#he hates labels to the point he's willing to fight people who try to label him

[king-nyx]

I know I wrote Peitho and Aphrodite to be friends, but they definitely fucked. Hermes and Ares know this. They also know that if they ever fuck up, Peitho and Dite would just leave them and get married.

[elithemiar-blog]

Ban the League

One of the Justice League gets the task to investigate Amity Park undercover, and not because of the Ghost issue.

Maybe the Fenton tech is labeled as a possible renewable energy source to outsiders, which has been unsuccessfully reverse engineered in multiple other cities by the less than favorable people (like Lex Luthor).

Investigation begins by one member of the League which is then continued by multiple. The only reason was because of a single explosion causing a borderline radioactive leak in an entirely different city.

Eventually it leads them to Amity Park, and for some reason or another it has to be undercover.

Outsiders are easy to pick out so many of the citizens are cautious. Defensive in their questions, they've heard rumors about others taking the Fenton tech and trying to replicate it, unsuccessfully, thankfully. The Fenton parents keep handing them out, unable to tell the difference between Amity Native and Outsider. The children are fine, putting focus on keeping the inventions non-lethal and trying to convince the parents to stop handing people their weapons.

So not only are the citizens not completely cooperating they are trying to keep the outsiders away from the Fenton home.

Then the undercover Leaguer witnesses a ghost attack and Amity's resident hero is a child. Cue hysterics.

Now, believing that the city may respond better to other superheroes, the Official League makes a visit and a startling discovery that the Town. HATES. Them.

One of the supers, let’s say Big Blue, gets overshadowed. PHANTOM, OP as ever (compared to league standards) knocks out Supes to get the ghost out. (HC: due to power level of Superman, he has to be knocked out, because the ghost doing the overshadowing won't let go).

Danny vaguely remembers fighting an overshadowed Superman, he thought it was a dream.

Some of the Amity Natives who are holding a grudge, start a petition to Ban the Justice League, and protest begin with the chant "Ban the League" at city hall (Vlad is trying).

Some of the League gets woken up in the middle of the night by a ghost attack, not a serious one, just a couple of animal ghosts. They witness Red Huntress help Phantom, Red leaves since it’s so late. Then they find a "government funded organization" and the Fenton parents trying to hunt down the town’s hero, there's guns pointed at him, but Phantom looks bored and tired. So, they question the four hunters, the Fentons tell them, they ignored their five calls, leave the town to the hunting professionals.

Maybe one of them tell them they can't hunt Phantom if he's part of the League (total bluff).

So, a rumor hits the town that the League is attempting to recruit Phantom (maybe Wes was following for his Fenton=Phantom conspiracy, got the entire event on video and released it to the public). They don't take kindly to that and defend Phantom as THEIR hero (Batman is known to take in kids).

To try and prove to the town that they are not trying to take the boy nor are they on the GiW side. They get the Ghost Ward disbanded.

Amity is unsure at this point, it could be a ruse, so they leave it to their hero.

For the most part Danny has been sleep deprived so a lot of the major points he missed or thought he'd been dreaming. When the Justice League show up while he's just flying over the town, it's a “oh, that wasn't a dream.” He kind of rants at them about their behavior and asks why they even bother to show up now.

They explain about the situation of the Fenton inventions and what actually lead them to the town.

"So, you only care now, because your cities are in danger" salty vibe.

He's disappointed in them but is still willing to make an agreement.

Amity is his territory, but if he needs help, call them. Danny doesn't take it seriously but takes the communicator to Tucker to make sure it's safe.

An official statement from the League to Amity hits the news. They are not welcomed in the city unless invited by Phantom himself.

Any villain that tries to take over Amity is met by Phantom and quite a few Natives that don't take kindly to them and is run out.

Any anti-heroes being harassed by the League for their tactics? Amity will welcome them as a vacation spot.

Any of the undead that the League has an uneasy alliance with? They're salty about the abandonment too.

The magic users? Sure, but they'll be closely watched.

Amity has had bad experiences from a rich mayor (who’s not even from Amity), a funded government organization that still thinks all ghosts are evil (despite their hero doing what he can), a circus ringmaster (they don't remember what happened but is on their shit list), and an entire school had a bad experience with a therapist.

You can't tell me that if a "professional" hero group in alliance with government, who ignored their calls for help, are gonna be welcomed in the town without being highly suspicious.

[ragingadhd]

I was going to put this in the corps therapy blog, but yk what I think it deserves a whole post.

It kind of bugs me when people feminize Will. He's definitely a more feminine guy, don't get me wrong, but l'm so tired of people seeing a guy who isn't 100% masculine and immediately taking that as an in to feminize/infantilize him.

I love his feminine side. I love how he's so caring and loving, how he pays attention to details and is a great listener. I love that he loves music and animals and cooking and having fresh flowers in his cabin. I love his loyalty to his friends. I love how smart, quick witted and clever he is.

But I also love his masculine side. I love how willing and capable he is to fight, especially for those he loves. I love how much thought and care he puts in to keeping his body fit and muscular. I love how intimidating he can get if he chooses to, and how he allows himself to get angry from time to time.

That’s part of why I love TRR as much as I do, especially when it comes to Will’s character. I read that series and I see a man who is more comfortable and balanced in his masculinity than ever before.

Of course, that’s all in the view of a fairly traditional idea of femininity and masculinity. Really, those are made-up labels for very abstract ideas. I firmly believe all of the “feminine” traits I listed are very masculine in their own right, and vice versa, but I digress.

I’m certainly not going to be over here trying to police how people enjoy the series, nor am I trying to say it’s wrong to view Will in a feminine way. If you enjoy the series that way, who am I stop you. My point in making this post is simply to vent a bit and maybe start a discussion. In my personal life, I am so tired of people dismissing or even denying my masculinity because I am a more feminine man, so I’m a little more inclined to be upset about my favorite character receiving a similar treatment.

I don’t see much of this issue regarding Will in the main series. I’ll see someone basically “uwu soft boi” him on rare occasion, but that’s the extent of it. I mostly see this happening with his character in The Royal Ranger. So many people hate who he’s become or even refuse to acknowledge the series. Again, I’m not trying to police how anyone enjoys the whole RA franchise. It’s a fictional book series at the end of the day, not that big of a deal. And of course there are a million different reasons why someone might not like TRR, and I’m not going to be over here accusing everyone for not liking it because Will is more (in my opinion) masculine.

Anyway I’m gonna close my ramble off now. Don’t take any of it too seriously, it’s just been floating around my head for a minute.

[henrysglock]

“Gay Mike vs Bi Mike makes a huge difference in his personal character arc, because it changes everything regarding his relationship with El, his relationship to his Reagan-supporter parents, and the blowback from all the homophobic bullies across the years picking on Will for being”

I mean I just don’t see how that’s true? I DO care about Mike outside of byler. In fact, he’s the character I relate to most and the one I find the most interesting. I think both gay Mike and bi Mike theories are valid and possible. I see both arguments and I nod in agreement.

And I feel like all the things you listed fully apply to Mike regardless of where he falls on the Kinsey scale? I go back and forth on it.

I think there are great people on both sides and see the argument for both. I just don’t see the point of fighting or drawing a line in the sand when we really don’t know anything for certain, y’know? I guess I don’t see much meaningful difference in the queer experience and what being bi vs. gay would mean for Mike’s character? It’s not that there aren’t smaller nuances, but to me, they are just that: small. The basic story and arc remains the same!

I would agree that everything changes depending on Mike’s specific sexuality if I believed a specific label changes things in general? But I’m bi, and it’s not like I would stop relating to Mike if he’s gay? Or if he’s unlabeled? At the end of the day he’s queer, and the queer experience is relatable!

To me everything’s fluid, and experiences and feelings can look pretty similar across the spectrum. I respect those who are able to “pick a side.” But I guess I just don’t see much value in “sides” if that makes sense? When Mike gets more focus in S5, I think it will be clearer. But until then, it feels like pointless fighting?

I’m willing to change my mind. But I haven’t seen anything that convinces me Mike’s story is meaningfully different if he’s gay or bi.

I guess I don’t see much meaningful difference in the queer experience...It’s not that there aren’t smaller nuances, but to me, they are just that: small. At the end of the day he’s queer, and the queer experience is relatable!

How do I explain to you that the difference between homosexuality and bisexuality aren't small, and they are meaningful, or that experiences as a gay person are different from experiences as a bisexual person.

I’m willing to change my mind. But I haven’t seen anything that convinces me Mike’s story is meaningfully different if he’s gay or bi.

Marie's page is a good place to start irt Mike:

And so is Em's:

Do your own research, Nonnie. Posts have been out there since 2022.

[rickgrimesdoingrickthings]

ಠoಠ

A headcanon about a pet peeve for Rick- something he really hates and will test his patience.

When people say or act prejudice based.

It's not because Rick is some random moralist. In my opinion, there are many reasons why it annoys him so much when people act racist or sexist etc. 1) First thing is- to act based on prejudice is stupid- Rick is very intelligent and stupid people annoy him, specially people who are willing to use prejudice to act superior than others. Prejudice is based on shallow, superficial ideas, puts everyone in the same bag and is strongly influenced by bias- to Rick, that's the most stupid way of thinking. People who say "all men are like this" or "all women are like that" are basically putting 50% of the world population in the same bag without considering each person's peculiarities. Judging without knowing is stupid to him, who acts mostly based on logic and rationing. 2) Second thing- he's sensible and smart enough to know people are way more than race, gender, etc. and are not defined by that. So when someone uses prejudice to erase others, Rick interprets that as injustice, and guess what, Rick hates injustice.

3) Third thing is personal- he has suffered because of prejudice- Rick is far from the concept of what sexist traditional people expect and construct as what "a man should be like". Of course you can't even compare the struggles Rick faces for not being the "ideal male stereotype" with what minorities go through- in fact, black people, LGBT+, women and immigrants go through a lot worse on a daily basis (Rick considers that injustice, considering the previous topic). The point I'm trying to make is- Rick doesn't fit in what most of a sexist society expects a man to be like. He is sensible, emotional, he is not aggressive, he likes art, he's shy, he hates conflict, he is not muscular, he is not big, he doesn't like imposing his opinions, he doesn't like being the center of all attention, he doesn't like to show strength and authority all the time, he is not a womanizer, he doesn't like drinking, he doesn't like going out with friends to bars etc, he likes to read, he likes to draw, he likes to take care of his kids, he is not a controller, he likes to cake care of his appearance, he likes to look good, he doesn't like flirting with strangers or being flirted by strangers. Rick has so many traits that sexist people would disapprove. He probably already got bullied a lot because of who he really is like and maybe it's one of the main reasons he is so reserved about his tastes, about the novels he likes to read and even about the sweets and snacks he enjoys. He hates to see people emulating actions based on prejudice- shallow values that hurt others, without critique, without empathy.

4) Fourth thing- Prejudice thinking / acting is bad to the world.

Rick is aware of the oppression people go through. He thinks racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia etc. just bring more pain to the world. That causes more hate, more crimes, more chaos, more suffering, more wars, more mental health problems and diseases, more conflicts and more unhappiness. Prejudices are rocks in the road to the ideal happy world Rick wish that existed. He thinks such things harm human society as whole, he doesn't want that. As a cop, Rick already experienced so much disgrace and violence, many caused by prejudice and it's direct and indirect effects.

5) Fifth thing- Prejudice limits people. It's quite simple: many men could have been great artists, happy with their art, but weren't because they got laughed at, for art wasn't something "manly". Many women could have survived aggressors if they had been taught to defend themselves instead of being labeled as "fragile". Rick has a very practical blunt view of people- he always tries to see the individuals, not the labels. He wants to be free to be a loving father who is present to take care and play with his children- he wants to be free to teach his daughter to fight and be strong- he doesn't want prejudices in the way, he doesn't want people to bother him because of prejudices they carry. He doesn't want his group being weak because the survivors are having their potentials limited. He's very practical, he doesn't want people feeling superior trying to force other people to live in any specific way against their will- to him, as long as people respect the laws so society can be peaceful, people should be free.

@wexarethewalkingxdead

[alarrytale]

Hi Marte. How do you separate the stunts from the people? I really struggle with Harry and Louis' images. It's partly to do with how other people perceive them, like Harry as a homewrecker and womanizer, and Louis as a homophobe. Then they do things to push these images. It's especially hard as a queer fan of Louis since the beginning and seeing how flamboyant and free he was and how proud and confident of his sexuality he was to then going deep into the closet and now people think he is homophobic. It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that there are artists/actors etc forced in the closet and when ones eventually come out they always talk about how much it damaged their mental health and that they wish they CO earlier as they lost so much time. Because if more public figures CO it would pave the way for others to follow in their footsteps and it would give young lgbtq+s people to look up to, and it would normalize lgbtq+ people in industries like you keep saying. There is everything to gain with it, but the industry is clearly really corrupt and more and more dodgy stuff comes out in the news. It's even worse for Louis because he's saddled with a child that isn't his. Do you think anything will change anytime soon? Some people have CO but it's really far and few between.

Hi, anon!

I seperate the stunts from the people because i know who they really are. I know who they are after observing their behaviour, listening to them and picking up on their silent communication. I filter out the noice which are their lies, attempt at gaslighting and fake personas. I know they're both gay, so i don't listen to anyone who says differently. Like i don't listen to flat-earthers or people who believe trickle-down economics works. They're simply wrong, but there is no point in arguing with them. They don't have the information we do and they don't want to see it.

Since they're both gay they must be closeted. You can’t force anyone out of a closet, even if you feel there are no incentives left for them to stay closeted. I believe they're both forcibly closeted. I don't think L would take advantage of a child like he is to enforce his own closet. If i believed that i would hate him. So i don't think they're closeted by choice. Their behaviour over the years tells me this as well. They are fighting to get to be who they are, but they are prohibited by contracts and old fashioned label views.

Louis is viewed as a homophobe because of his past homophobic statements. But none of the people who view him as such know he's got a triangle tattoo, wore a rainbow apple t-shirt when Tim Cook came out, sings i love him i hate it and bathes his audience in rainbow lights. They also don't know he's closeted and with Harry. They don't know how closeting in Hollywood works, how long they're willing to go to closet someone and how much money is at stake. We know this, and we know the truth.

We also know that H can't be a homewrecker or a womaniser if he's gay. We know he's queercoding and not queerbaiting. We know he wants to show us he's queer and took on the role of a closeted queer man, because he identified with it. We know he has to do things he doesn’t want to do to be able to get more freedom to the things he wants to do. We know it's a balance he has to keep.

When they do stuff in stunts that are unacceptable, i always try to give them the benefit of the doubt. They are good people in an ugly business. No hands are fully clean. But i also call them out when they do unacceptable stuff, because the unacceptable stuff shouldn't be normalised and accepted. I'm not down with blind idolisaton. I tolerate bearding and stunting, but i struggle when they mix it with brand promotion. That i have zero tolerance for. I'll empathise with you for having to drag a woman around to seem straight, but i draw the line at you trying to sell me citrus fruit bikes at the same time and acting bothered by the paps. That's emotional manipulation. Fuck that, no sympathy from me.

I hate both their public images. I don't blame anyone who buys into their images and i agree with the people who critisise their images. If somebody thinks Louis is homophobic or a dead beat dad, or Harry a womaniser or a queerbaiter i think fair enough. Publicly they are. H and L don't get to complain about their images, even though that's not who they are because they are perpetuating them.

I think they deal with their fake images, lies and horrible public behaviour by being open, truthful and honest to themselves, and with their friends and family. I think they're only closeted to the general public. Fandom knows who they truly are and don't buy into their images. If fandom did believe L is homophobic or H a queerbaiter they wouldn't have fans at all, who would be fans of that? Some fans buy into some of their images, but not everything.

I'm not sure when things will change for them, i don't think they have much of a say. Best we can hope for is Sony seeing profit in an out H and L or it's a contract running it's course that will make it possible for them to come out. I have no idea. But things are changing, albeit slowly. Younger music artist are not okay with closeting anymore. It's not neccessary either. Being queer is more and more accepted and normalised. The business is still ugly and people have skeletons in their closets. So it's complicated. If H and L were 10 years younger i think they'd be allowed out.

In the meantime, filter out the noice and try to see them for who they are. They're not perfect people, but they're good people in a difficult situation trying to make the best of things. They will come out one day, we just don't know when.

[utterdrip]

hello im back (that anon who cant play bg3 herself but needs to Explode dekarios-style over her tav and astarion)

i wrote a full ask for axelias backstory to provide context but then i realized how long the ask would get . so here i am with half of what i need to rant over AJSJSJA

ANYWAYS axelia (my rogue tiefling who was a street urchin) and astarion are absolutely enemies to lovers in the same way shadowheart and lae'zel would be enemies to lovers !! they initially hate each other w a Passion but thats before they realize how eerily similar they are w their experiences and outlooks, and how the other can only really begin to understand why they behave the way they do

initially axelia hates astarion bc she has Issues with political figures (the start of her Trauma is bc of one bribed politician that fucked her already poor family over .) and while she wouldnt admit it easily she had a bias AJSJAJAJJ the only thing she really cared about when she got out of the nautiloid was to get back to her younger sister (hope). astarion would pick up on the friction pretty quickly and sass her right back the most to the point where its honestly a routine for them to fight and the only thing missing is either of them copying shadowheart and laezel w the blade at the throat

however. axelia got to know more about astarion beyond his facade . what really was the first thing that made her empathize w This One Of All People is how they both really dont trust/like ppl who display themselves as a lawful hero AJSJAJJAJ she grew up as a street urchin who was forced into that position bc of a guy who pretended to be good, and nobody would help her, a starving dirty tiefling child whos providing for both her and her sister, without smth in return ? so yeah no she Fucking Gets It .

time passes on and she develops an old married couple dynamic w astarion AJJSJSJA like still bickering but more lighthearted as they learn to empathize more w each other. fast forward to him trying to seduce her for the first time and it was a "might as well happen" thing for her KWNRKSJAJA she felt comfy enough that she didnt see any reason to refuse, and she didnt want to admit it at the time but she was def growing more unironically fond of him and his company

the more she hears about astarions story the more she gets furious for him and determined to show him that there are people who will fight for him . its the protective kind of love that axelia doesnt even realize is whats happening. she just knows that above all else, cazador needs to Die and she'd be willing to risk her own safety just to help astarion see it through

by this time theyre in a relationship w no labels AJJSAAA basically act 2 relationship. theyre both not exactly sure what they are to each other but they both know they can rely on the other to actually Give A Shit about them. while they both still love to argue and Disrespect each other its the fun kind where they definitely know its just banter at this point that they can easily use to team up on the others <33

act 3 comes and while axelia also gets the fear behind astarion wanting to ascend so badly she also knows that thats not a decision hed be too proud of if he could see the consequences now AJSJAJAJ so ofc spawn route <33

this is already a super long ask and i apologize for that but thats roughly how i see them progressing if i could acrually play the game </3 i have more Thoughts but ill shut up for now AJSJSJAJA but thank you for reading all that if ever <33

-✨️ (new anon !)

SPARKLY NONNIE U HAVE MADE MT ENTIRE DAT KNOW THIS

axelia sounds like a fucking Deligjt and i empathize SO HARD. with distrusting political figures. astarion says magistrate and i tense up like a scared cat

it mustve been like whiplash for axelia tho!! him first acting all posh and haughty and “im a magistrate i put away trouble makers i do it sooooo often its boooooring to talk about” and then. hes like okay so if u had to die. how would u want to die. are u cool if i just like drain the baddies we kill. can i please please pleeeease open this door to creatures fucking i wanna see what they look like and make fun of them. like this little fop being the most bastard gremlin of a man is everything to me

honestly playful bickering is So Important to me like if u cant chat the shit with your partner, if you cant make fun of yourself with and for them its just boring imo.

i wonder—how does she begin to start opening up to him as well? like is there a specific catalyst do u think? like i feel like her having a protective anger over astarion would make him be like ????we are barely more than strangers why do—oooooooooohhhhh you have siblings. dont you (disdainfully)

idk im just throwing shit at the wall bht im adoring this i reallt hope ur able to make it a reality sooner!!!!!!

[izzieonfilm]

The Real Villain of Succession Is Not Shiv Roy

photograph by David Russell/HBO

Siobhan Roy, typically known as ‘shiv’, is the youngest child, and only daughter, of the founder of Waystar Royco, Logan Roy. With her lack of training management, a product of being the only daughter and youngest of her father, Shiv uses her intelligence to help her win the fight of who will become the successor but, despite the fact that others in Succession are using similar ways to secure their victory, Shiv is being treated different to her counterparts, but why? 

While Shiv is not squeaky clean with her actions and morals, with her intimidating a victim of sexual harassment, neither are her brothers, or anyone else in Succession. Roman Roy has sent private pictures of himself to Gerri Kellman, without her consent, making what he did sexual harassment, but if you were to search to see if anyone was talking about it, you would be met with a lack of conversation surrounding the topic. So why is Shiv painted as the real villain of succession, when she is surrounded by people who are not any better than she is? The answer is the one thing that she cannot escape, she’s a woman in a misogynistic world and a male dominated business. In the show, and in real life, Shiv is held to a different standard, a higher one, than her male counterparts, and is used by her family when they are in need of good press, then is pushed to the sidelines when she becomes no use to them. 

In the episode 'America Decides’ Tom calls Shiv ‘unhinged’ when she mentions that the burned votes from Milwaukee probably had votes for Jimenez. The term ‘unhinged’ is occasionally rooted in misogyny, with women being told over and over again that they are more emotional than men, and that if they voiced their opinions or strongly believed in their feelings, they become ‘crazy.’ Words such as unhinged and crazy are used to subside a woman and her emotions, therefore making what she has to say less impactful, with the word labelling her as irrational. To her family, especially Roman, Kendall and Logan, her gender is seen as a liability, or as Logan puts it, “a fucking minus.’ She lacks credit for when her hard work goes according to plan in favour of the Roy family, but her brothers are praised for their work, producing the belief that what she does doesn’t count and proving the theory that her gender makes her be seen as less than, forcing her to have to try harder and be more intelligent than her brothers.

Acknowledging that Shiv uses feminism to her advantage, ready to weaponise it at any point that it would benefit her and that she doesn’t want to stop misogyny altogether, she just wants it to stop for her, she is still in a male dominated field where everyone is either too obsessed with having themselves win or oblivious to the misogyny that no one notices that Shiv is capable of succeeding. Albeit of the characters being fictional, Shiv stills face misogyny online, from people who think she is the villain of the show, even though nearly everyone is morally corrupt in their own ways and actions. Kendall is partially to blame for the death of a waiter, Roman is trying to get a fascist into the office, Tom is willing to betray anyone for him to get to the top and Greg has let the money take over his morals. But all of those were shoved out of the window when people realised that Shiv is easy to blame. 

This is not the first time a woman has been labelled as the ‘bad guy’ on a show that has a more male leading cast. Breaking Bad, a world-wide praised show, had a character that was also hated on for no justifiable reason when she was alongside some point-blank ville peers. Skylar White, played by Anna Gunn, was the target of this hate, with her character being called "the most evil character on television.” Other morally-grey female characters have faced this misogynistic double standard as well, such as Summer from 500 Days Of Summer and many more, with them all being on the receiving end of misogyny.

If you watch succession with the question of “who is less morally corrupt" or “who is less evil” it’s not the right question to ask. Asking those is misreading the entire show, there is no one who is better, the point of the show is to watch what happens. What happens to the Roy family after they betray each other, ruin their moral compass, do what is best for them - not the majority. No matter how hard Shiv tries to not let misogyny affect her from getting what she wants, it’s impossible for her to escape the endless cycle of misogyny, no matter whether she is to win or to lose.

[speedygoateeconnoisseur]

The identity problem

The idea of "gender affirmation" is wrong. Sounds absurd, right?

Well, it's not. To be affirmed means you must confirm that they CONFORM to the traits seen in said gender.

To be affirmed that you're now "passing" as a woman in society. That is gender-affirmation.

You must be affirmed that you're now conforming to "women" traits.

Women and men are different beings. There's billions of us. If that's the case, then how do you come to the idea of what a "woman" or "man" is? Why haven't we made the idea of not thinking about what a "man or woman" is? He's wearing a dress? Cool. It's possible that he doesn't make it work and is ugly in it. It's fine, it's the same fashion issue some women have. That's the idea of fashion, it's a harsh world.

The very idea of "trans" has been warped. You don't need dysphoria? Yes, you do. That's the thing. It started with rights. Rights to medicines. Specific procedures that aren't about surgeries, top or bottom.

Medicines for youths, things like HRT. We understand it to a science, not a social science but an actual physical science. Those bodies have defects that we can remedy. But we drew the attention to how we need to look in today's society.

Arguments even got made for things like ED pills being "affirmation" treatment. No, old guys with broken dicks are still old guys with broken dicks, it affirms nothing. Those that try to fight old age may feel like less of a man, but that's a personal issue. If you're trying to be above them, why attack them for a personal issue? Hypocrisy is what makes us human, so I guess that's okay.

What even is an identity? How many words do you need on an internet profile? Bi non-binary pansexual? How do you even know you're a pansexual? Why do people assume they know what it's like to feel a certain gender? To accept genderfluid means to accept gender norms. In fact, all of this shit is to accept gender norms. The very things you bitch about are the things you empower and promote.

A guy can be a guy that's into "feminine" things. So what? We can easily just draw the line there. Tomboys used to exist, but now they're going to be forced with labels like trans.

This leaks into their "sexuality". Why does your sexuality need to be stated on every fucking website? Are you defined that easily? Are you that shallow, with no depth?

Sexuality is just a fetish. Humans shouldn't be shallow enough to say they'd never go beyond their fetish. You never know who you'd encounter. That's the idea of life. We don't know anything, we exist to learn and try to find out what we don't know.

Then suddenly, you're now a -phobe. Your harmful rhetoric does your ideology no good.

The idea of changing your identity is an after-thought, it's not a prescription or a cure. You've gotten your drugs, but since that isn't enough, you're now going for your "identity". It's basic human greed, we can't be happy with what we've got; we need MORE.

But somehow, that's hate speech. Somehow, that's "you don't know what it's like to be in my shoes" even though they put their whole lives on formerly Twitter where you can read their entire being.

===================================

The same thing happened with BLM. Firstly, people actually are dumb enough to think George Floyd is a SAINT. They elevated him to sainthood. Secondly, the idea was for rights. The reason it did end up having the occasional violent protest isn't because of "bad actors", it's because those people are just inherently violent.

Conservatives are fucking horrible, yes, but do you think liberals aren't the same? How many of them have the same notion of violence? They operate off of a violent flashmob mentality. If someone is being a karen, guess what they'd say and do?

They're willing to attack themselves and create nonsensical discourse, for what? Internet points?

[shotorozu]

polyamory headcanons

(bakudeku x reader)

character(s) : bakugou katsuki, midoriya izuku (bnha)

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, strong quirk (not specific)

headcanon type : all of them minus the extreme angst (x reader)

note(s) : i have another platonic class 1-a post coming right up! and another lengthy post,, theres no editing with this whdnwks

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how it came to be

so this entire thing practically began even before bakugou realized his feelings for you (i’ll explain in a bit)

midoriya KNEW there was something going on, as soon as he met you he just didn’t know what it was. and he eventually realized his feelings for you when the dekusquad made him realize after being in denial

meanwhile, bakugou was never going to admit that he, bakugou katsuki— was crushing on what was an ‘extra’ to him

i wouldn’t really say you’re an extra really, because your quirk is so impressive to the both of them, labelling you as an extra would be dumb.

the dekusquad urged him to just make his move, while bakugou was still stuck in his denial stage (much to the bakusquad’s dismay)

midoriya was the first one to express his interest, asking you questions ranging from your quirk, to basically anything about yourself.

and bakugou had to sit through all of it in silence because he just had to sit right infront of you two

eventually— it became too much, because a big confrontation sparked between the two, with bakugou asking what the hell he was doing with you

and around this time, midoriya wasn’t so ‘scared’ of bakugou anymore. i mean, there’s still respect going around— but he won’t allow himself to be beat up anymore!

“if you like Y/N, why don’t you make a move, kacchan?”

it’s very competitive— a lot more than before. bakugou finally started to make his move, forcing offering you to spar with him, and making you food.

and midoriya only continued to make advances (the bakusquad and the dekusquad were in shambles just watching the three of you)

and that’s where you’re stuck between 2 choices. it’s hard because you like the both of them! they’re amazing in their own way

to stop the bickering, you proposed a polyamory— to satisfy all sides of the story. izuku immediately agree, and while bakugou HATED the idea, it was better than not having you at all

as long as izuku’s willing to share, then he won’t be so opposed to it. he’s in for it for you

everyone was so shocked when it was revealed that you three were DATING

hugs

you’re always in the middle, this isn’t very surprising.

katsuki always wants you to be in his bear hug, and midoriya would be content with just spooning you.

it’s so hot when it comes to cuddling, and no, not in that way. i mean— katsuki’s body heat is just TOO MUCH

so, y’all just ditch the damn blanket, y’all have katsuki anyway.

katsuki’s arms will be hooked around your waist— his head placed on the crook of your neck.

meanwhile izuku held your hand, his legs sprawled on top of yours— his head laying on your chest.

also, there will be a lot of kicking 💀

but, you do occasionally let katsuki be in the middle when it’s especially colder. you don’t want izuku to be cold too.

kisses

similar to my todomomo x reader post, the three of you find each other doing that classical kiss— where two people kiss your cheek at the same time (on opposite sides)

katsuki’s lips are warm, pretty soft. not at all flakey— and izuku’s lips are a little bit on the drier side, but they’re pretty smooth.

because izuku has a lot of scars on his hands, you’ll take your time with kissing each scar— meanwhile, katsuki traces the scars on his free hand

you and izuku love kissing katsuki’s cheekbones. he says he absolutely hates it when you both do it without warning, but he can’t help but anticipate it— every time you both go near his face

katsuki and izuku love to hold contests on who can fluster you the most— and who can kiss you the longest :))

how you guys spend time

if there’s something you can all agree on— it’s that katsuki’s cooking is the best.

cooking sessions are a staple of your relationship

y’all tend to close your eyes, and just pick a random recipe— so that you can try to make it, even if katsuki doesn’t like the food

he’ll still make it, because his ego gets fed whenever he sees you and izuku watch him cook intensely

there were plenty of times where y’all almost burned down the kitchen while trying to make wagyu beef

but it is pretty fun to hear katsuki’s food commentary, which is usually rare— since he loves to cook in silence

comfort

you basically have 2 guard dogs with you. they’re so protective— anyone that messes with you won’t see the light of day

if you get hurt during training, they’ll freak the fuck out— debating if they should drag you to recovery girl, or if they should patch you up themselves

katsuki would make izuku run to the medkit, and katsuki would take a look at any injuries— massaging any sore muscles

we all know katsuki is shit at words, especially when it comes to reassurance and panic attacks (if ever) but that’s why izuku’s here

he knows exactly what to do (excluding the first time) and he knows exactly what to say, but that doesn’t mean katsuki is useless

he’ll pull you close against his chest, softly rocking you back and forth— wiping any tears that cascade down your cheeks, caressing your arms up and down

if izuku felt terrible, you’ll distract him by keeping you close— while katsuki RAN to get the all might documentary izuku wouldn’t stop watching, and a few blankets

y’all don’t need blankets but, it’s helpful in situations like this

if katsuki was feeling down, you and izuku would allow him to vent, getting everything out in his system— as the both of you sat right next to him, comforting him in silence

overall (and additional things)

it’s a big rollercoaster

they’re the best boyfriends you’ll ever have, despite the initial tension.

of course, there will be fights here and there— due to katsuki and izuku’s clashing personalities (and competitiveness)

but you’re also the mediator for the both of them, technically a middle point. something that’d get them to get along for once

the entire relationship is so powerful?? like,, wow. you must be hella hot AND special if you’re dating izuku and katsuki.

the chemistry is good though— you all tend to agree on one thing for sure, it’s that none of you would have it differently,

because it’s three or none in this house

overall? 10/10.

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likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

[ganymedesclock]

[enters the cat door.] Pale King? :)

PK is great because while we get a lot of impressions of what he's capable of, overwhelmingly his work is left for us, self-evident and finished, in such a state that we are not given hints on how he did it or what he did. This obviously has a lot of canon significance to who he is as a person-

(especially when the nature of much of that work is itself somewhat inscrutable; how exactly does he record his voice in whispering stones that only speak to certain parties when the rest of the setting is limited to actually writing things down?)

-but basically what it amounts to is that it's headcanons all the way down, baybey.

PK is... obsessed. This, to me, is the thing that stands out to me at an immediate glance of anything he was capable of. He fashions himself as a rational arbiter; possibly even a thing emotionless, unbiased, but really, it's obvious that certain ideas drove him so powerfully that anything, including unimaginable agonies and cruelties- barely factor. His mind as we explore it has very few guards that try to drive us out and kill us, few true barriers that stop us from moving forwards- but an enormous, vicious, whirling mechanism, beautiful and terrible, that polices every inch we move. You can proceed, the white palace says, if you're perfect. If your timing is perfect, if you never dare the metal teeth that surround you, if you choose exactly the right things and move only as the space is designed to move- and if you are willing to suffer, truly and awfully, then you can proceed, the palace is yours, it is open and the barest adversity will stop you.

This is not the mind of a person who lets things go easily. This is not the mind of a person who is actually detached. This is a beautiful machine, elaborate, precisely calibrated, and it makes miracles.

And it is, quite frankly, an absolute inhospitable nightmare. It might as well be the surface of the moon, not for alienness, but for the sheer ludicrous notion that anyone could live or love there. His mind is a haunted house to end all haunted houses; it'd be a fine locale to find in Silent Hill. The few rooms that actually seem like recollections of real places- the nursery, the workshop, the throne room- are all unsettling in different ways.

The nursery is the loveliest and also the most unattainable; a place for two people who are never coming back to the person who left them behind in the first place and didn't even set a chair for himself- the workshop is cluttered, creepy and miserable, nowhere you'd expect a god to make miracles; the throne room is bleak and dark, and has pillars set like fangs and the only chair so hard and uncomfortable it won't save your progress or give your player character a second of rest.

There is only one mention, anywhere in the game, of coldness associated with anything even adjacent to PK- the description of the pale ore characterizes it as "emanating an icy chill"- and when I remind myself of this, actually go looking for it, it shocks me. PK, to me, is so powerfully and intensely an ice person. Not just in the superficial senses- oh, he's cold, oh, he's callous, oh, he suppresses his emotions and opposes the fiery, sun-aligned Radiance; but that while neither of these gods have any ability to "get over it" whatsoever, the way they hold onto things is drastically polar opposite.

Radiance boils. Simmers. Screams and writhes and rages and pulses to her emotions. Those infected by her plague begin to feel as if they are burning alive the more her influence extends. She is a heat that stokes itself higher and higher and higher, to frenzy and fury, and the coldest it can get is if she methodically banks herself down to coals to pretend for a single utilitarian moment she's not as angry as she is, so she can whisper sweet words just long enough to coax someone onto the cinders.

PK... freezes over. He holds onto things perfectly, as if they never left, as if they never changed. When you walk over the nursery memory it looks just like White Lady could come by and put an infant Hollow in the cradle and sit down to rock them to sleep. It's so clean. So expectant. So empty.

And yet, there's something completely inhospitable to life about it. How could anyone live here? How could anyone be happy here? The game Silent Hill: Shattered Memories has a theme of a happy childhood frozen over in invading ice; that's very much what comes to mind here, even if Hollow's childhood was troubled long before they'd have anything to do with this room. PK ices over, is a person who stopped his own heart at one point just to serve another purpose and, superficially indifferently, left that body behind to rot without any sort of respect or acknowledgement. @rukafais drew a headcanon a very long time ago to the idea that PK could just will his own blood to stop flowing, and that's long one I've stuck with- a living person who is at odds with himself because of this absolute glacial inhospitality.

PK is also... clever. Inventive. One could almost argue too clever for his own good. If there's one way his obsessions are utterly unaffected by this ice and sense of detachment, it's that while Radiance is revolted by, fears and hates the void, PK... was fascinated by it. It's probably the most dangerous non-Radiance thing in the kingdom to him and yet he built his palace right next to the abyss; built a great lighthouse and a smaller alcove room that- unlike the spaces in his own mind- you can actually imagine him sitting, maybe for hours, maybe for days- just staring at the void sea. Dropping things into its grasp only to fetch them back out. Pouring it into shapes, and seeing how it held.

This also seems to convey itself in the shapes that his magic takes, or that similar pale white magic in other places (such as around the dreamers' monument) form; they are extremely intricate. Impossible filigrees of light that dangle in the air. Nowhere is this more obvious than the Pure Vessel fight, the moment where Hollow is remembering what they once were- at the point they were trying to be everything PK wanted of them, everything PK cares about. Hollow's attacks in that fight are beautiful. Ornate. The temporary spikes summoned from the ground have the same woven, 'watered' pattern that we see on the Pure Nail once Ghost acquires it.

So these ideas, of PK- icy stillness, obsessive detail, and insatiable curiosity- condensed for me a lot into how I imagine him fighting or handling situations. I imagine him as fighting with a spear very keenly- not just long reach, but that I associate PK very strongly in my mind with the concept of dissection and vivisection. Everything in its place, labeled, named, and known, consecrated by the light with identity and purpose- the hungry, predatory curiosity of a hunter picking apart prey, but with enough academic backing that they're looking for something more than the juiciest pieces to eat.

So, I imagine PK fighting with spears, and impaling or cutting implements... in that I imagine him fighting like a surgeon, pinning and mounting something or herding it into place.

[itsclydebitches]

I’ve been seeing an uptick in “anti-RWDE” posts lately  — which is a phenomenon I’d like to comment on at a later date  — but for now one of them (quite unintentionally) made me realize something about the finale that I haven’t seen others discuss yet. 

So RWBYJNOR saves everyone, right? Let’s just put aside the animation for a moment  — which didn’t show any army members making it out  — as well as the forgotten side characters  — Maria, Pietro, Qrow’s group isn’t forgotten, but still left behind  — and take things on good faith here. We’ll read the finale through the thematic intention: RWBYJNOR saved “everyone” in the Kingdom of Atlas in Volume 8, deliberately contrasting them with Ironwood who was willing to sacrifice a chunk of the Kingdom in Volume 7. Forget all the messiness and just accept that regardless of the consequences  — like a destroyed Kingdom and a “dead” team  — the heroes are heroic because they didn’t give into a “lesser evil” thinking and managed to save everyone. 

Now, how was that possible? 

Let’s go back to the beginning of the seventh episode of Volume 8, “War.” Salem’s grimm have just burrowed through Atlas’ defenses and taken them out. The shields are gone. She flies Monstra into the fields and releases an army of darkness that immediately heads for the city. What’s the very first thing Ironwood does? 

Soldier: Yes, sir?

Ironwood: I am evacuating all citizens to the subway. Prepare Manta Squad Omega, and dispatch to every part of Atlas.

Soldier: But sir-

Ironwood: Now!

He evacuates the people, with “the people” meaning all the Atlesians and however many Mantle folk got to the city prior to Salem’s arrival. When this episode aired I mentioned being confused as to why the soldier was so hesitant. Why wouldn’t you want the people to get to safety when a grimm army is heading their way? Fans against Ironwood took the soldier’s side, claiming that Mountain Glenn proved that any underground evacuation is a death sentence and thus he obviously doesn’t really care about the peoples’ safety. Fans in support of/neutral towards Ironwood pointed out that this is a pretty big leap, no one is coming up with a better idea for what he should do instead, and that within these circumstances it reads like the soldiers is illogically against this idea simply because everyone is against Ironwood now. The show wants characters criticizing his decisions and making him out to look like a crazed dictator... even during moments when it doesn’t make any sense to be upset with him. Shooting the councilman yes, trying to keep the people safe no. Basically, this small exchange was a mess, but the rest of the volume proved that this was a sound call. The subway never collapsed and no grimm ever made it to that enclosed space to pick the civilians off like fish in an underground barrel. 

So, why didn’t that happen? Well, one answer is because Oscar and Ozpin destroyed the whale. But how did they have time to do that? Without the people dying while they were being tortured, talking to Hazel, escaping with Emerald, fighting Salem, etc.? A lot happened between Salem starting her attack and Oscar ending it, so why wasn’t 2/3rds of the Kingdom’s population decimated during that time? 

Because Ironwood sent his army out to keep the grimm occupied. 

Outside of Ironwood’s cartoon villain actions  — random murders and bomb threats  — which get the most attention due to how deliberately, over-the-top horrific they are, these are the two actions that get the most negative attention from both the story and the fanbase. The soldier seems horrified by the order to evacuate. Marrow is devastated that young adults are fighting in this battle. The fandom is disgusted by both aspects of Ironwood’s character: giving orders that, as general, he expects to be obeyed and having an army that follows those orders. Putting side that cartoon villainy, this is what supposedly makes Ironwood the antagonist here. These are the qualities that have existed since Volume 2, resulting in a “he was always a bad guy” interpretation. These are the qualities that have resulted in anyone who likes his character being labeled as a “bootlicker.” We know these qualities make the fandom hate him because otherwise, more people would be confused as to why a presumably heroic character randomly shot Oscar. Orders, armies, and general military associations are at the heart of Ironwood’s presumed villainy. 

So let’s remove them. 

Ironwood has no evil army. Ironwood gives no evil orders. Power and control lies solely in the hands of our non-military heroes. Everything is better! 

...well, no. Because we saw in Volume 8 precisely the choices our heroes made when the attack started: half of them focused on saving a single individual (Oscar) and the other half kept to the sidelines. At no point did our RWB group act after sending the message and prior to securing the Staff. AKA, during the attack of Salem’s army. We got a very explicit moment in which Ruby looked out the window at the battle going on and turned away from it, continuing to discuss ethics instead of joining the fight. The people of Atlas (which, again, includes many Mantle citizens) had no one but Ironwood and his army because a third of the group was trying to rescue Oscar (they never even had a plan to blow up Monstra — that was also Ironwood), a third of the group was up in Amity, and a third was sitting in the mansion. They did nothing to help the people of Atlas being attacked by grimm. 

Thus, if you remove Ironwood’s actions, everything goes to hell. There is no longer an order to evacuate to the subway. Maybe some people go there anyway. Most probably don’t. They run in a panic wherever they can. Hide wherever they can. Go back home for some semblance of safety. 

There’s no longer an army. Either it doesn’t exist because we’ve determined it’s simplistically bad despite RWBY’s grimm-specific context, or Ironwood likewise never gives the order to protect Atlas’ border. Salem’s army moves unimpeded through the city, killing countless people as it goes. How do we know? Because they’re civilians who can’t defend themselves and there’s literally no one else to help. Remember: Ironwood is not giving orders, there is no army, RWB is in the mansion, YJOR is in the whale, Penny is out of commission, the Happy Huntresses are in Mantle. Those in Atlas are entirely alone. In time, Oscar destroys the whale, but by then it’s too late. There’s no concrete way to theorize how many have died, but it’s inevitably a lot. Everyone else is scatted across the city, trying to survive. 

So this scene 

no longer exists. 

When the group gets the Staff and creates portals for “everyone” to escape through, Mantle is ready to go. They’ve gotten everyone into the crater and can funnel them straight to Vacuo. Atlas, however, is in chaos. When Jaune enters the subway there’s only a few people there, many of which may be wounded or dying. He’s right back where he started, in Mantle at the beginning of Volume 8: needing to go door-to-door to find where people have hidden themselves, trying to convince them all to follow him (remember Oscar commenting to Ozpin about how difficult that was?). Except now, he and Nora are the only ones trying to get people to safey, the city is filled with far more grimm, a significant amount of time has passed for people to be killed or injured (making evacuating them even harder, both due to injuries and an unwillingness to leave hurt/dead/missing loved ones behind), he’s trying to convince these panicking people to go through magic portals, not just walk to a crater, and he’s aware that there’s a very short time limit for this task. 

Jaune returns in a panic of his own, explaining how difficult it will be to get that 2/3rds of the Kingdom to Vacuo. How many are already dead. Barricaded. Missing. Closeup on Ruby looking horrified, but then she rallies. They can do it. Atlas is falling, but residual dust gives them just enough time to find, calm, and evacuate those people. They’re heroes after all. Beating the odds is what they do. 

Then Cinder attacks. 

Suddenly, the group can’t evacuate people because they’re trying to keep themselves safe from her. Maybe Cinder gets the powers because Jaune was off looking for civilians, leaving Penny without a mercy kill. Maybe Nora dies because she’s still trying to help people on the city that plows into the one below. Regardless of how details might change, they’re not getting a spread out, decimated population through those portals before Cinder changes the wish and makes them disappear.  

In this version, the story starts with Ironwood wanting to sacrifice 1/3rd of the population to save 2/3rds and the future of the war. It ends with 2/3rds of the population dying instead. 

This is what I mean when I say the majority of the fandom wants to view a very complex situation through a ridiculously simple lens. The fandom wants to denounce every bit of RWBY’s fictionalized military, the context issues of that aside. The story wants to paint RWBYJNOR as the only heroes, in part because they succeeded in saving everyone (“everyone”) in the Kingdom when Ironwood gave up. 

But they only managed to save everyone because of Ironwood. Because he kept fighting for his people to the bitter end. This is why, though his horrific actions obviously exist in the story, they make no sense (he’ll threaten to kill his people so he can... save his people?) and mess up what little is working in the finale. The story wants us to celebrate the group for evacuating Mantle and Atlas, but the Atlas evacuation would not have happened if not for Ironwood’s actions  — the actions that are ignored in favor of having Winter blame him for everything and then killing him off. The rescue of “everyone” was very much a joint effort. RWBYJNOR’s win is not actually a contrast to Ironwood’s intended sacrifice, for the simple reason that their win depended entirely on Ironwood’s actions. 

If we’re going to celebrate the group getting everyone to safety, we should probably also celebrate the guy who got them all to an easy evacuation point and ensured they weren’t eaten before then. Does that mean Ironwood never did anything wrong? Of course not. As established, the story went out of its way to make him into a villain. Rather, it means that other parts of the story failed to maintain that black and white view, complicating the heroism of RWBYJNOR in the process. If we want Ironwood to be incapable of heroic action, always the bad guy, nothing good to say about him whatsoever... then we likewise need to accept that the group is rather unheroic in many regards too. That, on their own, they would have failed to save everyone, just as Ironwood’s plan failed to save everyone at the end of Volume 7. Because they chose their friend over a kingdom. Because they sat around in a mansion. Because by the time they took action again and tried to escape, without Ironwood’s help they would have lost a larger majority than they originally insisted be saved. 

[sup-hoes-its-me]

Hi hun! Hope you’re doing well! Could a request a Shikamaru fic! I was thinking maybe it’s obvious to everyone that Shikamaru and Reader like each-other (except themselves of course). But a mission where they have to pretend to be a couple and they finally confess.

😘

Pretenders (Shikamaru x Reader)

A/N: another request. Im not super proud of this one, i really got stuck halfway through and i think that shows here. Thanks for requesting though, and hopefully you still enjoy. Trigger Warning for sexual assault.

word count: 6500

“So, you two set out on a mission tonight right?” Ino asked, leaning her cheek in her hand, nodding toward her two friends across the booth.

“Yep. Supposedly 3 weeks,” Y/N told her. “I won’t get to see you guys for so long.” The girl took a quick sip of her lemonade and sighed. It was a substantial amount of time. It’d been a while since she’d gone somewhere so intensive.

Shikamaru and Y/N had only a couple more hours before they were to be briefed on the details of otheir next mission and whisked away to a far away land for yet another tedious job. Y/N was perfectly fine with the premise of going on a 3 week mission, she’d been home too long and longed for some kind of adventure. She still wasn’t sure the caliber of the mission, nor did she even know where or what they were doing, but she was excited nonetheless.

Shikamaru, of course, wasn’t too fond of the entire idea. Yes, he was more than happy to find out his mission partner was Y/N L/N. Out of all the people he could have been paired with, she was most definitely the least annoying. He really felt like Kakashi had his back lately with missions, giving him ones that were semi decent, and sending him out with his friends. He was certainly grateful for the Hokage’s assignments.

Choji added from his spot near the wall, taking a second away from munching on his lunch. “It won’t be so bad. You guys have each other, after all. How could things get boring when you have your little girlfriend with you, Shikamaru, am I right?”

“Choji…” Shikamaru groaned, pressing his fingers to either side of his temples. These sorts of things borhered the hell out of him. The constant teasing from everyone, not just his teammates, but literally teachers, other squads, his mother, her grandmother. They weren’t dating. They never were dating.

Yet every person in this damned town was under the assumption there was something going on between them. Really, he was just trying to live his life.

Did he want to date her? Yes, a million times over, yes. She was literally perfect, he couldn’t imagine himself with anyone else. But was Y/N at all interested? Definitely not. She was more oblivious than Naruto was with Hinata, and that’s saying a lot. She seemed to ignore everyone when they made jokes, she thought all his measly attempts at flirting were just normal conversation even when he treated Ino completely differently. She wasn’t a dumb girl either. She was smart in her own right.

That’s why he’d begun to think she was maybe avoiding his advances on purpose. That she didn’t like him and she was trying to let him down easy. It was stupid really, and he wished she would just come out with it already, tell him to his face that she just wanted to be friends. It was frustrating, to say the least, but he kept trying.

He could safely say he hadn’t felt this way for another girl in his entire life, and he wouldn’t give up that easily. He really just wanted other people to mind their business. That’s the reason he shot down all the jokes and comments from his friends. They didn’t need to know about his lovelife, that was personal.

Ino smirked, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder and letting a laugh leave her lips. “Come on, Choji. You know how Shika feels about you teasing him.”

“Fine. But you gotta admit it’s funny.”

They continued on with their conversation, Shikamaru groaning at their jokes and the other two laughing the entire time. That was how it usually went. Y/N just listened quietly, sipping away at her lemonade. Those two, his teammates, they always made jokes, it was normal. She was constantly labeled Shikamaru’s girlfriend, and each time he denied it. Over and over again. He didn’t let a single instance slide by.

That’s how she knew to avoid the subject. To keep her feelings to herself. There was no point in confessing to him when he was already so adamant at keeping their relationship out of other people’s mouths. She was a troublesome girl, anyone who thought he saw her as anything different was delusional.

So she kept quiet, just listening.

Each time someone joked, her stomach would turn and she would wait for him to say something, for him to admit they were right, for him to get flushed in the cheeks, for him to reach out and hold her hand and confess his feelings, and each time she was let down brutally. After enough times getting her heart broken, it was only inevitable she give up this false hope. There was no digging her way into his cold heart. He was so closed off, to get inside...it seemed like an impossible feat.

She wasn’t willing to fight for him anymore. It was tiring, and they never got anywhere.

After enough time, she stopped crying herself to sleep. She stopped talking about her crush with Hinata and Ino when the boys weren’t around. She still looked at him with all the love she had to give. He was the best man she knew, how could she not. She just stopped wishing for something that wasn’t going to happen. She stopped investing so much of her time and energy into a useless, pointless dream.

She was tired of running endlessly in circles, over and over again. All because of his dumbass.

Maybe with time, she could try and get over him. With time she could learn to like him the same way as all their other friends. It was always just the little things that would pull her back in every time. It was the walks home at night when she was tired, or she had too many drinks and he’d wrap his arm around her waist and hold her so tight to his side she could feel his heart beating. It was the times he’d lay beside her in the grass and run his fingers through her hair splayed out over the ground. It was the times he would hold her silently as she cried for her mother and father who’d died, and he would rub her back until she could breathe again.

Every single fucking time she got close, the moments she felt she might not be desperately in love with him anymore, he came right in and stole her heart again. It wasn’t his fault, he was just being a good friend, but God, did it hurt sometimes.

And it wasn’t Ino and Choji’s fault for talking about it. It was so fucking obvious she liked him. Y/N followed Shikamaru around like a lost puppy half the time, what else were they supposed to think? They were just wrong in their assumptions that she was anything more to Shikamaru himself. That the boy thought of her as anything more than a troublesome friend who was always needing help with something or another.

She drank the last bit of her drink and set down the glass. “We better be heading to the Hokage tower soon. It’s almost time, and he still has to debrief us and all, “ she told the boy at her right.

“Yeah. I’ll go get my bag from home first and we’ll meet up there?”

“Got it,” Y/N slid out of the booth and waved to her friends. “See you when we get back.”

“Bye, Y/N!” Ino called as the girl left the restaurant with her book bag over her shoulder. She sighed, sinking down into her seat and glaring over at the pineapple head across from them. “You gotta make your move on this mission, Shika. Stop being such a scaredy cat.”

“Listen, you guys don’t know anything about anything, okay? She doesn’t like me that way. She never has.”

“I never thought I’d have to say this, but you’re dumb, man,” Choji laughed. “She obviously likes you.”

“Yeah, yeah. All of you seem to think that but you don’t see how she is with me. We are purely friends. That’s it.”

“Whatever, man,” he waved off the boy’s stern reply and added, “ Have fun on your trip with Y/N. Hope you get lucky.” Those words caused Shikamaru to heat up from his neck to the tips of his ears and he promptly slid out from his seat, straightening his vest as he did so to try and calm himself. That was unnecessary of his friend to say, for sure.

He turned to them once more and nodded his head. “See you around.”

“See you!”

Now all he needed to do was get his things together and meet up with the girl of his dreams for their weeks long mission. Fun times. Especially now that his friends made him annoyed and frustrated with the entire situation again. He’d have to calm down before seeing her soon.

_______

“We’re doing what?” Y/N asked, staring down at their Hokage in disbelief. He’d been detailing their mission and everything seemed normal so far, infiltrating and learning information about a budding coup in a far away nation just on the edge of the Land of Earth and The Land of Wind. It seemed easy enough at first, but then he kept going.

Kakashi sighed. “I said, you two are to be disguised as a princess and her consort from the Land of Sunflowers. The leaders of this land are expecting these royal visitors and you will be taking their place.”

“So, like, he’s gonna be my husband?” she asked for clarification again. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his words, it was that she didn’t want to believe them. This was her worst nightmare. They would have to pretend to be in a relationship? Shikamaru was going to hate this more than anything and it would be uncomfortable the entire time.

Why did Kakashi have to pick them two, of all his shinobi? Why?

“Yes. That won’t be a problem for two close friends such as yourselves. After all, that’s why I picked you. You have some kind of dynamic going I feel your targets will find believable.” Shikamaru cursed the heavens. Even the fucking Hokage thought they were involved. This was ridiculous. Now this long ass mission he was already dreading was made ten times worse with this awkward situation. “We’re not gonna have a problem, are we?”

It would be okay though. He just had to take a few deep breaths. That’s all.

“No, sir, of course not. I’m ready for anything you throw at me,” she declared, straightening her back and letting the heat fade from her cheeks. She was embarrassed, obviously, but she couldn’t let the Hokage know. It was easier talking to Kakashi though, much easier than Tsunade. Kakashi watched them grow up, he knew them personally from helping them train. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be flustered.

“You’ll take those bags with you. They have some more suitable clothing for royalty. Put them on when you get close to the village. Throw out any indicators you’re from the Leaf as well.”

“Okay.”

“You’re dismissed. Leave as soon as possible,” the gray haired shinobi told them. She nodded and threw the bag over her shoulder, tossing the other one over to Shikmaru who caught it and slung it onto his back. He definitely wasn’t happy about any of this, but maybe it was a sign.

Ino and Choji told him to confess his feelings to her on this mission. Kakashi just told them they would be pretending to be a married couple. As he watched her walking in front of him down the Tower stairs, her head just barely dipped as she absorbed all the information running through her mind, he wondered if maybe this was his opportunity. A make or break type scenario. He had three weeks to figure out how to tell her how he felt in a more direct way than he’d tried before.

He worked out all the scenarios and their outcomes in his head millions of times and every time they ended in disaster. For someone so great at strategy, he sure did struggle with this one.

“So, I guess we’re married now. Should we start kissing or something?” she asked awkwardly as they reached the bottom of the stairs, shifting back and forth from her toes to her heels. He stopped, more like froze, in his path and stared at her.

“Now you're just making it weird,” he replied. “We aren’t even there yet.”

“I know, I was kidding. Trying to lighten the mood, you know,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Of course he would reply like that. He didn’t like her at all, he couldn’t even take a fucking joke. Had to get all upset over it like a baby, all because he was so set on never dating her ever, never even entertaining the thought. She rolled her eyes, “You don’t have to be so rude about it, geez.”

She kept walking before he could reply. He had a feeling this trip was going to be a lot worse than anyone had anticipated. He was nervous, grumpy, and preparing for the worst. In fact, what he really wanted was a nice long nap.

_________

The dresses that Kakashi packed for her were...extravagant to say the least. They flowed all the way down to her ankles, thick heavy hoop skirts embroidered from head to toe with symbols of the land of sunflowers. She felt strange with her shoulders exposed and her body on display in these outfits which were so unlike the pants and t-shirts she wore when she was back at home or on a normal mission. She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and sighed, feeling at least a little covered.

Shikamaru had nice clothes, but they were nothing in comparison to her wild dresses and all the bright colors of the fabric. He looked semi-normal. She was jealous, admittedly, that he still got to wear pants and shirts. He said she looked good in the dress, he actually told her about a dozen times, reassuring over and over again that she looked fine, but she didn’t believe him. She wasn’t dainty, how could she look beautiful when she clearly didn't belong in something so delicate?

Still, when they walked up to the gates of the Land of Shadows, they were greeted like the royalty they pretended to be. They were swept away to the main castle to meet with the King and his wife. It was nearly dinner time, and they were to eat with them as a greeting. It made sense, but Y/N felt herself growing more nervous with the second. She didn’t know the first thing about being a princess, or acting like a monarch. All she knew was fighting and joking with her friends.

Not only that, but how could she convince them that she and Shikamaru were in a relationship? Y/N wasn’t sure they possessed the right dynamic and even if they tried, it would be obvious they were uncomfortable with each other. It was all making her heart race, and she had to take a few deep breaths as they entered the dining room.

But her companion...he knew what he was doing. He was going to put on quite the show, take advantage of the situation. If this week and a half was his only chance to hold Y/N in his heart, than he wouldn't let any opportunities slip by.

Without warning, she found that Shikamaru had reached over and wrapped her hand up in his bigger one, clutching at her shaking fingers. He was so steady, she found herself sinking into his touch. It was comforting, more so than she thought it could be, given the circumstances. His skin was just so warm and soft against hers, it was only natural she felt safer.

“Ah, Princess Ayaka, Duke Hisashi. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” a man called from his place at the table. His wife was sitting beside him, her soft smile only reaching her lips not nearing her eyes. Y/N caught that immediately. Her distance. Silently, she took note of that as the King approached them, extending his arms for an embrace.

“It’s an honor to meet you, your highness,” Shikamaru replied with a smile, an obvious fake one, but damn was he good. She watched as he hugged the man so earnestly, as if he’d sunken right into the role of consort without an issue. She’d have to ask him tonight how he was so good at acting.

“And your beautiful wife,” he extended his hand to the girl and she raised it hesitantly, receiving a soft kiss to the back of her palm. “Come take a seat. Dinner will be served soon.”

The pair took their seats beside each other on the opposite side of the table, Y/N directly across from the Queen, who looked up at her for merely a moment only to sigh and go back to fiddling with the curve of her wine glass. "Your highness," Y/N hummed to the woman who nodded.

"Oh what a dream, to be young and in love," she said. "I remember the days."

"Please dear! To me, you will always be my beautiful young wife! We share a love to last a lifetime," the king cheered, placing his hand over that of his wife's as he took his seat at the table. "I apologize for her gloom. She's been going through a rough patch. We are more than overjoyed to have you here."

"It's fine. We all have our bad days," the girl replied softly.

After a few minutes of small talk, just dipping their feet into the conversation, a couple servants brought out plates of food and wine bottles full of vintage drink truly meant for the highest of royalty. Compared to the plain sake she had drank at home, this was liquid gold dripping down her throat. Shikamaru sent her a warning look. Y/N was known to be quite the lightweight, and even a couple glasses of wine could send her into a tipsy stupor. He really knew her too well, so hyperaware of the things she did.

"So, how did you two meet?" their host asked, taking a moment away from the chicken in front of him. "It's said that you married for love, not arrangement. That's true?"

Y/N and Shikamaru hadn't been versed very well on the details, just on the basics. Her heart beat increased, stress building up. Her lies would have to be good.

"Yes. You've heard right. He was my friend before anything else. We met as children." That much she knew for sure after reading the mission summary.

"Oh wow. Childhood lovers. Very sweet," the queen sighed, resting her cheek in her palm.

Y/N would be lying if she didn't feel a bit of similarities between her own story and that of the real princess she was pretending to be. Shikamaru and Y/N grew up together, for as long as she could remember. She started to love him before she even really knew what love was. It only made sense she pretended to be a princess in the same situation.

And when he held her hand again, this time under the table, his thumb brushing over her knuckles so softly she thought she might melt. Her cheeks began to heat up under his touch and she smiled. It was so nice holding his hand, pretending to care about each other this way. Not that she needed to pretend.

Dinner droned on, and she continued to hold his hand the entire time, besides when they were spooning at their food. For once on a mission, it felt like they were completely at peace. Of course, they were both supposed to be analyzing the movements of everyone around them to make sure no one was planning a coup like Kakashi told them. But she couldn’t held but cherish the moments of calmness and warmth between everyone.

The King and his wife were genuinely some of the kindest people she’d ever met, whether they were just acting that way or not. It was a pleasure to have dinner with them, talking and laughing like an uncle would with his nieces and nephews. It had that same energy, talking to him.

“Hisashi, you wouldn’t mind accompanying me to my library? I have some books I think you might enjoy,” the man said, standing from the table. The rest of them slid out of their chairs after him, and she had to brush down her skirts to make sure everything was in line. It was tedious, wearing these outfits without any prior warning. She felt like a clown. The Queen was so effortless in her movements, how could she not feel stupid standing beside someone so regal?

“That sounds great, your majesty-”

“Not necessary. Call me Shoto, that’s my name after all, and you are an honored guest,” he laughed. He reached over and gave his wife a gentle kiss on the cheek before turning on his heel and heading toward the door. She really expected Shikamaru to just leave with just a simple goodbye, or a “I’ll see you tonight” kind of thing.

Definitely not this.

He was gonna go all out this time around.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered, just loud enough for only her to hear, over her shoulder into her ear. When his warm breath hit her skin, shivers ran up and down her spine. Her eyes widened and she turned to stare up at him, cursing herself when she felt heat rise up in her cheeks and burn the tips of her ears. Was he serious, or just teasing her? He always liked to crack jokes like that.

But when she felt his rough hand pressed to her cheek, lifting her face ever so carefully to meet his, she knew he wasn’t messing around. His eyes met hers for a split second, and she could have sworn he winked down at her before pressing his lips to hers.

Honestly, she thought she might have a heart attack right there in the dining room. Shikamaru was kissing her. It felt even better than she dreamed it would. Chapped lips running against hers, heat pooling in her stomach, heart pounding in her chest.

As soon as it started, though, the kiss was over, and he took a step back. "See you tonight, Princess."

She was keen on catching the smirk on his lips, and the way he laughed to himself as he walked out of the room with the King before him.

Y/N stood there silently, her fingers pressed to her lips, breath caught in her throat. The boy she’d wanted for so long just kissed her like it was nothing, and she was left all alone to deal with this predicament, all the feelings that came rushing in after. All she knew for sure, whether he was serious or not, was that she really, seriously liked him. She liked him a lot more than she thought.

And now they had a whole week and a half of fake kisses and hand holding to endure. Jeez.

__________

“You know, you’re nothing like the other princesses I’ve met,” the guard said to her as she waited for Shikamaru to show up. He was still out with the King practicing archery. Apparently that was a hobby a lot of these rich country men had. So far, she wasn’t suspecting a thing out of the King or any of his closest acquaintances. They were nice as could be and seemed sincere in their intentions toward the village alliances. She had no reason to suspect them, and was beginning to think a coup was just as Kakashi thought, a mere rumor.

That made things a lot easier.

She sighed, tapping her fingers on her wrist. She wasn’t a fan of having a guard watching her every second of the day, especially not the talkative ones. This one was strange. He gave off this energy she couldn’t describe as anything other than creepy.

“Yeah? That’s nice,” she muttered.

“It’s just, usually princesses are pompous, full of themselves, spoiled women. You aren’t the same,” he continued, even if it was obvious she wanted him to shut up and go about his business while she did hers. She felt uncomfortable being alone in this land, without any of her weapons or the ability to fight back if someone was acting sketchy. She was forced to sit by like some little, ditsy princess just watching and observing.

Honestly, though, Shikamaru was probably having a great time. All he had to do was eat with the royalty, play board games, shoot some arrows, and then go to sleep. There was no extensive fighting or thinking going on, just sitting around observing and waiting for something suspicious to happen.

The queen would normally hang out with the female guests but thanks to her bouts of depression she stayed in her room, leaving Y/N completely at the mercy of time. So much time passed, and she was bored of it.

“I’m honestly just another princess. You’d be surprised though. Many princesses are just as modest as I am, it’s not all that uncommon,” she commented, taking a peek over at the man, only to quickly look away. He had quite the hungry look on his face, and if her eyes hadn’t deceived her, his own were trained right on her breasts. Damn these dresses.

Y/N wrapped her arms across her chest and slumped down, trying to hide herself from this weird man watching over her. Only, it seemed impossible. He was so much taller, could just look over her shoulder. She couldn’t run away and raise suspicion. She had to sit here and wait for someone else to break the tension.

She was scared.

“I meant that as a compliment. You say thank you when someone compliments you, yeah?” he mumbled, a firm hand reaching out to snatch her wrist. It hurt, his grip on her arm, and she winced at the feeling. “Say thank you.”

She bit her lip and refused to meet his eyes, instead focusing on his hands. If she needed to, she would defend herself but only to a small extent. She couldn’t blow her cover just because some guard was manhandling her. Take a deep breath, Y/N. It’s gonna be okay. Just calm down.

“T-Thank you,” she gulped, hoping he would drop her wrist. But he didn’t. He only held on tighter.

He smiled, yellow teeth showing through his thin lips. “See, you are a good girl, aren’t you?” he questioned, and she felt his other hand run up her waist. All she could do was whimper, shivers running up her spine and any skin this man laid his hands on. The only hope she had was that another guard come walking around and see them.

It was unlikely, but she prayed for a savior to make their appearance.

His hand worked its way down to her ass, and she felt him squeeze. Vomit rose up in her throat and she squirmed away, pressing herself against the wall as tight as she could so his hands had nowhere to go. Instead, he took to fondling her breasts in his hands. She could only bite her lips and feel the tears bubble up in her eyes as he pushed down the fabric of her top and pressed his filthy palms against her skin.

“What the fuck?” a voice cursed from behind them. The guard was torn off of her form and she brought up her hands to cover herself, tears still dripping thickly from her eyes as she cried, little breathy sobs leaving her lips. Shikamaru stood there, hands shaking at his sides as he glared over at the guard. “What’s going on here?” he demanded. Y/N watched as her friend turned red in the face, burning up with an anger she rarely saw from him, if ever.

“You tell me, your highness. Your wife seduced me!” the guard cried, clearly lying to cover himself and his sins.

The eyes of all three men, the guard, Shikamaru, and the King standing near the footwell of the stairs, turned to her. She just cried harder, shaking like a leaf in front of everyone. “He grabbed me and started to touch me, and-and I couldn’t do anything,” Y/N told them all through her pained cries.

The King marched up the steps and grabbed his guard by the arm, yanking him toward the doorway to enter the castle. He appeared worn from his workout, tired and sweaty, but he was awake enough to realize the severity of the situation. He bowed low to Y/N and her companion.

His apology ran thick from his mustached lips, “This is unacceptable. Honored guests, I apologize for everything that’s happened. I will take care of this, I assure you. Please, don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need tonight.” Shikamaru nodded, and they watched as the pair of men walked into the castle, no doubt to find another guard to incarcerate the guard in question.

Shikamaru turned to her and winced, seeing her dress pushed down below her breasts and the tremors running through her hands desperate to cover them. He watched as hot, heavy tears ran thick down her cheeks and her lips quivered and shook with fear and trauma. Gently, he moved her hands to the side and brought her dress back up to cover her chest. He worked carefully, making sure not to startle her or make things worse.

The woman sunk into his touch, leaning her head against his shoulder and sobbing. “It’s gonna be okay, Y/N. You’re safe now.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tugged her close to his chest, pressing a soft, gentle hand to the back of her head to stroke her hair. “I’m so sorry. I won’t leave you alone again, okay?”

“Shika, “ she whimpered, “I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. I couldn’t do anything to defend myself and there was no one else around to help me. I-I didn’t know what to do.”

“I know. You must have been so scared,” he whispered. She just nodded against his shoulder, crying deeper into his chest. He hugged her tighter and swore to himself, even if he couldn't make it happen, that he would protect her. This kind of thing would never happen to her again if he had any say at all. “I promise this won’t happen again.”

"I've just never been in that position before. I always have the upper hand. It was awful. I was so scared and I wanted to cry for you to come help me but I didn't know where you were."

"God, I'm sorry," he mumbled, hugging her tighter in a desperate attempt to calm her shaking. He just wanted for her to be better, even if he knew that wasn't an option right now.

He felt so hopeless, knowing the only thing he could do was promise, to say things without any actual basis behind them. He was just whispering words to the wind hoping they would stick and he was right. He cursed himself for not being there in the first place to protect her, to make sure something like this never happened in the first place. He really was useless when she needed him the most.

He wouldn’t even argue if she said she wanted to go home, if she never wanted to see him again. He let her down. For the first time ever, he let her down in the most terrible, awful way he could think of. And now she was crying and he didn’t know how to make it better. He was really trash.

For now, all he could do though was hug her and promise her the world, all these things that might make her feel safe and comfortable, make her feel less alone and scared. It was the least he could do.

________

Finally, after a long evening of socializing and another huge dinner literally fit for a king, Y/N found herself stripping off her gowns and heavy undergarments, switching into something much lighter and comfortable for the night.

She was tired from the day. From being left alone for the good part of the morning just sitting in the sun waiting around. She was tired from the assault on her body by the guard whom was supposedly in jail right now for his actions. She was tired from all the crying and the shaking. She was just tired.

Shikamaru was out, finishing up drinks with the King and some of his subordinates for the time being, so she sunk down into the mattress near the far wall, curling up under the down covers and pulling a book from the table beside her. Anything to ease her mind for a while. She felt safe being alone in the confides of the bedroom, knowing that her friend was right down the hall if she needed him.

She scanned the pages of the novel quietly, humming each time she turned a page, leaning on her elbow so the pages would be illuminated in the candlelight.

After about an hour, the door slid open and her companion entered, shutting the door silently behind him. "You aren't asleep? I expected you to be after such a long day."

"I'm tired, but I'm not in the mood for sleep yet," she shrugged, still skimming through the pages of her novel. "Did you have fun?"

"Nah. It's such a drag having to hang out with that old man. He's nice but he never stops talking." He took off his coats and tossed them onto a chair, kicking off his heavy boots and thick socks. "Annoying, having to wear all this fancy shit too."

"Trust me, I know." She shifted over in the bed so he had more space to lay himself down, kicking out his legs and crossing his ankles. "Do you know what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

He nodded, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side to peek at her face. His eyes slid down to the novel turned over in her hands and smirked, "Yeah. You've got book club. Have fun with that." She tossed her book back on the table beside her and instead curled further into the blankets.

His eyes caught hers and he smiled, one of those undeniably handsome intoxicating smiles she loved so deeply. "You know, you look kinda cute like that."

"Huh?"

He shrugged, "All curled up under the blankets like a little baby. It's cute. I'm just calling it how I see it."

If she wasn't flustered before, she definitely was now. He was undeniably making her feel some sort of way, and she was loving the attention. He was being so bold, so unlike him. She questioned what had compelled him to act like this, to say such things. They weren't in character anymore, it wasn't like he had to say these things.

"Thanks, Shika." She felt dumb but what was she supposed to say? She was overwhelmed. "But we're alone now. You don't have to act all lovey-dovey."

He crossed his arms beneath his head and sighed, eyes gazing up at the canopy. He mumbled, just loud enough to reach her ears, “When this is all over, I’m gonna miss you being my princess.” She peered over at him in the candlelit room, making out his faint silhouette in the darkness. Her heart fluttered in her chest at his sweet words. She never imagined in a million years Shikamaru would say these things to her, and now that it was happening she didn’t know how to react.

She dreamed of this moment for a while now. The thoughts of Shikamaru confessing his feelings and then her falling into his arms dramatically. It was a fantasy of hers, a guilty pleasure. Far too dramatic to ever be a reality.

That's why she was too shocked to meet his eyes. His princess. Those words made her woozy.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not stupid. You know what I'm talking about," he said calmly.

"You don't want things to go back to normal?" Y/N asked, hesitant. She felt nervous, diving into these waters. Each words felt like it held so much weight. It was a puzzle, just finding the right thing to say, how to reply to his statement. "Just friends, like before?"

"Is that what you want?"

And when she really thought about it, he was right. She didn't want to go back to normal. She wanted to continue holding his hand, kissing his cheek and his lips, loving each other with their words and their gazes and all the little touches. She wanted all of this to last and as the mission came to a close, she found herself worrying for the future empty of all those things.

She shook her head, just barely able to bring her eyes up to meet his. He looked bored, but she knew he cared. He cared a lot, actually. "I-I think I'd like if we could stay like this."

"Falling in love with you, Y/N, was one of the easiest things I've ever done. Finding the right time to tell you, that's been troublesome," he confessed, blowing a stray piece of hair from his eyes. "You never seemed emotionally available, really."

"I always was. I was always waiting for you, Shikamaru. Ever since we were just teenagers, I've been waiting for you," she told him, letting her heart finally come out with her words. "I just thought you wanted to be friends. Before this mission, I had completely given up on being with you, but then everything seemed to fall into place on this trip."

"When Kakashi told us we would be married for this mission, I have to admit, I got excited." He rolled onto his side to face her. She was still curled up in her blanket, and he felt like he was melting. The most beautiful woman in the entire world right in front of him, his heart playing right into her hands. He was okay with that. He was okay with this girl having his entire soul if that meant he would see that smile and those eyes peering up at him.

He wasn't a romantic man. Far from it. But she brought out a side of him he'd only heard about from love struck novelists, such kinds Kakashi sensei would read.

"I just knew I'd have to shoot my shot with you," he finished, sending a wink her way. She truly was swoon, like putty in his hands. Her words came faster than she could think to stop them.

"Shikamaru, I think I love you. When you kissed me for the first time, I knew it was true. All these feelings for the past few years weren’t in vain. I love you."

"The feeling is mutual."

The girl crawled out from under the blankets and over to him on the other side of the mattress. Her arms wound around his neck and as best she could, she curled into his chest. Her ear pressed to his heart, beating loud and constant in her mind. He was more than happy to let her cuddle up to him, in fact, he relished in the feeling.

This is what he'd been missing out on all this time. The hugs. The cuddles. The looks in the dark full of love and longing. It was nice, to lay there with someone he knew for sure, without any doubt, loved him to the moon and back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter to his tired form, letting her sink further into his touch.

Kakashi knew what he was doing sending them. Two lovers with a mask over their emotions, straight into a game full of dancing around their feelings and pretending to be something they always wanted to be. Everything played out perfectly, a happy ending for a couple of worthy shinobi.

He was happy. That's all he could ask for.

[eliemo]

Love Our Way

Summary: Virgil knew he should have said something right there. But he didn’t, because he knew that would be the end.

Notes: Ace Virgil fic with romantic LAMP

TWs: Mentions of sex but no details. A little bit of internalized acephobia but barely, Virgil just has negative self esteem.

They’d been together a few months now and it had been, without a doubt, the best few months of Virgil’s life. 

It’d been a bit nerve wracking in the beginning, those first couple of weeks, as excited and thrilled as he was, Virgil had been extra paranoid about doing something wrong, about giving them any reason to lose feelings for him. 

He honestly hadn’t thought it could work at first. Relationships rarely worked out with two people, let alone four. Eventually they would fight, or lose feelings, or decide it was all too complicated. And things would get awkward and they could all end up hating each other and who knew what it would do to Thomas if they could no longer stand to be in the same room—

But they didn’t. By some miracle, that never happened.

Things were...things were perfect, as scared as Virgil had been to use the word. They’d been amazing ever since the anxious side was allowed to join their family, the love and warmth a wonderful kind of overwhelming he’d never felt before, but actually dating the people he loved more than anything, no longer needing to be afraid to express his feelings…

It was more than he’d ever thought he would get. More than he ever thought could be possible. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe it was real. 

They fit together like puzzle pieces, making each other stronger, pushing each other to be better, gentle and encouraging, coexisting in peaceful harmony. 

Virgil had never felt so welcomed, so surrounded by unconditional support and affection. They showed him just how much he had to offer. For the first time he’d actually felt like he wasn’t just a burden. 

It was hard, especially when it took a while to convince himself that he wasn’t invited into the relationship out of convenience, but because they actually wanted him. 

But they loved him. He knew that now. They all loved each other, flaws and all. 

And, well...Virgil should have known it wouldn't last forever. 

Not for him. Because...because that was just the way things were, wasn’t it? He’d made progress, he wasn’t the bad guy anymore, but he was still Anxiety. Things were just destined to go wrong. 

He really hadn’t given a single thought. It never crossed his mind as something that could ever be a problem, even when they had initially gotten together. No one else seemed intent on bringing it up, so Virgil had figured they never would. 

But then it had. Logan had brought the topic up about a week ago, somewhat awkward but still painfully casual, the conversation simply to discuss everyone’s level of comfort when it came to intimacy. 

Which...yeah, Virgil guessed it made sense. They were dating, the four of them happy and comfortable with their relationship, and had been for months now. So obviously sex was going to get brought up eventually. Boundaries needed to be set before...anything actually happened. It was routine for a healthy relationship. 

Except Virgil hadn’t actually thought they would ever talk about it. Because he’d known for a long time that he was asexual and he’d just...kind of assumed the others were too.

Which in retrospect, was a stupid conclusion to jump to. 

Virgil had known for years now, long before befriending the others. It had taken him a while to be sure, lots of research and panic and overthinking, but he’d eventually grown comfortable with the label. It was just another part of who he was. 

But he’d also never really understood why. Thomas wasn’t asexual so it didn’t make any sense for Virgil to have a separate identity. 

Unless it was just something all the sides experienced, none of them able to feel that kind of attraction.

But he’d never actually gotten around to asking. No one brought it up, and before the...development in their relationship it never seemed like something that would be an issue. So he’d just assumed, and ran with it. 

But clearly that wasn’t the case. Not when Roman and Patton were responding to Logan’s question with varying levels of eagerness and approval, comfortable and willing to take the next step when they were all ready.  

And Virgil knew he should have said something right there. They had given him the perfect opportunity to come out, quick and easy, and avoid anything uncomfortable in the future. 

But he didn’t. Because...because that would be the end, wouldn’t it? 

They would be sweet about it, of course. Thank him for being honest. But if he was the only one who didn’t want that...well, what was the point of him being a part of things? 

It was a cruel thing to assume, he knew that. None of them were shallow enough to see sex as something necessary, and he knew they would never force him into anything. 

But...but he already offered so little. They already had to jump through so many hoops to accommodate his anxiety, and it wasn’t like he was particularly loving or good at romance, as hard as he tried. As loving and amazing as they were, this could simply be the final straw. 

He wanted to be with them. He wanted them in every other way. He loved them more than anything. But he wouldn’t fight it when they ended up distancing themselves from him. 

Virgil just wasn’t ready for that heartbreak yet. So he plastered on a fake smile, and nodded along with the others.

 He’d tell them tomorrow. The longer he waited, the worse it would be. 

_

“Movie night!” Patton declared, skipping into the living room where Virgil was scrolling aimlessly on his phone. “And don’t think you’re getting out of it this time, Virge!”

Virgil tried to ignore the way his stomach twisted at the phrasing, swallowing against rising panic and sending Patton a smile. It was just movie night, same as every Friday. 

It had been two weeks now, and he still hadn’t told them. He’d managed to avoid last week’s movie night with the excuse of an upset stomach, desperately trying not to think about what they could be doing without him. 

And now...now he’d have to tell. They’d already be upset he waited this long, he couldn’t put it off any longer. 

Besides, they’d all be in the same bed all night, as they often were, relaxed and happy and enjoying each other’s company. They wouldn’t ever force him into something he wasn’t comfortable with, even if they wanted nothing to do with him after he came out. 

He’d lied, after all. He should have told them right away. 

“I'll be right there,” he said, forcing a smile as Patton made his way upstairs to his bedroom where the others were likely waiting. “Just...give me a second.” 

This was it, then. Hopefully afterwards, it wouldn’t be too awkward. Hopefully they would still be willing to keep him around as a friend. 

They were all waiting for him by the time he made it to Roman’s room, the three of them sprawled out on the bed in a pile of laughs and smiles, and Virgil’s heart felt like it was trying to break through his chest. 

He loved them so much. He wanted nothing more than to forget all of this and be held in their arms, content and warm until the sun came up. 

But putting it off wasn’t fair to them. And it wasn’t fair to him either. 

“Virgil!” Roman exclaimed, and Virgil felt lightheaded at the fond, excited looks he was being given. “Come help us choose a movie!” 

He almost chickened out again, just for a second. But he couldn’t panic. Not until it was out in the open and he could deal with the consequences. 

After tonight, he could very well end up alone again. Isolated like a villain. 

Why did he have to keep turning out to be different? Why was he always meant to end up alone? 

“In a second,” he said, stopping just inside the doorway. “I...I need to say something first, if that’s ok.”

Their smiles dropped slightly, but their gentle, welcoming expressions never wavered. The three of them sat up in bed, scooting forward as Patton nodded. 

“Of course, honey,” he said. “What’s on your mind?” 

He was actually doing this. He just...had to figure out how to start. 

Virgil took a breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets to hide how they’d begun to shake. “Just to- just to get it out there to make it easier for you guys...I- I get it if you want to break up with me after this.”  

That got their attention, their heads snapping up with wide, wary eyes. Virgil couldn’t quite bring himself to look at them anymore. 

“I’m just saying,” he muttered, and god he was shaking so bad. “I’ll understand.” 

The silence only stretched on another few seconds before Logan cleared his throat. “We’re listening, Virgil.” 

Ok. Ok he could do this. He...really should have planned out what he was going to say first. 

“I should have told you right away,” he started. “I know I should have. It’s not fair to you guys and I’m...I’m really sorry that I didn’t. I wasn’t trying to...to lie or- or lead you on or anything, I just...love you guys. A lot. I’ve loved being with you and I wasn’t ready to...you know...ruin that.” 

“Virge? What...what did you do, darling?” 

It was passed off as a joke, the Prince forcing a small smile, but there was serious concern behind it. 

Virgil quickly shook his head. “It’s not...I didn’t realize that it would be, you know, an issue. But you guys want...you want someone who’s not...me. Because- because I’m…” 

Say it, just say it. 

“I’m asexual. And you guys...I shouldn’t have kept that from you. I’m sorry. I’m just...sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” 

And that was...it. That was it. They knew now. 

They knew, and they could react how they wanted. If they were angry, Virgil wouldn’t blame him. If they were disgusted and demanded he leave...Virgil wouldn’t fight it, no matter how badly it hurt. 

He knew them better than to truly assume that would be the case, but the thought was still there. 

Furious or not, there was no way they’d trust him enough to keep him in the relationship. 

But he had to hold it together until the end of the conversation. He’d escape as soon as they let him, and then...and then he’d readjust to being alone. 

Unfortunately, none of them seemed particularly inclined to answer, the silence stretching on a moment too long. He risked a glance up from the floor, hunching his shoulders when he caught Logan’s eye. 

“Virgil,” the logical side said. “Come sit down, please.”

He quickly shook his head, taking a step back. He didn’t need a long, drawn out ending to this. He wouldn’t be able to hold it together that long. 

“You...you guys don’t have to--” 

“Virgil,” Patton cut him off, scooting aside to make room. “Come over here and talk to us.” 

And he’d never be able to deny Patton anything, would he? Not when he sounded so desperate. 

Virgil moved forward on shaky legs, focusing solely on his breathing to keep himself from crying, ending up seated in between Patton and Logan, Roman pressed up against the moral side. 

“This doesn’t need to be a conversation,” he said, just wanting to get out. “I...I said I would understand.” 

Virgil jumped when there was a hand against his cheek, Logan suddenly cupping his jaw and turning his head until they were face to face, the logical side’s eyes piercing behind his glasses. 

“Virgil,” Logan started, sounding almost breathless. “How...on earth could you think this would end in a break up?” 

Virgil blinked, wondering if this was some kind of trick question. “What? I don’t--” 

“Darling,” Roman said, and the Prince was suddenly scooting over to sit in front of Virgil, the three of them surrounding him. “You thought we would leave if you came out as Ace?” 

Virgil shook his head because no, that...that wasn’t the problem. Not entirely, anyway. “It’s not...guys I lied. You asked me to be in a relationship with you and I didn’t say anything.” 

“You did not lie,” Logan said, never dropping his hand from Virgil’s face. “You just were not ready to come out yet. You and I both know there is a substantial difference.” 

There was a hand suddenly slipping into his own, and Virgil startled when he realized it was Patton’s, the moral side’s free hand now running fingers through his hair. 

“You weren’t comfortable sharing that part of yourself,” he said. “That’s totally ok, sweetheart. No one’s mad at you. I’m just glad you said something before something...happened.” 

Logan’s hand suddenly dropped, his eyes big and painfully worried, and Virgil had to force himself not to look away. 

“Virgil,” he said slowly. “You do not...owe us anything. Especially not something like sex. If we made you feel like--” 

“What? Jesus- no.” Virgil moved his hand away from Patton, pulling his knees up to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut to try to get a hold of himself. “It wasn’t...I just thought...it would be too...t-too much to deal with, you know?” 

They weren’t breaking up with him. They weren’t. He’d been stupid to think that. There was no reason he should still be so upset. 

He couldn’t make them feel guilty. He couldn’t make them think they’d been the ones to do something wrong when they’d been nothing but perfect. He couldn’t--

“Oh Virgil.” 

Too late he realized the tears had started to spill over, his face burning as he pressed a hand against his mouth to try and muffle any treacherous sobs. 

There was a pair of arms around him, warm and grounding, and it took Virgil a moment to realize it was Roman, gently guiding him into the embrace. He didn’t fight it, falling limp against the Prince’s chest with a pathetic choking noise. 

“S-sorry,” he managed in between sobs. “I’m sorry, I- I don’t know why I’m...I sh-should have told you, I- I thought you’d...I thought you’d run out of reasons to- to want me.” 

“We could never,” Roman whispered, holding him tight. Patton moved forward to rub circles along his back, Logan reaching out to squeeze his hand. “You’re beautiful, Virgil. And this doesn’t change a thing.”

It didn’t make sense. None of it made any sense. If one of them had come out, it would be different. But with him...there was already so much to deal with, so much they were forced to handle. 

Eventually, it had to get to be too much, right? He’d already figured they’d get fed up with the extra steps they had to take to respect his boundaries, Virgil always a little more wary when it came to being vulnerable. 

But they all sounded so...genuine. Princey hadn’t once loosened his hold, still whispering quiet reassurances, Patton was back to running his fingers through Virgil’s hair, pressing kisses to his free hand. 

And Logan still held on tight, counting out familiar breathing exercises just loud enough for Virgil to hear, always knowing how to calm him down. 

When he finally managed to calm down, taking in deep, shuddering breaths, he reluctantly pulled away from Roman, wiping at his eyes as he stared down at his lap. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I never thought...I wouldn’t have let you guys do anything. I was always gonna tell you eventually I just...kept putting it off.” 

“That is quite alright,” Logan said, sounding oddly hesitant. “But I...don’t think I could forgive myself if we had taken the next step without realizing you would not enjoy it.” 

Virgil nodded, forcefully pushing down the sickening panic at the thought. “I know. I wouldn’t have let that happen. I promise.” 

Patton and Logan both squeezed his hands, Patton tilting forward to press a kiss to his temple before leaning his forehead on Virgil’s shoulder. He allowed himself to lean into the touch, taking another shaky breath before continuing. 

“I’m...I am sorry though. If this complicates things.” 

Roman cocked his head slightly, frowning. “Complicates things?” 

“Yeah,” Virgil said, hoping he wasn’t about to refute every wonderful thing that had just been said. “We’re...in a relationship. And you all want...I mean, Roman you’re pretty much all romance, so I know you want--” 

He cut himself off, caught completely off guard when Roman started laughing. 

“Sorry,” the Prince said quickly, smiling at the exasperated looks Virgil realized the others were giving him. “Sorry, I just...gosh, Virgil can I kiss you?” 

Virgil blinked, mind suddenly completely blank. “I...uh, sure?” 

True to his word, Roman was suddenly cupping Virgil’s face in both his hands, gently pressing their lips together, and just like always Virgil melted against the touch, completely safe for just a single, blissful moment. 

When Roman pulled back, he met Virgil’s gaze, brimming with nothing but adoration and love. “Virgil, darling, you really think I see something as trivial as sex romantic?”

“I mean...yeah?” 

“Virgil, I love you. You, not...not what you have to offer. I love seeing you in the mornings, and holding you...I love hearing your voice. I want to cook you dinners and pick you flowers and sing for you. That’s romantic, Virge. Not...not something as small as sex. That’s not what’s important. Not to me.” 

“I, for once, am in agreement with Roman,” Logan said. “Sexual intimacy has never been of importance to me. It certainly does not hold enough power to damage our relationship in any way if you do not desire it. And it certainly has no power over my feelings for you.” 

Virgil was suddenly dangerously close to crying again. “I--” 

“Besides, there is no logical reason for us to engage in sexual intercourse. We are not human, so the need to reproduce does not--” 

Roman thankfully cut him off with a kiss, Logan making a noise somewhere between surprise and annoyance, but reciprocated without further complaint. 

Patton was suddenly taking both of Virgil’s hands, their fingers laced together, and Virgil suddenly wasn't quite so scared to meet the moral side’s eyes. 

“I don’t care about something silly like that,” Patton said. “I just care about you, honey. The four of us being safe and happy and together. If we all just cuddle and tell each other how much we love each other...nothing else could ever make me that happy. So don’t you worry about a thing, ok?” 

Virgil wasn’t sure whether he laughed or sobbed, but he was smiling back at Patton, at the people who surrounded him with unconditional love, and he nodded. 

“Ok,” he agreed, feeling lighter than he thought he ever had. “Thank you. All of you. I...I love you all. So much.” 

Within moments they were all tangled up in each other, the television playing an old comfort movie, Virgil wrapped up in Logan’s arms with his head against Roman’s chest, Patton leaned against his legs. 

It was still perfect, and Virgil had a funny feeling it always would be. He loved them, more than anything in the entire world, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind they felt the same way.

[theparanormalperiodical]

What The Hell Is Satanism? The Backstory, The Beliefs, And The A-To-Z On Devil Worshippers

4 days ago, Nike decided to sue a small indie art collective based in New York.

This isn’t news. This isn’t the first time a profit-mongering fashion-giant has targeted businesses trying to make a name for themselves. And it won’t be the last.

But this time, there’s probably something else influencing the executives reclining on their plush leather seats: they said it was because MSCHF stamped on the Nike Swoosh. But we all know what the real problem was:

These kicks were soaked with Satanic imagery - oh, and a single drop of human blood.

"MSCHF and its unauthorised Satan Shoes are likely to cause confusion and dilution and create an erroneous association between MSCHF's products and Nike”

Translation: no, we don’t want to be associated with devil worshippers.

Satan and his followers have once again hit the press following Lil Nas X’s latest viral YouTube hit and release of his custom footwear. And he does the belief system - and the LGBTQA+ community - justice.

But Satanism goes much deeper than pole dancing your way to hell.

It goes deeper than the fears of your evangelical aunt, it goes deeper than the rumours of a sacrificial ritual that happened in the woods outside of town, and it goes deeper than QAnon conspiracy theories.

Today we explore what Satanism really is. And what it really isn’t.

*twerks towards hell*

What Is Satanism?

Satanism is a group of modern religions that are centred around Satan, an entity in Abrahamic religions (e.g. Christianity and Judaism) that rebelled against God, has power over Hell and demons, and seduces humans into sin. Satan features in a vast number of major religions: he started off in Zoroastrianism, then making his way to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. But the modern followers of Satanism are inspired by the Christian fallen angel and ruler of hell.

A large proportion of Satanists follow atheistic Satanism - they don’t necessarily believe in an entity but follow a philosophy that focuses on individualism and satisfying the ego, or rebel specifically against the dominance of Christianity in Western society.

Although Satan is typically considered the embodiment of evil, most strands of Satanism are not. However, there are some groups that fit this mould like the Order of the Nine Angles: they’re neo-Nazis.

The actual worship of Satanism only began just over 50 years ago, in 1966. But the use of the term ‘Satanist’ stretches back centuries further. Calling someone a ‘Satanist’ (or something to that effect) was an insult reserved for those that disagreed with a Christian group’s beliefs.

A Not-very-brief-but-look-I-tried-ok History Of Satanism

Here’s the thing about Satanism: at one point in history, every religious group was deemed Satanist. 

You see, that’s how it all started.

Even the term ‘Satan’ originally meant ‘adversary’. It didn’t necessarily refer to a horned, evil ex-angel once scorned by the Almighty. It meant ‘other’; it was just an insult. It wasn’t created by groups of men draped in blood red robes preparing to slaughter a virgin to their ungodly master - Satanism was actually created by Christians.

The word ‘Satanism’ was first recorded in French and English literature back in the 16th century. Against the backdrop of the Reformation (when the Western Christian Church split off into Protestantism, Catholicism, and other more niche shards) rival religious groups would label each other with such terms frequently in various tracts and texts.

It was not to say that Protestants, for example, were actively worshipping Satan but were instead deviating from what Catholics thought was true Christianity. By ‘incorrectly’ serving God, they were supporting Satan’s claim to ruin the world with sin and evil.

*Disney villain laugh*

In the 19th century it broadened to encompass anyone that lived an immoral lifestyle and was thus serving Satan’s will. But in this same century it evolved yet again.

Yep, it’s time to introduce the actual Satanists: texts began to emerge that mention people that revered and worshipped Satan. It took a long 300 years for Satanists to reclaim their title. But the story doesn’t end here: this is a really important theme that runs like blood through the history of Satanism. Or, rather, the history of religious prejudice and persecution.

Throughout, well, all of human history, we have been swept up unto the belief that there is a dark, evil force lurking within our communities. The most recent example claims Joe Biden and his Democrat friends are Satan-worshipping baby-eating America-hating pedophiles. The fears of a discrete force that can hide at will fits the descriptors of the Judeo-Christian devil. And so, it had been applied to persecuted groups for centuries.

The Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition are the most famous examples of this. Satanism evolved in the Medieval era to scapegoat certain groups or to reinforce social norms by emphasising the apparently very real fight between good and evil.

Narratives of the French Revolution at the time were contorted with rumours of revolutionaries being part of a secret Satanic conspiracy. This revolution struck a blow to the power of the Catholic church, and some fingers pointed towards the dark lord of hell himself. Some even believed these revolutionaries had amassed supernatural powers to curse people and shape-shift into various creature ‘n’ critters like cats or fleas!

In the 20th century, another historical shift took place. And this time it (supposedly) happened from within the secret societies themselves: non-fiction authors and tabloids began to recount the allegations of people who once claimed to have been part of Satanic groups before converting to Christianity.

Doreen Irvine claimed she was given the ability to levitate amongst other witchy-powers. But Irvine’s claims sent shockwaves across the pond in the US. Much more horrific allegations were about to take centre stage. In the 1980s this would reach its climax with the Satanic Panic:

Also known as the Satanism Scare, the book Michelle Remembers (1980) detailed the alleged repressed memories of a psychiatrist’s patient which claimed they had been abused as a child for Satanic rituals. In these rituals, babies would be sacrificed and Satan would appear.

Reports of sexual child abuse for these rituals - known as Satanic Ritual Abuse - proliferated until the 1983 case made against the McMartin family. The McMartins owned a preschool in California and were allegedly sexually abusing the children in their care for ritualistic purposes. A lengthy trial ensued and the McMartins were eventually cleared of all charges.

But it was too late.

An evangelical anti-Satanism movement emerged claiming no children would lie about such claims and therefore all accused must be guilty. A conspiracy theory similar to those before emerged claiming SRA was rampant across the US, but it lost momentum by the turn of the 90s. Various investigations by the FBI and British government looked into SRA but found no evidence of Satanism or rituals in any cases of child abuse. Some lone cases of pedophiles did involve rituals, but these were isolated events that never involved Satanist groups.

The 7 Types Of Satanism

Satanism is an umbrella term to describe a vast array of religious groups. There’s a swirling sea of beliefs from the philosophical Satanists that don’t actually believe in Satan to the minority groups that are willing to sacrifice humans in the name of worshipping their god.

However, this ocean does share a common focus on individualism, self-perception, and non-conformity - traditional traits associated with the devil.

There are 3 forms of Satanism: reactive (attempts to invert Christianity and celebrates rebellion), rationalist (atheist and materialistic beliefs), and esoteric (actually worships Satan and draws upon religions like Paganism and western Esotericism).

The Church of Satan kick-started modern Satanism. Erected in 1966, Anton LaVey promoted an atheistic philosophy that focused on indulgence and an ‘eye for an eye’ ethical code that celebrated mankind as animals in an amoral world. Hate and aggression were not wrong but were advantageous for one’s survival. Yes, the seven deadly sins were actually beneficial for the individual.

The First Satanic Church was founded on Halloween night in 1999 by the daughter of Anton LaVey after his church was taken over by a new administration that Karla deemed against her father’s work.

The Satanic Temple is an atheist-activist group that stages political ‘pranks’ that rebel against the political and social dominance of Christianity. They aim to showcase religious hypocrisy in stunts such as performing a ‘Pink Mass’ over the grave of a Westboro Baptist Church goer (known for their explicit and offensive signs). They use Satan as a metaphor to rebel against a society that restricts personal autonomy and curiosity.

Luciferianism is a belief system that pivots around the characteristics associated with Lucifer. Followers believe Lucifer is the illuminated aspect of Satan, thus considering themselves Satanists. But some believe he is a more positive force than Satan. They follow the ancient myths of Egypt, Rome, and western Occultism. They consider him the true god - a destroyer but also a ‘light-bringer’ to the world.

The Temple of Set does not necessarily revere Satan by instead a being they call Set. Satan was the corrupted name of set, an entity that is the one true god. It gave humanity intellectual abilities to separate it from animals and they believe in a Setian philosophy with self-deification as the aim of all humanity.

The Order of the Nine Angles was inspired by ancient Pagan groups resident in Shropshire in the late 60s. But the founder of the group, Anton Long, is considered the pseudonym of neo-Nazi David Myatt. They encourage human sacrifice as a part of rituals and several members have joined the police and the military to do this without getting caught. The ONA is linked to several rapes, murders, cases of child abuse, and right-wing terrorism. They are also connected to several neo-nazi terror organisations.

The Joy Of Satan - contrary to its name - ain’t joyful. It’s an Occultist group that combines Satanism, Paganism, and UFO conspiracy theories. Just like the ONA, they’re Nazis. They believe Satan is one of many demonic deities which are powerful humanoid extraterrestrial beings which are equated with ancient gods. They believe Satan created humanity and brought us knowledge.

Reactivism isn’t a form of Satanism that is followed by an organised group but rather practiced on a personal, isolated level. It is considered an anti-social means of rebelling in a society dominated by Christianity. Most reactive Satanists are adolescents, mentally-disturbed, and have taken part in criminal activity associated with Satanic rituals they discovered through personal learning.

For example, in the 1970s two groups of teenagers in LA and Big Sur killed 3 people and ate parts of their corpses as a part of rituals devoted to Satan. Plotted murder and cannibalism are common traits of reactive Satanist crimes.

The A-To-Z Of Devil Worship

Baphomet

A deity that the Knights Templar allegedly worshipped. It is associated with the Sabbatic Goat which represents the equilibrium of opposites (half-man and half-goat, male and female, good and evil).

Black Mass

It is traditionally known as a requiem mass (funeral mass) in the Roman Catholic church from which the celebrants wear black clothes. However, it has been appropriated by Satanic cults. It often involves a naked woman as an altar and is the site of various Satanic magical rituals.

Cutter vs Wilkinson

A Supreme Court case which claimed federal funds cannot deny prisoners accommodations that are needed to engage in religious practices. Five residents of an Ohio prison including a member of a white supremacist Christian church, a Wiccan, and a Satanist filed the suit, claiming the officials failed to accommodate their ‘nonmainstream’ religions.

Devil

The personification of evil which shows up in many different religions. It is Satan in Abrahamic texts.

Demon

A supernatural entity often associated with evil. The original Greek word - daimon - did not have negative connotations.

Demonology

The study of demons.

Demonolatry

The worship of demons.

Goats

Satanism is always associated with goats. But why? There are several reasons: Baphomet is half-man, half-goat; the ‘infernal goat’ is depicted in many witches’ sabbats; Pagan traditions involved horned gods Christian forces deemed devilish; and the tarot card depicting the devil is a goat. In 1966, the church of Satan adopted baphomet as the sigil.

Lucifer

The name of mythological and religious figures associated with Venus. It is associated in the Christian tradition with Satan as he supposedly fell from heaven. Often called ‘the morning star’ or described as ‘light bringing’.  

Stanislaw Przybyszewski

The first guy to promote a Satanic philosophy.

What do you think?

Let me know in a comment below! And while you’re there, make sure you like and reblog this article.

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[crymeariveronceagain]

thoughts on bakugo and the sports festival:

Yeah, he nearly killed someone. 

But, like, since forever, Bakugo's been hearing that he needs to be the best(even leaving his questionable-at-best family life out of it) its a ton of pressure put on him to ALWAYS be something super amazing, always win, always grind people into the ground, because he's supposed to, its what people want him to be. Now, he has a very strict code of what being "The Best" entails, right? Like, it's academic and physical and heroic, all at once. He's trying to be what people have always thought he could be, right? 

Ok, so sports festival. Like, he tries his hardest, from the very beginning. He cuts no one slack, he puts his all in, like he's been doing with heroics since the VERY BEGINNING. Bakugo is all in, he thinks that being a hero involves being ALL IN, putting your whole self into a fight. Now, like, he's watching Izuku fight Shoto, and he's like, hey. Icyhot is actually icyhot. I've never seen him use his fire before. That's a really strong quirk. Bakugo realizes his win isn’t guaranteed, so what does he do? 

He goes up against this super powerful person and he puts his all into the fight what else are you supposed to do? He'd like to think fighting someone for honor and glory requires your all, to prove that you're worth something and to be the hero that will do anything to kick butt and face and save people. He thinks heroes should put everything they have into what they do, right? So this super strong person, that he's high-key PSYCHED to fight, subtly scared of losing to, doesn't put his all in. 

Bakugo's seen this guy's all. But what he’s getting hit with? This is just ice, and this isn't everything. 

Okay, Bakugo thinks(because River is telling this story and Bakugo possesses rational thought processes when i write what he thinks), if I push Icyhot far enough, he'll retaliate with fire. It's what Bakugo would do, it's what anyone would do. 

You're not supposed to lose. 

You're supposed to go down swinging. 

That's what being a hero is, right? It's never giving up, never breaking down, always being the best, putting in everything that you have because that's what it takes, right? 

And Shoto doesn't and he's pissed because that's not what they're here for. they're not here to half-ass things they're not here to go halfway and then turn back. and more than that, he shouldn't be someone who someone else can fight without putting in their all. 

Shoto comes after him and makes him into the smallest thing Bakugo can think of, in that moment, someone who is worth less than Deku is and from there it all spirals and his brain goes angry very very angry but wouldn't you be, too? You made it all the way there by never giving up, never giving anything less than your best, you showed someone, you showed EVERYONE the blood, sweat, and tears that you are willing to put into being a hero. You're not going to go easy on anyone for any reason, you're not going to judge people based on what they look like or how they act.

You got to the end of the line and then, seconds away from something that you can be proud of, a heroic victory, in your eyes, and someone powerful doesn't put in the effort they'd need to beat you. They know they could beat you, or at least have a fighting chance, and that's why you were looking forward to this. They're your equal, they're your peer, they're someone you feel could be a challenge, in a world where you always push yourself to the farthest possible lengths, and they just don't. 

And you win.

You win because you fought someone who wouldn't put up a fight, and you win because you pushed them as hard as you could, you tried to make them give their all, and they wouldn't, and you're so angry, why aren't you worth their effort? It's not because of you, but that's not what you think, you think they think you're not worth it, you're not a threat, you're not worthy of being fought-- and you keep fighting, you keep giving your all, you've won but not because of all the work that you've put in not because of the blood, sweat, and tears--

You win because someone else gave up. So you say you don't want it, that wasn't a win, it's not a win to you, because you didn't win properly, you didn't beat someone who was a threat to you, you kicked dirt into the face of someone who had already given up, someone who wouldn't fight back as hard as they could. 

You didn't take it easy on that girl, the gravity-and-pink-cheeks extra, because you knew she'd be pissed if you treated her any different because she was a girl, and if you had, she'd have broken your neck. 

Well, you want to break this guy's neck, because he went easy on you, he pulled his punches, his fire didn't rage with his ice, and its not about you, but you don't know that and then, instead of listening, or even giving you a break, or letting you calm down from the rage that's blistering in your veins and makes you want to snap the half-and-half kid like a twig, they knock you out they don't listen, they make you smaller, they show you very clearly that what you want does not matter, that you are a tool to them, an object, something to fight and win like a dog in a pit, and when you don't listen or comply, they do what they want with you. 

And then they chain you up in front of a crowd and national television.

And you're screaming, and no one knows what you're saying. Are you mad or scared or fine or just a villainous, feral animal, willing to hurt anything and anyone who stands in the way of what you want? 

But no one can hear you because your mouth is strapped shut and there are chains over your hands and you're fighting-- but no one can hear you. The words you’e saying are lost in the metal and the chains and you are falling to pieces but you cannot stop fighting because if you stop then you lose, you’re done, you’ve succumbed, you’ve lost--

And then your childhood idol, the person who meant everything to you when you were a kid, who you've still got posters of in your room, starts giving out the medals.

He's smiling wide and hugging third and second place, and then, at last, he's in front of you and he is still smiling and he takes off the muzzle and you spit out that this isn't how a hero wins, this isn't really winning if your opponent didn't give his all, this is just taking the benefits from someone who chose to lose, this isn't fair, to you or to him-- 

And your idol and hero looks at you, a smile plastered on his lips, and says, "Take it as a scar, then, something to look back on and learn from" and you stare and you scream that you don't want this you don't want this you dont want to win like this--

This is not how you want to be remembered, as the hero who won only because Shoto Todoroki pulled his punches, that label will ruin you, will ruin everything you've worked for, but your hero shoves a ribbon in your mouth because you won't let it slide over your head, and people's mouths are open and you can hear your friends whispering about the way you're acting and how rude and awful you're being and yet you're still just fifteen years old, and your teachers chained you to a cement post, and strapped a muzzle over your face, like you're a villain with a brainwashing quirk instead of a literal child, a minor, someone who legally can't drive a car in The United States of America, can’t drink in Japan, can’t join the army in France, can’t vote in Canada--

And later that night whenever they decide to let you free of the restraints, whenever they think you've learned your lesson, you realize that these were the heroes, that locked you up, these are the good guys, these are the people you're trusting. This was allowed, encouraged, and that no one is ever going to remember all the work you put in, today. They're only going to remember the chains and the screaming because you didn’t want this. They're going to see a spoiled brat instead of an angry child who put everything in and didn't understand why he wasn't getting treated like someone's equal, didn’t understand why he was considered less than someone he has always thought he was above, why he wasn't worth being fought like he had power, he did have power, he knows he had power because why would they muzzle him and chain him and-- 

And you're stuck, forever, with people looking up at you in shock and awe and terror because all they see is threats, painted across your face, and not power.

and for the rest of your life you will have to look back through your years and see a chained, muzzled, fifteen-year-old you, and realize that that is how you got to where you are, and that is where you started, and that is why you will never be the best, that is what's keeping you from succeeding, because you did what you always had to, you put everything in, and didn't know how to stop, or how to take a forfeit when you've only ever accepted the best from yourself, and you hate and you hate and you hate some more.

But at this point you don't know whether it's yourself you're hating or the people that made you wind up here.