#had this one friend that every time I would talk about lack of diversity from like an asian picrew or genshin impact would be like

[babil-plush]

surprisingly a hot take that shouldn't be a hot take at all: stop infantilizing East Asian media or people about diversity

[tigirl-and-co]

Specks of Dust in Hallowed Halls

pt. 1

This first part is just an introductory piece, to try to help me get the flavour down. To get me used to writing Metroplex. Also bc nobody writes anything for him but I love him so much. My beautiful sonsband who is three times the size of the Chicago metropolitan area <333

~~~

There was only one holoform who was a regular at the human's game nights. Sure, a lot of Cybertronians were curious about their organic allies, and quite a few of them counted the humans among their friends and would show up on occasion. But they were busy, they had other diversions, and quite frankly they just didn't 'get' it.

But every Tuesday night, as far as Tuesday nights can exist on a planet with a completely different solar calendar, Metroplex found himself in the company of mammals.

Metropex had been alive for so, so long, and he had lacked any intimacy for most of his lifespan. Being so large, close connections weren't really in the cards. He had tried, over the eons, to mix among the Cybertronians with a mech holoform, but they treated him too reverently. He could not be 'one of them.' He was an Other. A respected and revered Other, but an Other just the same.

But the humans... once they had become accustomed to him being truly sapient, a person in his own right, they even treated his city mode as casually as one of their own. When asking for assistance getting around they called him nicknames like 'Metty' and 'Plexiglass', and they had allowed him access to their private texting groups. There were occasional 'Let's go Mets!' memes, with images of his buildings over top the sports team logo, sent to him in displays of camaraderie.

He truly enjoyed every ephemeral klik of it.

So he would join them once a week to play their games. The silent scribbling during Boggle, the drama of Betrayal at the House on the Hill, and the playful trash-talk during a heated round of Mario Kart... all of it filled his spark. He especially enjoyed video game game nights, where a large portion of the humans would be packed in on the couches and chairs and he would often find someone's legs draped over his own. After so long spent being unable to touch anybody, the simple heat of shoulders pressing him in and backs leaned against his legs from those seated on the floor was holy. Every now and again one of the humans would fall asleep and lean harder against him, and he felt love pulsate through his circuits.

This was what he was protecting. What he was fighting for. All kind creatures in the universe were his fellow beings and his charges, and he would protect them. It was what he had been built to do, but more importantly, it was what he chose to do.

To reward love and compassion in kind.

[brazenautomaton]

so here's a conversation I had with a friend just now that sums up a lot of what I think so well I don't want to bother rephrasing it

them

Oh boy are we ready for 48 more months of hearing the Most Sanest Normalest People on the internet act like a right-of-center candidate getting elected when put up against another nagging scold of a progressive "It's Her Turn"-er was a surprise

me:

The Democrats and their wider supporters don't seem to realize people can remember the things they say. They said Biden was fine, it was a wild right wing conspiracy to think he was unfit for office. Then he is clearly, actively disintegrating on stage at the debate, so now it's Harris! Of course it's Harris, what are you talking about, we've always been about Harris! Harris who was, it's important to note, a diversity hire. She was not a popular candidate. She did dismally in the primary, and was chosen as VP because it was Time For A Strong Woman Of Color

them:

Y-E-P God imagine taking the VP of an unpopular incumbent and saying "Yep, she's the one" and being surprised when that goes poorly It is genuinely alarming, though, how absolutely temporally untethered a lot of the discourse coming from the left is. Like, genuinely just "don't believe your lying memories" level of attempt to disregard stuff that happened not just in living memory, not just in the last decade, but happened during the current presidency. The lack of humility is also not just distasteful, but actually alarming. If you make predictions that are wildly off the mark to try to get people behind your candidate, you cannot then treat your wildly off-the-mark predictions as if they did not matter.

the primary strategy of the "guys who spent five years using 'gaslight' to mean 'disagree with'" appears to be attempted gaslighting. you just aren't allowed to notice things they say and do. every time someone is like "I don't like this thing you're doing," the democrats as a whole are all "That didn't happen and you're a bad person."

this is an effective strategy for winning conversations with people and a very bad strategy for winning elections. when people are upset about things you did or allowed to happen, "nuh uh you bad person" is not a response. "that shouldn't count" is not an effective counter even if you genuinely believe it should not count. a million morlocks-holmes saying "this has nothing to do with the democrats because no democratic holder of office has introduced a bill with explicitly racist language" isn't going to convince anyone who wasn't already convinced. you are not entitled to votes, you have to actually do things to win the election.

focusing on how bad and threatening Trump is is a losing strategy when we had a term of Trump and none of the fascist future we were warned of came to pass. Trump had a fucking vision of the future to really behind that more than zero people believed in. Now, I'm not a "typical" ad-watcher because I only saw campaign ads on YouTube (but I feel like this is not super atypical any more), but I saw a lot of Kamala Harris ads, and zero of them were about any of her plans or ideals or vision and all of them were about "You need to give us money right now to win the election." Like if you're using the money to make ads like this, that's kind of like a one-person pyramid scheme.

the Trump presidency will be terrible in a predictable, expected way. there will be no fascism, just a slow crumbling of our already-dismal institutional competence. I don't think the Democrats would have been much better. They'd still be beholden to an activist core of psychopaths and doing everything they can to cover for those people, while also governing incompetently and completely unable to capitalize on or draw attention to any good things they actually manage to do. Leftists and progressives are already going through the whole "the Democrats move us all to the right they only want to move to the right!" but the Democrats don't move at all; they don't think they should change their behavior, because when they lose an election it is because the voters failed them and not the other way around.

[drdemonprince]

I think I remember you saying you were writing something for autistic adults having trouble meeting people? Actually I just remember the ask you got about someone who found a lot of social spaces being for youths. I have a similar problem. I've lived in the same city my whole life, but I don't have friends here because I don't know how to keep in touch with people after the situation we had in common (school, job) ended. And currently I'm unemployed, so I don't have coworkers, and I'm suffering a lot from the lack of a social context. There are some kind-of-niche social events I can go to, trans brunch once a month, queer board game nights every friday (and I don't even like board games). But even once I'm there I struggle to reach out and talk to anyone. For the former event, most people go with friends, so I assume I'm imposing if I make more than very brief small talk. For the latter one, we do often end up a group of polite strangers sitting around talking about random stuff, but I find I don't care about the interaction and I just want to go home. I have friends online that I'd rather spend time with, but it also feels so miserable when I don't have anyone to just grab coffee with. I tried tinder briefly, but I can't stand chatting with strangers, I react to it like an obligation and just ghost them. I'm not curious enough about strangers. I don't want to make friends, I want to already have them. It's rough.

The good thing here is you have 100% already articulated what the root of the problem here is: you're not taking an interest in any of the people you're spending time with, and the people you are meeting are not interesting to you.

People like us when they can feel that we like them, care about them, and find them interesting. People want to spend more time with people who make them feel heard, and who have genuine enthusiasm for their existence. The people you're meeting are almost certainly picking up on your lack of curiosity about them, and your sense that spending time with them is some grueling obligation, and so nothing deeper is taking root.

The solution is to have a genuine interest and curiosity for people. If you can't access that, you won't be able to make new friends. Having close friends that you can meet with for coffee at the drop of the hat isn't a status you can simply arrive at, it's a relationship dynamic that you build, painstakingly, interaction by interaction, invite by invite, one open-hearted, presence conversation after another. And you won't now who will become a lifelong, cherished friend to you if you don't start by trying to find what's worthy of cherishing within other people first.

Now, you mentioned that some of the social groups you take part in aren't even all that interesting to you -- and that's certainly part of the issue. If you don't like board games, you're not going to have fun at board game night, you're not going to like talking about board games, and you're going to feel a palpable disconnect between yourself and all the people who are present because they really like board games. You can either try to find something about the activity interesting, and really put your mind to learning about it and taking an active interest in it, for the sake of your own enrichment, or you should stop going, because there's no reason to drag yourself to regular obligation you don't like and aren't putting any investment in.

I would recommend that you find other social gatherings in town that line up more with your interests. Meetups, book clubs, volunteer shifts, video gaming leagues, sports teams, community theater, whatever it might be. This article has more advice about how to find new social groups and to make friends there:

But I'd also encourage you to practice being curious about the great diversity of humanity. There are so many wonderful subcultures out there to learn more about, so many creative and industrious practices to be awed by and to learn about, and so many funny, bizarre people out there worth making a study of. Even if you don't get along with the vast majority of humans or don't want most of them within your close social circle, you should, I think, be able to find something worth learning about in within nearly every human community, and within every person.

I firmly believe that the purpose of life is to grow, experience new things, and learn -- and if you're seeking new friends, you do want your world to be a bit larger than it is, right? So why not try to enjoy learning more about the broader social world? That doesn't mean committing to a regular hobby that bores you to tears (I hate tabletop games, for instance), but it does mean dipping your toe into new waters with some genuine receptiveness to it (I tried tabletop games for the hell of it, learned I didn't playing them, but now I do love hearing about my friends' campaigns).

I wasn't a furry when I first started going to Furfest; I just thought it was interesting and I was awe-struck by the dedication and creativity of people practicing the craft of making fursuits and drawing anthro art. The passion of that community was addictive, and the joy and friendliness of the space opened me up, and within a matter of two convention visits, Midwest Furfest had become one of the absolute social highlights of my entire annual calendar.

I've also gone to a lot of anime conventions, and they didn't grab me quite the same way, but I still sat in on some panels where I learned new things, and I still met people who were lovely and got to take in a bunch of beautiful cosplays. I've tried out all kinds of things, from betting on horse races to performing in sketch comedy troupes to attending naked yoga, and I didn't love or feel good about all of it -- but every single one of those things was worth trying out, because it helped me make contact with a broader spread of the human experience and learn a bit more about myself and other people. it broadened my knowledge base and expanded my social skills -- even if yes, i did absolutely sit in on some conversations that bored me to absolute tears.

If you don't have the energy to be curious about new things and new people at this stage of your life, anon, that is completely fine. When I was in the throes of deep masking and Autistic burnout I didn't always have it in me to make polite small talk or to endure overstimulating new situations. It's difficult to be open when one is traumatized or overwhelmed, and so if you find you really cannot feel anything for any people that you meet right now, working on soothing that internal vigilance and treating that trauma might be the first step. Even trauma recovery requires making contact with other traumatized people, listening to their stories, and being able to recognize yourself within them to some extent, tho.

There are periods of life that are for growth and there are periods that are for dormancy. If you don't have it in you to make new friends right now, that's fine. However, if you do want to have new friends in your life, you do have to be able to like people and care about them.

[olderthannetfic]

The ace asks about how asexuality and being aromantic is increasingly seen to mean "has sex and romance like a normal person" reminds me of the time I accidentally deeply angered an author. She had the tag 'asexual character' in her fic's tags, but since it's a 300k word long fic involving a lot of characters, it wasn't clear who that referred to right away. I left long comments on each chapter, talking about what I liked, sections that hit really hard, lines that I loved, etc., as I always do. (I like to ramble IRL and I can't turn it off even online.) At the halfway point of the fanfic, during a long comment about the OCs that helped flesh out the oft-mentioned but barely explored organizations and companies in the world of canon, I said that I hoped This One Specific OC or That Other Specific OC would turn out to be the asexual character, as I saw in them echoes of myself and a friend of mine (we're both ace).

She had never responded to a comment of mine before, but she did for that one... to yell at me about how the main character OC was aroace, actually. This was apparently supposed to be obvious since the word ace was used in the tie-in prequel fic, which I had held off on reading because the author's note mentioned it would have spoilers if you hadn't read the whole main fic. The character in question has a relationship not remotely different from any of the cishetallo or cisqueerallo relationships presented in the text. She develops a snarky sarcastic friendship with someone she finds visually beautiful and impossible to look away from, gets to know him a little, watches movies with him, they get into urban fantasy danger which they help each other through, they fuck and do so extremely regularly, and she has past exes who she also did all of this with.

And I was, apparently, a bigot with internalized aphobia and negative attitudes towards women who have sex because I didn't look at her and go, "Ah, yes, an aroace!" She informed me I was forcing unrealistic stereotypes no one adhered to onto ace people by thinking aces had to be a certain way and by refusing to see that

Her angry reply was so long it took three AO3 comments to send to me, and it didn't really make me convinced I'd misread the situation. It just made me convinced this wasn't an author I wanted to read more fic from, because 1. this is a lot of anger, holy crap and 2., I really think this is an excusable mistake on my part. I saw no signs this character was in any way different from any other couple in the fic beyond that she and her love interest didn't get to know each other's backstories as much and instead bonded more through experiences they shared, which in my opinion is not something that can be linked to any sexuality or lack thereof.

I feel like there's a moral in here. Like, authors, as a fellow author, I get that it sucks when someone else doesn't see the characters like you do, or misses something you thought was clear, etc. I get that it's frustrating. But don't rip into someone who's been gushing about every chapter of your fic individually just because they didn't catch one thing. I failed to realize one character's sexuality. That's not the same as hating you, the character or the writing.

Mostly I remember that incident as the day I stopped asking questions in my long comments. A sea of gushing does not make up for a mistake and the best way not to make those is to not ask if a tag relates to a character or line.

--

Oof. I mean, sure, there's a diversity of experience. Everything is a spectrum. Yada yadda. But if two labels become entirely indistinguishable, what's the point of even having them, much less getting mad when people can't spot the difference?

[gojokinni]

DAZAI ANALYSIS

Ok, so I actually thought a lot about posting something like this, because it would mean revealing a lot of personal stuff about me... However I felt like sharing my vision on Dazai, my favorite character, someone I relate to so much it hurts...

To start this character analysis, I'm actually going to analyze myself. Today I know that I am a deeply disturbed person, since I was in primary school and maybe before I was obsessed with sexual relations, I have no idea why, and to this day I don't know where it came from. All I know is that it led me to possess sexual trauma due to some "experiences" ( no r*pe, or pedophilia). One thing is sure,if I had to take my phone back in a hospital, I'd definitely be able to have a s*xual relationship for it.

I also have a severe lack of empathy. Which is weird since I'm a true emotional sponge... I will not understand how you feel, will not know how to comfort you, will not relate or put myself in your shoes. All of that is tiring to me, weird, I simply don't get it.

I was also probably one of the worst bully to ever exist, not physically but verbally. I never treated my "friends" fairly , was always bossy and mean. And you know what's the worst ? It's that I never realized it, not in the sense that I was young and didn't know better, but more like someone took over and talked instead of me. As if I was protecting myself. It made many people hate me and no matter what I do it'll always be like that.

Today, I have only 2 or 3 people I seem to genuinely care about and even then I really doubt they'd stay. I never really showed them who I was, always hiding behind sarcasm and self depreciating jokes.

Basically, I'm a weird mix between pragmatic and emotional. I can't function in society and will probably never be able to. Isolation, and solitude are what I dream of, not because I love these but because I can't seem to deal with others... Many would say I'm a psycho. I think I am.

That's where I relate to Dazai. I'm not a killer, I never tortured anyone, and while I was probably abusive mentally, I was never physically. However I get how he acts. Not having any morals, to be like a virus, someone so different from others that you could never integrate. You still try, because of diverse reasons, but even then you feel like it's not where you should really be.

Nobody knows who you are, firstly because you've always hidden yourself behind a different persona, but most importantly because you don't know yourself who you are. Everyday that passes, you feel empty, devoid of any things that make people's life interesting and bright.

Every time I see a rant post about how Dazai is a monster, it really makes me wanna cry, hide myself in my bed and never get out. Because it's me. Things are not as easy as :" oh he's a psycho, bad bad person". It's not that easy to act accordingly as everyone wants when you don't get it. I know that I could never come up to my ex-friends, look at them and say I'm sorry, just like how Dazai will never look at Akutagawa and say I'm sorry. Not because I'm heartless but because it won't get out. Even though I'm strong at lying, manipulating, even though I do that every day.

It's frustrating to not know who you are. To be a monster in everybody's eyes and even yours. Guess what, I'm deeply, disturbed, probably mentally ill, many would call me broken, and I already do it. I love Dazai, would defend him till the end of my life. He's my favorite character. Why ?

Because he's me.

[bts-hyperfixation]

Outside of the fox

Chapter 5/21(?) - words 1996

Y/N longs for a new life when the one she’d been living comes to an abrupt stop. Without much thought to those she is leaving behind, the little fox packs a backpack and disappears. She stumbles across the shelter and makes an interim home for herself while she works out exactly what she wants from her second chance.

Last

The next day you go shopping. You manage to convince Noelle to go with you so she can help you pick some appropriate things.

Your husband had personal shoppers that chose what they thought would be best. Each garment was exquisite in its lines and execution, but they had definitely been more for show than comfort. It left you with a nonexistent fashion sense.

The mall is packed by the time the two of you get there. In hindsight, Saturday afternoon was not the best pick if you’d hoped for a calm first attempt and finding your style. Still, Noelle seemed completely unfazed by the prospect. If she noticed your hesitation, she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she forged ahead, linking her arm with yours and charging into the fray.

You shop for basics first, picking up plain t-shirts and blue jeans. The generic stores are easy, find your size and leave. For the statement pieces, it was a little more challenging. You gave Noelle a budget and she ran with it, finding a diverse selection of things to bring to you in the changing room. You pinched and pulled at the various fabrics, trying to get them to fit in a way that you found comfortable and flattering. Every so often you’d show some to your companion in the same way the other girls in the shop were showing their mothers. Sometimes she nodded, other times she looked absolutely disgusted.

Ten stores in and it’s clear that neither of you could maintain the momentum much longer. You grab the mouse’s hand before she sets foot in a businesswear store that looks far too serious for your interview. She looks at you questioningly and you gesture towards the food court.

“Dinner on me?” You ask, already walking towards the pizza place across the hall.

“Absolutely.”

Noelle finds a long table to perch on the end of while you go and buy enough food for the two of you to share. The food area is just as packed as the rest of the mall. It’s difficult to weave through all of the bodies to find your way back to her without dropping your pizza box.

Just as you see her through the crowd, someone scrapes their chair back into you.

It happens almost in slow motion.

You tip forwards, twisting to try and stop the pizza from falling to the floor, forgetting to shield yourself from the hard concrete that was quickly becoming closer. Bracing yourself for the impact, you tense up. Only for it to never come. A steadying arm is behind your back preventing you from hitting down hard and someone else is supporting your food to keep it upright.

“Are you okay Y/N?”

You glance up into the eyes of your saviour only to find one of Jimin’s mates holding you up. Another stands at his side, now holding your tray. Blushing wildly, you stand up and immediately begin apologising to the pair.

Yoongi glares after the person that had knocked you over in the first place, grumbling about a lack of manners. Namjoon smiles wide and hands your tray back to you.

“I’m good, thanks.” You avoid eye contact by dusting yourself off, despite never having touched the floor.

“It’s good to run into you again Y/N, Jimin was talking about you again last night. He says you have an interview for a job now?” He makes friendly conversation as they escort you back to Noelle.

When you reach the table, Noelle welcomes the men and invites them to sit with you. It is clear that she must know them well, not a surprise knowing how much Jimin gushes about them to complete strangers, let alone his colleagues and friends.

“Yeah, at some office downtown, it’s a receptionist job. Should be really great experience. I don’t really have a lot else on my resume."

“Any job is better than no job at the minute,” Yoongi grumbles pessimistically.

Namjoon jabs the grumpy Jackal in the ribs.

The three of them start a conversation about the last time they met and you are more than happy to listen as you munch on the pizza in front of you. It seems to have been some kind of fundraiser put on by the shelter, a casino night where they dressed up in fancy clothes and pretended to be Highrollers for the evening.

“Wouldn’t that be fun Y/N?” Noelle asks, waving a hand in front of your eyes.

Your mind runs away from you then. You find yourself distracted by images of the men in 007 tuxes, hair slicked back as they moved from game to game all evening. Jimin’s hair a flame in the muted room, Namjoon’s laugh echoing across the hall, and Yoongi making jokes with the bartender. It would seem that none of them had met Jungkook back then.

You stop chewing, a string of cheese still connecting you to the slice in your hand as you try to work out what they possibly could’ve asked you while you were zoned out.

“Oh, yeah that would be cool. I’ve never been to anything like that before.” You smile, trying to seem invested.

“We were talking about having another benefit like that one soon.” Yoongi supplies helpfully.

The only benefits you had been to were beyond dull. Always in a stuffy museum, with art that never had emotion behind it. Each ticket had cost more than an average person’s salary, and the food had been the most pretentious concoctions ever imagined. You loathed attending each one, a fact your husband knew.

He just sighed and repeated how you only needed to attend to be seen. He would promise that you wouldn’t stay to late, and each time you would be amongst the last of the guests as he laughed along with yet another boring old man’s recount of a hunting trip. Hunting trips were common among your ex-husband’s crowd, they never seemed to see the irony in having hybrids within their homes and then hunting regular animals for sport.

Jungkook gets very bored when he gets left alone. So bored he often ends up doing weird shit until one of his mates walks through the door. Today isn’t too bad. Yoongi and Namjoon said they weren’t going to be gone long, just to the mall to get some things that they had been running low on. An errand that always goes much faster when they don’t have Jungkook with them to get distracted every five minutes ( A much cheaper trip without him needing a little treat too).

The men stayed with you while you ate. You mostly listened to them while they talked, occasionally muttering assurances to demonstrate that you were actually listening to them this time. When you finished your meal, they said goodbye and headed in the opposite direction to you, back towards the parking lot as you and Noelle continued on your mission to find clothes.

______________

He wraps himself in Jimin’s favourite blanket and lies upside down on the sofa so his hair dangles to the floor. The TV doesn’t make much sense this way up, but it does provide a fun new perspective.

He barely hears the door open two hours later. The blood rushing around his ears almost blocks out the sound.

The older man tilts his head to look at Jungkook upside down.

“Kookie? What the fuck?” Namjoon asks coming into Jungkook’s eye line.

“I dunno, got comfy.” He shrugs.

“How many people am I going to have to save from the floor today?” Yoongi shakes his head, bending to help Jungkook up.

The motion throws off his balance and he slides onto the floor at his hyung’s feet.

He’d so badly wanted to like you for Jimin’s sake but you just made him so uncomfortable so quickly. The only predator he had ever warmed to quickly had been Namjoon, so he wasn’t expecting miracles, none of them were. But you had been so rude.

Jungkook looks at the pair confused as they share a knowing glance, a joke from today that he isn’t privy to. That’s when he smells it on them. Smells you on them. He can’t help the whine building in the back of his throat as he nuzzles frantically into Yoongi to change the scent back to his own.

He finishes scenting Yoongi and turns to immediately do the same to Namjoon. The bear accepts the affection gladly, cuddling the bunny in close and dragging him back to the sofa.

“We weren’t gone that long bunny.” He shushes.

Jungkook continues to bury himself into Namjoon’s neck, barely pausing to listen to the other speak.

“She really isn’t that bad Kookie, and she barely touched us, we can’t smell of her that strongly.” He sighs, pulling the rabbit’s hair to make him back away.

“Smell wrong, not my Joonie.” He reasons, earning an eye roll from Yoongi.

Jungkook whines again but concedes because he can no longer smell you on them. He hoped it would be a long time before he had to see you again, but Jimin and fate seemed to have other plans...

_____________

By the time you arrive back at the shelter, most of the day staff have gone home. Noelle heads straight down the corridor and into her dorm room to set her bags down. Instead, you collapse straight into a chair in the common room without really thinking, feet too tired to keep moving.

You’re sat for less than five minutes when you are tipped on to the floor with a bump.

“What is your fucking problem??” You growl, standing quickly and backing the lioness into a corner before she has a chance to sit down.

Even standing up straight with your teeth bared you have nothing on the other woman. Naturally a much bigger breed, you never stood a chance as she swung for you. Her claws connected with your cheek, not giving you the chance to duck. Immediately six other predators descend, separating you from her.

You press hard against the scratches, blood dripping over your fingers. The others take Lyra into another room, management following quickly behind.

You’d shocked yourself when you’d rounded on the other predator. Violence had never been an option you took, you had frowned upon other predators that resorted to violence before their words.

A hand is on your shoulder, guiding you back to sit down in the chair again. Tears sting at your eyes as you finally start to feel the pain of the wound. With cloudy vision, you can make out the flame red-hair in front of you. He reaches up and peels your hand away from your face.

“This is going to hurt Y/N.” He warns.

“Can I change rooms tonight?” You sniffle.

Something warm and wet is smoothed along your cheek, stinging as he cleans the blood away.

“There is no way you are staying here tonight Y/N.” Jimin says.

“Oh, is it because I started a fight? I get it, I’ll find somewhere else to stay... thanks for all the help though.”

You try not to let any more tears fall at the prospect of getting kicked out. He rest a hand on your shoulder as you go to stand, preventing you from going anywhere.

“That fight wasn’t your fault, you didn’t start that, you just tried to finish it. Lyra will be getting kicked out, that’s her third strike... But she has friends here and I want you to be safe. You are coming home with me.” He states more like it’s a fact than a request.

You start to protest, the idea once again sounding ludicrous. But then he presses his hand to your cheek again, and the pain is bad enough to have you second-guessing your judgement.

Masterlist

He dresses the wound on your face and disappears to make Namjoon aware of the new arrival while you pack your things back into your bag and get ready to leave.

Next

Series masterlist

[gmwsuperfan5467890]

Other Opinions on American Housewife

I just posted an opinion on Triplor and why I am not a huge fan of the ship. Here are my other opinions.

-Katie>>>> Greg. Katie is more aware of her flaws, which makes her really likeable (to me), while Greg sometimes acts like he is a saint for putting up with Katie, which rubs me the wrong way. Though most of the time, he loves and accepts his wife for who she is, so I’ll forgive him for that.

- The cliffhanger of Katie being pregnant at the end? Horrible. She clearly does not want any more kids. She is always talking about how tired they make her and how she can’t wait until they all leave for college. Now you’re telling me that she is going to do it all over again for another 18 years?! Let this woman relax and enjoy the empty-nester life, she doesn’t need anymore kids!

-I just remembered another reason why Greg makes me mad. There was an episode where he kept on badgering Katie about having another kid and she kept on telling him no and then he got pissed and acted like she was the villain???? Excuse me sir, you’re not the one who has to be pregnant for 9 months, then push that baby out of your hooha and then take care of that baby for most of the time, so shut up. And then the episode’s ‘happy ending’ is Katie considering having another baby to make Greg happy. Oh fuck off.

-One thing I have not seen addressed. Katie and Greg are in crisis mode when they hear about Taylor hooking with Trip but them hearing about Oliver and Cooper preparing to touch their girlfriends’ boobs is okay to them?? Keep in mind that Oliver and Cooper were like 15 max at the time while Taylor was older than them for all the instances this type of thing happened.

-I am neutral on Anna-Kat and Franklin’s relationship. I usually don’t like the trope of little kids dating because I find it weird, let kids be kids. But in this case, it’s more realistic. When they start ‘dating’ their relationship does not really change, they still act like how they used to and when they have big moments like the ‘proposal’, it’s not played seriously, which I appreciate.

- One thing I love about the show is that the characters and their dynamic with each other are so complex. For example, Anna-Kat is her mother’s favourite, which would theoretically mean that she wouldn’t lack any love or attention yet she craves the love and attention of her siblings yet there are times where she is excluded or isolated by them because of Katie’s favouritism and because she is much younger than them.

- I also loved how creative some of the episodes are: for example, the episode where the hoodie Katie picks determines how the rest of her day goes was so engaging to watch and definitely one of the best episodes of the show.

- I also liked that every season had a big event that the characters had to work towards ie the gala, prom and election.

- Doris and Angela deserved better, they needed more plots and more backstory. I think it would have been interesting to have an episode in Angela’s or Doris’s perspective. Or they could have done an episode every season where it was in the perspective of a different housewife.

-This show has a diversity problem in general, to be honest.

-This show has a lot of disney/Nickelodeon actors. Two examples I want to point out because I haven’t seen people talking about them: the guy that played Lonnie is from True Jackson VP and Audra was in that Girl Meets World episode (I think it was called Girl meets She don’t like me).

-The actress that plays Katie’s mum voices Beatrice Horseman! And she is in Shrinking (10/10) show

-The general consensus here is that Oliver and Cooper are in love (which I 100% agree) but have we talked how Brie and Charlotte are paralleled to them which in my mind means they are also in love. Brie and Oliver are both bi and had feelings for each other but those feelings were not as strong as the feelings they had for their respective best friends, while Cooper and Charlotte are both gay and suffering from comp-het. Like I’m sorry, the whole, ‘Whatever my best friend does with their SO, I have to do exactly the same’ thing is really gay.

[hcfiles]

In the beginning of this PR stunt, it crossed my mind that this circus was an idea both had to introduce his wife (and later, his baby) to his fandom with a prank, despite all the signs that this was fake.

Apparently, the impression we have is that, this shenanigan was intentional, exposing and discrediting both. Because, there is a PR team behind this and the strategies used are only putting fuel to fire and going against both.

Maybe to end up blending someone in as a toxic and discrediting the tea this person might come up with. That explains having NV as a diversion. Of course, that l, taking into consideration how vain and stubborn he is, suppose he decided to insist expecting to go against the negative reactions he had from fans.

NV is apparently pregnant, 'cause she looks big and swollen. And they are using this pregnancy to promote movies and their images, as well as against criticism, gaslighting and suggesting doubts. That's what he does the entire time, for he's dubious.

But, he doesn't show personal commitment as a dad. He talks about this as he talks about a new movie to come. The closer he got was a post in a baby room that could be a fake scenario or a friend's baby room. His commitment to this belly is professional.

It's obvious he has been going through hell, maybe for realizing he's "obligated" (Is he?) to fake something he didn't expect, which goes against his APPARENT moral standards (if he really has those).

But, he might have gone through hell for being severely criticized for his stubbornness, hypocrisy, lack of discernment and vanity, thinking the critics were unfair and for losing the credibility he had before fans.

Whatever this was, I suppose he went on thinking it would be one more PR, but he knew who NV was and that the reactions addressed to her would be of rage, as usual every time he appears with a new PR.

What he didn't calculate was that rumours about him were going to pop up and that the rage would be against him, as well. As long as the rage reactions were only against the PR, it was alright, 'cause that was the expected and she would be gone in a few months. Right?

Now, the game doesn't seem that fun since @exposing_henrycavill spread some tea. True or false, the person seemed convincing and this PR stunt seems to be a shenanigan to discredit or win by arm wrestling, what came as of this tea page.

It is really looking like there's something he wants to hide so badly, he got to the point, for instance, of:

1) abdicating from his supposed moral standards and the bond with his fandom,

2) teasing, mocking and gaslighting his fans and followers in a very disrespectful PR campaign,

3) lying shamelessly about a fake paternity, while accepting an immoral PR stunt.

He really screwed up.

[neonscandal]

Hi.....Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shounen and shoujo manga equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujosei (especially het romance) decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...And what I want to read for romance mostly are just mlm or wlw stories....

What do you think is happening to me? Is it really weird?

Hiiiii, anon! I don't know if my answer will be helpful or not as I can't speak to your experience or what you feel specifically sets MLM and WLW-centered stories apart from hetships.

I'll start with the fact that I don't think I'd say something is "happening" to you. People tend to just read and gravitate toward what piques their interest. The exploration of which is kinda your own thing to navigate and, subsequently, to determine what that means to you. I randomly talk about finding identity through engagement with queer media but it's not something I'd project onto a stranger. Fetishization tends to be a really harmful byproduct of the prevalence of BL specifically so, as a cautionary thing, I'd ask you to consider whether you feel that's a component of your concern.

I will say I don't think it's weird. Apparently my blog has become an open ended discussion about BL lol but my IRL friends and I, in addition to BL, try to read stories with other alternative representation, as well. For context, I'm a black woman. Growing up, none of the books I read had main characters that looked like me or stories that intimately captured my experience as a black girl that I could project myself upon. (Even so, when asked some time ago for my favorite characters, a lot of them still didn't look like me but I was still able to inherently identify with them for one reason or another). These days, you're able to find stories, shows, movies, etc. that more realistically reflect the world we find ourselves in with diverse representation of race, disabilities, gender identity and expression and orientation (just to name a few).

We still have a long ways to go but, without adequate representation, there are probably a lot of people who would never consider 1) other people's perspective and experience within a world that has a lot of systemic issues, 2) that there are other alternatives to strictly being comphet, or 3) the challenges we take for granted for differently abled people.

I'm not an expert, I'm very much still sorting myself out in every way imaginable. I am, quite literally, just some nerd on the internet with gratuitously impassioned rants about anime so my credentials are lacking. But if you need my gold seal of approval - I think you're okay. It's okay to like what you like, whether that be media wise or people wise if that's what you're worried about. (Uh.. provided its not harmful?). Drink the wine (consensually) and be less concerned with the label. Additionally, I think there are a lot of icons out there that can probably offer better guidance, if not in a Q&A capacity, still in just existing and seeking to educate others that might be cool to check out like alokvmenon on IG and maybe some books that take alternative perspectives into consideration?

[litehart]

Megalopolis & Self-Protectionism

Sean Fennessey, like many others this past weekend+, joined the Megalopolis discourse and connected it to a variety of other controversial 2024 films that have had loud supporters and equally loud detractors even ahead of wider releases.

While he outlines other films like Civil War, The Substance, and Longlegs, Megalopolis seems to have been uniquely memed and aggressively critiqued both perhaps for its content as well as the story behind it (Coppola invested ~$120M of his own money to make the film and has been ruminating over it for supposedly four decades).

Fennessey’s point gets at two tensions broadly in film today:

A culture in which film criticism has become polarizing and people dig in to their belief systems with highly reductive views

The idea that the creators/protagonists of these debates are stuck in a situation where they are forced to sit squarely within a group of people and create for them (or themselves) instead of a collection of individuals that sit across a gradient of aesthetics/beliefs/desires

These dynamics apply to lots of parts of our lives today and get at a broader rise of how people think about themselves as individuals and as entities. The aggressive reinforcement or exclusion leads to increasingly opinionated and non-translational aesthetics where people feel they must fit very precisely in certain groups in order to fit in any group.

There are very few people playing with translational or intersectional aesthetics of personality or brand out of the clear lack of upside in doing so. Every now and then someone breaks out of the cultural barriers but in most cases people alienate both groups of a given venn diagram and end up with fewer supporters/fans/friends. And thus, people pander to themselves and their small group only because it is easiest, lowest-friction, and highest expected value (but not highest ceiling), and perhaps some feel they must “like” things because other people like them also do.

One could argue this dynamic creates a perverse incentive structure that rewards conformity and punishes experimentation.

Now that I’m really stepping outside my zone of competence, I’d like to take this a logical(?) step further and talk about this dynamic as it relates to the oft-discussed in private rise of the over-therapized, overly-self protective, and perhaps avoidant individuals in 2024. A different form of fitting in or getting out driven by an inability to not dig in to certain held beliefs and aesthetics without being isolationist to anyone remotely off-putting.

The rise of what some call "therapy-speak" and an intensified focus on personal boundaries has created a new form of social sorting. As people aggressively curate their social interactions, it feels as if we seek to minimize discomfort and maximize personal validation, often at the expense of diverse or challenging interactions. This mindset has led to a kind of emotional protectionism, where people reflexively avoid anyone or anything that doesn't align perfectly with their carefully constructed self-image or belief system.

Now to be clear, this isn’t me taking some stance against therapy (I go weekly). This also is not that thinly-veiled extremism we’re seeing more and more where people equate socially complex or protective beliefs to weakness. What myself, EJ, and others are doing is pointing at a practice that is supposed to be clarifying and saying perhaps we have turned it into something falsifying and destructive in how we navigate our lives not just in this moment in time but in the long-term.1

It's a different manifestation of the same tribal instinct we see in cultural criticism - a desire to find and stick with "our people" while avoiding the potential growth that comes from friction and disagreement and not viewing those things as negative.

I know, it’s ironic that this is spurred from film critique, but across each of these dynamics I would say that we’ve sacrificed our ability to navigate the grey areas of existence and to sit amongst many groups that have different gradients of beliefs. As time goes on, the tribes become more tribal, and naturally as algorithms, whether digital or the ones in people’s heads, look to sort, filter, and amplify, we probably lose quite a bit in the act of creating, talking, and living.

---

Thanks to Max for sending an insane amount of megalopolis tweets over the past week and Andy for thoughts.

1 This gets at a different question which is how and why people go to therapy or enter into this form of protectionism and whether or not therapy is really acting as a vessel or creation mechanism for this behavior that people were seeking a reason to adopt.

[psalmsofpsychosis]

okay but something did happen—

growing up i always felt so different from the people around me and my own family, we're not talking cute " they like their eggs scrambled but i like mine flat with orange juice :((( " stuff, we're talking "i'm 100% sure i was an orphan and picked from the side of the road, there's no fucking way these people are my family, we share nothing, my own brother doesn't even look like me to the point that it's become the family joke and everyone keeps telling me that i look like i'm a child from another family."

And so one of my primary ways of dealing with this incessant sense of alienation was to tell myself that i dont really need a sense of relatedness or to be around people who were like me, looked like me, thought like me, shared my beliefs. I told myself that the feeling was superflous, it wasn't a necessity, i didn't need to feel a connection with other people, i could just exist besides them, and it'd be fine. And for a whole long while it was. I got very good at pretending the lack of likemindedness was okay and normal and that it didn't hurt. I also got very, very good at redirecting each and every point of discussion to other people because i wouldn't feel the lack of shared grounds if we never talked about me; there wouldn't be a disconnection, a constant sense of discrepancy if i didn't exist in the frame. I'd just erase myself and all would be good.

Fast forward a couple of years and in my teen years i discovered social media, and in it there were a lot of people parroting that it's actually a terrible unintelligent thing to read books and wants stories in which the characters are like you, that you're supposed to constantly seek and grapple with people who have different worldviews and mental frameworks than you, that you're supposed to seek diverse and differing voices, which is all true and good, but then again— context.

I'm so incredibly used to being around people who reflect very little of me, it's a challenge and it's almost a strange comfortzone for me at this point, i dont expect to be reflected and to find likeminded people when i enter a discussion, most often i dont even think about it. I just remove myself from the equation and listen to other people, it's not hard.

And it almost makes me feel guilty and pathetic when eventually the need for relatedness rears its wild-haired head and i start getting agitated and angry in ways that i can't explain to other people; other people who are so entrenched in their own communities and between their friends and family, they are mirrored and reflected by and so connected to their context. They ask me "yeah but why do you feel a need for this label? why do you need a precise category for the type of creative writing that you do? why do you keep removing yourself from different communities and disappear into the ether never to be seen again?" and i could explain why but it takes too long and i'm tired all the time, so i just say; it's because i too need to be around people who are like me. Who think like me and share my values and know where i'm coming from. I used to think of belonging as a fun extra treat that i'm somewhat allergic to and i'd do just fine without. But i dont think of it as "candy that other kids can have and i dont care for" anymore, i think of it as a necessity. It's necessary to be around people who are like me, it's the way i get to know myself away from the incessant friction of constantly being in disagreement with other people and feeling disconnected and underappreciated, unwanted and invisible. It's true that people grow by challenges, but there's a limit before you completely wear yourself out by grinding against opposing (not harmful, not malicious, or necessarily wrong or bad, just different) points of views. And i had to learn this the hard way, too much friction to the point that i become completely intolerant and rigid and cannot make space for other people anymore, which is not who i am.

I still feel bad when my only comment about something is "it's not like me; i need to be around people and things that reflect me." But also i need to acknowledge that my specific context requires me to be around more likeminded people to bounce my thoughts off of, not less. Right now my growth lies somewhere else, it's not in being challenged in my worldviews, i'm challenged in every single fucking thing i do day in and day out; my growth is in resting among people who are like me and hold the same values as i do. I'm learning to peacefully walk out of a discussion with people who differ too much from me, because more challenges is not what i need right now. I need peace of mind in knowing i'm understood and appreciated and mirrored, not in having to constantly explain and defend myself and "establish my point of view".

And all this is to say; i dont know who needs to hear this right now, but go pick up a book with a character you love, who feels like you. Rest easy with them. Sense of connection is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

[aizenat]

One thing I will say too about this tik tok trend is that it really speaks to the misinformation and lack of information given to Americans about 9/11, al Qaeda, bin Laden, and the entire wars we enacted in the Middle East during the 2000s.

I tell my friend at least once a month how I learned at 19, almost a decade after 9/11, just what was going on in the Middle East during the Gulf War from Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns instead of any adult or news on the topic. I wasn’t even born/was an infant during that conflict, and all I would hear growing up even referencing it was adults saying on the 2000s conflict “George W just wanted a reason to go into Afghanistan and Iraq to ‘finish what his father started’.” AND NOTHING ELSE. No elaboration, no explanation! Just that!

And I’m a fucking millennial! So I imagine that for a generation who, just as I was barely born during the gulf war, were barely born during the 2000s wars in the middle east, they’re going to be surprised to learn WHY, at least from the man who planned it, we were singled out and attacked. That was the biggest question I had as a child about 9/11: why? Why did these ppl hate us so much to do something like that? Why?

And no adults could give an answer other than “they hate democracy/hate that we’re mostly Christian/hate that ‘we’re a free and wealthy nation’/etc.” But no history on WHAT we did specifically to make them do that, because even as a child I knew it was weird to attack an entire nation if you just hate the things they stand for. I hate a lot of what South Korea stands for, but I wouldn’t plan and execute a fucking suicide mission to bomb them! Like that’s extreme.

But one fiction book about the lives of two women living during and in the aftermath of the gulf war (and the rise of the Taliban) made it all click.

My point is that sometimes ppl from other countries, even Americans ourselves, don’t understand how in the dark we were put in regarding the Middle East and the impact of America’s involvement there. We never talked about the gulf war growing up, and we were actively lied to about the 2000s wars by Bush’s administration. And only us “un-American libs” dared to show any sympathy for those suffering in the middle east during our time there.

So I’m not surprised a bunch of kids who grew up hearing people talk about 9/11 and having to do memorials every year for it since they can remember reading bin Laden’s letter and thinking “hmm, he’s got a point.”

Ask those same ppl if they know about the Vietnam war, or the US involvement in the Korea War of the 50s. I bet they don’t know shit about it. And I’m not blaming them; I can’t tell you how many times in history we went over the Revolutionary War or even the world wars, but we stop there in history. Apparently we liberated Europe and parts of Asia from the Axis powers and then nothing happened again until 9/11. That’s literally how history is taught here.

I remember asking my mom as a child if we had any wars since wwii, because my history classes made it seem like that was the case. SHE’s the one who mentioned Vietnam, and when I asked if America won she gave a vague “not really/no one really won that war” (which is hilarious for her to say that knowing what I know now). I remembered following up saying “well, we haven’t been at war since I was born right?” And my mom paused going “well, there was the gulf war, but were you born yet? If so you would have been a baby.”

And I really need to emphasize, especially because I took an honors world history and APUSH in hs, so I technically got a more “neutral” (lol) history than the average American student who wasn’t a college bound nerd like me, NOT A SINGLE CLASS I HAD MENTIONED THE GULF WAR.

I lived in NJ, a blue state with abortions for all, boasting being one of the most diverse states in the country, and has a mostly good school curriculum that allows students to compete at spots for really good colleges, including the Ivys. And yet even I didn’t get a proper education on that war (or the Vietnam war or the Korean wars). If it wasn’t for other avenues or independent research I did after hs, I still wouldn’t know at my big 30+ age. And despite us asking our APUSH teachers often to explain the wars in the Middle East day the time, we STILL never got a decent breakdown in what was going on and why.

I don’t have kids but I’m SURE these gen z kids learning that America fucked over middle eastern countries that had devastating effects on the people there, encouraging them to join terrorist organizations as a result is a new concept for them. I’m not surprised they read a terrorist’s manifesto and went “omg this actually makes sense.”

No offense, but this is what happens when you don’t educate your people properly. They go looking for answers and find them in the worst places.

[mishkakagehishka]

Hiii <3 I was wondering if you could write something for Hiiro Amagi? If so then could you write one wherein ALKALOID hosts a physical meet and greet in a mall and he sort of falls in love at first sight with the gender neutral reader who just so happens to be passing by.

Ohh, and i also love the one you wrote with Leo :D Have a nice day!

Thankies! ^^ I enjoyed writing this a lot, love at first sight. It gave me a bit soulmate AU feels~

Word count: 1290 Summary: Hiiro ditches his job halfway through in order to talk to that mysterious person - he was simply drawn to them, he couldn't help it! Notes: I have no idea what a physical meet and greet entails, so it's a handshake event. I also have no idea what a handshake event entails. I'm just stringing words together <3 Also first time writing Hiiro!!

"Thank you for supporting us!" "You were at our live, too, right? I remember you!" "P-please, continue to watch over us…" Hiiro observed his unitmates shaking the hands of the fans who came to see them, offering words of comfort and appreciation. That day's handshake event took place at the local mall, one he was already familiar with as they also did most their shopping there themselves. It's already been some time since they managed to avoid being fired, since ALKALOID became an established unit, since Hiiro arrived in the city, but he still found himself lost, so to say, in certain situations. Although ALKALOID had hosted handshake events before, he still felt like he didn't quite get the gist of it, and so appreciated the fact that he had a chance to once more confirm how he was expected to act. He was grateful for his unitmates, in that sense, asides from serving as an example to him, they were also always quick to help him. In a way, he felt like he was the leader of their unit, but they held him firmly in that position, helping him, showing him the way when he couldn't see it. If he was the head of ALKALOID, they were the neck that supported him. His thoughts were cut short when another fan approached him, hands outstretched. He took them in his own, gave a firm squeeze, and with the friendliest smile he naturally held, he said, "We'll continue showing you the best performances!" And he meant it. He always did.

As much as they all loved interacting with their fans, giving them back for their support (and Aira especially seemed to almost cry every time a fan with an ita-bag dedicated to him came along; it would just be the two of them clutching each other’s hands and sobbing thank-yous), it was undeniable that handshake events were the ones that got repetitive quite quickly, and it's common for the idols' thoughts to start wandering after a while. For their eyes to start darting from place to place, everywhere except to their work.

Hiiro, who often found his attention span lacking, was in just such a situation. His eyes escaping, though he made sure to earnestly thank the fans and shake their hands strongly, he couldn't help his thoughts drifting away. Despite the fact that he was getting used to life in the city, he still found it fascinating to observe the diverse array of people and types who occupied the streets, the life of the city. He was doing just that in that moment; when he wasn't looking a fan in the eyes and thanking them for their support, he was looking at the people who walked around the mall, carrying bags, entering and exiting the individual stores. Couples, families, people who came with friends, people who came alone. In one of those moments, he noticed a certain person. He couldn't tell you what exactly made him notice them specifically, he simply… found himself drawn in by the air they gave off, despite walking quite a distance away from the area of the mall where ALKALOID were holding the handshake event. There was just something about them that drew him in – that hypnotised him.

He didn't hear Tatsumi's concerned questions, nor Aira's exasperated scolding as he sprinted out of the area, vaulting over the waist-high fence that separated it from the mall proper. His athletic disposition came to show in that performance, as he managed to cross the distance in mere seconds. In mere seconds - he was face to face with them.

"Excuse me!" He called out, skidding to a halt, barely out of breath. They jumped ever so slightly, a natural reaction to seeing such an energetic man running so quickly in their direction. "Um, hi?" And he… found himself at a loss for words. Although he made his move boldly, it was still made on impulse, and now he hadn't a clue on what to actually say to them. All he could think is that he had to say something charming, something witty, something that would impress them, but also endear him. Instead, he only stared at them for a few seconds, silent as a bug. "... Do you need something?" They shifted from one leg to another. "Uh," he snapped out of it, "My name is Amagi Hiiro, and… I saw you, I mean, I couldn't help but notice you!" "Yes?" "And, well, I was, uh," he was tripping over his words again, finding it harder to explain himself. Ultimately, he decided it would be best to be direct, "There was just something about you that made me want to come and talk to you!" "Well, here we are, talking." Though the interaction was edging on the side of awkward, they couldn't see in Hiiro any malicious intent. His smile and eyes seemed honest, and his body language was open, friendly. There was nothing about his carriage that would hint at any dangerous thoughts or plans brewing in his mind, rather, he came across as trustworthy. Furthermore, they couldn't deny that there was, similarly, something about Hiiro that made them want to get to know him better, too. "Fumu! But, I'd like to-"

"Hey, Hiro-kun!" Aira angrily stomped over, huffing and puffing (and slightly short of breath). "What's the big idea, huh?! We're in the middle of a job!" "Oh, my bad!" "Don't 'my bad' me! What was so important that-" He interrupted himself as he met eyes with the person, noticing the way they were holding the hem of their jacket, almost shyly. They waved to him with the other hand, a small wave. "I was just trying to get the chance to get to know them better! I saw them, and thought I just had to talk to them. I’m sure you understand, friend." But, unlike the charmingly oblivious Hiiro, Aira's read enough fanfiction to know what was going on. "Is it love at first sight…? Rabu~i!" He squealed, pushing lightly at Hiiro's back, pushing him closer to them. "Wait, no! Ugh, just exchange numbers and meet up for coffee or something later! We still have work to do!" "Fumu! … How do I exchange numbers?" The person’s eyes lit up. "I'll show you," they immediately volunteered, beyond happy that Aira gave the suggestion to him.

And while Aira quietly left to leave them to it (though sticking by some ways further just to make sure Hiiro actually comes back without dilly-dallying), they took Hiiro's phone, inputting their own phone number in it with ease. "And this is my name," they pointed at the newly made contact. "Call me when you're free," they said with a warm smile. "I will! Thank you!" "Of course, it's no problem. If you finish with your work soon, we can meet up for coffee today, too. There's this really good café that opened here a few days ago, and I've been dying for a chance to check it out." "That sounds great! I would love to-" "Hiro-kun!" The look and laughter they shared in that moment felt natural with them, Hiiro noted.

He thought about Aira's exclamation - love at first sight. And he noticed how much he wanted to keep his eyes on them as he walked away. And he noticed how nervous and impatient he was, wanting to see them again, as he was working. And he wondered. Love at first sight. As he felt himself cheer up the moment he saw them, as they got lost in conversation about everything and nothing on that sweetly innocent first date, as he went home thinking how much he already misses them… He thought that Aira might just have been right.

[randomshyperson]

Enjoy your dinner - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Wanda misses her girlfriend and she won't wait for Clint's birthday dinner with the Avengers to be over. / Special request

Warnings: (+18), public smut, softdom!wanda, sub!reader, fingering, smut, teasing, establish relationship, a brief of teasing with magic.

A/N: I guess i'm writing smut instead of my series. This is short and sinful, but i hope you enjoy it.

Words: 1.093K

All Works Masterlist || Read on AO3

//-//-//-//-//-//-//

You were having trouble paying attention to Steve's words about a story from his army days.

This was entirely because of the tingling sensation in your thigh, which you knew very well who was causing it.

The Avengers were all at Clint's birthday celebration, and Tony decided to organize a dinner party at a very fancy and expensive restaurant downtown, and he rented out the whole floor for a little privacy.

At the moment, you were all sitting at the long table covered with a white lining, lots of silverware and an impressive diversity of dishes, while you all talked among yourselves about the most diverse subjects.

Because of your disorganized routine this week, you barely had time to spend with your girlfriend, and to say that you missed her was an understatement. The last time you had a decent conversation was almost ten days ago, and you could only remember the last time you had been intimately with her because the bruises on your neck or breasts had not yet completely disappeared.

Wanda seemed to miss you in the same way. When you arrived at the restaurant, the avengers were already seated, and after casting an apologetic glance at them for being late and saying happy birthday to Clint, you greeted Wanda with a quick kiss, and sat down next to her at the table.

Everything went well for the first thirty minutes, as you helped yourself to some juice and food, and laughed at Thor's jokes and Natasha's sarcastic comments, but when you began to pay attention to Steve's story about the time he jumped on a grenade, you choked slightly as you felt the tingling in your inner thigh, clutching your fork harder than necessary, but managing to disguise the sigh as you cleared your throat quickly.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that Wanda had her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand as she stared straight ahead, apparently paying attention to the captain's story. What was relevant was the hand in her lap, the red magic between her fingers.

"Wanda, please, we are in public." You warned her in your head, but she didn't even look at you. The tingling sensation is still there, hovering over your skin.

"I miss you, moya lyubov." She retorted tenderly, her magic rising a little on your thigh, and making you shiver in anticipation.

You cleared your throat again, settling uncomfortably into your seat, and closing your legs. Wanda gave you a little corner smile, and the sensation stopped.

You thought it was over, and even had time to laugh at Tony's comment about how Steve's stories were always about war, when you felt Wanda's hand on your thigh.

Your body tensed immediately, and you looked at her. But she held your gaze for just a second, an innocent smile on her lips, before she looked straight ahead again, as if paying attention to the parallel conversations. The table was a complete noisy mess, and no one would notice the lack of your or her participation in the talk. But still, you were in public. Your friends next to you. That idea was complete insanity.

"Wanda. Please." You asked in your mind again, and bit your lips to keep from sighing when she squeezed your skin before slowly moving her hand up, making your heart race.

"Babe, but you're so hot." She mentally retorted, settling herself next to you so that the table cloth covered her hand and your lap completely. You closed your fist tightly as her fingers caressed you over your panties. "And look at this, so wet for me already. And I haven't even touched you yet, Printsessa.”

"Fuck, Wanda." You mumbled softly in embarrassment, feeling your neck warming up.

Wanda pushed your thigh slightly so that you spread your legs for her under the table.

"Just be quiet for me, lyubov." She asked in thought, and you squeezed the seat cushion with your fingers tightly, Wanda's hand moving so she could caress you over your panties before pushing the cloth aside, and her finger touching your swollen clit. "Oh, baby, you always feel so good." She whispered in your mind, looking as pleased with the touch as you were.

A low sound escaped your throat, and you hurried to disguise it as soon as you noticed Nat's curious gaze on you, but your lopsided smile was enough for the red to believe that you were just bored with Thor's narrative about the honor of the hammer or whatever it was he was talking about. Your attention was firmly focused on Wanda's fingers inside you, making your body tremble and a familiar tightness begin to grow in your stomach.

Wanda began to make repetitive movements against your clit, and you needed every control not to moan. When she penetrated you with her finger, as deep as that position would allow, you almost knocked the glass of juice onto the table.

"Are you sure you want to stop?" She teased in thought as she pulled out of you, noticing how wet and slippery you were. You were going to tell her to fuck off, but she inserted two fingers into you next, and you had to shut up or you would have whimpered with pleasure.

The way her fingers were inside of you, touching all the right places as she moved in and out and made sure to squeeze on your clit against her palm, was really making it hard to stay quiet.

Your body was burning hot and trembling, and the growing pleasure in your core made your head spin and your mouth go dry. You needed to escape this before the whole team witnessed you crumble into Wanda's fingers like a whimpering mess.

"Wanda." You warned in your head. "Stop. I can't hold it.”

"I know." She retorted, a little smile at the corner of her lips. You were almost moaning her name when she rotated her fingers inside you, hit that sweet spot that almost brought you to the edge, but the next moment she withdrew her fingers completely. She wiped your wetness on your thigh, and turned her face to you.

"Babe, I'm going to the bathroom, will you excuse me?" She asked innocently. You had to blink a moment before you moved your chair to the side, giving her passage. She was already standing as you tried to normalize your breathing when her voice invaded your mind again. "Are you going to keep up with me or do you want to go without cumming tonight?"

With trembling legs, you didn't even mind the insinuating glances you received from Nat as soon as you stood up, hurrying to accompany Wanda to the bathroom.

//-//

Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx

[jade-parcels]

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The bunnies’ other jobs!

From my bunny cafe au

((I am so peeved :((( I had this all written out!! And I deleted it by accident!! Darnnnnn!!!))

Anon asked “You mentioned that some of the bunnies have day jobs so do they all have jobs outside the cafe or just a few?” (Something along these lines…again…I deleted it by accident 😔)

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Diluc/‘Angel’

After his father got bored with the wine industry, he passed the whole company off to Diluc on his 18th birthday in order to shift his focus to mining. Diluc found himself swamped with all kinds of business decisions while just barely being an adult. He expanded the company and hired some very trustworthy people to handle things for him so he could finish college

When the business was given to him, Diluc and Kaeya had an explosive fight over it. Kaeya felt like he deserved to have some say in what happens to the business, he’s still a part of the family! But Diluc refused to let him in on any decisions so Kaeya packed his bags and left (not before cussing him out in front of their father, staff and business partners). He was just in a silly, goofy mood. They’re fine now, not on the best terms but they do chat and meet up for lunch on occasion.

He is filthy rich, he couldn’t spend all of his all of his money if he tried, so he doesn’t really need the job at the cafe! Kaeya got him the job because he knew his brother was stuck in a weird, antisocial funk and needed some fun in his life

Diluc loves this job, he has a great time, but it isn’t his main job. His priority will always be the family business!! If he has to quit his job at the cafe, he would in a heartbeat

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Kaeya

Kaeya was going to go into the police academy but was scouted out by a modeling agency. They had seen him at Ragnvindr company events and thought ‘well damn’ so they gave him a pretty generous deal

Kaeya makes a good living off of modeling, the tips and paycheck from the cafe. He rakes in cash pretty quickly just cause he knows how to get it. That, and his dad sends him checks every other month as well. Kaeya thinks of it as ‘I’m sorry’ money. He isn’t wrong

He doesn’t travel much for modeling, which he doesn’t mind, so he kinda just hangs around the city with a lot of free time on his hands between photo shoots. That’s why he got this job at the cafe! It gives him something to do and it’s fun as hell ;)

Albedo

Bedo is one busy bunny. He finished college early and is getting his masters degree online. He works most days at the cafe and on the weekends, he tutors other college students in bio/chem/science related subjects

(He was actually Xiao’s tutor back when he was failing chemistry!! Xiao is very thankful for Albedo’s help!!)

His dream is to become a biochemist, he’s always been interested in cells and what makes up living beings. So having a career in that field would make him the happiest man alive

His mother and sister live outside the city in a more rural area so he spends a lot of time FaceTiming the two of them! Klee is always so excited to hear about Albedo’s experiments or the people he’s met while working in such a bustling, fun city :)

Zhongli

Zhongli is a simple man! He’s a bunny waiter and an artist

He creates intricate pieces based on folklore from different cultures, focusing mostly on dragons. His favorite medium is paint, he loves painting on glass and layering the panes in order to create a 3D piece

He sells his works to galleries, shops and anyone who wants them! As long as they appreciate the story behind the artwork. Sadly…He undersells his work. He could def be making more money but he just does not desire money or material goods the way others may

So he got his job at the cafe in order to help out his dear friend Ningguang, not for money, he only planned on working there for a month or two until she got more bunnies but…he ended up really loving the people he works with :’) he looks forward to working with them now and texts/calls them outside of work to meet up for lunch or bowling (such an old man thing to do omfg)

Dainsleif/‘Sweetie’

Dain was a bouncer at another bar before leaving to come to Celestia’s! He’s good friends with Beidou, they belong to the same motorcycle club so when she was talking to him about the lack of security at the cafe/bar, he stepped in to help out

Little did he know…he’d actually become a bunny…And like it

This is his full time job now, he doesn’t have another for the time being. While he is a bunny at the cafe, he still keeps an eye out for any threats to his coworkers and has access to the offices upstairs (Ningguang’s office and the security office)

When he isn’t waiting tables, he’s upstairs in a tank top and sweatpants keeping an eye on the security cameras and talking to the other security guards through their ear pieces

Ajax

Ajax is a student who doesn’t really have much time on his hands

He mows lawns in the summer and he’s quit his job as a cashier to come work at the cafe! He mostly works night shifts his cause he’s still going to school aaaaaand he’s on his college’s swim team! He’s about to graduate so he works close with his coach to help train the others on the team

He doesn’t really want his family knowing that he skips around in a skimpy bunny outfit and fucking customers most nights but I mean…They’re bound to find out if they see him in pictures people post

Xiao/‘Tofu’

Xiao is an art student!! He wants to be a tattoo artist :)

He’s already got one sleeve of tattoos, it’s unfinished but you can’t really tell just by looking. When he isn’t at the cafe, he’s either in class or shadowing Ganyu, his best friend and tattoo artist. Their art styles greatly differ, she focuses her craft on cutesy, colored tattoos, but she is skilled. And Xiao looks up to her

Xiao admires Zhongli too, they met at the cafe and when Zhongli found out Xiao wants to be a tattoo artist he told him that once he’s licensed, he wants to get a tattoo from him :’)

Baizhu/‘Honey’

Baizhu is a (mostly) full time pharmacist, hence why he isn’t usually at the cafe

He also has a niece, Qiqi, who he babysits often. He loves her very much so he has no problem watching her! Baizhu will even bring her to the pharmacy with him when he’s swamped with work. In the break room, he has a play kitchen, coloring books and a bunch of puzzles to keep Qiqi occupied while he works :)

When he’s not at work, he’s at home resting. He has chronic pain flare ups in his back and shoulders that can make life miserable :( he has plenty of good days that outweigh the bad! And as a pharmacist, he has access to any medicine he needs to make his life easier!

Dottore(Alain)/‘Doc’

Alain’s an oral surgeon who’s a little bit….too into his job

He isn’t phased by blood or gore so he’s easily able to conduct procedures that would make other squeamish. He’ll pull teeth, put in dental implants, remove rotten tissue, any of that without even flinching

Outside of that, he works at the cafe. He wears a mask in order to avoid being recognized even though at his job as a surgeon, he’s usually wearing a medical mask anyways. It’s just a precaution

This has nothing to do with his career but he used to be a tap dancer and actor so he’d join in on local theatre shows! He helped build sets when he wasn’t rehearsing. He doesn’t have time for that anymore (which kinda makes him sadddd) but he has all kinds of theatre playlists on his phone and in his car that he’ll sing along to

Scaramouche/‘Boss’

Scara’s job at the cafe is his main job! His side job is something you may not expect from such a grump

He works at an animal shelter! In fact, he brings cats home to train so they have an increased chance of being adopted. Someone is more likely to adopt a potty trained, socialized cat than a feral cat who doesn’t know what a litter box is. So Scara brings them to his apartment for some one-on-one socializing, training and cuddling

One time he offhandedly mentioned working at an animal shelter while he was working at the cafe and sure enough, three separate customers from the cafe came by to adopt!!! Only one actually took an animal home but he was still surprised that those people had listened to him and cared enough to come by

Scara is a jerk most of the time but when he’s at home…by himself…With a lil kitten sleeping in his lap while he plays games on his PC…Yeah, he softens up a bit

So as you can see, we have a very diverse group working at the cafe! They’ve all learned a lot from each other, come to appreciate each other’s friendship and come to help each other out when one of their coworkers is in need or upset.