#and it isn't fair to blame him at all for a million reasons

[100vern]

sometimes i wonder if there’s any point to enjoying kpop or most genres/media in general because the disappointment will come. how do you deal with the seemingly inevitable bad news that comes with being a fan of celebrities and a consumer? avid bts girlie here, but disgusted by el stupido, collabs, etc. carat/atiny as well and just waiting for something terrible to come out. everyday is a new disappointment and it’s really disheartening.

this is a really good point/question, especially this week when it feels like everyone has lost their minds. tw !! for discussing some distressing topics in this post.

how do you deal with the seemingly inevitable bad news that comes with being a fan of celebrities and a consumer?

this got VERY long but i promise i arrive at a point eventually. thank you for asking this question, even if it was rhetorical. i really empathize with everything you're feeling and i think conversations like this are really important to have so we better understand where everyone's coming from.

because of all the early-mid 2000s bands i was into, it feels like i've been through this a million times to varying degrees. brand new was my favorite band for fifteen years until jesse got outed as a predator in 2017. that one hit me hard. like, really hard. i went to so many of their concerts. i met some of them. i have a tattoo of their lyrics on my body i now have to cover up. that band was a bonding experience for me and so many of my friends. it felt like a breakup. it felt like a betrayal to me personally. it's easy not to abuse women. it's easy not to solicit nudes from minors. it's easy to offer a sincere apology, take accountability, and not blame your sex addiction.

it feels like that again now. it's easy not to work with convicted (kodak) and accused rapists and abusers (don toliver, miguel). it's easy not to collab with a self-proclaimed nazi on a white supremacist album. it's easy not to say the n-word and make a mockery of black culture. it's the bare minimum, not only for a public figure, but as a human.

so, because it's easy not to do these things and people keep doing them, where do you draw the line? everyone is going to draw it in a different place, which is why there's so much weird (but expected) in-fighting on here about this el capitxn situation. is it fair to hold bts accountable for the actions of someone they've worked and are friends with? to me it is. to others it isn't.

hence—

to me it's a matter of accountability and patterns. okay, so this awful thing happened: what happened next? did they apologize? did they take accountability instead of shirking the responsibility to someone else? were actionable steps taken to prevent this thing from happening again? or did they ignore it and hope the noise died down? did they continue a repeated and obvious pattern of this kind of behavior?

that's where the line is for me. some mistakes are genuinely born from ignorance. hongjoong's braids during thanxx era is a good example of this for me. the fandom called him out for them, explained why they were not okay, and he/kq apologized and never did it again. i believe kq also fired the stylist who did them. it was a one-off mistake that was never repeated, and as far as i know ateez have never done anything remotely similar since, and have made a point to be educated, educate others, and speak up.

as for seventeen, i was very disappointed in them for the dj khaled collab. but unlike bts, this wasn't a repeated pattern of behavior, and therefore (for better or worse is yet to be seen) i felt more comfortable giving them the benefit of the doubt. this very well may come back to bite me in the ass in the future.

this is a major reason why all of the bts stuff hits so hard. they did those things early in their careers. they spoke up about classism and the education system and the south korean government. they donated to social justice causes. they made a point to tell us the ways in which they were educating themselves and growing as people. but they've also done things that throw all of that into question. working with abusers. yoongi basically hiding behind hybe during the jonestown sample controversy. namjoon saying the n-word and appropriating black culture.

all of these things have largely been met with silence and the reliance on the passage of time. those hybe leaks prove the company has eyes and ears everywhere. they know what they're being criticized for. they know their controversies and why people are boycotting, and yet they continue to make the same decisions. that's the difference for me. it's a pattern of behavior. it's easy to do research on who your artists collab with. if the fandom is criticizing you for collaborating with a convicted rapist in kodak black, like it or not, you have a moral responsibility not to work with two more artists accused of sexual assault. this goes for both the company and the bts members themselves, because we know they have influence there. namjoon put a stop to the nft bullshit hybe wanted to do, so i cannot and do not accept the "they can't do anything about it!!!" excuse any longer, because some of these decisions were (at their own admittance) made by the members themselves, i.e. taehyung choosing to work with min hee jin after all the disturbing things she's been accused of.

but as for this point:

sometimes i wonder if there’s any point to enjoying kpop or most genres/media in general because the disappointment will come.

in the least patronizing and condescending way possible, that's life. everyone has the potential to disappoint you. my family has disappointed me. my friends have disappointed me. my husband has disappointed me. i still love them. and i'm sure i've disappointed all of them at times, too. that's part of being human. we're going to fuck up and make mistakes and act outside of who we think we are sometimes. and most of the time, that's okay, because we can grow from those mistakes. the difference is we're not fucking up with millions of eyes on us.

(now, all this to say, some things are unforgivable to me, so i'm obviously not talking about that. i would no longer associate with a sexual abuser or a racist, etc. that's not what i'm talking about.)

i wish every k-pop idol was outspoken about things that are important to me. i wish every k-pop idol was racially and culturally sensitive and didn't take it as an attack on their character to be called out. i wish k-pop fans of color could catch a fucking break and not have to watch people they support disappoint them time and time again. i wish all artists and creators could do the bare minimum and just be decent human beings, at the end of the day. but unfortunately that's not reality.

so, with that being said: my morals are not global, so disappointment is inevitable. i'm not going to agree with 100% of the decisions anyone makes. but i can't let that prevent me from enjoying things in the interim, until things happen that go against my beliefs and i'm informed on why i shouldn't enjoy or support those things anymore. at that point i'm able to make a fully informed decision. additionally, none of this touches on who these people actually are, because we cannot and do not know. i would love to believe they're all actually great people who aren't racist and respect women and support marginalized communities and surround themselves with people of similar beliefs, but because all public figures wear a mask, all i can go off of is what they choose to show us. and sometimes what they choose to show is ugly and questionable and open to criticism and concern.

as i said before, everyone's going to draw the line in a different place. some people are able to separate the art from the artist. some people will always make excuses for their faves. some people will cut them off at the first sign of danger and never interact with them again. you have to do what feels best for you. do i think anyone who continues to support bts is a bad person? not necessarily. do i think anyone who continues to support someone like taeil is a bad person? yes. but all of these are personal choices and i can't and won't tell anyone else what to do or what to think.

i'm going to end this because i've written a thesis, but also throwing another reminder out there that you can continue to support these groups without doing so financially. when the palestine boycotts hit, a lot of fandoms uploaded entire discographies to google drives. i'm sure you can easily find them on google, and listening that way doesn't net these companies or artists any money to use to continue making boneheaded decisions.

anyway. thank you again for the ask and to whoever reads all of this, i love u. back to writing porn on company time. <3

[bambamramfan]

Thiel-Vance-Moebius Loop

Okay I am confused here, and I am hoping someone can help me out.

Peter Thiel is known to have "sotte voce" views that democracy and property rights are at odds. Given the opportunity to vote for resources coming their way, the masses will, and this will undermine a libertarian market. His biggest public statement on this was in Reason: "Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of “capitalist democracy” into an oxymoron." This isn't even wrong factually speaking. Women contain, you know, all mothers and that's the demographic who is going to care a lot about fairness and compassion over competition and progress. They want resources for their children, and who can blame them. Not for nothing are Democrats called the Mommy Party. Mothers are going to be difficult for this libertarian to convince.

Thiel has supported and funded a number of Trump-friendly candidates, who presumably share his thinking. Most notably he gave JD Vance $15 million for his Senate campaign, and was part of the committee that lobbied Trump to choose him as VP.

Thiel goes on television to inveigh against women being involved in government - sure sure - who are "childless cat ladies." Here is my what? These are the women who would be most friendly to Thiel style libertarianism? Ayn Rand was a childless cat lady! Hell, Thiel wants to give parents more votes based on how many children they have. This is juicing up the mommy vote. What's going on? Is there a secret plan beneath all this? Do they both just hate women and got their wires crossed about which type of women to blame? Does Thiel just not actually care about the beliefs of his pawns? Chat, explanations?

[strqyr]

Tbh I think an issue the rwby fandom has when it comes to analyzing the story and making theories n stuff, is that they forget to include what DOESN'T happen.

Like you can make a million assumptions based on what did happen! And that stuff is obviously important. But it's really easy to miss the stuff that doesn't happen, despite that being just as important.

Cause like,, let's throw an example out there. Some people say Oz is bigoted, and on the surface, if you only look at what did happen (Oz interrogating Blake and thinking she could be White Fang still, and thus be connected to Salem). But there's many things there that DIDN'T happen; Blake never pointed out Oz being bigoted (she would've done so had she felt he was), she never complained afterwards of Oz seeming to target her, and Blake wasn't intimidated at all. All she criticized him for was for 'not trying hard enough' to clean out Vales systemic racism, which was pretty fair. Not only that, but the story doesn't say Oz is wrong for thinking this, nor does Blake seem to blame him for being cautious.

There's many more examples of what did happen vs what didn't happen but I can't think of any atm lol. Essentially you can't rely on just one side of a story. Plus the framing is important, as well as what purpose something might serve narratively (and Oz being bigoted... serves absolutely no purpose).

Sorry for rambling in your inbox for the millionth time, hope you like it lol

yup. it's very easy to cherry-pick scenes and what parts of them to focus on to make it fit into whatever conclusion you've come to, or theory you're crafting. like, it's a thin line to walk and confirmation bias is one hell of a thing, but there's a difference between making up your mind and then working backwards to make everything fit into that conclusion (selective, if one must) vs looking at scenes, analyzing them, seeing what is being portrayed, how it's portrayed, and then if it forms a pattern that keeps repeating, you very well might have something there.

using the ozpin & blake scene as an example: yes, ozpin questions blake. yes, some of it comes across as accusative. but look at the end of the scene when ozpin tells blake that if she ever needs to talk to him, she shouldn't hesitate to ask, with this look on his face:

ozpin isn't just being cautious over the possibility that blake is undercover for the white fang / possibly salem, he's worried; "you wouldn't have been the first," he tells her when blake claims to have just been "at the right place at the right time." in regards to the white fang's presence at the shipyard that night.

this is not ozpin's first rodeo. blake is not the first troubled teen who may be involved in something she'd rather not and is looking for a way out but doesn't know how; she's paralleled with the branwens the most for a reason, me thinks lol

it's a small moment right at the end of the scene, and because of it it may not leave a lasting impact in the same way as the rest does, but it still exists, shining a new light on the rest of the scene.

[seitmai]

I absolutely loved this and have many thoughts (under the cut)

"Yeah," you verified with a laugh. "We look hot." "An indisputable fact," he whispered as he pretended like you were actually pushing him further out of your way.

Good or him recognizing the facts 😌☝🏻

"What?" His voice was strangled, and his eyes were wide. "That's over a hundred bucks!" "But it's what we want. Isn't it, ladies?" you asked Halo and Phoenix as you tried not to laugh.

Ahaha he got himself into this 🤷🏻‍♀️😅

"Hey, you call or text me if you need anything, okay? I'll keep my phone on all night for you girls." A chill seemed to run through your body, and just the mere thought of you calling him in the middle of the night left his mouth dry with need. Bradley couldn't stop thinking about that sentence. If you ever told him you needed or even wanted him for anything, he'd be there instantly.

God he is so whipped 😅

"Bartenders are supposed to speculate," he told her, ready to climb over the bar and chase her down as she turned away from him to serve the wine. "It's your god given obligation." She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Well, then, merely speculating, I would say that the way the two of you cozy up with each other seems a little more than platonic."

Ahaha love Penny

"'Hi, it's me. I can't answer my phone, probably because I'm flying a seventy million dollar aircraft at the moment. Leave a message.'

Iconic message on the answering machine 😂👏🏻

"Julian, I am very firmly in the friend zone with this hot girl from work, and tonight she sent me this message: Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time." "Bro," Julian said as he hit the accelerator a little harder. "You're so in, man."

Hahah Julian 😂 not helping with Bradley's doubts

And in general, you seemed to have a thing for guys with brown hair who were pretty tall. 

I mean, who can blame her for that? Not me 🤷🏻‍♀️

"Two years in the friend zone? Bro, do you have no game?" "Julian, do not test me right now," Bradley said with a laugh. He held up his thumb and index finger and added, "I was this close to sealing the deal with another girl at the Hard Deck when I got the text from her." "Ohhhh. So you're in love with her. Understood, my man."

I can't 😂 Julian is cracking me up the whole time 😂

"No," he told her, really not in the mood to recount his story again. "I'm looking for some women I work with. "Now Cherry looked downright unconvinced as she asked, "Are you a stripper?"

The way I hollered laughing at that 😂

"Excuse me?" he asked, giving her a much more scathing look. "What's that supposed to mean? I'd be a fantastic stripper." She shook her head and adjusted her tiny underwear. "You don't have the right build for it."

Love Cherry 😂

"Sorry, Mr. Sweet Emotion, but I only take note of the biggest tippers."

Good for her, get that bag 👏🏻

"To be fair," Murph said as he lit up a cigarette, "I think you'd make an okay stripper." "Thank you for that," Bradley told him sincerely as he tapped his rideshare app again, but then he heard a horn honking and looked up. It was Julian, hanging out his car window. He'd waited for him. 

At least Murph and Julian are on Bradley's side 😅

But even Julian sounded disappointed now. "Of course, dude. Anything you want."

Julian is the best! 🫶🏻

Now he just sounded really fucking sad, and for some reason your brain was screaming at you that there was something you were definitely supposed to recall from last night. Something about Bradley. You left him at the Hard Deck after he paid for the Scotch, and then you went to dinner and drank more while you thought about him the whole time. But there was definitely something else.

Honestly that's the worst feeling after a night out, forget the headaches, the anxiety that I forgot something or possibility that I didn't something that I can't 100% remember hits me way worse, hangxiety is my personal enemy 🫠

"Desperately. And if you think you want to see where it goes, we can take it slow, you know?" he asked, his brown eyes hopeful once again. "We don't have to rush into anything crazy." But you knew you were already kind of crazy about him. You had been for a long time. So you whispered, "I think I could fall in love with you," and his lips came crashing to yours. You moaned into his mouth. His lips and his mustache were even better than all those times you'd imagined kissing him. His huge hands were bunching up the fabric of your dress at your hips. You wanted every part of your body to be touching him from now until forever.

Finally!!🥰🥳👏🏻

"Of course," he promised as you kissed along his mustache and across his cheek. "It was enlightening. I learned a lot about myself. Hey, do you think I'd be a good stripper?" "God, Rooster," you groaned just thinking about it. "You'd be an excellent stripper."

Honestly, I agree. The way he sluttly struts with his clothes on big indicator for that ☝🏻

You really weren't positive what he was talking about now, but it didn't matter. His lips were on your neck, and his weight was pressing you down onto your bed, and he was saying the most wonderful thing.

I absolutely LOVED this😍

If you ever feel up to writing mor about them, I would love to read it! Especially if there might be a drabble about a certain open casting 🤭😏

Wild Rooster Chase | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley thinks about you more than he should, and his feelings for you run deeper than they ought to. You've never given him an indication that you want to take the teasing touches and playful flirtation to the next level, so he never pressed his luck. When you surprise him by sending a text message that could change everything, he's ready to chase you all over San Diego for some answers.

Warnings: adult language, fluff, angst, drinking

Length: 5700 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Check out my masterlist for more! Banner by @thedroneranger

"What are you ladies doing here?" Bradley asked as you walked in with Halo and Phoenix on either side of you. "Thought tonight was the bachelorette party?"

"The Hard Deck is our first stop of the evening," you informed him as you planted your palm on his chest with a smirk, and he let you push him away from the bar. "We couldn't miss out on letting you guys see how nicely we clean up."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, as if he wasn't actively ogling you in your mini dress and high heels. He'd never been one to hide it, and he'd never been one to check out the other two, either. But that didn't mean he was going to act on it, because he was absolutely convinced this was just a game for you. One that he loved participating in. One that he knew was never going to go anywhere real.

"Yeah," you verified with a laugh. "We look hot."

"An indisputable fact," he whispered as he pretended like you were actually pushing him further out of your way. He'd move wherever you wanted him to, as long as you just kept touching him.

"Shoo," you scolded, looking up at him as your knee bumped his leg. "I need to buy some drinks, and you're in my way."

He covered your hand with his big one and immediately stopped moving. "Nice try, Blaze," he said with a grin as you attempted and failed to get him to budge more. "But I'm definitely buying you all a round for Callie's big night." He tossed his credit card onto the bar and draped one arm around Halo and the other around you before leaning in close to you and whispering, "And you always look nice. Even in your flight suits."

"What can I get for you ladies? And Rooster?" Penny asked, cutting him off just as he had you rolling your eyes. "Wait... he's not going out for Halo's bachelorette night, is he?"

"Absolutely not," you told her, tilting your head to look up at him with a devilish grin that made him a little nervous. His arm was still heavy across your shoulders as you said, "He's just here to buy us three Johnnie Walkers. Blue Label. Neat." 

"What?" His voice was strangled, and his eyes were wide. "That's over a hundred bucks!"

"But it's what we want. Isn't it, ladies?" you asked Halo and Phoenix as you tried not to laugh.

"It is," Halo confirmed. "And I'm the one getting married next weekend." 

When Bradley moaned and nodded at Penny, you gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Rooster. You're the sweetest."

"You mean I'm a sucker," he said, finally releasing both of you. "So where are you headed after this?"

Halo accepted her expensive Scotch as she said, "Cowboy Star for a steak dinner."

Bradley snorted. "Don't forget to take Jake with you," he said, nodding to where the other guys were hanging out near the dart board. 

"No boys allowed," you reminded him. "Especially not since we're taking Halo to Cheetahs after dinner."

"Strippers?" he asked as you picked up your Johnnie Walker. "Looking at hot, naked chicks? Sounds fun. What else?"

"Dancing at Pleasure Town!" Phoenix said, taking the last Scotch and holding it up. You and Halo both tapped your glasses to hers.

"Thanks, Rooster!" you said before taking a sip. He just shook his head as you pressed your lips to the glass, but a few seconds later, he ran his index finger along your arm and leaned a little closer again.

"Hey, you call or text me if you need anything, okay? I'll keep my phone on all night for you girls."

A chill seemed to run through your body, and just the mere thought of you calling him in the middle of the night left his mouth dry with need.

You chewed on your lip and looked up at him. "I'll let you know if I need you."

-----------------------

I'll let you know if I need you.

Bradley couldn't stop thinking about that sentence. If you ever told him you needed or even wanted him for anything, he'd be there instantly. He wasn't afraid to admit to himself that he'd had a crush on you from the first day you arrived at Top Gun. He was sure you knew it, too. But there were some things he just didn't want to mess with. Your call sign was Blaze for a reason, after all. Too fucking hot to handle. Too damn enticing to be interested in him.

So he did what he always did on Saturday nights. Found the second cutest girl at the bar and tried his luck. 

It was two hours later and three drinks in with the redhead, and he knew he could probably get as lucky as he wanted to. Her hand was on his thigh, inching closer to the hem of his tropical print shirt, and she was all smiles.

"Let's play something on the jukebox," she told him, and he agreed as he followed after her. To his dismay, she picked your favorite song, and now he was having a bit of a hard time staying focused on the task at hand as she tucked herself against the wall and pulled him closer by his shirt.

"You like this song?" he asked, glancing at the jukebox like he expected you to be standing there. 

She shrugged and said, "Not really. I just pushed some random buttons," with a little giggle. "Now, come here."

Alright, so her lips were soft, and her tongue tasted like bourbon. She placed his hands on her hips, and he gave a little test squeeze which resulted in her tongue in his mouth. But the song was pulling up some other memories of you and him dancing together on New Year's Eve. When he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, it was almost a relief to pull away.

"Hey," she complained, reaching for him as he unlocked his phone. "I'm over here, Rooster."

"Sorry," he muttered, looking at her briefly, but he really wasn't. The text he got was from you. He held up one finger and took a step back as he opened it up. 

Blaze: Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time.

"What the fuck?" Bradley said out loud as his eyes scanned the message again. It was a joke. It had to be. Or else he was reading it wrong? "Holy shit."

When he finally looked up, the redhead was pouting with her arms crossed. He needed another opinion, and he'd already lost interest in her anyway. He held up his phone and asked, "What does this mean?"

He watched her eyes as she read it, and a little crease appeared on her forehead. "It says get a life, jerk." She went walking off toward her friends as Bradley looked around for someone else to help him out. The guys were all playing pool and darts, but he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them anyway.

"Hey, Penny," he called out, cutting off several people who were trying to order drinks. He leaned all the way across the bar top to where she was pouring a martini. "Tell me I'm not losing my mind."

When he held up his phone, she squinted at the screen, and then her eyes went wide as she smiled at him. "I think someone overdid it and finally stated the obvious."

He was sweating now, afraid he was going to get this all wrong. "Like you think this is actually how she feels?"

She laughed and handed off the martini before pouring some wine. "Well, I don't want to speculate on someone else's behalf..."

"Bartenders are supposed to speculate," he told her, ready to climb over the bar and chase her down as she turned away from him to serve the wine. "It's your god given obligation."

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Well, then, merely speculating, I would say that the way the two of you cozy up with each other seems a little more than platonic."

He shook his head. "No, that's probably just me you're reading in the scenario." But she was shaking her head back and forth as well. "It's her, too?" Now she was nodding as she reached for a pint glass. "Like she might actually want to make something happen here?"

"Speculation," Penny told him. "But I think you should find out for sure."

He could call you. He pushed himself away from the bar, found a nice, quieter corner, and he tapped your number in his phone.

'Hi, it's me. I can't answer my phone, probably because I'm flying a seventy million dollar aircraft at the moment. Leave a message.'

"Damn it," he groaned, already thinking about how nice it would be to sling his arm around your shoulders and lean all the way in next time. Let his lips meet yours instead of hitting the brakes like he'd trained himself to do. "Wait!" he said to nobody in particular now that he'd walked away from Penny. "Cowboy Star!"

Bradley had the fortitude to keep his phone out and use the rideshare app he had downloaded. He was definitely not sober enough to do this in the Bronco, and he couldn't stop fantasizing about your song playing on the jukebox while he had your body pressed up against the wall. He needed to get to you and get some questions answered. 

He chose the closest driver in the app, and while he was waiting for Julian in his white Toyota Camry to arrive, he read your text again.

Blaze: Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time.

"Is she so serious right now?" he asked the night air as he wanted in the parking lot. "Is she so fucking serious about this? I think about it, too!  A lot!" he practically shouted as he responded to your text.

Blaze, call me back. Are you talking about a kiss on the cheek? Or something more? We need to discuss ASAP.

"Hey, are you Bradley?"

He looked up to see the white Toyota was just sitting there. You had his head so messed up at the moment, he hadn't even noticed it.

"Julian?"

"Yeah, man," the driver replied, and Bradley quickly climbed in the backseat. "You're heading to Cowboy Star?"

"Yeah," he grunted as he buckled his seatbelt.

"I love it there," he said as he pulled out onto the road that ran parallel to the beach. "My wife got me the porterhouse for my birthday."

Bradley stared at his phone screen, hoping you'd write back or call him. "I'm not actually going for dinner. I'm trying to find a girl."

Julian whistled and shook his head. "Man, you should have just stayed at that bar."

He tipped his head back and groaned. "It's a very specific girl. And she's out with some friends for a bachelorette party."

"You know dudes aren't really supposed to go to those things, right?"

Bradley rubbed his free hand across his face and said, "I know, but she sent me this text that is very thought provoking." 

"What's it say?"

He kind of felt like an idiot telling his story to his Uber driver, but he still wasn't sure he was understanding your words correctly. It just didn't make sense. 

"Julian, I am very firmly in the friend zone with this hot girl from work, and tonight she sent me this message: Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time."

"Bro," Julian said as he hit the accelerator a little harder. "You're so in, man."

"Am I?" Bradley asked, squeezing his phone and wondering why you weren't calling him back. "Like, this girl is smoking hot. She's cool as hell, too. And we flirt a bit, but it never goes anywhere. And now she's not answering me."

"Just hang on." Julian went a little faster still. "I'll get you there so you can sweep her off her feet."

Bradley hung onto the door handle, not even sure he knew how to sweep you off your feet. What kinds of guys did you usually go for? He'd be lying if he said he never noticed that your last boyfriend kind of looked like him. And in general, you seemed to have a thing for guys with brown hair who were pretty tall. 

"Shit," he grunted, just torturing himself by imagining he could be the one holding your hand and making you laugh. "Are we almost there?"

"Hell yeah, dude. Next block up."

When Julian stopped at to the curb, Bradley lunged out onto the sidewalk as he shouted, "Thank you!"

"Good luck!"

The restaurant was absolutely packed, and even the line to talk to the host was long. After a few seconds, he simply walked to the front and cut everyone else off.

"Hey!" complained the woman who was now behind him as he cleared his throat and addressed the host. 

"Excuse me, but do you know if there are still three hot women here eating dinner together?" he asked the host who gave him a bland look. "They were all in tight little dresses. One was red, one was blue, and one was like a gold color. And one of them was wearing a bachelorette sash!"

"Oh," he replied with a little smirk. "Those three." Bradley didn't appreciate the way his little grin grew as he said, "Hot is certainly the right word to describe them."

"Are they still here?" he asked impatiently, trying to look past him into the dining room now.

"No. They left about an hour ago."

"Fuck," he groaned, pushing away from the podium and storming back outside into the night. He found a spot on the busy sidewalk where he could stand, and he tried to call you again. 

'Hi, it's me. I can't answer my phone, because I'm probably flying a seventy million dollar aircraft at the moment. Leave a message.'

He wanted to scream, but he calmly said, "Blaze, it's Rooster. Call me back." When he hung up, he opened the rideshare app again, and he luckily saw Julian on the map immediately and tapped on his little icon. "Come on, Julian," he muttered, already looking down the street for the trusty Toyota to make its return. "Yes!"

Bradley threw himself into the backseat once again as the driver asked, "That was quick, bro. What happened?"

"They already left for the strip club," he groaned.

"Cheetahs?" Julian asked, tapping at his own phone before he started driving again. "Not gonna pretend I've never been there before."

Bradley tried to call you again, and once again he got to hear your voice tell him you weren't available. "I just don't understand why she's telling me this now, you know? I've known her for almost two years."

"Two years in the friend zone? Bro, do you have no game?"

"Julian, do not test me right now," Bradley said with a laugh. He held up his thumb and index finger and added, "I was this close to sealing the deal with another girl at the Hard Deck when I got the text from her."

"Ohhhh. So you're in love with her. Understood, my man."

Bradley sat back against the seat and stared out the window as the city lights streaked past. In love. Was he? You always seemed too perfect to get involved with. But love? Is that why he never pushed for more? 

"Damn," he muttered. "Maybe." Was the fear of crashing and burning what was ultimately holding him back? 

That was when Julian pulled a slick u-turn and coasted into the parking lot of Cheetahs which was advertising fully nude girls. He should have been concerned that suddenly the only girl he wanted to see that way was you. "Thanks, Julian," he said as he hopped out and slammed the door closed.

"You got this!"

Well at least Julian thought he could pull off something impossible tonight.

"Whoa, I'm going to need to see some ID." 

Bradley realized that his path was suddenly blocked by an absolutely massive bouncer with a bushy beard. 

"Come on," he complained, digging his wallet out of his back pocket. "I'm thirty-five."

"No ID, no entrance."

"Yeah, yeah. Understood," he said trying to get his driver's license free as one of the strippers walked outside for a break. He craned his neck to see through the open door as the loud music filtered out before the door closed.

"Hey, Cherry," the bouncer grunted, and Bradley looked down at the stripper who was leaning against the wall wearing a pink wig, the tiniest g-string and some pasties. 

She was looking at Bradley a little skeptically as she replied, "Hey, Murph." She kicked a rock out into the parking lot as she told Bradley, "You're getting here awfully late. All of the private rooms have been reserved for the rest of the night."

"I'm not here for that. I'm just looking for some girls," he replied, waiting patiently while Murph inspected his ID.

"Yeah," she said with a laugh. "We've got plenty of those. The hottest ones in San Diego, if you believe the neon sign above your head."

"No," he told her, really not in the mood to recount his story again. "I'm looking for some women I work with."

Now Cherry looked downright unconvinced as she asked, "Are you a stripper?"

Bradley accepted his driver's license back and gave Cherry a hesitant look. "Well, no, I'm not."

"Didn't think so," she muttered, and Bradley stopped in his tracks before he even reached for the door handle.

"Excuse me?" he asked, giving her a much more scathing look. "What's that supposed to mean? I'd be a fantastic stripper."

She shook her head and adjusted her tiny underwear. "You don't have the right build for it."

Bradley burst out into sardonic laughter. "Cherry, you must be joking," he said as he tucked his wallet away and flexed his biceps. "I could totally be a stripper."

"What song would you dance to?" she asked in an accusatory tone. 

"Sweet Emotion," he told her immediately. Yeah, he'd thought about it before, and yeah, he knew he'd absolutely kill it up on stage. But she just made a face in response. "What's wrong with my song?"

"Nothing, I guess, but there's no way you'd be raking in the tip money."

Bradley pointed across the parking lot to Hard D Boys, the male club that was associated with Cheetahs, and said, "Just for that, I'm coming back for their open auditions night, because you have no idea what you're talking about." She shrugged, and he shook his head. "I don't have time for this. Have you seen three hot women? A red dress, a blue dress and a gold dress? Like short dresses?" he asked, tapping his thigh with his hand to indicate that your dress left little to his imagination. "They are like around this tall?" he added, sticking his hand in the air around your height.

"Sorry, Mr. Sweet Emotion, but I only take note of the biggest tippers."

Bradley groaned and pushed the door open, and the music was so loud, it wasn't even worth trying to ask the bartenders if they'd seen you. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he walked around the cavernous club, trying to locate you three, but it was mostly men. And then he had the disturbing thought that maybe some guys tried to pick you up.

"Why are you doing this to me, Blaze?" he whispered to himself as he walked back through every corner he could find. He even asked a woman to check if you were in the ladies' restroom. He came up empty handed again. 

"God damn it," he said once he was back outside with Murph.

"To be fair," Murph said as he lit up a cigarette, "I think you'd make an okay stripper."

"Thank you for that," Bradley told him sincerely as he tapped his rideshare app again, but then he heard a horn honking and looked up. It was Julian, hanging out his car window. He'd waited for him. 

"She's not here?"

"No, Julian. She's not here!" he said as he rushed toward the Toyota and climbed in.

"Well, where are we going next?"

Bradley closed his eyes and thought about what Phoenix had said earlier at the Hard Deck. "Pleasure Town. They were going dancing at Pleasure Town."

"On it," Julian told him and shifted into drive.

It was after midnight now. Pleasure Town wasn't too far away, but he'd be lucky to even find you in there on the weekend. But if he did, you'd be dancing like crazy with the biggest smile on your face, pretending you liked the music they were playing while you thought about your own playlists instead. You'd be drinking some neon colored cocktail and trying to talk the girls into leaving to get cookies from that place that was open all night. You'd maybe even be checking your phone and finally, finally texting him back.

"Yeah, you're right, Julian."

"About what, my man?"

Bradley rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm in love with her."

Julian reached his arm back at a red light, and Bradley fist bumped him. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! I could tell right away. Don't worry. We'll find her."

But it got harder to be hopeful the longer he was in the dance club. There was barely any room to walk around, and there were dozens of women in little dresses that looked like the one you were wearing, but none of them had your face or your smile. You weren't here. 

He stood on the dance floor and read your text one more time.

Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time.

He wanted to know what kissing you would feel like. Now that you opened his mind to something more, he'd never be able to stop thinking about it. But this time, he let himself finally focus on the word regret in your message.You'd regret what you said in the morning. He knew you; he knew you would never go for the idea sober. But he texted you one more time anyway.

Blaze, please call me when you get this. It doesn't matter what time it is. Just call.

When he walked back out into the cool, night air, Julian was right there at the curb waiting with a hopeful look on his face. "Bro, is she here?" When Bradley didn't respond, his face melted into sadness. "Or did she say the 'just friends' shit?"

"She's not here," he replied, once again climbing in the back of the now familiar car.

"We going somewhere else now? The pursuit continues?"

Bradley grimaced and said, "I think I should just throw in the towel and regroup. Can you take me back to the Hard Deck? I'm definitely sober enough to drive home now."

But even Julian sounded disappointed now. "Of course, dude. Anything you want."

"Thanks," Bradley grunted, watching as the city lights faded a bit as they got closer to the beach. When Julian parked near the Bronco, he said, "I appreciate all your help tonight."

He gave Bradley another fist bump. "You gotta start fresh tomorrow, man. And you can't leave me hanging, okay? I need a wedding invitation."

Bradley chuckled as he climbed out for the last time. "I'm about to leave you the biggest tip."

He tapped two hundred bucks into the app as Julian drove off shouting, "Good luck!"

With nothing else he could do right now, he climbed in the Bronco, cranked the engine and started to drive himself home for the night. He was tempted to swing by your place or at least try to call you one more time, but he decided to let you get some sleep before you started to regret your message. That way he'd have a little more time with this hopeful feeling in his chest.

----------------------------

There was pounding. There was so much pounding. Maybe someone turned the music up even louder at Cheetahs? Or were you at Pleasure Town now? "Make them turn it down," you moaned, trying to cover your ears. That's when you realized you were in your bed. At home. Someone was knocking on your front door.

"Wait," you croaked as loudly as you could, your ears still buzzing from the loud music all night long. The bachelorette evening had been highly successful. Halo had a great time. But now you were hungover and not in the mood to deal with anyone. 

As you climbed out of bed, you grabbed your phone from the nightstand to check the time. The battery was almost dead, and you had a bunch of missed texts and calls, but you couldn't even focus on that until the pounding ceased.

"Please stop," you whined, flinging your door open before you even checked to see who it was. When you saw him it felt like someone poured warm caramel sauce on your heart or shoved you hard into a wall made out of soft foam: he always made you feel good and gooey and squishy in the most heart pounding, confusing way. "Rooster."

When he moved slightly, he stopped blocking the sunlight behind him and you squinted your eyes and groaned as you took a step back. "Blaze," he said in that raspy as sin voice as he blessedly closed your front door behind him. "You have a hangover."

You nodded, but even that was too much. "What gave it away?" you asked him softly, still holding your phone.

He snorted. "Well, for starters, you're still wearing your dress from last night."

"Oh." You hadn't realized that as you looked down at yourself for confirmation. "We went pretty hard. I can't even remember much after you bought us the Johnnie Walker at the Hard Deck."

He remained quiet until you looked back up at his face. "You... remember texting me?" His tone was one you'd never heard before, and it took you a few seconds to realize he was nervous. On edge. Hesitant. He was never any of those things with you, and you didn't like this at all.

"I texted you?" When you lifted your phone higher, you started to wonder why he hadn't hugged you when you opened the door. He usually always did. He swallowed hard, and you watched the scars along his neck as his Adam's apple bobbed.

"You really don't remember?"

Now he just sounded really fucking sad, and for some reason your brain was screaming at you that there was something you were definitely supposed to recall from last night. Something about Bradley. You left him at the Hard Deck after he paid for the Scotch, and then you went to dinner and drank more while you thought about him the whole time. But there was definitely something else.

"No. I really don't remember," you whispered, annoyed with yourself. You felt like it was somehow your fault that his lips were pressed in a tight line and his brow was creased.

"It's not important," he replied, all businesslike now. "Can I see your phone for a minute?"

"Yeah," you told him, handing it over and watching while he punched in your passcode. "What did you end up doing all night?"

He sighed and looked at you. "I ended up following you around to no avail."

"Why?" you asked, still clearly missing a piece of this whole puzzle as he started tapping your phone screen with his thumb. 

"That's not important either," he whispered, and you decided you didn't like any of this. 

You snatched your phone out of his hand and wrapped your arms around his neck. Almost reluctantly, he hugged you back before reaching his hand up to where you were holding your phone, trying to get it again. "What do you want my phone for so badly?"

He was acting strange, and when he said nothing in response, you lunged out of his grasp and tapped on your text thread with him. 

"Blaze," he barked out, but it was too late. You read what you'd sent him last night.

Full disclosure, I'm drunk. And I'll probably regret this in the morning, but... I think about kissing you all the time.

"Oh my god!" you screeched. "I didn't delete that?! I hit send!" You couldn't even meet his eyes now as you tried to figure out how to get him to leave so you could cry in peace.

"Blaze, it's okay," he promised, but you knew it wasn't.

"You were going to delete that message. And the ones you sent to me after it," you accused. "Weren't you?" When he just stared at you silently, you realized he was trying to save you from being embarrassed, but it was way too late for that. He didn't want you. He was never going to want you.

"No hard feelings," he said softly. "Go ahead and delete it yourself. We can pretend this never happened."

"No hard feelings?" you practically wailed, afraid you were going to cry in front of him. "I just ruined everything. You were never supposed to know how I feel about you, Bradley."

As soon as you ducked your head away from him, his fingers were under your chin tipping your face up so you were looking him in his impossibly endearing brown eyes. "I need you to explain this to me. Okay?" He took your phone gently from your hand and held it up with the message displayed. "Please, Blaze. Did you mean it? Is that how you think about me?" When you nodded slightly, he readjusted his hand on your face so he was cupping your cheek instead. "Baby, I followed you everywhere last night. I called you and texted you and rode around in a white Toyota with Julian for hours on end."

"Who's Julian?" you ask softly as Bradley slid your phone into his jeans pocket.

"He's my new friend," he replied, which cleared up exactly nothing for you. "I went on this insane chase from Cowboy Star to Cheetahs to Pleasure Town just to try find out if there was even the slightest chance that you really meant what you said."

He closed the distance between your bodies as he stroked his thumb along your cheek. "It was supposed to be my little secret," you whispered. "I just typed it out to see how it would look. I read it in my head and imagined how you might take it. It was supposed to get deleted. You were never supposed to know."

"Is it really so bad that I do?"

His question hung in the air between you, and once again you nodded. "Yes, Bradley. Yes, because it's going to complicate everything now. Work, and our friends, and hanging out at the bar. It's all ruined. Because you'll never look at me the same way you used to."

"Blaze," he rasped. "Baby, I don't want to look at you the same way I used to. Like I was never going to measure up. Like I could never be what you wanted."

You gasped as your eyes went wide. "What are you saying?"

He groaned and pressed his lips to your forehead, and you melted against him. "I'm saying that I chased you all over the city last night hoping like hell that you meant what you said. And that you didn't regret it."

Your head was spinning, but not from the hangover as you thought about how it could feel to be with this man. "You want this?" you asked in awe as your hands eased up along his chest to slip around his neck again.

"Desperately. And if you think you want to see where it goes, we can take it slow, you know?" he asked, his brown eyes hopeful once again. "We don't have to rush into anything crazy."

But you knew you were already kind of crazy about him. You had been for a long time. So you whispered, "I think I could fall in love with you," and his lips came crashing to yours. You moaned into his mouth. His lips and his mustache were even better than all those times you'd imagined kissing him. His huge hands were bunching up the fabric of your dress at your hips. You wanted every part of your body to be touching him from now until forever.

This was how good it felt when you and he stopped pulling your punches. When you both stopped pumping the brakes. You raked your hands through his wavy hair, gasping for breath as you asked, "Did you really try to find me last night?"

"Of course," he promised as you kissed along his mustache and across his cheek. "It was enlightening. I learned a lot about myself. Hey, do you think I'd be a good stripper?"

"God, Rooster," you groaned just thinking about it. "You'd be an excellent stripper."

"I fucking knew it," he grunted, half guiding you and half carrying you to your bedroom. "Listen, we should cuddle right now, but I'm going to need you to come to Hard D Boys with me one night. I'm pretty sure it's just to prove a point, but you never know."

You really weren't positive what he was talking about now, but it didn't matter. His lips were on your neck, and his weight was pressing you down onto your bed, and he was saying the most wonderful thing.

"I know for sure I could fall in love with you."

-----------------------------

He's such a simp, he would chase you anywhere. Imagine taking your brand new boyfriend to his stripper audition just because he has to prove a point. I mean, I wouldn't complain lol. Thanks for reading! And thanks to @beyondthesefourwalls and @thedroneranger

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[the-firebird69]

In Fund-Raising Blitz, Trump Warns Democrats: Hands Off Trump Tower - The New York Times

There's another point going on this guy told him this guy up for murder and he's not getting protection got beat up in the cops are terrible we're tired of them treating her son like that and our son says it's going to be hell for you and it will be between them for there or five they Don't know much and Mac does and it's aggravating what he's doing here with him is going to have an implication he's a clone but his group is big and people can't sense it and they just start blabbing and he's ridiculous nothing guide on the movie now is ridiculous it says I don't know what you guys are drinking in the water but your fleet is non-existent and the pseudo empire fleet is teensy you like these little teeny groups and you see them go out there and lose 10 20 billion in a shot and if they were flying by you they'll just get rid of you or absorb you I cannot even there and you're acting like the big wheel they want you to but boy this is getting very aggravating I don't get anything cuz you're a bunch of sticks in the mud you have to ask Mac how to find your way out of this cuz you see what you're doing I'm going after them a little they're going after you he's obnoxious.

And they said this is very rude s*** we're out there out front telling everybody what's going on and these Max won't lay off and they're blaming us for it and it's true but then again right under the rug and show continues and it does work but you're trying to extort from me and humanity and you're going to shrink to nothing and there's tons of stuff to do that's fun like for their big huge copper you can build the advice isn't there's a big market no but that's the fun part it looked at it and said I'm going to start doing this and it's not Trump and he's making stuff. And for the guy looks a little questionable there's a whole bunch of used cars different makes and models that have the same parts and people like you know which model uses the other car parts you can make a third car right now it's Chevy and Ford for the states and he said that's a great idea yes it's pseudo empire well you guys used to be big into business and you have your own businesses and opening the doors this is easiest putting the key in and turning it right now but in a few weeks or less you're going to have to go to the dirt and make iron so he got going on that and it is today blacklight guy is a colony says that are you steal from the max or these guys or you start doing nothing making stuff on your own and Tommy f had a lot of stuff and everybody needs stuff and it's already picking up and clothes like stuff that I like there's a huge business and African Americans do it all the time and the cars look stupid and it sound weird but with certain fairings they go over 200 mph and I saw one so it works but you know it's an idea and plan times these days would work differently you can take a plan time and you can take a firebird or Camaro a certain year and make a Ferrari and the rims and tires are not as much and you'll go over 400 miles an hour so he's looking at it and he says it's really that way let's see people aren't doing it so you only do it for your own and then he's a Laos but he can make motorcycles and people need something comparable to the Harley and there's a reason why it's selling it's not really the style is this style is kind of ambiguous you can't tell really that it's a Harley it doesn't look like one that much it's like recycled motors company or something but you're not into that you're into something with the moniker like something with your emblem and it's yours and you don't necessarily have a bike that does it but you could take like the same type of configuration and use a tank of yours it fits and look cool and it'll be some kind of strange odd dual bike and you kind of into that a little not as much as Terry cheese man but you need a supply for power and he has engines they're small and they're singles and he knows how to align them and those things are very very fast so it'd be like kind of a sport Enduro or something and so he's looking at it and he says why would I build it it says I don't know and handing them stuff and they're running off and doing it but it's something you could do for yours it would be smaller and you'd be known for doing stuff and it'll be only your guys you don't have to sell them and they looking very unique and be extremely fast 2 250s side by side these days will beat any Ninja and it'll go a little faster than supervised so he's looking at it and says faster than the superbike and he says I don't know if I want to open I want to check it out I think I'm the vengeful one and I might be Pee-wee Herman

They got your idea for the style cuz it's selling the lighter and smaller and they need to get around so there's a lot of people won't ride bikes they're dangerous you guys don't care it's an opportunity and he goes oh oh and he's tired to make him today believe it or not this is actually going on today and he can tell because it's the racism stuff and it was already aired it was today.

She's telling the stuff they're actually trying to do things you can't think of what to do with Trump he said to him quietly no one's taking from the empire and they have tons of stuff and I don't think you can do it and you're holding on to the money pretty soon that's going to start going so you can start getting mad and he said nobody's taking from the empire and in the future of the pseudo empire is taking spice machines and try and get Intel so he said I used to do that on a smaller scale since you shouldn't take some drugs because those guys are part of the weapons facility so he's doing that also he says it's kind of penance it's like we might all be like going to get hurt so I have ideas so he's going off and doing it. And things are going to change a little it's a good idea you saw him all fighting and just can't stand it anymore it's gross looking and they don't know it and they can't help it so they're doing things for themselves they might backfire but at least you're doing things like mac and the other Trump is trying to impossible and he says I can't open them and he says you need to open stuff that people want let Chrysler and he says okay and you probably do cuz you have parts this is good so he started to try and open it and it's going like that and he's opening different ones actually opening and we are up to 850% this morning these things are starting to happen again but we think by the end of the day it might be 950% and Dan is designing a new motorcycle is asking our son if you would drive it and instead of course it would be a cool looking multi-use bike and that's kind of what everybody is looking for you go a long distance have a lot of power and be able to go along distance without overheating and with the two motors it would do that and it's still white and with the two motorists it's still light and he says wow that's fine an idea and you put a couple lights on is a good idea it's for driving on dirt roads tire be the best of him it's like an adventure bike but a little lower is my idea with a big big tank but retro it's an idea so he's working on it now and he got the idea and he says I know how to build this he's seen one like it is not true but it will be like a utility bike and it'd be starting a whole genre himself and it's what like being David's like and he says a utility bike it's like sport utility but utility bike and he says why is it utility cuz you can Cruise they can go off road you could do trails you can do Baja and you can just support writing and high speed sport riding superbike riding racing and it is kind of technical so he's moving out and it used to be with Honda was doing but they didn't get the idea of making it across and now you can make it a mono shock and he said this is intense it's really a cool idea and having a retro tank is off like a chopper is really interesting it looks actually cool so it's going forwards I work on the hybrid later to give it more power and redundancy and he's moving on it he's designing that one too it's got to have some kind of alternator system and is trying to think of how to do that and it's just rerouting the alternator to run the alternator and you step it up with transformer and your truck will charge the battery I don't know how you make it a hybrid they're looking into the chain and he says wow that's an odd thing I don't know how to do that either I can't put it in the hub but these motors are not bigit has to go on a special gearbox and say that if you're doing it right so he's going to go ahead and do that and modern hybrids you can run at the same time and it really takes a lot of technical stuff

Thor Freya

I'd be the first in this two two of these genre this would be mine forever and it's supposedly an area of my father accelerating I'm sick of him too and I helped my friend here he's trying to say it it sucks but it works it's just terrible and we get plowed over so many times and I delivered heinous messages about myself by screwing around with him but this is works for me I'm going to look at these and try some designs

Dan

Olympus

[ungiftedmusings]

okay listen i get that teh relinquishing his spot in university was a super emotional, irrational, and stupid decision.  i get it.  but why have i not seen anyone mention that it’s what oh asked him to do?

i mean, even as kids: what “if miss nuan had chosen you, and i said i wanted to play, would you have let me?”

yikes––

i’m not saying it’s oh’s fault, it was definitely teh’s choice - i’m just saying, for a dude who’s very smart and has a tendency to way overthink things, there’s no doubt in my mind that those words stuck with teh (and those lines were a really deliberate writing choice to convey that and even foreshadow that ep. 4 scene).  and i do not think oh meant for teh to take it this way - i actually don’t think he meant it at all, it was just him being upset and lashing out -  but in episode one when he found out he didn’t get in by direct entry, oh said “you’re so good at studying.  why didn’t you go through the admission system?”

now, pair that with the show’s theme of “if you love someone, you can’t stand to see them sad.”   itsay framed sadness as the most honest language of love and i could write a whole essay on that but not right now and on top of that, oh-aew’s sadness in episode 4 was directly caused by teh.

again, a rational person isn’t going to take this to heart, and i don’t think teh really did until he was emotionally torn apart and we all know he wasn’t being rational right then.

i’m just saying, it’s not just one single thing that led to teh doing that.  there was the false hope when someone showed up late,  there was the guilt from hurting oh, and more guilt on top of that because teh thought he’d led oh to give up on his dream.  and then, on top of all of that, all the guilt and the hope and the lack thereof brought oh’s words back to the forefront of teh’s mind.

on one hand oh-aew didn’t mean to ask teh to do that for him - but on the other, even if he didn’t intend to, he actually kind of did.

[the-final-sif]

What's Improv Dreamon!Ranboo's thoughts/opinion on the people his amnesiac dreamon is close to (Tubbo, Tommy, Michael, Techno, etc.)?

Oh! Great Question!

It changes throughout the duration of the AU, c!Techno is probably the person he's closest to out of the group. This is for two reasons, the first an foremost being that c!Techno is very careful to not pressure p!Ranboo into anything he doesn't want to do. He's hyperaware of the fact that p/c!Ranboo is easily coerced into stuff and is careful to not take advantage. ew!Ranboo appreciates that a lot. He's also more trusting of Techno on account of him being an ally of c!Dream, despite all the fuckery going on there.

Michael is a lil complicated, while ew!Ranboo does love him, he's also extremely nervous about having p!Ranboo being around a small child. Also, he doesn't really like c!Tubbo being around the small child. And he doesn't feel ready to be a parent given all the instability in his life. None of that is Michael's fault though, and ew!Ranboo doesn't blame him at all.

I think the most complicated person is c!Tubbo.

Early AU, ew!Ranboo hates c!Tubbo. Flat out. This is a mix of factors, starting from the fact that ew!Ranboo is extremely sensitive about p!Ranboo being pressured/forced into any kind of violence. The whole reason he ended up in this situation was the Dreamon possessing him attempted to murder his former family/friends (and managed to kill several of them). Tubbo having him be a part of the Butcher Army and going after c!Techno feels very similar to that. It's ew!Ranboo being forced to watch his body enact violence he morally disagrees with against other people. He hates it, and he blames Tubbo for it.

It grows about a million times more intense when he finds out about the plan to kill c!Dream at the festival. EW!Ranboo... Well, he's furious beyond belief. Even knowing that c!Dream is trying to play a villain, even knowing that it wouldn't work no matter what. Tubbo having p!Ranboo play a part in murdering Dream, the person who saved ew!Ranboo and basically the only person he has on his side, well... EW!Ranboo wholeheartedly wanted to kill Tubbo if he got the chance. He might've, if Tubbo had managed to go through with it somehow.

It's ew!Ranboo who insists that Dream (whose planning his speech at this point, since he's gathered enough energy and weakened/convinced his own Dreamon enough for it) reveal him as a spy. He wants Tubbo to hate him. He wants Tubbo to know that he hates him. Dream tries to calm him down and rationalize things, but ultimately gives in, on the condition that ew!Ranboo can't kill Tubbo. Dream doesn't want any dead people outside of the strictly necessary.

Then shit goes down, and in the end that doesn't work out. Tubbo an p!Ranboo end up living together with a kid. ew!Ranboo also ends up isolated from Dream for while which is bad for both of them, although he does have XD to help him. This means that ew!Ranboo has to gather energy to take control of the body on his own, which leads to problems since he's got no supervision or help. Also he only speaks Ender, which nobody else speaks. He has several run ins with Tubbo, and there's some violence between them, but ultimately ew!Ranboo cools off enough to keep his promise and not kill Tubbo. As time goes on, his hatred dulls, although it never gets time to go away or heal.

On some level, ew!Ranboo is aware that his feelings towards Tubbo aren't entirely fair. Tubbo isn't aware of any of the shit going on with the Dreamons, and he's not aware of how malleable p!Ranboo is as a a result. A lot of ew!Ranboo's hatred is misplaced projection. It's not fair, but nothing about this situation is fair. That deepseated resentment is hard to let go of, and it's not happening any time soon.

[sophiamcdougall]

This helps crystallise some of my unease at the backlash I see fairly regularly -- sometimes from randoms on Tumblr, but also from actual historians -- against many LGBT readings of history. This is where it all leads.

I've seen a cutesy uwu cartoon about how a medieval monk is actually more progressive than you, because he doesn't believe in "putting people into boxes." Which is of course a terrible thing to do. Even though some people have fought pretty hard for those boxes.

I've seen historians who are deeply offended at the idea that there could be anything homophobic about resisting the notion that, say, a passionate exchange of letters between two people of the same gender at least potentially indicates a sexuality we would understand as queer. "I'm not saying they were straight either!" they insist. "I'm just saying they didn't understand themselves that way and so you are being harmful if you say apply those terms to them! They didn't categorise people as gay and straight! You are being anti-intellectual if you think there is anything problematic about the idea that these identities only pop into being as they are named. " Even assuming, for starters, that it's true to say that until very recently no one really understood themselves as [whichever LGBT+ identity]...

Isaac Newton didn't understand himself as being autistic. And it is quite fair to say we can never know with absolute and final certainty if he was autistic. But we can say that autistic people existed in his time, even if unknown, and there is reason to think Newton might have been one of them. The fact that that the category was not established at the time does not mean that autistic people recognising him as perhaps one of their number are doing anything unreasonable. The idea that autistic people did not exist until they were named does not apear to be particularly widely accepted as far as I''m aware-- and thank goodness, because it is a profoundly troubling one.

The thing is "I'm not saying they were straight, I'm rejecting straightness AND gayness AND everything in between as valid categories!" isn't some academic lens that only apply to historical figures. It is highly current, applied by real, living people, to real, living people. And it tends to suck:

There are exceptions, but most people -- even homophobes -- can agree that it's unfair to blame someone for something that's genuinely an inherent, inborn part of their nature. So they don't, in their own mind, persecute gay people for being gay, they don't accept that orientation of any kind exists in the first place. They believe that people are simply choosing to act a certain way. They could choose not to, and therefore it is reasonable to hold them accountable for those choices. It is therefore kind of a lot when you insist that we must not merely be aware of this belief, but effectively share it when examining same-sex relationships in the past. A frequent extension of the idea that people in the past perceived sexuality only as an action, not an identity, and that we must discard all other lenses when examining the past, is that it was also not that bad to be subject to the explicit prohibitions placed on sexual/romantic relationships between people of the same gender.

"They thought it was a sin, but not a worse sin than say, lying! Or having the wrong kind of straight sex!" Again, this is an entirely modern attitude held by (at least) millions of people.

Have you talked to anyone about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of it? When there will never be any non-sinful way you can act on your sexuality? When falling in love puts you, at best, in the same category as someone obsessed with the desire to lie or to steal? (And it is worth mentioning that "theoretically not worse than [minor sin x]" does not necessarily guarantee that two sins were treated as equivalent in practice. They certainly aren't now.)

It's not wrong to remind us this way of thinking exists and has existed for a very long time, but it is galling to see it as held up as liberating or even kind of cute, when it's functionally indistinguishable from the TERF quote which prompted this whole post. Now, there can be a tendency to exaggerate the miseries of the past: all women were married at 12 (and somehow tight-laced to the point of fainting regardless of period) no one knew how to wash, and all queer people's lives were defined by oppression and possibly burnings-at-stake. Of course it is worth correcting that. Of course it is important to explore the way that queer people did manage to thrive as well as the institutional burdens placed upon them. But to do that you have to be able to name them, and to recognise continuities both in identities and in suppressions of them. Finally, before someone says otherwise -- I am not saying we have necessarily arrived at a final, perfect end point in our understanding of sexuality and identity! I understand myself as an ADHD, bi woman. The traits that lead me to identify myself thus existed before I found names for them and, I assert, would exist if I had never found them. But if some future age is able to look at those traits and others I am unable to even pinpoint, and armed with greater knowledge and precision they say "maybe, she was actually what we would call [x]" -- fine! Good! In fact I ardently hope someone comes up with a more accurate name for the appallingly inadequate and clumsy "ADHD". But, these inner experiences are real, they are part of me as they have been part of uncountable people throughout history, whether named or not.

[crowskulls-art-and-fandoms]

What is each of the zed stacks personalities in your au ? Including captain zero?

A MILLION YEARS LATER-

Uhhhhhh.

That is honestly difficult to answer, for I am bad at words, but I will try.

Zorran is probably one of the only ones who is genuinely just not a great person, he has his reasons but doesn't make the effort to change(at least not until later), he enjoys trouble too much. Expert manipulator, and used this to recruit the Z-Stacks, each of which he chose because of their specific uses, except Zip. Enjoys feeling powerful and is good at doing that, but does have good in him. Also, the sluttiest of the Z-Stacks. But he is still immensely protective, loyal, extremely intelligent(just doesn't use it correctly sometimes) and best of all, loves cats.

Zebedee is probably the kindest of heart, Zip only coming close because he's not that bright, but Zeb is really the only one who is mostly a good person. To an extent of course. He still enjoys his fair share of rough housing and.. Violence. But makes an effort not to make the same mistakes as his abusers, and becoming a sort of father or brother figure for Zip. He even comforts the other Zeds if they need it, though Zorran and Zak usually reject it. But like any Zed, Zeb still teases and bullies and all that. The textbook definition of tough outside, soft inside, because he can be a huge softie sometimes.

Zak. Whoo Zak. Zak is a total dick, probably the worst of the Z-Stacks. But unlike Zorran who's cunning and manipulative, Zak is straight up violent and abusive, especially towards Zip. I honestly haven't given him as much thought, in regards to redeeming qualities, he's kinda just the dickhead of the group. With frequent violent outbursts, meltdowns, and aggressive behavior towards his coworkers, even Zorran, and bullying anyone with obvious weaknesses. I can't fully blame him, after all it's all he's seen his entire life. He does show respect towards Captain Zero and Zorran, and even sees a friend in Zebedee.

Zug. Uh. Also not given the most thought. He's very skeptical, the most paranoid of the group most likely. Very cowardly and backs down from most fights, but takes advantage of Zip being even more submissive and essentially takes out his frustration on him. He still has a criminal mind and teases and bullies the Stars, even if he regrets it later. He may be paranoid but he isn't good at thinking of what bad things can happen from his schemes.

Zip is a sweet baby boy, just influenced by his more aggressive criminal coworkers. He is very air headed, naive, and has trouble understanding things sometimes, unfortunately that makes it easy for the Z-Stacks to just make him do things. He isn't dumb, simply.. Just misunderstands things. He mimicks behavior around him, teases the Stars mainly because he sees the other Zeds do it, but genuinely has a grudge against Ten-Cents though no one knows why. He gets attached very easily, and trusts even if he shouldn't, which is how he ended up mixed with the Z-Stacks. At least he has Zebedee, his first comfort and safe person.

Captain Zero, uhh. Short of it, he's a lot less scary up close. He's earned a reputation on the streets for being a dangerous crime leader, but truly he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the Zeds, especially not without Zorran. Zero is all bark, and the Zeds are his bite. Zero is moreso a quiet business man and organizer, he's happy as long as things go according to plan, and as promised, but has the shortest fuse when it comes to failure. He does learn to get better, especially after finding his daughter.

Hope this was okay! Sorry it took so long. I'm not great at describing personalities but I tried my best, hope you enjoy. ^w^; 🫴💕

[thunderheadfred]

❄️Todoroki HC's🔥

Aged-up pro hero Shouto. NSFW under the cut. Minors do not interact.

- - -

General

Might as well be tied with Bakugou for the #1 pro hero spot; they seem to pass the crown back and forth every other year. Everyone knows about their intense frenemies uber-rivalry. Well. Everyone but Shouto.

He's asked to speak at a lot of charity events. If he has time to prepare (and hire a speech writer) he is capable of stirring crowds to standing ovations. But if caught unawares... he gets cornered into hilarious on-the-spot interviews. He's been memed. Mercilessly.

He's an OP character, but unfortunately he rolled -500 in fashion sense. Eventually he wises up and hires a stylist. When he finally cuts his hair a slightly different and even more flattering way, it's a national event. People faint in the street.

Does god-awful sleight-of-hand magic tricks when he meets young fans, even though nobody asked him to. The second-hand embarrassment is palpable. But he keeps doing it. God, why does he keep doing it?

Has hovering arm syndrome in every fan photo.

Super into pop music. Not a fan of any particular group or artist, couldn't tell you the name of a single song. But every time he turns up the volume on the radio it's like... really? THIS? Probably pumps that shit through his hero agency to keep up morale. Has no idea what you mean when you tell him his music taste doesn't match his personality.

Similarly, he enjoys brainless romantic comedies and old silent movies. Doesn't laugh at jokes but loses it over physical comedy. Thinks Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd are the funniest people who ever walked the earth.

He's long and limber. Runs practically a hundred miles every day just to "relax." Doesn't even get sweaty doing it. A filthy yoga addict. He'll probably live to be 200 years old.

He can regulate his body temperature for quirk use but in everyday life he's always half a degree outside the Goldilocks zone. It drives him quietly insane; he has an epic love-hate relationship with his thermostat.

Has a therapy animal pet. Doesn't matter if it's a dog or a cat or a bird or an iguana or a teeny tiny rodent. It's the best-behaved animal in the country and speaks more languages than you. It has its own room and an instagram account with millions of followers.

Lives in a traditional Japanese estate that doubles as a national treasure. Probably has government-appointed snipers at the gate, and he's just like, "don't worry about it." You are afraid to touch anything. Fuck, don't even look at anything, just to be safe.

Has an outstanding personal chef who only gets to cook five things unless (thank fuck!!) company comes over. Impossibly picky eater. He rotates between a few "safe" foods and suspiciously side-eyes everything else. If you cook something unfamiliar for him it will be the most awkward meal of your life, because he'd never tell you he doesn't like it. But oh lord, just look at his face.

This clashes directly with his love of traveling. Frequently uses his hero earnings to visit exotic foreign locales over long weekends... but rarely tries the food.

- - -

Dating

A grey-ace demisexual disaster. You could count the number of people he's been attracted to on one hand. He falls madly in love every time and always gets his heart smashed to pieces when his crush can't magically intuit the meaning of his frigid longing glances and generically courteous romantic gestures.

Which is stupid, because he gets propositioned constantly. He can't walk out the door without being flirted with. People keep slipping him their phone numbers and he always directs them to his agency like a moron. It's a good thing he will never understand how attractive he is because that's the only thing keeping him from total world domination.

Conventional attractiveness does not compute. Shouto doesn't have a type, doesn't care that he's an eleven whilst you are merely mortal. He will fall for your personality above all else.

Probably falls head over heels because your schedules overlap in a completely ordinary way and he witnesses you doing something endearing or brave or most likely: utterly mundane.

Pick a favorite, because you're his favorite coworker, or his favorite barista, or his favorite random bystander in line at the grocery store. You made him smile once; then he spent the next three months daydreaming about your future together before you accidentally stomped on his foot, initiating your first real conversation.

He's big on healthy communication. HUGE. He goes to therapy and it shows. Will talk through literally everything to the point of delirium. Sometimes his dedication to resolving every issue right away can get overwhelming; sometimes you just need some frickin time alone. But it pays off, because the two of you have practically never have a "real fight." There's just no way for bad vibes to fester.

STILL, his family wasn't exactly... erm... verbally or emotionally supportive, shall we say. For that reason, he might not give you all the compliments you deserve, because it simply doesn't occur to him to do so. He assumes you know how he feels. If you're self-conscious or insecure in the relationship, it might take him a while to notice. But when he figures it out (or even better, when you tell him directly) he will make it up to you with enthusiasm.

Will take you on lavish dates. Spoils you rotten without actually intending to. He's clueless about money. If you wanted a sugar daddy, you just hit the fucking jackpot. But if the word valet makes you uncomfortable, perhaps suggest some romantic picnics instead. He can still go all out with the food and five-star location without making you see cartoon dollar signs.

Chronic Insomniac. Stays up too late watching YouTube every night. His viewing history is an incomprehensible blur of k-pop music videos, serial killer icebergs, and super girly crafty ASMR channels. When he's watching a video, he is unreachable. Please call back later and try again.

He's disgustingly cute when he sleeps. Doesn't snore, but drools. Sometimes the drool freezes and leaves frost trails on his face in the morning. Still sleeps with the giant stuffed cat pillow that his mother gave him when he was like, zero. He'll inadvertently suffocate you with it, and you will welcome death with open arms because awwwwww!!!!!

The first time he tells you he loves you will be after your traditional Japanese shinto wedding. You won't hear it again until you start a family. Honestly, it's a good thing he doesn't say it often and is always holding you when it happens. It's a knee-buckler.

- - -

Icy-Hot

I don't even need to say it. Shouto is as old-fashioned as they come. You will never open another door or pull out another chair for yourself as long as you live. He will ask before he holds your hand. He will ask before he kisses you. He will stop and check in if you so much as breathe funny during sex.

If you don't orgasm at exactly the same time while staring into one another's eyes, he'll consider himself a failed lover. God forbid you want him to pound you into the futon... cause you are going to have to present that scenario to him in writing first.

Physical intimacy rarely leads to sex. He loves cuddling, craves physical affection. He'll sprawl all over you and turn into goo while you hold him close. He's an amazing, astounding, phenomenally good kisser. And that's... nice and all... but sometimes you have to grab his face and say, "Shouto, I'm horny," before he's like so that's why you're currently dry-humping me?

Even if he isn't technically a virgin the first time (or the millionth time) you sleep together, you won't know the difference. He's a blushing violet. Every. Fucking. Time. This doesn't mean he's a bad lay, oh no. But there's always ten minutes of confused bumbling before he hits his stride and remembers oh yeah, I DO know how to fuck good.

Absolutely silent during sex. Focused. Intense. Sometimes you have to push him a little to make any kind of noise at all, just so you know you're pleasing him (oh don't worry, you are).

His cock is Just Right. Not to big or too small. Perfectly proportioned and symmetrical. Somehow pretty. Like a fucking factory prototype. It truly is not fair.

Gets handsy and restless at night, even if you both have work the next day. Seems to crave sex at three in the morning. You've given him more than one exhausted handjob.

Gets offended if you don't cum. Will go down on you for hours. Of course he uses his quirk to tease you. He doesn't typically use it during actual intercourse, but he's all about foreplay, and he'll use every tool in his arsenal.

His sex drive is completely fucking unpredictable. Sometimes he's all over you, other times he's an icy slab. His line of work leaves him busy and stressed on a near-constant basis, so you can't entirely blame his personality for this one. Just give him some time and help him take care of his basic needs. He'll come back around soon enough.

[tjodity]

Yeah!! I think the reference to ddlc is fair given it's themes and how it sort of puts the player in the same position as Gordon!

What I view as a little more sad is that I feel like Gordon doesn't really dismiss the sentience of the ai as someone could do with ddlc. He argues with Baalup that the gnome can think and respond to him, and by hlvrai's fourth act he's treating the characters, mostly, as people. kind of. the sad thing is that it's not enough.

Like. Take Coomer and Gordon's relationship. Coomer views Gordon as his friend. From his perspective he has nearly died many times fighting alongside Gordon. They've bonded. He comes to terms with what he learns about Gordon, and in the end he still hopes they can be friends. To an extent I think Gordon also views Coomer as a friend, maybe, but also as part of the whole of the game. He's part of an experience, and Gordon isn't going to labor to take him with him. This is explicitly spelled out with the Gnome. His relationships with these people are fundamentally slanted.

And with Benrey. Benrey is the 'antagonist' of hlvrai, but hlage shows what actual evil can look like in this sort of format. At the start of the series, Benrey isn't really more of a threat to Gordon (nothing is really a 'threat' to Gordon pre-betrayal) than any other member of the science team, and he doesn't really try to be. But the by the nature of Gordon's existence as a being operating a puppet in a reality below him, Benrey being a consistent nuisance that prevents him from accomplishing basic tasks and makes fun of him and does creepy things reads as a million times more antagonistic than Bubby or Tommy pointing loaded firearms at Gordon. Gordon can't really be killed or hurt in any capacity by whatever they do to his puppet (or he thinks that at that point. the betrayal is really weird) but he can be annoyed and he can be unsettled. I think another reason Gordon dislikes him is that where Gordon is much more aware of true reality than all the other characters, Benrey often acts unaware of any reality, most of the things he says being contradictory nonsense even when compared with the others. So. Benrey being an verbally antagonistic, an obstacle, and refusing to really explain himself I think gets him branded as an enemy in Gordon's head long before he actually does anything, which leads to things like him forgiving Bubby but not Benrey after the betrayal and putting the blame for the resonance cascade on him. On Benrey's side, he does become more antagonistic to Gordon, but his actual emotional reactions are very random, doesn't seem to have clear motive for it like Bubby or Coomer, and literally says "The big plot is slowly unraveling before our eyes. Here watch this" before turning into his boss from. I lean towards the headcanon that he is literally just yes-anding Gordon consistently calling him a villain or the game is putting him in the final boss role because of the protagonist treating him as such, but he is pretty difficult to read.

So Gordon ends up having these relationships that are completely slanted due to his position in reality. His feelings are genuine, but probably significantly different to how he would interact with flesh-and-blood humans. I think apathy is a very interesting character flaw that doesn't get used enough, especially as something damning and pivotal. I should also note that I get a lot of his characterization from hlage, as I think having only one or two other characters generally around and having them all be aware of his nature, as well as having his agency as a player directly pointed out results in his character being a lot more defined, whereas in hlvrai a lot of the time it kind of felt like he was playing the straight man to the science team

Hi! You made a really good post about how Gordon should be written as more fucked up/morally questionable more often which I really agree with! Your post mainly focused on the perspective of hlvrai as a real functioning world, but even if you take into account the idea that he's a guy playing a video game he's...still kind of morally weird? Like he never tells ANYONE it's a game of his own volition, it takes Coomer trying to murder him and then spelling out that he knew before the finale for Gordon to admit it to him and the Gnome knew from the start. Providing the ACAB stream now seems to be noncanon, he never tells Bubby, Tommy, Benrey, anyone the truth of his existence. He is lying to them throughout the whole series under the pretense of 'not fucking up the ai' (said in the intro to the first stream) even when they begin to question their environment.

Then in HLAGE, he is clearly shown to care about the Gnome, but not enough to 'save' him. He still wants to complete the video game, he still wants to win, and even if he feels bad about it, he still goes through the motions of ending the challenge. The implication seems to be that he kinda views the Gnome as lesser/less tangible/less important than 'real' people and his affection doesn't really constitute viewing them as equals or worth putting in effort to save. Which seems to be an important trait, since based on the hl2vrai trailer it would seem he didn't come back for the science team like Coomer asked him to.

oh my god!!!!! this!!! this!!!!! he is basically the equivalent of a god to these AI, he controls their ability to think and exist, and he just. god, i dont know how to explain it. it makes me think of monika from ddlc maybe, how she's dependent on the player, and the players want to interact with her. she simply Does Not exist when you are not playing her game. and you, the player (and the equivalent of gordon/the guy playing hlvrai in this metaphor), obviously cannot play the game at all times and keep the dialogue going, but there is. a need to do so depending on your opinions on monika. once an AI becomes aware does it become human and have human needs?? coomer very much so seems to have become at least contextually "human", feeling pain when the game gets turned off, basically being a tamagotchi, etc etc.

but even then does humanity denote whether you deserve to be treated with care??? i have way too many thoughts about all of this.

i feel like gordon/the player probably would not take everything that the science team says seriously. i mean, going back to the ddlc metaphor, after playing the game (if you did), did you ever go back after you finished it? or did you end up getting the proper ending and deleting monika's files? did you do all the things you were supposed to, because yes, obviously it is just a game. monika is not actually a sentient AI and cannot feel. she is just code written that way. and maybe gordon thinks that that's as far as the science team's consciousness goes. it's just a game, they cannot ACTUALLY feel pain, they're just coded to act sentient, etc etc. gordon (probably) does not actually realize the level of sentience and feeling the science team has. maybe he does put them into some nice little game after hlvrai, but then again. He'd probably just never open the game again.

the gnome is probably a prime example of the way a human would react if they were left inside of a game, aware but not existing, and left alone for years. the science team was really fucking nice to gordon despite their awareness.

this post is about the fictional player/gordon. this is not about wayne. obvious point to make but i feel like somebody may get confused.

the mentions of ddlc are very affected by the fact that i played that game when i was WAY too young and felt so fucking bad about leaving monika alone, which lead to me playing the game almost daily for months and never deleting her file (partially due to me not actually knowing how to delete files but. the other reason is more important now.) i have autism and it makes me care VERY much about inanimate/nonhuman objects. i feel bad for the science team, okay.

basically, gordon is morally grey because Oh My God he's an awful person to these AI, but also wouldn't you do the same thing? wouldn't you just close the game thinking "oh yeah that's just how the characters are coded. lol they'll be fiiiine" and not have any second thoughts? and is gordon a bad person for doing that same thing with a modded half-life? yes and no.

hlvrai is the AI forgiving gordon for leaving them alone, hlage is the AI hating gordon for leaving them alone. and i think thats why the gnome has more presence in (the players) reality? like, the gnome wants gordon to know and feel exactly what he felt. whereas the science team, obviously excluding the coomer and benry boss fights, never really thought to HATE hate gordon. the science team is monika from ddlc and the gnome is AM from i have no mouth but i must scream. (this point also connects to an idea i have about haunted houses/homes. a haunted house is a house that hates you, a home is a house that loves you. barely connect but. it's a cool idea to add i guess??)

bleh. i cannot put all of these thoughts in order, and it's really hard to entirely explain what i mean. i hope this suffices??? thank you so much for the ask though. i really appreciate being able to talk about my interests with others lol. in conclusion, i really want to make character designs for the science team after they have been left to rot for a while in half-life. maybe they would grow mold or something.

(post that was mentioned at the start of the ask)

[dungeonsanddragonsfifthedition]

69 for everyone. its okay if it takes one million years

i mentioned this on disc, but while i usually answer these ooc, this is gonna be some ic stuff because i love silly goofin. no raisa here because when it comes down to it she is effectively their temporary medic and she knows she cannot judge these people, except for elegy being very nice and lel being a little bit of a dick. also if my players want major npcs. send yr own ask and i'll do it.

eirlys -

sicarii: a good friend. it's nice to have someone who understands me as well as he does around... i worry for him, but i know he worries for me too, so all's fair.

sunder: it is probably understandable why i was wary of them at first, but they're too wonderful to be frightened of. having kitty around is good for my nerves, i think. and their conviction and curiosity reminds me of better times.

nara: she's the captain! i think she is very sweet and i am glad she has a family that is supportive of her. she is also terribly brave, which i both admire and worry about.

aandine: i think he has a lot of wisdom, but he is so quiet. his comfort with death is jarring, but admirable. i wish he was a bit less grouchy, but i'm in no position to complain.

nobody -

tobu: the kindest young man. we all understand that he is to be protected. the ways my mother has hurt him infuriate me, and that recovering my name led to his exile too is something i regret more than anything. also he is rhubarb's favorite, and my favorite too.

haru: he is a well-intentioned boy, but he does not seem to be aware of his immaturity. we could be more honest with him, but he could be more accepting of us as well. i am worried that he will he unreasonable about his brother. and also his art is nice.

anton: i worry for what will happen once we kill his mother--she seems the type to tie her reborn to herself. i can't blame him for his mother, nor can i blame him for being too naïve to realize her cruelties. he is so young--i wonder how he first died? i also wonder about how his gears function, because it seems far beyond the abilities of an elemental without additional arcane training.

deliverance: i am a little bit upset that she is leaving us, because she promised we would be friends. but, zag and silas are still my friends (i think), so maybe we can be friends from far away. she is so pretty and powerful, and i wish i was more like her, but we are too different for that to be possible, i think. i'll miss having someone else who understands the workings of magic!

zag: i need to talk with him, but i worry that invading his dreams will seem too similar to our mutual acquaintance. he is large and strong and i think we are friends. if nothing else, we are bound by the monstrousness that lives in our skulls. i wish he were with us now; i miss his aura.

silas: i understand why she left, but i still think it's strange that someone as interesting and important as her is willing to be a background player to someone else. if she ever returns, i think we will have good conversations and better ways to calm ourselves. i'd like to study with someone again.

ibis: we are the same, in a way. it is less lonely to become if you do it with someone else. i think they are so powerful, and they are kind to me. i understand them, i think. their feelings for yaros frustrate me, because they can cloud their reason. they are more than they allow themselves to be, even now, and i want them to realize that potential. i think that they are very.

des -

fish: i love them. i need to find them. i would marry them again in a heartbeat.

priscilla: her wealth, however much she tries to be the ally of the working class, is frustrating. but she means well, and i'm sure she's helped a lot of people. her family seems... complicated.

la noyee: i don't miss him.

aggie: sweet, but she's kinda condescending. i don't think she sees me as an adult. cool magic, though?

titfortat: i think my dad is trying to consume them? which isn't great. i need to protect them from that, even if it's kinda terrifying.

keeper -

morgan: i want to know her better! she is so interesting but so withholding. i understand if she has issues with herself, but that doesn't mean i have issues with her. she seems so powerful, and the bees sing for the thought of her.

shepherd: he is so nice and i am so worried for him so often!!! he was such a great houseguest too. i feel bad for hurting him with my magic. the bees love him for his carrion.

metonymy: makes me a little bit uncomfortable, but i guess they're just a very attentive person. i'm not sure why they've latched onto me over shep and morgue, but i suppose it's kind of flattering?

aelwyd -

aria: i'll bring her back if she lets me. hot. suspicious, but we have similar interests, and who am i to judge?

blank: deserves better. i will protect them and help them avenge thenselves. i'm glad they trust me. i hope i can maintain that, for once.

chini: can't be trusted. kind of an asshole even before the whole dedicated to bela thing.

ira: she and i get along well. her magic is fascinating and her situation is familiar to me, in a certain way. i know she'll see sense.

kairii: adorable, but unwise. reminds me of mae in ways i can't figure out. i hope she realizes that she's doomed if she doesn't act soon.

stras: self-obsessed asshole who considers himself more enlightened than the rest of us. which he is not. takes himself too seriously, on top of all that.

stray -

clem: i hope she can find comfort in the world soon!!! i am so upset about how the church treated her and i am glad i can help her.

emile: so nice and so strong! they seem very mature and smart too. i wish she let herself have more fun, and i want to know more about her. i wonder why she left her old work but regardless i love that she has big claws sometimes.

posy: she's like me! obviously we aren't from the same place but she's really cool and beautiful and good at magic. i look up to her, but i hope that she's okay with that because i wouldn't want to intrude or anything.

ragamuffin: i wish i could feel feelings as grandly as he does! she and splat always make me smile with their performances. his clown outfits are so delicate and pretty, too.... i like the way she carries herself a lot.

xochi: i worry about him in fights a lot. he's powerful with magic but his body is not ready for the world! or at least the cold. if he has to look at the stars, i hope he likes them. he is very sweet and his jokes make me laugh.

solace: i owe her so much! i think her old god hurt her in ways that gods should never hurt, and i think that her hurt loves to eat her alive. i don't know if she understands how much i value her but i think she is so amazing and her wizardly spells are really incredible. i hope she stops hurting. i hope i never make her hurt again.

[beautyofthend]

As much as I enjoy reading people on twitter watching SW for the first time, it makes me sad when they they get to some key Jack or Jakki moments and there's like no reaction :( I think if people are at s24 and they still don't see all the Jakki moments meaning something then it just isn't going to happen for them and it makes my Jakki heart so sad lol.

I can understand in a way because a lot of people who are watching it for the first time all the way through are more likely to be still mourning Harry, where as people who have watched it in real time have had years. And I know with other shows I think I would have felt the same way. But I just don't see how people can't see all the Jack and Nikki moments we've had and not see how wonderful they are.

*don't mind me having a meltdown right now. I think its just missing SW hours lol

I totally understand you!! I see people being critical of Jack and my heckles go up and then I have to remember that I have seen ALL of Jack, I’ve watched his episodes through more times than I can count and I feel like I fairly understand his character. I don’t think people quite appreciate the complexity of Jack as a character as well, he’s not like Harry, he’s had a totally different upbringing and is a different character. Jack, at times, can be seen as “Harry’s replacement” so people often watch him with Harry in mind and I think that’s wholly unfair.

You have to watch Jack and watch his relationship with Nikki and appreciate that it is very different to Harry and his relationship with Nikki. You can’t watch Jack and Nikki and expect them to behave in the same way that Harry and Nikki once did because one, that would be very boring to watch again and two, it would be a disservice to either character. The characters are separate and the relationships are separate.

Jack is so complex and his behaviour is often hard to judge the first time round, you really have to dig into him to understand the true meaning of his actions; his behaviour in the beginning of S21 is a perfect example. On the surface he looks like a horrible person for ignoring Nikki when she needs him the most. In reality, as Nikki puts it herself “he’s suffering too.” There’s a lot going on in Jack’s head and there’s a lot of reasons why he’s giving Nikki the cold shoulder; it was drummed in to both Nikki and Jack out in Mexico that they take the ones you love, that love is weakness. Jack blames his love for Nikki being the thing to put Nikki in direct danger. Alright we know that Eva was the one that took Nikki but she was the only one who could truly see how Jack felt about Nikki (a bit like how she was the only one who knew about Luisa and Gustavo…they’re paralleled). Eva knew Jack would do anything to get her back (which, in turn, benefitted her, which is another reason she took Nikki; Jack was the only one with access to El Buitre).

Jack blames himself for Nikki being taken so puts that distance between himself and her in order to protect her and because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. It’s why he encourages her to pursue that relationship with Matt, it’s the easier, safer option; if she’s with someone else, he can’t love her. Jack used Matt as a wedge between himself and Nikki because he wanted to protect her from himself.

It isn’t fair to take Jack’s behaviour at value, and while I appreciate that I, as many other people, have had time to get over Harry no longer being in the show, it also isn’t fair to put Jack against Harry and expect him to exhibit the same reactions to situations, because that isn’t fair to either character. They exist on their own and should be treated as such.

But the beauty of Silent Witness is that you can watch an episode a million times and pick up something new each time; what you may have missed the first time will be spotted on the second. I hope the people who have watched the first time will watch through again and hopefully, with hindsight and more understanding of their characters, will pick up on the more subtle moments that don’t stand out straight away.

And I feel like a stuck record with saying this but opinions do change, I went from loving Harry the first time watching to becoming rather critical and disapproving of much of his behaviour the second time I watched, couldn’t tell you why, I seen things in a totally different light. Same thing with Leo, I’ve always loved Leo but watching him again with Sam and actually concentrating…not a fan so much anymore. (Doesn’t mean to say I hate both characters and can’t enjoy their time in the show because I absolutely do and both characters have so many stand out moments that I love but my opinion on them has changed over the years).

[larktb-archive]

Whenever I go to block a racist I've been seeing a post that claims that revolutions dont work and peaceful protests do.

These are the examples said post uses:

These are all fucking terrible examples to use and I'm gonna go in order of worse to best which isn't saying much.

Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace

Yes this did in fact end the civil war. But no one denied that peaceful protests can make momentary symbolic changes such as ending a war or gaining a country its independence. This does often happen and you can list off dozens of countries wherein there has been a peaceful response to violence which has seemingly brought about an end to that violence I should know this because after all I come from the best known example of that happening aside from India (and I'll come back to my home country eventually). The problem with saying this is that it ignores the aftermath of the "peace" and whether or not it made enough of a difference in peoples lives for it to matter; even though external visible violence has been quelled, other covert forms of violence stay in place.

Liberia is a good example of this because of one major issue in Liberia: Corruption. Millions of USD are lost every year due to members of the government pocketing the money for themselves to the extent where, according to Transparency International, Liberia is 137 out of 180 and 53% of public service users had paid a bribe within the year of 2019. Interestingly enough the OP of that post calls China and Cuba corrupt despite the fact that Cuba is 60th and China is 80th. But I guess what happens after the revolutions is successful only matters when you're talking about places you dislike.

This corruption has lead to protests in 2019 and 2020, wherein police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters. Something to note is the minister of informations accusation of the protests being caused by outside elite forces. Rings a bell but I'm not sure from where.

Now one of the reasons Liberia is so corrupt is because of the lack of punishment against the main actors of the civil war, in spite of the trc listing out 100+ perpetrators and recommending that they be dealt with.

Then president, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, was on this list and has admitted that she backed the civil war. She went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Jasmine Revolution

Around 79% of people in post revolution Tunisia think the country is "going in the wrong direction", 29% of people would not vote with 48% not knowing who they would vote for, 81% said they don't feel close to a political party, 57% said they aren't interested at all in elections, only 20% believed elections would be free and fair, 45% said they disapprove of the current president, 71% said the government isn't addressing the needs of the youth, 50% of people said the government struggles with preventing political violence and I could go on and on.

But this is only 1 study with a very small sample size so by itself it's not a lot.

But when you compound that with a corruption index of 74, an unemployment rate of 15% (compared to Vietnam and Cubas horrible 3% rate and Chinas 6% rate), ~100,000 skilled workers leaving the country and a slowly increasing number of asylum applicants leads me to think that the data is not unfounded.

Suicide and murder rates also increased after the revolution, with cases of self immolation increasing threefold, such as with the case of Abderrazak Zorgui, who's death sparked protests which turned violent after the police were sent in to quell them.

At least 800 Tunisians went to fight for Isil and that's only counting those who came back from Syria. For comparison 900 returned to Turkey and 760 returned to Saudi Arabia.

Much like Liberia there has not been any justice, with the government instead introducing a law granting amnesty to former members of the dictatorship in Tunisia. A constitutional court was supposed to be set up in 2014 to speed up this process. 6 years on it still hasnt been set up.

Rose Revolution

Now this one is interesting. Georgia has a corruption ranking of 44, its unemployment rate of 11%, although higher than the corrupt, evil nations of Cuba and Vietnam isn't terrible and its Gini Coefficient is 36.4 which is pretty average.

So what's wrong with this one?

Well for starters four years after the Rose Revolution, Georgian protestors once again took to the capital to protest against the increasing amount of power, President Saakashvili, who led the Rose Revolution, was gaining.

To be more specific in 2004, legislation was passed to give him the right to dissolve parliament and in 2006 local elections were manipulated so that the government would dominate local legislatures.

And what's that? The president of Georgia blamed outside Russian influence on the protests and sent in police with tear gas and water cannons? That seems weirdly familiar familiar. Where have I heard that one before.

Here is a quote from a leader of a peaceful revolution after peaceful protests against him took place: "Everyone has the right to express disagreement in a democratic country. But the authorities will never allow destabilisation and chaos".

Interesting how after he was put in power, suddenly peaceful protest is the work of Moscow and needs to be controlled by police. Funny that. But this is totally a successful revolution guys!

And how many protests happened after this one? 3, not including the anti-homophobia protest. I think if you need to protest against the government every few years to the point where people keep calling each new protest, the Rose Revolution 2.0, your 1st revolution wasn't that successful.

Womans Suffrage

But before I talk about the relatively well off post-Soviet nations let's just do a assessment of the absolutely dumb as fuck idea that the Suffragists were more effective than the Suffragetes despite the Suffragists making no progress in the 40 years they existed prior to the branching off of the Suffragettes.

Now some historians do agree that the Suffragettes more violent methods did begin to turn men away from granting womens suffrage during their later years. Less concrete is the idea that this outweighs the net positive they had on the movement for womens suffrage.

In fact heres a contemporary source from 1906 praising the suffragette movement:

"I hope the more old-fashioned suffragists will stand by them. In my opinion, far from having injured the movement, [the Suffragettes] have done more during the last 12 months to bring it within the region of practical politics than we have been able to accomplish in the same number of years"

Who said that? Millicent Fawcett? Oh clearly she's just biased towards suffragettes?

But even if I gave evidence that the Suffragettes were indeed more effective than the Suffragists, you could easily find an opposing argument and vice versa. Ww1 happened and in the end that swift change of culture is what gave women their rights to vote (or at least the wealthy).

What can be argued is the historical reasons of why the Suffragettes became even more violent in 2nd decade of the 20th century leading to more guerrilla warfare like tactics being deployed such as arson.

Black Friday happened. Was a protests against the government caused by then Prime Minister Asquith, reneging his promise to put a bill granting womens suffrage through parliament. This protest started off as peaceful and ended up with women being physically and sexually assaulted by the police and counterprotesters with there being accusations of plain clothes police officers inciting this violence. Do I even have to say it?

In order to avoid further molestation, the Suffragettes stopped doing large gatherings with each other and went "underground" so to speak getting more and more violent.

What we should recall is the fact that prior to this Emmeline Pankhurst told the Suffragettes to stop all operations and renewed them after this traumatic event.

Prior to the suffragettes emergence the fight for women's rights had been by in large ignored by the public and it was only after their emergence that this became an issue in the forefront of the public's mind.

For a more nuanced view:

"Viewing the militant movement from the second half of the twentieth century, it is difficult to argue that violence does not ‘pay off’.   [The history of independence of the colonies, and Civil Rights campaigns in the USA shows that violence can succeed.]   It may be that suffragette violence after 1912 fell between two stools, being inadequate to force the government but sufficiently destructive to antagonise public opinion.  This writer [i.e. Constance Rover] is of the opinion that, as the events turned out, militant tactics helped the women's suffrage movement until 1912, but after that date were harmful.   This does not mean that militancy was necessarily a foolish policy.   With hindsight, one can conclude that militancy failed in the last two years before the war, but with the experience of rebellion we have had since, one cannot conclude that militant tactics are an unsuccessful means of obtaining an objective such as enfranchisement..."

- Constance Rover 1967.

I use the quote in specific because it calls the civil rights movement violent. And was written a year prior to the end of the movement. It's almost as if the movement has been whitewashed by liberals to be a completely non-violent effort or something.

Singing Revolution and Velvet Revolution

I'm putting both of these together as these states are all former Soviet nations who have became arguably more successful than others like Moldova, Bulgaria and the aforementioned Georgia.

Now in the post-Soviet Baltic states, there are a large list of things i could talk about. The high suicide rates, the mass exodus leading to a quarter of the population in each nation leaving them, the large amount of people at risk of poverty, high incarceration rates, the gutting of labour laws, the rise of anti-semitism and the glorification of Nazis within their societies all come to mind. Some of these also apply to Czechia and Slovakia.

I could talk about specific events such as the Gorilla scandal, the murder Jan of Kuciak literally everything concerning Czech prime minister Babiš and the large proportion of Soviet Nostalgia in both Czechia and Slovakia (1/3 in the former and 1/2 in the latter).

I could mention protests that have taken place after these revolutions leading to the usage of rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who were acting non-violently. But I'd be repeating myself so I'm leaving it at that.

"But Lilly" you might say, "that doesn't necessarily disprove OPs point that these protests were successful, they did after all achieve their goals of 'political revolution/ending war/gaining womens suffrage".

And that's true. But...

TL;DR

OP used these as examples to contrast against so called failed violent revolutions with OP using violent revolutions like Vietnam, Haiti, Cuba, China, the USSR and the French Revolution as examples of failed revolutions. Anyone with a brain knows these revolutions absolutely succeeded in their short term goals of political change. There is no Tsar anymore, Cuba and Vietnam are still socialist, the aristocracy of france were decapitated, Haitians arent slaves and China has no emperor.

So where does the problem with these revolutions lie? Well according to OP:

... of course as we've just seen the so called successful peaceful revolutions are also poverty-ridden, corrupt and unstable with problems years later so what's the actual difference? There is none (aside from the historical revisionism of socialist states but that's beside the point), it's just hypocrisy and an incredibly silly gotcha to those currently arguing for violent protest.

I could continue and talk about how Haiti collapsed because of sanctions from racist countries who wanted to punish Haiti for fighting against their white masters, how Vietnam was practically always in war throughout the 20th century and how its stabilized since the end of the Viet-Khmer war, how Cuba infinitely improved the lives of all Cubans and was far more humanitarian than any western nation at the time, how the USSR and communist China turned Russia and China from poor feudal states to economic powerhouses which were far more equal in nature than the US.

But this post is way too long and I don't want to have to read through another dozen sources written by anti-communists liberals again.

Edit: the conclusion didnt save properly (thanks tumblr)

To end I'll say that the major problem with non-violent protests that is shared by every single one of these examples (apart from womens rights) is the lack of punishment towards those who caused the problems the people were protesting against. This means that said people can become president or a member of the government without any impediment and those people continue to be corrupt. From Ellen Sirleaf Johnson to Mikheil Saakashvili to the Tunisian government to Andrej Babiš. On the other hand violent revolution makes sure that those who war complicit in the crimes of the past are not able to usher in the crimes of the future, even if others eventually do.

The thing about that is progress has still been made, and even if they begin to reverse some of the gains that had been made they cant reverse all of them. With non-violent revolutions there is no change except for the ways that those in power step on the working class being more covert than overt.

You can decide which you prefer.

[idontbelieveyou-butthenagain-idc]

I get that you prefer Zayn's voice, which is perfectly fine, but you can do it without calling Harry a talentless hack. I (obviously) don't like Zayn, I've encountered some zstans that bash Harry but don't acknowledge Zayn's bs. I thought you were one of those fans and got irritated.

1) Fair enough.

2) No one can say Harry did or didn't do anything except for Louis, Liam, and Niall. Only they were in the room, we're all just guessing (hence why we all come to different conclusions). I know that Louis said that given the option he would of continued (I'm not sure on Liam and Niall?). Harry did admit he asked for the break up at the time, and he still says so now. People blaming the other guys isn't Harry's fault. I don't now why people are pissed that Harry wanted the break up though, especially with how the band was at the time. I love one direction and always will, but in 2015/2016 it was a train wreck. Louis admitted that even though he was annoyed at them breaking up, he still saw the break coming. I mean, Zayn had left half way through a tour (and beyond that it was certainly a messy exit), Louis had the whole drama with Briana and Freddie, Liam was having drink problems, they were being overworked, tensions with media were super high with everything going on, and they were having internal arguments. Like, I'm not sure I'd want to continue that lifestyle either tbh. He did sign a solo deal. I dunno if he talked about it to the other boys, but at the end of the day it's his life. If he wasn't happy with the working conditions under 1D he's allowed to do his own thing.

3) Okay, so since the beginning of secondary school I didn't now wtf I was. I used the term unlabeled for the whole of it, and through college. To this day I'm flip flopping between certain terms because I'm not totally comfortable or sure yet.

So for the record, him coming out doesn't have to do whether he professionally can or not (since I'm certain he would be overwhelmingly supported), it's whether he personally wants to. Harry refusing to label himself as anything almost certainly related to personal reasons, that we as outsiders don't know. He might not have found a comfortable label, maybe right now he doesn't want to put a name to it (I know I went through that), maybe he is out privately and not publicly (which is definitely a possibility considering what friends of his have mentioned). Here's the thing, the "sexuality is fun" comment is thrown about a lot and was purposely taken out of context, but wasn't about the LGBTQ+ community in general. It was about his own sexuality. And yeah? There's nothing wrong with that? Sexuality can be fun?

A man doesn't need a secret agenda to wear woman's clothes. He can wear it simply because he likes it. Also, because some people can't risk playing with their clothes and sexuality, that means that no one else can either? Just because he doesn't live in a country where its illegal or faces the same kind of discrimination other people do, doesn't mean he's never confronted with the same or similar bs (all of which were said before the whole twitter fiasco):

While he is privileged, he still faces these kinds of comments just by being himself. He's still a good example for people who identify with him. Harry wearing a dress on vogue is a good thing, at the very least it encourages to normalise men in dresses and womans clothes.

He has supported the LGBTQ+ community. Has since his one direction days. Just off the top of my head he's teamed up with GLSEN, a charity that's dedicated to giving LGBTQ+ youths a safe and sable education, and donated $1.2 million. He supported London Friend (the oldest LGBTQ+ charity in the UK) who focus on mental health and provide counselling and support for the queer community. He had MUNA a queer girl group as his opening act. He continues to openly support the community in places that are known to be especially discriminatory to LGBTQ+, such as Singapore and Nashville. He personally helped a fan come out to their mother after she asked him to. On one hand it's fair to want him to say more, on the other hand it isn't his job to. Both statements can be true at the same time.

Watermelon Sugar is a whole tin of worms I'm not getting into with this post. My feelings are complicated and too long to get into since this already getting lengthy. Although I personally didn't agree with the media shit show that happened to Liam. I understand why people were offended, but it went well beyond what was necessary.

4) Someone else does something = Harry's fault? It's no secret that Harry isn't exactly the most active social media user, so I don't think he's spending the time he does go on it looking up his stylist's assistants liked posts on twitter. I almost never look up my own friends likes, let alone my friends friends likes? I don't have that much time on my hands, let alone Harry.

5) I mean I'm kinda a let down here since my dad and his family come from Manchester city...but I'm not going to lie. I haven't a clue about the arena. I saw it, wasn't interested in business stuff, and moved on. I haven't investigated, though a quick Google search and I'll admit it's weird that Harry would endorse a foreign company to gain so much money from the UK, only for the money to inevitably end up in the pockets of an American... Though a teeny tiny silver lining the Co-Op is involved, they're known to help out the local economy (certainly more than any other UK supermarket anyway). From what I understand it's not something I agree with either. So fair.

6) Data mining. Like, obviously no one wants that. It's shit, but like, literally every corporation and big businesses do it. Not always themselves, but they pay other people for the service, soo...yeah. It sucks, but so does the thousands of other people who do it. It's not a surprise to see Irving Azoff use the same thing everyone else is doing behind closed doors.

7) I don't know Harry's mind. I don't know why he does or doesn't talk about things. He does have writing credits (3rd highest I think?) in one direction. He's also written songs for other people as well. Ariana Grande, she even worked in the studio with him on the song. He collaborated with Sam Smith to write a song for a new artist called Cam, and he helped write the theme song for the movie Love, Simon. So he clearly has the ability to write. Even going back to one direction days he wasn't the most... um, articulate? I don't often watch his interviews because I feel like he has trouble formulating what he wants to say. In one direction the other guys could... bridge the gap for him. On his own people have noticed it more since it's just him, but he's never really said anything personal ever. In one direction it was practically a 1D joke that Harry never actually answered the questions. He's just a vague guy, always has been, it isn't breaking news.

We definitely disagree on Harry. I agree that none of the boys are perfect and I support all of them (except Zayn).

I left for a while, so I’m gonna need someone to explain: when the fuck did Z*rry become a thing? Why y’all gotta defile Zayn that way? Hasn’t the man suffered enough?