#always seems like the character is just bashing on other women…

[screeching-lavender-sweater]

I hate when I’m reading a book and following the story of a powerful female character, but then she hates sewing

[ohdeersthings]

Float Like Clouds

Neteyam x F!Reader

Part 2 of: Soft as Clouds

Summary: Neteyam becomes a clumsy fool around you, and the clan has started to notice you more

Warning: Neteyam being clumsy asf, Reader being over-stimulated, was not proof read 😂

Note: BTW all my characters and the love interest from the movie/show are always aged up to 18+

Neteyam groaned into his hand, his body flush with humiliation. Ever since you started coming around more after that day when you brought Tuk back and he'd gotten to know you, he now thought you were the most precious thing in the world. The way you seemed to float by, an aura of peace and patience enveloping your whole essence.

Unfortunately that meant he embarrassed the shit out of himself every chance he got. Just moments ago he had tried to approach you to say hello but he tripped and while flailing his arms like an idiot to not fall, he grabbed the nearest thing which happened to have been a rope connected to a crate, pulling it ontop of himself and bashing his head.

Nearby girls and men his age had laughed under their breath, enjoying the sight of the future Olo'eyktan making himself look like a fool in front of the clans beauty, you holding that title now that attention has been shifted to you.

You however were worried and ran over, carefully brushing his braids back to examine his head and sighing in relief that Neteyam was alright. He ignored the others around and focused only on you, his palms becoming clammy and his nerves were on edge, but once you told him he was alright he found himself running off so he didn't have to look you in the eyes anymore.

The gatherers talked about how you were the perfect gatherer, always knowing what to do with fruits and herbs. Hunters boasted about how the food you harvested went beautifully with their hunts of the days. Healers reveled in the fact your herbs were perfectly collected, divided up and placed neatly. Men his age whispered about how graceful and patient you were, a prize for any man. Women gossiped about how you were so perfect, but they reeked of jealousy.

If only he could talk to you without making a joke of himself, but it seemed Eywa had other plans for him.

From outside the tent where he had hidden himself, he heard the clans people going about their day. Neteyam could barely make out his own families voices, Tuks being the loudest as she talked to who he could only imagine was you.

"Come on! We gotta get to the clearing before the flowers bloom! You said it would be amazing!" Tuks voice was full of excitement, almost a demanding tone. Neteyam could see a vision of her trying to pull and push you, your face probably just a smile as you had a soft spot for the youngest Sully sibling. "Actually we need (Y/n) for something," came a unrecognizable voice, more soon followed.

"We need her to help us gather more food!" "Well we need her to help us decide which size basket to weave,"

Many clans people had started to argue, Neteyam deciding enough was enough. He stepped outside of the tent and saw many people surrounding you, Tuk had been pushed off to the side and was trying to get back through the crowd.

You on the other hand, were down right overwhelmed. Everyday someone had tried to have you do something, go somewhere or talk to somebody. You wanted things to go back to the way they were before. You missed laying on the grass or tree branches without a care in the world.

Your breath had started to get heavy, your chest feeling like it couldn't expand. Clutching your hands to your chest to make yourself feel smaller, your eyes darted everywhere, trying to find some type of escape. The feeling of being closed in almost brought tears to your eyes.

"Enough!"

Neteyams voice cut through the crowd, their voices going silence at once. He stalked through the crowd, shoving people out of the way,"you all are ridiculous! You've been perfectly capable before (Y/n) graced you with her presence, now go away and leave her and Tuk alone!"

There was a bit of a growl with his voice that made your tail twitch, but his arm around your shoulder helped ground you as he brought you out of the crowd and towards Tuk.

"Breathe (Y/n), it's okay, they won't bother you again," Neteyam whispered into your ear, Tuk grabbing your hand to help you relax. "I hate when they do that, (Y/n) gets so upset," Tuk told him softly, they both lead you away to the forest, the place they knew you loved more than anything.

Coming to a small clearing, you felt your breath stabilize and you gave Tuk a smile, a hand caressing her face,"I'm sorry you had to see me like that Tuk," this made her confused. You didn't ask for the village people to go crazy, and they had caused to you have some weird attack, so why were you apologizing? Neteyam himself thought you were a blessing, even though you were so overwhelmed you only focused on Tuk and how she felt.

"Tuk, why don't you go ahead to those flowers you mentioned and we'll be right along?" Tuk threw a questioning gaze at Neteyam, but smirked when a thought crossed her mind, "Oh okay, don't take too long!" She giggled, running off through the bushes.

He helped you sit on a fallen tree,"Are you alright?" Neteyam turned his attention towards you completely, finding you smiling at him a little uneasy. "Yes, thank you Neteyam," the way you said his name made him buzz with energy, but he coughed, his own smile gracing his lips to help you feel better, "They shouldn't have acted like that, I know you don't like the hustle and bustle of village life, though that must be hard now that your friendship with Tuk is public,"

You nodded with a small shrug of your shoulders," Yes I suppose it is, but Tuk makes it worth while," you sighed fondly, Neteyam chuckling, "I do miss being able to sneak around the people without being stopped every few seconds, but it's not all bad when I get to spend time with you guys,"

Neteyam felt his tail begin to slightly move and twitch, "with just Tuk or?" He left the sentence open, wanting you to finish it as he scooched in closer, his body and face all giddy.

"Well, Tuk will always come first," you nudged his arm with yours, but when you turned your eyes to look at him, a sort of smirk on your lips as you stared into his eyes,"but I find it quite funny to watch you,"

Neteyam groaned in his throat, leaning his head back,"Please don't remind me, I always make a fool out of myself when I try to talk to you," you smiled, placing a hand on his knee, "I think it's cute,"

Neteyam thought your hands were so soft and gentle, but if your hand stayed any longer he'd probably end up doing something crazy. "Should we go join Tuk?" He stood up, reaching a hand out to help you up. You nodded, hand in his as you stood up, both beginning to walk in the direction that Tuk had disappeared too.

~.~

"There you are!" Tuk laughed, running up to you and pulling you away from her brother who frowned, noticing your hand had slipped out of his. "Look, they're about to bloom!"

In the vast meadow you three stood in, different colored flower bulbs that had a glow were slowly starting to open, Eclipse casting a shadow as night began.

"What is so important about these flowers?" Neteyam wondered, but you looked to him with that soft smile, so gentle and he felt himself swoon, "watch,"

As the bulbs opened, small, light like creatures began to emerge. Different colors of yellow, gold, white, even a few blue started to float upwards towards the sky, the wind softly blowing them to and from.

"These light bugs only come once a year, they're better to spot at night," you informed, a laugh escaping when Tuk began to run through them.

Neteyam crept up beside you, "Beautiful," he mumbled, but he was trained on your face in the glowing of the lights. Your own white freckles on your face decorated your cheeks and nose, your green eyes seeming to glow, now with the reflection of these light bugs, it seemed you held a thousand stars in your eyes.

"Yes, almost takes my breath away," You whispered, glancing at him to find him staring at you already. You felt your cheeks warm under his gaze, starting to turn away when you felt him tenderly grab your hand into his, bringing it to his chest where his heart sat.

You gasped, your body turning flush into his as he held your hand to his heart, his other hand brushing your cheek.

You both could only stand there, eyes gazing into each other. So confused, yet certain this felt right, the two of you having only known each other personally for a short time but still feeling a pull towards one another.

"(Y/N)" Neteyam whispered, "I want you to know, um," he stumbled over his words, trying to find the right thing to say. "Neteyam," you whispered back, your faces seeming to get closer.

"(Y/n)!" Tuk yelled, your face instantly turning toward her and you watched as she laughed and ran through the light bugs, her hands beckoning for you to join her.

You gazed back at Neteyam who's eyes were shut, his head falling back as he let out a big breath exasperated, his own sister had stopped him in his moment of courage,"Don't look so sad," you giggled, "we can always continue this later,"

Neteyams eyes shot open at that, his face in shock as you skipped off to join Tuk in the tall grass, the light bugs making you look even more enchanting, his eyes trailing over your body.

'I am in way over my head,' he thought, but chuckled and ran to join two of his favorite girls.

~.~

When Tuk had began to tire out, Neteyam carried her as the two of you started the walk back to the village. Her soft snores made you smile, eyes looking over her tired form that was drapped on Neteyams back.

"So, maybe we should do this again," Neteyam started, eyes trying to focus on the ground but he would glance up quickly to see your face. To his relief, you were bashfully looking at him too.

"All three of us or?" Your phrasing reminded him of earlier and he laughed, "Maybe just the two of us, Tuk wouldn't mind if I stole you every once and a while right?" He knew Tuk definitely would, but if she knew he was trying to make (Y/n) her sister officially, it might change her mind.

"I don't see why not, maybe you could take me flying?" Your soft voice and slight pep to your step had him grinning from ear to ear. "Really!? I mean," he cleared his throat, trying to deepen it, "I mean, sure yeah," he shrugged, your laugh making him feel like he was walking on air.

Coming to his families tent, you lightly traced your fingers up Tuks back, whispering goodnight as she sleepily 'hmmed', Neytiri appearing to take her from her oldest so that you and her son could have a moment to say goodnight.

You acknowledged their mother, "Hello, Neytiri," Neytiri smiled at you, nodding her head as she slipped back into the tent.

"So, I'll see you later?" Neteyam asked, his yellow eyes were holding your green ones hostage. Your lips pursed, eyes looking off to the side like you were thinking.

"How about one hour? Take me on a night time ride?" He felt his stomach get tingly, not able to make a noise as he nodded rather fast pace. You left him speechless by your next move.

You grabbed his necklace and pulled him down to your height, your lips laying on his own for a moment and then you were gone with a wink over your shoulder.

Neteyam felt frozen, still as a statue where you'd left him with a longing sense for you to stay, but excitement for the next hour to hurry up. Heartbeat racing, he found some function back and touched his fingers to his lips.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, "Soft as clouds,"

~.~

Part 3?? 👀

Taglist:

@jaymiemallari21 @ssc7514 @itsemy01 @zbeez-outlet @danamq1 @cwufst @sourpatches111 @eywas-heir @heaven1oo4 @neteyamforlife @naynay2808 @msjae @ultimatebluff @jjkclub @ksata @destinylb @otukirey @saniyahgordon @nijha2tact @laylabunbunny @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @rax-raxus @ilivboi @coocciz @jiru-camels @whenercolorfulrainbowlol @lothvt @teyamdefender17 @v4mp1rr3 @tejas-kris @jimfiqs @catcrapandpuppypoo @serpientez @thexplosivegirl @xoxobabe @inluvwithneteyam @dead-28 @brooklynscherry-z @weridpersonhelp @he110hon @rainbowsocks

[aangarchy]

My friend is watching ATLA for the first time and was complaining about "Katara's many boyfriends." I had to stop and remind her that not only is Katara 13 and going through puberty and hormones, she's also never interacted with a male her age besides her brother. She never really thought romance could be an option for at least a long time, with how small her village is

Ugh, i genuinely have a deep rooted disgust for people who complain about Katara being a normal teenage girl in this show.

I also really wonder where they get the idea that she has many boyfriends, because the only guy she truly had a romantic connection with besides Aang was Jet. I'm assuming for the other "boyfriends" they mean Haru and Teo, both of whom were literally just friends with her and happened to help her with something. It's also not even about "suddenly romance being an option", it's not like she threw herself at every handsome boy she happened to stumble upon after leaving the south?

Haru and Katara bonded over lost parents and Katara did Haru a great service by inspiring him and his dad to get out of prison, and Katara never did any of that because she had a crush on Haru. She did it because she has an incredibly strong sense of justice and hates standing by when people are suffering and families are torn apart. A crush on Haru was never even implied, except for when Haru told Toph that Katara inspired him and his people to break free, and Katara blushed. But even that, she could just be bashful bc Haru gave her such high praise. With Teo, yea he literally just helped her get on a glider for the first time, i do not see a romantic connection whatsoever. Jet was truly the one guy that Katara fell for, because 1) he's older, 2) he saved her from fire nation soldiers and showed up her older brother, and 3) he's a good manipulator that knew Katara found him attractive and used it to his advantage.

It always seems like Katara specifically is being held to such high standards. She's a skank bc she has too many boys around her, she's annoying bc she brings up her mother a few times, she's bossy bc she tells Aang and Sokka not to do anything dangerous, she's overbearing bc she told Toph to help out while setting up camp.

It's misogyny 101. Sokka is allowed to be loud and obnoxious, Zuko is allowed to act out of anger and grieve his mother, but Katara apparently should just sit down and be quiet. People say all of this when Katara is easily one of the most fleshed out female characters of cartoons in the early 2000's, but because they're not used to women being fleshed out suddenly she's "too much".

Sorry for going on such a tangent but ppl like this truly do piss me off lmao.

[litiyerses]

calypso having an emotion-centered character and being viewed & getting treated as the ‘evil woman’ is actually a reflection of how every woman's emotions are villainized when they’re shown vividly and are a main part of their character in popular media.

in general media and riordanverse specifically, women with emotions are always looked down upon because showing emotions is regarded as a dramatic act so when a female character shows and acts on their emotiotions they get degraded and instantly despised because of it. this is done with every single female character while male characters who show emotion are treated like saints and found worthy of self redemption. this happened with annabeth when she didn’t want to believe luke was the bad guy and wanted to try bring him back because she was manipulated by him her entire life, meanwhile luke, who did batshit crimes like causing hundreds of innocent deaths, manipulating little girls by flirting with them, admitting his crush to a 16 year-old at his ripe age of 23, is remembered as a hero and considered ‘redeemed himself’ after sacrificing himself while annabeth was called insufferable when she didn’t believe he was evil in the first place. let’s not forget piper, who’s a lesbian that was forced into a relationship with a man by a goddess and thought she was in the wrong for not feeling right with jason. during the entire relationship she was experiencing a very hard comphet and couldn’t figure herself out because of the fake memories, everybody was bashing her when she was acting confused, when she was, in fact confused. i have a longer post about this specific topic, so if you guys wanna check it out it’s right here. 

 coming back to calypso, first we need to clear out the misconceptions about her curse on percy that affected annabeth. she wasn't blind nor was personally attacking annabeth, her curse was to make someone feel like how she was feeling all time and that’s why percy and annabeth couldn’t reach out to one another while being right next to each other. annabeth’s blindness came from the titan she defeated in the sea of monsters and is actually the first curse to be put by the arai on them, so it has nothing to do with calypso. the curse was affecting annabeth because she happened to be the person percy loved and was right next to him. if percy was there alone either percy would feel alone and abandoned or the curse wouldn’t affect him at all, since there’s no person he can go back to save. and the curse itself wasn’t even a death wish type of curse she just wanted to be heard, be acknowledged and wanted free off her island. not to forget the curse wasn't harming or killing any of them yet it’s still demonized more than by literally every other thing that happened in the books. nothing luke has ever done is seen as evil as her curse just because it was by her and i’m pretty positive if something like this was shown in pjo by luke it would be glossed over and romanticized in the fandom. further proof of how a male character's actions get brushed off and forgiven easily but soon a female character does something even slightly questionable they get villainized on the spot.

she is also despised because she doesn't let everyone's favorite man get away with his misogynistic stuff. calypso doesn't treat leo any worse than he treats her. whenever she starts arguing it is a response to something leo has said or done, which in the most case she's in the right but leo gets so much slack from his past and being fandom favorite to be held accountable for the way he treats people. he's always been written as a misogynist, he never treated any women with any respect. he always had some sort of disrespect for every female character he seems have some sort of closure with like piper, hazel, calypso, the list goes on, but yet calypso is always expected to be more 'tolerable and understanding' bc of his trauma, as if every single character in the series isn't written upon a single trauma they had and have their character built on it. and he always had a problem dealing with others and their emotions and instead of expecting him to be working to change that, calypso is expected to adjust his manners.

oddly enough, she's also expected to show some gratitude towards leo for saving her, when she never asked him to do so and not for a second believed that he was actually going to come back when he said he would. is she grateful that he came back and freed her? yes. should she feel any obligations to make him feel greater because of it? NO. everything leo did for calypso was his and only his choice and nobody else's. calypso is happy that he did so, but expecting her to tolarate every single thing he does solely because of that is wrong.

[elliebyrrdwrites]

Dramione Drabble 31

DISCLAIMER: It’s come to my attention that Ron Bashing is very upsetting to some readers. So , please do note that this post uses the Ron Weasley tag because he is a significant character in this particular story, also this is his POV . HOWEVER, please mind that this also includes a Ron bashing tag. If you are offended by Ron bashing, don’t bother.

I had to write this one, the inspiration hit and I’ll be in LA all day tomorrow visiting my sister. So here we go! Also, I’m adding to the next chapter on ao3, so it will be a minute before I post it.

Ron had mixed feelings about working the night shift on the beat. Before they were ordered to have a partner with them at all times, he’d been able to pop into Hermione’s or even Parvati’s while on patrol. Some nights, he was able to visit both witches.

He wasn’t proud of what he had done to Hermione. Parvati had been aware, from the beginning, that he had no intention of leaving Hermione. She was his til the end. And he was hers.

The thing with Parvati wasn’t serious and she had been okay with that. It was just a way to get that little bit extra he wasn’t getting with Hermione. He had assumed that she was content, if not happy, with their love life. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her that he needed more.

But, what if she had been severely disappointed. Maybe that was why she never complimented him, never praised him, never rolled off of him in a state of pure bliss.

With Hermione, it was always straight to work. She’d have to make tea, or clean her kitchen, or catch up on paperwork.

What if she wasn’t satisfied and that was why she kept busy after? What if she was seeking that little extra bit that Ron couldn’t give her from someone else.

What if that someone was Malfoy? He seemed to sordid type to get off on hitting his women or choking them. Hermione was not that kind of girl. She never asked Ron for anything naughty.

But Ron watched her, wondering. She avoided eye contact with him whenever they passed by one another. Ron would fantasize about grabbing her hand, pulling her into an office. Anyone’s office, it didn’t matter. Whichever one was nearby. And he’d go down on her and make her cry and shout out his name. She’d thank him for being so good to her, for making her cum so hard. Ask him to take her back. You know, shit like that. Something fantastical. Something erotic.

Ron would stop at the end of the hall and watch her.

With Malfoy, she’d look right into his creepy pale eyes and smile. She’d look at his bruised face, the dried blood on his lip that never seemed to go away and her eyes would fucking light up.

Hermione would look right into his face and see something in or past all of those sneers and scowls. She was blind to the monster lurking within.

Even worse now, she resembles him. The scowls and the sneers have migrated and taken residence on her beautiful round features, her eyes just as cold and pale as Malfoys.

She was scary, now. Other Aurora avoided her gestate, shivered when they thought she wasn’t looking. Whispered about her behind her back.

And now her and Harry were both looking at Ron like he was the monster. Ron was only human, and humans were animals. Fucking was just a natural need. It delivered the endorphins that were desperately needed after the war, after losing his brother.

Everyone did it. Every being did it. The birds and the bees and all that shit. It’s just that when Ron got off, he needed to be told what a good, sweet boy he was. That he was a hero., a savior. Someone worthy.

But sometimes, once upon a time, Hermione would look at him like he was. He missed it. Fuck, he missed her. It’s a terrible thing. That, even though Ron had fucked up and he still had Parvati, he didn’t want to give up Hermione. He loved her body as much as any others, probably more. No man enjoyed accepting the idea that he would no longer have it to himself. Maybe never again.

And Ron certainly didn’t accept the fact that Malfoy might be the new proud owner of that particular one.

“Hey, Weasley.”

Oh, right. The other reason he hated these shifts. Not only could he not drop by Hermione’s, he was permanently stuck with Anthony Goldstein. He wasn’t a terrible bloke. But he was shifty, a bit off. His movements were jerky, timid. He looked like somebody who didn’t belong on the force. He looked like someone who was thrown into it, forced to become an Auror and had never accepted that fact.

Ron pinched his lips together, and pulled his eyes from the corner building where Hermione lived. Her windows were dark. She probably wasn’t home.

He nodded to Goldstein in acknowledgment.

“Isn’t this the apothecary where Hermione and Malfoy got into that altercation?”

Goldstein was staring into window of the shop. The lights were dim, as if to still keep the potions advertised on display in the front window. Or perhaps the witch who ran the place was still inside, cleaning up.

Ron stepped up beside him. The wizard flinched and Ron couldn’t help the roll of his eyes. “Yeah,” He sighed. “That’s the one.”

Goldstein looked up at and stared. Ron could feel his eyes assessing him. “You and Malfoy don’t get along, do you?”

Ron dug his hands into his pockets, thumbing the wand nestled inside and laughed. One short, derisive bark. “What makes you think that, Goldstein?” He frowned and shook his head, a little ashamed at the acidic tone of his voice. “Look, let’s just say that the day where every day of my life stops revolving around Malfoy, will be the best day of my life.”

Anthony was still staring at him. Ron was staring at the window, at the dim light of the back room, a shadow moving. Through his peripheral, Goldstein was nodding slowly. He might have been grinning, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Goldstein hated conflict, he was a bit of a coward

But then Goldstein moved for the door. “We should go in.”

Ron shook his head. “Nah, she’s closing up. Besides it wasn’t our crime scene.”

“I heard she hadsa love potion. It might help mend whatever went sour between you and Hermione.”

“No thanks, mate.” Ron chuckled nervously. “I’ve had one too many experiences with love potions.”

“But, this isn’t like Amortentia. This one helps to…alter the way you think.” Goldstein voice was less flinchy and more persuasive than he had ever heard him. It was unsettling.

“That’s Barmy.”

“The witch who brews it says it allows you to connect with your lover on some kind of mental or spiritual level.”

“I’m not slipping ‘Mione anything, Goldstein.”

“You wouldn’t have to.” He opened the door and said, as he stepped inside. “You take the potion. All you need is a strand of her hair to add to it.”

And then Goldstein was disappearing into the shop and into the dark shadows of the potion filled shelves. “What the — Goldstein!” Had the wizard lost his mind?

Stepping into the Apothecary sent a shudder down Ron’s spine. The hairs on his arms stood. Something was definitely off about this. But the witch didn’t seem to notice or care about the jingle of the bell on her door, and Goldstein was lost somewhere in the vast array of potions. Some of them glittered, some were glowing in the dark. Some were as dark as the sky outside.

None of them seemed ordinary. Most of them, Ron didn’t recognize.

But he crept along the shelving, the habit of staying quiet and undetected hard to break. He passed shelves labeled things like Elixirs for Life. Others with the words, Poisons to live by. But when Ron reached the shelf that was labeled, Love, Sex and other maladies, he knew he was in the middle of something shady.

Of course, none of that helped him to prepare for the figure that leapt out in front of him, or for the wand that was pointed directly at his temple before the voice whispered the incantation that would turn his brain into dough, softening into something that could be kneaded and molded into surrendering. Ron’s entire body locked up, his mind went quiet.

Nothing was the same. Nothing was known. His name, his desires, his job.

No, for Ron, everything had changed the second that voice had uttered the word to end it all, “Imperio.”

[shewhotellsstories]

Pen stans are so so so weird. I got so many asks talking about how Penelope is the hottest bridgerton girlie and Kate stans are just coping. Even got one saying Kate is skinny and weird like a man.

Like even if it doesn't sound overtly racist to me it is! Comparing a brown woman to a MAN??? the racism omg. Also seriously if penelope was the "hottest bridgerton girlie" wouldn't that just be a unanimous opinion that wouldn't have to be shared everywhere?

Like the second a woc becomes too attractive for them (like threatening their place in how white women are considered the most attractive by this fucked up system) they get so angry and jealous and vindictive. And then they swear up and down that they're woke (but only when it benefits them!! Omg isn't being plus sized the worst possible minority to be!)

Sorry for the rant. I'm just angry.

Hi Anon,

My inbox is always open for people who need to rant. That is infuriating, but not surprising. It's becoming obvious that a certain fandom can't seem to just support their fave and their ship without not only bashing other characters but bashing other actresses. Calling Simone a man isn't even subtle racism, Jesus.

Why can't they talk about Nicola's beauty without putting Simone down or labeling her a mean girl when she's said nothing but kind things about her fellow castmates? And it's like I said, they might be plus-sized, but from defending Penelope calling Kate a beast to calling an Indian woman manish they're not beating those racist white feminist allegations anytime soon.

Simone Ashley deserves better, Ruby Barker deserves better, and Black and brown fans deserve to not have to see this kind of nonsense constantly.

PSA: If you can't uplift a plus-sized woman without beating up on a woman of color, you're racist.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ARII HII

I cannot for the love of god stand the satoru cheating allegations 😭😭😭

Some brain dead redditors are so annoyingg omgg they keep bashing our perfect lil boy toru like they keep forcing him to be some sort of a heartless cheater who cheats continuously and hops from woman to woman??

They keep using this one gege interview as evidence to back up their brainless claims where gege said that “satoru wears his glasses when he goes out to see/pick up women”

AND IM LIKE??? Okay is that the only thing you have to backup all your bs (it’s other idiotic crap too) 🤦‍♀️

Like Gege might’ve said that to troll the gojo fans, or even if let’s say that statement is true it can be interpreted as him having like short-lived relief from his title as the strongest like maybe a one night stand but he would feel really shitty afterwards BECAUSE HE CRAVES GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS NOT HOOKING UP AND FLINGS 🤦‍♀️

It’s written everywhere in the manga that he needs to be understood and not some temporary relief by hooking up which is not something he cares for so idk why gege said that (the sunglasses woman thing) it doesn’t align with his character ☹️

ALSO DONT GET ME STARTED WITH THE MISTRANSLATION LINE 😭💀💔

ahhhhhhhhhhhh the cheater gojo allegations……. my old friend……………….. (<- said with exhaustion)

to be clear !!!! i have nothing against anyone who likes cheater!gojo, it just . isn’t for me/doesn’t align with the way i see him!!! :’3 realistically i don’t think it’d be easy for gojo to be in a committed relationship, but that’s because he’s bad with intimacy/sincerity, NOT because he would cheat on his partner. it just seems silly to me!!!! gojo is a good guy at the end of the day, the worst he’ll do is ghost you 😭 and even then it’ll be with both your best interests at heart, yk? he isn’t cruel.

… i will also add that . ace!gojo is real to me lmao so i just don’t see him . liking sex that much 💀 definitely not enough to cheat, anyway. so this take just… isn’t for me in a Lot of ways </3 i don’t think he’s the type to hook up with people at all because sex is something that demands a level of intimacy. one that i frankly don’t think gojo is comfortable giving. idk virgin!gojo is canon to me i can’t lie to you anon…

BUT. in regards to the akutami thing!!!! i think the jjk fandom is absolutely awful when it comes to spreading misinformation/bad translations 😭😭 and this little tidbit is a common example!!!! the interview that you’re referencing is this:

this translation is by @/soukatsu_ on twt!!! i highly recommend checking them out because their translations are always very accurate and thoughtful :3 i’d also recommend reading this, where they explain this q&a answer in particular!! but tldr: this answer is foreshadowing for the hidden inventory arc, where satoru meets riko (and is wearing glasses). it doesn’t have any bearing on his actual character and his ”tendencies to pick up girls” or whatever 😭

and even assuming it isn’t foreshadowing, akutami is literally just saying that gojo might wear shades when meeting a girl. meaning — he wears his glasses when he wants to make a good impression/connect with someone!! again, it literally does nothing to imply that gojo meets girls often, or that he’d cheat on them, and etc. there’s no actual evidence for that take in the manga. people are free to make what interpretations they want obviously!! but. yeah. not for me <33

[tumbleweed-writes]

Now That I Have You: Chibs Telford X Original Character. Chapter Five

Previous Chapter HERE

Chibs sat back at a table in the clubhouse, a short fat glass of Jameson in front of him and the noise and the usual chaos of a usual night at the clubhouse around him.

Though Friday nights were always the biggest, most insane bashes, Thursday nights were almost just as crazy. It was like a small pre-party though with much fewer people in attendance.

Of course most nights at the clubhouse always held a party type of atmosphere. When you had an area that was predominantly occupied by bikers and croweaters and added in booze and the occasional drug use then a wild time was bound to be had by just about everyone present.

Chibs sipped his Jameson slowly wanting to pace himself for once in his life. The last thing he needed was to be hungover and in a sour mood tomorrow.

He could imagine a girl like Molly would be unamused if he showed up to dinner hungover. She didn’t seem to be the type to not see signs of that kind of overindulgence as anything other than a red flag. The last thing he wanted was for her to write him off as some old drunk who couldn’t even stay sober long enough to have one dinner date with her. 

He felt his stomach begin to knot up again at the thought of tomorrow night and what was to happen. He felt lost as how to approach this. He wasn’t even entirely sure of what this was. 

He still felt some confusion over just what tomorrow night meant. Was it a date or wasn't it?

Yes Molly had said the words it's a date, but wasn't that just a figure of speech?

What if he showed up tomorrow expecting that this was some kind of first date and it wasn't a date at all? Or vice versa, what if he showed up not expecting a date and it was a date?

He wondered how this had all become so confusing. Then of course women were complicated enough all on their own.

He had almost forgotten just how confusing women could be. Fiona had been confusing but she’d usually been brazen enough to make the first moves. Fiona had technically been the one to propose. After they’d had a close run-in involving a gunfight with some loyalist Englishmen during their fight for the cause she’d been the one who’d snapped at him: we’ve been together long enough. Ya almost got shot in the head. Are ya goin to marry me or not?

He’d been barely twenty one years old and he’d been so dumbfounded by her insistence that they were getting married that he’d only nodded and agreed that it was about time. They’d been in a romantic relationship since they were seventeen after all and they’d been friends since they were fourteen. She had been his first love. It had felt uncomplicated and she’d never been afraid to call all the shots even when he’d been a hardheaded young man. 

He cringed at the thought of his estranged wife, her rejection of him still stinging. 

He would always love Fiona he was sure, he just could not love her in the way he knew he needed to. She would always be his first love, but that love was clearly no longer there. She loved her life in Belfast and he loved his life in the states. She was dedicated to the cause and Chibs was dedicated to SAMCRO. 

The only thing they agreed on was their love for their Kerrianne. Chibs was certain he would always love Fiona as the mother to his child and she would always love him as the father to her child.

That was not enough to build a life on though or in their case to rebuild a life.

Jimmy O’ was dead and gone, but he’d fractured the lives he’d touched. Chibs knew that there was no going back to the life he’d known prior to Jimmy O’s attack.

He was not the same man he’d been in Belfast fighting for the cause. Fiona had grown even more dedicated to the cause and more intune to her faith. Chibs was unsure of what to believe anymore. He believed in a God but was certain he’d be punished by him. Chibs believed in SAMCRO. He still believed in the concept of a free Ireland…but he was aware that the cause was riddled with its issues; greed being a huge one. People got greedy and more interested in other ventures than the company line of a free Ireland. He felt jaded by his interactions with those still intune with the cause. 

He was left feeling tired more often than not when he thought of his past and the things he’d done as well as the man he’d been. He was uncertain of the man he was to become. 

He sighed knowing that he was determined to move forward with a life without Fiona Larkin. 

Something in the back of his brain worried he was using Molly as a crutch to deal with the complex feelings he had towards his estranged wife and daughter. 

Molly and her boy had felt so pure and had given him a chance at a safe haven of sorts. How else could he explain why he was putting so much effort towards them both.

Something in the back of his mind feared that he was diving so quickly into whatever this might become with Molly, due to his own heartbreak over the family and years he’d lost to Jimmy O’.

Another voice in the back of his mind told him that this was not some strange coping technique. He felt genuinely good around Molly and her child. 

They looked at him without fear and reservations. They were new in town and were not quite aware of the reputation SAMCRO and the Sons had around town.

Right now Molly Garrett thought that Chibs was some sort of angel; a godsend to Mason and she.

It made Chibs' heart constrict when he realized that she might not see him as such an angel once she found out the truth.

It would be bad enough when she found out about Fiona, but it would be a disaster when she found out that SAMCRO was more than just an innocent club of mechanics who happened to be motorcycle enthusiasts.

How would she feel once she found out that her godsend was a criminal biker with an estranged wife whom he hadn't quite gotten around to divorcing?

He feared she would view him the same way many of Charming’s residents viewed him.

Chibs knew people around town outside of the Sons innercircle perceived him as the dangerous biker who was more than likely operating on a not so legal side of life.

People feared Samcro. At one point the club had been seen as a necessary evil of Charming. They kept corporations out and kept the small town atmosphere that the residents craved in place.

As time wore on and violence had escalated within the club that sense of SAMCRO being a necessary evil had faded.

The San Joaquin sheriff's department had absorbed the local police department. SAMCRO no longer had the law in their pocket. Sheriff Rooselvelt was no friend of SAMCRO. 

Chibs had risen up in the ranks serving as Jax’s SGT at Arms. It was a position that placed him in harm more often than not. He was meant to serve both as a protector of his club pres as well as an enforcer for the club.

It was a role that demanded a certain level of violence. Chibs had no shame in acts of violence. 

Times were changing and Chibs had found that chaos was a way of life.  

Molly and Mason seemed so pure and he feared tainting them with the chaos and the violence that came wit him. He was certain that if either knew of the violence and chaos that came with his world, they would no longer see him as friendly helpful Filip who was fixing their car and had attempted to fix their home’s ac. 

As sure as Chibs was sure he was not worthy of Molly and her boy, he found himself unable to deny what his heart screeched it wanted.

He wanted Molly and he liked being around her son. He wanted to be in their lives. 

He was unsure if he would be Molly’s salvation or her damnation, but he was unable to change the path he was headed down with her.

 This was the first time in a long while that he actually had a woman around that he cared for.

It was perplexing knowing that he cared so much about a woman that he hadn't known for very long. And it wasn't just her. There was her little boy as well.

It was safe to say that Molly Garrett and her little boy had found themselves wrapped around his brain and possibly even his heart.

It seemed as though every time he thought of Molly Garrett and his blossoming feelings for her and her boy his stomach seemed to find itself in dozens of little tight furled knots.

It seemed that there was no way to smooth out these knots and feel some sense of hindsight. He had no sense of knowing exactly where this was all heading.

He knew that he wanted this, whatever it was, to be a long-term thing. Which wasn't going to be easy of course; especially once Molly found out the truth about him and SAMCRO.

Chibs ran his fingers along his forehead trying to loosen the tense headache that was forming there.

He was tempted to tell Molly to get Mason and herself far away from him before this all turned out to be a huge complex mess for the three of them.

He knew that he couldn't force himself to do just that though.

The thought of her being with someone else, having someone else tell her son silly stories, and someone else doing nice things for her just because they wanted to see her smile all made him feel as though he could vomit.

Chibs knew that he wanted Molly. He wanted to be a part of her and her son's lives more than he wanted oxygen itself.

The want and the need outweighed the risk of damage every time he balanced it all out.

He would rather have the chance to be a part of their lives than go on living having known that he'd never even tried.

Chibs looked up from his glass of Jameson as an attractive petite redhead who called herself Denise sat in a barstool all too close to him.

She batted her over the top neon pink false eyelashes at him as she leaned over all too willing to allow just anyone to see down her shirt. The shirt had at one point been just a plain Motley Crew band tee, but she had long ago taken scissors to it giving the shirt a very low v-neck. The work with the scissors had made the pink leopard print bra she wore noticeable.

At one point in his life Chibs would have amused her. He would have happily taken her back to his dorm room in the clubhouse and fucked her before telling her to get out of his sight. 

He found that he felt no desire for her. He just wanted her to go away. 

Denise spoke her voice seemingly stuck in a pouty whine that sounded more infantile than sexy and sweet. "What are you doing here all alone looking so tense for, Chibs?"

Chibs let out a sigh hardly in the mood for have even a conversation with the croweater at the moment. He took a drink from his glass of Jameson as he spoke hoping that it was clear from his tone of voice just how not in the mood he was. "Bein alone."

She stuck her bottom lip out a frown on her face as she heard his short response. "What fun is it being all alone though?"

He rolled his eyes, annoyed that Denise clearly wasn't getting the point that he wanted to be alone on purpose.

Tig leaned down beside the redhead all too happy to scoop in and grab a croweater who was seemingly ready to go. "Don't mind him doll. He's just caught up in that sweet little milf of his."

Chibs slammed his glass down, his voice lowering to a dangerous level. "Don't ya ever talk bout her like that."

Tig either didn't detect the threatening level in Chibs' voice or just didn't care as he spoke up chuckling. "Damn that must be some sweet pussy if you're that wrapped up in it. When you're done with her, pass her my way."

That was all it took for Chibs to stand up, knocking his barstool out from behind him as he raised a fist charging for his brother.

Thankfully Bobby and Juice were close by to hold both Chibs and Tig back from bashing each other's faces into a bloody pulp. Bobby taking a hold of Tig and Juice taking a hold of Chibs, both men holding the others arms back out of punching range.

Juice spoke up doing his best to calm Chibs as he pulled him away heading for the entrance to the clubhouse for some fresh air. "Calm down man. Come on let's go smoke a cigarette."

Chibs unwillingly allowed himself to be led out front to a picnic table near the garage. It was out away from all the chaos of the occupied clubhouse and parking lot.

Chibs' fists were still clinched even as Juice sat beside him. Juice said nothing as he pulled out a familiar baggy of a very recognizable plant and a little container of rolling papers.

Juice finally spoke up as he rolled a perfect joint. "What's going on with you, brother?"

Chibs took a deep breath trying to calm his rage as Juice lit up the joint inhaling before passing it over. Chibs took it and inhaled the sticky sweet smoke doing wonders to calm his anger.

It seemed that Juice always had some sort of herbal remedy to life’s problems, rather it be pot, or a mint green tea colonic, or just some sort of frightening looking healthy organic smoothies.

Chibs spoke unsure of what to say about his blowup with Tig as he passed the joint back to Juice. "I don't know...I jus...Tig talkin bout her like that…makes me want to bash his teeth in, she's somethin special."

"Are you okay with the kid?" Juice asked, knowing just who she was. He was just glad to be there to listen to his brother's problems.

"Aye...kid's somethin special too...they've been through a lot...Pretty sure from what I’ve seen, she’s run from somethin dark. Her husband may have hurt her…It makes me feel sick. She’s so soft and so innocent…I can’t comprehend someone hurtin her…hurtin her boy…I wanna be there fer em." Chibs admitted the pot relaxing him and making him a little chattier.

Juice furrowed his brow taking in Chibs’ suspicions about Molly’s past. “You think she’s in danger?”

Chibs felt his stomach drop considering the question. He imagined it was a possibility. Men who bruised their women like what he’d seen of Molly’s back…they didn’t let women leave. He gritted his jaw hating to say the words. “Aye, possibly. She’s goin to be once she files fer divorce. The thought of her goin through that alone, alone with her boy…makes me feel wretched.”

Juice nodded, taking a deep breath inhaling and holding it in before he spoke releasing a cloud of smoke as he brought up the elephant in the room. "Does she know about SAMCRO? She looking for protection she might get from the MC?"

"Not much of the truth...She don’ know ‘nough to seek our protection…I'm afraid of what she'll do when the truth comes out...Friad of losin her." Chibs admitted glaring down at the pavement below him his heart constricting at questions of her safety and how his life might be perceived by her.

Juice frowned as he passed the joint over Chibs gladly accepting it. "You gotta tell her the truth eventually man...Her reaction is just going to be worse if you wait to tell her for a while. As far as protecting her from what you think she ran from…Pretty sure the club would be there. We protect our own and if she’s yours."

Chibs nodded his head knowing that Juice had a point. He would have to come clean.

He swallowed the lump in his throat at the mention of Molly being his and what that would mean for her safety.

To be honest he was unsure of what she’d make of the MC protecting her. He was almost certain she’d take it as a sense of danger instead of protection. 

He shook his head letting out a chuckle changing the subject not wanting to approach any of this at the moment. "Geez...look at us talkin bout feelings...It's like a damn chick flick."

Juice laughed at this statement knowing that Chibs had a point. He spoke again knowing that he wanted to make something clear to Chibs even if it did sound like a chick flick. "If it's meant to be then she'll stick around."

Chibs gave his brother a smile, Juice's words giving him a sense of comfort no matter how chick flicky the moment was.

He knew that Juice had a point. If it was meant to be then she would remain by his side.

The truth couldn't stay buried forever. He knew she would figure out just who and what he was eventually. She would discover who he was might offer her a sense of safety. 

Chibs just hated thinking of how she would react to the truth and the safety his life could provide her from her past.

Chibs knew it was probably selfish but he didn't want to lose her before he even got to know how it was to have her.

..................................

Molly knelt down in front of Mason facing the boy as they stood in the entryway to Tara Knowles Teller's house.

Molly ran her hands through Mason's newly cut hair, messing it a bit.

She had taken him to the barbershop today and had gotten Lloyd to give Mason's hair just a little trim, just enough that the hair wouldn't be hanging in her son's eyes.

She had been too unwilling to let the hair become far too short. Molly was attached to the massive curls that her son's dark hair seemed to have.

Her own hair had been just as curly when she'd been a child.

Molly spoke up her voice firm but still full of love in the way only a mother's voice could be. "Now you be a good boy for Mr. Jax and Mrs. Tara. Listen to them and remember to say please and thank you."

Mason nodded his head as he leaned in and kissed his mother's cheek. "Okay, mommy. I love you."

"I love you too baby." Molly stated pressing a multitude of kisses to the boy's cheek knowing that in just a few years he would fuss if she tried to be too affectionate.

She stood up as Mason's hand was taken by Abel's, the two boys running off towards the living room and the selection of toys spread out there.

Tara spoke as soon as the children were out of earshot. "I see he's over his quiet phase."

Molly nodded her head, unable to hide the admiration and affection from her voice as she spoke up. "Chibs got him to start talking...I don't know what he did but it worked. I just walked into the room and he was telling him some outlandish story about being a pirate and Mason was talking his ear off."

Tara smirked hearing the bubbly appreciation in Molly's voice when she mentioned Chibs.

Molly felt her cheeks flush when she realized just how clear it was that she was gushing over the man.

She cleared her throat as she handed Mason's backpack to Tara, her worries over letting Mason spend the night away from home once again clear in her voice. "His inhaler is in his backpack...sometimes if the asthma attacks get too bad I let him drink some tea. It’s just a splash of a hot cup of decaff tea that I make in the kettle..I add a lot of milk and just a dash of sugar. I think the steam helps him...sometimes I let him sit in a warm bath too. If he needs something more I’m just a phone call away."

Tara gave her a smile recognizing the maternal worry in her voice. She spoke clearly, a little amused. "I know Molly...I'm a doctor."

Molly smiled, feeling her cheeks flush even more, feeling foolish for being so overprotective. She was sure that she sounded like an over sheltering nutcase. "I'm sorry...this is only the second night he's ever spent away from me…My ex wasn’t big on him being out of the house."

She bit her tongue, stopping herself from elaborating. She didn’t want to mention the fact that Brian didn’t really want Mason in sight in the home either. Brian had expected Mason to remain in the plantation’s playroom out of sight out of mind. 

"It's okay. He had a blast last time and he was a perfect little angel. And I have your new cell phone number so I can call if anything comes up." Tara assured her trying to calm Molly's clear paternal worries.

Tara was unable to stop herself from speaking again. "So, tonight's date night?"

"I think so...I'm not sure if it's really a date though... I don't know if it's a date or not, to be honest. I failed to really establish if it was a date or just a thank you dinner." Molly admitted giving the woman who was slowly becoming a dear friend an embarrassed smile, her cheeks surely as red as a cooked lobster by now.

Tara raised an eyebrow wanting to point out that Molly was clearly dressed for a date.

Though Molly's clothing was quite casual, a pair of black shorts that came down to her mid thigh, a pale blue scoop necked form fitting T-shirt, and a pair of flat black strappy sandals.

It was clearly an outfit that could work for a casual dinner date as well as a day out around town.

Molly had brushed her hair thoroughly leaving it down allowing it to do what it did naturally, curling a little at the ends. She had done her makeup lightly though her lips were the same red strawberry color that they had been the day of Abel's party. She had worn her same rose scented perfume.

Her nails were freshly painted though with an aqua blue color on both her toenails and fingernails. It was clear that she had taken care to make sure that her nails looked flawless even if they were short.

"You look really good. He'd be blind not to think you look gorgeous. Trust me, it’s a date." Tara pointed out trying to smooth out the woman's nerves.

Molly smiled wondering if it was that transparent that she had tried to dress up a bit more than usual.

She had taken special care to make sure that she was ready for the night.

After getting Mason's haircut she had taken the boy with her to the grocery store which seemed to be the only grocery store in Charming, to get everything she'd need for dinner tonight.

She had splurged a little buying two nicely sized good cuts of steak along with two fat baking potatoes as well as a small salad kit.

She had almost picked up a cheap bottle of white wine, but she had been unsure if Chibs was a wine drinker. He didn't look like the type that would be interested in a cheap bottle of red wine. He seemed more of the beer and whiskey type.

Molly had felt at a loss as to what to make for this dinner she’d promised, so the steak dinner had seemed like a safe choice. Didn’t most guys like steak?

And besides a steak would be a nice change from the kid approved meals that she had been making for the past two weeks.

Spaghetti, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and grilled cheeses could get old really fast, even if you did shove veggies on the side which you had to negotiate your kid to get them to eat.

She’d always loved cooking and missed cooking more complex foods than worrying about Mason’s palette.

She was trying her best to introduce her son to new foods. He had a few classics that he would eat; gumbo for instance and jambalaya as both were common dishes where they came from. He would eat most pasta dishes even when she snuck broccoli and spinach in. He would even try Indian food when she’d bought it back home though she’d had to choose low spice levels.

Brian was the one who was so particular about food. He didn’t like her cooking to be honest. He was a meat and potatoes type. Molly liked trying new foods and recipes. Most of her attempts to make anything that Brian deemed out of the norm were unappreciated though. 

She took a deep breath trying to steady her nerves. It had been such a long time since she had been on a date.

Her dates with Brian had always felt more as though he was calling the shots. He chose where they went, what they ate, and what they talked about. She was just along for the ride.

It had been a long time since she had to plan the date. It had been a long time since she’d felt this excited about a date.

She was anxious to realize that this was a date with someone who seemed to be a dream come true. 

He was so wonderful to Mason and her son seemed to adore him. Chibs seemed to be exactly what her son needed.

He’d been so sweet with Mason, so ready to tell him a silly story and play along with the child’s naivety. It was never something Brian would do. He was unamused by silliness. 

She was beginning to suspect that Chibs Telford was what she needed too; a good man. She knew their interactions had not been that in depth.

But she liked to think she had a good sense of who he seemed to be. From what she saw Chibs was someone who was gentle and kind. He was willing to be silly with her son and get a laugh out of her. He was willing to go out of his way to do something considerate of her without expecting anything in return.  His interactions with her and her son showed that he was someone who would never think of raising a hand to her.

She was a little worried about getting involved with someone so quickly after she'd escaped her hellish marriage.

Part of her was afraid of falling back into the same patterns with men; dating bastards.

She couldn't picture Chibs ever being anything like Brian though. Chibs was different from any man who she'd ever even considered.

From what she’d observed so far he was an angel despite his appearance. 

Brian had been falsely soft and gentle looking like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Inside he had been merciless and cruel. Brian had proved time and time again to be just plain selfish and heartless.

Chibs was so different from anyone she'd ever been attracted to. He was like a contradiction, so rough on the outside but so tender on the inside.

She almost feared that the perception she had of Chibs was all a lie. An insecure voice in the back of her head warned her that she would find out that he was just as rough and as hateful as Brian.

She closed her eyes for a moment pushing these worries back into the dark recesses of her brain.

Chibs was different, and this was going to turn out to be a good decision for Mason and she.

Molly embraced Tara in a tight hug as the doctor said exactly what Molly needed to hear. "You're going to have a great night."

————————————————

Chibs was thankful that he had finally gotten Molly's air conditioner up and running last week because the air outside was heavy and warm even after the sun had gone down….well he hadn’t gotten it running in the end, but he’d called a friend in for a favor who had fixed it all with the understanding that Chibs owed him one.

Still though, the inside of the home was now blissfully cool despite the heat of the Northern California summer. 

He had stopped by a florist on the way to Molly's little rental house. He hated to admit that he found himself feeling a bit like a chump when he had walked into the little florists looking clueless as to what he was looking for.

Thankfully some salesgirl had taken sympathy on him and had suggested a small bouquet of pink peonies.

The salesgirl had told him that peony meant beautiful in Chinese. The flowers also stood for happiness and prosperity in the language of flowers...apparently flowers all had different meanings according to this salesgirl. He wasn't sure if he quite believed her but the idea was appropriate.

So here he was standing at Molly Garrett's door, a bouquet in one hand and a grocery sack with beer in the other hand.

He had been thankful that he'd gotten the bouquet and the beer here undamaged on his bike.

Now that he stood here he felt far more nervous. What if this wasn't a date and he'd just bought her a damn bouquet like it was one? He would look like a fucking idiot if that was the case, he couldn't help but to think.

He took a deep breath telling himself if this wasn’t a date he could always just sell it as him bringing her flowers as a nice friendly surprise that had no romantic angle at all. It would be a hard sell but he was certain he could talk his way out of embarassment. 

Any worries he had disappeared though as Molly opened her door a smile appeared on her face as she spotted the flowers.

"Fer you." Chibs blurted out feeling less than eloquent as he handed over the bouquet.

Molly took them from him, her cheeks flushing as she let him into her house. She had spent the past hour doing a mad dash around the place cleaning it until the place was spotless.

The place was clear, the toys were in Mason's room and the junk mail had been thrown away. The floors had been swept and the furniture had actually been polished. Moving boxes had been tossed out and any unpacked items had been placed in her bedroom hidden from sight.

She spoke feeling a little speechless at the sight of flowers, as she headed to the kitchen, Chibs following her closely behind. "Thank you, they're beautiful."

Chibs nodded his head thinking about telling her what the salesgirl had said about what peony meant in Chinese, but quickly decided that it sounded stupid when he said it. "Yer welcome. Is there anything I can do ta help with dinner?"

Molly shook her head, refusing the help though she could use it, as she put the small bouquet in a tall glass with some water knowing that she didn't own a vase. "Just keep me company, please."

He considered taking off his kutte but left it own telling himself that the weapons he kept concealed under it would spook Molly. He had debated leaving them at the clubhouse, but had decided against it. An unarmed Son was a dead Son. 

Chibs took notice of the old looking acoustic guitar in the corner of the living area beside an old banjo and a violin case. He spoke as he headed back to the kitchenette placing the bottles of beer down on a cabinet. "Ya play instruments?"

Molly shook her head smiling. "No, just the drums and a little piano…I sort of dabble in the banjo but I’m not that great at it, I don't have my drum set anymore...the rest of those instruments were my fathers... he played the piano too but I don't own one. I am pretty good with a piano. I might get one one day just for the sake of having it. I miss playing it to be honest. I might be nice to teach Mason too…I miss the drums too but I don’t have a clue where I’d even place a set if I had one. I just unpacked the instruments I do have. I just haven't figured out a place to put them all yet. I hope Mason will be interested in the violin at least so it’s not just sitting around collecting dust. My dad had way more growing up, a trumpet, a cello, pretty sure we had a tuba somewhere too. He could play anything honestly."

"He's a musician?" Chibs asked, deciding that her family seemed to be a safe topic of discussion though he knew that it would lead to talk about his own family.

Molly nodded her head as she began to stir some caesar dressing into the salad she was making. "He was...he passed away when I was eight."

'Sorry ta hear that." Chibs blurted out wondering if her family was such a safe topic after all.

Molly nodded her head in response, not wanting to get into the mess that was her family tree. "It's okay, You didn’t know. He was a jazz musician. He taught lessons when he wasn’t performing."

She had been quite close to her father growing up despite his issues.

Though her father had been a gifted musician, he had been troubled. Mental illness, alcohol, and heroin had often clouded his viewpoints.

After years of her father medicating his schizophrenia with drug use and booze he had come to a very disturbing conclusion about his life. He had decided that it was better for his family if he were to die than if he were to live.

She didn't want to talk about the fact that her father had hung himself in the old home they'd owned. She knew she didn’t want to explain that she’d found the body. She didn’t want to talk about how her mother had lost that home to the bank, moving them into a trailer and being forced into the role of a working mom.

Molly knew she didn’t want to mention how she had never felt completely safe again after her father’s death. 

She so did not want to talk about how she had gone for the first man to promise her a happy life, her soon to be ex husband.

She changed the subject to what she hoped would be a happier topic. "What about your parents? Are they back in Glasgow or Belfast?”

Chibs cringed spilling a bit of his own family history. “My ma died when I was thirteen, my da left long before that. I was bout eight when he ran off. He wasn’t missed.”

She grimaced at the information. She was really fucking this up wasn’t she?

She cleared her throat her voice soft. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alrigh. Ya didn’t know.” Chibs remarked parroting her words.

He spoke again a small smile crossing his features. “I got a sister back in Belfast, Cait. She’s a schoolteacher, Maths. Never coulda been me. I hated school.”

“I hated it too…I think I was more interested in having fun back then. I liked college well enough.” She replied a small chuckle leaving her lips thankful that the conversation seemed to be moving along without too many hiccups.

She spoke again a soft sigh leaving her lips. “I have to pretend school is great now…one thing that sucks about being a parent. I am so hoping Mason doesn’t take after me. Kindergarten was okay for him…he starts first grade in a few months and I am hoping he likes school more than me.”

“Aye, boy seems like a smart lad. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Chibs reassured her sounding so certain of his words.

“Mason really seems to have taken to you. I don't think he's ever talked so much about someone." She admitted while on the subject of her son. 

It was a true statement; her son hadn't stopped talking about Mr. Chibs since the man had somehow gotten him to open up.

Chibs smiled at the comment, it comforting him. "He's a great little lad...like I said though last week, he's got a ma to thank fer it."

Molly gave him a smile, the comment warming her heart. She tried not to get misty eyed as she confessed something. "Thanks...to be honest most of the time it feels like I'm playing a losing game... being a single mom isn't a walk in the park... I'm finding that out fast."

"Yer doin perfectly...that boy's lucky ta have a ma like you...And ya don't gotta do it all alone...ya got…people who care bout ya here. Ya made a friend outta Tara…I’ll be round too, if ya need me" Chibs stated almost saying the words: you have me. 

He was almost certain it was too soon to make promises of her having him. He had a feeling that promising her too much too soon would be a disaster. 

She smiled, wiping any stray tears that were threatening to spill out. "That means a lot to me , Filip. Like I said last week...I don't know where I'd be without you. You have been an absolute godsend."

"I aint that much of an angel, Love." Chibs admitted wondering if now would be the time to confess the type of person he really was.

He didn't have a chance to consider getting into the truth about who and what he was as Molly spoke again. "You mentioned a daughter? A teenager?"

"Aye a girl...She's just turned fifteen. Her ma and her are back in Belfast, it's their home. Drove me crazy leaving her there, but it's the only home she knows. I...it wasn't possible fer her to come with to the states with me when I arrived bout a decade ago...I ain' a deadbeat, I promise ya. It's a long story, a story fer another time." Chibs admitted his stomach churning fearing she would not buy his line about him not being a deadbeat.

He also omitted the fact that he and Fiona were still legally married though the relationship was over. He imagined the status of his marriage was a complicated matter he could not get into right now.

Chibs swallowed the lump in his throat wondering if he should get into the messy story about Jimmy O'Phelan, the man who had scarred his cheeks and taken his family from him. The man Chibs had killed.

He frowned knowing it was a story that would scare Molly. He was a killer. Jimmy O' was not the only man he'd killed and he would most likely not be the last man Chibs killed for the club. Molly could not hear that story, not right now. 

He knew his past with his girls was a long story; a painful long story. He had to fear that the details of it would horrify the woman he was quickly growing so fond of. He knew he'd have to slowly reveal that chunk of his past to her and pray she'd understand and not fear it. 

"It must drive you crazy being that far from her." Molly pointed out as she tossed the salad tongs in the already soapy sink frowning at the deadbeat mention. She was skeptical but a voice in the back of her head told her that someone who seemed to be as sweet as him could not be the type of man to just abandon his kid. There had to be more to the story than he was ready to tell. 

She was willing to take his word for it at the moment. She had to hope that he was being honest in his intentions to share the story with her another time. 

He sighed knowing the full story about his distance from his child and the years he'd missed out on seemed like too much of a sob story to tell a woman on a first date. "Aye It does drive me a little batty at times...Like I said though Belfast is the only home my baby has ever known though...I see her as much as I can manage ta get away."

"That's extremely honorable... putting your daughter's happiness above your own, doing what seems to make her the happiest...What's she like?" She asked, wanting to hear more about his child.

The smile on his face when he'd mentioned his daughter was one of pure bliss. She wouldn't mind seeing that smile more often.

Chibs smiled again at the thought of his daughter. "Her name is Kerrianne. The Anne came from my ma and the Kerri came from a friend of my ex. She's bright, too bright fer her own good, shy for her age, and she's very considerate of those around er. She's got a few friends that she seems ta adore...no boyfriend yet, thank god fer that. She wants ta be a doctor...and I'm sure she can do it as bright as she is. She didn't get the smarts from me."

Molly smiled at the praise of his child and the clear relief that there seemed to be no boyfriend yet.

She knew just how stressful it was to become a doctor, you had to be sharp and have the compassion and the dedication to do it.

She knew that she could have never gone to medical school to become a doctor, going to school to be a phlebotomist was hard enough all on its own and the schooling wasn't nearly even comparable to medical school.

"What do ya do at the hospital...ya said ya work with Tara?" Chibs asked, curious about Molly's life outside of her role as Mason's mother.

"I'm a phlebotomist...It freaks people out a little bit I think. Knowing that I pretty much deal with needles and blood samples all day." Molly admitted expecting to see Chibs' face pale at the mention of blood.

Chibs chuckled at the mention of her work. He spoke, teasing her a bit. "Ah so yer a bit of a sadist then...stabin people with needles and makin em bleed. Remind me not ta piss ya off love."

She laughed at his jesting lightening the worries she'd had over this entire dinner turning into one huge disaster. "Yep I wouldn't suggest making me mad. Just remember I know where all the body's major arteries are."

He smirked, tempted to lower his voice to a more husky tone and ask her just how much she knew about the human body. He kept his inner pervert under wraps though as he spoke. "So, how do ya like it in Charming?"

"It's so different from New Orléans. It's a little disconcerting to walk downtown here and not see drunk tourists." She admitted.

"Sorry ta disappoint, Love...we keep most of our drunks locked up." Chibs blurted out, finding it easy to joke with her.

She laughed again, her laughter music to his ears. She spoke up as she opened the stove checking on the baked potatoes. "I like it here though. It's a nice change from what I'm used to. I was a little scared that I wouldn't fit in here. It can be lonely sometimes though...being in such an unfamiliar place with a child."

She paused clearing her throat. “What about you? I know you’ve been here a while. What do you make of it compared to Belfast?”

Chibs shrugged his shoulders knowing he could not go into detail about why he’d been forced from Belfast. She didn’t need to know about the True IRA or his involvement in it. “I am content here…I miss things bout Belfast and Glasgow too. There’s nothin back there fer me though…jus’ my little girl in Belfast, but I’d have no way of livin there in the long term. My life is here in the states. I became a citizen years ago. I hold duel citizenship now, but I have no desire to return to my home country or Ireland. I know I’ll remain in Charming. It’s a decent place to be, found my path here with the garage and…the club.”

He paused not wanting to give her a chance to enquire about the club. He spoke again, clearing his throat. “It’s a good town; small and comfortable. I bet ya will find it preferable to the city. It’s quiet and peaceful, much more than most places. It’s a good place to raise yer boy.”

She closed the stove as she spoke again beginning to feel a little weepy at the thought of her son. "I'm just hoping Mason can adjust...he starts school in the fall. I don't want him to look at me and think that I'm lonely and think that it's how things are supposed to be."

Chibs watched her eyes water a little, unable to stop himself from leaning in towards her. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek as he spoke. "I don't want ya to be lonely either, Lass. I can promise ya I’ll make sure yer not lonely."

She turned her face facing his, her face flushing under the intensity of his gaze. She looked down at his lips not helping but to wonder just how they'd feel against hers.

He stared into her eyes fully entranced by the little flecks of honey brown and green that made up her irises, Christ, she really was beautiful, he couldn't help but to think.

They didn't say a word as they closed the space between them; Molly was pleased to find that his lips were in fact wonderful against hers though they were a little chapped and his facial hair tickled a little. Chibs was overtaken over just how soft her lips were against his. They were soft and plump and so gentle. The kiss stayed gentle, neither of them wanting to push things too far too soon.

She placed her right hand over one of his scarred cheeks leaning in fully to the surprisingly tender kiss. He smiled melting against the touch to his cheek realizing she was the first woman he’d allowed to touch them aside from Fiona. The touch Fiona had given him had always held a twinge of guilt. The touch Molly gave him felt adoring and held a sense of awe.

His hands found her sides resting over her hips wanting her to remain as close to him as possible any thoughts of his ex fading from his mind. 

All he could focus on was Molly and how delicate and perfect she felt against him. This was a place he could remain until the sun burned out and the oceans rose enough to flood them all. 

The kiss ended far sooner than they’d hoped, they reluctantly pulled away from one another as Molly's new cell phone began to ring.

Chibs unwillingly allowed her to slip away from his embrace as she went over to the coffee table in the living area answering her phone. He watched a sense of longing washing over him he wanting nothing more than to urge her to forget her phone and press her lips back to his. He felt a sense of smug satisfaction wash over him at the realization that her face was flushed not by the heat of the stove but by the feel of what Chibs and she had just done.

Chibs frowned as her face went from joyous to saddened within a few minutes. She spoke her voice clearly full of worry. "Okay, Oh, Gosh. He’s okay though, right?”

She paused for a moment before speaking again. Thank you, Tara. I am so sorry. I'll be there."

She spoke, her voice growing frantic as she closed her cheap flip phone. "Mason is throwing up...I don't know what's wrong with him...I need to go get him and bring him home."

Chibs nodded his head, the disappointment over their kiss ending going to the back of his mind as worry over the little boy became his main focus. "I'll drive ya to get him in yer car."

She nodded her head going to shut off the stove leaving the food out on the counter, as her need to get to her child became her main focus.

She grabbed her purse and her keys as Chibs approached her his stomach churning surprised he felt a sense of worry over her sick child.

Chibs felt a sense of contentment despite the current situation as Molly took his hand in hers their fingers lacing together.

He squeezed her hand trying to provide her comfort, as he led her out to her little bug locking the house behind them.

This wasn't an ideal end to the evening; a sick child and a ruined dinner, but her hand holding on to his made it all seem perfect.

[andreal831]

Hi! I love your posts and would like to hear your opinion on this:

Is it just me or does the fandom seem to have different standards between Caroline and the rest of the female characters?

Like, for example, Caroline is allowed to have her flaws (Like being unnecessary mean at times, insensitive slut-shaming, etc) and the fandom praises her and loves her for it. But whenever the any of the other female characters (Elena, Bonnie, Hayley, Liv, etc) behave similarly they’re bashed for it.

This isn’t bashing Caroline, btw. I do like her, this is just something I’ve observed.

First, thank you so much! I'm glad you like my posts <3

Second, I'm going to try and answer this in a way that I offend the least amount of people possible. But remember, these are just my opinions and interpretations of the show. You can like/dislike whatever character you want. My opinion doesn't need to matter to you.

The fandom in general has a lot of misogyny in it and I do think we can blame a lot of it on the writers for encouraging it. But, yes, each of the women in the show are treated very differently for various reasons.

I like Caroline, but I'll talk about my feelings on her more in another post. I know there is a lot of discussion in the fandom of Caroline being a self-insert for JP and it allows others to have her be a self-insert for themselves. Therefore, the fandom tends to be more understand with her because they see themselves in her. I agree with this to an extent. I do think that Caroline is easier for the audience to understand because her problems feel more human. Most people can understand being an insecure teenager or feeling left out by her friends, a girl who has boy drama and fights with her mom. Season 1 really cemented Caroline as the teenage human girl. While Bonnie and Elena were dealing with supernatural problems. While, as an audience, we can appreciate them, we can't fully understand what they were going through.

This plays a part throughout the series for a lot of people. I see fans often forget the struggles of other characters but hold on to Caroline. To me, it's because they related to Caroline on a personal level they just aren't able to do with the others. A lot of girls are watching Caroline struggle through the same issues they are as they are struggling through them. While I don't necessarily think it's in a self-insert type of way, Caroline does represent the average teenage girl, even after she is turned. I don't think this is a problem per se, people will always find ways to relate to a character. It's the point of media.

I hate discussions on who is the better friend between the three because they all have moments where they are amazing friends and moments where they had issues to different extents.

We also can't discuss how everyone is treated without mentioning race. Bonnie is constantly held to a higher standard because of this. As the only black/POC character for the vast majority of the show, Bonnie has to represent the whole community. She's not allowed to be angry or loud or rude because then it furthers stereotypes. And when she is, people jump on these stereotypes and write her off as a character in general to make it seem like it's not just their racism.

Now for the rest of the women, I have seen hate for every single woman on this show get unnecessary hate. Including Caroline. I do think Caroline stans let her slide on a lot and will defend her like their lives depend on it, but so will Katherine stans and Elena stans, etc. We tend to want to see our favorite characters as perfect and any critique is seen as an attack on their choice of favorites instead of just that, a critique. There is not a single character alive that cannot be critiqued.

Caroline sleeping with Klaus after everything he did was wrong. Just like Elena sleeping with Damon after everything he did was wrong. Caroline was wrong for murdering 12 witches to save her friend just as Hayley was wrong for helping get 12 hybrids killed to find her family. These things don't cancel each other out or make one alright.

Bonnie is perfect and has never done anything wrong.

I do think Caroline stans tend to make up a very large and vocal part of the fandom so it does come across that Caroline is allowed to do anything without critique, but I feel like I've seen a shift in the fandom (or maybe just the side I'm on) where she does get called out. And this is coming from someone who has gotten some nasty inbox messages from Care stans. But some of my favorite mutuals are also Care stans. I've seen so many people love the villains but criticize the teenagers for absolutely everything they do. People just want their faves to be perfect and for everyone to love them. Don't let the problematic, toxic stans represent the character or the fandom as a whole.

Thanks for the ask!

[hchollym]

I have a question about Fleur. You and a lot of other people act like she is this unfairly victimized character, but if I remember correctly, wasn't she really rude in canon?

It seems like you're genuinely asking and not just bashing the character, so I'll give you an honest answer.

I feel like Fleur tends to be treated by her stans in a similar way that Percy is (see this post). She's an interesting character because she is flawed, but then antis will go so far overboard with criticism that it causes a knee-jerk reaction to just say, "You know what? Forget it. She's perfect."

She has a lot of great qualities that are often overlooked. She is brave, fiercely loyal to the people she loves, and willing to forgive others (such as Molly & Ginny).

She's also more relatable than people tend to realize. Yes, she's this gorgeous part veela character, but some of her experiences are pretty consistent with any other person on the planet.

For example, look at this scene from Book 4 after the Second Task:

“Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.” Applause from the stands. “I deserved zero,” said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

Most of us have felt self-critical and disappointed in ourselves at one point or another.

In that same book, it's clear that Fleur has a crush on Cedric & is constantly trying to flirt with him, yet when she asks him to the Yule Ball, he turns her down to go with Cho instead.

Again, most of us know what rejection feels like, so we can see ourselves in that situation.

Is Fleur flawed as well? Of course. Everyone is.

She can definitely be arrogant and rude:

“She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn’t even answer..."

&

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies. “Zis is nothing,” she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. “At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we ’ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course . . . zey are like ’uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we ’ave choirs of wood nymphs, ’oo serenade us as we eat. We ’ave none of zis ugly armor in ze ’alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, ’e would be expelled like zat.” She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.

&

'No, no, silly boy,’ said Fleur with a tinkling laugh, ‘I mean next summer, when we – but do you not know?’ Her great blue eyes widened and she looked reproachfully at Mrs Weasley, who said, ‘We hadn’t got around to telling him yet.’ Fleur turned back to Harry, swinging her silvery sheet of hair so that it whipped Mrs Weasley across the face. ‘Bill and I are going to be married!’

&

‘She ’as let ’erself go, zat Tonks,’ mused Fleur, examining her own stunning reflection in the back of a teaspoon. ‘A big mistake, if you ask –’

&

Celestina ended her song on a very long, high-pitched note and loud applause issued out of the wireless, which Mrs Weasley joined in with enthusiastically. ‘Eez eet over?’ said Fleur loudly. ‘Thank goodness, what an ’orrible –’

&

‘Yes, isn’t it?’ said Ron. ‘Gravy, Fleur?’ In his eagerness to help her, he knocked the gravy boat flying; Bill waved his wand and the gravy soared up in the air and returned meekly to the boat. ‘You are as bad as zat Tonks,’ said Fleur to Ron, when she had finished kissing Bill in thanks. ‘She is always knocking –’

So clearly, Fleur is not perfect, but one of the major problems is that JKR seems to constantly exaggerate secondary female character's flaws (like Fleur, Lavender, Parvati, etc.) to fit in with the negative stereotype of feminine women.

Plus, it's very frustrating that Fleur is the only female competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, and yet she consistently does worse than her male counterparts on each task. That's misogyny and absolute BS on JKR's part.

So to summarize, Fleur fans do tend to be very protective of her (to the point of erasing her flaws), but it's a direct result/backlash of fandom's/society's opinion on the worth of feminine women.

Thanks for the ask! 😊

[navree]

Not sure if this has been asked, but if so then you're free to ignore this message. I was wondering if you could articulate why you like Aemond Targaryen as opposed to Daemon Targaryen. The latter seems to have more prominence in the story than the other.

I'm gonna go off the show, since that's what I'm currently more invested in when it comes to Dance stuff (I read all of F&B but the parts I reread the most are always about the Conquerors, as I love them).

So, part of it is that, quite simply, Daemon's a misogynistic ass and Aemond, as far as has been portrayed, isn't. I don't care for Daemon trying to groom his fourteen year old niece, I don't care for Daemon calling his wife misogynistic slurs when she didn't do anything except be married to him, I certainly don't care for him bashing her head in with a rock and getting away with it, I don't care for him trying to ruin Rhaenyra's reputation, I don't care for him then literally leaving her half naked in a brothel in a city notorious for being dangerous (she could have been raped, she could have been killed, the fact that she got back to the Red Keep without a scratch is a miracle), I don't care for him calling Alicent a whore because his half-rotting brother finally croaked, I don't care for his neglect of his children by Laena and even Laena herself (and I don't care for it in metaverse either, I really liked Daemon and Laena's book relationship and I hate how they screwed that AND how it's yet another example of how poorly the Velaryons, the only prominent characters of color, are being handled by the writers), and I definitely won't care for when he orchestrates Blood and Cheese to go after women who had fuck all to do with what happened to Lucerys's boring ass. He's a dick, which already isn't gonna endear me to him, and he's a sexist dick at that, and I don't like it.

Getting a bit deeper into it, my dislike of Daemon also comes from the fact that there's just nothing there. I've complained about this before, but everything that's actually interesting about Daemon seems to come primarily from stuff admitted about him after the fact or from Matt Smith's own acting choices beyond the script. In the actual writing of his character, he's an asshole and he wants to be king and he has a sexual obsession with his niece who he's known since she was a baby; that's it. It's left to the audience to then lean into Matt Smith's choices for the character, extrapolate what we can from creator interviews and some pretty heavy subtext, and then try to craft something ourselves. And even canon events about Daemon that I could get invested in, like his relationship with Nettles (problematic? yes, but it still tickles my fancy because there's a Lot there), just hasn't happened yet and isn't enough to get me pre-invested.

That's not the case with Aemond. The stuff about Aemond I enjoy and that endear me to him as a character, like his struggles with bullying, his bond with Vhagar, his contentious but ultimately loyal relationship with Aegon, his love for his mother, his internal issues surrounding justice denied and the need for retribution, even just his basic characterization in the four episodes we've seen him in, those are in the script. Those are integral parts of his character, that are present and visible and impactful to other characters and the story at large in the broader narrative. There is actual substance to Aemond as a character in a way there just isn't as Daemon. And even Daemon is going to be more "prominent" due to his connection to Rhaenyra, the storyline at the ready for Aemond is FAR more interesting than Daemon's. Daemon in season two is going to orchestrate the worst thing that happens in the Dance and then bounce around Westeros doing God knows what, the only thing I'm looking forward to from him are any interactions with Alys Rivers, but because I'm excited for her, not him. Aemond, on the other hand, has a lot of good set up. Because of his actions, he created an accident that he tried to avoid that has had profound repercussions on his family, and is tied to a horrible act that is going to affect the people closest to him. How is he going to deal with his emotions regarding his own culpability? How much hate and blame is he going to place on Daemon? On Rhaenyra? How will this impact his relationships with the people affected, his mother and his sister and his brother? How is this going to duel with his feelings of superiority, especially once he becomes Aegon's regent? What's gonna motivate him to take the regency but also never allow himself to be called king and remain steadfast for his brother? Is he going to enjoy it or not? We seem to be getting more stuff with him and Criston, how's that gonna be affected by Blood and Cheese and their subsequent military campaign together?

Like, see? There's so much more richness available for Aemond's character, because there's so much more to Aemond's character than Daemon's. Daemon may be more prominent, yes, but he's incredibly shallow on a writing level, and combined with the fact that he's mostly a shitty person, he becomes something I dislike (and I love characters who are shitty people, my favorite character in The Magnus Archives is Peter Lukas and I constantly blab about how I want his cruel sadism to be given more attention by the fandom). So prominence doesn't really factor into it for me, because there's just too much working against Daemon beyond that, and conversely, too much in Aemond's favor.

[rollercoasterwords]

why are you invalidating people’s real concerns in this fandom? you’re naive if you think that “the fandom” doesn’t have opinions they all agree with that become popular. sure people have their own opinions, but honestly that’s very rare and not seen. you and i both could list popular headcanons in the fandom that people mostly take as canon. remus and sirius have turned into a straight couple, especially with the headcanon that sirius is now a girl. as a woman myself i love sirius as a girl but i hate how the fandom treats feminine sirius. sirius doesn’t have any depth anymore besides being remus’ love interest and sirius is always in the wrong and sirius is always the bad guy - just like society always blames women for everything and men always get a pass. literally look at the fanart. remus’ disabilities have been completely erased. remus is drawn as this huge super manly guy towering over little dainty feminine sirius. in fanfics remus is verbally abusive to sirius bc oh he’s a man and has anger issues. remus is a slut who everyone was in love with but eventually settles down with sirius. these are all stereotypes. idk why you’re trying to tell people this isn’t a thing in the fandom when it literally is.

assuming this is about the two anons i responded to two days ago, one of which was saying they did not like my particular characterization of r+s in a fic and asking me to rewrite it and the other of which was responding to it. both of my responses were focused around saying that my characterization didn't even fit the dynamic being complained about and saying the terms in which that complaint was being stated were odd in the first place (assuming one character being shorter than another automatically makes them feminine, calling a gay relationship heteronormative, asking to making a non-canon-compliant fic more canon compliant, etc). if someone has a real concern with my specific fic that is not premised in gender essentialism then i have yet to hear it; otherwise, i'm not sure how you want me to "validate" that concern unless you are also asking me to rewrite my fic. in which case, the answer is still no lol

and i genuinely do not think "the fandom" is monolith in which everyone agrees on everything; calling me naive is not going to change my mind. i agree that there are popular hcs, sure, but even those are not monolithic in their application and can be filtered and avoided--i know this because there are many popular hcs that i filter and avoid to the point that they are virtually nonexistent in my fandom space. i suggest others do the same with hcs they dislike because i genuinely think that's the best way to approach fandom: curate your space for your own peace of mind.

your experiences with fandom are not singular and are not representative of everyone's. from where i'm sitting, writing sirius as a girl is not a super popular hc--i've seen the hc from time to time, but overwhelmingly i've seen it in the context of r/s femslash, not people writing them as a straight couple. and even then, i still mostly see r/s written as gay men in the vast majority of fics i read and like...posts the people i follow make on tumblr.com. i don't use other platforms to interact w marauders content nor do i stray outside my small circle of mutuals' posts, so if this is some mega-popular hc elsewhere i am simply unaware. from the actual fics posted on ao3, though, gay r/s still seems to be dominating the wolfstar fandom. and to then say that sirius has no personality past being a love interest and always being blamed for everything--again, this is genuinely not something i see. i have never read a fic where sirius is a one dimensional love interest or where it's just sirius-bashing; i'm sure they exist out there somewhere, but i have not found them to make up a majority. maybe i've gotten lucky and miraculously managed to avoid the numerous fanfics where sirius is this caricature you're describing, but personally i think it's more likely that this is an extreme representation of the way people write the character. if you'd like to send me some of the many fics where this is happening to illustrate what you mean, though, feel free.

remus's canonical disability is lycanthropy. that has not been erased in any of the fics i've read that are set in the magical universe. in every non-magical au i've read, he has been written as a disabled character as well. there are plenty of people in this fandom who are not erasing disability as an aspect of his character. if you're not able to find those fics i would be happy to recommend some, and i'm sure others would as well.

i have not seen the fanart you're referring to where remus is drawn as a super manly guy towering over dainty feminine sirius. i'm sure it exists out there, but most of the fanart i personally see doesn't portray them that way--it is definitely not the only way these characters are drawn.

none of the fanfics i've read have had anything that i would characterize as verbal abuse between remus and sirius. nor have they had remus as "a slut," (not crazy about your tone here, tbh) though he is sexually active in some fics i've read with people other than sirius. personally i don't mind characterizations where the two have had or do have sex with other people before getting together. in fact, i prefer it to fics where they only ever sleep with each other, as it more accurately reflects my own experiences w the world (ie, most people are not virgins until "settling down" with one person etc).

all of the things you're describing here can be stereotypes, sure. but i personally have not seen an overwhelming number of fics characterizing r + s this way. i'm not saying it doesn't exist; i'm saying that i have curated my own space to avoid any such one-dimensional portrayals and encouraging others to do the same, because there are tons of people who are not writing the characters this way. "the fandom" is not a monolith, and if you feel like there are certain hcs that are super popular it's possible you've become stuck in a feedback loop where you're seeing them over and over again when in other parts of the fandom they are virtually nonexistent (case in point: i was blissfully unaware of all of this discourse until i started getting these asks). personally, i find it more useful to just block and unfollow people who are posting stuff i don't like, because i don't really see a way to try and police what people are or aren't allowed to write about when it comes to gender in fanfic that doesn't eventually devolve back into gender essentialism. if the concern is that you're noticing what appears to be a certain standard of femininity or masculinity elevated over others, then i personally find it more helpful to have conversations breaking down gender roles + gender essentialism more broadly (as opposed to sending people anonymous messages about how everyone is writing sirius too feminine and remus too masculine), which is something i already do pretty frequently on my blog.

this is the only ask about this whole discourse i'm going to answer; any complaints that "the fandom" as a whole is doing something are not something i'm interested in entertaining because the fandom isn't a monolith and 90% of the time the complaint in question is not even something i'm seeing based on how i've curated my space. i really don't know what to tell you beyond that--if there are things bothering you about what you're seeing in your fandom spaces, coming into my askbox is not going to fix it and will most likely just end with me blocking you, because i have better things to do with my time than deal with other people's discourse.

[horizon-verizon]

The fact that there are people who sincerely ship Nettles & Daemon, while bashing Daemyra for being grooming is... baffling. They would therefore find it normal / synonymous with great romance for a 49 year old man to have a romance with a 17 year old girl (I believe that George never positively represented this type of age difference) who does not uneducated and always lived on the street, how to stand, eat, dress, wash, etc. and who Norren would have father/daughter vibes... Like, wtf? That would just seem quite bizarre and unhealthy. Most find it as an excuse that Norren misinterpreted the relationship because he doesn't really know Daemon... No, but lol. Remember, we're talking about people claiming that Daemon groomed Rhaenyra. And these people claim to know the character of Daemon. 😂 Daemon is a gray character, there's no way I'm interpreting him as abusing Nettles, or even having a romantic relationship with her. Literally, what romance?! The things associated with them can be easily interpreted other than in a romantic and or sexual way, between the historical context and even simply the characters and their characterization as well as possible development. It amazes me that so many people are convinced that there is a great love story between these two, when there is not much about them in the end. We have the questionable testimony of Mushroom, the fact that they took baths, in the platonic section, and where Daemon actually teaches Nettles to wash, so well, people are free to necessarily see that as sexual, even if it's a little weird in my opinion... A lot of people argue that no, Nettles was old enough to know how to wash, so it wasn't platonic but uh... We're talking about the girl who lived alone and on the street all his life. How do you realistically want her to have a healthy lifestyle? And the fact that maybe, or not, they shared a bed. But even then, it's not enough to confirm if there was sex between them. And I'm not even talking about that moment when Caraxes breaks the windows when Nettles leaves and everyone sees the proof of an ultimate love when we don't know what Daemon has in mind at that moment. . I always saw Nettles leaving as a breaking point for Daemon after all the shit he's been through since the start of the war. Like, the extra drop that makes it implode. But I could never see them as romantic or sexual.

For me, the Nettles & Daemon relationship was both father/daughter, mentor/student, friends, companions/comrades in war.

They ship Daemon x Nettles because they hate Daemon or/and Rhaenyra for being Targs, having incest and dragons (meanwhile the Westerosi lords have the greenlight to marry first cousins), for being Alicent's enemy (meanwhile Alicent is a misogynist, power hungry person who targeted a 10 year old and never stopped), or for Rhaenyra's nonconformity to gendered codes of conduct within a feudal patriarchy (thinking her a betrayer to her house, a slut, ugly for her weight, refusal to treat her siblings as siblings [Alicent's fault], etc -- misogyny). Meanwhile they do not realize that they are supporting a feudal patriarchal mindset or that GRRM himself writes against patriarchy and bastardry's value through how after Rhaneyra women in Westeros like Jeyne Pool, Alys Karstark, Asha Greyjoy, and Cersei, even Targ women like Maerys, have it much worse than if Rhaenyra had been allowed to rule. I mean, Jon Snow! Have people forgotten that they love him?!

Most do not have knowledge of the nonprivacy medieval people would be used to. Or they do not care because they already believe that Daemon is the groomer and pedophile of the story despite:

a pedophile targets a child with the awareness, mind and knowledge that their target is a child (Daemon approaches Rhaenyra for her position and attractiveness; Rhaenyra was considered an adult by age 16 and inherited the actual right to rule Dragonstone like any other lord with their land and like every other noble girl she would have been married if her father had a mind to it....which he does, seeing as he marries her at 17 to Laenor, who was 20)

many examples of older men marrying younger girls in arranged marriages both in real life medieval history and in Westerosi history: Daenerys Targaryen [15] and Maron Martell [40]: Corlys [37] and Rhaenys [16]; Maegor I Targaryen [13] and Ceryse Hightower [23] --- which shows they know nothing of ASoIaF or how GRRM writes (he usually writes negatively of huge age gaps but he doesn't write negatively of age gaps in general and he always writes the gaps in context of their political circumstances)

so the thought of Daemon possibly not grooming a single girl or going after them for their recognized childhood is inconceivable to them.

Or they believe Mushroom when he says Daemon "taught" Rhaenyra lessons and had sex with her out on the rocks of the Blackwater Bay....meanwhile Mushroom also says that he was there at times with D and R, participating , that he has a huge penis (several times) AND he could never have been at those rocks to witness for himself what D and R were doing....please.

[aphantpoet]

Queer rep is not a vacuum

There is so much debate over what is and is not queer rep and it seems to change with each new show. For this I’m going to explore four series that I’m personally a fan of and break down their rep individually ;LOK, SPOP, TOH and Arcane. I will do it this way because Queer rep is not a vacuum.

It is first important to understand the perspective I’m coming at from this: so Yaama, if you don’t know me I’m a queer [Enby and Demi sexual lesbian]and indigenous [Australian] writer; I mainly write about queer people for queer people. I also want to say that I am not bashing any of these series, I love them all.

1. Korrasami

Korra and Asami have a slightly rocky relationship when they first meet but they become fast friends. Both characters are confirmed Bisexual and their relationship is far more obvious from a  queer perspective. They are far less explicit than other shows on this list but that is due to studio censorship.

The ship itself is really sweet. Both women are close and support each other with Korra writing to only Asami at one of the roughest times of her life.

This ship, being the first queer rep in Avatar, followed by Kya being confirmed as a lesbian, gets a lot of flack for being too subtle and not built up enough. As much as I do not like Some writers on the Avatar team, I do genuinely believe they were trying their best here.

The ship itself isn’t problematic and came at a time when there was little rep in mainstream media, let alone kids media. While it has it’s issues, it is some of the first rep kids in my generation saw. Sue me, I’ve got nostalgia.

2.SPOP

This is a contentious one but it cannot be denied that SPOP was full of Queer rep. Spinetossa, catradora, None of the princesses were straight and Double Trouble.

SPOP is unashamed of it’s queer rep and as world where no one is straight, no one is homophobic. This provides escapism that we as queer people sometimes need.

While Catradora has it’s criticisms, it’s a beautiful ship that underpins the narrative  and drives the plot. to call it “toxic” or “abusive” ignores the nuance of the story.

Spinetossa is a solid relationship that provides fluff and comedic relief in the darker episodes. they’re background characters but the nature of their relationship is clear from the start. they’re always together, they wear chokers with each other's colours . From the get go, before we even hear the cute nicknames we know they are a unit. 

Double Trouble , while  stemming from a problematic trope, is a solid character with complexities and comedy gold to spare. While the trope of making nonbinary characters non human is dodgy at best in a show where cis characters are also not human they don’t stand out too much so they can have a pass.

3. TOH

TOH is also unashamedly queer, Eda, Raine, Willow’s dads, Lumity, Edric.I’ve also seen commendations on the Neurodivergent rep  but that’s not my place.

Disney was obviously trying to censor things earlier on but around late season two A Dana stopped giving a shit and good for her. We got Edric having a partner, to quote his sister Emira “ After he accidentally sent  a love poem to THEIR mum”. Love that for him. The first Lumity kiss and them getting together and everything after it.

Willows dads’, minor and cliched as they may be do not come of a tokenistic, a nice change from other shows there the Mc’s best friend’s queer parents is often some of the only rep.

And Raine, a nonbinary person, who while not quite human isn’t an alien/robot/demon/spirit. They’re also a prominent character and their relationship with Eda is just a delight.

Cool Aunt Lilith, AroAce queen and all the flags in season three and it’s only the first episode.

there are some issues with Luz dating her friends ex bully but they address it and smooth it over.

4.Arcane

The biggest thing to come out of Arcane was CatVi/Violyn. I’ve seen some people ship Caitlyn and Jayce but that’s a small group.

Both character’s are confirmed as lesbians.While I love Luz I do find that lesbians do often get left behind in representation or claimed as Bi when they aren’t.

there’s not much else in terms of queer rep for Arcane but it’s very clearly a world where homophobia isn’t an issue.

The CatVi relationship is also important to the story and builds up over the first season. the show isn’t concerned with it but it’s nice to see.

All this to say, Queer rep isn’t a vacum, just because one series shows wholesome queer people and another shows messy,complicated queer love does not make either superior to the other. To put wholesome queer relationships over messy ones perpetuates respectability politics. Both can be good queer rep, both can be bad queer rep.

[lemonhemlock]

That anon does have a point when saying that lots of Aemond x OC fics (especially where the OC is a daughter of Rhaenyra) use some of the same plot points for their made up character. For example they will have their OC, instead of Luke (sometimes he will not exist at all in the fics and she takes his place), be the one who takes Aemond's eye which is even more startling when, as an adult, he will hopelessly fall in love with OC, is ready to sacrifice everything, abandon his family and switch sides just to marry her something that will almost never happen in the opposite case. While yes, Aemond developing an obsession with the person who took his eye is very normal, falling in love is a totally different thing and seems forced and just…unrealistic? And it's very weird when you see team black stans complaining from time to time about the amount of Aemond fics on AO3 paired with a daughter of Rhaenyra's falling in love with him and betraying her side when 99% of the same fics are written by other team black fans and have Aemond doing the switching sides thing lmao.

Of course people are free to write whatever they want about fictional characters, but after a while these type of fics are quite tiring since they're following the same plot points and tropes, more or less: she takes his eye or defends her brother doing the same without even trying to understand Aemond's POV, is either a Strong or Daemon's bastard masquerading as a trueborn Velaryon, rides Vermithor or Cannibal and knows how to control them unlike Aemond, behaves and sounds like a modern day feminist or is a girlboss who, unlike all the other ladies, knows how to fight using a sword and so on while Aemond behaves like a dumb simp all the time and is constantly villainized by the narrative (as well as most of the commentators) for being a misogynist who hates seeing women in power because why is he not swearing allegiance to his half-sister in two seconds????!!! Not to mention that in most of those fics the greens are villainized to the point where they seem like cartoon characters, especially Alicent who is always characterized as the worst mother ever who doesn't love her children at all or as a religious extremist. I've had to quit reading some precisely because of reasons like these despite them being popular and amongst the fics that were very well written otherwise. Nowadays if I really want to read an Aemond/OC fic (or an Aegon one) I'd probably search and choose one in which the OC is a lady from some random house…at least with these ones you have a lesser chance of being disappointed down the road if you're a green fan.

oh definitely the aemond x oc fics really started to get very derivative after a couple of months and the template you provided is really spot-on. but those traitor!aemond fics (where luke is replaced by another black-aligned OC) were never really written by greens anyway, so it's funny that anon thought to complain about that in the askbox of a green account :)) i also noped out of quite a few fics when they started with the alicent-bashing, i just don't have the patience for that & it was rarely even nuanced criticism anyway, at least not in my travels

i don't really know what the state of the nation is nowadays, if lucemonds really discovered body horrror, but at the time i was complaining about it, their dead doves were, at most, ridiculous dungeon sex slave fics that would be on par, comedic-wise, with Unhinged by Vera Valentine or Stuffed by the Were-Turkey by Tate McKirk. and, like, good for you if you enjoy the silliness of it, bc it's never really that serious, but, equally, be aware that people are going to poke some lighthearted fun at you for it

the thing about lucemond is that, while there is definitely basis in the enemies-to-lovers trope or the idea of obsessing over your tormentor, at the end of the day they have to be honest with themselves and admit that they started shipping it after they watched hotd. it's an entirely show thing, no one shipped those two when only Fire & Blood existed. and, say what you will, but there is no shipping subtext in the show about this either, PLUS the visual discrepancy between the actors' ages makes it really not secksual at all. like, that is clearly a grown man and a barely pubescent teenager, there is no "story chemistry" to speak of :)) and i'm not even talking about the squeamish implications of that taboo topic, but there is 0 such <chemistry> or buildup in the text of FB and there is 0 in the media text of the two hotd episodes where both of them appear. not from the part of the actors and not from the part of the technical crew that filmed and edited it. i would love for someone to point out at least 1 such frame that indicated lust or longing or some kind of repressed romantic feeling. so it's only natural people are treating it as some kind of crackship.

anyway it's funny people are still in the grips of lucemond more than one year on. by all means do what you want, but, man, you gotta make some allowances for the goofiness of it all :))

[golbrocklovely]

Yk what I wonder (don’t mind me, it’s late and i am crazy) how many people who ship snc together or shipped brolby in the past would actually go mad crazy and turned out to be actual homophobic piece of shts if snc would ever come out (i am not saying they are not straight, i am saying hypothetically speaking… like a scenario that never will happen).

Ik most of the people do it for simple fun and they do not really mean it, but there are still people who mean it and i wonder… if they genuinely would support snc if they ever would say smth “hey yk i am actually kinda into guys” or they only like idea of sam AND colby (if you get what i am saying). Or how many of them are actually homophobic people who just find snc hot and the idea of them tght just seems hot to them, but irl they despise couples like this? Idk if that makes sense, but ik people like this exist, who be like shipping two men tght, but then would bash one of them if they actually turns out gay….

Ok, i know those are out of nobody knows where, but it’s past midnight here and i just decided to share this little crazy thought here (probably gonna regret it tomorrow) and sorry for bringing up the Voldemort name in snc fandom.

i get what you're saying, anon. i'll be honest tho, idk the answer to that question lol

(this became such a rambling mess good god lol read at your own risk)

as someone that has talked to a lot of fans over the years, both anon and not, there is a good chunk of ppl that genuinely believe that at the very least colby is bi in some capacity. whether those ppl admit it publicly or not is a different story. personally i think he's straight bc he himself says he is, but if he for some reason came out and said he was also into guys, i wouldn't care/wouldn't be surprised. sam would be a bit surprising tbh lol

but the question of "do fans ship snc together, or would they hate them being gay if they were not with one another" is a good one to ask. i think it's a bit of a mix bag. definitely i do think there would be fans that would not be into it whatsoever. and i do think certain fans would be happy knowing they were together. but i think the ones that would hate them being gay with other men are the ones that have always given me the ick. bc they don't see gay online men (like influencers or actors or whatever) as actual ppl, just characters.

bc there is something to be said about groups of women online being obsessed with gay men/male friendships and shipping them together. the dan-and-philification of certain male friend groups is an interesting one to observe (tho, dnp may not be the best example of that since they are both gay and possibly together idk about that tho so don't quote me). i'll say it this way, as someone who is bi but claimed to be straight for a long time - i always find it a little bit worrisome when i look at a straight woman and see that she is obsessed with a gay male couple. it reads as a fetish, it reads as a weird sexual thing in some way to me no matter what. i can't explain why it feels that way, but it always had. now granted, maybe some of those women are secretly queer in their own way and being into a gay couple is just their way of connecting to their own identity. that's a possibility for sure. but there are plenty of straight women, ones that are 100% straight, that are just way too into gay guys.

i'll be honest, i've had this thought for a long time, but i haven't fleshed it out fully, so i'm sorry if this is all over the place. and i do think some of this can also apply to male fans/nb fans, but i've seen this happen a lot when it comes to a popular guy who's friends with another guy and the fandom as a whole is predominantly women. for some reason, they will get shipped together like crazy and the idea that they aren't into one another is just not accepted.

i do think some of this happens bc parasocial relationships make certain fans see these real ppl as characters and bc of that, they ship them like they would characters on a show. and all of this happens without them taking into account how these guys would actually feel or what they would want.

as for snc, i think most of the fandom would be fine with them being gay if they came out and said they were. i think a lot more would be accepting if they came out and said they were dating, weirdly enough. i've joked with friends on here a bunch that sam is really the only person everyone seems to agree on colby dating, and vice versa.

but i do think weirdly, bc so many fans kinda see snc as characters, that's why they get upset when they do go out and date women that aren't those the fandom has "agreed" upon. that's why there was so much vitriol for katelyn and malia. they were two randos we knew nothing about and had no choice in choosing. how dare snc decide for themselves ! how dare colby date outside the holy trinity ! how dare sam move on from the best gf he'll ever have kat !

okay, i feel like i've rambled enough. sorry if i didn't answer your question, but like i said in the beginning - it's a good one to ask. i'm just not sure if there is a clear cut answer to it.