#despite the obvious lack of intelligence

[reginrokkr]

𝐋𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈. Meaning behind Dáinsleif's visits to the Nameless City.

Today in this fine Sunday eve I choose emotional violence in thinking that Dain has now a reason to return to the Nameless City of the Chasm every now and then to place a lil Inteyvat in the same place that Halfdan drew his last breath.

[noblest-roman-of-them-all]

Contemplating the concept of "potential" when it comes to intelligence and realizing how heartbreaking Logan's "Dreams come true, that's news to me" line in the Crofters Musical.

[boxanimal]

I hate when people characterize Yamamoto and Ryohei as a duo of vacant idiot jocks, notably more stupid than the rest of the main cast.

In regard to Yamamoto: it is imperative to consider intelligence as a social construct. This is something Amano explores through his character, particularly his dynamic with Gokudera. Gokudera, a "school smart" character, often derides Yamamoto for being stupid due to his apparent lack of awareness, but we can see for ourselves that Gokudera doesn't know the whole truth- Yamamoto is not as ignorant as he lets on, as demonstrated by a handful of small yet powerful moments thoughout the manga, the most obvious being his introductory chapter. Despite being the more intelligent person according to normative concepts, Gokudera is often made the fool by his compulsions towards intelligence-based derision coupled with his own social ineptitude and inability to parse this ruse.

There is an irony in the way this is framed against Yamamoto's comparatively high emotional and social intelligence, which allow him to support Tsuna in tactful and subtle ways, while Gokudera's desperate and forward attempts often inadvertently endanger Tsuna or make him uncomfortable.

Yamamoto also accesses other alternative modes of intelligence. As an obvious example, he is highly adaptable, able to quickly formulate plans and make decisions. This isn't only useful in battle, but there are some great examples of it there, such as his fight with Ken in the Kokuyo arc, and during the Sky battle in the Varia arc, when he and Gokudera need to free Chrome.

And even if you refuse to evolve your concept of intelligence beyond the ability to excel academically, he still isn't exactly stupid by those standards either. In Chapter 12, based on the results of their studying, Tsuna surmises that while his devotion to baseball is a distraction, school would be quite doable for Yamamoto if he tried.

Treating Yamamoto like a complete idiot who doesn't understand anything transpiring around him is a reductive reading of the text and does a major disservice to him as a character.

In regard to Ryohei: ...you guys are being sooooo mean right now. Cut it out you are going to hurt his feelings

[koisuko]

ask, and you shall receive ♥ @engie-main

Tw: none, fluffy, slight spoilers, fem reader

What it would be like as the Lin Kuei's youngest sister

Being the youngest daughter, you were often treated like a baby, even if you were a full grown adult.

Your father, when he was alive, had very little faith in your abilities, nothing you did was enough to earn is approval. Even when you had developed magic, much like your brothers, his face showed no sign of pride.

You often clung onto Kuai Liang in particular, like your life depended on it, as he provided a safe environment to vent on your frustrations. He never disagreed or belittled you for your feelings, placing a reassuring hand on your back as you sobbed beside him in emotional turmoil from your father’s lack of care.

Surprisingly, despite how cold he is, Bi-han kept you close and under his wing. He secretly wished you would come to him instead of Kuai Liang, wanting so desperately to be close with his younger sister, even though emotions were jumbled for him as well. He often envied his brother’s ability to comfort you, wishing he had the emotional intelligence to calm your nerves.

When Tomas entered the picture, you were glued to his hip. Everyday you woke up to mess with your brothers together, training together, and even opting to share a bed most nights due to nightmares. You had someone to relate to the younger sibling status, and it felt refreshing.

On missions, Bi-han often made it a point to have you by his side at all times, checking on you if you were to separate as if you were delicate without his protection. In truth, it sometimes annoyed you in how overly protective he was, how he watched over you like a hawk especially after your parents died. You knew that he cared, in his own way, but it made you feel as if he didn’t believe in your ability to fend for yourself without him.

“Who harmed you?” He would ask, his voice dark and laced with internal rage when you would return with any injuries from your prior mission. He would be too busy searching for your attacker to tend to your wounds, instead Kuai Liang would take that place while Tomas provided support while you grimaced in pain.

Not to say they weren’t just as concerned, but they were much more collected than their older brother, and knew that nothing could stand in his way when his protective rage took over.

Don’t even get started on crushes or potential love interest, your older brothers were intimidating to everyone, scaring away any potential suitors from even glancing in your direction. When Johnny Cage decided to hit on you, Bi-han sent him a swift punch to the face, “stay away from him, he is beneath you.”

When Bi-han betrayed his family, his clan, you were distraught to say the least. You knew he had a lot of inner struggles, especially with the treatment of him from your father, but you never thought he would act this drastically. Hearing he was the actual aid in your father’s death was even more disturbing, you felt your stomach churn at the thought.

It was overwhelming, on one hand you could understand why Bi-han is the way he is, wanting to give in to his pleas to join him in the rebuilding of the Lin Kuei despite the obvious corruption. On the other, you knew he was wrong in everything he had planned, you knew he was throwing morality out the window in his search for power, and betrayed not only you but the entire idea of the clan. You were being tugged between your torn family, both sides gripping on to you as if to tip the balance.

It eventually proved too much, causing you to disappear and stay in hiding with Lord Liu Kang. He was the only one you knew and trusted outside of your brothers, he promised confidentiality and kept you away from the war between your brothers.

When you eventually did reveal yourself, you refused to join either clan. Instead remaining solo under the guidance of Liu Kang, still occasionally visiting Tomas and Kuai Liang over tea.

Your brothers remained completely understanding of your decision, thinking it best to keep you out of this. Even Bi-han left you be, he would never admit it, but you were the last person he ever wanted to harm, and not a night goes by where he does not wonder if you are safe from the never ending battle of brothers.

[55sturn]

✮ CRYING ON SATURDAY NIGHT

pairing: psycho!matt sturniolo x fem!reader [ implied/past tense ]

synopsis: in which matt has always leaned towards all things horrifying and brutal his entire life, his very obvious issues coming out in the form of a deeply disturbing interest in gore, murder, death. he’s always known that he needs help but he’s also always been capable of keeping his instincts under control, until that fateful saturday night.

warnings: angst, blood, gore, death, guns, fire, slightly descriptive murder, swearing. literally nothing happy.

THIRD PERSON POV

everyone knows that there are three extremely distinct signs of something evil, dark, and severely fucked up manifesting in someone. and they primarily show during one’s childhood.

the signs are bed-wetting, cruelty towards animals, and some sort of obsession with either fire or something that can seriously harm, maim, or even kill someone.

and for matt, he never showed those three specific signs, but he did show a heavy and deeply twisted interest in horror, gore, death, and murder from a young age. he loved watching horror movies from as young as six. he would grow giddy as the fake blood spewed across the screen, he would even laugh as the victims in the movies died gruesome deaths.

his traits manifested in the sign of extreme intelligence despite struggling horribly in school, a strong lack of remorse and empathy, no genuine emotional connection to anyone or thing, extreme poorly regulated anger, narcissistic behaviour, and ease when it came to manipulation paired with an unbelievable level of charm.

he was never harmed or abused as a kid, in fact he grew up in an extremely stable and loving family, so when his parents started noticing how…different, matt appeared compared to other children his age, especially his brothers, they were concerned. at first they thought it was a phase, him trying to be like the effortlessly cool guys he saw in the movies he loved, until he “accidentally” set his family home on fire one day while playing with matches.

he was striking the matches, letting them burn out until they were nothing but nubs before tossing them to the floor, and chris had walked into the room, ignoring matt’s actions until he got nervous, and then chris proceeded to yell for matt to stop and that just egged matt on, so instead of listening, he took a handful of matches, struck them, and threw them in the recycling bin full of cardboard boxes and newspapers before holding chris in his arms, preventing his brother from ratting on him. matt forced chris to watch as the flames grew to a increasingly dangerous height, his eyes glistening at the sight of his creation, before letting chris run to warn their parents.

from that moment on, matt’s parents were deeply worried and took matt to therapy, in hopes that it’d help, and it did, until the one saturday night that ruined everything.

THERE’S FIFTY-TWO WAYS TO MURDER ANYONE, ONE AND TWO ARE THE SAME BUT THEY BOTH WORK AS WELL.

matt mulled over every way he’s seen someone kill another person in the movies in his head, trying to figure out what the fuck to do with the unconscious douchebag in the trunk of his car. he knew about fifty-two ways to kill someone total.

if he had taken his meds this morning, he wouldn’t have hunted the guy that you went on a with down, he wouldn’t have picked the lock and snuck into the stupid asshole’s closest, holding a police grade flashlight in his hand, the weight of the metal cylinder heavy beneath fingers, waiting until tyler opened the door to clock him over the head with it.

but he had no time to dwell over what he didn’t do, and instead he drove to his family’s cape cod house, the first two ways that popped into his head were suffocation and strangulation, but considering tyler’s build, it’d take far too long. he took a moment to breathe as he reached over and popped open the glove box, finding a box of matches sitting atop the insurance papers and the glock that he bought as soon as he turned eighteen, and an idea came to him.

as he pulled into the driveway of the family lake-house, he pocketed the matches and tucked the gun into his waistband before popping open the trunk and dragging tyler over to the fire pit, throwing his body in the middle of it before grabbing the rope from his trunk, quickly binding the guy’s arms and legs together. as he waited for him to wake up, he texted you, telling you to come to the cape house, stating it was an emergency.

when tyler woke up again, he was quick to knock him out again, planning to lead you in through the front of the house. but when your car pulled up, matt wasn’t sure what to do because you were quick to climb out and run over to him, your body trembling as you realized what matt had done.

I KNOW WHEN YOU’RE HOME, I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOU // YOU GO VICIOUSLY, QUIETLY AWAY.

your hand shook as you covered your mouth, you couldn’t fathom what you were seeing. you knew matt had some issues, and that he had a few dark fantasies but you never thought that matt, the quiet, seemingly gentle boy from your history class, was capable of murder. there was no way that your best friend, your matt, was capable of something so gruesome but he was.

“what the fuck is wrong with you matt?” you scream, unable to move your feet, feeling anchored to the spot you stood in.

“listen i didn’t want to do this, but seeing you with him set me off. i wanted to drop by your house and surprise you because i was thinking about you and i know when you’re home, but you weren’t home. so i checked your location. and then i drove by and saw you with him.” matt spits, his mind racing as he tried to reason with you.

“so what? did you ambush him in the fucking parking lot?”

“no. i tracked him down and whacked him with a flashlight and drove him here before calling you. it wasn’t hard to track him down considering how well known his family is.” matt scoffs, rolling his eyes as if that was the most obvious answer.

“you’re sick. did you call me here so you could kill me too?” you seethe, growing angry with matt’s audacity and terrified of how dangerous matt truly was.

“no. i called you here to prove that i’m doing this for you. for us. without tyler, there’s nothing standing in our way and we’ll be able to finally be together.” matt hums, his demeanour eerily calm as he flicks a handful of matches, throwing them on to tyler’s now dead and gasoline soaked body, matt had underestimated how hard the last whack to tyler’s head was before dumping a can of gasoline on him.

your sobs echoed in matt’s head as the flames grew, once again finding himself entranced by the way he could cause such a beautiful thing.

“you’re fucked in the head! i could never love someone like you!” you scream, watching as matt laughs at your comment before turning around and walking over you to, taking you face in his hands, you wanted to rip yourself away from him, to push him off of you, but you stood frozen in fear as matt looks at you.

“you don’t mean that, sweetheart.” matt whispers, pressing a quick kiss to your lips, bringing you back to reality as you shove him away.

“don’t touch me you sick bastard! i will never love a demented monster like you. you should’ve been locked up from birth or even worse, i wish you died in the fire you started as a kid.” you screech, watching as matt’s jaw clenches, his hand slipping beneath his sweater, your heart pounding as you see the gun sitting in his hand, realizing it’s now aimed at you.

“take it back you bitch. say you don’t mean it and i can spare you and we can run away and live together and fall in love.” matt whispers, his voice cracking as your words cut him deep, all he wanted was for you, for someone, to actually love him, but the things you were saying were making him think you couldn’t and if he couldn’t have you, no one else will.

“no. i don’t want to love someone as severely fucked as -“ your words were cut off as a gunshot rang through the air, and you could hear your heart pounding in your ears, and suddenly you felt something warm dripping down the front of your body. you went to wipe it away but in the gleam of the fire you see the thick, dark liquid coating your fingers, as you slowly fall to your knees.

matt had shot you in the chest.

“no no no. fuck!” matt mumbles as he pulls you into his lap, his hands trembling as he brushes your hair back, the blood in your mouth gurgling as you struggle to breath. the blood pools in your mouth causing you to cough and spit up a mouthful of blood.

“i’m so sorry sweetheart.” he whispers, tears falling down his face as he feels a strong sense of guilt for the the first time in his life, scared of what was going to happen.

“if you’re really sorry-“ you start, pausing to spit out more blood,

“you’ll turn yourself in.”

matt sobs against your shoulder, holding you tight to him as your body grows colder by the second, your breathing growing ragged and short, the time between each breath growing longer than the last. matt holds you for a long time after your last breath, softly brushing his fingers through your hair, whimpering as it grows matted with blood.

BUT THE BACKSEAT OF THE DRIVE-IN IS SO LONELY WITHOUT YOU // THERE WAS SOMETHING I FORGOT TO SAY, I WAS CRYING ON SATURDAY NIGHT, I WAS OUT CRUISING WITHOUT YOU, THERE WERE PLAYING OUR SONG.

as matt drove back to the city, his head filled with everything he forgot to tell you before you died in his arms. he had taken what you said in your past moments seriously, deciding that if he wants to genuinely make peace with himself and what he had done, he needed to confess to his crimes.

but a song on the radio caught his attention, BRIGHTSIDE by the lumineers, which was coincidentally yours and matt’s song. and subconsciously, he headed toward your favourite place. the drive-in theatre just outside of the city.

as he parked in the back row of the drive-in, he climbed into the backseat, listening to the rest of the song play as he sobbed against his hands. he knew what he had done, and there was no way to undo what he had done, so as the song finished, he climbed back behind the wheel and drove toward the police station.

AND THE COPS WONT LISTEN ALL NIGHT, AND MAYBE I’LL BE OVER JUST AS SOON AS I FILL THEM ALL IN.

as matt sat in the interrogation room, he mulled over what he could do if they set him free while the cops investigated. he figured he could possibly stop by your house, and sit in your room and smoke a cigarette, like you two used to do in highschool, one last time.

or maybe he could find a way to end his life, so he could see you one last time and hug you again, and apologize for how irrationally he acted.

but the one thing he did know was that he was coming clean for you, honouring your last words.

taglist: @worldlxvlys @gamermattsgf @vanteguccir @sturnioloshacker @mattscoquette @sugrhigh @bratzforchris @teapartyprincess4two @lustfulslxt @patscorner @guccifrog @muwapsturniolo @soursturniolo @solarsturniolo @sturnioloshacker @raysmayhem-72 @meanttomeet @breeloveschris @ghostofbrock @l9vesick @freshloveee @fawnchives @cindylcuwho @thc-bolter @freshloveforthefit @freshsturns @forevergirlposts @sturniolo-fav-matt @sturnifyed @querenciasturniolo @pinklittleflower @ellie-luvsfics @strniolo @junnniiieee07 @hearts4chriss @evie-sturns @hysteria-things @sturniolossss @iliketotalk @dazednmatthews @bambi-slxt @nickgetsmewetter @inkyray @jnkvivi @cdbabymp3 @certifiedstarrr

© 55STURN 2024 ! REBLOGS NOT EXPECTED BUT GREATLY APPRECIATED ! [ you do not have permission to copy or save or share my work to other platforms and devices! ]

[shogunish]

𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲.

pairing. gojo satoru x f! reader

genre. smut, pwp, friends to lovers

warnings. explicit sexual content, hair-pulling, raw sex, female masturbation, handjob, fingering, mating press, lots of cum, squirting, loss of virginity, uneditet

words. 5k

summary. Gojo Satoru has absolutely no business knowing that you're still a virgin. It will only result in your demise: never-ending comments about your lack of experience until you have no choice to smack him over the head upside-down.

note. special thanks to @cinnamonmon for indulging my fantasies and pouring gasoline into the fire ✨

comments and reblogs are highly appreciated <3

Discussing Shoko's and Gojo's sex life is most certainly not how you expected your day to go.

Gathered at a table on a terrace, surrounded by lovely flowers blooming and the serenity of the Jujutsu Campus, you unhurriedly sip your soda. Depending on who is talking, wide, curious eyes jump from Shoko to Gojo and vice versa.

While you are happy to be spending time with your friends, you can't contribute anything to the conversation.

Apparently Gojo's awkward sex moment was when he was drunk and rubbed a girl's thigh for 10 minutes straight, firmly believing he had found her clit. Laughter bursts from Shoko's lips and you swear her coffee almost came out of her nose.

"No way! That sounds like something you'd do sober, too," she teases once her giggles die down.

Satoru pouts as though he is seriously wounded by his friend's words that stung like needles. "So that's how you think of me? I assure you this was a one-time fuzz up!" He smacks one hand to his chest where his heart is and raises his other hand much like he's vowing to never fuck up so majorly again.

Admittedly, this is one of those stories that have even you grinning into your glass. But the conversation quickly moves on; Shoko talking about the guy who took her virginity, Gojo confessing his favorite position (a string of words you had never heard of) and the several reasons why he liked said position so much.

It is a stretch of time ㅡ or maybe only 5 minutes ㅡ until Satoru puts the spotlight on you.

"You've been awfully quiet, [Name]. Cat got your tongue?" His voice has a teasing lilt to it and a smart comment lies on the tip of your tongue, but Shoko decides to answer in your stead.

She twirls a strand of hair between her delicate fingers. "[Name] can't add to the conversation because she's still a virgin," Shoko deadpan with not even a hint of a teasing tone laced in her voice.

"Shoko!" You look at her, betrayal and embarrassment written all over your face. A jumble of words, or rather letters, spill from your mouth like water from an overflowing sink, trying to save the situation. You flail your hands through the air, making all sorts of wild gestures and attracting quite a few curious looks from sorcerers and students alike.

Gojo Satoru has absolutely no business knowing that you're still a virgin. It will only result in your demise: never-ending comments about your lack of experience until you have no choice to smack him over the head upside-down. If annoying people was a sport, Satoru would definitely win the Olympics with flying colors.

"Are you for real?" Despite the blindfold hiding his eyes, you can tell that he's genuinely surprised. "And here I thought you'd have several men at your feet by now." Ah, there it is. His trademark grin which you can recognize from miles away.

Satoru would never say it out loud, but he thinks you're really pretty. You're blessed with humor, intelligence, strength in battle that even he recognizes and a smile that melts hearts on the spot. All these attributes that he silently adored about you are obvious as day to him. To think that no other man sees it proves that he sees more through his blindfold than some other folks do with a pair of lame glasses.

Yet, Gojo thinks that it's better this way. At least, he doesn't have to worry about someone else sweeping you off your feet.

Shoko rests her cheek on her fist, a warm breeze blows through her chocolate hair. "Right? [Name] most certainly is pretty, but she prefers to stay at home on her days off and play video games. The only thing she pulls is the blanket over her head. It's a shame," she muses.

Has Shoko just..roasted you? You're flabbergasted.

"I'm still here and can hear you, you know!" Heat sits high on your cheeks, threatening to melt you from within, but you have to get a point across. Embarrassed, you gaze to the side; the sliding door to your right is suddenly much more interesting than your oh-so-beloved friends. "There's no shame in not having had an..well..you know..yet," you grumble.

Satoru snaps his fingers. "You mean an orgasm."

Oh, you've just dug your own grave, haven't you? You wish for the ground to swallow you whole and never spit you back to the surface again if it means escaping this ridiculous situation for good. If you could, you would just drop your forehead onto the table and groan in agony.

You will never hear the end of it.

"So not even an orgasm by yourself?" Satoru digs and stuffs a chip or two into his mouth; they're your favorite flavor and usually you would steal 70% of the bag's content, but you have a reputation to defend right now.

A reputation that's crumbling, because lying to Gojo is impossible.

Defeated, you meet his gaze and sigh. "No. But it's no big deal, anyways. I don't have time for any of these things."

"No time, huh..," Satoru echoes your words quietly and slouches back into his seat. It's almost suspicious how easily the 1,90m tall bother on legs drops the subject, but maybe it's because he knows you're lying through your teeth.

The clock strikes 10 in the evening when you're in bed, the lights in your bedroom dimmed and dipping the room in sweet orange hues. Your shirt is pulled over your chest, tits exposed to the air and nipples hardening at the change in temperature. Nimble fingers slide from the valley of your breasts down to your stomach and linger just above your panties.

How stupid, you think. Who couldn't make themselves cum?

Perhaps, the earlier conversation you had with Shoko and Satoru still weighs heavily on your mind and perhaps you have a point to prove that you aren't as clueless as everyone (including yourself) believes.

"Hmph, this is ridiculous," you huff, push your panties to the side and slide your finger through your folds. They're already wet and sensitive, probably glistening in the dim lights. A content sigh escapes your lips.

But when you slide a finger into your pussy and can't reach that oh-so-sweet spot everyone keeps talking about, you groan in frustration. Thrusting your finger into your cunt does nothing but spread the slick and no matter how much you rub at your pussy, it doesn't feel quite right.

Frustrated moans and groans grow in volume. At some points, colorful curses leave your mouth and you give up on pleasuring yourself.

"Fucking hell, this is stupid!," you yell and continue your little rant until a knock on your door interrupts you, ripping you out of your headspace. Once your clothes are back in place and you look acceptable enough to be seen by people, you trot to the door with bare feet. "Coming!"

When you open the door, you certainly don't expect Gojo to be on the other side, a concerned look on his face which isn't obstructed by a blindfold or sunglasses for once. "Are you alright? It sounded like you got injured."

"Injured..? I'm not.." Confused, you look up at the taller man until it clicks and heat explodes on your face. Oh dear lord, no. He must've heard you trying to touch yourself and mistook your pathetic attempt at pleasing yourself for having hurt yourself on accident. "Oh..Oh fuck.."

You drop your forehead against the wooden door frame, not daring to meet Gojo's eyes. The fact that they're not covered makes the entire situation even worse, somehow. "It's not that, I was..just busy."

Gojo cups his chin in thought, mulling over your words and you can visibly see the gears in his head turning. Unfortunately for you, Satoru is smarter than he acts. A smirk graces his lips as he laughs. "So that's it? Oh man. You really suck at touching yourself, you know?"

"What the hell do you know about my body?!" You cross your arms over your chest and turn your head to the side, not sparing your dearest friend another glance. Having this conversation with him in the hallway is embarrassing enough already. "It's not as easy as it sounds! And keep your voice down!"

"You're the one making a fuss right now," Satoru states and pops into your personal bubble, scrutinizing your face from your eyes swimming in embarrassment down to your trembling bottom lip. "Seeing you all pent-up like this almost makes me want to teach you."

The idea popping into your head is the dumbest thing you have ever thought of, but what other choice do you have? At least once, you want to taste the ecstasy everyone keeps talking about and there's no one you trust as much as Satoru, even though he could be annoying.

"Could you?"

"Could I what?"

"Teach me how to touch myself."

To your surprise, Satoru agrees and you invite him into your place. It's exactly this dumb request that lands you in your bedroom with Gojo Satoru sitting on your bed and asking you to strip down first. To his surprise, you're oddly compliant and do as you're told.

"Get comfortable and relax, [Name]. It's just us." Satoru's voice is calming as you lie nearly naked in front of him. Your entire face feels hot as you catch him eying your boobs, the curve of your waist and the cute panties that separate his gaze from your bare pussy.

"Touch your tits. Take your time and don't rush," Gojo says with a slight tilt of his head. "You're supposed to enjoy it."

You gulp down the lump in your throat, muttering a "fine" as your hands slide from your collarbone down to your breasts. Insecurity fills your veins, you hesitate and your eyes flicker up to Gojo who's comfortably watching you and assuring you with a nod of his head. You cup your tits, fondling and squeezing them lightly at first.

For a reason you couldn't quite place your finger on, your tummy is already feeling funny. Is it because Satoru's watching you or..?

"Good. Now go ahead and play with your nipples. No need to go all out just yet, be gentle at first." Eyes blue like the skies intently watch your fingers flick your nipples before rubbing them in slow circles. Gojo would be lying if he said that he isn't feeling himself getting hard merely because you're touching yourself in front of him. "That's it.."

After some time, you pinch and tug at your nipples until a whimper slips your lips and goosebumps are scattered all over your skin. It feels good, you notice. The previous hesitation goes up in smoke as you get comfortable with yourself, with Satoru watching you closely.

"Feels good, doesn't it?," he questions to which you nod your head yes. "It does," you whine.

Oh, you have absolutely no idea how sweet you sound, do you? Gojo has to adjust his sitting position or else you'd sooner or later see the boner in his sweatpants, asking for your attention and sweet release. He doubts his right hand will get the job done tonight.

"You know, it's not fair," you suddenly speak up, voice shaky and uncharacteristically insecure. "I'm nearly naked and you're fully clothed..," you trail off, cheeks burning.

Gojo chuckles, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Are you saying you want me to undress like you did?"

In the past, you've seen Gojo shirtless quite a few times and it never fazed you. But now that you are half naked in front of him, pussy wet and aching for some friction, you are painfully aware of the way he's built as he strips down to his underwear.

He's broad and buff in all the right places, the muscles in his arms bulging whenever he flexes his biceps. Not to mention his slim waist and the white happy trail disappearing into his boxers, leading to the erection between his legs.

"Go ahead and touch your pussy, rub on it. Get to know what feels good for you."

Following his words, you shimmy out of your panties and dip your hand between your legs where your folds glisten with your arousal. It's wetter than it was before, allowing you to slide right through the slit and making you sigh in pleasure. You spread your folds, circle your entrance with the tip of your finger and moan at the sensitivity.

Gojo watches your pussy flutter around nothing at the feather light touch and has to ignore the throbbing and twitching of his cock. If he could, he would jerk off while guiding you, but he can't do that. At least not yet.

"Now you rub your clit. Slowly," Satoru instructs. His icy blue eyes are glued to your nimble finger sliding through your slick folds, searching for the bud and glistening in the dim light of your room.

A frustrated huff slips your lips. "I can't find it.."

"Are you serious? It's right there."

"Where..?"

Gojo takes pity on your pathetic attempts of pleasing yourself. Grabbing your knees, he spreads your thighs apart, scoots closer to your heated body and presses his thumb right to your clit. "There."

Immediately, your back arches off the mattress as Gojo draws a high-pitched, pleased moan from your glossy lips. Thighs twitching, you buck your hips into his hand and whine. "Again," you demand through a haze of longing and desire.

Gojo has to take a breath through his nose to compose himself. How often had he dreamed of you asking for his touch underneath him, soaking his fingers and thighs spread apart so prettily? His right hand can't compare to the real thing.

"Are you sure?" He strokes the pad of his thumb over your clit and watches you tremble with mesmerized eyes. White strands of hair frame his face as he tilts his head to the side.

Frantically, you nod your head, but Gojo tuts at this. "Use your words, sweets," he commands and you give in to his every word.

"I-I'm sure," you stumble over your words and catch his gaze, holding it with heat on your face and a softened look resting upon your features. "Please, touch me, Toru.."

"That's a good girl," Satoru smiles to himself as he drags his finger down to your fluttering hole and circles the slick flesh. Slowly, he inserts two of his fingers into your cunt, curves them upwards and rubs that sweet spot within you. "This is the spot that you'd wanna rub when you finger yourself, but now that I look at your hands.." Gojo trails off and takes one of your hands into his own, smirking when you squeeze it. "You probably won't reach it on your own."

Moan after moan spills from you, hips buck into his hand for more, more, more. You throw your head back into your pillow and dig your nails into the sheets until your knuckles go white. Heat pools in your lower abdomen and slides up your spine until it spreads to the very tips of your fingers. "A-ah, Toru! Right there," you whine. "Don't stop.. Feels s'good."

Satoru chuckles. "You're so sensitive, it's cute. I'm so lucky to be the first to see you all wet and needy, ain't I?"

Each squelch of his fingers is followed by a moan or whine, sounds that Gojo could listen to all day if you'd let him. Your slick trickles down to his wrist, stains your inner thighs and leaves a damp spot on your once clean sheets. The heel of Gojo's palm rubs your clit with each precise movement of his hand, leaving you no choice but to squeeze your thighs shut.

"Aw, is it too much for you?," Satoru coos in faux sympathy and uses his free hand to grab your face, making you look up at him through half-lidded eyes with your lips all puckered. "Fuck, aren't you a pretty little thing for me," he groans.

You want to answer, but all that comes out is a string of letters that sound an awful lot like his name, all fucked out and gone.

Gojo forces your thighs open again, watching his fingers disappear into your cunt over and over again until he's pounding them into you, juices dripping down to your ass. Your gummy walls tighten around his digits until Satoru is sure you're about to suck him in.

Suddenly, he pulls his fingers out of your fluttering hole.

"Why'd you stop?," you whine in pathetic tones as the sweet tension leaves your muscles and the knot of warmth disappears from in-between your legs.

Satoru caresses your thighs; from your knee up to your inner thigh and across your stomach until his hands caress the underside of your tits, his thumbs flicking your hardened nipples. Just like that, he draws a whimper from you. "If you're gonna cum, it's gotta be on my cock."

It takes a moment for your brain to process his words, but when they do, your gaze travels from Gojo's stupidly handsome face down his abs and stops at the twitching bulge between his legs. A damp spot of pre-cum rests on the top of his erection, making you lick your lips.

"Your cock, huh..," you echo his words like you're drunk on him, his touch, like you're drunk on love. Absent-mindedly, you sit up and place your hands on Gojo's broad shoulders. You had never realized just how well-built and firm he really is and it makes you gulp.

Slowly tracing your hands down his body, you slide his boxers down his legs and toss them into some corner of your room. Gojo's cock springs free, smacks against his abdomen once and stands at attention. Pre-cum pools from the tip and a delicious vein travels from the base all the way to the red, swollen head.

"Teach me how to touch you," you whisper.

Gojo has a hard time controlling himself when you say these things in that voice of yours and give him those doe eyes. But he also has a hard time saying no to you. "Wrap your hand around the length like this.." Grabbing your hand, he makes you wrap your palm around his cock; a shiver goes down his spine as your fingers nearly don't fit around the girth. He's hot and heavy in your hand.

"Then you wanna rub it and twist your hand a little," Gojo instructs and guides your hand up and down his cock just like he said. His head falls back into the nape of his neck and a groan vibrates deep in his chest. "Rub the tip with your thumb. The slit is fine, too."

And you do just as you're told. Carefully, you rub the swollen tip with your thumb all while gliding your palm along his cock. Sticky pre-cum pools from the slit and when your thumb catches some of it, making the slide so much warmer and wetter, a loud groan escapes Gojo's lips. He wants to thrust into your palm so badly, but just before he could..

You're apologizing and pulling your hand away, shock and guilt written all over your face. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? I didn't mean toㅡ"

"Hell no." Satoru is quick to wrap your palm around his cock once more and tighten your grip to thrust into your fist. "You feel fucking good. Keep going, sweets."

When his hand releases yours, you nod at him and drag your fist down to the base of his cock and slide it right back up where your palm squeezes the tip. His pre-cum now sticks to your palm, each rub sounding wetter than the one before.

Groans and moans spill from Gojo's mouth. He no longer feels the need to thrust into your hand; not when he rests his forehead on yours, his hot breath fanning your cheeks and basking in the feeling of your hand wrapped around him. Large, calloused hands glide from your shoulders to your arms and cup your tits. Satoru fondles them, squeezing and groping you to his heart's content.

"You're so beautiful," he mutters. His curious hands are now cupping your cheeks, skilled fingers move away some stray strands of your hair before his thumb catches your bottom lip. "Can I ㅡ ah, shit ㅡ kiss you?"

Your grip around his cock tightens, making him hiss. You smile at him like you're in love. "Yes, please. Kiss me, Satoru."

Gojo crashes his lips into yours, one hand keeping you in place by the back of your neck while the other one grabs your ass, pulling you closer to him. You moan at his touch, at the way he bites your bottom lip and sneaks his tongue into your mouth to dance with your own.

Satoru groans into your mouth when your fingers graze his balls, squeezing and fondling the flesh lovingly. He wraps his tongue around yours, sucking on the slippery muscle until a combination of his saliva mixed with yours trickles from the corner of your mouth. Delicate fingers get caught in Satoru's hair, pulling and tugging at the roots and always asking for more.

Gojo pulls you impossibly closer until you're on his lap, your pussy kissing the length of his cock and slicking it up. He can't take it anymore.

Breaking the kiss, a string of saliva connects his lips to yours and you find yourself pushed into the mattress.

"I need to be inside you. Now." Gojo towers over you, easily covering your frame with his buffer one. His eyes, once as bright as the clear skies, are now as dark as the depths of the ocean. Drops of pre-cum land underneath your belly button, pooling there and warming the skin. "Will you let me fuck this pretty pussy? I promise I'll be gentle."

Briefly, your eyes flicker down to his cock and you wonder how he's supposed to fit inside you when you had been clenching around his fingers already. But your need to feel Gojo inside you is greater than the questions floating throughout your mind. "Please. Fuck me, Toru."

Something akin to boyish delight lights up the blue of Satoru's eyes. Grabbing his cock, he makes sure to slide through your glossy folds and groans at the warmth you gift him. When the head catches your clit and Satoru smacks it with the tip, he smirks at the way you arch off the mattress.

"Ugh, stop teasing and fuck me already!"

"Who knew you were so bossy in bed?," Gojo teases and the next smart comment lies on the tip of your tongue, but it's wiped clean when Gojo presses his cock into your sloppy hole.

You dig your nails into his bicep, whimpering at the burning stretch but it feels too good to complain about it. Your pussy sucks him right in until he's nestled within your gummy walls, tip pressing into all the right spots and twitching within you.

"Fuck, you're so tight and wet..," Satoru groans, wraps one of your legs around his waist and drapes the other one over his shoulder. He sinks a bit deeper into you until his balls are pressed to your ass. "It's so much better than I imagined."

Drawing his hips back, Gojo thrusts into your pussy with a groan and sets a pace that makes you wrap your arms around him, digging your nails into his back. His weight pushes you into the mattress, each stroke of his cock making you moan louder than before.

"You're feeling good, huh?" Satoru smirks above you and grabs your hips to hold you in place, picking up the pace. Skin smacks against skin, your pussy squelches and leaves a white ring of cream around his cock. "Gonna turn you into a pretty mess once I'm done with you."

All you can do is take whatever Gojo gives you. The leg draped over his shoulder dangles in the air, your tits bounce in tune with his thrusts. "Fuck, gimme more, 'toru.. Need all of you..," you babble.

"More? You're a greedy thing, aren't you?" But Satoru fulfills your wish regardless. Sneaking a hand between your bodies, his fingers are quick to find your puffy clit, rubbing figure eights into the nub. Tears spring to your eyes, brimming your waterline and blurring your sight.

"Toru! Ah, fuck! Hah..shit, yes!" You chant his name like a prayer, throw your head back into the soft pillows and drag your nails down his back. You'd certainly leave some scratches, but Gojo doesn't mind. Not when it makes his cock twitch within your sloppy walls, leaking of pre-cum.

"There, yes, there! Just like that." Hot tears roll down your cheeks and into the clavicle of your collarbone as Gojo hits that sweet spot which makes you see stars over and over again.

"Right there, huh?" Sweat trickles down Satoru's temple, a few strands of snow white hair sticking to his forehead as he pounds you into the mattress. He grips the back of your thighs, folding your legs up to your chest and putting his full weight on top of you.

You cry his name, grasping at anything that was Gojo; his back, his flexing bicep, his tousled hair. Anything that you could reach as he abuses your poor cunt. "That's it. Take my cock just like this and I'll make sure to fill you up," he praises all while digging his blunt fingernails into the flesh of your thighs. He'd definitely leave his mark on you.

Mewling at Satoru's promise, your hole flutters around his cock and sucks him right in before it clenches down on him.

"T-Toru," you stutter as he drills his cock into you, a sob rocking your shoulders. "H-How do I know I'm about to ㅡ fuck ㅡ cum..?"

And when Gojo pinches your clit, his cock pressing into your sweet spot and your eyes rolling into the back of your skull, your orgasm comes crashing down on you in waves.

A loud scream of Satoru's name is ripped from your throat and your back beautifully arches off the mattress. Clawing at his back, several sobs spill from your chest and it's so fucking wet. Your pussy is gushing all over his cock, wetting not only his lap but your stomach and sheets as well.

Satoru rubs your clit in hard circles, letting you ride out the waves of your high. "That's fucking nasty, baby. When I said I wanted you to wet my cock, I didn't think you'd squirt," he laughs and pounds into your spent cunt until you're moaning again, begging him to stop.

"Too much..Toru, 's too much!" Your squirm underneath Gojo but all he does is hold you still as he presses his hips flush to your own. He buries his face in your neck, holding you so close that your tits get pushed up against his chest.

"Shh, let me fill your pussy, pretty girl," he shushes you and with one final thrust, thick ropes of cum fill up your insides until it leaks out from where his cock plugs you. Gojo groans right into your ear, grinding his sticky cum deep into your cunt before he slowly pulls out.

His tongue sticks out to sweep over his bottom lip as he admires the creamy mess he's made of you; covered in not only his but your cum alike, lips swollen from his kisses and the several prints of his fingers on your skin. Satoru smiles at his handiwork.

"I don't think you've ever looked prettier," Gojo swoons, a soft look in his eyes.

"Ugh..," you groan, feeling full of his cum that seeps out of your cunt. "Shut up, Satoru.."

Contrary to popular belief, Gojo Satoru has the decency to take care of you after he has folded you in half and drained every last bit of energy from your body. He is gentle when he cleans you up with a warm washing cloth, but still an asshat about it when he says "Whoops, there's more coming out. You should really focus on keeping my cum in, love."

You want to slap the grin off his face, but lack the strength to do so.

So instead, you let him dress you into a fresh pair of panties and a hoodie that was several sizes too large. Gojo is dressed in casual sweatpants and a loose shirt. The bed is made and a couple of snacks are now in front of you and Satoru, the heat of the moment gone just like the Earth-shattering high he gifted you.

"Satoru..What does this make us?," you cautiously ask with a mouth full of a couple of gummy bears. There is nothing else that you cherish as much as his friendship and trust in you, but sex destroys every friendship, right? Fuck, you shouldn't have gotten carried away.

"Hmm..," Gojo hums an leans back, supporting his weight with his hands behind him on the soft mattress. A pair of pitch black shades now rests on the bridge of his nose, yet you can clearly see the playful glint in his annoying, beautiful eyes. "I guess I gotta think of a way to introduce you as my girlfriend now."

Your head whips towards Satoru, owlishly staring at him. "Eh? Are you serious?"

"I, Gojo Satoru, would never lie about this!" He raises his hands like he's surrendering, like he's about to whip out a white flag and it makes you chuckle. "So, what do you say?"

With your knees tucked underneath your hoodie and pulled to your chest, you let a pout grace your lips. "I guess I would love that.."

"It's official then!," Gojo exclaims, tosses his arm around your shoulder and pulls you flush to his side. Playfulness quickly turns into tenderness as he presses a soft kiss to your hairline.

"You're mine now."

[shannonsketches]

I noticed that the element of the triforce that the individual characters are supposed to represent, is also their weakness. Zelda's wisdom is being stifled by doubt and lack of experience; she's eager to learn, but her zeal is not enough and relies on faith and Link to save the day. I'm not implying that wisdom and faith cannot go hand in hand, but she needs to be able to represent her element more. Maybe her wisdom is knowing when to wait and allow someone else to bear the task? But it takes away too much initiative from her. Ganon's element is power but he's the one who ends up losing almost every time. And Ganondorf on his own, isn't powerless! He's a king, he knows magic, he can wield almost any weapon, he's patient, conniving and intelligent and knows how to make best with what he has. He isn't weak! And yet, the whole split happened, because he was feeling powerless.

They locked themselves in a self-sabotaging cycle that's powered by doubt.

Yeah! So one of the reasons I really love the Triforce lore is that it’s a three-way mirror that reflects both what the user has and also what they need (very wizard of oz).

Ganondorf is a very powerful man, physically, and magically.

Politically, though, he’s next to helpless, which is an awful thing for a king to be. He’s a king of thieves in OoT, because the Gerudo are not a wealthy or thriving nation there. In-Game they don’t have a local living area like the other regions (or even a store — just one floating bombchu salesman in the middle of the desert) — they’ve got a post-war fortress full of guards, and a temple that is being used as a secret base Hylians can’t get to.

Consider also, Ganondorf is the most highly decorated of the Gerudo, and he’s not decked out in gold. He’s wearing mostly iron and topaz. Nabooru and Twinrova are the only ones who have gold fixtures/jewelry along with the higher ranked guards for their protective elements (which is why I think it could arguably be pale bronze or yellow brass, which is a common and highly durable gold alternative).

The Gerudo are implicitly just surviving in OoT, and Hyrule speaks of them like they’re monsters (except for the one guy in town who has a fetish). More than that, WW establishes that his real grief comes from the weather, which any mortal is powerless to control.

So Ganondorf is powerful as a person, but powerless as a king, which is literally the only thing he was born to be.

Be that as it may, though, he is a well-loved king, and a survivor, and a thief, so he also has to embody both wisdom and courage too!

Zelda is the most obvious mirror to Ganondorf. She is a very powerful woman politically and magically, but physically-- compared to Ganondorf -- she's terribly meek. That's the obvious read, that they're 1:1 Parallels, but her real weakness lies in her courage.

Zelda (in OoT) leans on her massive political power -- In the child timeline, she literally sees a foreign dignitary executed before he does anything wrong, based on a recurring dream she has.

Do you know how insane that is? Do you realize how powerful she is?

Ganondorf is not just some guy -- he's a foreign KING. He's a KING that a TEN YEAR OLD had EXECUTED based on VIBES.

And we think she embodies wisdom because her vibes were (as we, the audience know) correct. But it's actually because as an adult, she understands that none of it needed to happen that way. That the only reason Ganondorf was able to pull off his stunt and get the Triforce at all was because she tried to control the situation, sending Link to gather everything Ganondorf couldn't get himself and put it all precisely where Ganondorf needed it to be.

Despite being a child at the time, by the end of the story, by the time she's Sheik, Zelda is taking full responsibility for what happened, and is doing everything in her now extremely limited power to fix it. She's so sorry to need Link, and at the end of it all is desperate to give him another chance to be a kid, and to be innocent, and to be happy, because she realized so quickly that she never should've involved him, visions be damned. She knows none of it was his fault or his business, and she's mortified that she dragged him into it in her own attempt to control the weather.

These other two items shift in other games -- WW and Twilight Princess show us a Zelda with tremendous courage and very little power, physical or political. And then the Wild's era, despite removing the Triforce narrative, shows us a Zelda with immense power and terrible guilt and insecurity -- her power locked behind her fear, and she is only able to access both when she embraces courage.

Which brings us to Link.

Link, on the surface, is a third wheel in a chess game between ancients. But the reality is that he's the base of the prism. He's the foundation that reflects both of the others.

There are MANY different personalities for Link, and personally my favorite gag is that Link is simply too stupid to be scared, but that's just a gag -- because something I've come to really enjoy and respect about him is that he consistently displays fear. Link embodies courage because he is full of fear and chooses to fight anyway. Link leads a good life. He is comfortable, he has family, he has friends, he knows peace. What makes Link courageous is that he is willing to give up his access to all of that if it means that everyone else keeps theirs.

Link will lock himself in a room with the apocalypse if it means he's the only one who gets hurt, and it's not because he believes this is his sacred duty, or his life's purpose -- he'd much rather be at home chasing chickens around or riding his pony through some pretty scenic route -- it's because he is so full of love for other people that he's willing to give up anything to keep them safe.

Link's not very powerful, but he is also unburdened by any desire to be powerful. Link's not very wise, but he is unburdened by any desire to be wise. Link is content in who he is, Link is happy to keep things simple. But Link is so brave that he becomes a leader, which actually makes him the most dangerous of the three.

Courage, unburdened, is fucking terrifying. To both Wisdom and Power. Because, unlike Wisdom and Power, Courage is contagious.

Link can empower and inspire and reveal truths others might not have been able to find on their own. Link doesn't need charisma or brutality. Link can build armies just by being observed.

"But Sketches, you haven't really said anything about how Link reflects the other two." It's subtle! But he does. I see it like this:

• Ganondorf reflects Link's relentless determination, refusing to stand down in the face of impossible odds. In this way, they're connected by their power and courage. • Zelda reflects Ganondorf's burden of being born in a crown, forcing them to learn leadership, and how to use their recklessness strategically, as children. In this way, they're connected by their power and wisdom. • Link reflects Zelda's sense of love for the faceless innocent, and her dedication to protecting all who can't protect themselves. In this way, they're connected by their courage and wisdom.

Because the inherent configuration of the triforce requires those connections to be balanced -- Separately they are overwhelmed by their traits. Ganondorf is willing to sacrifice everything he is in order to reach his goals, Zelda is so pre-occupied with preventing prophecy she ends up instigating it, and Link is so ready to step in and help that he never considers the consequences.

Every single one of them, left to their own devices, would rather see themselves destroyed than fail those who may or may not be relying on their success. They're all very similar, highly reflective characters who all represent compelling foils for each other and yes, display how their unfettered strengths are also the thing that damage them most.

[comingyourlugubriousness]

Twisted Wonderland Dorm Leaders connections to Disney protagonists

Recently I saw a post about how the housewardens have aspects of not only their villains, but their heroes too. 

I’ve thought this too for a long time and just wanted to ramble and elaborate my thoughts on them.

Riddle has the Queen of Hearts Irrationally, discipline and sternness. But he also has Alice's curiosity, her stubbornness to give up (a good and bad thing) and her innocence. He also parallels the way it is implied that adults do not take Alice’s concerns/ feelings into consideration.

Leona has Scar's apathetic nature, his underhandedness, calculating personality. But I've always thought of his laziness, his need to run away from his duties more of a reflection on Simba and the way he avoided his past trauma for so long. Leona also has pride; a trait that is reflected in a negative light in Scar and a positive side for Simba.

Azul has Ursala's greediness, her fake charm, and her cut throat business attitude. But he also has Ariel's love for learning new things, the feeling as if they don’t belong in their own skin, the desire to change who they are to get the life they want; or perhaps be the person they always wanted to be.

Jamil is interesting. He shares Jafar’s lust for power, position, and to be seen as better than all others; as well as his two faced nature. But he and Kalim almost share the protagonist's traits. While Kalim gets Jasmine/The Sultans privilege, naivety, and optimism about people and the outside world; he also gets Alladin’s kindness. Whereas Jamil shares Jasmine’s and Genie’s desire for freedom. Free from duties, free from their bounds of their respective roles.   

Vil is a little difficult, because of the existence of Neige, he doesn’t quite share many qualities with Snow White. Interestingly enough he seems to be the most separated from his protagonist: counterpart. I could almost argue he shares traits with the 7 dwarfs. While, he is obsessed with being “the fairest of them all”, vain, and can be jealous, and pompous. One cannot deny that he is a multifaceted character and a hard worker. If I did have to give a trait from Snow White to Vil it would be the standards of self care she holds herself and the 7 dwarfs too. Despite all his flaws, Vil is very caring to his loved ones and even nurturing, making them do what’s best for them, even if they don’t like or understand it; much like Snow White is to the Dwarfs. 

Idia shares a lot of traits with Hercules and Meg. His personality is one that is pretty different from his Great 7 counterpart, at least on the surface. 

While he has Hades gloom and doom; anger and apathy over his lot in life, his intelligence for strategy, lack of empathy and sympathy for others. As well as the willingness to manipulate people so that he can “win”.  Idia also shares Hercules desire to fit in, to belong, to be a hero to the people he cares about. He shares both Hercules and Meg's willingness to do anything for the people they love; to the point of self harm. And he share’s Megs, Hercules, and Hades desire to escape a fate in life they feel they don’t deserve. Most importantly, which I feel a lot of people overlook. Hercules desires to be normal (at least in the beginning of the movie.)

Malleus is also interesting, I suspect his story wasn’t solely influenced by the Disney Sleeping Beauty classic, but also the live action Maleficent movie. Which makes Maleficent the protagonist and recontextualized her lore and character. Making her the new protagonist. In this way it’s very clear how Malleus is both the antagonist and protagonist. But to stay true to the original animated films I’ll just focus on that. It’s very obvious how Malleus is similar to Maleficent. He can be petty, place himself above others, unempathetic, quick to anger/frustration. But like Aurora he is very sheltered from the rest of the world, he longs for connection with other people and wishes not to be known just for his title, but the person he is.

This connection to the protagonist is what makes the twist characters a Twist on the villains. The idea that villains and heroes are partially both victims of circumstances and if things were different maybe one or the other would be labeled a “hero” or “villain”. I really appreciate the much more gray-scale approach they took; and what that could mean once you really dive into the lore, history, and worldbuilding they're doing. 

Though that's mostly hc stuff for now.

Anyway this is a bit rambling but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.

[fernandopiastri28]

don’t be jealous ~ oscarmark

little ficlet for no other reason then that i’m bored

Possessive Mark wants his protege all to himself

wc: 1.1k || cw: feminisation, age gap, power imbalance

Mark shouldn’t care, and if he’s completely honest, it’s really disturbing that he does.

He’s a 47 year old man- he shouldn’t care about a 23 year old in the way Mark does, specifically the one he’s the manager of.

Oscar’s barely a kid, one with a voice that’s only just dropped and who can barely grow facial hair beyond a few stray bits of golden brown hair along his chin.

There’s something very interesting about Oscar, his pure intelligence and raw talent. He’s a smart kid, perfectly competent and easy to take care of. He hardly feels like someone Mark needs to micromanage or guide, rather someone he can work alongside.

That’s what makes it so difficult, because Oscar isn’t that. He is someone that Mark is supposed to look after and help out, not someone who he should be drinking beer after beer to ignore the fact that Oscar’s paying too much attention to Lando Norris.

Lando, unlike Oscar, is quite a pain. Despite being in his 6th year of F1, he’s immature, uncalculated, and a poor presenter of himself.

Mark reckons Oscar was much better suited as teammates with someone like Robert, who had a good head on his shoulders, or even Fred, who was capable and determined.

But Lando? Lando makes Mark’s blood boil. His arrogance, whininess, lack of self awareness- he’s a fucking Sebastian Vettel reincarnate, just without the world championships to justify it.

Mark needs to get Oscar out of there, fucking get him away from the influence of Lando. The two boys already hang out enough as it is in the paddock, occasionally on the weekends.

Mark needs to come up with something that will ensure he gets to have more time with Oscar. Oscar’s is his, he has been ever since he signed that contract back 2020.

Four years ago, Oscar had been a 19 year old with close cropped hair, perfectly crooked teeth, a slightly higher pitched voice, a boyish sense of eternal youth and big dreams and aspirations for the future.

He’d just been a kid back then, boneless and malleable for Mark to shape into the world champion he’d never quite gotten to be.

Yet, in 2024, Oscar was a man. Broad shoulders, thick neck, defined muscles, undeniable talent. He simply oozed silent confidence and sensibility.

Oscar was possibly the most impressive young man that Mark had ever encountered. Yet, Mark knew Oscar could still be better, he still could improve.

Mark narrows his eyes, watching across the large event room, scattered with all different F1 personnel and sponsor teams, yet Oscar stands out like a sore thumb. He doesn’t deserve to be stuck at such a mundane and unrewarding dinner ‘party’ like this.

He also doesn’t deserve the obvious way that Lando preyed on Oscar’s politeness. After Lando cracked what seemed like the thousandth joke that night that Oscar seemed to double over in laughter over, Mark stood up, walking away from his table towards the teammates.

“Oscar,” His voice was soft, endearing. “Lando,” Sharper, bitter. Mark didn’t bother to put on a kind facade for the brit, nor did he look at him.

“Hey Mark,” Oscar turned to look at him, bright eyes and a slurred voice. Oscar’s lips were pink and puffy, shiny from spit and wine.

Tipsy Oscar was a sight for sore eyes, that was for sure. “Enjoying yourselves?” The question clearly directed towards the younger Australian.

He swears he watches Oscar’s cheeks turn pink when Mark stares at his pretty lips. “Yeah,” Oscar’s voice is quiet, girly in a way.

Oscar is a bit like a girl anyways. Beyond the short hair, broad figure and, well, the obvious boy feature of his crotch- he’s got naturally peachy and full lips, long curly lashes, thick muscular thighs, pecs that basically look like breasts.

Mark feels shameful that he notices those things so intensely, and even more ashamed that he’s so into it. “Barely seen you tonight, y’been hiding away?” Oscar asks, his voice breathy.

Mark laughs, and Lando does too, and then it’s not that funny to Mark. He wishes Lando would just leave, go talk to Zac or something. “Lando,” Mark turns to him, no shame in what he’s about to say. “I think Jenson mentioned something to me about wanting to talk to you about something the other day. He’s over there if you’re interested,” He’s vague, pointing across the room to where he’s pretty sure Jenson isn’t.

It’s not a lie, Jenson had mentioned Lando once in a passing comment a few weeks prior. He hopes Jenson will find something to talk to Lando about if the younger brit finds him. “Oh, thanks Mark,” His eyebrows flicker upwards as he stands up, walking straight off without another word.

Mark turns his attention back to Oscar who instead of watching Lando as he walks away, just stares at Mark. “What’s up, kid?”

Oscar gets all bashful, red down to where his shirt collar squeezes around his thick neck, probably even to where the white fabric pulls taut across his chest.

“Drinking,” His voice disappears into his wine glass, forcibly quiet. He’s so shy and blushy being around Mark.

“I know that,” Mark smiles, rather beguiling to be fair. “What else though? You seem a bit.. on edge,” He likes taunting Oscar like this, watching him squirm in his seat.

“ ‘m not on edge,” He looks up, his eyes meeting Mark’s from where they’ve been wandering just about anywhere else. Splodges of heat appear on the boy’s face, like he’s about to break down in a nervous panic.

God, Mark feels so awful. He just wants to make Oscar happy and warm inside, not scared. He takes the seat that Lando had previously been in, intentionally moving it so that one of his knees slots in between Oscar’s legs. “Are you sure, Oscar?” A hand rests on the back of Oscar’s seat and he can feel the heat radiating off Oscar’s neck.

Oscar bites his bottom lip, adorable bunny teeth hooked over glossy, girly lips. “I- I,” He stammers, trying to find his way out of this.

Oscar. Nonchalant Oscar. Future World champion Oscar. Unaffected Oscar. Emotionless Oscar.

Oscar who’s completely whipped for his manager. “Please help me, Mark,” His voice is whiny, like Lando’s always is, but not annoying at all. It’s so cute- desperate.

His voice is like honey, thick and sickeningly sweet. Mark’s been addicted to it for years. Mark looks down at Oscar’s lap where his suit trousers are tented.

Holy shit, Mark’s got himself in such a bad position right now.

ft. what Oscar & Mark are wearing AND literally the trio dynamic :p

[communist-ojou-sama]

I feel like a lot of people are confused by both the reckless actions of the Zionist Entity on the world stage and the US's continued support of it, even n seeming violation if its (long-term) interests. This kind of surprises me because it seems pretty obvious to me, but I want to take an effort to explain what's going on here.

First, I want you to accept a very general theory of the rise and fall of states. It is a Vastly oversimplified theory meant to be applied very broadly, and it goes like this: When a state is founded and on the rise, it is generally run by people who are amoral but intelligent and competent. Generally these early rulers and administrators found their way to the top of society from a state of chaos and fierce competition of all sorts; as a result, the people who end up on top, even if not the best of the best, are competent and shrewd and, above all, know that their positions are not promised and that they could be overthrown and killed at any time if they do too bad of a job governing. Moreover, this first generation tends to be highly diverse and represent people from all over the social spectrum of the society that preceded it, and above all competence and vigilence is prized.

This sense of internal vigilance and drive tends to be quite strictly impressed upon the first few generations of any given state, and as the state is on the rise, its ruling class, both for the purpose of growing their own wealth and to make government easier, develop a governing ideology and a legitimating narrative to justify to the common people their position at the top of the hierarchy. Crucially, in this initial stage of state formation and growth, the people in charge are pragmatists who understand that their governing ideology is a thing to be used to justify actions the ruling class deems necessary both for their short- and long-term interests, and are to be bent and violated at will if they threaten to get in the way of their true purpose.

Now, while there are all sorts of contingencies to how a state declines over time, I will put forward that the main dynamic that drives decline is the foreclosure of upward mobility and the increasingly jealous guarding of privileges by an increasingly insular ruling class, which is ruled by its governing ideology, to which they subscribe totally and completely. There's more but, let's leave it there for now.

Now, what all does this have to do with the Zionist Entity? Well surely you can see this coming, but what is the legitimation narrative of the Zionist Entity? It is first and foremost settler supremacy and it leads to the top positions in the Entity's military apparatus being occupied by demons like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Yoav Gallant who, drunk on cruelty and a false sense of superiority, have little more capacity for geopolitical reasoning than a wild animal. The reason why the Zionist entity isn't acting rationally in the service of the United States is because the people in power are not rational people, and they will not be for whatever the remaining history of the Zionist Entity is. They won't make rational choices to preserve the future of the Zionist settler edifice because they are uncapable of it; to do so would necessitate understanding Arabs as their equals, and they are incapable of that. As evil as Theodore Herzl and David ben-Gurion were, these demons lack their talents.

So why, then, is Genocide Joe and the democratic party supporting the Zionist holocaust upon Gaza, despite the fact that it is having an utterly apocalyptic effect on the long-term strategic interests and security of the United States? It is for the exact same reason. Genocide Joe doesn't support the Zionist Entity out of some rational calculation, he supports it as a function of his own hubris. Out of the long-term emotional investment he's developed in its wretched existence after many decades of safeguarding it from accountability and facing criticism for it. It really is that simple. The entire US elite, drunk on a fantasy of Western cultural supremacy, is stuck in a state of crackpot realism. I need you to understand that they have no concept that the possiblity of their defeat and the eventual collapse of the United States is a real possibility. And to the extent that they cannot engage with reality, their ability to appraise reality is also blinkered. They can't even see how severe the damage they're doing to the US's standing in the world really is because they are totally oblivious to the reality that in the coming decades the US and Europe will be surpassed in wealth and influence by Global South countries who all opposed the Zionist slaughter, literally no different from the white supremacist "rationalists" on tumblr who try to paint Operation al-Aqsa Flood as some sort of strategic blunder on the part of the Resistance.

The reason why the US is unable to bring the Zionists to heel despite the the whole purpose of the Zionist Entity's existence being as an attack dog for the western powers is because both the Zionists and the USians, having utterly abandoned rational statecraft, have basically forgotten that that's what their relationship is supposed to be. It's that simple.

[diceqi]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing that Geo isn't an interesting character and that he has no personality... Like, is the concept of him being a mix of geckle and munce NOT interesting to you? And the fact that he's the master of fusion as well?

I won't deny that his character is underdeveloped since he's only appeared in a few episodes with not much focus on him. But despite the limited screentime he has, his personality is pretty obvious. He's scared of rejection and being left alone because none of the geckle or munce accepted him. He had to run away from home, just like Sora and the finders. Despite having lived most of his life being surrounded by rejection merely because of his appearance, he's actually respectful, nice and kind. Imagine how alone he must've felt before he ran away. Also, notice how he actually says everyone's names as it is? Like, the geckle says people's names but changes their initial with a "G" and the munce do the same but with "M". Also, both races somewhat lack in intelligence. Geo, however, actually seems to communicate like normal and is able to say Cole's and Bonzle's name properly without saying it with M or G at the start. Is that NOT interesting??? Also his character design is so cool. I want a minifig of him SO BAD.

Geo is literally unique and I genuinely hope we get to know more about him. What happened to his parents?? Why can't he remember them?? His parents were literally having a FORBIDDEN relationship!! Seriously guys, what is NOT interesting about his character? 😭😭😭

[eulogium-red]

i'd like to see more of the theme of "family" in overwatch. we see it a lot with ana & fareeha, ram & zen, brig/torb/rein/bastion, genji & hanzo. but those are the obvious ones between playable characters. the ones that are much more clearly written on the wall, even once-in-a-blue-moon players could pick up on. much else is hardly focused on despite how much family (or a lack thereof) has shaped many of the character's lives & identities for better or for worse

i don't like how martina & the unnamed reyes kid are only mentioned in passing, despite gabriel himself visiting often unannounced. clearly they were an important part of his life. clearly, family is an important part of his life — i'm very willing to wager that small passage about the death of his parents in declassified was written very intentionally. his complicated relationship with death, and how it was further affected by his own "death," & how he's now in some warped reversed position with his new family. but we don't get much more than a few voice lines about martina (is she even mentioned by name in-game orrr am i not remembering?)

i want to see how ashe manages the gang throughout the second omnic crisis. or perhaps we could see her mannerisms slightly change with bob. maybe instead of standing side-by-side with him as she is in the reunion cinematic, she puts herself more between him & potential unrealised threats. or maybe she subtly tries to nudge him under awnings whenever she spots ufos, weary they're housing subjugators — little things that are very intentional. maybe her demeanor tilts ever so slightly from confident but guarded, to guarded but confident.

i want to get a better picture of the role sam english played in fareeha's life just from playing the game, especially after ana's presumed death. i want to know more about their relationship other than the christmas dinner they had. i wonder how many players just assume fareeha's father died young, or assume the writers didn't care to write one at all? for a long time, i thought the former. i wonder what sam thinks of some of fareeha's closest friends — has he met cole & angela? what does he think of helix? we hardly even see fareeha's native heritage expressed other than the two skins off the top of my head

what about cassidy & echo? i know this is a more implied one, but cassidy was the first one to nurture her "childlike intelligence." even today, he guides her — he encouraged her to help winston&co at paris when he was still on the fence. one of the cutest things for me is her enthusiastically shouting "hello winston!" mid-battle, presumably not long after cassidy told her to say hi. she probably would've either way, but i also don't want to discredit the role cassidy has had on her development & i really do want to see more of them

or, speak of the devil, how winston views everyone at overwatch as family. how in watchpoint: gibraltar's 1st defense spawn, you can see the little beds he set up for lena and mei, how you can read an email as proof he got the blankets from a small kids blanket business. the way he keeps photos of the gang, years later. how vehemently protective he was of all their locations. i wish we could see it reciprocated a little more, i wish we could see individual sleeping areas for other heroes as the story progresses, or more items on his desk. & that's not even getting into hammond

& i don't think i can have a family post without mentioning dad 76 or how i desperately want to see benicio being the best supportive dad for lúcio more but honestly i'm getting pretty sleepy so either i'll add more later or someone can add more.

depending how you stretch the definition of family here, it can include other dynamics too. baptiste finding a new sense of belonging in the new overwatch, or mei braving the antarctic to not let her team's death go in vain & to help people who can still be helped — from jiayi and her team still on mars, to the people who now need her help on earth. i'd also argue hana's squad in korea. what are niran's siblings up to? are we gonna see more of efi & orisa? moreover, how are all these non-playable side character characters handling the invasion? i guess we got some texts between lena and emily

family is such a powerful motivator, but can also be really complicated, as seen with the amaris and shimadas + kiriko, i wish we got a similar amount of investment some other places too

a major theme of overwatch is moving towards the future, progressing in some way. & that looks different for everyone depending on their emotional readiness to do that, and what they view "progression" as. so it makes sense a lot of characters don't look back on those they lost along the way so much, at least not too openly (zarya comes to mind), but that's what can make their present relationships with others that much more worth preserving & seeing

probably an impossible ask of a game feeling the effects of layoffs that's primarily focused on pvp/bp/shop items but ykn

thank u for coming to my tedtalk

[slackerlifewhere]

The female characters

As usual, this post might have SPOILERS about the first volume of TCF so if you don't want to see this, please don't continue. Thanks!

___

There's this problem I've noticed as a reader of several novels. It's the reason why I skipped or dropped a lot of novels that disappointed me despite their good plot.

The female characters are either barely in the story, they suck, or turned into a harem member.

Most authors don't know how to write women unless they're the same gender. And while I have no problems with male characters, it's sad that if you see a movie, anime, manga, or novel, the results are either of the three mentioned above☝️.

But TCF managed to surprise me yet again.

Like I said in my previous post,

I did not have high expectations for this novel when I first started reading it. I just wanted to read something because I was bored.

So imagine my surprise when a lot of female characters started appearing everywhere in this novel. While some have minor roles like Amiru, Violan, and Lily, most of them are relevant to the plot. Something that is lacking in most novels. They're not one-dimensional characters but are instead given depth by the author.

Violan and Lily

Violan and Lily, who barely show up in the story because we're focused on Cale's point of view, have their own backstories and goals. Their roles are simple but it's enough that you'll be able to remember their names unlike those characters that are easily forgettable.

You'll be able to remember that Violan loves art and wants to help her husband and family as a wife, mother, and countess. She's very intelligent and even appears to be in equal footing with her husband. She's just as important as Deruth in their territory. If you remember how she appeared when Clopeh attacked them, you can see that despite her worry and anger for Cale's poor state, she appeared calm and was willing to stand by his side despite the danger she faces.

Lily on the other hand wants to be a swordsman to help her brothers protect their territory. I find her small interactions with Cale so adorable because of how much Cale respects her and her dream. She is brave and hard-working, unwilling to stay behind while her brothers do everything. She even grew stronger later in the novel. The fact that she was raised to be confident about her skills and herself is a good sign that Deruth and Violan did not care about gender roles and I just find this awesome.

Witira

Another example is the manhwa.

Let me first mention that I don't read the manhwa. I like it but I prefer the novel. I feel like their thoughts and opinions aren't always shown properly compared to when you read the novel.

But when I first saw Witira illustrated in the manhwa, my first thought was "she looks strong". The fact that I noticed how strong she is just by how she exudes confidence and power amazed me. Her personality is already obvious just by how she talks and moves.

In the novel, Cale likens himself to a shrimp while standing next to them, Raon, and Toonka. He knows that he's the weakest in the group and was quick to hide when Toonka jumped into a fight with Witira. He also thought that Toonka is stupid for trying to fight with Witira.

But what I appreciate about Witira is her care for her brother. She was so ready to interrogate Cale about Paseton and her brother had to calm her to calm down.

Before I wax poetry about how cool Witira is, here is the summary of the women that made an impact in the story.

There's Rosalyn who left her position as a princess to be a powerful mage. There's Mary, an innocent necromancer with a tragic background and Tasha who is a dark elf that wants to support her nephew despite the disgust and fear aimed at their race.

The others, while not often seen, are just as important because of their connection to other characters. Cage wants to be excommunicated and protect Taylor (something she failed to do in the original story) and is connected to the God of Death. Litana is a queen who wants to protect her Jungle from Adin and Arm. And Jopis wants her family and kingdom back from Elisneh.

There's also Cotton but to be honest, she's the one of the few female characters that I barely know about aside from her actions in Endable and connection to the God of War. I'm wondering if she'll show up more in the second volume.

Mary

She's a quiet character but she's my favorite among all the characters. When she first appeared in the novel, she didn't have much presence. It was only when she was brought above the City of Death/Life that she became more than a pitiful necromancer who was hated and feared just because she wanted to survive, like her parents wanted her to do before they died.

She may look naive at first because she spent most of her life in the underground city, but she later proves how powerful and kind she is.

Instead of hating the world that hated her, she moved past that and just wanted to protect the people she sees as her family and friends. Her backstory is sad but it didn't stop her from seeking happiness even if she became a necromancer.

She's one of the strongest characters in my eyes and I'm happy to see her slowly gain confidence in herself.

Hannah and Elisneh

But out of all the women, Hannah and Elisneh are the ones who surprised me the most.

Hannah was originally an antagonist. She fought against Cale and his group before she was betrayed by Arm. And she was about to die if Cale, Litana, Cage, and Mary did not save her. Instead of completely changing her character, she still remains bloodthirsty but has a softer side because of her brother and Cale.

She develops in a way that I did not expect. I actually thought she would be another Redika because of her obsession with blood and would later die as an extra character but she proved me wrong. She instead fights Arm with her brother and the group. I believe she's as strong as Rosalyn but I don't remember (I have to re-read the novel).

She doesn't care about the scars left on her by the dead mana and keeps it as a reminder of the betrayal she and her twin faced, proving she doesn't care how people who fear dead mana look at her.

Elisneh on the other hand, remains an antagonist against Jopis. She was originally supposed to "save" the Jungle but judging on how her kingdom turned out (like a storage for dead mana and stuck in an illusion), I can make a guess that she would've done the same with the Jungle had Cale not helped Litana before.

She's an antagonist that left a deep impression on me because of how static she is as a character. She remains focused on her greed and thirst for power and it's nice to see that not all antagonists in the story are turned into allies or kind people. She's strong enough that it took a whole group to defeat her.

On

And last but not the least is On.

She is not as vocal as Hong and Raon but she is the most mature out of all the kids. She is very sharp and knows what Cale thinks of himself and the people around him. She didn't initially trust Cale and I like that. She notices how stupid Cale can be at times and seems exasperated by him. She can still be childish just like her siblings from time to time but her determination to become stronger against the Fog Cat Tribe and Arm shows how much she and Hong had faced before arriving in the Henituse territory.

I understand some readers don't like the involvement of children in TCF because it's bad for the kids to be in war against a strong organization. BUT readers forget that this is a different world with different ways of thinking. These kids are from the Fog Cat Tribe, beastmen who can fight and are prepared for it. They have abilities that normal humans don't and they need to train those abilities if they want to survive in a world full of strong people and wars.

Her being involved in battles makes her feel proud of how strong she became, something she didn't feel when she was in her tribe. Because she's a mutant, her tribe made her feel bad about herself and was ready to kill her and Hong. She needs encouragement and praises that they're not useless or weak. She doesn't need to be coddled and she knows this.

She's smart enough to know that she and her siblings will only be safe with Cale and his group. Even in the war, their only involvement was spreading a poisonous fog so they could hide their presence from the enemy and Cale could hide his ancient powers from the greedy nobles. Aside from that, they weren't fighting in the war. They entered, used their abilities, and left.

Their tribe is good at being stealthy and it's why Ron wants to train these kids. They're good as potential assassins if they want to become one.

I might make a different post about the kids but this is all I have to say about On for now.

Respect

Another reason why I love this novel is because Cale treats these people with respect, regardless of their race, history, and gender.

He doesn't stop them from becoming stronger and instead encourages them to be what they want to be. He respects their failures and strengths. He doesn't coddle them nor does he find them weaker because they're women.

That's why I respect the author. Instead of writing them as side characters existing to make men stronger, the author made me feel amazed at all these strong women, regardless if they're normal or a fighter.

___

I can write more about these characters like Rosalyn and Tasha but I'll just end it here because I might just summarize the whole novel at this point 😅

[x-emeraldsky-x]

Prompt - Only One Bed

Shikamaru groaned lightly as he walked to the village gate. Per Hokage's orders, he was tasked with housing one of the Hidden Sand's Jounin for a week, and as much of a drag it was, he was grateful only his father was home for the duration. He loved his mother dearly, but he had no intentions of hearing any talk, whether it was about dating, marriage or sex.

The very thought of bringing a woman to his mother shook him to his core, especially a woman like Temari. Temari was very forward, and often she'd lack a filter for the things she'd say. His mother quite easily took offense to things, and Temari's "I-Don't-Give-A-Fuck" nature was surely a horrible mix.

As the gate neared he tried to push his exhaustion away. Temari was a woman in high power, and despite what his younger self would think, Shikamaru respected her quite a lot. It was important to him to look professional in front of her.

Temari was a very intelligent woman. Often her battle strategies had led Sunagakure strongly, she was an amazing leader. Authoritive, but still caring towards the soldiers of Suna. She also showed great skill when it came to puzzles and boardgames, she was one of the few people to come close to beating him competitively. Her dedication to protecting her family was also quite admirable; always rushing in to defend her brothers, even when they were strong enough to do it themselves. She was so full of love, and balanced her work and home life well. Shikamaru admired her strengths greatly.

A light burn on his cheeks brought him out of his thoughts, whether it was a blush or the sun, he wasn't sure, but Temari's voice began to creep to his ears. He had to focus now.

Temari stood talking to a couple guards at the gate, the two that often teased Shikamaru for his apparent "obvious crush", Izumo and Kotetsu. Dreading the embarrassment, he waited for her to finish talking before approaching so they didn't have to stay long.

He muttered a small greeting, ignoring the shit-eating grins from the men beside him, and turned to Temari.

Her eyes carried dark circles, clearly tired from her travels. She had a tendency to get careless and do the whole trip on one nights sleep and a nap, and while Shikamaru found it troublesome, it was the perfect excuse to get home faster.

"Oh! There's the little love bird. It's such a shame he always keeps you waiting. It's already late afternoon!"

"Yeah! Come on, Shikamaru. Have some mercy on the poor girl, she's already stuck with you~"

Temari shook her head, half waving to them while walking off. The two said their goodbyes, and after Shikamaru glared at the them for their immaturity, he started to lead Temari across town.

They went their typical route, passing shops with their keepers trying to draw Temari in with their wears, kids dancing and playing together on the path, and all the usual Shinobi and Kunoichi making their way to their posts. It was relaxing in the only way your hometown could bring, and although Temari wasn't from Konoha, he could see her enjoying it too.

She watched the busy streets with a soft smile, the same smile she gives to her brothers, full of love and admiration. There was a sadness in her eyes, though. The sadness of growing up, or more so, watching your family grow up. Shikamaru didn't understand how it felt, but maybe one day he would.

As the sun began to set, they arrived at the house. Loud talking and slight shouting rustled the walls. Shikamaru groaned, recognising the voices, and slid open the door.

"I'm home, father... and Chouza and Inoichi."

The three men turned to them, raising their glasses and laughing. While Shikamaru and Temari stepped inside and removed their sandals, the room was filled with tipsy greetings.

"Welcome home, son. And, uh... who's your friend?"

"She's uhm, a Jounin. From Suna. She's staying here for a week."

Temari looked around while Shikamaru spoke with his father, grimacing at the smell of alcohol as she passed by. Family photos and clan symbols lined the walls. It was far more cozy than her home at Suna. With both her and Kankuro on missions, and Gaara as the Kazekage, it was practically unlived in.

Bits and pieces of conversation filtered in through her focus, Shikamaru arguing with the three men about their relationship. In a way, it reminded her of her own parents during their love, commenting on any boy she showed interest in and teasing her about crushes. None the less, what Shikamaru said was true. They weren't together, and while she was an adult and he was still 16, they wouldn't be until many years have passed.

Eventually, Shikamaru got fed up with their banter and lead Temari to his bedroom, where she would be staying throughout the trip. It was a small room with a simple double bed, very little furniture inhabited it aside from necessities. It had a door leading to a private bathroom as well.

Exhausted and quite gross from her travels, Temari decided to hit the showers while Shikamaru prepared the room better. Fluffing the pillows and making sure nothing vulgar was out in the open; he was a boy in his late teenage years of course. When he was done, he sat and waited for her on the bed.

The sound of running water covered the loud three man party in the living room, Shikamaru was rather surprised that Ino and Chouji weren't there was well. Usually if one generation of "Ino-Shika-Chou" was present, the other would be too. Maybe his father took pity on him and decided just three people teasing him was enough.

Around five minutes had passed before the water shut off, and Shikamaru prepared to take one himself. The door opened and after one final look around the room, he had a realisation.

"Where are you gonna sleep, Mr. Crybaby?"

He didn't have another place to sleep.

Shikamaru's face began to flush from embarrassment. How did he not plan this out better? He felt like an idiot. Temari's laughter didn't help either.

"I didn't plan this right."

"Clearly," Temari snorted. "But it's fine. I'll sleep on the floor, I have a sleeping bag."

Shikamaru watched her unfurl it, stopping her before she laid down. Temari raised her eyebrow, unimpressed by the contact.

"No. You've had too big of a walk to be sleeping on the floor. Take the bed."

Temari moved her body from his, crossing her arms and looking down at him. It wasn't much of a tactic to intimidate him, only to show her displeasure, but it was affective in both.

"I'm not taking your bed from you."

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor!"

They went back and forth for a few minutes, both just as stubborn as the other, before Temari gave up.

"Look, if it's that important to you, lets just share the bed. Put pillows in the middle."

Shikamaru grumbled lightly. While he did respected her greatly, she was quite a troublesome person. He swallowed his pride and accepted.

The rest of the evening went smoothly from then on. Shikamaru gathered some food for them while Temari took the time to relax; stretching and easing the tension in her muscles. Shikamaru's matress was soft. It sunk in beneath her weight quite a bit, constantly making the pillow wall fall apart, but it was worth the annoyance after the past few days.

Shikamaru came back with a simple meal. With how fast it came, Temari guessed it was premade. Shikamaru didn't seem like the type to cook, quickly or good, but food was food in the end.

While they ate, Shikamaru looked at Temari closely for the first time since he met with her. She was only wearing a bra and long pants, a good portion of her skin showing, and the most odd thing, she had her hair tied into two rather than four. Her skin looked rough and damaged from wear he sat, he was willing to bet it'd feel just the same, and her body had many healed scars from training and battle. He had heard how harsh Suna's training was, he wondered how many scars were from village people and how many were from enemies.

"Whatdya staring at?"

Shikamaru turned away embarrassed. "Nothing... sorry."

She laughed and shook her head, finishing her food before lying down again.

"You apologise too much."

Shikamaru ate in silence, trying to keep his eyes to himself. She was right in a sense, he apologised a lot when it came to her, something about her nature made him want to, even if it was any other person he'd just shrug it off. Deep down, he knew his father was right. Izumo and Kotetsu too. Naruto, Asuma, Chouza and Inoichi. They were all right. He loved her, he just wasn't ready to admit it.

Temari tossed and turned for a bit trying to get comfortable, settling for laying in her side. Back facing him. Part of him wanted to pull the blanket over her, another part wanted her to hold him close. He settled for taking care of the dishes, trying to pull his mind away from his feelings.

When he returned, snoring had filled the room. Temari's position much more sloppy then when he had left. It was unladylike, but still beautiful. Shikamaru smiled softly, the muscles in his face straining when he tried to stop.

Turning off the light, he crawled into the bed beside her, her body out of sight with the pillows dividing them but the feeling of her body remained. The bed was more comfortable, more warm, and more cozy with her in it, and he quietly wished she could be there longer than a week.

Shikamaru's eyes grew heavy with the warmth, the sound of her snoring made him feel oddly at ease. Usually he hated noise when he was trying to sleep, but there was something about Temari that made it tolerable. She made him feel safe, protected, at home. It was easy to fall asleep by her side.

In the morning, he was sure she'll find a way around sharing a bed, but for now, he'd enjoy her comfort while he could.

[maviezz]

˚₊‧ა ☆ ໒ ‧₊˚Jealousy (Steve Raglan x fem!reader)

tags: smut, oral(m receiving), pet names, jealous william, fluff,

note: Steve’s quite subby here hehe. reader is in her early twenties, Steve on his mid-late forties. This contains mature content.

Word count: 1.4k

I stumbled upon the counseling center job almost by accident. Fresh out of college with a degree in psychology, I was eager to put my knowledge into practice. But job opportunities in the field were scarce, and I found myself settling for a position that was mediocre at best and not so well-paid.

As I settled into my role at the counseling center, I quickly realized that while the job might not have been the most glamorous, it had its perks. One of them was Steve Raglan, my boss. Tall, with a confident demeanor and a penchant for gold aviator glasses. His salt and pepper locks adorned his beard and hair, adding to his allure. He was the epitome of charisma.

Our relationship started off strictly professional, but as time went on, there was an undeniable chemistry between us. The more we worked together, the more I found myself drawn to his magnetic personality and charm.

Despite our best efforts to keep things purely professional, and also considering the fact that he was almost as old as my own father— it became increasingly difficult to ignore the growing attraction between us. Eventually, we couldn't resist the pull any longer, and our professional relationship blossomed into something more, resulting in a romantic relationship that neither of us saw coming.

"Steve, is everything good?" I asked, my tone laced with a hint of worry. I had come to his office to deliver some expedients, but I noticed he was silent, quiet even. It was highly unusual coming from someone as charismatic and outgoing as him.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Steve replied with a forced smile, but there was a hint of tension in his voice that I couldn't ignore. He glanced away, avoiding my gaze, which only added to my concern.

His response seemed a bit off, and as I glanced at him, I could tell that something was bothering him. Despite his attempt to reassure me with a faint smile, there was a tension in his voice that hinted at underlying distress.

“Are you sure everything's okay, love?" I pressed gently, my concern growing as I observed his troubled expression. "You seem a little... off today."Steve sighed, running a hand through his graying locks, his usual charisma momentarily faltering

“Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, but his words lacked conviction. "Just dealing with some stuff. Don’t worry, princess."I hesitated, debating whether to push further or respect his privacy. But as I met his troubled gaze, I knew I couldn't simply ignore his obvious distress.

"Steve, come on, just tell me what’s wrong," I urged gently, leaning in closer. "We’re supposed to trust each other, right?" My tone was soft but firm, conveying my sincerity and willingness to listen. I could sense his hesitation, but I hoped my words would encourage him to open up.

Steve shifted uncomfortably in his chair, avoiding my gaze. "It's nothing, really," he muttered, but I could see the turmoil behind his eyes.I sighed, sensing that there was more to it than he was letting on.

“Honey, look at me," I said firmly, gently tilting his chin up to meet my gaze. "I care about you, and I want to understand what's going on. You can talk to me."After a moment of silence, Steve finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I just... I can't help but feel insecure sometimes," he admitted, his vulnerability catching me off guard. "I see all these younger guys around, and I can't help but wonder why you're with an old guy like me."

My heart ached at his confession, my lips curved into a soft grin, offering him a reassuring smile.

“Steve, you're not just 'an old guy' to me," I said sincerely. "You're kind, intelligent, and incredibly attractive. Age has nothing to do with it. I'm with you because I care about you, and I want to be with you."As I spoke, I could see the tension in Steve's shoulders begin to ease

"But—" Steve began, his voice trailing off, but I gently cut him short, placing a finger on his lips to silence him."No 'buts,' Steve," I said firmly, meeting his eyes with unwavering determination.

"I'll make sure you understand how much I love you," I whispered, my voice filled with sincerity, though laced with a hint of desire.Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, I slowly knelt down in front of him, maintaining eye contact as I reached for both of his thighs, slowly running my hands up and down over his pants, tickling the skin underneath

delicate fingers dug into the fabric of his pants, causing a shiver down his spine, making his cock twitch in its confines. "I’ll suck the jealousy out of you" I murmured sensually, my words coming out sweet and honey coated. My tiny hands slowly slipped inside his pants, grasping firmly at his leaky and aching erection.

"Look at you, could a younger guy possibly compare to this?" I asked in a low voice, barely above a whisper, as I leaned in closer. My hands continued to explore, tracing the contours of his length with gentle fingers, sliding my fist back and forth over the length of his arousal while running the pad of my thumb over the tip, collecting his sticky fluids for a taste.

"H-Hng~, Honey..." Steve panted loudly, clawing at the armrests of the chair, tighter and tighter...eyes rolling back into his head with an audible groan.

The hair on his forehead was damp with sweat and stuck to his skin, the small droplets of moisture dripping onto his face. His breathing was short and rapid, his body trembling under the exertion, his breaths coming in short, shallow gasps as I ran my tongue over every single inch of him—one hand stroking his swollen and sensitive balls while i bobbed my head eagerly.

The smell of sweat was growing thicker, permeating the atmosphere and making it feel heavy and oppressive. His breathing was becoming visibly more rapid and shallow, small whines and groans filled the room alongside lewd and wet sounds as my hands and mouth worked their magic on his aching dick.

"Does it feel good, honey?” I purred playfully as I pulled away from his length. my chin coated in saliva as I looked at him with a naughty, almost teasing grin on my face.

"F-fuck…oh God, yes..." Steve panted out a breath, spreading his legs further for more access. His entire body was tense with the exertion of each movement, the heat growing between us becoming intense. He could feel himself growing harder—if it was even possible— as he looked at me, each movement and breath he took becoming more passionate. “I’m gonna cum..”

his fingers tangled in my messy hair, guiding my movements to a certain extent. His grip was firm, yet gentle, he was holding my head with authority, while he was also encouraging me to take him deeper into my throat. I could sense him enjoying the pleasure I was giving him, encouraging me to go deeper until my nose made contact with his pelvic floor.

his hips bucked slightly, it was a clear signal that he was about to reach his peak. I could tell from the way he was moving and the sounds he was making, his body tensing and his breath coming in short gasps. I redoubled my efforts, taking him deeper and hollowing my cheeks harder to intensify the suction.

“Oh m-mhm~ princess” His body lurched forward, his muscles tensing and his body twisting slightly. A louder moan echoed throughout the room, the wet and sloppy noises growing louder as his thrusting became more erratic and sporadic. His body started to convulse slightly, his body jerking suddenly as he reached his climax. Thick and heavy ropes of cum coating my mouth and throat. the sweet and tangy taste enveloping my senses.

“Oh, baby…”I gently pulled away from him, standing up on my feet. His body now lay there limp and relaxed, his hair messy with a few strands sticking out of place. His lips were swollen and red from biting on them, his cheeks flushed from the intensity of the blowjob. He was panting heavily, a wide grin painted on his face as he came back down to reality. He laid there motionless, taking a moment to regain his breath and come back down to his normal state.

"Was this enough to reassure you, love?" I said with a softer giggle, unable to hold back the reaction to his messy and disheveled form.

And oh yes, it definitely did reassure him.

[infriga]

Some random Egghead meta about Vegapunk because he was on my brain today for some reason and I just wanna get it out of my head:

Honestly Vegapunk fascinates me as a character. I feel his existence as an individual gets overshadowed a lot by his existence as an important part of the overarching series/arc plot, but there's actually a lot of interesting things to think about regarding him as a person too.

One aspect that I probably think about the most is the mole plot regarding his satellites. Oda deliberately had him make several supposedly "negative" satellites, one being straight up Vegapunk's EVIL persona, and yet the one who truly turns out to be the traitor isn't Lilith, it's York. And sure, on the surface it's easy to say that it wouldn't be Lilith because that would be too obvious, but if Oda was just going to go for the surprise factor with this twist he would have had it be one of the more "positive" Satellites like Shakka (good) or Pythagoras (wisdom). In fact they were popular choices for theory crafters when the fandom was trying to predict who it would be. But he didn't go with that because the twist was based more on Vegapunk's actual character and actually makes a LOT of sense when we learn more about who he is as a person.

York is usually called Vegapunk's "greed" persona, but she's meant to represent more of a mix of greed, desire, avarice, hunger, appetite, even passion, etc, hence why her name is written in kanji as 欲 (yoku) which can mean all those things. With that understanding it's more understandable why her initial depiction comes across more like sloth and/or gluttony, after all her "job" is just to eat, sleep, and poop for Vegapunk, which may seem like a strange job for the "greedy" persona, but does fit the "appetite" or "hunger" aspect of the term yoku.

Obviously this comes with the benefit of hindsight but I actually kind of wish translators had translated her role to something more like desire or appetite instead of greed in most instances, since part of what makes the reveal a twist is that she really is more of an embodiment of "greed" as it's typically viewed despite appearing at first to be a less dangerous form of the concept. We're lead to believe that she's not as ambitious as she really is.

Ultimately I think the thing she represents is desire itself as a whole, unchecked by things like logic or wisdom or conscience. And knowing what we know now about Vegapunk's backstory, it makes sense why she would be the one to turn traitor, because Vegapunk's greatest weakness has always been his unchecked desire. I know some people might interpret it as being his naivety, but naivety on its own isn't a flaw or a weakness, someone can be naive and still make productive choices if they're smart and diligent and let their conscious and logic temper their first impulses. Naivety isn't always automatically a complete lack of wisdom or intelligence, it's a lack of experience, and that CAN be compensated for. Vegapunk didn't realize the extent of the government's cruelty, or the dangerous potential of his knowledge and technology in the wrong hands at the start because he hadn't yet experienced it first hand and he didn't try to compensate for that potential risk. If he'd tempered his desire for progress, for knowledge, for advancement, and exercised his intelligence and conscience, he likely would have realized the potential risks from the start and likely wouldn't have relied entirely on giving the government the benefit of the doubt because he would have prioritized being responsible with his abilities. He might have at the very least done more to gain leverage and have proper oversight over how his inventions would be used. This is something he eventually learned, as seen with stuff like his secret broadcast, but it came from hindsight after the damage was done, rather than from foresight.

A lack of foresight can be an issue, but what really drove Vegapunk's actions was, again, his desires overriding his common sense. The government was his meal ticket to the things he wanted, and he reasoned it away by saying that the means would justify the ends, up until he had to witness what those horrible horrible means really were with his own eyes.

Vegapunk's satellites don't only represent things like good, evil, wisdom, violence, intelligence, and desire, they specifically represent those aspects of HIM, and for all his flaws Vegapunk is clearly not an evil man. So it makes sense that Lilith would not actually be all that evil. And he is not a particularly violent man, which is why Atlas is not actually particularly violent at least in terms of the One Piece universe. Heck, Nami is arguably more violent than her. But Vegapunk IS very greedy. Not in the classic "wants to be rich and powerful" sense, except in terms of how riches and power would help him reach his true goals. He's covetous, he has an appetite, he is driven by desire. It is as much a strength as it is a weakness, it's why he has made so much amazing technology, and why he looked into stuff like the void century despite the risks, but it's also why he chose the government as his benefactors over the revolutionary army, it's why he built so many dangerous things without thinking of the consequences of who might weild them or how they might be used to harm instead of help. He always needed more. He needed more money so he could fund more projects, he needed more projects so he could make more discoveries, he needed more discoveries so he could gain more knowledge, and so on and so on. This is of course represented quite aptly by his ever expanding brain, not unlike the common imagery of an ever expanding stomach that represents gluttony. He may have meant well with how he wanted to use the knowledge and discoveries and technology, but, well, you know what they say about good intentions.

As he grew older, eventually his experience overcame his naivety, his wisdom and good conscience overcame his desire, and he finally stopped seeking more above all else and started trying to mitigate the damages and make up for the consequences of his actions. But York? York doesn't have that wisdom or conscience, she's just the desire, unchecked. And Vegapunk's remaining naivety ended up aimed at himself, when he didn't recognize the danger of that aspect of himself.

So with this full picture in mind, it makes total sense why York was the turncoat, not someone like Lilith or Atlas, because Lilith is only as evil as Vegapunk is, and Atlas is only as violent as Vegapunk is, and unfortunately, York is just as hungry for more as Vegapunk is.