#blah promotion again

[themindofachronicdaydreamer]

Perspectives

marshmallow floof plot: Megumi recalls you and Gojo falling in love through his eyes. content: fem! reader, megumi is in denial about caring about Gojo, Gojo is obsesseddddd with you shamelessly, but its okay because so are you with him! warning!: megumi is not good with emotions :/ or tolerating Gojo word count: 5.7k satoru gojo x reader note: can we pretend utahime and gojo are the same age pls and thank u - also i am delusional and in my head suguru did not defect so gojo never had to go thru all of that okay <3333 anywau i hope you enjoy!! put a lot of thought and love into this!

At only six years old, Megumi was already quite intelligent. As an extremely perceptive child, he understood far more than he should have at such an age. Typically, kids his age were naive and gullible; Megumi however was the complete opposite, and that was partially due to his aloofness.

When Satoru Gojo first met Megumi, he felt like he was talking to a grandpa in a miniature body, sassing anyone who dare interact with his little self. As stern and as gloomy as the boy persisted on to be, though, Gojo picked up on hints of tenderness and compassion laced between every word Megumi spoke about his sister, Tsumiki. Easily, Gojo could discern what he deemed too much deeply rooted pain and defensiveness in the young Fushiguro. Having his guard up was engraved into his mind; the wall he placed between him and the world had it's own sector in his immune system and acted with automaticity, an innate defense mechanism.

Despite all of the anguish intertwined in every breath Megumi exhaled, and despite his cold nature he employed to protect himself from being hurt again as he has before; despite being abandoned, and despite not being surprised he was; despite not even hitting double digits, yet already carrying the attitude of a the wisest owl; despite all of the thoughts racing through Gojo's head, he knew Megumi was special. Though a part of it may have been due to the responsibility he felt over the boy after murdering his father, Satoru Gojo was confident in one thing: he would take care of this kid like his life depended on it.

From then on, Gojo took the role of Megumi's benefactor, funding him and his sister so that they could live without worry. Megumi begrudgingly allowed him to endow his life, though it was rather difficult. The guy was so over-the-top and bothersome when he decided to actually go and physically check up him. Visits from were sparse, though, if Megumi really cared or needed anything, Gojo was always a text away.

And soon he would learn that you were, too.

The first time your existence was brought to Fushiguru's attention, it was mildly unintentional on Gojo's end. He was completing his routine check-in on Megumi about six months after taking him under his wing, ensuring he was doing fine in school - other than the fights he found himself in every now and again, of course. And after everything checked out okay, he rambled on about his week and how exhausting it was being the strongest, greatest individual to exist in this time and how much Yaga has been up his ass since he was promoted to principal and blah blah blah...

"Can you believe he was expecting me to get to the school before nine A.M.? Hah! Funny man. I need my beauty sleep. How else would I always look this handso- Oh!"

Megumi, who was in no way religious, praised in that moment whatever God up above sent a call to Gojo's phone at that exact moment, for he failed to believe he could have pretended to listen to another second of his unimportant and unnecessary rant. It truly was over-the-top, and Megumi was not a fan. He had never, nor did he think he would ever, warmed up to the way Gojo's ego seems to make a nearly empty room feel claustrophobic.

"Heyyyyy!" Gojo dragged, acting like a highschool girl with the way he twirled the end of his hair and giggled at whoever was at other end of the phone. If Megumi cared to look closely enough (which he totally doesn't, since he is so disinterested in Gojo and does not dare to look at him too long or he will automatically become annoyed), a rosy hue could barely be seen on the apples of the older man's cheeks, growing more and more apparent the longer the phone call went on.

Obviously, Megumi did not want to listen to the likely boring conversation, but since he was stuck in the same room as Gojo, he had no other choice but to eavesdrop on the phone call. Or, more accurately, he was playing detective to solve the mystery of who on the other end was transforming Gojo, as childish as he is, into a tweenage boy talking to a cute girl for the first time.

"I'm with Fushiguru, actually," Megumi overheard, his interest only minutely piqued after hearing his name. Whoever was on the other end must have known who he was already given the way Gojo did not feel the need to elaborate on who exactly Fushiguru was. That irked Megumi.

"Yeah, just hanging out, you know. I'd say we're best buds! Right, Megumi?" Gojo moved the phone away from his ear and looked at the boy across from him expectedly.

"No," is all Megumi spoke in response.

Gojo's eyes widened slightly, not expecting such a response, before he laughed and continued, "Silly guy! Such a silly guy."

The call took way too long and Megumi was half tempted to leave the room, but he was still getting used to Gojo and did not fully understand what his role was in his current situation. Was Gojo considered a houseguest? Was Megumi supposed to have something prepared as a thank you? Even if he was, he wouldn't do that for Gojo. What if something went wrong, or Gojo did something stupid? Tsumiki was at her after school club, being the natural social butterfly she was. Megumi had assumed the role of the man of the house at merely seven, and he was not going to disappoint her or let anything go haywire on his watch. This was his roof, and nothing would happen to their humble little abode under his watch.

Finally, Gojo said his goodbyes to whoever he was speaking to, set his phone down, and sighed in the most i-must-be-living-in-a-daydream-because-there-is-no-way-life-can-be-this-good-and-i-am-so-in-love-but-i-dont-even-know-it sort of way.

"You would like her," Gojo broke the silence after a few moments of savoring the butterflies in his stomach.

"Who was that?" Megumi queried, and if Gojo listened closely, he could hear echos of intense interest in the boy's simple question.

"A friend from work."

"You don't have friends."

"Hey!"

-----

After your existence was brought to light, it became a thing that whenever Gojo visited, he spent half the time on the phone - whether texting or on a phone call, it didn't matter. He was always talking to you.

Megumi supposed he should have felt grateful since Gojo finally became less unbearable. His check-ins, although hard to predict when they would be or how long in between they would reoccur, became less about how much Gojo loves himself and more about... well, you. It was a nice change from hearing his neverending egocentric comments, to be fair. Megumi was not complaining.

"You remember her, right, Megumi?" he asked while walking Megumi home from school one day. He was on a tyrant about something that had happened at Jujutsu High a few days prior before realizing he might had forgotten about the most important detail: you. The chance that Megumi may not even know who he was speaking about generated a sharp gasp escaping from Gojo's lips.

"Yes. She's all you talk about," Megumi deadpanned. What a stupid question, the boy thought to himself, when Gojo asked this every single time he bothered to show his face around here.

Gojo chuckled, responding in a voice that was way up in the clouds, as if he was skipping through a meadow abundant with good feelings and the potential for new relationships, "Hm, yeah. I guess you're right! Sorry, kid. Just had to make sure you knew."

At this point, Megumi learned a lot about you: You taught second-year sorcerers at Tokyo Jujutsu High, you went to Kyoto Jujutsu High, you were in same year as Gojo was, you were acquaintances for a while, your best friend (unfortunately so, as Gojo whined when he told Megumi) was Utahime, who was oddly protective of you and rude for no reason to Gojo (it is most definitely within reason), you were the most selfless person to walk the surface of this planet, you cared more for others than for yourself, and you and Gojo were really, really, really good friends now that you worked together and you two were close and he was friends with you and you texted him all the time and hung out too and you spent time together and you are theprettiestpersonhehadeverplacedhissixeyeson-

Basically, Megumi knew more about you than he comfortably should, and you were all Gojo seemed to talk about now.

Megumi found it sort of... endearing how much Gojo spoke about you. For someone so certain in himself and all of his glory, it was nice to hear him talk about someone else that way. He discerned an innocent intent in Gojo's actions, from the soft grin that graced his face when he rattled on about you, to the way he had begun to ask eight-year-old Megumi for advice on women (which he has surprisingly been helpful with - especially the time when Gojo didn't know if you'd prefer a specific flavor of mochi over another, and Megumi's suggestion ended up being the perfect one because it was your favorite). And though he would never, ever utter the words out loud, Megumi enjoyed hearing Gojo talk about you. It brought him down to earth and made him feel more like a mortal being; even Satoru Gojo crushed, fawning over you like you were a brand new toy and he was a toddler unwrapping gifts on Christmas Day. Even the man who had everything in the world simply wanted just like the rest of the world; he yearned for things in life that he did not ("Not yet, but surely soon!" Megumi was certain Gojo would say if he could read minds) have.

The two boys sat together at Megumi's, eating some sweets Gojo brought back from his mission. Gojo had a bouquet of flowers set delicately on the table in front of him, preparing himself to go to your house after his pep talk with Megumi and ask you on a date. Finally.

Staring at the flowers beside him, Gojo resolved to pick a flower out of the bouquet; a pretty, pale pink daisy that reminded him of the shade of your cheeks when he teased you. He rolled the green stem of the daisy back and forth between his index finger and thumb while echoing the declarations of his planned speech confessing his feelings for you. He had his heartfelt soliloquy memorized, but he was still feeling... apprehensive.

"She loves me," Gojo began, plucking a petal off of the flower and setting it delicately on the table. He spoke lowly, as if his life depended on the resolution he would find when he would extricate the last of the daisy's petals.

Megumi looked up from the book he was reading - a true crime mystery he had been quite invested in - to figure out what the man next to him was doing.

"She loves me not," Gojo plucked another petal, placing it on top of the other one he had already taken off.

Ah, Megumi understood it now. He's transforming into a child; his obsession with you had turned his brain to mush. He had now, mentally, been beat by Megumi, descending into the intellect a five year old smitten with a kindergarten crush.

"She loves me!" Gojo chirped. He plucked another petal before reporting with a glum tone, "She loves me not."

This went on and on. Megumi observed without a word and Gojo continuing the game that is so typically played on on a children's playground.

How on earth did you have such a drastic effect a man so above the rest of society? The man put on a pedestal by all of the Jujutsu world; the one who could take on any obstacle and leave without a scratch; the same guy who died and brought himself back to life; he could isolate himself from the rest of the world in an instant using only his limitless technique, yet, you always found a way to draw him back him - and somehow, somewhere in the mix, you had The Strongest Sorcerer wrapped around your finger.

"She loves me, Megumi!" Gojo proclaimed when he picked the final petal from the flower. "I mean, of course she does. Look at me."

Ah, there was the daily dose of Gojo's big ego; his head was as inflated as expected, but was on display little later than usual. Megumi referred to it as The Daily Dose of Gojo: DDG. He was bound to hear at least once a day about how much Gojo loved himself, whether through text or in person. But today, it was more like he was venturing to persuade himself on that fact, too.

Megumi then realized that this was the first time he had seen Gojo nervous.

He wondered what about you could make Gojo nervous, because not even the strongest of curses causes The Strongest Sorcerer to break into a sweat. What exactly is it that you have that grants you the title of the one human who could make Satoru Gojo nervous? He understood that you were special to him, but he still had never met you, and he is starting to want to.

He wasn't sure why he felt so protective over you. You were a twenty-year-old woman who he has never even met in person, even though he knew from Gojo the color of your eyes and the smell of the perfume you always wore. One thing was for sure, though: if Satoru Gojo messed with your heart, Megumi would fight him with all of the effort his child body could exert in one go, then kick his ass all the way to the core of the earth to be at such a heat that his infinity disfunctioned, ensuring he suffers for ever even considering toying with your feelings.

-----

"Fushiguru!" Gojo hollered as Megumi exit his elementary school.

Megumi glared at the white-haired male as he stalked toward him, untrusting of the motives at play. Gojo watched the child over the rims of his sunglasses, a toothy smile spread across his face while he waved excitedly. He had something planned, as per usual.

"What do you want?" Megumi groaned, and he eyed the two individuals in front of him with suspicion, though he already had an idea on who you were.

It was an uncommon sight for him to be picked up from school, but for Gojo to be accompanied by someone other than Ijichi was borderline shocking. There was only one person you could be, however, and Megumi suppressed the fluttering of excitement he felt as he saw you.

"Hey! Rude to speak to your elders like that," Gojo jested flippantly. "I want you two to meet!"

Fushiguru listened as Gojo repeated every syllable of your name that he has repeated a million times before. It rolled smoothly off of his lips, like caramel drizzle on the sweetest treat from his favorite bakery. It has been about two months since you, somehow willingly, agreed to a date with Gojo. It has been about a month since you agreed to officially be his girlfriend, which Yaga was not the most pleased to hear, but Gojo dealt with that and ensured the security of both of your jobs.

"Hi, Fushiguru!" You waved, a wide smile adorning your face. "Nice to meet you! Gojo talks about you all of the time."

"Hi," Megumi quietly said. He suddenly felt shy in your presence. You stood in front of him in all of your beauty, with the kindest smile on your face and the softest look in your eye, gazing at him as if he were the most important person in the world. Gojo did not do you justice when describing you to him.

And suddenly, everything Gojo ever said about you made complete sense - now, he finally understood how even the famed Satoru Gojo fell victim to the enigma that was you.

"I'm a friend of Gojo's! I wanted to meet you, and I don't know if you would want to, but I would love to get to know you," you offered. You folded your hands together in front of you and smiled politely toward the young boy. You were doing your best to not look too nervous because you really did want to get to know this kid, but from what Gojo's told you, he was not the most sociable character. Something about his melancholy aura is rather intimidating, to say the least, and you were doing your best to accommodate.

"...will he be there?" the kid questioned after some thought. As he spoke, he pointed his thumb toward his benefactor who immediately took offense to whatever he was implying, whining loudly in the background of what had become the two of yours conversation.

"Who, Gojo? Oh, well, he doesn't have to be," you suggested over Gojo's objections. "It can just be you and me. Or, if you are more comfortable with it, he can come with-"

"No. No Gojo," he interrupted. Gojo continued in his protests, but they all drowned into white noise as Megumi continued. "But sure."

You craved so badly to smile widely, high five Gojo for the feat you just accomplished, jump up and down, and display your excitement for his agreement on your face. But you were so worried you would scare him off, so instead, you opted for a soft smile while you said, "Great! Is now okay?

"Sure," he returned, emotionless as always.

"Perfect. Your pick on what we do. And it's on Gojo!"

And you walked away, ignoring Gojo whining after you. You'd coddle him tonight when he would inevitably pout to you about abandoning him for a little kid. For now, though, the important task at hand was getting to know Megumi Fushiguru - who reluctantly held your hand as you walked to the arcade he selected.

From then on, you were a common face in Megumi's life.

When he was in fourth grade, the two of you started a tradition where every other week, you would pick him up early from school and get ice cream and talk (as much as Megumi was willing to, at least). You had surprised him after school one day a couple months ago, and the routine stuck after he asked you to go again the couple weeks later. Not that you ever complained - you would never in your right mind take for granted Megumi willingly hanging out with you.

"So, how has school been?" you probed, Megumi begrudgingly held your hand as you walked through the busy streets of Tokyo (he claimed he was old enough to walk on his own, but you told him it was just for your own sanity in the scary world of Tokyo and when he turned ten you wouldn't do it anymore, and who was he to deny you of peace of mind when that is all you ever wished upon everyone els?).

"Fine," Megumi muttered. He was not the most fond of crowds, which was glaringly obvious as he squeezed your hand more aggressively the farther you ventured into the city. So yeah, maybe he did kind of appreciate your overprotectiveness.

That was the day you learned Megumi had his first crush.

Well, okay, it wasn't really a crush. He just thought someone was cute.

As you sat side-by-side, he ate his vanilla ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles, you ate your choice of ice cream, and the two of you chatted - meaning you talked, and he occasionally threw in a word or two.

"Any girls you think are cute? Or guys?" You sought, emphasizing the teasing nature of your question by tapping your elbow into his side. Megumi glared up at you through the strands of his hair, but you could see the red tint on his pale skin - a sign you were on to something. "Ooooh! Tell me all about them!"

"Stop it," he sulked and stared off into the distance, ice cream forgotten in his hand. You could tell he was thoroughly embarrassed, but you just could not for the life of you get over how adorable he looked.

"Aw, Megumi. I'm just teasing. But you can always talk about that with me, you know?" you offered. "I can give you all the advice on girls. I would not recommend asking Gojo about them. His flirting skills are... unconventional. Plus, I know I'm your favorite. So just gives an excuse to rub it in his face!"

"Thanks," Megumi spoke broodingly. His ice cream was starting to melt a little down the side of the waffle cone. The treat regained his attention as he finally noticed the melting mess, and immediately, he tackled cleaning it up. He hated messes.

"So... does that mean I'm your favorite?" you interrogated. This had been a debate between you and your boyfriend for a long time now.

"Sure."

And amongst the crowds of people, you - a full grown adult - hollered and jumped up and pumped your fist in satisfaction, because that was the best thing anyone had every said to you.

-----

Megumi took back whenever he had the ignorant thought that Gojo was becoming more bearable. Completely rescinded it. He was absolutely the most unbearable human to ever have walked this planet; residing in the same millennia as this man was barely tolerable, let alone inhaling the same air or sitting in the same room.

Gojo wanted to propose to you and he wouldn't stop talking about it.

Or asking Megumi for advice.

Yeah. Satoru Gojo was asking an eleven-year-old boy for help proposing to his long-term girlfriend.

You had been dating for over three years, and Gojo was growing impatient; he wanted you to be fully his. Not that you weren't already, but he wanted to be officially - by the law, by the symbol of marriage, and by the ceremony that accompanied it. He wanted you to take his name and be a new addition to the Gojo lineage, and if it came to the day, maybe add some little ones to the family. It was getting the point where want wasn't enough to describe how he felt - it was a necessity to marry to, to be yours forever.

Megumi had grown a lot closer with you with the past months, even opening up a little. He mentioned to you his internal debate regarding "good people" and "bad people", to which you listened, you heard him, and you cared. Genuinely. You hugged him, and in that moment, he felt so loved, he never wanted to leave your arms - the arms that would protect him from anything scary, like nightmares or curses, and shield him from experiencing any more hardships. He wasn't used to that - yeah he had his sister, whom he loved so dearly and she did in return, to be cared by a motherly figure was something he had barely experienced.

For the life of him, he could not figure out how or why you willingly, even happily, subjected yourself to the hinderance that was Gojo. Every time he asked you why, you respond, "Oh, Megumi, you're a funny one!" and laughed the heartwarming laugh that made him feel like home. Megumi knew, deep down somewhere he wouldn't ever like to admit, that you were happy, and Gojo made you happy. He knew you loved Gojo. He was fully aware of all of that. And he had witnessed as your relationship grew more serious with time Gojo beginning to think for more than just himself - he grew as an individual, doing what he thought was best for the ones he loved, rather than what suited him best. Megumi knew that come to it, Gojo would lay down his life for you. If it meant making a deal with the most dangerous curse, or if it meant sacrificing his soul, Gojo would do it for you, and honestly, Megumi had the inkling that Gojo would do it for him too.

"What if I have a plane do the whole 'marry me?' in the sky? Ugh, but that is so overdone. I need to be creative and go all out for her. What do you think, Megumi?" Gojo inquired, to which Megumi only tuned back in because he heard the sound of his name.

"Just ask her. You know she'll say yes," Megumi grumbled what he already knew was fact.

"Well, of course she will. Who would turn down my handsome self?" Gojo gestures to his person, a confident smile on his lips. "But you're right. Ugh, Megumi, what do I do?" Gojo held an ebony ring box, anxiously passing it from one hand to the other and back, the piece of jewelry it contained an indicator of how serious he was about this. Why he was carrying such an expensive ring around so casually was beyond Megumi's pay grade, but he knew Gojo would not let anything happen to it.

"You'll figure it out," Megumi said, as he had no ideas either - you deserved everything in the world, and no proposal or material thing would be enough to thank you for all you have done for everyone else.

"Oh my god, I did!" Gojo jumped from his seat, giddy as a little kid, and celebrated whatever idea he came up with. He placed the ring box in his pocket, where he would protect it with every cell in his body.

"Great," Megumi said. He prayed to himself that Gojo would now finally get out of his hair.

"I'll take her on a nice trip - she's always wanted to sightsee in Europe, but hasn't had the time - and then, once we land in Greece, I'll do it there and- and I'll leave it at that. Don't wanna spoil the surprise yet for everyone. Thanks Megumi!"

And Megumi smiled a tiny little smile to himself as Gojo exited his house, excited for the two of you.

And he congratulated you when you came home from the trip Gojo planned for the two of you. You visited him and ran up, showing off the ring you were sure Gojo spared no expense on. Though, Megumi had already seen it from the hundreds of times Gojo showed him it, and not to mention all the pictures you send him from overseas.

And he continued to be excited for you as he helped you with planning - because if there is one thing to know about Megumi, it's that he is organized. So he helped you figure your ceremony out by ensuring all the paperwork you had and the appointments you booked and all of your purchases were kept track of, or else the wedding would have been a disaster. If Gojo asked him for help, though, he would laugh in his face and say absolutely not.

And then, before he knew it, the wedding was there. Megumi was the ring bearer, of course. He was almost 13 at that point, and he was starting to grow into himself and show signs of growing up (puberty!).

He felt... happy.

Happy for you. Happy for the new and official makeshift family that established itself. Happy to know that you were genuinely happy, and that for all of the love you constantly gave to others without hesitation, someone gave finally was giving you that love back, and then some. Because he saw how much Gojo adored you, and honestly, there was no one else he would want to be with you.

Now he stands, at Tokyo Jujutsu High for his first year at the school. His benefactor who drives him up the wall is his teacher, and now, not only does he have to deal with him normally, but he actually has to listen to him.

But at least you're there too. He has you, always.

And for that, he smiles. A rare smile reserved for the sparse moments where he is genuinely happy - and he is, because he knows you'll save him from Gojo if he needs you to.

The improvised family he's found himself in may not be exactly what he dreamed of, but he's happy with it nonetheless.

And he still struggles with the dilemma of what is good or bad, and he still struggles to find his purpose in the world, and he is still angry at the universe for putting him in this world when there was no reason for him to be there, and he still struggles with the pain of abandonment and his found comfort in solidarity.

But that's okay. It'll be okay. He has you. He has you because Gojo brought you into his life.

He's grateful for that.

Megumi hopes one day he can find the love you share for himself. But that's a problem for the distant future. And when he has another crush, you will be the first to know - not because he would admit it to you, but because somehow, you always know. You know him better than he knows himself at this point, and it's a scary talent you have, but one you most definitely possess.

With that, Megumi steps forward, walking alongside you into the building he will be at almost everyday for the next few years. While he wasn't holding your hand like old times, it was okay. Because he was growing up, and he had a future ahead of him that made you so excited for him.

"I'll see you later, Meg. Got a long day ahead," you bid farewell and ruffle his hair. The two of you stop in the barren hallway facing each other, and you are disappointed at how he keeps growing, and at some point in the near future, he will surpass your height. It feels like you're shrinking, honestly, with how fast he's growing.

But you always knew he would at some point, just like you knew that he would one day decline holding your hand while in public, and how one day he would outgrow your ice cream runs (though they still happen every now and then, just not as frequent as in the past).

"See you," Megumi responds.

"Love ya!" You lean and place a chaste kiss on the side of Megumi's head. You remember when you used to be able to place one on the top of his head without going on your tiptoes, but times are changing, or you're shrinking or whatever, and the side of the head will do.

"Yeah, love you, too," Megumi says, rushing the end of the sentence and turning around to walk away. You say it to him so often, and he loves you, but it's still difficult for him to express that.

But that's okay. It's all okay.

He knows whatever is in the future, you will protect him, and Gojo will watch over him, and everything will be okay. The two of you will love him unconditionally, even if he struggles to say it back.

And he'll never admit it, but if there is one thing he's grateful for in life, it's Gojo, for he brought you into his life, and what a blessing it is to exist at the same time as you do.

"So, let me get this straight," you begin, staring at the three individuals in front of you. "You sent Megumi alone to find Sukuna's finger at some school, which was taken by random students who tried to unravel it, which ended in this kid-"

"Yuji Itadori, sensei!" Yuji introduces himself, saluting to you for some reason.

"Right. Itadori ate the finger. Sukuna's finger. And he is now Sukuna's vessel."

"Yup!" Gojo confirms and he gives you a thumbs up. "That about sums it up."

"So tell me why when I asked about three hours ago why all of the higher-ups were acting like they were shitting themselves, you didn't think to tell me what happened?" you ask, irritation with your husband woven in between every syllable you speak.

"I did, but I knew it would be fine, so I didn't want to worry you."

"Worry? Really? Do you know how worried I was when they said Sukuna was there?"

"Honey, you know I'm strong. I can face him."

Itadori looks to his new comrade, Fushiguru, to see if he was uncomfortable to watch the couple argue in front of them. He fails to be consoled when he sees Megumi wasison his phone nonchalantly as if nothing's wrong. Yuuji assumes Megumi was just tuning them out as a student being used to teachers bickering, so he decides to try to do the same. But it's not working.

"I don't care about your strength, I care about Megumi, and I care about the lives of those students, and-"

"Hey, Fushiguru?" Itadori says, and Megumi hums in response. "Is this normal?"

"-they were put at risk, Satoru! Do you understand that?"

With the couple continuing to argue in the background, Megumi looks up from his phone finally, answering, "Huh, this? Yeah. Get used to it. He's an idiot."

"Yes, baby, I understand, but I made a judgement call and I stand by that. I'm sorry-"

"Ah. Well, um. Can we leave? Do we have to stay?"

"-for not keeping you informed, but I promise you, I had it under control."

"Yeah. They won't even notice we're gone until one of them asks for our opinion and then they notice we're missing. It's just funny to watch them sometimes."

"The higher ups want to execute him! An innocent kid! And I know you got sweets in the middle of all of that. Are you serious-"

"You're used to this?" Itadori inquires, a naturally curious kid.

"-ly telling me that nothing different could have been done to prevent this?"

"I guess you could say that."

rawrrrr thank u for reading i love you SMMMM i loved writing this hehee <33333

[ohnoitstbskyen]

I know you made shorts for Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but do you have any other thoughts about Kingdom Hearts?

Ik this is kinda vauge and you get these kind of asks all the goddamn time, but I hyperfixated on those games for most of elementary and middle school and its always cool to see your favorite Youtuber talk about stuff you really like. Not to guilt trip you into answering this one or anything, just. . . I'm very tired and it would be very cool lol.

Again, saving my character design thoughts for some more shorts, but I adore Kingdom Hearts. Like, the first game really ISN'T much more than a cross-promotional branding exercise for Disney and Square, same as any of a dozen other similar crossover centric franchises; it's a Saturday morning cartoon show that wants to get you invested (or keep you invested) in a bunch of fancy IPs to buy toys of, but it's a really good one of those.

And it's a game that understands that the central thing that's going to hook people IN to that kind of thing is characters that are willing to believe in what they've got going on with one thousand percent sincerity. Which I think is the thing they nailed more than anything. Sora cares SO MUCH, and he wants to find his friend and his love interest (Kairi and Riku, respectively) SO BADLY, you can't help but root for the poor kid and want to believe in it.

Then, with the first game successfully managing to hook a solid fanbase, the creative team went "hey what if we had even MORE extremely earnest cool anime people getting deep in their feelings?" and now we're off to the races with Organizations and Oblivion Castles and fractions of 358 days.

And the thing that makes all the hyper-convoluted wheels-within-wheels plot machination nonsense WORK is that down, deep down, right at the core of what the franchise is always trying to say, is that love will save us. Yeah yeah hearts and darkness and unversed and nobodies and keyblades and blah blah blah (to be clear: I adore all that nonsense), but all of it is top-to-bottom in service of that singular central thematic clarion call.

Love will save us.

What holds Ventus together after Xehanort tears his heart apart? The love of Sora. What keeps Roxas the nobody from fading into Sora? The love of Xion and Axel, and Hayner, Pence and Olette. What brings Xion back? The love of Axel and Roxas. Hearts ring together and resonate and bind themselves to each other and there is no darkness so deep, no tragedy so absolute, no villain so foul that the cry of a loving heart cannot defeat it.

Roxas is a nobody doomed to darkness? Fuck you, Kingdom Hearts is love, no he isn't. Xion is a mere replica puppet, a failed experiment that nobody will remember? >>EXTREMELY LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER<< get seasalt icecream'd on top of a clock tower at sunset, IDIOT.

Over and over again characters sink into despair and loneliness, they fear that their connections are fake or fading, they fear being forgotten or left behind (Riku in the first game, the breaking of Ventus, Aqua and Terra, Roxas thinking nobody would miss him, Aqua in the Realm of Darkness), and over and over again they are proven beautifully wrong. There is always a hand reaching out, there is always someone who will miss you. Love will save us.

And this absolutely gets hokey, of course it does, it's a saturday morning children's cartoon. It's a bit simplistic, maybe a bit naïve, but honestly in a world where you can't walk two steps without bleak-minded doomer cynicism forcing the assumption that nothing truly good is possible and that the worst will always happen, Kingdom Hearts is a story so absolutely drenched in hope, sincerely held, that it feels like a fucking balm.

Also, LITERALLY where the fuck else are you going to get Woody from Toy Story reading an edgy anime villain for absolute filth? Nowhere, that's where. ONLY Kingdom Hearts.

None of this is to suggest I don't have criticisms of the franchise or that it's faultless. I could talk for several hours unbroken about all my gripes and problems, chief among which is LET KAIRI DO THINGS OH MY FUCKING GOD the franchise is low key misogynistic towards its female characters sometimes but I am talking about the things I love here let me just be happy for a second.

[wttcsms]

thinking about reader who is new to the jva and is a bit slow on picking up on the intensity of this workplace; the only person who doesn’t talk shit about you and seems to genuinely care is your work senior, kuroo. between constantly traveling with him for work related projects and meetings, always taking coffee breaks and lunches together, and the fact that he always comes to your rescue when something at work seems to be going wrong, it’s no wonder why you develop a massive crush on him. you think that now — when it’s a late work trip and you two have to get a hotel room but it turns out that there’s only one room available left — is going to be the moment where everything changes. there’s this odd tension between you two and kuroo looks like he’s going to say something but then thinks better of it. after that awkward trip, you start to avoid him at the office and he ends up being promoted and works on a different floor entirely.

a few weeks past and you’re now a mentor figure for the incoming interns. because of kuroo’s new schedule and the lack of communication you have with him now, you two can’t grab coffee like you normally do so you take one of your overeager interns who seems to be attached to you. he says something that makes you laugh freely, and it’s when you’re done laughing that you catch a glimpse of kuroo’s retreating figure; he was going to see if you were down at the usual cafe you two frequent bc he was hoping to see you again & instead, he has to see you having fun with a man that isn’t him.

blah blah blah, semi sweet office romance but the whole point was for you two to have rough, possessive sex in one of the storage rooms of the office, thank you for reading this far.

[skiiyoomin]

Can you please do Stray kids Lee know with a kpop idol gf

ღLee Know with an idol! gf

ʚCont: fem! reader, very fluffy, not proofread

⤑Back to navigation

a/n So this turned out a sappier than i expected

The first time Minho talked to you, was to film a Tik Tok to promote the release of his new album. Your group was vaguely familiar to him. He´d heard a song or two, knew what company you were under, but that was it. So when you were formally introduced by his staff, he was surprised to say the least. He never expected you to be so...pretty? No, that wasn´t the right word. Attractive. Not just physically, something he realized afterwards.

At first there was a weird awkward tension. The usual greetings, blah, blah, blah. But when that tension ebbed away, he found himself genuinely enjoying filming with you, or rather, spending time with you. There was an obvious chemistry that both fanbases pointed out in a flood of comments.

Ever since then, he was not able to get you out of his mind. Suddenly, he became hyperaware of anything related to you. He saw your group on a billboard? That´s all he can think about for the rest of the day. Your group released a new song? You bet he´s streaming it like your number one fan.

The second time he talked to you was at an award show. Your group had won for the most streamed song. The same song he had replayed an embarrasing amount of times. He knew it was risky. If anyone spotted him, rumors were sure to spread like a wildfire. Nevertheless, his feet moved faster than his mind could, and before he could process it, his finger tapped your shoulder.

Conversation flowed easier this time, putting Minhos nerves at ease. When he walked back to his group, your number now saved on his phone, he knew where he wanted to take things with you.

It wasn´t hard. That same chemistry from your first meeting kept growing the more time you spent together. Minho had this casual charm to him that wasn´t hard to miss. And in your eyes, how could you not fall for someone like him?

4 months later you were sharing your first kiss within the 4 walls of his room. It was safe from any unwanted attention from dispatch or any annoying staff members. The kiss was sweet, gentle, yet passionate. He had this way of kissing that took your breath away over and over again.

Despite the sweet moments, the fact that you were both idols always clung over your heads. It´s not easy. The constant fear of whether dispatch caught you or not. The months away from each other due to tours. Or sometimes the fact that you were so close yet so far. With schedules packed to the brim, it´s hard making quality time for each other.

Yet even though these struggles got in the way many times, it never failed to make the moments together all the more special. He´s proud of you and he never fails to remind you. When you´re up on stage performing your heart out because that´s what you love, all he can think is that´s his girl, and he loves you more than anything.

And it´s vice versa too. You´re always supportive of him and his group. But especially him. You´re always there to remind him to take care of himself when he forgets to. Or to cheer him up when a performance doesn´t go as well as he wanted to.

Deep down, Minho is glad because he knows you understand the struggles of an idol life, and it only makes the connection stronger. With that said, he loves his idol gf <3

[cursedvida]

Honestly. Every two or three days someone publishes a post saying "oh why do you like nomae? If mae is bad, she's the villain, blah blah blah" that makes me wonder if these people have a life beyond wasting their time hating.

If you don't like something, can't you just block it? Or can't you just focus on promoting what you like?

Oh my god, do something productive with your lives.

It's good to see that lately even those who don't ship nomae are against these people.

There are many points we can discuss about this.

For example, we can talk about how absurd and pointless it is to throw hate at a ship. I mean, what do people gain from it? Making others feel bad? Do they really get satisfaction from shaming and trying to make people feel guilty for just trying to escape reality for a while by shipping and fangirling over things they like in a healthy and purely playful way? Do they seriously find any pleasure in it? Does it give them dopamine or something? Because if they really need to crush people to feel better about themselves, what I would recommend is to leave the internet and start therapy because these are indeed very sadistic and sociopathic behaviors.

Putting aside the melodramatic and catastrophic moment, we can also talk about how sad it is to waste time hating something instead of doing something productive like, for example, creating content. They complain that the KotPotA tags are infested with things about Nomae, but do they contribute anything beyond the hate? Do they write dissertations, present theories, upload gifsets or fanarts? No, of course not, they just throw crap. I mean, if it bothers you so much that when you enter the tag 90% of the content is not to your liking, then I invite you to fill the tag with things you do like. You are free to do so. But I guess it’s much easier to just complain instead of making an effort to contribute.

This brings me to another point that I find very ironic. Yes, everything is full of Nomae, but that is precisely what keeps the fandom alive. Every day someone uploads some fanart, some video, some comment or fanfic. Every day there is someone talking in this tag about the topic that, whether many like it or not, means talking about the movies. Let’s be honest, those of us who keep fandoms alive (and I speak in general) are the shippers, especially when they are fandoms of franchises whose content are movies that take years to come out. If it weren’t for people fangirling all the time, there would be no content on social media. I’m sorry if you don’t like that content, but once again I invite you to use your freedom of expression to create rather than try to destroy people’s self-esteem.

But well, as you say, at least there are people with common sense and enough mental maturity to understand that if you don’t like something, the best thing to do is ignore it and that’s it, as well as understanding that shaming people on social media is very much a thing of 15 years ago and today it’s just pathetic.

[ambrosiagourmet]

Has anyone requested Marcille for the ask meme? If not then pls

Marcille!!!!!!!!!

First impression

Gay? Interesting elf girl with a really good design for a female character oh my god thank you. She gets to wear pants!!! It's a miracle!

Impression now

BELOVED HALF-ELF OF MY HEART... most determined member of the party, maybe second only to Laios. Not that it's a competition.

Girl who carries the weight of her existence in her heart everywhere she goes. Girl who doesn't know how to just exist because that would mean surrendering to the things time will take away from her. Girl with bloody knuckles who clings too tightly to the things she loves because she remembers a time when she didn't realize what they meant to her.

Girl who must shape a life too big to hold all at once. Who stares into that impossible task so unflinchingly that you kind of want to tell her to run away from it for a bit. Be a bit more of a coward, Marcille! But she doesn't have time to be a coward!! She's hurtling towards her goals at terminal velocity. But the same love that keeps her tumbling forward also pulls her back from the brink. Because she's still figuring out the balance.

Favorite moment

Rabbit chapter... my god rabbit chapter.........

Genuinely maybe my favorite chapter in the whole manga. It hits such an incredible peak of humor and raw emotion and impossibly ridiculous situations and grounded believable character writing. And no part of it is separate from the others.

What a fucking chapter. And what a fucking thesis for why Marcille is such a good character. Her being ridiculous and her being incredibly determined and her being powerful and her being scared are ALL part of her. Man. Marcille. She will do anything to pull through for her friends.

And then on top of it the way the Lion takes advantage of this moment to pull her strings. Which is just. So horrifying to watch because you want someone to give her a hug but all the people who would give her a hug are currently DEAD and she's left in a room along and exhausted with a manipulative, abusive, hungry opportunist. God. God. I love Rabbit Part II So Very Much.

Idea for a story

Umm hi sorry I am still busy thinking about Rabbit Part II. Please enjoy some shameless self promotion while I go lie down for a bit.

Unpopular opinion

She's bisexual!!!!! Normally I don't hold so fast to like "well canonically this character was into A Man so she can't be a lesbian blah blah blah" but it does bum me out that people ignore her succubus because I really do think that bi Marcille deserves more love. It doesn't make her any less into women sheesh.

Favorite relationship

Sorry I was thinking about Rabbit Part II again what was the question? Favorite relationship?

Yeah I dunno maybe Marcille and Laios? I kinda like the part where they rely on each other because there is no other way through and share an unnamed intimacy born in blood and bone and the way that they place impossible burdens on each other and owe each other their lives many times over and neither holds it against the other or asks for the repayment of debts that can never be repaid, choosing instead to keep walking into the future by each others sides because what else can you do. What else can you do.

They are pretty cool I guess. I'm normal about them though. Haha.

Favorite headcanon

I imagine that castle staff help Marcille with her hair on a day-to-day basis because leaving it just to personal friends and family would probably be impractical. But also I think Chilchuck, Laios, Falin, and also especially KABRU all learn enough to help her with it. I think that the first three learn some basic nice stuff but I think Kabru would get really into it.

That man could absolutely intensely hyperfixate on something like "nice hairstyles from another culture" for three to six months and come out the other side an expert.

[aquatint-101]

Kataang wedding headcanons specifically

Kataang wedding headcanons specifically So Aang and Katara get engaged in the balcony of Iroh's tea shop during sunset for maximum cringe, and their plan is to have a ceremony there itself Except Zuko objects, says that the Avatar's wedding would be the perfect opportunity to promote world peace and unity and blah blah blah King Kuei offers to bankroll the whole thing the next time he meets the couple, so does Zuko, and they unilaterally agree that this wedding needs to be the event of the century I mentioned the Ambani wedding specifically because that is how ridiculous this gets Sokka is put in charge of the planning, and he goes so overboard Amy Santiago would be ashamed, and his bachelor party idea on Ember Island is so elaborate Charles Boyle would start crying Toph assigns herself the role of sommelier and gets absolutely hammered as an excuse Suki is in charge of security but she constantly finds assassins at every turn, but 90% of that is just her being paranoid Mai is in charge of flowers but did not get the memo so now they're all poisonous Smellerbee, Longshot, the Duke, and Pipsqueak make fireworks that are big and loud and definitely not legal Teo and Haru decide to build a wacky guest house that is a crime against architecture as a discipline Zuko is in charge of the guest list but several diplomatic incidents happen because of who's not on it Ty Lee helps decorate and is the only one doing a good job Again, this is Ambani level ridiculous: there are custom outfits, live portraits, the best musicians in the whole world, gourmet chefs from every culture Speaking of, Sokka has the brilliant idea to combine wedding traditions from all four nations, making the ceremony even more stupidly elaborate Businesses sign up for massive catering contracts and turn the wedding into an economic opportunity A bajillion A-list attendees show up in their best (worst) outfits to the engagement party, turning it into the ATLA verse's equivalent of the Met Gala for a hot minute It should be mentioned at this point that neither Aang nor Katara had any input in the planning Katara is literally ugly crying after the engagement party, and Aang isn't really able to comfort her because he's ugly crying now too because it was really That Bad Like people throughout the party are asking them when they'll "make more airbenders" and making thinly veiled racist comments about both their cultures Every little thing they wanted for themselves isn't happening Kanna gives them her blessing to elope, and they end up running off to the Southern Air Temple and getting married in front of Gyatso's statue to get his "blessing" too They also get married in their PJs (I hc that they made themselves matching ones that are blue and yellow with cloud patterns) and have little flower crowns It's honestly so stinking cute They're able to stop the seven-month wedding plan from going through before any major financial transactions are made It is still remembered as the wedding of the century, but not for the reasons anybody anticipated

[not-goldy]

jimin has always been the one showing his attraction to jungkook while jungkook was the one who was shy about it. jimin was the one bringing up the hickey, saying he was with jungkook on his birthday, posting pictures about jungkook, while jungkook did none of those things. it's really interesting how you have persuaded yourself into thinking that jimin was the shy one and jungkook was the one encouraging jimin because it was absolutely not like that until jimin decided to take a step back from posting and engaging with jungkook. even in 2023, it was jimin who was the one consistently commenting on jungkook's lives while jungkook did it once! jungkook didn't visit any of jimin's promotional activities, yet you celebrate jimin flying to new york. you know jimin has always been the one to show up. when did the narrative change to fit your "jungkook is the best boyfriend" spiel?

Okay..... but Jimin didn't bring up the hickey Jungkook just snitched on him on his own.

Jimin is.... kinda shy though ....

I mean underneath all that rah rah

Sure he is extroverted but being extroverted don't mean you are impervious to shyness or vice versa.

Let me tell you a story

I met a beautiful older woman we talked we flirted we crossed certain lines flash forward 6 months and we are sort of seeing eachother but it's not official.

I wasn't fully out only a few people knew AND I wasn't prepared to come out not to anybody.

She seemed out out more so out than I was but for some reason she wanted to keep us a secret. She had divorced her husband because she admitted to him and herself she's gay.

Some how being with me was a bit embarrassing for her- she didn't say this but I just could tell. Me and her kids get along well and they all think I'm just a younger colleague of their mom.

Her ex husband thinks we are dating but he's always looking at me as some toddler and even joked a couple of times he would have agreed to a threescore with me if she wanted something "young and fresh"

One time he said now my ex can appreciate why men prepare younger women.

She doesn't say it bothers her as certain topics are off the table and we don't broach into that at all.

She's done well for herself over the years worked hard and climbed up the ladder and She's top gee in the work place. Everyone respects her but particularly so because she represents this conservative Christian family woman living the traditional life style.

She's been with others before me that's for sure but I'm the first after her divorce.

Now do I want to come out to everyone about my sexuality- no. But we were always arguing because I also didn't want to be kept a secret especially to people meaningful to us.

I wanted our relationship to be seen as valid and respected for what it was.

Saying this to explain the complexity of the concept of outing and showing- its not as simple as oh this person is bold and brazen and isn't afraid to hold hands and show affection.

My ex could do all that but still recoil in front of a different crowd. She doesn't mind being intimate and showing around her kids but she as a different person around her ex husband and their mutual friends.

She didn't mind being showy around my friends and family but around her colleagues she acted as if I'm just one kid who likes to bother her.

When I see Jungkook I don't see him picking and choosing or even reading the room most times- save for a few random instances. It can be frustrating dealing with someone like that who wants consistency to the point they become reckless.

When I was with her I was always accused of being reckless and wanting to ruin her hard earned reputation as a respectable woman. One time I kissed her in front of our colleagues and everyone cheered. But we didn't speak for a whole month afterwards because she said I embarrassed her. She said it wasn't meaningful because I was drunk blah blah blah. Fuck her. Hope she never finds love again.

In retrospect may be I could have been more thoughtful and considerate but geez I don't really play into respectability politics ion give a fuck what no one thinks of me or us.

Anywho try not to oversimplify some of these issues two things can be true at once it's not always either or and try to catch the nuances of some of these things.

And why can't they both be best boyfriends😩

They are both best boyfriends

Say it with me

[dottieisdotting]

Studio talks - k.h.j

requested?: no

pairing(s):idol!Hongjoong x idol!AFAB!reader 

Genre:fluff

warning(s):none

Summary: you sit and watch Hongjoong work and talk about your days 

word count: 786

A/N: a little Hongjoong studio drabble. And my own work again. I'm slowly getting back into writing again. Yay! Anyways enjoy.  Likes,comments and reblogs are appreciated! Make sure you're hydrated and fed. Have a good day and night. Mwah! 

Being an idol was tough, you'd known that from the get go when you and your girl group ; angels in Love, had debuted back in 2019 under KQ entertainment but you wouldn't change it for the world. 

The fans (cupids) for starters were absolutely amazing in every way. Always so supportive of your group and you were forever thankful. The friends you had made along the way, awards and overall pride that you felt like you were doing good in the world.

But it was stressful, with your upcoming comeback right around the corner you needed someone to talk to so who better than Kim Honjoong, leader of ATEEZ and a good friend of yours. 

You knock on his studio door. He stops working and stands to open the door. He was barefaced and in a button down shirt. Hongjoong looked exhausted but welcomed you with a warm smile and ushered you to sit and listen to his new creation. You sat and put his headphones on as he played the track you were enchanted and only wished you had his skills rather than let Hyun-jae slave away making your tracks for your group.

The snippet finishes and he looks at you expectantly as you nod and smile. ”It's amazing Joong, truly. Every time I come in here i'm amazed at your skills” you always loved giving praise to those who deserved it. And Hongjoong definitely deserved it with what he has done.

He leans back with a content smile ”How was your day?” he asks, interested and you reply with ”hectic absolutely and utterly hectic” his lips form a small ‘o’ and sits up slightly, grabbing your hand and intertwining your hands together knowing you like physical touch. 

You smile at his gesture as he silently gives you the go ahead to talk about your all so ‘hectic’ day as you recalled it. You sigh and sit comfortably before you start. ”Well, I woke up late and couldn't find my outfit I'd planned to wear. Don't judge, I was overthinking and brainstormed an outfit for today's practice. Anyhoo, I get to practise,warm up,blah,blah blah. Our ritual coffee came and I thought all was saved until it spilled all over the practice room floor so I felt great.” you take a breath and a sip of water before you start again. Hongjoong loved when you rambled it would take his mind off work for a split second.

”I had to run to find some tissue so I was running around the building for like 30 minutes like a lunatic before I found some,cleared it up and got on with practice. That was over so we all got food. Nothing was wrong with that, thank god. Then I had to record and my voice cracked so damn much and I was ready to give up. I don't understand why it was cracking because i was wrapping not singing y’know” 

Hongjoong was amazed at your day, it truly was amazing how you put up with all of that but he felt super sorry for you too. He squeezes your hand letting you know that he was here for you, anytime you needed him 

You always appreciated Hongjoong and the little things he did for you. You lean forwards embracing the man in a small hug. Letting yourself relax in the presence of him and his calming aura. 

”you're truly amazing, i don't know how you do it” he uses your words against you, praising you and your shite day. 

You laugh softly and shake your head,denying his words. He tsks at your actions and holds you close to him. He truly loved you in ways friends shouldn't love each other but he couldn't tell you yet, not with promotions flying left, right and centre.

You pull away and let him get back to work, you loved watching him in his element. Listening to the tracks and tweaking it together, it felt domestic and cute. Your mind wanders and wonders what I'd be like if you were actually dating him but you couldn't like him, could you?

No, it was wrong, completely wrong. Hongjoong was one of your best friends in the industry, and closest. But,what if? You wondered but you were snapped out of your daydream when Hongjoong cleared his throat. 

He was shutting down his computer and packing up. Oh, he was finished for the day which meant you had to disappear back to your chaotic dorm and find something to do.

He stands up,asking for your hand to pull you up from the chair. ”let's go now” you stand and silently nod walking with him out of the studio. 

[unhonest-iago]

This is supposed to have similar vibes to those crack treated seriously type bf asmr vids. Lmk how I did.

Whumper, holding Whumpee in a chokehold; shhh, shhh, it's okay. just go to sleep. take a little nap.

Whumper; I know I said on our facetime calls that I was taking you out for a date to celebrate that big promotion you'd gotten at work. The one you had worked your ass off for, the one that you'd been passed over on time and time again....blah, blah, blah. [Whumpee slowly lowers whumpee to the ground, leaning them onto their chest]

Whumper; --oh, you're asleep. Thought it would take longer. Probably not wise to admit this but I am a virgin when it comes to this. I know, not something you want to hear your dear lover turned kidnapper to say aloud. You just looked so--lovely.

Whumper; anyways, where was I? Shall I continue my monologue? Where was I? That's right, unfortunately, you, my snookums put in your phone's passcode while doing your makeup. Wasn't that hard to remember, I mean you were naive enough to put it as 123456. One smart thing you did was telling your "bestie" the location of the restaurant. [Whumper boops their nose after they finished dragging them into their van]

[the sound of a car's sliding door slams shut, driving to a warehouse location. duct tape ripped as to restrain their wrists against a chair]

Whumper; wakey wakey, eggs and bakey [they lightly slap whumpee's cheek. It takes a few seconds before whumpees remembers what happened, quickly thrashing in their bonds] Why am I doing this? You remember when I told you about how my parents were pressuring me into joining the family business? [Whumper claps their hand together] Welp, welcome to the family business. Yea.

[Whumper proceeds to roll out a cart holding various tools]

Whumper; Now, my only request is that you try not to scream too much. Not because I'm worried about anyone hearing you. No no, it's not that. Just whenever I shadowed ma & pops, they always lost their voice too quickly for my liking. But don't be afraid to cry, you were always such a beautiful crier, love.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 1

Season 2 picks up after the Christmas break, it is now early January 2021, and Wilhelm is asleep, dreaming of Simon...

Cinematography: The show does a slow transition from Wilhelm's sex dream by changing the colours from the soft golden light of his dream, to the harsh early January daylight, and by letting the sound of a vacuum cleaner pierce the signature [dreamy electronic music] of his dream.

Subtext: We're seeing Wilhelm move like a ghost through the palace, ignoring everyone, even his mother. He's still angry with her, and they haven't really talked all break.

Blink and you miss it: It's hard to make out, but Erik's silver cigarette case is also inscribed with Sällskapet - The Society, the ultra-douche nobility club.

Cinematography: Just like last season was bookended by a fourth wall break, here comes the opening montage and a very angry Wilhelm staring into the camera.

Subtext: The August montage tells us a bunch of things. He's been spending Christmas break alone at school since he doesn't really have a family to spend it with, and his eating disorder/body dysmorphia sure isn't getting better.

Culture: Simon is playing the song Aldrig Igen by Cherrie, which is about leaving someone who has hurt you. The repeating refrain goes: "Never gonna happen again. I don't want to feel like that."

Culture: Minimum age for getting your driver's license in Sweden is 18. It's getting more and more rare for people to get their driver's license as soon as possible, because it's simply not a necessity for most. When I went to high school last century (in the 90's), about half the class got theirs at that time. These days less than a third get theirs that early.

Subtext: Although Felice didn't really have a plot of her own this season, I'm glad to see that she learned something last season and keeps ignoring her annoying, prattling, mom. That her friend Sara got into the Manor House is much more important than whatever horsey-horse blah her mom is whining about.

Subtext: Madison hands Sara a crystal, of course she's into that. But I'm not crunchy enough to figure out what the hell she means by "among other things". Help. Anyone? What is that even? Amethyst?

Subtext: "Native Americans and other indigenous peoples have burned sage for centuries as part of a spiritual ritual to cleanse a person or space, and to promote healing and wisdom." Thank you Google for that explanation. And of course it's something Madison would do.

Lost in translation: The English translation of their chanting didn't quite capture everything. A literal translation would be "Fine girls, deep pockets, worship our fine pussies!" But fina flickor is an expression that means well-mannered upper-class girls, djupa fickor is a Swedish idiom that means being rich, and these two fragments both rhymes with and alliterates with fina fittor, except the latter is extremely vulgar, which creates an interesting juxtaposition of contrasting tone. Btw, my high school Swedish teacher was the best teacher I've ever had, and I know he would be so fucking proud of me right now if he could see me writing this! Tack, Magnus.

Subtext: And here comes the first mention of this season's main theme; traditions, upholding them, breaking them, examining them... Interestingly enough it's Felice who suggests breaking it, while all the other girls insist that Sara has to continue the tradition. And boy, does she ever. At least the fire department didn't show up...

Subtext: The real reason August didn't join Vincent or Nils on their expensive Christmas vacation to the Seychelles is of course that he can't afford it. But his dismissive joke also just point to his own eating disorder problems. August, get help.

Subtext: When Simon insta-stalks Marcus we get to see a bit of his personality. Apparently, Marcus likes camping, fishing, hiking, horses, and his Volvo. The 850 is a classic 90's station wagon, and although it's pretty unusual for 18-year-olds to own a car in Sweden, something like that checks out and it's probably his car.

Subtext: Vincent is such an ass, and I love every second of it. He has zero respect for the younger students, he doesn't give a shit that Wilhelm is royal.

Subtext: Wilhelm is being an assertive bitch to August here and insists on him addressing him in third person, as if they weren't familiar...

Blink and you miss it: ...which makes Nils and Vincent laugh, and Vincent makes a mocking salute to Wilhelm.

Subtext: But in the end, August is the prefect, so they do as he says and allow the first-years to join the party, even though they have no idea why August is letting Wilhelm get away with it.

Cinematography: This season also does a lot of mirroring where scenes in this season look like scenes in the first season. This particular one mirrors the one where Simon appears at the initiation party for Wilhelm and catches his eye, except it's a lot more sad this time.

Subtext: Oh look, The Theme™ pops up again, and Simon is of course not a fan of keeping the shitty traditions that forced Sara to do something stupid, so that he had to rush to school to check up on her.

Subtext: Wilhelm is an awkward idiot around Simon. He really has no idea how to reconnect with him.

Cinematography: Again, we're mirroring the initiation party in s1 where Simon excuses himself, but this time Wilhelm doesn't chase after him.

Subtext: I'm sorry what now? Nils is not straight? That came out of fucking nowhere, but ok, let's roll with it! Also, whoever subtitled this is obviously familiar with Tinder, but not with Grindr. Nils says that he saw Marcus on Grindr, not that they matched, because that's not how Grindr works.

Subtext: The main theme of the entire show is about social class, if you haven't figured this out by now. Nils is firmly in team upper-class, and tells Wilhelm how he's supposed to handle dating: Only date or hook up with people from your own class, or with people who know how to keep everything discreet, private, and down-low.

Subtext: Wilhelm looks around in confusion, because he expected Simon to be singing in the choir. Where the hell is Simon?

Subtext: Meanwhile, Simon is late and on the bus with his friends on Team Rebound, who are giving him advice that's gonna turn out to be pretty crap.

Culture: Padel is so middle class, Vincent is right! Padel surged in popularity in Sweden in 2021 for some weird reason, and tons of padel courts popped up all over the country. However, the hype completely crashed in 2022, so most of those places are now facing bankruptcy and people actually talk about padeldöden - padel death, so the sport is kind of a joke right now.

Subtext: Wilhelm puts on the most fake smile ever and says hi to Alexander who is back at school. They were all correct when they said that Alexander really wouldn't get punished for getting caught with the drugs, his parents simply bribed the school to hush it down, but their treatment of Alexander will backfire spectacularly on Wilhelm later in the season.

Subtext: The show is doing a bit of exposition here, but it's also reminding us of who knows what about the sex tape, and why Wilhelm hasn't told Simon that he knows who did it. One more thing that will backfire spectacularly.

Subtext: And in a quick throwaway comment we learn that the late prince Erik had a thing with a porn model, and that the royal court successfully swept that whole thing under the carpet, as they do.

Subtext: The rest of the girls thoughtlessly let Sara pick up the tab for their coffee, which is nothing to them, but for Sara it's half her savings. She's treating them without protest, but doesn't buy anything for herself because she simply can't afford it.

Subtext: Don't sit next to him, don't talk to him, pretend he doesn't exist! Simon is really trying to follow the advice of his friends.

Cinematography: Oh look, a mirroring of the scary movie scene where they touch hands in season 1. Except this time Simon jerks his hand away.

Subtext: The Theme! This time it's Wilhelm who's on team fuck the traditions, although he's doing it just to undermine August.

Lost in translation: Vincent actually uses the word kladdiga - sticky, smudgy - about their hands, which in Swedish implies they're all toddlers who should sit down and shut up while the adults are talking.

Subtext: No, Wilhelm really didn't stick up for anyone last season, he threw Alexander under the bus, and he threw Simon under the bus, so we're just heaping on the guilt now.

Subtext: And we're doing some more exposition to remind everyone about who knows what about the sex tape. Here Sara finds out that August knows that Wilhelm knows it was him, and he's blaming her for telling him, even though she hasn't told anyone. Not even Simon, speaking about things that will backfire spectacularly.

Subtext: Sara's plotline is gaining steam, much like she did after touching August, if you know what I mean, eh, eh, eh? She knows he's a piece of shit, she knows he's a bad person that she can't trust, but she also thinks he's hot as fuck and this obviously causes quite a lot of conflicting emotions in her.

Subtext: No, Wilhelm truly doesn't realize this. He's been trying to get close to Simon in order to get him back, but he still hasn't got a damn clue as to why Simon is keeping his distance.

Subtext: Note that Simon going after Marcus is 100% reactive. He asked him for a ride because he needed to for Sara's sake. And now he's agreeing to karaoke night because Wilhelm just hurt him again, and because his friends have been encouraging him to go for a rebound boyfriend.

Culture: Carola Häggkvist is a very well known Swedish artist and songwriter who had her breakthrough at 17 in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Marcus is choosing. She only came in third that time, but won the ESC in 1991 with the song Fångad av en Stormvind. Despite being wacko Christian for a while and married to Norwegian preacher Runar Søgaard, who lost his weapons license after shooting a deer from his bedroom window, she has now mended her ways and is somewhat of a gay icon in Sweden, performing at Stockholm Pride in 2013.

Culture: Främling is about meeting a stranger, falling in love, and taking a chance on this newfound love. Marcus might look like a doofus, but his song choice is pretty clever, although obvious.

Subtext: Can we just appreciate Vincent's dramatics for a second? A first-year not moving their ass off a couch he wants to sit in is apparently causing his entire world to come crashing down. The audacity! Chaos! The system is there for a reason! It provides stability! What's next? Everyone is just gonna sit around playing the bongos? Someone needs to enforce the proper order of things, because August apparently refuses to do so!

Subtext: Some nice foreshadowing here where Alexander checkmates Wilhelm.

Culture: The Swedish Royal Court is an organisation with hundreds of employees who assist the royal family in all their official duties. Here we're seeing the Queen having a late night meeting with some court officials. Although the show doesn't say, it's likely that Minou who was introduced in season 1 is the head of the press and information department, and that the new character Jan-Olof is the Marshal of the Court, which would put him in charge of planning and preparing all official events that the royal family attends.

Subtext: From the perspective of the Queen and the court, Wilhelm's outburst comes out of nowhere. He's been refusing to talk to his mother for weeks, and now he suddenly calls them up, rants about Simon being on a date with another boy, and screams that he doesn't want to become king in the future. In addition, he threatens to talk to the press himself, which makes Minou somewhat concerned to put it lightly.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I had a thought last night when reading your posts…

Conspiracy theories and inane rumors aside, what is holding back Megan from doing social media? It’s just weird. So the whole Occam’s razor thing, simplest answer blah blah blah, what is the simplest explanation? Here again, it’s just weird.

Since you have an impressive body of reference material that could maybe leave some insight I’m missing.

The simplest answer—to me—is she simply doesn’t want it. That doesn’t seem like her though. The SussexRoyal clause still in effect? Maybe it would expose too many of her fabrications, varying recollections and interpersonal relationships? Because she seems to throw simple and transparent to the wind I’ll just go back to saying, yeah, it’s just weird.

Interest and content.

On interest: Meghan doesn't create or inspire the kind of interest to generate tons and tons of followers. She doesn't want Tig numbers anymore, she wants Jennifer Aniston and Kensington Palace numbers:

Jennifer Aniston broke Instagram's record by getting 1 million followers in 5 hours back in 2019, which broke the previous record set by the SussexRoyal Instagram, 1 million followers in 6 hours. Aniston's record isn't even top 5 anymore - a BTS singer holds first place with 1 million followers in 45 minutes and Angelina Jolie is next with 1 million followers in 1 hour.

Kensington Palace's Instagram has 15 million followers, currently. (SussexRoyal Instagram is currently around 9 million followers now - I think that's how many they had when they left in March 2020.)

Meghan/The Tig's Instagram before she deactivated in January 2018 was 3 million followers. For comparison - the official Invictus Games Instagram has 46 thousand followers and Invictus Games Vancouver only has 3,000 followers.

We know that Meghan and Harry were trying to get Facebook, who owns Instagram, to migrate their followers from SussexRoyal Instagram to a new Instagram account and Facebook kept refusing. So we know that they were concerned about wanting/having a huge following. We also know that there are a lot of bots supporting SussexRoyal -- all you had to do is dig deep into the comments and it was there.

I think the account they wanted Facebook to move their SussexRoyal followers to was @thearchewellorganization. The account was created at the same time they announced Archewell and the profile picture uses the same font as their website. Since they lost the fight with Facebook to get their followers moved, they scrubbed the Archewell social media but the account still remains (probably so they have the option to use it later).

And there was a TON of PR from Meghan last summer, August 2023 especially, that she was coming back to social media. Those stories specifically pointed to this account as Meghan's to boost the follower count before she "returned."

As you can see, the followers didn't come, so therefore there was no big comeback. I think Meghan was expecting to get at least Tig-like numbers with her teases and links (after all, it worked the first time around) but the influencer/follower model is completely different now. What worked in 2016 isn't going to work in 2023. Which leads to the second point:

Content. The rules, both the official rules and the unofficial rules, have changed since 2018. The biggest change has been the rules for branded content, or sponsorship. Influencers that are merching are now required, by the terms and conditions of using Instagram, to disclose when they are merching and who is sponsoring them. You didn't have to do that back in 2016. And Meghan doesn't want to disclose who her sponsors are or when she's merching. She doesn't want us to know how desperate for money she is because it goes against the illusion she thinks she has created of being fabulously wealthy and an iconic trendsetter.

The second way the content game has changed is that you have to have stuff to post and promote. Only the incredibly popular people or the incredibly beloved people - the Angelina Jolies, the BTSs, the Kensington Palaces of the world - can get away with not posting for weeks or months at a time and it won't affect their follower count.

Meghan can't do that. She doesn't have the popularity, the fanbase, or the breadth and quality of work to be posting on any kind of regular or consistent basis. She wants to be at that level of fame, she believes she's at that level of fame, she's gaslighted some people to believing she has that level of fame, but she knows she can't convince all of us and the risk of non-believers "corrupting" believers is too great for her to chance.

Which leads to the third way the content game has changed: content moderation. She knows she is disliked and hated. She knows exactly why people dislike and hate her. She's fine with that. She likes the notoreity because in her mind, any attention is good attention. What Meghan doesn't like, and what she wants to control, is how visible that hate is to the public and the people who do like her. She only wants praise on social media because it's what garners the most traction in the power elite circles she wants to be in. Meaning she's going to have to do content moderation - either pay people to delete the hate, not allowing content, or being so restrictive in what keywords are allowed - that it's not worth the hassle.

My gut feeling is that they both want to be on social media but they can't deal with the criticism or the comparisons to William and Kate so Meghan hired Bouzy to take care of the haters (especially the ones that value William and Kate more) and Harry tackled media censorship as his Big Issue to take care of the content moderation.

(And all of these combined is, I think, is the root cause for why she and Harry are so suddenly focused on online child safety. WME probably got them on the bandwagon but you know they were super butthurt Zuckerburg and the other tech guys wouldn't do what they wanted back in 2020.)

Edit to fix the BTS band name.

[jackce]

I decided to answer the rest of the asks about the shoelace thing this way, because I want to close that subject.

I know :'( I didn't even knew that. And now That I know it I don't think that code applies to all shoelaces in the world. And if actual nazis do that I think is very stupid to go around telling people "hey I'm racist, homophobic, blah blah blah kick me", but well, Nazis are stupid so I don't expect great ideas from them and we shouldn't respect them or their symbols and codes. Make it confusing to them, make it hard to them to find their group.

It does makes me feel better 😭 thank you ❤️

And AAA lolita dressing style is so pretty ❤️ keep up with your passion

Thank you ❤️ and no worries, I don't have problems with anyone involved in this. People can have different ideas, opinions and strong beliefs as long as they don't actually mean to hurt or promote hate.

Thank you Again for your words, I appreciate when people are brave enough to talk about complicated subjects with an open mind to learn new stuff and a kind heart to inform others with respect.

Sorry I don't know what is "wfsn" 🤧 google says it means "Wyoming family support network" but I still don't know what is that aaaa

Anyways, when I commission or give a like or a follow to an artist is usually because I like their style and I don't go right away to google for their problematic stuff. Should I do that? Sounds exhausting.

And I just deleted the post with the visible URLs of the person's :'( sorry if anyone got harassed, I'm stupid and I really tought nothing would happen since they didn't post anything problematic. I can still see the post tho 😭 I don't know why it doesn't dissapear aaaa

But yeah, even if it's meanless, DON'T HARASS ANYONE. And If you're being harassed, ignore and block those bullies, denounce the comment if you can. Take a nap and get distracted, the oppinion of individuals that just like to spread hate is not something that need your spotlight (or anyones).

[sheinthatfandom]

What if Lena knows why the response department is gone what if she’s trying to warn Gwen that you have to keep the horrors away and make sure they respect you or they’ll end us like they did the others?

Also Gwen memorized the fucking book she memorized all the codes and levels and this and that of every horrible monster necromancer zombie witch and goul… she saw Mr bonzo live and in person and STILL said “Besides, Lady Mowbray is a lady, an actual, married into the house of lords, Lady”

Then Gwen is all well you don’t tell me anything how am I to know if you don’t tell me blah blah remind me again who cut Lena off while she was saying this “Gwen, if the O.I.A.R. is to function it is imperative that the Externals respect us and the boundaries we impose upon them. Otherwise-“

Gwen is so out of her depth here she ain’t ready for this she could go manage a Walmart or something but the only reason she wants this job is because of some bullshit perceived superiority she wants to lord over the coworkers she endangered and to go to her fake as friends and go oh well I’ve been promoted blah blah… bitch just lie. Order a name plate off Etsy and move tf on with your life. Like I have so much grace to those in the institute cause other than archive workers they had no clue wtf was going on THIS BITCH MEMORIZED THE BOOK!! I can’t I just can’t

[loveyougoodbi]

You thought I was done talking about Logan in the tags? Think again.

This notion that you need to excel at something as soon as you start doing it is very unhealthy and should not be promoted in any way shape or form.

We all have started a new job in our lives. We all have felt lost in doing something we have been working towards. We all have made mistakes in the beginning of our careers. Expecting drivers to be immediately comfortable in an unfamiliar, stressful, competitive environment is unacceptable. Even Max didn't become champion in 2 days. His nickname was Crashstappen for God's sake. And I understand my comparison is insane. The talent is different in both cases but my point is. Max was at one point of his career when he started. If he had the rb19 in 2016 would he have broken all the records then? NO. He evolved and he learned and he worked on himself. I am a firm believer that Logan can do the same If given the opportunity. And I could not be happier that James is giving him that opportunity. It makes me hopeful not only for Logans future but the future of Williams itself. And it makes me support them even more from now on. Big big kudos to James.

And speaking of comparing rookies, everyone loves giving Oscar praise (rightfully so) but Oscar was given a car that performs. Would we still be saying this if the McLaren stayed a tractor for the entire season? And yes, I know, difference in points compared to teammate blah blah. But the facts remain that they both made mistakes, Oscar just made them in a car that can drive. Also Lando also made big mistakes in that car while Alex made essentially no mistakes, another reason why Alex had maybe the best seasons on the grid apart from Max.

Tldr; really happy for Logan, let's continue giving young people chances to prove themselves before jumping on them, and comparisons are stupid without looking at context.

[mcytconfession]

Hot take for alot of people, you don't need to know everything about everyone's person life

People, including your favourite mcyts, do indeed talk... OUTSIDE OF TWITTER

And just because they have 1 disagreement in there PERSONAL LIVES does mean they have to bast that person. They can just, not make content together.

People are acting like Wilbur and Shelby started international wars, but Wilbur f-up and had to apologise and we know from previous clips WAY BEFORE he met shelby that he'd done similar things, Niki even mentioned wilbur biting her in come old live streams and clips.

"but shelby didn't blah blah-" Niki knew, Scott Smajor knew, Noxite/Nox crew knew because he wasn't the Mcc presenter for a long time, minx knew, Bilzo knew, geminitay knew, Aimsey clear knew for a long time because you don't have a reaction like that not know furthermore they said they already knew, Ranboo vaguely knew, MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC KNEW BUT WERE SHUT DOWN

Everyone knew apart from the people who weren't as close to Shelby or didn't witness his behaviour. Heck even QT and someone other people highlight Wilbur behaviour at a content creator party DESPITE minx being the one on the chopping block.

People who didn't even know wilbur acknowledged he was weird, and some expressed discomfort. James marriott decided to promotely cut ties with lovejoy because he was uncomfortable with there behaviour, he was crapped but has since recovered.

Some other smaller CC who spoke out didn't recover.

And personally I believe we had no right to know because it's about there PRIVATE LIVES and Wilbur has a fanbase similar to BTS, they see, they attack and they don't ask questions.

Why would wilbur need to apologise for something he didn't do? Because he did do it.

He did do those things, whether people like it or not he did. There are too many people, including non-content creators, who knew about his behaviour, tried to speak out but then were cut off because of it. It took a collective effort of at always 18+ people over the course of 5+ years to get the word out.

It's not shelby's fault that "Wilbur's career is ruined" and it's certainly not her fault that crazy people think it's okay to doxx him.

"but why didn't they go to the police?" that man had a rough estimate of 3 million in his whole time on dsmp, the government for the highest tax bracket would take 50%

Why arrest someone who gives you 1.5 millions?

And then there's a fact of 1 MILLION domestic abuse case were reported by the UK alone in 2023, 24% of those cases weren't reported by the victim hense going "unreported", and only 50k of the 1 MILLION case went to court AND ONLY 5% WERE CONVICTED.

So only 5% of domestic abuse cases go to court.

And only 2500 of those people go to prison.

Only 0.25% of abuse cases, in the UK, ends up with someone being punished.

And out of that 0.25% are they arresting someone who gives them 1.5 million in the last 4 years? No.

As someone who lives in the UK violence is tolerated as long as they'd 1. Wealth. 2. Have lazy police in the area. 3. Are a public figure which can damage tourism. 4. Member of the government/police force. 5. You can convince them that you won't do it again.

People are wild to think it's as straightforward as "bad man go to jail"

They couldn't give a flying-f if Wilbur just up and left because he already gave them alot of money. What's 1 person who pays you 0 taxes because they're not apart of your country to someone who paid you millions?

It's a shitty world but Wilbur will never be charged. Most famous people will never be charged.

.