#I should be working on this one essay but I'm too lazy

[mishellii]

♢ᴘᴇᴛ ɴᴀᴍᴇꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ♢

naruto, sasuke, shikamaru, kiba, shino, neji, iruka & kakashi

a/n: sooo,, i SHOUld be working on my uni essays and on the bf!neji texts BUT this had been sitting in my notes app for a while so i decided to post it ;D (the neji texts will come soon i promise). some are longer, some are shorter for which i apologise,,,,,, please ignore typos, i can't spell & enjoy MWUAH

likes & reblogs appreciated <3

warnings: some NSFW parts! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! :) also not proofread as usual

masterlist

♢ɴᴀʀᴜᴛᴏ ᴜᴢᴜᴍᴀᴋɪ♢

✿oh my baby boy

❀first off: angel. 100%.

✿because u are his angel u feel me

❀he can't go a day without telling u

✿then also just the basic baby

❀but mostly when he wants something from u or he's apologising for dumb stuff he's done

✿puppy eyes and all

❀and also during sexy time

✿it's his most used name for u there

✿fight me on this

❀big on his own self made nicknames for u

✿for instance: u fell down the stairs once?

❀"hey, stairs, how you doin'"

✿and just silly ones like: boo, pookie, apple of my eye

❀he's weird like that c'mon we been knew

♢ꜱᴀꜱᴜᴋᴇ ᴜᴄʜɪʜᴀ♢

✿now this guy is a wild card

❀he'd prefer ur name through & through

✿but he'd slip in a casual babe sometimes which makes ur knees weak obviously

❀because he barely ever calls u that

✿if ur married he'd only call you his wife

❀doesn't even let you answer questions on your own sometimes just so he can hit them with

❀"well, MY WIFE, thinks you suck ass, so.."

✿during sex he can be quiet mean 

❀I DONT THINK in the derogatory way but more in a teasing way

✿"c'mon, sweetheart, look at me."

❀when ur just about to black out??

✿but like i said 

❀not big on pet names but he'll use them more often if he knows u enjoy it <3

♢ꜱʜɪᴋᴀᴍᴀʀᴜ ɴᴀʀᴀ♢

✿pretty

❀just pretty bro.

✿not ALL THE TIME, especially not in public as i don't think he's big on PDA

❀but in the comfort of ur own 4 walls? definitely

✿now don't HATE ME for this but,,,

❀woman. and brat.

✿but only in petty situations, like when ur scolding his lazy ass and he hits u with a "go easy on me, woman, i just woke up."

❀or u've been going on his nerves while he's working

✿,,i'm busy, brat.''

❀in bed tho???

✿love or doll

❀i'm almost CERTAIN.

✿like,, can u imagine?? in his dumb fucking charming voice ???

❀PFFF i'm on my knees 

♢ᴋɪʙᴀ ɪɴᴜᴢᴜᴋᴀ♢

✿now this fucker

❀teasing names through & through

✿ur shorter than him? 

❀"hey, shortie, need help?"

✿ur taller than him?

❀"hey, giant, how's the weather up there?"

✿he's a DICK ok (affectionately ofc)

❀but he can be sweet too i promise

✿he's having fun with calling u bunny during sex or simply baby 

❀also ???? "okay, boss." when he's been annoying u all day and u finally snap at him?

✿he's a menace with nicknames i'm telling u

♢ꜱʜɪɴᴏ ᴀʙᴜʀᴀᴍᴇ♢

✿you probably guessed it and bully me if you'd like but,,,

❀bug or lovebug

✿come oooon he loves his bugs AND he loves you?? it fits PERFECTLY

❀not one to do it infront of other people either but in your private space he just wouldn't stop calling you one of these

✿i also see him using the regular honey but the abbreviation so hun because it's short and sweet and he doesn't like those long ass names

❀apologies if ur name is long LMAO mine is too tho

✿takes the hun into the bedroom but prefers a gentle love while having sex

❀shino's not a sweet talker in my mind, but the pet names make up for it FOSHOU

✿ALSO big brain idea i just had:

❀i think shino can't fully express his emotions verbally so before going on missions he definitely writes u letters and that's where he's blooming

✿''u keep me going everyday, sunshine.''

❀and it doesn't even matter if you have a bubbly personality or not

✿UGH lovesick fr

♢ɴᴇᴊɪ ʜʏᴜɢᴀ♢

❀this pretty princess doesn't even know ur name when ur alone with him 

✿ESPECIALLY when ur texting

❀sweetheart, love & darling

✿he'd make u fall in love over again whenever he calls u one of those i'm just saying

❀because he's always so sincere when he's talking to u it drives me crazy just thinking about it 

✿during sexy time too, he would NEVER

❀& i will die on this hill 

✿NEVER use any degrading names for u

❀ur his baby don't make him do that

✿even when ur fighting, he'd always address u in such a kind way i'm actually going insane

❀"have you had dinner yet, dear?"

✿ sedate me pls

♢ɪʀᴜᴋᴀ ᴜᴍɪɴᴏ♢

✿AAA this guy

❀soo,, like father like son,,, angel

✿u can't change my mind

❀being the kind hearted person he is, it just fits u can't tell me off

✿but i will also say he'd use some funny ones in private because we all know he's just a silly lil guy deep inside

❀i'm thinking toots & peach

✿especially when greeting u !! like ''ey, toots, how's it going?''

❀during sex he will be quiet awkward at the start of ur relationship, settling in angel as he's most familiar with it at first

✿but after some time he'd pull a babydoll or gorgeous on u

❀i mean,,, i'd cry but idk about y'all

✿oVERALL he loves using pet names and wouldn't be opossed to u calling him some sweet ones as well <3

❀call him handsome and he'll go through the roof

♢ᴋᴀᴋᴀꜱʜɪ ʜᴀᴛᴀᴋᴇ♢

✿AHEM

❀so this man,,

✿at the start of ur relationship he's such a shy lil bean so he'll only use your first name

❀but once he's been with you long enough he gets so so comfortable

✿starts of with the regular baby because u are his baby aight.

❀his most frequently used one too i'd say

✿but then he'd go like 

❀"hey, beautiful." "y'alright, sweetheart?"

✿and idk about u but i'd faint

❀HE KNOWS ABOUT HIS AFFECT ON U TOO

✿uses it against u during sex SO OFTEN

❀grunting a "there y'go, darling." into your ear with a sly smirk on his lips 

✿i'm (s)creaming

❀but he's a very private person so don't expect too much of that in public !!

✿a side from a "yes, ma'am" when u tell him not to die on a mission <3

a/n: i hope this doesn't SUCK ahemm,,, and i'll see you beans next time bye bye x

devider by @enchanthings

[nobodyfamousposts]

Scarlet Lady Essay: Frightningale

Yet another essay for @zoe-oneesama. Because you deserve it.

I’m not going to bother with a compare/contrast of canon vs Scarlet Lady Frightningale because Frightningale in canon was a pretty forgettable episode. Akuma was lame. Setup was wasted. And it’s removal from the series would lose nothing of value.

So instead, I'm going to focus primarily on the Scarlet Lady version of Frightningale and what it does that makes it memorable.

I guess to start with, I should make it clear that I’m not a fan of shows being lazy, especially when they display a lack of planning or consideration of their story and characters. And perhaps one of the greater indicators of this issue is when a series suddenly realizes they they neglected multiple plot points until it’s too late to give them all the focus they warrant so they end up shoving all of those points into one episode and try to present it like it’s supposed to be an adequate resolution of all that buildup or in any way intentional.

Penalteam was that episode for Miraculous. They had the “temporary heroes” setup going for them but then wasted so much time on filler like Frightningale that it seems like they honestly forgot about it until they were reaching a designated end point and they realized they still had four more heroes they were supposed to introduce. Whoops? Ah well, just introduce them all at once. Not like anyone will care!

And when you treat most of the cast like they’re all as shallow as a puddle, I guess that’s true.

The thing is, when you have a setup where there is a running theme of every person in a specific group getting their own episode/chapter to detail their issues and how they get a power up, it’s going to stand out whenever one of them doesn’t. Especially when that one or more are forced to share their limelight episode. 

That’s not to say you can’t do it, but it’s bound to get attention if you do. It reflects poorly on the writing. It shows whom the “favored” and “unfavored” characters are. And it displays the issue with pacing—namely that it’s next to nonexistent until it hits you with the force of a freight train.

But can it be done and be done well? Is it possible to pull off such a thing and have it make sense and fit in lines with the characters?

Well, yes. Off the top of my head, I can think of two different ways to do it to make it work.

And Zoe did both of them.

If you look at Scarlet Lady as a whole, you’ll see a conglomeration of characters—each with stories and arcs attached. They have personalities. They have goals and problems and their own highs and lows. One sign of good writing is that some focus is given to highlight these other characters as people. Individuals in their own right with lives outside of the main characters or situation.

Miraculous doesn't really do this.

Scarlet Lady, however, does. Because contrary to the title, Scarlet Lady isn’t just about Chloe.

It isn’t even just about the heroes.

It isn’t just about Chloe being horrible. Or Marinette being in love. Or Adrien being in desperate need of a hug and a nap. Because while the story is centered around them, it isn’t solely about them. Other characters get focus and growth and their own arcs throughout the comics.

But the big two—the BIGGEST two with arguably the most depth and most growth and quite frankly the best storylines out of everyone in the entire series?

It’s Sabrina and Lila. And their individual stories have led up to this.

As such, this episode—which was mostly filler and all around forgettable in canon, matters here.

It’s where Sabrina and Lila reach the culmination of their respective character arcs. 

Yes, it’s when they both get to become Miraculous Heroes and meet their own kwamis, but it’s more than just that! They both hang out with the girls group as full members of the crew, getting to take part in a music video together. It’s also where they both get to stand up for themselves and the city at large while calling out Chloe and Scarlet Lady. This is what their storylines have been building up to and where their growth really shows.

Sabrina started out as Chloe’s minion same as canon—albeit with more attention to her feelings and her responses, no matter how seemingly small, allowing her to feel more like her own person. And through this focus, we got to see her open up more, pull and eventually break away from Chloe and her influence, and over time stand up for herself and try to establish herself both with the class and as an individual.

Lila started off as a liar and manipulator, selfish and self centered, much like canon. Unlike canon, her lies are tied to her issues, noted to be poorly thought through, and give her more introspection as a person. After the lies are revealed, she’s not “redeemed” so much as she is “accountable”, and it doesn’t change who she is. She remains selfish and certainly far from being considered “good”, but she’s letting people in past her walls and masks in a way she hadn’t been able to before.

Both of these things? Figuring out who you are and letting people know you for who you are? They’re incredibly hard. And a lot of time was devoted to both of their journeys along the course of the comic.

Sabrina’s arc was about her figuring out who she is on her own. Outside of Chloe and her previous role of being a follower and lackey. And sometimes it feels less scary to stay with someone toxic than to be alone and facing the unknown. We see it in the way she tries to put herself out there afterwards, reaching out and risking rejection and just figuring herself out. Even or perhaps especially with those she already knows and has a less than positive history with.

And we still see the struggle of her view of herself in this episode. It was in the way she was upset that she legitimately tried to help and it still resulted in bad things happening. And it was also clear when she calls herself a “sidekick” to Marigold after the day was saved, as if it’s a role she still sees herself as and one she struggles not to fall in to. Over time, we’re seeing Sabrina learning that she doesn’t have to be attached or subservient to someone else to have an identity or be accepted. 

Lila’s arc involved her figuring out who she is with people. Outside of the lies and manipulations she creates, the masks she wears, and the identities she crafts to make people like her. The “real Lila” is far from the best person and arguably not even a good person, but she also doesn’t have to be for the others to accept her as the still somewhat bad influence she is. She’s still very much selfish and flawed, but she’s less inclined to hide it or treat it like something that needs to be hidden. And isn’t that a common lesson? That it’s better to be liked for who you are than to force yourself to be someone else to be liked?

And at the same time, even with being less than a fully good person, she’s showing that she can still find better ways of acting that allow her to help others rather than hurt them or serve herself. She still hates Scar, but rather than working with Hawk Moth to kill her and risk dooming Paris and the world, she’s instead working with Alya through more legitimate (and legal) means…and hitting Scar where it hurts most. She and Adrien may not be friends, but rather than try to punish him for not going along with her, she’s instead rescued him, putting herself on the line—something that the former Lila wouldn’t have considered doing and one that canon Lila wouldn’t be capable of. Even if she’s motivated by pettiness or self-interest, what would have been straight up revenge on someone who upset her has grown to be something that is working in everyone’s better interests.

Both Lila and Sabrina hid themselves in different ways and for different reasons. So having them both assert themselves and call out both Chloe and Scarlet Lady is a show of their growth and overall a huge deal. It’s not something either of them would have done at the start of the series. Sabrina, because she was a “yes man” who wouldn’t dare to argue with Chloe and Lila because she wouldn’t risk openly doing something to make herself a target. 

And now boom! Look at them both! Lila stepped up to openly and publicly denounce Scarlet Lady as not being a hero for real reasons that aren’t just about herself or her feelings—complete with receipts! The girl did her research, noting incidents from before she even came into the picture. Then follow up with Sabrina standing up against Chloe’s machinations and dismantling Chloe’s main source of power: her father. Even better, she’s using logic and knowledge she would have as a former ally of Chloe’s who would know her tricks, taking her former friendship with Chloe and using it against her.

And on top of that, each of them are given the Miraculous by the person they wronged in the past. Marinette to Sabrina and Adrien to Lila. Especially in Lila’s case, it says a lot that they’re trusted. That shows narratively that even with their mistakes and bad choices and continued struggles, they still can move forward—not necessarily to find redemption, but to find themselves and be their best selves.

This is why it makes sense for them to share this episode. It’s also why both of them speaking up matters. They are both publicly confronting their greatest foe, and the fact that their foes are really two faces of the same person further highlights this. 

So they both have issues with the same person, are dealing with forming their identities without catering to others, are working out how to have/be friends, were formerly not the best of people, and have a fear of rejection. As such, this isn’t just their obligatory hero episode, this is what their individual stories have been leading up to. Almost like they’re two sides of the same coin. And the comparison between the two helps them both shine.

And speaking of shining, does anyone remember how the all girls team up didn’t get a chance to shine in canon? Zoe sure did.

I have a whole list of problems I have regarding Party Crasher, but perhaps number seven on that list is that the boys got to have an all male temp hero team up episode while the girls didn’t.

In fact, by this episode in canon, only Alya, Chloe, and Kagami actually got to be temp heroes.

To be fair, only four of the guys out of seven in canon got to be part of their particular event in Party Crasher, leaving out Ivan (who often tends to get overlooked) and Nathaniel (who has had a precedent of just literally disappearing from the episode). But originally, part of the appeal of Party Crasher was that the focus was supposed to be on the male classmates and getting to see at least some of them being part of a team against the akuma.

Why then didn’t we get an episode like this with the girls? Or at least something LIKE this?

Frightningale became that episode. And if any of the episodes were to do it, it makes the most sense for Frightningale to be the one.

All of the girls were together to take part in this event. So Zag would have had the perfect excuse to include them all in the fight or just have the girls do something to help even as civilians. I mean, we’ve had episodes do this before. Max in Robustus. Nathaniel and Alix in Reverser. Luka in Captain Hardrock. Let the civilians show their heroic traits even before they become heroes. It’s not a Miraculous, but it’s still giving them focus and expanding on them as individuals.

Instead, canon Frightningale was a filler episode. And not even a good one. For an akuma who forces people to sing or dance, it’s a waste that they just had the heroes spend the whole time rhyming. A waste of writing and talent. I mean, have you heard Christina Vee sing? If there needed to be a musical episode, I would think that the akuma who forces people to sing would certainly warrant it! At least more than it’s Christmas and they sing just cuz.

So this is yet another thing that Zoe improves with the Scarlet Lady version of this episode. Giving us the all girl team up episode so many of us have long wanted and getting to see all the female heroes together at last. 

And with this, we get the full roster of friends-turned heroes.

Except for Alix. Poor, poor Alix.  ;_;

Your day will come.

In this way, the end where Clara goes a different direction with her music video feels less like a half-assed fix to a half-forgotten plot point and more like something that was built by everyone involved. I don’t know about the rest of you, but given Clara’s excitement over the all girl band playing and Pigella’s gift showing Clara an idea for her video, it highlights the focus on EVERYONE being part of this—both the video and the episode itself. It kind of comes off as a lesson of its own about teamwork and giving everyone a shot rather than focusing specifically only on one or two specific individuals.

And isn’t that what separates the heroes from Scarlet Lady?

But there’s a third important aspect of this episode.

This is the episode where Chloe is smacked in the face with Scarlet Lady’s falling popularity. 

Let’s remember that at the start of the comic, Scarlet Lady was fully and widely considered THE Hero of Paris. She was beloved for doing nothing and it was a point of frustration for Chat, who actually was having to pick up her slack. Initially, there was nothing he could do because him being the only real hero among the duo meant he often couldn't stick around after akuma fights to prevent Scar from telling "our story". In addition, he didn’t know who she was or who chose her and why. Then even when it was clear her getting the Earrings was a mistake, for a lot of the first couple seasons, she was so popular that they couldn’t just take the Earrings away from her lest they risk backlash from the rest of the city. It’s a backlash that seems increasingly unlikely as more and more people get to see her behavior and callousness firsthand.

We’ve seen hints of it in other episodes, but none of them were so blatant to Chloe that she couldn’t ignore it or shrug it off or otherwise make excuses to protect her ego.

Prime Queen wanted to focus on Marigold and Chat Noir for their “romance” to try and boost ratings. Alya and Lila made some snarky comments, but Chloe could easily dismiss them both. Nadja also made a comment that nobody cared about Scarlet’s love life, but a lack of interest in her love life isn’t a lack of interest in herself and Chloe despises both of her “sidekicks” and wouldn’t want anyone trying to pair her with them anyway. And Nadja reassures her that they’ll focus on her after they’re done with Chat and Marigold. So yes, she can dismiss that as well.

Reverser has Chloe faced with both of her identities are made as villains in art and a story. However, she clearly looks down on Nathaniel and Marc barely registers to her. So she can dismiss them.

Look at Despair Bear, the Intermission, the interactions with the various other heroes, and the fact that only Chat Noir and Marigold are privy to the Guardian’s secret existence and allowed to pass out other Miraculous. Much has been shown of the other characters being less than impressed with her, snarky towards her, or showing the process of how they discover the truth about her and how she actually handles akuma attacks…namely in that she doesn’t. And Chloe can dismiss all of that because to her, none of them really matter to her.

But Chloe can’t dismiss the fact that a renown celebrity dedicating a music video to the “Heroes of Paris” isn’t including her. Bad enough her sidekicks are taking center stage but she’s not even in the music video at all?

And when someone she despises calls out the reasons why she’s not a hero in an openly public setting surrounded by a multitude of people who all agree with her? You could say it’s insult to injury. But some would say it was a long time coming.

Some Rando: Scarlet Lady sucks! Alya: Marigold and Chat Noir do all the work, not her! Kagami: She’s barely even necessary at this point. Clara: This video and song are to celebrate hope and love. And Scarlet Lady lacks both when push comes to shove. Chloe: ARGHHH! WHATEVER!

It further shows the turning tide of public opinion against Scar. What was once a trickle has grown into a wave, and now Chloe is forced to acknowledge her image and status aren’t as ironclad as she thought. Sure, she could denounce Lila as a liar like she’s done before, but Lila is bringing up instances that Chloe can’t deny: being late (as she’s just plain been a no show to several fights), endangering civilians, and being caught live on camera being willing to let someone die in a particularly horrible way because it’s easier.

This is the episode where it’s not just people seeing Scar is horrible, but acting on it and letting Chloe know they know she’s horrible. It’s reached the point where Chloe can’t just disregard the claims or discount and ignore her critics. And we’re seeing Chloe starting to lose control as a result. To the point she has to force her dad to ruin a previously sanctioned event in what has to be one of his most flagrant displays of abuse of power to date just to shut down her detractors.

And even that would come with more consequences for Chloe if it had been allowed to continue. Sabrina herself points it out that Clara is very popular with a lot of fans—people who would be aware she’s making a music video and whom would be very disappointed if word got out that it was cancelled due to an issue with the Mayor. And given all the very unhappy people we see in the comic in question where she points that out, it stands to reason that the word would get out. Heck, I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t recording it.

Then there’s the love square/hero shenanigans.

Remember how in canon, the whole “playing themselves/risking identities” bit kinda just dropped out halfway in? The kwamis were the only authority figures involved to call out on the risk and of the two, Plagg didn’t care and Tikki gave one knowing stare at Marinette before turning around to gush about the suit. Even though Marinette offers the alternative idea to the music video by the end, there’s no further comment or notice of how she and Adrien nearly blew their identities….or alternatively a comedic take where nobody recognizes them regardless and they worried for nothing. Honestly, I would have taken either setup.

Having Fu present to call them both out shows there is a responsible authority figure watching, makes it clear there are rules they are expected to follow, and reinforces that this was, in fact, a horrible idea. Sure, Marinette and Adrien worried enough to hide their masks, but it should have been obvious that wouldn’t work long term. They are risking their identities, not just to Paris but to each other. And he calls them out for doing it on purpose.

Then there’s the beautiful crescendo of the love square dance in that the two both pretty much have figured out the other’s identity and just want an identity reveal to make it official—which Fu won’t allow. We see it in their playful banter that gets mistaken for “getting into character” and in Adrien in particular pushing Marinette to take part.

This is a point where we are seeing them be teenagers. Foolish of them? Yes. Should they have known better and not done it? Yes. But is it in character and the sort of teenage shenanigans we would expect of teenage superheroes? Definitely. And that’s part of the point. Because they are teenagers. Teenagers in love, no less. Teenagers in love with secret identities to dance around. Which is half the fun of secret identities!

It’s just another aspect to this episode that makes it enjoyable.

So overall, the episode matters in ways that the canon version didn’t and was fun in ways that the canon version wasn’t, making it stand out not just as an episode or a remake of the canon episode, but as its own standalone episode AND a noteworthy point in the overall story.

[msbluebell]

How We Fall For People Like James Somerton

We're all joking, but this James Somerton thing has me really fucked up.

I wasn't a huge fan of James. I saw a few of his videos and liked them. In the ones I saw he was calm and explained things straightforwardly and even the one or two times he said things against white women...well, that's language I've been seeing on Tumblr since I joined back in my tweenage years. I thought it was just a dismissive joke pointing out a frank reality.

I didn't watch him too much. Just a few videos. I kept meaning to watch more, but I didn't because sometimes I wanted something easier. But I regarded him sell because of how informed he seemed.

And that's the thing, isn't it? He SEEMED informed. He spoke confidently and sometimes quoted queer sounding articles and I trusted him blindly. And why? Because he was giving me information that SEEMED well researched.

Illumanaughtii too. I WAS a consistent fan of hers before other youtubers came out. Because she presented information really well and I like hand drawn characters and because she read academic sounding quotes. I trusted her and her information was stollen. And I feel like a fool for ever having trusted her now, but at least her stollen facts were apparently accurate. Maybe.

James though, he straight up lied. Todd in the Shadows went through a lot of effort to expose those lies. He did so much research that I didn't bother to do. And he admitted he only did it because he happened to know people more informed than him that noticed the lies and went down a rabbit hole.

And maybe if I was more involved I would have noticed. But that's beside the point. what's getting me is I didn't bother to check myself, I just blindly trusted.

And the worst part is I can see why it happened.

I work.

I work, and then I get home, and when I get home I stress. I stress about work I have to do tomorrow, or classes, or finding a new job that actually pays a livable wage. And to escape that stress I go online to AO3, or tumblr, but especially Youtube.

Because I like youtube, I like to have noise in the background while I work. I like to listen to things while I read. And some of the time it's ASMR videos, or watching someone cook something. But mostly? It's history things or video essays.

And when I'm working, or reading, I'll hear a fact, and I'll look up, and I'll think "Huh, that's interesting to know, I didn't know that." And I won't think anything about it.

Because I'm busy, or I'm tired. I'm tired from work, and I don't want to do more work. Or sometimes it's mental health. This is my coping mechanism. I'm trying to learn things, do something to distract myself. I'm not looking to disprove things.

In other words I'm lazy. Or, if I'm being kind to myself, I'm tired.

Maybe if the topic was something I was an expert in I would have noticed. I'm a former ballerina, I'm a failed history major dropout. Maybe if he'd said something like "Holodomor never happened" or "Boudica is a Finnish folk hero" I'd have noticed. Maybe.

But he didn't, and I didn't notice. I assumed he did the work, and why?

Because surely a gay man wouldn't spend hours on youtube talking about Queer history if he wasn't passionate. Because he, a queer man, would surely know about queer history. Surely he wouldn't want to spread lies and hate. And he's quoting from books and articles so why wouldn't I trust him?

My trust was blind and unfounded.

And now I'm reeling from that. I'm reeling because I'm starting to feel like I can't trust a lot of people. How can I listen to any Youtuber casually now?

I can't, I never should have assumed I could.

Now every informative video feels like I need to do tens of hours of research just to be sure what I'm hearing is true. I feel like I can't trust anything unless I do.

James Somerton took my trust.

And it's not only that either. That's not what scares me the most. It's that there are THOUSANDS of people like me. Millions like me. Who are learning something from a video or a tweet or a tumblr post from someone they assume is an expert and are blindly trusting because they assume they can trust it. They don't intend to do their own research because they're tired, or don't know how. And that scars me. I was a history major, I studied tyrants and misinformation and the rise of propaganda, and I, with all my tools to notice, was still blind.

You cannot blindly trust a video, you cannot blindly trust a tweet, you especially cannot blindly trust a tumblr post.

YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPOGANDA

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Can someone please tell me when Dracule Mihawk became an anime sex symbol? Because excuse me, that is my dorky goth dad who doesn't know how to use an air fryer. So when did he become a big titty Goth Daddy?

To start with, I don't even think he bangs. Well, he and Shanks may have had a thing when they were in their 20s. But everyone makes mistakes in their twenties, and that is part of the reason why Shanks drives him crazy. He's the biggest fuckboy to ever whore about the grand line. You're telling me Shanks doesn't have at least a dozen illegitimate kids sprinkled throughout the grand line. I'm shocked Beckman hasn't put that boy on a leash yet, at least to mitigate some of the drunken shenanigans. Poor Beck, that man needs a vacation and a raise. But back on topic, Mihawk’s too mature for that stupidity, so Shanks drives him absolutely crazy now because he hasn't grown up past his fuckboy stage. So I'm pretty sure he's like Zoro. As in, his sexuality is swords, and he falls somewhere on the ace spectrum.

But if he did bang. His lazy ass doesn't have a top/Dom bone in his body. He's a complete pillow princess. Remember, he sails the ocean while napping, and if anything dares disturb his beauty sleep. They shall face his wrath. He will wipe them out of existence and feel completely justified in doing so. And you're telling me that doesn't sound like something your lazy coworker would do if they had the option. So, I don't think he will be your daddy-dom. So I hope you have dreams of doming him. I think he'd like it. Again, I don't think he has the top / Dom bone in his entire body, a complete and utter pillow princess. So spoil that man rotten or take him down a peg or two. He does have an ego. But he's worked so hard to get to where he's at now, so that ego is deserved. It's not cocky if you can back it up

So, be respectful. That is my reluctant goth dad of two. He may not know how to use an air fryer or a TV. But he's a world-renowned expert in his very niche field of expertise. Don't judge

And what is this about his slutty sleeves? Am I missing something?

Defend Your Blurbo #19

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans.

Meet Dracule Mihawk, The World's Greatest Swordsman from One Piece. He did kinda adopt Zoro and Perona, but only after they broke into his house and refused to leave. So, a reluctant father makes sense. If you don't know who Zoro and Perona are, a GIF of them is below

To answer the question, about the slutty sleeves it comes from the live action specifically this one moment I'll find the GIF

If you look, the sleeves are not sewn on. They're laced on. One, it's extremely practical because of freedom of movement. Two, it's historically accurate, and three, it shows just a little extra bit of skin, and the people went nuts. That should also answer your question of why Mihawk is suddenly considered so hot now. The live-action did him a solid, and the actor nailed the performance.

So, One Piece Fandom, I'm already scared for my inbox just based on the content of this one. Get ready and Defend Your Blorbo

[warriorofthought]

Bullied

Summary: You are the Son of Aaron Hochtner, you try to isolate yourself from your family so that they won't notice that you are being bullied at school. 

Word count: 2.503 Words 

Warnings: mention of bullying scenes and injuries

Aaron Hochtner x Son Reader

In the last few weeks Aaron Hotchner hardly gets to see his oldest Son, when he comes home from school he immediately disappears into his room, rarely coming out to have breakfast with Jack and him before he and the Kids have to go to work or school.

He notices that his Son's behavior has changed. But he doesn't know why. Aaron blames it on puberty, but is it?

"Y/n, hurry up, we have to get going to school if you don't want to be late!"

Y/n quickly comes down the stairs and puts on his shoes next to Jack. Before they all run to the car and their Dad drops them off at the school. 

"Remember y/n, the Team is coming over for dinner tonight, so be on time".

y/n nods. Turns and leaves.

Aaron watches his son stop in front of the school again and take a deep breath before going in. 

Inside the School:

"Hey y/n!" I pause and look around for the voice calling me. Batty Lazy is calling to me from down the hall. Everyone knows her, since she's the worst bully in the school, and she doesn't care what gender she bullies.

As I turn around, I see that many of the other students are quickly and silently telling me to get out of there. But it's already too late. She is standing in front of me.

On her way to you, she pushed away all the kids who didn't go to side willingly. You don't understand how a person like her is a bully and also feared by everyone. And unfortunately, even a little bit by you.

"Who do you think you are,y/n, because of you the Professor gave me a bad grade!" She hisses at me, poking her index finger around in my chest.

"I can't help it, if the Professor thinks you didn't put enough effort into the project, then maybe you should have done the project yourself." 

You know she doesn't like that answer when you see her face turn red. The students around you hold their breath in fear and there is a huge silence in the hallway.

Suddenly without warning, Batty grabs me by the collar and pushes me against the lockers with a violent jerk. 

Painfully, I hiss out, as one of the locks is brutally pressed into my back.

"Let go of me!" I say annoyed.

"Forget it, where's your project for today?

Hmm, is it in your bag?"

She snatches my bag from my hand with the words and dumps out all the stuff in it. When she gets to the essay which is for the project.

She grins at me triumphantly. 

"There it is, you want me to show you what I do with fools like you?" Sarcastically, she raises an eyebrow and looks out into the crowd.

"JUST SO WE ALL UNDERSTAND, THIS HAPPENS WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO THINK THEY'RE BETTER THAN ME" with that she tears up my essay which took me two weeks to write. 

Tears come to my eyes. I don't let them fall.

She drops it on the floor and then the bell rings for class, everyone quickly disappears into their classrooms and I'm late because I still have to pick up everything. On top of that, I still have to explain to the teacher why I can't give them my essay. Which was extremely embarrassing and he is very disappointed in me, you could see it in his eyes.

Awesome, great start in the day.

The rest of the day she also just picks on me, pushes me, insults me. I am glad when school is out.

When I get home, Dad's Team is already there. They sit together while Dad cooks with Rossi in the kitchen.

Jack watches Spencer show him a magic trick. 

I quickly say hello to everyone before disappearing into my room. 

In the room, I look at my back and see that a bruise has formed where the lock was pressed into my back. I quickly run to the bathroom and put some ointment on it so it doesn't hurt as much.

Just as I finish, dad calls for dinner. I quickly look in the mirror again to see if I look normal before I go downstairs and sit with the others. 

Everyone at dinner was having a great time. Even your dad, which wasn't unusual, he just obviously hadn't noticed how you were doing at the moment

You poke around in your half eaten plate.

All you wanted to do was sleep. A hug would have been nice too, but your dad was busy with his friends.

And it's not like you wouldn't hug anyone on the team, but right now it seemed like all you wanted was your dad's affection.

You're glad when you're finally allowed to get up, and you quickly disappear into your room without even beginning to talk to the others.

——————————————————————————————————

In the morning you are awake early because you couldn't sleep properly, so you decide to get ready earlier than usual. When you go down to the kitchen, you see that your dad is already making coffee. 

You put your bag down next to the table and Aaron looks over at you in surprise.

He raises an eyebrow " Up already?"

"Hmm" I nod. Then I walk up to him and hug him.

His warmth spreads to your cold body within seconds.

You put your face in the crook of his neck and he rests his head on yours.

Your arms rested lazily on his shoulders and held onto his neck. He holds you close.

You didn't really want him to ask you anything, just hug you.

"Are you okay?" he asks you softly into your hair, hoping that you are now ready to tell him what happened.

You want so badly to say "no," but then he'd probably ask you why, and you'd have to tell him, and then he'd feel bad.

You sigh, "I just need a hug." That's all you can say.

He understands and rubs your back and puts his chin on your head.

 ——————————————————————————————————

Two weeks later, still nothing has changed, it's just gotten worse. 

Batty and her friends started to really get on your nerves, they even tried to trip you up at lunch, luckily you could either see it coming or just catch yourself.

The school hallway was where you felt safest, it was always crowded too so you didn't have to worry about them or any of their friends getting too close to you.

Then one day, as you were walking back from math to lunch, someone threw a drink packet at you from behind. The next day, it was either a bottle cap or a crumpled piece of paper. Or worse, food scraps. 

From the beginning you didn't fight back and decided to live with it because you knew the teachers wouldn't trust you if you told them and they would rather trust Batty, she's a girl, you're a boy who can certainly fight back against a girl, after all, as a boy you shouldn't be weak. Which you thought was very stupid. The only teacher you liked was your literature teacher. Mrs. Sun, she was funny and taught well, but at the time you didn't really think of it as bullying, you just thought they were annoying you.

——————————————————————————————————

one week later

You didn't think much of her leaving you alone today, and that was your mistake. After class is over for the day, you head to your locker as usual and get your stuff out for home. Then you remember that you left your bottle in the classroom and quickly run upstairs again. As you head back to the exit. Batty is standing there with two of her companions, a girl and a boy. They grab you. 

Batty is angry because you corrected her answer today, after that the teacher told her that she should take an example from you. The whole class laughed at her.

"You did that on purpose today, didn't you, loser?"

Shaking my head in denial "No I didn't, I can't be blamed for what the teacher said".

Angrily she looks at me.

"Apologize and I'll leave you alone for today!"

"I didn't do anything to apologize for."

She nods, then looks at her companions who nod in response and suddenly I'm being shoved from side to side.

After a while they stop.

"And, has your mind changed now, I want you to ask for my forgiveness".

"I haven't done anything I should apologize for, so no my mind hasn't changed".

Batty nods again and I see her eyes narrow briefly, then she slams her fist back at me.

Shocked, I hold my cheek. Before I can even say anything to that. The other two start hitting me too.

I try to protect myself as best I can, but as I take a step to the side, having managed to pick myself up, I am shoved and my foot slips off the step. Before I can even react to what is happening, I fall down the stairs and as my head hits the ground, everything goes black.

Aaron Hotchner View:

As I'm going through some files, I get a call from y/n school. Concerned, I answer it.

"Hotchner"

"Mr. Hotchner, I'm calling to let you know that your son is on his way to the hospital, he seems to have fallen down the stairs".

"What hospital is he being taken to?" I ask the woman and get up, grab my jacket and car keys and leave my office. 

On the way out Derek and Rossi look at me in surprise, I hang up after she tells me where they are taking my son.

"What's wrong, Hotch?" Derek asks.

"It's about y/n, he's in the hospital, I'm going there, the teacher didn't tell me exactly what it was about but it sounded serious".

They both nod. "I'll drive you before something happens to you too" Rossi gives a nod. 

I nod and together we leave the BAU and drive to the hospital.

Once there, I demand to know from the receptionist where my son is. She tells me that Y/n is still in surgery and that I can wait outside. 

Together with Rossi, I sit down in front of the emergency room and wait.

After about an hour, a doctor comes out.  "Relatives of Y/n Hotchner?"

"Here! How is my boy?"

"According to the circumstances, he is being transferred to the normal ward, he was lucky his head injury could be stitched well, there will be no further damage and we were able to stop the internal bleeding as well"

"Internal bleeding, I thought he just fell down the stairs?"

"To be honest Mr. Hotchner, your son doesn't seem to have just fallen down the stairs, he has a lot of hematomas on his body, especially on his abdomen, he also has a handprint on his face, a split lip and on his arms hematomas from hands as if someone was holding him too tightly"

"Where is my son being taken?, I want to see him!"

"Third floor, room 436"

"Thank you", quickly Rossi and I run upstairs.

When we arrived at the room Rossi let me go ahead.

Then I enter the room.

Y/n is still unconscious, but only now do I really realize how bad it must have been.

The bandage around his head where the wound is, the split lip and when I push up his sleeve the hematomas.

They are all still fresh.

Why didn't I notice how bad he was feeling. Dejectedly, I sit down on the chair and hold his hand.

"Hotch, I told Penelope about this, she got the footage from the stairwell you might want to take a look at it. You can see exactly that it wasn't just a fall. "Rossi holds out a tablet to me. Then I let the video play.

Y/n view:

The first thing I hear when I wake up is the constant beeping of a device, then I realize that my whole body hurts, not badly but it's visible. The next thing I notice is that someone is holding my hand. As I move it I hear a chair being pushed back slightly.

"Y/n, can you open your eyes?"

Peering I try to open them and as my vision clears I see my father.

"Dad," comes a raspy voice from me.

He helps me to sit up and gives me something to drink. 

"I'm glad you're awake again," comes from the other side as I look over I see Rossi. 

When I look back over at Dad I see his features harden a bit.

"We need to talk, Y/N." The words are enough to make your heart hammer against your ribcage, but you keep your expression as nonchalant as possible, even though the beeping of the machine may have given you away, both say nothing to that. The last thing you should do is cry in front of the person who may be the strongest man you know.

"Listen, Dad," you begin, but he interrupts you with his own words.

"It's about the kids at school, isn't it?"

You say nothing, and he takes that as a yes. "That's also why you're hiding in your room, isn't it?" You just nod.

You dare to glance up at him. His eyes are sad, and you have to avert your gaze. "Why didn't you tell me... or the Team?" he asks.

You shrug, "I didn't think it was important."

This time it was Rossi who spoke up. "Not important? Y/N...", he breaks off, his voice filled with an unimaginable sadness, and you have to force yourself not to cry. They had enough to worry about and the last thing they needed was a teenage boy who was having a hard time fitting in at school.

"Hey, look." You look up at your Dad and he gives you a gentle smile. "Listen to me. The next time something - anything - is bothering you, you come to us, okay? I don't care if we're in the middle of something right now. If you have to call ten times, call ten times." You smile and he continues. "Just don't ever think that we don't care about you, okay?" You rub your eyes and nod. "As for those kids, I'll talk to the school board tomorrow. That's a problem that needs to be taken care of."

You sigh. As much as you don't want to, you know there's nothing you can do to stop him. And you know it might not even make a difference in the circumstances at school. But you have your Dad, Jack, and the Team. And sometimes they're all you need. As long as you have them, the best way to make it better is to talk to them in the future.

[batmanego]

i've been thinking a lot about the racial politics in RDR2 lately, as the racial politics of that time in america have always compelled me (and were directly relevant to my family) and i like RDR2 and i've been toying with the idea of a larger essay on it but i'm worried that i'll never finish it. so if i don't i'm making this post just so i can get my basic thoughts on the wapiti tribe down on paper.

the wapiti tribe is uniquely frustrating to me as it's clear that RDR2 was trying to make up for their godawful treatment of natives in RDR1 and be at least somewhat conscious of the state of things for natives at the time, but it's just.. so... lukewarm.

i'm always going to have issues with the usage of fictionalized tribes. i have issues with the miagani in batman. i have issues with the red star tribe of red dead revolver, the precursor to the red dead redemption games we have now. and i have issues with the wapiti of rdr2. the wapiti are a fictional tribe, yes, but they pull heavily from the real-world lakota people. they speak lakȟótiyapi (despite 'wapiti' being a shawnee word???? i suppose it could be an exonym, but i digress). their existence is based around the lakota people, but the lakota themselves are absent from the game. why? why make a fictionalized tribe and then pull from a real one? so you don't have to worry about getting sued? that's cheap. that's lazy. work with the tribe. it can be done. native people are not ephemeral or uncontactable.

when i think about the wapiti tribe i can't help but contemplate the fictional native (or, more accurately, the fictional native tribe as opposed to the individual), and the comfort it brings to the colonizers. the fictional native and the dead native go hand in hand. the dead, extinct native is suffering in perpetuity, immortalized in time as a martyr to the indigenous cause. being killed by the white man forever.

the fictional native, too, often falls into this trap, particularly in games like RDR2. people love to cry over the dead native (and the fictional native) and mourn "what could have been". this is in part because the dead native (and the fictional native) require no more work on the part of the colonizer. the dead native (and the fictional native) do not call for land back. they do not call for reparations. they do not live among you as people, and so you are not required to see them as such. they allow you to confront your history, but gently. they give you the opportunity to turn away when you are uncomfortable. the dead native (and the fictional native) does not intrude on the workings of everyday life for the colonizer. the alive native (the real-life native), on the other hand, inconveniences the colonizer with demands of monetary assistance, land back, and forces the colonizer to continually acknowledge and live with the fact that they are living the way they are in no small part due to the suffering of the native.

i think often of kim tallbear, a professor of native studies at the university of alberta and author of native american DNA: tribal belonging and the false promise of genetic science's quote: “i think what people are scrambling for is this ancient noble savage or noble indian in their bloodline. they’re not very interested in contemporary indigenous people who are alive, who are living in a still very colonial society at a severe income and class disadvantage, people living with multiple generations of trauma from residential schools, from other forms of discrimination and systematic exclusion” (emphasis mine).

this isn't to say that depictions of the real life suffering that people went through should be ignored or written out of the narrative. i'm grateful that RDR2 acknowledged (in their own lukewarm way) the suffering of the time. but with the rest of the racial politics of RDR2 (see: arthur saying he understands the wapiti because hes an outlaw?????? see: arthur's general unawareness of racism as a structure of society) it feels often to me while playing that the devs, while making a historical game, are uncomfortable with actually engaging with history in any meaningful way.

in any case, i'm one person and i'm by no means an expert on the native experience (being racially white and raised away from the culture and only beginning to try to reconnect some 7 or 8 years ago) and i would genuinely like to hear other people's thoughts on this, particularly lakota people.

[joannerowling]

Radcliffe is no slacker. Professional theatre is much much more demanding than films, and Radcliffe has a solid theatre resume. He’s currently on stage 8 times a week in New York singing one of the most demanding Sondheim songs in the repertoire and has never once called out of a show for illness in 2+ years. He’s a near-lock to win the Tony for his performance, and, aside from the fact it’s the best performance in the category, part of it is that the Broadway community believe he’s paid his dues and appreciate the work ethic of a guy who never has to work again. I can vouch for him having a very good reputation among the London theatre set too, for the same reasons.

You can disagree with him without becoming unfairly personal and insulting about things you’re not fully informed about, just as you’re not happy with him for not having fully informed himself on this topic.

Acknowledged. I'll easily concede you that point since i don't really pay attention to what celebs do when they're not directly on my radar (and Broadway is very far from that).

So maybe he's not that lazy. But i'm not sure that's the defence you think it is. Laziness is the kindest reason i can think of for the way he responded to Rowling's essay, seemingly without bothering to read it, and why he later failed to speak up against her abuse. If i can't fall back on that, i'll have to assume he's a true ideologue who put her down out of alligeance to the cause, and didn't speak up against the threats she received because he sincerely felt she deserved them, and that's a much worse sin in my book.

And off topic, but i think an impeccable work ethic should be expected from someone who got his audition on Harry Potter because his casting director dad knew one of the producers.

[pan-magi]

Ok, I've been thinking. I know the anime is great, but every time I read it I appreciate the manga a little bit more. Not all the time, but usually. So, I'll probably be making a few different posts in the future highlighting some of my favorite things that didn't transfer to the anime for any reason. I could do one big post, but I don't feel like it. My rambler self at least tries to make things essay length.

Sinbad makes a proper sophisticated introduction of his generals in the anime, befitting a king. In the manga he starts off so drunk he can't really remember if he introduced Jafar and Masrur months ago?

(n. 82. photo and scan is from my own copy since I'm too lazy to find a good quality one online right now. I find it hilarious with context of this post that the one thing my camera refused to focus on was Sinbad's dumb drunk face)

It's a really quick gag, yet I find it amusing. I can see why they cut it in the anime for consistency. He's pretty sober for the rest of the conversation it doesn't make much logical sense to be drunk just for a single frame. Or they didn't want Sinbad to be too much of an idiot. Already too late for that, but still.

Jafar's second hand embarrassment is always amazing and appreciated.

That's it. If you haven't read the manga, you should! I'm biased because overall the second half is my favorite. If you can, do so officially! Anything to show that it's still loved and season 3 can happen.

hey a girl can dream

I'll get around to some more manga appreciation soon-ish. I have a couple more specific cases I want to get to though not sure on when I'll complete them with everything else I'm working on.

[frostwing213]

So, I've been questioning if I have ADHD

So I made a list of why and why I might not have it. I gave up partway though, so here's what's done

Why I might:

Constantly forgetting to eat, or not eating because I can't get myself to get up

Forgetting to drink, unless I have my full waterbottle next to me, then I'm Constantly drinking

So many half finished books

Very forgetful

Kinda like organizing sometimes, but only when I'm organizing things by like color or something and I can't get myself to get up and organize what needs to be done

Watches TV shows I've seen before while I work on my computer and scroll Tumblr on my phone

Never knowing what time it is, having no idea how long things will take, and sitting for "just a minute" and realizing 2 hours later

Means to set timers, but forgets. If I set a timer to do a task, sometimes I'll tell myself "Ok, just a second" and continue scrolling and I don't do the task

I cannot summerize to save my life and go on tangents

Sometimes I'll speak my train of thought and I end up on a totally different topic

I'm sitting here making this list rather than changing into comfortable pants like I wanted to... 2 hours ago?

Music in my head. All. The. Time.

I play music to go to sleep so I can distract my brain from my train of thought and actually sleep (Sometimes it works!)

I started writing this point, then added something to the pervious one and forgot what I was writing here

Sometimes I randomly feel like I have to move

A lot of times I get motivation to start a task so I start, then partway though the motivation is gone, like right now

I REMEMBERED WHAT THE EARLIER POINT WAS! I Constantly forget to hit start, or send, or stuff like that

I've had people ask me if I had ADHD, no prompting. Multiple times, multiple people

I've had people with ADHD go: Wouldn't be surprised. When I mention the possibility

Sometimes I get every aware of how I'm sitting and all the tiny pains. So I have to fix it

I definitely have things that seem like hyper fixations or special interests. Like, I remember something and suddenly Im obsessed for a few days at least

I got a guitar, have done two (youtube) lessons on it, and haven't touched it in weeks

I hate it when there are notifications on my phone's head thingy, but when I want to remember to answer something, I'll leave it there (Sometimes works)

My room is a mess and It should be easy to clean up, but I just don't want to, and I can't get the motivation

Clean laundry is currently sitting in my hamper, waiting to be put away

I have to Constantly remind myself to take a shower if I want it to happen

I need to eat some food and get more water, but Imma forget about this list if I get up

I'll stop in the middle of sentences/thoughts, and have to pause, retracing my thoughts to get back to it

I always get a crap ton of pencils at the beginning of the year, and they're all gone by the end

I loose things and always have to get them again when I need them.

I should not be given money and set loose to buy things on my own, I will buy candy and other food items unless stopped.

I can't stand silence (so lots of music playing) but I hate when things get too loud (sensory overstimulation??)

Homework is horrible because once I'm not in a class setting, I can't get the motivation/get distracted

I like creative writing and write pages and pages, but I get stuck on essays and are working g on them for hours to days, but it's like, the same thing?

If something leaves my vision, I forget about it easily

I paused writing this list to start the "Why I might not" list, then jumped back here (keep jumping back and forth)

I cannot take notes. Either it is everything the teacher says, or it is nothing.

Im smart, but I've been told I just need to apply myself more

I will get so stressed about something, but I can't get myself to do what needs to be done to fix it

If I don't want to do something, I have a lot of trouble to get myself to do it (maybe just me being lazy)

Even if I want to do something, I struggle with doing it

I give up on hard things easily

I'll get up to do something, pause to do something else, and forget about the original thing

Why I might not:

I'm good at tests

I'm an attention seeker, this may be me trying to make myself more special

I'm good at peopling (I think)

I'm a good listener

I don't struggle with eye contact or most people things

Becase I'm thinking about this so much, my brain may be overexatragting things

I'm sure some of the reasons I might are just normal people things and I need to deal with them

It feels like any symptoms have appeared recently(is. Well, some of them weren't there when I was a kid)

I enjoy school

I love reading

Since I have a little brother, I'm good at tuning out all noise when I'm reading.

I'm smart

Some things might just be me being lazy

Maybe some things are just flaws I need to work on

May add more stuff later

[1800-page-not-found]

Okay sooo I’m a big lazy perfectionist soooo

How about Lisa,Layla,Faruzan trying to make me go outside for non-perfectionist reasons

Look up for females

Pick one and have fun with it

Look down for the males

How about Albedo,Tighnari,Venti trying to make me go outside for non-perfectionist reasons

(seperate) Lisa, Layla, Faruzan x lazy perfectionist reader

Summary: They drag your ass out (im sorry i still dont really understand but i tried 〒v〒)

Lisa sighed. You were being very difficult. Here you were, sitting on a chair attempting to correct your mistake. From an outsider point of view, your painting was a complete masterpiece but to you, it was absolute shit. You could see every single wrong on it. "Cutie, if you don't go on a stroll with me to collect overdue books, I will zap you." she said in a sweetly menacing tone.

You freaked out. "I-I can't! Don't you see? This flower here is too dark compared to the others!" you had run out of your paint color that you mixed earlier and tried attempting to recreate the same color, but it was either too dark or too light. It was very stressful.

"OW! Lisa! stop shocking me!" you cried in pain. Lisa was beyond pissed at this point. She grabbed you by the collar and started dragging you out the door as you clung to your chair. "NooOoOo Lisaaaaa.." you sobbed as she dragged you outside. Finally letting go of you, she turned around and crossed her arms, furious.

"Maybe i should leave you here hmm? Do you want that?"

"No..."

"Then be a sweetheart and help me collect overdue books"

"Its too far..." you groaned.

"I wasn't asking" she smiled in yet again, a menacing voice.

This time, you could see sparks practically radiating from her. Scary... maybe it wouldnt hurt doing this right?.. plus you're doing this with her so it can't be that bad...

You got to see an even more terrifying side of her when someone didn't return their book.

Layla had fallen asleep while you on the other side of the room was busy finalizing a report in your astronomy class. You too were studying in the field of Illuminationism, and you were finalizing a report due the next day. You sighed. You've been at this for more than two whole hours and you couldn't think of how to wrap your essay up. You had a decent grade (I'm not sure how the Greece grading system works since the Akademiya is based off an ancient school in Greece i think), but you still wanted to push it higher. studying just took so much work and energy. You're still way above average so its good enough.

Someone, who you assumed was Layla (since she's the only person in the room with you, that'd be weird if it wasn't), tapped your shoulder excitedly. Ah right. She had this different persona whenever she slept. it was a bit odd at first but you got used to it. "Yes Layla?" you turned to her.

She was staring a bit too much at you as she smiled. "Lets go out on a walk!" she exclaimed. Now?? at 1 in the morning? You raised an eyebrow. "Layla, its too dark outside, what if we get ambushed? You have a vision but i don't." you frowned

"I'll go by myself then!" she grinned, skipping to the door. "No! Wait hold on, i'll go with you" you sighed giving in. . You were also worried she might do something dangerous if she was alone. Her sleepwalking persona was quite the character. Leaving one last glance at your unfinished papers, you stepped out the door where Layla was, practically glimmering with happiness and energy. Running after her, you tried your best to tire her out before you tired yourself out.

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium, she decided to head back. The only good thing that came out of this was Layla giving you many ideas how to finish your essay. Perhaps skipping a few classes wouldn't hurt right?.. Perhaps you could feign a cold..

Faruzan was knocking on your door impatiently. "Y/n!" she called multiple times. What time was it?.. 5 in the morning?..you sighed. Why was she even here?..

"If you don't come out here right now i will break your door down!" 'she sounds like a mom' you sighed. "We have to go explore the ruins today!"

Oh. right. ruins. You, still half awake, could not process her kicking your door down and carrying you to the ruins fast enough. "What?..sand?.."

sand. "FARUZAN." you screamed in a panic. she dropped you on the ground, scoffing. "Its madam to you, y/n." she crossed her arms. the coarse sand beneath your feet, the sand under your clothing, the sand in your eyes. It felt awful. You ran like the speed of light to the ruins, where it had hard cool stone underneath the shadow. Dusting yourself off, you glared at faruzan. "Faruzan." You started. "Once we finish this, i'm switching my field of study."

"You can't do that!" she frowned. "Respect your elders!" she hit your head. "Ow!" you yelled, stomping off to somewhere within the ruins.

You were lost. Perhaps this ruin was solely a maze. "Faruzan?" you yelled, hoping for an answer. shhhekkkk. shheek. You turned around, petrified. There standing behind you was a primal construct, preparing to attack. Damn it. You really shouldn't have seperated from Faruzan. Especially when you wielded neither weapon or vision.

You cried running from it. You ended up (barely) in one piece by the end of your ruin adventures after promising to stay with faruzan and calling her "madam" from then on.

[miaoqing]

tagged by @holy--milk ! thank you <33

1. why did you choose your url?

miao as in meow. qing as in mu qing

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

this is one!! i also have ones i use for saving linguistics posts and sims cc

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

since september 2014 <3 quite exactly ten years . god

4. do you have a queue tag?

“q”. i’m very creative. i don’t use the queue very often though

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

i was too lazy to rebrand my jjk twitter account into svsss/mxtx so i made a sideblog on tumblr instead. people are funnier here . usually

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

shizum…… cat ears…. yeah

7. why did you choose your header?

pretty ……..

8. what's your post with the most notes?

the one about how the fandom exaggerates the beef between sqq and sqh

9. how many mutuals do you have?

quite a few actually??? <3

10. how many followers do you have?

more than i had on twitter but fewer than i have on instagram

11. how many people do you follow?

281 . allegedly

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

all my posts are either shitposts or academic essays no inbetween

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

i’m addicted to the Device and also beefing so i have an unhealthy habit of constantly checking if someone has started arguing with me about something

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

IF i have…. see above

15. how do you feel about 'you need to reblog this' posts?

they can all die

16. do you like tag games?

yes ….

17. do you like ask games?

yes…….

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

what does that even mean tbh ….

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

in what way… as in that i have a mutual i want to become friends with or in the way that i’m in love with a mutual??? those are very different…. please be more specific…….

20. what is the last song you listened to?

technically stad i ljus by tommy körberg (dsvdv) but according to spotify it was pink pony club by chappell roan

21. what are you currently watching?

right now on my to-finish-watching is half an episode of wwdits, 2 eps of dungeon meshi, and 2,5 eps of bridgerton. i am horrible at watching movies and also things with episodes unless i have like crocheting to do but my current project involves a sewing machine and watching a screen while a sharp needle is hammering right by your fingers is probably. not smart

22. sweet/savoury/spicy?

depends???? i hate sweet breakfasts for example. but generally i think that after every meal you should have a little sweet treat like idk it just doesn’t feel complete otherwise. and spicy is just a type of savoury isn’t it…. save me lan gao ma….. lan gao ma save me …

23. what is your current relationship status?

i JUST got a second cat

24. what is your current obsession?

i think i’m in a rare moment of peace in between storms right now actually? which is good because i have school work to do

25. what are nine albums/songs you've been listening to lately?

so high school by t***** s**** (sorry), stand by me by shinee, just a notion by abba, chateau lobby #4 by father john misty, head over heels by tears for fears, please please please by sabrina carpenter, i know it’s over by the smiths, supernova by aespa, talk that talk by twice

i'm tagging @shizunitis @retributory @anqelbean <33

[destinygoldenstar]

Kailor Is Canon, But Not Good Enough For The Show ; So I Finally Read ‘Quest For Lost Powers’ (Commentary Part 3; The Fire Fiends)

<< Part 2

Hey, remember when Kai got jumped by furries?

(My viewers annoyed with me) (Me)

Welcome back to the world of SLURP.

I'm kinda glad I'm doing commentary on Tumblr and not YouTube because then I'd have to use my voice. And I am currently sick. So it would not be pleasant to listen to someone who sounds like they're dying, when in reality they're just being shoved orange juice down their throats and getting headaches. (But I hate oranges, so maybe I am dying.)

We're continuing with Chapter 2 of the Fire Chapter.

Cause it is pretty much the Fire Chapter but with Skylor. I'm not the biggest Skylor fan in the show, but she's just being a girlboss in this book so I'm here for it.

Let the women do something dammit.

Last chapter, Kai's being a butt and sulking on the job.

Then he got jumped by furries.

And now he has decided that in order to get his fire back, he must hunt down a stray Pyro Viper.

Or sorry, FIRE FIENDS.

Come on, pick a name and stick with it Ninjago!

And you know what? At least unlike the Fire Chapter in the show, Kai gets to have a sweet fill of revenge.

Okay I'll stop. (No I won't) Let's get into it. We are starting right where we left off from last chapter.

They just had their encounter with the furries.

(I will not be surprised if I lose followers for this alone.)

[“Whoa, slow down, Kai,” she said. “I mean, it’s good to see you’ve got some pep back in your step, but are you seriously going to run to the outskirts of Ninjago wearing a stained sweatshirt in the middle of the night?”]

Uh, Skylor, have you met Kai? Clearly not.

Also he was wearing a HOODIE in the illustrations. So... Skylor is not fashion smart either.

That, or someone was just too lazy to change this line to 'stained hoodie'.

I'm a writer myself, I notice that stuff!

[“You don’t need to come with me,” Kai shot back. “This is a personal quest, and I’ve got to do it on my own. I can handle this."]

I'm... ugh.

I'm not as mad at that line as I feel like I should be.

I'm working on a Kai essay, and so you know, one of my talking points is that Kai can barely handle anything on his own. So this is deeply ironic that he says that.

And like, yeah, it is kind of a personal thing he needs to do. Sometimes your own thoughts/feelings are what you need to get out of a tight spot in your mental state, and contrasting feelings from another person clash with that.

He's not being MEAN about it... YET.

And SPOILERS, Kai is supposed to be the one in the wrong. Keep that in mind. Kai is wrong for his thought process.

[A flopping fish from the fish tank slid out of his sleeve and fell to the floor.]

How does that even happen? How did the fish get in his hoodie when we're dealing with LEGO clothing physics?

Did the fish try to take a bite out of Kai?!

[“I know you’ve got this. It’s just…maybe a road trip would be good for us. I mean, we haven’t

even been out on a real date yet.”] [“I visit you every night at the noodle shop,” Kai protested.] [“That does not count as a date,” Skylor replied.]

OH RIGHT KAILOR'S A THING NOW.

Um... WOW. Okay that's embarrassing for me.

I legit FORGOT that Kai asked Skylor to be his girlfriend in Crystalized.

That scene in the show just caught me off guard, because I thought they already were dating.

So TWICE now, the status of their relationship is news to me.

I'm more of a lavashipper, but I don't hate this. I just wish the show built up to these two better. But you know, good for them.

[He hadn’t been the first to leave. Zane, the Ice Ninja, had retreated to the Samurai-X cave with the android P.I.X.A.L., who had created some experimental software that she thought would help Zane regain his Ice powers.]

Okay slow down guys, we haven't gotten to their stories yet!

But that's also interesting. I am glad we're getting backstory on what happened and why they moved out.

[Then Cole, the Earth Ninja, had left the city for a simple life on a farm, and Jay—well, the Lightning Ninja didn’t tell anyone where he was going.]

That, or Kai just didn't care enough about his in law to get that information.

I know they're friends, but to me these two are rivals that work together who deep down want to get rid of each other.

[Nya, the Water Ninja, was busy saving the world in her revamped Samurai-X mech.]

You'd think once she got her powers back she'd ditch Samurai all over again. But no she's keeping it and reinventing herself.

Actually, I like that for her.

But we'll get there when we get there.

[When he wasn’t busy helping to rebuild the monastery, the Green Ninja continued to train, and Lloyd had tried to get Kai to train with him every day. But Kai’s heart just hadn’t been in it.]

I understand it, but YOU REDUCE THE BROS TO A FLASHBACK?!

Despite that, I love this for them. I love their dynamic overall. 💖

How long had that been going on? For awhile, right? Cause Kai was the last one to leave.

Lloyd knows how Kai feels about situations like this, and just wants to help his bro recollect himself. I've had anxiety, and I felt a depression when a close person to me moved to another country. I could not make friends for a long time after that, even when my family tried to help.

[“I want to try living an ordinary life,” he’d said, and he’d packed a bag of clothes and ventured into Ninjago City.]

...writers. Pick a motive.

To be fair, I think this is just a me problem. Maybe not though.

Does Kai want to still be a ninja? Does he not want to? Cause at the start of the book, he's not. Then he hears 'fire snake' and he decides 'nah I want to'.

Or maybe the furries motivated him.

[He found a place near the noodle shop, where he spent most of his free time. During the day he worked odd jobs around the city, and at five o’clock he headed to the restaurant and lingered there, talking to Skylor, eating noodles, and watching the giant TV.] [There wasn’t much to his apartment except a bed, a table, a bathroom, and a small kitchen area with a sink, mini fridge, and electric stovetop. The only time he spent there was to sleep. If he lingered for too long, he would be alone with his thoughts, and he hated that.]

Young Adulthood be like.

Also why didn't you say SLURPING noodles?!

[Kai changed out of his wet clothes and into some dry sweats.]

Sweats? That's a weird way to word that. That sounds like he has a hygiene problem.

[I’m not sure if I’m ready for this, Kai thought. But tonight I let a bunch of inexperienced goons with a ridiculous name kick my butt, and Skylor had to save it.]

HEY REMEMBER WHEN KAI GOT JUMPED BY FURRIES?!

[I need to be the Fire Ninja. And the only way I’m going to do that is to put on this uniform, defeat Fire Fang, and get my powers back!]

👏

I like this, actually. I like this scene.

I like that we got some backstory for his shoes. I LOVE that we actually got to SEE his headspace!

s11 didn't even give him that. And before you say 'well ones a book the others a show' you can STILL do stuff like this. Seeing the character's headspace goes a long way to understanding them.

What is that transition icon?

Like what is that supposed to be??

[“This is what we’re driving on our adventure?” Kai asked, wearing his uniform.]

…honestly I gotta agree with Kai on this one. Why does it have ONE WHEEL IN THE FRONT?!

This is a tricycle with no doors to protect the drivers/passengers!

And there’s LEGO studs sticking out!

Which is, surprisingly, VERY UNCOMMON for this show!

CHEN’S GHOST IS IN THE BACK WINKING

I don’t trust this thing.

Kai's face just reads "I should've written my will before this."

[“Looking good, Kai. Red is your color,” she said. “And your hair is styling.”]

(Kai) Thanks, it's uniform. And I use ten gallons of hair gel a day.

Even when I'm underwater, my hair is like a rock.

[She was an Elemental Master too, just like Kai had been. As the Master of Amber, she could temporarily use the powers of any other Elemental Master she touched. That meant that most of the time, she had to rely on her combat training in battle.]

THANKS, READERS OF THIS BOOK HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SHOW.

The audience already knows this!

[She’d been an ally to them— and a good friend to Kai—ever since.]

Good friend, you say?

[“So, where exactly are we going?” Kai asked as Skylor drove through the city streets.]

Why are YOU the one asking that?! YOU were the one who wanted to do this!

You don't even know where you're going?!

[“It’ll take us most of the day to get there. But I brought snacks!”] [She held up a bag from the noodle shop. “Not-so-puffy potstickers. Not good enough for my customers, but just fine for a road trip.”]

That is SAVAGE AND I LOVE IT.

Skylor just said "That is what you get for picking off my quality food peeps! I'll find use in my creations and I'm not gonna apologize for I made them."

Working at Hollywood be like.

I know I just said I'm not the biggest Skylor fan, but that's because of how the show treats her. In this book? She is a QUEEN right now.

[They drove for hours, listening to music, snacking, and talking. Their journey took them out of the city, over rolling hills, and through farmland. By the afternoon, the terrain had changed to more open, flat land. Kai could see what looked like desert sands in the distance, bordered by low, reddish mountains.]

That sounds like a very cute Kailor montage followed with pretty visuals.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE SHOW.

[As much as he thought he needed to make this journey alone, it was good to have company, especially Skylor’s.]

I do really like this aspect of Kai's character. Kai at the start of the show would never just enjoy himself around anybody like this. Unless it was Nya.

It really shows that in terms of THIS, Kai has come pretty far in letting people into his life and just being a dumb kid again. It's wholesome.

I know people hate it. I don't hate the concept itself of Kai being happier, I think it's wholesome. I just don't like how it's executed as 'arsenal klutz/can't be taken seriously anymore'.

Again, Kai essay, I'll get to it and talk about that.

[Can I really beat Fire Fang without my Elemental Powers? he wondered to himself.]

...

SEASON 2.

TOURNAMENT.

POSSESSION.

YOUR INTODUCTION IN THE PILOTS.

Do I HAVE to put up a counter EVERY TIME he whines about this?!

I'm gonna do that, counting last chapter

"I don't have my powers ToT" : 4

I won't count that flashback. He didn't say anything about his powers there.

[“IT’S KAI THE FAMOUS NINJA! HE’S COME TO SAVE US FROM THE FIRE FIENDS!” someone yelled, and the villagers began

to swarm Kai.]

Kai proceeds to have Skybound flashbacks.

This is toxic fans of a cartoon character in a nutshell.

Oh wait, Kai doesn't remember Skybound...

I to think when this happens, he subconsciously gets anxious, and he asks himself "Why do I feel a great wave of DREAD?"

[“Okay, okay, everyone, please back off! You’re messing up my hair,” Kai said, and the villagers quieted down and obeyed as the ninja patted his hair back into place.]

DIVA KAI. We love it.

[“You will find Fire Fang there, in the Lake of Fire,” he said.]

Is it one of those geothermal lakes?

Yeah that's all actually heat.

[“Those who live around the crater have always worshipped fire. They kept to themselves. But when Fire Fang arrived, they worshipped him. And that’s when the trouble started.”]

[A teenage boy spoke up. “They began to attack the villages in this region, burning down houses and bringing the plunder back to Fire Fang.”] [“They have attacked us once already, and we’re trying to rebuild,” a man added.] [Kai gazed around at the village, and saw what he hadn’t noticed before. Some of the homes were just shells of charred wood. Other buildings were under construction with fireproof bricks made of red clay.]

Oh I actually love that backstory for these creatures.

I always wondered this about the Pyro Vipers. Because fire is such a destructive element that's very often used for wars, destruction, just burning things to the ground. Yet here Kai is using that element for good. So these sort of villains are like the anti-Kai in terms of how you can play with fire. And you know, also be aware of damage you cause and what you do when you screw up or get too emotionally unstable.

We didn't get that though. It was just 'You have firepower, yoink, it's mine now" And Kai gets no character development related to his fire besides "I want it back"

And it's the same here, unfortunately. This is just lip service to a deeper narrative they could've done.

I think that would've been glorious development for Kai.

Or at least, made a better rivalry between him and Aspheera.

[“And the Master of Amber, too!” Skylor said]

I did not edit that. I did not mess that up. There is, legit, no period at the end of that sentence.

This may just be a problem with my copy, let me know if it's different for yours, but WOW.

What the heck editors?! There's a thing called editing the text, right? Where you check for grammar errors?

Yet SOMEHOW, this NEVER got edited and fixed.

This sentence didn't get punctuated.

What happened?!

[“We’re glad you’re here, Kai, but haven’t you…well, people say you’ve lost your

powers.”] [“He’s still a ninja!” Skylor interjected.] [Kai frowned. “It’s okay, Skylor. It’s true. I don’t have my Elemental Powers of Fire. But that’s only temporary."]

"I don't have my powers ToT" : 5

I don't like that these people are basically saying "You're useless without your powers"

That's what s11 reinforced. And I hated it. I hate it here too.

And before you argue with me that the message there was that you didn't need your powers, may I remind you that Kai not being able to use the forbidden scroll was a factor in how Zane got banished, Kai not having his powers nearly KILLED a whole realm of people and he needed to get it back to save them, and Nya had to learn to bend ICE.

GOSH I hate how this book reminds me of s11...

P.I.X.A.L doesn't exist.

[Clang! Clang! Clang!]

SLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP.

[“This way!” Skylor cried, and she raced toward the direction of the fireballs.]

I had to look back to see if I read that right. I did read it right.

She raced TOWARDS it.

"Yeah this way everyone! Let's go get set on fire!!"

THAT’S THE END OF THE CHAPTER?!

Okay we’re going HARD.

Also that guy in the back is just 😂

No one’s gonna help out that poor dude?

Continued in Part 4>>

[opinated-user]

Another important example of LO's enbyphobia (and arguably the most obvious one if I'm not mistaken) is when in the su video she literally complained about Stevonnie being Nonbinary, called it a lazy choice and very strongly implied, if not outright stated, that they should have been trans because they're on the femmine side of gender presentation (debatable tbh, the only "feminine" thing about them is having long hair and wearing shorts and a pink crop top, which are all thing we should stop gendering) and because Steven sung giant woman. Ignoring that Steven wasn't talking about himself in that song but was trying to encourage Pearl and Amethyst to fuse... Look, I'm not saying an arc about Steven realizing to be a trans girl wouldn't have been amazing, but come on. How anyone in the comments thought that she was supportive of Nonbinary people is beyond me. (1/3)

(2/3) unrelated to the enbyphobia is that she also claimed Stevonnie was heavily sexualized. They're not. LO, just because you emediatelly sexualize female and female presenting characters doesn't mean everyone else does. If you see any shot of them as sexualized that's on you really.

i need to remark the last part of your first comment anon because: 1. the comments are highly moderated so any dissenting voice that LO couldn't think of a good enough dunk on was purged. multiple people have spoken about how their own critique of the video, no matter how respectful and polite they were, were deleted no long after. try to argue with LO on a space where she has total control it's a waste of time. 2. the author of the essay that LO basically plagiarizes for the racism portion of the video actually left a comment long when the video came out about how enbyphobic LO came out and they didn't agreed with her approach overall. i think their words was something like "just say that you hate non binary people and go". you know what's interesting? i tried to search that comment to show it here and i couldn't find it anywhere. she deleted the words of a black non binary person, whose essay she plagiaraized word for word, just so no one would even think to suggest that she could be wrong. as a side note, the crediting to Robobuddies's video, that LO also plagiarized, was erased from the description. so LO now has profitted from the hard work that someone else made, called them a loser when they had a problem with that and then erased the credit so now no one will even know that LO's stole their words. only the link to Riley's essay remain. finally LO did aknowledged that some of the language that she used herself on the video was racist... 4 years after the video was already out.

2 weeks ago LO suddenly thought to adress her racist language on a video that was meant to call out the racism of someone else. she could have done that in 4 years but instead she prefered to keep being antisemitic towards a non binary jewish woman who doesn't even know she exist. if that isn't sad and funny... 3. the portion that i found the most grotesque about her portion about non binary people is how LO basically said that "non binary people are inherently interesting" and how stevonnie's design was boring because they didn't had multiple arms or something. that string of word has been stuck on my head ever since i heard it because it couldn't believe someone would say that... on the same breath where they complain about how there are not more human non binary characters. stevonnie is literally more human than any other fusion, that's the point of their design being "normal", because some non binary people look exactly like stevonnie and they deserved representation too. you can be safe knowing that part was entirely from LO's point of view and she didn't steal it from anyone because of how borderline fetishistic and misguided it was.

[angstyaches]

For a fluff request, maybe something soft where Charlie can indulge in his kink? Idk that just sounds kinda sweet.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for requesting this. There are several aspects to Charlie’s kink, so I hope you’re interested in what I decided to focus on for this!

This will be my last story of 2022, so the fact that it's disgustingly self-indulgent and niche is kind of perfect, really.

CW: kink exploration, lots of consent checking, straddling, body kissing, touch/affection starvation.

Not “typical” NS*W content, but y’know. We’re not quite typical around here, are we? So, minors, I'm especially pleading with you not to interact with this one.

Note: Shayne and Charlie take their physical relationship very slowly, and I didn’t intend for this to be “leading anywhere” other than kissing, but if you want to have different thoughts about it, I guess I can’t stop you lol 

___ 

“Hi.” Charlie didn’t lift his head or look away from his laptop. He seemed to be in the middle of typing a breakthrough sentence. The fact that he called out at all made Shayne wince, though.  

Shayne let out a little groan as he stretched across the bed. He was good at sneaking, but Charlie had gotten better at sensing when he was nearby, even with his back turned and his attention focused on something else.  

“I didn’t come in here to distract you,” Shayne muttered. He lay diagonally across the bed on his back, hooking both his arms behind his head. “I swear.”  

“Aw. Did you get lonely?”  

Shayne winced as he stared at the ceiling. He didn’t have it in him to be defensive, or sarcastic, or tough. “Mmm.”  

Charlie got up from the chair and came over to the edge of the bed. At first, Shayne thought he was going to just stand there and look down at him, maybe run his fingers through Shayne’s hair a bit, but instead, Charlie draped himself across the mattress, too. He matched the jagged angle at which Shayne had flopped down, but instead of his back, Charlie lay on his belly.  

Shayne felt like he should protest; he should apologise for distracting his boyfriend from his studies. Sorry, love. I’ll go back downstairs and leave you to it. But it was like his jaw had locked up, because he couldn’t bring himself to say anything of the sort.  

Charlie’s bright blue eyes still seemed a little unfocused as he examined Shayne’s face, as though he’d been concentrating on his studies for so long that he’d forgotten how to observe anything else.  

“Sorry I’ve been so busy,” he said gently.  

“Nah, it’s… not your fault.”  

Shayne had been about to say it was okay, but he knew that this didn’t feel okay to either of them. Charlie spent all week at college, and every second weekend at his parents’; that left four days out of each month that they could properly spend together, and while Charlie’s coursework was important, it stung a bit when it ate into their time.   

And on top of that, Charlie must have been starting to feel the toll of never settling in one place for longer than a couple of days at a time. The thought of Charlie overworking himself sent a shudder all the way into Shayne’s core.  

“I know it’s not,” Charlie smiled, “but I’d much rather be spending my free time with you.”  

Shayne tilted his head slightly, his eyes wandering back towards the desk where Charlie had set up his laptop and library books. He could at least try to keep Charlie’s mind focused on his task while they were laying there together. He seemed to have a web page full of text occupying one half of the screen, and a Word documents of bullet points open on the other.  

“What are you working on?” he asked, looking at Charlie again.  

“Mid-term essay.”  

Shayne raised an eyebrow at the lazy answer. “On?”  

“Um, it’s for my early childhood studies class. I’m still wading through the reading and deciding what I’m going to write about.”  

Shayne couldn’t help but make a face similar to the one Charlie made when he ate spinach. “The reading any good?”  

“You know what? Yeah,” Charlie half-laughed. “I hated studying in secondary school, but everything they give me to do in my course is interesting. Is this – am I a dork now?”  

Shayne wanted to tell Charlie that he’d always been a dork, from the very first day they’d met, but he didn’t have it in him.  

Shit. He must have been even more down than he’d realised, if teasing Charlie had lost its appeal.  

But on the other hand, he also didn’t want to risk tainting the glistening enthusiasm that reawakened in Charlie’s eyes as he talked about childcare. There was something extremely endearing about seeing him get so passionate about something, even if it was an academic paper that would have put Shayne to sleep within the first few lines. It made Shayne want to break out into a grin as though he was the one fixating on something he thought was interesting.  

He shifted his head, turning it more towards Charlie. “What – what do you like about it?”  

Charlie wrinkled up his nose. “Mmm. I don’t want to bore you.”  

“You mean you don’t think I’ll get it.” 

“No, of course not, I –” Charlie huffed and shook his head. “Alright, well… I don’t know if this just appeals to me because of how strict my teachers were in playschool, but I’m so obsessed with the idea of self-directed learning…”  

Shayne closed his eyes. The sound of Charlie’s excitement wasn’t just like music to his ears, but more like the best song that had ever been composed. It made him wish there was a blanket woven from Charlie’s thoughts and emotions, which Shayne could just bury himself in and never emerge from.  

A repetitive sinking sensation started to tug at his skull, and his chest.  

“… in their cognitive development,” Charlie said. “You know, I’ve never actually asked; did your parents send you to a – hey.”  

Shayne felt Charlie trace the back of his finger against his cheek. He shivered at the gentle contact, but he didn’t open his eyes.  

“What?” he mumbled.  

“See, you’re bored. I’m putting you to sleep.”  

“Mmm. No. No, you’re not. Something about… tectonic development.”  

Charlie scoffed. “Don’t just say big words you know. I said cognitive development.”  

“I know, I know,” Shayne half-opened his eyes, trying to shake off the sleepiness. Charlie had shifted in closer, and was lying with his face just inches away. “You said you’ll probably do your midterm essay on Montessori education because you like the independence it gives children.”  

Charlie raised an eyebrow.  

“See? I can listen.”  

“Why are you so sleepy, then, huh?” Charlie smiled and lazily slid a hand over Shayne’s waist. “What’s going on here? I thought the college student was supposed to be the tired one.”  

“Fuck. I know. Sorry,” Shayne said.  

If he was being completely honest with Charlie, he would have told him exactly how tired he was. He would have told him how hard it was for him to get to sleep when he was in the Mulberry house all by himself, wondering how many demons lurked in the forest, or how far Madelyn would go to get him back. He would have told him about the nightmares, the constant feeling of impending doom, the cold.  

But their limited time together also meant that Shayne was reluctant to be completely honest, especially when complete honesty could make Charlie doubt whether him being in college was a good idea, and reopen that whole conversation.  

And the thought of upending Charlie’s life made Shayne feel like someone was standing on his chest while wearing his own Doc Marten boots.  

When he snapped himself out of his thoughts, he realised that Charlie was still staring at him, cheek perched against his fist, hand still resting on Shayne’s side. The biggest, silliest grin was plastered across his face. Shayne could see the faint veins of turquoise that splayed out from the centres of his navy-blue eyes.   

His bangs had been allowed to grow a little longer, so that they curled down towards his eyebrows.   

Every time he blinked, his eyes seemed to glisten a little more brightly, as though they knew a secret, and for every second that Shayne didn’t share in that secret, the more delicious it became.  

Shayne blinked rapidly, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that his insides felt like they were melting.  

“Don’t you have to study?”  

“I do.” Charlie let out a wistful little sigh. He looked like the princess in the tower from one of the movies he’d made Shayne watch a few weeks ago.

Twisted? Tumbled?

“But you’re so beautiful," Charlie gushed, devouring the length of Shayne's body with just his eyes, "all stretched out like that.” 

A part of Shayne’s brain – most of it, really – wanted to pull his arms back from behind his head, folding them around his torso, and curl up on his side just out of spite. He managed to resist the urge, but something in him felt like it’d started to unravel. 

“Fuck college," Charlie whispered. Somehow, he made a profanity sound like the most romantic word in existence. "I’d rather just lie here like this... forever.”  

Shayne half-heartedly rolled his eyes at that, though he had to admit he was relieved to know that Charlie was just teasing him. Joking. Being an idiot; a cute one, but an idiot nonetheless.  

Ugh. He was looking him right in the eyes again, gazing at him... though he wasn’t smiling anymore. What was left on Charlie’s face was far more intense, and although Shayne couldn’t read his expression, he still seemed to feel what it meant.  

And what it felt like was a sudden swell of nerves, tingling in his stomach.  

When he blinked again, he could feel his eyes starting to water. His lips trembled, and his voice sounded faint as he said, “Stop.”  

Blonde eyebrows twitched as Charlie’s gaze faltered just slightly. “Stop what, lovely?”  

“Looking at me like that.”  

“Like what?” Charlie’s voice was so soft, so innocent, so full of gentle concern. Shayne knew his complaining had set him on edge slightly, but it somehow didn’t seem to break the spell Charlie’s eyes were casting. 

Like... like that, was all he could come up with.  

The inability to put the feeling into words pushed Shayne over the edge, from tentatively comfortable to mildly agonised.   

His insides had been fluttering gently throughout the touching and the gazing, but now it felt like the first pangs of a swirling ache.  

And it felt like it might dissolve him, from the pit of his stomach outwards.  

“Are you okay?" Charlie's tone shifted a little again. "What’s wrong?”  

“Mmm. Just…”  

Charlie untucked his hand from under his own cheek. “Yeah?”  

Shayne winced and lowered his gaze towards the zip of Charlie’s hoodie. Anything was better than continuing to view his gorgeous blue eyes, which only seemed to plunge his insides into even more indescribable agitation. 

“You’re making my stomach feel weird.”  

He felt Charlie’s hand move, fingertips brushing against the end of Shayne’s t-shirt. He barely touched the skin beneath the fabric, but the sensation sent warm shivers through Shayne’s muscles.  

“You’ve got butterflies?”  

“I guess that’s what you would call it,” Shayne mumbled.  

Charlie pushed himself up a little higher, dragging himself closer to Shayne with his elbows plodding along the mattress. Shayne still couldn’t meet his gaze, which was fine, actually, because it turned out that looking at his mouth was very appealing right now.  

Fingers tightening slightly at Shayne's waist, Charlie leaned down until their lips softly brushed together. Shayne shut his eyes and felt his head twitch instinctively closer to Charlie's face, deepening the contact without parting either of their lips. The hand on his side had been kind of cold at first, but now it radiated warmth through the fluttering mess in his belly. 

Charlie came away from the kiss with his eyes half-lidded and a shy smile pulling at his mouth.  

And then he sat up, legs still tucked to one side. He placed one hand on the bed to keep his torso up, and the other still rested gently on Shayne’s waist. His thumb rubbed tiny circles inside the side of his stomach, ruffling the fabric of his t-shirt.  

Yep, Shayne thought, finally meeting his boyfriend's gaze as he straddled his legs, it's going to dissolve me from the inside out.

___

Charlie knew he was grinning more than any dignified individual should, but he couldn’t help it. He raised his eyebrows when Shayne kept giving him that same, skeptical glare. 

After a second of hesitation, Shayne's expression softened.

Charlie gently crawled across him, pausing at intervals and looking at Shayne’s face. If he changed his mind, Charlie wanted to know as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to wait to be told, because Shayne didn’t always manage to get the words out.  

He settled with his knees at either side of Shayne’s legs.  

“Show me,” Charlie breathed. His cheeks warmed and his chest was gripped with a throbbing, all-consuming ache as Shayne’s eyelashes fluttered in confusion. “Show me where you’re feeling these butterflies.” 

He watched Shayne’s hand trace lightly across the slight hollow that formed beneath his ribs when he lay on his back. He made a low sound in the back of his throat, drawing a little line back and forth across his tummy before whispering, “Here.” 

Charlie wondered if, perhaps, he was about to black out and die.  

He swallowed, following Shayne’s hand with his fingertips. “Here?” 

“Mmm.” Shayne’s hand slipped away, and seemed about to tuck it beneath his head again, just like the other one, but stopped himself. He rested it on his chest instead. But even leaving himself vulnerable without both hands to protect himself was enough for Charlie to know he trusted him. 

With his heart pounding in his ears, Charlie slid his hands up either side of Shayne’s torso, until his thumbs were adjacent the point where Shayne had guided him to. He looked at Shayne’s face one last time; his eyes were calm and, to anybody else, unreadable, but Charlie knew there was a difference between Shayne’s neutral looks and his blank looks. Blank meant he was dissociating, or about to be.  

Neutral meant that he was okay.  

Still, Charlie met his dark gaze and raised an eyebrow; the response was a soft exhale, almost like a chuckle. Is this still okay? – Yes, it’s fine, idiot. 

Charlie drew his hands downward again, hooking his thumbs under the end of Shayne’s t-shirt. He slid his hands slowly back up Shayne’s waist, taking the fabric with them. Shayne drew a sharp breath as skin met skin, and his own hand vanished from his torso altogether, lifting to rest on the pillow next to his head. 

Breaking the eye contact was difficult at first, given how intimately Charlie found himself able to read Shayne’s tiny motions and expressions.  

But then Charlie looked down, and it suddenly wasn’t so difficult anymore. 

He lifted Shayne’s t-shirt halfway up, stopping while his ribcage was still covered with the soft fabric.  

Fuck. 

No matter how many times he saw it, it always felt like it was the first time he was getting to look at the smooth surface of Shayne’s stomach. 

The first thing Charlie did was draw his forehead across the soft skin, his bangs drifting along the contours of his lower ribs. He raised his head as he felt Shayne's abdominal muscles shiver, and bit his lip at the sound of a faint, strangled laugh.  

"Sorry," he whispered as softly as he could. Watch the hair. Got it. 

When he planted the first kiss, Shayne gasped again, but it was a deeper sound this time. His ribs rose harshly, but then fell with a little more control.

Charlie sighed in elation at the thought of fluttery, tingly feelings simmering just below the surface of his boyfriend's belly, all because of him.  He wasn't sure which he liked more; the idea that his kisses were calming the butterflies down and making the fluttering feeling ease up, or the idea that his kisses were making them go even crazier.

The prospect of either made him feel like his head was going to explode. 

Charlie leaned in harder for the next kiss, which blended seamlessly into the next one, and the next one, until it could hardly be called kissing anymore. 

He squeezed Shayne's waist and felt a hand idly brushing through his hair. 

Charlie was barely managing to resist letting his teeth get involved as his lips pressed and pulled at the smooth skin, drawing barely-audible whimpers out of his boyfriend. His breathing was getting a little shaky, Charlie noticed, by the way his chest and belly only rose and fell slightly, and shuddered as they did.  

Shayne took his hand back from Charlie's hair, and although Charlie didn't look up, he could tell that he was reaching above his head to stretch slightly. The muscles and skin of his stomach tightened under Charlie's lips, holding the tension for a couple of seconds before melting into softness again. 

Fu-uck. Whether these reactions were genuine, or a performance for Charlie's sake, he couldn't believe this was happening. 

He lightly traced his lips downwards, leaving no inch of skin unkissed as he made a line towards Shayne’s belly button. His own breath was growing unsteady as he forgot to come up for air. His thumbs were still positioned at either side of Shayne’s stomach, the rest of his fingers tucked around his waist, and in a moment of flushed passion, he squeezed and pulled him upwards, as though he couldn’t get his face close enough.  

Shayne leaned into the pull, back arched just slightly in response to Charlie’s hands.  

Charlie wanted to bury his face deep in Shayne's stomach and scream until his lungs were empty.  

I love him. 

I love him. 

Shayne lowered his back again, and it felt like he easing his weight back into Charlie’s hands. Charlie wished – with an intensity so strong that he found himself gnashing his back teeth together – that he had hands big enough that could wrap all the way around him. Or that he was tiny enough that he could curl up on Shayne's tummy like it was a bed. 

He sank his forehead down onto Shayne's stomach as though in defeat. He made sure not to drag his hair across Shayne's ribs this time. 

“You’re... you're so beautiful," he murmured.

Shayne sighed sharply, ribs tightening. Charlie ran his hands up to rest on his chest, which was still covered with his t-shirt, just to show that he wasn’t just saying nice things because Shayne was letting him have his way.

One of Shayne's hands reached down to play with Charlie's hair again, fingers drawing slow figure-8s between the back of his skull and the nape of his neck.

Charlie turned his head and nuzzled his cheek against Shayne's belly, reveling in its warmth and its springy softness and its existence. He'd lie here for a few moments, until he inevitably felt the need to smother it in kisses again.

It deserved a little break to recover from his nonsense, as did poor Shayne.

God, Charlie felt giddy and delirious. Like he was drunk. At least three beers in.

"You’re just… so fucking lovely," he blurted.

He felt Shayne's fingers twist a little harder into his hair, and the next time he felt his stomach muscles twitch under his cheek, Charlie was almost certain that it was from a very light sob.

"Charlie," Shayne said, before Charlie had even had a chance to react.

Charlie lifted his head swiftly, his mind clearing in an instant. His muscles were preparing to launch himself off the bed and give Shayne the space he needed. His tongue was prepped to apologise and assure his boyfriend that no matter what he was uncomfortable with, his feelings were completely valid.

But Shayne's eyes, despite the tears glistening in them, were pleading with him in a different way than Charlie had expected.

"Will you kiss my stomach again?"

[killervibe]

I trust your opinion on The Flash most of all, so how did you feel about Cecile’s character trajectory? I was not a fan of what they did with her character, but I also thought the level of hate she ended up getting seemed unjustified? Everything from the way she was dealing with her grief over Joe’s death during Armageddon to her getting a super suit, she was torn apart for. I never understood the hyper-focus on her in later seasons, but I also think the hate the she gets is insane.

Thank you for asking me this. I'm actually excited to write another Flash essay-response. I missed this.

In short, yes, I found Cecile's meta arc frustrating and confusing but I do not hate her character nor do I have an issue with a middle-aged hero existing.

The problem and fandom obsession with Cecile is multifaceted. She was a doomed character of inherently flawed writing, but her fall from grace through fandom's eyes is nothing short of misogynoir.

The Seal ??? you're going to compare a black woman to an animal for your satisfaction? In a world where black women are constantly described as animalistic and primitive? There is only one character who gets just as much ceaseless vitriolic hate as Cecile and that is Iris.

First and foremost, I would like to raise that where I have seen the absolute worst treatment towards Cecile and Dani N is Twitter--I left Flash Twitter 5 years ago (though I was never truly fully on it) because of the sheer racial animosity I felt on there as a biracial person. I've read so much disgusting racialized hate towards Dani N (including from fans of Candice and Iris, no less and it saddens me to see the community disillusioned into believing that to be protective of a black lead means that any other black character is an enemy destined to be pitted against her) especially in terms of questioning or diminishing her blackness. It was disgusting and it still is.

The problem with empaths/telepaths/mind control powers is that they become limitless very quickly when no boundaries are set in place. Her powers were confusing and used for exceedingly expository purposes that felt like a cop-out the longer it went on. I cannot tell you how many times I have lost my understanding of the "science" plots in the last 3 and a half seasons and that is a good chunk of Cecile's meta problems.

Season 4 worked because Cecile's powers were bounded to her pregnancy. She served as an adequate neutralizer against The Thinker which was needed at the time. Her powers should've had an expiry date and ended when Jenna was born. Or, more accurately, her powers should've been Jenna's. Cecile's powers manifested upon Jenna's conception, it would've served that the source of her abilities came from the baby, not herself. Without going into too much detail, this could've nicely allowed Nora (and Bart) to have family closer in age to be a part of their eventual Flash Fam team roster. Of course, it didn't pan out that way. They needed to give Cecile's powers concrete limits without evolving or "levelling up" in a way that overshadows the titular character. This is a given! They gave her everything and it was ridiculous, empath/telepathy/mind possession/emotive projection - like yeah. It's too much. It's annoying and it's too much!

In Stargirl, the Brainwaves were eliminated early on in the series because they were OP. Those writers were cognizant of that fact and woven in a compelling story that served to ensure that the empath/mind control characters were set in their place without overthrowing the entire capacity of the main heroes of the show.

Cecile made a great lawyer, but she failed spectacularly at all of her crucial lawyering post s3.

And it's a writing problem. Lazy effort went into how to include any in-universe plausible legal processes in this show. S4 Barry trial and S7 KF trial are glaringly obvious examples like this. But we should have known that the majority of the responsibility of these flaws lays in the hands of the writers inability to do justice to ANY of their female characters, which goes exponentially for the black women. So of course I am not surprised that they blundered with Cecile as she was promoted from supporting to main cast.

Nora Allen? Murdered (x150). Tess Morgan, the founder of STAR LABS name? Murdered & never revived unlike the 500 Wells. Linda? Disappeared. Francine? Dead. Tina McGee? Disappeared. Jesse? Erased from existence. Caitlin/Killer Frost/Crystal Frost/Khione? Murdered three times, reduced to repetitive abusive love interest storylines and retconned storylines into oblivion. Cynthia? Murdered. Kamilla? Treated like dirt & disappeared. Marlize? Same. Sue? Disappeared. Joanie? Disappeared. Jenna? Disappeared. Carla and Cisco's mom? Both also awful. Meena? Disappeared. Alexa? Who? Esperanza? Murdered. Allegra was okay ish, and I know there are more (Ralph's mom, Becky Sharpe, but really, I think I've made my point...) but that literally leaves us with Cecile, Iris, and Nora I/II as our black female leads who had to face the brunt of the worst writing (and most hatred when it was their "time" to shine).

This show cannot execute motherhood properly. It refuses to. See: Iris s5 and literally every mother to ever mother on this show except for Nora Allen...

But also, both the creators and the fandom seem to hold this ideology that motherhood is the end all and be all of life and value? Show runners have said again and again that The Flash would have to end when Iris is pregnant because that's when it's "over" ??? I did not understand that when it was first said and I still do not understand that. This concept of femininity directly tied to the merit associated to motherhood is a good chunk of the reasoning behind people claim to hate Cecile--Because she is a superhero who has sacrificed as a single mother and now struggles with balancing her desires vs her obligations? Cecile, who has been written as a black woman who canonically struggled to society's standards of excellence causing her stress and anguish to the point of mental break? I appreciated the s7 psycho-pirate and mental health struggles she had - so I wasn't horrified to see that she struggled with grief in s8's plot. The type of mental health issues that these storylines explored is a real lived experience that many women have, and I find it fascinating that there is this double standard here. This is a superhero show. Like...we're hating her for, what, exactly? For being a superhero and wanting to help people?

I mourn Cecile's "downfall" because she was a great addition to the West family as a supportive cast. I mourn the fact that Iris and Cecile never really had a great relationship despite both being mains. I mourn the fact that she was given more weight than Iris in the last season instead of supporting and encouraging her. Because that's why her role was elevated in the last season, to replace Joe in his absence as Iris' number #1 cheerleader. But it never properly translated that way and that is a shame. That said, her role in the show shouldn't have been strictly reduced to "Mother" and "Grandmother" --That isn't fair. I adored the way she spoke to Nora I in s5 but she did deserve to go on adventures the same way Joe has since s1. Why shouldn't she? I think this is what Eric Wallace was trying to achieve and I applaud him for the idea but have to criticize the execution. The show has failed her in her area of expertise of being a successful lawyer, mocked her by putting her through a pregnancy for a child they couldn't commit to, and then kicked her character into the lion's den for death by turning her into an OP'd meta at the mercy of a prejudiced fanbase already notoriously well-known for mistreating black talent. This could've easily been avoided with more clever solutions that positions Barry--the creator of Gideon--as the focus and true mastermind behind Team Flash plans.

[cboffshore]

Questions, questions... May I ask you to explain some of the motifs in IICT(OSC)? Such as tea and heat, what was their inspiration? What were your intentions in using them? Feel free to write a mini essay on this, I am your demanding creative writing teacher (I enjoy reading your thoughts :3)

Yes, absolutely! This one's going under the cut just like the last one I discussed, because Spoilers and Long.

I briefly mentioned the tea motif in a previous fun facts post, but I'll go over it again here (mostly because I'm too lazy to look it up and link back, but also because you KNOW I love to talk). The tea thing is specifically inspired by an old Skybound activity/storybook of dubious canon status, where Wu gets some fabulous digs in and we learn that Nadakhan apparently smells like tea because of being stuck in the teapot for so long. Again, the canon status is a hot mess, but it's such a fun little detail! So I decided to use it. The tea symbolism ties in with the wine that appears in c5, as well as the general appearance of water, and comprises a little scale I like to call the Nadakhan Influence Scale, which works like this:

When water appears as a beverage (which only occurs in Coughing up Feathers, but was something I was able to retroactively work with) or as a general mention, Nya's pretty much in control; Nadakhan has no bearing on the scene, or on what Nya's doing. This link should be obvious given her whole elemental schtick, and is at its strongest when Nya's unconscious in the prologue and the rain attacks Nadakhan before he can get the bracelet off. For the retroactive Coughing Up Feathers appearance, that means the glass of water on the nightstand wasn't drugged. Nya's anxiety got the better of her, so she made the decision not to mess with it. In IICT(OSC), the bathroom is Nya's refuge, and is her only free access to water.

When tea appears, usually as a beverage or just as a sensory detail, that means Nadakhan is indirectly influencing the scene - that is, he isn't actually there, or Nya can't see him if he is. Tea appearing on the trays is a pretty straightforward thing - he's deciding what gets delivered to her, and on a grander scale is shaping her entire existence down to the smallest detail he can, including what she's drinking with breakfast. Tea is also implicated with the scent detail when Nya is blindfolded during the escort scene, then used as a weapon against Not-Landon - both times that Nadakhan is driving the action, but invisible (by way of blindfold or shapeshifting). It's worth noting for that last one that Nadakhan anticipated that she'd try to use something on that tray as a weapon. Depending on how stupid you like your 'khan, feel free to decide if he wanted her to use the tea or not. I like to think he didn't - he expected her to go for the knife - but what matters with this is that tea appears in a prank he designed.

When wine appears, again as either a literal object or just a sensory detail, that means Nadakhan is in full control of how the situation begins, at least as far as Nya's concerned. He's actually not in too much of this fic, so the wine mentions are few: once in the nightmare sequence, where Nya notes that the air tastes like it, and then again as a recurring object and plot device in the chess sequence, which he planned down to the letter. This is an homage to a lot of Skybound fanwork, where everyone seems to agree that it's wine. It's also based on the fact that there appears to be a globe bar cart thing in the e60 dinner scene, plus the line about plundering a case of cider in e61. Given that evidence, I'm willing to make that jump - it makes sense that it's alcohol. (Sidenote, as a hard cider enjoyer myself, I do have to wonder if you can infuse that with fiddlehead fern, or if that would even be good. Back on track!) Note that I said wine indicates that Nadakhan's in control of how things start; both appearances ultimately end in Nya saying, "this bitch handsy, YEET!" and doing something he genuinely does not expect.

The wine thing actually segues nicely into the importance of heat - after all, the wine is mulled. Fun fact, that was a direct result of me panicking and trying to think about the most overbearing beverage I've ever had so I could describe the scent accurately. I've never actually had mulled wine, but I have had undiluted IKEA VINTERSAGA glögg directly from the bottle, which is apparently supposed to be mixed with wine and heated. Also: it's really strong on its own. I felt like I was drinking cough syrup. (Protip: sparkling water with a good pour of VINTERSAGA is great!) Anyway, that unpleasant experience is what made me choose mulled wine, and then I worked backwards incorporating heat to work up to it.

I didn't get to go into quite as much detail in IICT(OSC) as I wanted to with the heat thing, but my initial plan (and an undercurrent inference that still made it in and is a fully valid reading) was to have the cold be deliberate on Nadakhan's part. While I don't believe that Nadakhan fully viewed Nya as Delara (except for his early-season misconception that she was just Delara reincarnate), I do believe that - at least for a while - he was trying to soften her up, or just mess with her, to make the whole wedding plot easier on himself. That's where the heat thing began. The basic idea is that, by plunging Nya into a freezing, uncomfortable environment and making himself the only consistent source of heat (for example: supplying hot meals, having access to the fireplace tools, and of course the mulled wine near the end), he intended to quite literally make her warm up to him. In short: maybe she'd go for it if he makes it clear that cooperating with him is the only way she can be physically comfortable here. The bathroom stuff ended up overriding that a bit, but still works - maybe letting her have a little heat now and then makes her want it more. You don't stay warm for too insanely long after a bath, especially not if you walk into an icy room right after.

Adding onto that - the original ending of IICT(OSC), after Nya rebels with the hook toss thing, actually had Nadakhan vindictively extinguish the fire and forcibly take her robe off (nightgown's still there! we're not getting weird! don't make me get out the spray bottle!) before leaving her to pass out. There was a cryptic comment about him hearing that possession is cold and wanting her to be used to that in advance that I lost, and I kind of miss it, but I do like what I ended up with. I think the final version of the ending gets his slipping frustration across nicely, but I do wish I'd been able to highlight the heat thing a little more without it being clunky. (I tried. It didn't work.) I'm really glad you asked about heat specifically, because it means I did get it across on some level. Yay!

Anyway, thanks for the ask!