#sometimes people just fall out of friendships

[burreauxwrites]

“LOATHING” - (joe burrow x oc)

CHAPTER THREE - “thru the phone”

word count: 1.9k

warnings: 18+ (MDNI)! perv!joe, a wet dream happens, joe has a voice kink, jerking off, over the phone stuff…joe is just really horny this chapter 😭

winnie sighs as she walks into her physics class, spotting a seat next to joe and getting her things out. she had been pushed and almost trampled by all the tall students roaming the halls. it was annoying, but thankfully, she made it.

“god, winnie,” joe snickers, looking at winnie’s disheveled and frustrated appearance, “you look like you just woke up.”

“well. i did. but also, people roam the halls with no sense of awareness,” she groans, putting her book on top of her desk, “or urgency.”

joe chuckles, knowing that winnie hates getting to her classes. even when they were in middle school together, winnie struggled with transitioning between classes.

“yeah? well, that’s the life of a student for you.” he nudges her shoulder, getting a small smile from her.

oddly enough, there’s something about winnie. he’s not sure if it's the fact that she styles her hair, or if she does a bit of makeup, or if it’s her fidgeting. maybe it’s the small pout she does when focusing. but she looks…pretty. really pretty.

joe watches as kaori continues getting her things out, deciding to take a brief moment to speak up.

“hey…you got a volleyball game today, right?”

winnie looks at joe, nodding with a smile. “mhm…why?”

joe grins, raising an eyebrow. “i’m gonna come and watch.”

her gaze softens. truth be told, she really did want joe to be there. she would never say that part out loud, of course. that’s straight up embarrassing. but hearing that he’ll be attending the game did make her heart swell with joy.

“really?” she asks, leaning back in her seat, “i’ll hold you to that.”

“trust me. i’ll always be around if it means i’m supporting you.” joe affirms, his eyes gleaming with a specific fondness to them.

for a moment, a brief moment, the both of them were locking eyes. they may have been looking at each other for longer than necessary, but they couldn’t look away. it’s like they were magnetized.

the bell rings, interrupting their moment. despite this, they share a brief smile, their faces both being bright red.

———————

winnie was warming up with the team as more and more people filled the gym. saying she was nervous would be an understatement. nonetheless, she’s aware of what she needs to do. after all, she finally made the team! this was the exact moment that she’s been waiting for.

as she practices hitting and serving the ball, she notices joe walk in with his friends, ja’marr and justin. his hair is styled with a few curls against his forehead, and he is wearing a sweatshirt with some black joggers. though his outfit is simple, winnie finds it…attractive?

no. snap out of it winnie. now is not the time to be ogling your friend.

as she continues warming up, her friend alina noticed her staring.

“winnie,” she asks, “you don’t happen to like joe, do you?”

with a pause, winnie holds the ball, looking at alina in shock; she wasn’t expecting that question from her.

“no. we’re just friends. why?”

alina rolls her eyes, “just friends my ass.”

in an exasperated sigh, winnie serves the ball over the net. “we are! we go way back. we had a falling out, but we rekindled our friendship.”

“and? i just saw the way you looked at him.”

huh. she did? winnie didn’t think she was that obvious. nonetheless she shrugs. “i mean. it’s normal to find your friend good looking.”

“well,” alina pauses, looking at joe for a minute before looking back at winnie, “you do know that you’ll have to deal with emma, right? she’s crazy obsessed with joe.”

she scowls a little at that. that was a very true statement. winnie isn’t dumb; she’s aware of the fact that many women are attracted to joe on campus. and sometimes, he plays into their attraction. it was something she never ever understood, but she just knew that it was something that he did.

as far as emma goes, she stops at nothing when it comes to getting what she wants. she’d beg, borrow, steal, lie…whatever it takes. but winnie doesn’t get why that bothers her so much. her and joe are only friends, so even if emma does want joe, she shouldn’t care…right?

with a small shrug of her shoulders, winnie speaks, “she can have him.”

alina scoffs, knowing that winnie is putting up a front. she doesn’t press on the subject anymore though.

meanwhile, in the stands, joe was…struggling. ja’marr and justin were laughing about something, probably a dumb instagram post or video. but he couldn’t help but focus on winnie as she warms up.

the way her hair is tied back and her stare is so focused. it’s attractive to joe. but even worse (or better), it was something about those shorts she was wearing. they hugged her curves in the best way possible, leaving nothing to his imagination.

in a way, joe felt guilty for being the perv he was being. this is his friend he’s thinking about. but with winnie looking the way she does? he’s a goner.

“joe…? joe!”

snapping from his thoughts, joe looks at justin and ja’marr. “huh…?”

“you good? you were staring hella hard at winnie,” justin chuckles.

“eh. can’t say i blame him.” ja’marr shrugs, causing joe to slap his hand against his chest roughly.

“i was not staring.” joe denies, shaking his head and folding his arms.

justin puts his hands up. “i’m not judging, man. i mean, she does look pretty good from here.”

joe huffs, waving their words off. “okay, guys that’s enough. i was looking for a very brief moment.”

and as if on cue, justin and ja’marr share a glance at each other. without words, they seem to agree that joe isn’t being smooth like he thinks he is.

———————

their hands were all over each other’s bodies, their lips floating across the other’s skin. the feeling of winnie’s nails dragging along joe’s arms made him shiver, his spine tingling from the excitement and pleasure.

“god…joe,” winnie gasps, straddling joe’s lap as the two sit on his bed.

joe chuckles, his hand on her hip slowly drifting down to her panty-clad core and rubbing very small circles. just small enough to suffice, but still be a tease. and the sensation makes her legs jolt slightly, her lips slightly parted as a breathy “oh, fuck” leaves them.

“you have no idea what it does to me, seeing you in your cute little skirts and stuff,” he whispers, watching as winnie begins to grind against his hand slightly, “or…maybe you do have an idea.”

he takes his free hand, cupping her breast gently under her bra. a soft hum of approval at the soft, supple skin, his thumb massaging her nipple. “the way you act so innocent and nonchalant…but you and i both know what you want.”

winnie’s body trembles at joe’s teasing words and touches, her mind cloudy with nothing but thoughts of him. thoughts about his hands and his lips, thoughts of his eyes piercing into her.

“joe…please,” winnie mewls, looking at joe with a dazed, love drunk look.

“please what?” joe, smirks, leaning in towards winnie’s ear, “if you want me to fuck you, then you better say it loud and clear.”

and with that, winnie wastes no time, nodding and looking at joe, “yes…yes, please, joe! i-i want…need you to fuck me so bad,” she begs, her breath hitching with every pinch and touch joe leaves on her sensitive frame.

“alright, princess. but only because you asked so nicely.”

as joe hooks his fingers around winnie’s underwear-

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

joe shoots up from his bed, looking over at his clock on his nightstand and groaning. he slams his hand on it, turning it off and rubbing his hands over his eyes. he looks down and…

holy shit.

whatever that dream was, it did a number on him. he groans, looking at his morning wood in frustration. having a wet dream about your friend and now having to deal with a boner because of it was not on his bucket list.

he looks down and notices that winnie is calling. and so, he picks up the phone.

“hey, winnie…what’s up?” he asks, still drowsy and annoyed from his dream.

“not much, just…wanted to talk to you. i know we have a physics test soon and i was wondering if we could go over some stuff?”

of course, winnie was up early. studying. but she sounds so pretty and charming, like usual. it pisses joe of to no end, but it also…arouses him.

“sure,” joe nods, his hand slowly, oh so slowly moving down his body, “care to tell me what you remember so far?”

“yeah,” winnie answers, and joe can hear her rummaging through some notes, “so, we’re going over thermodynamics…”

joe would occasionally nod and go along as winnie spoke, hooked on every word she’d say. and he knows that this would be a perverted thing to do, but he can’t help it. not when winnie sounds so perfect.

his hand gently wrapped around his cock, and he swipes some of the pre-cum off the tip. he lets out a small groan as winnie continued going over her notes, stroking his length. the reality of what he’s doing causes his cheeks to turn red, but he doesn’t feel like stopping; he’s too entranced by her to stop. and plus he needs to release some tension from that wet dream.

“there are four different thermodynamic processes, and-”

“fuck…” joe moans, perhaps too loudly. because there’s a moment of lingering silence. “um-”

“joe…are you…jerking off?”

shit. he’s been caught. he can’t lie. winnie isn’t that dumb. she may be a virgin, but she’s not stupid.

“um…yeah?”

“oh…” winnie murmurs, though she doesn’t sound disgusted. rather…intrigued? she eventually speaks, “uh…so should i keep speaking, or…?”

“god, yes…keep talking,” joe nods, sounding a bit desperate, not that he cares.

though joe couldn’t see it, winnie’s cheeks were dusted over with a slight pink shade. she’s never had anyone be aroused by her voice, but it feels…nice? and besides, it’s joe.

“okay…so as i was saying, there’s four thermodynamic processes…”

soon enough, winnie could hear joe’s heavy breathing through her phone. the way he mumbled out small hums and curses made the hair on her body stand up. the thought if having such an effect on someone was a different, but good feeling. even if it was just a friend.

with a loud groan, joe finally comes, riding out his orgasm as spurts of cum land on his stomach and wrist. once he finished, he sighs, resting against his pillow.

“so…you good now?” winnie asks, waiting for joe’s response.

“yeah,” he pants out, “i am…thanks for helping out with that, baby.”

baby…? the name caused winnie’s heart to thump, and she didn’t know how to respond, other than a small “you’re welcome.”

joe looks at his phone, his eyes widening. “shit. i’m supposed to meet justin and ja’marr for breakfast,” he says, quickly sitting up and using some tissue to wipe himself off. “i’ll talk with you soon, okay, winwin?”

“okay…bye!” winnie replies, to which joe bids his farewell too, and hangs up.

as for winnie, she sits on her bed with her notes. her face is warm and her legs clenched together.

it seems like she too has her own little problem now.

we are so back guys :]

[tanadrin]

I am sorry for the anon but I feel too vulnerable to come off due to the nature of my question.

I am slowly losing friends due to my refusal to engage in negative/nihilistic/doomer views of the future. My friends are 1000% convinced Trump and Republicans are going to crash the economy on purpose, leading to a depression, and carry out a Gilead situation. I told one of my friends the other day how, despite everything and the political situation, I am trying to be as positive as possible - or at least neutral. Her response to me was, "Why? I don't understand your optimism. You know they're going to enslave us all like in The Handmaid's Tale, right?" and it has become so dreadful now to interact with them. Anytime I disagree, they try to intellectually dominate me or put me under them in a way where I have no choice but to just leave the conversation.

I know this was a lot. But is there any advice you might have for someone like me? Because I sometimes feel like I am being painted as crazy. I know things will be hard but they genuinely want me to believe I have no future and I can't stand that.

Also, would it be too much to ask if you maybe mind sharing some of the other people/blogs you follow?

I once heard advice on dealing with Qanon family members who had fallen down the rabbit hole and only ever wanted to talk about conspiracy theories or the outrage bait they'd seen on Fox News or OANN or whatever, about not challenging them on their views but basically saying "I don't want to talk about this; let's talk about our plans for the weekend, or what movie we wanna go see later, or what interesting books you've read lately." The idea being, arguing with someone can only further entrench their beliefs, and if you really want to shake someone out of their dismal universe of conspiracism, it helps to remind them of all the things that aren't the fear-and-anger-activating content they're stuffing their brains with for hours every day.

Maybe something like this could help? I have a hard time imagining that someone really believes The Handmaid's Tale really is just around the corner--if you really believed that, surely you would be trying to flee to Canada or doing some political volunteer work or something--and sometimes doomer stuff can be kind of reflexive or phatic, like making a crack about how your retirement plan is to die in the water wars or something. But even if it isn't, I don't think there's any point in trying to argue about this stuff in the moment. Instead try to build on the things you still find fulfilling in that friendship, the conversations and interests and activities with those friends that caused you to become friends in the first place.

If you can't do that--if hanging out with them is always a constant grind of full-throttle doomerism, and they express no interest in actually trying to do something with their feelings of anger and frustration--you are perfectly within your rights to spend less time around them. You could, if you wanted to and you felt that you owed them at least that, give them a heads up as to why. If a close friend of mine or a family member was doing this, I would certainly talk to them about it. But your obligation to subject yourself to someone else's self-destructive idee fixe is not bottomless. Even with a partner you are within your rights to eventually say "I'm not going to talk about this with you anymore."

(And that's not only true of politics or conspiracy theories, by the way! If you have a close friend or family member or partner who--for example--has severe depression but refuses to seek treatment for it, you are not obligated to be the sponge for their misery forever every time they need someone to talk to. If someone in your life is in a relationship or a job that is making them miserable, and won't do anything to leave that relationship or find a new job, and just wants a friend to complain to, you are within your rights to eventually shut that down. Lots of people fall into a holding pattern in their life where they are unhappy but unable to do anything about it, and they will make this their friends' or loved ones' problem. That doesn't make them bad people: lord knows I have found myself doing this before. It's a very human thing to do. But sometimes the Good Friend Thing is to say "I love you, and will support you if you want to actually *do something* about your situation, but otherwise, oh my god shut the fuck up." But, you know, nicely.)

But if your friends want to make themselves miserable because hanging on to an endless stream of toxicity and doomerism from social media (and I will bet this is primarily coming from social media) is more important to them than your friendship, and they can't handle you not agreeing with them, you may lose them as friends. If you do, I'm sorry. That sucks. It's hard to lose friends, and it's even harder later in life when making new friends is more difficult, and I don't want to pretend like that's not a big deal.

[xo-adeline]

Match-up Exchange with @tiredshroomi

Blue Lock Role / Backstory

Definitely a manager under Anri, probably somebody who was founded due to your band, and then was later learned more about when Anri needed some help with taking care of all the teams in the NEL. Probably hired under the JFU, but for the most part, you would be with the other teams and helping them out in any way that you could so Anri could focus more and work more with Ego and the NEL and the planning for the World Cup.

Abilities ⋆°• ☁︎ - Observation and Reading others

Observations - Being able to understand people and point things out is such an amazing thing in sports that definitely isn’t overlooked when you point something out to either Anri, Ego, or any of the other master strikers. Even if you don’t understand exactly what it means, that something that they happen to miss could be something very important to understand a part of the plays, or the game, being able to use that to turn the game around or make sure to prepare for something similar. Even if you work under the main part of the JFU, many of the Master Strikers will ask you to watch things of other matches in your spare time (If you haven’t already) and ask you what you see in terms certain criteria or even just in general sometimes so they have somebody else looking at it. However, they will try to explain to you the whole football aspect of it the first few times they have you look over something.

Reading Others - Another really good thing that can be used on the field, even if you don’t fully understand it. Being able to see what others are doing, even if they don’t know they are doing it can be good in both aspects of being on the field and working off the field. As a manager, you have to be around all of the teams, and making sure their okay is most likely one of the things you would do. Seeing things like that, and maybe even things that could be impacting their performance would be super helpful, especially in a place like Blue Lock. Most of the people there end up trusting you the most to talk to just because of that. And also that you would probably figure it out before they do.

Ego Color - Light Yellow

Romantic - Reo Mikage

Reo I believe is both somebody who could just sit down and listen, urging you to go on even when you stop, and can be somebody who would love to have conversations with you. Though, he may ask you to slow down sometimes and may ask what you meant to say when you combine 2 words together, but never will he tell you to stop unless he absolutely has to. Thinks it’s absolutely adorable when you act a little ditzy, and forgetful, and every time he will try to either remind you or explain it to you. Understands what it’s like to be underestimated by his family and never wants to put in you that position as well, so he tries his best to not think about it in that way, especially since he knows that there are many things that you are very good in, but not everybody is good in everything. Loves being your tutor for anything you might not understand. I can definitely see you being somebody that he can rely on a lot, especially after the whole thing with Nagi and their friendship, being somebody he can turn to meant a lot to him. Tries to be somebody who boots your confidence, he sees how good you are in what you love and tries to be that person who can be your cheerleader and make you stop second-guessing yourself and get that confidence you need, even if it is just a little bit at a time. Loves putting on songs that you like, and dancing around his room with you, even if you can’t dance all that well, he’ll try his best to teach you. Watching shows with you any chance he gets is so nice for him, being able to just sit and cuddle up on the couch, starting with a show you love to watch and whether you fall asleep or not, doesn’t matter to him, he just loves being around you. Will gift you stuff with cinnamon whenever he gets back from someplace new, or even when he’s just out and around town and sees something cinnamon he thinks you’d like.

Friends - Bachira Meguru, and Kenyu Yukimiya

Bachira Meguru

The besties. I can just tell from reading about you. Yapping sessions are such a must with him, the topic could change every 5-10 seconds and it wouldn’t matter, and loves when you conversate along with him, even being somebody else to urge you and continue (though its hard to stop when you talk to him). Loves your random questions and will spend many hours trying to figure out some sort of answer with you, and even coming up with many, many, many more to solve later on. Will be somebody who will laugh at you when you hit a pole while walking, but in superpopulated areas he will try to direct you around.

Kenyu Yukimiya

Loves listening to you talk, and being able to learn all about the rabbitholes that you end up going down. Won’t always talk with you, but loves to be a listener to all your rambles. Just like Reo, he tries to remember things for you, and maybe sets up reminders in texts or on your phone if you tell him about them. The person to make sure that you don’t hit poles while you're walking. Likes to talk about book recommendations as well, even if you don’t read the same genre most of the time I could see him trying one or two books that you might have talked about just to understand you better.

Who has a crush - Alexis Ness

The first time he saw you I think that he really, really liked you. He saw you talking to Yukimiya in one of the common areas and he just was enamored, just by the way you spoke and the way that you looked he wanted to be Yukimiya in that situation. Didn’t learn until later on that you didn’t really understand football and was going to try and use that as a talking point, until he learned that you were already dating Reo, and could see how happy you were when you were talking to him, or he was attempting to help you in some of your studies or learning the rules of football. Though, he does still have small conversations with you from time to time, and looks at you whenever you happen to show up in the German stratum, he can tell how happy you look with Reo and will never try to get in the middle of it.

Parental Figure - Lavhino

He may not seem like the best parental figure, but at the same time, you’re already friends with Bachira and he understands the way that you act. Even encourages it from time to time, he doesn’t mind that you like talking, and if anything he’ll even talk with you, about whatever it is, but most of the time he will also be talking with you. Also, somebody that would try and up your confidence, I mean he was pretty confident in himself, and he thinks, especially when he learns more about you that you should be at least a little more confident, and will very much try to get it up.

[romicat]

So, given that the Stepford Cuckoos had a discussion and vote on which one of them would try to honey trap Kamala, how do you think the others would've done if it had been them instead of Sophie?

Esme feels like the predictable Mean Girl situation. She puts too much Regina George into it. Maybe she genuinely makes Kamala mad at her sometimes but Kamala never just outright dumps her as a friend. Even if she was about the "plan" would mean Esme would have to swallow her pride and try to meet her half way most of the time. Out of all of them she's the most ambitious and like Sophie I think she might even expect that Kamala wouldn't hate for what she did. Esme wouldn't just give up on the "plan". In her mind it's only a matter of time for Kamala to see things her way, she wants "the throne and the girl" in a manner of speaking.

If Esme is the one that most wants to be the center, then *Phoebe* is the one who most wants to have things of her own that she doesn't have to share with others. She dated Quinton in part because the rest of her sisters thought he was so annoying and gross. She's also one of the nicer sisters so she probably clings to Kamala's friendship and maybe something more as part of that. Of having something her sisters can't. Someone just for her. 50/50 on if she turns against before or after the last fight with Hellion though. Could go either way, but she probably takes being separated from the Hive Mind a lot better than Sophie. She might also cling to Kamala harder afterwards.

Mindee has consistently been the sister that's most likely to ditch their collective plan. She doesn't usually jump to active revolt so much as let them know she doesn't agree with them until they push her too far. Everyone she keeps falling for tends to genuinely warm, kind hearted heroic individuals. So I think she's the easiest for Kamala to turn, but also the one least likely to actively do anything about it at first. Her turn however wouldn't be a shock to the rest of her sisters as she would've been trying to argue against the plan at some point earlier or maybe tried to ask them to reconsider using Kamala for it. She has an awful record with love interests though as they all keep dying. I wonder how that would effect her relationship with Kamala 🤔.

Celeste probably 1 to 1 Sophie honestly. Except with also being way more outwardly affectionate towards Kamala. Like that girl tends to be very forward with the people she's interested in. . .

[ailithnight]

This kind of stuff is what I'm thinking when I say the show consistently teaches Danny the wrong lesson.

Like, I would argue that Danny didn't really do anything wrong in that episode.

Okay, he was late to meet up with his friends to hang out. He starts by trying to spin some story about the ghost king, but drops that pretty quick and admits he overslept. He overslept. Normal people oversleep sometimes. Much less half dead teen heroes who likely don't get enough sleep at night.

After that, ghost attack, mini-golf course gets destroyed, Danny flies off immediately afterwards (which, fair, there's good reason for Danny to get the hell out of dodge asap after a fight), the mini-golf manager blames Sam and Tucker for the damage and makes them clean it up. The mini-golf manager does that.

Then again at the school. Ghosts make a mess, Danny chases after, Lancer comes in and asks who made caused the mess. Dash being Dash decides to pin it on Sam and Tucker. Lancer believes him. Which again, not Danny's fault.

I'm not saying Sam and Tucker had no right to be upset. And through a few flashbacks at the beginning (not described on the wiki - gist of it is Danny going intangible or dodging to avoid getting covered in molasses, slobbered on by Cujo, and stepped on by Lunch Lady's giant meat form; where Sam and Tucker being right behind him just have to take it) we learn that this is really just the pot boiling over.

But still. The blame is largely misplaced. There's the ghosts themselves to be upset at for making these messes. And then there's the failure of the adults which results in Sam and Tucker getting punished for things that are not their faults. That's where the blame really belongs. Sure, Danny could have probably put a bit more thought into saving his friends as well as himself in those flashbacks. Sam and Tucker could also just not run into those fights right behind Danny.

Fundamentally, it's more or less the whole ghost situation that Sam and Tucker a frustrated with than anything Danny himself does or does not do. Though recognizing that as the real root of the frustration might be just a bit beyond what one would expect of a couple 14 year olds in terms of maturity and introspection.

So you get to the end of the episode and you have Danny, walking away from having just learned he was cloned 5 times over (4 of whom he watched melt), being tortured, having his life threatened again, and being saved by Sam and Tucker bursting in and running over Vlad with the spectre speeder. And you see him fawning all over himself trying to assure Sam and Tucker he appreciates them. That's what it is, fawning. As in fight, flight, freeze, fawn. When you try to endear yourself to avoid or minimize incoming harm.

You get there, and you aren't seeing Danny having learned some important lesson about friendship. You are seeing him fall into the fawn response. It's not some heart lifting 'he knows to be better from now on' moment. It's just trauma.

The episode transcripts on the Danny Phantom wiki are a blessing, but they also force me to routinely face realizations like-

Kindred Spirits, probably one of the absolute worst episodes for Danny - where he gets kidnapped and finds out that Vlad has been cloning him for months and also gets literally tortured - is... also about how he isn't considerate enough of his friends for some reason

And I can't help but think of that flight home where maybe Danny doesn't explain to them about the cloning thing yet and maybe doesn't mention being tortured or that Vlad's been spying on him or that he watched himself melt and maybe makes no attempt to seek comfort whatsoever because, you know, they're mad at him, what business does he have asking for anything when they just rescued him and he's been so ungrateful lately?

And I just think that maybe lecturing Danny about being a bad friend could have waited for a different episode

[strawberryamanita]

God, am I glad Woolie and Pat are still such good friends 💟

[slymanner]

God dude these two scenes and how roxie moves hurt my heart so so bad 🥹

it's like a mix of anger, feral, emotional breakdown, and complete sadness that just fucks me up soooo fucking bad.

it's like she's a pet who got abandoned by their owner but they see them again after years of sadness and depression of them being gone and leaving them like that and all that anger and sadness just manifest's into one bundle of emotion's towards them they cannot control.

roxie baby ur gonna be okay u deserve better :[

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Playdate in peril, the homosexual thoughts be upon ye.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

[gaydogmarriage]

alhaitham is such a lying liar who lies dude. acting like he and the sumeru boys gang have always been besties since forever. "that's how it's always been with the four of us" - man who has barely spoken to most of these people before he decided to team up with them to overthrow the government and regularly skips social gatherings with them. yeah right buddy ok

[ilottthepilot]

I can't help but wonder if jüri vips is punching a wall right about now

[ochrearia]

Euugghhhh

[icefire149]

.

[aurazoo]

turns out having all your friends abandon you and be mean to you after coming out uh.... takes a while to get over......

[bagea]

happy new years to myself. and my weird online friends and mutuals

[butchnavi]

why can't people let me be happy why do they always have to attempt to get in my head and try to convince me in unlovable and love and overinvest in other people too much literally fuck you and fuck you for getting in my head because now idk if they're right