#i can't believe the majority of the thread is just them GETTING to/through the summary conversation

[flightofaqrow]

truthful

qrow + Winter ( @eiiskonigin​ )

“It felt personal. In Beacon, I mean. So why?”

Winter knows more now, and yet less than the full truth which qrow now keeps secret under Ruby’s lead instead of Ozpin’s. he cringes internally, droops externally, arms crossing over his chest if only to hold himself up to continue the selfsame act as then of keeping her both too close and too far, spared.

he scoffs, playfully, “since when did’ja ever care about my personal approval anyway, huh?”

“That– I was not looking for your approval... Simply… I wondered what those in Ozpin’s circle thought of Ironwood’s decision, regarding–” She stops herself. Seems to realize she’s saying too much, that she dropped her guard for one moment too many, and her shoulders lift. 

“yeah, well… in case y’haven’t noticed,” his other hand waves in the air, gesturing towards the emptiness of it, “Ozpin’s gone now an’ so is his circle.”

he almost does walk away.

Finally, a single word leaves her with a sigh: “Fria.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“If I ask you something, what are the odds you would be truthful in answering?”

It’s unlike her to start any conversation in such a manner, but she’s learned by now that Qrow is likely to take any chance he can to fuck with her – whether that was psychologically or otherwise. A part of her thought it was simply because he knew he could get a rise out of her, in the same way a boy would pull a little girl’s pigtails just to make her shriek. She didn’t dare think on it any deeper than that. “I have something that has been on my mind, but… I’m not intending to open up to you just so you can mock me.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

maybe it’s just the warm mug of coffee in his hand, but he could swear the air around Winter today wasn’t entirely like opening up a freezer and having the mist spill out over his face.

qrow keeps his jaw from dropping, but his brows use the distraction to raise just as he raises his morning anti-withdrawal fuel for a sip. …of all the gods in Remnant, was she warming up to him?

“not quite sure how’ta answer that,” he speaks with equal warmth in the same breath he indeed still indulgently uses to incense her, “what makes ya think i can’t mock ya honestly?”

isn’t it what he’s always done?

and so his foot goes right in his mouth. possibly ruining that small window of vulnerability, and yet the response is the most truthful one qrow can give. it’s her choice to take that chance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

For a moment, Winter simply stares back at Qrow – taking a moment to fully process what he’s said, seemingly deciding exactly how to best respond. The pause seems longer in her mind than it was in actuality ( she hopes ) and finally, the corner of her lips curves upward slightly. A sound leaves her, the start of a laugh that she fails to stifle, “I suppose that’s fair.”

Really, could she have expected anything different?

“When I was last in Beacon, before…” Her words trail off momentarily, turning away from Qrow to busy her hands with preparing a mug of coffee, a shake of her head brushing off the ’before’ that they both knew without her needing to elaborate. “The last time you and I had seen each other. After that… little dispute, you insisted on my not being in the room, when you and Ironwood and Ozpin… You practically threw me out yourself.”

And she knew, now, what they had been discussing. She knew about that little secret circle, about all those things that had been kept from everyone. She knows the truth, and she is not certain she is better for it.

“And again, when you first arrived in Atlas. You seemed… so shocked that the General had told anyone. Perhaps it’s just my being… petulant, but… Penny, I could understand…”

She’s been stirring the sugar into her coffee for too long, now, the sound of metal clinking against china suddenly becoming deafening, and she practically drops the spoon in an effort to stop. “It felt personal. In Beacon, I mean. So why?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

he actually earns a laugh from the woman and his heart isn’t quite prepared for how cute that small slip of something is. It makes her older and younger all at once, like growing into the years of herself while shrugging off some of the rugged age that - and whatever she’s getting ready to expel now - all brought.

yeah, fair as he can give.

he leans against the counter to listen, legs taking up too much space with their length as usual, and hand lifting up to sip his coffee while she pours, and spills.

red eyes darken with the same thoughts she brushes off, and he’s grateful for that. he’d done enough recounting all the steps that had brought him here, barely willing to tolerate her taking him back to the turning point without something stronger to deal.

honestly, a memory still so sharp and crisp to her is a bit of a blur for him. but he knows his reasons, and he knows how he gets. all the belligerent bravado she’s so used to seeing, her perceptions still drown him in it.

he’s quiet, shifting his gaze towards her over his shoulder, aimed lower than her eyes, watching the spoon like he used to swirl ice. (in some ways, considering who he’s talking to, maybe he still does.) Winter knows more now, and yet less than the full truth which he now keeps secret under Ruby’s lead instead of Ozpin’s. he cringes internally, droops externally, arms crossing over his chest if only to hold himself up to continue the selfsame act of keeping her both too close and too far, spared.

“you’re stubborn, Winter,” qrow sighs into his coffee mug and gulps another mouthful before setting it down on the counter next to him, sharply as an opening punctuation to his point, “and, frankly, i’m efficient. it was supposed’ta feel personal. pissin’ ya off was th’ quickest way t’make y’leave, so we could get to business. but that’s all.”

trying to suppress all those emotions only made the woman more vulnerable to them. qrow knows all about it.

“as for when we showed up here?” his voice fades - softer, further away, trails off completely until some sound stops in his throat and he has to start again. he cards his free hand through feathered hair then meets her eyes again, “look… just… everythin’ that’s happened up till now… things i’ve known almost my whole life…” are different. and each new detail that shifts kicks him back off guard. stupid, small details shift little pebbles in his walls of security and sometimes he can’t keep it from showing on his face.  

“well…” he gives up on trying to voice his real feelings, too tangled to put into words, and switches to the same reassuring tone he’d use for pep talks with his students or nieces or their friends, “i’m still gettin’ used’ta the new normal, too. it’s not a reflection on you.”

he scoffs, playfully, “since when did’ja ever care about my personal approval anyway, huh?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Her gaze leaves the mug at last, watching Qrow as he speaks. Why has this been burning in the back of her mind for this long? Embarrassment, she supposes: that she had been embarrassed by Qrow once again, when Ironwood could have just as easily had her wait outside. An unnecessary humiliation in front of people she had respected. And all for a secret that had protected no one.

Winter draws her gaze away, back to the mug, with a faint nod. Once again, her wounded pride had lead her to imagine things as far more personal, far more pointed than they had really been.

The spoon is tapped against the rim of the mug before being placed in the nearby sink, lifting the mug to her mouth as he continues on – not quite willing herself to take a drink as he speaks, her eyes narrowing slightly. She is no expert on the man, but she considers herself to know when things are being unsaid ( after all, she speaks in half-truths too often, these days. )

There is something he’s not saying, but she doesn’t know enough to risk pressing him, not when they are already dancing on glass around one another.

The tone he takes is one she is not used to hearing from him, and she finds that she doesn’t like it. Despite it being perfectly fine, a reassuring and soft thing, something about it crawls underneath her skin. A low sigh escapes, finally taking a sip of coffee to bide her time before responding. The new normal. Nothing was normal about any of this, and there’s things she wants to say – points she thinks to make, but her mind and tongue tangle them up and leave her silent.

Whatever response she is formulating it lost at his teasing remark, and her face burns scarlet. “That– I was not looking for your approval.”

There it is again, that flustered feeling that makes her feel more like an caught child than a trained soldier. The urge to pout her lip is strong, but she resists – chooses instead to grit her teeth, but the warmth in her face betrays her. “It isn’t that. Simply… I wondered what those in Ozpin’s circle thought of Ironwood’s decision, regarding–”

She stops herself. Seems to realize she’s saying too much, that she dropped her guard for one moment too many, and her shoulders lift.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

qrow doesn’t feel as proud, sitting here in sober hindsight, as he watches realization dawn on Winter’s face in dusted hues of pink. she’s not wrong, but the embarrassment had been aimed for Ironwood. Winter just happened to be the convenient proxy drug down with him.

she takes it like a champ. the way she takes everything else in stride. or at least, buries it deep enough inside that it becomes the weight which keep such a step in her boots.

their coffees cool like the air. no sparks flying today; no playful, heated banter. only cold realities and careful creeps into the uncomfortable. it’s what she asked for, isn’t it?

even when he gives her what she wants, and protects her from what she probably doesn’t, he disappoints. his fingers drum out nerves - both his and what he empathizes with hers - on the counter.

he gives her time to finish, and when she doesn’t, he lets the silence be.  whatever he thinks she’s implying still sounds an awful lot like approval, if you ask him. and the whole situation begs a drink for him to deal with any deeper. so instead of rubbing it in, qrow gives her an out.

“yeah, well… in case y’haven’t noticed,” his other hand waves in the air, gesturing towards the emptiness of it, “Ozpin’s gone now an’ so is his circle.”

dead or disbanded. same old story of his life.

“so maybe worry less about what others think, an’ more about yourself, there, Winter.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Whatever she was looking for, she doesn’t have the words to say. Approval felt wrong, tasted metallic on her tongue and left her wanting. For once, approval feels like the farthest thing from what she wants: she wants honesty. She wants truth, no matter how bitter it might be. Perhaps that’s why she seeks him out like this, for these conversations that never seem to go the way she wants them to.

At least when he fights her, it’s honest.

His fingers drumming on the countertop is near deafening following the silence, and she shuts her eyes a moment before taking a slow drink from her mug. When she looks back to Qrow, she isn’t certain how to decipher what she sees – cannot see if it is anger, or sadness, or something twisted up that she doesn’t know the name of.

Worry about yourself. The grip she has on the mug tightens, holding it solely to give her hands something to focus on. It doesn’t help. Her throat feels equally as tight as her grip, but she forces the words through nonetheless, “That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Not that it mattered. Not that it would make a difference. She had made her decisions, and she would honor them – but that didn’t mean there weren’t fears burning beneath her skin, things she desperately wanted to expose and question without feeling guilty for doing so. She wants to know if they knew Ironwood’s plan for her all along. She wants to know if he knew.

It doesn’t matter.

“I don’t know what I expected…” Her voice shakes more than she would have liked, but she swallows hard to rid herself of it. It isn’t convincing. “…but thank you. If for nothing other than your honesty.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“tch, sure,” qrow rolls his eyes before glaring hard at the ground. good gods, this was worse than wrangling teenagers. he crosses his arms and grips hard into rolled sleeves, better than patting at an empty pocket.

and he’s trying to be strong for her. he always tried to be strong for those who approached him in need. most were far more open about what they wanted from him, in physicality if not words.

but Winter? no. even when she came to him, asks of him, still nothing but ice, it makes it hard to know what she expects of him. she’s trapped in her own damn cube, frozen by her own feelings. well, that’s what atlas does to people. even if they’re floating at the top of the glass. even if they’re cracked.

she demands honesty, yet her thanks sounds anything but. this doesn’t at all feel like how it was supposed to go, and contrary to popular belief, qrow doesn’t really enjoy failure.

Winter might as well be Yang pacing in her room, or Ruby standing with wide eyes, or Tai staring at the ceiling, or Raven cutting away at stumps. her pain weighs heavy on him, and he’d rather help her heave it off for both their sakes.

“but i gotta say… it seems like there’s still a thing’r two on your mind. already opened th’ can ’a worms, y’know. might as well dump it all out an’ move on.”

he bets this would go smoother were it something he could bust open with his sword, or if only they could do it over a drink.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Winter’s gaze follows his hands, watching the way he digs fingers into his sleeves. The motion is a familiar one, though she isn’t certain where it comes from for him. Anger, perhaps, or something more complex that he doesn’t show.

She cannot answer in a way that he will be happy with, but she had tried. It is not due to him that her voice shakes.

For a moment, she thinks that will be the end of it: that he will simply take his leave of her, or they will sit there in an uncomfortable silence until she finishes her drink and leaves without another word. It gives her a breath, a moment to try and put her thoughts back together before he speaks again.

A thing or two on her mind. No, it was far more than that: enough that she feels like she is drowning in them, more often than not. It isn’t his duty to carry her problems, the way that he carries his own and shoulders the burdens of the people he cares about. It is a pain she recognizes, knows that he carries without being asked – but it cannot come so easily.

She can’t place the weight of all of her thoughts on his shoulders… but perhaps one?

Pacing a short distance across the room, Winter takes a seat, still tapping her nails against the side of her mug in thought. Finally, a single word leaves her with a sigh: “Fria.”

Her gaze moves to watch Qrow closely. He is the only one she knows she can talk about this with, one of the few people in Remnant who even knows about… all of this. And of the people she knows, the only one who won’t try to bullshit her with talk of duty and loyalty.

“I don’t know how much longer she has.” Winter’s gaze turns back down to her coffee, which is steadily turning cold in her hands. “Atlesian technology can keep her body alive, of course, but her mind… Her mind has been fading for too long. She doesn’t remember her family. Her friends. Soon, I doubt she’ll remember anyone…”

Except me.

She can’t bring herself to say it. It just seemed so twisted: once she separated her mind from viewing her as a tool to win a war, all that she could see was the poor woman locked in a cage. Alone. If her own battle with Salem went poorly, would that be her fate as well?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

he almost does walk away. the telltale signs of unknowing etched throughout Winter’s body and distant crystal eyes. qrow can tell the difference, more now than ever, after spending so much time around Weiss. the younger Schnee sister carried a fierce and independent fire that qrow had always tried to prod Winter towards. Ruby has more skill in sparking that kind of thing in people than he ever has.

Winter finds some of that strength, in distance, in solitude, in fidgeting just to bring up the revolting bile that came along with sharing feelings. qrow can relate.

“Fria.”

those shoulders raise and his chest heaves, arms still braced against themselves to take on that extra burden as she so understands, and with a heavy, mirrored sigh that expels in a disproportionately small huff of uncertainty.

so she’s not only been told, but selected. the next guardian of atlas. qrow frowns, only at his own disillusionment and distraction as of late; he really should have seen that coming sooner.

his brows knit tighter and tighter as he listens. he hardly knows the old woman, and her plight is not his priority. loss comes second nature to him and he has a whole collection of sob stories. living a long life of fulfilling destiny only to pass from natural causes didn’t rank high on his list of things to spare any sadness on. but the distress on Winter does unnerve him. and his mind travels along the same muddy paths into the depths of truth that hers does.

and he can do nothing for it. he can’t save her from this hopeless battle any more than he could save Summer, or his nieces, or Ironwood, or anyone.

“sounds about right…” his feet feel heavy below him but his frame stays solid in its lean. he adjusts long legs as if it had any hope of making this any more comfortable.

when he finally looks her way again, it is with soft, sympathetic features. he may not be tied to any leader any longer, or to orders, but each and every huntsperson does have a duty - a real duty, not a forced one wrapped in lorded ideologies, but chosen for one’s self each and every day. and he has a special purpose, and soon, so will she. even more than her current title.

he still doesn’t know what she seeks from him for this, and doesn’t know if he could give her anything satisfactory even if he did.

after everything, qrow can still hear Oz in his head. this is still his magic after all. and Winter still has a choice.

“… are you ready?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He reacts in the way she expects: subtle, but not unseen by her careful watch. That is enough to answer one of the questions that she had been wondering. He had been just as in the dark about this particular detail as the rest, this secret that has been weighing down on her.

She cannot take it back, now that it’s spoken. It is his choice whether or not to shoulder the burden, but the weight has lifted at least somewhat off of her own mind. She had long since grown comfortable in keeping secrets: too much of her career centered around it, but when those secrets tied back to herself… somehow, there was something far more difficult in that.

The mug is clutched so tightly between her hands that she is concerned the porcelain may give in, but it remains solid between her fingers as she meets his gaze, and he asks the one question she doesn’t have an answer for.

There is an answer on the tip of her tongue, of course: yes, of course. Yes, I know my duty. Yes, I will do whatever it takes to defend, to protect, to be a good soldier. But the thought of trying to say any of it makes her jaw ache, and she simply turns her gaze back down to the cup in her hands.

Had it been anyone else asking ( Ironwood, Clover, her sister ) she knows the answer that would fall from her lips without so much as a thought. But he’s always been able to see through her.

“Can you be?”

[mathysphere]

Hey, so, this post here-- by @hadeelfamily, a woman trying to evacuate her family from Palestine-- is real. She is who she says she is. I'm certain of it.

I've donated myself, and will donate more; for the rest of the year-- or until their need is met-- one half of everything I get selling cross-stitch patterns will go to Hadeel Mikki and her family.

If you would like to see my research and reasons to be certain, it's after the cut.

The fundraiser is for a woman named Hadeel Mikki and her family-- her husband, two daughters, her mother, and her two brothers-- and includes two photos of her:

A search for her name brings up a long internet trail: as a programmer and former computer science major, Hadeel Mikki's been active online, and when she's posting about work stuff-- mostly web and app development-- Hadeel uses her real name and photo.

I found six different accounts, all using the same name, and all featuring photos of the same woman-- not all identical photos, but separate photos of the same person-- and all with activity dating back at least a year or more.

I've looked over the activity for each, and I do not believe there's any chance that they aren't legitimate.

Two of them are static freelancer websites, and another is an abandoned Pinterest account: the info there matches the others, but there's nothing current. On the other three (LinkedIn, Threads, and TikTok) the most recent posts are all variations on the same theme: "Please help my family. My young daughters are suffering. Please donate to help get us out of Gaza."

They're certifiably real accounts, and they link to the same GoFundMe. Is it possible that either her LinkedIn or Threads or TikTok account could have been hacked and hijacked into posting a scam fundraiser? I guess. But not all three, and not with the ability to post new photos and videos of her kids-- how would a hacker even get footage of a hackee's daughters in war-torn Gaza? You can't just hire some child actors. They need to match the kids from the family portrait.

This is not a scammer using someone else's name and photos, and this isn't an opportunistic hacker who managed to break in and hijack an account: this is a real woman trying to save her family.

I've looked through everything, and am myself convinced. I'll include summaries and screenshots of each account, along with the links if you'd like to check them out yourself.

On LinkedIn: profile from 2015, photo updated a year ago, liked and commented on various tech posts. Shared her GoFundMe four months ago.

On Threads: icon is her and her husband, shares programming content, "#ProgrammersCoffee" etc, and four months ago she shares a link to her GoFundMe. She has the same laptop as me.

On TikTok: early videos are about programming and app development, and the current ones are asking for help for her daughters, including photos and videos of the girls both before the war and now.

On Pinterest: nothing really there. Looks like she tried it out a long time ago and then dropped it. Still links to her long-defunct Google Plus account, even.

Five years ago she did have a board called 'Boyfriend gifts'. Must've gone well for her; they're married now.

[otakusheep15]

The Obey Me fandom is back at it again lol

This is probably the longest post I've ever made, and I honestly don't know why it got so long to begin with. As a brief summary, someone on Reddit insulted Levi, talking about how he's a creep and no one would like him if he existed irl, and they said we need to raise out standards. However, they didn't ever mention how none of the brothers would be good people irl. Also, this is a fictional game with fictional characters who aren't real to begin with, so all of their argument is kind of invalid. And this is my response. The Reddit post is under the cut in paragraph two.

For those of you who want to know, the full post (excluding these two) is a total of about 15 paragraphs. Some are longer than others, but most of them are pretty decent lengths. I know not many people will read the whole thing through, and I get that. If you go to the Reddit post, most people in the comments do a better job of making these arguments in fewer words, so I'd recommend that if you'd prefer.

Update: they deleted the post, but you can still see the comments, so you can have a basic idea of what was said.

So, basically, I saw a Reddit post about Leviathan. Now, for those of you who don't know, Levi is my favorite Obey Me character, so I was naturally interested in this thread. The original post was about how no one would like Leviathan if he wasn't a hot anime boy. Like, if he weren't conventionally attractive, most people would see him as a pervert, a creep, and a weirdo. Then, the post ended with saying that we should raise our standards if we like Leviathan.

Full link here if you wanna take a look for yourself. Most of the comments on that post kind of said what I'm about to say now, so if you don't wanna read all of this post, I highly recommend reading some of the comments, as they do a good job of explaining most of my points.

Anyways, this whole post just completely misses the point of not only Levi's character, but the entire Obey Me game as a whole. The OP specifically goes and attacks Levi for his personality, but, in reality, if any of the brothers were real people or not conventionally attractive, they would be some of the worst, most hated people I can think of. All of them have their own red flags and bad personality traits, but that's part of the fun. The game is a form of escapism that shows us idealized versions of these people that would usually give most people major icks. I'm gonna go over just a few of my own personal icks with each character just to give y'all some examples, but just know that I'm not attacking anyone's fave, I'm just trying to make a point.

Lucifer has a very dominating personality. He acts like he's the most important one in the room, and he does his best to control you, the player. In a few interactions with him, you're not given the option to say no to his advances, and it makes me (and some others) uncomfortable. Plus, he has this whole thing about how he fully believes we can't love anyone more than we love him, which is a weird mentality. If Lucifer were real, he would be seen as one of those creepy guys who try and manipulate you into a relationship and then fully expects you to listen to whatever he says at all times. That's not attractive, that's creepy and a major red flag, at least from my perspective.

Mammon is way too overprotective of the player. Whenever we try and interact with one of his brothers and/or another character, he constantly cockblocks us and forces out of a romantic interaction. In real life, this behavior would be a red flag on so many levels, and it would just be seen as downright possessiveness. That level of possessiveness is not attractive. Not to mention, Mammon has a major money problem. He's constantly in debt and gambling all of his money away. He has a straight up addiction to gambling and spending money, and that is not healthy. Plus, he always seems to have beef with someone over money, and it's usually us or one of his brothers who has to bail him out of it. That's not attractive, and no one in real life would want to date someone with this much trouble with money.

Since Levi was the main focus of the Reddit thread, I'm going to skip him for now and come back later because I have some points I'd like to make.

Satan has severe anger issues, and I think we all know how well that translates into a relationship in real life. He very easily has the chance to become an abuser of some kind, especially a violent one. Not to mention, Satan has horrendous amounts of daddy issues, and that's all he can talk about half the time. These two things are a terrible combination, and it would not work out well in real life. If Satan ever got angry at a partner, who knows what he could do to them. He also has a bad habit of bringing in stray cats without any warning. These cats could have diseases, they could be violent, or they could be someone else's cat entirely. But he'll refuse to part with the cat, and it'll be pretty hard to get him to let it go. This last part is more speculation than anything, but he also seems like the manipulative type. Like, he's very intelligent, and he seems like he has the ability to easily manipulate someone if he wanted.

Asmodeus is very flirtatious, and he flirts with a lot of people. Look, I love Asmo so very much, and I will defend him with my life, but I'm making this point because it's necessary to my argument. Asmo would be a cheater in real life. He'd be a huge cheat, or, at the very least, he's want some kind of open relationship. Now, I'm not bashing on open relationships. However, I don't think Asmo would effectively communicate properly enough to have a healthy open relationship. He'd go out without telling you, hook up with people without telling you, and I could even see him try setting you up with other people without your permission. Not to mention, he's famous, and he has a lot of fans. Sometimes, he puts those fans first instead of you, and that can make anyone jealous. Not to mention, he has a habit of being very vain and attention seeking. he also prioritizes himself above all else, including you. He always compliments you, but then ends it with something along the lines of "but you're still not as cute as me," and ruining the whole compliment. This type of guy in real life would been as a playboy and a self-centered asshole, and no one wants someone like that.

Beelzebub eats way to much, and he's constantly running down his family's food supply. He also has a habit of spending way too much money, but it's usually food-centered. Again, this is just mere speculation, but Beel also seems like the type to be rude to waiters if they mess up his order or don't have a certain food he wants. It's already canon that he has pretty bad anger issues, and sometimes they can even rival Satan's, so it isn't much of a stretch to believe he would get angry at wait staff for something like this. Honestly, I can't think of many other icks I have with him, and he seems like one of the least problematic brothers to me, but feel free to talk about your own Beel icks if you have any.

Lastly, Belphegor literally killed us. Like, yeah, most of the brothers have threatened to kill us or have come close at some point, but Belphie actually succeeds. And, in real life, if you die, you don't come back, so Belphie is already the worst one in real life. But, let's move past that. He is so lazy to the point where he refuses to get out of bed half the time. He's constantly falling asleep in the most random of places, and it is downright impossible to wake him up sometimes. Plus, he also tries to drag us down with him, thereby keeping us from being productive and missing important events. Belphie is also the youngest child, so he's been spoiled his whole life and just automatically assumes everything he wants should be given to him without him working for it. For the record, I'm not saying every youngest child is like this, but Belphie certainly is. He can also be quite the manipulative guy, using his youngest privilege to pretend like he's all innocent and whatnot.

So, yeah, overall, all of the brothers easily have their own icks that would make them terrible in real life. However, I do want to circle back to Leviathan. I will admit, just like his brothers, Levi does have his own icks I would dislike in real life, but the one's OP brings up aren't even icks. They're traits that most introverted people have, not to mention Levi is heavily autistic coded and has many traits that line up with how people with autism act.

Their first point is that the way Levi talks about idol groups is creepy or weird. They then cite a quote from him complaining about how an idol group he likes that's known for being cute suddenly dropped a new music video that looks much sexier. Then OP says that Levi has not right to get mad over what an idol group chooses to do. However, Levi has every right to get mad. In fact, most people get mad whenever a group they like decides to change directions in some way. I mean, we all saw what happened when One Direction broke up. And, if you actually look at how Levi reacts, it's really not that extreme of a reaction. With how OP treats his words, you'd think he did something horrible like go online and spread hateful and misogynistic words about the group like so many creepy otaku men tend to do. But, Levi doesn't do that. He's simply just expressing his dislike of this new route to a friend. That's a very healthy way to express negative feelings, and he's doing it well. He even says that he's still gonna support the group and just see where it goes from there. He does nothing creepy or weird at all in this interaction.

And right after that, they bring up the fact that this is a fictional game. Their exact words are "I know this is all fictional and whatever..." and the ngo on to say something else. With that one phrase, they completely contradict their own argument. The whole point is that this is a fictional game with fictional characters. Levi isn't real, and none of the others are real, so there's really no point in getting hung up in their personalities like this. The only reason I did was to show that none of them are perfect and we shouldn't target just one without taking the others into account as well.

Then they say that no one would be gushing over him if he were real and that he's cringy, creepy, and weird. However, most of his traits are just those of an introverted, autistic person with bad social skills. He likes anime and video games, and he likes talking about those interests and interacting with his fandoms. Yes, he lacks a filter, but that's not creepy, that's just bad social skills. Hell, I tend to lack a filter because I have trouble reading the room sometimes. I am both introverted and mentally ill, but no one would call my behavior creepy or cringy. I just have trouble socializing, just like Levi. If he were real, he would just be an awkward guy who needs help figuring out social cues. He's not as creepy or perverted as people make him out to be, especially compared to characters like Lucifer, Asmo, and even Mammon at some points.

Finally, they end their argument with saying that if he weren't pretty or an LI, he would be the most hated character in the game. Except, he already kind of is, because this is how most people tend to think already. Many people fail to understand that lots of Levi's traits are just him being social awkward and autistic. If fact, he rarely even pervs on the player because he's too shy, meaning we have to initiate most of the more heated scenes because he won't do it himself. He's not a perv, he just lacks a filter sometimes.

And, honestly, this whole paragraph they stuck at the end: "Also: I’m well aware that ppl already think he’s creepy, but this is addressing those who excuse it all because he’s pretty, or loves you. Like please raise your standards. Also your free to have your own taste in men, this is not to make fun of people who like Levi. This is about levi himself, and if he looked totally different, things would not be how they are now." was just straight garbage. If we raise our standards for one, shouldn't we raise them for all? Meaning we wouldn't like any of them because they're all terrible.

Sorry this was so long, and thank you to anyone who stuck around and read it all (probably no one). I just get really mad whenever someone comes after Levi like this.

[deaththesyd]

Too Cute For Boundaries

Heyo y'all, I wrote a thing.

Summary: Kisame can't seem to find a reason to get up right now.

Kisame had awoken early in the morning, gently roused by the start of gentle rainfall tapping against the thin window. Dim barely there light was fighting its way through the same window despite the cloud cover, signalling the start of another long day of travelling with only a thread of a real lead on the whereabouts of their target. Not a man that shirked off duty, it was abnormal for him to continue lying still in the bed. It wasn’t even comfortable, somehow managing just the right balance of lumpy, squishy, odd-smelling, and scratchy fabric to make him genuinely long to be camping outside. It wasn’t comfort that kept him still, even as he focussed on the most minute sounds of movement through the thin walls of Itachi’s room. 

Cuddled up to him to fend off the chill that seeped through the poorly insulated building was the reason for his procrastination. Waking up with the shrimp snuggled up to him wasn’t even that irregular of an occurrence by now, but still, sometimes it made him pause. He wouldn’t say he was desperate for human contact, nor was he lonely, and despite knowing she was far more innocent than he could even pretend to be, it wasn’t that either. Something about waking up with her tucked safely to his side just made him want to savour it anyway. 

Maybe she could feel his eyes on her, or maybe even sense his puzzled emotions, or possibly she was just accustomed to the usual wake-up times her shinobi companions maintained. Either way, she began to stir, her breathing became slightly heavy and her face scrunched, and she flexed her hands, the one that was resting on him dug into his skin briefly before she released and began to stretch the rest of her body. Unfurling from her spot against him with a groggy groan, rolling back and forth, bumping into him, allowing her body to contort in whichever way it craved without remorse for how it affected him, before finishing her morning routine by rolling onto him and finally relaxing. If it was anyone else, he would have simply shoved them out of the bed. 

Not that he shared his bed with anyone else regularly, and certainly not repeatedly.

Why he even allowed it? He supposed it was part of the reason he had still yet to move.

“Morning,” she said, her voice scratchy and soft, waking up the same as her. Still settled partly on top of him, she had yet to open her eyes, taking the opportunity to rest for as long as she could get away with. But the noise from the adjoining room had become deliberately more noticeable, Itachi’s polite warning for them to get going. 

A gruff sigh helmed his morning greeting, the closest to irritation he could manage as the shrimp finally opened her eyes and looked up at him. “We’ve gotta get up, ‘Tachi’s getting impatient.” 

His voice came out as a rumble thanks to the added pressure of the pesky guppy using him as a pillow, sighing out a “Kay,” while not moving a single muscle to do so. After another moment he let out a chuf of disbelieving laughter.

“Why do I let you get away with the things you do?” He asked aloud, mostly to himself, but she always had an amusing answer to give.

"It's 'cause I'm cute," she said coyly.

He wasn’t going to argue with that, and neither would believe him no matter how he denied it, so instead, he tried playing her game. 

"Oh, so I'm not?"

Her giggle was near silent, mostly a few intakes of breath, but he could feel her shaking him with the entirety of her body anyway. "Of course you are, you're adorable!"

"Well then-" he then proceeded to stretch similarly to her, rolling around the bed and forcing her to fall off of him till he mimicked her and rested the majority of his weight  on top of her, "I guess I'll stretch too!" This was met with protest, her voice strained from his extra weight pressing her into the mattress, but her wheezing giggles made it clear she wasn't all that bothered. Plus, she was definitely awake now, but Kisame’s survival instincts were alerting him of a grumpy Uchiha a thin wall away from them patiently waiting to leave, so he carefully rolled off of her and got to grabbing his belongings. 

Another long day of work was ahead of them.

[sofreddie]

High School Reunion 2

Summary: Someone at the reunion has a big mouth.

Characters: Jensen x Reader, Jared

Warnings: Fluff

Word Count: 2,087

A/N: Inspiration struck out of nowhere and this piece was born. I have a very rough outline for a small series, maybe about 6 parts? We'll see. It's gonna happen randomly, no planned schedule for this one.

PART 1

Y/N bit her lip in excitement and saw a message from Lana. She immediately opened Skype to call her best friend…and thank her.

"Hey you! How was the reunion?" Lana smiled as her face appeared on screen.

"Oh my fucking God I can't believe you!" Y/N screamed, though it was mostly excitement as she blushed profusely.

"So…I take it you had a good night then?" Lana grinned cheekily.

"How could you not tell me you met Jensen Freaking Ackles?! I thought we were friends?" Y/N pouted dramatically as she plopped back on her couch, phone still in hand.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep it from you?" Lana screeched in response, "You remember my last night at the convention, I went to that place for dinner that had the amazing burger?"

"Yeah, I remember. You said you loved the place, that it was a perfect ending to the trip," Y/N remembered, "Now I get why."

"Ok, yeah, so I'm sat at the bar with my burger and a beer and he comes in and sits with a chair between us. I instantly recognized him, but was trying to keep my cool, you know. But he remember me! From the photo op! So we just got to talking and you had just split with Chase and I was so worried about you-"

"Oh Lana, you didn't," Y/N groaned.

"I was just venting about how much I hated that douchebag and what he did to you and what you were going through and how I was so worried about the reunion but thought it could be a good thing for you after Chase-" she rambled on, her words quickly tumbling forth as she pleaded her case to her best friend.

"You're not mad, right?" Lana asked timidly.

"How can I be?" Y/N shouted, "He walked in there all suave and shut down my high school bullies - who were trying to start some shit let me tell you-"

"No!" Lana gasped, "Amanda?"

"And the others," Y/N sighed, "And they were trying to cut in on me and I was gonna run, I'm not gonna lie," Y/N chuckled lightly, "But then he was just there. And she introduced himself as my boyfriend….Oh my god, Lana! What if that gets out?" Y/N sat bolt upright on her couch in a panic.

"Whoa, Y/N, calm down," Lana insisted, "More important than that…he introduced himself as your boyfriend?!"

"Lana!"

"I'm just sayin'-"

Y/N sighed dreamily, "Then we danced. Then he took me for a drive and we parked up at the spot and ate burgers while chatting and watching stars," she sighed again, as if it were a scene from a romantic film she had just watched.

"That sounds like a date," Lana helpfully noted.

"I thought that too!" Y/N squealed, "But that's just the fangirl right? I mean, there's no way."

"How many times I gotta tell you you're a catch, woman?" Lana laughed, "I'm not surprised at all. In fact, I'm taking credit. You're welcome," Y/N groaned once more and Lana chuckled.

"Did I mention we exchanged numbers?" Y/N added with a grin.

"And now I hate you," Lana huffed.

"Yeah, love you too you meddler."

Y/N sighed happily to herself once more as they ended the call. She tossed her phone on the coffee table as she relaxed back into the couch. Her eyes fluttered closed as she replayed the evenings events in her mind.

She had to be dreaming. There was no way this was real, right?

Too tired and content to carry herself off to the bedroom, Y/N laid down on the couch, settling into the plush cushions and dragging the throw from the back of the couch to cover herself, falling asleep quickly and dreaming of shimmering green eyes.

Jensen groaned as he slowly came awake to the incessant ringing and chimes of his phone. He opened his eyes, grabbing for the phone and peeking at the time.

6am.

He and Y/N were out past midnight. After he made it back to the hotel, he had spent the better part of an hour sipping on a beer as he thought over the night he had with her.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to talk to Lana in the bar that night. He could tell she was a nervous fan, and he remembered her from the photo op, just as nervous and shy. But after a beer or two with her dinner, she relaxed and their conversation flowed. It was nice, to be chatting away with someone new, different.

When she went on about her best friend Y/N, Jensen felt something. Apparently the way if affected her friend was severe enough to have Lana in real turmoil over it. Jensen knew what that was like. He'd worried over Jared a time or two just the same.

When Lana gave him a picture, however, his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful, with a charming smile. But he could see her eyes were sad and guarded.

When he realized the reunion was a few hours drive and a few days ahead of his schedule to be at another convention, he decided to make the stop to see Y/N at the reunion. At the very least he could chalk it up to a memorable fan moment.

Jensen rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he reluctantly sat against the headboard, checking to see why his phone was blowing up.

It took only a quick glance through the various calls and text and emails from various persons all talking about the same thing. Jensen opened the text thread from Jared, scrolling through the messages and clicking on a picture that was include.

It was him and Y/N dancing together at the reunion the night before. She looked as amazing as he remembered. Her smile was bright and genuine, but so was his. Apparently word had spread from the reunion that he and Y/N were together. That's when he remembered introducing himself to those girls as Y/N's boyfriend.

He wasn't so bothered by the turn of events, which surprised him. He had decided the night before that he wanted to ask her out on a date. Their chemistry was too intense to not pursue.

What bothered him was how she'd react. They'd literally just met and had a friendly, albeit great, evening and now she was possibly going to be bombarded with paparazzi and everyone in her business.

So much for that date.

He knew it was early, but he wanted Y/N to hear from him first. He opened the new message thread between them, seeing her text from the night before and smiling once more, before typing out his message.

Hey, Y/N. Hope you slept well. Was hoping to talk to you about something.

He sent the message, noting the time, and figured he'd give it some time. He didn't know her schedule, or anything about her really. With a groan, Jensen hit the green button to return one of Jared's missed calls.

"Dude!" Jared exclaimed as he answered after one ring, "I've been trying to get ahold of you for two hours!"

"Yes, Mom, I'm aware," Jensen said with a yawn.

"Did you see the picture?"

"Yeah."

"And?" Jared pressed for more, "Why aren't you freaking out about this?" Jared scoffed. Since his last major relationship ended, Jensen hadn't been with anyone really. An occasional date here and there for an event. But he hadn't seemed interested in anyone at all, and was quick to shut down any insuinuations to the contrary.

"I guess I should of seen it coming," Jensen shrugged, "I did introduce myself as her boyfriend after all."

"You what?" Jared was shocked, trying to wrap his head around it, "Why would you do that? Is there something you aren't telling me? Have you been dating her for a while? Who is she anyway?"

Jared fired off the questions in rapid succession like an excited puppy.

"I gotta talk to her first," Jensen said, "I'll see you at the convention in a couple days. You can interrogate me then."

"I want all the details."

"Don't you always?"

Jensen ended the call, taking a deep breath. He felt so stupid for what he did. He wasn't sure why he did that other than to shut those girls down. He really hated bullies.

He decided to get dressed and grab a couple of coffees on his way to Y/N's house. A quick look at his social media had told him that picture was blowing up. She was bound to find out sooner rather than later. He had to tell her first.

Y/N slowly roused from her deep sleep on the comfy couch, hearing an incessant rapping coming from her front door. She stretched, reaching for her phone on the coffee table and finding it dead.

She rolled her eyes as she threw off the throw, climbing from the couch and shuffling to the door and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She flung open the door, the morning's cresting light just bright enough to assault her eyes. It took her a second to focus, but then she saw Jensen, a small smile on his face and two tall coffees in hand.

"Jensen?" she asked, so very confused and wondering if she was still asleep.

"Hey, uh, I know it's early. But I really needed to see you this morning."

The smile he gave was sweet, but she could tell something was up. Was he worried that maybe she'd go blabbing about their night together? She'd never do that. But she guessed he didn't know that.

"Sure, come in," she smiled warmly, stepping aside and gesturing him into her home. She accepted the coffee as Jensen passed it to her on his way in. She shut the door behind him, taking a whiff of her drink before taking a long gulp, closing her eyes and sighing at the flavor.

"So, what's up?" she asked, shuffling on her feet, "Thanks for the coffee, by the way."

"You're welcome," he smiled, now genuine and inviting and Y/N's heart stuttered slightly at the sight, "I was hoping to talk to you, about last night."

She shook her head, "I won't talk about it with anyone, I promise. Well, other then Lana. I had to call her last night. Yell at her a little," she blushed.

He laughed, nodding his head, "No, I get it. But I wasn't worried about that or anything," he was quick to correct, "Actually, someone else already did."

"Did what?"

"Someone got a picture of us on the dance floor last night and might have said I mentioned I was your boyfriend," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh," she responded, clearly shocked and not sure what to say.

"I just wanted you to hear it from me first, you know? Before seeing it online or whatever."

"Online-" she echoed, her eyes going wide, "So, you can just post a Tweet or something that it's a mistake."

"Okay, well, to be fair, I did introduce myself as your boyfriend to those other women last night."

"Yeah…why'd you do that again?" Y/N smirked despite herself.

He shrugged, "Seemed like the right thing to do. Shut 'em up didn't it?" he grinned, "Besides," he chanced, stepping closer to her," Feels like we had a date last night."

She blushed hard, ducking her head before meeting his eyes once again, "Yeah, it did."

"And I was hoping you'd like to do it again."

"Really?" she asked. She couldn't help the dreamy look in her eye. She still couldn't believe this was happening.

"Yeah. So if you say yes, then we'd be dating, which is practically boyfriend and girlfriend," he explained casually, "So I think we should just keep doing what we're doing and let it ride. What do you think?"

"I think you might be a little bit crazy," she nervously laughed, "Let's start with a second date," she grinned, seeing him brighten up, "And go from there."

"And the press?" Jensen chanced.

"Let them think what they wanna think," she shrugged.

"You're freakin' perfect," he chuckled, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, even though she still had bedhead. He smiled at the cuteness of it.

"I should go freshen up!" she realized, seeing him look over her disheveled state, "Uh…be right back." she rushed off down the hall and Jensen laughed to himself.

He had a good feeling about this.

Forevers:

@sis-tafics

@lyarr24

@calaofnoldor

@hobby27

@spnbaby-67

@fangirlxwritesx67

RPF:

@smoothdogsgirl

JENSEN TAGS:

@akshi8278

@jerkbitchidjitassbutt

@slamminmine