#even if he was being kinda skeevy

[illiana-mystery]

His mustache and dad fits give me life.

[cuntstable]

wow they were not kidding characters that you disliked in the manga will be 100 times worse when animated and voiced because you can no longer skim through their shit. uh oh

[dollfacefantasy]

Can't Help It

pairing: dbf!leon kennedy x fem!reader

summary: your dad's coworker needs a housesitter, but the house isn't the only thing you'll be sitting on (haha pls laugh)

cw: nsfw (18+), smut, p in v, masturbation, oral (m receiving), age gap (i imagine early 20s/late 30s), both reader and leon are kinda pervy but not in a skeevy way <3

word count: 5.3k

a/n: hi hi i am back! this was such a pain to write for no reason, but as always, i hope people enjoy. i'm not sure what trope this really falls under, it's probably more accurate to say dcw (dad's coworker), but we'll go with dbf for convenience. i might make a part 2 of this idk. also, i know the header images are really giving graphic design is my passion but... it is what is lol. as before, thank you for all the support on my last fics. if you reblogged or commented, i'm giving you a smooch rn. and just wanna say that i do take requests. if anyone is interested, don't be shy ;) any who, feedback, reblogs, and comments are appreciated! <3

When your dad’s new coworker asked if you’d be interested in housesitting for some easy money, you couldn’t find a reason to say no. Agent Kennedy, like your father, traveled for work a lot. Often gone for weeks at a time, he needed someone to watch the place and take care of menial tasks like getting the mail and watering the plants. It paid well and all you had to do was basically live in his house.

You had met him several times in passing before he offered you this job, and he was always nice to you. He would say hi when you’d come down for a snack while he talked to your dad in the living room. He’d ask how college was and about the different classes you were taking. One time he even told you about some old band he liked that he thought you would too. And that was all great.

But what was even better was that he was fine as fuck.

You had a fat crush on him from the moment you were introduced. The way his eyes pierced right through you but in the softest way. How his lips curled into a knowing smile while his hand gripped yours in a firm shake. The way he said “pretty name for a pretty girl” when you told him your name. From any other middle-aged man, that would have been so corny and had you internally shriveling up. But from him… you had to fight the urge to get on your knees then and there.

He’d approached you about watching his house, saying something about how there had been some nearby break-ins in empty houses and it would be a good way for you to get some spending money and blah blah blah. You were on board as soon as the opportunity to have more of him in your life presented itself.

Unfortunately, it was the nature of housesitting that you rarely saw your employer. You would see him when you showed up and when he came home and that was it. But those moments were enough to sustain your delusion.

The first time you came over, you walked into the house, glancing around the den of the man who enraptured you. It was pretty basic, but you figured that not being home a lot would be the reason for that. When you were done trying to psychoanalyze him from looking around his house, he gave you your own set of keys with a wink that had you blushing an embarrassing amount.

“Thank you, Mr. Kennedy,” you said softly.

“Call me Leon, Sweetheart,” he replied.

You had to look away to conceal your giddy smile. You didn’t think he noticed the effect he had on you. Or if he did, he didn’t care about your pitiful infatuation. But other times, you could have sworn he did this kind of thing on purpose.

Your first stint in the house went smoothly. You made sure to do everything he asked and even cleaned up the place a little bit. When he returned from wherever his work had taken him that time, he seemed impressed to your delight. He looked around, making small talk with you before writing your check.

“You get up to anything crazy while I was gone?” he said, smirking as he scribbled his signature on the small rectangle.

“Yeah, I was real wild - I brought out your vacuum for probably the first time.”

He laughed, handed you the check, and teasingly purred “good girl.” 

Now, he may have been joking, but your panties nearly soaked through with arousal regardless. You yet again hid your revealing expression as you said a timid goodbye and headed out to your car. You were shifting your thighs together the whole ride home, fantasizing about being a good girl for Agent Kennedy so he would relieve that ache between your legs that clouded your thoughts.

Honestly, all of this made you feel pretty pathetic. Lusting after your father’s coworker, now technically your boss, who was a good fifteen years older than you. Blushing and squirming every time he said something more than ‘hi.’ Weren’t you better than this? But then you’d see those thick biceps and mysterious eyes, and the answer in your mind would be a resounding no.

Because honestly, you weren’t better than this, you were so much worse. After the good girl incident, you decided that if he didn’t want you yet, he would. You would make sure of it. From then on, every time you were housesitting, you wore your most revealing outfits, did your hair all pretty, and even tried special perfume so you’d smell extra nice.

But none of it seemed to work. He kept up his regular teasing and charm, but to your dismay, he hadn’t railed you on that sad leather couch in the living room. You tried to convince yourself that his gazes lingered longer and that his touches were more strategic, but that felt like reach even for you. 

It was so frustrating. What more could you do? You touched his arm while he spoke. You laughed harder at his corny jokes. You even hugged him once or twice when you could justify it. You tried to drop hints every way you could without literally just trying to seduce him, and he did not seem to care. You nearly gave up. You decided that maybe you should just cut your losses and spare yourself the humiliation. Leave yourself with some dignity and resign to just being his housesitter.

You would have done this if not for the fact that he lets you sleep in his bed while he’s gone.

His house was meant for one person. It didn’t have a guest room. He told you on your first gig that you were obviously allowed to sleep in his bed since the alternative was the aforementioned sad leather couch in the living room. He told you to bring whatever you needed to be comfortable - sheets, blankets, pillows - since you’d be there for weeks at a time.

At first, it was too weird. It made you feel dirty, sleeping in his bed while harboring your secret carnal desires. But goddamn, that couch in the living room was uncomfortable. You stuck it out for the first time, but the second time you housesat, you relented and dragged your belongings back to the room you’d forbidden yourself from knowing. 

His bedroom, like the rest of the house, is pretty blank, but there’s a little more personality here. It made you feel like such a stalker, but you couldn’t help making observations, right? You got to see the type of cologne he wore, the few dusty books he kept next to his bed, what kind of stuff he crammed in the nightstand drawers. It sounded creepy, but you just had curiosity, right?

You set yourself up in his queen size bed, draping the plush blanket you brought with you across the mattress. The bed was comfy enough, but the absolute best part, the part that kept your fantasies alive and well, was the way the sheets smelled like him.

You nearly moaned when you took a deep breath, filling your nose with that familiar scent. It gave you such a rush pushing your face into those smooth gray linens. It was so wrong, but you couldn’t help shamefully slipping your fingers beneath the waistband of your shorts to play with your swollen clit. You clutch the sheets in your fists as you writhe on the bed, whining as you fantasize about your special agent.

Leon had gone years leaving his house desolate without an issue. All that nonsense about potential burglaries and spending money for you had been total bullshit. It’s not like there was anything of value in his house anyway. Those excuses served only as a way to get more of you in his life. He thought housesitting was a happy middleground, a tether to you without being obvious about his motivations.

Ever since he saw you for the first time, heading out your front door, offering a timid ‘nice to meet you,’ he had been hooked. You bewitched him with your sweet temperament, that soft laugh when he told you bad jokes, those gorgeous eyes projecting all the emotions in that pretty head of yours. God, you were so fucking cute.

You made him feel like a dirty old man, sick and perverted for coveting his colleague’s daughter. The embarrassment he felt within himself when he’d notice he was staring at your tits or imagining how your soft lips would look wrapped around his cock was immeasurable. Even though the guilt boiled inside him, he couldn’t stop himself. He craved you. He started finding more opportunities to visit your house, hoping he could steal a few moments of your time. That’s when he knew enough was enough.

Having you as his house sitter worked perfectly. He could have his moments with you without feeling too disgusted with himself. Even though he liked to tease every so often, he kept it friendly. He noticed that you, on the other hand, seemed to be doing everything to change that.

He wasn’t a fool. He could see the changes in your appearance. Those skimpy outfits you’d flaunt yourself in drove him crazy. The way you’d playfully roll your eyes and brush his arm had his cock twitching in his pants. It was becoming all the more tempting to spread you out on the dining table and take what he wanted. But he still wrestled with that part of himself that said to not take it too far. That you deserved better.

That was until you started sleeping in his bed.

He had come home after your second gig, given you your check, and sent you on your way quickly because he was exhausted from his mission. He went straight to his room and collapsed on the bed. He could tell the sheets had been freshly washed by the soft feel, but also because you were always going above and beyond to please him. Despite the recent cleaning, he swore to himself he could smell some of your perfume on them.

He looked like a madman, smelling his bed sheets for the faintest hit of that scent. He groaned, picturing you lying here, your beautiful body sprawled out on his bed. He inhaled deeper while conjuring images of your unkempt hair and sleepy eyes. It wasn’t long until his dick sprung to life as he saw images of you with one of his pillows between your legs, whimpering as you drag your dripping cunt back and forth along the fabric. He couldn’t help the need to desperately pump his cock to sinful visions of his precious girl.

This morning it’s about six when Leon unlocks the front door and quietly walks inside. He completed his mission hours before. He was tired, but it had been short, only about a week, and relatively easy. He told you he would be home in the evening, but he’d finished earlier than expected.

He trudges through the house and down the hall to his bedroom, collapsing in bed at the forefront of his mind. It’s not until he reaches the door and hears your deep breathing that it occurs to him that his bed is currently occupied. He gently pushes the door open and walks in, planning on rousing you so you could get your money and be on your way. When he sees you though, that plan vanishes from his mind.

The sight of you nearly melts him into a puddle. He pads closer to the bed, careful not to disturb you. Your shiny hair is draped across the pillow as you lie on your stomach with one leg hiked up. Your arms rest close to your face, their raised position causing your t-shirt to ride up and allowing him to see your waist. The blanket was tangled between your legs, and his eyes are immediately drawn to the junction of your thighs covered only by those thin panties you wore.

Despite your beauty, he controls himself. He pulls the blanket over your lower body and sits beside you to contemplate his next move. He came up with a few different things he could do, but all he wanted right now was to watch you sleep. He felt like such a creep, but you looked heavenly in this state. His ears strained to hear those delicate exhales coming from your parted lips.

He could just go sleep on the couch until you woke up. He could just wake you up and offer to let you stay until you had your bearings. Or he could just let himself enjoy this a little more.

He wanted to wake you though. He wasn’t fully sure of what he was doing, but if there was any part of you that had reservations he wanted to know. It would rip his heart to shreds if he frightened you somehow. He begins rubbing your back in long soothing strokes. He makes small circles with his fingers every so often. You stir a little, but don’t wake.

He continues his ministrations, smiling at your sleeping form. He uses his other hand to brush your hair from your face. He strokes the locks away from your closed eyes before leaning closer to you. He can smell that familiar scent that had driven him to humping the sheets for the last few months.

“Hey Angel, need you to wake up for me,” he coos in your ear, his hot breath fanning across the side of your head.

It slowly registers inside your unconscious mind that you aren’t dreaming. Actual fingers are coasting along your back. An actual voice is coaxing you back to reality.

A low hum emits from your throat as you shift to face the source of your disturbance. Your eyes open, still heavy from sleep, and Leon enters your field of vision. For a second, you wonder if you’re still dreaming.

“There she is,” he whispers, giving you that charming smile. He runs his fingers along your jaw and tilts your chin to turn your face completely in his direction.

You feel your brain malfunctioning as he floods your senses. The morning light coming through the window illuminating him as he looks down at you. The deep timbre of his voice speaking to you. His rough fingertips dragging across the smooth expanse of your cheek.

Soon as your eyes come into focus and your mind clears the fog of sleep a little, you grasp enough of the situation to feel a jolt of panic. It felt like you woke up late for school. You shoot up in bed and look at him with wide, apologetic eyes.

“Oh my God, Leon, I’m so sorry. I thought you wouldn’t be back until tonight. I’ll be ready in a minute. Just-” you ramble. You go to fling the blanket off of you, but remember you didn’t wear shorts to bed. You have to sit there, looking at him as you feel heat creeping to your cheeks.

“Hey, it’s alright,” he cuts you off with a quiet chuckle, gently catching your arm when you sit up, “I finished a little early. You don’t need to rush out the door. I figured you’d still be asleep.”

The look in his eyes soothes you. He has that rugged, worn out look that he gets when he comes back from missions. Your heart rate falls back down to normal levels, but your eyes still cast downwards, a little embarrassed he’d caught you unprepared. His fingers trail up and down your arm, and you shift a little to try and hide the fact that your nipples are hardening beneath the flimsy fabric of your shirt.

“Thank you. I’ll be up in a few though. I know you’re probably tired,” you say, giving him a sheepish smile.

He moves so that he’s further on the bed with you. He lays back on the pillows and looks up at you, rubbing your back how he was before you woke up. 

“Mmmm, I am, but you still don’t need to rush. I’m not gonna complain about a sweet thing like you warming my bed,” he says, that teasing smile spreading across his face and his fingers starting to trace patterns exclusively on the small of your back.

Your eyes flit away as your own smile grows on your face. How were you supposed to be normal about this? You look down at your hands in your lap and mutter a thank you.

“Honey, you really don’t need to be so shy all of the sudden,” he says softly, but there’s a smug lilt to his voice as well. You bite your lip as his hand begins fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

He can’t help the smirk and predator-like glint in his eyes that form at your reaction. This was it. That little smile and refusal to meet his eyes was all he could stand. He was closing in now. The flirtation between you two had gone on long enough. He wanted this, and if you wanted it too, his mind couldn’t find a reason to deny the two of you any longer.

“Sweetheart, if you have something to tell me, you can come out and say it. I don’t bite. Unless you want me to,” he says as he reaches up to pull your hair behind your shoulder and out of your face, “And, lately I’m starting to think that’s what you want.”

You look over to him now, your eyes staring into his. Your limbs feel weak, disbelief coursing through your veins. Your thoughts stampede through your mind, but you eventually force the words from your throat.

“I think I want that too,” you breathe. Your heart seizes at his brows playfully rising. You lay down on the bed, resting on your side so that you and Leon are face to face. Your pulse thunders in your ears while you try to conceal how shaky your breathing is.

He scooches over to you, pushing you on to your back and propping himself on his elbow so he’s positioned above you. He leans down and presses two faint kisses to your cheeks. Pulling back, he looks into your eyes and strokes your cheek again with the same soft and slow movements.

“Think, babydoll? I think you know what you want,” he whispers, dragging his thumb over your bottom lip, “I think you’ve known for a while. Wearing all those cute little outfits, prancing through my house and brushing against me like a kitten. You were just begging for my attention.”

You squirm slightly under the spotlight of his affection. Somehow, you maintain eye contact even though every cell in you feels the urge to look away. Part of your mind wonders if he’s still teasing. If he’s about to pull away and leave you wanting.

Before you could overthink anymore, his head lowers to the crook of your neck. He takes a deep breath of you as he moves himself further on top. 

“Now, you’ve got it, but all you had to do, sweet thing, was ask,” he says as his mouth ghosts over your neck, “That’s all you have to do right now. Just want to hear that you want me as bad as I want you.”

“Yes,” you whimper without a second thought, “Please touch me.”

“That’s my good girl,” he hums as he begins kissing your neck. The kisses are soft. They’re barely there, but they’re overwhelming to you. You can’t help the pathetic sound that leaves your lips as you tilt your head back. The hand that had been touching your face trails down to your waist and begins caressing your side under your shirt.

His tongue gently laps against the skin of your neck between kisses. Your whole body is starting to heat up while simultaneously getting chills. Every inch of you aches for his touch. Your thighs subconsciously spread as your breathing becomes heavier.

Leon lets out a small laugh at your display. “You must really want this Baby. Just a few kisses and rubs and you’re already mine,” he murmurs as his lips move up your neck and down your jaw. He kisses your lips next, giving your bottom lip a little nip.

Another needy sound escapes your mouth. You return the kiss and flick your tongue against his lips. “I do, wanted this since I met you,” you moan, your body writhing for more.

“Naughty girl,” he teases against your lips, “That’s okay though, Angel. I’m the same way. Wanted a handful of these pretty tits since I saw you.” His hand moves up and kneads your breast. His fingers massage the flesh before centering and pinching your nipple. 

You whine and arch into his touch. Your eyes flutter as your face contorts with desire. He slides over you, straddling your waist. He stares down at you and takes in what was finally in his grasp. He coos for you to sit up a little while he pulls your shirt off of you. You comply and then flop back against the pillows. Now exposed from the waist up, his eyes feel even more intense. He’s locked on to the view of your tits.

“Oh, Sweetheart,” he mutters, “Even better than I imagined.” His hands cup the sides of your breasts, groping them a bit. You can now see his cock beginning to strain against his jeans. Your mouth waters at the sight, but it’s gone when he leans down to take a nipple into his mouth.

His tongue circles the peak before lapping against it, drawing more whines from you. Your body arches into his touch while his hands never let up their fondling. You take your lip between your teeth again. He moves to give the other nipple the same treatment, leaving the other one cold as the air touches the saliva-coated skin.

He plays with your breasts for a while more before drifting down your abdomen, lavishing your stomach with kisses. He squeezes your waist as he playfully tugs the hem of your panties with his teeth. He looks up at you deviously. “Your nipples were so hard, I bet your pussy’s fucking soaked for me.”

All you can do is nod, any verbal response tangled up in your esophagus. He leans back on his knees and swiftly pulls the garment off. His pupils seem blown out as he gets a look at your cunt. He pushes your thighs to your stomach, spreading you out for his gaze. You felt so exposed, at his mercy as he held you there and just looked at you. Your arms reach down and pull at the hem of his shirt.

“Wanna see you too,” you whimper with pleading eyes.

“Yeah?” he says with a soft smile. He leans back and pulls his shirt off. It takes everything in you to hold back a gasp. “Been fantasizing about me, have you?”

Your eyes rake along his chiseled abdomen, drinking in every line and shadow of his muscular frame. You reach out and pull him back on top of you. His grin grows, and he indulges you. You connect your mouths again, this time sliding your tongue inside his. He groans at your sudden eagerness. He runs his hand through your hair while you feel up his back, exploring the definition there.

You give him a little push, signaling that you want to roll over. His body flips over and takes you with him so that you’re positioned how you wanted. You make out for a minute more until you pull back, looking at him with your lustful eyes and swollen lips.

“Wanna suck your cock,” you say simply, sliding down his body so that you’re lying between his legs. You nuzzle against the bulge in his pants before unzipping them and tugging them down.

His eyes follow your every movement. He pets your head as you rub your face against the outline of his dick. He tilts his head back and lets out a sigh. 

“That’s a good girl, just gotta give you some love and then you loosen up, don’t you?” he coos.

“Mhm,” you hum. You kiss his solid length over the cloth of his boxers. Then, finally, what you had been waiting for since meeting Leon. You loop your fingers over the waistband of his underwear and pull them down, unveiling his beautiful cock.

You wrap your fingers around it, just an exploratory touch. You feel the veins in your hold and the heat radiating from his shaft. You slowly bring your head to the tip to give him some tiny licks. Your eyes dart to his face, looking for approval.

Leon’s chest ached from the way you were looking at him like he was a god. When your tongue sticks out and your eyes return his stare, he nods at you and keeps stroking your hair. Your lips soon wrap around the tip, and you bob your head a little. He groans and his hips twitch.

“That’s a good girl, baby. Good fucking girl,” he moans as your head slides further down his member. His fingers lace through your hair, pulling a little.

The praise only makes you more enthusiastic. You move up and down with more speed, making lewd slurping noises as you work. His hand on your head and his sounds of pleasure has heat collecting in your belly, leaking out of your dripping pussy.

His head rests against the head board as he watches you with half-open eyes. His eyes squeeze shut and his body tenses as you push your head all the way down, taking him into your throat. Spit trickles from your mouth and drips on to his pelvis.

“Fuck, Sweetheart,” he whimpers, tugging on your hair a little. You taste his pre cum leaking on your tongue. A gagging noise comes from you and his hips twitch harder. He barely restrains himself from bucking up and lodging himself deeper in your throat. You moan around his cock, driving him even crazier. He feels the rush of an orgasm approaching and tugs your hair with more firmness, guiding your head up and off his lap. You whine softly as you lose the taste of him.

“Sorry, pretty girl, don’t wanna cum just yet,” he says.

You crawl back up his body, so you’re in his arms again. You kiss his cheeks and the corners of his mouth as he rolls the two of you over so he’s on top again. He connects your lips in a deep kiss, tasting himself on you as he drags the tip of his cock through your slippery folds.

He doesn’t tease for long though. Soon enough, he’s pushing himself into your tight cunt. You both let out a symphony of sinful noises. Leon watches as your face contorts with pleasure as he stretches you out. You both felt a budding sense of satisfaction after finally receiving what you craved for the last several months.

He bottoms out inside of you. His head falls forward against your neck. He pants as he holds himself together and lets you adjust, keeping an iron grip on your hips. Your fluttering around him as you accommodate his girth. Your nails lightly dig into his back while you cling to him.

He begins thrusting with slow and deep strokes. You moan out his name a few times with a variety of expletives. He keeps his face buried in your neck, grunting as he feels the velvety sensation of your walls around his length. His motions become more fluid as he finds a rhythm with you.

“That’s right Angel, better than your dreams?” he murmurs against your neck.

“Yes, fuck, yes,” you whimper, “So much better. Think your cock was made for me.”

“That so, Baby? I’m made to fill up a precious girl like you? Keep you happy and full of cum,” he growls into your neck, his thrusts gaining intensity.

You nod thoughtlessly as he continues battering your insides, gliding over your sweet spot repeatedly.Your arms wrap tighter around him as you feel yourself getting dragged closer and closer to the edge. Your noises become more strained as Leon lays sloppy kisses on the side of your head.

He hooks his arms underneath your knees and brings your thighs up to your abdomen again. His arm loops around and thumbs your clit as he slams himself in and out. Your back arches and you squirm from the rush of white hot pleasure. You’re right there, not able to hold on for much longer.

“I’m gonna have you so full of my cum today, it’s gonna be dripping out of you still the next time you’re here,” he grunts into your ear, “Make sure your pussy remembers me till I can fill her again.”

His vulgar words rip a high pitched moan from your throat and cause your eyes to roll back. “Fuck, Leon, I’m gonna cum,” you whimper.

“Go ahead, sweet girl. Squeeze me nice and tight,” he moans, his own voice getting strained.

You do as he says. The orgasm overtakes you. You release a strangled cry as your body rhythmically rolls into the feeling. Your pussy clamps around Leon tight, sucking him deep and keeping the attention on that blissful spot. The thrill of satisfaction rushing through your mind only works you further. Your eyes flutter and your lips part as you completely let go.

As he watches you cum, he notes that it might be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. The sight of your gorgeous body writhing and trembling because of him. The primal sounds of your moans and cries. It’s too much for him. He growls and grunts into your neck, fingers digging into the flesh of your hips. He snaps even harder into you and floods you with his sticky, hot cum.

You both ride the waves of euphoria together until you both start coming down. He basically collapses on you as he catches his breath and you wipe the sweat from your brow. After a minute, he pushes himself off of you and flat on to the bed next to you. He gazes at the ceiling as his chest continues to rise and fall with the need for more oxygen.

You sit up slowly, realizing he probably wants you gone now. Like he said, you feel his cum leaking out of you as you move to grab your panties from the corner of his bed. This is how you expected it to be, but it still hurt a little. Nothing you couldn’t handle though. Your pulling them back on when your snapped out of your thoughts by Leon’s arm around your waist, dragging you to him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks teasingly, spooning you and softly kissing beneath your ear, “You got what you wanted and now you’re running out?”

“Oh, uhhh… I thought you’d want me to leave,” you say quietly.

He guides your face so you’re looking at him. His eyes are still soft but more serious. “You think I would just fuck you and then throw you out on your ass? You’ve been sleeping in my bed for months, but you don’t know me as well as you think,” he says and kisses your nose, “You don’t have anywhere to be today, yeah? You thought you’d be here till later anyway.”

You nod in agreement, your eyes casting down with some embarrassment over your assumption.

“Hey, don’t get all shy on me now. There’s no reason for it,” he teases, “We have all day for me to show you how I want to take care of you. Just give me a moment, I’m not as young as I use to be.”

[other-peoples-coats]

struck by the idea where, For Reasons, plan saddest desert hermit doesn't get off the ground and team proto-rebellion have to pivot and pivot fast.

chucking the conspiracy equivalent of a uey at 100mph on the highway, and everyone involved is sleep deprived, stressed as fuck, and experiencing y'know, several levels of Devastating Grief.

the person with the brain cell is bail organa, a man who in canon spends like 20 fucking years playing ding dong ditch with a genocidal psychic space wizard and his boss, an even more genocidal space wizard. This man is not lacking in gumption, one can say. he is possessed of life threatening amounts of chutzpah, one might also say, except that he spends twenty years winning the ding dong ditch match with, again, a genocidal fascist dictatorship which includes two genocidal psychic space wizards who literally know he was in tight with the genocided group of space wizards plus the [mumble] number of other murderous genocidal space wizards, plus the rest of the non-space wizard space fascist cohort.

So. What does a man with a spine of steel, a heart as big as a planet, and more gumption than anyone should possess do, when plan 'split up the kids and hide the most famous man in the galaxy on the saddest hell planet' is a no go?

lie. lie like a fucking rug.

What's palpatine going to do? day one of the empire, his super awesome chosen one space wizard makeover project is still in progress and not yet wheezing his way into the galaxy's nightmares, and bail fucking organa strolls into the imperial senate with:

one (1) baby (female)

one (1) baby (male)

several (~20+) aides and various hangers on, including;

one (1) brown haired blue eyed man who could, if you squinted a bit, probably get third place in a general kenobi lookalike competition, were those now not super duper illegal

Sidious, of course, could be like A JEDI KILL HIM TRAITOR ETC, but, crucially, his wheezing attack dog is still on the lab table getting seven inches added to his height and cup holders installed, or whatever the fuck skeevy sheev added in as extras. Palpatine is an old guy who is still trading on being A Beloved Grandfather who was Reluctant To Take The Throne, and is still easing the galaxy into the whole, y'know, we're a fascist empire now, kneel or perish.

Palpatine, on day one of the empire, can't point at bail fucking organa and be like HABOURING A TRAITOR unless he is really, really sure, like 110% sure, because it's bail fucking organa and every goddamn senator will baulk like a horse at a plastic bag if he accuses, again, the senator of alderaan of high treason on day one of the empire.

A secret rebellion is fine, if not ideal; you can theoretically stamp it out, and, also, it's small, percentage wise.

The entire fucking galaxy thinking that, hey, if the guy in charge is going to go after fucking alderaan, what's to stop him going after us? bigger problem. huge problem. original trilogy kinda touched on that one. Day one of the empire, everyone is still basically on war footing, and fuck man, if alderaan is copping it....maybe this empire isn't great after all. maybe we can make our OWN empire, with a different emperor.

Would palps win? eh maybe. would it destroy all credibility forever and ever amen? yeah. the difference between a 'legally installed emperor' and 'a dictator we must overthrow' is how willing the galaxy is to lick boot, and there's not yet the fear of The Empire black bagging you to keep those tongues going.

so. palpatine can't say shit. palpatine can imply shit, palpatine can get his lackies to say shit. but, crucially, palpatine himself can't say fuck all about the goddamn kenobi lookalike that is now following after organa and wiping his kid's little butts and playing gofer and whatever else.

and what's more believable? bail fucking organa is hiding a traitor, or bail organa and his wife have a situationship with a guy who looks sort of a bit like a former general? the same kind of situationship that like, half the senate has had at one point or another with a guy (or guys) who looked sort of a bit like said ex-general. go to any high level business and/or political building, you'll find half a dozen guys who look vaguely like said hot ex-general, and many of them will have a more or less (often less) accurate coruscanti-ish accent. or will develop one.

(hey, it's a niche. gotta pay the bills somehow, and if you get the job because you dyed your hair and grew a beard, well, you're still using your political science degree, right?)

of course, that only holds for so long, but by that point it's been, y'know, a while. and that looks worse in a different way -- what, kenobi was fucking walking around in front of the whole imperial senate, and none of them noticed? absolutely not, all credibility is gone forever.

which means. that palpatine and the organas are stuck in a full on staring match about this guy who is 100% for sure not kenobi, because -- well. he can't be kenobi. becuase that would look bad. but also. it's kenobi. but also. it can't be kenobi.

(vader takes one look at this guy who looks like his master kenobi and then rolls his eyes, because he has already met aproximately 90,000 people who look vaugely like his master and he got very good at picking out how the newest one was not kenobi his master by the time he was a senior padawan.)

[attonposting]

Okay, so Carth keeps coming up lately, both by people who love him and people who don't, and I thought I'd throw my two cents into the ring.

People complain that Carth is sexist, a lot. And I get where that's coming from, I've got the same issues with his romance as anyone else. I love the bones of Carth's character and remember him very fondly – he's tied for my favorite character from KotOR I, even! But the writing is... flawed, to say the least, and in a way that goes past just 'poorly aged.' I don't think his lines themselves ever go worse than awkward, but there's some more fundamentally unhealthy stuff written into his relationship that I suspect wasn't intentional.

What I find interesting, and what a meme just very succinctly pointed out, is that many of the same people who have beef with Carth are cool with Atton. Who is definitely the more sexist of the two, both incidentally and deliberately. And it's a really interesting differentiation between the two pilots/f!PC love interests/earlygame buddies, because I think their palatability comes entirely down to how the games portray that sexism. So this is my attempt to figure out why one thing works and the other kinda doesn't.

Carth Onasi is introduced as a stand-up guy. He stays behind as long as he possibly can to save other survivors on the Endar Spire; he believes in the Republic wholeheartedly, he serves to protect and approves when you do the same, and other characters sing his accolades. He's supposed to be wholesome, but with PTSD-related trust issues that cause friction between him and you.

Atton Rand is the opposite of that. You find him in a jail cell, he's untrustworthy and a cad, at any given moment he's either abrasive or lying through his teeth, he complains when you help people, and when you get to the bottom of his trust issues, you find out he's a worse guy than you ever could have imagined.

It's much too oversimplified to say that Carth is supposed to be a good person and Atton is not, that's not where the problem comes from, but it will become relevant later.

When Carth starts flirting with you... okay. The biggest, most obvious problem is that the game wants you to be into it. Carth flirts and continues to flirt after you can tell him to stop. Sure, whatever; that's not egregious. You can respond to Carth's flirting positively or negatively, and that's great... but when you do respond negatively, the game loves to pull you into these playful insult exchanges where your PC shouts and pouts while Carth taunts you. There's where the issues start. Even when the player is trying to shut him down, they get dragged along for the ride anyway, and the narrative decides that this is also romantic. Thus KotOR I only has a shallow understanding that it's presenting a situation a woman may want nothing to do with. It's kind of impressive that you can actually call Carth sexist in-game, and yet it doesn't feel like the game actually understands that he is in fact being sexist.

Actually, no. Maybe I'm reading too deep into this, maybe this is why I'm so forgiving to Carth as a character, but I don't think the problem is Carth, I think the problem is that the game is being sexist in this particular spot. I was more annoyed by my own return dialogue options than anything Carth said to me - especially the ones where I was being mean. It felt like f!Revan was being pigeonholed hard into the writer's idea of 'women', that it was not an especially flattering or nuanced view, and there wasn't anything that I actually wanted to say. Definitely the writer did not understand my perspective as a player – but that's not a problem unique to K1 and it's one even the sequel is super guilty of at times, so I'll move on for now.

When Atton makes skeevy remarks, you always have at least one dialogue option to call him out for it, and you cannot ever react positively to what he says. Either you smack him down or you ignore him. This is extremely important. Yes, you could argue that it's not as accommodating to how different players might react... but what this establishes is that the game is self-aware. It does not think what Atton is doing is in any way attractive, or that it should be interpreted positively. Instead it acknowledges what a lady's probable reaction to his unwanted advances would be and encourages the player to express it, and the way that's written isn't a playful back-and-forth, it's the Exile snapping at him and Atton backtracking. Atton's being a piece of shit, but instead of stirring up chemistry, the narrative goes out of its way to mete out karma – hence everyone else on the ship mocking him, or the comically topical details like him being an unwashed loser who smells terrible and scratches his junk in public. Whether you like Atton or not, the game wants you to know that it thinks he sucks, and you are never left feeling like there is an unsettled score.

On the contrary, this lack of self-awareness is what makes Carth's romance in K1 hard to swallow if you didn't start out receptive to it. When you can react negatively to Carth's comments, it doesn't feel like you can do so in an intelligent way. The tone is very “Ugh, MEN, amirite” rather than “I don't like the turn this conversation has taken and would like to just be your colleague again” or just “Stop.” - which is probably what you wanted to say if you were just platonically enjoying or less-amicably bickering with your dorito-jacket companion when the gorgeouses started coming out of left field.

Worse, when you actually can shut Carth's romance down, it involves being a dick to him and stomping hard on his personal issues. Like I'd understand if a player was angry with him at this point, because again, you've been forced into a romance arc even when you were telling the game no as much as it would let you - but there's a huge difference between wanting to tell a guy to back off and wanting to shit on his dead wife or his Sith kid or his blown-up planet. I dunno, I'm not that vindictive! I think there's only a couple of options at the very end of his romance tree where you can turn him down... not even amicably, it's still rude, just without being a Grade-A asshole, and by that point, you have been through a lot of flirting you presumably didn't want to be involved with. Generally, the game won't let you break things off with him without being a dick, even if you never agreed to board that train in the first place. Now loop back to the way that K1 unfailingly portrays Carth as a great guy, whose flaws have nothing to do with his upstanding sense of morality, and there's where the dissonance comes from. Not only does the game push you into his romance after you said no, it makes you the bad guy for trying to get out of what he initiated.

But there's another issue in the timing of the Carth relationship. He starts his flirting while he's expressing intense distrust and standoffishness with your PC. With Carth's nonstop skepticism about your trustworthiness, and constantly bringing up his issues with you... at least during Taris and Dantooine, it comes off more like his attraction to you is superficial and not as a result of him growing to like you, something that's pushed by how it's always focused on shallow hooks like your appearance or your 'cute' attitude. It's very awkward. I do not think this was the writer's intent. I think Carth's supposed to be captivated by what he's seen you do, and that's just going in recursive loops in his paranoid little brain and making things harder for him. By the end of the romance, it's extremely clear that Carth's into you for you. But it's clumsily handled at the start.

Contrast this with Atton, who starts off aggressively sexist towards a female Exile, fifty times more offensive than anything Carth ever does. Literally the first line he gets is leering at the PC's forced state of undress, mocking her vulnerability, and he continues in that vein for much of Peragus. He creeps on your nudity at least four times off the top of my head, he ogles you, he complains about women, he tries to hit on you, he even contemplates the possibility of Sexy Kreia (which is a level of dickery I can scarcely comprehend.)

But that tapers off and disappears around the time he starts showing actual romantic interest in your PC, like when Kreia threatens him and it's revealed how much your opinion matters to him, or when he asks Bao-Dur for advice. And a female PC never sees it again. This creates the opposite impression – that Atton's attraction is a result of your time together. Sure, he's still a pig, but it follows that he wasn't making serious passes at you on Peragus because his behavior now that he is actually interested in you has changed. And it implies that in an actual relationship, that would not be how he'd view or treat you, which I think is crucial for how willing people are to ship Atton with their Exiles.

Now, this is all a product of how K2 did not actually answer that question and let you romance Atton, because with Carth, it's the opposite and you see exactly how he behaves once he gets into a serious relationship. It involves spanking. Things could be very different if K2 actually had fleshed out romances. It's hard to say, because both the PC and the crew were very thoughtfully written (I will take a bold step here and say that K2's characters were on the whole written much better than K1's), but on the other hand, Atton is still the worst and I'm pretty sure the game would want to remind you of that if you agreed to play tonsil hockey with him. And it may have crashed into the same pitfall that Carth's did; if the game railroaded your interactions with Atton up to some point, it'd leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth who wasn't already signed up for the ship.

With the way things are, Atton not only gets a free pass to be interpreted as generously as his fans want and easily ignored by those who weren't keen on him, he even gets an interest boost from this because people will always want what they can't have.

Anyway. With a male PC, you'll continue to see Atton make sexist remarks towards other female characters and can even have a wingman chat with him that is entirely him projecting his issues all over women. He doesn't make these comments with a female PC, suggesting that he's on his best behavior... but that he'd still totally be a leering asshole if he wasn't trying to impress you. With a male PC and Carth, his sexism is nonexistent, again probably because he was never intended to be sexist and it's a product of clumsy/oblivious writing.

There's an additional layer with Atton and the question of how much anything he does is an act, but that doesn't exonerate him from any of the crap he says. I could write a separate essay on Atton and his relationship with women, but the guy is very much a womanizer who's terrified of the idea of intimacy and has a lot of shitty opinions that stem from his defensive need to believe that nothing emotional is ever real or relevant to him. He might've been casing the Exile on Peragus, but his chauvinism is genuine.

But I digress. The tl,dr; is that Atton acts less sucky the more he crushes on you and Carth acts more. Combo that with how their respective games make Atton pay for being creepy but give the strong impression they want you to go along with Carth's nonsense, and it's a little less mystifying why Carth gets so little benefit of the doubt while the King of Trash enjoys fandom sexyman status. His romance is almost predicated on the fact that he's a scumbag, where Carth's is very confused to whether the awkward parts should exist or not.

There's a bit more that kinda hurts Carth. The flirting... well, from what I remember it just got “wow, okay then” later on, and I found it way more silly than offensive in any way, but him repeatedly bringing up how you remind him of his dead wife doesn't help the relationship much and suggests that Carth may be projecting someone else over you. I can live with that, drama's tasty and it doesn't prevent a real connection from burgeoning. You can make the exact same argument for Atton anyway, and I think his is way worse. My major issue is at the end of the game. Mr. Trust Issues does not react well to the events on the Leviathan, when it turns out he was right to have kept an eye on the PC all along. It's great payoff! And I absolutely adore his discussion after that, when he admits his struggles to reconcile you and Revan, how he tried but he can't hate you, how helping you gave him something real when revenge only left him hollow. Seriously, for all the shade it gets, there's some really great stuff in his romance too - you just have to stick it out long enough to see it. But then, on Rakata Prime, Carth seems to reconcile his crisis of faith and finally, wholeheartedly decide to love you in a way that falls flat on its face. He confirms you're a good person because you're not Revan anymore, like Revan is some purely evil part of you you've now cast off, when... that really seems more like denial than anything else, and not the foundation for anything healthy.

Seriously, I wish they'd handled that with more nuance. It would have counted for so much in my books.

All of that said. I know I just went after the man like a vending machine with a stuck bottle of chocolate milk, but I think the sexist vibes in Carth's romance are worst at the start and that he does not deserve the sheer amount of flack he gets. I've seen far worse offenders in the world of video game romances, and this might drive some controversy in and of itself, but I vastly prefer Carth x f!Revan to Bastila x m!Revan. There's a whole 'nother pile of issues in K1's other official ship (f in chat for Juhani), and I think those are much harder to deal with than the ones here. If anything frustrates me with Carth's romance, it's how unnecessary all of the bullshit is. I really want to get into it! The concept is perfectly fine! I love the character! There's good stuff in there! And when I replay KotOR, it's not that difficult to close my eyes to the bleh parts and enjoy the rest, especially once the first couple of conversations are past. Again, all Carth needed was a more conscientious writer at the wheel.

I'd be really interested in hearing other people's takes, both on how they interacted with either of those romances or where their interpretations differed from mine. I only have my own perspective and that of a few people I've talked to over the years, and I'm given to understand this is something of a fandom hot topic!

[olderthannetfic]

I do have to say that one of the great joys I’m getting out of the James Somerton fall from grace is that it’s happening to a gay man who bought big into misogynistic ideas about women, women’s sexuality and women’s interest in M/M media, and used his platform to put a “respectable” face on that (while misinterpreting the numerous queer scholars he plagiarized from who had more nuanced or positive takes, of course). It’s really nice to have someone with the platform that Hbomb has calling out another queer man for that kind of misogyny, which so often gets a pass it really shouldn’t. I hope it allows for a more mainstream conversation about how often misogyny flies under the radar as supposedly pro-queer, like all the moral panics about women (or even just AFAB nonbinary people) writing M/M fiction, alongside the comparative lack of that for cis men writing F/F stuff even when that stuff IS genuinely kinda skeevy!

--

Yuuuup.

And, hey, if we want to talk about the primary actual issue in both cases, I'm game.

That being, of course, a marketing issue: I've seen plenty of gay dude authors be cranky that idiots keep labeling their books "m/m" or "m/m romance" when "gay coming of age", "gay lit", etc. would be more accurate, and then they attract the wrong audience and get bad Goodreads reviews. Meanwhile, their actual audience can't find them.

Same deal with the word 'lesbian' being constantly co-opted for porn for straight guys. Who gives a fuck if they make that porn? But it would be nice if it didn't make it fucking impossible to search in certain contexts.

The reason this sucks, obviously, is that one category of stuff is often massively larger than the other and thus has a way better chance of drowning it out and making search results useless.

But idiots like Somerton never bother to talk about legitimate issues of access/marketing/making money as a queer creative. They just whine that people making art/porn at all is bad.

[suzukiblu]

Look we all know the existence of certain risks of things like child stardom, mediocre adult supervision, and people who go for specific kinds of positions of authority being fucking bastards, SO: there is an unnecessarily involved omegaverse AU in my head where Rex Leech takes way, WAY worse advantage of a freshly-decanted omega!Superboy in order to pay off all of that money that he owes to assholes, and instead of JUST betting on metahuman fights and making shitty investments and selling Superboy's likeness to anyone who's buying and all that, he kinda just . . . gives Superboy some "tips" for how to win over or get favors from certain people in the entertainment industry and similar fields. Or just anyone Rex is trying to wring some cash out of, basically.

So Rex makes better money! Pays off a couple of debts! Is still irresponsible and shitty with it and making stupid decisions, but look, a couple extra bucks never hurt, and the Kid is fine with it! ‘Course he is!! 

And this read-more will DEFINITELY support that POS POV! Definitely!! For sure!!!!

And so not-even-technically-presented, definitely-not-legal Superboy is hanging out with and being encouraged to FLIRT with skeevy older people and general creeps who are taking full advantage of this naive teenager with Superman's face every chance they get. Superboy doesn't know better, and he trusts Rex; the guy can be a little sleazy sometimes but he's still watching out for him, so . . . this is normal, right? And Rex says they REALLY need this investment/this opportunity/this money, so . . . 

So like, Superboy gets abused and doesn't have the frame of reference to understand it. He really doesn't like that part of this gig, but Rex says it's important and, well, if it's just this once . . . if he already did it last time . . . if it'll only be a night or two, or maybe a long weekend . . .

It's not technically prostitution, but also Rex absolutely DOES just fucking sell the Kid a few times and repeatedly justifies it to himself with crap like "he's a teenager, he's a horndog and a flirt anyway, and obviously he likes the attention" and other fucking awful bullshit like that, because he is more concerned with the money than, idk, anyone’s mental health?? Though he doesn’t mention it to anybody who’s not a client, obviously, Roxy’d kick up a fuss and Moon might get territorial and talk the Kid out of it, and Dubbilex, hell, he doesn’t even understand how show business WORKS!! 

But of course word DOES get around about it, just a little, and then it starts happening more and more often, and Superboy likes it less and less and starts to halfway HATE it, honestly, but Rex keeps saying it's IMPORTANT and NEEDS done and just . . . 

He gets–used to it, kind of. Almost. 

It’s just how it is. 

And then like, hand-wavey convoluted I’m-still-undecided-what-exactly shit happens and Superboy somehow ends up in alpha!Lex's official custody, probably through Lex bribing a lot of people and committing some fraud and shameless lies, and Superboy assumes . . . alright, well, he guesses now he's like a fucking kept boy or something, huh. He doesn't like that idea at ALL, but at least Luthor's only one guy. And he seems like the jealous type, so he probably won't wanna share too much. Right? 

So that could be worse, Superboy guesses. 

Lex, an oblivious supervillain who is actually NOT aware of what kind of way worse advantage Rex was taking: this is great. I’m going to get a good grade in clonefather, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve, and then we’re going to conquer the world. >:3 

Superboy, simultaneously: . . . seriously, I’ve been here like a WEEK already, is he gonna fuck me or NOT?? 

And thus ensues a not-actually-funny comedy of errors where a traumatized kid keeps expecting to get abused and even Lex FUCKING Luthor is not that much of a prick and therefore totally misses literally every sign of the Kid trying to follow the appropriate “script” with him. Hm, Superboy wants attention for some reason, fine. MERCY, get the kid a black card to entertain himself with. 

. . . now the kid wants attention even MORE? 

baffling. 

Superboy, internally: if he keeps buying me all this stuff he must REALLY want something BAD, but where the fuck else would I go anyway, so . . . 

Lex: I’m putting on a movie and reviewing my files in your general area. Congratulations on receiving my attention, now don’t interrupt me. 

Superboy: . . . . . . what is even happening right now. 

And then a very peculiar experience of very slowly accidentally making a pack happens to both of them, wherein Superboy did not expect a dad out of this kept boy scenario and Lex did not expect an actual PUP out of this world domination plot and they’re both increasingly bewildered by everything the other does.

[sahaias]

Soy Luna Season 2 Episodes 69-80 Thoughts

Okay these might be a bit scattered because I binged these episodes and then went on a date yesterday, so it's not as fresh in my mind as I'd like

Can't say I didn't see the Simbar falling out but it's still rough. It is sad how Ambar did really change thanks to Simon but Simon not believing in her caused her to act exactly how everyone expected her to.

Matteo's actions are so inconsistent and annoying that I cannot support him with Luna in any sense. She's given him so many chances to just be nice to her and things would work out, but he just doesn't and acts all pouty

Rey being the one to reveal the truth after he has no reason to be loyal to Sharon is fitting

The flashback of Lili and Sharon's argument which started the fire was a nice addition. It is Sharon's fault, why is she writing a love letter to Bernie years after he's been with Lili and has a kid with her???

Also I know part of it is having an actress in her early 30s playing Lili vs current Sharon (who's clearly in her early 50s) playing flashback Sharon, but no wonder Bernie picked Lili lmao. She's beautiful and based on how everyone talks about her, her personality is way more sensible and endearing

The Sliders are super cringey and kinda accurate (in personality) to how random edgelord teenagers acted in 2016 minus the goth makeup and clothing lmao

Sharon is such a piece of shit, and I love seeing her in her full-blown villain monologues about how she deserves everything because Lili "stole" Bernie from her and how Luna is "stealing" her fortune. She doesn't deserve shit. It is kinda funny how she packed up and ran the moment she saw Bernie and Luna 100% reunite as family members despite them not even having a full conversation yet.

This Red Sharks plotline is so annoying and seeing Mathias back as another skeevy man is not the Violetta actor return I wanted. Santi Owen felt weird, and this feels even weirder

THAT LUMON MOMENT AT THE END, WHY ARE YOU BRINGING IT BACK AFTER BARELY MAKING IT A THING IN SEASON 2 AT ALL??

I am a sucker for childhood friends to lovers so I think they might be my favorite ship on the show

[moodymisty]

Ahh your writing is so wonderful! I have a request for Crosshair x F!Reader for “I’m not letting you out of my sight”

Like they both have a secret crush on each other but they are at a bar and Crosshair sees someone try to hit on you and he gets sexy possessive jealous?? 🫢🤌 NSFW is ok! 😈

❀ Milestone prompts list ❀

Author's Note: Ohhhh I love me some possessive tropes... Lets get it on~ I might come back and touch this one up a bit since i'm not totallyyyy happy with the way things flow, but I really wanted to write and post some naughty Crosshair; I've been doing so much fluff

Relationships: Crosshair/Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, mild instances of a stranger being a little pushy flirty, Semi-public sex, Slightly rough sex, It's crosshair so any sort of emotional communication is awful, Unprotected sex

This bar is, shady. To put it lightly.

It could be worse, but it's very clear that this is the bar to go to when one is finished with some less than savory business, or you're persona non grata everywhere else.

But as such, it's also the only bar in this dank, dreary city that'll serve clones, so it's not as if you are all swimming in options. Of course you all finally get some shore leave, and it's on this sunken heap of a planet. The whole place smells like smog; Like some of the lowest, darkest levels of Coruscant.

The rest of the Batch is all late- held up by some repairs on the Marauder that needed immediate attention and multiple sets of hands. They encouraged you to head on without them and that they'd been done quickly, and Crosshair had decided to follow you.

You might normally have told him to stay and help them, but now that you're here, a part of you is a little bit glad that he didn't stay behind. He's a nice anchor point, as otherwise you'd be totally alone in a completely new place. A bar no less, one that doesn't seem exactly used to people like you and Crosshair inside of it.

"You look like a fish outta water, girlie."

You're not against petnames and nicknames, the Batch and most people you know rarely call you by your name anyways, but you're not a fan the way this bartender says it.

You also aren't fond of the way he's acting as if Crosshair doesn't exist, though he more than lets himself be known on the barstool right next to you as you respond.

"Just waiting for some friends," You respond. He fills someone's glass full of an unfamiliar and strong smelling liquor that burns your nose, giving it to them before looking back.

"Not more clones, I hope."

Crosshair speaks up, his eyebrows raised and shoulders firmly set. You'd say he's trying to seem intimidating and unfriendly, but that would imply it wasn't working.

"A problem?" The bartender makes a nonchalant noise in his throat and continues to serve some of the more demanding, drunker customers surrounding the two of you.

"Not if you're all payin'." Even if the answer isn't as negative as you would've expected, Crosshair is still less than pleased. The man looks at you, failing to give Crosshair even more than a wayward glance as he speaks.

"Didn't think a chick looking like you would spend time with that kinda lot."

Your face curls into a bit of a grimace, even as the shout of another patron beings the bartender's attention elsewhere. But even as he's gone off you can still feel how testy Crosshair is, as if the air around him is almost electric. You glance towards the front door for what feels like the millionth time and still, no sign of the rest- so you lean in towards him and whisper.

"Crosshair, relax. Go splash some water on your face or something."

Sure this isn't the most comfortable scenario, but you could do without him snorting fire every which way. You can shove off someone being a little bit skeevy without his help.

Instead of calming down however he snaps right back at you, his lips as tight as his brow when he spits out a response.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight. I see the way everyone's looking at you."

You don't know what part to focus on; The fact that he's noticed some less than appropriate stares happening behind you that you hadn't, or that he's openly admitted to keeping such a keen eye out for you. You tuck a chunk of hair behind your ear and look around.

Part of you is a a bit hungry, but you'll probably end up just eating some of the rations back at the Marauder, at this point. Especially if the others plan on taking even longer, glancing towards the entrance with pursed lips.

"Still waitin?" He's back, and you can feel Crosshair bristle just as you stretch a thin smile and nod.

"I'm sure one of the guys 'round here could show ya a better time than this." He's smiling, and you don't know in what way he means 'better', but innuendo or not it's not a deal you're going to take him up on. Crosshair seems to agree, beginning to hiss something from between his teeth.

"How about y-" "I'm taken. No thanks."

Crosshair stops speaking, and looks over at you. The bartender shrugs. When he looks at the sniper beside you and clearly presumes you're both together, you don't correct him.

It fits with the narrative and, you wouldn't mind roleplaying Crosshair being your lover for just a moment. It's almost hard to remember when you'd first fallen for him, but you've yet to speak anything about it to a single soul.

"Shame. Worth a shot."

He seems to at least get the hint, and turns around to go about some more of his business. Your shoulders relax a bit knowing that you don't have to deal with any of that anymore, leaning back. When you look over at Crosshair however, he's looking off in no particular direction, clearly lost in thought.

"Cross?" You're one of the few people that can get away with calling him any sort of nickname, raising your eyebrows as you look at him and raise a hand to touch his shoulder. When he turns his face is firm set, and you feel your face get hotter under his stare. His eyes have always been intense, but it feels like he's almost staring into you, instead of at you. It's making your heart beat a little faster, heat going to your neck as his eyes flicker around your face thinking things you don't even have a chance at guessing.

Suddenly out of nowhere he grabs you by the wrist and tugs you off your barstool, walking in the direction to the back of the bar. When you attempt to ask him why, he doesn't answer.

There seems to be only a storage closet and a refresher back here, alongside the backdoor into presumably With one fell swoop he opens the refresher door and pushes you in, closing and locking it behind him.

"Crosshair! What are y-"

His lips press against yours before you can say anymore, feeling the small of your back press against the countertop. They feel surprisingly cool against your own, your still open eyes having barely caught the way his are squeezed shut.

You've had a thing for Crosshair for the longest time, and while there's far better ways in the galaxy to confess to someone that you don't hate them, you aren't going to look a gift kybuck in the mouth. Not when Crosshair is so impossible to read, how he really feels is usually seven layers deep.

It takes you more than a moment to get over the overwhelming sense of surprise and actually reciprocate, instead of standing frozen like a statue. You can feel the gentle ghosting of his breath across your face, the aggressiveness he'd had at the beginning of the kiss fading away to be almost lovingly gentle. His lips move slowly with yours, catching your bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before he pulls away.

"Why'd you let him assume I was your date."

It sounds like there should be another half of that sentence, but Crosshair doesn't say it.

"I thought you wouldn't mind, as long as it got him to stop talking." He keeps stepping closer in this tiny closet of a room, and so you hop up onto the countertop and part your thighs enough to let him in. It's never exactly been a secret that you've thought about this, and finally being able to indulge in him has your hands grasping his shoulders so tight he'd have to wrench them off to get away.

"I didn't think a random bartender would make you so upset. Why’d you never tell me you were jealous?" You say, before his lips quiet you again. When he pulls them away with a soft 'pop' you can't help but trail after them, more drunk off of him that any sort of liquor you could get at the bar. He's feeling the same, judging by the fact that his pupils are blown so wide you can barely see the dark brown of his eyes.

"I told you, I didn't like how he was looking at you." It's not the first time Crosshair has pulled a stunt like that, but you normally thought it was because he found any sort of flirting in his vicinity annoying. Not that he liked you that much. It's not as if you can blame yourself- as Crosshair is just that hard to read.

“I didn’t think it mattered to you that much,” You say, illuding to the fact that he’s never given you so much as a hint that he might feel some way about you. He doesn’t formally respond, but you think you might’ve barely utter something along the lines of ‘it does’ against your skin.

Body tangled with yours the way his hands clamp around your hips is like a vice, fingers slipping into the waistband of your pants and underwear. When he pulled off his glove you don't remember, but so much has happened so fast it's almost a blur. They brush along your outer lips and instantly the sensation makes you tighten around nothing, already anticipating them slipping inside of you. The way your cunt is already wet enough to soak his fingers isn't lost on him, nor is the way make a noise loud enough that you feel the need to bite your lip and try to silence it. His fingers slip between your folds and brush against your clit, thighs tightening around him as your hips twitch towards him. The sensation already feels intense, silently begging for more.

The room is tiny and stuffy, if you stretched your foot out you could probably almost brush against the opposite wall, but every sound bounces off of it and fills your ears. The soft rustling of clothing and harsh breathing, the wet sounds of his fingers thrusting in and out of your cunt pace limited by the fabric of your bottoms. Your body warms and stretches around him, wetness slick over his hands and staining the fabric of your underwear.

He only stops when your own hands start grasping at the front of your pants and impede him, trying to finagle them off. Slick hand pulling from where it'd been cupped around your pussy, he helps pull them off in one fell swoop, pants and underwear dangling by only your left ankle.

He'd not taken a piece of armor off when you had all arrived earlier, coming here in his full kit minus helmet. As such he's peeling away the only piece that offers resistance to his goal, it coming undone and falling to the floor as the fabric of his blacks gets awkwardly torn aside. Only then can you suddenly feel the heat of his cock against your thigh, heavy and hard as he pulls you close enough to the edge that he can grind it against your cunt. There's a quiet groan he lets out through his teeth while moving against you, wanting to just sink himself in you. His hot breath fans over your face, your arms tight around his neck and thighs squeezing his hips.

You're desperate- hot and wanting not in a mood to play around in some dirty dimly lit refresher, hand slipping between your bodies and almost forcing his out, guiding his cock to press against your entrance.

Fuck, you've thought about this. Far too many times. Crosshair has too but, it's only tonight that he's finally breached the awkward air that always hung between you two. When your hand returns to his shoulder he's already sinking himself in you, burying to the hilt as your body feels almost unbelievably tight and soft around him.

"You're gonna rip holes in it," Crosshair mumbles against your skin, slyly referencing the way your nails and digging into the fabric of his bodyglove in the small spaces your managed to sneak in.

You might've considered spitting some sort of demand from him, but instead you push your hips closer to his own, listening to him groan in your ear as he drives his cock deeper into you.

It's all awkward and clumsy, an unfavorable spot that's completely spur of the moment. Then again a lot of the things you end up doing with Crosshair are spur of the moment, like midnight runs for food or running off to the middle of nowhere for some quiet, so perhaps this confession is just par for the course.

He's rough and unforgiving, frantic nose pressed against your face as he deepens your kiss. His armor keeps brushing against your bare skin as he thrusts into you, rough and unyielding against your soft meat of your thighs. It's a bit uncomfortable, but any thought of him removing it involves him having to stop fucking you- stop having his hands clench your hips so tight you think he'll leave little bruises as he pulls you closer to the edge of the counter.

"Then throw it out. I'll get you a new one if I do." Slowly his lips drift to the corner of your mouth, before down your jawline to your neck before he responds.

"I'd keep it." His kisses are rough; Not rough enough to leave a mark, but you wouldn't mind if they did.

If you ever had any concern of someone noticing your absence it's long gone, skin hot to the touch in any spot it's exposed as Crosshair pulls you harder onto him. His cock keeps brushing against every soft, sensitive nerve and muscle, making you gasp and your toes curl in your boots.

It's all so much; Your stomach turning and twisting as every single thrust of his hips and brushing of his teeth on your skin fulfils and thirst you'd had for ages.

Your legs wrap around his hips ever tighter, as you cum and bite your lip enough to leave dents. Your ankles lock and have him trapped close to you, snug deeply against and inside of you so much so that he can barely move.

Maybe it's that feeling of closeness, or maybe he's just been barely holding on this whole time and your cunt clenching tight around him is what does him in, but it isn't to long later before you can feel his nails digging into the skin of your thighs, cumming inside of you with a hiss through his teeth.

The countertop feels cold against the back of your thighs, but your body is running so hot; Skin flush and nearly boiling underneath the clothing you still have on. It's all a wreck too, bunched in odd places and wrinkled. Not that it matters, in the long run.

Your legs flop limp away from him, and he leans back enough that his cock pulls out of you, as he quietly catches his breath. The insides of your thighs are slick and feel a mess, and you can feel the way his cum leaks out of you and onto the countertop.

Your legs feel like absolute mush; There's no way you'd be able to walk at the moment. Thankfully you don't need to, as your chest gently rises and falls with each caught breath.

"Warn a girl next time you're going to take her for a ride like that, yeah?" You joke, hoping to soften him up a bit. Crosshair is alway so aloof, no matter what the situation.

"You want a next time?" You glance up at him and see his softened eyebrows and tiny crook of his lips- he's clearly teasing you. It still makes you doubt for just a moment, however.

"Do you?" His face is close enough that you could tug him in for a kiss if you wanted, your hands now more gently just laying on the crook of his neck.

"Yes."

You'll stipulate that you'll be wanting a date first, but you can barter later.

Sliding off the counter with now steady legs you clean yourself and the refresher up to a presentable state and follow him out, thankfully not bumping into any unfortunate souls along the way. The worst thing imaginable, that would be.

But once you enter the main bar area again, it's not long before you notice the rest of the Batch, all standing around waiting. Echo is the first one to turn and notice you and his brother heading towards them, tilting his head.

"Where were you two?" Echo speaks up, raising his eyebrows. Instead of answering, Crosshair instead flips the question.

"Where were you? We've been waiting."

You were doing a little more than waiting it seems, having a silent conversation with Hunter as his eyes are on you. And, they look a little surprised. Any longer and he might just get keen, so you quickly invent a reason to leave them behind.

"I think me and Cross are gonna head back to the ship. We've had our fill of this place for tonight." They look about to speak up, but Hunter cuts off any objections.

"Be careful on the walk back, you two."

The two of you take your leave, the rest of the batch getting to have their night of fun while you two head back. The air outside is brisk but not enough to shiver, adjusting your clothes as the wind blows them awkwardly. Crosshair keeps exact pace with you, walking quite close- almost shoulder to shoulder.

"How long do you think they're gonna spend drinking?" You casually look up at him, swaying a little to the side while you walk and almost bumping into him.

"A while," He says, before glancing down at you with no shortage of suspicion. "Why?" You shrug.

"No reason."

[mahoushoujotechsupport]

diamond dust chronology

so as promised, i figured i'd type this out and keep it together in one post just to refer to myself and for anyone who might be interested. again, this is mostly speculation that a particular japanese fan had on twitter.

diamond dust closes out the school festival their first year of high school (this is canon and is explicitly told to us by momoka in episode 4)

the shot we get of momoka's smartphone in episode 4 shows a few articles on a music news website about diamond dust. the 2nd of those articles specifically states that industry insiders are looking into when diamond dust will make their major label debut because of the success they've had. it mentions how they closed out their school festival, but it's unclear if that means they also did it their second year of high school or if this is still referring to their first year

in episode 6 we're told by the serbian night owner that right before they moved to tokyo, diamond dust had 10,000 followers. keep this in mind for the rest of the timeline because this fan's theory is they had 10K followers by the time they played at their second year school festival (doesn't make too much of a different in my opinion though)

in the summer of their third and final year of high school, when momoka is 17, is when they decide to drop out because an agency has reached out to them. we can confirm for sure that it's their 3rd year because in episode 1 momoka tells nina she was 17 when she dropped out and they're in their summer uniforms in episode 8

so starting from here is when things get a bit more speculative

their indie album debut was most likely recorded that summer given that they're wearing their summer uniforms on the cover. it's worth noting here that this already kinda tells us that the girls likely got scouted by some less than scrupulous agency because they're using their being high school girls as a selling point by making them wear their high school uniforms on the cover of their debut indie album lol

at some point between summer and fall of their third year of high school, they move to tokyo and that indie album releases

the outfits they wear on the DD poster that was up at serbian night kinda seem to be clothes more suited for the fall so this fan thinks at least the photoshoot itself took place during the fall. another thing to note in terms of the skeeviness of the agency they'd signed on to, we have momoka talking at the beginning of episode 8 about how they'll move to tokyo and the poster itself even says "Diamond Dust in Tokyo". serbian night is not located in tokyo lol but kawasaki

an important point to make about the serbian night performance, we can speculate momoka was already 18 years old since the serbian night owner says it hasnt even been 2 yrs since he last saw her and in episode 5 momoka is now 20 years old. it's also right before june when shin kawasaki (temp) performs at serbian night (their show is on june 6), so the old DD show must have taken place around summer when momoka was 18 perhaps?

also something to note is that that first poster never got replaced with a newer one UNTIL New Diamond Dust is finally making their debut with hina at the tokyo dome. could it be that their serbian night show didnt do well? maybe that whole DD in tokyo tour didnt do well and talks of becoming an idol band started after that?

so essentially, a whole year passes by from when they first moved to toyko/kawasaki(?) and the serbian night performance from the old DD poster

by the time we're shown flashbacks of diamond dust being forced into the idol outfits, it looks like it might be winter to early spring given their outfits, so momoka is likely 19 already here

one more thing that i've seen various fans across the board speculate is that void may have been written around this time. winter-spring of momoka being 19 would line up with nina just about starting her 2nd year of high school and the entirety of nina's bullying took place during her 2nd year

random aside they brought up is how depressing this must have been for momoka once they got forced into the idol outfits because we already see the other DD members go right along with the change. ai, for example, had already dyed her hair. looks like rin may have as well if that blueish tint to the ends of her hair arent a weird coloration error in this shot

and from here we make it to the summer when momoka was 19 years old where presumably diamond dust was going on tour and nina had bought a ticket to go see them

the tour's canceled and most likely it's because momoka quit around this time so DD had no vocalist and the search for their new vocalist begins

at some point between that summer and well before march of when she's 20 and the show begins, momoka manages to record her own solo album, a copy of which she sells to nina for 100 yen in episode 1

so what was she doing from summer to march of the following year? aside from trying to make it on her own i guess? she barely made it a year before just completely giving up

i want a side manga of what she was up to that whole time so bad lol

[blakemcntgomery]

[BLAKE MONTGOMERY. 32. CIS MALE. HE/HIM] is here! They’ve lived in Asbury Park for [32 YEARS] and are originally from [ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY]. They are a [FRONT DESK CLERK AT ROSE MOTEL] and in their downtime love [TAX/IDENTITY FRAUD] and [DEEP RESEARCH]. They look a lot like [DAVID CORENSWET] and live in/on [OAKDALE]. The song that makes people think of them the most is [DEVIL’S ADVOCATE BY THE NEIGHBOURHOOD]. 

☆ playlist. ☆ pinterest. ☆ muse. ☆ connections.

━━ ⟢ the basics  full name → blake theodore montgomery birthday → 03/24/1992 big three  → aries sun, sagittarius moon, leo rising 🔥🔥🔥 height  → 6'4" mbti  → entj sexual orientation  → he's not picky 😔 hometown → asbury park, new jersey 

━━ ⟢ personality tidbits - in a nutshell, he's chaos - his emotions overrun his whole life, and it shows - also kinda has a mentality of if he wants to be something he can be without a degree because in the wider sense it's all bullshit and did the dinosaurs have college degrees in business  - that being said, he never sticks with anything long enough to see it through or be dedicated to it, he thinks there's too many options - unfortunately he does fall in love with strangers without knowing them knowing them, and once he does he gets very disappointed and is like “wow how did i miss such a big red flag” meanwhile he's over here looking like a 🚩himself - once a girl he was dating told him he always called people immature or that they were acting like a baby, but really it was him all along who was the immature baby, and that impact it had on him he spent everyday after that proving to himself that wasn't true - he's all about the hustle of getting money, no matter the means  - deep down he's always wondering what his real life purpose is, or if he even has one. he's always combatting himself internally  - he will randomly drop his own lore on people without them asking or saying - he struggles with existential crisis on a daily basis, but mostly about god because he's going back and forth on what the fuck is going on in the universe  - he lacks a filter, or says what everyone's thinking and thinks he's righteous for that  - he may ruin his relationships with everyone, but the one sacred thing in his life is his pets!!!! he loves dogs and cats, and he would die for them or kill for them, no questions asked - he dropped out because he thought he was smarter than his professor - he does what he can to get by because obviously working for a motel front desk doesn't pay all of the bills - whether that's aiding people in tax fraud, or any kind of fraud, intimidation tactics the list runs endlessly - most of the fraud he commits is from the people who check into the motel and it's more or less the skeevy people he can tell aren't the best individuals  - he thinks he wants to be in love, but when he gets into a relationship he's like oh no what the fuck have i done  - thrives when he's living in his own individuality and independence  - screws over a lot of people who were nothing but good to him, friends, relationships, family - deep down he struggles with thinking he's a loser, and he does think about everyone he's ever done wrong, even if he never talks to them about it, or apologizes for what he's done, let alone admit he's done anything wrong - but also he never takes anything super seriously he's like okay calm down we're literally on a floating rock and he disguises his pain with jokes

━━ ⟢ go deeper tw: fire, death, drugs - one of his first core memories is having his feelings invalidated and laughed at by his entire family, from that point on he started to hide his raw emotions.  - he was born into a family of mostly sisters  - i would say he's the black sheep of his family, and the family disappointment wrapped up in one - his family is well off, but they disowned blake when he dropped out of college and he scrapes by because he refuses to go and beg for their help  - his mom and dad are well known psychotherapists and authors, but unfortunately they based most of their writing off of blake  - his parents treated him more like a case study than their child  - they would do things to trigger his reaction, get rid of his pets without so much a warning  - the one time he thought he was having a genuine moment with his dad, he hadn't realized his dad bugged the room to record it and analyze it for data  - after his family cut him off of money, he recklessly broke into their house, robbed them of everything, and set the house on fire, including their cars, etc.  - he hadn't known his sister was inside the house, he purposefully waited outside until he thought everyone was out of the house  - his parents tried to save her as soon as they got back home from dinner, it resulted in his parents being trapped in a room after a beam fell and blocked the door resulting in third degree burns on various parts of their body.  - blake didn't go see them in the hospital, he ran, he laid low for awhile and waited for it all to pass. he paid someone for an alibi, he destroyed any evidence tying it back to him - the following day when his parents and siblings were trying to get ahold of him, he ignored it. he took the money he stole from them and spent it on drugs in a club to try and forget all about it.  - what he didn't know is they were trying to tell him his sister had died from the fire - he didn't go to her funeral, instead he spiraled into what he already knew everyone else thought of him anyway. 

━━ ⟢ connections like i said on sunny's!!! i want all the connections, old classmates, exes, crushes, people he's scammed, people he's worked for to do illegal things for, friends, foes, enemies, people he's robbed, neighbors, people who've checked into the motel, cousins, co workers, situationships, etc etc etc i need it all !!!

[0nelittlebirdtoldme]

TikTok is FUMING over Jinx right now. A lot of people are dropping it and I don’t blame them, Jae is only gonna go downhill from here. I hope you don’t mind the really long ask cause I just have so many thoughts and no one to share with. I could write a thesis on Joo Jaekyung.

Honestly I had a whole interpretation of Jaekyung’s character and chapter 34 straight up changed that. He did two things I thought he would never do:

1) He aggressively put his hands on Heesung and directly threatened him with violence TWICE in the same chapter. I don’t think people realize how serious that is. He’s on equal footing with Heesung. They’re both celebrities. Both public figures. And for Jae, a fighter, an athlete, a scandal involving physical violence towards Heesung would literally RUIN his career. All this time I was thinking “Yeah, he’d never take his anger out on Heesung because they’re equals, Heesung’s got money and power. Dan is the weakest one in the situation so Jae will take it out on him” so look at me being a clown 🤡

2) He lied to Dan. For the first time in 34 chapters, he straight up manipulated him. Not tricked him. He directly intervened with his appointment with Heesung by lying, saying Heesung cancelled. It wasn’t even a GOOD lie!!! It was a half-assed, he didn’t even try to sound believable (because yes, Dan, you’re right, it makes NO sense for Heesung to contact Jae instead of you). But poor Dan believed him. My point is: I never took Jae for a liar, or even a manipulator. He was always either petty or very upfront about everything, so that shocked me. Which makes me believe now that Jae never lied to Dan until now because he never had to before. He always had full control of Dan as is, but the littlest threat to that hold on Dan made him do all that.

Ironic how half the fandom (me included) believed Heesung to be a conniving snake but turns out Jae’s the one who fits that description. In my mind, he was always a straight forward, violent douche. What you see is what you get kinda thing. And Heesung would be the “two-faced” douche to counter him. But Jae’s proven to be a lot more dangerous and sneaky ever since Heesung appeared. I guess this is the first chapter that legit has me thinking about how scary Jae is, not just because he’s violent, but because he’s shown he can be manipulative as well.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, i deeply appreciate it and honestly agree with so much about your essay.

I am a dark-content enjoyer. Nearly all my ships are fucked up, toxic or abusive. I went into Jinx knowing that it will have some skeevy stuff. However, i think this is actually the worst thing Jae has done so far. Yes, even worste than the sexual coercion. Because, as you said, until now he has been honest with Dan, and hasn't been withholding information (that we know of). He tells Dan when he wants to have sex, he tells him what he expects from him, he tells him how he feels about what they are doing. And Dan goes along with it, because as he thinks to himself, if he knows what is going to happen, if it is just this or that, then he can manage. But this "base of trust" has been completely ruined with chapter 34, when Jae does that stunt right in front of Heesung without Dan being aware.

I swear, my stomach dropped when i first saw that reveal, thinking for a hot second that he might let Heesung have his turn on Dan as well, without him even realizing.

That said, I never really got red flags from Heesung, and I honestly hope that he will reveal to Dan sooner rather than later what Jae has done. But for now, of course, we have to keep in mind that Jae has no problem getting phsyical, as well as the fact that he will lie, and manipulate and withhold knowledge without even batting an eye. So yeah, Jae is a manipulator, and a liar and just honest to God dangerous - curious to see how things will evolve from here.

[autobot-ratchet]

earthspark episode 9+10!

hfgdjs I love how they've been building up ghost as this super skeevy morally grey organization that's using the autobots to further their anti-con agenda but they're all just cringefail losers, including that one dude from earlier who was hunting Twitch

"it's been 30 years! well, 15 for you." okay so I'm completely justified in feeling weird about everyone being so cool with Megatron lmfAO he was absolutely doing decepticon shit on earth within recent memory

THE BUMBLEBEE SUIT........

I love how we're slowly but surely playing with the idea of gender-swapping more and more bots (in particular, swapping from male to female since yknow. there's like 1000 male bots and like maybe 20 females if you really scrape for the obscure ones lmfAO)

I barely have anything to say about this scene, this is just some good, good action lmAO

as much as I poke fun at Dr. Mandroid, I am immediately interested in his villainous angle here, especially in tandem with ghost's deal and Optimus and Megatron's moral dilemma, I'm seeing the overarching themes, I am the noticer

fhdsjak come on Op you gotta pinky-swear

aw I'm glad Optimus arranged things so that he can still go with the Terrans, I was fully prepared for him to have to be like "eermmm sorry, I know I pinky-swore, but actually I gotta go do ghost things you know how it is." also more Megatron-Dorothy time hell yes I'm so ready

oh I LOOOOOOOOVE how Dorothy holds onto Megatron's leg as he walks, like it's a practiced motion they've done a thousand times oughgjdsfgu I forgot how much I love human/bot relationships my fucking neurons are ACTIVATED

oh shit these spider droid things can do it all

GET HIS ASS DOROTHY

ooh tell me the LORE mandroid, he hates literally all parties involved and I wanna know why, spill the teeeeaaaaaa

there's that spidery symbol again (edit: I was playing Earth Wars and saw that symbol again in that game, it's Quintus Prime's crest lmAO I kinda thought it was gonna be Tarantulas-related since I know his ass is in this show somewhere)

"go ahead, kids, you got the touch." and the fuckin synth music kicking in shut uuuUUUPPP

the ember stone, huh? I did call it a matrix rock before but it looks absolutely nothing like the matrix lmAO so yeah that's fair that it's an entirely different object

I love that they wrote Alex to just. have transformers as a special interest, I love how it works in both canon and meta, I love transformers lore lmAO

once again crossing my fingers and praying for the cyber sleeves to equip the human children with weapons to protect themselves

uhhhgfhdsj I'll come back and edit this post with what the cybertronian writing says later, I wanna watch right now lmAO besides I'm willing to bet it says the same thing the wall did, "in times of need, help shall rise to your call," that fits for this situation (edit: it does not lmfAO it says "Evolution of hope.")

OH NEW GUYS, THAT ONE'S NIGHTSHADE RIGHT THAT'S MY FELLOW THEY/THEM USER HIIIIIIII

oh shit they actually caused a cave-in

happy birthday kids, now escape mortal peril lmAO

oh of course Nightshade's a little fruity with it lmfAO also I gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the masculine voice, usually when an agender individual shows up in a piece of mainstream media, they're very clearly feminine/afab since the general cis population thinks that agender people are just weird and quirky women and have a hard time grasping the concept of amab folks being anything other than Male so I'm happy to see this

I love that everyone else in the show also just calls this dude Mandroid lmfAO like even during serious scenes, they're not even dunking on him like I am, he really did just fuck up his introduction forever

"he or she just doesn't fit who I am" oh it warms my heart to hear that in a mainstream transformers cartoon aaaAAAAAHHHH..... and I was afraid they'd handle that in a really clunky way, especially when I heard that a character literally says the words "Nightshade's pronouns are they/them" in the script, but that felt natural enough in its canon context. also I do feel a tiny bit of vindictive glee at them specifically saying "he or she" is not correct, cannot TELL you how many times I've seen people use "he or she" to refer to a group of people when "they" would've worked just fine, just REALLY letting me know you think there's only two options

ohhh hearing Optimus prime respect someone's they/them pronouns has my heart soaring lmAO it feels like my veins are filled with liquid sunshine, feels good feels right feels organic!!! literally every time I start doubting my gender and thinking I should just go back to presenting as cis, I hear someone refer to someone else with they/them pronouns just casually like it's not even an issue and the gender euphoria goes DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!! and like truly what choice do I have but to be more of a they/them than ever lmAO

I said it before but I love how involved Dorothy is with the action in this show. It always made me happy that June got to be part of the team in transformers prime but she was a doctor, not a fighter. I am specifically glad that Dorothy is fucking shit up in this cartoon lmAO it rules

ooh interesting, his base moves??? or is it invisible, I know he's got that kind of tech

aww Alex...

omgdhfasjk the seven billion text messages...

I am a fucking sucker, that whole "the color purple" thing got me good lmAO

fghsdjksa good fake accent, Hashtag

DFGADHJSFDGHDJSF THE SPARKLY ANIME YURI FLASHBACK..... purple is apparently also the color of lesbian airplanes, first Slipstream now Skywarp lmfAO

this man's lips are so fucking dry y'all gotta stop zooming in on them

OH THE BASE DOES IN FACT JUST FUCKING MOVE LMAO

oh hell yeah, love the heart-shaped explosions while they kiss lmAO

oh my god Mandroid really does have history and beef with EVERYONE, how the FUCK does he know Alex???

Twitch is just collecting dads like it's a hobby

ooh shit we got spilled energon

girl you better know what the fuck you're doing, I actually like you you better not die

YEAAAHHHH FUCK HIS WHOLE DAY UP

"is every day like this for you?" FOR REAL LIKE Y'ALL HAVE BEEN ALIVE FOR HALF A DAY AND ALREADY YOU'VE SEEN ALL THIS SHIT

aww I'm glad Optimus finally got a dub, he's been getting yelled at this whole dang show and now we finally got some tangible progress on the kind of thing he's trying to achieve, good for him, good for everybody

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

In chapter 6 of SOTF, what was Lady Rhea’s reaction to meeting the Baratheons? Her first proper encounter in story is one where she sees how happy they are to see Yorick, and Lady Minela dotes on him and tells Rhea he’s the sweetest boy. Considering that she’s been without her son for two years, and just had the convo with Corlys about a betrothal (where she points out that the king having a living son might change his mind) did this start any wheels turning for her?

NGL, the main thing going on with Lady Rhea at that particular moment was just being incredibly overwhelmed. As you pointed out, a lot was going on & I think she just kind of took meeting the Baratheons as her excuse to finally let how out of her depth she felt hit her.

Because here she is: coming off of 2 years without her son when even before that she'd only been able to parent him for about a week every month for something like a year (maybe a little longer), both of her kids claimed dragons without really having been given the go-ahead to be allowed to do so (I mean, Yorick had been given permission by the time The Cannibal showed up, but he then proceeded to do something everyone had thought was impossible), she's having to work with the dragon keepers & the king about what the setup is going to be at Runestone, Corlys wants to use Yorick's proximity to the throne, she's putting up with Viserys, & through all of this she's pushing it all down to play politics & take everything in stride so she doesn't lose her fucking mind. Seeing Yorick be as happy as he ever was back home at Runestone, & getting bombarded with how outwardly affectionate & touchy-feely Lady Minela is was Lady Rhea's really silly, in the moment final straw that flipped some kind of internal "you have permission to be flabbergasted & awkward & overwhelmed" switch in her brain.

Honestly, she kind of let that carry her through the whole day (which is part of how we get to the end of chapter 6/implications going into the pregnancy reveal of chapter 7). And then after that it's all off page & doesn't matter as much & she's dealing with her husband's actions--but all of that did help inform her feelings on them. Yorick likes them, they like Yorick & it seems to come from an incredibly genuine place where no one's really pushing for anything more than "your kids being friends with our kids," & Lord Boremund's wife just decided they're friends & is backing her up in pretty much everything for the duration of the visit to Storm's End. Kind of a trial by fire way of forming your opinions on people, but it is what it is. And I'm not going to say the Baratheons ingratiating themselves to her like this got any kinds of wheels turning, because I truly think Rhea had been wanting to look for a betrothal for Yorick in The Vale, but it definitely planted the seeds for later when she blanks & just tells Vizzy that "actually, my son is already betrothed to Lord Baratheon's daughter." Because in her mind, "sure they brought it up because they aren't stupid, but they weren't pushing before Aemma died & it feels kinda less skeevy than claiming he's already marrying Laena would"

[princessconsuela120]

Chapter eleven: Anyone Else But You —✧

Series masterlist

Chapter Warnings: pregnancy, kissing🤭, teeth rotting fluff, cursing

Author’s Note: I was smiling the entire time I wrote this ngl. Mostly all of the rest of season one is going to be original work written by me so please be patient!! You guys are amazing! Eat up!! Don’t forget to like comment and repost!!

—✧

I NEVER REALIZED HOW MUCH I LIKE BEING HOME, unless I've been somewhere really different for a while. Physically and metaphorically I’ve been gone a lot lately. Home just seemed to do the trick. Pulling into the driveway after spending a gross amount of time at the barn with Stan, and then deciding to come home around 3 in the morning. I had a few missed calls from my parents, even Shelley texted to ask if I was okay. Stan had called them a few minutes ago to let them know I was fine, and would be home soon. It felt like all the air I had been neglected of re-entered my body when walking into my home.

“Hey, Dad.” I said softly, making my dad smile as I walked in the door.

“Hey, big puffy version of Junebug. Where you been?” He asked, missing the phone call my brother reserved for my mother, who would most likely be the one to freak out at my absence. I wasn’t quite sure what my dad was even doing up in the first place, but it didn’t surprise me too much either that he was.

“Oh, just out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level. Where is everybody?” I asked, sitting down across from him, as he gestured to the door.

“Your mom’s asleep and Stan’s at the barn. Something about his creative juices.” Dad explained, shaking his head, not even trying to understand what Stan had meant by Creative Juices.

“God, when will you guys learn that creative juices just means piss?” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose with annoyance as my dad chuckled lightly.

“You look a little morose, honey. What's eating you?” He asked, making me sigh as I sat across from him.

“I'm just, like, losing my faith with humanity.” I explained, making my dad sigh in response.

Now I know that Randy Marsh isn’t the best father, definitely far from it. Stan Shelley and I, and even my mother had gotten very close to finally giving up on him. But we didn’t. And somehow, somewhere along those lines he changed. It must have been all the bull crap that came with the pandemic. My dads weed business nearly cost me my life, and I think he realized that quick enough. Because now he was my dad, like he was when I was a kid. Getting shoulder rides and ice cream, and playing the stick of truth with Stan as we’d defeat my dad who’d pretend to be the evil dragon. It was the time of my life, and I know he missed it just as much as me. Because now he was my dad again, and it was great.

“Wow, can you narrow that down for me?”

“I just wonder if, like…Two people can stay together for good.” I asked, making his eyebrows furrow as he stopped what he was doing on his computer to look up at me.

“You mean like couples?”

“Yeah, like people in love.”

He shifted in his spot, closing his laptop and folding his arms.

“Are you having boy trouble? I gotta be honest, I don't much approve of you dating in your condition. That's kind of messed up.” He teased, making me roll my eyes playfully, shoving him slightly as he laughed.

“No, Dad, it's not…”

“That's pretty skanky. Isn't that what you girls call it? Skanky? Skeevy?” He asked, making me scrunch my nose up as I cringed.

“Please stop.” I said, giggling as he continued.

“What? No, I’m hip. I’m a cool dad. Tore up from the floor up? Is that it?”

“That's not what it's about. I just need to know that it's possible… That two people can stay happy together forever.” I asked, making him retreat a bit, nodding slightly.

“Well, it's not easy. That's for sure.” He stopped, scratching the back of his head as he thought. It was kinda a funny thing I always realized my dad did. “And I don't have the best track record in the world, I know, you know. But I've been with your mom for 30 years now… sure we’ve had our ups and downs but I'm proud to say we're very happy. Once I got over myself, we realized when you love someone it overweights all the silly bickering.” He explained, sighing when he remembered our rough childhood. I could tell he felt remorse for everything, that he was trying again. “Look… In my opinion, the best thing you can do… Find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty… Handsome, what have you. The right person's still gonna think the sun shines out of your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.”

He smiled to himself, laughing slightly when he caught eye of the family photo that sat above our coffee table. I couldn’t help but smile too. I think my parents must have been the most in love people I knew. No one could yell at each other so much, and not care enough about the other to keep coming back. Cause that’s what it means to live someone, to care enough to yell, just because of love.

“Yeah. Yeah, and I think I've found that person.” I smiled to myself, a certain Jewish Ginger clouding my mind.

“Yeah, sure you have. Your dear old D-A-D. I'll always be there to love and support you… No matter what kind of pickle you're in.” He explained, tapping his chest as I chuckled.

“Obviously. Dad, I think I'm just gonna, like, shove out for a sec. But I won't be home late.” I said, getting up and grabbing my keys and wallet.

“Okay. You were talking about me, right?” He asked, turning to see me. I nodded my head, ruffling his hair.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Was it Stan then?” He asked again, catching the sarcasm in my voice. I smiled at him, kissing his cheek as I hugged him.

“Yeah dad, you and Stan.”

—✧

I CALLED KENNY AND SOME HOW MANAGED TO GET HIM OUT OF BED AT 5:00AM TO INDULGE IN MY RIDICULOUSNESS. The great thing about Kenny is that when I asked him to help me buy 212 mini containers of orange tictacs (the day I knew I loved kyle), Kenny didn’t bat an eye at the idea. So we made our way to the 711, managed to derail all the strange looks we received, and made our way to stuff said 212 packs of orange tictac’s into Kyle’s locker.

So the next day at school, I managed to waddle my way into Kyle’s basketball practice, Kenny Stan and Cartman all excitedly waiting and watching by the door. He caught my eye, saying something to Tolkien as he passed him the ball before jogging over to me. I loved the was he looked at basketball practice. His hat was off, his orange/red curls clung slightly to his face, controlled slightly by the sweat and hair gel he previously applied. On a rare occasion he’d be wearing a sweatband around his head, or even tie his curls back into a tiny bun to keep them contained. But this had to be my favorite look by far.

“Tictacoholic, hey.” I said, smiling at Kyle with my hands in my pockets, as he wiped his forehead of sweat.

“Hey, did you put like a hundred things of tic tacs in my mailbox?” He asked, laughing slightly. I nodded, seemingly smiling even more as my cheeks reddened.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was me.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know, they're your fave. And you can never have too many of your favorite one-calorie breath mint.” I explained, making him nod, smiling back as he scratched his neck nervously.

“Well, thanks. I think I'm pretty much set until college on the tic tac front.”

“You know, Kyle, I was thinking. And I'm sorry I was such a huge bitch to you. You don't deserve it.” I explained, making him frown. He sighed, looking back at me as he shook his head.

“It's okay. You know, it's okay. It’s warrented, I mean I’ve sort of ruined your life so I can understand your anger..and you have every right to..”

“I think I'm in love with you.” I blurted out quickly, interrupting his rambling. His cheeks turned a crimson shade of red, and he shook his head again, giggling nervously.

“What, you mean as friends?” He asked, and I shook my head, still smiling at him.

“No. I mean for real. Because you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met… And you don't even have to try, you know.”

“I try really hard, actually.”

“You're, like, naturally smart. Like so mind blowingly smart, I can even wrap my head around it. But you aren’t like a huge dick about it, your so kind. And you're not like everyone else. You don't stare at my stomach. You look at my face. And every time I see you...The baby starts kicking super-hard.” I put a hand on my stomach, confirming what I had said as the baby started attacking my hand once again.

“It does? Really?” His face seemed to light up with joy, his eyes quickly glancing down at my bump then back to my eyes.

“I think it's because my heart starts pounding every time I see you.” I explained, holding a hand over my heart.

“Mine too.” He sighed, looking down at my stomach again. “Can I um, can I feel it?” He stuttered, but I didn’t give him time to answer, instead grabbing his hand and holding it to the place where the baby kicked. His eyes lit up, and for a split second while looking at the smile on his face, I felt home.

“That’s all I could ask for.” I replied quietly, feeling if I spoke to loudly I would ruin the moment. “You're golden, man. Can we make out now?” I asked, holding my hands on his cheeks. He nodded quickly, making me laugh.

“Yeah.”

And with that, I connected my lips to his. His other hand found its way into my hair as we both melted into the kiss. It was entirely perfect, and whole. In its entire entity, it was euphoric and more. An indescribable feeling, it was love.

“Hey, you know, you can go into early labor sucking face like that.” Kenny yelled, making me hold one hand out with my middle finger, hearing Kenny and the boys snickering in the background.

“Careful, don’t wanna make a twin!” Cartman yelled back, this time Kyle pulled away for a moment.

“Shut up fatass!” He shouted in Cartman’s direction, before supporting a hand on my lower back, dipping me slightly as he continued to kiss me.

“Aye!” Cartman shouted back, causing me to pull away, my forehead pressed to Kyle’s as we both started laughing. I couldn’t tell you what was funny, just the feeling of euphoric joy that filt my system. And besides, the look of disgust that was covered on my brother's face from witnessing this exchange was too funny not to laugh.

—✧

LIFE WAS GOOD, and I think for the first time in a long time, I really truly was home. Sitting with Kyle at the old house near the barn, just sitting, listening to the vintage record player that played in the background as I cuddled into his side.

“Ah shit.” I grumbled, holding a hand on my stomach as I felt a few rough kicks against my ribs.

“What? What’s wrong?” Kyle mumbled against my hair, jerking his head up slightly with worry.

“Fucking, jerk.” I groaned again, throwing my head back, this time worrying Kyle, who sat up fully in his spot.

“What is it Jo?” He asked softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear lovingly.

“Nothing just, the baby won’t stop kicking me.” I groaned again, and he smiled, putting a hand over my bump as he pressed his lips against it softly.

“Hey little one, you gotta be nice.” He mumbled against my stomach, as the baby pressed an angry kick against his hand. He laughed, realizing the kicking pattern that the baby had.

“What?” I asked, and he just smiled and shook his head.

“They aren’t trying to kick you, they’ve got the hiccups.” He explained, causing me to furrow my eyebrows at him.

“How the hell do you know that?” I asked, and his eyes widened, his cheeks blushing with embarrassment.

“I looked it up. Usually these moving and kicking fits means the baby has the hiccups.” He pressed a soft kiss against my stomach.

“How to I get it to stop?” I whined, rubbing my bump softly at the bottom. He shared a look with me, before turning back to my stomach.

“Hey Buddy, I know you’re excited to come out and all but you gotta calm down, you’re freaking yourself out.” He spoke softly into the fabric of my shirt, making me laugh slightly.

“I don’t think they can hear you.”

“They definitely can. Just follow your daddy’s voice, hold your breath, like this.”

Kyle held his breath, before releasing, and suddenly the hiccups stopped. Kyle looked up to see the soft look on my face.

“Oh, Juno I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that it just kinda came out..” he stuttered nervously, before I just smiled, holding a hand over his on my stomach.

“They stopped.” I said, ignoring his apology. He looked up at me nervous, before nodding.

“Yeah.. yeah they did.”

“I really like the sound of that Kyle.” I said, making eye contact with Kyle.

“The sound of what?”

“Of you being a dad.” I said softly, and there was that light that returned to his face.

“Really?” He asked, laughing nervously.

“I think I wanna hear it forever:” I looked over at him and he jumped in his spot, looking back at me with a look full of hope.

“Actually? You mean it? We can keep them?” He asked frantically, and I nodded, holding his face in my hands.

“They’re already ours.” I said, and Kyle pulled me into a deep kiss.

“You have no idea how happy you just made me.” He said, hidding me tightly. We stayed like that for a while, until I felt him falter.

“Not to you know, ruin the moment or anything, but how are we gonna tell your parents?” He asked, making me pull away, my eyes widened as I looked at him.

“Oh f*ck.”

—✧

[samueldays]

Followup news: one of the Bike Boys from the CitiBike Incident has released his side of the story, via his mother and Monique Judge.

A TL;DR in two parts:

1: Tearjerking demographic sympathy-farming and "I never thought leopards would make hysterical accusations at MY son, sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Making Hysterical Accusations Party"

2: My son has receipts too, they show that he was being deliberately dishonest and exploiting the system.

To expand on the first point:

Betty has seen video after video of racists and trolls calling her son a “thug” and a “thief” and labeling him as a “man” when, in her words, “He’s just a boy.” It hurts her that people are saying these things — things that she knows are not true — about him.

Betty is disturbed that people believe the worst about what her son might have done, based on little or no evidence. (And the "thief" charge is arguably correct, as we'll see below.)

Betty said she was horrified when she first saw the video. “My reaction when I saw it was ‘oh my God. I almost lost my son in that moment.’ Do you understand me? I am not from here, but we all know this country,” she said. “But how the policemen here do our sons, and our husbands, and our fathers. They kill us.” Betty continued. “So with a white woman standing right there and screaming for someone to help, if the police had come, and my son was standing there, they are going to shoot him. If he runs, they are going to shoot him.”

Betty believes the worst about what the police might have done, based on little or no evidence, to an extent that is hysterical, delusional, and paranoid.

I don't blame her. She's a propaganda victim, on par with the youtube commenters she decries.

I blame Progressive America for engaging in massive amounts of misinformation, propaganda, fear campaigns, cherrypicking and brainwashing about the relative threat posed by blacks and cops.

(I expect some people may object "he was unarmed!" here, and I respond that the point still stands, the annual homicide stats indicate unarmed black men are about 10x more likely to kill someone else than they are likely to get killed by the police.)

To expand on the second point:

CitiBike in cooperation with NYC has a program where rides shorter than 45 minutes can be free if you're on welfare, details at this link.

One can infer the contours of decisionmaking policy that led here: simply making bike rides entirely free on welfare would lead to a bunch of assholes joyriding bikes all day, while simply giving the poors money and expecting them to pay would lead to a bunch of idiots drinking away their money and still having no bike rides; so you get this kind of half-assed compromise.

Re-docking the bike resets the timer, allowing him to ride for another 45 minutes before stopping again. “Even regular Citi Bike riders do this,” Mary explained. “The price goes up after 45 minutes for everyone, so people routinely ride their bikes, dock their bikes, ride their bikes, and dock their bikes again.”

I can see why people do it, but it's still kinda skeevy. The point of the 45-minute limit is that other people should get a chance to use the bikes too, without needing to queue at the docking station and wait for the short available period between rides. It may be excusable if there's plenty of spare bikes and nobody needs to queue, but that apparently wasn't the case here.

Now I want to emphasise that this article I'm quoting is Bike Boy's side of the story, presented as a defense of what he was up to, by a sympathetic journalist known to have been previously dishonest in his favor:

Michael said after resting in Harlem for a bit, the boys continued riding into the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They grabbed frozen yogurt and then headed to the Citi Bike docking station at 1st Avenue and E 30th Street near Bellevue Hospital in the Kip’s Bay neighborhood. They docked their bikes at 7:19 p.m. and sat there to rest. Michael insisted he and his friends never left the bikes unattended. They don’t leave the bikes. Michael said all four of his friends also have the same Citi Bike Reduced Fare membership, so they docked the bikes to stop the timers from going over 45 minutes. [...] Michael was still standing near his bike with his hands on the handlebars. [...] Michael says that is when Sarah Jane Comrie moved closer to him and his bike, leaned over him, and scanned the QR code with her phone even as he had his hands on the handlebars. She then pushed her way onto the bike and attempted to remove it from the docking station and take it. It was 7:24 p.m., and that is when the boys began recording.

Let's suppose for a moment that Michael and the journo are telling the truth here in their pre-video claims of "Michael says".

Even if we take their account at face value, Michael has crossed a line from kinda skeevy to outright wrong. He is trying to have it both ways at once: "using the bike" continuously so that no one else can use it, and "not using the bike" so that he doesn't have to pay for his extended continuous use. Which is it? Pick one.

Either way, sounds like he was a thief, the question is whether he was robbing CitiBike or robbing Sarah Comrie. That I leave to someone else to resolve.