#especially when they ignore that they're testing different things

[f1-birb]

I love people drawing conclusions from a TIRE TEST. (Like, one of the first things the commentators told you guys during the televised FP2 tire test sessions was that these times meant nothing. That was one of the first things Chris Medland told you guys before posting times on Twitter). I have already seen the "So, when will people start calling for Lando's seat?" and "Lando only spun because he's feeling the pressure of Piastri." and "Lando's about to get humbled by a rookie." comments on Twitter and I'm just like besties ... we know nothing about fuel loads, we know nothing about what tire compound each time was set on. Truthfully the only thing we could make assumptions based upon is track evolution for drivers who set their fastest lap later. Considering Lando set his fastest lap before I even went to sleep about 6 hours ago, whereas quite a few drivers seemed to have improved since then (Oscar himself, Sargeant, De Vries, Doohan, etc.), and drivers even aside from Lando who we know are talented who also set their fastest laps before I went to sleep and didn't improve (George, Bottas) (who are both behind most of the rookies and young drivers who tested today. Hamilton as well. I assume we're going to start calling a 7 time WDC talentless and demanding his seat over a tire test as well?), I think people are wild for drawing conclusions based upon this. And we're criticizing him for spinning ... during a tire test ... where they're testing completely NEW tires? (My first thought was it's better than having a moment in the pits and nearly crashing there, sorry Lando ily), but I guess Alonso is also talentless since he had a moment as well? Also find it very weird how Lando is the only one getting any hate from this. I thought maybe getting away from Dan Stans, he could finally breathe without someone belittling his talent, but I suppose not (though to be truthful, after following McLaren pages this long, I had a feeling this would happen when they stuck with the Aussies (also not to generalize ALL Aussies, some I've met through F1 are super cool, but quite a few of the ones I've encountered on McLaren's IG/FB/Reddit/etc. are super toxic too). This isn't anti-Piastri either. I went to sleep GLAD that he was already seemingly meshing with the car and getting closer to Lando times, but these responses from his fans aren't it, especially when basically every McLaren/Lando fan I know has been excited for him and even HOPING he does well so one driver alone wasn't depended upon for most of the points. He could come into next year and beat the socks off Lando and I wouldn't be bitter towards him, but you can bet I'll call out any shitty fans. (But who knows? Maybe they should keep being shitty and toxic. We saw how that seemed to motivate and push him even more when everyone was saying Dan would ruin his career and send him to FE 🤷🏻‍♀️).

I feel all of this, and it's exactly why I don't look at the comments on instagram and why I don't have Twitter nor will I get it

From what I've seen, most people who slate this sort of stuff don't even watch races, they watched DTS and now want drama. I was talking to someone at a work thing about F1 and they couldn't even tell me who'd won the weekend before (literally 3 days earlier) because they didn't watch it, they just liked DTS.... so another reason I ignore that kind of shit

We all know tyre tests don't mean shit, especially when they're not comparing like for like since Lando was testing the 23 tyres and Oscar was using the 22 tyres, and the other thing is even if they did mean anything it doesn't matter because they're the old cars. I can't wait to see the back of the MCL36 and judging from a couple of pics of Lando neither can he

Lando just gets under people's skin because they can't handle the fact they're wrong about him. It's literally that simple to me. All the pay driver comments and insults and accusations he's had priority or preference at the detriment of his teammate are all easily disproven because there's overwhelming evidence of his great performance through the lower Formulas, by the fact he won the McLaren drive and they loved him, by comments made by Fernando Alonso after the Daytona 24 (and my fave insta comment 'Bravo Landito'). And more importantly by the fact other teams want him - Horner literally came out and said recently they've tried to nab him on several occasions but he just keeps signing on to keep repping papaya, plus the fact that last year the team principals rated him 3rd in the top 10 drivers of the 2021 season, only behind Max and Lewis (aka the two fighting at the top for WDC last year...)

As for the Dan stans, we were never getting rid of them, they seem unable to help themselves from making comments (and of course this isn't all Daniel fans you know exactly who I'm talking about) but I had hoped for better from Oscar's fans (again, a handful and not the majority but you know what I mean). Especially when I haven't seen a single McLaren or Lando fan say a word against Oscar because the main thing we want is for Lando to not HAVE to carry the team on his back (*cough* 76% of the team's points Lando brought in *cough*) for another season

The fact these people saying about Lando's seat seem to forget Lando was offered one of the longest contracts aside from Max because McLaren know how good he is (*stares at Imola podium won in a fucking tractor and then at the overtake montage from COTA despite having lost the front left fairing*) and don't want him stolen from them, but yeah sure Oscar's absolutely gonna make McLaren sack him over times from tyre testing when Oscar was running the young driver testing which is a completely different thing 🙄

[drrav3nb]

Carmy reacting to Claire's message/giving her a fake number vs Carmy reacting to Sydney's message and her having his real number

There's so much I could say about this. The first thing I want to point out is that Carmy gives Claire a fake number, not by accident but knowingly. She must've known this as throughout the season she asks him why and even asks him if it's even okay that she has his number.

Meanwhile, with Sydney it's established in season one that they already exchanged numbers as they're texting each other in the final episode. Now, they do work together and colleagues, especially business partners are going to need each other's contact information in order to discuss things.

But Carmy doesn't seem bothered by Sydney having his number, in fact in E5, he asks Sydney why she didn't call him about a problem that happened at the restaurant. And you can see a chain of text messages in E3 where they jest about Fak not having the proper tools. So then that begs the question as to why Claire having his number was such a big deal and why Carmy was so against it?

Like I mentioned before Claire brings this up a lot and Carmy either ignores it or answers her by not really addressing the question. He obviously didn't want her to have his number, as he's very surprised when she ends up calling his real number. This means that if she didn't chase his real number down by asking Fak, then they would've never reconnected or had a relationship this season, something Carmy might not have wanted. And honestly, it really did feel like Claire pushed the idea of a relationship on to him.

Then there's the differences in Carmy's reactions to Sydney's messages vs Claire's. I was genuinely surprised that when Claire gave him encouragement for passing the fire suppression test he looked at it like it was nothing, not a smile, not even a reply, just a blank expression. This is his 'girlfriend' and her encouragement means very little to him apparently.

Then there's Sydney. Though we didn't get to see them text often this season, or his reaction to her messages. Last season, we saw him smiling like a teenager when she told him to shove his idea up his ass. Now, the fact that Carmy texted Sydney before opening Mikey's letter shows just how important their relationship is to him, he couldn't fathom reading what his brother wrote him without first mending their own broken partnership. In a way, them mending their relationship was the encouragement he needed to open the letter and HE is the one that reaches out for that, HE is the one that texts Sydney first.

So yeah, that's all I have really. I noticed it and I thought I'd share my thoughts on here. I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks!

[bunny-yan]

i love your writing and characters so much, like your ideas are too interesting! and i love the way you write spitfire mc's, the ones that are more pissy about their situation than scared lolol

If you're still taking requests could you possibly do a third part to the hero? i love that guy tasman, and if you wanted to, include some non-con? i just feel like at this point he's gotta be up to his wits end of being patient, especially if his little captive is still ogling the window like they're more interested in those trees than talking to him, or even still thinking of trying something sneaky.

keep up the amazing work, i hope all your bubble baths are very relaxing and your water is always crisp

awwww! thanks so much for the kind words. i do like writing reactions in different ways and i don't know if it's just me but i find it much more satisfying when a yan is forced to bend you to his will, ya know? don't want to make his job too easy ;)

TW: non-con, more lime than lemon, violence, domestic abuse, threats, mentions nudity, abs NO minors —

He was sitting on the bed, head resting on clasped hands, watching you. It would’ve made you uncomfortable, but then again, air existed. It was nothing to get upset about. 

You were pretending he didn’t exist and it was going pretty well considering his anger issues could destroy the world if they went unchecked. But he was sitting there, silently drilling holes into your body for the last couple of hours. 

He’d made attempts to appease you, attempts that had failed the moment he tried because he didn’t exist. 

Food would appear out of thin air and you would look at it before turning your head and continuing to gaze out of the window. 

Flies would buzz around your ears. You weren’t sure how they got inside considering the window was sealed shut with magic, but you swatted them away nonetheless. 

You didn’t turn your head at the sound of his fist balling, sounding as if he broke every bone in each of his fingers. You steeled yourself so you wouldn’t flinch away or react. You wouldn’t give him the time of day. 

“Is this tantrum meant to get underneath my skin? You should know better than to test my patience. Acting like a rebellious child won’t achieve the results you expect.”

A rebellious child. What an amazing thing to call the lover whose attention you’re so desperate for. As for getting underneath his skin, his reaction proved this was an effective method to get him angry. It isn’t like you hadn’t known before. Tasman hated being ignored. 

You’d pretended to give him the silent treatment after a mini dispute when the two of you were arguing when you were younger and he’d followed you around the village, asking if you were angry with him repeatedly past the disappearance of the sun. His young worried face was too pitiful to ignore, but you sensed something ominous the longer you refused to speak to him. 

The two of you grew up together. If he though you didn’t know about the things he liked and disliked, he was sorely mistaken. 

Getting comfortable as you gazed out in the distance to view the vast forest beyond the city made him clench his jaw so tightly you thought he’d break it. You had to tell yourself not to smile, but it was hard to resist a slight quirk at the edge of your lips. 

“I am trying my best to give you what you want. As long as you don’t ask for ridiculous things, I can award the world to you. Please, just talk to me.”

As if your freedom was a menial desire. You no longer had the ability to choose what you ate, what you wore, whether or not you went outside, all things you’d surely taken for granted before you were whisked away to this sacred cell of his. It might’ve seemed ridiculous to argue about what you decided to wear or whether or not you were going to eat, but at the end of the day they were the only options you had. 

Your basic liberty was seen as a luxury, as something that only he could grant if you were on your best behavior and it made you want to gouge his eyes out for acting as if he was being so benignant. 

A small huff was all you let out in response to his words, telling yourself not to let him anger you, you tried thinking of what you would do if you got the chance to start over. Would you live on a farm? Maybe marry and help your significant other with their responsibilities whether they be a restaurant owner with an inn or a blacksmith that managed swords for new and upcoming adventurers. You didn’t think you could be a scholar. Not that your intelligence was inadequate, on the contrary. It would’ve been your first choice in terms a well-paying job if you weren’t afraid of feeling suffocated in the offices scholars tended to inhabit. 

You had enough of enclosed spaces. Working on a farm could provide the fresh air you desperately yearned for and smithing while running a shop would provide you with plenty of opportunities to meet people from all sorts of backgrounds. Both would be hard work. Especially if you compared the leisurely role as the hero’s hostage where you could be waited on hand and foot if you so desired, but you’d take anything if it meant a life beyond his obsessive desperation. 

Knocked out of your daydream by the sound of footsteps coming closer to where you were, you tensed when he sat beside you, his body pressing into your side as he begged for your eyes. 

“Can’t you see that I’m doing my best?” His hand tentatively touched your back before he slowly wrapped it around waist, eyes sliding slowly to your lips and then your neck. 

How long had it been since you’d allowed him near you. You were hell bent on scratching at him like a feral animal whenever he came near, both with your hands and words so he’d wanted to give you space to soothe your anger, but the longer he kept his distance, the more you required from him. 

Shying away from his touch when he wanted to embrace you, his eyes when the two of you took meals together, his words when he professed his love for you. It was a wonder that you let him as close as you did in this moment. 

Pulling you closer, he whispered, “I’m trying.” before placing lips on your neck, bordering on your collarbone, as his hands squeezed your side. 

His desire for you hadn’t waned in the slightest. 

Tasman believed after so many lives and time apart his desperate craving would have been relieved, but it had only grown stronger. He was plagued with thoughts of your body writhing underneath his, wondering how your skin would feel as his rough hands fought to be gentle. How each and every inch of you would taste, whispering how he’d take his time to memorize everything, from the way you moved to the sounds you would make. 

How you would look…

Head snapping to him, the hopeful sentiment splintered at the sight of utter revulsion in your eyes. 

Shielding his broken heart with anger, he grabbed the collar of your shirt before you could move away and pinned you against the window. 

“What are you hiding?” he asked, voice seething as he regarded you suspiciously. 

You were frozen in shock, unsure where this outburst came from. One moment, he was attempting seduce you, the next he was angry, practically choking you as he shoved you against the magic enforced glass. 

“You’ve never been this quiet and the minute I get close you try to move away, did someone give you something to leave me? A key?” 

He began pulling at your clothes, shocking you further as the fabric began to rip away, beginning to expose every inch of your body. 

“A magic circle?” 

His accusations continued and despite you breaking your silence to yell for him to stop, pushing him away, and holding on to the clothes he began to remove, he refused until your clothes were in a tattered heap on the floor. 

Shielding your nudity, you glared at him, his cold gaze regarded you closely. 

“You’re crazy.” you told him, trying to keep your voice from wavering from the sheer embarrassment and shame you felt from not being able to stop him. 

He was the hero. Your strength was comparable to a grain of sand if he was your opponent, but the rationalization didn’t make you feel any better. 

His eyes seemed to soften at your words, becoming more focused but not completely losing the haze they confined. 

“I’m sorry,” he began, “But you have to understand my hesitancy to trust you given your actions in the past.” His eyes made you shiver at the way they roamed across your figure, looking unapologetic as studied you, eyes lingering in the areas you shielded. 

“Get out.” you said through gritted teeth, unable to shake the ugly discomfort in your gut. 

You needed him to leave. He had to go if you were going to feel comfortable and safe. 

“This is my room as well.”

“Get. Out.”

“I understand that my reaction may have been a bit rough, but there is no reason for you to be upset to this degree. If you had simply talked to me, it wouldn’t have come to this.”

Standing up, you couldn’t stop yourself from getting into his face as you yelled, “Get out, you asshole!”

A hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer as lips were suddenly on yours. You struggled against his hold, momentarily forgetting to shield yourself as your fists beat against his body, attempting to shove him off of you or arch your body away from his kiss, but he followed you. 

Your voice was muffled by the tongue that attempted to slither its way past your defenses, feeling hot as it battled your for dominance yet strangely like iron when you attempted to crush your teeth around it. Pain reverberated through your skull and Tasman took you momentary docility as an opportunity to take things further. 

Pulling you to the bed, he continued to kiss you passionately, flinging away his gloves as his hand roamed from your chest to harshly squeezing your ass before rubbing your legs and stroking your inner thigh. 

You felt him smile in the kiss when he felt your body trembling, your glare slowly melding with fear the longer his assault continued without pause. 

When he finally  backed away, you were breathing hard and in an attempt to catch your breath, your chest heaving from the lack of oxygen. 

Tasman smiled, satisfied with the way you responded, he began to slide a wandering hand up and up your leg. Fingers calloused from continuous monster subjugation, you flinched away from his unrepentant touch before your hand intercepted his before he got too close. 

“Tasman, stop. Get off of me.”

Looking into your eyes, you wanted to shrivel at the sight of his glare. 

Why did you continue to push him away‽ 

Gripping your forearms, he forced them to the bed as he got in your face. 

“Is there some other bastard you’d prefer to be doing this with?”

What?

“I didn’t think to have the barrier react if you got too close to someone else. I didn’t think I’d have to worry about anyone from our village unless you’d managed to attract some useless noble up here.”

“There’s no one.” you said, deciding against lying and saying you did have a secret lover in case he burned the capital down looking for them. 

“You’re lying.” he said, squeezing your arms tighter as he glared at you. 

You were tired of hearing things like that from him of all people. 

“How am I supposed to meet someone if you keep me locked in this room‽” you shouted, struggling beginning anew. If it bothered him, he didn’t say anything about it. 

“You’d find a way.” he said, releasing one of your arms to caress your face. “You simply love torturing me.”

His thumb brushed against your lip, a hidden desire springing to life as his eyes met yours. 

“If you’re telling the truth, I can’t understand why you’re being obstinate about this.” 

Leaning closer, he brought his lips to the space just below your ear as he placed a chaste kiss there. “I simply want to make the person I love feel good.” he said, voice taking on a sultry tone. 

If it had been three lifetimes ago, you would’ve considered it. 

If it’d been the year before he barged into your escape and confined you after, you might’ve considered it. 

Even as every piece of your heart rejected him, your soul was desperately pleading for you to forgive him, to take this opportunity to climb into his arms and love him how you were always meant to, but you wouldn’t. 

You wouldn’t disgrace the you who’d discovered what heartbreak was after a first, second, and third failed love. You wouldn’t betray the you whose hands had grown old and wrinkled, waiting for something that would never come. You wouldn’t forgive him as long as he continued to act as if he had done nothing wrong while demanding you give him your everything, everything you would’ve happily handed over if he’d considered what it felt like to be repeatedly betrayed by the very person your soul constantly cried out for. 

“I don’t ever want to see you again.”

He froze, fear coiling around your insides at the expression on his face that you couldn’t see. His hand loosened around your forearm, gripping the bed, you thought he was finally coming to his senses before you heard the bed creak. 

The suffocating weight of his magic presence hit you a moment later, making you want to gag, but a hand clamped around your mouth, forcing your head to the bed before you could turn over and dry heave. 

“Lover, how cruel.”

He looked at you with an expression that you couldn’t distinguish as anger or sorrow, but it was terrifying. 

His mouth made its way to your neck, kissing you sensually before his teeth buried themselves into your skin, drawing blood and eliciting a muffled scream from you at the vicious way his teeth pierced your body. 

Your hands tried to push him away, both wrapping around his wrist to uncover his hand from your mouth, but he ignored your attempts. Turning your head to the side, his ran his tongue across the teeth marks he made, pouring enough magic into the wound so it would stop bleeding, but not enough to get rid of the mark or alleviate the pain you felt. 

“I love you.” he sighed, his hand coming up as he caressed the side of your body, resting before his thumb caressed your nipple. 

You gaped at him with petrified eyes, unable to move at the cold gaze he stared you down with as he continued to press chaste kisses into your neck, trailing to your chest. 

He removed his hand from your mouth, using both to focus on teasing your body. 

“T-Tasman,” you began in a quiet voice, but the look in his eyes silenced you. 

“Shhhh.” 

Tipping your head up by your chin, he pecked you on the lips before placing a kiss on your nose and forehead. 

“I’m just going to show you how much I love and I want peace and quiet, okay?”

Memories of a barn flooded your mind as you thought back to your younger days when you had last tried to use the silent treatment with Tasman. Bruised hands held together above your head, hay prickling your skin, and heavy breathing from above. 

“Not a single word, lover.”

Tasman had never reacted well to the silent treatment.

[writingmingyu]

Act Natural Part 2

Part 1 is here!

Pairings: Jeonghan x afab reader Summary: After trying out your new vibrator in public, Jeonghan gives you a choice - continue the game or go home. And you've never been one to turn down a challenge. Genre: Smut Warnings: Vague mentions of food, fellatio, exhibitionism  Word count: ~1.7k

Author’s Note: This took me way too long to finish, I apologise. Especially as someone did request it! I started writing it and then because it was something a bit different I was second guessing a lot and wasn't sure if I liked the direction I was going but we got there in the end! So please enjoy x

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

You finish applying your lipstick and take a deep breath before returning to the restaurant. 

The boys are all sitting around looking at their phones, they're still hungry but are waiting to see if you're okay to see if they continue dinner or call it a night. 

Jeonghan spots you first, trying to gauge how you're feeling but you don't engage with him. You keep a straight face before taking a seat next to him.

"Are you feeling better?" Seungcheol asks, concern crossing his features. 

"Yeah, I just had a friend emergency to take care of. Let's get some more drinks," you pick up the menu from the table. 

Everyone orders and you begin to relax, your earlier faux pas forgotten as the boys begin chatting about their next big tour. Jeonghan keeps his hand on your leg, stroking your thigh, his fingers resting very close to your ruined underwear.

You take a long pull from your drink to gain some confidence before letting your hand rest on Jeonghan’s thigh. He was always so confident when touching you in public but you were more hesitant to touch him. The last thing you wanted was for someone to catch on to what you were doing, but you were determined to make Jeonghan squirm in front of his friends. You begin testing the waters, stroking his thigh, each time moving higher towards his crotch.

“Careful what you start,” Jeonghan leans in and whispers in your ear. “You know you’ll have to finish.”

You smile and kiss his cheek. “Don’t worry about that, I intend to.”

As more food arrives at the table, you decide to down the rest of your drink and kick this up a notch. 

"Oh babe, I think you spilt something let me get it," You make a scene of grabbing a napkin to dab at Jeonghan's leg, using it as a way to use both hands to undo his belt and his jeans. 

"Jeez if you wanted to touch him you could at least get a room." Vernon rolls his eyes.

You feel your face redden at being caught but play it off like it's no big deal. It was just that Jeonghan could be clumsy and you were trying to help. 

With his jeans unbuttoned you were able to begin stroking Jeonghan over his underwear, his cock hardening under your touch. 

He was surprisingly cool about the whole interaction, continuing to eat and have conversation freely. 

Due to the lack of reaction you decide to stop touching him. Removing your hand from his lap so you can eat and you begin to contribute more to the conversation. Ignoring Jeonghan and focusing your attention on the two men in front of you. 

If Jeonghan didn't know any better, it was like you were flirting with his two friends. The way you laughed at Vernon's jokes and played with your hair while listening to Seungcheol's stories. 

You feel Jeonghan's hand squeeze your thigh and you turn your head to look at him. 

"You doing okay?" You ask.

He nods and then signals to a passing waiter to order another round of drinks. You knew he hated being ignored, especially after you were giving him a lot of attention a few minutes before. 

You continue to spend the evening ignoring Jeonghan. His hand would reach for your thigh and you would remove it. Leaning forward on the table and showing your chest off to the men in front of you. 

At one point, Seungcheol drops his napkin on the floor and you offer to pick it up. You duck down under the table and grab the napkin but not before taking a peak at Jeonghan's erection. Even though you were giving all your attention to his friends he was still horny for you. 

You smile and take the opportunity to trail your hand over his thighs and graze him through his underwear. Causing a little moan to escape from his lips. 

You test the waters further by pulling him out of his boxers and bringing the tip to your lips and sucking lightly. 

Jeonghan gasps, peering down at you as you stare up at him innocently. 

"You okay down there Y/N?" Seungcheol asks. 

"Yeah!" You call back, getting up from under the table and setting the napkin on the table. "Sorry, just took a second to see under there, it's so dark."

"Well I think we should head out, it's getting late. But before we go I'm heading to the men's room."

"Yeah me too," Vernon said getting up.

As they leave the table you head back down under it, situating yourself between Jeonghan's legs. 

"You think you can do this before they get back?" Jeonghan asks placing a finger under your chin and lifting your face to him. 

"Probably not, you should order dessert," you say, hand wrapped around his cock and tugging roughly. 

Jeonghan signals for a waiter, you wait for him to begin speaking before you take his length into your mouth. His voice catching as the tip of his cock hits the back of your throat. 

As Jeonghan finishes ordering, his hand finds its way into your hair, lightly pushing you down further onto his cock. 

You resist it, pulling back and reaching up to remove his hand. "No,"

"No?"

"You're not driving this, I am. Keep your hands to yourself."

"I like it when you're bossy,"

"I know," you smile and begin sucking lightly on the tip of his cock. 

Vernon and Seungcheol arrive at the table, Jeonghan asks one of them to sit next to him to give you more room under the table. 

"Where's Y/N?" Seungcheol asks.

"Ladies room," Jeonghan replies cooly. "But she wanted dessert so I ordered some, hope you don't mind."

"No worries, we can hang out."

Conversation starts up between the boys and you take Jeonghan further into your mouth. You work on timing your movements to when Jeonghan is speaking, backing up when he's silent but sucking hard and taking him deep when you know he needs to contribute to the group. 

"Everything okay Jeonghan?" Vernon interrupts the discussion. 

"Yeah, just worried about Y/N. Feel like she's been away a while."

"Maybe her friend called back with another 'emergency'." You could hear the quotes that Seungcheol had put around the last word.

"I'll text her," Jeonghan lifts his phone from the table and brings it down to his lap so he can look down at you. 

You made eye contact with him, pulling back from his cock to smile. 

One of Jeonghan's favourite sights was you on your knees like this. Hand around his cock, bringing him pleasure with that fucked out expression on your face. 

"Cum for me?" You whisper, batting your eyes and bringing the tip of his cock back to your mouth. 

Jeonghan smirks and shifts in his seat, bucking his hips towards your mouth, causing you to gag a little. 

"She's fine," he says to his friends. Putting his phone back on the table. 

"What was that sound?" Vernon asked.

"What sound?" 

"It sounded like you hit something under the table,"

"Oh, it was probably Y/N's purse or something."

There's silence as a look passes between Vernon and Seungcheol. But you don't notice the silence, you continue to work on Jeonghan's cock to bring him to his release. 

"Is she-?" Seungcheol signals to the table. 

"Don't know what you're talking about," Jeonghan says, trying to keep a straight face as you find a good rhythm. Jeonghan's hand finds its way back into your hair to keep you working over him.

Dessert comes to the table, briefly distracting the group as they begin eating. Though Seungcheol drops his napkin again and before anyone else can, he leans down to pick it up. But not before spotting you on your knees below the table. He smirks as he sits upright. 

"So you close?" Seungcheol asks out of the blue. 

Jeonghan stammers but Vernon laughs. "He's probably not now you've said that."

"She's working hard. I'll give her that."

Jeonghan's hand tugs on your hair, pulling him away from his cock to look up at him. "You're just jealous," he says smiling at you, stroking your cheek and bucking his hips into your hand.

"Does she swallow?" You hear Vernon ask. 

You redden as you tune back into the conversation to find out your cover has been blown, but you've come this far now you had to finish. 

"Every time," you respond from under the table before deep-throating Jeonghan, sending him over the edge. 

"Fuck," Jeonghan murmurs as he holds your head in place, thrusting his hips as his cock pulses inside your mouth, sending warm cum down the back of your throat. 

The table is silent as you pull back and Jeonghan grabs a napkin from the table to clean himself up. 

You crawl out from under the table and into an empty seat as you feel all eyes on you. You reach for a napkin to wipe your mouth. "So," you say surprised at how normal your voice sounded. "How's the dessert?"

"It's good but I'd prefer to have whatever you were giving Jeonghan," Seungcheol smirked. 

"Yesh that looked pretty good." Vernon agreed, swallowing hard. 

"Maybe next time he'll share," you wink at them before grabbing a spoon to eat some of the dessert. 

"Don't hold your breath," Jeonghan replied, grabbing his own spoon. 

The boys sit in stunned silence for a moment before grabbing their phones, probably to text in the group chat what had just unfolded but you stay focused on Jeonghan. It wasn't exactly the date night you had planned but it turned out to be a very memorable one.

“What’s the matter?” you ask, “scared of losing me to one of your friends?”

“Never,” Jeonghan says, “ready to get out of here?”

You nod and both of you get up from the table leaving the other two men on their phones. Even if Jeonghan wouldn’t let you play with them, you knew you’d be living rent-free in their heads for a long time and that was the next best thing.

[liannelara-dracula]

Hello! If you are taking requests, can I get hcs for Reiji and Ruki (separate) about they realizing that they're in love with their S/O? Like, how they realize it, and when? What they do after? ❤

Hi Love,

Totally, I’m sorry this is late I’m trying to catch up. But here it is.

-Liannelara

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Reiji

It takes a long time for him to be in love, as well as admitting it.

But not to realize it.

Reiji doesn’t love easily, he’s a perfectionist.

But it doesn’t mean he cannot love.

He’d realize this after a long time, possibly years.

This is not because he’s dumb but because the relationship moves slow and he doesn’t believe in loving someone so quick.

So you earned this.

Anyways he realized this when being put in a situation where you were are hurt or put at stake because of his father.

Something like that would definitely touch him.

If you were going to get hurt, he just won’t stand for it.

To see you in such grief and worry, with your tearful eyes and shattered voice that would tear him into pieces and want to walk away from the scene but also hold you.

Even if you had been in an argument about something important that would allow him to notice how much it affects you, and that would take a toll on him.

Another thing that would test him is if his mother claimed that the girl he loves isn't worthy enough to be with her son.

This would cause Reiji to be angry with himself for not pleasing his mother but, most of all, putting his lover through this.

He’d be at war with himself, mostly because “Why did it matter to so much?”

To confirm his feelings, he sees this when he is happy with you. No matter what but as long as he is spending time with you it makes him feel at peace.

He's able to not think about his past, his family, or/and any discretions he has with others when he is around you---that right there is Reiji Sakamaki in love.

If you can make this man have a smile run across his face, then he loves you madly, and truly.

Before he figures to tell you he comes to terms with himself about how he should tell you this.

If you were his bride, he would deny his feelings in the beginning and try to alter his approaches in behavior believing he was only confusing himself with attachment and value, seeing that she may have just been obedient compared to the others. And that what he's feeling is not love but a value and respect for someone.

He is in denial for a little while and once he's figured it out he tries to deal with it on his own.

However, if he senses that you may have feelings or can no longer keep it to himself he will eventually confess to you.

Reiji generally does not believe in love, so if you can make him go back on his words he will be mesmerized.

Obviously, if you’re on good terms he will admit this to you in a timely fashion but more or so, he’d show it to you.

He’d confess to you at a ball where you were enjoying yourself by dancing. He smiled seeing you content, but tried to not give him self away when you caught his eye a couple times. Later, he’d pull you aside for a chat to tell you something alone in the dark in the courtyard of the castle.

"You have something to tell me, Reiji?" You'd ask, confused by why he wanted to speak with you.

The two of you mere inches away as he kissed you passionately before pulling away, “I cherish you so very deeply, my dear. I can't imagine unloving you.” He'd whisper, his hand caressing your cheek.

Ruki

Unlike Reiji, he was quick to realize that he cared about you deeply.

However, Ruki is stubborn, so he took forever to move forward with it.

He'd especially take long if this was a bride because this wasn't part of the plan to fall in love with her.

He'll act differently in the sense that he will distance himself and act colder to you because he doesn't want to be influenced by his feelings.

You are a weakness, and he is trying to change that about himself,

While at the same time your ignorance about his behavior only made things worse as figured he was upset at you which made you upset so you ignored him.

And then when this happened he was like great.

The more he spent apart he found himself wanting something which happened to be your presence. He wanted you to be there.

Yes, physically, you were with him most of the time but Ruki wanted you to not just be there but, with him.

He thought about this for a couple months before deciding to tell you.

Ruki realized he loved you when he always found himself saving you from any possible threat/danger that occurred with you around.

He found himself always at your side, protecting you unintentionally. At first, it was for sheer convenience.

But with all time you spent being at the Mukami manor with him and dealing with his stoic behavior and all your arguments. He came to learn so much about you, so much that he could love, so much no one else knew. It felt special to know so much about a girl who was a mystery to everyone else.

Ruki realized that both them weren't so different after all.

And no matter what he thought of you whether it was at school, on his own time, when reading books, etc. You never seemed to leave his mind, it began to be a problem for him.

He could never not protect you, he found him self stepping in.

He claimed it was because you would cause trouble.

Overall, he came to the point where he gave up on keeping secrets.

He'd confess mostly through action rather than words.

Ruki would be much more intimate and whisper to you that you mean so much to him.

"

However, he may also admit this firmly if the moment is crucial and you have angered him or you are in some situation to which you have fueled him to give into what he wants, so he just gives up and confesses to you in an aggressive makeout session along with blood being drawn.

"I can't stand this anymore." He'd say being fed up with his feelings and giving in to them.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[drdemonprince]

genuine question, I get why blaming people who have just caught covid for it is some fucked up victim blaming bullshit, and highly analogous to shaming ppl who've gotten an STI, but is it okay to assign blame/responsibility to people who *give* others covid? it seems to me that just like with STIs (particularly HIV and HSV bc they're not curable) its your responsibility as like, a person who has sex and isn't a total asshole, to do a reasonably good job of knowing whether you have these things, and then either give people who might catch it from you the ability to consent knowing that, or only interact with people in such a way that transmission is highly unlikely. In other words, having or getting an infection is morally neutral, but failing to break the chain of transmission isn't, especially when that failure results from complete inaction/ignoring the problem, as opposed to *attempting* to break it and failing due to factors outside your control. I've seen people saying that beleiving this is the same as slut shaming people who get STIs, and tbh that seems ridiculous to me, but what do you think? is "if you have covid and pass it on to someone, especially by going around in public without a mask, you are morally responsible for the harm the disease causes them" incorrect/going to backfire in some way I'm not seeing? I do get how the same statement about HIV is not good, but also you can't give someone HIV by eating in the same restaurant, so it seems like there are some important differences.

The passage on moralizing HIV transmission in Sarah Schulman's book Conflict is Not Abuse is a real stand-out passage in an otherwise (to me) highly underwhelming tome -- because Schulman has been involved in AIDS activism since its early days and is very conversant in the laws that have been used to incarcerate gay men and others for having the virus, and for supposedly passing it along to other people.

We can philosophize all we want about how wrong it would be for a person to knowingly go about infecting other people, but when we're actually dealing with how such matters go in the real world, it's not a useful moral or practical question. How do we know that someone knows they have the virus? Do we consider a person morally culpable if they have the sniffles but brush it off, not realizing it's something more serious? What about an Autistic person or trauma survivor with alexithymia, who is not closely attuned with their body states? If I can walk around with a bleeding gash on my leg for hours or a bloody UTI and not know it, I can have a mild cold and not know it. Am I too blame for spreading the virus then? What about someone who does know they have COVID but has no legal protections in their workplace and no financial support and determines they have no choice but to do a shift at the grocery store, because otherwise they'll be fired and at risk of homelessness?

These might sound like extreme examples, but we're talking about collectively millions of people's everyday experiences here. If a person is at fault for any disease that they spread, what then? What logically follows from that declaration? Should we make knowing transmission illegal? We've already seen in history how such a policy is used to terrorize and oppress gay men. It's an impossible thing to enforce, because someone's knowledge state is impossible to fully know or surveil, especially when we're not, you know, providing tests to anyone in any kind of systematic way, and in fact our government and most of our employers are actively discouraging us from testing or knowing too much.

Of course, I doubt that you actually want any kind of legal policy like that very much. I'm certain what you are really asking about is what responsibilities we should reasonably expect individual people to hold. And the answer is, well, look at how they are holding them now! Clearly people do not have adequate support at the moment to even be cognizant of their status. It's not a useful question. It just isn't. If we were providing free tests every day at major public access points and legally protecting people's rights to call off sick whenever they did test positive, and paying them lost wages, then we could talk about people being irresponsible and knowingly spreading a disease out of malice or laziness. but we don't have any of that, so we can't.

The solution to a population failing to take the "right" actions is always to look at the external factors that makes taking the right action hard. And right now? Being responsible surrounding covid is very, very hard. We can condemn every person who spreads COVID (or HIV) to another person morally all we like, but it's not going to save lives, and it's going to harm a lot of vulnerable people in the process, so why do it? Why not instead ask ourselves what we can do as a society to help make it easier for a person to behave in pro-social ways?

[kikiwooo]

| • Falling hard for you

notes: sfw & nsfw, female & male reader, there are two different occasions, yeah I did write for the both genders.

© @/kikiwoo

| reblogs and comments are appreciated |

don't heart the post, I want fucking reblogs idc that I'm being rude, it's what I deserve.

[ Dyrroth ]

The most clueless one, legit thought something happened to him. Dyrroth can and will shamelessly stare at you from across the room. He needs to solve...why you are so attractive to him in the first place.

Refuses to get help from others, they'll tease him at the end of the day anyway. Especially Selena, that witch girl is just no-no. If you're someone that takes part in the matches, prepare to be his first of last target. You make him pretty light headed and the Abyss Prince doesn't like that. Dyrroth gets pretty snappy when he's light headed, no, not to you, he doesn't have the face to talk to you, but his teammates aren't safe from his curses.

The Abyss Prince loves to think about you, his favourite thing to pass time. Beneath him or pinned to wall, eyes wide...

If you're female

Dyrroth will take his precious time to bite into your gorgeous skin after he caught you in the enemy's jungle. He'll pin both of your hands, the more you struggle and let out cute noises the more excited he gets.

" Heh, stop struggling now. Do you see what you're causing? " Dyrroth says while pointing his bulge.

If you're male

Dyrroth specially gets more arousal if you're stronger than him by any chance. His bulge throbs painfully as he watches you fight. The little hearts in his eyes tells everything. His dick stands proud and ready to hump into you or you into him quickly. He doesn't care who's top or who's bottom all he can think about is sweet sweet relief.

" All alone.. all mine. I won't let you get away this time. Obey me and come here~ "

[ Badang ]

Badang would try to be charming while being a complete shy. Ironic. He would be more bold with males tho. He'd try to charm you in his own ways, Badang is a show-off like Lapu-Lapu. If he's got a crush on you, he's got it bad. He'd try to impress you w/ his skills, good job ignoring him.

Badang would enjoy you being on the enemy team more than being his teammate, don't mind him.. that will definitely lead to some interesting ' encounters ' he won't miss the opportunity to battle against you. Being defeated by you makes him feel some things...

Badang is really into make-out and you're so tempting. Badang would be more rough with a male partner while being more gentle with a female partner.

If you're female

Badang is touchy, expect him to be handsy. He'd grab you by arms and hold you in place, you move around too much and your sounds... someone can hear you y'know? The risk of getting seen turns him on.

" Shh... they're coming this way. " Badang says as he pulls you flush against his bare chest.

If you're male

He cannot avoid his bulging dick in his pants. Badang would probably be a little less horny to a male partner, however don't let this get you. Do you even know how much of a turn-on you are to him?

" H-ah! A-alright stop now! T-thats e-enough. "

[ X.Borg ]

X.Borg is a tricky one, he can be playful and is bit messy on the head. He wants someone who can keep up with his craziness, his..weird ideas to have fun. There's %50 chances that you two can be ally's or enemy's, who knows.

X.Borg isn't someone to let his guard down real quick. He will test you first, to see if you're the perfect one to him. However, he'll act a bit more warm to you. If you take part in matches, X.Borg would teasingly flick your head, not too rough not too soft, everytime you die in some stupid way. His way of telling you to not care about that, but of course as long as you don't bring the team down with you.

X.Borg is dirty minded, keep that in mind. He'll imagine all kinds of scenario(s) with you. You beneath him or on top of him, doesn't matter he's got the imagination going on.

If you're female

You'll be shorter than him and that's a plus. He can easily manhandle you, which means, lift you on a counter by your thighs and make out with you.

" Heh., not so confident now huh? " X.Borg says as he dives into your neck, letting out sloppy sounds.

If you're male

X.Borg would definitely want to be a top, but wouldn't be much against being a bottom. Of course, he won't go down without a fight. He's both biter and sucker, he'll try to leave as much as mark he can leave on your body. X.Borg is definitely a freak in bed.

" Giving up so soon? Come on (Name)! Entertain me more! "

[archivalofsins]

TL;DR- Milgram is testing gender biases but not in the way people would like to believe. It is unreasonable for people who seem to want Kotoko to be innocent again to tie the change in opinion around her to misogyny. I'm somewhat sympathetic to people who do enjoy Kotoko as a character because it seems like they're becoming increasingly more panicked by others not as devoted to the character as they believe themselves to be seeing past the veneer and viewing Kotoko's behavior for the outcomes it creates instead of the catharsis it gives.

Though I understand that labeling people interrogating her behavior or questioning it as misogyny can help these individuals feel better and more secure in their opinion. I think it ultimately does little to benefit the character or the fandom in the long term. Instead, I believe it gives people who enjoy the character in different ways a bad impression of what fans of her character are like. Something that will ultimately lead to more quiet parties in the fandom projecting their disdain for Kotoko's fans on the character and using her trial as a way to let out those frustrations about these bad faith interpretations.

Comparing Futa and Kotoko is reasonable to an extent but making that comparison and just checking it off as misogyny is silly and reductionist. I feel people who want Kotoko to be Innocent for whatever reason could have a genuine discussion around the two forms of radicalization that both characters discuss. Highlight how Kotoko is just as much of victim of her environment as Futa is and home in on her more personable traits to better highlight her understated good qualities.

I don't fully believe Kotoko is an irredeemable character but how her well intentioned more vocal fans discuss her really highlights how dangerous it is to follow these sorts of people without question and how easy this sort of thing is to fall into.

Other than that, let's get started.

For all intents and purposes what is about to follow this sentence is fully intended as a joke about previous events and nothing more,

"If I see one more rabid Kotoko Innocent voter comparing "actually" interrogating her actions to misogyny I may-"

In all seriousness though, people who claim to be fans of Kotoko's may want to find a better defense for her actions before her trial starts. Instead of you know doing what people claiming to be Mu's fans did- Ignoring the problem while digging their hills in deeper and deeper. Everyone literally saw how that turned out.

Plus, from what it seems Kotoko may not be able to gaslight, gatekeep, girldictate her way out of this one and ignoring the ever growing signs of that isn't helpful in the long run.

I dislike Kotoko. I have done nothing to hide this. However, crying misogyny each time a woman's behavior is brought into question is in my opinion literally the definition of white woman tears. It does nothing to interrogate the underlying issues being brought up and the only purpose of using it is to lampshade the idea that something is amiss at all under the guise of discrimination taking place.

Men can be wrong, women can be wrong, nonbinary people can be wrong, intersex people can be wrong, demigender people can be wrong, agender people can be wrong, and genderfluid individuals can be wrong. Regardless of how one self-identifies based on gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, or mental health wise everyone can be wrong, and everyone's actions can objectively be harmful.

No matter what people may say none of those characteristics is an excuse or justification for people causing harm. Crying gender discrimination is incredibly odd to me especially when taking the voting trends of Milgram into consideration. Milgram has specifically been testing these biases from the beginning. Something that has proven the opposite of this claim is true.

Saying things such as if X prisoner were male presenting instead of female or if X prisoner was female presenting instead of male, they'd be given more leniency is ultimately a weird back and forth talking point to me. Especially since we have a good amount of evidence to prove which statement is true and which one is not from the voting results along with the information Milgram has provided.

Because Milgram has done everything in its power to not only play on this bias but test it. From blatantly giving each of the prisoners a presentably opposite sex presenting counterpart,

To separating the prisoners into even groups of male presenting and female presenting. Even though the series canonically recognizes that there are more genders and have had characters make statements alluding to gender being a social construct.

So, if we look at the trial one results of each prisoner who has stated that someone who presents as the opposite gender as them is the most like their selves then we can see how gender has impacted the results,

In trial one Kazui did get a higher innocent verdict than Yuno but they were both Innocent/Forgiven. In comparison we can see despite being similar as they both stated they believed themselves to be Kotoko was Innocent/Forgiven by a large margin and Futa was Guilty/Unforgiven.

Then comparing Kotoko to the male she was expressly paired with is even worse.

Because as most know Mikoto had the largest Guilty/Unforgiven verdict of trial one. He was also beat up by Kotoko during his first trial interrogation for good reason. However, this goes into another gendered bias within Milgram. The only people Es has physically hit or have been hit during their interrogations are male or explicitly never referred to as female due to their age. Since the person he most recently hit was Amane who has been labeled as child by the not only the source material but the fandom at large.

No one has gone can't little girls do anything when it comes to Amane. No one has said can't we just support little girls being feral for Amane. At least not that I have seen. In fact people don't even like that certain individuals consider Amane's abuse when voting on her trial because they believe that either reduces her to just a victim (for some odd reason this was not an issue when taking Mu being bullied into consideration but is here) or is treating her like a child something she asked us not to do but Es speculated she wanted us to do within Amane's second voice drama.

Where's the justification of Amane's actions based on her gender, age, or the treatment she had to undergo like with Mu and Kotoko now? Because I'm not seeing anyone go as hard for her.

What makes this twenty something year old woman who to her own admission has never once faced persecution so special?

Sadly, children aren't considered to be men or women but just by the genderless term child. This means people don't have to think about complicated adult constructs when it comes to their rights. This conveniently leaves Amane out of this can't women/girls do anything because her story is about children rights. Something consistent Milgram voters have done a good job at highlighting a good deal of society doesn't believe children should have. Be it the right to make their own religious and medical decisions or taking agency over how they are treated by those older than them.

Milgram has gone out of its way to split the cast evenly between the most commonly recognized presented genders for a reason. It included characters of certain age ranges and stated or implied disabilities for a reason. Because when people are a certain age or have a certain diagnosis their gender and their thoughts on it cease to matter. They are only judged by their age or diagnosis. However, instead of talking about all these things people would rather use the social construct of gender for its most historically used weaponization of protecting the over privileged from taking accountability for their abuses.

The fact that people today still believe they can cry misogyny when it's simply convenient to them and that no one will go look at the evidence collected by the voting demographic that readily proves this to not be the case is wild to me.

This is why for me seeing people say if Kotoko were a man she'd have it easier is funny. One because Kotoko openly views femininity as a tool which she uses at her discretion so she's genderfluid or agender if anything. This is something she states in response to her first written interrogation questions. So, using the label woman as an excuse for her behavior is very Kotoko behavior of her fans but again just not actually helpful. Especially if I can just look back and go um that's not how Kotoko identifies all the time though and she alluded to so here.

Being genderfluid or agender does not make her any less of a woman of course. It just makes discussing her case based solely on her womanhood odd to me. Doing so ignores an extremely specific intricacy of the character that has been made known from the beginning. An intricacy I find to be a compelling and interesting aspect of her character. I could still judge her actions based on her womanhood but that's just not going to work to persuade me that she was right because I simply do not believe it's okay for anyone to get away with something based on their gender alone.

Recognizing her gender possibly being more fluid based upon her answer to the femininity question again doesn't change how I feel about Kotoko's behavior as a person. It's literally like cool gender I respect that your actions are still trash though.

Plus using her gender to compare her current circumstances to Futa's and saying there's a gender bias going on here is weird to me. Again, Futa was guilty trial one Kotoko was innocent. Futa has long term possibly permanent impairments due to the verdict he received. Something that was caused by Kotoko. Futa is a very tit for tat person and his first song displays through his lyrics that he used to stop after someone apologized while Kotoko's displays her mindset of an apology not being enough a mindset that Futa slowly develops into having over the course of Bring It On.

As displayed through this lyric,

"You won’t be forgiven, a coward, never!"

Milgram goes out of it's way to showcase how Futa and Kotoko are at different levels of radicalization. Alluding to the very real possibility that if Futa was affirmed during trial one he would be just as bad if not worse than Kotoko. Even Kotoko's answer in regard to him being the one she believes to be the most like her points this out.

"Though he’s also the person who resembles me the least."

She even spends most of trial one observing Futa and says this before his interrogation and trial.

20/09/18 (Futa’s First Trial)

Futa: Haa…… haa…… Ok……

Kotoko: What’s up, Futa. ……your breathing seems a bit uneven?

Futa: Huh!? I’m getting ready to fight. That guard is looking down on all of us……!

Kotoko: ……hmm. Is that so…… I’m looking forward to it. To seeing what your “justice” really is.

So, more than likely if Futa was voted Innocent alongside her he would've just ended up being indoctrinated by her instead. Since they both recognized the similarities, they had with one another but just wound up on opposite sides.

Also, Futa's verdict didn't change round two simply because he's a guy. It's because he made a reasonable case for himself that caused most of the audience to reflect upon their behavior as well as Futa's. Implying that it's just because Futa is a guy is not only demeaning to his characterization and the time people put into analyzing both his songs but-

Ignores the fact that people still believe his actions are unforgivable. Along with the fact, that a good deal that believe that actively defend/support Kotoko's behavior. Oh, yeah- And it blatantly ignores that the thing he was being persecuted for to begin with (the doxing) was slowly but surely proven not to be his fault at all. Something he'd been saying from the fucking beginning of trial two.

Futa: It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my fault. Like anyone would die from that normally! The one who spread it wasn’t me anyway.

In contrast to Mu where the idea of her being in the wrong was so heavily denied that once it was shown that she was many changed their opinion not because her actions were inexcusable but simply because they felt tricked. Even though as Milgram stated all the evidence of the prisoner's crimes were there to begin with if people were willing to look and many including myself tried to lighten knee-jerk reactions by bringing the possibility to attention before It's Not My Fault even released.

So, if Kotoko's defense is simply Mu's repackaged brand of God can't women do anything? Why would that be reasonable enough justification for the tangible damage we may be about to see Kotoko's actions cause. What if just like in Mu's case where we see her bullying her victim, we see Kotoko attacking those kids?

Will that defense of can't women do anything really be able to justify that sort of behavior? Well given Amane's tanking verdict being assigned female at birth may just be something the fandom considers a valid excuse for abusing children. I've seen so many people justify Amane's mother's behavior by saying she was indoctrinated too, it's hard to raise a child by oneself the father was always away, maybe she wasn't mentally well etc. Once again showing of that if a character is an adult woman, they're actions and the tangible harm they cause can be justified in a myriad of ways.

Unless they're Mahiru trial one and too conventionally feminine then the only way their behavior can be justified is if they're beat within an inch of their fucking life-

Mahiru's first trial was a case of god can't women do anything? This Is How To Be In Love With You was literally just her going around town and having fun we didn't even see anyone die and she got voted Guilty. For what because people found her personality clingy and obnoxious. Because she was far too traditionally feminine for people's liking. Yet, people want to cry misogyny for Kotoko.

The one who jumped Mahiru on very little information because it was solely based on a judgement Es made based on multiple assumptions that while not disproven were not all completely true.

Like she clearly wasn't a fucking stalker she knew this person and they were together that was clear from the fucking first song. Even during her second trial Mahiru didn't get the whole gendered excuse of can't women do anything as much as people are trying to force it on Kotoko. The focus was literally on her being injured to shit and getting harshly and hastily judged for literally just being hyper feminine.

Then the only way people could justify her actions in I Love You without taking that into consideration wasn't through engaging with her character fully and discussing her overly sheltered homelife mixed with a clear immense fear of abandonment and inadequacy which lead to unhealthy ways of seeking validation but by infantilizing her and calling her delusional. Something that if tied to her femininity would be inherently sexist.

Then we've been given an even greater example of the gender bias within the Milgram fandom through Yuno and Kazui during round two.

A situation that speaks for itself. Yuno says the person most like her is Kazui with no hesitation or doubt. Stating this about the both of them on her birthday,

"Haha, we both lie, don't we? The difference is the reason for lying. Kazui-san, you lie to protect yourself, because you're important to yourself. For me, no one is particularly important. That includes myself as well."

Bluntly stating that she lies but unlike Kazui who has a reason for her lies she has none. As Yuno has made clear from the beginning, there is no justification for her actions. She doesn't view them as good or bad but as things she just wanted to do. Which is why she's only gotten increasingly upset by the audience attaching justifications to her choices because to her that may just remove the weight of those things being her choices.

She doesn't wish to have these labels attached to her behavior or excuses being made for what she did. She'd much rather beg to be forgiven herself if it came to that than have people that know nothing about her make assertions about her life and reasoning.

Because what's important to Yuno is being true to herself and she doesn't have to care about anyone even herself to just do what she wants to do.

Q.04 What’s the origin of your name?

Haruka: Apparently my parents wanted a girl. It was decided on long before I was born.

Yuno: It means to be kind and true to myself. [TN: Literal meaning of the kanji 優 (yu) and 乃 (no) respectively which make up her name.]

Source: Rochisama

Instead of interacting with that more difficult to grasp part of her character people decided to simplify her once again. Because viewing characters one enjoys as just one thing is simple, it's fun. It's not challenging or messy. Because no one has to bother with those strange technicalities or hypocrisies. They can just sit back and enjoy themselves.

If things are simple, then everyone will have fun. If things are simple, then you won't have to be bothered. If things are simple, then people can still dream. If it's simple, then an apology can just solve everything. It it's simple then it can be put in a way anyway can understand and everyone will want to listen. If it's simple, then you can tell how your life is meant to be but most importantly if it's simple it can still feel good.

Life isn't simple, judging people isn't simple, punishing people isn't simple, looking at things for what they are isn't simple. Because the truth is objective it won't always feel good. Yet, looking away from it in order to spare one's own ego does nothing but allow people's self-induced ignorance the opportunity to grow into someone else's pain.

[crossdressingdeath]

Today on things in TSatS that I love: the first encounter with Epiales. Not the nightmares they give Nico and Will (although those are also good, especially the bit where Will wakes up and is immediately like "Of course it was a dream, Nico would never"), the encounter with them personally. Because the way Nico first tries to distract Epiales with false compliments while he gets himself into a position to obliterate them is very much the sort of thing Percy would do; Percy's go-to strategy tends to be "lie to and trick your enemy at every opportunity", I can absolutely see him going "Oh yeah you did great work you're fantastic at nightmares please ignore me gathering my power" in this situation. But when Nico tries it... it totally fails. Epiales immediately sees through it. And I love that, because Percy and Nico have very different MOs when it comes to dealing with situations involving talking to an immortal being like this!

Like, the thing is that Percy is a liar. And I don't mean that as a bad thing; it's a viable strategy for the situations he ends up in, and while to an adult mind his tricks seem to only work because every god and monster he faces is a moron I remember being impressed with them as a kid, so they're clever enough for the target demographic. But if you look at his interactions with immortal beings, he tends to go for lies and tricks first. Nico on the other hand is actually an incredibly honest person. Other than that time he claims he and Thalia are fine when they are Absolutely Not Fine in BoO, his few lies are lies of omission. In TLO he just doesn't mention his planned detour in the Underworld to Percy and when Percy finds out about it he's very forthright with what (he thinks) will happen, and in SoN he never actually denies knowing Percy, just doesn't confirm it (when Percy says they've met Nico's response is just "Have we?", turning the question back on Percy; it's actually possible he was trying to subtly test how much Percy remembered, since if he properly remembered Nico rather than just having a feeling he'd argue the point). It's a nice touch that this approach extends into how they handle enemies, where Percy is willing to lie to them but Nico tends not to.

So Nico tries Percy's method of dealing with Epiales, lying to them and tricking them to put a being that's absolutely more powerful than he is at a disadvantage, and it doesn't work because Nico doesn't lie to people. That style of trickery isn't his way, so Epiales immediately sees through his attempt. The actual fight against Epiales is fun because Nico does have a knack for dream magic (even if TSatS mostly forgot about that, can Rick please be consistent about Nico's powers) so once he knows it's a dream caused by someone directly in front of him he can snap himself out of it pretty easily. And then Will basically just uses rock-paper-scissors on them, since light beats darkness. But once Epiales is subdued Nico and Will just choose to be nice to them; there's no benefit in it for them, it's not a ploy, they're just choosing to be kind. The bit where they pause to offer Epiales genuine compliments on their work is... honestly quite sweet, I love them actually taking that moment to say "No, no, that was really impressive, it was tough to get out of". There's a difference between being opponents and being enemies, and you can really see here how the boys don't see Epiales as an enemy now that they're not in their way. I also find myself wondering: does Epiales attack when they see Will hesitate because they think it's a moment of weakness they can take advantage of... or because it'll be better for them to get killed and resurrect than to admit to Nyx that they even semi-willingly let Nico and Will go, and they want to make it easier on Will to finish the job when it becomes clear he can't bring himself to do it without cause? Because honestly I feel like with the way Epiales interacts with the boys (and the way Nyx treats her children) it could go either way.

But there's another part of it that I find interesting, which is... if Nico had successfully tricked Epiales in that first instance, getting them to lower their guard through compliments and then cutting them down, there's a good chance Epiales wouldn't have turned against Nyx at the end. After all, why would they risk their mother's fury for the sake of people who tricked them? Just in general, it's a little unclear why Hypnos turns on Nyx (I think his part in things would've been a lot stronger if he'd actually... y'know, spoken to Nico and Will at any point), but the impression I get is that for Nemesis at least and likely Epiales too it is at least in part a genuine fondness for the boys. Which is something Epiales would not feel if instead of complimenting them and only blasting them to bits when they forced the issue the boys had tricked them in order to kill them quickly. It's like... tricking Epiales would've dealt with them quicker and more easily in the short term, but in the long term Nico failing to trick them and instead kicking their ass and then being nice about it worked out much better; instead of making an enemy, the boys got at worst a fairly neutral acquaintance out of it! Which, going back to how tricking Epiales would've been Percy's move, is really interesting when you compare Nico having a very unusual number of gods and other immortal beings in his corner to Percy making enemies wherever he goes. There really is something to Nico making so many powerful friends because he consistently chooses to be kind even though so often in people's POVs they go on about how creepy and weird he is. Although I do wonder sometimes if it's as simple as Nico legitimately just being a very kind person or if it's partially that he's just as cunning as Percy but more focused on the long-term than the short-term. If it's the latter it's probably a good thing for the monsters that they don't tend to directly work together, because Percy's knack for tricking gods and monsters to get the advantage in the short term to the point where he can win a fight against the god of war combined with Nico's knack for winning the affection and even loyalty of immortal beings in the long term to the point where he can essentially get divine intervention on his behalf for free would either be a total disaster for them or absolutely terrifying for their enemies. Either they'd cancel each other out or they'd just become utter nightmares to deal with (even more than they are already), which... honestly I would like to see either way.

Also I adore Nico lowkey fanboying over Epiales because he thinks they're just so cool. Even though the way Nico is clearly drawn to every nonbinary character he meets but is never confirmed nonbinary himself Irks Me. Rick, Mark, please give us this? It really felt like it was going that way, I would legitimately buy another spinoff solely for Nico being confirmed nonbinary.

[princess-of-the-corner]

"she eventually realized how wicked that literal child is."

i know this has been discussed here before but like, goddamn I wonder how she's gonna react to her kid's terrible twos or worse, them being a teenager. if we're ignoring with how canon basically says as long as you're not Chloe or Lila then you're automatically good no matter what, the point of growing up is learning and making mistakes and clearly since she's not gonna let someone else's kid make a mistake without her seeing them as evil then what chance does her kid have? Chloe acted out because 1) that's how she as a person reacts to things (cause you know, different people do things differently in bad situations and while her actions against others when she's lashing out aren't good, you can't just invalidate her feelings like that) and 2) she wasn't taught any better and sometimes people have a hard time learning what they should and shouldn't do, especially if they've been taught otherwise for a very long time. toddlers and kids basically don't know the difference except that if they have strong feelings, they're going to react to it. so if Bustier's kid turns out to have an "unacceptable" type of reaction to something? then what?

Yeah just. Kids do shit like this. It's normal to act out, whether it be from testing the boundaries and laws because they don't yet know what's acceptable, or because they feel some sort of angry and frustrated.

Chloé's case is more extreme due to her situation. Both in the fact that she's dealing with bigger things like emotionally abusive/neglectful parents and a supervillain using her as a tool, but yes also in the fact that those people have taught her that this is an acceptable way to act and have given her the tools to have this behavior get her what she wants.

But it's something all kids do because they're emotionally immature and impulsive little gremlins who don't understand long-term consequences/cause and effect. And I mean that with all the love in my heart it's very hard being a kid because you don't have any control over these situations or the ability to change things even if you know it's fucked but hell you might not even have the ability to know the situation is fucked just that you're not happy.

[pellaaearien]

For the commentary track thing!

Dream sniffs at his glass, takes a tentative sip. His response is a neutral hum, which Hob must imagine is an improvement from his reaction to the Glen Grant.

“Nice, eh?” he says, seizing the opportunity to change the subject. “Always had a bit of a soft spot for that stag. Well, I say always. It’s a new winery, started up in the 70s. Practically an infant.” It hits him that Dream was still imprisoned then, hits him like a sucker punch. He has to swallow, and breathe, before continuing. “Not that I’ve ever been a wine man, but I always seem to fall in with people who are.” He nods at Dream, who lifts an imperious eyebrow. “And in ‘76 they were all in a tizzy. They called it the Judgement of Paris. California wines in a blind taste test against some hoity toity French wines. The old world versus the new. And the California wine won. I had to try some for myself. Always did like to see the French knocked down a peg.” He may no longer be an English peasant and he’s got nothing against the French, not really, but the story still appeals to some deep-rooted part of his nature.

The corner of Dream’s mouth quirks — Hob still counts it as a smile, even if now he’s seen the real thing — and he takes another sip of the wine. His hum is definitely approving this time.

Hob takes a second to put the pieces together. “Wait… Do you like it better now?”

Dream sets down his wine glass. “Stories are my domain,” he says by way of non-answer.

Hob isn’t sure, but he thinks he’s cracked the code to actually getting Dream to consume something. This will require further testing.

“Stories,” Hob muses. He might not be the brightest bulb, but he’s been around the block a few times and he has a long memory. “That’s how you knew Lou. And Lady Johanna. Bloody Shaxberd too.” And… him, Hob now realizes. Once every hundred years, they meet, and Hob tells him stories. A thought occurs. “Is this some kind of Scheherazade situation? Thousand and one nights? I live as long as I tell you stories?” It doesn’t bother him too much if it is— he’s got stories to spare and no one else to tell them to. Not the way they should be told. He hasn’t thought too much about the nature of his immortality since Dream told him he was only interested in his experience, aside from being afraid of losing it after 1589, and again in 1889. But neither had happened, and given how 1889 had ended, he no longer worries that Dream will revoke his immortal status on a whim.

But Dream looks stricken. “I told you. You need do nothing.”

Oh Nonnie! You've hit on one of my most cherished headcanons, which is why Dream eats, or doesn't eat, in the Waking. The show draws attention to this MANY times throughout the run, with Dream both being offered food and declining, or food being present without Dream partaking in it. It is VERY obvious, and it feels like something we're supposed to notice.

The explanation I came up with is that Dream is simply made of different stuff. He's the only one of the Endless who is referred to as being completely one with his realm. ("You are the Dreaming," is repeated multiple times, whereas we never see Death being compared to the Sunless Lands, and the Threshold is shaped like Desire, but they are still perceived as being separate from it.) I take this to mean that Dream is nourished by the Dreaming, kind of like photosynthesis. He absorbs ambient dreamstuff. He still doesn't eat regularly, because he doesn't need to, and if Dream can be relied upon to do anything it's to ignore unnecessary things, even and perhaps especially if they're enjoyable.

Dream is simply not made for the Waking. He's not in control. It's the antithesis of everything his realm consists of. The Waking is a sensory overload. When was the last time you smelled or tasted anything in a dream? Would Dream even bother to manifest olfactory senses or taste buds? For what purpose? (Again, unnecessary.) Even if he DID intend to partake, it's not like he NEEDS the food. It doesn't nourish him the way the Dreaming would. So what's the point? Plus, it's all so strong and overpowering and unpleasant. Yuck.

But what is Dream also made of? Stories. What's the surest way to get him invested in something? Make it a story. So when I asked for opinions as to what kind of wine that would be high end enough to be a decent pick for Dream but not something outrageous like the 14,000 dollar bottle Dream brought to toast Hob with when he was going to Hell, @moorishflower suggested Artemis Stag, which is a respectable 100 dollars a pop and also, coincidentally, has a fascinating story behind it, which I learned when I went to their website. A story that would be interesting enough to catch Dream's attention. And because it's a story, Dream is able to connect to and enjoy it more.

From there, it's a natural progression to Hob wondering if that's the reason he's lived so long. It's a human instinct to look for reasoning, for patterns. "This amazing thing happened to you for absolutely no reason" is a lot harder to swallow than "I've been a good person so this happened because I deserve it" or "this eldritch being is interested in my stories so he keeps me around to hear more of them." Which is, actually, a perfectly reasonable conclusion to draw. Clearly, it's not based on whether or not Dream likes him, and it's a much better explanation than "my sister and I made a bet and just decided to keep it going." And for the first time, Dream realizes the consequences of not explaining Hob's immortality to him, which he thought he had done satisfactorily in 1489. Immortality is Dream's natural state of being. He simply cannot comprehend what it means for Hob to be an immortal human. The entire course of their relationship is Hob trying to figure out what Dream wants from him and being rebuffed, but not elucidated, at every turn. Similarly for Hob, it's so obvious that Dream must want something, otherwise why? Why pick him, out of everyone ever? Why keep coming back? They've been at cross purposes this entire time and neither of them noticed until this moment.

[bokettochild]

Hyrule and Twilight for click/clack please!! :D - 🌼

Alright! So I did a re-read, and I'm sort of surprised, but here's the result

There's only one actual interaction between these two specifically before the Sunset arc

Hyrule is trying to crack a joke about Time in the Masks comic, and Twilight is Not Having It. This gives me the impression that Hyrule is using humor as a tool to try and connect with the other heroes, something he actually does a few other times, teasing and joking at the others (especially Warriors) in order to break the ice. As we know, it worked with Wars, because those two are pretty close, but with Twilight, it's met with dead silence; Twilight doesn't appreciate Hyrule's humor, and he flat out just ignores Hyrule's joke beyond this look.

It's not until Sunset that we actually see another interaction between these two. (Which is basically the length of the whole comic so far) Until he reaches the inn, Hyrule doesn't actually know Twilight is Wolfie

Once he knows though, he doesn't get all worried and fussy like the others. In fact, Hyrule seems to be pretty harsh about some things

He approaches Twilight's situation with force, with intent. He's level headed, although clearly upset by Twilight's despair, and immediately tries redirecting from Twilight's talk of sadness and worry by presenting what he's going to do to fix it, something he's fiercely determined to actually do, no matter the difficulty.

One could say Hyrule is concentrating, and that's what that scowl is for, but I think he's actually being a bit harsh with Twilight because this situation bothers him. Not just upsets him, not just because Twilight's hurt, but there seems to be a sort of disconnect between these two, and it frustrates him, especially since he can't resolve it with Twilight like this, and that shows through in how Hyrule handles Twilight's behavior throughout Sunset.

He's not despairing. Hyrule's worried, but it's not crushing. That disconnect that stops him from feeling intense concern is still there. Twilight is a person who needs help to Hyrule, not a brother on the brink of death; a patient.

That right there? Some good bedside manner. He's being friendly and gentle now, but I can promise you, I've seen doctors take a similar tone and expression with folks.

Hyrule's choice to say "deal with" also makes me wonder. Sure, he's a guy, they mess around and tease like this, and we've already established that Hyrule teases a lot already; that said "deal with" might betray that he thinks Twilight maybe only tolerates some of them, including himself (he's got the self doubt to make you wonder).

That said, he's softening here. He cares, clearly. They're not close, but he still values Twilight if only as a team-mate.

The turning point comes here though

This is the first time Twilight has smiled at Hyrule. The first time either of them have called the other anything vaguely affectionate. This is when they agree that they are now friends. Hyrule says it in a dismissive way, almost suggestive as if testing the waters. Twilight's affirmative "my friend" settles it though. It's a new thing still, and clearly they have precious little in common, but I think Twilight's healing was the ✨traumatic bonding experience✨ they both needed to actually click a bit.

So! To recap:

Twilight and Hyrule don't interact much, and Twilight previously rebuffed Hyrule's attempts to be friendly with him. They aren't close at all through most of the comic so far, and there's definitely a bit of a clash between them, although unspoken. it's Twilight recognizing Hyrule's skill, effort and aid that has that barrier resolving somewhat and opening up the possibility of friendship. Going forwards, they have potential to get along better and be good friends, but this is still pretty new, so it might take a while, especially with how differently they approach life and this particular venture.

Result: Mostly Clack (newly Clicked)

[green-alien-turdz]

Art tips for beginners? :3

I'm gonna try n be helpful here, but please keep in mind that I've been drawing my whole life, so I can't give you the perspective of someone who is just startin out.

1: Don't give up. Cheesy as fuck, I know. But you are gonna get pissed n fuckin angry when somethin doesn't turn out how you wanted it to. Don't let this discourage you! Use your mistakes and errors to keep on improving. There's no need to tear up drawings or delete anything that you aren't 100% satisfied with because you are growing in your abilities. AND TRUST that it is so rewarding to see your progress over time.

2: Challenge yourself n expect to hate it. Try all sorts of styles (cartoon, realism, or even just photo studies), do few details, do loads of details, do timed drawings, etc. Test the limits of what you can do. Similar to the previous advice, you need to allow yourself to be angry n hate the product that comes from this because you will eventually start finding your own creative style n process.

3: Don't pressure yourself beyond belief. You will not be an 'amazing' or 'visually appealing' artist from the get-go. If you are gettin burned out, allow yourself to take a break from time to time. With this though, once you start gettin more comfortable, even when you're burnt out creatively- I HEAVILY encourage you to keep doing small drawings OR other creative things to keep your mind going.

4: Experiment wit different mediums n shit like that! Explore! There is so many different forms of art to fuckin enjoy. Digital, traditional, watercolour, acrylic, clay, fuckin anything. When you get into non-digital mediums, keep cost in mind, but there are plenty of cheap alternatives that are great when you're startin out (also once you get 'better', you can control these much better, n they don't look like the initial cheap product). I personally use a lot of dollar tree shit n I used to steal from the art class in my school (but that was more out of necessity, if you can avoid it, please do. You can get in HUGE trouble if you're caught). But the main message is to experiment n try new things because there's so many different mediums out there.

5: Take in the world around you. Look at everything n think about how you could portray that in art. Really study the world. The faces people make when they don't think they're makin any, the grime that most people ignore building up on everyday objects, how people's body language says a LOT about how they feel, the way light casts in obscure ways, etc. Instead of just viewing the things around you, really look and take in the experience of bein human. Even impressionistic art holds these intricate details. You just have to be open to the experience.

6: Appreciate, but don't compare. I cannot stress dis shit enough, your art is your own, it is no one else's, so there's no need to harp on "oh this person draws x,y,and z better than me" n blah blah blah STOP! Dawg, you are doin your own shit, don't worry about if you're not on the same 'level' as others, or don't have the same 'capabilities' as some mfs. When you see other people's art, appreciate the things that they can do, but appreciate what you can do too! Especially when you're first really gettin your foot in the whole art shit, it is important to not judge your abilities compared to others who may have a lot more experience under their belt. I think it's totally okay to look at art n be like "oh that's super cool, I'd definitely like to improve on things like that", but never use it to put down your own art. This shit is subjective bro, you'll get to where you want to be. It takes a lot of time, it's not linear, but you WILL. It may not be how you expected it to look at first, but that's okay! Give yourself grace. Art is for you, at the end of the day.

You are gonna fight with yourself n the art itself, but that's totally normal! Art is one of the best forms of expression n I really hope the best for you. I know I was vague as shit n this isn't no tutorial on how to draw a realistic portrait or some shit- but that's because there's no right way to do this. Go balls to the walls or just dip your fuckin toes in. Approach it how you want, there's no right or wrong way to do art. I hope that this was somewhat helpful n I wasn't just spewin shit outta my ass n I truly wish you a good art journey

[ava-imagines]

hiiii requesting a humanoid(?) yandere wheatley trying to comfort the reader while they're trapped in the aperture science facility? like it's his fault that the reader is distressed obviously, but he's trying to ignore that and make them reciprocate his feelings by treating them gently 👉👈

Hell yeah!! (This also includes Wheatley slightly belittling the reader because they blame him for why they're distressed btw)

Yandere!Humanoid!Wheatley x Reader (Comfort within Aperture) 💙🤖

Wheatley is so protective of you, especially in your current situation

You were distressed as HELL, and who could blame you? You were trapped in the Aperture Science Testing Facility.

And plus, your "best friend" Wheatley wasn't helping much with what he was saying about the facility.

He would be saying such things as "Oh, wouldn't it be terrible if the neurotoxin went off now?"

"Imagine if we got stuck in a chamber and couldn't get out?!"

"What if we never get out, and you're trapped here forever?"

His words weren't helping you, as they caused you to have a break down. Wheatley noticed this and instantly put his arms around you, telling you that he was sorry and he should've thought of his words. (However, he wouldn't mind the latter sentence becoming true..)

Wheatley would wipe your tears away and hold you tight, trying to calm you down, however he wasnt aware he was part of why you were distressed.

After he accidentally reactivated GLaDOS, it had caused you to feel more unsafe in the facility.

So, you told him why you were distressed. And as soon as you mentioned he was one of the reasons, he pulled away, gripping your arms tighter and looking right into your eyes.

He started belittling you, saying such things as:

"Oh please luv, I'm only trying to help you. Help you."

"I'm sorry, but you have no right to call me "part of the problem" for trying to get you out of here."

"I'm only trying to help you escape, and this is how you thank me? Tch, that's disappointing. Ungrateful, even."

His cold, dead blue eyes looking into yours caused you to freeze up and not say anything.

However, this caused him to instantly feel guilty. Throwing his arms around you and whispering how sorry he was for getting mad at you.

And from then on, when you calmed down and went to try escape again, the only difference was that Wheatley wouldn't let go of your hand.

Sorry if this is really bad, it's my first time writing Yandere stuff

[princeblack]

it's the second quidditch match of the year for slytherin and it's against hufflepuff, which should ease his mind since he at least gets to see one of his best friends, but he still finds himself on edge. things have been difficult recently, between trying to stay on top of his usual academics while also trying to hide his correspondences with sirius from both his parents and the other death eaters. sirius was outside of europe and in hiding, but sending notes when he could, each time from a different bird and with a new fake name scribbled at the bottom in his now familiar handwriting.

sirius occupies a lot of his thoughts lately, right next to what lord voldemort's been doing and then bee diggory. he's plagued with nightmares a lot of the time, scenarios ranging between the ministry finding sirius to the death eaters realizing that regulus is switching sides. most of his dreams end in death for either him or someone he loves... especially bee.

she's been his main source of happiness for a long time now, ever since she wrote him the letter at the start of last year saying she didn't think his brother was a murderer or that he and his family were evil. she told him to ignore people like justin finch-fletchley, even complimenting regulus and trying to make friends, to which he immediately accepted.

he had a crush on bee even before this, admiring her for her beauty from a distance and even trying to distract himself from it in second year when he dated daphne greengrass. it hadn't lasted long, mostly because it didn't seem to work and regulus never felt anything he should for daphne. she was the type of girl his parents would want him to date, but it felt wrong continuing the relationship when he didn't like her like she liked him. especially when he started to realize that he didn't necessarily want what his parents wanted for him.

in contrast, his relationship with bee only seemed to blossom after the note, the two of them hanging out in class and outside of it, becoming friends and subsequently worsening his crush on her again. they're happy together, even if he's not sure if she likes him like that. it's one of the only things in his life he feels is going right and that makes him happy, but the worst part is knowing he'll most likely lose her when she finds out the truth about him. and even worse, there are the nightmares that lord voldemort will hurt her when he finds out about regulus switching sides. the dark lord shouldn't care about something petty like that, but something regulus is learning is that tom is angry and vengeful, and if he knew for any reason that regulus loved bee, he would certainly hurt her.

the thought plagues his nightmares along with all of the other ones, usually involving an alternate outcome of the night voldemort had sent kreacher to test one of his horcrux defenses, but this time it resulted in the house elf actually being killed instead of injured within an inch of his life. that night sticks with regulus, making him so angry that his nails dig into his palms. that black void of hatred only grew when voldemort ordered barty to kill an innocent who had stumbled upon one of their meetings and he had actually done it.

all of regulus's notions about what being a death eater meant were shattered. it wasn't like his parents had said when he was young-- there was no prophecy saying wizardkind was in danger of extinction, and lord voldemort didn’t have to kill lily and james potter. regulus had learned from professor trelawney that it was her prophecy; that all the prophecy even indicated to begin with was that a baby born in harry’s certain circumstances would somehow bring the end of lord voldemort.

all of his lord's actions were selfish– regulus knows that now. he knows that the talk about preserving their culture and loving pure, magical blood was just an excuse to kill others and manipulate a select few to always do his bidding.

regulus was one of those ones manipulated. and it all became worse when he realized that sirius was never in azkaban for killing twelve muggles-- that was peter pettigrew the entire time. regulus's life feels like a joke with no punchline, especially when he finally meets his brother and has him ripped away once more. all he wonders now are what other lies his parents told him, that the death eaters perpetuated.

focusing on quidditch feels like an impossible task, especially with bee present and beautiful. but he gets dressed in his green slytherin robes as quickly as he can, meeting the team out on the field with his nimbus 2001 before the match starts.

marcus flint gives a speech reminding them the key points of their training, encouraging them to do well against their opponents and not let their guard down just because of lucius's generous donation of nimbus 2001s to the entire team.

regulus is only partly listening, allowing his gaze to drift over to the hufflepuffs, immediately picking out bee. his heart feels warmer as soon as he sees her, like it always does every single time he lays eyes on her. she looks beautiful, a radiant smile on her lips at something her teammate says. her braids make his heart race a little because they're so cute, flopping over her shoulders as she mounts her broom. regulus smiles at her when she looks in his direction, raising a hand to wave. they're too far away for him to say anything, so he just gives her a lingering gaze before finally looking away. his stomach feels tight for some reason, like it's hard to even witness how perfect she is this morning when he knows he'll never be able to tell her how he really feels.

madam hooch makes marcus shake hands with cedric, then she counts down before blowing her whistle to start the game, causing all fourteen players to kick off the ground. regulus follows suit, raising high into the air above the other players. he needs to focus on looking for the snitch, but he can already tell it's going to be more difficult than usual as he feels the droplets of rain start to pelt his face, cold and icy. his gaze moves over to bee again, watching as she flies for the quaffle, trying to catch it as adrian pucey tosses it over to marcus.

he tries not to focus on watching her, realizing he's the seeker and he's responsible for making his team win. he dodges a bludger, swinging his broom around to start flying in the other direction. the rain is starting to pour, making his curls plaster to his forehead as the water gets in his eyes. squinting, he looks for the snitch, all too aware of the way bee is flying past him again as marcus takes the quaffle towards the goal posts. / @devcted

[orange-orchard-system]

Y'know, there are a lot of genuine complaints to be made about how people respond to literatary analysis education with stuff like "the curtains are just blue", but I think at least a good amount of these complaints completely miss where these responses are coming from. They seem to think these responses just come from a handful of ignorant people dismissing the idea off the bat, but I've always viewed these responses differently, as coming from a deeper place of bitterness and genuine reasons to be frustrated. And dismissing that bitterness just contributes to it, so let's talk about one of the reasons someone may become disillusioned with literary analysis.

Literary analysis, as a subject, is dependent on personal interpretation and being able to turn something upside down and inside out, and ask it questions about what it means. It's a lot closer to philosophy than people think at first, especially if you're talking about novels or other creative texts and not random posts on the internet, like most schools use. However, this is at odds with how these schools run; a lot of school is focused on getting exactly the right answer, which really means "the state* approved answer". There is little room for encouraging individual interpretation; even in classes that include individual interpretation in certain assignments, the teachers are often limited by the tests they have to set, or actively limit the students themselves by setting specific answers as "the correct interpretation". As such, students end up feeling tricked or lied to when their individual interpretations and analysis come back marked "incorrect" on their papers and tests, or are outright told they're incorrect during discussions (which has its own layers of the shame that often comes from being publicly told off, no matter how gentle these "corrections" are). They're being told one thing (to explore the text for themselves so that they might understand it better and get more out of it), but taught another (that it doesn't matter what they think, because memorizing the textbook, already decided upon answers/interpretations, and a set of procedures on how to "tell what the text is saying" are more important). And of the two, what's being taught is obviously going to have a greater impact, since it's their grades and parental/guardian approval that hang in the balance.

Now, I mentioned asking questions is another part of literary analysis – this is another aspect where schools fail. As classes and teachers have limited time, questions are not able to be given the needed time to properly discuss and answer them unless they fit into a specific narrative the teacher is already expecting to get. Some questions may even be dismissed out of hand for being "irrelevant", no matter how relevant that question is to the student who asked it, simply because the teacher is not prepared to consider it, or actually give it weight and the attention it deserves or needs. With the "correct answers" already set out ahead of time, the teacher must focus on making sure their students can pre-emptively ask those questions and memorize the answers, rather than allowing them to ask their own questions and find their own answers. As such, "asking questions" becomes less about actual understanding of the text, and more so about anticipating what questions will be on the next test.

Following this, "the curtains are just blue" doesn't come solely from a lack of interest in the idea of literary analysis (though there's also something to be said about how the common feeling of being bored at school is certainly not helping favors) – it's more so frustration with these conflicting instructions that are being given. If you tell a student to be unique, but also punish them for being "weird", they're going to decide being unimpressive and "normal" is safer, no matter what you say. Similarly, if you tell a student that there are "no wrong answers", that analysis is "up to interpretation", and that they're meant to ask questions about the text, but then punish them for their interpretations being "wrong", and cannot allow them the time and practice needed to properly ask and answer any questions they may have, of course they're going to learn to dislike the subject as a whole! You just made them feel lied to about the whole purpose of it!

In some cases, this can go even further than just the students' interpretation – for example, everyone in my own literature analysis class had heard of the author who took a standardized literature test that included part of their work, but found none of the questions about it had answers that were accurate to their intentions and text. How are you meant to reconcile a story like that with all the assignments and quizzes that ask about "what the author intended"? With the supposed lesson of these studies being to foster your personal understanding of texts, whether you read or write them? Being told, over and over, that you are "wrong" for attempting to do exactly as the class claims to teach you and seeing for yourself that the "correct answers/intended understandings of the text" are just opinions agreed upon by a couple of strangers writing these test booklets – that's going to make anyone bitter. Of course some of these students are going to throw the whole concept of literary analysis in the trash – it was presented to them by the dumpster.

"The curtains are just blue" not as in "blue curtains may never hold any meaning", but as in "I don't even want to look at another question that claims to care about what I think the curtains represent, since I know it's all false platitudes anyway, so the curtains might as well be meaningless."

There's more I could say here about the different layers of "the curtains are just blue", and I probably will one day, but here's one aspect that's been on my mind lately. Contrary to how a lot of people seem to think when it comes to "piss on the poor" comments, you're not going to be able to shame people into something (developing their individual interpretations and interest in analysis) that they were shamed out of in the first place. So, maybe just keep that in mind the next time you see someone missing the point of a post, and try explaining it to them instead of reacting with derision.

* using "state" here to refer to multiple types of states, not just states in the USA.