#doesn't mean you're not marginalized somehow

[incognit0slut]

Hypothetically

Chronically single, you suggest a pact with your best friend to start a family together when you turn forty.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x bau fem reader

Category: fluff/comfort

Warnings: marriage and baby talk, reader is insecure because she feels left out

A/n: This is my entry for the kid fic challenge by @imagining-in-the-margins! This was like a breath of fresh air from all the smut I’ve been writing

"Do you want to have a baby with me?"

The scalding coffee burned his tongue as your question lingered in the air. Spencer cleared his throat awkwardly and patted his chest, his eyes drifting towards you. "Uh... what?"

"Hypothetically," you replied, the tap of your pen echoing against the round table between you. "It's like a pact. If we're both still single in the future, we get married to one another and, well, start a family together."

Spencer felt the clamminess of his palms as he set his mug down, trying to steady himself. He considered you as one of the closest people in his life, if not his best friend, and he was accustomed to your random questions, but this sudden topic of conversation seemed to strike a nerve.

"Where..." he began, wiping his palm along his pants. "...where is this coming from?"

You shrugged casually, the tapping of your pen momentarily ceasing. "Just a thought. I mean, we're both at that age where these things start to cross our minds, right?"

Spencer swallowed, trying to push down the unease rising in his chest. "Yeah, I guess so," he muttered, but as he studied you, he noticed the tension in your shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Your gaze flickered away for a moment before you sighed, slumping against your chair.

"I have a wedding coming up this weekend." Spencer frowned, not understanding what you were trying to say. You continued, "And another one next week, and guess what? Two of my cousins are getting married next month."

"What does that have to do with...?" His voice trailed off as realization dawned on him. "Ah, I see."

But you weren't finished. Somehow, the thoughts that had lingered in your mind for the past few days spilled out right then and there, in the middle of broad daylight when you were supposed to be focusing on the case you were working on.

"And a close friend I went to high school with just gave birth while another friend from college announced she's two months pregnant. And look at me," you exclaimed, your arms flying around. "No wedding. No pregnancy. Spencer, I don't even have a boyfriend, heck, I forgot what it's like to go out on a date!"

He watched as your brow furrowed into a frown, and although your demeanor was all over the place, he couldn't help but notice how you still managed to look pretty.

"Spence?" You asked, nudging his leg with your foot under the table. "Are you listening to me?"

He blinked, momentarily pulled from his thoughts by your voice. "Sorry," he replied. "I'm listening."

You gave him a skeptical look, but the tension in your shoulders seemed to ease slightly as you leaned back in your chair.

"I just... I don't know, I feel like I'm left behind." You sighed, running a hand through your hair. "I mean, I'm happy for my friends and all, but sometimes it feels like everyone's moving forward but me. Like I'm stuck in this... this rut."

Spencer wasn't sure how to respond. On one hand, he knew how it felt to want something that seemed out of reach, but on the other hand, he felt like it wasn't his place to offer advice when he wasn't even sure what the future held for him.

"I get it," he finally said, trying to gather his thoughts. The least he could do was try to offer some comfort. "But just because you haven't reached those milestones yet doesn't mean you won't get there eventually."

"But what if it doesn't happen? What if I'm still all alone and nobody loves me when I'm gray and old?"

He frowned at you. "I'd still love you when you're gray and old."

"Platonically. You love me as much as you love JJ. Or Emily. Or Penny, or even Morgan." You leaned over the table. "I want to be loved passionately by someone who is head over heels for me, who can't imagine a life without me. I want to feel that kind of happiness."

His frown deepened. "I don't think you should find happiness in another person."

"You're missing the point," you groaned, crossing your arms. "I'm not saying I want to depend on someone else for my happiness. But is it too much to ask for someone to share it with? To feel like I'm someone's everything and not just another friend in the group?"

His expression softened as he listened, a sense of familiarity washing over him. He remembered feeling the same thing once, or maybe more than once; he wasn't sure. He had lost count of the times he felt his life was falling short.

But he realized the more he thought about the why—why was he so different? why couldn't he find love?—the more he felt worthless, and he hated that. So what was the best thing he did to ignore those thoughts?

Bury himself in work, because to him, pushing those feelings aside was easier than confronting them. But now, as he looked at you, it felt like he was seeing his own reflection and your words hit him harder than he expected.

"No," he quietly agreed. "It's not too much to ask for."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... I'm tired of waiting for life to happen to me." Your gaze slowly met his. "So I came up with a plan."

His throat felt dry as he recalled how this conversation started in the first place. "The... baby plan?"

You nodded enthusiastically, sliding into the seat next to him.

"Think about it. If we're both still single when we're..." You paused, furrowing your brow as you did a quick calculation. "Forty? Yeah, let's say we're both still single when we're forty, with no partners, or like, no friends with benefits?"

You shook your head.

“Just... with no one in our lives—we get married. You and me."

He blinked, trying to process your proposal. It was unexpected, to say the least, but there was a strange logic to it that he couldn't quite shake. The idea of marrying his best friend as a backup plan was both absurd and oddly comforting.

"But what about... love?" he asked cautiously. "Wasn't that what you wanted?"

You paused, considering his question before responding. "I mean, I don't think it's impossible," you said, leaning back in your seat. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying, 'Marry your best friend'?"

His gaze lingered on you, his heart beating hard against his chest. "You're saying that we can fall in love?"

Your eyes met his, and a small smile tugged at the corners of your lips. "Who knows?" you replied softly. "Stranger things have happened."

Spencer shouldn't entertain the possibility. After all, who knew what could happen in the future? It seemed like an absurd thought, but as he stared at you, it was hard not to imagine a life with you as his wife.

He imagined you in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards him with a radiant smile on your face. He pictured you both in the house you had just bought, dancing joyfully around the empty rooms as you unpacked boxes together.

Then thoughts of you being pregnant with his child—or maybe even children—filled his mind, and he envisioned a future where your kids would run around in the backyard with a pet dog trailing behind.

And then he considered the prospect of growing old with you, watching as your children eventually started families of their own while you found comfort in each other's company. All of these possibilities didn't seem so bad, because if anyone could understand him on a deep level, it was definitely you.

Maybe this crazy plan of yours wasn't so crazy after all.

"I... I guess it's not impossible," he finally admitted. Then, not wanting to seem too eager, he added, "Hypothetically speaking."

"Of course," you replied with a smile. "Hypothetically speaking."

Suddenly feeling flustered by your gaze, Spencer looked away and focused on his coffee, bringing the mug to his lips. Then you heard laughter and footsteps drawing closer, and soon Derek and Emily entered the room. Their eyes immediately landed on the two of you, sitting closely together at the table.

"What are you children whispering about?" Derek's voice interrupted, his eyebrows raised curiously as he glanced between you.

You didn't miss a beat. “Spencer and I are having a baby together."

Spencer choked on his coffee, his eyes widening in shock as he coughed and sputtered. You quickly moved to pat his back.

"Well, we're gonna get married first, right, Spence?" you added with a grin, glancing at him expectantly.

Spencer finally managed to regain his composure, clearing his throat awkwardly as he shot you a sideways glance. "Um, yeah, of course," he stammered, his cheeks still tinged with embarrassment. "Hypothetically."

Derek and Emily exchanged bemused glances, a silent conversation passing between them. Emily's curiosity seemed to win out as she lifted a hand, turning her attention back to you. "Care to explain?"

"We were discussing our backup plan."

"Backup plan?" Derek echoed. 

"Yeah," you replied with a nod. "In case neither of us finds the right person by the time we're, oh, I don't know, forty or so, we figured we'd marry each other and start a family."

Derek placed a hand over his chest, feigning hurt. "And you chose Pretty Boy over me?"

"I'm not going to compete with all your lady friends," you shot back, rising from your seat. "Come on, Spence, let's grab some lunch and brainstorm baby names."

He stood up, giving you a pointed look.

"Or do you want to discuss how we'd make those babies in the future?"

"Well, I was thinking of Amelia if it's a girl..."

You grinned, linking your arm through his before guiding him towards the door. Derek and Emily observed the natural closeness between you two, how you were practically clinging to him and how he seemed to be comfortable with it.

Derek turned to Emily as you disappeared down the hallway. "Do you think they'd actually get married when they hit forty?"

Emily shook her head. "Nope," she replied confidently. "I give it a year until he's already down on one knee."

He laughed, nodding in agreement. With the way Spencer's gaze lingered on you with unmistakable affection, it seemed like it was only a matter of time.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Ideas: Evil Plan

This trope is the reason "villains act, heroes react"; the villain needs to be doing something evil or the hero has no evil to thwart.

Some popular examples of Evil Plans:

Take Over the World: This is the most popular villainous scheme of all. The scale of conquest can vary depending on the setting and (or) the villain—some warlords are content to settle with conquering a city, a kingdom or nation, while Science Fiction or Fantasy overlords will go for nothing less than galactic, universal or even multidimensional domination.

The Evils of Free Will: A popular means to this end: by robbing everyone of their free will, they will have no choice but to serve their rightful ruler.

Assimilation Plot: Let's turn everyone into a single entity, whether they wish it or not.

Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Why take over the world when you can blow it up? Like Take Over the World, the scale of destruction also varies depending on the setting — some villains are content with merely destroying a city or kingdom (particularly if they feel the city or kingdom has somehow wronged them — i.e., revenge), while Omnicidal Maniacs may well wish nothing less than to destroy the entire universe or multiverse.

Kill All Humans. Related tropes: Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: A character wants to get rid of a particular person or group of people just for existing. Absolute Xenophobe: Wants to destroy all other sentient life (human or otherwise). Omnicidal Maniac: Wants to destroy absolutely all life, sentient or not. Final Solution: The intentional extermination of a species/demographic is the answer to fix a perceived issue. Humanity's Wake: The outcome of this trope should the opposing species succeed in eradicating us.

In Their Own Image: Not happy with the world the way it is? Try tearing it down, and building it back up as something even greater.

The End of the World as We Know It: Not so much destroying the world or humanity as really screwing up civilization; though the former two may be involved in the bargain.

A God Am I: Forcing everyone to acknowledge their godhood (actual godlike powers optional).

Godhood Seeker: Make your character an actual deity.

Immortality Seeker: Pursue the quest for eternal life, no matter what foul deeds are needed to make it happen.

A Plot in Deed: Steal the deed to a plot of land and you'll own it, so why not steal the deed to somewhere good?

MacGuffin: Steal an ancient artifact with untold powers. This is usually done in the pursuit of one of the other Evil Plans.

Sealed Evil in a Can: Release the source of all Evil from its prison. This rarely goes well for the villain attempting it.

Revenge: You know that guy that wronged you in the past? It doesn't matter how petty or misplaced your grievance is, it's payback time. Time to kill him, or make his life a living hell.

Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: If you're already rich, get richer. Any scheme is fair game in the pursuit of the profit margin, be it theft, blackmail, or auctioning the world off to hungry demons. Unfortunately, this lust for wealth falls prey to poor planning.

Utopia Justifies the Means: You know how people keep hurting themselves and each other? Make them stop, by whatever means are necessary. No ill will required! Just like in Take Over the World, The Evils of Free Will often gets put into play here.

Dystopia Justifies the Means: People hurting each other? That's exactly what your society needs. Use all the means at your disposal to create a nightmarish dystopia where the forces of evil run rampant and people live in constant terror and corruption, just the way the villains like it.

Poke the Poodle: Their idea of evil is harmless behavior like cheating at Solitaire, jaywalking on an empty road, chewing gum in Singapore, pulling the "do not remove" tag off of your mattress, hiding your toothpaste, drinking the milk directly from the carton...

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[shizucheese]

So about that Dropout Tweet...

There's a common trend in influencer/ content creator apologies, where the person doing the apology will say they are sorry for the harm that they did, claim they are taking ownership of it and using the whole situation to become a better person, etc. etc. Usually in a way that makes it sound suspiciously like it was written by ChatGPT.

And then they'll go on to say something along the lines of "But we've been getting a lot of death threats guys, and that's bad!" As if the fact that they're getting death threats somehow absolves them of at least some of the guilt of whatever it is that made the apology necessary in the first place. As if it means they're the real victims here.

Apparently Dropout decided to just skip the "ChatGPT apology" part and jump straight to the "We're getting physcal and legal threats" part. Followed up with them once again saying they support Palestiniens and ending it with "We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of bigotry, and welcome all to our platform who treat others with respect, empathy, and human dignity."

And they did it on Twitter, and only Twitter. You know, the website that's notoriously overrun by Nazis. Nothing on Tumblr or Instagram, where the original statement that sparked all of this (which has since been taken down) were posted.

@dropoutdottv, @samreich, this is not listening to the Jewish members of your community who are speaking out about antisemitism. This is reinforcing the antisemitism that those Jewish members of the community are speaking out about. Because what this Tweet does is paint everyone who spoke out against the antisemitism in your original post with the same brush as the people who were sending you threats.

Which, let me be clear, they should not have been doing and I wholeheartedly condemn.

But the actions of the people sending you threats of violence and threats of legal action do not invalidate the things being said by the people who haven't threatened you with anything worse than a boycott. I have literally seen people say "the fact that they got threats just proves they were right." Is that the outcome you were trying to achieve with this?

People who did bad things get death threats all the time; refer back to the beginning of this post. Does that make their critics wrong then, too? Or is it only now, when the accusation being made is that a nerdy comedy network beloved by people on the left did an antisemitism?

I honestly can't tell if you have no publicist helping you out with one, a bad publicist that needs to give you your money back, or an evil genius publicist that knew that if you made a post like this one, it would distract from the fact that you're being accused of antisemitism, maybe even act as a dog whistle to to paint anyone who accuses you of being antisemitic of being "Zionists" (meant in the derogatory way, where people claim they're only talking about people who uncritically support the Israeli government and their actions in Gaza, but then in practice will use it against anyone who believes Israel has the right to exist, including those who want a two state solution, whose hearts break for the people in Palestine, and call Netanyahu a fascist and probably want him gone more than even the people calling them "zionists" do). Maybe even make up for all of the subscriptions you're losing over this and even gain a few by catering to the antisemitic leftist crowd.

Is that really the kind of culture you want to cultivate? If not, then do better. Acknowledge the Jewish voices that are speaking out. Listen to them. And do it in a way that doesn't bring up any other marginalized group. Because like...fuck, man, I reject Islamophobia, and all forms of bigotry too. And I'm sorry you guys are receiving threats; that truly does suck and I hope everyone that works for you guys are staying safe.

But you're specifically being accused of antisemitism. Can you really not reject it all on its own without including other forms of bigotry in the same statement?

And do it on a platform that *isn't* run by an infamous antisemitic, and overrun by more antisemitics? (You can turn off comments and reblogs on Tumblr and comments on instagram, in the same way you disabled replies on your Tweet, you know.)

Here, I'll even write the statement for you: "Earlier this week, we made a statement regarding accusations that Dropout was platforming zionists. At the time, we made a statement focusing on our support of the Palestinian people. We stand by this statement. However, we have received feedback from several members of our community that some of the things that we said were inappropriate insensitive to the Jewish people. "Zionist" and "Zionism" mean different things to different people, ranging from "people who support the Israeli government's actions in Gaza" to "people who believe that Israel has a right to exist and the Jewish people have the right to self-determination." We had meant it in the context of the former definition, but we understand that many Jewish people identify with the later, including many people who are disgusted by the Israeli government's actions in Gaza, and we should have been more sensitive to this fact. Additionally, we would like to reiterate that, to our knowledge, nobody who has appeared on Dropout has openly stated support for the Israelie's actions in Gaza, and several of those accused have voiced their support for a free Palestine. We would like to take this moment to remind everyone that just because a person is Jewish, and may have ties to Israel, does not inherently mean they condone the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, and to suggest otherwise is antisemitic. We at Dropout reject all forms of antisemitism and are committed to providing a safe space to everyone regardless of religion or ethnic background. We apologize if we made the Jewish members of our community feel like that was not the case."

See how easy that was? I feel something like this is the bear minimum, and if you had said the things in the last three paragraphs from the start, you could have avoided having to say everything in the first two paragraphs and the apology at the end.

That's...pretty much everything I have to say on the matter. To anyone reading this: Do not use other Jewish people to silence Jewish voices.

Do not use people of other marginalized groups to silence Jewish voices.

Just...maybe just listen to what we have to say without twisting our words and putting words in our mouths? Maybe?

Thanks for reading.

I'm so tired.

[yuurayuura]

kiss me again (part 1)

🎬 kim sunwoo is not a professional actor, yet somehow he's making it very hard not to fall for his performance.

PAIRING 🎬 sunwoo x fem!reader TAGS 🎬 actors au, fluff, suggestive (smut in the next part) WORD COUNT 🎬 4.8k WARNINGS 🎬 nope! AUTHOR’S NOTE 🎬 i'm obviously not an actor so i don't know how any of this really works :p

"Time doesn't stop... Doesn't stand still... Ah, fuck. Line?"

Sunwoo breaks into a disbelieving grin for the third time that evening, shaking his head and feeling like a complete amateur. Y/n smiles in that subtle way she does when he fucks up his lines, flipping through the script and making the room echo with page noise. That smile has become too familiar to him now. She smiles like you would when a child says something unintentionally funny, but you don't want to make them feel stupid by openly laughing. It's that vibe. He needs to get it together.

It's so quiet and warm, almost humid, in the little meeting room they have table readings in nowadays, and he can feel the heat from his palms resting on his thighs. The little oscillating fan in the corner doesn't help in the slightest.

"It's okay," the director comments, scribbling something in the margins of the script that Y/n hands her. "We might change it. But as it is, the line is 'time never stops for anyone. It certainly hasn't for me, even if I wished it would. Many times.'"

"Right, sorry," Sunwoo says, pulling his collar in an attempt to let some cooler air in.

"Why don't we take a break?" The lead actress suggests, stretching her arms out. "We've been at it for hours."

Sunwoo keeps forgetting her name, but that's because they don't have any scenes together. In fact, most of the scenes he has are with Y/n, his on-screen love interest, and both of your roles are quite small. He suspects that much of it will be cut in the end, it's just a short film after all. He's only doing it because it's fun.

Y/n meets him by the water cooler, and hands him a copy of the script that sits warm in his hands, feeling like it's fresh off the printer.

"Thought you could use it," she says, with a twinkle in her eye like she's teasing him, but being nice about it. Maybe too nice? He's sure he deserves a lot more after his dismal display lately. It seems that's just the way she is, carefully teasing, maybe because they haven't known each other for that long. She's probably holding back, sticking to polite banter.

"I could, yeah," he mumbles through a smile, sipping his little paper cup of water. "I spilled coffee on mine earlier, that's why I didn't have one. Ugh. I feel like I'm just annoying everyone in there. I don't know what's up with my brain today."

Y/n shakes her head. "Nah, everyone has those days, I think. It's just your turn."

That makes him look up at her, and she meets his eyes with another gentle smile.

"I'm glad you're the one I'm paired with," she says, too casually, for that kind of statement. "I think it'll come out great."

"Ditto," Sunwoo says, more airy than he means to. "I mean. Yeah. I agree."

He wants to say that he's glad too, and we have good chemistry, don't you think?

He doesn't say that, though, that might be pushing it. They only met a couple of days ago. Although, from what he's read ahead in the script, they're going to need as much chemistry as possible to do the upcoming scenes. Their story is a tragic romance after all, with a lot of tension, eye contact, and desperate kissing.

He can't think about that now. It's not like either of them are professional actors, and that should lighten the pressure, but it doesn't, not really.

There's something about her that makes him want to be great, fantastic, so maybe she'll see him in a good light afterwards.

"Oh, duty calls," she smirks, and his heart does a little maneuver that he doesn't anticipate when she touches his arm to make him follow.

Y/n's POV:

Sunwoo is a good actor. Too good to do crap like this, you think, thoughts drifting in the parts of the table read that don't involve your character. He has this aura surrounding him that makes him so believable, even when he goes off script—or maybe especially then. 

When the casting director introduced them, you thought there had been some sort of mix up, because what in the world were you doing next to someone like that. Someone who commanded the room like he did, not to mention how good-looking he was. You saw his audition, and expected him to be the lead, or at least a major role. Not doing some tiny side story with you.

Your obvious bewilderment had made him chuckle, seemingly not understanding the confusion. Just like that, something you just did for extra credit in college became the highlight of your summer.

"Y/n," the writer hums, clicking her pen. "That's your cue."

"Shit, sorry," you mumble, and you don't miss the happy little twitch on Sunwoo's lips. He's probably glad he's not the only one who's messing up.

"So," Sunwoo says, when you're done for the day, and you try not to openly look at his lips when he's talking, but it's an impossible situation. They're very nice lips. "I had an idea, and tell me if I'm out of line, but I thought maybe we should do our own read, just us. I'm just not getting this middle part to stick, and Lord knows the scenes coming up aren't going to be easier."

"No, I was thinking the same thing," You nod, chewing the back end of your pencil. "I think that's a smart move for us. Then we can show up on Monday and dazzle the hell out of everyone at the reading with our amazing acting slash memory."

You smirk and Sunwoo chuckles, looking over at you for a second. His eyes are also very nice eyes. It's almost too much for just one person.

"Okay, then," he says, raising his eyebrows. "Who lives closer? I'm about fifteen minutes from here."

"Oh, then I win, my place is ten," You grin.

"Make yourself at home," you yell, disappearing to the bathroom to tidy up, just a little bit. "I'm sorry it's not sparkling here, I'm barely home lately."

You can hear Sunwoo's quiet chuckle from the living room, toeing off his shoes before he enters.

"Don't worry, I'm blind as a bat without my glasses anyway," he assures. "Won't be seeing anything tonight."

"Good," you joke, getting the light on your way back.

You make tea for yourself and instant coffee for Sunwoo, it's all you have to offer but he doesn't seem to mind, sipping it blissfully.

"This is somehow better than the coffee at the studio," he mumbles, making you grin.

"Damn. My condolences."

He laughs, and you flip the scripts to the right pages, settling in comfortably on the sofa. Sunwoo has put on his round reading glasses, and it might be the late hour and the tiredness speaking, but he looks so unfairly beautiful. Especially when the glasses slide down on the bridge of his nose a little, and he uses the back of his hand to push them back up.

He gives you a half timid look over the glasses. "Ready?"

"Yup, I can read us in, since you start."

You clear your throat, preparing to use your best narrator voice. "June's apartment, night time. June is sat by the window, looking out at the city. Minsoo enters, cold from the blizzard."

"I got the job," Sunwoo says, in character, looking at you with what feels like genuine excitement. "I finally got it."

You smile down at the script, getting into character as well. "That's really great. Congratulations."

You go through the scene several times, giving each other pointers and trying to make it fit as well as you can.

"This, wow," Sunwoo mumbles, running a hand through his hair. "Are we nailing this? I might just be tired, but I think we are."

His smile is so infectious, your cheeks are hurting from reciprocating it all night.

"Dude, I think we are," you agree, and Sunwoo snickers. "We could move on to the next one? But I feel like we should be standing if we do."

"Yeah, you're right."

You stand up and move to approximate positions in the small living room. It's a bit ridiculous at first, but it feels more real when you actually have to look at each other over some distance, and move across the room.

"Minsoo's apartment, night time," you say.

"June..." Sunwoo says, and it's crazy how good he is at doing that, flipping the switch from Sunwoo to the character instantly. His brows furrow when he looks at you, and you can feel it, how his body language is so in tune with what he's trying to say, the longing and the pain in his voice.

"We can't," you say, as June. "You know we can't."

You're pretty good at crying on command so you think, what the hell, might as well pull out all the stops tonight, feeling tears form in your eyes as you look over at Sunwoo.

He seems surprised for a second that you're crying, and you don't know if it's acting or not. Which really says it all about his skills.

"Please don't cry," he mumbles, starting to close the distance between you, but stopping halfway, holding himself back, and letting his arm fall from the outstretched position where he was reaching after you. "Please."

You blink and let a few tears escape, and the room is so silent you can hear them hit the floor beneath you. You follow the script and get down on your knees, vision blurring from the tears.

"Let's not end like this," Sunwoo pleads, closing in with gentle steps, stopping to lower himself to your level on the floor. "June. I love you so much, I don't want to make you cry."

He takes your hands in his, squeezing them, and then lets them go in favor of wiping tears from your cheeks with such tenderness, it's hypnotizing.

"Don't leave me, Min," You say, voice quivering in the quiet room. "I don't know what I'll do, when... When..."

You trail off and Sunwoo tilts your head up to meet his eyes, sending shivers down your spine.

"Shh," he breathes, his thumb wiping the edge of your lower lip, catching a tear.

You look into each other's eyes for five long seconds, trying to really convey the inner battle going on in your characters. You know he's counting, just like you are, and then Sunwoo pulls you in for the kiss.

You knew it was coming, of course you knew, you read it about a thousand times just to make sure. But it still makes your whole body light up. Your mind goes completely blank, forgetting any and every line you just rehearsed. All you can process is the feeling of Sunwoo's soft lips on yours, the longing in it, the collapse of his restrain. Minsoo's restrain, but, you know.

Sunwoo cups your face and you stand up on your knees, closer, but not close enough. You never want it to end but have to keep reminding yourself to be professional. Not let it slip how much you're enjoying this. He's a good kisser, not too forceful, but sweet and just desperate enough for this scene. You can't help the way your hand lifts and runs through the hair at the back of his neck, making him sigh into your mouth.

When you break it off, you're both a little out of breath, and you don't want to, but remember the script.

You push him away, almost making him lose his balance.

"We can't," you repeat, whispering. "I... I can't do this."

"June," Sunwoo pleads, watching you like a kicked dog as you get up and leave him there.

"Aaand, scene," You mumble, wiping the tears with your sleeve, chuckling. Not really ready to meet his eyes.

"Holy shit," Sunwoo breathes, now on his feet in front of you. "I didn't expect you to actually cry. That was impressive."

You laugh in disbelief. "That was impressive? You could be on TV, or like. Huge stages. I'm speechless, honestly. I don't know how you do it."

"Thank you," he mumbles, his ears pink. "I hope I didn't overdo it, with the... Um. With the kiss," he says, scratching his neck, and you want to pull him in for another one then and there.

"No, uh. It was excellent. Very believable."

"Back at you," Sunwoo smiles.

There isn't enough air in the room for this.

"Actually I thought I might try something, if it's alright," Sunwoo says, as you sit down on the couch again. "Regarding the kiss."

You can tell he's trying not to make it awkward. Which is cute.

"Sure, shoot," You reply, very hard at work to not seem so affected by this.

"I'm thinking, you know. Minsoo needs to show her what she means to him, how much he wishes he could stay... So I'll try to put some more emotion behind it. Maybe we can "choreograph" some moves into it. I'll show you what I mean."

You look at him and he looks almost shy, running a hand through his hair.

"If that's okay, of course."

"More emotion," You reply, a little breathier than intended. "Alright. Show me. You want me to cry? Set the mood?"

Sunwoo laughs, airy and wonderful. "No, that's alright. I'll pretend."

You shift a little, so you're on your knees on the couch, facing him. "Okay. I'm on the floor, Minsoo approaches. Go."

"Let's not end like this," Sunwoo says, his voice soft as he looks into your eyes, pleading. He knows the lines now, the script is abandoned on the floor where he left it. "June..."

He takes your hands, and his own are warm and gentle. "I love you so much, I don't want to make you cry."

He does what he did last time, except now you aren't crying, so when he touches your face it's just that—a touch. Very careful caresses across your cheeks. You try to focus, try not to let yourself get lost in his eyes.

"Don't leave me, Min," you whisper, and somehow it feels so much more intimate now, sitting like this. "I don't know what I'll do when... When..."

You lower your gaze and Sunwoo tilts your head back up, like he's supposed to. His eyes are so emotive, it's incredibly impressive to see the nuances he's able to work into a simple look. It makes you want to do better too. Try to even it out.

"Shh," he breathes, and this time it's barely audible at all.

He looks into your eyes and you can feel the thump thump thump of your heart, like a clock running too fast. You forget to count the seconds, but maybe that's good, maybe the sharp, surprised inhale that slips past your lips will make it more believable. Sunwoo's lips move against yours with purpose, but also a tender compassion that has you melting into his touch, wanting more. He pulls at your bottom lip when he sits back, just barely moving away, speaking against your mouth.

"Maybe," he breathes, breaking character, forehead against yours. "Maybe I could do something like this."

He wipes slowly at the imaginary tears, then presses a careful kiss under your left eye, then the right, before he captures your lips and takes your breath away once more.

"Or, maybe," he continues, still against your lips, voice so delightfully hushed and low, "I can move my hands?"

His left hand brushes through your hair at the side of your head, before coming to rest and holding you in place. The right hand slides over your shoulder and stops at the collarbone, thumb dipping into the groove there, and you can't help the slight sound that escapes you.

Sunwoo quickly looks at you to see if he's done something wrong, but you just blink quickly and nod.

"Yes, um. That's. Very good."

"Good," he breathes, smiling, and, fuck. Fuck. Jesus.

"I'm a worse actor than I thought," You confess, biting your lip in a smile.

"No, but, isn't it good if you actually... like it?" Sunwoo smiles, tentatively, still holding you. "Then you won't have to pretend as much?"

You can't argue with that logic.

When you kiss again, for the third-ish time that night, you know it's coming. But it doesn't help, it doesn't stop being mind-blowing for that reason. Sunwoo tries a few different spots to touch you, all very PG but still a lot. At one point, you decide to do that as well—why not—work in your character's desperateness a bit more acutely.

You touch his neck and put a hand on his chest, pulling his shirt a little, and he gasps, making you pull back in worry.

"No, no, do it again," he mumbles, looking flushed.

It's good to know he's also a little flustered. That boosts your confidence enough to pull him a little closer when you continue where they left off, change the angle a little, move a little over to offense rather than the defensive, slightly passive, and timid stance you've taken thus far.

He doesn't seem like he expected that, inhaling through his nose when your tongue experimentally touches his lower lip and your hand slides over the side of his neck again. You can feel his pulse knocking hard and steady under your fingertips, and it's difficult to say if it's the same tempo as your own. They sort of melt together into one, erratic beat.

"God," Sunwoo mumbles, and he smiles against your lips, making you break into a smile as well.

"Maybe that was a little too... Forward," you grin.

Sunwoo laughs again, and it's such a lovely sound.

"I don't know, I liked it," he says, looking bashful once more, sitting back on the couch.

You know that you'll get plenty of takes for this, and probably a lot of directions. These aren't decisions that are entirely up to you two, there's no real need to practice this much.

But you won't say that out loud. you know he must be aware of it too, he's more experienced, he knows how it works. Why would you bring this to an end, if he doesn't?

"You're a good kisser," you comment, unusually bold, looking at the table. Shooting him a quick grin.

"So are you," Sunwoo smiles, fiddling with your copy of the script that was on the couch.

"They won't see this coming."

"No, they won't," you laugh.

You nudge his leg, and you don't want the night to end yet, but you can barely keep your eyes open.

"The couch is yours for the night, if you want it. I think I have to go to bed now."

"Thanks," he smiles, nudging you back. "I was hoping you would suggest that. Was really dreading the walk home."

"Of course, silly," you mumble. Still smiling stupidly.

You take turns brushing your teeth (you actually had a spare toothbrush, pretty incredible), and when it's all done, you come out to say goodnight. Sunwoo sits on the couch, stifling a yawn, and you walk over to give him a pillow.

"You know," you start, voice raspy and tired. You sit down on the opposite end. "I had a friend, an actor friend, who told me that after doing pretend-kisses for jobs, regular kissing never held up anymore. That it changed, somehow, and real kissing didn't have the same spark."

Sunwoo looks at you in the low light, brows furrowed.

"I guess I could understand that. Since there's a lot of suspense and build up that maybe there isn't in real life, a lot of the time."

"Yeah," You breathe. His eyes are so warm.

"But at the same time... Nothing beats the real thing, in my opinion. It's not the same when it's planned out."

He cocks his head to the side a little. "Are you worried?"

"I wasn't when she said that, way back," you admit, hands twisting. "But... I don't know. That was pretty amazing, back there."

Sunwoo blinks, feigning innocence. "Our kiss?"

"Yeah," you mumble, blushing. "So now, I. Well. I don't know. Maybe she was on to something."

"No way," Sunwoo says, grinning, scooting a little closer. "There's nothing like that rush��of uncertainty and just pure... realness that comes from a true kiss. You'll see, next time you do it. I'm sure of it. Don't worry."

You smile, and give a little shrug. "Okay. If you say so."

"And if not, well, I can't help it if I'm such a good kisser that no one else will compare."

Sunwoo giggles when you swing the pillow at him, eliciting a yelp.

"Should've known that would boost your ego too much."

"It's an excellent pickup line, though," he grins, hugging the pillow so you can't assault him with it. "Like, after kissing you, I'm not sure real kisses will do it for me... You should save that for future co-stars that you want to woo."

"I'm not trying to pick up or woo anyone, I was honestly worried!" You protest, glad that the lighting is low so he can't see your blushing cheeks as you get up.

"No, I know," he says quickly, "I'm not making fun, it was just... cute."

"Cheeky," You grin. "Goodnight, Sunwoo. Don't let the monsters and evil spirits drawn to big egos get ya."

Sunwoo chuckles. "I won't. I'm monster repelling. Goodnight, Y/n."

"Cut!" The director yells, and you turn your head, looking back and Sunwoo with a grin. He's already smiling at you, and it widens when your eyes meet.

You'd been right, the practice session did blow everyone away at the reading, and it helped even more now when they're actually filming.

"Love the energy," the director comments, flipping through the script. "But I'm thinking, maybe we could get even more passion in here? Heat it up a little?"

The writer scribbles notes and Sunwoo nods quickly, getting back to the starting position. You swallow thickly. More heat, eh? Great idea.

"Sunwoo if you can grab her more, like, intensely, that'd be great. And Y/n, really lean into it, like the character is giving in a little more. Show how much they want each other."

Splendid.

"Action!"

You do the scene as usual up until the kiss, and Sunwoo does like he's told, he ups the ante. Grabs you by the small of your back and molds you together until you don't know where you end and he starts. He bites your lip and you gasp, trace his jaw, his neck, and feel your pulse beating in wild protest. This is not good for your heart at all.

Pro actors are probably able to separate realities and not become so affected. But, like Sunwoo said, isn't it better if you like it and won't have to act so much?

"Cut! Wonderful, guys—let's do one more where we barely keep within the rating. Just to see."

Sunwoo eyes you, almost a little concerned, drinking his water.

"I just need a drink, I'll be quick," you yell, jogging to the water cooler.

Sunwoo's there when you turn around, looking that way again, like he's almost shy.

"Is there anything that's... off limits?" he asks, timidly fiddling with his cup. "I really don't want to overstep, but since we're going off script, I just. Yeah. Tell me and I won't do it."

You smile, swirling the leftover water in the cup. It's very attractive that he asks.

"I mean, no, I don't think there is... I don't know what you could do that would be crossing the line, really? Obviously, I'm not going to undress or anything. But other than that... I think... touching is okay."

Sunwoo guffaws and you laugh a little, obvious tension in the air.

"Okay, uh. Good," Sunwoo breathes. "Then. Let's go, I guess."

You get back into your positions, and you shoot him a thumbs up before it starts. Even though this—this is dangerous for sure.

"Aaand, action!"

This kiss feels different, maybe because this is something you haven't rehearsed for, in the same sense. You're both unprepared. You're not sure what Sunwoo has acted in before, but you can't imagine it's been quite this heated.

Sunwoo kisses you like it's his last hour or something, and you try to keep up, let yourself be swept away. Normally, you're very aware of your surroundings and the numerous people filming, watching and moving around in the room. Now, strangely, your mind blanks. It's a power Sunwoo has that scares you a little bit, making you forget everything.

The two of you push it. Sunwoo bites your lip again and makes you blush, pulling your hair a little. You let your hands roam properly, feeling his chest rise and fall and tracing the lean muscles on his abdomen. When you rest your hands on his hips, you boldly push one of them under the hem of his t-shirt, making contact with warm and soft skin, and Sunwoo full on moans into your mouth.

To say that it's affecting you would be an understatement.

Sunwoo traces the outline of your bra over the shirt you're wearing until he's fully cupping your breast, and wow. Wow.

It isn't until you finds yourself wanting to undo his pants, that the acute realization of the setting and people surrounding you dawns on you once more.

"Cut!"

There's scattered applause in the room, and you fall away from Sunwoo, panting, blushing, and sort of embarrassed that you let it go that far. But it was what you were supposed to do, so after a few seconds of catching your breath you get up, brush dust off your knees again, and look into Sunwoo's eyes almost defiantly, as if to prove to everyone that you're no wuss. This was nothing, you're no worse than a real actor.

And Sunwoo looks back up at you like a deer in the headlights, shuffling awkwardly on the floor while he waves off your outstretched hand.

"Um. Just. Give me a minute," he breathes, grinning sheepishly at the ground, face pink, and you could die when you realize why he can't get up yet.

"Oh, oh. Sorry—" you blurt, apologizing for some reason, and Sunwoo bites his lip, still grinning, his hand balled in a helpless fist next to him.

When you meet again, it's sundown, and you stand outside next to the food truck, watching beads of condensation roll leisurely down the closed hatch. Sunwoo stops next to you, hair wet from the shower, and leans on the truck, not realizing it's all slippery from the humidity.

He slips a little and bites his lip again like he wants to laugh, but thinks better of it. You watch him amused, eyebrow raised.

"Hey, uh," he starts, scratching his neck. "I just wanted to check that we're good, or that—well. Check if I need to apologize for... Before. Because I will, if you were... Um. If I made you uncomfortable. That was not my intent."

He meets your eyes, blush rising stubbornly on his face, and you aren't the slightest bit surprised by the urge to kiss him now. You can feel it in your fingers how they long to pull him in by the collar of his shirt and kiss away any awkwardness between you.

"Don't worry," you smile, and watch his shoulders relax a little more. "In my book, that was just superb acting."

Sunwoo finally lets out a breathy laugh that trills through the air as if it's been caged in. As if he was genuinely nervous that you were cross with him, which is ridiculous but endearing.

"Good," he mumbles, and you notice the tips of his ears are red now as well. "Good, um. Yeah. Final day of filming tomorrow, huh?"

You grin at the subject change and put your hands in your pockets, following Sunwoo on reflex as he turns slow, and starts walking to where his car is parked.

"Time flies," you agree, a twinge of something sad in your stomach. "It felt like it would last longer."

"Yeah," Sunwoo mumbles, stopping, clicking his keys. "It did."

You watch the car unlock and Sunwoo makes no move to get in, just stands there, looking at his keys jingling in his hand.

"Hey, you need a ride?" he says then, and you don't know if it's wishful thinking, or if he actually sounds hopeful. If he wants to drag this out for as long as possible, like you do.

"Yeah!" you say, a little too enthusiastically, even though you don't need a ride and you both know it.

Sunwoo's grin is wider than it's been all day.

Follow for part 2! It won't be very long, I'm working on it and it's about to get steamy🌞

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

Addressing The Tinhatters: A Statement in Solidarity With @dtmsrpfcringe And Others

I've been active in this fandom for a little over a year, and in my time here I've kept my slate pretty clean. I try not to involve myself in drama and discourse, and when I see something I don't agree with online, most of the time I keep it to myself. I've been aware of the blogs I refer to in this post basically from the onset, but I've stayed quiet, partially to not come across as disrespecting others' opinions and preferences and partially to protect my peace and my own life as a creator. But what started as mostly harmless, if a bit unhinged and delusional, behavior, has turned on some fronts into unimaginable cruelty the likes of which I never imagined this fandom to be capable of. As someone who it seems people in this fandom have come to respect, I think it would be unfair and selfish for me to stay neutral any longer.

Fanfiction has been a genuinely transformative force in my life. It has helped me discover so much about my own relationships to love and desire, and I would never want to tell anyone that it is wrong for any ship to be that source of inspiration for them, including RPF. Nor do I think, as I've said, that it's inherently wrong to have speculative thoughts about David and Michael's sexualities. As someone who has been lucky enough to interact with David several times now, and probably will again, I choose not to do so myself in a public forum out of respect, but curiosity doesn't have to be invasive, and David and Michael being in loving partnerships with women certainly doesn't mean they can't be attracted to other genders too. There's nothing wrong with liking the idea of a relationship between David Tennant and Michael Sheen, or even, really, with believing they might have feelings for each other. If that's all you're doing, this post isn't about you. What I absolutely cannot excuse is the proliferation of hypocritical, nonsensical, and nasty rumors about the women in their lives.

Nothing Georgia Tennant or Anna Lundberg seems to do is ever good enough. Every expression of positivity is curated and phony, anything that could be perceived as negative vile and mean. I see these women attacked on a daily basis as partners, as mothers, as actresses. Georgia is simultaneously presenting a false ideal of a perfect, happy family for her own gains, while somehow at the same time being too irresponsible and incompetent to be a proper parent. Anna, a still young and up and coming actress herself, is expected to perform the ideal of an affectionate partner on social media, is perceived as unsupportive of Michael when she doesn't, when in reality she may simply be trying to make a name for herself in the industry without people solely associating her with the man she loves. Both of these women share in David and Michael's advocacy for marginalized communities, sometimes in different, more or less obvious ways. David and Michael are always brave and sincere, while Anna and Georgia's actions are always self serving and performative, though no evidence is ever given to indicate that the things they post or charities they support are any sort of cover or deflection. Nor are there ever any reasons given for their perceived lack of onscreen talent, other than that they're "boring" or don't have as many jobs as their husbands- never mind that both of them are in an extremely competitive industry and get perfectly respectable amounts of work, especially for mothers of young children. Worst of all, I've seen them accused of things as awful as child abuse and rape, all for the crime of simply being married to the wrong men. It's all so horribly gendered too, David and Michael often referred to as the "men" while Georgia and Anna are reduced to negative stereotypes of nagging, shallow gold diggers. As a fandom populated with so many queer people, many of whom, myself included, have found freedom from gender roles with Michael and David's characters' help, I thought we knew better.

I've been lucky enough to meet both David and Georgia now, and have witnessed firsthand the easy, joyful affection they have for each other when no one of consequence is watching, the way they giddily hold hands on the street and make each other laugh while tenderly looking into each other's eyes even and especially after sixteen years together. Georgia when I met her was incredibly kind, down to earth, and approachable, and my partner, who's met her several times more than I have, gushes about her constantly- how funny, authentic, and intelligent she is, and of course, how much she and David love each other, how they look out for each other and adore each other's flaws and quirks. David of course still gushes about Georgia every chance he gets in speeches and interviews, her strength and brilliance as well as her beauty, and Georgia, while maybe not always as effusive, shows her love for David in plenty of ways, the beautiful candid photos she takes of him, for instance. There's such a soft, painterly tenderness and fondness in them, for the man, not just the dazzling star everyone else gets to see. Her David, gentle, devoted, goofy, aging, melancholy, imperfectly perfect David. Where would we be without Georgia giving us these little glimpses of him? I suspect the same people who deride Georgia's social media presence as try-hard, cringeworthy, artificial, would feel a bit differently if one day they stopped coming.

I can't speak as clearly on behalf of Anna and Michael, but the accounts I've gotten of her and Michael's relationship from eyewitnesses have presented it as no less loving than David and Georgia's, albeit in slightly different ways. Even then, why should I have to? She doesn't owe me anything. I doubt anyone who's made the posts accusing Anna and Georgia of being nasty baby trappers has ever had children. There's no such thing as a perfect mother, and even one child is a massive task. It's normal to not be a shining ray of affection all the time, and Georgia I know more than makes up for it with her fierce love and support for her children in all of their endeavors. Georgia is also a diagnosed neurodivergent woman, and so many of the remarks I see directed at her are clearly discriminatory and often directed at women with her diagnoses. Everyone coos over how charming David is when he shows signs of being AuDHD, but the second his wife does too, she's careless and cold. And don't even get me started on when photos of Michael and David looking anything less than beatifically happy get interpreted as them being miserable due to their wives treating them so poorly. THEY'RE HUMAN BEINGS!!! NEUTRAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS EXIST!!! WOULD YOU BE A SPARKLING RAY OF SUNSHINE IF YOUR DISNEYLAND RIDE GOT STUCK!!!

I say all this now not even because I think I have any hope of stopping the people in question, but because one of the main fighters on the front of the opposition, @dtmsrpfcringe, has been both a wonderful online friend to me and dealt with even worse abuse than that which gets hurled at Anna and Georgia on the daily. When my blog was briefly overrun by TERFs in light of the Tennant/Badenoch/Sunak drama, Tori was the first person to stand up for me, and as she recieves more vitriol in one day than I've ever experienced in my entire life online, I think I've taken far too long to do the same for her. This woman has dealt with doxing threats, attacks on her character, and most horrific of all, wishes of death upon her and her baby. No one would blame her for stopping, but she has remained steadfast in her mission to call bs where she sees it, and she shouldn't have to do it alone. Tori, I think you are so brave, and I am proud to stand in solidarity with you against the misinformation, meanness, and misogyny that threaten to corrupt this fandom we call home.

Even after all we've been through over the past couple of months, I still believe the Good Omens fandom and David and Michael's individual fandoms to be places of kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. Which is why such cruel behavior (because there's no other word for it) is utterly disappointing and baffling to me. You should be utterly ashamed of yourselves. You're the exact kinds of people David and Michael speak out against on a weekly basis, and I guarantee that if you engage in the kinds of behavior I've highlighted here, they would be disgusted with you. Or maybe they'd simply pity you, because your lives are so empty that you've decided the only way to fill them is to sacrifice the reputations and peace of innocent women on the altar of a relationship that in all likelihood takes place solely in your own heads.

And if you read all this and find you still ship David and Michael, which even I do sometimes, well, there's always polyamory.

I'm sleepy! good night and kindly fuck off! - Lauren

[evillinuxuser]

Dear American leftist.

So you want to make the world better. Please here me out.

You recognize that your parties are ultimately just capitalist racists/sexists/lgbt-phobes and capitalist collaborators/copagandists/war criminals. You want to tear this system to the ground (understandably), just have a revolution and build a new one, a democratic-socialist utopia.

That's not gonna happen yet.

Most Americans want to make the world better. But they will not agree with you on the means or even the end goal.

And you *can't have a revolution* without widespread support (or at least most people not being outright hostile to your end goal - the dirty word socialism). Your current representative system is going to remain for some time still. Your president will have power and they will have the largest and most dangerous power over minorities and marginalized people.

It is important who gets to wield this power.

It is important who gets to appoint the next Supreme Court justices. Even if Democrats don't really care about abortion rights and are just using it as a talking point - their appontees consistently rule in favor of women. This applies equally to race and LGBT issues, and to the legislative and executive branches.

On Palestine and lesser evils

I feel like the most important or one of the most important reasons for leftists who do not vote is the situation in Gaza and independence for Palestine and the lack of action on part of the Dems.

I will not actually talk policy here because even if you think both will do equally bad things for Palestine, you just cannot reason that this means both parties are equal or equally bad. Let me draw you a table (tumblr doesn't have tables?):

How the fuck is there no lesser evil here?

If you do not vote for Dems for the sake of your conscience, you are either a coward who is too immature to make hard decisions or you plain *do not care* for LGBT people, women, PoC, or immigrants.

(Footnote: Dems wont solve your existing racism problems. But people will suffer due to government inaction rather than government WANTING them to suffer and actively using its resources to create more suffering)

You're the guy in the trolley problem NOT pulling the lever to save four lives. Sure, it would be PREFERRABLE if there were no PEOPLE TIED TO THE TRACKS. But they are right now and the state of being tied to a track is called marginalization.

Voting third party does not help.

Your system is rigged against you to allow only two parties.

See this video for explanation.

By not voting, or voting third party, you are saving no one (except your own conscience, selfishly). Vote and then do some more actually useful stuff.

How the fuck does voting impact your ability to organize politically in other ways? Do you think low voter turnout will somehow convince both Reps and Dems that actually, they're both illegitimate and willing to give way to a new system now? Obviously not?!

So you want to make the world better. This is not what US elections are for. They are for slowing down the world getting worse. Thanks for reading all of that. Sincerely, and in a deep worry tumblr user evillinuxuser (Not an American)

[desired-misery]

Serennedy Week 2025 | Day 02 Rural Spain

[Day 01] [Day 03] [Day 04] [Day 05] [Day 06] [Day 07]

It takes two more meet-ups for Leon to ask. Luis would say that is Leon not actually wanting to know, considering how long it takes him to finally pose the question, but after hearing the way Leon talks, Leon is cautious. Luis wonders— like he wonders often— if that is the way Leon is with everyone, or if this is the way Leon is with him.

"Do you miss Spain?" Leon asks after many minutes of content quiet between them, as sunlight dapples them both through the bright green leaves of the well kept trees.

Luis' wheelchair is electric, so he has no problem keeping up with Leon's naturally long strides as long as Leon stays on the sidewalk of this small park (he has learned the hard way he can't just off road on impulse). It also means Luis can still drink his coffee and walk— well, he doesn't walk much anymore. Roll?— so he theoretically had the excuse of taking a drink to get a few more seconds of peace, of no confrontations, but that is not what he really wants. He thought that maybe Leon isn't the type of person to talk about the heavy things if he can help it since it took so long to get to this question; that's what Luis wants to know, wants to learn. As long as Leon allows him to share his company.

"I miss what it used to be," Luis says. "A long time ago."

There it is again, a furrowed brow and a glance that says Leon is confused. Another pause, then;

"Oh. I was just—" Leon slows his pace so they can look at each other more. "I meant Spain as a whole. Not—"

"If I was in Spain, I was in Valdelobos. I didn't wish to stay, after…" Luis thought he would be able to tell Leon, to verbalize everything he has thought for years upon years, be able to speak about the worn tracks in his head that are carved in it like the ruts of ancient wheels, turning around and around— He should have never gone home. It should have stayed a hazy memory not meant for his enjoyment, darkened by—

"You studied in France, at Pierre and Marie Curie University." Leon says, what would have been a mild non sequitur except Luis recognizes avoidance offered as an olive branch.

"I moved to France, yes." And worked there, for far too long, when Umbrella picked him up early into his last year as an undergraduate.

"Did you like France?"

Luis looks up. Leon has his hands in his pockets— a leather jacket that must be a bit too warm for the weather, no suit this time, but still in nice slacks and a dress shirt underneath and shoes that aren't boots— and Leon is looking away, looking around at the almost empty small park, dotted with young children and mothers and the elderly. Scanning over everything, as Leon does a lot. Luis wonders if that's anything more than habit, something Leon has ingrained into his behavior so well. He remembers the foundational information set out about Leon in the hearing, the lines about Leon serving as both a soldier and a Secret Service Agent.

"I did," Luis says, quieter. It was years he thought he was happy— as he marched thousands to their doom with every step he took, every class he earned full marks in, every time he picked up hours to work at the laboratories.

"Never been," Leon says.

"To France?" Luis asks, surprised. He slows to a stop, and Leon copies him.

Leon shrugs. "Somehow haven't been sent to France yet. Nothing more than layovers in airports."

And—

Well, Luis has never been known to think all that hard about things outside of his quite narrow margin of interests— but it takes until this very moment for him to challenge what was said during the hearing is what Leon actually does for work. It is not as if people— and governments— don't lie.

"You're not Secret Service," Luis says, trying to smooth out the accusatory tone into something friendlier.

Leon's smile is faint enough to only be considered polite, but the humor in his eyes is real and way more obvious. "I got a badge and everything."

Luis is reminded of how Leon knew Ada; how everyone except for him seemed to know what the hell was really happening in Valdelobos— outside of the specifics of the medical sciences involved—

"What do you really do?"

Before Leon answers, Luis knows it was the wrong question to ask— damn his curiosity, showing up when it shouldn't and absent when it should be triggered. All amusement fades, flattening into that serious mask Leon wears far too easily. A mask that Luis thought was just how Leon was, how he interacted with the world, but these glimpses underneath are scraps Luis wants more time to admire, wants to coax out.

"Whatever they ask me to do," Leon says, and he is perfectly relaxed. Bland, flat.

Luis decides he hates that whole act immediately. "What about you, had you been to Spain before?"

Leon waits, yet again letting an extra moment of silence stretch out into multiple seconds. "No."

"Your Spanish is pretty good," Luis says.

Leon's eyebrows jump, breaking that fake neutrality. "No, it's not."

Luis waves a hand. "You probably sound much better in Latin America, so I won't fault you too much."

Leon hums. Small creases have reappeared around the corners of his eyes; Luis will certainly take that, take it and move further if he can.

"It's probably better than your French," Luis says.

The chuckle that rolls out of Leon is a pleasant surprise. Leon's far too beautiful lips curve upwards. "I hardly know any French."

"Don't go to France until you do," Luis says, smiling.

"I'll just take you with me," Leon says, easily— and damn, Luis considers himself pretty experienced in knowing if people— especially men as fine as Leon are flirting with him— but he cannot tell. And, he is starting to think Leon doesn't know if he is or not.

"If you keep buying me coffee, I'll tutor you" Luis says, still smiling.

Leon grimaces, and for a heartbeat Luis' hopes fall, but it is only because he thinks too fast sometimes and makes assumptions.

"I'm supposed to be focused on Mandarin right now, that's kicking my ass." Leon's slow glance over Luis would generally be something Luis would consider a rather forward hint, but Leon doesn't seem to mean it that way. "Unless you also know Mandarin?"

"Alas, I do not. If you asked about parasitology, pathophysiology, or organic chemistry, I'm your man. I know a decent amount of Latin and a smattering of Ancient Greek, since I decided that taking a few classes in dead languages would be helpful, somehow, other than the normal approach to just memorizing root words and word parts—"

Luis stops, because he knows he talks far too much. But Leon is still looking at him, attentive, with eyes the same color as the late spring sky.

"So you've got the North Mediterranean covered. And all my biology questions."

"I can pick up your slack in those areas," Luis agrees.

"How kind of you," Leon says. "They don't teach biology at the White House."

There it is, that deadpanned humor that Luis has seen snippets of before, that has been almost entirely absent in the few hours they have been together since Valdelobos.

And because Luis always wants more information, he flips the question. "Where can you take me to be my translator?"

Leon’s smile is just a twitch. "Very fun places."

"Oh?"

"The Middle East."

"Ah." Luis should have expected that answer— and perhaps it would be a place he could travel to still, but maybe a military man like Leon does not have the same kind of opinion about the Middle East due to personal experiences.

"North and South America," Leon offers in a lighter tone— amused, because it is not as if Luis needs help with any Spanish-speaking countries.

"China, in the future?" Luis asks.

That grimace again. Mandarin must be exceptionally difficult; Luis hasn't ever tried to learn it, or even considered it.

"Russia?" Luis tries, still teasing, thinking about geopolitics a little more.

A short, put-out sigh. "Sorta. Also need to work on that. I'm not yet conversational."

Surely what counts as conversational to a government agent is different than it is for the average person. "What Russian do you know?"

"The important things."

Luis waits.

"Like how to introduce myself, how to ask for directions, and how to tell someone to drop a weapon or they're gonna get shot. The basics," Leon says, paired with a half-smirk again.

"Is that what you learned to say first in Spanish? 'Freeze', and 'I will shoot'?" Luis asks, genuinely curious. He remembers noticing Leon reading things that were written in Spanish and he remembers switching to Spanish to see if Leon noticed— and Leon did. It took his brain a few seconds to switch over, but Leon did respond in Spanish, too— with a "can we go back to English, please? It's faster for me" before Luis could press him too much harder.

"I started learning Spanish in high school, so no. It was all very normal vocabulary."

Luis nods. Spanish is a common language for Americans to learn. "Well, in my infinite generosity, I am more than happy to help you with your Spanish accent. And your French one, when you get around to it."

Leon raises an eyebrow. "You said my Spanish was good."

"For an American."

"Ouch." Leon smiles.

"You've read more than you've spoken it," Luis guesses.

"Yeah, always. I'm generally not in a position to hold lengthy conversations with people when I am abroad."

No, Leon was not very chatty in Spain. He was all business.

Luis appreciates that Leon is much, much more talkative now. By Leon's standards; to Luis, Leon is still quiet, but every time they meet, Leon talks a little more.

In Spanish, Luis asks, "Do you have time tomorrow? We can get lunch, and work on your fluency."

Leon's smile is everything Luis wanted to see.

"My schedule is open, as much as I know," Leon says, also in Spanish. "Do you have a place in mind?"

Luis almost defers to Leon's pick, since Leon said he lives in the area, but then decides it'll be better if he chooses somewhere that is also close to something he wants to explore. "I'll find something interesting for us both."

"Anything you choose would be interesting," Leon says.

And what is Luis supposed to think about that, other than the obvious?

[nightsunecilpse]

My personal issue with Mars's character isn't how pretentious he is... but how BORING he is! Like I'm not exaggerating here, I'm one of the folks who's trying to keep the Solarballs TvTropes page up to date and looking nice. So one time I updated the rocky planets character pages because before I fixed it up they each only had four tropes.

Mars... was the hardest to update! Like, I could barely find any tropes that pertain to his character! He's just so flat and uninteresting to me. I had an easier time with Mercury, and at the time I despised his character for that "stunt" comment.

-🌟 Anon

My main issue with Mars is, yes, he's pretentious. He has a jokey and lax tone, yet whatever he says, has this double meaning. An example of this is in "Is Earth Special?" Mars is giving Earth the silent treatment after what Earth said about moons. That seemed to be a responsible response to Earth’s behavior, though listening closely to what Mars said has other implications. Mars rhetorically asks if Earth thinks he's better than the moons, but before Earth can respond, he asks if he thinks he is better than the rest of them. Mars had broadened the question to include the whole solar system when the ones who were hurt were specifically the moons in that scenario. Then, when Earth answered genuinely, Mars and Luna talked over each other, but it could be heard what Mars said. "... All you had to say was no. Is that so hard?" my thoughts on that was Earth wasn't going to lie about his success in sustaining life because it's probably the only thing he's been praised for, but also because Earth doesn't hide his feelings well. So yes it would be hard for Earth to say that he didn't think he was better than everyone because he doesn't have that filter. Mars, on the other hand, does.

When Mars asked Earth if he thought he was better than all of them, I thought Mars mistook the significance of Earth’s offensive comment. The moons are clearly supposed to represent the marginalized of the solar system, or else saying "moon should know the place" would have less of an impact. So Mars is saying, "... You probably think you're better than the rest of us?" he took Earth’s insult personally and, generalized himself in the problem. Turning the issue to somehow include him, which, in a way, makes him kinda selfish because he's not a moon. As a matter of fact, when he's addressed with the Moon's problems like Luna asking Mars to help him save Astrodude, he rejects him. He is also not a very attentive planet to his very tiny moons. He claims that he was willing to listen to Ganymede and Europa's problems. Then when they said their plans, instead of trying to talk them out of killing Earth like the reasonable character he tries to present himself, he became defensive. Mars was upset on behalf of the moons after what Earth said but he's no better than Earth. It's worse because Mars is hiding his superiority under this facade.

Overall, Mars is probably just as self-centered, egotistical, and arrogant as Earth. The difference is Mars is hiding this side of him with a self-righteous and know-it-all attitude.

Sorry for not responding sooner but writing about Mars bores me.

[fameadventura]

The One Who Got Away

But that's the thing about life, right? It doesn't care about your plans. It doesn't stop to ask if you're ready or if you need more time. It just moves forward, dragging you along, leaving you scrambling to catch up. And now here I am, stuck in this awkward space between letting go and holding on, knowing that no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise, it won't be me walking next to you. It's a cruel irony—knowing what you want, seeing it so close, but watching from a distance as someone else gets to live it.

And I guess, deep down, I knew. I knew that it wasn't going to happen. But there was always this tiny sliver of hope, a stubborn part of me that believed it could. That maybe, just maybe, you'd wake up one day and realize that I was right there, ready and willing. But that day never came, and now I'm left with nothing but these thoughts I can't shake. It's annoying, really, because how do you stop feeling something so strong? How do you let go of someone who feels like a part of you, even though you never really had them?

I want to be happy for you, I really do. I want to be the person who can smile and mean it when I say, "I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy." But I'm not there yet. I'm still tangled up in the 'what ifs' and 'could have been,' still hoping for a reality I know will never exist.

And the hardest part is knowing that, at the end of the day, you won't even know. You won't ever fully understand what you meant to me or how much it hurts to see you with him. Because I never told you. And it's my fault; it's on me. I don't blame you—I can't. Maybe I was scared; maybe I was just waiting for the "perfect moment" instead of allowing our perfect moment to happen.

Either way, it doesn't matter, and as much as I wish I could rewrite the ending, I'm not the writer this time.

And that's the hardest part—because, as a writer, I know how to create these stories and build worlds that don't exist. I get to choose who's happy, who gets hurt, who falls in love, and who loses. I can put together words to form the most beautiful images. I've really mastered that—except for this story. Our story.

I envision a million different ways it could have gone—a world where I was the one who renewed your faith in love, eased your hardest days, and brought sunshine to your cloudy skies. I was supposed to be the one who made you smile every day—the one who made you forget everything you'd been through. But those are just drafts of a story never meant to be told.

I thought I could pen my way out of this heartache, and if I wrote about it, it would make sense somehow. But this time, I'm just a character, an afterthought within the margins...

I really just said a bunch of words to say that I am truly happy for you; it's just that I wish it were me. 

[gaylordscooter]

Log of the Multiverse: Fresh

I've done some research lately on that parasite. In order to help someone.

Y'see Fresh is an interesting outcode to say the least. No one knows what his original universe was like. No one knows where he came from.

Not even Ink! Or at least, every time I ask him he conveniently forgets the answer even though he swears he knew a second ago.

Well, I can't blame him for having a faulty memory when mine's pretty shabby too.

But I digress.

He also kidnaps people. that's probably the first thing i should state.

So yeah, someone was kidnapped. Specifically Cross's best bud, Epic. A shame too, he was just rescued from the cusp of death in his universe. He didn't get to spend much time at the hub (see entry on Cross and XChara) before he went missing.

We don't know HOW Fresh weaseled his way into the hub, the code of the universe is set up in a way that repels him like a magnet of the same charge as him. The only ones that could've tampered with that code would be Cross himself (unlikely), Error (who doesn't even know where or what the hub is), and...

i'm getting off topic again!

So however he got in, he did, and then he found Epic and none of us had the time to warn him about who Fresh is and what he does. I'd assume they hit it off pretty well. They'd probably be great friends if it wasn't for the fact Fresh's entire personality is fabricated to lure people in.

As for Where monsters (mainly of the skeleton kind. mainly of the sans kind.) end up after Fresh nabs them, well i shouldn't leave you in suspense should i?

yeah that would be mean.

who would do that in their own log? i mean, i'm the only one reading it.

so really i'm not keeping anyone in suspense because i already know.

[there is a stupidly wide margin here]

yup.

That was stupid.

Anyway, he takes you to some warehouse in the antivoid where he holds this endless rave. How do I know this? Ink told me during one of his fights with Error they somehow strayed so far away from Error's place in the antivoid that they found Fresh's territory. Ink said the fight ended there because the sight and sound of it made Error crash. Ink took a peek through one of the windows and saw the place PACKED with sanses all of them wearing shades just like Fresh. The music and strobe lights could be heard from miles away you'd think it was a GREAT party.

you'd probably notice all the dust after it's too late.

Wowzers so dramatic.

I Havent Said Or Written That Word in Sooo Long

that almost felt weird to write. whatever

So anyway, recap. no one knows where fresh comes from, he kidnaps people and takes them to an endless rave where you dance until you literally drop and epic is currently at said rave.

yeahhhh.

AS FOR MY RESEARCH! "no one knows where fresh comes from" TOSS THAT OUT THE WINDOW. ME!! I KNOW!!

He's actually

from a completely generic undertale universe

You might think "what? that doesn't sound right."

Which Yeah I Guess So If You're A Party Pooper Sure. Technically He's From An Alternate Timeline. Asshole.

"ok so how did a sans become that 90's freak?" Wrong. Incorrect. The sans of that universe is fine and dandy we had coffee together last week (true) (real).

Actually Fresh is

DRAMATIC PAUSE!

I'm killing you aren't i? absolutely annoying you?

you probably already know actually. SIGH

He's a memoryhead. I know! It threw me for a loop too. And it only made things MORE confusing considering. well no one knows the deal with memoryheads. not even alphyses.

They're. amalgamates? but. What monsters did they come from? They didn't come from Any recognizable monsters.

Now as for what's up with the flowers Fresh uses—Which I Totally Forgot To Mention In This Entry. ehhh whatever you probably already read that one. .. Did i include the flowers part. i forgot how much i explained there i was kinda occupied watering my flower. s. my flowers my potted flowers that i Keep In my room. and water with Water and not any other liquid.

the flowers are different from fresh's flowers unrelated. unrelated flowers to any s. keletons

I'm still trying to figure out what is up with the flowers but my guessFOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR is that said memoryhead managed to mmmmmerge?? melt? how do i phrase this. merge. with a flowey. maybe. potentially

i mean ive never seen a rafflesia flowey ever but hey the multiverse is huge. (not endless though. ink's told me he's seen the edge of the multiverse he looked very perturbed at the revelation)

not that ive seen many floweys.

AUDIBLE COUGH WRITTEN ON PAPER

Man i totally just dropped the "fresh is a memoryhead from an undertale alternate timeline actually" bomb on you and didn't let you sit with it huh.

I'm sorry to say that's as far as my research got. He's a memoryhead. Potentially merged with some sort of flowey. So what now?

well i have a lot of questions. like you do probably

How did the memoryhead escape their universe in the first place? Who in that amalgamate is in control? the flowey? the memoryhead (what monsters are in the memoryhead anyway?) how did that happen? Why the hell does it pretend to be from the 90's.

why does it need so many hosts. what IS the main host's body and why is it so tall? SIX feet really? compensating much? what the hell would an amalgamate need to compensate for. nevermind.

Hang on pause. the song that just came on goes hard i need to save it to my playlist.

...

Yes?? I listen to music while writing these sometimes? Duh? Get off my back?

"you're being sassier than normal" am i? (am i.) well maybe i just learned something

about myself. learned more about myself

I might loop this song actually. it's that good. do you do that? do you find a song that's so good you just loop it and wrench every note out of it until it sounds awful to you?

[batsplat]

your top 5 fave motogp races? or alternatively what races you’d show to a newbie to get them into the sport or smth

one of those things where it's painful to pick five, but at least this ask gives me the chance to hedge my bets and pick five different races for each category (most of these races will be featured in the recs lists; 27, 4+93, 46)

laguna '08: works wonders to bring both that season and the rivalry alive. delightfully visceral and vicious, there's few duels that tell you quite so much about both participants. I have lap-by-lap notes for this race. I have points tables assessing how much of a turning point it was in the season. I have read the bit in casey's autobiography about this race about a million times. how their expectations going in influenced the dynamics of the race, how the slower man won the race, what valentino was attempting to do to casey, casey's response... I could quite literally talk about this race forever

phillip island '17: idk I don't think this is objectively 'better' than the other two infamous dogfights of that era (pi '15; assen '18), but sometimes you just notice which one has the most rewatch value for you... I really like races where risk/reward calculation is a big deal, where at least one of the riders is having to actively judge how much they're willing to do to win... with the hard style of racing in this one, those calculations feel particularly present. phillip island is in such a perfect calendar spot for generating maximum drama

misano '17: maybe the quirkiest pick. marc is too good and too successful for me to ever really have been 'stressed' watching him in his prime, but bloody hell did he run me close here. something so satisfying about being so adept in wet/mixed conditions... love the spite element of this race, love the risk/reward calculations, how marc just needs to go for it in the very final lap, his dogged determination... a race where he doesn't have a massive margin over the field but just wants it so so badly that he goes for it. he's making a statement, bouncing back from a low point in the season, super compelling stuff

mugello '04: just love races that are kinda a mess! lots of twists and turns... bunch of riders fighting it out, the sete duel, the rain interruption, bunch of riders fighting it out but now on a way more slippery track... I don't know, there's just something charming about a race that has a bit of everything! of course it's also part of my beloved 2004 season, from which I could have easily included five different races (and if you're ever looking for a full season to watch, 2004 2006 and 2017 are the holy trinity - mix of title fight drama and banger races)

okay listen I'm gonna cheat here because I wrote out the word 'catalunya' and then had a crisis staring at this post. '07 I need to include because it's my favourite casey win and it's how he establishes himself as an all-round threat and is so important in the overall context of the valentino rivalry, but '09 is like... right up there with laguna as season lynchpin races and also somehow jorge has been left out from these picks... I love big momentum-switchers I love races that have so much meaning in the context of a rivalry AND season. I also love how they're connected! that valentino did the same move on casey (just not on the final lap) and had basically already rehearsed his coup de grâce two years in advance, before visualising it the week before the race... casey joking about it in the catalunya '09 presser, jorge knowing he kinda should have seen it coming, casey kinda ragging on jorge for not having seen it coming... idk!! I like this little legacy they built there together

for newbies

phillip island '23: you need to include something a little more current to give new fans a reason to watch now... phillip island races are reliably great - this one introduces you to two of the major protagonists of the current game in a way that kind tells you a lot about both of them, gives you a demonstration of one of the best types of races (the multi-rider dogfight), and it also is the most brute force way imaginable of explaining how tyres work in motogp. pedagogically pleasing! it's the kind of race new viewers will be able to enjoy in the moment, but have a lot of questions about afterwards - the sweet spot

assen '15: easily makes my top five rewatched races too, but I put it under the newbie header because again... tells you a lot! it's very likely this hypothetical newbie will have at least have SOME knowledge of who the two protagonists are and know they've fallen out, though I suppose it'd be funny to go in completely blind. obviously a great duel and a very nice introduction to the two big names plus their respective riding styles... what you really want is some late drama and a controversial finish that you can immediately have a hot take about

donington '05: we need a full wet race, not just mixed but wet wet... this one's got one hell of an attrition rate but also proper tussling between the different riders, rather than everyone just riding out on their own. it really gives you a feeling for how these kinds of races work... lot of riders wobbling around, saving near-falls, trying to get a sense of how much they can risk, riding behind each other to have somebody else test out their conditions... plus, the valentino performance kinda slaps

austria '17: got to be a marc/dovi duel in here, and this one has the clear edge not as much for the race itself but a) the novelty at the time, and b) the significance in the title fight. in dovi you've got somebody who is emerging as a threat and is providing a new flavour of challenge.... there's also that fun tension between how marc logically very much should just be happy to be there as a result of what a ducati circuit it is and he's simply supposed to be limiting the points damage... but he also really, really wants to win... actually either this or motegi 2017, almost want to change my pick. one of those two!!

brno '03: sneaking in an old race as a gateway drug, and I think this one is quite 'accessible' to the uninitiated. I considered other ones like phillip island '01 (valentino's first premier class matchpoint race, classic dogfight) or welkom '04 (first yamaha race and one of the duels) - but I think you don't need much context to get absorbed in this one. the race commentary already gives you the most important information... valentino's struggles that season, the criticisms he was facing from the italian press, how badly he wanted to win, the haircut, all of it... and then you get to see the post-race prisoner's celebrations, a flavour of the proper classic camp dramatics

slightly silly number of honourable mentions, each of which I was extremely tempted to include: motegi '10, jerez 2005, misano '19, laguna '11, jerez '10, assen '04, catalunya '04 '05 '16, mugello '05 '06, sachsenring '06, assen '04, phillip island '04, le mans 2005, qatar 2005, suzuka '01, thailand '19, austria '19, qatar '18, silverstone '19, sachsenring '10, qatar '15, mugello '16, sepang '10, assen '07 (and ones I did already kinda mention above: phillip island '15, assen '18, phillip island '01, welkom '04, motegi '17)

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 767: Rivalry between warlords

Pag 2

1: Hahaha!

2: Two people are coming up!!

Who is it?

What a force!

Uh... those jerseys... that orange hair....!!

3: It's Sohoku's second year, Kaburagi!!

Hahaha, sorry for the wait! A hero always arrives late!!

Pag 3 / 4

They gathered from all over the country.... to decide the strongest in Japan!!

Pag 5

1: Two people from Sohoku caught up to the lead!!

Uh... Sohoku

Sohoku... and it's two of them!!

2: Senpai, is he strong?

That's the guy who last year competed until the end against Hakogaku for the sprint battle of the first day!!

3: I'll say it again

4: Hahaha, sorry for the wait! A hero always arrives late!!

He really said it a second time!! Does he like that sentence so much!?

Pag 6

1: “Join the lead” completed, Issa!!

Hahaha just as we planned, Danchiku!!

Pag 7

6: Senpai, the fact that they're here

7: means that are chances of winning are lower, right? It means big troubles for us, who used our legs, jumped ahead and got here with so much efforts, right!?

8: That's not a “hero” at all!! Rather, it's the opposite!!

Pag 8

1: Come forward if you wanna be defeated

2: Such an overwhelming confidence!! What arrogant attitude!! Ug!! Ah!?

3: But, somehow, he's a little cool!!

4: Wait wait wait

Wait!!

Pag 9

1: Small, small

You're small!! Sohoku!!

Ah?

2: A man's strength is “thickness”!!

3: Oh

4: Just now there was a guy from Nagoya who also didn't know

Just

5: Tch

6: I wanna make you understand by strength!!

Pag 10

1: Look at this thick neck!!

2: This thick waist!!

3: If you ride a first-class road-bike you should understand too!!

A thick waist is the trunk of your body!! And the trunk is the most important muscle to turn your legs and move your bike forward!!

4: And then, the “neck”!!

5: The heaviest part of the body.... the head accounts for one-fifth of the body

And it supports it from the side!! In other sports, the head is supported by the spine, only in cycling it's supported only by your neck's muscles!! That thickness stabilizes all your movements!!

6: These two things are “thick”!!

Do you understand what it means?

7: Kaburagi-kun!!

Pag 11

1: Let's race!!

2: No need for words, let's speak with our legs!!

How 'bout until the second roadsign!?

4: No problem

5: I'll entertain you!!

6: You'll recognize the “thickness”!!

7: The race between those two is starting!!

Pag 12

1: The thickest volcano in Japan is Sakurajima!!

Pag 13

1: The thickest radish in Japan is the Sakurajima radish

2: Kagoshima's Oosumi jumped ahead!!

Oosumi-kun!! His killer phrase came out!!

3: An explosive acceleration, just like a volcano's eruption!!

4: And his trunk.... his thick trunk

5: is moving forward like a log in a flowing in rapids!!

Pag 14

1: They call me “the raging log of Kagoshima, Oosumi”!!

My way of running is crushing everything!!

2: On the other hand, Sohoku's Issa got a late start!!

3: And his pedaling doesn't even have any explosive power

4: Is his condition not good!?

Pag 15

1: He's pedaling so... unconcerned...

He's just pedaling.... huh!?

4: and yet....

6: He caught up to Oosumi!!

7: H-

Pag 16

1: How!!

2: Your power is “thick” but your power loss is “thick” too

The really fast pedaling... haven't you heard it?

3: Is the one that appears weak at first glance

5: Is that the second roadsign?

6: Since you got here

7: I'll show you

8: He raised his hips from the saddle

Pag 17

1: Hoooooooo

2: My explosive acceleration!!

3: Ra!!

5: Ngh....!!

He's getting smaller in the blink of an eye.....

Pag 19

2: He accelerated with a popping sound!?

3: Hahaha, so how was it?

4: My Special Strong acceleration, that's had another power up since last year?

5: Sohoku defeated Kagoshima!!

The raging log!! And with a huge margin, even!!

Oosumi-kun!!

So strong... is he really a hero?

Pag 20

1: As expected by Issa

You sure show your strength during a “race”

2: Your high power, judgment, and wild instincts are first class

3: With this performance, you erased

4: this leading group's will to fight!!

5: There's 6km left until the...

6: sprint line!!

Pag 21

1: (Kaburagi and Danciku

Leading group)

We've passed a group of some people while coming here, but as expected there's no one else....

2: who will catch u.....

6: ….. Sohoku

Somehow

8: This pressure!!

Pag 22

1: Hakogaku's Doubashi!!

Pag 23

1: Yo!! It's been a while, orange!!

2: I came here to shoot you down!!

3: Thick!! Who is this thick guy!!

4: Ha.... Hakone Acedmy in a moment like this!!

5: What's with this pressure

6: He caught up? Until here and on his own!!

7: Ugh!!

What do we do, Issa!!

Pag 24

1: I won't forgive you...

I'll never forgive you....!!

3: You've arrived after me and so now I look like less of a hero!!

[vergess]

what's your opinion on "read books, fanfiction doesn't count"?

THIS IS ABOUT FICTION WRITING AND FICTION READING!!!!

Alright so first up: it's wrong. They are wrong. This has never been true. But it's extra and especially not true now.

Historically, there were at least minor publishing houses that specialized in publishing books by or about various marginalized groups. Historically, books had editorial teams that improved their quality. Historically, there were fucking proofreaders.

And even in that era, that was still not true.

Now, it is worth acknowledging that a well-read author will be well-read across many types of writing. But you'll note that "books" and "fanfiction" are, in fact, the same type of writing. Narrative prose.

A well read author is very well read in the specific genre and medium they write, and at least familiar with narrative and aesthetic prose, poetry and technical writing, linguistics and social theory, and especially in the writing of people from other cultural backgrounds.

You can become extremely well read using exclusively digital sources. It's probably a lot easier than accessing physical media from other cultures in most cases, really.

The push against reading fanfiction is rooted in a couple different social forces. Fanfiction, by virtue of being a self-supporting community unreliant on external publishers, is more accessible to poor people, queers, women, and people of colour. It is not as much more accessible to the disabled, but it still is moreso.

But you know what really gets people's goat about reading fanfiction?

Anyone can do it. It's for all of us.

Meaning it's ripping the stolen commons back from the hands of private capital.

Meaning our current political sphere wants you to believe it is evil, corrupting, and deeply inferior, even before we get to the part where it's usually more queer, less white, and ultimately more political than most mainstream published works in the same genres (shipfic vs romance, casefic vs serials, etc).

That makes it Bad And Scary And Cringe. That makes it undesirable. That makes it vulgar.

As in, of the people not the state.

And god forbid people to anything.

So anyway, what I'm getting at here is, as long as you're reading a good variety of styles, genres, etc there's nothing wrong with reading fic alongside or even instead of fiction novels.

With all that in mind: the things we love about fic are getting to be a little more accessible in published works these days!! Things like Murderbot and Gideon the Ninth almost are fanfiction, in their aesthetics and styles, while ultimately being brand new settings. If you're interested in branching out, there are plenty of good books out there that meet these standards.

But that doesn't somehow mean you have to only read books and not fanfiction, or that fanfiction is worse for your development as a writer, etc etc.

And of course if you're not a writer, you're just reading for pleasure not for craft?

FUCK THEM BITCHES READ WHAT YOU WANT BESTIEEEEEE

[nothorses]

With the whole voting shit going on, I've felt incredibly conflicted about voting. But recently, the opinion I've landed on is similar to Kelly Hayes. I am roughly paraphrasing here, but she said that it's incredibly insensitive to ask Arab Americans and Palestinians, people who have outright LOST their family members due to the US's unrestricted military aid to israel and the genocide, to vote. That makes sense to me. I absolutely agree with that, and I don't think it makes sense to yell at these people to vote. BUT, Kelly then goes on to say that the argument that if you're voting, you're got blood on your hands, is just wrong. Because living in America, benefiting from the imperialistic violence, we always had blood on our hands, and no one's breaking solidarity with marginalized folks simply by voting. You break solidarity when you justify your politicians' horrible actions, such as police brutality, prison industrial complex, etc. But in this case, when someone acknowledges these politicans aren't gonna get the real important shit done, only direct action works, and you're voting to choose your opponent--I don't think that's breaking solidarity. Or throwing people under the bus. The truth is even if every leftist didn't engage with electoral politics at all, and spent it on mutual aid, community defense, these things--there would still be a president until we somehow destroy settler nation America. And that president will destroy public infrastructure and attack marginalized folks a lot quicker if he isn't a democrat, because the Republicans are literally just--fascist party.

I dislike people whose only engagement with politics is to vote shame. But I also think it's just a wrong take to act like people who vote, who aren't vote shaming, who do think it's harm reduction, are all idiotic liberals. As we try to mobilize against imperialism, it's crucial to try to pick our enemies when we can. I understand the fact our wealth, the fact we have these healthcare systems, this public ifnrastructure and government assistance even if it's nowhere near enough--it comes from blood of the Global South. And there is a real problem with liberals who care about these elections only to maintain their quality of life, don't care about imperialism and global oppression at all. These people exist, and if we do start dismantling imperialism ina meaningful fashion, USA quality of life will drop. But people voting Democrat because they don't want the Affordable Care Act dismantled, want to keep their food stamps, their schools funded--they're not inherently selfish and breaking solidarity with third world folks. There's nuance here, a lot of nuance. Which is why I like Kelly saying we can't let electoralism destroy our relationships., because we are going to need to build, build, build if we are going to survive. I'm going to vote because ultimately it won't take me much time, but I also won't judge the people who refuse to, choosing to invest their efforts in direct action.

I also think the people who say voting doesn't do anything...they also ignore the nuance. I get it. I get the frustration. But as I read various perspectives, I'm starting to realize the treachery of black-and-white thing. Before there's a revolution, it's more likely we are going to build new things out of the old system, incrementalism, before we make any foundational leap. Again, this shit has nuance.

Yeah, I think this resonates a lot for me. And I'm not really here to "vote shame" either! I think I do have a similar opinion on it to FD Signifier, though, who says he thinks of voting like washing your hands.

You can choose not to, it's not the end of the world. But like. Why? Who is this helping? I mean maybe it's not my business, maybe you have a good reason, whatever. It's just one of those things that, y'know, especially if it takes you 5 minutes to mail a ballot in... it's just good hygiene.

And I think a lot of people say, "put your energy towards these other things instead!" without any intent to actually do so, and without any follow through themselves. And do you really need to not vote in order to do those things? Like is voting the thing preventing you from Doing The Revolution? For real?

At the end of the day, I'm not going to shame anyone for not voting. I talk about it because I think some people are misguided about how all this works, and I think some of the opinions people put out there just, like, suck. But it's ultimately not up to me. 🤷‍♂️

[kiyomitakada]

many of my friends from other spaces (who were around for the actual death note mania back in the 2000s unlike me, a Youngster) have criticized death note for not going hard enough on the fact that the stuff light is doing wouldn't work. in manga canon the existence of kira has somehow stopped all the wars on the planet and the crime rate has dropped steeply when realistically that wouldn't. happen. at all. and i agree with them, i think this is part of why death note objectively really sucks

i do think it is interesting that death note chooses regardless to paint light as doing an unequivocally bad thing. hang on there's a better-phrased post like this let me go find it HERE. read that first

okay welcome back. death note says, if you killed someone and it genuinely decreased the amount of harm that spreads in the world (a question that obviously disregards the grief that person's relatives would have, the opportunity of rehabilitating them, the impossibility of knowing for sure that this would actually improve the world — just. death note does not deal with those things even though i think it should), that would still be a bad thing.

and like, i agree. but i think that death note and i don't agree on the why. most death note fans i've seen could write whole novels on how punitive justice doesn't work and disproportionally affects marginalized communities and so on and so forth; death note sort of just shrugs and says, murder is bad. which it is! but god that's a weak justification i can see why some of its fans started writing quora essays like "actually light was right the whole time and should have killed more people"

…actually you know what, here's what death note is doing: it is taking a magnifying glass to the justice system but only to the perpetrators. death note is a really good treatise on how power corrupts everyone, even when you think you'd do the right thing. (death note to me is a thinly veiled metaphor pro-gun control/anti-death penalty but that's a different post.) "whoever picks up this note will only ever lead a life of misery" "the true evil is the power to kill" "misa, i'm sorry, i should never have given you the notebook" etc etc etc. death note is screaming that having the power to kill will destroy you.

what death note is not good at is actually examining the effects of that power over the world at large. it just sort of says, i mean, murder is always bad innit. L and near and mello aren't trying to catch light because they truly believe kira is Wrong, they're just after him because what else are they supposed to do. you're just another murderer, near says. and the world goes back to status quo. and the police continue to rule the world in place of kira. and i mean sure the police have less power than Magical Killing Notebook but man. death note is so close to saying "tear down the existing justice system too" and never gets there and sometimes i want to strangle it.

[squints at post] is this even anything

[jingerpi]

While I do often reblog posts about privilege experienced by those in the imperial core, even marginalized workers, I do think there is something to be said for colonial subjects within places like the US. While it's certainly important to recognize the benefits of imperialism as well as the fact that there are apartheid systems in the global south largely because of US influence, it's also important to recognize that the US is still a colonialist project and there are people here who live under a pseudo-apartheid. Many already recognize this, but I do want to emphasize it. it's very possible to acknowledge and discuss both of these simultaneously.

Though there are few laws explicitly about race, the ways Black and Indigenous people are treated by this government and legal system are markedly different from how white people are treated by those same institutions. The statistics on incarceration alone paint an extremely clear picture of this. We can conclude the purpose of a system is what it does and say this is intentional, or we can even look at the professed motivations of members of these systems, either way it's very clear that the systems of this country treat Black and Brown people very differently from white people, and even differently from each other in many ways. Black and indigenous communities have their own histories and complexities which are often completely overwritten because of their shared victimization by the USA, as do Latine folks and many other demographics.

More to the original point, while there are some privileges functionally everyone in the US receives, like easy access to the English language as well as the default currency of the USD, many people in these demographics primarily face disadvantages due to their presence in the USA, rather than benefits. While these oppressions aren't necessarily on the same axis', it's important to recognize the Imprisoned Black man utilized for slave labor is not better off for having his ancestors trafficked to the US, as if he weren't in the US he likely wouldn't be forced into slave labor in the first place, due to the racial subjugation that takes place under these systems. That being said!!! there are still people in these conditions in other countries! While being enslaved in the US is worse than being a free man, it is disingenuous to suggest it is the worst oppression Black people face, or that there are no countries which utilize slave labor in this way and have no access to English or the global trade enabled by USD.

To summarize this: while many who face oppression in the US do not face oppression across all the axis' a person in a similar position in an imperialized country would face, this doesn't necessarily mean that being in the US is on the whole a privilege, as many people in these positions would not be experiencing the same conditions of oppression in the first place were they not colonized and enslaved both historically and continually into the present by the USA.

I think it is quite possible to acknowledge and discuss both of these truths, without claiming that indigenous communities somehow benefit from being colonized, or that colonized people in America somehow have it worse than colonized people in other parts of the globe. (seriously please stop saying minorities here have it worse, we do not)

Finally I want to add that while this issue is close to my heart for a number of reasons, I am white and in the imperial core and will necessarily be lacking in experience or understanding. If you're in a similar position please don't stop this discussion here with me and other white people, seek out and read works by people who experience some of the things I've discussed. and if you are one of those (many, many) people colonized, imperialized, or both, by the USA, please don't hesitate for a moment to critique me. This discussion requires more voices than mine, I only want to amplify with my voice, not center the discussion on myself.