#because majority of people don't even know what that is

[iatheia]

I'm not sure I entirely agree? I would love nothing more than if every single student in my class got an A, if they demonstrated they understood the material, and demonstrated it in the homeworks and on the exam. But, there is always a fraction of students who refuse to even show up or do the barest minimum. And plenty of students would half-ass it. And after you taught a class enough times, you can pretty well intuit not "this is the bell curve distribution, and it has to be maintained no matter what" but "this student is doing comparatively to all those who have earned this grade in the past". I strive to have a consistent grading, but it isn't necessarily imposes a particular distribution of grades on a particular class, just that on average you would get certain types of students year after year.

Of course, if you have multiple people teaching the same class, you should communicate with your fellow instructors, striving to have consistency. You want to be fair to the students, if they answer the question incorrectly, but they answer it in the same way, that deserves the same grade, you shouldn't have the case where one student would get a B, and another a D for the same submission assignment in the same class, with the only difference being who is grading them. But this is solved through having a consistent rubrics, not through it being free-for all for the TAs and then trying to match each other's grade distribution.

My opinion on ChatGPT is that it is a tool like any other. And if you know how to use it, great. But in order to use it effectively, you already need to know quite a bit about the material. Even the thing that it is supposedly good at, writing computer code, it cannot handle anything more than the most trivial of tasks without hand-holding. About half of my class involves programing. And it is incredibly obvious when a student uses it. So many times they ended up generating random data instead of using the data provided to them, because a student mindlessly copied over what chatgpt has given them and didn't care if it is correct or not.

Obviously it isn't a problem unique to ChatGPT. A decade ago, there was a different type of assignment that I gave, they needed to go outside and record some observations. And if you know what you are doing, these "recordings" are incredibly easy to fake, and I would have been none the wiser. But if you don't know what you are doing... I had a student trying to convince me that they have never seen the Moon in their life after I caught them trying to "observe" it when it was below the horizon.

But generative AI amplifies the problem more. Even if you wanted to use Spark Notes, at least you needed to read those, and engage with the material to at least some degree. They were also written by people who understood the material, so even if students regurgitate that, they wouldn't be lead quite as far astray. With ChatGPT, students don't even need to read what it wrote to submit it, but they are also more blindsided when it takes them astray.

There were a couple of students I ended up calling out on its usage. One of them has admitted that he had no idea what he is doing, and I sat with him, and I walked him through the assignment, from the beginning to the end. And he is still not great at it, it doesn't come to him naturally at all, but you can definitely see him improving after he started doing stuff without resorting to AI. I can see him being more engaged, more interested in trying to succeed. The other student... is a bit of a hopeless case. They don't care, and I have no idea what is it is they are trying to get out of not just my class, but their major as a whole, because what they are getting out it so far ain't much...

Point is, yes, a diploma doesn't make a person more special than someone who doesn't have one. What matters is your passion, and whether you are willing to put in the work. Classes are meant to encourage cognitive development, to broaden the perspective, to gain at least some skills that would be useful to you later in life - they aren't the only way to get these skills, of course, you can do it in other settings if you chose to apply yourself elsewhere instead. But, if you chose to pursue higher education, then I would hope that by the end of the 4 years, you would get something meaningfull out of it, and this would only happen if you actually put in at least some modicum of effort. Otherwise you might as well buy your diploma off the street, and that would benefit absolutely nobody, least of all yourself.

(taken from a post about AI)

speaking as someone who has had to grade virtually every kind of undergraduate assignment you can think of for the past six years (essays, labs, multiple choice tests, oral presentations, class participation, quizzes, field work assignments, etc), it is wild how out-of-touch-with-reality people’s perceptions of university grading schemes are. they are a mass standardised measurement used to prove the legitimacy of your degree, not how much you’ve learned. Those things aren’t completely unrelated to one another of course, but they are very different targets to meet. It is standard practice for professors to have a very clear idea of what the grade distribution for their classes are before each semester begins, and tenure-track assessments (at least some of the ones I’ve seen) are partially judged on a professors classes’ grade distributions - handing out too many A’s is considered a bad thing because it inflates student GPAs relative to other departments, faculties, and universities, and makes classes “too easy,” ie, reduces the legitimate of the degree they earn. I have been instructed many times by professors to grade easier or harder throughout the term to meet those target averages, because those targets are the expected distribution of grades in a standardised educational setting. It is standard practice for teaching assistants to report their grade averages to one another to make sure grade distributions are consistent. there’s a reason profs sometimes curve grades if the class tanks an assignment or test, and it’s generally not because they’re being nice!

this is why AI and chatgpt so quickly expanded into academia - it’s not because this new generation is the laziest, stupidest, most illiterate batch of teenagers the world has ever seen (what an original observation you’ve made there!), it’s because education has a mass standard data format that is very easily replicable by programs trained on, yanno, large volumes of data. And sure the essays generated by chatgpt are vacuous, uncompelling, and full of factual errors, but again, speaking as someone who has graded thousands of essays written by undergrads, that’s not exactly a new phenomenon lol

I think if you want to be productively angry at ChatGPT/AI usage in academia (I saw a recent post complaining that people were using it to write emails of all things, as if emails are some sacred form of communication), your anger needs to be directed at how easily automated many undergraduate assignments are. Or maybe your professors calculating in advance that the class average will be 72% is the single best way to run a university! Who knows. But part of the emotional stakes in this that I think are hard for people to admit to, much less let go of, is that AI reveals how rote, meaningless, and silly a lot of university education is - you are not a special little genius who is better than everyone else for having a Bachelor’s degree, you have succeeded in moving through standardised post-secondary education. This is part of the reason why disabled people are systematically barred from education, because disability accommodations require a break from this standardised format, and that means disabled people are framed as lazy cheaters who “get more time and help than everyone else.” If an AI can spit out a C+ undergraduate essay, that of course threatens your sense of superiority, and we can’t have that, can we?

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hi sex witch,

how can I ethically continue to be a slut if i have hpv? I have the gardasil-9 vaccine and I've never had any symptoms (and i was told its not the strains that cause cervical cancer), but knowing that I could potentially continue to spread it even if i have safer sex and let everyone I hook up with give informed consent - what if im hooking up with people with penises who can't be tested and could then spread it further? the only person I feel comfortable sleeping with anymore is the person ive been hooking up with for 2 years who probably gave it to me, but i don't really like that person outside of sex and I want to hook up with people i like more. but I don't feel comfortable hooking up with multiple people because I might spread it.

any words of wisdom?

hi anon,

the use of the word "ethically" is so interesting here. personally I don't see anything unethical about being sexually active as a person with HPV, especially given that alternative seems to be penning up people with STIs and denying them the experience of sexual intimacy. in addition to being cruel this would be fairly impractical, as the CDC estimates that something like 85% of sexually active people will be infected with HPV in their lifetime - although those infections are rarely permanent, as around 90% of cases clear up on their own within two years, so the pen would also have a hell of a revolving door.

the vast majority of HPV infections do absolutely fuck all to the people infected; after the strains that cause cervical cancer (which you don't have), the next worst effect is likely to be uncomfortable but thoroughly nonfatal and utterly treatable genital warts. it's worth noting that even this is unlikely; there are nearly 200 known strains of HPV and only two are known to cause genital warts (as opposed to the thirteen that can cause cancer).

even if you do - what, that's one extra nugget of information to slip into conversations prefacing future sexual encounters? "I have HPV, it's not really a big deal, there's a very slim chance you MIGHT develop genital warts in a few months but probably not, would you still like to have sex?" and that's assuming, again, you have a warts strain; if not, the conversation goes more like "I have HPV, it does absolutely nothing and will probably go away on its own even if you get it. would you still like to have sex?"

you're not a toxic waste dump; you're a human being with an incredibly common infection. you can ethically be a slut that same way you did before, by talking honestly with your partners and taking their needs into account alongside your own. fundamentally not a single thing has changed about you as a person.

[help-itrappedmyself]

Dead on Main short

Look, I don't know if you can tell, but I really like soulmate AUs, okay. Also, writing something exactly 500 words is more annoying than I thought it would be, but was a fun experiment.

Lightly inspired by this post.

Danny's parents were never concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. Given their occupation, they thought Danny would meet someone while studying, or perhaps even lecturing on ghosts, or maybe as part of some other job in the future. Jazz has always been concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. This is probably the normal reaction, given most people do not surround themselves with the dead. 

Danny himself was concerned about it for a while. But then he died. The amount of death surrounding him at all times, what with his parents’ study of ghosts, practically tripled after that. And suddenly the words ‘Is he dead?’ were a lot less concerning. Because in his life, oftentimes the answer was yes.

Not that he was always around dead bodies or anything. But the company he kept did include a large amount of ghosts and other ectoplasmic beings, that while they were not dead, weren’t technically alive either. 

So, Danny moved on with his life as normal. He knew what his words were, but was never actively listening for them. For a few years there he was barely hanging on to sanity, battling ghosts and trying to graduate high school. 

Eventually, life calmed down. His parents, unfortunately, died in their own lab accident. Danny was in his senior year at the time, and Jazz took a semester off of college to help him graduate and get accepted at university himself. Then they shut the portal down and moved on from Amity Park.

Jazz went back to Yale. Danny, who did not make high enough grades for that, went to Gotham University. It was there that he discovered he actually really liked college. School was a lot easier when he wasn’t fighting for his life all the time, and this time he got to take classes he was actually interested in. 

By the start of his second year, his life was looking up. He was majoring in mechanical engineering, and he loved all his science classes. He had a somewhat decent apartment, and was living without much worries on the money from selling his parents’ house. Gotham is not the best area, but it can be a really cheap place to live. And he didn’t see Sam, Tuck, or Jazz as often as any of them would like, but they were all happy where they were.

Which makes the current moment much more distressing than it would have been in his teenage years. As Danny looks at the now-dead body in front of him, then turns and presses his forehead into the alley wall. He’s seconds away from banging his head against it, but that would only give him a headache and would in no way help the current situation. 

The vigilante standing across the alley, on the other side of the body, did not move for a solid minute upon rounding the corner onto the scene. Then he asks, in a voice distorted by tech, “Is he dead?”.

This is not good.

[olderthannetfic]

Ok. Dumb question incoming, but I'd much have a 'conversation' than try to read fanlore or watch video essays or something because I want to hear individual people's contributions.

Why Star Trek?

Don't get me wrong - I like the franchise! I'm not super duper familiar with it, but I do enjoy the bits and pieces that I do know. But I am wondering why that in particular is hailed as the grandmother of all fandoms? Obviously people were fannish before Trek, but I don't think anyone can deny the impact that OG Trekkies had on fic, zines, and eventually on the internet.

I know that it's always been popular and well-liked, but it's not as if there was NO SUCH THING as popular culture/fan culture before that (I mean, come on, the term "parasocial" predates the first Star Trek episode by 10 years!) . Was it just a perfect mix of timing + popularity + etc? Is there something in particular about ST that "hit different" than other series at the time? Or is the fandom really really just that mighty and it's almost "luck" in a way? I guess I'm wondering what particular dominoes cascaded in a line in order for Star Trek to have the impact on fandom that it does today.

or am I wrong? were there just-as-big fandoms before and I simply overhype Trekkie power in my head / happen to see more talk of that than I do of other fandoms? It could definitely be a social circle bias thing.

Ugh. Asking OTNF why Star Trek is so important to fandom history feels very much like asking a Russian History major why War & Peace is so important to literature - hence why I warned you that it'd be a dumb question! But I am just so damn curious what sort of crack was in early ST fandom that made it SO widespread and SO strong.

Like, I guess the TLDR is: what was particularly 'different' about Star Trek, either as a fandom or as a franchise or both, that made it Theeeeee OG fandom, rather than something, like, i dunno, LOTR or the earliest versions of Marvel/DC comics or General Hospital or something else like that?

--

I await the hordes of angry Man from U.N.C.L.E. fans eager to prove that they were first.

And, no, it wasn't that popular. Hence the aggressive Save Our Show campaign and explosion of fan culture when it ended after three seasons.

Part of the answer to your question is that there were like three things on TV at the time. What big fandoms? 'Parasocial' was about non-subculture people feeling warmly towards news anchors or hosts of variety shows or something, wasn't it?

LOTR got rediscovered in the 60s or 70s from what I hear, but science fiction and fantasy books were for fringe weirdoes. SFF was not mainstream for the most part. There are a bunch of History of Book SF Fandom things on Youtube, and you should consult them on the complex role of LOTR in that space. LOTR wasn't a mainstream thing until there were live action movies a billion years later.

The key about Star Trek is that it was a hit with the pre-existing book SF crowd. They were an organized subculture. Some of their favorite writers wrote episodes. Other shit on TV was for people who did not form subcultures in that way. Other shit for SF fans had an audience 1/10,00th the size.

MFU was insanely popular. Illya Kuryakin was the heartthrob of a certain era of girl and inspired many a Russian major. (Seriously, there are soooo many Russia-boos of a certain age who probably still have a poster of him somewhere.) The actor set a record for fanmail. The show may have more influence on fandom history than we think now, but it also didn't rerun the way Trek did, at least in some eras, and it didn't have sequel series in a franchise. I'm always finding 2015 movie fans shocked that there's a still extant and semi-active fandom—or even shocked that the movie is based on something.

Starsky & Hutch was also hugely important and is the moment slash fandom and "Media Fandom" really split from book SF fandom. As Trek fans moved on to buddy cops, they were into a completely mainstream show but in a non-mainstream way. Trek was an awkward bedfellow at SF cons, but S&H just didn't fit at all.

Of course, while Trek is the grandma of AO3 type fandom, don't forget that a shitton of modern fans who are doing "research" just look at the same few sources. Enterprising Women is great and all, but even other fans of the same stuff are like "Oh, that was just X's friends. Where's [thing] and [thing] and [thing]?" Ditto Textual Poachers and the other scant early sources that people think have academic weight.

While Trek would still be central, the picture of what was going on in the late 60s-early 80s would look a bit different if you just found a bunch of 70-something nerds and asked them than if you regurgitate other people's research, you know?

If you want an idea of what else was going on in SF fandom back in the day, check out Galactic Journey, where they roleplay that it's 55 years ago and review SF things "as they come out".

If you want to understand MFU, here's a vid of Illya:

--

What say you, readers?

What have acafandom and fandom history and meta left out?

[space-blue]

I wish it would be any other example... If only because I live in a hostel community, and we had a guy literally called "creepy Carlos" aka "the chicken fucker".

The issue is that he was a major creep who would try to flirt his way into the pants of any breathing woman around him.

He made basically everyone uncomfortable.

Then one day his dorm got too bad, and the head cleaner had them do a deep clean, and Creepy Carlos wasn't home. So someone else found the raw chicken and stick of butter that he was keeping in his bed.

He got kicked out. It was kind of an excuse at this stage.

My issue is that even in this situation, the only harm done was potential contamination for others who didn't consent to live with raw poultry in their bedroom, and women at large being uncomfortable.

No REAL harm was done. But you can't walk out of such an incident, having lived with creepy Carlos, and not be predisposed to distrust a raw chicken fucker.

I've also rubbed elbows with some unhigenic guys who didn't wear protection, and if I learned the one flirting with me was fucking dead chickens, I'd be very concerned with his dick. It is his own, yeah, but what if he's trying to get it inside me? I'd want to know it's spanky clean, that he uses protection before going in that chicken carcass. And even then, if I'm coming after the chicken, I feel like I have a right to be emotionally creeped out and back out.

Is there a moral wrong in not disclosing you fuck dead chickens occasionally?

When does "it's his dick, his freedom" loses meaning because he's trying to get that same dick into someone?

Finally, if he goes in that chicken unprotected, it's a risk of disease, and if he knows that, then he's potentially creating extra work for an already heavily burdened medical system. If he isn't honest about his practices, it could take a while for a GP to figure out it's salmonella on his penis lol anyway, if he's a difficult enough case, he'd be literally slowing access to care for other people.

So while I may not apply my morals to someone's sex life, fucking a chicken CAN have social implications and could lead to harm, unless we're making actual straw men who are perfectly moral and extremely careful in the practice.

And if your persona outside of chicken fucking is that of an enormous creep with no strong understanding of consent, then it's not shocking when a bunch of people develop a strong feeling around raw poultry as side pieces.

Just to be clear, I don't think you're wrong on any point. I just feel like it's a bad example. Especially considering someone's sex life can very easily become "your" sex life. This example is just way too convoluted.

Oh my god. I need to share another story of my new friend making today. So my friends husband says, very casually, as we’re about to leave for the ren faire, “Yeah, it’s like my story about fucking a chicken.”

And of the four people present I was the only one who was shocked. The others all nodded as if to say, yes yes, we know, the chicken fucking.

So he explained, when a progressive person is analyzing a behavior they will typically use the metric, Harm/No Harm. They may not like things in the No Harm category but they wouldn’t object.

Conversely, a more conservative mindset used something like eight metrics. Authority/No Authority Moral/Not Moral, things like that.

So, he posited if you want to sound out someone’s mindset (and you’re willing to live with the repercussions) you can ask: if a man buys a dead chicken from the store, cleans it thoroughly, then fucks it, and then eats it himself…?

I listened in dawning horror, both rapt and disgusted. But into the growing pause I whispered, “No harm…” because it really has no effect on me or anyone else if a man fucks a dead chicken. I don’t like it, I think he’s a weird dude, but like. That’s his dick. But a more conservative person will hear that and object on moral grounds despite not being harmed.

It’s been haunting me all day, so please enjoy.

[tarre-was-right]

FINALE - You might want to read the propaganda this time. Lots of misinfo in fandom on these two in particular.

Remember, this is NOT about who would win in a fight. This is about who makes the best leader for Mandalore as a whole.

Explanation post

Seeding

Propaganda below the cut! You can submit more on this post and I will reblog it back to here! I was going to keep the text-only bits above the readmore, but we got enough in that it takes up more space than I thought.

Yes, I will even reblog the stuff based on fanon, but I will judge you for it.

SATINE KRYZE

Anon: Satine because she served. Mandalorian fashion week would love her. Manda'slay.

Anon: Satine Propaganda: Was supported by the STRONG MAJORITY, led Mandalore to be in peace for NEARLY 20 YEARS, didn't ban mando'a or armour or any part of the culture like fandom claims, is a good fighter, considered EVERY Mandalorian a Mandalorian and didn't discriminate

@lightsaberwieldingdalek: Satine propaganda: she actually ran a functioning government. Not a mercenary band, or a death cult, or a terrorist extremist organisation, an actual functioning government. Yes there was corruption, corruption she did her best to stop to the point of personally getting in firefights with smugglers, but she took a planet devastated by civil war and by the end of her rule she had schools, public works, and a justice system. - Sure, the rest can run military operations (and we don’t know Satine couldn’t, only that she *won’t*) but can they make the bins get emptied regularly to go to the recycling plants?

@lightsaberwieldingdalek: I understand Jaster has the tacticool appeal, and has the iconic armour, but guys. He did an interpretation of some problematic historical values for the more modern day, led a mercenary band, and under unknown circumstances his group started calling him the historical-cultural title of the ruler of their entire cultural group. I know he’s cool looking, and shoots real good, but at most he’s the equivalent of someone who could be a cult leader but doesn’t want to be. - Meanwhile. Satine. You have issues with her ethical code, and she’s not a cool cause she doesn’t wear the armour. And yet she is the one who *actually ran mandalore*. For 20-ish years, and not only kept it stable but built it up from the ruins of civil war! - Yes yes T-helmet cool and military man competence nice, but that cannot equal taking the ruins of a war torn society and turning it into a mostly peaceful (when terrorism happened it was a big shocking deal, not normalised) urbanised people who eat well, have access to luxury and specialised education (get a offworld Jedi to come lecture) and can ACTUALLY BREATH IN THE ATMOSPHERE RUINED BY ALL THE WARLORDS LIKE JASTER TRYING TO FIGHT THE REPUBLIC TO PROVE THEMSELVES.

Anon: Satine propaganda: she knows what the aftermath of war is like. Jaster knows war from a soldier's perspective, a commander's perspective. But Satine knows it from a noncombatant's perspective. She's seen the aftermath and wreckage it leaves behind. Rebuilding after a war takes far longer and likely costs more than the war itself. I don't think Jaster cares about what happens after the battle. But Satine most certainly does.

@archangelsunited: Efficient and long lasting leader of her faction for years, was able to navigate neutrality with the Republic during the Clone Wars. Excellent Hair pieces.

@publiusmaximum: She allowed her society to experience it's first moment of peace and prosperity in a thousand years. - After she was killed, her society was taken over by fascists and gangsters. In short order Mandalore was razed, made uninhabitable, and her people scattered. - Satine was right about everything.

JASTER MEREEL

Anon: Jaster is the one who should rule Mandalore and all Mandalorians, although he started small he searched to make a new code of conduct for Mandalorian bounty hunters, he tries to keep the culture intact yet keep Mandalore progressive and not stuck in the past and from killing each other.

@spacetime1969: He literally rewrote what it means to be Mandalorian, and he created an entire movement around said philosophy that had a good chance of becoming the controlling party of Mandalore if he hadn't been assassinated. What more do you want?

Anon: Jaster for the win, he's the most recent one who actually knows some shit (as much as I love Din Djarin this poor man doesn't know ANYTHING), besides Jango and Boba but they're both very unstable individuals.

@nerdpickle: Jaster, his philosophy perfectly balanced tradition and reform, keeping the best of both worlds, he was also one of the few people chosen by the people

Mereel is a strong and powerful leader. He defeated the traiter Tor Viszla in battle and even took in a poor, orphaned Concordian child after the battle. No more will Mandalore be forced to consider such petty ideals as peace in order to avoid outright war. Instead, we shall be known throughout the galaxy as the greatest mercenaries the galaxy has ever known. Under his rule, we shall triumph over the foolish savages of planets unconquered and be paid handsomely for it!

Anon: Mereel is a strong and powerful leader. He defeated the traiter Tor Viszla in battle and even took in a poor, orphaned Concordian child after the battle. No more will Mandalore be forced to consider such petty ideals as peace in order to avoid outright war. Instead, we shall be known throughout the galaxy as the greatest mercenaries the galaxy has ever known. Under his rule, we shall triumph over the foolish savages of planets unconquered and be paid handsomely for it!

@archangelsunited: Had a structured document for Mandalorian Culture in the modern (tm) day. He fought with the warriors he sent out and took personal interest in the results of his actions (Jango Fett mentorship). Pissed off Tor Vizla.

@nerdpickle: Satine’s Mandalore was like Switzerland, except without the well trained military, incredibly advantageous terrain, high gun ownership and giant nuclear armed alliance providing a free buffer zone on all sides.

SATINE

@bosooka: Originally here

i wrote way too much for my original draft of this (and it turned into a "fuck jaster mereel" party) so here's an abbreviated version

Why Satine is a Better Ruler Than Jaster in 2 Simple Points

Point #1: Satine actually maintained order on Mandalore for decades

This one is simple. Mereel became Mandalore in ~60BBY and Tor Vizsla tried to overthrow him a mere two years later (and nearly succeeded). He was only in power for six more years before he was betrayed by the very same violent people he allowed to remain by his side because of his belief that a Mandalorian warrior was "merely a highly-paid soldier".

Contrast Satine: ruled from approx. 42BBY until 19BBY, a reign of 23-odd years. For twenty-odd years of her reign New Mandalore was completely peaceful and there were no challengers to her authority among the people or elsewhere. Death Watch only became an issue again when they received Separatist (and ultimately Sith) backing, and Dooku discarded them for being useless. Had Death Watch not allied itself with Maul's Shadow Collective I don't think she would have been overthrown at all.

Point #2: Satine kept Mandalore out of places it didn't belong

As we've established, Mereel had no issues with Mandalorians being mercenaries, used however their clients saw fit. I won't go into the weeds of the ethical implications of mercenaries and why they are illegal under international law on Earth, but in short: letting anyone pay one to kill others is the easiest way to become the cudgel of a fascist. Coincidentally exactly what the Fett clones become when Sidious uses them to exterminate the Jedi. Mereel's "reforms" of the Mandalorian ways did not prevent his troops from getting into a fight they couldn't win against the Jedi on Galidraan (and yes, the Mandalorians shot first:

not that anyone in the fandom remembers this...) after they but an insurrection down on behalf of the corrupt governor of the planet. To be clear, the True Mandos knew that the governor of Galidraan was corrupt and most likely harboring Tor Vizsla, but they still agreed to kill "insurrectionists" for money. Their problems came when Death Watch arranged to make it look like they had also killed women and children. Truly a war between saints and monsters.

Meanwhile Satine: the head of the Council of Neutral Systems, she refused to take sides in a war pushed by the greedy and violent. Yes, she was briefly protected by clones when it comes to light that Death Watch is aligned with the Separatists, but it was immediately followed by the Republic attempting to militarily occupy Mandalore and Satine risking life and limb to keep her people autonomous. Satine refused to become a useful idiot for warmongers, even knowing that it would have been economically advantageous for her to do so. Unlike Jaster Mereel, she has ideals that she values more than credits. He would have accepted an offer from the highest bidder and turned Mandalore into a machine of war for the Sith, just like his Crusader ancestors once did.

Tl;Dr

Satine was actually respected as an authority on Mandalore for literal decades and was only challenged by a miniscule faction of terrorists who had to get foreigners to interfere in their political processes (FML) in order to actually take power from her

Satine kept Mandalore out of conflicts it did not belong in, which largely protected it from military occupation and destruction until the year she died; Mereel made a career out of interfering in the affairs of other planets if they were paid to do so

Unlike Mereel and his successor, Satine had morals to motivate her decisions that were not the pursuit of cold hard cash, including the protection of Mandalorian independence and neutrality

[fushigowo]

𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐊, 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓 | 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐔

⇢ ˗ˏˋ PAIRING: skater!getou x fem!reader

⇢ ˗ˏˋ SYNOPSIS: parties are out of your comfort zone, but when your friends dragged you to come with them at a frat party, you stumbled across getou suguru—the man who has been eyeing you since your first day on campus.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ WARNINGS: public sex, exbihitionism, fingering, wall sex, doggy, oral sex, dumbification, edging, breeding kink, size kink, multiple orgasms soft to mean dom suguru, suguru wears a lot of rings

⇢ ˗ˏˋ NOTES: WE ARE SO BACK (I DID NOT PROOFREAD THIS)

Getou Suguru is usually uninterested when it comes to women asking him out. He is always nonchalant and doesn’t give any fucks whenever someone is showing interest in him. Sure, he fucks around but that would just be a quick fuck to satisfy himself and nothing more. He wasn’t interested in anyone because they weren’t you.

Getou Suguru usually fucks around with other women, only because he imagines them as you. Suguru can get any woman he wants, but when it comes to you? Oh, you were hard to get, alright. And that—Suguru thinks—is quite a challenge for him. Unlike other women whom Suguru usually sees at the pit or frat parties, you couldn't be found at either of them. So, Suguru decided to know where your usual spots are on campus. In his defense, he wasn't stalking you. He only wanted to hang out and try to find a way to talk to you.

What Suguru thinks makes you stand out from the crowd is your aura. Whenever he saw you hanging out with your friends, you were always the soft-spoken one. Suguru likes how vibrant and soft you are. You don't give a single fuck about what other people say about you being fake because you’re always so nice, even to people who hate you.

Your sense of style is also a plus for Suguru. You always wear shades of pink, usually the lighter ones and always have those cute, little ribbons on—whether it is on your hair or your top or your tights or your shoes. While you wear those pink, vibrant colors, Suguru wears the complete opposite. He usually wears heavy colors, mostly black and a lot of accessories, which are rings. Aside from Suguru’s hobby of skating, he also plays as lead guitarist in a band in his free time when he’s not busy with academics. You, however, usually spend your time taking walks in parks and going to art museums when not busy with your studies. Suguru knows that your major is associated with art. Not to be a creep, but because of Suguru’s deep admiration for you, he came to realize that your program is Fine Arts, majoring in painting.

Right now, Suguru’s eyeing you from across the library as he finishes studying and taking notes. He wasn’t supposed to take two hours in the library, but because you were here, it was such a distraction for him. He finally snapped back to his senses when your friend came crashing into your peaceful time. Suguru went back to studying and finally left with his notebooks and book in his hands before taking one last glance at you, ignoring your friend’s presence.

“Hey,” your friend greeted you and sat beside you. You closed your notebook and looked at her with a smile, asking what was her business with you. “Do you have any deadlines this weekend? Y'know, you’re always busy with your plates and canvases and shit. You can have fun with us this Saturday.”

“And what kind of fun am I getting myself into, Mei Mei?” you raised an eyebrow.

“Just some frat party—”

“No.”

“Come on, babe. Just one time.” she pleads.

“You know parties are out of my comfort zone,” you replied. “I’m just not comfortable being in one.”

“Just one time, please? Utahime, Shoko, and I will keep you company. Besides, you might meet someone there.” she winked.

Giving up your defenses, you take a deep sigh in defeat before saying, “I’ll think about it, Mei Mei.”

Your friend, to her excitement, accidentally squealed in the library, which made you wince in embarrassment. Sometimes you don’t know why you’re associated with your friends. Mei Mei, the gambler. Shoko, the smoker. Utahime, the violent one. Well, what can you say? They’re your friends, you support them no matter what. Later that night, you were doing your makeup when your friends came crashing into your dorm. The good thing is that your roommate wasn’t there with you. Otherwise, she would complain again about how annoying your friends are. You can’t blame her though. You definitely understand her. After one last look at your outfit in the mirror, your friends finally dragged you out of your dorm.

As your friends walk you to the venue of the party, you can already hear the loud, thunderous music echoing from the distance accompanied by the overlapping voices of dozens of people enjoying and having fun at the party. You weren’t even in front of the doorstep yet you already want to ditch your friends and go back to your dorm and have a peaceful night for yourself.

The frat house was huge, almost as huge as a manor house, having three stories. Its walls are made with brick walls covered in off-white paint, with the front of the house having a banner with the name of the frat. You don’t even have to guess that the house was packed, because it already was.

“Come on, babe. It’ll be fun.” Mei Mei whispered to you and didn’t even give you time to protest when she came dragging you inside.

The inside of the house was even messier than you pictured in your head. The music was even louder than outside. It had your ears ringing because of how loud it was. People were all scattered across the house; playing ping pong tables or something, dancing in the living room, drinking and making out in every corner, playing seven minutes in heaven, dancing, partying, all that stuff.

You wanted to stick with your friends, but Mei Mei and Shoko went their separate ways, and Utahime was nowhere to be found, which you guessed already ditched the party. When you decide to ditch your friends as well, you come walking towards the front door until someone blocks you from your way.

“Uhm, excuse me,” you muttered.

“Never seen you here before, cutie. Want a drink?” The man who offered you a drink was a white-haired man with cerulean blue eyes accompanied by his pale ivory skin and huge, and you mean, huge, tall, and muscular build.

“Oh, yeah—uhm, sure.” You couldn’t say no. The man, then, handed you a cup of beer and offered you a seat somewhere in the house. It was pretty calm where you’re at. Just a bunch of college people, talking and playing games and socializing in general.

“What’s your name? We’ve been throwing a lot of parties since our freshman year here,” he says. “So many familiar faces, but you’re someone who I saw just now. Oh, I’m Satoru, by the way. Gojo Satoru.” he smiled at you, making you smile back.

You told your name to him and answered that your friends only dragged you here and that you don’t really do well when it comes to parties. You didn’t tell him the part that you just hate crowded and loud places.

“I see,” he said. “Well, I hope you’re having a great time.”

“Not really.” you chuckled bitterly. “I don’t know where my friends are and I have no idea who you guys are.”

“Why don’t you join us then?” someone from across your seat asked.

Your eyes met with black-colored ones. He has a small smile plastered on his pinkish, thin lips. His hair is long and lustrous, tied in a half-bun. Same with Gojo, he is tall and muscular as well, given that his wide, black tank top is showing his muscles and even his chest. What intrigued you the most is his clothing. He wears all black clothes, his pants filled with accessories, such as chains and belts with creative designs. He also wears a lot of piercings on his ears and his fingers are filled with silver rings. You thought that Gojo is handsome and all, but this man is gorgeous. You didn’t even realize that you were staring at him for a while now when Gojo snapped his fingers in front of your face, taking you back to your senses.

“You’re staring at him too much, angel. You’re making me jealous.” Gojo jokes.

“Fuck off, Satoru.” The man scolded the white-haired man before looking at you again. “We’re gonna play something. Wanna join?”

“Sure. What is it?” you asked.

“Seven minutes in heaven, as usual.” Gojo rolled his eyes.

You didn’t say anything and decided to join and all the participants in the game sat down on the floor in a circle.

While the game is on-going—with other people being locked in the closet—your eyes are stuck on the black-haired man. He is talking to one of his fratmates, which you had guessed. Something about him that makes you squirm on your seat. You kept observing how good-looking he is and how he talks in such a soft-spoken way with other people and he always has a nice look on his face, even when not talking. At least that’s what you think.

You were silently hoping that the two of you would be locked in the closet together, with privacy in the dark. And when that happens, there’s a high possibility that you could feel his touch on your skin or even his lips meeting yours while his hands are traveling around your body, making their way down on your—

“Oops! Get in the closet, Suguru!" Gojo yelled at one of the participants but you were too busy fantasizing about Gojo's friend.

Suddenly, you were then guided to walk towards the closet with the person you were paired up with already inside it. Now, you’re locked inside a dark, chilly closet with someone you don’t even know by name or by face because the closet was too dark for you to make up the features of the person you were with.

“Uhm…” you mumbled, not knowing what to say. “Where… oh—I'm sorry.” you apologized when your hand hit something hard. It was his chest. His chest is hard as fuck.

“It’s okay.” he chuckled. “Didn’t even hurt, princess.”

“I didn’t expect to play this again in college,” you mumbled. “The last time I played this, I was in high school when I had my first kiss. It was not good at all.”

The man chuckled again, this time much louder than before. “Was he not a good kisser?”

“Definitely not. He was awful, and I’m being too nice with the word awful.” you said in disgust. “It was such a horrible seven minutes in heaven.”

“Someone needs to teach him how to kiss. Besides, it’s embarrassing being a horrible kisser when kissing someone so pretty.”

“How do you know I’m pretty?”

“I just know,” he mumbled. “Want me to make this a wonderful seven minutes in heaven for you?”

“How?” you asked.

“Come closer,” he whispered, which you did.

His touch made you startled on your feet, making him chuckle under his breath. His hand, then, started to caress the back of your head and feel your hair.

“Relax, sweetheart.” he said those words that can make you imagine a smile on his lips.

His hands are taking their time exploring your body, making their way down to your waist then up to your spine that sends you shivers on your back then down to your waist again. The man’s touch was warm and needy as if he wants to explore every inch of your body right here, right now. He was not shy to let his hands travel beneath the fabric of your shirt and even your mini-skirt.

You didn’t even notice that you were already leaning so close to him, that you can feel the warmth of his breath on your forehead, sending shivers down your spine. Your hands are resting on his chest while one of his is caressing your ass. The other starts making its way to your chin, guiding you to look up at him despite not seeing his face due to the darkness of the closet.

The closeness of his warm breath made contact with your lips and the next thing you know, his lips are on yours. At first it was a gentle, passionate kiss, slowly turning into a hungry one, filled with desire and lust. His hand on your chin then held your cheek.

The way he guided you up against the wall was dominant yet gentle and careful at the same time. His kisses became hungrier as his tongue snaked its way inside of your mouth, meeting your tongue. You couldn’t help but moan against his kisses that your hands made their way up to his hair. You didn’t even notice the long length of it and his half-bun up because you were so intoxicated by his lips and kisses.

“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath, right before kissing your neck while his hands waste no time in lowering down your panties.

You’re breathing so heavily, your nails are digging against his back. You let out a yelp when you feel his fingers touch your folds, making him chuckle at your reaction. You just know that he licked his fingers before inserting two of it inside you.

“Oh, shit,” you moaned before covering your mouth.

“Nah, don’t even bother doing that,” he whispered. “Let them hear. They know damn well what we’re doing here anyway, so don’t even bother covering your noises.”

You nodded before taking off your hand from your mouth.

“That's a good girl.” you heard him whisper right in your ear.

You feel his fingers speed up inside you, making you squirm under his grasp. You tried your best not to let out a yelp or anything louder than the soft moans and whimpers that only he could hear despite telling you to let them hear. The mere thought of everyone outside this closet hearing you moan out loud is out of the question.

When you feel his strong arms wrap around your legs to carry you against the wall and straddle him on his waist, you cover your mouth instantly as his fingers continue to play with your cunt. One hand is covering your mouth while the other is gripping the shirt on his back. The faster he plunges his fingers inside you, the louder you can hear the wetness emanating from your pussy.

“Mmmph! Mmmh…” you tried your best to stop yourself from being heard outside the closet. And yet, it was harder for you to do so as you feel yourself getting closer. You had the courage to take your hand off your mouth and whisper—or whimper, rather—to the man fingerfucking you inside a closet. “I’m—I’m gonna cum. I’m so close—Mmmph!”

“Yeah? Don’t hold back, sweetheart. Cum on my fingers then, come on.” you can imagine a smirk on his face as he says those words with amusement.

Your breathing became heavier, the air between the two of you grew hotter as you're getting nearer and nearer to cumming.

You felt his warm tongue lick down on your neck towards your collarbone, leaving hickeys and bites to your skin.

Your toes started curling as you close your eyes tightly, that you were sure you were about to see stars as you get closer.

“Oh, fuck, yes—”

Then, with one last thrust of his fingers, just when you were about to reach your climax, the two of you heard a loud knock on the wooden door of the closet, making him curse under his breath.

“Hey, it’s been ten minutes, love birds! Go get yourself a room!” You and the man heard Gojo’s voice shout from outside.

What a cunt, you thought.

“I’m gonna kill him after this.” The man whispered as the both of you settle yourselves down. “Wanna get out of this party?” he whispered, sending shivers down your spine.

“Yeah. I might need more of that.” you chuckled.

The two of you are sweating so hard after a heated makeout session inside the closet. You were sure that your hair and makeup is all messy as well as your dress so you would have to retouch yourself before getting out of this party with this man. You still have no idea who this was, but that doesn’t matter anymore. You just needed to let out your frustration after getting cockblocked by Gojo.

“Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here,” he says.

With that, he opened the closet door, already seeing dozens of eyeballs staring at the two of you, knowing damn well what the both of you did there. Some were blushing and flustered, while most were cheering for the man and you, and others were drunk as hell.

You feel yourself getting flustered and your cheeks heating up because of the embarrassment. You had never done it before where other people could hear you. Well, maybe others did hear you before, but then again, you weren’t aware of them listening.

“Hey, fuck you, Satoru!”

You eyed the man you were with inside the closet and when you saw who he was, your eyes flew wide open in shock, almost feeling your jaw drop when you saw his long, raven hair tied in a half-bun. You were just fantasizing about him earlier and now, you made out with him inside a dark, cramped closet.

“Calm down, man!” Gojo was being headlocked by a man named ‘Suguru’. You heard from Gojo.

Getou Suguru.

“Come on, princess. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Suguru took your hand and walked towards the door of the frat house. Before Suguru could get out, he picked up his skateboard that was leaning against the wall. Just when the two of you were about to head out, he threw one last middle finger towards Gojo with a smirk on his face.

“God, I hate him.” he chuckled as he shook his head, his hand still in yours while the other held his skateboard.

You let out a quiet laugh before asking where the two or you are going. He said he knows a quiet spot where he usually hangs out.

An empty skate park beside an abandoned store. It was empty and quiet, only the crickets can be heard, considering that it's two minutes 'till three in the morning. There were few light posts surrounding the park, showing some graffiti on the concrete.

“Do you skate?” he asked, breaking the silence between the two of you.

Truth be told, Suguru’s heart was beating so fast when he realized that it was you who he had kissed and fingerfucked inside a closet. The last time he saw you, he was just fantasizing what it was like to touch you, to kiss you, and now, he did. And when he did, god, he felt as if he could never kiss anyone else after getting the chance to kiss you. Suguru, being true to his intentions, doesn’t want to kiss anyone else after that.

You chuckled before replying, “Do I look like the type of woman who skates?” you pointed to yourself, especially to your outfit. You were wearing pink high heels and stockings with ribbons, of course.

“Could be. Who knows? Maybe you do.” he smiles before gesturing to you to come closer to him. “Come here. I’ll teach you.”

“In heels?” you almost gasped.

“Yeah, come on, princess.” he motioned you to stand on his skate while he holds your arms to help you maintain your balance as you stare at your feet on top of the board. “See? You’re already doing so good.” he praised, making you smile at him.

“I'm barely moving, Suguru."

“You’re getting the hang of it—”

Suguru’s words were cut off by the sudden fast motion of the board, which caused you to lose your balance and almost fall on the concrete, head first. Thankfully, Suguru’s arms never let go of you, giving him the chance to catch you.

“Easy, princess. I got you.” he smiles and then gives you a peck on the lips, making you awestruck.

“Oh, you’re so sly, Getou Suguru,” you mumbled before kissing him back. Suguru, on the other hand, never hesitated.

The kiss between the two of you began to deepen. His arms that were holding your body are now pulling your waist closer to his, the other, traveling on your back. The feeling of kissing the woman that Suguru admired for years now had never felt so euphoric. It was as if he would never have the urge to kiss another woman again except you. Your lips could never compare to the ones he had kissed before, and even those thoughts were suddenly pushed out of Suguru’s memory as he focuses on the sweet taste of your lips.

“Mmm… I want more… I want more, Suguru.” you moaned in between kisses.

“Yeah? You want more, princess?” Suguru whispered in your ear, his hot breath against your skin sends shivers on your spine, making you cross your legs in need.

“Mmm-hmm,” you hummed.

“Come on.” Suguru took your hand and led you to the back of the abandoned store covered by the large bushes.

“Wait, Suguru. Here?” you looked up at him, unsure of the place.

“Is there a problem?”

“What if somebody sees?” you asked.

“Then we’ll give them a good show.” he smirked before pressing his lips against yours again, making you lean back on the wall.

Your arms snaked up Suguru’s nape, pulling him closer to your kisses. His lips began to lower down your jaw, to your neck down to your collarbone. When Suguru reached your pink shirt, he looked at you, as if asking permission to lift your shirt up. You nodded, and the man didn’t hesitate to do so, showing your laced bra. Instead of taking the clasps off, Suguru only lifted your bra as well, exposing your tits and nipples.

“So pretty,” he mumbled before sucking on your nipples, letting his tongue swirl while his hand is massaging the other. Meanwhile, his other hand is rubbing on your soaked panties, making you moan lightly under your breath.

“Mmm… Suguru… feels so good,”  you mumbled in between your heavy breaths as Suguru continued to toy with your wet pussy while he took his time playing with your hard nipples.

Suguru’s kisses began moving down again, kissing your stomach until his face meets your pussy. He took one last glance at you before hooking your panties, as if he was asking permission to remove them. You didn’t hesitate to nod your head while the man quickly slid your panties down, not wasting a single second.

“She’s so wet for me, princess.” he chuckled.

You couldn’t help but release a sudden yelp when you felt Suguru’s tongue on your folds.

Oh, fuck. He has a fucking tongue piercing.

It was as if your entire body shook because of the sudden cold that you felt through your pussy. Suguru’s tongue piercing keeps touching your folds as he continues to eat you out as if you’re the last thing he’s ever going to eat.

“Oh, shit… feels so good, Suguru. Sooo good,” you moaned. The back of your head touches the wall while your hands grip Suguru’s long hair, messing up his man bun.

Suguru couldn’t care less about him eating you out loud and continued to devour your wet pussy. The loud slurping and sucking noises that his mouth and tongue makes filled the supposedly quiet ambiance. The vibrations of Suguru’s moans caused your pussy to ache even more while your moans became louder and louder, that your mind completely forgot that you’re being eaten out in public.

“Shit, you taste so fucking good. Can’t get enough of you, princess.” he chuckled and continued to lap your folds.

When Suguru said he can’t get enough of you, he fucking means it. Suguru hooks one of your legs to his shoulders while his hands travel to your lower back to push your hips even closer to his mouth.

“Oh, my fucking god, Suguru!” you moaned while your hands gripped his hair tighter when you feel yourself getting closer to cumming.

“You gonna cum, princess? Yeah, cum for me, cum for me. Come on, cum on my tongue,” he mumbled in between sucking your clit and licking your pussy aggressively.

“Oh, fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m gonna cum, Suguru, I’m—shit!” your breathing became heavier while Suguru became even more aggressive with the way he eats you out. The slurping, sucking, and squelching noises became louder as he pushed your hips harder to him.

Your grip on Suguru’s hair became even tighter. Your legs begin to shake, eyes feel as if they’re traveling at the back of your head, and you can feel yourself getting closer and closer that your toes start to curl.

“I’m gonna—I’m gonna cum, fuck! Suguru!”

You tried your best to muffle your loud moans by covering your mouth when you felt yourself cumming on Suguru’s tongue. That was the first and only time you came so hard that you swore you saw stars.

“Ah, so fucking good,” Suguru mumbled and took one last lick on your pussy before standing up to meet your face. He didn’t hesitate to kiss you to let you taste yourself. “Good thing there’s no Satoru to cockblock us.” he chuckled before kissing you again.

“We’re not done, are we?” you asked and looked up at him.

“Do you seriously think we are? No fucking way, princess,” he whispered before telling you to turn back. You did what he asked and pressed your palms on the wall. “You’re on the pill, right?” he asked, to which you nodded as your reply.

Suguru smirked behind you before gently lifting your skirt. You bite your lips as you hear him unbuckling his belt. The man didn’t waste any time to pull his cock out, now leaking with pre-cum. A smirk curls up his lips as he watches you looking behind your shoulder. One of his hands is holding your hips, guiding you closer to him while the other is holding his cock.

“Think you can take all of this, princess?” he smirked as he rubbed the length of his cock on your wet slit, making you moan under your breath. You couldn’t help but release a whimper instead of answering his question, and to Suguru, that was all he wanted to hear and nothing more. 

Suguru released a sharp breath as he pushed his thick cock inside of you. Series of curses and moans came out of Suguru’s mouth when he felt your hot insides and how tight you are around his cock. His hand came to grip your hair, pulling your face closer to him and making you arch your back even more while he looked down at you. 

“You’re so fucking tight around me, shit.” he moaned before kissing you. The two of you shared moans in between kisses as Suguru pushed even deeper inside you, making your legs shake. You couldn’t help but release a yelp from your lips when Suguru suddenly thrusted inside of you.

“Nghh… so deep, Suguru. It’s so—ah—deep, oh, my fucking god,” you moaned. 

Suguru lets out a chuckle before looking down on his cock not even fully inside you yet. “You’re not even taking all of it yet, sweetie. Just a bit more, ‘kay? Think you can take all of it for me?” he asked, pulling you closer to him, causing you to arch your back.

“Mmm-hmm. Give it to me, please. I need it, Suguru, please,” you begged, almost teary-eyed while you looked up at him. 

He’s not even pushing all of his cock inside you and yet you already feel so full. That’s how big Suguru is. 

With one last thrust, Suguru pushed his hips even harder and deeper inside you, making him moan and release a sharp breath at how deep he is. He can almost feel his eyes rolling at the back of his head because of how good you feel, how tight you are around him, and how pretty you look while you take all of him. 

Your legs continue to shake while you try not to show your teary-eyes to Suguru because of how deep he is that you can feel the head of his cock hitting your cervix. You looked over your shoulder when Suguru released soft chuckles before saying: “Such a good girl, taking it all for me. You’re my good girl, aren’t you?”

“I’m your good girl, Suguru,” you whimpered as you looked up at him with teary eyes. Well, he makes you look up at him. 

Suguru took one last kiss from you before thrusting his hips while his hand holds yours and the other grips your hair that is causing you to arch your back. The squelching noises and his balls hitting the back of your cunt was accompanied by your moans and heavy breaths filled the air of the scene.

Your moans became louder and louder as Suguru’s thrust became faster and deeper, hitting your cervix, which made your legs quiver and your eyes to almost roll back again because of how good Suguru is fucking you. You couldn’t care less about how loud you’re becoming and how intense Suguru’s thrusts are, that anyone who stumbled across the park would hear the two of you. Anything other than Suguru’s cock going in and out of you was out of your mind since it was the only thing that you could think of—that is, if you could still think.

“Hah, ah, shit! Fuck, baby, you feel so good,” he moaned as he looked down on your teary, submissive eyes. “I could fuck you all night and—shit—and still can’t get enough of you.”

Suguru’s pace became faster, his balls hitting your cunt became louder as well as your moans. Your legs quivered more when you feel yourself getting closer to cumming again. 

You couldn’t think straight anymore when Suguru suddenly let go of your hair and held both of your arms back. Loud moans and whimpers released from your mouth as you feel yourself seeing stars again and your toes starting to curl once more. The fast pace of Suguru’s thrusts made your body move back and forth as well as your head. The hair that you took so long to style was now ruffled and messy and your makeup that took you forever to put was now being washed away from your eyes when tears started traveling down your cheeks. 

“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, Suguru! I’m gonna—I’m gonna cum, please, please, please! I’m so close, so close.” you whimpered, almost cried out loud, making Suguru smirk behind you, his moans and groans became louder when he felt himself getting closer to cumming too.

“Yeah? Beg for me, beg for me, slut. You’re so fucking dirty—ah, shit, letting me fuck you in public.” he chuckled in a saccharine tone. 

Suguru’s sudden change of tone from sweet and caring like earlier was now replaced with a saccharine, almost mean demeanor, which caused your pussy to tighten around his length. Suguru couldn’t help but let out a chuckle when he felt your cunt tighten around him.

“Did you just fucking tighten around me? You like being called that, huh, slut?” Suguru released one of your arm from his grip and pinched your cheeks together, causing your lips to pucker up while you look up at him. Seeing your teary eyes and messy makeup made Suguru hornier yet he can’t let himself cum yet. 

“Mmmph… ‘Guru, ‘m so close, please,” you plead. 

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Not yet,” he whispered before pulling out of you, making you whimper and cry at his sudden action. 

You couldn’t help but whine your frustrations out. You were so close and yet Suguru decided to tease you and toy with you by edging you when he pulled his cock out. Just when you are about to feel yourself cumming again, that’s when he decided to be a complete jerk and make you beg and cry for him. But that doesn’t mean that you didn’t like what he’s doing right now.

Suguru made you face him again, which you did. He lifted both of your legs up and carried you in his arms while your back was against the wall. Both of your legs are at the sides of his hips while his arms are under your legs, carrying it to position you up. You circled your arms around his neck while Suguru positioned his cock inside of you again, making you look down and whimper at the sight of your pussy taking all of him again. 

“Wanna see you cum, princess. Sorry about that.” he chuckled.

“It’s okay. I liked it,” you whispered with a soft smile.

Suguru started to thrust his hips again, creating squelching noises again accompanied by the moans and heavy breaths of the two of you. You tried your best to hold on to Suguru, not minding the hard wall hitting your back. 

You were never one to be too intimate with someone when having sex like couples do, such as staring into each other’s eyes and kissing while doing it. You find it too intimate to be doing those things with someone that you don’t have any intention of being involved with. But when it comes to Suguru, it was as if it’s natural for you to do such things with him. The two of you couldn’t help but to stare into each other’s eyes and kiss deeply as he thrusts his cock inside of you.

“So good, Suguru, feels so good.” you whimpered. “Wanna cum so bad, please. Please let me cum, Suguru.” you begged. 

“Yeah? Let’s make you cum then, princess.” 

Suguru’s pace became faster, hitting your cervix once again, making you cry and bury your face on his neck. His breaths became heavier, louder when he felt himself getting closer to cumming and this time, he’s not going to hold back. 

“Oh, shit, fuck, yes. Fuck, ‘m gonna cum, gonna cum, baby—so close, pleasepleaseplease.” you cried, making you hold your head back and hit the wall as you feel yourself seeing stars again.

“Cum on my cock, baby. That’s it, come on. Cum for me, cum for me, cum for me.” 

With one last thrust of Suguru’s hips, you felt yourself cumming again, gushing around Suguru’s cock that almost made your eyes roll at the back of your head and your toes to curl, legs caging Suguru’s hips, making him release his cum inside you. His cum made you feel so full and hot inside. Making sure that none of his cum is wasted, Suguru thrusts his hips a few times, deep and hard.

Suguru smiled at you before pressing his lips on yours once more. The two of you shared a deep, intimate kiss before he pulled himself out of your pussy, making you whimper one last time. Suguru took the initiative to pull your panties back up and tidy up your clothes. He clasped your bra and rolled your top down as well as your skirt. Suguru used his dark-colored shirt to wipe your now-messy makeup and comb your hair using his fingers. 

“There, all done, princess.” he smiled and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead. “Wanna get something to eat?”

“Sure, Suguru.” you smiled.

Just when the two of you are about to kiss again, you are interrupted by the loud ringing of Suguru’s phone. He took his phone out to see the caller ID, making him raise an eyebrow and shake his head, which caused you to ask who it was. Suguru didn’t say anything and just answered the phone.

“Hey, man! Where the fuck are you? Utahime is yelling at me, saying that I let you kidnap her friend.”

You couldn’t help but face-palm and shook your head once again. You took Suguru’s phone from his hand and said, “Tell her I just had the best sex of my life.” 

With that, you ended the call.

© FUSHIGOWO | 2024 REBLOGS, NOTES, COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED ♡

[sneakyneighboururchin]

Two big differences between Mythal and Solas is that Solas regrets all the terrible things he's done. That is, in fact, a major plot point and theme. He shows remorse and at his core he wants to fix his mistakes. Mythal, or at least the fragment you can speak to, doesn't regret her actions at all. If you call her on the blight being her fault she attacks you. She doesn't accept responsibility. Solas does. That doesn't erase the guilt or culpability, but it does make me respect him more than I do her.

The second difference is that Solas rejects the notion that he's a god. Mythal doesn't. Again, if you ask her to help you against the other Evanuris and state that the people don't need gods she gets angry and attacks you. Maybe it's just the anarchist in me, but I've got a lot more respect for someone who rejects worship and fights tyranny than I do the tyrant being fought. Because that is what she was, as much as any of the others. A benevolent dictator and slave owner is still a dictator and a slave owner.

Now, if I'm putting my character analysis hat on for Mythal *specifically* I'd say that it's possible she reacts like this because she does feel guilt. I know, that does contradict what I just said. But I do think it's possible that her anger and violent reaction is a defense mechanism and a shield against being confronted with the truth of the damage she caused. Admitting that you're wrong is one of the hardest things a person can do, even without having had centuries of worship heaped on you and going to your head. So when someone you see as lesser calls you out to your face? That's a hard pill to swallow. Again though. Solas does swallow it. Solas takes blame. Heaps it upon himself until it defines everything he does (which is another problem in itself but We Don't Have Time For That Right Now). Mythal, by contrast, rejects it. Right until she absolves Solas of his duty, and finally takes some responsibility herself.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Turns out men don't like it when left-wing men are sexist jerks to them either.

In fact, they arguably get more hate than women, individually, because they're seen as traitors.

>Do you guys spend this much time asking men to stop commenting "your body my choice" under women's tiktok videos,

I don't use Tiktok. I don't even watch videos from tiktok in incognito. I don't watch Tiktoks on Youtube, if I can avoid them. That's how much I hate it.

>or to stop raping us on college campuses,

Turns out the vast majority of people, men and women, are already against male on female rape, anywhere in any developed country on Earth.

Which is why it's, y'know, illegal.

>r to stop calling us "cum dumpsters" when we're pregnant in public,

I've never heard of anyone doing that. I'll say it's wrong.

I'll also say that going from actual rape to just random insults (which the women might not even hear) is, uh, a bit of a falloff.

Almost like you're trying to sneak it in under cover of your "stronger" examples.

>or to stop watching pornograhy in which women are beaten or slapped or whipped or crying,

Also, plenty of women also like porn in which women are hurt. Lots of women write it. Sometimes with no men involved whatsoever.

And you know what's also popular? Porn with women hurting and humiliating men.

>or or or….

Yes, we're all very impressed by your ability to spout canned arguments meant to make women look like bigger victims and deny men can even be victims, instead of actually caring about the issue this post is about.

And before you ask "why don't you say this to her directly?", she blocked me so she could get the last word in an argument.

Note that I didn't say she had any actual counterpoint. Just good ol' appeal to ridicule.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[knownoshamc]

sorry not sorry to bring this up again, but

Netflix removed Palestinian movies. They (movie/tv industry) fired Melissa Barr.era, a latina actress that spoke against the genocide. They kept actors from St.ranger Thin.gs even though they openly support the genocide. They cut the scenes of May Cala/mawy, a Palestinian/Egyptian actress from a major movie. Those are the examples of the top of my head. Keeping Assad Zaman's name (a non christian name) out of the press/promotion and now out of the nomination, despite the fact that he had much more screen time than Sam, who will also be the lead the next season (so plenty time for him to shine), is just... not a coincidence.

And I don't think anyone in the US, or the world for that matter, doesn't know about these things happening, if not in the movie/tv industry, but in the world (US support of I.srael for example). So I can't accept that people that don't get (to put it mildly) why people find problematic that Assad is not nominated... don't fully know what's up. Just because some people want to pretend Assad is not a South Asian/Bengali Muslim, but a white Christian American/Brit, it doesn't make it so.

[jamiepaige]

Constant Companions Closeup #8: LIAISON

(also on spotify!)

Welcome once more to the Constant Companions Closeups - a series of in-depth dives into the songs off of my latest album, Constant Companions! After the nightmarish tiktok voice brainrot of Aggrandicize, it's finally time to talk about Lesbian I mean Liaison!

---

...It's a love song.

...

That's about it.

...

..

.

Oh you want me to say more okay

I don't really write simple and straightforward love songs much!! Love is absolutely a core aspect of my songwriting, and I love a lot of people and a lot of things, but even when I invoke romantic love, it's usually not entirely literal? If that makes sense.

But, like, c'mon. I'm a lesbian. I love women with the best of 'em. Sometimes I just wanna be gay! Especially on an album as fraught with emotional moments as Constant Companions is, I feel like it's really important to have at least one simple moment to settle on.

...

oh you want me to say More

Well okay. I like yuri. I like vocal synths. And maybe my himejoshi ass likes making certain combinations of vocal synths do gay shit lesbian style.

lets move on already

---

I love the band Phoenix. I'll be completely honest and tell you that I first heard their music when Lisztomania and 1901 came out as DLC for Rock Band 2 but hey that's how a lot of people my age found a lot of music when they were younger probably. Their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was one of a couple major sonic touchstones for how I wanted Constant Companions to sound - bouncy, warm, synthetic-yet-natural, with multiple shades of idiosyncrasies - but Liaison in particular was a pretty bold-faced attempt to directly evoke their music, at least in terms of arrangement.

Now, I'm not well-read or French enough to fully match the bright-eyed abstract lyricism or historical knowledge of their songwriting completely - but I can be Jamie Paige about it, reference Arthurian legend, and quote another freaking song I wrote

🤼‍♀️, also known as :women_wrestling:, isn't the gayest song I've ever written, but it's certainly up there, and it gets referenced pretty heavily in Liaison. Maybe this is the aftercare once they're done in the ring? Maybe there are more complicated layers hiding beneath the saccharine sweetness of these hopeless lovers...

Maybe I'm just gay. Ever consider that, huh?

That being said, for reasons I won't go into here, there's some amount of the vocal synth fandom that interpret Solaria and ANRI as being in a sort of toxic embittered lesbian situationship... which does make the layers a little more interesting... though if you ask me? I think lesbians deserve to be happy. What about that you shithead

---

Finally, because I have a moral obligation to make sure you've all seen this, please enjoy ODDEEO's very personal and moving take on Liaison.

Of course, let me know if you have any other questions below!! Otherwise, I'll be back tomorrow to talk about the most transgender song I've ever written - Object of Affection!

[thisismeracing]

Hey, can I pleade request Mick dating a journalism major!reader in uni, (and she has to write a paper about something like 'a thing you find beautiful in everday life' or something like that and she writes about Mick, he reads it and realises she has feelings for him)? Please

P.S.: feel free ignore the part in the brackets

Beautiful things | MS47

⸺ the one where it's no secret you're in love with him, but he finally realizes it. ✓ mentions of food; friends to lovers; not proofread; fem!reader (she/her). 0.8k words

▸ my masterlist | my taglist | patreon guide ▸ support my writing by reblogging, leaving a comment (don’t forget to follow me if you like the piece), or buying me a coffee

Mick had a rushed routine as a driver and a famous one. You also had a rushed routine, though you were neither famous nor a driver. Quite the opposite and your friendship surprised a few people because you were a journalism major who just like in the cliches spilled your coffee on him on your first day at the paddock.

One of your college friends who happened to have a rich mom invited you to a weekend in the paddock, and though every catastrophic scenario went through your head you said yes. As it turned out, you did make a fool of yourself, but it earned you a new friend, and just like everyone once told you, nobody is paying that much attention to the point of remembering the comic situation you got pulled into.

You and Mick clicked and had been friends for around two years now. You made it work even with the hectic schedule and the traveling. He would take you with him whenever it was near enough for a quick plane ride and you didn't have classes. That's how it became a thing for him to know about your assignments and help you with them. He would tell you that it was relaxing to read your writing, and then proceed to do it every small free second he got (there were shots of him in the garage with a sandwich in one hand and your laptop in the other).

Coming to think about it, you suppose that maybe that's how you fell for him. Mick was always there for you even when he was on the other side of the world. He would call, and text, and get you small souvenirs. He would help proofread your assignments, and ask about your day. And don't get things wrong, you have tons of friends, but none of them felt like what you had with Mick. None of them slept with their phone by their pillow waiting for you to sleep and waking you up if they heard you having a nightmare. You kept telling yourself that he was just extra friendly. That he was the golden retriever guy everyone talked about, but that didn't mean he loved you. That, though, wasn't enough to convince your heart and you saw yourself slowly and surely fall for him.

That's how you ended up writing about him in your last assignment. One he wasn't supposed to read, but you forgot you shared the online folder with him and that he opened it every weekend to check for new stuff.

There are many beautiful things in everyday life, but some don't seem captivating to us every day. I love the sky, love the way the blue can turn into orange, and somehow get mixed into a light purple. How at night you get to see different glimmers of stars, and travel imagining cloud forms just like when it's daylight. But I don't see the sky as lovely when it's winter and there's no sun or white clouds, just a dark shade of grey. [...] I also find the rush of people in the city captivating, each going on about their lives, taking the subway, strolling with friends, walking the dogs, and buying groceries. Still, there are days when I hate the rush, and I hate how the dogs will stand in the way on the sidewalk, how the subway is full, and how loud a group of strangers can be. [...] But then there are the people. A person. He drives just as effortlessly as he walks. And the days when he walks with me, the dark sky is beautiful, the dogs barking in the way are music to my ears, and the packed subway is full of bursting dreams and hopeful people. I'm one of them. I'm hopeful he'll notice me one day. I'm hopeful he'll love me the way I love him. I'm hopeful he'll see me just as beautiful as I see him. To me, he's the everyday beauty, not because of his sparkly blue eyes, or soft blond hair, but because of who he is. I never get tired of him. I never will because he's this kind of beauty to me.

"Wow," he breathed after finishing your paper just as you were walking into his driver's room.

His big ocean orbs found your frame by the door, and by the way he was looking at you, surprise etched on his face, you knew he read the piece and connected the dots.

"Mick...I-...I'm so sorry- I-" Truth be told, you were on the verge of tears, what was supposed to be a beautiful day started to feel like a nightmare. You thought so many things, thought he would hate you, thought he wouldn't wanna be friends anymore, that he would laugh at you, but he smiled.

He gave you that overwhelmingly gorgeous smile.

Your heart skipped a beat, and suddenly, he was in front of you, still smiling, he reached for your cheekbones and connected your foreheads, taking a deep breath - something you weren't able to do because of your nerves.

"Schatzi, you're the most beautiful thing in the world," he whispered, and that small sentence was everything you needed to hear.

────── ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: This was so fun to write hihihi I hope you guys like it! - don't forget to reblog and comment if you do *mwah*

If you liked this piece and want early access to new ones and exclusive access to others, subscribe to my patreon!💘  ▸ check my main masterlist | patreon guide and my taglist.

©thisismeracing ― do not copy, steal, or translate my work; do not repost on a different media platform.

[askshivanulegacy]

The "child" in the womb belongs to the mother. It's literally part of the mother's body. Because all people inherently have full autonomy over their bodies, she gets to decide everything that happens to her. It's not the federal or state government's business or choice.

The mother makes an enormous health and life-impacting sacrifice to birth a child. It's the level of bodily trauma that you simply cannot force a person to undergo unwillingly. Only the person in question can make that choice. Just like you can't order a person to experience torture to save another person's life, you can't force a mother to give birth if she decides it's not for her. Only she gets to choose. Life isn't a movie and she's not obligated to be a hero.

It's that simple.

You can go ahead and believe that it's "morally wrong." Your beliefs are up to you. But they also don't play a role. She can still do what she wants. It can be "wrong" (to you) and she can do it anyway.

She can do it out of fear if she wants. I would not consent to life-altering torture to save someone I don't know. That sounds horrible! No way. Yes, I would be afraid. So what? I'm allowed to be afraid, just like I'm allowed to do whatever I want to my body for whatever reason.

That inherent right exists and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it. You can have your opinion, and it doesn't change anything.

But also, your "statistics" on the "vast majority of women being afraid or greedy" are wrong.

And also, it wouldn't matter if they were correct.

Bodily autonomy is independent of and agnostic from morality. Morality does not apply, least of all from some random person. What's right and wrong is up to the one person involved, which is the mother.

No one needs to sacrifice their health and well-being for another person. Not even a child! That child is not more important and does not have more rights than a fully developed and accomplished adult. If anything, the adult is worth more because more has been invested into them to make them into the incredibly worthwhile and valuable life they are today.

You don't sacrifice that for something undeveloped.

But you know, if the father still wants the child, he can have it. It'll be up to him to figure out how to keep growing the clump of cells, but that's not the mother's problem when she's withdrawn her consent.

Here’s the thing I think conservatives don’t understand: I don’t care what someone else does with their own body.

You wanna get surgery or take medication to make you look a certain way? Okay. I don’t care

You wanna ctrl+alt+delete that clump of cells in your uterus. Sure. I don’t care.

You wanna use meds to block a natural aspect of your body’s system? Alright by me. I. Don’t. Care.

I don’t care because it’s not my body

“But what if they regret it?” So? Let them regret it. That’s their choice to live with.

“But what if that baby would have grown up to cure cancer?” Kinda short sighted on God’s part to only put that potential in one baby, yeah? (Also … you can’t cure cancer, but that’s a level of nuance for a different time)

“But what if they want to use that function in the future?” Funny thing about meds: you can just stop fucking taking them and things usually go back to normal.

I DON’T CARE WHAT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING DOES WITH THEIR OWN BODY! I don’t care 🤷‍♀️ it’s not my body so why should I have a say in it?

The choice is not “being left up to the states instead of the federal government”, it’s that the choice is being taken away from individuals.

Why the fuck to they care so much what other people do with their own shit??

[alexanderwales]

My web serial, Worth the Candle, has been adapted into a webcomic. This was thanks to my agent, who I have a great fondness for, since without him I would have to spend time trying to make connections and call people and do a bunch of work that I don't know how to do and am not good at.

I was offered the chance to write the webcomic, but declined, mostly because writing Worth the Candle had taken four years and was pretty draining, and was a story that I feel like I'm done with, minus some editorial stuff, answering fan questions, and the odd bit of promotion. So my level of involvement is that I get the pages as they come in, make some comments on them, and generally just give feedback which they are free to ignore.

So let's talk about some of the adaptational changes! You can read the first three issues on Webtoon here, or the first eight issues if you're willing to pay, and the books start here, but I'll assume that you haven't read either, and there won't be substantial spoilers because I'm talking about stuff from the very beginning. Actually, I guess there will be some spoilers, but later on, and I'll mark them, mostly having to do with some foreshadowing that the webcomic does which I didn't do.

(I licensed the rights to make the webcomic to WebToon and took my money upfront, they didn't ask me to write this post, I have not actually asked the artist/writer why they made these changes, it's just me guessing and commenting, for fun. Edit: My agent has informed me that I'm mistaken, I do get a cut. So apologies for the misinformation, and hooray for me, I guess I signed the contract ages ago and just forgot the details.)

Character Design

Here's how Juniper Smith is described in the books, ch 2:

I won’t belabor my physical description. My friend Greg had once said that I looked like someone had chosen ‘default’ for every option in the character creator, which I’d tried to laugh at but cut kind of deep. I wasn’t handsome, I wasn’t ugly, none of my features were very prominent, my eyes were blue, my hair was brown, average build, average height … After Greg had made his comment at one of our D&D games, my nickname had been ‘default’ for a while, at least until I stopped pretending to find it funny, and even after that my friends would use similar lines to trash talk me, saying that I was “the most generic man alive”, “a white bread with skim milk motherfucker”, or “the human equivalent of vanilla ice cream”. Not that I was any less of an asshole to them.

This is how he looks in the comic:

I would more or less give this full marks.

In terms of other aspects of character design, Juniper is here given a black shirt with a red symbol on it rather than the stock white t-shirt he's wearing in the opening chapters of the first book, probably in the interests of adding in some visual variety. On the page, it's perfectly fine that every person in the first 50k words is wearing basically the same stock outfit. In a visual medium, I do think that you need that pop. I do think it's interesting that Juniper is wearing the same clothes in the classroom as he is on the plane, implying that when he transmigrated his clothes ... came with him? I don't know.

The other major character of the first section is Amaryllis, who is a major character in the entire work. Here's her description in the book:

Standing by a workbench, among various car parts, tools, and cans of unidentified fluids, was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

I’m not really sure what protocol is here, in terms of prose. I mean, I don’t want to sound like a creep, so maybe I should stay as generic as possible and tell you about her dark red hair pulled back in a braid, the glacial blue of her eyes, how starkly alert she looked as she peered over the parts in front of her, or her grease-smeared clothes. Save for her eyes, I wasn’t really focused on any of that. My mind was consumed by tracing her curves, the shape of her chest in her blood-stained t-shirt, the fullness of her lips and the delicate way she had them parted -- and yeah, it was pretty fucked up that the splatter of blood on her shirt wasn’t worth rating much of a mention. I was consumed with staring at her and thinking how gorgeous she was, until I noticed that she was having a powerful effect on me, at which point different parts of my mind were given over to marveling at the sensation of being so attracted to a girl, and others were still focused on her.

Imagine that someone spent a few years studying your likes and dislikes, running through video of your every private moment, somehow surreptitiously hooking up EKGs to measure your physiological responses without you knowing. Then imagine that they sat down with that data and the best photo manipulation artists in the world and made the absolute perfect picture to cause your heart rate to spike, a jolt to run up your spine, butterflies in your stomach, and a cold sweat on your palms. Then imagine that they did this again, over and over in slight variations, until they had a full 4K 60fps 3D movie to show you. That was what it was like watching her.

And here she is (as she's introduced) in the comic:

Aside from the change in clothes, which in the book are the same white t-shirt and blue jeans that everyone else is wearing, Amaryllis has a scar on her face, of unknown provenance. This was probably added for visual variety, but I do find scars to be very fetching, and in one of the early versions of Worth the Candle she did have one (patterned off a woman with an extremely attractive facial scar I had met, the kind of facial scar that looked like it was applied by a Hollywood makeup artist specifically to give a touch of the exotic and mysterious, except she was a just a Midwestern mom).

And of course Amaryllis was always going to be an adaptational challenge, because the books are told through Juniper's eyes, and she's The Most Beautiful Girl in the World to him, and conventionally attractive to everyone else. Juniper tries to be normal about this. But if you're in the visual medium, you have to show both how Juniper feels and how she actually looks, and attractiveness is just so incredibly personal. My wife and I get in these kinds of discussions a lot, where she'll think someone is good-looking and I'll say "him?" or vice versa.

I think the above panel in particular is a good middle ground, a glamour shot that snaps back to the reality of their first meeting:

(The void gun she's holding there is much different from the one described in the book, not something cobbled together from spare parts and void equipment, but this is another very minor change that I would assume is meant for communicating immediately that this is a lethal weapon, and there's probably not a place for explaining how and from what it was cobbled together, which is also under-explained in the book for reasons of pacing.)

Story

I've read the first nine episodes, and overall, it's hewing very closely. There are a few bits in particular that stand out to me in how they're handled.

Spoilers for later in the series follow, I guess.

These are the opening lines of the webcomic. This is much stronger foreshadowing than I used, and I like it. Part of Juniper's backstory is that he's been deeply depressed and self-destructive, and he's slow to open up about this with other characters or the reader. The "it" that he couldn't go through with is, then, suicide. In the books? This comes very very late. Juniper being depressed after Arthur's death is brought up after the first major arc, halfway through what's now Book 1, and gets more explicit as the books go on, eventually getting to Juniper talking about his attempted suicide with people and grappling with it like ... almost halfway through?

I don't know what the plans for the webcomic are, but my guess is that they're setting up for much, much later on in a way that I didn't. This was always a background element, something that informed Juniper's character, not so much the suicide attempt as the feeling that came after, this understanding that yes, he did want to live, a heady, energizing kind of "I guess I don't have the way out that I thought I did" sort of thing.

So I take it as a good sign that this is the opening line. It points toward them understanding where they're going.

One of the other major adaptational changes is that they signpost Arthur's death with a memorial on his desk:

When I was getting pages, this was one of the first moments where I was like "yes, this is a good change, visual storytelling to replace my walls of text, flows and offers indirect information". I am very happy with the adaptation thus far, and stuff like this is what I love about adaptation in general, the need to grapple with the strengths and weaknesses of the medium.

Content Rating

Worth the Candle gets grim and dark in places. It at least attempts to grapple with serious things. The webcomic is rated Young Adult, and I'm not sure how they're going to handle the later stuff, but I can talk about how they're handling the stuff now, and what I think it means overall.

First, there's a lot less swearing. Worth the Candle in its entirety uses the word "fuck" ~1200 times. Granted, this is over the course of 1.6 million words, so a fuck density of one every 1.3k words, and some of those are in the verb "soulfuck" rather used descriptively, as exclamations, etc. My personal feeling is that this doesn't matter basically at all. I don't think I notice when someone isn't swearing unless they're using corny substitutions or trying to get cute with it.

Second, the violence is toned down in that YA way, where they're still showing much of the same things, just not with the same level of visceral detail. When a Marvel comic has someone thrown into a wall, they're no blood or snapping of bones or mangling of bodies, at least if it's a comic at a certain rating (I have definitely read some edgy 90s comics that do go hard on the violence). I think, overall, that this isn't my preference, which might be obvious from the way that I try to write fight scenes and such. But I'm also sort of inured to this toning down of violence, since it's omnipresent.

Third, there's the sex stuff, and ... well, it hasn't come up in the webcomic yet. I think I laid out my reasoning for why I think sex scenes should be written/included in Why to Write a Sex Scene, but the brief version is that sometimes you're showing how characters relate to each other, what they think of each other, and the sex scene shouldn't always just be something that's skipped over and left to the reader's imagination, because things happen, there are moments of communication, it can and does develop a relationship in the moment rather than after the fact. Plus a little titillation is, in my opinion, usually good.

The great thing about writing webfic is that no one can stop you from just including three solid chapters of hardcore pornography in the middle of your story. I have never done that, but I could is the point, and I would only get complaints from people who have no power over me. That same freedom doesn't exist here, and ... yeah, it makes my heart sink a little bit.

Fourth, there's some of the more mature content stuff, the topics that might not be broached. I don't know how they're handling that, so I reserve judgment, but I think my opinion is probably going to be "well, you do what you have to do", and if my version of the story is superior because there are no brakes, then I can be smugly superior about that.

Conclusion

This is already a fairly long post, and there are a few other things that I could have remarked on, but I think this is all the most interesting stuff.

Alright, just one real quick: Arthur is adaptationally more attractive, though this is also how Juniper sees Arthur and I think by the standards of webcomics, this is actually sort of necessary. Most of the flashback cast is not described until much later on, and by then you kind of know and understand them from the things they've said, if you can keep track of them. Many of the flashbacks are nearly disembodied. But if you're showing Arthur early, then the first impression he's going to make is in his appearance, and that really anchors people.

So overall, I am happy with the adaptation. There are challenges ahead, and I'm thankful that I'm not the one who needs to tackle those challenges.

[bengiyo]

Your Sky: It Seems I Wanted a 2gether Retread

I watched this on a whim yesterday evening and enjoyed it immensely. Not to be the Boss Baby tweet, but I enjoyed how this show set up some of the same parameters as 2gether without making key characters unlikable, or relying on mean humor.

Right off the bat they calibrated the Teerak character well. He's essentially an adorable younger brother all the time. He's clearly coddled, and requires a lot of supervision. However, they made sure to confirm that he's actually an extremely kind character, and that most of his adventures result from him maybe going too far to complete an act of kindness. This character has real potential to be annoying, and they're doing a great job with the line.

Additionally, they've given Teerak a great supporting cast around him. I liked the teamwork dynamics between Lee, Joy, and Type. I liked seeing them fulfill different roles in the group, and I'm excited to get to know them more. Teerak's relationship with Babe is also compelling; I'm excited to see what we get from a caring big sister. I especially loved their meeting the laundromat owner. I hope we see more of her, and that they continue the trend of introducing every new character with a beauty zoom.

Thomas Teetut is also doing a great job with Muenfah. He's playing this character so differently from Gun in The Middleman's Love that I didn't even recognize him right away.

Unlike with Sarawat (2gether), they didn't withhold this character's affection for Teerak for multiple episodes. Like Sarawat, they've gone for cool, aloof, and disinterested in women. I'm curious to learn how long he's had this crush, why he hasn't said anything about it, and why his brother (Lee) is keeping the confidence about it.

I also want to know whose ass he kicked years ago that created this reputation about him being leader of a gang. It's intriguing because we watched multiple people running interference on Oh's pursuit of Teerak. I was wondering at first if Teerak needed to properly reject this man, but based on Oh stealing the outdoor reservation at this restaurant, drugging Teerak's friends, and trying to fight Muenfah, I really don't like this man. They did a great job building to the reveal that Oh ain't shit. They made me feel bad for a Mike character at first, and then validated why I instinctively do not like that man's characters.

I really like the impetus for the fake dating in this one. I like that Muenfah pulled Teerak out of a dangerous situation, and also that a drunk Teerak created a major misunderstanding online from people stalking (please stop filming people in public). It's so much better than we know Muenfah has feelings for Teerak already, and has been protective of him. I'm excited to see how Teerak grows into a shared affection, and how the veneer of fake dating complicates the development of their feelings.

Also, this show is beautiful. Sarawut Chuparkpanich shows always look great. However, every single person linked on the crew has been part of projects that I think showed real potential before flopping badly before even the midpoint. I don't want to get my hopes up too much because of the track record, but damn did I really like this first episode. This is the most engaged with initial characterization I've been with a Thai BL in months, so I hope this one works out. I am still fond of 2gether, despite the missteps of that show, so I'd like to have a better version of it.

I'll pick this up as a regular watch and check in after a few weeks to let you know how I'm feeling about it. Thank you to the gifmakers!

[docholligay]

I’m still fascinated that I now feel less equipped to explain what Digimon is than I did before seeing the film

One of the best and most difficult books I've ever read is House of Leaves. House of Leaves, fairly uniquely among horror books, and I say this as someone who reads a lot of horror books, really replicates the feeling of going crazy. Of not being able to trust yourself, of not being able to trust the narrative in front of you, of a screaming doubt in the back of your mind. I actually took a year to read it--I found it so emotionally taxing to read that I had to take frequent breaks.

I wouldn't have guessed that there was something called, "All the disorientation of House of Leaves, but for children, and also bad" but there was the Digimon movie for me!

I sat and watched 90 minutes of digimon content and I feel less qualified than ever to even tell you what is a digimon. They live in the computer unless they don't, they can transform into different power levels but they can go back at the snap of a finger so I'm not sure why they don't immediately transform into SuperMegaUltimate form as soon as a conflict occurs, but there we are.

The bad digimon can also control nuclear weapons, it seems like, if they hack into it? Which was used once and then forgotten about, but seems reasonably relevant to me. Also everyone seems to know Digimon exist while living in what is more or less our world, and so I wonder, why has no one pushed for military operations, at the very least, to be completely analog? I mean, I am dumb as dogshit and not making a franchise, and my first thought with Tracer's CA was that it had to be electronic in the way a clock radio is for safety reasons. I know I'm asking a lot of kids' movie here, to think about literally any detail, but in fairness, they brought it up! It's not like NastyDevilMon got into, I don't know, the school database and ruined the big carnival, so I'm extrapolating of that, no, I need you to know, THE DIGIMON CONTROLLED THE NUCLEAR WARHEADS AND TRIED TO BLOW UP JAPAN.

But by the second act of the movie, we had sort of just, forgotten about that, and instead had a major fight in a national forest that destroyed something that looks like it might be Royal Gorge or one of the other uppers canyons of the Colorado river, because we are in Colorado for the second part, on a road trip.

None of which prepared me for when the digimon transformed into humanoid angels, notably called, Angelman and Angelwoman, boy I wish I was not making this up and was taking a humorous dig at this movie, I don't need to, it digs at itself.

Weirdly, for all of this, it was also boring! It was like wandering an endless mirror maze, which seems disorienting and almost funny but by minute 60 all you can think of is, "When is this thing going to fucking end?" For 90 minutes of run time, maybe 45 minutes of things occur. That's a high level of generosity on my behalf.

The only saving grace of the movie was that it used late 90s American music in the dub, and I have decided no dub is ever allowed to be made now without inserting contemporary American music of the time period, so that when we watch it later everyone can go, 'Oh my god!"

Anyway, Pokemon is not for me and I ahve no fondness for it, but at the very least, I could explain to you what the basic principles of it are and why I assume people like it. No such luck here!