#well I say 'reliable' but it was still horrendous

[david-watts]

I just remembered in grade nine geography on like day one the teacher was discussing how different things are affected from country to country and somehow we landed on ‘what factors would affect the size of a country’s military’ and I asked whether wealth would affect it and the teacher went ‘NO because china isn’t a rich country and they’ve got the second largest military in the world’ anyway at the time I thought she was wrong but didn’t think to fact check. she was wrong. good riddance that she quit a fortnight later though lol

[777bae]

F1 FEMALE DRIVER HEADCANONS PT2

PAIRING… f1 x driver!reader | WC… 1.2k | Masterlist

➭ You were signed with PREMA team in f3 and f2 and were previously on the mercedes young drivers training scheme and so that helped guide you into an f1 seat.

➭ I reckon you started off in a pretty lowkey team, something like Haas or Toro Rosso. You would quickly move up the ranks and managed to sign a deal with Mercedes in 2021 to work alongside Lewis. You find Mercedes a comfortable and reliable team, even with a few rocky seasons, but you are prepared to risk it all.

➭ In regards to first impressions, I’d say you left quite a strong and unique impression on every driver in different ways.

➭ Lando’s first impression of you was way back from when they were still karting. He had initially found you quite aggressive as he first met you on the track, but once he was able to have a conversation with you, he found you to be a sweet girl who was willing to risk it all for her dreams.

➭ Seb’s first impression of you was of great pride. He had already heard about the young girl who was swiftly climbing up the hierarchy of motorsport and so he was almost honoured to finally meet you. He found you to be a strong and empowering woman, fighting to keep herself in a world full of powerful men and so he found you quite inspiring.

➭ You are Carlos immediately clicked. Maybe it was the way in which he introduced himself by kicking open your driver room door before the first race, or how you just immediately found every little thing you both did hilarious. You’ve valued him as an older brother since the day you first met.

➭ Your first ever interaction with George was one in which you crashed straight into him in a karting race. To say that left a bad impression would be an understatement. From that day on he would despise you and you, of course, would reciprocate the hatred due to your endless amounts of pride. Over time, and the constant races where you raced each other, you eventually grew fond of each other. Maybe it was the endless amounts of forced proximity, everyone knowing of your rivalry and so constantly partnering you together just to witness the arguments. But somehow, you both managed to overcome the grudge.

➭ Logan’s first impression of you wasn’t too great. You had heard about his pride in being American before the season and so you thought it would be a great idea to play the pledge of allegiance when he walked into the room. Well, to cut the story short he was not very impressed. It took you awhile to redeem yourself but you eventually managed to win him over after buying him a large amount of his favourite snack.

➭ Lewis initially found you to be a very funny girl. He hadn’t realised how nervous you were to meet him and so led you to crack every joke possible to try and make a great first impression, which obviously worked. He basically took you in as one of his own, taking you out to dinner after a good race, or buying you chocolate whilst you’re on your period. But overall, you would say you made quite a good impression.

➭ Alex’s first impression of you was amazing. He had met you at a go karting race and, for some reason, he found you absolutely hilarious. Maybe it was the way you practically tripped over and fell straight into him, causing you to both hit the floor. But anyways, you two hit it off great and have just been each other’s idiots since day 1.

➭ You and Oscar had both heard of each other before actually meeting as you were both signed to PREMA, a team that’s below f1. So you had already gained some sort of respect for each other, only to be lost in the video challenge you had been partnered up to do. A dance challenge. To say it was a disaster wouldn’t honour it’s stupidity enough. It was horrendous, an absolute piss take you’d say. But everyone else enjoyed your two’s suffering, especially the director. So much so that she extended the filming as throughout the entire video you can hear staff members crying with laughter in the background. Needless to say, you and Oscar bonded quite well from that traumatic experience and so grew quite close.

➭ You and Daniel hit it off instantly. He was and still is a warm and welcoming soul and so that’s how you believe you loved him from day 1. You met at your first interview of the season and he, obviously noticing how nervous you are, made sure to give you a warm hug in hopes of calming you. That didn’t really help but still, it was the principle that warmed your heart.

➭ Pierre’s first impression of you was quite strange. He didn’t quite know what to make of you. A strange young girl, who managed to climb up the ranks who acted so strangely. Although, I don’t think it helped that the first time you ever met was when you were in the middle of dressing up as a clown for a video. He was quite bewildered and so tried his best to avoid you but ultimately it was inevitable. You eventually caught onto him and forced him to have a conversation with you and from that moment on he loved you.

➭ You are extremely well known for your embarrassing moments, having the majority of them, somehow, caught on camera. Your fellow drivers continuously hound you for the amount of times you’ve done stuff and you just have to stand there and take it with a brave face. You’d say your most embarrassing moment EVER with a driver would be when you and Lando had to dress up as your favourite animal, you as a giraffe and Lando as an elephant, and then perform a dance, whilst also singing, in front of a camera. And, amazingly luckily for you, the team principals just happened to walk past and witnessed this all. You both never managed to live this down as Toto managed to take a video of you two and posted it to millions of fans. To say you were embarrassed wouldn’t be enough, you were horrified.

➭ Your favourite moment of your entire career is when the 2022 drivers all went out for dinner, which Lewis paid for. You all grew closer within those few hours as you learnt more about each other and the hardships in which you went through. The food was great as well and so you always love reminiscing about that moment

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[talkingpointsusa]

Michael Knowles floats an insane theory that Trump intentionally tries to get people to make fun of him on TikTok so that they associate him with “humor and delight”

If there's one thing you should take away from this blog, it's that the Daily Wire is a horrendous news source. Even for them though, Michael Knowles manages to constantly outdo himself in the realm of being an absolute idiot.

So, right-wing media has all decided that the racist myth about Haitians eating pets is 100% true. Myths like these are dangerous and will absolutely get somebody killed in a hate crime. As a matter of fact, Springfield Ohio has already been the target of bomb threats that have led to hospitals being put on lockdown and schools being evacuated. This rhetoric being pushed by the right-wing media right now is legitimately dangerous and it might end up killing somebody.

Nobody has shown a proven case of pet eating actually happening but that hasn't stopped the right-wing media from trying to prove that this rumor is totally factual. This brings us back to Michael Knowles being an absolute dipstick.

02:22, Michael Knowles: "Do Haitians eat cats? That is the question that has implausibly come to dominate our political discourse in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election. Liberal politicians and journalists, such as David Muir, say they don't. But Haitians say that they do. Like this second generation Haitian American in a video reposted by Elon Musk."

So, the TikTok video that Michael and Elon Musk are holding up as proof that Haitian immigrants are eating pets is an absolute nothing-burger. In the video, this person who claims to be a second generation Haitian immigrant explains that her dad told her that Haitian's eat dogs and cats during voodoo rituals.

If you're wondering how this proves anything, it doesn't. This is some "my friends cousins great uncles dog told me" type bullshit and it still isn't an actual example of a Haitian eating a pet. Michael loves this video though because it confirms him and the rights little racist narrative.

04:06, Michael Knowles: "The political nerd class hated that President Trump brought up Haitians eating cats at the presidential debate. I disagree -- I disagree with their revulsion. This is one of Trump's greatest political skills, he can translate complex frequently dry policy issues into vivid images."

So, Trump can spread racist lies and demonize minority groups effectively, got it. I don't think Michael realizes this, but creating moral panics out of nothing is an extremely bad thing. Those "vivid images" are going to lead to a hate crime!

Also, "the political nerd class". I guess I'm also one of those guys but come on Michael, you run a politics podcast. You're one of us! Embrace the nerd Mikey!

Michael does an extremely long ad for razors and comes back with more xenophobic BS.

06:55, Michael Knowles: "Do the Haitians eat cats and dogs? I -- not all Haitians. That lady, a second generation Haitian American, she obviously doesn't eat cats and dogs and she doesn't practice voodoo and she's Christian. But do some of these people, unvetted, from a failed state where there's rampant cannibalism and ubiquitous voodoo, do these people eat cats and dogs? TikTok has weighed in. One of the top trends on TikTok right now, I am reliably informed by my Zoomer associates, is this remix of President Trumps debate comments."

I guess when you have no evidence to back up what you're saying you might as well throw some remix on TikTok in there as evidence.

The reason why Haiti is a "failed state" is because they've been continuously punished for their freedom by western nations like France and the United States. They literally were forced to pay "reparations" to France for their freedom from slavery, a process which took centuries for Haiti to pay off. There's years of history there and none of these guys ever get into it. It's just pure ignorant ahistorical bigotry and it ticks me off.

According to the World Religions Database, 94.26% of Haitians practice a form of Christianity with the majority being Catholic. It's almost as if those scary minorities aren't so different from you or I and it's racism that's leading to these ridiculous rumors spreading around the internet.

07:47, Michael Knowles: "I was discussing this yesterday with my friend Jack Posobiec on his show and he raised the question, he said 'This trend going around on TikTok, all these Zoomers dancing around to eat the dogs eat the cats. Is this good for Trump? Is this pro-Trump or is this anti-Trump?' And that's the wrong question. This is the kind of question that you'll hear in elementary poetry classes. You know, 'what does the poem mean'. People don't really read a lot of poetry anymore, I like poetry but they'll look at the poem and they'll say 'Ok, what's the hidden meaning'. But that's not what poetry does. The reason that good poets write poetry is to convey meaning in a way that it cannot be conveyed in an essay or a book or a tweet. It's just a different way of communicating."

And the award for dumbest metaphor goes to Michael Knowles.

First of all, Michael clearly doesn't know anything about poetry. If he did he would understand that subtext and metaphor are huge elements of poetry. From the sounds of this, the way that Michael interacts with poetry is the most shallow and surface level way imaginable. Michael's mind is going to be blown when he learns about poetic irony.

Trump isn't a poet, he's somebody trying to be a world leader. The standard for honesty is obviously way higher for the guy trying to be a world leader. Trump can't just spread an untrue rumor about a group of people to "paint an image in peoples heads". Millions of people are listening to him and spreading rumors when you're in a position like that is extremely dangerous.

09:20, Michael Knowles: "The memes just kind of delight you and I think that's the experience people are having. The zoomers who are dancing to this and the many many many more people who are -- who are watching these reels and these little TikTok's. You watch it and you kind of laugh and it's just kind of funny, it's delightful. You have a sensory experience of surprise, of humor, of delight, and then you associate those things with Trump. Trump is the medium of those experiences."

Well, I guess I'm going to keep making fun of Michael Knowles on this blog and if he protests we should remind him that he's the medium of those experiences which means that it's actually a good thing that we're making fun of him. After a while we'll start to associate him with humor and delight after all.

That's one way to deal with everyone making fun of your candidate I guess.

"Oh ya?! Well, when you're laughing at him for being a moron he's still the reason that you're laughing in the first place! Ha! You're gonna be Trump supporters before you know it!"

And that conveyance is happening through TikTok's. Things that people famously spend a lot of time watching individually as opposed to scrolling through them at rapid speeds while only giving them half of their attention. Michael Knowles is truly a brilliant political strategist.

10:05, Michael Knowles: "Frankly, I strongly suspect this is what inclined Trump to bring it up during the debate at all."

Yes, it couldn't possibly be because Trump is a racist lunatic. He's playing 4-D chess by....tricking people into making fun of him I guess.

10:42, Michael Knowles: "And what's the consequence of that? If there is a downstream political effect it's going to be people realizing that Trump is not, you know, Hitler 2.0, he's just kind of -- he's like a funny guy, you know? Hitler wasn't that funny, I don't know, I'm not totally familiar with Hitler but he was always screaming and banging the lectern."

Ah yes, spreading a racist myth about a marginalized group of people is a great way to distance yourself from fascist leaders like Hitler. It's not like that's been one of the main elements of every fascist regime ever.

Also, really really stupid analysis of the Nazi's from Michael. I guess that fascists are physically incapable of being funny. There's a genetic trait in fascists that make them physically incapable of cracking a good joke....actually, I've watched Republican comedy so maybe this sarcastic diatribe has some truth to it. Still, really dumb stuff here.

Michael then plays a video of some MAGA lunatic at a city council meeting spewing a racist rant about Haitians. Michael then does an advert for his own YouTube channel and goes back into being a bigot.

18:47, Michael Knowles: "Now, the minute I say that I know that the Democrat activists who watch my show every single day and who subscribe to the Daily Wire to do it, they're gonna start writing their headlines. Michael Knowles spreads misinformation, false news, fake news, about illegal aliens voting in elections. It does not happen, this is not real, it's a calumny. Well, what do you make of this news report aired on a CBS affiliate?"

Yeah, hi Michael. I guess I'm one of those guys that he's talking about. I don't subscribe to the Daily Wire though, I'm not giving these grifters a red cent (I also couldn't afford it even if I wanted to but that's an entirely separate issue, #collegestudentlyfe and all that).

So, the CBS News report that Michael played is about an undocumented immigrant by the name of Angelica Maria Francisco who was caught forging a passport and voting in two elections illegally. Here's the thing about this story, Michael should've buried it.

If there's indeed a controlled plan on the Democrats end to smuggle migrants into the country to vote in elections, how come the big scary Biden DOJ proceeded to catch and arrest this woman?

Just because there was one migrant who committed voter fraud once doesn’t mean that there’s a major scale democrat plot to bus migrants in to vote illegally. We don’t even know who she voted for in those elections, for all we know she voted for Trump or even Jill Stein. There's a lot of assumptions being made here on Michael's end.

19:54, Michael Knowles: "That's one woman in Alabama, not exactly a swing-state. One person who's been prosecuted. Now, there are many more examples of this that are reported, this is just the latest one. But you know what the libs are gonna say, they're gonna say 'Oh, you know. This is just a one off'. Well, we don't really investigate this sort of thing. By definition this is a very difficult crime to pin down. It's an act of deception that half of our country and most of our political class is intentionally obscuring. The reason that the libs are importing these foreigners into our country is to rig elections in the long run, many have said that openly, so it's hard to figure it out."

"We don't really investigate this sort of thing" he said while talking about someone being prosecuted and charged for doing the thing that he says we don't investigate. I'd love to see those videos of top politicos admitting that they're intentionally bringing in migrants to rig elections by the way. Michael never plays them so either they're not real or the Daily Wire is sitting on the biggest story in decades.

I'm not denying that people have attempted voter fraud in the past. What I am denying is that there's a widespread conspiracy on the part of the Democrats to bring in migrants to rig elections. That's great replacement theory nonsense that's contradicted by the story that Michael's reporting on.

20:56, Michael Knowles: "If you are illegally in this country and you need to get a false document to get a job, which is not true, many times you can just get the job without a false document but lets say that's why, why would you imperil your freedom, your ability to skirt the law even, by going to vote? And then if you're voting why would you specifically vote in these presidential election years, 2016 and 2020? Do you think someone maybe suggested that she do that?"

There a million different reasons. Maybe she just wanted to be a part of the political process. Maybe she just did it because that's what people do around that time and it helps you blend in. That explains why she'd vote in the presidential elections as opposed to the congressional ones. Think about it, if she was a Democrat operative wouldn't it make more sense to vote in the Alabama congressional elections as opposed to the Presidential elections? You're way more likely to get a Democrat into the senate in Alabama than turn Alabama blue. That's another issue, why would the Democrats import all of the illegal voters into Alabama as opposed to a swing-state. You're not going to flip Alabama but you might flip Michigan. Michael's story might as well be called swiss cheese with all the holes its got.

Anyway, this voter fraud story is just dumb and doesn't really have anything backing it up. Most of the remainder of the episode is devoted to Michael complaining about an article in the Washington Post. It's a filler segment that is not worth our time.

Conclusion:

The cope was hard in this episode. I will say that "He's intentionally trying to get people to make fun of him, really guys we promise" is a new one and I don't think that Michael's going to get very far with it. Since Candace Owens left, Michael Knowles is the new reigning champ for dumbest Daily Wire guy with Matt Walsh as most disgusting and Ben Shapiro as most irritating. Glad to see that he's holding on to his title in this episode.

Cheers and I'll see you in the next one.

Sources Cited:

Helmore, Edward. “More Bomb Threats Hit Springfield, Ohio, after Trump Elevates False Claims about Haitians.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 14 Sept. 2024.

Bhatia, Pooja. “US-Backed Foreign Intervention Has Led to the Disaster in Haiti.” The Guardian, 19 Oct. 2022.

Rosalsky, Greg. ““The Greatest Heist in History”: How Haiti Was Forced to Pay Reparations for Freedom.” NPR, 5 Oct. 2021.

“National Profiles | World Religion.” Www.thearda.com.

“Undocumented Individual Charged in Connection with Voting Fraud and Passport Fraud.” Justice.gov, 5 Sept. 2024.

[doorhine]

I know that not everyone on here, who lives in the US, will be of voting age next year and I hope that you’re getting (and spreading) information from reliable sources beyond this site. But I need those of you who see this to listen to these people and understand what they’re going through right now. I need you to recognize they’re not the only ones who feel this way and are fed up with how our system works. There are people who could articulate this better than I can and while I’d like to think the words of those I’m trying to uplift right now speak for themselves, I know that won’t be the case for everyone.

I’ve seen Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim people get so much hate for not wanting to vote for the man who is currently supporting their genocide, the deaths of their family members, and Islamophobia in general (including all it’s victims whether or not they are actually Muslim). I need those of you who still have a “vote blue no matter who” sentiment to understand how unreasonable and callous it is for you to expect them (and other people, especially poc who are fed up with this) to vote (again) for Biden because Trump will be “worse”. They are not stupid. They are fed up and they’re not the only ones.

A lot of people voted for Biden last time, including people in this video, (solely) for the sake of getting Trump out of office and look where that got us, both inside and outside the US. None of us want Trump in office but to act like Biden and the genocide he and his administration are supporting (and the other policies they seek to create and continue enforcing to keep this country the way it’s been since it’s inception) are the “lesser of two evils” is a horrendous and dangerous sentiment to have. Genocide is not and will never be the lesser of two evils. I can’t explain how, not below the bar, but nonexistent the bar is to have that frame of mind.

And for those of you who don’t know, I once again want to draw your attention to Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia who are running for president and vice president this coming election and are actually supporting and speaking out for Palestine amongst other important causes. We have an alternative and while I know this site isn’t and shouldn’t be the place where you get all your information, I was there when people turned out for Biden as well as Bernie as a third party (who also supports Israel btw) in previous elections. I know we can and should give these candidates some traction here and elsewhere.  

The Palestinian people have asked us to uplift their voices and work with them, in whatever way we can, to stop this ongoing genocide being committed against them. And I know they have not asked us to vote for Biden who is currently doing this to them along with Israel. They’ve asked us to believe in what we’re doing and can achieve together. To have hope that there will be, not just a ceasefire, but a free and decolonized Palestine. And I feel like for those of you who are trying to do this work, but can’t extend that same belief and hope in a third party who can help this cause, when we actually have a good option beyond two people, two parties who don’t give a shit about us… I feel like you’ve already started to give up. 

Sorry I can’t be “nice” about this, but if you’ve watched the video, read all of this, truly care about what’s going on and choose not to spread awareness on these candidates and support them because your feelings were hurt… I don’t think you’re in this for the right reasons. 

Plus I know those of you who want us to "vote blue no matter who" aren't being "nice" or considerate when you call people stupid or say they're allowing fascism to rise for not wanting to vote for fascists who are also maintaining the genocide against Indigenous and Black people that's been going on since the beginning of this country amongst many other forms of oppression.

For those of you who get it and weren’t aware of these candidates, I hope you spread awareness about them and keep doing what you’re able to do to support Palestine, push for a ceasefire and ultimately decolonization. We’ve built up a lot of momentum so far and we need to keep going. 

The link I put on De la Cruz and Garcia is to their twitter page.

Here is another link to their website.

[lurking-latinist]

For the meta for writers questions, 1, 3, 8, and 20!

Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Ah, the Ace Longfic! Which still doesn't have a title to itself. It is supposed to be like ten chapters but will probably be more than that, and I'm in chapter four! I'm trying not to talk about it too much online because then I won't want to write the actual thing, but without spoilers, it's a series of solo adventures for Ace that explore her parallels with/similarity to the Doctor. I'm trying to actually write full adventures and I'm having fun coming up with interesting characters for her to meet. Plot less so, but we'll get there.

Since she is on her own and filling the Doctor's shoes, I've found she works less and less well as a POV character. So I'm writing from the perspectives of people she meets along the way, which also allows me to show how she's growing and changing and getting weirder (as she should). My current POV character is a wet-behind-the-ears military officer posted to an isolated space station where secret scientific experiments are being done. I'm sure you can guess whether the scientific experiments go wrong or not. My young officer has to step up and make complex moral judgment calls (which she does not want to do but discovers she will if she has to) when both her superiors get their brains taken over.

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Hahaha I always do just write it anyway! That's why I have so many ficlets. The things I dream about and don't write are the big sprawling daydream AUs that won't distil into one scene.

Oh fine OK I do have one key scene but the reason I haven't written it is because no one will have any idea what it's all about. Remember you asked for this! This is from the viewpoint of an agent of the Gallifreyan CIA who's been spying on the Seventh Doctor during the events of the novel Set Piece.

--

It's a shame to see a good agent--never reliable, but brilliant at his best--end up in such a state. A shame, but not surprising. He's not the first agent to end his career like this and he won't be the last, especially being a renegade as he is. They know from his file that nine centuries' hard living has put him in his seventh body already. Most of his career he's believed he was defying the Agency. Some of it he actually was. They've retrofitted quite a bit of their timeline planning around his entirely unauthorized interventions--and it's always turned out better than you'd hope. Now he's stranded, sponging off an old friend, health broken, nerves shot all to pieces. He's lost that TARDIS of his--gossip says they'd grown hopelessly into each other--if she's dead he'll have a horrendous psychic wound. Perhaps that's even the root of what ails him; perhaps that's the reason he's drinking French wine laced with opium at ten o'clock in the morning local time. Not much else he can hope to do for it, not without a Gallifreyan medic. And he won't come home, they know that too. He'll wither away there, jumping at shadows, country servant-girls pitying him, before he'll come home and be properly looked after. Some of the agents think he can't anymore; after so long away, they say, he can't take his place in Gallifrey's telepathic web. The closest he can get, now, is the buzz and chatter of human voices around him. They note how he haunts the kitchens. He's made a wreck of his lives and fortunes, probably his ship as well. He's reduced to drifting about in the local skirmish called the Franco-Prussian War--a purely human conflict, not even a branch of the War, which would be something--and he isn't even doing anything there. He's serving as a dreadful warning to young agents: the renegade life may seem exciting but this is how it ends. There's some suggestion they should inform Cardinal Braxiatel. If you want to speak to him, you should do it soon. Before nineteenth-century drugs and living on his nerves and the loss of his ship and the unknown wound in his shoulder he keeps rubbing take their toll. Even the humans say he isn't quite all there. And wherever else it is he's going, it's somewhere the CIA can't reach.

--

It's a weird book, Set Piece. Don't worry, Seven has a very complicated plan going behind all this. But he does have something of a breakdown. It ends up being quite cathartic for him actually. (He's drinking the drugged wine because someone else is drugging it and he doesn't want them to know that he knows. He claims.)

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

I like to read the sort of thing I write, certainly! (Although there's some things I've written that I'm pretty sure if someone else had written them I'd find hopelessly saccharine.) But there's also things I like to read that I could never write. Novel-length fics, for sure, I really appreciate but don't write; I also love a good pastiche of a book series with a strong authorial voice, but avoid doing them myself, after a really harrowing experience doing cod-Pratchett. (Although I had a really fun time doing that Stevenson-in-space bit. Maybe I just need the amount of distance provided by an AU to enjoy doing author pastiches? I should try space!Aubrey-Maturin sometime and see if that'll do it.)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

These questions assume I don't shove all that in the notes already! :P

Oh yeah, I did do a bit of research for that Hornblower fic that I forgot to put in the notes! I wondered whether the superstition that it's bad luck to toast in water was old enough for the characters to think of it. The few minutes of research I did were pretty inconclusive, actually--one source did say it originated in the Royal Navy but didn't say when, which was not very useful to me, but I decided it at least sounds old enough that I could project it back to the 1800s. Apparently the superstition is specifically that someone who drinks a toast in water will die by drowning, which... well, both of them avoid that at least....

[rubdown]

is boyd a bruce springsteen or a billy joel fan? (assuming there can be only one) what about raylan.

Ok complete and total honesty... I am not familiar with Billy Joel's music (except the mega hits and even then) or his lore (except that he was married to Katie Lee from Food Network's horrendous talk show THE KITCHEN) to either confirm or deny if Boyd OR Raylan would be a fan of his. I like the idea of both of them NOT liking him... they're like not this New York City yank...

Whereas BRUCE is a respectable yankee from New Jersey. I feel like Boyd and Raylan are both huge Springsteenheads and perhaps even connected over that early in their tenuous friendship, but they come at their interest in him and his music from different angles. For instance, they would've been about 14 years old when Born in the U.S.A. dropped. The first time Boyd saw the album art, with Bruce Springsteen's hot n sexy butt in his blue jeans and white t-shirt - it was very affirming for him like, yeah, that's what I thought. Meanwhile it scared Raylan, that sort of masculine sexuality on display, terrified that somebody might think it was for his gaze. At this point, too, it probably blasted Boyd's mind wide open about like his poor, working class identity and how he's already set up to fail as his daddy failed as his daddy's daddy failed. He's only a boy!!!!!!!! Raylan gets horny to I'm On Fire but tries to fight it off. He's only a boy!!!!!!

But still, maybe when teen Boyd gives teen Raylan a lift to and from school for the first time - it was a last resort for Raylan to ask Boyd Crowder of all people, but he'd gone through his very short list of reliable possibilities and gotten turned down by all of them. Except one. Johnny Crowder's weird little all black wearing cousin, who'd just acquired his own truck a few weeks ago, about the same time Raylan's junked out on him. The ride to school is quiet, awkward in a way Raylan doesn't normally feel around people he knows. Not that he knows Boyd well, at this point, but he's on a first name basis with him. Then Boyd fiddles with the dials, and the radio's playing Hungry Heart. He hesitates, like Raylan is gonna be judgmental if he keeps it on. But then Raylan says, "fuckin love Springsteen." And Boyd's face lights up, crooked teeth showing, says, "yeah, me too."

AND THEN TUNNEL OF LOVE COMES OUT WHEN THEY'RE 17??????? It's over for them... they're young in love and Springsteenpilled within an inch of their lives!!!

Another thing. From this article: The butchness Springsteen wears covers up hurt and vulnerability like a soft t-shirt under a leather jacket. Boyd and Raylan both do this, in their ways. Raylan more obviously with his hat and his entire cowboysona, hiding under that to keep away the feelings about his past and his trauma and the hurt he's done and the hurt that's been done to him. Boyd joined the army AFTER he and Raylan dug coal together at 19!!!!!! He was sort of forced into it, wearing a persona that others kept placing on his shoulders for him, telling him he's a bad man and he'll never be better. Both of them put on this masculinity to protect themselves from different things, and ultimately, those things boil down to - each other, and how they feel about one another, and how they could feel if they could slough it off and be vulnerable. They will and must fuck again!!!!!!!!

[thispit-thelame]

Pokemon White Nuzlocke: Attempt One

Episode 1.1: Third Time’s the Charm

Level Cap: 14

Well, lol. It has indeed been a little bit since my first post where I set the stage for this nuzlocke, and while I’d like to say that it was because I was making great progress with it and just haven’t found the time to post it all, it was not. I bought Elden Ring in the steam sale, and as I feared it would, it has ate my waking life whenever I’m not busy with work and such. Very very good game lol.

That being said I have finally completed my first leg of the nuzlocke and beat the first gym, though it wasn’t without a few false starts. Guess that this means this isn’t actually attempt one but eh, I’m the archivist here. First attempt was going fine enough but I accidentally killed my route 2 encounter, a Patrat, with a crit, and then my Lilipup I caught on route 1 died to me having to sacrifice them to a bide using Patrat in the first gym which I didn’t know they knew, and Lilipup hit a crit turn one. Already down two encounters I decided to just reset. Second attempt saw me losing to Cheren in the first room so that was another automatic reset. But the third attempt? Third time’s the charm baby.

I chose Oshowatt as my starter, if only because water is usually a safe option when it comes to starters. Waterfall/Surf (usually) being guaranteed via TM/HM means you’ll have at least one very strong STAB move to help carry you through the game, especially if you can get some set up going beforehand.

My Route 1 encounter was yet again a Lilipup, which I named Pickles. Thankfully, I know from other nuzlocke of other generations I have done, Pickles is a pretty decent catch. STAB return/double-edge, in additon to other strong physical moves, and the fact that Stoutland is surprisingly bulky means its a jack of all trades, of a sort. The fact that it can have the ability intimidate too makes it amazing for nuzlockes. Unfortunately, Pickles has Vital Spirit as an ability, which will turn into Sand Stream when they evolve. But hey, they’re still pretty good, and absolute miles above my next encounter.

Route 2 we get through just fine, but our encounter is a Patrat named Chestnut. There’s no nice way to put it; Patrat sucks. It sucks so much lol. The only thing it has going for it is STAB tackle and bide, which are pretty much useless after the first gym or so, and Patrat really doesn’t have the stats to use anything but bide for reliable damage, and that’s a horrendous idea for a nuzlocke.

Both Bianca and N fall easily to the mighty beast that is Pickles, as does Cheren soon after with the help of the gift Pansear named Broiler we were gifted in the Dreamyard. From there it was a straight shot to the gym leader Cilian. 

This was a mildly scary fight as Cilian was able to set up a couple workups, but we get through this deathless, but not without a close call. Cilian leads lilipup as we lead Chestnut. We get off three leers while Cilian thankfully only gets a tackle, and then two work ups off. From there it was a swap to Pickles who took their mirror out just fine. Pansage comes out next and since I don’t believe that Pickles will be able to take them out before it gets a bunch of scary stat boosts, I stay in for a turn to hit a tail whip to lower its defenses while Pansage goes for the expected work up. I decide to stay in for one more turn and hit a tackle since Pickles can take a hit, and Pansage retaliates with a critical hit vine whip which we barely survive. I need to swap here so its off to Broiler who I realize made the tail whip pointless thanks to incinerate being a special move, but like 4 incinerates later due to Cilian healing, Broiler who resists vine whip takes out the grass monkey no problem, winning us the badge.

This is the team so far. I’m proud of how they performed in the gym but I’m hoping we can get some other options quickly because lol Chestnut, sorry bud, you’re certainly not a powerhouse.

Post Script:

If this was twitter I would’ve interspersed the thread with a few thoughts/explanations on the game/story so far and what strategies I was going for or what I was planning. I figure if i just leave a little space for me at the end of each section to go over a couple things that should be just fine.

I’m still trying to figure out how I want to format this. I’d like to experiment more with adding more screenshots but I also don’t want this to become unwieldly long. I’ll probably just take screenshots if I get a good/cool encounter or if I end up in a bad spot in a battle. I usually also like to take a pic of the team before and after a gym leader fight but I forgot to this time.

Also the grinding. Gods the grinding lol. I am hoping beyond hope that the grinding gets better as the game progresses because having to grind on lvl 4-7 wild pokemon to get to level 14 was such a pain that I just stopped because I thought 13 was good enough. I do find it really cool how Black/White limit your encounters to purely gen 5 pokemon until the postgame, but man. Only 3 (4 if you count the gift monkey) unique pokemon encounter options before the first gym? That’s rough. iirc this is the most limited your options have been before the first gym in the entire series. Even romhacks are more generous than this. Again, since this is a blind nuzlocke I dont know anything about the encounter tables but I’m hoping it improves a bit as we progress through the game.

Broiler seems to be a good option for an encounter for the dreamyard. Even if I would have liked to hold off until after we got cut and were able to see what was in the grass patch just out of reach, Broiler seems to be a fairly strong and speedy mixed attacker, which will be nice to use. Also fire types are generally rare in most generations, so getting an early one is always a boon.

So far, so good, but I’m def looking forward to the new encounters lol, if only to fill out the party, and replace a few lackluster team members (looking at you chestnut)

[cassiewestwood]

"Unfortunately there is one thing stopping us," Cassandra laughed and loved the sound as it rumbled through her body and shook her shoulders gently. Lately, maybe even the last few years, all that put a shining smile on her face was her boys. Things with Vaughn hadn't been horrendous. In fact, they'd felt so familiar that she hadn't even bat an eye when the intricacies of their marriage and relationship had begun to shift and change. A husband too busy for his wife and family because of the demands of his job? Normal. A husband that didn't notice new outfits she'd adorned herself with to look special for him? He was tired all the time, it was understandable.

It never mattered how clean the house was, how delicious their dinner, that his shirts were always so perfectly pressed, his sons were happy and healthy, or that Cassandra always tried to look good for him. The travesty was in the fact that she was used to people falling out of love with her. She'd bore witness to them finding something, someone better each and every time. It was why the mention of marriage, again, even with someone as beloved to her as her Teddy Bear gave Cassandra some pause. There was no survival if she eventually lost Theodora as well. She was so much more than a pseudo niece; she was family, a confidant, a reliable source of love and devotion, Theo was someone Cassandra wanted to be close to so that she could celebrate all the amazing things she'd accomplish with her life.

Left hand lifted and displayed, there was no band on that particular finger as Cassandra frowned, "there may not be a ring here but by law I am still legally married. Fucking asshole or not, I'd rather my claim to fame not be a bigamy headline." A wink and a wrinkle across the bridge of her nose for her sweetest one. "Would you really want to be a step-mom anyway at your young and beautiful age," she further teased, her palm holding the cup of Theo's cheek briefly. It went without saying, if there ever were to be someone else in her love life, her children would have to be loved and accepted as well. "God," Cassandra smirked as she mused, "we really would take the world by storm, wouldn't we?" More so Theo doing big things and Cassie making sure she had a good breakfast before she went out and conquered the day. Maybe that was all she was good for, being someone's support.

As much as she's been pained and hurt, given up and chosen over time and time again, Cassandra's heart hadn't hardened over. There's definite bitterness she'd felt towards the cards she'd been dealt, some big lessons she'd learned, but only now when she holds hope that it's not too late. "Oh, I want to finish him, as they say in that one bloody game the boys love, Mortal Something," eyes playfully rolled and hand waved off what her boys would groan about, "but I want him to take care of the boys and pay a lot in alimony. I want the house and the vacation home." It felt so greedy to say she wanted half of everything, especially since she hadn't worked since she was twenty-one, yet some part of her felt that it was so deserved given everything she'd sacrificed and how hard she'd worked to be everything Vaughn had needed. Only to be be cast aside for someone younger and prettier. Probably better in bed too considering Cassandra had been with a grand total of three men in her forty-five years. "Death seems easy, you know," she grinned to take the weight off of what she felt, "it doesn't erase or fix the savagery of what he's done to me, you know?"

Before tears could spring to her eyes and Cassandra could do a swan dive into the heart of the pain she continuously pretended wasn't that serious, she had too much to remain strong for, and it would be so embarrassing for Vaughn to get a view of just how he'd put her to slaughter, the focus shifted to Theodora. There was something there, she could sense it, like a mother to their child, though she didn't press when the excuse of being tired came. That was entirely plausible. Her fingers were playing with the loose ends of Theo's hair again, "have you not been getting any sleep? Putting all this together," she gestured to the equestrian center, "and keeping up with your lawyer work has to be quite a lot for any one person." Maybe, hopefully, Theo had someone new in her life to support her again. She deserved that and was owed it especially after being abandoned.

Perhaps she wasn't the master deflector. Well, Theodora did it as a profession, and they had switched back to a somewhat previous topic. One that Cassandra actually needed to engage in. When it came to filing and going through the process of divorce she was aware of just how quickly she needed to get the ball rolling. Plans of action needed to be made. Cassandra had no income, no real job history in the last twenty-plus years, and two children to take care of. She should be panicking. "You're tenacious and honestly, there's too many complications when it comes to Saul," because there was something the two of them had to go through alongside Cassandra divorcing husband number two, "you have the job if you want it. Take Vaughn Westwood to the cleaners and please leave him like that in front of his mistress. If you want to be my lawyer." It felt more important to support Theodora's career anyway. Things would be too messy with Saul and conflicts of interest would be the least of worries when she had to ask her first husband what she had to ask of him.

They were on their way to the stables to see the horses, arm in arm and Cassandra's hand slipped down to grasp Theo's hand. Memories of riding came flooding back and she swallowed down the emotions that rose up. The horses were so beautiful. "Wow, Autumn is still thriving, huh?" When she approached the mare, Cassandra placed her palm on the warm, muscled neck of the animal and instantly felt soothed. Riding with Theo, or even when Theo was too busy and she'd go anyway, had been such an escape. It was an ode to a previous way of life, and she too had found freedom on the strong back of a horse. "Good to see that, young girl," Cassie had said to the mare as she stroked her neck, "we may be old but there's still nothing like us." At Theo's comment, a smiling glanced was turned to her. "What's going on with your mother?"

Being raised by a family of lawyers and liars has made Theodora quite adept to spotting even the smallest of fibs. Cassie, for her part, seems to easily dismiss the compliment thrown her way by bringing up beauty routines, which Theo would push back on if she didn’t know it probably wouldn’t go her way. As much as she instinctively wants to defend Cassandra from even herself, there’s only so much she can do in the middle of the work day, reuniting after such a long time plagued by physical distance. There will be time later, she tells herself, to course-correct Cassie’s beliefs — for Theo to find a way to make her feel genuinely, comfortingly loved and admired, as it’s truly all she’s ever felt for her pseudo-aunt. Perhaps this is Theo’s fault, she thinks, for not saying it enough. Proving it enough. Something she has to work on, then, as well.

Cassie’s form of physical affection — the way her hands comb through Theo’s hair gently, for example — is something she’s been so starved for her entire life, it’s almost a little embarrassing how much she relishes it. Even when she was younger, the way Cassie would take her by the arm when they’d cruise along the mall or hug in her in congratulations when she’d be the only one to show to her debate competitions was, perhaps, the only thing that kept Theo from becoming a cold, unaffectionate monster like her mother. Touch starved, her therapist had called her. It’s why her relationship with Samuel had fulfilled her in more ways than one, as well. Every time she needed to reach out to someone, Sam would be there, ready to take her hand, to stroke her hair, to wipe her tears. She’d thought of herself, once, as far too clingy — and, hell, maybe she’d been right. He left her, after all.

“If you want to get married, there’s nothing stopping us,” she winks in jest. “We could take on the world, you and me.” She gives Cassie’s hands another tight squeeze, reassuring. She spares a thought for what Terry would think of such a thing. Her expression turns a little sour at the other’s admittance that Vaughn might have been an awful husband, but he’d never been a terrible father. It is, unfortunately, a valid reason to keep him around, she supposes. A part of her had thrown out the suggestion as a joke, of course — but a smaller, more dangerous part of her knows exactly where half of her comes from, and what she can accomplish with a single call to her maternal grandfather. And the truth of it all, hidden in the crevices of the person that she’s become, is that she’d do anything in her power to keep those she loves happy and safe. Even if it meant compromising her morals and beliefs. 

But it seems that, for now, she’ll continue only flirting with that side of herself. With a resigned sigh, she nods her head in assent. “Alright, so I don't take him out,” she offers Cassie a half-smile. “Not in a literal sense, at least.” Before she can press just a little more lightly on the subject, Cassie’s taking a sharp left turn, asking her what’s wrong. It catches Theo off guard, the way Cassie probably saw right through the steel facade she normally prides herself in maintaining. It feels — out of place, to talk about what’s wrong here. Cassie’s right: clearly, things should be great. They should feel as such, too. She’d gotten a job with Saul, she’d opened an equestrian center, her mother hasn’t yet tried to dismantle everything she’s worked for — the happiness should be toppling over her very being. And yet.

She shakes her head reassuringly at Cassie, making sure her smile is so bright, it leaves little room for discussion. “Everything’s great,” she assures her. “I’m just a little tired. It’s a lot of work, you know?” She offers her a breathy laugh and a self-deprecating roll of her eyes. She takes Cassie’s hand in hers and starts leading her toward the stables, eager to step into a more familiar environment for the both of them, where perhaps her demeanor will withstand scrutiny with more ease. At Cassie’s thoughtful consideration of perhaps using her services instead of Saul, she says, “Either one of us would crush him like a bug underneath our heels.” Which is more true than most of the things she’s had to say throughout her career. “That being said, it might be considered a conflict of interest if he were to take you on, as your ex-husband. I’m sure there are loopholes we can find,” she adds as they finally reach the stables. “But my offer’s on the table, if it comes down to it. I would leave him with nothing but his dick in his hand,” she smiles at her sweetly, though there’s nothing but venom dripping from her tone. “And I’d enjoy it every step of the way.”

She leads her into the stables, where a couple of horses have already taken residence. Some of them have taken to their corners to sleep — others lazily feed themselves, taking little notice of both Theo and Cassie’s presence. Autumn, her mare, is the exception to this — it’s like she knows Theo by the cadence of her footsteps, always peeking out of her stall when she hears her come near. “Come here,” Theo tells Cassie eagerly, pulling her along toward Autumn. Her chestnut fur catches some of the sunlight shining in through the front gates, the mare huffing happily in greeting as they approach her. “I bet she remembers you,” she tells Cassie as they stop alongside Autumn’s snout. Theo reaches out to pet her gingerly, the mare eagerly leaning into the touch. She’s had her for about two decades now, though she still acts like a young foal sometimes, eager to ride and play and explore. She glances over at Cassie, gesturing toward Autumn. “Go on,” she encourages. “Petting Autumn is fantastic therapy,” she says. “I should know. It was, after all, the only therapy I had available to me growing up.”

[strawwritesfic]

Matt Murdock x Female!Reader: A Matter of Sanity

Summary:  He’s going to have a lot of conflicting feelings about this later, but for now, Matt will take what you’re willing to give him.

Rating/Warnings/Tags: T (sexual references; former nun!reader; reader knows Daredevil’s secret identity; inaccurate Catholicism)

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Fic Trade Prompt: "Sometimes the ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen' just needed a shoulder to lean on."

Notes: I only ever saw the first season of Daredevil. Also, I mostly chose to write this particular fic trade response because I wanted an excuse to write something that, for me, was a shoutout to His Dark Materials, a book series I’m enormously fond of. 

I don’t actually know anything about Catholicism, however, and as a Christian myself, I realize His Dark Materials is not exactly a reliable source for learning about the topic of religion. If you are Catholic and something in here is incorrect, I implore you to inform me so that I can fix the problem. If it’s so horrendously awful that a mere edit won’t work, I’m even willing to rewrite it. 

In more specific-to-the-fic information, this is one of my few fic trade responses where I tried my hardest to stay within the word count restrictions. Alas, I still went over...and trying so hard means that this really isn’t near as sensory-overload-descriptive as I would want something from Matt’s perspective to be.

A Matter of Sanity

Matt woke up that morning to a barrage of sensory assault: warm sunlight splayed across his skin; humidity from the bathroom down the hall dampened the short hairs on his face; the smell of strange perfume sticking to the semi-cooled sheets beside him and his familiar shampoo drifting through the air. Toast had been made–and nearly burned–in the kitchen sometime that morning. He could hear the medicine cabinet closing, then bare feet padding toward him. Through all these floating, fuzzy feelings sliced his injuries from the night before: cuts, bruises, blisters, maybe a sprained wrist.

“Morning, Mattie.” 

And there was the reason he had not meditated after the fight, the reason his wounds felt as fresh as though he’d got them minutes before. 

Said reason lighted on the edge of his bed and slipped soft fingers into his sleep-mussed hair. “Did you sleep well last night?”

In answer, Matt let out an incomprehensible moan. As far as he could remember, not much sleeping had taken place in the apartment the night before. Still, he wasn’t one to quibble over what he’d been doing instead. Seconds later, he sat up, forcing you to stop playing with his hair so that he could wrap his arms around your waist and put his cheek against your moist, bare shoulder. 

“Are you sure you’ve never done that before?” he mumbled. 

You laughed, a sound that always caused a pleasant unfurling sensation to spread through Matt’s stomach. “Sorry. A girl has to have some secrets, even from her all-knowing, all-seeing blind lawyer friend.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?” Matt chuckled himself and tightened his grip as he pressed a kiss to your skin. “You are the worst nun I have ever met.”

Another laugh, then you gently patted his cheek with your shower-warmed hand. “Well, maybe that’s why I decided not to be one anymore. What do you want for lunch?”

The weight on his mattress vanished at the same time your body did. 

“Lunch? What time is it?” 

Frowning, Matt turned in the direction he heard you moving–toward where you had left the majority of your clothes the night before. Whether he had pulled them off or you had, he couldn’t quite remember. Then a more important question popped out of his mouth:

“Did you say you quit being a nun?”

You only bothered to answer his first two questions: “It’s nearly eleven o’ clock. Figured if you wanted to go somewhere, we’d better head that way, and frankly, Matt, there’s nothing in this apartment but beer.”

“Eleven? It’s Thursday. I can’t go to lunch. I’m already late for work–what was that about stopping nun-ing?”

“I called in for you. Foggy whined about you skipping over a woman as usual, but–”

“[Name],” said Matt. “The thing about your job?”

You heaved a dramatic sigh. “I quit, okay? I was going to tell you when I came over last night, but after all that, I kind of figured I didn’t have to anymore.”

“Some clarification might have been nice.” Matt hadn’t felt an overabundance of guilt at sleeping with you. It took two to tango, after all, and you’d been just as willing as he had. Now some dread began to creep in. “Why’d you quit?”

A huff sounded from behind the fabric of the shirt over your face. “I met a tall, dark, handsome stranger beating the tar out of a Russian slave trader in an alley, and he made me rethink my life choices.”

“That’s a cliché.”

“So’s a blind ninja fighting slave traders in New York.”

“Not exactly.” Pressing his lips together, Matt slid out of his silk sheets. He knew his shirt was not far away, but he hadn’t started pulling it on yet when he went on, “I didn’t mean to have you quit.”

“Matt!” you groaned.

“You can’t come with me. I didn’t mean to make you to feel useless.”

“I’m a grown woman, and I make my own choices. You didn’t make me feel or do anything–and I know I can’t go with you to punch Russians. I just wanted to do a little good for Hell’s Kitchen.”

“You were doing good for Hell’s Kitchen. With the Church.”

“Have to disagree with you there. And I’m not going back. You can’t make me. I want to experience the world. I want to help you.”

“I already said, you are not–“

“I know,” you interrupted. “There’s more to do than break people’s bodies, you know.”

Matt stared at you, or stared roughly in the direction he knew you continued to pull on various articles of clothing. Another sigh issued from there.

“When I got here last night to give you the news, you were bleeding and shaking from head to foot. There’s nothing to eat here but booze and bread. You can take care of yourself, but you’re not very good at looking after yourself.”

He had never really thought about it that way. His work as Daredevil was vital; eating, less so. Matt already healed faster than most when he wasn’t busy deflowering ex-nuns, and what didn’t heal after that, he could plow through just fine. On the other hand...

“Are you inviting yourself to move in?” he asked.

There was an obvious smile in your voice when you answered, “Well, you are the reason I’m presently homeless and unemployed. If you hadn’t seduced me away from a life of worship and piety, I’d still be doing my holy work, Matt Murdock.”

“And you’re absolutely sure you’re done with being a nun.”

“I think what we did last night pretty much sealed the deal.”

“And there’d be more of that.”

“I’m leaning toward yes.”

“And you really want to live here. With me. With the giant blazing billboard right outside the window.”

He got a pillow to the face for his trouble, or would have, had he not caught it before it smacked him in the nose. 

“Does it sound like I can afford to be picky about where I’m staying? I’m sure  about all of the above. I can always move out once I find something else, if you decide you hate having me here.”

Your tone turned just a little uncertain at the end of that sentence. Matt stood and stepped carefully (in case of more pillows) over the smooth floor toward you. 

“I won’t hate having you here,” he said. “Now that you mention it, it might be nice having someone here when I get home bleeding at two in the morning. To fuss over me and put me in place. When can you start?”

“Immediately.” You shoved something soft-ish into his chest. Pants, he realized as felt the hard button. “Now get dressed. It’s getting toward noon now and all that sex makes a girl hungry.”

“Right,” Matt said, and quickly started to pull on the pants.

Definitely the putting him in his place part, then. But maybe you were right. Maybe sometimes, the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen” just needed a shoulder to lean on. He'd have to see, but he was leaning toward yes, too.

[sugarcubetikki]

The reason why this revelation was so chilling was because that Belos used the vulnerable and innocent image of a child to mask his true intentions. It’s really well-done because it does fit in with how manipulative his character is.

I remember when this child appeared in the promo and most of us thought that this child would show us a more sensitive, vulnerable side to Belos (how wrong we were!); let’s say we were all expecting a tragic and dramatic backstory that 

Children represent vulnerability and innocence in all forms, thus it led us to make the assumption that we’d see a more sensitive side to Belos when we saw the child in the promo. It even led to Luz and Hunter making similar assumptions. 

Guilt and innocence are very vulnerable qualities. And I don’t blame them for making those assumptions. 

Belos took the form of a scared, innocent and vulnerable child so they’d be more likely to trust him. And it worked.

They followed his lead the entire time because he seemed friendly, reliable and innocent. Just a scared little child. And much more welcoming than the palisman soul creature that was roaring above...

Despite them being in his literal mind, he was still able to play his cards and control the entire scenario. Since he was leading them, he could show them not only what he didn’t mind them seeing but something that would feed their curiosities and keep them distracted so he could pursue his own goal in there.

That’s really what makes him so manipulative. It’s the appearance and facade he puts on to put people’s focus elsewhere, making them think they’re getting what they want/what is necessary/what is good and pure whilst in reality he’s just using them to reach his true goal. He’s done that in Elsewhere and Elsewhen. He did that with an entire society. He was doing that this entire episode.

His literal mindscape has two sides: the gold hall filled with his lies and falsehoods of good intentions whilst the other one is the underside - the dark forest holding his true motivations. Appearance vs reality at its finest. 

I think that truly shows, even within his mindscape, he’s taken full control of it. That if someone were to enter it, he’d still be able to play the cards in his way.

That’s just what makes him a compelling villain at the end of the day. I have no reason to like this man or sympathise with him; I hate him and he’s evil to the core. Yet the show can do this without making me feel like he isn’t complex, that he isn’t well-written, even without a sympathetic backstory, he’s very complex and evil and horrendously chilling and the worst person ever. They do it in the most smartest way ever. At the end of the day, it’s such a good way to write an evil antagonist. Such a good way. 

[someh0eontheinternet]

Comfort Character Yelena!! x fem reader

🌹❤️ 𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 ❤️🌹

❤️✒️🥀💣🔪❤️✒️🥀💣🔪❤️✒️🥀💣🔪❤️

!!Minor S4 Spoilers!!

❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️

"Cmon Y-n! It's Valentines Day Eve! You've gotta tell him how you feel. I'm sure he likes you, just as much as you like him." Your best friend Sasha teased, as the two of you hung around the court yard of the 104th cadet corps.

You hesitantly look over to the salmon haired boy who was busying himself restocking the hay in the horse stables.

You had somehow managed to convince Sasha that you were in love with Jean, so that she wouldn't suspect you were really in love with...

...yelena 🥀

Yelena. Yelena. Yelena. That's the only thought that occupied your mind, day in day out. The meledy in which you hummed while cleaning your dorms. The song in which you sang when you thought no one was listening. The harmany you base your every verse on.

You would sometimes catch yourself doing things in your everyday life with her in mind.

"I wonder if she likes this kind of tea." You ponder as you sit in the dorms drinking a cup of ginger lemongrass tea. The mere thought of sharing the same taste in tea with your beloved was somehow comforting to you.

She was your light.

She was your whole world.

But yet you had never even spoken a word to her. However, this was not out of cowardness, it was out of fear for your safety, and hers.

See, you were a proud soldier in the cadet corps, and Yelena was still not completely trusted by Commander Hange. Thus, any romantic involvement you may have with this..."outsider"...would be considered treason, to which you would be punished severely.

The mere thought terrified you to your very bones. But something about this "forbidden love" excited you.

You were thrilled to fight for the one you loved.

You were snapped out of your thoughts by approaching footsteps. It would seem Sasha had somehow managed to lure Jean over here, the reliable "wingman" she is.

You internally role your eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

"Hey y-n! Whats up?" You looked up to see the grinning horse faced boy before you. Great. Just great.

"Hm?" Was all you could manage, your patience already running thin.

"I was told you had something to tell me." Jean proudly states, straightening his suit-vest.

"Oh god, this is pathetic. There is only one person I want to be spending my valentines day with, and it sure isn't horse face over here."

You visibly roll your eyes, causing Jean to flinch.

"Oh my dear Yelena. How i wish you could hold me in your arms and make me feel safe. How I long for your touch and showers of kisses as you express your unwavering love for me. You're the only one for which my heart sings for..."

You were brought out of your daze my Jean obnoxiously snapping his fingers in front of you.

"Hey y-n! Hey! Are you alright there?" Jean smirked annoyingly.

"I'm fine." You respond coldly.

"Um, well what did you want to say to me anyway." Jean persists, expectingly.

You took a deep breath, taking your time to formulate a response.

“I have nothing to say to you” you answer confidently as you take your leave, leaving both Sasha and Jean stunned...

✧༺✦✮✦༻∞ 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩 ∞༺✦✮✦༻✧

After that horrendously awkward ordeal, feelings of exhaustion and dissary envolope you. You didn't understand why it had to be this way. Why couldn't you just be with your beloved? Why?

You find yourself subcousiously walking in the direction of the celler, without even trying to. Unbeknowist to you, your legs had somehow managed to lead you directly to Yelena's celler, to which she was peacefully sleeping upon her jail bed.

You can't help but letting your mind wonder to the first time you 'met' Yelena. Well, “met” might be a bit of a stretch. More like you saw her from across the room.

It was just another Cadet Corps meeting, though this time the council was deciding the fate of Yelena. You couldn't help but feel concern for this strange woman, who was from a far away land. Just the way she stood in what seemed to be the only shadow in the courthouse, apathetic and completely still. Not an ounce of expression on her face.

She was absolutely bewitching.

You couldn't help but subtly steal glances every now and then, as you stood to the side, “observing court proceedings” - when all of a sudden her stern eyes met yours from across the court house, softening slightly at the sight of you. When your eyes met, you felt like all the things you never understood in this world were perfectly clear. It all fell into place and everything just...made sence.

You had fallen in love with this woman.

2 months on and it broke your heart to see your darling still locked up in this filthy cage. You made yourself a promice that you would do whatever it took to free her from this place.

“Who's there?”

A stern voice punctured the undivided silence of the room, almost giving you a heart attack.

You let out a quiet gasp, to which she replied with a deep chuckle.

“Oh what a sweet gasp you have, my dear.” You watch frozen, as she swings her long legs over the side of the bed. As she begins to stand up, you reflexevly step back, reminded of just how tall this woman really is. You don't really appreciate how tall 6'8 is until you see it standing right in front of you, in a dimly lit jail cell, staring right at you. You felt like you were in a horror movie (lol).

She slowly began approaching you, the candle in your hand gradually revealing her black suit and illuminating her piercing grey eyes as they look your body up and down.

You had imagined meeting her a billion times in your head, wondering what kind of person she may be, but you never imagined she'd be this...flirtatious.

She extends out her black leather gloved hands and carreses the bars that seperates her from you. She looks down on you and sighs, relishing in the sight.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure of being able to talk with such a pretty lady.” She purred, making your heart soar.

“Well, um...I j-just uhhh” you struggled to form sentences as you could feel her dominant eyes all over you, watching your every move.

She was so much more than you could have ever imagined...

Suddenly, she extended out her hand through the bars and pressed her long, slender finger onto your peach lips, causing you to jump a little and blood to rush to your cheeks.

“Easy there my dear, there's no need to be nervous. I'm not here to hurt you.”

You noticed her glove was off when she placed her finger on your lips, she must've taken it off at some point. Why would she have done that? Was she trying to be a gentleman? You blush at the thought.

You found it ironic how she was reassuring you of your safetly, as if she wasn't the one behind the bars. It's almost as if she was insinuating she could escape at any moment, but she is just deciding not to. She was the one in the cage, but you had never felt so trapped.

Her aura was enough to make you run away screaming, but your love for her was more than enough to make you stay despite this.

She begins to slide her cold hand down your face, from your lips to the side of your neck, earning a whimper from you.

“Now my sweet, you look like you have something you need to tell me. Don't keep me waiting now, I might just become impatient.” she whispers leaning down to your height, sending chills down your spine.

You inhale deeply, and begin to close your eyes.

This was it. The moment you've dreamt about for so long. And here she was, right in front of you.

Gosh...she's so beautiful.

You eyes fill with tears as you look up at her with such admiration and longing.

“Yelena...I love-”

You were interupted by the cellar door being kicked down by Commander Hange, as a crowd of soldiers flooded the room circling you pair.

All Hange saw was Yelena's hand on your neck and immediantly drew her gun.

“YELENA! GET YOUR HAND OFF MY SOLDIER RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT!” Hange eyed Yelena with a glare that could bring any girl to her knees. (that sounded more sexual than I intended lol xD)

Yelena looked down at you and sighed, clearly displeased by the inturuption. For the first time since you met her, you saw Yelena...angry.

Without warning, she moved her hand from your neck to your left ass cheek and jerked you forwards, the front of your pelvis slamming into the iron bars.

Hange growled. “That's it...SOLDIERS FIRE!”

Silence was all you could hear as the room began spinning around you. A strong matallic scent filled the air as your mind became hazy. You looked down to you abdomin and pressed on it.

You slowly bring your blood coated hand up to your face and stare at it, as the red liquid drips off your fingertips.

“What's...that...” you mumble in disaray as you feel your knees giving out.

Slipping in an out of consciousness, you realise you're now on the floor, in your beloved's strong arms.

“Y-N! PLEASE! DONT DO THIS TO ME! CMON BABY! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN IM BEGGING YOU!”

You laziliy move your eyes around the room, trying to see something...anything! You catch sight of Commander Hange and the other soldiers bleeding out on the ground, all seemingly stabbed to death.

You tried to take note of that to ask her later, but your brain failed to keep its structure.

“How...you get out...c-cage...” you choke out, now unable to see you darling face anymore.

“DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT! JUST FOCUS ON BREATHING FOR ME BABY!” Yelena was sobbing now, leaning over you, her tears landing on your cheeks.

"Why did you jump in to save me Y-n?? Why..." She quietly sobbed, pressing her forehead to your chest in absolute misery.

You wondered where all her attatchment to you came from. Unbenowist to you, she was watching you that day in the courthouse too, whenever you looked away...

Her pleas were falling on dead ears however, as you have now lost your ability to hear.

As all your senses were slowly going numb, you decide to die with no regrets.

“Yelena...I love you. I always have.” You whimper desperatly, with the last bit of streagth you had.

You eyes become glazed over as you fall limp, dying in her arms.

“I love you too, my dear...”

»» ──────ஓ๑♥๑ஓ ────── ««

𝐭𝐲𝐬𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 🐝🌏

𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 🐻🍁

𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 🦊☘️

»» ──────ஓ๑♥๑ஓ ────── ««

ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᵗʰⁱˢ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ ʷᵃˢ ˢᵒ ᵃⁿᵍˢᵗʸ ˡᵒˡ. ⁱ ᶠᵒʳᵍᵒᵗ ⁱᵗ ʷᵃˢ ᵃ ᶜᵒᵐᶠᵒʳᵗ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ ⁱⁿˢᵉʳᵗ ˡᵒˡ. :ᴾ ⁱ ʰᵒᵖᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵗⁱˡˡ ᵉⁿʲᵒʸᵉᵈ ᵗʰᵒ, ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵉˢˢ ˣᵒˣᵒ

»» ──────ஓ๑♥๑ஓ ────── ««

[broadwaytheanimatedseries]

Okay so this idea wouldn't fucking leave me alone and of course I already made it Danny and Conner shipping related in my head before this but then I had another idea.

So the Ectoplasm Lazarus connection has been pretty well established by now and makes cool and is sense, right?

We don't have to get rid of it, but we can add something new in this context, which is that Ectoplasm is like Diet Kryptonite to Kryptonians, while Kryptonite is like Ectoplasm Vitamins to ghosts.

So how this would work is that ghosts get a power and energy boost from kryptonite, while Kryptonians get de-powered by ectoplasm and while the initial shock to their system feels a lot like the first sign of the nausea and fatigue that comes with kryptonite, it actually passes fairly quick and really just affects their powers.

So any Kryptonian exposed to ectoplasm can experience what it's like to be a normal person, and assuming said ectoplasm is external to them and they are only engaging with it willingly, all they need to do to regain their powers is disengage.

This is true for almost every Kryptonian... Except Conner.

Because when Conner looses his Kryptonian powers, he finds that he can still count on good ol' reliable, his trusty tactile telekinesis.

And thus, the most horrendous of romantic shapes is naturally formed between Conner and Danny.

Say it with me now, y'all;

It's A Lovesquare.

So Danny and Phantom are completely different people to Conner, which makes sense especially if you consider that as Superboy he only gets to look at Phantom, unable to really have a proper conversation with the guy without losing all but one of his superpowers. Which is a shame, because from his interactions with him as Conner, he seems like a great guy! Almost as great as Danny, who's a big fan of Superboy and somehow always finding himself in trouble whenever Superboy is around. Tim jokes that Conner found his Lois Lane but then definitely offers to double date with Bernard if he ever needs a wingman. (Sidenote this is an au where timkon talked about their feelings, worked it out, and decided to be friends after all and eventually got over each other.)

So to Conner, the nigh invincible ghost/meta/halfa/whatever phantom is, who's clearly an experienced hero that some of his allies and old enemies now apparently just turned friendly sparring partners sometimes refer to as The Ghost King, who for all the good he does seems to have some anger issues (not that Conner is judging or he'd choke on the hypocrisy), and the awkward, accident prone astronomy nerd who's just so soft and sweet to him and aside from some sassy comments doesn't seem to have a malicious bone in his body?

Yeah, of course Danny and Phantom are two entirely different people to him.

On that note, however, how the hell is Danny not seeing through a jacket and a pair of sunglasses?

Well, for one, he's a little distracted by how hot the guy is so fucking sue him okay? But on a more serious note, he also doesn't get to interact with Superboy much when he's not falling to his death, (or well, whatever awaits him because he's pretty sure it's not death but at this point he's too afraid to ask Clockwork), a problem which he only started having because whenever he's in the middle of some personal shit as Phantom and Superboy comes barging in with an unrelated thing, he has to abruptly detransform so that Superboy doesn't spontaneously lose all his powers mid-fight.

So Danny only gets to be rescued by Superboy and occasionally if he's not too busy, flirt with him as he tries to muster the courage to ask him out on a proper date. Meanwhile, Phantom gets to talk to Conner Prince, who's adopted by Diana, the nice curator lady at the museum who lets be honest is probably wonder woman but Danny isn't sure Connor knows that and he understands having to hide your secret identity from your family so he doesn't bring it up.

Just like how he doesn't bring up Conner's bio parents, after a conversation about their old home lives made it obvious that whoever they were, they did not appreciate Conner enough and did not deserve someone so wonderful to want their approval so much, just like Conner did not deserve to be treated the way Phantom can only imagine by gathering context clues and bits of information.

They also bond over being metas with strange, vaguely defined abilities.

Because yeah, that's a thing.

They both assume the other is a meta and feel bad about correcting each other about their own non meta status so that their metahuman friend doesn't feel alone.

But despite this continued misunderstanding that really isn't hurting either of them, (and when all is revealed it's actually the funniest part to both of them about the whole situation), they're still very comforted to confide about their weird set of powers and how they relate to each other in someone else who gets how weird it is.

See, as I've mentioned in the beginning of this post, a million years ago, Conner Kent can't use his kryptonian powers around Phantom, but he can use his tactile telekinesis.

In fact, on some level it seems like Phantom's presence almost locks away Conner's kryptonian powers, which allows for his Tactile telekinesis to return from wherever it had been lying dormant.

Conner loves explaining his power to Phantom, who thinks it's really cool, and he's fascinated by this ectoplasm substance that Phantom explains is the source of all his abilities.

"And you get it from somewhere, or you make it, or?"

"Oh I'm like, made of it! Mostly, anyway, I am still human, to a degree. But I also need to refuel sometime, kinda like a meta who can control water but needs to hydrate at a certain point or they completely deplete their energy."

"So you recharge by drinking this stuff?" He gets a nod. "How is it?" And a chuckle.

"I'd offer you some to see for yourself, but it's almost certainly bad for you. It's... alright. Like, I try to regularly recharge in small doses so I only need to have a lot of it if an emergency happens, because if I ever go too long without any I run the risk of getting a craving and that's. Well that's dangerous."

"Dangerous? How so?"

"Ectoplasm and Ectoplasm substitutes can occur naturally in many places across dimensions, so when beings that subsist on it get cravings, they're kinda mindlessly trying to consume every bit of Ectoplasm they can get, wherever they can get it, until their craving is settled. And that can be naturally occurring pools which aren't always clean and safe for consumption, portals which, is its own host of problems that believe me, you do not want me to get into, and even their own, if a craving gets bad enough."

"Their own?"

"Other sentient ectoplasmic entities. Anyone with even a little bit of Ectoplasm in them can become a target. That rarely happens, a craving needs to get pretty bad before they get this desperate."

"Oh." Feeling a little uncomfortable, Conner bring up another point he'd been wondering about earlier. "And, you also said 'ectoplasm and ectoplasm substitutes'. What's that about?"

"Oh did I?" Phantom said, oddly dodgy. "Didn't think you'd catch that..." even without his super hearing Conner's regular hearing was still pretty good, and Phantom was sitting right next to him and not speaking nearly as quietly under his breath as he thought, so he had caught that comment about catching his comment, as well as the comment that comment was about.

"What kind of substitutes for Ectoplasm are there? Are they also naturally occurring?"

"Well, yes and no? Most of them need to be created because ectoplasm isn't just an element from another dimension, it's the thing that an entire dimension is made of, and it's a dimension which contains other dimensions. There are very few substances that aren't ectoplasm that function enough like ectoplasm to be reliable substitutes, but there is at least one that, as far as I've observed, is pretty good and seems not to have much of a downside."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Kryptonite." He says, casually, as if that didn't just rock Conner's world.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah! I was just as surprised! But it's basically like super vitamins for ectoplasm enthusiasts!" Phantom snorts suddenly as if realizing something funny. "Ha. 'Super' vitamins. That wasn't even on purpose." Conner just rolls his eyes and doesn't even dignify that with a verbal response.

So. If Phantom ever needed an ecto-boost, he could always hit up superboy? That was good information to have.

(So this got way longer than I ever had any plan for it to get, and I still have some more ideas to play with in this... well what is basically an AU now, so if anyone is interested in more of this, let me know!)

Short DPXDC Prompts #165

Kryptonian biology isn’t even remotely close to humans. There’s no way that two completely alien species could have identical skeletons, internal organs, just anything really. What’s truly strange is that they’re closer biologically to Ghosts than they are to humans

[jisungscaramel]

vexation | hyunjin

❀ genre; smut, college au, enemies au  ❀ pairing; hyunjin x reader (fem) ❀ word count; 2.7k 

[warning] strong language, explicit sexual content, dry humping, (mild) begging, hate sex

There it was: Hwang Hyunjin, name beautifully printed right above yours. You shuddered in complete disgust, not believing that you were paired with him of all people for your history presentation. There were 34 students in the class; that meant you had a whopping 97% chance of being paired with literally anyone else, but no. Your professor, Dr. Zhang, just had to pair you with him. 

Overachiever: that was an understatement. He was the type to want all of the glory for the taking, the type to enjoy making others feel like they were dumb, the type who had no issue in forsaking common morals for his own gain. 

You couldn’t fucking stand him. 

Begrudgingly, you stood up from your original seat, trudging your feet to sit next to him - at your professor’s instruction, of course. You planned on at least being polite, and you thought for a second that he might do the same, but he didn’t even bother looking at you, staring through to the front of the room, eyes stoic. If he was trying to provoke you, it was definitely working. 

You dropped your backpack to the ground, unceremoniously, sound drowning in the increasing levels of chatter in the small lecture hall, but clearly loud enough to make his composure teeter; his head jerked back a millimeter, a minuscule gesture but it was painfully obvious to you. And you let out an equally obvious slew of snickers before sitting back in the seat, neck meeting the old frayed fabric as you tilted your head back, arms stacking on one another as you folded them, woman spreading to occupy more real estate than you actually required.

You had to at least try to keep yourself amused. 

Hyunjin began scribbling mindlessly on a blank piece of paper - still acting as if you were not even there. 

He slammed the white sheet down on your knee, sending vibrations straight up your leg rather rudely. 

Asshole. 

Oh, baby, he hadn’t even started yet. 

“Okay. We’re doing our paper on I-Hotel and… I’m gonna write it. All you have to do is find these books for me at the library.” He turned to look at you with a very aggravating smirk… maybe you’d notice the tiniest hint of flirtation if the feeling of overwhelming irritation didn’t encompass you. 

But the chance passed when his countenance morphed into counterfeit concern, tapping his chin in contemplation for added effect, “although, I think the library’s computer system is down… I guess you gotta find them the old-fashioned way.” God, you just wanted to smack that smug grin right off his face. “I’d love to help you with that... but I’m just too busy…” It should’ve been illegal for intolerable people to be that gorgeous.

You blinked in complete confusion. “Ummm… excuse me?” 

“I’m… sorry… do… I… need… to … talk… slower…?”

You gingerly picked up the piece of paper, promptly getting up from your chair, glaring at him. You made sure your backpack was secure on your shoulder before dramatically lifting the note in front of his face to tear what he wrote to shreds, scattering the bits over his laptop’s keyboard. “Stick a motherfucking cactus up your ass.” 

You stormed out of that hall with your head high, not daring to look back despite your innate desire to see his response - you were sure it was priceless. 

‘I’ll just have to do this damn thing on my own.’

Oh, if it could only be that simple. 

The first thing that popped up on your laptop when you opened it from the safety of the library was an unexpected email. 

Since you ripped up my list - rather rudely I might add - I’ve attached the list of the books I require. I will be at the library at four PM sharp. Please plan accordingly. Hyunjin 

“Fuck.” 

‘Plan accordingly,’ your ass, according to you, your plan was to minimize the amount of time you had to spend dealing with Hyunjin, and you had been 100% sure he had the same sentiment… so much for that. 

Speaking of the devil, as soon as you decided to dismiss his outlandish request and settle in to get some of your research started, Hyunjin yanked your attention away from your laptop with merely his presence, almost as if your nerves were hypersensitive to his saccharine dipped aura, and most definitely not to the signature sway of his frame as he walked. 

You didn’t dare grant him the luxury of your direct gaze. Instead, you kept a close eye on him in your peripheral, hoping you’d blend in with the people around you… but there was still at least a 92% chance he’d see you.

“Did you get my sources?” and now he was right in front of you, nothing but a measly table in between. 

Your nostrils flared in an effort to not retort back at Hyunjin, eyes still fixed on your screen in a successful attempt to ignore him. 

Then he pushed your laptop closed, hand planted firmly on the device rather invasively. “Excuse me, I’m talking to you.”

You gritted your teeth, tilting your head up in a menacing stare, eyes narrowing, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you want?” 

God, you didn’t know his smile could get more fake than it already was. “I told you to get my sources for me,” his tone was exaggeratedly slow, “did you get my sources?” 

You shoved his hand away from your laptop. “Get your own sources.” 

Immediately his fake smile turned into a sincere snicker, rolling his eyes off to the side. “Uptight bitch.” 

His words sank in for a moment. “You wanna say that again?” 

He leaned over the table, face a mere six inches from yours. “Uptight,” you could feel your fists involuntarily clenching, digging into your palms what would soon be prominent crescents in a matter of seconds, “bitch.” 

You almost raised your palm to gratuitously slap him across the face but the simmering mellowness in you kept a tight grasp of your boiling anger. You leaned back in your seat in an effort to widen the physical gap (or the lack thereof) between you. “Fuck off.”

<><><><><><> 

“Hyunjin, y/n, can you both come down to the podium,” Dr. Zhang added at the end of his lecture, halting your plans to b-line straight to the library. 

As the aisles began to empty, you made your way down the steps to the front of the room, purposefully standing at the side opposite of Hyunjin, frankly paying no mind to him for all intents and purposes. 

Your professor glanced between you two, clearly noticing the oddity of the image but purposefully choosing to ignore it. 

“I noticed that both of you submitted first drafts for your paper, and at first I thought it was an accident, until I opened both files and realized you’re writing completely separate papers. Care to explain?” 

“Yeah y/n, care to explain?” What a fucking dicktard. 

Your lips pressed into a thin line as you wracked your brain for some feasible excuse. “Well,” but nothing came to mind… oh fuck it, “we’ve had issues working with each other.” 

Dr. Zhang raised an eyebrow cautiously. “Elaborate.”

“We really don’t get along.”

He sighed, crossing his arms. “Well you’re gonna have to try to find some middle ground. I’ll give you two a second chance to put a first draft together. If you can submit a collaborative piece by midnight, I’ll still give you full credit for that part. If not, it stays as a zero. Subsequently, you will keep getting zeroes for the following checkpoints if you submit them separately. Any questions?” 

“No, sir,” much to your surprise, that was the first moment thus far wherein both you and Hyunjin were on the same wavelength. 

“Good, that is all.” 

You felt like two negatively charged magnets as you walked side by side up the aisle to the exit. “I’m not getting a zero for this,” Hyunjin spoke up. 

You rolled your eyes. “At least we can agree on that.”

As the cold, crisp air of the outside refreshed your nerves, he lightly gripped your shoulder, swerving you to face him. “Look, I know we’re like oil and water, but I’m willing to at least try to get along for the grade.” His fingers trembled on your shoulder; his teeth lightly grazed his bottom lip, eyes searching yours for a sign of truce. 

Needless to say, the sentiment from him was unexpected. You exhaled deeply, brushing his hand from you. “Fine.”

<><><><><><><> 

But two hours spent alone in a library study room proved to be more difficult than originally anticipated. Trying to work together felt like pulling teeth - a true collaboration of absolute vexation.  

“What about this passage?” You pointed to some text in a book you were sifting through. 

He swiveled his chair around, only looking at your find for a solid half a second before, turning back around. “Nah, that’s not good enough to use as evidence.” 

“What the fuck, Hyunjin? You didn’t even read it.”

“I didn’t have to. I assumed whatever you found was as subpar as everything else you’ve ‘found.’”

You dropped the book on the table with a loud plonk, partially in shock at what he said and partially due to a natural tendency to want to irritate him. “Well let’s see what you ‘found,’” leaning over the table in a relaxed manner, carrying a dash of nonchalance as you scrolled through his writing. “You call this good evidence?”

“What on earth are you talking about?” You wanted to laugh at his defensive tone. 

“It’s obvious that you’re framing your own narrative by taking shit outta context. Not to mention all the ellipses and brackets are terrifically horrendous, visually. You’re taking literally all the credibility out.” 

“What do you know? I doubt you even read that article,” he dismissed your legitimate critique in a manner you unfortunately predicted. 

“As a matter of fact, I did… two. hours. ago. And you told me the article didn’t seem ‘reliable’ enough for you, but here you are… you must think I’m fucking stupid.” 

The side of his lips curved up in the slightest smirk. “Not true, I think you’re annoyingly absentminded.” 

You rolled your eyes for the umpteenth time in the past minute, whispering, “fucking cockmaggot,” under your breath, diverting your attention back to your screen. 

“What did you just say?” His tone suggested he wasn’t being rhetorical - he really didn’t hear you. There was something cute and innocent about his ignorance, the way his lips formed a subtle pout unintentionally, nose wrinkling in distaste. You mentally shook the image from your head, cursing yourself for thinking he was… ‘cute’ to begin with. 

“Nothing, My Liege, nothing at all,” mocking sarcasm spilled from your lips as you parted them to give them a disapproving smack. “This is complete shit; we can’t submit this.”

Hyunjin slammed his laptop closed, standing up abruptly. The action took you by surprise, making your neck shudder in a startle. “I can’t fucking do this anymore. Why do you have to be so fucking difficult?” Pent up rage was slathered all over his face, eyes twitching, eyebrows tightly knitting together, jaw unhinging from an excess of epinephrine. 

His anger diffused to you, violently charging your nerves. There was no way you were just gonna take his shit sitting down. “Why do you,” you stood up, chair rocking back from the velocity of your limbs, “have to be,” you turned around and gripped his collar with both hands, “such an insufferable asshole?” 

He was dumbfounded, wordless much to your satisfaction, but his eyes were unwavering, devoid of reaction. The time you spent stabbing each other with your unfaltering gazes felt like a goddamn eternity, tension coarse, sinfully tangible on your skin. 

It was fucking stifling. 

Before you even realized what was happening, your lips were latched together in a fervent frenzy, tension thickening for an entirely different reason now. 

There was something so breathtaking about the way his lips tightened against yours - literally. It felt like he was siphoning your soul from your body - any thought that dared to grace your mind oddly dissolved into nothingness as Hyunjin molded your lips into submission, tongue colonizing your oral cavity in an authoritative manner that was so in character for him. 

Not that you gave a fuck. 

His hands aggressively tugged at your waist; the impact of your body crashing onto his sent pangs up your spine, and in seconds, your back thudded against the wall, maintaining the momentum. You had to grip his shoulders purely for support, and definitely not because you were immersing in the moment.

You felt his grip loosen as his hands roamed downward, playfully drawing patterns on your skin with his fingers en route. And then they constricted around your thighs, lifting them up to his hips, and you hooked your ankles around his back as if it was the natural thing to do. 

The fabric of his pants became taut around the building frustration underneath, becoming oh so apparent to you when he started steady grinding against the thin fabric of your underwear - why did you have to wear a skirt today of all days?

You passed a reluctant whimper through his lips, wholly unable to deny the way your pulsing desire radiated heat through your core at the increasing friction. 

You broke away from the kiss, gasping. “Hyunjin…” you whispered almost breathlessly, desperation filling you as he continued his tantalizing test of your patience. 

“Hmmm?” There it was: that signature smug grin, but by this point, your senses were too preoccupied to even register it. 

“I can’t take this anymore.”

“Is that so?” He lifted you off the wall, pushing your laptops to either side so he could lay you on the table, spreading your legs to give him clear sight of your dampening sex. He snickered. “You look much better like this…” While ghosting one hand around your inner thighs, conveniently avoiding the place you needed him the most, he undid the button and zipper of his jeans with the other, sliding them down to his knees. 

You found yourself licking your lips at the silhouette of his bulge, now more prominent with less restricting fabric. Of course, he noticed; “so these are you true colors… I never would’ve thought you were such a dirty girl.” He brushed his fingers over the waistband of your underwear. “Where do you need me?” He pressed his thumb on your clit, “here?” 

Your teeth pressed down on your lips in an effort to stifle a moan. “Yes…” and even though you were successful the first time, there was no stopping the sounds from seeping through your lips when Hyunjin slammed his clothed erection on you once more, picking up exactly where he left off just moments ago. 

“Please, Hyunjin…” he pushed your thighs further apart, keeping them in place. 

“‘Please,’ what?” 

“I need you inside me, please.” 

His sinister laugh filled the small room. “I don’t know if you deserve it.” 

“Fucking asswipe.” 

“Now that doesn’t sound very convincing…” 

You groaned in pleasurable displeasure. “Hyunjin… please, I’m begging you. I really can’t take this.” 

“Don’t you care if someone tries to come in?” He raised an eyebrow, partially in curiosity, mostly in amusement. 

You glared right into his eyes. “No.” 

He shook his head, clicking his tongue as he stood back. “Get up.” Any urge you had to defy him before was long gone; you did as he asked and he harshly turned you around by your waist, pushing you toward one of the windows. 

While pushing you down against the glass with one hand, he reached in his front pocket with the other, grabbing a condom. He ripped the packaging with his teeth, skillfully sliding his boxers down to slip the vinyl over him. 

Not wanting to wait any longer, you aided him by pulling your panty down leaving yourself completely exposed for his taking, and you quickly pushed your hands on the glass, bracing yourself for the next few seconds, but nothing could’ve prepared you for that stretch that came. Your wrist slid down on the window pane to bite back a scream. 

“So tight.” 

 ><><><><><><><

A/N I’mma be honest: I had a fucking field day coming up with all those weird insults

[jonnnysuh]

could we get along with svt in real life?

A collaborative series by @vernonsnostrils and me (Nala)!

A/N: Lately Bee and I have been doing daily rankings for fun and we decided to share our very very specific and dumb insights with all of you. For this one we're ranking who we think could tolerate us......... <3 Warning: Dumb info ahead

NALA:

13.Wonwoo – looks scary. I also have a rbf so imagine us together omg. Everyone would think we’re vampires. No one would want to be friends with us so we’d only have each other.

12.Woozi – I feel like I know nothing about him :-( He’s an amazing musician, and does come off as a little tiny bit mischievous. I feel like Woozi is the type of guy I have every class with but then we graduate never saying a word to each other.

11. Jun – I think Jun is funny as hell but he’s so quiet. I’d want to be his friend but I wouldn’t know how to approach him. Everyone loves him tho so he has his pick of friends and it does not include me LMAO

10. Jeonghan – (this one kind of doesn't make sense bc he should be higher on the list,, but also?? i'm the one who made this list so fite me) but I think that me and him are pretty similar. We both have a side that’s devious and wants to create havoc but we’re also the mom friend that takes care of everyone and with that I feel like we’d butt heads/ be the designated parents which is EW I am 20 years old,, I'm no one's mommy YUCK.

9. Joshua – he’s also quiet but I know he has a good sense of humour!!!! Hypes up my bad ideas bc he’s not involved -- but he will be giving me a thumbs up in the sidelines. I feel like he’s the type to make me text the guy I have a crush on “Just do it. What do you have to lose?” UM my dignity??? Tf Josh.

8.DK – The human version of a “pick-me-up” He is so “no thoughts, head empty” and I am too. Let’s go cloud watching !!!!!!!!! Let’s pick flowers !!!! A good friend to text on a bad day bc he will literally tell you the most embarrassing thing that happened to him, and even though you’ve heard it before it’ll still make you laugh.

7. The8 – simple, really. He likes art and I love art. He likes fashion, I like fashion. I feel like we could talk shit together LMAO. He has the most specific roasts but they’re always on point. I need someone who’s a little bit mean in my life <3

6. Mingyu – I know I could bully him jokingly and he’d take it (bc he knows I’m joking) but it wouldn’t stop him from pouting a bit. I feel like he’d be scared of me at first LMAO. We both share the hobby of photography so my ideal day out with him is just wandering around with cameras and taking pics of things we think are beautiful. Also forcing each other to pose in front of a dirty brick wall bc “IT LOOKS COOL, TRUST ME.” “WAIT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO POSE THO” and then he’d literally have to mold me into a good pose bc I am Play-doh

5. Vernon – The calm to my crazy, convinces me not to beat someone’s ass. Walks into my room to say nothing else but “Spaghetti” and then leaves quietly. Doesn’t talk to me for 5 months but will send me a meme at 5am bc it reminded him of an inside joke we had. Live-texts his emotions to me while watching tv shows, and shares new conspiracy theories with me. He’s a little bit too chill, I need someone ready to fuck shit up.

4. S Coups – is reliable and gives good advice bc he’s also a ball of anxiety. Nags me to do the right thing. Messes with me a lot. Would stay on the phone with me if I was home alone and told him I heard a noise. Says “Calm down there’s no one there.” BUT he’d also say shit like “check under your bed”

3. Seungkwan– I feel like we’re just as annoying as each other. He has the biggest heart and is super encouraging and thoughtful. Half the time we’re joking around, and the other half we’re fighting. Very much love-hate. Capricorns and virgos are a superior duo. I said it.

2. Hoshi– all round good vibes. Chaos and Loudness matched. Doesn’t always have to be around a lot of people bc he creates the fun when it’s just us two. The kind of friend I practice flirting on and everyone’s like ??? “You’re in love with him” no bro I’m just bored… we just do this kind of shit and he is IMMUNE to my lovey antics by now.

1.Dino– We bully each other a lot but we also have each other’s backs. Definitely not ride or dies tho bc we will tell each other when the other fucked up. We are sarcastic dumb dumbs and that’s why we like each other. I feel like he would only tell me how much he cares about me on my birthday.

BEE:

13. mingyu – i literally don’t know what i would say to mingyu. “tall man” or “what up big boy.” i would be scared of him until someone taught me how not to be. like i gotta hang out with him in a group setting for three months straight until i can say hi to him when i enter a room. if i saw him i would simply just Not See Him.

12. wonwoo – like mingyu i don’t know if i’d have anything to say to him. him and mingyu both have popular high school boy personalities and that scares me.

11. josh – besides being californian, i don’t know if we’d have anything to talk about outside of in n out and traffic. he’s too pretty for me.

10. The8 – i feel like we’ve been over this for me. he’s too intellectual and polite i wouldn’t have much to say to him. but i feel like we could talk good shit about other people.

9. jun – i think i get along well with people with quiet funny personalities. like the kind where you don’t have to necessarily say anything but look at them and they’re telling you what they’re thinking. he knows that i know. so he kept reacting and looking at me. i think it’d take a while to develop a friendship though.

8. jeonghan – i wanna cause chaos with jeonghan. i want to do lots of things with jeonghan i feel like he would give me piggyback rides while sliding with his socks on the floor. he would tease me and i would be offended for five minutes while he pretends to tell me he’s sorry (he’s not).

7. dino – dino and i would be like twins building a sandcastle on the beach. that’s our vibe. like the kids you meet on vacation and play pirates with at the pool. relegated to the kids table kind of vibe.

6. scoups – he’s like the type to play catch with the stuffed animal in the room while we sit on the floor and chat. like he just arrived and is asking me about my day and picks it up from my bed and we throw it around while talking.

5. seungkwan – i think seungkwan and i could sit and talk outside on the patio when the stars are bright. like we could sit outside and stare out at the stars while i talk about my biggest dreams and don’t even need to see him to know that he thinks the world of me

4. hoshi – i see a lot of face masks. hoshi teaches me how to dance while they rest on our faces, but they keep sliding off because we’re laughing too hard. he has immaculate vibes, like the type to say “here for a good time not for a long time” but it’s an absolute lie because he’s there for both.

3. woozi – although i like to joke that he’s an evil little man, i think we could talk a lot about music and he would be very happy to teach me what he knows, and we’d spend a lot of time developing ideas and growing together.

2. vernon – he has the personality of my irl best friend, like a slightly chaotic aquarius who is horrendously hard to reach like 99% of the time. he’s the kind of guy who would try to make dinner but end up fucking it up so horribly that when i come in it’s like smoky and awful and the fire alarm is going off, so i have to air out the apartment and go get takeout and bring it home to my burned smelling apartment and eat it on the floor of the living room while binge watching a new netflix show.

1. dk – i just love the kind of joy and energy he radiates, like would be excited to do anything at all if it’s with me. would love to accompany me on any task if i just asked, like getting ice cream at 10pm and he’d know exactly what kind of flavor he’d get so it could accompany mine well when we inevitably switched halfway through the cone. saves the bottom of the cone, the chocolate tip, for me because he knows it’s my favorite.

[notquiteaghost]

there's so much to unpack in The Jason Problem that it is kinda unfair to expect every fanwork to bother but, yknow. is the unpacking not what's fun???

like ok. jason is murdered, he gets better, he wants the guy who murdered him dead. i honestly think that's reasonable. it being the joker makes it possibly the most cut-and-dry it could get, morally, cuz the joker's sole motivation is causing pain. there's the potential for a really good story abt privileged white men who are violent n dangerous very intentionally because they think they have the right who cry insanity after, in the joker. do not at all trust dc to tell it. anyway,

oh this got long. ok a lot more yelling that is actually abt jason under the cut

the joker should die, but bruce can't kill him, because unfortunately jason u are not the only horribly traumatised person here. it's conflicting access needs. they need to talk this out with an objective third party, they never will, having A Thing you should definitely talk out with bruce and will avoid talking out with bruce as long as you live is like a requirement for batfam membership, that isn't the problem

The Jason Problem is. murder IS wrong. people should not be killed. but, also, we do not live in a vacuum, and our society currently churns out a small but significant number of people who are actively dangerous and will only stop being actively dangerous when they are dead. that sucks! we shld do smth abt that! but nothing anyone can do now will fix everyone overnight. that's the core tension jason creates by existing in a story, because batman is not a long-term solution, batman is a stopgap. and jason is, by some metrics, a better stopgap

the problem with jason's methods isn't actually how moral they are, the problem is it's very difficult to kill someone without it affecting someone else you've never even heard of. any time jason kills someone without first researching them right down to how they organise their underwear, he cld be leaving dependents without a caregiver or households without a primary earner or anyone without medical insurance or etc etc. even people doing terrible things can be keeping other people alive. and of course if he's mostly killing goons well then he's mostly killing poor people who probably don't have many other options isn't he, and it is in fact a disservice to his character to have him not target rich people. as if a kid who grew up in poverty n then lived with the All Of Gotham's Problems Are My Problems To Fix Personally guy wouldn't have a very specific hit list. nvm organised crime jason shld kill republicans.

anyway (...two!), THEN there's the aspect ive yet to see addressed in a way that doesnt make me twitch: the lazarus pit. the ableism inherent in every canon interpretation. that to kill anyone you need to be insane, that Lazarus Pit Madness is somehow a separate unique phenomenon from the inherent trauma of dying and then being resurrected, that jason doesnt have ptsd even before he died. the perennial batman media problem of criminals not deserving adequate care. how jason went to arkham, how arkham still exists.

it is my instinct whenever media makes a character ~crazy as a lazy excuse for being a villain to say okay, yeah, they're mentally ill now, no takebacks. and like you cannot tell me jason doesnt have cptsd, but i think post-lazarus pit jason shld be on anti psychotics and mood stabilizers. i think if ur gonna tell me the pit madness '''got better''' then it is because jason is on psychiatric medication. it is very Yikes! to have the only or primary symptom of mental illness be murder, which is why the murder shld not be a thing he is doing because he's crazy. he has lost the things previously stopping him murdering (need for bruce's approval / being fifteen), and also he's horrendously traumatised.

i think red hood stuff is the one part of his life he's reliably capable of thinking rationally about, because compartmentalising your personal shit in order to work a case is absolutely in robin training 101. he'll make a ten-step plan that involves running surveillance, breaking n entering, multiple fake identities, and execute it all perfectly, then go home and have to remove all the mirrors from his apartment cuz [redacted for being potentially delusion-triggering].

by which i do not mean that mental illness is smth u can train urself out of, but that pushing yourself to an unreasonable degree is a cornerstone of being a bat. he absolutely makes his shit worse by trying to act like he can just turn it on n off. they all do this, what differs is simply the symptoms n problems.

and! speaking of bats! obviously bruce is going to continue to have a problem abt the murder literally forever, holding everyone else to the torturous standards he holds himself to is a fundamental fatal flaw of his. but that does not have to be true of anyone else, and i think it makes for much more of an interesting dynamic if everyone else is on a sliding scale of 'Murder Is Wrong but he is family' to 'moral objectivity is a scam' to 'if bruce won't let me kill anyone then someone shld get to'.

like, yes this is objectively very fucked up. batman media is objectively very fucked up things the whole way down, that's why im here, let's explore the implications of your dead brother coming back to life n becoming a serial killer. i guess u can just have him not kill people but is that not boring? why not have everyone else have to reckon with what unconditional love truly means

uhhhh i forgot if i actually had an overarching point. in summary let jason kill people in actual positions of power because hey you never know maybe if half the oil barons die that might motivate the rest!

[avephelis]

i'm gonna talk about this with pets specifically because it's a good point of reference but like. my family's lost animals. in extremely unpredictable accidents, multiple times over a short period of time.

there seem to be a majority of people who, upon informing them of a loss, have the response of: oh, well, maybe you shouldn't have pets, haha.

my entire family are worriers. we're exceptionally cautious and paranoid. we also all care an exceeding amount and loved our animals to bits. i would dare say we are probably more dedicated than average. we have always done our best to the upmost degree, but we have still lost animals, because a. one tiny moment of unfortunate carelessness can spiral horrendously, and b. we have no control over the unpredictable shithole that is the world.

whether or not karma is reliable is a different argument, but ultimately, doing good does not act as insurance, and similarly, good fortune does not equate to good nature. and i can assure you, nobody agonises more over the guilt and what-ifs and bargaining of losing someone than the people that loved them and were responsible for their health.

so these folks who imply blame against grieving people, from up in their ivory towers, just fucking. disgust me. it's not that mistakes aren't preventable, but people know where they've gone wrong. when they reach out to you in a vulnerable moment, maybe, i dunno, show a shred of empathy instead of using their misfortune as evidence to fuel your own ego.

go brag about how good a person you are because your neglected and perpetually mistreated pets are alive some other time, jan. fucking christ.

i'm not a super hateful person but i think one of the things that infuriates me most is those people who get this uppity superiority over not having anything bad happen to them and just expressing a complete lack of empathy