left. As Ace starts to make his way out, he hears whispers about her. “I don’t get why she’s here”. “Bitch really think she’s the boss of us”. “Hey! Don’t say that!”. “Why? Scared her daddy will kill you?”. “Yes!”. So her dad has a lot of power in the Marines then. Interesting.

The room had emptied, the halls slowly emptying with people heading off to their jobs. With not real job, Ace scrambles down the hall and walks into a random room. He sighs as he closes the door, the click of a sword being unsheathed makes him freeze. ‘Oh fuck’. He slowly turns around, seeing the girl from before standing behind her desk holding her swords handle in her dominant hand ready to pull out. “You’re not supposed to be in here”. She tells him. “Why are you here? And what’s your rank?”. She asks him.

He straightens up and chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “I just wanted to say that what you said back there was cool! A real sense of justice, I’ve never seen something like that from a marine”. He admits to her. “I see”. She mutters. She clicks her sword back into place and makes her way over to the little kitchen in the office, opening a cupboard. “Care for a coffee?”. She asks without looking at him. “No thanks, not a fan of bitter stuff”. He answers.

She nods. “Very well”. She only takes out one mug. “Tell me, are you new to the marines? With your wording ‘I’ve never seen something like that from a marine’ implies that you haven’t seen a lot of marines talk or any meetings”. She explains as she puts coffee grounds and sugar in her mug. “Yep! I haven’t been here too long!”. He answers. Technically he’s not wrong. “Tell me then, how are you finding the marines?”. She asks. “Definitely not annoying and sick of people telling me what to do”. He explains in a chuckle.

She lets out a small chuckle as she fills her mug with milk. “I can’t imagine having to listen to marine would be easy for someone like you”. She states as she stirs the milk. “Especially for someone like you, Fire Fist Ace”. She adds. Aces eyes widen, but he gets back his cool demeanour and tilts his marine cap up as if it’s his classic hat, his finger alit. “Guess it was only a matter of time before someone figured me out”. He chuckles.

She lets out a chuckle again, walking over to the kettle. “It only took me a second. Unlike my colleagues I’m good with faces. As soon as you walked in I was able to recognise your face”. She explains as she fills up the kettle with water and set it on the stove. “However I do not wish to report you or arrest you”. She adds. She tries to turn the stove on, but it’s refuses to turn on.

She lets out an annoyed sigh, turning back to the pirate. “Mind giving me a hand?”. She asks, her voice in a more softer tone. “Uh…sure!”. He agrees happily, walking over to her. He places his hand on the kettle and sets his hand on fire, the kettle slowly starting to boil. “So…how come you’re not gonna report or arrest me?”. He asks her. “Because I hate the marines”. She blatantly states.

The kettle quickly starts to whistle causing Ace to move his hand away, the girl grabbing the kettle by the handle and filling up her mug. “I’ve always hated the marines”. She walks towards her desk, taking a seat. She gestures him to take a seat in the chair across from her, which he does. “Ever since a young age we’re all taught the black and white of marines good and pirates bad, however those with a brain can tell you that it’s mixed. I’m only young but I’ve seen good pirates and bad marines”. She explains.

She leans back in her seat and takes a sip of her drink. “For example…That Straw Hat Luffy”. Aces eyes widened. “I had been keeping an eye of what’s been happening in Alabasta for a few months now but because of our affiliations with Sir Crocodile the marines never did a thing. I felt terrible, for the king, Princess Vivi, and their people! I honestly thought that Sir Crocodile was going to distort that poor country, until I heard that Straw Hat arrived and was able to take care of it. I’m honestly surprised someone just a year younger than me was able to take him down, colour me impressed”. She explains.

Ace let’s out a chuckle as he leans back in his chair, arms propped behind his head. “That’s my little brother for ya! He’s full of surprises!”. He laughs loudly. “You’re joking! You and Straw Hat are brothers?!”. She yells out in shock, almost dropping her cup. “Nope, Luffy’s my baby brother”. He confirms. “Hm, you learn something new everyday I guess”. She mutters. “So if you hate marines so much, why become one?”. Ace asks her. “Because like hell I’d let the corrupted marines stay in power and continue to ruin the world government. I’m just waiting for the day the head admirals kick the bucket and I’ll take over! With them gone, I’ll finally be able to fix this twisted government up”. She explains to him.

“Now it’s my turn to ask a question”. She sets her coffee mug down on the table, crossing her legs and setting her hands down on her knee. “Why are you here?”. She asks. “Simple! I’m here to gather information, is there anything else to it?”. He responds. “Well if that’s the case”. She takes a key out her pocket, opening a filing draw at her desk. She grabs a note pad and a pen, sliding it over to Ace. “What would you like to know?”. She asks him with a growing smirk, Ace smirking and chuckling in response as he takes the note pad. “Whatever you know”.

~

Ace had been around the marine base for over a week now, working as a small team with a very powerful woman in the marine world. (Y/n). That’s the name she told him, he trusts that it’s her real name and not a name she’s giving him just to play with him. They where a team of people from two worlds. Ace had thought she would have outed him by now, but instead she’d always vouch for him if he was ever in trouble and let him sleep in her office. In his eyes she’s truely an amazing person.

~

The room was quiet, the faint light of a candle lighting up the desk enough for the woman to work. She lets out a sigh as she finishes reading the last of the reports, crossing her arms and laying them on the desk to use them as a pillow. The door to her office opens without a knock, she knows who it is. “Hey hey! There’s my favourite marine!”. She giggles to herself and she looks up, seeing Ace closing the door behind himself. “Evening Ace, how was your day?”. She ask him in a soft tired tone. “Ah ya know! Pretty good! Almost got my ass beat today but I in fact was the one who did the beating!”. He says proudly as he walks over and takes a seat across from her.

“I wouldn’t recommend drawing too much attention to yourself”. She says as she look up at him. “I’ll be fine! I have you!”. He responds. She smiles to herself, tilting her head. “I can only do so much you know, have you forgotten the kind of number that’s on your head?”. She tells him, then letting out a yawn. “Hm? You okay?”. He asks her. “Yes yes, just tired from work is all”. She explains. “You want me to leave and let you rest?”. He asks her, concern in his voice. “No no no, it’s good that you’re here. It’s better when you’re here, I feel like I don’t have a stick up my ass”. She explains to him, laying her head back down.

“Aawww, you chill out around me! Aren’t you cuuuuuute”. He coos at her, heat rising to his face. “I mean you’re not a marine, I don’t have to try to impress you”. She admits in a soft tone, looking back up at Ace for him to see her reddening cheeks. “I wish you never have to leave”. She adds, smiling up at him. “It has been fun, but if I stay here any longer it might start to cause you trouble”. He adds to her statement.

“Hey, how about tonight we drink? To a better future!”. He suggests to her. She hums, smiling at the idea. “That sounds quite nice, I approve”. She agrees. “Actually-��. She gets up from her chair, walking over to the fridge and taking out a bottle of fancy expensive alcohol. “I’ve had this since my 18th birthday and I thought now would be a good time to use it”. She explains, grabbing two glass cups. “Wow! Pulling out that good stuff! Very nice very nice”. He responds, his hand on his chin as he rubs it.

“Only the best…for me!”. (Y/n) says happily as she grabs glasses, shrugging. She walks back over to her desk, popping open the bottle and pouring the liquid into the glasses. She takes a seat, the two taking a glass each. “Well, even with this funny predicament…I’ve enjoyed our time together”. (Y/n) admits, swirling the drink then taking a sip. “Why not come with me?”. Ace suddenly asks. (Y/n) looks at him wide eyed. “What?”. She asks simply. “Leave the marines, come join the White Beard Pirates with me! The old man would love ya, take ya in as if you where his own daughter”. He explains to her.

She continues to look at him in shock, then turning to look away from him. “Ace I-… I can’t just leave the marines! It’s all I know, it’s what I’ve grown up with. Besides, if I left the marines to become a pirate my father would for sure kill me”. She explains, the thought of death sending a shiver down her spine. “By the way, who is your father?”. He asks. “He’s a…an Admiral”. She answers, refusing to look at him. “Damn! No wonder everyone is so shit scared of you!”. Ace yelps, almost spitting out his drink.

“Hey! Don’t spit that out! It’s expensive!”. (Y/n) snapped at him. “You never told me that your dad was a fucking Admiral!”. He snaps back. (Y/n) scoffs and rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to have a father like that, especially a father that kills the innocent despite being a “man of justice”, yeah justice my ass”. She mutters, chugging the rest of the drink. “I’m guessing you don’t know my father then”. Ace chuckles. “Hey, I have a lot of people to do background checks on and to keep track of!”. She defends. Ace let’s out another chuckle, chugging down the rest of his drink. “Ever heard of Gol. D. Roger?”. He asks. “Okay now you’re fucking with me! No way your father is the King of Pirates like 20 years ago!”. She snaps. “Yeah…”. He mutters out. (Y/n) leans over and refills both of their glasses up.

“So tell me lil Roger Jr. What do you think about him?”. She asks, taking a sip of her refilled drink. “I don’t really care, I don’t see him as my father anyway! White Beard is my father and always will be”. He answers. (Y/n) smiles softly as she looks at the older man. “That’s cute”. She admits. “What about you? What do you think about your old man?”. He then asks her. “Ah. I don’t know, he treats me like his own personal army toy. He raised me to be a marine and I never really got to have a life. No friends, no other family, no hobbies, no nothing to me! I never wanted to be a marine or even a pirate, I’d rather just be a normal girl”. She goes on. She sees Ace looking at her with a soft smile, causing her to take another sip of her drink to hide her plush.

“I didn’t mean to go on”. She apologises. “No no no, it’s fine”. Ace reassures her. “I just…never really had the chance to talk to anyone like that”. She hums. “Oh Ace, you have no idea how badly I wish I could go with you. Travel the world, find who I am as a person, meet people of all different…well…everything!”. She rants. “But…I’m stuck here”. She chugs her drink again, quick to fill it up again. “Come on kid, you’re drinking a little too much”. Ace states, getting up from his chair and walks over to take her drink from her. “I’m not a kid! Don’t you dare call me that!”. She snaps, quickly chugging the drink before it can be taken away.

“Maybe we should get you to bed”. Ace says, taking the glass from her and placing it on her desk. “I’m fine, okay? I don’t need you to baby me like everyone else!”. She snaps, looking up at him. He chuckles down at her, amused by her cranky face. He reaches and grabs her chin with his thumb and pointer finger. Without thinking, he leans down and presses his lips against hers. Regret immediately flows through him, but it instantly vanishes when he feels her hands on his cheeks to pull him closer.

He could taste the alcohol on her lips, tasting it more when she opens her mouth to let him slide his tongue in. He pulls away from her, looking down at her to see her big pleading begging eyes and kiss puffy lips. “For a marine you’re absolutely beautiful”. He whispers just loud enough for her to hear. “For a pirate you’re incredibly handsome”. She whispers back loudly. This time, she leans up and kisses him. She pulls him closer by wrapping her arms around his neck, Ace leaning over and easily picking her up to wrap her legs around his waist.

He sits down in her chair, letting the younger girl sit on his lap. She pulls away from Ace, the two panting of the lack of air. Fire, want, and need builds up in their bodies, (Y/n) slowly starting to grind herself over Aces growing length. He chuckles at her neediness, rubbing her hips up and down. “Never in my life would I ever think I’d see a marine be so needy for a pirate”. He chuckles as his hands travel to her thighs and going over her dress.

He uses one hand to move her panties aside and the other running a finger through her wet folds. “Ah! Ace~”. She moans out, grinding against his hand. “Jeez you’re so wet already, it makes me want to take you here and now”. He teases. “Then why don’t you?”. She asks in a giggle, running her hand down his chest to his hardened bulge and rubbing it through his pants. Ace hisses at her actions, causing (Y/n) to giggle as she leans in close to his ear. “Although I’d rather be the one to take you~”. She whispers into his ear, then kissing his ear lobe.

“God!”. Ace let’s out in a loud groan. He grabs her chin again with his spare hand and grabs her chin, pulling her in closer. (Y/n) moans into the kiss, letting out a cry of pleasure as she feels him slide two finger inside her warm wet entrance. She pulls away and whimpers at the new slightly painful feeling, her legs shaking as he slowly drags his fingers in and out. “I just realized…you’re a virgin”. Ace states. “Oh shut up”. She gasps, slamming her lips back on his. Ace picks up the speed of his fingers, using his thumb to rub against her clit.

He pulls away from the kiss, moving his hand from her chin to the low cut neck of her dress. He smirks as he pulls the dress neck down, her boobs sliding out from the motion. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t at least wanna cop one feel of her tits while here. He aggressively grabs her breast and squeezes it, pulling and pinching on the nipple. “A-! Aaaaaace~ please!”. She cries out, needing something more. “Pleeeeease let me feel you inside me!”. She begs. Ace smirks as he lets out a single chuckle, pulling his hands away from her as he goes down to his pants. With ease his undoes his belt buckle, belt and zipper, easily being able to hop with her on top for him to slide his pants and boxers down to his ankles.

(Y/n) feels a shiver go down her spine as she looks down at his erection. He’s so long and thick, probably the first time in her life she’s ever felt intimated. “What’s the matter? Scared?”. Ace chuckles, grabbing the base of his cock. “Quiet!”. She snaps. She puts her hands on his shoulders to use to keep herself stable. She lifts herself up and hovers over his cock, feeling his hot leaking tip against her entrance. “Take it slow princess~”. Ace coos her, his hands back on her hips and rubbing them to comfort her.

She sinks down on his cock, feeling his tip slide inside her aching hole. The aching feeling of need grows stronger and stronger, craving him to fill her up. Without thinking she sinks her whole body onto his cock, his tip slamming painful against her cervix. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”. She cries, feeling as if electricity shock through her body. “Sssshhhhhhit! Ah fuck me! Shit you’re tight”. Ace pants out as he squeezes his eyes shut, feeling his cock getting squeezed so tight inside her he could explode inside her already.

He opens his eyes but his vision isn’t the clearest, light headed from the feeling of her insides. He looks at the girl on his lap, seeing her still trying to catch her breath as tears run down her cheeks, a painful grip against his shoulders. He slowly starts to rock her hips, sliding her up and down on his length. Her cries turn onto moans, starting to move her hips on her own. “That’s it, good girl~”. Ace praises, rubbing circles on her hips over her dress.

(Y/n) picks up speed, smoothly bouncing up and down on the pirates cock. Ace happily leans back in the chair, his limit approaching fast at the feeling of her right pussy sucking him in and trying to milk his cock of every single drop of his cum. More. More. He grips her hips tight, getting a tight hold on her and pulling her up and down on him, using her as a toy. A very pretty, very off limits, very hey she’s literally your enemy, toy.

He can’t help but start thrusting his hips up into her as he slams her down, the two meeting half way as Ace oh so desperately tries to chase his fast growing high. He needs to cum. Specifically he needs to cum in this marines perfect tight pussy. A now strong believer in the idea of if he cums in her it’ll make all his dreams come true. Without warning and a hard slam he releases deep inside her, his hot seed filling up her insides. (Y/n) shutters at the feeling of his warmth.

She pants as she tries to get off of him, but Ace slams her back down, drawing a whimper from her when she whimpers. “I don’t think so”. He pants out. He moves his hands under her thighs, swiftly picking her up and laying her on her desk. Ace smirks as he looks down at the marine, seeing her breasts raise up and down with each breath, her pussy still stuffed with his cock as cum starts to leak out the sides. He reaches over and grabs the forgotten bottle of liquor, taking a massive chug of it till the last little remaining drops are gone.

He leans down with each of his hand on either side of her head, her hips trying to move to chase the aching need of release she still hadn’t gotten. “We’ll be here all night until morning, hope you like the shitty coffee they have here cuz you’ll need it”. He tells her as he slowly grabs her ankles and pushes them up to her chest. “A-Ace~”. She whimpers, feeling him so deep inside her he might just be inside her womb. “You’re in for a looooooong night sweetheart~”.

~

The wind was cold, giving a gentle touch every time to touched her face. There’re no clouds in the sky, just a blue ocean above and in front of her. The sound of ringing and feet pattering rush over to the young lady’s sitting spot, some marine in a much lower rank than her running towards her with a transponder snail. “Miss! Your father is calling!”. The man calls. She reaches out and answers it. “Hello father”. She greets him. “Hello (Y/n)”. He responds with his bored gruffed voice. “What is the pleasure I have for you to call me out of the blue?”. She asks. “I wanted to check in that you’ve arrived to the base safely”. He answers. “I’d prefer you’d be here but you made the mistake that lead not to”. He adds. Ah yes, a mistake. A living, growing “mistake”. She runs her free hand over her stomach, only a few month’s pregnant by this point. “I’m sure everything would go smoothly without me, besides I’m not really in the mood to see something like an execution”. She informs him. “Yes, I’m sure”. He agrees. “How long now?”. She asks. “8 hours until that Fire Fist is dead”. He answers.

(Y/n)s grip tightened, her hands shaking. “Mr Akainu! We have to go!”. A voice is heard in the background of the call. “These idiots need me, I’ll be leaving”. And without a goodbye, he hangs up. (Y/n) ends the call on her end, shooing away the marine. She takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, feeling the soft breeze on her face. She starts to hum a random tune as she rubs her stomach, hot tears falling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, little one. I’m afraid your father won’t get to meet you”. She mutters under her breath. “Oh Ace, I’m sorry that this happened…I hope…I hope somehow that brother of yours saves you so I can see you again…and…and you to meet our little one…”.

~

The winds where fast, the breeze smelling like sea salt as music rode along the winds. “CAPTAIN!”. The crew pause their antics, looking towards the navigator. “MARINES APPROACHING!”. He yells. The Captain shoots to the head of the ship, sitting on the lions head. “Do we attack?”. The cyborg asks, getting ready to ready for an attack. “THEYRE WAVING A WHITE FLAG!”. The sniper informs them. “What do we do captain?”. The swordsman asks. Their captain looks at the oncoming ship, laughing. “This could be fun!”. He laughs.

The ship slowly gets closer, the two ships setting down their anchors. The pirates watch as the marines look over their ship to look at them. A young woman walks up to the side, a high ranking woman. Without a second thought she jumps down, easily landing on the ship. The woman is wrapped in a long white cloak, maintaining eye contact with their captain. “You’re Straw Hat Luffy, correct?”. She asks him. “Yeah? So what?”. He asks her. “There’s something I’d like to discuss, is there somewhere more private for us to talk?”. She asks. “Don’t worry, if you’re questioning my intentions your crew mates are free to join which I think you’d rather”. She adds. “Yeah sure, we can talk in the kitchen”. He answers.

He leads her to the kitchen and dining room of the ship, the crew following behind them. “So, what’s up?”. Luffy asks, taking a seat at his spot at the head of the table. “If I remember correctly your older brother was Fire Fist Ace, yes?”. She asks. Luffy shivers, looking at her with murder in his eyes. Why would a marine come to him asking about his brother NOW?! “Yeah, what about it?”. He asks. The woman smiles softly as she takes off her coat hanging around her shoulders, setting it on the table to reveal a sleeping toddler in her arms. A little girl, long black hair with freckles. She looks like… “I know Ace never got the chance to meet her, but I thought her uncle should at least know she exists”. The woman explains.

Luffy looks down at the girl wide eyes, his eyes softening as he looks at her. “Wh-what?”. He stutters out. “WHAT?!?!”. The other crew members yell out, causing the baby to stir and begin to wake up. She looks up at her mum, who sweetly looks at her. “Mama?”. She asks. The woman giggles as she points Luffy to her, the little girl turning to look at him with wide eyes. “Rouge, this is your uncle! You know that stretchy guy that grandpa yells about? Say hi”. She tells the little one. “Hi”. The little girl greets, giving a little wave. “Would you like to hold her?”. (Y/n) asks Luffy. He doesn’t answer, just taking the girl from her arms and holding her close to himself. The other crew members crowd around their captain, looking down at the girl with aws and coos.

“Aawww she’s so adorable!”.

“She’s so pretty!”.

“She sure does look a lot like her daddy”.

“Wow! You’re an uncle!

“Uncle Luffy!!”

(Y/n) takes a seat at the table as the Straw Hats coos and laugh at her daughter. “How old is she?”. Robin asks the mother. “She’s two”. She answers. “She’s so adorable! You and Ace really made the cutest baby I’ve ever seen”. Nami compliments, taking a seat next to the mother. “Thank you! A day doesn’t go by that she doesn’t remind me of her father”. She thanks. “Honestly with how much she looks like her dad I’m surprised there hasn’t been anything in the news about it”. Nami points out. “No one’s figured it out yet, which I’m hoping never happens. If anyone asks about her father I tell them it was a random I had a drunk hook up with at a hotel so I don’t know what he looks like”. She explains. “Hey Marine Lady”. Luffy calls, the mother turning to him. “Yes?”. She responds. “What’s your name?”. He asks. “It’s (Y/n)”. She answers. “And hers?”. He asks, referring to the girl in his arms. “I named her Rouge, after Aces mother”. She answers.

“Luffy, I have a request”. She then starts. “Yeah?”. He responds. “If something happens to me, weather I die in war or I get executed for birthing Aces child, no matter what if anything happens to me…please take care of her. Either she’ll get raised to be a marine soldier like I was or killed as well, I want her to live free and I know you and your friends will teach her the right things. I know you’d be an amazing uncle and teacher for her”. She explains to him. He smiles brightly and nods. “Of course!”. He says happily. His expression changes into a more serious one, but still with a smile.

“If anything happens, I’ll make sure to protect and save her! I won’t make the same mistake again!”.

[streamdotpng]

Hmm.. Have you guys ever heard of the word bitching in an omegaverse context?

I was thinking of my scent blind au where enid so desperately wished she could've been an alpha so she would be right for wednesday during heaven and back

Content warning for straight up Addams obsession, delusional thoughts and Wednesday lowkey going to the deep end to make sure her and Enid get together even if it meant biologically changing herself

Bc yknow how Addams don't do things in halves, right? It's a whole fanon thing and I'm pretty sure there's signs of it in the show.

It starts like this, Enid is an alpha and Wednesday is a beta.

Simple facts, so very chill. They're still roommates, theyre older now and everything is OK

Except ever since Enid presented, having been a late bloomer like the show, she's been.. Different.

Wednesday isn't stupid, sure she may not have the safe rabid instincts as an omega or an alpha but she can smell well for a beta and she can see the way Enid's face will soften at any distressed omega nearby

It's irritatingly sweet, the way Enid would try to calm them down with her own scent. Except, since she's so new, she forgets how easily safety could equal something else

After the third time Enid has gotten accosted in the way to the dorm room, Wednesday quite frankly was irritated. She would love to stab those pesky students and go on her day but that meant showing that she was bothered

And Wednesday Addams wasn't bothered by anything, why should she? So what, her roommate is simply popular, it happens

Except, there's a part of her that feels wrong whenever she sees yoko drape herself over Divina. She eyes the way the omega would purr and how Divina would roll her eyes yet nose at her hair.

It's sickenly sweet

It's what her parents have it's what she wants with Enid

Being a beta in this au meant three things. One, you don't have an intoxicating scent and thus getting a mate is a tons more harder. Two, you're not built to take an alpha, it's a biological thing and three, the chances of getting a kid is all the more lower

Which is what most alphas would want

It's what Enid would want

So practically everything is against Wednesday. She can't entice Enid like most can do, she is literally not built for her and she knows of how Enid wishes for a family

Wednesday quite frankly isn't the type to wish for a family, quite aware of how troublesome it is but she's willing to change that for Enid

Anything for Enid, for the woman with nothing yet still tried to give her everything

Anything for her.

So, once again, it starts with the internet

Wednesday is ashamed, how far has she fallen to seek for reassurance that beta and alpha relationships could happen? Pretty badly, because when she scrolls and ignores the sobbing cries of beta's feeling inadequate in random blogs, she finds a reply to a rather sad post

It was a question of "pls guys, my alpha keeps looking at others instead of me. I know that I cant entice him like they can but surely there's smth I can do!?"

There were assurances in the replies, others saying that it's not the OP's fault that their alpha couldn't keep their nose to themself until one catches her eyes

It was a reply from a deleted user.

"have you ever thought of being bitched? You wouldn't fully be an omega but you'll pass as one to him and isn't that what matters in the end?"

The thoughts of other users below that were outraged. Whatever this bitching is, it's clearly taboo.

But those words.. "pass as one"

It's not the answer she wanted, but it's close enough.

It's enough to make Wednesday stay up and scour the internet all the more. She delved deeper into chat rooms, posing as an alpha with a kink because the more she went, the more she noted that whatever this is isn't normal at all. She couldn't come in regularly, else she risk losing actual good information

Bitching, from what she's seen, is the process of changing ones second status to an omega. Usually done against someone's will because who would want to willingly bitch themselves? Who would dare degrade themself into smth they weren't born too?

Me, Wednesday thinks as she notes it down. I would.

This is all she did for the next few days, staring at the pc and noting down as much as she could.

She got dragged out once or twice by a concerned Enid because ofcourse she did. The alpha has always been so caring, making sure to knock before cracking it open to ask if they'd like to eat together at the diner that just opened up

Wednesday agrees, she always does and so Wenclair set out. It's times like these where everything else fades away to nothing, status doesn't matter and it's imply just the two of them

Until the waiter comes in, all sly smiles and neck bared. Enid sniffs and Wednesday stops herself from stabbing her fork into the omega's throat when she sees those gorgeous blue eyes of enid's dilate

Don't look at anyone else, Wednesday wants to scream. You don't need them, I'm right here- But she can't do that, so she digs her nails into her palms as she slips into her thoughts

What happens in the diner is enough of a reminder that she needs to do this.

In the end of the weekend, Wednesday has finally concluded her research. The deleted user was right, she wouldn't be an omega but she sure will pass as one.

Her fertility will be the same but she can start producing the same addicting aroma and slick that entices all alpha's once she's done with the process

It sounds all well and dandy except it takes months to a whole year or two of constant dedication to get these results. It irates Wednesday but luckily, if the beta is reciprocating, the outcome is said to be all the more simpler, effective and overall efficient.

Wednesday couldn't stop a smile from growing as she eyes the last few words of her research.

if the beta in question was being bitched to the scent of one alpha in particular, then once the bitching was complete, both parties would become biologically attracted to one another’s scents and be driven to mate.

That was the confirmation wednesday needed, she would literally be made for Enid and Enid would have no choice but to realize it too once it was all over.

And finally, the best part:

all of the required steps could actually be accomplished without the alpha's participation or awareness

Good.

Anyways, degenerate Wednesday..? Love that, she can be such a creep and id like to build on it. If you wanna see more do send an ask! Aight thanks peace

Here's the continuation to this post where Wednesday gets what she wants

[imagoddamnonionmason]

Howdy Goose! What do you think Steph’s family would think about Zach when they met for the first time? I imagine they wouldn’t think he’s ’masculine enough’, due to the fact he was in therapy, not understanding that bro literally has hallucinations cause of Afghanistan.

Zach would be respectful, get both his mother in law and Rachel flowers, but wouldn’t stand for any ‘jokes’ about Steph. He’d be subtle about it, but would stand up for her if they made any comments about her.

(Why do I imagine Rachel would try to flirt with him unless she’s married 🤢)

I think her Dad, Richard, would actually be very accepting; he's a man who's fought for his country, he takes care of his daughter and the two seem to be very in love. But this man is especially blind to the life the both he and Stephanie have lived, the experiences they have had and the trauma that they learned to live with. I think it comes down to not understanding, but made worse by his lack of not realising that there's issues there that need to be understood, so there would be quite the disconnect. It's not intentional disconnect, but I don't think that Richard and Zach's father-son relationship would ever go any deeper than a surface level. It'll never go beneath a surface Zach allows him to see because, quite frankly, who talks about their trauma gained from war and especially with a man who has the emotional capacity of a pre-fried chip. You know, that part of the process where the potato is just a soggy wet slice of blandness.

I think later on in life, Richard would regret not getting to know him better, regret not trying harder to understand him and would genuinely wish he could turn back time to thank him more for taking care of his daughter and giving her a family she loves so dearly. But, regrets hang heavy around the neck and his back hurts from the weight of them.

Regarding the wife and daughter?

Huh. Yeah, I feel like Agatha would be that type of Step Mom that would hide awful remarks behind non genuine concern. It would be comments towards Steph's hair, her body, her looks, the scars on her arm, sides and thighs. It's taken a while for Stephanie to become indifferent to the marks on her skin, having gone through a lot of shit trying to reconcile the connection of the scars to the shit that happened in Afghanistan. So then for Agatha to make comments like "oh, I know you struggle with how people see those scars, so I got you this to try and hide them! We don't want to be scaring kids with ugly things like that! We don't want you getting upset!" Like, fuck off, right? I love the idea that Zach would straight up just be thinking "why don't you mind your fucking mouth, Aggie, before someone minds it for you." But really he's so calculated about how he claps back.

Agatha or Rachael make a comment on her, maybe her hair, like "oh, did you style your hair like that today? What a... choice! It could only suit you." "I was thinking the same about yours, Rachael, no one else could pull off something like that."

ON THE TOPIC OF RACHAEL THOUGH

She would flirt with him. Imagine it's like... idk a family get-together and there's a lot of extended family present. Stephanie didn't really want to go, but she does because it's good for Zach Jr to see family and while Stephanie is sorting out Zach Jr, Zach Sr is just chilling in the kitchen waiting with his Wife's drink.

Rachael saunters in, maybe a few too many drinks in than she should be, and comes to stand in front of Zach. She watching him with a furtively coy stare with the slightest attempt of a flirtatious upturn of her lips and sucks on the straw of her drink. Zach isn't even looking at her. He's just doing his job of keeping his eye on his wife's drink and speaking with those who deserve his time.

She tries flirting a little more overtly, and it would be this that catches his attention because like??? This bitch? really being so forward?

I don't think she'd take lightly being shut down, probably still got that stereotypically snotty popular girl attitude of 'every man thinks I'm god's gift' and she thinks 'he wants me, not my step-sister'. Being told no would probably lead to her having a petulant reaction.

I also don't think even marriage would stop Rachael from flirting with him - I imagine her bagging such a lovely guy but she treats him like shit. She's that kind of person. Probably ends up divorced and the ex-husband finds someone better and lives happily. Good for him, Steph and Zach would think, and he dodged a bullet.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd add!! This was fun to think about 😎

[lucawrites11]

re arsenal v city:

i am a die hard gooner til the day i die but will i be wearing a city shirt and cheering against my own team? yes. (i feel less guilt ab buying the shirt because it’s a roord 23/24 3rd shirt and it looks sick af)

anyways i hate chelsea and i want to see emma hayes trophyless. jonas and his fuckall tactics have screwed us all season, the girls deserve a rest and some need more minutes and so i want child labor fc in and emma hayes and chelshit out x

i totally agree especially on jonas' tactics and you mentioned the word tactics which is a mistake because now i am going to torture all of you with my unsolicited opinions of the formation that a fully fit arsenal should be playing or even a not fully fit arsenal and jonas is a fucking idiot for not doing it.... more under the cut because i don't need to torture you all with the long post analysing why exactly jonas' tactics are so shit

Jonas' tactics are the classis, basic bitch of all formations: 4-3-3 typically looking something like this... (a mock-up combining the last couple of seasons and what i'd think he might do with a fully fit squad)

and there are so many problems with this and most of them if not all of them stem from his too fatal tactical flaws: a chronic lack of rotation and refusal to give youth a chance in the squad, a stubborn-ness and bias towards english players, a clear bias towards his favourite players even when they aren't in form or fit and a complete and total refusal to play anything other than a 4-3-3.

(if you are wondering why russo + stina isn't working too well in the last few games it's because he's making them play it in a 4-3-3)

what do these problems cause?

a lack of rotation + his clear biases: over-worked players, unhappy players and INJURIES

this shows most in his clear centre back preference in the last few games being leah + lotte but that doesn't work too well. they are too similar as players but that is not a bad thing. it means it's perfect for rotations especially because leah williamson is quite injury prone. one game on, one game off for each of them. especially when they can pair up well with codina, catley, ilestedt in that centreback so the other option CAN ALSO BE ROTATED. which would REDUCE INJURY

again, this shows with his midfield choices. kyra is a central midfielder and a defensive midfielder but he decided she's just defensive. he has one ONE purely defensive midfielder and that's lia walti. kyra is more like kim little, can play any midfield position and then there are two purely attacking midfield options in pelova and maanum (who could play defensive if absolutely necessary) THEY ARE ALL GOOD ENOUGH TO FUCKING START BUT HE DOESN'T ROTATE then he uses them as super subs and expects them to fucking fix everything JUST START THEM. it would also again PREVENT INJURY. there is a reason kim and lia are constantly injured. THEY ARE OVER FUCKING PLAYED. JONAS CAN YOU HEAR ME!!! FUCKING ROTATE

again, in the nine. there are options: russo, blackstenius, miedema and foord can all play really well and quite frankly mead if forced also the kids: little viv and michelle can do that

then the wings. WHY DO YOU KEEP PLAYING FOORD WHEN SHE'S STRUGGLING lacasse was the best scorer at benfica for so long she was SO good. PLAY HER. ROTATE THE WINGS. i am honestly shocked caitlin hasn't had a more serious injury. foord, lacasse, mead, MCCABE and russo can all play the wings

the only thing i have no problem with is the full back choices

now the problem of the 4-3-3.

jonas has said on multilpe occasions that his tactics is playing a 4-3-3 and possession football because he is the most basic bitch on the planet. it's like he has never heard of fucking creativity. seriously someone get him some, IT'S KILLING ME also a fashion sense because i am still traumatised by the shit-coloured gilette under the blue suit 🤮🤮

anyway the actual problem with it. he uses it to force the world's best striker (miedema) out of position and into a 10 and then cries when they don't score. he has bought about five nines and only uses one with no decent 10 and cries when they don't score. maybe jonas YOU ARE THE FUCKING PROBLEM

i swear to fuck arsenal fire him and hire carla ward, i think she could do such a good job omg.

what formation doing i think a fully fit arsenal should play?

4-4-2 (with rotation)

goalkeeper:

rotate it (buy mearps) and then you have three starting goalkeepers you can rotate based of the game and the style of keeper needed. if you are playing a team that scores from set pieces and headers, you want manu. a game where you need a ball-playing keeper and you want sabs. if you buy mearps, she's best for a team that loves a quick counter or lots of shots in open play

centreback pairing:

no CB should play two matches in a row at arsenal unless there's an injury crisis because there is so much talent competing for that spot. the top four: williamson, wubben-moy, codina, ilestedt and then catley and katie reid can also do it in rotation if necessary and reid as a sub.

and unless there is an injury crisis, wubben-moy and williamson should NOT be on the pitch at the same time. they are too similar. i can't say what partnerships are best but a decent manager will find it out and create two amazing centreback parternships of lotte/leah and ilestedt/codina that can be used interchangably to rest players and prevent injury especially if there's uwcl

left back:

this should be a purchase priority for arsenal. a cheap third option as opposed to catley and the wildcard (mccabe) whose position can be chosen out of a hat and she'd still play it well. it's unreliable but strong atm with two good options that can rotate just in the case of injury, it's a lot on one player and we saw this at the start of the season

right back:

weinrother, fox, mccabe. the options are strong. no notes. just ROTATE THEM.

the midfield pairing:

so there just needs to be one more defensive midfielder and one more attacking midfielder. imo the best combo at the moment for me is little and walti. the experience and the talent is unmatched but THEY CAN ROTATE. i want to see a combo of pelova/maanum/cooney-cross as a secondary midfield pairing to switch out the matches like the centreback pairings to rest players. they would also be good sub options for each other and can be chosen based on the style of play of the oppostion. pelova, kyra, maanum are better when there is a need for speed or fast counter-attacking whereas little and walti would be better for a deeper defense but they could all do anything

the wings:

just rotate between lacasse, foord, mead and hurtig if she comes back and if not, buy another winger and play them in the rotation. at least one winger needs to be subbed in a game and imo none of them should start two games in a row so they can REST

the strikers:

in the nine, there is so much choice so why not play two? it literally makes so much sense especially when the pairings available work like they do.

russo + miedema would be the best. both can drop back and grab the ball interchangably and both know how to cross and finish. i would love to see that link-up develop

russo/miedema + stina, russo/miedema can drop back and stina can lead the line and BOOM goals. it's not hard JONAS

then you can also rotate with the kids. take notes from barcelona. they know how to win shit.

in conclusion, jonas is terrible. get him out. hire carla ward.

[happy-ramm]

Hi!

First of all: Thank you very much, I really appreciate all of your input on the current rammstein situation and I’d totally say I agree!

The situation is fucked.

I just want to add some of my thoughts about all of this, if that’s ok:

Let’s start with: I hate it here.

I hate what this debate does to the bigger image of the band: they are in the process of becoming a tool to express hate towards women and the general idea of feminism. There are misogynists, fans of this red pill ideology ‘defending’ Till by simply calling the women who came forward with allegations slurs. And there are fanaccounts sharing these videos like “go watch it, big recommendation” … you’re like ten seconds in and the dude in the video calls a woman “bitch”/“hoe” because he has ‘evidence’ that she might be lying? Shut up, Sherlock and maybe let some professional investigator do their job?

Who do they think they’re helping with that? It’s ridiculous, really embarrassing and not helpful at all imho.

This antifa-incident now also gives a lot of rather right winged people (Nazis lol) the opportunity to slide in the comment section of posts about it and spread hate of the political left as a whole and force their ideas of “the lefts being the new facists” on everyone. This connection is also very nice for all those journalists out there who love discussing rammstein as nazis! And also veeeery nice for the current political situation in Germany! much wow. I’m so done. (Also quick advice to all the activists out there: if you feel like vandalism, maybe rather write ‘no stage for Nazis’ on some buildings that are owned by ‘Alternative für Deutschland’?)

(These right winged accounts also really often show their homophobia - which I find quite ironic given the fact that rammstein eg waved pride flags in poland and their guitarists kissing on stage like every concert now but ok)

Id def consider myself somewhere on the spectrum of the political left and I also think that one can (and should) read rammsteins appearance in their political songs in this context.

My point being: there are now a lot of people interested in rammstein who seem to actually have nothing in common with their world view? It just makes me really uncomfortable and I hope that once this is over they’ll loose their interest in the band again.

I’ve been to three rammstein concerts and one of Lindemanns shows - until now everything was ok and we met some nice people. (Even tho the Lindemann Show was a rather weird, unique experience in general but that’s sth different) .. all in all I’d say my (female passing) friends and I were having a good time and everything was ok.

But with all of this, with the chance that the amount of these kinds of really bad people being interested in rammstein and as a result maybe also attending the concerts is growing - I might be afraid of going to another one (if there will be another tour?) and no, not because of Till Lindemann.

Sorry for the late repsonse Anon! I was moving house!

In general, though, I share a lot of your concerns. Situations such as this one are tricky because what is ultimately the dealings between two people and their own feelings/experiences of the matter gets submitted to the greater public for their judgement. Politics, laws, personal morals and agendas all get dumped in one big pot to boil over and eventually fester. It is all very confusing...and then out pops something nasty. In this case, the misogynistic right wing.

Frankly, I am not surprised that the right-wing has found a little nest within the Rammstein fandom. I do not say that because I believe Rammstein harbours any sympathies with that ideology - I like you firmly believe them to be a left-leaning band - but simply because people's media literacy skills are in general....ah, how to say this politely?....ah yes, they are fuckin' shit.

Rammstein is a band that rewards those willing to look deeper; those who love satire and those who simply have a good sense of humour. Unfortunately, they also appeal to those who really like when things go BANG.

Now, I also like when things go bang, don't get me wrong - pure sensation can never be underrated in terms of art. However, its a matter of aesthetics versus text. A reasonable person would conclude that these can't be separated: their interaction, whether it be complimentary or contrasting, creates the meaning. In the case of Rammstein, however, there exists a neat line, formed due to the language barrier between the band and the general audience.

This barrier has benefitted Rammstein - I believe they would not have gotten so far if their content was in English, for instance, but it means there are too many who only see "the picture".

The hardness. The hypermasculinity. The violence. The sexual imagery. The stoicism. The evocation of fascism. And all without the crucial framing of the lyrics.

Even when the satire should be self-evident, many miss the cue. Take Links 234 as an example: a song which functions as a politically rally for the left, specifically against the right, and was constructed in response to a reactionary media who sought controversy and not understanding, has ended up as a right-wing marching song in many minds.

It is very frustrating

Even more frustrating is deciding how to deal with this....

Argue with every idiot you see on the internet? Now, that's a Sisyphean task.

Leave the fandom altogether? Well, that feels like a different kind of defeat.

Realistically speaking, there is no silver bullet. One decides what is best for themselves. Personally, I feel no fear participating in the fandom as a queer AFAB person. Reality is different from the online spaces and I have never felt uncomfortable at their concerts, and when online, the block button is a blessing. I have no idea how this recent controversy is going to change the demographic of the Rammstein fandom, but I know I ain't going to fuckin budge to leave space for some Nazi twat. All I can say is, I hope this situation is resolved quickly, and I hope all Nazis die in a fuckin' fire.

That is all.

[ploppythespaceship]

Strange New Worlds (Season 2) - Thoughts & Review

I don't think I've been so mixed on a season of Star Trek as I am with this one. The things this show does well, it does extraordinarily well, and when it's on point, it's some excellent television. Unfortunately, the things this show does wrong are doing their damnedest to drag everything else down. Most of those issues stem from the fact that this is a prequel, and the things they're doing with established characters are really fighting against their original characterization. The individual episode quality is also wildly all over the place.

As a result, I can't come to any one conclusion. I liked some parts, I hated other parts, and it's all just a bit of a mess.

Spoilers under the cut.

What I Liked

The show is very well-produced. It looks great -- the production design continues to find a perfect balance between honoring the TOS look while updating and modernizing it -- it's well-directed, well-cast, etc.

Speaking of the cast, this is one of Trek's strongest group of actors. I particularly want to shout out Christina Chong as La'an -- I frankly didn't like her character much in season one, but she won me over this season, and that's largely due to the performance. Ethan Peck also did an excellent job, especially with some of the more comedic scenes.

Whoever decided that Carol Kane should play the ship's weird ass immortal engineer is a genius. Please give them a raise.

It was only a few scenes in the last episode, but I liked the guy playing Scotty. I was not expecting him to show up at all, but I couldn't stop grinning.

One of the advantages of being a more episodic series is the ability to easily explore many different tones and genres, and this season takes full advantage of that. One episode will be very silly and comedic, and the next will be a dramatic character study, and it just pings back and forth. I love that it has the freedom to explore that much variety.

What I Didn't Like

Spock and Chapel are the single worst thing about this season, and their relationship is definitely something I am going to pointedly ignore going forward. It makes sense to take their TOS dynamic and flesh it out more, but what the writers came up with makes both characters into the worst possible versions of themselves. Now Spock is canonically an adulterer, and someone who's chosen his emotionless affect because a woman broke his heart -- which uproots all of his characterization for the rest of the franchise. And Chapel just comes across as a bitch, particularly in the musical episode. I really hate that for her. It's deeply unfair to both characters.

I am sorry to say that I still don't care for Paul Wesley's Kirk. I appreciate what he's trying to do, playing more to Kirk's intellectual side, but there's a certain level of charm that's just not there. I think he's just miscast.

Number One continues to be incredibly boring, and the weakest link in the cast. I regularly forget that she exists and am surprised when she shows up.

Ortegas desperately needs a spotlight episode. She's the only main cast member who hasn't had any kind of focus or development, and she really sticks out as a result. The few tidbits of development she does get are repetitive -- she flies the ship, and she fought in the war. I know that her role was likely reduced this season due to the death of her partner, but they could have at least tried to add variety to the small moments she does get.

I love that this show is committed to the more old-school episodic style, which gives everything a more classic Trek feel. But with such a short season, I feel you need to be much pickier about which episodes you produce. The shorter seasons mean that bad or even underwhelming episodes have a much greater impact. If three episodes of a twenty-two episode season aren't up to par, that's easy to shrug off. But if it's three episodes of a ten episode season, that's two-thirds of your content. And this season unfortunately had quite a few episodes with major issues holding them back.

Individual Episode Thoughts

This season really does come down to its individual episodes, which as I mentioned are wildly all over the place.

The Broken Circle — This season did not get off on the right foot for me. This one wanted so badly to be the big, action-packed season opener, and everything about it felt incredibly forced as a result. Everything from Spock's abrupt decision to steal the Enterprise, to the threat of war that came from nowhere and was immediately forgotten about, to watching the medical characters take drugs and start beating the shit out of people... it all just felt off, and never clicked into place.

Ad Astra Per Aspera — Much better! This one should have been the season opener. It's a modern take on the classic Trek court episode, which immediately invites comparisons to some of the franchise's best. And while it doesn't live up to something like "The Measure of a Man" or "The Drumhead," it's still pretty solid. It has important things to say, and it says them well. It's simply held back by its resolution being complete nonsense. I understand that as a prequel, the writers can't fully resolve the augmentation debate without completely undermining future series. But I thought they'd find a more coherent loophole than "she requested asylum." She did not request asylum, that makes absolutely no sense, and it sort of makes things fall apart.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — I loved the time travel plot, I loved the great focus on La'an as a character, and I am actually okay with them subtly changing the franchise's timeline around by re-dating the Eugenics Wars. It was clearly something done intentionally to give the writers some greater freedom, and I can appreciate it. Unfortunately, I just wasn't sold on the romance between La'an and Kirk, which felt incredibly rushed. Without that to tie everything together, the episode never quite clicks into place. But I still respect what it tried to do and don't take too many major issues with it.

Among the Lotus Eaters — Easily the one I have the least to say on. Decent enough premise, competently executed. Not a standout as either good or bad.

Charades — Absolutely hated this one. The writers took a great concept and fumbled it. The direction they chose to go with human Spock baffles me, and doesn't make sense within their own canon. If Vulcan emotions are stronger than human ones, why does Spock becoming human suddenly make him too emotional to function? And why would he forget his Vulcan upbringing and need to be reminded how to act Vulcan? Then of course all of this is just done to further the Spock/Chapel relationship, rather than be the obvious Spock character study it should be. It's awful. Least favorite episode of the whole show, by far.

Lost in Translation — I really like the premise and overall vibes of this one, as well as the greater focus on Uhura (who might be the only legacy character that I take no issue with). Sadly, this episode is let down by some pretty poor pacing. Everything drags for longer than it needs to, and plenty of scenes felt like padding. It could have used another pass in either the writing or editing room.

Those Old Scientists — I was fully prepared to hate this one. I don't like Lower Decks, so I figured the crossover would be more of the same. But to my great surprise, this episode was excellent. Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome perfectly translated their characters to live-action, and the characters are much funnier when they have regular people to bounce off of. I laughed out loud multiple times. But it's not just a jokefest, and has some good character beats as well. A very pleasant surprise.

Under the Cloak of War — Ehhhh. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but it never quite clicked. The Klingon general turned ambassador simply isn't fleshed out enough for the debate of whether he's truly reformed to have any weight. And M'Benga calling himself the Butcher of J'Gal just confuses things unnecessarily. I actually had to look up an episode summary to understand the ending, and when I did, I kinda hated it. For them to act like M'Benga killing a few enemy Klingons in an effort to stop mass bloodshed is on the same level as someone ordering the genocide of civilians, including children... that's frankly insulting. There was a good story somewhere in here, but it needed a couple more passes in the writing room. (Or you could just watch DS9's "Duet" instead.)

Subspace Rhapsody — The musical episode! I won't mince words. This is arguably the best episode of the show, and one of the best musical episodes I've ever seen, second only to the Buffy episode which so clearly inspired it. The songs are largely excellent, well tailored to fit both the characters and actors, and the cast is fairly talented. But it's not just silly songs for the sake of being fun. The writers understand that musical episodes should take advantage of the format to explore characters in a very unique way, and as such, most of the songs are character-driven. And the final resolution being that music needs to bring the crew together, in an ensemble number led by Uhura... that's so perfect. Only the Spock/Chapel stupidity brings this one down. Otherwise it's an A+ all-around. I've had "Status Report," "How Would That Feel," "I'm the X," and "Keep Us Connected" basically on repeat since seeing it.

Hegemony — An action-packed finale that I really enjoyed. They've done a fairly good job reimagining the Gorn to be actually threatening, and this episode expertly keeps the tension high. I've been seeing a lot of comparisons to "The Best of Both Worlds," and while it wouldn't go that far, it's certainly a solid finale.

[thefirsthogokage]

Thank you for making this list!

I have some additions:

Melissa O'Neil has also posted a video by an anti-zionist Israeli. So I'd list her as Pro-Palestine.

Jodie Sweetin posted something very simple and beautiful that someone else actually sent her. I don't remember it exactly, but it was also about not liking any loss of life of Jews, israelis (which marked a distinction between the two to me, which is good), and Palestinians. I think it was anti-israeli government too. She is quitely a very active activist and was assaulted by a cop during the BLM protests .

Lesley-Ann Brandt has not liked any loss of innocent life, particularly Children. I'm not sure on what she's said about Israel, but she had been speaking up about Palestinians. She's South African, so that makes sense. But she's also conflated zionism and Judaism, so...

When I was regularly on twitter the only writer I saw say anything in any direction was Pro-Palestine. I wish I knew his last name, but his first name was James. Of what I've seen from the other writers I personally follow they have kept their mouths shut. Probably to keep their relationships with studios and actors, but at least they aren't spouting bullshit so it could be worse. I posted an article recently about a writer of a show that I can't remember at the moment but considered watching at one point, who echoed Julianna Margulies's comments (I talk about it below), But that's the only crap I've seen from zionist writers.

It's amazing how many "Jewish" celebs are so ignorant to to what the illegal state of israel is doing to the innocent Palestinians, especially when there are Palestinian Jews too. It's racist and antisemitic.

Julianna Margulies was saying very Pro-israel things and conflating zionism with Judaism. I recently posted the article.

I don't know if Tara Strong is a zionist, but she's at least a zionist defender and chose some really fucking disgusting things to retweet.

Charisma Carpenter blasted the lies about 40 dead babies and raped women and the like and basically said "I don't want to hear any excuses, just unfollow me". Very zionist or pro-zionist propaganda. Joss Whedon couldn't ruin Cordelia for me, but she did.

Tyler Astin is already up there but that son of a bitch made a post a lot like Charisma Carpenter. Really sad since I loved So Help Me Todd, so I won't be watching that again.

Gina Bellman is a zionist. She believes we need the state of israel (I believe it was 2021 I caught her saying that) and she can fuck right off. But she's also proved herself an airhead and thought a poster she had for 20+ years was pro-Queen Elizabeth instead of anti-Queen Elizabeth, so, that.

L*nda C*rter said and reposted somethings that were iffy but I don't remember in what capacity. She does seem pro-state of israel though. Sorry.

Jeri Ryan reposed a "you can and should only talk about israeli victims today" post on the day of the attack and then a post re: israeli and Palestinian victims the day after, and then radio silence.

Joshua Malina I think is anti-israel government, but not anti-israel. I haven't been looking at his posts and quite frankly don't want to. But I know in the past, zionists have gone after him. Don't know if he's changed his tune in any capacity lately. I personally said fuck him when he said was happy Sherri Shepard(spelling?) got COVID because he thought she was a scab and wouldn't take the correcting that by SAG-AFTRA and WGA rules she was not. Take that as you will.

Insane how zionists in Hollywood want more Jewish representation when they don't even know they aren't Jewish. Standing up and fighting for Palestinians is what's actually Jewish. And none of them are willing to take correction and close their comments.

Sorry for that last addition I'm just so pissed at the ignorance and the inhumanity.

I found an absolutely massive 70-page list of all the people in Hollywood who've supported Israel (they signed the “Israel Must Defend Itself” pro-genocide IDF letter, showed support only for Israel, spread IDF propaganda, used “Palestinians are terrorists” language, etc) — but it included tons of people I've never heard of and, like, talent agents and lawyers and non-celebrities... so I went through it and got all the recognizable names + made them into a list (below the cut), because it's important to name exactly who's supporting Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

Additionally, I searched for all the celebrities who've supported Palestine (not liking one post while sharing nothing, not saying something vague about both sides, but actually using language like "genocide" and "apartheid" while talking about what Israel is doing to Palestine), and that's below the cut too — because these people are risking their careers speaking about this, and they actually have a spine and morals.

PRO-ISRAEL:

(I tried to include big names + people I know are popular on Tumblr)

Paula Abdul

Jason Alexander

Judd Apatow

Skylar Astin

Ben Barnes

Lance Bass

Victoria Beckham

Mayim Bialik

Hailey Bieber

Justin Bieber

Jack Black

Selma Blair

Rachel Bloom

Tom Brady

Gemma Chan

Choi Siwon (Super Junior)

Ciara

Lana Condor

Jamie Lee Curtis

Ariana DeBose

Zooey Deschanel

Zoey Deutch

Nina Dobrev

Michael Douglas

Fran Drescher

Chris Evans

Oded Fehr

Stephen Fry

Karol G

Josh Gad

Gal Gadot

Neil Gaiman

Danielle Galligan

Aiden R Gallagher

Andy Garcia

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Jack Dylan Grazer

Harvey Guillén

Grant Gustin

Mark Hamill

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Vanessa Hudgins

Sarah Hyland

Lebron James

Lily James

Kris Jenner

Kylie Jenner

Scarlett Johansson

Dwayne Johnson

Mindy Kaling

Kim Kardashian

Joey King

Ashton Kutcher

Mila Kunis

Taylor Lautner

Zachary Levi

Sam Levinson

Eva Longoria

George Lopez

Demi Lovato

Madonna

Howie Mandel

Katie Marovitch (Dropout)

Debra Messing

Alfred Molina

Mandy Moore

Ryan Murphy

Eric Nam

BJ Novak

Con O'Neil

Rita Ora

Chord Overstreet

Gwyneth Paltrow

Danielle Panabaker

Sarah Paulson

Josh Peck

Chris Pine

Jonah Platt

Billy Porter

Natalie Portman

Florence Pugh

Josh Radnor

Addison Rae

Eli Roth

JK Rowling

Adam Sandler

Ben Savage

Noah Schnapp (Mr. "You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism" himself)

Leiv Schreiber

Amy Schumer

David Schwimmer

Jerry Seinfield

Sarah Silverman

Ian Somerhalder

Song Seung-hyun

Regina Spektor

Tara Strong

Harry Styles

Bella Thorne

Phoebe Tonkin

Ashley Tisdale

Usher

Taika Waititi

Paul Wesley

Reese Witherspoon

Elijah Wood

PEOPLE WHO SPOKE OUT IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINE:

This includes people who've spoken out this week, as well as people who've spoken out in the past.

Bella Hadid — "This is not about spewing hate on one or the other. This is about Israeli colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid over the Palestinian people that has been going on for YEARS!" + she got blacklisted and lost brand deals for saying this and much more

Gigi Hadid — currently being targeted by Israel's official state social media pages for her support of Palestinian civilians

Dua Lipa — support going back years, frequently mentioning Free Palestine + "The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people must come to an end. NO MORE!! This is a human rights issue!! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!"

Mia Khalifa — "If you can look at the situation in Palestine and not be on the side of the Palestinians, then you are on the wrong side of apartheid and history will show that in time" + more about Israel's attacks on Gaza + she lost her podcast deal for showing support

Kehlani — shared stories about Israel's attacks on Gaza + attended a pro-Palestine protest + said: "To my peers and people that are in the spaces I’m in, what the f*ck is wrong with y’all? You’re being silent for the sake of money and business… there’s an insane amount of unchecked privilege.” and much more

Jenna Ortega — was targeted by a far-right Israeli site for her repeated support of Palestine, the site attempted to blacklist her, and she continued supporting anyway

Guz Khan — said "What the enforcers of apartheid and their enablers have failed to realise is that the plight of the Palestinians is an issue that resonates with the PEOPLE. You can hide behind weapons of war and have the most powerful resources known to man, the PEOPLE will demand justice" + it's strongly rumored he was fired from Our Fl*g Means Death specifically because of his open support of Palestine

Lauren Jauregui (Fifth Harmony) — said "My heart is with the innocent lives lost to the perpetuation of the vile legacy of imperialism, colonization, apartheid and ignorance. [...] Those who were once the victims of persecution becoming the oppressor and being so cognitively dissonant about the hypocrisy. [...] I deeply condemn the violation of human rights and the violence of the genocidal ethnic cleansing we are witnessing in real time of the Palestinian people." + "Propaganda is a bitch and is the most well oiled tool of the empire." (read her whole post, it's great)

Riz Ahmed — said "If we are on the side of humanity we must urgently speak up to try and avert the loss of innocent life. This means calling for an end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza's civilians and vital infrastructure, the denial of food, water, and electricity, and the forced displacement of people from their homes. Thesee are morally indefensible war crimes."

Chance the Rapper — said "Fucking disgusting. This is an American funded genocide. #gazaunderattack #palestinianlivesmatter"

Zayn Malik — said "I stand with the Palestinian people and support their resistance to colonization and protection of their human rights."

Michael B. Jordan — shared the quote: "One cannot advocate for racial equality, LGBT & women's rights, condemn corrupt & abusive regimes and other injustices yet choose to ignore the Palestinian oppression." + more about Israel's attacks on Gaza

Will Poulter — support going back years, including attempting to protest against the UK government for supporting Israel and not condemning the violence in Sheikh Jarrah in 2021, and said: "Will the UK government condemn these appalling attacks, which have resulted in the death of civilians, including children?"

Hozier — when sharing a petition about standing with Palestinians: "The Irish experience is all too aware of the centuries long shadow that can be cast by legacies of settler colonialism, illegal displacement and violence."

Zara Larsson — support going back years + "We must call out a state upholding apartheid and KILLING civilians, funded by American dollars." + much more about Israel's attacks on Gaza

(Tumblr wouldn't let me have a list this big, so I'm breaking it up here in the middle with this:)

Celebrities who signed the open letter calling for a ceasefire: Tilda Swinton, Charles Dance, Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes, Liam Cunningham, Khalid Abdalla, and over 2,000 more people.

Their joint statement said: "Gaza is already a society of refugees and the children of refugees. Now, in their hundreds of thousands, bombarded from air, sea and land, Palestinians whose grandparents were forced out of their homes at the barrel of a gun are again being told to flee – or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale.  Dispossessed of rights, described by Israel’s minister of defence as “human animals”, they have become people to whom almost anything can be done. Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them."

Susan Sarandon — said “Being against the occupation of Palestine does not make one anti-Semitic.” + shared multiple posts about Israel's war crimes this week, including Israel's use of white phosphorous in Gaza

Halsey — shared the quote: "Solidarity with Palestinians means little if it only exists when they appear as victims but disappears when they resist. Those who aren't under occupation or refugees from ethnic cleansing have no right to dictate how those who are resist those responsible for their suffering." + more about Israel's attacks on Gaza

John Cusack — attended a pro-Palestine protest + said "We must free Palestine from a brutal occupation - people concerned for their loved ones, in a hell zone, stuck without food, water and power. Deep anguish over people being told to leave and bombed as they left. I heard people share personal accounts of family members who have been jailed, humiliated, harassed, persecuted, targeted and killed for generations."

Nicola Coughlan — shared the quote: "We may be witnessing the total obliteration of Gaza. Political leaders refusing to speak out should feel eternal shame over the horror they are allowing to unfold. Those of us who believe in peace cannot stay silent. We must say to the Palestinian people: you are not alone."

Lucy Dacus (boygenius) — repeated support in the past + openly calling Obama a war criminal + sharing humanitarian fundraisers for Palestinians + said Free Palestine must be the part of all global liberation movements

Aabria Iyengar — shared "You SHOULD be watching the Genocide that's happening, BUT while spreading awareness is good but it's NOT the full picture. Work. Get on the phone with your local reps and pressure them. If you give money to any political parties? Pull it and tell them why." + more about Israel's attacks on Gaza, Israel committing war crimes, etc

Izzy Roland — shared "We cannot and will not say today's actions by Palestinian militants are unprovoked. Every day under Israel's system of apartheid is a provocation. The strangling siege of Gaza is a provocation. Settlers terrorizing entire Palestinian villages, soldiers raiding and demolishing Palestinian homes, murdering Palestinians in the streets, Israeli ministers calling for genocide and expulsion." + more about Israel's attacks on Gaza

Normani — sharing firsthand accounts from Palestinian families in Gaza during Israel's current attack

Emma Watson — shared a quote about showing solidarity with Palestinians from activist Sarah Ahmed, who was harassed by C*nary M*ssion. Watson was then targeted in the media by Israel, and in response, celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Viggo Mortensen, Peter Capaldi, Steve Coogan, Gael García Bernal, Liam Cunningham, Matt McGorry, Ramy Youssef, and Miriam Margolyes released a joint statement in support of Watson and Palestinians, saying: “We recognize the underlying power imbalance between Israel, the occupying power, and the Palestinians, the people under a system of military occupation and apartheid."

Ziwe Fumudoh — shared resources about calling US Congresspeople about pressuring them to de-escalate, with "SAY NO TO GENOCIDE CALL CONGRESS NOW"

Dylan O'Brien — shared a video of a young Palestinian girl talking about how Israel bombed her whole street, along with "10 years old. Heart wrenching. #FreePalestine"

DJ Snake — shared "Stop the genocide of Palestinians, stop the massacre, end the apartheid" + more about Israel's attack on Gaza

Liam Cunningham — shared videos of himself at the protest in support of Palestine in Dublin + more about Israel's attack on Gaza

Kim Namjoon (BTS) — attended multiple art exhibitions by Palestinians in diaspora who made art about Free Palestine, and shared pictures of these exhibitions publicly + he owns a piece of art about Free Palestine and, in the past, has posted this art to IG ~coincidentally~ on days when Israel bombed civilians — NOTE: I would not normally include something like this, but I'm choosing to do so specifically because he's doing all this BEFORE serving his mandatory enlistment in the South Korean military, which is aggressively pro-Israel and known for violent bullying, being full of far-right incels, and abuse from superior officers (and harassment towards enlisted celebrities, who are isolated and cut off from all protection). Him risking his support being made known to the general public (especially since BTS fans are known for noticing stuff like this and blowing it up on social media) has much higher risks than the average Western celebrity.

And lastly, I wanted to share this one as well — I'm not sure how real this is, but given Israel's foreign propaganda machine, it wouldn't even surprise me a little:

the tiktoker @/thewizardliz (who has 4.8 million followers and is a beauty influencer originally from Chechnya) — made several pro-Palestine posts, but then deleted them all and said: "Guys I didn't want to delete my posts. But I was just called and told that I'm playing with my life by speaking on these things and that I should delete, I shouldn't involve myself in politics, but I stand with what I said."

Please add more if you know of any, but NOT if it's something along the lines of them just liking a post or trying to say both sides are bad. Please also include what they said/shared — now is the time when speaking out is most important.

Feel free to add any pro-Israel people as well.

[code-sumeragi]

As for my thoughts on DA Veilguard

First off it's a solid 7 out of 10 game. And everyone needs to apologize to Inquisition because Inquisition is a good game with flaws and Veilguard is an okay game with this weird bloat to it that's hard to describe but once you play it, you'll understand.

It suffers from too many cooks and too much time in the kitchen. You can also tell it was made by Mass Effect people and not by Dragon Age people and I feel that it makes it a weaker game because of it. Because when I play Dragon Age, I want Dragon Age not Mass Effect.

With that out of the way, all the people bitching about the inclusion and 'dei' shit can stuff it. It was fine. Dragon Age has always been like that and it didn't take away anything. Though there were some dialogue bits that we weird and cringe inducing in that regard; they tended to be the minority so it was whatever. You don't notice it if you aren't looking for it and they only place it sticks out is Taash. And just don't do their quests. Simple.

I feel like some of the lore was fucked up. The crows for one thing. Felt too happy and less one murder cult thing that was implied in Origins.

And it also kinda felt like they just took fan theories and added that into the story. But I genuinely have no idea how far in advance they had plotted any of this out because the threads are there but it feels too much like a coincidence. That or someone from the team was actual sharing what they were planning on doing as meta, which, jerk.

Varric. I actually figured that he was dead from the beginning. From the marketing pretty much. It was suspicious how no one talked to him and he was just in the infirmary the whole time, so I just done knew. Didn't figure for the blood magic though. I know some people are pretty mad about Varric, but I didn't hate it.

Morrigan. I don't like what they did with her. I thought the well of sorrows was multiple elves and not just mythal. Not to mention that she rejected mythal in Inquisition. It makes it weird for her to suddenly have her memories. And be okay with everything. I also hate her top. Keep thinking she has four boobs.

Isabela. Not who I expected to come back. She seems in character for what I remember. Of course, some people's Isabela betrayed them, so I can see how they might not be happy with her.

Kept hoping that we'd seen another warden we once knew. Nathaniel, Sigrun, Oghrun, Blackwall. That was a bummer and a missed opportunity.

Velanna and Merill could have shown up with the Veil jumpers. Shale could have gone to Kal Sharok or shown up near the titan. Zevran could have been with the Crows. Fenris could have been fighting Venatori in Minrathous. Iron Bull could have been with the Lords of Fortune. Sera could have been with the Shadow Dragons.

And I don't mean that they would have to be their physically. Ambiant dialogue or a note would have been cool too. The others got a mention or even appeared. I know they want limited contact so they don't contradict each other, but a single line won't damage that.

Feels like they play favorites a little.

Marketing for the game sucked. Seriously. Following the marketing it seemed like Ghilanan and Elgarnan weren't going to be the only big bads, but they were???? Like, I felt like there was an implication there was going to be a switch like a 1/3 of the way through the game and it never happened and I was like, what is going on and it was just those two the whole time. Which, quite frankly, is on me, I should know better than to listen to marketing. Marketing fucking lies and doesn't market products correctly. Hell, they were showing actual fucking spoilers for pivotal moments through halfway through the game!! What the fuck is wrong with marketing departments???

I usually don't follow marketing, but I guess I was just so excited that I didn't listen to my better judgement and ignore it so I could have a better and clean start.

I don't like how one character /had/ to die for the best ending. And it was a character I wanted to romance on my next playthrough. It wasn't satisfying. It was shocking and somewhat disappointing. That character was one of the only characters I got attached to in the group. The companions are okay for the most part, but I just don't vibe with them as much.

It feels like the work you do for the personal quests don't matter if the character dies anyway.

In some ways I get it. But in other ways, fuck the writers.

For as much dialogue there is in this game, it sure is annoying to get it. I don't know why it annoys me. It just does? I feel like they were trying too hard to mimic the Normandy with the Lighthouse, but the Lighthouse just doesn't have the same vibe as the Normandy. And maybe it's the size of the place too.

The linear-ness of the game is both a positive and a negative. I appreciate Knowing where I need to go, but at the same time, having very little to explore sucks. I enjoy being rewarded for going off the path and finding an optional boss or puzzle that isn't literally right there. I also like the ability to see an enemy levels above you in an area, try to fight it, say fuck no, then leave. There were only a few bosses like that, but no common enemies and I think that was to the games detriment.

Oh and the lack of side quests tied directly to the story and factions was disappointing. Felt like there was very little levity to the game. There were moments with the companions, but in the overall game, it always felt uncomfortably tense. And if the devs/writers were going for that, they certainly got it, but it started to get exhausting at the end.

Combat. At first I really disliked the combat. It was way faster than Inquisition and the spaces you fought in were way too fucking small. I got used to it over time, but I miss being able to access more abilities in the ring menu. Having three skills is just so limiting and while I found a good build, the combat really stresses that you use the detonation system or you're going to have a bad time. Which, isn't great if you're forced to use a system. A good combat system is one you should be able to use without any of the extra's built into it. I should be able to use magic or attacks to kill the majority of enemies without issue and detonation and status' should be a bonus and not an absolutely must for every encounter.

The ending. And by ending I mean that shitty slide show. I know all Bioware games do fucking slide shows but . . . what if they didn't for just one game. I'm begging you Bioware. Have like a clean up scene. A party like in Origins. Any fucking thing.

The epilogue. I like how they left it open. I was wondering about a few things. But also, I'm worried that they may do the same thing they did with Andromeda and cancel the fucking DLC when I REALLY WANT THE FUCKING DLC. I want to know what the hell the gathering storm across the fucking sea is. WHAT THE HELL DID THE ORIGINAL QUNARI RUN FROM. WHY DOES NO ONE GO ACROSS THE SEA. WHO WAS THE VOICE I CONTINOUSLY RAN INTO. WHY DID THEY SHAPE EVENTS THIS WAY??? WHAT IS HAPPENING.

There's probably other things I had criticisms about. I've just got a lot of thoughts in my head right now about this game that I'm still taking the time to process through it all.

Listen. This is still a decent game for all of my bitching. Not worth the $90 for the deluxe edition. But a decent game nonetheless. Probably get it on sale. It had some misses and it had some hits but you'll probably have a good time with it if you don't go in with too high of expectations.

Ugh. I need to catch up on stuff and decompress some more.

Edit: Also, just remembered. I don't like that you're forced into a quest that makes a huge choice after gaining a companion. That's really fucked up. There should be a marker on that quest so you know to do everything before then. I didn't and thought I could just pick up a new friend and missed out on some quests because of it because I wanted to get started with friends. The way you get companions dished out to you in this game is very much like mass effect 2 and it is very annoying.

[gotatext]

JUDE & CHARLENE — DAY THIRTY-NINE.

location :    bean bags.

time :    charlene accuses jude of blue ballsing her, jude forgets evie’s name.

featuring :   charlene /  @guttcd

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬

“look -- i know it’s old news or whatever but all i’m saying is that you totally blue balled me at the heart rate challenge and like, i’m still kind of butthurt about it” it’s all dramatics mind you. charlene wanting to mess with him a little, even going as far as to play up the bit by having her body turned away from him, completely avoiding eye contact with him while her arms crossed over her chest. it’s just a joke! for the most part at least but there is a part of her that does feel a little robbed. like, he kissed her neck but not her lips? what, are we running a nunnery in this bitch? “you’re lucky i think you and jenny are super cute together or else i would like, totally be throwing a bigger fit about it.’’

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

"i blue-ballsed you?" jude repeats, unconvinced, eyebrow raising on his forehead. "mate, you fuckin' blue-ballsed me. there's me dancing all over you and you didn't even pick me. fuckin' hell, char, talk about killing a guy's ego." he's only half-joking, laugh a sharp bark as he tosses his head back, and brings his bottle of bud up to his lips, spilling it carelessly down his neck. "although the fact that you danced on jenny was steamy as. i can't lie, i enjoyed that." still turned away from him, jude reaches for charlene, pulling her shoulder to make her face him. "mate, c'mon. don't even trip. you know you're hot as fuck. i can't say that any more, though, it'll get me in trouble." after movie night, he means, since charlene's now probably on jenny's list of people jude can't be trusted with.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬

"whatever!" she exclaims indignantly. fighting the urge to smile has the corner of her lips twitching a little bit, especially when he laughs in such a boisterous manner. "i would have picked you but like, i thought jenny was the safer option between the two of you."  safer in, she doesn't see jenny thinking that her dancing on her partner would be hot and it's not like she's actively trying to be a problem for them. so frankly, she's a little surprised by jude's words during movie night. about how he would 'tap that' despite the murder attempt (/j?).  didn't exactly love the phrasing but she knows by now that's just how jude speaks, so she is quite flattered. charlene doesn't fight him when he brings her to face him, but she keeps her arms crossed and her gaze annoyed. until he compliments her again that is, in which her façade totally drops with a smile. "well, i appreciate it jude. you're not too bad yourself." she teases, "but you don't need me to tell you that. how are you and jenny after last night?"

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

“so you admit it. you went for the easy option.” feels like a got-cha moment, like he should be pulling back his arm and shouting ker-ching! in a hideously dated reference to early noughties CBBC, like him and gaz used to do at school any time they found a girl willing to go to second base. “never took you for boring, char.” jude scoffs, eyes rolling as he lets his head loll back against his shoulders, tries to remember the name for the assortment of stars above their heads. maybe he’s baiting her a little, but who can blame him. jenny’s on her second date this week, and the last one she’d fucking necked off with right in front of him. santiago. god, he’s gonna be a fucking seven-foot nobel peace-prize winning firefighter who volunteers at animal shelters in his spare time or some shit, isn’t he? even his name’s a bit sexy. too bad jenny doesn’t go for good guys. sucks to be you, santiago. “we’re actually really good,” jude shrugs, finger lifting to trace the shape of the map of stars that looks like a saucepan. “like she was mad for a bit, but it blew over pretty quickly, and then she said there was no one else in here she wants to get to know. which… i dunno, i’m having a hard time believing, but it still feels good to hear it. that i’m her guy.”  his mouth lifts in a dumb little grin, bottle lifting to his lips in an attempt to camouflage it.  “how are you and… shit. just had a total mind blank. what’s your girl's name again?”

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬

"easy? i'm gonna tell jenny you said that." charlene retorts, curious to see if that gets a reaction out of jude. she kinda hopes it does, for the fact that jude is one of those people that is just so fun to mess with. "boring!" she scoffs, as if actually offended. "rude! what happened to bags of personality?"  there is something endearing about the way jude expresses his relationship with jenny, like he doesn't want to admit how much he actually likes her but  that dumb little grin of his does not go unnoticed. is so different from his other dumb grins. this is like, lover boy dumb. "that's good. i'm glad things worked out for you last night." a little surprised too but hey, a win is a win and she's more than happy to celebrate it with him. "why wouldn't you believe her?  it's not like she's given you a reason not to, right? i bet you she's hanging out with that new guy and wishing it was you instead." or rather, she hopes. his inability to remember evie's name makes her roll her eyes. "evie." she reminds him, "and were good. she's so cute, dude. so check it out -- her and i, we're keeping it pretty open right? like, she's only been in the villa for a few days so we didn't wanna rush anything. so last night i had a bit too much to drink and like, got pretty handsy. ended up kissing victoria. i think evie saw us? i don't know, that part is still a little hazy to me but either way she ended up getting jealous about it which... maybe should be a red flag but it wasn't cus i liked it. like, it felt niceto have someone give a shit about what i do. you know what i mean?"

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

his laugh is the sniggering kind as he swigs from his bottle of bud. “yeah, but knowing jenny she’d probably agree.” categorically not true. she’d bat her eyelashes and say something like what! you think i’m easy? jude! and pout in that girlish baby face she loves to do. “fine, you got me. you’ve got a personality. you want like a medal or summat?” leaning over, he presses the heel of his hand against her forehead. it wouldn’t exactly be a stretch to view it as sibling-zoning her, but it comes from a place of warmth, and everybody’s already seen him claim that he’d tap that. kind of embarrassing. “i mean… she’s not given me a reason not to trust her aside from kissing victoria on their date and having her heart risen the most by josh, but yeah. i don’t know. i’m just being cautious. i don’t wanna get too deep too quick and end up like dylan or miles.” harsh one, true one, as gaz would say. “evie!” he repeats, tries to sink it into his brain as he shuffles further into his bean bag. “got it, sure. nah, jealousy can be kinda hot, though.” for jude, it’s mostly just anxiety-inducing, but he can see how it could be a fun game if he was interested in spending his whole life paranoid that jenny’s fucking someone else. in the grand scheme of things, he doesn’t know that much about her; maybe jenny’s the sort to play games with his mind and his heart, even when if right now feels like they’re on the same page, like she knows him better than he knows himself. “if you care about that shit then you gotta protect it.”

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬

charlene doubts it. certain that there is no girl on earth that would like to be called easy, much less agree to it, but she doesn't want to pretend she knows jenny better than jude does. "yeah -- a medal would be really fuckin' nice, actually. having personality isn't as easy as it seems, you know. it took some work to build!" his palm on her forehead is unexpected, but charlene commits to the bit, lazily swinging her fists at his direction and purposely missing him. "what? you wanna scrap or something?" she thinks she could take him. all that smoking he does must fuck with his stamina right? charlene leans back from his touch to flash him a look of surprise - it's the first she's heard of the victoria x jenny kiss.  "they kissed too? victoria's been busy." good for her to be honest. "i don't think you should worry too much about that. jenny doesn't seem to like girls outside of the physical stuff." that, she can say with certainty. having literally slept with the girl ( ft. dante ) "maybe she thought you were gonna find it hot or something. and as for josh, yeah, it was kinda weird. watching everyone dance on their exes was way uncomfortable." she still doesn't get it tbh. "but... yeah, i don't know. maybe being cautious isn't a bad thing." especially when he lists those examples. "are you guys thinking of taking it slow then?" now that she thinks about it, she doesn't think she's seen jude and evie talking together so maybe him blanking on her name shouldn't be much of a surprise. " right? just a little bit can be hot" maybe that says more about her toxic little side than anything else. "i do care about her and i think she cares about me. which like, such a fucking contrast to the naomi bullshit." it's like night and day, going from naomi who put zero effort in making them work vs evie who goes above and beyond to make charlene feel heard. more than that, wanted

[ohthemis]

I don't know if I've even sent this ask but what if vyn cheats on rosa/reader. Sorry for the bother

—   collateral damage

character: vyn richter a/n:  tw: cheating // do all vyn stans have an innate craving for angst? because these requests, man, they’re something else. keep them coming though, i’ll see what i can do for u <3 disclaimer though, this is totally ooc for vyn. i dont think he’d ever cheat on a partner no matter how unhappy he is in a relationship. (omg i love writing angst, it used to be the only thing i wrote on my old blog until i stopped being 🖤🦇🥀⛓ emo girl, also this is dialogue heavy) sypnosis: unhappiness brings out the worst in people. unfortunately for vyn, so does guilt.

vyn wasn’t happy. for a long time he knew he wasn’t happy with you. it was the small things first. the way he didn’t find your quirks cute anymore, just plain old annoying. then, the fighting started. the way he didn’t care to deal with any more of your bullshit, or you in general, if he was being honest.

so when you two fought, he took a drive. he drives to the nearest club. he doesn’t know where he wanted to go, but frankly, as long as it was away from you, it was good enough. 

and when he finds himself in the arms of someone, someone who didn’t resemble you, someone who wasn’t anything like you. he’ll tell himself he was just drunk, that it meant nothing. but he knew what it was, he just wanted the easy way out of your relationship.

and for a while after that, it was good. you apologize to him, smiling, while he tries to hide his stained shirt. you make dinner while he tries to wash lipstick off his shirt.

for a moment, it sets in. he keeps his mouth shut, though. he keeps it shut because what can he do? tell you? ruin everything when it was finally getting good?

but as fate would have it, vyn was a weak man. he loses himself to desire and he loses himself to regret.

“i saw someone that night when we fought.”

“what?”

“i’m sorry, i just needed to tell you. it wasn’t right to keep it to-”

“it’s not right to keep it a secret but making out with some bitch after a petty argument is?”

“i’m already being honest with you! what do you want me to do?”

“i don’t fucking know, vyn? what do you want from me? you think i should be on my knees and thanking you for telling me you cheated on me?!”

“god, mc-”

“was it good?”

“what?”

“was she a good kisser? was she pretty? did she look at you like she loved you for so long she starts to forget her name when you look her in the eye? because, fuck, vyn, i did! i put everything into this, into loving you. and it’s so unfair because it’s like you don’t care at all.”

“mc, i was drunk and upset. it’s not any excuse but-”

“no it’s not! it’s not an excuse, vyn! so what does it matter? because you think that the thought of you drunk and making out with some bitch is making the situation any better? i know you vyn. when you’re drunk, i know that you know what you’re doing. i’m just collateral damage right? you’re just sad because you don’t have that chick and now you don’t have me either.”

“i didn’t even know her!”

“and i’m supposed to be happy about that?”

“fuck, i don’t know?”

“you think i’m going to be happy that you were willing to mess around with whoever gave you the time of day, not after a few minutes away from me? fuck you vyn. i fucking hate you so much.”

“i’m sorry”

“that doesn’t change anything.”

you walk out of the door. you don’t know where you’re going, but frankly, as long as it was away from him, it was good enough.

vyn sits there desolate and exhausted. tears were streaming down his face, and the sheer desperation doesn’t quite reach the breaking point. he wants to chase after you, to beg, to tell you he was wrong, he was the one who ruined everything, but what difference would it make? you were well aware.

the room is so devoid of life, the only last remnants of it being his broken sobs and the occasional drop of tear on the carpet.

[imagining-in-the-margins]

The Birds & The Bees (S.R. | Pt. 4)

Summary: Reader has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, which her Professor is hellbent on making a little bit better. A/N: If y’all thought you hated Kyle (bathroom bitch boy), just wait until you meet the new antagonist (of the female variety) here... I hope you all enjoy! 😚 Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Slow Burn (NSFW, 18+) Content Warning: Sexual themes/fantasies Word Count: 6.3k

MASTERLIST | Series Masterlist

——————————————————

Einstein once attributed his genius to his childlike sense of humor. Studies performed since then have largely proven his point — funny people tend to have higher IQs, which makes sense when you consider the cognitive and emotional intelligence required to produce humor.

Spencer Reid was no exception. The only problem was that his humor was so remarkably niche and impossibly specific that barely anyone could understand the punchline. He insisted to me that he’d gotten better over the years, which I only barely believed… until he told me a joke that hadn’t left my mind since. A joke that he described as ‘just crude enough to make it palatable to the layman.’

"Caffeine and Viagra are both phosphodiesterase inhibitors,” he’d said — a slow start if there had ever been such a thing. But I held on to hope, hanging on the ecstatic, guileless smile he wore. And boy, was I glad I did, because what he’d said next broke me into a frankly embarrassing fit of giggles that returned with the memory every time.

“Which explains why both of these drugs keep you up all night."

The poor barista stuck working the busy early morning shift eyed me like I’d grown two heads when I once again devolved into laughter for no apparent reason. I almost felt embarrassed about it, but then I reassured myself that if she’d heard Dr. Spencer Reid tell a drug-induced-boner joke, she would also laugh about it forever.

I’d been thinking about him a lot lately. Not in a perverse way, either, despite his increasing comfort in breaching such topics in my presence. It was more like I’d started to infuse him into my every day, finding him in whatever way my brain would allow. While I made my way to his office, I breathed in the soothing scent drifting from the cups that were precariously perched in flimsy cardboard.

The smell took me back to quiet moments in his office. The kind of simple serenity that accompanied silence between two people who need not speak to share ideas. Where the second you looked away, you felt their eyes follow you, like the universe couldn’t maintain its structural integrity without one of you looking at the other.

It was intoxicating and alluring; so easy to lose myself in. Something I knew was dangerous for a number of reasons.

For example, when I am not paying the utmost attention to my surroundings, I have a tendency to lose track of where I am and what I’m doing. I also tend to… drop things. Especially hot and otherwise dangerous things.

Things like the two cups of coffee that finally became too much for shallow, defective cardboard.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I screeched as I became acutely aware of every place where scorching hot, drenched clothing hung on angry skin. Normally, I would at least try to sound more dignified while on my way to work, but it hardly seemed like it mattered anymore.

I was too busy hurriedly tearing at my shirt and dropping everything else I was holding. I’d gotten three whole buttons on my shirt popped by the time I remembered it wasn’t technically necessary. I dropped my bag immediately at the thought, tugging on the hem of the shirt and trying to bring it over my head.

Unfortunately, I still hadn’t regained my grace, and in the muddled mess of fabric, I’d also grabbed hold of my undershirt. Which meant that whoever was walking through the empty halls of the early morning in academia would find me, with my stomach exposed and clothing dripping while unintelligible curses flowed freely from my lips.

I expected most people would probably just turn around and leave. I probably would’ve. The giant splatter of coffee and the absolute idiot slipping in it were beyond saving.

But there was at least one person who saw the mess and stayed.

I smelled his cologne before I felt his hand was pressed over the bare skin of my lower back. Despite the fact my skin was burning, it welcomed the warmth of his touch. My body stopped at his command, waiting for him to break me free of the paradoxically frozen state I was in.

He pulled the shirt back down, just enough that I could see him when he wrapped his cardigan around my shoulders and started guiding me into his office, which I’d somehow managed to almost walk straight past in my daze. I wished that I could go back there, to the imaginary world where he hadn’t just seen me half disrobed and cursing while covered in the coffee that I’d meant to give to him.

Spencer’s hands left me once the door was shut, probably trusting, or at least hoping, that I could figure out the mess on my own. Oddly enough, I didn’t notice any signs of him staring at me. Like he only felt comfortable looking when I was clothed.

I tried not to think about it. Once I did manage to free myself of one of the shirts — without further flashing my boss — the anxiety brewing inside of me burst out in the form of frantic shouting.

“Hi Professor! I’m so sorry, I spilled the coffee!”

“Yeah, I... saw the puddle,” he mumbled, throwing a cursory glance back at the hallway before his eyes met mine with a terrifying level of compassion, “Are you alright?”

“Besides the boiling liquid on my skin and the horrid embarrassment? I guess,” I mumbled back before shouting, “Shit! This is why that woman sued McDonald’s! Why do stores serve coffee like that?!”

Spencer didn’t really say anything. In fact, he kind of just stood as frozen as I had been, staring at everything around me rather than meeting my eyes again. But while he seemed somewhat cool and composed, I continued to tug at my clothes to try and avoid the friction. It was then that he cleared his throat, covering his face just like he’d done when he saw me in an arguably more provocative position the week before.

Arguably, I said. I should have known that Spencer would win any argument. I should have considered why he was making such a point of not looking at me while I clawed at the white undershirt turned beige. But I didn’t. Not until I looked down to inspect the state of my skin.

I realized then that Spencer had been trying to figure out a way to inform me that not only had the coffee turned my shirt a different shade — it had also eliminated the opacity.

He could see my bra. Spencer Reid, my boss, was trying not to stare at my very clearly visible bra.

“God, this is the worst Monday of all Mondays!” I whined between half-sobs, “and Mondays are already bad, Professor!”

There must have been something else in that cry, too. Something akin to permission. Enough for him to step closer, managing to avoid looking at my chest in the process. I’d entirely forgotten that he’d wrapped me in his cardigan until he pulled it tighter around my shoulders like his own version of an embrace.

“That they are, Bunny.”

If my skin had been heated before, it turned to flames at the use of the nickname. It was honestly a pure work of magic that the liquid on me didn’t turn vaporize the second I’d heard the word.

Bunny?

I pushed the thought away as quick as humanly possible, focusing instead on the way my clothes were going from uncomfortably hot to frigid as a result of the usually refreshing air conditioning. But when I was once again reminded of the obvious undergarment, I sighed.

“I can probably ask a friend to bring me a replacement shirt, or just go to class like this,” I thought aloud, “No one really looks at me, anyway...”

Spencer’s response came immediately, his hands flying up in protest as he shouted, “No!”

I wasn’t quite sure how to reply to that, or even which part of the statement he was objecting to, so he was met with a wide-eyed, slow blinking stare.

“I-I mean, I have a shirt you can borrow. I don’t want to subject you to any further embarrassment,” he explained at a significantly more appropriate volume, “You can just wear my extra shirt.”

He turned away from me before I could respond, shuffling through something hidden beneath his desk that created more questions than answers for me.

“Why do you have an extra shirt?”

“Go bag,” he said in the most nondescript manner. It wasn’t necessarily abnormal, either. The question I’d asked didn’t spark any concerns in his mind, but it also wasn’t the question that I felt needed to be asked.

What I really wanted to say was caught in my throat. My hands clamped together in front of me tighter than my jaw that resisted opening to make way for the thoughts that felt more scandalous than they should’ve been.  

“U-Um, Professor don’t you think—“

“Here you go,” he offered with a smile. I took the large, plain black shirt with a hefty dose of caution, my hands shaking along with my broken voice that still couldn’t finish the sentence from before.

Spencer finally noticed the struggle on my face, and I watched his body move from comfortable to defensive in a matter of seconds. Like he was worried he’d done something wrong in trying to be kind.

He hadn’t, but I felt like I had.

“Won’t people... you know?” I mumbled, motioning a hand between the two of us, “I’m showing up to your class at 8AM wearing your clothes…”

I thought that the words alone would be enough. I thought that the gesture was overkill. But Spencer was still staring at me with his head cocked to the side and his eyes narrowed in thought.

I was going to have to say it.

Won’t they think we’re having sex?

There was no way I was going to be able to say it.

“Aren’t you concerned about people getting… the wrong idea?” I blurted out, instead.

The confusion on his face shifted to a clever little self-assured smirk so fast that I almost missed the transition. My stomach flipped from the sight, but then he spoke again, and what had felt like it was filled with butterflies turned to rocks.

“I’d much rather them gossip about something that’s not happening than watch the young boys ogle you instead of paying attention.”

It wasn’t the words, but the way that he’d said them. Like they were silly, like the idea of us being together was so preposterous it could only be entertained by people he perceived to be children.

I was foolish, too.

“Don’t worry about them,” he said with a wave, “Just worry about making this Monday a little bit better.”

“O-okay. Thanks,” I whispered, turning and running from the room only to be reminded of the mess I’d made. But the pool of tawny liquid on the floor wasn’t the most disastrous thing anymore. That honor was reserved for the state of my heart, begrudgingly continuing to beat despite being broken.

Scooping up my bag that I’d abandoned before, I tried to allow myself to be happy about the little things. For instance, the fact that the shirt Spencer had handed me was probably the softest thing I’d ever felt in my life. It made sense, considering the sensory issues he always described.

Still, I waited until I was in the safety of a bathroom stall before I buried my face in the fabric. It smelled just like him, a mixture of freshly done laundry and vanilla. Much better than the cheap, burnt coffee that covered me. Funny enough, that sort of smelled like him, too.

By the time I slipped into his clothes, I had almost forgotten his joke entirely. I was too lost in the joy of sweater paws from his cardigan and fabric that felt like a hug. Or at least, what I’d imagined a hug from him would be like.

The energy it provided me was a better pick-me-up than any cup of coffee had ever been. I kept my squealing as quietly as I could, bouncing in place just like the nickname he’d chosen to let stick. But before I returned to him, I felt something. A small, noticeable weight in one of the cardigan pockets.

If I’d thought about it for longer than five seconds, if I’d reminded myself that they were his clothes and not mine, I would’ve let it be. I wouldn’t have pulled the little object from its safe hiding spot. It would have stayed locked away, leaving me none the wiser of its presence.

But I didn’t think about it, and then there I was, holding onto the sobriety token I should’ve seen coming.

Not that it was a bad thing; I already knew Spencer had a history with drugs. He’d mentioned it in passing in class and was deeply involved with a number of volunteer programs around the area. At one point, I’d even taken it upon myself to research his history.

That research, while I regretted it now, feeling that it violated his privacy some way or another, led me to a second conclusion. As my thumb ghosted over the embossed number five, I realized that Spencer had been sober since he was released from prison.

My heart swelled with pride and relief that felt shameful. I didn’t want the token to have such a profound effect on the image of him I’d already crafted in my mind. Lord knew I didn’t need any more reasons to idolize him. And, at the end of the day, I’d only discovered this information by happenstance.

Part of respect, I decided, meant ignoring the way that fate seemed to push us together. If Spencer ever wanted my opinion on his sobriety or strength, surely, he would just ask. So, I slipped the chip back into the pocket and made my way back to him without worry for what it meant.

While I had no worries, Spencer was another story. I’d barely even made it through the door when he saw me. All of the papers he’d been holding immediately fell from his hands the same way the coffee had fallen from mine.

“Oh no! My clumsiness was contagious!” I laughed, bolting over to help him only to find his face an unhealthy shade of red. He chuckled back but said nothing else as he scrambled to pick up the loose-leaf that had splayed itself all over the floor.

Once we were back on our feet and as collected as we could be considering the circumstances of the morning thus far, his eyes met mine again. His cheeks were still flushed, unable to focus on anything specific and choosing to traverse my body the same way his hands had on Halloween.

“Sorry,” he mumbled in a way that made me wonder if he knew I could hear him, “I was distracted by how unfair it is that you look better in my clothes than I do.”

It was my turn to be flustered, but Spencer didn’t let the moment drag on. He tore himself away from me in every sense of the word, marching past me and halfway exiting the room before he found the courage to look at me again.

“Are you ready to head to class?” he asked as if it were an option.

I suppose to him, it was. For a second I imagined what the future would hold for us if I’d said no. What would he have done if I begged him to stay with me, instead? What if we rebelled against expectation and remained locked away in his office until we grew tired of one another? What if we never did?

My mind filled with fantasies of Spencer’s hands freely feeling my skin the way his clothes could. I could hear soft, breathy sounds of desire shaped like my name. For all of my inexperience, he would still find me intoxicating. He would grow drunk on me the same way a child finds endless joy in sweets that really ought to make them sick.

Then again, maybe he had grown used to the sugar. Maybe he wanted something more mature, a bitterness like molasses that was only earned from years I hadn’t had yet.

Regardless, I couldn’t really get into any of that. Instead, I just flashed a very awkward thumbs up to the man fifteen years my elder when I droned, “Sure am, Professor man.”

As stupid as it felt to do something so juvenile, the smile he gave was worth it.

“Alright then, Bunny,” he answered with his own little peace sign, “Let’s hop along.”

——————————————————

It hadn’t even been a week since I saw her, scantily clad in the plush, socially acceptable equivalent of lingerie. It’d been even less time since I admitted my own weakness to her. I’d replayed the memories of her visceral responses to my touch enough times that I should be sick of it. But there was no tiring of her.

I considered deleting the photos she’d sent me, convinced that it was cruel to keep them when she’d only sent them while inebriated and undoubtedly exhausted beyond belief.

But when I woke up in the morning, my stomach still reeling from the knowledge of what I’d done, all that she’d sent was a curious collection of emotes and a very brief note.

“Oops!” she’d written, “Bad bunny?”

I put that phrase out of my mind immediately, unable to handle the way it incited the desire for destruction in my veins.

“I’m always glad to hear that you are safe.”

That was the end of the conversation, and I was grateful for that much. Even the few words we’d exchanged would haunt me until I saw her again. Of course, the torture ended there, but only for a few seconds before it was replaced with other images and words.

It’d been hours since I’d found her flailing about half-naked in the hall while uttering rushed curses that sounded too crude for her lips. It’d been hours since I felt the soft skin of her lower back and became lost in an entirely different set of fantasies.

It’d been even less time since I saw her standing at my door, pulling on the sleeves of my sweater and staring at me with nervous, shifty glances. Completely unaware of just how beautiful she was in her simplicity. How much more torturous it was to see her wearing my clothes than any lustful suffering that lingerie or nudity could elicit.

I thought that it would get better throughout the day, but it didn’t. It only got worse.

I’d stepped out of my office for barely half an hour, but I returned to find her curled up on the plush chair. Her shoes were slipped off, revealing colorful socks that clashed with every other neutral color she wore. It somehow made me want her even more.

I stayed stuck for a few seconds longer, watching her with bated breath and shameless admiration. She was so caught up in the papers on her lap that she didn’t even notice my presence until the door clicked shut. It was then that she turned to see me, allowing a smile to blossom across her face despite eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“What’s all of this?” she asked, gesturing to the collection of bags hanging from my wrists.  

“Did you know…” I started before my heart stopped at how she always leaned forward with excitement whenever I started a sentence that way, “that food is one of the best ways to solve a terrible Monday?”

“Which scientific study did you get that from?”

I paused again, debating telling her the many studies that would support such a theory, but then decided against it. Instead, I sought out her laughter and childlike joy that always brought out the best of her.

“Garfield,” I answered.

Sure enough, the office filled with the melodious sound of her happiness. I moved as quietly as I could, thinking back to when I was younger and thought of how powerful bottled laughter would be if I could capture it. Hers would surely right so many wrongs.

“You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to, but I figure it’s the least I could do.”

She approached me to assist before I’d even made it to my desk, and although I thought her hands were far too soft to be bothered with something like this, I allowed her to help.

“You could do nothing, you know. It was my own fault.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to.”

She laughed again, shier and shrinking into the sweater as she tried to find her place in such a domestic activity as sharing a meal with me in private. I thought of how it was a taste of my dreams.

Because as often as I did fantasize about her, undone, bare-skinned, and defenseless to my desires, I just as often envisioned her just like this. In fact, I found those fantasies more dangerous. They couldn’t be written off as mere lust. They were another, scarier thing.

“Well, lucky you I am an exhausted, broke grad student, so free food will always win me over,” she muttered, half-sarcastically but just sad enough to bother me.  

“Duly noted,” I said.

I hid away the promises I wanted to make. That if she were mine, she would want for nothing. That I would give her everything she needed to bloom. That I would prune away any neighboring flower that dared get in her way or block the sunlight. There would be no need to worry of predators or pollinators intruding, because she would belong to me and only me.

I would be her earth, her rain, and her sun. I would be surely and shamelessly selfish.

Her shoulders rose with a cheeky, excited little giggle once she had collected her food. I wanted nothing more than to let her enjoy it to her heart’s content… but there was a problem.

“Nuh-uh, no way,” I chuckled before she had a chance to return to the chair with her precarious paper plate, “Get in the other chair.”

Her face scrunched up, bouncing back and forth between the two seats in the room like she’d heard something so strange that it must have been a mistake.

“Wh— your chair?”

“I will not have you ruining another shirt today,” I explained. It caused the confusion to quickly shift to an embarrassed frustration within seconds. Just as she opened her mouth to protest my teasing, I continued with something I knew would tie her tongue until she could no longer argue.

“If you’re so worried about what they’ll say when you show up in my shirt, just think of how they’ll talk if they catch you wearing nothing.”

That stubborn little thing still tried. Her mouth floundered, strange sounds of protest starting but never finishing until she gave up. She sulked over to the seat with an odd amount of self-satisfaction. She settled into my space as comfortably as she always did. With an ease that was almost unsettling to my tired, tortured heart.

Swapping places with her for that little bit of time was a good idea. I hadn’t expected that it would bring me as much serenity as it did. My usually busy lips kept their focus on the food, opting to listen to her ramble about any and everything that came to mind.

It wasn’t until she was fifteen minutes into an explanation on her paper that I realized how little I’d tried to learn about her life outside of me. Whether it was self-preservation or narcissism, I’d never decided. But what I was certain of was that it had been a brutal form of self-sabotage.

Because as I sat there, watching her clumsily, excitedly swinging her fork and proving my point that it had been a good decision to give her the desk, I saw her for in a different light than before.

She was not just a beautiful, mysterious flower peeking through the concrete. She was the trembling giant, the clonal colony of thousands of quaking aspen trees. An extravagant network of roots that flowed far beyond the seed that started them.

This sprout might be new, but her soul was ancient and celestial, wise and immortal.

“Who knows?” she sighed, coming to a natural conclusion of a story I had almost missed while lost in daydreams and metaphors, “Maybe one day I’ll be a professor, too.”

“You’d be good at it.”

For once, it felt like she accepted the compliment without a fight. I considered it progress all the way up until she shot back a thinly veiled taunt.

“Thanks. Means a lot from someone who has 4 stars on rate my professor!”

“Don’t forget the chili pepper,” I jokingly returned.

“Not sure I’d get one of those.”

I knew that my disagreement wouldn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things, so I opted for a slightly-self-centered flattery instead.

“Just show up in that outfit,” I said with a nod that barely hid my actual intention of focusing my eyes on the rest of her, “you’ll be golden.”

“You gonna let me borrow it in ten years?” she hummed.

It was a dangerous proposition, an implication that made the pitter-pattering in my chest unbearable. Rather than chasing her down the rabbit hole of fantasies, I just chuckled before I answered, “You know how to find me.”

Then it happened again. Her face slowly changed, growing from a cautious optimism to a yearning. A subtle hint of words left unsaid. And although she wet her lips and set down her fork, the words never came out. They stayed stalled in her throat, and there was no discernible way for me to drag them out of her without hurting the both of us.

When a loud knock resounded through the room, the thought ended altogether.

“Come in,” I grimly announced, recognizing the intrusive sound as the death rattle for whatever might have been said.

As the door opened, I realized the same time (y/n) did that we had forgotten that the rest of the outside world wasn’t familiar with our dynamic. They didn’t have the backstory of how she’d perched herself on my chair with her shoes off and wearing my clothes.

Torn between scrambling to take more socially acceptable positions and the knowledge that our hurry would make us look even more suspicious, we both opted to remain frozen in place like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train.

When the door opened, however, I was somewhat relieved to see someone I found completely unthreatening. My closest colleague, a woman that should really terrify me all things considered, seemed mostly perplexed when she found a young girl in my seat.

She quickly turned to me, drawing out her words as she asked, “Oh. I’m sorry, am I... interrupting something?”

“No, what can I help you with, Candy?”

“I was hoping we could talk about my current paper proposal.”

She paused, and I took the moment to follow her glower to the flower still stationary behind my desk. (Y/n) stared back, seemingly frightened by the presence of the other Professor.  

“If you’re busy with... office hours…” Candy muttered before turning back to me, “we can always set up a meeting for a better time.”

Before I could address the possible tension or implication, the girl at my desk sprung to action, clearing off any sign of her presence as she spoke.

“You know, I actually need to get going.”

“Are you sure?”

She didn’t look at me when she answered, “Yeah, I’m sure your papers are more important.”

If I’d turned back to Candy, I might have seen the condescending scowl that was driving her away. If I’ve had any inclination or desire to look at Candy, I would have realized that (y/n) wasn’t trying to escape from her connection to me. She was just trying to get out of my way.

It didn’t make it any harder to watch her leave. I took solace in the fact that she held tighter to my cardigan, trusting me to keep her warm by proxy as she ventured back into the real world. The world where we couldn’t be in peace.

“Thanks for the advice, Professor,” she said before she left, “You were right. As usual.”

One last smile was shared, somber but sobering. A necessary break from the intimacy of the moment.

“See you in class.”

The office felt so much duller without her radiance, but my disappointment would have to wait. As much as I actually didn’t mind the world knowing how my heart hurt from her absence, I knew that it was best I didn’t let it impact her academic career.

“Sorry again for the intrusion,” my colleague said in a much happier voice.  

“It’s not a problem at all.”

She must have noticed the way it sounded like a lie, because her tone quickly shifted back to a slightly disgruntled confusion.

“I didn’t realize she was your student, too. What class is she in?”

It was juvenile, really, the way my heart fluttered so ridiculously at the mere mention of her existence. The excuse to discuss her again.

“Oh, did she not tell you?”

Candy just shook her head with a blatantly false smile.

“Unsurprisingly modest,” I laughed, making my way back over to my seat and running my fingers over the wooden armrests like it would be the same as touching her ghost, “She’s my TA.”

“Oh… I see.”

“She was the only one who would put up with me,” I offered with a chuckle. Self-deprecating humor was the only reliable personality trait I had. It was also, unfortunately, one that most women in my life despised and refused to let sit.

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

It sounded less sweet coming from her. I wrote it off as a product of the differences in their species. While the hummingbird of a girl who’d just flittered away was used to only drinking the sweetest, purest nectar, the bird of prey who’d entered relied on the work of others to gather the sweetness before they were devoured.

That wasn’t to say she was cruel; hawks are as much a miracle of nature as hummingbirds. I simply related to one more than the other. I understood one while the other remained a mystery. And I loved mysteries more than myself.

“So, you wanted to talk about your paper?”

“Oh! Yes,” she chirped, passing the packet over to me now that I’d found my way back to what she probably deemed my rightful place. “The conference is coming up so much faster than I anticipated, and I would love to hear your opinions on my first draft.”

I’d already started to read the first page when she spoke again, uncharacteristically bashful and anxious, “Since we’ll be presenting together, I figured...”

“Yeah, no problem at all,” I interrupted, not wanting her to dwell nor expand on the thought of us doing anything together any more than necessary, “I can send you mine.”

It felt curt, blunt, and off putting when I said it, but she didn’t take it as such.

“Wonderful. You have such a unique voice when you’re writing. It’s very refreshing.”

Immediately, a memory appeared at the forefront of my mind and led to a laugh that I couldn’t contain. Candy seemed pleased at the sound, and I felt the need to explain.

“Thanks. (Y/n) likened it to Ray Bradbury at one point, although in different and less flattering words.”

I could hear her clear as day, quoting my words with an overdramatized effect before laughing, ‘Pack it up, Bradbury, you’ve got more science stuff to explain.’

Of course, we both found her laughter-ridden explanation of the ‘meme’ far funnier than the original joke. She was probably the only person in the world who never seemed bothered by explaining everything to me ad nauseam.

“She is... certainly a choice as a TA,” Candy strained upon scrutinizing the smile that had returned to my face for the first time since (y/n)’s departure, “Will she be joining us at the conference?”

But then the guilt returned, wiping the smile from my face and replacing happy memories with deviant thoughts and fears.

“Oh... you know, I haven’t asked her.”

“That’s perfectly alright! I think we’ll do just fine without her.”

“Right...” I whispered, glancing back down at the stack of papers in my hand before setting it in the tray designated for (y/n). “I’ll have her look at your paper just in case.”

A lull in the conversation stretched past the point of comfort for both of us, and I glanced up at the woman I actually felt guilty for ignoring in place of fantasies that would probably never come to be. She hadn’t even done anything to warrant my disregard. She was an attractive woman — as beautiful as she was brilliant, really — she had worked very hard to garner my trust and academic collaboration. At one point, I had considered her one of the few potential candidates for something more than a purely academic partner.

But there was something about the way she looked at the honeyed girl that made my hair stand on end. A defensiveness and instinct that couldn’t be ignored.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“No, that was all,” she said as she broke from what I presumed to be her own daydream, “I hope your semester keeps going well.”

“Thanks, I hope yours does, too.”

I meant it, despite the aforementioned concern. I wished her well in the semester for both selfless and selfish reasons. I wished her well because she deserved it, certainly. But the other reason, the larger one, was that I hoped she would remain distracted. I hoped that she didn’t notice the way I would slip away from her affections to chase those from a more interesting challenge. One that remained mysterious, with hair covered in pollen and lips sweet with ambrosia.

“I’ll talk to you soon, Dr. Reid.”

I failed to respond to her again before the door shut because my hands were already busy with rekindling contact with another.

“I have a proposition for you, Bunny.”

“Sounds ominous. I’m in.”  

The fact that the response came before I could even shut off the display was so characteristic of her that I had to laugh.

“You haven’t even heard it yet,” I observed, to which she once again immediately responded, “Your point being?”

“I’m afraid this is an obligation that does require some expansion before agreement.”

Her response was slower, then, and I could almost see her with a slight panic and overwhelming curiosity that grew stronger by the second.

“Ominous and vaguely unsettling,” she said.  

I considered drawing it out further, letting her imagination truly run wild with the possibilities. But then I realized that if she thought hard enough about it, she might reach the same place that had immediately come to my mind.

“Would you like to attend the upcoming conference with me?” I relented, almost stopping there but then frantically tagging on the conditions I knew would be most likely to cause hesitation. “You’d have your own room, of course. The department and I will help with funds.”

But, as it turned out, I didn’t need to be worried.

“A cheap weekend away from school where I get to be a nerd with you?” she sent with another set of small, smiling faces I was only just starting to understand, “Of course I’m going to say yes, Professor!”

“Perfect. I’ll arrange it.”

“I can’t wait!”

Although I felt the same, I forced myself to end contact again. I put my phone out of reach to prevent myself from spoiling any more of my fantasies than I already had. I didn’t need her to second-guess the possibilities of a weekend away together now that she’d already agreed to it.

The thought alone sparked guilt anew. Through the entire interaction, I’d infused each word with a charge that shouldn’t have been. Each line was far more provocative than it needed to be.

It was just an academic conference. Most people found them terribly dull, not to mention physically exhausting. It would not be a time away like most couples dreamed of because we were not a couple in any sense of the word.

Yet… I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps there weren’t as many differences as one might think. Because while yes, most people would be bored, I didn’t think Bunny would be. Clandestine meetings made between conference meetings sounded exactly like the kind of dreams we would share.

I believed it so strongly that my mind had already drafted several narratives that would suit her. I pictured her and I sharing company in public, unafraid of public displays of affection — innocent, childish kinds, of course — because we were miles away from those who might care.

That drunken, lust-inducing, half-lidded gaze from the week before would return. Except this time, I would taste the wine on her tongue, my hands sliding not over fluffy fabric, but the same skin that I’d felt for the first time that morning.

Behind our door, I would teach her so many things. Things that she would have begged me for. Things that others would see written on her skin in the shape of my fingers and mouth. Things that she would carry with a straighter back and dripping down her legs.

I didn’t just want to destroy her. I wanted to break her so that I could build her back with gold-laced lacquer. She would be my kintsugi creation full of sugar and honey, just imperfect enough that the sticky residue of her sweetness would slip through the cracks to coat everything she touched.

And then she would touch me, and I might finally feel like I deserved anything at all.

——————————————————

| Part Five |

[darkmulti]

hi, can you write yandere! bts reaction to you slapping them in an argument please?

⚠️: Yandere!BTS, slapping, implied smut, manipulation

-> sorry for any mistakes

»»———————————- ♔ -———————————««

Jin

Jin was once again, being narrow minded. “It was for work, Jin! I wasn’t working with him for fun, it’s our job. I can’t believe you punched him in the face. You embarrassed me in front of everyone!”

“Great! If you’re embarrassed, quit your job! So you never have to see them again!

“I’m not quitting! You can get that out of your head! I would leave you before quitting-” a hard slap cut you off. You instinctively covered your stinging cheek and took a step back. You were in a state of shock. Yes, you and Jin had petty arguments here and there but they never got physical. By the end of the day, you guys worked it out. However, after he laid his hand on you, you knew it was over. You looked up at him and slapped him right back. “Fuck you! We’re over.”

You turned around and ran upstairs to your shared bedroom. This house was under Jin’s name so it was you who has to go. You grabbed your suitcase and started packing all your clothes. Jin rushed into the shared room and pulled your suitcase away. He dumped all the clothes on the ground and threw the suitcase across the room.

“You’re not fucking leaving! Hang up all these clothes. Stop overreacting like a pathetic little bitch.”

You scoff and get off the floor. “I’m a ‘pathetic little bitch’?! Says my insecure husband.”

“You won’t be able to survive without me. No other man would be able to spoil you like I do. I’ve given you the high life, now obey me in return.”

“I’m not your slave, I don’t have to fucking listen to you.”

“Do you pay the bills in this house?! Do you buy the groceries?! Do you pay for insurance?! No? Then, shut up. You wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for me. You’d probably be living on the streets if I didn’t take you in. I was the one who made sure you got that job because I knew it would make you happy. If it weren’t for me, those guys would’ve laughed in your face, Y/N. All you do is go to work, flirt with your co-workers and act all big shot around me. The least you could do is respect me and our relationship.” With that, he slammed the door shut, leaving you alone while you questioned your worth.

Yoongi

It started off as a calm and quiet evening but as soon as your phone vibrated, it quickly changed.

You began working for a new company and your new boss has been up your ass. He treats you like a personal assistant and it was pissing you off. You noticed that you were the only one who was being treated like this and it angered you. Once you’re clocked out, you don’t like to be disturbed unless it’s urgent. But your boss doesn’t seem to understand that and asks you to do work while your clocked out. You obviously refuse because why should you do work if you’re not getting paid?

Anyways, he’s always texting you about how to do different kinds of paper work, who’s working, who’s not working, how to hire people, ect — he should know how to do all of it because he’s the boss. When your off work, he’s texting you ever 10-15 minutes, asking for help. You’re tired of it, but can’t really do anything about it. You can’t quit just yet because you’re trying to prove to your boyfriend that you don’t need him to survive.

Yoongi has always underestimated you. Man literally thinks that you’re dumb. One night, you both got into a heated argument and he told you that you wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for him. The very next day, you went to a bunch of job interviews and got hired on that same day.

It’s been two weeks at your new job and ever since, your phone is always blowing up thanks to your boss. Even at 10pm, your boss is texting you about work. Yoongi became annoyed because you were always on your phone. You guys got into another argument about this so now, you hide your phone from him so he can’t see the notifications.

Ever since then, things have been a little better. Tonight was movie night and you foolishly had your phone in your hand. Throughout the movie, your phone was lighting up and vibrating multiple times and a Yoongi was tired of it.

“Who the hell are you texting now?!” He snatched your phone out of your hands and when he saw that it was your boss, he threw your phone against the wall. “I told you to block that man! Yet, you go against me and continue to text him! Are you sleeping with him? Are you cheating on me with him?!” He screamed, making your heart leap out of your chest.

You didn’t say anything. Instead you ran to the door. You didn’t want to deal with him anymore. You deserved better. You tried to leave but he slammed the door on your fingers and pulled you back inside. You slapped his face and tried leaving again but he grabbed your hair and pulled you down to the basement.

“You made me do this to you. I warned you plenty of times to stay off your phone but do you listen to me? No. I’ve given you too much freedom and now you don’t know how to behave. That stops now.”

Hoseok

“Get up. Boss wants to see you.” The guards said, pulling you up by your arms and dragging you out of the cell. “Boss my asshole. Who does he think he is? Kidnapping me for no good reason. I just wanted coffee and now I’m god knows where!” The guard chuckles at your bratty behaviour. “Just a little advice, don’t talk to boss like that. He’ll blow your brains out.”

“Shut up, muscle head. Don’t tell me what to do.” The guard stops and aims a gun at your head. “Do it muscle head. Your boss will be so proud of you.” You said sarcastically. “Shut your mouth and keep walking. I may not be allowed to kill you but I can still still hurt you — really badly.”

“Are you threatening me muscle head?” You turn around, ready to scrap with the guard. He may be a lot bigger than you, but you’re a lot smarter and clever.

“Hey, hey, do we have a problem here?” A familiar voice interrupted. You turn around and your heart drops when you see his face. “No, boss. She’s just refusing to-”

“Hoseok?” You cut the guard off and step back. “Oh, so you still remember me?” He smirks and walks towards you but you keep walking back. “What do you want from me?”

“Isn’t the answer obvious? I want you back.”

“No! I broke up with you because you’re crazy. Leave me alone now. I’m a different person. I’m not the same Y/N that you manipulated and controlled. I left her behind. Now let me go!”

Hoseok cornered you. There was no where to run. “Are you sure that you left her behind? You’re claiming that you changed but you’re still very naive, darling.”

His words made your blood boil. Hoseok mentally and emotionally abused you. With the help of therapy, you were able to pick up and put your broken self together. You thought that you’ve become a stronger person, but as soon as you saw his face, your confidence was washed away.

“I- I told you, I’m different now!” You tried to sound brave, but your facial expression sold you out. Hoseok wasn’t dumb; he knew you were scared shitless. “So, show me that your a different person. How will you escape me this time, darling?” He traps you in between his arms and leans in close to your face. In a panic, you slapped him across the face and made a run for it.

You somehow managed to get out of his large mansion, but Hoseok was running after you the whole time. You tried losing him at sharp turns and big crowds, but he was right on your ass. You saw a security guard and bolted towards him. “Sir, sir! There’s a- a man...” you said, to catch your breath, “a man chasing me. He kidnapped me. Please, I need your help.”

“That’s enough darling.” Hoseok caught up to you and without a second thought, you hid behind the security guard. “Sir, please! Arrest this man! He kidnapped me!”

The security guard was ready to take action until he saw the man’s face. “M-mr. Jung?! Sir, I had no idea that she was running from you! Sir, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” The guard grabbed your arm and pushed you to Hoseok.

The commotion had everyone watching. The security guard was on his knees with his hands interlocked together. “Please spare my family and I. Mr. Jung it was an honest mistake.”

“What the hell?” You quietly muttered. “You see that, darling. Everyone is afraid of me. So you can run all you want, but you can never ever hide from me.”

Namjoon

After a long week of work, your husband wanted to treat you to dinner. You’ve both been extremely busy due to your hectic schedule and it’s caused you both to drift apart. The only time you see Namjoon is in the morning and before going to bed.

It was Friday evening and you were getting ready for date night. You wore a gorgeous dress that was somewhat revealing but you were fine with it. You just wanted to look good for your husband.

You both agreed to meet at the restaurant and when Namjoon saw you, his jaw dropped. He possessively wrapped his arm around your waist and guided you to your private table. It was outside on a balcony. You guys had an ocean view, the weather was perfect and the stars were out. It was super romantic.

The date was perfect until the waiter started checking you out. Namjoon was visibly annoyed by the waiter but kept it to himself until he left. “Why did you have to wear that dress? Are you doing this on purpose? So other guys can check you out?” You were taken back by his questions. “No, I wore this dress for you, not for some random men.”

Namjoon scoffed and bit the inside of his cheek. “When will you stop lying?” He mumbled, but you were able to pick it up. “I’m not lying, Joon. And quite frankly, I’m hurt that you think I’m doing this for other men. You’re making me feel bad about myself.”

You got up and left but he followed behind. You walked out of the restaurant and got into your car. You drove back home without giving Namjoon a second glance. Once you arrived home, Namjoon pulled up next to your car. You both entered the house in silence.

Namjoon’s phone began ringing so, he went upstairs to answer it. After tidying the house, you went upstairs and overheard his conversation. “We could’ve had a wonderful night, but my wife doesn’t know how to dress.”

Now, he’s pissed you off. You slam open the room door, grab his phone and hang up. “Do you enjoy putting your own wife down?! Do you enjoy humiliating her?! I wore this dress for you! I wanted to look good for you! I wanted you to complement me and tell me I look pretty but instead you slut shame me!”

Out of anger, you slap him across the face. “I want a divorce. I’m not staying with someone who made me feel like complete shit. You can keep this house, I don’t want anything from you.”

Namjoon looked down and started to laugh. His laugh gradually got louder and it started to creep you out. You took a couple steps away from him but he noticed and grabbed your wrist. “You want a divorce? So you can go back to that restaurant and gets that waiters number? Over my dead body. You’re never leaving me. If I have to hurt you, I will.”

Jimin

“Jimin! Stop it! You’re overreacting!”

Jimin dragged you out of his friends house and pushed you into the car, creating a scene. Everyone was watching him degrade you for not wearing your wedding ring.

“You forgot?! What kind of wife do I have?! Are you dumb?! How could you forgot to wear your wedding ring?! That ring shows everyone that you’re mine!”

Jimin was full on screaming in your face and you couldn’t handle it. You broke down crying into your hands. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! It truly wasn’t my intention.” You were beyond terrified. You didn’t want to go home because you knew he would punish you. Even though he humiliated in front of everyone, you’d rather stay around people than go home and be alone with him.

You were about to go down on your knees until he slapped you and dragged you along. You tried getting out of his grip and in the process you accidentally slapped him. It wasn’t a hard slap or anything, you were just trying to get away. But of course, Jimin made it a big deal.

“First, you forgot your wedding ring; second, you flirted with all my friends and now, you slapped me?! Why don’t you want to leave, huh?! Who are you sleeping with?! Who are you trying to replace me with?!”

“No one! I didn’t mean to slap you! I’m sorry!” You were crying your eyes out. You’ve never seen Jimin this aggravated. You were afraid of what he might do to you so, you gave in because you didn’t want to worsen your punishment. He pushed you into the car and slammed the door shut. Throughout the car ride, his hand squeezed your thigh.

“You don’t even know what’s coming your way. Just wait till we get home” He muttered, causing your heart to drop into your stomach.

Taehyung

“Taehyung! Let me go! People are going to notice that I’m missing! You can’t keep me here forever!” You yelled, banging on the metal door.

It was your foolish mistake; trying to break up with him at his house. The moment you told him you want to part ways, he grabbed you and pushed you into the basement. Of course you fought back, but miserably lost against him. Now it was a game of waiting. Waiting for someone to notice your presence missing.

- 3 days later -

It been a couple days and you’re still locked in the basement. There was no clock or a window so you couldn’t keep track of time. Taehyung hadn’t come downstairs to check on you either. You were starving and living off the bathroom tap water. You were lying on the ground, looking lifeless when the heavy metal doors opened.

“Are you done playing your childish games?” Taehyung asked, crossing his arms. “You should be asking yourself that question, Taehyung. I’m not playing any games. I’m serious when I say I want out of this relationship.”

Taehyung closed the doors and walked towards you. He grabbed your shirt and pulled you close to his face. “All the years we spent together, you wanna throw it all away, angel?”

You turn your head away from him, avoiding his dark orbs. Taehyung noticed you avoiding his eyes so he pushed you against the wall and leaned in close to your face. “Look at me when I talk to you, angel. Or are you scared?” You were on the verge of tears but you didn’t want to appear weak in front of him. You looked him straight in the eyes and muttered, “get away from me.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, angel...” he grabbed your ear and tugged on it, “I’m your master. You listen to me.” His deep voice sent chills down your spine. You were close to dropping on your knees and submitting to him out of fear. But you didn’t. You couldn’t show him that you’re weak. “Taehyung, I’m serious! Get away from me!”

Taehyung frowned. You were really getting on his nerve. Was he not a good boyfriend? He spoiled you with gifts, spent all his time with you and he never cheated on you. What was he doing wrong? He thought to himself. “Why is my perfect, little, angel acting out? Look at me, angel. Tell me what I did wrong? Did you fall out of love? Did you find someone new?”

You look at him, dumbfounded. “Taehyung, you’re trying to control me! You’re making my decisions for me. I can’t go out alone, and if I do, you stalk me! Then you get possessive for no reason! You almost killed my bestfriend because he gave me a hug! You take things too far and you don’t trust me even after being together for years! You just want to control my life and feel like I’m suffocating when I’m with you.”

You could see fire in Taehyung’s eyes. He raised his hand, ready to slap you but before he could, you slapped him and ran for your life. You were light headed and weak, however if Taehyung finds you, you’ll face severe consequences.

Jungkook

Jungkook was going on and on about you going out with your male bestfriend.

You texted Jungkook last minute because you knew if you had told him earlier, he wouldn’t allow you to go. You simply messaged him, “I’m going out with Namjoon, I’ll be home by 6pm.”

Jungkook was livid. He called you multiple times but you were too scared to pick up. Finally, his 7th attempt was when you decided to pick up.

“Where the fuck are you?! I’m coming to pick you up right now.”

“Jungkook we just came to the restaurant, I’m not leaving.”

“Do you think it’s appropriate to go to a restaurant with another man?! What if people think you guys are dating, huh? You’re a fucking cheater. Tell me your location, now!”

“For the love of god, I’m not cheating on you! Namjoon and I have known each other since middle school. I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you. We are nothing but friends.”

Jungkook was pissed. He hung up the phone and went home. He poured himself a glass of whiskey before sitting down on the couch. He was waiting for your arrival. It was 5:54pm when the front door opened. You were right on time.

“See, I told you I’d be back by 6pm. I don’t know why you have to make everything such a big deal.”

“While I’m working my ass off, you’re out with another man.” He said, putting the glass of whiskey down.

“I work too, Jungkook. And I’m a full time student. If you want to get even with me, go out with your female friends. I wouldn’t mind at all. As long as they remain friends.”

Jungkook stood up and starting walking towards you. “So, you can cheat, but I can’t?” A taunting smile took over his face.

“Again, Jungkook? I am not cheating on you! Namjoon is just my close friend. That’s all. Nothing more or less.” You said, crossing your arms and unconsciously stepping back.

“Stop lying. Just tell me now and maybe I’ll forgive you.” You scoff and roll your eyes. “I don’t have time to deal with you, Jungkook. I’m tired.”

“Yeah, because you were fucking around with Namjoon, right?”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You turned around to leave but Jungkook pulled you back, harshly. Instinctively, your hand landed a heavy slap on his face. Unexpectedly, Jungkook slapped you right back — but a lot harder.

You winced as you held your warm cheek. Hot tears gliding down your face. Without thinking twice, you made a run for the door but Jungkook tackled you to the floor.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”

You can make your own ending:)

[takaraphoenix]

Ship game!! What about Nico and Will?? It’s pretty popular, but I don’t think I’ve seen you write much of it…

That's an interesting one in that I have vocalized my reasons for disliking it way back when it first became popular but instead of just linking that, it has been years so I think it's time for an updated version.

Firstly: This post is gonna be properly tagged and not crosstagged so if any shipper comes across it and feels the need to bitch about it, just don't; your lack of curating your own tumblr experience is not my problem! ;D

Now, there are three key factors that play into my dislike of this ship: How it was written, what it represents, how the fandom around it acts.

1. It’s rushed and uncomfortable

In BoO, it was incredibly rushed. They had literally five sentences of interactions before they walked into the literal sunset together. Five. It was just entirely born from Riordan's Noah's Ark Complex, where he just can't let people be single. The series was ending and he needed Nico to have an endgame so he rushed into some random romance with zero build-up.

The way their interactions went down was also severely uncomfortable for me. Will was acting so offended by Nico not wanting to go to camp and be friends in an entitled way that he had no right to be, he downright guilt-tripped Nico about how he had wanted to be friends. Nico has been just so severely traumatized at such a young age and his coping mechanism, as unhealthy as it was, was to run away and hide. Will acted like Nico not wanting to form attachments to people who could potentially leave him again was somehow just an Edgy Emo Decision and not a direct reaction to his trauma. His entire approach to Nico was basically all these hippie posts of "Don't have depression!! Just go out into the sun and stop being depressed!", which is already a bad take with non-medical people but he's supposed to be a doctor (and let's not get into the shadiness of him technically being Nico's doctor).

There is also an inherent "I can fix him" angle to this ship and to me, only few ship dynamics are more uncomfortable than that. If you want to fundamentally change a person's behavior and personality, you... don't actually want to be with this person.

Now, here's where my points overlap, because the following parts of their writing that bothers me also stand for what this ship fundamentally represents.

2. Solangelo is a queer ship written by and for straights

I'm a queer woman and as a queer woman, I want queer wish-fulfillment, not what straights want out of queerness. I'm kind of tired of that, I've been sitting through it for enough decades now. That's, of course, not to say that no straight writer can give proper queer representation, but far too often do straight writers - even the most well-meaning ones - project straight desires of queerness into their queer representation.

Let me explain that closer through this ship.

Nico's been in love with Percy for years and I'm going to do my best to not hijack this post with some Percico agenda; that's not what this his about, this isn't some "my ship is better than your ship" ship-war nonsense. It's simply a canonical fact that Nico has had romantic feelings for another character for years.

A character who, in this medium, is heterosexual. And if you're queer, you've been there. In love with your straight best friend. It's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason.

We have also all been well-meaningly rejected by said straight friend.

And here's the straight desires for you: The queer person who was in love with a straight person just immediately stops having those feelings and will then as quickly as possible fall in love with the next queer person they meet to be happy and no longer uncomfortably in love with a straight person, because that thought makes the straights uncomfortable.

Queer wish-fulfillment would be for Percy to return those feelings, for the queer character to get his first love, to not be rejected. That thing queer teens always dreamed about for themselves.

Aside from the wish-fulfillment angle, the pacing is another problem. Let me repeat, Nico was in love for years. But a five sentence conversation with Will once causes a crush on Will and we see him physically turn away from Percy and toward Will just immediately to rebound and actually fall out of love with Percy and in love with Will. Anyone who's ever been unlucky in love will attest to just how unrealistic and ridiculous the pacing here is.

It's also straight queerness in another respect; Nico has been the first ever queer character we meet in that world. He loves a straight guy - and to get over that, we introduce the second queer character. Because heaven forbid there are multiple queers to pick from. No, in straight-written queer romances, there is always that one main queer and then they introduce a second one and the two just immediately hit it off and develop a romance like all a queer person needs to form attraction to someone is the confirmation that the other person shares your sexuality.

Also the notable gay guy on gay guy ship here, whereas the more queer-wish-fulfillment option would have also included more nuance to the queer experience, because Percy doesn't have to be heterosexual just because he has only been with girls so far. It's a very old-fashioned - think 90s and early 2000s - kind of straight-written queerness that there are only exactly two homosexuals and that those two homosexuals then pair up.

And, listen, I'm not immune to these outdated straight-written queers entirely, I have many such ships that I grew up with that I am still fond of because they were groundbreaking at that time and they weren't outdated yet back when they happened in said 90s and early 2000s. I am however a grown woman now and just like I have grown, so has queer rep so I am not as easily baited into falling onto my knees in gratitude for canon rep. You have to go with the times. And this ship, by all that is given to us, is just entirely outdated straight-written rep.

Which, I mention earlier that even straight-written rep can be good. If the author tries. Riordan doesn't really try though; he does the bare minimum when he writes any of his rep - and there have been many, many more qualified voices being very vocal about his depiction of people of color and, as a woman, I've been vocal about his depiction of women. I don't want to derail this post with all of that, but I do think that it bears mentioning that Riordan doing rep but only doing a bare minimum and not putting in the necessary work to deepen the representation he wants to give is a repeating pattern that has been pointed out many times by now.

(I’d also like to point out that no, it is not just the ship and not just the listed instances that make it straight-written rep for straights. It’s Nico’s entire queer arc, starting with his forced coming out. A severely traumatizing event that is completely brushed over because the straight author doesn’t understand the impact this has on queer people. Not to mention the framework; Nico’s coming out isn’t Nico’s story, it happens in Jason’s POV, it is given to us through the POV of the straight bystander who gets to be Best Ally by assuring Nico that being gay is okay. This kind of coming out is not a queer wish-fulfillment, it’s a straight wish-fulfillment of getting to be the straight savior, the ally to show the gay the light of acceptance. And, additional to the ridiculous pacing of how fast Nico gets over his love for Percy, Nico also gets over years of internalized homophobia just because of, I don’t know, Jason’s few encouraging words and the fact that Will paid attention to him? For a gay kid who was in the closet all his life, the nonchalant way in which he publicly confessed his crush to Percy at the end made absolutely no sense and was written as basically a joke, finished off with Nico literally high-fiving Percy’s girlfriend despite those two never having seen eye to eye before but this is straight wish-fulfillment so all straights are Super Allies, because that’s the way straights want to see themselves, even though Annabeth has shown before just how jealous she can be and she most definitely wouldn’t go around high-fiving people who confess to her boyfriend. Nothing about Nico’s queer arc in HoO felt natural or queer or satisfying.)

Sure, Solangelo on a surface level is big because it's a canon queer couple in a YA book-series and kudos for that and yay for the kids who get to grow up seeing queers in YA books, but I actually do think that kids growing up with books written in the 2010s shouldn't grow up with 1990s levels of representation, because the 2010s overall are actually at a far more nuanced and better level of representation when it comes to queerness. And I do reserve the right to quit on too straight-written and too outdated queer rep in a landscape where I can get more satisfying representation elsewhere; we don’t live in times anymore where you necessarily have to love every bit of rep because it’s the only one you get.

Now that we've gone through my first two gripes, let's wrap this up with the final point, because it also directly ties into this.

3. The new wave of antis hiding behind this ship

A huge part of the fandom is so busy kissing Riordan's ass solely for giving them queer rep at all they think that both the author and the ship are beyond flawless and that kind of attitude is not good. Just because an author includes rep doesn't make either perfect. Absolutely no one is beyond critique - especially not when said critique comes from the very people the author is representing. And even beyond any "valid" critique on the ship, quite frankly, someone should also be allowed to just not like it, without any reasons given at all.

But there is a certain... protective obsessiveness about this ship that doesn't allow a not liking. Very similar to how PJO bore this mindset around Perc/abeth already. It's okay to have OTPs, even OTPs that you have a blindspot for and just don't want to see any flaws in. It is however not okay to then go around attacking people who don't like the thing and mind their own business.

Solangelo's bred a new generation of antis in this fandom. And, particularly with the fact that this post too receives an "anti" tag, I feel like there needs to be a clarification (because tumblr likes to forget what actually makes an anti). Not liking something doesn't make you an anti, venting in properly tagged posts doesn't either; it's the people who harass others, who seek out the content they dislike to then complain that it even exists and who actively try to make others stop creating for it - those are antis.

And with Solangelo's popularity, there was a high rise in Percico antis, who sought it out, were unnecessarily nasty about it, harrassed creators and tried to enforce some kind of "Solangelo supremacy" that won't allow other ships for the characters.

I've been in fandom long enough to be perfectly aware that not all Solangelo shippers count into this category and that there are completely normal and nice Solangelo shippers, but this is a Venn diagram where the overlap between Solangelo shippers and antis is too large to not widely associate the nasty people with the ship itself. (I've been there myself, shipping the very ship behind which a fandom's antis all hid. The second-hand embarrassment of having these people give the ship a bad name is horrendous and I do feel bad for all the normal Solangelo shippers.)

The more often I encountered these people, who made Percico bad (sometimes in wildly ridiculous manners that bent and deliberately misinterpreted canon) and who in the same breath praised Solangelo high, the more tired I grew of that ship. It's a simple game of association, really. You see that linked to the gross and nasty behavior and you start associating the ship itself with that gross and nasty behavior - and with all the things I said before that already weighed into my dislike of the ship, this just was the final tipping point, really.

And that's it. That sums up why I dislike Solangelo. It was hastily rushed, uncomfortable in its execution, it is outdated rep that very much feels as straight-written as it factually is and it does not feel aimed at me as a queer person but rather at the straight audience and it has gathered a cult following of quite uncomfortable people who on their own would be reason enough to avoid it so you can avoid them.

Send me a ship and I will explain why I do or don't ship it