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derekfoxwit · 2 years

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The Faux Intellect Issue I’ve Seen With Animation Discourse Over The Years

As someone who has come to appreciate the art of animation, it’s really common to see discourse that has to stress that the medium isn’t just for children. Of course, this doesn’t take away from how so many childhoods were defined by animated productions, a good amount of which is able to hold up beyond the notion of being a kid-distractor. Over my time online, however, I’ve felt that there tended to be an obsession with creating an image of self-righteousness or entitlement with select projects that were able to appeal just as much for adults as children. Whether it’d be due to insecurities or genuine ego, so often I’ve felt too much animation discourse (especially from the late-2000s to early 2010s) would seemingly rely more on the image of SOUNDING smart rather than the ability to engage the subject with depth or particularly development one’s artistic lens or media literacy overtime.

To start things up, here is the link to a post I made. I would like to emphasize what the original content I screenshot was highlighting: the joke this iconic Cartoon Network show was able to work in. For now, we’re ignoring the “back in muh day” comments for a second. I’ve felt that over the years, there has been this oversimplifying habit of bringing up these innuendos (mainly the sexual kind) as a means to elevate the animated kids’ work as cream of the crop material.

Yet, in practice, HOW they illustrate this sort of love tends to amount to “they were able to work in this bit I now get” but little else. Sure, it can be neat to realize those gags now that you’ve aged and see how they managed to sneak them. The issue I have here, though, is that with how surprisingly frequent it is to see several innuendos across individual kids’ cartoons, I find that it takes away from how good of a job the work could be doing at what it aims for. Or ESPECIALLY it stylistic touches that are in display. Largely due to an emphasis on the MERE inclusion of that type of gag than anything else relating to its’ implementation, a frequent oddity with plenty of animation discourse circles. I find that by downplaying such jokes, or even the overall tone of the comedy, in a similar way, it unintentionally downplays why certain works themselves are considered so good. Almost like an implication of all the comedy of that nature being created equal, which is just.......NOT the case! Particularly odd with another weird issue I’ve seen with comedic material, which I’ll get to later. With the aforementioned sexual innuendos, simply leaving it as “it’s a joke I now get” doesn’t necessarily inform one on why some cartoons were able to catch on more compared others. For example, if I was looking back at this joke and several others from Powerpuff Girls and was all “man, that show was top tier” after realizing said jokes, yet also showed little interest or enthusiasm in Animaniacs (a very notable cartoon for its’ bonus jokes for adults), what is that meant to say about the quality of either? What would that mean for certain animated films?

Using the mild edginess of such innuendos as a transition, I would like to highlight this video but more specifically MANY of its’ comments. Aside from the obviously unfair cherry-picking (the Blue’s Clues reboot isn’t even comparable to an animated telling of Vladimir the Great), you got so many people essentially romanticizing European animation (and possibly growing up with it) as this symbol of superiority. One of the top comments is just this hot mess of over-estimating how Disney Princess films have apparently made girls toxic and incapable of having a healthy relationship (one other comment having a chain of replies implying that DreamWorks offers superior children development and how that allowed them to be better people).

There was also a general problem with acting like most kids were more into the action-packed stuff. This and similar statements suffer from being under the impression that 90-95% of children were a certain way, probably as a product of projection. In case of the comments of the linked YouTube video above, it’s not helped by how moderately masculine they can read. Just anecdotally speaking, I WASN’T much for action, and with a couple exceptions, I was mostly into the kids’ material that was on the sillier side or had enough notable comical moments for me to not mind. For an example from early 2022, some of the various rants against Turning Red were about how sure-of-themselves they were saying that teenage girls wouldn’t act the way Mei Ling and her friends did.

With those same YouTube comments, like several other areas of weird animation discourse, there also comes an incredibly unclear, borderline non-existent, sense of scale. Despite claiming that most kids would be able to handle bloody-ass fights and the content that the older versions of fairy tales offered, there’s a TON of comments implying that recognizing LGBT people is too much. Even when claiming that it’s just simply because of HOW the message is spread, whatever idea there is in going too far literally amounts to “tons of flags everywhere makes it look like cult shit.” You wouldn’t BELIEVE how frequent I’ve seen such oddly warped thresholds of what was “too much” (Mr. Enter has entered the chat). One minute, Gaston is being called one of the worst Disney villains because “as a feminist, I hate his advances at Belle,” yet the next, Frollo’s getting a pass and there’s even a joke about wishing that they could be Jafar after seeing what slave outfit Jasmine got put in. Occasionally, the sexual innuendo discussion actually does bring up the possibility of going too far OR otherwise being awkward as hell, yet where the line’s drawn is still rather hazy. One blog review I found for Toy Story (which I could not find again after a while) gave it a negative score, but the review essentially just equated to “this scared me especially as a kid due to creepy living toys,” as if that’s enough to say it’d be too much for them. Again, I can disprove this just anecdotally speaking alone. With one of many anti-SJW Tubers that ragged on Turning Red, they were complaining about the film’s allusion to menstruation by saying “sure, it’ll fly over kids’ heads, but the parents that know would be shocked,” suggesting THAT is enough to argue that what the movie did was too much. In practice, however, the argument was going no further than using an example with a banana being used to showcase male puberty.....in a manner that’s clearly seeing an extreme that wasn’t there. What about a parent reacting negatively toward Pokémon because ‘eVoLuTiOn’? Or even just fighting, due to seeing it as “killing”? I do think there are times where the work can, indeed, be too much for the kid(s) despite being under the “Family” umbrella, like perhaps The Incredibles being shown to a 5-year-old (something Brad Bird himself would’ve discouraged. Looking back, I was probably close to his perfect recommended age when that came out). I can sure as hell get not wanting to show a little kid the original Tom & Jerry completely uncensored due to a certain racial stereotype of a side character. But once again, often, there just seems to be a problem with arbitrary, usually over-generalizing thresholds based on shaky anecdotal evidence or of-the-moment emotions.

All that, along with a couple of these examples linked, show how often these folks simply.......DON’T know the bigger picture or otherwise haven't bothered to look for or watch other animations beyond their own seemingly narrow bubble. Over time, I’ve noticed that, as one user on the Justice League related post pointed out, there is a HUGE habit of people seeing themselves as big fans of the medium of animation, yet they make it clear that their own exploration and artistic development peaked sometime before they hit 20. Hearing people talk about music is basically a minefield of this. As a result, they’re shown to have a very limited media perspective (likely only childhood stuff, superhero works and the odd misc. big franchise) that can be deceptively effective at getting in the way of understanding the integrities of the creative process or even the cultural context behind some projects.

From my own personal experience, it would feel like that means relegating your artistic lens near-exclusively to American works and otherwise the most well-known foreign stuff. Even in one Discord I’m in, a user in their early 20s would keep bringing up annoyance over the continuous reboots and superhero ubiquity while wishing for more original stuff, yet they’ve made it pretty clear that a large majority of their modern media intake amounts to stuff they’ve already enjoyed at a younger age. A subtler oddity with this is how, several times in the same Discord, they’ve joined in on ragging on 90s kids that keep insisting on the 90s being the best time for cartoons through cherry-picked examples, yet that previous approach to media intake, at best, risks adopting a similar sensibility. I’ve felt that has, intentionally or otherwise, encouraged constantly hatejerking Boss Baby at the cost of ignoring something like Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts. In fact, just screw hate wagons in general (with animation being noticeably more sensitive to them).

On top of that, they frequently give the impression that so much of their artistic respect leans so hard into the mere recognition and additional elevation of works that was enjoyed at a younger age, all the while barely putting the effort in expanding their horizon beyond their immediate bubble. I find that makes it all the more possible or apparent that the guilty party may not have really bothered to explore artistically or advance analytically. It’s especially awkward when, from my own experience, this seems to only truly apply to animation and, every now and again, video games. For an example, I’m part of a smaller Discord server that is (in theory) dedicated to Pokémon, so we would discuss certain aspects of that series. At one point, there was talk about how, while the Mystery Dungeon stories are considered great FOR the series, they’re still just a little above average at best in context to overall video game stories. We would say that fans calling said stories amazing would be a product of them barely playing much else, therefore having little frame of reference. Granted, this is stated in a more jokey manner, but the general point still makes sense about having an incredibly limited frame of reference. Now imagine that applying to animation fan circles. If anything, that makes the weird habit of putting things in oversimplistic terms all the more telling that the respective speaker has a lacking sense of media literacy. This doesn’t help when there are so many folks online that bemoan about cartoons no longer being as good as they were at their age (not everything ages well), but their seeming only frames of modern reference are something like Teen Titans GO or The 2016 PPG reboot or some other hate wagon (or even some HUGE red flag relating to the marginalized).

Even BETWEEN family animations, I’ve seen a weird habit of expecting the same artistic intentions between every animation, especially in relation to darker elements. One YouTube comment I remember from a Watch Mojo video was annoyed about Toy Story 3 being on the respective list, with particular critique being aimed at the toy gang being saved from the incinerator. However, the critique seemed to only amount to "it would’ve been different and risky”. The commentor also brought up how Bambi and Lion King were able to pull off character deaths and how that apparently proves that TS3 has no excuse, even though.....those are different movies with different goals, a nuance that many of these sort of discussions fundamentally forget about. Sure, it may have felt nice, for example, to see Robin and Starfire’s relationship blossom over the course of the 2003 TV show, but that doesn’t mean every show needs to take up that much time for their romantic relationships or build things up for the majority of the series (some shows don’t even try to go for five seasons). One comment I’ve seen on a video about Turning Red would question why the writers wouldn’t take notes from Lilo from Lilo & Stitch if they wanted to write a “dorky and different girl,” with basically no clarity over how that’d fix things besides “older film good”. More often than not, it would seem like they only really focused on the spectacle of either getting edgier or otherwise going a certain route, but not so much if such a decision would’ve benefited the story’s intension. Sometimes the spectacle in question could just be something being vaguely flashy.

Frequently, it seems like one’s indicator of higher quality come from whatever extreme attitudes they’ve subconsciously developed for certain facets of media, as well as expecting oddly specific prerequisites based on the youthfully familiar media that was already consumed. One example of this would be these writing tips Lily Orchard posted in late 2020, where on top of how apparent it was that she was merely venting about certain cartoons more (Steven Universe; She-Ra; Korra), she’d give out weirdly specific and arbitrary ‘tips’ in an attempt to combat against said cartoons. Ironically enough, however, one of her better tips (although clearly said to further rag on Korra), would help highlight this aforementioned issue the series of tips is guilty of. More specifically, the one about not trying to “do what Avatar did,” and primarily, the takeaway that was obtained from the commentators of the video linked above. They brought up how you’re just fundamentally doomed from the start if you try to approach a project like it’s going to be the “Next Avatar” or “Next Star Wars” or whatever. The reason I’m highlighting THAT part is because, in addition to how oddly specific in prerequisites one’s indicator of higher quality can feel with animated works, it has often felt like there’s a subconscious expectation of “The Next X, Y, or Z”. Whether it’d be Avatar, Lion King, Teen Titans 2003, whatever else is listed in the immediately above meme, or some other animation. And if the work isn’t giving this near-immediate reassurance that the vague and particular thresholds were met, then the guilty party will more likely than not dismiss the work as not worthwhile. Honestly, from what I can tell, this feels like a Nickelodeon executive to me.

Of course, this isn’t to say they’re not all that great or anything, and it’s good to learn what makes the greats great. HOWEVER, a good chuck of the time, it’s felt to me that it’s based less on the content and more the recognition. Sure, one might show themselves as a fan of Avatar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a good grasp of certain elements or even have a strong sense of media literacy (COUGH JUSTAROBOT COUGH). Going back to the Justice League related Reddit post, as several comments point out, the two screenshot Tweets seemed to ignore the fact that the newscaster in question (the show’s incarnation of Glorious Godfrey) was using his position to attack the Justice League’s credibility, at one point trying to scapegoat them for causing divorce rates to go up. Effectively, it’s one of many places where the man enjoying the media isn’t that focused on, or likely doesn’t even get, the substance of the material. Or at the very least, misidentifying the important aspects of said substance. Much like a patriot listening to Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA or someone enjoying Breaking Bad due to finding Walter White aspirational. It doesn’t help that they often express this weird stance of people never being super-sensitive until recently, another case where they’re clearly riding more on anecdotal emotions from when they weren’t aware of certain topics at the time (this screencap, for example). Or that plenty of outcries over media ruining the children have happened before. Especially ironic when the guilty party would still show respect for certain children’s works for incorporating themes that flew over their head as a kid.

The post’s emphasis on comedy specifically and about no longer being able to “cut loose” anymore reminds me of one of two other things I want to bring up about comedy. First, it comes to mind how, every now and again (mainly after some stand-up comedian backlash), I’ve seen several comments defending him with comments that claimed that you’re not doing truly great comedy if you don’t strive to offend. The second one is how, sometimes (and seemingly selectively), there will be that due to being a comedy that’s established to have more surreal or absurd tendencies, there’s no real need to question any such moments, even during more narratively charged moments. I’ve come to find both simplified terms to be rather limited accounts on how or what can make the humor of certain projects very good, mostly by making it seem like there may be less of a methodology at play than there is. In case of ‘offending’, that just makes it seem like you could say whatever rude thing you want with fundamentally no real punchline, or GoD fOrBiD (/s) consideration for the marginalized. If the simple act of saying something abrasive with little else needed was enough, then where’s the skill factor? They also could have easily misunderstood the intention of some edgy sounding element, like with the aforementioned Justice League post. Similar thing about the act of “oh, you were going for a surreal or absurd thing anyway.” It doesn’t necessarily sound like there’s anything that inherently grounds the situation, plus it can sound like one could get away with throwing in anything. Once again, whatever point one would draw the line isn’t made all that clear. By that point, a sense of timing or, again, method to the madness, would sound less important than it ultimately proves to be.

But even then, sometimes it suddenly doesn’t matter having a primarily comedic work, crummy or otherwise, because the guilty party will not be satisfied when the series isn’t going out of its way to provide a huge, complex story. There may not be much care for good feels or slice of life from Big City Greens because it’s not ‘serious business.’ Hell, occasionally, even just MILDLY lightening things up would be enough to where initial accusations toward Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would compare it to Teen Titans GO, because more humor. Then again, the fact that I’ve heard that the original TV version of Teen Titans had similar initial reactions can speak volumes to how needlessly anal people can be with a project having even a little more comical leverage in it. Wind Waker fans, you should know what I mean here (even if that’s more so with art style).

As nice as it was to see western animations get more into serialization, the way I’ve seen certain discourse circles elevate that as an inherent benefit to be any good has been.....a bit much, maybe even downright snooty. Especially when, again, plenty of the same circles only seem to care for some like of extreme but vague threshold with the material in question. There’s an odd tendency to forget that one can still get some great and enjoyable characterization without them needing to be put into this complicated situation that continuously has new stuff occurring. It could still be nice slice-of-life moments that are mainly episodic, or even how the characters happen to bounce off of one another in odd scenarios. In addition to the innate risk of requiring a linear, sometimes borderline right-off-the-bat investment to understand (especially true with the advent of streaming not only making binging everything in order more accessible, but encouraging the making of shows that thrive primarily through binging by design), but there’s also the chances that the narrative that’s being offered isn’t gonna be all it’s cracked up to be. Even if you wanted to have a serious topic here and there, one could still get that out of a more contained, slice-of-life TV experience (could even make it easier for the stakes to feel more personal).

This can especially feel that way when the project covering a certain topic happens to be a nostalgic experience. Sometimes, it can even lead to a continuous elevation of those couple works for tackling the topic of prejudice at the expense of giving another, less nostalgic endeavor a chance. That last part isn’t helped by how, at times, it feels like their comprehension of being ‘less deep’ would come down to either a borderline snobbish claim of unoriginality or believing that a quick summary is enough. For example, back to this one screencap about cartoons handling the topic of death, this clown was lamenting on the last time it happened for western animation was some early 2010s action superhero show (Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes). With the replies in mind that point out the comment’s bullshit (such as how the much more chill Harvey Beaks was able to bring up the topic of death in one episode), there ends up being not only an implied bias for high-octane action, but one that’s clearly led to some sort of dismissive attitude. On the one hand, it is understandable that the incorporation of certain topics in a work mostly intended for children to watch would be heavily appreciated, especially when looking back. But at the same time, for many cases of bringing up how an older project was able to hold up, there are similar notions to that of the sexual innuendo implementations from earlier: treating the MERE incorporation as the most that’s needed (similar to what I previously said about TS3). It frequently feels like it’s less about how one manages to handle the topic (such as things like, say, TACT) and more about giving off this self-proposed idea of higher ambition or sheer audacity. Sure, it’s neat that the original Teen Titans cartoon could claim to have tackled the topic of prejudice, but you gotta remember that it also provided this dialogue exchange for that same episode:

Starfire: “You know what it feels like to be judged simply because of how you look?”

Cyborg: “’Course I do.....I’m part robot.”

And then there are the times when those anti-SJW types have something to “say.” When basically foreshadowing a then-upcoming video, YouTuber Diregentleman made this comment about how Toph would’ve likely been called “woke” if Avatar TLA was released today, and one of those anti-SJW Anime YouTubers made this pointless video “responding” to the comment (as shown by the other screencap). In that same Anime YouTuber’s video, there were predictably numerous comments about how that wouldn’t be the case since you got yourself writers that knew not to do things like “shoving it down your throat” or “making it about character and not the agenda.” However, more often than not, when it comes to these outcries, there’s next to no clarity over when the line is drawn or what the threshold is other than surface-level dismissing. If anything, that lack of clarity can make it more obvious that there’s more of a nostalgia factor combined with a more dismissive mentality involved.

All this, in one way or another, can realistically lead into a particularly frustrating part about this over-reliance on the nostalgia factor: when it leads into a genuinely pompous and self-righteous attitude when it comes to the era of their own childhood. Not just proclaiming the belief of cartoons being better during YOUR childhood, but willingly bringing down others (especially those who are younger) for apparently having the “wrong” experience with animation. Bits of this can already be found back when I mentioned those comments from that “western animation vs eastern europe animation” video. Man, the irony of claiming to call out certain animations for helping to create toxic relationships while, in and of itself, seemingly encouraging some harmful mentalities that involve presumed “manliness.”

For another example, there was a tweet about showing excitement over a then-upcoming episode of The Ghost And Molly McGee being dedicated to a character’s bat mitzvah, due to Jewish representation. However, thanks to the tweet’s wording, they found themself in quite a storm with many people spouting zoomer disdain for showing ignorance over what any previous classics already had their prominent Jewish characters. You have yourself a huge series of replies that, essentially, over-correct the Tweet’s wording in a manner that ends up downplaying the respective user’s chance to feel seen. As if just mentioning that some older cartoon that the user may not have heard before is going to mean much for that person’s own experiences. Getting a newer show releasing during their youth that does represent a certain group has a better chance to directly connect than just simply knowing some history of when else such representation happened from likely before they were even born. This is not helped by there being several replies (including a couple in the screencap) which imply the idea of today’s kids “not knowing good cartoons,” as well as just implicitly trying to flex. You could still respect Rugrats having a Hanukkah special while being happy that a newer cartoon is allowing another generation of those kids to be seen. YouTuber The Wacky Delhi puts this more eloquently than I could, so recommend going to the video linked. That video, in general, puts what I had to say in this whole post in pretty good words.

Granted, from my own more recent experiences, I’ve been able to, at least, find an online circle or two that’s proven to be much better about avoiding these pitfalls. Obviously, these can still bleed in now and again since that’s just the nature of the beast (Mr. Enter during the Turning Red fiasco STILL doing exactly that speaks for itself). If anything, the biggest takeaway I’m looking to give here is to broaden your own horizons on animation, even if it’s just occasional. The wider diversity in cartoons will not only help give a lesser-known work some much-needed attention, but it can also help create a stronger range of examples of animation as an art form. My other intended takeaway, relating to children that are enjoying cartoons, is to simply NOT spoil the fun for them. There still is deserved critiques to be found in little kids’ content, but shitting on it for not treating YOU like some avant-garde cinema connoisseur is NOT the right way to do it.

#animation #film #cinema #television #long rant #faux intellect #youtube #online discourse #disney #nickelodeon #cartoon network #long post #genre #reddit #twitter #warner bros #netflix

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thebibliosphere · 3 years

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Joy, I don't understand. It seems these days people make fan content specifically to make money and wouldn't make it otherwise. How do I stop myself from being rude and saying "well, what did you think was gonna happen?" to the next youtube community post I see stating they won't be posting edits anymore due to demonitization? I'm sure some of them mean well, but it really feels like people feel entitled to be paid for their fan work that they could potentially be sued for these days. Am I the one that's wrong? Is thinking that fan works should be made in your spare time purely for the love of it cynical of me?

I think the landscape of fandom has shifted so much over the last five to ten years that a lot of people, especially younger fans, don’t understand the precarious legal foothold fandom has. A large part of this is that fandom became more mainstream around about the same time as “monetize your hobbies!” hustle culture. Fandom is a hobby; ergo, you can earn a living from it.

Except not really, because while many people’s views toward fandom have changed, the legalities of fanwork haven’t. Oh, some big time creators might embrace fan art (hey, free marketing!) but they still can’t let you earn money from it. Which doesn’t mean some people don’t, it just means we cannot be seen to be making money from fan content. That’s what keeps our work and our community safe. It’s bullshit, I fully believe that it is, but it’s also the reality of the situation and that’s how fandom survives. It might feel mainstream, but we’re still the very much the kid busking on the corner of a conglomerate’s doorstep.

And for some people, fandom is just truly a hobby, and they have zero interest in monetizing it and that’s fine, more power to them. But I’m also never going to turn around and say people should never earn money from fandom. For one thing, it’d make me a raging hypocrite as I have accepted donations for fic when we couldn’t afford groceries. Fandom kept us afloat when all other lifelines fell through. Fandom has and always will support and take care of our own. What I do think, however, is that fan creators need to be aware of the legalities of what they’re doing and be much smarter about how they tag, title, and promote things, especially on places like YouTube, where big companies spend unimaginable amounts of time and money scanning videos for copyright content. (NB: this does not mean copyright is evil. Copyright is often the only thing protecting the work of small-time creators against big creators from stealing their work without compensation. Looking at you, #Disney Must Pay.)

So do I think people are entitled from wanting to earn money from fan content? No. Do I think a lot of younger fandom creators have lost the understanding of fandom from a legal aspect? Absolutely. Many of them grew up with fandom as a norm. It is permanent to them. They never woke up one day to find all their content gone over night because the server got hit with a cease and desist letter from a litigious creator. So without that context, it’s jarring when it does happen. And it’s very easy for a lot of us old-timers (I say, while my 70 year old SW fandom friends pat me on the head like a toddler) to roll our eyes because, of course, you cannot monetize fandom. But I think it’s more important for us to go hey, yeah, that’s been happening since paper print fanzines, shit sucks... but here’s how you build a supportive community anyway...

tl;dr: the cultural perception of fandom has changed, but not the legalities of it, which is confusing to a lot of younger folks who have all been told repeatedly to monetize their hobbies, so I don’t blame them for being pissed and confused when they do just that and get hit with a copyright strike from YT.

#castleintheskye #fandom #rambling

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streetlight11 · 3 years

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Till I Met You Again

Summary: Everyone is born with a life already planned out for them. Including their soulmates. Except, every person walking this earth has been given a specific soulmate marking that was similar to a tattoo to match their soulmate’s. The ink is invisible when one is born. To activate the soulmate marking, one has to be at least in a 20 feet radius to their designated soulmate. But of course, they wouldn’t know it until they start to notice the ink slowly appearing on their skin.

Theme: soulmate au, university au, enemies to lovers

Genre: angst, fluff

Warning: mild cursing

WC: 10k

Pairing: Soulmate!Yoongi x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hello! I kinda got too carried away in writing this one the other day, hence the word count for this is... woah. Hehe. But anyways, here's a soulmate au for you Min Yoongi lovers <3

Every person who was born into this earth has their life journey already written out for them in which it unfortunately remains a secret from them. And these living souls have been entitled to a soulmate that would potentially cross their path in the near future. Everyone is made for someone and the tattoo on their skin otherwise known as a ‘soulmate marking’ determines it for them.

The soulmate marking is nothing far from a tattoo as it imprints on your skin for eternity.

However, these markings will already be on you the minute you were born. Except, the ink will be invisible to the human eye.

But it’s definitely there. The only way to activate the marking is when one happens to be of 20 foot radius with their designated soulmate. This will cause the ink to start slowly appearing on one’s skin. Even so, these markings will start only when one has reached the age of 14. Only then will the ink start to be visible to one’s eye.

Unfortunately, until now when you’re already past 20 years of age, not a single tinge of ink was displayed on your skin. You’ve checked everywhere on your body. From your fingertips to your toes.

Nothing.

You weren’t really one who purely believed in this whole soulmate thing simply because you felt that there’s no such thing as a fixed soulmate. You should be free to choose who you want as your partner purely through interactions and chemistry you shared with the other, not by some marking on your skin. Your parents had a matching mark on their right wrists which was a simple rose in a glass jar.

No doubt you admired their love story and how they met, but you couldn’t see it for yourself. You really don’t want to fully depend on this supposed marking. Even when you went off to college, you’ve made it a point to try and go on dates no matter what their soulmate markings would be.

But it all turned out with the same ending. Either the guy dumps you for not having the same mark or they ghost you after the first date, saying you’re too good for them. All these never led to a heartbreak on your end because you were never in love to begin with.

You were simply trying your luck, trying to see if you’d find a single soul who was just as sceptical as you on this whole soulmate thing.

And so far, you’ve met none.

It was the start of university life for you as you’ve managed to enrol yourself for a Computer Science major in Hangang University. You took the same course during college, having interest in web design and computer technologies. You could only hope that the study load this time would give you a mental break every once in a while despite knowing the content is definitely heavier than college content.

But you still told yourself to persevere and never leave your knowledge hanging while you’re still young. With this mentality, you brought yourself to campus today for day one of university classes.

Taking a deep breath, you pushed the door to the specific lecture room for the first lesson.

Immediately, you were greeted by a room that had the majority of the students’ gender being males. But it wasn’t a surprise to you because CS majors tend to lean more towards males instead of females. This doesn’t bother you since you were here solely to study and perhaps make friends along the way.

You found an empty seat in the top last few rows. With careful steps, you climbed the stairs to make your way to the spot you had your eyes locked on. After you’ve settled down, you noted how the room was fairly quiet.

Probably because it was the first day of classes and nobody really knows each other yet. That was all pushed to the back of your mind when you heard chatting coming from the front door and you saw 2 friends walk in. It was pretty obvious they knew each other considering how they were laughing and talking freely to one another.

As you kept your curious gaze on them discreetly, you could only realise how good looking they were.

The taller one sported beautiful dark brown locks that were long enough to cover his eyes, his smile so charming you were sure anyone who crossed his path would fall for his smile in less than a second. And then there was the other one who sported a more edgy look with his shorter dark purple, undercut hair that was parted near the centre to show his forehead, a right eyebrow piercing to compliment his face.

You quickly diverted your gaze to your laptop screen, not wanting them to think you’re a creep. You were busy searching for the e-books for this lesson in your online school portal when you heard a gentle voice calling to you from your right.

“Hey, are these seats taken?”

You looked up to see the one with the eyebrow piercing staring at you with the softest smile on his face.

In response to his question, you simply mimicked his facial expression and shook your head at him. He thanked you quietly before the 2 of them settled down beside you down the row. They resumed their conversation for the next 3 minutes before the lecturer walked in to start the class.

Two hours later, you don’t even know how you managed to absorb the things your lecturer said but you did. You were typing out the notes he shared on the projector screen when you heard his voice through the speakers.

“I will let you go for your lunch break. Be back by 1pm, here. You can leave your bags behind since I will be locking the room once everyone leaves.”

With that, your classmates replied with a series of yes before they got up one by one ready to head for lunch. You were just typing out the last of your notes when the boy beside you spoke up. At first you thought he was talking to his friend. You completely missed the way he was turned to you.

Until he gently taps onto your forearm to tell you that his question was directed to you. With a turn of your head, you locked eyes with him for the second time that day. “H-Huh?” You stuttered, earning a stifled chuckle from him.

“I was saying, do you wanna join me and my friends for lunch? We’re already sharing classes, might as well get to know each other to prepare for future projects or assignments.” He kindly repeated himself for you, making you whisper a soft ‘oh’ under your breath.

It wasn’t like you to approach someone first when it comes to striking a conversation with a complete stranger. So when he did it for you, it surprised you that he even thought of letting you tag along with them to lunch. For this alone, you decided to accept his offer knowing he does have a point for that last statement.

With that being said, the three of you left the lecture room after bringing your wallets with you. You quietly followed beside the brown haired one as they immediately opened a topic for their conversation.

You were just checking your phone for the texts sent from your mom in your family group chat when a voice spoke up, addressing you directly.

“What’s your name?” You glance up to catch the one who asked the question was the brown haired one, as the purple haired one was already looking at you but it wasn’t intimidating in any way. So you found it easy to reply to them.

“Y/N.” You said as they all nodded only for the boy beside you to speak up. “Nice to meet you Y/N. I’m Taehyung. This is Jungkook.”

And so you know.

After almost 10 minutes of walking, you finally arrived at the cafeteria located on the other side of campus from where you originally were. The cafeteria was filled with hungry students and occupied tables. This wasn’t something new but at times like these, you’d rather bring your own food and sit somewhere that’s less crowded and bustling.

Just when you were about to excuse yourself and get a take out instead, Taehyung’s voice sounded from beside you, “Hyung said he found a table for us. They’re at the side near the drink stall.” He addressed it to the Jungkook in particular.

Hyung? Found a table? Did their other friends go to this same campus too?

You thought to yourself as Taehyung soon led the three of you around the cafeteria with you following behind them like a lost puppy.

You were busy looking at the available food stalls around when you were stopped by the voices that called out to the 2 boys’ names. Curious eyes wandered over their figures to see just who their other friends were and you were met with a table filled with relatively handsome guys.

There were 3 guys seated at that table, happily welcoming Taehyung and Jungkook. Just when you thought they had forgotten you, Jungkook turns around to show you to his friends.

“If you guys don’t mind, we made a new friend this morning and we invited her to join us for lunch. Her name is Y/N.” Jungkook announced as the three boys smiled at you warmly.

“Hey Y/N. I’m Namjoon, this is Seokjin and Hoseok. It’s nice to meet you.” Namjoon said as he stretched his hand out for you to shake in which you obliged. You definitely didn’t miss the intricate design of a floral arrow lining his inner forearm. That must’ve been his soulmate marking. You soon found yourself seated next to Hoseok and Jungkook after buying your meal.

You were chewing your noodles when Taehyung spoke up to catch everyone at that table’s attention, “Where are they? Shouldn’t their class be over already?”

“Apparently they just ended 5 minutes ago. Minie told me they’re on their way now.” Seokjin replied.

Who were the ‘they’ Taehyung was referring to?

Were there more of their friends?

Oh great.

You refocused on your food, taking a bite out of the chicken meat as you listened to their ‘first day of university’ story. You found out that Namjoon was a Psychology major, Hoseok was a Dance major and Seokjin was a Culinary major.

You were currently staring at the pile of vegetables that Taehyung so kindly transfers into your bowl, after he asked around on who wants the boiled carrots and broccoli to which you said yes.

Taehyung was passing you every last bit of vegetable to your bowl when a sweet voice spoke up from the end of the table nearest to Namjoon and Seokjin.

“Finally! I thought you’d never make it for lunch.” Namjoon laughed as you heard a much raspier voice speak up from the same spot.

“I wouldn’t miss lunch for the world.” You heard the others laugh when Taehyung finally finished clearing his plate off the vegetables before turning to the newcomers to say his hellos.

“Oh, by the way, we have a new addition to our circle. She’s in Taehyung and Jungkook’s class so they tagged her along for lunch.” Seokjin announced as he reached his arm behind Taehyung to place a soft hand on the top of your right shoulder. You finally looked up from your bowl to see who the newcomers were.

The first guy you locked eyes with had cute puffy cheeks, sporting a pretty dark blue hair colour as his bangs framed his face nicely.

“Oh hello. I’m Jimin.”

You smiled shyly at him before your eyes naturally travelled to the other individual standing right beside Jimin and that’s when you frowned.

Unsurprisingly, the male did too.

His hair was an ash grey colour that parted at the side to show his forehead instead of letting it cover his eyebrows like Hoseok’s did. He had a few piercings on each ear. If his physique was unrecognizable to you, at least his face was. You knew exactly who he was without having to ask him for confirmation.

“Yoongi?” His name rolled off your tongue effortlessly in a whisper, stirring reactions from the rest of them.

“Wait, you know each other?” Jimin asked in confusion as his eyes travelled back and forth between you and Yoongi. That’s when you heard the other scoff before locking his eyes with you.

“Never thought I’d see you again after all these years.” His expression was dry and almost unwelcoming unlike the smiles his other friends gave you upon your first meeting. “Never wished for this day to come either but here we are…” You said sarcastically.

The tension was so thick, you were sure you would have to cut it with a knife instead of a scissors.

You broke the gaze by standing up, claiming you’ve lost your appetite.

“I’ll see you guys in class.” You said, directing your words to your classmates before you snatched your phone and wallet off the table top along with your tray of food to return. With a quick glance to Yoongi, you ignored his burning glare as you shoved past him by the shoulders causing him to stumble back a little.

The table fell quiet as Seokjin was the first to break the awkward silence, “Well, that was unexpected.” Yoongi scoffed as he left the table to go buy his food, not bothering to wait for Jimin as his mind was clouded with the thought of you being in his circle of friends.

The history of you two goes way back when you were in both pre and high school. Your first ever dispute with him was in preschool, all because you were both fighting over the crayon box. And then gradually, more fights would happen over silly little things. It came to a point where your teacher would have to separate you from each other.

Your disputes continued after you found out that he just so happened to join the same high school as you, let alone the same class. It only made things worse. You two would bicker and fight almost everyday like a married couple.

Your friends teased you often with him for the amount of fights you got into with him. They’ve even grown accustomed to the harsh comments you had thrown to each other on a daily basis.

Not a day goes by without either him stepping on your tail or you having a payback for all the pranks he did on you to get you worked up. And yet, just when you thought you were free from seeing the devil himself again, life has its way with you and it bothers you to the core at this very instant.

Your lecturer arrived back at the lecture room 15 minutes before 1pm and it seemed like everyone else was still having lunch. All except you. “You’re here early? Have you had your lunch?” He asked as he proceeded to unlock the room while you lingered behind him, standing up after you saw him approaching from afar.

“Yeah, I did.” You smiled, stepping back into the room after he pushed the door open. You climbed the stairs again to where your belongings were, taking out your air pods to bury yourself in music.

Shutting out the world around as you rested your head in your arms on the table. You didn’t notice the people strolling into the lecture room, too busy drowning yourself in your own little bubble. All of it soon came crumbling when you felt a soft tap on your shoulder.

That’s when you look up to see the 2 of them back in their seats.

You glanced ahead to see that the lecturer had already flashed the new slides onto the projector screen which indicates the start of class again. So you took out your air pods and kept them in its case before tossing it into your bag.

Class resumed and your messy thoughts were shoved to the back of your mind, far away from your main focus right now which was your class.

After a dreadful 4 hours of lessons, your lecturer finally calls it a day. He reminded all of you to be punctual for class tomorrow, saying that he has some group discussions for the topic he would be teaching. Once everyone was dismissed, you kept your stuff back into your bag quietly.

You could tell the two boys were waiting for you since they hadn't moved a muscle from beside you despite already standing up and were just leaning against the table while they chatted. The minute you stood up, they pushed themselves off the table and only then did they start walking down the steps.

The three of you made it to ground level thanks to the operating lift, making your way to the parking lot that was right beside the campus entrance.

You were just talking to Jungkook about your hobbies when you noticed a group of 5 guys gathered at the steps of the campus grounds through your peripheral vision. You could only guess it was their friends due to the voice that calls out to those walking with you. They led you towards the bunch as you glanced over to everyone but him.

“Hey Y/N, how did you come here this morning?” Namjoon asked, his voice nothing but sincere.

“Public transport.” You said simply with a smile directed towards him, only for Seokjin to speak up, “Do you need a ride home? I can drive you?”

With that being said, you kindly shook your head with a smile, not wanting to offend him in any way for turning his offer down. “It’s fine, I can manage on my own. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe next time.” You said as you bid the rest of them goodbye, not bothering to look at the very person you’ve held your grudge on for years.

They watched as you turned in your heels and left, deadpanning your way to the front gates. Jimin sighed lightly before turning to Yoongi and asked for answers on why you and him weren’t on good terms.

But the latter only brushed Jimin off, saying he would explain some other time.

The rest of them soon dispersed to their own vehicles to head home after a long and tiring first day of university.

As more days began to pass, you were sometimes dragged by either one of your 2 classmates to hang out with their friends and girlfriends. If you weren’t mistaken, half of them already found their soulmates and were currently in a relationship with them. While the remaining half were still finding for theirs because it was either their soulmate markings had appeared on their skin but very faintly, or there was none at all.

But the amount of times you’ve recalled hanging out with them during the past three months were countable with your fingers. You avoided having lunch with them often ever since you found out Yoongi was in their circle. You didn’t want to seem petty but it seems like he too hated having you around.

Which means that the feelings were mutual on both ends.

It was a pretty warm day so right after you arrived back at your apartment, you headed straight for the showers. Slipping into the shower stream the minute your clothes were discarded.

The cold stream coating your shoulder down with it’s nice, cooling temperature to ease out the warmth in your body.

After you finished your shower, you took your towel from the rack and proceeded to wipe yourself dry. Stepping out of the cubicle, you walked over to the sink counter where your large mirror was glued onto the wall. As you were ruffling your hair with the towel to rid the excess water, you noticed something on your left rib through the reflection.

Is that…?

You glanced down at your skin to see a very faint outline of something on your skin. You blinked twice, not believing this.

When did it start showing?

Your mind was going feral at the thought of seeing your soulmate marking finally make its appearance onto your skin. Who was the cause of this? Why did it only appear now after all these years? If that’s the case then it means that your soulmate is someone from school.

“What am I thinking? This is all a load of crap. I can date whoever I want no matter what marking they have.” You said to no one in particular as you changed into your home attire.

A few days later, you were just in class alone in the morning. Taehyung and Jungkook had yet to arrive when a sudden voice from beside you made you jump. A soft curse emitted from your throat as you clutched to your chest from the minor heart attack. You turned to find one of your classmates whom you recalled his name to be Hanbin, towering over you to your left.

“Hey, I’m Hanbin.” He smiled at you, feeling your stomach get warm upon seeing him up close for the first time.

“Hey… I’m Y/N.”

“I don’t mean to be creepy or weird, but I’ve kind of noticed you going for lunch alone these days instead of with your friends?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. You somehow knew where this was going.

“Right… Well, that is true I suppose.” You chuckled awkwardly, looking away from him briefly before turning your attention back to him.

“I see. Well, if you’re looking for company, you can go for lunch with me?” He said it more like a statement instead of a question and that in itself made you smile. You had just accepted his kind offer when you heard familiar voices approaching to where you were seated.

Hanbin’s eyes glanced past your shoulder only to flicker back to you, setting a reminder before he left.

“Lunch with me later, yeah?”

You gave him a soft nod as a smile crept onto your lips. At the same time, you felt the soft nudge to your right elbow. You already knew who’s the culprit. “Wasn’t that Hanbin? What did he say to you?” Taehyung asked as he took a seat beside you.

“He asked me to go for lunch with him.”

“So you agreed?”

“Mhm.”

“You wanna go for lunch with him but not us?” Taehyung asked with a pout, only for Jungkook to lean over and ask what was going on. You could only roll your eyes at them, not actually annoyed or anything. Just a reflex whenever someone tried to get your sympathy over something stupid.

“Give me a break. I’m not sharing a table with ‘you know who’. Wouldn’t wanna accidentally break the table with our arguments.” You flashed him a sarcastic smile that made him click his tongue at you in disbelief.

It has been two months since you first went to lunch with Hanbin and you have been doing that ever since. You noticed that his demeanour was starting to change too around you, maybe there was a mutual feeling settling in between the two of you after all.

It was a Saturday afternoon and you already made plans with Hanbin a week prior. He wanted to bring you out on a date to the amusement park and then maybe grab some supper before heading home. He picked you up at your apartment that evening in his jeep, looking quite handsome if you say so yourself.

The two of you spent the evening together, adrenaline rushing through you thanks to the rides you took. After enjoying yourselves at the amusement park, you were both tired from having fun so he offered to stop by and grab supper with you before sending you home.

You ended up getting fast food at the diner downtown. You were happy. You were grateful that he was nothing but sweet to you. But for some reason, deep down there was that voice in you that was screaming, “He’s not the one” and you hated it. You didn’t want to rely on the marking to determine your happiness.

What if you belonged to someone who has a different marking than you?

That’s possible right?

So when he finally parked right outside your apartment complex, he turned off the engine leaving his key in the ignition. The car fell silent for a moment before you decided to be brave and spoke up.

“Do you… wanna come up for a bit? We can talk for a while longer?”

With that, Hanbin frowned as he wondered if he should. He didn’t want to ruin a first date and he most definitely did not want you to have a bad impression on him.

“Are… Are you sure?” He asked quietly, to which you nodded.

When you didn’t get a proper response, you simply let out a soft giggle followed by, “come on” before you opened his jeep door to board off the vehicle. You left him no choice but to follow after you. Once you’ve made it to your apartment, you unlocked your front door and stepped inside allowing him to enter.

It took him a while as his eyes travelled all over your cosy apartment, admiring the minimalist interior. You told him to take a seat while you went to get him a drink.

A few minutes passed and you were both just talking freely on your couch when you noticed how his eyes always flickered down to your lips constantly as you spoke. This made you stifle a giggle and he caught on. He apologized for it but you brushed it off.

Just then, the room felt quiet all of a sudden as it was your turn to glance down to his lips.

Hanbin softly smiled as he began to lean closer.

Your heart was pounding in your chest as you could feel his warmth radiating off his body from how close he was to you.

Right when you felt your head get dizzy from the close proximity, you unconsciously whispered against his lips something that you would never normally do.

“Kiss me.”

With that being said, he pressed his plump lips on yours.

Immediately intoxicating you with how sweet he tasted. The kiss slowly got heated as he carefully guided your body back to lay on the couch while he hovered over you. His hands slid past the hem of your shirt, resting on your waist as he caressed your skin.

You slide your hands up his chest, wrapping them around his neck. He slowly pushed your shirt up using his wrists. Right when he’d just pulled away for a breather, his eyes travelled down to your bare torso beneath him.

His gaze seemed stuck on whatever he was looking at. When you realized he stopped and was staring at something on your body, you knew exactly what he saw.

“Is that…?” His voice was soft, almost sounding as though he was upset.

“Yeap…”

With this confession, he slowly pulled away from you, tugging your shirt back down and bringing you to a sitting position.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” He began but you were quick to hush him.

“It’s okay… Besides, I should be the one saying sorry. I already saw your marking the other day when you wore a tank top to class. I just thought you’d be okay with dating someone who doesn’t share the same mark as you. I guess I was being selfish…” You said.

Hanbin remained quiet as he listened to your reasoning. Suddenly feeling bad for stopping whatever you two were sharing, so abruptly like that. With that, he reached out to hold your hand, telling him that he was still sorry for reacting that way and for hurting your feelings by doing so.

But he told you he didn’t regret taking you out on a date today, that he genuinely had a good time with you and that he would love to still be friends with you if you allowed him.

You smiled at him before turning your attention to the flower pot sitting on your coffee table only for him to continue, “I just hope that you’ll find someone who will love you for who you are, doesn’t matter the mark.” For that, you smiled again. Thanking him for being sweet and thoughtful.

After he left, you couldn’t help but sigh. This was already the umpteenth time this happened to you.

But you couldn’t stay mad at Hanbin for turning you down simply because he didn’t reject you the way your other ex dates did. That was the reason why you let him go without holding a grudge.

The next few weeks, you’ve gone to lunch on an alternate basis between Hanbin and the guys. And every time you went with the guys, you could only prepare yourself for the constant bickering with the one and only, Min Yoongi and today was no different.

You were sitting next to Namjoon at the end of the table with the only space left empty being beside you. And it was as though luck wasn’t on your side, the only human left to arrive for lunch was none other than Yoongi himself.

You were just sipping your green tea when you heard his voice approaching towards your side of the table.

“Sorry hyung, that’s the only seat left.” Jungkook smiled sympathetically to the elder as you made it a point to not spare a glance over to him. You could hear his grunt of disapproval but nonetheless plopped his bag down on the chair before disappearing to buy his food.

When he did come back, you had just gotten a whole chunk of chocolate fudge cake shoved into your mouth by Taehyung who was seated opposite you.

You were unable to pull the dangling piece of cake into your mouth so you tilted your head back. But instead of the cake entering your mouth, it ended up falling into your hands when you felt your head crash into something behind you.

And the hiss just told you who it was.

“Watch it before I spill hot soup on you.” Yoongi said as he placed the bowl of steaming noodle soup on the table top beside your tray.

“Don’t worry because I’ll make sure it spills on you too.” You challenged him back, earning a glare from him.

You heard a few sighs coming from some of the guys but you couldn’t care less. You busied yourself by scrolling through your social media in hopes that the time would just pass by quicker so that you can be away from him after lunch ends.

A few days later, you had just finished your shower when you noticed your mark slowly growing more and more opaque. To which you could finally see the design of it.

It was a dream catcher.

A pretty one at that. You softly traced your finger over the outline of the detail, keeping your eye on the reflection. Just then, a soft sigh left your lips.

This means that your designated soulmate has supposedly crossed your path more than once. But seeing how the ink is getting darker with each passing day, could only mean that if not often, this person is near you at least more than 3 times a week.

A week went by and Jungkook had invited you to his birthday slash pool party that weekend. He invited only the guys and some of their girlfriends. You’ve met the girlfriends a few times and they’ve all been pretty sweet to you so far. All of them are so down to earth. You told Jungkook you’ll be there, earning a happy soft clap from him when you said so.

On the day of the party, you had just finished your shower when you noticed the water droplets underneath you weren’t clear. You looked harder only to realize those weren’t water.

It was blood.

“Great… Thanks mother nature…” You huffed as you went to get your feminine item from your cupboard. After successfully changing into the attire you chose for the day, you tied your hair into a messy ponytail before leaving your bathroom.

You wore simple denim shorts and a loose shirt tucked into your jeans.

When you actually made it to Jungkook’s house, you were surprised to know that he was living in a one story house with a built-in pool ready when he moved in.

Apparently his parents were pretty wealthy people so they bought this house for him, saying it would give him the opportunity to take responsibility in keeping the house clean and tidy rather than his mother having to do it for him all the time.

You called Jungkook’s phone only for him to pick up on the second ring. You told him you were at his front gate so he hung up the call and rushed over to you.

Once you were inside his beautiful compound, he brought you towards the back through his side garden. Distinct voices gradually get louder the nearer you get to them. The minute you turned round the corner, you instantly saw more than half of them in the pool including the ladies.

Seokjin and Taehyung were over at the barbeque grill, cooking the meat for everyone. There was a table filled with all kinds of snacks and sweet drinks. It was a full on pool party.

Just then, a familiar voice rings in your ear already knowing it belonged to Hoseok.

“Y/N! You made it! Come join us!”

You stopped at one of the chairs only to put your sling bag down and apologized to him, “Sorry to burn the mood, but I can’t. Monthly calls.” You could hear some whines and sad pouts forming on some of their faces right after.

“Aww man, that’s a total bummer.” Jimin said, making you shrug.

However, you noticed a figure leaning against the wall on the other side of the pool just blankly staring at you. That’s when you glanced over to see Yoongi. You held your stare for a moment before you turned away. Missing the way he was still staring at you even when you were making your way to Seokjin and Taehyung.

A few minutes later, you were just talking to Jiyeon who was taking a break from being in the pool. You sat facing each other but from where you were seated, your back was facing the grilling pit.

Jiyeon was just talking to you about baking when you noticed someone swimming to the side that was aligned with where you were sitting.

Only to realize it was Yoongi.

He placed his hands on the edge of the pool and soon pushed himself upwards. You watched as water flowed down his body effortlessly. Cursing yourself for even staring at his shirtless form. He pushed his wet hair out of his face, resulting in him having sort of a slick back hairstyle.

He was too busy talking to Hoseok and Jungkook who were still in the pool, his head completely turned away from you.

Right when you were about to look away, your eyes caught sight of the imprinted ink on his left rib. You didn’t think much of it as you turned away from him. But then something in your brain ticked you off like a time bomb. So you carefully turned back to him just a few feet away from you.

That’s when you saw it.

The dream catcher on his left rib is so prominent and bold against his milky skin. Not to mention his toned abs. A soft gasp left your lips as he walked past you without sparing a single glance at you.

But you didn’t mind it. You were glad he didn’t see how shocked you were because if it did, he would have said something about it.

So instead, you just got up and left, entering Jungkook’s home through the glass doors frantically. You rushed in and went straight to the said destination. Once inside, you took a moment to steady your breathing as you brought your gaze up to the long mirror that laid upon you on the wall landscape.

You carefully pulled your shirt up to expose the ink on your own skin. You could only stare at it through the reflection before looking down at your own torso and gently tracing your finger over the outer rim of the dream catcher’s hoop.

You didn’t know how long you were gone for. It wasn’t until a voice broke your train of thoughts.

“Was it really necessary to rush into someone’s house like-”

However, his speech got stuck in his throat when his eyes flickered over to the reflection in the mirror. No it wasn’t your face he was staring at. It wasn’t the soap bottles lining Jungkook’s sink.

It was your mark on your left rib.

You swiftly pulled your shirt down to hide it from him from seeing any more details of it. With quick hasty steps, you turned to leave the bathroom and had barely taken a step out into the hallway when he grabbed your wrist and pulled you back to face him.

“Show me.” He said firmly.

“Show you what?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I- I don’t know what you mean-”

Without warning, Yoongi used his free hand to lift your shirt up to stop right below your bra line as his hands naturally cupped your sides to keep your shirt there. He finally caught a clear look of the inked design on you, seeing how familiar it looked to him.

You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes flicked wider for just a millisecond before it went back to its original state.

For some reason, your lung felt restricted and your heart dropped upon seeing the same mark on his skin at the same exact spot as yourself. You wanted to run away. All you wanted to do now was to be as far away from him as you can.

So you slapped his hands away, making him lose his grip on you before you turned around to leave.

He grabbed your wrist again but this time, you mustered whatever strength you had left to yank your arm from him. Tears stinging your eyes as it threatens to fall, yet you don’t fully understand why.

“Don’t! J-Just… leave me alone… please.” Your voice falls into a whisper as you rush to the backyard, ignoring their worried calls as you simply told them you weren’t feeling well because of your monthly calls. When Yoongi did come back to the backyard, he was questioned as to what happened back in the house and why you looked like you were about to cry.

Yoongi couldn’t help but stare at your descending back just in time before you turned the corner and disappeared fully from sight. Only for him to lie to them despite knowing exactly why you left.

“She wasn’t feeling well.”

The week went by and you have been avoiding coming relatively close to the rest other than the 2 who were obviously unavoidable. But it’s not like you had anything against them. You just wanted to avoid Yoongi at all costs for now. It was a Friday and you had just finished your classes for the day when the two boys exchanged glances to each another before Jungkook spoke up.

“Hey, do you wanna grab something to eat with us after this?” You knew he was being nice. You knew he wasn’t to blame for Yoongi having the same exact soulmate mark as you. So for that, you chose not to lash out at him.

“It’s fine. I’ll pass.” You smiled half heartedly and they could tell. But thankfully, they chose not to question further.

The three of you were walking towards the main entrance as usual when you saw the rest of the group seeming to wait for you three. You glanced up to Jungkook beside you who gestured a small wave to the others, only for you to accidentally look over.

And the first thing you saw was Yoongi already looking at you.

Great.

Before you could get to close, you bid your goodbyes to your friends as you separated from them to head towards the gates. Nobody has yet to know why you were acting this way other than Yoongi himself. You were just halfway through the parking lot when a firm grip on your wrist made you turn after being tugged back gently.

You nearly crashed into the figure whom you weren’t surprised when you saw it was him.

“Stop acting like a child.” He said, his tone held something much more than just firmness. He sounded like he’s… hurt almost.

“So what? This marking thing is a load of bullshit. Why does it determine who we should be with? That’s unfair! I’ve seen couples who have different marks and yet they’re still happy together?!” You said, clearly letting your emotions take over your mind.

“If you think it’s bullshit then why are you ignoring me like I’ve just killed your pet?!” He asked, his voice now a tad louder than it was before.

“Because all the guys I’ve tried dating care too much about these marks! Every single one of them ditched me when they found out I didn’t have the same mark! And what are the odds that the one person who has the same exact mark as me, happens to be the one person that has been nothing but a daily source of fight with me?” You paused as his grip on you loosened, his glare suddenly softened.

“Of course I couldn’t believe it… I didn’t want to believe that of all people, it’s you… That’s why I ignore you.” Your voice grew soft as you saw the way his eyes flickered back and forth on your own brown pupils.

“So you’re saying you hate me? Is that it?” His question was simple but it held a thousand meanings and you knew it.

“I don’t even know anymore, Yoongi…” You whispered as you slowly pulled your hand out of his grip and quickly left before he could say anything else. Yoongi stood there trying to process everything. Still not entirely sure of what just happened. Just then, a gentle hand on his shoulder made him return back to reality.

“Hey man, you okay?” Namjoon’s calm voice spoke from beside Yoongi as the latter could only nod.

“We heard your conversation… Well, we didn’t intend to anyways… But, is it true? That you both have the same mark?” Namjoon continued.

He could hear the soft, quiet curse leaving Yoongi’s lips during his exhale before he spoke up, “Yeah… That was actually the reason why she abruptly left during Jungkook’s pool party.” Yoongi explained and it all began to fall into place for Namjoon. The younger could only nod as he finally put the pieces together.

“Mmm, and so I’m guessing she’s too overwhelmed with the fact that you have the mark out of a billion people to walk this planet?” Namjoon said.

“Bingo.” Yoongi sighed as the two began to walk back to their friends who were still gathered at the entrance despite hearing the commotion earlier. If space is what you need, then space is what he shall give. But of course, you can’t run from him forever.

It has been two weeks since your outburst with Yoongi and you have been keeping your distance from him again. The guys also didn’t try to tag you along knowing fully well that you needed space from Yoongi. For that, you silently thanked them. It was a Saturday night and you had made it a point to go for a quick grocery run to stock up your refrigerator with edible food.

After getting all the items you needed, you went to the queue. The lady at the counter scanned every item on the conveyor belt and went ahead to put it in the plastic bag before telling you the total cost.

You were about to reach into your jeans pocket when you noticed them being flat.

You felt around the pockets of your jeans and it was in fact empty. With that being said, you mentally cursed yourself for not bringing your wallet with you. Not only that, this store was the only one nearest to your apartment and it was closing in 10 minutes.

You wouldn’t make it back in time if you went home now to retrieve your wallet.

So you apologized to the lady who looked equally done with her job as you left the store empty handed. You were just walking down the partially empty street when you felt something drop onto your cheek. You stopped walking to feel what it was. Before you could touch your cheek, another drop hits the top of your head. And then another. And another.

“Fuck my life…”

You whispered to yourself as the sky suddenly began to downpour on you. Watching as some people ran across the road for shelter, some whips out their umbrella to shield them from the rain, some simply stayed indoors to avoid being caught in the rain.

However, you were too tired to even care about seeking shelter. Feeling as if today was the worst day of your life.

You continued to stroll down the street completely soaked under the rain.

You wrapped your arms around yourself in attempts to keep yourself warm but it clearly did no shit for you. Absent minded to notice your surroundings, you didn’t hear the calls for your name until the vehicle came to a gradual slow speed beside you on the street.

“Y/N!”

It was Yoongi.

“Leave me alone…”

“Y/N, why in the world are you walking in the heavy rain? You might fall sick, you dummy.”

“Who c-cares?” Your lips were starting to quiver from the cold.

“I do.”

You could’ve sworn your heart just skipped a beat at that response.

“Look, let me take you to my place and get you dry clothes while waiting for the rain to stop. I’ll send you home after.” He said.

“I d-don’t need your… h-help, Yoongi.”

He let out a soft groan in annoyance with your stubbornness, only to drive a little further down before bringing the car to a complete stop. You were about to carry on walking but your feet just came to a halt when you saw him running out of his car and coming to you.

“Come on and stop whining like a little kid.” Yoongi said as he grabbed your wrist and began jogging back to his car, pulling you into the passenger side before going back to the driver seat.

Once safely inside, he drove off into the night and made a left turn at the junction while your apartment building was to the right and probably about a 20 minutes walk. The car ride was quiet as neither of you said anything. You simply let him do what he said he would. When he finally brought the car to a park, he turned off the engine and soon climbed out of the vehicle.

You followed suit as he had already come over to your side to hold the door for you. After he’d locked the car, he led you to his apartment complex as you followed behind him. You took in the interior of his apartment complex, it looked slightly older than yours but still well maintained.

Apparently, he lived on the 14th floor unlike you who lived on the 5th floor.

He soon pulls out his house key and proceeds to unlock his front door. He opens the door for you, letting you step inside first. Once he had closed the door behind him, he told you to wait there as he excused himself to go get you a clean towel and new dry clothes for you to change into.

You took in the minimalist setting of his apartment, quite similar to yours except your walls are white and his is grey.

Yoongi came back with a handful, telling you where the bathroom was.

You followed his directions and soon closed the bathroom door once you’ve stepped inside. In the meantime, Yoongi had gone to change out of his own wet clothes into a clean pair of his sweatpants and a hoodie. He was boiling hot water to make hot chocolate for the two of you when you cleared your throat behind him.

He turned around at the sound, only for him to scheme through your outfit in which he had so specifically chosen for you. He had lent you one of his sleeping shorts and an oversized black hoodie that looked a little too big on you.

But for some reason, you looked good in them.

He almost had to pinch himself for staring too long before he finally spoke up, “Uhh, my dryer’s in the laundry room. Second door to the left.”

You nodded as you disappeared back down the hall, only for him to mentally curse himself for losing his composure. After 2 minutes or so, you came back having managed to turn the dryer on.

He handed you the cup of hot chocolate, not forgetting to thank him for it.

There was a short moment of peaceful silence before he gestured over to his living room. The both of you went over to the couch as you sat on either ends of the furniture. He turned his tv on and was busying himself with searching through Netflix when you mustered up the courage to ask him what was on your mind for the past half an hour.

“Why did you help me?”

Yoongi turned to you briefly, unsure if he should answer the question truthfully.

“As much as we fight, I’m not entirely heartless.”

Your eyes bore into him as you soon found yourself looking down at your hands when he turned to look at you. If it wasn’t for the tv, you knew for a fact that he could’ve heard the thumping of your heart. Silence fell over you two again but he broke it as soon as it started.

“Why were you walking in the rain?”

“I was on a grocery run.”

“But I don’t recall seeing you carry any bags of groceries?”

“That’s because I couldn’t pay for it without my wallet…”

He raised his eyebrows at you in disbelief, finding it ridiculous that you only realized it when you were checking out of the store.

“Shut up. This kind of stuff happens okay…” You scoffed, earning a quiet chuckle coming from him followed by an, “Okay, okay.” The room fell silent again and you were just playing with the strings of your hoodie.

Silently wishing for time to pass quicker but it seems like the rain only got heavier.

“Look, I think we should just forget about the whole marking thing and just… start over?” He said, causing you to look at him but he seemed like he was diligently avoiding your gaze.

“Start… over?” You dragged your words to show that you wanted a slightly more detailed explanation.

“What I mean is… let’s stop ignoring each other and stop fighting over the smallest little issues like we did when we were young. Back then we were still young and immature. But we’re not anymore, are we?” He ended with a question, making you huff.

You know he has a point but your ego is still higher than ever.

“Are you only saying this because I’m your soulmate?”

“No. I really am tired of fighting with you.”

“Why now? Why only want to call truce after you’ve seen my mark? Doesn’t that say a lot?” You were stubborn and he knows it. And yet, he still answers you to clear all your doubts.

Surprisingly patient with you.

“I know it might look like what you think, but it’s really not. I don’t care about the marking much like you. But after thinking about it, I feel like it’s actually childish to hold a grudge on each other for the things we’ve done years ago, don’t you think?” He explained, hoping it’ll get past that rock solid head of yours.

Your heart knows he’s right but your mind forces you to say otherwise.

With that, you huffed as you got up and excused yourself to go check on your clothes. Before you could make it past the first door on the left, he grabbed your wrist and tugged you back.

He pressed you against the wall with his other hand beside your head to trap you.

Your free hand hovered in between both yours and his chest as he was less than 4 inches away. Your faces were so close you could feel his breath hitting your lips. You would’ve slapped him if he did this years ago.

But now?

“Why are you so stubborn?”

He asked, his voice low as you kept your heated gaze on his eyes even though you saw the way his eyes flickered back and forth between your eyes and lips.

Rising heat from both anger and his body temperature radiated off him, engulfing you like a cocoon. You could’ve sworn you saw his pupils dilate a few times now that he was this close to you. It was quiet in the hallway as he frowned, still waiting for an answer from you. But instead, you gently pressed your hand on his warm chest that was in between your bodies.

This was enough to make him flinch slightly. His crammed face relaxed for a moment when he looked down at your hand on his chest before looking back at you.

Even more confusion struck him.

Your heart was racing rapidly in your chest, and you were so sure he could hear it. You couldn’t bear to look at him any longer so you looked down at your hand as you slid it up towards the necklace he was wearing. Playing with the pendant in between your fingers.

You didn’t realise this but his grip on your wrist was long gone and was now slowly snaking that arm around your waist.

Yoongi leaned in very subtly to let his lips brush against yours just to see your reaction. He closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of having you this close for the first time. You did the same as your other hand rested on his left bicep. Before you knew it, he closed whatever remaining gaps in between only to kiss you.

Your heart exploded in your chest as he used the hand beside your head to cup your cheek. You leaned into his touch while you reciprocated the kiss. Yoongi’s grip on your waist tightened as he pulled you against him.

He felt both your hands now just holding onto his biceps for support, his lips tugging upwards against your mouth.

You could feel his muscles flexing under your fingertips as he pulled away from your mouth and was now trailing soft kisses down your neck. A soft sigh left your lips, feeling him give some love to the part that joins your neck and shoulder blade together.

“Yoongi…” Your voice came out as a mere whisper.

Just when you wanted to say something, your breath hitched in your throat when you felt his hands slip past your shirt only to rest them on your sides when your mark was.

His touch was gentle but it definitely did something to your poor heart.

“Answer me truthfully… Are you okay with… this?” Yoongi asked, gesturing between you and him. “With us? Because you can say no if you’re really against this. I would never force you.”

You stared at him for a while, rethinking your answer. You’ve been so firm about not caring who has the same soulmate mark as you because you thought it was all bullshit. But now, standing in front of him and knowing that he has the mark, not only that but he seemed like he really genuinely likes you is making it twice harder for you to say no.

But your silence was too long for him as he counted to 3 in his mind. When you didn’t respond, he slowly nodded. Pulling himself away to leave a space between you.

“It’s okay, I understand… I think your clothes are dry. Go change, I’ll wait outside.” His voice was quiet as if he’s too upset, he can’t even look you in the eye. You felt bad. You never wanted him to feel this way. So when he turned in his heels to walk away, you yearned for him to come back.

Yoongi was halfway down his living room when he felt a smaller hand slide into his right one. His step came to a halt as he kept his back to you.

He was about to ask if there's something wrong but all he got was a soft apology.

“I’m sorry…”

You watched as he remained still, his back still facing you. Doing nothing to turn and look at you. Yoongi wasn’t sure what he wanted to do at the moment so he kept quiet.

Just then, you used your other hand to cup his that you were already holding. He would be lying if he said he didn’t like this. But he definitely wasn’t prepared for what you were about to do next. You weren’t sure if you trust your voice so instead, you took a few steps closer before wrapping your arms around his waist.

Pressing your cheek against his back. You stayed like that for a few seconds, basking in the sweet vanilla scent of his.

You could feel him tense up when you first hugged him but he soon relaxed in your arms.

You didn’t dare to do anything else, all until you felt him softly caress your arms only to lock his fingers with yours over top of your hands. You only nuzzled your face deeper into his back, afraid to look at him.

But when you feel him slowly move around in your arms, that’s when you let him face you.

The minute he sees your face, he immediately cups your cheeks and wasted no time in kissing you ever so sweetly. The butterflies in your stomach erupted as you snaked your arms around his shoulders, feeling him pull you closer to him by your waist.

He held you securely against him all the while never leaving your lips. You were the first to pull away, keeping the distance small between you and him.

Your eyes were still closed so you depended on your senses.

That wasn’t until you felt him cup your face again, caressing your cheek with his thumbs. The room fell silent as he brushed his soft lips against yours and whispered to you quietly, “Can we start over?”

You opted for just a nod, unsure if you could trust your voice. You opened your eyes to see him staring at you so softly with his doe round eyes.

Yoongi smiled, whispering an ‘okay’ before he kissed you again. He wrapped his arms around your waist as you melted against his lips. He took his time with you, making sure you were comfortable and that you really wanted this. He never wanted to hurt you in any way. He kept asking for your permission before he did anything and you appreciated it.

You woke up the next morning to a warm feeling engulfing you from behind. You stirred in your sleep, trying to see what it was. But the squeeze around your waist made you look down to see the familiar arm draped over your waist, tucking his hands underneath you. The silver bracelet around his right wrist could never be mistaken for someone else.

Just when you were about to snuggle deeper into the warmth of his body, you felt him kiss the back of your head. Your heart pounded in your chest, stomach flipped in your belly.

“Mmm, good morning.” He whispered, his morning voice low and raspy.

You sighed in content as you turned around to face him, only to find that he still had his eyes closed but there was a smile that crept on his lips.

With that, you smiled as you planted a soft kiss on his lips. You could feel him smirk against your lips, earning a soft giggle from you. His arm that was supporting your head, bent at the elbows as he began to play with your soft hair.

The next day, you came to school feeling a little down in the weather. Maybe it was a late reaction to when you got drenched in the rain. You were sniffling in your seat when Taehyung and Jungkook immediately caught the sight of your red nose.

“Hey, are you sick? Your nose is red.” Jungkook said, his voice laced with full concern. You simply shook him off saying it was just light flu.

The other two weren’t buying it, they said they would go get medicine for you after class and you all but rejected them. The last thing you’d wanna do was to burden them.

So after your morning class has ended and you have been dismissed for lunch, the three of you made it to the cafeteria only to find the rest of the guys already seated. But you and Yoongi still haven’t told them about your resolve yet. So they thought you two were still ignoring each other.

“Hey guys! Y/N? Are you okay? You look kind of pale…” Namjoon asked, making you smile.

“It’s just a little flu, that’s all.” You said, completely missing the way Yoongi was staring at you with pure concern.

“Do you wanna go home and rest?” Hoseok asked in which you shook your head, before a squeaky sneeze left your lips not forgetting to cover your mouth while you did. “Sorry…” You whispered an apology, earning a few laughs from them. Just then, Yoongi got up without a word, leaving the table.

You watched as he disappeared down the aisle towards the drink stall. You wondered what he was doing but nevertheless shrugged, going to the empty seats beside him and Jimin.

You took a seat beside Yoongi’s empty chair, not really having the appetite to eat.

You were just rejecting Jimin’s offer to feed you some of his food when Yoongi came back with a glass of hot tea, a bottle of water and a strip of two panadol flu tablets. The rest of them watched quietly as he sat down beside you and handed you the drinks.

“Here, take this.” He said softly, pulling your hand up to push the two tablets out of the strip onto your open palms.

“Oh? Since when are you guys on good terms?” Taehyung asked in utter confusion.

“We’re not. We’re just acting.” Yoongi replied sarcastically before twisting the bottle cap open for you. He waited for you to throw your head back and let the tablets fall into your mouth before gulping down the water.

After you were done, you thanked him quietly. You didn’t miss the little smirk on his face.

“Okay…” Seokjin said as he gently slammed his hands onto the table top, making some of you flinch.

“What’s going on? Last week you were both ignoring each other and now you’re taking care of her like she means the world to you?” He asked as you turned to Yoongi for help.

“Don’t you know the saying ‘People change’?” Yoongi said.

“Of course, but it’s almost too drastic. Just over the weekend too.” Seokjin said in disbelief.

“Well, I guess it happens.” Yoongi shrugged as Jungkook directed his question to you.

“So I’m guessing you too?”

“No. I still hate him.” You lied.

“Is that so? Then why are you holding his pinkie?” Hoseok smirked, pointing to your intertwined pinkie on the table. With that, you quickly removed your hands from Yoongi.

“Hey... Why did you let go? I was about to play with your fingers.”

Yoongi said with a small pout, making you blush. Just then, Yoongi reached back over to lace his fingers with yours, resting your hands on his lap only to steal a quick kiss to your cheek.

This stirred a few dramatic gasps from your other friends. “Did you guys see that?! That was- omg!” Seokjin’s voice was too loud, making Jimin cover his mouth with his hands.

“Oh hush your pie hole dust. Just let me be happy for once.” Yoongi smirked as you felt him caress the back of your hand. He’s definitely going to be a handful but you’re more than happy to entertain his crap.

~~~

#bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #bts x reader #min yoongi #bts yoongi #bts suga #yoongi scenario #suga scenarios #yoongi fluff #min yoongi x reader #suga x reader #bts suga scenarios #bts suga imagines #suga fluff

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oh-katsuki · 3 years

Text

hey. if you are coming onto a dark content blog complaining about dark content being “normalized”, you are in the wrong fucking place.

you disliking something will not stop someone else from liking it or creating content for it. you NOT UNDERSTANDING that dark content is often a way to explore sexuality as well as recover from trauma, will not stop people from using it as such. you’re fucking pathetic for coming into people’s safe space to say shit about it as if we aren’t doing everything possible to KEEP THAT SHIT IN FICTION.

it’s tagged as dark content for a reason. we have mdni’s for a reason. so that people know NOT to normalize things like incest. our way of tagging and curating our own internet experiences is the way that content creators express that shit like that (incest specifically) is PURELY for fiction.

you all have so much to say to dark content creators about the shit they write and then remain silent about the VERY REAL, very predatory, porn industry that dominates male spaces. but when its an author, writing for fictional characters, tagging properly, and giving proper warnings, THEN engaging in kink is bad. you come into these spaces because they are accessible to you, because its easier to think about what this one person is creating, than to acknowledge that THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS than an ADULT writing kink content on the internet.

i am absolutely begging you to curate your own experiences and be respectful how others curate theirs. it’s embarrassing and gross to come into a space made for FICTION and say shit like that as if you are not completely capable of avoiding that content if you don’t like it. you look like a child. you don’t see me hopping down your throat about liking shit i don’t, so take a deep breath and just... respect others.

it’s batshit crazy the way people think they’re so entitled to what other people do. i don’t care what you think. i haven’t cared what you think in a really long time and i’m sure as fuck not going to start because some soft penis’d asshole came into my inbox saying “dark content is bad >:((”. piss off and respect creators. we’re people like you and it’s really not fucking hard.

#im not going to post the ask this is responding to #but im on a warpath today #furious for the writing community and whatever the fuck is going on #tw: incest #discourse

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adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy · 3 years

Note

Fic writers like you are the reason this community is dead. It was prompted but a bunch of lazy ass writers who don’t care about the people who follow them and constantly promise shit they never deliver…like you for the past 2 years, answering asks like you actually give a fuck about finishing SIC. Better off deleting this useless garbage fire of a page and admitting you are not a good or even reliable writer.

You act like a follow is the equivalent of you paying us. If you haven’t realized, tumblr doesn’t work like other social media platforms where follows = real life chances at financial benefits, and most of y’all won’t even reblog fics anyways, so why should we put our lives on hold to consistently provide you with work that isn’t getting appreciated to the level it deserves?? and frankly I’m not gonna get pressed over someone who doesn’t even care about my work enough to know the actual acronym of the fic they want an update of (it’s SIAC, btw ❤️ SIC is what this message made me ❤️)

Writers on this site don’t owe you shit and the community is dying because of people like YOU who think they’re somehow entitled to authors’ content. We’re not lazy, we’re tired— we juggle our real lives, jobs, school, and much more aside from writing, and since updating fics isn’t gonna get us a solid career or a stable future, it goes on the back burner for however long it has to until we have the time, energy, and motivation to continue.

SIAC isn’t my priority rn, I’ve said it multiple times and I’ll say it again!!! I’ll finish it whenever I have motivation for that specific fic, whenever that comes!!! But don’t come on my blog acting as if I haven’t been writing when I literally have a whole ass other fic going with updates that range between 30 to 50k words PER CHAPTER. Writers write for themselves and post it for readers out of kindness because they want to share the universes and character they’ve created, just so others can indulge in them and have fun, too. We don’t owe you reliability, because again, we don’t owe anyone anything except to ourselves <3

Also, if you think my page is useless garbage and that my writing is bad……why were you reading my work in the first place? 🧐 and why are you still here waiting for an update after 2 years, if it’s supposedly “not good” 🧐🧐🧐🧐 just some food for thought!!

Anyways don’t forget to reblog what you read to keep the writers you like motivated (and to keep us from leaving because we’re all dropping like flies due to the lack of interaction the majority of us get) and remind them that you’re thankful they share their work for free!! if you’re one of the people that do these things already, just know you’re the reason the community exists in the first place and you’re the last thread keeping it from collapsing!!! 💕

#I wish y’all could have seen how hard I laughed reading this message SKXJSJSJSJJDSJ

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gubler-me-up · 4 years

Text

Ace

Request: Can I get a one shot for the episode 52 pickup with Spencer x female reader? Like with the scene specifically where Spencer is trying to hand out the flyers but none of the woman take one, but reader approaches him to take one along with his number or something? Whatever else your mind can come up with please.

A/N: Thanks for the prompt, @just-call-me-non! Very specific episode request! I had to take an hour out of my day to rewatch this episode to accurately get the storyline across. Hopefully it does your idea justice! (Also, I know this was posted a day late, but I was relaxing all Friday i didn’t forget about your request i swear)

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff

Content warning: None

Word count: 1.3k

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

Another Saturday night out with your girls should have been a blast. Unfortunately, it was packed with embarrassingly entitled socialites and toxic masculinity. The music also wasn’t helping because the DJ couldn’t pick a good song if his life depended on it. If you wanted to listen to EDM house music, you would have just stayed home and played a YouTube playlist full of them.

Due to your boredom, your eyes started to wander around the club as you and your friends were huddled in a corner trying to make the best of the night. Your eyes had landed on something quite interesting though. Or you should say, someone.

A tall brunet with flyers in his hands was talking to a group of women who couldn’t care less about what he was telling them. They looked as if he was speaking a frightfully terrible language by the way their faces twisted. You, however, were intrigued by the sight you were watching and wanted to get a better view.

“I’ll be back,” you told your friends.

“Where are you going?” One asked.

“I think I’ve found something of interest,” you said.

They all followed your gaze to the lanky, awkward guy you were staring at. The women had walked away from him, so he was left with no choice but to desperately try to convince someone to hear him out. They all looked back at you with questionable stares.

“He looks cute, but he seems like one of those awkward, stiff types. How did he catch your attention again?” Another friend asked.

“Thought I should help him out. I wanna see what he’s handing out,” you explained.

You took the last sip of your cosmo before placing it down on the table. You fluffed up your hair a bit and brushed down any wrinkles in your dress. Your friends watched you in amusement as you prepped yourself to go over to him.

“Get him, tiger,” another said followed by a meow.

You laughed at their sarcasm before walking over to him. He had no idea you were walking towards him as he flailed around a single flyer in his hand trying to convince someone to take it. Since he had about 30 more of where that came from you decided to help him out. You grabbed the one he was flailing around from out of his hands to look at it. He turned around to look at you, surprised someone had actually taken it from him. You looked at him with a smile and held up the picture.

“Who’s this?” You asked him.

“Uh, it’s um, this guy we’re-and when I mean we’re I mean my team and I-uh,” he stuttered.

You giggled at him stumbling over his words as he struggled to comprehend why you were giving him the time of day. You looked at the picture as he finally told you about some sort of murderer on the loose. It was a very vague sketch, so you looked at him with a quizzical expression.

“How do you ever expect to find this guy with a picture like this?” You asked.

He awkwardly chuckled. He held up the stack of flyers in his hands so you could see them clearly. He put his hand in front of the scar which was sketched above the man’s left eyebrow. You raised your eyebrows curiosity.

“Well, the funny thing is some witnesses say he had a scar right here,” he lifted his hand up to reveal the scar.

You stared intently at the scar on the drawing. Then he lowered his hand down to cover it again. What happened next made you widen your eyes with amazement.

“And some say he doesn’t,” he said as he lowered his hand down to reveal an image with no scar.

You stupidly grinned at his trick. Your ear-to-ear grin made him smile as he lowered the flyers. You grabbed his hand with the flyers and placed it back up so you could see it again. There was really no scar there anymore.

“How did you even do that?” You asked.

“Pure magic,” he said.

“Okay, magician, what’s your name?” You asked.

“Spencer Reid. I-uh-work for the FBI, so that’s why I’m-”

“Yeah, I heard your reason why you were here the first time. Along with you saying some sort of statistic about men being more likely to kill targeted victims over women who are more likely to kill related victims.”

He looked at you stunned. It seemed as if he was shocked you were listening to him ramble. You may have been looking at the sketch of the person he was looking for, but you couldn’t help but to invest in what he was saying.

“You were actually listening?” He asked.

You nodded. “I’m a sucker for true crime. That’s not to say I want to be murdered in real life, but it’s cool that you do this for a living. You know, saving lives and catching the bad guy.”

A genuine, non-awkward smile appeared on his face. “Yeah, I do something like that.”

“And what do you do when you’re not kicking ass and taking names?” You asked.

He chuckled. “I think kicking ass is more up my colleague’s ally, but I personally don’t do anything interesting. Well, interesting to most people.”

“Surprise me.”

“I like to master different chess moves in my spare time and read. I like reading pretty much anything and everything. Twice.”

“That sounds interesting to me. Maybe one day you can teach me that trick and how to play a mean game of chess.”

Spencer looked at you astonished at the way you kept engaging with him. You were starting to think girls like you or even girls in general never took an interest in his quirky behaviour. To you it was enticing.

“Um, thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t even get your name,” he said.

You smirked. “How about you give me your number and you can figure it out then. Maybe even discuss each other’s favourite books if you’d like.”

He nodded his head with a tiny smile that slowly appeared on his face. You couldn’t stop looking at him as he did the smallest gestures. He was more attractive than you initially thought from across the club. Every mannerism he did intrigued you more about his character.

“I’d like that,” he said.

“Great. What’s your number?” You asked.

He smirked. “It’s near your heart.”

You looked at him funny as he gave you that riddle. You placed your hands in your dress near your left breast. You felt something at the side of your bra. You took it out to see the ace of hearts.

It was nice meeting you, Y/N.

His number followed right after. You were floored. Not only did he figure out your name, but he also gave you his number in the suavest way possible. He didn’t even have to touch your breasts to do it. That was some respectful magic.

“Now you’re telekinetic too?” You asked.

He shrugged. “Can’t say. Maybe if you call I’ll give you a hint.”

“Can you guess when I’m going to call too?”

“That wouldn’t be guessing, but profiling. I have a feeling I’ll be hearing from you in the next two hours.”

“I’ll make sure I don’t keep you waiting.”

He chuckled. “Bye, Y/N. It was really nice talking to you.”

With that he walked into the crowd where he was met by a tall, muscular black man. He put his arm around Spencer and gave him an impressed smile. You giggled as you watched the scene before they fully disappeared into the crowd. You looked back at the ace of hearts and couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe you were starting to have a new thing for quirky magicians.

—–

MASTERLIST

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hollowboobtheory · 3 years

Text

I don’t wanna risk the person who sent me this getting put on blast so i’m gonna answer in a separate post, hope that’s ok. Also for the record, I’m using “you” in a general sense, not you specifically.

i dont understand how engaging with harry potter in a way that isnt buying a book or legally watching the movies is bad. like obviously she is a terf but most of the time people gain happiness from it, and yes she might get a smidge more money but shes gonna keep getting amaxingly richer for the rest of her life, and in comparison to other things we could fight for it doesnt seem like such a big deal to me

(im not trying to pick a fight, just a good faith conversation, if you dont wanna talk about it then you can just ignore this ask :) /g)

I know a lot of people are focusing on her pouring money into anti-trans causes, and that's very bad, but it's not just about the money. JKR is the most influential author of our time, and engaging publicly with her works furthers that influence. Her Terf Wars manifesto absolutely wouldn't have gotten the traction it did if people weren't still obsessed with the childrens books she wrote 2 decades ago.

Not to mention how it's going to effect your social interactions on a more personal level. You can see your own heart, but the people around you can't. Unless you're willing to make a disclaimer every time you make a little jokey post about Dobbo the enslaved wifey gremlin or introduce yourself as a SneepenPaw, it's not unreasonable for people to be put off by it.

Like I already said, I can’t force you to disengage, but it’s not my fault if trans people assume you’re a terf and don’t trust you. You’re not entitled to anybody’s trust, even if you know you’re a good person.

You are free to read and post about whatever you want, and they are free to form an opinion of you based on that.

And not to beat a dead horse, but it’s still important to remember that she herself said that support of her work is support of her views.

And for your second ask:

also if you only engage with content from people whos politics you agree with you get a small pool

(yes calling her being a terf 'disagreeing with politics' is a bit simplified)

First of all thank you for acknowledging that calling advocating for the eradication of trans people a political disagreement is an understatement. We’re not just disagreeing about policy, we’re disagreeing about whether living human beings have the right to exist.

Also, there’s a bit of a difference between reading someones works, hearing what they have to say, and moving on, and reading the same books over and over since before 9/11.

There are people with literal Harry Potter shrines in their homes. I think that goes a little further than just engaging.

And I know I’m harping on the fact that it’s been a long time, and this is a slightly more personal bias, but seriously, I was born a few months after the first HP book was published. Those books are older than I am and y’all have been continuously talking about them for my entire life. There has not been a single day for as long as I have been alive that people have shut up about Harry Fucking Potter.

Read another book.

#beck rambles #JKR #tried to bold some for accessibilty #ask i guess

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foreveranevilregal · 3 years

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It’s so great to have anxiety attacks at work.

Someone I thought was a fandom friend blew up on me yesterday for writing content about a fandom I care about at the moment instead of our mutual fandom. I told this person that my interests shift and I write about what I care about at the moment. It seemed like they understood. What I got from this interaction was that they were demanding free work from me. Obviously I’m not going to reward entitled behavior so I let them know I’d tell them when their request was done and to take care.

Come to find out, they’ve been talking trash about me to my best friend, somehow thinking she’d take their side over mine and saying I’m a bad person because of what I write. I was never once told that it made this person uncomfortable that I write not G-rated content for Encanto. I understand it’s not everyone’s thing. I specifically asked if this was something people even wanted before I started writing it. Based on the half dozen smutty prompts in my inbox, it is. I don’t intend this to be found by children in any way shape or form. I would never want to harm kids. I post here and on ao3, neither of which is made for children. Everything is clearly marked and placed under cuts. I write those works for myself and others over the age of 18. We’re allowed to like Disney movies too.

If I’m a bad person, I’ll take it all down. We can pretend this never happened. And I apologize sincerely for hurting anyone. But I’m 27 years old. I have a full time job. Throwing a temper tantrum because I’m not performing free labor for you fast enough is not the way to get your request written. People here have been nothing but lovely to me, and very polite with requests and things. Your stuff I will absolutely write, if you still want it.

And now this is ruining something that I love for me. I finally got to a place where I’m content with my writing and proud of myself, and feel wanted and accepted by a fandom. Yes, I’m open to writing smut. I also write other types of content. And, to emphasize, I don’t market any of it to children. Believe it or not, adults like Disney movies too. Pepa means a lot to me because I really see myself in her. Having her be loved gives me hope that maybe someday someone won’t find me too difficult to deal with and be able to tolerate me for a decent amount of time. Which this person also made sure to tell my friend, behind my back. How it was impossible to talk to me and they had to walk on eggshells around me because I get panic attacks.

Well I’m on the verge of one now. I hope they’re happy. I’m still not going to write their thing. Everything else will be filled in time. But if people want to withdraw their prompts, I understand. I understand if I have to leave the fandom. This was all my doing.

#tbd #marija for ts #why did I even bother #it was all a mistake

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kirain · 5 years

Text

Hazbin Hotel and VivziePop Drama

I've been hearing/seeing a lot of drama concerning Hazbin Hotel and it's creator VivziePop, and while I don't know her personally or really care what people think, I do hate slander and the spread of misinformation. Truly nothing in this world upsets me more than when people believe rumours while making no effort to fact check, and that's exactly what's happening right now. That said, I wanted to try and clear up some of the rumours going around about Vivzie and the show, because I think some of them are absolutely outrageous and need to be addressed.

1. Vivzie hired an abuser onto the show.

Now, I’m not here to burn anyone at the stake, especially since I don’t know anything about Chris Niosi (the alleged abuser), who I believe openly admitted to the allegations? Regardless, this is a moot point. He’s not credited anywhere at the end of the episode. So either he was booted before production wrapped up or he had nothing to do with the show in the first place.

2. Vivzie supports bestiality.

Admittedly I thought this one might be true, since she draws so many anthropomorphic animals. In the very least, I figured she was probably a furry, but I haven't seen any evidence supporting this accusation either. Near as I can tell, this rumour started for two reasons. One, because of her famous Zoophobia comic, which revolves around a therapist named Cameron who gets assigned to work with human-like animals. Ironically, poor Cameron suffers from crippling zoophobia, which makes for some pretty decent comedy. I didn't read the whole comic because, quite frankly, it’s not my cup of tea and I just don’t have the time. But from what I saw there are no examples of bestiality anywhere in its contents.

Two, this message, which blew up all over social media:

To me, this just proves that people are more interested in virtue signalling than checking to see if their claims are actually true. Everything about this message is 100% false, which I’ll touch on in my next point.

3. Vivzie is a pedophile and she’s drawn child porn.

This is hands down the worst allegation and holy shit, I really wish people would stop using it to defame someone when they don't have any proof. This is a life-ruining accusation and you're disgusting if you believe it based solely on hearsay. This rumour began to spread when Vivzie allegedly shipped the two underage characters in the above photo and drew them NSFW-style. At the time, one character was 19 while the other was 14, and the relationship was a very illegal student-teacher relationship.

This is WRONG! The characters were not 14 and 19, they were actually 18 and 19, the legal age of consent! Additionally, the relationship wasn't student-teacher. One character is a student and the other is Alumni (a student teacher). This one pisses me off the most because it’s obvious the person who sent that message didn’t even bother to conduct any research. They said, “He’s a teacher, she’s a child.” Both characters are MALE!

Since then, Vivzie has apologised for any NSFW art she drew in the past and stated that it's not a reflection of her art today, and I'm inclined to believe her. Almost every artist has drawn NSFW content at some point in their career, and hers wasn't even distasteful. Other than this one example, there is no evidence anywhere that suggests she’s drawn “child porn”. In fact, she’s never even drawn explicit NSFW.

Please stop spreading this rumour. It’s dangerous and completely incorrect.

4. Vivzie said the "N" word!

No, she didn’t. It was a fabricated tweet. That is all.

5. Vivzie is copyright striking every video that criticises her!

No she isn't. YouTube’s DMCA is automatically striking people who are using full clips without permission. Vivzie has gone public several times, telling people exactly how to avoid getting a copy strike from the algorithm, which is something she absolutely does not have to do. At this point, she doesn't owe you anything. In my opinion, she should just sit back and watch these channels burn.

6. Vivzie copies and traces other artists’ work.

This is another one I’ve seen going around, but I looked into it as thoroughly as I could and failed to find any concrete evidence to support the allegations. As of right now, there are only two examples of Vivzie “copying” or “tracing” other artists’ work, and both of them can be explained. The first is a gif she made with a character from her Zoophobia comic, which looked a lot like the girl from ME!ME!ME!:

Damn, that’s pretty incriminating. She obviously stole-- oh, wait. This gif was part of a ME!ME!ME! MEP (multi editor’s project) and Vivzie didn’t take full credit, despite the fact that it’s not even a direct trace. It’s supposed to look like the original, which she fully cited. The second example comes from a short dance sequence from her Timber video, which seems to have been inspired by several Disney movies. As Vivzie herself stated, that was an homage to the original animations. Lots of artists and shows do this, including the beloved Stephen Universe series.

Regardless, this doesn’t count as stealing character designs or plagiarising someone’s work. It’s meant to be respectful, an admiration of other projects. Other than these two instances, however, there is no evidence of her tracing or stealing other people’s art. From what I’ve discovered, all other designs she’s been accused of “stealing” are characters she bought and paid for. They’re quite literally HER characters.

7. Vivzie supports problematic creators.

I’m getting really tired of guilt by association. Vivzie follows and enjoys some controversial figures, but who cares? We can argue all day about whether or not the accusations against them are true, but it ultimately has nothing to do with the show or Vivzie as a person. I do the exact same thing, to be honest-- follow and listen to people on all sides so I can learn, understand, and form my own opinions. The fact that some people think this is bad, to me, is absolutely mesmerising. Vivzie doesn’t control what the people she follows post, and if they do something overly questionable she publicly criticises and denounces it.

From Vivzie:

Now that that’s been dealt with, I’d like to address some complaints/claims about the actual show.

8. Vaggie is an angry Latina stereotype and a lesbian stereotype. Vivzie is appropriating Hispanic culture and misrepresenting the gay for profit.

First off, I see a lot of people passing around yet more misinformation regarding Vivzie's race. So many people seem to think she's white? Well, I'm here to tell you they're wrong. Very incorrect. Vivzie is in fact Latina, and Vaggie is meant to mirror some of her own personality traits.

Second, who is Vaggie mad at? Context matters, and if we take a look at the episode, we see that Vaggie is literally only mad at two specific people: Angel Dust and Alastor. Why? Well, for starters, it's her girlfriend's dream to run a rehab hotel for sinners, and Angel Dust nearly demolishes that dream single-handedly. Vaggie has every right to be over-the-top vitriolic. Then there's Alastor, a known sadist, narcissist, and murderer who loves trapping people in his nefarious schemes. He invites himself in, effectively takes over the hotel, and pushes both her and Charlie aside. At one point he even sexually assaults her by slapping her butt during his musical number. So yeah, I think her seething ire is totally justified. Keep in mind, however, that when she's around Charlie she's calm, collected, and happy. I wouldn't call that a stereotype.

Thirdly, the lesbian stereotypes. I keep hearing this argument but I really don't see it. Both Vaggie and Charlie have so much personality and trust for each other. Maybe I'm wrong, but the stereotype I know always totes a more butch, tomboyish woman with a ditsy, innocent, naive woman. Charlie is optimistic, but she isn't stupid. She refuses to shake Alastor’s hand because she knows he’s likely trying to screw her over. She’s also not entirely innocent herself and uses words like “fuck” and “shit”. I also wouldn’t call Vaggie butch or tomboyish. She has a cute, girly presentation, complete with a pink ribbon in her hair, lace stockings, and a dress. She's protective of her girlfriend, as I think we all are with our partners, and there's nothing wrong with that. They're flawed characters, as every character is meant to be. This isn't a problem.

9. The show is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, blah, blah, blah.

I’m amazed this is even an argument. The show is supposed to be a dark comedy that takes place in HELL. You know, the place the worst of the worst end up after they die? What were you expecting? Everyone gets a shot or two fired at them, but that doesn't make them bad characters nor does it make the show itself horrible. Take, for example, Katie Killjoy, the news reporter so many people are up in arms about. She says she doesn’t “touch the gays” because she has “standards”. Well, here’s a newsflash of my own: we’re not supposed to like her! She’s an antagonist. Not to mention ten seconds later Charlie insults her and isn’t the least bit slighted by her pretentious attitude. The characters are strong and don’t take shit from anyone, because to some degree they’re all terrible people who can throw down when it’s called for.

Obviously if you don’t like the show or think it’s offensive, I’m probably not going to change your mind. That’s perfectly fine. You’re entitled to your opinions and you don’t have to watch the show. Just stop lying and stop trying to take it away from everybody else. Stop attacking Vivzie and spreading misinformation without checking the facts. I realise a lot of people probably aren’t trying to be vindictive and only want to do something good, but just remember this: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

#hazbin hotel #vivziepop #vivzie #alastor #angel dust #vaggie #charlie #timber #stephen universe #drama #radio demon

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thedeviljudges · 3 years

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not an ask but your post on queerbaiting in response to @quillsandscreens 's post on gahan being headcanon hit the nail on the head! I don't really have a say in the convo bc im straight but my very straight ass could spot the queercoding from MILES away. I was so baffled when some others couldn't see it. It's all there, subtle but very intentionally framed. And had Gaon being a woman, the straights would've shipped the two to the ends of the earth without any change of script.

100% on point. so this is just me rambling here, but i tend to generalize in terms of straights just bc well, they're dominant and think everything is about them most of the time. so that's not to say everyone (like yourself) does not see the relationship within tdj. however, a good majority don't because they get to be blinded to all of the ways they are not negatively impacted by being queer. on top of that, if you're not within those circles of queer communities, there is so much context you miss out on, and that's a whole other level of overlooking.

underrepresented communities build specific context, discussions and language for each other to pick up on. (very poignant example of this is that is a little more mainstream is the fact that many women and their friends have no issue calling each other a bitch, regardless of whether it's out of love or not. but the minute a man calls a woman one.... nope. bc women understand the context in a non-threatening way. men, on the other hand, do not use that shit playfully and even if they try, it's uncomfortable).

so there is a lot of coding that happens with characters bc 1. there are rules/laws in place that prevent it being stated or could actually harm the crew/production/ability to get funded and 2. it's its own song and dance, the ability to create nuanced, subtle gestures and lines to show a character for who they are without uttering a singular word is absolutely incredibly bc of those limitations.

hets are so used to things being explicitly stated. they've never had to read between the lines. it's always handed to them, so no wonder that skillset isn't sharpened. they're under the impression that if it isn't said word for word, it must not exist and the intention was never there to begin with. but it's all about overtones (look at the stuff going down with venom right now and fans vs critics, which tells you a lot).

at the end of the day, people will see what they want to see, and they will fail to ignore context clues in favor of their own biases. and there are those even with queer characters and fans, yes. reading to much into things and stretching out things for a smidge of representation, but the difference there is that we are never given that to begin with. we've always had to find representation, and so that became the code of conduct, especially in conservative societies that are still battling queer rights.

you're absolutely right that if gaon had been a woman, everyone would've eaten it up. i'm still surprised tdj is still as popular as it is, but i know that it'd be significantly moreso if there was straight scenes involved. but thank god we weren't given more bc the entitlement and downright nasty behavior hets displayed with the gaon/soohyun scenes before they all realized she died...... i will never forget that. literally i will never forget how fucking curl and nasty they were because they couldn't let ONE show be for the gays. and the only reason for that is mainly bc of jinyoung and their obsessive need to be a self-insert with their kpop favs.

on top of that, they really did love the gaslight the entire fandom, even here on tumblr, about how wrong we were, how we turn everything gay, and we're misogynistic bc they couldn't take a damn minute to read/find analysis posts. like, i'm genuinely tired of straight people having the monopoly on what they think is right/wrong, and using misogyny and other social justice issues to call us crazy/delusional. maybe if we had openly queer tv and films for us to enjoy, we wouldn't feel the need to create and find context in the content we love and consume.

and just to reiterate in general, not pointing figures at you anon, tdj is NOT queerbaiting. it's queercoding, and fandom really needs to learn the difference.

#x #the devil judge

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whisperedlouis · 3 years

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I don’t think it’s surface level to want Harry to foster some kind of connection with fans though. I don’t think it has to be Twitter or Instagram or any one specific platform where he owes some kind of fan service. I just personally feel like most of my favorite artists find ways to connect with fans if they’re able to, especially during this pandemic. That could mean a livestream or some tweets, sure. But it could also be releasing something special for the fans like an unreleased song or BTS footage or something. I think part of his brand has definitely become the mystery & the air of unreachability and I find it off putting. I don’t think we’re owed any insight to his personal life. But there are other ways to connect and it sad to me that he hasn’t bothered to do that. All that we see is him galavanting around the world during a pandemic with his girlfriend and making move after move with his tour that seems absolutely disconnected to reality of life right now. He’s too old and too powerful for fans to act like he has no say or doesn’t know what’s going on/what it looks like. His whole ‘brand’ is kindness and it just feels ironic with not refunding tickets and having a tour in the middle of a pandemic where hundreds of thousands of people have died.... anyway I’m sorry for this long rant where I sound like an absolute hater. I love hearing your opinion. Feel free to not post this or to call me out on feeling entitled lol.

Nah you aren’t entitled at all, and you don’t sound like a hater you sound honest!

Look I’ll be honest too, I haven’t felt connected or even engaged with Harry as a fan in ages. I enjoyed the last album and a lot of the promo but other than that…. Blah. I’m vaguely interested in seeing the movie when it comes out. I don’t plan on seeing him on tour either. I haven’t been inspired by anything he’s done in a long time. During this pandemic I think he’s come off as a spoilt little rich brat, and quite frankly I really haven’t liked him at times. I don’t care for who he’s dating or where he’s traveling or who he’s being photographed. I don’t hate him, I still reblog the content I enjoy. But meh.

I think what people want out of a celeb is different, and the way people feel engaged is different. I don’t personally feel any connection to Louis and his monthly “how are you doing tweet”. I think it’s meaningless. I really enjoyed the playlists he shared. I really enjoyed his live stream. I really enjoyed a lot of the things Niall did while we were all collectively in some sort of lockdown. I think to feel connected there has to be some sort of authenticity (even if not actually authentic, you know?) something SORT of real. I haven’t got that vibe from Harry in ages.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#i have had wine and shared an opinion oh no #anyway this is why im mostly on my hockey blog now #even during offseason theres so much content and things to enagage with #even when the content is awful

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duggardata · 3 years

Text

Were Jed + Katey “Betrothed”?

There’s a bit of a rumor going around Fundie Tumblr, saying that Jed Duggar + Katey Nakatsu’s Relationship followed a procedure known as ‘betrothal,’ rather than the Duggar–typical ‘courtship.’ Ultimately, I think the distinction is more–or–less meaningless... Either way, it’s a parent–supervised, chaste, patriarchal method of ‘dating,’ as much as the Duggars despise that word. But, honestly, I’m intrigued by the Duggars’, etc., odd relationship practices—and, I’d like to discuss the possibility that Jed + Katey were, indeed, ‘betrothed.”

After the jump...

First of all...

What is Courtship?

As Duggar Snarkers, we’re probably all familiar with the concept of ‘courtship.’ The Duggars (and Bateses, etc.) often discuss it. Basically, they like to say it’s ‘dating with a purpose.’ You don’t date for the sake of dating; you only date if you’re ready for marriage and believe your partner is your intended spouse. A Duggar–style courtship also differs from ‘secular dating’ in that there is a lot of parental involvement: The man pursues the woman only after getting consent from her father, and both partners are expected to seek their parents’ counsel as the relationship progresses to determine if marriage is appropriate. There’s also a slew of rules, which vary somewhat, but often include—

Strict Limitations on Physical Contact Sex is always off–limits, as is kissing in most cases. Certain types of hugs might be banned. Hand–holding might be banned. ‘No Touch’ courtships aren’t unheard of.

Constant Supervision / Chaperoning Usually, the couple isn’t alone together, ever, until marriage. Chaperones tend to be ‘provided’ by the woman’s family. Sometimes phone calls and texts are monitored.

Entrenched Gender Roles Generally, the man is in control. He asks the woman to court, decides when they get engaged, etc. His partner begins a sad transformation, wherein she starts looking to the male as her absolute ‘headship’ and leader.... It’s creepy.

Lots of Praying Everyone involved prays a lot and tries to figure out if the pairing is ‘God’s will,’ or not.

Courtship is a commitment, but it is not unbreakable. Sometimes courtships fail, and that’s by design... The whole point is to figure out if you’re meant to marry one another. You haven’t decided yet. You’re trying to decide.

What is Betrothal?

So... How does ‘betrothal’ compare? First of all, I need to say: There isn’t a 100% agreed upon definition of ‘betrothal,’ here, since the Duggars have not ever publicly discussed it or publicly engaged in the practice. With that said, I’ve done some research about ‘betrothal’ in Duggar–y circles, and here’s the gist...

With betrothal, there’s no trial period. From the start, the couple vows—often literally—to eventually marry their partner. There’s no backing out. (If you do, you’re breaking your vow to God.) Basically... You go from zero to engaged. (And, really, it’s more than engaged. With a typical engagement, there isn’t a solemn vow before God; with betrothal, there is.) After the betrothal, the new couple spends a period of time getting acquainted and planning the wedding, and then they get married. As with courtship, the rules of betrothal vary a lot; however, in my research, I did see some trends. Here are the ways that, IMO, betrothal notably varies from courtship—

Solemn Vow to Marry w/ Little to No Trial Period See Above.

Ceremony / Ritual Aspect Often, the betrothal itself occurs at some sort of ceremony. It’s solemnized. Often, there’s a literal exchange of vows, similar to a wedding ceremony. Contracts aren’t unheard of.

More Extreme Parental Involvement Often, the parents—the father, specifically—is even more involved than is typical in a ‘courtship.’ He often takes on essentially the entire responsibility of vetting the young suitor for his daughter, since there’s no ‘trial period’ where she gets to know him before being betrothed. Basically, the father picked out his daughter’s husband for her. That’s the whole point.

“Arranged” Feeling See Above. It’s not unheard of for the man and woman to meet for the first time on the date of their betrothal.

(Note—I’m talking about fundie–style betrothal, here. Betrothal is actually a long–standing practice of various groups. Notably, it’s part of Judaism, and discussed in the Torah. We’re not talking about that sort of betrothal or any other sort of betrothal, here. I’m strictly talking about the bizarre concept of betrothal occasionally practiced on the fringes of the Duggars’ circle.)

More About Fundie Betrothal

What’s clear, at least to me, is that fundie ‘betrothal’ is a way to ‘one–up’ the more typical practice of ‘courtship.’ Apparently, rejecting dating isn’t enough for some families. They’re not satisfied just to ‘court,’ like everyone else. So, they take things one step further with ‘betrothal,’ which they claim is better—more biblical, etc.—than mere ‘courtship.’

Digging into this, Duggar Data learned that a few fringe fundies really pushed this ‘betrothal’ concept. One was Vaughn Ohlman. Ohlman previously ran a website called ‘Let Them Marry,’ which creepily encouraged young marriage. Basically, Ohlman’s whole schtick—which he sums up in “True Love Doesn’t Wait,” an article that is basically his manifesto—is that young fundies should marry as soon as possible, since supposedly the Bible says so, and God. In pushing this strange agenda, Ohlman naturally got to the topic of the proper way to select a spouse... His answer was ‘betrothal.’ (See Also.) Eventually, Ohlman traveled the country, teaching about betrothal and how it’s the ‘right’ way to find a mate. Courtship is ungodly and unbiblical, yada yada yada. (If you’re wondering... Yes, he was nuts. Absolutely nuts. Thankfully, he ended up shutting down his ministry after receiving a lot of well–earned criticism.)

Vaughan married off his son, Joshua, via a betrothal. Here’s Joshua + Laura’s Story, which is one of the best–known fundie betrothal stories. Another well–known, and highly disturbing, betrothal story is that of Matthew + Maranatha Chapman. (See Also. See Also.) Also, here’s a chart comparing betrothal to secular dating and courtship, which I thought was pretty interesting.

So, What About Jed + Katey?

Why, exactly, do people think Jed + Katey were betrothed? A few things drive the rumor—

The ‘Biblical Betrothal’ Post There’s a mysterious, password–protected post on the Nakatsu Family Blog, entitled ‘Biblical Betrothal.’ Kory made the post in June 2018. Its contents is unknown, since it’s password–protected.

The Vows at The Proposal On the video documenting Jed’s proposal, which was posted on the Nakatsu Family Blog, Jed and Katey apparently exchanged vows when they got engaged. These vows somewhat resemble the vows that might be exchanged at a betrothal ceremony.

Kory’s Speech At The Wedding At the Wedding, Kory made a speech when he ‘gave’ Katey to Jed, in which he sort of implies that he personally selected Jed for her, and Katey had agreed to this.

The Wedding Vows Overally, Jed + Katey’s Wedding just seemed very, very fundie, if that makes sense. Their vows hammered on the wife’s submission, yada yada yada. Gives the impression that this was a very strict relationship, and they’re deeply committed to the disgusting notion of biblical patriarchy—which is the exact sort of idea that betrothal advocates are into.

That said, there’s also...

Evidence Against A Betrothal—

During the wedding, the pastor referred to their ‘courtship, and made no mention of betrothal whatsoever. (And it’s not like he held back, at all, in talking about those fringe fundie beliefs... Just read their vows!)

According to Reed Roberts, and also Jed, Jed + Katey were together for about a year, prior to marriage. So, if those vows at the proposal were a betrothal, it clearly wasn’t a ‘traditional’ betrothal... Since they’d already been together for awhile, at that point.

Reed Roberts denies that Jed + Katey were “arranged.” (Though, I think it’s also worth mentioning... He didn’t actually say how they met. Which I think is kinda weird. It seems natural to tell the ‘how they met’ story, in attempting to dispel rumors of an arranged marriage. But he doesn’t.)

Final Thoughts

Duggar Data doesn’t think that Jed + Katey had a ‘true’ betrothal, thought I do suspect the courtship was probably stricter than most, and that Kory probably played a larger role than is ‘typical.’ I think it’s possible that Kory read about—or perhaps, even attended a seminar—about ‘biblical betrothal,’ which led him to making that post on his blog. As for his comments at the wedding... I take them to mean that Kory urged Katey to allow him to guide her in choosing her partner, and she agreed. Maybe he even set her and Jed up. But... I’m not at all convinced that he chose Jed without her input, or that she and Jed actually agreed to a ‘betrothal,’ in the sense of vowing to marry as strangers.

Also, one last thing... Regardless of what Jed + Katey called their relationship, I’m of the opinion that, honestly, it’s basically the same nonsense the Duggars have always practiced. Betrothal or courtship... It’s really not that different, in my view. It’s all based on the same bullshit—namely. twisted gender roles and so–called ‘biblical patriarchy.’ Whether they were ‘arranged,’ or ‘betrothed,’ or whatever, we know the fathers always play a major role. We know the women always defer to their ‘headship.’ Perhaps Katey + Jed (and Kory) were slightly more overt about it, but that’s it... Call it Kool–Aid or call it Tang, it’s the same sugary nonsense.

#jed and katey #betrothal #courtship

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thinkingisadangerouspastime · 3 years

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hi! random question that you’re not obligated to answer (i just love your ka metas): do you think that aang acted like he was entitled to katara’s affection? sorry for the bother if this is a question you’ve gotten before, i’m just curious about your thoughts

Hi anon! It’s always lovely to hear people like my metas 💛 And you’re in luck - I have not gotten this specific question before, though I have answered similar questions, and as such I will probably link those posts throughout.

Forewarning: I use the general you very liberally in this post, so like. It’s not directed at you, anon djhskdjsajs I don’t want you think my sarcasm is in response to your ask (your ask was very lovely!! 💕)

Okay. Let’s get started! The funniest thing about the (nonsensical) claim that Aang acted “entitled” to Katara’s affection is that there is no canon evidence to support it. Opponents more often than not can only bring up one (1) episode as an example of supposed “entitlement” because no other Kataang interactions in the series demonstrate entitlement from either end! Like, wow. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. And I’m sure we all know what episode opponents love to propagate, don’t we?

Yep, you guessed it: “The Ember Island Players.”

From the get-go, the fact that people who vigorously oppose Kataang essentially only appeal to the contents of one episode for Aang’s supposed “entitlement” is a major indicator that, in fact, the entitlement is not truly there, and that those opponents are actually misconstruing the entire episode. I mean, if you are trying to make an argument about something but you only have one piece of “evidence” to support your claim, then a) any half-decent teacher/professor would fail you, rip and b) that’s a sign that maybe your claim doesn’t hold water. If you can’t find evidence to support it, then you’re probably looking at your case from the wrong angle. Analysis 101.

As such, I find the “entitlement” claim particularly ridiculous because opponents repeat the same faulty rhetoric over and over! The only people that might be convinced are those with confirmation bias. I’m sure that’s their audience, of course, but it’s still hilarious dfjaksdasks.

Anyways. Here’s the excerpt from the EIP transcript that opponents l o v e to spotlight with their “entitlement” claims:

Aang: Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?

Katara: In where? What are you talking about?

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a… brother to you, and you didn’t have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn’t say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

Katara: Aang, I don’t know.

Aang: Why don’t you know?

Katara: Because, we’re in the middle of a war, and we have other things to worry about. This isn’t the right time.

Aang: Well, when is the right time?

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

Aang tries to kiss Katara.

Katara: I just said I was confused! I’m going inside. [Exits the balcony.]

Aang: Ugh, I’m such an idiot! [Puts down his head on the balcony railing.]

Opponents claim Aang’s behavior is “entitled” here for two reasons:

1) He asks Katara several questions about their relationship status.

2) He kisses her.

Before I get too far into this, we have to consider the context of the episode. Katara and Aang have this conversation after just watching 95% of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” aka Fire Nation propaganda. I have talked about the specifics of the play being imperialist propaganda here, but the gist of it is that this play is meant to demean the Gaang, to portray them as lesser and weaker than the Fire Nation. The fact that the play ends with Ozai’s victory is a stark reminder of this mentality. So: Katara and Aang have just watched this play that preys upon their insecurities and paints them as awful caricatures of their true selves. It is only natural that they would be more tense than usual. The reason I bring this up is solely to inform their conversation on the balcony, however; I don’t think their frustration solely defines what they say/do, but it’s worth keeping in mind, “Hey, they’re stressed and upset, of course this conversation might not go perfectly.”

Now, I have talked about the infamous EIP kiss before and approached all the rhetoric surrounding it like Snopes Fact Checker in this post, lmao. I did discuss in there why the kiss is wrong, which no one has ever argued against, but also why the kiss is simply a mistake: not sexual assault, not entitlement, not an unforgivable decision. I’ve copied and pasted specifically my notes on the “entitlement” claim below regarding the kiss, but if you have time, I definitely recommend the whole post jksdhjasdka (I’m quite proud of it). Anyways! Here’s the excerpt:

Claim: Aang acted entitled to Katara and her affection.

Status: False.

I’ve briefly addressed this already, but Aang backing off when Katara pushed him away is the exact opposite of entitlement. An impromptu kiss is not always indicative of entitlement. It can be, especially if the person being kissed has never expressed any interest in the person kissing them, but Katara and Aang were mutually interested in each other. They’d mutually kissed twice already by that point: in CoTL and during DoBS. The EIP kiss was inappropriate. NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED OTHERWISE. But when you’re 12 and you’re already kind of in this semi-relationship with a girl you’ve been through hell and high water with (who has kissed you twice on the lips and on the cheek multiple times, not to mention it is only you she ever expresses such affection towards), it is not fucking “entitlement” to make a move on her, even when the timing is off. IT’S JUST A MISTAKE. A POOR DECISION. NOT ENTITLEMENT. NOT MANIPULATION. NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT. Full stop.

Also, these EIP people love to call Aang entitled for this kiss, but there isn’t a single peep heard from them about Zuko’s line in TSR where he demands to know what’s “wrong” with Katara, since she hasn’t forgiven him yet when everyone else has. And look. I think Zuko was just frustrated here, and that he, too, made a mistake and is obviously not irredeemable for it, but. If you’re going to argue that Aang was entitled in EIP, you’d better be ready to acknowledge the argument that Zuko was acting entitled in TSR, too. And hell, let’s take it a step further! Call Aang entitled for EIP. Call Zuko entitled for TSR. Call Sokka entitled for choosing to stay at Boiling Rock on the off chance his father would arrive, thus making Suki and Zuko feel obligated to stay behind with him, effectively putting all of them in danger. What an entitled decision, risking his friends’ lives on the 0.01% chance Hakoda would be one of the many, many possible war prisoners arriving at Boiling Rock!

Damn. That sounds ridiculous as fuck, doesn’t it?

And guess what. That’s exactly how the “Aang was entitled” arguments come across. Hate to break it to you. Trust me when I say to do yourself a favor and stop perpetuating that faulty rhetoric!

So that is what I have already assessed, lol.

To be frank, the most frustrating thing I see perpetuated is that the EIP kiss somehow ruined Aang and Katara’s relationship. But when it comes to assessing weighty issues like the notion of “entitlement” in a relationship, the fact of the matter is that you have to look at both the relationship as a whole and the context in which it is situated. Opponents never want to do that, because doing so debunks their entire (baseless) argument, lmao. Katara and Aang are best friends. And by EIP, they have both expressed romantic interest in each other multiple times. (Here is a post explaining the development of Katara’s feelings for Aang, just to put out that fire before anyone sets it lmao.)

So why, why do opponents think Katara would never find it in herself to forgive Aang for a mistaken kiss? Katara is shown over and over again throughout the series to have one of the biggest hearts. She wants to see the good in people. That’s why she gives Jet a second chance (even though a person could argue he did not “deserve” one); that’s why she helps the Fire Nation village in “The Painted Lady”; that’s why she forgives Pakku (once she sees he’s willing to change); that’s why she is the second person in the entire show (excluding Iroh) to offer Zuko a hand of kindness (in CoD)! That’s why she eventually forgives Zuko, even after all he has done to the Gaang (e.g. sending an assassin after them, being complicit in Aang’s death, attacking her and kidnapping Aang at the NWT, manipulating her with her mother’s necklace, to name a few, lmao. bless his heart, but like Jet, someone could easily argue Zuko doesn’t “deserve” another chance - and yet Katara still gave him [and Jet] one. in fact, she gave Zuko multiple).

In other words, Katara is almost always willing to extend friendship and compassion and forgiveness to others - why would she revoke that privilege from Aang after a single error that is comparatively lesser to all the other horrible things she’s experienced in the war? Again, I’m not downplaying how terrible of a decision Aang made. It’s inexcusable. But it’s not the end of the world, and considering the context of the show (e.g. Aang and Katara liked each other and they both knew it), it’s… not some heinous crime. Compared to, oh, how about attempted murder? lmaoo

Even beyond Katara’s innate kindness, Aang is Katara’s best friend. She loves him. The show portrays it as romantic through the seasons, but even if someone isn’t into shipping (which is super valid), Katara and Aang’s connection is one of the primary lynchpins of the show! (The other being Aang and Zuko, the greatest foils of all time.) Katara and Aang epitomize several of A:TLA’s thematics (and aesthetics) because they are complementary: yin and yang, push and pull, Tui and La, moon and ocean, blue and orange, water and air. This gifset and related commentary beautifully demonstrate how even when Katara and Aang disagree, they respect the other’s the decision. So after 60~ episodes depicting Aang and Katara as having mutual respect and love for each other in every form as well as emphasizing Katara’s natural inclination towards kindness/giving people the benefit of the doubt, opponents still think Katara wouldn’t forgive Aang because of one mistimed, inappropriate kiss? What?? Make it make sense, lmao.

In sum, the kiss was a mistake, not an act of entitlement, and it’s absurd to think Katara would hold that against Aang for the rest of his life.

To backtrack a bit, opponents also love to use the fact that Aang asked Katara several questions about their relationship status as examples of his “entitlement.” Just typing that out highlights the ridiculous nature of this assertion, lmao! Let me rephrase it for maximum hilarity:

“Aang was unsure about where their relationship stood? Well, how dare he ask numerous questions to resolve his confusion!”

Like, what was the alternative jskfajksdas if you are in relationship limbo with someone, it is far better to ask them ‘too many’ questions for clarification than to simply assume one way or the other! Kissing Katara was wrong, flat-out, but asking her questions to better understand where they were in their relationship was like. exactly the right decision, lmao. I genuinely don’t see how that could be indicative of entitlement? Especially because, once again, Aang and Katara both like each other and they both know that by this point in the show. That’s why Aang doesn’t ask if Katara likes him - he knows she does. That’s why Katara doesn’t negate her feelings - she knows she’s interested in him, and the blockade between them is not a lack of reciprocation, but the fact that they’re “in the middle of a war” and consequently it’s not “the right time” for them to begin a relationship. Katara has seen Aang die before! She knows he’s facing a near-impossible victory! I can’t blame her for not wanting to start a relationship with him at that point. It would hurt twice as much to lose him again if they were together in a romantic fashion (amatonormativity, am I right?). Again, Aang’s kiss was entirely inappropriate, but him asking her questions about their relationship is a) an example of fostering healthy communication and b) what any therapist would encourage, lol.

Oh, but I’m “forgetting” something, aren’t I? Right. This line:

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

If we want to talk about parallels, which I know the A:TLA fandom adores, this line sounds suspiciously like:

Yue: … but I like you [Sokka] too much and it’s too confusing to be around you.

Yue and Katara are actually in similar situations here. Outside forces are interfering with their relationships; for Yue, there is her arranged marriage, and for Katara, it’s the life-or-death nature of the war itself. They aren’t confused about their feelings, as Yue knows she likes Sokka and Katara knows she likes Aang, but they are confused about how to reconcile those feelings with their external circumstances. And can you blame them for that? They are facing impossible decisions (the fate of their nation and the fate of the world respectively). I would be confused, too! So Katara’s response isn’t a reaction to any so-called “entitlement” from Aang; she is experiencing genuine confusion about how to approach her own feelings for him in the midst of a war.

In sum, Aang asking questions about their relationship was a logical step to take resolving his confusion and is in no way related to “entitlement.” Katara’s confusion was not “letting Aang down easy” and interpreting it as such requires disregarding every preceding line of the conversation and its context.

As you can see, Aang’s actions in EIP are not at all “entitled.” His questions were understandable. While his kiss was inappropriate and inexcusable, it was also a mistake, and there is no canon evidence to support the conclusion Katara would never be able to forgive him (her literal best friend!) for it.

Before I end, I’ll touch briefly upon the DotBS kiss, because it is also occasionally used as an example of Aang’s “entitlement” towards Katara’s feelings. Whether you like the trope or not, this moment falls under what is called the “Now or Never Kiss.” TV Tropes actually lists Kataang/DotBS as an example under the Western Animation tab:

“Avatar: The Last Airbender: The fact that he’s finally going to face the dreaded Firelord, and possibility that he might not come back alive from that battle, gives Aang enough motivation to kiss Katara.”

Again, whether you like the trope or not, it involves reciprocation from both parties:

“The Not-A-Couple [i.e. both parties] don’t want to go out without revealing how they [i.e. both parties] really feel. It’s now or never. They kiss.”

Katara and Aang both like each other. When Aang initiates the DotBS kiss, Katara kisses him back. Her lips are still puckered when he pulls away. Furthermore, Katara had initiated a kiss with Aang prior to this incident, in CoTL. Katara was also the one to initiate every cheek kiss with Aang (who is the only character she ever demonstrated such affection towards). So Aang kissing Katara during DotBS follows an established precedent of Katara initiating different kisses, romantically inclined, with Aang. It’s not entitlement; it’s him knowing they mutually like each other and him realizing this might be the last time he ever sees her. Again, you can hate the trope, but don’t blatantly misconstrue its meaning. You’ll sound like Fire Nation propaganda, lmao. (For clarification, jic: the general you. not anon!)

Here is a fantastic post by @imreallyhereforkataang explaining the DotBS kiss in more detail as well as discussing why Kataang’s progression in the second half of Book 3 was, in fact, well-developed, and how Katara and Aang are best friends above all else and know that (which was the core of their relationship from the start).

And a bonus fun fact: in the original storyboard (link takes you to storyboarder Giancarlo Volpe’s DeviantArt with said storyboard), it is noted that Katara smiles after Aang kisses her. Why? Because she likes him as much as he likes her! It was changed by a “higher authority,” according to Volpe, probably to add more realism to the romance (i.e. Katara likes Aang, yes, but as she herself points out in EIP - there’s a war going on, and love is always terrifying to reconcile with war).

(Seriously, though, do read Volpe’s description on the storyboard. Takes you a second to scroll down and maybe a minute to read. Short yet informative, discussing how you can see on the storyboard itself that someone revised the image so Katara isn’t smiling after the kiss.)

Anyways! Opponents’ argument that Katara wasn’t interested in Aang therefore is and has always been entirely inapplicable.

To conclude: the entitlement assertion is laughable. There is no canon evidence to support it. As such, I encourage you to laugh whenever you see it! Pull an Azula, for that matter:

[ID: Gif from “The Beach” episode of A:TLA. Ty Lee, mimicking a guy, asks Azula, “Hey there sweet sugar cakes. How ya likin’ this party?” Azula proceeds to burst into exaggerated laughter, earning stares from everyone else at the party. End ID.]

Thank you for the great ask, anon! Hopefully my response was satisfactory 💛

#surprise friends!! a kataang analysis!! i probably will not write any others until may 💀#kataang #kataangtag #aang #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla meta #amy answers #anon #amy analyzes

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