#I wasn’t particularly that qualified for this position

[starkidlabs]

3rd time I got rejected after an interview now. I’ve been applying to jobs since January. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

[sflow-er]

So many thoughts on the fabulous Barbie film, but especially on how anyone who thinks it’s “hateful towards men” clearly isn’t getting the message.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

[Credit for both gifs goes to their makers!!]

I mean... Ken’s arc is secondary to Barbie’s, and rightly so. This is her film, and her message deserves to be the main takeaway.

That being said, I just find it really sad that the people who could’ve definitely used the point of Ken’s arc just let it go right over their heads. Maybe it’s because they aren’t great at reading subtext, or because they just balk at anything presented as feminist, I don’t know.

Because to me, Ken’s arc is about as far from “hateful towards men” as you can get. It’s a multi-layered depiction of how restrictive, outdated views of masculinity can hold men back and make them susceptible to harmful ideologies that promise easy solutions for all their problems but only make those problems worse and hurt others around them.

The first layer is an allegory for real men don’t show their feelings. In the movie, this is represented by Ken’s need to look tough and cool all the time, and to keep his insecurities and sadness bottled up. Barbieland is a utopia where being happy is a social norm, and the main Barbie also starts to struggle with that. The difference is that she eventually tells her friends, and they all support her. Ken just puts pressure on himself not to look weak - in front of Barbie, or in front of the other Kens.

Which brings us to the second level: a competitive and inherently hostile view of the other Kens, aka. toxic male relationships. Some of them are friends, and all of them work together for a while to build the Patriarchy, but they don’t actually bond for real. Even their boys’ nights are mainly about getting back at the Barbies for all their girls’ nights (which really were about bonding). When push comes to shove, the Kens still see each other as competition, which is one of the reasons why the Barbies are able to play them against each other.

Another reason is the third layer: the idea that Ken only has value if Barbie loves and admires him. It starts out as unrequited love that makes you feel sorry for him...until he turns bitter. He basically starts on the path that could lead him down the incel/mra rabbit hole and into a mindset where Barbie owes him love and admiration and the relationship he wants in exchange for his devotion to her. He decides that everything would be better if Barbies were subservient to Kens, but of course that’s not true. None of the Barbies’ newfound admiration for their Kens is real, and his own Barbie still rejects him.

All this is of course underpinned by the final layer, which is Ken’s lack of self-respect and sense of purpose. He’s got a pointless job, he’s not particularly qualified for anything, and he just feels kind of lost in Barbieland - a society run by successful Barbies who are living up to their full potential. That’s why he gets so caught up in the idea of the Patriarchy, which is supposed to make him successful, get others to respect him, and give him a sense of purpose. (This can be generalised to all kinds of harmful ideologies in the real world, e.g. the alt-right movement.)

However, the success he achieves is superficial and not based on any real passion; he even admits that he wasn’t happy in his new position and already lost interest in the ideology. The (forced) respect of others does feel good for a while, but it only goes so far. At heart, the whole thing is still mostly about his feelings of inferiority and unrequited love for Barbie, and instituting this harmful new system did not resolve those for him.

So what does? In essence, breaking out of all these harmful patterns and internalising the idea that he is enough.

He ends up reflecting on his feelings, finally puts them to words (or rather, song and dance), and manages to connect with the other Kens through those feelings. He even cries in relief and acknowledges that it doesn’t make him weak. He and Barbie finally have a proper talk, he lets go of their (non-)relationship, and he listens when she says he needs to figure out his real self. He starts to see himself not through his job, his girlfriend, or even his competition with the other Kens, but as just Ken, who is enough.

I honestly can’t think of a less hateful message to send men and boys.

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 16/∞

LUO BINGHE HAS A "STEREOTYPICALLY MASCULINE" APPEARANCE

Rating: FANON - CONFLICTING

In fanworks, Luo Binghe is often portrayed as particularly muscular and buff, broad-shouldered, often with tanned skin and sharply-defined features-- all traits that are considered to be stereotypically masculine in the west.

All of this directly contradicts his canonical description.

Necessary disclaimer: I'm not talking against depicting Luo Binghe with a naturally darker skin tone. While that still contradicts the canonical description, I can understand going against colorism (something very rampant in east asian beauty standards!) in fanworks. This sort of discussion is particularly toward those who portray him as fair-skinned on Qing Jing Peak, darker skinned after the abyss, hence "tanned." While this sort of thing might have issues of its own, that's also not the topic of this post, and as a light-skinned Asian person, I don't feel particularly qualified to talk about it.

In truth, deep down, Bing-ge’s fair and clean pretty-boy type didn’t really suit the tastes of “Great Master” Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky.... The art of growing stallions was grounded in science, and the research was clear: women preferred men who looked cultured, pretty, and even a bit soft and feminine. (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

The buff and bulky Luo Binghe often seen in fanworks is not what I would consider to be cultured, pretty, soft, and feminine.

Luo Binghe is described this way just before the conference:

A seventeen-year-old youth, slim and tall and graceful, dressed in white robes, lips turned upward in the hint of a smile, gazed at him with a pair of shining eyes. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

And again after his return:

The other party was a little taller than [Shen Qingqiu], slender and willowy, dressed in clothes as black as ink that exposed only a fair neck.  (7 Seas, Ch. 7)

And a description of his hands later on:

That hand was slender and unadorned. It didn’t look like the hand of a young lord of the demon race who had already taken countless lives, but rather one whose master had been born to pluck strings, his hand to burn incense and bathe in snow. (7 Seas, Ch. 14)

Consistantly, Luo Binghe is depicted this way-- slender and refined, with fair skin and a softness to his appearance that contradicts his actions.

Furthermore, Luo Binghe is also described as looking very similar to his mother:

Luo Binghe was beautiful, and he looked quite like his birth mother. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

and

Yue Qingyuan’s knuckles slowly brushed along Xuan Su’s hilt. “I was able to meet Senior Su Xiyan once at an Immortal Alliance Conference, many years ago. Luo Binghe’s appearance is seven-tenths identical to his mother’s.  (7 Seas, Ch. 18)

As for Su Xiyan's appearance, not much is directly stated-- it can be inferred that she likewise looked quite similar to Luo Binghe, but the only description of her physical appearance that we have is found here:

Even if she wasn’t burly and heavyset, she should at least look like a martial arts master with fierce and ferocious eyes. For all that, when he finally met the culprit behind Tianlang-Jun’s bout of philosophical soul-searching, which had tormented Zhuzhi-Lang for many days, he realized that the culprit in question was not quite like what he’d envisioned... ... Just as these two tourists were standing penniless in the street, a tall woman dressed in black strolled by, sword on her back. (7 Seas, Ch. 25)

The only positive descriptor here is that she is tall, but it can also be implied that she does not have the appearance of a martial arts master, and did not look as fierce and ferocious as Zhuzhi-lang expected, especially in terms of her eyes. However, she is described as a cold person-- whether or not that carried over into her appearance, though, is up for debate.

Su Xiyan's eyes are another matter for discussion--

In appearance, Luo Binghe resembled his mother Su Xiyan, but you could more or less see the shadow of his father in him. For example, in the eyes. Tianlang-Jun’s eyes were deep-set, his brow strong and heroic, the irises dark like fathomless water. In this, he and Luo Binghe were very much alike. Luo Binghe had a pretty boy appearance in the first place, but if his eyes had resembled his mother’s too, his face would have been excessively feminine and the effect would be lost. (7 Seas, Ch. 15)

Here, specifically, Luo Binghe is noted as having his father's strong brow and deep-set eyes, as opposed to his mothers, which based on this passage were most likely to be round, soft, and "feminine"-looking. It's also interesting to see that if not for having his father's eyes, Luo Binghe's features would be "excessively feminine," therefore implying that the softer look applies to all parts of his face except for his eyes and brows.

(thanks to @furbygoblinxiv , @bijoumikhawal for bringing up this point)

So, Luo Binghe is a lithe and petite pretty-boy. Nonetheless, he is still notably muscular. Specifically with a surprising amount of lean muscle-- something that Shen Qingqiu actually remarks on:

Luo Binghe was on top, and Shen Qingqiu was on the bottom, so he was smushed under a considerable weight and almost unable to draw another breath. What had this child been eating?! He looked quite slim, so how was he this heavy?! ... A person’s abdomen is supposed to be the softest spot on their body, but Luo Binghe’s was uncomfortably hard against Shen Qingqiu’s stomach. The farther down he pulled him, the more he was sure that Luo Binghe had an eight-pack. Was that a rock slab down there? (7 Seas, Ch. 16)

(thanks to @verycharismaticdragon for bringing up this point)

As for where the fan depiction of buff, tanned, "hyper-masculine" Luo Binghe may have originated?

I'm not certain where the first such depiction came from, but as for the logic behind it, such phenomena could be explained as thinking of Luo Binghe, the stallion protagonist, as having an "ideal masculine" appearance.

For western audiences and beauty standards, this would certainly be that same sort of muscular, tall, with tanned skin and defined features. Naturally, when first thinking of what a "stereotype of an ideal man" would look like, these traits would come to mind to a western audience.

It is a bit different in eastern standards. While muscular appearances can still be favored, lean muscle is vastly, vastly preferred over bulky muscle, and fair skin, which represents elegance and status (as those with fair skin tones are perceived as those who are wealthy, and do not need to work outdoors) is preferred over tanned skin. This is, of course, a generalization-- but as a representation of ideal masculinity, Luo Binghe's appearance would also be a generalization.

Particularly, Luo Binghe's figure and appearance is described not as those favored by men for themselves, but as those favored aesthetically by women. Therefore, that gentle, refined appearance is a must.

While western vs eastern beauty standards may play a role in this, it is also possible that western vs eastern character design standards may also be coming into play. While in eastern character design, things such as color and style of clothing and hair play a very large role in creating visual contrast, in terms of western designs, body shape and style, along with hair shape and style, seem to be far more important, with the idea that a character should be recognizable by silhouette alone. This may lead to western-trained artists, and also those who grew up watching primarily western cartoons, unconsciously applying those same standards to their own design-- such as making Luo Binghe broader-shouldered and with rounder shapes, the "heroic" type character design, in contrast to sharper, narrower shapes for Shen Qingqiu, the "villain" type character design.

(thanks to @gaywarcriminals , @mu-qingfang-stan-account , @temporoom for bringing up this explanation)

One additional possible reason would be the potential for heteronormative/"het-coding" standards being applied to a gay relationship, where the gong is being given more "traditionally masculine" features in order to align with gender roles. This is something that is fairly common in BL/MLM shipping and designs in general, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that it might apply in some fashion to Luo Binghe's fan-design as well (Note, this does not apply to actual fem/masc mlm pairs, because those do exist and it isn't always about heteronormativity. This is specifically referring to taking characters with roughly similar build like SQQ and LBH and making their designs distinctly more masc/fem based on who tops and who bottoms).

(thanks to @mysteryteacup and @gurggggleburgle for bringing this up)

As for the true source of these design elements, it probably cannot be narrowed down to just one-- rather, it would be an amalgamation of bits and pieces of all of the above, as well as the popularity and spread of certain designs throughout the fandom and artists taking inspiration from one another.

So often i've seen that Luo Binghe's bulk and muscles are shown as key traits of his physical appearance, despite the fact that this directly contradicts his actual depiction in the novel. Thus, it is inaccurate to depict him this way.

Luo Binghe's canonical body type and build is tall, slender, and willowy with lean musculature, and his features are soft and a bit effeminate. The best example I could give for reference would be to base his body type off of a pretty-boy type idol.

Of course, fanartists are perfectly free to continue drawing him however they please, but it should not be assumed that a Luo Binghe with bulky musculature, tanned skin, and sharp features is a canon-compliant depiction.

Luo Binghe is a pretty-boy.

[pers1st]

you open yours

pt 2 of when every door closes

pairing: leah williamson x reader

notes: mentions of ed, j*rge vilda, lots of angst

Settling into Arsenal again was difficult, but it couldn’t have been more difficult than leaving, once more, for international break. The World Cup qualifiers were coming up quickly, and despite the fact that it felt as though you still hadn’t dealt with your early out in the Euros, there was no time to dwell on the past as Jorge Vilda made sure every player knew the gravity of the next few matches. With more and more players from Barcelona filling into the squad, you were subconsciously worried for your position. It was no secret that Barça was dominating European football, but somehow, for the qualifiers, you kept your head and spent every last second of every match on the pitch, even when the physios concluded you were very close to tearing your hamstring, much to the dismay of your teammates. It wasn’t that they didn’t want you to play- you had quickly proven to be a valuable part of the team, not quite the brick wall Mapi was, but an agile defender that solidified every win with perfectly-timed tackles and a good oversight of the play.

It was rather the fact that you so desperately needed a break, and everyone saw it but you. Every step you took on the pitch hurt, and if it wasn’t for María telling you to cut back on the painkillers, you possibly wouldn’t have even noticed if you’d torn your hamstring fully. You had, in addition, settled back into your club well enough to rely on nutritional energy yet again, with the help of your girlfriend, your teammates and the club’s psychologist, but all of that went to waste the second you saw Jorge Vilda before boarding the bus towards the team’s camp.

You weren’t done yet- Leah had told you as much after the Euros. You weren’t where you wanted to be, not with the Spanish national team, at least. A World Cup was the least you could achieve to compensate for everything you were going through, but during the camp, you and many other girls realized that there was a lot more you should, or well, a lot more you had to reach for.

So, to you, it wasn’t surprising when you came home with an open letter to the RFEF and a vision of how maybe, one day, playing for your country wouldn’t be your nightmare.

“Are you sure, love? I mean, aren't there like, really bad consequences?”, Leah asked confusedly, her hands around yours as you sat on the couch, you still wearing the same sweats you had worn on the plane.

You nodded, wandering back to the monologue Mapi had held about all of the possible outcomes of what you were about to do. Her voice had been hushed as she explained the ban you could face, which would affect all of your teammates, except Ona and Lucía, more than you. Not playing in the Spanish league wouldn’t hurt you as much, so long as Arsenal stayed your home, which you intended it to. Not playing for the Spanish national team- well, you trusted Alexia when she said that no one would face a ban, and you didn’t particularly want to think about what would happen if she was wrong. You were possibly throwing your national career away, and your stomach turned at the thought. But either way, you knew that playing in the environment that had been created recently, you would rot away anyways.

“I don’t know. Maybe. But what can be worse than this?”, you chuckled bitterly. Knowing well how dangerous it had been, truthfully, to play all those minutes, you knew that you would stay on the bench for a significant amount of time to recover, but you also knew that no matter what you, or your hamstring did, you would be called up for the next camp.

You couldn’t risk your career, not while you were this young. And if everything went according to Irene’s, Mapi’s and Alexia’s plan, you wouldn’t have to.

“If you’re sure, I am, too. And no matter what happens, I will support you. You know that, right?”, Leah asked, almost desperate to reassure you, but all you could do was nod absent-mindedly.

You were different, this time. Different from how you’d been after the Euros, but your girlfriend didn’t dare to ask what had happened for you to be this- reserved, almost. As if you still didn’t dare to speak, guarding your tongue harshly as if your manager was just around the corner, ready to jump at you for whatever it was you couldn’t say.

The night you spent tossing and turning didn't guarantee much sleep, but you were still surprised that your absence had woken Leah up, as she slung her arms around your shoulders slowly in her dark flat, the only light illuminating the kitchen from the little nightlight near the coffee pot. 

“Come back to bed”, your girlfriend mumbled, voice still thick with sleep, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. Your stomach warmed slightly at the gesture, but you were too encapsulated in your phone to really react to her presence, not letting her pull you back into false comfort. Nothing of what was about to happen, in merely four hours, would be comfortable. 

“Can’t sleep”, you gave back, your fingers tapping away on your screen as you replied to Ona’s message, who seemed to sleep as little as you did.

You knew that Leah didn’t know Spanish, and you knew that she was still staring at your screen, noticing how your phone lit up once more with a text that even you could barely detangle. Taking a deep breath, you clicked the call button right next to Ona’s contact, barely noticing how Leah detached herself from you to start a pot of coffee.

Ona’s words were messy, and you were barely able to understand anything besides the gut-wrenching fear that filled your apartment, all of a sudden. Her Catalonian accent was thick, and you knew that her emotion was taking over her, more so than it was affecting you. You had, sort of, gone numb.

“Ona, va a estar bien. No te preocupes”, you tried to calm your friend, who you could tell was biting back tears.

“Ale said it’ll be okay. Do you trust her?”, you asked as you didn’t receive an answer.

“Sí”, Ona mumbled, to which you nodded, forgetting the fact that she couldn’t see you.

“Then it’ll be okay. What are they going to do? Ban sixteen of their best players?”

“No sé. Maybe they are going to ban just me”, she huffed.

“No, Ona. That won’t happen”, you calmed her yet again, and stupidly enough, you actually believed yourself. 

The open letter went online while you were at training, which you were quite grateful for. None of your teammates had a clue, except for Leah, of what was about to happen, although they could all tell something needed to happen.

In the short twelve days the team hadn’t seen each other, you had lost a noticeable amount of weight, and hadn’t touched your breakfast, blaming your lack of appetite on the lack of sleep you had gotten. You stuck to Leah’s side like glue, more so than you usually did. And by the time the team was ready to step onto the field for the first training session of the year, you mumbled an excuse to leave the changing room into the wrong direction, and headed to the physio room without looking back.

After sending Jonas a text in the early morning, somewhere between your phone call with Ona and Leah dragging you back into bed, the physios were very well aware of your hamstring issue, and spent a lot of time analyzing your muscles and how bad exactly your injury was. It seemed as though it was quite bad, as most of the treatment was silent, and none of the physios reacted to how you flinched every time any of them even reached out to touch you, but you hoped they wrote it off as a mere reaction of you being in pain. You didn’t know if they could handle the truth. Didn’t know if you could handle the truth. 

Still, the events of the day couldn’t take your mind off the fact that your phone was likely exploding with notifications as the public and the RFEF reacted to your protest. Sixteen players were withdrawing. Sixteen. You didn’t believe Alexia, although she had promised there would be no serious, no negative

consequences.

And you were right not to do so.

Leah picked you up from the medical room, in which you remained long after the treatment, scrolling through twitter and multiple Spanish news outlets in hopes to absorb every single comment, every single word in reaction to your letter. 

“Hey, you”, she smiled softly as she found you lying on the bench, phone in your hands as it always seemed to be, allowing for it to drop onto your chest as you smiled back at her.

“Hey”, you mumbled back.

“How bad is it?”, she asked, and you didn’t know whether it was her calf or everything else she was responding to.

“Grade two tear. Eight weeks, at least. They don’t want to risk anything.”

The fact that your hamstring actually was a grade two tear should’ve surprised you more than it had, but at this point, you didn’t put it past the Spanish medical team to actually hide the information of your injury from you. You didn’t put it past Jorge to let you play on an injury that potentially worsened with every step you took.

“I’m sorry, love”, Leah sighed, gently moving closer to you.

“It’s okay. Home?”, you asked, hesitant to accept any kind of gentleness from your girlfriend. At this point, you weren’t sure whether you deserved it or not. That’s how far Jorge had gotten into your head.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go”, Leah smiled as she stuck out her hand for you to take, and you reluctantly accepted it, the warmth being unfamiliar to you.

It took a few days for the RFEF to formally respond to your protest, and in the meantime, you drove your girlfriend insane. She had no way of reaching you, although she tried her hardest. Holding you as she slept, only for you to slip out of her arms once you knew she was lulled in sleep. Getting up in the morning without you just to find you in the kitchen, drinking coffee and being glued to your phone as you over analyzed every detail that was revealed to the public. By the time Arsenal’s first match after the

international break came around, she was truly at her wit’s end.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. She won’t talk to me, won’t tell me what’s going on, it’s just- I really don’t know”, she tried explaining to Kim, who had, in the past few days, begun catching a glimpse of just how bad of a situation you were in. It was clear as day to the whole team that you were struggling again, but the others quickly grew used to your reserved nature, though it was so unlike you.

“What can we do to help?”, Wally asked, gently crouching down in front of your girlfriend and rubbing a circle over her knee comfortingly, her face as somber as Kim’s.

“I don’t know. I tried giving her space, but I’m not really sure it’s helping. It’s like she’s just drifting away”, Leah cried, gently wiping a tear from her cheek. She needed to be strong, now. For you. Crying would be no use.

“She’ll come back to you. Wait for the RFEF’s response, and see how she is afterwards. Maybe she just needs to reach a breaking point”, Kim tried to reassure her vice-captain, but the only reason Leah nodded was because she didn’t have a better idea, although she didn’t like the idea of waiting for you to crumble completely and being there to pick up the broken pieces. It proved, though, that this was exactly what you needed.

The official response of the RFEF came while you were sitting in the cafeteria, slowly picking apart the food Leah had gotten for you as an ice-wrap around your thigh forbade you from walking too much. Your phone lit up with a message from Alexia, and at once, you dropped your fork, instead focusing on the little device in front of you.

¿Has visto?

No, you hadn’t seen. Not yet, anyways, but at the notification, you reached for your phone, quickly opening the internet to search for an article reporting on the matter. It didn’t take long to find, and your stomach turned at the sight your eyes met.

El futbolista Y/N Y/L/N le prohíbe jugar al fútbol por España.

Your breath caught in your throat as you read the words over and over again, your vision blurring until the letters tumbled in front of your eyes, spinning in circles as you drowned out the world around you. You weren’t aware of how Leah, Kim and Wally were glancing up at you, didn’t register how Leah’s hand

caressed your knee as she noticed your breath quickening, didn’t hear the words of your teammates surrounding you, asking what was going on, as you kept skimming the article, desperate to know more.

You were the only player out of the sixteen to be banned. It was because you had just begun playing, had been cared for during your injury and were disrespecting your country for diminishing their efforts. If you’d had any air to, you would’ve laughed. But you didn’t have any. Leah’s eyebrows furrowed as she caught a glimpse of your screen, moments before you rose from your seat, clenching your teeth in pain as you got up and left the cafeteria, leaving behind a group of confused women, none of whom dared to find you, right now. None except for Leah. She was on her feet within seconds, calling after you to slow down as she could barely keep up with your strides. You didn’t care about the fact that you bumped into Jonas, almost making him tumble over as you were focused on your phone, didn’t hear how he called after you, didn’t hear how he called after Leah. You simply kept walking and walking until you found the media room, which you knew would be empty right now, and slipped through the door, letting yourself slide down the wall.

“Love? Hey, talk to me! What’s going on?”, your girlfriend’s voice rang through from what felt like a thousand miles away. You felt as though you were under water, waves washing over you and trapping you in your head. You couldn’t answer, couldn’t force any words out of your mouth as you, instead, choked on a sob.

Within seconds, you felt arms around you, pulling you into your girlfriend’s chest as you sobbed, struggling to breathe.

“I’m out. Leah, they banned me”, you cried out, gripping fists of her shirt as you desperately tried to fight the way your head seemed to spin. 

Leah’s soothing words fell on deaf ears as the noise around you was quickly becoming far too much, and you fell into your own little word, sobbing into her shoulder as she held you tightly. It felt like hours until you calmed down, but slowly, your breaths began to even and as you drew away from your girlfriend, your lips twitched upwards at the realization that she was still there.

“Hey, baby. You’re back with me?”

You nodded at that, slowly letting go of her shirt as you leaned your head back against the wall. It was pounding, as though knives were flying through your scalp, but you didn’t have the energy to complain.

“This isn’t forever, love. We’re gonna keep pressuring them, Alexia is gonna keep pressuring them, and one day they’ll fire Vilda and you’ll be back. Okay? I promise, it’s going to be okay”, she spoke, hands landing on your cheeks as she tugged your face towards hers. 

“And no matter what happens, I’ll be with you, for every step of the way. I won’t leave you, okay?”

“I can’t do this on my own”, you mumbled, the weight of the situation hitting you, though less quickly, more deeply now that you knew you’d need to face it.

“You don’t have to. I’m behind you, and so is everyone else. You don’t have to do anything on your own, my love”, Leah promised, bringing your head into the crook of her neck once again as she closed her arms around your fragile frame.

Leah’s words quickly came true, as you realized that each and every one of your teammates, whether it was from Arsenal or Spain, voiced their support for you. Whether it was Jonas in a press conference, Alexia via an Instagram post or Ona via countless text messages and insisting on coming to London to see you. Slowly but surely, you recovered from your injury and found your footing again, suddenly enjoying the time you got to spend with your or Leah’s family whenever she was gone for international duty. The World Cup was a totally different story, as you flew to Australia with Leah to watch every one of the Lionesses matches, but none of your own nation. You skipped the final as well, not able to let yourself daydream about being on the pitch again. Though you were happy for Ona, Alexia and your other friends, you couldn’t help the anxiety over the fact that Spain was just as good of a team without you, Mapi, Pina and Patri.

And although you were still anxious, you reluctantly accepted when the RFEF lifted their ban after Jorge’s sacking, proposing for you to wear your nation’s colors another time. 

[povlnfour]

ੈ✩‧₊˚ PADDOCK TO PADDOCK FINAL PART

series masterlist | prev part

lando norris x f!horse rider!reader

authors note: for the purpose of this i need you to imagine lando flew straight back to monaco the monday after vegas and didn’t need to fly to abu dhabi till thursday night… thank u

lando.jpg just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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lando.jpg early birthday celebrations🇧🇷

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user3 CARLANDOOOO

user5 them going to brazil early just to hang out is so :(

user1 day 3 of the y/n drought and i just cried over a photo of her by a pool

user4 okay but who’s the third wheel….

user10 definitely y/n

landonorris it’s me they’ve rallied against me

carlossainz55 just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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carlossainz55 gracias são paulo, now onto the race☀️

👤 tagged yourusername

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user7 oh so lando wasn’t kidding about him being a third wheel😭

user15 CARLOS AND Y/N DRINKING TOGETHER AHAHAHA AM I SENSING A NEW DUO

user2 can’t wait for people to start rumours about them now xo

user5 carlando holiday with added y/n,,,, my dream🥹

user4 i know y/n’s phone is full of such cute carlando photos this break couldn’t have come at a worse time

y/nupdates just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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y/nupdates y/n at the paddock with lily today for the quali of the brazil grand prix!! someone said lando gave her the stitch plushie when they arrived and she’s not let it go🥹

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user1 she looks sO HAPPY

user14 lando getting to see her every day and still stalking her fanpages is so adorable to me

user4 he’s just like all of us fr

user8 i’m so sad she can’t be with him on his birthday :( you know she’d give us the cutest lan content

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mclaren not much to see here. just lando norris things👀🧡

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user4 LANDOOOO

user14 cause he had his good luck charm there😌

mclaren 👀 we’re going to miss her

user5 future wdc coming

user8 THE WAY HE KISSED Y/N WHEN HE GOT P2😭

texts with lando ੈ✩‧₊˚

birthday texts with lando ੈ✩‧₊˚

landonorris just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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landonorris thanks for all the birthday wishes🤙🏻 had lots of fun with cake, golf and very fitting gifts which my girlfriend enjoyed🕶️

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user2 THE GLASSES😭😭😭

user4 IN TEARS

user5 more carlando and y/nlando content😭😭😭😭 we are THRIVING this week

user12 you’re so cute🥹

alex_albon tell y/n she’s so welcome for the laughs

landonorris she also loved the cardboard cutout of you

y/nupdates just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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y/nupdates best of luck to both @/yourusername and @/landonorris who compete today in respective competitions🩷 neither had a particularly positive saturday so we’re hoping they can bounce back stronger than ever!

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user7 good luck guys🥹

user8 masterclasses incoming

user13 y/n looked so nervous yesterday i hope she’s okay

user1 i think she had watched the quali before her own qualifying because her interview she said she had been distracted all morning😭

landonorris 🧡

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texts with lando ੈ✩‧₊˚

y/nupdates just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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y/nupdates SHE’S ONLY GONE AND DONE IT😭 in her final competition before the winter rest, @/yourusername surprised everyone after a rough saturday and took gold with TWO ALL CLEARS🥹🩷 so proud of our girl!!! now she gets to enjoy her rest

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user3 CRYING IM SO PROUD

user12 SHE DID SO WELL

user1 devastated over lando but SO HAPPY FOR Y/N

landonorris that’s my girl🧡

user4 HI KING HOPE UR OKAY

lilymhe THATS MY OLYMPIAN😎 BRING ON PARIS 2024

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landonorris not how we wanted it to go but thank you for all your messages of support🧡 maybe not the best day for me but it certainly was for my girl, proud as hell

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user4 THE PHOTO ON THE STRETCHER YOURE SO UNSERIOUS

carlossainz55 glad you’re okay mate❤️

user5 glad you’re okay lando :( so proud of you no matter what <3

user1 him including y/n on the post🥹 they’re so in love

yourusername you’ll be back🧡

landonorris my superstar

user2 Y/N COMING BACK ONLINE JUST TO COMMENT OH I LOVE THEM

texts with charles and lily ੈ✩‧₊˚

yourusername just posted stories ੈ✩‧₊˚

lilymhe just posted stories ੈ✩‧₊˚

landonorris just posted stories ੈ✩‧₊˚

yourusername just posted a photo ੈ✩‧₊˚

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yourusername happy belated birthday my love @/landonorris. no one deserves to be celebrated more than you, and i hope i get to do this for a long time in the future. biggest thanks to my co conspirators @/charles_leclerc and @/lilymhe for making this happen. the rumours and the drama were all worth it

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landonorris and with that, the 2023 season comes to a close. it’s been a busy one, not the most perfect end race wise, but one i will always remember because of you — my true prize🧡 so excited to see what you can do going forward. paris 2024 is going to be yours

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—————

a/n: ANDDDD that’s it :’) semi anti climactic i know but i just enjoyed writing this and wanted it to have a simple soppy ending so

considering doing a mini epilogue to show their lives as it carries on? lmk if that’s something you’d like to see eek

back to one shots i go eeeek

- giselle xx

taglist: @idkiwantchocolatee @vellicora @alessioayla @bborra @crimeshowjunkie @minkyungseokie @paolexsstuff @celestialpato @champagnelovers101 @loxbbg @hobiismyhopeu @tsukishitm-a @moonypixel @champagneproblems17 @ironmaiden1313 @lqvesoph @sunflower-golden-vol6 @six-call @skatingiswalkingincursive @peqch-pie @m0cha-bunny @woozarts @he6rtshaker @iluvvmeeee @goldenalbon @izzy-marvel @lucyysthings @lichterfee

[seresinhangmanjake]

That's Definitely a Name

dad!Jake "Hangman" Seresin x reader

Summary: You need to name your newborn son and your daughter helps.

Notes/warnings: this is inspired by an ask about the moments after their son's birth. I wanted to do it with Oh, Baby, too, so I am doing Oh, Baby first, and then Signed Away. Mention of pregnancy, birth, that's it I think.

Words: 835

Part of the Oh, Baby Universe

-

"He looks like you."

You snort, but it's weak from your exhaustion. "Well it's only fair," you say. "Eve is nearly your clone."

"That's true." Jake chuckles before he presses a kiss to your temple. It’s a long kiss, and soft, and conveys once more what was earlier expressed with words: “I love you, Honey. You’re so amazing. How did you just do this? How have you done this twice?

That last question has also crossed your mind in the twenty minutes since birthing your son. Twice. You’ve done this twice. But this time, your brain isn’t full of a humming fuzziness in the aftermath as it was with Eve. You’re so alert and aware of your daughter waiting outside the room with her grandmother, of Jake wrapped around you, of your new son swaddled in your arms. 

“What do you think we should name this little man?” Jake asks. “We never settled on one.”

During the months of your pregnancy, you’d shuffled through many names for your son, but none of them seemed to fit quite right. For Eve, it was a no-brainer. Without Jake in her life, it was important to you that her name connect to her father in some way, which was achieved by choosing the name of his grandmother. For your son, though, there isn’t someone you can positively name him after without some degree of resulting issue. After your mother’s fit over Jake a few years ago, your father didn’t make the effort to stay involved in your life, and Jake’s is horrid, so they were never added to the list of possibilities. Jake feels that making the little boy a junior will be too confusing, unable to let go of the image of you irritated for some reason and calling out the matching name causing unnecessary anxiety for both he and his son when you are actually only mad at one of them. You tossed around the idea of using a name from your group of friends, but you quickly realized that of the five other men on Jake’s team, four of them would take serious offense if their name wasn’t chosen while the other one would be so sweet as to simply thank you and your husband for even being considered. They didn’t last on the list for more than a day.

“We weren’t given enough time,” you decide as you trace your finger down the line of his tiny nose. “He came too early.”

“I don't think one week before your due date qualifies as too early,” Jake says, snickering. “Let's be real, Honey, we were slacking from indecisiveness.”

“Well, since we can’t figure it out maybe we should just let Eve pick a name.”

You immediately miss the warmth of his arms when Jake pulls back and shifts to the side of the bed to look you in the eye. “Now wait a minute, Honey. Think about what you're saying.” His eyes are wide and his hands gesture wildly with his attempt to snuff out your idea. “I love you and I love our baby girl, but do you really want to risk our son being named something crazy like, I don't know, Meeko? You know she loves that weird raccoon from ‘Pocahontas’,” he says. “And what happens when we don’t take her suggestion because we cannot do that to our son, hmm? This is not a particularly good time for us to be snubbed by our daughter.”

You release a light scoff. “Oh, she wouldn't do that to us, or her brother.”

“She absolutely would,” Jake says with a slight quirk of his lips. His hands fall back to his sides. “Honey, if we truly let her pick, ninety-nine percent chance we have a Disney critter sidekick name for our son.”

You look down at your newborn as you consider Jake’s concern. Meeko Seresin? You internally chuckle. No, that would not do. But your girl is smart and neither you nor Jake have been able to come to a decision on your own. You see no real harm in asking. Not to mention, it would be a prime opportunity to have Eve feel more included now that she’s no longer the only child in her parent’s lives. And if her suggestions are life-ruining bully-targeting disasters, then you’ll deal with her reaction from being denied later. 

—

“Teddy Bear!” Eve bursts out as she sits tucked between you and the rail of the hospital bed.

A sigh mixed with a barely-there chuckle falls from your husband’s lips.

“Baby girl, you want to name your brother Teddy Bear?” Jake asks, glancing at the amused smile you’re struggling to hold back before returning his eyes to his daughter. 

Taking the question very seriously, Eve’s face loses all expression, her stare unwavering against her father’s. “Yes.”

“After your teddy bear?”

“Yes.”

Jake runs a hand through his blond locks. The other rests on his hip. “Wouldn't you like to think about it for another second?”

“No.”

—

Teddy “Bear” Jacob Seresin

(More Bear and Eve) Digital Daggers: Oh, Babies by @mamachasesmayhem

tags: @wkndwlff @kmc1989 @sagittarius-flowerchild @dempy @oliviah-25 @rosiahills22 @xoxabs88xox @matisse556 @hardballoonlove @ssa-sadboi @lynnevanss @pono-pura-vida @tgmreader @amgluvsbooks @ravenhood2792 @djs8891 @shakespeareanwannabe @sailor-aviator @penguin876 @tgmavericklover @athenabarnes @emilyoflanternhill @wretchedmo @shanimallina87 @crowsreadsarahjmaas @mamachasesmayhem @sky2nd @jessicab1991 @rosedurin @averyhotchner @horseshoegirl @novagreen04 @multifandomlover4life @memeorydotcom @ryiamarie @ateliefloresdaprimavera

[joys-of-everyday]

SJ and the Pitfalls of Toxic Masculinity

Liking women wasn’t shameful in the least, but treating a woman as your savior, shrinking into her embrace in search of self-confidence—Shen Qingqiu needed no one to tell him how incredibly shameful that was. So he would rather die than tell anyone, particularly not Yue Qingyuan.

- Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu Extra

Hot take: og!SQQ had toxic ideas about masculinity, and it ruined him.

SVSSS is all about the ✨Toxic Masculinity✨ but this seems to be more associated with SY than SJ??? So yeah, lets talk about SJ (my poor meow meow).

There’s actually some subtlety here, because talking about SJ and masculinity naturally involves an interplay between historical and modern views on masculinity in China, which is something that has developed over time and has influences from other cultures (e.g. the west and our views on masculinity). (Interesting thing if you haven't already come across it) I am… not qualified to read the subtleties here.

To note, SJ is coded as masculine… sort of. He’s the head of the scholarly peak, a master of the Four Arts, which is one facet of ideal masculinity in traditional Chinese values. (Fluttering a fan around was very gentleman-like. Although also, expressing your emotions through poetry and copious amounts of tears was very masculine back in the day. 'Traditional masculinity' has and always will be an elusive ideal.) But I get the feeling nowadays ‘scholarly’ has more feminine connotations than ‘martial’, albeit a slightly weaker one than in the west. Also, on the topic of toxic masculinity, certain groups of people Who Shall Not Be Named would like you to believe that Real Chinese Men are stoic warriors and ‘gayness is a western thing’ (my rage is unreal but we will not talk about that).

Anyway, broad strokes, broad strokes.

Arrogance and Insecurity

A big part of toxic masculinity is a need for social recognition, to be the ‘alpha male’ (not an ABO pun and on a side note I literally cannot take anyone talking about alpha males seriously now, for many reasons, but this is the funniest).

SJ is obsessed with his cultivation, but more pertinently, he is obsessed with his reputation. He demonstrates this in a few ways. Firstly, he works his ass off, which is not bad in itself, but he does this to the extent it is detrimental to his health (that grindset lol). Secondly, he projects a certain image with his actions and mannerisms: reading in order to seem intelligent, looking down at people to seem superior etc. Thirdly, he responds to any perceived slights of his ability with violence. (Fighting with LQG is an example, but also drawing a sword on SQH when he pointed out that he was reading an upside-down book.)

Now interestingly, the unanimous vibe that Cang Qiong seem to get from SQQ is that he is ‘arrogant’. When in truth, all of this is compensating for his insecurity.

Shen Qingqiu was overly suspicious, always feeling as if everyone was talking behind his back about how he was still incapable of forming a core, didn’t accept his position, wanted to sabotage him in secret, and so on and so forth.

- Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu Extra

Sadly, SJ is justified in being afraid of other people’s opinion. His comfort and security rely entirely on his status, which in turn rely on other people’s opinion of his competence. Of course he wants to get to the top – he’s been under other people’s power before, and suffered terribly as a result. Why should he not desperately defend what he has worked so hard for? Yet ultimately it works against him, because when he’s in serious trouble, he hasn’t been able to build the human connections he needs to get help.

The problem is with the system. The idea that having strength allows you to do whatever you want hurts not only the people regarded as inferior, but also creates a collective sense of anxiety for those who find themselves ‘at the top’. Anyone can be kicked down and treated like scum. Everyone is afraid.

Dominance and Bullying

The phrase ‘toxic masculinity is fragile’ quite often, but to elaborate, these kinds of rigid ideas of masculinity are by nature constantly under threat. Because any crack in the perfect shell is regarded as failure, it requires constant, aggressive maintenance, which takes the form of bullying the weak in order to elevate oneself.

SJ’s treatment of LBH is complicated, but here I want to draw attention to a different character – Ming Fan.

SQQ (SY) would have you know that MF is not a bad kid, other than the fact he’s a huge bully to LBH. And in part that comes from jealousy of NYY’s crush on him, but what allows it to happen is the way SJ runs the peak. It's interesting to note that so much of SJ's bullying of LBH happens through MF, whether it be giving him the faulty cultivation manual, giving him chores or physically assaulting him. In doing this, SJ creates a system that firmly establishes himself at the top, likely in order to give himself some semblance of security.

But ironically, this is the very system that SJ has suffered under his entire life, recreated to it's extreme on the peak that he controls. When he was completely under the power of others (QJL, LBH) he suffered. When other people were under his power, he inflicted suffering. He encouraged other people to do the same. Again, the whole thing is a scam! He is putting all of his energy into things that aren't helping him, things that ultimately bring him down.

Real Men Don’t Cry – the Dangers of Emotional Repression

SJ has many, very justifiable reasons in life to be upset and angry. The things he went through are both terrible and extremely unfair. Being angry at everything is not a healthy outlet for these feelings, but he hasn’t exactly been taught an alternative either. On the streets, tears would have gotten him absolutely nothing. Anger at least gave him energy to fight back.

And this destroys him. He is angry at the fact he had no one in his life who loved him, his talents were wasted because of QJL/WYZ, nobody takes his abilities seriously… and with no healthy way of expressing this, he goes onto bully LBH. LBH then returns to destroy him, literally. More subtly, he is unable to express his fear and anxiety in healthy ways, so acts standoff-ish and aggressive to his those around him. As his relationship with them deteriorates, his fear and anxiety increases. Feedback loops.

SJ puts on a mask of anger and stoicism to the point that everyone around him (including himself) is convinced that he is unrepentant and evil. Suppresses and suppresses until it breaks him, until he has nothing – not his comfort, nor status, nor the one that he truly cared for:

He had single-handedly facilitated Luo Binghe’s today, and now who had single-handedly created this outcome for him? Yue Qingyuan was never supposed to have an end like this. In order to come to a decades-late appointment, to fulfill a completely useless promise. A broken sword and a dead man. It shouldn’t be like this.

A Note on Ambivalent Sexism

It’s funny because I think there’s a fandom vibe that SJ was the secret feminist of SVSSS. Don’t get me wrong, I love this in fanfics. Badass feminist SJ all the way. But my honest opinion is that I don’t think that was the case.

More explicitly, I don’t think SJ took women seriously. NYY, for example. Certainly, SJ valued NYY. But the expression of this care involved doting on her, hiding his treatment of LBH from her, and not particularly pushing her to grow. And PIDW!NYY wasn’t implied to be the most mature of the lot. Okay, while we don’t know a lot about PIDW!NYY (narrator unreliable), it’s probably safe to say some distance from SJ helped her a lot.

Another point – the Qiu massacre. SJ killed the men, but not the women. And while this says more about his distaste for men, it also indicates (possibly - I will float this idea but I won't die on this hill) that he straight up doesn’t see any woman as an enemy, or capable of being a threat. Which is possibly a natural conclusion he’s drawn from his experiences (QHT was not very perceptive, or very threatening) but also inaccurate as a worldview.

And his attitude towards the women he sees as saviours? Has the same vibe as ‘it’s so embarrassing to be protected by a girl’.

Okay, so being doted on and not being killed are positives compared to being abused or murdered, but this kind of attitude is the opposite side of the same coin to ‘women are incompetent and inferior’. And when it comes to raising kids, not allowing them to grow can be extremely harmful as well. See e.g. Ambivalent sexism.

Although I do want to mention that I do not think SJ was like… actively misogynistic. I think he genuinely liked women more than men. The point is you can be sexist without realising it.

Conclusions

To conclude, SJ had ideas of success and self-worth associated with toxic masculinity which were instrumental in his downfall.

Masculinity doesn’t have to be toxic. While the Cang Qiong family aren’t exactly the healthiest bunch, YQY’s calm and patient leadership, LQG’s steadfast loyalty, LBH’s ability to cry like a maiden and still be the strongest… these are all traditionally masculine traits that can be very positive. These are also people who can have feminine traits and explore their gender identity without being prissy or weak.

It's the great tragedy of SJ that he had many positive characteristics. He was talented, intelligent, articulate, perceptive, loyal, and caring… under the right circumstances, he could have grown into a great person.

And maybe he still had that chance, right until the end.

[beholdthemem]

The day's almost over, and every god-damned second of it has been irritating.

Jeff's being dragged to a distant cousin's wedding somewhere out of state, which is annoying. The fact that they're down a vocalist means that the Friday slot they've been gunning for at the Hideout is now even further out of reach, which is also annoying. They're out of Schlitz, which Eddie knows is his own fault because he drank the last can and then forgot to replace it, but is nevertheless even more annoying still, and-

He hears a noise outside, and finds himself instinctively looking out the window to investigate for reasons he can't explain. The sight fills him with an unreasonable and entirely unproductive urge to smash something.

Most annoying of all, it's 11:30 at night and the little neighbor brat across from them is sitting on her porch finishing off a sleeve of saltine crackers that he knows in his soul is what she's decided qualifies as dinner.

Eddie gives a wordless snarl of directionless irritation under his breath, and stalks over to the refrigerator.

She's already gone back inside when he arrives at their door. She answers after the third knock, and looks about as pleased to see him as he is to be there.

"Look," Eddie says through gritted teeth, not bothering with the pleasantries that Wayne would probably expect of him but that he can barely bring himself to give a shit about on a GOOD day, and shoving the tupperware of lasagna at her. "I could not give less of a shit if you actually eat it or not. Just. Fucking. TAKE IT."

"Why?" She demands with an exasperation that sounds like she'd genuinely love to be mad at him but doesn't have anywhere near enough energy for it right now.

The answer should probably be 'Because my uncle's never seen a lost cause he didn't immediately invest himself in and if he found out that I wasn't keeping that up while he's not around to do it, he'd kick my ass,' but in all honesty it has nothing to do with Wayne anymore. Eddie's over here pushing food on a fourteen year old who's name he's not convinced he ever learned at what might as well be midnight purely because her day to day routine pisses him off.

She's not going to bother eating any real food on the days her mom isn't around, with the occasional exception of leftovers- and he knows for a fact that half of those end up going to the Kelleys' dog, anyway. Logically, he's aware that he's in no position to be criticizing either of those things, but that doesn't make it any less annoying to watch.

There are some nights when he sees the light on in what (judging by the faint sounds of Kate Bush) he assumes is her bedroom when he finally goes to bed at three, and they're still on, hours later, when he finally gets up. She's almost as pasty white as he is, and the contrast between her skin and the constantly darkening circles under her eyes make her look like a fucking raccoon.

On a few of the mornings that he's either woken up or failed to sleep before Wayne arrives home, he's seen her from out the window, sitting outside at the asscrack of dawn with her arms around her knees and a look in her eyes like she's seen more shit than any one person should, and now has no desire to see anything else, ever again.

All of these things annoy Eddie on their own, but the truly enraging thing about it all is that this is not his problem. This is in no way his problem! He has no legal, familial, or moral obligation to do anything about this random kid who he barely knows and (frankly speaking) doesn't particularly like- but he knows it's just going to bug him more if he doesn't.

Back before he'd gone to live with Wayne, Eddie had found a stray cat haunting the alley behind the place his parents rented. For no reason that he could ever puzzle out, it had hated him with an intensity that seemed to encompass all of humanity.

The feeling had been mutual.

But unfortunately, the animal had also been mangy, perpetually shivering, thin enough for Eddie to count individual ribs from afar, and overlooked by everybody else. And so Eddie had found himself sneaking out every night to leave a bowl of scraps that he KNEW was going to convince this animal he didn't like, and that loathed him, to stick around.

It made taking the trash out every week an unholy pain in the ass, and forced him to learn how to sleep through demonic feline yowling, but he'd nevertheless felt an undeniable sense of relief watching it slowly fill out. It had bothered him, for some reason, that it clearly wouldn't happen otherwise.

Dad had thought that was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. Eddie had completely agreed. Wayne, meanwhile, had heard the story and for some bizarre reason been proud of him.

The fact of the matter, Eddie thinks, watching this little redhead give him the same fucking look that goddamn cat had and feeling his annoyance slowly drain into matching exasperation- is that while he may not be a particularly hardworking, honest, or even generally decent person, in some ways he is still very much Wayne Munson's nephew.

God help him.

"Because you look like on your own, all you'll eat is cereal and oyster crackers," Eddie tells her instead, pushing the tupperware into her hand and counting it as a victory when she reflexively grabs it. The kid's eyes widen when she realizes what she's done, but the thin, irritated line her mouth pinches into means she's not going to fight him on it.

Point for Munson.

"You look like if hepatitis was a person," she retorts, still holding the lasagna, and then slams the door.

Eddie genuinely hates that that makes him laugh.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton is interviewed after qualifying, azerbaijan - april 28, 2023 (transcription under the cut)

Interviewer: "...in Q2, and then you kind of pulled out a lap that pushed you much further up, kind of... What was going on?" Lewis: "Yeah. We're trying as hard as we can, giving it absolutely everything out there, and it just... Timing, and getting into the rhythm, and really pulling out everything is not easy on this track. I think in Q2... Yeah, struggled. I had more pace; I just didn't get that last lap. My Q3 run one was a really sweet lap. Unfortunately just wasn't able to match... I just matched it, basically, at the end, but needed just a little bit more time just to nip a Ferrari." Interviewer: "And it must give you a lot of confidence heading into the second go at qualifying tomorrow, that if you get it right again and hit another sweet lap, you can kind of be in the mix again." Lewis: "Yeah, well, I mean, we can't do any changes to the car, so this is the pace that we have, and so I might be able to eek a little bit more out tomorrow, once we do some studying tonight, but this is definitely a good position to start for on Sunday. Naturally, you know, this is not the position we want as a team. We exist to win, but everyone has that winning mindset and everyone is working as hard as they can, so... We haven't had an upgrade this weekend, but we're hoping we're working towards one that will hopefully put us a little bit closer to the battle ahead." Interviewer: "What have you made of the pace, generally, today, based on the fact that Australia was quite strong? Were you kind of hoping there would be a bit of a bounce here, or did you think that was gonna be an outlier?" Lewis: "No. I didn't really know what to expect this week. I knew that the Red Bulls would be particularly quick. I didn't realize we would have such a huge deficit on the straights, but it's a good indicator. We're slower on the straights and then slower in the middle sector, so we've got a lot of work to do to rectify that. With the car, it's not the easiest one to drive, but yeah, I'm happy to be on the third row and I think hopefully tomorrow we can have a bit of a better battle."

[godsiero]

hello. i have just finished all of nightmare time. buckle up, i have thoughts and spoilers ahead.

just a general statement before opinions are shared: obviously some situations take place in different timelines (like the ape-man vs time bastard), but what do you think happens in the *same* timelines? obviously forever and always and time bastard are the same timeline, but do you think each episode is a different time line? do you think it depends? as i’m typing this, i think each episode of nightmare time is a different reality, let me know your thoughts!

okay, starting from the very beginning with ape-man:

i thought ape-man was a good intro to what should be expected of nightmare time. i thought the “ape-man” being a set-up between ted and hidges was funny. i loved that lucy ended up actually meeting the real ape-man in the end. i didn’t really care for the ape-man *song*, and after finishing the rest of the episodes, it was a forgettable episode as a whole, but again, great intro to the idea of what nightmare time is.

watcherworld:

i love alice and bill, so i enjoyed this. watching nightmare time *after* nerdy prudes must die helped me be more excited about the introduction of the rest of the lords in black (because i somehow avoided spoilers for THAT long). that father-daughter relationship was so well put together. i love the blinky song, didn’t care for snoozle town (however, it did sound like black friday, the song, which might not have been intentional, but i’m gonna pretend it was to appreciate jeff blim lmao), as i’m typing this i don’t really remember one thousand eyes, so…i guess it wasn’t memorable? overall, i liked the generally positive ending and bill and alice establishing they will change their ways to help their relationship. love love love.

forever & always:

loved this episode. paulkins till i die fr. i was damn near fucking crying during the opening scene, i shit you not. (side note: i have recently developed the biggest soft spot for paulkins after reading the most incredible fan fiction, probably ever, forelsket by gooddaysunshine on ao3, which i qualify as canon now.) the song forever & always is definitely in my top five nightmare time songs, i just love it. i was totally shocked when paul killed the real emma, up until he revealed he was also a clone/not the real paul, so respect ig. top tier nightmare time episode.

time bastard:

the song time bastard is also in my top five nightmare time songs. kim whalen plz sing me to sleep. the song really set my expectations high because of how good forever & always was, but i was really let down. the revelation of tinky wasn’t as direct or nuanced as blinky and i thought the plot was really slow UNTIL the last ten minutes when everything looped (i love a fuckin loop). making ted the homeless man was truly an incredible plot twist, which makes me sad that wasn’t reflected during the rest of the episode. also peanuts is hilarious.

jane’s a car:

i love tim and sue me for being a barneston shipper. did NOT like jane, did NOT like the plot of tom fucking a car, that got a little too unhinged for even me. the song jane’s a car has been stuck in my head since before i even saw the fucking episode, i could not tell you how many times i have just yelled “GOT MY FOOT ON THE GAS” in the middle of conversations. that being said, the rest of the song was forgettable which upset me! i didn’t enjoy this episode, aside from the mention of the black book on the radio and the twist at the end where it’s revealed jane did take over becky.

the witch in the web:

first of fucking all, kendall nicole is a gift to this earth. that child is incredible beyond compare. protect her forever. second of all, i can’t really remember the plot of this episode, but i do know that i liked the story? not enough to remember it though? this is definitely a middle ground episode for me. i didn’t particularly enjoy either song, but i didn’t hate them. i liked the plot of miss holloway taking hannah into the black and white and travelling through time (kinda), and i liked the overall theme of webs to introduce webby.

honey queen:

the song honey queen didn’t do much for me, neither did latte hatte, or nibbly ditty. if this was any other circumstance i would’ve also added queen b to the list, but i saw it in the jangle ball before this and that made me enjoy it, but if i hadn’t seen jangle ball, just know, i would not have liked queen b. that being said, i did like this episode. i am not a linda monroe stan (sorry), but i do think she’s funny. i thought the kids were funny, i wanted to punch zoey in the face, sam gave me the ick, gerald is a fucking freak, i have never wanted to throttle jon matteson until i watched this (i forgot his character’s name), so all in all, none of these characters are likable at all except for river, but that’s the monroe’s for you. the episode was slow, but in the way a slow burn in slow. once again, liked the introduction of nibbly, and i think having the first episode *be* the honey queen festival was super important to the rest of the season because they never shut the fuck up about it after this (this is another reason why i think each episode is it’s own universe but i disgress). if that confused you, i *did* enjoy the episode, but it was another middle-grounder for me.

perky’s buds:

liked that emma got to start her pot farm. overall have nothing of value to say about this one. joey as the bird was really fucking funny. i like jae. love emma forever, that freak. this episode was really slow and not at all in a good way. i did not like the song perky’s buds. just wanted the episode to end. sad face.

abstinence camp:

this is probably my favorite nightmare time story. the song axe-man is definitely number one on my list (we’ll talk more later). the plot of this one was SO good and funny and creepy and everything hatchetfield is about. my main love for this episode stems from the introduction of our three lead nerdy prudes must die characters. i love those three freaks. steph and peter almost getting in the same shower went fuckin crazy and i was kinda glad they got caught lmao. the plot of girl jeri and boy jerry was too fuckin good, and i will say, i was a little confused why the axe-man never showed up to kill them when they were very obviously horny, BUT IT’S ALMOST LIKE THAT WAS THE PLOT HAHAHAHAH. also, love the return of plot and lore about the woods, seriously, needed that. also also, jon matteson and kim whalen should be paired up more because they’re both so fucking funny and have the capability of being charming yet ever so slightly off-putting and i fucking love it. virginity rocks is a fuckin banger (heh), but the real star of the show is axe-man. let me tell you why axe-man is the best nightmare time song: not only does it introduce the axe-man (who we have been seeing and hearing THE ENTIRE SEASON, mind you), but bryce charles is singing?? i literally don’t know what else you need to hear from me?? corey dorris in a flannel will forever change my brain chemistry and they both sound so good together, truly, and corey dorris is a baritone legend (i’m looking at *you*, corey singing the hidden baseline in high school is killing me). “his blade is made of hate” sounds damn near EXACT to “you better hope you’re outta sight” (literal monster). “oh the pain” sounds damn near EXACT to “it ain’t great” (hatchet town). MOTHERFUCKERS. WHEN THE BRIDGE STARTS “these woods belong to him…” THE FUCKING HATCHET TOWN MOTIF IS LITERALLY FUCKING PLAYING LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? also, just the fucking end that proves ur dead?? please. jeff blim. here, have some flowers. i will do anything for you. anyway. great episode. love it. 10/10.

daddy:

i liked that we gave frank some backstory and gave him a little more humanity because i really did not like that motherfucker (heh) in black friday. the plot with sherman was VERY funny and him turning into a child is kinda cute tbh. sheila u bitch, u let barry swift out of there!! i will forever be a man in a hurry fan, even after death 😭. yes take this psycho’s money and make your family’s toy store better and pay your one employee a living wage!! we love to see it. i don’t even remember the song young at heart, so that should tell you enough about how much i didn’t like it lmao. i had been waiting to see those care bears because i fucking knew they were going to be the lords in black plushies after i saw what colors they were. nick lang, you sneaky bastard.

killer track:

finally learned the tea about miss holloway and yes it was worth it. yes, i do realize why everybody loves duke and miss holloway now, hell, i love em now. miss holloway’s plot is crazy and if there’s another nightmare time season i hope she gets another episode, honestly. i like run away with me as a song in general, but for the genre of artist miss holloway is painted to be, the song is lackluster. I DO LIKE IT THOUGH BUT I WAS EXPECTING IT TO BE MORE ROCK AND ROLL. i do realize it is a ballad, but even rock and roll ballads go harder than that did. killer track is a fucking rager???? jeff blim what are you doing writing musical theatre songs???? go write some fucking grunge shit???? killer track goes so fucking hard i really can’t explain it, jesus christ, also the video was sick as shit, do more!! (this really just proves jeff can write anything lmao) i thought the nightmare time remix was really funny and fun and just a good time, no notes, joey slayed the house down boots honey mama.

yellow jacket:

i liked the vibe of the song yellow jacket, very avril lavigne. loved the plot. loved the reprise of lex opening the wiggly box x opening the pokey box. i love the idea that there are multiple kids like hannah in hatchetfield and that would be a GREAT plot to expand upon more, however, i like that hannah and lex got out of there, but i felt so bad for ethan :( i wonder if he had proposed to lex that morning if she had said yes and not left or if she had taken them with him ugh i hate not knowing. my favorite thing about the hatchetfield universe is that they just keep pumping out these stories and plot lines that confirm these things are canon in at least one universe. i love knowing as much as possible and that’s what nightmare time has given me, ily girl. sorry went on a tagent and didn’t finish: didn’t like use it or lose it, i didn’t like next time, but i thought it was sweet 🥺 they’re all such cuties. ALSO!! the general john mcnamara cameo in this episodes them song KILLED ME i SCREAMED!! he’s literally my favorite. if they continue with a season 3 i hope to fucking god they give my man his episode god dammit. bonus, hey melissa: that shit was fucking weird and i hated that paul sided with her in the end that creep. anyway, thank you for coming on this journey with me, i hope you liked my notes, i love a discussion if you would like to comment. <3

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork, 1970.

“Peter is growing squash on his mother’s farm in Connecticut.” - Davy Jones, The Journal News, September 12, 1970

“It’s taken Peter a while to get his head straight again. He was never mentally suited to all the pressure, to the studio demands, the girls always tugging and pushing and mauling us.” - Davy Jones, Edmonton Journal, October 24, 1972

Q: “Being that your tastes were similar, and you both were the first to leave the group, why didn’t you form a group with Peter Tork?” Michael Nesmith: “I don’t like Peter Tork — never have liked him, I don’t like him as a man. I have to qualify that now: Me not liking somebody doesn’t mean that they’re bad people — he could do a lot of wonderful things for and to me. Not liking someone to me is a very gut reaction — a very visceral attitude. The first reaction to Peter was one of dislike. I don’t like him, I have never liked him, and I probably will never like him. I didn’t enjoy playing in a band with Peter, and I still don’t. Our tastes were much the same, our political beliefs were similar, our ideas of fun, pleasure, our intellectual capacity, our ability to talk to each other — we were very much alike. I have a great respect for Peter — his technical abilities on an instrument and the positions he took were well conceived ideas, always a posture with a motive, never emotional. I don’t like my mother. She happens to be a very nice lady — never done anything that would make me not like her — but I don’t. I like my wife.” - Hit Parader, February 1972 (x)

"Peter is a very mellow, erudite man, and he had to play the dummy on the show — if you remember. Maybe you don’t. Anyway, he was the Huntz Hall of the Monkees, and, in private life, he’s by no means that way.” - Micky Dolenz, News-Pilot, August 11, 1976 (x)

“[Micky] did a great job [drumming] on Headquarters. [But] he wasn’t going to do it again, and there was nothing you could do [to change his mind]. We had to go back in the studio. He said, ‘Peter, you can’t go back.’” - Peter Tork, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd. 2007 liner notes

Q: “Was it hard on you when it was over, Peter?” Peter: “Um, no, it wasn’t particularly hard on me — at the time, I didn’t think it was hard on me. I… but I did not know very well what I was doing. I wanted to go back to the street; I was happy in my Greenwich Village hippie days, let me go back to passing the basket. But, you can’t go back, as some sage once said. And so I spent those in between years trying to make the difference up.” - Nightwatch, 1986

“When The Monkees were big, I couldn’t handle the pressure. I missed the easy, street-level camaraderie of my Greenwich Village days.” - Peter Tork, 2006; quoted in Uncut, 2019

[seriouslycromulent]

Thoughts on the 2nd Season of Leverage: Redemption

OK. So I finally got around to watching Leverage: Redemption season 2. It was a decent season (or half-season?). I do remember liking more of the episodes from season 1, but that may be because there were more episodes overall (Hence, why I referred to this as a half-season.).

Random Thought #1 --

I can say one of the major pluses of season 2 was the opportunity to see Aldis Hodge more. And of course, that wink at the audience regarding the DC cinematic universe was not lost on me. I’m glad he was able to participate in more episodes this time around, but I am just as happy to see his career flourish on the big screen too.

Any chance to see more of Aldis is always appreciated. But you know who I did miss?

Random Thought #2 --

None of the episodes were directed by Jonathan Frakes this season. I’m not saying I can’t enjoy Leverage without Jonny behind the camera, but when he’s not there, his absence is certainly felt. I can only guess it was because he was off getting his Captain Riker on in the 3rd season of Star Trek: Picard. Sure, I loved seeing him on ST: Pic, but he better direct some eps for the next season of Leverage or I'll ... stew silently like the impetulant child that I am.

Random Thought #3 --

Moving on. My favorite episode of the 2nd season was the non-Leverage Leverage episode titled “The Belly of the Beast Job.” I liked how our team takes a bit of a backseat to others in this episode, and let a duo of novices attempt to save the world for once. 

It was all very cute watching the Fab 5 help from the sidelines, plus the realistic scenario of the villain and the victim(s) really resonated with me. The storyline was incredibly honest regarding the nature of workplace harassment, even affording the reality that sometimes when there’s a woman in a position to help, she may be more concerned with looking out for herself than protecting others. I really appreciated that honesty in storytelling on such a sensitive issue. 

Also, the actor who played the bad guy, aka the smarmy record executive, was fantastic! I remember him – Jeffrey Vincent Parise – from an episode of Burn Notice where he played a fairly distinctive villain who was similarly flamboyant, but very different in other ways. In this episode of L:R, it seems he has turned up the creeper factor to 11, and delivered an especially realistic performance in a character that you love to hate. Kudos to him and whoever was responsible for casting him on the show!

Random Thought #4 --

I also have to admit some of my favorite moments of season 2 involved Harry Wilson. Particularly when he had to imitate Eliot in The Walk In The Woods Job. He actually did a pretty good job with the Spencer Growl™, but he couldn't get the rest of the voice exactly right. It was still funny as hell though.

As for his first time in the vents in The Museum Makeover Job, oh my goodness. 😂 At first, I felt a bit sorry for him because tight spaces are not my friend either. But then he started acting like a cartoon character and I couldn't help but laugh. I have a feeling that was intentional (by the writers) for us folks who might have felt some residual claustrophobia when watching through our screens. 

So having Harry freak out in an absurdly cartoon-y manner helped keep the situation light, I think. And it just made me adore Noah Wyle's complete lack of ego when it comes to comedy even more.

Random Thought #5 --

Finally, I know I’m late to the party here, since the season 2 finale aired in January, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was shocked to find out that Eliot Spencer is adopted. And that his adoptive parents are Black! [insert head exploding emoji]

But let me tell you this … I don’t hate it. 

Here’s why:

It’s just like Eliot to keep this type of info to himself. He plays everything close to the vest, and this definitely would qualify as info that no one needs to know but him.

It adds a different kind of beat to Christian’s roles where he often plays men (usually from Oklahoma) who have estranged relationships with their father. I wasn’t too interested in seeing him play that same character beat yet again, so adding in a transracial adoption angle actually gave it a fresh twist. 

His dad was played by Keith freakin’ David. Keith. Freakin’. David. If you only know Keith David through his voiceover work in animation, that may not seem like a big deal to you. But for those of us who grew up on this man’s film and TV work onscreen coupled with that very distinctive voice of his, … well … let's just say I fangirled for quite a while when he first appeared on camera. And when it was revealed that he was Eliot’s dad, I had the stupidest jaw-dropping grin on my face for like 5 minutes. 

And on top of that, Christian got to shoot a fight scene with Keith too. Dude! I don’t personally know Chris (although I’ve met him several times), but I am sure he pinched himself more than once while preparing for and shooting that scene. I can only imagine he was trying really hard not to picture himself as a stand-in for the late great Rowdy Roddy Piper in that iconic fight scene in They Live. Heck, a part of me was doing it myself as I was watching it. I genuinely felt incredibly happy for Chris for getting the opportunity to work with Keith in this way. 

With that said, I did make my way over to ao3 to see if anyone has written any fanfic around the whole adoption storyline. So far, I’ve only found two. There may be others, but they’re not too easy to track with the search tool, so it's a slow process.

Anyway, I noticed in the comments section on one of the fanfics I found, the author mentioned that they saw a comment on Facebook stating that the person wished that Eliot’s father had been Native American instead. And the author worked into the story the idea that Eliot’s biological mom was Native due to this comment.

Here’s the thing. I don’t have a problem with the author at all. They just wrote a quick story offering a wee bit of background on how Eliot ended up with the Spencers. 

But I admit that I find that Facebook comment to be unnecessary and giving off some skanky anti-Black vibes. Yes, Chris has Native ancestry IRL. But how many times has he played characters where both of his parents were white and not Native? Did this person leaving the comment ever lament over his parents not being Native for any of those other roles? And if not, why not? 

Here was an opportunity to allow Chris to be a part of multiracial onscreen family in a way that he hasn’t been able to in the past, and apparently, someone objected to that multiracial family being of African descent instead of Indigenous descent. They apparently didn't care about how it affords Eliot a new layer of complexity that we would rarely see in any other role Chris has played in the past (assuming the writers want to do something with it). It also acknowledges that Black people adopt children of other races and ethnicities too, which typically isn’t shown or discussed on American television. Transracial adoption is often painted as something only white or Asian-American parents do. 

I’m not saying that the Facebook comment was racist, but it definitely seemed to have anti-Black bias that is far too often brushed aside when it comes to non-Black communities of color. And I hope that this person's sentiment is the exception, not the rule in the Leverage fandom.

Ok. That's it. I just wanted to share my thoughts on those aspects of season 2. Feel free to agree or disagree or something else. Thanks for reading my ramblings, and I will now happily sit over here and wait on season 2 of Almost Paradise premiering in July.

[sugoi-and-spice]

Chapter Six - Struck a Nerve

Pairing: Tomura Shigaraki x Fem!Reader, (3rd Person)

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad's boss's son. He was the creep that stole girls' underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it's not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn't sleep with him, right? ...right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Virginity Kink, Groping, Power Play, Hate to Love

A/N: Holy cow I did way too much research into Tokyo train routes for this one TT_TT Don't fall into a research abyss like me, friends. Learn from my mistakes.

Read Full Chapter on AO3

[EXCERPT]

She had a pinch in her neck. 

It had been there for a while now, she wasn’t sure what had caused it. Maybe it was the weird position she’d woken up in a couple of days ago. Maybe it was from the particularly grueling dryland workouts she’d been doing in preparation for the upcoming meet. Or maybe it was something else. Something more gnawing and notional. The manifestation of guilt and stress, pulled through the endless weavings of lies and delusions like:

“This works, right?” 

Bingo.

She smiled sadly, “I don’t know, it feels a little forced…”

She was currently sitting at a bench in a strip of greenery that barely qualified as a park within the hustle and bustle of Roppongi. But as far as Mirio on the other end of her cellphone was concerned, she had just gotten off the train in Yokohama and was walking the last fifteen minutes to “cram school”. 

It was a dangerous (and honestly kind of stupid) game she was playing. She and Mirio had always walked to the Azabu-Juban Subway Station together to get to their respective after school activities — that leg of walking together hadn't changed. Only now, rather than getting on the Namboku Line Northbound with him, she had to get on the Southbound — because he, in all of his chivalry, insisted on making sure she got on her train, even if his direction arrived first. She then proceeded to ride it one stop, and then immediately take the reverse train straight back. 

And to add insult to injury, he’d excitedly told her this morning how their respective train rides were almost exactly the same length of time, so they could talk on the phone for the rest of their walk. 

“Isn’t that great?!” he’d asked, with an eagerness to please that would’ve made her feel like she’d kicked a puppy if she said no.

So she’d done her little exercise in futility, took her train to nowhere and back, then walked to the edge of the porte-cochère of Shigaraki’s skyrise — a journey which only killed fifteen minutes altogether. 

She didn’t enter the building, opting to wander the bustling, affluent streets of Roppongi until she could find a place to sit and wait for Mirio’s call so that she could lie to her wonderful boyfriend further in their little simulated commute together.

God, she really was a piece of shit.

“Forced how? We can just talk about what we usually talk about!” Mirio insisted, ever the ray of positivity.

“But we usually didn’t even talk that much.” she said, attempting to rub the kink out of her neck, “We were on the train looking out the window for most of it.”

“We can still do that!”

She cocked a brow, “You want me to just have you on the phone and not say anything for twenty minutes?”

“No, no, no, we can talk about what we see!”

She froze. Shit. What did she see? Shigaraki’s skyrise stood obnoxiously a few blocks down, a blinding testament to how much this lie would inevitably fuck her. There was no way she could describe that. And yet she couldn’t help but question if everything around her was definitively Tokyo — if that was even a thing. She could see a crepe shop, a Cartier store, a luxury hotel — they had all of those in Yokohama too, right?!

“O-Okay,” she stammered, “You start.”

Luckily, he seemed totally unphased.

“Well, I seeee… a cake shop. And some pigeons. And—” he gasped, “Oh my god, is that an elephant?!?!”

She cocked a brow, the verity in his voice making her forget her panic for a moment, “Oh shut up, there is not.”

“Cross my heart, babe — it’s right in front of me! And woah, I think it stubbed its toe! Someone better call a tow truck!”

“...”

“...”

She couldn’t hold back a loud snort of laughter. And she could practically hear Mirio grin proudly on the other end.

“Was that a good one?”

“You can hear me rolling my eyes right?”

There were moments, like these, where she was able to fool herself into thinking her life was normal. Moments where she genuinely enjoyed talking with her boyfriend and forgot about the reason why they weren’t walking together. Forgot about where exactly she was walking to and about the complicated feelings surrounding all of it. A moment where she was able to fool herself into thinking she was as happy and perky as she pretended to be. 

A moment where her neck didn’t hurt.

…But these moments were always brief.

“And what do you see?”

Her smile weakened. She needed to wrap this up fast.

“I see… My cram school.”

Well, at least that wasn’t a total lie.

Mirio’s disappointment was palpable, “Oh man, already?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry… It’s really close to the station.” 

He let out a sad, breathy laugh, “...This isn’t really worth the trouble of trying to coordinate, is it?”

“Afraid not.” she agreed, “Especially since I have a transfer in Ota City. It probably won’t line up perfectly like this every day.”

“I know you’re right…”

She could hear the “but” hanging off the end of that sentence, the hope in his voice that wanted to try regardless. But even Mirio was able to accept when something was completely hopeless.

“We’re still on for next Sunday though, right?” she offered.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” he said, trying to remain positive, although obviously less enthusiastic than before.

Continue on AO3

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[lost-technology]

Take Me Out to the Black

Tri-Tober Fanfic shorts Prompt 10: Travel Setting: Trigun Maximum and / or Stampede Summary: "...tell 'em I ain't comin' back." Rem embarks on SEEDS.

Take Me Out to the Black   There was a tremor in her bones, a sense of adventure she hadn’t felt since childhood, but more so, a sense of anxiety.  It had taken years of study, years of training and staggering qualifications to qualify for this trip, particularly in her position on it.  Rem Saverem could have simply signed up for Settler Class, but she would have not been preferred, being a single woman.  Families were preferred to establish a foothold on any new world that Project SEEDS came to.  What was more was that she wanted to be a part of it all, not a mere traveler. She wanted to do something useful.  She had procured the coveted position of Navigation Officer on one of the great vessels, which, while not the highest rank on any of the ships, was one of the most important and required the peculiar skill of being able to tolerate long periods of isolation.  She’d wanted some time to think.  This was going to be a kind of travel unlike any she had known – unlike any that anyone had known, really.  There were people who had gone up in “probe-ships” before, staying within the solar system before returning to Earth to test theories and equipment.  The Moon and Mars colonization projects hadn’t been faring as well as initially hoped, but people had established footholds there.  Still, Humanity’s best shot for long term survival was out further.  Rem knew that “watching the stars go by” wasn’t as much of an option as the old science fiction films made it out to be.  Much of the view would go by imperceptibly, and that would be when she was awake.  It was going to be nothing like watching scenery change from mountains to valleys to beaches and deserts or up and back again from the window of a train or an automobile.  It was going to be nothing like those trips to the mountains that she took as a child, watching the world go by and stepping out to smell the green in some of the last semi-wild places.  She wasn’t even going to watch the world, her cradle, her home, become a pale blue dot in the expanse of black as the fleet launched above and away.  Rem was not a part of the First Watch.  As she settled in for her last checks – a monitor on her blood-pressure, engineers helping her get her arms and legs rested into position in her stasis-chamber, she thought about what she was leaving behind.  It was a good thing, Rem concluded, after all, that she would not say goodbye to the Earth in real time.  The instantaneous homesickness could make her long to get off the ship, to back out – and it was far too late to do that now.  She had decided that she did not want to live on this planet anymore and there was no space for regrets.  The unwanted mental image flashed through her of Alex’s pale face as she was identifying his body at the city morgue.  No…she couldn’t take another long goodbye, not one that she would see.  It was better to focus on the future – the unknown and to wonder what it might bring. 

[bitterarcs]

Snot nosed wasn’t the most accurate description; it was particularly inept considering a silver, mako coloured spoon had been in the boy’s mouth since the moment of birth. It was a reality so unlike what he both experienced and witnessed, that, despite loyal ties to ShinRa, he held no particular positive alignments to the child who would become president one day. Any board member and employee with a single working eye and several brain cells could perceive the tension between father and son, and what for? Rufus ShinRa was the spitting image of his father, if not in appearance ( yet ) then in ambition and razor edge personality.

Father issues —  toss a rock in a crowd, and someone was liable to hit ten people with resentments toward one or both parents. Equally as difficult as it was to breach the mindset of someone born into wealth and power was liking said person, however Reno was a professional and did not require emotions to dictate loyalty. Each day was a test for the Turks. Reno wondered from time to time, mostly idly, if he would ever reach a point when he could stroll though headquarters without pants and not receive a reprimand —  if he ever felt as though his head was not on some chopping block.

Never, most likely, though Tseng and Rude appeared serene with their behaviour, perhaps because they were simply more level-headed than he. Reno’s personality was allowed to shine out from the darkness of professional then and now, but he kept his head down . . for the most part. Work, rest. Work, rest. A little bit of play. As long as the higher ups were not roaming the halls, headquarters proved the unlikely place to relax. With Verdot nowhere in sight and Tseng doing Tseng things, it was up to Reno to pester his bald headed partner until the man cracked.

                                  (  ❛  Drinks? No drinks? Alright, then, let’s haze the SOLDIER recruits. We need to see if they can handle the heat, no? We get a smoke bomb and then —  come on, man, let’s do something FUN.  ❜  )

Tension was evident in the other man’s posture, but there was no sign of lips parting for a response. Reno stood on the tips of his toes and attempted to wrap an arm around the other Turk’s shoulders in a jovial manner. From behind sunglasses, a dense glare was tossed his way as shoulders easily shrugged off the advance.

                                       (  ❛  How about . . these.    ❜  )

He faked a move to the left and used his swiftness to snatch Rude’s sunglasses and evade an unforgiving hand. The redhead performed a pirouette to place more distance between them, and then wagged a finger reproachfully at the large Turk.

                                       (  ❛  I make the rookies fight for this.   ❜  )

It was no surprise the idea did not qualify what Rude considered fun. A grunt of displeasure formed in the other Turk’s throat before he threw himself forward; the length of his reach a fair opponent against Reno’s swiftness. He kept himself facing forward against Rude, chuckling as he darted like a mischievous child. Surprise, at least the closest thing he had ever witnessed, moved across Rude’s face. He stood his ground, and just barely got out Reno’s name when the redhead slammed into something . . someone that was not a wall.

The sunglasses fell from his grip in midst of the chaotic movement, and expression of displeasure across Reno’s face evaporated when he turned on his heels. It wasn’t some dumb desk jockey; it was Rufus ShiRa. The colour drained from Reno’s face, even seemed to drain from the crimson markings on his cheekbones. The little boy had fallen, and worst of all, Reno’s elbow had jammed his lip against his teeth. Against the white of his attire and the palor of his complexion, the crimson hue was frighteningly visible.

                                           (  ❛ Shit. I mean fuck. No, sorry, sir. I didn’t mean it. Rude . . and I . . and sorry. I’m really sorry.   ❜  )

An attempt to help the boy only resulted in a nasty expression crossing face and hands being smacked away. FuckfuckfuckFUCK. The president was going to have his nuts in a vice grip for that. There was no coming back from the shitlist after that. Reno did not know what humility was, but he attempted to rouse it at the moment for the sake of his livelihood.

                       [  BLEED  ]  for  reno to make rufus bleed.    @ivory-paragon​​                                                         (   is this a love confession, rufus ??  )  

[f1]

Perez concedes Verstappens Miami GP victory was well-deserved after finishing runner-up

Sergio Perez took pole position for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix but fell to second behind Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen, who made a stunning recovery from P9, and the Mexican driver admitted that the reigning champion earned his win. Perez qualified first on the grid while Verstappen ended up ninth after Charles Leclerc’s spin cut Q3 short on Saturday. The #11 driver led Fernando Alonso away off the line on medium tyres while Verstappen made steady progress from ninth to the front on hard tyres. READ MORE: Verstappen overhauls Perez for Miami GP victory as Red Bull intra-team battle steps up a gear When Perez pitted for hard compounds, he lost the lead to Verstappen, regaining it later on when Verstappen swapped for new medium tyres – but he couldn’t hold off the two-time champion for long. “Yeah, I mean I tried – I gave it all,” said Perez. “I think the first stint was really poor with the graining that we had on that initial pace. And that compromised quite a lot of our race. We didn’t have too much of a difference on tyre, and Max was particularly strong today, so a well-deserved win for him. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2023 Miami Grand Prix: Verstappen battles past team mate Perez to take the lead "We had a bit of a fight on track which was quite clean – to the limit but clean – but putting the team in front of us," he reiterated. "Again, a great team result but today Max deserved the victory because he was the strongest car out there." Perez added that his stint on medium tyres early in the race wasn’t ideal, adding that he would have to “analyse” why he couldn’t build a lead in his first stint before switching to hard compounds. HIGHLIGHTS: Watch as Verstappen eclipses team mate Perez to win Miami Grand Prix He added: “I think the medium initially was really poor. Worse than expected. I think that really compromised our pace, and in all honesty, I think Max also had tremendous pace on the hard tyre, and I think I’ve got to analyse what went wrong today because we simply didn’t have the pace… and hopefully be [back] to our normal pace in Imola. “You cannot afford a bad weekend, so a bad weekend needs to be a P2,” he added. Verstappen leads the championship by a slim 14 points heading to Imola while Red Bull hold a sizeable 122-point lead in the constructors’ standings after another impressive one-two finish. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com