#i do not claim to be correct and you don't have to agree with me

[drenosa]

Thug 1: So boss, what are we gonna do about this... John? Joe? That Arc fellow.

Roman: Oh that's easy my good fool of a mook. We stay, the absolute fuck, out his way!

Thug 2: He's been steamrolling into Torchwick turf! Why are we not pushing back?!

Roman: Because half the city's criminal underworld just up and went tits up. They all joined his side in just a single month. A guy literally no-one has ever heard of until a month ago. A guy so unassuming building that kinda clout in that short of a time? That guy's trouble. Big time.

Thug 1: Where's this guy getting all this influence from anyway?

Roman: No idea, but it has to be from the outside. Atlas and Mistral have always been trying to claw into our markets. And Vacuo might claim to not give a damn, but they've got plenty of eyes and ears and Lien to throw around here too.

Thug 1: So we just gonna bend over and let these two-bit posers pound us?

Thug 2: Without even giving us a little reach-around to ease the tension?

Roman: Colourful... analogies aside, no. We lie low, send envoys and proposals and get negotiating. As it stands we might be no longer the top-dog in this city, but that doesn't mean we'll be denied our cut.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nora: *Jumps out from around a corner, followed more sedately by Ren* Heya, Don-Jaune!

Jaune: Gah! Nora, don't just jump me like that. And stop calling me Don-Jaune. It's silly.

Nora: It's factually correct is what it is.

Jaune: ...

Nora: ...

Jaune: *Sighs* What news do you have this time?

Nora: Oh, right! One of those red-tied Matchstick men came by with a... Call for Parsley? Not sure why they want us to pick up some groceries for them, but the criminal mind is weird one.

Jaune: *Blinks at Nora before he looks over to Ren* ...

Ren: Torchwick turf wants to parley with you. No details about what they want to talk about, but I can guess.

Jaune: Why do they want to talk we me?! Weiss' the one who knows how this stuff all works. I just stand or sit there, whilst everyone cowers, kowtows or both for some reason.

Ren: Weiss is already setting up the meeting. Not a whole lot of places left where every boss can agree on, since most of the neutral territories came out in support of you. Might have to do this with someone guaranteeing safe passage and hosting this in their turf.

Nora: Could always just pay them a visit in person. Junior's Bar basically has a walk-in policy after Yang visited.

Ren: We could... but we should not.

Nora: What?! Why? *Hears a buzzing sound* Huh?

Jaune: Oh, I'm that's me getting a call... *Takes out his Scroll* from Weiss? Hey Weiss, wha-

Weiss: *Frantic over the Scroll* Whatever Nora's planning... NO!

Nora: Wha- How'd you know I wanted to go?

Ren: *Off-hand* She's learning quickly.

Jaune: *Answering Weiss* I... think we're good on that front.

Weiss: *Sighs in relief* Thank the Brothers. In any case, I am almost finished with setting up the talks. Details will be sent to everyone by the end of the afternoon. Messengers will be sent out right after. *Hangs up without further explaination*

Jaune: ...

Ren: You know what to do, Don-Jaune.

Jaune: *Hangs his head from slumped shoulders* Just sit there and have everyone cower or kowtow before me...

Nora: Or both!

Ren: Or both.

Jaune: Yeah... or both.

The dream team... #3? (I don't know)

In a bad part of town.

Weiss: *Nervous looking around* Jaune, are you sure this place isn't dangerous?

Jaune: Relax Weiss, we've walked around here a bunch of times and nothing bad has happened to us. Right, Ren?

Ren: *Nods* Correct.

Weiss: Well, if you say so.

Out of nowhere a somewhat large group of dangerous people appears.

Leader: Hey, what are you clowns doing on my block? If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you leave.

Weiss: (I knew it was dangerous!) Jaune, we better do what he says and…

Jaune: *Serious and confuse* Your block?! Ren, can you tell me who owns this block?

Ren: *He takes out a map* Jaune, according to this map, we own this block. *He shows a map of the entire city with the name JNR*

At that moment Nora takes out her grenade launcher and points it at the group of so-called thugs.

Jaune: You heard my friend, right? Or do you want to see what comes out of my dear friend's grenade launcher?

Leader: Wow! W-We are so sorry sir. We don't want any trouble, w-w-we're leaving now.

Jaune: *Smiling* Excellent! Now that we were able to resolve this misunderstanding... *Serious* ..run.

Leader: Yes sir!!

The group runs away with their tails between their legs.

Weiss: (What kind of criminals do I have as teammates?!)

[homosociallyyours]

Megan, I love your brain and I'd love to know what you think about the most recent tidal wave to hit our wee fandom. Is this just gonna be a brief reprieve before we get Aloucia, did Eleanor decide she finally wanted a meaningful life of her own beyond bathroom pics and dog walking? What do you reckon ? X

ok so THIS is the ask I've been wanting to get to!! thank you to everyone who sent me asks and helped me open my computer!

and MAJOR thanks to @goodshiplarrypop for asking my opinion on something?? It's rare and a fun lil treat! AND it's probably for the best that I'm not answering when this is actually the main discourse, bc as much as I do like sharing my thoughts I do NOT like being pulled into disc horsing around, really? That said. I'm putting my answer behind a cut:

I will preface this by saying that this is all my opinion and conjecture, and I don't expect anyone to agree with me. I'm also not interested in debating, so if you don't agree with me that's chill BUT I have no need to hear about it.

I think we've seen signs that Eleanor has been doing her own thing and developing a stronger work life for a while now. She's been working with a lot more brands, and honestly from what I can tell she seems to be having success as a luxury influencer. Her follower count is high enough and even with comments turned off on posts she still gets decent engagement in terms of likes and stuff.

It does appear to me that she loves animals, and I will be surprised if we don't see her with Cliff sometimes. A big part of me thinks that this ending is meant to be a "more mature" one for her and Louis-- they wanted different things and grew apart but still care for each other vs. him basically being a cheater party boy (or having that for her). If that's the approach they take, it could do a lot for allowing Louis down time-- lots of "will they get back together?" moments based simply on her proximity to him BUT allowing her the freedom to actually be out in the world with any man she's really seeing.

For Louis, this is a great chance to be Single and career focused, and honestly kinda makes his interactions with F over the past year+ make a lot more sense to me. I think it's entirely possible that the idea of hanging out with a kid every once in a while-- something Louis likes doing and is good at --might feel like a better use of his time than going on week long trip or doing a papped night out to feed into a straight guy narrative. And obviously timing-wise the January-January ending feels like something that's been planned and expected.

That said, is Aloucia coming asap? I mean. I would be surprised? But I often am! I have a feeling that it's meant more as a place holder, like maybe something more could connect them in a few months. Maybe it was a wink and a nod to anyone who pays attention to stunts. Maybe he likes pictures of fireworks! I truly don't know.

One thing for sure is that if she does happen to stunt with him, I plan on being really annoying and pointing out the ways that beards can't win and are treated horribly no matter what they do or how they do it. It's the one place where I feel like outside critique of larries actually holds water, and I just hate to see antis taking that W on us when we could honestly just thrive by saying less! OH ALSO i find it funny that half of Clexa and half of Larry could be "together" like WHAT IT THE ACTUAL FAN FICCING FUCK??? hilarious!!!! like reliving the 2010s!

ok I think that's all I've got to say for now! hopefully you don't regret sending me this ask!

[vaspider]

While I'm writing things that I've been intending to write for a while... one of the things that I think that a lot of people who haven't been involved in like... banking or corporate shenaniganry miss about why our economy is its current flavor of total fuckery is the concept of "fiduciary duty to shareholders."

"Why does every corporation pursue endless growth?" Fiduciary duty to shareholders.

"Why do corporations treat workers the way they do?" Fiduciary duty to shareholders.

"Why do corporations make such bass-ackwards decisions about what's 'good for' the company?" Fiduciary duty to shareholders.

The legal purpose of a corporation with shareholders -- its only true purpose -- is the generation of revenue/returns for shareholders. Period. That's it. Anything else it does is secondary to that. Sustainability of business, treatment of workers, sustainability and quality of product, those things are functionally and legally second to generating revenue for shareholders. Again, period, end of story. There is no other function of a corporation, and all of its extensive legal privileges exist to allow it to do that.

"But Spider," you might say, "that sounds like corporations only exist in current business in order to extract as much money and value as possible from the people actually doing the work and transfer it up to the people who aren't actually doing the work!"

Yes. You are correct. Thank you for coming with me to that realization. You are incredibly smart and also attractive.

You might also say, "but Spider, is this a legal obligation? Could those running a company be held legally responsible for failing their obligations if they prioritize sustainability or quality of product or care of workers above returns for shareholders?"

Yes! They absolutely can! Isn't that terrifying? Also you look great today, you're terribly clever for thinking about these things. The board and officers of a corporation can be held legally responsible to varying degrees for failing to maximize shareholder value.

And that, my friends, is why corporations do things that don't seem to make any fucking sense, and why 'continuous growth' is valued above literally anything else: because it fucking has to be.

If you're thinking that this doesn't sound like a sustainable economic model, you're not alone. People who are much smarter than both of us, and probably nearly as attractive, have written a proposal for how to change corporate law in order to create a more sensible and sustainable economy. This is one of several proposals, and while I don't agree with all of this stuff, I think that reading it will really help people as a springboard to understanding exactly why our economy is as fucked up as it is, and why just saying 'well then don't pursue eternal growth' isn't going to work -- because right now it legally can't. We'd need to change -- and we can change -- the laws around corporate governance.

This concept of 'shareholder primacy' and the fiduciary duty to shareholders is one I had to learn when I was getting my securities licenses, and every time I see people confusedly asking why corporations try to grow grow grow in a way that only makes sense if you're a tumor, I sigh and think, 'yeah, fiduciary duty to shareholders.'

(And this is why Emet and I have refused to seek investors for NK -- we might become beholden to make decisions which maximize investor return, and that would get in the way of being able to fully support our people and our values and say the things we started this company to say.)

Anyway, you should read up on these concepts if you're not familiar. It's pretty eye-opening.

[cockkette]

summer lovin’

lando norris x reader

warnings - somewhat chaotic lando and reader, mentions of pregnancy, insinuation of smut, some swearing, i think that’s it xoxo

face claims - girls on pinterest

y/n.l/n

liked by landonorris, yourbestfriend and 193,982 others

y/n.l/n: patiently waiting for the summer break 🙃🌊

comments

landonorris: i miss you baby 🧡

y/n.l/n: aww i miss you too baby

user1: they are so cute

landonorris: i miss that fat ass too 😏

liked by y/n.l/n

user1: i spoke too soon

user2: every night i pray for a normal lando and y/n interaction and everyday my prayers are denied

liked by mclaren

user3: lando is one of god's favorites y/n is so fine

user4: alexa play that should be me by justin beiber

user5: tbh i don't know who i want to be more

user6: B O A F boaf

mclaren: please bring lando back in one piece

y/n.l/n: no promises xx

user7: sending my thoughts and prayers to the mclaren pr team during the summer break

liked by mclaren

y/n.l/n: you can't blame me he has me so down bad i think i'm getting withdrawal symptoms

oscarpiastri: nurse she's out again

y/n.l/n: boo👎👎

user8: woof woof bark bark

landonorris: that's my job

user9: petition to save y/n from this loser

liked by yourbestfriend

y.n/l/n

liked by landonorris, mclaren and 252,099 others

tagged : landonorris

y/n.l/n: date nights are the best nights 🌅

comments

landonorris: the best way to start summer break, i couldn't think of anyone else i would rather have with me 🧡

y/n.l/n: ha you 'like' like me loser 🤣👉

landonorris: i take it back

y/n.l/n: 👎

user10: y/n is so real for that

user11: the only relationship ever

user12: they are my parents they just don't know it

user13: the fits always go hard

landonorris: you know it

oscarpiastri: please don't feed his ego

user14: oscar is so sick of his bs

mclaren: we all are

user15: LANY/N SUMMER BREAK CONTENT!!!

lilymhe: i miss you!

landonorris: you facetimed her 2 hours ago

lilymhe: SHUT UP

y/n.l/n: SHUT UP (affectionately)

landonorris: aww you love me 😁😁

liked by y/n.l/n

francisca.cgomes: is that portugal!

y/n.l/n: yep you convinced me!

liked by francisca.cgomes

user16: she's so fine 🤭

landonorris: yes she is and she's mine

y/n.l/n: cutie <3

user17: when will it be my turn

lando.priv

liked by y/n.l/n, danielricciardo and 42 others

tagged: y/n.l/n

lando.priv: date nights are fun but so is a night in

comments

carlossainz55: mate..

y/n.l/n: 🤭🤭

liked by lando.priv

maxverstappen1: i think it's time to put the phone away

charles_leclerc: i agree

lando.priv: haters

maxverstappen1: correct 👍

oscarpiastri: this is better than actually hearing it from the drivers room ig

y/n.l/n: soz babes xoxo

danielricciardo: goooo landooo 💪💪

lando.priv: finally some support, it's hard out here guys

carlossainz55: i bet it was

landonorris

liked by y/n.l/n, yourbestfriend and 538,299 others

tagged: y/n.l/n

landonorris: happy anniversary to the prettiest, kindest and smartest girl, i have spent 3 years loving you and i know i will spend the rest of my life loving you 💕

comments

y/n.l/n: i'm not crying you are

landonorris: darling i can hear you from the kitchen

y/n.l/n: get over here then!!

landonorris: sprinting over right now

y/n.l/n: good x

user17: walk him like a dog

georgerussell63: mate i'm getting whiplash from the difference between this post and your private post

landonorris: i'm a man of many talents

y/n.l/n: he really is

georgerussell63: you both disgust me 🤮

user18: GEORGE WHAT DO YOU KNOW

user19: screaming crying throwing up i love them your honour!!

user20: same but i'm screaming without the s looking at y/n

lilymhe: real

alex_albon: LILY!?

user21: lily is one of us

liked by lilymhe and y/n.l/n

y/n.l/n: i can't wait to spend the rest of my life showing you how much i love you, how proud of you i am and how super hot you are 💕💕

landonorris: fuck sake now i'm crying

landonorris: i am super hot though

user22: i knew they couldn't be wholesome for that long

y/n.l/n: what can i say it's part of our charm 🙃

user23: i need y/n's whole wardrobe rn!

y.n/l/n posted two stories

y/n.l/n

liked by landonorris, lilymhe and 158,890 others

y/n.l/n: great food and the best company!

comments

landonorris: i helped make the food btw 💪

olivernorris1: no... you just watched

landonorris: it's called moral support!

user24: at least he tried...

savnorris: lovely to see you darling, the girls have been asking for auntie y/n all day 😂

y/n.l/n: lovely to see you too! i miss them so much they are adorable!

user25: AUNTIE Y/N ARE YOU KIDDING

user26: THAT IS SO CUTE

flonorris1: i already miss you

y/n.l/n: i miss you too 💕

landonorris: girlfriend stealer 😠

flonorris1: stop being jealous that someone else had her attention for more than 2 seconds 🙄

landonorris: no.

user27: he's literally a child 🤣🤣

liked by flonorris1

user28: lando arguing with half of his family in the comments is taking me out

user29: norris family dinners seem so fun

y/n.l/n: they are!

lando.priv

liked by y/n.l/n, oscarpiastri and 38 others

tagged: y/n.l/n

lando.priv: your so hot have my babies please 🙏🙏🙏

comments

georgerussell63: you're getting blocked mate

y/n.l/n: if you insist...

lando.priv: hehehehe

y/n.l/n: nevermind that made me feel ill

lando.priv: sorry i let the dawg out 💔💔

alex_albon: the thought of mini landos is stressing me out

y/n.l/n: i think they would be cute 🫣

lando.priv: will be*

charles_leclerc: my children are on this app please stop this madness

oscarpiastri: thank you for speaking out

olliebearman: i'm scared dad

y/n.l/n

liked by yourbestfriend, landonorris and 328,912 others

tagged: landonorris

y/n.l/n: a staycation to end the summer break with my love

comments

landonorris: who is that absolute stunner on the last slide 🫦

y/n.l/n: idk he's pretty hot though do you think i could get his number

landonorris: yeah he totally likes you 😉

user30: ahhh they are so cute it's not fair

user31: i cannot wait for the wags to be reunited

user32: fr we need more wag content

yourbestfriend: i can't wait for summer break to be over so you will spend your time with me instead of him xxx

liked by y/n.l/n

landonorris: noooo

user33: the f1 world has never seen a better rivalry than these two

user34: lando and 'yourbestfriend' are my verstappen and hamilton

maxverstappen1: understandable

lewishamilton: i can't disagree with that

mclaren: we can't wait to see you both back in the paddock 🧡

y/n.l/n: i got a new papaya coloured dress especially for the occasion

landonorris: this isn't fair you look so good in it i won't be able to concentrate on the race 🫦

y/n.l/n: shut up 🤭

user35: what is lando doing in the last picture 🤣

alex_albon: he worries me

georgerussell: he's my sleep paralysis demon

y/n.l/n: he's a cutie leave him alone!

landonorris: yeah!

landonorris: my girlfriend is so hot

y/n.l/n: my boyfriend is so hot

landonorris: 🥰

user36: he is so down bad it's getting embarrassing

landonorris posted a story

this story has been deleted

a/n - thank you for reading i hope you enjoyed! i’m thinking of doing a part two so any feedback or suggestions would be fab <3

[sokkastyles]

Actually, yeah, there is such thing as trespassing, and you sure do seem to complain a lot about me "misconstruing" your arguments when you came here to argue with me and then claimed about four times in this reblog that I said Mai was an abuser when I said nothing of the sort. I thought you wanted to agree to disagree. I think "nasty" is a word that fits you better, since that's how you started acting because I didn't agree with your opinions on a fictional character.

"Aside from her just existing as a fire nation character on the wrong side of the border"

Lol, THIS is the kind of stuff Azula stans say, actually. Mai helped Azula capture Zuko and infiltrate Ba Sing Se, and fought the gaang numerous times. The first time we meet her, she shows disdain for the city her father helped colonize. We are told that Mai and Azula bond over their "dark sense of humor," which is also what we see a lot of from Mai. She makes a joke about the Dai Li "peeing their pants." She makes a joke about ordering around servants. She's a villain. She's not the worst villain, but she is a villain. We are supposed to think she's a villain. It's not speculative. Otherwise, why did she need to learn to be better in the first place? I know the show is making an attempt at showing her growth, I just don't think they do a very good job of it, and I find your arguments of "but actually she did nothing wrong" alternating with "but actually she got better" to be inherently contradictory and not helping you here. The difference between the Azula stan arguments you are citing is that while we are supposed to feel sorry for Azula to a degree, we are also still supposed to recognize she is a villain. I think you know this, but you're using a strawman argument. Just like I think you know that we're supposed to not think Mai is not being particularly kind when she dismisses Zuko's worries about going home. Something she does in part because of her own trauma, but also because she helped put him there and that is not something she is willing to admit. Saying that she "doesn't have to be his therapist" is not only callous, but an inherently bad reading of the show. And no, the scene is not portrayed as it being "just a joke." Zuko looks upset when she says that. He accepts being kissed, but the tone of the scene is still meant to make us understand that Zuko is right and Mai is wrong.

I don't have time to go through every scene with you and explain where you're being willfully obtuse about this because you don't like that I don't think these two characters would be besties. But I do think it's interesting that you jumped real quick to the "but Zuko." I think you also know that the difference with Zuko is that he was actually shown unlearning most of the things that Mai kinda sorta unlearns on a personal level, actually understood why his country was wrong and worked to correct those wrongs. Mai ends the show with "actually, I kind of like you" but also feels entitled enough to tell the person she's with to never break up with her. That's not good enough for me. I get what the show was trying to do here, but I don't have to like it, sorry. That's not the same as me saying Mai is an abuser. Get out of here with that nonsense, or stop acting like you're better than Azula stans who blatantly make shit up.

I know what Zuko says about protecting Mai. That doesn't erase the context of him not trusting her. Why would he? Their relationship is not built on trust. That's not entirely Mai's fault, but there is a fault when we try to ignore the context which does include Mai being an agent of fascism, does include him being in a context where he is not safe on a personal level and is being abused. Ignoring that context is not great. And if you have to ignore it to make maiko work, well, then, that's why it doesn't.

Anyway, I don't actually think Katara should punch Mai (mostly), but like. Come on. The comics are bad but they didn't pull Mai supporting imperialism out of thin air, and "he wasn't a real threat" is a ridiculous thing to say in her defense. Zuko's characterization in the comics feels regressive because we actually do see him working to end the war. We don't see Mai care about anything except Zuko. And that's me being generous about it. It's not unreasonable to critique her character based on that alone.

You're also still making a false equivalence based on Sokka and Suki's relationship. What would be a real comparison is if Sokka and Suki broke up because Suki tried to kill him and then when they met again Sokka wasn't sure whether she was still his enemy. The difference is that Suki is never written as a villain and Mai is. Like, it's okay to admit this. And again, if you can't, then that's why her character arc and her relationship with Zuko don't work.

"I think Katara would get along with Azula/Mai because female solidarity!"

Cool. I think Katara would punch fascists in the throat.

[simp-ly-writes]

Gentle-Fellow's

─────── · · A Smosh Fanfic

Pairing: Spencer Agnew x gn!Reader

─ · · SUMMARY: You, Spencer and your fellow cast mates Angela and Shayne all star in yet another Don't Win Mario Party, Gentlemen addition!

─ · · TAGS: gender-neutral pronouns, part social media au, use of dated terms as comedy, swearing, smoking, fluff, attempt at humour, cute.

─ · · MASTERLIST | TAGLIST REQUEST | WORDCOUNT: 1,463

─ · · A/N: thank you so much for the ask, anon! sorry it took so long, had to brainstorm some jokes and scenarios but it was a load of fun! 😄

─────── · ·

"Oi! 'ello Chaps, I'm here with my fellow gentle-lads and t'day we'll be playing some good old fashion mario party, just how I like my liquor-" you began to intro to the camera before Spencer was slapping you gently on the shoulder, his body acting out more impact than you actually received but you still fell off the couch for comedic benefit as he put his shoes up on your supposed 'corpse' in good taste.

"Well enough with what that fellow was going on about, I must say we shall play. This game is better suited for a trio rather than a quartet- the same philosophy can also be said for working in the navy. Was much better to night-watch with a trio-"

"Ah yes, I do believe three-and-some is an adequate amount. I have yet to try four but it sounds you would not recommend?" Shayne leans forwards on the couch to fully face Spencer who adjusts his tophat while looking down at you, silently asking if you were okay while laying down off camera. You shot him a smile upwards, rolling over and returning back to the couch.

"Yes, I would not recommend such activities. Too many men with not enough places to go and scope out. Much better to have three, did you not serve to learn this?" Spencer asks with a tilt to his head, his top hat already falling off again as you hold back a chuckle to his playful glare in your direction.

"I in fact did serve! I was a leader, and I good one at that too. Took my whole group to one of the colonies, we had to strip ourselves of layers from how humid the climate was," Shayne clarified, pretending to light his cigar as Spencer lit his own, passing his lighter towards you.

"Thank you, gentleman," you responded, lighting your two cigarettes, wearing them like vampire fangs that had Angela near tears at the end of the couch. "I do remember being down to my undergarments at multiple points with my men, I'll have you know we were all in position within the ama-zone. Quite the discoveries we made there, so uncivilized."

"AYE!" Angela corrected, pointing a finger, her moustache slipping down her face, "I'll have you know my third mistress is from those parts, and she is the best. You mustn't make such hastily claims gentlemen, it is unbecoming of you!"

You nod your head, "yes, yes, very unbecoming. What are we? Boys like our sons? I can't remember the last time I had ashes in my lungs with that child's work," you continue as Angela agrees with a huff, the game seemingly long forgotten as you all carry through conversation, trying your darnedest not to break character.

"Ah yes, I think I have a son or two, I can't quite remember. I think to name them all William, a strong English name," Shanye comments once you all get... gently reminded to play the game you intro-ed over half an hour ago, you hoped that the editors would be able to find something distinguishable in these files.

─────── · ·

"I do believe it is your turn, gentleman," Spencer comments, casting you a wink. "My, I have seen to misplaced that powered-device. Does anyone see it?" Everyone starts to feel around the dips in the couch, Spencer was the first to stand, walking closer to the cameras from where you rolled to during the introduction bit and comes back with your controller, dipping it towards you with a bow.

"Thank you, my, you must be quite the bachelor, charming a fellow like me, oh my," you add with heated cheeks as Spencer returns to your side, his leg nocking against your own as you shout out in disbelief to obtaining a star you DID NOT want. "This is outrageous, I demand a re-play of my turn! I did not intend-"

"We must play by the rules," Shayne cuts you off, tilting his hat down as you stick out your tongue. Angela is focused on not winning the next mini game as you and Shayne continue your staring contest in the following two rounds before you claim victory. "Haha! I have trained with only the best, you can read a lot about another man through his eyes. Have you been hunting before? I love that wild look." Spencer jumps to respond.

"Yes, I must say, you really can tell a lot..." and in that moment you both look at one another. Shayne and Angela are both screaming over something on the screen but you both sound it out, lost in this little moment before realizing your both won... or well lost.

"It appear we have lost," Spencer says, emitting a sigh. "No, I would say we have won," you tease loving the way his cheeks heat up to his ears before you both return to the game more driven then ever to not win.

─────── · ·

Jokes have you all toppling the couch at some point from your rambunctious laughter, Angela is struggling to breathe through her sentence much similar to you over just how funny Spencer manages to be wearing sweatpants and a cheap half tux.

Spencer immediately went to protect your head with his arm as you all fell backwards with a large crash, the crew all gasped out in shock before your laughter only grew more boisterous. "I think I hear a little man again," Shayne comments, forcing himself upright to look over the couch as stars begun to be distributed.

Like snipers at position you all kneeled, your eyes only visible from the turned over couch. Top hats giving away your cover and you had placed second, falling back to the ground in fake shock and relief. Spencer teased mouth to mouth that had you pressing a hand to his mouth and narrowed your eyes at his large ones filled with glee and adoration.

─────── · ·

Angela had lost in the end in first place. you second place. Shayne in third and Spencer being the ultimate winner in fourth.

"FUCK!" and the video ended abruptly to quickly cute to her wearing a dog cone while trying to light a cigarette, only for them to keep collecting down by her neck.

"Thank you all for viewing our game time today, I have had the most splendid time today with you chaps, as I hope you all have ventured the same?" Shayne asks the now upright couch and cast.

"Yes, I was quite filled with delight," you replied, nodding your head and tipping your hat to everyone on the sofa.

"I do agree with my fellow gentleman, here" Spencer replies, clapping you on the wrist this time, very much close to holding your hand, your fingers interlacing while watching Angelas 'winning' speech.

"I hate you all-"

"Why that id not very gentlemanly of you, do you wish to handle these matters outside in more space for our thoughts?" Shayne rebuttles.

"Yes, I rather have a few thoughts to show you," Angela challenged, brow raised as she begins to roll up her sleeves, Shayne doing the same. Alex closes the video by panning upwards and the screen fades to black.

─────── · ·

🔔 Smosh Games just posted! watch now?

─────── · ·

Gentleman's Rules: Don't Win Mario Party (Again!)

Smosh Games ✓ [Subscribed] 👍 67k | 👎 7.78M subscribers 300k views 1 week ago only the politest of games... click to read more

1,110 Comments

username01 (name) and Spencer out here being the cutest even while cosplaying as colonizers, iconic behaviour you two!

username88 09:45 "Ah yes, I do believe three-and-some is an adequate amount" - Shayne Topp 2024

↳ username70 OMG why did I not catch this earlier LMAO 🤣 ↳ username91 or what about 20:01 " What are we? Boys like our sons? I can't remember the last time I had ashes in my lungs with that child's work..." - (name) was UNREAL for sayin' this XD ↳ username70 OMG YES! 🙌😂

username22 I don't know about you but I'm feeling like I'm ready for a whole series of just this cast and just this game. I have had this video and repeat since it's come out! Please. Make. More. 🙏

username14 Literally so in love with how gentle Spencer was being with (name), dropping the persona to held them find their controller and even making sure they didn't fall hard?? 😭

↳ username91 and did anyone notice those little winks? UGH 😩

username40 this is not good material to be eating to, almost choked from laughing so hard, would not recommend.

userame66 That little exchange about seeing into one another's eyes was so poetic, like that bit did not need to go that hard 💗

─────── · ·

─ · · SPENCER AGNEW TAGLIST: @lisiliely @missflufffanfics @little-stitious-studios @thejourneyneverendsx @sibsteria @lizzylynch1 @babble2 @delaneyburghardt @thevintagefangirl @uniquely-haunting @maricarorp

[majinbangus]

Soap teaches you a new skill through unconventional methods...

"Ye really can't do it?"

You glance at the man who made himself at home on your office couch. He came in earlier after training, claiming he had free time, so he decided he best spent it bothering you. You should have kicked him out as soon as he walked through the door. Somehow, the conversation he started got into the topic of rolling r's, and now he won't drop your lack of ability to do so.

"Yeah? It's not a big deal, Soap, plenty of people can't do it."

"I guess I'm just surprised. Figured it'd be something you'd be able to do."

You laugh. "Where'd you get that impression?I'm incapable of it. Trust me, I've tried. Videos don't help, and neither does someone explaining how to move my tongue help. I just can't do it."

"Maybe it's because you haven't tried the MacTavish way."

Your eyebrow twitches. He's up to something, you know it. You can feel it in your bones. Don't encourage it. Just stay quiet. It would be best it you don't as-

"What's the MacTavish way?"

You fool.

Immediately, you know you should have kept your mouth shut, but Soap's slashes into a self-satisfied, cheshire grin. Like the cat that ate the canary, he got you. Easy.

"Well, darlin." He leaves his spot from the couch and saunters over to where you sit frozen at your desk, unable to do anything the closer he gets. "I'm glad you asked."

He's right next to you in a blink, planting a heavy hand on your shoulder. He squeezes tightly, and under any other circumstance, it would have been comforting, but all it does is make you feel like prey. You gulp, and it's clear he sees because his eyes track the movement of your throat, smirk plastered on his face.

You don't dare say anything, eyes wide and head tilted back to look up at him. You've never felt particularly intimidated by Soap before, but standing before you now, in his sweaty fatigues, he somehow looks bigger than usual. It ignites something funny in your belly, something you can't really acknowledge with him looking at you like he might eat you whole. And he just might.

But the scary part? You would let him.

"You see- " the hand he has on your shoulder smoothly travels up the curve of your neck until he's firmly gripping your scruff, pulling an embarrassing sound from your throat " -the MacTavish way isn't something I show you. It's something you feel."

"Feel?" Your voice cracks and his thumb rubs soothing circles against your neck.

"Aye, feel," he confirms with a nod and bends down suddenly, face hovering just over yours, breath puffing gently onto you. You can barely hold back a flinch at the sudden movement, but the hand he has on you holds you firm. "It's an important life skill, wouldn't you agree?"

"U-um, I wouldn't say it's-" He squeezes your neck and you clear your throat, correcting yourself. "Yes, sir."

He huffs out a laugh and gentles his hold as if in praise. It oddly makes you preen. "So you'll let me teach you, won't you?"

It doesn't really sound like a question- it more borders as a command, and fuck him because he's not even your sergeant- but you can't bring yourself to say no, or anything really. All you can do is meekly jerk your head up and down, heart racing in your chest, and do your best not to whimper when he chuckles at you and says, "Good pet, just follow my lead and I'll have you rolling your r's in no time."

He doesn't give you a chance to say anything, pulling you by the scruff and leaning in to capture your lips. You instantly fail at keeping your noises in check. Pathetic little whimpers and moans get swallowed into Soap's mouth as he doesn't even attempt at easing you into the open-mouth, dirty kiss. It's sloppy and messy, but it's slow so you can follow along, even while it has you feeling like jelly.

His hand lets go of your neck, but you don't get a moment to miss it because it's quick to grip you tightly beneath the chin, fingers curling over your jaw and into your cheeks, ensuring you keep your mouth open, not that you would have closed it, despite feeling yourself drool.

You feel his tongue press incessantly against yours, playing with it, before guiding it into his mouth. He lets you feel the way he moves and positions his tongue as he begins to softly roll an r, a gentle purr-like sound producing from his throat. It's a curious thing to feel, and you're careful not to disturb him too much, but he isn't deterred. He only stops to hum in approval at your gentle exploration.

He repeats the roll a few more times before licking back into your mouth for his own exploration, moving your tongue around until it's positioned like his was. He pulls back with a filthy string of saliva breaking off and a satisfied smirk on his face. "Try rolling your r's now, darlin."

You attempt it, and while it sounds a lot better than before your lesson, you still don't quite get it.

Soap doesn't seem bothered by it, though. He just chuckles and says, "Practice makes perfect. I'll let you feel as many times as you need, darlin. Now gimme a kiss."

-

《 scene i wanted to include but couldn't:

Reader attempting to roll r's and Soap laughing at you because you 'look like a puppy trying to growl' 》

Be gentle please it's my first time writing an actual fic in a while (￣～￣；)

ugh i wanted to keep this shorter, sorry

[moonxsuncelestials]

Holding the knight, Beelzebub shed a few tears, taking in a few shaky breaths before purring deeply from his chest. "Yun's been in a breeding mood, so~" He let that trail off and leaned his forehead against the knight's. "I know this, the kids will love you, Davi. Yun and I ensured that the kids got to know you via stories, and I swear to Mama Lilith, Eclipse is every bit of you mixed in with Yun's temper."

In an unknown location, in the cottage, Eclipse sneezed and looked around, sighing softly before returning to his chores.

Back home, Beelzebub reassured Davion that he would meet the kids once they come home and that, for now, it was best to rest. Not every day one of your loves returns from the dead.

At Milo's gesture, Wěi qí sat beside the former king of Atlantis before replying, his voice softer than before. "I keep having visions of Zen, his future, of The Virtue, Faith. Oh, Milo, she is planning to do something that will make a significant impact. That will spark Yun to unleash the Titans locked in Tartarus."

And it scared Wěi qí because he knew that Yun would do so if that protected his family and all of Hell.

Losing Davion had sent Yun into a downward spiral, and it took a great deal of effort from Beelzebub, Jinhai, Castle, and even himself to pull Yun back from the brink. On top of that, the news that Yun was pregnant with twins played a significant role. "I'm scared, Milo. I never want to see Yun broken again; once was already too much for me."

Back in the meeting room, everyone was stunned to hear such news. "That Bitch is going to likely target our Princes and Princess!" Iago growled when someone coughed. "What do you want, Visago?"

"Calm down, Kitty. While you may be right, getting upset won't help the situation. Besides, Faith is not as powerful as she might have claimed to King Zen. She is a Forgotten Virtue, at best as weak as a cherub. As for the children, remember that Hydra and Hercules don't live too far from them. Anything 'sus' as Prince Eclipse would say, they run to their Uncle Herc."

The rest of the council concurred with Visago, though few agreed with Iago. Citalee stood and whistled to garner everyone's attention once more. "Until we receive more information about Faith and her plans, we must remain vigilant. Iago made a valid point that she may attempt to target the Emperor's children, but Visago is also correct: Hercules and Hydra are close by, so they are safe for now. I motion that we locate this Saintiness, and if by chance she is within the Thanos Clan's territory, then we contact King Markos."

Power flowed into Maria, and the mirror monsters hissed as what appeared to be a dragon appeared, wrapping its long serpentine body around the group. This dragon was made of starlight, but perhaps to Bambi, a woman appeared whose light was similar to Sakura's oh so long ago.

"Your time is nae, Bambi. Go back." She then placed her hand on his head, gifting him a little bit of her power. "I'll see you soon." The dragon let out a mighty roar above the group, causing the Mirror Monsters to hiss and retreat back into the sea.

Dantè halted in his attack and looked on in awe of his aunt's power before the dragon faded out of sight, yet her power remained within Bambi, her group, and Maria. "Bloody Nine Hells." He whispered before rushing to Hime's side and helping Maria extract the curse. "Just like extracting venom from Viper some days."

Meanwhile...

"Donna tempt me to toss yer shiny arse into the sea, Laddie." Mordu jested before he shivered. "“Seems like that bastard is awake now.” Before he could even elaborate, Mordu was tackled by Kaito, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto his backside. “Blithirin Nines, Kaito, you’re not a bloody damned kit anymore!”

"Moon Kitty was here, Sea Doc! She drove stupid Sucka back!" Kaito barked happily, causing Mordu to grumble and sigh. The black kitsune's tails were waging with excitement as he grinned, showing that despite how long it had been, Kaito was still...well, Kaito.

The fox then sniffed the air and got even more excited. "Hime-chan and Tsutsu-kun are here too!"

"That explains why Empress Yue sent dem den..."

"Let the White King try, Ed. Doing so would mean to undo the seal, and we all know that our Emperor has been eager to set us free once again." Carmen reminded the alchemist. "Investigating us would also be pointless, as the same issue would arise."

Iago seconded that, but he also admitted that they can't put anything past Zen. "So I vote we take caution, Carmen. Better to side on that and ensure that our Emperor doesn't lose Davion again." "Agreed, Iago. None of us desire to see our Emperor lose one of his loves." Carmen replied and gave a nod before the next subject came about: what else the Elric Brothers learned.

One of the other females, a dark elf, asked if Ed heard from their little spy within the walls. "Lord Typhon has pointed out that with Faith making herself comfortable by the White King's side, then we should be prepared for anything that damned Bitch throws our way."

Citalee and the others agreed before letting the brothers take their stand.

Laughing at Eric's cute and obvious crush on his nephews, Wěi qí waved as the fallen prince headed back to where the boys were. "That'll help soothe Yun's worry." He added with a soft giggle. Sometimes, he wondered if-ah, well, that would come sooner than he expected. "Ah, young love."

Letting Milo inside, he chuckled and nodded at his question. "Yun did say that you have access to the entire library." With the extracted promise that Milo would not read anything aloud lest he was told that the book he may have is safe.

Wěi qí led Milo to the area he had been in, which had their tea and snacks waiting. And yes, it had the books that he loved to read in this area.

Back with Davion, Beelzebub smiled and set his glass aside before hugging the dragon knight. "Oh Baby, that ain't wishful thinking...it's sweet." The demon king replied as he shed a few tears. "Losin' you took a toll on both of us. And the kids."

He summoned a family photo showing Davion, the five boys who were the dragon knight's sons. Stephan had grown into a confident, if not mischievous, tide dragon, Li hanging off of him and appearing just as innocent as ever. But the trio that Davion had yet to meet were none other than Onyx, Eclipse, and Ivory, who was holding their service animal, a lion who looked a LOT like a certain lion's former uncle.

Before any harm could come to Hime, a roar was heard and then what looked like black spikes appeared from the shadows, impaling the Mirror Shard Creatures. "I REALLY hate these buggers."

It was none other than Prince Dantè who whistled for his familiars to take care of the shard creatures, and then, he turned to face the group. "Use the shadows, they'll get you to the town square and to safety. Mim, Archimedes, guide Hime and her companions."

The shadow wolves barked before flanking Bambi's side, nudging him to show that they wouldn't attack while keeping the group safe. "Go. I'll meet you there!"

With Sano and the others, members of the town saw what was happening, and someone sounded the alarm. And that was when the sound of the conch shell was heard, causing the town to cheer.

Polaris and her crew arrived in the nick of time!

"Kaito, FIRE!"

A laugh that sent the town scattering only to be drowned out as the s cannons fired, the balls directly hitting the Mirror Shards. And of course, Sano's group was shielded by a certain sea dragon who sighed. "Whoopsies...Sorry!" Kaito barked at the group.

"Blithirin, Ejit..." The dragon growled before noticing Phoebus and Jasmine. "Blithirin' Nine Hells...What that lass see to send in her top four?"

[reonnex]

The infantilization of book!Wylan and show!Wylan really needs to be looked at.

This isnt a call out, or trying to hate on anyone, just an overall thing I've seen throughout being in this fandom

In the books while Wylan is a child he is also 16. People underestimate him into innocent and even younger. And while he is naive, this does not make him innocent. He has his own morals, own judgment that havent been ripped away from him yet. He is just trying to survive.

People use the "we could wake them up line" a lot snd I agree! But to also look at the full lines as well

Wylan gestured to the guards. "Is it safe to leave them, you know-"

"Alive? I'm not big on killing unconscious men."

"We could wake them up."

"Pretty ruthless, merchling. Have you ever killed anyone?"

"I'd never even seen a dead body before I came to the Barrel." Wylan admitted.

"It's not something to be embarrassed about," Jesper said, surprising himself a little. But he meant it. Wylan needed to learn to take care of himself, but it would be nice if he could do it without getting on friendly terms with death."Make sure the gags are tight."

This isnt him being ruthless. Its him being logical. He is taking what Jesper says to heart. Wake them instead of killing them unconscious becuase Jesper doesn't want to kill unconscious men. Which they do end up tying the soldier to a pole, not killing them!! Him having morals shouldn't contribute to claims of him being innocent.

Wylan is worried about hurting people but will do so if nessecasry to save his friends. We can see this in the show and books. In the show he does not want to make bombs for Kaz, but does so in the end because he acknowledges he has to survive. He is worried about Alby, but goes along with the plan still.

All these are what makes Wylan, wylan. It is his fundamentals, his morals and idels. They are not however claims to see how sweet and innocent he is and how he was corrupted.

Ontop of this, while it is never y it is hevaily implied that Wylan is also autistic. (Also, correct me if im wrong please, but im pretty sure Jack did talk about this.) Autistic people get infantilizated already, and I've had my own fair share of this as well. ( I am autistic and have a learning disabilitiy, as well a speech impedament that I still struggle with.) I have to work harder to make sure people treat me as a twenty year old. Because that is my age, and there is a significant difference in attitude in how people treat me when they know im autistic, and when they don't.

And for Wylan, I feel like its the same issue. While it may not be intentional, ive been people coo over the fact Wylan has done simple tasks or teen experiences. Him having Jesper read to him, getting flustered when talking to him, Wylan not understanding social cues as well as others and taking things to face value.

You can be excited for him and think it's sweet, but to also acknowledge that there is a line between "Thats adorable" and "He's adorable." Wylan is someone who is neurodivergent. He was extrmetly sheltred as a child and was never given the proper tools to help his dyslexia, due to this he has struggles that shouldn't be overlooked or seen as "cute" when he experiences outcomes due to the situation he was in. Whenever he doesn't understand social cues, i.e., "Whos mark." People giggling and saying it's silly or cute when he doesn't understand the cues. That's infantilizating! You are viewing things he struggles with in the lens of watching a child understanding the world. Which Wylan isn't. He is a teenager, no matter the circumstances. His age should be understood.

This infantilization also effects wesper in how people view the two of them. Many people view black people as "older, the man in the relationship, rugged" while the white person is seen as the "women, younger, more innocent."

Infact, I think the show only worsned it for Wylan. As now there are faces to names.

Jack does have a youthful face, but still looks his age. I have a babyface and even now at 20 I look much older then I did at 16. The same goes for Jack. He cant control how he looks but because of his youthful features people only push for this racially hetaronormative mindset more between Wylan and Jesper (Even if its untitional).

Even Kit looks his age as well and has a baby face. He's 29 right now but was in his mid twenties during filming. Season 1 was filmed back in 2019 but due to covid post production got set back, and season 2 was filmed in the beginning of 2022. But why is it only Wylan who is infantilizated? Jesper struggles just as much with his ADHD and trauma as Wylan does.

Jack and Kit are only one year apart, the same in the books but still ive been Wylan be portrayed as the "poor innocent child who was abused." and Jesper as the "he needs to get over his addiction hes a grown man/ he's too mean to Wylan."

In society now so many black teens are seen as adults and treated as such, while white teens are seen as younger and not pushed so hard. The same can be seen for wesper.

Ive even seen people on Tiktok and other socials claim that Jesper was rude to Wylan and abusive. (WHERE???). Both Wylan and Jesper have said things that hurt the other, and they both apologized for it, and get grilled as well. In the show and books they learn and grow. The infantilization of Wylan doesnt hurt just him but plays into racial stereotypes and also microagressions. Why is it that when the white character is calling someone out its "deserved" but when the black character (who might I add had no idea) makes a side comment he is labled as cruel and abusive?

In so many shows and books the black character is usually portrayed as the joker character. Six Of Crows does this as well, which is something important to not ingore. Jesper is seen as the flirty joke character. However the only difference is soc also show more sides to his character by letting him be vulnerable. Letting Jesper show his struggles to the audience as well, how his neurodivergece effects him, letting him dress in skirts and bold colors that step away from the gender norm. So many times in media the black character is just there for shits and giggles, or is used as the villan/antagonist.

It believe its really important to understand this, and to acknowledge if your infantilizating him, or even using microagressions on Jesper unintentionally, then to learn to understand why and to grow from them.

[loquora]

I'd like to take a couple of minutes to talk about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) and their terrible, very bad, no good stance on genAI (generative artificial intelligence) and why I won't be writing anything for this challenge again.

I'm very aware that I am an active and vocal genAI hater. But I am willing and open to hear about positive and useful things LLMs (large language models) can do. There are valid scientific uses for the technology and some really fascinating medical and academic breakthroughs that come from LLMs. But the use of genAI in creative writing context is complete bullshit.

Come with me for the breakdown.

The first part of their statement:

NaNoWriMo has made it clear they are not just tolerating genAI in their month long writing challenge, but that those of us who don't are 'classist' and 'ableist' because we don't.

The post was later amended with a list of reasons why they make each of those claims. We'll start from the top.

GenAI uses the technology in a way that is morally, ethically and environmentally bankrupt. See, all LLMs have to train on something. When you're using it to, say, detect cancers you can feed it images of cancer scans so that it builds up a dataset of what those look like to predict future scans. But when you want to generate text, images and video you have to feed it text, images and video. Those things came from people, actual people and actual artists who overwhelmingly did not agree to train anything with their work and can no longer wrest their work from the machine now that it's been stolen from them.

It also isn't 'intelligent' at all, considering it has that word in the name. Think of genAI like an alien learning our language with absolutely no frame of reference for what it's learning. It can predict that the letters "w-e" and "c-a-n" often come after the letters "y-e-s" because the phrase "yes we can" will come up often in training data, it's a common phrase. But it doesn't actually understand what any of those words MEAN. Just that they often follow one another so that when prompted it will, statistically, try put those letters and words together again.

So when it comes to actually writing or responding to prompts what you're getting is the most likely outcome based on a massive amount of data input. It is not actually giving you feedback on what your writing looks like, it's giving you the most statistically possible response based on input. It's fake feedback, a thousand other feedbacks crammed together and extruded into a goo that looks and sounds like feedback but is actually meaningless. ChatGPT doesn't understand your writing sample anymore than a phone tree understands your anger and desperation when you continue to say "OPERATOR" as clearly as you can to try to get through to a real human. Both understand you input a word and will output based on that, but context, emotions, cultural mores etc. are all beyond it.

This is why AI is so absurdly shitty at things like math, counting letters in words and identifying words that start with the same letter. It's mashing together a million math problem answers betting on the likelihood that statistically someone has already answered that question enough times in the training data that it can spit the correct answer out at you.

TLDR: If you're using genAI to get feedback on your writing you're not actually getting feedback on your writing at all, but the most statistically probable set of words that relate to feedback. So right off the bat the idea that genAI is going to help you be a better writer is just flat wrong. It doesn't know how to write, it doesn't even know how many Rs are in the word 'strawberry'.

Second point has the same issues as the first:

I actually agree with them on the point that if your brain doesn't handle certain writer activities well it's perfectly okay to use an outside source for help with it. GenAI isn't actually helping you be a better writer, though; it can't. It doesn't understand anything you write nor can it provide meaningful feedback when it's just spitting out statistically probably words to you based on your input. So while the point here is actually good on the surface, the solution of using genAI to help people who have trouble with certain aspects of writing is still not correct.

The final point:

Again, this is a very good point... if it wasn't being made in conjunction with a defense of generative AI WHICH DOES NOT HELP OR SOLVE THIS ISSUE. In fact, because of the known issues of bias in how genAI LLMs are built they can make issues for marginalized writers worse.

I genuinely have no idea how this very true paragraph about people who are routinely pushed out of traditional writing spaces is helped by genAI. Their entire point thus far seems to be that genAI is a 'cheap' alternative to some traditional writing aids but considering genAI doesn't work like that it's all dead in the water as far as I'm concerned.

If NaNoWriMo was actually concerned with solving these access issues to things they consider critical to writing in general, why not offer a place for real people to read and critique one another on their platform? There are myriad other technological solutions that don't cost huge amounts of water AND actually help aspiring writers!

All of this to say that you should write for yourself, write what you enjoy and get better the same way generations of people before you have: by reading other people's work, talking to and exchanging time with other authors and writing and rewriting in your own words until you're satisfied.

Wasting water asking genAI to do things for you that would make you a better writer to do yourself or with trusted allies is just that, a waste.

[adickaboutspoons]

Mostly I was responding to the points raised in @scarrletmoon's response, but you raise some excellent points to which I'd like to respond. Feel free to ignore if you're tired of my bullshit. I completely understand the impulse. 1st, you're absolutely right; I was coming across as gate-keepery by saying that I find Stede's eccentricities charming as though that ought be the default experience. For that I apologize. I ought to have taken more care. When I said "And that's valid, but I would say that those are the parts that the crew and Ed grow to love once they embrace those parts of him instead of cringing at them" what I meant to convey is that the experience of 2nd-hand embarrassment when Stede does something that recalls to the viewer times when they have felt ashamed/were made to feel shame because of something they did is absolutely understandable, but we can take heart in Stede being accepted & loved for those parts of him, & find hope that so too may we be embraced for our own quirks & foibles. My intention was to encourage others to be more gentle with & accepting of their own perceived failings, but I can see now that I failed to adequately express that, & for that I am sorry. I do take issue with the suggestion that I am strawmanning, though; I would argue that how one views Stede's motivation & framing absolutely informs the extent to which/moments in which one finds his behavior cringe-worthy. In your original post, you contend Stede is "pretending to be this macho pirate captain who totally knows what he's doing" & your response above adds he's a bad manager & a jerk because he's praising himself & chiding his employees, whom you interpret as him treating as stand-ins for his own children. If that's how you're framing the scenario, then, sure - I can see how his behavior comes across as cringe to you. But that's not at all how I perceived it. I will grant he is pretending more expertise than he actually possesses, but he IS a pirate captain, & as to the attribution of "macho" I absolutely disagree, specifically because he is textually interested in a form of piracy that is not that. Because that is my understanding of the scene, in the debrief scene I see a person excited at the success of what, if Black Pete is to be believed, is their very 1st raid, & doesn't understand why everyone else wasn't also chuffed. He then listens to Wee John' criticism & encourages him to clarify WHY he feels the way he does. When Wee John identifies the lack of a flag as a contributing factor to his disgruntlement, Stede provides materials so they can rectify the deficit. This isn't Stede forcing arts & crafts on these grown-ass men (& Jim) - it's Stede hearing a problem & supplying the means to a solution. Similarly, he hears out Buttons about the crew's dissatisfaction, & tries to rectify it by finding a more appealing target for a raid, even though he obviously feels unequal to the task himself. To me, that's the complete opposite of a bad manager (to me he's a bad manager when he's being dismissive of the crew's input, like the fuckery brainstorming, & even then he climbs down from his high horse & apologizes. Which? GREAT manager!). Where you see Stede infantilizing his crew, I see them taking part in activities that, while generally relegated to childhood, aren't implicitly childish, & of their own volition, & Stede sowing the seeds that will eventually blossom into a found family (not imposing an established family structure). For clarity, I'm not saying my interpretation is objectively right, nor that yours is wrong. I'm just saying framing is going to influence perception of whether Stede's behavior is Cringe, & that's kind of what I was getting at with my myriad examples of Stede behaving "authentically" or "inauthentically" & when that is a viable predictor of a general fandom perception of when Stede is being Cringe. Because I really don't think it is. This is going to continue in the notes because tumlr thinks they can cut my mic.

listen I love stede a lot - I think he's the bravest character in the show. he changes everyone he meets for the better. he embodies what I think of as the thesis of the show. if he wasn't the way that he is, the show would not be very good, imo.

but in ep one he gives his pirate crew notes on the raid they just did as though they were a community theater troupe and his notes were 1) complimenting his own opening speech as "very inspiring" and 2) complaining that that the crew wasn't sufficiently enthusiastic about robbing two poor fisherman of a single plant.

during the raid his narration went "some men are born to be pirate captains, others learn on the job. me? well I'm a pretty solid mix of both" as though he has any idea what he's doing.

and AFTER the raid Olu has to gently point out to him that piracy isn't a game to the rest of the crew.

There's a reason that Rhys Darby was the only person capable of playing Stede without making him seem like a total dick. And I think that's bc Rhys was able to convey the idea that Stede's behavior in the first few eps is coming out of this deep sense of insecurity - he's doing some Stede-y things (flag making! paying the crew! bedtime stories!) that are great but he's also pretending to be this macho pirate captain who totally knows what he's doing. And it's the pretending that makes people cringe with second hand embarrassment. While also, often, seeing themselves in it and feeling a great deal of sympathy for Stede about it.

The reason Stede is like this is because HE thinks there's something deeply wrong with him, a belief that has been solidified by everyone around him his entire life, and therefore he needs to do everything he can to hide that deeply wrong thing about him. When he unpacks that and embraces the things about himself he originally thought were embarrassing (being weak, pathetic, soft, etc), he can stop pretending. And that's when other characters grow to love him! And so people will sometimes call him cringe because they aspire to be cringe like him, to embrace the parts of themselves that they were punished for and live more authentically.

because he changes! that's the point! he moves from cringe (pretending to be someone he's not) to cringe (being true to himself, always a deeply vulnerable thing to be) and it takes a lot of hard work. that's what makes me LIKE him as a character. that's what I think makes him the bravest character on the show. because he doesn't start out perfect. he's a puppet who grows into a real boy and that means that for a period of time he was a puppet, and that's okay.

[sweet-honey-fruit]

In relation to my last post, I want to clarify some misinformation surrounding Dottore. I see a lot of it, and as someone who hyperfixates on him, I want to attempt to clear the air. Cause I feel like some of the hate towards him (and his fans) are based around misconstrued info.

Warning for spoilers!

Let me tell you the bad things he has done:

He has unlawfully experimented on living beings. Children, women, and men have been a victim of his. He even had a deal with the last Knave to send over the "rejects" from The House of The Hearth for experimentation.

Allegedly, he faked being a certified doctor as a way to experiment on patients at the Elezar hospital. Not cool man.

Also alleged, he killed a young woman on a picnic date and framed it to look like the tigers did it

Honestly he's probably done more but we don't know his entire story yet

Now that that's out of the way, let's go through the misconstrued information I often see.

"He unrightfully experimented on Scaramouche!" I know some people might not want to hear this but, those experiments, were a mutual agreement. Harbingers, as hinted at in voice lines, are not allowed to harm one another.

To back up my claim: Arlecchino has a voice line on Dottore that says "If he was not my fellow harbinger, I would have expedited their happy little reunion long ago." With context clues we know she's saying that if they weren't coworkers, she would've killed him so him and the previous Knave could dance around the flames in hell together.

With that we can conclude that the abyss experiments, the god experiment; Scaramouche agreed to it all. He wasn't forced to do any of it, because by harming another harbinger without an agreement, it would have caused dire consequences.

"He experimented on Collei!" While Collei was taken to The Doctor for "elezar treatment" it wasnt him who experimented on her. It was whoever this bitch is, as shown in the genshin comic

Blame that guy. That's the guy you wanna attack.

"Dottore killed Scaramouche's friend and caused his second betrayal!" You are correct on that, except there's a very important aspect of that that people gloss over. Dottore says "Jester, I have completed the task you gave me. Creating a gap and infiltrating Inazuma's inner workings."

He killed Scara's friend because Pierro gave him that task.

Kinda insane that he followed it up with "heh, what fun it was" but that's just a little quirk of his /j

All in all, he is a menace to society, I'm aware of that. People are allowed to hate him, just please hate him for the right and factual reasons!

Collei and Scaramouche fans (like to clarify: not all) love to infiltrate my inbox and go on rants about what Dottore did to them, yet most of it is incorrect (and in some cases, hypocritical). At least come at me with correct information.

He's a harbinger who has done bad things. If you have a favorite harbinger, there's a 100% chance that they also have done something horrible. They're harbingers, they've all done some horrid shit, that's basically their job. But they're also fictional horrid shit, so let's all hold hands and love our fictional criminals as a family.

[rosehxnt]

bonjour >:) requests are open, and thus i am requesting leona, vil (aster is converting me how dare) and idia (again, i am being converted) with a s/o who drags them out to buy matching outfits and accidentally revealing their secret relationship?

it’s just an outfit

ft. leona kingscholar, vil schoenheit, idia shroud summary: even with the attempt to hide their identity, your boyfriend is noticed in public shopping with you warnings: invasion of privacy via paparazzi, use of they/them pronouns for reader (idia)

leona kingscholar  He seemed so nonchalant about it, only opting to wear a hat and insisting no one would care what a second-born prince was doing buying matching outfits with another person.  He seemed to be correct on that matter until five minutes after you got back to his dorm to lay down.  After changing into your couple’s black and yellow loungewear, messages began to flood your phone from your friends. Links to dozens of articles claiming to have the scoop on Leona Kingscholar's new relationship.  "‘Sunset Savanna Royalty Seen Shopping with Mystery Person. Could This Be a Budding New Romance?’” Leona read one of the titles over your shoulder, throwing in sarcastically shocked tone.  You glared at him as you turned to face him before your face fell in worry. "What if this…changes things between us? Since everyone practically knows now."  "I don’t think this changes anything between us. Not to me, anyway. We just don't have to sneak around anymore." He paused to rest a hand on your cheek. "You’re still okay being mine, right?"  You nodded. "Of course I am."  "That’s all that matters to me, love." Leona threw his arm over your shoulders to bring you closer to his chest, not missing the chance to leave a kiss on your forehead before continuing your impromptu nap.

vil schoenheit  It was his idea to both wear masks to reduce the possibility of being recognized. He was even smart enough to style his hair differently than usual.  Needless to say, Vil had a lot of experience trying to avoid paparazzi as one of the most famous teenagers in twisted wonderland.  You had insisted on going out and getting matching outfits despite your relationship not being public yet, he agreed but not without a warning of how overwhelming it could become if someone recognized him in public.  "It's no big deal, I can handle it," you told him.  "As long as you're confident, my dear."   The trip was going fairly well, you had picked out matching peacoats that would help keep you warm in the cold temperatures. It was when you were looking at sweaters that a fan of his recognized him and noticed your close proximity to each other.  Before you knew it, pictures were being taken as Vil took your hand to lead you away, tsking at the misplaced enthusiasm the public had for him. Once you were sure you were alone he turned to hold you.  "I apologize for the scene, I hope it wasn't too much for you."  "I'm sorry for dragging you out here." You glanced the ground. "People will probably start harassing you about being in a relationship now."  "I knew the risks before entering a relationship with you." He tilted your head up to look at you properly. "I don't mind at all, because now I'm able to be open about the fondness I hold for you."

idia shroud  It’s not like you were actively keeping your relationship a secret, it just hadn’t come up in conversation yet. Most of the time you and Idia spent together was either on voice call or playing games in his room.  You had asked him a few times if he’d be willing to go with you to get matching outfits. It never mattered what it was, just as long as you matched with him. One weekend he finally found the courage to go to the mall with you, as long as he could keep his hood up and face down the entire time.  You were almost jumping with joy at the prospect of getting your introvert boyfriend to do something he would've never done before meeting you. Yes he had stipulations, but you were just glad to have this bonding opportunity with him.  Idia quickly steered you towards the back section of a store that he claimed had "everything an otaku would ever want." You passed walls of shirts for every anime, video game, and vocaloid you'd ever heard of, and then some.  That's exactly when he spotted two students he shared occasional classes with. Said students noticed him back, saw how he looked at you with panic, and quickly connected the dots.  "Well if they're standing that close to Idia Shroud..."  "Exactly what I was thinking, they've got to be special to him for that kind of privilege."  You didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation as Idia dragged you out of said "otaku heaven," mumbling something about finding merch online instead.

a/n: sorry that leona's is a bit shorter, i tried to mix up each scenario the best i could m.list & rules

© rosehxnt

[brucewaynehater101]

Look maybe it’s just me but if I saw my little brother spiraling I wouldn’t just corner him in a graveyard once to talk about therapy then let him fuck off to go globe trotting

I mean... kind of I'm trying to be more canon accurate in my posts, so I apologize for correcting ya.

Cassie was the one to meet Tim in the graveyard. Dick met him at the city bounds.

Here's a funny pic of Dick as payment

Bruh. I'd either be so intimidated or so mad if Dick did this to me.

"We need to talk." After what Tim walked into of Damian wearing the Robin suit because Dick didn't talk to him until after the suit was made? I'd be mad (this is not an anti Dick. This is just how I would feel).

Anyways. Dick didn't let Tim go. Tim held him at staff point and guilt tripped the man into letting him go (not anti-Tim either).

Re-reading it again, I still think Tim is an unreliable narrator.

However, Tim is all like, "Hey, I know I sound nuts. I know how it looks, but I know I'm right." He provided examples of how he can, in fact, understand where Dick is coming from.

And then Dick is all like, "I know how you feel, but you need a therapist." Which... yes, but that's not the point. Tim is bringing up all this horrid shit in his life and acknowledging how he understands Dick's viewpoint (while also saying Dick is only there cause Cassie called him). Then Dick claims to understand Tim's perspective, but only from Dick's "Tim must be seeing things where isn't anything instead of grieving" viewpoint.

Basically, they aren't communicating with each other efficiently (they are also physically fighting each other while doing this too).

It's a mess. A hot mess.

Dick is trying:

But he's also just not listening to Tim. He's not giving Tim the benefit of the doubt. He's concerned af, but he's not listening or trusting Tim. He's just going at it from his own worried mentality that Tim's going down a conspiracy bender. I don't blame Dick for not communicating well (poor man is going through so much at this point [Damian, JLA, switching to Batman, etc]).

However, I also understand Tim's perspective. He doesn't trust Dick to actually listen to him. Dick wants to help Tim Dick's way and not what Tim believes he needs.

I personally get very very triggered if my boundaries are not met. If someone held on after I told them to let go? Yeah. Hands are being thrown. I also get triggered if people try to force me to do shit, don't listen to me, or try to do "what's best for me" when I've told them no. Real quick way to get cut off by me.

That's off topic, lmao.

Anyways, Dick kind of let Tim go, but that's because Tim forced him to. It wasn't because Dick didn't care, but he didn't care in the way Tim wanted him to (debatable if that's not how Tim needed either).

I'm curious. Are there any comics that cover that scene from Dick's POV? I'd appreciate it if anyone could let me know ^^

Also, I agree I would not do what Dick did here. On the other hand, my siblings and I have worked very very hard for the relationships we have. It's taken years of trial and error to get the boundaries and level of communication the way it is. We all agree to allow the others to make decisions for themselves and fight their own battles unless otherwise asked (I had a habit of trying to help and fix the situation for them when I was a teen. Now we just inform and offer help. Lots of acknowledgment for boundaries as well). If my siblings want to make dumb decisions, I let them. Just as they would for me. I might tell them I think that's dumb as hell, but it's their life.

If Tim was my sibling, I'd say something like, "I'm not sure I believe you, but I trust you. If this is what you need, if you think this is true, I'll support you. Would you like my direct assistance with this?"

If they say no, then I'll respond with, "Okay. I can handle Gotham as long as you keep me in the loop. If it's been 48 hours without contact, I will hunt you down. I love you."

Then we'd hug goodbye.

On the other other hand, there's not this age gap between us. Dick is 7 or so years older than Tim, and Tim is a teen. Dick may feel it's his responsibility to look after Tim and might be hitting the road bumps I did with my siblings (of giving them the respect and trust to handle their own issues as well as know what they need).

So, the situation is a hot mess :)

[olderthannetfic]

Being a trans man and not being an anti is also isolating, which is part of why I think trans guys gravitate towards either being an anti or reposting anti posts. If you're not an anti, you get booted from discord servers, blocked on social media at best or sent misgendering rape threats, death threats and suicide bait by other trans men at worst, and now that I'm in college I've found IRL that not being an anti makes a lot of people in queer spaces available to the average college student incredibly uncomfortable. So you have to either be entirely alone - which is very difficult when you're young, queer, and just coming into your own identity - or you have to be around it a lot without saying a word. Agreeing with it at first wouldn't even be necessary. You just have to not say anything against it, and then you'll be able to be around other people.

It doesn't help that most trans men who get sucked into anti circles are teens at the time. There's 501 proposed anti-LGBT laws right now, not counting everything that has passed, the majority of it anti-trans. If you're a teenage boy seeing all this transphobia on the rise, you're going to feel powerless. Bullying people like antis do makes you feel power over at least a few people. Being told you can consume your way into being a good person via media intake makes you feel like you have power and control over at least that.

I was sucked in incrementally because I wasn't exposed to the more violent antis who fantasized about murder and hurting people for writing fiction, I met my only friend - who was an anti - after my dad had beaten me for coming out as trans, and I was sixteen. I got out when I was eighteen because once I went to live with my mom, a psychologist, she gently corrected me when I would say things that aren't based in fact. She pointed out how upset these people were making me. She taught me how to fact-check claims and look into the veracity of claims.

And when I tried to convey to my friends that no, what they were saying wasn't supported, they turned on me. Including the only person who had been there for me when I was hatecrimed, who had reached out to me specifically because she met me what day. I lost every friend I had in roughly 30 hours.

If I hadn't had a really great mom, a very intelligent rabbi who's well-versed in psychology and is a former lawyer who saw the "fiction made me do it" excuse used to defend heinous crimes and doesn't buy it, and an older half-sister who lived through people calling her a psycho lesbian because she's a lesbian who played D&D, listened to metal and dressed Goth in small-town Montana in the 80's/90's, I would have probably killed myself. Having those three people who accepted me and did not accept this extremist rhetoric kept me sane and repaired my self-esteem enough to keep me going.

But a lot of people don't have three adults who are intelligent, supportive, and know better than to fall for this faux-psychology. A lot of people don't even have one. Often, they have unsupportive people who also believe firmly in the faux-psychology of "if you watch a thing you'll do that thing IRL". So there's not only no one hauling them out of this, it's getting reinforced.

Being a non-anti who is a trans man gets me a lot of shit from a lot of people online and offline. (As other anons have mentioned during the ace discourse, online talking points come up on college campuses and in real life, because the internet is not an alternate dimension, it is something being used by the people around you who exist in the same physical space as you.)

A reality that I don't think people want to discuss is that trans men, just like all other people of all other genders, suffer a lot of psychological distress if they're put in a position where they have no support. I sure as fuck wasn't happy being in a position where I went from having tons of online friends, discord servers I could hang out in and fandoms I associated with good vibes to none of that, plus harassment, plus massive misgendering.

It's a lot less awful of an existence to be a trans man and an anti when you're young and need community and support than it is to not be an anti and be isolated. And humans gravitate towards the least awful option 99% of the time.

--

Yuuup.

Having some kind of real support network, usually offline but at the very least not randos you met a day ago on discord, is vital and is the difference between not only whether you rot in a pit of antidom forever but in stemming the massive flood of trans teen suicides. The overall queer rates aren't great, but the specifically trans rates... they're bad. They're so, so bad.

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Making Things Public~

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(D: You get into a fight with Stu about making your relationship public. )

Sneaking around with Stu used to be fun. You used to revel in the secrecy: the fact that no one knew about the two of you aside from yourselves— like a secret hidden in plain sight. But as things started to get more serious, you couldn't help but want to be "claimed": to have people know that the two of you were a thing and that you were no longer interested in seeing other people; that you both were officially off limits. It was only natural for you to make things public, right?

You weren't asking him to declare his love for you in front of the whole town, to yell it from every roof top, and makeout with you in front of all of your peers. You just wanted the security of people knowing that the two of you were together. And if he loved you as much as he always claimed that he did, what would be the issue?

"Yeah, imagine that one." He smirks at you, rolling his eyes lightheartedly when you finally bring up the subject. You hadn't said it out of nowhere. In fact, you'd thought long and hard about the perfect opportunity—agonizing over something that should have been so easy.

It'd been prompted by his own comment: something about both of you having to leave his house by a certain time so that he doesn't miss some party, a party that all of his friends are going to be at. He doesn't want them to get suspicious, he'd joked, and you'd figured that it was the perfect segue for the conversation you'd been wanting to have with him.

"Why not?" You say, trying your best to seem nonchalant, even as your stomach drops at the speedy way he dismisses the idea: as though he doesn't even want to give it a single thought.

"What? You're serious?" He asks— as though he's surprised. The joking tone he'd held before starting to fade as he continues to speak.

"Why not?" You repeat, your tone a little different from before, bristling at his words as you keep your eyes trained on the television in front of you.

"It just wouldn't make sense," He starts, laughing almost incredulously: as though you're the one being silly for even bringing it up, as though the idea is so preposterous that you should "know better" than to say it out loud. "I mean, you're not exactly the type of girl I usually go for. Do you know the sort of shit people would say?"

"And what would they say Stu?"

"What is this," He asks instead of answering, furrowing his eyebrows at you. "I thought you were okay with the whole sneaking around thing? I mean you told me you were before, so where's all this coming from?"

"I was. I was okay with it when we were just messing around. But I think things have changed a little bit, don't you?" You ask, turning to glance at him.

"I mean sure, yeah, I guess things have gotten a little more serious." He agrees almost tentatively.

"A little?" You probe.

"It's just ...I don't see the point in letting everyone know about us. Nothing will change between us." He insists and it's mildly infuriating to hear.

"If nothing will change then why not tell them?" You ask, confused by his apprehension.

"Because they'll be all weird about it." He answers, which only manages to confuse you further.

"About what?" You question, your face twisting up in perplexity. Stu's never been the sharpest tool in the shed but this conversation is leading into new levels of bewildering denseness.

"About you." His beating around the bush is starting to annoy you. I mean, really annoy you. Probably because you're starting to think you understand what he's getting at, and if your suspicions are correct, you think you'll actually lose it.

"And why would that be?" You reply guardedly.

"I mean, going from Tatum to you, that's a big difference." He tries to laugh it off but it strikes a cord with you, makes you stiffen, your blood beginning to boil.

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"I just mean that she's the type of girl I usually go for. The type of girl people expect me to be with." He's none the wiser to the way you've begun to burn on the inside. Insecurity, and jealousy, and annoyance all rearing their ugly little heads while you listen to him speak.

"And what type of girl is she?" A part of you wants to see how deep of a hole he'll dig himself into—an angry, ugly, resentful little part of you that's feeling particularly slighted by his words.

"You know." It seems he's just now beginning to catch onto your anger. He seems cautious, like he doesn't want to get further into it: like a guilty child who doesn't want to admit how badly they've messed up, or like a person trying to spare another persons feelings.

"Enlighten me." You insist coldly.

"Are you mad? Why do you seem mad right now?" You'd normally find the whiny way he's speaking cute, but today, it only manages to make you more annoyed.

"I don't know Stu, why would I be mad right now?" You answer sarcastically.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you're not the type of girl that people expect me to be with. I just think they're gonna be weird about it." He reiterates, the same vague assumptions that he's already said before. He's talking in circles, not man enough to admit the real reason he doesn't want people to know about the two of you.

"Why would they be weird about it? What kind of girl am I that you have to be ashamed to be seen with me?" You push.

"I did not say that." He insists, pointing a finger at you as though you're accusing him of something wildly out of the question.

"Well you're saying a lot of shit that sounds like it!" You finally raise your voice.

"There's no need to get hostile." He raises his hands, as if you're acting out of line.

"Let me guess: Tatum was never hostile." You mock.

"As a matter of fact, she wasn't. She was really chill actually: she didn't care about what everyone else thought." He responds pointedly.

"Well, maybe it's because you didn't hide her around Stu."

"She wouldn't have cared either way." He insists, defending the girl as if that's the hill he should die on.

"That is such bullshit." You hiss.

"No, it's not bullshit. She wasn't insecure like you are." He accuses matter-of-factly.

"Insecure?!" You screech incredulously, just nearly laughing in disbelief.

"Yeah! Insecure," He doubles down. "Casey wasn't like that either. They didn't care about anyone else-"

"Yeah, least of all you Stu. That's why they dumped your ass to the wayside and fucked a bunch of footballers instead." You interrupt.

"Oh, oh real nice. Well at least I wouldn't be embarrassed by them dumping me. No one blames me for wanting to be their boyfriend. Imagine me going public with you. Yeah, right. Stu macher with Y/n Y/L/N. I wouldn't hear the end of it. I might as well say goodbye to my reputation right now!" He sneered sarcastically.

"You know, that's all I needed to hear." You laugh bitterly, the smile on your lips resembling more of a snarl than anything else. He pauses at your response, chest heaving angrily while trying to process what you're saying. "Thank you for finally letting me know exactly what your issue is, Stu. No. No. I really appreciate the transparency."

"You know, Stu ...this is what I am. I've always been like this. I haven't changed since the day you met me. I was nothing like your ex's then, and I'm nothing like them now. I'll never be. So let me do you a favor and do the one thing that you weren't man enough to do this entire time and cut things off. I deserve to be with someone who isn't ashamed of what I am. Someone who actually gives a fuck about me. I can assure you that I'm not as hard up for choices as you seem to think that I am." You vent, starting to gather your things as he sits there and stares at you.

"Wait, wait a minute-" He starts.

"No." You refuse, not even looking at him as you continue to grab all of your belongings from around the room.

"I didn't. I don't," He stumbles over his words, scooting to the edge of his seat as he watches you nervously: face untwisting from it's previous anger and beginning to morph into an expression of confusion and anxiety, a hint of worry coming in at the corners. "I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean that."

You don't answer and he hesitantly stands up, making his way over to you as you angrily shove all of your things into one singular pile. "Let's just talk, okay?"

"We've talked enough. I'm done talking." You grit. Everything you do seems to slow you down, your hands moving in a frustratingly clumsy fashion, your anger mounting as things continue to go wrong. You're sure he can feel the heat radiating off of your body: the seriousness of the situation finally dawning on him.

"No, no, just wait a minute, alright? C'mon," He whines, moving to grab some of your things away from you: trying to stop your hands from their hurried and blunt movements. You pull away as though his touch burns you, brushing your hair from your face in an attempt to collect yourself before going to grab your things again. "Stop, stop. Please, let's just talk."

"I told you-" You start with exasperation.

"Then lets not talk. We don't have to talk, just don't leave. I'm sorry, alright? That was stupid. I didn't mean that. I'm stupid, I'm a stupid guy. You know that." He begs.

"You are stupid. You are so goddamn stupid, you have no idea," You rant, whirling to look at him. You take in his puppy dog eyes and the way that he nods along with you, trying to prove just how much he's listening and just how much he agrees with you. You do your best to calm yourself. You don't want to insult him. Not really. "You have no idea what you do to people. I really hope you are stupid, Stu. Because if you aren't, then that would mean that you know exactly what you're doing and how it makes me feel—and that would be so much worse. I'd love to think that you're stupid. It's easier to think that you are instead of thinking that you're completely using me, and that I'm just letting you. Letting you get away with making a fool out of me."

"You're not a fool." He insists.

"No, I'm not. Which makes it even sadder."

"What's sad?" He whimpers.

"That I've sat here and let you use me like some toy." You tell him.

"I don't-I wasn't trying to use you. You're not a toy. I don't think you're a toy." He struggles to respond.

"Then what am I Stu? I'm not your girlfriend," You reply matter-of-factly, and his brows screw up like the comment truly pains him: like it hurts him to hear it as much as it pains you to say it; the knives in your heart twisting deeper and deeper.

"You are. You are my girlfriend. I thought that we...I told you I loved you. You know I love you." He insists pitifully.

"This isn't love, and I'm not gonna pretend that it is anymore. If you loved me, you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with me. You wouldn't care about your friends or the rest of school. And you wouldn't care about your ex's—you wouldn't be comparing me to them. Hell, how could I ever think that you liked me for anything more than sex when that's your type." You laugh bitterly, the realization coming to you as you shake your head in disbelief.

"They're not my type, they just, I just dated them. Like I dated you. I liked you. I still like you. I love you. This wasn't just about sex, it's just-" He sighs, like he's preparing himself for what he's about to say. He looks down at the floor as if he's a embarrassed, as if he's ashamed.

"I looked like an idiot when Casey broke up with me. The entire school knew about it within a week, and I went from me to the loser she left behind. Everyone was looking at me, everyone was laughing at me. And you, you're great, you know? You could date a footballer if you wanted to. And I guess I thought that if I didn't show you around to everyone, if I didn't make things public, then I wouldn't have to go through all that again. I wouldn't have to talk about it, or think about it, or be all embarrassed by it."

"But, but if you're just gonna dump me anyway then I want to go public. I want everyone to know that we're together because this—I don't want this. I thought that us being a secret would make things easier, but this isn't easy at all. And I think I'll do just about anything if it means that you're not going to break up with me." You stay silent, unsure of what to say or how to handle all of what he's just poured onto you.

"So you name it. I'll call all my friends right now and tell them all 'hey, I'm with y/n y/l/n and I love her', and we'll stay in for the rest of the night. Or I'll take you with me to the party tonight and I'll tell everyone there that you're mine and that you're great. You want me to get a tattoo of your name? Your face? I'll get it tonight. Whatever you want: whatever will convince you that I meant it when I said I love you."

"I don't-" You laugh a bit, amusement creeping out of you as much as you don't want it to. You sigh and open your mouth to start again, a bit more serious this time.

"Please don't go," He stops you. "Please."

"I'm not going." You assure him quietly.

"Are you still breaking up with me?" He asks, tears still misting his eyes, even as the relief of you not trying to leave becomes evident in his features.

"Would it even count as breaking up? We really weren't-"

"Yes we were. ...We were to me." He interrupts quickly, and you can feel yourself softening by the minute.

"Then no, I'm not breaking up with you." He starts to smile, and it's like the calm after a storm: not everything is fixed but it's healing. You can't help but smile too, at least just a little.

"Do you want me to bring you to the party, because if you want me too, I will. But I kind of really don't want to go anymore." He says to you. It's the joke that finally earns him a laugh, a giggle seeping out of you as his shoulders sag in relief.

"No, I don't want to go. And you don't have to tell the entire school about us either. Just, maybe you can let your friends know that we've been spending some time together. And then maybe I can tell my friends that 'blonde boy' is actually Stu Macher and not just some guy that I've been lying about all this time." You explain.

"You've told your friends about me?" He grins, suddenly so very pleased and eager to hear more. "When did you tell them about me? What did you tell them about me? Do they like me?"

"They don't know its you!" You laugh.

"Well yeah, yeah but like ~my vibes~" You roll your eyes as you sit back down on his couch, fighting back your smile as he immediately follows and scoots right up next to you, expression urging you to tell him more. You have the sudden feeling that you're gonna be in for it with him: that things might only get "worse" with him as your actual boyfriend and not just some guy you hang out with.

"You know, I think I'm starting to regret wanting you to be my real life boyfriend. You're already such a handful." You tease as he starts nudging you to try and get you to answer his questions.

"No take backs." He insists quickly, grinning at you.

"I'll hold you to that." You reply, smiling.