#hes so dorky (derogatory)

[maskednerd]

[asakiyumemishiii]

The Steve Harrington to Jamie Tartt to Evan Buckey pipeline. The way they've all been my hyperfixation this year and we can clearly tell why.

Questionably shitty parents. Cannot maintain a relationship. Or at least tries and fails. Cocky to sweet character arc. Good with children. Steve is so good with the kids in the show. Jamie is good with Roy's niece. And Evan literally takes care of Eddie’s son so well that Eddie made him his son’s legal guardian should anything happen to him.

The way they just like are always saving the day, whether directly or indirectly- they always have a part in making a situation better. But it’s in the most reckless way that it’s like practically self-destructive or like kind of self-sabotaging. They're the Hero Character™️, even though they're not even the main character.

They all kind of have like gay best friends too! Or like they themself are super gay coded. Robin comes out to Steve. Colin comes out to the entire team and then everyone is like, “Oh I thought Jamie was the gay one!” And then Jamie doesn’t even deny it, which is crazy. And Buck literally kisses a man. AND both Buck and Steve have insane tension/chemistry with a dude named Eddie LIKE…

The way like people don't even like any of these three characters at the start of their shows. They’re annoying, arrogant, cocky, overconfident, etc… Despite having reason for being that way, like, yeah, they're overconfident but only because they do have the skills to back them up. Steve has charisma and is generally dorky/charming, even though he's like kind of an obnoxious idiot at the same time. Jamie is literally insanely good at football in season one, and he hasn’t even reached his full potential! Buck is also an idiot but he is admittedly still a good firefighter, just careless. And they all just progressively get better without losing their charm. If anything, Jamie becomes so puppy coded, but like in a good way. They all just go from being annoying (derogatory) to annoying (affectionate).

Steve projecting his implied negative family situation onto the kids that he continuously puts his life on the line to save and protect. Jamie having an abusive dad and finding his found family in the Richmond team and also doing his best to make sure they stay at the top of the ranks and don’t get relegated again. Buck having shit parents, but finding family and strength in the 118 firehouse. Steve Harrington, Jamie Tartt and Evan Buckley finding their found family in somewhere and someone that they would have never expected. All three of them learning from the people around them and just genuinely realising their flaws and then actively working to change themselves for the greater good.

Steve hanging around Robin and Dustin and slowly realising that they’re the kind of people who he should have surrounded himself with from the start. Because both of them didn’t cater to his fake King Steve persona but rather bantered with him and treated him for the Guy he is and saw him at his lowest and still stayed. Jamie spending time with the Richmond team and learning how fulfilling it feels to be a good team player, and letting himself be a real person around them and also being vulnerable with Roy because he gets over himself and his prince prick behaviour because he genuinely wants to form real connections with his team so he’ll stop feeling so isolated and then he just becomes so much better. Buck working on being less callous in both his words and actions with his team, realising that his impulsivity can affect other people and learning how to save others more carefully. Buck realising he uses sex to deflect his problems so he starts overcoming his fear of real intimacy by letting more people in.

Steve and Robin beefing at the start but they end up besties. It’s the same with Jamie and Sam, or Jamie and Roy, and again we see it between Buck and the 118 and Buck and Eddie.

The way like all these characters have depth, even if they’re all such a cliches. It's the way that they have so much to them, but the people around them often treat them like they're idiots. Like yes, there have been many, many times where they DO behave like total idiots thus it makes sense that their friends treat them as such, but like, they also have so many moments where they're genuinely smart.

Jamie is rude at the start and lacks tact, but he’s still super strategic both on and off the pitch. It irks me that it takes 3 seasons for him to realise that his team trusts his judgement but the sheer awe and disbelief on his face when he sees that his team is actually listening to him when he’s explaining the Total Football play is so heartwarming. He’s finally seeing that his team isn’t treating him like he’s being stupid on purpose and damn it, this should have happened sooner. Also the fact that Jamie was the only one who executed the play correctly? I love me a smart man.

Then there's Buck who has moments where he's suggesting new rescue tactics and everyone is like, ‘Oh wow Buck that's actually pretty smart!’ Which is so annoying sometimes that they treat him like he never has good ideas. Sure he’s a dork but it shouldn’t be so surprising that he can think on the spot like that. He’s a grown man who’s good at his job and has spent years working an insane variety of jobs which just gives him more experience in so many other things and not just firefighting. Also they keep saying ‘Buck you’re being too Buck’ and they mean it negatively like when he’s genuinely inquiring why people didn’t call Animal Control during that landslide/zoo episode but everyone brushes him off like he’s asking stupid questions? But then other times when he performs well, they say ‘Good job being Buck, Buck,’ like it’s suddenly a good thing. So which one is it? The team treats him like him being himself is a good or bad thing depending on the situation which is kind of fucked up because it shouldn’t be a conditional thing.

And then there’s Steve who often gets treated like he’s stupid by Dustin (which is crazy because they were super buddy-buddy in season 3) and the other kids and it’s like… He was the first one to notice the obvious clue in the the russian code. He’s the one who dove into the lake first because he knows he’s the strongest swimmer. He’s the one that saved Jonathan in season 1 because he had an instinct that something was wrong. People just look at him and think he’s a just some pretty boy with nice hair but he has always saved their asses. He’s selfless and thinks things through despite the others thinking otherwise and he actively wants to be helpful.

Something something people treating Steve, Jamie and Buck like they’re pretty accessories sometimes but they’re all smart and intuitive when need be.

OH! Steve Harrington falling down the popularity ranks when Billy Hargrove gets introduced. Steve realising that he’s not the hottest shit anymore but he doesn’t even care about that in the end. Jamie seeing Zava get integrated into the team and hating his fucking guts, not only because he’s upset about not being the best anymore, but because Zava is tearing up his team’s dynamic. Buck being the coolest guy in the 118 and then Eddie gets introduced so now he has to grapple with these changes that now there’s another cooler guy (but he learns to love him teehee). RAGH!

Their character development is so special to me! It's like their persona literally changes. Like Steve goes from being flirty, arrogant, to wanting a meaningful relationship in season four. His self-identity cracks. He makes up his King Steve persona and pretends to care about being prom king and hangs around Tommy H because he thought that kind of superficial shit mattered but he learns that it doesn’t. He just starts embracing being a babysitter and the more time he spends around real people who actually care about him, the more his old identity chips away and it’s so nice to witness.

Jamie literally goes from being an individual player to such a good team player. He even says it himself that he’s becoming the better kind of man that Keeley said he could be. He's so aware that he wasn't a good person and he actively seeks to build better bridges with everyone. The fact that he put himself out there to individually apologise to everyone in both words and actions because he’s so fucking serious about wanting to stop being a piece of shit and then it works!

And Buck literally calls himself versions Buck 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 because he KNOWS that he's changing for the better. It happens so early in the show too. He’s learns that he can’t save everyone, learns to stop being afraid to let people see who he is, learns to stand up to his parents, fights to save Maddie and Eddie’s son; just altogether becoming a literal Hero. UGH! I can’t be coherent about Buck’s character journey because it’s so insane to me.

All of them… all of them are like the same! But even though they're same, they have their own individuality to them. BUT STILL! They're all literally the fucking same. It’s clear that I have a favourite and very definitive character archetype.

Anyway! I need a Steve Harrington, Jamie Tartt, Evan Buckley edit right now!

[nights-at-crystarium]

January 9 is Vivi’s birthday \;w;/ The date’s cheeky, it’s when I reached ShB on him ingame. A year ago. JUST A YEAR. No other oc of mine had such an intense development process. I wanted to try writing a disaster, and, well....

Lemme have today as an excuse to ramble about his influences. Of course I didn’t merely lump these together, I kept realizing the likeness as time went on.

The concentration of unhinged blondies and literal idols is past the critical level, take cover, it’s gonna blow.

Spoiler warning for everything.

Anarchy Panty

Because his full name’s Vivien Fucksalot Rell x’D A good number of their tropes match perfectly.

This speech could as well be copypasted into his final battle with Emet:

Panty: You're right, I'm just a little bitch and I'm proud of it. But guess what, douchebag? That's not the point. News flash, I don't need special fucking powers to beat the shit out of you. You know why? Because I'm a bitch who doesn't give a fuck. You and your half-dead face can preach about hymens and demons and other weird words that supposedly mean shit, but that doesn't change the fact that if any of you fuckers get in my way, I'm gonna kick some twisted-ass ass. You hear me dick? I'm a hot bitch angel named Panty. And no matter what anyone says, I DO WHAT I FUCKING WANT!

Princess Ai

An edgy fashion icon that I'm still in love with. Brainstorming the visual styles for Vivi, I simply decided to indulge as hard as I can.

Howl

Howl gets his redemption arc, Vivi, uh.... Surprise, the entire ShB part of Fragments is his redemption arc of sorts. But he exists outside ShB as well. He’s not meant to be a goody two shoes. But hey, his drama queen moments are entertaining to watch.

Raha has a lot of Howl in his character too. With Vivi, he’s basically this, except he doesn’t swallow him.. Okay he does but in a different way *kicked*

Arataka Reigen

Because I’m physically incapable of writing a classic hero.

Vivi has a complicated relationship with his career and a pragmatic approach to most things in life. He also prefers words to violence, will fight only if that fails.

When confidence and persuasion carry so hard you don’t really need anything else. Vivi firmly believes in everything he says and does. He doesn’t derive any fucked up joy from being right, but he knows as a fact that he IS right.

Sakuma Ryuichi

Duality my beloved \o/ And dorkiness. Other than that, Ryuichi doesn’t have as much influence on his character, but the visuals?

I mean I literally use this shirt and necklace as an easter egg/homage. Gravitation triggered my queer awakening in the faraway 2006, might as well give it the acknowledgement it deserves.

And, lastly, the he.

What else do you expect from a character tailored for a ship \o/

Short. Sassy. Dorky. Gremlin. All of their direct likeness stems from ARR, while the more subtle parallels and extreme opposite values form later.

If Raha’s eccentric, Vivi takes that just a tad bit further, simply because he’s always been allowed to.

What Raha keeps repressed, buried deep down, Vivi embraces in full. He’s an unruly, effervescent spark of life, he’s meant to be Raha’s “manic pixie dream boy” according to tvtropes, to slowly lure him out of his shell and teach him confidence, the joy of living, and find a way to stop him from killing himself over and over again.

Words of praise and affirmation have no effect on them. Both are competent in some field, but never brag about it. While Raha has a severe imposter syndrome, Vivi knows he’s cool as a fact, which still doesn't mean he loves or values himself as he should. He just acknowledges and uses his status for his own benefit as openly as the world keeps using himself.

Destiny (affectionate) and destiny (derogatory).

Raha’s The Adult (tm) Vivi needs to stay somewhat stable. This’s the reason they don’t quite get along in ARR yet, Raha must go through that century of suffering that, despite all common sense, refines him into something delightful, Vivi must go through HW-SB to realize his priorities in life and frankly get fucked up enough to form a perfect chemistry with Exarch.

Raha has a moral compass that he may adjust at will, Vivi has none at all. How much more questionable would they be if they weren’t cute and charismatic :’D

They’re feisty and competitive towards each other, Raha especially so. Vivi has a red cloth effect on him. Forever wrestling for that imaginary control (yep, in bed too). On the emotional side, it’s forever “you matter, I don’t”. They’re mirrors of each other, reflecting some parts as they are, twisting others in most peculiar ways.

Vivi literally wouldn’t exist without Raha, both ic and ooc. So I daresay Raha has the most influence on his character, at the same time he’s his own guy enough to stay interesting. I’m so proud of him. I’m holding him by the scruff and helplessly shaking him in the air.

[noxemma]

Chapter 3 for my Hot Summer Art challenge fic

Mind the tags, this chapter is a short but heavy (I promise it gets better AKA fluffier)

Tags, Rating, Word Count, AO3 link, etc. at the bottom

Beside Your Side

Fic Summary: Dean convinces Sam to look into a potential case where people are going missing from a New Jersey beach town. Of course, they have to bring Cas and Eileen along, just in case it's not a monster. Dean is excited to get the case over quickly and enjoy a well-earned vacation with the people he loves the most. Nothing ever seems to go the way Dean plans it though, and this case is no exception.

Chapter 3: The Night is Cold

Dean

“Huh, I wouldn’t have pegged him as a friend of yours,” Isa chuckles when he finally refocuses on her. The words are innocent enough, but there’s something derogatory in her tone that instantly raises his hackles.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’re all charm and mysterious and he’s … kind of awkward and dorky. I mean what is that ridiculous shirt? It looks like a flower shop threw up on him. At least he knows how to be a half-decent wingman,” she states bluntly, "Now, where were we?"

She smirks at him and makes a show of wrapping her lips around her straw and taking a large sip of her drink. Dean’s sure that most men would find it sexy, especially the way she gazes up at him through her lashes, but it’s honestly the fastest he’s ever been turned off by a woman.

“Right. Listen, you’re gorgeous, but-”

“Look, I have nothing against your friend, he’s just not my type and I’m not really gunning for a threesome tonight. You however are exactly my type, and I usually get what I want,” Isa changes in a flash, instantly getting defensive.

“Well, he's my type, and, even if we aren’t dating yet, I’m not going to sleep with someone else,” Dean blurts, not really sure how the conversation has devolved so quickly.

“Yet? Please. You may be into him, but he certainly seemed to have no problem with us flirting. So, he’s unaware or uninterested but either way, you don’t owe each other anything. Hell, he practically gave you his blessing. I’m not looking for a boyfriend, just a good time, so I don’t see what your issue is. Let’s get out of here and have some fun. Who knows maybe it will make him jealous and I’ll be doing you a favor.”

Dean’s stomach drops because she’s right; technically he’s single and free to do whatever he wants. But what he wants is Cas, and even the suggestion of sleeping with someone else has his stomach clenching painfully and guiltily.

“Okay, well, if you don’t have any other information about Bradley.” Dean stands, needing to find Cas, but Isa is faster than he expects, jumping up and walking next to him as he makes his way toward the door.

“Look, Bradley was here. He’s a bit of a flirt and some chick, who honestly should have been grateful for the attention, got all butt hurt. She cried to Riley, and she kicked him out,” Isa spouts, grabbing Dean’s arm and stopping him just inside the doorway.

“Dean, come on. You’re telling me I do nothing for you?” she pouts. Dean is too busy looking for Cas to see the angry glint that fills her eyes when he ignores her.  

He lets out a relieved breath when he finally spots Cas, standing at the bar with Sam and Eileen. Their eyes meet and the angel gives blinds him with the sweetest smile. And it no longer matters that they aren't dating, it doesn’t matter if Cas never wants to be more than friends: the promise of simply being near him, of laughing and shopping and trying each other's drinks, of taking whatever love Cas will give him, far outweighs any offer of casual sex.

Suddenly, Isa is in front of him, her sharp nails digging into his scalp as she yanks him down into a brutal kiss, slotting her leg between his own. He’s so shocked that he can’t do anything for a moment, frozen between wanting to flee or fling her off in a way that would definitely get him kicked out, if not arrested.

Like what you read? You can find the rest of the chapter here on AO3

Rating: Explicit

Chapters: 3/? (hopefully 9 😂)

Chapter Word Count: ~2,750

Tags: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Case Fic, Established Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Beach Case, Cannon when convenient, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con (Dean and background characters), Non-Consensual Touching (Not between Dean and Cas), Hurt/Comfort, I promise it's not as dark as it sounds, Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, clueless Sam Winchester, Chick-Flick Moments, Cannon typical misunderstandings, Angst?, One day I'll learn how to tag, WIP, JackieDeeArt's Hot Summer Art 2024 (Supernatural), Hot Summer Art, Greek Mythology if you Squint, No Beta, Everyone is bad with words, Except Eileen who is the only emotionally stable person for miles, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Angel Grace Dysfunction, Poor Coping Mechanisms

[darealkatastrophe]

WARNING: This is an NSFW post, please don’t read if you’re underage or don’t like this content. May have possessive, derogatory terms, and inappropriate behavior to some. These thoughts are completely random, probably not grammatically correct, and are chaotic! Please and Thank you!

Ffxv random NSFW thoughts!

If there was a kingdom of sass, Noctis would obviously be the king. Noctis being smug, and being slick with his words, makes me feel some type of way. His voice is literally my favorite! That chuckle after he gets knocked down and is in danger, is literally the best at making me super excited. For sure Noctis is a tease, and he will make his partner squirm for him until they go to the hotel or camp (He’s a freak in bed for sure). I have a HC that Noctis may not be a good flirt but since he’s a prince he’s used to saying what he wants directly, as if he said nothing at all. For instance, “So face down, ass up when we get to the hotel? JK, unless,” he purrs while pretending to put a hair behind his ear, giving you one of his famous smug smirks. Noctis would whisper the dirtiest line ever said, then blink as if he didn’t say such a thing.

However Noctis gets jealous easily, especially since his childhood was heavily guarded, even though he went to public school because King Regis wanted him to have a normal life before Noctis had to heed the prophecy’s call. Noctis watching his s/o like a hawk, not because he doesn’t trust his s/o, it’s because some men not all, tend to give unwarranted attention towards his s/o. Noctis wants to protect his s/o from creeps. When he does get jealous, his mood changes from his normal dorky behavior to a more sensual possessive manner. Noctis grabs his s/o by their arm and pull them away whoever is making him jealous. Then Noctis will do something that may think that is out of his character, just to find out that it’s not. He takes his s/o to a dead end alleyway or a closed off area where people don’t really have access to. He will asks s/o if they have feelings for the person who was “flirting” with s/o. Noctis doesn’t want to lose you, since his whole childhood was full of near experiences of death or seeing others death. Noctis deeply growls in his husky voice “ They can flirt with you all they want, but we both know you belong to me, and you love belonging to me,” as he kisses your forehead down to your neck, slowly sucking after every kiss and peck. He whispers sweet and dirty nothings as he does so. “Nobody is going to see how my good girl is such a good slut for me,” Noctis chuckles darkly in a seductive tone. “Look how my kitten mewls go well for me when I pet her here,” he smugly states, “Look how wet she is, slowly trickling down her slick to her ass and thighs,” he growls “No one could make you feel like this only me!” No matter what he is considerate with his darling, helping clean, dress and walk home from the spicy events that occurred not long before. He apologizes if he was too rough or if he hurt his s/o feelings, and will comfort them if needed be.

[missin-you-already]

13, 15, 16, 19 for RE meme

Thanks for the ask :)))

13. Favorite & least favorite character in Retribution?

This the hardest film for me to choose :'( Definitely predictable coming from me, but I'm gonna say Bad Rain is my favorite. I do really, really love Good Rain too, though. And Becky. And Luther. And Jill. And Ad—you get the point.

Sure, Bad Rain is supposedly just an evil Umbrella drone, but I'm charmed by the toothy grins she flashes. She's looking all self-satisfied when she cracks Alice's ribcage with that open palm strike, cocky when she kicks her across the snow and declares she can't kill her, and weirdly amused in the Control Room when observing how Ada killed everyone assassination style. She is simply a bastard <3 I am mad at her for killing Luther, though.

My least favorite? Leon. Did you know that in the original draft for Retribution, Leon was an original character? Should've kept it that way imo. I'm not mad that he isn't like his game counterpart (who I do like), I just cannot find it in me to care about him. Maybe if he was established in an earlier film I would? He and Alice has this weird thing where they clearly dislike each other in a way that feels like they met before, but we never get to see that so it's kinda out of nowhere. I care about Tony more than Leon in Retribution.

15. Unpopular opinion?

If I have any, I'm not entirely sure what they are...

I do see a lot of people call Retribution the worst film, but it's my favorite after the first one. The fight scenes are fun, I love seeing the clones (I would've killed for Martin Crewes and Pasquale Aleardi to return, too), I love nearly all the characters, the Las Plagas Undead are silly, it's all ridiculous, it's fun.

16. An underrated character?

I'll pick Betty this time. Of course the character with medical expertise has to die the minute things get serious in a movie like this (RIP Olga. I like her too), but she does has a good death. She locked herself in the bus with those crows so other survivors could get to safety! She took out as many as she could before they killed her! Plus, she's a sweetheart. I wanna see her in more Extinction stuff.

19. Pairings you dislike?

While I'm not opposed to writing Rain as having some level of interest in men, I can never ship her and J.D. romantically. They are best friends to me. I also feel like Rain has a past of being one of/the only woman in her teams and getting shit for it. She'd be underestimated, called a bitch for responding negatively/rudely when receiving unwanted comments about her appearance, etc. Then she met J.D. J.D. was a cocky asshat at first and they didn't like each other much. He said he doubted some of her skills, but he was that with everybody, and when Rain put him in his place, he sucked it up and admitted she was better with a gun.

J.D. is competitive with her in a way she likes. He teases her in a way she might still roll her eyes at but doesn't find genuinely annoying. He's the first person she's gotten close enough with to consider a best friend. That's it.

I also can't see Rain and Matt together. There's the start of a friendship there by the end of RE, but I don't think it'd go past that. I don't think Rain would be into... dorky guys, I guess? She'd roughhouse him around for being that, too.

Alice and Spence aren't cute to me. Plus, he's a traitorous douchebag whose head she cut off, but I wasn't there for it before he remembered he was a bad dude, either. I think their whole thing is an interesting and important part of Alice's past, though, so it's fun exploring in that sense.

Doc and Claire have the same thing going on, but I like Doc even less. He is the film equivalent of Neil Fisher from Revelations 2 (derogatory).

Nobody talks about it much anymore, but I can't see Luther and Leon. I imagine Luther is straight Movie!Leon is as well.

[lunanoc]

might as well throw in some pingxie thoughts while i’m at it

i have. many things to say about pingxie. but on the subject of reducing relationships to one dimensional tropes specifically, it does them just as much of a disservice.

my favorite variation of pingxie is in the books (very shocking i know, although that’s technically the original them and not a variation), and by comparison to what’s shown in the dramas (which are fun and self-indulgent don’t get me wrong), the books are the slowest of slow burns. never forget we see everything in them from wu xie’s pov exclusively (at least the main entries), so we can only infer xiaoge’s own growth and development from what wu xie sees of it, but it very much exists.

wu xie has a complicated opinion of xiaoge in the earlier books, mostly because he doesn’t quite know what to make of this man who looks younger than he is and completely blows him off on their first meeting (blows everyone off in fact) much to his displeasure, which leads to the initially derogatory nickname ‘menyouping’, and yet is also vastly competent and knowledgeable. he’s cold and indifferent, yet wu xie feels safe around him and trusts him more than he likely should from the get go, mostly because wu xie’s good at reading people’s intentions and character on an instinctive level he doesn’t always manage to rationalize early on. he’s fascinated and would like to know him better, but also finds him deeply unfathomable, even incomprehensible.

and then you have xiaoge, who it merits saying, is repeatedly described as largely indifferent to most things (and he genuinely is), doing what he deems necessary but otherwise not bothering to involve himself with other people or social niceties. this is a man who spends his time off to the side sleeping or contemplating the sky, and yet in the space of four books he goes from not giving two shts about wu xie (or more than he would the average person) to voluntarily interacting with him, siding with him in quiet ways, helping him through unspoken little acts all the way up until a turning point wherein he first tries to keep his distance from wu xie en route to tamutuo in an effort to keep him from getting further involved than he already is in dangerous things he has no concept of, except by then he’s shown enough uncharacteristic interest in wu xie that wu xie notices he's being cold and distant. this all culminates in the infamous moment where xiaoge eventually lets himself act on thoughts he’s likely never fully analyzed himself, let alone shared with another person, leading to the “if i disappeared no one would notice” moment. 

and from there all the way until post ten years later and into things like yucun biji, the reality is that pingxie were never the serious immortal and the dorky clumsy mortal boy he adopts, nor are they the vulnerable strong one and the eventual protector, or any other trope variation really. pingxie are two people who at the start stand on opposite sides of a line neither of them were ever meant to cross, and to all intents and purposes should never have met for how very different the worlds they come from are. they’re people that circumstance threw together who chose to stay together, and keep choosing each other. they don’t need each other to exist, and could have gone their separate ways had they wanted to, but the importance of their relationship lies in that they stay together by active choice, and that in doing so, they meet in the middle.

wu xie matures and comes to understand a number of things through hardship while xiaoge is behind the gate that untether him just enough from the world that xiaoge isn’t quite so unfathomable anymore, while xiaoge comes down from his imposed pedestal just enough that he tethers himself to wu xie (and pangzi) and learns to live rather than exist

neither of them became a different person for the other, and the core of their relationship (and the beauty of it) is in the harmony and understanding they eventually achieve. reducing all of that to archetypes is honestly a little tragic

[deadhumourist]

Step into my office, Baby

Pairing: F!Reader and Dark!Marcus Moreno

Rating: Explicit. Bloody hell, explicit. No minors. 

Words: 1200ish

Warnings Dark!Marcus Moreno, seriously he’s not a soft and nice guy here, derogatory language, sass, rough sex, rough handling (no injuries!), abuse of superpowers, bodily fluids, cussing, disregard for intact underwear, expensive furniture getting mistreated, people not taking financial matters seriously.  ;)

A/N: Ok, I don’t know what happened here. I was listening to Belle & Sebastian and suddenly this fell out and I’m not sorry but I am going to hide somewhere because this is the most explicit/unabashedly horny thing I’ve ever written. Don’t look at me.

A huge thank you to @just-here-for-the-moment for beta-ing and making amazing suggestions which will likely pop up in a follow-up. <3

Masterlist | Taglist

Your stilettos hammered marks into the thin, worn carpeting of the Heroics headquarters as you stomped down the hallway. You were going to give him a piece of your mind; a big piece with frosting and sprinkles. On a fucking pitchfork.

Hastily, you pushed through the door and let it slam shut behind you, hands coming to rest on your hips. 

"You scrapped my staff budget. Explain. Rapido."

Marcus Moreno looked up from his desk, thick black-rimmed glasses perched at the end of his nose. It would have made him look less dorky than usual was it not for the brown puppy eyes staring back at you in total incomprehension. 

"What staff budget?"

"Ops. You reduced my headcount, after I explicitly told you we needed 23 analysts. This is going to cut us off at the knees."

He thought for a beat then said: "I don't approve budgets, I'm sorry." and resumed completing the paperwork in front of him. He seemed completely unaffected and you bristled at the brush-off.

You paced over until your knees hit the desk, leaning forward slightly with both palms resting on the solid mahogany. Your heart pulsed so hard that it seemed like the desk had a heartbeat of its own, thumping back at you.

Becoming aware of a shadow over him, Marcus looked up again.

“You’re the fucking leader of the Heroics, who else would approve budgets.”

Your breath fanned over his face as he looked you in the eye, now annoyed. 

“Yes, that means kicking asses to the curb, not crunching numbers. Speak to Florence in finance.” 

Rage seared under your skin like an out-of-control brushfire. 

“Bullshit. You call the shots. Change the allocation. I’ll wait.” 

When he didn’t respond, you swept your hand over his desk roughly, sending his stack of paperwork fluttering to the ground. That would get his attention. 

Aggravation pulled a harsh huff from his lungs. He raised himself up from the desk, his defined biceps flexing slightly with the strain.

“Pick that up.” 

You were defiant. 

“No. Fix this.”

He grimaced, and the next moment, you were being hauled over the desk and dropped onto it, the impact of your back a dull thud in the otherwise quiet office. 

Marcus climbed on the desk, towering over you.

“You don’t listen well, do you? Maybe your ears will work better when your mouth is stuffed full of my cock.” 

He unzipped his pants, hauling out his half-hard penis. Shuffling forward until he was over your chest and pinning your arms to your side with his thighs, he looked down at you. 

“Open”

“Make me” you spat back. 

He reached down and stuffed two thick fingers in your mouth, pulling harshly on the one corner. 

“Brat.” 

In the time it took for you to sass him, his cock had become rock hard and now he rested the fat tip against your lips. He nudged them and you opened for him, feeling the heavy length slide deeper into your mouth. 

As you closed your lips around his cock, you sucked eagerly, eyes inadvertently dropping closed at the musky, salty taste of him. 

“That’s it. Nice and quiet. You have some nerve coming in here and making a scene like that” 

He pushed down on your head and gently rocked back and forth, filling the cup of your mouth with dribbles of precum. 

You abruptly stopped sucking and glared at him. Pulling out of your mouth, Marcus listened as you piped up. “If you think your dick in my mouth makes a damned lick of difference, you’re mistaken.” 

He growled, a feral sound that you would never have guessed came from the normally even-keeled Marcus Moreno. 

He shuffled sideways and then moved off the table, his spit-covered cock swinging between his legs as he took you in.

“Spread your legs for me.” 

You huffed a mirthless laugh, keeping your eyes on him. 

“Say please” 

His eyes flashed dangerously, and he stuck his hand out as if reaching for your legs, his lip twitching in concentration. The next moment you felt your ankles separate as if pulled by an invisible force. 

Marcus used the metal heel in your stilettos to pry your legs open. You tried resisting, but you couldn’t outmaneuver him and your knees lewdly fell open in front of him, rolling your form-fitting black dress up until it sat around your waist. 

He reached forward, hooking his arms under your thighs and pulling you closer to the edge of the table. Marcus smirked at your lacy underwear, and you heard a "rrrrrp" as the material ripped over his big knuckles, your pussy suddenly open and exposed to him. 

“I’m going to fuck your insubordination out of you. See if you still have an appetite for fighting when you’re cockdumb.” 

With that he lined up his cock and pushed into you in one smooth motion, stealing the breath from your lungs. 

The thickness stretched you too quickly and it edged just this side of painful. 

Without waiting for you to adjust to him, he started rolling his hips into yours, your legs still spread uncomfortably wide. With every harder thrust, you heard that obscene wet slap of skin on skin, proof that you were as turned on as Marcus was. 

You caught him hissing through his teeth on a particularly hard thrust, and he looked as far gone as you felt. He suddenly saw you watching him, and he tightened his grip on you, pulling you even closer to him. 

He started fucking you in earnest then, hard, deep strokes that inched the desk further along with each thrust, the expensive mahogany carving scuffmarks into the wooden floors. 

"Ahhh fuck" you moaned breathlessly, the tension starting to wind up, the band in your belly tightening as you felt the familiar tingle.

Marcus could see your rapid breathing and let go of your left leg, which fell haphazardly and now dangled off the desk while the other one was still in his vise-like grip. You felt like a ragdoll, ruined and coming apart at the seams. 

His large hand reached over to where he was buried inside you and his thumb rubbed fast, firm circles on your sensitive bud. 

Your vision went white and pleasure skittered along your nerves like concentrated electricity. Marcus followed soon after, a low, feral groan escaping his lips as his orgasm slammed into him. While he worked you through it, he spilled warmly into you, his nails digging painfully into the leg that he was still holding close.

When the wave subsided, he looked down at you for the last time, a self-satisfied smirk on his face and sweat pearling on his brow. 

"Next time you won't have the luxury of a desk. You throw a tantrum like that again and I'll take you on the floor like a fucking animal."

You bit your lip enticingly and reached down to your messy pussy, scooping up some of your release on your middle digit before lifting it triumphantly and flipping him the bird.

He lunged forward and sucked your finger into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it, humming at the taste. 

"Not bad for a brat."

-----

Comments and reblogs are appreciated <3

[haru-desune]

CHARACTER BINGO!!! Gimme your thoughts and feelings on Juza, Chikage and Sakyo! ^^/

Oh... Oh boy... Okay here we go

Like a brother to me wanna take him out for sweets and also to therapy. I just want nice things for him he's such a good boy and he's struggling so hard. I also get that he's got something to prove to himself as much as too the people around him like I feel that. Plus okay purple and gold color palette??? Letrerman jacket?? Soft baby smile when his guard is down? Peak character design baby! In other news I was gonna put the dynamic one down because he's got so. Many interesting groupings (his role as Aki's guiding light, how he fits in within the Hudosakisaka family, o-high shenanigans, his whole deal with Tenma, HIS WHOLE DEAL WITH BANRI). But ultimately he's so interesting on his own it felt unfair to mark that one.

Look the man thought KIDNAPPED THE MC was a valid expression of grief. Bastard cabbage energy. Horrible person (affectionate), if he were real id marry him (derogatory). Chikagr is fascinating to me because his introduction is where A3!'s plot really begins to go off the rails, but it's somehow still believable??? Like don't get me wrong this man is unhinged but he loves his family so much???? And once he realizes there's people he can count on he channels all that energy into keeping them safe and happy and I can vibe with that. But also please put him under a microscope for my personal entertainment.

Ahh our resident old man jfc.. I know this doesn't look like a lot on the card but honestly most my thoughts towards him don't really fit neatly into these categories. I LOVE how he started as an antagonist and genuinely threatening one in the first half of act one, and how he didn't lose that edge after joining the Mankai troupe. Like everything that made him formidable is still there, but now you get to see him be soft and dorky and find a proper channel for his regrets 🥺

I will say that while I like him on his own I like him SO much better when playing off other characters, especially since he personally knew the OG Mankai members. Of course there's his relationship to Sakoda, Azami, and the Ginsenkai group, but he also wears the hat of semi-reluctant troupe dad, and his whole deal with Izumi is so funny it's almost painful. But I think my favorite dynamic is hearing Yuzo and the other old troupe members call this grumpy 30 year old team dad with the heart of an octogenarian "kid" 🤣.

Despite all this I really admire Sakyo's role in supporting Izumi in her goal, even when he had to be the bad guy in the scenario. He's also very interesting to me because he embodies a very clear distinction between regretting your past and being ashamed of it, which is a journey he himself is on through the course of the game.

[fizzychocolatemilk]

The Little Moments (Bakudeku Tropetember Drabble)

I'm back with another Tropetember drabble! This one side-tracked me when I was working on Belleza que Atrae, and it became WAY LONGER then I intended. For day 17: Accidental Baby Acquisition / (Single) Parent AU / Babysitting  AO3 link here.

The door creaked open as Katsuki came home and pulled off his work boots. He had a minute to feel the relief of finally being home when he heard the pitter-pattering of a child’s feet. He quickly turned and scooped up the tiny blonde as the little boy screamed, “Daddy! You’re home!”

Katsuki smiled into his son’s hair as he hugged him, “Yeah...I’m home, little man.” He carried the boy into the main room and paid the babysitter before cuddling his son on the couch for the few minutes they had before dinner.

Izumi sat on the counter as Katsuki made their meal. He smiled fondly as he listened to his son ramble about his day. Little moments like these made the hours that Katsuki pulled and the things he put up with worth it; it was all to make sure Izumi had a good life.

Izumi was chattering about his class when he mentioned something that caught Katsuki’s attention, “And this year, my teacher’s super cool and nice. Midoriya-sensei is really amazing!”

Katsuki loved his son, but he could easily admit that Izumi usually had a hard time getting along with his teachers. So naturally, Katsuki was insanely curious about what made “Midoriya-sensei” so different than the teachers his son had had before. “Midoriya-sensei, huh? What do you like so much about her, ‘Zumi?”

Izumi looked scandalized and he hit Katsuki with a couple of tiny fists before shouting, “Midoriya-sensei is a boy! Not a dumb girl!” Izumi looked angry for a second before turning his head away from Katsuki and grumbling, “Midoriya-sensei is kinda pretty like a girl though, like the nature spirit-y things in some of the stories you read me. Nie—Ni—Nim—What is it again, daddy?”

Katsuki chuckled, “I think you’re thinking of nymphs, son, but those are usually water spirits. The nature spirits are called dryads.”

Izumi’s eyes brightened and he nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! Those! Midoriya-sensei looks like a dryad! Like he could turn into a tree, but in a pretty way! And he always makes sure that everyone is having a good day and understands his lessons! Usually teachers just don’t bother with the stupid kids and the mean-looking kids, but Midoriya-sensei makes sure that everyone is doing good! I’ve haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like him yet! He’s like a superhero!”

Katsuki nodded with a fond look across his face at his son’s enthusiasm. He turned off the heat on the stove and plated the food before picking his son up and setting him on his hip. Izumi was starting to get too big for it, but Katsuki didn’t work out for nothing. He would carry his son for as long as he was able and Izumi was willing.

“‘Zumi, I’m very glad you like your teacher this year.” He set Izumi in his chair and set a plate of food in front of him. Katsuki grabbed his own food and sat down across from his son before continuing, “But remember...don’t call your classmates stupid just because they have a hard time understanding what you’re learning. Some people learn and understand things differently, and that’s perfectly okay. Alright?”

Izumi nodded and slurped his noodles before smirking at Katsuki.

Katsuki smacked the hand that wasn’t holding his chopsticks with enough force that his son would feel it, but not enough that it would hurt or turn red. “I guess you really don’t want the mochi that I’ve got in the fridge, huh? Shame—I just made them last night and in your favorite flavor too,” Katsuki feigned nonchalance, but grinned inwardly as Izumi’s eyes widened and he shook his head empathetically.

“NO! I WANT MOCHI PLEASE!”

“Eat the rest of your food without slurping and I’ll think about it.” Katsuki smiled fondly into his chopsticks as he watched his son finish his food quickly but politely. Yeah—moments like these were Katsuki’s favorite.

.

.

.

Katsuki walked into his son’s classroom with all the purpose of a boat cutting through the water. In this case, however, Katsuki was his yearly mission to make sure Izumi wasn’t getting royally fucked over by his school. Neither Katsuki nor Izumi really enjoyed parent-teacher conferences, hence why Katsuki had left Izumi with a babysitter, but it was something they had to deal with and Katsuki would never pass up the opportunity of intimidating his son’s teachers...it was just too funny.

.

.

.

The only thing that kept Katsuki’s jaw from hanging open at the man sitting in front of him was the fact that he had prior knowledge of what he would look like. The only thing wrong with Izumi’s description of his sensei was the fact that Midoriya-san didn’t just look like a nature spirit—no, he looked like a whole-ass god.

Midoriya’s hair fell in shiny, green ringlets over his head, accenting his defined yet delicate features. His freckles were spattered over the bridge of his nose and along his cheeks in curious constellations that made Katsuki want to spend eons tracing them and counting Midoriya’s freckles like stars.

His eyes were green, but Katsuki thought the word green could never encompass the countless universes that Midoriya held in his eyes. They swirled with specks of gold, and highlights of lime, and depths of pine in almost black shadows, and they shone with the light of someone who was truly happy with what they were doing. They shone so brightly that Katsuki felt overwhelmed as those eyes looked, with their vast swirling universes, at him.

“Hello, Bakugou-san! I’m Midoriya Izuku, Izumi’s teacher. It’s lovely to meet you. Your son is such a delight to have in class! He’s very smart and helpful. Even though he’s a little gruff, he’s passionate and kind to his classmates. Such an amazing child you have!”

Katsuki smirked at the praise for his son, but his insides felt like they were melting from the warmth that Midoriya-san gave off.

Midoriya bit his lip, causing Katsuki’s brow to furrow, before speaking, “I’m sorry if this is rude, but I’m just a bit curious….usually mothers come to their child's conferences, you see, so...I was wondering….”

Katsuki sneered before replying to Midoriya’s gross attempt at making it a polite question, “Pardon my language—but my son’s shitty incubator was a bitch-ass whore. I regret fornicating with her, but I don’t regret Izumi. Never Izumi. So stop with the shit and let’s talk about my son, Deku.”

Midoriya had been staring bug-eyed at him while Katsuki was speaking, but he looked even more surprised at being called, “Deku? Maybe you misheard, but my name is Midoriya Izuku .”

“I don’t call rude assholes that insinuate that I’m a bad parent by their names, Deku ,” Katsuki smirked as he watched Deku’s jaw drop for a quick moment, but Katsuki was a little surprised when a flush rose on Deku’s cheeks and he gained a determined gleam in his eye.

“I apologize if  I insinuated anything, Kacchan , no excuse is a good one and it wasn’t my intention….I was just trying to be subtle.”

Katsuki had slammed his hands on the table at the word “Kacchan”, but now his brow furrowed in confusion, “Subtle about what, stupid Deku?”

If it was possible, Deku seemed to flush harder at this question, but Katsuki remained stead-fast and waited for an answer. Deku flustered for a second before the determined gleam came back and he answered, “I-I-I think you’re hot, okay?! Oh my goodness, this is so fucking unprofessional of me! I can’t date the parent of a student! But Bakugou-san is so fuckingbeatifulandprotectiveandkind—”

“Shut the hell up, dumbass Deku!” Katsuki was blushing furiously. The god-like green-eyed man thought he was attractive and dateable! Katsuki knew that he was sexy as fuck, but he hadn’t been on a date or even been interested in someone since before he had Izumi. Deku had been rude, but it didn’t seem like he meant it in a derogatory way like some teachers and parents that Katsuki had met before—and he was really pretty, so Katsuki paused for a second before speaking, “Tomorrow is Saturday. If you’re free, I’ll pick you up at 10 am. Now let’s talk about your class and my son. What sort of things will you be teaching this year?”

Deku’s jaw was hanging open as he stared wide-eyed at Katsuki, “Ummmm...I’m good with 10 tomorrow. Will Izumi be there?”

Katsuki scoffed, “Fucking obviously.” And their conference continued with no further talk of the date.

.

.

.

Katsuki held Izumi’s hand as he knocked on the door, but suddenly the boy tugged on his shirt and made the motion that meant he wanted to be picked up. Katsuki’s heart melted. It had been a while since his son had asked for uppies. As he was nuzzling the boy on his hip and Izumi was giggling, the door opened to reveal Deku. “Am I interrupting something?” Deku asked with a teasing smile.

And just like that, Katsuki’s heart had reformed and started beating at a frantic pace. Deku was wearing a pastel green and white plaid button-up over a white shirt that said “date shirt”, jeans that were loose enough for the physical activities that they would be doing today, and….red sneakers. He looked dorky as fuck, but somehow Deku was able to make the ensemble look adorable.

Katsuki smiled at the man and was about to greet him, but his son beat him to it. “MIDORIYA-SENSEI!?! Daddy didn’t say we were going to see you! HI!!!” Izumi was squirming to get down now, so Katsuki gently sat him on the ground so he could run and give Deku a hug.

Deku smiled fondly at Izumi, making Katsuki’s heart warm, before asking, “Well, what did your daddy say you were going to be doing?”

Izumi thought for a moment before turning back to Katsuki. “Daddy what are we doin’?”

Katsuki chuckled at his cute son before responding, “Your teacher and I are having a date, but since I’m taking him for a picnic in the park, I thought it would be fun if you could come too. We haven’t gone to the park in a while, have we, squirt?”

His son’s eyes had widened at the word “date”, but he seemed to forget the surprise in favor of being excited about going to the park. “PARK! Park! Park! Park! Let’s go now, daddy! What are we just standing around for?!?”

Katsuki looked to Deku, who had a wobbly smile on his face and a fond look in his eye, and held out a hand for him to take. Deku’s eyes widened a bit before he shot Katsuki in the heart with a shy smile and a pink blush. Deku grabbed his hand, and they made their way to Izumi, who was waiting at the end of the walkway and bouncing on his toes in anxious excitement.

Izumi eyed Katsuki and Deku’s clasped hands and held his hands out. Katsuki and Deku let go of each other at the same time, looked at each other in surprise before smiling, and simultaneously grabbed Izumi’s outstretched hands. As the trio began walking towards the park, Katsuki thought that this might be the start of something great.

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed! I think I only have three more drabbles to wrap up my tropetember series! See y’all soon!

[may-day-voice]

Haunting Sour Notes

Denki Kaminari's Timeline | 172732014

please do not repost, but you have permission to reblog :)

• Watch/ Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iGM2u8mraCY

• Read on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1059472971-denki-kaminari-pro-hero-au-172732014-haunting-sour

"Why won't you tell me?" questioned Kaminari, following you around his apartment while you paced with heavy steps. "You've been showing signs lately."

"Signs?" you retorted with a derogatory smirk. "Me being scared of storms is a sign?"

"No, I mean, Mon Ange-"

"Kaminari," you interrupted, your tone stern. "I messed up yesterday. Tell that to the Head Agent."

He watched as you slumped onto one of his armchairs in the large space, looking away from him while you stared out from one of the large windows overlooking part of Endor Docks. The morning was calm while you slept, but as soon as you woke, he found you distant almost immediately. You refused to say a word, not a peep, as if you were still mute.

And then, this argument, empty of reason.

"I'm going to report all that I know from last night," explained Kaminari, soft and calm. "And I know you didn't mess up, but you have to tell me these things about you. Things that I still have no clue about."

"It's better you didn't know," you replied, still with your eyes away from his.

"Why? I can't help you if you keep blocking me out."

"Then take me back to the Commission. Put me under arrest. What good am I if I'm not helping your case?"

"You're a good person, I know you are!" yelled Kaminari in retaliation, his frustration growing.

"How do you know?"

"You took that blow for me back when we first met. Not any villain would do that. You may have your reasons, but that shows me that you are willing to put yourself on the line when it counts. And here I am, trying to understand you outside of the fame and the secrecy, and you-" Kaminari stopped himself, holding his tongue while he stared at your upsetment, seeing the glint of tears that forced their way in the corner of your angry eyes. He could see you holding back before he was about to spill, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"You told me back at that golf range-"

"Putt-putt."

"- that you wanted to make amends. Why won't you let me help you do that?"

You looked into Kaminari's eyes, filled with confusion and anger while the frustration in his voice was evident. Of course, anyone who would be treated this way would have every right to feel these waves of emotions, but this was your life. A life shouldered with the haunting memories of your actions, and of the people you surrounded yourself with. At the time, you thought nothing of it, but now, these memories were not even worthy for someone like Kaminari to hear.

"They're not yours to shoulder," you answered. "And I'm more afraid of you getting involved further in the matter."

"What do you mean? I'm already involved," explained Kaminari. "I know enough to understand that you're trying to stop the Front, and that this General is someone to be feared."

"But you don't know the implications of knowing her. I don't want you to get hurt."

"So, it's a she?" he asked, only earning an exasperated sigh from you.

"I've said too much," you mumbled under your breath, turning your eye away from him once more. You held back the tears that you felt pricked your eyes, spotting the murkiness cloud your vision a little. You rubbed your eyes in an attempt to rid them, but they only continued to spill.

Kaminari hesitated with his next few thoughts, eyeing your expression and the cross look on your face.

"Speaking of which, aside from all of this, there was something else that bothered me," he started, keeping an eye on your reaction. "Last night, you wouldn't say a word. Or, you couldn't. Can you tell me what that was about?"

You bit your lip, hoping the sharp pain would hold off the tears that spilled from your eyes. Every word he spoke felt like a knife in your chest. You recalled last night, almost vividly, innocently writing those words in paper. The fear returned, like it did long ago. You turned your eye away from Kaminari knowing that the overwhelming sadness rippled under your skin.

"Are you sick?" He asked.

"Non" you whispered.

"But last night-"

"Forget last night. I was a kid, I didn't know any better."

"That's not true."

"Will you stop?" You turned to face him, your eyes cross and your anger now swelling inside, replacing the pain and guilt. "Stop the questions."

Kaminari stared into your eyes, fueled by hurt and anger as if he had done an injustice. Confused by your sudden outburst, he slowly approached you, his hand out to reach yours until you violently pulled it away.

"Just go," you ordered. "Leave me under house arrest and go do your job." You turned your back on him, your eyes now staring out towards the docks, watching boats in the distance.

Kaminari said nothing. You heard nothing before the sound of footsteps made their way towards the sliding front door, shutting in the empty apartment. You held onto your arms, trying to comfort yourself before you sank into one of his chairs, head on your lap, silently weeping.

Kaminari made his way to his car, seating himself in the driver's seat before he turned the ignition. He was silent, still processing your reaction and how distressed you were with him. He sighed heavily in exasperation, recalling his treatment of the situation beforehand when he slammed his palms into his driving wheel.

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath.

RING

"Hello?"

"Hey Kaminari, catch you at a bad time?" Asked Sero on the other line.

Kaminari eyed his front door, still his mind on you. "No, was about to head to the Public Hero Commission building."

"I need to talk with you about a few things first. Meet me in the city's park in half an hour?"

Kaminari thought about his request for a moment. He hadn't heard anything from Sero since the mission last night, recalling his sudden leave of absence. Perhaps something had happened during all the mania. Maybe another clue in this mess of a situation.

"I can be there in twenty if you can," advised Kaminari.

"No rush man, but yeah, gotta talk."

Kaminari pulled his car out before taking it off from the docks, heading straight into Musatafu. If he wasn't going to get to the bottom of this one way, he hoped he could find success through other means instead, even if that meant not involving you in the process.

Besides, there was a lot he and Sero needed to talk about, he thought.

——

Hours had passed since the argument and you had filled your time reading books for who knew how many rounds you had given them the light of day. However, none of them took your thoughts away from Kaminari's concern. Yes, you lashed out violently at any mention of your past - a thing you had tried to bury many times before, and thought had succeeded. Yet the events of last night, of your fears, your illness, your childish reactions to everything Kaminari was able, it felt hurtful.

The guilt returned knowing of your spiteful tone. And yet you heard nothing from Kaminari. He only left you alone. The thought of this morning replayed in your mind like a broken record, as cliche as it felt. It only made that knife sink deeper in your chest, one made by your own doing.

You knew Kaminari was right, that you had to tell him one day why you did what you did, with the secrets, the charade, and your insistent need to run away. The pain of knowing how many souls you had harmed along the way seared in your mind, like a branding that had scarred the very nature of your life. You were a thing, a tool to be weaponized, even so that whatever goals and purposes you thought were true, were now a stain.

This bodyguard business wouldn't last forever. The Commission would have their way eventually, leaving you with nothing left. Leaving the warmth and comfort of Kaminari's hospitality, patience, and determination, despite his almost goofy and dorky disposition.

Sunlight had now passed over the docks, casting a small shadow along Kaminari's apartment. The skylight itself created a spotlight of the sun's rays in the centre of his lounge. Everyday you've stayed here, you would often stand in the centre of the skylight, pretending it to be centre stage, twirling in its radiance. However, it burned your eyes today, still sore from the tears that sprung after Kaminari had left.

A moment of clarity cleared your mind, as painful as it felt, before coming to the conclusion you needed for yourself and for the sake of Kaminari; a man who had offered you a home despite it being under the Commission's jurisdiction; a man who had only accepted you for who you were, regardless of the actions you had taken in your dreadful past.

A man who comforted you, who tried every means to understand you.

"Sorry, roi de la fee," you whispered to yourself, swimming in your head from all of the painful thoughts-

SMASH

Glass shattered onto your skin while your arms shielded you from the shards that sprayed from the windows. It happened all so sudden, immediately taking to your feet to flee from the now destroyed windowpane. Outside on the docks, a group of men stomped into the apartment, rushing towards you with open hands.

"Grab them!" Yelled one before you felt their hands clutch onto your clothes and skin, grabbing hold of you while they slowly dragged you outside, fighting against your resistance.

"Let go of me!" You yelled, slapping one in the face, while kicking furiously in the air.

"Quickly before someone spots us!"

Amongst the chaos, you pulled against their strength, your flailing limbs swinging violently in the air hoping they would hit anyone nearby. Mid-swing in your violent resistance, you elbowed your assailant in the gut, enough that winded him to release you from his hold. You didn't think, you just ran, scrambling back into the apartment while being chased by the men behind you. You huffed and panicked, pushing any large object in their way to slow them down, whether it were chairs, lamps, or anything of the sort. You only had eyes for the front sliding doors, crashing into it before you pulled against its weight to slide it open.

The spill of the sunlight caught your eye first, blinding your already sore eyes from your tears until a silhouette painted against it, blocking your exit. The height caught you off guard until you recognized the man's long top hat and soon his mask once your eyes adjusted to the light.

"Long time no see, Sirene," he cooed playfully before a glint of something caught your eye in his fingers. You heard the smirk in his voice, turning around to flee from him. But as if time had slowed, you felt your body pull into a void, sucked into the familiar glass marble before you crashed into its glass surface.

"Let me go!" You yelled, your voice bouncing off from the walls, slamming your fists against the thick panes. "Laisse-moi sortir!"

The large shadows skewed by the glass shifted every so often while you felt the inertia of Compress' movements holding onto the marble you now resided in.

"So Dabi's little pet was right after all," he commented, his voice loud yet muffled by the glass. "I should congratulate them on their deduction skills. It's not often we find defectors."

You still slammed your fist fervently against the glass, hoping that you could break through, though you knew it was futile to try.

"Ne me ramène pas!"

Your cries were ignored when it suddenly went dark. Surrounded by the black, the sound of shifting and crunching glass echoed loudly before the rumble of a car's ignition reverberated through the glass space.

You felt truly lost.

How did they find you? What went wrong? In the dark all of these questions found their way to your head, recalling the few times you had carefully managed to keep yourself under wraps. Hiding in plain sight, behind a moniker and a pre-generated face. Making use of the fame to counter every move the Paranormal Liberation Front would possibly be able to exploit. Yet in turn, you exploited others in order to right your wrongs.

And then, there was Kaminari. The few times he had been warm and welcoming. The times he had shown his vulnerability, and his strength. The times he had trusted in you by sharing a part of his life with his friends, all Pro-Heroes to a degree. Everything about Kaminari was like a home, now only realizing this in the dark.

You felt your tears return, trapped wherever Compress had held you captive. The car ride was a one way trip, back to your past, back to the Front, back to the cold table where the General would examine you again, and again, and again.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Please forgive me, Kaminari."

——

Kaminari stood by his warehouse apartment, staring blankly at the shattered glass and rummaged furniture inside. Police tape surrounded the building while crime scene investigators carefully traversed through the mess, numbering evidence after evidence of the now labeled crime scene.

His meeting with Sero was more a cross-reference of notes on a few topics of discussion - Sero's current predicament with the thief as well as his encounter with Seek, at least before either of them would report it to their agencies and the Commission. However, Kaminari's eyes loosely scanned the floor, eyeing the fallen armchair, the glass and the open front door on the other side across the way, but you were nowhere to be found.

"I'm sorry dude," slowly spoke Sero, eyeing Kaminari sadly and unsure what else to say.

"No, don't say that," he retorted with a shaky voice. "This is my responsibility. I should've put the anklet back on. I didn't think." He stared into the apartment, spotting the device still sitting on the corner of his kitchen counter inside. His body trembled with anger and regret, holding back tears of his own while he recollected the argument this morning.

"Chargebolt, thank you for your cooperation in this matter," spoke a fellow agent, her voice calming. "I'm sorry about-"

"No, what have you found?" Interrupted Kaminari, his eyes straining from spilling tears.

"We've retrieved your surveillance footage for what it was able to capture and came across this during the invasion." The agent held a pad, its screen revealing the front end of Kaminari's apartment while the event played. He watched you run through the floor towards the front door, disappearing out of frame until moments after a familiar silhouette appeared, his top hat clearly recognizable.

"Wait a minute! That's Mr. Compress," he exclaimed, grabbing the pad from the agent, glaring at the screen.

"When did you ever have a surveillance system installed?" Questioned Sero beside him.

"We arranged it when we hired him for his services," answered the agent. "It was... precautionary."

"Right."

"How did the Front find out about this?" Questioned Kaminari, his voice shocked.

"We're trying to determine that now," immediately replied the agent, taking the pad back from Kaminari. "But it would be worth noting that we also spotted this onscreen as well." Taken back by the agent's words, she rewound the digital footage on screen, playing through the end of Kaminari's argument up until the moment the anklet began blinking a light. "Someone switched on the anklet's tracker."

A silence was shared between Kaminari and the agent, however Sero looked between the two, confused on what revelation occurred amidst the conversation. "What's so strange about that?" He asked. "Kaminari would've wanted to know where they were."

"I didn't turn it on," explained Kaminari. "Because that mechanism doesn't work unless the anklet was already attached to the person in question. Why would I turn a tracker on if it wasn't on their ankle?"

A multitude of thoughts ran through his head, his eyes darting while he mulled over possible reasons before-

"Who else knows?" he asked, his eyes stern while he stared at the agent.

"Um... only the three of us," she replied, a little taken back by his forwardness.

"Good, keep it that way. This may be an internal affair. I want you only to report to me about this and no one else, got it?"

"But sir, I can't-"

"Please, just trust me," reasoned Kaminari. "If Red Riot and Persona trust your judgement, then I do too." He held his golden gaze on the agent before she nodded, taking the pad and leaving to continue the investigation. His thoughts mingled about, hoping it wasn't the worst case scenario that he imagined in his head. By instinct, he reached for his phone, searching on speed-dial to immediately bring it to his ear.

"Wait, who're you calling?" Asked Sero, slightly anxious of Kaminari's sudden burst of energy.

"Shinsou, we need to speak with his partner about this. They've been following that guy's trail this whole time, right?" explained Kaminari, still waiting.

"Yeah, but how is that going to help?"

To be frank, Kaminari didn't know how to answer that question, but his anger needed to be redirected somehow. He felt the guilt weigh heavily on his shoulders, imagining all of the scenarios that could have played out if only he had made these seemingly available decisions. But time was now against him.

"What is it, Kaminari?" spoke an exhausted tone on the other line.

"Shinsou, we need to meet up. Sero and I have some information that may be important to your case," explained Kaminari over the phone call, his eyes on Sero only to notice his reaction, slightly fervent to quiet Kaminari's request.

"Really? Which one? I've got my hands full with the Tartarus case, and Kitten..." Shinsou's voice trailed at the thought, leaving the phone silent in Kaminari's ear. "Is it about that guy?"

"Yeah, it's about that guy last night," confirmed Kaminari, his eyes still on Sero who had now resigned to Kaminari's actions. "But something else has come up. I'm sure you're going to have a field day with this."

[forgottenchildrenofthedamned]

Hi! id like to request a match up for haikyuu?

I'm a 5'9 curvy female with dyed red hair that is just past my shoulders, I have silvery-blue eyes, and round glasses

personality wise i can be very supportive and loving,but very shy sometimes, as well as i have very bad anxiety sometimes. I also can get pretty prideful in my schools sports. I try to do what's best in every situation and make everyone happy :D

Author’s Note: Hiiii thank you for this request! I immediately thought of three match ups, but I definitely think I went with the best one!! Let me know if you like it!! Much love! Muah!! 💕 @simpfortheseven

⚠️TW: Contains some nsfw references

I match you with...

Oikawa!!

-Oikawa LOVES the dorky look of round glasses, which is why he was immediately drawn to how cute your’s made you look

-Oikawa is a tall guy, so he’s used to being surrounded by shorter girls. He was releaved when he sees that, although you were still shorter than him, you were tall enough for him not to have to crane his neck down to look at you.

-Oikawa has always had a huge love for thicc girls, so he is absolutely smitten with your body: especially your thighs

-Oikawa has actually started a pregame ritual souly based off of being comforted by your thighs: He starts off the ritual by completely emptying a sitting bench and having you sit down on the end before laying down on his back, head in your lap, earphones in, while you stroke his hair. It absolutely releaves him to be comforted in such a way

-He also loves the unique color of your hair. He thinks the craziness of it compliments the simplicity of his own style

-He especially loves running his fingers through you hair

-he also enjoys teasing you and seeing your reactions, though sometimes he may take it a bit too far

-Oikawa SWEARS up and down that he could recognize you just by your ass alone

-Definitely slaps it in public just to make you embarrassed ✋🏻

-He also loves your eyes. He could look into them for hours. He thinks that the unique tint of them compliments, not only you, but himself too

-He definitely tries to convince you to wear eye makeup to make your eyes pop out more on the daily

-I think that Oikawa suffers from anxiety and extreme insecurity which leads to his need for constant recognition and encouragement. He loves that he can come to you just to cry or talk to you

-He also loves how loving and supportive you are because it feeds him with the validation he needs

-Oikawa uses the name “-chan” as a derogatory term to show that he does not respect others. For you, however, he never addresses you as “-chan” and prefers to use your first name instead

-A big lover of petnames

-His all time pick-me-up is hugging you while he’s sitting so that he can rest his head on your stomach. He loves how squirmy you get in this position and thinks that the sounds your stomach makes is calming

-Oikawa has a habit of getting new enimes and competing in silly rivalries, so he often gets in arguments that leads to him venting to you

-If he was to ever encounter a frequent source of arguments (say if he saw Kageyama while out with you) his immediate response would be to remove you and himself from the situation

-Oikawa is extremely insecure about himself and tries to hide his toxic traits from you because he believes that they’ll push you away

-He has a constant fear that you’ll leave him for Iwazumi or Kageyama

-This leads to his extremely protective nature with you

-His favorite past time with you is going on mall dates. He especially loves hanging out in the food court

-Believe it or not, his favorite restaurant is Auntie Anne’s

-A down side to mall dates, however, is that fangirls always catch up to Oikawa. When this happens, he has a habit of ignoring you and focusing on pleasing them

-This leads to a lot of fights and arguments that leaves him feeling guilty and you feeling invalid. To apologize, he always ends up sharing his received gifts with you to cheer you up and to show you that they don’t mean anything to him

-Oikawa demands a date noght every Monday

-These dates usually consist of dressing up and going to expensive, fancy restaurants. He loves taking you to these places because he knows they make you nervous and uncomfortable: He loves watching you become a stuttering, clumsly, squirming mess

-Definitely has a corruption kink

-Oikawa, being team captain, never skips practice for you, but does always go out of his way to walk you home after (if you stay and watch)

-Expet lots of long conversations consisting of sharing both of you dreams and fantasies as well as planning your future together

-After a while, with constant teasing and love from Oikawa, you gradually start to become more confident, but because your shyness inflates his ego, he would also gradually become more calmed down and releaxed

-Oikawa is someone who constantly needs recognition and validation, so he always expects small gifts from you and when he doesn’t receive any, he feels as if you don’t think of him anymore, subsequently meaning you don’t love him anymore

-Oikawa puts up a very sweet and loud front in public to make himself admirable and the center of attention. When he’s alone with you, however, he is very calm, quiet, and laid back

-His favorite thing to do is to actually read to you

-He loves reading to you while you lay on him, stomach to stomach, arms around his back, head resting on his chest. He especially loves this position because it allows him to lay against the headboard, one hand holding his book and the other running his fingers through your hair.

-Oikawa has a toxic tendency to manipulate people to his liking. He uses this in molding people to fit his needs on the volleyball team. In real life, however, you try to help him break free of this habit by reminding him that people aren’t made to be used by him

-Because of some of Oikawa’s toxic traits, you frequently get asked why you’re with him. You often find yourself getting frustrated because people never seem to believe you when you tell them why

-A lot of the time, you find yourself in situations where you are a target to Oikawa’s fangirls

-Oikawa feels guilty every time he sees this happening. He knows it’s his fault that they tease and make fun of you

-In order to fix the solution, he often ignores the fangirls, which can sometimes make the teasing worse until they lose interest in him

-Oikawa secretly has always despised the presence of his fangirls. Their comfort and validation are often short lived and leave him unsatisfied and emotionally drained. This is why Oikawa plans to stay with you for the long run

-Once he makes up his mind about wanting to be with you forever, he tries to change his narcissistic tendencies and constantly tries to become more calm and down-to-earth

-He claimes that he owes his life to you because he feels that your amazing personality pulled him out of the self-absorbed pit he had fallen into. He promises to love you for the rest of his life... if you’ll have him

[bitchesofostwick]

Im thinking a lot about cullinors love language being dunkin donuts and what if one day cullen asked if they could do a special heart pattern on her coffee (and he was really embarassed about asking it uwu) because maybe she was ill or sad and needed a pick me up and cullen spends the whole journey home wondering if hes being dorky and dumb but she loves it uwu

first of all this is so cute and second of all you’re so cute for thinking dunkin is bougie enough to do latte hearts !!!!!! they’re not ❤️

but if they did he would totally do that!! also you wouldn’t know this because you’re british (derogatory) but dunkin has heart-shaped donuts around valentine’s day every year and cullen and ellinor would definitely get those for each other because they’re soft goobers sniff

[lolaused2run]

I posted 4,398 times in 2021

15 posts created (0%)

4383 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 292.2 posts.

I added 9,913 tags in 2021

#spn - 3541 posts

#destiel - 1418 posts

#dean winchester - 1300 posts

#fanart - 767 posts

#castiel - 719 posts

#jensen - 608 posts

#not spn - 458 posts

#misha - 429 posts

#cockles - 348 posts

#s15 spoilers - 325 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#''cas is a cool dorky little guy who always has my back we should totally make out if only he'd wanted to go to happy hour w/me 9 yrs ago''

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

CreationENT (derogatory)

27 notes • Posted 2021-10-16 22:03:49 GMT

#4

We should stop asking Misha questions about destiel, and just ask solely about Jensen from now on. It's what he wants to talk about anyway, apparently

102 notes • Posted 2021-11-07 02:39:16 GMT

#3

The destiel censorship was absolutely insane, homophobic, and is still infuriating to think about! For years and years we were forbidden to talk about something that is now literally canon! It’s like we had said, “I would like to ask about Sam freeing Lucifer from the cage, something I saw with my own eyes” and TPTB going “No, you’re just imagining that happened, and talking about it would ruin things for everyone.” 

AND it wasn’t just Creation! Curtis Armstrong saying he got in trouble for his glorious destiel tweet is just extra vindication that we were right about the homophobia in every level of the show. 

Atone for your sins! I demand atonement! Also, next, please confirm cockles censorship at cons

169 notes • Posted 2021-09-06 06:02:13 GMT

#2

Hey J*red shut the fuck up

.......no that’s it

177 notes • Posted 2021-10-17 01:15:16 GMT

#1

So Jensen’s gonna be in a western?

See the full post

717 notes • Posted 2021-10-12 20:14:36 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[paperbackrevolution]

“Book People”: a response

I have been thinking about an essay I read on Jezebel for the last while. It fit in so nicely with something I have been mulling over for months: readers. I mean serious readers. The kind of people that track their reading, that keep up with the publishing industry, that can relate to bookish memes, that overthink how their bookshelf is organized, and that seek out like-minded readers to interact with on social media. This essay, by Joanna Mang, uses a phrase for these kinds of readers: ‘Book People’. Mang uses it in a derogatory manner, and I have heard it used as such before though in those cases I believe the phrase Book Snob would have been more fitting. For Mang, Book People, are not the good sort of reader, but I want to unpack that in a bit.

Mang’s article is titled “We Have to Save Books from the Book People”. I actually only found it through a response written at Book Riot by Tika Viteri (“Back-Talking the Tone Police: Book People are Not Your Enemy”). Essentially, after rereading Mang’s essay a half dozen times (to try and follow the meandering argument and to seek what the point was) I think Mang is arguing a few things: that classics should still be taught in high school and not argued about on twitter, that English teachers bear no responsibility to encourage reading, and that Book People are bad for liking books a whole lot and have a Secret Plot to keep the publishing industry running. What any of this has to do with the title of her article remains unclear.

Mang opens her essay by complaining about people complaining on twitter. Specifically, people that are complaining about the classics they had to read in high school. The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, and Catcher in the Rye are all mentioned. Even more specifically Mang is upset at the redundancy of these arguments, that they come up again and again. I mean she is definitely correct, because once someone talks about something no one else is allowed to talk about that thing ever again. Ever. Right? I doubt it is the same person rehashing this conversation daily, more likely Mang has stumbled across or perhaps actively searched out these conversations as they are being had by different people. I mean as far as I know there are more than a handful of people using twitter, right? And if it is the same person dredging up this conversation daily, I have a suggestion: unfollow them. Problem solved. But then if that had happened, we would not have this essay to unpack.

Mang seems upset that people on twitter say that they felt forced into reading books that they did not enjoy. According to Mang anyone that disliked these books did so because these books are classics that they just failed to understand. Mang mentions that with a good lesson plan anyone can like classics, but perhaps they did not have a good teacher with a good lesson plan or maybe it is because they just did not connect with the book. Not everyone must like classics simply because they are part of the canon. A book’s inclusion within the canon does not mean that it is necessarily enjoyable to read or study for every single person. It simply means that it was influential in some way. I can recognize and value the significance of a classic novel and still also dislike the reading experience.

I did find it ironic that these conversations on twitter are doing exactly what Mang says she encourages her students to do: “When I teach literature, my goal is to give students the tools and confidence they need to attack and write about texts, to “talk to” the text rather than receive it passively” (Mang 2021). On these twitter threads we have people reflecting back on books that they were required to read in school. But because they are engaging with these texts on twitter it cannot count as the same thing? I have come across some fascinating analysis on classic books on social media that would have made my English professors proud. I fail to see the problem here.

Mang then goes on to speak about the notion of whether certain books should or shouldn’t be taught in school to avoid “turning kids off” reading, since this is often an extension of those twitter conversations. This is something that people in education have been honing for years. A quick google search reveals many theories, pedagogies and lesson plans that can help encourage reading. Teachers and other education experts are out there exploring options to encourage reading in their students. Why though? Why do we want turn children in to readers? Mang suggests that Book People have an odious plot to save the book-as-object which I will unpack in a moment. But maybe it is actually because it increases empathy? Or because it builds vocabulary? Because it prevents cognitive decline as we age? Because it is a stress reducer? Might even make you live longer? Improves general knowledge? Improves writing skills? Aids sleep? Could even help prevent alzheimers? I think it could be at least one of those reasons, especially since most of these studies explain that these benefits do not come from reading those three books back in high school but as a sustained habit over a lifetime. Though Mang, an educator, also states in her article “It’s not an English teacher’s job to make students love reading; an English teacher’s job is to equip students to read and communicate” (Mang 2021). Which I think is certainly true, but (thankfully) many other educators are attempting to go beyond the pressure to yield good test results and are still trying to help their students become readers. Of course, as Mang does mention, the formation of a sustained reading habit is based on more than a single factor (Mang mentions “parental attitudes, family wealth, the student’s disposition and other sources of stimulation”). Why this should excuse English teachers from even trying to encourage reading is lost on me. Further I also wonder what the point there is in teaching students how to actively engage with books if they are not continuing to read outside of school? Why bother with English class at all if this is the case?

I am not here to say that schools should not teach classic literature or should not encourage students to engage with the canon, I am here, however, to say that we can also all go on to complain about it on the internet afterward. If someone does not find value in these conversations, then they are free to tune them out.

After talking about education and American schools’ reading lists, Mang finally gets to the part about Book People. Mang differentiates between readers and Book People stating:

“A reader is someone who is in the habit of reading. A Book Person has turned reading into an identity. A Book Person participates in book culture. Book People refer to themselves as “bookworms” and post Bookstagrams of their “stacks.” They tend towards language like “I love this so hard” or “this gave me all the feels” and enjoy gentle memes about buying more books than they can read and the travesty of dog-eared pages. They build Christmas trees out of books. They write reviews on Goodreads and read book blogs and use the hashtag #amreading when they are reading. They have TBR (to be read) lists and admit to DNFing (did not finish). They watch BookTube and BookTok. They love a stuffed shelf but don’t reject audiobooks and e-readers; to a Book Person, reading is reading is reading” (Mang 2021).

Let’s dig into this before we get to the conspiracy. Just because I am baffled by the snobby tone of this paragraph, and I do not understand what is wrong with any of this.

A Book Person has turned reading into an identity: Just as many people do with any hobby, they tend to entrench themselves within it. People who hike seriously can and have turned that into an identity, they’re hikers. But just about everyone can walk so hikers should then not make their hobby part of their identity? Sometimes people really, really enjoy something and it becomes a big part of their daily life. What is wrong with that?

A Book Person participates in book culture: A culture can form around a social group. So, if we have a hobby group, which is a kind of social group, it is not hard to imagine that eventually a culture would build up around it. So then, yes, people would then also participate in that culture.

Book People refer to themselves as “bookworms”: What I am most puzzled by are the quotation marks, as if this nickname is something strange and new. The first known use of the phrase bookworm dates back to the 1590s and is defined as “a person unusually devoted to reading and study”. Yeah, it is a little dorky, but many hobbyists across various hobbies have silly names for the people of their hobby. Star Trek fans call themselves Trekkies or Trekkers and apparently train enthusiasts call themselves railfans. It’s a hobby thing.

and post Bookstagrams of their “stacks”: As for this, I think this is an example of a fascinating development among readers. Robert A. Stebbins, a scholar of leisure activity and hobbies, has long denied that reading could be considered a ‘serious’ hobby or what he refers to as a Serious Leisure Pursuit (SLP). He has maintained that reading is a prime example of a casual pastime, and even explores his stance in more depth in the book The Committed Reader: Reading for Utility, Pleasure and Fulfillment in the Twenty-First Century. He argues that reading cannot be a SLP due to the solitary nature of reading and the lack of a social world. To Stebbins a social world is a social network group made up of hobbyists and others connected to that hobby. Social media has changed that, however, allowing serious readers to form a social world and also find ways to make the act of reading more social itself. Book clubs have always been an attempt by readers to make reading more social. But social media allows these attempts to get closer to the mark. Readers on twitter host reading sprints to encourage people to read together at the same time. Others host read-a-longs on various platforms such as instagram to encourage a more engaging version of a book club that invites readers to read the same book section by section. And some booktubers (Book People on youtube), host live videos that invite their subscribers to grab a book and read with them. I will digress here for now, but this is something I plan on exploring more on this blog in the future. Put simply, what Mang is disparaging here is actually evidence of reading achieving SLP status under Stebbins’ hobby model. This is simply an active social world of readers.

They tend towards language like “I love this so hard” or “this gave me all the feels”: This is simply how people tend to talk on the internet? Especially amongst fandom communities, of which there is huge overlap in bookish communities. This is hardly exclusive to Book People.

and enjoy gentle memes about buying more books than they can read: memes are things people share on the internet. I am failing to see the issue with this. Again, not something exclusive to book people. What I am starting to see here is that Mang seems to take issue with internet culture in general, more so than with Book People.

and the travesty of dog-eared pages: Only Book Snobs care if other people dog-ear their own books. I am using the phrase Book Snob to distinguish between avid readers and people that find the book-as-object almost sacred. There can be overlap, certainly, but not all Book People see books this way.

They build Christmas trees out of books: No books were harmed in the making of those christmas trees. Oh, is this where the title comes in? Are we saving books from becoming christmas trees? I promise it doesn’t hurt the books.

They write reviews on Goodreads: I am confused by what is wrong with this. Mang stated earlier in her article that and I quote again, “when I teach literature, my goal is to give students the tools and confidence they need to attack and write about texts, to “talk to” the text rather than receive it passively.” How is reviewing a book not doing exactly that? Not all reviews are as aggressive as an essay can be perhaps, but it is still an act of engaging with a text rather than simply consuming it. Further, many Book People likely either have access to or want access to ARCs (advanced reader copies) from publishers and part of that deal is writing an honest review in exchange for the free copy of the book. So that would be them holding up their end of that deal. I am uncertain if Mang takes issue with goodreads in particular or with writing reviews in general.

and read book blogs: People that are active within a hobby often seek out other like-minded individuals. And beyond that most book bloggers are reviewers. Meaning people may be seeking reviews of a book to help them curate their reading selection.

and use the hashtag #amreading when they are reading: another example of Mang’s dislike of internet culture. People use hashtags to help get their media piece to others that may enjoy it or find commonality with it. They are using this form of metadata as it was intended.

They have TBR (to be read) lists: I think non-serious readers have TBR lists as well, but I think they tend to be more unconscious in nature. For example, a non-serious reader may vaguely know that there are some classics that they want to get to, or maybe the latest hyped general fiction novel. Book People are hobbyists, and if we used Stebbins’ model, they are serious hobbyists. They take their chosen leisure pursuit seriously and as such it is on their mind a lot because they intend to spend a significant amount of time pursuing that activity. So, it seems only natural that they may want to organize the content that they want to consume. It appears to me that Mang is more upset that this hobby group has formed in-group vocabularies. This means that only people residing within the group will understand some of the words or phrases used. This is a natural progression of language. You need words to succinctly capture the meaning of something. In this case, many readers have lists of books they want to read, rather than saying all of that it gets shortened down to TBR.  

and admit to DNFing (did not finish): Are we saving books from not being fully read? Many of the books that Book People are reading are for enjoyment. If you are not enjoying something, why would you continue it? Do you watch the entirety of a season of a tv show that you are hating? No. Finish a snack that is making you want to vomit it back up? No. Same logic for books. To suggest you must complete a book simply because it is a book is more like Book Snob behaviour. This seems so common sense that I am again inclined to point to this as evidence of Mang’s distaste for in-group vocabularies more than the idea of not reading a book.

They watch BookTube and BookTok: This is further example of the community and social world that readers are setting up on the internet. People typically like making connections and further, making connections over something you share in common is natural. The internet made this easier, and social media has made it easier still. This is just evidence of readers seeking connections with other readers.  

They love a stuffed shelf but don’t reject audiobooks and e-readers; to a Book Person, reading is reading is reading: This line is fascinating. Because following this, Mang’s article takes a turn toward a conspiracy about how Book People are trying to save the book-as-object since ereaders have threatened the physical book. And yet here, as part of her definition of Book People, she disparages Book People for finding value in ebooks and audiobooks. Mang herself becomes the Book Snob here, rejecting other book formats. Ebooks are convenient, you can have access to hundreds of books from your chosen device (I like to use my phone personally not an ereader). And audiobooks are great for when you are performing another task such as chores or driving. Both formats also allow people with disabilities better access to books. Audiobooks are perfect for people with visual impairments or who struggle to read. And with ebooks the size of the font can be changed to allow the book to be turned in to a large print book as needed and can even allow the font to be changed into a dyslexic-friendly font. To suggest that ebooks or audiobooks are not real books or don’t count as books is just blatantly ableist.

Let’s get to the conspiracy now. Mang claims that reading became an identity and a culture in response to the decline of interest in reading. She also continues on to say that not only is reading threatened by other media and diversions, but that ebooks and audiobooks distract from physical books. And so with the book-as-object threatened by television and alternate book formats, physical books became more precious. She even goes as far as to say books are fetishized. And then Mang says, “This could be why those arguing that classic books alienate young readers suggest 21st Century titles as substitutions: if we want to keep the book alive, we have to read, and more to the point buy, the books being produced now” (Mang 2021).

So let’s make this clear. According to Mang, Book People are people who have made reading an identity and revel in book culture. And Mang also already said that Book People “love a stuffed shelf but don’t reject audiobooks and e-readers; to a Book Person, reading is reading is reading”. But then Mang changes her argument and says that all of this is about the physical book. So, the people that complain about classics they read in high school on twitter, some of which are Book People, are all actually attacking classic literature because it may turn children off reading which would be bad because that would mean that less people are reading books regularly which is bad because then it means that less people are buying books which is bad because the book-as-object is precious and must be protected and perpetuated.

Riiiiight. I believe Mang conflated Book People with Book Snobs partway through this essay. They are not one in the same and by Mang’s own definition, Book People see any format of book as worthwhile. Meanwhile a Book Snob would uphold the physical book-as-object as the supreme format. So saying that Book People are behind this conspiracy simply does not hold up under scrutiny. Not that this conspiracy should carry much weight at any rate.

But then Mang wipes that argument away, saying that Book People are not that practical. That actually their purpose in complaining about classics books on twitter is solely to revolutionize American schools’ text selection policy. Further Mang seems to think that people ranting about their least favourite classic novel on social media is all about putting pressure on teachers and public education to shape their students into model human beings. When in reality, sometimes one simply needs to whine about a bad book, even if it’s a classic.

At the end of all of this, I am left simply confused about this essay. Firstly the title: “We Have to Save to Save Books from the Book People”. What books are we saving from Book People and how exactly do we go about doing it? Are we saving classics? Or are we saving the current school reading list books? Or physical books? Or ebooks? Perhaps it is that books are somehow being ruined by those that worship that book-as-object? I propose that Mang just thought it sounded good, especially seeing as how it does little to pertain to the wandering argument of this essay.

Secondly, I am also confused about what exactly is the point of this essay. The three main conclusions reached at the end of it seem to be that 1) arguing about classics on twitter does not impact text selection policy in schools, 2) teachers bear no responsibility in encouraging their students to make reading a habit, and 3) that books are not sacred objects. So what?

While I disagree with Mang’s essay, I do still find value in some of the points she brings up, and in her definition of Book People. I have been casually curious about the leisure studies, and where committed readers fit within leisure studies, for the last couple of years. Mang may not understand what she sees before her, but she did see something. It is that insight that has finally spurred me to dig into the social world of committed readers, or as Mang calls them, Book People.

[gaycrouton]

I just read your words of love and words of lust-series and I absolutly adore them. You describe their relationship so wonderfully goofy, respectfully, dorky, flirty and hot at the same time. It is so Mulder and Scully. Thank you. Of you take prompts- my guilty pleasure are fic where somebody wrongs Scully (rumours, unwanted attention, Talking down, dismissing her etc) and Mulder stepping in (even if he knows she can defend herself).

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I appreciate your compliments so much, omg. That makes me so happy

TW: sexist men, graphic language

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It was becoming glaringly obvious to her that Fox Mulder had never been in a catcalling situation.

“Come o’er here, Red! We wanna show you something,” a booming voice called from across the street, accompanied by the poorly stifled laughter of his friend.

“Are they referring to you?” Mulder asked with a dawning tone of realization.

They were waiting for the light to turn so they could walk across the street and continue the trek to their car. The drunken pair across the street had been vocal for awhile, but she was busy tuning it out in favor of the cars passing by. She’d caught brief phrases like “honey” and “pretty,” but she figured it wasn’t worth her time to decipher meaning out of whatever nonsense they were prattling on about. Mulder, on the other hand, apparently had been listening and was none too pleased.

“Ignore them, they’re drunk,” she sighed, rolling up her sleeve and checking her watch. If they got to the car in the next ten minutes they could probably make it back to the sheriff’s office before closing.

She rolled down her sleeve and realized Mulder’d asked her something. “What?”

“This is sexual harassment,” he repeated. His irritation was evident, but she knew it wasn’t aimed at her. She glanced over and up only to see him glaring daggers at the men across the street who were still hooting and hollering, clearly getting encouraged by her indifference.

She’d long learned that when picking and choosing what battles to fight, rarely were confrontations with drunks confrontations worth having. Engaging them would at best result in them learning a lesson that would be inevitably just become a hazy memory, and at worst result in a physical fight.

“I wasn’t listening,” she shrugged. “What’re they saying?”

“I-they-,” Mulder started and stopped. She glanced at him again and saw his jaw was set. Whatever they were saying were words Mulder couldn’t bring himself to say to her.

“Your friend can join too!” the brown haired one screamed.

“Yeah, ya got enough holes for all of us,” the dirty one added.

Her face involuntarily twisted into disgust and he nodded in response. “Just sentiments in the same vein as that,” he answered.

The sign across the street lit up with the white fluorescent WALK letters and she tightened the sash of her jacket tighter as she started walking. “Ignore them,” she sighed, bumping into him when he invaded her personal space.

“She got a real purdy mouth, ain’t she!” She heard screamed as Mulder’s hand came comfortingly on the small of her mouth.

“Pretty bad impression of a dumb hick for a dumb hick,” she murmured begrudgingly.

“Do you want to walk the other way to the car?” Mulder murmured softly, leaning into her a bit. She was use to Mulder being close, but this was a little much. She was about to call him on it when she realized he was trying to shield her body from their gaze using his own. It was too endearing to chastise.

“What other way, Mulder? We don’t know the area,” she reminded.

“We could just walk around and find-” he started, only to get interrupted by her.

“That’s sweet, really, but I’m not letting Beavis and Butt-Head dictate where I walk,” she stated firmly.

In all honesty, she would have done exactly what he was implying if she had been alone. Hell, she probably wouldn’t have even crossed the street. But she didn’t want Mulder to see her back down, and with him firmly attached to her side, she knew nothing would happen to her. Not that she’d admit that.

Empty bottled clamoured against the damp concrete as the two men staggeringly rose out of their seated positions. All she and Mulder had to do was walk about fifty feet and they’d pass them and be done. She said nothing as Mulder removed one hand and replaced it with the other as she crossed behind her, effectively placing himself in between her and the hecklers.

The sound of her heels clacking against the pavement felt as if they started to beat in time with the onslaught of derogatory remarks being slewn her way.

“Curtains match the drapes?”

“We can loosen you up.”

“Fuck, she’s hot.”

“Forget him.”

“Look over here, baby.”

“Show us those tits.”

“Come on guys, lay off,” Mulder’s voice boomed, breaking the pattern of comments. They were only about ten feet away and she could feel Mulder tensing.

They just laughed at his request until they were about to pass, then the dirty one put out his hand as if making himself a human toll gate. “What? You can’t share your bitch? Scared we’d fuck her better than you?”

CRACK

CRACK

She felt Mulder’s body leave her own like he’d been blown away, and before she even had time to look over, he’d effectively punched the two men square in the face, resulting in them both falling to the ground while screaming.

Scully’s eyes flickered from the pile of pain and looked up to see Mulder’s eyes glaring holes into the men as his nostrils flared and his knuckles clenched white. She’d had a few people in the past call out shitty men around her, but never anything like this. Never such a display of brute protectiveness.

It was hot.

“Mulder,” she whispered in surprise.

“Learn how to talk to women or keep your fucking mouths shut,” Mulder shouted as the men started rolling up.

The men started grumbling in agitation and Scully remembered why she had a rule about ignoring drunks. “Mulder, come on,” she rushed, tugging at his sleeve as she turned to jog away.

“You fucking-” one of the men began. Scully didn’t hear the rest of it as Mulder grabbed her hand and started running with her down the street. Jogging side by side as they got away from the men, only stopping when the cacophony of anger was no longer audible.

They rounded a corner and skidded to a stop, releasing each other’s hands as they caught their breath. When they locked eyes, the ludiciousy of what just happened dawned on them as smiles broke out across their faces.

“I can’t believe you punched them,” she exclaimed with a breathy laugh.

“Me either,” he laughed, shaking his hand and clenching it experimentally.

“Let me see,” she requested gently, smile still on her face.

He gave her his hand as he brushed his hair back with the other. “I just can’t believe men like that really exist,” he stated, lingering agitation making itself known in his tone.

“I wish it were more uncommon than it really is,” she explained.

“I’m sorry men are awful,” he joked.

She let her fingers run over his knuckles, which were just a little pink and otherwise undamaged. She looked up at him as she brought his hands to her lips and placed a loving kiss on his fist. “I know some good ones too,” she murmured against his skin.