#politely asking for sex

[letoasai]

dp x dc

I’m usually more of a lurker in this fandom, you know? But this happened and it just needed to be written down. If someone wants to take the idea or continue it, go for it! Prompt - Consort

~~~ ~~~

Danny is told that while he is officially the Ghost King, there are a few last minute things to check off the list to keep the Observants from being able to mess with Danny's business. Clockwork even subtly confirms that this is something Danny should consider carefully. Being able to keep them in check is important.

 While not keen on a to-do list, Danny sighs and trusts that Clockwork is ultimately giving him less work.

He spends a few years doing odds and ends. Whatever task Clockwork mentions and it honestly suits Danny fine. It’s giving him time to grow into his position. It’s going well, that is until he learns that in his last task he has to consummate his newly acquired position in a very traditional way. With someone else...

That's bad enough, but it's thrown out to him that he must do this with one of his own kind. It's never been an issue before since The Ghost King is usually... a ghost and can pick whoever they want in the Zone.

Danny however is a halfa and because he's only one of three halfa's he's forced to pick between Vlad and Dani. A fruit loop and his clone/sister. The first is horrifying on many levels and the second is just plain unappealing. It's not happening, nope. 

It's practically a miracle that before Danny can completely fall into panic, Clockwork mentions the existence of a forth halfa. 

It doesn't matter who they are, it HAS to be better then his current options. That's how Danny ends up in Gotham.

~

"I can't believe you went without us." Sam complained. "We could have gone with you. What if you need help?" 

"I don't think Gotham is ready for ghost powers, Sam." Tucker commented. "Any trouble he runs into won't know what hit them." 

"Could you both stop wishing trouble on me?" Danny asked, he should have known he'd get ganged up on when he had them both on the phone at once. He was looking around and had noticed how he wasn't headed to the...best of neighborhoods. Had he not had ghost powers he might have turned right around. 

He'd gotten a fairly nice hotel room for the long weekend in a somewhat nice area. All of Gotham looked pretty damn bleak to him but at least he could easily survive in a place like this. There was so much ambient ectoplasm in the air that he was, frankly, surprised he hadn't spotted more ghosts. It was all to his benefit though. 

"Wishing?" Tucker chuckled, the sound of his keyboard clicking on the other side of the call. "It'll find you whether we wish it or not." 

"And then you'll be able to say you got to fight in Gotham." Sam lamented. 

"So this isn't about me not bringing you along to help me find this halfa, but because you just wanted to see this city in particular?" 

"Little bit." 

Tucker started laughing. "Damn, Sam. Nothing's stopping you from visiting." 

"There absolutely is." Sam grumbled. "Their names are Jeremy and Pam." "We're graduating soon, Sam." Danny commented. "After both your eighteen birthday and graduation you'll find your freedom." 

"And possibly your way out of their living will." Tucker commented, but Sam only snickered at the thought.

"That doesn't help me today. Danny's out in one of the coolest cities ever on a quest to get laid, and we’re stuck having a boring weekend." "Sam." Danny hissed as if someone else could have possibly over heard their conversation. This entire situation was beyond awkward. He didn't even know how to start. Hi, you're a halfa too? Wild? Wanna sleep with me so i can make sure my position isn't puppeteered?   "What? That's literally why you're there." Sam was back to being amused, conveniently forgetting for a second that she wasn't with him in Gotham. "You're not gonna seduce anyone with that attitude." "I'm not trying-!" "Aren't you supposed to be though?" She hummed. "Gotta put that charm to work, Phantom." "Oh shut up..." Danny grumbled. If this halfa immediately pegged him as king, would they feel obligated to sleep with him? Ugh, this was the worst. If the ghost he was tracking lived in this neighborhood then it was no wonder he was half dead... "I mean, the wording of this could mean anything." Tucker commented right as the clicking stopped. He'd shown his to-do list to Sam and Tucker ages ago, and this hurdle had always seemed so daunting. "Go forth and find what's just. A night of bliss and trust. A match for your soul in desire. A second coming to conspire." Tucker repeated the lines. "Man, someone did not take a poetry class." Danny just made a face, so sick of the instructions that even making fun of it didn't help anymore. "And you think that can mean anything?" Sam hummed quietly. "I guess you were told it was a basic innuendo so that's what you hear. It’s what we all heard." "Yeah, it doesn't say go fuck." Tucker said. "Could just mean you could hang out for a night and vibe. Video games. Take out." Danny made a face. "I can't see me doing that with Vlad either." "I should fucking hope not." He could practically see Sam's disgusted face. "Okay but that still doesn't make sense. I gotta hang out with another halfa? Why? Why would that block the Observants and their never ending input?" Danny wondered. "No idea." Tucker relented, "But it's worth a shot. right? You can always hang out first and see if it works. If it doesn't... well then you know what you gotta do." "Flirt. Bend over and show your butt. It's eye catching." "Sam..." Danny sighed, this was exhausting. She clucked her tongue. "It's good advice. Even Paulina did a double take last week." Danny just made an irritated sound in his throat, nearly tripping over a destroyed section of the side walk. All the businesses nearby had bars across their windows as extra security and more and more people seemed to loiter. "So glad that ship has sailed." Young crushes were painful. "It could also mean cuddling?" Tucker offered. "How'd you make that leap?" Sam asked. "Guys." Danny interrupted suddenly, his ghost sense chilling him. "I'll call you guys back. I might have tracked them down." "Don't forget!" Tucker said, tone only slightly accusatory. Sam just made a noise of agreement. "We'll want the whole play by play." "Well... maybe not the whole play by play." Tucker added, but Danny just hung up on them. His support system was filled with bullies. See if they got their Gotham tee-shirts now! Danny turned down an alleyway, not sure just yet what he was following but it felt fairly powerful. So far he'd seen mostly shades and remnants of what was. He was left to try to find this halfa the same way he had to track down Dani when looking for her, and that usually meant looking for a big source. When he took a turn and nearly walked right into an obvious drug deal, he inhaled sharply and turned invisible. The dealer had looked up at the sound but brushed it off a moment later when he didn't see anyone rounding the corner. Gotham was nuts but at least they weren't clowns. Deciding it really was within his best interest, Danny transformed completely, staying invisible for the time being as he followed his ghost sense through the scary part of town. Minutes felt like hours but he spotted a dude coming closer on a motorcycle and Danny's skin felt like it was vibrating. The halfa was a guy, okay. Danny could work with that, he really could. Even sitting on the bike, the guy looked a head taller than Danny. All the ghost powers in the world couldn't take away him inheriting his mothers build. For fucks sake, did he have to become evil to bulk up?! Danny flew closer, wanting to get a good look, only to have his vision impeded by a red helmet. When the bike swerved and the rider looked around around, likely sensing him, Danny backed off. His jaw was already hanging open in disbelief. Red Hood. That was Red Hood. Red Hood was a halfa?! Okay, he was the freaking Ghost King. When was that memo gonna land on his desk. Holy crap. Was he actually going to ask Red Hood to have sex ...er... platonically hang out with him? Danny's face was going to explode with heat. He flew away, watching him from the sky. Red Hood slowly brushed off whatever he had felt from Danny and rode on, making only a few more turns before stopping at an apartment building that Danny wouldn't have thought was still in use. This had secret lair written all over it. Danny followed, waited, watched. Of course he knew all about the vigilantes of Gotham but he hadn't really expected to run into any of them. Honestly, what were the odds? What did he do? Red Hood was technically a killer but he'd met more then one ghost who'd been avenged. It caused mixed feelings really. After two hours of nothing, a guy walked out of the same apartment. This time in street clothes. Same build, same height, same half energy. Crap. There goes that secret identity. Danny didn't know his name but he knew what he looked like. Dark hair, that curl of white in the front. Light eyes. Permanent looking frown and... Well now, Danny was frowning too. Something about his energy was off putting. Twisted. Wrong. Well... that would need to be looked into. From afar, Danny watched him go about his evening which involved stopping into those little stores and checking on people. Those people seemed to greet him with a friendly smile and know him somewhat well. Danny also got the impression that none of these people knew he was Red Hood, though he wasn't sure it would have mattered if they had. Red Hood was a crime lord but this was his territory... his haunt. Danny wasn't quite sure how this was both incredibly confusing while making all the sense in the world. He'd have an attitude too if his ectoplasm was all jacked up. What was he supposed to do? Suddenly if felt so presumptuous to show up at this guys doorstep to ask for such a favor from a stranger. He could leave and figure something else out, but the guy clearly needed help too. Maybe they could work out a trade or something. Danny felt torn about the whole damn thing and only decided to suck it up and act like an adult when his alternative was to call Jazz and ask for advice and he was not asking his sister about this. He flew ahead of the guy, making it back to his apartment first. He turned human again and sat on the stoop to wait for him. Internally he went over his lines in his head, what he would say, what parts he could leave out but all of that stopped when a shadow towered over him. The guy somehow seemed so much bigger in person. "You alright, kid?" he asked, there was the strange mix of concern and suspicion on his face. "There's housing up the street if you need someplace to go. They take anyone." "Oh uh..." His haunt had a place like that? Cool. So much for all those lines he’d been rehearsing. "I wanted to talk to you, actually. If you have a second?" He raised a brow but gestured to Danny with a nod to continue. Guess they were doing this out here then. "Okay, this is going to sound strange as hell but i've been looking for another halfa to help me with something. It's like.. a stupid huge favor and, fuck i hate even calling it a favor because that sounds weird. I also wanted to say up front that you can totally turn me down too, this isn't like, a demand or anything." Danny started talking, and couldn't seem to stop. His nerves were getting the better of him along side this guys emotions which were confused and itching with something aggravating. "It's not like i wrote this particular law either. I'm not even sure why i agreed to this shit but i've seen bad alternatives before a-" "What the fuck are you talking about, kid?" he interrupted. "Rude. I am actually eighteen." Danny grumbled. His eyes narrowed. Did he think he was lying about his age? "You sure about that?" "Yeah, my birthday is the same day every year." Danny deadpanned, almost getting a smile. "Let me start over, um, my name is Danny." he stood but didn't offer his hand because this guy didn't look like he'd take it. "And i've been looking for you." "Right i sorta got that, but why?" Danny could already feel his ears turning red. "Okay, hear me out because this sound fucking awful. I need to sleep with a halfa." Just rip that baid-aid off right?

Red Hood's frown was back full force. Guess he was still Red Hood since he didn't offer a name. "What the fuck is a halfa?" Danny short circuited. Was it possible this guy didn't know? "Okay." Danny said slowly. "Backing up and starting over again. Did you... You... You know you died once, right?" He scowled. "Yeah, i was there. How the fuck do you know that?" "Oh good, we don't gotta go back that far. Okay. Okay, so a halfa is someone that died. Like me." He gestured to himself. "Who came back. Someone who is half dead and half alive. There's only four of us. I have to sleep with one because of some political bullshit and i know how desperate that has to sound to you but i absolutely can not sleep with my sister or a fruit loop that wants to marry my mom." Red Hood stepped closer, a large hand wrapping around Danny’s bicep and pulling him along with him towards his door. It was opened long enough for the two of them to slip through and then shut and locked again. "Alright, lets unpack everything that just left your mouth and start to pick out the sane verses insane pieces." He said, somewhat exasperated. He was unhappy. Very unhappy. Danny had to hide a wince, guess Hood wasn’t ready to talk about his death. Jazz would be pissed, he needed to learn to be more sensitive about these things. "You're half dead?" "And so are you." Danny said. "Haven't you noticed any ghost abilities?" "Any what...?"  Distress. That was an odd reaction. Danny looked around, there wasn't much furniture but there was a couch and Danny made a show of going intangible and walking right through it. "Anything like that?" Red Hood was frowning. "No. Look. Half dead and half alive sounds more like a zombie to me. Where are you getting this ghost shit? How did you find me at all?" "Ghost sense." He scowled. "Of course." Danny sighed a little, biting his lip and brushing a piece of hair from his face. "Okay, this is my fault. I'm bad at explaining and i'm sorta having too many conversations at once. Lets start with you. You ever seen like.. glowy green sludge?" His scowl deepened, for a second there was true hatred etched into his face but it wasn't directed at Danny. The suspicion and distrust however were. "What do you have to do with the Lazarus Pit?" Danny blinked, it was evidently his turned to be confused. "The what?" "The green shit, kid. The Lazarus Pit. It's what did this shit to me. What drives me insane." Danny frowned. "The green sludge is ectoplasm, which we need. It shouldn't hurt you, but if it did...could explain why you feel so twisted up inside." He scoffed. "Twisted up, that's the kindest way anyone has ever put it. I don’t need someone elses insane ramblings on top of what i already got in my head. So if you're looking for a fuck, go somewhere else." "Okay." Danny muttered, he'd known that could be an option. "But would you let me see if i could straighten out to ectoplasm anyway? I think i can help at least a little and uh, i think your's is trying to eat away at your soul which is...bad?" Hood actually dropped onto the couch, looking beyond done with this day. "Do you think you there's anything i haven't tried?" "I bet you have." Danny said, stepping closer. "But my ectoplasm is healthy and isn't trying to eat me. You don't really have anything to lose, do you?" Trustme. Trustme.  His expression was nearly murderous and Danny could taste the rage. It seemed like he was having a hard time controlling it, and the more Danny looked, the more he was blaming the tainted ectoplasm. It even seemed to block some of the calm Danny was pushing towards him. "Kid, you have no idea what you're -" Danny stepped closer, hands on Red Hood's chest. He could feel the faint humming of a drowning core, trying to breath through the toxicity that had been forced into his body. Danny added his own ectoplasm to the mix, a sort of ghost transfusion. Ghost King privileges came with a wide aura and a lot of energy. There was a shudder, and the difference was almost instantaneous. The tainted ectoplasm had tried to rear up, tried to roll into rage and snowball but Danny just had more to work with. Danny didn't remember kneeling in front of his new acquaintance, or shutting his eyes, or shifting into his ghost form. He was however, aware of his core tuning into Red Hood's, trying to coax it to life...so to speak. He didn't know what it would have been like, a half ghost but confined only to his human side. Maybe if he'd never known any better it wouldn't have mattered to him but the thought of it now was suffocating,

There was a moment when Danny suddenly felt Hood’s confusion. It seems like he was finally picking up on Danny’s silent messages. 

"What did you do?" Red Hood asked, sounding tired, but far less hostile. "You made it quiet. You're also..glowing." Danny looked up at him with a nervous laugh. "Well, i did say i could fix it. This fix is kinda temporary but I know Frostbite can fix it for you permanently. I'll talk to him." He reached up and rubbed at his eyes, "...Thanks...." "No problem Hood." His eyes jerked up and Danny just smiled. "I won't tell anyone..." He hissed in soft irritation but it didn’t match his emotions. He was still riding the high of being in control of that rage. "So i did feel you following me earlier? I swear there was something around." Danny nodded once. "Had to be sure you were who i thought you were... and all..." Excuse. Excuse... Red Hood shook his head. "My name's Jason. I have a hundred questions minimum about this half ghost thing." "I could probably answer most of them?" Danny offered, realizing he was still on his knees in front of Jason and quickly getting up, a cold blush coloring his face as he shifted back into his human form.  Jason watched him, brow quirking again but he seemed so much more relaxed now that the tension was drained out of him and the taint to his ectoplasm was quiet. It almost made him seem a little younger too, not that Danny would have pegged him any older than early twenties, if that. Maybe he was still a teenager too. "Halfa's... You said there were four of us?" Jason asked cautiously. "Yeah." Danny sat on the other end of the couch. "My sister who is also my clone, and Vlad. Billionaire asshole who's a major creep." "Clone. You have an interesting life."   "That's a lot coming from Red Hood." Jason snorted. "Fair." he paused, proving he'd been listening to all the jumbled up words Danny had been spurting. "Why do you have to sleep with a halfa?" "Aah..." Danny's face went hot again. "So...i..." he paused. "Okay this all sounds bad. I defeated the Ghost King in combat, making me the new Ghost King." Jason brow arched again, "Kudos." "Thank you? Anyway... there's a lot of stupid... add on rules. I didn't make them. Hell i don't even know them all. Some ancient jerk just tells me one at a time. Usually with bad timing which is stupid because he basically is time." "And one of them is fucking?" "Ugh." Danny actually groaned, head falling into his hands. "Someone of my own kind and there's only us four..." he spoke into his hands. "Sucks." "Little bit, yeah." Danny looked up at him, hoping Jason wasn’t actually feeling any of Danny’s nerves or embarrassment. "My friend has a theory that it might not mean sex exactly and might be more of a proximity thing." Jason didn't look overly convinced. "And you decided to try that with some guy you don't know over your clone?" Danny blinked, brain crashing. If he could have just had a sleep over with Dani and avoided all of this... certain ghosts were going to get banished from the Infinite Realm. "Didn't think of that did you?" Jason snickered suddenly and Danny just groaned again. "No.... She's like my sister, i just completely wrote it off." He was going to die... again. This time of embarrassment. Jason laughed softly, the sound not used very often these days. "I mean, i guess i get that. Some times things are easier when you're family isn't involved." "You can say that again..." Danny muttered. Jason leaned back on his spot on the couch, watching Danny with something like amusement in his eyes. He was...so different without the tainted ectoplasm gnawing on his soul. He was finally relaxing. "Well, your Majesty. Would this get me a favor with the king?" Danny's blush stretched down his neck. "Don't call me that. It's too weird." "Nope." Jason was grinning now. "Too much fun. You are way too easy to fluster for a guy that just popped up to ask for sex." "That's not-...!..." Danny winced. "I mean you said no, so that's that." "Changing my mind." Jason said instead, attuned to Danny's look of surprise. Ah, fuck he was definitely able to read Danny now. "Besides. "I have a hundred questions, remember? I'm sure we can mange between rounds." "Rounds?" Danny mouthed the word but no sound came out. Okay, it wasn't a big deal if his heart stopped beating but he was pretty sure it just did. Yeah, it stopped. "O..okay." He attempted, but it just seemed to endear him more as Jason moved again, his time leaning closer. Okay, hot guy in his personal space, he could handle this. It was why he was here.   Jason tugged on Danny’s hair. “It changes. Black to white. That’s cool. Kinda wanna see it more.”

Okay, hot guy in his personal space, he could not handle this. “It uh..yeah. Does that. Alive verses dead i guess. I’ll show you once your ectoplasm is worked out. I don’t see why you wouldn’t gain abilities too once your core is sorted out.”  “You really love to say words without context, don’t you?” Jason said and his amusement was loud.  “I guess... i get ahead of myself.” Danny muttered, unable to make eye contact as Jason slid closer. This was not his first kiss. What was going on with him?  "It’s alright, i’m a quick learner. Besides, i really want to say thank you for you clearing my mind, even if it is temporary." Jason muttered. He’d been screaming for help but no one had ever heard him before.  "We will get that fixed." Danny promised, voice just as quiet. "First thing tomorrow, if you want." "Second thing." Jason said, reaching out to cup Danny's cheek this time before drawing him closer to kiss. Danny didn't think you could see stars in Gotham but he was sure seeing them now. ~~~~  ~~~~

I kinda wonder who’s going to tell Danny he just found a consort. My money’s on Frostbite....  ...As for who tell’s Jason?....That’s Dani barging in to meet her new brother in law  Hope you enjoyed this, feel free to add whatever you want.

Master List 

[irenespring]

Today I would like to shout out that one random Twitter person who made up that JD Vance bragged about fucking a couch.

Imagine making a random shitpost and less than two months later your joke is being used by a major party nominee for Vice President on live television at his introduction rally, earning him thunderous applause.

That poster must be having quite the experience.

[lynxgriffin]

Have you ever played Undertale with a text randomizer?

No, but I'll be honest, stuff like that (or the AI-generated versions) doesn't really interest me. I like this game largely for the writing! Having it just be replaced with nonsense writing doesn't do much for me.

[certifiedsexed]

This may not be a proper sex ed question so feel free to ignore it, but are menstrual pads uncommon in the USA/anglosphere or something? I'm from Latin America and in my country pads are the default menstrual product, but every time I read about menstruation in English people talk about tampons.

Is it just confirmation bias (Tampons are troublesome for many people so they just happen to be spoken about more)? Or is the USA prejudiced against menstrual pads somehow?

No, I think this is a fine sex ed question! And besides, I answer things outside of sex ed sometimes too, so no worries.

They're not uncommon! There's just some very strange behavior, mostly stemming from misogyny, around menstrual pads in places like the "USA". It partially revolves around the fact pads "aren't sexy", which is very depressing.

I think tampons are only slightly more commonly used in the "USA", so it's really not that everyone here is using tampons, it's just that there's an attitude that pads are "out-dated" and "unsexy", etc, etc, that is pervasive in the "USA".

[Though that can vary depending on where you live because in certain places, tampons have a very bad reputation because of penetration being involved.]

I will say also that pads can legitimately suck, I don't deny that at all. It's just there's also an aspect of shame around pads that's grown, especially in certain circles, that isn't just the bigotry against menstrual products in general.

I think tampons are also troublesome for quite a number of people! Especially when you're young and don't know what you're doing. But it is partially prejudice surrounding menstrual products and pads in particular for their lack of "sex appeal".

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. <3

[taliabhattwrites]

Thoughts on post-civ anarchism? It isn't primitivism nor a rejection of technology, if you wanna learn about it, here! ^-^ https://polcompballanarchy.miraheze.org/wiki/Post-Civilizationism

So I stopped having opinions on the various genres of leftism ever since I speedran Wittig's disillusionment with leftists, given their neglect of women's issues.

Despite the increasing proletarianization of women the world over, I've seen far too much rhetoric on how women don't have "real jobs" or worthy of organizing with, and the pervasive issues of misogyny and sexual abuse in nearly all organizing spaces irrespective of the specific ideology is particularly telling.

I saw a leaflet that one of the communist parties in Kerala had to print once, chiding men for preventing their wives from attending org meetings and also for treating those meetings like a place to find women to marry, instead of treating women like comrades.

Which is really cutting to the heart of the issues for me: No matter how much an ML tells an anarchist to read Engels, a lot of leftist men have a worse analysis of women's plight than an English factory-owner had in the 19th century. They don't see women as comrades, as fellow proletarians waging a common struggle with them, and they by and large still value the patriarchal benefits of naturalizing the labor women do and want to preserve that.

When they invent a tendency where that isn't the common attitude amongst leftist men, I'll take a look.

[yaralulu]

Ok genuine question do you think Tamlin could shape shift his private area into a female private area and let Lucien hit? Or do you think they just did it the regular way

i’m glad you’re trusting me with this very important, serious question. yes and yes and yes. if there was a way these two could fuck, they were fucking. i’d also like you to indulge the idea of tamlin shifting them both into females 😜

[mxjackparker]

omfg tboys have such a victim complex. that law is after TRANS WOMEN, not YOU. no trans men are going to go to jail. in fact, trans men are probably going to use this to send trans women to jail or keep them as their rape slaves because they'll just go to the police and tell them that they were forced to have sex with a scary tranny if she doesn't give them what they want. fuck off forever

The current deception as to sex guidance is based partially on the precedent set by the R v McNally case, involving two teenagers. The teenager who had sexual assault charges brought against them was McNally, who went by "Scott" and was assigned female at birth and claimed to be a cis man. The case talks about how McNally wanted a sex change - though the judgement frames McNally as being a cis girl lying about being a cis man, it seems clear that McNally was transmasculine. McNally was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years in a young offenders' institution.

Trans women are particularly at risk from this new guidance, and when I wrote about trans and intersex sex workers being at high risk from this I highlighted ways that trans women specifically will be harmed.

It is bizarre to me that you'd say no trans men would go to prison under this guidance when one being imprisoned is precisely the reason this guidance exists. The people I am most concerned for right now are trans and intersex women who sell sex without disclosing their trans or intersex status and I make no secret of that.

I am also someone who has sold certain kinds of sex with clients believing I'm a twinky cis guy rather than a trans guy, and who has pretended to be a cis woman when I was early on T and kept my transness from clients. This guidance puts me at risk too and I'm going to continue to speak about how trans and intersex people of all genders are targeted by it, no matter how many hate anons I'm sent that call me a tboy with a victim complex.

All my love to the trans and intersex women who are at higher risk than I am, particularly those who are sex workers.

[freckledsokka]

wip wednesday

a wee snippet of the self-indulgent tense-fuckery zukka fic i'm working on that no one asked for! most of this fic is sokka (ghost sokka? spirit sokka? who knows) waxing poetic about zuko grieving him, but i wrote this scene with korra for a touch of levity (while still being a little angsty).

note: this is NOT a reader fic. do not let the use of "you" fool you. this is fully from sokka's pov as if he's narrating this to zuko.

"You remind me of him," you tell the Avatar, something wistful tugging at the corner of your mouth, reaching to the creases of your eyes. Korra looks almost bashful, or maybe just flattered. "I get that a lot," she says quietly, as if it's a sore subject but she doesn't want to offend you by mentioning it. You smile at her, warm and reassuring. "I don't mean Aang." "Oh." She sounds surprised, which quickly gives way to embarrassed when you offer her an encouraging smirk to help the thought along. "Oh," she says again, nearly in a different octave. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have realized that's — of course, that's who you meant." She laughs nervously, waving her hand vaguely at herself. "Southern Water Tribe, duh." "It's not just that," you tell her, and her nervous energy seems to settle a little at the calm, smooth tone of your voice. "You have the same tenacity, the same spirit. He would be proud to see the Avatar you've become."

Korra is quiet for a moment, either out of respect or simply a loss for words. Then she smiles, a little sheepishly but no less grateful to be honored in such a way. "Tenzin told me he — the Chief? — was with you and my father the night the Red Lotus tried to kidnap me." She looks away, guilt seeping into the set of her shoulders, the way she wraps her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry, I — Did he —?" She glances back, eyes bright, pleading for some kind of forgiveness she doesn't need to be given. "Was it my fault?"

"Korra," you say slowly, frowning, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "What did Tenzin tell you? The Red Lotus had nothing to do with Sokka's passing."

Her eyes go wide. "Really? But he made it sound like — I mean, my dad became Head Chieftain not long after that, I thought —"

You can't help the chuckle low in the back of your throat, a rumble of distant thunder, warm as a summer storm. "No, Korra. Sokka never was particularly suited to be Chief. He felt it was time to pass it on, is all. That, and he felt he could do more good behind the scenes, or through his work in Republic City. But, more often than not, he was with me. Those years were some of our best." 

Korra lets out a trill of nerves, huffing in relief. "Thank the Spirits." A beat, the haunted look of someone who is technically thousands of years old yielding to the vulnerability of someone barely out of her teens carrying the weight of the Spirit and human worlds on her shoulders, knowing she is the reason your — our — friend is gone. This is the cycle we were all prepared for, and yet — "Is that why I barely remember him? Didn't he ever visit Katara at the compound? Why didn't he ever say hello?"

"I wish I could tell you, Korra, but he never gave me his reasons." A wry smile. "I'm sorry if I kept him from you."

Korra twists her mouth, setting her jaw defiantly. "Lord Zuko, if I may —" She isn't really asking permission and you know this, but you nod anyway. "That's bullshit, and you know it. He was your husband. Don't tell me you didn't know just because he didn't tell you."

Your mouth twitches knowingly, even as your expression remains impressively neutral. "I had my suspicions, of course."

"Which were?" Korra presses.

If she weren't the Avatar, I suspect you would've said something along the lines of None of your damn business or Nothing to concern yourself about. Being the Avatar still has its perks in dragging honesty out of you, it seems. Still, you manage to make it a whole production, sighing like it physically pains you to admit it. 

"He wanted to wait until you'd mastered all four elements before he would teach you" — an exaggerated eyeroll, fingers pinching the bridge of your nose — "the 'fifth element.'"

Korra's brow furrows. She blinks like she's waiting for a punchline. "The — what? There is no fifth element, unless you count energy, but —"

"I know," you agree, exhausted. "I know."

"Then what?" Korra demands, sounding as flabbergasted as she looks.

You take a deep breath, wearily replying, "Swordbending."

Korra is frozen for a moment, maybe in shock, maybe in disbelief. Then she bursts out laughing, bright and cool as snow crunching underfoot, until it dawns on her that maybe you weren't actually joking. "Wait, really?" she asks incredulously. "He actually wanted to — to teach me? Why didn't he just team up with Katara? Spirits, it would've been so much fun to have a swordmaster around."

"You told me you have to learn the elements in order, Zuko," you say in a poor imitation of my voice. It's been so long, you've almost forgotten it. "He didn't want to influence your bending, or distract you from your role as Avatar, or so I assume."

Korra huffs. "Sounds an awful lot like he did tell you things, then," she mutters indignantly.

You shrug. "Not in so many words. He said a lot without ever saying it." That wistful slant of your mouth softens into something closer to melancholy. "When you're with someone as long as I was with Sokka, you learn to read between the lines. We had our own language, in a way."

"But if you suspected, why didn't you say anything? Why not encourage him?"

There's a sadness in your smile, an ache in your eyes. "Because, young Avatar," you say gently, "you always think you'll have more time."

[alacants]

First of all - thanks for the veeeery informative posts about Ferru, Ferrero, Ferrero/Nadal! I was wondering if there's anything interesting about Juan Carlos and Feliciano?

anon what a WONDERFUL ask. this made my day.

tho i’m afraid the answer is not as it exciting it could be because they're friendly! normal friendly! neither passive-aggressive nor more homoerotic than average! which is notable mostly/only because feli is the original rafa stan, president and acting chair of the rafa nadal supporters’ association.

but one of the most endearing things about feli lopez is that despite having THE messiest personal life of the armada bar none (and i'm including his bestie alongside his various exes), put him in a spanish tennis enclosure and everyone is his friend. you'd expect this from someone low-key like ferru, but from the guy who’s been torn to shreds in the press multiple times by multiple exes, who used to regularly log on in the middle of the night to beef with randos and tweet through his breakup feelings… it’s a little more surprising!

feli also loves the davis cup. he’s the only player to have been on the roster for all four of spain's most recent titles, 2008-2009-2011-2019. (he did NOT play 2012, the only final in that era they lost. coincidence????) so after juanki’s big redemptive moment he was sooooo happy—he’s the one carrying juanki around on his shoulders afterwards. you could definitely do something with that if you were so inclined.

(WHY WON'T THESE STAY SIDE BY SIDE THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE!!!!!)

in fact feli's davis cup debut was the 2003 final vs australia. …which spain lost, but it was the last flicker of juanki's undisputed reign atop the spanish firmament. year 1 B.R. (Before Rafa). this possibly is part of why feli was a juanki believer—in 2005 his answer to whether juanki could recapture his old form was "yes of COURSE he'll get back in the top 10. probably not no. 1 because of federer but definitely top 10." (<- feli also loves roger.) and we know that juanki likes people who believe in him.

feli was also a regular in the valencia open. he was at juanki’s retirement ceremony! where he spent half his time giggling with rafa and the other half getting visibly emotional, because much like juanki he cries at the drop of a hat. lol.

i will take this opportunity to share an anecdote from that occasion that didn’t fit anywhere else, even though it’s such a great piece of nadarrero-adjacent lore. first, after the ceremony juanki’s friends presented him with a RED MOTOR SCOOTER lmfao of course they did, and although most of those photos have been tragically lost to time, feli's survive because feli fans were very, very dedicated archivists. (the other ones still around are on alex corretja’s facebook. hahaha.) then everyone except ferru, who had to play a match the next morning, went to the after-after party and rafa and feli danced to call me maybe and rafa got so smashed that pico monaco had to drag him out at 5 a.m. and only then was juanki the last to leave.

sorry that was a tangent but hopefully an entertaining one. last but not least here is juanki's message to feli on the occasion of his retirement!

those are the facts. mostly facts. now if you want to know what kind of fascinating fictional possibilities i have conjured… well i can talk about those too, starting with how feli and ferru were especially close in 2012, because they played olympic doubles together and came thisclose to bronze and didn't get it and i am OVER it, it’s FINE—what was i talking about? juanki and feli. right. where i was going with the above is that obviously the angle i find funniest is what does noted situationship connoisseur feli lopez think about (handwave) All That.* like he was right there the whole time. but needless to say this is far from the only option. the romance, or at least the lust, of the davis cup is real. the mutual madridismo is real. the rafa nadal of it all is real. and if your ask was thinking antagonism rather than attraction, then i mean. GO WILD.

*for some extra texture you should know that when ferru retired at the madrid open, which is directed by feli, they also gave him a painting except it was an EXTREMELY NORMAL ONE, just, like, a nice picture of ferru on the court, from which i can only conclude that juan carlos ferrero looked at this and thought, you fucking amateurs. you know what i'm going to do—

[hislittleraincloud]

So let me get this straight, for you Enid would be a better sexual partner for Donovan than Weems?

Holy God that sucks… I hope at least in your fanfiction Wednesday is over 20 years old when you have her screwing a man over 50 otherwise there is a problem

You're new here, aren't you.

1. Enid would be fun and interesting to explore. It's different, and finding the path towards them can be teased out from canon if you try (him saving her, her saving him from Hyde Tyler). I even have a short and somewhat tender platonic Enovan scene upcoming in the final chapter of Afterburn.

You can think the ship sucks all you want. I don't give a fuck. I'll pair Wednesday or any of the characters with anyone, and I don't give a goddamn flying fuck what you think. Why? Because you can do the same, and I won't give a shit (I might question or dislike the pairing and critique your writing Wyler, Wenclair, but I'll still defend your right to write it).

2. As for this

I hope at least in your fanfiction Wednesday is over 20 years old when you have her screwing a man over 50 otherwise there is a problem

You can have your problem and cry all you want about it then, because you're a lazy Karen who didn't do her due diligence and just GLANCE at the fucking pinned post I've had up there since the summer of 2023. They have a 39 year age difference.

Satisfying Afterburn is canon compliant. It's designed to slip into canon without disturbance. At this point in the story she is 16, but she was 15 in the flashback with Mr. Fortunato, who was in his late 40s.

Afterburn Wednesday has two behavioral qualities [that she did not express in Netflix canon] when combined makes her unique in the fandom: She's a (functional) stoner and sex obsessed (like her parents). I suppose her self-harm is also an added quality I gave her. She is not your 'Wednesday', and she doesn't have to be.-

Afterburn Donovan/Sheriff Galpin was never in pursuit of her, even though he found her magnetic/charming. Once again, you didn't do your fucking due diligence. It was all AB Wednesday

The Nightshades all fuck each other too, and there are/will be forthcoming stories of actual sexual abuse in there as well (and I'm reminded of Wednesday's attempted rape, but that was a Deleted Scene). People will find SOMETHING sexually disturbing in it, I guarantee you (I mean, unless literal shit eating is your thing). But none of it is intended to be a didactic treatise on fucking old men or fucking underage teens. People of sound minds understand this about erotic fiction/smut, and understand that the relationship is not to be emulated out here in the real world.

Why the fuck do I have to tell this to you? Do you lack common sense?

You sound like this charmer, whose post I've had in my drafts because I wanted to stew on it before I reblogged it but I've decided to just screen it because that shit doesn't deserve a reblog and this is the perfect time to address it:

Not me (screencap for those w/dark mode)⤵️

Clearly this fuckhead⤴️ does not understand fiction and wants to compel other Weemsday people not to fantasize about student-teacher relationships when it is a HUGE FUCKING TROPE (so goddamn huge that Jenna goddamn Wednesday Ortega starred in a whole ass movie about it). And to that I have to tell this author to fuck the fuck off, and once they've fucked off, they can fuck back on to fuck off again with a goddamn fuck yourself boomerang.

I have always, always been anti-censorship in the arts and sciences. I was born into it; my father was/is a polymath scientist/artist/writer/carpenter who immersed himself in banned books and world erotica when he was young. (BTW, my Dad also had a big collection of Henry Miller's books, which I guess might be another reason I'm kind of stuck on Miller's Girl. I'd read Miller when I was younger than Cairo Sweet.) I learned the value of artistic freedom of expression early in life (by the age of 5), and carried that with me through high school when they tried to censor me there as well (for writing a lesbian-themed poem; I was also featured in my state's big name newspaper for my anti-censorship dissent when a sex educator came to visit our high school and some parents got upset over that). I never took being censored in the arts lying down, especially when it came to my own sexual expression as a youth. And yes, I had sexual expression very young, I've been writing smut since the second grade. My followers know this, or should.

My father isn't perfect, but he introduced me to some of the greats who utilized the English language to entertain and sometimes horrify, particularly to the ones whoses voices some shitbag somewhere tried to silence. (I was taken to meet Allen Ginsberg when I was 14, then a few years later I met with him again at my university. ...Damn, that was 30 years ago now. I'm fucking old.)

You're one of those types though, aren'tcha? A moralizing shitbag type who wants to tell people what to do. Imma tell you what I was going to tell that other moralizing shitbag I capped above: It's called freedom of expression, both creative and sexual. When you bring fantasy closer to our moral reality, you start to lose your grip on reality when considering the fantasy. That's why you're too bothered by the subject matter. You fully believe that our moral codes and rules should apply to a fantasy world where people shapeshift, make things move with their telekinetic powers, and make it possible to fucking resurrect a goddamn 400 year old corpse via black magic.

I'm not sure who it is you think you're protecting here. What is your purpose, in screaming about these underage pairings? Did you think that some fresh-faced 10-year-old is going to read Afterburn and think, "WELL HOT DAMN, I NEED TO GET ME SOME OLD BASTARD COP DICK ✨RIGHT NOW 😭😭😭💖✨!"? Same goes for the Weemser, for scolding the underage teens who write Weemsday. Go get that boomerang.

TLDR for the both of you et al;

Fuck off with the would-be censorship and do not tell others what they can write about.* 🫠🖕🏽

[steampunk-llama]

Genuinely begging people to understand that sex favourability =/= sex positivity, and that sex repulsion =/= sex negativity

Also if we could please leave behind the mindset that asexuality (specifically repulsed aces) = Puritanism in 2024 that'd be wonderful thanks <3

[elizabeth-mitchells]

when misty acting as a cop asked shauna "so how was the sex?" and shauna was like misty! they're not going to ask that! but then we met pornstache and he would Definitely ask that to mess with her

[computercuter]

I feel like I shouldn't really be talking as someone who's never had sex and probably never will but it's my blog I'll do what I want. My chances of that ever happening is so low due to a multitude of reasons but the most isolating is my own preferences. I'm very seriously aromantic for a start off so I don't want any sort of romantic implications which isn't tough on its own BUT. I would also like to be friends with a person first. And that is tough because idk. It's not common you come across someone that's okay with that I feel.

[misalpav]

you don't understand the makers of the kerala story speared propaganda against islam and kerala and you are navie lured to hindu fanaticism

first of all, if you're denying the existence of ISIS conversions in Kerala and the larger India then, the Observer Research Foundation published, in a 2019 report, that between 60-70 individuals in Kerala joined ISIS between 2014-18. Also, the NIA has entered various times into Kerala due to suspects of ISIS interactions. ISIS has existed in India for a while now and denying it would require your eyes to be closed.

You're saying that this movie is against Islam and Kerala but from where I stand, it's a movie against ISIS. That's something I will support to the end, both as someone who's lived through the repercussions of 9/11/2001 and the fact that they are literally a salafi jihadist terrorist organization. Anyone minus a few select people who went and watched TKS today are making conclusions about the entire movie from a short teaser/trailer clip, which, many times, isn't even an accurate portrayal of a movie. People who watched the full movie in the Kerala Supreme Court themselves had refused to restrict the release of the movie on the same premise of being against ISIS, not Islam.

Obviously, the biggest argument being made right now, and one I'm 100% expecting you to bring up if you choose to come back into my asks, is the figure of 32K conversions in Kerala. I don't believe in that number. What I do believe in though, is that The Kerala Story is a mere movie. All these people arguing against this movie claim to be "secularists". News flash, any film in a secular industry is gonna be dramatized because in a secular industry people look for viewership and how to make any small story compelling be it through caricature or exaggeration. As far as I care, people can consume whatever media they want and then are responsible for researching and fact-checking on their own. Quick examples of this that I can think of are the Netflix TV show Narcos where they antagonized a supposed "judy moncada" who was completely made up, and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a supposed retelling of events in the Vietnam war that he later concedes wasn't accurate apart from the emotion. Authors, writers, and any other artist for that matter take creative liberties in storytelling. I don't know how or why people are taking this so seriously. Congratulations you can do your research!

Now in terms of being a "navie" that's lured into Hindu fanaticism, what's naive about loving a culture that's been here for centuries that resulted in the construction of beautiful architecture and tells the some of the most enthralling stories? If anyone called any of the Abrahmic religions fanatical, they'd immediately be pegged as islamophobic, christianophobic, etc, why can't Hindus get the same respect? Honestly, the one common trait in any land with foreigners is the sheer lack of respect for natives and it shows, be it India, the USA, Australia, etc. I'd highly recommend you get a reality check on yourself.

[wonder-worker]

"...Walsingham, the monastic author of the St. Albans Chronicle, was by far [Alice Perrers'] harshest contemporary critic, who in his venom has (somewhat ironically) left us with the longest and most detailed account of her background and personality, her influence as Edward’s mistress, and her subsequent trial. He describes Alice as a shameless lowborn meretrix (a word variously translated as mistress, whore, or harlot), who “brought almost universal dishonour upon the king’s reputation […] and defiled virtually the whole kingdom of England with her disgraceful insolence.” Although Walsingham was not always accurate and, specifically in this case, clearly heavily biased against Alice, he nevertheless provides a truly contemporary account, and his importance as a source should not be underestimated. Likewise, the anonymous monk of St. Mary’s York recorded that in the Good Parliament the Commons (represented by their speaker, Sir Peter de la Mare) stated that it “would be of great gain to the kingdom to remove the said dame [Alice] from the presence of the king both as a matter of conscious and of the ill prosecution of the war.” During the same assembly, the bishop of Rochester, Thomas Brinton, preached from St. Paul’s Cross that “it is not fitting nor safe for all the keys of the kingdom to hang from the belt of one wife.” Although the word wife (uxoris) is used, it is widely accepted that this is a reference to Alice.”

— Laura Tompkins, '"Edward III's Gold-Digging Mistress": Alice Perrers, Gender, and Financial Power at the English Royal Court, 1360-1377", Women and Economic Power in Premodern Courts (Edited by Cathleen Sarti). Italics by me.

[charliethemanticore]

Hi btw being trans does not automatically grant you supernatural understanding of all esoteric trans knowledge. You actually need to put effort into learning or put effort into keeping quiet about things that don't pertain to your specific experience