#personally attacking you. I follow people who do and people who don’t think he’s gay. It Does Not Matter. non issue.

[ssruis]

I dislike talking abt whether rui is implied gay or not because it feels like provoking two different troupes of angry chimpanzees (& I also don’t care atp who gaf im not arguing over ships of all things) but I will say that it feels a little unfair that people will use minori showing no interest in men as evidence of her lesbianism (valid) but turn around and say rui showing a similar lack of interest in women is meaningless.

[buckboi]

Angsty Little Coda to 7.6 because I couldn’t get the look on Margaret Buckley’s face out of my head but don’t worry it has a happy ending

*Now edited and on Ao3*

G / 1k / TW for bad parents

“Evan, have you got a moment?” 

Five words from his mother and Buck falls off cloud nine and crashes back to nineteen years old.

But Chimney’s alive and okay. Maddie’s glowing beside him in her gown. Everyone’s chatting and eating the overpriced (but admittedly delicious) wedding cake. It feels like a family gathering, and Buck won’t cause a scene in front of his family.

“Yeah, sure,” he says. Tommy gives his hand a gentle squeeze. Says I’ll be right here with just his eyes. Buck squeezes back, and follows his mom into the corridor.

“Come here.” She pulls a tissue from her pocket with one hand, grabs his chin with the other and starts wiping away the soot Tommy had left on his face when they reunited. “So. What’s all this then?”

It’s a trap, he knows.

“What’s all what?” he deflects.

“All this.” She waves her hand at his face, then towards the hospital room where Tommy is visible through the glass door. “You’re an adult now, Evan. I thought you knew better than to upstage your sister on her wedding day.”

Oh great. Accused of doing exactly what he’s trying not to do. It would be funny if it wasn’t frustrating.

“Second wedding,” he mutters under his breath. Just because Maddie was happy to forgive her parents for missing the first one, doesn't mean Buck has to let it go too.

“Excuse me?”

“I said she knows,” he corrects. This is a happy day. Chim is alive. Maddie is beautiful. Tommy is waiting for him. Things are good. He’s not arguing with his mother. “Maddie. I told her about Tommy weeks ago. She was the first person I told, actually. And she told me to bring him to the wedding, if I wanted to. The only one here who seems to have a problem with it is you.”

His mom scoffs at that, and lets go of his face.

“I’m not homophobic.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“I just don’t think it’s right, springing it on your father like that.” She tuts at him. Like he’s nineteen, fifteen, twelve, eight years old. He almost liked it when she was disappointed in him. At least she was paying attention. “He’s getting older. His heart.”

“You think me having a boyfriend is going to give dad a heart attack?” He laughs at the absurdity of it all. “Do you think we should get him outta that room before he realizes Hen and Karen are lesbians?”

“Evan.” How she manages to say his name with some much judgment when she’s the one who names him, he’ll never know. “It’s different. When you find out your own child has been lying to you for years. And all those girls you’d string along...”

She looks hurt, but not angry, which is its own kind of fucked up. It’s not fair. She doesn’t get to be sad about this.

Not when things are finally feeling good, and safe, and right. When Tommy feels right.

“I wasn’t lying.” It’s maybe more of the truth than she deserves.

“I don’t see how that can be true if you’re gay.”

“Well I’m bi, actually. And I only just-“ he scrubs a hand over his face, probably spreading the soot around worse. “It’s a recent development, okay? That’s why people didn’t know. ‘Cause it’s new. And Tommy and I are taking it slow.”

“I suppose that’s a first for you too, Evan?” she snipes and it’s goddamn unfair because who is she to ask him that? To judge his life when she’s never so much as pretended to take an interest in it?

He has options, now. He could storm off. He could say something worse. He could say something worse, something about dead children and how they can’t disappoint you like the ones who are still alive and then storm off.

She’s not worth it, says a voice in his head. It sounds a lot like Eddie, and Bobby; like Maddie, and Chim, and Hen, and Tommy.

Like someone who actually cares about him.

“Can we just… not?” he asks, and for a second Buck thinks she might actually refuse. Might force the point, but she lets out an unnecessarily weary sigh and nods. “Can’t we go back to the party, and enjoy what’s left of the day?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I want that?” Buck doesn’t even attempt to answer that one. “Just let me get you looking respectable again and we can go back.” She grabs at his face once more.

“Buck! Chim wants you back for a team photo,” Maddie says, bursting out of Chimney’s room in a cloud of tulle. Just in time to witness his humiliation. Great. “Aww, you’re wiping it off?” 

“Of course he is,” their mom says. She’s scratching at his face with the tissue. Speaking for him like he can’t answer on his own. “It’s your wedding, Maddie. I won’t let him show you and Howard up.”

Buck takes a deep breath and smiles thinly as his sister furrows her brows.

“Oh, well, Chim said he wanted a photo with your face all dirty.” She laughs sweetly, and grabs Buck’s arm. “He wants to capture every detail of the day.” 

“Oh,” Buck says eloquently as he lets his sister pull him back into Chimney’s room. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she assures him.

“No it isn’t,” Chim cuts in from his bed. “Tommy, again. I want that photo!”

And Buck laughs, because it’s silly, and because he knows his family loves him. He asks, “Do we have to?” not because he doesn’t want to, but because it’s Maddie and Chim’s day, and he never wanted to steal their spotlight, even for a moment.

“Oh absolutely you do, Mister,” Maddie tells him, with just enough tease that he knows she wouldn’t force it if he protested. “Our wedding, our rules.”

Buck has no interest in protesting, instead he turns towards Tommy, who’d been a shockingly good sport about this. Buck’s sure he’s exhausted; probably desperate to get back to his apartment and shower off the day. Kinda wants to join him there if he’s being completely honest with himself.

“Well?” Tommy asks, interrupting his steamy fantasy.

Buck bites his lip like he's a teenager again.

“Hi.”

“H-“ Buck interrupts Tommy’s reply with his lips, far softer than before.

He’ll never ask how his mom reacted - whether she rolled her eyes, or pursed her lips or looked, even for a moment, proud of him - but Buck’s family cheers and jeers and whistles their support.

And he feels free.

[nerdygaymormon]

Elder Oaks' address in October 2024 asks for civility and less polarization. “We need to love and do good to all. We need to avoid contention and be peacemakers in all our communications,” he advised. “This does not mean to compromise our principles and priorities but to cease harshly attacking others for theirs.”

Elder Oaks spoke about "temporary commandments," such as the exodus west by the early pioneers, and "permanent commandments." Some examples of permanent commandments include avoiding contention, tithing, fully embracing “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and using the “revealed” name of the church.

He asked members to cease attacking others if their beliefs differ from your own. “As we pursue our preferred policies in public actions, let us qualify for his blessings by using the language and methods of peacemakers,” he urged. “In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful.”

Elder Oaks closes his remarks with the idea that in social and political discussions, “truth” needs to be taught and implies that apostles and prophets teach truth—so defend them.

———————————————

In response to Elder Oaks' address, his grandson Jared Oaks made the following comment via Latter Gay Stories:

GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMENTARY: My grandfather seems to have made a religious career out of anti-LGBTQIA2S+ policies, not prophesies. I’m saddened by that. Although I am not a practicing Mormon, I regret that he does not represent the best parts of Mormonism. What’s up with “don’t be mad at us for hating you”?

Mormonism, like other traditions and philosophers, has immense room for everyone; but Grandpa’s “love, but” rhetoric tells me that I am more welcome with Mormon membership than family.

There was one who “wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity.” My grandfather does not know what that means, judging from his addresses.

Love can and should include all.

The many LDS members who are friends of mine do not act and speak with anything but love for everyone. They constitute a “true church.” I can’t tell you how many amazing Mormons I know. I come from this tradition and care about the better parts of it.

Speaking of harmful rhetoric within families, as my grandfather did today, I was shocked when, just before meeting with one of my amazing cousins, [Dallin’s wife] Kristen Oaks, warned my grandpa that I might be wearing a “wife beater.”

That stung.

For the record, I am unmarried. If that makes me a royal disappointment, I accept the mantle.

-Jared Oaks

———————————————

I think what Jared is saying is the church can’t have it both ways. They can’t embrace "truths" which disparage minority communities and then want others to be okay and not get upset for members simply proclaiming their beliefs which are hurtful. Jared points out that his grandfather, Dallin H. Oaks, despite these words calling for more kindness, has not been kind to queer people—his own grandson included.

[darklinaforever]

Love how the cat king says “I don’t see the harm in one little spell.” About the bracelet and then is the cause of the gang being almost killed by a witch, Charles having to relive childhood trauma, Edwin going into gay panic, Jenny being attacked by a psychopath, Charles having to literally relive his death, Edwin realizing he's in love with Charles, Monty being “killed”, the boys being almost killed by a mushroom, the boys being almost dragged to their afterlives, Edwin being dragged to hell, Crystal having to fight her abusive ex boyfriend, Edwin confessing his love to Charles, Jenny having to know about ghosts and stuff, Edwin being tortured, and Niko getting killed.

Yes of course... The Cat King is responsible for all the horrible things that happened to the group! Bad faith is powerful here.

Also, just to say...

Edwin and Charles would surely have been found whether they stayed in town or not since they had already been spotted following Charles' possession of Esther. And given the determination of the woman who wanted to find them, believe me she would have done it at one point or another. And she would have made Charles relive his death just as much probably too.

Crystal, for her part, should have fought David whether she was in Port Townsed or not ! I remember that the guy was always on her mind before she went there.

And then, what does the Cat King have to do with the fact that Jenny was almost killed by a psychopath ? This girl literally said she had to start cleaning again before she started trying to kill Jenny, implying that she must have killed other women before. So it probably would have happened to Jenny at some point, whether Niko got involved or not.

And then... Monty is not dead. He was just transformed back into a crow.

And in fact, fortunately the Cat King warned Edwin of the trap of society, so he was at least prepared.

The Cat King is not responsible for Esther's behavior. If Esther tried to kill the group it was purely her fault, that crazy person. And I remind you that the Cat King literally gave crucial information about Esther to Niko and Crystal so that they could save Edwin and Charles with a minimum of success.

The delusion of an event caused by one person who is responsible for everything that follows is a stupid reasoning.

I can do it too ! Look : If Edwin hadn't cast a spell on a cat, the Cat King wouldn't have put the bracelet on him ! So it's all Edwin's fault ! Or again : f Crystal hadn't insisted on going to resolve the case of the disappearance of the little girl kidnapped by Esther while the boys had never practiced outside of London, well none of that would have happened !

And if someone dares to tell me that, yes but Edwin and Crystal did this for good reasons, what do you think the Cat King did ? He simply temporarily punished with a spell, someone who himself cast a spell on one of his cats, one of his subjects / member of his people, by trapping him in turn. Not to mention that Edwin is quite disdainful towards the cat by validating the thought that for him, yes, cats are all alike.

Brief ! In any case, delighted to at least note that this person recognizes that without Cat King there will be no Edwin who admits to being gay and even less confesses to Charles.

[transboysokka]

tell me about autistic Zuko (modern au or canon. Like how he grew up, why it’s justified in canon, how people around him react to it/are they assholes or not) bc I’ve been thinking about him but I can’t seem to articulate all my feelings into words and you’re good at that <3

hahahaha gladly here is a smattering of Facts and Evidence, in no particular order

Fact #1: His special interest is the Avatar. That boy’s done so much research!! (I’m joking with this one and yet… 👀)

Evidence #1: His father was embarrassed of him when he was a kid. This could have been for a variety of reasons including that he’s gay but also if you are trying to raise an heir of a powerful nation, you would see a lot of autism symptoms as a weakness, especially things like awkwardness, difficulty making eye contact, etc

Evidence #2: He doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends growing up which can also be explained in different ways but a kid just following around his sister and her friends all day? sus

Evidence #3: The way he rehearses what he’s going to say to Aang at the Western Air Temple… and the awkwardness of it makes it So Much More… it’s the most really, THE autistic of scenarios. We GOTTA practice big conversations like that before they happen, we just do…

Evidence #4: He borrows from other scripts for social interaction. You know when he’s trying fo get along with everyone at the air temple and he makes tea for them and try to tell a joke? Why does he do that? Because he’s mimicking Iroh, who is probably the most outgoing person in his life, and following exactly what Iroh does to be friendly and ingratiate himself with others…

Evidence #5: Missing social cues. I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head but I think we’ve all seen it. Also “That’s rough, buddy” is something he TOTALLY stole from someone else because he had no idea what he actually was supposed to say in that situation

Fact #2: now HERE’s a guy who feels deeply but is SO bad at expressing or controlling his feelings. Remember when he was worried about the comet and instead of talking about it just ATTACKED HIS FRIENDS?? oof yeah

Important Headcanon #1: Zuko is really sensitive to texture and has ARFID, which does have a high overlap with autistic folks. This “pickiness” causes real problems for him, especially when he’s v busy being the Fire Lord…. He tends to eat the same foods a lot to sustain himself (fire flakes) and makes the same exact tea for himself every single day. He DOES like to bake and cook though, and is quite good at it, even if he won’t eat it all

Headcanon #2: Our boy’s special interests are history, dao swords, and baking

Headcanon #3: Not a fan of eye contact

Theory #1: Our boy Sokka def has that ADHD and I just don’t think it’s that common or easy for ND folks to be in a relationship with NT folks (I have no proof of this but just think about it for a sec) so therefore Zuko must be neurodivergent

This is a big ol’ mess but for a MUCH more comprehensive and comprehensible Auristic Zuko explanation, please refer to this masterpiece of a post which I just found after spending a bunch of time answering this ask lolol

[beanghostprincess]

Sorry I really didn’t mean I’m attacking you or your ship. I also don’t think it’s a red flag, most gay men I saw don’t really like shuggy either. I mean, probably the entire world prefers any other shanks ships? On almost every site, con or store there’s always tons of mishanks and Bennshanks and never shuggy. I get it’s also about dynamic and connection those two pairs have, like with the parallels to other ships the base for them is extremely strong. But the minimal shuggy does speak volumes. I genuinely wonder about this. Shuggy is unpopular and again while I do agree there’s strong connection between “rival ships” I don’t think that’s the only reason… and like…. Buggy is ugly, isn’t he? He doesn’t have cool style, doesn’t look cool, makes ugly faces all the time, also is a coward. I like him as comedy character and shanks brother though!

I understand where you're coming from when you say Shuggy is unpopular amongst some people (actually, before anyone says anything. It IS an extremely popular ship in Japan but I have seen A LOT of hatred towards it in this side of the fandom, so that's what I'm talking about when I say it's unpopular). I have talked about this before. And I have said a lot of times that the reason why is often because people only focus on looks and Buggy is not conventionally attractive for the fangirly twinkified sexualized gaze numerous sides of the fandom and the general audience seek. Like, I am not forcing people to ship them, but I have had people admitting the only reason they don't is because of the looks, and I personally believe that is a very (despite valid, of course) dull way of seeing ships. And respectfully, I don't care that other gay dudes or all the people in the world agree with you. It's not a red flag to not like Shuggy, what it is a red flag, though, is to come into people's inboxes to do what you're doing!

I know you don't mean to attack me or anybody who ships them but your tone does wonders showing otherwise. Your perception of shipping is just based on looks and the fact that you came here, to a blog that explicitly ships these characters and is fond of Buggy, talking shit about one of the characters' looks... Is just straight-up mean and not following the social etiquette this site should follow, which is "let people do whatever the fuck they want".

So with all due respect, what makes you think I won't find your questions offensive in any way? Because you keep talking bad about a character I like in my inbox for literally no reason. Do you expect me to admit that the ship is unpopular because Buggy is ugly and boring? Well, I do admit people view him as ugly and only a comedy relief, but I don't. Expecting others to find beautiful and interesting the same things you do is having a very close-minded vision that One Piece's plot itself is against.

By the way, you're showing that you clearly don't like Buggy in the slightest because you're only talking about the traits that you find negative about him. But of course, you like him as comedy relief. Of course, you like him as a character in Shanks' story and not as a character himself. Despite Buggy having lots of depth. Your perception of these characters seems, in my opinion, extremely empty and, as I said, only based on looks. And you're free of shipping whatever you want however you want! But please, please, don't do this anymore. This is just petty high school mean girl behavior. Even Regina George would word this in a more polite way.

So, as a little advice for you, let people ship whatever they want without questioning their favorite characters! I am sure you will live a more peaceful life!

[writing-rat]

Concert Freakout

PART 2 | PART 3

Pairings: CC Walker x Katie Torres

Content: Panic attacks, homophobia

Summary: Katie has a panic attack when she tries to get a phone battery. Luckily CC is nearby.

WC: 695

Katie was excited. She had just entered Fleekfest and was eager to meet up with the other people they would be seeing the concert with. She was following her friend, unable to stop staring at one group. She was enamoured with one of the people in the group. CC Walker. She was the football captain and the best player in the team too, the team being called ‘Unicorns’. Hell, she had a chance at being national she was told. “Katie, over here,” her friend, Layla, spoke. Katie quickly looked away and blushed before she saw the group of people.

There were 3 boys for the 3 of the girls and she was feeling more nervous, wishing she came out sooner as bisexual. She would be okay for the time being however she decided. Luckily, the guy was decent but she wouldn’t interact with him further she decided. This would be the only time they would interact she concluded. “Hey! Katie! Want to head to the tent now?” Layla asked, smirking. 

“What, why? Aren’t we here for the music?” Katie responded, confused. Layla just laughed. “Don’t you want to get with an older, cooler boy? He plays basketball and could become popular. Wouldn’t you love that?” she asked, looking at her with a smirk. 

Katie froze and then shook her head. “No. I like someone else anyway,” she admitted, looking away. “Oh?” Layla smirked. “Who?” she asked tilting her head. Katie thought about it and then decided to say it. “CC, you know? CC Walker,” she finished. Layla immediately backed up. “Jesus, you’re gay? No wonder you were so weird all the time. Guess… I’ll see you around then,” Layla mumbled, walking away. That broke her heart as she soon texted Nando, walking away as she was scared alone. That’s when her phone died. 

“Fuck,” she spoke, some tears coming out soon enough. That’s when she went into the crowd, begging for a charger at least. “Please, do you have a charger I can borrow?” Katie pleaded with many people, most ignoring her. This person however promised to help, grabbing her phone.

“And… here!” she spoke then threw the phone into the crowd, laughing. “No reason for a phone now,” she laughed and Katie was starting to struggle to breathe. Unable to speak she just walked away and was going into a private spot, curling up. Well, she thought it was private. It wasn’t really, it was another tent. She was ashamed when a familiar face came out. “Hey, you alright?” she asked, sitting next to her. 

“Yes,” Katie lied, her breathing loud and heavy due to being unable to breathe. “No, you aren’t. Breathe with me, ok?” the girl, CC, spoke, and started to breathe in and out. Katie was doing as told. It took about 3 minutes before Katie was ok. “Now. Explain please what happened?” CC asked, looking at her concerned.

“Well… my old friend wanted to get me in a tent with boys and I didn’t want that. I explained why and she unfriended me there. I could tell from her eyes… I tried to text my brother if everything was okay but it died then someone threw my phone in a crowd and now I don’t have a phone,” Katie silently cried as she hugged her legs. CC nodded, thinking. “Want to stay with me and my friends and we can drop you off at home?” she asked. Katie nodded embarrassed. “Plus, we get a good view and volume for the stage from here,” she chuckled out. Katie relaxed more, before she looked on stage, happy to be close to someone she knew at least.

-

It had been 10 minutes before she saw her mom get on stage. She widened her eyes and looked at CC and her friends. “That’s my mom. I’ll uh… see you around,” she spoke and walked away quickly as she was just wanting to be with her family at this point. CC just nodded and watched her walk away, blushing bright red.

“Awwww, lover girl. You going to see her more?” her best friend teased. CC nodded and smiled. “Yeah,” she spoke. 

She was determined to…

[wooshofficial]

hello what are ur thoughts on the new hbomberguy video

OKOK SO I watched it from the hours of midnight to 4am, so I was kinda incoherent when posting that BUT I still do have thoughts.

Mainly I want to pummel James Somerton into the ground for multiple reasons, most of which H put more succinctly than I ever could.

It’s just so fucking disheartening to see someone like James Somerton be so successful off the hard work of people who have dedicated their lives to the stuff he’s ripping off of when those original authors are barely getting paid. It’s very hard to be an academic and watch this video because I know that if I were to write something academic about the queerness in media and publish it, which I plan to do out of college, there’s a very real possibility of James or someone like him finding the work, yoinking it and not giving me the credit, when I won’t get a fucking cent from the publication or him.

I hate that he’s getting away with it too, basically pulling the “I’m gay so I can’t be bad” card. That’s a fucking step BACK from the equal rights that LGBTQ people have been fighting for. By pulling this excuse, he separates the “gays” from the “straights”, putting each group under one black and white label- the straights are evil people who just want to put us gays down. That is a nasty idea right there. Follow that train far enough and you find yourself spouting homophobic rhetoric. Equal rights and seeing the LGBTQ community as equal to others means seeing them as human at ALL angles, the good and the bad. Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you can’t fuck up. Hell, I’m gay, and I’ve fucked up more times than I can count! It just makes me human, and it doesn’t make me less gay. James Somerton is touting himself as The Gay Person Who Knows Everything, which is blatantly untrue, discredits every queer person he’s ripped off of, and separates himself from the other LGBTQ people who make content as “better”- there’s that seed of homophobia again.

AND HE KEEPS DOING THIS! He’s biphobic and misogynistic! He routinely attacks “straight white women”—who could very well be bisexual, but because they’re women they MUST be straight according to Somerton logic—and discredits the work of bisexual authors (mainly bisexual women) who talk about the struggles of the LGBTQ community because “they like the opposite sex so they wouldn’t get it”. He dips himself into transphobia in order to give his biphobia and misogyny some weight, misgendering ND Stevenson (who has been on record about his struggle with coming out and gender identity) and Rebecca Sugar (who has done the same) on multiple occasions. And it’s really fucking disgusting. It really fucking is. When he copies off of work that mentions the words “trans” or “transgender”, he covers those words with generalizations, which takes the transgender community out of the queer experience. So on TOP of being misogynistic and biphobic, he’s ramming headfirst into transphobia too. Which holy fucking shit.

I just. H said not to send hate to James or his team or anyone else talked about in the video on his behalf. I agree and I don’t want to do that. But I sure hope this video is enough to make James Somerton stop being the utter fucking academic supervillain he is. He thinks he can get away with it because YouTube doesn’t count as academia, but there is so much goddamn evidence against him at this point he can’t possibly get off Scot free anymore. I hope YouTube staff sees that video and takes his channel down. I hope Nick, his co-writer that he threw under the bus, gets compensated and a better job. I hope every author and filmmaker Somerton ripped off makes enough money from the video to pay for rent. This can’t keep happening. It just can’t.

[swiftiefirefighters]

It’s not you who enjoys Buddie and BT that’s the problem. What is a problem and what makes a big part of the fandom uncomfortable is BT shippers acting like we all have to like BT and never say a word about the ship and their fans because if we say anything negative we’re called homophobic and haters or other vile and untrue things. That’s not all of you but there is a big group of people who make it impossible to interact with that ship in a normal way. If you’re not as much of a fan of it as them then you’re a villain. They paint themselves as victims and complain about how people are being mean to them everyday but they’re the ones that turned this environment so hostile and toxic. We don’t want to play with them because it’s not normal for people to act like jokes or criticism of ship is something people should get attacked for.

Buddie absolutely IS my number 1. i want buddie endgame. Absolutely. But i feel very uncomfortable sharing content that says don’t interact if you like x this could go for anything - not just bucktommy.

that being said.

no offense but some of the shit people say about tommy DOES come off as homophobic (not all of it not everyone) there have very definitely been some posts i’ve seen that purposely evoke violent graphic images of gay bashing and i think some people need to realize that pointing out how that might be hurtful and triggering to some gay/queer men and how it might have real world implications isn’t saying the entire fandom is homophobic or bad for disliking tommy. there is nothing wrong with disliking tommy! there is nothing wrong with disliking bucktommy! there isn’t even anything wrong with saying it. but if someone tells you that the imagery and language you’ve specifically used is very eerily similar to homophobic rhetoric maybe just listen for a second rather than doubling down and saying something even more disturbing and violent the next time. like people very much care more about defending a fictional pairing than they care about real people who could be hurt by these types of violent language.

i’ve tried really hard to stay out of this fight because i DO think there are ott things on both sides. i do think some people have kind equated disliking tommy with general homophobia and that’s obviously not the case but to deny that there haven’t been things said that come off as at the very least questionable is in bad faith, imo. talking about violently beating a gay man or implying that he’s a predatory groomer are homophobic things that have implications in the real world. luckily i haven’t seen anyone i follow doing either of those things so i don’t think anyone i follow who dislikes tommy is homophobic. if you aren’t doing those things it’s Not About You.

like i said, i try to stay out of this but i don’t want to ignore this ask. im well aware this will probably get me blocked by some people and that actually does make me really sad. i want to reiterate that i dont think anyone i follow who doesn’t like tommy is homophobic. i’ve never seen anything that i consider to be homophobic on my dashboard. i love everyone i follow and would love to continue following them or i just. would hit that unfollow button. so i am not trying to make any blanket statements. i just think there’s nuance and maybe that makes me a wishy washy person afraid of picking sides.

i also don’t necessarily think there’s sides to pick. i think we’re all here to have fun whatever that looks like but if your idea of fun is being mean to people or making fun of them or thinking it’s hilarious to exclude people we probably just don’t gel as people.

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

For nearly 40 years, Berlin Nightclub has set itself apart through its progressive, come-as-you-are atmosphere, late-night dance floor extravaganzas and bold, diverse drag performances. Now, workers at the club are seeking to set Berlin apart in a new way — by becoming the first nightclub in Chicago’s gay enclave with a unionized staff.

According to Jolene Saint, a bartender who has been working at Berlin for more than six years, on February 28th, workers at Berlin filed for union election with UNITE HERE Local 1 — a union representing more than 15,000 hospitality workers in Chicagoland. Two days later, staff notified management of their decision.

Saint says workers’ decision to unionize is ​“not personal, it’s not because we hate anybody — it’s because we know we could have better working conditions.” Two of Berlin workers’ key priorities resemble those of most union drives: better pay and healthcare. Saint, for instance, currently makes $9 an hour plus tips as a bartender, and does not receive health insurance from the club — both things she’d like to see improve. Workers In These Times spoke to said they would also like to see improvements such as proper breaks and consistent scheduling.

Yet other demands at the club have to do with its nature as a queer bar in a time when those spaces are under threat. As homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and violence increase nationally, Saint says she and her coworkers are also worried about violence coming towards the club from the outside. Workers In These Times spoke to mentioned security improvements they would like to see, including proper uniforms for all security staff as well as cut-proof jackets. Chelle Crotinger, who has been part of the club’s security staff for about five months, says they want to use the union as a way to ensure that security team members receive more in-person de-escalation and standard self-defense training.

“People often say that gay bars or queer bars are community spaces,” Saint says. ​“If they want to live up to that promise, they need to take care of the people who are making that happen … so that we can make people feel welcome, and loved.” Leo Sampson, who has been working at Berlin since fall 2021 and performs at the club as drag king Luv Ami-Stoole, sees fighting for the union as an act of community care.​“In a time where the political climate is so anti-drag and anti-trans, I think it’s important to remember we are all we’ve got is this community and we have to support each other,” he says.

Berlin’s union drive follows other recent efforts to improve conditions in Chicago’s queer nightlife scene. During the summer 2020, Chicago drag queen Jo MaMa and other local drag performers held a Drag March for Change, which drew 15,000 protestors. In the wake of the march, a group of performers formed the Chicago Black Drag Council, which held town halls to address racism in the nightlife scene in Northalsted and launched a mutual aid fund for BIPOC nightlife workers. Since then, workers at two of the city’s largest LGBTQ nonprofit organizations, Howard Brown Health Centers and Brave Space Alliance, have been fighting to unionize, which Sampson says has made the community more aware of labor issues. On Friday, members of Howard Brown Health Workers United joined Berlin workers on a picket line outside of the club. ​“We’re sort of inspiring each other to fight for what is right,” he says.

Crotinger sees their union drive as a way to help ensure Berlin remains a safe space for future generations amid larger-scale systemic attacks on queer and trans people. ​“In queer communities, we don’t really have the privilege of relying on legacy because it’s largely been taken away from us, whether it’s been through legislation or been through neglect of medical intervention for the AIDS epidemic,” they say. ​“I feel it’s our responsibility now … to establish something that is going to last beyond us.”

(Continue Reading)

[sassenach082]

I gotta know, what is your writing process? Is there a specific mindset you get into or can you just write anywhere? take me through the process please:)

Hey there! Okay, wow, so. I'm going to attempt to answer this without sounding like a lunatic. It's going to be long so I'll put it under the cut for those of you who want to move on.

First, my actual writing process, which is mostly planning.

The first thing I do is decide how I'm ending. I'm a work backwards kind of writer, probably because I'm a teacher and that's how we plan, the first thing we decide is what we want them to know. So in writing, I always decide, "How is this going to end?" and write that first. I've had the final scene of I'll Ride in my google docs since about 3 hours after I saw TG:M for the fourth time (I saw it 12 times in theaters, hence the lunatic comment above, but I digress).

Once I know how it's going to end, I decide, who are the characters? Where is the setting? What is the conflict going to be? Once I have a vague idea of that, I start my google doc for my outline. Since I write both POVs, I do three columns:

chapter number

POV

main scenes / summary

I'm not someone who writes out every little thing in an outline. Just to give you an idea, here's the summary for chapter 8

title: that fear that’s inside you will lift, give it time

-Ice & his fam vs. The Colonel Who Is An Ass -Sarah is a gem and already knows he’s gay and loves him anyways because, she’s A Gem™  -ice talks to Pete on the phone after dinner, listens as Mav and Bradley read the dinosaur book to him -ice goes to the o club to see the boys and is all ‘yo maverick is fucking struggling also we’re all adopting bradley’ and the boys go ‘aiight cool bro’ -slider pins him against a building and is like “so how long have you been fucking  mitchell” and ice is like ‘fuck off ronnie’ and ronnie is all ‘ice for fucks sake how stupid do you think i am i don’t give a fuck if you like dick i know you’re in love with him i’m not an idiot’ etc -He checks out books after Mav’s panic attack on how to help with trauma

So as you can see what I had in my outline isn't exactly what happened, it's basically just "which scenes do I want in this part". I don't write them in order I just kind of write the main things I want to happen, the scaffold if you will, and then I build the house. I usually go through 2-3 drafts which is why it sometimes takes me a long time to post. It's a 4 step process.

+ decide the scenes I want to see + write the main scenes + put them in chronological order in a new doc + go back and fill in details to connect the scenes together

I'm a very visual person and I have a gift of being able to read something and play it like a movie in my head while I'm reading. It's actually called "visualization" and lots of people can't do it which is my theory why they hate reading but that's whole other conversation. The point is I make the movie in my head, but I pay attention to - where are they? What are they doing? How are they moving? Where are their hands? Ice picked something up, now he has to put it down, where is he going to put it down, how, when, etc. I call it setting the scene but I don't know what it's actually called. As a reader it annoys me when I have no guide on what they're doing in a scene so I try to include those details just because it's easier for me to picture it and I hope it's the same for my readers.

Sometimes my brain decides to do other scenes and I'll add those in as I go. Sometimes my chapters get too long and I have to shove scenes down into the next chapter. It all lives in my google doc so I can keep track. When I'm working on a chapter I will just highlight what I've written so I can see what I still need to write.

Once it's written, and I think this is the most important part, I go back and reread. The whole thing. Start to the end of my new chapter. I check for: 1. am I following my own canon 2. do I have a plot hole on accident, and if I do, I have to fill it 3. do details match (like descriptions) 4. does it flow Sometimes I don't like the flow and that's why I will scrap sections and rewrite them to get more in the headspace of whoever the POV character is. This is extremely difficult for me to do with Ice, he's the harder of the two to write and his chapters take me a life age. I've straight up had Mav's chapters done for over a year. It's the Ice ones I'm working on now. Some of the later chapters will have both POVs just because Ice is so hard for me right now.

Once I have it done I send the link over to my beta. She's great and gives feedback on scenes etc. (Love you mtnofgrace!) and helps me to check that it makes sense / is in character / etc.

Then, I post! I can write pretty much anywhere, and I get into the writing mood by listening to the Top Gun soundtrack mostly. Or just rewatching one of the movies if it's been a while since I've written. Some days I write nothing and others I crank out thousands of words, it just kind of depends on if my muse is flowing. Listening to asmr Top Gun youtube videos with the music and jet noises helps me focus that's what I usually listen to while writing.

Hope that answered your question!

[victusinveritas]

(A great takedown of an asshat on the shaman-to-fascist pipeline. ) -Below the Cut-

I don’t take pleasure in calling people out, but occasionally it has to be done, especially when the person being called out is actively engaging in harmful, hateful things.  Even when it’s proper and righteous to do so, some people find it hard, especially if the person they’re calling out has a large following or if there are political, financial, or safety reasons at play.  Everyone has their own concerns they need to take stock of, and for that reason, not everyone who deserves a call-out gets one.

A few days ago on Twitter, I did my part to call out Gordon White of Rune Soup, around which the Rune Soup Premium Membership (RSPM) is focused.  This was several years late by my reckoning (for which I apologize), but I saw an opportune moment to do so, and decided that something like this is better late than never.  To that end, if you read Gordon’s blog and see his (hilariously awkward and infantile attempts of) attacks at me, this is why; he’s lashing out because someone dared to speak up against him (although I’m far from the only one to do so).  He is not someone to take seriously, much less take classes from; he is a far and sad cry from being any sort of champion of chaos magic, instead descending to little more than anti-vax right-wing grifting.

For those who aren’t on Twitter or have made the choice to ignore it, indulge me if you will.  For recordkeeping’s sake, I’ll list the relevant Twitter threads I made below for you to read at your leisure:

In which I call out Gordon White and Rune Soup for being involved in violent and anti-vax rhetoric while drumming up a personality cult around him

In which I make fun of his subsequent (and hilariously clumsy) attack on me from a blog post he made in response to the above thread

In which I call out his hypocrisy in trying to pillory me for my employment

Ditto, this time him trying to lambast me for being involved in an ATR while employed as I am

In which I share a screenshot of Gordon saying that the COVID vaccines “literally cause AIDS”

In which I share a screenshot of Gordon sharing extremist, partisan, conspiracy “news sources” that engage in evangelical Christian end-of-the-world conspiracies (think Cain, Satan, nuclear war, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, etc.)

In which I make fun of another attack on me for my employment and priesthood (see thread #4 above)

I encourage you all to read the posts above if you can; if nothing else, they should be fairly entertaining, and there’s plenty of commentary from myself and others in the many replies thereof.  I’ll be referring to them and screenshots shared there, since I’m going to go against my usual practice and instead refrain from linking at all to Gordon’s blog or Twitter feed (he doesn’t deserve the traffic from my site).  I may, however, link to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine records of his website, however, depending on the need.  As opposed to tweets and tweetthreads in older posts I’ve made, since I say the same things in the post below, I won’t bother with transcripts.

Oh, and yeah, him saying that COVID vaccines cause AIDS thing is very much real.  Let’s just get that out of the way first while we’re here.  Below is a screenshot of something he said in his private RSPM groups, and it’s far from the only such thing he’s said (alongside the tired variants on how vaccines cause autism, etc.).  Those who’ve been following Rune Soup know that Gordon has said some awful stuff in general when it comes to medicine, healthcare, and the vulnerable, but he says so much worse stuff behind closed doors.  And, as an out gay man himself (and myself, I should note!), I feel like he should have at least some sort of shame about invoking the HIV/AIDS crisis in this horrific, self-serving way.

Anyway, let me share my original statement regarding Gordon White.  It built off of a quote-tweet by Marco Visconti, in which he asked “Are we all still ok with the fake permaculture shaman to keep on serving virulent anti-vaxxer rhetoric alongside his abysmal rune soup?”.  I know I wasn’t and hadn’t been for some time, so I decided to let my thoughts be known clearly:

The only place for Rune Soup, honestly, is down the drain. It’d been bad for a while, and I really don’t know what else to tell people except to stay away from Gordon White’s stuff at this point, given all the hubristic, hateful, and violent ranting coming from him and his blog. I used to like him, I was a supporter of his stuff, I joined in on his classes, and it was great while it lasted, but…well, as it turned out, GW/RS is a fine example of spirituality mingling with conspiracy to make conspirituality—which is as much a con as anything else. It’s not just me that’s picked up on this; I tuned out of GW/RS’s stuff a good while back after he gladly invited some unfortunate people on his show, but others’ve kept up and have better receipts. https://sublunar.space/2021-04-drinking-the-kool-soup.html https://codexastarte.substack.com/p/waiter-theres-a-fly-in-my-rune-soup https://codexastarte.substack.com/p/waiter-theres-a-fly-in-my-rune-soup-f5a

Twitter being what it is, something like this spread quickly.  Now, going into this, I knew that this was going to hit a lot of people in different ways, and I know that I have many people I consider friends or colleagues who are or were part of RSPM or who are otherwise fans of Gordon.  Although it shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who pays attention to the things I say when it comes to politics or science, I know my own silence regarding Gordon specifically may have led some into some false sense of alliance between my and Gordon’s views, which I’ve since publicly rebuked and repudiated as being repulsive and vile.  By speaking out, I knew I was gonna make at least some people upset.

And, predictably (given how he’s reacted in the past to other people who’ve called him out along similar lines), Gordon wrote a post of his own on his website in a matter of hours attempting to pillory me.  A screenshot of the post in question:

A transcript:

I’m sure you all remember my pompous, Tory, cokehead little stalker still hopping mad that he isn’t -and never will be- me. From memory, Sam is some kind of federal IT bureaucrat so I guess he knows where his bread is buttered. Only a personality who could endure such a job could also be responsible for the unremittingly boring and lengthy blog posts that always fail to distinguish between what hermetic texts actually say versus the words they contain. The only magic in them is a cure for insomnia. All of this is to say I guess his dumb little take is not very surprising. Anyway, this is what I have the distinct pleasure of dealing with while I go about my fake permaculturing and my fake shamaning. (Including bringing the work of Indigenous elders from around the world to public attention for the first time.) Apparently that’s ‘hate’, according to Sam. Apparently his grumpy little Tory cokehead friend’s repeated instances of misogyny and homophobia isn’t ‘hate’. (Fun bonus fact: Sam is gay.)

I find it comical how he described me and my blog in literally the exact opposite terms in his interview with me from September 2017, but so it goes, I suppose.  As for whatever insults he has for Marco, that’s a whole thing that’s its own debacle unto itself; Gordon likes to cry about being bullied while throwing insults like this, even to the point of making up identities for him to play his own brand of identity politics with, and it goes well beyond just Marco.  It all just blends into background noise after a point when you go through his blog archives.

The rest of his post isn’t worth the read; it’s just so much him whining about how misunderstood he is (despite his ample writing over the years that make abundantly clear what he believes) and how his followers should take the moral high road when it comes to haters (though I doubt they’d do well at that by following his example).  In this specific blurb riddled with ad-homimems, however, Gordon not only attempts to dox me (name, employer, and sexuality—none of which I’ve ever kept a secret, but it’s still a class act of him lashing out) but also makes a pathetic attempt at insulting me and my writing, to which I have two things to say:

Sorry not sorry that my blog posts can get a bit long so that I can produce things of substance instead of mere content, or that I don’t just copy-paste other people’s half-read opinions and share them as some sort of deep truth of my own like some people do.

Sorry not sorry that I use textual criticism because I care about getting things right for real implementation instead of following hucksters who call for harm against people doing meaningful work.

There’s also the “white savior” complex he brings into this, too; it shouldn’t be forgotten that Gordon has made a huge hubbub in recent years about his “shaman certification” that he received (after paying something around $10k for) from Alberto Villoldo, a Cuban psychologist who developed a form of neo-shamanism based on Peruvian and other South American practices, though not without controversy of his own regarding the (severe) impropriety of him doing so, which casts doubt on the very legitimacy of what Gordon inflates and reminds people of constantly.  Although, let’s be honest, it’s not like figuring out how legitimate such a “shamanic healing” practice would be given how Gordon himself talks about and markets it:

In addition to what he said about me on his blog, he also said a few unfortunate things about me on his Twitter, trying to shame me for my employment as a low-level software engineer for the United States federal government.  I’ve never kept this a secret, although I don’t bring up which specific agency beyond saying that it’s one of the calmer apolitical ones in existence.  I know what my job consists of and how it impacts people (and Gordon by his own admission doesn’t, I should note), but I don’t bring it up because nothing I say online or on this blog is ever said from the perspective of a federal employee.  To be sure, the United States as a whole has caused atrocious horrors the whole world over; I’d never deny that.  However, for Gordon (who has built so much of his blogging career on talking about elaborate non-systems and how so many things supposedly interconnect and interrelate to the point of outright unfounded conspiracy theories), there is no nuance here; I am paid by the government, and therefore I am among the worst of archons all unto myself.  Specifically, he now holds me to be responsible for “the most dangerous organisation on earth, that literally turns brown children to paste” and also “responsible for Latin America’s disadvantaged condition, as well as the death of about a million Latins”.  Sure, the US government is to blame for that, yet to impugn me as specifically responsible for this is just puerile, ungrounded, and unhinged finger-pointing on his end.  He also seems to take a special, sick joy in also attacking my initiation as a priest in La Regla de Ocha Lucumí (aka Santería, an Afro-Caribbean orisha religion) which he somehow finds ironic in this context, I guess, all the while woefully ignorant of its history and context. (At least I can trace my priesthood by name back to my forebears with others to attest to its legitimacy, something Gordon can’t with his “shamanic certification”.)

What he’s trying to do (though inexpertly) is shame me for my privilege in how I am so obviously and intimately tied up in the reckless destruction of human life across the world generally and Latin America specifically—all the while boasting about his own descent from British colonial administrators in the Pacific and using that to his lifelong advantage, working for global media companies and immersing himself in the active pushing of government-sanctioned/-directed propaganda to influence people the whole world over, and running in the same circles as actual royalty of colonialist empires and actual billionaires.  He says so right on his own website’s About page, and I swear by the gods above and below that I am not making this up (with the important and rather telling-on-oneself bits bolded by myself):

Australian by birth, Gordon White’s family has strong connections to the wider South Pacific thanks to his grandfather’s experience in colonial administration in Nauru and New Guinea. He spent much of his early years exploring and diving in Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. […] After moving to London, he held senior data and analytics positions in global media companies, as well as starting a chaos magic blog and podcast called Rune Soup… which ultimately led to the publication of his first three books, The Chaos Protocols, Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits and Pieces of Eight. […] Fun trivia about Gordon:

I think it’s clear to say that Gordon White isn’t some sort of Joe Six-Pack, some sort of common man that disempowered people should relate to.  He is very much a product of the same old money and colonialist regimes that he instead tries to pillory me (and others!) for.  Rather than responsibly accounting for his own privilege, he instead builds his whole career on his privilege being a predicate for everything he’s done, up to and including buying his own farm (which he struggles with) to live out some sort of prepper’s dream to deal with his own midlife crisis.  Rather than making use of his privilege and his experience with the self-same archons that he developed his whole “archonology” theorycrafting about to actually help people, he’s more inclined to perpetuate and propagate those same tendencies and strengths to bend people around him to stoop to his insanity even more.

I could go on, but if you take a look at what I linked to above and Marco Visconti’s original tweet (and all the replies from the many other people to it), you’ll see so much more of this in tired abundance.  Between the non-ironic shares of “news articles” from extremist/conspiracy rags like Expose News or Rebel News, the calls for violence against healthcare workers, the piles of anti-vax rhetoric that he only ever doubles down on (and now seems to be making his whole brand), the extremely improper “medical advice” he gives for people to deal with the vaccine (including talking about turpentine enemas to extract toxins)…it’s not great.  But this is who he is; this is what he does. (Click to embiggen if you want to read some real swill.)

While Gordon has definitely and publicly gone off the rails in the COVID-19 pandemic and how traumatized he was by not being able to travel so freely anymore (quelle horreur!), it’s not like his right-wing extremism is a new thing.  He’s shown tendencies towards New Right ideology in posts dating back at least to 2015, invoking the likes of Ernst Jünger for the sake of rebellion against multiculturalism.  Taking a page out of his own conspiracy/archonology playbook, if there’s one thing Gordon is good at, it’s using, twisting, and adapting language to suit his own self-serving needs—although anyone with a head on their shoulders and their eyes open can see clearly what it is he’s doing.  (The irony of him using Mark Twain’s quote in his recent posts of “it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled” would be so satisfying if it weren’t so nauseating in this context.)

This blogpost of mine is not intended to be something like Fr. Pera’s documentation of the Nazi occultist Georgina Rose aka Da’at Darling; I’m not tracking all of the awful things Gordon has said or encouraged people to do over the years, as that’s a far greater endeavor than I have the time or energy for, especially when I’ve spent the past few years content with just ignoring him.  However, at this point, the harm he’s causing through his violent rhetoric (all the while couched in feel-good holistic woo and Ursula Le Guin quotes) is simply too much to keep silent on, and so I refuse to any longer.  This is why I spoke out several days ago on Twitter, and is why I’m speaking out now on my blog (which I hope, dear reader, hasn’t been “unremittingly boring” for you).  I simply share what I have at hand about why I’m saying these things, all to make this point: Gordon White is not someone to follow, learn from, or give one’s money to.  I am simply letting people know what he’s actually doing and saying behind his cultivated online presence.

A call-out like this is not going to make me many friends, or so I assume; I’ve already had some (albeit happily not many) people distance themselves from me, calling me an “unhinged tweet spree hate message spreader” or just simply “scum” (for real).  And, yanno what?  It’s honestly no skin off my nose for being called names for calling out someone who seems to want to start a cult around himself.  Unlike Gordon, I’m not trying to corner some market, cultivate some personality cult, or take advantage of people with an obvious grift that preys on people’s enflamed emotions and vulnerability with far-right propaganda-bot-fueled talking points during a global pandemic (and worse).  I’m just here doing my thing, and that’s all I care about; to that end, I just want to make sure that people are well-prepared with the knowledge they need regarding one of the bigger (and more harmful) names in the modern occult community today.  Hence, this blog post, which I hope will be the only one I ever have to write about him, since I’d like to get back to my habit of not having to think about him or reluctantly visit his website/Twitter when someone tells me about some new odious thing he wrote with my name on it.  Since I’ve solidly earned a place on his shitlist, I fully anticipate that he’ll continue ranting and whining about me with bungled attempts at defaming me or shaming me while ignoring the breathtaking hypocrisy or outright ignorance involved in him doing so; I don’t care.

While I don’t expect to deconvert anyone already stuck on Gordon’s bullshit (though hope springs eternal!), I do want to spread the awareness of his bullshit all the same, to let others know who have been picking up on some of these rancid smells that it’s not just them, to let people know that there are those willing to speak out against him despite his following, and to offer an explanation of why my name is coming out of his execrable mouth.  Despite his holier-than-thou railing against people with hate in their hearts, I’m not someone so full of hate like Gordon is in this; I am only (in the words of the Headless Rite) someone “who hates the fact that unjust deeds are done in the world”.  The Rune Soup really is rotten, and the sooner we dump it, the better off we’ll all be.

PS: I am uninterested in reading defenses of bloviating, conspiracy-addled, rage-spreading hucksters, despite what you might have learned from them or how good a friend they might be to you; they can defend and redeem themselves by changing their own apparent behavior and character. And yanno what? I’d love for these kinds of people to do just that! I’m not about playing a game of tit-for-tat to garner support or leverage social media engagement; I just want us all to do better. So please, if you’ve got something to share in support of Gordon or similar people, just save your breath and keystrokes, and instead let them show who they are by their own words and works.

[happyocelot]

First 10 lines tag game

Tagged by @dayseternal-blog! Thank you :)

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

The End of Winter (NaruHina, Rated T, Multi-chap, AU of the Fourth Ninja War, Complete)

The winter air was cool like the morning dew on flower petals and crisp like the paper in a brand-new book.

2. The Moon Sure Is Beautiful Tonight (NaruHina, Rated T, One-shot, Canon-compliant, Complete)

Wakame blinked at her. She blinked back, eyes shining like the sea at sunset –

3. Sort of Like a Pocky Game (NaruHina, Rated G, One-shot, Canon-compliant, Complete)

He would never admit this in a million years, but...

Yeah.

He was jealous.

Of ramen toppings.

4. Tracking Time (Team 8, NaruHina, Rated G, One-shots, Complete)

"Right now, I believe it would be wise to get lunch. Why? Because – "

5. Heliotropism (NaruHina, Rated T, One-shot, AU, Complete)

Hinata did not kidnap the sun god and trap him in a cave for months, no matter what rumors the mortals would spread for centuries.

6. Where the Heart Is (NaruHina, Rated T, Canon-compliant, One-shot, Complete)

Hinata had always been a big eater, much to her clan's dismay and her team's glee.

7. Cravings (MinaKushi, gift for secrettastemakerland, Rated G, Canon-compliant, One-shot, Complete)

Kushina's stomach was a black hole. 

8. Growing Pains (Team 10, ChoKarui, some ShikaTema and SaiIno, gift for saradesuchiha, One-shot, Canon-compliant, Complete)

"So there's a discount at Amaguriama for their sweet chestnuts, so I was thinking that all three of us could go during our downtime this weekend – "

9. Balance (Team Gai, for some event, Rated G, Two-shot, Canon-compliant, Complete)

It's a bright, breezy springtime day at the end of April, when everyone would gather under cherry trees to view the beautiful blossoms, arms laden with picnic blankets and bento boxes. 

10. Doormat (NaruHina, Rated T, One-shot, Canon-compliant, set immediately after Pain's attack, Complete)

It wasn't like Hinata was known as an angry person, a violent person.

***

Hmmm, quite pleased that I finished everything I started. Most of these are one-shots. I don't write too many AUs haha.

It looks like I don't usually start fics with dialogue (only two on this list do), and I seem to prefer humor. Mostly third-person past tense, rarely present tense, and I never write in future tense. What does this mean?

The scene in "Doormat" was reworked into Chapter 4 of "The End of Winter." Because I just wanted to fit some of these one-off ideas into a larger narrative.

Days, I used your fic sorting method and it's more work than I thought. Now I'm very impressed that you follow this format for all your rec lists - how?

Tagging anyone who wants to do this!

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

I just saw this crackpost about if two men having sex is feminist because no women are being sexualized, or anti feminist because it doesn't pass the bechdel test, and it made me think about dekugate. I mean, it's very, very dumb but the conspirators do would waste their time debating about this (including being anti shipping izuku with his female friends because 'it's just sexualizing women and as such it's sexist')

You joke but this is literally happening in one of the real conspiracy fandoms right now. One of the dudes they ship was spotted with a new girl the other day, and the “evidence” shippers have come up with in 48 hours that she’s actually a horrible person and treating her like dogshit is gay rights/feminist praxis include:

Holding hands with a closeted gay man, she’s been hired by marketing to enforce the narrative that he’s straight to the public, which is already homophobic but double so because she’s gaslighting his queer fan base

tricking young straight fans into thinking they might have a shot at dating the dude

dressing like non-ship fans (?) as a direct target to true fans

wearing a band shirt when none of her social media history indicates she’s actually a fan of that band

those bands being classic metal like Black Sabbath and Metallica, which is straight man music, which is an attack on pop music and the queer women who enjoy it

dressing more masculine with a loose band shirt and pants with light makeup is a sexist attack on femininity

liking a ‘rock star girlfriend’ makeup tutorial on Pinterest

only putting the musician’s music on her Spotify favorites after meeting him

being a model for an agency with a history of alleged exploitation of their clients (no way she could be one of the victims, she must be in on it)

having less than 6k instagram followers before being spotted with a famous musician, she’s a nobody looking to leech off him

gaining 15k+ followers after being spotted with a famous musician, she’s shallow and vain

being young, making their precious baby 30yo look like a creep

ruining the hype for the musician’s documentary coming out soon by taking attention away from it

not being famous enough to draw attention from major tabloids that could have drawn the public public attention their favorite c-lister deserves

being a woman in proximity to a man people ship with someone else

All of this from a few pictures of them standing next to each other. I wish i was exaggerating. It’s the same rhetoric as calling someone an ugly slut for holding hands with a guy they stan, just dressed up in progressive sounding language. Because it’s not enough to have preferences or wishful thinking, you have to argue why the thing you like is a perfect, life changing force for good if only people would see, and the thing you hate is an evil, problematic, tool of oppression that is victimizing everyone, even if they don’t know it.

[ricanvvas]

You’re entitled to your opinion and it is such a relief to know there’s someone else out there who’s sick of people totally misunderstanding friendships.

Also it’s annoying when people act like their headcanon/fantasy is what actually happened in the story. Sorry, Naruto and Sasuke are not gay, they did not secretly yearn to fuck each other over their years of separation, stop calling people homophobes for not sharing your desire to reduce them to gay sex and being irritated that you don’t appreciate the bond that the author wrote them to have. (Also Kishimoto wrote them to be attracted to women whether people like it or not)

Or at least I’d say that if I was brave. I’m a coward. But I wanted you to know you aren’t the only one sick of those things.

There’s little of us nowadays. If not, then majority of us are scared of getting lashed out on for not agreeing with somebody’s idea or genuinely questioning why they think of the characters the way they do.

We, the people who don’t twist male friendship into romance or sexual relationship, get bashed for just restating the canons. If they say, for example, “Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru are only best friends”, there will be a line of people ready to throw insults, attacks, and even slurs your way…

…but the thing is, they might as well as throw them towards the author himself or the characters themselves, because both the author and characters have repeatedly reminded readers throughout the journey that it is friendship.

And frankly, in a way, it is misogynistic to straight up believe that males cannot have deep bonds and they’re only capable of shallow friendships or no friendship. They will scream about “men should be capable of expressing feelings”, and the second the men do so, they will follow up with this toxic ideology.

The entire Naruto and Sasuke thing used to get to me but now it’s straight up funny and bizarre. Considering Sasuke genuinely tried to kill Naruto repeatedly, was jealous, and held natural hatred towards him already obliterates the ship itself, but the fact that both Naruto and Sasuke (and Madara and Hashirama) were in a way reincarnations of two brothers, Indura and Ashura. If not, then Hagoromo himself made connections with them to his sons. The entire show’s existence literally started with two brothers, and Hagoromo wanted it to end with two synonyms of the brothers. If that’s also not enough, take the characters’ words themselves—Sasuke states Naruto was his only friend, and Naruto states Sasuke is like his brother. Also, Naruto itself revolved around teamwork and unique, deep, and strong friendships. A proof could be that Kishimoto miserably failed to create good romance in Naruto Series (cough, Sasuke and Sakura but that’s another story) considering how much time he spent trying to explain the depth of Naruto and Sasuke’s friendship.

We aren’t homophobes for restating these things. Again, might as well as call the characters or authors homophobes. And as much as they’d like to deny it, an insane amount of insane people do in fact fetishize gay relationships and turn it weirdly and oddly sexual.

I’m not really afraid to speak for these things or preach canon, because majority of the fucking time, when they really don’t have anything to say back in a discussion (not even an argument), they resort to one of the two things; personal sob story/connections, or, attack, insult, and run.

We all should stick together and overcome this baffling toxicity. Lots of love ( ＾∀＾)！

[hettiesworld]

Name of fic: Sacrifice

Pairing: Mike McLusky x OMC (Jacob)

Plot summary: Jacob Stevens used to work for Milo Sunter and was known as the Winter Soldier. When Mike finds him on a farm to help him capture Milo. When he agrees to it, he finds Iris who he used to guard her when she was working. Throughout this stressful situation, Jacob develops feelings for Mike. What will happen when Milo meets Jacob again?

Faceclaim for Jacob: Pedro Pascal

Word count: 4.5k 

Warnings: Strong language, sexual content, smut, potential spoilers for Mayor of Kingstown season 2, trigger warnings for just about everything…

Author’s note: The title of this fic is inspired by the song Sacrifice by The Weeknd. I just watched the first 2 episodes and they are SO good! Can’t wait for the rest of them. I feel like Mike is at least bisexual and his relationship with Iris is NOT going to turn out romantic at all. Mike and Evelyn however? They will do. Anyways I had Mike get with a male OC, so I hope you will enjoy this fic!

Kingstown was a small town, but with a high crime rate. Everybody wanted to get out, but had a hard time doing that. Was it because they were scared?

That’s what Jacob thought.

He was currently on the outskirts of Kingstown, where he was on a farm. He loved horseback riding, so whenever he had the chance, he would escape the town and do what he loved. Even though, drawing and painting was also what he loved, it was his job. 

And he needed to escape that too.

He was putting away his favourite horse, Buttercup –which is what he called it– until he heard the sound of a car pulling up on the muddy path. He didn’t recognise the model of the car or the number plate on it either.

“What the-?” He mumbled to himself as he closed the stable door behind him.

His dark brown eyes stared at the guy, who was getting out of the drivers seat. The man was wearing a navy-coloured suit with dark sunglasses. He had dark brown hair that was quite short. Jacob didn’t see the colour of his eyes.

“Can I help you?” He called out to the man as he slowly walked over to him.

“Yes… are you Jacob Stevens?” The man replied.

“Perhaps. Who’s asking?”

The person then took off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket.

His eyes were grey, he just realised.

“The name’s Mike McLusky. I help keep the peace in this town.” The guy – who he now knew was named Mike – said to him, putting his hands in his pockets.  “I heard you used to work with Milo Sunter?”

“Yeah… what is it to you?” He muttered.

Mike sighed as he put his hands in his trouser pockets.

“Look. There is chaos inside and outside of the prison. Of course I don’t blame the gangs for what is happening-” Mike started to explain.

Jacob raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay that’s false, but I do need your help.” Mike finished his explanation.

“If it’s to do with Milo, count me out. I’m not dealing with that fuckin’ bastard.” Jacob exhaled. Milo was a dick, he would say to himself every single day of working with him. It felt like he was working for him and not working with him.

“I know about your father, Brody. He’s currently in the male prison at the moment-” Jacob interrupted him.

“-not for much longer if the guards decide to torture everyone in there for fuck all.”

Mike hesitated his words as he looked at his surroundings, licking his lips. Jacob’s eyes following the movement of Mike’s tongue. He was proudly gay, even though when he was younger, his father hated him revealing his sexuality. He would always say to his son, 

“You are never going to live in this town, with people thinking that you are gay. Bad people are going to attack you, physically, emotionally and mentally! You. Are. Going. To. Die. Here.” 

But now that he had grown up, he didn’t really care what everyone was thinking about him. He had the right skills, as an ex-assassin, to handle anyone that gets in his way. And was this Mike guy making him fall in love with him?

He wasn’t sure yet.

“Okay, fuck. Look, I’ll cut you a deal.” Mike sighed.

“What deal?” Jacob crossed his arms as he looked at him.

“I’ll get the guards to stop all this shit. I have this plan in my head involving the leaders. That way I can protect your father in prison. In exchange, you can help me with Milo.” Mike explained.

All that Jacob could do was laugh. He shook his head as he noticed Mike raising his eyebrows at him.

“You really think I give a shit about my father after everything he has done to my life?” Jacob retorted, gesturing with his hands. He then took a flask out of his jacket pocket and twisting the lid off of it, sipping it. Inside of the flask was whiskey.

It was his guilty alcoholic drink. It was only 12 in the afternoon so he was technically allowed to drink.

“He was a disgrace of a father. I don’t care if he fucking gets murdered in that shithole.”

“What was he in for exactly?” Mike asked him.

Jacob chuckled silently. It was ironic how and why his father was in prison.

“You won’t believe it…” He smirked to himself.

“Try me.”

“...sexual assault of a minor. And the minor was a 13 year old boy.”

Jacob saw Mike’s eyes open wide as he exhaled with the information that Jacob just gave him. 

“Shit. Wow.” Is all that Mike could say as he licked his lips again. Jacob’s eyes was again following the movement of Mike’s tongue yet again. He couldn’t help it. “Is there… anything else I can do then?” Mike asked him.

Jacob hesitated for a moment.

If Mike’s idea was to put Milo away for good, maybe he could help him. All Jacob saw was Mike sighing and walking away. This was the only opportunity to take revenge on the second man who ruined his life.

“Wait!” He called out to Mike. He then saw Mike turn back around and just stand in his new spot.

“What?” Mike replied, sighing.

“I’ll help you, okay?” 

Mike just chuckled and shook his head. “Okay then.” He then walked back towards Jacob and took out a business card. His assistant probably made them to gain more customers. Mike exhaled quickly as Jacob just stared at him.

“My… business card. So you know where my office is.” Mike cleared his throat.

“Mh-hm.” Jacob hummed as he took the card out of Mike’s left hand. “Got it.”

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Jacob arrived at Mike’s new office on his motorbike. He put it on standby as he stopped the engine and climbed off of the vehicle. He then walked through the front door and his eyes were on the woman behind a desk. She had black hair and unmistakably round eyes.

“Hi? Are you here for an appointment with Mike?” She asked him.

Jacob exhaled, putting his hands on his hips.

“Uh– I don’t really have an appointment with him…” Jacob was about to explain until Mike came out of his office.

“Rebecca, it’s fine. He’s helping me with the Milo situation.” Mike acknowledged, nodding at Jacob.

“Uh, okay that’s fine. Well Mike, you’re done for the day.” Rebecca said to him.

Mike just nodded.

“Don’t worry, I’ll lock up the office when I’m done.” Mike reassured her. “Go. I’ll take care of this okay?”

Rebecca just nodded as she gathered up her things and headed for the door. That left Mike and Jacob alone in the waiting room. Jacob then watched as Mike wandered to his office and he couldn’t stop staring at his ass as Mike walked away.

He had to admit that Mike did have a great ass.

Jacob eventually got out of his daydream and slowly followed Mike to his office. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he then saw the very woman he was not expecting to see.

“Iris? What the fuck are you doing here?” Jacob exclaimed.

Iris’s eyes widen as she got up from Mike’s sofa and stood there, frozen as hell. She couldn’t believe who was in the same room as her.

“Jacob?” Is all that she could say.

Mike was standing on the other side of the office, confused as to the situation that was happening in front of him.

“How do you know each other?” Mike asked the both of them.

“Milo.” Both Iris and Jacob said together; Iris in her Southern accent and Jacob in his Spanish accent.

Mike sighed. “Of course it’s Milo.” 

“How-how have you been?” Jacob asked Iris.

“I should ask you the same thing.” Iris retorted. “How have you escaped him?” She asked him.

“I haven’t. He still thinks I’m with that Joseph bastard and protecting you. But of course, what he doesn’t know, is that I haven’t seen you since you went to New York.” He said to Iris.

Iris just nodded.

“You were her… bodyguard?” Mike asked Jacob.

“I guess you can say that.” He shrugged.

Mike went over to the coffee jug and poured himself a cup of coffee. He then sipped it and went over to his desk, sitting at it.

“Okay then. Iris, I would suggest going somewhere safe. Me and Jacob will handle this. I have a plan.” He would say, but of course Iris would defend herself.

“I don’t need protection Mike. Don’t take me to Witness Protection again!” Iris said to Mike.

“Iris… you remember my brother Jonathan?” Jacob would chime into the ‘argument’ as he saw Mike sigh, putting his head in his hands.

“Hmm… yeah I do. Why?”

“If you want, you can go visit him. Milo doesn’t know him, I’m assuming Mike took the tracker out of you, right?” Jacob asked her, to which Iris nodded.

Mike’s head perked up from his hands, quite interested in Iris and Jacob’s conversation.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother-”

“Iris. Milo is a dickhead, you know that. You will be safe with Jonathan, okay? And don’t get any ideas of escaping.” Jacob told her.

“...okay.” Iris mumbled under her breath.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

After Jacob sent Iris to his brother’s Jonathan’s house, which was on the outskirts of Kingstown, Jacob and Mike were standing nearby Mike’s car and Jacob’s motorbike. They were both parked in the car park, just outside of Mike’s office.

“So what should we do first?” Jacob asked him.

“Well, I gotta go and see Bunny and tell him the plan.” Mike said to Jacob.

“Bunny? You mean the leader of the Crips? What is your idea exactly?” Jacob crossed his arms and leaned against his motorbike, his helmet on the handlebars.

“I’m putting every single gang leader in the Kingstown prison. The chaos outside the place is influenced by the chaos inside of the place. They need to regroup and pick new leaders.” 

“Are you fucking insane? What the hell are you trying to do here? What if they all get killed in there?” Jacob shouted at him.

“Do you have a better idea?” Mike retorted.

Jacob sighed as he put his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

“I guess not, but-”

“Okay good. It’s getting late. We should… stay in the same place tonight so we can talk about how we’re going to do this in the morning.” Mike suggested. “If you keep your motorbike here, you can carpool with me to Bunny’s place and then to the cabin.”

“Are you sure it’s safe here?” Jacob said.

“Yeah don’t worry.”

Jacob just nodded as he walked up to Mike’s car. They both jumped into his car; Jacob in the front passenger seat and Mike in the drivers seat, and they both drove to Bunny’s new territory.

They both got out of the car and they walked toward the abandoned dry cleaners. Mike then knocked on the garage door and one of Bunny’s gang members let them both through, much to Mike’s surprise.

They got up to the rooftop and saw Bunny sitting on the edge of the balanced roof.

“Bunny.” Mike called out to him. The guy got up and nodded at Mike. He then saw Jacob and was surprised at seeing him. He hasn’t seen him since he asked Jacob for a self-portrait of himself.

“Mike. Jacob.” Bunny faltered on his words.

“Hey Bunny. Haven’t seen you for a while.”

Bunny went over to Jacob and pulling him into a handshake, then giving him a hug.

“You too. So Mike, what are you doing here man?” Bunny asked Mike.

“I have an idea. It’s a bold move, but it’s the only idea that might work.” Mike explained to Bunny.

Bunny crossed his arms as Mike explained to him the idea that he said to Jacob. Jacob just stood there as Mike finished explaining his idea and then Bunny getting a bit agitated at it.

“Mike. What are you trying to fucking do to me, man?” Bunny snapped at him, nearly pressing a finger against Mike’s chest.

“I’m giving Kingstown a chance Bunny! There is people getting killed every single minute and I don’t want this to happen any more!” Mike shouted back at Bunny.

“And you think putting me in a fucking prison is going to do anything?”

 “If there are new leaders inside of the prison, there’s gonna be peace outside. The prisoners won’t be killed every single day by the guards. And I won’t stand by that. Do you have any other idea other than that?” Mike asked him, still a bit taken aback from Bunny’s reaction.

Jacob decided to intervene and placed both hands on Mike’s shoulders. “Mike, just calm down. Let him take this idea into his head for a moment.”

Mike just sighed, slowly calming down and sighing.

“Bunny. I was against this idea as well. I don’t want you to get killed in there. But Mike might be right. This is might be the only chance of bringing peace here in this shitty little town.” Jacob calmly explained to Bunny.

Bunny considered Jacob’s words and sighed slowly.

“Fine. But if I’m in the shit, you’re done for.” Bunny pointed at Mike as Mike walked away, opening the rooftop door and making his way downstairs.

“Yeah, yeah…” Mike trailed off as he walked off. “I’ll send you details okay?”

“Fuck you Mike!” 

Jacob just nodded as he followed Mike.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Once back in the car, Mike’s hands were on the steering wheel. Jacob was looking out of the window at the beautiful scenery outside. Of course, just like the farm, Mike’s cabin was on the outskirts of the town. 

So before they came up to the steep hill, Mike sent some messages to Bunny and the police department about the idea he had.

“Why are you texting them back now? Why don’t you wait until you get to your cabin?” Jacob asked him.

“You’ll see.”

Mike just smirked at Jacob as the car went up the hill. Mike pointed at his phone, nodding at it. Jacob’s brown eyes as he looked over at Mike’s phone.

“Keep an eye on the signal.” Mike simply said.

Just then, the signal went from full bars to none. There was no signal whatsoever.

Jacob began to chuckle under his breath. “No signal huh?”

“Nope. Won’t get any messages until we go over the hill again, back into Kingstown. So we can get some peace and quiet.”

“Finally some fucking peace and quiet from the chaos in this town…” Jacob mumbled.

“Agreed.” Mike finally chuckled softly as he turned the corner to the dirt path, leading to his cabin. “Definitely fucking agree with you there.”

As they arrived at the cabin, they had a few moments to settle down. Mike asked Jacob to go out and get some firewood. Jacob did just that and came back to see Mike, smoking on the deck outside of his cabin. He was still in his suit and was leaning against a wooden pillar. He also had a glass of something liquid in his other hand.

Jacob was wearing a lumberjack top –which was red, green, white and black colours in a tartan pattern – with tight denim jeans, thick winter boots and gloves that he wore to chop down wood. His sleeves were rolled up as he was carrying at least 4-5 big logs in his arms. Once he got to Mike, he placed the logs down on the ground and sighed, wiping his head from the sweat.

He noticed Mike was staring at him and he thought to himself, ‘Was he checking me out or…?’  Nah. Why would this handsome 50-something year old man fall for a 32 year old man who used to be a silent but deadly assassin for Milo Sunter and now is a freelance artist, who is willing to forget about that experience?

“Jacob. Can I ask something?” Mike said as he sat down on the nearby chair.

“Yeah sure.”

“What were you doing when you were working for him?” Mike asked him, Jacob knowing he was on about Milo.

He just sighed as he dropped down to sit next to Mike, on the deck.

“I was an assassin. Killing people for him. The silent but deadly type. I specialised in firearms and hand-to-hand combat. I was also known as the Winter Soldier, cause of my amazing talent of fighting.” Jacob began to explain. “My main duty was protect Iris. But once she went to New York, I decided to not to follow her. I stayed here, not letting Milo know where I was, hiding out in the farm you met me in.”

“Did he put a tracker in you?” Mike asked him.

“No. He trusted me enough not to do that. So he didn’t have no idea that I was still in Kingstown… wish I could leave this place, but- I feel like I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?”

“I feel like I’m trapped here…” Jacob trailed off before looking up at Mike. “What about you? Are you stuck here?” 

Mike just shook his head.

“I guess so? I was going to do a cooking class in Wyoming until all hell broke loose. My mother isn’t very proud of me. I had to take over my brother’s job after he got shot by one of Milo’s thugs.”

“I heard. I’m sorry for your loss. Milo shouldn’t have done that.” Jacob said sadly, looking down at his hands, that were fidgeting with each other.

“It’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.”

Jacob then also shook his head.

“No, no. Mitch shouldn’t have been killed by that fucking bastard. If I was there, I would’ve killed that guy who killed your brother. I would’ve been in that prison for life for that, but I wouldn’t have cared-” Jacob explained to Mike.

“-and I wouldn’t have let you.”

Jacob was surprised at Mike’s words. “What?”

“I wouldn’t have let you. Don’t think Mitch would’ve let you either.” Mike admitted to him. “I was… upset that he got shot, but this would’ve happen either way.”

Jacob just nodded.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

A few moments later, they were both in the cabin. Mike was sitting on the bed whilst Jacob was in the bathroom, standing in the shower. Mike took off his suit jacket, tie and white tight Oxford shirt, leaving a loose white tee. He also took off his shoes as well.

Mike then got up and leaned against the doorway between the bathroom and the bedroom, of course he wasn’t looking at Jacob’s naked form.

“You okay?” Jacob heard Mike’s deep voice as he scrubbed himself with a loofah and some mint body wash.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve had a shower. I normally have baths back at my place.” Jacob acknowledged.

Mike just hummed. “Do you want any tea?” He asked him.

“Sure.”

Mike nodded, even though Jacob couldn’t see it, and went into the kitchen to make some cinnamon tea for the both of them. Afterwards, he grabbed both cups and paused as soon as he got to the bathroom. He then cleared his throat to try and get Jacob’s attention.

“I got your tea. You decent?” Mike asked him.

“It’s fine Mike. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, right?” Jacob chuckled softly. “You can come in.”

Jacob watched as Mike slowly walked into the bathroom and placed down Jacob’s cup of tea on a nearby counter. He kept his own cup in his own hands as he sipped it gently before placing it down next to Jacob’s. 

Mike realised that he could see all of Jacob’s naked body and visibly gulped at the thought of what he could do with that body.

“Thanks.” Jacob slightly smiled at Mike. “Is that… cinnamon?”

“Mh-hm. You like cinnamon?”

“I love it.”

Mike smiled at Jacob before sitting on the toilet seat, which was directly opposite the shower. 

“Am I sleeping on the couch or..?” Jacob finally said after a moment.

“If you want. We’re both grown men. We can share the same bed without it getting awkward.” Mike responded.

Jacob just stared at him, slightly smirking and tried to splash Mike with the water.

Mike didn’t get splashed with any water but chuckled at the failed attempt. 

“You don’t want to start that darling, seriously.” He beamed at Jacob. “I just suggested that, that’s all.”

Jacob slightly blushed at the nickname that Mike had given him, especially in his American accent. “And I asked if I should sleep on the couch cause I don’t think I can contain myself in that king-sized bed of yours.”

The light-haired man noticed the dark-haired man staring at him. Was it lust in those blue-grey eyes? Jacob didn’t know, but he did watch Mike get up from his seat and walk over to him. He then went in the shower, standing underneath the shower head, getting his hair, shirt and trousers wet.

“Of course… unless you want to make it awkward- that was a bad pickup line, I’m sorry.” Mike laughed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He wasn’t really expecting Jacob to laugh as well. 

Mike then felt a hand on his face. His face was slightly bruised after the last conflict he had. Apparently, it was still kinda there. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Jacob’s hand on his left cheek. His thumb was caressing the place where his bruise was.

“That was awkward, but… you tried your best I guess.” Jacob chuckled. “Where’s this bruise from?” He then asked him softly as his Spanish accent was as clear as day.

“You heard about the riot in the prison that happened recently, right?” Mike told him.

“Of course.”

“I guess it was from that. Or… I don’t know. Don’t know where it’s from, to be honest.” Mike shrugged his shoulders. “It just stayed there.”

Jacob slightly smiled as he kept caressing his bruised cheek as his brown eyes stared into Mike’s blue-grey ones. 

“I don’t know how you’re gonna react with what I’m going to do here, but hopefully you’re not gonna punch me or anything like that.”

Mike raised his eyebrow confusingly as he looked at Jacob.

Jacob took a deep breath before deciding to move closer towards Mike, placing his other hand on his other cheek. It looked like Mike wasn’t moving away anytime soon, so Jacob then went for it. His lips brushed Mike’s; softly, delicately, like butterfly wings, just long enough that he could inhale Mike’s breath. 

It felt like Mike enjoyed it. He had kissed men before, or he kissed women like this before.

Of course Jacob wasn’t expecting Mike’s lips mashing against his, as if he was trying to flatten and destroy it. Jacob hungrily pushed back, his mouth open. The bristles of Jacob’s goatee scratched against Mike’s soft cheeks. Mike gripped his head firmly, as if to keep him from escaping. He worked Jacob’s mouth against his, their tongues battling back and forth like wrestlers, each trying to pin the other.

They both pulled away, breathing heavily as they looked at each other.

“I-I didn’t know that you were…” Jacob hesitantly said to Mike.

“Well, you never ask, did you?” Mike smirked at him.

“I guess so.” 

Jacob chuckled. He felt Mike’s hands still on his face. He blushed as he also felt his thumb on his bottom lip, stroking it softly.

“Does this mean-?” Jacob murmured to himself.

Mike only hesitated a second before taking off his trousers and boxers. He didn’t even bother to take off his short-sleeved t-shirt. He then went closer to Jacob, feeling his erection and pressing their lips together.

Jacob found the hem of Mike’s shirt and clumsily pulled off his shirt, and somehow it came off. 

Mike’s skin was extra sensitive everywhere; he felt everything. The smooth texture of the warm water against his back. The pressure of Jacob’s hand on his knee as he pushed his legs open, Jacob’s breath on his neck before he kissed him there, tonguing and sucking gently.

Mike moaned and pushed Jacob against the shower wall, trying to brush their cocks together. “Fuck sweetheart...” He muttered under his breath. “You should know who’s the dominant one in this relationship.” Mike told him.

That made Jacob froze for a moment. 

Relationship? Mike thought they were in a relationship with each other?

He wouldn’t expect Mike to turn things around and flip Jacob onto his front. Mike took Jacob’s wrists and pinned them above his head. “Keep them there darling, okay?” He whispered in Jacob’s ear as he placed the tip against Jacob’s hole. When it breached him, Jacob let out a gasp of pain.

“Jacob, sweetheart, you okay?” Mike asked him.

“Mhm. It’s okay. Keep going.” He shuddered.

Mike began slowly pushing himself inside. His hand gripped Jacob’s hips as his cock went deeper. Sensing Jacob’s tension, he began to remove himself just as gently.

“Don’t worry darling, I just want you to enjoy this.”

“Maybe I do, but I don’t mind you being dominant.”

Mike smirked as he slowly rocked in and out of him. He heard Jacob’s moans turning into screams of pleasure, causing him to speed up. He felt Mike’s balls hit his ass with every deep thrust he delivered. He then began to kiss Jacob’s neck, putting his dominant left hand on Jacob’s wrists.

“Mike!” Jacob called out.

“That’s not my name sweetheart. What’s my name?” Mike said to him.

“S-sir…”

“That’s better sweetheart. There it is!”

Mike heard Jacob shakily gasp behind him. He continued thrusting, making sure to hit that one spot. Jacob’s skin prickled as his head began fuzzing out. He felt a hand wrap itself around his dick. The arm around his throat tightened until Jacob was gasping.

“Sir,” The arm around his throat moved to push him all the way down his dick as both hands gripped his hips. Mike’s rough thrusts became more erratic.

“Sweetheart!”

Jacob felt the warmth of Mike’s cum spill inside him.

“Fuck…” Jacob sighed as he felt Mike’s dick leave him. He heard his breathing as he turned around to look at Mike. “I was- not expecting that so soon.”

“You liked it though, right?” Mike smirked.

Jacob just laughed. “I guess you can say that. But my legs are killing me…”

“From the sex or from standing up in the shower the whole time?”

Jacob didn’t answer that question as he got out of the shower, slapping Mike’s ass on the way. All he said was “yeah” to him, making Mike smile to himself and chuckling softly as he turned off the shower and got out, closing the glass door behind him. 

He looked over at Jacob, who was in his bedroom, putting one of Mike’s shirts on. It was quite tight, but it didn’t cover Jacob’s dick. Mike’s own dick twitched at the sight of him in his shirt, basically naked.

“Fuck sweetheart, you’re doing things to me you cannot believe.” Mike mumbled, to which Jacob actually heard and smirked a little.

Jacob then sat on the bed, leaning back slightly on his hands. His legs were wide open and he smiled at Mike. “What are you waiting for? I don’t mind doing a round two, Mr McLusky.” 

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

@navybrat817 @yavanna80 @cavillanche @pegasusdragontiger @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory