#same w the other vindice

[levxnya]

unpopular opinion: Bermuda should've won the final battle.

[somethingforsenro]

hard agree!!!! ive been on the receiving end of this a lot and it genuinely hurts

When you say a fandom is dead, it’s a bit of a blow to people who are still producing and enjoying work for that fandom. You’re basically saying what they’re doing doesn’t matter, doesn’t count, which might discourage them from continuing to participate.

If one person is creating content, the fandom isn’t dead.

If one person is consuming content, the fandom isn’t dead.

If two friends are chatting on skype about their OTPs, that’s fandom.

If someone doodles drawings of their favorite characters on a napkin, that’s fandom.

Just because someone is producing content for one fandom doesn’t mean they have to leave another.

Not every fandom can be the big, new, shiny and popular thing.

Not every fandom *should* be the big, new, shiny, and popular thing.

It’s okay to have small, tight-knit fandoms. They can be just as fulfilling and entertaining as the big ones.

[paymechildsupport]

YAN!Suguru Geto // x Reader [Vindication]

-!! Yandere!Vindictive!Geto x Yandere!Reader (two yanderes in love <3 )

-!! CW: Themes of death, suicide, murder, obsession

Storyline takes place a few months after Riko’s death, in the middle of Geto’s descent into immense depression and prior to him leaving jujutsu tech. Instead of investing his time to become a murderous cult leader, Geto pours everything into academics, and against you. He would do anything to make sure you didn’t leave him too. 

-!! The alternation between Geto and Suguru is intentional.

-!! Gender never specified

You were his academic rival. You’d both do anything to maintain that thrill of competition, anything…

…

Could they get any more annoying..?

Could they get even more unbearable..?

Could they just shut up for once..?

Goddamnit,

They were so…

Infuriating.

The mere idea of them being happy,

Of them being even remotely okay

Of air reaching their lungs 

Of their bones all perfectly intact

Of their mere  e x i s t e n c e, 

It made you want to throw up. 

Why couldn’t they just… go away?

It would make your life so, so much easier. 

It would make you so, so happy.

If…. They….. could… just…. Cease… to… E̴̠̟̾̈́ẍ̶̡̢̻̱̠̜́̒̀̉̿͝i̴͓͇̓͐͆͘͘ş̶͙͚̞̪̽͛̋͜ͅt̵͓̲̟̪̹̊͒̉̈̏̑

-

-

-

“Is everything okay?” You’re snapped back to the present immediately. You struggled to remember where you were or what you were doing.

You look up to find the words come from Suguru Geto’s mouth. He’s standing over where you slouch in your seat, looking down with a hint of condemnation and… smugness? Fucking bastard.

“Eh..? Where- where is..” 

“You’re in the library” Ah, that’s right.

“Oh! Ehe, of course I am. Geez- ah… Oh! Yeah, uh,  I’m okay. Its all good” 

Geto raises a brow in question, not buying it

“You’ve just been staring out into space for the past seven minutes. And-“ he points, “You just broke your pencil” 

You look at where he was staring at to see your pencil, indeed, snapped in your hand. You were still gripping it, hard. Very hard. 

You don’t even know how you’re still surprised at the sheer power that your hatred has over you. It’s quite scary sometimes. 

“Yes.. everything’s fine, honestly. I’m just tired is all..” 

“The library closed awhile ago” He deadpans. So matter of fact.

“Ah- wait, what? Then why are you still here-?” 

“Satoru and Shoko have already left. I said I’d stay. The librarians were too hesitant to approach you.”A corner of his mouth quirks up, “you’re very intimidating when you’re frustrated.”

You were silent, just now taking in the darkness of the library. Almost all the lights were out- albeit a few lamps in the corners- and you were the only ones still in the building. It was getting very late and the streetlights outside illuminated the dark streets. Under other circumstances it could be considered peaceful even. 

You sigh, looking down. You can see the eyebags under Geto’s eyes, engraved into his features for the past few months. You’d only ever seen that look in the mirror. The similarity unnerved you, and you didn’t know how to feel about it. You felt proud, partly,-- it showed how much he expended just to compete with you, to rake himself up somewhere remotely close to your level, and then some. You reminisce, remembering the Geto a few months ago, prior Star Plasma, prior to Riko, prior to the empty husk in front of you

“Is something the matter?” His voice takes a drastic switch, softening to a wispy tone. You start to shake, “Is someone the matter?”

“…”

You knew it was dangerous. Suguru Geto wasn’t who you remembered, – he was unstable, unpredictable. You of all people should know, you’ve been subjected to a front row seat to his descent into despair. He was apathetic, borderline violent sometimes. Ever since the murder of Star Plasma vessel, Riko Amanai, Geto unknowingly latched himself onto everyone close enough, determined to make sure they never suffer the same fate, – and that included you, his rival. 

It was rather humorous, really. The lengths you two would now go to to keep your little game going. You were so invested, so enthralled into beating and dominating him in absolutely every way possible. You were intoxicated by the idea of winning, so drunk off of the thrill that came with competing. You sometimes wonder where you would draw the line.

Suguru was so into your little games that oftentimes you wonder if he really does enjoy to be beaten. To be made lesser of, to be belittled, to be degraded, to be beaten and dominated in every way possible. Obsession would be the only word to describe it. The boy was obsessed. Obsessed with competing. Obsessed with your antics. Obsessed with you. You would often question how far he’d go just for the sake of your little contest. 

“Would you kill someone for me?” The words fall from your lips before you can think as you lift your head up. 

“Yes”. He doesn’t hesitate. 

“…”

“I would kill anyone without a second thought, should you request it”

You can’t stop,

“…If there was someone I hated more than anything in the world… someone I couldn’t stand… someone who’s mere presence makes me want to break something…. Someone who I cannot stand the thought of them breathing… someone who just thinking of them makes me… makes me wanna…” You trail off.

“My only regret,” he says quietly, “was that it wasn’t me who had affected you in such a way” 

You smile bitterly, looking out the window.

“Who hurt you” His words were soft, but his tone dripped with venom. 

“… They didn’t necessarily hurt me directly… They just-….  I just…- “ You take a deep breath,   “the things they do and say to others concerning me and people I care about are… questionable, to say the least.”

“Yet they did end up affecting you nonetheless, correct?”

“Well, yes”

“So then they did hurt you”

“You could put it that way, yes”

Geto’s eyes flash,

“What is their name?”

“…”

“Tell me their name.”

“…” Such a vindictive sense of justice. 

His smile is laced with dynamite. 

“Tell me their name and I’ll make sure no words will ever be allowed to leave their mouth again”

Still, you remain silent. You didn’t want Geto to get his hands dirty doing something you should have been able to do. You shake your head. 

He sighs, his face softening. He bends down on one knee to meet your eye level whilst sitting down.

“Darling,” He’s so, so very gentle. “It will be alright. All this will be over, soon. Just let me do this for you. Let me get rid of one more disgusting person. Just let me…” You can feel yourself coming undone. “Let me do what I do best. I would never offer unless it was you” Your breathing heavily now, shaking violently from head to toe. 

He was going to protect you–

He leans down to your ear and whispers the final bit like a caress, “Just give me their name”

And you do.

–no matter what.

You tell him their name. 

And just like that, he smiles, gets up, and exits the library, closing the door softly behind him. 

.

The next morning they’re all over the news. 

A true tragedy, or so that’s what it appeared to be. 

You say nothing as the police describe in morbid detail the mangled and shredded body that had appeared to have jumped off the roof of the school. Your school.

 It was much too graphic to show, the police said. But it was by far one of the most horrendous deaths they had ever witnessed. The poor man looked sick to his stomach merely recounting the memory. 

Mawed and dismantled…

And although you felt as if you should have been happy, that you should have at least cracked a small smile, you simply couldn’t. 

This was only one. 

One death.

One person you hated, gone.

You still had more.

Much, much more.

A whole list in fact.

You wondered what would happen if Geto ever found out about the list you kept in the bottom drawer of your nightstand.

…

Maybe another day, you think.

Maybe another day.

~

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

(Heavily edited from a older piece)

I lo-lo-lo-lo-LOooooove Suguru he's such a bbg malewife :3

[drowningparty]

I have some thoughts re: Kayne / godhood (spoilers for intermezzo)

I don't think Kayne respects any of the other gods. He definitely doesn't respect the King in Yellow, he knocked him over the head w/ an oversized mallet to give him amnesia and stuck him in Arthur's head and reduced the Dreamlands to "a lawless waste" for a laugh. He also destroyed his city for the hell of it. He doesn't fucking care. He's rude to John, ignores him, says 'Arthur' when referring to both of them. I thought I noticed this undercurrent of quiet animosity, but felt vindicated during 40 + Intermezzo b/c he was suddenly soooooo loud! Ignoring & talking over John? Check. Telling him he's not special like Arthur? Check. Saying he'll torture him worse than Arthur just because he can? Check. My theory is it's b/c John's still a god, technically. Like the whole, choosing your own name + path... you'd think would be something Kayne could sympathize with (as much as Kayne can feel sympathy), but...........no. He knows John is easier to manipulate w/ fear (he can send him back to the Dark World w/ a snap of his fingers), and saves his faux sympathy for Arthur.

I think this is b/c he likes humans. Sure, he also likes killing them, but I don't think those impulses are mutually exclusive. Kayne's the most "human" of the gods we've met. He talks like a human, makes pop culture references, looks passingly human, etc. I think he envies them, in a way? They have a freedom I think he lacks as a god, even though they are confined to one timeline. We still don't fully understand how gods work, but from his description alone it sounds like he thinks of them as limited. They have incredible power compared to mortals, they exist outside the piano... but are confined to a single key. Which sounds to me like their path is predetermined and they're not intended to develop free will. Kayne's an anomaly b/c he does, or tries to.

He wants to put humans in an antfarm, perhaps as a demonstration of his free will. That's all Carcosa was, right? An antfarm. He wanted to play godzilla, smash the ants. Arthur's another ant in a different farm, and he watched his entire life play out across several verses to try to figure him out. What makes him unique is he dies in every other verse. Kayne can't figure out what makes this Arthur so special that he survives when all the others don't, but it implies he did something right with his free will, that this version is an "anomaly" like Kayne. He respects that, b/c it means this version of Arthur has done the same thing he has: taken control of their narrative. Even Kayne choosing his own name is an example of that. Becoming Kayne, rejecting the title Nyarlathotep and all the baggage that comes with it, the expectation to be what his father wants, a messenger for the outer gods (although he may still want that, I expect whatever his intentions are re: the Black Stone, they're his, not Azathoth's).

Arthur is usually a mirror for character's to see their humanity reflected, but instead of seeing his humanity (b/c he has none), Kayne looks at Arthur and sees himself. Which... surprised me? He seems so confident in his godhood, I thought he just viewed Arthur as his fave toy or human, like even in the S4 finale I found it hilarious how he kept going: "why can't you all just be more like Arthur???" apropo of.....nothing, but he didn't treat him like someone he identified with, so it caught me off-guard when he compared himself to Arthur, but that's big for a god! and I think it supports my thesis he envies humans for their freedom. Their roles aren't as "established" as a god's. Humans have free will, something he had to kill every other version of himself to gain. Even then, I think absorbing his alts (???) or whatever he did after killing them to become more powerful fucked him up, may have driven him mad if he wasn't already when he started this exercise in defending-himself-from-ever-getting-deleted, like he doesn't sound okay when he's talking to himself.

TLDR: Kayne thinks Arthur's special b/c he lived, when all the other Arthur's in Kayne's Arthur-Killing-Experiment died! (: Kayne can't figure out why, but he likes not knowing why. He likes humanity b/c of their freedom, b/c he's a chaos god who wants as much freedom as possible. And he's aware gods are fallible, they can be deleted, which takes all the romance out of godhood. Kayne's the most powerful god we've met b/c he's taken steps to emulate humanity's free will, the thing that makes Arthur "special," but what makes Arthur "hard to see" is probably his humanity. As much as Kayne likes humanity, I don't think it's something he can truly understand, which is why he enjoys sticking humans full of pins and trying.

I think it's neat Malevolent prizes humanity over godhood. Even gods seem to value humanity over godhood. John wants to become human. Yellow wants acceptance from a human. I think Kayne holds humans in higher esteem than gods. Those who look down on humans or try to 'ascend' and leave behind their humanity, like Larson, are clearly in the wrong. It's not seen as a weakness to be human, and even the parts of humanity that are usually written off as a weakness (our rage, grief, violence, desperation, etc...) are viewed as strengths in Malevolent, and I fucking love that about this show.

Anyway, I'll, uhh, shut up now.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

It actually means conscious VS unconscious

And Storer did it again, he was metaphorically saying what he was doing and put it out there, in plain sight.

I already went over this point in several posts actually because it was pretty obvious to me that their only issue was definitely not communication, that was just the visible tip of their iceberg. It was deeper than that because communication is never a cause per se, it's always a consequence of multiple other factors, so I knew it was about the REASON behind it and whether they are aware of that or not, whether they wanna be aware of it or not, whether they are ready for that or not, etc. CC vs UC. So I elaborated on all those topics previously:

What matters is the people

Stuck in the mud

Inside Carmy's mind

Recycle / Repurpose

Purpuse, chef!

Never apologize

The trap

I now realize that I had missed that Storer put it out there, in plain sight in that scene above, which BTW was one of the few semi-Sydcarmy moments we were given this season, or as I call it: ALMS.

Anyway... The point is that Sydney said that what was killing them (she referred to the operation but I refer to the Sydcarmy dynamic, that's the metaphor) was the "bad communication" between FOH and BOH, in other words: between CC/UC or Conscious and Unconscious or subconscious if you will, because info always permeates from one to the other.

So this takes us back to the fact that until they don't consciously realize and put in the front of their minds THE REASON why they are doing all of this, they won't be able to communicate properly and efficiently, and therefore they will not understand each other and what's even worse, they will definitely not find in themselves the strength to carry on and to endure this battle.

Because let's face it, every day in that restaurant, chasing a star is like going to war and it would be anyway even if they were going through a honeymoon phase. Chasing a Michelin star is no easy task for anyone and it always takes its toll on the team, that is why it's so elite. Not everyone can do it. Yet everyone who has done it ends up learning the same lesson: IT CAN'T BE DONE UNLESS YOU HAVE A BIGGER PURPOSE. Some get lost along the way, and the star kills them because they never find a bigger purpose than the star/s itself as I mentioned here.

I trust Sydcarmy will find a way to make conscious of their real purpose which is obviously THEM/EACH OTHER as I mentioned in all those 7 posts above.

They are actually doing this to show how much they love each other. It's their way of showing their affection for each other. It's also how they communicate.

It would be easier to just say so and go out on a date and maybe give each other simple presents like a playlist, flowers, a cologne... but not for them. Nope. They are "special".

For her, it didn't start that way, though. It morphed into it along the way. Originally for Syd that star was some sort of personal victory and vindication after her Sheridan Rd's trauma fiasco. Later on, when she started suspecting that she may have started falling for Carmy, around the time C showed up, she had to shove that suspicion very deep into her UC, meaning, never let it out, DENY IT, because otherwise she was gonna get hurt. She's too smart and too much of an emotionally avoidant G WOMAN for that. She would never let that happen if she could avoid it prevent it.

For Carmy that was the reason from day one two, though. Right after she said that was what she wanted. But as I mentioned here, that was not his goal at first:

But this is where they are now and they should honor it and be honest about it, even get nasty if they must, ARGUE about it if that's what it takes for them to really get it. I'm sure that S4 will be all about it because they have reached the breaking point already → The crying game

Or should I say breakthrough?

Yeah, I will go for breakthrough. S4 is gonna be all about Sydcarmy. Get ready, truthers. There's no way but up from here because S3 was:

The end of Carmen Berzatto.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[papersparrows]

just some musings:

feeling really sad & questioning myself

i think i just reached the age where i start growing apart with ppl that i thought i'll keep in my life for a long time.

ang alam ko lang talaga, i'm out here minding my own business and trying to survive. trying to do the best i can do. i never even speak ill of anybody kahit pa they are people na kinainisan ko or even people who wronged me. then ppl start revealing who they are habang unaware ako. speaking about me and on my behalf, all behind my back habang ako clueless sa nangyayari. worst, closest friends and family ko pa.

ganon ba talaga? canon event ba to? haha. di ko alam. ang hirap niyang iprocess sobra. siguro kasi before mas bawas pa talaga friends ko and mga ganap ko sa buhay. pero siguro andito ako sa stage na maraming nangyayari, marami akong pinagkakaabalahan. nagugulat na lang talaga ako sa mga nalalaman ko and di ko na alam kung pano ako magrereact. do i do anything about it? who has the time and energy for that? or is that just the course of life and tanggapin ko na lang?

im questioning myself a lot kasi within the past few months, 3rd time na to. una, sa family ako nag detach. i disowned my own siblings na. umabot na kasi sa point na binugbog ako at binabastos na ng sarili kong kapatid habang yung isa naman dinefend siya. after everything i have given them and sacrificed for them. pangalawa, yung isa kong best friend na nangibang kumpanya na only to start shit doon and pry on other people's business tapos sakin isasabit yung issue pag nahuli siya when wala naman akong kinalaman doon haha. i got my vindication from that. proven my innocence and showed all the receipts from my end. but syempre, idc too much about being right. i still feel betrayed. i can act like i don't care about sobrang basura na mga tao like her (and i shouldn't! grabe all the patience and help i have given her since last year) but in reality it really cut me deep. and lastly, galing naman sa childhood best friends ko. since birth na bffs ko. who have betrayed me so many times before and yet i forgave them and always showed up for them and treated them like they're my blood.

ang hirap di mag kwestyon ng sarili kasi syempre di lang isang beses nangyari to recently sa buhay ko. can't help but evaluate myself and my actions and my decisions and lahat lahat and find kung ano yung pagkakamali at pagkukulang ko. lalo na to get this kind of treatment. from the very people i trusted with my life. or am i just naive at ganito lang talaga takbo ng buhay?

im 26 now and im a working professional and i have better things to do w my time and i always treat people best as i could. actually, i treat people better than they usually deserve. and i know the sane and mature thing is to dedma the bullshit that's going on. and im trying. and im doing that and i'll keep doing that. but im also a person and i have feelings and it hurts a lot. especially when ppl speak about me or decide on my character as a person without even giving me the space to speak for myself. syempre if yun yung gusto nilang gawin, so be it.

iba yung sakit when the very same ppl you've loved, defended, helped, showed endless grace for, sacrificed things for, are the same exact people who would easily throw u under the bus.

ewan. ang hirap inavigate ng adult life. people will really walk all over u if they think they're allowed to.

[llitchilitchi]

"the current events related to Q and W"

My buddy in Tumblr, what the hell hath happened now in the cult of those two now?

Also, hot take: W always made my skin crawl and I just never really liked the dude. Mans set off way to many red flags in my brain that I just couldn't explain, and now I feel fucking vindicated and proud, like "I knew it! >:(" and I know I probably shouldn't feel that way, but at the same time, I'm glad I have proof and can site a reason for not liking him aside from "idk, mans just makes me uneasy"

hey anon, I mean this in the kindest way possible now, but "idk mans just makes me uneasy" is a perfectly good reason to dislike someone.

it's fine to dislike people without a reason. it's fine to have a small moment of "I knew it" when they turn out to be shitty if you keep that to yourself and don't rub it into other's people's faces. needing a proof or a legit reason to dislike something or someone is how we get to some very unhealthy behaviours like we see with drantis.

getting bad vibes from someone is valid. not liking someone for no reason whatsoever is valid. as long as you are not a dick about it to others or to the person. being excited about a reason to dislike someone is a very new internet-driven mindset that you should drop asap.

and feeling vindicated and proud and having a 'gotcha' moment when there are actual victims in the case is just not it.

[cowpokezuko]

Watching In Praise of Shadow's conservative horror movie video and I feel so vindicated seeing other people criticize w*ndigoon for being a freak. I have gotten dogpiled by his fans and the man himself multiple times for him uncritically pedaling anti-semitic conspiracy theories, transphobia, and his weird ties to white supremacists. This was years ago atp and I was trying to give good faith crit, but it really ruined my view of his videos and him.

I was pretty young when I started watching him(18-19ish), but as I got older I realized how shallow and vapid his videos are anyways and there are much better videos about horror out there. I sort of had the same issues with his vids that I had with James Somerton in that the didn't really say anything unique or interesting and I would just stop watching, but when I realized how fucked up many of his beliefs were I was turned off to him entirely.

In his video, IPOS specifically talked about a tweet where wendi encouraged the misgendering of chris chan and yeah that happened. I qrt'ed criticizing him for being transphobic and his fans gave me SO much flack for it. I'll see if I can find my tweet as a little more proof for him saying that, but that was like four years ago so no promises.

[tojisun]

The Toji sweep! Reading Toji beat up dbf!simon was not I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. After all the heartache from that au, Simon deserves being humbled once more.

...and maybe several more times, we'll see what your brilliant mind comes up with 😁🩵

i love simon w all my heart and soul but that man will be folded (100%!!) by toji. i cant even begin to get into the specifics of why but trust!!!

AND THEJJEH i was kicking my feet writing that silly drabble because on one hand: YESS VINDICATION. on the other: THIS IS SUCH A WEIRD MIX

i was losing my mind and i couldnt even explain to my irls why i thought of mixing toji and simon but not in a “toji as ghost” type way HWHEJEH

that said, i rlly liked writing them in the same universe ahhhhh

(maybe they should all kiss again)

[whoredmode]

As requested, talking about Saint's Row 1.

Troy is my absolute fave character in the series and his role and characterization in 1 is so compelling and nuanced and he deserves better recognition, and also deserved a better continuing storyline and involement in 2.

The torn loyalties. The fact that he's really trying his best to keep everyone alive. The fact that he fails. His willingness to help out anyone in the gang when he can, even if just in the hopes of keeping the murder count down. The pretty obvious implication that he's the one who saves playa in the opening.

And most importantly, he's jonsing for a funbag.

Excited for your ramble rant!

TROY‼️

my second fave for sure (dex gets the number one spot for me but troy is right behind him).

oh my god i know. ppl love to laugh at the foreshadowing w him but it’s legitimately so well done. like i’ve said it before but the fact we can catch it and feel vindicated by it just proves that it was very seamlessly written in? just the lil things. his constant nerves, his care and fear for lin in particular, the way he walks around questions, the way that even monroe clearly doesn’t like him and doesn’t tell him things? the fact the fucking game manual is written by him! he’s such a genuinely compelling character, and that continues into sr2, even if he got so unfairly cut from that narrative. and the narrative afterwards as a whole, i suppose.

and oh my god the opening. troy being the one who saves them. julius not introducing himself but introducing troy. julius and troy’s whole dynamic in sr1 makes me CRAZYYY!!! it may be a fairly unpopular reading of it but i LOVE reading their dynamic as julius knowing full well that troy is undercover. i need that constant tension. i need them in that push and pull. i need troy being so unsure of himself and his beliefs. he knows julius is full of shit but at the same time julius knows he’s buying into it, that he cares about the saints. their fate is in each other’s hands. like it’s insane.

not to mention dex and troy, which is literally like 90% of this blog. i cannot shut up about these two. destined to hate each other in every universe. i’m very into the cyclical relationships between characters in my canon, how in some ways it feels as if some ppl are fated to go through the same motions and issues over and over again w the same ppl, and that plays a huge role in dex and troy’s dynamic in particular. they will never be rid of each other. but my god their sr1 dynamic specifically is so good. i just love it. dex being so suspicious of him, finally figuring him out but not being able to say a word bc. who would believe him? so many saints barely respect him as a lieutenant, already think he’s gonna be the one to betray the saints (“pulling some warren williams shit”). what is he supposed to do. he just has to sit there and watch as troy continues to lie. and then the actual confrontation we hear through the recordings? how troy respects dex too much to deny it? oh my goddd

anyway ig all that to say. there’s just so many beautifully tragic elements to sr1, and a lot of them revolve around troy and his role as a character, as the betrayer, as the conflicted friend. torture that blonde man some more.

[rubykgrant]

(I can't believe I forgot about the April Fools joke in this, it was so relevant, and I didn't even do it on purpose, it just worked out all perfect... anyway, sharing this again for those reasons; Grif and Simmons telling the others about their whole relationship, the initial disbelief, and Tucker FINALLY feeling VINDICATED~)

The movie had been a late one, beginning at 9:30 at night… by the time they got home, it was after 1 in the morning. Technically, the next day. Grif was especially tired, barely holding in all the snippy little comments about how stupid it was for Simmons to suggest they walk there and back; the only reason he had agreed was because it was early Autumn, cool outside without being cold, and it smelled nice (that combination of dead leaves and dry grass starting to get damp). Grif was turning into a hopeless romantic when it came to their dating activities… and now he was paying the price.

“I can’t make it, man… go on without me…” Grif moaned in a pathetically tragic way as he flopped down on the couch in the living room. Oh, the drama.

“Grif, c’mon… if you sit down, you won’t get back up…” Simmons tugged half-heartedly on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Just leave me here to die… but YOU, you can still live your life…” now Grif was leaning over… and since Simmons wouldn’t let go, he took the guy down with him.

“Grif, you’re such a baby!” Simmons scolded… and Grif responded to the scolding by wiggling beneath Simmons so he was on his back, with them chest-to-chest. Now that he felt cozy, Grif wrapped his arms around Simmons’ waist and snuggled his face under Simmons’ chin. “Oh, no you don’t! Grif, I wanna sleep in the bed! And change out of my clothes, too!”

Simmons huffed and puffed and… really wasn’t trying all that hard to get away. He could probably roll to the side and slip free; instead he was letting out a sigh and kicking off his shoes. Grif grinned against his neck, feeling victorious, and did the same.

“I can’t believe you’re making me sleep on the couch with you… in my freaking JEANS,”

“Oh yeah, I’m MAKING you… got a gun to your head and everything…” Grif murmured. “Also, this is what you get for making me walk across town and back… and if you hate those jeans so much, take ‘em off…”

“Oh OK, I’ll just sleep in the living room in my UNDERWEAR, everybody will LOVE to wake up and see THAT…” Simmons let out a squeaky eep-noise when one of Grif’s hands left his waist and grabbed his butt.

“I sure like seeing it when I wake up…” Grif chuckled, and Simmons made more cute noises; partially in an indignant way and partially in a flattered way. “And hey- that’ll let them know we’re dating if they see us sleeping half-naked together,”

“Pfff… everybody will just think we got drunk… like last time when we ALMOST slept on the couch,” Simmons squirmed a little until he got comfortable (it wasn’t hard, Grif was like a big marshmallow).

“Oh yeah… you practically gave me a lap-dance, in front of EVERYBODY,” Grif gave his butt another little squeeze.

“Did not,” Simmons replied, no longer bothering to get flustered by how handsy his boyfriend was. “But you somehow managed to get us both to the bed THAT night… what happened to my prince charming, carrying me off to sleep?”

“You only get prince charming once a month… he needs time to re-charge…” Grif kissed his cheek. “But I love you all the time,”

“I love you too… lazy-ass,” Simmons kissed him back on the lips, and they both finally started to drift off making quiet hums of contented laughter.

In the hours of the early morning as they slept, Grif turned himself so he was against the back of the couch, and Simmons slid down beside him… but was safe from falling off; Grif still had his arms wrapped snuggly around Simmons. Some nights they kept to themselves while they slept (usually if it was too hot to cuddle), but more often than not they would get all wrapped up in each other. Even if they had made it to the bed instead of crashing on the couch, this is still how they would have ended up (minus the jeans).

The sun was slow to come up, taking it’s sweet time… somebody had also pulled all the curtains in the living room shut yesterday, so it stayed dark just a little bit longer… the others must have stayed up late on their own as well, because even the early-risers weren’t out and about yet… all this added up to Grif and Simmons being able to sleep on the couch until after 9 in the morning. Then, somebody came shuffling down the hallway from their room, and started knocking stuff around in the kitchen.

Simmons heard the unmistakable CRACK of something hitting the floor… a plastic-something, so it didn’t break, but it was followed by an also unmistakable voice muttering “… ah, fuckberries…”. Grif whimpered in protest at the noise, and tried to bury his face into Simmons’ chest, in hopes of blocking out the world.

Simmons wasn’t helping; he sat up to look at what was happening in the kitchen.

“Tucker? What did you drop?” he asked, eyes still blurred from sleep.

“Nothing, just… bumped into that bowl on the counter. S’fine…” Tucker was already picking it back up. The bowl usually had various snacks or fruit sitting in it for people to grab, but was currently empty. Tucker’s real task seemed to be making himself coffee. Thankfully, he had pulled some pajama pants on before coming out of his room (Tucker still slept naked whenever possible).

“Well, you woke us up, jack-ass…” Grif sat up now too, looking like a grumpy bear emerging from hibernation.

“Oh, excuuuuuse me… I didn’t realize I walked into your BED ROOM. That’s where we are, right? Your bed room, not the kitchen and living room? The place we all SHARE? Where people do stuff when they’re AWAKE?” Tucker shot him an irritated look. “Besides, what am I interrupting? Nothing, that’s what. All you two ever do is NOTHING… couple of teases… slow-burning like a tire fire…”

Now Grif and Simmons glanced at each other… because they knew EXACTLY what Tucker was talking about. He’d been insisting that they were basically married and totally in love for YEARS, and they had adamantly denied it. This had always driven Tucker crazy, especially when the two of them kept on winding up in suspicious situations… like sleeping all cuddled up together.

Well, denial time was over. Simmons smiled at Grif who nodded to him.

“Actually, Tucker… we, um… we wanted to talk to you about that,” Simmons began.

“Yeah…” Grif continued. “We were gonna tell everybody, but we might as well start with you. You’ll probably appreciate it the most, anyway…”

Tucker made a disinterested grunt as he picked out a mug.

“Tucker, we’re dating now. We FINALLY figured out how we felt, and stopped being so stupid about it,” Simmons threw an arm over Grif’s shoulders, and Grif hugged him across the chest.

“Yeah, dude. It’s true. I know it took way too long, but we’re actually together. Like, TOGETHER, in a relationship! Last night, we were out hugging and kissing, and everything!”

Now they both smiled at him. Tucker looked unimpressed.

“Haha. Very funny,” he rolled his eyes, went back to watching the coffee drip.

“Tucker, we’re SERIOUS!” Simmons insisted.

“Oh WHATEVER, I don’t believe you. It isn’t funny to try and prank me when I just got out of bed, either… but I guess this is payback for waking you both up? Gotta say, you improvise pretty fast… should’ve saved this for April Fool’s, though…”

“This isn’t a prank, man! And hey- did you miss the part where you woke us up because we were SLEEPING TOGETHER?” Grif pointed out.

“Yeah, sleeping on the couch… big deal. Everybody falls asleep together there. Last week, I fell asleep with Sarge and Carolina on the couch, but you don’t hear me bragging like I had a 3-way,” Tucker was now rummaging around in a drawer for a spoon.

“He’s not gonna believe us…” Simmons sighed.

“Unless… we do something DRASTIC,” Grif told him.

“Yeah. Let’s go for it,” Simmons agreed. “Tucker? TUCKER! Look over here! Seriously, Tucker! LOOK!”

“Look at us! Come on! TUCKER, LOOK! LOOK-LOOK-LOOK!” Grif joined in.

“What do you bitches WANT?!” Tucker whipped around to glare at them.

Now that they finally had his attention, Grif and Simmons kissed.

To really sell it, Simmons made sure to slide a hand up into Grif’s hair, affectionately stroking the back of his head. Grif happily moaned at this (perhaps just a little louder than he usually did so early in the morning; they had an audience, after all). The kiss continued for a while… a lot longer than something done simply as a joke. It looked downright ROMANTIC and SINCERE. This wasn’t all for show, either; for minute, they forgot all about proving something to Tucker and just got lost in the kiss…

“AAAAAHHHHH!!!” Tucker’s scream snapped them back to reality; they opened their eyes, but they didn’t break apart. Now they were smiling with their mouths pressed together, trying not to laugh. They heard the sound of Tucker running off to the side, and then the sliding-glass door opening to the patio. This is what finally makes them separate, to see what the heck he’s up to.

Tucker runs back in, still screaming, his arms now full of… flowers? These were the roses Tex had grown in her little garden out on the roof; she had white, yellow, pink, and red ones… most of them were done for the year, but the pink roses were still blooming. This is what Tucker had, several pink roses. He was now ripping their petals off in fistfuls, throwing them at Grif and Simmons. It was like some kind of aggressive yet supportive celebration. He was also still SCREAMING.

“What in the unholy FUCK!?” they all heard somebody shout from down the hallway that lead to the bed rooms. “Somebody better be DYING out there!”

That was Church, but he wasn’t the only one who had noticed Tucker acting like an emergency alert siren. Several more voices were grumbling and groaning now, followed by doors opening, and footstep coming down the hall.

Simmons and Grif were grinning on the couch, snorting and sputtering with nervous laughter, blinking at the rose petals raining down in their faces, as everybody came into the living room to see what all the fuss was about. This was already more of an extravagant display than they had intended it to be… but now it was just too funny to stop.

Sarge had his shotgun (which thankfully wasn’t loaded), in case they were under attack. Wash had tripped on something in the hallway (the foot of an invisible Locus), and Carolina caught him before he face-planted on the floor. Doc had a small first-aid kit, ready to slap a bandage on somebody. Caboose was still barely awake, bumping into walls and people as we walked out, adjusting his direction when this happened, like a Roomba. Donut had a bad case of bed-head, and he was already mortified to be seen in such a state. Kai was worse; she had slept without taking her hair out of a ponytail, and now the hair-tie was all twisted up in a mess (she didn’t care, though). Lopez was carefully trying to maneuver around people and get to the front of the crowd. Finally, Church came stomping down the hall, ready to kill whoever wasn’t dying. The others hopped out of his way, which was pretty funny considering how not-afraid they were of him… but right now he was sending out maximum pissed-off-vibes. Behind him was Tex, who looked equally confused and irritated, but still too fuzzy-headed to put any effort into being threatening. Church could go from 0 to 100 at the drop of a hat, and he was currently at 88.

“Tucker…” Church’s voice came out like gravel. “Why. Are you. SCREAMING? And the answer better be GOOD,”

“THEM! GRIF AND SIMMONS! I SAW THEM! I SAW-” Tucker was bouncing up and down like a kid on his birthday who just noticed a huge present in the corner. He pointed to the two men who were sitting on the couch, looking over the back at everybody who had gathered. Without even saying anything to each other, they both decided to do the exact same thing; mess with Tucker. They innocently shrugged, all wide-eyed, as if they had no idea what Tucker was talking about.

“Yes, Tucker… we ALL see them… you don’t need to yell about it, jeez…” Caboose told him, and then looked at Church. “OH, HELLO CHURCH! I SEE YOU! GOOD MORNING!”

“No no no, you don’t understand!” Tucker shook his head. “They were-”

“LAVERNIUS TUCKER! Are those MY roses?!” Tex gasped when she finally noticed what he had in his arms.

“Oooh, she first-named you… you’re in trouble~” Donut teased.

“Tex, I’m sorry, but I NEEDED them!”

“For WHAT? Your own funeral? Because I have to kill you now. I hope you realize that,” then she glanced around the couch. “Ugh, and you made a mess everywhere… you’re cleaning this up before you die,”

“Listen to me, dammit! These two! Right here! Grif and Simmons! THEY WERE KISSING!” Tucker pointed at them again, and flung another handful of petals as he did so.

Everybody finally seemed to wake up. They looked curiously at Simmons and Grif, who were feeling muscle cramps in their guts; trying to keep a blank-face when every fiber of your being wanted to crack up was not only a test of mental and emotional strength… it took a physical toll as well.

“I have no clue what he’s talking about…” Grif said, leaning himself over the back of the couch and yawning.

“Yeah… we got back from the movie late and passed out on the couch. Tucker woke us up just now by screaming, we’re as confused as the rest of you,” Simmons could feel how much his face WANTED to twitch (the non-metallic side, anyway), but somehow he kept himself under control. His voice was cracking from the concentration though… but nobody could tell the difference between this and his normal squeak.

Everybody groaned and rolled their eyes; this was clearly just another stupid stunt Tucker was pulling to try and force Grif and Simmons together.

“NOOOOO! You guys can’t do this to me!” Tucker wailed.

“Come on Tucker, give it a rest!” Carolina waved her hand at him in a settle-down gesture. “It is to early to pull a prank like this,”

“No, but- THAT’S WHAT I SAID! And then they kissed! Right in front of me! It happened!”

“Aquaman, you might wanna get your eyes checked…” Sarge muttered.

“Oh! I know how to test eye sight, we could do that later if you want!” Doc offered helpfully… and then O’Malley added something extra. “But if you wake us up by SCREECHING like that again, I will intentionally get you the incorrect prescription for your glasses, and then EVERYTHING will be blurry FOREVER!”

“I don’t need glasses! I need y’all to LISTEN TO ME!”

“Tucker…” Wash began, using a more gentle tone. “You were probably still sleepy when you came out here, and then you saw them on the couch, so your brain made you THINK-”

“I SAW WHAT I SAW!” Tucker interrupted him, then turned back to the two LIARS on the couch. “Stop making them think I’m crazy! You both SAID you wanted to tell everybody! Well, now everybody is here! Tell them! Better yet, SHOW THEM!”

Kai was a little worried… what if Tucker had seen them kissing, and now they were caught and embarrassed? Should she start trying to distract people? De-escalating Tucker was going to be the hard part… wait, he said they wanted to tell everybody? Was that true, or was Tucker just BS-ing? If Dex wanted her to redirect all this attention, he better figure out a way to let her know…

On the couch, Grif straightened back up and turned toward Simmons with a very sly expression. Simmons’ face finally split into a smile as he leaned closer to Grif. Their hands touched, fingers lacing together. This made all the others focus on them again… because it looked like… well, it looked like they were going to…

This time, Grif reached behind Simmons, gently holding the back of his neck and pulling him close. Simmons also switched by making the happy noise, sighing into the kiss and melting against Grif.

They were kissing. Clearly, obviously, undeniably KISSING.

They looked like they had some practice doing this, too.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” and there Tucker went, screaming and throwing more rose petals over them.

For a few minutes, everybody else was just stunned into silence.

“Oh wow… Ok, so Tucker DIDN’T just imagine it!” Wash marveled, then laughed as he started clapping for them.

“Wait, SERIOUSLY!?” Church’s voice cracked. “This is happening? How long has this been happening?”

“Mmm… about 7 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days…” Simmons answered, moving away from Grif just enough to talk, but still keeping their bodies pressed together and looking at him like he was the whole world.

“Have you been counting the hours, too?” Grif touched his forehead to Simmons’, looking utterly enamored himself. The two of them giggled together.

“OK, that’s… that’s actually pretty damn cute,” Church admitted, all the anger gone from his voice, his expression turning soft.

“I’m just glad I don’t have to act like nothing’s going on anymore…” Kai said, walking over to the couch.

“Wait, you KNEW?” Tucker asked, finally out of flowers.

“Duh, this is my BROTHER. How could I NOT know? And speaking of which, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally give Simmons my obligatory protective-sibling-speech,” she reached out, clasping Simmons’ chin in her hand, and turning his head so he had to look at her. He had a mildly alarmed expression mixed with a confused flat-smile, eyebrows rising up high. “If you break his heart, I’ll break your legs. Understand?”

“That sounds fair,” Simmons agreed.

“Good!” Kai kissed him on the cheek and released his chin. Before walking away, she gave Dex a pat on the shoulder. “And if YOU break HIS heart, then I’ll break YOUR legs!”

“Sis, you don’t need to threaten me and my boyfriend into treating each other right, we’re already pretty good at it!” he protested, but wasn’t able to stop smiling.

“HE SAID BOYFRIEND! THEY’RE BOYFRIENDS! YOU ALL HEARD IT!” Tucker was still too keyed-up to stay still. He’d been waiting for this to happen for YEARS. He had almost given up hope forever. Now, at last… the orange and maroon idiots were BOYFRIENDS.

“Wait, I thought… weren’t you two dating like, a long time ago? And then you broke up recently, or something?” Tex muttered, utterly confused.

“No, no…” Church explained. “They weren’t dating before. They were, uh, well they were kinda-”

“They’ve been being STUPID and dragging their heels for more than a DECADE!” Tucker added.

Grif and Simmons had to laugh and nod, because yes. This was true.

“Dating? I thought they were married this whole time!” Caboose said. He sounded genuinely distraught. “When did you get divorced?”

“Caboose, no… they didn’t- they weren’t-” Church wasn’t sure how to even start telling him what was incorrect with all of that.

“Well, I’m just glad they got back together. Maybe THIS time when they get re-married, they’ll invite us all to the wedding!” Caboose clapped his hands together once, excited.

“UH, YEAH, WE’D BETTER GET AN INVITE!” Donut spoke up, his high-pitched volume rivaling Tucker’s screech from earlier. “And right now, I want DETAILS! Who said the L-word first, who kissed who first, how many dates have you had, wait was last night a REAL date, have you two been sneaking off on romantic rendezvous every time you go do something together, have you guys taken this to the NEXT LEVEL yet, who-”

“Woah now!” Doc leaned over to try and get Donut to settle down before he started asking VERY personal and specific questions. “I think the most important thing to focus on is- we’re all proud of you two! So much emotional growth, and you decided to share it with us. I mean, we all kinda thought you guys had something there… or you COULD have something, but after so long we assumed it was just never going to happen. Seeing you both finally being honest and affectionate is really great!”

“Thanks Doc,” Grif smiled at him. “And Donut? I said I loved him first, but he didn’t get it, so nothing happened for a while. Then, he finally started to get a clue, but I wasn’t taking him seriously. Y’know, because we’re both stupid. We had a WHOLE conversation about being in love… uh, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days ago, and that’s when we actually kissed. First he kissed me, then I kissed him. We went on a real date after that, and… I think last night was date number 34? Unless you add times where we just sit around at home and stuff… that would make about 55,”

“Pfff, and you made fun of ME for keeping track of how long we’ve been dating!” Simmons nestled his face into Grif’s hair. “Also, I guess stuff on Chorus still doesn’t count?”

“NO, IT DOESN’T!” Grif snapped, and the others around them laughed.

As the giggles and chuckles begin to die down, something shifts in the air by the refrigerator… then a shape takes form.

“Congratulations. I hope you’ll be happy together,” It was Locus. His sudden appearance made Donut, Doc, and Church jump. He faded away again, evidently feeling that he had satisfied the social requirements for a situation like this.

“Hey, wait a minute! I KNEW you were here! Church didn’t believe me when I said I thought you were in the apartment last night, but I knew!” Tex leaned over, waving her hands around in that direction, until she touched something unseen but solid. “You can’t trick somebody who ALSO used to sneak around invisible! And we TOLD you, just come hang out with us when you’re lonely, you don’t need to hide!”

Locus attempted to slip away, but she had a good grip on him now. He finally gave up, becoming visible again. It certainly was an odd sight; everybody else in various pajamas, Grif and Simmons still wearing their clothes from the date… then there was Locus, in full armor. Because he was just like that.

“Here Caboose, you hold him! Don’t let him go until he learns a lesson about friendship, OK?” Tex hoisted Locus up to Caboose, who promptly wrapped his arms around the very awkward and flustered man, holding him off the floor.

“OK! Hi, Locus!”

“Hello, Caboose…”

Laughter once again filled the apartment, and when it died down… they could what sounded like… sobbing?

It was Carolina and Sarge.

He was clutching his shotgun against his chest as very MANLY tears streaked down his cheeks, running through the spiky stubble growing on his face. She had her hands clenched into fists at her sides, eyebrows scrunched together, and a mess of a runny nose.

“Sarge? Oh my GOD, are you CRYING?” Grif asked, while Simmons could only stare.

“My boys…” Sarge choked out. “My boys are IN LOVE…”

He looked ready to just break-down; thankfully Donut and Doc were close enough to help hold him up.

“Aww… it’s OK, Sarge!” Donut said as the gruff old man leaned his head down, crying into Donut’s shoulder. From the couch, Simmons made a sympathetic whimpering noise… because he still couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride whenever Sarge made any reference to him as a son. Grif was less accustomed to this, but it was hitting him hard right here. They were his boys, he loved them, and they loved each other. The way Donut was smiling about it all… well, this was just a touching Red Team Family Moment, wasn’t it? A few years ago, this would have made Grif gag. Now… despite how awkward this whole situation was, Grif was actually sort of… happy everybody was here for it. Crap, he was just as corny as Simmons.

“What about you, Carolina?” Simmons asked, blinking back a few tears that were building in the corners of his eyes. “Are you alright?”

“NO- YES- I’M JUST- YOU TWO LOOK REALLY NICE TOGETHER, ALRIGHT? I CAN SEE HOW HAPPY YOU ARE, AND I’M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU, AND-AND-” Carolina brought one had up to hide her face as her voice started to get shaky. The other hand she raised to flip them off. “FUCK YOU BOTH FOR DOING THIS TO ME!”

For her, Wash and Church tried to lean over and give her a hug, but she smacked them both away- they could tell it was only for show, so they tried again, and this time she let the comforting happen.

Lopez had been pretty quiet through this whole mess. He often just stood back and watched the humans be stupid, sometimes adding his own commentary, whether they listened to him or not. Now, he decided to say something direct. He walked over to the couch, placing one robotic hand on Grif’s shoulder, and another on Simmons’.

“Eres tan estúpido … No ME tomó más de una década decirle a mi amado cómo me sentía…” [You're so stupid... It didn't take me more than a decade to tell my love how I felt...] he was talking about himself and Sheila, his beautiful tank that would always have a special place in his “heart”. Lopez hadn’t wasted years and years in that regard; their romance had been clear and passionate from the beginning. “… pero me alegro de que finalmente te diste cuenta de la verdad. Ahora, asegúrate de permanecer juntos. No podemos volver a pasar por todas estas tonterías,” [but I'm glad you finally realized the truth. Now make sure you stick together. We can't go through all this nonsense again].

With that said, he hugged them, and walked back to the group. The sentiment was shared; it had taken Grif and Simmons so long to get to this point, and now everybody just wanted them to be able to enjoy it. Perhaps if there ever came a time when they were simply just… not in love anymore, then obviously they would separate, and the others would accept it. Everybody, but Tucker. Tucker would take it personally, and probably try to duct-tape them back together. However, this doesn’t even seem like a possibility; Grif hasn’t had a lot of luck with making a good thing last in his life, and he’s determined to make sure THIS endures. Simmons can’t picture a scenario in which he’d be able to want anybody else the way he wants Grif, and rather than make him feel trapped, this actually just gives him more confidence. Sure, they’re probably going to have problems, but that was nothing new (they certainly were no strangers to bickering or arguments). They had both seen each other at their worst, and none of it was enough to scare them away.

“Oh wait, hold on!” Tucker ran out of the room, and started to search for something in the hall closet. He came back with a camera; it was the one “good” camera they had (that wasn’t just somebody’s phone or a disposable hunk of junk). “We have to take a picture! One with just them, and then one with everybody in it! You two, kiss again! Go on!”

This time, they didn’t mess with him; Simmons and Grif kissed once more, and they could feel the vibrations in each other’s chests as they tried to suppress their laughter. A tear finally escaped from Simmons’ eye. It was just so many crazy emotions all at once; he was still tired, mildly embarrassed, a little bit proud of himself, incredibly happy, and absolutely in love. Grif was in the same situation, but was currently almost numb to everything happening… he’d start to feel almost shy, and then a wave of joy would wash all that away, and then another feeling would take over, and then another, then another… maybe later, when he could process all of it, he’d start crying too.

“OK, now everybody get over there by the couch!” Tucker started directing them, with most of the Reds coming around to sit on the couch with Grif and Simmons, plus Kai snuggling up to her brother. As everybody leaned in close, Tucker set the timer on the camera, and then placed it on the island countertop in the kitchen; it had a clear view into the living room. Tucker rushed over, hopping up to sit on the back of the couch, right between the love-birds. He almost ruined it, nearly slipping down too far, and then nothing but his feet would have been seen, sticking up in the air… Grif and Simmons caught him though, laughter finally erupting from them just as the camera went off.

[heir-less]

Sussex squad and Wales stans have extreme views on W&K marriage. On one hand the two hate each other and are barely able to tolerate each other and on the other hand two college sweethearts still in love after close to 20 years together, I don't think any of it true.

First I don't think the two were ever truly in love. I think they loved each other and William saw in Kate a woman who would conform and fit into his idea of a consort and Kate wanted the position. I don't think she was the last one standing or a default choice like some of her critics like to say. In the first few years you can see the complicity, the friendship between them.

At the same time William cold and snappy behavior that we see more of now has always been there but she would roll her eyes at him give him side eyes none of this now.

Something obviously happened I'm not sure it's about a specific affair ( because I don't think he's ever been really faithful to her). They're never been really lovey dovey but there was a warmth between them that's rare to see nowadays. They're more distant and cold and act like co workers.

I feel that both sides look to feel vindicated on the state of William and Kate's marriage. Waleses are constantly looking for PDA and signs of a fourth pregnancy because it would confirm that William and Kate are living a happy family life without the Sussexes, a future King with his adoring future Queen. On the other hand, I feel like people who resonate with the Sussexes really, really want the Waleses to "get theirs". The marriage is in trouble due to cheating or a mutual dislike would vindicate them by proving that Harry and Meghan's main detractors who are often touted as superior are actually misreable together.

I think William and Kate probably did love each other and got along well, but in a way that was savvier than most regular couples, where this is a transaction of status and desires between the two. I don't think William would have strung Kate along for almost a decade if he didn't care about her. People say that William was grooming her to make sure she was "Queen material" but there are hundreds of Sloane Ranger-types from high-born families who would have instantly understood the assignment and conformed, like you say. William probably would have had an easier time with someone born into the same class bracket as him. However, I think William specifically wanted Kate for the role and was willing to draw out the relationship until he felt she was ready. Kate, obviously spent a lot of time conforming to William and making herself presentable.

I'm personally not into body language analysis and I fully admit that my perspective is biased, but in recent years I think William has been really cold and neglectful towards Kate publicly. I'm not sure what has triggered this, if he wasn't faithful or what, but I get frustrated watching them as a couple nowadays because it feels so one-sided to me. Kate is always the one to wait for William, to look at him, to consider his presence, and she's given almost nothing in return. There have been moments where Kate shows attitude or distaste with him, but they seem like rare displays of frustration with William they seem unprovoked and constant. Like you said, there was a warmth and natural compatibility that was present in the earlier years of their marriage. Now, it's just gone.

Also, it's paired with this hint-hint-nudge-nudge style of reporting from the ROTA and other commentators that is very passive-aggressive and snarky about the state of the Wales's marriage. Not to mention, the response from the palace to rumours about marriage breakdowns has been anything but dignified silence, in fact they sort of botched the way these rumours have been handled by threatening legal action and demanding things mentioning Rose get edited/removed. It's this combination of things that raises my suspicions.

I don't really hope to see Wales's marriage fall apart (I don't hope that for anyone, really, it's just sad) because it will literally make things worse for everyone in the royal family, including three young children and even Meghan tangentially because she is blamed for literally everything that goes wrong (remember when Autumn left Peter Phillips and it was dubbed that she was "following Meghan's lead"?). Right now, however, things are just painful and I have no idea how Wales stans (especially the longtime pre-2015 girls) are getting the same satisfaction watching them. When you're not focusing on how stiff and lifeless they are as a couple, you're focusing on them sucking at acknowledging deeper social issues like racism and colonization and poverty. It's just painful.

[ninjapotatohead]

it’s funny some of you people still think that just because some section of idiotic sonic fans sent death threats to Pontac and act stupid to your folk that it makes it ok for some of your people in your community to do the same when honestly it’s clearly not ok nowadays to actual sane people in and outside of the community looking inside. (also yes some people do get reprimanded for that behaviour nowadays especially on my discord and and other mutual servers/twitters since they’re run by actual sane people despite what your cesspool of tumblr posts say) criticisms are fine against the stories and people write but the fact you lump people who’s criticize some of your community’s people are "bootlickers" when I know the normie fans hardly don’t interact with him same with me it’s just when we just see piles and piles of posts of writers of not just Ian but other writers as well it shows how fall this small section of a community has fallen.

Honestly the reason why a most sonic communities don’t take all too well to your group nowadays is because they’re sick and disgusted by you lot is that recent posts and vids have shown that all of y’all are so desperate for some people to agree with you you still accept a self proclaimed "cub fetisher" by still talking to him afterwards (also another one of the reasons why his Twitter was in the cutting shop he was pushing it with his disturbing posts and is just a bad person in general especially with recent multiple death threat posts that I can still see on his tumblr) which honestly just shows all you in a horrid light and also why is the constant posting about this topic and yelling into the void about how the community is wrong for enjoying different recent writers and insulting them almost daily which is extremely unhealthy no matter how "vindicated" you feel you all are.

Doesn’t help that even people on sonic tumblr who don’t post weekly about such things are noticing and calling out the behaviour when people like drop-ship-colony past posts are saying that the behaviour like threats to a human beings life wasn’t "that big of a deal" in the sonic community when it fucking absolutely is in real life and I’m other "healthy sane fanbases" and is absolutely disgusting human behaviour in general no matter how much shit y’all had to deal with with other stupid sides of the community that doesn’t mean your community isn’t exempt from criticism T H A T ‘ S NOT H O W T H E R E A L W O R L D W O R K S no matter if it’s on the internet with you folk hiding behind their screens it can be dangerous it always has consequences and how you’ve reacted to it has also been shown to even people on tumblr which is why there’s more people on even on this app noticing it and posting about the behaviour even more so now likely in the future. In the end people aren’t taking you seriously in the majority of the fandom not because their "boot lickers" hardly but because recent actions just show your small group is made up of nothing but FILLED with posts of writers not just Ian basically insulting them and threatening them and is basically a life style filled with bitterness and that’s just a fact just looking and your catalogues of past posts that’s why people even on here recently are tired of y’all your community no longer has any standing in the community due to all these factors not just in and now I’ve decided with my friends advice to just block you group of few since that’s why communities have just ignore/block you all on tumblr especially on my mutual’s discord. better to just let your community just be filled in your own bitterness and be ignored since people in the main fanbase have recently have as well farewell.

Nice copypasta, bruv. Could use some punctuation, though.

[scarletanpan]

.

tt radiates a cursed energy honestly, I hadn't looked at it since that time a week ago but my mom wanted me to watch something and I go to my room and scroll maybe two vids before. Finding the most specific video aimed fucking directly at me her names daturajonez and she was talking abt how the conversation abt autistic blk women was one of the most nuanced things that ppl dont rlly discuss on tt and. Went into detail abt all the aspects of how autism leads to u being rejected by most ppl and most parts of ur identity no matter what and. Ow ig experienced every single thing she mentioned. almost died but in a good way bc. Never seen someone talk about it in such detail felt so much less insane bc I be complaining

A lot and unfortunately I use tumblr for it like muscle memory so sorry I'm working on it I swear I'm j dumb and my phone hates me but. Well this helped ig it solved an issue in my brain? Is it bad to say hearing another autistic blk girl tell me that I will never conform to society's expectations on most levels and it's a waste of time to do so was the vindication I needed to like. Fr consider that?? I knew this but kept stewing abt the fact that no matter what I tried something went wrong with most ppl in most places all the time. And kind of feel this might be a shared experience w other autistic woc like the specifics might be different but idk I don't wanna speak for anyone but. Its j an experience struggling to meet the expectations of ur society and ur community bc it rlly weighs on you how everyone finds something strange abt u regardless of how hard u try

And ig part of it was that when I did figure out these things I'd try to share w family and they wouldn't. Trust me or believe me or didn't see any value in the intersection between my autism and the way I've acted my whole life. And not tryna call them out or nothing but.. was def made fun of for a long time for not rlly engaging w blk culture the way I was expected and a lot of other things so just. Hearing another person tell me yeah all of that's gonna happen and more has lifted a fucking weight off my shoulders it's almost insane. I'm like hurt but comforted by seeing so many other ppl talk abt going thru the same shit

But also wtf tt. I look at you for two seconds and u dredge up my deepest anguish for no reason. But absolute shoutout to that vid, tt sucks ass but has an unfortunate streak of helping me. Didn't buy a binder until I saw a guy show off his randomly on there and we know how tf that went. and now this.. like i am supposed to hate u. still do but amazing video

Also led to me learning abt anger rumination. Which... hmm is that why I can't shut up abt anything ever. Whoops I got some shit to think abt i get worked up abt so much bc i have too many feelings all the time and never rlly get to express them out loud but this is honestly all rlly good to know, managing that is def my first step towards being more sane

[truckreincarnation]

(vee)sceral reaction | Vee | Trial 2.3 | Re: Theophania, Manami, Bian

Part of Vee is experiencing the same struggle Esmée and Shinjuku are undergoing, even if they don't have the bravado to voice it like the others do. He who survived through several years of therapy, both on the giving and receiving ends at various points in time, recognises that the human reaction to seeing such a violent end is to lash out at those they deem responsible, especially on behalf of someone they deeply cared about. Care, about. Grief is but love persevering. 

They rub both sides of their head as the situation devolves to a lot of shouting, back-and-forth arguments about whether there is someone to blame, if there should even be someone to blame. His tears have long dried up by now, but as he considers the ramifications of what he might have to reveal, they threaten to spill over again as he can only quietly beg forgiveness of the Perry in his head. It might be vindicated if this succeeds. It might be his worst mistake yet if it doesn't.

"...I d-don't think Perry's t-talked much about how she p-passed away, the first t-time." They say softly, in the aftermath of Bian's outburst as everything has gone silent. "We were o-out hikin'... She was, out h-hikin' on a mountainous trail." They'd stayed behind on account of the sunlight. "She had a b-bad fall, and passed a-away before we could f-find her because the t-terrain was too hard to t-traverse by evenin'." At last, context for why they've taken this entire case quite as badly as they have to the point they were all but catatonic in the beginning. It was one thing to lose Perry, another thing to see the circumstances that led to her second death being so eerily similar to what claimed her the first time.

"Even... a w-week ago, when she a-accepted the dare to j-jump from the second s-storey balcony in the l-library... At the bottom, she r-regretted it. It wasn't h-heights, or climbin' trees, it was that p-panic from fallin' and... M-Maybe that explains how a-and why she's made d-decisions we've found bafflin' a-about this case. Maybe it doesn't a-and I'm just lookin' for the b-best explanation that won't m-make me throw up from c-considerin' the alternative. I don't... know or claim t-to know what was goin' t-through her head, but I... don't w-want to attribute to malice w-what could be the e-end result of a fit of t-terror and bad decisions."

Their breathing is shallow, as they shake their head and wipe the start of tears away. "She must h-have been in so m-much pain... Feck, I s-should've done more the m-moment I saw Shinjuku r-run. I should've convinced h-her not to do a lot of t-things but I wanted her t-to be happy, same as it e-ever was... And I don't w-want to believe anyone h-here would take advantage of h-her in such a vulnerable s-state, knowin' that even actin' w-would end up dooming s-someone else here if they w-were not caught." Vee turns to face Frank. "I w-want to believe that Bian's o-outburst would have been r-reciprocated in most circumstances. That it's n-not a one-way bond, that if n-no one else, you wouldn't b-bet her life on this. S-Same with Nao, twice o-over. I want to c-consider what Manami and T-Theophania have to say. And to that e-end..."

She holds up her notebook, once again etched in blood-red ink.

PERRY

"I'm goin' to t-trust in the g-good that makes us h-human." She mumbles. "If it s-should turn out that t-trust is misplaced, I will drag w-whoever did this d-down to Perry's new room m-myself, but I don't... W-Want anyone else to d-die too." Spineless, perhaps, when they came into this trial seething and upset, craving justice if not revenge for their best friend, but they've heard enough to be convinced of an alternative. "I'm w-willin' to try that r-risk."

[oflgtfol]

so believe it or not i have several mando fics, its just that ive only ever posted fics from if love is the answer you're home series, so here's some excerpts of the unpublished ones

bobadin one-shot with aromantic din, alloromantic boba (february 2022)

bobadin slowburn long fic that i only wrote this one single scene for before giving up, aro din again but it wont be the central focus or probably even mentioned explicitly (may 2021)

intended 5+1 things for clan of two week in 2021 that i never finished (march 2021)

HAUNTED DARKSABER <3 was supposed to be short one-shot but is turning into a ~15k two-shot. my own take on the haunted darksaber au that popped up a while ago (july 2021)

also side note i have no idea why sabine gave bo-katan the darksaber, everything i see does not mention why, so that was a placeholder, and then i was talking w my classmate the other day and i finally asked why and he said pretty much that very same thing so im feeling kinda vindicated that its maybe correct...? but i havent watched it myself so i cant say for 100% sure. was planning on verifying it myself before i ever published this fic officially

also double side note i just realized it says bo was the leader of death watch which is another artifact of this being 2021 and me not knowing what the fuck was going on in star wars. too lazy to edit it right now. but i mean she was like second in command for DW right i mean not much difference other than official role title