#just on the basis of them even being near each other in that concept making me want to self delete

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

ok so if there’s an au where spider‘s mother is grace, what about an au where kiri‘s father is quaritch, but they don’t find out until he comes back?

does it make any sense? nope! but i feel like it has to potential to be very dramatic

It's a great question. I think logically, it's easier for Neytiri to get over with Kiri being a Na'vi. There's not as much of that humanness that she doesn't trust, that scares her. And what there is, she can attribute to Grace.

However, if they know this information with them as kids it means she has to confront and get passed that trauma sooner. What about Spider makes him so much less trustworthy than Kiri, even if they have the same father? I think it would lead to a lot faster of a healing process for Neytiri. But, if they don't learn this until Quaritch comes back, I'm sure there would be a lot of denial before the horrible acceptance. Then I think it would go similarly to the way it goes most times I've described it. The end result is the same. Neytiri has to be able to move past her trauma to accept now both of her children.

[mockerycrow]

Emergency Contact (1/2) (Ghost x GN!Reader)

>> emergency contact concept here << PART TWO HERE!!

Summary: Simon is your roommate, and you haven’t seen each other in months, considering Simon’s job. An unfamiliar number pops up on Simon’s phone, and answering it makes his world turn upside down.

A/N: How you two moved in together is very vaguely inspired this ghost fic right here. please give it a read! If you finish the song above, I highly recommend listening to the entire album while reading. i’m not the happiest with this, but i’m happy enough to post!

[WARNINGS: Blood and injury, traumatic events/trauma brought up, gore, little comfort, medical inaccuracies, tbh ooc simon but it’s ok.]

Eight months, thirteen days, and nine hours. That’s how long it’s been since he’s been home, since he’s seen you. That’s how long he’s been stuck on base, or thrown into a foreign country to complete some mission, or to gather some intel, or to kill someone, just somewhere, anywhere but with you.

Eight months, thirteen days, and nine hours. That’s how long it’s been since you softly asked him to stay as safe as he can, and to come back alive, and to come back with at least eight fingers. It was a running joke between you two, a way to relieve the terrifying reality of his job; as long as Simon came home alive and with majority of his fingers, he could consider it a job well done. You didn’t know much of his job, of course—only that he’s military, and he’s gone a lot. You already guessed it was a lot of classified stuff, probably down top secret government type of things. That did make you scared, though. You didn’t want the day to come, the day where people in fancy uniforms show up at your doorstep like you’re some widow. The thought of someone informing you of Simon’s death makes your stomach twist.

Eight months is admittedly a long time. Simon.. he missed you, but he’s rather die that verbally admit it, but he sure as hell felt it. He missed the way he could hear you walk through the house, the weight of the floorboards creaking up your feet. Simon missed walking by the bathroom and the air vaguely smelled your shampoo and body wash, a clear indicator you had just taken a shower. Simon missed the way you carelessly have your shoes next to the shoe rack, not even on it, and despite his annoyance of your laziness? He misses it every single time he’s away. He never really realizes the difference of living on base versus being home with you, and he’s comfortable in both environments for completely different reasons. Simon is comfortable with you because you’re safe, you aren’t associated with anyone he has to deal with on a near daily basis. You don’t scan the kitchen to see which household items could be potential bombs in the vicinity like he does. On base, Simon finds comfort in the familiarity of being constantly on alert, the need for a gun to be against his hip—it’s not the best, considering he’s in fight mode majority of the time, but it’s comforting. It’s familiar. It’s.. home, in a way.

You and Simon call at least once every three weeks—it’s not more because you’re both busy, you have your life to tend to while he has to do something like protecting an American Embassy, or sneaking into a compound to retrieve some vital information. You two talk about all kinds of things; you complain about the neighbors for the nth time, or you talk about your job, just something that he hasn’t heard about in a while. Simon.. he’s limited on what he can talk about—what he wants to talk about. It’s a bit difficult, keeping details of his job hidden away from you. He also keeps you hidden away from them; his team. Price vaguely is aware of your existence, but all he knows is your name and your phone number—someone to alert when he eventually would pass away.

It surprised Price when he requested access to his own file to make a change. Simon went for years without anyone in that section, leaving it blank—and then suddenly ‘[Name] [Last Name]’ is written down, along with your phone number. Simon doesn’t want to die somewhere and then you sit at home, dreading the fact that you haven’t received a call from him for over six months. Other than that, no one is aware of your existence and he wants to keep it that way. It keeps you safe, and he doesn’t want the one thing he has going in his life to be taken away from him—not like everything else has been.

No, you and Simon aren’t together. You just are the one constant he cannot allow to die. How you and Simon became close was rather funny, really—before you were roommates, you bumped into each other at the local stores, the bank, even several public spaces like parks and such. You didn’t see him too often and you weren’t aware on why, but you didn’t really wonder why either. By this point, you knew each other for a couple of months. He introduced himself as SR—not Ghost or Simon, but as SR. You didn’t bother to question it because this tall, bulky man seemed like he was trying keep himself as anonymous as possible. Without fail, you always saw him wear dark colored clothing that hid any identifiable markings—tattoos and scars, that kind of thing. He usually has his hood up with a black face mask covering his nose down, but you do know one thing—he has to have bright blonde hair. Why else would his beautiful eyelashes and eyebrows be that bright? It would catch your eye every time you’d see them. Sometimes you would see him with a beanie on and the mask, with his hood down. This wasn’t too often, as it exposed some scarring he has on the back of his neck, as well as his forehead. This also silently lead you to believe he has a tough past of some sort, which is confirmed when you run into him somewhere you never expected to—your therapist’s building. You bumped into him right outside, and you apologized profusely before looking and going silent as you made eye contact.

A silent agreement was made between you two that day, one that you could never put into words. Something in that moment that dragged you two closer together. You had been through some shit in your life, shit that had permanent effect on you, shit that you wanted to work through. It was horribly tiring, but you knew you needed to work through it—so you could live a life you felt was worth living. Simon, was on the other side of the spectrum. He didn’t want this. He never wanted to tell anyone about anything, but Price, Price fucking made him. Simon spends his days and nights plagued with nightmares and memories—he’s woken up in the middle of the night enough times to know that he needs help, but he was so adamant about not talking to anyone about it. But seeing you there? Someone who he hasn’t known for long, someone who had always greeted him with a smile on your face, laughter spilling from your beautiful vocal cords, and someone who doesn’t touch him without permission? It made him so angry and hopeless about this world. Not even you, a stranger who he sees as the best human being he’s known in a while—despite not knowing you for long—could escape from the cruel and sharp jaws of the world. You found out you two accidentally scheduled the same days, so it became an unspoken agreement to wait for the other outside of the building so you can both go in. Even when you weren’t sure when his next appointment would be, you’d be right outside of that building, waiting for him. You would always be right there, and that’s something he quickly learned.

You lost your house to a fire, everything went with the burning embers that raged inside of the 4 walls of your previous home, the structure collapsing in on itself. You had gotten out in time, and you numbly watched the fire roar, the crackling burning it’s memory in your ears. The piercing sound of different sirens were approaching, but all you could do is stand there with your phone in your hand, watching the home you worked so hard for burn to the foundation built years ago. You felt a hand on your shoulder, but you didn’t bother to turn to see who it was. Everything was going so slow, almost like a movie scene in the worst way possible. Your nostrils burned from the smell of burning wood, drywall, and installation. The hand squeezed your shoulder and you slowly looked at who it was—and was him. Simon. His eyebrows were furrowed, eyes ever so slightly panicked and it was obvious he was asking you something, but you didn’t hear him. All you could focus on was that he was here. You blinked rapidly as your eyes began to burn from the smoke and from that choked feeling going from your chest to your throat. “I..” You croak ever so slightly. You couldn’t hold it back—you quickly grabbed onto Simon desperately, letting out a heart-wrenching sob because you just lost everything you owned, every memory, every piece of furniture, everything.. but he was here. He was the only thing was wasn’t crumbling away from your grasp, the only constant. Once you clung to him, Simon’s senses were flooded with you. Fuck, your touch burned, just like everyone’s else’s but he liked—no, loved how it felt. Despite the image of a burning house in his wake making dread bubble in his gut, your sobs and touch were the only thing he could focus on. Simon hesitates for only a second before pulling you into his personal space, his arms wrapping around you and weighing heavily on your body. Neither of you spoke, he just let you scream into his chest and sob, your fists gently banging against his chest—the anger, the sadness, everything was too much. Simon knew exactly how you were feeling, so he didn’t mind the twinges of pain your hands produced. Simon was the one who helped you while you chatted with the paramedics and the police. He was the one who helped you find your words when you had none left to share, the smell of the smoke imprinted on your clothes.

Without question, Simon took you to his house. He did not have another bed set up, so he had you sleep in his room while he slept on his couch. He hated the hollow look your eyes held, the way you were delayed with your answers, the ways your hands shook. Your everlasting smile had dissipated into a wobbly frown and he.. Simon couldn’t handle it. He grabbed you some of his clothes and helped you into his bathroom, quietly telling you to take a shower. He’ll take care of your clothes. Simon left you alone, and you showered for a long time. He didn’t count, but it was over an hour and a half. Simon didn’t say anything about you possibly racking up his bill, how could he when you had just lost everything? He wanted to.. to help you, and he wasn’t sure why. Even when he found himself scrubbing your smoke and tar covered clothes in his kitchen sink, he couldn’t find an exact reason why he wanted to help you. Maybe it’s because you made him feel human when he needed to be, maybe you were the one thing that kept him coming back to this town, the one thing that kept him from completely pulling away from the civilian world. You had found him in a corner like a dog, lips curled back and snarling—sharp teeth clashing together, and without a word, you gave him reasons to trust you. Although they may not be.. normal reasons to the regular eye, but they were enough for Simon.

You’re enough for Simon. He scrubbed your clothes until his arms burned, and then some.

That’s when he found out that you too, were also someone who could not stay asleep for long. When Simon awoke with his adrenaline pumping from the muffled sound of vomiting, he had to calm himself down because he’s safe, and you’re safe, most of all. Simon isn’t sure when he began to think that way, but it’s one of the many things he’s decided to not question—which also new for him. Simon is man who demands answers, yet with you? it’s like everything naturally falls into place, which is why he doesn’t complain when your stay at his house—which you swore would only be until you gathered enough money for an apartment—turned from a two week stay, to Simon carrying in an IKEA bed frame to put and assemble in one of his empty rooms. Many sleepless nights came and went, and each and every one you spent them with each other, sitting by a windowsill together, other times spending it in the backyard and looking at the sky. Sometimes you would wake up first, sometimes it would be him. You somehow always knew when he had woken up from a nightmare, his heart pounding in his ears—until your hands grab his and squeeze, to ground him. You burn him, and he welcomes the tickle of your ever-glowing flame. A year into this arrangement, Simon finally shows you his face and he appreciates that you don’t look at him any different. He usually hates the searching eyes, trying to memorize every inch of his face—but he’s greedy when you do it. When your eyes roam over every scar and acne scar, when you point out his messily cut hair and half-assed shaven stubble, he doesnt get angry. Simon doesn’t feel suffocated by your glances. He doesn’t wear his mask at home anymore, not when you’re there.

Then Simon gets the notice about his three month leave ending soon; and he knows that you need to know about his job. Or at least, the bare minimum you need to know. In reality, it’s how much he wants you to know, but he doesn’t want to admit that. He sits you down one morning, a cup of tea in his hand and he had a mug of your favorite morning drink on the other side of the table he had bought a few weeks you started staying here. Simon explains that he has a job in the military, that he can’t tell you much, but it means he’s going to be gone for weeks, even months at a time. You’re at a loss at first, because who is going to have an extremely positive reaction to “by the way, I work an extremely dangerous job and I can’t tell you anything and I’ll be gone for a while.. Oh yeah, you likely won’t know if I die!”? Despite your initial reaction, you grow to be okay with this situation. Or, we’ll, as okay as you can be with it. You also find out that he was here for way longer than he originally is, due to his boss demanding him to take a break—AKA, “go to therapy you dafty”.

For a little over two years, you two fell into a good rhythm. A call every three weeks, him coming home and you becoming the safest space he’s ever had in his life.

Which is why when his personal cell phone begins to vibrate in his pocket during some fuck-all meeting, his eyebrows furrow. The number is unfamiliar, but the area code is not. Simon quietly excuses himself from the extended round table, taking his call outside of the meeting room. Price’s eyes follow his figure as he exits, noticing it’s his personal cell phone in his hand. Simon answers the call and presses his phone against his masked ear, muttering a low, “Hello?”

A high-pitched, soft yet serious voice filters through the speaker, a woman. “Hi, is this Mr. Riley?”

Simon pauses, and so does his heart. “Who’s asking?”

He honestly regrets asking that in the moment—one part of him genuinely wishes he never answered this call, and the other part of him is glad he did. “I’m a nurse from Northern Manchester Community Hospital, you’re written down as [Name]’s emergency contact. They’ve been a victim of a hit and run situation, sir. They’re alive, but they’re in the ICU.” The nausea that suddenly bubbles inside of his guys, the stomach acid mixed with whatever he had eaten previously, threatening to travel up his esophagus, burn every inch and then exit with a horrific sound. Simon’s head began to spin—he’s your emergency contact? A hit and run, you were fucking hit?? By what, a car? A pick-up? A semi? God, Simon has seen the most horrible, gruesome, fucked up shit you would ever see in his entire life, yet he isn’t sure if he can handle the image of you spread out in a hospital bed, with one too many tubes circulating around you. His mind plagues him with intrusive images, ones he never wants to actually see played out. Fuck, his head hurts. It feels like someone is physically shoving a knife into his chest and twisting it, like God is laughing at him and playing with Simon’s pain for his own gain. How could he not think that, especially with everything that has happened to him? His friends, his family? His old CO? The fucking abuse he endured??

It’s like Simon lost his hearing for a moment, because he cannot bare fucking losing you, too. There’s a vague ringing in his ears, almost like there was an explosion and he stood too close. And then suddenly every sound comes rushing back to his eardrums, and everything suddenly everything is so fucking overwhelming. “Mr. Riley?” The nurse calls over the phone, her tone laced with worry. He clears his throat and when he speaks, he sounds wrecked, which he fucking hates. “I.. I’ll come as soon as I can.” Simon hangs up, not giving the nurse a moment to speak. He drops his phone and if he doesn’t sit down, he’s going to fall over like a tree that’s been cut down. Simon lets out a shaky breath, trying to ignore the way his stomach is screaming and twisting as he puts a hand on the wall, and he crouches down. It’s the first time he doesn’t look around to see if anyone is watching his sudden display of emotion. When he’s suddenly rocked with the feeling of home at work, especially with the news that you’re fucking injured—he’s overwhelmed and twisted all over the place. Simon finds himself stumbling back to his barracks.

Price finds his way to him after Simon never returns to the meeting. He knocks on the door, but his knuckles pause before they can knock against the door for the third time as he discovers the door is open—which is very, very, odd. He slowly opens the door while calling for Ghost, and is met with the sight of Simon shoving some of his clothes and belongings into a duffle bag, as well as his military travel documents. “Ghost?” Price questions, who stopped in his doorway to watch Simon lose his mind while packing. Simon doesn’t respond as he practically rips his phone charger out of the wall and stuffs it into the bag, zipping it up. He slings it over his shoulder and he turns around, pausing when he sees Price. Simon’s eyes tell everything he’s feeling—that something’s happened, something bad, and he needs to leave. Price bites his lip and quietly exhales, his fingers rubbing at his chin. “I’ll approve your leave. Just shoot me a text of how long it needs to be, yeah?”

Simon makes sure to note to send Price a thank you of some sort, because within the next two hours, Simon is boarding a plane, heading for Manchester, wearing some black clothing, a jacket, a black face mask, gloves, and his beanie. The entire time, he could not stop thinking about you—and how you could possibly die before he got there to send off his final goodbyes. Is that something he would actually want to do, though? See you in the hospital, knowing it’ll be the last place you’d ever be alive in? Go home, see how you left the house exactly as you left it? A house, but without his home in it? Simon stares out the airplane window blankly, his hands curled into fists, and his nails would be digging into his palms if he didn’t have gloves on.

He couldn’t lose you. Not like this.

The next part for Simon, it’s a blur again. Got off the plane, got his luggage, provided documentation, blah blah blah—he didn’t give a fuck about any of it. His focus was you. He didn’t bother to stop home to drop his stuff off, he took an Uber straight to the hospital from the airport. It was a fairly expensive Uber too, but he could worry about the costs of everything later. It took another half hour to get there.

His heart began to hammer in his chest as the sight of the hospital’s signs began to pop up on the road, the anxiety taking hold in his stomach and his head begins to hurt again. Simon quietly thanks the driver, tips them, and exits the car with a swiftness once they pull up. Simon walks through the main entrance’s sliding doors, going up to the desk. A woman behind the counter hangs up the phone, murmuring a goodbye, and then she looks at Simon with her pretty blue eyes. “How can I help you, sir?” She murmurs sweetly, noting how anxious he is. She can see the sweat on his brow line. Simon clears his throat, his voice rumbling in his chest when he speaks. It takes everything in him to not yell at this innocent woman and get thrown out. “My.. My name is Mr. Riley, I was called ‘cause my friend is here,” Simon manages to push out. “[Name] [Last Name].” The woman turns to her computer and clicks the couple of buttons and types a couple of words and holy fuck, Simon just wants to go to your wing already—“Ah, yes, I see you’re listed as their emergency contact,” The woman grabs a sticky note and writes with a pink pen your room number and elevator floor, handing it to Simon. He barely gets a “thank you” out before he nearly jogs to the nearby elevator. Fourth floor, room 283. Fourth floor, room 283. Fourth floor, room 283—it’s the longest minute long elevator ride in his entire fucking life.

Simon changes face masks whilst facing the wall, and then he finds your room number—and his heart is beating out of his chest. There’s cops standing outside of your room who stop him from entering. Simon’s anger flares up so quickly, he nearly makes a scene until a doctor exits your room. She’s wearing her usual blue scrubs, her coat, and she’s dawning a N95 and some sterile gloves. She’s holding a clipboard. “Mr. Riley?” She questions, holding the clipboard close to her chest. Simon nods without hesitation, and she responds, “I’m sorry, but due to the nature of this case, you’ll have to provide some identification for me and these officers.”

Usually, Simon would hesitate—he gives anyone outside of his team the bare minimum, hell, he only introduced himself as SR until he knew you for a while. This time, he takes out his military ID and shows it to the officers. He ignores their looks of surprise, and ignores the murmurs that come from them. Simon puts his ID away and he holds back the urge to shove them out of the way as he glares down at the doctor on accident. “Come in,” The doctor opens the sliding door and steps into the hospital ICU room with him. Simon follows behind her and he immediately smells the sickening smell only the ICU gives off. There’s a small wall blocking his view from you that he hasn’t past, and he can already hear the machines working. A heart monitor, a ventilator, combined with other machines he doesn’t know too well. The doctor flips through the papers pinned to her clipboard. “They were hit by a vehicle of some sort, the scene suggested they were walking home from the local corner store. [Name] has multiple broken bones and fractures, a punctured lung, a fractured jaw and internal bleeding. They lost a lot of blood at the scene.” Simon doesn’t respond as he slowly walks forward, and he finally lays his eyes on you. It’s.. traumatizing, to say the least. You were never supposed to be in a hospital bed like this, hooked up to machines he can’t even name. He slowly walks over to you, dropping his duffel bag somewhere on the floor. He doesn’t care to look where. Simon barely pays attention to what the doctor is saying—his hands tremble as he stands by your side, his heart thumping harshly in his chest. Fuck.

He drags over one of the chairs next to your bed. Simon takes off one of his gloves slowly, and then he tears the other one off in a frenzy. He feels so unlike himself, so.. different.. human. He reaches over to your hand and his fingers grab your wrist, so gentle as if you’re glass. Simon presses his fingers against your pulse point, counting your heartbeats despite the monitor. The thumping under your skin makes it more.. real. Feeling you, your heartbeat, your warmth and your skin—it’s comforting. Simon clears his throat and fights the urge to vomit once a gain, watching your chest rise and fall, produced by the ventilator.

He moves his hand to intertwine with your fingers and he uses his other hand to feel your pulse. Simon closes his eyes, muttering the beats per minute under his breath.

At least you’re alive—you’re here, you’re alive, and you’re with him. And that’s all he asks for.

tags;; @alwaystired--neversleeping @handsomeunderwear-art @indefenseofkara @kaysav608 @1-is-loneliest-number @rosee-sensuelle @kitty-satan1 @k4marina @rahmown @royalty-purple @bowtruckleninja — if you are not tagged, it’s not allowing me :-)

[1117feverlessdreams]

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚*

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚*

PAIRING: OnlineSeonghwa! x CollegeFemReader!

🐰📍SUMMARY: We all get pent up in sexual stress time and time again, and you’re no different. The measures you resort to however may be unusual. You decide to take your issue to the internet and masturbate with a stranger online. A stranger you haven’t met yet.

🐰📍WARNINGS: masturbating obvi, p in v penetration, sadism, cursing, fingering, code names, safe word, reader gets called bunny and darling, and during the deed, slut.

🐰📍WORD COUNT: 8.2k

🐰📍A/N: This story is literally a years work in progress, and by that I mean it’s been sitting in the drafts a quarter of the way done. I don’t know where this was headed a year ago, but these things may happen for a reason…

If you’re being honest…

you have been overly horny, and out of your mind lately!

In the midst of a history essay that is due very soon, you ignorantly minimize the web tab to look for ’free internet accessed relief.’

It was the period of your ovulating phase, so your hormones were shot up so high that you’d do anything to deescalate the throbbing pain between your legs.

It’s only been an half hour of working, and your rolling desktop chair’s leather began to feel gummy underneath your sweltered thighs.

The whole concept of piling on homework before finals week is something you could never comprehend with professors. Not only did it provide you a heavy workload, but them as well, and you’re not their only student.

You wish your roommate was here to tough things out with you. But she had told you on a consistent basis for the past month about this business presenting competition she’s in. She had religiously met up with her group everyday to perfect each element in their project, and deservingly made it to finals.

As this would be her last night before the final presentation against other students from other states in your country, she decided it would be best for the team to spend the night together.

Even though it didn’t comfort you in your solidarity-your body is grateful for her decision.

‘Maybe a YouTube boyfriend audio would do the trick.’ a recurring thought voiced inside your head. A soothing, deep, and attractive voice to guide you while he instructs to touch yourself when he wanted, and in the way he wanted.

A multitude of many minutes pass with your hand dove deep into your underwear, and onto your mound. You recognize your frustration only began to build as none of the videos you played online truly turned you on.

In fact you found it better when you turned the video off, and went at it yourself in the eerie silence of your apartment. Nevertheless, the awkward silence just make you feel more…awkward.

‘Maybe a video of a guy masturbating on any random porn site could help?’ I just have to find the right size, someone who’s my type, a pretty enough looking dick, and most importantly…a guy who moans melodiously through my headset.

You were beginning to think you were being picky when you couldn’t find a single video through twenty three pages. Although, you did manage to find your perfect guy at one point through it all-

You were wet and nearing the very edge, until you heard his climax- the sounds of what you heard to echo a dying horse.

Your persistent inability to relieve yourself made you think going to bed high and dry was a reasonable option. You just hoped the throbbing sensation would be gone when morning came.

It was plenty enough that you were overwhelmed and exhausted by all the work that’s consuming you, and you didn’t want to exert more energy in your poor findings.

You backslide in your chair from your pc setup, analyzing the screen and eye boggling through all the oddly named titles in a random porn site. The longer you looked the more you grew disgusted at the bothering mass of female degradation, and vulgar images of the most kinkiest kinks.

It’s something you’re used to when you visit these sites, and you hate it…yet you keep coming back.

You push your mouse toward the red x in painful shame to finish the last page of your essay off. It was simply a conclusion of what you said in previous pages.

There is apathy in the way you take your time dragging the cursor to the right corner. Just as your nearing its edge, a box grows in a highlighted beam. Like a miraculous messenger that greets you before you give up on your last hope.

It was ad feature on the website that you hadn't exactly explored yet. The ad banner read: ‘Click here to meet sexy hot masturbating adults near you!’ 18+ flashes on the side of the words with neon LED lights, and in GIF media, a man and woman on webcam rubbing themselves off with gaping mouths and wide eyes.

It would be something you would’ve previously consider if it weren’t for the fact that the strangers were near you. The local area was your college campus, a second home, and recognizing familiar faces is something you wouldn’t be able to come back from.

You’ve clicked it before just out of pure curiosity, and the link sent you to the site as promised, but the downfall for you was the requirement to make an account.

The old you from an half hour ago would’ve click the left arrow in the upper left corner and keep searching in disparity. Yet the you now is in deep contemplation, shivering at the slick beneath you on your gaming chair.

You had been grinding back and forth, and even rolling your hips for a deeper arousal. The sensation made it easy to direct your self to the the sign up page and create a profile for user StrawberryBunny1024.

Luckily for you, you’d been given the option of how close the strangers could be. It was a fairly broad spectrum you personally selected from surrounding states and regions. You’d imagine it’d be anyone’s nightmare to match with a former classmate.

With one disadvantage displaced you were thrilled to match with someone who’d shared some fiery electric orgasms with you tonight.

That was until you realized…you actually are required to turn your camera on.

You look at the screen mocking your distraught state with a, “video on please!” In honesty, you aren’t the camera shy type. However what would be captured frightened you…your bare body in all its entirety. In addition to your flustered face.

It’s the internet after all, and digital footprint is a real thing. You wouldn’t want to sabotage your chances of reaching graduation in your senior year.

Besides that point, you turned your camera on because it wouldn’t let you forth without it. A green dotted oval scans your face and a check mark approves of your identity.

Once you are let in, boxes with summarized profiles flash in your face, and a randomized match is made with someone in your selected areas. You’re quick to put on a sexy pink kitsune mask you sported in with your friends on Halloween last year.

Several minutes pass by and you already been put through the wringer. It was either you got skipped, or the guys you matched with were so forceful, and explicitly demanded you to show your pussy right then and there.

There is, once again, a pause in the randomizing. The video buffers to retain quality, but then it fully loads. The audio pitches in right after you scramble to hide further beside your chair. You find that to be the best strategy to elevate suspense. That way you could analyze the person in secret to find out what if you like them, and then you’d reveal yourself.

To your utter disbelief, the most etheral-magical- androgynous, gorgeous, princely being you’ve seen in your many days of living gave your knees a reason to not ache anymore. The prized guy to your desire’s name was…marsskywalker8.

“Hello darling, why are you hiding from me?” A masculine and soothing voice inquires, “I can’t get off to a gaming chair.” He smiles as he finds you peeking on the ground. There was nothing better in this world than a good looking man with a nice set of teeth. “I would do that in my own privacy if that was the case.”

You peer in closer with both eyes, fascinated by the way he just sits there with his face zoomed in, dapper in a black tank top-pleasantly relaxed-seated back fully in his seat-smiling as he notices your hesitation.

“Sorry... this is my first time. I never clicked on one of those…”, your voice drops in volume when you think of the right term to call this online masturbating FaceTime. “Ad thingies.”

“Ah, I see.” He smirks at the innocent nickname you've given your- ‘cyber interaction’.

He falls slightly forward to laugh playfully in a moment of silence which tears you in two. The blissful sound only made you want to cower more and hide. When he rises up again he combs his curtain bangs through his fingers, and what remains is a smile that never fell.

Suddenly a mic is brought down from his right side of the screen. In which his slender fingers engulf so tenderly. “Well…because you are new to this-the first thing you’d do is to show that you are actually human by placing yourself in the camera frame.”

Incidentally, you wave your finger up and center in the cameras view out of annoyance. You yank it down and became frightsome until you realized you’ve proved that you are in fact real, and human. “I know that! I just- it’s weird staring at myself doing…that.”

“Who says you have to put your face in the camera darling? All you have to do is drag your video to the side so you can’t see.” A lower grade of his voice in octave with the mic accessory sprinkled tingles down your spine. “Just be sure to point it down to your pussy. That’s all I need to get off.”

“O-okay.” You place the pad of your thumb over the camera, and rise above the rolling chair slowly. “I’m getting in frame now.” You continue covering the camera while you point it down to your soiled underwear.

He leans into his mic set up. “I’m sorry.” he chuckles, smoothing his hand over his face so he doesn’t smile. The man holds his face in his hand, purely amused about the whole situation. “Where are my manners? My alias name is Mars. Do you have a name you like to be called-Mrs.StrawberryBunny?”

“Yes…I do.” You look between the miffy doll by your desktop and strawberry themed set up you’ve decorated. “Bunny will work just fine.”

“Sounds perfect Bunny. It’s suits you.”

As does mars for you, because you look so otherworldly.

As you intake a deep breath, the pad of your thumb peels off the camera lens. Mars irises darken, and his eyelids lower with lust. “Are you ready for me Bunny?”

“Yes. I am now.”

He wets his plump lips, pulling out his frame to be larger and revealing his skin tight black boxers. “Just watch what I do, and listen to what I say. Mars is gonna help you cum Bunny, is that okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay Mars. I’m ready.”

You began to think submission is something Mars is into as he smirks in delight. “She likes what she sees. Does she have a name?”

“My name, again? it’s-

“No, her. Your friend covered in pink silk.”

Your body heats up when you realize he’s referring to your vagina. “I-I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Awe…what a shame. I have a friend here named Saber that’s very excited to meet her. If she’s willing to introduce herself of course.”

“Yes of course, um, I just came up with a badge it’s…” you look upon the mask you held to your face previously. “Kitsune.”

“Like the sly majestic japanese fox?”, he says intrigued. You nod slowly, regretting your top-of-the-dome thinking. “Oh my… she’s gorgeous.” He leans back and nibbles on his finger between his pretty teeth. Even more so, he gives you a nice view of his semi hard cock.

“I think Saber here thinks so too. Perhaps they should get aquatinted with one another? What do you say Bunny? Would you like to meet him as well?”

“Yes…I would love to.” Your eagerness makes Mars-or rather Saber twitch in his boxers, hardening his erection.

Mars lightly gestures the in between of his thighs. “As usual, he’s a very stand up guy.” An accidental burst of giggles come out of you mouth, and causes your visible lower half to shake. “How charming…Bunny has a sense of humor?”

“Of course I do. I told you, I’m not a robot.” You look at the screen as you wait for a response, but he just continues his mischievous smirking.

“Ice breakers help past the awkward phases. As do play dates. Let’s play with one another Bunny.”

Your breathing grows heavy in anticipation, willing to put keen effort to get what you needed. You clear your throat, preparing it to communicate in a seductive, sex-ridden voice. “What would you like to play Mars?”

“I think it’s a game we all know very well. The one you and I play with our friends here when it’s just you and them. Are you familiar Bunny?”

“…” You nod your head until you realize he can’t see your upper half at all. A thumbs up is what you provide for affirmation.

“I thought so.”

“I’d like to add a twist with Simon says. But it will be Mars says of course, and Bunny says. Does that sound fun darling?”

“Indeed it does. Would you like to do the honors of going first?”

His smile stretches and he tilts his head, chuckling in amusement. “Well of course. I have yet to teach you how it’s done after all.” He grabs his microphone from the right side again. “Mars says, rub your hands up and down your inner thighs.”

In the direct following of his command, you trace your hands up and down, breathing heavily from the small stimulation as you gain close to your heat.

“Good girl. Now, it’s your turn, and you can’t stop what you’re doing until it is your turn again, and I give you different directions. Understood?”

“Yes mars.” Your voice nearly whimpers in the end. It’s so strange how being told to touch yourself feels different than touching yourself at will. “Bunny says… lean back…lift your shirt…and touch all over your torso.”

He of course is best at his own game. Following your command without a world of trouble. His face remains neutral.

“Nicely done Bunny, I see you understand the rules of the game.”

He leans over on his desk, his lips brushing over the head of the microphone. “Mars says…set the crotch of your panties to the side, and rub onto Kitsune’s outer lips.”

You’re relieved to not torture yourself anymore, but now you were revealing a more intimate part of yourself full on. You began to rub softly, and even so it still makes you quiver. You had to get him back.

“Bunny says…massage into Sabers sack, and only through your underwear.”

He does so and throws his head back softly as it lands on a cushion. “How cruel of you Bunny.” He tilts his head back at the camera, and wet strands of dark hair falls over his face. “Mars says rub onto your clit… and do it quickly.”

Your hips buck up in the air from the instant contact. “F-fuck.” You muttered. But you keep your sportsmanship in tact. Obeying the rules of the game. “B-bunny says…bunny says….”

“What does Bunny say darling?” His voice becomes deeper and torturous. Hauling you in further into pleasure.

“Bunny says to reach inside of your underwear…touch onto Saber’s head…a-and rub your thumb up and down the middle. Quickly!”

A grunt sounds out as soon as he began to put his ministrations to action. There’s nothing but a mix of moans, whimpers, and groans between the both of you.

“Ungggh…Bunny, darling I-“

You flutter your eyes open and whine when your legs began to quake, nearing the long awaited ending. “Yes, Mars?”

“Does your friend have any toys you like to share together?”

“You mean like…augh…my dildo?”

“Yes. That’s perfect bunny. Mars says go get your dildo, and wait for my next command.”

“Fuck, Mars please. I need to cum.”

“You will darling I promise, I’m close too. Just do I say, and I’ll get you there.”

“Let me just cover the camera first.” He nods in approval painfully continuing your cruel command. You press your thumb over the lens and lean over to toss your thrown oversized tee onto the camera.

You rummage through the shoe box under your bed, flinging out your clear toy dildo.

You sit back down in your chair unto the sweat that has gone cold, but it soon warmed up again with what was pouring from you now. Mars tucked his lips releasing them from time to time and pant short breaths of air.“I’m back Mars…are you alright?”

“Yes but, just… please! He beckons with a weakening voice. “Do your Simon says.”

“Oh right, Sorry! Bunny says you can take a rest.”

He throws his hand in the air, twitching from an approaching orgasm. “Mars says we can take a rest from this game as well. There’s something else I want to try with you darling.” He turns his chair to face front again, making unmoving eye contact.

“With this being your first time, I’m guessing you got so sexually frustrated that you resorted to this as a last choice…and you want to cum so badly right now right?”

“I’ve tried everything mars, and nothing I did made me as wet as I am now. Thanks to you.”

“I wouldn’t thank me just yet. There’s plenty more to come.” He gives you a small smile before moving out of frame. A few seconds later he comes back with a pocket pussy in hand.

“The prices I would pay just to feel you right now.” He grabs a bottle of lube which was growing sticky in his pre-cum with every touch. “Hold that for just a minute darling.” Mars pours the small remainder in the bottle on his cockhead. He hitches his breath as it twitches from the cool contact.

You can only watch there stunned, sitting there, hand limp in carrying the clear dildo.

“We can see each other right? But there’s limitations on what we can feel.” Mars rubs his hand over himself thouroughly from the base, then the shaft, and to the tip. He even treated you a bit, adding the gloss to his lower abdomen. “So let’s just pretend hmm? Your soaking wet pussy, and my long hard dick.”

He begins to hover the pocket pussy over his cock, and you do the same with your dildo. You had a natural lube good enough that sticky webs formed between your fingers.

You use some of it to cover the dildo, providing yourself as much slip as possible. “You are so hard hwa, I don’t think you can bear it any longer, just fuck me.”

“Fuck, you’re such a slut Bunny. Talking to me like you’re in control.” He hovers the pocket pussy over himself closer, waiting for your cue.

“Push my cock all the way in, and put that pussy juice to good use for me darling, I know you can take it.”

You push it in with no time wasted, and your toes curl within every hilt. It slipped so deep you felt it nearly bypass your cervix. “You’re so deep, and you feel so good.” A long drop of your cream spills from your hole to the underside of the dildo.

Mars’s adam apple bobs hardly as he watches it cascades down on the sides, coming to a full shiver when it hits your floor. “Mars?” He tilts his head up and smiles when he sees you obediently trying to keep the dildo inside you as it began to lose friction against your slick.

“Yes darling I’m here, go on, fuck on your dildo like good little slut.” He begins to play pump his his toy halfway down his girth, twisting it in a 180 degree motion and back.

As soon as you began to follow, you fall apart easily. Whining and crying for your dear life. “More. Call me more names Mars, I love it. I love being your good little slut.”

“Who knew you had a thing for being degraded from how shyly you spoke when I tried to get you into a camera. Now look at you, crying over dick as you beg to be called a slur. What a dumb little toy you are.” he grunts.

You take the pleasure from that as an opportunity to twist the tip of the dildo into your hole, shuddering as it grazes over your sweet spot. “Please keep talking, I’m so close hwa!”

“Fuck your naughty. Let me shut you up. Go faster darling- all I want to hear is you cry for mercy.”

He begins to speed up his fist, tip to base. He tries to maintain contact with you to elevate your high, but it looks like he’s fighting sleep from how often his eyes roll in the back of his head from the overwhelming pleasure.

“Ah fuck, fuck fuck. I can’t- hwa, it’s too fast, I can’t keep up.”

Mars laughs loudly without hesitation-right in your face. “Oh shut up, you whore. You could keep up with your dirty talk. Don’t act like you didn’t do this to yourself dear. Now, I want you to go even faster.”

“Yes sir, m’sorry sir.” You proceed to go even faster, squirming and squinting in your chair as you resist the urge to pull out from the too good feeling of overstimulation.

Mars is on the other side of the camera breaking out heaves of sweat from his head to the curved v lines on his hips. He finally submits to closing his eyes and smiles widely like he’s passing into the next promised paradise of life.

“Wait, oh Mars-fuck!” The camera heightens from you slipping in the chair, then the tip of your toe kicks it further upward.

You had no clue however that your entire body was in frame. Your webcam wasn’t even in your view. With your eyes cloudy from tears and your back arched, you were more focused into making this experience worth your time.

“Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous. Why would you try to hide such a blessing from me?”

You thought in that moment he was praising the beauty of your pussy in which has become well acquainted with, and so you just plead your case. “M’sorry, I’m so sorry Mars.”

He whines with a small shriek, faltering in his ministrations of taking himself all the way. He shivers everytime he takes glances at your adoring features in which you still have no clue are unconcealed.

“Fuck, you’re getting wetter with every thrust darling. Let’s finish this off together and go all the way. My obedient little slut deserves it anyhow.”

He grins wickedly as he watches you plunge the dildo in you without any wasted time.

“Are you fucking close baby? Please tell me you are, because I can’t hold it for another fucking second!”

“Yes Mars I’m- I’m so, aughhh!” You release the cum covered dildo from your heat and fall backwards-limp in your chair. You’d allow yourself to rest as you were still shaking in aftershock.

Mars cums spurts like a water gun onto the meat of thighs. If you weren’t so high right now, you’d see the tear drop that could be mistaken as sweat, but really, that’s how much you’d affected him.

A unexpected knock on the door causes Mars to stumble in his chair, immediately turning off his video and throwing everything into a safe space. “Give me just a minute!”

“Mars!?” You breath out, dropping the dildo in hand to click out of the live chat. ‘Your call with marsskywalker8 was ended.’

…

‘Of course’, you thought. You’re not sure what you were expecting from a site where people use each other to get off. Who in their right mind would have casual conversation after cumming online with a stranger?

You hit x and shut your desktop down to clean yourself in shame. As you got up your ass stuck up the seat from your sticky orgasm, the best you ever had- which is why it’s a shame things ended so abruptly.

With the random select of strangers in your country, it probably take a billion masturbation sessions, to reach him again. Not that you would want to do it again with anyone else though.

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚*

THAT VERY NEXT MORNING…

“Good Afternoon, sleepyhead! Wakey wakey!”

Your eyes flicker open rapidly when you hear your roommate's familiar voice. You click the power button on the side of your phone and it’s 2PM. A flash memory record of Mars and your homework creeps in your head. Your homework that you think you submitted with a conclusion.

“Hmm?” You say groggily, looking tiredly disgusted at the slob stain wetted on your sheets.

“Look at me, straight one.” Your roommate says while snapping.

“Why is it that you make fun of me in my sexuality as the gay one?” When you throw your cover off and sit up on the ledge, your eyes dart toward a golden trophy she places on your lap. “You fucking got 1st place?”

“This bitch and her incredible team got first place! Whoop whoop!” Your roommate prances around your dorm doing the gagnam style of all dances in victory.

You cover your mouth in surprise from her ridiculous bust-a-move, but also from the relieving news. “Oh my god congratulations Dixie. I told you, sometimes being stress gets you blessed.”

She smiles widely and jumps on your bed to cuddle you in a comforting hug.“You’ve been so supportive honestly, even while I was a deadbeat roommate.”

“Oh please, you had your reasons. You caught up on finals?”

“One more this week and I’m through, statistics.”

“Hmm remind me to retake that class in our next and final semester.”

“Fucking A-men….Oh that reminds me!” In excitement she pulls apart from you and gets on her knees to grasp your hands. “The team and I are going out for dinner later to celebrate, and I wanted to bring you with me…as a plus one.

You groan heavily, drained from the thought of going out. “Dixieeeeee. You know my social skills are at an all time low right now.”

“Nora will be there.” She looks at your slight smile but you don’t fully give in. “Food will be there?”

“You and Nora…” you say lowly. “will be the cuntiess business woman of all time. You both know how to plead your case with someone, and always win.”

“Fuck yes!” She gets on her feet quickly to give your forehead a kiss. “I love you girlie!”, she squeals.

“Please stop, that’s so out of character!”

Later in the day you both dress casual for the occasion. Dixie picks up her girlfriend Nora in the way who gives you a French greeting in the car, and right after, her and Dixie move into a French kiss.

You loved their love. You felt like a child riding in the backseat, admiring the way your parents love another, and wish for the same.

On the way to the restaurant you were informed of the two males that complete their business team. You were very eager to meet them. You were eager to meet anyone who tolerated Dixie.

“Okay this is the place. Hongjoong and Seongwha are waiting at the table inside.” Dixie says to you, smiling to ease your nervousness.

When you walk in you immediately feel the calm, yet bustling excitement of the restaurant. For the most part the people that are seated are a gathering of friends-celebrating or hanging out.

You were mindfully following Dixie and Nora as she directed you to the table, and that’s when you heard her say, “Wassup business team #1 champions!”

A small uproar of cheers and claps sound throughout the group. It hardly brought little to no disturbance to the other guests.

“I hope you guys don’t mind but I brought an extra out tonight. This is my roommate and the best goddamn friend I could ever ask for, Y/n.”

Your heart beat grows faster as you look at the men you’ll be accompanying this evening. There was Hongjoong and….FUCKING Mars?

Or as your friend like to call him, ‘Seonghwa’.

“Nice to meet you both.”

Hongjoong says the same and formally introduced himself. Seonghwa nods at him casually, and then smirks over to you.

“We’ve heard a lot about you.” He finally spoke. “I’m glad we have the chance to finally meet one another.” You nod and Blink thrice at Dixie, giving her your friendly signal. Code red.

“Hey-uh, we’re gonna use the ladies room real fast. It was a long ride. We’ll catch up with you guys in a few!”

Dixie grabs your arm and arm as Nora was on the other side. As a team they cornered you on a sink from both sides.

“Just tell me now” Dixie complained. “Do you wanna fuck him?”

“Dixie!” Nora lightly slaps her on the wrist as they were still united arm in arm. “Damn, why do you have to be so forward?”

“Well?” Dixie relentlessly imposes.

“It’s not like that! I was just looking at Seongwha because he was looking at me!”

Dixie’s brow raises up in amusement and he squints her berating eyes right into your face. “Who said anything about Seongwha?”

You look to her partner in arms, your other best friend. Who also happened to be the scapegoat to Dixie’s interrogations. “Noraaaaa?” you whined.

She looks to Dixie and shrugs her shoulders. “It’s a reasonable question that should be given a reasonable answer.”

You deflate your cheeks with a defeated breath, scoffing with a shattered heart of betrayal. “I saw the look in your eyes before you introduced me. I knew you were plotting something.”

“Well then let me just get straight to it then”, Dixie admits. “Why are you giving him the fuck me eyes?”

“Fuck you Dixie, stop it.”

“We could make it happen…just saying.”

“You guys. You point to them both with a lowered peace sign. Can help me. You point to yourself. Sway a- male species?”

Dixie scoffs and lightly pushes your shoulder upheld by your hand pressing into the sink. “I wasn’t gay all my goddamn life d-lover.”

“I’m pansexual, you know that.” Nora added.

“I do have a few cards up my sleeve still…never forget it.”

“Fine. I have the fuck me eyes,” you mutter with a small grunt. I would like your guys help.”

“What was that? I’m sorry…”

You flip up your middle finger. “Dickhead Dixie.” You run off right after, knowing she was more of a heavy weight champ than you were.

“Nuh uh! Come here, you little shit.” You feel a strong hug from bundle you from behind, and another pair of arms hugging you both. “We got you. Don’t worry.”

…

“Alright sorry fellas, the scissoring convention is over now”, Dixie privately announces, pulling out a chair for Nora.

“How the hell did you manage to maintain your professionalism during that presentation again?” Hongjoong asks, truly wondering in his genuine curiosity.

“Well it’s just like before I came out the closet. Fake it till you make it man.”

“Alright what are we having for dinner?”, Seongwha intercepted, clearly unamused. “The chicken parm sounds appetizing.”

“Yeah that and the garlic cheesy bread.”, you unknowingly added.

“Mmmm okay, we’re being bombarded by the Italians.” Dixie suddenly joked. She wouldn’t allow a moment of uncomfortable silence for you to bear, and that’s why she was your best friend.

“What will you be having Nora dear?” Dixie throws her arm casually around her girlfriend, giving the side of her temple a kiss as they go over the menu.

“I’m going with…the chicken tenders and fries basket.”

“Sounds great”, Dixie agreed. “Simplicity is best.”

“Looks like we’re being bombarded by sticky finger tablet kids now.”, you snickered in retort.

“Cocomelon! Seongwha chirped followed by the xylophone instrumental played after in the intro.

“You’ve got that down to a T, Mr.Park.” Dixie jived with a grin.

“You know Seonghwa likes to be a baby with legos and animal crossing in his free time.” Hongjoong added in.

Seongwha’s jaw shifted sides. You cover a smile under your hand, You didn’t say anything but you found it adorable. Every bad boy has a soft side.“Can a baby throw a baby sized man’s laptop overboard in the river?”

“Yeah, okay.” Hongjoong scoffs, seeming just a little visibly upset. “Like you can even throw that far.” Hongjoong folds in his arms at his sides, flailing his arms to intimate Seongwha’s throwing skills.

Seongwha’s stirring up his next comeback and ready to pounce, well, until Dixie had her words to share.

“Boys, boys, settle down. Save some testerone for the gays hmm?”

“Next thing you know they’ll be having a dick sword fight on the table.” Nora taunted, speaking loud enough for the two men to hear.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa groan and end their bantering right then and there. Nora and Dixie fist bump, you hear a “works every time” in whispers.

“Waiter, over here please!”, Hongjoong calls aloud.

…

You guys get some dessert after more gay jokes, poking fun at Seonghwa, and Dixie throwing random shots of spotlight on you so you can get familiar.

Little did you tell her how familiar you were already. Seonghwa had kept his mouth shut, he believed it was a matter you talk about some other time, or maybe never at all again.

As soon as their raspberry cheesecake cake arrives for dessert, Nora and Dixie head out for the night.

“It’s been a pleasure dude and dudettes, but me and this fine babe are heading to her place for the night.” A padded smack from Dixie causes Nora to jolt forward. She maintains her composure, unlike Dixie, she doesn’t like public attention.

“Let’s hang out like this more often, all together. Tonight was fun guys, see ya.” Nora chirped.

The two went to leave, playing on an act to their mischievous plan.

“Oh, uh Seongwha!” Dixie sputtered. “You mind taking Y/n back home- or your place is cool too. Just please make sure she safe, alright?”

“Yeah, of course. She’ll be safe with me whatever she decides. For the first time that night he initiates eye contact. “If that’s fine with you too…”

“Mhmm, yeah, that’s fine.” You nod throughout each word.

“Okay then, it’s settled! Hasta luego mi amigos, and buena noches!”

“That’ll be it for me too!” Hongjoong says while throwing on his jacket. “I think I’ll go home and play with some beats to wind down for the night. Nice to meet you again y/n.” He gives you a small small wave and pushes in his chair. “I hope to see you sometime soon.”

“Later, baby.” He sneaks in, balling his fist and wiping his eyes at Seongwha.

Seonghwa scoffs as he judges his friends childish behavior. “Enjoy making those beats tonight, it’ll be the last track you ever hear. Man baby.”

When you’re alone, you and Seongwha pick at your dessert in silence. His slice of strawberry shortcake, and your square of tiramisu.

“You wanna head out now too?”, he firstly speaks.

You look to him through your lashes, pausing with a piece of dessert on your fork. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“My place is cool?”

“Yeah, um, sounds cool.”

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚*

LATER ON THAT NIGHT…

Thankfully Seonghwa’s place was reachable in walking distance. You had plentiful ideas in mind, but not a single plan that seemed successful.

“You know…” Seongwha mutters. “Dixie talks about you a lot. If I hadn’t known Nora, I’d think you were her girlfriend.”

You cackled at the thought, and even if you found that noise a bit embarrassing, Seonghwa had been all ears. “In what universe? She pokes fun at me for being straight all the damn time. Me and Nora though…we’d have a better chance.”

“Oh? Wouldn’t Dixie be enthused to hear that shit.” You give him a slight elbow jab, leaning into his part of the sidewalk. “The both of you are like her diamond in a rock. I’d imagine she’d hate choosing between you two.”

“It’ll never happen, she doesn’t have to worry. She’s like that for Nora and I too, you know?” Seongwha actively listens with a hum. “Say um…”your voice trembles, “do you live on campus?”

“No I don’t actually. I attend the university here, but they don’t offer as good of business courses as they do on your guys campus. So I signed up for dual enrollment, and that’s why I was in the competition.”

“So you’re a business major too huh? I swear it’s like you guys are some sort of zodiac sign or something. “You all behave...” you pretend to think as you see Seongwha avert his powerful gaze towards you. “Strangely.” You say slowly.

“Wow…that kinda hurts to hear. He sulks, holding his hand where his heart is. You haven’t even met me until today, and now I’m strange?”

Your smile falls and you blink away because you began to feel bad. (In both ways) “Don’t take it too hard, I love a good sense of humor. It breaks the ice when talking to someone new.”

Holy fuck you sounded just like him from the other night. And you didn’t even realize it until it slipped your mouth.

“Dixie’s got it worse than you, so I’ll live,” he chucked. What are you majoring in anyhow?”

“Gen Arts.” You say sheepishly, holding back a chuckle of your own.

“Wait, wait, wait. You give me shit for being a business major but your in general arts? Do you know how moody you guys are!”

“Oh screw you! But no, seriously, that’s like a complete contrast from a business major. We actually have empathy for others.”

“Okay…you know what?”

“Mhm?”

“You’ve might’ve got me on that one! But I for one, am not like all the others.”

You push him into the street without the oncoming traffic, a tired groan spills from your mouth. You walk ahead of him, smiling as you swing your arms.

“Okay see, now you and Dixie are on the same level!”

…

Once you enter Seonghwa’s apartment, you fall to silence after all the heavy-felt chitter chatter.

Seongwha puts up his coat, takes off his shoes, and wanders off as he keeps talking about a new subject with upmost excitement.

You’re frozen and too entranced in the exact detail of his pc set up across the room. The microphone on the right side, along with many cute action figures of legos and animal crossing figures on the wall. Hongjoong wasn’t joking about that part after all.

“Hey y/n…you okay?!” Seonghwa yells from another part of the apartment in concern.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” You slowly inch closer to his desktop, smoothing your hands on the top of the mic where his soft lips purred the most filthiest words.

“Oh. Did you hear what I said?”

“No uh, sorry I was checking out your collection. Wha’cha say again?”

You hear rummaging and stumble just when you thought Seonghwa was close by. “Did you want anything to drink? A water maybe?”

“Nah I’m stuffed. Thanks though.” You slowly slip your fingers off one by one. You were afraid even the slightest move could trigger your clumsiness , and have to face Seonghwa running in here to save his precious belongings.

“Could you come here real fast? I need your help with something!”

“Uh yeah? ‘m comin.”

You search in every room until you found him which didn’t take long. Of all places you’d thought he be the bedroom would be the last you would want .“Hey…what’s up?”

“Hey”, he says with a blatant tone. His face looked even more blatant which made you feel uneasy. “I know this might sound crazy but, I think we have some unfinished business."

“That does sound crazy. I’ll definitely need some elaboration.”

Could it be?

“Of course, I understand. Let me start by saying that I've never stopped thinking about you since we last spoke."

No, it couldn’t be.

“I’m sorry. what the hell are we talking about again? We just met a few hours ago. Like tonight.”

"Okay!” Seonghwa exclaims, cranking out his neck to prepare for what he was going to say, and carefully. “I guess we need a recap-we first met online, exchanged more than a few words. We introduced our crotches, played games, and oh-we came so hard, and then I got really busy, and never followed up.”

But it could be…

“How the fuck did you know it was me?” You cower in a panic. “I never even showed you my fucking face.” You fall to your knees and breathes deeply in your hands. You truly thought you were being careful.

Being the observant person he is, Seonghwa senses your sudden panic, reacting swiftly by getting down on one knee so that he is face-to-face with you. “Well, there's no need to panic. Darling…don't worry. I could just tell.”

You seperate your fingers and take a good look at Seonghwa’s detail features. He takes it as an opportunity to look in between to what he though was the most captivating eyes in the universe.

“Well how easy for you to say. I had video sex with my friends classmate, and then ate dinner with him knowing he’s the guy I had video sex with. W-what did you mean you could tell?”

His smile widens as he sees you peeking further at him. He leans in a little closer, maintaining eye contact. "Well, first off, I think it's quite an intriguing coincidence, and let me assure you that I won't tell anyone about our little secret, okay?" He waits until your small nod before continuing.

"As for how I knew it was you. I saw your face when the camera got kicked up by your legs. I know it’s a major dick move but, I couldn’t- I didn’t want to tell you. I wanted to go all the way with you. You were just too fucking beautiful to be dispensed out of my memory forever.”

You slowly uncover your face and your eyesight immediately goes to his lips. “Fucking hell.” Shit, I knew it was too risky.” You look at his eyes again, which are now on your lips. “I can’t believe I’m saying this fucking bullshit but I’m glad it was you.”

Seonghwa’s eyes light up and he makes the hesitant move of putting his palms on your redden cheeks. He leans in even closer, his gaze filled with warmth, and understanding. "You know what?"

“Yeah…?” He grins mischievously, before leaning in slowly, giving you ample time to pull back if you wanted to. "I'm glad it was me too. And you know what else? I think we should make up for lost time."

“You mean-you mean you wanna-

“Yeah, I wanna. I want to have sex with you. I want to feel you completely, and for real this time.”

“You promise to treat me like a good little slut?”, you whisper, gaining proximity to his lips like they were a love spell.

“Only if you behave like one.”

You move to smash your lips shirt his in a sloppy tongue kiss. Although touch was a firsthand experience, your feelings weren’t. He taps your thighs, urging you to wrap your arms around what you found to be a very slender waistline.

He was caught off guard by the sudden kiss, but he quickly adapts, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you back with enthusiasm. As the two of you pull apart, he smiles against your lips, gently the apples of your cheeks. "Okay my good little slut”, he murmurs.

Seonghwa lifts you both up on his feet and tosses you on the bed. He grabs onto the hem of your boyfriend fitted jeans, unfastening them and taking them swift off your body.

“It’s been a while since I checked on kitsune hm?” He takes off your jeans and undergarments swiftly. “As gorgeous as she was before. Looks like I didn’t get catfished.”

You found it amusing, snickering under his chest. ‘So much for being real and human,’ you thought.“How’s Saber? Standing up like usual?” You raise your bare feet, smoothing it over the tightness in his jeans.

He tsk, taking your wrist in his hold and throwing your arm to the side. “Now we’re not off to a good start now are we? I really wanted to take it easy with you, but it seems like you like to do things the hard way.” He leans into your ear and teasingly takes a nibble. “What’s your safe word?”, he whispers.

“Strawberry,” you playfully whispered with a giggle.

Seongwha bites his lip as he nods in with a groan pulling away from your ear.

He inserts and curls his finger inside the cunt. At first it started with a few strokes, but then he full fledged fucked you on them as he pulls and pushes them in and out.

You whine loudly the pleasure, but you stay obedient, unwavering your wide open thighs from his head.

Seongwha notices your loyal submissions and gives you a mischievous grin. “There she is. The little slut I directed about a week ago.“What’s your safe word?”, he repeats.

You shake your head. You’re not ready to say it, you know it’s a trick. A test. You don’t want this to end.

“Good fucking girl.” He attaches his mouth onto your clit with his fingers now slowly dragging in the top of your walls. You feel the tip of his tongue flick your bean- causing your hips to jerk in immediate response.

As your moans grow louder his tongue swivels faster like a snake on the hunt. Accumulating all the slick ‘til the peak of your shaking orgasm.“That feel good my little tasty slut?”

“M-mhmm. It felt-fucking great.” You try to sit up but Seonghwa climbs to meet your face with his. “It would be dishonorable of me to not return the favor.”

He takes his cum covered fingers and shove them in your mouth. “Be quiet now, my sweet darling. Your debts have already been paid.” He pulls his fingers out slowly, slicking them down his torso until it reaches the cum outside his boxers.

“Shit. That’s so hot.”

“It is getting a bit warm in here hm? Maybe I should lighten up a little on the garments. Saber is in need of some air way.” Seongwha races in his pants to grab a condom in his wallet.

You watch the whole showcase of him slipping it on slowly so he wouldn’t grow tender from the simulating pain. When he’s finished, you reach to him like it was the first real piece of gold you’ve ever seen. His cockhead twitches.

“In sorry but…” he smacks away your eager hand, “kitsune gets first dibs. After all, they have yet to formally meet. So therefore Saber…Kitsune. Kitsune…he pushes your legs back aligning himself with your heat as he smiles at your genitals…Saber.”

Your toes spread from his insertion, and they close in from when he pulls back in and practice his penetrations. He was searching your face for discomfort, he wanted to take you there, and you were smiling widely giving him a positive sign that it was all okay.

He leans into you until your pelvis’s touch. He then begans thrusting at a lethal angle, killing your from the inside.

You began to feel every nerve in your thighs in legs tremble to uphold themselves in good strength. Seongwha was taking it all out of you, and it didn’t help when he separated your legs to get closer to your core.

Added ecstasy was released as he grabbed your jaw and claimed your lips for his taking. He was such a good fucking kisser. Even if you weren’t kissing back it would feel so passionate.

His hand begans to slip behind your neck and he lunges your body forward. Unknowingly doing damage to himself as you as your pussy clamps onto his dick, and your walls suction to be immovable and tightening.

“Fuck. I’m so fucked, darling. I don’t want to upset you but, I’m gonna cum, and it’s gonna be fast and hard.

“Do it hwa. Do it while you’re inside me, i’m beat there with you.”

He follows your direction like a game of Simon says. He adds the intense pleasure of massaging your overly stimulated clitoris, making it bloom in arousal.

Soon enough you came with more shakes and shivers to your nerves. So the extra movement and clamping didn’t leave Seongwha too far behind. He was whining and his arms were weak from being used and upheld for some time.

He twist his body so he fell next to you, discarding his condom into his trash as you both caught your breaths.

He rolls over and analyzes you with pure admiration, and your eyes had easily met with his because you were both thinking the same thing.

“You’re so fucking beautiful. I want to take you with me, and carry you everywhere in my pocket.”

“Dual enrollment is good of you wanna take a few extra classes you might need”, you tease with a wink.

“I have a degree in sexology if you need a few credits. We also offer private lessons free of cost. Seongwha swiped his thumb on your bottom lip. “I suggest Brat Taming 101.”

Your bottom lip stretches slightly downward as you openly smile. “Would that make me a teacher’s pet if I get any specialized treatment?”

“Well you are bunny after all. What choice would I have not to?”

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ * ੈ✩‧₊˚*

A/N: Pheeewww how ya’ll feelin…it’s hot.

Thank you for reading,

Much love

xoxo

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY ORIGINAL WORKS, reblogs are appreciated and accepted. Stealing and modifying my work or publishing out on other platforms is not.

©️1117feverlessdreams, 2024

[hermitcraftx]

One big problem with Scar's recent tweet (the one stating him and Grian have to avoid each other due to lots of negative feedback) is the sort of unawareness on this website. Yes, CCs certainly don't step foot here nearly as much as other websites, but acting like it's solely a YouTube and Reddit problem is driving me insane.

For the past year most of Trafficblr has been nothing but negativity and complaining towards folks that post Scar and Grian together, complaining that they're overrated and that they're sick of seeing them together. Almost all of the "hot takes" and "discourse" that people post are just whining about how annoying and popular Grian is, and how everything is desert duo, and how they want to see other things.

And I've pointed that out. Several times! Few people listened! Mcytblr confessions is almost entirely negativity, I see rancid takes about Grian alone (not even MENTIONING desert duo or scarian) on a damn near daily basis. I've gotten hate asks saying things along the lines of "of course you post about Grian and Scar" and "I followed you for Joel, not scar". Popular fan artists and bloggers hopping on the hate train, bullying popular fanon concepts and canon concepts, saying they hate the angst, or that it's overrated, or that there's too much shipping and they don't like it anymore. People that like other MCYTers like Zedaph, or Big B, or Tango, or anyone and everyone under the sun all blamed Grian and desert duo for their lack of content and accused Grian fans of not putting enough effort into fandom. Effort! Into fandom! Like it's a requirement and not a hobby you do for fun!

And those exact same people are shocked right now. I'm going to pull you all close when I say this: fandom is supposed to be fun. It is not a job. Nobody is required to like certain things, and that applies to your dislike of Grian and Scar together, true... But the wave of hate the past year or so has been ridiculous. If someone only watches Grian or Scar, that's fine. They don't have to watch anyone else. If they only post about desert duo or scarian it doesn't make them shallow or basic.

If you are genuinely upset by this, please, I beg of you: take a break from fandom. There have always been more popular characters and pairings in fandom. That is a fact of life. If you are genuinely, seething, furiously upset about all the Grian and Scar, or anything in fandom, take a break. You have to remember that the CCs don't have to do this, and they are friends and people too, and the negativity you have towards your fandom make them think you hate it. While it's true the bottom of the barrel dwell in YouTube comments and on Reddit, I see a lot of negativity on Twitter and Tumblr.

Frankly, I'm pissed. And grateful we even have a life series anymore, with all the negative feedback they get on every little aspect of the life series. Let friends be friends, for fuck's sake. And if you feel you MUST post negatively about anything in the life series or group, I suggest you make like the DSMP fandom and add CC! or C! indicators. Someone on Twitter bemoaned they weren't complaining about "fanon scarian, not canon scarian" which I think is a roundabout way of denying they're two separate things. But I digress as that's not what this post is about. The point is is that those same people that were so eager to complain about Scar and Grian being overrated are awfully, awfully quiet now. For shame, do better, and have fun. It's Minecraft YouTube, not a job.

TL;DR: Traffic Twitter and Trafficblr both have problems with hating on Scar and Grian disproportionately and now that it's rearing it's ugly head, they blame YouTube and Reddit to absolve themselves of responsibility. Fandom is supposed to be fun!

[juyeonszn]

I WANNA SHOW YOU OFF

PAIRING ju haknyeon x f!reader

WORD COUNT 1.65k

GENRES smut

WARNINGS 18+ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, idol!juhak and non-idol!reader, stupid man not getting the hint, jealous juhak 🤭, DOM JUHAK !!!! this deserves its own warning phew, marking, no foreplay bc we ball like steph curry, little bit of exhibitionism but also not really, unprotected sex, sex against a wall?? standing upright?? what is that position called, creampie lol

SUMMARY you hated when men flirted with you, but god if it didn’t result in such a thrilling experience.

MORE im actually yelling like no way i’ve done 9 of these…. each time a fawntober fic goes up i rattle my brain around in my head to make sure it’s not empty 😭 ANYWAYS!!! if u enjoyed, please reblog <3

PERM TAGLIST @winterchimez @maessseongs @itsbeeble @zzoguri

You couldn’t wait to get out of here.

Your feet were starting to ache from the uncomfortable heels you were wearing. Your faux smile could only handle staying on your face for so long. Your head was throbbing from all of the superficial conversations. You were just about ready to crash.

That was the thing about being the girlfriend of a successful idol, you had to accompany him to these company parties despite everyone being so fake. The only genuine people were the idols themselves. All of the higher ups and staff members were just too vain and shallow minded, you could hardly talk to them without feeling like you’d lost multiple brain cells.

To be fair, you weren’t required to attend these. Haknyeon technically wasn’t even supposed to have a girlfriend, for the sake of maintaining his image for the fans. But everyone at his company knew of your existence and he liked having the excuse to parade you around like a little trophy.

His group members often teased him for being the first to get into a relationship. The two of you had been friends way before he even began idol training and preparing to debut. During that time, you’d lost touch, thanks to his rigorous training process and dedication to his craft. But a couple years into the limelight and you found your way back to each other. Fate was a funny concept.

You were currently standing at a high-top table, mindlessly chatting with some guy from the PR department. Haknyeon had disappeared to grab you some drinks to kill time before you could finally leave. Sunwoo stayed back to keep you occupied while he was gone, but at some point, you heard Eric calling for him and he, too, had wandered off. You kind of wished you went with him, now stuck with this random man you didn’t know.

“You’re really pretty, Y/N,” the guy says, smiling at you. “Haknyeon is very lucky.”

You laugh awkwardly, thanking him for the compliment. He kept inching closer to you, making it palpable that he was flirting in spite of his awareness towards your relationship. The dude clearly couldn’t take a hint, oblivious to your uncomfortability. You didn’t want to be rude, though. These were the people who worked with your boyfriend on a near daily basis.

Where the hell was Haknyeon?

“Does he treat you well?” He asks, clearly steering the conversation in a specific direction. You know what he’s aiming at, but you pretend to be ignorant to his attempts.

“He’s an exceptional boyfriend, actually. He treats me like a princess.” You state, eyes darting around the large event hall in search of said boyfriend. If he didn’t come to your rescue soon, you feared you’d say something worthy of putting his career on the line.

“If that’s truly the case, why is he nowhere to be found? How could such a good partner leave his girlfriend all alone like this?” The gaslighting is hilarious. The fact that this guy genuinely felt he was so much better than Haknyeon, that he was much more attractive, was laughable. He sincerely thought he was powerful enough to come between your secure, loving relationship.

“Here you go, baby,” a drink is placed in front of you, a kiss left on your temple. “What are you and Seojun talking about?”

Haknyeon’s arm wraps snugly around your waist. To anyone else, he’d look normal. He was remaining neutral, lips pulled into a thin line but curved at the ends so it appeared that he was being nice. But you knew otherwise. You knew this calm was just a facade to hide how pissed off he really was. His jealousy wasn’t because he didn’t trust you. His jealousy was because he didn’t trust others.

Namely Jung Seojun, the PR department’s resident fuckboy.

You glance up at your boyfriend, surprised there wasn’t any drool rolling down your chin. You couldn’t help but be drawn into the darkness of his eyes and his clenched jaw. The best part of this was what lies ahead of you once you get home. Maybe this night wasn’t a total bust.

“Oh. Um. Just, you know, the usual pleasantries…” This dude was a shitty liar. He was fortunate that he hadn’t actually made a move on you, lest he wanted to keep his job. Ju Haknyeon didn’t play around when it came to you, the love of his life.

Thankfully, you don’t stay at the party much longer. He tried to keep his cool until it was deemed acceptable to make his exit, but at a certain point, he just couldn’t anymore. The drive home wasn’t uncomfortable, but there was a thick tension filling the atmosphere. If it weren’t for the driver in the same car, you’re sure his hands would’ve been all over you.

So, the moment you step through the threshold of the dorms, door barely locked, Haknyeon’s pinning you to the surface. His lips are searing on your own, rough but soft all at once. His fingers don’t know where they want to rest, first tangled in your hair and then digging into your hips only a second later. Your head is dizzy, spinning around a mantra of his name and nothing else.

He bunches up the fabric of your dress, pulling back slightly to catch his breath. “Who the hell did he think he was? Talking to my pretty girl like he was deserving of her presence?”

“Hak…” You sigh, his mouth trailing down the side of your neck. He nips and sucks at the base, and then again where it meets your jaw. You hated when men flirted with you, but God if it didn’t result in such a thrilling experience. Your regularly sweet, gentle boyfriend becoming someone nearly unrecognizable drove you crazy.

“Hmm?” His hands hook under your thighs, picking you up so you can wrap your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. You can feel him this way, already so hard and ready for you. You don’t think you can handle waiting for all the foreplay, your entire body tingling with want and desire.

“Need you to fuck me,” you whine, head lolling to the side when he sucks at that particularly sensitive area on your throat. “Want you so bad…”

“Yeah, princess? Gonna fuck you so good that you’ll be ruined for anyone else. No one can give it to you like I do.” He chuckles into your skin, pushing your dress up further and kissing your shoulders after the straps have slid off. Ju Haknyeon might actually be the death of you.

That was your favorite thing about sex with him. He was so uncharacteristically cocky, so uncharacteristically aggressive in the way he manhandled you. You moan when he shoves aside your underwear, undoing his slacks enough to slip his cock free. He presses into you slowly, forehead falling to your shoulder with a groan.

One of his hands comes up to fist at your hair, yanking back so he can bite at your jugular and exposed chest some more. He thrusts up into your cunt with what feels like ease in spite of your walls squeezing him. His hips snap up and meet your ass with every kiss of his cock to that spongy spot deep inside of your pussy. Everything is moving too fast, but not fast enough at the same time.

“W-What if someone comes home?” You gasp, fingers getting lost in the hair at the nape of his neck. As much as you were enjoying this, you don’t know what you’d do if one of his members walked in on you. For sure, you’d be mortified, unable to show your face around the dorm ever again.

“Who cares? Let them see how well you’re taking it,” he mutters, sucking in your supple skin and ensuring bruises are left in his wake. “I should let everyone witness how good I fuck you, right baby? Marking you all up so the world knows your mine.”

A loud moan rips from your vocal cords, his cock so deep inside of you that you’re starting to see stars. Haknyeon grins against your sternum knowing that you’re enjoying this as much as he is. You wanted him to stake his claim on your body, wanted anyone who could see to know that you were his. Even the way he fucked into you had that same purpose, like his dick was meant to be there. It was almost as if your cunt was acclimating to the shape of it.

“Fuck, feels so so good, Hak…” You whine, lower half squirming when that knot in your stomach is about to unravel. Your toes curl and your back arches off of the door, legs spreading wider in an attempt to suck him in further. “I’m gonna— oh god— I’m—”

You don’t even finish your sentence, your orgasm washing over you without a moment’s notice. The feeling of your cunt fluttering around his cock has Haknyeon groaning, twitching and spilling into you seconds later. He fucks his own release back inside of you, teeth sinking into your collarbone to steel himself.

The two of you stay like that for a minute, catching your breaths in spite of his cum beginning to leak out of you. He kisses the crown of your sweaty forehead. “You did so well, princess.”

Just like earlier, you’re interrupted before you can reply, the sound of keys jingling on the other side of the door. You share a look of terror, scrambling to his room so you don’t get caught. You both flop onto his bed in a fit of giggles, recalling how he’d said he didn’t care who saw you in such a compromising state.

“You’re all talk, aren’t you?” You tease.

“Oh, just you wait, baby,” he shakes his head, moving to hover over you. “I’ll make you regret that you said that.”

© juyeonszn. do not steal, claim, or repost.

[magnhild]

OC-tober Day 14: Who/what inspired your OC?

This is much more a writing prompt than a drawing prompt, so I'm simply going to go over each member of Team LLAC and explain my inspirations for each character!

First and foremost, Team LLAC are all fankids of characters from RWBY, so a lot of the inspiration comes from that. Luna is the child of Blake and Yang, so she takes a lot of design and character elements from them - she looks like them, of course, but also shares their goal of becoming a huntress and counteracting the bad in the world with some good. Her personality differs pretty greatly from either, though. All of Team LLAC were also inspired by aspects of myself and Luna got my anxiety (of both the social and general kind). This part of her personality, alongside some aspects of her design, was also partially inspired by the moon symbolism I talked about in an earlier prompt.

Lily is the daughter of Emerald and a lot of her personality, character, and design stems from that. When she was just an unnamed concept in my mind, I wasn't going to have her be a fankid like her teammates, but I recognised the potential in having her be related to a former antagonist from the show - especially because, at that point in time, Emerald hadn't begun her redemption arc yet. Funnily enough though, parts of her arc in Year 1 were also inspired by Blake - seeking redemption and liberation through becoming a huntsman and initially being more closed-off to her teammates, and Jaune - struggling to find her Semblance when many her age had already done so by then. My own desire to prove myself as a good person while also being adverse to socialising played a part there as well. Parts of her personality - namely her dry wit - and Year 2 design were also inspired by Mercury even though there's no direct relation between the two. Her Semblance was inspired by my general love for plant-based powers in other media. As a kid, I always loved the scene near the end of Sky High where Layla finally unleashes her powers on one of the antagonists and defeats them in a matter of seconds. Plants are cool.

Astra is the daughter of Neon Katt, though I fully don't remember what inspired me to make that decision. I knew I didn't want the team to be comprised entirely of children of main characters, but why I specifically chose a character that had only spoken in a single episode at that point in time, only 2019 Blaire could tell you. Still, she provided plenty of inspiration for Astra, to the point where, on the surface, the two are strikingly similar in terms of design and personality. Astra also inherited my (and Neon's, as far as I'm concerned) ADHD. Both in-story and outside of it, she was also inspired by Nora in regard to her endless enthusiasm, reckless energy, primarily pink colour scheme, and even her hammer weapon. The archetype of 'character who is feminine, silly, and cheerful but also reckless and powerful' is one I am very fond of, so one of Team LLAC was bound to end up with it. I also happen to love that archetype even more when deeply buried identity issues are thrown into it. I love when the perpetually enthusiastic character secretly has crippling self-worth issues - see Korra LoK, Amethyst SU (or even Steven himself), Akko LWA, and, of course, Nora again. I couldn't not saddle Astra with that. My desire for RWBY to properly explore Yang's self-sacrificial tendencies also saw me giving similar habits to Astra, and it all came together perfectly.

Cobalt is the son of Velvet, but also the adoptive son of the rest of Team CFVY, so I took inspiration from all four characters to build his basis. Design-wise, he mostly draws from Velvet, but his Year 2 outfit especially has at least one element from each of the others as well. Personality-wise, I took Velvet's kindness, Coco's cool-headedness, Fox's sense of humor, and Yatsuhashi's calm nature, and mashed them all together into Cobalt. In-universe, this is the way each of them have rubbed off on him. From me, he got his desire to people-please and his strong sense of justice, which clash just as much for him as they do for me. There's more of his character that actually takes inspiration from my hatred for a common trope in any given media, but I don't think I can get too much into it without hinting at spoilers for things to come ;)

[lgcmanager]

LGC FALL BOYS 001

SCHEDULE TYPE: ONE TIME GIG

on SEPTEMBER 9, the following ten boys were invited to a meeting with KIM HYUNCHEOL about the project, LGC FALL BOYS.

BAE NATHAN ( @lgcnathan )

CARTER JAEJIN ( @lgcjaejin )

CHO ISEUL ( @iseullgc )

CHO MINKYU ( @lgcminkyu )

CHOI JUNKYU ( @lgcjunkyu )

HAN JISOO ( @lgcjisoo )

KANG MINJUN ( @lgcmjun )

KANG YOOJOON ( @lgcyoojoon )

KIM SEYOON ( @seyoonlgc )

KWON HYUNTAE ( @hyuntaelgc )

when all of them were gathered in one of the large meeting rooms, HYUNCHEOL begins the meeting with his greetings. “hello everyone. thank you for coming here and congrulations on being selected to take part in our new variety show.” he continues on, revealing about the foods that were chosen. “in the past, choosing the group or concept would be a determining factor for the songs and units. however, for this show it will be different as the korean foods chosen will be in relation to the games that most of you will be playing while filming the show.” he then hands each of the boys a packet containing all of the important documents pertaining to the show and project.

knowing that some of them may notice it quickly as they’re reviewing through the files, HYUNCHEOL decides to bring it up first to them. “as you will soon or perhaps have already seen in the packet, V&A’s SEN ( @lgcseojin ) and AKIO ( @lgcakio ) will be making an appearance on the show to help the three soon-to-be debuted members of V&A and the MCs of this show, CHOI JUNKYU, KANG YOOJOON, and KWON HYUNTAE.”

EPISODES & ACTIVITIES

“just like the past iterations, while many of you will be filming the music videos and learning the songs and choreography assigned to you, the show will serve as an opportunity for the audience to get to know you even more and your group dynamics. so take this time to get to know each other better and let your personality shine.”

listed below are the general summaries about each of the episodes:

EPISODE 1

- MUSES INVOLVED: KUROSAWA AKIO, PARK SEOJIN - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 13 - AIRING: OCTOBER 28 - SUMMARY: SEOJIN and AKIO will be seen inside an empty classroom hallway, where there are subtle references to LGC SPRING BOYS spread throughout the hallway ( eg. trophies and awards representing some of the school clubs, stickers of the social groups, and a few photos from the LGC SPRING BOYS show ). eventually they arrive at a bookshelf where they spot a YEARBOOK titled “2023-2024”. when both of them flip through the pages and talk about the memories they’ve shared on the show, they noticed near the end of the yearbook are missing pages. there are some hints that the pages were supposed to be filled ( eg. photo of three mysterious figures holding the three korean dishes; bam bbang, patjuk, and songpyeon, a blurry photo of a group of boys hanging out together, etc. ) they spot a note nearby the bookshelf that tells them to fill the remaining pages with “new” memories.

EPISODE 2

- MCS: KUROSAWA AKIO, PARK SEOJIN - MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, CHOI JUNKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KANG YOOJOON, KIM SEYOON, KWON HYUNTAE - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 19 - AIRING: OCTOBER 30 - SUMMARY: when all of the boys arrive, the MCs will tell them that they will be split into three groups, with JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE deciding the groups through rock, paper, scissors ( in actuality, the groups were decided by the order of the foods and first come, first serve basis ): - TEAM BAM BBANG: CARTER JAEJIN, CHOI JUNKYU, KIM SEYOON - TEAM PATJUK: BAE NATHAN, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KANG YOOJOON - TEAM SONGPYEON: CHO ISEUL, CHOI MINKYU, KWON HYUNTAE the boys will then do an activity inspired by one of the most popular holidays during the autumn season; chuseok. there will be a wishing tree nearby located outside of the legacy building and all of them except AKIO and SEOJIN will be writing on a sheet of paper. in the sheet, they are asked to write in two wishes or dreams that they have in the future ( eg. “i wish to debut”, “i wish to become the best vocalist/dancer/rapper”, “i wish to find happiness” etc. the more creative the wishes, the better ) while thinking and writing their wishes, AKIO and SEOJIN will check up on the other boys, asking them questions about themselves ( eg. “what is your favorite color/animal?”, “give one random fact about yourself” ). once they are done writing their wish, they will fold and tie their wish around the string attached to the tree. at the end of the episode, JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE’s wishes “disappear” on the tree and instead are replaced with envelopes noting how in order to retrieve their wishes before the end of autumn, their friends ( everyone else in their respective teams ) will have to find all of the clues they need to make the food assigned to them ( to make it even harder for the teams, the recipe for each dish is done so that there may be certain ingredients or steps added in that people might not know based on their knowledge of the said dish. for instance, the songpyeon recipe may ask for edamame as a filling rather than sweet honey sesame or chestnut ).

EPISODE 3

- MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON - FILMING: SEPTEMBER 30 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 4 - SUMMARY: the boys will be APPLE PICKING in a large fruit farm. the game is based on a two part challenge. the first part of the challenge is whichever team gets the most apples within 30 minutes will receive 20 lgc coins. the second part of the challenge is memorizing the pictures placed on some of the signs and the order in which the pictures appeared. the photos will be of random legacy npc artists ( eg. blazing, dbsd, haru ). teammates can help each other with the second part, but they can only submit their choices one time and cannot change it once it’s been submitted. whichever team wins the second challenge will receive one clue ( can either be an ingredient or recipe step of their team’s dish ) AND 10 lgc coins. both parts of the challenge will be happening simultaneously, so it’s up to the team to decide which one to prioritize more. - CHALLENGE 1 WINNER: TEAM SONGPYEON - CHALLENGE 2 WINNER: TEAM PATJUK

EPISODES 4-5

- MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON  - FILMING: OCTOBER 8 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 6 ( EPISODE 4 ), NOVEMBER 11 ( EPISODE 5 ) - SUMMARY: the boys will travel and go to hongcheon gingko forest, where a tour will give them a guide and historical facts about the forest. there will be three stops and each team will go as a group to a staff member who has three envelopes numbered 1-3. each team will be asked to pick one envelope ( two teams cannot pick the same envelope ) and depending on what they pick, they may gain additional coins or a clue or receive nothing. winning teams were randomized. - HIGH TIER REWARD: TEAM BAM BBANG ( 30 LGC COINS & ONE CLUE ) - MEDIUM TIER REWARD: TEAM PATJUK ( 10 LGC COINS ) - LOW TIER REWARD: TEAM SONGPYEON ( NONE ) later on after lunch, the boys will be heading to alpacaworld and meet various kinds of animals ( alpaca, capybara, deer, rabbit, sheep, owl, eagle, pony, etc. ) near the end of the episode, each of the teams will be given an envelope that contains two messages; one is a clue regarding the step and/or ingredient for the recipe and the other is a note telling all of them that the next time they’re filming, they will expect all of the boys to wake up early in the morning.

EPISODES 6-8

- MCS: CHOI JUNKYU ( TEAM BAM BBANG ), KANG YOOJOON ( TEAM PATJUK ), KUROSAWA AKIO, KWON HYUNTAE ( TEAM SONGPYEON ), PARK SEOJIN - MUSES INVOLVED: BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, KIM SEYOON  - FILMING: OCTOBER 15 - AIRING: NOVEMBER 13 ( EPISODE 6 ), NOVEMBER 18 ( EPISODE 7 ), NOVEMBER 20 ( EPISODE 8 ) - SUMMARY: all of the boys will arrive at a korean folk village, where they will play a variation of one of the most popular variety show games — the name tag game! the three teams ( including JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE, who will be in team BAM BBANG, PATJUK, and SONGPYEON respectively ) will be given ten minutes each to hide their lgc coins throughout the village. once the ten minutes are up, the game will start as members from each team will search for the coins. the more coins they get at the end of the game, the more they can spend to get the clues to solve the recipe. if someone from the opposing team rips off one of the opponents’ team members name tag, the team that ripped off the name tag will receive an additional 10 lgc coins, which they can hide until the end of the game. the game itself will last about 3 hours, but every TEN minutes SEOJIN and AKIO will be roaming around the village as well, doing what everyone else is assuming, which is giving their commentary over the locations of where the boys are and trivia facts they've learned about the village. but for the observant people, if one were to rip either SEOJIN or AKIO’s name tag, the team member can receive 30 lgc coins ( which will be given at the end of the game ). do note that everyone won’t know how many coins each team has during that time. by the end of the game, all of the teams will be spending their coins in the lgc fall boys shop ( owned and created by the production team ) to gather as much as they can about their assigned recipe ( eg. 200 lgc coins to have the complete recipe, 100 lgc coins to get the complete ingredients list, 30 lgc coins for one clue, etc. ) once all ( or majority ) of the coins have been used, the teams will be following the recipe and making two servings of it. the MCs will be talking with each other as they talk about their thoughts about their favorite things to do during the fall season. every so often, the MCs will interview the other boys asking them about their cooking progress. when the dishes are done, there will be a scene of them taking one group photo, carrying the dishes that they’ve made. then they’ll place the photo inside the yearbook that SEOJIN and AKIO were looking at in the first episode.

SONGS

for the songs, the boys ( minus SEOJIN and AKIO due to V&A schedules ) will be spending SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER working on the following:

YOUNG BOY ( THEME SONG ) - RELEASED ON OCTOBER 30

STILL HERE – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 6

HEAR ME OUT – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 13

FAREWELL, NEVERLAND – RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 20

( important note: the release date is the same day as when some of the episodes will air, so they will be released on various music platforms shortly after that. )

the line distributions for the songs can be found over HERE. due to JUNKYU, YOOJOON, and HYUNTAE working on LGC FALL BOYS and V&A’s comeback preparations, they will only be recording for the theme song. also, the boys will be filming music videos for "YOUNG BOY" and "HEAR ME OUT" but not "STILL HERE" and "FAREWELL, NEVERLAND".

LGC FALL BOYS LIVESTREAM

on NOVEMBER 20 ( hours before the airing of episode 8/the finale ),  BAE NATHAN, CARTER JAEJIN, CHO ISEUL, CHO MINKYU, HAN JISOO, KANG MINJUN, and KIM SEYOON will be having a livestream on LGC’s youtube channel for the fans ( the room will be decorated to represent the autumn season and the activities the boys have done on the show ). during the livestream, JISOO will be acting as the HOST and member as he helps facilitate in asking questions to the rest of the boys about their thoughts about the variety show ( without giving any spoilers about the final episode ) and about the songs that they’ve released thus far ( they will be expected to describe each song minus ‘farewell, neverland’ ). the livestream will be around 40 minutes long and each boy is expected to respond to at least one of the questions ( either asked by the producing team or by the fans who are watching the livestream ).

PREPARATIONS

“finally, ahead of today’s meeting, i have also spoken with your coaches to better understand where you are currently lacking as artists.” he pulls out a bag with a slip of paper for each person. “when i call out your name, please come and take this from me. this will be the skill that we’d recommend you focus on for this project. you, of course, can choose not to, but do note that we will take this into account when we review your performance as a whole at the end of this.”

once each boy has been called, HYUNCHEOL continues on. “if you have any questions as to any of this, please don’t hesitate to let a staff know. i must be off now,” he finishes, quickly collecting his belongings and leaving the room.

ooc info: there is a skillset that we’d like each muse to focus on. if you choose to do so, you will receive double the skill points for the requirement than if you were to choose your own skill set. the decision is up to you.

WRITING REQUIREMENTS

make sure to use the hashtag lgc:fallboys for everything related to this event. you have until NOVEMBER 30, 2024 11:59 EST to complete the following requirements:

REFLECTION: write a 300+ words solo with your muse’s thoughts as to their participation on the show. topics to discuss can include but are not limited to how they think they did with the MV / song recording, participating in the livestream, bonding with the other boys, showing off their personality in front of the camera. please treat this as a conversation with a coach though they are welcome to be honest in their thoughts. completing this will give +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE ! ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **

ACTIVITIES: write a thread with 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) with any participants about any of the activities (private conversations in between activities aren’t valid, threads must happen when the cameras rolling). if you choose to write about episodes where the soon-to-be and currently debuted V&A members ( JUNKYU, YOOJOON, AKIO, HYUNTAE, SEOJIN ) are present, you may do so. completing this will give +6 POINTS IN ANY SKILL SET DISTRIBUTION, +4 NOTORIETY. ** for everyone, including the V&A members participating in this event **

SONG PREPARATION: write a thread with 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) with another member about the song preparations.** see below for rewards, for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **

BONUS: complete the ACTIVITIES or PREPARATION requirement with a muse you have NEVER INTERACTED with before for an extra +5 NOTORIETY. ** can only be claimed once and everyone except the V&A members participating in this event can do this **

as mentioned above, if you should decide to follow the coach’s suggestion for improvement in a skillset, your muse will earn the following points for the second requirement. if you should choose not to follow the suggestion, your muse will earn +5 POINTS IN ANY SKILL SET DISTRIBUTION, +3 NOTORIETY.

BAE NATHAN: +10 KOREAN, +3 NOTORIETY

CARTER JAEJIN: +10 PERFORMANCE, +3 NOTORIETY

CHO ISEUL: +10 VARIETY, +3 NOTORIETY

CHO MINKYU: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY

CHOI JUNKYU: +10 MCING/HOSTING, +3 NOTORIETY

HAN JISOO: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY

KANG MINJUN: +10 PERFORMANCE, +3 NOTORIETY

KANG YOOJOON: +10 DANCING, +3 NOTORIETY

KIM SEYOON: +10 RAPPING, +3 NOTORIETY

KWON HYUNTAE: +10 MCING/HOSTING, +3 NOTORIETY

to validate your skill points and collect your notoriety points, please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog before NOVEMBER 30, 2023 11:59 EST. also, please note that even if you send the points early, these will only be approved after the activity check of OCTOBER 6, 2024.

MUSE NAME ∙ LGC FALL BOYS 001  - REFLECTION: +5 ( skill points distribution ) [ LINK ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN ** - ACTIVITIES: +6 ( skill points distribution ) +4 notoriety [ LINK ] - PREPARATION: see above; otherwise +5 ( skill points distribution ) +3 notoriety [ LINK ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN ** - BONUS (if applicable): +5 notoriety [ activity thread or preparation thread ] ** for everyone except AKIO & SEOJIN **

[leprosycock]

jrma's fanbase somehow gets more annoying than usual whenever lud even breathes in his general direction. they're always so defensive over who is allowed to be near him but they're extra weird with lud specifically. (i saw no jrma fans complain about poke collabing yesterday, despite poke actually being a known evil psychopathic manipulator that harasses people.) 2 years ago when jrma took the crypto sponsor, a lot of them blamed lud even tho jrma has always been a crypto fan. lud is not a good person but he's nowhere near the level of gross as other people jrma associates with. do you have any theories why they hate lud yet defend jrma's behaviour?

it's really odd because this has been a steady and constant reaction from his fanbase for the past two years and it hasn't once let up. at first i theorized that it was genuinely because of jIud and how aggressively people despise it, but not all of them are clued in on that drama, especially not now after the uproar over it has died down. i think still assuming that is pretty presumptuous and isn't accurate, so i'll go ahead and play armchair psychologist instead.

i think that jrma fans dislike lud because lud is a powerhouse personality and is desperate to be the center of attention even in jrma projects. and by god, he earns it. he almost always outshines jrma in one way or another whenever they're interacting with each other. he's loud, he's obnoxious, he's brash, he fakes confidence to an incredible degree, he's manipulative, he's needy. and jrma will more than willingly allow him the space to perform. i don't think that jrma fans like that lud forcibly takes the spotlight away from their stweamer. a common criticism from them is that lud seems spoiled and he's a huge brat, which is true (and sexy!), but i believe they find that so offensive because they're not used to it compared to the constant, mind-numbing self-pity that's always spilling out of jrma's mouth.

it might also be because they feel less.. "safe" around him and his presence? the reason why so many insecure kids flock to jrma is because he makes the most passive attempts at telling people that being gay and trans is fine or whatever and he never tries to do anything remotely edgy or push any kind of boundaries and his community fosters, again, this self-pitying mindset where no one is allowed to hurt you or make fun of you for anything ever because they're just mean stupid bigoted cyberbullies. it's positivity!!! it's always positive no meanies here!!!!!! positive jrma community!!!!!!! but lud doesn't really give a fuck about any of that. he's here to make money and make content, and so is jrma, but jrma has managed to trick his fans into thinking that it's about the love. it's about the people. he's so good and humble and kind. he's a good person look he didn't say the fag word isn't he a good person???? look how good of an ally he is!!!!!!!

i think the gist of it is that even tho lud is a much more normie cc, he's still too much for jrma's soft-hearted brain-bleeding baby lamb fans because he's meaner and sharper and colder and he's a superstar that shows jrma up on a regular basis. and jIud as a concept probably does definitely still play a role to some people. i feel like the exact answer is on the tip of my tongue, but this is the best i've got

[furiousofpanda]

Another unnamed concept for an oc time except for its a basis for a creepypasta that I'm never going to make cause I don't have the time or effort to try and make it real

So I used to go hiking a lot, and even now I fucking love just running around in the woods UH BUT ANYWAYS thus is very inspired from a mountain I climbed with my family called Tiger Mountain. Despite its name its no actually that difficult and is a very beginner friendly trail last I remember. I don't remember If camping or hiking during the night was allowed but for my story I'm assuming they arent.

The concept is that there are masked figures in the woods near dusk. They scare visitors from staying overnight in the woods but also save lost individuals just so nobody ends up sleeping in the woods on tiger mountain.

They say if you sleep overnight there you are giving your soul to the mountain, and you will become one with it over time. This basis is important to understand the several characters I have in mind. All it takes in this scenario is someone to go unconscious and their soul belongs to tiger mountain. You'll know it's taken because a mask will appear. The masks are animal masks of animals that can survive in the forest but also metaphorically represent the individuals strengths and weaknesses. Over time (after 10-20 years) the person, even if they reside in the forest or have moved far away, will turn into that creature. The more damaged the mask is the less time you have, and trying to throw away the mask? It'll just re-appear in your line of sight the moment you take eyes off of it unless it's on you/your holding it.

Now to the actual characters. All of them are victims, none of them chose this but do what they can to make sure nobody ever sleeps in the forest.

I'll refer to each character by their mask as none of them I've come up with names yet.

Rabbit - Quick on feet, impatient, not very talkative, can fight but rathers to flee, tripped and got knocked unconscious by a rock, woke up head bleeding and a mask next to them. Trans FTM, learns about the curse and become friends with Turtle, witnesses turtle turn into a turtle, freaks out, tries to figure out how to reverse the curse but ends up being unsuccessful and runs out of time. He moved into a home nearby tiger mountain before becoming part of the mess to escape a transphobic environment. 26

Fatima (i think i spelt her name wrong but this is Turtle) - thinks before speaking, calm and collected, accepted her fate and has made a secret garden not only for the masked members who live in the woods bit also so that once she turns she has food for a long while. Got ditched by her abusive family in the mountain (they left her behind and never went to find her ever). 19

Ferret - a bit of a Comedian, fast on foot but clumsy, impulsive, ran away from home and doesn't want to return (abusive family), actually willing to kill people if it comes to getting them out of the forrest, needs therapy (he's not okay), 17

Mouse - Mother abandoned them in the forest because she wasn't ready to be a mother/ plus some dark shit im not going to drop on yall yet /. Mouse is curious and doesn't understand right from wrong, still learning who they are, 3 years old.

Woodpecker - crafty, always making things, good at math. worked low end jobs and has a passion for construction, fell asleep on accident while on break while making direction signs that he was hired to put up on the trail. Kinda just doesn't mind living in the forest because he doesn't have to pay taxes and gets to build houses and random things. 42

Coyote - loud, actual asshole, probably storywise turns first. He is pushy, likes to steal or cause harm on purpose, throws away his Mask or damages it every chance he can because "its stupid", gets into fights with others oftenly, everyone hate him but he has nowhere to go. Literally no remorse and triggers/sets off everyone's family issues whenever he exists in the same room as anyone else. 16

There's more but it's 2:30 am my ass needs sleep, I'll write more if I remember to

[lunarleylines]

This is actually a really interesting and kinda funny way to see it for me.

Lots of words after the cut about it, but I don't want to clog up everyone's feeds with it.

TLDR; I studied art in the form of graphic design and I essentially dropped out of it near the end because the lack of structure at that point meant I was struggling to complete work that was bad when I did.

I went to college for Graphic Design because of my art interests, and as I was undiagnosed with anything (I'm for sure ADHD, and fairly certain more than that but the rest is unconfirmed), the structured environment of school stuff up to then was what kept me generally going in terms of actually getting anything done. I never really studied, I did homework generally just before it was due, and I managed to graduate with over a 4.0 GPA, getting Magna Cum Laude ropes, but not the higher one (Summa Cum Laude?).

Getting to the college level, the classes with less structure were actually way harder for me (though I definitely didn't realize that was the problem), with the typically structured classes getting good grades, but I constantly avoided lectures that I wasn't required to attend, and often got by in design classes by turning in barely finished projects that I usually completed the literal night before in a rush.

I managed to get enough of a handle on that through frustration (and probably through how I often I was able to work on things alongside others) that I managed to pass the portfolio review at the end of the second year, and I honestly did some reasonably okay work so long as guidelines were clear and I was interested enough in the project.

...I then did a mediocre job at keeping up through the third year, turning out one or two decent things, but the design classes were overall a lot more technical than project focused, so I stuck with it. I was stressed out beyond belief, doing terrible work, and subconsciously doing everything in my power to get out of the classes on a regular basis, up to and including being physically ill in the mornings from what were probably stomach ulcers.

It was at the beginning of the senior year where the class structure changed from something more standard to a setup with everyone still in my group of the program merging into a single classroom/lab space focused on completing work more like that in a real-world design agency (including some especially large projects and the potential to do work for an actual client at I think two different points of the year). On top of that, since it was my senior year, I was finally able to move off-campus to a shared apartment with some friends, and so I had a much harder time sharing space with other people who were working on similar projects unless I traveled onto campus outside of standard class hours (even though most other people did).

While most people were excited to have the freedom and get more used to the "real-world" situation, I was floundering and could barely get anything done. The lack of structure, including mostly free-reign on ideas and implementation, and the dramatically less interesting subject matter of most of the projects (to me personally at least), meant that I was making bad designs and struggling to get them finished at all. For example, I remember three specific projects during that first semester of senior year, each of which had an element randomly assigned to us:

A booklet promoting a variety of decorative plant, which were mostly specific groups of flowers, but for which I ended up with ornamental grasses (which are perfectly fine, but I had zero interest in, and honestly felt like a wildly more difficult subject than others got), and I made something as ugly and boring as it felt

A logo design which would later include additional materials for what I believe was supposed to be a specific/niche product shop, for which I got decorative tile (which again, already felt specific, and then most of my concepts for it were turned down as they were too similar to existing shops, so maybe I just had bad luck on top of my executive dysfunction)

A poster design highlighting one of a selection of semi-famous buildings, which I believe was still somewhat in progress at the end of the semester. I remember I pulled a Palazzo, but even after just googling a bit, I can't remember which one. For that, I had made a garish-looking pile of beige shapes on a blue background with a pretty pathetic overall concept

I was struggling so much at the end of that first semester that the professors of the program pulled me aside and essentially asked if I still wanted to be doing the whole design thing or if I would be better off doing something else, because they didn't want me to end up failing and needing to do a whole additional year of college or more to make up for it. I ended up switched to basically a "catch-all" degree the school offered (Integrative Studies), that would allow me to make use of everything I'd done and just take a few more general classes to help round things out, and I am so glad I did that.

All that is I guess to say, creative programs are definitely not for everyone, myself clearly included. Some people hate the structure and the rules, and other people can't work without them. My experience in this may not be relatable, but I have to say, I still have that feeling sometimes of enjoying a project more if there are some reasonable guidelines and limitations, because then it's not just the project, it's also solving a problem, and gosh is it satisfying to solve a problem.

I could never go to art school. You mean I have to be creative... within rules and on a time limit? My executive dysfunction would get me kicked out inside a week

[luimagines]

Soulmate Au

A commission!

They asked for soulmate au with Twilight where they have shared thoughts and occasionally share vision.

I have been given permission to post it! So I hope you all enjoy.

Content under the cut!

There is a lot to be said about soulmates. Some people take the neutral stance, others make it their life mission to find their other half, others claim that media and propaganda has emphasized soulmates more than they should and there have been centuries of people who have gone their whole lives without even knowing their soulmate’s name or face. You ignore them, personally, spoilsports. There’s also a smaller percentage that hate the concept and want nothing to do with it. The once bitten, twice shy people.

You don’t blame them but you also can’t help but feel a bit sorry for them. Surely something must have happened, and something bad at that for them to despise something as wholesome as a significant other. But you don’t mention this.

Your own soulmate became a bit of a sore subject, but for reasons you can’t explain to anyone.

As a child, you would have visions of this far away place, with forest and mountains and the cutest goats you’ve never seen before. It all appeared to be a dream… And there was a boy that always came with it.

You could talk to him, even if you didn’t know what he looked like. You could talk to him more often, just by thinking and he’d reply almost instantly. When you were younger you thought that he was simply an imaginary friend and you were glad to see his home through dreams. But then you got older. And you learned.

Soulmates fascinated you. The concept of them never ceased to amaze you… even now if you were being honest.

When you had learned that there were different types of connections, you had begun to do your own research to try and figure out how you would be able to find your soulmate. This very quickly led you to learn your own connections. 

You could share thoughts and vision occasionally.

The two of you were ecstatic. This was basically a best friend for the rest of your lives. You wanted to learn everything about each other. But with time, you had to come to the conclusion that there were certain details you couldn’t tell each other- mostly on the basis that the connection wouldn’t allow it.

You had assumed that it would be easier to find each other that way, but you supposed that’s why the connection had you both keep it a secret from each other. It was unfair. But neither of you were quitters and the distance was fine for now. You both had your lives to take care of and there was little way for you to leave your caretaker's side even if you wanted to.

Occasionally though, when you’d share vision, you’d both conveniently be near a reflective surface and with time and patience, you both learned what the other looked like. Your soulmate had blond hair and blue eyes. His ears were pointy but you had just assumed that he was from that far away place and more people were like him than you thought possible. 

With more time, you began to see the changes you both went through and you both got older. You both began to like what you saw within each other. And one unsuspecting year… his home was attacked.

The moment you felt him go unconscious was the most terrifying thing you have ever experienced. You have never noticed the lack of his presence before. There was always a warmth there, in the back of your head, even if you weren’t communicating to each other. And it was violently replaced with a coldness that was foreign and frightening.

It was so disorienting that you had nearly collapsed in the middle of your school hallway.

You were rushed to the nurse but you had to explain that your soulmate was the one that caused it. You were released from being examined but you could no longer focus on anything any of your teachers were saying.  There was a moment where you were hoping his warmth would come back, telling you that your worst fear wasn’t happening and that he might have just been hurt but he would recover and be fine.

That’s not exactly what happened.

You had felt his brain come back online but were taken against your will to share his sight once more. Your friends were used to this occasion by now and one stayed behind to help you should the need arise. 

It was bright… too bright but it dimmed almost instantly. It was sunset and getting darker by the minute. He was on the floor, he didn’t know what had happened, his thoughts were all over the place but you had to call out to him.

Are you ok?

Where’s Collin?

I don’t know. You replied. Something had happened, you were sure of it now. He didn’t even seem to recognize that you were attempting to communicate.

The scenery shifted as he sat up and his hand came into his vision- covered in blood.

You gasped and coveted your own mouth. Oh my god, what happened to you?

Attacked. We were attacked. They took him. They took Collin. I have to get him back. He said to you… or so you thought and then your sight faded away again, and you were back in the hallways of your school, sitting down on the floor with your back against the wall. You blinked, coming back into the present.

Your friend looked over at you concernedly and took one of your shoulders under her hand. “Everything alright? You‘ve been off ever since lunch. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

You gulp and stand up, shaking the entire way. Your friend stands up quicker than you and holds out their hands, ready to make a move in case you fall. You can feel your heart be torn but you know that there’s very little you can do to help him. You don’t even know where he lives, only that he lives on some ranch land with very simple people who all do farm work. “My soulmate… he’s hurt. He took a bad hit to the head.”

Your friend curses. “Is he ok?”

“He was knocked out. That’s why it felt like he was gone…. He was bleeding… They took his brother.” You lean against the wall again, feeling your knees begin to shake.

“They?”

You shake your head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see anything. He just woke up.”

Your friend nods in understanding and lifts your backpack up, tossing it and their one over their shoulders. “Come on. Nurses office again.”

You look at them, pale, shaken, frightful and confused. “But I’m not sick and I’m the one hurt.”

“But your soulmate is and I think you’ve gained nothing from your other classes anyway. You’re only going to be thinking about him for the whole time and worry yourself sick while doing so. Keep in contact with him, let me know if you need anything… better yet, put it in the group chat. You might as well worry about him from home.”

You nod and follow them, feeling more sick to your stomach with every step that you take. Collin was gone and you felt as if you could vomit- you had seen him be born and grow up. You can only imagine how your soulmate was feeling right now.

Once you get into the office again, you don’t even greet the nurse. You face plant into one of the beds and curl up into a ball as your friend explains the situation. They have to go back to the rest of their classes, having been excused for helping you through your episode of sight sharing and they leave your bag by your side.

You sniffle and look at them, trying to keep yourself from having a panic attack in the middle of the school nurse’s office. “Thank you.” 

They point a finger at you. “I’m serious about the group chat. Let us know if he’s ok, alright? We’re all aware that he’s the love of your life. It would break all of our hearts if anything happened to this guy.”

You nod and swallow the vomit in your throat. You lay down again.

You don’t even notice when your ride comes to pick you up. The whole day is like a blur. Something tells you that nothing will ever be the same after this and you’re tempted to believe it. You can vaguely hear your soulmate panicking in the back of your head but you don’t dare tap into the connection to hear him.

Whatever state your parents find you in, they keep you home for one more day, letting the weekend come a little earlier for you in hopes that you’ll recover from your shocked and stunned state. They give you space and check in periodically to see if there’s anything else or if there’s anything you simply want to say. But what can you say?

Your soulmate doesn’t try to reach you in all those days. It’s the first time he’s ever gone a whole day without talking to you at least once. And then it stretches to two days then three- and if the one day wasn’t a clue then the next certainly is.

You‘re trying to fall asleep but you can feel rage and concern and heartbreak coming from your soulmate and you can’t sleep knowing he’s in all that pain. It’s enough to keep you on your feet and pace back and forth within your room. You doubt that your parents know that you’re still awake and you don’t want them to find out. But you can’t stop worrying over him. It’s almost weird… how much you love this boy and yet you don’t even know his name.

Your vision shifts again and you lay down on your bed before the disorienting effect can take you off of your feet.

You’re back in the forest and everything is in different colors but you recognize it as the forest near your soulmate’s home regardless. You’re also lower to the ground for some reason and you can hear more insects than you normally would. You don’t understand what’s going on and you’re afraid to ask. You ask anyway.

What’s happening? Why does the world look like this? Are you ok?

You can hear a call just beyond him and he shakes his… head? Body? 

I’m… ok… a lot has changed but I’m ok. I’m sorry if I worried you.

You jerk!  You took a deep, shaky breath. That’s all I’ve been doing. You can’t tell me they took Collin and that you were attacked and expect me to not worry!

Right. He would have swallowed if he could, you were sure of it. I’ve been a bit busy.

Have you found him?

Technically.

You didn’t even have the chance to question him further. The shadows around your vision shifted and a being, thing, fairy?…You weren’t sure what it was. It came out of the shadows and floated in front of your soulmate’s vision, giving you a perfect angle and time to study it. It had a stone like hat and was small, with black and turquoise swirls over its body.

“We need to get the shards before Zant does! I don’t have the time to wait on you and we can’t let him use their magic for whatever evil scheme he has planned.”

Alright Midna, I’m going. Your soulmate grumbles and moves on.

Your vision fades away again and you're left staring at your ceiling.

Midna? Why did that thing look familiar? Why do you know that name? 

You try to rack your brain for the answers but nothing comes as easily as you’d like. With a huff, you get up again and turn on your phone, getting the internet up and running as fast as you can.

You type in Midna and are immediately greeted by the same being you saw.

She’s the traveling companion to Link, Hero of Twilight, from the Legend of Zelda video game franchise.

Your soulmate is not only Link but he’s starting his adventure now… and you know how it ends… It also means that he technically doesn’t exist, if he’s from a video game. No wonder the connection never let you share where you were from.

You’re never going to actually meet him, are you? He’s going to get hurt and you can’t help him. 

Wait.. that’s a lie. You can pull up all the cheat codes. That’s how you can help.

You take a breath and head back to bed, redirecting your heartbreak into something productive and distracting enough for you not to think about how your love life was doomed from the start.

I’ll help you, you send his way and smile despite the ever growing cracks in your heart. Just explain to me what’s going on, and I’ll see how I can help.

I love you, you know that? You can hear him smile. I don’t know what I would do without you. I’ll find a way to marry you, I promise.

You cry into your pillow but you believe him, or he’ll die trying.

Part 2

[foulserpent]

yotici have always felt out of place bc they were just kind of a very loose jumble of different biological concepts i found interesting, without being well integrated into the world's ecology. here's an attemptedly final redesign for blightseed's only sapient aquatic species

TONS of info under the cut (mostly about their reproductive cycles otherwise it would be even longer lol)

BACKGROUND

yotici are members of an ancient subphylum of chordata that is thought to have diverged from a close common ancestor with the earliest vertebrates. (going to un-creatively call this subphylum 'pseudovertebrates' for ease). pseudovertebrates have independently developed vertebrae, as well as analogues to skulls/jaws/some other internal structures of vertebrates.

the only surviving branch of pseudovertebrates originate from animals with alternating asexual+sessile and sexual+mobile life phases, somewhat similar to tunicate or jellyfish. however, relatively few species with this trait still exist, with most highly derived modern PVs specializing into one form or the other.

a few random examples of sessile and mobile pseudovertebrates. because of the tremendous physiological differences between sessile and mobile PV phases, they often arent even recognized as belonging to the same phylum, let alone being (relatively) closely related.

"morphoids" (placeholder name lol) are a more basal class which retains the biphasic life cycle of their ancestors, with their sessile phase being referred to as "polyps". most surviving morphoids either exploit very specific niches in each life phase, or one phase is greatly reduced to exist solely as a reproductive or larval phase.

yotici are considered morphoids. them and their close relatives specialize into investing great care in their sessile phase, building 'nursery' environments for their polyps to grow in safety.

YOTICI THEMSELVES

yotici are large omnivorous morphoids, and are fully sapient. they feed predominantly on aquatic plants, but also consume mollusks, crustaceans, and corals, and may opportunistically eat other small marine animals.

gardens

yotici are notable for building massive nurseries (word more closely translates to 'gardens') that can transform entire environments. while their ancestral gardens were restricted to very specific environmental conditions, cognitively modern yotici can tailor their gardens to almost any environment, allowing a much wider inhabitable range for the species and cultural adaptation to different environments.

they are most typically and easily built near the shortline, often in bays or other coastal features that can be blocked off from the rest of the sea. stacks of rocks form the basis of almost every yotici garden, though building materials can also include the bones of whales/other large animals, wood, shipwrecks, etc. these building materials are typically reinforced with living organisms- most often corals or kelp, but sometimes including mangroves, tubeworms, sponges, and the sessile forms of other pseudo-vertebrates.

most gardens have existed for thousands (if not tens of thousands) of years, dutifully maintained by the yotici who temporarily inhabit them. a yotici garden is by necessity a habitat for many other forms of life, doubling as coral reefs or kelp forests. in their ancestral range, yotici are specifically symbiotic with several species of coral, some of whom have been domesticated and artificially selected to make better building materials.

reproduction and 'yotlings'

yotici's reproductive cycle is incredibly complex. it begins with mass spawning in 'nurseries', where fertilized eggs seed the seabed and grow into plantlike polyps. these polyps will grow in vast gardens, and wait for ideal water conditions (sometimes taking years) to spawn. when ready to spawn, the 'buds' are encased in a protective film, and develop into larval yotici (called 'yotlings').

they heavily invest parental care into their 'gardens' but very little into their larvae. a garden can spawn thousands if not millions of yotlings, with less than 1% typically surviving to adulthood. yotlings form schools for protection, and typically stay in or near the gardens. reproductive yotici's stripes are likely a signal to yotlings that this is a safe adult to school around (as non-reproductive adults wander wide ranges and cannot provide even passive protection).

yotlings are not sapient (cognitively are comparable to most schooling fish) and are not treated like children. active investment in their care varies culturally, but at most this is devoted to protecting the overall health of yotling swarms rather than individuals. even in these circumstances, infant mortality is an absolute and less than 1% will typically survive past this larval stage.

around the age of 6-10 years old, healthy yotlings will undergo a growth spurt and begin to develop their shells. their cognitive ability increases dramatically at this time, and they begin to more closely follow adults and learn complex behavior and language. at this point, they are considered children and are protected fiercely, and will be adopted into a pod of adults.

yotici have no concept of bloodline within their own species. young yotici are adopted by entire pods without regard for potential relation. stray and orphaned children are readily adopted. a few cultural groups have more structured adoption practices (ie only adopting children from their own gardens) but this is quite rare.

adult life phases

adult yotici have three major physiological/behavioral phases:

spawning phase- reproductive adults migrate to gardens to breed. they will remain and tend to the gardens until their polyps spawn into yotlings (usually 1-5 years). they passively provide protection for already hatched yotlings at this time.

pod phase- adults will form pods during their time in the gardens, and adopt any children present into the pod. once their set of polyps spawn, pods will depart from the gardens (leaving their own yotlings behind) but still tend to remain in warm, shallow waters. these groups adaptationally exist to care for children, but are also the basic social structure in yotici culture. children stay with their parent pods until they have reached sexual maturity and have experienced at least one cycle with spawning adults (to learn 'gardening' skills), at which point they may disperse to form new pods (though this varies).

dispersal phase- if a yotici is unable to spawn during their fertile phase for any number of reasons, they will undergo physiological/behavioral changes that allow for them to range far beyond their typical environments on their own. in this phase, they can go for weeks without eating, and are capable of navigating even open ocean. as potentially handy as this is, this is likely a vestigial trait from a pre-sapient past where their 'gardens' were significantly more vulnerable to environmental changes and would be frequently wiped out (forcing ancestral yotici to search out new sites). while this behavior is adaptationally defunct, it has tremendous cultural importance to many yotici- often induced intentionally for an individual to spend years wandering alone, returning with new knowledge to disseminate among other yotici.

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY THURSDAY – Megamind’s Psychology

Special thanks to Sombertide-0for suggesting and discussing part of this week’s topic! If you have a fan theory you’d like to see explored, feel free to message me on Tumblr or look me up on the Megamind’s Evil Lair Discord!

And now, although Metroman threatens to fake his death AGAIN each time I say it: SPOILER WARNING!

Megamind has been through a lot. Anyone familiar with the film can clearly see that fact. However, that raises the question of exactly how his past may have affected his mental and emotional state. Thankfully, the fandom hasn’t let us down, and there are plenty of theories concerning the subject!

If you’ve read previous posts such as How Smart is Megamind, you already know that we’ve established our favorite animated alien truly is a super-genius. What is his psychology like beyond that, however? We’ve already partially touched on the subject in Who Is the Real Megamind Part One, in which we explored the Blue Defender’s personality on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, but today we’re going to dive deeper, focusing on the nurture side of mental development. Grab your tissues because the old Megamind Pain Train has just pulled back into the station.

Before we get started, however, although this probably goes without saying, we’re dealing with childhood trauma and emotional damage here. Please consider this your trigger warning.

Was Megamind Select Mute?

This concept began when I was discussing an interesting aspect of Megamind’s childhood character with Sombertide-0on the Megamind Discord. (Thank you again for this suggestion!) He brought up something that I had never really considered before: Megamind may have refused to speak as a child.

“What if Megamind was mute, or like just didn't want to talk?”

At first, I wasn’t entirely convinced, but as we talked it over, I quickly began to see that the idea had significant merits. Not only that, it’s supported by evidence from both the film and what we know about psychology. Let’s begin by considering the first.

Near the beginning of the movie, we see the blue alien as a child, both in the jail where he was raised and in his classroom at the suspicious Li’l Gifted School. (That’s a whole other supposition in itself, covered in Six Dark Megamind Fan Theories.) If you look closely, you’ll notice that, regardless of his environment, we never see the extraterrestrial child open his mouth even once. Even while being bullied, the blue boy never once vocalizes any defense or complaint. Sombertide-0 pointed out that this could quite possibly be a psychological condition developed due to trauma. In short, Megamind could have been select mute during his youth.

“He's just silent the entire time, not comfortable talking out loud,” my fellow fan explained.

Real life studies backs this up. According to Psychology Today, selective mutism can develop when “a child experiences a trigger response” which leaves them unable to speak except to certain people and/or in certain highly familiar and comfortable surroundings. Selectively mute children almost never speak aloud in social situations, and display anxious behaviors. It’s not something the child does on purpose, nor is it, as many adults may believe, a form of shyness. The condition often manifests between ages three and six, and can last into adolescence.

That in itself sounds enough like Megamind. He appears to be entering first grade when we see him in school, which would make him five or six years of age: right in the life-stage when selective mutism is likely to develop. He seems nervous yet eager to be liked, however he never speaks a word. There is also further credible evidence that the creators may have made young Megamind select mute on purpose, and it has to do with triggers for the condition. Again, let’s look at the article on Psychology Today.

The neurological basis for selective mutism is thought to be a cascade of events in an area of the brain known as the amygdala, which receives danger signals from the environment. The anxiety from a situation perceived as dangerous to the child’s well-being causes a communication shutdown.

If seeing your entire planet destroyed then being left to essentially fend for yourself in a high-security prison filled with hardened inmates doesn’t count as “danger signals,” I have no idea what would. Furthermore, according to Lumen Learning, selective mutism can, sometimes, go hand in hand with separation anxiety. When a young child loses or fears losing an attachment figure—an adult caretaker on whom the child depends—due to illness, death, divorce, etc., that child can sometimes become select mute. This is vital because not only did Megamind lose his parents at a young age, but in the movie we also see him alone in his own cell when he is around six years old. The combination of being separated not only from his biological mother and father but then from the prison inmates who cared for him as an infant may have resulted in his inability to verbally express himself.

So why does Megamind have no trouble speaking later on? After all, he not only talks aloud as an adult, but has no trouble engaging in public televised evil monologues. The answer may lay in supervillainy itself.

It turns out that this may not be terribly unusual. (I’m referring to the triumph over selective mutism, not the supervillainy.) While some selectively mute children may require psychiatric counseling and speech therapy to overcome the condition, others do manage to conquer it on their own. However, that is most likely to occur when the child has a catalyst of some kind, something positive (or perceived as positive) which acts both as a driving force to work toward social verbal expression as well as source providing some feeling of power over their own lives.

Is it possible that, by acting out and embracing what he thought of as his destiny, Megamind found such a catalyst? We know from the movie scene in which he explains his plan to create a new nemesis that the blue man viewed supervillainy as his “purpose.” Did he cling to it so hard for so long because he subconsciously believed that being the “bad guy” and invoking fear in those around him granted him some sort of control, thus allowing him to become socially vocal? We may never know, but it’s a possibility.

Was Megamind’s Emotional Growth Stunted?

In the DVD commentary, Brent Simons, one of the writers, describes Megamind as having a “childlike mentality.” He goes on to compare the blue man’s actions to that of a preteen boy experiencing the pangs of love for the first time. “[There’s a] girl you like, so naturally you pull her hair. You kidnap her and bring her to you.” Is this true? Is Megamind, at the beginning of the film, at least, behaving with a level of emotionally maturity—or rather lack thereof—befitting a twelve-year-old boy?

According to one fan theory put forward on The Analytical Couch Potato, the answer is yes. This article points out that Megamind does, indeed, already seem to be in love with Roxanne Ritchi and “spends more time during the kidnapping trying to impress Roxie with threatening weapons and torture machines than he does actually trying to kill Metroman.” (Many other fans agree with this assessment, and offer some compelling ideas about why this might be. You can learn more by reading Why Kidnap Roxanne.)

Once again, as with the selective mutism theory, both the film itself as well as psychiatric knowledge seem to back this up. The then-villain seems to treat his fights with Metroman more like a game, again showing a lack of maturity. (Although, to be fair, the DVD commentary makes it clear that he usually goes out of his way to ensure bystanders aren’t injured, so it’s clear he isn’t entirely sophomoric.) As previously alluded to in Are There More Hidden Details in Megamind, we don’t see the first foreshadowing of the blue man’s heel turn both from Bad Guy to hero and from immature to mature until he confronts Hal in his apartment. During that scene, a TV behind Megamind displays a video game screen with the words “Game Over.” A few minutes later, the idea is reinforced as Titan utters the same phrase just before attempting to murder Megamind. This may be the DreamWorks’ team’s clever hint that the alien super-genius is going to eventually stop playing around and begin taking his role in Metro City seriously.

In fact, by comparing his fight with Metroman to his second battle with Hal/Titan, major differences become apparent. When facing the latter for the final time, Megamind offers no “witty back and forth banter” or overblown monologues. He is approaching the confrontation with a new grave and earnest dedication. While he may still possess the humorous, energetically playful personality we all love, the blue man has obviously matured a great deal in a short time.

Why might this be? The aforementioned article on the Analytical Couch Potato goes on to suggest that what we may be seeing here is the psychology behind Attachment Theory. This is where the separation anxiety we discussed in the last section may come into play again. Because he had no real parent figure, Megamind was emotionally neglected as a child—not surprising given his being raised in a prison—and thus he never experienced positive affirmation during his youth. (Indeed, Roxanne herself hints at this when she informs the jubilant crowd at the end of the movie: “he’s not used to positive feedback.”) That lack of positive reinforcement can cause a child’s emotional growth to stagnate.

This is not unusual, as the article points out, drawing information from psychologist John Bowlby’s work. In fact, Megamind’s motivations throughout the movie—from his choice to embrace what he felt was his proper social place as a supervillain to his ceaseless efforts to impress Roxanne—can be viewed as a constant quest to obtain some sort of recognition from those around him, and his lack of maturity can be directly linked to that.

“Those without regular stimulation and attention from caregivers suffer from delays in intellectual development,” the article explains. “Megamind’s mentality is very much still [that] of a child’s, seeking constant affirmation from his peers and loved ones in a way that he was not exposed to growing up.”

Again and again, we see this emotional immaturity come into play during the film, and if you look closely, you can see the blue man slowly overcome it as the narrative progresses. He not only kidnaps Roxanne because he’s unsure of how else to get her attention—although, as mentioned before, an alternate fan theory suggests that this may be partially due to an alien courting instinct—but he also behaves in a rather childish way while bantering with Metroman, creates some frankly absurd deathtraps such as the Boot Wheel of Death, completely disregards the inevitable negative consequences of hiding his identity from someone he’s dating, and argues with Minion in a manner that, frankly, sounds like a couple of teenage brothers having a fight.

Later on, however, he chooses to seek help in saving the city rather than fleeing Titan, recognizing both a problem that needs addressing as well as his own limitations. He turns himself into prison, displaying a willingness to atone for what he’s done. He apologizes for past wrongs, from criminal acts to his treatment of Minion, and begs that he and he alone, not Metro City, be made to answer for those crimes. Finally, of course, he shoulders the responsibility of Defender, coming to Roxanne’s rescue with the aid of his trusty sidekick and officially stepping into the role of hero afterward. Despite the fact that Megamind is estimated to be in his mid- to late-thirties at the time of the narrative, this movie can be viewed as a sort of Coming of Age story.

There are other fan theories connected to this subject, of course—it’s been suggested that Megamind may have an anxiety disorder, could be high-functioning autistic, and is likely going through a midlife crisis during the film—but I will leave it there for this week. (Depending on the response to this post, I may write a follow-up article addressing some of those other ideas concerning the blue man’s psychology.) At any rate, the mere fact that the team at DreamWorks, from the writers to the animators, created a character so real and complex he can be psycho-analyzed speaks volumes about the amount of dedication that was put into this film. We should all take a moment to appreciate that, as it’s something that makes the protagonist not only more interesting but also more relatable to all of us imperfect viewers out there. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this Fan Theory Thursday!

[nientedenada]

Ancient Atmoran Animal Totems: True Names and Taboo Deformations

Originally posted on r/teslore.

I've a theory to float with y'all. It arose out of an old discussion between /u/emerson44 and /u/misticsan over whether the Ancient Atmoran Animal Totems were named and/or anthropomorphized as the Divinities.

Emerson: There is evidence in the "ancient Nordic" architecture that the totemic animals all represented an anthropomorphic deity. Take for instance the relief of the hawk etched into the corridor prior to every puzzle door:

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Nordic_Pantheon?file=HallmuralHawk.png

Even granting the hypothesis that these etchings reflect a final phase of development in the totemic religion, why shouldn't this final phase have occurred before the days of Ysgramor, such that the name "Kyne" and all she represents would be known and cherished by the Companions?

"Certain scholars believe these primitive people actually worshipped the divines as we know them, just in the form of these totem animals..." (The Dragon War)

Misticsan: That's indeed a good point: the Hawk totem might have been called "Kyne" too. We see a similar example in Fragmentae Abyssum Hermaeus Morus, where the Fox appears before Ysgramor and tells him "Know thou, mortal, that I am Shor".

There are other sources that suggest the opposite, though. For example, the last remnant of the Totemic Cult in Skyrim was the Ternion Monks, who literally call their Old Gods "Fox", "Bear" and "Wolf". Also, the monks complain that the current Nords call them "cult", "zealots", "fanatics", "worshipers of false gods".

I'm not certain we can take the engravings in the puzzle door corridors as images of the Totem animals as gods. If I saw these images in an real-world archaeological context of a totemic religion, I'd interpret them as shamans. They're humans dressed in animal skins. This interpretation for me is strengthened by the fact that the image for the Dragon totem is dressed like a dragon priest.

But, anyhow, back to the names of the Totems. I was wondering, could this discrepancy between 'Fox' or 'Shor' be an example of Taboo Deformation?

To quote a very entertaining write-up of the theory from an Atlas Obscura article

“Taboo deformation is one possible way for a word to change its meaning,” says Andrew Byrd, a professor of linguistics at the University of Kentucky who specializes in Indo-European languages. Basically, we are scared of the true names of certain beings or concepts, because to use them might mean we summon them, which we don’t want, or anger them, which we definitely don’t want, or simply make other humans mad at us, which is slightly less bad but still not ideal. The true name is powerful, and we normal humans can’t handle that power. So we avoid using the true name, but sometimes we still need to communicate with each other about those beings or concepts. That means we have to figure out a way to talk about something without using the actual word for it.

A great example of this is the word “bear,” in English. “Bear” is not the true name of the bear. That name, which I am free to use because the only bear near where I live is the decidedly unthreatening American black bear, is h₂ŕ̥tḱos. Or at least it was in Proto-Indo-European, the hypothesized base language for languages including English, French, Hindi, and Russian. The bear, along with the wolf, was the scariest and most dangerous animal in the northern areas where Proto-Indo-European was spoken. “Because bears were so bad, you didn’t want to talk about them directly, so you referred to them in an oblique way,” says Byrd.

H₂ŕ̥tḱos, which is pronounced with a lot of guttural noises, became the basis for a bunch of other words. “Arctic,” for example, which probably means something like “land of the bear.” Same with Arthur, a name probably constructed to snag some of the bear’s power. But in Germanic languages, the bear is called…bear. Or something similar. (In German, it’s Bär.) The predominant theory is that this name came from a simple description, meaning “the brown one.”

In Slavic languages, the descriptions got even better: the Russian word for bear is medved, which means “honey eater.” These names weren’t done to be cute; they were created out of fear.

Is it possible that the ancient Atmoran/Nord true name for the fox was Shor, and "fox" is the taboo deformation? In that case, shamans would speak the true names of those animals: Shor, Kyne, Dibella, Mara, Tsun, Stuhn, Jhunal, Ald/Alduin, Orkey in need (such as during the most sacred rituals), but would refer in common speech to the fox, hawk, moth, wolf, bear, whale, owl, dragon, and snake.

My theory is that this reticence about the true names of the animals receded with the creeping Anthropomorphization of the gods, which must also be influenced by the Nords' neighbours with their freely named gods. The animals' "true names" became the names of the gods, while the animals' taboo deformations became the ordinary animal names.

Further Discussion from Comments:

Misticsan replied: I like that explanation. After all, it's also the same reason that Abrahamic religions tend to use words such as "god" or "lord" (or their many, many translations) rather than a proper name like Yahweh. The very word "god" is theorized to come from an ancient Proto Indoeuropean root meaning "that which is invoked", after all.

I may even suggest an idea about where the taboo came from: the Dragon language.

We know from examples such as the Greybeards' speech at the end of The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller that there were names for the gods in the Dragon language. "Shor" is exactly the same as its Nordic name, for example. While it could be blamed on external influences, we also have "Kaan", which is different from "Kyne" but close enough that it could be its etymological ancestor.

Since we know that Draconic language had huge ceremonial importance, it could be that the names of the gods were reserved for texts and speeches in that language, while being taboo in the vulgar tongue of the masses. Unsurprisingly, after the Dragon Cult ended, the taboo lost its importance and Nords started using the names of the gods more freely, with the occasional linguistic evolution.

This of course doesn't change my argument regarding The Songs of the Return: that it's very likely that they were written long after the events they describe, just like how the Iliad was written long after Greece's Bronze Age.

I replied: Agreed. I'm not sure how it can be argued otherwise, since Songs of the Return has the elves of Skyrim wiped out by the end of Ysgramor's life, and we know they weren't till Harald's reign.

[watevermelon]

✧ Soulmate!Sakusa x Reader; You are Karasuno’s manager and, unfortunately for the both of you, very popular among those in your year.

➳  A/N: This is so fluffy and nothing like how I usually write, but it was fun!! Thanks for the ask!! (: <3

✧  Masterlist

----xXxXxXxXxXx-----

There was a strange pull to volleyball that you could not fully explain, just that you were always associated somehow with the sport. In middle school, you were the manager of Kitagawa Daiichi and tended to hang around the loud duo of Oikawa and Iwaizumi. And eventually, when you chose going to Karasuno, it was no surprise that Kiyoki had roped you into becoming a manager again.

You were the last of your year to meet your soulmate - many of your friends having met their’s already. 

Kageyama did not recount it often, but Hinata made up for it on a near daily basis. The short player described the event vividly, remembering how the setter’s intimidating face was almost enough for Hinata not to realize that suddenly his world was much more colorful.

Yamaguchi described his encounter like a breath of fresh air, a sudden rush of adrenaline that came with each and every color of the world. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the seeing members of the team often joked that Hinata looked like a bright orange fruit.

You didn’t even know what orange looked like.

Soulmates were an interesting concept in that some people may live their whole lives never meeting them, wallowing in the black-and-white hues that they were born with. Some give up, disheartened over trying for so long to no avail. Your teammates were especially lucky to have met their soulmates, even more so to have met them at a young age.

Many of the members of the student body either didn’t care for this soulmate business or cared too much about it. Some were hunting almost constantly for any sign, while some expected the fact that they were going to have to travel far eventually when they were adults.

You tried not to think about it at all.

It was cute, hearing the stories of reunions and having someone who nearly completed you. But it was hard to imagine someone who was meant to be with you.

As much as you hated to admit it, you were quite popular among many in underclassmen. You were one of the infamous Oikawa Toru’s close friends and had the looks to rival his own. Many people had complimented the two of you in the past, asking if you were soulmates and saying that you would make a good couple based on looks alone.

It annoyed you how much fair skin and flowing locks were enough to blind people to who you really were. Your friendliness often got misconstrued for something else, many of these dumb boys digging for more than just the amicable smiles you were giving.

Tsukishima said the simplest solution was to shave your head, to which you almost killed him. And Yamaguchi said it was only natural since you were very pretty. Tanaka joked that the power of two beautiful managers would win them nationals alone.

And so, almost on a daily basis, you were rejecting boys' confession left and right. From the notes hidden in your locker, to the ones passed to you during class, to those who were brave enough to wait for you outside of the gymnasium - you rejected them all with careful smiles.

But that small amount that you gave, they reached for it hard.

Give an inch and they’ll take a mile.

Many hadn’t been deterred in the least, eager to try to make you fall in love with them despite having said you were not interested. It annoyed you to no end, being surrounded by flowery language and people who wanted to get close to you, but not for who you actually were. It was all looks and appearances, nothing more.

And you hated it.

There were times that you wondered if you should just take the lid off. 

Why stay cool and composed over people who hardly cared about how you felt?

Didn’t you just want to go batshit crazy one day?

Thankfully, your volleyball boys were also a big help in warding away others. Tanaka and Nishinoya were quite the pair in keeping people away from you during practice games, even when it wasn’t necessary.

((You remembered they first time seeing Akaashi’s cute face and begging to whatever volleyball god’s were out there that he was your soulmate. It was only a little disappointing to hear that he already had one. But seeing how cute the setter and Bokuto were, you figured they truly were meant to be.))

Tsukishima was a silent help, even if he did not admit it. His quick wit and salty words were more than enough to keep others at bay when he was around. Hinata, bless the poor boy, was much denser than you and often didn’t realize flirting until Kageyama had his tongue down his throat.

Karasuno was progressing all the way to Spring Nationals and you could not have been more proud of your boys. The team was built like pillars on-top of pillars, teamwork and hardened skill having sharpened all of them over the past year.

The first day of nationals, the team was mingling in the lobby among all the others that had progressed this far. It was almost intimidating, being surrounded by some of the strongest volleyball players your age in the entire country.

And, unfortunately, you weren’t free from leering eyes then.

Kageyama branched from the group to greet some of the friends he made during the training camp and Tanaka was off having a spiritual moment. You were scanning the room until suddenly you were just standing there alone.

It was the perfect opportunity to pounce and there was someone within your immediate personal space already asking for your name. You smiled at the sudden attention of one, two more people, attempting to back away before the group got any larger. Excusing yourself from them, you headed toward the wall to try to distance yourself and get your bearings.

Someone was already there, huddled in on himself in the corner and basically telling everyone to stay away. He had a mask covering most of his face and his hands were tucked in his zipped jacket, basically staying away from touching a single thing around him.

The moment you made eye-contact, it was almost like a flash of light.

You were looking at a bright mix of yellow and green, contrasted by his pale skin and pitch-black hair. It seemed he was just as surprised, bright eyes widened comically as he stared back at you.

It was more than just the school uniform - there was color everywhere.

From the tan of the walls to the gray tiles on the ground, you scanned the room and saw the different assortment of schools like you had never seen before. Bouncing around was a tuft of orange, Hinata eager to talk to members of other schools as he bounded around the room.

Orange.

You turned back to the reclusive young man and you realized the startling new fact.

Sakusa Kiyoomi was your soulmate.

One of the best spikers in the entire country and resident in Tokyo, hours from where you grew up, was your soulmate.

You knew all about him from the volleyball spreads to the front covers. Among the hundreds of other kids here, he was one of the top picks to watch in the entire nationals. Itachiyama was even one of the top seeds to win it all. It was crazy to think that he, this already highly decorated teen, was your destined other half.

If not for volleyball, would you have ever met?

“What’s your name?” His voice was barely above the crowd and you took a step closer to hear him proper.

You introduced yourself and thought about offering a hand for him to shake, just to realize that the germaphobe would probably never take it. And so, without a word, you rubbed a bit from your hand-sanitizer and then offered the appendage to him.

There was a hint of smirk behind the mask before he took it, muttering your name low on his lips.

He reached into one of his pockets and took out his phone, wordlessly waving it in the air for you to exchange chat ID’s. You recited the numbers back to him, adding each other to keep in contact. And while you both surely had questions, there were only a few minutes until the starting ceremonies.

“Karasuno?” He recounted, “Kageyama Tobio goes to your school.”

You wanted to groan, unsure what the setter’s reputation was like on the high-school level. You would defend your blueberry friend against his king of the court days, but with your soulmate, was that weird?

“Yes, we’re in the same year.”

“Ah.” Sakusa replied simply, his eyes still wordlessly on you.

Was he expecting a response?

“Your eyes are blue.” He commented bluntly, “They look different, nice.”

“Thanks?” You chuckled and responded lamely, “I don’t even know what blue means.”

You saw a small smile form beneath the mask, a crinkle in the corner of his eye. “I’ll show you, one day.”

“I look forward to it.”

There was something about his voice, low and throaty that had you desperately wanting to hear more for it. And while you enjoyed your little moment, there were a few alarms and shouts from the administration, it was time to line-up soon. You bowed curtly in thanks and turned to leave, waving at him as you left.

It was sort of… not what you had imagined?

Not that you were truly expecting anything. You were both still teens and at a competition, it was not like you were hoping to jump into your soulmate’s arms and get married into the sunset right away. But Sakusa was so curt, so blunt. So different from what you were used to.

It was refreshing.

Kiyoko took up the task of fetching Hinata’s shoes and, for once, you were the manager sitting alongside the coach courtside. You felt the reassurance and support from Karasuno’s cheering section, many familiar faces from your Shiratorizawa match. But, along with it, you felt the strange outpoor of pressure at having eyes on you.

More than once you were scanning the crowds to see people avert their eyes, caught in the act. How did the volleyball players deal with this? Each movement they had - receives, spikes, serves - it was heavily scrutinized by every person in the audience. Even more so on this level of competition, with commentators for live TV observing each match.

You saw some of your competition floating around, many sporting pensive looks and even notebooks as they observed Karasuno. Slapping your cheeks lightly, you steadied yourself to focus as you took your own notes on the team. Every successful jump server from Asahi, every spike from the other team’s ace, you had it all down.

And you were on the court, near jumping for joy with the rest, when Karasuno locked itself in as victorious in the first round.

Sakusa approached you after you were all done packing up, most of your team surprised at seeing the strong ace approach you so casually. Kageyama was the only one that was even his acquaintance, but he waved off an informal greeting as well.

You could tell immediately that he was not comfortable, tending to stick to himself normally. And yet here Sakusa was, approaching you when it was not expected of him at all.

“Congrats to your team.” He stated in a low voice.

“Thanks.” You said with a smile, watching as his eyes dropped to your shoulders then back up to your face. “Something wrong?”

He pursued his lips silently before moving to take off his outer jacket, “Here. Wear this during tomorrow’s game.”

Tomorrow's game with Inarizaki? You mentally wondered.

You didn’t question it, taking the jacket with a small grin and folding it in your hands. You still had your Karasuno jacket on and didn’t want to fumble around while the gorgeous ace was watching.

Of course, your team hadn’t caught on either.

“OH?!” Tanaka was immediately on the offensive, “And what claim do you have here city boy?”

You raised your palms to calm him down, an enraged Nishinoya not far behind him. Suga sighed in the corner, moving to grab them by the backs of their collars before they tried to throw hands with a nationally ranked spiker.

Before you could say anything, Sakusa explained with a flat face. “She’s my soulmate. Is it wrong for me to try to get closer to her?”

The reaction was immediate. You heard the, waaah!, from where Hinata was standing the sudden, excited gasp from Yamaguchi.

“Wow! Lucky you, (L/N)-chan.” Suga stated, a smile on his face as he regarded the both of you.

“When did this happen?” Daichi inquired after offering you both smiles.

“Before, when I got lost during the opening ceremony.”

“And you didn’t say anything!” Hinata exclaimed more than questioned.

“I didn’t want to distract you from the game.” You stated back, shrugging lightly.

Sakusa cleared his throat and you turned back to him, “I have to meet back with my team.”

“Okay, safe travels.” You said, earning a nod as he left.

“Wow, he’s so… different from you!” Hinata observed, trying not to be rude.

“He’s… nice to you.” Kagayama commented also, his head tilted and his eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to find a better word to describe it. 

“That seemed pretty normal though?” Yamaguchi asked.

Kageyama immediately countered, “No, his normal is not like that.”

“He’s cute.” You responded lamely, thinking about his dark hair and matching eyes. 

He was quiet, but not to the point where you felt like he was purposefully closing you off. It was more like, if he had nothing to say, then he would not find the need to ramble on. Blunt with a purpose - which you honestly liked.

Meanwhile, Sakusa was hoping you took his words to heart and wore the jacket the entire next day. He had thought about his soulmate once or twice before, but never really dwelled on it since he had more important things to worry about. A soulmate was something he could not physically complete on his own, and while he hated leaving the issue half-assed, it is what it is.

But now that he knew who you were? 

Sakusa wanted to know you whole.

There was no denying it right at the onset - you were beautiful. If there were any other words - immaculate? Stunning? Absolutely show-stopping?

He had no expectations and yet here you were blowing them all out of the park, your beautiful looks only enhanced by how observant and friendly you had been at the onset.

It annoyed him that he was not the only one to have noticed this, many leering eyes following you as you went. Even more so when you were on the bench in the main stadium, many people in the stands around him remarked that Karasuno’s manager was insanely attractive.

No matter, you were his soulmate.

It only get worse when the rice-field asshole showed his face, Atsumu greeting Sakusa with the usual, Omi-Omi.

It seemed they were both interested in watching Kageyama play with his team. He was good during the training camp, but another thing entirely with the small spiker that completely their freak-duo.

But of fucking course Atsumu had to make a comment about you.

“And suddenly I’m lookin’ forward to playin’ them tomorrow.” The setter stated, eyes shooting to where you were sitting.

Sakusa had half the mind to put him in his place, but it would do no good. After all, the setter was an idiot, but actually liked to get on his nerves sometimes.

And so wearing his jacket should be more than enough to stake his claim.

Sakusa had a game the next day, but the bright hues of his yellow-green school colors were easy to pick out in the crowd. You were wearing it just like he asked, the jacket looking much too big on you.

But it was the smile on your face as you cheered on your team that made him want to smile back, even though he knew for a fact that you were not looking.

Baby steps, you would get there soon enough.

[96thdayofrage]

What is Critical Race Theory?

Basically, Critical Race Theory is a way of using race as a lens through which one can critically examine social structures. While initially used to study law, like most critical theory, it emerged as a lens through which one could understand and change politics, economics and society as a whole. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, describes the movement as: “a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.”

Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of the founding members of the movement, says Critical Race Theory is more than just a collective group. She calls it: “a practice—a way of seeing how the fiction of race has been transformed into concrete racial inequities.”

It’s much more complex than that, which is why there’s an entire book about it.

Can you put it in layman’s terms?

Sure.

Former economics professor (he prefers the term “wypipologist”) Michael Harriot, who used Critical Race Theory to teach “Race as an Economic Construct,” explained it this way:

Race is just some shit white people made up.

Nearly all biologists, geneticists and social scientists agree that there is no biological, genetic or scientific foundation for race. But, just because we recognize the lack of a scientific basis for race doesn’t mean that it is not real. Most societies are organized around agreed-upon principles and values that smart people call “social constructs.” It’s why Queen Elizabeth gets to live in a castle and why gold is more valuable than iron pyrite. Constitutions, laws, political parties, and even the value of currency are all real and they’re shit people made up.

To effectively understand anything we have to understand its history and what necessitated its existence. Becoming a lawyer requires learning about legal theory and “Constitutional Law.” A complete understanding of economics include the laws of supply and demand, why certain metals are considered “precious,” or why paper money has value. But we can’t do that without critically interrogating who made these constructs and who benefitted from them.

One can’t understand the political, economic and social structure of America without understanding the Constitution. And it is impossible to understand the Constitution without acknowledging that it was devised by 39 white men, 25 of whom were slave owners. Therefore, any reasonable understanding of America begins with the critical examination of the impact of race and slavery on the political, economic and social structure of this country.

That’s what Critical Race Theory does.

How does CRT do that?

It begins with the acknowledgment that the American society’s foundational structure serves the needs of the dominant society. Because this structure benefits the members of the dominant society, they are resistant to eradicating or changing it, and this resistance makes this structural inequality.

Critical Race Theory also insists that a neutral, “color-blind” policy is not the way to eliminate America’s racial caste system. And, unlike many other social theories, CRT is an activist movement, which means it doesn’t just seek to understand racial hierarchies, it also seeks to eliminate them.

How would CRT eliminate that? By blaming white people?

This is the crazy part. It’s not about blaming anyone.

Instead of the idiotic concept of colorblindness, CRT says that a comprehensive understanding of any aspect of American society requires an appreciation of the complex and intricate consequences of systemic inequality. And, according to CRT, this approach should inform policy decisions, legislation and every other element in society.

Take something as simple as college admission, for instance. People who “don’t see color” insist that we should only use neutral, merit-based metrics such as SAT scores and grades. However, Critical Race Theory acknowledges that SAT scores are influenced by socioeconomic status, access to resources and school quality. It suggests that colleges can’t accurately judge a student’s ability to succeed unless they consider the effects of the racial wealth gap, redlining, and race-based school inequality. Without this kind of holistic approach, admissions assessments will always favor white people.

CRT doesn’t just say this is racist, it explains why these kinds of race-neutral assessments are bad at assessing things.

What’s wrong with that?

Remember all that stuff I said the “material needs of the dominant society?” Well, “dominant society” means “white people.” And when I talked about “racial hierarchies,” that meant “racism.” So, according to Critical Race Theory, not only is racism an ordinary social construct that benefits white people, but it is so ordinary that white people can easily pretend it doesn’t exist. Furthermore, white people who refuse to acknowledge and dismantle this unremarkable, racist status quo are complicit in racism because, again, they are the beneficiaries of racism.

But, because white people believe racism means screaming the n-word or burning crosses on lawns, the idea that someone can be racist by doing absolutely nothing is very triggering. Let’s use our previous example of the college admissions system.

White people’s kids are more likely to get into college using a racist admissions system. But the system has been around so long that it has become ordinary. So ordinary, in fact, that we actually think SAT scores mean shit. And white people uphold the racist college admissions system—not because they don’t want Black kids to go to college—because they don’t want to change admission policies that benefit white kids.

Is that why they hate Critical Race Theory?

Nah. They don’t know what it is.

Whenever words “white people” or “racism” are even whispered, Caucasian Americans lose their ability to hear anything else. If America is indeed the greatest country in the world, then any criticism of their beloved nation is considered a personal attack—especially if the criticism comes from someone who is not white.

They are fine with moving toward a “more perfect union” or the charge to “make America great again.” But an entire field of Black scholarship based on the idea that their sweet land of liberty is inherently racist is too much for them to handle.

However, if someone is complicit in upholding a racist policy—for whatever reason—then they are complicit in racism. And if an entire country’s resistance to change—for whatever reason —creates more racism, then “racist” is the only way to accurately describe that society.

If they don’t know what it is, then how can they criticize it?

Have you met white people?

When has not knowing stuff ever stopped them from criticizing anything? They still think Colin Kaepernick was protesting the anthem, the military and the flag. They believe Black Lives Matter means white lives don’t. There aren’t any relevant criticisms other than they don’t like the word “racism” and “white people” anywhere near each other.

People like Ron DeSantis and Tom Cotton call it “cultural Marxism,” which is a historical dog whistle thrown at the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement and even the anti-lynching movement after World War I. They also criticize CRT’s basic use of personal narratives, insisting that a real academic analysis can’t be based on individually subjective stories.

Why wouldn’t that be a valid criticism?

Well, aren’t most social constructs centered in narrative structures? In law school, they refer to these individual stories as “legal precedent.” In psychology, examining a personal story is called “psychoanalysis.” In history, they call it...well, history. Narratives are the basis for every religious, political or social institution.

I wish there was a better example of an institution or document built around a singular narrative. It would change the entire constitution of this argument—but sadly, I can’t do it.

Jesus Christ, I wish I could think of one! That would be biblical!

Why do they say Critical Race Theory is not what Martin Luther King Jr. would have wanted?

You mean the Martin Luther King Jr. who conservatives also called divisive, race-baiting, anti-American and Marxist? The one whose work CRT is partially built upon? The King whose words the founders of Critical Race Theory warned would be “co-opted by rampant, in-your-face conservatism?” The MLK whose “content of their character” white people love to quote?

Martin Luther King Jr. literally encapsulated CRT by saying:

In their relations with Negroes, white people discovered that they had rejected the very center of their own ethical professions. They could not face the triumph of their lesser instincts and simultaneously have peace within. And so, to gain it, they rationalized—insisting that the unfortunate Negro, being less than human, deserved and even enjoyed second class status.

They argued that his inferior social, economic and political position was good for him. He was incapable of advancing beyond a fixed position and would therefore be happier if encouraged not to attempt the impossible. He is subjugated by a superior people with an advanced way of life. The “master race” will be able to civilize him to a limited degree, if only he will be true to his inferior nature and stay in his place.

White men soon came to forget that the Southern social culture and all its institutions had been organized to perpetuate this rationalization. They observed a caste system and quickly were conditioned to believe that its social results, which they had created, actually reflected the Negro’s innate and true nature.

That guy?

I have no idea.

Will white people ever accept Critical Race Theory?

Yes, one day I hope that Critical Race Theory will be totally disproven.

Wait...why?

Well, history cannot be erased. Truth can never become fiction. But there is a way for white people to disprove this notion.

Derrick Bell, who is considered to be the father of Critical Race Theory, notes that the people who benefit from racism have little incentive to eradicate it. Or, as Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We must also realize that privileged groups never give up their privileges voluntarily.”

So, if white people stopped being racist, then the whole thing falls apart!

From your lips to God’s ears.