#so many possibilities of who he could be talking about...

[zenoxonslibrary]

Entire Transcript of "This Anime is Offensive by Scamboli Reviews":

The internet is quite pissed by this. This anime was shot, scripted in AI, generated by Corridor Digital. You know those guys? They did real-life Minecraft, Dark Souls, Halo, Mario—they even showed a real live woman at some point. Corridor got their hands on Stable Diffusion, it's this AI that… I don't know, does AI? But it was sloppy, so they clashed heads, did research, and two months later, we got an eight-minute-long short film produced by people who never had to pick up a pen. Imagine RDC getting their hands on this—the kids that will run around doing crazy sketches. Never before has animation been more accessible to the average person. And never before has that extremely specific demographic of white dudes that are extremely active on Twitter, with thick-ribbed glasses and beards, been more angry. And that… that made me so mad on so many levels.

Here's the thing: on one hand, I think AI is terrifying, and I want it to go away. On the other, I know that it won't go away and that screaming at excited nerds will do absolutely nothing. I'm not an AI technician, nor am I extremely smart, but God put me on this Earth to talk about things I know nothing about. I would like to discuss why people are angry, who's angry, and share my perspective on this whole ordeal. And to do that, we're gonna have to watch a video made by Mother's Basement.

Mother's Basement hates this. "I am insulted, and so should you." Jeff is an anime YouTuber that has been on the platform long before I have. He's part of a small group of creators who pioneered this niche to where it is today. In his video, Jeff makes some very valid points about the grim future that could lie ahead of AI… and zero good points about what Corridor has to do with that. Like, this dude for real said: "This video? It's not art. Not." Jeff will not call this video art. In fact, he doesn't consider anything AI-generated to be art. And I actually agree with that last part. Art is an expression of human creativity. As soon as a machine does the walking, you're already lost. Millions of photos—regardless of copyright or if the author likes it—are used to train these AI. They teach it to guess which colors and shapes go where on a grainy image. Not only is this overpowered as hell, but it, by itself, is devoid of creativity, which is derived from our personal experiences and biases. Jeff, I'm with you 100% when you say this… but you have to stop yourself from… from… ugh, talking.

If you're gonna be out—I know some dipstick will jump down to the comments to say—"The only difference between an AI reproducing an art style and a human artist doing it is the time it takes." Now, wait a minute, hold on. I just don't think this is a very well-coded comment. What you said is not funny enough to be that rude. If you're gonna be a dick, hide it with as much humor as possible, like what I'm doing.

There's a part of this video where he's like, "If they were interested in making something with even a shred of artistic legitimacy, they could have hired an artist or two to draw up the model sheets their AI would use. But instead, they just went and stole a bunch of frames from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and trained their computer." Someone better call the cops! This is where anime YouTubers do our job—we steal frames. We just take clips of anime and talk over them. But Jeff, you and I are artists. We transform the work we talk about; we reshape it with the aid of our personal experiences. I don't think you can be on the side of anime abridged and critique AMVs but flip as soon as someone uses software that digitally collages that same content.

To say that Corridor made something without a shred of artistic legitimacy is disingenuous. This team had a vision they wanted to achieve, so Corridor problem-solved. They combined the discoveries of multiple users to get this AI looking the way they wanted. They had to tune the hell out of it, write a short film, voice act, normal act, buy costumes, teach the AI what they look like, turn those photos into anime images, pop open Unreal Engine to set up a bajillion cameras with different angles so they could superimpose their animated bodies onto a new environment. And even then, they had to add so many things in post. Storytelling, acting, editing, videography—if you don't think the convergence of all these skills is art, then I don't value your opinion on this topic.

And then there's those sassy fingers. I don't like those sassy fingers. And B, how come every time you call this video an anime, you got to use air quotes? "Anime" looks like ass. You made a video called Avatar is an Anime. "Avatar is an anime?" Fight me. You of all people should not be doing the sassy fingers.

In that video, he made the point that anime is a movement—an artistic movement within the medium of animation, not unlike post-modernism or the French New Wave in film. Everything that makes anime anime—the big-eyed aesthetic, the over-the-top action, the mature themes, the overt sexuality—is a part of that movement. The line between anime and not anime is gray. It doesn't even have to be hand-drawn or made in Japan anymore. So if it looks like anime, sounds like anime, and is written like an anime, what's stopping it from being anime?

There's this video of Aaron Blaise, a dude who animates for Disney, reacting to Corridor's behind-the-scenes. Numerous times, he stops the video and points out, "Yo, that's just like how we made Snow White." "No, it's not too different than what we did on Beauty and the Beast." "We shot reference a lot." AI doesn't write the script, make a story, or rotoscope itself. This is an art form—an art form that is very distinct from all other animation we've seen. If you want to call it animation, it's constantly rotoscoped. It has some jank messed-up hands, and yeah, it's got the hands garbled, monster faces, and not to mention their six-fingered thumbnail. Okay, I don't think this will replace animators in the same way that CGI didn't replace animators. But who knows?

Tech is evil. Recently, I visited ChatGPT for the first time, and within 15 minutes, it had quoted Biggie Smalls saying, "I'm slamming like a dungeon dragon, coming around the corner with the gangster lean." Biggie Smalls has never said that. So then I asked it to write the description of a pickle but as a Dark Souls 3 item: "Era, this pickle has withstood the test of time. Once used as a means of preserving food, it now serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of life. Consume it to restore a small amount of health, but beware the potential side effects of consuming a food item of unknown age and origin." Yeah, in about five years, these things are replacing me.

When I talk about AI, I don't want anyone to be under the impression that I don't sympathize with everyone whose jobs are in jeopardy. I'm scared as hell. But this situation constantly reminds me of the people that freaked out over the Industrial Revolution in 19th-century Britain. Weavers and textile workers were way more important. It could take years to cultivate the skills necessary to weave with the best of them, and it could take several hours to produce very little cloth using a loom. Then some guy is like, "Hey, why pay people when machine work free?" The world agreed. Automated loom factories started popping up around the 1800s. They continued to get more and more badass, and instead of using a single skilled worker on one machine, suddenly one guy could oversee a bunch at once. Now, every once in a while, the machines would eat a woman or small child, but that didn't stop anyone from using them. This is also how our politicians work.

But think back to those weavers—the people who worked for years doing this stuff by hand. They were sort of phased into obsolescence. Would they just take that? No. A group that would be known as the Luddites began burning down factories and destroying knitting frames in protest. This movement was quickly adopted all across England until, finally, the government heard the voices of the people, saw the pain they were in, and… chopped their heads off. (It just says "executed" here, so that's an artistic change by me. I was really proud to find this in the newspaper clipping.) By 1813, the Luddites had faded into history. That's pretty messed up, right?

On the flip side, look at how painters first responded to photography. Paul Delaroche was this hugely influential artist in the 19th century. He has this hard-ass quote after he was allegedly shown a photograph: "From today, painting is dead." We know that photography didn't kill art. There were even artists at the time who were excited by the idea: "We can use the strengths of both mediums to improve painting rather than replace it." But the feeling that technology will one day automate your job and push your skills into obsolescence existed nonetheless. We've seen it happen. It's very hard to tell who's going to be the weavers and who's going to be the painters in this situation. Only the future knows for sure.

I agree with Mother's Basement on a lot of fronts. A really good point he makes is that currently, this AI stuff can't be copyrighted. You can even take a frame from the Corridor video and sell merch with it. As long as the AI is trained on material you don't own, it's not yours. But what if a big studio hires technicians and artists to train AI with material they own? That gives studios a massive advantage over the little guys who can't afford that. And if it gets good enough, workers could even be phased out if they go on strike because, guess what? "We can make up your workload until you accept a lower wage." There are so many ways AI can benefit humanity—conversely, an equal amount of ways it can tear us apart.

Jeff, what the hell does this have to do with Corridor Digital? It seems like the internet has some misplaced aggression. This is a very emotive topic, so I can understand why people might get angry with Corridor at first glance. "Did we just change animation forever? Uh, I sure hope not." But Jeff is tripping when hearing anything Corridor says. He takes the most sinister, non-charitable interpretation every time.

Exhibit A: When I first watched the video, Jeff had me thinking, "Oh, Corridor maybe paid a subscription service for an AI and is charging people for tutorials on how to use it. That's kind of messed up if they're using copyrighted material, which is what will happen if the technology and processes Corridor are advertising—and apparently tutorializing behind the paywall on their website—do take off." This is false. First off, Corridor is using three open-source software to achieve this effect. They don't get money if you use it. Jeff never mentions that. So the "technology and processes Corridor are advertising"—stating it had me confused—but what Corridor did was push a new technique using the software. They got the animations to flicker less and got the AI to stop changing styles constantly. Then they recorded an hour-long tutorial that teaches you how to replicate that same effect.

"One thing I want to talk about is the democratization of this process. This is a situation here where we're looking at a piece of software that's free, that anyone has access to—a process here that we're sharing openly with everyone because everyone's openly shared knowledge with us." But how is it democratizing animation if the tutorial is behind a paywall? Well, I went and made an account. Oh my god, it's free! This long-ass tutorial is free. If you're only after their technique, you can plug in your card number, get 15 days of free usage on their website, and bail. Once we have the hour-long tutorial, it's not really an ad for that—more so the exclusive content on their site if you decide to stay. But Mother's Basement said—wasn't lying per se, but that's pretty scummy and dishonest in my opinion.

Dishonest is the perfect word. Exhibit B: Mother's Basement is being dishonest when he says, "They're clearly pitching this as a disruption to animation, not VFX." Not VFX? So you also say they're advertising how to cut animators out of animation? Let me just say, dog, that is your pitch. Their pitch is literally at the start of your video: "Wouldn't it be cool if you could film yourself and easily turn into anything you want, like a cartoon character?" Over and over and over, Corridor drives home the idea of giving the little guys—the creatives, groups like Corridor—the ability to make animated stuff. Regardless of what you speculate will happen in the future, this is what they're advertising. This is the pitch.

"And people can experiment and improve upon the process, helping all of us get better. That's great. I love that idea—sharing the knowledge. That's what it's all about." How can you, on one hand, claim they're trying to cut animators out of animation and, on the other, clown them for trying to make it more accessible—for them wanting to democratize animation? See, he's doing the fingers again. You can't have both.

Also, Jeff hates black babies. Maybe even Chinese ones too. That's what I took away from the video. That was a joke. Jeff loves all babies. But do you see how I can infer something, construct a straw man, and make that the thing people attack? Sure, you feel they're advertising how to replace animators and disrupt the world of animation, but what about their words and actions leads you to think that's their intent? Otherwise, you're just kind of… Exhibit C-minus.

From the one and a half million views in three days and tens of thousands of likes on that video, we can also see that the tech is already good enough to satisfy a sizable group of people with little to no taste. Weird statement, right? If you clicked like on this video, you have little to no taste. It's not like I don't know AI is cool and people just want to see it. I got a lot going on, okay? I don't need an anime YouTuber—the pinnacle of human performance—telling me I have no taste because I think a video is interesting.

Continuing on that track, Jeff goes on to say, "And knowing what… in terms of visual… Tokyo Revengers… it's entirely possible that studios will get away with it." And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this guy bought and paid for by Record of Ragnarok? No offense, but who gives a damn what you think about people's tastes? You endorsed an anime that isn't animated. In case you're not aware, Record of Ragnarok is an anime that was received terribly by fans for how poorly animated it was. One of the fights is a straight-up slideshow. Jeff was paid to do a reaction video to promote the anime.

"Freaking orbital laser-level attacks! I love it! Wow! Mid! I love mid! Mid! Yes! Whoa!" Jeff, in retrospect, realized the taste thing was a very stupid thing to say and had to issue a retraction in the comments.

My point is, if you're going to get so emotional over a topic that you're lashing out at people who don't deserve it, maybe it's time to take a step back. Jeff is mad—so mad—like a lot of people out there. And emotional investment is a great way to construct bad arguments to support your feelings. And they throw very valid speculations about what a future with this technology could look like, but when it comes to what the hell Corridor Digital has to do with it all, you see dishonest arguments, straw men, and this clip that he, for some reason, thought was a gotcha.

Because when it comes to these AI tools: "Hey, sure, it makes it easier to copy people's style. So somebody just rips out somebody's style—call them out and be like, 'You rip that person off! Screw you!'" So then we went and we took a bunch of frames from Vampire Hunter D. Of course. Am I the only one who had to rewatch that to see what point he was making? Nico says, "Let people know whose style you're using," and the next clip is Nico saying which style he's using for the AI. Doesn't this seem perfectly consistent with what he just said? Would shift your perception of things? And it's like, "Aha! Caught red-handed!" Somehow.

I don't think people are wrong to be scared or upset at someone, but I think the internet has a fat case of misplaced aggression. Some dudes tweaking software to make AI mildly more presentable aren't what we should be directing our attention at. I think exploring how we can work alongside and legislate this stuff is… I want a future where art coexists with AI in the same way photography did with painting. And I am positive that right here, right now, there is some way we can take that first step.

"We need an active, aggressive counterculture that pushes back against this nonsense wherever it rears its ugly head. AI anime needs to become as dirty a word as NFT." Your solution is to make it cringe? "We will stop AI from stealing our jobs by bitching about it." The sales volume of NFTs has gone up. How is this your solution?

There's a misconception on the internet that bitching about things somehow either changes people's minds or makes the problem disappear. Let me give you an example. When Nike put out an ad endorsing Colin Kaepernick's activism, people felt the type of way. All across the U.S., men and women thought to themselves, "I'm gonna burn every damn Kaepernick jersey I got!" These were our intellectuals, our leaders. Many joined the cause to be just like them and burned their Nike products to send a message. Nike sales changed dramatically, and the company's value went… up by six billion dollars. The movement, which aimed to be as flashy as possible, actually ended up being a phenomenal advertisement. And a lot of people were just like, "Yep… I wish I had my Nike stuff back."

More recently, there's the Hogwarts Legacy boycott. Hogwarts Legacy is this game set in the Harry Potter universe. Now, the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, had nothing to do with the production, but she does receive royalties. And J.K. Rowling is guilty of transphobia, so she's dead in the eyes of the public. People repulsed by her words decide to boycott the video game as to not support her even a little bit. Fair enough. But boycotting the game wasn't enough. It was these people's responsibility to boycott for you. Tweets rained down upon any streamer caught showing interest in the game. A VTuber was bullied to tears for playing. Hell, people were harassed and picked on by rabid activists. It didn't matter if you were famous; it didn't matter if you weren't. The internet decided that buying this game was an act of hate, and it was their job to stop it. The game just outsold Elden Ring. Turns out, bitching online is a great advertisement for the thing you hate.

I can't be the only one who didn't know or care about this game until the activism. Relax and take notes: "Get the aggressive counterculture to curb the sales of Hogwarts Legacy." No. It did, however, make people feel like they're part of a movement. It was a quick, free placebo for change. It's easy to get behind a movement without thinking of how you're perceived by outside groups because I promise, in both of these cases, people who didn't immediately agree looked at the stuff being posted and thought to themselves, "Okay…" and kept it pushing.

This is exactly what I think when I see someone post a picture of themselves having fun with AI and see those tweets that are like, "This is just you stealing from artists. It's lazy. Stolen from artists that deserve to get paid. Disappointed in you." Do you think anyone has ever read one of these types of tweets and thought, "You know what? You guys are right"? No. "I just want to see how I would look as an anime character. I'm not making merch. It's cool." AI is cool to play with, so people are going to play with it—just as being a wizard is kind of cool. I'll just do it in private if you're gonna yell at me.

Statements like these are great for people who already agree with you, but outsiders are the ones you want. And picking odd fights like these is a terrible way to recruit outsiders. Attacking Corridor is not the way. The march of technology lies not in the hands of YouTubers but in the audience that consumes that media and the laws that govern it. If there's a market for it, it will exist. Simple as that. There's nothing we can do to stop people from refining AI. Right now, thousands of people are tinkering away, trying to find the next foothold towards making the stuff look good. Corridor's video was only possible because of the thousands before them.

So the aim isn't to stigmatize innovating with AI. The cat's out of the bag. The aim isn't to pray people have high enough standards to not like the stuff. I'm sorry, Jeff. The aim is to create a world that coexists with AI. What laws can we enact that will protect animators? What are some general practices that the average person can agree on? I don't have all the answers. I don't even have a good amount of answers, but here's a start:

Corridor should have credited Vampire Hunter D on the main video. I don't think they made an attempt to obfuscate where they got the style. In fact, the behind-the-scenes video credits Vampire Hunter D for the style multiple times. It has damn near the same amount of views as the original. But a good practice to always have is saying, "This AI was trained on images from X." It gives the average person a better idea of what they're looking at, and a quick disclaimer like that on the start would help promote the original works even more.

Here's another one: Jeff was very, very doomer about that copyright stuff. If big studios hire people to train AI on content they own, and indie studios can't afford to do so, that's unfair. True. But since we're in the land of make-believe, let me put something out there: What if someone trains an AI on all the public domain stuff out there? I use public domain stuff for my videos all the time. This way, artists could even opt in instead of having their works taken. I have a friend who knows artists who would like to do something like that. Indie studios can then use this AI and feed it images that they created to replicate that style. And boom—ethical and legal. I don't know if the law would allow you to retain copyright, and I'm not going to learn, but that's kind of how sampling public domain music works, so I figured it'd be fine.

That brings us to the end. I'm not an animator nor a lawyer, so I don't have anything groundbreaking to bring to the table. But if you want to know my opinion, I think a lot of people are freaking themselves out for no reason. The whole "I oppose this thing, so I must attack anything related to it" mentality is silly. If that's how things worked, the vegans running around throwing period blood at butcher trucks and getting run over would have the meat industry on the ropes. That's how I see Jeff saying, "We need an active and aggressive counterculture that opposes AI anime wherever it rears its head." He thinks he's Rosa, but like… Jeff, I love animation, and I respect artists. They should be getting paid more and don't deserve to have their jobs threatened. I just don't see Corridor getting in the way of either of those two things, and there are actual animators that share that feeling.

Jeff deserves respect. He's an OG. If you're interested, check out his original video. I could chop and skew the stuff he's saying—you wouldn't know. But more importantly, subscribe to me. I don't make stuff like this often. I'm gonna be honest—I probably never will again. But anime, manga—hey, uh, where are you going? Don't leave me yet. Please subscribe. Subscribe.

ai generated images make me increasingly sad and tired the more i see them in more and more casual contexts. i dont know how to explain, but it just fills the world with a bunch of nothing. no matter how visually stunning the pictures might be, there's nothing behind it for me. no dedication, no emotions, no feelings, no hard work or creativity, nothing i can truly think about, admire or enjoy. i dont think thats how art is supposed to be

[smutcentralx]

Yes sir

SIMON (GHOST) RILEY x FEM READER

MASTERLIST

summary you and ghost never saw eye to eye, your always clashing and you both basically can’t stand each other, but one day you pushed it a to far….

warnings smut, age gap, enemies to lovers if u squint hard enough, oral(f), slight brat taming, slight angst, cunninglingus, squirting, overstimulation

a/n ahh first fic i’m so excited hopefully you guys enjoy it, if u did dont forget request are open! There may be a few typos i missed but i will be editing soon i just really wanted to post this gem :)

Lieutenant Simon Riley…i think it was fair to say he was considered as your rival. You were also a lieutenant but for some reason he liked to treat you as if you were a lower rank and that’s what really gets to you. You always thought he was some controlling misogynistic stereotypical price of shit.

You were thinking of possible ways to avoid him due to your altercation you both got into earlier. He was being a dick trying boss you around making you do 10 laps and as many push ups you could do. He was torturing you and the kicker was that he secretly enjoyed it to.

“Try to squeeze your stomach in more, you planks are lazy”. You gritted your teeth response but still followed orders in response knowing damn well he was smirking under the mask. You’ve started to realize that he doesn’t understand how much he pisses you. It’s either that or he just doesn’t give a shit. His calm nonchalant demeanor really annoyed the hell out of you. and you were reaching your breaking point…slowly.

“I don’t see you doing any planks, would you like demonstrate since you’re such an expert” you gave a fake smile with a sarcastic tone and rolled your eyes. He grunted in response ignoring your tone.

Much to your surprise ghost slowly took off his tight black shirt that was already defining his beautifully toned body. He pulled it over his head from the bottom up and boy was that a sight to see, you were basically drooling forgetting that you disliked him at the moment. You couldn’t lie and not come to terms that he has the hottest body you have ever seen. He was so big to so that didn’t help you.

“I’m flattered love but eyes up here” Ghost smirked knowing damn well about the little affect he has on you. “With the way how talk to me i would’ve never thought you’d beating eating with your eyes like that” he laughed deeply. You looked up embarrassed and your face grew hot when realization hit you hard. Ghost caught you staring at him.

You made up some bullshit since you know you can’t lie yourself out. you cleared your throat awkwardly “listen your an asshole still but i was staring at your scars, like id ever want a piece of you” you laughed a little to hard while taunting him. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I bet your ugly under that mask too aren’t you” you smirked as you stood up. Ghost let out a deep breathy laugh while he stood up and stepped closer to you so that he was towering over you dripping in dominance. “Quite the opposite love”. You rolled your eyes “yeah okay buddy” You scoffed and you pushed a little more “plus i bet you haven’t even made anyone woman cum grandpa you definitely awful in bed”.

Ghost hums deeply “Who said anything about that, sounds like your just thinking about getting laid” his eyes darkened slightly but you ignored it. “Everyone wants to get laid, i definitely know you don’t simon.

Oh now you’re really pushing it. Ghost doesn’t enjoy being called Simon. He stepped closer to and and snaked his hand in your hair and slightly tugged you head back “don’t call me that again love your playing with a lot fire right now”. “What are you gonna do about it if i did simon”.

Ghost was not satisfied with your response and it pissed him off even more. He released his hold in your hair and dragged you by the arm towards his room. Since john and gaz were on a mission soap was the only one on base with you two. Your stomach was doing backflips and excitement was surging through you body.

Yo knew how much you hated ghost and you wish you mean what you said but deep down you wondered if he was good in bed. The loud slamming door shook your thoughts away “What’s your problem?” your eyebrows raised as you crossed your arm over your chest. “I told you not to call me that love” he narrowed his eyes at you and started to walk closer to you.

“I can call you whatever i want”. You rolled your eyes as you nervously stepped back until your rear hit the desk behind you. There was no escaping this. Ghost sighed long and hard. “Not my fault you don’t like your own name”. Ghost laughed deeply “Never said i hated it, i like when they scream my name instead”.

You blushed deep red at his comment not expecting this to take a turn but you weren’t mad at it either. “It’s just like you said, I’ve never made a woman cum before or would you like to test that theory sweetheart”. He challenged smirking under his mask. God he can read you like an open book.

The air got caught in your lungs and for once you didn’t have a comeback. He grunted amusingly “Thought so, i’ll take that as a no. You couldn’t even handle me even if you tried love”. He chuckled and began walking away. Before he could even get far you grabbed his wrist. “Wait” you whispered softly embarrassed at yourself. “Hm what is it speak up use your chest”. “Let’s put that theory to the test and see if you’re really full of shit”. You challenged him back.

“Much better, i’m gonna fuck that little attitude outta you. Once im done with you, you’ll be begging for it everyday”. You shuddered slightly, his words had your head spinning. He stepped closer to you and you gasped softly as picked you up with one arm easily and sat you on the desk.

Ghost pulled his balaclava up till it sat of the bridge of his nose and you could clearly see that smug ass grin on his lips. “What are you staring at?” You were honestly shocked, he had a nice set a lips and you could already tell he was attractive

“You have some nice ass lips, just wonder if you ever them to use”. You smirked. He grunted in response and ignored your comment. He leaned in closer towards your ear and whispered “Enjoy it while you still can” his voice was so deep and you felt a damp spot forming on your clothed cunt.

You whimpered softly when felt his hands roaming your body. He was teasing the fuck out of you for a long dreadful 5 minutes and you couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s got you squirming so much hm?”

he asked observing your movements knowing damn well about the affect he has on you. He payed attention to detail, he was learning what made you tic and squirm. “P-Please ghost” you whispered lowly. Your wasn’t listening to you and you did not want to give in.

“Please what love i can’t hear you?” he smirked into you neck and he gripped your hips and he left a trail of kisses up and down your neck. “Please ghost please touch me” you gasped out roughly.

It took you this long to understand how touch deprived you were and you felt so hot under his touch. Ghost was putting on a show, his eyes were confused “Touch you where? Use that mouth of yours like you were earlier, go on i know you can do it for me pretty girl”.

Your head swirled at his words, being called pretty girl made your brain fuzzy and it definitely threw you off. You leaned against his office desk in the dim lit room. All of a sudden he freezes his actions of teasing your body.

“Take it off” he ordered. “Take what off?” you questioned since you obviously didn’t know what he was asking of you.

He leaned in and caged you between both of his arms, looked you up and down and with his husky tone “You know what i’m talking about sweetheart”. “Go on” he said eyes filled with complete desire.

You blushed realizing he was talking about your top and bra. You furiously followed his order and stripped you shirt. cursing at yourself for looking so desperate but your body wasn’t listening to you. You tried unclasping your bra but you were too nervous to do it.

Ghost started at you with a taunting gaze. He was challenging you and it was really turning you on instead of pissing you off.

You shifted uncomfortably the cold air grazing your hard nipples while ghost was practically drooling at the sight oozing with dominance. He straightened up and slowly grasped onto you left boob massaging it with enough force as he played with you nipple on the right.

You whined at the feeling but oh it felt so good and he barely even started. “Look at you, I had my theories but i knew deep down you knew what your body really wanted”. He said with pride dripping from his voice. You just knew he had a smug ass face.

Even though it should piss you off odly enough his words made ur arousal drip into your panties. You can feel his hot breath against your nipples as he sucked and licked them as he trailed down to your core.

Your body shivered in excitement as you felt his hot breath against your clothed core. He effortlessly took your pants with your underwear off. You gasped softly and the sudden exposure. Ghost kneeled in front of you legs that were now spread nice and wide for just for him.

“All this for me, who would’ve thought”. He smiled smugly his cockiness was through the roof. You looked away embarrassed. “No no no that won’t do, eyes on me”. Before you could even respond you his rough younger against you clit.

You couldn’t help but moan softly in response. His arms were holding your hips down as you laid against the desk fully submitting to him. He began to lick long teasing licks up and down. “Let me cum please” you moaned out choking over your words.

“Good girl”. he grunts out as he mumbled into you wet pussy. Your tight hole clenched around air at the praise. His tongue was the best thing you have ever felt, you were in pure bliss. Your body was reacting to every movement his tongue did.

He sucked on your swollen precious clit with just enough pressure to have you moaning out his name. His tongue was fucking your aching pussy as you arched back feeling that familiar coil tighten in you belly. “That’s it, cum for me love”.

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and your body fell limp as you saw stars. Your mouth forming an o shape with the words to follow. You moaned loudly and shook as he continued to suck on your swollen clit and lapped up your sweet juices. “Knew this cunt would taste sweet”.

You look down and met his eyes watching your every movement and facial expression. His smug smirk on his face made you drop in arousal even more. The way how he talked you sent electricity through your body.

He dove right back down into the mess he made of you and he sucked on your sensitive bud. You whined softly because of the overstimulation. He slid in a finger with ease since you were soaking wet. You never knew a mad could work so much magic on your body.

You gasped and moaned loudly as he began to hit that sweet spot you know so well. “Yes, yes just like that s’good”. He hummed in response as he worked on your aching cunt. The vibrations ran all through out your body. You eyes widened due to the immense pleasure.

You slightly panicked due to a weird feeling and you felt like you were going to burst. You whined out due to the sensitivity “Ghost- fuck simon wait i’m-“ he slid in two fingers gracefully. Fingers gliding in and out like butter due to you slick from you arousal. You moaned loudly and whined softly due to the pleasant intruding feeling into your aching wet hole.

“Fuck simon just like that”. He grunted in response gaining confidence from the sweet noises he was pulling out of you as he began palming himself through his tight jeans.

Your belly gained that weird unfamiliar feeling once again and your hand flew to his wrists attempting to stop him but he wouldn’t budge and continued working hard on your wet sloppy cunt.

You moaned out breathlessly stumbling over you words as your body shook from the immense feeling begging to be released “F-fuck simon stop give me a second”. “Mhm” He moaned deeply into your cunt the vibration ran through your core.

“Go ahead love cum on my face.” “Fuck oh my god” You moaned loudly as this unfamiliar feeling and it was creeping up fast and ghosts takes note and his speed quickened at a wicked pace. Fingers abusing that soft spongy spot buried in your sweet cunt.

Your body shook as you tried to back away ghost held you in place. His strong form wasn’t allowing you to move a single muscle and you were forced to just take it. The sounds of your arousal turned you on even more.

You were panting and begging for that release as it built up more and more. The coil in your belly snapped. Ghost moaned into your now dripping wet pussy as he tasted the sweet juices pouring out of you. You managed to gasp for air as his lips left your cunt.

You couldn’t even register would took place but you had a pretty good idea. The realization hit as you realized what you did. “Oh my god fuck i’m so sorry”.

“Did you just squirt on my face?” He questioned eyes gleaming with pride as he asked amused. “S-shut up” you covered your face due to the major embarrassment.

He was quick to grab your wrist and remove the from your your face. He leaned down and you both exchanged a deep hungry kiss still shaking from your two amazing orgasms.

Ghost lowered himself towards your ear as he still held your wrists “I’m gonna need you to show me that a few more times love”. He released you and pulled his shirt over his head his exposed mouth still dripping with your slick as he licked his lips.

Turn around “he ordered”

Crazy to think that the man who you tried to avoid just gave you the best orgasms of your life. Who would’ve thought Lieutenant Riley could make you squirt.

Oh but of course you followed his command. “Yes sir”

[clarkeysbedchem]

slut era interlude

harry lewis x fem reader

summary: harry offers to help get over your heartbreak.

warning: mature content (18+ only)

masterlist | main masterlist

Harry hadn’t really been someone you paid much attention to; he was just there. A friend of a friend really, you couldn’t think of a singular conversation you had with him that was more than two words.

But tonight, something was different. Maybe it was the drinks; maybe it was the mess your ex left you in; maybe it was how Harry’s been looking at you all night like he’s seeing you properly for the first time.

You were one too many drinks deep, tucked into a booth away from the others as you drowned in your pities alone. That was until Harry slipped in next you not saying a word, just watching the group dance wildly. His thigh pressed against yours, his hand rests casually on your knee like it had been there many times before as fingers tapped against your skin in a rhythm that drove you crazy.

He leaned in, his breath hot against your ear, "You know," he murmured, his voice low and rough from drinking and shouting over music all night, "I could help you forget about him."

You whipped your head around to look at him, half-laughing, half-shocked, “Yeah?" your response came out like a breath, the word slipping out before you can second guess yourself.

The grin on his face made your stomach flip, "Yeah."

His hand slid higher on your thigh, a slow and deliberate as if he was testing the water. Your breath hitched, as your eyes flickered to where his hand was and back up to his blown pupils. He was so close that you could smell the whiskey on him making your head spin.

"You don’t deserve to sit here feeling like shit because of some idiot," he said, words slurred just enough to be dangerous, "Let me fix it."

Your mind was a blur of Harry's blue eyes, the feeling of his hand on your bare skin, the heavy pulse of the music thudding through your chest. You don’t know who moves first, but suddenly you were kissing him desperately, like you need him to breathe.

He groaned against your mouth, deep and guttural, gripping your waist and pulling you into his lap. You gasp when his teeth graze your bottom lip, and he takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, tongue slid against yours in a way that made your whole body shudder.

Around you, the bar keeps buzzing with blurred laughter, clinking glasses but none of it registers. All you could focus on was Harry and the way his hands travelled over your skin like they belonged there.

"Fuck," he muttered against your lips, tugging you even closer, "You’re driving me mad."

Before your mind could catch up you were being guided out of the booth, Harry’s hand in yours pulling you towards the dark hallway near the bathrooms. He spun you around pushing you against the wall the second you’re out of sight, and his hands were everywhere - your waist, your hips, under your shirt.

"You sure?" he rasped, his forehead pressed to yours, breathing just as ragged you.

"Yes," you whispered, not a second of hesitation. "God, yes."

And after that there was no more talking. Just heat, and hands, and mouths. Harry’s kissing you like he was starving, like he needed you to survive. His hands at the edge of your shirt, dragging it up slightly, and honestly? you didn’t care if anyone saw, you just need him, now.

Every movement was messy and reckless, but it was exactly what you need.

And the second Harry mutters, "Forget about him. Just me. Just us," against your skin, you let yourself believe it.

For tonight anyway.

Harry’s mouth is everywhere possible, your neck, your collarbone, the curve of your jaw. Desperate kisses being pressed to your burning skin like he can’t get enough of you.

Your back hits the wall with a soft thud as he pressed himself into you fully, his body hot and solid against yours. One of his hands slipped up your side and under your shirt, his thumb grazing the underside of your bra. You gasp into his mouth, fingers knotting into his shirt, tugging him impossibly closer.

"You feel so good," Harry gasped, his voice rough and needy. His hands were shameless, sliding under the hem of your jeans, thumbs tracing circles over your hips. You shiver, hips tilting toward him instinctively, needing something, needing him.

He groans low in his throat, feeling you grind against him, "Fuck, y/n," he muttered, forehead falling to rest against yours again. His hips rock into you sending heat sparking through your veins.

"You sure you wanna do this here?" he asked, trailing kisses down your neck, sucking a mark just above your collarbone that made your knees buckle.

You nodded frantically, tugging at his shirt, "Please," you begged, breathless, needy, "I need you."

The way the words tumbled from your mouth made something snap in him. His hand slipped down the front of your jeans without hesitation, fingers finding you through your underwear, making you whimper into his mouth.

"Shit," Harry hissed, feeling how wet you were, "All this for me?"

You whimpered something that might be his name as his fingers teased you slowly through the thin fabric in maddening strokes that made your head fall back against the wall.

"Fuck, you're gorgeous," he murmured, his voice thick with lust.

His free hand slips up under your shirt, finally unclasping your bra with a clumsy flick, and his mouth was on you again pressing hot open-mouthed kisses across your chest as his fingers dipped beneath your underwear.

The moan that slipped passed your lips as he touched you for the first time was helpless, coming out louder than you had planned but your brain was too scrambled for you to think straight. Harry lips met yours in a hard kiss muffling your needy sounds, his tongue sliding against yours in the kisses that turned into all teeth and desperation.

"You're gonna be the fucking death of me," he growled against your mouth, two fingers sliding inside you and curling just right making your hips jerk against his hand.

You were barely hanging on, clutching at his shoulders, his hair, whatever you could hold on to as his fingers worked in and out of you expertly bringing you toward the edge. His thumb brushed your clit in devastatingly slow circles, and you knew you weren’t going to last much longer.

"Come for me," Harry muttered, voice dark and completely wrecked, his mouth on your ear. "Wanna feel you lose it."

It only took a few more thrust of his finger before you were falling apart them, muffling your cry against his mouth, your body shuddering through the waves of pleasure.

Harry kept you pinned to the wall through it, kissing you like he never wants to stop, like you're the only thing in the world.

When you finally pull away catching your breath, chest heaving against his, you realize he’s still rock hard - pressed against your hip, his breathing ragged against your bare shoulder. Every nerve in your body still buzzing, but the sight of him desperate, trembling slightly, and needing you lit a whole new fire under your skin.

You smirked, feeling bolder now, tipsy on adrenaline and the way Harry’s still clinging to you like he might fall apart without your touch.

"Your turn?" you whispered, your voice breathy as you brushed your hand lightly over the thick length of him straining against his jeans.

He groaned, a sound so low and broken that it vibrates through your chest, and before you can tease him further, he grabs your wrist - firm but careful - and guides your hand properly into his jeans, pushing past the waistband of his boxers.

"Be a good girl and help me out then," he murmured, pressing his forehead hard against yours, like he’s barely holding it together.

You slid your hand around him, feeling him just how big and hot he was against your palm, and Harry cursed under his breath, hips jolting up into your hand instinctively. His fingers dug into your waist like he needed the grounding, the control, but you felt it slipping from him.

"Fuck, just like that," he moaned, eyes squeezing shut as you start to move your hand slowly, teasingly, dragging your thumb across his tip to smear the precum leaking there.

His pants in your ear, muttering half-formed curses and your name like it’s the only word he knows. Every sharp breath he takes, every broken sound he makes, fueling you, makinh you stroke him harder, faster, feeling him twitch helplessly in your hand.

"Y/n…" he groaned, low and ragged, "Gonna lose it if you keep lookin’ at me like that."

You bit your lip, watching him, his cheeks flushed and jaw tight as his chest heaved against yours, completely under your control. He pressed you harder into the wall, burying his face in the crook of your neck, his teeth grazing your skin as you kept working him with your hand.

"You close?" you whispered, biting back a smile as you squeezed him a little tighter, flicking your wrist just right.

He shuddered violently against you, "Fuck, yeah. Shit. y/n."

And then he came undone in your hand, hips jerking against you in tiny, desperate thrusts as he spills over your fingers, gasping your name like a prayer into your neck. You guide him through it, a slow pace and tender words leaving your lips, until he was trembling against you, totally fucked.

He leaned his whole weight against you for a second, breathing hard, forehead still pressed to your shoulder. His hands find your hips again his thumb absent-mindedly drawing shapes into your skin.

"You're trouble," he muttered against your skin with a small laugh. There was no bite behind it, just something warm, almost disbelieving.

You laughed softly, slightly dizzy with the power of it all, with him.

You were both wrecked.

Still pressed against the wall, hearts thundering, limbs tangled, breathing each other in like oxygen. Harry’s forehead resting against yours, and for a long second, neither of you moved.

The distant thrum of the bar seeped back into focus - the music, the laughter, the clatter of glasses. You blinked up at him, dazed, and Harry gives you a crooked smile.

His fingers brushed your cheek, gentler now, tracing the curve of your jaw like he couldn’t quite believe you were real, "You alright?"

You gave a small nod, still too breathless to speak, and Harry leaned in, pressing a slow, lingering kiss to your lips. It was different now, it wasn’t frantic or not desperate. It was warm and steady, his thumb stroking your cheek like he was trying to calm you down, ground you.

"Come on," he murmured after a moment, pulling back just enough to meet your eyes, "Let’s get out of here, yeah?"

You barely managed a nod before he laces his fingers with yours and tugging you toward the exit. You catch a glimpse of your friends across the bar - no one’s noticed you’re gone, too deep in their own drunken chaos.

The cool night air hit you like a slap, but Harry's hand tightened around yours, keeping you steady. He pulled out his phone with the other, ordering an Uber with fumbling fingers while you both giggled like teenagers sneaking out past curfew.

Minutes later, you were bundled into the backseat of an Uber, crammed close together, the space crackling with something electric and new. Harry slouched low, spreading his legs wide, and pulling you into his side without a second thought.

You dropped your head to his shoulder, suddenly so tired that your eyelids felt heavy. His arm loops around you, hand resting low on your hip, fingers idly tracing patterns against your side.

"You’re so pretty," he mumbled into your hair, his breath warm against your temple, "Dunno why he ever let you go."

Your throat tightened unexpectedly. You turn your face into his neck, inhaling the scent of him and squeezed your eyes shut.

"He's an idiot," Harry said firmly, voice thick with sleep but something else, "You deserve better."

You shifted slightly, looking up at him, and he met your gaze, his eyes bright even in the dim cab light.

"Like you?" you whispered, half-teasing, half-terrified.

He chuckled, "Yeah," he replied, no hesitation, "Like me."

You stared at each other for maybe a beat too long, and then Harry lent down, kissing you again slowly, sweetly and a little clumsy.

By the time the cab pulled up outside his building, you were half asleep on his chest, and he was rubbing circles into your back, murmuring nonsense under his breath.

Harry paid the driver, pulling you into his side again, and lead you upstairs.

And when he pulled you into his bed, curling himself around you like you’re something precious that needed to be protected, you realized that you weren’t thinking about your ex at all anymore.

Only Harry and he held you like he already knows he’s never letting go.

taglist: @jamiekluivert @reidyourpalms @roc-haze @whisperturnedecho @graceln4 @dopeysunflowers @super-gay-for-u @bethorwhateverr @livvymd @lilyyxoii @4ngelrealm @kiyoomology @canyouseethesainz @happyclifford @golden-hoax

[usagi-chwan]

Yes, I do (BSD x Reader) 1/2

🌸 Characters in this chapter: Kunikida, Atsushi, Oda, Chuuya and Dazai (Agency).

🌸 Spoiler alert: none, you can read without risk!

It was a request from someone on AO3, who asked me to imagine what the marriages of certain BSD characters with the reader would look like, and here it is!

I hope you like it, and no more discussions! Happy reading :)

Kunikida

- Everything is well calculated and perfectly organized. To the penny, to the detail.

- With him, expenses remain very reasonable (for an event on the scale of a wedding), but Kunikida made a big mistake, however. Yes, you are not dreaming.

- He had the extremely bad idea of selecting his groomsmen from among his esteemed colleagues. He simply wanted them to know that, even though he was often harsh with them at work, they were still counted among the people he cared about....

- Alas, it was not long before regrets set in: Ranpo ate the sweets intended for distribution to the guests, Atsushi broke his face following Kunikida to the altar, and Dazai...

- Alala, Dazai... If only he had not tried his medical strangulation technique with a flower garland at the ceremony, everything would have gone like a dream, according to the purest ideals of our dear Kunikida, despite the little blunders committed by their two colleagues...

- Apart from this... Unnecessary (and unplanned) "animation" from Dazai, the rest of your wedding went just as it was supposed to... Except for a few minor details, but trying to predict the actions of the likes of Ranpo and company remains a challenge that even Kunikida struggles to meet in its entirety. But he has not said his last word, that is for sure!

~

Atsushi

- He too made a small mistake, but not as big as Kunikida's.

- Speaking of Kunikida... He is just at the heart of the "little mistake" we are talking about.

- Wanting to have the best wedding possible, but realizing that he knew absolutely nothing about weddings, Atsushi looked for the most knowledgeable person when it came to organizing an event, and the answer quickly came to him: Kunikida, of course!

- But what he had forgotten was that there was a quid pro quo: accepting ALL Kunikida's "advice" (orders).

- But then, you can have the most magnificent wedding in the whole world, can you not...?

- If Atsushi had asked your opinion, however, your answer would have been slightly different from his; sure, you have definitely had one of the best days of your life, but...

- The most beautiful thing you saw that day was not the well organized garlands, or even the perfectly straight rows of guests... But the smile on Atsushi's face when he saw you walking towards him, waiting by the altar, in your magnificent wedding attire.

~

Oda

- A wedding with Oda means that the day will be as relaxed as if you were sitting on a deckchair at the beach.

- On the guest side, you will find only family and close friends (Dazai and Ango, over here!), giving a unique sense of security and tranquility for an equally memorable event.

- The smile he gives you as you walk up the aisle to the altar is so beautiful, in fact, that your knees almost give out... But you hold on, if only to avoid ruining the happiest day of your life.

- As for the children in his care (and you, too, for some time now), they have been commandeered to throw flowers down the aisle you are treading, to join your husband-to-be. And they could not be happier to do this basic, but fun, task!

- Oda holds your hand throughout the ceremony, gently squeezing yours without letting go for a second... But you are not going to run away, that is for sure!

- For the reception, you were content to reserve a small room, where you enjoyed yourselves like children until the first light of dawn. You had never seen him smile for so long, by the way! And especially in front of so many people.

- All in all, a simple, basic wedding, perhaps boring to some... But it was so beautiful that, even years later, you still get stars in your eyes when you talk about it.

~

Chuuya

- It is all about excess on your wedding day; to hell with restricting yourselves!

- He wants to show everyone how gorgeous you look in your wedding clothes (or how gorgeous you are at all), and so he does!

- Almost the entire Mafia is invited to the grandiose banquet following the ceremony, and itnis not for lack of trying to stop your future husband.

- With him, you are sure to drink the best wines, eat the best meal of your life, and knowing that you live with Chuuya every day... That is to say how much he spends his money!

- But for all that, Chuuya, like you, wanted the ceremony itself to take place in the strict privacy of his closest family and friends. Before, of course, you head off to the reception hall, now married, for the party of a lifetime. And, a few hours later, for a moment that could not be more special, prepared with care by Chuuya himself for months.

- Taking you by surprise, the lights of the gigantic hall went out one after the other, as Chuuya came near your chair, holding out his hand with a curtsey worthy of a true gentleman.

- He then asks if you will allow him the first dance, and as soon as he hears your reply, he leads you out onto the dance floor, where only a few colored spotlights light up the center, and the two of you gently waltz to the rhythm of a slow song (I can just see you dancing to Perfectly Broken by Banners!!).

- It is certainly one of the most magical moments of what has already been a magnificent day, though not quite as magical as the moment when Chuuya put a ring on your finger, of course.

~

Dazai (Agency)

- He is a complete stranger to excess.

- On the menu for your wedding: small guest committee, light meal, decorations from discount stores, reception in the Agence's main hall... Among other wonderful little attentions from your beloved.

- Simply because he wants to be able to enjoy the company of each guest to the full; but if hundreds of people are there, how can he?

- Well, this excuse is not entirely untrue, but... In reality, there is another reason why he wants to have this inexpensive wedding: he simply does not have the money.

- But you assured him that you did not need that to be happy on your special day, and he was so surprised and moved that he could not say anything else. A rare sight!

- Oh yes, there is one thing he spent money on without looking at the price tag... It is the ring he put on your finger, which you will treasure from now on, no matter what the material cost is. Because it is the emotional cost that counts, in these moments.

- (Which is a little convenient for Dazai, let's face it...).

[mrs-alphahotel]

It’s kinda funny, but also kinda sad that Spencer managed to resist turning to Dilaudid after Emily’s supposed death, yet now, when you are alive and perfectly safe, he can’t help himself. He needs his old drug to survive, to forget about what he knows now.

It all began two weeks ago, when the team was away for a case in Austin. They were all tired, both mentally and physically, and he only wished to reach his room and fall face-first into the bed. But on the way there, he spotted you in the hallway, and he was ready to call after you with a wide smile. A smile that melted away the moment you knocked on Hotch’s door, who soon welcomed you with a kiss.

This wasn’t new, he knew that from the way he held you, kissed you, and his brain began to go through the events of the past weeks and months, trying to pinpoint the time when this could have begun. But he didn’t know. He couldn’t figure it out.

But there is something else that’s been bothering him since then. How come Hotch, a man many years your senior, gets a chance to be with you? Is it because he’s your boss and you’re drawn to that professional power he holds over you? Or is it because he’s a typical alpha male? Even though he’s a genius, he simply can’t wrap his head around this.

Why?

What’s worse is that you noticed something was wrong. You noticed that he was on the edge all the time, snapping at people for no reason, and every time you tried to ask him if he wanted to talk about whatever was going on, he had to bite his tongue not to talk to you like he wouldn’t hesitate to talk to others. 

Deep down he knows it’s pathetic that he can’t move on, but you are so nice, and smart, and kind, and his brain, his thoughts have been focused solely on you for who knows how long. His feelings for you are bordering obsession, he knows that, but there is nothing he can do about it. By now, he notices the tender moments between you, the stolen looks and gentle touches, the way his voice changes the moment he talks to you.

How could he ever compete with that?

“I’m worried about Spence,” you suddenly say after swallowing the first, delicious piece of your dessert.

Aaron’s brown eyes soften at the mention of the young genius, and you know he feels the same way. Ever since Gideon left, he’s been trying to be some sort of a father figure to him, guiding him and teaching him to be better. This was a trait you always loved about him, even before anything happened between you.

Then, after a short break, he picks up his glass of wine and swirls the liquid inside it. “Yeah, I noticed he’s been acting strange too. There was only one time when he acted like this, and I hope it’s happening for a different reason now,” he tells you mysteriously, not going into details about what he was referring to.

But it’s not like you will let him get away with saying something like this. “What was that reason?”

“His addiction to Dilaudid,” he responds, and then goes on to explain what happened to Spencer back then.

The genius Dr. Spencer Reid as an addict? That’s most definitely not what you expected to hear. You thought it would be something lighter, like a broken heart, or a tough case, but reality surpasses your wildest ideas. “You think it’s possible he relapsed?” you wonder out loud, poking your cake with the fork.

Before saying anything, Aaron reaches out to take your hand. “Can we talk about this tomorrow? Let’s focus on each other tonight. Please,” he says, and you know it’s not because he isn’t worried about Spencer, but because he’s too worried, which is why he probably finds talking about it hard.

Even though you’re not sure if you’re ready to let this topic go, you nod.

Spencer went to the roof for some fresh air, preparing himself for another few hours in your company, because the team is heading out in forty – a surprising change from the usual twenty or thirty – and he had enough time to give himself some medicine up there. When his drug of choice kicks in, all his problems melt away, disappearing somewhere deep inside his mind, out of reach, out of touch, safe from the outside world.

Your desk is next to his, so he doesn’t only see you all the time, he’s close enough to smell your perfume, to hear every breath you take, every sigh that leaves your lips, and it’s driving him crazy. And so does the fact your things are slowly invading the empty parts of his desk, from stacks of paper to your bag. It’s hard to exist so close to you, he knows he can’t do it without being high.

As he’s sitting on the ground with his back against the railing, Spencer closes his eyes and tries to think about anything but you. Instead, he’s focusing on the way the drug slowly spreads in his system, the comfortable warmth and calm it brings to his mind. It’s so quiet up here, so nice, no wonder he got used to coming here to get high – way better than the restrooms, that is.

“Spencer?”

At first, he thinks he just imagines this, that he only hears your voice because he wants to hear it. But then he hears the hesitant footsteps, the light click of heels as they get closer to where he is. To his luck, he has enough brain capacity to hide the syringe that lies next to him and even roll down the sleeve of his dress shirt to make sure you don’t see the signs.

“Hey,” he says, trying to sound casual when you find him.

Your eyes narrow as you take a better look at him, and before saying anything, you crouch next to him. “What’s wrong? You don’t look good, and you’ve been weird lately, and–”

Without even thinking about what he’s doing, Spencer grabs your hips and moves you to sit on his legs, and he doesn’t hesitate to kiss you. The drug is doing wonders to his confidence and common sense, he doesn’t even think about the fact you’re taken, although, as far as he knows, you’ve been single for a long time.

At first, you return it, maybe because you’re following some primal instinct, maybe because somewhere deep down you do like him this way, but that changes soon, because you push him away from yourself. “Spencer, don’t,” you say quietly. 

“Why?” 

Maybe he sounds desperate, but he doesn’t care, because he is desperate, he just wants to kiss you again, and he wants to spend hours just sitting with you in his lap. Why can’t he have that? Why can’t you give him a chance and see if he’s a better choice for a boyfriend than Hotch, who can’t even make things official with you due to being your boss? 

And then, out of nowhere, you cup his cheeks and your eyes lock. “Are you high?” you ask him, sounding almost mad at him. He wants to protest, he wants to say he’s not, but no word leaves his mouth. To you, that equals a confession. “For fuck’s sake, Spencer.”

You try to move, but he only tightens his grip on your hips, but even though he wants to kiss you again, he only rests his forehead against yours. “I can’t do this. I can’t just be around the two of you without thinking about… Never mind,” he says with a sigh.

“Thinking about what?”

His green eyes find yours, and his thumbs are absentmindedly drawing circles into your skin through your pants. “You and Hotch.” Your eyes widen from shock, your lips parting slightly as you draw in a breath, but before you could ask how he knows, he speaks up. “I saw you go into his room in Austin. I saw him kiss you. And I can’t help but notice the little signs since then, and it’s killing me.”

You tilt your head to the side as you put your hands on top of his. “Why?” you wonder quietly. 

“Because I love you. Because all I can think about is why I didn’t make a move on you before, why I decided to be a coward–”

“You’re not a coward.”

A desperate laugh erupts from him. “I am, I couldn’t even kiss you or tell you without being high,” he tells you. 

“Do either of you feel like telling me what’s going on? We’re leaving in twenty, yet you’re both here, doing… I don’t even want to know what.”

Spencer can feel your body tense up just from hearing Hotch’s voice, and his hands, before he could stop himself, move up to your waist. Your mouth stop to him, but he doesn’t care, he can’t care at this point, and he kisses you again, as if he was marking his territory. 

“Reid!” Hotch shouts at him, and when he doesn’t react, the other man walks over to where he is and gently pulls you up. “What is wrong with you? I should fire you right here and right now,” he says angrily. 

“Fire me for doing what? Kissing my colleague? Don’t be ridiculous, Hotch. If anyone, you should be fired for fucking a member of your team!”

You immediately know what your boyfriend wants to do, that’s why you spin around and put your hands on his chest to stop him. “Aaron, don’t. He’s high. He needs help, not whatever you were planning to do,” you tell him quietly. When his brown eyes meet yours, you gulp and nod. “Please. Let us stay behind, I’ll find him a place where he can get the help he needs.”

Hotch’s eyes flick over to him, then he runs a hand through his hair before looking back at you. “I’ll stay with him, Morgan will lead the team.”

“I don’t need help. Especially yours.” Spencer hisses.

After letting out a long sigh, Hotch turns to you. “Go, tell Morgan he’s in charge. I’ll handle him.” And then, when he sees the almost guilty look on your face, he goes on. “Hey, it’s not your fault he’s in love with you. You’re not responsible for his decisions.” You nod, then you walk away without another word, leaving an exasperated unit chief behind. “Come on, kid, let’s get you some help.”

[reccyls]

Victor's Main Route: Mad Love Chapter 23 + Letter

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The condemnation of the Nox Liberator member Terra did not take long at all.

-----

Jude: Talk, fucker.

Terra: I- I’ll talk, I’ll talk! So please, stop–

The man known as Terra was apparently someone who had borrowed money from Jude some time ago, but fled the country before it was time to pay back his loan. He returned to England after his business abroad took off and he became incredibly wealthy. Jude had just been planning to go and collect his money, but in a happy(?) coincidence, Terra just so happened to be our next mission target.

Jude: Heard ya made a big fortune overseas. Jude: So ya ain’t gonna have any problems paying me back, right? Principal, plus every bit of interest!

Terra: Eeek!

Ellis: Oh and you know, that shop over there is pretty nice.

(This is chaos.)

Jude had tracked down Terra’s location and stormed over, and Ellis and I were along for the ride. As soon as Terra saw Jude, he tried to make a break for it, but Jude kicked him to the ground, and began demanding his money back. Ellis and I were just watching from the sidelines, and Ellis was also making idle conversation. Everything was just… too much.

Jude: Tch, the hell are you two yappin’ about?

Ellis: Oh, is it over?

Jude, continuing to beat down Terra, clicked his tongue at us. And then–

Terra: I can’t, I can’t pay you back!

Jude’s glare turned a hundred times nastier as he looked back down at Terra, cowering by his feet.

Jude: What was that.

Terra: I gave them everything, there’s nothing left!

Terra had made his fortune by trading the raw materials used to make illegal drugs. The drugs he made were primarily marketed to those skirting the line of poverty. He sold them for cheap initially, but the more addicted his customers became, the higher he would raise the price. Eventually people would reach a point where they would not be able to pay even after selling off everything they had, and so they would die after sinking into poverty and addiction. He had twisted and destroyed the lives of so many people. Aside from that, he also developed drugs that could enhance people. And like the other executives, he used commoners as test subjects for his drugs, regardless of whether they were part of Nox Liberator or not.

(He gave the money to Nox Liberator…?)

I was confused, and wanted to ask for clarification, but…

Ellis: Ah.

Jude: Tch.

Terra had fainted. With a devious smirk on his face, Jude ordered Ellis to grab Terra.

Jude: You like using people as guinea pigs so much, let’s see how you like it. Jude: Bet he’ll give us a good show when he wakes up.

The way Jude’s smirk deepened made chills run down my spine. I looked away, trying my best not to watch.

-----

(And that’s the third report done.)

There was only one target left for this mission.

(Arms smuggling, indentured servitude, black market trading, drug manufacturing, human experimentation… and murdering so many innocent people.)

The unending list of evil deeds was enough to make me sick.

(Nox Liberator isn’t just doing violence for violence’s sake. They are working for a greater purpose.)

At first, I had thought they were a group of like-minded people who banded together to carry out their aggressive activities. But “aggressive” wasn’t nearly enough to describe what they were doing. They were making clear moves to develop their own private military force.

(If they managed to succeed in overthrowing the monarchy, would they really stop there…?)

As I began to tremble as I thought about the possibilities, I heard a knock at my door. When I opened it, I saw that it was William.

William: Are you ready?

I picked up the bag that I had prepared since the time I started writing my report.

Kate: I’m ready.

With a smile and a twirl of his cloak, William spoke.

William: Then let’s go to meet our final target.

The sound of his footsteps echoed down the corridor.

-----

We arrived at a large mansion in a prime location in London. This was where Ignis lived, the man who was supposedly Nox Liberator’s second in command. He was a count, and head of a prestigious noble family. He had a very good reputation due to his frequent charitable activities. He had also earned admiration for how he treated people equally despite their wealth or lack of it, and his humble and earnest nature. However, for the past few years, a number of mysterious money transfers had taken place under his name. This was how he had been identified to be a financer of Nox Liberator.

William: Let’s hurry and finish this so we can go back. William: You’ve been on a lot of missions, I’m sure you’re exhausted.

Kate: Um, well, I- huh, W-William? 

With his hands in his pockets, William began casually walking to the front door of Ignis’s mansion.

(We’re definitely going to run into someone like this!)

I frantically reached for his coat to stop him, but he merely smiled.

William: Fear not, the stage has been set.

Kate: What do you mean?

I realized something was off as we walked down a hallway.

(I haven’t seen a single other person.)

There was no way such a large mansion wouldn’t have an army of servants working there. I looked over to William curiously, and he laughed.

William: About an hour ago, Her Majesty ordered the dismissal of all the servants in this house.

Kate: What!?

I couldn’t help but raise my voice in shock.

William: The only people in this house are Ignis, his wife, and his eldest son. William: Her Majesty was aware that this would be the site of the final condemnation, so she left the only members of Nox Liberator here. William: The others were sent to the residence of Ignis’s second son, who lives near the outskirts of the city.

I didn’t expect that.

William: Unlike the rest of his family, Ignis’s second son is a supporter of the queen. William: It caused a lot of conflict within the family, and as a result he was disowned. William: It was quite the scandal in high society at the time. The family’s affairs are still gossiped about to this day. William: The reason had been a mystery for some time. Now I’ve finally found out.

He stopped in front of a large door.

Kate: If all their servants were sent away, won’t the three left behind think something is wrong? Are they still going to be here?

I wouldn’t be surprised if they had fled.

William: That’s where our dearest queen’s aide steps in. William: He sent them a false message about how the queen was almost dead, and that they should get ready.

With a pleased smile, William pushed open the door. Sitting at a luxurious dining table, Ignis and his family turned their eager gazes to us. But the moment they saw William’s face, they turned pale and abruptly stood up.

William: “Sit.”

In the blink of an eye, all three sat back down. They were straining with all their might but could not move.

William: This is an order from Her Majesty. William: Executive of Nox Liberator, Ignis–Lord Carter–, his wife, and his eldest son… William: Using your charitable activities as a cover, you engaged in human trafficking. William: You donated the funds from those activities to Nox Liberator, and also began illicit manufacturing of explosives. William: Those explosives were used in the recent kidnapping of the queen, and resulted in numerous injuries and deaths.

William’s voice was cold and calm, almost as if he were reading out the accusations from a script. Standing beside him, my hands curled into fists as I remembered how senselessly so many people died.

William: Over the years, you have killed over one hundred people. William: There is no chance of rehabilitation or redemption for your sins. England has no use for people like you. William: Her Majesty’s orders are thus: “I order them put to death.”

In the silence that followed, the only other sound was that of Ignis’s wife and son’s chattering teeth. Ignis was pale-faced.

Ignis: What sins have I committed?

He glared at William. Though he was trembling, he still continued speaking.

Ignis: There is no freedom for the poor. From the moment they’re born, they spend their entire life having everything taken from them. Ignis: People like us give meaning to their tragic joke of a life. Ignis: They should be honored that their lives can be of use to the country.

(What…)

I was stunned into speechlessness. William had an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

Ignis: What’s so wrong about giving their lives meaning? It’s not like they all died right away. Ignis: They could live like millionaires by selling their body parts. Ignis: We never forced them into anything. They were the ones who were so desperate for money they chose to sell their body parts. Ignis: If they died from it, that’s not our fault. It’s just the consequences of their own actions.

(How dare he.)

It wasn’t surprising that people who were so poor that they were desperate enough to cut off and sell their own body parts wouldn’t be rational when suddenly showered with a large sum of money. If they spent everything at once and were again left with nothing, they’d return to Ignis to sell off more parts. The more they cut off, the less they were able to do, and the more they deteriorated. And there was no one to save them. Just imagining it made me sick to my stomach, my chest hurt.

Ignis: Worthless people like them found value because of their bodies. Why wouldn’t they be happy?

(...He hasn’t been condemned yet.)

I grounded myself and stood up straighter. And I spoke to Ignis.

Don’t claim they were happy. (+4/+4)

They weren’t worthless.

That isn’t happiness.

Kate: You have no right to claim whether they were happy or not! Kate: You have no idea what they were feeling when they died! Kate: You have the gall to declare what people feel, to assign value to people’s lives, and profit off of them. Kate: And you killed so many people with your bombs.

Even now, I could still hear the sound of explosions in my ears. I still remembered the fear, the pain, how I couldn’t breathe, how I desperately wanted to be saved. I still remembered the panic and the sight of smoke drifting into the sky. There were wounds that would never heal fully.

Kate: We… we–

My hands curled into fists in my skirt, and I looked Ignis directly in the eye. This was retribution for all the lives he had taken.

Kate: We find your sins unforgivable.

There was nothing else to say. It was time for evil to be paid unto evil.

William: Excellently put, Kate.

Ignis looked like he was about to argue, but William took a step forward.

William: Regardless of whether Her Majesty ordered this or not, I have no love for people who trample over the freedom of others as you have. William: Especially those who believe they are granting freedom when they are doing no such thing.

He turned his gaze towards the silverware on the table.

William: It would be a shame to waste this chance, so why don’t you meet the same end as all those people you destroyed?

He pointed to the knife and fork sitting on the table beside Ignis.

William: “Use each piece of silverware one by one to dismember yourself. Keep going until you die.”

Ignis’s Wife: No-!!

Ignis’s Son: My hand, my hand, it’s-aaaargh!!

They grabbed forks and knives, turning them against their own eyes, their stomachs, and their chests.

Ignis’s Wife: It hurts, it hurts, aagh!!

Ignis: No, stop, a-aaaaghh!

Ignis wept and cried out as he thrust a knife into his own stomach.

Ignis: No, no! I was going to give him new legs! No!

I began to feel sick as the tablecloth was stained deep red and agonized screams filled the air.

William: We have no further business here.

Putting an arm around my shoulder, William led me out of the mansion.

-----

William walked me to my room. But I couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in bed.

(That was horrible… But so many people died like that because of them.)

I put my hand on my face and took a deep breath. But just then, I heard a soft knock at the door and the sound of someone entering.

Victor: Kate, are you okay?

Victor was standing in the darkness of the room.

Victor: William said that today was hard on you, so I wanted to check on you.

Kate: …It was pretty shocking. But I’m okay. Kate: Thank you for worrying about me.

I tried to push myself up, but he stopped me.

Victor: No matter how many times you witness it, there are some sights that you can’t get used to.

He sat on the edge of the bed and began stroking my hair softly.

Victor: You are a wonderful, hard-working woman. But because of that, you push yourself too much, at times.

The feeling of his fingers combing through my hair felt so good. I began to relax a little. I smiled at his gentleness, but suddenly remembered what Ignis had said.

Kate: When he was being condemned, Ignis said he was “going to give him new legs.”

Victor’s hand stopped moving.

Kate: …You know what he was talking about, don’t you?

Victor: You always see right through me.

He laughed ruefully, and began stroking my hair again.

Victor: Tomorrow, I am going to deal with that person. Victor: I must be the one to go.

There was such sorrow in his expression that I grasped the hand that was carding through my hair.

Kate: I’ll go with you.

Victor: Huh…?

Kate: I am a Fairytale Keeper, aren’t I?

I sat up and smiled at him.

Kate: It’s my job to record the moment when evil is paid unto evil.

His surprise gave way to a short laugh.

Victor: If I said that I have a favor to ask of you, what would you say?

He gave me a choice, but there was only ever one answer I could give him.

Kate: Leave it to me.

Letter: I am waiting for your return

Dear Kate,

I was so worried about the weight of what I was asking you to do that I started writing this letter before I knew it.

You’re a hard worker, so I know that you will do your best to witness the scenes of condemnation with your own eyes so that you can record them properly.

But if it’s too much, it’s okay to look away, sometimes.

My priority is, as it has been since a long time ago, to ensure your heart does not gain any new scars. When you are sad, I feel sorrow too. When you are hurt, I feel pain too.

So if you don’t want me to suffer, then make sure you put yourself first, always.

I pray for your safe return.

Victor

[natihoneybee]

Kagi-kun & the Basketball Team and HiraKagi Theories Post Chapter 29

In my free time, I spent the last few days rereading all of Hirano & Kagiura (including the novel) and then skimming through all of Sasaki & Miyano for Easter eggs. I wanted to compile as many details as I could find that’s related to Kagiura and his basketball team. I’m doing this to organize my thoughts better, and piece together details about the team.

While going through the material, I did come up with more theories for the upcoming chapter(s). But I might have to make a separate thread depending on how long the post gets. Anyway, I want this post to have facts and key details, so I’ll try to include volume and page numbers, too.

The first half of the post about Kagi-kun & the basketball team possibly has some spoilers for Ch. 29 but not really. Just in case I’m putting it under a “read more” line.

What we know about the basketball team

These are the names of basketball players mentioned so far: Shirahama Kyouji, Tomonori Kuda, Yamada, and Muroi Yuuki. These are the basketball players’ numbers we know about so far: Kagiura is #11 and there are two players who are #7 & #4 from a Shirahama flashback (Vol 10, chapter 49, page 18-19).

We know that Kagiura and the basketball team go to the city to watch basketball games or play outside of practice at a gym (Vol 4, chapter 11, page 7). Kagiura tells Hirano that there’s an arena nearby where a pro basketball team plays. And that the school basketball team sometimes takes the school buses (Vol 1, chapter 4, page 17). Based on some paperwork in (Vol 6, chapter 27, page 7), it looks like there is going to be an off-campus basketball retreat in the near future, which I think is going to come up in the next chapter and might be part of a larger arc in the next volume. But I will address that idea at the end in the “Basketball Retreat Theory” section.

Kagiura Akira

*I'm gonna be brief with Kagi's section because I could go on and on about him hehe

I’m really excited to see more of how Kagiura interacts with his teammates on the basketball team. While rereading, I focused on the scenes of Kagi with his basketball teammates and these scenes from (Vol 5, ch 23a) really stood out to me. Kagiura overhears another player complaining about him “getting out of cleaning” (Vol 5, ch 23a, page 3). And when he meets up with Hirano later that chapter, it’s revealed he’s late because he stayed behind and that “they needed help cleaning up” (Vol 5, ch 23a, page 8). I think that really goes to show the type of person Kagi is and how much he cares about the basketball club. He really works hard at it and doesn’t want anyone questioning his dedication to it. I'll get into this trait of his later in the Basketball Retreat Theory.

Jealous-kun

*I saw someone in another post say that this guy^ complaining about Kagi “getting out of cleaning” from (Vol 5, ch 23a, page 3) is the same guy in (Vol 6, chapter 29). And OMGG you are totally right!! GAAAHHH!! Idk his name though. If anyone could come up with a nickname while we wait, that would make talking about him easier (i’ll prob just call him jealous-kun for now). I'm assuming based on the translation, that he's also a second year.

Back to Kagi

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is a scene from (Vol 3, chapter 14, page 10-12) where a girl tries to give chocolates to Kagi on valentines day. I think her near confession is very precious. Kagi is so sweet about kindly turning down her chocolates. He seems really serious about what she has to say to him, too: he’s genuinely listening, asks her for her name, thanks her for watching their games and offers to walk her to the station. And the words she used to describe him “you looked so cool and mature when you were focusing”, definitely stuck with him in the context of Hirano: “I wonder if he’d think I’m cool and fall for me if I acted more mature”. Just something to think about. Now, this valentine’s day scene reminds of a scene in sasamiya with Shirahama, but I’ll get to that in his character section below.

Shirahama Kyouji

Shirahama in HiraKagi

Shirahama and Kagiura seem to be close, they frequently play basketball together even when there’s no practice scheduled, like during lunch (Vol 3, chapter 12, page 9-19) and on weekends (Vol 4, chapter 11, page 7). Someone in another post called them “basketball buddies” hehe. I think we’re definitely going to see more of their friendship as teammates in the upcoming chapters. Shirahama talks a lot about wanting a girlfriend, and often whines about how Kagiura is so popular with girls (Vol 4, chapter 20.6, pages 2-5). In the extra “Something About White Day”, Shirahama learns that Kagi has an unrequited love though, so I’m wondering if they will talk about love later on or if Kagiura will open up about his crush on Hirano to Shirahama. And even though Shirahama lightly complains about Kagi’s popularity with girls, he definitely cares about and respects Kagi enough to defend him from other players who are jealous of Kagi (Vol 5, ch 23a, page 3).

Shirahama in SasaMiya

Now jumping to the sasamiya series real quick in their third year: Something I’ve noticed is shirahama becoming more of a regular character since Vol 8. And we finally get a character name tag for him in (Vol 8, chapter 42, page 4). Since he’s becoming a bigger role in the sasamiya series, this goes back to my idea of shirahama possibly having a bigger role in hirakagi, too (i.e. he and kagi talking more about crushes or relationships). When I reread the parts of how Shirahama reacted to sasaki and miyano’s relationship (with the context of hirakagi) I started thinking: Does Shirahama know something about Kagiura and Hirano (to some extent)? Like maybe he knows that Kagiura has a crush or at this point is in a relationship that’s secret. Before learning about Miyano and Sasaki, maybe shirahama’s only example of how a couple acts was Kagiura and his experiences. Since, Shirahama seemed really surprised that Miyano wasn’t keeping his relationship a secret, I wonder if maybe Kagiura ever confided to Shirahama about his feelings for or eventual relationship with Hirano and if it was kept secret at some point because they were roommates (this is only the case if they start dating while being roommate, but I think they start dating in Kagiura’s third year tbh).

For Reference, here are the page numbers in sasamiya with Shirahama that I’m referring to: (Vol 8, chapter 42, page 4-8), (Vol 9, chapter 43, page 8), (Vol 10, chapter 49, page 18-21). And these are the specific Shirahama scenes/lines that stick out to me in the sasamiya series that may or may not back up my hirakagi theory involving shirahama (or I’m just delulu *shrug*):

In (Vol 8, chapter 42, page 4) Shirahama says “I’m never gonna get the chance to stay late at school getting everything ready for the cultural festival and then leave with a girl after I tell her it’s dangerous so she should let me walk her home!” He says it’s from a sim game, but it’s really specific and actually reminded me of Kagiura on valentine’s day haha. I wonder if this will happen to Kagiura in his 2nd year in the upcoming cultural festival.

“Let’s say I don’t find a girlfriend before college. Then I’m gonna end up getting a job and going out drinking, saying, ‘I wanna get married…!’ I feel like I’m gonna end up sounding like this guy on the team, and I don’t want that.” (vol 8, ch 42, pg 5).

“You scared me…!! You can’t just say that! It’s a secret!” (vol 8, ch 42, pg 7)

Shirahama says “Is that really what couples usually do…? Guess I was overthinking it.” (Vol 9, ch 43, pg 8)

I’m really interested in what y’all think about the scene in (Vol 10, chapter 49, page 18-21). It seems like Shirahama really doesn’t want to miss basketball practice and the flashback scene he recalls actually hits a nerve. Do you think maybe Shirahama is feeling insecure about his role in the basketball club here? Like maybe he’s not always part of the main team in tournaments? I initially thought that this was a Kagi cameo, but the jersey’s say #4 and #7, and I’ve read somewhere that Kagi’s jersey number is #11.

*Side note: I can’t remember which page in sasamiya it was, but Shirahama mentions going on group dates a lot. Is he going with some guys from the basketball team? If anyone knows, please please pleasee let me know. Obviously, I don’t think Kagi would go, but I can imagine him being asked to go to help the other guys out or “evening out the numbers” haha OR being asked NOT to go because he’s too popular with girls. It could be a funny scene to see idk.

Okay, I think that’s all I have to say about Shirahama on the basketball team for now. I’ll probably refer back to him later though.

Tomonori Kuda

I think he’s the one Kagi mentions in these passages in the HiraKagi light novel on pages 22 and 26. And I think that they might have a “rivals to teammates to friends” type of relationship. At least, that’s the impression I got from the novel when Kagi cheers for him at the Sports Festival and thinks “I’ve gotta tell him how glad I am that he joined the basketball team.”

Also, you can see the name “Tomonori Kuda” in Kagiura’s phone call log, and before Hirano called, he was the last person Kagi talked to on the phone (Vol 1, chapter 3, page 31). So, I’m kinda hoping that they’re close and we see more of that. When the regular players are called over at practice, Kagi and Kuda’s names are both called, and we get to put a face to the name (Vol 5, ch 23a, page 4).

Yamada “Run, Yamada!”

Someone is named Yamada (unknown given name) on the basketball team. This is literally just based on this one background character during practice when Shirahama is talking to Sasaki in (SasaMiya Vol 9, chapter 46, page 11 ) lol.

Muroi Yuuki “headband-kun”

I saw someone referring to him as “headband-kun” in a tag and I thought it was the cutest thing. Muroi Yuuki is a newer character we’ve just been introduced to, and we know he’s Kagiura’s kouhai. He’s a first year, while Kagi is a second year. I believe his first appearance is (Vol 6, chapter 27, page 4 & 7). In the scene where Kagi is helping Muroi with paperwork in (Vol 6, chapter 27, page 7), we see a close up of his name and his reason for staying off-campus. We see quite a bit of him in Chapter 29: where he’s on the school bus with the basketball team, he asks Kagiura which activity he’s doing, introduces himself to Hirano telling him he’s on the basketball team and then asks to have Hirano’s contact information. So we know that 1) he will be at the off-campus basketball retreat, 2) he’s a kouhai on the basketball team, 3) He really looks up to Kagiura. I think he’s adorable and I am soooo looking forward to seeing more of Kagiura and Muroi’s kouhai/senpai relationship. I am so glad Kagiura finally has a kouhai of his own! Also, that part where Kagi gives Muroi his phone to watch a game… so cute, it’s giving ipad kid lmao 🤣😭.

HiraKagi Theories (Spoilers for Chapter 29!!!)

Okay! So that’s it for what I have on the basketball team profiles. I’m gonna get into what I think is going happen after Chapter 29. This section is definitely going to have spoilers!

Basketball Retreat Theory

I think there are going to be multiple arcs coming into play during the months May-October of Hirano’s 3rd and Kagiura’s 2nd year (Hirakagi Vol 7 and onward). First, I’m going to address my Basketball Retreat Theory. Based on some paperwork in (Vol 6, chapter 27, page 7), it looks like there is going to be an off-campus basketball retreat in the near future, which I think is actually going to come up in the next chapter and might be part of a larger arc in this coming up volume.

I can’t remember exactly where this image^ is from, but it got me thinking: Does Kagi become the new captain for the basketball team? I don’t think that’s something that has been confirmed or not but it just makes sense, right? I just get the feeling there’s gotta be more behind the question that Hanzawa is asking Shirahama, especially since Hanzawa is so familiar with Kagiura and his character. I mean like Hanzawa had asked Kagi about being an RA at some point. Kagi was in the running for being an RA without even realizing it! Tashiro (who became ping pong captain) mentioned that he started getting scouted for the position during the summer/ cultural festival season, which is coming up soon in the hirakagi timeline.

Now, back to the basketball retreat and upcoming tournaments: If Kagi’s senpais on the basketball team are going to start scouting for the new team captain, I am absolutely positive they are going to partially determine who to choose based on how well things run smoothly at the retreat and tournaments. Going back to Kagiura’s profile from earlier, we know he’s Basketball Team Captain worthy and Hirano has even said to Kagi that “They’re well aware of how hard you’ve been working” (Vol 5, chapter 23b, page 6). Not to even mention, Kagi in his 2nd year has now been training and teaching the younger members too! So, following this theory that Kagi is in the running for becoming the new basketball team captain, I think this definitely adds to the possibility that we will see some basketball team drama. Especially if Jealous-kun is another 2nd year basketball player in the team interested in that position.

Homophobic Jealous-kun Theory

Now, this other theory involves Jealous-kun much more. My other theory is that Jealous-kun, who has a history of intently watching Kagiura, catches Kagiura having a moment with Hirano—and like Hirano with Inchinose—Kagi makes eye contact and realizes they were caught. Only, Jealous-kun isn’t as sweet about it and reacts homophobically. If this does happen, I actually think this might go a really angsty route where Hirano and/or Hanzawa get involved. Like… I’m wondering if there will be a physical fight between Kagi and Jealous-kun (which just thinking about that scares me so much cause idek if Kagi can fight??) But the reason I think this is a huge possibility is because of some clues in both hirakagi and sasamiya series.

It’s been brought up multiple times that Hirano is good in a fight, in (Vol 1, chapter 3, page 14) Sasaki tries to reassure Hanzawa that “Hirano’s good in a fight. If anything happens, he’ll be fine… I think”. To which Hanzawa replies “That ‘I think’ doesn’t really make me feel better”. So I’m wondering if there will be a point in the story where we will see Hirano get in a physical fight. Either he fights someone *cough cough maybe jealous kun?* to defend Kagi or Kagi is in a physical fight with someone *cough cough maybe jealous kun?* and Hirano gets involved to try to split it up.

If this does happen, I think Hanzawa could be a witness to this situation. Fast forward to the scene from sasamiya (Vol 6, chapter 30, page 12). Hanzawa says “Some of the guys in my life are gay, and I’ve seen them get in fights before. It’s scary. Whenever they get hurt, I always worry that something happened with one of their boyfriends…” Now, when I first read this scene I only thought about it in the context of Hanzawa’s brothers past relationships (maybe they dealt with domestic abuse). BUT in the context of hirakagi (it’s interesting that Hirano is pictured here), it’s definitely not the case of domestic abuse or toxic relationships.

I think the wording here is on purpose because 1) Hanzawa used the phrase “some of the guys in my life are gay” instead of just using “brothers”. So I immediately thought of Kagiura. 2) When he says “I always worry that something happened with one of their boyfriends”, I feel like it could have a double meaning where “that something” that “happened with one of their boyfriends” could be Hanzawa and Hirano finding out that Kagiura is in a fight with someone and Hirano dashes to him (we all remember how fast he ran when kagi was overtired).

*sigh* Just thinking about this situation is stressing me out. So for now I’m moving on to another thought process and that’s Hirano’s confession, but I’ll get back to Hanzawa later.

Hirano’s Confession

As of right now it’s May in the hirakagi timeline, the sports festival just happened and in the sasamiya timeline this is when Sasaki (awkwardly) confesses to Miyano. 

In the sasamiya series in (Vol 3, chapter 15, page 21), we have this beautiful moment between Hirano and Sasaki that happens in June. Hmph. So, Hirano’s reaction definitely feels personal, right?? Because there’s definitely a window between May and June, I wouldn’t be surprised if Harusono stretched out that period of time. Still, I’m pretty positive that Hirano is going to confess in June right before or right after this scene with Sasaki. Hirano’s comment: “Stop making excuses and just tell him already!” Absolutely confirms to me that there is going to be something on Hirano’s mind that he might use as an excuse to wait to tell Kagi, that will delay his confession, or that will just make him feel hesitant. And I think that something could be related to the basketball retreat theory, the homophobic jealous kun theory, or how Hanzawa feels about gay relationships (at this point in the series). And when he tells this to Sasaki, I think he’s also saying this to himself (maybe).

Hanzawa’s Involvement

Time to get back to Hanzawa. In the sasamiya timeline, we’re officially introduced to his character with a name tag in (sasamiya Vol 4, chapter 19, page 8). At this time, it’s July. I think it’s really interesting that Harunsono chose this point to officially introduce Hanzawa, especially with Hirano’s dorm life brought up on the same page and Hanzawa seeming to be unphased. Later in (sasamiya Vol 4, chapter 22, page 19-20 & 24) Hanzawa and Miyano are discussing what love is. At this time, it’s September during cultural festival preparations. I saw someone in another post say that it feels like Hanzawa is repeating someone else’s words. I believe this is definitely the case. In the Sasaki and Miyano anime, Hanzawa’s speech actually overlaps with scenes of Hirano & Kagiura and Kuresawa & Ogasawara on the phone with their respective girlfriends. And the reference to Hirano and Kagiura feels like such an obvious clue now looking back at it. The conversation between Hanzawa and Miyano (in the anime and manga) goes like this: 

Miyano: What do you think it means to like someone?

Hanzawa: I think it depends on the person. Like wanting to do stuff with them? Or like wanting to be together. Wanting to hold hands. Wanting to touch them. Wanting to kiss them. Wanting to hold them. Or wanting to have them all to yourself. … Love is when you can’t stop thinking about the other person, or so they say.

Everything that Hanzawa says and uses as an example of Love literally relates back to Hirano and Kagiura. So, it could be that this is a speech that Hirano has said to Hanzawa before. Even the phrasing reminds me of Hirano. Like in hirakagi (chapter 29, pages 12-13 & 16) when Hirano is talking to Ichinose, Hirano asks “Have you ever wanted to kiss someone? … And try various things. … I’m fine with touching them”. Hirano is sorta still figuring out the type of “like/love” he feels for kagiura (although in chapter 29, page 34 it looks like he’s realized it’s the same as kagiura’s like/love), but once he figures it out completely, I think he’s going to share this information with Hanzawa. And explain it to Hanzawa with personal examples: 

Kagiura and Hirano feel love differently (it depends on the person)

Sometimes it’s wanting to try various things (like wanting to do stuff with them?)

Wanting to continue living together as roommates (like wanting to be together)

Wanting to hold hands (something Hirano and Kagiura have done)

Wanting to touch them (the 10 seconds touch everyday)

Wanting to kiss them (something Kagiura or Ichinose want to do when they like someone)

Wanting to hold them (hugging)

Wanting to have them all to yourself (dating and Kagi's "More than anything, I want to be with you" in chapter 29, page 28)

When you can’t stop thinking about the other person (literally Hirano every moment of everyday and Kagi when Hirano leaves)

And I think this is going to happen in July, since that’s when Hanzawa was introduced to the sasamiya series and seems to be more open to gay relationships by this time. I just think that Harusono is very intentional with their characters and would set it up this way. Especially since in (sasamiya Vol 4, chapter 19, page 8) Hanzawa doesn’t seem to be as worried as he did before about Hirano and Kagiura’s dorm life as roommates (him no longer being an RA might be a factor as well, but I think it’s mostly because Hirano has talked it over with Hanzawa regarding his closeness with Kagi).

*Side Note: Now this isn't really about Hanzawa's involvement, but on the topic of Hirano’s feelings and for the sake of sticking to chronological order with referencing chapter 29 so much, I'm going to put it here. Are we going to get a kiss in the next chapter?? Before they were interrupted by Muroi (chapter 29, page 30), it seems like they were talking about trying it (when they have more privacy, like maybe back at the dorm?). Because like… Hirano didn’t say no, just not here. Ya know?

Hirakagi Timeline Post Chapter 29

Okay, so I think I’ve addressed everything I wanted to. But to lay it out in a more organized fashion, here is a timeline based on all my theories and how I think it could pan out post chapter 29:

May -> Right now we’re at the Sports Festival

May - June -> basketball retreat/tournaments/team drama that Kagiura is gonna have to face; the basketball retreat theory, the homophobic jealous-kun theory? (could happen anywhere between May-July)

June -> Hirano’s confession!! (hopefully)

June - July -> Hirano and Hanzawa’s heart to heart moment

September - October -> Cultural festival; possible basketball tournament (shoutout to @rubyrose143 for finding this easter egg in sasamiya chapter 23.1)

December - January -> New Year’s Eve (Kagi is sick; Hirano goes to the shrine with Sasaki and meets Miyano, Kuresawa and Tashiro there in the "Special Drama CD My Wish", also shown as an extra chapter in sasamiya Vol 3)

Well, that's it. I hope this was somewhat helpful and entertaining to read. Thank you all for interacting, please let me know if I missed anything, and please please please tell me what you think! ❤️

[bnhaobservation]

@eclecticfurywhispers said:

The authorities were planning on giving AFO a trail. However, AFO broke out of prison before they could. I know they could've given AFO his hearing prior to his breakout, but law-enforcement thought they'd have more time. They didn't anticipate the jailbreak.

Honestly...

while it's never said the authorities were planning to give AFO a trial, it's entirely possible they did, and maybe AFO already had his trial before he escaped. Even though it's pretty safe to say he would get the death sentence, Japan is famous for being slow to carry them out, so it' might be AFO had his trial and is waiting for death... especially since he was arrested at the beginning of August and the jailbreak takes place at the end of March. 7 months are more than enough to put him on trial as lawyers can be sure he's guilty since not only he was caught red handed but he is confessing easily.

Muscular is also there, so, since he's a lot less dangerous than AFO, this means he had his trial and AFO might have had too.

This doesn't change the fact that AFO was put in Tartarus without a trial, instead than in detention, which not only is against Japanese law but is a severe violation of his human rights... but I didn't focus on it much in my post because, once in Tartarus, his human rights are violated even harder and in a way that's worse than what would happen if he were to end up in a real life Japanese prison.

But let's put this aside and let's focus on the trial for a moment.

Are we sure authorities want to put him through a trail?

Because putting him to trail would mean letting him talk with a lawyer, who might inform him about what's going on in the outside world, info they're currently denying him. Also in Japan, the defendant has the right and duty to be present to his own trial... but they clearly wouldn't want to move AFO.

So authorities have no gain by putting him through a trial. Yes, the trial could ensure they could execute him... but considering they can shoot at him if he does so much as scratch his back, I'm sure they can just say he moved and ops, he died if they want him dead.

Tartarus is a place in which people is stuck to be forgotten as they're never meant to come out of it alive.

We see how Lady Nagant was stuck there to be forgotten for a crime she didn't commit.

Did she have a trial? Trials in Japan are held only if you're sure you can win them, so either they forced Lady Nagant to admit a sin she didn't commit, they fabricated so many fake proofs the prosecutor was sure to win even if she weren't to confess, or they didn't put her under trial but just stuck her there same as they did with AFO.

So authorities, in order not to move AFO (so that he won't have any chance to escape), might have decided not to put him through trial but just keep him jailed in Tartarus and toss away his cell's key.

Or, as said before, they can claim he tried to use his Quirk and shoot him down.

We'll never know.

Thanks for your observation!

Heroes and human rights

There are days I honestly don't know which sort of message Horikoshi was aiming to deliver.

I'll rephraise.

I do not really expect BNHA to have laws which are diametrically different from real life Japan.

If Japan is okay with a policeman shooting an escaping criminal in the back, provided said criminal is considered dangerous enough, I don't really expect Horikoshi to make a big deal of how Hawks killed Twice.

It doesn't mean I agree, just that I think Horikoshi might not have been raised in an environment in which this is considered wrong... or that he just wants to show the downside of it, raise discussion over the topic.

However, when he deliberately worsen things and none of the supposed good and noble characters express concern I... don't know if he realizes which is the message he ends up passing.

I'll clarify.

Japanese prisons are known for violating human rights.

BNHA prisons violate human rights EVEN HARDER.

I'm not just talking of how AFO is sent in Tartarus without a trial, or of how Tartarus is a prison that hosts males and females.

AFO is denied any information from outside, when in Japan inmates must be provided with access to information on principal current affairs through media such as newspapers kept at the penal institution and news report broadcasts and also be allowed to read books. Yes, it's a right that can be revocated but it's much better than nothing at all.

We see him, Moonfish, Stain (for a period) and Muscular, wear strait-jackets and being tied to a chair, a chair, not a bed, when Japanese inmates wear leather and/or metal handcuffs which are secured tightly to a metal-strengthened leather belt so that the prisoner’s hands are fixed securely at either the front or the back of the body solely when they're being punished (which yeah, it's still a violation of human rights but it's BETTER than what Tartarus does).

Apparently everyone is in solitary confiment, when in theory in Japan you can keep inmates in solitary confinement for three months (the period can be extended) if they had violate the prison’s rules (which yes, it's more than human right recommend but it's BETTER than what Tartarus does).

Chisaki isn't given prosthesis for his arms and while Japanese prisons theoretically should allow prisoners to keep glasses but can still deny them such right, denying him prosthesis is a lot more damning for him.

In Tartarus no convict seems to have shoes, in Japanese prisons they've sandals and they can wear socks, never mentioning the cells have tatami floors where this doesn't seem to be the case in Tartarus.

And we've people like Tsukauchi, Gran Torino, All Might, Eraser Head, Present Mic go there, witness all this and... shrug it off.

It's not that Horikoshi doesn't know human rights are being violated and thinks that's the norm. The guards at Tartarus CLAIM they got plenty of accusations of human right violations, the leacks coming from an unknown source... meaning it's not just a defamation campain, it's the truth.

One would think that in a story about offering a helping hand this would be addressed but no, La Brava praises Gentle's time in prison, Nagant wants to stay in prison, Shishikura talks of his father, a prison guard who might have been the one who defined inmates as animals, as the one who inspired him to protect and not to search for revenge... and no one talks about reforming prisons.

Plenty of convicts escaped prison worse than before because prison didn't reform them at all, didn't correct them at all and society is fien with prison this way because, as said with Tartarus, they just want to forget those people exists... which is worse than in Japanese prisons as they're, at least verbally, meant to make an effort to reform convicts.

Sure, maybe Horikoshi's idea is that I shouldn't think too hard at this but... then why showing a worse world if it's meant to be dismissed?

The fandom made up whose wonderful Quirk erasing bracialets and Quirk erasing drugs and Quirk erasing whatever that would have allowed him to depict prisons as they are in real life, no need to make them WORSE... and he could have still freed the convicts by causing the Quirk erasing bracialets to malfunction or something, same as he opened their jails.

Honestly, it's something that never fails to upset me because at a first glance it seems he wants to criticize all this and then... he just embraces and handwaves this as if it was okay.

Let's focus on stopping kids from becoming Villains, who care if we're making pre-existent Villains worse, who care if we're abusing their human rights? They don't deserve a helping hand.

[deangirlsstuff67]

Loving A Nomad

Russell Shaw x Reader

Summary: It slipped out by mistake but you don't regret it.

Warnings: fluff, p in v, language

Authors Note: I love Jensen and his family. The is purely fiction and for entertainment purposes only.

—————————————————————————

One day with his brother and you dumbass of a boyfriend is already behind bars.

Colter called Rene to bail them out and Russell had called you to meet up with her so he could see you. It had been three weeks since you last saw him. He has been busy searching for his old army buddy.

Can’t fault him for that.

Two pairs of heels can be heard marching down the police station hallway as we near the holding cells. There sits the brothers with matching fake innocent grins plastered on their face.

Rene starts talking to them about how she managed to get the charges dropped. Adding that Russell owes her for paying his charges with fish and wildlife. She looks at me when she brings up the donkey incident.

Shaking my head, I don’t even try to explain that fucking day. Russell has his normal charming, flirty response which earns him a death glare from me.

“Oh calm down sweetie, you know you’re my girl.”

"You're lucky there are bars between us right now Shaw."

Russell lets out a throaty chuckle as he grabs your hand through the bars. Rene has an officer coming with keys to let them out. His brother smirks at Russ, "not for long there won't be."

The confidence slips from Russell's face as he realizes he's being released at that moment. You never could stay mad at this giant man child you are dating but that doesn't mean you don't make him work for your forgiveness every single time.

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

Russell is good at a lot of things.

His job.

Being a nomad.

Loving and caring for you.

Making you laugh when all you want to do is cry.

But what he's best at is making it up to you when he royal screws up. Over and over again he will have you underneath him screaming his name until you tell him he's forgiven. Then and only then will he chase his own release.

Tonight is no different.

After having a late lunch with Colter and Rene, you and Russ head back to his hotel room where he instantly begins to make it up to you. Saying I forgive you is right on the tip of your tongue, however those aren't the words that pour out of your kiss bruised lips.

Instead you yell out I Love You as he rips another orgasm from your body.

Russell and you freeze. He's still buried deep inside your well used hole, staring down at your fucked out body.

It's been two years since you started dating. It's not like you've never thought about it or even felt it towards this green eyed devil. You knew you loved him 3 months into your relationship.

Russell comes with a lot of baggaged and a fucked up past. He doesn't allow many into his heart and you weren't willing to risk losing him. Figured waiting for him to say it first was probably the best idea.

You didn't want to scare him away. Given what he has lived through you knew that was a high possible.

You also didn't want to come off as clingy or desperate. Sounds silly but he's a man who is use to his independence and being alone.

Even though it's been 2 years for the both of you, he still enjoys working alone and still keeps so much close to the vest. Including what his job includes.

You couldn't stop the verbal outburst as he was bringing you pleasure tonight. It was the truth. You felt it deep within your soul. He was and will always be the one and only for you.

His cock twitches inside your velvet walls as you both stare at each other waiting to see how he's going to respond. It felt like hours before he makes a move. Thrusting his dick hard into your pussy earning him a moan from you.

"You know pretty girl, I never thought I would say this but," another hard thrust is delivered before he says, "I fucking love you too." He leans down as he captures your lips in a loving kiss as he releases deep inside you. Warmth filling you as he pours all his love into that kiss.

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

Two months later Russell has found himself in another sticky situation with Colter by his side. These brothers are going to be the death of you.

Yet again you and Rene come to the rescue and find them in a holding cell fighting over whos fault it was this time.

You walk up to the bars, looking into the goofy smile of your fiance with a disapproving look plastured all over your face.

"You're adorable when your angry baby."

"Oh God, seriously Russell?"

Laughing he says, "aren't you glad you love me pretty girl?"

Shaking your head the officer opens the holding cell as you walk away. Russell jogging to catch up with you, arm lazily laid on your shoulders as he guides you towards the exist.

"So what's for supper tonight?"

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

Taglist:

@spnaquakindgdom @bitchykittenconnoisseur @lessons-of-red @yvonneeeee @syrma-sensei @jayhalsteadfan-2417 @deansimpalababy @nancymcl @tspmoff @idontwannabehere78 @foxyjwls007 @senjoritanana @leigh70 @neii3n @maggiegirl17 @jamerlynn @mostlymarvelgirl @kimxwinchester @multiversefanfics

[joelsdagger]

Pedro does Joel well in my opinion, and that’s from someone who very much prefers game Joel. The difference is that Pedro is working with the dogshit script they gave him. And somehow managing to make his performance a lot better than what the writing has earned from him. Pedro does HBO Joel well but we’ll never know if he can do a more game accurate Joel. It’s just the failings of the show runners which is so disappointing.

Anyway love your work, nobody writes for the loml game Joel anymore

i agree with you to a certain degree. i think he did the most he could with what they gave him, but personally, he does share some of the blame. from the articles i read, he was the one who pushed for some of the changes for joel, ie: joel in therapy, it was something that was important to him and from what i’ve read he reminded the show runners it was the whole reason he agreed to play the part. and in my opinion, pedro, neil & craig intentionally made show joel this weird, very emotionally volatile type of man, and in doing so, they tried too hard to ward off this idea that joel was a toxic masculine man (that didn’t have any feelings) that many people believed joel was (canonically on the surface he was very closed off and emotionally constipated but ultimately he wasn’t emotionally volatile and all over the place, and anyone who experienced the game in some capacity knows that). and in my opinion, it just doesn’t work, because it’s just not how joel was in the original source material. on top of that, a lot of pedro’s mannerisms and some of his acting choices for certain moments were a little over the top for me and game joel was always very subtle, let his actions speak for him and i think pedro has a tendency to overcompensate in the show. we know our joel from the games, and the one he played….it’s just not the one i know and love from the games. and listen, i adore pedro, i think he’s great, i’ve seen almost all of his work and i think he’s a very talented, versatile actor, but for joel, i do think there’s room for improvement there with certain depictions of emotions and mannerisms, and that goes for the rest of the cast too. but i also agree that it’s the script and the writers that most of the blame falls on. neil and craig fucked up royally and the whole show, entire storylines, and everyone involved are suffering for it.

i think if the games didn’t exist and if it weren’t so painfully obvious that neil is very poorly retconning his own work and if he didn’t very obviously loathe joel, i think season 1 could stand on it’s own but even from season 1 to season 2….those characters are just not the same, like at all. and ultimately, i just don’t believe game adaptations are ever good. there’s so much nuance that cannot be replicated in a live action adaptation so i firmly believe this adaptation didn’t need to happen as much as we all hoped or wanted it to work.

that’s just my opinion though i’m not trying to start discourse i’m just being transparent 😅 i just want people to know that this is a space to discuss their game to show qualms especially game joel fans who are on the same page! i love tlou and i love talking about it. just don’t take this as me thinking i’m right it’s just me expressing an opinion. if you liked it, you liked it and i’m happy you liked it! i want my blog to be a space where me, and likeminded people can openly talk about our thoughts, feelings, & disappointments about the show, it isn’t possible to not have them!

and thank you so much for reading my work and for the compliment. i appreciate you very much <33

[mapetitefeedeslilas]

ER x The Pitt crossover: a few months after opening and running the Carter Center, John Carter feels like he has lost all the purpose in life, goes in full born out, leaves the clinic in the hands of trusted fellow doctors and disappears. He sends letters to Benton, Corday, Lewis and Weaver telling them he is sorry, that he will be fine and not to look for him: he needs to be alone.

He changes his name and becomes Micheal Robinavitch, his beloved grandma's father, and ends up in Pittsburgh, where Adamson is the only one knowing about his past.

For fifteen years, he manages to hide away, but his demons never abandon him. But it's too late now, or so he thinks: how could he try and reach out to his old friends and mentors after ignoring and pushing them away them for so long? He can't, he repeats himself, suffering in silence. And the pain is even worse after Adamson's death, but he thinks he deserves, it's his penance for all the mistakes he made in the past.

Cue to an oncology ward in a different hospital, in a different state, where Doctor Rachel Greene, young but brilliant oncologist and researcher, is following sorrowfully from her laptop what's going on in Pittsburgh the day of the shooting. She sees the live broadcasting move on to the ambulance bay of the PMTC and scoffs because honestly don't they have any respect or consideration for the victims nor the doctors working?

Then, the camera pans for just a second onto a bearded and bloodied doctor and the mug falls from Rachel's hands, smashing onto the floor and she barely notices, because she knows that doctor. He is older, obviously, aged and clearly worn out, but she knows him!

With an eye on the live streaming and another set on the new tab she opens, she keeps watching whilst trying to find any information possible regarding the medical personnel of the Pitt. There is no John Carter anywhere, but she knows what she saw.

She sends Elizabeth the link of the streaming and the time stamp to go back to. Ten minutes later, her stepmom is already calling her "what in the bloody hell?!"

And with that, Liz is off: she puts into motion her vast Web of contacts, gathers information, connects the dots and in the end she gets a plausible identity: Michael Robinavitch, same age and graduated in Chicago in the same year as Carter.

She seats on this information for a few days, trying to figure out what to do. Should she try and reach out? But she wasn't even the closest to Carter, Mark was, so why would he want to talk to her after all that time?

In the end, she calls Peter. If there's someone that will know what to do regarding John Carter or that deserves to know they have found him, that is Peter Benton.

Peter is shocked and he too doesn't know what to do with this. Because, if Carter or Robinavitch, or whatever he is nowadays, had wanted to reach out, he could have done it easily: Peter is still at Northwestern, his picture in on the faculty website. Hell, he hasn't even changed his phone number! So if he had never done it, perhaps Carter really doesn't want to talk to him.

But then he watches the video again and again. Carter looks rough, tired in a way that cannot be only due to the shooting. And he went through a mass casualty of that kind too, which would take a tool on anyone, let alone someone already so drained.

And listen, he might be a grown ass adult and doctor, but that guy there is still Peter's exhausting and frustrating med student. That pain in the ass that was following him around like an overexcited puppy. That competent colleague he handled many cases with. That grinning psychopath that took his appendix out. That broken and traumatised young doctor who burst into tears in his arms before he let him accompany to rehab.

He has to check on him.

Peter gets on the first available flight to Pittsburgh.

[acasualattempt]

SKYLINE

After too many lingering glances across a crowded gallery, Zayne pulls you away for a stolen moment alone on the rooftop of Akso Hospital. He only meant to steal a kiss — but with you, self-control has never been his strong suit.

(Rooftop heavy makeout, semi-public risk, grinding, filthy whispered promises.)

🔞 MDNI | 18+ Content Warning

The hospital art exhibit is winding down.

The soft hum of conversation drifts through the hallways below — polite laughter, clinking glasses, the occasional low commentary about brushstrokes and symbolism.

You’ve been good all night. Polite. Attentive. Supportive.

You’ve smiled when you needed to, laughed when the moment called for it, stood quietly at Zayne’s side as he made small talk with his colleagues.

But now, under the gentle pull of exhaustion — and maybe something sweeter, heavier — you ache for a moment alone.

Zayne seems to sense it too.

He leans down, lips brushing the shell of your ear, voice low enough that no one else could possibly hear.

"Come with me, darling," he murmurs.

You don't hesitate.

You let him take your hand — large, warm, steady — and guide you out of the gallery, through the quieter back corridors of Akso Hospital you barely register.

He moves like a man who knows exactly where he’s going.

Up the back stairwell. Past the locked maintenance door he somehow has access to.

And then — the rooftop.

Cool night air brushes your skin the second he cracks the door open, letting the city skyline spill into view — endless glittering lights stretching far beyond the horizon.

You step outside with a soft laugh of wonder, tilting your head back to breathe it all in.

"It's beautiful," you whisper.

Zayne’s smile is small. Tight. Almost pained.

"Not as beautiful as you," he says, so quietly you almost miss it.

You turn to face him — framed by the stars, the streetlights, the endless night — and whatever careful restraint he brought up here shatters the second you smile at him.

Zayne moves before you can think.

His hands cup your face, tilting your head up to meet his mouth in a kiss that’s far too hungry to be polite, far too desperate to be planned.

You gasp against him, and he takes full advantage — deepening the kiss instantly, tongue sliding against yours, hands slipping from your cheeks down to your hips.

He walks you backward, slowly, until your back hits a concrete wall — cool against your dress, grounding you in the shocking heat of his body pressing into yours.

You arch into him instinctively, and Zayne groans — a low, broken sound that vibrates straight through you.

"Don’t look at me like that, darling," he whispers against your mouth, voice wrecked. "Not unless you want me to take you right here, where anyone could find us."

Your only answer is a wicked smile and a slow roll of your hips against his.

He shudders violently, hands tightening on your waist.

"Trouble," he breathes, forehead falling against yours. "You’re absolute trouble."

And then he kisses you again — harder, messier, teeth clashing, hands roaming everywhere like he can’t decide whether to hold you still or drag you even closer.

You gasp when one of his hands slips under your dress — up your thigh, over the curve of your ass, squeezing just hard enough to make you whimper.

"Zayne," you gasp, nails raking lightly down his back through his shirt.

He growls — an honest-to-god growl — and presses you harder against the wall, grinding his hips into yours so you can feel exactly how much you affect him.

"You have no idea," he whispers, voice shaking with restraint. "No fucking idea what you do to me."

His mouth trails down your jaw, your throat, nipping and kissing, leaving a trail of heat in his wake.

You tilt your head back, offering more, and he takes it — sucking a dark mark just below your collarbone, where no one else will see it.

"Mine," he breathes against your skin. "Only mine."

You whimper, arching against him, your body on fire.

One of his hands slips under your dress again — higher, higher — until his fingers brush the edge of your panties.

You gasp his name, hips jerking.

"Tell me to stop," he murmurs, even as his fingers stroke you through the thin fabric. "Please, darling. Tell me now."

You don't.

You can't.

You just moan — desperate, wanton — and rock against his hand shamelessly.

Zayne curses, low and guttural, and slips his fingers under the fabric — finding you wet, ready, wrecked for him.

He groans, forehead pressing hard against your shoulder, body trembling with the effort it takes to hold back.

"I should take you home," he whispers raggedly. "Lay you out on our bed. Wreck you properly."

You whimper, nails digging into his shoulders.

"But if you keep touching me like this," he says, voice breaking, "I’m going to fuck you against this wall and not give a damn who sees."

You tighten your legs around his waist, grinding down against the thick, hard line of him, and Zayne snaps.

He kisses you like he's drowning.

His fingers slide against you, teasing, stroking, driving you higher even as he fights to keep himself together.

You’re panting now, gasping, riding his hand shamelessly as he groans into your mouth.

It’s messy.

It’s reckless.

It’s so fucking good.

But somewhere, in the back of his mind, Zayne knows this isn’t the place.

Knows he can’t have you here the way you deserve.

With a broken, desperate groan, he tears his mouth from yours and pulls his hand away, resting his forehead against yours, breathing hard.

"Not here," he rasps. "Not like this."

You whimper in protest, grinding against him again, but he shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut like it physically hurts him to stop.

"When we get home," he whispers, voice wrecked, "I’m going to make you scream my name, darling. I’m going to take my time."

You shudder, clinging to him, your body aching for more.

Zayne kisses you one more time — slow, deep, devastating — before pulling back just enough to tuck you against his chest, shielding you from the open rooftop.

"We should go," he says, voice hoarse. "Before I lose whatever’s left of my self-control."

You laugh softly, breathless and wrecked, and let him lead you back inside — hand clasped tightly in his, heart pounding, body still aching for him.

Tonight isn’t over.

Not by a long shot.

[sillygoofyqueer]

I love the mad scientist au, i humbly beg for more

OKAY OKAY OKAY!!!! Now, where were we... Okay so Lan Wangji is possibly going through the many stages of both gay realisation and also dealing with pain beyond the average person's comprehension considering that he was just dragged by an already injured leg into what would have been his death. Would have. If not for this impossibly confusing, confirmed psychopath literally prying open the jaw of a huge, man-eating monster to save his life. And then carrying him to safety on his back as though he too was not injury. Now all he can do is stare emptily as Wei Wuxian walks around the cave they have taken refuge in, a fire crackling nearby and the sound of the man of the hour muttering to himself as he sizes up different pieces of wood.

Lan Wangji would ask what the hell happened back there, but he's currently trying not to think too much both because he cannot breathe from the agony. (Also because every time he closes his eyes, all he can see is Wei Wuxian looking down at him with those strangely mesmerising eyes, muscles straining and the light from a nearby fire falling over his face-) Next thing he knows, Wei Wuxian is kneeling beside him and nattering on about how his leg is "really fucked up, actually!" while reaching out to pull Lan Wangji's pant leg up. Of course, his natural reaction is to grab the man's hand because seeing each others' calves is something that only happens at least three months into courting surely!

There's a pretty similar interaction to canon with Lan Wangji actually losing his fucking mind with everything that Wei Wuxian is doing to him, times ten because he can't be gay about medically treated by a Wen!! It's Not Allowed. Then Wei Wuxian makes a joke like "but of course you're scandalised by my bare chest, I bet anyone who shows off even their wrists get cut down by the Lan, don't they?" This is of course not the first comment he's made in this fashion, and Lan Wangji is too tired to care about propriety as he's like "why do you keep saying things like that?" Wei Wuxian looks at him weird and goes "because the Lans are overly traditional lunatics who suppress other ideologies and kill anyone who disagree with them???"

Cue a moment of silence where they're both just staring at each other as each and every time Jin Zixuan was like 'I swear they're like brainwashed or something' only to be met with scepticism flashes in his mind. He, very calmly, is like "what about the other sects?" and sits there as this man describes twisted versions of the sects (all of them seemingly carrying an aspect of the Wen within them, intriguingly). He's drafting an apology to Jin Zixuan for not believing him. "And the Wen told you this?" "Uhh, duh? Who else would tell me the truth??" It could almost be regarded as a joke if it weren't for how sincere Wei Wuxian sounds, how sincere he looks as he stares right back at him.

Lan Wangji doesn't really want to unpack all of this right now - a secret, bitter part of him is telling him that it doesn't matter if the man (teenager, just like him) didn't know, because he still killed all those people for his experiments - but he needs to talk about the Lan Sect to someone. His home has just been burned to the ground. He's grasping for any sense of comfort he can find trapped in a cave with a Wen and a monster. He tells Wei Wuxian that his home isn't like that and ignores the boy's scoffs of "sure it isn't" as he starts (in short, succinct phrases) describing what his home is like. What his life is - was like, before the fire. He doesn't even know if Wei Wuxian is listening to him.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian is listening to this Lan speak of his home like it is this peaceful place built upon serenity and rules, organisation that exists only as a form of comfort for those within the sect. A romantic backstory of a monk falling in love and creating his own sect because of it. It's nothing like the picture he had had painted for him, one of a sect thick with suppression and fear, control gained through threat of death, no chance to change and grow with shackles pulling one down. The Lan is surely, surely lying to him, but he speaks with such conviction that it is hard not to believe even just a little. It's not real of course, it can't be real. What would it mean if it was?

It's nothing for Wei Wuxian to dwell on. He stands up, frowning to himself at the sight of the other boy looking so sickly and pale - the food that the disciples were given wasn't conductive for health according to Wen Qing, and it shows. Lan Wangji doesn't ask where he's going, opening one of his eyes to watch him leave after closing them at some point in the silence of the cave. Wei Wuxian needs to go - he needs to think, and find some logic in Lan Wangji's words (after all, there is truth in every good lie). Or, better yet, he needs to plan for Xue Yang (and perhaps the other Wen) eventually coming back for him. It would do no good to have him come face to face with a monster in his attempts to save him, and Wei Wuxian needs to take his mind off things.

The only logical thing to do is to kill the monster!

[transformersconfessions]

I think tf one is a lot worse than the fandom is willing to admit and it makes me feel disappointed that people can't criticise it without being attacked .

I don't think it's a bad movie to introduce new people to the fandom or that it's the worst piece of media Hasbro has released. But it has many weak points that few talk about and the rest are blinded by the fact that we're getting new Transformers content.

Aside from the graphics (which is one of its redeeming qualities), it lacks depth in world-building. (Everything happens in Iacon (not counting the surface). What's 50 cycles in this continuity? How are transformers born that makes it so easy for Sentinel to take their cogs?? There's more examples, but these are the ones at the top of my head).

The characters are hardly fleshed out. Especially for Orion, it's weird that we don't really get a good explanation as to why he's the way he is or how his motivations came to be. And why is he so different to everyone else?? Surely not everyone is just happy to play along with the system?? We never got to know why Bee was in the sublevel 50 or how long he was down there. Elita could've been a much more appealing character if she was allowed to break from the angry and strong woman persona for longer than a few seconds. I have less complaints with D-16, but that's still a few things that bother me about his character. (This is more about personal taste, but I think the name "Megatron" has a lot less impact when Dee was more of a fanboy of Megatronus rather than someone who respected and aimed to be more like the old Prime. Imagine you kill the president and become the leader of an army and the first thing you do is change your name to one inspired by your celebrity crush. How can I take you seriously???)

The pacing was not the worst, but it could've been better. Thing after thing after thing— basically no breaks for you to process everything that happened. More quiet moments, pauses and suspense would've been nice.

The villain trope for Sentinel was a bit too cartoony for my taste. Evil guy whose motivation is power but is also a pathetic coward who bends his will to those stronger than him, and is defeated by the hero after his evil monologue exposing all his crimes gets recorded and forecasted for the whole world to see.

Not exactly what I would call an engaging and intimidating villain.

And speaking of Sentinel, how did he defeat the thirteen Primes that are supposed to be strong and almighty?? Sure, he was aided by the Quintessons, but surely it would've taken more than that?? It's like a case of telling instead of showing except they're showing without telling you how any of that is possible.

The movie was full of conveniences, too. Orion being known by the guards in the Hall of Records yet he was never arrested by them. They literally know how he looks and what his designation is??? Elita happens to be in the right place at the right time. What a coincidence. Bee knows a way out of sublevel 50 yet only could go out after all this time when Orion and Dee arrived? Why not. Gotta wait for the mc's. Bee has a recording from Alpha Trion that we have no idea how it even got there in the first place?? Alpha Trion somehow survived but not the rest of his siblings? The Royal Guard decides to help Orion because Elita is "scary"? That was one of my least favourite scenes because they could've come up with a much better reasoning. How remarkably good all these cogless bots happen to be at fighting? I'll take Orion's agility for his escapades. I'll take the strength for the long hours of work in a harsh environment with heavy compartment to carry. But you're telling me they actually know real combat moves when there's no reason for them to?? Unless Cybertronians come programmed with it (or their borrowed cogs provide them with those skills), I'm not buying it.

This and many more things could be said if we weren't afraid of admitting this film wasn't perfect. I really liked it because of the concept and the new ideas it brought with it, but that's why I'm sad the fandom doesn't do more than just settle for what we have.

I won't claim all my criticism is objective or that it's all correct (I haven't rewatched it recently to assure that I remember all the details), but that's why I invite to be more open to different opinions (even if they're negative), so we can expand on this idea the movie offers.

(I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors. I wrote this in a rush and I have no time to edit it)

*

[docholligay]

Okay, so, first off I want to apologize to everyone reading this liveblog for this post. I know that Roy is like, an asshole, and would be considered a war criminal probably if we had the Geneva Convention and it had been an officially declared war. I also know that Hawkeye would be right behind him committing war crimes because if nothing else she is deeply loyal to nightmare of her choice, and that's Roy. I get not being into any deep dive read of this two.

Unfortunately, I imprinted on them like a baby chick and now you all have to deal with it.

I love that Roy is an idiot. Scar is an objectively very dangerous man, who has a real hateboner for State Alchemists, and is still very correctly angry about Ishbal. He has many not every right, but certainly a lot of rights, to kill Roy. Roy sort of has it coming here. I know I just called Roy and idiot, but he is also not an idiot. He has seen the people who have been killed or laid low by Scar. He has know that he is in danger here.

So why does he put himself on the chopping block? AND PLEASE DON'T TELL ME I HATE HAVING TO BREAK THE FLOW OF THESE POSTS WITH MY PLEAS FOR MERCY BUT I WANT TO NOT BE SPOILED OR HINTED. Is it arrogance? Roy is indeed very, very good, and he is strategic as well as powerful, and very fast. But I don't think it's that. I think Roy is smart enough to know that arrogance, at least of a heady quality a la Ed (though I do think Roy was very arrogant in his younger years) will get you killed but fast. Is it guilt over Ishbal? AHahahahahahahaha no. I don't think Roy carries around the same kind of thing Marcoh does. Maybe Roy feels like it was shitty and disproportionate and he didn't like doing it, but even if he does, he's got it so fully compartmentalized that it barely makes a dent. Is it a sense of honor to his men? Hm. Maybe. That Scar wants something out of the Alchemists specifically. I don't love it but I could take it. Is it bluster? Ahhhh now we're getting to where I land. Roy is a smart man, and as a smart man, he knows that a lot of times, if you act like you are the tougher and more dangerous dog, people will back down. It will put them off. He gets Scar's attention. He does not run. He identifies himself. He acts like he is bad enough to take on Scar, in the hopes Scar will believe it.

BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT HAWKEYE. "Fuck you, Roy" she seems to say, as she catches the gun he throws to her without looking, because he knows where she will be at all times, because he knows he can trust her to catch it. THESE TWO FUCK MY WHOLE LIFE I AM SO FUCKING MAD ABOUT THIS. And she is! She is there in a hot second! He knows where she will be and she can read his motions maybe even before he can.

But she is also two other things: Annoyed and AFRAID. She also knows what a bad bitch Scar is, and in her voice, for the first time in the show, we hear CONCERN. When she says, 'Colonel!' it is not an affirmative, it is a warning. She is expressing to him that this situation is dangerous, that he is possibly biting off more than he can chew, that she does not want to be cleaning his fucking brains off the side of the wall, because can they even be separated? They're like the clematis that has grown around a rotting trellis and at this point its impossible to tell which is holding up the other and they will both go down if one is cut.

WOW EVERYONE SORRY ABOUT THAT I SURE HOPE YOU WANTED 700 WORDS ABOUT FOUR SCREENCAPS.

PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ANYTHING THAT COULD EVEN REMOTELY LEAD TO ME REALIZING SOMETHING OR KNOWING SOMETHING NEW. Do not confirm, deny, draw attention to something I missed EVEN IF I SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT, contextualize in a cultural or historical way, anything. I hate that I have to be so specific but I am trying to experience this show totally clean. IF YOU SPOIL ME I WILL BLOCK YOU.

QUICK LINK TO THE SPOILER-FILLED FUNTIMES DISCORD HERE. THEY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THE THINGS YOU KNOW AND YELL ABOUT ME

[ekjohnston]

The Book Club Conundrum

One thing really love about reading fanfic for videogames (Veilguard in particular), is seeing all the other in-game mini-story options that wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years. In Veilguard, for example, there is a large component of the fandom that writes Rook as isolated within the team, someone who is always helping but never gets helped in return. It's fascinating because you can do a lot with it, and also because it never would have crossed my mind otherwise.

I have started to call it The Book Club Conundrum, because you twice find book club notes in the Lighthouse where everyone gives their thoughts on a book they've read together. Rook does not give them, which I assumed meant we were supposed to fill that part in ourself (since Rook is the self-insert character, the game writers try to leave as many of their opinions open as possible), but it's very common in fic to read that Rook wasn't invited, and holds at least a bit of resentment for that, and for the way the team bonds around them in general.

As I said: a lot of mileage, which is great for fanfic, because conflict has to come from somewhere.

HOWEVER

Since I imagined Rook at the book club meetings and adding their thoughts, I did it with other examples of team bonding as well. This is particularly important to the "always helping, never helped" component of the argument, because: the team does try. They try so hard.

Most of them take you to a funeral/memorial at some point (Lucanis does it in a Blighted Treviso; if Minrathous is Bighted, you get it twice: once from Neve and once from The Viper. Davrin takes you out to play with a griffon, over and over, which is just as therapeutic). They take you through their grieving process, for new pains and old. They share their traditions. Their grief. Their anger. They wait for Rook to break.

And they never do.

Solas does a lot of heinous things, on all manner of scale, but something I find EXTREMELY fascinating is that he almost fucked up Rook's relationship with their entire team. Rook's seeming denial of their grief is the one thing that no one can break through. It makes them seem cold and a bit uncaring, like they're willing to push through almost everything to get the job done. And of course they are! Willing, I mean. It's a very Dread Wolf sort of lie: just enough truth to destroy everything.

(If you save "Words of Fire" as long as possible, Taash finally just yelling at you is SUPER affecting, lmty.)

In fanfic, I've seen everything from "it's weird that Rook is talking to an empty room again" to "Rook is grieving in their own way" to "Rook hears a weird humming noise every time they think too much about Varric, but can't do anything about it". Sometimes Rook yells at the team for not noticing (Neve notices IMMEDIATELY, fwiw, the same as Solas tells you immediately what he's done. You just keep going anyway), and sometimes the resolution is more quiet.

It's fascinating to me, both as a writer and a reader/player, that the same common start point (Solas being a manipulative jackass "for the greater good"), can have so many divergent paths. It's not just "Rook ignores the team and they all die" or "Rook moves heaven and earth for her team and they all live". There's a lot of space in that second one, and fanfic lets us wallow in what the game sets up.

Veilguard is a game of mirrors, obviously, but it's also a game where all of your companions could have been the protagonist, except all of the good guys are DESPERATELY trying not to be the main character. The villains are all like that too (especially Johanna, who is barely aware the risen gods are there), only they WANT to be the main characters. And that's usually what leads to their downfall.

Varric wrote pulp fiction. The kind reviews denigrate as trashy while millions of people have fun reading them. He wants a main character, a hero he can pin a tragedy on. He made one, and propped up another. Rook was going to be his third, and Solas (accidentally) almost made sure it happened. But Rook gets free of that, wins themself out by sheer friendship and the willingness to move forwards.

And no matter what kind of angst you want to put into your fanfic (and please, continue to do so; I am having fun!) that is pretty great.