#this is how i'm dealing with my own oscar disappointment.

[elvisabutler]

spark ( noun ) - a trace of a specified quality or intense feeling.

"Surprised ya don't have children, Lil Darlin', ain't ever seen a woman be a natural with 'em like you." "Nathan and I- We've been trying. Less often lately but- oh I don't- it just hasn't happened. God's saved those blessings for my sister. Little Lizzie and- the one she's carrying now." "God'll gift ya one soon enough, be a cryin' shame if he didn't."

those eventual spark vibes

[landossnorriss]

i see you - a series | ln x she.

Pairing: lando x she. Summary: a little post race comfort for our favourite papapya boy. lando norris we love you. part 2 here. Word Count: 1.1k A.N: just a little comfort fic, lando being lando

he'd had a bad race. there was no denying that. there were strategies that could have been cleaner and places that pace could have been picked up sure, but at the end of the day lando had had a bad race. everyone at the team knew that and there was going to be no one else that knew it more than lando. she was already waiting for the comments that came on social media and the flood of criticism for the man that she loved. it would be worth removing the apps from her phone for the next couple of weeks and she would encourage lando to do the same as soon as she got a hold of him too.

kicking about a bottle she had dropped she paced back and forth across the tiny space that lando called a driver room as she waited for him, her mind racing through each possibility over how his interviews would go and what state the press would send him back to her in. if he got through them fine he would have to get through debriefs where oscar was once again was celebrated more than he was and she could only pray that he didn't beat himself too much over the fact he was below oscar again.

hearing the door her head flew to the entrance way, her heart sinking as she caught sight of the sad smile that covered her loves face. this fucking sport, she knew that he loved it and he wouldn't give up racing till someone pried that car from his dead cold hands if he could help it but every day she was ready to whisk him away from it all and never let any of them near him again. grown man or not, she was sick of the toll each result took on him.

moving without saying anything lando didn't even have the energy to be pissed at himself as he wrapped his arms around her and tumbled them both onto the small excuse for a bed that they had shared on more than one occasion. right here, this was his happy place. this right here, made the rest of it seem like it was all nonsense.

"i drove like shit." he spoke into the quiet after a while, fingers tracing slowly up and down her spine as he finally looked down at her face, dreading seeing any signs of disappointment from her. he could take it from a lot of people, but not from her. she wasn't sure what he was looking for on her face, all she had to offer him was unfiltered adoration. "you didn't drive your best, that doesn't mean it was shit." she confirmed because she wouldn't lie to him. they both knew that he'd had a rough weekend and for all the smiles he had managed to muster this morning, he hadn't felt right since the hungary grand prix and she knew that he needed the summer break to shake it off. "it doesn't matter, i let him take another two points in the lead and i just....wins mean everything now and what if they're right, what if i'm a fraud and miami was nothing?"

"lan." she sighed into the room wondering if it was well poised questions or his own self deprecation habit that had gotten to him this time. "you've had a competitive car since miami, that's it, you're learning more and more each time you go out you know you are and you're human, shitty weekends happen they're going to happen again and you're going to deal with them. you're 24, you've got seasons ahead of you."

"oscar was ahead of me again. he's on his second season and he's already as good as me, what next year they're gunna make me driver two?"

"oscar was ahead for the last two races, he's a good driver but that doesn't take away from the fact you're an amazing driver, you're fighting with the greatest drivers. you can't control what's coming my love, all you can do is control how you react to what you have in the moment and make sure you're in the strongest position you can be in driving wise."

"i'm just...i'm tired of having to have excuses now, what if we come back and i'm still shit?"

"it's summer break now, let's worry about that when we're back, we will talk to zak and we'll no doubt have a million back and forths with jon." she hummed as she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "the next two weeks though? we're going to be lounging on the beaches and eating all the good food...i might even try some sushi, a little salmon." she smirked as she looked up at him, her boyfriends face immediately pulling into a grimace that made her laugh. "baby, that's disgusting! if you don't want to spend summer break with me just say it." lando groaned as he buried his face in the crook of her next with a small groan as he rolled on top of her fully. she would have complained about the smell currently rolling from him and his suit if she didn't know how much he needed this.

"oh please, you know i can't wait to spend two weeks with you and your boyfriend." she was all too happy to continue to taunt him, earning a scoff from lando despite the fact they would be spending a great amount of time with martin but she didn't mind that either, he was another person in landos life that made him happy and she would follow them around and keep them out of whatever trouble they got into if it meant she'd have her love back to himself some what. that was life with lando, she wasn't just going to stick around and deal with the fun parts and the glamour, she was here for all the anxiety and the self doubt that crept in too.

with the silence around them again she looked down to find lando's eyes closed where he still rested on her and she let her fingers find their way into his curls that were far more unruly than when he'd put his helmet on today. typical lando, leave him in one spot for more than thirty seconds and he was going to fall asleep. her need to pee and regain feeling in her left leg would wait till he'd had a decent amount or rest or someone came to interrupt them, whichever came first. if someone dared to interrupt them she might not be so nice about it. with her own stiffed yawn she let her own eyes fall closed as lando nuzzled himself in even further and she could hear the deep breaths that meant he was out for the count. "i love you lando norris, so damn much."

[romanscool]

Loscar. 36. As a promise,,, please

#36: a kiss as a promise - loscar: sfw (kinda?)

hi anon!! thank you so much for this!! this is my first time writing loscar, and I'm such a big fan of them I don't know why it took me so long to write their pairing but. now it's done.

hope you like it as much as I do!

->

« What the fuck is that Oscar? » 

Oscar turns his head. He’s been watching a shit American show all day, and suddenly feels very self-conscious about it. Like Logan is talking about the two cringe-worthy characters talking on the TV, or Oscar actually enjoying it. He turns off the TV. « What? » He has a mouth full of overcooked pasta as he says this, so he swallows before repeating himself. « What was that? »

« Uh, » Logan walks towards Oscar, giant steps that almost make the whole building shake, and waggles his phone in front of him. Close. So close Oscar’s nose almost bumps on the screen and so close he also can’t see shit on it. « This? » 

Oscar manages to take Logan’s phone from his hands, though his fingertips were gripped so tightly on it it was a hard thing to do. There’s Twitter opened. Oscar’s account for that matter. « Yeah? What about it, Lo? »

« What about-, » Logan shakes his head and hops over the back of the couch to sit next to Oscar. He scoffs, eyes big and blue, and takes Oscar’s face in his hands, warm palms heating up Oscar’s cheeks even though it’s summer, and it’s unusually hot for England. « Oscar, what the fuck. »

Logan takes his hands off Oscar’s face, and Oscar almost whines at the loss, but he’s already been doing too much of that today watching his shit show, so he doesn’t. He settles for quiet disappointment and watches as his boyfriend fumbles to open his phone. « Fucking Face ID-, there. » Logan stops for a second, turns the screen back to Oscar, pointing a finger at it, but Oscar just shrugs. He doesn’t know what’s so weird Logan’s making a big deal out of it. 

Logan seems to understand that, so he scoffs again, and Oscar can see his dirty blonde hair fall a bit with the motion, smooth and probably salty because they’ve been at the beach yesterday. Oscar thinks he can still smell it. 

After a couple seconds of that, Logan clears his throat and starts talking again, but with the kind of voice you take the you recite something in school. It’s only after the first sentence that Oscar realizes Logan is reading his own tweet to him. « I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. » It sounds weird coming out of Logan’s mouth, all American accent dulling the words. It’s certainly not how Oscar imagined it in his head when he wrote it out. But then again, he is Australian, so. « This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year. » Logan turns his face up from the screen, small spots on his jaw brightened by the light of it. « What the fuck is that, mate. » 

« Don’t call me ‘mate’. » Oscar says. It’s been a while since Logan’s called him that. « And, yeah, so what? » 

« I don’t-, » Logan sighs a quick breath, snappy and a little desperate, « Oscar, why would you not? »

« Drive for Alpine? » 

« Drive in F1. » 

Oh. Yeah. Logan doesn’t know, yet. « Ah. » Oscar says. Well, it’s more of a sound that he lets out, eyes looking everywhere except Logan’s face, eyes, fucking black eyelashes like Logan’s wearing mascara even though it’s past eight, because Oscar can’t really muster anything else than this at the moment. He’s not really allowed to, either. 

Logan chuckles but it’s pretty damn clear it’s not out of humor. He kind of looks like he’s freaking out. « Don’t ‘ah’ me, babe. What are you thinking? »

Oscar doesn’t answer. It pains him that he can’t. Legally. He would literally breach a contract he’s signed a couple days ago if he did. But. He doesn’t actually have to say it, does he?

He shifts on the sofa and takes another mouthful of pasta. The fork clings on his teeth. Logan winces at the sound.

« I’m not gonna drive for Alpine in F1 next year. » Oscar blurts out. He tries to make the subtext sound like ‘but it doesn’t mean I won’t be driving with another team’ but clearly it doesn’t because Logan just looks at him with big wide eyes. Mouth agape and eyebrows only slightly furrowed. 

« Yeah, I got that, thanks. » Logan is incredulous, Oscar realizes. He kind of understands why though. He would be too if Logan said to him he’d rejected an offer from Williams, a team that he’s been part of for two years now. Just like Oscar with Alpine. Yeah, Oscar realizes what he’s doing is perhaps a little fucked up. « What I wanna know is why. » Logan emphasizes the word, head and whole body going down with the word. 

Oscar can’t answer. « Dunno. » He registers what he’s said only after he’s said it, and yeah, that’s not helping his case at all.

« What, » Logan shifts to sit half criss-cross, body fully turned to face Oscar now. He takes the fork out of Oscar’s hand and places it back in his plate. It makes a weird cold splotch sound when it touches the pasta left in it. « the fuck. »

Oscar looks at his now most likely cold pasta then back at Logan. He wait a couple seconds. Has to count them to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid like break a fucking contract. One, two. He doesn’t know what to do after, though, so he just. Plays with the tie of his shorts. 

He can’t see Logan that way. So, he also can’t let himself fall for the puppy eyes and soft, so soft expression he probably wears on his face, because of course Logan knows how to make him talk. Oscar just watches as his pointer finger goes through one loop and out of another, watches his ring finger gets chocked with the little string lace. 

They don’t talk for a moment. Oscar hears the ruffling of the couch’s material as Logan shifts again, and can feel the warmth of Logan’s palms on each of his knees. He doesn’t look up. He congratulates himself for being so resilient. 

« Fine. » Logan says, and Oscar looks up, and fuck, « Have it your way. But, » Logan runs his palm over the hair standing on the bottom of Oscar’s thigh, and Oscar shivers a little. He tells himself it’s because the night is getting a little colder by the minute and not because Logan’s blue eyes and gentle tone is turning him on. Because he knows he shouldn’t be, especially since he’s keeping such a big secret from said boyfriend. « you won’t stop me from dragging it out of you. » 

And, yeah, Oscar knew it. He’s a weak, weak man. He lets Logan kiss him softly, lets his adventurous fingers roam just a little higher than they should be on non-special nights like this and even enjoys it. Enjoys the little sound Logan’s mouth makes when his lips leave Oscar’s cheeks, and jaw, and suddenly Logan’s fingers are very close to where Oscar knows is danger zone when keeping a secret, so he stops him. 

Logan stops. Well, pulls his hands out of Oscar’s shorts and nudges them on each side of his waist instead. Lowers his mouth just under Oscar’s ear and Oscar is done for. « Wait, wait-, » He closes his eyes, involuntarily gives Logan more space to explore by tilting his head to the side. Oscar catches himself doing that, so he lifts a hand a places it on Logan’s hair, fingers threading through the fine strands of golden, and pulls just a little. « Logan. » 

« Yeah? » Logan’s voice is soft. Eyes doe-y, and the hint of a smile driving Oscar crazy. Jesus Christ. 

Oscar is a weak man. Especially when Logan’s feather-light touch on each side of his ribs is becoming just slightly heavier and his eyes a little darker. « I’ll tell you. » Logan rubs his palms over the spot they’re rested. Oscar’s voice catches in his throat. « I’m driving in F1 next year. » 

Logan’s brows furrows. His smile has turned down a little, but not so much that he looks upset. He just seems, careful. « But you rejected Alpine’s offer? »

« Yeah I did. » Oscar’s voice is still a little breathy, and he knows his cheeks are as red as when he gets out of the car after Singapore, but he doesn’t really care. Because Logan’s eyes are starting to light up. Understand.

« Fuck, are you, like-, are you? » Logan’s rambling a little, gaze locked with Oscar’s, hands starting to hold just a little too tight, « Oscar. You signed? » 

Oscar nods. He’s still a little hazed out, and still can’t quite believe he did draw his signature on a Formula One contract just a few days ago. It feels all pretty unreal. Four years ago, he was still just a high school kid with too much homework and a dream that a little part of him didn’t believe he could fulfill. « Yeah, Lo. I did, yeah. » 

Logan nips slightly at his bottom lip. « You’re not joking? » 

« No, I’m not. » Oscar starts to giggle, a little because of the adrenaline, a little because Logan is chuckling himself, a little because he’s happy. 

Logan is full on laughing now. His eyes are glossy, like he’s the one that signed to drive in F1 next year. Oscar hopes it’s the case. He doesn’t want to let go of this. « Fuck, Oscar, that’s, » He takes Oscar’s face in his palms again. Oscar can feel the little layer of sweat on them, but it’s not like he cares. Logan stills for a moment, and bursts out laughing, little droplets of tears starting to gather on each side of his eyes.

« What? » Oscar asks, laughing too, hands finding Logan’s shoulders.

« Fuck, sorry, » Logan says in between pants, cheeks streaked with wet happiness, « I’ve just. I’ve had this image of like, me cheering you from the garage. » He chuckles again, « Like a WAG or something. » 

It’s Oscar’s turn to laugh, now. Head falling forwards so quickly he almost hits his chest with his chin. And he’s not even laughing because it’s ridiculous, or because Logan would probably not be allowed in Oscar’s team garage because of his own contract with Williams and Prema, but because he can actually see it. He’d kind of like it. Logan, watching him on those big TVs. He’d like it better if he was racing him, though. 

« Wait. » Logan’s voice breaks through the laughter. « Which team is it? » 

Oscar bites the inside of his cheek. That’s the part where he’s really breaching the contract. If the team found out he’d be so fucked. So, naturally, he makes Logan- « Guess. »

« Oscar. » Logan’s voice draws out his name, but Oscar has been weak enough today. Between the shit series and whatever happened a couple minutes ago, he thinks he is allowed to tease Logan a little. Logan just rolls his eyes at him. He lets his hand fall back to Oscar’s thigh, scratching there a little. « Well, I know you’ve been in talks with Alpine, but, yeah. I think we can forget about that one. And uh, » He cocks his head to the side, deep in thought, « you’ve not told me much more. Wait, » His face turns back quickly. Oscar can see he’s got it. « Is it Mclaren? » 

Oscar’s mouth lets out a breathy « Yeah. » before Oscar can think it through. He’s done it. 

Logan’s eyes widen. His smile too. « Oscar. » 

« I know. » Oscar’s voice is a little high pitched. He shifts his legs again, because the left one is starting to cramp a bit, but it just tingles painfully after that. Logan’s fingers hop from Oscar’s thighs to his fingers. 

After a few giggles, they settle in a quiet atmosphere for a moment. It’s gentle. Soft. Warm. It’s everything it always is with Logan. It’s everything Oscar’s ever wanted.

But then, Oscar can see Logan wants to say something. His mouth pouts a little on the side, and his chest takes big breaths that he doesn’t usually take, and then there it is, «  Nothing’s gonna change, though, right? »

And yeah, Oscar was scared of that, too. Was. He isn’t anymore. He knows they’re stronger than that. « Of course, Lo. » 

His voice is a little scratchy. Even Oscar can hear it. A little crack at the end, on Logan’s nickname. Because Oscar knows how this works. He’s seen it too many times to ignore it. The world is no longer mysterious, in that way. 

But, he likes to think nothing will ever change. Is that such a bad thing?

Logan’s finger catches on Oscar’s splintered nail. « You promise? »

Oscar’s heart pulls at the words. « Yeah, I promise. » Logan’s eyes come up again. The blue is glowing a little yellow from the kitchen light. He looks as beautiful as he always does. That will never change, Oscar thinks. « I promise. » 

Oscar’s palms find Logan’s shoulders again, and he just has to kiss him. Just to prove him how much he means it. He knows his tongue probably still tastes like overcooked pasta but Logan's taste like the iced latte he's had as a snack. Oscar presses his lips to Logan’s and silently prays they’ll be able to do this for the rest of their life. 

again, thank you so much for requesting this!! I've allowed myself to mix in a little #10: to get them to talk, so yeah, it's been a fun journey

you can find the rest of this little series on ao3!

don't hesitate to ask me for more kiss/non kiss prompts, I always appreciate writing those,,,

lots of love <33

[akuaya-eng]

(Main story) Chapter 6 - Episode 10

- DEAL WITH THE DEVIL -

Adder

I'll give you credit. Purifying that curse on your own.

Claude

Heh, I'm honored by your praise. But I must say, Adder, I'm disappointed in you. Even if you're the head of the Belladonna family, you're still using curses to entertain us.

Adder

Hah, you talk about hospitality for guests… What did you do to Dagon, Claude? Even if they're from another family, we devils don't overlook persecution against our own kind. --Don't think you'll make it home alive.

Claude

You're such a bad listener. As for the devil from the Gloriosa family, I treated them respectfully as guests. I even provided them with "meals."

Oscar

………

Eric

…?

Adder

Hmm. Even as former fallen angels, we're not so weak as to be manipulated by humans… It seems there are devils disguised as humans within the empire.

Claude

What if it really was the work of devils? Our Aquilegia Empire is vast. No matter how vigilant we are, devils can sometimes slip through. From what I've heard, the Belladonna family's position in the Devil World is still shaky. Shouldn't you check your own ground first before suspecting us?

Adder

You have a silver tongue, Claude. Devils and humans alike talk a lot when it's dark. In reality, it seems you've been misled. Answer me. Why did you deliberately let Dagon escape and follow?

Eric

… Deliberately…?

Oscar

………

Claude

… Very well, I'll tell you. It's because we acquired information. You devils are planning to cause a calamity.

Adder

…......

(thinking) Dagon… How much did you reveal?

Claude

Knowing that devil threatening the safety within the empire is involved with the calamity, it's the military's duty to capture it. If that devil escaped with someone's help, it's natural to pursue, isn't it?

Adder

And what will you do by chasing? There's nothing you can do in the face of a calamity.

Claude

That's why we're talking right now, Adder. Stop the calamity. Right now.

Adder

What nonsense you speak… If it's a wish, make it to an angel. Maybe it'll come true if you pray every night before bed.

Claude

Of course, it's not a wish. It's a deal.

Adder

Oh? If it's a deal, I'm sure you can pay an appropriate price.

Claude

Yes. If you stop the calamity, I'll tell you the location of one of the gems held by the Aquilegia Empire… How about that? I don't think it's a bad deal.

Adder

You don't understand a thing. "Tell the location"? That's not adequate as compensation. Bring the Gem to me right now. Then we'll talk.

Claude

That's difficult. Unfortunately, we haven't built up that level of trust yet. I don't know if you can stop the calamity. However, I do know where the Gem is. From the perspective of certainty, all I can offer is information. Do we have a deal? The Gem… Then stop the calamity, Adder.

Adder

……….

----------

Fiori

(teleport with Dia) …Huff… huff…

Dia

……….

Fiori

(looks around) …Great, we made it safely here. Espada did well. Setting up the teleportation magic circle to get just us out…

Dia

This place… the Galantia Kingdom.

Fiori

That's right. Welcome to my hometown. For now, let's treat those wounds. We're more beat up than we thought, right? Let's hurry to Galantia Castle. We'll go through the back to avoid suddenly causing a commotion because of the prince…

Dia

… I want to stay here a little longer.

Fiori

Here…? Why?

Dia

No deep reason. I just… wanted to look around.

Fiori

…I see. Then let's take a little detour on our way to the castle. Is that okay?

Dia

Yes.

(Fiori walks away)

???

(inside Dia's mind) …Burn… them… all…

Dia

…!

Fiori

…Prince, are you okay?

Dia

What… what's this voice… where it's coming from…

Fiori

Voice…? I don't hear anything…

???

(inside Dia's mind) …Burn...the...lives... Woe… on… you…

Dia

...What are you saying? Disaster…?

Fiori

Prince!? Hey…!

???

(inside Dia's mind) …Burn the lives... filling the earth.

Dia

Tch... Don't give me orders. Who are you! Shut up, shut up…!

Fiori

Prince, stay with me!

Dia

…Gah!!

Fiori

There you are, finally looking at me.

Dia

Fiori…

Fiori

…Are you okay?

Dia

It's nothing… Forget it.

Fiori

… I see, I see. If you feel unwell again, let me know. Let's go then. I'll guide you.

Dia

Yes.

(thinking) What was that voice just now? It felt like it echoed from deep within me… Asking me to--

???

… Burn the lives filling the earth. Woe to you. A great disaster-- in your hands.

Dia

Disaster... in my hands...

[ge]

There's something I'm conflicted about about Tang Bo, because I learned about him through fanarts, but the ones I saw at the time were ones where he looked so feminine that I actually thought he was a woman, and I was happy about it because I like badass ladies (the two we have are nice, but it hits differently when the character is more like an equal).

And though I love Tang Bo as he is, I'm kind of disappointed that we didn't get more female characters, which led me to start writing my own fic out of spite with a female Tang Bo and try to explore the implications of him being a woman while being... Well, a dark saint.

But since changing Tang Bo's sex is a controversial take, and my intention is to explore the character of being a woman in the Tang family and the restrictions that came with it, so I tried to write them out of a hetero normative dynamic. 

Now I have this mix of an asexual but demiromantic-in-denial Chung Myung and an androgynous/lady Oscar-like Tang Bo (usually passing as a man) who sees marriage as something entirely political but loves Chung Myung so deeply while they're trying to figure out what weird thing they have between them during the end of the war against the demonic cult. Mostly doing some character study and world-building.

But I'm dealing with a massive writer's block, and I felt like asking if it's a concept worth exploring or maybe moving to a different type of story and scrapping the female Tang Bo concept.

Ugh, perhaps I should try to write the one shot with the aphrodisiac plot. Or if you have some plot ideas, I would write them. I just want to write, but I'm losing motivation because I'm unable to make any real progress.

Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you with this, but you're like the TangChung main account, so I thought I could have some insight about this ship that's been consuming my mind and care.

hmm its an interesting concept i suppose and i understand the want for more interesting and equal in terms of power/strength female characters but i wont lie when i say im probably not the best person to ask about this concept specifically since im biased and dont like genderbending a gay couple to make them straight, no matter how subversive you are with the tropes u use in their now cis hetero relationship.. if ur really interested in pursuing writing this idea and want my opinion on it, i dont have anything else to say about it unfortunately

as for any other fic topic, the aphrodisiac idea was funny and would make for a humourous fic id definitely read..! i am unfortunately sacked out on any other fic ideas LOL i put my cards all in w tang bo returns/lives aus and i cant really think of anything else that might be rattling around in my head atm hmmm..

tang bo lives/returns aus are pretty versatile so im sure something new and unique could be pulled from there & theres also a huge lack of chung mun & chung jin return aus which could be soooo interesting id love to read a fic where chung myung gets his brother(s) back, im also really into those fics where the disciples go back in time to a hundred years previous and meet geomjon chung myung and they become his disciples in that era.. maybe a gen fic of chung myung bonding w the kids or with tang gunak and the other alliance leaders.. etc etc

[cinemaseeker]

Hot Take: The Whale

Guys, I need to get up on my soapbox for a minute.

I honestly don't know if I'm gonna be able to finish this one.

I hate calling this "movie" disgusting because it makes me feel like all the insensitive shits that pick on poor Brendan Fraser, but I truly can't think of any other word to describe my current viewing experience.

Watching this "movie" makes me feel like I'm being hate-crimed.

It is a stain of unpleasantness that does not need to exist in this world.

It's one thing for a film to be boring or unpleasant to watch.

But adding harmful to that mix is a deadly combination.

And I truly believe that The Whale is harmful.

I HATE it when filmmakers use harmful tropes and cliches but still somehow think they're saying something new and profound, especially about subjects that they would know nothing about, and then get rewarded for it, thus ensuring that the vicious cycle of stereotypes continues.

It's unacceptable and irresponsible.

Especially because filmmakers have the power to break that cycle, to say something new or at the very least step aside so that someone else can speak.

There must've been someone out there who could've made this a better movie, who had a better story to tell, to make it a true study of empathy that Aronofsky claimed he was trying to make.

But let's be honest, he doesn't want us to empathize with this character, he wants us to pity him from a place of superiority, to look down upon this poor unfortunate creature, point at his morbidly obese belly, and, if not laugh, then at the very least shake our heads that this being brought such a terrible fate as being fat upon itself.

THIS is why people from marginalized groups need to tell their own stories. THIS is how fat suits become the new blackface.

But I know the Oscars are on Sunday and Brendan Fraser is pretty much guaranteed to get his Oscar. And I want him to get it. I want him to be happy. I want him to get the industry recognition he deserves. Even if it is from an industry that cast him out to the margins in the first place.

I'm not trying to point fingers or place blame in anyone's lap (Lord knows there's been enough of that going on already), but I felt compelled to speak up and give you my opinion.

Do whatever you want with it.

In the meantime, here's some supplementary reading:

For those who don't subscribe to the Times:

[swirlmup]

a lot of people were discussing how roman was ruined.

he's brought up in discussion due to how he replaces Oscar, a POC character...basically whitewashing.

But it's not just roman.

vernal has been rewritten to be the daughter of a minor character who sexually harassed yang multiple times in the show?

and what the hell is with team rwby's clothes?

that's not combat wear....it looks like something you regularly wear around the house, not for fighting.

and lastly...faunus heat cycles? i'm sorry, but that is used for badly written fanfics involving OCs.

frwby ain't RWBY....it's a fanfic. a very dedicated fanfic, but it is NOTHING like the show....

finally...ozpin, a white dude, who replaces Gretchen, a POC girl, as hazel's sibling? that's even worse than when Celtic Phoenix said on social media how he ships cardinxvelvet...

Oscar was a nothing character, sorry to disappoint. He had a strong canon introduction, but then they did nothing with it, skipped any and all development, and proceeded to cut to the chase of beating the ever-loving shit out of a brown child at the hands of the majority white cast. Idk about you, but I've never been keen on seeing brown children mercilessly tormented by older white people. Roman on the other hand is gonna be on equal footing when he's put in such harrowing situations, and he at least has his own personality that shines through beyond being Oz's vessel.

I guess you missed the memo on how we changed "shay's" name to Shiloh and how a lot more depth was added to his character. He is a goodman now who cares very fondly for his daughter while also respecting Raven immensely. Also, in the canon show, he only harassed Yang exactly once and then never again, nor was he shown to harass any other women in the canon show. Although even I made a joke about him flirting with Yang.

My own perspective is that he found Yang attractive because she looks like a palette swap of Raven, but didn't actually make the connection or realize how young she was until later.

You cannot begin to attempt to argue with me that the outfits in the canon show are somehow practical or combat-effective lmao. The corset? The coat tails that Yang immediately ditched and then she looked top-heavy? Blake's exposed midriff despite her literally getting stabbed there? Canon RWBY has always gone for flair, and Fixing RWBY is no different. Only with mine and Butterfly's redesigns, we put greater emphasis on the outfits actually being more comfortable and easy to move in(no more corset for Ruby) and actually respected their characters and where they are in their arcs(Yang wearing a more lowkey and practical biker-style outfit because she's still dealing with trauma, and Blake actually making sure her stomach is covered up so you can't see the scar).

I'll kindly remind you that The Sketchy Huntsmen as a team weren't formed until volume 3 of Fixing, of which I'm an original member of. Before that, Celtic was flying solo, and he covered the faunus heat cycle thing in the lore video he made before even rewriting volume 1. I had no personal involvement in him adding that, I didn't even know the guy personally back then.

But even then, it's a background detail. The only time it's ever even been brought up in the Fixing series is in regards to Adam's mom and her tragic story, and then very subtly. Not even I realized that was what was going on with her until Raymond explained it to me and the others. It's not treated like fetish material, it has real consequences and can go badly. I would like for you to tell me about a specific example in the entire rest of the series besides Adam's mom where it even comes up, because I certainly don't know about it.

Hazel's canon backstory was shit lmao, accept it. He's retarded for blaming Ozpin for his sister doing what all huntresses do. Ozpin being Hazel's brother makes better narrative sense by emphasizing the consequences of Oz being a body-snatcher and how that affects the people who knew the original person. It's true that Ozpin doesn't look a lot like Hazel, but eh, there's probably a plethora of explanations one can come up with for why the two are like that. Maybe they're half siblings, maybe they were both adopted as babies/very young, or maybe Oz merging with Magnus also had the eventual effect of changing his appearance in addition to Oz changing his name. Ruby and Yang don't look like sisters either, and Vernal sure as hell ain't as pale as either of them, so it's not outside of the ballpark.

But hey, I appreciate you actually coming to talk to me and ask your questions. Too many people criticize Fixing RWBY without having actually watched the series and make outlandish claims. You may view it as a fanfiction, and I can even agree that in a lot of ways it is, but it is also a critical reconstructionist essay as well. Despite what you think, it is still coming from a place of respect for the original show and aims to hit the same major plot points, even if different characters get used for the same purposes, even if locations change, and especially if things from the show get expanded on to have more meat.

It's a fanfiction and a critique at the same time. It's both.

[sakuric]

study dates -> akaashi keiji

synopsis!the love you felt for keiji was growing bigger and bigger, suffocating you more and more each day, but you still didn't let yourself confess. all it took was rejection to finally word how you feel about him.

pairing!keiji akaashi x gn!reader

genre!fluff

warnings!slight cursing

wc!1886

gen taglist! @graykageyama @elixhirs @soranihimawari @admiringlove @softieynnie

a/n!hello babes :3 this is a short? not rly drabble dedicated to my dear sam @admiringlove , and every akaashi stan reading !! this wasn't proof read, but i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it :)

you were in love. in love with a boy whose presence made your heart skip a beat. in love with a boy whose hands are gorgeous, but he hides them everytime someone, who isn’t you, around him. he's a boy you've been in love with for a long time now, yet you can't gather the courage to let yourself tell him.

"hello, y/n. are you ready to study?" akaashi asked, sitting down opposite of you at the table. you were doing your study session in the library, as you do every week. although bokuto, akaashi's friend, once joked that you two go out on study "dates", but neither of you found it funny. and it made you worry, why akaashi didn't find it funny. of course, he doesn't usually laugh at bokuto's jokes, and he usually answers with a snarky remark, but he stayed quiet that time.

"l/n?" akaashi waved a hand in front of your face, causing you to flinch out of your daydream. "oh, uh, yes i'm ready." you smiled softly, opening your biology book, but akaashi noticed something wrong.

"you sure? we can skip today if you want."

"oh, no, akaashi, it's okay. i'm okay." you gave him a soft smile before continuing to read. "so what i'm thinking is-"

"what i'm thinking..." akaashi interrupted, a hand slid across the table to close your book, his deep emerald eyes gazing back at your own. you gulped, swallowing any sign of anxiety that could be visible. but it didn't help, akaashi knew you well, and he knew how fidgety you get when you’re anxious for something, so when he saw you anxiously play with your nails while waiting for him, he knew something was up. "is that we can continue this later. do you want to go out with me, y/n?"

as the words left his mouth, your body stiffened, your breath came to a halt for just a moment, and your palms started sweating heavily. "like- like on a date...?"

"yes, y/n, like on a date." akaashi let out a laugh, mumbling "cutie" before sitting back in his chair. "i'll let you think about it, and if you say yes, i'll see you tomorrow at eight pm, by the crooked tree in the campus park, deal?"

"deal."

—

the next evening came faster than expected. and you weren’t really confident with your choice to go on the date akaashi suggested. what did you have to wear? did you have to bring anything? was it a friendly date? the answers to these questions were too unknown to you, but nonetheless, you couldn’t disappoint your best friend, right?

“i was thinking you forgot about the date.” akaashi’s voice ringed in your ear, your body shifting immediately towards the origin of the sound. your eyes scanned his body; a university hoodie, a pair of black, skinny jeans, and his beloved converse shoes. you swooned over how he dressed, for the study sessions he’d wear a beige button up with a sweater-vest on top and some formal, checkered pants. but for afterschool chats and hanging out, he dressed nearly opposite.

“are you alright? why are you not saying anything…”

“you.. look nice.” you mumbled, stepping closer to him, in hopes that your anxiety will calm and let you speak the words you wished to say.

“thank you, y/n. you look nice too.” he smiled softly, his emerald orbs scanning your face for any discomfort. akaashi was good - he was good at identifying different emotions of people, even if there was the slightest change in a person's body language, he could already identify why and what they felt. he was also good for you, and you knew if he’d reject you, he’d try his best to continue being friends without it being awkward for you.

“akaashi, why did you ask me to come here?”

“i wanted to tell you something.” keiji extended his hand towards you, waiting for you to grasp it. he loved when you held his hands, and you’d do it quite often. akaashi never let anyone hold or look at his hands for too long, and he had opened up about how he’s insecure about his hands, their shape and form. that time, you comforted him by planting a small kiss on each of his fingers, saying his hands were perfect the way they were. you intertwined your fingers with his and started walking.

you wondered what it was that he wanted to tell you, what was on his mind this exact moment. you sometimes wished to be able to read people’s minds, just so you could figure out what goes on in that pretty head of his. and maybe, for your own good, what he thinks about you. these emotions flooded your mind like a flood after a rainstorm, and akaashi noticed. he stopped in his tracks, covered your eyes and mumbled ‘were almost here’ as he stood behind you. you two walked for a while, akaashi mumbling a few words into your hair as he led you further. your mind started racing with a million thoughts an hour as you wondered where he had taken you.

“okay we’re here,” keiji announced, removing his hands from your eyes. you turned around to see him smiling softly at you, as he stood in front of the object he wished to show you. you tried to get a look at it, but akaashi forbid you from it. “remember when you showed me that flower, in our biology textbook?” you nodded your head, anticipating what the boy had planned.

“i did some research and i found out that the flower is right next to our main campus,” akaashi moved so you could finally see what he brought you here for. and then you saw it… the bright lilac flower staring back at you. a laugh mixed gasp left your lips as you walked closer to the delicate flower, your fingers carefully tracing the petals. “and i also found out that it was planted here on exactly your birthday. so i think i’d like to call it the y/n flower.” you giggled and turned to him with a smile painted on your face. as your arms embraced keiji in a warm hug, you mumbled a small ‘thank you’ against his warm skin.

—

a week had passed and akaashi wasn’t seen, to you at least. you saw him in the halls and tried to catch up to him, but he’d walk away without letting you even say hello. you’ve had enough. what did you even do wrong? you two just hung out later after the date, he gave you a book he really liked and said there was something special in it for you- wait. the book… you haven't opened it yet, and maybe the important thing was why he was ignoring you.

as soon as the class bell rang you ran out of the school building and jogged across your campus. thankfully, it was your last class of the day, so you didn't need to rush. except you did, you wanted to fix this, you wanted to find out what went wrong.

you attempted to unlock and open the door to your dorm, but the door seemed to give you a middle finger and decide to not unlock. fuck it’s the wrong key, you thought and clumsily fumbled with the multiple keys you had. as if the day hadn't been horrible already, you dropped the keys.

“fuck!” you exclaimed, feeling tears prick your eyes. you quickly grabbed -hopefully- the right key and unlocked the door. you had never gotten in your dormitory as fast as you did now. without taking any notice, you quickly speed-walked to your bookshelf.

The picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde. was the name of the book Akaashi Keiji gave you. it was one of your favourite books when you had read it in highschool, yet you haven't picked up a copy of it ever since. you flipped over to the page where a small blue sticky note marked. you opened it to find a highlighted quote, and another sticky note writing something underneath it.

“You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.” y/n, have i not been obvious enough? I have tried to show you that I love you. maybe my cheeks weren't a bright enough shade of crimson when you kissed each pad of my finger on both my hands, maybe i didn't use my body language enough. Bokuto says that for a genius I am truly stupid. and I cannot help but agree. i hope, that instead of study sessions, we could go on real study dates, as a couple. but i’ll ask you this later. I love you, l/n y/n. please tell me you do too.

that was it. that was enough to make you realise what you had done and why he was ignoring you. you hadn’t told him.

—

“hey, y/n.” spoke akaashi, seeing you the next day after your date. you smiled softly at him and greeted him with a hug.

“hi, keiji. are we going to study today?” you asked, tightening your grasp on the straps of your black backpack. you noticed how akaashi’s hands twitched, he was going to hug you, or maybe hold your hand, but he restrained himself.

“i.. uh.. i have to go, y/n. see you around.”

—

he had expected you to open the book as soon as you got home, and didn't think about the fact that you wanted to give all your time and attention to it. it didn't make sense. it didn't make sense how all this time you expected to be rejected by akaashi when you’d confess (which you thought about never doing), but you unknowingly rejected him.

once again, your body worked faster than your brain could register and you were right out the door, on your way to akaashi’s dorm.

“y/n? what are you doing here?” keiji asked, his head slightly tilted to the side, signifying that he was confused. he was wearing that gray university hoodie of his and some black sweatpants, and you swore you had never wanted to embrace someone in a hug as much as you did now.

without even saying anything, you embraced his lips in a passionate kiss. akaashi’s mind raced with multiple thoughts, but nonetheless his warm hands travelled to the groove of your waist. you two made out with the open door for about two minutes until either of you realised it was even open. akaashi thanked the gods that no one saw and that bokuto wasn't over at that time, because he would've made funny remarks, that neither you or akaashi would've found funny.

“i love you too, akaashi keiji. i’ve always loved you.” you smiled after you two caught your breath. “i read the highlighted page, and i’m sorry that it took me so long. we could've avoided the whole… ignoring that went on if i had opened it sooner and i- i love you, akaashi.”

“i know you do, y/n. i love you too.” akaashi smiled, placing a kiss on your forehead. “how about a study date at the library?”

© all work written by sakuric is not to be posted on any other writing app or website without notice. if it is found to be reposted without consent, rightful action will be taken.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Okay, hold on, lemme just get this right.

So do you think none of the BTS members could be queer? There's a reason so many queer Armys find solace in them and relate to them or certain members.

I hope you don't expect a top group from a homophobic country to openly show their support for the LGBTQ+ community when it could highly jeopardize their careers and safety in doing so....

No anon, you are not getting this right, or at least that's definitely not what I wrote in my post.

First of all, do you read my blog? Have you seen the posts I made in the last 7 months? Because if you did, you would know not to come in my inbox with these presumptions.

Also, how do you make the leap from me saying that if a guy sees a particular film, it's the support stans want and me apparently thinking none of the BTS members could be queer? For one, I do not talk about their sexual identity, but about army discourse surrounding this topic. Second, the point of my post was to point out how certain meanings are created by not looking at the bigger picture, contextually, which is exactly what happened with Tae and the clip from Days of Being Wild. And I also specifically mentioned those 2 particular films, which in my opinion should not be seen as some prime examples. Call Me By Your Name is the gay film made for the Oscars that everyone and their mother saw, but let's give some rainbow stars for watching that. And La Vie d'Adele is just art cinema lesbian porn for dudes so they can jack off to it. But I guess each with their own interpretation here. I mean, if that member from BTS would have recommended Je, tu, il, elle directed by Chantal Akerman, instead of that Kechiche movie, I would have probably raised some eyebrows. And I could go on with film examples, but I think it's clear what I'm saying.

And if we're talking about a top group who can't show support because it's risky, then I guess Jonghyun clearly and openly supporting trans rights is not that big of a deal because SHINee are not and never have been a top group and their career and safety couldn't be jeopardized. Not at all. And other idols have done similar things, like BOA, Jo Kwon, CL, etc., but they are not the biggest boy band in the world so they're safe I guess.

And I mentioned Jonghyun because I also want to add here a quote from his twitter post, as back in 2013 he changed his profile to a photo of a poster written by Kang Eun Ha, a trans student and this was the explanation he gave:

''I support you. As a celebrity, as a minority of a different sort facing the public, I also feel disappointment towards the world that does not accept difference. Of course, it can’t be compared to what you feel''.

Let me reiterate, in case it wasn't clear. In all my posts in which I have touched upon this topic, I never talked specifically about the sexual identity of any member of BTS or to say that all the instances that are seen as support from them and what that means for the fans should not be taken into consideration. I merely wanted to show that maybe talking about one specific thing, like a movie recc, and having an approach without context, could lead to faulty interpretations. (just a summary of a plot is not enough, you know?)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Why do people fel like penny took osar place in team ornj,rin just said no one is replaceable,I do wish we got. Bit more of Nora an ruby giving oscar a hug an maybe a talk to it feels like everything just go brushed over an now that ozpins back ,I'm wondering will oscar still get to be him self or will oz stay with everyone from now on or give oscar space

Hello there Dreamer. Hmmm…I don’t know about Penny taking Oscar’s place on the team since I neither heard any comments like that around the FNDM nor do I personally think that’s the case. However I guess I do understand people’s frustration with Penny getting a better team moment than Oscar since…that’s kind of how it looked in the episode.

Take this shot right here. Everyone is huddled together around Penny hugging her and praising her and…there is Oscar off to the side; close by but still relatively keeping his distance. It’s kind of strange. 

This is sort of a team moment and rather than joining in with everyone, Oscar just choses to keep far. What happened to Oscar starting to feel like he was actually a part of the team? Is the implication now that Oz is back, things are going to go right back to how they were before?

I don’t want to believe this is the case since we had the whole reconciliation moment between Oz and the group but compared to the scene with Penny, personally I felt like the Oz moment was tacked on at the end there. I genuinely wished the episode had focused more on the whole reconciliation with Oz since it’s been something that fans have been itching to be rectified since V6 and we finally got to it and it isn’t really given the nuance that one might expect. At least, that’s how I felt about it.

I’m probably one of the few Pineheads/Ozpinhead who didn’t quite like how Oz’s reconciliation scene with the heroes was handled in the episode. Like I said, I didn’t like how tacked on it felt. Like the showrunners just decided to slap it onto the episode at the last minute. I honestly felt that the Oz reconciliation moment with the group should’ve been given more precedence in the episode especially more than the whole Penny corruption scene.

While I’m happy we got the reconciliation moment---I’m sorry, ultimately it didn’t have the impact that I was hoping it would have. My first impression when I saw the Oz reconcile moment was that it felt shoehorned in and coming off the high of the Penny moment, the Oz moment felt almost out of place to me. Like it wasn’t the right time for this to happen but here it is.

I guess what I’m mainly trying to say here fam is that…I don’t blame some fans for being disappointed or even frustrated with how things were done last episode regarding Oz and Oscar and his whole place on the team. Despite Oscar implying that he was, quote, “going to explain everything to the others”, we as the audience still don’t have much  context on exactly what Oscar explained to the group. As I told an anon-ninja in my last response post, I have a feeling that Oscar probably wouldn’t tell the others about his caution of using magic and his fears over not being ready for the merge with Oz since it’s something too personal to him.

It bugs me how, despite everything he’s been through for this season---just as always, Oscar’s side of things is glossed over in favour of other characters. Instead of getting an Oscar focus episode following the aftermath of his rescue on the whale where he gets to share his experience and fears with the team with us as the audience being allowed to see the reactions of the team to all this news, we got…well what we got which is the same ole thing the showrunners have always done with Oscar. Give him the shorter end of the development stick. Even when they claim he’s getting development, it’s still always the short end. 

[...Or rather it’s a strange case where they give us exactly what we were hoping for but then they pull some weirdness later in the PLOT to make Pineheads like me confused...]

Personally, I stand by my point where I feel that the whole Oscar/Oz reconciliation and the initiation of Emerald Sustrai into the hero team on Oscar’s behalf should’ve been its own episode. Personally, I think the last episode should’ve ended with Oscar saying he was going to explain Emerald being with the group and left it at that. That way CH11 could’ve been all about the group reconciling with Oz with Oscar’s help BEFORE ending on the grim note of Ironwood’s ultimatum to surrender Penny.

That’s how I think it should’ve been done but…here with are.

In respect to Oscar being his own person and getting to live his own life--well the general consensus seems to be that Oscar’s experience with the Merge may be different than other Wizards in Ozma’s lineage. I still wish to stand by my theories and headcanons that Oscar is meant to be the last in cycle. I’d like to believe that the next stage in Oscar’s development would be him coming to either accept the Merge with Oz or not go through it at all since right now; he’s clearly not ready emotionally for what the merge means for him.

One thing I really wished the showrunners had given us was a scene where Oscar came clean to the team regarding his worries about the merge and exactly why he seems so fearful of it. Initially my assumption was that Oscar’s fears of merging came from him being worried that the others wouldn’t accept him as part of the group anymore since at the time, things were still pretty tense between them and Oz. It makes me wonder now if Oscar still fears the Merge now that the others have made peace with Ozpin. I’d like to think that he’s still quite apprehensive about it and there will be more to that plotline to come from him in respect to this. However…I don’t know what the showrunners are doing anymore so I don’t want to assume too much of where they might take Oscar’s story next.

If Oscar is meant to merge with Oz, I would hope that we’d get to learn more about his backstory before any of that stuff happens. Y’know have Oscar return home to his family farm some way or another and we get to finally meet his aunt and learn more about him in the process. Plus it’d be great to see how Oscar feels returning “home” after all his experiences between V4 to present. Kind of like a lil nod to the “Girl Who Fell Through the World” fairy-tale that was first mentioned by Oscar in V8CH9 and was recited yet again by Oz in CH11.

Since Oscar seemed to be fearful of becoming “someone else” and ceasing to be himself anymore, I feel like now would be a great time for us to meet his family and see how Oscar responds to returning him and seeing how his own family saw after he’s been gone for so long, y’know what I mean? That too can tie into Oscar’s reservations on the merge. 

Imagine if…Oscar returned home to the Mistral countryside and his own family rejected him for leaving; not even recognizing him anymore since although he looked like their Oscar, it was evident that he had changed while he was away from home and wasn’t the same boy they knew him to be anymore; for better or worse.

Imagine if that happened for Oscar and he had to deal with that emotional conflict on top of his fears?

I think that could be pretty great for him to go through for the next stage of his story. But…as always, I’m not a CRWBY Writer and as it stands, I’m curious to see how the last three episodes of this volume will shape up for Oscar’s side of things.

In the meantime, those are my thoughts on that. Not sure if I actually answered your questions Dreamer but I hope I did.  

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

[myriadxofxmuses]

He shrugged at her observation. Oscar wasn't a gambling man so when he made his bets you could be sure his hand was solid.  He always seemed to know the outcome before even playing the game. It was a wonderfully advantageous side effect of growing up on both sides of the law. And it still, apparently, served him well.

"What can I say? Anything without risk is pointless."

He held his hands up in surrender, a slight purse to his lips. He was nothing if not honest. He'd done enough lieing during his formative years for the both of them.  After getting out of the arms dealing business he made an oath to himself never to do so again.  The apocalypse hadn't changed that. At least not completely. Every little white lie he'd been forced to tell for survival had been cleared up when the time was right. Like their names with this group.

"Nope.  That's against the rules," he told her when she asked about his hobby, taking his place for his turn. "You have to win first," he added taking the first shot.

His knife landed in the twelve spot. Only seven points and he'd get his first question - even though she'd already asked a few. He aimed for the eight, next to her blade, but made it go awry and land on the three. He feigned disappointment as he turned his attention to her.

"To answer your question," he said with a smirk and a slight lean her way. "I don't have a thing per say," he said with air quotations. "But I do have a pretty good collection of playing cards going. Weirdly I haven't come across a full set, so I made my own. I'm only missing the Jack of Spades, a two of clubs, and the Queen of hearts," he added with a devious smirk her way.

He chuckled and pulled the flask from his pocket, sipping as she took her next turn. He didn't fight the crooked smirk that tugged at the corner of his lip when she spoke of the tattoo Emily could give. He didn't think it was entirelyaccurate, but he also knew it wasn't his place to say so.  Maybe she was a bitch but he hadn't seen it yet. Stubborn, yes.  Guarded, definitely. But a bitch? He highly doubted she was really as bad as she always tried to make herself out to be.

He let her win the next round. "Yea. Two. This one," he said as he pulled up his sleeve and showed her the insignia for his station in the military on his left shoulder. "And this," he added pulling his shirt up and around the opposite shoulder.

The chess piece, coordinates, and poetic saying ran down the entirety of his right rib cage. His muscles flexed as he glanced down at it and ran a hand over it, gingerly caressing it before letting his shirt drop.

"My turn," he said stepping in front of her before she could ask about it further. He expertly sunk both knives into the bullseye. He had to make sure he got a lease a few questions in.  "Better get ready," he said enticingly with a small wiggle of his brow. There was no way she'd get out of it now.  All he had to figure out was what he wanted to ask first.

-----

"I learned how to do that," she said with a quick point at the radio. "Because our TV went out a lot and my dad never wanted repairmen at the house. So I was left to my own devices to fix shit," she shrugged. "I'm like a female Macgyver," she laughed.

In reality, an old school, barely there, ancient CB radio and walkies had been their primary source of communication once their mother passed. Their father didn't trust cellphones, laptops, pagers, or any other form of electronic communication, so whenever it went out it had been up to her to fix it. Once she mastered radios, Emily moved on to all of the electronics in their home - finding alternative uses for just about anything.

She was just about to proposition him for the ID she'd denied prior, but was swept off her feet. Her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around his neck, but she was not prepared for their closeness.  Her breath hitched and she felt the world collapse in on itself. His eyes pierced her soul and she felt like she was floating. Her arms felt heavy and glued to his touch.

How did he have this kind of effect on her so quickly?

"I'm sure we can work something out," she told him pushing the thought from her mind.

It wasn't until he made the first move to separate that her mind cleared and she could tell herself to just breath. His aura was so powerful. She'd never felt anything like it before. His entire being wrapped itself around her everytime he was near and she didn't know what to make of it. 

When they parted ways and he spoke of locking picking, her brain had slowly began to come back on line. "I know that trick too," she said lowly, her mind still reeling from his closeness. "Just because my brother is straghtlaced doesn't mean I am.  Was," she quickly corrected, clearing her throat.

"Who're you trying to reach," she asked, leaning in over his shoulder and watching his attempts to find voices through the static.

@claredeadbydaylight

@claredeadbydaylight

“I don’t know,” Syd started as the duo walked. “I’m just not a…group person. You of all people should know that,” she added with a small smirk.

“Yea. I know,” he replied, slight defeat in his voice. “Hell, I felt like I couldn’t be part’s group ‘cuz bad luck follows me everywhere. Bur it ain’t like that no more. N'it don’t have ta be for you neither.”

He was about to plead his case further when the crack of a branch rang out somewhere in the treeline. Daryl put a hand up, stopping Sydney. He listened to the returning silence a moment before calling out.

“Alive or dead?”

Nothing.

When a second branch cracked the two sprung into action and entered the treeline. A small group of walkers were spread out among the woods and the two made quick work of them.

“Look. All I’m saying is that maybe I’d be better off outside the walls. I could still be a part of what you have, but on my own terms,” Syd offered, wiping her blade on her pant leg before sliding it back in its sheath. She then began searching the lifeless walker nearest to her. “Bingo,” she said to herself when she managed to removed his backpack and found it half loaded with useful supplies. “Guess its our lucky day,” she said holding it up.

Off in the nearby distance a shuffling could be heard and Daryl’s head whipped toward it, quietly pulling his crossbow to the ready. He put a finger to his lips at Syd and she nodded in understanding. She sold the bag onto her back and pulled out her own sidearm, ready to help Daryl defend against whatever may be coming their way.

“Alive or dead?” he repeated when the noose continued.

[littlemisssquiggles]

So now that things have turned into a raging dumpster fire of sadness and anxiety, What are your thoughts on Penny and Winter vs Cinder? Do you still think that with 2 episodes left, we still might get WinterMaiden!Nora and her backstory? Or will Penny get the powers? For me, I'm still iffy on the whole Winter will get the Winter maiden powers. Its too on the nose.

Winter Maiden…Nora? To be honestwith you anon-chan, I think the opportunityfor the PLOT to shed more light on Nora’s backstory had passed episodes ago.With all the conflict that’s happening at the moment, I can only see more onNora happening for the next volume or somewhere else down the line for the AtlasTrilogy. As of now, my one concern with Nora is that something bad might befallher during JNR’s clash with Neopolitan should they end up being the ones torescue Oscar while RWBY is dealing with the Ace Ops.

As for Cinder vs Penny andWinter---during today’s episode, Ironwood mentioned something to Weiss inregards to that that made me uncomfortable.He said:

“…Isent your sister to claim the powersof the Winter Maiden.”

The last time I checked, Fria wasstill alive so what that sounded like to me was Ironwood giving Winter authorization to murder Fria and take the FallMaiden power from her. If my assumption is correct then that might just bethe most inhumane thing I’ve heard Ironwood say. But what I surprisingly loveabout that titbit is that it calls back to two meaningful moments with Winterfor this season. Winter was the only person allowed to see Fria as part of theGeneral’s plan to groom Fria into selecting Winter as her next candidate.Winter was only allowed to socialize with Fria for that specific purpose andnothing else. She never supposed to form her own bond with the old woman. This bringsback to light the momentary conversation between Penny and Winter from CH8after Winter had her outburst during the meeting with Jacques and the Counciland excused herself from the room.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I just let myemotions get the better of me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh…right…”

“…Uh…no, no. What I mean is, thisplace holds a lot of memories for me specifically. I thought I was in control,but you heard me. I sounded like a petulant child.”

“I thought you sounded fine. Youwere just speaking from your heart.”

“And that is precisely the problem.I should’ve just stayed in line.”

“…I guess you’re right. I don’tunderstand.”

I’m happy that Penny was the oneseen accompanying Winter to Fria. With the General’s orders for Winter to claimthe Winter Maiden power from Fria, I can picture Winter once again findingherself torn between her emotions and her duties. Although Fria was the one whowas meant to bond with Winter, there is no doubt in my mind that Winter also grew to genuinely care for Friaduring their time together. I’m expecting Winter being torn up of having tokill this poor, defenseless old woman now, because of the General’s orders.

What I’m curious about is whether ornot she’ll actually go through with it.

Will Winter stay in line this timeand continue to thoughtlessly follow authority or…will she let her emotionsdictate what she believes is the best call. The most humane call.

This is why I’m happy Penny is therewith her. Just like last time, I can see Penny being the one to try and reasonwith Winter ---pleading to her to do what’sbest in her heart. What’ll be interesting is what Winter’s choice will be.

On one end, I can sadly pictureWinter actually going through with the whole ordeal just because I like thetwist in this possibility and I’m curious to see how Winter would reactafterwards once she did what she had to do to claim the Winter Maiden power.

On the other end, I can also pictureWinter not going through with it. Instead caving into her emotions and cryingbefore Fria as she gently and very understandingly strokes Winter’s hair---likea grandmother consoling her granddaughter.

But regardless of which route istaken with Winter, in my eyes it’ll all end the same way---with Cinder showingup and challenging Winter for the Maiden power.

I actually share your views on WinterNOT being the Winter Maiden, anon-chan.In my eyes, Winter is going to be a short-lived Maiden. My headcanon, as itstands now, is that Winter will succeed in becoming the Winter Maiden. Let’s say she does chose to ‘stay inline’ and claims the Winter Maiden powers from Fria; much to Penny’sdisappointment. But shortly after becoming Maiden, Winter is accosted for thepower by Cinder.

Another Maiden battle ensues. Onlythis time, Winter is defeated by Cinderdue to her inexperience as a Maiden (much like Amber, the former FallMaiden). My theory is that Winter Schneewill unfortunately be killed and Cinder will succeed in acquiring the WinterMaiden magic for herself. Now armed with both the Fall and Winter Maidenmagic running through her veins, there was nothing stopping Cinder from goingafter the Relic of Creation. That’s the hunch.

Whoknows? Perhaps sheeven takes poor Penny hostage after overpowering her and nearly destroying heragain. But not before forcing Penny to reveal to Cinder where the Vault of theWinter Maiden was located.

That’s what I’m thinking with that.I could be wrong but hey, we’ll see for next week.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[urboymutual]

this might be long lol!

so hey if there's anything i'd like to be known for on tumblr is my guatemalan winchester boards. i'm guatemalan, my mother is literally an immigrant from guatemala and i use to visit every 2 years but because of covid and my identity as a trans man i haven't been able to go recently. as you can tell this is an integral part of my identity. as any other tumblr user, i like to project onto my favorite characters because all i have for representation is oscar isaac and black panther 2 (more for my indigenous identity). it's... not a lot. so i like to imagine my favorite characters being just like me, indulging in my cultural and that's where my guatemalan boards came from!

i spend extra care making these boards because i want to share my culture, i want to connect with other guatemalans, and most importantly inform those from outside my culture about it. when i say extra care, i mean i literally called my sister to ask which market we visit in guatemala and google searched specific images of the market. like i'm being serious lol. these may not be my images but i specifically chose each one with care.

what i do not appreciate is people using these images for their own guatemalan insert character boards without giving me at least some credit or speaking to me first. i cannot believe that someone did this to me last night and ive been trying to figure out how to deal with this. i feel like my identity, my culture has been stripped bare and used only for an aesthetic for someone else board. this individual was not guatemalan and had no information on each of the images i used. for example, i included an image of an alter to san pascualito because my mother would talk about how her grandmother would talk about the saints. i felt this fit sam. this person did not even know the context of the image. i don't know what they thought about it but it was obvious they couldn't be bothered to read my detailed notes that i include in my board to inform people. i was also able to deduce this when they used corn-husked tamales in their board similar to me but that's not even how our tamales are made.

this is was infuriated me and made me disappointed the most. they were uneducated and i couldn't even try to help educate the people they were sending their board to. they had so many questions for this individual and all the person had to say was "i'm not guatemalan i got this idea from a mutual who was" not even disclosing it was me.

i don't know, this was super hurtful of them to do and they offered me no apology when a friend called them out on it. they deleted the post instead. a post that they even tagged me in (with no credit) which i was so HAPPY to see in my notifications because i love my culture and i want others to be able to see its beauty too. not in some repackaged post. i just made this post because i'm very hurt and i want others to know my reasons for making my boards. i don't know there's a lot of things i'm probably forgetting to say but like my askbox is always open if you are interested in learning about my culture i'm happy to share. but i don't want my culture to be stolen from me like that.

i know this isn't the equivalent to someone stealing my writing or art but these boards still mean a lot to me. i wouldn't want this to happen to anybody else. you should never steal and give no credit to original creators. it's just going to make people want to post their content less in fear of it being stolen. just don't steal from creators and their culture, just have a conversation with them instead.

hi tumblr. something happened to me last night and i am currently trying find the best words to phrase how i'm feel abt the situation because . i don't want to be quiet abt this

[queenofwhimsicaldaydreams]

Hello I have more to ramble about on this. Dear Lord this won't get out of my head.

Ok so I wanna talk more about how Ruby is Oscars white red Queen.

The whole war with Salem is this whole 3D Izaya orihara game of chess. Salem & Ozpin/Oscar are the players. Ruby & Cinder are the Queens. The most important pieces for each side.

Salem is the enemy of remnant. She's the reason the 1st humanity was poof of the face of the earth & if she wins she'll be the reason the world no longer exists. Her Queen is Cinder. A selfish girl who craves power because if she has power then she's free to do whatever she wants & can't be hurt by people like the Madam. Nether Cinder or Salem care about what the other wants there just using each other respectfully. Salem is manipulating Cinder to get what she wants & Cinder is trying to do the same back, probably planning to pull somthing simaller to what she did with the Madam. "Without you I am nothing, but because of you I am everything." This is most likely gonna end one of two ways. The Grimn arm over talks cinder & she loses herself to her hunger for power or she steals Salem power & Salem now has to deal with a monster she helped create. Both endings are fitting.

Ozpin is the protector of remnant. Having been curse/gifted with reincarnation in order to redeem/save the 2nd humanity. My thoughts on his task is a rant for another day. Oscar is currently inheriting the role of the protector if remnant. Like that's what he becoming, a lot of us say the next Oz, but that's what Oz is. He isn't just Ozma or Ozpin taking over. He's the "combination of countless men who have spent their lives trying to protect the people of remnant." Oscar is inheriting all of remaining magic, the responsibility, & most importantly all memories and lives of these men. By the time the merge is over its all gonna be a part of him. (Side note: "it's just a part of you, don't forget about the rest." "I won't be gone, I'll be apart of you." I'm sensing a theme here.) An Oscar is partially inspired by the little prince, so I'm thinking the merge will complete in the vacco ark.

Currently Oscar is stepping in his role as the protector of remnant, while also trying to be apart of the team. Think back in volume 5 & 6, though Oscar was a round when it came to planning anything it was usely Ozpin, Qrow, Ruby, & Jaune who handle it. But we know that he wants to be apart of the group. Like he said in Ep2 of Vol8 & the sad look on his face in vol7 when JNR had to leave training to do huntsmen work. Ok we're gonna put a 📌 right here and come back to this.

Alright so back in the Beacon Ark Ozpin let Ruby into school early do to her fighting skill, family history, & silver eyes. He paid extra attention to her team, & RWBY didn't disappoint jumping right into the middle of the fight of their own volition. Because of RWBY the secret circle was able to get Roman but because Ozpin did let RWBY have just a little bit more information on what was going on Beacon fell. Like the only reason Ruby was able to check on at the last second in vol3 was because of what Qrow & Vevelt said. Image if ....hell even just Ruby knew that someone in the school was a bad guy. Like Just imagine. Take the 📌out now.

But that's how Ozpin interacted with his followers=pieces on the chess bored.Ozpin never told anyone the whole truth. He bore it all himself & was often alone because of it. And his followers, most importantly the other headmasters don't fully agree or respect him. Not Leo, not Ironwood, or Theodore. ( Hi I read before the dawn) And Salem manipulates & tricks hers followers. But Oscar different. He doesn't want followers. He wants real friends, he wants them to be a team, not just a side. He wants to be trused, respect, & like by those around him. And he wants them to know that he trust & respect them too. He's just a sweet little philosophy farm boy who wants to do something meaningful with his life. Stop hurting him CRWBY!!!

An here U have Ruby who us the Red Queen due to her tenancy to pull off crazy & seemly impossible shit, plus silver eyes= simple soul. An she is the leader of the younger/Oscar part of the secret circle. But at some point naturally Oscar well be the main on in charge. And there's no way the Ruby & Oscar relationship wasn't gonna be awarked so I'm glad they purposely made it adorably awarked but clearly there a lot of respect & support between the two. Because the Teens have to figure out the whole power dynamic in the group with Oscar the more he merges & steps up. But also while Ruby is a fairly good leader in her own right, it's clear that the weight of being the main leader is overwhelming her. We saw this in vol6, 7, & 8. Though it wasn't causeing problems until 8 truly. This is because Ruby already had a goal that her & the group had to active. Qrow & Ozpin goal of getting the lamp to Atles & Ironwood goal of getting Amity up. Even after Ozpin left, Qrow broke down, & Ironwood gave up, Ruby keeps moving forward with these plans. Playing her role as the red Queen on the bord fucking perfectly.

Cinder whole arc was learning that she needed to do her job as the black queen if she ever had a chance of getting what she wants. After all when she tries to be a player she fails. Ruby on the other hand is being treated as a player when that's not the role she's best for. And it's taking it tole on her which leads me back to my earlier Blake ramble.

In vol 7 & especially vol8 Oscar stared showing his ability to be a player. And now that both Ruby & Jaune have fallen. Its up to Oscar to play the game. Though I'm pretty sure CFVY & SSUN are gonna become part of the secret circle as well. So there be two softer leaders to lean on. And I know a lot of people hate the big cast but when trying to redeem Humanity, that doesn't really have a far chance, the more solders to lean on the better.

So are some point Oscar will be main leader & Ruby can just be the red Queen but their dynamic isn't going to be like Salem & Cinder or any of Oz & past queens that we know of, because Oscar is the most open & honest the protector of remnant has ever been. And which Salem only sees Cinder as a tool, Oscar respect, Admirers, looks up too,& 100% has Crush on Ruby. On the flip side Ruby sees a lot of herself in Oscar, she relates to him, respect him, saw bravery in him back when he was just nervous little shy boy. And no Grimn is able to lay a claw on him when Ruby's around.

Yeah I can't wait for the battle win everyone in their right spot on the chessboard & doing their Damn jobs. Cuz that's gonna epic has hell & who knows what will happen.

Ok so I just found out about this video today & I wanna talk about. Who's ready for a ramble?!!!!

The questioner thinks that Ruby's & Oscar relationship is like yang & ruby.

Yang/Ruby=supportive, proud mom, silly sister vibe

Oscar/Ruby= supportive, awkward, respect vibe.

Yang has always been shown to be very proud of Ruby. "I'm so proud of you" is one of her 1st lines in the show." Even in vol 8, after she questions Ruby's leadership she shows pride in Ruby part in taking down the hound. The most important thing to yang is ruby. Her biggest regret is putting Ruby in danger to learn more about her mother. Which is why it makes perfect sense for Yang to care more about getting to Ruby than her questions about/for her mother. We also know that Yang did her best to shield Ruby from their dad's bad depression when they were young. But we know that Ruby's very aware of her dad's issues with the one simple line in ch1 of vol 3. "He's ...you know ..Dad." We also see that Ruby's very excited about him possibly taken on mission. The context given in the show tells us that Tai hasn't gone on a mission likely sense his kids were born or summer death. With his kids out of the house that seemed to be about to change. Ruby seems to see this as her dad finally being able to go on crazy adventurers without the grief of summer waying him down. This makes her super happy. While Yang has some resentment tour Tai for shutting down & leaving her to have to look out for Ruby. This is why Ruby is more Optimistic than Yang. It's also why their sister dynamic is also a motherly dynamic. And why the two often class when shit hits the fan. It comes from their prospective of their childhoods.

We know next to nothing on Oscar childhood. But we do know that they both looked up to heros from fairytales. We know that Ruby's always been supportive of Oscar, doing her best to make him feel part of the group in volume 5&6 and cheering him up in ch1 of vol8. She also respects him has his own person & how he handles his role as the next protector of remnant. Like......how do I word this, Ruby role is team leader. Cinder is Salem Queen & Ruby is Oscars. That's how they are on the chess board ok. And the more that Oscar steps into his role as the protector of remnant, the more Ruby will like ask for his opinion on shit. ......... I screw that up. Ok so in vol 7, Ruby as the leader makes the choice to keep shit from Ironwood, Oscar apporces Ruby about this 1 on 1 and voices his thoughts on the matter. Oscar than spends the whole volume trying to get Ironwood to overcome his internal issues that cause Ruby to be unsure about trusting him in the first place. And when it look like that Oscar had succeed, Ruby very awarkely ran up to Oscar & we got our cute little RG moment.

Really I think Oscar understands how Ruby thinks more than Yang. Which might seem odd to some. But it really not uncommon for siblings to have a very different outlook on shit. Which was Ruby & Yangs conflict in vol8.

Also I love that miles said that Ruby chose adventure but adventure choose Oscar. I would like to add that Yang go's with the flow & Ruby always wanting to be a huntress & it being the fastest & easiest way to find Raven is probably why she's here.

I feel like I have more I could ramble about this more but the thoughts aren't really coming together, so can we make this a discussion please. Reblog, comments, ask box, idc just someone add their 2 cents & pick my brain.