#do i look like someone whos gonna make you engage in an actual conversation about this shit?

[criminal-sen]

Was at a cafe today and the most stereotypical, bohemian/ex-hippy/comfortably-wealthy-liberal old white lady turned around in her seat and said 'power to the people' to the guy (also white, maybe around my age, working on a laptop, idk he was super regs looking lol) next to me, who I assumed knew her until realizing no, he didn't.. at all.. and he was like 'huh?'

'Power to the people!'

'Huh what was that'

'Power. to the people.'

'Ma'am I'm sorry I seriously can't understand you'

And now she mouths it out like one word at a time. And she's pointing at her mouth for some reason. And he finally understands her and was like 'oh.. yah... haha' like super awkward and uncertain. and at this point I feel so bad for him, like this probably would've been me - including all the huhs and awkwardness - if he hadn't been sitting there to take the bullet

And then she says smth really vague about thr current political situation, and they share a little 'we're both sitting in the cafe where leftist white people go, and are indeed within that demographic' sad moment and then she says two annoying things: first 'I went through this in the sixties' which ????? I suck at history but thr big thing I remember from the 60s was the Vietnam War and uh.. Nixon maybe? Is she seriously talking about Nixon and comparing him to Trump???? Cuz from what little I know, Nixon actually PUT IN PLACE the EPA, which.. crook or whatever, sure, but he wasn't dismantling the entire fucking infrastructure and he was actually making it Harder to pollute

But maybe she was talking about smth else. There were big wins for women's rights somewhere around there🤔 but thats also the opposite of whats been happening??? Who knows. As a.. whatever.. somewhat left-of-center.. white lady, I bet she cared about various issues enough to occasionally join a protest, or wear a little pin about civil rights. But just.. the way she said it, I wouldn't call it smug but it felt like the epitome of 'I am watching this from a safe distance and showing the proper amount of horror'.. and maybe she was comparing this to the 60s bc that was also a time when comfortable yet left-of-center ppl would say 'this country's fucked up, man' to each other

Bc it's important for people to know she cares:)

Then the second thing was this resigned 'what are we going to do?' The poor guy next to me was like 'I don't know???' And she did this sympathetic nod, uttered one final sentence that equated to 'yup, sure is fucked up' and finally left him alone

And idk, i think what bugged me was her non response? One would think that an old, obviously-former-hippy, affluent (or at least like.. very comfortable?? She just had that look like.. she goes to art shows and shit) lady like her might have a piece of sage wisdom she wants to impart, like.. idfk.. 'don't stop voting' or 'call your local representatives' or smth??? But nope, she asked 'what do we do' as a redundant question bc the answer is so obvious to her that it doesn't need to be said: nothing, we sit and do nothing and hope it changes. And in the meantime, we act properly horrified

I'm perhaps giving this old lady too much flak, and perhaps being a little too pissy about a conversation that I wasn't even involved in. I'm glad we have enough of a leftist sentiment in this city to have places to go like Lefist Cafe and Leftist Bookstore, and if this lady votes as much as other retired people, she's literally doing more than I am (I vote on big stuff, but local matters often pass under my radar). I guess it was just like.. I always pick up on performative shit, especially since coming out as trans and finding myself in the 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ whatever you call this shit, 'constantly being shit on and threatened' demographic. And if I was to give that lady one piece of advice, it would be to just like.. shut up about it unless you have something useful to say? Like im literally not gonna remember who you are - ive already forgotten your face - and i dont give a rat's ass that you care! But I'm not gonna tell an old lady to shut up, so instead I wrote a post about it lmfao

[princessbrunette]

m’kay but like toxic mechanic!jj bending you over the hood of a car he’s fixing?!?!?!?? — sorry not sorry, i’m screaming, creaming, crying and throwing up at the thought

꒰ა 🐾 ‘’ 🫧 ໒꒱

“what, now y’wanna cry about it? ‘s real cute, sweetie.” the mean blonde pants from behind you as he thrusts his dick inside your puffy hole repeatedly. your cheek is pressed to the luke-warm metal bonnet of the car he’d been working on all day, bare ass thrust in the air as he fucks you, his shorts only pulled down enough for the cold buckle of his belt to smack against the back of your thigh with every harsh roll of his hips.

“no! m’not crying!” its a near lie, your lip wobbling and eyes glassy. you never knew how to feel when jj got like this, all jealous and mean. it hurt your heart and often your feelings, but you’d be lying again if you said it didn’t make your pussy ache. “j’st— mmph— just worried someone’s gonna come in n’ see!” its afterhours at the garage, so it’s unlikely but not totally impossible that someone walks right in and sees jj working on you.

“psh, worried. you’re not worried. you probably would like an audience. made that damn clear today.”

you’d made the mistake of visiting jj on his lunch break, and whilst you waited for your boyfriend to return from the store round the corner with his food — you’d politely engaged in conversation with the other mechanics who knew you from how often you’d been around jj. you got chatting with one of them in a friendly way, and soon you had a tool in your hand, surrounded by mechanics as you lean over a bonnet, the guy telling you what to do to fix the car. it was mostly jokey, and you had no idea what you were doing — more so, you had no idea how awful it looked when jj returned.

he was pissy the rest of the day, which is why you hung around— out of guilt. when mad, jj had the tendency to vanish. become totally emotionally evasive and unavailable because he thinks he’s not good enough for you— so you knew if you didn’t force him to let you stick around and eventually fuck his frustration out, you wouldn’t be seeing him for a few days.

“dont want an audience daddy, just you. just want you.” you let the tears fall now, the liquid giving you away as it runs down the curve of the car bonnet. the sight of the tears don’t move jj, and he only pushes at your lower back to adjust your arch.

“mmmhm. stop runnin’. know you can arch that back better than this, mama. saw you do it today infront of the guys. you want ‘em to peek up your skirt or somethin’?”

“no!”

“no? damn, babydoll— i actually kinda hope one of ‘em walks in n’sees you like this. ‘teach you a lesson.”

you let out a displeased whine at this and he shushes you harshly, slapping your ass before sneaking an arm round your waist, pulling you firmer against him. you sniffle, devastated as you attempt to meet his thrusts, eager to please him.

“love you, jj.” you mope and he tongues at the corner of his mouth, shaking his head.

“you’re so lucky i love you too. or i would’a let you run off with one of those assholes ‘stead of keeping you here n’dicking you down.”

꒰ა 🐾 ‘’ 🫧 ໒꒱

[hqbaby]

twenty-four — kiss and tell

mess it up — gojo x reader & sukuna x reader

⁀➴ when i told you i’m fine, you were lied to. when the love of your life falls for someone else, you decide to move on—by pretending to date your best friend, the campus fuckboy.

previous — masterlist — next

word count. 1.7k content. profanity, angsty flashback, naoya is a dumbass

What happened that night is all a blur to you now. You remember little between dragging Satoru out of his bedroom to join the others outside and making the worst mistake of your life, and even that you can’t say you remember for certain.

You know that the night had started well enough. You and Shoko spent most of your time dancing and occasionally crashing on the couch to engage in extremely pretentious conversations about the state of the world with the group of political science majors who had camped out there. Like most of Yuji’s parties, the night had involved copious amounts of alcohol and little critical thinking.

“I’m gonna go get some water,” you told Shoko through the blaring music. “You want anything?”

She pointed at her cup. “Get me another one?”

You chuckled. “Haven’t you had enough?”

“Nope!” she said, grinning at you. “Keep ‘em coming!”

“Your wish is my command.”

You stumbled past the group of boys who were having a competition for how many chips they could stuff in their mouth, past the girls who were contemplating getting matching tattoos, the couples who existed a world away from the one you were living in.

Your eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a familiar pair of blue eyes and a mop of white hair. You frowned, not finding him anywhere.

You went into the kitchen, skirted past the two boys who were trying to figure out what those giant Q-tip looking things that people fought with were called—pugil sticks, you later found out—and grabbed yourself a bottle of water and a drink for Shoko.

You remember wanting to find Satoru, wanting to see where your beloved boyfriend had disappeared to. That was why you walked down the corridor to the bathroom. That was why you happened upon Suguru’s bedroom, the door opened just a crack. That was why you heard what you heard, why things changed the way that they did.

“He was looking at rings.”

You knew better than to eavesdrop. Years of living in the same house as your parents, where there was a daily occurance of arguments behind closed doors, had taught you that there were some things you were better off not knowing. Some things that you couldn’t unhear after you heard them, things you shouldn’t have to hear at all.

But Suguru’s voice drew you in. His words even more.

You leaned in towards the door thinking, How bad can it be?

It was Yuta who spoke next. “Rings?” he said. “For her?”

“Yeah,” Satoru’s best friend spoke. “He’s getting serious about this. I think it might actually be real this time.”

Now, that made you press your ears against the door. They were talking about you and your boyfriend. They were talking about how serious your relationship had become.

If you were being honest, you were scared shitless by the whole thing. After high school, you hadn’t so much as looked at the boys who sauntered in your direction. You were aware of your tendencies—“a lack of self-preservation skills,” as Sukuna often called it—and you never thought that any relationship was worth the pain you could inflict on the other person, the pain they could inflict on you.

But Satoru had come into your life all bright and good. Perfect was the only way you could describe it. The kind of perfection that had you wanting to catch up, to be worth whatever pain you both could suffer if things turned sour. The kind of perfect that made you want to be perfect too.

Your heart was light at Suguru’s words. He was looking at rings. He believed in what the two of you had. It was real.

But then you heard a laugh. Naoya.

“Satoru doesn’t do ‘real,’” he said in that haughty tone of his. “He likes the spectacle. The show of it all.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Yuta said. You could hear his frown through his words. “He loves her, I think we can all see that.”

“We all know he went for her because she was a challenge to him,” Naoya insisted. “It’s the perfect story: The untouchable girl falls for the college heartthrob. They get married and live happily ever after—it’s fucking disgusting.”

You heard Suguru laugh. “You’re just jealous because you have some weird crush on her.”

“I’m not jealous. I just recognize his patterns. They’re so fucking predictable.”

His patterns. Satoru’s patterns.

What patterns?

“Do you remember Hana from freshman year?” Naoya continued. “She was really pretty, really sweet. He was in love with her, wasn’t he?”

“Sure, but—”

“And Miyoko after he and Hana broke up? He was convinced he was gonna marry her too.”

“Okay, but—”

“Wasn’t he seeing Kana when he convinced himself he needed to have—”

“Fine!” Suguru groaned. “He has a pattern. He’s a fucking romantic. We get it, man.”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Naoya said. “The moment she stops living up to his standards, the moment the illusion breaks, he’s going to move on to the next perfect girl. It’s just what he does.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You’d known about Satoru’s past, the girlfriends he had that he swore to you were different. You were different, that was what he told you. You were the only one he’d ever wanted in that way.

You heard someone groan on the other side of the door.

“Is he awake?” Yuta asked.

There was a shuffle of fabric. The sheets on Suguru’s bed.

“Nope,” Suguru said. “Still pretty blacked out.”

You looked through the crack in the door. The three boys were on the floor beside the bed and passed out on the sheets was your boyfriend. Your perfect boyfriend.

You suddenly felt lightheaded. You felt confused. You felt sick.

Everyone’s gathered in the living room. Mahito is sprawled out on the couch, barely lifting his head as he speaks.

“I hate hide and seek,” he says. “Whose idea was it anyway?”

“I thought it was fun!” Utahime says, grinning.

“We had fun too,” Sukuna chimes in. He slings an arm around Kento—who does his best to shrug him off to no avail—and smiles at the man. “Didn’t we?”

Kento’s look of disdain is the only answer he gets.

Everyone else laughs and starts chatting about the game, filling up new cups of alcohol and settling around the fire. Until—

“Where’s tiger?” Sukuna asks eventually once he’s circled the room looking for you. “Mahito, did you find her?”

The other boy grunts on the couch. “I dunno.”

Maki grows pale, coming to the same conclusion that you’re not here. She glances over at Satoru who’s sitting on a chair with Kimi on his lap. His eyes are distant, staring into the fireplace. She looks around again. And she realizes.

“Where’s Naoya?” she asks.

The whole room grows quiet.

“Are they not here?” Nobara scans the room. “They’re not…”

Satoru looks around now too. He sees what everyone sees. There are only two people missing in this room: You and Naoya.

He grimaces. “Where the fuck are they?”

“Can I ask you something?”

Naoya had his body turned to you, the two of you still sitting in the cramped compartment. You don’t know how long you’ve been in here. It feels like hours have passed already.

“No,” you tell him, leaning against the wall behind you.

He rolls his eyes. “You’re such a pain.”

“Back at you.”

“No, but really,” he says, sitting tall as he folds his hands on his lap. “Why’d you do it?”

You frown. “Do what?”

“Kiss me,” he answers. He cracks a grin. “Not that I’m complaining or anything—”

“Holy shit, shut the fuck up.” You bury your face in your hands. “Don’t ask me that.”

In truth, you don’t actually remember the kiss. Just that it happened. Just that you’d done it, that you’d decided to ruin everything.

But what was there to ruin in the first place? The whole thing had already been crumbling beneath you without you knowing.

He prods your foot with his. “I just wanna know.”

“I don’t know,” you tell him. When he looks at you, unimpressed with your answer, you shrug. “I realized some things. Or I was confused about them at least. I needed to… do something.”

“So you kissed me,” he says. “Out of nowhere, you come up to me and kiss me because you needed to do something?”

You tilt your head. “Is that how it happened?”

Naoya narrows his eyes, shifting a little. “You don’t remember?”

“No,” you say, and you realize how lame that probably sounds. “I just know that I did it. I wasn’t really thinking. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“You don’t remember,” he repeats like he doesn’t believe you.

“Yes, Naoya, I don’t fucking remember,” you say, exasperated. “How many times are you gonna say that?”

He shakes his head. “What do you think happened?”

You furrow your brows at his tone. “What did happen?”

Naoya studies you for a moment, as if he’s trying to figure out if you’re just being mean to him. If you’re just pretending not to remember to psych him out. But he knows you better than that, you wouldn’t stoop that low.

“We were at the party,” he says slowly. “I was outside the house. Trying to get some air, you know, because Yuji had just thrown up on the carpet like a fucking idiot and I didn’t wanna clean it up.”

He pauses, gauging your response. You nod at him to continue.

“And you showed up,” he says. “And you sat down beside me and you were real quiet for a moment. And then you leaned over and kissed my cheek and said ‘thank you’ and—”

“Wait, what?” You gape at him. “I kissed your cheek?”

“Yeah, my cheek. And you said—”

“I kissed your cheek and thanked you?” you ask, louder. “That’s it?”

Naoya frowns. “Yeah, I fucking thought you knew that.”

“I didn’t know that!” you exclaim. “I kissed your cheek?” You slap his arm. “This whole time, when you said that we kissed—you mean that I kissed your fucking cheek?”

“Yeah!” he says. “You kissed my fucking cheek and thanked me! I thought you knew what I meant!”

You feel your eye twitch. You want to punch him or pull his hair or—

“I can’t fucking believe you!” you say, throwing your hands at him haphazardly, ultimately unable to decide how you were going to try and hurt him. “This whole fucking time that was the fucking kiss? Naoya, I’m gonna kill you!”

[reiding-writing]

sickeningly sweet [ s.r ]

Spencer Reid had never had a valentine before. In attempt to make him feel better about it you engage in a casual conversation that leads to a potential date.

s1!spencer reid x gn!reader || fluff || 1.3k || masterlist!!

a/n: happy valentine’s day my loves <3 (i promise copy cat part 2 is coming soon 😭)

You can’t say that you’re surprised when you find out that Spencer Reid has never had a valentine before.

It sounds a little mean in your mind, but you know that the whole team is thinking the same thing.

“You’ve really never asked someone to be your valentine pretty boy? You’re missing out,” Morgan can’t help but chuckle at Spencer’s confession, taking a sip of his coffee with an exaggerated smirk on his face.

“I- did, once when I was nine,” Spencer’s tone carries that awkwardness you’ve come to associate him with along with a small trace of uncomfortableness at the topic of conversation. “She emptied her juice box over my head and then laughed at me,”

“And you haven’t asked anyone since? Come on Reid you can’t let one bad experience get you down,” Elle turns back and forth in her chair with her foot as a pivot.

“You say that like either of you have valentines,” You shake your head at the two with a laugh as you lean back against your chair.

“Oh i’ll have one by the end of the night,” Morgan shoots a wink in your direction and you making a mock gagging motion in response.

“You’re gross,” You roll your eyes at Morgan with a dramatic shake of your head as you push your chair backwards and stand up.

“I’m gonna make some coffee, you want some genius?” You raise an eyebrow towards Spencer, tone harbouring infinitely less sarcasm as you nod towards his empty coffee mug.

“Yeah uh, that would be great actually thank you,” Spencer hands over his mug to you with a smile that’s embarrassingly endearing and you’re glad the kitchenette is around the corner from the bullpen because you’re sure your affection for him is showing all over your face.

Spencer Reid had never had a valentine.

Oh how you wanted to change that.

To shower the boy in all of the love and affection he so justly deserved and yet never seemed to get. To dote on him for a day and not let him so much as lift a finger to do anything for himself.

Instead, you settled for making him a sickeningly sweet cup of coffee.

“So, when are you gonna ask then?” Spencer stopped craning his neck in your direction at Morgan’s question, an obliviously confused expression painting his face.

“Huh?”

“Oh come on Reid we all see the way you look at them don’t try and hide it now,” Morgan rolled his eyes exaggeratedly with a shake of his head, and Spencer flushes a bright red at the accusation.

“I’m not- I don’t-”

“You don’t have to deny it Reid, this is a safe space,” Elle’s tone carried all the teasing of an older sibling, and her expression hammered that message home tenfold.

“You’ve got thirteen hours to make a move pretty boy otherwise you gotta say goodbye to that sweet valentine of yours until next year,” Morgan tilted his head with a furrowed brow.

“There’s actually twelve hours and 42 minutes until midnight,” Spencer’s response was more of a defence than anything, and he awkwardly pushed a stray stand of hair behind his ear.

“That’s even worse, you gotta grow some balls and ask them soon man or it’s gonna be too late,”

Morgan was right. He did have to ‘grow some balls’ - whatever that meant - and actually ask you out before you ended up finding someone that was way more interesting and experienced in the dating world.

What if you already had? You never mentioned whether you had a valentine or not during the earlier conversation.

What if he actually plucked up the courage to ask you out and then you turned him down because you already had somebody else.

God that sounded like a nightmare.

“I am absolutely not going to ask them to be my valentine.”

“You’re not gonna ask who to be your valentine?” Your voice jolts him out of his defensiveness and straight into embarrassment, not at all aided by the way you lean over the back of his chair to place his coffee mug on his desk.

“I uh- No one- I’m not asking anyone-” His deflection is very half-assed, and the fact you don’t pick up on it makes Morgan want to just force your two heads together until you both kiss.

“Very understandable honestly,” You take a seat in your desk chair with a satisfied nod, crossing your legs and taking a sip from your coffee. “Valentine’s day is overrated in my opinion,”

“You- aren’t spending it with anyone?”There was a clear sense of bewilderment lacing Spencer’s tone, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion like he physically couldn’t fathom the fact that you didn’t have anyone to spend the day with.

You shake your head nonchalantly at his question, swivelling around in your chair until you’re facing your desk once more. “Nope, i’m gonna eat a tub of ice cream and wallow in my own self pity as I make fun of shitty rom-coms,”

You lean your head against the back of your chair to look at Spencer beside you, shrugging your shoulders. “You’re very welcome to join me if you have nothing else to do later, it’ll be fun,”

“No invite for me?” Morgan’s tone is very clearly teasing your favouritism towards Spencer, although even if you said that he could come he wouldn’t, this might be the one shot Spencer actually has to grow a pair.

“Oh please, knowing you we wouldn’t even make it through one movie before you get bored and decide you want to go to a bar or something,” You roll your eyes with a laugh. “Spencer actually watches the movies we play,”

“Right right, you and your ‘movie nights’ how could I forget?” Morgan shakes his head at you with that knowing smile and you have half the mind to threaten him with violence at the potential of him spilling your little secret, but you know that if you do that’ll be exposing enough for Spencer to catch on about how head over heels you are for him.

“So, what’d’ya say genius? Impromptu movie night? I have dark chocolate,” You throw the dark chocolate in there as a bonus like he wouldn’t say yes to you if your idea was to sit outside on the pavement behind the office in the rain.

“Sure- Sure yeah okay-“ Spencer’s answer is coupled with and encouraging nod from Morgan, and it makes Spencer’s face heat up more than he thinks is humanly possible.

“Great! I’ll even crack out the strawberries,” You clap you hands together and it’s a done deal.

“I’m gonna drop this off to Hotch i’ll be back in a sec,” You hold up the file in your hand as you push yourself away from your desk and stand up, speed walking across the bullpen towards Hotch’s office.

“A movie marathon with chocolate and strawberries, that sounds pretty romantic to me pretty boy,” Spencer shakes his head adamantly at Morgan’s continued attempts at trying to lay down the groundwork for him to take his relationship with you to the next step.

“They’re just being nice,”

Morgan and Elle both facepalm in unison.

[fairyhaos]

seventeen as teachers

requested by @weird-bookworm ! it's a little to the left of what you asked but i hope it's alright anyway ><

masterlist

seungcheol

architecture professor. kind of thanks to physics!cheol anon for this idea but he really encourages hands-on learning especially for his subject, and he draws big diagrams on the board and gestures wildly with his hands as he's explaining why the models work and what do the students think of it? also he definitely gives vibes of someone who high fives the students when their models withstand his shaking tests, but also laughs and claps when they fall apart. because it's all about learning, isn't it? and he's with you to help you learn every step of the way. 

jeonghan

kindergarten teacher. cannot for the life of him handle kids older than that because then they get too tricksy and talkative for him and he gets tired too easily to deal with that. actually really good at handling the toddlers. he's also very pretty so all the kids unironically hang onto his every word, basically making him the god at keeping children in line. when he gets too tired of running around after them he just goes “kids :((( jeonghan is tired :(((“ and they immediately settle down to do something else

joshua

music teacher (1). he's a total department crush (and even school-wide crush) amongst the other teachers because he's so pretty and so kind, always and accidentally keeps making teachers fall for him bc he talks to them so nicely w that pretty smile of his. renowned for his ability to compose melodies on the piano on the spot, and always has students wanting him to help (cough compose for them) parts of their composition work. no one knows what he does outside of work, though. it's like he disappears into thin air after school finishes. 

junhui

gives me eccentric uni professor vibes. sits on his desk with his feet dangling and asks all sorts of strange and irrelevant questions to the students that are, actually, not strange and entirely relevant. has everyone walking out of his lectures feeling like a changed person because he either a) managed to get horribly off track or b) made them rethink their entire life choices. loved by all, and maybe a bit too much. poor guy definitely had an obsessed student try to follow him home before he got lost himself and so they both ended up in the middle of nowhere

hoshi

chemistry teacher. no other reason other than i think he'd look great with a pair of goggles on his forehead pushing his fringe back at funny angles whilst he grins maniacally and goes, “hey, kids, today we're gonna set things on fire!!!!”. so passionate about teaching these things to the students, and rambles on like he only has 5 minutes left on earth and he's gonna use every second to cram in as much chemistry knowledge into the students’ brains as he can in that time. it works, too. his passion inspires so many of them to take chemistry further up in the school. 

wonwoo

history teacher. all the students want him for their teacher when they take history because he's actually, like, competent and knows stuff. known for taking no shit when it comes to doing assignments on time because he sets reasonable deadlines and if you can't make them, then that's on you, not him. students love him. also super duper helpful if you have any questions and is always free at lunch to help bc he'll do anything to escape the hyperactive claws of mr. kwon and mr. wen who are always up to shenanigans

woozi

music teacher (2). mans life literally revolves around music and i can't imagine him doing anything else. department ace. conductor of both the symphony and concert orchestra, and rearranges all of the parts himself when the students find it a little too difficult. also do Not engage this man in a conversation about anything to do with music theory because he will rant for ages and any quick question turns into half of your lunch break being missed. he means well, though, and always gets ridiculous amount of thank-you presents at the end of the year. 

minghao

art teacher (1). dresses like one, too, and has been voted as ‘best dressed teacher’ for the past 3 years in a row. all the art students are kind of afraid of him because if you ask for feedback, there is a 50/50 chance that he'll rip you a new one whilst explaining what you did wrong. there's never any true cruelty to his words, though, cuz hes always actually giving genuine advice and he's always right in what he advises, so students either love him or hate him for his criticisms, though mostly it's the former. he's pretty, too, and his works are pretty, so that's a plus

mingyu

teaches business studies to the older students, purely cz i think he gives maths-adjacent vibes. he teaches a “special” subject that's not available to the younger kids and he's ridiculously handsome so he's kind of like a legendary figure in the school. even if he's a bit silly and adorable at times, he's also super good at holding intellectual debates with his students about current economic and political affairs. can be found bickering with mr. yoon bc the kindergarten teacher wants him to help with his taxes.

dokyeom

art teacher (2). smiles brighter than the sun at all hours of the day, and when the senior students are drowning in coursework and artist research deadlines, he's like the one and only guiding light that helps them get through it because of how endlessly optimistic he is. half the seniors take art solely because of him, actually. also a firm believer that all art is good art and there's no such thing as a “non-artist”. scolds minghao after work when he feels like the other teacher was being too harsh to the students

seungkwan

part of the senior leadership team. takes his position veryyy seriously, strides briskly around the school with a jingle of w set of keys he managed to procure from…somewhere. is always on top of uniform inspections which is always annoying for the kids, but he's also melodramatic and smiley so they love him anyway. the students are always try to recruit him for teacher quizzes and events bc he makes everything way more fun. 

vernon

classics teacher. this might seem odd but hear me out!!! dude loves ancient history and Will do deep dives on old artefacts and cultures that interest him, and i think that passion can definitely be transferred to him teaching kids about latin, ancient greek, old civilizations. known for sharing nothing about his personal life but also being able to talk for ages about something that happened over 1000 years ago. the students all find him super cool and also super endearing. 

chan

the guy who's hired externally from some sports club to act as the teacher to students during after school clubs. teaches martial arts, mainly, but he supervised an impromptu dance club one semester and the students loved it so much that they managed to bring the dance club onto the permanent schedule. everyone loves him. his sports club is 10000% sure that half the children who come to them were recruited through chan's lovely personality alone. 

request guidelines

reactions tags: @weird-bookworm @minhui896 @bunnyiix @slytherinshua @haowrld @belladaises @newgirlygirl @moonlitskiiies @mirxzii @wonranghaeee @yonabutnotyuna @crackedpumpkin @wqnwoos @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @kawennote09 @a-wandering-stay @icyminghao @valenhui @sweet-like-caramel @odxrilove @kyeomyun @chansburgah @pepperonijem @jeonride @kellesvt @kikohao @astrozuya @eightlightstar @onlyyjeonghan @aaniag @starshuas @all-american-fangirl @f1uffyjun @sea-moon-star @nonononranghaee @isabellah29 @mcu-incorrect @hrts4hanniehae @melodicrabbit

[thefourthwifeoftengenuzui]

some headcanons about dating timeskip!Kenma please!!

thank you Anon, I would absolutely love to share some stuff about this beautiful boy~ As always, feel free to send any other requests you got, I’ll be more than happy to share my thoughts~

status: unedited

word count: 1.4k (damn that’s the most I’ve written in a hot minute)

warnings: cursing, pure fluff, mentions of weed, crackfick a little suggestive? Idk man I’m sleepy

wrote this instead of studying for my physics final exam😋

🩵Aged Up Kenma Headcannons🩵~

Ok first off we gotta get the basic facts down. This boy may be sweet as sugar, but he’s also one lazy mother fucker. And For the most part, I’d say that he really doesn’t change much from when he was a kid. The most I can say about him, is he definitely is a lot more confident being in front of people, ( I mean that’s kinda his job now, but bear with me) and has become less awkward around people. Very different from when he first met Hinata, he can actually hold a good and relaxed conversation now. That’s not to say he isn’t introverted anymore, (he definitely still would rather be at home) but he is more confident in himself to be able to actually be able to engage with someone. Is he gonna go out of his way to talk to someone? Hell no, but he can at least handle being approached without overthinking and triggering his anxiety.

This definitely also translates to his relationship with you. You still will have be the one who makes the first move, or at least initiating conversations.

But one things for sure, once he likes you, he loves you. Like wanting to wife you up regardless of gender. And I feel like, (later on in the relationship ofc) if you ever had kids, he would be the best most present dad ever. Like he wouldn’t be a house husband, (his YouTube gig is completely paying for your mortgage) but because the majority of what he does has him, stream for like an hour, go on call for a few minutes, or just edit his videos for a bit, he would be able to make a lot of time for any and all children he has. But that’s way later on in the relationship.

Once he’s comfortable in the relationship with you, I can definitely see him involving you in his content. Not like a whole boyfriend and girlfriend couples channel, but like a once a year “reacting to fucked up shit with my girl” type beat.

And since we’re on the subject of content, <<<<<<<<

Like imagine having the most shitty day possible and you come home to your boyfriend streaming COD or some shit. You just face-plant into the bed next to him and he snaps his head towards you.

”shit baby you good?” he asks as he raises an eyebrow, looking at you concerned as you mumble angrily. He recognizes the nonverbal gestures and just pats his lap with a quick, “c’mere baby,” and hugs you, letting you muzzle your face into his neck away from the camera, and wrapping a fluffy blanket around you, before he kisses you head and say, “gimme ten more minutes to finish this and we’ll order some takeout k?”. He gives you the most sincere and adorable smile ever sending butterflies not only to you, but all his fans watching, as he smiles and goes back to playing like nothing happened, the chat going wilddddddd. (My gay ass heart go brrrrrr)

I know for a fact that somewhere out there in haikyuu internet, there is a corny ass edit of y’all doing that shit, trust. (I need to keep my slang outta here man 😭)

ok, getting off the sidetrack, kenma is still like rlly introverted. Like his ideal date is just sitting at home watching some cheesy studio ghibi movie (His favorite is the boy and the heron, fight me on that, it’s the hill I’m willing to die on.)

If not some cute Disney movie, I also feel like he’d be into like some mystery or like not quite horoscope stuff. Like I feel like he would really be into Wednesday. If he had to watch an actual horror movie, I feel like I’d be like some of the older ones like scream or Nightmare on elm street type shit.

Speaking of scream, I feel like at least once yall would have to do the ghostface couples costume thing. Like I feel like this would just suit him so well. Idk my brains just going feral on it right now. (This was supposed to have a link attached, but it kept fuckin up and I’m to lazy to deal with it so just look it up, the couples version, it’s hot af)

aside from the specific stuff that I know people hate reading, the next thing you gotta know about this version of kenma is he is a TEASE. Like not even like an NSFW type tease. Just like a “he’s an ass but I love him.” Like when he was younger I feel like he was too nervous and flustered to point that kinda stuff out. But now? Man is a menace and a half. The type of dude to be like, “I have no idea how your ass fits in those shorts. Oh no, you’re not taken them off now~” or like the most basic annoying shit like bro fuck off and let me cuddle you in peace without being annoying. Like, he’d be like, “ damn someone’s neady today~ you tryna fuck me in front of everyone?” Like bro stfu I’m just tryna cuddle. Either that or he’d call you clingy for returning the affection he initiated. Like bro, quit being a lil bitch and let me be happy you butt muffin.

Man is putting full pussy into annoying you. He’s the type of guy to call you the most vile, disgusting, cringe ass nicknames, specifically to piss you off. You need him to take out the trash? “Yes my Pookie Wookie McSmoo Moo bear~” *gags while writing this* You’re yelling at him for some stupid thing, “I sorry my sugar booger~.”

Yeah this part is real OOC, and I was gonna write more but I physically cannot bring myself to do it so anyway, his other 3 favorite things to annoy you by calling you is, Cutesie Poopsie, Shnookums, and side piece #2. (Bro I just gave myself the ick)

Beige flags aside, he does have some green ones . For example, he’s a fabulous listener. Like, you just wanna rant and yell about your day? C’mere babes, he already got fluffy blankets, stuffies, and fluffy socks at the ready. You just wanna cry in piece? Looks like his lap has a vacant spot, he can play games and scratch your head at the same time. #bbgtreatment (regardless of gender. If tumblr has taught me anything it’s that nobody is to thug to be bbg, can I get an amen?🙏 )

The more comfortable he is with you, the more he will make jokes, but in the most monotone voice ever. Like you could be ranting to your bestie on the phone like, “I forgot my umbrella at work… yeah I’m soaked,” and you just hear him from his corner calmly shouting “that’s what she said,” not even turning away from his game, as if it was natural to him. It’s always so easy to talk with him, unless it’s about his problems, but we ain’t gon talk about that rn, I’m feeling too fluffy.

There is one thing that I absolutely have to address for this man though. The average female height in my country is 5’4. And Kenma is only 5’6. Chances are, he’s not gonna be towering over you or nothing. Especially if you a tall specimen like me. (AFAB but gender is a construct yolo on those hoes). So chances are, this mf is for a fact, stealing your clothes. No article of clothing is safe. Hoodie? Sorry boo he got cold streaming. T-shirt? None of his were clean. Miniskirt? Onlyfans- He was pulling a Gojo sorry 😋

Tbh I don’t see him ever really having a wedding, or really ever getting married. Too much social interaction and attention on him. Gross. The most I can see him doing is, one night while y’all smoking pot or something, being like “yo wanna get married?” He wants to be with you forever without the government getting involved, but hey, times are tough, and marriage helps with tax returns. So y’all just kinda go to the courthouse, get it done, then fly off to some place to elope.

in all Kenma is just a great loyal guy, who is the biggest pain in your ass, but the biggest cutie patootie this side of the nuthouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hope y’all enjoyed, this was so fun to write, if you liked this and want more content like this make sure to request and check out my other stuff. Love y’all bastards, Thots and Enby Hots🩵

[linddzz]

While yes, Viktor is confident too, but...

This man isn't shy? He's hyperventilating and nervous-tapping over the idea of giving a speech!

This man?

I guess Im not getting across like, the Vibe that I always see that bothers me? Viktor's got the social anxiety for sure, and it's VERY fair to assume that his condition makes him even more self conscious to be up in front of a crowd full of topsiders. He's pretty clear in episode 1 that he's aware of how topsiders see him and his cane use, and that's before his disability is even more visible.

But ALSO very few people ARE good on a stage in front of tons of people. And also there's a very specific connotation to "shy" that is beyond social anxiety.

Shyness to me, is its own flavor of social anxiety plus timidness. The actual definition is a bashful, timid nervousness. It has connotations of the wilting flower personality. Viktor, even when he's quiet around other people doesn't come across as nervous or timid in the slightest. His first introduction has him VERY confident and collected surrounded by enforcers and not taking Jayce being snappy and angry at him. As a kid there's more of an argument to be made because what awkward socially isolated kid isn't going to be shy. But at the same time he doesn't try to shrink away from Sky's attention, he still looks right back up at her, he just keeps on doing his own thing. Mostly he comes across as someone who does not know how to casually interact with people so he doesn't. He's got tunnels in his eyes lmao.

Viktor is complicated. Viktor is nuanced. It's why he's Ultimate Blorbo. He's withdrawn and awkward and not very good at interacting with people, but he's not timid about it. He is very self assured in himself.

But when I say fandom makes him shy it IS much more of the wilting flower timid woobie that I kept seeing in Season1 fics. There was SO MUCH of Viktor being the nervous soft spoken anxious thing who was just so happy Jayce was even giving him the time of day as if Viktor didn't sass Jayce about his notes right after he stopped the man from jumping lmaoooo

And idk not to be TOO OBVIOUS with my projecting but it's the part of Viktor I can relate to the most. I consider myself a quiet person who gets annoyed when people think that me being quiet = shy. I'm able to speak up well on zoom calls with colleagues and I also would rather drop dead than have to go up on a stage in front of a bunch of normal people who I know were expecting someone very different. I get nervous and shaky speaking up in front of a crowd of colleagues even! but afterwards I can go right up to people like "your presentation was insane tell me more right now." I am often quiet and uncomfortable in large social situations because I know that most people there are operating under a different wavelength than I am, I do not know what the right responses to things are, or I full on do not know how to not accidentally come across as a huge asshole and I don't want to be an asshole. And when I was younger I would have so many people come up and act like I was a little wallflower (bc oh boy can I also relate to being quiet while physically small meaning being constantly infantalized) who "didn't need to be so shy" and every time I was like "I'm not shy. I just don't feel any engagement with this conversation and I don't want to be a dick and tell you that, but if you gently tell me it's ok to talk one more time I'm gonna start biting."

(It got better as I got older bc I learned that if you're quiet but making active eye contact instead of staring off into other directions - not to avoid attention but because you're just thinking of other shit - people will stop labeling you as shy and instead say "intimidating" or "mysterious" which is also hilarious when what you're thinking about is "machine herald big naturals lmao" but it's better than being labeled "shy")

[zz0mbi3]

ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ

summary: joel miller headcanons

warnings: slight allusions to spicy stuff, nothing too graphic. ellie's a menace

~now, i'm going to get this out of the way because i know what you fiends came here for

~yes, there's an age gap. nothing too crazy, of course

~definitely grumpy and sunshine vibes, even if you're a grumpy mess too. nothing tops him (especially not in be-)

~he definitely was reluctant at the start when getting to know you. we all know how "amazing" he is as helping others...

tommy: they got a kid, joel-

joel: so do we, keep driving - the incident in question

~nevertheless, and despite what he tries to say, you've grown on him. and maybe the fact that ellie says that you're the coolest person she's met since joel? yeah, he kinda can't get rid of you now

~somehow he has amazing self control with himself

~like there were definitely many times the man was crashing out and was about to do something drastic with you when he had to reign it in and actually think about it

~insanely jealous individual. luckily for him, not too many people to meet nowadays, but whenever you do engage in conversation with someone else, he's right there. ellie has caught him staring at you having a conversation with someone else, eye twitching

~whenever y'all have to squeeze through a small space because i'm sure there are many of those when trying to get away from the clickers, somehow his hands end up on you. not in a sexual way or anything, you just look down at some point and he is GRIPPING your waist to make sure you actually get out of that situation safely

~afterwards, the man has to sit down and just think for a minute. imagine it, just him sitting, hands raised to his chin as he ponders it all

~Mr. Darcy hand flex, think about it now

~if you happen to start walking a little further than he feels comfortable with you going, you're gonna feel one of his fingers curling through the belt loop of your jeans and tugging you back

"nuh, uh, stay here."

~you also have some self control in you, making sure not to be too affectionate right out the gate. you know he has a lot of unresolved trauma to go through (who doesn't in the literal apocalypse) and you don't want to push him to do something he isn't comfortable with or ready for

~there are many times y'all argue, his temper is on a short yet neverending fuse that seems to go out and reflame often. oftentimes he waits for ellie to leave before discussing things with you, and if it gets heated, oh boy

~sometimes, he doesn't think straight and in the middle of arguing you feel his calloused hand wrap around your wrist. not too hard, he doesn't want to hurt you, even if you piss him off sometimes, but enough to know "oh...he's serious".

~although, 99.9% of the time you have to stare at the floor for about 25 seconds to think about it. "oh, so what were we even fighting about?" that kinda stuff

~although he doesn't always show it directly, you can always tell that he cares. like, he's not typically one to look at you in the face and go "i need you to stay safe or else i'm gonna lose it", but somehow you just know.

~there will be days you wake up with an extra sleeping mat stuffed under your head or another warm coat and jacket draped over you that you definitely did not fall asleep with. other times you've gotten back from outside to find a warm drink sitting out for you. (does it taste good? yeah, yk what hell yeah).

~there's definitely been times where your boots have come untied so often while you're walking that before you can even process what's happening, he's retying them, mumbling under his breath about how "it's not that hard to double knot", but you can tell he isn't really mad when he pats your calf afterwards and stands back up

~he always refills your water and food when your rations get low. like you look away from your bottle for one second and he's refilling it with his own water (y'all fought about this for a while)

~surprise you have a teenage daughter now!

~ellie's a menace with you guys, oh my goodness. but at first, she didn't really like you very much. it was nothing against you, but she didn't like that someone else was joining her and joel's life, so it took some warming up to for her to understand that you being there was helping her and joel, and she actually missed your company when you would be away.

~she will follow you guys everywhere with the smuggest look on her face like she did something. always trying to do something stupid so you both end up having to help her and work together. she's also definitely stolen stuff from you guys so you guys have to share

~whenever you have nightmares, it's like he can sense it. and let's be honest, you definitely do have them because those clickers would have me passed out on the ground, dead, deceased. you guys don't get to sleep comfortably often (if at all) so when you're just laying on the ground in a sleeping bag, it's much easier to hear you tossing and turning. he'll wake up almost immediately and watch for a second to make sure it's not just you shifting around before he approaches you. there's a bit of hesitation, but when he sees how you're genuinely struggling, you're gonna end up sleeping against his chest, oh yes you will. he'll definitely wake you up to talk to you about it, and if you aren't willing to share, he's fine with just sitting there and comforting you.

~"i know, i know", when he's comforting you (or talking you through-)

~now when you guys ACTUALLY got together, it was kinda out of nowhere

~it was getting pretty overwhelming for you to keep it hidden (and ellie had been in both of y'alls ears, basically pushing you two closer and closer). so one day, you find yourself sitting with him and you just start rambling

"look, i know i'm young and everything...and i know you don't see me the way that i see you...and it's silly to think that you would or anything, but-"

you're cut off by the look he's giving you, just of pure and utter confusion. he stares for what feels like forever, until he says in a low voice;

"who told you that?" OHHHH MYYYYY

and before you could even get a chance to really respond to the question, BOOM, you're getting kissed

~yeah, when ellie found out she was over the moon, because she thinks she's a genius or something and a wizard and made it all happen (definitely helped)

~now, remember when i said he was jealous? yeah, that gets almost 100x worse when you guys confirm an actual relationship. if looks could kill, everyone would be dead, i swear

~(just letting y'all know, joel does bite. a lot. do with that information what you will)

~he gets pretty pissed off when people say he's too old for you (he's literally not, the age gap ain't that bad guys) and has shouted at someone about it before! (will do it again)

~even before you all were together, i feel like he would help you pack up your supply bags. he wants to make sure you have everything you need, but it's pretty inevitable that you will take something of his almost every time

~when you're not able to sleep, whether it's because of anxiety or you're just not tired, he'll sit with you on his lap and strum the guitar for a bit to get you sleepier

~never let this man shave his face because imagine-

~y'all will be getting the best sleep you can possibly get when you're together. (he wore you out). he's a walking heater and definitely bear hugs you, very clingy

~he's definitely a gentleman most of the time, because you could be walking into an abandoned building and he's holding the door open for you and ellie (she shoved in front of you and laughed)

~he's always checking your temperature, hand pressed against your forehead. he's terrified that you'll get sick one day, that you'll break out into a fever and he won't be able to save you from turning into one of those...things

"you sure you ain't feelin' too hot, baby? i need to know now"

~oh, if you ever got yourself hurt...you're getting a mix of scolding and genuine worry as he fixes you up. it's one of the few times you've almost seen him cry believe it or not

~but yes, he does bite, again, i will say this again

[sinnabarmoth]

(I just want some in-law content so) In a universe where Yizhou/Caleb is fine and his relationship with MC is completely platonic, what LIs would he approve of? For those he doesn’t, what would they have to do to prove themselves? Would they be like brothers or would they only get along for MC’s sake?

Oh this is a fun one!! Yes!

Zayne: Zayne is one of the guys that Yizhou completely approves of, has the gold star seal of acceptance. The three of them were childhood friends and Yizhou knows Zayne and knows he's a good egg and will treat MC right. That being said, it is a little weird in that way of your friend told you that they have a crush on your sister kinda way. I just imagine the conversation kinda went something like this:

"I'm taking MC out on a date this weekend."

"Ok. Happy for you two but I kinda hate you right now."

"What did I do?"

"You're dating! I'm gonna end up the 3rd wheel to your relationship! We went from a three person friend group to a couple and their one single friend. Thanks a lot, you two!"

"...I knew you were going to take this well."

Xavier: Yizhou and Xavier hit things off right away. They get along well, talk easily when the three of them are together. Yizhou sees how much MC likes Xavier and how happy he makes her. It also relieves him a bit that they live in the same building so she always has someone nearby to check in on her in case of an emergency. I imagine that at one point they get left alone in MC's apartment while she runs out to pick up food and when she comes back they are in a full video game tournament and in a full sibling rivalry mode.

"Hey guys I got dinner--"

"You are cheating!"

"No. You're just bad at this game."

"MC! Tell your boyfriend to stop cheating!"

"MC, tell Yizhou to stop being a sore loser."

"Letting you two become friends was a mistake."

Rafayel: Yizhou is actually kinda iffy on Rafayel when MC first introduced them. Something about him just rubbed him the wrong way and Raf didn't really like him either. They're kinda quietly not engaging with each other but when they're left alone it's just a long painful silence. The longer the relationship goes on the more they get used to each other but they do not function well when left alone together.

"So...see any good movies lately?"

"No. Been busy finishing my latest painting."

"Ah..."

"Yeah..."

"Quick question, if you're technically part fish does that mean eating seafood is sorta like cannibalism?"

"...You and MC definitely grew up together."

Sylus: Yizhou does NOT like Sylus. At all. These two have the thinnest shroud of tolerance and it is strictly for MC's sake. If they don't have to be around each other they won't be. Yizhou has asked MC if she is sure about this relationship more than once. The fact that Sylus is basically a Mafia Don doesn't help but he makes MC happy and seems to treat her well so he keeps his distaste low. Personally I just imagine their first meeting was when Yizhou came over to MC's apartment to drop off something and unbeknownst to him MC and Sylus were having some spicy time. So when he keeps knocking on the door to be let in Sylus ends up answering and clearly looks like he was interrupted in the middle of sex and is pissed.

"If you're selling something we're not interested."

"No I'm here to drop this off-- Wait. Who the hell are you? You don't live here."

"But my girlfriend does. Now who the hell are you and why are you interrupting us?"

"I'm her oldest friend and she's never mentioned you."

"Probably because it isn't any of your business."

"Can I just talk to MC, please?"

"She's a little tied up right now and can't come to the door so I'll take that and you can leave. Goodbye." Slams door in face.

"What the hell just happened?"

[pages-and-1nk]

PLEASE IF YOURE A JILY OR JEGULUS SHIPPER READ THIS BECAUSE IT HAS TO FUCKING STOP U GUYS.

I’m done with the ridiculous conversation on Jily shippers harassing Jegulus shippers. (And vice versa, this one just covers Jily hate on Jegulus) Please read my breakdown response to the most common argument presented as to why Jegulus is bad.

🙏 PLEASE 🙏 .

—————————

—————————

Oh okay jumping RIGHT into it. *Deep breath*

No. No it’s actually not. As a gay trans man, your take is incorrect and actually so fucking wild it astounds me you think that way. To break it down MISOGYNY is the hatred or prejudice against women. Someone taking two male characters- even if one has a canon gf- and shipping them together does not in anyway promote misogyny nor the erasure of the gf. Infact, implying that in order for Lily to be important or developed she has to date James is actually, ironically, misogynistic.

Now is that to say all jegulus shippers ARENT misogynist or have such views? NO, ofc there are bad apples everywhere- doesn’t mean the whole bag is spoiled. Misogyny is not preferring a gay pairing to a cannon heterosexual pairing. Thats frankly a stupid argument and you’re just attaching words with negative connotations to a ship you don’t like, to then make your ship seem more morally righteous and superior and discredit anyone who argues with you by labeling them as misogynistic. (That does more harm then good btw as it discredits and devalues actual misogyny in fan spaces)

As for fetishization, also not inherently. People enjoying a masc and a twink together is not fetishization inherently. Now, it’s a thin line to walk, and in order to do that you must have critical thinking and be able to understand THESE FAKE GAY MEN are not ALL REAL GAY MEN, but it being the dynamic of a ship you like is… not fetishization. Obsessing and harassing REAL gay men and being invested in their sexuality and sexual experiences is fetishization. Please understand the weight of the words you are using, and how throwing them around in such a context not only makes you look like a buffoon but also is wildly undermining to the weight those words hold.

Smh.

————————

————————

Gonna go cry myself to sleep now brb.

But SERIOUSLY? Implying that Regulus is watered down to “James’ twink” tells me you have never actually engaged with Jegulus shippers before and have made broad assumptions about a ship you’ve never even given a chance.

Crimson rivers, choices, art heist baby, only the brave, teach them how to dream, whatever happened to the young young lovers, I COULD GO ON. All of them have well rounded character designs for Regulus- but because you can’t take your head out of your ass and are too focused on how bad of a ship Jegulus is, you’ll never read them!

(Which valid, you don’t have to like Jegulus Jily shippers, in fact- you can loath it as much as you want, but you can’t talk about characterization when you’ve uh… never actually read the characterization)

And those last few sentences? Oh man. James cheating on Lily is like SUCH A SMALL fraction of fanfic/works, such a small fraction. Unless you imply that James could stake a claim to Lily before Lily even agrees to them dating which uh… *cough cough*…. I smell misogyny again… *cough cough.*

Like bsffr rn. 😐

————————

————————

Oh god I think I threw up in my mouth hold on-

First- yes. Jily is an amazing ship that can be wholesome and lovely, and is such a beautifully tragic form of love I will ALWAYS respect it and the people who ship it. Me personally, I don’t read fanfic with Jily, but I def engage with Jily related content bcs it’s GOOD.

But you see, people like you simply ruin it for those who are Jegulus shippers and want to Drabble in Jily because you are TOXIC.

No one is reducing Lily to a baby maker for Jegulus. In fact, I’ve seen more fics with TRANS REGULUS GETTING PREGNANT than I have with surrogate Lily. And even in the surrogate Lily fics, it’s usually well written and Lily has a personality beyond “baby maker” and is just a friend consensually agreeing to help a queer couple out with having a child.

There’s also fics where they co-parent Harry, and if that’s what you’re talking about AGAIN that’s literally normal. I’m a child of divorce, my parents co parent- that’s just how bloody divorce works it isn’t misogynist.

As for the canonical death eater bit- please tell me which part of the canon text refers to regulus being a blood purist. He joined Voldemort, correct, he also rebelled against Voldemort- correct. All of the reasons for him doing both of those things are ASSUMPTIONS MADE BY INFERENCES FROM A BIASED PERSPECTIVE.

Obviously you can have your own preferences on what regulus was like, as can I, because CANNON INFORMATION is LIMITED. Therefore, you can do what you want.

And even if it wasn’t you could still, do what you want BECAUSE ITS FICTIONAL.

Please, I am begging you, for my sanity and your own, just stop. All of it needs to stop. You get no where by tearing another ship down, it won’t stop and you just leave a bad taste in the mouths of people who want to ship Jily but are Jegulus shippers.

This applies to both sides BY THE WAY, Jegulus shippers have a problem with inserting themselves in Jily spaces, or within other ships, or feeling the need to comment on ships with Regulus or James in them and say things like “Jegulus is better” or “ew that’s so weird” (I saw this in particular with kittywater) We all need to realize that unless we just stick in our lanes and fuck off, we’re going to continue promoting toxicity in this fandom.

I love Jily, I love Jegulus, IM PROOF WE CAN LIVE IN HARMONY JUST KNOCK IT OFF, PULL YOUR PANTS UP, AND GROW TF UP!

Anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk, I’m really upset over this post and I just needed to rant. Please reblog this so it reaches more people.

(Also I have not tagged the creator of this post, because I don’t want harassment to befall them. Signed- the author)

[gege-wondering-around]

can i just say that Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice are the old school version of Stiles and Derek?

Cause i will shout this from my balcony till it breaks beneath me!

Stiles (Elizabeth or if you want, 'lizzy') not giving a flying f about Derek (Darcy) cause this rich dude has no care for others and just runs on raw pride, which lead all his decisions. Which ultimately makes him look like the worst man on earth to Stiles' eyes, which is why he stays away from Derek.

But then, solitary man Derek will start to fall in love with this intelligent and fine creature (stiles) because he couldn't be more difficult to get!

Stiles doesn't care about society, stiles is sharp and of an intellectual awareness that defy every man in search of the tipycal silly type to ask for marriage, and Derek cannot stress himself enough about this sweet, pretty thing dancing around at balls and answering rudeness with politeness mixed with the most sublime undertone of confidence and assertiveness.

cause stiles doesn't care about money or status, stiles cares about marrying someone he truly loves and when he realized derek did love him, he felt sooooo ashamed of how judgemental he had been of this poor man who just wanted his hand! because derek loved him enough to forgive stiles for his harsh words towards him (cause stiles thought of him as a bad individual and spoke of it to him) from the past and was then a more genuine version of himself.

And as Derek and Stiles tangle their lives together because of friends and family, they end up as the most tight knot that will not be undone! especially after derek hear about stiles' high chin and firm words of 'i may not be engaged to him now, but fear i may will' that he spoke to Derek's aunt when she went to stiles to disagree of their possibile engagement

and what did stiles do?

respond to the rudeness of this lady with the sharpest and most confidence tone of 'we will choose for ourselves' which, when derek heard about this, made him go so out of his path to get stiles.

because they didn't know each other, then they did, and they fell in love. and they weren't going to NOT act on it.

(summary: enemies to lovers. which is now my new obsession- yes, i never invested into enemies to lovers, but now i might do some digging)

I'm gonna write a retelling of this so bad.

imagine.

this kind of pretty stiles (with a sharp tongue and pretty look that defy how his mind actually thinks and hides how much 'intellectual power' he has since, for the time the story it's set in, lizzy is an unusual brave woman who would rather marry the poor guy, love of her life over the rich, cold man with money)

pretty because lizzy is viewed as a very pretty women who is recognized as such in society (which dancy then calls 'the most beautiful women I've even seen in my entire life' after someone says she's not even that pretty)

who's personality can go from this ⬇️

yk, funny, outgoing, polite (sort of) and overall a wonderful presence to have conversations with and engage in sharing opinions and dance with during balls (in which her figure is gracefully dancing and all the other stuff i dont remember)

to this ⬇️

a wonderful undertone of 'f you with respect' and 'who do you think you are', who will also be able to undo you in 30 seconds in a verbal battle cause he has the intelligence and intellectual knowledge to do so and WILL do so without much regards for consequences cause he'll do so in a way that will makes it unable for you to bite back cause you'll end up the one being labeled as rude.

pared with

this angry looking fool, who looks more arrogant than anything most of the day, to most people (and even those who knows him talk very little of his doings, because he hides his true emotions and intentions. and despite pride being his fuel, he's still a caring man who is not talk about much if not for his money = they talk about his fortune and not the values he has, despite the sort of 'contorted' way in which everything is based on pride)

(which could also be older, but who know what I'll end up choosing when i write this - because yes, i love older men ⬇️)

who, ultimately, will look at stiles like this⬇️

because 'damn, you are the only person i want by my side for the rest of my life' and he wont be able to move his gaze elsewhere cause despite being an a-hole to stiles for the major part of theirshared time, he was still able to redeem himself by showing his kindness and actually gets stiles.

while stiles is like

because after pulling up the bad facade of 'i dont give a f about you cause i think you are rude', he felt ashamed when he found he was wrong about him but then darcy (derek) forgives him and he can't hold his feelings anymore and just shows everything through his eyes and the soft laughter he lets out when they talk cause he has still to process how much these two are gonna love each other (this, before they are engaged)

so.

I'll buy the book (cause i read a school fitted version of it), annotate things, write down some coherent line of plot and one day, I'll write everything down.

till then, I'll scream about this from my balcony, thanks for have come to this sort of tedtalk.

and this is for you, my sweet @dontcallpanic, i hope you'll like my little gift as I'm still working, rather slowly, on my replies for you 🩵🫂

[thrifted-flannel]

stuilly oneshot

basic summary: the “close friends” watch Carrie and Billy borrows a sweater, with a bonus of some HEAVILY implied autistic Billy Loomis

disclaimer: im not that experienced of a fanfic writer, so expect some mistakes. also the majority of it is just Billy thinking about Stu, in other words useless gay pinning. sorry if that’s not your thing

————

it was sometime early September and it was cold out. A strange thing for California, possibly a crime, Billy Loomis in particular was upset about this. he didn’t own any long sleeved shirts or anything like that, the thought of it tightly wrapped around his arm, suffocating him, was enough to make him want to murder someone. so he didn’t own anything that would make him feel that way. the disgusting sense of being confined and trapped in his own clothes. it was in juxtaposition to his best friend, who wore sweaters all the time. even in the summer months like some sort of depraved maniac.

“Billy! Billy! Billy!!” a voice shook him from his thoughts, Stu Machers voice. against Billy’s better judgement he decided to spend the afternoon with him. just a few hours. 3:30 to 5:30 so he could be back home before his dad was, but then Stu started talking. Well at that point there was no stopping him, then Stu had Carrie on VHS, one of Billy’s favourite movies. so he stayed a bit longer.

he started to think. about whatever really, but that mostly consisted of Stu. he hadn’t realized how long he’d actually just been sitting there, in silence. doing and saying nothing, that is until his idiot of a friend started to laugh, “you haven’t talked in a damn bit. thought you got possessed and died or something like that.” it was a terrible joke and made no sense, but Billy couldn’t help but find it endearing. “like a Stephen King novel.” Billy said, his tone detached, displaying no real emotion. So how was it that Stu knew how he was feeling? “exactly man!” he nudged Billy’s shoulder playfully with a breathy laugh, a sound almost akin to one a hyena would make. He always had a stupid laugh. Billy shifted around slightly, his legs had started to go numb and he felt pins and needles, the sheets and duvet of Stu’s bed moving slightly with him. of course the rich bastard had a TV in his bedroom. he redirected his focus to the film, the iconic pigs blood scene, it was the only part of the movie that Stu ever really liked. he had a thing for anything guts and gore, he wasn’t to big on an actual plot, something that drove their other friend Randy to insanity. It always amused Billy how strongly he would react to Stu’s preference in horror, claiming it made “a mockery of the genre” and “it’s not even real cinema!”. it gave Billy an excuse to talk about the subtle nuances in the film, the behind the scenes facts, casting choices, and anything else he could think of without Randy saying how he already knew that, or Sidney just not wanting to talk about “that sort of thing” at all. confusing how his own girlfriend didn’t always grasp how important this was to Billy, but where she failed Stu fucking excelled. it always made Billy happy how his counterpart would just listen to whatever he wanted to talk about. he’d engage in the conversation in all the right ways, he’d ask the right follow up questions and make the right connections, even though he was a dumbass who would constantly make a fool of himself, his social skills were almost impressive. they were far better than Billy’s, but that ain’t saying much. he was aloof by nature.

Billy looked over his shoulder to Stu’s alarm clock. 7:56. maybe he should get going. Billy leaned over to his friend, who was still engrossed in the movie, “im gonna get going now. it’s late out.” he said, lightly hitting Stu on his shoulder to grab his attention “hm? whaaatt? you can’t stay the night?” Stu groaned, it was funny how much his friend hated when he would leave, in a pathetic kind of sense. “yeah no. i have to get going.” he swung his legs over the edge of Stu’s bed before standing up, almost like he was preparing himself. Stu on the other hand let his head fall onto his pillow as he pouted. “why can’t you just stay here? it’s cold out anyway.” shit. it was cold out, Billy in a moment of just thinking about Stu and his company, forgot to plan ahead and bring something to keep him warm. He ran his hand over his shoulder, it was what? a half hour walk between their houses? Stu frowned slightly, picking himself up a bit and leaning forward on his elbows. “what’s wrong?”

Billy looked back at him with an almost dumbfounded expression, “nothings wrong i just don’t have a jacket to wear.” Stu sprung to life, literally out of nowhere, and ran up towards his dresser where his TV sat. he started to rummage through it, throwing the occasional item over his shoulder until he presented his friend with a blue flannel. “wear this.” he stated bluntly, it wasn’t even a question. not, “here Billy, you can wear this if you want.” but instead it was more of a fact. like something Billy wasn’t able to reject or fight against. “blue isn’t my colour anyway. more your thing i think.” Stu firmly placed the flannel in Billy’s hands, urging him to try it on. “hm. yeah okay you fucking queer” Billy snorted. he always found it funny how much Stu cared about his appearance, like some sort of pansy. But still, he tried on the shirt. it was nice too, warm and a little soft. loose as well, it didn’t make Billy feel like clawing his skin off from any form of restriction. it was really nice. Stu smiled warmly at his friend, which wasn’t uncommon for him to be smiling, this one seemed a bit different though. like he was happy for a reason outside of having a good day. he looked dumb. like an idiot, but fuck he was probably Billy’s favourite idiot.

————

hope you enjoyed that. might not be the best best but it was really fun to make! i love my domestic serial killers

[leikeliscomet]

(Longgg post incoming) So I've grown tired of 'non fiction sex media' if it that's the official name and i mean that some media, usually a video or article on sex in society, usually sex positive or tries to be, that swears its gonna 'change the way we think about sex' and 'broaden the conversation' and 'address the taboo of sex' and in 9 times out of 10 the asexuality section isn't good. And that's assuming asexuality is even mentioned in the first place.

First of all some of these articles and videos don't even get the definition right. I know the ace community's argued what the real definition is since day but 'little to no sexual attraction' is the mainstream definition and it's literally 5 words so I'm confused at how something so basic keeps getting fumbled. It's not celibacy. It's not abstinence. Why do we have to keep saying this mannnnn

I've watched The Leftist Cooks' video, Sex and The Revolution after it was in my recs and I wasn't sure if I should because of reasons I just stated but I had free time and I saw someone say it mentions asexuality so i was like, 'why not?' and watched it in full. The asexuality section mentioned how ace people are erased from conversations about sex but their own video aids that erasure because the ace section barely has the theory of the group they're addressing and it comes across as so underdeveloped. They can pick apart and dissect and enjoy parts of TERF theory (not to say this makes them bad people or whatever bc u can agree with someone's opinion but not their philosophy and critique patriarchy and gender roles without being a TERF) but like, you could engage with fascist text before asexual text...? It brings up allonormativity and amatonormativity which is good but then conflates them. Love and sex get equated so it makes sense to bring up romance in a sex video and aces do experience amatonormativity and aros experience compulsory sexuality, but why are we focusing on aces' experience of relationships when the other sections are about sex? Why isn't the ace section specifically talking about ace people's navigation of sex? 'The label is new' This just isn't true. Define 'new' because if you mean within the past 10 years then no because the little to no sexual attraction definition can go back to 2000s AVEN but even further when you look at the Asexual Manfiesto and that was in the 1970s. If you mean not within 100 years then no again, because there's texts going back to 1800s (first coined by Emma Trosse to be exact) using the term asexual to mean someone who didn't have sex, had no libido, had no children, no partner or no sexual attraction and even though we know now these things aren't inherently ace it's most likely some of the people described with the old definition would be seen as ace today and that those sexless people would've included asexuals. And that's not even getting into the dozens of other terms used to refer to ace people in the past like autosexual, nonsexual, monosexual, group x etc. If you mean not within 100 years then you can easily say the same for the rest of the lgbt community so why draw the line at asexuality?

'Anything I say will be immediately dated' If any basic research was done they would've found decades worth of studies they could've included that are still relevant. The video came out in 2024 they could've added Ace by Angela Chen or Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J Brown! The TERF theory you just read out is outdated hello?? Again if they bothered to read it, yes the ace community has loads of disagreements and yes, the actual rights that aces do and don't need has been long debated, but the fundementals have been pretty much the same; sexual autonomy for aces centering the right to have and not to participate in sex and sexual activities, legal representation alongside other lgbtq+ identities in healthcare, education and the workplace, including asexuality in sex ed and lgbtq+ activism to make people more aware, increased asexual characters in fiction and to end compulsory sexuality. The asexuals section goes on to contradict the anti-born this way arguments right at the start of the video. I'll save my thoughts on 'born this way' for a different post but in the video itself, it's addressed that if sex wasn't used as a measurement of humanity and if patriarchal expectations of sex didn't exist we wouldn't need an asexual or allosexual label but 'that's not the world we live in'. Asexuality or at least, frigidity in humans, has been medicalised for centuries. Asexuals that see themselves as born ace aren't doing it to cling to some medical validation it's because asexuality has never been seen as medically valid in the first place which is why it was in the DSM. Which is why ace activists fought to stop medical stigma and still are. It's why we have 'we are not broken'. Whether you're a born ace or made ace, asexuality just isn't seen as real, which is why we have a label and community (or at least should) for the people that fall outside what society calls the 'right' amount of sexual attraction. If LC can understand this nuance for why some people need asexual as a label then where is this grace for other identities? In a society that stigmatises attraction to the same gender there's value in the term 'gay'. When this overlaps with patriarchy there's value in 'lesbian'. When you look at the stigma of attraction to multiple genders we have 'bisexual' and 'pansexual' When that society has rigid rules of gender and sex we have 'trans' and 'non-binary' and 'intersex' and so on.

It rightfully calls out the harms of treating sex as inherent but then does this for other intimacies. It reaffirms human sexuality is varied and that labels can be limiting but then asserts a bunch of other categories to broadly sum up the human experience... whilst telling us we shouldn't do that? Sarah reads up a passage from a feminist on the importance of touch which I have no issue with because the feminist was talking about herself but she says in the text that wanting to be touched makes us feel human. There are loads of contexts where a human might not want to be touched (sensory issues, trauma, not wanting 'romantic' touch, not wanting 'sexual' touch). Neil says humans are social creatures and again we could make arguments there's contexts of trauma and what is acceptable socialising in the context of introversion and neurodivergence. The video asserts that we should let go of all these labels but there seems to be contexts where the big labels actually do come in handy.

Ending the video saying you wanted to argue that good sex could be a form of praxis when by definition that is the compulsory sexuality and allonormativity you just name dropped 30 minutes before. By definition sex repulsed and averse leftists both ace and non ace can't carry this out regardless of 'goodness'. What is 'good sex'? Because if it's defined under compulsory sexuality and amatonormativity which many other 'sex positive' media does where it 'must' include an inherent romantic and sexual attraction then that leaves sex favourable aces and aroallos out of the running too. Conservatives, puritans and TERFs are having good heterosexual sex they're enjoying very much and still enacting violence on everyone else. Maybe I shouldn't have been expecting some in depth ace analysis when they joked about sexless trans lesbians sleeping in separate beds at the start of the video as the 'perfect' ideal of puritan queerness, as if the issue is the sexlessness and not the control of sexuality including sexless people's and when that image of queerness applies to a lot of asexual and sexless queer people participating in romance and when the perfect ideal of puritan queerness isn't an acceptance of sexless queer people in a house witha white picket fence but wanting queer people violently corrected or fucking dead.

It reminded me of Rowan Ellis' asexual discourse video which I already have a draft post about and essentially it has the same problems as LC's section and the handling of asexuality in sexual social commentary. The misrepresentation of the ace inclusionist movement is used to 'both sides' the argument. Plenty of ace inclus will say trauma, neurodivergent and celibacy can be grounds for being asexual. If the video actually unpacked the real harm within the ace community like the homophobia and racism not just in passing but depth maybe I'd rate it more but no she equates the harm of rape culture, ableism, misogyny and homophobia of ace exclusionists with *checks notes* asexual inclusionists having a less than perfect definition of asexuality? She says 'both sides' have poor argument techniques even tho whilst it can be true for them, ace inclusionists arguments, that asexuals face discrimination and asexuals have been a part of lgbtq+ spaces before 2014 was correct because we have various studies and primary sources proving this (The National LGBT Survey and the works of Lisa Orlando, Emma Trosse and Magnus Hirshfeld) whilst exclus claims of aces 'stealing resources' and 'making up labels to be oppressed' are just that... claims.... 'She keeps mentioning harm of the discourse but what 'harm'? What is the harm and to who? Because if we're talking asexuality in an asexuality video and the impacts on asexual community, you're not convincing me that aces imperfectly defending the community with anecdotal evidence holds the same weight as using rape culture, ableism, homophobia and misogyny to claim humans can never permanently say no to sex and never not have sexual attraction is an issue of 'both sides'. Wild cus this video had various theorists and activists like Yasmin Benoit, Marshall Blount and Canton Winer and *still* reached this conclusion.

I also think of Anthony Padilla's ace videos and their sensationalist thumbnail text like 'THEY HATE SEX' and 'IT'S LIKE KISSING A WALL' to generate clicks. I've watched Anthony's videos and they're actually alright but still, I can't help but think why does he need to use these phrases to engage people if it's really about highlighting the community? Ik he's an OG Youtuber so they usually do things like this but his rebrand was amount moving on from that. I also think about articles that do the same, using titles like 'GEN Z HATES SEX' 'WHY WON'T GEN Z HAVE SEX??' 'NO ONE FUCKS ANYMORE!11' (The Leftist Cooks put a screenshot doing this exact technique when discussing puritanism) just to actually mention that asexuality and aromanticism have got visibility but how meaningful is it address ace and aros whilst using the same compulsory sexuality that has left us so unaddressed in the first place?

Already made a post saying this but yeah we get this compulsory sexuality in what's supposed to be sex positive media when you have no asexual or aromantic politic. When non-ace allies try to speak without engaging in our theory and when aces centre their content in explaining asexuality to non-ace people in a palatable fashion instead of centering our own community and it's most marginalised. This isn't some post slagging of the Leftist Cooks, Rowan Ellis or Anthony Padilla specifically but to use their work as examples. And yeah, I'll admit my criticism is harsh but why shouldn't it be? When people both ace and non ace learn about asexuality, it's their media that people will go to over people that are actually asexual firstly, but asexuals that experience multiple marginalised experiences and the least palatable. I can't help but notice it's aces of colour and/or trans aces picking up the slack. Refusing Compulsory Sexuality isn't a perfect ace book (to be specific Black trans aces have critiques for the use of 'socialised as women' and lack of analysis of transmisogyny & transmisogynoir) at the same time it's managed to summarise the aims of asexual activism (asexual visibility, representation and freedom and abolishing compulsory sexuality), what's harming asexual people (compulsory sexuality, capitalism and allocisheterosexual patriarchy) and steps we can take to do it (asexuality in legal, medical and psychological definitions, asexual stories and fiction, supporting ace victims/survivors, asexual community and coalition with other lgbtq+ labels and more) in it's first 2 chapters, basically 10 minutes to read in what it's taking Breadtube hours and journalists months just say 'labels bad' 'humans sexualitites are different' and 'everyone's valid'...well... yes! What else?

There's SO much sexual analysis written by asexual and aromantic people engaging in ace and aro theory, giving me the depth i want from what mainstream sex positive media is severely lacking. And speaking for my Black acey asexual self, I'd spend my time on non fiction sexual media that will productively include my experiences and correctly engage me instead of alienating me.

I get enough of this from sex *negative* media already.

[vinnsley]

Hi! I saw your recent post about wanting to write! If you're still caught up with Dislyte, could you write something quick for Chu Yao x reader?

(ignore this request if you change your mind or if you don't want to do it, it's totally ok!)

actually, im not caught up at all, i have 0 idea who this fellow is! 😝

So im gonna write headcanons of how i think he would act like based on voice lines and design. tho i might redownload it... sigh

didnt read again nor edit it, were raw dogging with this one

[--------------]

To me, he seems to be rather secretive and someone who tends to keep to himself. So the fact you even close to him to be friends — Let alone lovers was a miracle on it's own.

Especially if you weren't a Shadow Decree member. (Mortal, Esper, or part of the Esper Union, doesn't matter)

Based on him wanting to 'dominate' earth and heaven (Also probably everything beyond it), he would probably want to monitor you any way he could. As a way to make himself feel like he has the 'upper-hand'.

Definitely possessive and becomes easily jealous. Judging from his divinate art, he definitely has some type of trauma (My guess would be religious?)

"When all is chaos... i will rule." Even if this his echo intro, he looks like an uptight clean freak who cannot work or gets unnerved if he has to be in a disorganized environment. You cannot really convince me otherwise. So if you were to actually 'hang out' with him... you would need to be somewhere he affirms is clean to his standards.

He probably (definitely imo) has a twisted sense of 'justice'. To me, it seems like he's simply obsessed with the idea of pleasing Taiyi and would do anything to achieve praise and reassurance that he's good enough. (For what? 0 idea)

So... praise him. He would be surprised. Wide eyes as he looks over at you and if you're lucky, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. But don't overuse it. Of you overuse praise, it loses it's meaning (specifically coming from you.), if you would per se praise him daily for something he would shrug it off like it was just a random comment, not reacting or even focusing on you.

The same goes for those cursed 3 words. I love you. Don't overuse this either, ESPECIALLY this. Because i bet on my life that he wouldn't say 'I love you' even if his life depended on it. (Maximum only when he was in private or something.)

Talking about private, i said before, he's definitely closed off. You wouldn't know much of what he's doing, what's going on his mind, or what he's planning. And you would know even less if you aren't a Shadow Decree member. Though that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't love nor trust you, he's just used to keeping to himself.

In all honesty, i doubt he's much of a talker either. I think he wouldn't speak unless he's spoken to or he deems fit to interfere. So it would probably be you doing most of the talking. But he would engage in the conversation with small quips and responses to let you know he is listening (and interested perhaps), and not ignoring you.

I think his love language would be gift giving. Trinkets he found or bought (maybe even hand-made, i think he definitely has some type of hobby he secretly very much enjoys and does it closed doors whenever he could) to give you. Definitely something usable or something you could utilize in a way.

I also think he likes proximity. It plays into him being very protective about the things he likes, enjoys or treasures. So if you're close to him, or he knows where you are (plays into monitoring...) he's fine and dandy. Just his usual self.

[islandoforder]

My thing re: Porter was only that he wasn't praising Fig for what he disapproved of with Gorgug. Like, Fig was doing things differently than Gorgug was, and it didn't have anything to do with protecting one's friends or anything like that, it was a matter of embracing fury in order to do so. He's still not a great teacher, though I do think Zac meant "I go into a worry" to be a flaw and that he wasn't looking for someone to just say "that's valid".

brace for a reply that's at least twice as long as intended haha

okay i think we do actually agree on more than we don't - i do think that 'i go into a worry' is a sign of gorgug not being raised to be comfortable with negative emotions, and the ramifications of that (love the thistlesprings, no hate to them, but their hardwon earnest positivity is probably a lot harder to recognise and appreciate as a teenager who has literally the weight of the world on his shoulders a bunch).

the point i was trying to make was about this exchange from porter to gorgug: "Most of what I see from you in class is, your rage is a place that you go to to put your body on the line for your friends. It's very selfless, very noble. Do I see you actually capable of wielding the destructive power of rage, when the chips are really down?"

to me, this reads as porter saying that his rage stemming from his protection of his friends, that selflessness, that loyalty, is not a good enough motivation, that his rage HAS to be destructive to be valued in porter's eyes, even though he has literally established in this conversation that gorgug is v good at the basic tenets of being a barbarian. he's not saying that gorgug isn't using his rage at all, he's explicitly saying that it's not the right flavour of rage for him. this exchange bugs me so much just because his little speech to fig about her paladin powers being inspired by her friends is very explicitly praising the exact same type of selfless nobility and loyalty. it feels even more hypocritical as this is the same convo with gorgug where he says he feels "heartbroken" and the same convo with fig where he says lucilla was too emotionally involved in fig's decisions in an inappropriate way.

i think it's also a bit tricky bc since emily has decided to engage with/agree with porter (and possibly with bts convos with zac there's no way to tell) brennan has (rightfully!) pivoted. it's a good move as a dm of a campaign to react to your players and how they interact with your npcs, but it does lead to a sort of retconning over the points porter was initially making. like on a mechanics of roleplaying level i get it, but if we just look at the character, it makes him inconsistent and hypocritical more than anything.

it's also hard to know where exactly i'm bringing my own feelings about teaching into it, but in this specific scenario, where gorgug is struggling to articulate his rage and negative emotions, i think not only is porter's behaviour to gorgug not helpful but is actively unhelpful, let alone how he acts with and what he says to fig, knowing they're close friends and gorgug will inevitably hear these double standards. i know it worked in the show, but i think that's bc the players chose to have it work, rather than it being a good or healthy method for a teacher to take. i've honestly got other issues with him too, but not on the point you were making so i'm not gonna keep ranting haha

[corvuscorona]

"You Never Forget Your First Love."

The other day, a mutual (hi! you know who you are I think probably hello hi! thank you for the Posting Impetus!) said something that made me curious (for, like, the 80th time, actually; lol. I Have Thoughts) about something: what's the split on people who subscribe to the "Stranger of Paradise probably intended for us to believe that Jack & Sarah were in love" mindset, vs. not? In general, but ESPECIALLY around these parts.

I genuinely didn't read it that way myself (& I do NOT normally give media (general) this much credit, but the writing in this game is sublime; I had no choice but to fully engage Scholar Mode on it), + I think it's interesting that SPECIFICALLY any of my fellow tumblr people / AO3-heads / Gay People Online / etc. seem to have. (I expect nothing from people who haven't been basting themselves in the same online sub-subcultures as me for over a decade. They're allowed to write wrong things on wikis, and have done so already; it's whatever.)

I wanna metapost badly again, so let's go. Join me. No poll. If you have an opinion on this, I'm looking directly into your eyes and beckoning you towards your own keyboard + also the reblog button / comment section, like a weird ghost. What did you think when you first played the game?? What do you think right now? What are you about to think after you have read a bunch of my words. Tell Me. I Need To Know This.

Spoilers for, idk, everything? Today we will use everything we've got to talk about Princess Sarah.

1. As a Narrative Element

This game makes a point of referring to Sarah as things like "a symbol of hope and peace" as often as possible, & when it isn't doing that she's usually in the role of An Object Or Device Of Some Kind, anyway. She's important because she's capable of holding light and dark in balance & SOMEONE'S gotta hold onto this dark crystal for safekeeping, and also we're gonna need to upset that balance on purpose later. There's that conversation in the Wicked Arbor about whether the Strangers would "choose" her (as opposed to "treasure") as the "reward" for succeeding in their mission[1], & there's the one in the Sunken Shrine where Jed asks Jack what he thinks of her and Jack says that he doesn't care about her as a person[2] BUT that protecting her is mission-critical (lol), too.

Sarah's death is metaphorically charged. It's the point of no return: the dark crystal breaks, the balance of light & dark gets extremely ruined, & Literally All The Darkness In Cornelia converges in one place (Fool's Missive XXVII). That's the payoff for the "symbol of hope and peace" motif, and communicating this idea that "the metaphorical light of hope just For Real Died, Like Catastrophically Imploded, No Take-Backs" feels to me like it was the highest priority here. Second-highest goes to "Jack had way more humanity before, but he set it aside on purpose and is actively in the middle of losing the rest of it." "Sort of." "I'm not getting into what counts as humanity or doesn't because if I did we would be here forever."

Basically, I'm saying that the tidiest read on the situation is "Jack despairs because Sarah dying means in a very literary and final way that everything is ruined forever, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with, like, Love (romantic)." I don't think the text of the game is particularly signaling that Love (romantic) is involved, and I think that if it meant to, it would be more obvious about it. You could bundle "an romance" into the "humanity" thing if you wanted to, but I'm not inclined to, based on some additional list items that you can read below this one.

[1] The fact that Neon ALSO says she feels bad for her for being thought of in this way only reinforces my conviction that the game is pointing at Sarah & yelling "REMEMBER THAT SHE IS MOSTLY A SYMBOL!", tbh. Who wants to go point out how freaky the mechanics of Being An Royalty are w/ me and the boys??

[2] I will give the Wiki WrongPosters this: I can totally see this as some kind of irony thing, given that he's still missing like a fucktillion of his memories when he says it. However! As mentioned above, I have other reasons not to read it as evidence that he was ever, like, romantically interested in her.

2. As a Sheltered Youth™

We don't have a TON of information to work with RE: Sarah as, like, a person, but here are a couple of hard facts to start with: she's 19 (per the data book, but she'd have to be somewhere in the 18-to-early-20's age range regardless or her whole deal wouldn't really make much sense, imo. She's a baby...!), and she's royalty. I think this ties into her utility as a walking metaphor, among other things; she's archetypically young, fresh, & idealistic. I'd call her naïve but the game obviously isn't interested in portraying it as a weakness, so positive words only; why not.

You could argue that people look to her as a symbol of hope because she hasn't directly experienced enough strife to exhibit hopelessness or fear in response to bad news in the abstract. I find it interesting that before Jack, like, knocks the wind out of her & tells Sophia to take her outside so she can see for herself how bad things have gotten at the end of the game, she says that her duty is to die with her people if she has to, & it doesn't even seem to occur to her that she could lead at least some of them away to safety...? When she changes her mind, she still talks about herself as a symbol before she ever uses the word "leader". She sees HERSELF in terms of symbols and metaphors, and takes action based on her designated role As One Of Those. Not very practical.

There's also the dialogue you can have with the queen the first time you're allowed to run around in the throne room at the beginning of the game, where she asks Jack to smile in front of her daughters (NOT just Mia; daughters, plural). Even if she only means "dude can you be polite please," the fact that this is The thing she has to say to Jack is telling. Is it going to upset your 19-year-old daughter to see that the Guy Whose Job It Is To Kill Monsters looks serious? Why do you think this? Does your 19-year-old daughter understand how serious the situation is, generally speaking? Do you not WANT her to for some reason? Boats don't work anymore unless a weird elf messes with them first. Not thinking very hard about the implications of this is something a sheltered person does.

Residual time loop un-memories aside, a young woman in this situation is so obviously going to have a huge crush on Jack Garland no matter what. He Is So Cool, first of all, & he's also Different from the adult men she gets to see on an everyday basis (family, guards, rando townspeople[3]...). It's not like the political social scene could POSSIBLY be thriving in this world, either; it all seems to be one kingdom we're dealing with and they're kind of busy with the external threat of being Under Fucking Attack By Monsters. Does she even get fun treats like "handsome visiting dignitaries" & what-have-you? The game doesn't present us with any potential options, here. Jack is mysterious, he has special-boy Warrior of Light status, his one job & apparent life's purpose is protecting the kingdom she loves, he's pretty nice to her (even in later cycles he at least goes out of his way to be polite!), & additionally, he's shredded. THIS makes sense to me.

There's a Q&A in the data book that has something to say about JACK as a symbol & what that has to do with this whole thing but we'll get there. We'll get there.

[3] Tangent: what's up with how Cornelia's entire adult male population appears to consist of aging queens. Why did they only make models that look Like That for the NPCs? It's awesome but I have 1 quastion

3. JACK JUMPSCARE !

I'm not about to say that he's just humoring her, or anything, but please humor ME for one second & put yourself in Jack's shoes. Not the default shoes; we can have more fun than that. Maybe the Banded Boots. Blurple ones? Shaped like a cartoon would wear them? Big spikes on the back for no reason? I love those things. Anyway, you're Jack. You're working for literally the king, & the work means Everything to you for reasons you can't even necessarily explain except to say that it JUST does. The king's eldest daughter (very young adult; Never Been Outdoors; a little overly-sociable but nice enough & what do you expect from a princess, anyway) has imprinted on you like a duckling for whatever reason. You would be nice to this person, yes? You'd be patient with her while you're in town. You have Brutal Murders to be doing, but not until, like, 2 days from now, or whatever; you're sharing space with her in some capacity in the meantime & it's in your best interests to keep her happy. (You probably even enjoy doing this, if you're Jack of a Way Earlier Cycle; I'm in no way ruling that out. Sharing your music collection with an enthusiastic Baby Adult? That's fun. I think he was probably having fun. Okay, you can step out of the fun purple shoes if you want; the Humoring Me Minute has concluded; thanks.)

Also, @2000sanimeop and I think that if Jack felt that way about her Astos would have been a little More Something about how much it was gonna suck for him when she died. In Fool's Missive XXVII he uses the word "painful," but that's about it. He doesn't even bring it up in XXV, which is the one where he says he's curious about whether she'd survive being turned into a fiend (side note: Astos fucking rocks. Why did he write that down?? I love him). & Hey SPEAKING OF ASTOS,

4. I wouldn't put Jackstos on a wiki, either.

The writing in Stranger of Paradise, SERIOUSLY, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION, is some of the best I've seen in literally anything ever. It suits not just its medium but also its sort of Place in History Relative to Other Video Games & the things it chose to DO with that medium & that niche INSANELY well. It is CUSTOMIZED. It's SO INTENTIONAL. I can't get too far into this or we'll be here all day, but the essence of what I want to say here is: there are relatively few facts presented to us by this game, compared to the implications we can go about drawing from those facts & other, external sources of context.

Sarah calls Jack her first love; that's a fact. No facts are presented to us that REALLY say much one way or the other[4] about what Jack thinks of this, himself; "fucktillion memories missing" Jack says he doesn't care, but he's missing a fucktillion of his memories, and DLC2 Jack has a set of dialogue options (hi Anne the Malboro I love you Anne the Malboro) that can point either way depending on what the player chooses, which is kind of nothing, on balance. As the audience, we can (should!) draw whatever conclusion we want about it, but none of those conclusions are text.

[4] I WILL GET TO THE DATA BOOK IN ONE SECOND. HOLD ON.

And, okay, please let me level with you. Let's be on the same page. Jack & Astos had some kind of thing going on, imo, OBVIOUSLY, but I want to be CLEAR and I want to get CREDIT for the things I'M bringing to the table to help generate this conviction. I drew that conclusion & I read that reading based on subtext, context, personal history, personal preference, & sheer gay zest for life. It is also, emphatically, NOT TEXT.

Astos refers to Jack with the ol' "...friend" in Fool's Missive XXI. He calls him "my Jack" in Fool's Missive XXXI. Canonically, textually, he has some big fucking COMPLICATED fucking feelings about this man. These are facts. If you're playing this game as Some Guy, I can see how you could potentially absorb these facts & still pay them much less regard[5] than I did & continue to. My argument here is that god I wish I lived in a world where Some Guy could extend the same courtesy to me and not treat Sarah's textual affection for Jack as something that necessarily indicates Some Kind Of Reciprocal Romantic Whatever, Definitely, Obviously, Of Course.

[5] Longer Tangent: I have been informed that the Some Guys of the world are currently pretty good at Recognizing a character that behaves in a way that's Pretty Gay, but tend to stop there, possibly for the combined reasons that A. they're not very familiar with a lot of the the ways gay relationships often work (you know, soul resonance. mutual recognition. sharing a brain etc.) and B. the Object Of Affection is usually the player character and they subconsciously shy away from thinking of a Guy They're Supposed To Identify With as gay. This is practically a lead-in to an entire separate post I could make, so I'll leave it at that, lol.

The writing is too good for that kind of assumption! I'M SERIOUS!! It's mind-blowingly subtle & endlessly fascinating to hold up to the light & view from every possible angle, and "Jack & Sarah were in love" + "Jack & Astos were in love" are BOTH ANGLES. I'm personally very very interested in giving the text credit for that. I think it's impressive. I think it's really, really cool, and I think it was on purpose. Speaking of which,

5. Word of God agrees with me, btw

This is from the Q&A section on page 156 of the Confidential File. The translations below are my own (I think they're straightforward enough, but lmk if you know more than me & I'm actually being stupid in there somewhere. Alt text has the JPN, if you want to copypaste it or something). Someone asked:

Why is it that you established Garland as someone Sarah has a romantic interest in?

The answer is from Daisuke Inoue (director, one of 3; the other 2 are from Team Ninja; he's from Square Enix):

That was because, from a narrative standpoint, we wanted Sarah to be the kind of person who holds onto hope. You can imagine that she saw the "hope" to save the world in Jack, a potential Warrior of Light. Sarah is seen by her people as a symbol of a bright future, but if there were nobody to give her hope, that might destabilize her emotionally. As for whether she felt genuine love for Jack, or just mistook her feelings of admiration towards him for "first love," we'll leave that to your interpretation.

The first time I read this, I thought the question was implying the aforementioned Reciprocal Something, but on closer inspection that doesn't even seem to be true! "思い人" seems to indicate a directional relationship; as in, the question assumes that Jack is an object of affection to Sarah, but assumes nothing about what Jack thinks.

Also, the answer uses the word "初恋" (hatsukoi), which is a very established Concept as far as "first love" goes, but in that one cutscene, Sarah says "初めての恋" (hajimete no koi), which is. Different, but I couldn't tell you how, lol. It's Not The Exact Same Phrase, but I'm not sure whether it's meaningfully different in this context. If I had to guess, I'd say that IF ANYTHING it could be a way of saying "first love" without invoking the cultural CONSTRUCT of First Love (as much)? But it's whatever. The localization holds up. All sources show that Sarah had Feelings about Jack, and all sources CONSPICUOUSLY neglect to mention Jack's feelings about her.

It was on purpose. This is my license to be as annoying as I want for one second here. I am right. All the other writing in this game is notably subtle, efficient, intentional, and skilled, AND ALSO, WHEN do you ever see anyone write such a richly beautiful, mostly-subtextual relationship between two men, which can easily be read as a romantic thing, and NOT explicitly canonize a very possible romantic relationship between at least one of those men and a woman, like not even in an interview or anything. What the fuck, man.

I'm putting away the Respectable Scholar Hat now. This is so funny. The person asking this question didn't EVEN go as far as assuming Jack & Sarah had any kind of Actual Romance going on, & the answer STILL dials it back to "she might have been conflating her feelings about Jack AS A SYMBOL with actual affection, also. We'll let you decide : ) ". This game is everything ever.