#not sure how you can be appalled by people disagreeing with you but then treat the topic with such flippancy

[fuckitsdarkinhere]

Sooo you're just here {to troll}. Disappointing. Thought being a good person meant giving a shit and doing actual good in the world but fuck me for having standards, am I right?! 😂

Still though, despite you taking a thorough piss with this, I actually want to treat this situation seriously and so, I'll be making another post about you. 👋 If you unblock me again and respond, I will respond again then block you if you don't bring anything meaningful to the discussion. These posts will still be visible in your tag despite the block so good luck hiding them from other people.

As for not being able to come up with answers: I already did. If you had reading comprehension or actually gave a shit about this topic, you'd see that the answers are within the questions themselves. The problem with these answers is that they're currently ineffectual.

Even with crowd funding, we (as everyday people) can't afford lobbyists to make laws. We can vote things in at the state level, but you need to have the majority on your side and those laws can be overruled federally, if not outright removed by the Supreme Court, which has been rigged to be as anti-citizen as possible. Even if we were to luck out with all or even most of that, our current process just takes way too effing long. People shouldn't have to die for 10+ years before change can be enacted.

In 2010, the Canadian government made it illegal for any groups, larger than five, to congregate in public places wearing masks, after a bunch of masked teens destroyed some shops downtown in protest of the G10 summit. This law was immediate and rushed into law within 48hrs of the event taking place so don't tell me it's going to take ten fucking years to make these laws happen.

We need the American government to do the same but with insurance companies. I know that's a hell of a pipe dream given the dictator the royal you elected, dumbass, but maybe if they fear swinging in the breeze from a high tree, they'll do the smart thing and give into people's demands. (I doubt it, but you can't deny they're at least motivated to listen now.)

Always remember, we women had to kill to get the vote.

Oh I don't think it's because of your political stances, dear. Your behavior led me to that assumption.

What in the red-headed feminist???? Bitch, I'm leftist. I'm assuming this is your attempt to derail the conversation because I did not mention him or anything other than the current hot button topic that's got you all frazzled for some reason. (Afraid of ending up in the crosshairs someday? I'm queer, I live under its gaze. Did you just notice it?)

This might surprise you, but I think Zimmerman should be taken out back for what he did to Trevor. He shouldn't have gotten away with it and he totally abused his white-passing privilege to get away with it. (Annoying & disheartening how the internet's forgotten about him; man should be dogged for the rest of his days, but I digress.)

Despite what you think of me, I'm not a violent sociopath. I actually look for the peaceful solution 99% of the time. The 1% where I don't is reserved for evil, disgusting people who actively hurt others, like the CEO.

No, I don't want all CEO's dead and him just being a CEO isn't the problem; it's what he did and didn't do as CEO that got him in the literal crosshairs. Again, he was no wee-babe, but a cowardly bastard, arbitrarily killing people so he could pad his own pockets as well as the shareholders. He made $10,000,000 a year and did dick all with it so it's not even like he tried to atone.

You know what sensible people call those? Murderers. Why does this need to be explained to you? Everyone considers insurance companies and the people who run them as evil thieves, parasites and legalized killers, but it was accepted as a "necessary evil." It never should've become that normalized; you should not be on his side in this (and despite your other posts, you most definitely are.) You've also failed to realize...

HE THOUGHT MURDER WAS OKAY

And what's frightening is that you seem to think it's fine for him to think/do so.

No, as an insurer, he has a duty to pay out to people who pay in; not leave it up to a broken AI he didn't feel the need to take any accountability for. He actively pushed a faulty, defective product and did nothing to correct all of it's wrongful rejections. He failed as a CEO, as the head/face of the company and actively murdered people. To kill for your own needs/profit is inherently selfish and unjustifiable, but he's allowed to get away with it because…?

Are you some rich white girl or did you really hit the curb when your mother dropped you?

If it isn't, then where the hell are you getting this from? The only one who sounds hateful/frothing right now is you and you're clearly allowing previous biases to cloud your judgement.

For the record, I am NOT:

Pro-guns

Pro-gun violence

Pro-murdering of anyone/everyone

Right leaning (like, at all)

Straight

I am 100% in favor of:

Abortion & abortion rights

Proper sex education & preventatives

Gun control & sanity checks for gun ownership

Protecting yourself/your home from an attacker

Physically defending yourself if touched without consent (in any context)

Attacking an abuser or assailant that's blocking you from leaving a bad situation

Pro defense & murder when it comes to the "your body, my choice" crowd and for men who've killed in the dozens to thousands...

...which this CEO has.

Understand, my position isn't ill-thought out nor haphazard like you're wanting it to be. The right to kill should only be reserved for the most extreme/dire of circumstances, (like killing thousands.) Zimmerman was a coward who started shit and, unjustly, got to end it. What he did wasn't self-defense and IDK how his testimony to starting the conflict didn't void that entirely.

No one's life is worth a fucking chocolate bar.

But he was a small man with small goals. A problem, yes, but we're talking about a murderous CEO who sat in a chair and reaped profit from the dead. He's a mass murderer that's tricked society into thinking it's legal/just because of his title. It isn't. It's murder, 100% and we need to do something about it. Also, just because something's legal, doesn't mean it's just. A lot of laws need to change sooner rather than later but it's looking like the system you're so very dependent on is collapsing. Have fun with that. 😃

Yeah because you totally haven't been unblocking and re-blocking me to try and "win" this thing. I doubt the follow was accidental since you were still following by the time of my latest response.

What block circumvention? You're in my notifs:

Maybe stop unblocking me and it'll stick? Also, making posts about you in my own blog isn't considered block evasion if I can see and click on the notifications. Again, if you want this to stop, either have an actual discussion or keep me blocked. Any response from you will be seen and responded to.

Promise? Also, stop projecting. You're the one who actually needs to prove they're doing more than just trolling.

[qqueenofhades]

what's been particularly vile to me is this group of white online leftists who insist that anyone who cares about more than this one issue for the election is a bad person, like, as if us black and brown people are making up reasons to be afraid and not.....believing the gop when they say they are coming for us. believing trump who has said previously that he does not bluff, that he will do the things he's said he will do (i hate what social media has gone to the word gaslighting but it feels like gaslighting. we lived through four years of trump. we saw the damage. stop treating us like we're being dramatic). it must be great to not have to worry about that i guess? "life won't change under trump" is such a telling admission because maybe theirs won't but mine will. and so many others' will.

and it is often again these (white) online leftists that love to call anyone who disagrees with them a white liberal (derogatory) because they know it would be racist (bad) to be this shitty and condescending to poc but they don't want to actually listen to anything black and brown voters are saying. it's easier to just call us white liberals and throw our opinions out, to ignore the work of black people for decades to gain the right to vote, to disregard the weight of telling them to not do that. it's genuinely appalling. they care so much about racism until it's time to engage with poc who have different opinions than their online echo chambers, then we're just stupid liberals with terrible opinions like..... wanting to live. not wanting four more years of trump. so sorry for that.

sorry for this vent in your inbox, i'm just so fucking tired of white people trying to rewrite history as if trump wasn't that bad. he was for my family and countless others and i am terrified for what's to come if he wins.

The thing about (the often-white) Online Leftists is that they have become just as much as a radicalized death cult as the diehard Trumpists. If you don't want to die for The Revolution and/or sacrifice your life, friends, family, the rest of the country, etc., then you're Insufficiently Pure and must be Purged. (Which I think is just complete BS, as none of them could actually handle sacrificing anything, but it's increasingly the only kind of performative rhetoric that is acceptable in leftist-identified discourse spaces.) This is functionally identical to "if you aren't willing to lay down your life for our Lord and Savior Donald Trump and the Great White Christian Nationalist Dictatorship, you're a liberal cuck," but with the names and justification changed. It doesn't change the underlying radicalization, nihilism, and insanity of the premise.

Another thing the Trumpists and the Online Leftists have in common is that they are busily rewriting just how bad Trump was in order to serve their Ideology. Ever since January 6, 2021, the Republicans have thrown everything they have at revising and whitewashing any suggestion that it was an "insurrection," and the Online Leftists have done the same, in an attempt to "prove" their insane point that Trump "would be better" than Biden. This is embodied in the recent ultimate-brainworm-nonsense maximalist-online take that "Biden has to lose so the rest of the world will see that the US rejects genocide!!!" That's right, the message that the rest of the world would take from Biden losing to Trump is that the US rejects genocide. Never mind if Trump literally wants to commit all the genocide possible and to install himself as a fascist theocratic dictator. In the deeply twisted minds of the Online Leftists, this is the only possible interpretation of Biden's loss, so they'll push for it as hard as they can! The Trumpists and the Online Leftists, at this point, are working pretty much in concert to damage Biden for similar insane reasons and get Trump elected. Etc etc., one Nazi and ten people at the same table is eleven Nazis.

Like. Sure. Four years ago, when Trump was president and people were dying by the thousands because he didn't want to wear a mask because it smeared his bronzer, just to name literally one of the terrible things he did every single day (and not even mentioning how much worse a second term would be) we were absolutely better off. Super-duper great. (Sarcasm.) Either that or "there is suffering and evil in the world and the only solution is to drastically increase the suffering and evil for everyone and to destroy what progress we have managed to make because It Does Not Fix Everything Now" is an absolute moral imperative, and either way, yeah. I'm calling bullshit.

[proclaimtheword]

(Photo credit from another site. I redacted a name often accused against the pope because I don’t like throwing that word around and I don’t believe in using it against other people, no matter how much I disagree with them.)

It has been more than a week since this happened and the pope said this before a congregation on an official trip to Singapore. I’m appalled that catholic tumblr is utterly silent on this, but not surprised. They really only get up to defend their church against protestants, and then even happily side with unbelievers. I hate fighting with other Christians, of all people, and many times avoid it and just move on. But THIS. Come on. COME ON. I thought we at least agreed Jesus is the only way to salvation! How could you not say something? At least don’t be blind to false teaching!

A catholic, of course, tried to defend it, who actually said the pope is not infallible—but I corrected him on that one (I grew up catholic you’re not fooling me, and yes I have been catechized enough)—then came back to say it only applies ex cathedra: meaning, only when he is ‘in office’ with “full authority.”

I said my pastor then has more integrity. He’s not perfect, but at least he says the same thing whether he is on the pulpit or not. He preaches the same gospel whether at church or in a grocery store. And I never have to make up new doctrine to make him or his job infallible, or exalt him more than necessary to a level higher than a church leader or teacher (I am looking at the saint and blessed pope).

Jesus says, I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life. No comes to the Father except through Me.

How clear can that be? I’ve said this before, No wonder Muslims love Catholics (I constantly refer to Islam on this blog because I live in Middle East; this is also where I converted, and I had never known what it was actually like to be Christian until I lived here). If the world had a favorite type of Christian, it might be the Catholics. And if the world had a least favorite type of Christian, I am sure it’s evangelicals. I mean, even other Christians hate us.

Today I went to church. Have I mentioned we don’t actually have a proper church building? We rent a small villa in a far-side residential area with over 50 people at a service (Praise the Lord! Even in a cramped area and with a tight budget, God still fills our house). We don’t have a name or sign plastered outside identifying as a church. We’re scared because it’s not actually legal to run an evangelical church in this country. But there are Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox churches at least one of each in my city. As I’ve said before, evangelism is illegal, but they will openly convert you to Islam. (I don’t blame them, it’s their country, we’re just here as immigrants and treated accordingly. We don’t try to change laws or culture, and we try our best to live according to the rules. As long as we keep to ourselves and treat it nothing more than a closed gathering, we’ll be fine).

Trust me, I missed being Catholic - because I was just happy and carefree. I didn’t know much of the world or the Word. Ignorance is bliss. But my life changed as soon as I became Christian - when I professed that faith, took it seriously, and preached the gospel boldly. Now I understand the Bible even more intimately - anytime it speaks of persecution, insult, and suffering, I can relate to it. When Jesus says ‘love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you,’ it has more weight.

I don’t know where I am going with this post other than it’s a rant and a writing of personal experience. My journey as a Christian is both a blessing and a curse - in the same way the apostles have written about it. But narrow is the way that leads to life. I know persecution is part of Christian life, and I shall rejoice in it.

Repent! I say this to myself more times in a day than I address it to others. I am a sinner. Always will be. But by the grace of God and blood of Jesus on the cross I shall be justified.

Jesus is the Way. There is no other way.

[indieninja92]

as someone who is fully vegetarian and mostly vegan for purely ethical reasons (i mean, going back to meat and dairy would probably upset my stomach now but it would adjust in time) it is genuinely appalling how little other vegetarians/vegans actually think about the reality of that choice.

even if you think that eating meat is inherently unjust which, fine, I don't agree but let's take that as our starting point. If you want people to eat less meat or for people to go vegan en masse you first of all need to deal with food equality as a whole.

first things first, you need to start with labour rights and wage justice. not only do people need to earn enough to feed themselves, they also need to have enough security and stability in their lives that food can be something they have time and energy to think about. if you want people to think about food ethics, first you have to free up enough of their emotional energy to do so. decent work for fair pay, universal basic income, free high quality child-care, even free public transport - all of these need to come first before you're going to get a society where the majority of people have time and energy to think about the ethics of their food choices.

even when you start on food specifically, it isn't a simple process. you need to abolish food deserts and make sure every person in society has access to good, nutritious food with plenty of variety and which feeds their soul as well as their stomachs. you need to make sure everyone has time and facilities to cook that food, or that they have access to people who will cook for them. you need to pay the people cooking fair wages so that they, too, can afford to eat.

so OK you've waved a wand and made it possible for everyone in the world to think seriously about how they feel about the ethics of meat consumption. guess what: people are still going to disagree.

eating meat is a profoundly important part of a lot of cultures, from communities with a tradition of hunting and tracking to plain old Irish mammies wanting to make a roast on Sunday. those traditions are important, and you don't get to tell people they aren't. and that's not even mentioning people who, for one reason or another, can't be healthy on a vegetarian diet.

there are going to be people like OP who feel that eating meat is a fair trade - that these animals get a far higher standard of living and quality of life before their death than they would in the wild, and that there's nothing inherently unethical about one animal eating another.

or guess what - there will be people who just plain like meat and enjoy eating it! it's allowed! if you're imagining a utopia where everyone agrees with you, that's not a utopia, its a masturbatory power fantasy.

instead, lets talk about making meat consumption as ethical as possible. give farmers the support, time and money they need to treat the animals in their care with as much kindness as possible - something which, as OP says, the vast majority of farmers already do. they're human beings who care about the animals in their charge, not moustache-twirling villains ffs. prioritise animal welfare, keep meat consumption as local as possible, find sustainable, environmentally just ways to feed livestock and transport meat to where it needs to go.

throw yourself into these causes, and then maybe you'll have a leg to stand on when you want to get uppity about other people's eating choices. until then, i would really like to see other vegetarians and vegans treating the actual human beings involved in these conversations with a modicum of the respect and compassion they claim to have for animals.

I grew up next to a farm so like. I’ve had years to make peace with the idea of eating meat. It was a beef farm, we would buy meat wholesale from them in the winters, and it got us through. Take some city kid out to the farm and they’ll freak out about the cows, they always do, “oh they’re so cute how could you!” It’s not like we just flippantly kill animals, there is NUANCE to the whole thing. We don’t LIKE killing the cows but what else are we gonna do? Set them free and let the bank take the farm? Animals die for us, animals die for other animals, it’s LIFE. Should it be done humanely? Yes. Obviously. No farmer is gonna argue with that. But at the end of the day meat is food.

[metvmorqhoses]

Thank you for your take on the Darkling! I absolutely loved reading it. (I might read it a second time tbh). He truly is complicated and it kinda bothers me that people oversimplify him, especially the book version. Could things have been better? A 1000% Yes! But I don't see how people can read TDiW and not see his perspective on life or at least feel sorry for him. Btw are you going to read the graphic novel on TDiW when it comes out? Do you think LB is using him to simply make more money? It's hard to tell if she actually cares about him as a character.

You cannot imagine how glad I am to see so many people sharing my thoughts and frustrations regarding such a deserving and yet so poorly treated character. Every time it feels genuinely like a small victory.

One thing can surely be said, this fandom gave the Darkling the consideration and depth the original novels denied him. What he deserved as a character, he certainly found here thanks to some very stubborn few.

As for your question, I am actually still debating if buying Demon in the Wood, even while of course knowing more or less its general content.

If I have to be completely honest with you, I am quite fed up with how Bardugo uses and abuses the Darkling, a character she probably conjured by chance while taking here and there from ancient folklore and other better works, a character far larger than her own imaginings, a character that quite obviously escaped her own narrative and just stubbornly refuses to fit in every single little box she tries and fails to relegate him in, and to the point of discovering myself discouraged at the idea of reading something I'm deeply interested in because of the tragic logics of its own creator.

I absolutely find this occurrence deeply bizarre myself. It had never happened to me before, to like something so much while completely disagreeing in every single way with the person who is supposed to be in charge of it. I've always been fiercely loyal to every artist's absolute right of kingship over their own creations, but I find this particular case just hardly excusable.

As a reader, I cannot really help but feeling toyed with and cheated when it comes to this series.

The general writing is plain and mediocre aside for a few lines here and there. The plot doesn't make any thematic sense. The story doesn't follow its own logic but the absolute strange one of an author lurking behind every corner, an author that doesn’t allow her readers to actually have their own opinions about anything. The majority of the characters are "heavily inspired" by some other greater source. The rhyme and reason of the one poetically and mythologically interesting personality in there completely escapes its creator, whose only piece of understanding seems to revolve around the fact that, for some reason, this very character is the one thing that makes her books sell.

Therefore everything she writes constantly hints at and promises a big meaningful part for him in the narrative, while in truth he is just strategically always put one time in the beginning, one time in the middle and one time at the end of every single book just to serve as a page-turner and to make at the same time plain and over-sentionalistic turning points work, without ever gaining any real role, development or actual depth, while the other characters seem always frozen in their own opinion no matter the evidence they are presented with, eternally unable to change their (the author’s) static idiotic narrative about him.

That LB puts the Darkling in her books to make them sell it's by now evident common knowledge. That she uses our collective interest in him for her own gain, all the while judging us harshly for it, it’s something that truly drives me up a wall. And quite frankly I am rather uninterested in following the appalling and nonsensical literary whirling she constructs with this poor character as the main bait in order to quite literally exploit our ability to recognize artistic worth.

I actually noticed she always tries to deal with him as little as possible in every novel, probably afraid to find herself in the need to really start to characterize him.

It's really quite sad.

The Darkling is literally killed and brought back to life to sell copies. The Darkling is what makes Netflix shows happen. And now prequels about him are coming out in different forms just for a capitalistic kind of sake.

I'm not a big fan of any of this. If the writing was at least good, getting idealistically mad would make some sort of sense, but alas this is not even that much the case.

I hope I didn't sound too harsh, but I really was in absolute disbelief while reading those novels.

I’d much prefer reading again some true masterpieces written by beyond talented authors on ao3 (stories that actually feel way more real and deserving than the actual original books) and leaving LB to her own, very sad, literary choices.

[cathrrrine]

RUN | Pietro x Reader

Originally from my Wattpad

CHAPTER 15 - GHOST

----

[2009.]

Cold, unforgiving metal met the tender skin of my arm as I blocked his punch. That's going to leave a bruise. His blows were getting stronger, faster. He was testing my skills, they wanted to see how far I could be pushed. Although I wasn't far from the edge, I wasn't going to let myself fail today either.

"Focus!" He yelled.

I grimaced, ducking under his arm and landing a punch to his gut. Rookie move, but it was all I had at that moment. He grabbed my arm, quick as lightning, and dragged me by the chin so he could look me in the eye. My fists were still clenched but the exhaustion was starting to take a toll on me. I panted heavily as I tried to mask how drained I was.

With my arm still in his grasp, he said, "Who are you fighting for?"

It was almost a mantra that I was forced to reiterate every single time I fucked up. "Hydra."

He said it again, louder this time, his grip on my hand growing tighter. He could break my wrist if I didn't deliver. Hell, he could break every single limb I had. I couldn't fail.

"Hydra!" I scoffed. I belonged to them. I had to die for them. Hydra ran through my blood, and if it was ever spilled one day, it would be justified in their name.

That's what they told me.

Who was I to question them? I was nothing but a vessel, a weapon for these people. If I failed to deliver what was asked of me, I'd be killed. How ironic was that? To kill or be killed.

I hated it.

As soon as he let my arm go, I thrusted the top of my head into his face. I heard what sounded like his nose breaking and true enough, as I regained my balance and faced him, I found him wiping blood from his nose with the heel of his hand. It was satisfying, to say the least, to see that I finally made a dent.

"Perfect." He nodded.

God, it wasn't over yet.

He pulled his knives out of the holsters he wore, spinning them in the air and catching them both flawlessly. It was his signature trick. Honestly, I thought it was a bit too dramatic. But what can I say? Hydra loves their drama.

"Pay attention." He pointed the tip of the knife towards me. "Or you'll bleed."

He pounced, spinning his knives like they were toys and not murder weapons. He thrusted his right knife in the vague direction of my shoulder, I took a half-step back and circled around so I was behind him. It only took a second for him to whip around again, but I expected that move. So, I threw my leg up as soon as he did and I kicked the weapon out of his grip.

The knife spun around threateningly in the air before falling onto the concrete across the room with a thump. He didn't seem to pay any mind to his fallen weapon. That's when I remembered he had another. He twirled it around his fingers before gripping the handle and thrusting his right arm with full force, the gears of his metal arm whirring as he did so.

I thought I had it. I jumped back so he wouldn't catch my rib, but he was quick to calculate my movements. I should have known.

The pain was searing.

Blood oozed out of the newly-made wound on my calf, the knife buried to the hilt. I screamed uncontrollably as the pain of it kicked in, my body going limp immediately.

"That's enough, soldat."

Tears were falling down my face against my will. You know how sometimes your body does things you don't want it to do? I know, logically, tears were just how your body reacted to certain things. For example, being stabbed in the goddamn calf. But I knew, despite literal fucking science, the people around me took it as a sign of weakness. That's how messed up in the head they are.

But I wasn't weak. I just got through 2 hours of intensive training with the Winter Soldier while they just watched.

I'd like to see the lot of you fight him and manage to not get killed.

One of the medics went over to my side and helped me up. The Winter Soldier stepped aside and watched me with disdainful eyes. I knew I disappointed him. That alone could have fucked up my assessment. How did I not see it coming? How did I miscalculate that movement?

The Commander leaned in to talk to him as he watched me limp away. I made eye contact with both of them. The Commander's lips were moving but I couldn't make out a word of what he was saying.

Through pain-ridden eyes and a half-delirious mind, I could almost make sense of what the conversation was about.

Girl...Mission...Out...Threat.

Next thing I know, I was being treated by Dr. Nolan in the Medical Room. I don't think I processed anything yet. My brain felt numb. My eyes were glued to the knife — now on a metal tray — that I failed to dodge.

My mind flickered through all the different scenarios that I could have went with. I was beyond frustrated with myself and with my complete and utter failure. What were they going to do with me now? They couldn't really kill me...could they?

My mind reeled back to the conversation I saw that the Soldier and the Commander had earlier. What were they talking about? Did they finally decide what to do with me? The defective agent?

I wasn't perfect. I tried to be, but I wasn't. Somehow I always found myself disagreeing with their rules and their missions, even if I carried them out anyway. Although, sometimes I couldn't help but protest. I had to. Even if the consequences would hurt me. If they knew that I'd gone against more than just a few of their regulations, there's no doubt I'd be dead within the minute.

Footsteps came through the corridor, yet I didn't even think to look up.

"Your mission." The familiar faded black of a case file was thrown into my lap carelessly, the papers crinkling in protest as it landed. I looked up to see an annoyed expression that was attached to the face of one of the high-ranking agents.

"Mission? I thought I failed the assessment." My thumbs flicked through the papers almost automatically, scanning through the details quickly. I didn't miss the red stamp on the front. This wasn't just any mission.

He–David, I think–shrugged, "The Commander asked me to hand this to you. You're leaving in an hour."

"What?"

I was...thrilled and appalled at the same time. The whole point of the assessment was for them to see that I was worthy enough to be placed on important missions like these. If they trusted me with it, that means I succeeded.

"In an hour?" Dr. Nolan chipped in. "She hasn't fully recovered from her stab wound yet. You need at least two to three weeks of rest."

The red star-shaped stamp looked even more brighter in that moment, even if the room was poorly lit. "I've had worse. I can survive a limp."

"You won't even be able to walk." He raised an eyebrow at me in disagreement. Somewhere deep down, I knew I should listen to him. I wasn't in the best shape for a fight, let alone a mission like this one.

David huffed, "Orders are orders."

Then my brain clicked back into place. David was right. I nodded once. "I'll be at the hangar in 30 minutes."

"You better gear up by then. They wont wait up for you."

Dr. Nolan sighed and shook his head before wrapping my leg up with bandage. "Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you."

———

Snow was blowing in my face. The cold seeped through my coat, prickling my skin like tiny little needles made of ice.

"Any minute now." He spoke through the earpiece.

We were supposed to ambush a S.H.I.E.L.D operation that was a threat to Hydra. I wasn't entirely sure why I was sent along with the Winter Soldier, but I wasn't in the place to argue. Not when I just barely survived the assessment.

"Get in position." I crouched down, trying to smother a whimper that threatened to escape my throat. My calf was burning, but that wasn't a priority right now. Everything was always burning somehow, and I learned to ignore it overtime. I scanned the area through the scope of my sniper rifle. As soon as a car came into view, I steadied my hand on the trigger.

"Now."

Four continuous shots for each tire. Every single one blew out and the car spun out of control, spinning from left to right. It was a narrow road, the plan was bound to work to our liking. After a few nasty turns, the car swerved off the cliff, leaving nothing but dust and debris in it's place.

"They're not dead yet. Keep an eye out."

It was quicker than I expected, but I spotted two figures climbing out of the wreck after a while. Their movements were slow and staggered, but alive nonetheless.

"Target acquired."

I watched through the scope as he stepped out of his position in the shadows. One of the figures moved in front of the other, shielding them with their own body. I knew it was useless. He'd kill them both anyway.

A single shot rang out. I could picture the bullet going through one body to the other. They both dropped to the ground, dead.

"Target eliminated."

"Roger."

He didn't say a word. I didn't hear the usual rustle of his movements through the earpiece. Silence engulfed me. Usually, I wouldn't be so unnerved. He was always silent. But this time it felt...strange. I stayed where I was, unmoving. Something in my head told me I shouldn't move, shouldn't speak.

It seemed too easy.

I don't know what it was, but I didn't take my eyes off him. Something about this whole thing seemed...off. He could have completed this mission alone.

Why did they ask me to go with him?

He turned away from the bodies and faced me. I gulped, hands trembling as I held my rifle reluctantly. What was he doing?

"Sir?" I managed to say. Everything was telling me to RUN. NOW.

Slowly, he raised his gun and pointed it towards me.

Girl...Mission...Out...Threat.

My whole body trembled at the sight before me.

"Take the girl on your next mission. I need you to take her out. She's a threat to us, soldier. She's defective. Eliminate her. "

I was right.

Bang! The sound of a gunshot snapped me back to reality. It was real. They wanted to kill me. The Winter Soldier was standing ten feet away from me with a gun in his hand, ready to kill. To eliminate the threat.

Out of reflex, I pulled the trigger of my rifle that was pointed to his head, only to find it empty.

Four bullets. They only gave me four bullets and nothing more.

Without thinking, I ran. I dropped the rifle and ran as fast as my legs could take me. I heard another gunshot, closer this time. That's when I started to feel a strange sort of stinging at the back of my leg. The pressure felt strenuous as I continued to sprint in the snow.

Oh, God...Dr. Nolan was right.

I could feel the pain taking over once more as my stitches started to pop. Warm, thick liquid ran down my leg and seeped through the pants of my uniform as the wound on my calf bled out. Between the stinging cold and the stinging pain, I was starting to feel hopeless. I couldn't possibly go against him.

Bang!

Closer this time. I was running blindly into a vast, wide-open landscape of infinite snow. Not only that, but I was also leaving behind a trail of blood behind me. Deep scarlet upon stark white. What a contrast. Was this Hansel and Gretel or some shit?

"You cannot run forever." His voice was crisp, threatening. I couldn't take the fear that ran cold through me. If I stopped running now, I wouldn't ever get up again. He was the embodiment of fear, and he was chasing me.

I tore off my earpiece and threw it behind me. How could I have been so foolish today? Of course they sent him out here to kill me.

All along I thought I was playing the part perfectly. But, maybe I didn't hide my doubts of Hydra as well as I thought I had. Did they find out about everything I've failed to do?

How could I have killed those innocent children? How could I have murdered that innocent family? Or that innocent man who just so happened to stumble across a Hydra operation?

I was fine with the blood and the gore. I was used to that. The only thing that never sat right with me was when the innocent had to be slaughtered. The first time I went through with it, they haunted my dreams. Their animalistic cries for mercy, their howls of pain...I couldn't live with myself.

They were right. I was defective. I didn't have the makings of a Hydra agent. I wasn't as ruthless as I should be.

I ran and ran, hoping that he was far behind me. The snow was getting thicker by the minute, it was getting harder for me to see and to navigate.

I ran until my aching feet hit the pavement of a road that led to a small village. It looked homely, with houses and shops lined up along the road. Lanterns hung from roof to roof, providing light in the heavy snowfall. If I didn't know any better, I'd try to hide there. But I knew he would only tear it apart and kill everyone on sight just to eliminate me.

Then I sensed footsteps behind me. There was no time to think. It was my only option.

I sneaked through the worn paths of the area, trying my best to lay low. It didn't help that I was sporting a mean limp and bleeding all over the place. People saw me and they avoided me. I started to wonder why I thought heading here would help me. I scanned the area for anything, anything that would help. A weapon, a car, a spot that I could take shelter in...

Then, out of nowhere, I bumped into a woman.

"Oh!"

I held onto her arms as I tried to keep us both from falling. The woman was wearing a niqab. Her piercing green eyes looked right at me, distracting me from my original plan for a moment.

"Are you alright?" She asked, gently.

I must have looked horrible. Sweaty and bloody with panicked eyes. I didn't notice that her arms were still locked on mine, keeping me upright.

That's when I felt it, the surge of energy suddenly coursing through me. It was a peculiar sensation, but I welcomed it. Her green eyes widened. I knew she felt it too.

"You're-" she gasped, trying to pull away from me. I held onto her tighter, not wanting to let go just yet.

"Please." I begged. "It won't hurt."

I had to go before he came.

I heard gunshots behind me. I couldn't let him get to me, not when I just found the key to my escape.

"Who are you?" The woman whispered, struggling against me.

"Someone you’ll help escape death." I looked into her eyes, trying to let her see how desperate I was. I didn't want to take anything else from her but this.

Her eyes jumped from mine to behind me, before flickering back to look at me again. "You're like me, aren't you?"

"You don't need to do anything." I assured her. "I just need to leave."

It took a second of hesitation for her, but slowly, she nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but I never heard what it was. Because that's when the screaming erupted.

I closed my eyes and teleported myself the fuck out of there.

[lady-of-fidgets]

Ratchet x Autistic Reader ( Transformers Prime )

🚑 The first time you met the autobots it was all a bit much to take in; even more so when Optimus had assigned you with Ratchet. Or, Ratchet with you - however you wanted to look at it. It made sense - the others were already paired off and no doubt Optimus realized you'd feel safer with the medic, despite his apparently grumpy demaner.

🚑 It did take a while to pick up on it but you definitely found that he was basically a teddy bear - grumpy on the outside but deeply caring on the inside.

🚑 Since he didn't really leave the base - Omega One - he had a pretty set routine. You settled into it easily as well. Still in school or in college? You can study next to him in content silence as you both plod along with your tasks. Simply interested in what he is doing? He wouldn't mind you watching - and he doesn't mind the questions, despite the way he talks which would make it seem he'd rather not be bothered with inquires. In fact, he's more than willing to give explanations about anything you're interested in. His day to day routine is fairly concrete; something you both enjoy and prefer .

🚑 Special Interests - he wouldn't mind listening. Believe it or not, he makes a good sounding board. Of course sometimes he's busy or something unexpected happens that means he has to interrupt- but later as you're both in his habsuite getting ready to sleep, he's more than willing to let you continue if you want. He's genuinely interested because he does care about you - even if it's not always obvious.

🚑 Once he discovers you're autistic, Ratchet is invested in learning what he can ( when he has the time he prioritizes it ) and often asks you about your own experiences. When he hears about organizations like Autism $peaks, he's appalled and utters more than a few irritated words under his breath. Don't be suprised if he sits you down and wants to know if you want to make a plan in case of Meltdowns/shutdowns, overwhelm, etc. It's extremely important to him to be able to aid you when you need it.

🚑 Because he does care - even if he likes to pretend he's too grumpy to care - Primus help when you DO get overstimulated. If it's because of anyone else in the base - they'd maybe get one warning, which was probably snapped out as an order at everyone else to be quiet while he hurries to get you to a place that you can calm down in.

🚑 You have a stim kit at the base, including a weighted blanket, in his habsuite. Because if you need to get away, and a drive wasn't an option or good idea, you definitely wouldn't be disturbed in there. He'd make sure of it. Ratchet would keep any questions to simple "yes" or "no" ones, just long enough to know exactly what you needed.

🚑 If you use a device or prefer to use a device to communicate, no problem. He's already made sure he can interact with the device and made it so you could talk to him at any point using it. It doesn't matter if you're non-verbl, Semi-verbal, or just can't speak due to no spoons - he would never judge and would look to take the best of care of you. If you take medication, he'd always remind you to take it when and how you needed. which - don't be suprised if he hovers. He doesn't mean to - he just cares and so worries ( sometimes obsessively ). Thank you for humoring him.

🚑 A rare treat would be quiet drives together - wrapped up in a weighted blanket with a comfort object or stim toy as you are perched in the passenger seat, you love evening drives when the twilight is dimming and the bright desert sun is no longer overwhelming sensory wise. His voice is nice to listen to; he could ramble on about any topic he knew and was passionate about... But there would also be rides of just comfortable silence. Sometimes you'd end up falling asleep and he's pleased you're getting rest.

🚑 He's aware of how difficult it can be to sleep... So he'd be extra careful to not wake you. His habsuite isn't far from the sick bay - so the soft whirls of the machinery and his spark combine into a soothing mix of white noise. You're small and often he'll gently place you on his chest as he powers down; for the love of the All Spark don't try to disappear without waking him- he'd panic. Then get upset from the fear ( being a war vet and a medic can carry a heavy toll on a bot; I suspect he has PTSD himself. ); Not at you ( though it can seem like it in the heat of the moment ) but at the thought that something could of happened and if he wasn't there wheb you needed help what could have happened.

🚑 Stims don't bother him; he'd rather you stim and be yourself around him than feel like you have to hide it. you're free to - and encouraged to - drop your mask around him. If someone dares try to be ableistic toward you - Primus help their soul/spark. Let's admit it - Ratchet genuinely upset and angry is kinda unnerving. But he's careful to keep it in check around you. Last thing he wants is to make you upset in turn or to cause you discomfort of any sort.

🚑 He'd fight through hell and back for you. That's just the kind of bot he is.

🚑 You both end up becoming very close and work together often. It soon seems as if you've both been always working together. On days you're not there, he'll catch himself turning to address you only to feel a tinge of disappointment when he remembers you're not there then. Not that he'd admit it, willingly.

🚑 If you have a learning disability/intellectual disability, he's here to support you. You don't have to worry about proving your worth to him at all; you exist and are worth more than he can measure. Though, again, not that he'd willingly admit that part and tries to hide the pleasure he finds in your company in case it shows too much. After all he has that "grumpy-persona" to maintain. Can't drive? He's got you covered. Can't work a "normal" job or at all? Human societies are flawed and he disagrees with the abelstic nature of a lot of the ideals in society- you're valuable because you're you, you're alive. And you're his partner, his assistant, and he's your guardian. ( A position he takes seriously).

🚑 Once he realizes he's become your "safe place/person", he's suprised, humbled and pleased all at once. We all know he still grieves the fact he couldn't fully restore Bumblebee's voice during the war; Ratchet has a deep sense of duty, but he also has a harsh inner critic. To think you trust him enough even in your most vulnerable state is overwhelming to him but also makes the medic all the more determined to be there for you.

( maybe Ill make a part two for this one too. I'd like feedback if you've got any. Allistics don't derail. I'm willing to write more of these if people are interested. I don't think they're all that good but they do come from my heart. I'm also autistic, etc, and as I've said I can't speak for all autistics just me. So there may be things you can't relate to. That's ok and I hope you still enjoyed.)

Thank you for reading.

[the-black-birb]

Hi! New follower here but I love your writing, for the prompt list I would love your take on 29/30 with Kuroo! 💕💕 ty !

A/N: Thank you for requesting! I got a little carried away with this and it got really drawn out, hope you enjoy!! I could see myself writing this as a fully-fleshed out story, tell me if you’re interested :)

also for @thenerdyrebel i said I'd make it up to you with Kuroo fluff huhuhuhu <3

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Kuroo needs a girlfriend for a week. You’re set on making him regret asking you for a favor.

Your relationship with Kuroo was anything but serious. That was a given, considering the two of you were only dating because Yaku dared Kuroo. It was simple, really.

“I bet you can’t get a girlfriend for a full week,” he prompted, knowing Kuroo’s busy schedule between volleyball and college exams. That mixed with his awful personality and he was lucky if a girl stuck around for a conversation.

Still, Kuroo couldn’t say no to a bet, and he had just the person in mind.

“[Y/N],” he approached you one day during lunch, expression screaming mischief. You looked at him doubtfully.

“What are you planning on involving me in today, Tetsurou?” you weren’t unfamiliar with his scheming nature. Three years in the same class made the two of you more than just acquaintances, and you’d been known to do each other favors in times of need.

“Remember that time you stayed up late watching anime so I wrote your essay for you so you could sleep the next day?” he smirked at you. You nodded. “And remember how you said you owed me big time?”

You sighed. “What?”

“Yaku said I couldn’t have a girlfriend for a week,” he says bluntly. You look at him confused.

“You want me to find some poor girl that wants to date you? Hun, that’s impossible,” you dismissed, ignoring the pounding in your chest.

“No, no. That’s too risky. I want you to date me,” he grinned, looking at you like this was a fantastic idea. You fought down the heat rising to your cheeks. Date me? You thought to yourself. Date me? He wants to date me?

“Well, fake date.” Oh. The disappointment sunk in. That makes more sense.

You shook your head. It was no surprise Kuroo didn’t want to date you, but you could still get something out of this. “Buy me noodles every weekend for a lunch,” you replied, gaze unwavering.

Kuroo sighed. That was a lot. “Two weeks?”

You shook your head. “Three.”

“You’re on.”

The two of you shook on it, and you were officially “dating.”

Kuroo wasn’t getting off the hook that easily, though. If you were going to be his girlfriend, you were going to be the most obnoxious girlfriend he’d ever had. You were going to make everyone question why he would ever want to date you.

At first, you were very subtle about it. You did everything you thought a good girlfriend should do, like make him lunch and wear his team jacket. To confirm the whole thing, you made sure Yaku was watching you.

Unfortunately, you were a horrible cook and a bit of a slob.

“This is inedible,” Kuroo groaned as soon as Yaku left the room. You smiled at him deviously.

“You don’t want to eat your girlfriend’s homemade cooking,” you faked a pout. He smacked the back of your head.

“We both know you can’t cook [F/N],” he reminded you, taking out the lunch that he prepared from home. Unlike you, Kuroo had some skills in the kitchen.  You were about to leave to buy lunch (because obviously you weren’t going to make yours) when he placed a second container in front of you.

Oh.

“You think I’m letting my girlfriend eat some shitty school lunch when I know she can’t cook?” Was he blushing?

You wanted to laugh at him, really, but he was being too sweet. Instead, you sat down with him and prepared to eat. Still, you couldn’t resist…

“Aww, did your mommy make it for you?” He kicked you under the table. You just laughed.

You continued to be a “good” girlfriend, shouting at him in the hallways and clinging to his arm to make it difficult for him to walk. You tried to keep your antics to a minimum; after all you couldn’t let him catch on too early.

Good girlfriends even visited their boyfriend’s volleyball practice, you determined. So you thought you should surprise them! And as your surprise you accidentally opened the clubroom while the boys were changing… you tried to help set up equipment and somehow balls were all rolling out of the gym… truly you were a disaster. Finally, Kuroo approached you.

“Don’t help with clean up,” he set stubbornly. You looked up at him with big, round eyes feigning innocence.

“Why not? You guys don’t have a manager to handle things so it’s the least I can do,” you smiled at him. He hugged through his nose.

“Nope. Don’t want my girlfriend staying up late for me. Go home and get some rest,” he demanded, walking away from you.

“You won’t even walk me home,” you whined, hoping you could get a few more hours out of fun with him. Kuroo turned to you, eyes stern.

“No.”

You didn’t argue with that.

Still, your antics continued for the next few days. You showed up to school late, you’d wear your uniform wrong, you’d talk loudly during class, whatever you could do to be obnoxious. People would be absolutely appalled that the captain of Nekoma’s renowned volleyball team was dating you.

As usual, you went to Nekoma’s practice. Today, you were holding tightly to Kuroo’s hand (“Yaku has some doubts,” he told you that morning. “We’ve got to amp it up.”). You walked into the gym and sat on the sideline, already banned from touching equipment. Truly, you didn’t mind this. The team greeted you as they entered, and you pulled out a notebook to get started on your homework.

Occasionally, you’d grab water for the team but you were so tired from being a nuisance during the day, you really didn’t have energy to interrupt practice. And, although you’d never say this if anyone asked, you got to wear Kuroo’s team jacket and watch him play. He looked so into it, he was having so much fun. You wondered how it felt.

Although previous practices you’d either been removed by Kuroo or chosen to leave when the sunset, tonight you had lost track of time. Before you knew it, the moon was high and the boys were starting to clean up.

“Hey.” Kuroo walked up to you. “You’re still here?”

You pretended you didn’t feel the heat rising to your cheeks when he noticed. You looked to your notes, as if the answer to this situation would be there. “Whoops!” you stuttered with a nervous laugh. “I guess I got distracted watching…I’ll just…go… now…” You hastily stood with your bag, getting ready to leave. The quicker you got home, the less risk there was of someone lurking in the dark.

“Wait a few minutes,” Kuroo said absentmindedly, putting away volleyballs. “I’ll walk you home.”

You wondered if he knew what his words did to your poor heart.

Patiently, you waited by the door watching as he and his team cleaned up the gym. Finally, he grabbed his bag and ushered you out the door with him.

Out of habit, his hand reached to grab yours as the two of you walked. You thought about teasing him, wondering if he needed a thumb to suck, too. But the quiet hum of crickets and the calm sky told you this wasn’t the right time.

Your hand stayed firmly in his the whole walk home.

The next day, you were back to your usual antics. Today you had a magnificent plan. You had eaten an omelet for breakfast this morning, but asked your mother to put extra onion and garlic in it. When you got to school, you made sure everyone knew.

“Hhhhhello darling,” you smiled at Kuroo. He looked like he was about to vomit.

“Did you eat a dumpster? Your breath stinks,” he wafted a hand over his face, trying to dismiss the smell. You smiled sweetly.

“Aww don’t be like that. I just hhhad some garlic. You hhhave got to try omelets with garlic, they are just delicious. Especially hhhomemade,” you trailed on, making sure to drag out all of your h’s so Kuroo got the full effect.

“Wow, look at that. Class is starting,” he turned forward in his seat, discreetly shoving a few mints your way.

To make matters worse, Lev had finally caught wind of your relationship. “You’re dating the captain?” he asked you during lunch (you stopped by to tutor occasionally). You grinned up at the first-year, ready to put your plan in place.

“Yes, he’s really dreamy.” Lev made a face that said he disagreed and it took all your willpower not to laugh. “But he hasn’t kissed me yet. I wonder if I did something wrong…”

As if on cue, Kuroo walked into the first-year classroom, lunchbox in hand. “Oh [F/N], there you are. You wanna eat?” he held up his second meal, looking at you expectantly. You turned to Lev bidding goodbye, but he had other plans.

“Captain, how can you not kiss your girlfriend?” he asked, confused look on his face. “You’re so lucky to have such a pretty girl and you won’t even treat her right…”

Kuroo glared at you, handing you the lunchbox swiftly.

“If you’re not careful, someone might steal her,” Lev teased, but the look on his face was mischievous. You wanted to laugh. He’ll only care if they steal me in the next few days, you thought.

Kuroo opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by the bell. Instead, he smirked in a way that sent chills up your smile. “See you at practice, Lev,” he threatened.

His grip on your hand as you walked back to class was tighter than usual. He looked down at you curiously, trying to figure out what you were planning. “You think I’d kiss someone whose mouth smells like cat shit?” he quips as you walk in class.

Seeing there’s no Yaku around you give your honest reply. “Don’t worry, Tetsurou, I know you wouldn’t kiss me if my mouth smelled like flowers and fairy shit,” you retorted, getting out your schoolwork. “I just want to have a little fun,” you winked.

Too busy getting ready for class, you didn’t hear his quiet protest to your statement.

Class continued as usual. You sat quietly through the day, head occasionally falling. Kuroo stifled a laugh, you looked bored to death. He wondered how much you slept last night.

Partway through English, a note slipped onto his desk. In messy handwriting is said "how much money would you give me to flip this table right here, right now, in the middle of class?" It took willpower not to start laughing right there. He scribbled back quickly "I'll add one more weekend of noodles " and passed the note back to you. He saw you smirk when you read it, and write a hurried reply.

Before the note got back to him, you were on the floor, gripping your thigh in pain, and your desk was on the ground.

Kuroo tried to ignore the fact that from this position everyone could see your striped underwear. Instead he was worried about the incredible look of pain on your face and the curse words stringing from your mouth.

After a moment, you sat up, arm still rubbing your thigh but in a far less incriminating position.

"Sorry," you said sheepishly. "Leg cramp."

The teacher opened their mouth, clearly about to give you a scolding, but Kuroo was one step ahead. He slipped the note, which he still had yet to read, into his bag, and stood up to help clean up the mess you made. He pulled you up to stand, hand gripping your arm to support you.

"I'll bring her to the nurse," he assured the teacher, rushing out of the room.

As soon as you go to the hallway, the two of you burst into laughter. "You're crazy," he assure you. "Absolutely insane."

You smiled at him brightly. "You're just jealous you didn't have the balls to do it yourself," you retorted, tripping over yourself with laughter. "You hate English, anyways."

Kuroo shook his head. "Sure but I wouldn't flash the whole class to get out of it," he said through a fit of giggles. "You're wild [F/N]."

You shrugged. "So where do you want to go now?" You inquired, wandering the halls. Kuroo looked perplexed.

"Well we're not going to the nurse's office and I doubt he's expecting us to go back to class," you smiled at Kuroo. "We've got an hour until practice. Where would you like to go?"

Kuroo felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't know what to say.

You smiled at him, and he wanted to be the only person who got to see you look like that. "I know, come with me." You grabbed his hand and started walking.

He wasn't sure how long the two of you walked for. Five minutes? Ten? Usually, silence with you was deafening. You were always trying to crack a joke or make noise. But this was comfortable. He was comfortable. Finally, the two of you arrived at a park close to Nekoma. It wasn't anything special, really, but it felt private. Like the whole world was put on pause for the two of you.

You sat on the swing, mindlessly rocking back and forth. You were staring at the ground.

"So when all of this is over," you still weren't looking at him. "Do we fake a huge breakup? I mean, the whole school knows at this point." You grinned at him. "Wouldn't want them to think you're stuck with me much longer, would you?"

Kuroo smirked. Whatever you could dish out, he could serve back. "What?" He teased. "Afraid if you stick around much longer you'll fall for me for real?"

Your laughter was music to his ears. He leaned against the swingset, watching you move back and forth slowly. "I would never," you teased back. "I'm far too sophisticated for the likes of you," you assured him, swinging back and forth.

"Right," he nodded. "Polka dot panties scream sophistication. Were they pink, too?"

Your ears turned bright red. “They were striped and blue and I didn’t expect you to look!” you retorted (although the last part was a lie, you were fairly certain everyone in the class was looking)

“Hmm,” Kuroo purred. “They were? I think I’ll have to check…” he walked towards you on the swing, hands out in front of him. You were quick to jump off and run from him, but he chased after you nonetheless.

The two of you ran around the park playfully, going up ladders and down slides and Kuroo pretended to grab at you (if he truly wanted to, you were sure he’d be able to catch up to you). Although you had always been the clumsy one out of the two of you, Kuroo had his moments as well. Soon, he was tripping over his own two feet and bring you down with him.

Somehow, you ended on the ground laughing, Kuroo’s form hovering over yours. It was close, closest you’ve been with someone since you were a little kid on a playground. But the way his arms wrapped around your waist, keeping you from truly falling, and the warmth radiating from his body and his huge grin… it was worth it.

Eventually, the two of you calmed down and Kuroo stood, offering you a hand. You accepted quietly. “Back to school?” you suggested. He still had practice. Nodding in agreement, the two of you walked hand in hand back to Nekoma.

When you got to school, there was something noticeably different about the air between the two of you. Although you continued your banter, something had eased the tension. No one on Nekoma’s team was sure what exactly it was, but their captain seemed far more relaxed than he had for months.

During break, Lev walked up to you. “[L/N], has he still not kissed you?” he whispered like it was your little secret. You froze, discreetly reaching for your mints. You hoped Yaku didn’t hear him.

You thought back to the park. He hadn’t kissed you, but somehow it felt more personal than a kiss. “Don’t worry about it, Lev,” you assured him with a friendly smile. “Besides, I think you have bigger things to worry about…” Yaku was walking your way, surely to retrieve the tall first-year.

Kuroo watched the two of you talk and walked over to you. “Is he making you uncomfortable?” he asked defensively. You realized how close he was standing to you and suddenly were awfully glad you grabbed that mint.

“Nope!” you assured. “Why? Jealous?” you grinned, expecting nothing to come of it. Kuroo had to get back to practice anyways.

Instead, he swept down and planted a firm kiss on your cheek. “Just a bit,” he whispered in your ear, before turning around and heading back to practice. The warmth of his breath on your ear and his lips against your cheek lingered. For a moment, you wished this week would never end.

But practice had to end, and Kuroo walked you home like normal. It wasn’t until he was back at his own home, finishing homework, that he remembered the note placed on his desk. He went into his bag to find it and uncrumpled it to see your note, his, and then below it in familiar handwriting… 

Are you asking me on a date? I accept

He groaned, throwing the note across the room and covering his face with his hands. Warmth pooled in his chest as he remembered the feeling of his hand in yours and the way you laughed running across the playground… he never wanted it to end.

Although he tossed and turned in bed kept up with thoughts of you and of tomorrow being the last day you’d be ‘fake-dating,’ he eventually fell into a dreamless slumber. After all, the only dreams he had were when he was together with you.

The next morning, you were late for school. Not late like you were later than usual, or you barely got to class, but that you walked in, interrupting the whole class. You were visibly disheveled, and dishing out apology after apology. The teacher took you into the hallway.

It was hard to make out what they were saying, but it was clear you were getting a stern talking-to. Eventually, you made it back into the classroom, awkwardly sitting in your seat and trying to avoid the noisy eyes of your classmates.

You weren’t exactly a class clown, but you were definitely someone who caught everyone’s attention. After spending the whole week drawing eyes to yourself, he wondered why now you decided to hide from it. You had nothing to hide from, he thought.

At lunchtime, he approached you like normal, with an extra lunch in hand. “So, detention?” he asked. You nodded solemnly. “Again?” It had been a while, but for a bit, you were a serial-detention-attendee. It was never really your fault, you were just late and busy and school never really clicked with you. Three years of having class together and Kuroo noticed it, too.

But you’d worked hard to improve your record, and it had been months since your last detention. Still, the slip weighed down on your desk like a metal anchor, dragging you down. You sighed defeatedly.

“Stupid me. I just had to walk my siblings to school… make sure they had lunch money… next time I just won’t show up,” you muttered to yourself. Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows. You weren’t usually one to get down, even when you had rough patches.

“C’mon it’s just some time after school. You’ll be fine,” he guaranteed you, brushing off your concerns. You nodded, smiling weakly.

“Yeah. You’re right,” you mumbled, eating your food dejectedly.

You weren’t very talkative for the rest of lunch.

Kuroo racked his mind, trying to figure out what he could do to make you feel better. He thought about offering you some noodles, but he did enough of that. A card? No, too cheesy… 

Before he knew it, it was the end of the day and you were cleaning up the classroom before heading off to your dreaded detention. Kuroo stayed back to help, figuring it was the least he could do.

You’d been strangely quiet all day and Kuroo hadn’t been sure what to do. Finally, when the two of you finished up, he thought it easiest to dismiss himself. The silence between you was deafening.

“I’ll just… see you Monday then…” he trailed off, heading to leave the classroom. It was only the two of you in there.

“Wait,” you called after him. He stopped immediately, turning to face you. Your head was to your chest, staring at your shoes, and your hand awkwardly scratched the back of your head. You spoke quietly, but he listened closely to make out your words. “Could you… I know you don’t have volleyball today but could you maybe… could you wait for me?” You breathed in deeply.

“I can’t let my mom find out I got detention, she’s been so happy lately and if she finds out she’ll… she’ll…” Tears threatened to pour from your eyes. Kuroo didn’t say much, but he could see the stress weighing down on your shoulders.

“C’ mere,” he motioned. You moved towards him slightly, and when you were within arms reach, he tugged at your wrists to pull you into a warm embrace. “It’s okay,” he whispered to you. One arm circled around your waist to secure yourself to him, while the other drew circles soothingly into your back. “You’re going to be okay,” he promised. When he spoke, you actually started to believe it.

You wrapped your arms around him and nuzzled your head into his neck, sobbing quietly. “It’ll be alright,” he promised, kissing your forehead. For a while, the world stopped and you just relished in the comfort of being completely honest and safe in his arms.

Eventually, Kuroo pulled away but kept his forehead pressed to yours. “Hey,” he whispered.

“I got your shirt all wet,” you apologize through tears. His hand moved to wipe at your cheek and he smiled.

“No worries, I looked better without it anyway,” he teased. You laughed tiredly. “I’ll wait for you, and then we can walk home together. We’ll tell your mother we went out on a date, okay?” He owed you at least four.

You nodded, too tired to argue, and wiped away the tears on your cheeks. “Right. I’ll see you at the gate?” Kuroo smiled at you.

“I’ll be waiting.”

True to his word, he was there when you got out of attention. You were started to look more like yourself again, with color in your cheeks and light in your eyes. Still, there was something sad about your demeanor.

You didn’t greet him, and he didn’t greet you, but the two of you fell into step with one another without question. You were simply meant to be side by side at that moment.

“So… the week is up,” you reminded him with a sad smile. Kuroo felt a weight rest on your shoulders. You were right… a week had passed and there was really no reason for the two of you to “date” any longer. But… 

“What do you want to do?” he asked you. You were the one who was in a tough spot, and he didn’t want to take advantage of your vulnerability. He just wanted to see you happy.

You breathed in sharply. You seemed nervous for some reason, and Kuroo prayed silently that he hadn’t been putting pressure on you. “I’ve been thinking actually. About that day at the park.” You turned to face him. He stopped, giving you time to speak.

“I have a confession. Don’t laugh at me?” you asked anxiously. Kuroo grinned at you.

“I’ll always laugh at you,” he promised and you punched his arm playfully. “All right, all right! No laughter from me, not a peep.” He hoped his face didn’t look too hopeful.

“I know I said I wouldn’t, but I think I fell for you for real. Like, really, totally badly,” you admitted, eyes tracing the ground. “And I get that you did this as a joke, and I’m sure you asked me because I’m the one person who you’d never end up dating but I wanted to be honest with you.” Kuroo felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders. You looked cute rambling. “And you don’t even have to respond! Or walk me home! We can stage a breakup, or just tell everyone it didn’t work out or-”

There was something warm against your lips.

Kuroo’s lips were against your lips. He pulled away, stupid grin still clear on his soft, cherry-flavored lips.

“Why would I break up with someone I’m head over heels for?”

[boukenboy]

#16: アンジェリーク 魔恋の六騎士 / Angelique: Maren no Rokukishi

Angelique: Maren no Rokukishi was a visual novel released by Koei in collaboration with Otomate, a developer of many otome games within Japan. It follows the story of Teresa, a young girl whose parents went missing when she was very young. She lives in the city of Siva with her adoptive family - an unnamed grandmother and her annoying brother, Renaud. After hearing strange rumors about a series of kidnappings within the city, she falls victim to a masked assailant later that night, only to wake up in her room a day later with no recollection of what had happened to her. Read on for drama!

Her brother disappears too, and Teresa beings to desperately search for the boy. She soon finds him within the company of a band of traveling mercenaries. She pleads for him to return, but Renaud refuses, pledging his loyalty to the captain of the mysterious group, Leviath. Faced with a lack of options and her brother's stubborn reluctance to return home, she begs the one-eyed weirdo to serve as his assistant, as Renaud is prone to exhaustion and illness. He agrees, and soon Teresa finds herself on an interstellar adventure, supporting the knights as they serve various clients.

Maren no Rokukishi focuses on the nature of war. When is violence justified? Is it worth it? Do the ends always justify the means? The game explores all of these at some point, and overall, its surprisingly cynical and dark, in a sharp contrast to the colorful art direction. Family ties are broken, betrayals abound, and the action sequences are surprisingly well-written. There are sections in Maren that I found myself completely absorbed in the writing - despite being the type to skim fight-scenes, especially those written in a language that I am not a native speaker of.

Unfortunately, most of the above happens in the final hours of the main route - the rest is simply not that interesting, primarily due to the focus on Renaud. So much of Maren revolves around him, and quite frankly, he is easily the worst member of the cast. Renaud is whiny, naïve, occasionally bratty, and has an incredibly irritating voice. He collapses at the slightest bit of effort, and yet everybody in the cast dotes on him and sees zero no issue with letting him lead his own army. Make no mistake, this is not Teresa's story. It is his.

When you're not experiencing Renaud's latest temper tantrum, depressive episode, or fainting spell, you'll be treated to amusing slice-of-life vignettes of Teresa adjusting to a mercenary lifestyle. You'll be harassed by a drunk, attacked by bandits, threatened with your life at the slightest suspicion, and so forth. Like I said earlier, Maren really only picks up in the final hours, where the shit hits the proverbial fan and characters start dropping like flies. The ending is honestly shocking in how far it plunges into campy tragedy - think Game of Thrones, but actually entertaining. I said what I said.

Thankfully, the other routes solve the Renaud issue entirely. But there is a caveat: in order to unlock these routes, you have to complete the main story first. I am of two minds about this feature. On one hand, I think its interesting that the designers have you experience their fantasy epic before allowing the player to romance their favorite knight, but on the other, I don't think that Maren's "canon" story is strong enough to justify it - there's just too much focus on one character, and he's not even remotely likeable. I did some research before writing this game, and found someone who agreed with me, saying, roughly translated from memory, "...but there was too much Renaud, so I'm taking off a star."

The individual routes are much stronger. My favorite of those that I've played was Giovanni - he's basically the ultimate twink: a hard-drinking, gambling, blackmailing scammer who loves trouble. His route is very light-hearted, which was a welcome relief from the drama present throughout the rest of the game, and his playful nature reminds me a bit of a particular ex of mine, so I'm naturally a bit biased. The main conflict in his route occurs during their second date: he carefully arranges a luxurious all-day experience with Teresa. They go to the opera! He gives her a new dress! A fancy restaurant! Flowers! It's amazing!

It is then revealed that he was able to go to such excesses because he scammed rich people out of their money. Teresa, for whatever reason, is appalled at this, and basically tears him apart, making a huge scene in public, even - and I was completely dumbfounded. This might be a bit too political for a gaming blog, but I personally would have no issue with someone I am interested in romantically treating me to a five-star experience through some rich asshole's money. They'll be fine, they're rich - who cares? It would be one thing if he was beating up orphans in the street, but Giovanni only targets those who can afford a little blackmail. He is the ideal husband. Teresa should deal with it.

Kiefer's route was incredibly moving, albeit in a more personal way - this blonde mad lad is absolutely insane, and for a good part of the story, Teresa is left unsure as to whether or not he wants to love her or kill her. With most characters of this type, they quickly warm up to you, but Kiefer is different: if Teresa expresses even something even slightly disagreeable in his mind, he would not hesitate to slaughter her on the spot. He is also the character I'm most attracted to, and that says a lot about me and I don't want to talk about it.

As I said earlier, Maren has a streak of denying the supposed inherent value of family, and there is no greater example of this than in his route: Kiefer kills his brother, an adorable himbo struggling to adjust to high society, in cold-blood, and then attempts to do the same with his father, who, as we find out, tended to dote on his twin-brother. As someone who has been disowned by my own family, Kiefer's rage resonated with me. We, as children, take in our parent's biases, for better or worse, and when we cannot live up to them, it creates a disconnect. I have not spoken to my family in nearly five years. I could understand and identify with Kiefer's rage. I wouldn't go as far as to kill my own family, but who knows what would have happened should I not have left my home town?

I did not know this when I first began playing Maren, but the game is an adaption of a light novel released after Angelique: Tenkuu no Requiem, which is itself an RPG spin-off of Angelique Special 2. This makes Maren a spin-off of a spin-off, but despite that, I still had plenty of fun with the game - I just wish the main route was realized a bit better. I usually like to replay certain routes to better formulate my opinions, but Maren focuses entirely too much on a character I could not stand. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of Angelique, particularly the sequels mentioned above, as I'm sure the game contains all sorts of references to the source materials, but on its own, it's a bit lacking overall. That being said, as much as Maren lacks, there are certain scenes that were so well-done that I found myself genuinely moved. It's an uneven experience, but one worth looking into!

[jojiship]

Why Isak is my least favourite main in Skam OG?

Before some of you come here with pitchforks and insults, I just want to say a few things. First, this is my PERSONAL opinion. You can see from the title what this is about, so if you don’t agree with it, don’t read it. Second, I don’t hate Isak. He’s just not my favourite main in Skam OG and I think at times, he is overrated. I do like him, but I like the girls more than him and enjoyed their characters more. Also, in a show where William exists, who will hate Isak more than him? Now, let’s start with it. Third, his season is my second favourite out of all four, but Isak being main isn’t the reason why. 

.Sorry for any mistakes. English isn’t my first language. (Also, want to tag @poweratsea because they were interested to read this. I hope you enjoy it)

Most of the reasons I enjoy Isak the least out of the mains and dislike at some points, it’s his treatment of Eva. During season one, he annoyed me the first episodes. Both him and Jonas were condescending and mean to her when it came to her grades. In the first few episodes, they continuously make jabs about her intelligence, especially in the cabin episode. I always hate when characters do this to others, especially when the characters are men and the person whose intelligence they are mocking, is a woman. They did it too many times for my liking. 

I started to like Isak more as the season progressed. He seems to be there for Eva at times and I found that very cute. Boy, I was wrong. Isak knew what Jonas was doing. Everytime, he ‘helped’ Eva, he chose to make Eva’s insecurities about her relationship even worse. He manipulated Eva. The way he responded to her questions and treated her made her more insecure. While the relationship between Jonas and Eva was extremely fucked up, you can’t deny that Isak played a factor in that relationship’s downfall. His conversations with Eva, especially in the cabin episode, played such a big part in Eva thinking that Jonas was cheating on her with Ingrid. Eva trusted him and Isak returned that trust by manipulating and lying to her causing her to become more distrusting towards Jonas.

Eva trusts him with the secret that she kissed Penetrator Chris. Isak promised not to tell Jonas and he didn’t. He didn’t tell Jonas. No, he decided to tell the whole school that she hooked up with Penetrator Chris. Most importantly, he humiliated Eva and to an extent, he humiliated Jonas as well. I get that love makes us do stupid things, but nothing can excuse Isak’s actions. I don’t know if he thought about the consequences of what he did, but I’m sure that he knew they were going to be consequences that will hurt Eva. I just think he didn’t care about her. Let’s not forget that she was supposed to be a close friend of his. Who does that to their friend, huh? Someone who doesn’t care about them. He took a private matter and made it public to the rest of the school. It would have been better to tell Jonas what happened rather than what he did. He choose to tell everyone because not only did he want to break them up, he wanted to hurt them as well. No, you can’t change my mind about that. The fact that the fandom joke about this and call him a snake just blows my mind. Hold your favourites accountable for their shitty actions (especially since Isak never suffered the consequences of it). Also, Isak isn’t a snake, that action reminds me of a rat.

It pisses me off that after everything blows, he goes and comforts Eva. It makes the situation even worse. He goes and calls her weak for wanting to leave Nissen. How did he even have the audacity to do that? Of course, she was thinking about leaving. She was being treated horribly. She was getting letters written in period blood, was being called a slut by everyone and everyone was turning their backs on her. When Eva is told by Iben that it was Isak who did it, I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t expect anyone else to be. From the scene in the skate park, I knew he was going to rat her out. Though, it hurt that Eva didn’t expect him to do it. She was so shocked when she found out and that made the situation worse.

Eva does cut Isak some slack because of what happened with his dad. It’s understandable for her to do that. Isak didn’t need more problems at that point. When she faces him with the truth, he seems so unapologetic and doesn’t seem to care. His apology seems so fake in my eyes. It didn’t seem that he cared for what he did. He apologized three times to her. The only time I found some sense of sincerity in the apology was in season three (a year after all that happened). I didn’t know hoe Eva forgave him because if I was in her place, I would never have forgiven a friend who betrayed me like that. It would have been different if he told Jonas rather than the whole school. Also, I want to say that Eva acted quite shitty with Isak too in season 2. Her interest in his sexuality was just appalling and disgusting in my eyes. I get that he hurt her, but no one should meddle in someone’s private life no matter what.

Another thing that bothers me is that Jonas never found out what Isak did. Some of you probably will say that some things are left buried, but I disagree. I liked that Eva didn’t tell him, but I wanted Isak to tell him. I wanted Isak to be honest with his friend of years. In my eyes, the friendship between Jonas and Isak would never be good because of that. Imagine if you were in Jonas’ place. Wouldn’t you like to know something like that? I really wanted for Isak to tell Jonas what he did in season 3. I thought that he would one day, but it was never mentioned. It was forgotten until the last minutes of the last episode.I was disappointed because I wanted that to happen since season one. Jonas never found out that it was Isak who told everyone. He needed to be told that. He needed to know that his best friend told everyone that his girlfriend cheated on him. Yes, Isak did it because he was in love with Jonas and that would make things awkward. However, it’s better to live in awkwardness rather than in a lie. That’s why I never liked the dynamic between the boy squad that much. This big detail always bothered me. If Isak told Jonas, it would have shown more growth and development in Isak’s character. Also, let’s not forget that Jonas and Eva ended up together. Does that mean what Isak did was going to remain buried and unsaid forever? Probably. I hate that Isak  never suffered the consequences of what he did in season one. 

Also, when he points out to Eva why they have drifted apart in season three, it was so dumb. Maybe most of the fandom forgot what he did, but I sure as hell didn’t. The show made it seem like Eva did too. Isak, her close friend of years, betrayed her like that and Eva just shrugs about it. I wish there were more scenes with the two of them. I would have loved to see those scenes more than hearing Magnus talk about sex. I wish Isak offered her a proper apology. Even the one in season three that seemed the most sincere, lacked so much in my eyes.

Now, in Isak’s season, I started to like him more. Before it, I hated him and found him annoying. His season did make him look better in my eyes, but I’m still bothered by the fact that he never told Jonas what he did. Also, the fact that he started the season by trying to screw Eva all over again. We love consistency in characters. His relationship with Even was interesting and beautiful to watch, but Isak wasn’t as exciting as a main. I liked his relationship with his parents, but we didn’t get enough of that and his internal homophobia was handled well in my opinion. That’s it. Besides that, I wasn’t impressed by him, especially with all the lies he told with no regard of other people’s feelings and the way he used other people as well. His lies were lazy and he didn’t even think them through. I just hated when Isak (and Noora in her season) constantly lied and sometimes, for no reason at all. 

In the fourth season, Isak was just a fanservice prop in my eyes. He and Even became one in season four and all of their troubles was just forgiven. Honestly, I forgot that Even suffered from bipolar disorder in season four. I wonder if Julie Andem did too. It was as if Even’s MI was cured by being in a relationship with Isak. Also, the bench scene with Sana wasn’t IT in my opinion.

That’s all I have to say about Isak. The fact that most of his actions had no real consequences pissed me off. He could and should have been written better. Y’all cal Noora a Mary Sue when Isak is right there.

[rqs902]

.

yang chaowen is really a sensitive kid... man he brings out renyu's song's feels and then brings up ylq to relate to the lyrics bc he knows his friend isnt getting as much appreciation as himself. (this makes even more sense after ylq said he had been crying before ycw went onstage and ycw was comforting him... and then after ycw came off the stage, it was time for ylq to comfort him from crying TT) Their friendship is really something. But then ycw saying he just gets ripped for getting screentime for crying all the time ouch but i dont get the feeling that hes doing it for attention but maybe im becoming partly biased towards chaowen :) 

Lol the fact that they focus so much on xzx and how hes favored by gjm but feels like it's unfair to be treated uncomfortably by other trainees as a result... all i can say is, what do u expect, of course the other kids will be salty, their lives are on the line and theyre getting nothing close to the attention you are, so unfortunately u cant win everything :(

Lol I see why everyone on twitter is annoyed at gjm... Jackson is literally trying to say something meaningful and mentor-like to su er and gjm literally interrupts with his own opinion.... jackson is like unable to finish his thought. and then when Cheng xiao is actually trying to give ma haowen advice, gjm just goes WELL I DISAGREE, THIS IS RENYU'S FAULT and everyone's like wtffffff???? And then he starts saying people can help Xinhai with his terrible dance (ouch) but renyu didnt help haowen sing and Huang enyu MY CHILD just goes: but dancing and singing are different....... and I'm just smh.... gjm really shouldnt act like he knows everything when hes the only mentor with zero actual relevant experience :( Poor renyu literally looks like hes about to burst into tears, ma haowen looks so sorry and appalled renyu's getting yelled at and none of the other mentors seem to agree with gjm lol 

lets appreciate renyu’s song, its really good!!! 

Lol this whole mentor segment is a mess but man chaowen and renyu won a lotta votesss ayyy

I think xue en seeing hwh as a pro rapper shows him humbling himself, since hes technically a more seasoned and popular idol performer

Cheng xiao fangirling over xue en I mean SAME hahahahahahaha awwwwww yzx being soooo genuinely happy for xue en is the cutest!!! Aw cto friendship and xue en crying :’) actually one thing ive noticed i feel like yzx seems like a genuinely kind and cheerful friend, maybe people are bashing him bc he pushed off some leaderly responsibilities to lin mo in the last round but maybe hes just not someone to take on a strict leader role (looks at aj from afo...) and realized that since lin mo has such experience and is really good at it, it makes sense to respect his experience and skill and let him take on that role. of course its unfortunate that means lin mo worked extra for less recognition, but i think it seems like yzx really respected and admired him so im hopeful what happened wasnt due to mean intentions 

watching chen junhao feeling lost oh man :/ maybe he hadnt fully prepared himself for the idol life when first coming on this show. its unfortunate reality that in this kind of idol survival show, the focus is more on stage presence and face and performance, rather than the music itself. Hopefully he really feels that hes found a path forward through this performance. This is a really real way to present him but I'm sad theres not as much focus on li chenxu when this is hissss song

Man both the self composed songs are really good!! Mann them making this song a dance song is really hard to watch for li chenxu bc its makes it hard for him to shine at his own song which is sad :( also lzx's rap is questionable lol but cjh's vocal part in the middle part is so emotional, I hope he felt like he was able to express himself fully there

Lol does gjm not realize they didnt have a choice to not dance. Lollllll cheng xiao literally said they had too much to do and tried very hard but he didnt listen.

Aww jackson teaching them about team work :') o gosh I have PTSD about jin fan getting classified as a vocal now after uuu..... also not surprised the entire segment was about sxl and even the judging portion lol....

Oof Jin fan's voiceeee I love

Man why does Jin fan always get stuck in not dance songs ><

more appreciation for xu zhaohao vocals pls!!! imo sxl has a poor attitude :/ he doesnt perform calmly under pressure and isnt doing well at making a good atmosphere for practice

LOL why do i feel like lin mo is always saying "song" things hahahah hes really a kid

but mannn yan an just walking into the elevator is so oof

Aw duan xuyu is too nice... but I guess this is the leader in him coming out

Aw yan an immediately encouraging xikan when he lost the center to him

Lolll xikans little “heheh” when he won 

Mannnn ngl even tho yan an leaves the show, I kinda wish he had a bigger role in this perf bc it's literally like his jam.... chinese style influenced dance.... I wish he had at least 1 memorable dance move, like I feel like Luo Joe already had one in the last perf and he has one again here (and hes very talented and he deserves recognition!) but yan an has yet to really show anything and im scared hes gonna just disappear soon :/

They all did so well tho!!! Truly a group of dancers. Really made me want to rewatch the whole thing immediately. altho the beginning I cant unsee the lin mo meme LOL 

and xikan did really well!! His stage presence is real. And hes put effort into his facial expressions

Luo Joe being cute is iconic

Aw yan an cheering on lin mo when revealing his votes!!

Aw I'm surprised 100 ways kids didnt get more votes.... lol ngl i feel like this show is just randomly adding vote bonuses in for random reasons not prespecified for kids they like.... cough gjm yet again

but oo the next ep looks fun hahahha im excited for a happier ep thats not as stressful.

Ycw keeping it real 2020: "im not good at controlling emotions.... i hope if you want to cry or laugh do it loudly, dont care about what other people think"

ok so maybe im liking more new kids than i expected, but i think thats a good thing that the show is making them likable and some kids are able to stand out! honestly i realized I kinda can see why they eliminated so many to begin with. It's sad but also kinda nice tbh (ouch, i know) bc if they really got rid of the ones who have less skill, it makes it easier for the others who dont have to teach from zero (cough lin mo) And then those with skill get to have at least 3(?) stages, unlike qcyn where jin fan got eliminated after only doing 1 silly stage lol The skill level of the stages is also raised, like there's multiple groups of almost all people who are well qualified. im sure the kids are happy that they get to do more stages, im sure that means a lot to them. 

At least on snzm they attempt to give most trainees a positive light and give screentime to more than just the top 10 trainees. and they allow someee time for vocals, dancers and rappers to get appreciation (even tho dancers are still dominating lol)

but yea honestly I disliked the judging on pdc2019 too tho so at least the judges here can be supportive... at times. it is SUPER biased and gjm is very vocal despite his lack of knowledge tho lol 

it's so bad bc I feel like my standards for shows are so low at this point. my standards get lowered with every show I watch. It's like I guess the snzm songs are okay bc I hated the ones on afo more so at least the stages aren't thattt bad lol At least the rules/general setup aren't as terrible as they were on afo..... at least the camera time isnt as biased as it was on qcyn.... sigh the show isnt doing great, and itd be best if the show would help the tygers get more popular, but I guess its prob better than just doing nothing at star master lol. 

qcyn was just painful to watch from "spirit of the knight" onward bc momo literally was buried, mistreated, disrespected and taken advantage of. at least on snzm he gets some screentime and positive recognition.....

tbh i like snzm, maybe thats an unpopular opinion, but at least there have been some really great stages, where the kids really get to shine. at least i can confidently say that bc of snzm, i have met some new kids who i will be sure to follow for new music moving forward :) 

[nicemom93]

In The Wreckage

Eight days. It’s been eight days since the horror of Season 4 dropped on us unexpectedly, messing up all of our plans to watch together, with personalized marshmallows (thanks, @jjmazzy) and Veronica-themed food. And while we all knew that we were going to lose someone, I don’t think anyone was ready for what we got, or how poorly it would be done. 

What I also never expected was a season that made me:

1. Wish that we’d never clamored for more Veronica Mars after MKAT;

2. Wonder if I could actually still enjoy old VM canon, since what S4 did to Veronica and her story was so awful.

I came across a Hulu forum (again, thanks, @jjmazzy ) and wrote more than I’ve been able to write in the last 8 days, explaining my unhappiness and my hope that Rob Thomas is not allowed to bring any more Veronica Mars canon to life, but it may have been too long and the damn thing won’t post. So, I’m sharing here, under the cut, to at least get this off my chest. 

Although it is inevitable that this show would have ended for good in 2007 without the steadfast support of its fans, I respect that a showrunner gets to run his show. He doesn’t have to cater to what has become disparagingly termed ‘fan service’. There are a couple of problems with that in the case of the Veronica Mars revival however. 

After the unprecedented fan response to bringing Veronica and company back for a movie, the fandom continued to keep the attention on the desire for more canon content. Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell did an admirable job continuing to mention their own wishes just often enough to keep the fans’ interest piqued. Then, last summer, a month before the formal revival announcement, the teasing began…we’re close, so close, so very close…and the fandom responded as expected, shouting our desire for more VM content from every forum available. I cannot believe that this deliberate tease and the fandom response did not help make the deal with Hulu. “Look at our built-in audience! This is a sure-fire money-maker.” For the next 11 months, we were then spoon fed the pieces and parts of the story that anyone with a brain would know was going to keep the interest high. Kristen Bell even finally declared herself ‘Team Logan’ after years of frustratingly stating that do-nothing Piz was better for her beloved character than the boyfriend who always had her back and knew exactly what she needed. What a great day that was – seeing her finally admit what the rest of us have thought all along. We should have known it was a scam to keep us on the hook, but, boy, did it work. Hulu has probably never gotten as much free advertising from a fandom as it did for Veronica Mars.

But the show we got in S4, and what is being proposed for S5, are not what we were sold. In S4, Veronica became a shell of who she has been in the past. That might be understandable given all of the trauma in her life, but when last we saw her, she was working toward understanding what she wanted out of her life and was learning to make better choices. What in the world happened to her between the end of MKAT and S4? Nothing is mentioned, but for a character to have such a significant change in outlook and behavior between chapters of a story, there really should have been some explanation. There is no question that Veronica's always been...troubled and kinda difficult, but that was earned by the circumstances of her life, and the people who cared about her still managed to ground her to a certain extent, no matter how hard she was on them.

In S4, she's hateful to everyone who has loved her, except for her dad, who she mostly ignores. Her disdain over Wallace's life choices was hard to stomach. Her treatment of Weevil was so self-righteous and horrible that I truly hated her in that last interaction...you know, the one before he saved her ass in spite of how awful she was. And her treatment of Logan was appalling. She spent most of the original series looking down on teenaged Logan because he wasn't as focused and driven and put together as she thought he should be (newsflash - she wasn't all that either), but here she's looking down on him because he’s gotten too focused, driven, and put together. I get why she had trouble with the fact that she's still a mess and he's not any longer, but the way she taunted and undermined him did not make her a character I would like to see again. Now, a Veronica who understands her own dynamic, and is trying to improve herself, that would be interesting, but there is nothing in how S4 concluded that would cause her to make this change. She now has a reason to be a shell of her former self, with no hope for anything good to ever come from her life.

Since S4 aired, we’ve heard from Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell telling us this was the only way to keep the show going. They’ve even had poor Jason Dohring out trying to sell that message, in spite of the completely disrespectful way he was treated after helping keep fan interest in this show over the long term. Not just because of the abs, although that’s the typical argument from those who want to see a fifth season of Veronica beaten down once again. No, it’s because Logan Echolls has had the best arc of character development on this entire show, and on most other television shows as well. It is difficult to fathom why no one wanted to continue to take advantage of that.   

However, this showrunner doesn’t think a married woman detective can be interesting. Rob Thomas has stated in interviews that he thinks Logan and Veronica in a perfect relationship would be boring. Umm, have you watched your own show, sir? That marriage is never going to be perfect. Watching them negotiate their new dynamic would be interesting to watch, but apparently not interesting, or maybe it's just not possible, for Mr. Thomas to write. He’s also stated that he needed Veronica to be the underdog again—that’s where she is best. I don’t disagree, but I’m not sure how more trauma piled on her translates to underdog. She’s always going to be the underdog because she takes up for the underdog. At least she used to. Her relationship status doesn’t change that. 

Mr. Thomas’s consistent message following the show’s drop has been that he wants this to be a pure mystery show, and take out the teenage soap element. He could have done that easily by not regressing Veronica back to the maturity level of a teenager. That was the only obvious aspect of teen soap that I saw in S4 and he chose to wrote her like that. He also chose to throw in the completely unnecessary love triangle tease, a ridiculous soapy twist for a character who has never been a cheater, at a fundamental core level because of what she has seen, and who has been in a reasonably stable and loving relationship for five years. We’re also told that the horrific trauma she endures at the close of the finale is what will finally get her to heal. There is no valid writing that would make that true. Over the last fifteen years, Rob Thomas has piled trauma after trauma on this character, and none of them have caused her to heal. Here, in spite of her fears, she again chooses a life with the love of her life, establishing that she does still have some hope for a better life, even when she knows so much can go wrong, and she is rewarded for this growth by being dealt the worst blow possible. What about that set-up sounds like a reason to finally choose to heal?

Our final sight of Veronica is of her again running away from what’s left of her life, including any type of support system. Mr. Thomas indicates he sees the future of this show only as Veronica traveling and solving mysteries on her own on the road. He wants a pure mystery show, although he admits, very accurately, that he doesn't do mystery that well. He also accurately assesses that humor/banter is where he excels, but where in the story of a lonely, bitter widow with no one in her life are we to find that humor? V's repartee with Keith and Logan especially are where that is easiest to find, and Logan’s dead and Keith will maybe be on the other end of a phone call. Why would we wish this dark and hopeless world on a character that we’ve loved for years in spite of her flaws (and her creator’s). As a longtime, very immersed fan, I wish I could travel back in time and let the fandom know what it’s like at the end of this time stream. If I believe in Marvel Time Travel, that still leaves us in a shattered world that we unwittingly asked for, but maybe I could at least save other versions of me and my fandom friends from the heartbreak of a Veronica Mars revival. Canon ended just fine with MKAT. I can only hope that the Hulu Powers That Be don’t continue to allow Mr. Thomas to continue to inflict his vision of more trauma porn on Veronica Mars. 

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

BTS Reaction: Their crush's boyfriend forgets their name and speaks badly of them behind their back

Namjoon

Namjoon was taking a break from the studio and was walking around the city when he noticed your boyfriend walking in front of him with a friend. He immediately tensed up. It was because he thought your boyfriend was an absolute ass who didn't deserve you. Every time he saw you two together he could see how fake he was with you, and it hurt him to see you smile at him so genuinely. He has liked for a long time but never made a move because he didn't want to interfere with your relationship. The conversation your boyfriend was having with his friend was further proof to Namjoon that this sorry excuse for a man didn't deserve you. "Man why are you still with that girl anyway? You could do so much better she's so boring." He hoped your boyfriend would defend you but that wasn't the case. "I don't know. Honestly she's just a place holder. I plan on dumping her as soon as I convince my ex to forgive me and take me back." That did it. Namjoon sped up his walking until he was standing directly in front of your boyfriend. "Hey you're that guy what's her face is friends with right?" "Are you fucking kidding me. You don't even remember her name? You don't deserve her at all. You're lucky I don't believe in violence or you'd be a bloody fucking mess on the floor." "Hey seriously, back off my relationship with y/n is none of your business". At that Namjoon grabs him by his shirt collar and glares at him menacingly. "Alright listen you absolutely trash of a human. You better leave y/n before she gets in too deep with you. She's not a place holder. She's an absolute angel and if you can't treat her as such you need to walk away. Now." Your boyfriend scoffs at him. "Tch. Yeah? What're you going to do about it?" Namjoon's expression darkens and your boyfriend is actually intimidated by him at this point. "I'm an idol. Idols know people, have connections. I can absolutely destroy your life with one phone call. So I say again, and don't make me repeat myself. Leave. Her. Alone." Your boyfriend's eyes widen as he takes in his words “O-okay. Sorry. I’ll call her tonight and set things straight.” Namjoon smiles at him and pats his head as he walks away. He’s going to head to your apartment and make sure he’s there for you when he calls. He’s not going to make a move on you so soon after your breakup, but he’s going to make damn sure you know he’s always going to be there for you through anything.

Jin

Jin was appalled by the words that were coming out of your boyfriend's mouth. He had seen him at a restaurant while he was picking up lunch for the guys and for you. Your boyfriend was sat at a table looking awfully close to some girl that wasn't you. Jin hated your boyfriend. Not just because he had a massive crush on you but because he was the biggest moron and asshole on the face of the earth. He never understood why such a pure, sweet, innocent soul like yours would fall for such a piece of shit. "When are you going to leave that frumpy girlfriend of yours? What's her name?" Your boyfriend laughs. "I don't even remember does it matter? I plan on dumping her soon anyway she's so annoying. She gets on my nerves so much I don't even know why I asked her out probably because she was so desperate." Jin is fuming. He wants nothing more than to punch your boyfriend in the face as hard as he can. Instead he settles for telling him off in the loudest way possible. He walks up to the table and slams his hands on it startling the pair out of their conversation. "Oh it's you. Jun or Jan or whatever the hell your name is". "I could care less if you don't remember my name but after today you're never going to forget my face. I guarantee it. You don't even remember your own girlfriends name? The fuck? Were you dropped on your head as a child?" "No one asked for your opinion or for you to eaves drop on my conversation. Now fuck off and mind your own business". Jin walks around to where your boyfriend is sitting and gets right up in his face and jabs a finger into his chest. "I'm only going to say this once so you better fucking listen to me. I see you within 20 ft of y/n and you're going to regret it. Not only will I make your life a living hell but I'll chop you up into pieces and shove you into a blender and feed you to the sharks. No one will ever find your body. As an idol I have connections with people who can make that happen. Now repeat what I just said." Your boyfriend looks terrified as he takes in the sight of Jin's crazed expression. He really put on the theatrics. He’s never been more thankful for his university courses in acting. "I won't go near her. I promise you'll never see me or hear a peep from me again." Jin’s expression turns cheerful as he saunters off to collect the food he's ordered. He's going to tell you everything that happened today. He never hides things from you and he's not about to start now. He just hopes you aren't too angry with him, as he thinks he finally has gathered up the courage to confess to you. He wants to make sure no disrespectful scumbag ever touches you again.

Yoongi

Yoongi had taken you out to keep your mind off the fact that your absolute dick of a boyfriend had broken plans with you again. Yoongi loved you so much and it hurt him to see you constantly disappointed and let down when he knew you deserved so much better, when he knew he could treat you like the queen you were in his eyes. You two were sharing drinks and laughing when suddenly he saw your expression fall. Your boyfriend was here with his group of friends. "That asshole doesn't look very sick to me." You couldn't even disagree with him because he was right. He'd lied to you. With the alcohol in your veins suddenly boosting your confidence you decided to confront him. Yoongi following close behind you. When your boyfriend saw you he put on a smile. "Hey babe! I think I just might have had food poisoning but good news I'm feeling better. I was going to call you but I figured you would have already made plans." "I'm not stupid. I know you lied to me. If you don't want to be with me anymore just say so. So I can move on with my life." "But I do want to be with you...uhm." Yoongi had enough. You boyfriend forgetting your name when it was the first thing he thought of in the morning and the last before he went to sleep had his blood boiling. He grabbed your hand tightly and pulled you protectively behind him. "You're fucking joking right? You've been with her for two months and you don't even remember her name?! I outta beat you within an inch of your life, you fucker." "Yoongi stop.. Let's just go he's not worth it." He turns around and his expression softens as he looks at you. "Princess I'm sorry but I'm not going to let him step all over your heart any longer.” Your boyfriend gets very close to Yoongi’s personal space and you can tell Yoongi is about to snap. “I don’t like the fact that you have your hand on my girlfriend. And I really don’t like the fact that you just called her princess. She’s not yours. She never will be. You’re just a friend to her so quit trying to be a white knight it’s not going to work.” You boyfriend holds his hand out to you. “Let’s go.”  You can see Yoongi’s visibly deflate at his words and at this point you’ve had enough. Your boyfriend can say rude things to you all he wants but he’s not going to talk shit to Yoongi. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you. We’re done.” “You can’t be serious.” “I am 100% serious. I’m not going anywhere with you. Yoongi was right you are an asshole.” You turned around tugging Yoongi after you. You pause and look back at your now ex-boyfriend, “And by the way if Yoongi wants me to be his I’d accept his confession in a heartbeat. Because he treats me how I deserve be treated, like a queen.” You don’t make it all the way out of the bar before Yoongi grabs you and kisses you passionately, putting every emotion he has for you into the kiss. As he’s kissing you he glances out of the corner of his eye to see your ex staring at the two of you, and he doesn’t hesitate to flip him off as he grabs your hips and pulls you closer to him.

Hoseok

Hoseok hates seeing you so sad. Yet again your jerk of a boyfriend left you showing up in tears at Hoseok’s apartment. “Oh honey what happened? What did he do now?” Hoseok immediately lifted you into his arms and gently set you down on the couch next to him. He held you close as you cried into his shoulder. He rubs your arm and kisses the top of your head as he tries to comfort you. Hoseok loves you, and to see you constantly hurt when he knows you would be so much happier with him breaks his heart. When your breathing slows and your sniffles calm down he gently asks you again what happened. “He pocket dialed me while he was with his friends. And I heard every awful thing he said about me. He couldn’t even remember my name and he was saying such horrible things about me.” Seeing Hoseok mad is a scary thing. He is usually so happy with you and to see his expression darken startles you. “What exactly did he say about you?” “That I’m annoying. That I was desperate for him and that’s the only reason he asked me out. Because he thought I would be an easy lay.” Your voice breaks off at the end as you start crying again. Hoseok pulls you into his chest and whispers sweet and loving words to you until you fall asleep in his arms. He picks you up and lays you down in his bedroom, tucking you in and placing a soft kiss to your forehead. His heart flutters when your hand reaches out to grab his wrist and you ask him to stay. “I’ll be right back angel, I promise.” He walks out of the room and immediately calls the company to get information on your now ex-boyfriend. He finds out his name, where he lives, and what is personal social media pages are. He logs into the BTS twitter account and posts links to all of this guy’s social media pages with a message. “Hey ARMY! It’s your hope. This awful man hurt my best friend badly. She has been crying nonstop for an hour and just cried herself to sleep. Maybe go send him some messages?” He knows within a minute the tweet will be deleted by the company but it doesn’t matter, he’s already accomplished what he wanted. He’s already seeing replies flood in under his tweet with army showing support for you and for Hoseok, and words of hatred towards your ex. Hoseok comes back into the room and crawls into bed with you. The way you move closer to him automatically seeking his warmth and comfort makes his heart soar. He pulls you close to him, making a silent promise to himself to confess to you once everything blows over. 

Jimin

Jimin is absolutely head over heels in love with you. But he never told you because you were in a relationship. He absolutely hated your boyfriend. He treated you terribly and yet you still stayed with him. Jimin would take a bullet for you, he cared about you so much and thought you were the most amazing girl in the world. He made up his mind that he was going to confess to you. He was tired of seeing your heart broken by this man when he knew you would be so much happier with him. He was on his way to your apartment and he overheard you two fighting from the hallway. The front door was cracked open so he peeked inside to make sure you were okay. Both of you had your back turned to him as he overheard what you two were fighting about. “I heard you talking shit about me to your friends. You really think I wouldn’t find out? You think I’m desperate? You think I’m annoying? That I’m too clingy? Does that ring a bell?” Jimin tenses up as he hears this. How dare your boyfriend say such terrible things about his precious angel. “Listen uhm..” Your boyfriend said a name that wasn’t yours and you had it. “Get out of here. Now. We’re done.” Your ex goes to grab at you and Jimin can’t take it anymore. He shoves the door open and grabs your ex by his shirt and throws him away from you. Jimin holds an arm out protectively to keep you behind him. “You lay one fucking hand on her and I’ll break every bone in your goddamn body you hear me?” In all the years you had known Jimin you have never seen him mad, it was terrifying. You didn’t doubt that if you weren’t there he might actually make good on his word. “Whatever. I don’t need some chick like her anyway. I got girls lining up to wait to be with me.” He storms out of your apartment and slams the door. Suddenly Jimin’s gentle expression returns as he cups your face in his hands and kisses your tears away. “I’m sorry he said those awful things to you angel. But you know they aren’t true right? You’re not clingy, you’re affectionate and I love that. You aren’t annoying, you are way too precious and the world doesn’t deserve you but it needs you.” “Jimin... Thank you. For everything. I don’t know what would have happened if you wouldn’t have shown up.” He pulls you close to him and kisses your forehead. “Y/n I don’t want to rush anything, but just know that I love you. I’ll wait until you’re ready but I would love it if you gave me chance to show you how a man is supposed to treat his lady.” You can’t help but smile at him. “I would love that.”

Taehyung

Over the past few months Taehyung was finding it harder and harder to hide his feelings for you. He was becoming more physically affectionate with you, letting his touches linger a little bit longer. Kissing you closer to the corner of your mouth then your cheek or forehead like he usually does. You suspected that he liked you, and to be honest you liked him too. But you didn’t want to cheat on your boyfriend and you didn’t want to hurt him. Taehyung had voiced his disapproval of your boyfriend on multiple occasions. He treated you horribly and he hated seeing you waste your tears on someone who didn’t deserve them. One day you and Taehyung were out walking together as he took pictures around the city. You never noticed but when you weren’t looking he always took photos of you. He thought you were the most beautiful he had ever seen. When you stopped at a park to take pictures of the scenery there you noticed your boyfriend sitting on a bench flirting with some girl. Taehyung already started making a beeline for him but you grabbed his hand and held a finger to your lips to signal you wanted to overhear their conversation. “Come on. I told you I was going to break up with her soon don’t be mad at me.” “How do I know you are actually going to leave her?” “Because I don’t have any feelings for her. At all. Shit I can’t even remember her name because yours is the only one I’m thinking of.” You wanted to gag. Taehyung however had boiled over and he wasn’t about to stay quiet anymore. “Her name is y/n you absolute idiot. God you really don’t deserve her you know that? She is more precious than anything or anyone on this planet and you treat her like dirt. If I wasn’t an idol I would bash you over the head with my camera right now.” Your now ex looks at him terrified. “Uh! I didn’t.. I mean. Shit.” You finally decide to speak up. “You know what? Thank you. I am so glad I overheard this conversation because now I don’t have to waste my time with you anymore and I can be in a real relationship with someone that I love and who takes care of me. Someone who has always taken care of me. Someone who has always been there for me. Someone who makes me laugh when I am upset, someone who has held me as I was crying because of the things you’ve said and done.” Taehyung looks over at you as he hopes that you are talking about him. You look right at him as you continue speaking. “Someone who looks at me like I am their entire world and someone I look at the same way. A certain man, with shockingly bright blue hair and boxy smile that could light up the world.” Taehyung has heard enough. He immediately grabs your hips and pulls you into him as he kisses you passionately. You two completely forget about your ex, you two are in your own little world. Taehyung pulls away and murmurs against your lips. “You have no idea how long I have been wanting to do that. How long I have waited to hear those words out of your mouth. I love you, y/n.” “I love you too Tae.”

Jungkook

“I hate your boyfriend y/n.” You knew something was bothering Jungkook but he wouldn’t tell you. He just kept sulking on your couch while you tried to watch a movie together. “What? Why?” “What do you mean why? He’s an asshole and he treats you like shit and you should break up with him.” You furrow your eye brows at him. “What are you talking about Jungkook?” A few days ago Jungkook had been out shopping at the store when he spotted your boyfriend out with his friends. When he heard his friends mention your name his ears immediately perked up and he listened in on their conversation. Your boyfriend couldn’t remember your name, but his friends did. And he was saying such hurtful and untrue things about you. He didn’t say anything to you because he didn’t want to interfere with your relationship but he felt terrible for keeping this from you. Hence why had been sulking and partially avoiding you for 3 days. “Promise you won’t get mad at me?” “I could never get mad at you Kookie you know that.” He tells you everything. About how he overheard your boyfriend, how he couldn’t even remember your name, how when his friends started speaking badly of you instead of defending you he joined in. You just stared at him and didn’t say anything. “I knew you were going to get angry with me. I’m sorry I kept it from you y/n I really am. I’ll leave now if you want.” “No! I mean.. no I’m not mad, you don’t need to leave. Please stay Kookie.” He wraps his arms around you and hugs you close to him. You feel like you should be sad but you aren’t. Are you hurt by his words? Absolutely. But for a while now you’ve known that you and your boyfriend weren’t going to work out in the long term. Not with a certain doe-eyed man with a bunny smile constantly on your mind. “Are you going to be okay?” “Yeah Jungkook I’ll be just fine. Guess I better call him and let him know we’re over huh?” “Yeah.. or you could just ignore him. Not like he’ll care I’m sure he’ll take the hint.” A mischievous smirk spreads across your face as you think of a way to not only confess to Jungkook but piss your ex off in the process. “Yeah we could do that. Or I have a better idea. Come take a selfie with me Kook.” “What? Why?” “Don’t question me! Just come here.” He moves closer to you and you press your faces together. “Kiss my cheek.” He starts blushing furiously up to his ears. “What?!” “Kiss my cheek Jungkook. Just trust me okay?!” He presses his lips to your cheek and right before you snap the picture you turn your head and kiss him square on the lips. He jumps in surprise and pulls away but you were able to get the photo you wanted. You sent it to your now ex and sent it with a caption that said That’s okay. I don’t remember your name either. The only name I am going to be remembering from now on is Jungkook. You turn to Jungkook after you send the photo and find him still frozen in place. “You okay Kookie?” Your voice snaps him out of his daze. “What the hell was that?!” “Well, I broke up with him and confessed to you. Killed two birds with one stone as they say.” “Wait you like me?” “Of course. I thought it was obvious. Why do you think I’m not upset that I am now single?” “No you’re not.” “What?” “You’re not single. Because I like you too. I want you to be my girlfriend.” You agree without hesitation and pull him in for a sweet kiss. 

[taebaelee]

Daenerys and why the general audience started to turn on her.This post contains both speculation and points to the double standards that the writers have used throughout the series when it comes to her versus other characters.

I believe it was not until around s7 that the GA started to truly turn against her, so I will comment on the main s7-s8 scenes and how it relates back to other characters not getting the same treatment she does for doing the same things.

It’s not SUPER in-depth, but I do point out a few examples.

Before the battle with the Lannisters. Before the battle begins, we get to see a seen with Arya talking with the soldiers. They are nice to her, sing, the one mentions his wife just had a baby and how they’re tired of fighting other peoples wars. And right before the actual battle, we see them shaking in fear. This is the first time we ever see an army being humanized.

Double Standards: 1) Robs surprise attack. They show the soldiers making homophobic joke/generally being gross dudes before he attacks them. 2) Battle of the Bastards. Shows Ramsay being extremely cocky and taunts the audience with reminders of the awful things he’s done. 3) Brienne vs Boltons. We see the soldiers almost rape Brienne and cut off Jamies hand when tying to help her.

The actual battle with the Lannisters.

It is a hard battle for many to watch because the GA roots for Jamie, Bronn, and even Daenerys. But while some may root for Dany, they still do not want to watch the other two die and it does not help the fact that they have Tyrion standing in the back rooting for his own brother and not his chosen queen which could have made the GA feel as though Tyrion doesn’t condone her actions and most GA loves Tyrion, which leads me to my next part.

Killing the Tarlys. Tyrion is purposely shown not condoning Daenerys actions when deciding to kill the Tarlys. She is the only character that has ever offered TWO choices for them to live. Tyrion suggests the Nights Watch, Dany doesn’t object, but they refuse. Then she offers for them to bend the knee, they refuse. When she kills them they show Tyrion being upset, setting doubt into the GA’s mind about her actions even though other characters that the GA roots for have done WAY worse things. What even reaffirms these new views is the Varys and Tyrion scene afterwards. They talk about how Daenerys impulses need to be kept in-check.

Double Standards: Jon killing Janos Slynt. Jon has disoberys TONS of Night Watch orders, but when Janos disobeys saying he will not rebuild the ruin, Jon kills him. Janos BEGS for his life, crying saying he is wrong and that he is afraid; says he’ll follow his orders. Jon still kills him. Yet, we get no scene afterwards talking about needing to keep Jons impulses in check over a man begging for his life vs Dany offering the Taryls two different offers to live. Tyrion being upset with Dantt for using fire, yet he himself uses wildfire against his enemies at the blackwater. Wildfire, as pointed out by @thesuncameouttoday is a cruel, painful death. Whereas dragon fire turns someone into ash within seconds.

Sam’s reaction to his family. Randyll was an abusive man who threatened Sam’s life, was outright disgusting to Gilly, and wiped his own soldiers for being too slow. John Bradley himself said that Sam shouldn’t be upset by Dany killing Randyll, nor would he jeopardize anything between Jon and Daenerys [X] Yet he reacts extremely badly and questions her intentions even after last season he read about her achievements and said “She sounds like quite a woman.”

Double Standards Davos shrugs off the fact that Tyrion killed his son, who he loved very much with Wildfire and says “It doesn’t matter now”  so the GA sees how upset Sam is with Daenerys and feels for him, yet we never get the same scene with Davos and Tyrion.

OOC Writing Not only is the double standard annoying, but they literally have to bend the narrative of Sams character to fit into being this upset when the actor who plays him, and I’m sure a lot of others, would disagree with how this was handled. You can argue that he has a right to be upset over it because it’s his family, but it still does not makes sense that he acts this violator with everything that has happened between the two of them narrative speaking.

The North vs Dany. Even if the GA likes Dany, they tend to love the Starks more. They PURPOSELY have Jon say he “bent the knee for the north” which is straight up wrong. They know last season that Daenerys said she would fight for the north BEFORE Jon bent the knee, but GA may have forgotten about that as it’s been 2 years and now are fed this line which is wrong.

They basically reaffirm the idea in ep2 with Sansa. They have Dany say “Jon’s War” and not “our” which makes the GA think she only cares about the throne even when Sansa is thinking the same thing as she’s the first to ask about after. Sansa wasn’t correcting her about it being “Jon’s War” but asks about the northern independence which of course the GA at this point has been rooting for and bypasses the fact that even though Sansa doesn’t say “Jon’s War” she doesn’t seem to take it seriously either as she is confident there is an after. Plus, the conversation gets cut off from Dany being able to defend her actions.

OOC Writing: Not only is Jons line completely wrong, but Dany does not tell Sansa this. Dany could have easily told her that she was fighting for the North before JON was  the one who gave up the Northern Independence but they focus it on Dany as if she would not be there if it weren’t for Jon bending the knee.

There are more instances/examples and a bunch of other things pointing to why the GA could has started to hate her, feel free to add more if you’d like, but this is my two cents on the issue.

Personally, I am appalled on how they seem to villanize her actions, but not the others when they do THE SAME THINGS. And to me it’s like they are aware of it as they have had to straight up lie/rewrite characters to do so. (Jon’s line in the hall and Sam’s reaction)

The only reason I can see to as why, is they’re trying to have a more ‘shocking’ reveal at the end of her giving up her crown or sacrificing herself in the end to save everyone.

I won’t like it if it’s for her giving up her crown, but if they treat her this badly just to kill her off in the end then I will be FUMING. People are hating on Daenerys so badly that they are wishing for her to be raped, murdered by the man she loves, have Jon take all of her army and dragons that she earned… etc.  So personally, I will never watch anything related to GoT again if they kill her after disrespecting such an intriguing, beautiful character for shock value.

[monday--vibes]

Far From Home Critique: Mysterio Makes No Freakin’ Sense

So, I saw Far From Home again the last week. Admittedly, I liked it a lot more the second time around than when I first watched it. The third act is great, the plane scene between Tom Holland and Jon Favreau made me feel all the feels, and the Berlin fight scene between Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal was just something else entirely.

So, yeah. It was fun enough.

But it still struck me as a convoluted mess of a movie. I talked about this after I saw Far From Home the first time, but it’s such a hindrance to the movie that this mess is, in my opinion, what made the movie ‘meh’ instead of possibly one of the greatest Spider-Man movies out there.

So… what about this movie am I going to vilify?

The villain, of course.

Conflicting—sort of?—motivations

Just like every protagonist, every antagonist needs to have their own motivations, ideas, and attitudes. This is what makes them the bad guy, because these motivations and idea have to conflict with those of the protagonist.  Voldemort and Harry Potter disagree about how to treat Muggles and Muggle-borns, Simba and Scar disagree about who should be king of the Pride Lands, and so forth. You get the idea.

Mysterio’s motivation is something along the lines of, “I’m mad at Tony Stark so I’m going to use his tech to blow up cities, hide this fact from the world, and convince everyone that I’m actually a hero.”

Firstly… what? Is that just me, or does that sound a lot like someone trying to get back at an ex-boyfriend by deciding that they’re going to be super successful and happy in life?

Secondly, what does this have to do with Spider-Man? His motivation is basically revenge against Tony Stark. And, with Stark dead, he’s already won by default.

Meanwhile, Peter’s motivation in the movie is “Mysterio, as it turns out, is a bad guy who wants to blow up London and I should stop him.”

Peter doesn’t actually show any moments where he’s mad that Mysterio is using Stark tech in his revenge plot (although he surely is) or where he’s appalled that Mysterio wants to control the world by lying to them (although he surely is).

The ideological conflict between the two lies in what is, to Mysterio, a simply means to an end—blow up London.

Keep it simple, stupid

It’s a pretty common saying, but it basically means that we shouldn’t even make things more complicated than they have to be.

The Vulture and his gang in Homecoming give us a pretty good example of this. We know that they steal alien tech from the Department of Damage Control, that they’ve been doing it for years, and that they seem to have it pretty down pat.

Here’s their plan to do so:

The Tinkerer finds out about when and where the items are going to be transported. Based on knowledge from prior heists, he makes sure the rest of the team has what they need to pull off the upcoming heist.

The team scopes out the area beforehand and determines the best place for the heist.

When the CDC trucks roll by, they radio the Vulture.

The Vulture swoops in, uses the Tinkerer’s tech to get into the truck, takes whatever he can grab quickly, and gets out.

Their plan is straightforward, simple for both the characters and the audience to understand, and best of all, it makes sense.

By comparison, here’s Mysterio’s plan. I’m not even going insult you guys by explaining why this plan doesn’t work as well as the Vulture’s—I’m sure you’ll see it.

(I’d also like to point out that I used the word ‘hope’ 11 times when I typed his plan out, so…)

Mysterio’s Great PlanTM:

Somehow find out about the EDITH glasses.

Somehow find out that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same person.

Attack a random village in Mexico, possibly killing a bunch of people. Hope that Fury shows up at all. Also hope that he shows up at just the right time, even though there’s no way to know if he’s even on the same continent when the attack happens.

Hope that your Really Great BackstoryTM is enough to fool the most paranoid, trigger-happy man—and his right-hand woman—in the world. Hope that SHIELD won’t do some sort of background check, demand some sort of evidence, or have systems in place that would detect issues with other dimensions. (After all, the Endgame talked at length about alternate dimensions, so it must be on SHIELD’s radar.)

Somehow gain the trust of the aforementioned paranoid, trigger-happy man in record time.

Sneak about behind Fury’s back, somehow getting a van-sized electromagnetic pulse-maker to various places in Europe, along with a few dozen drones, a group of people, and a metal suit of armour. (Seriously. How did they do it? You can’t get that shit on a commercial plane.) Hope that Fury doesn’t find out.

Somehow find out exactly when Fury is going to give Peter the EDITH glasses.

Convince Fury that you, the only person who has experience fighting Elementals, needs the help of someone who Fury knows is a traumatized, sixteen-year-old kid.

Convince the aforementioned traumatized kid to like you.

1Fight off an imitation water monster and hope that the aforementioned traumatized superhuman genius kid doesn’t notice that anything’s off.

Convince the same kid to trust you enough to give you access to a multi-billion-dollar orbital defense system, which it the last thing his mentor/father figure gave to him.

Hope the only security system attached to EDITH is Peter’s a-okay, and that the system won’t even warn Peter if he tries to give the glasses to someone who would have a red flag by their name in the Stark employee databases.

Gain access to EDITH. Laugh about your Evil PlanTM to a building full of people and hope that passers-by don’t hear you.

Fight an imitation fire monster in Prague. Again, hope Spider-Man doesn’t notice anything off with the imitation that he’s fighting and nothing makes Fury suspicious.

Hope you can convince Spider-Man not to Spider-Man while you blow up London.

Kill Fury during the same London attack, even though there’s no reason to assume that Fury will be in the thick of it. (Remember how he was away from all the fighting in both Avengers 1 and 2?)

Congratulations! You’ve achieved your goal of looking like a superhero while killing the only person who can stop you (in your opinion)!

Final step: Hope that nothing bad happens to Earth ever again, because you don’t actually have super powers and people will call on you to save the world.

[xxladylovexx]

The crusade to cancel my talk at Toronto Public Library

Meghan Murphy

October 18, 2019

This week, three Canadian writers launched a petition demanding the Toronto Public Library cancel a room rental for a sold-out event, ‘Gender Identity: What Does It Mean for Society, the Law, and Women?’ Sounds frightening, I know.

The local women organizing the event, a group called Radical Feminists Unite, asked me in June if they could bring me to Toronto to speak about gender identity legislation and women’s rights, unhappy that the debate was not being given space in their city. This is not an uncommon sentiment. The events I have been asked to participate in generally have been organized by regular women who have serious concerns about how gender identity ideology and policy could affect, and already is affecting, women’s sex-based rights. Canada in particular has been resistant to this discussion. Due to media blackouts, harassment, bullying, threats of violence, smear campaigns, censorship, and ostracization, a few brave women have had to force the conversation, at great risk.

In January, a couple women took it upon themselves to organize an event in Vancouver, ‘Gender Identity Ideology and Women’s Rights.’ These women had no budget, no public or political power, no history in activism or organizing events, and no agenda, other than to open up a conversation they feel is desperately needed. The panel, held at the Vancouver Public Library, featured me and two other longtime feminist activists with impeccable records fighting male violence against women. The organizers and I received numerous death and rape threats, were protested, and were libeled by politicians and the media. The VPL forced us to move the event after hours (to 9:30 p.m. on a weeknight), claiming that protesters posed a risk to patrons and staff. They attempted to charge us thousands in security fees in an effort to pressure us to choose another venue, surely aware we didn’t have that kind of budget. The chief librarian, Christina de Castell, issued a statement saying the library did not agree with ‘the views of Feminist Current,’ my website. Castell did not say which views the library disagreed with (protecting women’s sex-based rights or the idea that sexist gender stereotypes are not innate?), but regardless, she should not have taken a position, as a representative of a public institution meant to be neutral, nor should she have spoken on behalf of the VPL, as not everyone at the library is in agreement with her apparent opposition to both biology and women’s rights. Vancouver’s mayor labeled me ‘despicable’. Canada’s national public broadcaster, the CBC, located across the street from the library, refused to cover the event or contact me for comment, despite hosting a panel prior to the event, speculating whether panelists might say anything constituting ‘hate speech’. Of course none did. Despite protests, the event went off without a hitch and was incredibly respectful, inspiring, and galvanizing. The impassioned talks are available on YouTube for anyone to watch and see for themselves.

But why bother? Listening to words and forming an educated opinion based on said words is no longer a popular pastime.

Things have played out similarly in Toronto. The primary difference is that it is now writers leading the charge. You know, people who should be invested in reading and using words correctly.

Not only that, but writers of all people should be defending freedom of expression and a public library’s decision to uphold its mandate, which, per the TPL’s response to the petition, is to ensure meeting rooms are available to the public ‘on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use’. The statement goes on to say: ‘As a public institution, our primary obligation is to uphold the fundamental freedoms of freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression as enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.’

This response was unacceptable to the writers and thousands of Torontonians (many of whom I’m certain would consider themselves ‘progressive,’ even ‘feminist’) wanting my talk canceled. Indeed, those who have signed the petition, ‘Stop Hate Speech from Being Spread at the Toronto Public Library,’ have publicly stated I am guilty of ‘hate speech’ and compared the organizers to a ‘hate group’. The petition, authored by Alicia Elliot, Catherine Hernandez, and Carrianne Leung, reads:

‘Those who want to disseminate hate speech today know that they can misrepresent, then weaponize the phrase ‘freedom of speech’ in order to get what they want: an audience, and space to speak to and then mobilize that audience against marginalized communities. While everyone has freedom of speech, we want to once again point to the limits of those freedoms when certain acts and speech infringe on the freedom of others, particularly those in marginalized communities. We also want to point out that hate groups do not have a right to use publicly funded facilities to meet and organize. This is precisely why TPL has a community and event space policy: to determine who and who does not have the right to use its facilities. There is a difference between denying free speech—and what is known as deplatforming, which is when you refuse to allow hate speech to be disseminated in your facility. This has been an effective tactic to stop those who capitalize on spreading hate speech, such as Meghan Murphy.’

The problem is I’ve never engaged in hate speech. I have made very basic statements about biology, such as ‘men aren’t women’ and ‘male bodies and female bodies are different.’ I have also argued that some spaces should be women-only, including changing rooms, transition houses, and prisons. I have said that individuals cannot change sex through self-declaration and that a boy is not a girl because he prefers dresses to pants. I have said that women have particular rights in this world due to the fact of being born female. I have said that women have not experienced discrimination in the workplace, in the home, in universities, and in politics because of anything they feel or because they somehow ‘identify’ with feminine stereotypes. In fact, it is the desire not to be limited to gender roles that inspired feminists’ ongoing fight.

Usually, I say this all warmly. I’m not generally an angry person but quite jovial, in fact. I don’t spend much of my energy hating anyone beyond slow walkers and morning people. I’m just telling the truth.

The writers who initiated the petition say they will no longer participate in events held at the TPL unless the library cancels my talk, which is fine, I suppose. It is their prerogative if they wish to hold readings for their friends in spaces untainted by free thought. Surely the condos their parents bought them have shared rec rooms available for such gatherings? Cozy bubbles seem better suited for those needing to protect themselves from triggers such as people with different opinions and experiences, anyway.

The whole scene strikes me as nauseatingly elitist, especially the entitlement with which these ‘progressive’ people approach members of the public — in this case, women with no particular social, political, or economic power — as though they should have the power to determine what we all think or say. As though they have the right to dictate what a library, of all places, should allow to be discussed within its walls.

These protesters are primarily middle- and upper-class people who have had access to opportunities most people in this world have not. Who live in relative safety, free from state persecution — who have the privilege of freedom in a world that continues to host dictatorships and incredibly repressive regimes that quite literally jail and murder those who fail to toe the party line. They have taken a postmodernist theory invented primarily within the walls of academia — that is, the notion that material reality is determined by inner feelings — and are attempting to impose it on the general public via force. These people have taken on the position of dictator, threatening to throw those who won’t adopt their nonsensical mantras in jail. Indeed, a former politician with the NDP, Canada’s leftist party, publicly claimed the event was ‘illegal’ while her supporters said I should be jailed.

On Thursday, Toronto mayor John Tory said he had contacted the library in an attempt to have the event canceled and is ‘disappointed’ the library declined to do so. What is in fact ‘disappointing’ (indeed, appalling) is that the mayor of Toronto does not understand the TPL’s mandate as a public institution and opposes freedom of expression.

These leftists seem unaware that opposition to free speech has not treated their presumed heroes kindly. They have so easily forgotten Emma Goldman, who was imprisoned for distributing information about birth control. And Rosa Luxemburg, arrested and killed by the GKSD, a German paramilitary unit instructed to suppress the communists. Surely the suffragettes deserved to be jailed and beaten for fighting to win women the right to vote, as their ideas were deemed too ‘radical’, not only by their opponents but other feminists and abolitionists. They have apparently not paid much attention to the female activists arrested and tortured in Saudi Arabia for advocating that women be allowed to drive. Journalists continue to be murdered in Mexico for reporting on police corruption and the drug war. But no matter. Protecting free expression is clearly a relic of the past, before we had multi-billion-dollar social media companies on hand to police dangerous speech. (‘On top of that, she has been banned from Twitter for violating their Hateful Conduct Policy’, the petition reads, as though In Big Tech We Trust is an appropriate mantra for supposed social justice advocates.)

At what point in history has suppressing subversive speech benefited the marginalized? Or anyone, really?

The CBC again failed to include the organizers or myself, the speaker, in its ‘coverage’ of the event. On a segment that aired Wednesday, Gill Deacon, host of Here and Now Toronto, spoke with Elliot, who stated that I was ‘trying to take away the rights of people’, ‘preach[ing] against human rights’, and did not believe ‘transwomen should have protections’ under the Human Rights Act or Criminal Code, claiming this constituted ‘spreading hate’. That none of this is accurate was of no concern to Deacon or Elliot. The CBC sees no need to allow me to speak for myself and explain my apprehensions because, I assume, my arguments are so reasonable people might agree with me. While Elliot claimed that I was ‘lying’ when arguing that gender identity legislation could override women’s rights, this has, unfortunately, already happened, as we’ve seen men transferred to women’s prisons, where they have assaulted female prisoners; women forced to leave shelters and transition houses on account of being made to share rooms with men; women and girls made to compete with and against males in sport; women’s organizations denied funding for having a women-only policy; and of course as we’ve seen a number of estheticians dragged to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for declining to wax a man’s balls, because that man claimed to be female. What Elliot says there is no evidence for, there is ample evidence for. Which of course she would know, had she ever read my work, listened to my talks, or engaged in conversation with me, rather than using her platform to spout bigoted nonsense.

Ironically, if not for free speech, these individuals would not feel so safe to libel those they don’t like — which appears to be the go-to strategy of the Woke and Online. One wonders why they believe their speech should protected — even when hateful or slanderous — but not the speech of others. It is a modern hypocrisy I will never understand.

Unfortunately for these protesters and petitioners, the TPL will not be canceling the event, and I will continue to speak the truth in the face of threats, slander, harassment, ostracization, and actual hate speech. I will do this not because I have anything personally to gain from doing so but because I could not live with myself otherwise. I will not be silent while women’s rights are eroded, and I will not lie either under duress or to make friends. My integrity is worth more to me than my comfort or popularity, and yours should be too.

Meghan Murphy is a writer in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her website is Feminist Current.