#i hope its just a me thing. Esp since i have like hardly any other frames of reference or ideas to bouunce off of

[minophus]

[binniesthighs]

cherry knot | reader x ryujin

a/n: you may be thinking to yourself, ro! a gg fic?? how unlike you!! well, boy do i have news for you 😂 truthfully, i’ve always been toying with the idea of writing a lil somethin’ (esp for ryujin god i love her) so i thought why not! if this isn’t your cup of tea, that’s totally okay <3 those who do read, thank you so much for reading and i hope that ya like it hehe and let me know what you think of it! :D (thank you @dom--minnie​ for enabling me too ;) 

cherry knot | reader x ryujin 

🍒 Pairing: self insert, female reader x shin ryujin 

🍒 Genre: fluff n’ a lil bit suggestive 

🍒 Tags: friends to lovers, high school au (everyone depicted is 18+), all girls school au, high school crush!ryujin, shy!reader, confession of feelings, that good, good makin’ out, ryujin being flirty and smug as hell bc i love her, yeah this is just me gushing about shin ryujin, ro trying new things on the blog :) 

🍒 Word count: 2.9k 

🍒 CWs: mentions of food and eating reader included

The grass felt sticky and uncomfortable under your crossed legs, and when you swiped your hand against the skin, you could feel the indentation from the blades. Your knee-high socks felt itchy too; everything felt itchy. Even the cotton of your shirt felt like it was suffocating, and the bow tied around your neck which hung loosely should have hung even looser. 

To distract yourself, you plucked up the blades of green and tied them into knots absentmindedly. It was easier to pay attention to your idle hands compared to paying attention to her. 

Could she even tell that you were looking? Could she see out of the corner of her eye when she threw her cotton-candy pink hair behind her ear? Could she tell that you watched as she gulped down the lemonade and caught a glance at the peachy fuzz of her neck exposed by her collar? 

Stop looking. Stop looking. 

Your other friends tied up their hair in clips and with lazy hair ties to free their sweating necks from the sun. No matter the sweltering heat, it was always tradition for your picnic just before the summer vacation. One of them had brought a cake and each of the girls attacked it viciously with small forks and smeared bits of frosting on each other’s noses. 

“Come here!! You’re next!!” They beamed while launching themselves in your direction to dot your nose with the white cream. 

A flurry of high pitched giggles peeled out from each of you once another frosting victim had been dubbed. Your cheeks felt furiously hot knowing that she was looking; and that she was laughing along with the rest of them. 

“Awwww cute.” She adored with a smile that turned her dimples into whiskers on her cheeks. 

You quickly wiped it off with a handkerchief that settled into your damp hand.  

She’s looking, she’s looking…

The other girls pranced around the checkered picnic blanket in their white socks--undoubtedly painting them with green that their mothers would scold them for later. Their careless steps made a mess of the food wrappers and canvas backpacks that held down the corners of the thin fabric. The joyous cheers of the girls seemed to harmonize with the song of the cicadas in the trees; both sounds reminded you of the coming of the summer and the humid weather that makes the air dense. 

One of the girls brought out her phone and played loudly from it one of her favorite songs which she knew every word too, regardless of the fact that her tone was far from the singer’s. 

You and your friends never cared much for how others would view you. Even at school when you would march through the hallways arm-and-arm, others would stare at the way that none of you batted an eye at those who would glare. 

They were just jealous was all. 

“Be careful!!” You found yourself scolding, “What if you fall running around like that?” 

In response, your friends promptly stuck out their tongues in your general direction. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Ryujin coolly popped another cherry into her mouth from the bowl by her crossed legs. “If they fall, let them! It's funnier that way.” 

She threw a wink right at you, which you almost didn’t catch because you had quickly averted your eyes to become much more interested in the tiny tea-cakes. 

“You’re always worrying Y/n! Its summer!”

“I-I do not.” 

Ryujin chuckled in that way that always made you feel like your heart was just about ready to leap out of your chest. 

“Lighten up! Come on!” 

Before you could process it all, your friend patted down the wrinkles in her skirt and threw off her shoes. She rose, and neared your corner of the blanket with hands outstretched. 

“Stop worrying about things or if people are watching!” She scolded you with a cute and tiny pout, “Get up!” Ryujin wriggled her hands with emphasis to show you that you could take hold of them. 

“W-what…?” 

The other girls giggled on, hardly even noticing the two of you over their singing. 

You grabbed onto her hands, already loathing how damp your own felt against hers out of your own nervousness. She still held onto you tightly, saying nothing of them and helped you to your feet. Immediately she brightened once you played along and started to swing your arms in tune with the song. Your friend lip synced to the rap part and you felt just about ready to swoon from how cool she looked saying the words with ease. 

“Dance with me!! Don’t pay attention to people walking by or anything like that!” 

Ryunjin led you by the hand to the patch of grass with little white and pink flowers laced into it. You really did try to pay attention to dancing, but everything else seemed to be distracting even when you tried hard enough. She brought your hand up higher to spin her, and when she twisted, everything seemed to happen in slow motion: the billow of her plaid shirt, her rosy-pink hair which swiped just at her shoulders, even the way that the sunset melted behind her into swirls of sunburst yellow and vibrant orange. It was like she was all a part of it. 

“Your turn!” She said, twisting you too. 

You didn’t realize that you would have been as dizzied by it as you were, but when you lost your footing, she was just as quick to help you with her hands carefully grasped onto your shoulders. 

“You okay?” Ryujin asked, out of breath, but still genuine. 

“I’m fine!” 

Your knees wobbled with barely any strength to them, but you mustered every bit of confidence that you had to keep being this close to her. You surprised yourself when you reached back for her hands to continue swinging them between you. 

The other girls collapsed back onto the blanket in a pile of shallow exhales and airy laughs that they exchanged between them. 

“No more dancing, I-I can’t do any more…” One of them announced while leaning against the shoulder of another one of your friends. 

“I forgot! I brought this!!” One of your friends with pigtail braids dove deeply into her backpack and pulled out nearly all of the contents before finding the small cube-case which was decorated with an obscene amount of keychains. “My camera! We have to take some pictures so that we can remember this!” 

The other girls squealed in agreement and ganged up on her to fit into the frame of the white Polaroid camera that she had also splattered with stickers. 

“Here, I wanna show you something.” Ryujin drew your attention back to the blanket where she settled back down with her own bag draped over her legs. 

“What is it?” 

“Ryujinnie! I wanna take your picture too! Your pink hair is so pretty…” One of your friends cooed with a sad downturn to her lips, “I hope that you never change it.” 

“Hmm, I don’t know. We’ll see. My cousin has been saying that she wants to see what I would look like blonde these days.” 

The small talk didn’t concern you too much, you were more concerned with what it was that your friend had to show you. 

“I’m going on a trip with my cousins soon so we’ll see what happens.” 

Your friend sighed, and skipped over the mess of the blanket to pull Ryujin by the wrist to the walkway a little farther off. “You’d look so cute over here!” 

She pardoned her, and stumbled after the eager girl to let her take a Polaroid of her. Even from far away, you could still hear the two of them admire the picture with happy little expressions of “ah! I told you that it would look good!” 

The two girls returned, and you began to worry if your friend even remembered what she had said in the first place. 

What is it? What does she want to show me? 

“Shoot!!” Another one of your friends huffed out while looking at her phone, “I forgot that I have to tutor the middle schoolers today!! I’m late!!” 

The girls went to action in a mere matter of seconds sweeping up the picnic assortment and shoving the leftovers into their backpacks. 

You helped them and tried to look over to your other friend who didn’t return your glances. Perhaps she really had forgotten. 

You let your imagination run wild for just a few moments, although the more that you did, the more it all just seemed preposterous. Maybe it was a confession letter, maybe she had written for you one of those poems like she had liked to do, maybe she had rather wanted to talk to you about something...say something that you wanted to say back…

“I’m going to stick around.” Ryunjin said suddenly with her hands on her hips. “Y/n, you’re welcome to stay too if you want. We don’t exactly have to go home yet since the sun’s still up.” 

Your friends looked to you for your answer, to which you stammered out an, “O-okay…” The best that you could. 

“See you later!!” They called after with their shoes only half-slid onto their feet. 

You waved them off, but the farther that they walked away, the more the realization started to hit you that you were alone with her. The sound of your heartbeat echoed in your ears, and you calmed it trying to think about anything else but the fact that now her attention was truly undivided upon you. 

“You said that you wanted to show me something?” 

Your friend nodded, and patted the grass beside her for you to join her. She gathered up the small bundle of cherries left behind and positioned them into her lap. 

“I learned this trick a little bit ago and I wanted to show you!” 

“A trick?” 

She nodded, and plucked from one of the crimson berries a stem which she put directly into her mouth. 

“What are you doing?!” On the surface, it didn’t seem like the most sanitary thing to do. 

Ryunjin stifled a laugh and lightly hit you on the arm to chastise you. “Just wait a minute!” 

You watched in your confusion as her face contorted a little, and her eyebrows twisted like she was thinking. Her cheeks puffed a little too, and you could tell that she was doing something with it in her mouth--it was only then when you realized that you had been intensely observing her mouth. 

In your embarrassment you threw your eyes in the other direction, but it was no use one you heard her start to giggle at how flustered you had become. 

“It’s okay, you’re supposed to look.” She assured you. 

“What-what is it?” 

“Annnnd done!” Your friend proclaimed proudly and you struggled to meet her again without feeling like your whole face and the tips of your ears were burning up. 

Right on the pink of her tongue she had tied the stem into a tiny knot which she displayed proudly. 

“You...did that with your tongue?” 

“Mm-hm!” 

Your hands reduced back to their clammy state, and they found the grass between your own folded legs to find something to do. 

“That's...that’s pretty cool…” 

“I know right?!” 

Back came your friend's little dimples, and this time your chest started to feel like it was swelling with heat. 

Stop looking, stop looking…

“I can teach you how to do it some day if you’d like.” Ryujin’s tone dropped lower, and more serious in the way that some had thought to be intimidating. To you, there was nothing more that could make you feel the beat of your own heart more obviously. 

“Teach me? How??” 

The question felt like a butterfly in your lips, fluttering and ticklish, light and uncertain. You met her eyes the best you could; even though you knew that there was nothing about her that you didn’t already know, or that was threatening. 

Your friend tilted her head, inspecting you and the way that you could barely keep your glance away from her lips--stained just a little red from the cherries--then smiled. 

“W-what? What is it? Why are you smiling?” 

She sighed, and craned forward on one of her hands in the grass, bridging the distance between the two of you to caress down the side of your face, all the way to your jaw with the back of her fingers. 

“You’re just too cute.” 

“Hm?” Your chest threw itself up and down, and you could thinly feel the breath that tried to fill your lungs when she was this close. 

“I just can’t handle it any more.” 

“Me?” 

Ryunjin nodded, softening her eyes until they were nearly closed, and rid the two of you of all space, leaning over just so you could feel the weight of her chest nearly pressing into yours. At first, she placed the lightest of kisses into you, so light that it barely brushed against your lips, but merely imprinted upon them. She leaned back, leaving you with the ghost of a feeling of her upon you. It felt a bit unfair how fleeting it was, and how she looked at you like that: smug as ever, but as blissful as she always was. 

Your breaths tried to make sense of it all, if it had just happened, and what to think of it. As quick as it was, all you could want was to feel it again. 

“Ryu--” 

She cradled both sides of your face in hers, leaning in with more fervor and parting your lips with hers, leaving you to squeak from the sudden movement. You couldn’t figure out how to kiss back at first, or if you should hold her too. Your head felt like it was spinning in circles from your disbelief when you could taste the tiny tang of the sweet and sour cherries which lingered on her lips. She rubbed her thumbs into your cheeks, and angled you better to let her growing smile paint your own mouth from corner to corner. 

At last, you were able to find a rhythm which suited you, and you kissed her right back. She giggled at your stroke of confidence and the vibrations made your whole body tingle. Your feet had surely fallen asleep where you had folded them beside you, but the numb feeling of them dissolved once her hands fell to your shoulder where she held to you tightly. The pressure from the tips of her fingers made you shiver, and you too smoothed down the pink shine of her hair. 

The warm and ticklish feeling of her tongue grazed your lower lip where she changed her approach and deepened her kiss. The heat of tongues finally met in the middle testing and learning more of the other the closer that you became, and tiny airy gasps got stuck between both of your curiosity. In your lap, her hands found yours and they laced together and held tight; each digit wrapping the other and becoming one with the eagerness of her thumb rubbing little circles into the squishy parts of your hand. 

After the heat of your passion started to melt, you found yourself hiding your giddy laughter the best you could once she started to peck at your lips over and over until you felt like she had kissed you so close to the brim that you would overflow. 

“I said that you’re cute and I mean it!” She snuck the phrase in between a couple more kisses, eliciting you to fold up in your giddy embarrassment from the compliment. 

Ryunjin pulled away, and popped another cherry into her mouth from the bundle, then threw her arms around your shoulders. You simply let your hands rest in her lap covered by the plaid of her skirt; shaking from the release of the endorphins and the adrenaline. 

“Ryujin...I wanted to tell you that I’ve had a crush on you for a...really long time…” You shied, but she brought your chin back to look at her directly. 

“Good. Me too.” 

You couldn’t even process the combination of her words for them to make sense. White noise filled your ears, even though it should have been obvious from the way that she had kissed you like that. 

“Oh! Here. I wanted to give this to you too. Something to remember me by.” 

She reached for her bag, and pulled out a white-out pen from the front pocket. The Polaroid had faded into its full color, and she focused with her tongue peeking from her mouth as she wrote the message: 

see you soon <3 

- ryujinnie 

Over her head in the picture, she doodled a few hearts, then she blew on the ink to dry it. 

“For you!” 

You took the picture with your hands still thoroughly shaking, and all you could utter was a “thanks” while you took in your friend looking as gorgeous as she always was. You knew then that you would treasure the image forever, and the day which it was taken. 

“Who knows,” Ryujin started, and let her head fall to your shoulder where she nuzzled in, “This might be the last that you’ll see of my pink hair too.” 

You turned the picture over, already sensing how it made your heart feel like it was aching sticky and sweet, just like the cherries. 

~🌹~

Bunch of (Ro)ses! 

@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @lunarskzzz  @yourdaddychan @bubblelixie @spnobsessedmemes @cherrychngkyn @iwanttobangchan @dom--minnie @waterthemoon @pastelracha @mistakensilence @hotgorloikawa @bowlofblueberries @lmhmins @eunaeiekim 

[cosmicallyavg]

okay okay i didnt want to fully hijack someone else’s post but i saw this ask 

and these tags in a reblog of the ask from @inlovewithanathemadevice 

and imagined up something really heartbreaking so im gonna write it for you all to see 🥲

so all i can think is how it can be like a direct parallel to when ten carried donna to her doorstep and just the sad "help me" when wilf opened the door?? okay hear me out  

like the doctor gets hurt somehow and knows shes dying so she tells yaz to get away so she can find somewhere safe since theyre away from the tardis.

(maybe dan is there as well? but i kinda imagine this whole scenario to be with no dan?? idk he can be there too if he wants its not that big of a deal i just dont want to have to juggle more characters if i dont have to) (like idk if he’d really do much other than support yaz through the aftermath but i digress)

yaz absolutely will not leave the doctor and will not have any of her nonsense and drags her back to her family's flat because they're close by despite the doctor’s protests - she hopes no one is home because how would she explain what's going on, she hardly even knows what's going on

she's fumbling with the key trying to get the door open but najia hears the commotion and opens the door to yaz sobbing and the doctor looking in a bad way. theres a beat where she just stands in silence, unsure what to do.

yaz is confused, upset, panicking. she’s maybe a bit more harsh with her mum than she normally would be

“either help me or get out of the way, mum”

obviously najia lets them in but she hasn't seen yaz in a year or so and wants to demand explanation but also her daughter’s weird friend probably needs medical attention. yaz insists she not call an ambulance and that everything will be okay but clearly not because the woman looks like she's dying

they guide the doctor to the sofa, neither of them know what to do. but the doctor is trying to explain everything, how she is actively dying and is going to change. how it’s very dangerous and destructive and she shouldnt be in their flat, but more importantly that neither of them should be this close when the regeneration actually happens.

yaz’s mum doesn’t even know the doctor is an alien, all of this information just sounds like a bunch of nonsense, but yaz insists she will explain when everything is over, but right now isn’t a good time obviously

the doctor gives her best attempt at a speech, thanking yaz for everything she's done and how she's helped her grow etc etc. she tells najia she raised a wonderful woman who is smart and brave etc etc. in which she still doesn't get any explanation on who the doctor is/what she is/how yaz knows her/what their relationship is like. 

the doctor knows its coming, she tells everyone to back away and yaz of course refuses, but i think a callback to arachnids where yaz tells her mum that she "owes the doctor her life a few times over" would be super heartbreaking so im going to include it

"yaz you don't owe me your life, you don't owe me anything but please don't make me push you away again. please just get away."

people want their first and only kiss to be during the doctors regeneration so that would fit here!!! obv i would love for them to kiss before this but either way you could fit a kiss in here okay.... like the doctor has admitted her admiration for yaz and its a heat of the moment thing where yaz is going to lose her so she just goes in for it??? its short and desperate and everything is bathed in a golden light (it could have similar visuals to nine’s regen 👀) and its beautiful and sad and painful. yaz has to force herself to back away just in time for the regeneration to happen

also if they kiss like right in front of najia it would be fun bc she clocked them back in series 11 and yaz denied it so hard. jfhsjfh esp if dan is there because he would literally cheer them on fsjdfjjkj

okay okay so the regeneration has happened... 

yaz didnt know what to expect but there’s literally a different person sitting in the spot the doctor was just in. she can put two and two together but that doesnt make her any less confused. new doctor says funny introduction line like always. yaz and her mum share a confused look. end of episode.

next episode we start back on the sofa, maybe some of the flat is a little destroyed but its fine, everythings fine. new doctor is high on regeneration energy, yaz and mum still super confused. new doctor starts walking around, being clumsy, etc. we get the usual hijinks where the doctor doesnt know who they are, doesnt know who their companion is, and just needs to sleep. 

yaz of course i think would react similarly to rose where she kinda doesnt believe its the doctor, but more than anything is like.. hurt and confused that this doctor is not the same as her doctor. her mum has SO MANY questions, naturally. her first of course being “did you just kiss the doctor? so i was right you ARE seeing each other.”

while the doctor sleeps somewhere, yaz and najia sit down and have a long conversation about the doctor and who she was/who they are now, why they changed, where yaz has been this whole time, etc., if we imagine dan in this scenario she would DEFINITELY ask about him.. like last time you brought your friends around there was a different old man what is this about.

like her mum deserves an explanation after so long without yaz around and why she ruined her prospects with the police for some alien who just died on their couch????? 

i really dont know how to end this but thats really only as far as im planning this in my head bc otherwise ill write a whole episode

idk just..... i am so vividly imagining this and i needed everyone to hear my thoughts. i just know the regeneration is going to be super painful regardless so i might as well make my own sad rendition. 

okay thank you for listening bye

[vs-redemption]

Ok so I forgot what it was for a bit and now I remember. Can we all imagine Dabi x reader who’s like Harley Quinn? :D like Margot Rabbie Harley esp.

~🐱❤️

From Cindy: Hey🐱! Thanks for another great request. It was REALLY fun to write this one! I hope you enjoy it!

“We’re the Bad Guys” Dabi x Harley Quinn!Reader)

The sound of shattering glass ripped through the night which had been as silent as the grave just moments before, causing the already suspicious looking individuals in front of the jewelry store to hop into action. The disturbance was followed almost simultaneously by an ear piercing alarm, undoubtedly alerting both the police and nearby heroes as to what was taking place.

“Seriously?!” The villain known as Spinner jams his key into the ignition of the stolen getaway truck and starts the engine while glaring out at his so called partner in crime, who was still standing on the street, looking completely at ease. “It’s like you both want to get caught!”

Dabi could care less about the paranoid ramblings of his fellow villain. He was too busy admiring the sight of you climbing leisurely out of the broken window in your classic ripped up t-shirt and red and blue sequined shorts, a giant wooden hammer in one hand and a bag stuffed full of money and jewelry in the other. The grin on your face doubles in size when you see your boyfriend waiting for you, a look of pride and admiration in his eyes that were just as blue and alluring as the sapphires you’d just snatched.

“Nice work, babydoll,” the way he smirked at you made you feel like the most powerful person on the planet. You closed the remaining distance between you both, a skip in your step, and tucked yourself into his side. He wraps one arm around you possessively while reaching over with the opposite hand to twirl one of your dyed pigtails in his fingers. “Did you get it all?”

“Of course I did, hot stuff.” You look up at him through your eyelashes, a sultry smile on your painted red lips. Dabi nods his head, looking satisfied as he lets go of your hair to grab the bag of jewelry out of your hand.

“That’s my girl.” He swoops down and presses a kiss to your temple, making you giggle playfully.

“Will you guys get in the darn van?!” Spinner’s impatient shout interrupts the moment, making your smile morph into a pout. “You know the heroes are going to show up any second!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dabi rolls his eyes, letting his hand drift to the small of your back to guide you toward the vehicle. “We’re coming.” He helps you climb safely into the van, taking the time to ask if you’re comfortable while the jewelry store’s security alarm continues to set the mood in the background. As soon as Dabi gets inside and the door is pulled closed, Spinner throws the van into drive and slams his foot on the gas.

“It’s the league of villains!” A hero had finally arrived on the scene and the flashing of red and blue lights could be seen coming up the road from a few oncoming police cars. Not being able to resist, you roll down your window and stick your body halfway out of the van to wave at the random hero who was trying and failing to keep up.

“Yoohoo! You were a little slow today!” You call out with a pleasant smile. “Better luck next time!” The hero looked furious at your taunting, but it hardly mattered since Spinner continued to accelerate, leaving all pursuers in your dust. You giggle again and slide back inside the van, glancing over at Spinner and giving him a wink “You lost him! Great driving, Scales!”

“Don’t give me a nickname!” Spinner sputters, getting flustered by your flirtations even though he knew you didn’t mean anything by it. “And you know this whole thing would’ve gone a lot smoother if you had just followed the plan like we talked about! Shigaraki didn’t want the police or heroes knowing we were involved with a robbery like this.”

“But we’re the bad guys!” You shrug after tilting your head cutely. “It’s what we do.” Spinner chose not to reply, opting instead to mutter to himself under his breath about never doing a mission with you again.

Dabi, meanwhile, had absolutely no complaints about how things had played out. Sure, the League of Villains wasn’t exactly known for robbery, and you could easily have slipped in and out of the jewelry store without bringing attention to yourself at all, but who cared? Shigaraki had asked the three of you to figure out a way to secure funds to pay for supplies and better support items for the team, and that’s exactly what you’d done. With the heavy bag of jewelry you’d nabbed, the villains would be set for a while. Shigaraki could whine all he wanted about your methods, but Dabi thrived on the chaos.

More specifically, he thrived on your chaos.

He’d heard people call you crazy on more than one occasion. It was how you were described in the media and even the other villains had expressed concerns over your mental faculties. But Dabi didn’t mind. Who was he to judge anyway? He knew he had more than a couple of screws loose himself. The way you went about things wasn’t always the smartest, fastest, or most convenient, but at the end of the day you got the job done. If others wanted to criticize you for it, let them. All Dabi cared about was that you made being a villain FUN.

“Hey,” Dabi takes your hammer and tosses it in the back of the van so he can wrap his arms around you and pull you into his lap. “Come here, baby doll.”

“Dabi!” You squeak is surprise, ignoring the irritated huff from Spinner. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, I just like having you close.” He allows his facial features to soften before giving you another kiss, this time right on your lips. “You know I love you, right?” The way you raise your eyebrows at him makes his heart race in his chest.

“Duh!” You shake your head at the absurdity, letting out a laugh. “I love you too, hot stuff!” The fact that you can always say it so confidently gives Dabi a rush, and as the van continues to make its way back to the hideout, he knows without a doubt that he wouldn’t give up his fast and dangerous life of crime for anything if it meant losing you.

[redxblueihateloveyou]

spill the yoi hot takes :o

I’m really flattered with the amount of asks (I hope you won't mind that I combined at least 5, it's just easier this way), interested in my yoi opinions, I wasn’t planning to get into that honestly, until I mentioned it to my friend Alex (I’ve mentioned him here before without a name tho, he’s gay, he’s very into anime, he was also the one behind that 4am text “but how do u think Rin’s teeth feel on Haru’s dick” lol). 

I just didn't want to rewatch it, as I've said before, but something he said got me very intrigued and last week ended up with me staying until 7am for a virtual watch party that got pretty hilarious, but not for the yoi reasons lol.

So just know that to be completely fair we did it and I'm saying everything below with a very fresh impression, which hasn't changed really bc like I'm 25, I was watching it the first time when I was 21, not 14 xD. I think it got worse actually.

Once again, I know that since they’re both gay sports animes comparisons are inevitable, but to me one has nothing to do with the other and no matter the fact that I adore Free! and don’t like YOI, I don’t want to throw words like smth is “superior” out there, bc I don’t want to be like those YOI fans back in the days, who thought that none other gay ships should exist after this (unless they say smth specifically for me to counterattack, then I can say whatever lol).

Like if you love stories like this, it’s okay. Like what you like. But to yell at everybody that they must think that this is how relationships should be and trash every other gay ship in existence, you maybe should not, especially when you don’t really have much to be proud of. Just like kisses don’t make a love story high-quality, full censorship doesn’t take away a good love story.

"Heaven official’s blessing” is also censored, but no matter how much you censor it, their love for each other is seen in their actions so clear, that it is in fact will not take anything away from the power of their feelings and the greatness of their love story if at the end they won’t show them kissing. Just like if I kiss a random stranger on the street, it won’t make us the best couple in the world.

Now I went into watching YOI unbiased the 1st time I watched it (I did watch it after Free, bc it was in “recommended”). I did not expect it to be “like Free”, I just wanted smth that’ll give me the same kind of emotion, investment in the story, ship, etc. It didn’t, so I just moved on.

I didn’t even think deep about why. I thought I just grew out of the “Cinderella” stories a long time ago or as it was here not very gracefully called “how to turn the pig into the prince”.

Like if you want the “she’s all that” but with the boy instead of a girl, you’ll probably enjoy YOI. But once again, love stories I enjoy are the opposite of those. It's really nothing bad, if you enjoy the stuff like “Someday my prince will come” in whatever age tbh, but I since a certain age just wasn’t invested in those anymore and began to obsess with stories like “Anastasia” instead, and I’m talking about love stories with less naivety in between and feelings out of nowhere, but more stuff like “yes, bitch, I find you attractive, true, but whether I fall for you unconditionally or not, only real life situations will tell later on”.

And I don’t mean stuff like going through war together or some epic journey, but grown ups must know those. Those life situations or even tiny things someone do, that make you not only fall for someone, but think “yeah, I can imagine my life with you”.

Like in my humble opinion, you can’t fall in love with someone bc of the way they swim or skate, for example. What ppl call “love at first sight” is in fact “attraction at first sight”. So yes, we do joke about Rin falling in love at first sight, bc he did in fact walked into the hall, saw Haru and was like “dat bitch is so fine”, even tho he was just standing there, but once again, he was just attracted to him. What happens after this is you can go on a whole beautiful journey with tiny Rin putting together the prettiest puzzle of why he falls for Nanase Haruka. In such little things like when Haru slowed down when he saw Nagisa feeling bad during running and Rin was like “omg you’re so uwu”, how he mentions that he always helps ppl, but never asks for help himself, he slowly gradually paints a picture of what kind of person Haru is, same goes for Haru about Rin. And then you have a whole story of them falling for each other all over again when they’re already adults, and you again watch it through their eyes, and once again I’m not in fact talking about some grand gestures like 1x12, I’m talking about stuff like them focusing on Haru’s eyes shaking, when he saw that Rin secretly helps Rei to learn how to swim. It’s the little things, that you watch and you get why they feel what they feel for each other. And that also makes you fall in love more with their characters by seeing how the other sees them.

YOI doesn’t have those moments. Not only they weren’t in any situations that would make them know each other for who they really are, they hardly even know the basic info about one another. Hell, the viewer doesn’t know anything about them. And this is why to me it goes into the category of those typical romcoms I can’t get invested in.

So I don’t think these two can be compared. And while some yell “bc you’re not canon, but yoi is canon”, I think they can’t be compared for another reason. Bc some ppl are trying to prove to me that a 27 years old man fell head over heels in love with someone overnight during a drunk banquet, then watched a vid of him skating and flew to another country and hey “if you win a gold medal, lets get married”. This is not the kind of relationship progression I’m looking for like at all. Between that time he started training him and their “censored kiss” there was nothing and I mean nothing that’d made me go “yeah, I see why he loves him”.

But anyways, lets live piecefully really, you can like one, you can like both, it’s all okay.

Like I know many have ptsd and it’s true that back when YOI was popular, most of their fans for real did annoy to death almost everyone, bc they yelled that No.6 is trash, when someone said “but you’re not the only one gay story that’s not based on sex”. They yelled that Free! has no right to exist bc its queerbating (LOL). By that time, I’m not gonna lie I was ready to poke my eyes out each time I saw smth YOI related, bc it was like: you make a multigay shipping vid -  “how dare u not include YOI”, you make a gifset - “you forgot YOI” like I HAD TO like it just bc it’s gay. There is no such rule to me. Just like I don’t care for some hetero romances, I don’t care for some gay romances. Simple is that. Once again gay has nothing to do with the relationships dynamic and the story.

Yeah, comments about fanservice. Like why should I watch Victor’s naked ass for several minutes every episode, but don’t get to see Haru or Rin’s at least once? So salty rn.

Free is more fanservice-y.. well, it’s hella fanservicy, yes, but like we can’t swim in shirts, you can tho not show naked ass in each episode, I thought you were skating. 

See, it’s all debatable.

But I do wish ppl stop putting yoi relationships on a piedestal, their relationship are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far from being inspirational for many and not even close to the what love is in my opinion. If you seek smth of a very high standart of gay love, choose MDZS for example, idk. But don’t throw YOI at ppls faces as a “this is how should be”. Not everyone wants that.

I don’t need a half-assed engagement and esp the censored kiss (like either do it or don’t do it at all honestly). Also stuff like this should carry weight. I don’t want things for the sake of things.

Like to me Rin’s “the only thing that hasn’t changed in my life is how I feel about you” speech, considering the fact that he felt like that throughout all those years, means hella more, than this. 

I think 1stly, it’s because of the “it’s like it was a destiny xD” factor and 2ndly, bc at least this scene gives a little more sense to the fact that he flew to another country to train him. Now it’s if “I fell MADLY in love in one drunk night and was pining my whole life after that and that vid was a sign for me to go see you again” makes any sense to you. At least that’s how some fans read it.

Once again it might be a good thing for a passable one-time romantic comedy. But plots and pairings like this is what made me turn to anime in the first place, so.. sorry lol.

All this mega tragic posts of “Victor was soooo in love for such long time, it’s so sad” made me laugh so hard. Like he feel in love so hard during a one drunk banquet with a guy who was so drunk he didn’t remember anything he did? WHY? HOW? what could he possibly do to make him fall that hard, no one knows. Like to me the only reason u can fall for someone in one night is if you saw him risking his life saving a kitten or a puppy from a car or smth.

I’m just not the kind of person who thinks you can fall for someone for no reasons. Again, you can find someone attractive and go from there, but there must be things along the way that will make me believe in the progression of it. It can of course all come in the future, but the story was what the story was. Whatever you are trying to add to it is already a fanfiction.

YOI is not boring per se, bc everything goes way too fast and sometimes with no reasoning, so I was more surprised that “this was it?” lmao. But their relationships are dull, yes. Bc there is nothing to even discuss really, you can only assume things, bc the whole thing didn’t give u much, esp in the characters department. It’s just really funny to me that someone would write a whole post of “I love this character bc I presume he’s like that”, usually it’s “I love this character bc facts, facts, facts”.

______

Now back to the beginning of my post and to the funny story that happened. We were randomly discussing shit, when I mentioned about possibly rewatching YOI, bc I didn’t want to start talking about smth in case I forgot some stuff (I didn’t btw lol) and turned out that he freaking disliked it a lot. I never even asked, for some reason, and we’ve been yelling about Free! and other stuff for ages and like his boyfriend is in love with Sousuke and they both adore rinharu to death.

And he has lots of gay friends who love Free (this made me happy the most, btw during our YOI chat I asked and it was 4:1 harurin:rinharu haha I win) and some ships from Haikyuu too, but turns out that literally none of them were into YOI. And the funniest thing he said was “bc it felt more heterosexual than some heterosexual stories I’ve watched”. Now I don’t know if it would make sense to anyone else out there, but I kinda did get what he meant.

I asked if it was bc of the “fairytale setting” and the fact that no one cared that they’re gay (bc “in front of the stadium?!” was the reaction, when I told them “there was a cencored kiss here” (btw not everyone got it lolz) and then “did they just write the story with a girl, but then changed it by the end?”), but they said “no, just the overall feeling”.

And like everyone knows that YOI targeted audience is hetero girls. It wasn’t made for the sake of the LGBT community and none of the homophobic ppl will watch it either, no matter what some think. So for whom they did it the way they did it is very questionable tbh. They say it’s the LGBT representation in anime, and yes, good, great, always happy about, but isn’t it kinda funny that some of LGBT representatives don’t even feel like it apparently.

Now I’m just saying some, I’ve asked him to ask around out of curiousity, and it was only 11 gay guys in total, who watched it, including our company and his bf who was forced into it haha, but 11 is quite a lot, considering the fact that not even 1 liked it. But then somehow stuff like MDZS and even uncanonical mikayuu was highly appreciated and loved, bc it accidentally made a dent in some extra conservative parents and dull ppl.

It’s just much more interesting to hear what guys who are actually dating guys think about all those kind of animes and ships, than some girls here who yell at me stuff like “why are you supporting queerbating”. Btw I asked Alex if he’s offended by that, he said “no, but we for real think they’re doing it” lmao.

It is supposed to be funny. You didn’t get it wrong. But if you saw many ppl would aggressively disagree with you. I just thought that “analysis” was an “interpretive process that draws conclusions from a set of facts”, not “writing a fanfiction based on assumptions”, but then again to each their own. 

The problem is that I don’t even get what’s cute about it, it’s just absurd to me. Like it’s pulled out of an ass, for real. They’re not in the stage of a relationships, when I would find such thing romantic. And all the agressive denying of the fact that it was indeed wedding rings made this scene cringy, too. The whole thing is cringy to me idk. The “win the gold, only then we’ll get married”.... It all gave me a weird feeling. The opposite of “touching”.

So in conclusion, when you skip most of the important parts of the love story and jump into stuff just for the sake of it, then also make fun of it, it leaves a hella weird impression and aparently not just to me.

And once again trying to market some primitive story as an epic love story, just bc it’s gay is extremely weird to me. If you make 50 shades of grey gay, it’s not gonna suddenly become a pulitzer prize winning kind of book, it’ll stay the same dumb af story with dumb af characters, but gay.

So being happy about some representation (and btw they still managed to add stuff like “its not gay if you exchange rings with your hommies” here and there and make it “hahahaha joking”), I get it, but to say that this what all the gay ships should aim for, pls stop. We really don’t wanna. Sincerelly. 

We here stick to a motto “I can picture the kiss of the characters whose story is so amazing, that the kiss is the only thing missing, but if I basically have just a picture of two guys kissing, I won’t write a whole story myself.”

P.S. I will forever laugh now tho at the fact that calling your bf a “pig” and being an arogant asshole without any canonically established reasonings is a great relationships, but Adam with his past gets what he gets now for the “dog” comments even tho his bf enjoys it lmao like I did not remember this bits in YOI. I honestly thought it was like completely “unproblematic” one, but it’s like hilariously not. So what ppl are trying to even put out their as a “pinnacle of the lgbt representation” as you say, like there are for real older yaois that are much better than this.

[lesbiancarat]

Yay!! Im happy to hear that! Hopefully you can rest up well from your semester!

Ahh by that I meant like you know how kpop albums have concept pictures included? Thats how I view what the TTT magazines are just minus a physical disc cx sorry for the confusion!! Honestly this is all so new and interesting, seventeen never really done something like this. Yes we had mixtape songs but not in this way so promotion will be different. I saw wonwoo and mingyu are doing a song but that isn't related to spider so that means its like jun's and minghao's songs. Which makes things a bit confusing lol, not complaining since hey more content for us ^_^ but yeah guess we have yo see when the next solo actually is. Oh and seventeen coming back!! This is the kind of news I needed, I'm shocked they actually have their own usa site to buy stuff (sort of like nct has) because I know bts nor txt don't. Well bts USED to but that was before bighit decided to shut it down in favor for weverse which sadly I don't see the need for (plus call me old and weird but I don't trust buying stuff from apps? Like I feel a bit more comfy on a computer which Ik doesn't mean its not safer but meh, apps make me fishy lol) also Walmart is selling the albums, bless my family uses Walmart alot (like we used it last night xD) so maybe I can squeeze it in next time? Granted I want to wait for the concept photos first because while I do like a surprise, its also just nice knowing what the vibe is. Or be the complete opposite of what the mv will be about lol.

Ahh as much i was being hopeful and had her eat, sadly my bunny didn't make it =c she passed away on the weekend. She was a strong bunbun, she tried her best to make it out but alas she didn't win. I'm a bit happy my gut instinct told me to spend time with her because at least I got to be with her for her last hour. It kinda sucks because I feel slightly guilty because I couldn't get her the proper help so I feel like I let her down (especially after I found out from reviews the food I bought for her is actually not good for bunnies and can cause problems so I feel dumb) I shouldn't since I gave my bunny the best love I could give while caring for her so she wasn't in a bad place with me. Still can't shake that off, feels weird not waking up and seeing her around or like when I play games she isn't near me chilling. Healing takes time of course so I'm making myself busy with enjoying content from my favorite artists. I made a lil promise that I would finish a game that I played alot while she joined me (it sounds silly but I viewed it as like "our game" ya know?) For her in memory. Sorry for babbling about this bsksbsjd. Losing a pet isn't fun at all. I am so sorry about your cat *hugs you* im sure that furry buddy was well loved!! If I may ask of course, do you have a favorite memory of your cat? Like any funny moment or cute ones?

ahhh ok i get what you mean! it will definitely be interesting to see how it all plays out since SVT haven't done a project like this before. I'm really curious how spread out all the solos are going to be. esp with a cb coming up it seems unlikely we'll get a TTT solo any time soon? but then again SVT are always surprising us these days. but i wonder if they'll come out just whenever a member happens to prepare it or if it's all scheduled out at semi regular intervals 🤔

but yeah it looks like bittersweet is part of the power of love project as opposed to TTT... it's getting complicated real fast! and yeah SVT is definitely expanding into/focusing more on US promotions now... it will be interesting to see how it all plays out! but i totally get what u mean about preferring to buy things on the computer it's funny how that is sometimes djfkgj i had been thinking about preordering the other day since it seemed like we wouldn't be able to pick the version we want anyway, but now that there are some shops that let you i definitely want to wait and see the teaser photos. every day i keep expecting them to start releasing but we get a different surprise instead OTL

I'm sorry to hear about your bunny :( but it's good that you were able to spend time with her at the end, I'm sure it made her feel safe to have someone who cared for her by her side rather than being alone <3 try not to feel too guilty about it, since what's done is done and there's no way to know for sure if it was the sole reason for her failing health. it's good that you're able to recognize and work through your grief, and i think finishing that game is a great way to do that and to honor her memory :')

and thanks, we lost her a little while ago now so luckily thinking about her is more nostalgic than sad. but as for a funny story Riley was a gremlin. she got up on the counters and kitchen table a lot when we weren't looking. she also liked eating paper and we had to be careful where we left things bc once she ate my sister's homework. which, ok, she didn't eat the entire paper but she did eat a corner of it and sort of ripped and crinkled the rest. i can't remember if my sister turned it in like that or if she had to redo it djgkgj

here's a picture of the frame/shadowbox thing my mom made for her after she died with photos, her collar (which she hated and hardly ever wore dhfk), and her favorite toy ;-;

also u didn't ask but here's my other cat liberty from a few days ago :P (she's getting older and has arthritis and kidney issues but she's still alive and kicking!)

[lemoncakepanda]

Top 50 NaLu Anime Moments {Pt 1}

And thus we get back to me fangirling over my favorite NaLu moments once again, only this time we do it based on the anime-only moments, which covers: canon, filler, movies and ovas. 100 year quest is not included bc it hasn’t been animated (yet) and it’s still fairly early in the story to start listing my fave moments, so we’ll just cover these I mentioned. If you’re not up to date with the anime, I recommend you skip this list.

Originally, I was just going to do 30 moments, but the list kept getting bigger and so on, and here we are. So I’ll post from least favorite to, well, most favorite, and will divide the list in 5 posts. In this first one, I’ll list my fave moments from 50 till 41.

Warning: lots of gushing and fangirling over a beautiful ship. also, a few moments will be differently placed on this list contrary to where they ranked before (some may be higher and some may be lower) and that’s due to the fact that some of them were better in the manga, whereas some were better in the anime, and some of them are lower simply bc dragon cry exists. so, here we go,

50. “Hang out with me a little longer.” (Ep 125).

We starting off with a filler moment, and you may wonder why it’s so low, since it’s such a cute moment. One, it’s filler. Two, it made into the list, which is already saying something. There’s many great NaLu moments, and they have a lot of scenes together, so choosing only 50 moments was hard enough, so no judging the rankings, kay? It’s the only scene ever where Natsu and Lucy are dancing, so I couldn’t leave it out. It’s such a great moment because, especially at first, Lucy hardly initiated the NaLu moments, and this was post Tenrou, which is known for its NaLu amazing-ness and where the ship truly start to develop, so to see Lucy grab Natsu’s hands even though he “ruined” what she thought would be a romantic moment, and just pull him in for dancing, was actually really sweet, especially at the sound of “Glitter” which is a great song. Also, it’s easy to miss, but Natsu is blushing when she pulls him to her so they can dance, which made the scene extra cute. Let’s ignore the fact that he probably puked on her next, lol.

49. Lucy stops Natsu in Edolas. (Ep 82).

Does anyone else find amazing the fact that Lucy can calm down Natsu and talk him out of so many fights? Natsu Dragneel, the guy who storms into fighting without a second thought? Because I do. And this moment here is no different. Back when I was watching this, I had no idea where we were going with NaLu as a ship, esp bc I knew Lisanna was coming back this arc, so it was nice to see them having moments like this, where you can see Lucy’s affect on Natsu, the way she calms him down, even when she’s upset too, like you can see on the photo. Also, a back hug, which is a total NaLu thing, so it’s a must on this list.

48. “That was dangerous. Thanks, Lucy.” (Ep 59).

BLUSHING LUCY IS SO CUTE! Srsly, though, I love seeing her blush over Natsu, especially so early in the series. I headcanon that she had a little crush on him around this time, but didn’t know how to deal with it, so she just buried it, but moments like these would happen, and it would slip out. Also, the matching outfits are a plus! I don’t have much to say about this moment, other than it’s hard to show this photo to someone and have them explain how could this be platonic in any way. I mean, they’re friends, ain’t nobody denying it, but it’s not just that.

47. Original Team Natsu is formed. (Ep 3).

Time to travel a bit back in time, back to when I didn’t even ship NaLu, and they certainly did not have romantic feelings for one another, but it’s still a pretty special moment, and that’s when Original Team Natsu, which consisted of Natsu, Lucy and Happy, was formed. I love how in sync they were with each other since the beginning; they certainly had immediate chemistry with one another, even when they were still getting to know each other. Gotta add this one, bc, where would we be if the Everlue mission never came in about? If they never needed a blonde? I mean, Natsu would probably choose Lucy anyway, but this was very essential to the building of their friendship, as it also opened the door for them to start spending time together.

46. Natsu saves Lucy from Zash. (Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry).

And from one jump in time, to something more recent, and where Natsu and Lucy are 100% the ship we love, which would usually not be so low on the list, but God, there are so many moments that weight more, especially on the emotional side, for me. This moment I feel it’s important to point out bc we all know nothing good was about to happen to Lucy, and Natsu once again comes through to save her, to make up for the fact that he almost hurt her, and he just burts in yelling “Give Lucy back!” and just wrecking in everything and punching that creep in the face. And he still picks Lucy up in his arms and is all flirty with her and starts sniffing her. Also, for someone who complains about Lucy’s weight, he sure doesn’t mind holding her like this, does he?

45. Lucy and Natsu falling from the waterfall. (Ep 59).

For those of you who don’t know, I feel it’s fair to point out Orácion Seis is my least favorite FT arc (yes, I know Alvarez exists, but at least it’s entertaining), and the only thing I really liked about it was Jerza, Wendy’s introduction, and, well, the moments with Natsu and Lucy, individually and together. I wanted to bring this moment in because it’s always nice to see Lucy being the one to save Natsu, but also because it shows how their relationship is slowly but surely progressing; before, every time he got motion sickness, she’d tell him to snap out of it or just call him pathetic. And then, somewhere along the way, she stopped finding it ridiculous. As we can see on this moment, I think for the first time, she’s so worried about him and goes on to save him even when she’s all banged up too, and she risks her life to protect him, even when he’s about to be sick right at her chest. She doesn’t ridiculize him, she doesn’t roll her eyes at him, nor ignores him, she steps in to save him because she already cares about him so much. It was a nice development in their relationship, and I’m very grateful for this moment. It’s always nice to see NaLu being reckless together.

44. End of the Starry Sky arc. (Ep 150).

And whereas in one we had Lucy jumping from a waterfall grabbing onto Natsu for dear life to protect him, here we have Natsu straight up jumping at the sky to save Lucy from falling to her death (again), with a beautiful scenery, with all the stars falling, nice background music, and, after the long roller-coaster arc we had, ending it this way, with Lucy giving Natsu one of her sweetest smiles after he catches her and then throws himself on the ground as they fall so she doesn’t get hurt, gave such a warm feeling to my heart. The nice reminder that although Lucy had lost all of her family (Layla, Jude and Michelle), she still had a family right there in him, in everyone else at Fairy Tail, and they would always be there to catch her. 

43. The “almost kiss”. (Ep 219).

While I’m sure we all knew there was no way Lucy and Natsu would be kissing in the middle of the anime, and certainly not in an omake, it was very entertaning to see how they both would react to the suggestion of doing so, which resulted in: Natsu was all okay going for it, and Lucy became a flustered mess. I like how the anime added her heart speeding up when Natsu came closer, right before she pulled Happy to the middle. And can we talk about how Natsu just went for that kiss, though? He didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest. Oh, if only Lucy wasn’t so shy! But it’s okay, I’m sure it’ll be even better when it actually happens in the actual story. Also, kudos to little Asuka, the mvp, speaking for us NaLus and trying to make dreams come true right there, lol.

42. “We can’t let it end here.” (Ep 122).

A small addition the anime made for the scene where they’re all getting ready to defend themselves from Acnologia, during Tenrou Island, which was very much appreciated. To see once again how Natsu knows exactly how to comfort Lucy, how he gives her hope, how they become stronger together, and have so much trust between them. Also, holding hands, which is always welcomed. They could have shown Natsu comforting anyone else, literally, it could have been anyone else from the guild who felt hopeless, just like they could have had anyone else comfort Lucy and give her hope. But, for this situation, who better than these two? They do so much for each other. Moments like these, filler or not, showcase how important they are for one another and the affect they have on each other. It could be their very last moments of their lives, and they were spending it with one another. Simply amazing and very touching.

41. Last moments before the war. (Ep 291).

Yup, I love this moment. I love how Natsu knows war’s gonna break out the next day (it happens on the same night but only bc Zeref is extra like that), and he goes to spend his last peaceful night at his favorite place, with his two favorite people, Lucy and Happy. I also like the talk they had and how Natsu explained himself to her, about how he loved fighting, but he didn’t like hurting/killing, and he only wanted to protect his guild. In moments like this, you can see Lucy look at him like that, like she’s thinking, yup, that’s why I love him so much. And when he says stuff like that, I think she can’t help admiring him even more. And this is the moment that opens the “let’s talk of the future” thing between NaLu, which has a nice conclusion by the end of this arc, which I’m sure you all know what is, and I’ll bring this moment back, but we’re still far from it. Anyways, a great moment because, even though it’s little, you can see how close they are with one another, and after spending one year apart, they’re more than happy to stay with each other for their last peaceful night too bad it gets interrupted huh.

Part 2 will be posted tomorrow!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Chapter 5; The battle rages on

*Author’s note*

And here we continue with the battle and of course you guys know I had to write the ONE SCENE THAT HAD TO INVOLVE TWO OF THE BEST INTERACTIONS AND WHAT I BELIEVE THE RUSSO BROTHERS FOUND THROUGH FAN-ART AND LISTENED TO US!!!! It’s literally in the beginning so I hope you all get a good kick out of it, esp. since I had you as the reader into the BEST scene of that film.

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

_______________________________________________________

With Thor on our side now along with his new friends, the battle continued on.  I had just taken out a few of the alien dogs with my super bark when I saw more coming in on the raccoon with the gun who was crying out.

“AHH! COME AND GET SOME SPACE DOGS!!”

‘Bucky I’ve got an idea, hop on!’ He soon mounted on top of my back and I raced towards the raccoon who was then picked up by Bucky.  

Then like a bucking-bronco in a rodeo, I stood up on my hindlegs spinning around letting out my resonance howl while both Bucky and the raccoon fired their guns.  All the while the raccoon was crying out “Come on! Get some! Get some! Come on! Get some!”

I then got back down on all fours and shook my head as Bucky released the talking raccoon.

“How much for the gun?” he asked.

“Not for sale” answered Bucky as he took aim and fired.

“Okay how much for the arm?” Bucky looked down at the raccoon and said not another word as he hopped off my back and walked off. “Oh I’ll get that arm” he said again.

‘You even think about touching that arm, you’ll end up wolf chow!’ I snarled out as I literally let out a low snarl.

“Yeah and how about you? How much for your arm and that suit?” I only snarled at him when my ears perked up at a rumbling nearby.

Out in the jungle, I could see some of the trees beginning to fall and something moved within the ground under the barrier. Suddenly coming out were these giant wheels and I could hear T’Challa say through my collar.

‘FALL BACK! FALL BACK NOW!’

‘Any chimera that’s within range of those wheels, save any Wakandan that you can!’ I cried out. I then grabbed the raccoon by the scruff of his neck and raced off all the while him ordering me to put him down.

*Rauri’s POV*

As those giant wheels came out of the ground I could hear my wife calling out to save any Wakandans that we could grab before they were skewered alive.  I then took notice of Rhodey and Sam Wilson trying to take down the ships.

“Maria, see if you and the rest of the eagles can help War Machine and Falcon”.

‘On it Rauri!’ I then turned my attention towards Mitchell who was outnumbered by some of the creatures.  I raced towards him and tackled one of them onto the ground and sliced its neck off with my Vibranium claws.  Mitchell panted and he said.

“I had him right where I wanted him”.

“I know you did” I said.  But then out of nowhere five of those wheels were heading right towards us.  They were coming at us fast and I doubt even if we did make a break for it in our wolf or dog form we’d still end up getting caught.  I turned to Mitchell and he saluted at me telling me it was an honor serving alongside me.  I nodded to him and we both braced for impact.

When suddenly a flash of red landed right in front of us and when I looked up, I had seen it was (y/n)’s sister Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch.  She used her powers to lift the giant wheels in the air and when another army of those things came out, she let out a grunt and let the ships slide on the other side of me and Mitchell destroying the army of savage alien dogs.

She then turned to us and that’s when I heard Mitchell say.

“Boy I’d hate to be you once you tell them why you sought out (y/n) in the first place”.  I glared at him as he held his hands up in surrender before taking off in his dog form.

“I already know”. I turned towards Wanda and asked again nervously.

“Pa-pardon?”

“I already know everything. Dream connections it’s a long story, but I’m glad in the end she chose to marry you”. Hearing that come from probably the strongest Avenger I’ve ever researched, that was the highest honor I could ever have gotten.

“Thank you Ms. Maximoff”.

“It’s Wanda” she said. I nodded then we both went our separate ways to continue the battle.

*3rd Person POV*

But with Wanda on field and no longer in the lab to protect Vision, it gave the opportunity for Thanos’ children to take the stone right then and there.  Proxima Midnight said through her commlink located in her gauntlet.

“She’s on field, take it”. Soon hidden in the lab was Corvus Glaive.  He killed one of the king’s guard before alerting another kings guard member as well as Ayo.  Fearfully and stressed for time, Shuri tried to work faster in trying to remove the stone as the next king’s guard member was killed right on the spot leaving Ayo left.

She fought valiantly grunting and snarling as she swung her spear skillfully until she was knocked down to the ground. Shuri then stopped her work dropping the screen and picking up her designed sonic cannon and firing it at Corvus rapidly but it did not damage to him as he cut Shuri’s table in half.

Ayo got up screaming and was about to attack but Corvus knocked both Shuri and her down from the podium and down to the ground knocking them both unconscious.  He landed on the ground and saw that the table was empty when suddenly he was tackled by Vision and the two of them were sent flying out of the lab and into the jungle.

From the battle as Sam was in the sky he said through his commlink.

“Guys, we’ve got a vision situation here” before he was suddenly tackled by one of the creatures and sent plummeting to the ground.

“Somebody get to Vision!” cried Steve into his commlink in his forearm before continuing his fight with the creatures. Bruce then flew in the Hulk-buster and said he’d get him.  Wanda then paused in the middle of her fight as said as she touched her commlink.

“On my way” but she then let out a yell as she was hit in the head and sent rolling down into one of the deep trails created by those wheels.  Proxima Midnight soon came over her and turned her on her back and sneered down at her.

“He’ll die alone, as will you”.

“Get away from my sister you bitch!” A voice snarled out.

*My POV*

I now stood in human form in front of the alien bitch who has harmed my sister for the last time.  This time it was personal, I would fight her no longer in my wolf form but keep this strictly human to alien.  But I showed her my wolf eyes to let her know who exactly she was dealing with.

She turned around and behind her wielding her old Dora Milaje spear wearing her Jaguar suit was my mother Morowa.  She spun it around before aiming it right at the alien bitch and she nodded at me once telling me she had my back this time.

She then turned back towards me and let out a yell as we both charged each other head on. Her sword connected with mine and I pushed her backwards before giving her a solid side-kick to the gut as my mother ran towards us and raced up the wall of the soil before jumping right in front of me and together we both alternated between stabbing and going for a strike on this wench.

Using her Dora Milaje spear, my mom managed to stab the woman in the shoulder and like Natasha did back in Scotland, she used the bitch’s leg as a stepstool to give her a boost before kicking her in the face.

I then turned my sword into an old Native American Bolas and tossed it at her which ensnared her in the strong rope but she managed to break the rope and come at me with her sword again but I managed to dodge it with my metal arm, before transforming the left over Bola into a Tomahawk.

I managed to get a couple of good jabs onto her before my mother finally took over.  The two of them duked it out as I touched my collar.

“Rauri! Come in my love can you hear me!?”

‘Loud and clear my love, are you hurt?’

“I’m fine but a little busy. Listen Wanda and I can’t make it to Vision and Bruce is a little busy fighting the bigger Hulk-sized alien. I need you to take Steve and find Vision before this bitch’s husband finds him”.

‘Are you sure?’

“Rauri next to me you’ve got the best nose in all of our trackers, you’re even better than Russo. Now find Steve and get him to Vision. He won’t make it in time even if he runs!”

‘Alright my love, we’ll find him’.

“Thanks babe”. I switched off my collar and went back to assist my mother.

My mother and I stood side by side as we tried one last time to end this psychotic bitch once and for all.  She alternated between me and my mother as our weapons collided with each other’s.  Suddenly a whirring sound came at us and we ducked just as one of those wheel-like ships came right over our heads.

I was then kneed right in the face and flown back against the earth before hitting the ground.  My mother let out a scream before thrusting her spear right at the woman but she was then gripped hardly by her hair before being literally flipped and throw across the ground.

I stood back up and this time turned my one tomahawks into two as I growled and the bitch came at me again.  The two of us crossed our weapons again trying to slice the other’s limbs off, nothing but pure, raw and savage instincts taking over the both of us.  Luckily I still had some sense of conscious while she didn’t as I managed to disarm her of her sword leaving her weaponless.  But she then trudged towards me while sending me a good few hard punches.

I managed to block them with my tomahawks but I suddenly lost my footing and she took the advantage and kicked both my tomahawks away before gripping my hair and suddenly revealing a long knife from her forearm and she went straight for my neck.

Thankfully I managed to block it with my metal arm but I could feel the blade just grazing against my skin as I tried to push her back away from me.  That’s when she suddenly grew red and was lifted into the air yelling right as another ship came by and literally turned her into sushi as her blue blood splattered everywhere.

I looked up to see my sister collapsing on her butt panting harshly as I sat up and half my face was scattered with her blood. I spat out a couple times before groaning out.

“Eww gross I got some in my mouth”. Which made all of us slightly laugh.

*Rauri’s POV*

Right as I got off comms with (y/n), I saw Steve starting to take off for the jungle.  I raced after him and I said as I got in front of him.

“You won’t make it fast enough Captain,” He looked at me before saying.

“You sure about this? I did technically interrupt your wedding”.

“Captain,” I phased into my wolf form and said through my collar, ‘it would be an honor to carry you into battle’. He then mounted my back and I took off running deep in the jungle and began to track my sister in law’s boyfriend.  I soon caught a scent and said. ‘Hang on tight!’ I then raced as fast as I could on my long wolf legs and we both saw the alien son of Thanos about to take the stone from Vision.

I soon came out snarling and literally tackled the bastard down to the ground just by using my large size and pure muscle to send him off his feet and across the jungle.  I let out a defensive snarl as Steve hopped off my back yelling to Vision telling him to get out of here.

I lunged at the alien but shockingly he managed to take one punch at me sending me flying towards the other side of the jungle. I phased back into my human form and snarled out as I spat out some blood.

“Alright tough guy, you wanna rumble? I’ve taken down things bigger and badder than you, and he was a former chap of mine”. I raced back towards Steve Rogers to see him trying to hold off the alien bastard from getting to Vision.

Right as he used his new shield to block the alien’s spear, I raced towards them and used my newly designed by my lovely wife and her partner Shuri the Vibranium claws much like my wife has on her suit to claw the alien’s back before clawing the spear right in half sending it to the ground.

Suddenly I was gripped by my head and was sent flying and felt my back impacting right against a fallen tree trunk.  I let out a groan and just before I could get up, I soon had Steve landing on top of me and I let out a louder groan.

“Sorry” he said.

“Not your fault”. As he got off me, suddenly the two of us were held by our throats.  I tried claws at the hand that held my throat tightly but I could feel my vision going black, I thought this was the end for us.

When suddenly the pressure let up and as I let out a series of coughs I took notice that behind the alien holding the blade half of his spear, Vision stood behind him holding the spear as the blade was almost completely through the alien’s chest.

He then dropped the spear which dropped the corpse body of the alien down to the ground before he too collapsed.  I managed to grab him before he fell to the ground and as Steve helped me bring Vision up he asked.

“I thought I told you to go?”

“We don’t trade lives, Captain” Vision said weakly. We then managed to set him up against a different log for him to rest.

“Stay with him Rauri until Wanda gets here” Steve ordered me. I nodded and stood guard while Steve a few yards ahead to scope out and hopefully make sure no one else was following us.

I then heard a faint sound coming from the air and soon coming down were both Wanda and my lovely wife (y/n).

*My POV*

After ending the bitch’s life, we handled the rest of the creatures who were now starting to flee back into the ships but thanks to Thor, those ships were being destroyed one by one.  Once we knew everyone else was being taken care of, Wanda and I headed off deep in the jungle to find our boys.

The two of us using our magical powers to get us there faster, we soon landed in the jungle to see Rauri guarding Vision as he sat on the ground weakly against a fallen tree trunk and stone.  I raced towards Rauri and the two of us embraced each other.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes I’m fine, just a little bruised but I’ve had worse scrapes than this. Can’t think of a better honeymoon than this huh?” I laughed at his statement before turning my attention to Vision.  I knelt beside my sister in front of him and asked.

“You alright Vis?” Before he could answer, the stone glowed and let out a loud ring as he let out a painful groan.

“What? What is it?” Asked Wanda alarmed.  She cupped his face and Vision’s face was full of absolute terror as he said.

“He’s here”.

Suddenly the air grew quiet.

I sniffed the air and felt my heart racing in absolute fear just as I’m sure Vision was probably feeling right now.

“Any chimera that isn’t fighting, get to our position. We have incoming” Rauri said through his collar.  He touched my shoulders and I could see the same hidden fear as I was showing.

“I can feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air…..this evil it’s…..” I couldn’t even finish it.  Soon enough Mitchell and Maria, the Winchesters, some of the primates, a few more of the big cat chimeras (mostly tigers and leopards left), and several bears.

Soon the Avengers, T’Challa, my mom, Okoye and Bucky all arrived at our position as they all could feel what was coming.

Suddenly we all turned as a blue portal suddenly opened up and slowly coming out was probably the ultimate enemy we would ever face for the rest of our lives.  He stood maybe well over 9-10ft tall, scarred purple skin and soulless eyes, on his hand he wore a giant golden gauntlet with five of the infinity stones already, and only one spot remained.  

The spot set for Vision’s stone.  

I knew right away of who this devil could be, there was no one else who could fit this description that Bruce painted for us.

The mad Titian Thanos had finally arrived.

[vanllacreme1]

it’s mac again ! i’m bringing over an old-ish oc that i hardly got to play but really loved ( which means that this intro is long bc i have a lot of thoughts about my son ) !! pls welcome my babiest baby boi, TEDDY LEUNG . 

☕ . ˚ ◝ ( lucas wong. cismale. he/him. ) theodore “teddy” leung is a twenty year old aries. the freelancer’s go-to order is vanilla creme frappe with two pumps of raspberry syrup and extra whip cream. they like to listen to ring ding dong by shinee while they wait for their order. the employees of the deja brew think they are meek but swear they’re totally optimistic as well. maybe that’s why a spray paint can, a velcro chain wallet, and earbuds remind me of them.  

PINTEREST

mentions of ptsd. injury. 9/11. deafness. 

i. born and fostered out of love, teddy leung is the son of a first generation chinese american military officer and a thai lounge singer. having met while his father was stationed overseas, his parents fell in love but just before they could get their relationship could fully bloom, teddy’s father was sent back to america. regretfully, teddy’s parents parted ways but even with an ocean between them, the culmination of their short-lived romance grew into a new life.

ii. teddy was a surprise, to everyone involved, and in fear for his love and his child’s life in the hands of her traditionalist parents ( afterall she was young, unwed and pregnant ), teddy’s father sent for her, causing her to have to leave everything she knew behind for a man she knew for only eight months. but they were in love and they both felt as if their situation was the fates telling them to be together.

iii. teddy came into the world kicking and screaming, his little lungs gasping for air as his limbs stretched out of their confines for the first time. an explosive ball of energy that his mother ate up and his father smiled down on protectively. he was their special boy, golden and proof that all their hardships -- the arguments, the alienation of her family, the stress -- was all worth it in the end.

iv. and for the first few years, it was harmonious. all focus was on raising teddy and providing for him, his father training the battalion on fort irwin and his mother working as a music teacher for the kids in the area. then, in the aftermath of 9/11, teddy’s father was deployed for five years on active duty in afghanistan where he served until a hostile bombing left him injured.

v. returning home after all that time away was an adjustment for teddy’s father, having to cope with not only the strain of physical therapy and ptsd, but also with his 7-year-old son whom he hadn’t spent any real time with since the boy was three. but, teddy, with his big, wondering eyes and even bigger, tender heart, tried to connect with his father the way he was close with his mother.

vi. but even then, there was only so much that teddy and his father could see eye to eye on. art and music became a big part of teddy’s life, while sport and the sciences were his father’s interests. it alienated them both from each other, for the short while before teddy’s father accepted a recruitment job in san diego and became busy again.

vii. in san diego, teddy found a little more independence, enrolling in the local public school instead of the school on the army base. and things were fine, again, until they weren’t. by the time teddy was 11, he developed ménière’s in his left ear, causing him to become hard of hearing on top of bouts of vertigo and tinnitus. he fought a lot with his parents then, his angsty teenage bullshit hitting an absolute peak early on when his parents wanted him to get fitted for an aid and he wanted to just let nature take its course ( he still has his one good ear, he’d argue ).

viii. eventually, they came to an agreement, that teddy would go to counselling and learn asl in lieu of getting an aid, and that teddy wouldn’t complain when his family relocated again in the beginning of his freshman year of high school. moving, this time to colorado, drove a deeper wedge between teddy and his father. and as much as he loves the man, they just didn’t seem to click anymore.

ix. so teddy tried to be a good son for him, focused on school and behaved the best he could. it was only after teddy started applying for university, that he felt the spark of excitement again. the possibility of going back to the place he was the longest, to southern california, was all that he cared about. his college years were going to be the time he became more independent from his parents, finally gaining some semblance of his own person beyond what his parents tried to mold him into.

***DISCLAIMER: teddy is written by a hearing person and his condition may be written inaccurately. please know that i am not at all trying to offend anyone who is HoH and that i will do my best to research and be mindful of the portrayal of his hearing loss. that being said, if you are offended by the way i portray his hearing loss in any capacity, please message me privately so we can have a conversation and i can learn from my mistake.

quick fax  

- is an army brat so he moved around a lot growing up ; spent high school years elsewhere, but moved back to cali for university  - is studying accounting bc ,,, idk its stable and he’s never really had stability in his life until now - such a glass half full person but is that one ‘ everything is fine ’ meme  - will try anything once ; whether or not it sticks depends on how much he ends up enjoying it - would also stand up 2 someone but immediately regret it after - is hard of hearing in his left ear ( ménière’s disease ) so he will lean toward the noise to hear better aka im so sorry if he’s in ur bubble, he just cant hear what uR’E SAYING  - he’s ,,, ,v loud w/o realizing it  - bc of his meniere’s he can’t have caffeine ( lol ) but he likes the cafe culture and likes to go to deja brew to sketch - also has earbuds in like 24/7 ; gets nagged by his mom that he SHOULDN’T but like ,,,, he’s accepted that his hearing is gonna get worse anyway so LMAO - doesn’t wear an aid and hasn’t used sign language in a very long time but still remembers a lot of it - teddy vc: what ?  - does the graffiti on the weekends , pls dont tell his mom ; art is his “hobby” as his dad would say , v artistic and likes to go to moca on their free nights  - loves all kinds of music, esp mongolian throat singing ; impressionism is his favorite art movement ; thinks rupi kaur is a charlatan but she’s making money off white people so : / - has a tattoo on his right buttcheek bc why not , someone probably dared him to - naturally wakes up at 6 am, no matter how late he was up the night before ; goes on morning runs  - incidentally, he also takes a lot of naps during the day - is technically (f)unemployed ; answers craigslist ads for cash, nothing shady, just like cleans old ladies homes and helps people move furniture - owns a second hand bicycle with a woven basket in the front uwu ; may or may not have found it at a junk yard - will stop to pet a dog on the side of the street ; will also point out animals when he passes them   - think andy dwyer, john mulaney, jake peralta, miles morales, jason mendoza and others i cant care to look up rn but u get the idea i hope 

possible connections

roommates / housemates, classmates / schoolmates, friends, enemies ( tho he’d probably cry if u told him u didnt like him ), lovers / ex lovers, etc. whatever come yell at me if u want something. find me here or on discord ( 𝖎𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙, 𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖈#3596 ) 

[andagii-writes]

Orchard Party

For @aperturegaming011, mega request indeed!

You’ve been waiting for so long, and the number of characters made the entire project a lot more involved than its initial conception. I really hope you enjoy it, and that I captured your characters! It had to be its own short story so I’m slapping it under a... 

"Good grief, Rhei. You didn't say I'd be having a festival in my front yard."

With a scratch at the light stubble along his chin, Rhei grinned, and neatly skipped up the steps of the Breezy Banks veranda. He threw his arm around Kutone's shoulders. "You specified no guidelines for this event." Nodding to the sprawl of tables and vineyard decorations, as well as the townspeople marveling the spread of autumn fare, Rhei gave his friend a fond squeeze. "A bit more gratitude would be nice."

Shaking Rhei off, Kutone squared her shoulders, letting her suit jacket settle back into a comfortable position. Despite Rhei's amused snort, she tugged next on the collar of her blouse. Routine, for old business. She crossed her arms. "You told me you had some guests for me to talk to?"

"Sure do." Rhei offered his hand. Rejected, of course, as Kutone slapped away the offer, and descended the veranda steps. Still, he chuckled. "Otherwise, you wouldn't give a shit about the other farmers around the valley--ah, no, sorry--was that too much?"

She glared as Rhei matched her pace. "Oh, do carry on. Business as usual."

"So I'm not getting an earful from your fiance?"

"Business. As usual."

"Come on, Kutone. He's become something of a little brother to me. I like pissing him off."

Golden rays spilled over the visible fields of autumn fare, and glinted through amber glassware offering candied yams, cranberry sauce, homemade stuffing, plum pudding--and even more than Kutone knew she'd requested for the event. Instead of reflecting her confusion, however, Rhei maintained a proud smirk. "It's amazing stuff," he said, "when a local farmer is also a top-tier chef."

A sweet laugh answered. "Mr. Young, you realize I'm not sitting on a cake, right?"

"That's not..." He masked his exasperation well, with an amused chuckle, as he waved someone over. "I'm not talking about cake tiers, Catherine."

"I guess that one was a little obscure of me." Catherine, bright green eyes sparkling, stepped away from the table and accepted Rhei's firm handshake. Then offering her hand next to Kutone, she laughed again. "Kind of a sour face, aren't you? Life's thrown you too many lemons?"

Kutone tried a light smile, as she shook Catherine's hand. "The day's making my face pucker, maybe," she said. "Having Rhei as an associate does that sometimes."

"Hey!"

"Quite the opposite, actually!" The strands of Catherine's blonde hair bounced as she nodded toward Rhei. "The man sponsored and got me out of the sour patch known as Joja. You don't need me to say more, do you?"

"I'm not here to dredge up awful memories," replied Kutone, "for my sake or yours." She gestured to the orchard party. "Rhei tells me he invited you on business? You must have prepared the spread here."

Catherine gasped, and cast an impressed expression in Rhei's direction. "She's a sharp knife, that's for sure! Tell me that you're enjoying it so far!"

"I unfortunately haven't had a chance to try it yet, but," Kutone paused and turned in her spot, nodding to the Pelican Town residents gaily tucking in, as well as the amber ambiance. "This is beautiful, top-floor restaurant fare here. Do you have your own location?"

"Maybe I should sit on top of a cake at this point!" Catherine laughed. She clasped her hands together, as though in prayer. "Though, it is my dream to open up a restaurant. So when Young told me an old friend of his had a fantastic vineyard in the works, I had to come check it out. I understand, you'll be unveiling an original blend soon?"

At this, Kutone shot a glare toward Rhei, who uneasily averted his eyes and pulled at his collar.

Catherine pressed a hand over her mouth. "Oops, I guess I spilled some milk here? Please don't mind me!"

"I don't, and I won't," Kutone replied, digging a sharp knuckle into Rhei's side. "I'm surprised no one else has asked me, really, with this great flapping mouth of his."

"I was talking business!" Rhei whimpered, cringing and curling away from Kutone's jab. "Catherine wanted to pair some of her signature autumn dishes with your drinks, so I told her about testing your new blend!"

"He told me nothing more than that, I promise," Catherine added. "Since I had no idea if it was even a red or white wine, I prepared a variety here to take the guessing out of the picture!" She offered her hand again. "Kutone, when I make my dream come true, I'm hoping you'll let me carry your wines on the menu?"

If not her puns, her enthusiasm was infectious. Kutone accepted a second, eager handshake, as she chuckled. "So long as you're okay with Rhei being our go-between."

"I wouldn't have it any other way!"

They exchanged business cards, Rhei adding he'd send a mock-up of a wine menu for Catherine's consideration, before Catherine turned next to Gus and Elliot. Both in awe of the artistry and taste of the dishes, they already had wine pairings to discuss with the up-and-coming restauranteur.

Meanwhile, Rhei guided Kutone past the banquet tables, toward the vined arches leading to the farm's main orchards. They weren't permanent, Rhei assured, unless Kutone wanted to keep them. "Don't get me wrong," she responded. "They're a nice touch, but once this event's over, they're gone."

"Sometimes I forget you're a minimalist."

"You forget a lot of things in your age, Mr. Young, sir."

At this, Rhei crossed his arms, and turned up his lip, mocking an offended pout. "Stand yourself corrected, miss! I remember that cruel tone of voice very well!"

Cackles answered in Kutone's stead. "Big, bad businessman just got one-upped by the wino!"

Hardly the description Kutone would have used for Rhei, but it was comical enough to grab their attentions, and a legitimate frown from Rhei. Following the voice, he turned to one of the benches nestled between the arches, where two girls sat giggling.

One of them, at least, was familiar to Kutone. "Lay off, old friend,” she said, laying a hand on Rhei’s arm. “I told you about Jane, didn't I?"

"I'm assuming she's the one currently not laughing at your supposed one-up?"

"Still giggling, but yes." Kutone lifted a hand in greeting, as she approached Jane and her friend.

"You've some explaining to do," said Kutone, mocking a patronizing tone. "I don't take kindly to people other than me giving my old friend a hard time."

Rhei ground his knuckles into Kutone's shoulder. "I'm hearing the word 'old' too many times, Kutone."

While Jane, face hidden behind her curtain of black hair, giggled helplessly at the banter, her friend shrugged. Her fair features held a perpetual smugness that, when she spoke, added to her playful tone. "Well at least it's obvious who's wearing the pants in this partnership."

"It's why I don't wear skirts," said Kutone, smiling. "But giving Rhei a break for just one second here..."

Jane pressed her hands together, nodded, and pulled her phone from her pocket. After a bit of typing, she flashed the message to Kutone and Rhei.

My friend, Glaser, began the message. weve been enjoying the party and talking video games this entire time!

"Just sucks that I don't know the language to talk to you so you don't have to keep typing and playing charades, y'know?" Glaser huffed and crossed her legs, directing her attention to Kutone. "What a sharp-lookin' bitch though--you're sure you're a farmer?"

"And businesswoman," Kutone added. "Rhei here is basically my mentor."

Jane gasped, and quickly tapped out another message. It's very nice to meet you, sir!

"Good grief, finally some shred of good vibes in my direction," Rhei replied. Accepting Jane's amiable handshake, he flashed a handsome smile. "You're also a valley local?"

With a deep nod, Jane threw an arm around Glaser's shoulders.

"Both of you, eh? How do you like the Banks, then?"

"Makes me feel good to know a chica's running the place," said Glaser. "Or maybe I should be more respectful, senorita?"

Kutone shook her head. "Say whatever you want about me. I don't particularly care."

Jane landed a light but purposeful slap on Glaser's shoulder. Cheeks puffed and brow furrowed, she leveled a meaningful glare.

Glaser rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Fine, I'll be nice, just because she's your friend. And because she runs a fuckin' winery from her backyard." She shot a calculating glance toward Rhei. "And also 'cause the old man's not nearly as annoying as I thought he'd be."

Rhei threw his hands up. "Kutone, if you need me, I'll be on the other side of the estate arranging your other meetings, okay? Okay."

"Hey now, no rage quitting!" Glaser jeered, "You can't go AFK and ghost us like this! Hey!"

Kutone snickered at Rhei's retreating back, meandering back through the banquet tables on his way to the farm's entrance. Noticing Jane's concerned frown, she gestured toward him. "No need to worry about him--he's used to far more cruelty than that."

"Bet you really jerked him around, huh?" Glaser leaned back against the bench, and sagely shook her head. "You can't get to be a powerful girl without stomping over some stupid chicos, y'know? Is he your bitch?"

Jane pressed both hands to her face and deeply sighed.

But Kutone snorted. "Far from it. I'm his producer, he's my distributor. We've known each other in too many ways for too many years for us to have some better-than-thou relationship here."

"That's almost boring."

After a contemplative silence, Jane's fingers tapped out another message on her phone. She considered the words with a cock of her head, but with a nod, showed it first to Kutone, then to Glaser to fill her in on the conversation.

i think its amazing how u get along with ppl, kutone. esp when youre as close to a business partner as you are. like... it feels like u and rei are so much more than what youre saying.

As Glaser pulled a grim, suspicious expression, Kutone simpered. "We were. Once. Before we stabbed each other in our backs and realized we just weren’t meant to be.”

"So how do you get to be buddy-buddy-business-partners without killing him or being friends with benefits, huh?"

Kutone winked. "I have a fiance who's a far better match than Rhei could ever be. Rhei's already come to terms with that."

rei's kind of amazing in his own right?

"Now, why would I ever be so kind as to admit that?"

"Tell it like it is, senorita!" Glaser laughed. "You and me could have drinks sometime and talk more about this type of shit!"

She could appreciate that refreshing sort of rudeness, especially over drinks at the Stardrop Saloon. Definitely in moderation though--Glaser seemed like the type to easily rub off on people. Heaven forbid Kutone started talking to Rhei, or even her lovely boy like that; they'd surely crack and break down.

Leaving Glaser and Jane with a wave, Kutone followed Rhei's path: back across the banqueting area, along the stepping stones to the farm's entrance. Seeing Rhei in conversation--heated conversation--with other suits, she squared her shoulders stepped into the ring. "Problem, gentlemen?"

It was a rhetorical question, but an effective one to get the suits off of Rhei and on to her. Not that Morris, bespectacled pudgy face creased into an ever-worsening scowl, needed the distraction. Neither did the other two suits with him, but Morris stood to his fully unimpressive height, and adjusted the bright red, oversized bowtie at his neck. "A pleasure to see you, Kutone," he sniffed. "It's been some time since I last saw you and this community--I found myself wistful, you know."

The lie through his teeth couldn't have hissed harder, but Kutone shrugged and gestured to the party behind her. "Pardon my bluntness here, but I remember my colleague saying participants needed invitations to attend this event. Did he extend you one?"

Rhei, keeping an easy expression over his restrained irritation, crossed his arms. "Well, no," he started. "Morris here never saw your products as worthy of his attention so, I saw no point to inviting him."

"Yet I am a member of this community," said Morris, face already turning pink. "Certainly, I've been away awhile, but once a soul of Pelican Town, there's no leaving it, yes? I believe I deserve a spot in this party!"

Kutone gave a low, sage nod. "Duly noted, so, I'm keeping this short, Morris. Get out."

"I've even forgiven the assault Pierre made on me--you notice I never charged him!"

"Yes, and I'm not interested in making any deals with Joja either."

"Mighty words from someone using a Joja turncoat as her distributor! I'm saying lose the middleman--you'll find we can offer more benefits, a greater network, than whatever Young can muster!"

"An accomplishment and a half," said Kutone, Rhei snickering next to her. "Do come back some time to prove it though; I'd love to see how you can do Rhei's work better than he can."

"Brat. You think you're untouchable, don't you? You just happen to be on these people's good sides--which isn't that hard to do, might I add; country bumpkins and their magnanimous stupidity were always the easiest to manipulate--but wait until I tell them everything you kept in the dark!" With an evil snigger, Morris pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "After all, Miss Kutone, you know a thing or two about a tarnished reputation?"

"I do, but you wouldn't dare--"

"Wouldn't I now?"

Rhei stepped forward, shoving hard against the suits protecting Morris. "Can the threats. You can't do anything until she signs your agreement, anyway."

"Which she'll end up having to do when her rotten name brings down revenue!" Morris reached into an inner pocket and pulled out his phone. "Just one call, Young my friend."

"Don't--!"

"All's fair in the war of business!"

At the moment Morris looked down at his phone, however, a tall silhouette behind him grabbed the collar of his dress shirt and lifted his entire body from the ground. Feet dangling, Morris flailed like a swinging sack of flour. "Who--?! Put me down! Put me down, or I'll press charges!"

Unfazed, the man lifted Morris higher, reducing the Joja Sneer into a babbling squeal. Morris flailed harder, pointing at his bodyguards. "Do something! Get this man off of me!"

Morris's men weren't moving anytime soon. That much was a certainty to Kutone, mouth agape at the metallic sheen of the mystery man's hand holding Morris aloft. Not just his hand, either--both of his legs looked like they came out of a sci-fi superhero movie. Even his eye, for crying out loud, flickered a dangerous red.

Rhei whistled. "Now I've really seen it all."

But there was, Kutone thought, a certain softness to the man's dark hair and fair features, even as he whispered, "She said leave. So leave," and dropped Morris with a dull whump.

Morris couldn't have scrabbled away any faster, bodyguards in tow and cursing something about coming back to make the deal again.

While Kutone stared, Rhei gave her a nudge and turned to their benefactor. "Appreciate it, sir. Sure felt good to see him squealing like that."

Sir? Kutone tried, but failed, to figure out how this man could be Rhei's superior.

Luckily, Rhei filled in the gap, as the man averted his eyes from Kutone's baffled expression. "If you want to know how the Empire's tearing up the Republic, you're staring at that answer. Defectors like him are the only reason why Ferngill's hanging on to what little edge it's got."

"A soldier," murmured Kutone. She pressed a hand to her chest, and smiled. "Then I have to thank you even more."

The red light in his eye faded to a curious green, as he glanced up momentarily to meet Kutone's gaze. "It's nothing."

Another man, summer-sun-caramelized features practically glowing with his amicable smile, jogged through the party area as he waved for attention. "James!" Finally catching up, he let out an exasperated gasp, and laid a hand on James's shoulder. "Good grief, James, that jump over the whole venue nearly gave Harvey a heart attack, you know! And--and now you're making friends with the hosts?"

James turned away, apparently refusing to regale his companion with a response. Rhei offered his hand to bridge the awkward silence. "Rhei Young," he said. "And the vintner herself, Kutone."

"Pleasure." The young man accepted handshakes from both Kutone and Rhei. "I'm Jake--Harvey let me in on his invitation; James through Abigail."

How all these people knew each other despite the valley's isolation was beyond Kutone. Her attention, however, fell on the metal bits poking through the skin of Jake's left arm. If James was anything to go by... "You're a soldier too?"

"Was," Jake corrected. "Can't do much jet piloting with a busted arm and cruddy grip."

"At least it's an honorable discharge," Rhei replied. "Thanks for your service."

"Flying across Hell and back was well worth it, I'd say," said Jake, "since it meant we protected the lives and magic Stardew Valley has to offer. I mean, all this good food, and good wine? You're an inspiration, Miss Kutone."

"Nothing compared to two men who've been to Hell and back," said Kutone, simpering. "I'm guessing you're local to the area as well?"

"Along with James here. We'll be sure to stop by and offer some of our goods too. Right James?"

James had finally settled on watching Kutone with a placid expression. At Jake's question, he nodded, the flicker of a smile barely ghosting his features. He needed some work, thought Kutone, but she found him likable enough. Somewhat and adorably reminiscent of her fiance.

Rhei, checking his watch, pressed a hand into the small of Kutone's back. "We've got an unveiling, Kutone," he said, gesturing back to the orchards. "Time to bring up the barrel and tap, don't you think?"

A spirited glint sparked in Jake's eyes. "Maybe I can help in some way?"

As Rhei and Jake marched off, Kutone laid a light touch on James's arm, and offered him space to walk with her. "I could use your help again as well," she gently murmured. "If you'd be so willing?"

Another small smile. He wordlessly matched her pace, slow as she was in her pumps, down the stone path leading to her veranda. Rhei and Jake were already inside heading into the cellars, as Kutone and James ventured after them.

It was then he spoke again. "What did you call it? Your wine?"

She stopped at the threshold, turning to face James, as well as the orchard party before them. Sunset skies burgeoning into the deep indigo of twilight, the scenery, she admitted, matched the mood of the wine she'd created. Behind her, inside the house, Rhei's and Jake's voices echoed up from the cellar, as well as her fiance's voice irritably bantering with Rhei.

"Rosé Memoria," she replied, pressing a hushing finger against her lips. "Like the semi-sweet recollections of a bygone summer. Or of meeting new people. Catching, isn't it?”

[petaldancing]

wow guys, i learned about yuletide (a fic exchange for obscure fandoms w <1,000 fics on the net.. like.. hmm.. HYOUKA!!) from @brella and am stoked to take part in it this year! you get to write a letter to the person who’ll be fulfilling your request, so here is mine~

hello (future) friend and (current) yuletide writer!!

This is actually the first year I’m participating in Yuletide! (And also the first year i that i’ve gotten back into writing fic after a 3 year hiatus!) I’m excited, and I hope that my prompts will help spark inspiration for you and that you’ll enjoy writing this piece as the year draws to a close. Thank you so much in advance for this, and I look forward to reading whatever you have for me! 

general

i prefer:

gen, het, or femslash

G - M ratings (if the latter: no to underage (below 18 y/o, for me), yes to character-driven, build-up + pay-off! when the sex isn't the highlight of the story but a nice complement.. wow!!)

any length you have in mind for the fic

you to write a story that you've been meaning to but haven't gotten around to! or one that you'd love to have under your belt! (:

i can't deal with/DNW:

drug use, death, gore/violence/assault, dub/noncon, abuse, angst, kinky stuff, unhappy endings

i will cry tears of joy for:

stories focusing on ladies, their r/s (platonic, romantic etc) w other ladies, their characters & motivations beyond just the romance

(but i still thrive on romance ahaha)

characters losing themselves but then finding themselves & becoming stronger (w or w/o someone's help)

(un)resolved sexual tension, unexpected kisses that take both parties by surprise, almost kisses, being trapped in small spaces, mutual pining etc

characters drifting apart over time but then reconnecting and falling in love again

wacky humour

shoujo tropes used in good doses

unlikely pairings that work

platonic fic on unlikely friends/vitrolic best buds esp between a guy & gal

fics about characters who've hardly interacted in canon (!!)

canon divergence (as long as it leads to interesting r/s between characters)

ten years later post-canon fic!! (esp if characters are high-schoolers in canon)

WITCHES! guy witches work too

recurring motifs/symbols

i also love AUs, particularly:

pacific rim AUs

role reversal AUs

I live for AUs that bring out character dynamics you know & love except in a diff universe! but you don't have to write AU fic!

fandom specific

1. Hyouka to say this is my favourite, most precious & treasured piece of fiction would be an understatement!! i give all my heart to hyouka’s themes (finding your identity & place in the world, relating & empathizing with others, following your passion etc etc i could go on) which were told beautifully through a wonderful core cast of 4 characters! the depth and flaws and emotional weaknesses of hyouka’s main cast is Too Much For Me To Bear and i love them in any and all permutations and just WANT TO READ ABOUT THEM ALL THE TIME!! also i’ve written satomaya to the moon & back but let me tell you... i would still read satomaya content any day ehehe. BUT i am very intrigued by satoshi & chitanda’s r/s which hasn’t been written much about in the fandom yet so maybe??? HMM!!

ships: satoshi/mayaka, houtarou/chitanda but would be also open to mayaka/houtarou or satoshi/chitanda because that always intrigues me

prompts (optional, of course!) - Mayaka & Houtarou having a huge falling out, like SERIOUS falling out, and it’s up to Satoshi & Chitanda to work together to get the two to make-up and get the group back together!! - Satoshi & Chitanda working together to solve a mystery without the help of Houtarou & Mayaka, who’re usually the two who are better at solving cases!! - On the flipside, what about: 5 times Satoshi dislikes Chitanda, and 1 time he doesn’t.  - Soul Eater AU!! this is a specific AU i’ve had in my head for awhile but would love to read someone’s interpretation of it!! who would be the meisters/weapons, what forms would the weapons take?? a fic where the four find each other and become partners/duos would be worth a BILLION yuletides!! - in the same vein, fire emblem AU! here’s a post i wrote about it years ago but still relevant and feel free to tweak the classes - older!Houtarou/Chitanda who stayed behind for college in Kamiyama visiting Satoshi/Mayaka in the big city/Tokyo (optional as to whether the two pairs are dating yet, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if they weren’t at the start of the fic!!) - any mayaka-centric fic, perhaps a fic about her trying to set Chitanda/Houtarou up? w accomplice Satoshi (+10000 points if she and Satoshi AREN’T DATING! YET! !! COLLAPSES) also i guess it works the other way too!! chitanda trying to get satoshi to confess to mayaka, dragging houtarou along in the process... you know it’s good when both pairs aren’t dating yet

2. Hibike Euphonium

this anime is a good example of me loving the small moments and characters so much more than the overarching plot! i liked s1 more than s2 because of the development of kumiko and reina alongside each other, but i loved the spin s2 gave on kumiko & asuna’s r/s! while this anime isn’t a top fav of mine, the r/s between the ladies in this show is SO GOOD!!! would love to see what you can do with it!

ships: kumiko/reina, kumiko/asuna, am p alright w most other ships too except shuu/kumiko, i’m really not interested in that at all, but shuu as a character? yeah OK i guess prompts - 5 fives they climbed the hill together, 1 time they didn’t (kumiko/reina) - a fic about kumiko chasing asuka down but always missing her!! i.e. following her to uni in the big city (only, her uni is like nowhere near close enough to asuka’s), moving out of home and closer to asuka, trying to join the prestigious band asuka’s travelling with etc etc, and finally catching up to her!! - ten years later fic! reina comes back into town after touring with the national orchestra, kumiko (who stopped playing the euphonium) tries hard not to fall in love with her & the eupho once again... and fails, of course - a fic that examines reina falling out of love with taki-sensei and developing feelings for kumiko would be wonderful for my heart too!!

3. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

i am so so fond of this anime and its gags! while the character dynamics are incredibly fun to watch, they also feel very ‘predictable’, not only because of the running jokes but cause their r/s never seem to advance that much. so i would absolutely LOVE if you threw me fic about the most unlikely pairs that don’t interact so much in canon and hence have less running jokes, i would love to see what pans out, and the fic needn’t even be romantic!! ships: nozaki/sakura, kashima/hori, seo/waka, also interested in kashima/seo and sakura+hori

prompts - kashima + seo: i find their r/s v interesting?? would love for a fic to focus on their interactions, esp since i vaguely rmb seo being a bit wary of kashima at first - hori + sakura: i think they would work as wonderful partners in anything they do and would love anything that explores their r/s! maybe sakura has to help the drama club for a performance? - ten years later fic would work wonderfully for GSNK! what’s everyone doing now? wouldn’t it be funny if all the r/s were p much the same, but also kinda different? - Akatsuki no Yona AU! (whether yona is sakura or mikorin, you decide! haha)

4. Fune Wo Amu

this is more of a wildcard pick because um, I REALLY LIKED THIS SHOW! i loved the attention paid to the world of dictionary publishing but specifically, the seemingly insurmountable ocean of words & meanings & the desire to bridge the gaps that so naturally form between people... this show calmed my heart so much and i would love fic which brought me back to that calm and reflective atmosphere & those lovely characters prompts -  over the years working, majime learns the definitions of words through his interactions with the people in the office - nishioka becoming a dad leads to everyone in the office inevitably taking turns parenting his kids!! either because they need to babysit, or because he brings em to company functions etc  - sasaki on her first day of work vs last day of work - any fic that explores how majime & nishioka influence and change each other’s lives would be nice as well ahh...

thank u again dear writer, may you have a wonderful end to the year and i hope that whatever good things and bad things that happened this year, you’ll carry on strong and even better in the next!! happy writing and please eat well and stay warm (: 

[parachronismx]

Advertisement done WRONG. Memes are great. Here's some .edu Info from 2007 On theories of media: The University of Chicago :: Theories of Media :: Keywords Glossary :: meme Works Cited 1. McGrath, Alister. 2005. Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. 2. “Meme.” Draft revision June 2001. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/ 00305506? 3. Dawkins, Richard. 1976. (1989 edition copyright Richard Dawkins.) The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press. 4. Dawkins, Richard. “Viruses of the Mind.” 1991. http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi /Dawkins/viruses-of-the-mind.html 5. Leiber, Fritz. "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee." The Best of Fritz Leiber. Sidgewick & Jackson, 1974. 6. Mitchell, W.J.T. 2003. “The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction.” Modernism/modernity. Vol. 10, no. 3. pp. 481-500. Johns Hopkins University Press. 7. Blackmore, Susan. Preface by Richard Dawkins. 1999. The Meme Machine. New York: Oxford University Press. Notes meme The concept of a reproducible element of culture has deep roots, and the transliteration of a word for it from a Greek root seems to have occurred on multiple independent occasions. Donald T. Campbell introduced the term “mnemone” for such an element in 1960. [1] Still, the word “meme” entered common usage only recently, with Richard Dawkins’ treatment of the word, and did not appear in the 1989 Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. The online OED defines a meme as “A cultural element or behavioural trait whose transmission and consequent persistence in a population, although occurring by non-genetic means (esp. imitation), is considered as analogous to the inheritance of a gene.” [2] This entry tracks the word only as far back as Dawkins and The Selfish Gene in 1976. In this book, Dawkins himself claims to invent the word and dictate its use and pronunciation. His etymology of the word comes not from the same Greek root as Mnemosyne, the embodiment of memory and mother of the muses, but from “mimeme,” or something that is imitated. [3] “We need a name for the new replicator, a noun which conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme... It should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘cream’. Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.” [3] Dawkins would subsequently become indelibly associated with the meme, and his opinions and statements on the state of the theory would be used by many as the most important gauge of the theory’s health. Nevertheless, memetics does not begin and end with him. The need of a word for the meme existed before The Selfish Gene and has only increased since. For the whole history of human culture, traditions have been inherited and thought has been given to how they may be faithfully inherited and how they can change. Efficient, prolific, and faithful means of mechanical reproduction created an environment where culture could behave much like a gene pool and abstract cultural elements could be more easily personified. Currently, the need for a vocabulary to discuss memetics partially owes to the fields of cybernetics and “biocybernetics,” which study the mingling of life and artifice on a broader scale and could be said to encompass memetics. W.J.T. Mitchell’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction” characterizes the emerging cybernetic sphere in a way that not only allows for the inclusion of memetics, but strongly implies it: “within the very heart of the cybernetic the bios rears its head in very concrete forms – most conspicuously in the computational virus, but also in subtler forms… It’s not simply that living things become more like machines, but that machines now more than ever behave like living things.” [6] The analysis of non-living and culture-based phenomena in biological terms is a practice that goes beyond memetics, and a media student may do well to find connections between purely informational and material cybernetics. Because the analogy with the gene is part of the definition of the meme, it is presumable that, just as a creature has no control over its own genome, and just as a prospective parent may not be aware of the genetic disorders being passed to the child, memes can be given and received involuntarily. Dawkins notes in “Viruses of the Mind” that hardly anyone consciously admits to being affected by an advertisement, but businesses continue to invest in advertising and continue to observe its desired effects taking place. [4] Of course not everything transmitted through a medium is consciously received; more interesting to the media student is the possibility of a completely unconscious sending of a meme through a medium. Although it is only implied in The Selfish Gene, Dawkins would later expressly characterize some pieces of self-replicating memetic information as “Viruses of the Mind” in his controversial essay of the same name. [3] By doing so, he connects memetics to the ancient motif of harmful sensation. Harmful sensations, both real and imagined, are diverse in the means by which they cause harm but united in their phobic message that curiosity can be taken to excess and that the prospective targets of media are lucky to be ignorant. Memes notwithstanding, harmful sensations either cause direct harm with their medium rather than its independent message, (such as a mythical killing gaze or David Cronenberg’s Videodrome signal,) or else they carry messages that are harmful for the states of mind they induce or the terrible truths they reveal (such as the fruit of Genesis or H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu mythos”). In either case, the message is either an inconsequential decoration of the medium or a lifeless weapon to be exploited by others. However, if a sensation is harmful because it carries a virulent meme, then the message becomes a personified enemy and the medium becomes a non-essential, replaceable weapon. The prospect of a cultural virus is even more terrifying than the simple killing gaze of a gorgon or basilisk, because overly fatal units of information would limit their own ability to spread. The most frightening meme, like the deadliest virus, gives the host time to infect others. From this perspective, exposure to media can become a threat to the integrity of the self or destroy the feeble boundaries of the self entirely. Also, the reversal of importance in the medium-message relationship and the personification of the message create concerns in the areas of ethics, authorship, and intellectual property. Words like “culprit,” “aggressor,” “author,” and even “victim” struggle to keep their meanings when malicious information is perceived as evolving and self-disseminating. The study of self-replicating pieces of information is divided among the triad of genetics, computer science, and cultural studies. Parallels have been drawn between each pair, though all three are not completely alike. In “Viruses of the Mind,” Dawkins sets cultural and digital media together as he compares faiths and other virulent memes to computer viruses. “Any cynic familiar with the theory of selfish genes and memes would have known that modern personal computers, with their promiscuous traffic of floppy discs and e-mail links, were just asking for trouble. The only surprising thing about the current epidemic of computer viruses is that it has been so long in coming.” [4] From the perspective of media studies, it is worth observing that treatments of memetics often assume that memes are medium-neutral. Perhaps deceptively, it stands to reason that an ideology read from a book can be the same meme as an ideology passed on orally or spread through comic-book tracts [http://www.chick.com]. The perception that “self-interested” units of culture can wind through any media to find their hosts openly defies the appeals to medium specificity made by media theorists such as Clement Greenberg. To extend the comparison with genetics, media would be the sex organs by which memes are propagated to bury their seed in new minds. Even so, memes can clearly influence the way individuals relate to media, just as genes determine the traits of a creature’s sex organs. An alternative, somewhat conflicting way to compare memes with their media is to imagine media as the ever-changing environments in which memes compete for the means they need to survive and reproduce. Are memes at an evolutionary disadvantage when they switch media, as the proponents of medium specificity would predict, or might they grow out of control like a foreign species in a new ecological environment? Memes are often thought of as dependent on verbal media for propagation, or at least as dependent on interpersonal experience that includes articulated information. To complicate the matter, completely nonverbal or inarticulable memes are likely much more difficult to track. However, speculation exists on the subject, such as Fritz Leiber’s short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH- Tee" about a cadence coupled with an image that are so “catchy” or memetically fit that they spread across the human population and severely hamper humanity’s ability to do anything but reproduce them.[5] It may even be even possible for a meme to transcend the rift between word and image, conveying its memetic material on a frightening variety of fronts. Some empirically minded or reactionary followers of media studies ask whether memes can be said to exist at all, and the multitude of manners and moods in which the word is used brings its practicality into question. Alister McGrath argues that “Dawkins talking about memes is like believers talking about God – an invisible, unverifiable postulate, which helps explain some things about experience, but ultimately lies beyond material investigation.” [1] Even the postulate, he argues, is vague and unnecessary compared to the foundationally solid and scientific theory of the gene to which the meme’s definition is bound. He says that “perhaps the most significant criticism of the ‘meme’ concept is that the study of cultural and intellectual development proceeds perfectly well without it. Economic and physical models – especially information transfer – have proved their worth in this context.” [1] Upon merely mentioning the meme as a unit or entity, the cultural or media theorist has to defend against criticisms and alternate models such as these. Another concern about memetics is that the inheritance of memes seems to be “Lamarckian,” meaning that changes acquired during the lifetime of a meme are inherited by its progeny. This model of evolution, named after Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, has long been widely dismissed as a terrible model of biological evolution, and some definitions of “evolution” specifically include the presence of a non-Lamarckian environment. [7] The observation that memes change their hosts’ experiences endangers the very definition of the meme, if we use the Oxford definition that includes analogy to biological evolution. Whether memes can truly involve in a Lamarckian environment, and even whether memes always follow the Lamarckian pattern, remains in question. The fidelity of media is another issue in memetics, because the question of identity between memes is not as clear-cut as that of identity between genes. Dawkins himself admits that the meme cannot be currently located or isolated, and this makes the distinction between memes somewhat slippery and unscientific: “Another objection is that we don’t know what memes are made of, or where they reside. Memes have not yet found their Watson and Crick; they even lack their Mendel.” [7] Susan Blackmore puts it more elegantly, “Is Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony a meme, or only the first four notes?” [7] Can two memes propagated through different media be identical? What separates a “mutated” meme from an entirely different meme? Could one ever decode a complete human memome? Genes are, so to speak, digital, while culture is the intangible analog that instills the genetic frame with infinite individuality. As a word with a specific, recorded, recent origin, it is simpler to trace the totality of attitudes and analyses of “meme” than much of the vocabulary of media studies. The general question that encompasses the debate and criticism around the word is not “What should its meaning be?” but rather “Can the theory behind this word fruitfully describe the real behavior of culture?” Compared to most areas of media theory, memetics remains in a crisis that is unusually immediate, strongly linked to the empirical sciences, and potentially terminal. Bill Volk Winter 2007 The University of Chicago :: Theories of Media :: Keywords Glossary :: meme http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/meme.htm

[quietborderlineinfo]

Hi I have a question or want your perspective on something please. So I've seen myself in other people's descriptions of bpd for a long time. My t thinks I might have it. If I have it it's the quiet type. But there's just some things that I can't see fitting? Or understand how they would be "quiet"? And some of the criteria I only experience very rarely or with certain people. 1/?

alright hey stargazer!

i can totally appreciate how much thought and detail you’ve put into this - i remember being in that place, and its so confusing and frustrating and frankly exhausting. breathe; from what youve said it sounds like your T is paying close attention and wants the best for you. over time, you’ll figure out what diagnosis & treatment(s) may work for you. until then, just focus on getting better one step at a time.

keep in mind that below i just discuss how the things you said relate to the diagnostic criteria, but no one here can diagnose you. definitely talk to your T (and if theyre not a psychiatrist, try to talk to one of those if you have access to a good one, since theyre more inclined to diagnose, in my experience)

also remember that you only need 5/9 for a diagnosis - so two people w bpd may have only 1 overlapping symptom. (so if you dont see yourself in everything you read, thats normal)

For instance 1 (frantically avoid abandonment) only w/ 2 relationships I’ve ever had, and these are more feelings than actions I take 2 (pattern unstable intense relationships) I’ve only had one significant relationship in my life and it was very intense and unstable, but I have no history of it but I also have no history of what I would call “close” relationships. I’m mostly avoidant of them) 2/?

1 & 2: saaame. i once asked a T if never letting yourself feel close to people was a form of attempting to avoid abandonment, and was told that it can be, if that’s why you do it. it can be hard to figure out why you do something you may have always done though, so it helps to both try to analyze past experiences and definitely to try to look at your feelings and how they’re motivating you as you go forward.

I’m not sure on the whole feelings vs actions thing; ask your T cause i think there can be a lot of grey area. and for #2, i had the same experience too; everyone who treated me seemed to think that the one relationship was enough evidence, i guess considering that avoidant behaviour. 

3 (id disturbance) I’m not sure exactly how this manifests or is separate from depersonalization. Like I don’t feel real when I try to engage in hobbies. I only exist when I’m doing things with others and then I feel fake and two dimensional (but this is getting a lot better and I’m afraid that means the symptom isn’t real) I’m not sure of my own hobbies and I have no internal motivations or knowledge base to make my own decisions. 3/?

. I can hardly tell right from wrong a lot of the time and use clues from others to help me. And I can change depending on the people I’m around. Is that what this means? This isn’t all things but some things 4 I am not in the slightest impulsive except if you count the impulsive texts I would send to that one intense relationship to make sure she didn’t hate me every few weeks 4/?

3. so depersonalization is a type of dissociation, so that’d fall under criterion 9. symptoms can get better and that absolutely doesn’t mean that you are now or have ever been faking; remission of symptoms with time and/or therapy is actually more likely than not. not knowing right from wrong is interesting cause at first i thought that was entirely unrelated, but realized it could come from not having an internalized moral system, which would definitely sound relevant.

what does fit the description is both not being sure of your hobbies (esp since it sounds like means youre not sure of what you enjoy/care about?), and changing depending on the people you’re around (if you feel like its more of an internal change than say, changing from business-appropriate speech patterns to something more casual when around friends vs at work).

the wiki page describes ID disturbance really well i think, but if you still have questions, definitely send them your T’s/our way.

4. neither am i, and i was still diagnosed. some people seem to think that it’s one criterion that has to be met though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it is possible that it manifests only very specifically, like w me I’m only impulsive w self-harm or recklessly crossing the street.

5 (self harm) I’ve cut in the past but I can go years without cutting, but the urge to cut will always surface every few weeks whether I act on it or not 6 (affective instability) not sure I understand this. My emotions are so intense that I have a hard time doing anything but engaging in avoidant behaviors. Focusing on school and work is extremely difficult around my thoughts and feelings, Is that what this means? I can change really quickly too based on one thought or one outside occurrence5/?

Hi stargazer anon again. Sorry I’m all over the place with this I just get confused. So missing might be the part that addressed diagnostic criteria #7. basically yes I experience emptiness. I think The end of message 5 is relating to diagnostic criteria #6 (instability of mood) and message 7 is relating to diagnostic criteria #8 (anger). Sorry it’s a mess. But I don’t think there is anything important in the missing piece. I was just going through each symptom and comparing my experience w/ it

5. that certainly counts! (proud of you for keeping it to a minimum, hope you’re working w your T to eliminate it entirely!)

6. “Patients often describe affective instability as an “emotional roller coaster” that relates to a subjective sense of strong affects and emotions experienced in an uncomfortable, rapid sequence.”

what you described sounds intense, and to clarify the changeability i think it can have a lot to do with reacting really strongly to things in the environment/in relationships. you didnt talk too much about the changes, so id say it sounds like this likely fits, but warrants more discussion just to clarify.

7. aight √

But i don’t get angry at people usually. I used to have this pattern of withdrawing from my relationships because I was convinced they didn’t really like me and I wanted to see if they would come talk to me to sort of “test them” but knowing the whole time that I was a horrible person who didn’t deserve their love anyway and if they didn’t really love me then I didn’t deserve it (though have gotten way better at this with therapy). Is that what is meant by the cold shoulder? 7 I think/?

8. see idk, it’s possible that that’s anger for you, but it sounds like you’ll wanna think more about it. i think cold shoulder is more about refusing to engage someone because you are upset at them. to me, what you described sounds more like fear than anger, but only you can know that. idk about other quiet borderlines but for most of my life I’ve had anger far repressed 🤔

9. (for the sake of completion) depersonalization, which you mentioned in part 2, is a kind of dissociation

Sorry for this essay if not ok just ignore and delete. Sorry I’m just having a hard time cause so much of this feels like me but then so many of the hallmarks don’t at all, or only rarely appear. I think I have aVpd too and it makes it hard to know because some symptoms cloud each other. Thanks can please tag stargazer if you do answer it? 8/8 I think it was?

sorry for taking so long to respond! yeah its useful to have a full discussion with a psychiatrist about this especially when multiple disorders are in question. also remember that as much as we may seek the sense of identity labels can give us, you dont need to fit something specific to have valid pain that deserves to be treated and warrants a break from work.

please let us know if you have any follow-up questions. good luck - it’ll get easier with time & work!

[treinvlit]

you know its funny, every time i try to connect with people and to not be alone, i feel fine and even happy when i’m around them, but as soon as they go do other stuff and what not i just go right back to feeling empty inside and feeling without any meaning.

i want to be around people all the time or to make them happy, but i dont think i can ever make myself happy. i don’t go out, i don’t talk to people in real life - the net is all i have. i’m going to an out of state college in a few months, and truthfully the only hope i have of making any friends there is if someone takes enough pity on me to try and talk to me. i wish i was good at talking to people or whatever but i can hardly even have a conversation with my own friends.

its pitiful i guess, but i just keep hoping maybe i’ll become something of worth. i just don’t want it to be like being a good office worker or whatever, you know? i want to actually make a difference in some way, i want to make people happy - lots of people, not just a few here and there. i wanna change lives in a positive way so that maybe even if i cant grant myself any sort of happiness, i can at least do so for others. i just wish i knew how to, cause it feels like i have no talents of any kind. i can’t write, i can’t play music, i can’t make a film, i can’t sing, i can’t even do something like play games well.

i wish i had the answers, but in truth i don’t know if i can ever really find even a single one. i’m still young but it’s already been over three months since i’ve turned twenty one and i’ve done absolutely nothing with myself. all i do is just sit around and do nothing meaningful all day with maybe talking to people i like if i’m lucky enough for them to deem me worthy of their time. and that’s not their fault in anyway; its mine, because i cant talk to them well. im there and i can say the right things to make them happy, but i feel like me being myself just ends up being a bother and nothing i like is stuff people i know like, so i just kinda box myself up and just kinda mind my own business. the sad part is the closest thing i get to someone caring about my interest is doing stuff like watching youtubers talk about movies a lot, or watching people play games i like that nobody else does.

i dunno. i just wish i was an interesting person to people who was worth giving a shit about. again, its not their fault.  people have limited time, esp. the people i know, and frankly if i was in their shoes i wouldnt think i was worth it either. not that i think they think that way when they just keep talking to each other or whatever, but thats just how i view myself from the outside looking in.

this is probably the longest ive ever talked about how i truly feel about myself. at most i get like a vague sentence or brief exchange with people and thats about it. it feels kind of nice to just stream my consciousness and to be myself for just a few minutes. i doubt anyone’s ever going to read this, but i guess if you do, then i hope you have a good day and regardless if i know you or not, im willing to try and make you happy, even if its just for a moment, because it’s what we deserve as people to have and obtain.