#it's one thing to state your opinion but another to use it as an excuse to attack other people

[askshivanulegacy]

There are trans people in the comments of this post who definitely have the opposite opinion, and that's still after understanding both sides.

I think more people need to realize that having a beef with a movie (or anything, really) doesn't automatically mean it's phobic in some way, and it doesn't mean that the people who made the movie were out to attack anyone.

There is a running joke about the Barbie toy genitals because of the very real humor in the way the toys were made with no genitals, which becomes an obvious and noticeable fact about playing with the toys as kids. If referencing this universal experience is seen as transphobic rather than a nod to the "Barbie life", then that sounds like a misunderstanding.

Humor hits different people differently, but the Barbie ending definitely wasn't created out of thin air to declare something about the existence of women.

You can look for the worst in a film, or you can give it the benefit of the doubt. Not every film is for every person because of their own personal associations and that's fine. But personal associations don't mean the film is attacking you (or that anyone else is when they don't see it that way).

The fact that people just get aggressive & defensive when you mention that the new Barbie film’s ending is deeply transphobic only goes to illustrate the point further: if you just disagreed, wouldn’t you at least want to hear trans girls out? Why are people so willing to point at us and say we’re just whining about nothing; why is it a stretch to believe that one of the most notoriously lukewarm milquetoast white cis liberal feminist female directors has some garbage opinions about trans people? Why are you so ready to overlook literally anything w have a problem with just because it’s fun?

It’s because you don’t actually care.

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Too sweet

John Egan X RedCross! Reader

Summary: When Y/n breaks up with Harry Crosby, Bucky goes to help her...

Warning: Asshole!Harry Crosby/+18/ smut/ riding/ unprotected sex/ p in v/ hickey/ swearing/ kissing/ alcohol/ use of Y/n

Word count: 2.7k

The band was playing as Y/n and Harry Crosby made their way into the room. It was a party for someone’s 25th mission. Y/n was excited to drink what the barman was going to propose, words on the street was that he was good with fruity drinks. It was something new for the base, they usually drank whiskey, rhum and coca cola. ‘’I’ve heard that he makes new drinks, fruitier than your usual whiskey’’ she joked, but Crosby was not laughing. He was growing tired of Y/n’s sunshine personality. He liked her, but he liked her body more. They were just having sex at first, to blow off some steam, but Y/n started to visit him, and Crosby didn’t have to balls to tell her that it was just sex.

‘’He doesn’t deserve her’’ John Egan said to his friend, Buck. ‘’I completely agree with you, he seems tired of her’’ he adds. Ever since she came on the base as a Red Cross volunteer, Bucky was in awe of her. She was so beautiful, and she had this confident attitude that attracted the Major. Bucky kept looking at her from across the room as Crosby dragged her in front of the bar. ‘’You should convince her to, y’a know, leave him’’ Rosie Rosenthal said, taking a sip of his drinks as he joined the conversation. Egan’s head turned to look at Rosie, questioning his motive, but still, John agreed with him. Helen joined the men, with her drink in the hand, she came next to Rosie. ‘’I heard that he’s the missionary king. Kinda boring if you want my opinion’’ she took a sip, smirking. Gale Cleven scoffed before looking at Y/n, the woman looked desperate for someone to save her.

She adjusted her dress, the one she wore for him. It was bright red, the buttons stopped in the middle of her breast, exposing cleavage, the dress stopped mid thigh. It was beautiful, Y/n thought she looked amazing in it; but when Harry Crosby saw her, he just said that she looked nice. It pained her, she put a lot of effort in her look to just be told that she looked nice. ‘’I’ll have a whiskey, neat’’ Crosby ordered. Y/n stuttered a little bit, she didn’t know what to say. She looked at the menu, filled with colorful drinks before choosing one with grenadine and gin. Helen came to her rescue, pulling her away from Crosby as Y/n grabbed her drink. ‘’I’m borrowing her’’ Helen said to Harry. She almost spilled her drink, but when she sat on the table, Helen looked at her. ‘’Him? Y/n you deserve better’’ she stated. ‘’We’re not official, and he’s really tired, his job is hard.’’ she excused him, again. Helen rolled her eyes, before looking at John Egan. ‘’By the look of things, you’ll never be official with him. He looks bored’’ she tries to reason her friend. Y/n fidgeted with her fingers, taking a sip of her drink. It was really tasty! ‘’It’s complicated, he’s still with Jean’’ Y/n whispered. Helen choked on her drink, almost spitting it. ‘’WHAT?!’’ she exclaimed; Y/n looked at the ground.

John Egan was looking at Y/n, that red dress suited her perfectly. She was breathtaking. When they heard Helen exclaim loudly, Buck and Rosie looked at each other. ‘’Holy shit’’ Rosie chuckled as he read Helen’s lips. ‘’What?’’ Bucky asked, looking at Rosie. ‘’If I understand correctly, he’s still with his wife’’ Rosie whispered. Bucky started to laugh. ‘’Harry Crosby, you son of a bitch’’ he mumbled, chuckling. Harry Crosby made his way into the crowd, looking for Y/n, when he got to her, he practically pulled her away from her chair. Y/n walked past Bucky, smiling to him as she was being dragged in the room.

‘’Another whiskey, neat please’’ he ordered the same thing. Y/n tried a lot of things, it was all good, she tried to convince Harry to try other things, but he was sticking with his whiskey neat. ‘’Croz, the Cosmopolitan is really good, I’m sure you’ll like – ‘’ Harry Crosby slammed his hand on the table, not to strong, but loud enough to make the woman flinch. ‘’Goddamnit, Y/n, for the last time. I don’t want to try your fruity drinks! God, how many times do I have to tell you?!’’ he said, aggressively. ‘’I, uh, I’’ she stuttered, in shock of what just happened. ‘’You and your sweet stuff. *scoff*, pathetic. Why can’t you just be like Jean, obedient and silent. No, I have to deal with your sweet and ‘I always see things in a positive way’ bullshit. Your just too sweet for me!’’ he spat. The waiter put his whiskey on the table. Y/n had enough, she took his glass and got up her seat. ‘’You know what? I’d like to see things for your point of view, but I can’t get my head so far up my ass. Fuck you Harry Crosby, we’re done. Go back to your wife, you must miss her after all!’’ she said as she threw his whiskey on him.

That’s my girl! That’s what John Egan thought when he saw Y/n throw whiskey on Harry Crosby. He had it coming for a while now. He was so proud of her; he had a huge grin on his face. ‘’Go after her’’ Helen suggested, and that’s what he did. He saw her going outside, so that’s where he went. ‘’Y/n, wait!’’ he called her out. She had pure anger running through her veins. But she knew that it wasn’t Crosby going after her. She turned around and saw him. ‘’Bucky, hi’’ she cleared her throat. ‘’Are you okay? I, uh, saw the scene’’ he scratched the back of his head. She replaced her hair, looking at Bucky. ‘’Yeah, he's such an asshole’’ she scoffed. John walked closer to her, she wasn’t crying, but she was angry at Crosby. ‘’You want to get out of here?’’ he asked her, she tilted her head in confusion. ‘’Where would we go?’’ she asked. ‘’Not out of the base, but out of this aera, where he could come out’’ he clarified. She nodded as John led her gently to his Jeep.

They entered the woman’s quarters, but they were empty, since everyone was at the party. ‘’By the way, you look astonishing in that dress.’’ He complimented her. Her cheeks grew red as she bit her bottom lip. ‘’Thank you, Bucky, I, uh, you look handsome too’’ she stuttered. ‘’Those drinks looked really good; I wished I tasted one’’ he said. Y/n smiled, truly happy. That’s all he had to do, was it so hard Harry? ‘’Yeah, they were’’ she whispers as she awkwardly looks around the room. ‘’Can I ask you a question?’’ he asked her. She nodded as she sat on her bed. ‘’Why were you with him?’’ he asks. Y/n smiles as she thinks. ‘’Honestly, I thought he was going to be nice and caring. But he wasn’t, and the sex was bad’’ she blurted out the last part, putting her hand in front of her mouth in shock. ‘’God, I’m sorry, please forget I said that’’ she chuckles nervously. ‘’Don’t worry, I already knew that Helen told me’’ he confessed.

They’ve been talking for a while now; nurses were starting to come back. ‘’You have to go; you’re not supposed to be here’’ Y/n signs. John got up, so did Y/n. ‘’I’m not ready for this night to be over’’ he confesses. She blushes as she looks at him. ‘’Me neither’’ she whispers. Bucky smirks as she takes her hand, leading her outside. They got up in his Jeep as they went inside Bucky’s quarters, since he was important on the base, he had his own room. It was in the building where everyone lived, but still, it gave him a little bit of privacy. ‘’Don’t worry about them’’ he whispered as she saw men on their bed. Some men were already sleeping, others were reading and the ones that looked at her were smiling, because they saw what happened with Crosby.

When they entered his room, she felt a weird sense of déjà vu. She’d been here, in this building multiple times with Crosby, but now, she felt like she was important. When she was here, they would have fast and boring sex, usually in missionary. After sex, Harry would fall asleep, he fell asleep around 3pm, leaving Y/n alone, bored and unsatisfied. ‘’What’s going on in your pretty head?’’ Bucky asked as he closed the door. ‘’Nothing, I’m happy to be here’’ she said, not too loudly. Bucky smiled; she was so beautiful. She got comfortable, taking her shoes off and taking a seat on his bed, where he joined her after taking off his jacket. He was a little bit nervous, only because she was so beautiful. ‘’What did Helen told you, y’a know, about the sex?’’ she asked, smiling. Bucky chuckled and looked at her in the eyes. ‘’That he was the missionary king, and it was boring’’ he explains. ‘’Yeah, uh, she’s right.’’ She laughed nervously. ‘’He was that bad?’’ he asked. Y/n nodded as she blushes. ‘’He was’’ she whispers.

The air in the small room felt hot and thick. They’ve been talking about sex for a while and Y/n was hot, the small room was not helping. ‘’Tell me something true’’ Y/n said. He let out a breath before finding the courage to say what he was about to say. ‘’I really want to kiss you right now’’ he breathed out. Her breath caught in her throat as she blinked and looked at him. ‘’Tell me something true, Y/n.’’ he said seductively. She didn’t even have to think twice. ‘’I really want you to kiss me’’ she breathed out. She looked at his eyes, then his lips and his eyes again. Their face was so close, the air in the room was so heavy. Bucky put his hands on her cheek before pressing his lips on hers. The kiss felt like sunrise, it felt so good. Harry Crosby wasn’t a good kisser, but John Egan was a really good kisser. They pulled away to catch their breaths. ‘’Please… Don’t stop’’ she whispered. ‘’I wasn’t planning on it’’ he smirked. Their lips crashed against the other again, this time, it was more intense. Bucky hands trailed down her body, he laid down on the bed, making Y/n got on his lap.

His hands were getting under her skirt, trailing on her thighs, getting closer to her panties. ‘’That red dress is driving me crazy’’ he mumbled against her lips. Her hips grinned against his lap, she felt him growing hard under her. ‘’At least, someone found it hot’’ she chuckled. ‘’Yeah, more than hot – ‘’ his hips buckled, making her feel his boner. ‘’- Feel that? That’s what that dress does to me’’ he smirked. ‘’Just a dress? It doesn’t take you much’’ she giggles. He scoffed before kissing her neck. ‘’Yeah, just that. You looked like a goddess’’ he sucked the skin on her neck, making a mark. She was out of breath, she wasn’t used to this much foreplay, she felt a little dizzy, but it was in the best way possible. His hands were still on her thighs, playing with her panties, taunting her a little bit. But, even if she loved what was happening, she was frustrated, she needed Bucky right now. ‘’Major, I need you. I love the foreplay and stuff, but please; I need you’’ she breathed out. He smirked as he reached her panties. ‘’Whatever you want, darling’’ he said as he took her panties off. Her hands reached his belt, she unbuckled it as she eagerly watched him. ‘’As long as I love this dress, I want to see you’’ he said, unbuttoning her dress. ‘’Then, let me see you’’ she replied, looking at him.

They quickly undressed before going in the same position they were in before. She was naked, on top of him, Bucky was also naked. She was soaking wet, she wasn’t used to this much attention, so it turned her on a lot. ‘’Ride me, sweetheart, c’mon’’ he encouraged her. She sunk down on him, her breath caught in her throat because of the size of his length. ‘’Holy shit’’ she moaned. ‘’Breath, Y/n, take your, shit, take your time’’ he mumbled. His head was thrown back, she was really tight and felt heavenly. She began grinding on him, slowly, to make sure that it didn’t hurt. ‘’Atta girl’’ he breathed out. As she familiarized herself with his size, Y/n began to move a little faster. Bucky’s hand went on her hips, he wanted to guide her. But she was going to the pace that he was looking for. ‘’You’re so big…’’ she moaned as she leaned to kiss him. He chuckled before kissing her. When she felt one of his hands on her breast, she moaned inside his mouth. He played with her tit, teasing her nipple; he loved watching her body react to him, it felt good, seeing the effect he had on her.

The heavy breathing coming out of their mouth was erotic, the fact that they had to keep quiet was pure torture. As they came closer to their orgasm, it was more difficult to keep quiet. She felt a not in her stomach, her climax was close, but a small part of herself didn’t want it to be over, she was truly enjoying it. ‘’I’m close’’ she managed to whisper. ‘’Me too, cum with me’’ he pleaded. She tried to hold her orgasm, but it was hard. Her thighs were shaking. ‘’Bucky, I need too – ‘’ ‘’Cum, now’’ he ordered. They both reached their climax at the same time, they tried to keep quiet, but the pleasure was too much. Bucky sucked her neck again to keep quiet, marking her again.

Bucky and Y/n had to take a moment to recover from what just happened, it was truly amazing, they couldn’t believe it. ‘’Thank you for this amazing sex’’ she breathed out, smiling. ‘’You’re welcome, and I agree, it was amazing’’ he smiled. She decided to sleep here, postponing her walk of shame tomorrow. She put on one of his shirts as she laid beside him. She felt happy, her stomach had butterflies. When she fell asleep, she didn’t even think about Harry Crosby, she thought about John Egan.

A knock on the door woke them up, it was potentially someone telling Bucky that he was flying today, but when she opened the door, Y/n was surprised to see Harry Crosby. When he saw her, his mouth slightly opened. ‘’Y/n, what are you doing in Bucky’s room?’’ he asked. Bucky walked behind Y/n, she felt like she had a scary dog privilege. ‘’What do you want, Croz?’’ Bucky asked. ‘’You, uh, you’re needed, the, uh, Colonel wants to see you’’ he stuttered, seeing the marks in Y/n’s neck. She looked at her watch, it was almost time for her shift. ‘’Shoot I gotta go, see y’a’’ she kissed Bucky’s neck as she put her dress on, not bothering to button it since she was going to change. Crosby had his jaw on the floor, it wasn’t a walk of shame, it was a walk of power.

She was sitting on a table; it was her break. She’d been giving out coffee for hours, she didn’t want a boring black coffee, she wanted a good coffee, with milk and sugar, sadly milk and sugar was for Majors. ‘’Is there anyone sitting here?’’ Harry Crosby asked, with two cups of coffee in his hands. She didn’t want to talk to him, but he sat down on the table anyway. He pushed one cup in front of her: black coffee. Y/n looked at the cup, then slowly rose her head to look a Crosby. ‘’What do you want?’’ she asked. ‘’I’m so sorry for yesterday, I didn’t know – ‘’ she cut him off with her hand. ‘’Crosby, you came here to get me back?’’ she asked, with a hint of disgust. He nodded. ‘’I don’t want to hear it, you humiliated me, told me I was boring, and you’re married!’’ at the same time, Bucky came to sit next to her, handing her a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. ‘’Milk and sugar, just how you like it’’ he smiled as he sat down. Bucky kissed her cheek before looking at Crosby. ‘’You said it yourself, Harry, I’m too sweet for you’’

[musicalmoritz]

It’s canon Mitsuba’s gay?

I’m gonna use this as an excuse to yap because Mitsuba’s queercoding is either weirdly downplayed by fans or used solely for BL shipping purposes so I want to talk about it through the lens of what it means for his character, role in the story, and relationship with Kou

Yes, Mitsuba is canonically gay

Things don’t have to be explicitly stated in order to be canon, subtext is a major part of media analysis. This is something a lot of fans miss which leads to a misunderstanding of the source material. I do have some credentials for this, I’ve taken two undergrad college literature classes in which the subject of queercoding did come up multiple times. Meaning analyzing queercoding has literally gone towards my degree so I feel like my opinion holds some weight (not as much as that of an actual English major but yk I assume I’ve had more education on it than the general TBHK fandom)

There are multiple ways to queercode a character, sometimes it can be as simple as feminizing a man or masculinizing a woman. Though that method might be a bit outdated nowadays with gender roles becoming less strict, it’s still worth keeping in mind when analyzing queer characters. Another way is through romantically colored scenes with characters of the same sex, or by having them hint at disinterest in the opposite sex. Mitsuba checks off all three of these boxes and then some

First off, Mitsuba is attracted to men. This is made extremely obvious through his relationship with Kou but I’m gonna explain it anyways because unfortunately I’ve seen a lot of fans say they’re just platonic

Mitsuba and Kou went on a date. When this is brought up, fans typically jump to the excuse of “but Kou said it wasn’t a date,” which is where my American Lit class is going to come in handy. One of the major things we learned is that authors have to understand that everything they write has some sort of real world connotation. If you write a scene with a doctor, you have to understand that your readers already have preconceived notions of what doctors represent. You can choose to either lean into that or subvert it, but you have to be aware that as soon as a doctor enters the scene, readers have already made assumptions about that character

The word “date” is clearly being used in a romantic context here. When Kou texts his friends and brother about it, they all assume he’s talking about a romantic date. While in the actual context of the scene, Mitsuba and Kou aren’t quite ready to use such a strong label yet, the romantic wording here is still very intentional. AidaIro would not have labeled this moment as a date if they didn’t want readers to view it in a romantic light, because they understand that their readers are going to associate dates with romance. Japanese censorship is really strict, it’s hard to publish stories with explicitly queer characters unless the series is labeled as a BL or GL. And so Japanese manga writers often have to find roundabout ways to express that characters are gay without outright stating it- such as suggesting that they’re going on a date with a character of the same sex

In the printed volume for Vol.20, there’s an editor’s note that mentions that when Kou and Mitsuba are making plans to hang out at the school festival, it holds a romantic implication for the Japanese audience. Cultural differences are important to keep in mind, to western fans this scene might not raise any eyebrows but for its primary audience, it is confirmation that Mitsuba and Kou are romantic. I also find it interesting that the editor felt this context was important enough to warrant clarification

And frankly, their relationship doesn’t make a lot of sense if it’s solely platonic. Male friendship is something TBHK writes very realistically, the male characters aren’t as touchy-feely with their friends as they are with their female love interests. Yokoo and Satou don’t directly ask Kou how he’s feeling when they notice he’s upset, instead they give him a task to distract him- similar to how men in real life cheer their friends up through quality time rather than talking through their emotions like women do (not every man ofc but a good majority of them). When Teru is down, Akane doesn’t hold him and reassure him the way he does with Aoi. There are no grand declarations of ultimate “friendship” the way you see in fan servicy series like Haikyuu. Instead, he used his and Teru’s rivalry to indirectly motivate him to get his head back in the game. When Hanako is sad, Kou cheers him up by making donuts for him and then giving them to Nene so she can pretend she’s the one who made them. This is a very healthy portrayal of male friendship, and Mitsuba and Kou are nothing like this

Mitsuba and Kou both cry and vent to each other multiple times (the Mitsuba Arc, the Picture Perfect Arc, the Nightlife Arc), and instead of comforting each other indirectly they do things like offering to die for each other. You would never see Akane offer to die to make Teru feel better, nor would you Aoi and Nene or Kou and Hanako. It stands out so much from other friendships in the series, even Kou’s friendships with other characters. That is a conscious writing decision, AidaIro make a point to show Mitsuba as an exception for Kou. It’s worth noting that in the same chapter where Yokoo and Satou cheer Kou up indirectly, Mitsuba attempts to directly have him talk about his feelings

They’re also incredibly possessive over one another, in a way friends usually aren’t. When Kou was in the Red House, he was shown his greatest desires, and Mitsuba appeared in one of these. Kou said he knew Mitsuba would appear, which is interesting because at that point he had already picked up on the house showing him what he wanted. But what does he want? He wants Mitsuba to rely on him entirely, to be completely useless without him. He wants Mitsuba to be “no good without him,” to need him so badly that he begs him to die so they can be together. I’m not exaggerating, these are lines pulled straight from the chapter (paraphrased but still). Later on in the Nightlife arc, Kou breaks down when he discovers Mitsuba has been relying on Tsukasa for life-saving help. As for Mitsuba, he wants to die by Kou’s hands. He says it wouldn’t be satisfying if anyone else killed him, and that he would be happy if Kou were to be the last person he spent time with before he died. He tries to trap Kou in a picture perfect world just like Hanako does with Nene, because he wants to live a normal life with him. It’s also shown in one of the extras that Mitsuba cries when Kou ignores him

They’re also drawn very romantically, again we don’t see Teru and Akane this intimate with one another unless they’re fighting. We especially don’t see Kou this intimate with anyone other than Mitsuba, and while Mitsuba is sometimes clingy with Tsukasa we certainly never see him posed romantically with a woman. This comes back to authorial intent and real world connotations, AidaIro know that male friends aren’t typically this close, and therefore casual affection like this will be interpreted in a romantic light. We see them hold hands/wrists multiple times too, Kou gives Mitsuba a piggyback ride in one scene, and in ASHK they had a classic “pinned against the wall” page

I’ll also mention the AUs, because those indicate a lot about the characters as well. In Hanako-Kun of the Opera, Kou poisoned Mitsuba so he could take him away from the opera house and protect him from Tsukasa. He basically kidnapped him. He also stayed with Mitsuba at the opera house for a seemingly long period of time despite hating opera. Aaaaand they’re childhood best friends in this au and Kou took care of Mitsuba while he was sick

Then there’s the Ghost Hotel, where Kou is a werewolf who takes bites out of mummy Mitsuba during full moons. Despite this, the two appear to be friends and Mitsuba helps Kou out around the kitchen. Cannibalism is consistently tied to romance throughout TBHK, most notably with Hakubo and Sumire but other romantic pairings have cannibalistic moments or official arts. During the zombie mokke chapter, Nene panicked when Akane tries to eat her because she assumed it would put her in a love triangle with Aoi. So yeah, cannibalism in TBHK is directly tied to romance and we see that with Mitsukou both in canon and in this au. Speaking of which, I’m not even gonna get into the symbolism of Kou holding a heart out to Mitsuba. Connect the dots for yourselves

Now that we’ve got Mitsukou out of the way, let’s talk about Mitsuba’s disinterest in women

Remember how I said one of the ways queercoding is done is by having a character hint at disinterest in the opposite sex? Yeah, very rarely are we going to see a queercoded male character outright say “I have no attraction to women.” Instead they say they just never saw the appeal in dating, or that they never had time to settle down. In more obvious cases, we have scenes like Reiner from AOT joking that Ymir isn’t all that into guys

I couldn’t find the second scene but there are TWO extras where the subject of Mitsuba’s disinterest in women comes up. C’mon guys I’m trying not to be mean here but you have to be blind, oblivious, or in denial to not pick up on that. Whyyyyy would they mention Mitsuba not having a crush on any girls twice if it weren’t to suggest something about his preference?? Coupled with his appearance (which I’ll get to later) and relationship with Kou, these scenes carry a lot of weight. Even if those other aspects weren’t included, scenes like this would still indicate he has no interest in women (which would make him gay or aroace, though due to his relationship with Kou the aroace thing is kind of ruled out)

Compare this to a scene where Mitsuba thinks he’s being asked out by a man. He doesn’t say “hmmm nope no guys, I’m cuter than all of them~” he specifically says “I’m not interested in guys with lame earrings.” The way this is worded implies that Mitsuba is discussing a type, though it’s v much a comedic scene and we know from everything else that he absolutely does like guys with lame earrings, it’s still worded in a way that makes him appear queer. If he were straight, they would have had him say he’s not interested in guys at all (like Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs, John Watson from BBC Sherlock, Finn Hudson from Glee, idk there are a lot of male characters that are explicit straight sorry for the crazy random list). Also note how he teases Kou about it, he knows that Kou is fond of him and doesn’t hesitate to use that against him (like when he was comforting him during the Nightlife arc)

They don’t go overboard with Mitsuba’s disinterest in women because, well, that’s not really necessary. Two scenes is already a lot, and he doesn’t have any romantic relationships with women in canon (even as a crush/a joke scene). It’s rare for TBHK characters to have absolutely no scenes expressing interest in the opposite sex, since the series is partially a romance. But Mitsuba consistently only ever shows interest in one man, and when girls are brought up he’s quick to brush it off. His mom did think Nene was his girlfriend when they met, but this was depicted as a very awkward and comedic scene. Because the premise of Mitsuba having a girlfriend is objectively hilarious

(Due to Sousuke’s young age it’s reasonable to assume he wasn’t out to his mom yet, he’s around the age where most kids are closeted. It’s even possible that Sousuke hadn’t come to terms with his sexuality yet, though it’s still a prevalent part of both his character and No.3’s)

Now let’s move onto appearances. I want to give a quick disclaimer, not all gay men are feminine and not all feminine men are gay. Androgyny is also very common in anime and doesn’t automatically mean a character is gay, but there are cases when it’s used for queercoding. Mitsuba is one of these cases

Mitsuba is a very feminine character, this is addressed as soon as he shows up in the manga. He was bullied for his appearance (and personality), but unlike his personality he never tried to change his feminine appearance. He kept his hair long, continues to wear scarves and cardigans and earrings. No.3 wears these things as well, and I would argue has a more feminine personality since he seems to be more open about his emotions and idk. I struggle to categorize feminine and masculine traits because imo that’s subjective but there are things society deems feminine vs. masculine. The problem is that I really dislike the whole “men are strong and women are emotional” thing but ehhhh I guess I have to talk about it for this. Hmph. But yeah although Mitsuba isn’t exactly the biggest sweetheart ever, he does act somewhat feminine compared to the other male characters (as I’ve said he’s p much the only man in the series who attempts to work through emotional conflicts directly)

Once again we circle back to intent, AidaIro know that a male character dressed in pink with pink eyes and long pink hair is going to raise some eyebrows. Even by androgynous anime standards, it’s a bit much. And good for him, although not all gay men are feminine, some are and that’s also fine. I can’t speak on how well he represents feminine gay men because I’m a lesbian but he does dress similar to some of the feminine gay men I’ve known irl (or slightly less feminine in some cases…I knew this one dude in high school who used to wear corsets to class and he was so badass I hope he’s doing well)

I could get into how Kou is a bit feminized too with the whole housework thing but this ain’t abt him. I will say that Kou is still a very masculine character but despite this his character is feminized in some ways compared to the other men. I’m not really here to discuss whether that’s good or bad, I’m just stating the evidence as it is, you can make your own conclusions as to how you feel about it

So how does being queer impact Mitsuba’s character arc?

When I get around to writing my analyses of all the TBHK characters I WILL be talking more in depth about the queer allegories with Mitsuba’s character but for now I’ll give ya’ll a quick summary. Supernatural characters have been used for years to represent queerness, the same could be said for villains and any character trope that represents a feeling of “otherness.” Sometimes it’s more broad like X-Men, where the superpowered characters are used to represent all types of minorities (though I believe X-Men is more closely tied to race, there are rampant queer themes as well). Then there’s books like Interview with the Vampire that get more specific with it, where Louis denying his “true nature” as a vampire is used as an allegory for him denying his queerness. Well I’m here to tell you that Mitsuba and Louis de Pointe du Lac are in the same boat

Mitsuba differs from the other supernaturals because he desperately tries to hold on to feelings of normalcy. He wants to be a normal human and live a normal human life. He doesn’t want to be othered, to be outcasted from society for something he can’t control. We don’t see Hanako, Tsuchigomori, Mei, or any of the other supernatural characters struggle with this. You could argue that Akane does but his situation is more related to learning to empathize with others than any internal battles within himself. Hanako may have moments of wishing him and Nene could have something more, but that’s more about romance than his identity.

This desire to be “normal” is unique to Mitsuba’s character, and it’s a very queer desire. Being an angsty teenager who hasn’t fully accepted themself yet and hasn’t realized that being queer is not only normal, but a beautiful experience. It’s also so interesting to me that as he’s trying so hard to be normal, it creates a push and pull between him and Kou. He wants to be normal for Kou but he also feels that he’s hurting Kou just by existing, that this could only end bad for him. Oh the inherent guilt of having your first gay crush and feeling like you're corrupting them hist for pining from afar

So, can you ship him with women? Technically you can do anything, shipping isn’t illegal and we all have free will. Should you ship him with women is more subjective, I personally think no!! Queerness is not just a sexuality, it’s an identity that deeply impacts who you are as a person. It shapes your experiences and your view of yourself, and in an allegorical way it has certainly done this for Mitsuba. Yes, bi people are queer as well and this is still true for them, but bisexuality is not Mitsuba’s experience. Mono-attraction exists and that specification is very important to gay men and lesbians. For some people sexuality is fluid and that’s beautiful, but it doesn’t work that way for everyone

Some queer fans don’t care if gay characters are shipped with members of the opposite sex, and they’re entitled to their own opinions. It makes me immensely uncomfortable tho, so please block me if you ship Mitsuba with women. That goes for any ships between canon gay/lesbian characters and the opposite sex. I respect people’s right to have opinions but that doesn’t mean I have to like the opinions themselves, and I don’t have to engage with anything that makes me uneasy. That goes for all of you btw, never let people convince you that you have to put up with shit you hate on the internet lmao, this is not real life babes. Block and move on

TL;DR

Mitsuba is too gay to function

[frankenkyle19]

Hold Me

warnings: Tate, Smut, handjobs, mentions of violence

word count: 688

basically just a little thing I just typed up. Not proofread and honestly not my best work but I wanted to put out something at least for you guys since it’s been over a week

Tate was… Well, odd to put it lightly. He had the hottest temper, but yet seemed to melt whenever he saw you. He hated everyone but you (his words). He wasn’t a benevolent spirit, despite what others might say. In your opinion he was misunderstood. You never excused his atrocious acts, but in all reality he hadn’t been able to stop it. The house had chosen him to do its bidding. Nothing could have stopped it and if Tate hadn’t been the vessel, another resident of the house would have been. He was different now. Far from the murderous psychotic teenager you’d first met. It was a full 180 switch from everything he’d been. He didn’t need therapy, he didn’t need meds. He needed you. You were his medicine (again, his words) and he couldn’t go a day without you.

So when you left to visit your friends out of state, Tate had no clue what to do with himself. He paced the halls, wandering aimlessly, searching for a distraction that he didn’t find. There was nothing to do in the damned house and he needed you. 

Without you the dark thoughts crawled back into his mind, clawing at the edges of his skull as the searing pain of remembrance took over. How good it had felt to take the lives of others. No matter how much Tate had changed, there was a dark part of him locked away that longed to get free. 

The only thing he could think to do was go to your room and keep himself in there until you got back. It was only a weekend trip, you’d be back Monday afternoon, but still the empty ringing in Tate’s ears drove him crazy. Caused him to fidget and pick at his nails. He slept most of the time, or a ghost version of sleep, a barely conscious rest where you’re aware of everything around you but get a bit of rest fullness. It was unsatisfactory most of the time.

When you had gotten home Tate practically ran to you, attaching himself to you like a parasite. That was Tate. He always had to be in contact with you. It helped ground him. 

The next thing you knew he was whining against your neck, leaving hot, wet kisses there. He was the neediest person you’d ever met… as well as the horniest. You settled him into the bed and stripped him of his clothing, the whole time with him whining and begging you to just touch him already. He was anything but patient.

Finally your hand wrapped around his searing hot cock, gently spreading the pre-cum from the tip to use as lube. You’d think he was a virgin all over again with the way he moaned, arching up into your touch as if he’d never felt pleasure like this before when in all reality he usually begged for your touch at least once a day.

Sometimes his clinginess and neediness was annoying, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. It was, in a way… cute.

His cock twitched, hot and heavy in your hand as Tate threw his head back into the pillows, his beautiful pale chest heaving with every harsh inhale. His whole body reacted to the pleasure, tensing up and jolting around. He never stayed still.

“Come on baby, you’re almost there. Let go for me” his whines increased at your words, his thrusts upwards into your hand becoming more desperate as he came closer and closer to the edge.

A few more strokes and he was cumming in ribbons of white, covering his already abnormally pale body in an even lighter color. You eased up on him, giving one or two more strokes to his spent cock before letting go, watching as it fell onto his stomach, twitching with the aftershocks of pleasure before settling. 

You cleaned Tate up and helped him into his boxers, despite his protests at wearing clothing. He snuggled up close to you after that, feeling as content as ever as he promised to return the favor as soon as he got his energy back. 

[cookiescribble]

Fluftober Day 17: Only One Bed

A/N: hi, I wrote this on a train to a convention, enjoy in public at your own risk- mod ghost

Ship: Dick Grayson x GN!Reader

Summary: traveling out of Blüdhaven to help Bruce with Dick and making a pitstop along the way

You and Dick were on the tail end of a mission together, and pooling both of your remaining spare change together had earned you a room for the night. Though, when you got there, there was only…

“One bed, huh?” Dick scratched at the back of his neck as he looked over the moderately cozy looking queen while speaking.

“Looks like it,” you replied as you stepped into the bathroom to inspect the overall state of it.

“I can take the floor,” You both offered at the same time, which caused the room to fall silent for a moment.

“…well, someone has to take the bed.” Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair, “otherwise, why are we even here?”

“It should be you,” you point at him, but if you were any closer you would have poked him in the chest. “You’ve been driving all day.”

“I’m trying to be…y’know, chivalrous.” He shrugged, not looking at you. Something was clearly making him nervous and flustered. Either that, or he was exhausted, which was all the more reason for him to take the bed, in your opinion.

“I don’t want you to break your back for me on some gross motel floor, Grayson. Take the bed.” You gestured to the bed, turning away from him before you heard him speak up again with a “No.”

“Would you feel better if I was in the bed with you?” You spun back around to take a step closer to him, looking up at him with a smirk.

“What’re you suggesting here?” His own face lit up with a similar smirk as he spoke, with a barely noticeable blush on his cheeks.

“Merely pointing out the fact that neither of us have to take the floor if we can share the bed. Like adults,” You raise an eyebrow at him, “unless you’d rather sleep on whatever grossness exists in the fibres of this carpet.”

His entire face scrunched up in disgust as he put his hands up in defeat. “Alright, okay, I’m convinced.”

“Really? Cause I could keep going if you want—“

Dick chuckled, shaking his head, “No, no, that was a pretty sufficient description, thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” He brushed past you, gently touching your shoulder as he went to make for the bathroom.

“Um, where do you think you’re going?” You quirk one eyebrow at him, crossing your arms as you watch him move.

“The…bathroom?” He pointed to the door that stood slightly opened, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I stink. You’re already making me share a bed with you, do not deprive me of a nice warm shower, too,” he joked, his grin obvious as he crossed his own arms over his chest.

“I just wanted to brush my teeth at—hey, let’s get one thing straight, okay? I am not making you do anything, especially not sharing a bed with me.” You scoff, rolling your eyes at him. “But please just let me get in there for a few minutes before you shower? I just have to do some last minute maintenance before bed.”

He sighed as he relented, “Alright, but it’ll be your funeral if you don’t let me shower.”

“I know, I’m very aware of how stinky you can get.” so You laughed as you rushed past him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind you before he could get another word in.

At first, he didn’t mind. He set about laying his clothes on the side of the bed he wanted to claim and other general things around the room. That was until he heard the shower go on. Dick rushed to the door to listen, and it was definitely the shower.

He tried the door, and you had made the mistake of leaving it unlocked, so he slowly slid it open while trying his best not to make a sound. You, fortunately for him, haven’t heard anything so he continued inside as he slid his shirt off over his head. Dick briefly checks to make sure you haven’t heard him yet, but his training with Batman seemed to be paying off considering you hadn’t shown any signs of being disturbed.

He peeked his head into the shower curtain after most of his clothes had joined yours on the floor, grinning and climbing into the shower as you finally took notice of him. You had turned around as gasped in surprise and grabbed the nearest object in the shower you could find to defend yourself, you probably would’ve screamed if you hadn’t realized it was him.

You smack his shoulder as he fully gets in, standing a few inches in front of you in the small motel shower, “what’re you doing?! You scared me half to death!” You yelled as he reached over your shoulder to grab the body wash from behind you.

“I did say it’d be your funeral if you cost me a shower, and I’m not about to just stand by and let you use up all the hot water.” His cheeky grin was still ever present on his face, pouring some of the soap into his hands.

“And you were the one that was complaining about sharing a bed with me.” You rolled your eyes for the umpteenth time that night and went about continuing your shower, continuing to wash your hair and trying to ignore the flutter that happened in your chest when he had joined you.

“I wasn’t complaining…but you seem awfully calm for someone who was about to beat me over the head with a shampoo bottle a few minutes ago.” Dick teased easily, leaning in close over your shoulder to whisper in your ear.

“I thought you were a murderer that was sneaking into my shower to stab me.” You chuckled, though you couldn’t ignore the blush that darkened your cheeks all the same.

“You don’t think I’d protect you from something like that?” his arms looped around your waist as he spoke, the warmth of his body right behind yours not going unnoticed. He was practically pressed against your back now, only an inch or two of space separating you as he rested his chin on your shoulder.

“No, I…I do…It was just a spur of the moment panic type thing. I don’t normally have people sneaking into the shower with me to uh, to hold me like that.” You put your hand over both of his where they had ended up on your stomach, your thoughts racing and your heart pounding in your ears so loud that you could barely hear him.

“Right, but you are kinda glad it’s me and not a murderer, right?” You heard a laugh rumble from deep within Dick, as if he somehow knew just how much he was flustering your right now.

“I-um, I wouldn’t know. If it were a murderer, I’d probably be dead,” you started as you turned around to face him, “because shampoo bottles are…terrible…” You trailed off as you met his eyes, his eyebrow raised and his smug smirk still on his face.

There was a beat of silence between the two of you before you both leaned in, your lips meeting in the middle in a tender kiss. You both instinctively stepped closer to each other as you did, your chests pressed together as your arms went around his neck and his moved to hold your waist.

You pulled away for air when you started to feel the hot water turn cold, your forehead pressed to his, “Is this what you had in mind when you climbed into the shower with me, Grayson?”

“Not exactly, but I’ll take it.” He left another soft kiss to the tip of your nose.

“I guess sharing that bed doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?” You joked, chuckling as he started laughing.

“No, but it never seemed that bad to begin with for me.” One of his hands left your waist to gently brush your hair from your face once you’d moved your head back to look at him.

“We should both get out and go to bed, though. It was already late when we got here and we have an early morning tomorrow.” You started to detangle yourself from him, as much as you didn’t want to, so you could escape the spray of the shower.

“I’m gonna take advantage of whatever hot water we have left to get rid of the stink, you go on ahead.” He offered his hand to help you step over the tub part of the shower, which you gratefully took.

You left him in the shower, though, your body still a bit numb from all the electric adrenaline that had shot through you. You got changed into pajamas after drying off, prepping for bed as he finished his shower.

He apparently was much quicker at doing so than you, however, because by the time you were done changing, he was on his way back into the room itself. You turned around to see him wearing nothing but one of the motel room towels, the white fabric not covering much of him.

You had to physically stop yourself from staring as he walked into the room to change into his own pajamas.

“Like what you see?” You heard him speak up from across the room and of course, it was to tease you again.

“Didn’t you get enough evidence of that in the shower?”

Dick stepped over to you as you plugged your phone in by the nightstand, “I don’t mind getting a little more.” He had his boxers on now, his body still slick with water as he slid one hand around your waist again, pressing a kiss to the back of your head.

“Maybe you can if you ask really nicely.” You looked up at him as some of the water from his hair dripped onto the floor.

“Not tonight. You were right when you said we have to get to bed.” He kissed the top of your head, walking away to finish getting changed.

You vaguely wondered if he was doing all of this on purpose as you watched him cross the room again.

Once you’d both settled into the bed, you were much closer than you originally thought that you would be. You could feel his warm breath on the top of your face as your head settled against the pillow.

“Is this okay?” He whispered, gently reaching up to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear.

You nodded, meeting his eyes again and taking a mental note of all the different colors that made up the dark blue of his eyes. “It’s more than okay…Actually,” you moved so that your head was cushioned by his chest. “This is much better.”

He couldn’t help but laugh, his hand coming up to run through your hair. “I think that’s definitely more comfortable.”

[spacelazarwolf]

hmmmmmmm i’m real fucking tired of jew haters lying abt me!

let's break this down, shall we?

white trans mascs like spacelazarwolf have no issue calling indigenous people "bone chillingly disturbing" for disagreeing with them.

actually i called what you said antisemitic, because it was. i called what i've witnessed from gentiles in general bone-chillingly disturbing and cruel, and that i've witnessed so much ignorance, hostility, and bloodlust from gentiles. because i keep seeing posts celebrating the massacre that happened on the 7th, and i keep getting anons that tell me "hitler missed one", "the world would be better off without your ilk", "we should have gotten rid of you all ages ago", "die zionists rats *nose emoji*", and a lot of very graphic descriptions of how they would like to rape and kill me. one user, blatantly on their blog, openly said that someone should kill me, and someone said they knew where i lived and could make that happen. that's not disagreeing with me. that is bloodlust.

they pretend to care about racism when trans women engage in it, but have zero issue jumping right to demonic stereotypes about indigenous people who dare to point out that their support of israel is supporting genocide.

hey asshole. I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT YOU.

also. I HAVE BEEN OPEN ABOUT MY CRITICISM OF ISRAEL, MY REFUSAL TO SUPPORT IT AS A STATE, AND MY BELIEF THAT WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS GENOCIDE. YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

literally just blatantly lying about a jew's opinion on israel so you can harass and demonize them is, i hate to tell you, antisemitic.

these so called "anti-semitic rants" were me saying jewish people can survive without israel and do not need to colonize or genocide another group of people to survive.

let's give some of the highlights of your posts:

"while you're here hand-wringing about the safety of israelis and spreading the white supremacist lie that they must be in israel to be safe, israel secured its continued existence by just now murdering 500+ parients and doctors under the excuse of 'well hamas is violent and is hiding in there"

'handwringing' do you mean mourning the deaths of peace activists and children? also if you've read literally any of my other posts on the matter, you know i literally talk about how zionists institutions and leadership use jewish safety and antisemitism in the diaspora to bolster support for a jewish state. pointing this out isn't agreeing with it when you do it, why is it when i do it? what could the difference possibly be??

also, there has been no confirmation on who caused the hospital bombing. there are many reports that it was a misfire by one of the groups in gaza, and those are still being investigated. regardless of who fired it, it's still a tragedy. it's still hundreds of innocent lives lost. and it does not change the fact that the lives lost on the 7th were also a tragedy. using this devastating loss of palestinian life as a bludgeon against a diaspora jew for having the audacity to mourn dead jews is disgusting.

"[you] only bring up jewish people of color to argue that israel is actually not a racist project because israel is the only thing stopping jewish people from being exterminated."

literally just lying.

"jewish people in israel are behaving as and acting as white supremacist colonizers of color"

thanks for literally just outright saying that you think the problem is jews, not the state of israel.

"colonizers globally are constantly killing kids"

and therefore the israeli children who died don't matter? are you expecting jewish people to choose between their nieces and nephews and innocent palestinian children who are killed in gaza?

"[spacelazarwolf has] ranted and raved that without israel existing, the jewish people would be genocided. he's appropriated the struggle of indigenous and black people abroad to cry that jewish people aren't welcome in countries like the us, despite living in the us and benefiting from his whiteness and the oppression of indigenous and black people as many other white jewish people do"

i think you've made it pretty clear you're totally fine lying about what i've actually said regarding israel, but the idea that jews are "appropriating the struggle of indigenous and black people abroad" when we talk about experiencing antisemitism in the countries we live in is so???????????? also you make it really clear in this snippet that your issue isn't with israel but with jews in general.

"white jewish people...have been able to exist in relative safety for decades in european countries"

are you actually fucking insane.

"israel's existence has made things more dangerous for jewish people in the middle east and north africa because these are areas that HISTORICALLY had co-existence between religious groups"

nice historical revisionism! swana was safer than christian countries for sure, but it's SO clear to me that you know absolutely nothing about the history of the jews of swana.

"he and israel supporters like him are constantly distracting from the war crimes and terrorism ISRAEL IS COMMITTING by handwringing perpetually about 'but violence is bad and hamas is bad for being violent, the only good palestinians are the ones that are quiet and don't fight back against us when we kill their kids"

sorry, who's "we"? are diaspora jews killing kids? or do you just equate every single jew in the diaspora to israel? also, yet more blatantly lying and claiming i support israel when i repeatedly have stated i haven't! but it's much more convenient to claim i have, because then you can say that i kill kids!

there's a bunch of other times you repeat the lie that i support israel and "advocate for the continued existence of a settler colonizer state and lying and claiming it's the only way for jewish people to be safe" but i won't include all of those bc this post would be VERY long.

"israel supporters are really out here arguing that palestinians need to hold hands with their genociders and forgive them and find peace - completely ignoring that for centuries there was peace between religious groups in the region and israel destroyed it"

goyim being embarrassingly ignorant of jewish history outside of a warped view of the holocaust? i am shocked!

"the supposed civilians attacked turned out to be iof soldiers so yeah actually it's fucked for you to say. they shouldn't attack people who colonize and massacre palestinian people for their day job"

blatantly supporting the massacre of 1,300 israelis, including children.

"all they can do is fight back or die, while israelis grab their passport and fly back to the us or some other european country and wait for israel to finish their genocide so they can go back"

feel like i don't need to explain why. this is conspiracy theory levels of antisemitic.

"the crying and bellyaching that if the jewish people don't have israel, they'll have to go back to countries that are hostile to them is not one i have sympathy for"

yeah we know you don't have sympathy for jews, that's very clear.

"jewish people, black people, and indigenous people all still live there and survive and fight back and thrive in solidarity together. and they DON'T participate in genocide against other groups of people"

yet again making the blatant assertion that it is JEWS who are committing genocide, and not the israeli government. also let's not pretend that. there's always been perfect solidarity between our communities. jews have not always been the best allies to indigenous people and black people, and vice versa.

"there are other places to turn to if you had any interest in NOT participating in western hegemonic white supremacy. but instead of staying and fighting and existing and thriving with other marginalized people who are at HIGHER risk than you in these countries, you argue that somehow jewish people should be exempt from this work that every other marginalized community does"

shouldn't have to point out that i don't argue that, but also this is, again, conspiracy theory levels of fucked up.

"bonkers to watch israel-supporters screaming and crying that if they don't colonize and genocide palestinians then jewish people can't safely exist"

yikes.

"if it were remotely true, israelis wouldn't have pulled out their dual citizenship passports and gone back to europe and the us to wait at a distance for their government to finish the genocide they started in 1948"

again, yikes.

there is a choice outside colonization - you can just fucking leave and go back to your home countries that are welcoming you with open arms cuz you still have dual citizenship. you don't have to commit genocide colonize people to exist."

more yikes.

"spacelazarwolf really wants to try and argue that they can't stop colonizing palestine cuz if they do, they have to go back to - checks notes - countries where a ton of people still live"

who is "they"?

"for some reason [spacelazarwolf] thinks that to avoid going through [genocide], jewish people need to be allowed to commit genocide themselves and eradicate palestinians"

once again lying abt me, and also openly saying that they believe it is jews who are committing genocide.

"fucking bonkers that he thinks he somehow has the right to commit genocide and colonize to avoid the situation other jewish people, indigenous people, and black people worldwide find themselves in. cowardly bitch baby behavior actually. like i'm sorry lots of other groups of colonized people, who have been subject to genocide and violence, and racism and are still undergoing it, has managed to NOT colonize other groups of people for their own gain."

bc jews are just inherently more evil than other marginalized ppl, right? we're just more prone to being selfish and hurting people? we're just sniveling whiny bitch babies who will turn around and stab you in the back, right?

"screaming and crying that 'we need to be allowed to genocide palestinians or otherwise we have to go back to the us, where we as white jewish people never have to actually deal with the things indigenous and black people there do' is disgusting genocidal behavior. the thought of actually being in solidarity with colonized people is repulsive to people like spacelazarwolf - that's why they all seek to justify colonial projects instead."

again, conspiracy theory levels of fucked.

at no point do i engage in anti-semitism. all i ever criticize is israel.

don't feel like i need to point out that this is not true.

he has repeatedly stated that israel has to exist, otherwise jewish people have to go back to the us, where indigenous people are being genocided.

cool lie! also fucked up thing to say!

i've said nothing about jewish pain and trauma. in fact, i have said on numerous occasions that jewish pain and trauma are very real and that they DO NOT justify. colonization.

mmmmmmmmmm nah. "whiny little bitch babies" is not saying that "jewish pain and trauma are very real." also oops you accidentally did dual loyalty again.

but spacelazarwolf is so rabidly racist he immediately began fearmongering about the bloodlust savage knocking at his door trying to kill him.

i'm on desktop or i would include that mike wazowski standing meme bc genuinely what the fuck.

anyway, i have no doubt that their support palestinians is genuine. that's great. but it is also incredibly clear that they hate jews, and that is going to be a huge detriment to their activism for palestinians, and they're not the only one this is happening with. people need to figure that shit out on their own instead of harassing and lying about jews online and perpetuating this kind of violently antisemitic rhetoric. bc this is like beyond fucked. i am tired of gentiles blatantly lying abt me so they can get away with saying horrendously antisemitic things to and about me. get your fucking shit together.

[blondewhoresworld]

silent night !

saltburn fanfic

!femreader x !felixcatton

tw: talks of hookup, hugs, alcohol use

you had never liked christmas. it was something about america. made it hard to love. the ugly decorated trees, smell of plastic and tinsel. it was always too hot for it to feel jolly. plus it was just another excuse for your family to force ugly sweaters over your head.

that had been your opinion on christmas. hated it, a grinch even. but coming to england, oxford to be exact, had slowly started to warm you. something about the freezing cold cobbled streets, hot chocolate stands, woolly hats, watching how your own breath pooled out in waves of humidity.

you would never admit it but maybe it was starting to grow on you. plus with every coming christmas came a cheesy christmas party. your college was known for them. it’s where you had met felix.

he was dressed in a way too tight, way too small santa outfit. the top undone to show off his lazy but lean chest. you had watched him all night from across the room. desperately trying to get a peek of the tattoo that would flash itself every so often.

felix had approached you first, beaming, cheeks flushed with the strong liquor. he was a towering figure. made even the tallest person look insignificant.

“you alright?” he had said, double fisted with two bottles of smirnoff mixes in his hands.

“yeah… fine.” you replied, you always loved a college party, had dressed on theme. little elf outfit, your cheeks painted pink.

“dance?” it was easy for him, one word and it was the next day and you had woken up in his twin bed.

that’s where you were now, the following year. thin cigarette in hand as you sit with your back against the cool stone wall.

“what do you mean you hate christmas?” he had his face scrunched up, trying to unscrew his eyebrow piercing. he was heading home for christmas and had already lectured you on his mothers clean cut household rules.

“it’s shitty, just an excuse for people to get drunk and put up ugly decorations.” you shrugged, taking a long drag of your cigarette and trying not to laugh at him.

“that’s the best part.” felix argued, still fiddling with the tiny metal ball. “trust me y/n you have never had a good english christmas.”

he said it with such confidence and certainty that you burst out laughing, it caused him to jolt and loose hand on his piercing. he swore under his breath and shook his head, that same crooked smile on his lips.

“don’t laugh.” he said, rolling his eyes. “if you saw my house all lit up you would change your mind. mum throws a wicked christmas eve party.”

he paused and looked at you. “where are you this year? the states?”

she shook her head. “nah, i was gonna stay here or go to my meemaw’s down in kent.”

“sick!” felix exclaimed, that posh accent still brought a smile to your lips. “you can come, i’ll get a car and everything. it will be totally chill vibes.”

it was everything but chill vibes.

you arrived late on purpose, your black cab dropping you just outside the gates.

felix wasn’t wrong so far, you had been to his house before in the summer. but now it looked stunning.

every inch was covered in warm fairy lights, fountains had frozen over, the gates had little merry christmas signs dotted all over them.

huge wreaths decorated with holly and dried out oranges were on every door and as the gates opened you could hear the music already playing.

a butler dressed in a black suit and a christmas themed tie took your things and led you into the entrance hall. that was almost showstopping.

two huge trees lay at the end of each room, both had been so carefully decorated and curated it felt scary to be so close. warm colours, red, orange, yellows covered each branch. and when you looked closer you noticed that each catton had their own personalised bauble. it was so perfect. so warm. the house itself was warm.

a table lie in the middle of the room, sat on a red intricate antique rug. it had a little miniature village on top that was playing out christmas scenes. it was genuinely like spending christmas with the windsor’s.

“y/n mate!” it was felix, he came bombarding into the room, sporting no shoes (or socks) and a large piece of tinsel wrapped around his neck. “you are so late!” he leant down and picked you up like it was nothing. it was a sweet embrace, something that made your cheeks burn.

he was clearly already tipsy but you couldn’t figure out what it was. “come, come.” he led you through the rest of the house and into the ballroom.

he had your hand tugging you along as you attempted to steal glances of the rooms. his sister sat in one room, she had let the blonde fade out of her hair and it had returned to its natural brown.

she made the small room glow, sat watching the tv with a glass of red wine in her hands. the room was so stacked with fairy lights and sofas it was hard to see her at first. she didn’t see you.

the next thing you saw was the gardens. he led you through a corridor that had huge windows. you could see everything, the fog that lingered over the grounds, each tree had been dressed up in orange lights. usually saltburn was scary at night but this was almost breathtaking.

then you were finally in the ballroom.

now that was what christmas was.

a slow and jazzy version of silent night was playing lowly as earls and sirs and ladies and lords all talked it happy drunk voices.

about seven antique rugs had been placed over the floor and every stood in their socks or bare feet. candles sat on every surface and you really began to believe you were in a harry potter book.

you passed a huge nutcracker and almost fell. felix caught you by your arm and laughed, his cheeks red. you couldn’t tell if it was from the alcohol or the warmth of the room.

“totally chill, hm?” he said, handing you a glass of red wine. “maybe christmas is better in england?”

you didn’t reply, just sipped the drink and took in the smell of the happy guests and the sound of the music.

ps tysm @tinytennisskirt for inspiring me to write again <33

[qqueenofhades]

Last anon here -- I'm sorry for sending that message through. I don't know what is and isn't true anymore.

I deleted what I presume was your first ask (the one accusing me of not condemning the Gaza genocide and calling me a "DNC shill and a liar") because it was rude, uncalled for, and I couldn't see any good to come of engaging with it. However, because you've returned and apologized and sent this followup, I am willing to answer it, because I am aware that we can all do stupid things (especially on the internet) that we regret. So there is that.

Once again: I have strictly limited my posts/reblogs on this topic because it is so inflammatory, there are reams of people willing to attack you on every side, and none of it is actually constructive (this is the blue hellsite where we have two whole jokes about Ea-Nasir and color theory in children's hospitals. We are not doing important social justice work here and expecting this to be the main/only forum in which we post the Correct Opinions is not going to work out for anyone). But I would like, for the record, to point out that I have condemned the situation in Gaza and explicitly called it a genocide and Netanyahu and co. war criminals. Often and repeatedly:

Ask from October 28, 2023:

What’s happening to the Gazans right now is no qualification or equivocation, a genocide. It should rightfully be opposed and called what it is. But unfortunately, I have spent too much time around Western Online Leftists to believe they actually care a whit about stopping genocide as a fundamental principle, and only want to be seen to loudly care about what their Ideology has told them to care about. [...] To put it bluntly, those genocides are being committed by nation-states that Online Leftists like for being “anti-Western,” and therefore their activities are actually fine and should even need to be defended.

Another post from December 2023 explicitly calling out Netanyahu and his cabinet, while also pointing out that Tumblr's response now mostly consisted of antisemitic dogwhistles and rampant political misinformation:

[...] the way Netanyahu is personally a genocidal maniac with a far-right cabinet of war criminals and is bent on continuing the war in order to escape his own criminal prosecutions (and yes, he is HIGHLY affiliated with Trump and Putin) but this somehow still does not remotely justify or excuse the rampant frothingly mindless and generalized anti-Semitism seen everywhere on leftist spaces these days [....]

An ask from January 10th, 2024 (worth probably reading in full) where I once more say that nobody wants this to be happening, but that once again, the criticism in Western leftist forums (particularly Tumblr/Twitter) is not made equally or in good faith :

Nobody of basic good sense and decency wants to see Gaza leveled while the Israeli state continues to apply a number of violently cruel collective punishments even outside the actual daily bombing of civilians. But for the love of god, let’s get rid of the idea that the continued mindless violence doesn’t benefit Hamas (because it does; unsurprisingly, sympathy for their cause has soared in Gaza) as much as it does Israel, or that Hamas is some kind of benevolent peacemaker that is being thwarted by the cruel imperialist US/West.

This post, also from January 2024, explains why the kind of stunt-trick "pro Palestinian" activism that just relies on publicly hassling Jews is a) antisemitic and b) actively harming the people of Gaza, while once again pointing out whose fault this whole mess actually is:

If these people actually wanted to advocate constructively for Palestine in a good-faith way and not just punish random Jews or people who might have once met a Jew (which they don’t), they would take a look at that, go “hmm, this isn’t really getting the right result” and listen to the people who are telling them that by generating this bad publicity, they are doing far more harm to the cause than good. They are going to make the cause look foolish, they will drive away anyone who isn’t already radicalized, they will shut down any possibility of discussion and dialogue, and their efforts will be picked up in the Israeli nationalist right-wing media/Netanyahu and his war criminal advisors to insist to left-wing or anti-zionist Jews that (one of the, you know, big fucking reasons Israel was founded in the first place) they aren’t safe in any other country in the world, and they need to support the Israeli government’s actions, no matter how heinous.

A follow-up from January 31, 2024, discussing (again) the problems with insisting that Biden personally/the American power apparatus is just giving Israel a blank check and therefore Biden Iz Bad And This is All His Fault:

Once again: I strongly disagree with the idea of just giving Israel/Netanyahu a blank check to keep committing atrocities, but I also need to repeatedly point out that Biden isn’t doing that. His initial unconditional support of Israel after October 7 (which at the time was the correct response) has shifted to a much more measured and conditional approach where he has muted the overtly pro-Israel statements and started talking about a two-state solution and the need to protect the lives of civilians and trying to keep a lid on what could become a REALLY bad situation with all kinds of war-hungry powers eager to jump into the Middle East and blow it completely to hell.

I am a historian. This does not mean that I always know The Greatest Things Ever, but it does mean that I default toward long, cautious, and qualified responses where I try to consider multiple perspectives and nuances, rather than just posting pithy soundbites or black-and-white statements. (Yes, I know; I am doomed on social media.) Thus when I do discuss the situation, I tend toward trying to put it in broader context, to push back sharply against the idea that being "pro Palestine" is just being wildly antisemitic on social media and nothing else, and to call out those bad actors who are using this situation to continue to imperil American democracy and deliberately try to get Trump (who openly hankers to be a genocidal fascist dictator for everyone, not just Israel/Palestine) back into office.

I know that this is a situation which provokes (to say the least) strong emotions from everyone. I know that it's infuriating to feel totally helpless and just to have to watch it from afar. I know that we all wish we could stop it and that leads us to create meaning or assign importance to our own actions where there actually is none. But that does not mean that people have total liberty to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, wild political misinformation, narratives designed whether unwittingly or deliberately to help Trump and other far-right fascists, and otherwise anonymously dogpile on people who haven't Posted The Correct Opinion on Tumblr (once again, Tumblr, where we get our news via Destiel meme). So I hope this has helped you, if this is what you wanted to get out of contacting me today, and hope also that you'll continue to think about what to do and how to act. It's hard, I know, and you have my sympathy. But so it is for us all.

[hms-no-fun]

in your view of things right now, with the political climate so hot coming into the election, and companies doing worse than ever in terms of amassing greed and power and fucking us all over... what do you think has to change to find a way out?

oh boy, what a question. i've got a BA in film studies. i pay my bills by making youtube videos and writing homestuck fanfiction. i am not an authority, i only kind of vaguely know what i'm talking about in any given conversation. but i do think about this question a lot, and i've been wanting an excuse to arrange some of my thoughts on the matter. so, you know, don't take my words here as gospel, or as a coherent platform, or whatever. i'm just a goat with some opinions who hasn't read enough theory but means well.

alright. as a communist my answer is always gonna be "proletarian revolution," but that's an endgoal we're currently nowhere near achieving. the path to getting there is impossible to truly know, because of course revolutions are historically contingent on an organized vanguard being prepared to take control in a moment of national crisis. we don't have a leftist vanguard in this country, haven't done since the FBI and state governments went to war with the Black Panthers. my ideal vision of an effective communist party is one unlike any that currently exists on a large scale in the USA, built by organizing communities to coordinate neighborhood needs, as part of city/county organizations coordinating local needs, as part of state organizations that etc. right now political parties are exclusively focused on electoralism. i want a party that can organize eviction blockades, free community daycare, reading groups, high-capacity cafeterias, and all manner of mutual aid. i want a party that can operate with solidarity, as the Panthers did by supporting the 28 day 504 sit-in that resulted in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. an effective vanguard party interfaces directly with the working class and builds its policy platforms based on their needs with no apology, rather than the acceptable liberal half-measures we've grown so accustomed to.

but it's a loooooooong road to get even that far. and you might say such an organization would be offputting, but like. the Panthers won over a lot of moderates over time because they weren't just out on the streets posturing. they took care of people. we only have free school lunch programs at all because of them. this is the thing that drives me nuts about so many leftists today-- you don't win over a moderate or conservative by debating the merit of their ideas. you help improve the material conditions of their day to day life, thanklessly, as you'd do with everyone in that community, because you cannot adopt means testing by another name without selling off an essential part of yourself. slowly, over time, some of those people will be won over. it'll never be everyone, but it doesn't have to be everyone. it doesn't even have to be a majority. you can get a hell of a lot done with even just 30% of people, especially if those people are even mildly-disciplined members of a well-organized party apparatus.

so, okay, that's my sense of the broad strokes. i want a proletarian revolution by way of a militant vanguard party. not saying this is the ONLY way forward, just the one i think would be most likely to succeed under the right circumstances. but again, we're a million miles away from having a communist vanguard in this country. quite frankly, such a thing feels an impossible pipe dream at this exact historic moment. so the question for me then becomes, how do we create the conditions that would allow for such an organization to emerge, claim power, hold it long enough to build a substantial base, then act on it towards a revolutionary goal?

first you've gotta ask why it's so hard to imagine this fanciful 20th century ass operation today. obvious answers: it's fucking impossible for a third party to gain a foothold in the system as it stands, so let's fix that. ranked choice voting would be a good place to start. i'm no electoralist, but if we're presuming that the revolution isn't happening tomorrow then some element of its foundation must be in making our democracy an actual democracy that can reflect people's needs. repeal citizens united. put HUGE limits on campaign donations and make it harder to conceal donations through super PACs. redistricting is another essential piece of the puzzle-- there is precisely one map of every major usamerican city and it's the map of redlined districts where people of color were not allowed to buy property. look at wealth distribution in communities and it'll map 1 to 1 to historic redlining, guaranteed. we gotta fix gerrymandering, loosen restrictions on poll access (such as the ad hoc poll tax that is government ID requirements), and if we're really feeling frisky push for a mandatory federal voting holiday so that no one has to work on election day (which elections count for "election day" is a whole other quagmire of course). less obvious answers: the cops and the FBI are still imprisoning and murdering black, poc, native, and queer activists in broad daylight. the national prison population is an IMMENSE locus of potential revolutionary energy. some goals on that front: abolish prisons, massively defund the cops, and curtail the surveillance state. restore the convicted felon's right to vote, and otherwise remove the many bureaucratic roadblocks that artificially create the cycle of recidivism. put money into nationwide job training programs (NO PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS) not just for ex convicts but for everyone, for reasons we'll get to momentarily.

i focus on electoral reform at the start here because i think it's an illustrative example of just how sprawling the task before us is. my goal isn't to overwhelm you or make you feel doomed because "holy shit that's already a lot of stuff that feels totally impossible and you haven't even mentioned healthcare yet," but to hammer home that the class war is being fought on a million fronts. you will go completely numb if you expect any one person or organization to address all of these issues simultaneously and as soon as possible. in an ideal world, there are many many affinity groups working towards these ends all over the place, either as part of or in solidarity with our imagined vanguard. i'm trying to look at ways to materially improve the lives of people in our political economy as it currently exists, rather than just saying "we need revolution" and leaving it there.

alright then, so what about capitalism? another major factor in the systematic disenfranchisement of the working class is the role corporate employers play in maintaining the class war. nobody has time to participate in local political actions because everyone has to work crushing hours, and when they do have days to themselves they still have to personally drive to wherever things are happening and find parking, instead of grocery shopping, taking care of kids, just fucking relaxing, whatever. obvious answers: medicare for all. right now, healthcare access is tied to employment status unless you are COMICALLY poor (i just got kicked off of medicaid a couple months ago because i now make marginally more than the cutoff, which now means i'm paying $200+ more a month on healthcare and am now way more worried about money than when i was on welfare. what a great and functional system!). if you're afraid of losing your health insurance for any reason, then you are disincentivized from expressing any opinions you might have about the conduct of your employer by, say, quitting. just passing universal healthcare alone would cause some major turmoil in the US economy. invest in mass public transit with rigorous local neighborhood access, and now a hell of a lot more people are empowered to participate in civic duty. less obvious answers: get rid of at-will employment! make it much much harder for employers to fire people, and regulate the ability of corporations to do mass layoffs. this would go a long way towards throwing some wrenches into the methods corps use to invent economic prosperity through the creative application of spreadsheets. on top of that, let's nuke the absolute fuck out of means-testing for programs like food stamps, medicaid, social housing, or literally any other form of "charity" that made Reagan shit his pants.

speaking of means testing, let's talk about bullshit jobs. there are a TON of pointless, degrading, wasteful jobs in this country. corps playing middlemen to middlemen. endless state and business bureaucracy using hundreds of systems that rarely if ever communicate with one another, putting a huge administrative burden on working people while the rich beneficiaries of this exploitation get to launder their guilt through the public-facing punching bags of customer service representatives. too many people work at the office factory. there are a lot of industries that need to be massively curtailed if not outright destroyed, a fact that intersects with the threat of climate change when you include coal and oil jobs. it's not enough to get rid of these positions, you also have to have a plan for those displaced workers-- hence the job training program i mentioned before. if we actually want to see a transition into a more egalitarian society that doesn't run exclusively on fossil fuels, then there needs to be a pipeline that gives purpose to the people whose lives will inevitably be radically altered by the kinds of changes we're talking about. there's an important thing, actually-- we all need to be prepared for this line of questioning and have a good answer in the back pocket. there is no shift from pure capitalism to even lite democratic socialism that won't hurt some cohort of people that doesn't deserve it. unless you want them to fall in with the fascists, you're gonna want to have a plan for how to integrate them into the world you're trying to build.

here's a wildcard for you. a lot of folks are on that "break up the monopolies" grind these days, and i appreciate the sentiment. i also think we would be vastly better served in the long run by simply nationalizing the monopolies. obviously there are plenty of worthwhile concerns to be had about any usamerican government gaining that kind of control over anything at this precise moment, but we cannot let that impede the horizons of our imaginary. i don't want market reform, i want the abolition of markets. the internet should be a public utility and ISPs should be government institutions. tech needs UNENDING regulation as we are all aware. social media should be public and interoperable. there needs to be a rolling back of internet surveillance. i've been toying with the idea of a Federal Department of Digital Moderation as an intervention on the current fascist radicalization pipeline that is social media, but that raises so many other concerns that i don't have an answer for. mostly i just think that the profit motive needs to be excised from as many sectors of public life as possible, and nationalization is a pretty good way to get there.

affordable housing! lower rents means fewer hours at work to make ends meet means more time to spend with family & community means more chances for more people to participate in civic action. abolish student debt and make college free! and make it illegal for colleges to invest in shit like fucking israel! a more accessible system of higher education means a more educated proletariat. this wouldn't by any stretch automatically lead to a more leftist proletariat, but conservatives have worked very hard to curtail access to higher education and that alone is more than enough reason to push for it. i've really buried the lede here, honestly. to my mind, medicare for all, mass public transit, free education, and national rent control are THE milestones we ought to be aiming for in terms of domestic policy. it is simply impossible to estimate how seismically and immediately these four policies (if applied equitably and without means-testing) could transform civic life in the USA. any systemic social ill you can name has some connection to one of these four ideas. i personally hold prison abolition & police defunding as equally essential, but these are unfortunately a MUCH harder sell for a lot of folks and will require some solidaristic frog-boiling from the likeable progressives/socialists of the world to naturalize the idea. but then, on that front i'm speaking very much outside my lane, and would defer to the wisdom of actual abolition activists in a scenario where we were talking concrete policy.

then there's foreign policy. this post has gone on a long time and i'm not the person to talk about this at length, but: the united states military needs to be defunded, and its outposts across the world removed. to curtail global climate change, the american imperial project must end. our meddling in foreign affairs is directly responsible for the domination of capital, and so long as this and other western states exist as they do, no communist outpost is safe. then there comes the question of reparations. all those billionaires didn't invent their money, they stole it. in quite a lot of cases they stole it from US citizens, but they've stolen far more from the rest of the world. tax the rich at 99% and distribute billions no-strings-attached to african and pacific island nations? other countries deserve a right to self determination without the threat of foreign interference. our nation's wealth doesn't just need to be taxed and redistributed to working class usamericans (particularly black communities), it ought to be redistributed internationally to all the countries we've fucked with over the last century and a half. but that's a pretty late stage pipe dream.

i guess the last thing that i've been thinking a lot about is more esoteric, and certainly difficult to implement. i believe we need to seriously interrogate "progress" as a concept. right now our society is defined by technological advancements as encouraged by a capitalist economy. if you fuck around with old analog tech at all, you've probably said to yourself more than once "they really don't make em like this anymore." i think about that fucking Hot Ones interview with matt damon about how streaming has stabbed the established profit model in the heart, where he says something like "we had a pretty good thing going before they showed up." i think about small museums closing down in the pandemic because they couldn't turn a profit, small local shops closing down for the same reason. constant newness paired with engineered obsolescence. disruption of the equilibrium in order to steal profit. it's easy to argue that socialized healthcare is good because it's actually more cost efficient than private healthcare. but those are the terms set by capitalists. i believe that healthcare and profit-seeking should be mutually exclusive. i believe that some things are a public good, however small --museums, quirky shops, parks, art spaces, open lots, movies, music, theater, whatever-- and that these things should be protected from the market at all costs. the alternative is corporate consolidation of everything, as every piece of local color cannot compete with economies of scale and asphyxiates to death. i refuse to accept the idea that "progress" means throwing away anyone who specialized in the thing being progressed beyond. i refuse to accept the idea that "progress" is linear and exists beyond the purview of morals, values, and ideology, nor indeed that it is inevitable and in any event an unalloyed good.

i believe that it doesn't matter if making higher-quality clothes at greater cost in unionized factories is "less efficient" than fast fashion. all "efficiency" means is spread everything as thin as possible, just enough just on time regardless of context. it's a mask for robber baron bullshit. it's an attempt by the bourgeoisie to naturalize the laws of economics as if they were on the same level as the laws of gravity, and we just can't accept that anymore. there's that meme, "i want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and i’m not kidding." i think we ought to apply that sentiment far more broadly. if we truly believe in the dignity of a self-determined life, then we must agree that some things are above profit, above efficiency, and are worth doing right. i haven't quite nailed down yet how exactly to verbalize this idea in a way that can be easily & quickly understood. but i feel it intensely, and only moreso as time goes on. as we push for these seemingly-impossible policy changes, it's of equal importance that we not lose ourselves to the limitations of the system as it exists under capitalism. to transform the world we must transform ourselves. to save the world we must save ourselves. if we hold a value to be true, then it must be constant and uncompromising. we must agree that our lives are better off when certain things exist even if they aren't efficient or fail to turn a profit, and thus decimate whatever part of us has been raised to believe that efficiency and profit ought ever to enter the equation. of course, in any revolution costs quickly become a huge going concern. there will always be painful compromises in policy along the path, always disappointments and mistakes. no revolution can be perfect. but through all these material challenges, the world that must be needs a place at the table with us. impractical, impossible, unfeasible... necessary.

you will probably not live to see that world, anon, and neither will i. we are all in the long game now, and it can never stop with one good policy, one good politician, one needed win. it's everything or it's nothing. socialism or barbarism. it is this belief which guides me, that no one ought to suffer the indignities i've suffered in my years working for shit wages, struggling to find housing, watching family die from economic abandonment. that there is simply no reason for society to be the way that it is, and that "the world isn't fair" is no excuse when we are the engineers of that "world" in every way that matters.

anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the subject. i hope i haven't made a complete fool of myself here.

[arcane-abomination]

Be aware that this blog may touch on sensitive topics regarding death so read on at your own discretion.

Death Energy

Death energy is just energy that comes from death and death symbolism, but as simple of an answer as that seems to be, don’t be fooled by the much deeper complexities that this topic harbors. When we really dig into it we discover some darker truths about our existence and the hereafter. Truths that many people are more comfortable ignoring because they force us to face the inevitable.

Death energy is about stillness, endings, and about the deconstructing and reconstructing processes. It’s about using what’s passed to fertilize what’s new and grow something that has purpose in the next step of your life. It’s about the acceptance of inevitability and what we can’t change to bring about what we can. All in all it’s a very unique energy that can open many new doors for any witch willing to try.

• What Does Death Energy Feel Like? •

Everyone feels energy differently in the basic of ways but even still, it should go without saying that death energy has a different pull to it entirely then life energy. Sometimes those who aren’t used to connecting with it can have a hard time. It’s been described as heavy, or even smothering by some. Others have said it feels cold or chilling in a way. The funny thing here is that these definitely describe what naturally comes with death. Our bodies get stiff and much heavier. We lose our heat and grow cold, and while this definitely sounds unpleasant and shocking to those who aren’t used to spending time with it we must also recognize that it’s a part of a continued cycle. As our bodies further decay the weight becomes less and the shock of the cold against the once warm skin becomes just another room temperature feeling. Another words, things come to feel more natural especially when you understand the process and spend time with it.

All new energy can feel overwhelming to anyone who hasn’t experienced it before. It can bring up a whole plethora of unease, nervousness, even anxiety if you’re not ready for it. Especially death energy. As stated above, it can force us to face certain things. Things that can be heavy and hard to accept. For this reason working death energy may not be for everyone and that’s okay. It deals with subject matter that makes some people uncomfortable and as such if you’re not ready to incorporate it you have every right not to.

• What Can Death Energy Be Used For? •

Death energy is the primary force in death witchcraft and death magick. And as a result each witch is gonna use it in their own unique way. There are so many interesting books and articles published that describe plethora of interesting ways to work with the energy of death. Many of which put their own unique understanding and spin on how it came to be, how it works, and how you can use it. But in my opinion you can use death energy for everything you can use life energy for and then some. It just pulls the magick from a different place and in a different way. Remember each one of us processes things in a different way, especially death energy. Do what makes you feel comfortable and never let anyone push you to cross any lines you’re not ready for. Comfort in magick is very important.

Lastly I want to take this time to emphasize what death energy is not used for. It is not and never will be an excuse to just take human life. Murdering someone is never okay. Nor is it an excuse to unnecessarily torture animals. Now I understand that using animals in general can be a debatable subject, especially when they are killed by the individual. However it should be understood that many believe this is okay during appropriate times and only when you utilize the animal and not waste it. So as an example hunting during deer season or catching a fish. The animal in question can be used for magick but will also ultimately be eaten and many witches see this as an appropriate practice. As long as everything operates within the confines of the law and everything is treated with respect and dignity.

Cemetery Work

For a lot of death witches, doing work in a cemetery or graveyard is a must, although there are those that don’t, a great deal more either do or will do when they get the chance. Lots goes into this type of work though and a thorough study on the subject should be done before pursuing this type of magick. However, some key points to remember are to always be respectful, obey the laws and rules of your land regarding the resting places, and listen to what the dead tell you.

It’s very important to recognize that there are always going to be practitioners that have their own unique rules on this subject, but the best way to know if the dead favor something or not is to ask them. What rules you inevitably believe should revolve around what the dead are comfortable with. That said, some of these rules are shared amongst practitioners. I have compiled a list below with some of them. Remember, this is very basic and what a practitioner adds or changes is up to them.

💀 Always bring an offering for the gatekeeper.

Typically these are the oldest spirits in the cemetery and are in charge of maintaining order. Most offerings include things like coins, drink, bread, or apples.

💀 State exactly what you’ll be doing and ask permission from the gatekeeper.

It’s important to let the spirits know what your intentions are. Will you be doing magick at the crossroads, magick at a grave, or foraging? The gatekeeper should let you know through energy what is acceptable. Remember each Cemetery is different and has different rules over all.

💀 Never take things directly from a grave.

Gifts on a grave belong to the spirit dwelling there. It’s okay to pick up things like trash, or moldy flowers in still water but, rocks, dried or fresh flowers, feathers, etc should be left alone.

💀 Be respectful of the graves and spirits.

Try not to walk near the headstone of a grave (you’re walking on their body. Try to stay near the feet and always say excuse me politely if you have to step on it), always ask for a spirits help never demand it, and always bring them an offering as a thank you.

💀 When foraging never take what a spirit tells you not to.

If you’re gathering dirt, sticks, or plants from a cemetery, even if it’s not on a grave, and you get a feeling like you shouldn’t touch it, then don’t. Spirits will always let you know what they want to keep. Obey that or it’s theft.

💀Always give thanks for hospitality before you leave.

Being polite and thanking your hosts is always a must in general and can bring good energies between you and the dead. Especially if you intend on going back to work at that Cemetery.

Necromancy

Another common staple amongst death workers and arguably one of the most misunderstood practices. Simply put, this practice is divination with the dead. It’s all about connecting to and asking the dead for answers from the beyond. Lots of that used to be done in the cemetery and as a result many wild and fantastic rumors about zombie creation were formed, but that’s far from the truth. There were indeed many radical understandings within the practices history however, but as science matured so did the knowledge on what this practice actually was.

While necromancy is still done in cemeteries even today, it’s not a must. Calling fourth a spirit can be done a number of ways and will definitely alter and change based on the witch. Some working maybe more cultural than others, and some may be more complex. The uniqueness of these practices can number well into the double digits and is always interesting to learn. Some of the most common spirit summoning techniques (aside from going directly to someone’s grave) are the spirit board, a mirror, and the pendulum. As for how these spirits are called, that too can differ from witch to witch. Most often though, it can involve candles or crystals as an energy source, a personal item or favored item like food, and/or the spirits name. It can be as simple as physically calling out to the abyss, beckoning the spirit forward or as elaborate a ritual as calling in the four directional guardians or a guide to lead them to you.

Regardless of how it’s done, it’s always a good rule of thumb to be respectful to them. Don’t demand from them, ask instead, and offer gratitude and an offering when you end the session.

Deity & Spirit Guides

Lots of death workers may worship deity just like any other practitioner. However the deity they are generally more drawn to are often either associated with the underworld, or a psychopomp, like Osiris, Hades, Anubis, or Hecate. However they may also be a deity tied in some way to the personification of death, much like Thanatos, or the grim reaper.

Even if the witch chooses not to utilize deity they can still conjure up spiritual guides of some sort. These guides can be something as common as ancestral spirits or even animal spirits. Most common animal guides often have some death association and symbolism to them. So animals like Black cats, bats, vultures, owls, crows and ravens are quite popular.

Bones & Body Parts

Its not uncommon to see bones on the altars of death witches. Many beliefs around these tools and what they represent circulate within the community. For some specific animal bones it’s believed you can use that animal spirit and energy. Other beliefs revolve not around the animal itself but rather the type of bone, as each one has its own unique symbolism attached to it, such as a jaw being connected to communication. The possibilities are near limitless and for most death practitioners they are a very necessary tool within the craft. Some practitioners even collect additional things like insect exoskeletons, animal skins, and preserved body parts like a rabbits foot.

DISCLAIMER! People should be made aware that it’s always encouraged for all materials to be ethnically sourced. Any form of unlawful collection or cruelty is frowned upon and not condoned within the community.

Conclusion

As started above, these are just some of the basics of death work within the pagan community and serves as a starting point to bounce off of. It’s very important to do your own research and come to your own conclusions regarding this craft and always remember to obey your local laws. Death work can be very fulfilling but not when it’s done under illegal circumstances.

For some additional reading look to this list below:

• What is Necromancy?

• Working with Bones & Skulls in Witchcraft

• Gods & Goddesses of Death & the Underworld

• Graveyard Magick: A Witches Guide

• Death Witchcraft

[sserrafeim]

Feyre is only 21. There is no reason for her to speed running her life. She's gonna live for centuries. Feyre was lied and manipulated to since she's with a man that sexually abused her AND committed acts of reproductive abuse.

Amren can be blamed for how she acts. She's her own person. Its one to thing to understand why she is the way she is. Its another to excuse it.

I’m afraid you’ll have to read the books once again because this fandom has a way to distort your opinions if you spend too much time in it especially if it’s been a while since you’ve read the actual books.

Feyre is 21 and she might live for centuries, yes, but she’s someone who was never able to live a peaceful life. She was hunting since she was a child so she and her family wouldn’t have to starve to death. Then, a fae kidnaps her, and even though all she has to do is live at his mansion, she as a human was never safe amongst faeries. Then, she went UtM and for months was tortured, ridiculed, and she could die any time. And she did. Then, she was revived as something else, not quite herself. On top of that she had to deal with her actions UtM and the person she thought she loved wasn’t taking her and her trauma seriously. Then came the war with Hybern, the consequences of which are explored mainly in acofas. She decided she wanted to have a child with Rhys exactly because she wasn’t sure she’d live long. Then there is the Koschei issue which will definitely lead to another war. She’s not “speed running” her life when she’s not even sure if she’ll have it for much longer. You might not like Rhysand but his reasons for everything are explicitly stated and Feyre understands them and doesn’t hold anything against him because if she were him, she probably would have done the same things he did.

I’m not excusing Amren’s actions, I simply stated why she’s acting that way. If you can’t understand why she acted that way, especially after she was turned, and won’t accept it then that’s on you not others. I don’t even like Amren like that, she’s not one of my favourite characters, but if you consider her whole life up until acosf her actions make a lot of sense and I’m not wrong for pointing that out.

Finally, I would like you to come off anon or at least send me a private message so I can block you so neither of us has to interact with the other again since our opinions differ that much.

[animusicnerd]

Every time I read another fantasy book with faeries, I die a little inside and not in a good way.

Anyway, let’s talk about some faery lore I found and probably will incorporate into my Lilia story out of spite and because I like it and wanna see it more.

Faeries can’t lie.

I’ve only seen like two authors do this so far (Holly Black and Emily Lloyd-Jones). A lot of other fantasies authors like SJM didn’t include it which I think is a real waste in potential for how high the stakes could get. They take everything in a literal sense and one sentence can easily kill someone or destroy their if they’re not careful. You literally have to think before you speak and if you’re not used to speaking that way, it’s all the more dangerous especially if you’re a human in the faerie realm. Whenever authors talk about the dangers of the faeries, it’s usually just the creatures in the woods and deals being made which downgrade the danger for me, in my opinion.

Having Lilia and Malleus not being able to lie would just be really fun especially where I’m going with in my story 💀. More stakes, more danger is just exciting and challenging to write because I have to be careful since majority of the cast of this story are faeries.

Iron burns faeries.

Personally, I like to think that Malleus and Lilia wear gloves most of the time because NRC just has a lot of iron things and they can’t be bothered to always check twice before touching something. It becomes tedious to them so wow gloves?? Easy fix for them.

Also since faeries are immortal and not much seems to hurt them, I just think it’s neat that iron would be the go-to for hurting them for information, killing them off and the like on top of magic use.

Iron also burns Maleficient in the live-action movies so…

Faery food is dangerous to humans.

I have like one human character (not reader) so it probably won’t be present as much but I just think it would be neat. Faery food is dangerous to humans because it puts them in a trance-like state. It makes humans want to stay with the fair folk forever as long as it’s fed at regular intervals from what I assume. The magic does wear off but again, if fed at regular intervals, humans could possibly stay in that mindless state forever.

Faeries are ruthless.

Seeing as they like to mess around with humans for fun (example: leading travelers off their paths, stealing items, etc.), I don’t think people should be surprised they are.

Malleus himself already seems to have a short-temper (almost roasted magicam monsters, got irritated when Rook asked why he appeared after Vil OB) and takes pleasure in seeing some of the other students suffer. He talks about wanting to see Azul cry and wanting to see Vil’s breakdown. I’m a little fuzzy on the details but yeah. Lilia also likes scaring people so there’s that. They’re both sadistic in their own ways whether you believe it or not.

Faeries are expected to be treated with respect and if not, you will get punished in some way. In a lot of cultures that includes stealing your children or making you sick in some way. I know that for Filipinos and Chamorros, you always have to say excuse me before you do your business in the jungle or else shit happens to you so yeah. Sometimes, it seems as if they’ll straight up torture you if you piss them off enough.

They also won’t hesitate to backstab their own it seems because from reading up on a lot of lore and Fae fantasy based stories, it sure as hell seems that way.

So basically, faeries are hella petty and would get you back a hundredfold if you piss them off.

Faeries have a hard time conceiving children.

To be honest, I’m not sure if this is true??? So to speak. I say this because I mostly see it in fantasy books, not through actual lore.

However, I do like it because it gives reason why faeries would take human lovers or their children (though from what I see, it’s mostly for entertainment or to get more servants?). Also, if they have a hard time conceiving children, it means that they value their young very much.

So you know, imagine being the only heir to the throne with no other family members in sight other than your grandmothers.

Just imagine the levels of protecting that would be taken to ensure your safety 🙂

Names have power.

This is for my own entertainment mostly. Having a faerie’s true name would allow you to control them so as always, be careful with wording.

Meaning don’t say, “My name is….”

Saying, “You may call me…” or giving faeries a nickname would stop you from being under their control if you haven’t already done that somehow.

However, I do headcanons that more powerful faeries aren’t subjected to that because of sheer will and pride in themselves so it probably won’t be present as much either lmao

That’s probably most of the general lore I’m including for now. I’m no expert so most of this is just things I’ve learned from fantasy series or my own research! Also, I doubt most of these are canon in Twisted Wonderland anyway. Except maybe the iron one since that is canon in the Maleficient movies but who knows.

[brettdoesdiscourse]

Can you explain to me wtf happened with ava? Last I heard was something about sh@d and about someone irl who denied she did anything inappropriate. I trust you since you don't freak out about cartoons

Yes, of course.

(Important note, I will only be addressing things that happened between Ava and real minors in this post. If you would like to have the conversation about the art created by other people and potentially commissioned by her, there are other videos/posts that do so. I am only talking about things that occurred directly between Ava and real minors.)

Ludwig made a video on it where he discusses everything (without being transphobic), so I'm going to be linking specific timestamps where he talks about each point as well as explaining it myself. (I will also link to the tweets made by Ava and Jimmy themselves.)

As with every time I address situations like these, the purpose is not to give my own opinion nor sway yours. I try to give the events exactly as it happened. I will include statements from all people involved and you can form your own opinion about what you feel in this situation.

I will state that with a lot of what I'm covering, it is not just allegations like it normally is. A lot of these things are certifiable because they happened publicly and Ava has not denied them (except for denying grooming took place.)

And as with all situations like this, the actions of people do not give you an excuse/right to be bigoted. Protection against bigotry is not something marginalized groups have to earn and can be taken away. When you use bad behavior as an excuse to be bigoted, you are harming the entire community. Ava's actions are not a free pass to be transphobic and I fully renounce people who use them as such.

The basics of what happened is that messages (both private and on public Twitter) were revealed where Ava was having inappropriate conversations with minors and one minor in particular.

It is important to note that none of these messages were sexting exactly. These are all regarded as just "jokes" by the people involved. There was never anything such as sending nudes of herself nor asking for nudes in return.

The minor being talked about most said he does not consider himself to be groomed and that nothing ever happened beyond jokes.

The jokes themselves were inappropriate in nature and Ava was 19/20 at the time while the minor in question was 13/14.

The biggest ones came from Lava who was 13 when he met Ava who was 20.

It was confirmed that she met up with him when he was 16 which a lot of people assumed was them sleeping together.

However, Lava himself has said this did not happen. He had met up with the entire Mr. Beast cast when he visited North Carolina, he had gone with his family to meet them, and that nothing ever happened with Ava.

Lava has said that the videos were twisting what happened, that he was never groomed and the videos were just jokes.

(There is also a big scandal because the man who originally made the video against Ava had tricked the people involved into talking about what happened, including Lava.

The guy who originally made the video also withheld coming out about Ava for a year because he was trying to get other creators to talk about it instead. This included EDP who is a known child predator himself. He also stated he stalked Chris Chan while Chris lived in a mental health facility.)

None of the messages between Lava and Ava were ever private messages. They were always in groups. One of these problematic messages included Ava sending a Snapchat video in a group which minors where she captioned the video "cumming for America" and made suggestive faces/actions, although no masturbation or nudity or anything was ever shown. It was a joke video to the group.

Ava had called a lot of people "dad" and "daddy" often which was something she did with everyone, but this also included minors.

Another minor had come forward and stated he had uncomfortable messages with Ava when she was a 20 year old and he was a young teen. Included was her calling him "daddy." Again, it was described as edgy jokes and not actual sexting/relationships.

Ava had also been talking to a young minor (14) when she was 19-ish on Snapchat. The messages themselves were described as "edgy jokes", but the minor stated nothing sexual had ever occurred between them.

Please note there were some videos that got popular where Ava allegedly had private Twitter messages with a minor (she was 18, he was 14) where she allegedly said she loved the minor and a lot of other stuff. These messages were fake.

(Proof: The messages were labeled "today" and had the name set as Ava Kris Tyson. At the time of these messages allegedly happening, Ava was not even out as trans yet and had not changed her name.)

Ava did apologize for what happened on Twitter and did not deny all the allegations except for the one of grooming where she stated;

"I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone. It was not my intent. Seeing recent events we’ve mutually decided it’s best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast and social media to focus on my family and mental health.

I want to add, I never groomed anyone. The person who gets brought up in these accusations @ LavaGS has vocally supported that they are false.

Having said that, I humbly apologise to anyone I have hurt with my unacceptable social media posts, past actions, and to those who may feel betrayed by how I used to act online.

To lump these two factors together to create a narrative that my behavior extended beyond bad edgy jokes is disgusting and did not happen. In past years, I have learned that my old humor is not acceptable. I cannot change who I was, but I can continue to work on myself

I don't want these accusations to impact the hundreds of people who work at MrBeast, which is why I have stepped away."

Ava originally stated that she had "stepped away." Jimmy later said that he had fired Ava himself and that he had opened an investigation against her by a third party just to check to make sure she had not had sexual contact with anyone. And to make sure it didn't affect the company or was caused/enabled by it. Jimmy stated;

"Over the last few days, I’ve become aware of the serious allegations of Ava Tyson's behavior online and I am disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts. During that time, I have been focused on hiring an independent third party to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure I have all the facts. That said, I’ve seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel, and any association with MrBeast. I do not condone or support any of the inappropriate actions. I will allow the independent investigators the necessary time to conduct a comprehensive investigation and will take any further actions based on their findings."

The big scandal about this is because Ava met a lot of these people through Mr. Beast. Some had been modding for the Minecraft servers and things like that. She met one through him winning a contest. A lot of these messages were shared in the public/private Discord servers and group messages.

She met Lava through him winning a Mr.Beast contest. And he ended up becoming a moderator for her as well as helping Mr. Beast in general.

Another major controversy that has arisen from this is an old video where Ava shares Jeanette McCurdy's revenge porn. If you don't know, Jeanette had a bunch of nudes leaked against her will. Ava then made a video discussing it where she included a link in the description to those nudes and stated, "the link's in the description if you want to see them. I mean, I'm not endorsing people to go look at somebody else's private business, but I know that people might want to see them."

[btsficsandsuch]

Hello~

Is there any possibility for me to request a min yoongi demon that was unintentionally summoned but angsty if possible you can decide how it ends. Thank you!

I hope this is okay. I just started reading AU fics myself so I have never written anything like this before. I didn’t make this that angsty but I can add another chapter and really pile on the angst and maybe more if you’d like.

Warning: Mentions of demons/demon related things. Slight mention of assault and death of a family member.

An Ungodly Dream

Looking at the old book in your hands it honestly made you chuckle. You read the title again ‘Book of Conjurings, Spells, and Hymns’. Out of all the things you expected to find while cleaning out your grandmothers attic this was not it. You figured she probably got it at a thrift store or something and didn’t really know what it was. Her mind had slowly been deteriorating towards the end you told yourself. You never really believed in any thing like this so the book was pretty comical in your opinion. You only took it to use as a Halloween decoration for the upcoming holiday.

Feeling silly for even having the book in your apartment you placed it out of sight in your closet to store away until you decided to put up the rest of your decor and went to get some work done. After a few hours you decided a break was much needed and you fell down onto your bed to take a nap. Unfortunately your mind kept wandering to the book in your closet. “It doesn’t hurt just to take a look right? Maybe read a few pages.”, you thought to yourself. Grabbing the book you plopped back down on your bed and opened up to a random page. The title simple stated ‘Demons’ followed by step by step instructions on how to conjure up a demon. “What is this some kind of twisted cookbook?”, you thought to your self as you read on.

You had to admit the “spell” was pretty catchy and well written. Just as you were about to turn to the next page you heard a loud bang followed by shouting which startled you causing you to slice your finger on the paper of the book, drawing blood that dropped down onto the page. Your crazy neighbors were arguing again and even though this was almost a daily occurrence it always made you jump. “Stupid neighbors. I can’t wait to move out of here.”, you said as you got up to get a bandaid tossing the book on your bed.

After cleaning the paper cut and wrapping it in a bandaid you walked back to your room but stopped at the doorway unable to enter the room due to fear. You don’t have a roommate, you don’t have a boyfriend, you hardly even have friends but sitting on your bed is a strange man. He had jet black hair and dark eyes that really stood out against his pale white skin. He was beautiful in a mysterious way. But he was also a stranger who had broken into your apartment.

“Excuse me can I help you? What are you doing here?”, you asked. The man looked up glaring at you but didn’t speak. Your skin felt warm. “Hello? Why are you in my apartment? You need to leave or I’m calling the police.”, you said again. The man stood up still glaring at you. “You’re the one that called me here.”, he spoke. His voice much deeper than you expected.

“I called you here? I did no such thing.”, you said with a hint of annoyance. “That’s it. I’m calling the police.”, you said beginning to walk back to the kitchen where your phone was currently charging. You were stopped when something grabbed your wrist, something ice cold. You turned around and came face to face with the man that was formerly sitting on your bed. His hand was freezing, cold to the point it hurt. He smelled lightly of smoke and pine. It reminded you of being at a bonfire in the woods and if he wasn’t a stranger who broke into your home and was not basically assaulting you then you’d find it comforting. “You don’t want to do that.”, he spoke again.

“Listen I don’t have any money or anything of value but you can take whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me. Please.”, you whispered. You closed your eyes unable to face whatever he was going to do next. “I’m not going to hurt you. I mean, not unless you give me a reason to have to hurt you.”, he whispered right back. “Seriously, what do you want? Who are you?”, you asked trying to put a space in between the two of you. You watched him slowly walk over to the bed and grab the book that you had been reading earlier. He opened it and began flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for and he handed you the book. Looking down at the page your head began to spin, you felt sick to your stomach, you couldn’t catch your breath. The top of the page stood the word ‘Demons’.

You began laughing. “I have to say most people don’t usually laugh when they meet me”, the man spoke. “I’m laughing because this has to be some crazy dream. Demons aren’t real.”, you said. Quickly the man walked up to you and took your hands in his, “Does this not feel real to you Y/N?”

“How do you know my name?”, you said pushing him away from you. “I know a lot more than you think.”, he smirked. Now you were getting irritated. “Really like what?”, you demanded. You wanted to smack the smirk right off of his beautiful face you thought. “I know that you graduated from West High School, that your favorite color is purple, you hate seafood, you got that book from your grandmothers house after she passed away. I know that currently you’re thinking how you wish you could smack this smirk right off my beautiful face.” You could feel your face heating up. He continued, “I also know that your neighbor is about to knock on your door and ask to borrow a cup of sugar.” That got a chuckle from you, “Okay I am definitely dreaming. There’s no way something lik-“. You were cut off by a knock at your door. Side eyeing the man in your room you made your way to the front door and saw your sweet 86 year old neighbor ‘Mary’. “Hi Y/N. I’m so sorry to bother you. I had such a hankering for cookies and just realized I’m out of sugar. Could I borrow a cup? I’ll be sure to bring you back some after I get to the store.”, she smiled. Unable to speak you walked to the kitchen and grabbed the bag of sugar to hand to your neighbor. “Thank you so much dear. I’ll bring you some cookies tomorrow too. Be the way, you should really turn the heat down in your apartment. Too much heat can make you sick. It’s ungodly hot in there.”, Mary said. “You have no idea.”, you smiled and closed the door.

You stopped in the kitchen to grab a drink of water to try and calm yourself down but you almost choked when a deep voice came up behind you, “You know it’s pretty rude to not offer a guest anything to drink.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t know demons drank water. What if I accidentally give you holy water?”, you spat. “So what are you going to do with me? Possess me? Take me down to your cave in hell? Make me sign a contract in exchange for my soul?”, you asked. The man rolled his eyes, “How many terrible horror movies have you watched?” “So what are you going to do with me?”, you asked once again. He sighed, “You’re the one that summoned me Y/N. You tell me what you want me to do with you?”, he said again with that smirk you hated but loved. “I’d like you to do a lot of things with me?”, you thought to yourself. The man chuckled, “I don’t think you could handle me in that way Y/N.” You could feel your cheeks heat up again. “Okay new rule. No listening to my thoughts.”, you snapped. “I can’t really help it but I will try to not let you know that I know.”, he smiled. “Can’t you just go back to where you came from? I obviously did this on accident and I don’t have a reason for you to be here.”, you asked. If you didn’t know this man was a demon you’d think he looked a little hurt at your harsh words.

“I can’t go back until you release me.”, he whispered. “Okay fine. How can we do that? Just say the spell again?”, you asked trying not to sound as agitated. He shook his head, “I’m afraid it’s not that simple Y/N. There’s a lot that goes into it.” You bit your lip, “Okay well we can figure it out. In the mean time, do you have a name? Or would you just prefer me to call you Lucifer or something?” The man rolled his eyes before coming to stand next to you, “You’re really trying to throw every demon stereotype out there aren’t you Y/N? Actually my name is Yoongi.”

[letstrythisout4]

Chapter 2: Blaise Zabini and his newly found ability to hate a hat.

Series Masterlist

The second that Blaise steps out on to the platform he is immediately able to locate his mother. With her dark skin, perfect curls and absurdly elegant robes she draws all the attention to her. Causing Blaise to sneer at several people who refuse to stop ogling at his mother, though he quickly hides his expression when his mother notices.

“Be nice.” she pestered.

“But I’m not a nice person.” Blaise mumbles earning him an elbow to the side as his mother observes the crowd. Not being a nice person is something he’s come to accept about himself, he can’t help but notice people's flaws and make quick judgements about people’s character. “But the difference between being not a nice person and being a bad person is that I keep that to myself unlike-”

“There goes the Malfoy’s” his mother states smoothly in Mandarin, interrupting his train of thought.

“Unlike him.” Blaise finishes. 

Blaise doesn’t hate Draco Malfoy…he just harbors a deep disliking for him.

 Over the years of observing him at pureblood events that his mother forces him to attend, for publicity, Blaise has decided that Draco goes against practically every standard that Blaise holds people to. He is pompous, entitled, prejudiced against muggles and muggleborns, is incapable of forming opinions outside of his fathers rhetoric, and refuses to see his own flaws. “That’s another difference, I can admit I’m not the best person while he is convinced that there is no one better than him.” Blaise thinks to himself, shaking his head.

“I know you dislike them but it would make your life easier to at the very least be friendly to Draco. Not friends but friendly.” His mother advised in Mandarin. “Oh there is Theo, you like Theo.” she continues.

Blaise tilts his head at that, all he can think to say is “like is a strong word” focusing on his inflection and pronunciation of every word. Mandarin has always been the language he struggles with, he tried to use this as an excuse to not go to Hogwarts asking his mother to send him abroad to practice and learn about the history of magic there.

She quickly shut that down.

As Theodore Nott stood there next to his father, it was impossible to ignore the similarities. Same deep brown hair and pale skin with just enough pink to avoid looking as dead as the Malfoys. Theo was someone Blaise had formed a quiet alliance with over the years. Alliance not friendship. They don’t hangout, they don’t write to each other. They simply seek each other out during pureblood events and stand next to each other as they people watch, so they don’t look lonely. 

By the time Blaise decides to come back to the present his mother has decided that it is time to abandon him. She kisses both sides of his face and brings him into a tight hug. And switching into English, “You know I love you, right?” she asked uncharacteristically worried.

“Of course I do.” Blasie quickly answered. There were many things he wondered and doubted but never that. “I love you too, Ma.”

“Well so long as you know that I guess it's time for me to go.” leaning in before adding in Mandarin  “ I know you won’t go out of your way to make friends, but please don’t immediately reject anyone who extends kindness towards you.” she asks with the slightest crease in her brow.

Blaise hummed to himself taking in her request. He doesn’t like to lie to his mom…but he really doesn’t want to do that. 

As he prepares himself to confess his thoughts to his mother he sees how serious she is…”Okay, I’ll try.” he agrees reluctantly.

“That's all I ask.” she states with an easy smile, a real smile. 

And with that, she walks towards the fireplaces nodding cordially to those she passes. While Blaise puts his trunk with the others and boards the train. Only to be met immediately with Theodore Nott. Seeing Theo, Blaise resists the urge to sigh ‘Perfect’ he thinks to himself as Theo follows him into a compartment. He can live with this, this same silent agreement to hover around each other as to not be forced to interact with other people.

Blaise is quick to take the window seat that will allow him to see the most outside the window. But then his ears pick up on that annoying posh drawl that Blaise so desperately doesn’t want to hear.

"No no no no no no no, please Universe don’t let him walk in here.” he prays silently, turning his head up towards the sky. Only to hear the compartment door open and the owner of the drawl plop himself down and two mindless snickers following its every statement. 

He forces himself to open his eyes and face Draco Malfoy and his two lackeys. Blaise takes in Malfoys appearance one feature at a time to keep himself from saying something he’ll regret. New polished black dress shoes, clothes that aren’t wrinkled per say but not ironed to the degree that the Zabini’s ensured their clothes consistently were. Facial features so point Blaise was sure Draco was made up entirely of right angles…and not in a good way. Blaise couldn’t help but think to himself ‘his forehead is MASSIVE’ as he takes in how gelled back Malfoy’s hair is. 

As soon as the intrusive thought was processed, Blaise couldn’t stop his shoulders from shaking and the laugh that escaped him.

“What’s so funny, Zabini?” Draco antagonized.

Fortunately Blaise was saved from responding when Pansy Parkinson burst through the doors taking up the last spot next to Draco.

Parkinson was…honestly someone Blaise pitied. Younger sister to an older brother, it's clear she’s being trained to be a perfect pureblood woman rather than anything of actual importance to her family legacy. Which is rather stupid considering Blaise has seen how quick she can be in social situations, something that could make her a great head of house. ‘Especially since her brother is so damn lazy’ Blaise reflects.

Blaise sits back and observes the nonsense surrounding him. Draco is busy dominating the conversation bragging about how he spent the last couple months in Paris visiting family and “learning complex magic”. While Pansy dutifully asks just the right amount of questions to get on Draco’s good side and Goyle and Crabbe stare dumbly and nod at Draco. (Theo sits with a book, something Blaise is a bit jealous of). 

As the hours fly by, Blaise jumps at the opportunity to go change into his Hogwarts robes. He heads to the bathroom rather than switch out in the compartment like the others, just to have a moment to himself. Once changed and having exhausted the amount of time that is reasonable to spend changing in the bathroom. He takes his time walking back to his compartment, contemplating how possible it is for him to apparate home (despite not knowing exactly how) and convince his mother to not send him right back. Accepting that the plan will never work (not because he doesn’t know how to apparate but because his mother will just find some way to leave him at Hogwarts doorstep) he walks back into the compartment, immediately noticing that everyone's robes are at the best wrinkled and at worst -Crabbe and Goyle- completely rumpled. The second hand embarrassment almost makes him walk back out. And it's not necessarily because the clothes are rumpled but rather the fact that they don’t care just how…frumpy they look. It's really not that hard to fold your clothes to make sure they don’t look like a hippogriff trampled over them. 

Resolving himself to mentally complain about their laziness later he imagines what house they will all be in. Which he concludes rather immediately is a stupid topic to ponder because he’d be shocked if they were anything other than Slytherins. Theo has the quiet cunning nature, Parkinson is ambitious enough to prove herself as more than just someone's sister, kissing up to someone has to be a form of self-preservation so there goes Goyle and Crabbe and Malfoy… Malfoy is Malfoy. His father raised him to be exactly what Blaise pictures Salazar wanted when he established who should be in his house. As for Blaise himself… well he’s nothing if not resourceful.

Eventually mercy comes in the form of the train slowing down. They file out and hop into boats at the command of the gamekeeper. But apparently mercy has an expiration date because somehow Malfoy sits right in front of Blaise and talks at him all about how he’s sure that he’s going to be in Slytherin. By the end of the ride Blaise has no doubt that Malfoy wanted to convince himself that he’s going to be in Slytherin more than he wanted to convince Blaise. They meet Professor McGonagall and Blaise absorbs as much as his tired brain can of what she is saying. The sorting begins and Blaise just decides to wholeheartedly zone out.

 “I’m going to be the last called anyway”, he reasons.

Later rather than sooner hears his name called and sits on the four legged stool in front of the whole school and lets McGonagall place the hat on his head.

“Very very intriguing. Incredibly intelligent and perceptive, that is not even a question. Bravery, tch, maybe under the right circumstance but that's nothing special” he heard a small voice say  Rude, Blaise couldn’t help but think. “Plenty of confidence. But more than anything else is loyalty, you’d do anything for your mother, huh?”-Blaise squirms, the house isn’t actually considering putting him in Hufflepuff is it- “But this loyalty doesn’t extend beyond her does it? I guess this could grow. No matter, sorting is based off values, not character. Sometimes even I forget that.”, confesses the hat. How many people have you miss-sorted because of that? “Hush child, that is none of your concern. Now make your way over to SLYTHERIN!” the hat yelled out the last word to the entire hall. Generating applause from the Slytherin table. 

“Wait wait all that and you’re not going to tell me why you put me in Slytherin, what specific traits I have?!” Blaise questions instantly as McGonagall urges him away. 

“You’ll figure it out someday.” it had the audacity to say ominously.

And from the moment Blaise walked away from the hat to when he finally rested in bed after his nightly routine, all that filled his head was ways to kill that damn hat.

Author’s notes: thanks for reading, appreciate yall.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

hi slug!!! what do you think of the block party trailers?

Thank you for giving me the excuse to go finally listen to them.

Rivals: Hmm, this is a really interesting comparison! I wouldn't have immediately classified Doppo as a "act first, think later" character, but he definitely has those moments. The music is bouncy but not immediately doing it for me. I think it's one of those songs I'll grow to like quickly, though.

White and Black: (not to be confused with Doppo's Black or White, naturally) SHADY BOYS, LET'S GOOOOOO! I love this match-up. I think they are the kind of people to have a meet-cute in which they committed identity fraud and/or credit card fraud on one another. Anyway, I love the style here. Team Rocket-ass mfers. I agree with the top YT comment at the time of writing, which is, "This is the most fanfic-y thing Hypmic has ever officially released, and I am here for it." I also love that neither of them makes one single effort to hide their scumminess. Truly a duo for the ages.

Thanks for Having Us! Now Look Alive! Osaka Big Up: (or whatever people are calling the Sasara/Roshou one) I adore the fact that Sasara introduces them as a three-person group ft. Rei, but Rei just happens to be doing something else (stealing Juuto's identity, most like) and thus it's a two-person act today. Sasara and Roshou's comedy/speaking dynamic is much more relaxed and natural feeling than it was in their first appearance in Ah, Osaka Dreamin' Night, which is a nice reflection of the current state of their friendship status. Music is chill. I'd like to hear more of it before forming more opinions. Their singing voices sound good with this older, slower style of song.

The Demons' Flowers: I appreciate how the MV style departs from usual Hypmic MV to mimic the MVs for this kind of music. Very JRPG-esque. The lyrics strike me as a little generic for music projects, which is atypical for Hypmic, but it's definitely appropriate for Juushi.

Get busy: I really like this match-up; their high energy works together well here, as does their commitment to working together with the homies to kick absolute ass. I'm not sure KR fully understands the connotation of the English title they've chosen; they're probably going for more of a "Take it easy...but take it!" vibe.

Viva la liberty: While the music itself isn't doing much for me yet, I like this take on how both Saburou and Ramuda have grown throughout the story while still acting in very similar ways to their act 1 selves. An unusual match-up, but I can dig it.

What Lies Beyond the Dreaming: Wow, I really like this. Like Scenario Liar, it almost feels confessional in the sense of how it creates a closed sense of solidarity with the listener (you're the only one I can trust, let me tell you my story for your ears only, etc.). In that case, it's being spoken to his brother, I suppose? Would love to hear the full song.

Closer: I like Hitoya's singing a lot in this one. The darker lyrics and tone suit them both quite well, and I wonder if this points to Jakurai and Hitoya finally talking things out, including Jakurai's experiences in the war, in act 3. Or perhaps that's simply wishful thinking.

My Life: Positivity: Aside from the obvious enjoyment of Hifumi wrangling the rest of the cast into being his enthusiastic background singers, I really like how this song is both bright and bubbly at surface level but says a lot of deeper things about Hifumi's character, like how he's willing to open himself up to being hurt again so long as he has the protection of his friends and loved ones. I don't think it's the kind of thing I'd listen to, but I am looking forward to seeing the full thing.

Move Your Body Til You Die!: Roger that, sir. o7 Very glad to see that Riou's solos are as silly as ever. I think this is my favorite so far in terms of music. It is most definitely my favorite in terms of music videos.

Will-o'-the-Wisp: I really, really, REALLY like the lyrics and how much growth they show for Samatoki. It's nice how you can tell just musically how much he's healed and mellowed out since the start of the series.

HIPHOPPIA: This is my actual favorite musically, and while I understand and appreciate the thematic point of having so many styles of music on this album, I'm personally a bit sad there isn't more of the classic hip-hop sound. Lot of interesting imagery in the lyrics.

Conclusion: Move Your Body Til You Die! is a work of art.