#like wow I have an impact on peoples lives outside of my partners

[lovesick-psychopath]

hey man you havent posted in a while, you good?? we missed you :(

I've been mostly dealing with school lately & things in my personal life. I just haven't had much energy to tag stuff and I refuse to not tag things (I am autistic)

however,,,

soon..

I also have a bunch of wips that I cant wait to share once I finish them!! A majority of them are still bsd but I do have a couple from other things planned!

Hopefully I will be back with energy for longer than.. 10 minutes every week soon though !!! I might not be doing the best right now but I will pull through

[agent-oo-z]

Alright gaymers time for more BG3 companion headcanons! This time featuring my beloved Atavia!

Potential spoilers below, you’ve been warned!

Still no Minthara, I failed to rescue her during Atavia’s run

Halsin

Ultimate nature nerd buddies. Atavia and Halsin love just going full autism mode and discussing the nuances of plant identification/creature behavior/etc for hours on end.

Once Atavia and Halsin become a “thing” they are almost annoyingly in love. Constant pet names, lots of physical contact, getting distracted by each other. Astarion teases them about it relentlessly, not out of jealousy though. He’s not immune to envy but he trusts his partners to be open and honest and does his best to do the same.

Halsin and Astarion are less stereotypically lovey dovey with each other but only because Astarion shows his love by being a menace. He teases and makes jokes and gets all sarcastic. Halsin usually responds with sincerity, not because he doesn’t get it but because he enjoys the challenge of getting Astarion flustered. It doesn’t take long for the pair to develop a sixth sense about what’s going too far.

Astarion

Turns out having two(eventually three!) people who are willing to dedicate themselves to you heart and soul can be overwhelming, even when you want it more than anything. Astarion develops a “non sexual safe word” for moments when he needs to be left alone/given space. He usually only needs a moment to recenter.

Astarion ends up working with the society of brilliance and the Gur to study vampirism and search for a cure. Some of the spawn in the underdark volunteer to help test theories and potential cures. This involves everything from finding out what types of fabric/materials can be used to prevent sunlight from damaging their skin to studying potential non blood food sources. Astarion mostly works with his partners to search for artifacts like sunwalker rings and magical/alchemical cures.

Astarion is good with kids. Once he has time to rest and begin healing from his two centuries of trauma he finds that children don’t annoy/upset him as much anymore. Yenna lives with Halsin at moonrise and is especially fond of him, the pair often play together when he’s visiting.

Gale

Quickest way to his heart is to compliment his cooking. And not just “wow this is good!” compliments. The type that shows you actually noticed things like the unique seasonings or the plating.

Because he doesn’t divulge much about his personal life to his students and fellow professors he accidentally ends up the center of a minor scandal. Astarion makes a surprise appearance on campus during a stormy day to deliver Gale’s lunch(which he left at home) and kisses him in front of his morning class. Atavia had done the same on multiple occasions but was out of town at the time, so the students thought Gale was having an affair. Eventually another professor confronted Gale when Atavia surprised him at work(she had gotten home from her trip early) and Tavi just burst out laughing while Gale desperately tried to explain the situation. The next day Astarion and Tavi deliver his lunch together to put the rumors to bed.

Gale develops a whole host of modified and new spells after becoming a professor. This includes spells that allow for the indefinite storage and preservation of food(including blood), spells that allow individuals with sunlight sensitivity to go outside for up to 4 hours at a time during the day, and enchantments that can be applied to collars and armor that allow animals to speak with people. He also publishes certain spells anonymously, not exactly out of embarrassment but because he’s uncertain how it might impact his career. Basically all of them are modified spells for sexual encounters.

Wyll

After deciding to break his pact with Mizora, Wyll procures the prosthetic eye Volo has. He continues to use the sending stone eye up until he and Karlach enter the hells after the death of the netherbrain. Given he is no longer working for the cambion he “swaps” eyes and tosses the sending stone eye as far as he can.

He waits to propose to Karlach until about a month after her engine is stabilized. They’d been dating for a while at that point, but he didn’t want her to feel like she had to agree because he had helped with her engine. He also wanted time to prepare a proper elaborate fancy proposal because she deserves it. She says yes before he can even finish asking, he’s not even fully on one knee before she practically throws herself at him in a massive embrace.

When Tavi complements his skills as a ranger at the reunion party he almost explodes with joy. She’s one of the best ranger he’s worked with(the other being THE Minsc) so it truly means a lot.

Karlach

One of the few people that Tavi isn’t romantically involved with who is allowed to be super physical with her. Tavi isn’t opposed to friendly hugs and the like, but doesn’t do well with extended touch from those she’s not with. Karlach is just such a giant cuddly teddy bear that somehow Tavi doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even fully understand it herself. If Halsin or Astarion weren’t wrapped around her at camp it was Karlach in their place.

Once she’s able to permanently return to the material plane, Karlach becomes a legendary hero in her own right. She often joins her former companions when they go out on grand quests.

Karlach is called “Auntie Karlach” by the various offspring of the Tavi-cule. She’s the favorite of all the companions when it comes to baby sitting(at least for the children.) She loves kids of all ages, but especially enjoys spending time with those between the approximate ages of 7 to 10.

Lae’zel

Lae’zel eventually introduces her companions to Xan, the hatchling rescued from the crèche in the ruined monastery. Xan is just as fascinated by the material plane as his adopted mother was, and is delighted to interact with Tavi’s familiars and companion animals.

After the defeat of Vlaakith Lae’zel and Xan move in with Shadowheart. It was originally supposed to be just until Lae’zel could find her own place but turns out Shadowheart and Lae’zel are in fact very much in love still. Xan now has two moms.

Tavi helps Lae’zel learn about the courting practices of the sword coast so she can make her intentions clear to Shadowheart(and not at all because Lae’zel doesn’t want to fight her because the idea of causing her harm is deeply distressing) Lae’zel and Shadowheart do end up romantically sparring eventually, but it’s far less intense than standard Gith fighting.

Shadowheart

Before Lae’zel moves in, Shadowheart is a bit of a hermit. She makes time to visit her companions but otherwise spends her days tending to her animals and her gardens in relative solitude.

During her first visit to Waterdeep she joins the Tavi-cule for dinner. She ends up staying over because of how late into the night the conversation goes. The next morning she learns about Gale’s Modified Silence spell when joking that based on how disheveled Tavi looks she’s surprised she didn’t hear them. She asks Gale to make her some scrolls to take home, and encourages him to consider publishing them under a pseudonym.

Shadowheart and Astarion love to gossip. During the absolute adventure they would sneak away and chat in elvish to avoid being heard, and post adventure they keep up a correspondence. When they get together in person they can spend hours talking about the latest gossip while enjoying some good wine and snacks.

Jaheira

When Atavia is pregnant with her first child, Jaheira visits to give her advice and guidance. Most of it consists of “here’s how to not kill a baby” and “here are safe ways to manage your symptoms during and after pregnancy”. She helps Atavia and her partners set up a nursery in Gale’s tower because Tavi is worried about it looking nice while still being safe. She serves as a sort of safety auditor. Jaheira is also the “god mother” of all of the Tavi-cule children. She accepts on the condition she is never called anything like “granny.”

Jaheira often joins Tavi and Astarion(and whoever else is with them) when they go out searching for artifacts. She’s with them when they get their hands on a real sunwalker ring, the first time they find evidence of a cure for vampirism, and when they finally get their hands on the last thing needed for said cure. They start to jokingly call her a good luck charm.

She continues to work with the Harpers on and off. Geraldus is one of the few Harpers she genuinely enjoys working with and the two become good friends over time.

Minsc

Minsc is eventually able to communicate half decent information about the vampire cures Boo supposedly knows of. It’s one of those cures in particular that the Tavi-cule is able to find evidence of and actually create. And it works! Astarion complains about being indebted to a hamster, but privately thanks Minsc and Boo. Tavi is beside herself with pride for managing to pull it off despite the language barrier.

Minsc will randomly appear on the doorsteps of the various party members with no warning. He usually only stays for a day and rarely spends the night, but he always comes with unbelievable tales of his most recents adventures. He always makes an effort to visit after any of the party members have major life events to offer his support/congratulations/etc.

Atavia keeps a stash of Boo’s favorite treats on her person at all times. You never know when you’ll run into Minsc and she never wants to be caught unprepared.

BONUS: The Creatures

Scratch

Scratch goes to live with Alfira and Larkissa after the death of the netherbrain. Atavia makes an effort to stop by and say hello whenever she’s visiting the gate.

Owlbear Cub

Once the owlbear cub moves to the grove Atavia makes sure to bring some fancy smoked meats when she and Astarion visit to spend time with Halsin. She loves to curl up and nap with him under the sun.

Us

Taking the form of a cat in the eyes of all but the former adventuring party and their loved ones, Us ends up living at Gale’s tower. Tara and Morena eventually allow it to join their tea parties. It doesn’t drink any tea of course.

[cuntess-carmilla]

On disability and gender

I'm writing this from my perspective as a dyadic TME non-binary lesbian (also mixed but very pale and non-Black, as well as relatively thin). I will group myself with women but like, I'm also not really a woman it's complicated lol. I say this because I can't have first-hand comprehension of all the possible dynamics between gender and disability, and other physically disabled people are very much encouraged to add their own thoughts and perspectives to this post.

I don't feel equipped to speak on how being disabled and intersex impacts gendered experiences because I have too much left to learn, so I'm sorry that I'm not going to go into it. It's not because I don't recognize that struggle, it's because I just don't have the range, so please, if you're an intersex and physically disabled person and you want to expand on this, don't be afraid to do so.

Able-bodieds can reblog but don't speak out of turn.

------------------------------------------------

For a long time I've been trying to articulate my thoughts and pain on how physical disability impacts our gendered experiences and I think I'm finally starting to get to it.

When you're physically disabled you're immediately stripped of a (willing) gender identity as well as desexualized.

Gender is embodied and performed. You can embody it "incorrectly" and perform it "poorly". Everything regarding the embodiment of physically disabled people is seen as incorrect, and the literal meaning of "disabled" is that we can't perform the same way that able-bodied people can, or at least we can't without severely impacting our wellness.

Disabled men are emasculated. Constructs of ideal manhood are in big part built on things such as physical prowess, never expressing vulnerability, being self-sufficient outside of anything domestic, and conquering women sexually and romantically.

Disabled men are seen as weak, they are seen as pathetic for having visible vulnerabilities or (if their disability isn't immediately visible) for exposing their vulnerabilities instead of "sucking it up". By needing aid, accessibility and carers that do more than what a wife would traditionally do for any man, the sense of self-sufficiency men are supposed to perform is unavailable to disabled men. All disabled people are desexualized and seen as repulsive once our sexualities are acknowledged, and even disabled dyadic cishet men can't escape this. Able-bodied women see them as unfit for any sort of serious romantic or sexual partnership. Not to mention too the traditional role of men as providers and how difficult it is for any disabled person to acquire wealth at all, let alone enough to support more than ourselves alone. The rates of poverty for physically disabled people are fucking astronomical, so most disabled men can't even use that to their advantage in romance and sex to make up for all the other ways in which they're at a disadvantage compared to able-bodied men.

Disabled women fail at embodying and performing every single aspect of traditional womanhood too, but in particular; domestic labor, sexual labor, and beauty standards.

All labor is difficult if not downright impossible when you're disabled. Disabled women who need carers as adults are seen as complete failures because, even as children, but especially as adults, we're the ones who're supposed to be the carers of others, not the other way around. People love to pretend that women are coddled more than men, but nothing breaks that illusion more than being a disabled woman. A woman's needs are supposed to be invisible and self-fulfilled, or else we're whiny spoiled bitches, and guess what that means for disabled women. When we can't perform this pristine role we're immediately marked as failures, we're undesirable and nothing but a parasitic drag in the lives of abled people.

Yes, not all disabled women are straight, plenty of us are bi or lesbians, many are also aro/ace, but the point is that the patriarchy doesn't really give a shit what a woman's sexuality is, because no woman is seen as having sexual agency, so even if we're not straight we're expected to exist to satisfy men sexually. I cannot describe how difficult it is to be sexual, even when you're not ace, if you're physically disabled. Speaking from my own experience, trying to maintain a sex life as someone who experiences chronic fatigue and chronic pain is one of the most frustrating and demoralizing aspects of my disability. I want sex, I want to want sex, to be able to fuck my fiancé, but most of the time I simply can't gather the energy to even feel horny. I feel like such a failure of a lover because of it. Even though my fiancé is patient and understanding with me!

Can you imagine what it is like for disabled women who aren't as "lucky" as me, to have a partner who understands that we simply can't do it all the time even if we do want to? I don't want to go into too much detail about this because it's very painful and triggering to many, but I think you can imagine what happens to a lot of disabled women (and disabled people in general) when we're not satisfying a partner sexually and they get too frustrated by it. Being as vulnerable as we are, nobody cares much what happens to us. More so since, again, physically disabled people are seen as sexually repulsive, so if anyone wants sex with us we're supposed to be "thankful" for it, no matter the circumstances.

As for beauty standards, any woman who doesn't fit traditional beauty standards will know just how badly men treat you when they don't find you physically appealing, and well... Let's just say that a cane or a wheelchair aren't seen by society as particularly attractive, no matter how much the woman using them fits traditional beauty standards otherwise. Then there's female amputees, women with deformities, etc. In my case, I'm a literal mutant. If I don't disguise my tells with corsetry, long sleeves, and so, so much more, my body looks "off", I have been told repeatedly that my body looks "off" my whole life, and I'm one of the least visibly disabled ones! Even regarding body hair it's fucking hell. My collagen is so elastic that when new hair grows it stays ingrown unless I manually break my skin with a needle or a pumice stone (no, gentler ways of exfoliation don't work), but shaving isn't ideal either because my skin is, due to my altered collagen too, literally transparent and you can see the roots of my dark hairs under it even if I shave down to accidentally harming my skin with the blade.

Performing femininity at all is just... It's fucking hell. If it's exhausting for able-bodied women, can you imagine what it is like for us? I can barely manage to shower, by the time I'm done with my hair, makeup and outfit, every bit of my very limited energy is depleted and then I still have the rest of the day to go through. And I LIKE being feminine. I like wearing makeup and wearing the outfits I wear and yet I still dread it when I know I'll have to do more than stay in my pajamas at home.

Also, the perceived fragility of disabled women isn't the type of fragility that is seen as desirable in women. It's not delicacy. Wheelchairs, canes and other mobility aids aren't seen as "delicate" or "demure". Neither is kinesio tape, or compression stockings, or any other sort of medical equipment which, on top of it all, tend to not be very "aesthetic". Our fragility isn't the romanticized type, it's the "wow, you're an useless burden who can't serve me the way I expect you to" type.

When it comes to "binary" disabled trans people (for a lack of a better term) the degendering is even more intense than it already is for their cis counterparts (all that I described above applies to them too). There's a dichotomy of the even heavier denial of their actual genders as men and women due to the combination of their transness and disabilities, contrasting with how even if they were to conform to their assigned genders at birth they'd still be seen as failures at it due to everything I've already stated. There's also the sentiment that their identifying outside of their assigned gender at birth is a sort of consolation prize, something they're going for only because they were failing at being proper cis men and cis women, and thus their actual genders are even more invalidated and effectively pathologized in the most medical sense of the word, which is already a problem for all trans people, but for physically disabled trans people this intensifies the problem even more.

When it comes to non-binary disabled people things get so fucking confusing and infuriating. If binary disabled people get denied their manhood and womanhood, best believe that multigender disabled people (bigender, genderfluid, etc) are denied all aspects of their genders even harder. Not even completely agender disabled people are safe from being seen as failures of their gender identities by people who would perfectly respect the identity of an agender but able-bodied person. The fact that the default gendered status of all disabled people is forcefully degendered makes it so agender disabled people aren't seen as having any agency or self-determination in their (lack of or neutral) gender identity, it's seen as a passive inevitability from their embodiment, so it doesn't really "count", while simultaneously being subjected to the general transphobic bullshit any other agender person would be subjected to.

All of these things already affect white, thin and dyadic physically disabled people. When you add race (especially Blackness and/or being dark skinned), fatness and being intersex into the mix, the ways in which we're degendered and misgendered are off the fucking rails.

We can't fucking win.

[amara-scott]

Enjoy your dinner.

Movie: The Gentlemen Characters: Raymond Smith x Reader Categories: Teasing

you’re reading part one | part two

Takes place a few weeks before the movie timeline.

...

3rd Person P.O.V.:

Her father knew very well that she did not enjoy these kinds of events. Richlings bragging about their richness to other fat cats. Not to mention the young ones. The ones her age, who did not have to flip a coin to get any of the wealth their parents owned. Dirty or good money, does not matter. It is more dirty than anything else though. And she knew that also. Another reason for her to usually not stay longer than needed.

It has been a while since her father has last asked her to join him and her mother to a dinner party. It was way more just a synonym for let’s see who will embarrass themselves first by drinking too much of the way too expensive bottle of rum. Long translation - but a hundred percent correct. 

And even though she loathed going, she always used the opportunity to make the largest impact possible without trying to say a word. She loved the longing stares and the surprised ones every time she did indeed attend alongside her parents. Today it was just her father though. Her mother was out in Paris, probably spending all the pocket money her loving husband gave her. At least their love for each other seemed honest.

(Y/N) P.O.V.:

When I walk down the stairs to stop in front of a mirror in my hallway, I hear another honk of the limousine waiting outside. I sigh, grabbing a light coat and throwing that over my arm, holding a small clutch in my hand. After locking the door behind me, I greet Mitch with a smile.

“ ’Ello Miss (Y/L/N), hope you are doing well today.” I hold back a roll of my eyes, long forgotten how many times I made him call me by my first name. If I had to guess, probably around 64 times. He doesn’t work for me, he works for my father and my father alone. 

“Very well indeed, how about you, Mitch?” He smiles, about to answer, when a voice from inside the car calls out.

“-You can chat on the way there, we’re late as it is.” Now I do roll my eyes at my fathers words and send Mitch another small smile. He nods, closing the door when I’m in, going back to the drivers seat.

“Wow, darlin’, you look lovely tonight.” I greet him with a kiss to each cheek and buckle up.

“Thank you, is that a new suit? I’ve never seen you wear burgundy red.” He nods, smoothing out the fabric. 

“It is, it is. You’re a smart one. I despised the colour but your mother thinks it looks expensive and high-class. And you know her- there’s no telling her no.” I chuckle along and we get a few small-talk questions out the way before we finally arrive at the mansion. Some old business partner of my father’s. I can’t keep names in mind so I usually go the shy and long time no see route. It usually works.

My father helps me step outside and Mitch rides off, picking us up later again. Before walking after my father I take a deep breath and exhale, placing a smile onto my face. Fake- but no one seemed to notice the last few times. So no worries there. Walking up the stairs, an arm wraps around mine and I glance up to my right, frowning at the sudden physical contact. James. Yes, the one person I loathed the least. Or you could say - who I actually liked a bit. I grin and bump my shoulder with his as he guides me up to the entrance.

“Hello there gorgeous lady, haven’t seen you around a lot lately.” 

“Well, can you blame me? These types of gatherings do not amuse me much. They rather support my boredom and make me want to drown in expensive alcohol. I don’t want to turn into an alcoholic.” He smirks at my statement but shakes his head. 

“You’re a special one, you know that?” I nod, sighing dramatically. I look up front, where my father is already involved with other suit-wearing snobs.

“I know- I am.” I try sounding posh, but fail miserably, making us both laugh. I still have my arm wrapped around his’ as we get offered a drink and then he is off. Talking business, making connections. A life I would not want to live. That is why James and me could never be more than friends. Even though he might wants change my mind on that one day - I would never accept his advances.

“Well, well, well. If it is not little Miss (Y/L/N) Junior. How are things going?” I turn, taking another sip of champagne as I recognise the slimy man in front of me. His eyes wandering up and down my presence. 

“Oscar- what a nice surprise-” My fake smile widens and I let him kiss my knuckles briefly - even though some of the potatoes I had for lunch earlier wanted to revisit. He must be double my age - I never thought of that. 50 at least.

“Would not be that much of a surprise to you if you would join our parties more often.” So it is his housing we are inside of right now. Good to know...

“Oh, Oscar. You know I am a busy woman. Cannot have fun all the time.” My smile starts to hurt my cheeks but I keep it up. Having held it for longer. My record is 24 minutes and 37 seconds. Yes, I know. Very impressive.

“But you never fail to make a grand entrance, what a gown on you - just lovely. Perfectly fitting for you, an extraordinary woman.” His sickly, slimy words feel like nails scratching on a chalk board but I hold back a flinch, nodding once. Not quite sure how to reply. I glance down at my drink, assumingly and very unconsciously having drank it all.

“Oh, would you look at that- I think I need a refill, it was lovely chatting-” “-Let me get you a new one.”

“No need, Oscar. I will just go myself.” 

“Oh please, I insist-”

“-Here, take mine. I don’t drink Champagne.” I turn to my right, looking at the source of the new voice. A man I have not seen before stands there - a neat three piece in dark blue, adoring his well shaped physique. His dirty blonde hair combed back to perfection. He rearranges his glasses with his free hand before it disappears in the pocket of his trousers. The other one still holding out the glass to me. I realise I held a breath and nod at him, this time smiling genuinely. 

“Thank you-” I drift off, not taking my eyes off his. A little staring contest going on. I accept the drink and take a sip. Not having blinked once. Just like him.

“-Raymond. Raymond Smith.”

“Nice to meet you, Raymond Smith. I’m (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” 

“I know that.” I quirk an eyebrow at his answer, him staying silent though, a small smile grazing his lips. 

“Well, why don’t I give you a little tour? We have a whole new balcony on the east wing-”

“-no, thank you Oscar. I just found a way more interesting activity.” I cut him off, not taking my eyes off of Raymond Smith. I see his lips twitch but he is holding back a smirk. Which makes my smile grow. I only hear a huff and grumbling. 

I then break the eye contact, feeling rather lost now and walk past him, closely past him. My shoulder barely touching his jacket. I can feel his eyes on my back, making me sway my hips a tad more than usual. The things the right man can make you do.

I decide to sit down at an empty table and pick out some of the delicate canapés placed in the center. It looks like a mushroom tartlet and once inside my mouth I nod to myself. One thing that makes me come back to these parties is definitely the appetisers and the drinks. Lot’s of effort goes into them but no one seems to enjoy any. Either because they are busy laughing at jokes that are not funny or because they think others would judge them for eating. I learned to not care, ever, about what someone thought of me because I eat more than them. Their loss.

“Enjoying the food, I see.” I chew quickly and swallow thickly, holding a napkin to my lips as Raymond sits next to me at the round table, taking a tartlet himself. I hum.

“I do, cannot be mad about the food. I am a true gourmet, what can I say. But- you probably already knew that, did you not?” I grin at him, watching his chew and making eye contact with me once more. He chuckles, shaking his head.

“No, did not. I will note it down though.” His teasing tone sparks my interest and I wonder how far I could go. Or what he works as. Why I have never seen him before. 

“Tell me, Raymond Smith, who are you?” I turn toward him, leaning my arm on the table and tilting my head slightly, full attention on him. He wipes his hands at a napkin, eyes cast down as he seems deep in thought. Choosing his words carefully. One of the only men here who do.

“I don’t really exist. I just - like a good dinner party every now and then.” I bite my lip at his cheeky reply, trying to hold back all the things running through my mind. 

“Can I guess?” I lift my head and he nods, gesturing for me to go ahead. He leans back slightly, probably expecting the most cliché answers anyway. So I think again, observing his posture and the drifting of his eyes every now and then. Back over to the big table. A couple people sitting there. He must be here either with his wife or colleague. I shake my head at the wife, he wouldn’t be sitting here with me if he had one. 

“Well, seeing as you’re not here by yourself, you must be the right hand to someone or - maybe you are the kid of a big fish.” He smirks, nodding. One must be correct. I go with my first instinct. “-a right hand man it is.” I look back over to where he seemed to focus earlier. I do know a few of them. One being a partner to my father’s business. Another one the son of said partner. And then - no way. Micheal Pearson himself. The Micheal Pearson. Sticky bush Pearson. But Raymond would not be involved-

“-I see you figured it out.” My eyes snap back to Raymond and I close my mouth, licking my dry lips in the process. I tense up, not knowing if running would be an appropriate reaction. But then again - I never cared about appropriate behaviour that much.

“And I also see you’re taken aback.” It sounded more like a question really. But I only nod, sending him a small smile.

“It is not every day that I cross paths with true gangsters.” 

“I will take that as a compliment. And just for your information-” He leans in closer, elbows on his thighs. “-there are a few more gangsters here than you would like to care.” 

I gulp at his intense eyes, he leans back up and stands to his feet, smoothing out his suit and buttoning his jacket. 

“Well, if you would excuse me, my duties as a right hand man are needed. Have a good rest of your evening, Miss (Y/L/N). Enjoy your dinner.” 

“You too, Mister Smith.” He nods, walking off. I look after him, Mister and Misses Pearson walking off with him and exiting the building. I let out a breath I was holding and sink back into the chair. Not without being haunted by those icy blue orbs.

...

_________________________________

More The Gentlemen Imagines

Full Masterlist

part two

[lahyene]

Lone No More.

Pairing: bucky barnes x reader ft. shuri

Summary: You find yourself falling for the “White Wolf” when he moves to Wakanda, where you’re currently studying abroad for your major.

Themes: romance, fluff

Word count: 1283

You brush a strand of your hair behind your ear in the light breeze, eyes focused on the mysterious one-armed farmer in his home slightly further away. You have heard all about the legendary Winter Soldier, or “White Wolf” as the Wakandans have taken to calling him, but you have yet to get to know him. You wonder if you can possibly connect with him- both of you are foreigners, seeing that you are an environmental studies major from the US completing research in Wakanda. You love the people here, but it sometimes feels a bit lonely not having anyone who can share at least a little bit of your background. Maybe a man born in the 1910s and trained to be a ruthless assassin isn’t particularly the most relatable, but you figure it’s worth a shot to get to know him anyways.

“Hey! Y/N! You are staring again.” Shuri looks at you with amusement and you quickly snap back, clearing your throat. 

“It wasn’t staring, I was just… observing! We don’t really ever have new people here…”

“Just go talk to him. He won’t bite. Not anymore, at least, thanks to me.” She teases, referring to her little job of returning his brain back to normal. “He could probably use a friend. Or… something more…” She gives you a smirk, eyebrows lifting and you laugh, immediately nudging her. 

“Quit it! It’s not like that!” You watch him feeding his goats outside, barely biting your lip. “I would like to at least be friends though. Do you think maybe you could…”

Shuri chuckles, rolling her eyes playfully and grabbing your arm already pulling you towards his humble home. “Come on, come on. But you have to let me embarrass you just a little.” You whine half playfully, starting to regret wanting her to come along, but it’s too late now. She approaches the pathway going up to his house, calling out, “Oi! White Wolf! I have someone I want you to meet.” 

You blink, somewhat blushing slightly. “Shuri! You don’t need to make it sound… I don’t know, like I have other intentions or something!” you hiss quietly, but when the lone man looks up and makes eye contact with you, you’re momentarily distracted.

Wow.

He definitely looks like he’s seen some things- bad things- and your heart already hurts for him. However, at the same time, he has a sense of confidence and optimism in his brown eyes that makes you feel an odd sense of pride and respect despite not even having made formal introductions yet. You’ve never felt so impacted by someone.

“Hello,” he greets, coming down the pathway- one arm by his side while a shawl drapes over the other side. You force yourself not to stare. “Bucky. Nice to meet ya.” He extends his hand and you immediately smile, placing yours in his. 

“Y/N. You too, I’ve heard so much about you. I hope you’ve been settling in well.” 

Shuri watches with a mischievous smirk, crossing her arms. “Of course he has. He’s had the best caretaker in the galaxy. Even though he is incredibly high maintenance.” She makes a playful face at him and he scoffs softly in amusement, a slight twinkle in his otherwise dark eyes as he just barely smiles. You wonder how often he’s even been able to do that within the past decade.

Before either of you can respond to her remark, she suddenly drops her mouth open in exaggerated concern. “Oh, no! I just remembered that I was supposed to meet my brother. You know how he is, just as needy as you are.” She nudges Bucky before looking to you with an innocent smile. “You two have fun though!” 

Your eyes widen as you spin around, watching her practically scamper off. “Shuri- '' you call, but there’s no use- you stare after her fading figure for a few moments before turning back to him, laughing awkwardly. “I’m sorry, she’s a piece of work…”

He laughs quietly, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah. Believe me, I know. But she’s a good kid.” He looks at you for a few moments and you find yourself having no idea what to say- you’re getting slightly anxious because it’s becoming more awkward, but he suddenly breaks the silence.

“Want to come inside?”

_

“Come here, Steve! It’s dinner time!”

The tiny tan colored goat looks up from having been angrily headbutting the fence, looking slightly annoyed to be interrupted but reluctantly coming over nonetheless due to the fact that you’re holding food. Bucky comes up behind you, wrapping his one arm around your waist and clucking his tongue. “I can’t believe you named one of our goats after my best friend.”

“What? He’s exactly like how you described pre-serum Steve! The little guy, always fighting everything. He’s even blond!” you pointed out in protest, leaning over slightly to give the goat some food. 

Bucky can’t help but chuckle, eyes flickering over the scrawny runt. “Alright, alright fair.” He kisses your cheek, peering at the other goats eating their food. “I just think Steve is a ridiculous goat name. But you’re lucky I like you enough to let it be.” He glances down at you with a smirk and you roll your eyes fondly, though happily hold his arm around you. “What a relief. I feel so honored,” you reply playfully sarcastic.

You and Bucky have been together for nearly six months now. You clicked right off the bat upon meeting that first day- after inviting you inside, the two of you had talked for hours and hours. You felt like you had known him your whole life, and now, he’s your best friend and partner. Shuri constantly teases you and jokes that your relationship is all thanks to her, and in a way, it's true- you wonder if you would have ever had the courage to approach him yourself. You laugh at such a fear now; back then, he seemed so intimidating and aloof, and now, you know him as a little flirtatious goofball who loves to tease. You’ve noticed a significant improvement in his mental health, and you couldn’t be happier that he’s becoming healthier each day.

“Mm. That’s right. Now come on, sassy girl, it’s time for our dinner.” He takes your hand and leads you inside the hut, sitting down with you at the small wooden table where the food is already laid out. Fresh bread, cheese, and warm stew- you barely even find yourself missing food from back home now that you have such an amazing partner to eat farm fresh food with.

He notices you looking at the food with a little too much fondness in your eyes, and he reaches over to poke at your side playfully. “Hello? Anyone in there? I know you love food but I’ve never seen you space out over it.” You blink and giggle slightly, poking him back. “Yeah, I was just… thinking about something. You. And that I love you a lot.”

He looks at you and smiles softly, eyes gazing at you lovingly.

“Well. Isn’t that sweet of my little doll. I love you too.” He leans in to peck your lips gently before pulling back. “Now eat up. It’s a lot of work cooking with one arm you know, don’t let it go to waste.”

You laugh softly, lifting his hand to kiss his fingers cutely before nodding your head, serving yourself.

It’s a dangerous world the two of you live in, and he’s had an unfortunate past. You don’t know what’s to come, but you’re confident that as long as you’re by each other’s side, everything will work out in the end.

[dutifullybitchypeach]

ACOSF FINAL THOUGHTS. 3/5

It was good. But it could have been EPIC. I think I got caught up in the hype and should have remained blissfully ignorant. Loved Nestas journey and her finding happiness. WELL DESERVED.

However lots of loose threads, ignored angst, rushed ending, pregnancy plot overshaowed a lot - 2 chapters wasted!

It was Nestas book with Cassians POV to balance. It was interesting to read how skewed, almost backwards it was the way Nesta saw things. Like the IC behaviour/comments at times to her was counter acted then with Cassians interpretation. Really showed her low her self esteem was.

I know it's Nesta letting go and being happy with herself and I believe SJM wrote it this way to be deliberately CLEAR that the IC are NOT perfect and are 100% capable of being total pricks. BUT that they are not held accountable for their actions the same way Nesta is, was frustrating. Cold hard facts: Nesta never murdered/stole/lied/tortured/assaulted anyone. She was a bum and a drunk who spewed hurtful shite. An angry bitch. However the only thing she ever wilfully killed was the King of Hyburn at the NC's request. The level of disgust from Amren/Rhys/Mor directed at Nesta in the beginning was uncomfortable to read and didn't sit well with me.

I'll have to read it again but I was not satisfied . Nestas character arc started half way through ACOWAR. She stepped up when they needed her to.

Feyre agreeing despite her experience in Spring was a step backwards for me. Then again it's exactly what Nesta needed. Cruel to be kind. And Feyre had Nestas back repeatedly throughout the narrative.

Loved Nestas story all of it, training, friendships, self love, etc etc. Gwyn and Emerie ❤ All epic. And she's well...more interesting! Detail on Cassian killing all those monsters, scene in the big, wow so good.

Feysand overkill or perhaps Rhys overkill. Sorry SJM but you need to pull back.

Nessian happened the way I thought it would. That Cassian isn't perfect is normal. His heart is Nestas, it's pretty clear. Smut scenes, I've read better sorry !!! Intensity was not the same as previous books. More sexy and less crude for me. Missed Cassians swagger but I guess we are in his head, and he's a big cuddly insecure bear. With a big d**k.

More thoughts (in my humble opinion).

Feysand pregnancy DRAMA. Unnecessary. Keep it, just don't let it happen the way it did. I've already said I thought the sacrifice should have been for Gywn/Emerie and there is a simple tie in IMO (see previous posts). Or perhaps Cassian actually stabbing himself rather than hurting Nesta with the Queen. But I get SJM and 'losing' her power, that much power just undermines the remaining plot for next few books. Nesta could just blast them all to hell. And she stole it in anger and has let it go with love. Growth! She is clearly still hella powerful. We don't know the half of it.

For me the above was the most irritating. The ending squeezed in. And I like Feysand. But Nesta healing with Feyre needn't have been so convoluted. Or drastic. More private, perhaps a real angsty, tense conversation and confession. They didn't discuss anything.

The last few chapters too much went on...important moments; first females to win The Rite, sidelined. Accepting the mating bond, sidelined. WTF is Nestas power now, sidelined. Queen dead, sidelined. An ILLYRANIAN FEMALE KICKING ASS sidelined. I mean Christ that was Cassians goal! And nothing. NOTHING. Not even a handshake.

Rhys. It was plain uncomfortable. But someone mentioned SJM deliberately wrote Rhys that way for this book and that's true. In the Feyre POV she mentions "two mates" the reasonable one and the asshole so that, I think, is telling. He's def more HL and pulls rank in this book with everyone.

Rhys clearly witnesses Nestas trauma from her nightmare but there is no recognition with Nesta. Not a peep. Yet he clearly feels massive regret. Is that for our benefit, the readers? That at least we know. Don't hate on Rhys. (I like Rhys btw)

I'd have liked a full circle scene where they are back in THAT sitting room admiring baby Nyx and Nesta just says a few things. Cooly and calmly. She's happy they intervened, but for all their wisdom and years of living it left a lot to be desired. Nothing too crazy, just a few delivered lines, Nesta style.

Felt Nesta lost a little of her fire. But maybe you see it more from the others POV. Though they always provoked her and it was a defence mechanism. And she was a bitch at times. With others outside the IC it's clear she is not like that. Make what you will of that.

I know SJM doesn't like to over detail things but a moment with Feyre/Nyx/Nesta alone would have been nice.

The sisters never meeting Gwyn or Emerie. A scene like that would have been powerful.

Amren is as Mor rightly said is a "cranky old bastard". And "Welcome back to the Night Court Nesta Archeron" screamed, now that you've scrubbed up love come on home. I don't know. Amren was clearly done with Nesta she was the one that stood by her the most and got sick shit of her. All Amren can command is respect now and Nesta really wanted hers, possibly the most.

Can I make a point about people harping on about slut shaming. Amren made one catty observation, that Nesta would ride almost anything. No other character mentioned it. Not one. And Nesta enjoyed her bed partners, she refers to some of it (threesome!). There was zero shame. And SJM hates slut shaming. So stop. It's not a thing.

I'm nitpicking but there was a lot of hurt just left off. Perhaps that was the point. SJM was like, fuck it, Nesta doesn't want to feel that anger or resentment anymore she wants to live and be happy. She's found inner peace with herself and those that matter most. Me wanting justification for how they treated her at timea is not the point!!! Lol.

The painting, that stood out for me in ACOFAS. It hurt to read it. Maybe Feyre had nothing to paint of Nesta. They didn't talk. Share thoughts. I think Feyre asking Nesta herself to show her memories of The Rite so she could paint it would have had more impact. But it read very plainly like now you've earned your spot here...or I like you now or something. She was deliberately not there, perhaps until she wanted to be. Or finally accepted and embraced life with the IC. It was an unnecessary detail that just fueled the Feysand halo (again I like Feysand).

Nesta made those weapons therefore they are hers. Amren is power hungry. Rhys seems happy to hand them over. High King drama, I can see it. It could happen.

It's clear that Nesta didn't want to leave the NC, therefore she had to fall in. People have a problem with 'who's boss' but we've only ever had court dynamics from Rhys/Feyre POV. And they are the top dogs in the NC. We are going to have to get used of seeing Feysand make decisions from the outside. It's THEIR court. And to be fair, Feyre always had Nestas back.

And yes I believe you always have a choice with Rhys. I know some scoff at that.

Rhys kneeling to Nesta further proves our gal is a Queen. Feyre is the only one he's ever bowed to. SJM gave us that moment for Nesta and we will have to be content despite he's questionable aggressive behaviour. He clearly has issues with family given his past.

Enjoyed seeing a bit of Elaine. Finally. And Nesta delivered some home truths! Elaine needs to find some backbone. Really looking forward to her story. Go mad SJM!

Feysand POV should have been the fallout of Rhys keeping baby drama from Feyre. Now THAT I would want to hear. And perhaps Feyre saying to Nesta I'm "secretly glad you told me".

Eris I always found super interesting. It's clear to me he knows Mor is gay. Him helping her would have meant she was trapped in the AC. 'Rejecting her' allowed Rhys and Co to save her and to have freedom. She screwed him by keeping it secret. His arc will be with Lucien I think.

Az and Elaine not for me. Sorry. I'd like Lucien to find some happiness. I've spoken of this before see other posts. Az tortures people for a living, he has serious issues.

I've already spoken about Mor....remember her lol. Where is she! Ha! Actions speak louder than words with Mor. Winnow please my mate is being a dick, teach me to dance, dress shopping. But I guess she's Feyres friend, Nesta has hers. Nesta feeling ashamed as to how she treated Mor, will be interesting to see how Mor feels about that oul time when I was such a hypocrite, lol, what I really meant was....

There are 2 more books and a novella so who knows. Nessian ain't over.

Going to look forward to the fanfiction!

Thanks SJM.

[ourladylennon]

1/2) About Fraser, a couple of quotes that caught my eye:

"Robert represented to me freedom, freedom of speech, of view"

"The most formative influence for me was Robert Fraser. Obviously the other Beatles were very important but the most formative art influence was Robert. I expect people to die so I don’t feel a loss but there’s a vacuum where he used to be"

"The way Robert lived, which became the way I lived for a couple of years and which I now figure for a rather aristocratic way of life, would be that he’d ring early in the day and say, ‘What are we doing for dinner tonight?’

'Once I got to know Robert, a nice thing would be going to the gallery and helping install an exhibition. Just sit around and smoke a bit of pot while somebody else was installing the exhibition. Helping. Play a little music for him.’ 

"There were many good times in Robert’s flat. Through my Beatle connections I’d hire a 16mm projector for the evening […] and I started off with Wizard of Oz. Robert got into this, wow, and he’d get some art movies. We got a lot of Bruce Connors, showed a lot of that. It was a very exciting period."

The boy sounded smitten, didn't he? Maybe nothing physical happened, (Robert was allegedly into darker men) but it looks like Paul liked the idea of being "romanced" by this handsome and sophisticated guy. There was an undertone of cozy, easy intimacy between them. You can tell by the way Bob would call to plan what they'd do for dinner. How Paul would sit there playing music for his eyes only while someone else was installing the exhibition. It speaks volumes that someone as image oriented as Paul went to Paris with an openly gay man without caring what others would say. It suggests a deep connection. The story about their "netflix and chill" encounters in Robert's flat is so suggestive as well. Paul could've been anywhere and yet there he was watching Wizard of Oz with this dude. I'd say those encounters were not about Paul's love of cinema. He just wanted to be around Bob. They most likely drank, did drugs and in my opinion, fooled around a bit, for the fun of it. It sounds like a fantastic way to spend the time, 10/10 recommended.

Paul also had a strong relationship with Tara for the short time they knew each other. The fact he did LSD with him before the other Beatles implies a lot of trust. Tara was very responsible and sweet in that occasion, staying sober to look after Paul in case he had a bad trip. I loved that about him. He was really concerned about keeping Paul safe and giving him a good time. They always hung out when they had the chance and John really disliked the guy. Then there is Tara's Christmas trip to Liverpool. I'm aware he knew Paul's brother Mike first and they were friendly but there was such an air of "meet the parents" about this situation. I'm not entirely convinced they were physical but I could sense a romantic crush. Tara was married but as a beautiful society swan in the Rolling Stones' circle, I think he was quite open to experimentation.

part 2 and my answer below read line :)

2/2) Again, I would never call Paul bisexual but I do think he was more attracted to men in a romantic/platonical sense than people realize. He enjoyed immensely the attention and the company of some guys. He would open up emotionally with them, learn their craft and incorporate their habits in a way he rarely did with his women, not even Linda. It looks like Paul wouldn't unlock certain corners of his mind unless a man he was drawn to gave him that permission. This is probably why he associated Fraser with freedom.

John was the most important of all because in a way, Paul would've never discovered and accepted himself without him. He used to kill frogs and engage in unruly behavior as a child to repress that soft, romantic persona he would become so famous for. Meeting a charismatic, brilliant boy who appreciated that vulnerable side of him must've been exhilarating. As they became a songwriting team, they both started seeing creation as sex, a view they'd carry for the rest of their lives. It's telling that once Paul lost John permanently, he went looking for the next man to fall in love with. But not even Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson were enough to fill that gap.

Which convinces me of the eroticism of his relationship with John. It was the one connection he didn't have with all the others (with the possible exception of Fraser) and this is why the collaborations would often end up somewhat unfulfilled. He might've loved them intellectually but the erotic element wasn't there and it made a difference in the results.

About McLennon, few people dispute they were in love with each other these days. But what are the odds that two people who felt so strongly about each other and had plenty of chances to consummate their feelings in a physical way not doing it? They would crash and burn within six months. It's all speculation because Paul won't tell us but I don't think it's that much of a radical idea. I think a lot of stuff will come out once Yoko passes away and Paul faces his own mortality.

P.S: juicy bit about Heather, I'm bummed that we don't get enough info about this period because of that divorce NDA.

//

Anon, you are a well-researched individual and I’m impressed. This was the first thing I read this morning it was like a morning newspaper lol, thanks.

I entirely see what you mean about intimate undertones. "Cozy” seems like a good word to describe the general feel. I *tried* reading up some more on their relationship and I get a sense that Paul in general had a great admiration for Robert and your right- has that element of creation which is so essential to Paul’s being and probably his attraction. Robert seems to have given him a different side of creating than John did: art. That clearly created a bond for them and had some impact. Like with the movies and projectors, yeah cool and all, but “an exciting period” goes a bit deeper than that for sure. He clearly learned a lot from him about art, but whose to say about what else? The way Paul talks seems like he really admired, respected and trusted the man at the very least (I am even reading this quote that seems to imply Paul and Robert did hallucinogenic drugs together unless I’m misreading? That’d be a big leap of trust just like with Tara which still boggles me).

It’s not too big of a stretch to think Paul did enjoy being romanced, in exactly the way you put it, by some guy who was “handsome and sophisticated” who he found to be interesting, different, above average, with a new exciting form of expression. And not romanced in the obvious sense; more so unassuming things like having an intimate understanding of art with one another, who felt his equal in terms of that area of art, who was putting in the effort of engaging with him, showing him something others hadn’t, being so willing to share with Paul and to open his mind. You can definitely be romanced in friendships too though so I’m not saying this is exclusively any one thing in particular, though I myself do sense an undercurrent of more-than-standard interest after reading some more. In a nutshell, pretty much what you said:

I do think he was more attracted to men in a romantic/platonical sense than people realize. He enjoyed immensely the attention and the company of some guys. He would open up emotionally with them, learn their craft and incorporate their habits in a way he rarely did with his women

I still don’t think he would ever connect the dots of what that meant or what it could mean. I think to him, it just was what it was.

With John specifically, yeah there’s just no question for me. To me, they are every bit of the lore and legend of what soul mates are made of. Fire & passion on all levels. No disrespect to any of their longterm relationships outside of each other, because they clearly had deep feelings for their other partners, but I sincerely don’t think it that it connected on every level like it did with John/Paul. But of course, I still fall on the side of thinking nothing sexual ever happened (for more reasons than one I could see why they wouldn’t have fooled around imo). With 67/68 being that turning point where they *did* crash and burn because perhaps someone tried something- words or other- or perhaps nothing happened and that could have precisely been the cracking point.

I do find it interesting that Paul’s hanging around with Robert was right around this tumultuous period of John and Paul’s relationship...kind of makes you think doesn’t it? Like does this have any influence on what happened in India sort of thing; John seeing Paul being good, close friends with a gay man. Could it have stirred something up for John? Made him see a possibility where he hadn’t before? Interesting to think about and which I hadn’t thought about before....

I genuinely hope that Paul shares anything important with us before he passes. He doesn’t owe us anything, but my god would I die to know everything that happened between them and everything they felt. 

[osakaso5]

Yuki Twelve Hits Rabbit Chat Part 3: Request Hits 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5

Gaku: Sorry about the delay, I'm good!

Tsumugi: Is your phone alright, Yaotome-san..?

Gaku: Sorry about the trouble. It's back  to normal now.

Yuki: Back to normal?

Gaku: I installed the palm reading app Nanase was talking about. When I tried to check my reading, my phone froze up, so I had to delete it immediately.

Gaku: Nanase, that app was way too big!

Riku: Huh!?

Riku: B-but, maybe that was just a coincidence..!?

Yamato: Come to think of it, didn't you just talk about how slow your phone's been lately, Riku?

Tenn: Riku, delete that thing.

Iori: If you don't know how, then I'll do it for you.

Riku: Of course I know how to delete an app!

Tsumugi: That app must've taken up a lot of space..!

Mitsuki: Maybe it had a ton of palm reading data from all around the world on it!?

Yuki: And yet none of it was accurate?

Sogo: If you can't use the app, I could help you find a palm reading book.  

Riku: Sogo-san, you're so nice..!

Riku: 

Tsumugi: I'm glad Yaotome-san's phone is back in working order! It's about time we resume the requests.

Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, it's your turn!

Mitsuki: Yep! Mine's to do a flavor test!

Mitsuki: I'll make sweets out of veggies, and you'll have to guess what ingredients I used for each one!

Yuki: Oh. Now that's a showdown

Mitsuki: Cook v.s. cook, lol

Tenn: You're very diligent, Mitsuki Izumi. You even made those donuts for my show

Mitsuki: It's mostly for the show, but I also just enjoy making stuff. Cooking is a ton of fun!

Mitsuki: Plus it helps me relax in between work!

Ryunosuke: Same here! For some reason, I often want to try some really complicated recipe when I'm busy.

Yuki: It's nice to be completely focused on what you're making

Yuki: All that cutting and frying feels therapeutic

Mitsuki: Yeah, exactly! It's like it completely clears your mind..!

Ryunosuke: I totally get what you mean..!

Riku: The three of you would make great moms!

Momo: Wouldn't they be a little too big to be moms!? lololol

Gaku: At least they'd provide a proper sense of security (lol)

Yamato: One of them's on the tiny side, though.

Mitsuki: Shut it, gramps!

Nagi: Cute and  reliable, Mitsuki has it all :-)))))

Yuki: I don't know what you'll make yet, but I'm sure I'll get all of them right.

Mitsuki: Don't think you'll beat me that easily!

Tsumugi: It'll be fun to see your culinary match!

Tsumugi: Yamato-san, you're next!

Yamato: Why don't you talk about your most memorable acting roles thus far?

Tamaki: Oh wow. An actual request

Tamaki: It's just like So-chan's

Gaku: I'm guessing you want all the advice you could get from a fellow actor, Nikaido.

Yamato: Nope. I just figured the listeners would like it, since a bunch of them are gonna be fans of his acting.

Yamato: He probably wouldn't talk about this stuff unless he was formally asked to, anyway.

Yuki: You don't have to hide your curiosity, you know

Sogo: It can be awe- inspiring to ask someone you admire for advice... I know the feeling very well.

Yamato: I told you, it's not for me..!

Riku: Yamato-san, are you blushing..!?

Nagi: Why are you blushing, Yamato?

Mitsuki: C'mon guys, leave him be.

Yamato: For some reason, you're the most annoying one of them all...

Iori: I'd forgotten just how many talents Yuki-san has. Songwriting, performing, acting... He's a flawless entertainer.

Yamato: His moodiness is a big flaw, though

Momo: Tsk tsk tsk! Yuki's moodiness is a part of what makes him so charming~ \(●´Ɛ`●)ノ

Yuki: It's nice to receive so many compliments

Yuki: This request project is great

Yamato: I don't remember complimenting you. But feel free to do my request if you get it.

Yuki: I'll tell you even without the request, if you come drink with Sogo-kun and I

Sogo: Thank you. I look forward to it..!

Yamato: 

Sogo: Yamato-san, I hope you'll join us!

Yamato: Fine, I'll go! You sure are putting a lot of pressure on me... (lol)

Yuki: ^^

Tsumugi: I'm sure Yuki-san's acting advice will be very useful..!

Tsumugi: Yaotome-san, you're up next.

Gaku: My request is a little like Nikaido's.

Gaku: Mine's to do a short play without a script.

Yuki: Like improv?

Gaku: Something like that, yeah. I'll write down a few situations and roles for you to pick from!

Gaku: Like Nikaido said, there's a  lot we could learn from your acting. I won't be able to see it over the radio, but I'm hoping I'll pick up something.

Yamato: I never said that.

Gaku: Huh? You didn't?

Yuki: You're so straightforward, Gaku-kun. What kind of roles did you have in mind?

Gaku: I haven't really thought of anything yet, but it'd be fun if they were something completely different from your usual self!

Gaku: Like a brutally strict tennis coach.

Tenn: He'd make a good Italian mafioso

Riku: Or a pilot..!

Rinto: Interesting... I'll have to keep all of this in mind for later.

Momo: Okarin, are you seriously writing this down lol

Gaku: I'll watch some movies and try to come up with more roles.

Yuki: I look forward to seeing what they'll be.

Tsumugi: I'm sure you'd be wonderful in any role!

Tsumugi: Tsunashi-san, are you ready to tell us your request?

Ryunosuke: Mine is to tell us the most impactful thing you've purchased recently.

Ryunosuke: It doesn't have to be expensive, anything unusual will do!

Yuki: I'm not sure what to choose

Yuki: I can't remember the last time I went shopping.

Momo: Our schedules have been packed, especially since the New Year's coming up..! (ノωノ)

Mitsuki: It's nice to have work, but around this time of the year all you wanna do with your free time is sleep!

Ryunosuke: It doesn't have to be that recent, just anything from the past year, lol

Yuki: Have you bought anything interesting recently?

Ryunosuke: Me?

Ryunosuke: I haven't gotten it yet, but that's something I'd like to buy!

Ryunosuke: I want to buy a new boat for my dad. Not that I'll be doing that any time soon...

Gaku: Don't be stupid. We'll be big enough to buy 10 or 20 boats in no time.

Tenn: It'll only take a moment, with all three of us. You can count on that

Ryunosuke: Thank you, Gaku and Tenn..!

Yuki: Buying things for other people is pretty nice

Yuki: Maybe I'll buy something for Momo or Okarin.

Yuki: Does either one of you want a car?

Momo: A car, lololol I'm fine with my current one, lololol

Rinto: I appreciate the sentiment, though!

Yuki: So no? It's tough getting presents for people

Yuki: Maybe I'll just try to remember something I've already bought.

Ryunosuke: Please do.

Tsumugi: Presents are harder to choose when they're for someone you really care about..!

Tsumugi: Momo-san, may we hear your request now?

Momo: Okay (>ω<)ノ

Momo: Mine's to make a request for me to fulfill during our Christmas live!

Momo: It's your birthday! That means you gotta accept my reverse request! \(*´∀`)ハ(´∀`*)ノ☆

Yuki: Momo...

Yuki: But I'm not really in the mood for something like that.

Momo: Huh!? So what kinda mood are you int!?

Yuki: I feel like it's my turn to do something for you

Yuki: So if you give me a reverse request, I'll hit you right back with a reverse reverse request.

Nagi: Reverse reverse? How complicated :-(((

Iori: In other words, you refuse not to get a request from Momo-san..?

Mitsuki: It's like they're playing hot potato with this request thing, lol

Momo: No! It's your birthday! ヾ(o゜д゜o)ノ゛

Yuki: That's exactly why I don't want to give in

Yuki: You can accept either this or a car from me

Momo: A car, lololol You were serious about that!? lololol

Momo: If you wanna get me a ride, then a bike or skateboard will do just fine!

Yuki: I'll go with that, then ^^

Kaoru: So you'll give anything as long as he'll accept.

Rinto: Why do you want to give Momo-kun things so badly?

Momo: Do you wanna ride together..? That'd make me really happy!

Tamaki: Skateboards sound fun

Tamaki: I wanna ride too, Momorin

Momo: Sure thing! And Yuki can, too!

Yuki: I'll watch you two have fun from my apartment

Yuki: It's cold outside

Momo: So you're still not gonna play with us, lololol Then what's the present for!?

Tsumugi: Could it be a Christmas present..?

Tsumugi: Lastly, it's time for your request for yourself, Yuki-san.

Yuki: Yeah

Yuki: I put a lot of thought into it.

Yuki: I decided on something I want, but I'm still not sure

Yuki: If another request wouldn't work better...

Tsumugi: Come to think of it, you did mention that you had a request in mind.

Tsumugi: Something so big that it would give you a heart attack..!

Riku: Huh!? Are you sure you want to make a request that big..!?

Yamato: Why'd you have to pick something that hard for yourself..?

Ryunosuke: You don't need to push yourself that hard for a radio show...

Yuki: It's not exactly for the show.

Yuki: If anything, I thought this project would motivate me to spit it out

Tsumugi: By the way, what is your request..?

Yuki: Tell my partner Momo how grateful I am to him

Yuki: Or something like that...

Yuki: Ah, what do I do

Yuki: I want to delete this chatlog...

Yuki: Aaah, seriously what do I do

Yuki: Momo stopped moving

Rinto: Momo-kun is gripping his phone in one hand and shaking...

Banri: So that's why you wanted to give Momo-kun a present... It all makes sense now.

Gaku: You just wanted to show your gratitude!

Yamato: You've got a pretty weird way of choosing a present, though (lol)

Yuki: Whatever

Iori: But won't it be even harder to say on a radio broadcast?

Yuki: I just realized that, myself...

Yuki: Oh well, it's only one request out of 12, so I probably won't get it

Yuki: Will I..?

Momo: You don't have to.

Momo: I don't need a present, either. Just the fact that you made this request is enough for me!

Momo: If I receive any more than this, I'll be so full of happiness that I'll explode...

Mitsuki: Momo-san's come back to life!

Tenn: He said he'd explode...

Momo: (((《☆★BOOM!!!★☆》)))

Mitsuki: And he did!

Momo: 。゜.+。*.゜(ノω・、)゜.+。*.゜。+。

Tsumugi: Re:vale's affection for each other is so touching... Thank you for a great request, Yuki-san!

Tsumugi: That's all for the requests. Thank you, everyone!

Yamato: Now it's time for his requests to us.

Momo: Now you have to request something from me..!

Choices/outcomes:

1. Do you have a request for us?

Yuki: No. But if I have to pick something, then I hope you continue being my friends. And come over for dinner sometime.

2. Do you have a request for TRIGGER?

Yuki: Rely on us more. That's what we're shouldering the burden of being top idols for

3. Do you have a request for Momo-san?

Yuki: Let's keep singing together, just the two of us

Yuki: Please

Momo: Yukiii! You're so cool... 。・゜・(/д`)・゜・。

Mitsuki: Happy birthday, Yuki-san! I hope you'll be a nice senpai and fellow chef to me this next year, too!

Kaoru: Happy birthday. Keep looking after TRIGGER.

Tamaki: Yukirin, hbd!!!

Iori: Happy birthday. I appreciate everything you've done for IDOLiSH7. I look forward to working with you again in the future.

Ryunosuke: Happy birthday! I look forward to your show!

Nagi: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I wish you a wonderful year.

Tenn: Happy birthday. We'll continue performing to the best of our abilities, so you may also rely on us.

Sogo: Yuki-san, happy birthday. I will be praying for your continued success.

Yamato: Happy birthday. Let's find a good day to go out for those drinks you mentioned.

Rinto: Yuki-kun, happy birthday! Let's do our best to wrap up this Twelve Hits! project.

Banri: Happy birthday. Keep looking out for MEZZO" and IDOLiSH7.

Tsumugi: Yuki-san, happy birthday!

Yuki: Thank you. I was excited for the requests, but my birthday is just as fun

Yuki: Celebrating, being celebrated, it all feels nice

Yuki: But before my birthday, there's still the radio broadcast. I'll be giving it my all, so you guys better listen

[maximum118]

Sitcom

Yang: Oh something that isn’t RTS. Wait am I here alone?

Yin: nope. 

Yang: Oh it’s my twin

Yin: You should stop fucking a psychopath. 

Yang: BITCH YOUR GIRL IS A PSYCHOPATH

Yin: At least we’re in a healthy relationship

Yang: Points at him* You sir have a good point.

Yin: smiles* I know I do. 

Yang: Fucker.

Yin: I only fuck Zen-OH SHIT! *Runs*

Kouten: COME ‘ERE PRETTY BOIIIIIII *Chases Yin*

Yang: . . .What in the world did I see?

Episode 3- Karens and obession pt 1.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

              A few weeks after, the siblings moved into the penthouse together. They all finally had a week off. So, Haruki asked if they could go to the mall, and all the emo chickens couldn't resist, so they all decided to go. Sai goes with Haruki, Kouten goes on his own, Zen, Hato, and Satori go together, then Riku and Heisu go together. Let's check on them, shall we? 

           ~Saisho~

           Sai waits outside a game stop as Haruki tries to find a new game for his switch. While waiting outside, Sai hears his phone ring, "My anaconda don't, My anaconda don't, My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun" (Mal if you ever see this, I am so sorry.) Sai blushes and picks up quickly.

           "yes, Kaoru?" asks Sai trying to regain his posture. 

            "Hey, You're in the mall, right?" asks Kaoru. 

           Sai arches his eyebrow "Yea? What about it?" Sai asks. Hands cover his eyes. "Guess who?" asks a voice.

           Sai chuckles and hangs up. "Hmm, is it my sufficient other? Or a fan?" asks Sai jokingly. 

           The hands move from his eyes, and Sai looks to see a tanned green-haired person. Sai kisses their cheek. "I see that you're in your male form today, Kaoru." Says Sai. 

           Kaoru smiles. "Yea, I wanted to be a guy today. Besides, I wasn't expecting you to be here." They say. 

           Sai smiles. "Heh, Haruki is too cute for his own good. We all got talked into going the mall." 

           "How's sibling life anyways?" 

           "I didn't expect two pyromaniacs, a spunky child, a good boy, an innocent child, and two anxiety-filled kids."

           "…How are you alive..."

           "I have no idea." 

           "Let's go sit down. Haruki is going to take forever," says Sai as he holds Kaoru's hand, leading them to a bench. After the two talked for a bit, Sai kisses them. Kaoru blushes and looks away. "We're in public, Sai!" they say. 

           A woman walks up to the couple. . Kaoru arches an eyebrow. "Do you need anything??" asks Kaoru. 

           "You are exposing my little boy to homosexuality. Guys shouldn't be with guys. Girls shouldn't be with girls. God didn't make us be like this." 

           Sai blinks at her, Kaoru stares at her. "B-But I'm both genders." Says Kaoru looking down not enjoying the attention they were getting.

           The woman gasps. "Are you forcing this poor man to be with you?!" she asks, shocked. 

           Kaoru shakes their head. "N-No. He's 100% consented to it." They say. The woman looks at Sai. "Is this man forcing you to be with him?!" she asks. 

           Kaoru hears glass break, and they look at Sai, who has a shadow over his eyes "Sai don't…" Kaoru says. 

           Sai stands up. "First off, my sufficient other goes by they/them/their pronouns. NOT he/him or she/her. Second off, I am with them, and I AM with them willingly. Third off, I am pansexual.” Says Sai rather aggressively. 

           "You…assaulted me! Security!" she says, the person looks at her. 

           The woman glares. "Pansexuality isn't a thing!" she argues, then she glances at Kaoru. "Neither is switching genders!" she adds. Kaoru looks down, growling. Sai takes deep breaths.

A tail with multiple hearts (Yellow, dark purple, and green) wraps around her leg and trips her. A blonde with green and purple streaks in a long braid was sitting next to the couple with a crop top with a white heart, a short grey leather jacket, skinny black jeans, and 5in high-heeled boots. The woman looks at the person. 

           "Oh, sorry, Hun. I didn't see you there. The tail acts on its own sometimes." Says the person cheerfully. 

           "NO, IT DIDN'T!" shouts the woman. The person smiles and leans down to her ear "Hun. You shouldn't have said pansexuality isn't a thing, nor is switching genders…" The person's smile disappears. Their pupils become like cat's when light hits their pupils. "I'll remind you, this is a world of quirks. I suggest you leave or somethings you shouldn't harass." Says the person darkly. 

           At that moment, a kid came running crying to the fallen woman. The person gets up and moves out of the way. The woman and the kid ran off shortly after that. Sai and Kaoru look at the person. 

           "thank you…er…" says Kaoru. The person turns to them and smiles. "Mochizuki. Mochizuki Tsukiya." They say, "Oh, and anything for a fellow gender switcher and pansexual." They add on.

           "You can switch bodies too?" asks Kaoru as they go up to Tsukiya. 

           Tsukiya nods. "Yup. Concubus is my quirk. Depending on my partner's sex preference, top or bottom, male or female, etc." they explain.

           Sai looks at Tsukiya. "Thank you. Can we pay you back?" asks Sai. Tsukiya thinks for a bit looks at the couple "…Names and numbers?" they ask.

           Sai smiles. "Saisho and Kaoru. A pleasure to meet you." Says Sai. Kaoru begins to write their number and Sai's number down on a piece of paper. Handing them the paper. 

           "Call us when you can," says Kaoru as Tsukiya's smile shifts into a smirk. "Oh, I will~ See you hotties around~," they say, leaving. 

           Sai looks at Kaoru. "Poly?"

           "Poly. Also, is my ringtone on your phone, Anaconda?" asks Kaoru, eyebrow arched. 

           Sai blushes and sees Haruki. "HEEEEEYYY HARUKI!!" he shouts. 

           Haruki skips over. "Hello!~ whose that?" he asks. 

           "This is my lover. Kaoru. Kaoru meet Haruki…" introduces Sai.

           Kaoru smiles. "Nice to meet-HEY DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT SAI!" they shout, looking to Sai, whistling, looking anywhere but at Kaoru.

           He, Kaoru, and Haruki walk from the game stop to the next shop talking. 

           ~Kouten~ 

           Kouten waits impatiently for his coffee. If he stands here for a while, reporters will notice him quite quickly. He pulls his phone out, reading something when he sees a familiar glow next to him.

           Turning, Kouten notices Inoue Eita. The lavender-eyed, ginger-haired, lantern-tailed male from the café a few weeks back. A smile comes across his face. "You look familiar." He says. 

           Eita looks up and notices Kouten "oh, you're the guy from the café…Todoroki Kouten, right?" 

            "Yup. That's me. The one and only at your service ginger." Says Kouten.

           Eita chuckles. "That's a creative one, redhead." He says. 

           "Heh, thank you. So why are you here at the mall today?" 

           "Spending some cash and relaxing from work." 

           "What do you do?" 

           "Well… it's technically two jobs. One for money and the other is a hobby…" 

           "Which are?'

           " I'm a journalist and occasionally an astrologer. The hobby is fortune teller…people tend to trust me more…" 

           Kouten pales but stays calm. He might be here to interview me. No matter how cute he is, He can't come ne- Oh damn, he has cake. Kouten glances at Eita’s ass and mentally slaps himself Kouten no. do not get distracted. He thinks. He looks at the lightly tanned male.

           "Really? That's interesting. Why do people trust you more than normal?" asks Kouten.

           "Well… I'm a Japanese Romani or what's usually called gypsy…through it's offensive to call Romani that…" 

           "Cool…that explains the tanned skin and the red slash and headband. No wonder your cute." 

           Eita blushes, and the lantern goes bright for a second "Huh?" 

           Kouten realizes, "HUH? What? Sorry, what did I say?" he says. 

           Two drinks are slid next to the "Large Coffee for Todoroki. Large chai tea for Inoue!" says the person. 

           Kouten grabs the coffee. "Huh, they actually said the name this time." He says. Eita holds the chai tea. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Todoroki…"

           Kouten looks at him. "Er…I don't have anywhere to be…Want to hang out until my siblings finish?" he asks. 

           Eita takes a sip from his tea and blushes. "S-sure…" he shutters out.

           Kouten walks to a table as Eita follows. The two sit. Eita looks at Kouten. "What do you do for a living?"

           "Executive Editor is one. The other is modeling. Make a few television appearances here and there." Answers Kouten as he sips from his coffee. 

           "Oh, wow, you must be well known then…" says Eita as he looks to the side. 

           "Eh. Being the former no.2 hero's kid is a big impact too, you know?" 

           Eita almost chokes on his tea. "Huh. What? Like Hawks? Hawks. Is your parent?" 

           "er, yea…why?" 

           Holy Shit…Hotaru wasn't lying. This man is a celebrity…I should back off before rival reporters invade my personal space…thinks Eita as he looks to the side. 

           "Oh… That's…amazing…" says Eita sufficiently quieter.

           Kouten notices and places his coffee down "what's wrong?"

           Eita looks at him. "Why would you want to talk to me?"

           "I have my reasons, Inoue. You sat with me. Plus, you interest me." 

           Eita's tail glows with Eita's initial shock "interest you? I don't want reporters in my face." 

            "I mean, I want to hang out with you more, Inoue. If any reporters came, I would simply say that you're a client for my manager, a fellow editor, or I can simply drag you off. Then they'll possibly leave you alone." 

           "Possibly?!" 

           Kouten stands up. "Yup. Now come on, there could be undercover reporters around." He says and throws his coffee cup away. Eita follows him. "Where are we going?" asks Eita.

           "I heard there was a dog place around here. Where you can play with puppies, I want to possibly adopt one or two." 

           "That's a, you thing…Why do I have to join you?" asks Eita throwing his tea away. 

           "It's awkward to go alone. You don't look busy either." 

           Eita sweatdrops. "Am I your lacky now? I don't want to see dogs." 

           Kouten smiles, then drag him into a store with many cribs with plastic walls inside with at least three different breeds of dogs. "Want to rethink that, Inoue?" he asks. 

           "…Oh my god their so cute." Says Eita as he looks into a crib where three puppies roughhouse. 

           "Rethought it? Adorable, aren't they?" asks Kouten. 

           Eita smiles. "Very…" he looks at a puppy moving away from the roughhousing of the other two. A worker comes over. "Hello. Do you want to play with a puppy?" she asks. 

           "Oh…we don't-"

           Kouten points to the puppy moved from the roughhousing "Can we check that one out?".

           The worker picks the puppy up and begins to lead the duo to one of the pens. 

           "…Why did you do that?" Asks Eita looking at Kouten. 

           "You looked like you wanted to play with it." 

           Eita looks down. "Was it that obvious?" 

           The lady lets them in and puts the puppy in a pen. The puppy runs up to the both of them. The worker smiles "She's a Papillon puppy. Very energetic. You two enjoy playing with her!" says the worker leaves.

           Eita looks down at the puppy and picks her up. The puppy begins licking Eita's face evoking giggles. "Awww, stop it! That tickles!"

           "Can I hold her now?" asks Kouten. Eita hands her over to him. The puppy yips and licks Kouten's Face. 

           The duo was having a good time when a woman stomps into the store. The woman walks up to the pen where the pair was. 

           "Uh, excuse me, that dog is mine." She says. 

           Eita looks at her. "But she's in the store??" he asks. 

           "Duh. Because I want it." Says the woman.

           Kouten hands the puppy to Eita. "Well, too bad I'm adopting her." Says Kouten.

           The woman looks at him and Eita, then she gasps, "Eee! Your Todoroki Kouten! Why are you hanging with a nobody slut?" Asks the woman. 

           Eita winces at that, petting the puppy; looking down, he hands the puppy to Kouten. "Here, Todoroki…" he gives the puppy to Kouten. He then proceeds to leave the pen. 

           "Hey! Inoue! Where are you going?" asks Kouten.

           Eita goes to the front desk and fills the paperwork up. Then proceeds to "accidentally" whack the woman with his lantern tail. "home." Answers Eita leaving the store. 

           The woman rubs the back of her head. "Ack! Slut! Anyways~ Are you seeing Anyone?~" she says. 

           Kouten glares at her "Bitch please, you look like a stripper. No way in hell would I go out with you." He says, glaring at her, "The one I currently wanted to know better is gone because of you." He adds, compressing the urge to kill her.

           The woman gasps, "you're a homosexual?!" She says then she pretends to puke. 

           Kouten glares at her. "I'm bisexual." He says. He then leaves the pen and gives the puppy to a worker. "W-Wait, sir!" Says the woman. 

           Kouten leaves the store and looks for the tan ginger. Who seemingly disappeared, the worker runs up to him with the puppy. 

           "Thought you put her back?" asks Kouten, confused.

           The worker smiles. "Why would I? Your friend adopted her for you. Paid and everything." Explains the worker. 

           "How…? My information is with me." 

           The worker shows the paperwork and his information. "Guess he stole your information when he left." She says. 

           Kouten takes his information back and his newly adopted puppy. Kouten smiles softly. "Guess I'll have to get some things and give you name," he says. 

           Waving farewell to the store, Kouten makes his way to a pet supplies store. The puppy in a kennel was given to him. 

           Meanwhile~ 

           Eita walks over to Hotaru, sipping tea. Hotaru arches an eyebrow. "The fuck you been?" he asks. 

           "I was dragged to a dog store," answers Eita as he sits next to him. 

           Hotaru laughs "really?" He asks.

           Eita doesn't respond and notices pale blonde hair and teal eyes, blonde hair and red wings, white hair and wings walking into a store.

            "Isn't that your…fuck buddy?" asks Eita. Hotaru smiles. "Ah. Hato? He can do what he wants for now. I have another fuck toy." 

           Eita glares at him, disappointed look "You can't just throw people away like toys." Says Eita disappointed. 

           Hotaru glares at him "that's rich coming from a guy who ditched his birth name." he says. Eita freezes. "I thought we wouldn't talk about this…" 

           "Well, we are now, aren't we bitch." Says Hotaru.

           Eita stands up. "I'm leaving." He says, "I will tell cops that you're the one killing people…" 

           "H-Hiroshi! K-Kouten! I-I won't tell! I promise! Please just…come back…" Says Eita. Hotaru pats his shoulder, and the darkness goes away. Eita immediately looks at his tail then looks up to Hotaru with tears in his lavender eyes. 

           Hotaru walks behind Eita, touching his shoulder. His smile widens. "You forget Eita. Unlike a good amount of people I torment, I know your fear." He says, snapping his fingers. The two were enclosed in a dark area the same size as where they are, creating the illusion that no one was there.

         Eita's eyes shrunk. He quickly moves his tail to his chest. His tail, though, isn't giving off the glow and dims. Then it goes out completely. Eita began hyperventilating, falling onto his knees, tears running rapidly down his cheeks. Please no! I-I don't want to die!!! Please! Give me a light source! Now! I want to be alive! I-I don't want to be alone! He thinks

           People look at the duo, and Hotaru smiles, helping Eita up. People go back to what they're doing. Leading Eita out of the mall, Hotaru thinks back to what name came out of his adoptive elder brother's mouth.

           "…K-Kouten!" Hotaru growls Why do these…chickens…keep getting into my family and business? First, Hato… a pretty little thing. Nice Lil fuck toy too. Then that blue-winged one…Librarian if I remember correctly. Insecure but didn't want me anywhere near Hato along with his boyfriend. Don't get me started on the pale blonde chick. She's crazy same with her boyfriend….

           Once outside the mall and into the car, now…this! Eita is befriending the what 2nd oldest? No. I won't…allow it.  I CAN'T ALLOW IT. I… won't lose Anyone…not again. Thinks Hotaru looking to Eita whose curled up in a ball.

           Hotaru rests his head on the wheel. I can't lose to these…these…emochickens! He looks up, changing his purple eyes to slits I WON'T ALLOW IT. If I fucking have to… I'll kill them…

They 

Won't 

Win

Saisho/Sai belongs to  @ulti-mal

Kouten belongs to @hairuko

Hato belongs to @juniperarts

Satori belongs to @fioresacros

Haruki belongs to @/_falyy on twitter

Riku & Hotaru to @diizaren

[rad-translations]

“We’re used to death threats” 6 years after GamerGate, nothing has changed

(It’s impossible for me to continue playing Valorant. To be provoked, harassed, insulted as soon as people hear my voice, all of this because I’m a woman, is unacceptable. I won’t accept undergoing this constantly, and having to signal people constantly. I’m sickened.)

If for some years now, awareness of the bullying that women suffer from in all parts of society has been increasing, everyday changes appear to be barely noticeable.

The world of video games is one glaring example. Or how, behind the grand speeches, the life of female gamers hasn’t changed — maybe even got worse since GamerGate, an event that has triggered the first large-scale wave of online harassment against women.

In partnership with the YESSS podcast, Numerama investigated  the sexism in the community of male and female gamers, with a saddening but certain report: since 2014 and GamerGate, nothing has changed. What we gathered from the dozens and dozens of testimonies that we collected, is that the daily life of women gamers is punctuated by these microaggressions. Tweet after tweet, insult after insult, from sexist comments to targeted bullying, these are individual actions that, when added up, create an incredibly violent wave of online harassment. A wave that swallow them again, day after day.

“Gamergate had set the tone”

“GamerGate had set the tone in regards to sexism, and this changed things” assesses Julie, who mostly plays on League of Legends. “When they discover that you are a girl, it’s rampage” adds Leiden, a World of Warcraft player: “As soon as you’re a girl, you’re gonna eat shit. There are comments like “You don’t know how to play (...)”, it’s a very common behavior on WoW…” Kash, who also plays MMORPG, laments that “toxic comments became the norm”. One example: during a session, the presence of three female players triggered a collective cackling from the members of her guild, who said that “the disabled quota has arrived”. “I told them that we were fed up with these kind of remarks, that is was not normal. They responded by saying it was just humor. (...) That’s really a bummer, because when the game launched, this didn’t exist, we were a community. I wasn’t judged based on my sex.”. “Playing as a woman, it’s a hassle” confirms Lisa*, tiredly “There is always some pig there to tell you to “go back to the kitchen””. Laughter always follows.

She however assesses that GamerGate did not launch online bullying. Gamers are known to vehemently defend their passion: “In 2005, a wave of online harassment had been launched against the very controversial Jack Thompson, an american lawyer who declared that shootings in the USA were the result of the violence of video games” Brad Glasgow, a journalist who then published a study on GamerGate, reminds us, now asked by Numerama. Some gamers at the time sent death threats to his home, or even developed games in which the objective was to hit the lawyer… What GamerGate changed, is adding a sexist aspect to online bullying, focusing hate and attacks on multiple women.

Between journalistic integrity and harassment

On August 16th 2014, Eron Gjoni, a 24 years old programmer, published on his blog “thezoepost”, a 9000-words vitriolic announcement, describing in detail how his now ex-girlfriend, Zoe Quinn, had cheated on him. The story could have ended there. But here is the deal: Zoe Quinn is an indie video game developer, and the man she cheated on him with is a journalist specialized in gaming-related press. That was everything gamers and the Internet needed to ignite: this man is writing for a journal which recently published a highly positive review of Zoe Quinn’s new game, Depression Quest. Between blogs, subreddits and 4chan, the GamerGate movement was born.

“They wanted to be able to continue playing with half-naked female characters without anyone saying something about it”

What did gamers really want? They would say that they were fighting for “more ethics in videogame reporting, less cronyism between developers and magazines” Brad Glasgow, who conducted a study on this subject, explains.  “The gamergaters who I interviewed had the impression that the industry was pushing on them more censored, family-friendly games. They wanted to be able to continue playing with half-naked female characters without anyone saying something about it, and without being considered misogynists”. The GamerGate contributors were for a long time believed to be cliché young gamers, however Brad Glasgow’s study show that the median age was 30 years old, very different from the often depicted carefree youngsters. All the people targeted by the supporters of this movement were women. The victims and numerous reporters commented afterwards that GamerGate was never about claiming anything, but simply a way to express their hate and disdain towards Zoe Quinn. Zoe Quinn, as well as the video game creator Brianna Wu and blogger Anita Sarkeesian received so many rape, torture and death threats that they were forced to move out out of their homes, fearing for their lives. In the United States, this event was huge, so much that the New York Times described it  as “the beginning on alt-right hegemony on the Internet”, and even as a culture war. In France, despite being covered by the media, it didn’t have such an impact outside of the affected community. The problem however, doesn’t only exist on the other side of the Atlantic. The blogger Marlard was talking, since 2013, about a "sick community", soaked in sexism, fetishizing Lara Croft’s new design, and, in the famous 18-25 forum on jeuxvideo.com, misogyny was already the rule. She was actually one of the first to receive numerous waves of online harassment for daring to point out the sexism in the world of video games.

A masculine universe

Why talk again about Gamergate today? Because six years later, despite the problem being under the spotlight and having media coverage, female gamers still suffer. Video games seem to stay a masculine universe, a space where the famous rule 30 of the Internet “on the Internet, there are no women”  could be a reality. It’s nevertheless false: according to a IFOP study published in 2018, women play as much video games as men do.The Internet and Twitch are full of casual and professional gamers, like Kayane, Trinity, Little Big Whale, Zulzorander, Marie Palot…. But, inescapably, the presence of women in online games startles, surprises, annoys. 

“Being misogynistic is trendy”

To insult women and social justice warriors (nickname given to anti-discrimination  activists by their opponents) is still seen today as a way to make your audience  laugh, to gain a place inside the boy’s club, sometimes even to become famous. French streamer Jean Massiet admits it: “Being misogynistic is trendy”.

(I’ve been streaming for 5 years and there is an absolute constant: being misogynistic is trendy, make your chat laugh by playing the rebel. To be feminist is to oppose retaliations and gatekeeping. Conformism really isn’t where most people think.)

The “young boy” trick to conceal your voice

One of the main problems encountered by female players online, is “vocal”, the act of talking with other members of the team to coordinate certain attacks during a game. In this moment, it’s impossible to hide behind the neutral usernames of characters typically associated with male players: “As soon as people hear that I’m a girl, it’s over. Many women don’t want to communicate because of it” reveals Lisa. “You really feel a difference in behavior when comparing the before and after.”

Julie, another player, explains that the “after” is often synonymous with saucy flirting. “Immediately, dudes will come talk to you in private, ask for pictures and lewd requests…” To avoid this, almost all the female players that we interviewed explained to us that they use the “young boy” trick: passing as a young male player whose voice has not dropped yet, to justify their high-pitched tone. Lying to stay undisturbed is a common strategy. Some even prefer playing with the account of their male partners, thus avoiding unrequited comments.

The #MeToo aftermath is even worse

But it’s not always sufficient. Kate laments that “The #MeToo movement created a mistrust”, revealing a violent rejection of the liberation of feminine and feminist voices. “It has become a PMU* (“PMU” or “Pari Mutuel Urbain” is a bar/gambling place chain. Nowadays it is synonymous for many people with armchair psychology, politics and chauvinist behaviors) Everytime you want to point out to players that they are making sexist comments, it’s always the same reaction “you can’t say anything nowadays”, ‘feminazi”....” Far from letting those concerned question themselves, it seems that the #MeToo movement has reinforced their aggravation, which then leads them to be even more defensive or to conduct gratuitous attacks, especially on Discord, a chat/vocal platform often used by players to communicate with each other. 

“The memes are more aggressive, everyone jeers at feminists… There is some sort of frustration towards feminist awareness, a very violent reaction. It is even sometimes almost incel behavior,” explains Kash, referencing the men's rights activists movement of "involuntary celibates". “You won’t make friends talking about feminism” Nat’ali, streamer, confirms to us.

 “#MeToo has revealed the privileges that men have, and they didn’t like seeing it”

She isn’t the only one who saw the situation getting worse after Gamergate and #MeToo. “Since I started playing in 2007, I truly saw the atmosphere deteriorate” Kash told us. “I saw more bullshit these last two years than in the ten years prior, "I now see things that dudes never dared to do before. The whole community got worse”. Lisa also observed  the explosion of sexism after #MeToo. “It’s really then that I started hiding the fact that I was a woman. #Metoo has revealed the privileges that men have, and they didn't like seeing it. Don’t touch cis white hetero men, or you will get branded a fucking feminist, a whore, a feminazi.” Lisa reached the point of “not wanting to play anymore, too toxic. Gets on my nerves too quickly.” There is, too, a fear of underperforming: “I’m scared to play certain FPS (First Person Shooter, like Call of Duty) because I’m no very good at them, and I don’t want to help the belief that “girls sucks at video games” to persist” laments Nat’ali.

The liability of professional streamers

In the eyes of Julie, part of the problem resides in the fact that the gamer community is growing rapidly. “There are more and more gamers, and the newcomers are usually very young and very sexist. Even if some people change and gain understanding regarding this problem, they will be drowned by comments by teens that have no reflexion on sexism”.“ In addition to the jeuxvideo.com 18-25 forum, numerous streamers and professional players are accused of perpetuating sexism. As Numerama showed in a study made in April 2019, members of the Solary team, a french esport structure, have encouraged online harassment against several women, and have contributed in spreading sexist insults (a woman receiving compliments from a stranger, not responding to them and “calling them out on social media” is in their eyes a “whore”)

“It’s an environment in which men pat each other on the back”*

(Translator’s note: a more literal translation would be “men forgive each other” but the underlying idea in this sentence was that they allow themselves to forgive each other’s faults without actually hearing the people targeted.)

Sardoche, a League of Legends streamer and Twitch partner (video creators able to monetize their videos) has also been known for years for his very violent remarks against female players, that he calls “shitty little virgins” or “huge whores”. In addition to being aware about inciting his followers to harass, he often mocks feminist activists on twitter, and his followers always join the party. “The problem is that he is followed by a lot of boys that want to imitate him” Nat’ali tell us.

“Trolling feminists, best thing to do in the morning. Thanks to @MrKryorys for archiving these kinds of clips” Yet Sardoche is not called out, and can still enjoy the free publicity made by numerous other streamers, promoting him and condoning his unacceptable speeches. At the start of June however, the streamer announced that he was now suffering from online harassment on his Twitch lives, coming mostly from 18-25 users. These behaviors have no influence on the mentioned players’ and streamers’ careers. “They still don’t understand that they are participating to the trivialization of hatred against women” Nat’ali angrily adds “Sardoche is now co-hosting PopCorn, one of the most viewed programs on Twitch. It’s an environment in which men pat each other on the back.”

“One girl per team, no more”

This impunity is reinforced by the erasure of female players, firstly because some are reluctant to present themselves as women in online games, and secondly, because the professional environment is not giving them a platform. We call that “the quota effect”. “Those who want to become professional know that there is only one “girl” slot per team”. complains Nat’ali. This infamous “quota woman” reminds us of the “Lara Croft effect” a overused argument often put forward when criticism against the lack of female characters in video games arise: You got it wrong, look over here, there is one woman.

“At the beginning of big web TV, 7 or 8 years ago, there was a of of competition between female players. No sisterhood whatsoever, girls were awful with each other because they knew there wouldn’t be a spot for everyone” Nat’ali, who had seen the problem herself, continues.

Once hired, these female streamers still have a lot to face. A friend of Nat’ali told her last year that her team forced her to wear a mini-skirt during a marketing campaign. According to Leiden “People still see their female players as sexy props, instead of focusing on their playing skills”.

The ambience is now healthier, and “there is a real solidarity on Twitch between us, we talk a lot. With #MeToo, we understand that we needed to help each other. These topics have the spotlight, we feel more comfortable talking about them. Dudes still behave the same, but the relationship between female players changed. This is the big victory of #MeToo.”   

“Streamers need to question themselves”

Should we see this whole problem as unsolvable? For Aurélie, “in practice men are not yet supportives. The knowledge is here, we know that “sexism is bad” But if you point out that a comment is sexist, they will immediately jump and respond that no, it’s just humor”. There are many hard to unlearn habits,” Lisa remarks: “It’s the patriarchal structure: nice guys sometimes have awful reactions. It’s rooted inside of them, they don’t even realize what they’re doing.” For all of the interviewees, the education of men regarding these problems is the solution. Kash affirms: “This men-only community create a unease. Streamers need to be the example. They need to question themselves, and they shouldn’t hesitate to take clear stances regarding this.” Still, it would be easier if these stances were the norm, and taking them was not a risk.

“When you keep talking to them about it, our male friends realize the problem” Lisa happily notices. One of Kash’s friends, with whom she’s been playing for years, has evolved a lot despite starting as “mostly uninterested in the sexism problem in games”. After our interview, she decided to talk to him about her experience, and he listened to her testimony. “Last week, during a raid in which I didn’t introduce myself, a player made a sexist remark about the body of a woman. My friend told me he felt uncomfortable and talked to the guild leader about it. Nothing happened, the player wasn’t sanctioned, but I’ve known my gamer friend for 11 years and it was the first time he reacted like that. So I’m hopeful!”

Aurore Gayte for Numerama 

*names have been changed This article was created in partnership with the YESSS podcast. .Their latest creation, "Warriors and Games" is available here. Every month, the YESSS team gathers testimonies of women who triumphed against sexism: those who responded, who corrected, who snapped and resisted. YESSS is a podcast for warriors, positive and decidedlyfeminist. It is conceived and hosted by Margaïd Quioc, Elsa Miské et Anaïs Bourdet, produced by the Popkast label in Marseille.

[bean-n-shroob]

The Origami King Review/Opinion

(I sorta hate that it has the word The in it cause when I did impressions or this review, it sounds strangely official)

I’m gonna review but if people don’t want spoilers here’s some Pros and Cons that I felt

Pros:

+ Music is fantastic! I love how the battle theme changes with every area/sub-area you go to.

+ Writing is good, it gets you invested in enough to sorta care. Humor is top notch as expected!

+ Olivia is a sweetheart! I love her so much and how she’s so marveled by everything.

+ Boss Battles are fun to figure and deal with.

+ Finding Toads is actually kinda fun, I enjoy figuring out where they’re hidden

+ Badge system is intriguing if not a bit clunkly put together (sorry, this is suppose to be Pros)

Cons:

- Regular Battles get old quick if puzzles aren’t really your thing and its a bit too easy to just not depend on the coins, thus making them pointless.

- Story sorta flops, it starts strong but then just sorta fizzles and all we got left is... fun experiences (I know this sounds like a Con, but while the experiences are fun, it is disappointing the story sorta flops hard)

- Character Design is very meh. The most well written character can’t save it from its extremely generic design

- But also Olly is not... that well written... so...

- Partners and Vellumentals are kinda under utilized to a disappointing degree (baby steps, baby steps ugh)

Anywho, that’s all my feelings (that I can remember and feel I can say without spoilers)

6.5/10 (I’ll explain the scoring under the cut)

Spoilers Under Cut

Hello and welcome to the Spoiler Bits of this Review/Opinion

Buckle in, this is a long one

Now y’all may be a bit curious as to why, with so much big things (music/writing/bosses/Olivia) being good and so little being bad, why a 6.5/10?

Well, I felt a 7 was too generous and would make people think “Oh, its good!” but a 6 is like “Eh... its mediocre” and a 6.5 is more like a “Its Good, But” and I feel that But is important! I know how this may sound, but TOK could’ve been WAY better and Chapter 2 was an example of how good this game could’ve been!

You know how people always bring up Huey, or the “Morton Leston” joke, or the “I would do things that would raise this game’s rating” line as examples as why Color Splash is actually really good and we’re all in denial?

I feel Chapter 2 will be that for TOK and its all because of Bobby! I like Bobby, I like Bobby a lot! I wish he stuck around! I loved how he and Olivia interacted together and how they formed a bond!

But

I sorta hated how overall useless he was to the action and adventuring. He’s the most useless partner that somehow leaves a deep impression on the player!

He leaves such a deep impression that I don’t think anyone noticed how badly written Professor Toad was! He was such a let down as a follow up to Bobby! And worst of all, he was like way more useful than Bobby! He can dig holes, he can wipe out a whole role of enemies, he has a function outside of battle and story.

Seeing how useful Professor Toad was, sorta put into perspective Bobby and his eventual sacrifice to save Olivia (I told ya this was spoilers). He just dies, in a shockingly emotional moment, giving a speech about how Bomb-Ombs live relatively short lives and are always trying to make the most of it.

Wow... I really wish Chapter 6 didn’t have a segment where you were half hazardly shooting bomb-ombs out of a cannon, cause otherwise, this could’ve been way more impactful!

But it also made it seem like "we can't make Bobby too useful, he's gonna die. So just keep him extremely simple and useless in every other aspect of the adventure, besides story."

I don’t get how TOK started out so strong! The intro and Chapter 1 introduced us to the basic loop how what we’d have to do and how stuff will play out and Chapter 2 took that and showed us how far we could go with this loop and how involved the world will be with this loop!

Only for Chapter 3 to just give up on everything and give us 1 expansive dessert to explore, a very one note partner who doesn’t leave a lasting impression, a boring quest of solving an ancient riddle and a very annoying boss dungeon segment that went on longer than it should’ve! And above all else, a very half-assed excuse for why he won’t be joining your journey! Especially since Chapter 4 doesn’t have a partner!

Chapter 4 feels like an overly-long intermission of Mario n Olivia’s adventure to Chapter 5. Legit the purple streamer of 4 could’ve been the green streamer of 5 and it would only flow just a little bit less smoothly. Chapter 4 has this weird send off to the Vellumentals, with the boss dungeon being a mixture of the last 4 Vellumental chambers you’ve explored. Which feels out of place especially since there’s like 2 more chapters of stuff happening afterwards! And like a thunder elemental like boss fight in 5 but I guess they just couldn’t be bothered to create a Thunder Vellumental fight to tack onto the story and just gave it to this Origami Sumo Bro! Okay!

And then the Bowser Castle segment is right when they decide to get creative with enemy encounters, but only 2 enemy encounters (you can fight these two multiple time if you’re neither a chicken nor annoyed with the battle ring system) but then just stop right after cause Scissor makes cut out soldiers was the only excuse why that happened.

Again... I like TOK, I do. If I didn't, I'd rate it a 4 or 5 outta 10. I'll talk about the good, I will, but lemme just rant about 1 thing first! Its actually 2 rants but its gonna be about 1 topic I'm rather passionate about.

Character Design

I hate how generic the Legion of Stationery are! Once again, Chapter 2 wins by giving Rubber Band a very unique design, but everyone else is so generic looking! Remember how I said the personalities couldn't save them from their generic design? The Legion have such fun personalities, its so tacky and fun! But I cannot get over how it contrasts with the fact I'm staring at an object hoping in place or wiggling or jiggling as they talk! It kinda sucks, honestly!

I wish these guys had more creativity behind them, and truth be told it wouldn't have bothered me had Rubber Band not been an outlier! Why them and not everyone else! Its baffling!

But above all else, the worst offender, is the Origami Craftsman! The dude who folded Olly! Is a TOAD! That's it! A toad in an apron! WHY

And I get it, there's story reason behind it! Olly wants all Toads gone cause they all look alike and thus everyone reminds him of the Craftsman who wrote (a very touching message) on him!

And that SUCKS!

(uh oh, i forgot about Olly and his terrible terrible motive to be evil)

Speaking of Olly! Remember when I said he wasn't well written? Well besides being an evil prick who enjoys messing with the heroes (i dont mind that, evil just to be evil is fine), it sorta randomly just comes up that he hates Toads near the end! It just comes up!

And I THINK it was suppose to be hinted at by the fact all the Toads gets attacked and folded by Paper Macho and Folded Soldiers. But my problem with this is:

1. Would they have been daring as making Folded Toads as enemies? Thus the lack of Folded Toad enemies should've hinted at this

2. The enemies were origami version of Mario enemies! So enemies still being enemies but folded would've just strengthen the fact we'd be fighting bowser minions again, making the previous Toad hint moot.

3. Toads have always been in peril in previous PM games so the fact they're in peril again wouldn't have been a point of interest!

I GUESS the fact Folded Peach specifically asks whether Toads should be silenced could've hinted at this, but people just took it as "hah lol Toads annoying" and not "oh, this villain has a thing against toads~". Its just, who else would the villain have pointed out? There's only Toads here! Maybe if there was a bigger variety of npcs and we saw other npcs either becomes folded soldiers or be spared from the folded attack, we could've wondered "hey, why are only the toads getting stuck in places?"

But we don't!

Anyways, huff! Lemme count all the good, spoilery things in the game (that's not in Chapter 2) to end on a good note

I love how Olivia is so sweet, no one could bring themselves to be mean to her (except Olly), even Kamek has a hard time being mean cause she's so bubbly and caring (except for that weird bit in the forest where Kamek had to be all rivalry about it but I digress)

Bowser backtalking Olly was very funny, I loved it a lot!

The fact Olivia asks Olly to come to his senses before Mario smashed his face with the Olivia hammer (i need to specify this cause otherwise it'll look like Mario interrupted this scene with a hammer smash but no, Olivia fully knew her hammer weight was gonna fall on Olly's face and just gave some last words of pleas before not even letting him respond) I loved that.

I liked how sweet Olivia was to Luigi despite how much he kept screwing up (i forgot to rant about that but tl;dr, he's a bit of a buffoon and its a bit annoying) i thought it was very touching how Olivia kept rooting for him regardless.

The Tape talking like a Gangster was actually really funny, I liked that a lot.

Bowser's pep talk to Olivia was very funny, it was basically "dont be sad, look at me, my muscles are massive and I can punch through walls!"

As jarring as they were, I actually liked a lot of the singing and dancing that occurred through the game.

Olly having his own color scheme for his Vellumental forms was super cool!

The ending was really touching. Olivia wished for all of Olly's creations to be undone, and because you find out in Chapter 4 that she's also a creation of Olly, she is undone too. And they don't spell that out! You just find out she's not around and connect the dots. I think that was very well done.

And these are some of several reasons I liked TOK and why I couldn't rate it lower than 6. It has a lot of things that just doesn't live up to Chapter 2 and its disappointing to realize halfway through that the game peaked in Chapter 2. Its so weird, they showed us how good it can be and then never lives up to the expectationd set by Chapter 2. I wish it did

Thats why I rate it a 6.5/10

[bringontheemos]

This is my Itachi x OC Yuri fanfic. I started updating on Wattpad first, so it’s gonna take me a minute to catch up over here. (I also wrote the beginning of this story a couple of years ago. Please excuse my awkward style from back then.)

Anyway!!!! Chapter 1!

3rd person POV

Itachi and Kisame are walking through the forest when it begins to rain. A slightly irritated Itachi clicks his tongue at the heavy rain and silently pouts.

"What?" Teased Kisame. "Don't like the rain?" Because Itachi isn't accustom to talking when it's unnecessary, he just turns his head to shield his eyes from the falling water. "Fine, fine! We'll find some house to stay in. It's weird though. You've never had this problem before."

That's true. Itachi hasn't complained much, but today he was in a bad mood, so he didn't feel like being wet.

After a moment of looking, the pair noticed a house on top of a tall hill that was close by. "Here we go. I'll take care of whoever owns this dump." Kisame was walking up to the front door but a bed sheet from the laundry hanger was blowing into his face. "D-damn this!" He grabbed the fabric and tore it from the bar, revealing a young woman behind it.

She jumped a little when her sheet was pulled away. The girl tilted her her up to see him face to face, but that's when she noticed, this guy is the scariest person she has ever seen.

"GAH!" The girl stumbled back but ended up slipping on the mud and tumbling all the way down the hill. For a moment, it didn't seem like she was going to stop until she ran head first into a large rock.

"Wow she's clumsy. Haha! Well it looks like we don't have to worry about- wait Itachi! What are you doing?"

The Uchiha was already making his way to the woman. He noticed that she was completely knocked out when he reached her and her hair was stained with blood. "Hm." He grabbed her waist, dragged her back up the steep hill, and into the small house.

"What'd you do that for?" Kisame asked after they settled down.

Itachi didn't have an answer for his partner. The only thing he could think of was he just wanted to. Maybe it was because this woman reminded him of his brother when he was nothing more than a clumsy kid.

Itachi put a bandage on the top of the girl's head and had a small fire started close by so she would dry faster. Now it was a waiting game to see when she would be waking up.

"OC's" POV

'What's going on? My head hurts. What happened to me?'

I opened my eyes and slowly looked around the room. It was my house. It was still dark outside so I haven't been out for long.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a shadow. When I turned to it, I was met with a terrifying man. He looked like a mix between a shark and a human. A beast!

"A-a-a-h." The fact I was having trouble piecing together words entertained this man.

He snickered and pulled out a large object that was wrapped up with badges. "Cat got your tongue? Haha!"

I ducked and braced myself for some sort of impact. "Leave her alone, Kisame." Another voice gently spoke. I stayed down, unsure of when it would be safe to get back up.

"Tch. Oh come on, Itachi. I was just kidding."

The sound of the creaky floors were growing louder. Someone must be walking up to me. "You're fine." Said the much nicer voice.

I timidly sit up and look the two men in the eye. "Um... hello." The scary man just grinned at me while the other had an unreadable expression. The man I was unfamiliar with was actually quite handsome. The rain in his hair made him look- wait! The rain?! "Oh my gosh. You're wet." I stood up but I felt a little lightheaded.

"You took quite a hit out there. Probably shouldn't move too much, miss." Said the shark man.

"I'm fine." I straightened myself up and walked to the closet. "Here. I don't have much but you can use these towels to dry off. I can take care of your robes." When I turned back to them, they looked slightly confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Good! Now take that off before you both catch cold. I have an iron somewhere around here. I could iron those dry for you." They silently complied. "Oh! I made some tea a couple minutes before I went outside. It should still be hot!"

Kisame's POV

'What the hell? I was just about to kill this girl and now she's drying our clothes? Creepy. And another weird thing, she isn't afraid of us even though we're Akatsuki. What's going on?'

The girl poked her head back into the main room. "Oh! Mr. Kisame, I forgot to ask, would you like water instead of tea?"

That caught me slightly off guard. "Doesn't matter... How do you know my name anyway?"

She innocently tilted her head and said, "well that's what he called you. That is your name, isn't it?"

'Oh I get it. She probably doesn't even know what the Akatsuki is. The moment most people see our cloaks they run for the hills.'

"Yeah that is my name. So what's yours?"

"Hm? Oh! Please excuse my rudeness!" She bowed to us and continued to speak. "My name is Yuri. It's nice to meet you both." She stood up and smiled. "The rain isn't letting up. If you want you could stay here for the night."

"That's what we planned anyway."

"O-oh. Well... let me know if you need anything. I'll be done with your cloaks soon too."

I turned to Itachi who was drinking the girl's tea. "So you want to kill her or can I?"

He looked into the distance for a moment and responded. "Neither. We could use her for information." Itachi has a point, but we could get information from anywhere. We don't need that girl to do it.

"Here you go!" Yuri handed us our neatly folded cloaks. "Anyway I think I'm going to head to bed. If you're hungry then you can raid my fridge, although I don't have much food so I need to head into town tomorrow. The blankets are in that closet." She pointed out everything we may need. "Alright I'll see you guys later. Good night!"

My partner and I waved off the girl and sat in the living room alone. "Ha. This girl's too trusting for her own good. I'm surprised she's survived this long."

"She is interesting. Other than that there's nothing special about her. We'll leave after we eat tomorrow morning." Itachi turned away and fell asleep.

'For a minute there, I thought he was going soft for that girl. Maybe I was wrong.'

[iniquity-fr]

i said i would elaborate on my thoughts/lore i guess re: dragons n shapeshifted (humanoid) forms and like.. social rules and whatnot around all that.... and then i wrote a ridiculous amount of notes abt the whole thing, oops.

separated into key sections but still very rambly and stream-of-thought overall, bc, when do i not type..... weird. words are eternally difficult for me and thoughts are a struggle to articulate, but i hope any of this.. makes sense? obviously this is largely abt my own clan/dragons/headspace/etc and not like. headcanons about other ppl’s stuff in general or anything like that haha. this is a LOT to read thru so if u actually go thru the whole thing a) wow thank u so much wtf b) perhaps give it a like so i know how u feel. not required but very very appreciated. :^) also deep apology to anyone for whom the read more breaks or something, oh god.

a tl;dr/basic overview

everyone can shift to humanoid/gijinka/person-shaped forms, differing based on their actual look as a dragon

most day-to-day life within the clan is in shifted forms, partly bc of Convenience, partly bc there’s a lot of Social Rules abt being on relatively equal footing w/ one another and keeping things fair and whatnot

using your dragon form to hurt not-dragon form people or even using it to harm smaller dragons is considered a terrible crime, and harming others while they’re mid-transformation is considered the ultimate taboo.

shifting 101:

everybody can shift between dragon/humanoid (gijinka.. however u wanna word this.... yall know what i Mean) form w/ different results--some more dragon-looking and/or generally monstrous, some looking fairly normal/basically like People, But In Rainbow Colors And With Horns. some may keep tails and/or wings or other things like that, but that isn’t especially common

smaller breeds tend to be shorter, bigger breeds tend to be taller, but there are exceptions & outliers! 

shifted forms tend to be pretty 'set' for most dragons, all obviously dependent on their looks as an actual dragon. their shifted form reflects their dragon form, and they can't make drastic changes to their form like changing entire facial structure/shape or body type or overall coloring.  however, dragons with stronger magic abilities/connections/powers/etc usually tend to have more freedom of their own form and may be able to change certain features at will--not entire faces or body shapes, but things like hair, nails, sometimes even patterns from genes (esp. tert genes)

dragons that are like, deity level or otherwise some sort of not-entirely/not-actually-a-dragon all-powerful creature or w/e usually have MUCH more freedom to change their form completely, if they so choose.

transformation is at will (and cant be done or undone unconsciously... ie a sleeping-in-shifted-form person is Not gonna turn back into dragon form in their sleep) and happens fairly quick for most, usually no long&slow weird animorph-esque thing, though it isn't all in a flash either--usually! once again on the "dragons with More/Better Magic Skillz" concept, a very magic-powerful dragon can usually shift much quicker than others. a "finger snap puff of smoke boom you're done" level of speed is Very Rare, but not unheard of. dragons who are either very young or simply not very talented w/ magic may take longer than others. the largest & smallest breeds also take a bit longer due to having to shrink down/size up every time. all this said, it never takes more than like, 15-20 seconds at Most, and even that range is considered Very Slow. it’s a short window, generally!

things like injury or sickness can make shifting difficult, but typically only like........... basically if you're literally dying you're probably not gonna be able to do it. having a broken leg or the flu shouldn't impact ability much, but bleeding out in the boneyard? ain't gonna make it work, buddy.

idk how clothes work lmfao. they just shift with the dragon i guess? sure. let's go with that. all clothes are magic now. i don't think EVERYTHING through, ok?

ok cool but Why Shift:

shifted forms make for much easier living-together-in-a-big-clan, especially in situations (like my own clan itself) where everyone lives in, y'know, buildings. houses and castles and churches and whatnot. it takes a lot more effort and resources and whatnot to build a house big enough for imperials to comfortably live in in dragon form than it does to just build a regular-sized house that a spiral & a ridgeback both can settle into & live comfortably in in shifted form or smth, yknow. it’s easier to accommodate people than dragons! 

communication & relationships can also be easier to deal with if you are all Relatively Close to the same size range. less leaning down or flying up to try and talk to your friend/coworker/partner/rival/whatever. part of this is also influenced by The Rules About Being On An Even Playing Field We Will Get To In A Moment

for many dragons its just easier to do things like art, music, crafting, writing, or working w/ small & delicate things, etc etc when you have proper hands and lot funky dragon claws. much of the more mundane reasons for these forms is just For Convenience's Sake!

that said, obvs. certain things are easier/preferred to stay in dragon form to do--traveling, for one, since, y'know, Dragons Can Fly, Usually. hunting & gathering is usually done in dragon form as well, though not 100% of the time. maybe u want to be a big and powerful dragon to go take down wild animals for food but just like, chill out w ur buds in person-shape to go have a relaxing fishing trip by the lake. it's up 2 u really.

sometimes dragon forms are preferred for fighting in general, esp against beasts, or if you are a lone dragon trying to protect yourself from threats, etc. in the case of smaller breeds especially, they can also be preferred for making a quick escape instead! (sometimes this is seen as Cowardly to do, but yknow, it’s an Option.)

aaaaaaand now we can get to The Rules which is where things become less abt convenience & common sense and more about my own........... we can call it lore? i guess? sure. it's lore. ok.

The Rules:

all the "for convenience" reasons aside, there are many largely unspoken but VERY important social rules regarding shifting and when you "should" or "should not" be in which form. within my clan/characters/headspace/etc etc it's all just sort of a known thing/smth ur raised knowing, there isn't like, an actual rulebook or smth anyone has to figure out. 

much of these rules are about being on an equal playing field, both socially & in battle. the social rules are much more important & strict within clan living areas, ie. the walls of cities and whatnot. things can get more loose & informal if ur like, out travelling thru the wasteland or wilds or whatever.

it's considered VERY rude to enter/generally be inside buildings in dragon form, usually, unless you're just like... popping in real quick to deliver smth or say hi or whatever.. and you can fit inside said building... and know the ppl there and whatnot... etc...... if you dragon out while already inside somewhere that's usually seen as like, a threat of some sort. due to how much construction & architecture & living spaces are shaped and whatnot, it's deemed unnecessary to bother with dragon forms inside the clan's walls in general, but especially within buildings, bc jesus christ dude ur gonna hit the ceiling or break stuff with your wings or something. be polite.

social interaction in general, esp. when Formal or in work/work-like settings, is seen as something usually meant more for shifted forms... some dragons who are very close, ie family & mates, can be fine in dragon form around each other, bc of the mix of informality & Trust. typically, if you want to have a conversation with someone and Not be seen as impolite or even hostile, shifted form is key. this falls back very much to the fact that dragons come in such VASTLY different sizes, from imps down to faes, and it's seen as unfair and often threatening to present oneself as a giant monster to whom others have to talk to, or as a tiny little creature either down on the floor or flitting around the room. shifted forms have about as much height/size variance as we do as humans, which can be A Lot, and some individuals can be even smaller or bigger than regular people bc Hey Its Fantasy, but generally speaking no People-Shaped height difference is going to be as crazy as dragons' can be.

basically, if you walk into the throne room or the church or anywhere Important & Protected and you're not in shifted form, you WILL be seen as either physically threatening the leadership or as an extremely arrogant & disrespectful fool. walking into shops/businesses in general as a dragon makes you look like you're trying to like, rob the place or smth. even just moving about the streets of the town as a dragon is weird, rude, and will make people uneasy. not to mention it’s potentially destructive!

everything comes back to the idea of being relatively similar in size/shape, in being close enough to equal in ability, strength, weakness, etc, barring the obvious difference that yes some people are stronger/more trained than others, some better at magic, etc etc. it's all about fairness!

this is all MOST IMPORTANT when it comes to FIGHTING........ bc obviously a very large dragon can just squish the bones of a very tiny dragon like nothing...... things like formal duels etc everyone knows OF COURSE this meant for shifted form, it's just an inherently known thing. if u fight with honor u fight shifted.

this even extends to the point that outside city walls, if someone's going to pick a fight with you, you Should still be duking it out in shifted form. it's such an important & revered rule that it's even usual for bandits and such out on the roads to attack travelers while in their own shifted forms. only the worst of all criminals cross the line--from the average petty thief & pickpocket up to professional hitmen and honorable assassins, it's rare to see even career rulebreakers break these rules. it’s That Serious

using your dragon form to attack someone who's shifted is seen as like, a completely horrifying and heinous thing to do, a sign of true cruelty and mercilessness. using your dragon form to escape from people is often seen as a cowardly and weak thing to do, unless ofc ur just like, small and afraid and get fuckin jumped by some big tuff dudes, yknow. being in a real & honorable battle means fighting in your shifted form.

the Ultimate Taboo however is hurting--especially killing--someone while they're mid-transformation, due to the fact that the process--while, as stated previously, is Very Short--leaves someone completely vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. transformation takes focus and action, and you can't really attack or dodge or anything while changing from form to form. the strength and speed and complete lack of hesitation required to end someone's life in the small window of time that it takes to shift is a terrifying thing to behold. killing someone midshift while in your own shifted form is especially weird & scary and means everyone is going to be afraid of you forever, basically, because. dude. holy fuck. how & WHY did you do that.

obviously the Normal reaction that Nice & Good dragons feel knowing someone who has crossed that particular line is, yknow, fear and resentment and seeing them as someone who is heartless and completely evil and terrible. to be avoided at all costs, if not outright arrested and executed for such a thing, in other places where ppl are like. ultimately good & caring abt one another and whatnot. but that ain't my clan babey!

aaaaaand finally a wrap-up w a lil bit abt my clan full of shitty devil babies and how these rules impact their lives hehehe

though the clan is VERY strict abt the larger social rules regarding shifted forms vs. dragon forms, thats more for formality's sake & a part of the clan's entire thing of being like........... full of/ruled by morally bankrupt weirdos and villains and chaotic neutrals mostly And Yet all putting on the show & appearance of being honorable high-status nobles & academics and whatnot. among the court in particular it's all Very Important bc everyone has to behave like stuffy uptight formal folk very often. also their section of the clan home is like, a very compact city w/ narrow streets and stuff, so obviously no one Can just. walk around as a big giant dragon.

a few examples of dragons Breaking The Rules in more 'minor' ways include: -outlaw, who has absolutely 0 issue using the small size of his spiral form to break into houses & businesses and steal shit, or using it to slip away from authority figures and zip off and fly outta there. or to just be able to hide from authorities more easily. -fissure, one of the kings, a guardian, will occasionally use his dragon form as a threat display if anyone shows too much hostility towards his clan. threaten him and his people and he WILL threaten you back big time. -silhouette, royal guard captain, also a guardian, will do the same thing, though she reserves that for people found along the outskirts of the city walls. -sepulcher takes things the other way around--he enjoys the challenge of fighting&killing things 100x his size and if a dragon tries to harm him when he's in his shifted form he gets VERY excited!!!!!

the 2 worst culprits confirmed so far are the high priest, leader of the clan, scary rotten plague cult wyrmwound-worshipping bastard himself, fhtagn......... and the friendly, chatty, fashionable tailor, needle.

the skull mask fhtagn wears is fashioned from the skull of a half-transformed dragon. to have not only crossed the line of killing a dragon mid-shift but to wear a part of them as one's most striking attire that they're never seen without is a truly terrifying sight to behold for most... those of kinder hearts than this clan would see him for the disgusting & dishonorable bastard he is because of that alone, but the clan members--especially the church, of course--revere him for this. fear & horror go hand in hand with love & adoration among the congregation, so of course they love their mercilessly masked priest.

needle does not allow too many people to get a good look at his "trophy room" but it is... certainly something to behold. stitched & stuffed bodies of people killed mid-shift make up his favorite taxidermy collection, and he likes to think of this as.. some form of art. though very private about it, he's still fiercely proud of his collection. go out and bring him such a body yourself for him to work on and he'll love you forever!

anyway that’s it for now. this post is fucking long. i never write this much what fucking possessed me.

if u made it this far i wuv u. thank u :’)

[the-princess-with-pancakes]

TV Shows Weekly 10/20 (06)

Wow. A big slip this week. Yeah, sorry for that. But I made it. Watched everything I promised to watch and covered it all. I caught up with The Walking Dead (2010-), which was hard, I watched like 4 ep a day. And with my working hours it was a challenge. Also sorry to say, that I won't cover Supernatural (2005-) next week. Just to episodes, to watch. And I have too much to do, outside TV Series.

Better Call Saul (s05e03) Another great episode, from start to finish. First the action with Mike, I loved it, I just can't get enough of him. How great is it for a man like Mike, to live up to his name, his legend, like this, just by little things like that. Jimmy did, what he always does, gets what he needs to have done. This time he messed up big tho. And with his fault of course. If he didn't get mixed with them earlier, he wouldn't be, where he is now. What we also got, is out favorite DEA Agent back, in some ways. It's great, to see him again, especially with his partner and especially digging where he needs to dig, to be longer and more often in the series. I haven't seen that actor in a long time and he may not be the best, but his the best Hank we got, so let's stick with that. And lastly, to sum up, the biggest highlight, in my opinion, Kim Waxler, who is probably the best character right now, with "the best" I meant, the noblest. She is doing the best she can, trying to help people and no one can say otherwise. She knows, how important the law is and she nows, how to get around it when it's necessary. Like with Mike, I can't get enough of her, I hope she'll be okay soon. We can all see, what she's going through and what impact does it have on her. I'm sorry for her. I almost forgot. Saul mode: 65% - The way, he fed Hank, how he made that scenario, it was very impressive. I can't say it was better, then what he did in the last episode, but I'm impressed.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages (s02e06) The second half of the season has just started and it's looking pretty solid. This episode was even a bit good. Not so funny, as usual, but it'll do. I like the road, the creator chose to go with Prince Chauncley. Really. I think it's a big step forward, to not show him as a moron anymore, but to grow, understand, empathize. His crush took a bit off guard, but it's okay when you think about it. When they showed the King, I had a big smile on my face, but he turned as psychotic as in the last episode. Maybe a little less. Fine, less. That skull crush and a bag full of skulls was a great idea. I hope it comes back.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (s07e06) Sometimes the episodes have arcs more mature than funny and although the writers did their best, I haven't laughed that much. But I can say, that this was a really good episode. The arc with Jake and Amy trying to have a baby was a bit sad at times, but it's okay because comedy works well with drama. Their ways were entertaining to watch, but hard to swallow because none of it didn't work. And it was summed up with a sad ending. As for the other parts: Hitchocs wedding was okay, but the guinea pigs were funny at times. I like it when Rosa and Charles how something to do. They have a weirdly fun relationship, witch, in the end, is pretty exciting to watch. I hope to see more of them working together soon.  The best arc tho was with Holt tho. Short, funny, about a growing character. Just great.

The Walking Dead (s10e11) Yes. I did it. I caught up. It was hard, but I made it. I'm not gonna go to the details this time tho, it was a good, but disappointing episode, also there were too many arcs in this episode, to cover all of them. The biggest ones tho, starting with Eugene. I like him in this state of mind. Kind of. I'm not sure, I liked, how he ran after Rosita, but I think their friendship is better and I like seeing it just better. I don't know about that woman tho, Stephanie. I didn't read the comics, so I can't say, I think she's good. I hope she's good. This is the second new community, they discovered (not yet, but you know, what I mean) this season, to assume of course, that Stephanie and that guy in Oceanside aren't from the same community. Which is huge. The last new community they discovered was Oceanside, excluding The Whisperers. And that was a while ago. The second arc I want to cover is The Whisperers and Negan. I'm sorry to see, that two times, he tried to do something good, it always turned out worse, than it was. And I'm sorry, that this fucking kid broke him, and he started working with the bad guys. I love this character, the way he's written and the relationship he has with everyone around Rick, I don't want to see him go. My theory is, that he turned good and is working against The Whisperers from the inside. I know, it doesn't look that way, but I believe it. I mean, come on, he wouldn't do anything to hurt Michone or Judith. Especially Judith. She's probably his best friend right now. And I want more Judith/Negan scenes, 'cause they were just the best. After Alpha "turning down" his idea, about the main characters to join them, I think, he's gonna do something special and will try to save them. And the third and last arc, I'll call it "The Horde". The attack was pretty short. 8 minutes. That was the most disappointing thing about this episode. It was entertaining to watch, but nothing special, which is, what I'm expecting from TWD. Something amazing, some great action to watch, heartbreaking moments, killing off some characters I like (I don't want that, but I'm so used to it, that it's starting to get a bit boring when everyone stays alive) and I got 1/3 of that. And that's disappointing. But the cliffhanger's great. I can't wait for the next episode. I miss binge-watching this show. Also, I discovered, that most of the episodes have people just wandering alone someplace and then others trying to help them, so I created anther fun bonus. TEW (This Episodes Wanderer): no one - but believe me, this happens a lot! Maybe it's because of the action. Yeah, it's definitely, to show more action.

[beachbabywrites]

Dynamic Duo // A Kara Danvers imagine

Valentine’s Request 18/?

REQUEST: Kara Danvers + Enemies to Lovers + candy heart

A/N: So I’ve come to realize I cannot write enemies to lovers fics for Kara, it’s just impossible ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so I twisted it around a bit. In this fic, the media is doing everything in their power to pit Supergirl and Phoenix (Aka the reader bc I cannot come up with imaginary superhero names for the life of me) against each other even though the two have never publicly associated or worked together. Unbeknownst to the public, Supergirl and Phoenix are in a happy and healthy relationship. This takes place somewhere in the season one/early season two timeline

"Supergirl declares, 'National City only needs ONE HERO!"

"The REAL reason you'll never see Supergirl and Phoenix working together."

"Supergirl threatens to reveal Phoenix's true identity; Phoenix says "stand down!"

"Source says Phoenix will destroy National City before going to Supergirl's aid."

Of course, the headlines were the first thing you saw this morning, they were hard to miss with street vendors yelling at passing crowds trying to sell a copy of the latest gossip magazine. You scoffed, trying not to laugh in the man's face as he pushed the paper towards you. You could tell him then and there just how wrong those sources were but he wouldn't believe you. Why would he? You're no one special to National City. You're just (Y/N) (Y/L/N). So instead of initiating an argument on the sidewalk you went on to work and prayed you made it to your desk before your boss showed up.

You were staring at the clock, counting down the minutes till your lunch break. 15... 14... You answered an email about scheduling your bosses next meeting with the CEO, then answered a personal email regarding dinner plans.

12... Someone's phone rang, you began putting your things in your purse so you could sneak out early. You could hear the car horns outside in the lunch hour rush. You looked up as your coworker approached your desk and handed you a file. She apologized for laying it on you right before lunch, but it was due by 5 tonight. Inside was the research for yet another gossip segment on Supergirl and Phoenix's feud.

9... You agreed happily when your coworker asked if you wanted to grab lunch with her before she left to pick her kids up from school.

Much like every other devastating event that happened in National City, this one happened without warning.

When the first crash was heard, you dropped to your knees on the carpeted floor like everyone had been instructed to do in the past. Glass shattered, you could hear the screeching of breaks and mangled metal. The people on your floor screamed as the windows imploded, sending glass flying across the floor. Two more explosions quickly followed the first one, each one shaking the building more violently than the last.

You stood up slowly after some time had passed after the last blast, looking around the floor at your coworkers. All were fine, nothing too serious, maybe a couple cuts that would need stitches. You placed a hand on the shoulder of the woman who was trying to call her children at school.

"Phone lines are down." Someone hollered across the room and slammed the landline down. "Was it a gas line?"

"Surely not that strong!" Another voice answered.

The power went out and another round of screams pierced the air.

"Go! To the stairwell, come on." You urged them along. You rushed to the window to see what was going on outside when shouts of 'Supergirl!' caught your attention.

"Kara!" You whispered out loud, amazement and terror-striking your heart as she flew through the sky straight towards the pillar of smoke rising just a few blocks away.

"Come on!" Someone shouted behind you so you turned and made your way down the stairs.

You followed the crowd away from the shaky buildings and chaos, helping those who needed it but listening closely to the battle that was happening behind you.

You heard the first cry as you were helping a child find her mother. Kara was in distress but you couldn't just leave these people. You knew she could handle her self, besides you had a bigger responsibility at the time. You couldn't help the small part of you wondered what if?

Within a matter of minutes, dozens of buildings were evacuated, barricades set up to prevent any civilians from running into the mess. Smoke still darkened the sky and burned at your nose. It sounded like the worst of the fight was over, you could hear Kara yelling over the noise, but you couldn't hear a second voice.

Oh great, you sighed to yourself. She's monologuing.

You helped the volunteers passing out shock blankets to those who were injured or just scared, EMTs were rushing around the area. Someone mentioned the museum was in the same area Supergirl and the unnamed villain were fighting. The crowd wondered if there was something in there worth the fight. A man claimed it was Phoenix.

"I saw her with my own eyes, Supergirl tackled her out of the air as the building exploded!"

Everyone saw something different, no one could agree on who it was that Supergirl had encountered. With every yell from Kara's mouth, you became more anxious. More theories began to spread across the street, cops and reporters whispering Kryptonite and 'alien', despite your racing heart and clenched jaw you reminded yourself just how strong she had proven herself to be in the past.

Kara had taken on prisoners from Fort Rozz, she stopped a falling plane, Live Wire and the Red Tornado, the latter was designed specifically to upgrade its fighting skills based on its spars with Supergirl, to use her strongest moves and patterns against her, and these were only in the first couple of months of taking on the hero role. Kara was called super for a reason.

You could hear Alex and her team mobilizing and preparing to rush in as Kara landed the final blows. Your phone buzzed in your pocket, the screen lit up with Alex's name and number and a text asking where you were.

"I'm safe. Is Kara?" The little bubbles on the screen told you Alex was typing and erasing, typing and erasing for what felt like ten minutes before she finally sent back "Kara is safe." But at this point, Kara didn't sound safe.

A menacing voice was taunting her, telling her if she stayed down, if she gave up he would spare the block of her choice. The longer you sat on the stairs to the bank with the unaware crowd the more your muscles ached with an electric need to step in and help, every nerve running up your spine tingling. When you heard a cop whisper to his partner in a broken and panicked voice 'she's losing' you couldn't stay still any longer.

You hopped up, the metallic blanket falling to the steps as you turned and raced the opposite direction, away from Supergirl and the fight.

The dust didn't have time to settle before the alien that had Kara trapped on the ground was turning on you, giving the blonde a chance to jump to her feet.

"Just how many of your kind are on this planet Kara Zor-El?" The alien asked the laughter in his voice was infuriating as you realized just how worn out Kara looked. She stared at you wide-eyed, taking in the red and yellow you were wearing, a hint of pride in her slight smile. "Two Kryptonian heads will be more than enough to atone for the crimes your people have committed against my home."

"I'm not Kryptonian. I will not allow you to commit the same crimes you allege against the Kryptonians to my own people." You countered, hands already burning.

"Phoenix!" Kara shouted, "distract him!" You sent her a glance as she dashed away but did as she asked.

This alien was highly skilled at hand to hand, their punches fast and aiming at all of your weakest points. Face, throat, face, stomach, stomach, face, throat. You were beginning to notice a pattern to his moves and as you stepped to the side in anticipation of his next move, ready to make your own, he took you by surprise with a right hook to the face. You stumbled back before regaining your balance,  a coppery taste on your tongue.

You could see Kara picking up something from the farthest edge of the street, he was preparing to turn his back on you to attack her once again, so you ran at the invader. When your bodies collided the impact knocked both of you back. The force of it knocked the breath out of your body. You forced yourself up, staggering slightly as you put distance between you and the seven foot alien on the ground.

Supergirl was behind him as he stood. He snarled at you in a foreign language before lurching forward. Supergirl grabbed him by the shoulder, pushed him so he was now facing her. She landed punches in quick succession; One, two, three, his fist made loud contact with her face.  Kara glanced over her shoulder and you knew she had a plan. Your heel connected with the aliens back, he fell to his knees.

"Move!" Kara bellowed and before you had much time to do anything, a second blast rang throughout the area, throwing you onto your back once again. As you sat up, dizzied and sore, you noticed the DEO agents rushing in, guns raised and shouting orders at the criminal.

Supergirl rushed up to you, arms extended to help you up.

"I'm okay." You assured her for the third time before she finally quit asking and stepped back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm not the one who was just electrocuted." You rolled your eyes but smiled at her. "Wow, we really are a dynamic duo! We should do this more often... Besides the whole- Yeah." Kara stammered out, cheeks bright pink and eyes bright from the thrill of the fight.

You threw your arms around her and whispered, "you scared me Supergirl." Kara quickly wrapped her arms around you tightly. Exhaustion flooded your body and senses. "I've never seen you in action like that." You told her. "You're kinda hot Supergirl."

"Oh, oh geez." Kara laughed nervously and shook her head. "Noo... I'm a- I'm a mess."

You pressed your lips to her's quick, forgetting where and who you were for a moment. You could have stayed there with her like that for hours if it weren't for the sounds of shutters clicking and reporters shouting. Kara jumped back from you, eyes wide as she scanned the crowd, only relaxing when she saw Jimmy was front and center with his camera.

"Our secret is out." She whispered. A moment of panic fell over the two of you as reality set in. "We'll be okay." She decided, not quite sure if she was assuring you or herself.

"You know, someone said I was the one attacking the city." You told her as she watched her sister's team drag the alien away in Kryptonite handcuffs.

"That's funny because, on my way over, I heard that I was the one blowing an entrance into the side of the museum to lure you out of hiding for a final smackdown." Kara jumped back, playfully lifting her fists in a mock spar.

"It worked, I guess." You answered throwing a hand up to block a punch.

The next morning on the way to work the headlines read very differently than they had just the day before, a picture of Supergirl and Phoenix hugging was splashed across the front of each magazine and newspaper.

"SUPER-TRUCE? A timeline of the SvP feud"

"Supergirl retiring? Source says 'She's ready to settle down!"

"The 'dynamic duo' we didn't know we were waiting for"

Your eyes lingered on the last title, the picture of Supergirl's hand resting on Phoenix's back. As you picked up the magazine, you recognized the logo across the top and laughed.

"How much for the CATCO, sir?" You asked reaching for your purse.

[hardlyfatal]

gary’s writing workshop: lesson 3:

Plot Structuring, Part 1

What is a story? Stories are accounts of transformations: situations, people, attitudes, establishments. If something isn’t changing, what is there to write about? Nothing.

Our job, as writers, is to describe the change and repercussions so that they’re effectively and entertainingly communicated to our readers with as much readability as possible. There are three components to managing it, which I’ll be going over here..

In this lesson, I’m going to ask you to change how you perceive and write stories.1

1. Plot Points & Purpose

Instead of looking at scenes from the outside – instead of looking at them from the POV of the reader, and considering their entertainment value – I want you to look at them from the inside. Or, rather, from below. From what basis, to what purpose, do they spring?

Scenes do not exist just to be entertaining. The wow factor is great, but it’s the icing on this particular cake. You can dress up a scene with elaborate setting, intense dialogue, brisk pacing, and boatloads of UST… but if they don’t move the plot along, they’re like a broken pencil: pointless.

Thus the new way to look at stories, at individual scenes, is to scrutinize them for purpose. The only purpose or reason any scene should make it into a story is because it moves the plot to its next point. These are in fact called plot points, and every scene requires one.

It’s a pretty existential way of looking at the matter, but it’s necessary, in order to create a satisfying tale that flows logically from one place to the next, that feels continuous and makes sense. Making sense is a very important, and often overlooked, aspect of storytelling.

Let’s use my story, Shoot the Moon, as an example. Going into it, I knew my overarching story premise: I wanted them to meet, hate each other, but slowly grow to learn about, become attracted to, eventually love each other, and then part. Not knowing that they actually lived in the same city, they meet again and reestablish their relationship. Finally, they find the motivation to overcome their personal demons to be together.

If you tease apart those plot points, you’ll see there are three acts:

They meet, hate each other, but slowly grow to learn about, become attracted to, and eventually love each other.

They part, not knowing that they lived in the same city, then meet again.

They overcome their misapprehensions about each other, and personal demons, to be together.

So how do I get them from A (beginning of each arc) to B (end of each arc)? The chapters in each arc have to have purpose; they have to have a point. Thus each scene was created to serve the purpose needed. A few examples:

I wanted Jaime to see how loving and gentle Brienne could be in contrast to her appearance and behavior to that point, so I created the scene where she shows the twins the bird eggs.

I wanted Brienne that, for all Jaime’s dickishness, he carried pain and perhaps deserved a bit of understanding and patience, so I created the scene where she confronts him and he reveals how he’s been parenting the twins by himself since his wife died.

I wanted to show Brienne’s persisting lack of self-esteem and reinforce Jaime’s attraction to her, so I created the scene where Arianne opened the door in just a robe, exposing most of her goodies, and Jaime hardly noticing because he was paying attention to Brienne instead.

As long as your story is driven by plot points– that make sense – that’s it. You’re probably suspicious of how simple it is, but it really is just that uncomplicated.

Despite that simplicity, I see a lot of people including gratuitous scenes, the purpose of which is to stroke the reader’s kink for whatever (hurt/comfort, fluff, smut, drama, etc.) instead of to push the plot forward. Either nothing much occurs in the scene, or it’s merely a reiteration of plot development and exposition that has already occurred before.

In the case of the latter, you need to have self-discipline and choose one or the other. There is no need to repeat yourself in romantic fiction – it just bogs things down and kills the pacing. Redundancy is wasted time and effort. If you’ve made a point, the point is made and does not need repeating. Have you noticed yet that I’ve said the same thing four times in this paragraph, just worded differently? Yeah.

In the case of the former, it just needs to go. If it’s dead weight, it’s dead weight. Be like Marie Kondo: thank it and let it go.

That’s not to say that hurt/comfort, fluff, smut, and drama can’t be included. They absolutely can and should be; they just need to have a point, and you only need to make that point once.

The point of a hurt/comfort scene could be one of them learning to trust the other, or discovering they have the capacity to be gentle and caring with another person, or that being vulnerable – with the right person, i.e. the other half of the couple – is not only safe but freeing.

The point of fluff could be one of them revealing they feel secure enough to let their inhibitions down and show spontaneous affection, or to show their joy in being able to openly express their love instead of having to keep it hidden and fearful.

The point of smut could be one of them developing the confidence to be a more active or even dominant lover, or show their surprise to be given pleasure for their sake instead of used for their partner’s satisfaction before their own, i.e. that they matter as well and that they doesn’t have to sacrifice their own pleasure in order to make the other person happy.

The point of a dramatic scene could be an expression of any of these – trust, capacity for gentleness, security in the other’s affections, confidence, realization of self-worth, revelations of secrets – possibly with some sort of action-y component. Is there a dramatic revelation that will somehow directly impact the romance between the couple?

To illustrate what I mean, I chose to deconstruct a scene from the show specifically because it is so spare of dialogue (relatively speaking), to show you how effective scenes can be even when there’s not a lot of verbal exposition, at least about the true reason for the scene.

This scene has nothing to do with her loyalties to the Starks or Catelyn Stark, though it may seem that way at first. It exists to give Jaime an opportunity to get to know Brienne better in ways that speak to her core personality and character.

Example:

TV!Brienne takes on three Stark men – who had killed a group of prostitutes after servicing Lannister soldiers – while Jaime watches. Youtube link, if you’d like to watch it to see exactly what happens..

Reason it was included:

To give the audience not only more evidence of her fighting prowess but also insight to her thoughts/feelings (her pity for the prostitutes in particular and of women’s plight in being under the control of men in general, and that she’s empathetic to the point of being vengeful on behalf of others who have suffered).

To make the audience understand that Jaime is now aware that Brienne is a formidable fighter; is not an empty braggart/can back up her claims of ‘knocking men into the dust’; is passionate enough about her convictions to fight and kill for them; is brave enough to face, and skilled enough to defeat, three men at once; is more committed to her loyalty to other women than she is to the Stark cause.

What was accomplished:

Jaime sees her as more than just her unusual appearance or another random person who loathes him like everyone else or a Stark lackey. She becomes a real person to him in this scene.

2. Making the Reader Give a Damn

You have to retain the reader’s interest from one chapter to the next. If you lose them along the way, you’ve lost any reason to keep going with the story. I know we all tell ourselves “I’m just having fun!” and “I’m doing this for myself!” but I think we all agree, though maybe just secretly, that it’s kind of bullshit: stories are made to be read by someone, somewhere.

If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? If no one reads our stories, was it worth the effort of writing them? If we’re boring the pants off our readers, why bother? Maybe it’s because you love to know you’re making others happy, maybe it’s because you love the appreciation you receive, whatever. IDK your life. But for the most part, there’s some external validation going on, and if others are quitting your story in the middle, or foregoing your stories entirely because past things you’d written had been unreadable, you’re just shouting into a void.

The main issues where readership hangs in the balance are pacing and description (setting, blocking, inner voice/narration). We’ll go over all of these to a greater degree in later lessons. For now, I’ll just say… if these are compromised, you’re going to be giving a skimpier, shallower, boring-er version instead of the lushly-detailed story it could have been.

3. Making Sense

Getting them sucked in with your word-picture and the flow of plot points is only two-thirds of the job: you also need to make sense. And before you start yapping about suspension of disbelief, yes, that’s a thing, but it only goes so far. There are certain premises than can stretch credulity and still work, but others that go too far and just ruin it.

This is one of our Battles of the Balance: you have to find how far you can go until it just doesn’t work and starts to feel stupid. It negatively impacts readability because it’s so outlandish that it tugs the reader from their reading trance and makes them wonder WTF you’re trying to do because what you just wrote is highly improbable. It kills the story’s readability. It’s important to stay grounded and retain an open mind about your balance in this regard. You need to be able to analyze what you’re doing and seeing if it is going over the top rather than blindly trusting your first impulses and, worse, ignoring feedback that indicates that you need to tone it down.

This is why the work of A Certain Someone fails: she contends that human people are able to produce bodily secretions to a volume that is not physically possible. She loses us because she forewent logic for the payoff she was reaching for (presumably arousal?). Instead of us getting all into the smut and romance, grinning dirtily, instead we frown and grimace because we’re imagining rivulets and puddles and sodden carpets and crusty mattresses, etc. And her ego prevents her from understanding that she is imbalanced in this way, with the result that she keeps churning out fic after revolting fic that many potential readers avoid.

It’s also why Mary Sues and Gary Stus spur such a knee-jerk loathing in so many people. It’s fine to give your characters fine, admirable qualities, but if you heap them on, or don’t counter them with just-as-significant flaws, it will no longer make sense because it’s illogical that anyone would be so fantastic and lacking in defects.

Chekhov’s Gun3 vs. Deus Ex Machina

Chekhov’s Gun2 and Deus Ex Machina are two sides of the same coin: the need for continuity. If it happens earlier, there needs to be resolution later. If it happens later, there needs to be mention (aka ”foreshadowing”) earlier.

Chekhov’s Gun is a literary principle stating that elements in a story have to be relevant. The presence of superfluous details constitute ‘false promises’ on the part of the author, because they’re offering a concept to the reader that will never have any point.

This doesn’t mean you should never mention non-essential things that have no bearing on the plot for fear of creating Chekhov’s guns willy-nilly; you need to create ambiance with description of setting, etc. It just means don’t make a point of mentioning something beyond its level of importance to the story. Brienne’s nose is mentioned as being crooked to emphasize her ugliness as well as symbolize her atypically unfeminine lifestyle since the huge majority of Westerosi women don’t get their noses broken, due to their less active lifestyles. Jaime’s nose is mentioned… never, because it doesn’t matter.

Disclaimer: I am terrible at the Chekhov’s Gun thing, because I have a shitty memory and will put in a detail that I fully intend to do something with… only to completely forget it exists and never mention it again. This is bad. Do not do as I do on this one. I mention it because it’s a continuing issue I struggle with and continue to work on. My poor betas...

Deux Ex Machina is a plot device whereby a problem, conundrum, obstacle, or mystery is solved when an unlikely resolution presents itself without any hints or foreshadowing earlier in the plot, often in such a convenient way that it feels contrived and anti-climactic.

Example that I just cooked up: The big fight in King’s Landing, Jaime and Brienne fight a pitched battle to reach the throne room where Cersei is seated upon her pile of swords. Together, they manage to defeat Gregor Clegane and just as they’re about to confront the queen, Arya pops up3 from behind the throne to tug on Cersei’s left earlobe. Turns out, Cersei is actually an android and had been malfunctioning for a long time, hence her erratic behavior. Bran had a vision about where her off-switch was, and used magical mind-speak to tell his sister how to cut Cersei’s power. Et voilà!

Example that actually happened in the show: Dragons fly at the speed of light and can whisk people around a continent comparable in size to the United States in an hour or two. Similarly, ships can navigate long distances at a fraction of the time supported by actual reality, and horses can rocket down the Kingsroad like Maseratis, if the speed with which Brienne and Pod made it from Winterfell to the dragon pit is any indication4.

Homework

If you are currently working on a story: create an outline of its plot in terms of each scene’s purpose. Identify any gaps in the progression of plot points, and come up with ways to bridge those gaps.

If you are not currently working on a story: do this with one of the stories you have already published. Think up what you could have done differently, or what you could have inserted, to connect the loose ends.

If you are not currently writing anything, and have never published anything: Take one of my stories, nothing too short because it won’t have enough transitions to make the effort meaningful, and nothing too long because LOL this is supposed to be fun, and do as instructed above. I suggest Signs of Life, Vision of Love, or Full Fathom Five because of their middling lengths. Identify gaps, and suggest fixes for them.

Remember to look for connections and flow from scene to scene, NOT chapter to chapter.

Footnotes

1 – Unless you already do this, in which case… well done! Carry on! 

2 – This refers to Anton Chekhov, Russian author, not any Star Trek character.

3 – I SWEAR TO GOD I wrote this months ago, before the last season. Wish I hadn’t been prescient about it... *weeps*

4 – Like, I know about the compression of time through editing but COME ON.

© 2019 to me