#but do men with good communication skills exist?

[stateofirrelevancy]

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[fuckyeahisawthat]

There are so many places in the Villeneuve Dune adaptations where he just...takes all the narrative pieces that Frank Herbert laid out and subtly rearranges them into something that tells the story better--that creates dramatic tension where you need it, communicates the themes and message of the book more clearly, or corrects something in the text that contradicts or undermines what Herbert said he was trying to say.

The fedaykin are probably my favorite example of this. I just re-read a little part of the book and got smacked in the face with how different they are.

(under the cut for book spoilers and length)

The fedaykin in the book are Paul's personal followers, sort of his personal guard. They show up after his legend has already started growing (the word doesn't appear in the book until chapter 40) and they are people who have specifically dedicated themselves to fighting for him, and right from the moment they're introduced there is a kind of implied fanaticism to their militancy that's a bit uncomfortable to read. They're the most ardent believers in Paul's messianic status and willing to die for him. (They are also, as far as you can tell from the text, all men.)

In the book, as far as I can remember (I could be forgetting some small detail but I don't think so) there is no mention of armed resistance to colonialism on Arrakis before Paul shows up. As far as we know, he created it. ETA: Okay I actually went back and checked on this and while we hear about the Fremen being "a thorn in the side" of the Harkonnens and we know that they are good fighters, we don't see anything other than possibly one bit of industrial sabotage. The book is very clear that the organized military force we see in the second half was armed and trained by Paul. This is exacerbated by the two-year time jump in the book, which means we never see how Paul goes from being a newly deposed ex-colonial overlord running for his life to someone who has his own private militia of people ready to give their lives for him.

The movie completely flips all these dynamics on their head in ways that add up to a radical change in meaning.

The fedaykin in the movie are an already-existing guerrilla resistance movement on Arrakis that formed long before Paul showed up. Literally the first thing we learn about the Fremen, less that two minutes into the first movie, is that they are fighting back against the colonization and exploitation of their home and have been for decades.

The movie fedaykin also start out being the most skeptical of the prophecy about Paul, which is a great choice from both a political and a character standpoint. Of course they're skeptical. If you're part of a small guerrilla force repeatedly going up against a much bigger and stronger imperial army...you have to believe in your own agency. You have to believe that it is possible to win, and that this tiny little chip in the armor of a giant terrifying military machine that you are making right now will make a difference in the end. These are the people who are directly on the front lines of resisting oppression. They are doing it with their own sweat, blood and ingenuity, and they are not about to wait around for some messiah who may never come.

From a character standpoint, this is really the best possible environment you could put Paul Atreides in if you want to keep him humble. He doesn't get any automatic respect handed to him due to title or birthright or religious belief. He has to prove himself--not as any kind of savior but as a good fighter and a reliable member of a collective political project. And he does. This is an environment that really draws out his best qualities. He's a skilled fighter; he's brave (sometimes recklessly so); he's intensely loyal to and protective of people he cares about. He is not too proud to learn from others and work hard in an egalitarian environment where he gets no special treatment or extra glory. The longer he spends with the fedaykin the more his allegiance shifts from Atreides to Fremen, and the more skeptical he himself becomes about the prophecy. This sets up the conflict with Jessica, which comes to a head before she leaves for the south. And his political sincerity--that he genuinely comes to believe that these people deserve liberation from all colonial forces and his only role should be to help where he can--is what makes the tragedy work. Because in the end we know he will betray all these values and become the exact thing he said he didn't want to be.

There's another layer of meaning to all this that I don't know if the filmmakers were even aware of. ETA: rescinding my doubt cause based on some of Villeneuve's other projects I'm pretty sure he could work it out. Given the time period (1960s) and Herbert's propensity for using Arabic or Arabic-inspired words for aspects of Fremen culture, it seems very likely that the made-up word fedaykin was taken from fedayeen, a real Arabic word that was frequently used untranslated in American news media at the time, usually to refer to Palestinian armed resistance groups.

Fedayeen is usually translated into English as fighter, guerrilla, militant or something similar. The translation of fedaykin that Herbert provides in Dune is "death commando"...which is a whole bucket of yikes in my opinion, but it's not entirely absurd if we're assuming that this fake word and the real word fedayeen function in the same way. A more literal translation of fedayeen is "self-sacrificer," as in willing, intentional self-sacrifice for a political cause, up to and including sacrificing your life.

If you apply this logic to Dune, it means that Villeneuve has actually shifted the meaning of this word in-universe, from fighters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for Paul to fighters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for their people. And the fedaykin are no longer a group created for Paul but a group that Paul counts himself as part of, one member among equals. Which is just WILDLY different from what's in the book. And so much better in my opinion.

[myslutwritings]

Hey! I've been reading your blog and I'm really interested in your writing. I would like to ask if you could do the upper moons with a reader with a background like Mitsuri's? As if after rejection the reader became super ashamed of their appearance and their body. Take as much time as you need to write this, I just wanted to send my idea before I forget it <3

-🎀

hey, love! of course i’ll do your request. goodness, this request was in my inbox for a few months so my apologies for responding so late!! (˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥)

➤ Uppermoons with a partner who has Mitsuri’s backstory

[ not proof read btw ]

➤ summary: reader is insecure

➤ characters included: muzan, kokushibo, douma & akaza!

➤ WARNING: semi-nsfw + violence.

MUZAN KIBUTSUJI

first off.. how dare you-

yeah, okay, he’s GONNA take major offense to say at the very least..

likeeee hellooooo???

i mean, you’re MUZAN’S partner. you somehow pulled the king of demons? like look at you!! (unspoken rizz🤫..)

we all know this man has a crazed obsession with being the perfect being so obviously he is going to view his significant other as the embodiment of perfection itself.

Muzan chose you over anyone else. He views the rest of the human population as insignificant atoms. Because of his determination for perfection he’s going to pick/fall in love with a person who he deems perfect.

let’s be honest, due to him taking offense to finding out you’re insecure over some different face/hair/body features you have that he doesn’t mind/finds them beautiful he’s going to be not very happy!

when i say, “not very happy” that’s just me sugar coating his flaring anger.

However, he’ll try to reassure you in his own way that you’re beautiful the way you are and that you’re perfect in the most passive aggressive way possible.

Listen, he’s not the best at intimacy but he tries for you.

AND OH BOY!! when he finds out if anyone made you feel insecure he would order nakime to locate them so he could kill them. 🤭

As for your exes in the past.. they’re already taken care of! he murdered them awhile ago and didn’t even bother eating them because he was that repulsed by their existence.

Bro didn’t even view them as worth eating.

Btw he didn’t even tell you that he murdered your exes along with the men/women who made you feel insecure about your face/body.. he just causally told you as if it would make you feel better.

“Muzan, what happened to my exes? i saw a missing poster while i was running errands today..”

“There is no need to worry about them anymore, my dear.”

KOKUSHIBO

He’s very saddened over the fact you’re insanely insecure and it devastates him knowing how many people hurt you.

Why is he only hearing this now? he wished you told him sooner.

Like the demon king, he isn’t the most skilled when it comes to intimacy. I mean, he had a wife in the past but he deadass left her and went to go get the milk. 💀

He would never leave you though!

so he’s not going to be the ‘lovey dovey’ reassuring type of boyfriend who coddles you the way you want him to.

He may or may not have forgotten how relationships worked and he’s lowkey awkward!

He’ll reassure you in his own way and of course his demon instincts are provoking him to kill those maggots in the past who dared made you cry.

If you don’t want him to kill your exes he won’t but if you do then congratulations! you have a whole bunch of dead exes!

He’s jealous because he wanted to be with you before any of those people. He figured that if he found you first and asked you out before any of those horrible human beings you wouldn’t be so insecure. :(

Once you communicate more with Koku he’ll begin to understand and attempt to be more intimate and reassuring! He just isn’t used to it.

Kokushibo is honestly excellent at communicating and he’s understanding in his own way.

He won’t understand why you’re so insecure though? You point out your features/habits you’re insecure about that you view as ‘flaws’

He does not view them as flaws in the slightest! That’s just who you are and like muzan he’ll be offended at first you have so much hatred for yourself. 😞

But don’t worry! he won’t get mad like how Muzan did.

If anything you two will just talk it out. He may never will understand why you’re so insecure but he’ll compliment you and reassure you every time he sees you! He’ll do his very best to check up on you whenever he’s able to.

DOUMA

Douma is honestly going to think it’s stupid.

no, you are NOT stupid. he thinks the reason you’re insecure is silly! because why would you be hurt over what someone so insignificant thinks of you?

Douma also thinks it’s stupid because he views you as the most beautiful flower to ever walk this planet!

Yes, douma will find it silly. He may not fully comprehend why it hurts you so much but he’ll reassure you regardless because he loves you!

Douma is canonically great at advice. But usually with his followers he puts on a façade.

But with you it’s very different. Yes, he’ll give you advice but because he loves you and you know him and know what he really is he’ll give you the advice and not sugarcoat it for you.

Downright admits it’s dumb how you feel that way.

Immediately feels bad afterwards though when you break down into tears-

He’s used to seeing miserable people cry. He doesn’t care about their tears.

but when it’s you crying he isn’t a fan, trust me.

This is the part where he’ll reassure you and lend you advice. Instead of being rude, he’ll be genuine with you!

Douma just doesn’t understand. When you point out why you’re insecure he brushes it off because he finds your ‘flaws’ so adorable!

It’s one of the things he loves most about you. Your so-called ‘flaws’ are unique to him.

He gets offended like Muzan because why would you hate those adorable features about yourself?!? 😡😡

Let’s be fr.. Douma will never understand because he doesn’t find you ugly and has zero issues with your habits that you claim to hate about yourself.

But if you need comfort, he’ll of course comfort you and reassure you all you want! After all, he’s known to have a voice that soothes people instantly so he’s incredibly good at helping you. that’s what he does, right?

Anyway, Douma will go out of his way to make you feel less insecure even though he finds it utterly stupid that you are. The little shit still loves you unconditionally and will be genuine with you. He isn’t fake with you like how he is with his followers who suffer from insecurities.

Btw he ate the people who made you feel shitty about your appearance.

AKAZA

he is appalled..

LIKE WHAT???

YOU? INSECURE?

YOU OF ALL MORTALS?!?

High-key freaking out at first because now he feels like he did something wrong

I headcanon him as an overthinker when it comes to those he loves.

You elaborate your darkest feelings to him and he listens like the good boyfriend he is!

This sweet baby is the nicest and most understanding about it though!

Unlike Douma he won’t think it’s stupid. Your feelings are valid!

Akaza detests how insecure you are though. He’ll do anything in his power so you don’t feel that way anymore though!

You reassure him that he’s doing his job right as a demonic boyfriend before revealing that someone else made you feel this way.

Okay, okay.. so it’s not him but some other asshole.

He’ll be really bummed out if he can’t kill them:(

Assumes that’ll make you feel better if he gets rid of that garbage walking the earth.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to kill them for you? I hate how they made you feel insecure about yourself..”

Like, no, akaza it’s fine!!

But if you’re a person who seeks out revenge and WANTS the people who rejected you/made you feel bad about your looks dead this man has zero issue making your desires come true. 💅

After you confess to him about your past rejections and bullying in the past over noticeable features you have he’ll worship you even more that day. He’s the type to bring you flowers and remind you that you’re gorgeous/handsome whenever he gets the chance.

This behavior also comes out in the bedroom but that’s a different story for another day. 😩

[vixeneptune]

CLASSY & HIGH VALUE WOMAN

Powerful affirmations vaunt

I'm so high value , I know my inherent worth and nothing can shake that. A rich goddess like me is expensive, classy and elegant and anyone would be lucky af to have me.

I never settle for less, I KNOW I'll receive the best bc thats what i deserve and my life just keeps on getting better and better!

Being with me is a privilege and a blessing. My presence inspires people and I leave a beautiful unforgettable mark in everyone's life. I'm worth gold from head to toe and everyone can see that.

I never compete or compare myself to anyone, I know God put something special and unique in me that can never be replicated. I am a once in a lifetime, experiencing me is a beautiful blessing. I walk this earth enchanted , with beauty and grace, enchanting everything in my way.

Everyone respects me. I exude a powerful presence that makes people fear messing with me. I am treated like royalty bc I carry myself with so much confidence and elegance. It's all natural for me, I get princess treatment just by existing 💅🏻

I take good care of myself. I always smell so nice and fresh, my skin is glowing, my hair is shiny and luscious, my lips are glossy and my body is snatched! I love being a woman and I love being myself. I'm so pretty, healthy, and radiant

I'm an intelligent educated woman with alot of skills. I know my shit and I'm a great communicator , I can literally persuade anyone with my charisma and intelligence. I am so confident in my abilities I KNOW I can do ANYTHING

My power lies in my divine feminine energy. I don't chase I attract. I dont even have to try, I'm just so magnetic and abundant that my desires have no choice but to manifest. A woman like me is worth all the love and money in the world, I am priceless.

My feminine energy attracts masculine men who treat me so well, they're willing to give me the world and would move mountains to be with me. They buy me quality gifts, take me out to the best places, spoiling me rotten. There's nothing that makes them happy more than pleasing me and seeing me smile.

I literally have a whole simp army of quality men begging to be with me. So many options. I'm highly sought-after, desired and men chase me relentlessly bc I'm such a catch. I'm worth all the wait and the effort. They know I'm the prize.

I'm so lucky in love, things always work out in my favor and I always attract the best kinds of people , experiences and opportunities in life bc I'm a high value woman.

[n3xii]

Today's reading will focus on:

-your greatest strengths and abilties

-your "weaknesses" and how they can be leveraged to be skills. you have three pokemon cards to choose from.

CARD ONE

strengths and skills:

when I look at your cards I feel like im looking at someone who has been at rock bottom and knows how to talk themselves (and others) out of a low point. You know how to extract lessons from situations others would see as a ''failure." in your world giving up doesn't exist, any "failure" is just a bigger, overarching lesson that helps you get closer to success. I feel like one of your strengths is being able to see things from both a higher perspective, and as the perspective of someone who has been at rock bottom. Its like you have both a helicopter view of a situation, and a on the ground view as well. This dual understanding allows you to help other people on a deeper level where no one else has been able to reach them. you help others understand their situation from a higher perspective but also from the perspective of someone whos ''been there.'' this skill reminds me of a Lenord cohen lyric where he describes Jesus, "and ..he realized only drowning men could see him." You can connect with people who have never had anyone meet them where they are, because you know how to guide them out of the waters. you have birds eye view which provides a greater understanding of a turbulent situation and its purpose without loosing sight of how it feels to be at ''rock bottom" on a personal, intimate level.

weakness and how it can be a strength:

Your weakness has to do with maintaining objectivity and balance. because you know so intimately how others may feel when they are at rock bottom, maintaining the boundary of not accidently going back down can be something that hinders you. But at the same time, this can be a strength in the sense that you feel very strongly for them, you want to stand up for them and find a fair conclusion. Your sense of justice may make your biased at times, but it also makes you motivated

CARD TWO

your strengths and skills

you can see beyond LIES and MISTRUTHS, you're someone who sees through anything thats unclear and confusing. you know when someone is trying to misdirect you and to confuse you, you have an uncanny sense of when something isnt adding up. i also feel that you can cut through extra details and bluff to get to the point of something, you dont mince words and you communicate very well regardless of the medium you choose.

weaknesses and how it can be your strength

you may not come from money, or you may not come from a background that gives you a soft cushion for you to fall back on. lacking a solid foundation may be something you consider a weakness about yourself, but this is actually something that can be your biggest strength- i know many people who come from BIG money. im talking Mercedes car before they even got an official license. Their privilege does help them in life. HOWEVER, they have no work experience, no applicable skills, no understanding of what its like to work 8-12 hours a day. they have never made a resume as they have literally never worked a job. I used to think this was something to envy but then I realized something pivotal: when their main providers die and that foundation goes away, they will have to learn skills many of us learned at 15-16 years old in their twenties or even thirties. that sounds like my worst nightmare.

when you dont come from that type of comfort, you have to learn to rely on yourself. this is a strength that makes you more powerful than alot of people in this world because you know how to build your own stability instead of having it provided for you. you will create your own legacy.

CARD THREE

strengths and skills

im getting the sense that you're very good at entertaining yourself, you have a magnetic sense to you that could attract others to you but its like you prefer your own company. Your passions, creativity and humor are enough to supply you with enough entertainment for a lifetime. you dont rely on other people to do this for you, you know how to make yourself laugh, how indulge in your passions, how to make yourself smile. You are your own sun, literally, my intution compared you to the sun lol

your weakness and how it can be a strength

you're very analytical, alert and aware of your surroundings. this may make you overly cautious, anxious but at the same time, its a strength to have the awareness that you possess. You're quick and on your feet, its difficult to catch you off guard. your focus may be pulled in several directions at once, but still, you have keen senses. I feel like you process stimuli very quickly, its may be a weakness in the sense that its hard to process it all at once, but it also makes you very difficult to catch off guard. You notice details others wouldnt, you hear things others cant.

[decolonize-the-everything]

Hey this might be a weird question but you seem to know a lot about the strategies TERFs use and what they're hiding, so I just wanted to ask and you don't have to answer.

Why do so many TERFs have this weird hostility towards bi and ace people? I don't think either of those identities have anything to do with being trans but I've seen so many TERFs who are also biphobic and/or aphobic. My gut instinct was that there was some large overlap between bi/ace people and trans people, but then I've found TERFs give shit to cis bis and aces so I'm not sure if it's that or some other reason. I'm not trans myself but I want to be able to recognize TERF rhetoric to be a better ally to trans people.

A couple reasons.

First one is that hating bis/aces is at the entrance of the TERF pipeline; they utilize this 'soft bigotry' to radicalize LGBTs and it usually looks like this:

To recruit queer ppl first they try to get us to stop considering aces as Oppressed. That's how it starts. They're aren't Doing anything so how can they be oppressed? They don't know what it's like to marginalized....how could they? They're just stealing the spotlight of Actually oppressed ppl

And once you accept that they turn to bisexuals. Who are only half gay, you know? And most of them date men anyway or end up marrying men so like? How the hell would they know what it's like to literally Live oppression 24/7? Do we we really want them to have a voice and speak for those of us that don't have an escape from our oppression?

This works because on the surface TERFS/Radfems appear to care about women and gender equality, which a lot of queer people obviously support. But they exploit those of us that don't know enough about feminism's intersectional (and very gay) history to identify them as bad actors.

From here the person they've targeted will either a- accept this and likewise will eventually also accept that trans oppression isnt real either (fulfilling the TERF's actual goal of recruitment) OR b- they'll realize they've been manipulated and try to deconstruct.

Secondly:

TERFs are white supremacist and their beliefs are founded white supremacist ideology and outdated scientific theories that Support white supremacist rhetoric.

It's called gender-essentialism which is a branch of bio-essentialism which is the belief that the biological body you have has inherent skills and abilities. Racists have used this to deny Black humanity just as TERFs use it to deny the existence of gender diversity.

But nobody is inherently weaker because of a uterus, nor are they bad drivers just because they have a uterus. All women are not good mothers just because they are women. Men are not all abusers just because they are men.

TERFs would have you swallow these beliefs; they're vital to maintaining the Core TERF Value that that trans people aren't Real and people with uteri are always helpless victims to be defended against evil men.

And as white supremacists their goal is to disrupt and destroy minority communities so that we are too divided to unify against legal attacks. TERFs do this from the inside out by putting bis/aces in a different category from the other queers while disguising their bigotry as feminist. They get us to voluntarily undermine and destroy our own movement this way by causing intercommunity "bi/ace discourse" that makes bis/aces out to be an enemy of "real" oppressed people (like transphobic lesbians for example)

Thirdly:

Lots of queer people are feminists which makes us easy targets and that's why they focus on the queer community. Additionally, the queer community has a history of being a threat to the white supremacist establishment so dividing us is vital to their goal of eventually wiping out anyone who isnt cis, straight, white, neurotypical, and able bodied

[dyns33]

Simple

A soulmate Poe Dameron x female reader, because why not ? 

Yet it was simple.

Your soulmate would say the phrase you've had on your arm since birth, the first thing you'll hear from them, and in return you'll respond with the phrase they've had on their arm since birth, the first thing they'll hear from you.

The galaxy being vast, it was not so easy to meet your soulmate, but apart from this space problem, the rule was not complicated.

Y/N had always dreamed of meeting her soulmate. Her sentence was original enough for her to be sure to be in front of the right person when the moment came.

"Let's go, baby, guide me through the stars."

Well, she couldn't really guess in what context her soulmate was going to say this sentence, but she was eager for it to happen, imagining what she was going to answer in return.

It was absolutely not for that that she had engaged in the resistance, nor that she had decided to be in the communications team, which guided the pilots.

To tell the truth, she hadn't even made the connection.

Y/N had joined, because it was the right thing to do, because the Empire had to be fought. And she had ended up in comms, not by choice, but because despite her piloting skills and her desire for justice, she was unable to fire on other ships. It was probably cowardly and selfish, but she didn't want to kill anyone directly. 

Hiding in her little station, she was helping others do it, and she was pretty good at it.

This was probably why she was appointed to support Black Leader during a very important mission.

Black Leader. Poe Dameron. Best pilot of the resistance. The one all men spoke of with admiration, and all women dreamed of at night.

Not Y/N. 

She had never seen him, she had never had the opportunity to talk to him, and while she admitted that the stories she had heard about him were incredible, they were just stories. It was good that he was helping the resistance, but he wasn't the only one.

While she was concentrating after being teased for a long time by the other communication girls who was a little jealous, Y/N suddenly heard a sweet voice in her ears, which made her freeze.

     "Let's go, baby, guide me through the stars."

This moment, she had waited all her life. Really. The most important moment of an existence, which awaited a precise answer.

Hers was to be unable to speak. Paralyzed in her seat, she stared at her screen, staring at the glowing dot that represented Black Leader.

     "Hey oh ? A-8, you copy ?" Poe Dameron asked, both worried and irritated by the lack of response.

It would have been a good time to say something. A second chance. Instead, Y/N took off her helmet, jumped out of her seat, and ran to G-4 to beg her to switch pilots. G-4 was surprised, but too happy to assist Dameron, asked no questions and complied.

The mission was a success, even though Y/N was not at her post, and she was not really concentrated during the following hours.

Why hadn't she said anything ? It was stupid, but finding out that the resistance's best pilot was her soulmate had come as a shock. She didn't know how to react at all.

Poe Dameron had a reputation, in addition to knowing how to fly. Many said he wasn't looking for his soulmate at all, just wanting to have fun.

You shouldn't listen to the stories, but Y/N wondered if it was true. And even if that was wrong, she didn't think he'd be happy to be with a coward who was hiding in comms and not really doing anything to get the win.

She thought she would have time to think, to find a moment to gather courage and talk to him, but as soon as the pilots returned, Black Leader went to the communications room.

Y/N didn't know right away that it was him, since she had never seen him. She only saw a man, tall, quite handsome, dressed in pilots' clothes, followed by a small droid, and visibly furious.

It was the reaction of the other girls, and his voice, that gave her his identity

     "Where's A-8 ?"

Again, she froze, feeling very small in her seat. Quickly, she looked at G-4, who didn't move, then F-7, who felt the panic in her eyes. The comms girls were in solidarity. So F-7 sighed before raising her hand.

     "Yes, Black Leader ?"

     "Why the radio silence ? Why the change of guide ? I could have had problems, and my guys too. You don't change guides in the middle of a mission, never !"

     "Sorry, Black Leader. I felt ill, and I didn't want to jeopardize the mission by misguiding you. But as soon as I saw everything was fine, I took another post."

     "Hmm..." Dameron mumbled, not sounding convinced. "Okay, for this time, but let it be the only one. Did you all hear ?"

     "Yes, Black Leader !" replied all the girls. All, except Y/N.

This time there were questions. No one understood A-8's attitude, even though it could be intimidating to talk to Poe Dameron.

Those who had had this honor before said that he was quite nice, funny, loving to flirt, doing everything for them to have a good time together. It was okay to be shy, but she really had to not do that again.

A good moment. Funnt. Y/N felt bad.

With each of the following missions, Y/N begged F-7 again to take her place. And F-7, even though she found it strange and childish, agreed. It was truly an honor to guide Black Leader. She even had fun flirting with him and bragging about it to others.

This will be several weeks, during which Y/N began to regain her composure, trying to accept the situation and repeating to herself that it is not serious. At least she had met her soulmate, and she could move on.

While she was going to the canteen, a small droid bumped into her legs, before circling her beeping. Y/N spoke a little binary, so she understood that the rascal was trying to escape maintenance.

     "You do not have to be afraid." she said gently, kneeling in front of him to pat his head. "It's important to make sure you're okay, for yourself and for others. Are you a pilot's droid ? More importantly, they..."

     "BB8 ? BB8, where are you ?!"

This voice. Y/N froze, before slowly turning her head towards Poe Dameron who was coming towards her, staring at the droid. His droid.

     "There you are ! Hey, don't hide behind the girl, no ! BB, that's bad. Excuse him, he hates check-ups, that little monster. Yes, you're a little monster. You... I am as nice as that girl, you can't stay with her."

Y/N said nothing, unable to answer. Black Leader seemed to sense her embarrassment.

     "You're in communications, aren't you ?" he asked with a charming smile. "I recognize the uniform. We may have flown together before ? I often have A-8 at the moment, she's not bad. I had heard a lot of good things about her, but I'm a little disappointed. Our first time together... She wasn't very professional."

Y/N still said nothing.

     "I mean, she's fine. I understand that the mission was stressful. And even if it's stupid, it's stressful to guide me. But we have a job to do, and we have to do it, seriously. She is really not  serious. I should change my comm, I think. I will ask the general. Would you guide me ?"

The only response Y/N could give was a nod, before fleeing, leaving the pilot and his droid in the middle of the corridor, intrigued.

After that, it was announced that Black Leader was asking for a change of comm. Then another. Then another. He seemed to want to talk to all the girls in the communications department at least once. Absolutely all of them.

And when it was impossible for Y/N to switch places with anyone again, she panicked. Her first solution was to say she was sick, too bad. But she couldn't stay sick forever. So she went to talk to General Organa.

     "You want to change assignments ?"

     "Yes, General. Originally, I was supposed to be a pilot, and although communication is important, I think I could help in mechanics, or elsewhere."

     "Hmm. And that has nothing to do with a certain pilot you've been avoiding for a month ?"

     "I... I don't know what you mean ?"

     "No ? He told me about your little chase. He thought it was funny at first, but now he doesn't understand your attitude. He wonders if he did something wrong, A-8."

He knew. From the start, he knew. Oh, not that they were soulmates, but that she had been avoiding him for weeks.

     "If Black Leader did something, tell me." said General Organa calmly.

     "He... He said my sentence."

"Ah. I see. And you didn't answer, because ?"

     "... He's Black Leader. The best pilot in the resistance... who isn't looking for anything serious."

     "I've heard the rumours. Dameron likes to have fun, it's true. He loves to talk, laugh, and flirt. But the rest of it, if you ask him, it's just baseless gossip. It's a romantic idiot. He's looking forward to his soulmate, though he's too proud to admit it. I think he's waited long enough, right ? Unless you really want to change assignments, I won't oppose it."

Y/N hesitated. After all that had happened, he might be angry. He would probably be disappointed. But he had a right to know, so she accepted the next mission with Black Leader.

Sitting at her post, she took a deep breath before turning on the comms.

     "A-8, glad you're back with us after your illness, hope you're feeling better." Dameron sneered into her helmet.

     "... Thank you, I'm like BB, I don't really like check ups."

There was a silence. A long silence. She had spoken without thinking, not wondering if that would be the right sentence, only finding that it was the right thing to answer.

Beeps were heard, and a growl.

     "Yeah, I know BB, I got it. A-8, I need to focus, but can we meet when I get back ? Please ?"

Poe Dameron was not known for saying 'please'. Y/N couldn't say no to him. They were very professional during the rest of the mission, not talking at all about what had happened. And when the pilots returned, Y/N was standing in the hangar.

Seeing her, Black Leader jumped out of his cockpit without waiting to come quickly towards her. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, his face totally impassive.

     "First question, your name."

     "Oh. Y/N."

     "Great. Poe, delighted. Second question, are we what I think we are ?" he asked, standing in front of her.

     "... I think so."

     "Okay. Third question, why ? Why the radio silence ?"

     "I… I was surprised. And then… I thought you'd be disappointed. People say you're not looking for anything serious."

     "People are stupid and don't know me at all, just the guy on the propaganda posters. Besides, I think you're cute, and I've heard a lot of good things about your work. Knowing that, would you have responded ?"

     "... Yes, I can imagine ?"

     "So I'm not rejected ?"

     "What ? No ! Not at all ! I thought… I thought you were going to reject me.”

     "Okay." Poe said simply before kissing her without waiting, in front of everyone.

Some cheered, others were a bit jealous, while the comms girls finally understood their colleague's attitude. Of course, the best pilot and the best guide were made to be together. Two idiots.

     "Beep beep !"

     "What ?" Poe muttered, watching his droid push him again and again, getting between him and Y/N. "No, I... How come it's my turn for maintenance ? What are you talking about ?"

     "I haven't really had maintenance." Y/N whispered. "I lied, BB."

     "Beep beep !"

     "It hurts Y/N, very badly. My heart is bleeding. Me, who spent almost all my free time at the nurse to find someone who didn't like check-ups, I feel stupid."

     "Beep !"

     "Thanks, BB. We'll check up together if you want."

     "Beep beep."

     "I speak some binary, what we do or don't do together is nobody's business." Y/N said trying not to be embarrassed by the language used by droid.

     "Excuse him, I told you, he's a little monster. I raised him better than that though."

This made her laugh, relaxing the atmosphere completely, even if BB8 had already somewhat succeeded in helping the two ridiculous humans to stop their stupidity. Even if the kiss wasn't completely nonsense, just Poe who was going a little too fast.

Y/N's laugh made her soulmate smile, who seemed as relieved as her by the situation. All was well, all was perfectly well, simple, a pilot and his comm, soulmates, who fought for peace.

[shepherds-of-haven]

hi i hope you're having a good day! this may be quite silly but i'm curious, what are some typical dances for the peoples of blest?

Hi there! This was actually sent in for the Patreon Q&A in April, but something horrible has happened to Patreon's site in the last several months, where after a certain amount of text, the text editor becomes horrifically laggy and crashes constantly, meaning I did all the work (i.e. watching so many medieval and ancient dancing videos and reading all about various cultures and their dances) to answer this question, but the website stubbornly would not let me type up my answer in the existing Q&A post... 🥹 So I kept losing all my progress on this one and ultimately ended up giving up, but I still wanted to answer it, so I hope it's okay that I answer here!

The short answer: the typical dances for the people of Blest obviously are going to vary widely between cultures as well as classes within those cultures. People from the southern isles dance quite differently from people in the Eastern Continent, who in turn dance differently from people in Jalis. I'm not going to cover too much of the kinds of dancing that we don't see much of in the game, though I will note that Ket and Hunter cultures tend to favor dancing more as a form of story-telling or individual expression (often seen in plays or festival rituals where specialized dancers are playing specific roles or parts), with elaborate costumes and dance techniques being employed in each culture (some traditional Ket dancers use fans and masks, Hunter dancers often dress in swirling costumes with rattling beads and employ hand-drums), rather than the communal dancing we might envision in, like, ballrooms or barnyard line-dancing. The Elves have a mix of both, with dance as "performance" as well as dance as "socializing" utilized in equal measure, and performative dancing is seen as a high art form that deeply utilizes perfectly synchronized music, color coordination, and movement to create mesmerizing group displays, almost like synchronized swimming or Cirque de Soleil type experiences. Mage culture, in general, doesn't put a lot of emphasis on dancing, as many Mages tend to trend introverted, solitary, or unathletic, so as a society it's not viewed as a really vital skill or even a part of their larger culture outside of the usual school/festival dancing, which isn't so much taught as it is just stumbled into.

Anyway, the two primary forms of dancing we seen in the game are what the nobles do and what the commonfolk do. I imagine dancing among aristocrats (formal balls, the Trade Minister's gala, parties at the Sun Court) to be pretty similar to what you'd see in Regency-Era dancing, with waltzes, quadrilles, and cotillons being the most common style.

However, it should be noted that the "English country dance" that was typical of the Regency era (where men and women form two lines, facing across from their partner, and are not permitted to dance alone as a couple, but side-by-side alongside others) is not something that is present in Blest. If you've seen any Austenian movies like P&P 2005, you know what I mean.

^ So not this!

It may factor into a dance a noble has to do once or twice in their lifetime, but it's pretty unusual, and a guest without a noble background (like Riel or the Shepherds at the Trade Minister's gala) wouldn't be expected to know it.

Among the commonfolk, dancing typically takes place during festivals and holidays, in the streets or on the village green or town square, not within a formal venue such as a ball. As such, there are really no formal moves or styles ascribed to this kind of dancing--it's primarily dictated by what kind of music is playing, and you basically just jam out to it however you want, in a group, couple, or as an individual--but the closest real-world equivalents I could liken it to would be the medieval carole or free-style polka. But there are no formalized rules other than basic proprietary/decency, and even then that can be pretty lax once the drink is flowing.

However, while I don't have any formal name for it, mostly I just imagine the dance scene from A Knight's Tale. :)

[sympyl]

Recently watched Abigail Thorn's new video, and a very specific part of the bit about plagiarism and men taking credit for the things that women have done really resonated with me. I am, of course, a woman, and I am involved in alot of male dominated communities, and in my time being in such communities I've realised that men don't even have to actively try and take credit for a woman's work for women to be erased from the story. As an example, anyone who has followed or looked at my blog at all knows that I paint alot of Warhammer miniatures, and I put alot of time, effort and skill into my hobby- collectively probably over a thousand hours assembling and painting models at this point, maybe drastically more. I often post photos of my work online- and, without exception, the people who comment on my photos just *assume* that I'm a man. I get comments all the time saying things like "Good job sir!!!" And "Fantastic work, man!!!!", and, while in some ways I at least appreciate the comment, the fact that my existence as a woman in the space is automatically erased from people's minds, and that it's instead attributed to some abstract "man" who doesn't even exist because I'm not male, fucking stings a little. And you can't even get out of this either- women who take photos of themselves with their models often get responses saying they're "doing it for clout" and are chided for using their gender to get fake reddit upvotes or whatever, and such comments often say "oh it would be fine if they just posted her models, let her models speak for themselves!" or whatever, completely ignoring the fact that they would just assume that a man painted it if her face wasn't showing. This effect is compounded if the woman posting photos with her models has like. Any boobs at all. Because of course.

Perhaps Warhammer (and other hobbies like it) is perceived as more male dominated than it actually is, simply because people just assume that the women who have always been here just don't exist.

[rubyreduji]

svt as spider-men

watched spiderverse and got inspired 🤩🙏 also idc if this isn't how the spider-verse works or these spider-sonas already exist these are MY headcanons

SEUNGCHEOL spider-man

he is our classic peter parker type spiderman

doesn't have any special powers outside of the usual spider-man powers

very dependable and is a good leader to the other spider-people

JEONGHAN halo-spider

don't be fooled by the name, he's anything but an angel

his powers wouldn't be nearly as effective if not paired with his wit

is an actual menace to his villains and the police (good)

he can spit acid and is not afraid to do it

JOSHUA gentle-spider

he got his name from the sweet way he saves his city, but he just doesn't show citizens his full powers

don't get on his bad side because he won't hold back

he can use the stick of his fingers to burn his opponent's skin or even rip it off (the mark of kaine)

has sharp barbed hairs that grow out of his skin that he can release to harm others

JUNHUI moon-spider

has inpeccable night vision and just overall heightened senses

works better at night time because he becomes more powerful when the moon is out

sleeps a lot during the day due to his high activity levels at night

can send cold shocks through his opponent's body by touching them

SOONYOUNG spider-stripes

the spider that bit him wasn't just radioactive but also carrying tiger dna in it

so he's now part human, part spider, part tiger (and he loves it)

he has large sharp teeth that carry spider venom

he also has retractable claws that are a mix of tiger and spider claws

WONWOO sea-spider

has the ability to walk on water and breath underwater

you know when spider webs get all dewy? he can do that naturally and uses it to effect sun and light reflection

can't exactly control water but can manipulate it to help him out in fights

does a lot of computer and "guy in the chair" stuff

JIHOON song-spinner

(like spider-punk) he uses his guitar in battle

uses sound waves to vibrate and attack surrounding objects and opponents

well known in his city for singing while on patrol and even in battle

works on inventing and researching when not patrolling

SEOKMIN web-weaver

excels in weaving webs and web swinging

he's very skilled at trapping

he can do that thing that some spiders do where he can make a glue lasso out of his webs (look it up)

can also glide through the air that people sometimes confuse with flying

MINGYU spider-legs

he really wanted to be cool and as skilled as the others but he's just so clumsy and tends to get caught in his own web (he's working on it okay)

has the electric venom blast that miles morales does, but does not know how to use it in a contained proper way

can sprout four spindly spider legs from his body to give him eight limbs (he doesn't use this a lot bc it freaks people out)

the one thing he is really skilled at is wall climbing and being able to move/climb like a spider

MINGHAO the8 (he gets to keep his name bc how many legs do spiders have? exactly)

excels in stealth due to his camoflauge and inaudibility

he also has super flexibility and can bend his body in all different kinds of ways

so good at not leaving a trace that some people don't even believe he exists

one of the fastest and most agile spider-men there is

SEUNGKWAN spider-boo

really good at mimicing others (both in voice and appearance) and uses that to his advantage in fights

can excrete pheremones that can effect other's emotions

very knowledgable in every other spider-person and their powers

his only downside is he's very talkative and can get a bit hot headed in battle...

VERNON spider-petal

very intune with nature, specifically plants and insects

can communicate with spiders easily

really good at burrowing which doesn't sound like it would come in handy but it has in the most random situations

a really chill spider-man everyone likes him, even his villains

CHAN spider-kid

got bit at a young age and became a prodigy, now that he's older he kind of hates his name but is now branded

like cheol he only has the "normal" powers but he's still one of the best

he's so so so smart and uses his powers in ways people dont normally, he is in the front runnings for best up and coming spider-man

when the other spider-people try and pick on him for being so young he just shows them up in a web swinging contest (he can even beat seokmin)

powers i'm considering as "normal" spider powers: spidey senses, wall climbing, web shooting, renerative healing, toxin immunity, super: strength, speed, stamina, duribility, agility, reflexes, jumping, equiilibrium

[dailyanarchistposts]

A.2.3 Are anarchists in favour of organisation?

Yes. Without association, a truly human life is impossible. Liberty cannot exist without society and organisation. As George Barrett pointed out:

“To get the full meaning out of life we must co-operate, and to co-operate we must make agreements with our fellow-men. But to suppose that such agreements mean a limitation of freedom is surely an absurdity; on the contrary, they are the exercise of our freedom. “If we are going to invent a dogma that to make agreements is to damage freedom, then at once freedom becomes tyrannical, for it forbids men to take the most ordinary everyday pleasures. For example, I cannot go for a walk with my friend because it is against the principle of Liberty that I should agree to be at a certain place at a certain time to meet him. I cannot in the least extend my own power beyond myself, because to do so I must co-operate with someone else, and co-operation implies an agreement, and that is against Liberty. It will be seen at once that this argument is absurd. I do not limit my liberty, but simply exercise it, when I agree with my friend to go for a walk. “If, on the other hand, I decide from my superior knowledge that it is good for my friend to take exercise, and therefore I attempt to compel him to go for a walk, then I begin to limit freedom. This is the difference between free agreement and government.” [Objections to Anarchism, pp. 348–9]

As far as organisation goes, anarchists think that “far from creating authority, [it] is the only cure for it and the only means whereby each of us will get used to taking an active and conscious part in collective work, and cease being passive instruments in the hands of leaders.” [Errico Malatesta, Errico Malatesta: His Life and Ideas, p. 86] Thus anarchists are well aware of the need to organise in a structured and open manner. As Carole Ehrlich points out, while anarchists “aren’t opposed to structure” and simply “want to abolish hierarchical structure” they are “almost always stereotyped as wanting no structure at all.” This is not the case, for “organisations that would build in accountability, diffusion of power among the maximum number of persons, task rotation, skill-sharing, and the spread of information and resources” are based on “good social anarchist principles of organisation!” [“Socialism, Anarchism and Feminism”, Quiet Rumours: An Anarcha-Feminist Reader, p. 47 and p. 46]

The fact that anarchists are in favour of organisation may seem strange at first, but it is understandable. “For those with experience only of authoritarian organisation,” argue two British anarchists, “it appears that organisation can only be totalitarian or democratic, and that those who disbelieve in government must by that token disbelieve in organisation at all. That is not so.” [Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer, The Floodgates of Anarchy, p. 122] In other words, because we live in a society in which virtually all forms of organisation are authoritarian, this makes them appear to be the only kind possible. What is usually not recognised is that this mode of organisation is historically conditioned, arising within a specific kind of society — one whose motive principles are domination and exploitation. According to archaeologists and anthropologists, this kind of society has only existed for about 5,000 years, having appeared with the first primitive states based on conquest and slavery, in which the labour of slaves created a surplus which supported a ruling class.

Prior to that time, for hundreds of thousands of years, human and proto-human societies were what Murray Bookchin calls “organic,” that is, based on co-operative forms of economic activity involving mutual aid, free access to productive resources, and a sharing of the products of communal labour according to need. Although such societies probably had status rankings based on age, there were no hierarchies in the sense of institutionalised dominance-subordination relations enforced by coercive sanctions and resulting in class-stratification involving the economic exploitation of one class by another (see Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom).

It must be emphasised, however, that anarchists do not advocate going “back to the Stone Age.” We merely note that since the hierarchical-authoritarian mode of organisation is a relatively recent development in the course of human social evolution, there is no reason to suppose that it is somehow “fated” to be permanent. We do not think that human beings are genetically “programmed” for authoritarian, competitive, and aggressive behaviour, as there is no credible evidence to support this claim. On the contrary, such behaviour is socially conditioned, or learned, and as such, can be unlearned (see Ashley Montagu, The Nature of Human Aggression). We are not fatalists or genetic determinists, but believe in free will, which means that people can change the way they do things, including the way they organise society.

And there is no doubt that society needs to be better organised, because presently most of its wealth — which is produced by the majority — and power gets distributed to a small, elite minority at the top of the social pyramid, causing deprivation and suffering for the rest, particularly for those at the bottom. Yet because this elite controls the means of coercion through its control of the state (see section B.2.3), it is able to suppress the majority and ignore its suffering — a phenomenon that occurs on a smaller scale within all hierarchies. Little wonder, then, that people within authoritarian and centralised structures come to hate them as a denial of their freedom. As Alexander Berkman puts it:

“Any one who tells you that Anarchists don’t believe in organisation is talking nonsense. Organisation is everything, and everything is organisation. The whole of life is organisation, conscious or unconscious … But there is organisation and organisation. Capitalist society is so badly organised that its various members suffer: just as when you have a pain in some part of you, your whole body aches and you are ill… , not a single member of the organisation or union may with impunity be discriminated against, suppressed or ignored. To do so would be the same as to ignore an aching tooth: you would be sick all over.” [Op. Cit., p. 198]

Yet this is precisely what happens in capitalist society, with the result that it is, indeed, “sick all over.”

For these reasons, anarchists reject authoritarian forms of organisation and instead support associations based on free agreement. Free agreement is important because, in Berkman’s words, ”[o]nly when each is a free and independent unit, co-operating with others from his own choice because of mutual interests, can the world work successfully and become powerful.” [Op. Cit., p. 199] As we discuss in section A.2.14, anarchists stress that free agreement has to be complemented by direct democracy (or, as it is usually called by anarchists, self-management) within the association itself otherwise “freedom” become little more than picking masters.

Anarchist organisation is based on a massive decentralisation of power back into the hands of the people, i.e. those who are directly affected by the decisions being made. To quote Proudhon:

“Unless democracy is a fraud and the sovereignty of the People a joke, it must be admitted that each citizen in the sphere of his [or her] industry, each municipal, district or provincial council within its own territory … should act directly and by itself in administering the interests which it includes, and should exercise full sovereignty in relation to them.” [The General Idea of the Revolution, p. 276]

It also implies a need for federalism to co-ordinate joint interests. For anarchism, federalism is the natural complement to self-management. With the abolition of the State, society “can, and must, organise itself in a different fashion, but not from top to bottom … The future social organisation must be made solely from the bottom upwards, by the free association or federation of workers, firstly in their unions, then in the communes, regions, nations and finally in a great federation, international and universal. Then alone will be realised the true and life-giving order of freedom and the common good, that order which, far from denying, on the contrary affirms and brings into harmony the interests of individuals and of society.” [Bakunin, Michael Bakunin: Selected Writings, pp. 205–6] Because a “truly popular organisation begins … from below” and so “federalism becomes a political institution of Socialism, the free and spontaneous organisation of popular life.” Thus libertarian socialism “is federalistic in character.” [Bakunin, The Political Philosophy of Bakunin, pp. 273–4 and p. 272]

Therefore, anarchist organisation is based on direct democracy (or self-management) and federalism (or confederation). These are the expression and environment of liberty. Direct (or participatory) democracy is essential because liberty and equality imply the need for forums within which people can discuss and debate as equals and which allow for the free exercise of what Murray Bookchin calls “the creative role of dissent.” Federalism is necessary to ensure that common interests are discussed and joint activity organised in a way which reflects the wishes of all those affected by them. To ensure that decisions flow from the bottom up rather than being imposed from the top down by a few rulers.

Anarchist ideas on libertarian organisation and the need for direct democracy and confederation will be discussed further in sections A.2.9 and A.2.11.

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

This scene makes me SO proud of Yuuri as this moment is such an important step in his journey.

Being anxious and having no confidence like Yuuri, naturally puts you in an isolated position. You feel like you're fighting alone and your peers are rivals to you. I'm not talking about the friendly kind of rivalry that motivates and inspires you, but the kind of rivals that feel like live or death competition, a serious threat. It's a lot like "I'm on no one's side because no one is on my side".

Until this point in ep. 5, Yuuri is afraid to mess up at the Regionals because it's his first competition since the disastrous premature end of his last season, and he considers it as a test whether he's in shape for the upcoming Grand Prix Series (he also needs a good result to be eligible to compete at Nationals and have a chance to be assigned to Worlds or 4CC, but that's another story). Being nervous isn't unreasonable, but due to his anxiety and lack of confidence, Yuuri IS unreasonably nervous. As the oldest and most experienced skater competing in the men's event, Yuuri has absolutely no reason to fear failure and a part of him might be aware of that fact, but due to his anxiety, it doesn't register with him. Pretending the other skaters don't exist is less distressing than paying attention to them and interacting with them because Yuuri is in a position where everything they say and do unsettles him: Minami's (apparently totally unreasonable) admiration, being reminded that Minami beat him at the last Nationals, overhearing the other skaters discussing that they want to attempt quads in their free programmes etc. etc.

The standings after the short programme prove how unreasonable Yuuri's anxiety is:

After the SP, Yuuri leads by a 26 point margin. Despite the lowered difficulty Viktor suggested for the FS and the other skaters all attempting one quad, not finishing in first place is EXTREMELY unlikely for a skater with Yuuri's skill and experience even if he messes up in the free skating. Mathematically, it's absolutely possible though and that's what the anxiety brain fixates on.

Here's the thing: when you suffer from anxiety, your brain's ability to form logically sound conclusions can be considerably limited. Yes, you can pretend a threat doesn't exist, but it will keep bothering you from a corner of your mind and continue feeding your anxiety. By ignoring the other skaters, Yuuri can minimise this imagined threat, but it doesn't solve the initial problem: that he sees a threat in these skaters in the first place.

Without Viktor, Yuuri would have kept ignoring the other skaters, which would do nothing to overcome his issues, but in Viktor, Yuuri has someone who believes in him and who mercilessly drags Yuuri out of his comfort zone if needed. After all, just one episode ago, he promised Yuuri to not let him off easily and that's why he doesn't let Yuuri get away with his avoidance strategy. Personally, I believe that Yuuri is blissfully unaware what cheering Minami on might accomplish. He only notices that Viktor is displeased about how Yuuri treats the younger skater who burst into tears because Yuuri keeps ignoring him. Only when Viktor openly voices his dismay, Yuuri has an important realisation:

Minami sees an idol in Yuuri just like Yuuri once saw an idol in Viktor. If Viktor had treated Yuuri the way Yuuri treats Minami, Yuuri would have been devastated (and knowing that Viktor is the sole reason for Yuuri pursuing his goal to become one of the world's best skaters, he might have ended his career). This realisation enables Yuuri to empathise with Minami. But there's so much more going on below the surface. Cheering Minami initiates a change in Yuuri that makes him realise that these younger skaters don't pose a threat to him. It's a first tentative step towards becoming a part of the community of figure skaters, which in fact is quite a friendly place.

This step out of his comfort zone, seems small but it's a turning point in Yuuri's journey. It requires courage, which positively informs his self-worth, and enables Yuuri to see his peers with new eyes. They're still rivals but they've stopped being a threat

and turned into co-competitors Yuuri can relate to and who inspire him to do his best—quite different from the unhealthy mindset of being unsettled and desperate to win Yuuri was in before, right?

Through this small gesture (and the interactions that follow), Yuuri learns that interacting with his co-competitors is actually an empowering experience (and a lot of fun).

Of course, that's only a first tentative step. Becoming confident and learning to interact with your peers is not a linear process. And in every new setting, you must make the effort again, even more so when you're not very sociable by nature. But even though the "threats" at the Grand Prix Series are larger and the stakes are higher, Yuuri is more relaxed there. That is unless he has to deal with additional challenges and we all know what the creators threw into his path *cough*

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

Do you think it'd be possible to rehabilitate Marked Men? If so, how do you think it'd go?

You guys ask such good, interesting questions!

I've been thinking about this one for a bit. Summed up, my answer would be that you could probably rehabilitate them physically enough to remove them from The Divide without them dying, given enough time, but I think that mentally/psychologically they're pretty much gone, so the ethics of doing so are questionable at best.

With the Marked Men, it's established in Lonesome Road that these guys are basically existing in a sort of perpetual "living death" where they consistently have these major traumatic injuries that would otherwise kill them, but they're kept right on the verge of life and consciousness by the insane levels of radiation in The Divide/along the Long 15. They're literally being flayed alive by the high-speed sandy winds kicked up by the storms that plague the area, as in "skin sliced from muscle", and they're constantly getting into skirmishes and tearing strangers (as well as one another) limb-from-limb, which would only result in more injuries.

The root of the issue is that these ghouls are basically radiation-dependent, right? Other ghouls benefit from the presence of radiation (increased healing rate, overall better feeling, energizing effect), but Marked Men need high levels of radiation to even stay alive. Maybe if you slowly, and I mean over a matter of weeks or months, moved further and further down the Long 15 back towards Vegas, really taking your time, you could acclimate them to the lower levels of radiation as well as allow their wounds time to heal enough to no longer be fatal.

But what are the implications for you if you have to remain immersed in all those rads for that long? Who's to say you wouldn't begin to turn into a ghoul yourself? At the very least, you'd be incredibly sick and flying through Rad-X and Radaway at a genuinely concerning rate. And it's not like you can waltz up to one of them and say "Hey, buddy! You wanna come to Vegas with me?" or tell them "I have to leave the canyon for a few days or I'm gonna die from radiation poisoning. Stay here!". They're gonna fight you the whole time and be genuinely quite dangerous when they do it, and the second you turn your back, they'll flee or kill you because they feel instinctually that that's what's best for their self-preservation.

Even if you could get them to a point of medical stabilization, it would by no means be an end to their physical pain (which can literally send you into shock and kill you itself) or the fact that none of them seem to have control of their mental faculties anymore by the time you encounter them. Sure, they demonstrate some minor ability to coordinate themselves, but I see that as more of a "terrified animals desperately defending the fire that saves them all from the dark" than something that teases at more complex thought processes. They don't even use words. Even completely feral ghouls outside of The Divide will sometimes use individual words (granted, those words are things like "Pain!" or "Kill!", but even that conveys some level of ability to understand what they're perceiving and to communicate that; Marked Men don't even have that as far as I recall.)

My theory as to why they would not recover mentally is that, like with the rest of the body, there will simply eventually be pieces of you that can no longer regenerate/heal properly, and they will age and rot as they should, even if ghouls are basically incapable of dying from non-trauma. This would include the grey matter that makes up the brain, and once a certain percentage of it is gone, you will see irreparable changes to that person's demeanor, behavior, and reasoning skills. Marked Men and feral ghouls in general, in my opinion, basically have a form of severe dementia that only occurs in people who survive ghoulification/live longer than the natural human life span.

I think these poor people are tired beyond a level any of us could ever comprehend. I think they're victims of something that should have ended a long, long time ago, and I think all they really know now is fear and pain. In my personal opinion, it's best to quickly and compassionately relieve them of their suffering.

[riacte]

my favourite recurrent gag from the mcc reddit is people complaining about participants shitting on the reddit and wanting to prove it wrong. Like hum, i wonder why. I wonder why so many participant want to do good after seeing people slander their skills. Seeing the reddit dislike jojo bc she rightfully often complains about them feels so surreal? And there are so many participants whose teams are ALWAYS predicted in the second half of the board no matter how they do or their actual level while others are so praised by literally existing (and there s totally a mysoginy/popularirty correlation there ehem opps who said that). Whatever, we should have a Jojo, Kara, False, Bek team next mcc and see them fucking win, it would be funny. Pretty please. Or another non-english team win, mcc 31 was glorious after seeing people slander the spanish community and jojo s leadership skills.

RIGHTTTTT. So correct with the misogyny / popularity thing although tbh they do shit on everyone. Even their golden boys. Which is baffling like not even the highly skilled white men are exempt?? Lmfao.

So Impulse tweeted about a Reddit comment that was like "I think teams should close their eyes when it comes to Pink in BB" and he was like "I love the MCC Reddit". And someone was like "finally someone who likes us instead of going 'oooh we have to prove evil Reddit wrong'."

Well maybe it's because... the comment re: Pink was funny? Playful? Not critical or derogatory of anyone? I will admit Reddit is unfairly seen as a bit of a strawman at times, but in a stressful environment, you just kind of react that way? Maybe look into the mirror sometimes. Also, proving someone wrong just feels good.

MCC Reddit is fascinating because it shits on everyone. It shits on players I like, it shits on players I dislike to the point I feel bad for the players? It's dismissive of important issues that me and my circle take note of. It focuses on issues that me and my circle do not really care. I don't want to study them like a petri dish. They're doing something in their own ecosystem but it's long been affecting the players. Like [RD voice] the spores!

Smiles wide. And if I say Noxcrew is trying to make things less competitive as a direct response to the atmosphere mostly brewed up by Reddit.

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the response on Azula.

One of the things that I have seen on TSR, which you have also re-blogged was about Katara watching her culture being wiped out because of the raids. It actually makes her a victim of genocide, just like Aang, because she is in essence the last Southern Waterbender, till Hama shows up in Book 3.

I get the feeling that Sokka, who wants a logical explanation for everything, did not understand that.

Do you think there should have an episode where he gets to understand how important waterbending is to Katara, similar in concept to the episode "Sokka's Master"? Or an episode where he learns to deal with the grief of his mother's death?

I would like your thoughts on this.

I sat on this ask for a bit thinking about it because I think you hit on something about the way the show portrays Katara's relationship with her cultural heritage in general that kinda bugs me. Waterbending is a big part of that heritage and is tied to spirituality in the atla universe. Sokka's dismissal of Katara's bending in the first episode as "freaky magic water" is related to the dichotomy the show sets up to characterize both Sokka and Katara and to introduce us to the atla world. Katara, who represents hope and the magic of this world, Sokka who represents logic and cynicism. There's also a gendering of values here. Sokka believes in logic and physical skills like hunting which are commonly associated with men, while Katara is linked to the spiritual through her bending, water being a common symbol for the feminine. Even waterbending itself is based on Tai Chi, a more feminine martial art (which makes it kind of funny that the North forbids female waterbenders from learning it.)

The show has Katara call out Sokka's misogyny on a shallow level, but a lot of the fandom exaggerates Sokka learning not to be so sexist, which isn't so much an arc as it is something that the show occasional calls out when it wants to. Sokka learns to respect Suki because he loves her, but he still makes sexist jokes and never becomes an advocate for women or anything like that. Even his learning about the spiritual side of water tribe culture happens through Yue and not his actual waterbending sister.

It is unfortunate that a lot of Katara's associations with waterbending as a part of her cultural heritage are negative. If I were to make a parallel to Sokka learning from Piandao, the obvious choice is Hama as someone Katara learns a lot from, but that learning is associated with trauma. Even Katara learning how to heal was traumatic and resulted in her getting burnt, and whenever she uses her healing it's in a dire situation. This is also a good counterpoint to those who say it's a good thing that Katara in LoK gave up fighting because she associated it with trauma. The moments when Katara uses her healing are not less traumatic.

Do you know what would have been interesting? More acknowledgment of the importance of waterbending both for spiritual purposes and practical ones. Remember when Katara tried to catch a fish with her waterbending in episode one? That seems like something that a community that relies so much on fishing should be more aware of, doesn't it? Why is hunting and fishing seen as something only men do, if that ability exists?

Give me also Katara learning how to create vast ice structures after visiting the north and bringing that knowledge back to her village. Imagine what they could accomplish with Katara's bending and Sokka's engineering knowledge combined.

[soft-persephone]

A Guide to Proper Communication/Best He Could Do: (Totally Intentional)

Nick Miller x Black!Fem!Reader // Nick Miller x Fem!Reader

WC: 3.8k! // MDNI // More Nicky Nick // Masterlist

Warning: Sex. Explicit themes. Maybe not the best communication skills.

Again, I wrote this with a black women in mind, but everyone is welcome to read it! I hope you enjoy! (Gif from @clintbartons )

Nick smiled a little once he made his way into the hotel. He didn’t have the best type of phone for you to text him the address with a link or web-something like that. He didn’t know much about “smart phones”.

He also didn’t trust it.

And he was not going to GPS himself there either. He had a brain and maps still worked, so why would he ever need a voice in a box to replace something that already exists! 

It’s that exact human laziness that got humanity to where it is now. No more hard working, adaptable, and resourceful people. No more basic human decency or connection. 

Just convenience and technology.

Needless to say, they had their first fight. 

Studpid? Yes.

But somehow he found it in him to give her an email. . . It was for emergencies. A last minute resort, only to be used when needed.

He wasn’t that stupid.

“Hello, sir?” The nice lady at the front desk  smiled brightly, “are you checking in? Visiting someone perhaps?”

“I’m here for the uh, the law or business conference thing.” He fought the urge to cross his shoulders or look as uncomfortable as he felt. “It should have started maybe half an hour ago.”

“Oh, yes sir! It’s right this way!”

Nick followed her from a polite distance until he knew for sure he had the right place.

It was done up to the nines. Probably the fifth fanciest place he’d ever been. He’s seen hotels like this in so many cities but never dared to dream he'd even think about actually being inside of one.

“Nick!” 

You were as gorgeous as ever. Even more than the last time he saw you. 

He was not an expert in the ups and downs and trends of female fashion, but he’d say you looked amazing. As sexy as someone could get at a work function with mostly men. That maybe you're wearing something to push the boundaries as far as you can before someone could label you inappropriate or pull you to the side and say you were making the rest of the men uncomfortable. 

“Excuse me miss,” he smiled, “but I came here for the business event this evening and not for a celebrity party or gala. Could you point me in the right direction?”

You laughed with your whole body, turning away from him and covering your mouth. He'd say he loved the way it sounded, but when you laughed he only heard bells ringing.

“You're too much.”

You cupped both sides of his face and looked into his eyes, making his heart drop and his chest swell. Just being close to you overwhelmed him with emotions he couldn't even begin to explain. 

“What are you doing?” he chuckled through his nose with a huff, “You just gonna stand there and hold my face  like a weirdo or are we gonna go inside?” He chuckled before licking his lips. “I mean, either way, I don’t mind. . . We’ve just been here for quite a while.”

“I- I’m just so happy to see you,” you averted your eyes for a second and looked away momentarily before looking him in the eye again, “in person.”

You were gazing into him so deeply, eyes searching and exposing every naked part of him for who he is and what he could be. He wasn’t sure what you'd find after looking at him for so long, but he was scared of all the possible things that might be.  

Would you want to be with him once you've seen it all?

He settled on a, “it's good to see you too.” he chuckled lowly. “In person.”

He’d be damn if he’d tripped over his own feet to get to  you. He couldn't do that to himself. . or you. Not this time.

Some serious looking man pops up and calls your name.

“I'll be there in a sec!”

You smiled at him again, instead of holding his face you chose to clasp both of his hands into yours.

“I am so excited for tonight!”

“So am I.” He gave you a few finger guns. Why? He's not sure, but he's rocking with it. At this point he has no choice but to act like it's normal.

“They aren't going to let significant others of any kind into the business side of things because of the incident that happened last year, so you’ll have to stay in this specific area.”

Nick’s mind was blank. He didn't wait so long for this night just to be shoved off into a corner.

“Yeah, no,” he shrugged it off. What's a few more days compared to a few more hours? If that, even! It's a work thing, right? Go work! Ole Nicky will be just fine!”

One more blessed smile and you were gone. 

The night was hell. . .

The drinks were as decent as a business function could manage, but what really grated his nerves were the women he was surrounded by. At first he thought about it in a practical manner.

You worked in a male dominated field, so of course he’d be surrounded by a bunch of women in the significant other –and ‘others’ section. 

These women were as ditsy as they come. . . or the most elaborately decorated pieces of cardboard. Pretty, but they were bored and disinterested. However, it was clear why they were here.

“Oh my God,” some not genuine red hed practically screamed in his ear, “so are you like an escort for the one woman here?”

“Don't be stupid,” her friend chided, “He's clearly her LA Bae!” 

He gave his best forced fake smile and took a sip of his beer, leaving them to a hissy fit of their giggles.

The annoying questions, the alcohol, and the lingering boredom were all adding to the slow simmering fire of the rage building up inside of him.

Is this what you thought of him? Was your relationship even real or was he just someone you met up with anytime you were in LA because otherwise you’d be lonely and bored. He wasn't against anything casual or fun, but the longer he stays in this stupid corner, the more it becomes clear to him what he wants you to be in his life.

He wants something real with you.

All the times you both spent video chatting, him asking  you what you wanted. . .

The way you never gave an answer, or changed the subject in a way where you  started to answer, but ultimately never really answered the question. . . 

He hated that the most.

Whatever it may be, he wanted you to say it. You owed him that much. 

“Nick!” You called again that night, not for the last time. 

“Hey.” He tried his best to not look upset, but he’s known for having a pretty sucky best effort. He  tried to make his tight-lipped smile as polite as possible, but that only did so much when his arms were crossed tightly against his chest. The beer in his hand dangling idle at his side.

You paused but only for a split second, blinking past the tension before smiling up at him.

“Hey!” You placed both hands on his shoulders before moving them up and down his arms. 

“It’s finally over! We are free to do anything we want now!”

Nick watched a blonde walk arm and arm with a considerably older man, giggling in his ear as they made their way into an elevator where the man not so subtly slid his hand up her considerably short dress. 

Is this it?

This can’t be it.

Fuck it.

“I was thinking we could go get a late dinner” you started, “or we could keep it lowkey and get a drink at a bar somewhere? Maybe head back to the hotel I'm staying at?” your hands glided across his chest before meeting at his back as you took a step closer. 

“No.”

Your brows furrowed

“What do you mean no? Nick what’s–”

“Is what we have real?”

“Of course what we have is real!” you scoffed, “Where is this–”

“--no!” Nick shouted and slammed his beer on the nearest surface. 

“No.” he said again more firmly, taking a step closer to you. “Why did you invite me here? Why invite me to something if we aren’t actually going to get to talk or spend real time together?”

“Ni–”

“--are you embarrassed by me?” he yelled. “Is that it?”

“Why the fuck would I be embaressed of you Nick?” you yelled back, waving your hands around with as much fervor as he was. You both had to be looking like complete fucking asholes. “If I'm embarrassed to be seen around anyone, it would be Derik!” you huffed.

 “I like you. . . because you aren’t him! Y- you're nothing like him. . . nothing.” your voice broke a little at the end and Nick couldn’t help but feel a little bad. But the little voice in his head told him to be selfish, and all he wanted to do at the moment was listen to it.

“It's not enough.” he crossed his arms and pursed his lips. 

“It's not enough?” you said incredulously. “When is it going to be enough Nick? What the fuck else do you even want me to do? I–”

“--prove it.”

He licked his lips and cursed under his breath. “Prove it to me by coming back to my place. Come into my world. No fancy ubers, no five star restaurants, no shopping, no elaborate gifts. Just you and me with my terrible friends and roommates.’

You shook your head, but you didn’t look mad at him or like you were going to cry.

At least he knows he didn’t completely fuck this up. 

This was good. He told himself. It was good because he was communicating. He was being honest and somewhat talking about his feelings. A complaint he’s gotten so many times in the past. This was different. 

This was progress.  

-

Nick had you on his lap. Nowhere you hadn’t been before. Except you were out of your dress. 

The only thing covering you was a thin champagne colored lingerie set, and a thin sheen of sweat. Nick’s right hand lay on your side as his left held another cold beer. 

You slowly ground on his lap. A small whine slipped out of your mouth at the feeling. He was still in his suit. Jacket gone, shirt unbuttoned, shoes thrown somewhere. His tie was loose on his neck. 

“Shh, none of that now,” he muttered sweetly in your ear. “You're doing such a good job.”

You shifted your weight once more, pushing yourself closer to him so that your legs dangled on the other side of the chair and your faces rested flat against him. Perched perfectly between the meat of his chest. Normally it was a place you revealed to be. You loved burning your face against his chest during sex, sometimes chancing a bite on one of his pecs, or toying with his nipples, but tonight all you could spare was desperate pants as he edged and toyed with you as the night went on and on. Never ending his little game of payback. 

 The room was hot and stuffy. All you could do was hope he would do something to relieve any of the frustration you felt. Nick brushed his hand past your core once more, making sure each bump of his knuckles brushed against your clit. 

“Your making a such a mess,” he mumbled against your ear. The warmth of his breath wasn’t helping how hot you felt. “Schmidt’s gonna be so mad once he sees how bad you've ruined his suit. You're dripping everywhere.” 

It shouldn’t be so hot to hear him say that. It made you whine as you grind your hips once more across his lap. You were aching. This slow game of arousal was driving you mad. 

“Nick,” you panted, “please. . .I need more.

Nick hummed in response, but otherwise did nothing.

After another torturous moment. Where time was fast, slow, and non existent, he finally did something.

“Get on the bed.”

This was it! Finally!  Something was going to happen!

You moved to get in the bed normally, but he stopped you.

“Nuh-uh,” he shook his head before yanking the tie off his shoulders and throwing it, “lay facing the foot of the bed.”

You slowly did as you were told, not sure how to feel about it. 

This was. . .new.

Nick got into the bed and  shifted under you.

He let his hands roam on your legs, taking his time. He smoothed them gently across your calves, slowly feathering his fingers along your thighs, just barely touching you.

You yelped. In a quick motion before you could even blink, he was yanking you closer to his face, spreading your legs wide.

Your pussy was already hot and weeping from the way he had you earlier. The sudden warmth of his breath against you only made you wetter. It made the inside of you ache and a fire within your coil and furl hotter than before.

You shuddered, and he kissed the inside of your thigh in response. 

“Don’t worry. I'm gonna be taking care of you real soon.” He talked into you, every breath of his word fluttered straight onto your clit.”

You clutched the sheets on each side of his legs. 

“Nick, I'm sorry,” you moaned, “please, please. . .I can’t take it anymore.”

“I know, I know” he chided sweetly before mouthing at your thigh, biting and sucking on it until his teeth left an indention in your skin, making you howl. He kissed the marks before circling them with his tongue, making a wet popping noise, “I know how sorry you are, and I know just how good your going to be making it up to me.”

Done with his teasing, he placed his mouth on all of you, kissing you, undoing you. He was breaking you. He lathed at you relentlessly, licking against your walls, swirling his tongue against your clit in a never ending pattern. 

His large expansive hands grab each side of your ass, rubbing your skin softly and grabbing you firmly, his fingers leaving more marks into your skin. You were finding that his frustration of not leaving noticeable bruises or hickeys on your skin was frustrating for him which he soon started becoming more and more creative. He started biting into you harder than he normally would, letting his nails stay slightly longer than normal just so he’d have a chance to scratch you with them. Squeezing you tightly just as he was doing now, so he could later watch the little moons stretch taught on your skin until they slowly faded away for him to replace them with more. 

The thought of marking you was turning him on more and more, the taste of you dripping around his face overwhelming, he had to do something. He had to let you know how he felt. He sucked your clit, hard.

You felt your moan but you couldn’t hear it. You couldn’t focus. 

You could only hear the sloppy wet sounds of Nick eating you out. You could only smell and feel the evidence of your arousal all over his borrowed slacks, and the budding pre cum spreading inside of them. You could only feel the bulge of his cock grind against your face as you held onto his thighs for balance, squeezing his legs as tight as he was squeezing yours. 

It was too much. 

You couldn’t move. You couldn’t think.

But you could open your mouth, so you did. 

You mouthed at his clothed erection, making his thrusts harder and harder onto your face. 

The feeling of your hot mouth through his pants made him growl into you which made you respond with a moan, frustrating him further.

Taking two thick fingers, he took a break from using his tongue and thrust them inside of you, curling them until he found just the right spot. After doing so, he took one more suck on your clit, moaning at how wetter you were.

Your mouth made a sound but you couldn’t hear it with his thighs clapping over his ears. 

You both came hard and fast.

He let your legs go, and you only laid there limply, not able to move a finger. You could only lay there,making small weak gasps for breath as you came down.

Nick moved from under you with a groan. 

You silently watch him strip out the rest of his clothes. 

You wanted to hate the little smug smile that graced his face as he kept looking back at you on the bed, but you couldn;t help but to  somehow find it endearing. He didn’t look so confident and accomplished when it came to other things.

You watched him sigh in relief as he undid the belt buckle and kick off his pants, leaving him only in his boxers. He rubbed his hand over his chest in large mesmerizing circles. Up, down, side to side. His chest was hairy, wel. . . a lot of him was hairy, and you loved it perhaps more than you should.

You hummed in appreciation and he threw a pillow at you with an amused huff. 

“Your such a pervert.”

He bent down and slid his hand to the nape of your neck, entrapping you in a long hard kiss. His tongue chasing and licking into you at a pce you could hardly keep up with. The firmness of his jaw as he kissed into you over and over made your head spin. The tickle of his stubble, making your legs weaker than they already were. 

He pulled away with a dark look in his eyes. His pupils drowning out the dark brown pools of his irises. 

“Im not done with you.” he whispered lowly. 

He kissed you once more, much rougher than before. His jaw squeezing your chin a tad too tight before he climbed on top of you.

It was a long night. 

The evidence of it was sticky between your thighs. 

Bright light was seeping into your eyes. 

You tried to close them tighter and shifted closer into the bed. Nick was on top of you. His firm weight was better than any blanket. When you moved your head to bury in further into the sheets, his head followed yours, burying itself closer into the crook of your neck. 

“Hungry.” he mumbled into your shoulder.

You bit his arm, and he bit your ear in response. 

‘You should be, dufus.” you halfheartedly insulted. 

“Is that anyway to treat your old man after satisfying you all night?”

“I think you mean after indulging in your boyfriend's secret sex fantasy.”

“Ok, there was nothing wild or secret sex fantasy worthy about last night.” he scoffed. ‘I just wanted to know how you really felt about me.” he mumbled out.

“I'm not gonna lie.” you started, “I think you're making up problems that don't exist.” How does having sex in your apartment make our relationship feel more real or let you know that i love you ina deeper way?” you shook your head. “It just feels fake to me. I think you just wanted to play a powertrip fantasy of telling me what to do and make me feel bad.”

“So making you come to my shitty apartment fro sex when my annoying roommates are home so you can scream my name and moan all night is just a regular sex experience for you? You like being humiliated?” 

You bit his arm again, and he laughed.

“Yeah, okay. I can admit humiliate is too extreme of a word.” he turned on his side and pulled you against his chest. 

“I just. . . i just wanted you in my world for once. On my terms.’ he paused and licked his lips, searching for the right words, “Not in a power trip sex fantasy way, but in a serious relationship way.”

You tried to turn and face him, but he firmly held you against his chest so you couldn’t.

For someone who pretended to be emotionally constipated, he sure was good at explaining and talking about his emotions, but you relented. Clearly, you looking at him while he said this was somehow not possible. Hopefully, you will understand why someday. 

“I wanted to know you weren;t embarrassed of how I live  and who I am. I needed it to be this way.”

“Well I hope one day you could simply ask me and we can talk about it, instead of letting all your fucking roomates know what i soundlike when i cum.”

“You’ll get over it. We’ve all heard what each other sound like, and it's best we keep the peace by pretending nothing happened.”

You rolled your eyes. 

“I'm not asking.”

“Thank you for that,” he laughed, “it means the world to me.”

The process of sneaking out of Nick’s room to get the shower without anyone seeing was an ordeal to say the least. But you both made it through. 

You ran into Winston on the way out, but it was not as horrible as you were imagining. 

You had on one of Nick’s very worn out and stretched Henlys and a pair of socks, and him a fresh pear of plaid cotton pants and the cleanest t-shirt he could find. Which disturbed you how hard it was for him to finally find one. 

He avoided eye contact with both of you and quickly bolted to the kitchen.

Nick gave you a weak smile, and you inwardly screamed. 

“Can we just eat in your room?”

‘Is that really something you want to do? You were just in there!” he whisper-screamed at you. “You saw what a disaster it is! Its not safe in there!”

You nodded. Too nervous to actually say anything. 

Nick’s roommates were a particular bunch you heard so much about but never spent a whole lot of time with them. It was clear he considered them his best friends. He was definitely a bit embarrassed by  them, so you never pushed for more time around them. In fact, you don;t make it a big deal because he never made it a big deal. You always chalked it up to, that's just how guys are, and left it at that. 

However, at some point, which was starting to become clearer and clearer the more time you spend with Nick, he would need to know. He wanted to know if what he thinks of as his world could ever be compatible with you and your world. 

This was the moment of truth, and honestly, you were a little scared too. 

You are from a different world, and you don't know if you're compatible with his. 

He sighed, and you gave him a nod. 

You both walked into the kitchen to face what would come, and it was terrible. 

Breakfast was so awful. It was perhaps one of your most embarrassing experiences. 

No one would look you or Nick in the eye or say anything, so you all ate in silence.

The only person undisturbed with a smile, being Nick.

You were definitely planning to wipe that fucking look off his face.