#face still perfect after all theses years

[andy-clutterbuck]

𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

[chaos-intj]

The way to someone’s heart is through the stomach

OPLA Sanji x Reader

Disclaimer: English is not my first language and I didn’t proofread this

Word Count: 556

Summary: this request

TW: just fluff, talk about food, petnames (sweetheart), readers gender is not really specified

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

It had been 3 weeks since you joined the straw hat pirates on their journey to find the one piece. You hadn’t needed much convincing to leave the island, you had called your home for all theses years, since you knew there wasn’t much left there that would hold you back.

Life with the crew was great. You got along with everyone but a certain cook was your favorite. Since the island you grew up and lived on until now had been pretty small you hadn’t had the privilege of trying a bigger variety of different foods. Options had always been limited since there weren’t too many plants that grew on the island so you always had to stick to the few meals you could make and liked. But that changed when you joined the straw hats. Sure since you lived on a boat there were also limited supplies but Sanji was a magician in the kitchen. You could give him the same ingredients day after day and he’d still come up with a new meal each day and none of them disappointed. Every dish was like a symphony.

Today Sanji had again impressed everyone with a new creation of his and when you volunteered to help him with the dishes you wanted to take the time to express your appreciation for his skills. “Sanji?” You were standing next to each other at the sink. “Yes sweetheart?” Your heart beat a little faster at the nickname. “I just wanted to tell you I really appreciate your cooking and today's meal was perfect as always”, you looked over to him to see a smile spread on his face. “Well thank you very much for the compliment. I noticed you’re always the most eager to try my new creations, well besides Luffy but he eats anything that doesn’t run away fast enough. Have you always liked trying new stuff?” He chuckled, now meeting your eyes. “Hm. I don’t know. Maybe I would have liked it if I had had the chance. But maybe you remember my island. It’s really small so we didn’t have a huge variety of food and I’m not as talented as you so I pretty much ate the same things every week. Gets kind of boring after a while. Which is why I really love having you here so I can try new things every day!” You smiled at him and you could swear there was a light blush covering his cheeks. “I’m glad you like it and you know if you ever have anything you want to try just tell me and I’ll make it for you sweetheart”, he said while focusing back on the dishes. “Wait really? You’re the best Sanji!” Before you could really process what you were doing you wrapped your arms around his torso and gave him a hug. For a moment Sanji seemed frozen but then his arms also slowly wrapped around you. “Anything for you”, he said, softly smiling down on you. You stayed like this for a while until you had to get back to the dishes and you began wondering if you only cared for the food or if maybe you also really liked its creator. You could help the smile that spread on your face. This was going to be an interesting adventure.

[eggedbellies]

This was originally supposed to be a magic collar idea but it turned much bigger

You are an angel,  a warrior of light,  truth, and justice,  you get the deal. 

Like with armor and glow and not just wings a halo and a robe. 

like really cool looking no boring angel

you've encountered your fair share of demons, be it your standard cannon fodder, humans who sold their souls for power, but not uuber-powerfulones. You've also encountered your fair share of captured humans.  You see a fair share of working slaves,  sacrifice, and common deals but you've also encountered some... Odd ness.

Humans who are members of a demon concubine/harem,  begging for their masters/Mistress even after the spells are broken.  Humans are being used as breeding stock,  either by the monsters the demons call "pets" or by the demon themselves,  and the lust they have even after being saved isn't good for those sinful thoughts you've been having. But weirded of all are those humans corrupted into demons,  but that's just a myth, they would never let a human be corrupted that far.  But the bigger myth of all is fallen angels,  but that's just a legend they tell young angels to keep them in line,  no angel has fallen for thousands of years.  But as of late your mind has been filled with the sinful lewd thoughts you've seen as of late,  and the stories your fellow angels have been talking about.  But it's just a test of faith that's all. 

Well one day,  you get ambushed alone on patrol by a demon,  an uber-powerful one. Doesn't look very tough, almost human, but when he takes off his cloak he shows his true form. after a serious fight with a demon,  you find yourself beaten and battered and your armor shattered.  You are engulfed in fire,  before appearing chained up to a wall,  with a window still showing you the outside world and fresh air.  after a few minutes of screaming for help and trying to break free,  the demon who beat you says it's no use, the castle is protected by magic and no one can hear you.  They say you're pretty strong,  just you need the right master to train you,  that you would make a perfect demon.  Just agree to it and he'll draw right on you a sigil down there and this can be over real soon.  But the spit on his face by you says others wise.  So he snaps his fingers,  as tentacles emerge from the wall.  His little pet has been hungry for a new person,  and an angel no less, it is a wonderful reward for such a good pet.  but before he leaves the tentacle monster to do its thing,  he places a beautiful dark crown on your head,  and it speaks to you,  telling you sich naughty thoughts. 

Let's see if you'll be able to handle a breeding session before you succumb, I mean,  he can already tell you're enjoying this you naughty angel. 

Probably write a part 2 another day

Tentacle using you to hold its growing eggs,  trying to milk you,  as the crown goes deep into your thoughts and tries to corrupt you,  but finding you already have some of the theses thoughts.  after a session and the eggs come out,  you can see some changes already taking effect,  like hair color change or something like that.  perhaps the demon lord frees you but places a beautiful golden collar on you that limits your power so you can personally explore the castle with him,  but the more you explore the more the demon magic corrupts you.  I'll think about it later if you have any input. 

What would you think a demon would be like?  I was thinking very dragon cause you love dragons and you deserve to look cool. 

I also love dragons and agree w you lmao this is a great story, I love corruption ~

[isshehappy-no]

When issues occur where I get to speak my mind, everything always goes blank. But at night when I lay to rest my head spins with so many ways on how I feel. And why I can’t just say these things to you when I get the chance, I guess I’ll never know. I don’t say things to start a fight. But I just want to tell you how I feel. I’m not good with speaking my feels because anytime I have, they were always invalidated. Growing up when arguments were happening, others always told me to just be quiet and take it, don’t fuel the fire. So many years of that when anyone gets slightly mad at me I stay quiet. Because after arguments I was ignored, sometimes I can’t remember for how long. So I shut down. I want to shrink and hide. I don’t do it to make you feel isolated, and frankly I didn’t realize it was like that until you opened my eyes. It’s just my natural body response and I’m trying so hard. And I’m struggling with all theses feelings, and have been since the beginning of December, and when I finally starting feeling like I could come to you and talk about it, things went down for you. And I wasn’t there the best for you I know that, and I have no excuse. But I knew you were depressed and I did try to be there for you, but I struggled silently. You threw it in my face that you struggled silently to, as if it was my fault. But you didn’t and still don’t know I was struggling as bad as I was. I try not to make things about myself, I keep it all in my head bottled up. I feel it in my chest just wanting to burst out. And all tho I live with you I feel like I can’t always talk to you, and I’m so so lonely. I miss having a friend, I miss my best friend. I have no one to talk to that just listens to what I have to say, or without making me feel stupid. I know I sound stupid but idk how to voice what I’m feeling, but it’s an awful pain. I already have self image issues, I look at myself and see nothing attracting, or nothing attractive about my personality. Quite frankly I’m a weirdo and I don’t know why, or if you’re attracted to me. I question it all the time. I can’t help but remember the things you said to M, I think about it all the time. Why did you say them? Do you still feel them? How long would it have continued if I didn’t find out? I look at myself and compare myself to her. I wonder what she was like and if I’m anything like her. Do you see things in me that remind you do her? Positive or negative. And now I get text fine someone saying you’re texting M.C. and I can’t tell if the text are old or new, or if she’s a liar and just making things up because she’s obsessed with you. And if they were old we were still together then and you told her you wanted her will with me. If your actually doing these things, do I make it that hard to love and commit to me. I constantly live in a state where I’m criticizing myself to be perfect myself. To be the perfect gf so I can’t do anything to make you upset, or do things where you don’t wanna be with me anymore. I constantly think if you actually want be with me because of how much you threaten to leave when I get lazy, or be in a bad mood for a while. Am I not good enough to fight for? Am I that hard to communicate with. These feelings I’m feeling are driving me crazy. Insane. I can’t go a day without thinking about it multiple time. I just want the truth

[elysianslove]

haikyuu boys and tropes that suit them!

includes: kageyama tobio, iwaizumi hajime, oikawa tōru, sakusa kiyoomi, miya osamu, miya atsumu, suna rintarō

(possibly part 1??? consider this an apology for not posting as much 💔)

kageyama tobio — practice kissing. 

kageyama is, as embarrassing as it is for him to admit this, inexperienced, greatly so. he’s in his third year of high school, 18, and is yet to have his first kiss. college is approaching him dauntingly quick, and he doesn’t think he can handle being as clueless as he is for any longer. so while you’re sat on his bed scrolling through his phone, he bluntly asks you if you’ve ever kissed someone. he seemed so confident, and the words were straightforward and lacked any sign of anxiety or uneasiness. but the moment they left his mouth, he’s red in the face and his hands are shaking. when you agree to help him practice, he’s scared, shy, flustered, and his heart is in his throat, but he lets you lead the, setting the pace yourself as you sit before him, his face in your hands, pulling him closer to you. it’s electrifying, to put it to the least. he’d heard a million horror stories from his upperclassmen about first kisses, but he finds himself unable to relate. everything about the kiss and you is perfect, and he asks for more practice, starts looking forward to theses ‘sessions.’ he starts growing more and more confident, until he’s the one flustering you, the one making you gasp and squirm and mewl, not the other way around. and maybe he’ll find it in him to confess. maybe. 

iwaizumi hajime — friends to lovers. 

in general, with iwaizumi, he has a hard time believing in that he’s meant for a relationship, in that he has his own person, and for many reasons. he tries to be rational about it, saying he has other priorities at the moment, that he won’t be able to give his all, that he’s not particularly ready or in the right headspace/situation to commit to a person and a relationship. but it’s also, deep down, because of this indescribable fear of not being enough, of his flaws being too much, of being too imperfect. he just chooses not to get a headache over it, honestly. that’s why friends to lovers is perfect for him. it’s this person who he’s known for a long time, someone he’s come to know so well, so deeply, and vice versa. they’ve seen the bad and good of each other, been through all the ups and downs, learnt all their quirks, their habits, their tendencies. this is someone who is already a priority, someone who is already a constant. of course, he still hurts his head thinking about how wrong it is to have feelings for his friend, and the shame and guilt eats at him from the inside out. but it’s just so— easy. to love them. it’s so, so easy, as easy as breathing. and iwaizumi spends such a large amount of time pining and yearning that the final straw, the snap, the breathless confession, is so satisfying. 

oikawa tōru — enemies to lovers. 

oikawa wants and needs someone that’ll both keep him on his toes, always pushing him to the very edge but not completely over. he needs someone that excites him, someone that he has to work to earn. the word enemies is blurry to him. all he sees is someone playing hard to get, and he takes it as a challenge. it’s not that he wants and needs everyone to be in love with him and how dare you not be swooning at the sight of me!! it’s more that this person intrigues him impossibly. this person challenges him, bites back, and bites back hard. and the transition from enemies to lovers is so smooth with him, because it’s unpredictable and unexpected. one moment you’re swearing at him across the hall, the next you’re tenderly massaging at his injured knee and reassuring him of his hard work and efforts. it’s beautiful, really. the snarky comments and the flirty comebacks and the glares returned with playful grins, and them the moment of realization that opens up a whole new door that this person isn’t so bad after all. the satisfaction of finally giving in, either so slowly, so carefully and timidly, or rushed, hurried and desperate. so good. 

sakusa kiyoomi — there was only one bed! 

sakusa does not share. it’s nothing personal (sometimes it is), but he just prefers to have his own private space, where he can be comfortable. but things happen! like a trip where you’re stuck in the same room! and there’s only one bed! and the person you’re stuck with is the same person you’re very confused in regards to your feelings about them! the trip is a couple of days, and so it starts with the offer to sleep on the couch. it’s very uncomfortable, but he does it anyways, because a) he’s a gentleman, and b) you both now each have your private, safe space. two days pass, and you both tiredly pass out on the bed next to one another. he wakes up before you in horror and falls onto the couch quickly, but he doesn’t fall asleep again. as if this were fate’s play, you find yourself unable to sleep, and neither can he, so you quietly scoot over, a silent invitation. reluctantly, he accepts. he doesn’t spend that night sleeping either, instead simply stares at you, his hand outreaching for you, but not quite touching. eventually comes a day when he wakes up with your face buried in his shoulder, and although his cheeks are as warm as ever, he doesn’t feel uncomfortable. he only feels grateful to be finally touching you. 

miya osamu — soft only for their lover. 

it’s not that osamu is rude to others, or hates everyone else, or anything along those lines. it’s more that he’s less likely to open up, be vulnerable, be softer, easier than compared to with his partner. with his lover, he smiles easier, expressions are readable, his eyes always a dead giveaway to what’s on his mind. he’s colder and less approachable to others, but it’s almost as if his resolve melts the moment he spots his lover. he could be yelling at someone, angrily, then turn to his partner and in the softest voice say, “just a moment, my love,” and go back to yelling as if it were completely normal. similarly, he will always take his lover’s side of the argument regardless of whether they’re right or wrong. and, he’ll be kissing his lover, but pause for a moment to deck his brother, then return to kissing his lover again even softer. it’s because his lover owns such a big part of his heart, and when osamu loves, he loves with every part of him. he’s been called out on it multiple times; the fact that he’s so much meaner and harsher and stubborn with everyone else, including his brother, but it’s always the opposite with you. you are his soft spot, really, and it tickles your tummy whenever you notice the little changes and shifts in his attitude and personality when it comes to you. 

miya atsumu — enemies to lovers. 

unlike with oikawa’s case, you and atsumu genuinely hate each other. you despise his attitude, his cockiness, his ideals, his approaches, his voice, his hair, everything, and likewise, he can’t stand you. he’d only ever been rude to you, and in response, you’d defended yourself by being equally as rude. this isn’t playing hard to get enemies, this is i hate your guts enemies. rarely does being in a room with him not result in some sort of argument. your mutual friends are all fed up, of the arguments, the fighting, the smack talk behind one another’s backs, the complaining, everything. it’s infuriating, and so they beg you to talk it out, to try and resolve whatever it was going on between you, but either he wouldn’t cooperate, or you wouldn’t. it seemed hopeless, until at some point in time, you get badly hurt, maybe mentally or physically, but atsumu finds himself worried unbelievably. it’s irrational to be, especially with your history with one another. but he’s worried, insanely so, and when he finds you, finds out you’re okay, or you will be, the relief that fills him is dizzying and so, scary. but maybe the both of you were just projecting onto each other, the fact that you so badly wanted each other but felt like you couldn’t do anything. 

suna rintarō — brother’s best friend. 

it’s a dash of forbidden love, a dash of friends to lovers. he’s your brother’s best friend, older than you, and it’s wrong, you know it is, but you can’t help it. on the days he’s invited over, you purposely make sure to stay at home, and you make excuses to pass by your brother’s room constantly, to talk to him. he knows you like him, knows you’re desperately chasing after him in your own subtle way, and for a while, suna lets you. he acts dumb, none the wiser, lets you have your little fun of sneaking snaps of him to send to your friends and when you purposely press your leg against his sitting next to him on the couch or when you offer your lollipop after you suck on it. he indulges you, slightly, subtly. and when he sees it suitable, finds it right, he starts to return the advances: he accidentally arrives a little earlier than planned to your home when he’s invited, and he passed by you in school more often, and he makes up excuses to text you all the time. eventually, the sexual tension is unbearable, suffocating, incredibly overwhelming, and when it snaps, nothing else matters. just the two of you. he’s experienced, good with his words and his hands and his mouth and he’s a dream. and all you do is fall deeper, and deeper, and deeper. 

[mochi-coffee]

Valentine's Day

ft. wakasa, the regulars at his gym and that time you spend Valentine's Day with them.

a/n: yeah I know Valentines was a week ago but better late then never? 🤣 I had it in draft before valentines but didn't managed to finish it before then 🙊 (look, I have a draft on NYE so this isn't too bad 🤣)

Summoning @kallikrein especially because her roommate!wakasa angst indirectly lead me finish this to I have some fluff(?) to counter the angst she throws at me 🤣

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You've always thought that giving chocolates during Valentine's Day is something that only happens during school, a wholesome way for pure-hearted kids to confess to their crushes. Once adulthood hits, Valentine's Day was less about the chocolates but more about those lucky enough to be in a relationship to showing off how they are showered them love, flowers and gifts by their partners.

But seeing the pile of chocolates on the counter at Wakasa's gym - it appeared that you were wrong. Apparently chocolate gifting was still a thing.

When you arrived at Wakasa's gym, the gym was emptier than usual with only a few regulars that were still here training - which made perfect sense because it's 9pm on Valentine's Day. And if they were here, sparring and sweating in the gym instead of spending time with loved ones, they must be part of the single's club - just like you. You gave them a quick smile and wave as you walked in, before scanning the room to find the owner himself sitting on a high stool next to the counter.

With his back leaned against the counter and his water bottle in hand, Wakasa watched as his regulars trained, occasionally dropping comments and a few pointers here and there. His face more aloof than usual - perhaps drained from the amount of attention he must have gotten from his female customers today, as evident by the mountain of colourful heart shaped boxes behind him. His social battery probably has depleted hours ago, and the man in front of you was just a shell of what remains.

"Still as popular as ever huh?" You chuckled as you popped the plastic bags in your hand on the counter next to Wakasa's stack of gifts. Wakasa gave you a glare, and if the way his shirt is all wrinkled and visibly stretched doesn't give you a hint, the look on his face said it all - he's bloody exhausted after a long day being flocked by girls.

"It's a good problem to have - not everyone gets chocolate on valentines" you consoled as you gave him a pat on the shoulder, brushing off random strand of random's hairs off while you are at it.

After last year's prank that Wakasa pulled caused a massive dropout of female students at the gym (you unknowingly assisted), Benkei made sure this year Wakasa was on his best behavior during valentines. And hence this wakasa in front of you - completed worn out by the flood of attention today. Now that you look closely, you could faintly see the smudged lipstick marks on Wakasa's face, seems like theses girls are really ruthless this year and you started to feel sorry for Wakasa.

Speaking of Benkei, the only reason why he's nowhere to be found currently was because that man got plans this year, which you are very exciting about. But at the same time, it's a little lonely, as this marks the first year where it's just you and wakasa left spending this lovers specific day together as friends.

If Shinichiro was still here, you all would probably have gathered at his bike shop by now, listening to his latest story on his crush on the cute florist at the shop across the road. But since he's gone, this tradition of spending valentines together has shifted to spending the night drinking and chilling at Wakasa's gym instead. And now, it's just you and wakasa hanging out tonight - along with the regulars in the gym.

Shaking those thoughts away, you did a quick scan of the gym again before making an attempt to comfort the gym owner.

"On the bright side, you are probably the only one in this room that got chocolates"

Hearing the loud sigh echoing the gym, you watched as shoulders of all the other men in the room dropped and gloominess sweep across the room- your comment has definitely hit a sore spot accidentally. Flustered, you quickly pulled the plastic bags off the counter and held them up like a trophy, the items in inside ruffled in the process.

"I bought beer and chocolate for all of us!" You shouted, waving the bag slightly, "Who said you can only spend valentines with your lovers, let's just do a singles party and have our fun here!"

Ignoring wakasa's mumbled 'nice save', you watches as the regulars's ears perked up at the word 'chocolate' and how their eyes lit up instantaneously. The men quickly dropped what they were doing, wiping their hands and face with a towel before gathering around you. Wakasa remains at his seat on the stool and watches as you hand out the chocolates and beer to everyone with a smile. He'd occasionally making snarky remarks telling the regulars to not complement you too much or you'd get cheeky. You stuck you tongue out to Wakasa and took back the can of beer you were about to hand him, instead passing it to the next regular that came over.

Most of the regulars took chocolate from the shared box of assorted chocolate you got, but when you saw that new recruit in Brahman, you pulled out a smaller box of chocolate from your pocket and handed it to him. You've specifically bought this box of dark chocolates for him because from the last time you chatted, you remember he wasn't a big fan of sweet things other than this specific brand of chocolate.

The new recruit looked surprised to see that you remembered his preference, before giving you a charming smile and thanked you. The two of you started chatting about the day when a hand appeared in between you two, interrupting the conversation. Letting out a sigh, you gave the new recruit an apologetic look, which he laughed and waved off before walking away to talk with other regulars. You dug your hand into the bag in search for the can of beer, before pulling the cold can and dropping it into the outreached hand, whose owner was none other than Imaushi Wakasa.

Wakasa gives you a smirk while you glared at him, before reaching into the bag for your own can of beer. But then the hand appeared in front of you again. You look up, watched as Wakasa takes a gulp of his can while holding out a hand towards you, before shooting him a questioned look.

"Where's mine?", he asked with his hand opened - as if he's waiting for something.

Tilting your head slightly, you were hoping that wakasa would elaborate a bit more, but all you got was his usual bored expression and his half lidded eyes staring back at yours. Looking behind wakasa, the stack of chocolates seems to be the answer.

"Chocolate?"

Wakasa nods.

"I didn't get you any chocolate, don't you have enough over there?"

Wakasa blinked once, before tilting back and glancing at the mountain of chocolate behind him and slowly retreating his outreached hand. He shrugged, before sitting back on his seat at the counter, and continue to watch his regulars enjoying their break, as if he's unbothered by the lack of chocolate. But after years of knowing wakasa, you've mastered the art of reading Imaushi Wakasa, and by the way he's swaying his can of beer, you can tell he's slightly annoyed.

You pressed your lips together to stop yourself from chuckling out loud. You could tease him a bit more and keep him waiting, but you decided to play nice, since it's Valentine's.

"I didn't get you any chocolate, but..." you said slowly, as you reached for your backpack and started unzipping it, before pulling out a familiar looking box.

"I did get you some dango instead - so stop sulking, you always rant about getting too much chocolate anyways.... and yes, you can start calling me Y/N-sama"

You joked as you held out the box of dangos, waiting for Wakasa to take it from your hand, but it didn't happen. Looking up from your backpack, you were met the gym owner with his elbow lend against on the counter, his chin rested on his palm, his eyes closed and his mouth opened towards you.

".... what are you doing?"

"Feed me"

"No. You have hands, you can eat it yourself"

"I'm tired"

"Waka...."

"I've been here since the morning - under attacked for the entire day"

"...."

"Are you going to let a dying man starve in front of you?"

"...fine, just once okay?"

Behind you two, the regulars wonders what happened to the single's partygoers mentioned, as they watch you reluctantly feed the gym owner and him smirking back at you - why do they have a feeling that they were third wheeling something?

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"If only there's more girls in the gym", one of the regular whined as he popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Well, I had a great plan for valentines event to attract more customers to the gym", you chimed in, before shooting daggers at the blonde gym owner. "But someone just had to say no"

Wakasa snorted before gesturing you to continued, a grin forming on his face. Everyone could tell that his mood has definitely lighten up by the beer and the dango.

"Go on, tell them your amazing plan"

You winced, hoping to redirect the topic before it's too late, but all the attention was already on you. You mentally gave yourself a kick, blaming the alcohol in your system for letting your mouth talk loose - you really walked into this one yourself. It was a really random idea that you brought up as a joke that you don't really want to announce it in front of everyone.

Twirling your hair with your fingers as you let out a nervous laugh, you were hoping that the regulars would dropped the topic if you twirled it for long enough. But seeing how the eyes continue to be glued onto you (and how Wakasa's smirk grows wider each second), you gave up, cleared your throat before explaining the Valentine's Day event you had in mind for the gym.

"We'll host a tournament between the customers and whomever wins would get a kiss from our one and only - Imaushi Wakasa!" You held your hand out towards wakasa, waving your hand and wiggling your fingers like an sales representative showing off the latest hot item they are trying to sell.

Wakasa on the other hand, just had his lips pressed into a straight line, looking unimpressed.

"What am I? A marketing scheme to you?"

"Can you imagine how many girls would sign up - you just need to charge for a participation fee and you'll be rich!"

"My gym doesn't need your shitty marketing plans"

You two started to blinkered when one of the regulars interrupted, "Haha, it's not a bad plan per say"

The rest laughed along while you turn to Wakasa and mouthed "seeee". The young gym owner rolled his eyes at the nonsense before taking another sip of his beer.

"but that's only works female customers though, what's in it for us?"

".... there would be more girls at the gym...?" You grimaced, hoping it was an okay answer. Luckily, another regular chimed in.

"How about this, we'll do one now between the men and the winner gets a kiss from y/n instead! That could be the Valentine event!"

Your eyes widen slightly at the suggestion, before you bought your can of beer to your mouth, hoping that by brushing your lips against the cold can, it would slow down the incoming blush.

You weren't expecting this at all, but now that you think about it - everyone is single here, what's wrong with a small kiss on valentines? It's just a kiss on the cheek anyways, how bad could it be? And so - you caved.

"Sure! Whatever,  let's do this! It's an one-off Valentines special and winner gets a kiss! So you all better put in all you got!" You laughed as you raised your can to the air. The regulars cheered and excitement filled the room - the regulars chatting among themselves and getting rowdy, some of them started warming up, stretching and getting fired up, before making their way towards the ring at the center of the gym.

Behind you, you could hear the sound of the stool scraping along the floor.

"Waka, do you want to referee- eh?"

You asked as you turned to face the gym owner who's been sitting quietly behind you. But before you could finished your sentence, wakasa has already stood up for where he was sitting, his head tilted up to the ceiling as he downs the remaining beer, before crushing the now empty can with his hand. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Wakasa rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck, before looking at the crowd in front him with a dark glint in his eyes.

"Okay, which one of you want to get your ass kicked first."

And with that, any excitement that was in the room extinguished as quickly as it started.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

And I'll let you all imagine the rest haha let me know what do you think happens next 😁

[blessedtobebangtan]

yandere!bts as songs

kim taehyung - paparazzi

you most likely met during an art class in your junior year of college

he took an interest in you first

he was so nice to you, always saying hello to you when you walked into the classroom and goodbye to right before the bell rang to dismiss you

he complimented the way your (e/c) eyes sparkled like the many stars in the night sky

he was a flirt and very much handsome, you felt so honored

you were so young and naïve, you couldn't help but gain a soft spot for him

the next time you spoke was about a week later when he asked if he could draw you for an assignment he was doing for extra credit

there was no assignment

but, of course, you agreed, you really just wanted to get to know him a bit more than the charming, confident boy he seemed to always be

taehyung couldn’t believe how quickly you accepted his proposal- truthfully, he never had trouble with women, but it was a bit more meaningful because he too began to have a little crush on you

after hanging out together for a couple of weeks for the ‘project’, he finally asked you out on a date

again, you said yes without hesitation

in the few weeks you’d been spending time with him, you were so happy and you never wanted it to end

you found who he truly was- or the side he’d wanted you to see

you loved being around taehyung because he never put you second, it was always about you and then everything else came after

if you had a bad day, you knew you could count on your sweet taehyung to comfort you and cuddle you until you felt better

or when you stupidly accidentally hurt yourself trying to play basketball, he kissed your face until your tears dried and then took you out for ice cream

you knew he cared for you and you knew you wanted to be with him, so you didn’t waste the chance

so, after a about nine months of dating the two of you figured it would be smart to move in with each other because you almost never fought, you would be graduating college in less than a year and wanted to be together whenever you could

after thinking it over for some time, you finally moved into taehyung’s home

you two would stay up all night talking about the random things while you laid in his arms, you would go to the park and have lunches together as you talked about your day and taehyung told you ever night how much he loved you and how he would never let you go

it was honestly so perfect, you never wanted it to end

until it was a little too perfect

some time during all of theses beautiful moments, taehyung became very clingy to put it nicely

he was wanting more of your time and attention and didn’t really care about anything more

when you came home from uni after late study sessions, instead of asking you about your day or trying to comfort your stressed routine, he began to grill you about where you were and who you were with

taehyung grew to obsess over how you spent your time when it wasn’t with him

he didn't care so much about what made you smile anymore, if the answer didn't include him 

you thought, maybe he was just stressed from finals- it being his senior year and all, you didn't want to cause any unnecessary relationship problems when things had always been so great between you two

so you ignored his sudden mood changes and thought if you loved him with more of your time and tried to understand his point of view, you could both still be happy

it was very childish of you to think that way looking back now

because that wasn’t enough, taehyung seemed to be more addicted to you than ever

you stopped going out to the park or anywhere else because his gaze became deadly if your eyes even drifted from him onto someone else

the nights didn't end with random, fun conversations like before, now the nights were filled with suffocated embraces from your charming lover

and you noticed before he drifted off into slumber, he always gave a threating reminder that you would never leave him

you began to consider your options, thinking about how this relationship was causing you more harm than good

it was hard to come to a decision, but you eventually decided that it may be time for a break before things got any worse

but, you were shot down before you could even realize what was going on

taehyung had connivingly convinced you that you were being selfish and that you were not the only way dealing with things that you were ‘supposed to be a team’

it made you feel embarrassed that you even thought he could ever bring you harm you in any way

you apologized for being so stupid, but taehyung didn’t let this conversation slide so easily

that was the first time he’d every physically hurt you and you would never forget it 

you were so surprised it took you a few minutes to comprehend the hand that had just connected with your cheek

you were hurt and angry, but your better judgment agreed not to fight back because you knew nothing he was capable of as his face never changed once as he watched you fall to the floor

he watched as you understood your place

you didn’t know it, but from that point on, he had begun to keep tabs on you and you couldn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know

he demanded that you be home at a certain time and if you weren’t, you would be in massive trouble

your punishments varied from small prices like him yelling at you for not having dinner ready to living nightmares like being hit over and over again to where you couldn’t even walk just because you raised your voice to him

you feared the man that you loved the most, you didn't even trust yourself to do the ‘right thing’

you stopped wearing certain things that you knew would lead to an argument and possibly a punishment

you spoke quietly and never let a curse word seep from your bruised lips

you cut off many relationships that taehyung suggested you should without even questioning him

anything to keep him from hurting you happy

in return of your good behavior, he would allow you to be his princess, once again

he would take you out to your favorite restaurants, held you close as you watched your favorite tv show, buy you expensive gifts

randomly returning to the loving, kind man you loved so dearly

he would apologize for everything he'd done to you, convincing you it was only because he didn't want to loose you and was insecure that you would leave him

no matter how made he got at you, he couldn't help but force you to believe he only did it for the good of your relationship

you accepted his interchangeable mood swings in exchange for a pain-free life

if he had a bad day and was feeling extra frustrated with the world, you were on your knees ready to pleasure him

if he was feeling insecure suspicious about some one you were beginning to enjoy being around, you would delete their contact and keep your distance

when you made love before, it was pure admiration and passion, now it was used as a reward for your good behavior or possibly used as an outlet for his frustration 

before when he kissed you it always felt so good and you knew it was because he loved you, now when he kissed you it felt unclear and it made your mind run wild with all the pain he’d caused you

the pain of knowing you could never escape him, you would always be his muse

“ Need that picture of you, it’s so magical.”

“ But this photo of you, it doesn't have a price.”

“ I’m your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me.”

a/n: hello:) it’s been a big minute, hasn’t it? either way, it’s good to be back for however long i will be back, i just want to let you guys know, i have a bouncing motivation for these things, somedays i will really want to write and an hour later i just want to delete the whole thing, but i will try to put out as much work as i can because i know it really makes a lot of you guys happy and i love to do whatever i can to create a joyous atmosphere! so, just bare with me, i’m trying to get better and do better, so just keep that in mind and enjoy this long overdue series <3

[2-lines-and-a-circle]

What makes Silver a member of team white chocolate?

*Please read theses before moving on for more context:  2 Lines & A Circle : In-depth Description: White Chocolate (tumblr.com)  

Silver is hard to judge, he screams white chocolate to me but he has a certain level of maturity that isn’t seen with the other second years so I almost placed him in team coffee. What pushed me to place him into team white chocolate instead was when I broke him down. Silver gets into weird situations a lot, mainly due to his sleeping, plus, the way he has a carefree air around him got me thinking. There’s actually quite some white chocolate members who also have this feeling.

On the outside they’re calm but inside they’re actually worried about themself or a certain problem. In Azul’s Halloween personal story we actually get to see Silver talk about how worried he is because the dorm isn’t listening to him. Of course it’s due to his sleeping but this kinda surprised me as Silver has no problems handling his duties as an attendant to Malleus. With that being said, Silver came to join team white chocolate for his weird situations and calm but uneasy feeling.

Another reason why he was placed into this team was for his responses in talking to the other characters. Silver tends to be on the more positive side of thinking and he’s very devoted to whatever challenges he faces. This is seen in the Halloween event story 2 as Silver is focused on getting to the bottom of the problem. Not to mention the kindness he shows to the ghost who approaches them. Taking all of that into account I placed Silver into this team after realizing how he’s got the key parts to being a member of White Chocolate.

Ren Shibasaki from My Forged Wedding is a good choice for those who are interested in Silver. My Forged Wedding tells the story of our Mc who gets involved in a fake marriage with some random guy who is friends with her Uncle(he’s not really her uncle but a close friend). In Ren’s route the Mc learns to care and support Ren with all his weird quirks. However things get interesting real quick as it turns out that Ren is hiding a huge secret. Both Silver and Ren are kinda random and airheads who care deeply about others. Which is why I suggest Ren Shibasaki from My Forged Wedding if you’re a fan of Silver.

Another pick is Kyoga from Enchanted in the Moonlight. He is someone who respects space and is very comfortable to be around with. In Kyoga’s game the Mc is to be protected by several different akayashis(she has a choice as to who). Upon picking Kyoga, his route is very calm and has a twist in the middle of the plot. He’s someone who you can rely on if you ever find yourself in trouble, which is why he’s a close call to silver. Both Silver and Kyoga are fast to take action in solving problems, while still being honest.

Ren Shibasaki from My Forged Wedding game prologue: My Forged Wedding Prologue

Kyoga from Enchanted in the Moonlight game prologue link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGwfw6IAY4&list=PL4NQUCRKB7P8tUI0_bU2MhOT5FCP73aEO&index=39

Interested in finding out if he’s your match? Then feel free to participate in these events! They won’t end till I’m tired of seeing their beautiful faces! 

Tell me: 2 Lines & A Circle : Tell me about yourself! (tumblr.com)

Feelings in a letter: 2 Lines & A Circle : Feelings in a letter (tumblr.com)

Not so perfect: 2 Lines & A Circle : A not so perfect random date/hang out headcanon: (tumblr.com)

All Games can be found on the app Love 365. Available for the google app store and android.

[lazydoodlesandfanfic]

New Start (Roy Harper X Male!Reader X Jason Todd)

Characters: Roy Harper X Male!Reader X Jason Todd

Universe: DC

Warnings: None

Request: Roy Harper/Male!Reader/Jason Todd. They've been together for a few years in a polyrelationship (started out Roy/M!R) and after all the vigilante drama the three of them just want to retire. So they're moving to a new countryside house together (Lian too) and they're going through all the stuff they've collected throughout their years of being vigilantes and 'people'. They realise Jason lost his favourite book, M!R lost his favourite sweater and Roy lost his cap. They all go search for it, to find Lian asleep on her new bed with the things, surrounded by her fathers' stuff

“Alright little miss, let’s get you to bed.” You spoke up, getting up from your spot where you’d been unpacking after you spotted that Lian was falling asleep, resting her head on an unopened box. 

“Nooooo, I don’t want to!” She whined as you put your hands under her arms and picked her up and placing her down standing, before gently pushing her in the direction of her bedroom. She groaned the entire way to her bedroom, but didn’t actually stop to argue. 

“Get dressed and ready and I’ll come tuck you in.” Roy called after her as she went in her room. 

“Okay, let’s finish this box off and then we’ll go to bed as well.” Jason decided, cutting open a final box and opening the lid. You and Roy got closer to the box to help unpack it. The first thing on top was a familiar mask. A red mask, with little scuffs on some of the edges. You plucked it out, looking at it closely. 

“Where’s this going, huh?” You asked, glancing up at Jason before looking back at the mask. “Maybe we could put it on the wall.” You suggested.

“Yeah, right next to the baby pics of Lian.” Roy joked, making you and Jason laugh at the idea. Jason went back into the box, pulling out a quiver, with some arrows still inside. Roy took them, looking at one of the arrows. “I might put theses aside… maybe Lian will want to take up Archery when she’s older.” He considered. 

“Sound’s good.” Jason confirmed, diving back into the box. This time he pulled out a rather unique mask- one you used to wear daily, or more like nightly. He held the mask up to his own face, looking at you, and you cracked a smile. “This is going right next to mine on the wall.” 

“Where’s my domino mask? It can go up as well.” Roy suggeste, reaching over and pulling the box closer to look for his mask, soon finding it and presenting it as well. You all laid the masks down on the floor, and you all just stared at them for a moment. 

Looking at them made you realise just how surreal this moment really was. Just a week ago all of you had been in the midsts of you crime fighting night activity, working together as partners in crime, having each other’s back and keeping Gotham safe. You weren’t sure how exactly it started, but one night you had all gotten home, finding Lian waiting for you long after your bedtime, and while putting her to bed she expressed her fear of you three never coming home. That was the moment you all sat down, and mutually agreed it was time to retire.

You did it quickly and effectively. Jason gave a heads up to his family of his decision, who understood and Bruce even found you four a new home to settle down in. It was far from Gotham and any of the other cities full of crime, far from danger. It was in the countryside in a quiet town where everyone minded their own business for the most part, and had accepted you as the 3 dads of a little girl in the town. You’d all quickly found little jobs in town- Roy worked at the shooting range, Jason came into the local school to read to the kindergarteners and also to be a substitute for the older kids in English, and he also volunteered at the garage and library. You also had your own little jobs based around your hobbies.Everything seemed so… perfect.

“Say, I’ve yet to find my book. It’s not with the others.” Jason brought up, snapping you out your thoughts. You looked around your surroundings for it, when you realised something yourself. 

“Haven’t seen my favourite sweater either.” You mentioned. 

“Or my cap.” Roy interjected as well. You all looked at each other. “Did we forget to pack them?” 

“No, I remember packing them.” Jason assured, getting up to look around. “Roy, go tuck Lian in, we’ll look for them.” Jason ordered, Roy nodding and leaving to the little girl’s room. You started looking through all your belongings you’d unpacked- nothing had been put where it belonged, most if it in piles or moved to the rooms where they’d be properly put tomorrow. You looked again through the books and the clothes, with no such luck. Jason was looking for another box to unpack, though that box didn’t seem to exist. 

“Maybe the box got lost on the way or we left in in the car?” You suggested. You hoped you were wrong and that the tiredness of moving and unpacking was just getting to all three of you…

“Guys.” You turned, seeing Roy sticking his head out Lian’s door. He motioned his head for you both to come closer, and you did as told, quietly. You peered into Lian’s room to see what the fuss was about. 

Lian was fast asleep on her bed, curled up wearing your sweater, Roy’s hat on her favourite Teddy’s head, and Jason’s book hugged into her chest. Relief filled you knowing the objects were safe, and then your chest filled with love at the sight. All three of you smiled at the sight of her. You all walked into the room. Jason gently pried the book from her arms, resting it on the bedside table, you picked up Lian, and Roy pulled back the covers and you laid her underneath them. You took turns giving little kisses on her head, before you turned her lamp off, and you left her room.

Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in! 

*Not my gif

TAGS:   @theplacewhererobindied @rebellionofthecattle @hello-love-youre-pretty @courtneychicken​  @graysonmalfoy​ @bellero​ @originalpottervengerlock​ @supernatural-pan​ @esoltis280​ @lena-stan-xavier @lady-of-lies​ @sebstanismylife​ @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980​ @cdwmtjb8​ @caswinchester2000​ @determinedpines​ @huntheimpossible

[writing-good-vibes]

vain just like you

because I love fiona as much as I love brad and it is literally just perfect that she is the new charles. also don't tell me chucky wouldn't lose his mind getting off for the first time in his new body. WARNING for smut (masturbation), nica!chucky (could be considered dubcon as it is charles' mind in nica's body, but that is up to personal interpretation, i did not write it from that angle).

It wasn't that he didn't want to rip Tiff's clothes off as soon as humanly possible, but the long drive from Harrogate to the city, and then to the apartment Tiff had rented for the time being, had given him a bit too much time to think about his situation. Damn. He was human again. All the pesky sensations that he had gotten so used to living without were back in full force.

The hum of the car engine through his body -- or her body, Nica's body, technically -- was so much stronger than he ever remembered it being. The ache of his joints from walking in a body that hadn't done so in 25, 30 years (damn, how old was this chick again?). The itch of his skin -- his real human flesh -- against his clothes.

He was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the drive, after the initial high he got from killing had worn off.

*

The apartment Tiff had rented wasn't half bad. Sure, it could be nicer, especially considering Tiff was kind of rolling in it theses days (who knew Jennifer Tilly was actually financially responsible prior to her... relocation), but in all fairness they'd both slept in worse places. Their old Chicago apartment, for example, wasn't much to look at.

*

When Tiff suggested they head to the bedroom, it (almost) killed him to say, "Actually, Tiff, d'you mind if I just call it a night? All this soul swapping is tiring work."

She seemed put out, "Are you sure, sweet face? I thought you'd want to have some fun."

"Tiff, I swear I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I just need some time to... think. alone."

She didn't look much happier but, settled on the couch with a glass of red wine without much resentment (Chucky hoped).

Alone in the bedroom, Chucky locked the door and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at his hands. This body really was something.

There was a battered dressing table in the corner with a mirror over it. Looking at his brand new reflection, he followed the angles of his brand new face. There was something about Nica that was unsettling. Something about her reminded him too much of himself. He should be pleased, he had always felt pretty cheated out of a body he considered above average in the looks department. But having a new face -- a new body -- that was so familiar whilst still being annoyingly alien was slightly off putting, even considering the bat shit direction his life had taken 30 fucking years ago.

After a while, curiosity got the better of him. How could he resist though, really? How many people get the chance to jack off again for what is, effectively, the first time? He lay back in bed, trying to get comfy on the lumpy mattress and a hand worked down to the waistband of his sweatpants.

He thought he was pretty well versed in the pussy department. He'd never had any complaints, at least, but he was (almost) nervous, approaching one from this angle. Was it possible to embarrass himself by being bad at getting himself off?

Slipping into the panties the body had on -- his body, not his panties -- his finger dipped down further.

The wetness (almost) surprised him. Goddamn. Is this what it was like? The more he thought about it, the more he could feel the ache. It was different to getting hard, that at least felt tangible. No, this was different. An ache inside him that spread from his stomach to his (her?) pussy. There was no one else to impress but himself, but he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment at how wet he was already. He hadn't even got started yet.

Chucky almost jumped out of his skin when his finger found his clit. Holy shit. He pulled back for a second. Okay, breathe. He touched himself again, rubbing slow circles, fingers coated in his own slick. He involuntarily pressed his thighs together. Jesus, he was a grown man, why did jerking off have him blushing and flustered like a school girl getting fingered behind the bike sheds for the first time?

He tried again, determined to keep going, not only for the sake of his honour, but also because he really, really needed to get off now.

He sped up his ministrations, fingers inelegant and fumbling. Inexperienced. He didn't expect his clit to be this sensitive, he hadn't even put a finger inside yet, but he was losing it quicker than he ever had in his old body.

"Oh fuck - oh -," he was gasping, fingers clutching the bedsheets beneath him as his legs twitched. He was going to cum, just from this.

As much as he tried to stiffle the noise, not wanting to upset Tiffany who he just knew was fucking listening at the door for any funny business, he let out a moan, drawn out and desperate, as he came, sweat prickling down his back, fingers pulling away as he already felt the overstimulation set in.

Jesus. He (almost) felt jealous of all the girls he'd made cum like that before.

[lavendersies]

Willuz prompts:

- Willow and her bumblebee Palisman grow an extravagant topiary of her and Luz, adorned with beautiful bouquets of flowers (as well as make delicious honey) for Luz to thank her for everything.

- Kind of a recap of Season 1's Luz and Willow adventures, but with the notable highlight that Willow gives Luz an appropriate flower bouquet as thanks of helping her out (can be combined with previous prompt if preferable)

- Amity and Hunter argue which of the two Luz loves the most, only to find Luz on a date/making out with Willow in a secluded, forested area, maybe with blossoming flowers (this is a non-serious fic as an allegory to the whole shipping war at the moment, but could come off as a bit mean :P)

- Luz practices with her Glyphs once more to make nice flowers and topiaries for Willow.

- Willow has a crush on Luz and can't help but feel a little jealous when she and Amity get close instead. Willow is too shy to confess her feelings for Luz, fearing rejection, and doesn't want to be in hot water with Amity again after they're finally getting along since their breach years ago. Willow wants to be happy for them, but Gus notices her depression.

- Boscha has thrashed Willow's beautiful plant garden, a passion project that's been taken years, and Willow is despaired by this, too depressed to continue and rebuild. Luz decides to fix the garden and improve it.

@Arendalphaeagle gave theses wonderful prompts so I have went with fourth one. The request was suppose to be uploaded on A03 but it didn't work out so until further notice all Willuz requests will be uploaded here. Feel free to drop ya'll request in my ask box. Enjoy.

A flower for Willow

Luz tapped the symbol emitting a green light and a single flower merge. She looks over at her spell book that specializes in plant magic for something new. She had committed her time to mastering a new glyph, hoping it would create the perfect gift for Willow. Luz didn't care if she spent the whole night out here and woke up with tired eyes caked with crust. Starting earlier this week would have been the wise thing to do but studying for her witch classes ate up the time. In a sluggish motion the sun disappeared behind the trees, allowing the moon to provide a dim light and usher in darkness. Luz casted a luminous orb as she read the instruction on how to evoke multiple flowers. She read the guide once more then traced the symbol on paper and activated it. A patch of lavender and lilac flowers bloom before her, this was just what she needed. Luz would allow her artistic skills to do the rest, she took her book and went inside. 

She found Eda knocked out on the couch with an empty cup of apple blood dangling from her hand. A smile spread on her lips seeing the grey-haired witch in her apple blood coma. King was probably upstairs waiting for Luz's return so they could continue watching an anime series that she had downloaded on her phone. Upon entering the room Luz sees King scowling one of his stuffed animals.

When he noticed her presence. He stopped chiding the pink rabbit, "Oh hey Luz, are you ready to watch soul eater with me?" He asked, sitting on the sleeping mat.

"Not tonight love," She replied.

"Why not?!" King whined.

Luz faced the opposite direction and stripped from her outwear into pj's. She put them near the mat and got out her sketch pad.

"I have to finish a gift for Willow," she said, sitting down to begin sketching her friend's face.

"You can finish it tomorrow, I've been watching all week for us to watch soul eater!" 

"Sorry King, I promise we will watch it together tomorrow" she assured.

The furry demon grumbled under his breath and joined her on the mat. "What are you drawing anyways?" He asked, peeking over her shoulder.

"A picture of Willow" she responded.

"What's the occasion?"

"None, I just want to do something nice for my friend," she said.

"Do you have anything else in mind?"

Luz had finished Willow's eyes and moved on to her nose, "Tomorrow I'm 

going to create a plant statue with this picture".

"I want a plant statue of me!" King cried. 

Luz chuckled.

"And you've been doing a lot for Willow lately, last week you went out of your way to get her that plant baby".

Luz's heart raced, she already knew the next words coming, "She sounds more than a friend" King commented. 

"Friends do things for each other all the time" Luz struggled to tolerate her frisky heart, hoping the tone of her voice wasn't a dead give away.

"Eh, if you say so."

The room fell in silence and Luz worked diligently on Willow's portrait. The plant witch dominates her thoughts, now her heart flutters thinking of those olive green eyes behind the thin-rimmed glasses. The way her ear twitched at sudden noises. Willow had been nothing but a sweet-heart since day, she deserved the world and Luz was willing to give her it. Although these feelings bloomed, she didn't know if it was mutual on Willow's end, and she would keep them buried away. When Luz finally looked up from her sketch-pad King was fast asleep at the edge of her mat. She set aside the finished product and got some rest.

Later that night, Luz had woken up to relieve her heavy bladder, she carefully stepped over a sleeping King and visited the bathroom. After washing her hands, she found herself outside.

 The moon's bright orbs brighten her path as she walks through the woods. Luz was a moth drawn to light, she felt compelled to keep moving. The orbs glowed rapidly like glistening gems, Luz could hear the vibration. She was led into the opening and a massive bush that resembled Willow's head came in view. 

Woah...

"Thank you Luz!" It says

"Huh?"

Its large yellow luminous remind her of fireflies, she had accidentally swallowed one when she was seven.

"Thank you" it repeated.

"What for?" Luz asked.

She didn't get a response to her question,7 the bush thanked Luz on an endless loop. Suddenly, gravity reeled her forward and its mouth opened wide, swallowing her. 

Luz was expecting to be engulfed in darkness, her eyes were squeezed shut. She felt warmth and a chubby body press against hers, opening her eyes. Luz realized it was Willow. She embraced the plant witch hug and gently ran her hand along Willow's turquoise hair. 

"Luz!" 

Everything faded. Luz woke up in her makeshift room with an annoyed little demon held prisoner in her arms. "Luz let go!" He whines struggling to break free.

"Sorry.." she said sheepishly.

Luz released him and King scurried off on all fours. She took care of her personal hygiene then returned to the room for her uniform. When Luz went downstairs, Eda was waiting at the door with her staff. She wore her pajamas. "Can we take the tub?” 

“No, its for emergencies only”

“Please” Luz said, giving the grey haired woman pitiful eyes.

“I’m immune to those” Eda stated dismissively.

“But you can’t be the coolest witch without it,” 

“Keep it up and you’ll be walking to school” Eda said heading out the door. 

--

The schoolyard was still empty when Luz hopped off the staff. She watched Eda fly away, disappearing over the autumn colored trees. Luz took out her plant magic textbook and turned to the page about manipulation. After she got a good understanding, she pulled out the portrait of Willow and drew two symbols on them. Luz crossed her fingers and tapped the paper, a stem sprouted forth and the leaves took on the form of Willow's face. Two Lilac flowers blossomed on both sides, the topiary was the size of a miniature house plant. She had expected bigger  but before Luz could sulk her crush arrived. 

"Willow!" She quickly hid the plant behind her back.

"Hey" Willow smiled. 

Luz felt butterflies tickling her stomach, she forced a skittish smile and revealed the topiary. Willow eyes widened with astonishment, she took the plant from Luz's hands.

"Aww thanks" Willow shifted the plant in her other arm and gave her a hug. Luz no longer had butterflies pestering her insides. The euphoria buttered her up, if Luz hadn't stopped herself she would have kissed Willow. For a brief moment, the turquoise haired witch stared at her. Luz was about to look away but Willow touched her cheek and gently kissed her lips. She led Luz by the hand towards the school building. 

[pseudofaux]

Pseu! I miss you, hope all is going well! Definitely a good night for a good drink!

How about some tipsy fun with Shigezane? 🥺🥺 maybe a 4 or 5? wreck me! Wait does he drink? Gosh I need to replay him.

Cheers!!❤❤❤

HEY, honey! Hello, I hope you are doing okay! What a bonkers year. 😫 I hope you are looking forward to your birthday! 💕💕💕

Shige DEFINITELY drinks, he gets straight up... “overtoasted” in a story or two. (my hero) SO LET’S WRECK YOU A LITTLE (with love)!

The watermelon frou frou drink you included looks sooooo yummy, I’m making this modern AU and putting it in. And thinking VERY HARD about the watermelon in my fridge.

CWs for: unprotected sex, Shigezane being criminally cute and having a perfect, totally bomb [REDACTED, TEXT IS PLACED BEFORE THE CUT]

totally bomb DICK, it’s his DICK, we all know it’s big

His name is Shigezane and he tastes like a sugar rim, the flirtiest sweetness she’s ever known. He smells sweet, too-- she thinks it’s Armani but can’t tell which one. It might be the sugar-rimmed drinks talking (she has the best buzz going, fun and still in control), but from his jokes and his touching her as they dance, it feels like he’d be an enthusiastic, gentle, appreciative lover.

She feels like she wants to find out if that’s true. Two more songs, she tells herself. If I still like him after two more songs, I’ll take him to my room. And aside from the thrill of that prospect, she’s hoping she still likes him after two more songs, because she likes him a lot right now. He’s made her laugh so much and his touches have all been warm and good, but not too much.

Just right. He’s Goldilocks.

(Okay, that’s got to be the sugar-rimmed drinks talking-- his hair is actually a pretty, soft brown that’s more silver than gold somehow. But he’s still just right. She wants to get her fingers in that hair. If he kisses so well he can distract her from the sugar rim of their watermelon shots when they’re pretty much in public, she has high hopes for what else he can do with his mouth when they’re alone.)

This reception has been fun. Ridiculous but happy, the height of happy beach summer to match the afternoon’s wedding. Bright flowers everywhere, a little umbrella in every drink. She’s tasted pineapple, watermelon, and coconut. It’s long past sunset now, but the dancefloor on the restaurant’s deck is close enough that they can hear the night waves, even the ones they can’t see.

There are even torches on the beach, and dark wood chairs in the sand. The bride and groom took pictures cuddling on one earlier, and she’d looked on with the rest of the bridal party and beamed for them. Was there anything as nice as a happy wedding? No demanding parents. Just happiness and love. 

Well. Maybe spending a happy wedding reception with a nice guy who was making those gray slacks work so well.

“You up for another dance?” he asks, and holds out his hand to her like something from a movie. She already knows how nice it feels to put her hand in his, and she needs to see what he does for the next two songs. So she puts her hand in his and says “Are you?” and totally smiles at him just because he smiles at her so big and bright.

He doesn’t do annnnnything to put her off for three songs. But before she can pull him aside to ask about going somewhere, he says “Hey-- you wanna walk on the beach?” and his glance is so sweet she’s not even mad at him for being so sweet and smooth before she could. His look isn’t shy or cocky. She looks at him for a moment just to soak in how damn cute he is, that soft brown hair all wind-mussed. And then she takes his hand again. 

They walk beyond the light of the torches, far enough down the beach that they’re in front of another restaurant’s slice of sand. The buildings on the land side are closed and dark. It’s not pitch black, but it is nighttime, and breezy. She’s glad the air is still summer warm.

“Oh no,” Shigezane says suddenly. There’s so much dread in his voice she’s worried there’s something dangerous on the beach with them.

She stops walking. “Uh... What’s wrong?” 

“Babe,” he says, gently tugging her hand. “There’s not a single person in any of these seats. Theses chairs are lonely.”

A sound stalls in her throat as she decides how lame that was, but he’s laughing and pulling her with him onto one of the beach chairs, and she goes. These are painted white, and they look soft and blue in the dark. Their bodies sit not very far apart at all on the lounger.

“I came out onto a dark, secluded beach, on a summer night... with a dork,” she deadpans, just like he did. He clutches at his heart and makes a show of her words wounding him.

“But,” she says, leaning the small space it takes to nudge him with her shoulder, “He’s a decent kisser.”

“Oh,” Shigezane says, now making a show of thinking over how that must change things.

“And he has a big heart for lonely furniture,” she whispers as she turns her body.

“Gigantic,” he whispers back. “Monumental.”

“Anything else gigantic you wanna tell me about?” she asks his mouth.

His exhale is sudden and gratifying to her. “Maybe, you know. Something reasonable,” he stutters. “Something reasonably sized--”

She kisses him again.

It’s not long before she’s straddling his lap, flowy dress bunched in his hands at her hips. She can tell from the promising stiffness she’s been grinding against that he was being modest, and she likes that. She likes him.

“I like you,” he says, and his head is tossed back but she’s watching everything she can see of his face, so she catches it. She smiles and puts a little kiss on his chin, just because he’s so damn cute.

“I like you, too,” she tells him. “But if I am going to cling to your shoulders--”

“Please cling to my shoulders. Oh my god. That’s really hot.” 

“Mmhmm. And if I’m going to cling to your shoulders,” she repeats, curving her palms over the tops of his shoulders and loving the muscle she can feel leading toward his back, “You’ll have to undo your pants yourself.”

“Ohhhh my god, okay, yes, absolutely,” he agrees, pushing himself up by the thighs, her grip on his shoulders and his hands holding her hips keeping her from falling. “Cling, babe. Please. I’m steady.”

She lets her hands really grip him and anchors herself with his body. He keeps one hand tight on her hip while the other works at the fly of those damn slacks. “Your ass looks good in those,” she tells him. “When we were spinning each other, I noticed.”

“Don’t make me blush,” he says, but even in the dark she can tell he already is, and smiling, too. He does whatever pulling needs to be done and sighs when his length is free. She can feel the warmth of it, like the sun hid a part of itself away for her to find in the dark.

It’s hard to decide if she wants to keep clinging (it is pretty hot, and she’s enjoying how solidly he’s kept her up by the strength of his shoulders and thighs), or touch him.

“Can I?” she asks.

“Doll, you can do anything you want,” he moans, head going back again. “Keep grinding, don’t grind, please just stay with me.” His hand goes back to her hip and he settles back down, waist of his pants high on his thighs. One day soon she wants to put her hands on his ass when he’s fucking into her, but here on the beach chair it would probably hurt. So she settles for grinding and kissing his Armani-scented jawline, following the cologne to the collar of the linen shirt he’s wearing. One hand stays close to his chest as she slides it down. Down. And then he’s wrapped by her hand and she cannot believe how smooth and thick this man’s dick is. What the hell. 

“I’m game to do more than grind if you are.”

“Fuck, Doll, anything you want, I meant it,” he says, weaving after her mouth as she playfully evades kisses. “But yes, hell yes. Very game. Atari. Dreamcast. Parcheesi.”

“Shut up, Shigezane.” She keeps a light grip as she begins to jerk him.

“I am never going to talk again,” he promises, and she laughs and kisses him and jerks him faster, and doesn’t call him on it when he starts chanting her name and curses and endearments. It’s better to let him, and focus on how damn good he feels in her hand. How good is he going to feel inside her? How would he feel in her mouth?

She has a nice little fantasy of going down on him in the kitchen of her apartment. Just lean him against the fridge-- mind the ice button, Shigezane-- and go to her knees. She thinks she could mouth the head of his cock for days, the skin of the rest of him feels so good.  “Gonna, soon,” he pants.

She leans forward and pulls in a deep breath of his cologne. She’s gotta find out what kind this is. “Well then you need to tell me,” she whispers, “where you want to be when you do.”

His answer is a series of swears but none of them are a location.

“How do you feel about cumming inside me?”

He looks at her like he cannot believe his luck. She likes that.

“Are you-- Yes, but... you’re okay...?”

“Are you clean?” she asks. “I do have a condom in one of my pockets.”

“Thought I could feel that,” he says, squeezing the dress fabric. “My god, you’re a dream.” He clears his throat. “I’m clean,” he says, more seriously. “But I’ll wear it.”

“Do you want to,” she presses.

“Uh, I am-- more than willing,” he sputters. “I think that’s clear?”

She laughs for what feels like the hundredth time that night.

“Shigezane. How do you feel about cumming inside me?” she asks again. She presses him against the very wet gusset of her panties and holds him there so she can make herself even wetter. He’s so hot, and so cute, and his dick feels so good.

Goldilocks.

“I want you to be comfortable,” he says carefully.

“Then I want you in me. I’m lonelier than these chairs,” she tells him.

“Can’t have that,” he says, grinning. She shakes her head and grins right back.

She stands in the sand and holds up the gauzy material of her skirt. “Take ‘em off,” she says.

He says something dumb and cute about it being his pleasure but she can’t scold him for it because as soon as he slips her panties down he starts kissing her pussy and if she thinks about anything but staying upright she will fall into the sand. He lets the stretchy lace fall and puts his hands around her hips, no fabric between them this time, and pushes his tongue into the seam of her body. He finds her clit without any prompting and yes, he’s a good kisser.

“Later,” she gasps, desperate to put her hands in his hair but sure if she lets go of her dress he’ll try to hide in it and get her off. She’s going to get off anyway, she wants to do it with his dorky but perfect cock inside her. “Tomorrow. Tonight, fuck me.”

He groans and asks “How do you want it?” His hands trace up her sides as he stands up. She can feel him touching the fabric at her waist. She’s getting a little dumb and desperate at this point, the party and drinking and all their flirting and the smoothness of him in her hand swirling around in her bloodstream.

She looks around to make sure they’re really alone. Then she pulls her dress the rest of the way over her head and tosses it toward one of the other chairs. Her bra joins it. Shigezane is looking at her like he wants to worship her with his mouth and she knows it’s not a bad idea.

Thinking he’s probably come back from the precipice by then, she takes one of his hands and brings him with her as she stretches out on the only lounger with a cushion. It’s thin, but it’s better than nothing! She’s hoping he’s gonna knock her around a little.

She pulls him like he pulled her for a dance. When he gets on top of her he is  careful with his limbs. He murmurs how gorgeous she is, how he cannot believe he got to even talk to her.

“You’re pretty gorgeous yourself,” she tells him, reaching for him again and rubbing him slowly against her clit. He glides from how wet she is. If he does not put his cock in her soon she’s going to run into the ocean. “Now do more than talk.”

From the first amazing press of his body to hers, he really is just right. And when his mouth finds hers, he shows her again that he’s a very good kisser. Sweet as a sugar rimmed drink.

[wonder-kid-pugh]

The Perfect Mix - (Lisa x Viv x adopted reader)

Hey guys!!! Honestly I haven't been able to write in ages now and updates are going to either stop or become really slow to be honest. Also I haven't really done ones like theses but someone asked for it and I said I would try it anyways. (Sorry if it's kinda shitty). But I also have another imagine I'm working on and I'm nearly done and it's also really long (like super super super long) Anyways I hope you guys enjoy!!!

Anyone who has met my parents always says that I'm the perfect mix of them. I'm calm, soft and a small bit shy like Viv but I have Lisa's accent and sense of humour. So it came as a surprise when people then heard I was actually adopted.

It started out when they found me in Scotland playing around at a field. I was just messing around with the ball when they watched me trip over my own feet trying to do a new skill. I could hear Lisa's laughs before I saw them.

You could imagine my surprise when I see two of my favourite players standing there watching me. After scolding Lisa for laughing at my failed attempt, Viv helped me up and offered to help me. Not even being able to speak I just nod quietly as I roll the ball around with my foot. They both stayed there deciding to play with me for a bit longer. Until eventually I knew I had to go home. But I was happy I got to meet two famous soccer players who I idolise.

So you can imagine my surprise when they came back to see me the next day at the same field. I was honestly surprised they even remembered my name. Lisa said it was because she was determined to get me to speak to them in full sentences. And that's how they started meeting up with me at the field.

They started to ask about my life and got to know me but I strayed clear of my home life focusing on school and soccer. Anytime they asked about it I dodged the question getting them to forget about it. But it could only last so long.

One day we spent the entire day at the field. We were there so long that they brought me to get food and by the time we were done it was late and dark out. I tried everything to assure them that I would okay with walking home alone but they weren't having it. So I grudgingly let them walk me home. Once they saw my home there wasn't hiding the truth anymore.

I lived at a group home

I had to explain to them how I was an orphan since as long as I could remember. That I practically grew up in the home under the supervision of the carer. That for 15 years I never knew who my parents were or where I came from. All I had left from my parents was my name and this old soccer ball which was left with me and a stuffed teddy which I wasn't quick to admit.

I honestly thought that after they knew about me and my past that they wouldn't want to spend any time with me anymore. Why would they hang out with an orphan when they could be doing something better with their lives?"

So to say I was shocked to see them both the next day was an understatement. But they reassured me that my past changes nothing and I was still the coolest 15 year old they knew (in Lisa's opinion). After that I started to open up to them more and more my shy side and nerves melting away and I started to joke around with them.

They started to buy me stuff which I tried my damnest to refuse but they were irrefutable not taking no for an answer. I started looking forward to when I would see them next always excited to spend time with them. I was really happy with the two.

But then came time for them to return to Arsenal.

Devastated wasn't even the word to describe it. I was inconsolable to be honest. I knew it was coming but I tried to ignore it for as long as possible. But as it was a week away from their departure back to England I tried to pull away slightly thinking that it would maybe ease the pain.

But we all know it wasn't going to work

So when Lisa burst into my room two days before they were due to leave I didn't even know that day was going to be the best day of my life.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask as I look up from my homework. "We came here to talk to you of course" Lisa says as she scrunches her face at the sight of my algebra homework. "For what?" I try again looking at Viv who know stood beside her. "We're going to help you pack!" Lisa exclaims cutting off Viv before she could answer.

Now I scrunch my face at them, "Pack for what?" Viv smiles at me, "Your going to come to England with us". My eyes light up my homework long forgotten now, "That's awesome! How did you convince Miss Wells to let me go? For how long?" The two soccer players share a smile before turning to me.

"How about indefinitely?"

I just stare at the two of them as I try to digest what they've just told me. Viv looked a bit nervous trying to read how I was feeling why Lisa just kept smiling at me. "Is this a joke? Cause this really isn't funny if it is..." I ask slowly. I mean there's no way they're thinking what I'm thinking.....

But Viv just nods while Lisa grins at me, "We want to adopt you Y/n"

The moment she says those words I can't help but let tears flood down my face, "Your serious?" They both nod with a smile on their face before I fling myself I to their arms clutching onto them repeatedly crying, "Thank you thank you" in their shoulders.

The two of them wrapped their arms around me as I clung onto them as if they were my lifeline. Which essentially they were. When we pull away Viv wiped away my tears while Lisa clapped her hands, "Now cmon and let's get you packed!" We had packed most of my things when Viv asks me, "What's this?" I turn to her and blush when I see her holding my stuffed teddy.

I bite the inside of my cheek as I look down shuffing my shoe on the floor, "He's mine". Viv chuckles, "Does he have a name?" I smile shyly at her, "Spin". Lisa burst out laughing, "God she's like a mini you Viv". But Viv shakes her head, "Nah I think she's like you". Lisa beams while I just couldn't help but smile.

"I mean I can't understand either of ye half the time..."

Lisa and I both pick our heads up, "Hey!"

That's how I ended up going with them to England. Lisa was so excited to show me all the places they go to while Viv was more relaxed about everything wanting to make sure I felt comfortable with my new surroundings. I had been there for around a month before they decided it was about time to meet their teammates.

Just not the way I expected to meet them

The three of us had headed to training centre earlier than usual so that we would make sure we would be there before the rest of the team. Viv went with Lisa to go get checked out by the physio leaving me in the dressing room. They had assured me that the team wouldn't be here for another while so while I waited I listened to music while I started playing with the ball. I was so busy with the ball that I didn't notice that I wasn't alone anymore.

"Who are you?"

Honestly I don't know why but in shock and surprise I kick the ball a little too hard in their direction. The ball sails over and hits one of them in the stomach with a thump. They barely catch it but let out a grunt from the impact while the others laughs.

My eyes widen as I look up to see who I just hit.

Katie McCabe

"Oh I'm so sorry!" I exclaim as I go bright red as I just realised what I did. "Fuck that hurt" Katie moans as she huffs out trying to catch her breath again while the rest of the team snigger behind her making the Irish player glare at them. But Katie turns back to me, "Who are you?" I scratch the back of my head sheepishly but just as I open my mouth to answer I'm cut off my a shout in a familiar Scottish accent, "What's everyone doing?"

They walk in and smile at me only for their eyes to widen when the rest of their teammates standing there as well. "Hey guys?" Lisa says happily while I move to hide behind Viv who wraps an arm around me rubbing my back. No doubt sensing how flustered I am. "Who's she?" Leah ask trying to look around Viv to look at me but I shrink back holding onto Viv's jumper.

Lisa throws her arm around me and squeezes me into her side, "This is Y/n". She  smiles at her teammates, "Our adoptive daughter". I can't help but smile at that while their teammates eyes got comedically wide as I give them a shy smile and wave. Lia coos, "Awe she's adorable". I can feel the blush darkens as I burrow myself further into Viv. Viv runs her fingers through my hair giving me a reassuring smile as I step out from behind her and shuffled awkwardly on my feet, "Uh hi?"

They all smile at me but I jump slightly as Danielle bounces up to me smiling happily at me, "I'm Danielle but you can call me Daan!" Beth puts a hand on her shoulder chuckling, "Dial it down a bit. We don't want to scare her off just yet". "She can't help it. She finally found someone the same height as her" Jill teases. We all laugh as Daan pouts lightly but doesn't seem discouraged at all and shrugs it off easily. They all introduced themselves and started to ask some questions about me before they started training. They even allowed me to join in our their training always making sure I was with either Lisa or Viv making sure I was comfortable. But as training went on I quickly grew more comfortable and started messing around and joking with the team.

"Are you sure she's not your child?" Jill asks as I sink the ball into the net, "she's just like you". Viv just shrugs but you could still see the proud smile on her face. But Beth shakes her head joining the conversation, "I think she's more like Lisa". But Daan and the rest of the team now joins as well, "Not definitely like Viv". 

We watch as an argument breaks out over who they think I'm more like while I just stand in between the two women and hug both of them.

"Nah I think I'm the perfect mix"

[summerofsnowflakes]

Forget the World

Daveed x Reader 

Work count: 1.7K

TW: This story is centred around anxiety and includes a graphic panic attack. Please don’t read this if you feel it may trigger you. 

A/n: So this is very personal and the reason I took so long with it is because it was quite difficult to encapsulate and write about anxiety. I know everyone’s anxiety manifests differently but this is a small glimpse into mine. I hope you guys enjoy it. 

It had been four months since the last time you and Daveed had seen each other, he was currently in Vancouver filming the next installment of Snowpiercer. You both hated these long periods without seeing one another, but it came with the territory of being in a relationship with a famous dude. You had been together for a few years now but you had known each other for so many more years. You had met in college and It was your typical friends to lovers story, but it took you both time to recognize you were meant to be together. You had been in the background for all of his important moments and he had been there for yours too, It was inevitable that you would end up together but it always happened that you were in right person at the wrong time.  So, after all theses years it would be an understatement to say that the two of you had perfected the long distance thing. You were both able to read each other's feelings by a simple text, you knew when to pull back and when to hold on tighter; most importantly, you had learnt how to avoid the unnecessary fights.  With that being said, going months and months without seeing one another and not being able to touch each other was incredibly hard. There was only so much comfort that you can gain from a text or a longing facial expression frozen in place because of poor internet connection. Out of the two of you, you certainly struggled more with this. You were a person who needed a random hug, a chaste forehead kiss or a silent hand squeeze, especially when you were having a bad mental health day. 

Another thing you had learnt after a few years of on and off long distance was the importance of having something to look forward to. This was the main reason that you used the majority of your holiday to spend time flying back and forth to wherever your Daveed was at that point in the year. You knew when he was filming it was almost impossible for him fly home and it was a sacrifice you were wiling to make, because at the end of the day it wasn't really a sacrifice. That is why you were in Vancouver in mid-November, one of the rainiest months of the year. However, as you laid on the plushy hotel bed on your front with just a thin white sheet covering your lower half, staring at the man you loved, who you was all smiles after reacquainting yourselves with each other's bodies, the miserable weather felt well worth it. A small shiver ran down your spine as Daveed traced soft patterns along your skin. 

 The remnants of heavy breathing continued as you laid silently trying to not to let your anxiety of the evening ahead take control of you and the look on your face told Daveed where you were without need to say it out loud. "Penny for your thoughts beautiful." He murmured and placed a soft kiss to bare your shoulder. You only shook your head at him, not trusting your voice to hold out right now. You didn’t want to burst the bubble of perfection that had been created moments ago and you certainly didn't want to tell him that you wanted to cancel the plans for tonight. When the cast had found out you were visiting they had set out a bar crawl around the city, it had been planned for weeks now and you didn't want to ruin things because of your anxiety. You had met the cast so many times before, so there was no real reason for this to be happening. If anything that made you feel worse because you were comfortable around them. You felt the panic rising in your stomach as these thoughts flew round and round in your head. It was dizzying. 

 With your mind racing a mile a minute, you had almost forgotten that Daveed was still by your side. He had been watching your face contort in fear and panic as you struggled with your own thoughts and he felt helpless to the situation. He knew a panic attack was potentially on the cards right now and he wanted to do everything he could to prevent it or help you through it. Unfortunately, as you had both found out in the past that is not how mental health works. Sometimes he just had to stand back and let you ride out the storm alone. He bought his hand up to your cheek and caressed it slowly and he loved that you nestled your face into his hand and he smiled softly at you. 

 The switched flipped so quickly, just as Daveed thought he had been helping was the moment that you shot out of bed and locked yourself in the bathroom. You were trying to shield him from the messiness of a panic attack, never considering he had wanted to help you through the mine field of your anxiety. You didn't think of that in the moment, no your brain wasn't rational enough to consider that, but who is when they feel like their hold body is giving up on them. You felt like you needed to run as far away as possible to protect you from yourself. With the door locked you sank to floor and gasped loudly, repeatedly, desperately trying to get some air into your lungs. Your body shook intensely and your vision became dark and blurred as you felt your access to oxygen disintegrate before you. You tried terribly hard to bring yourself back to planet Earth, but it felt like this was never going to end. 

 It felt like an eternity of rapid heart beats, intense sweating and overwhelming trembling before you felt yourself begin to finally calm down. You had lifted your knees up to your chest and bought your head in between your knees.  It had been a technique your dad had taught you when you began experiencing these attacks as a child and it was one of the few things that made you feel grounded and close to him. With the first part of your panic attack subsiding, the nausea and the chest pains made their presence known too and you attempted to ride the wave out as best as you could. You always experienced your attacks in two parts, it signaled that the end was in sight but not without it's own set of troubles. You moved yourself to the toilet bowl as you felt like you were on a ship, rocking back and forth. You were almost certain you were going to be sick, but it never came. You finally felt the whole ordeal subside and you took a big breath in and slowly let it out, just because you finally could. Daveed re-entered your mind and you didn't need to check to know that he had been sat outside and listened to the whole thing. Whenever you experienced this in his presence he always stayed close by but didn't ever invade the space you needed. You knew it was silly but you felt shame creep up your neck, upset by how bad this one had been and you wished for the ground to swallow you up whole. 

 Daveed had sat himself on the floor on the other side of the door, listening to you as you sobbed and gasped for breath. In that moment he understood what torture really felt like, if he wasn't helpless before he certainly was now. He racked his brain of ways to calm you down but he was so worried that by talking to you and interrupting your panic it would make it worse. He didn't want to make this worse for you. The only thing he could do, the same as you was wait it out. He was so relieved when he heard the lock click and he stood himself up. 

 You couldn't meet his eyes as you came face to face with one another. "What a way to say hello, huh?" You mumbled quietly and he let out an amused breath. He should have known something like that was coming, you often used humour to hide behind. You shuffled out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Your eyes were glued to the floor. 

"Can I give you a hug?" Daveed asked tentatively, to which you nodded. Daveed wrapped his arms around you, and you turned yourself into his body, resting your head on his bare chest as he held onto your shoulders tightly.

 Only seconds into the hug you let out a quiet giggle as the whole situation dawned on you, he looked down at you puzzled by your quick change of demeanour. Your laughter didn't die down and Daveed found himself understanding even though he was still clueless, your laughter became infectious and he laughed into your hair as you laughed into his chest. It was a nice moment of relief.

"Sorry. It's just we're both still naked and that just really got to me…" You said as you calmed down. "I don't know why, just it all seemed so ridiculous when I realised you were butt naked." When he didn't reply to you, you felt the need to fill the silent air, worried about what he thought of you. "So, what time do we need to be ready for?" you asked tentatively. 

"9:15pm tomorrow, as long as you feel up to it." Daveed replied. You lifted your head up to look at him for the first time. "Don't give me that look Y/n. I wasn't about to make you endure anything more tonight. I text the group, it's already done." 

"But I don't want them to think I am being rude." You murmured, the panic bubbling back up. 

"Hey." He replied and put his hand under your chin to lift you head so you had to look at him. "Forget the world, it can wait until tomorrow." You smiled timidly at the man that you loved more than anything in the world and for the first time since you had arrived in Vancouver you felt like you could breath. "Now will you let me cuddle you until you feel better please?" He asked.

[kapitaali]

The New Hippies

THE NEW HIPPIES: The work abolition movement, anarcho-primitivism and biodynamism as ways to combat climate change

Essay for the course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business by Teppo Saari

Introduction

The course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business had the students think about and discuss the various ethical dimensions in business, moral dilemmas and choices to be made that a decision maker in business world come across every day.

This essay is motivated by our case study with a headline ’Investors urge European companies to include climate risks in accounts’ (Financial Times 2020). In this essay I will explore values and ethical principles that I see as the solutions to our case study and climate change in general. This is not to say that I could stand up for them in business world. Ironically, my main thread and leitmotif here is the untransformational nature of capitalism and business world. Thus, standing up to the values I will discuss here means doing less business, not more.

This essay is divided in three parts: problem – reaction – solution. These three parts will talk about the chosen values and ethical principles. They are by no means new: pragmatism – The Golden Rule – parsimony & naturality. They just seem to be in conflict with our modern way of living.

Thinking pragmatically about the problem

As part of our course assignment, we got to read about a group of investors managing trillions of dollars worth of assets who urged European companies to include climate risks in their accounts (Financial Times 2020). Scientists have warned us for decades, that pumping extreme amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere will result in melting of the polar ice caps (Mitchell 1989; Jones & Henderson-Sellers 1990), which will raise the sea level and drown some of the coastal cities (Peters & Darling 1985). Finally, capitalists are acting responsibly!

It would seem that capitalists actually cared for the planet and not just their profits. Or would it? Maybe they are scared of losing their future profits, and this kind of media escapade would bring back public trust and confidence in the system. It would be a sign that capitalists can act transparently, openly, accountably, respecting others (O’Leary 1993). But is changing the allocation in your investment portfolio really a sign of empathy? Would there be other ways to better express empathy in business?

Shareholders are interested in the risk their assets are facing, not necessarily in the welfare of the people. Investors acting virtuously can be just virtue-signaling or pleasing other elements in the society to take off media pressure and negative PR from them in a conformist way (Collinson 2003). Maybe they are just greenwashing their own conscience. Why is George Soros’ climate buzz astroturfing industrial complex (Morningstar 2019a) financing Greta Thunberg to do public PR campaigns targeting the youth? Maybe there is money in it. It is unlikely that it would have been dubbed ”A 100 trillion dollar storytelling campaign” without some particularly good reasons (Morningstar 2019b).

But there is something else in it too than just money: power and control. The person who gets to limit choices gets to dictate what kind of choices remain. And if a person has that kind of foreknowledge, then that person can be two steps ahead of us. And being two steps ahead of us means securing future profits. Including climate risks in accounts will imply controls. Controls are imposed on accounts, but ultimately it will mean controls imposed on people and their daily activities. Workers are the ones who will naturally suffer the consequences of management decisions. In this case management decisions are ’urged’ externally, from the owners’ part. After all, it is the corporations that are producing most of the climate change effects, in terms of pollution and greenhouse gases (Griffin 2017). People doing their jobs, working everyday, producing things but also at the same time producing climate effects. I would still love to hear politicians use more terms such as ”pollution” when talking about these issues. For it is unclear how reducing carbon emissions will reduce overall pollution that is also a contributor in the destruction of our environment (see eg. Bodo & Gimah 2020; Oelofse et al. 2007). Issues like microplastics, holes in the ozone layer, biodiversity loss, acid rains and soil degradation need to be talked about just as much, if not more so.

The problem is simple: too much economic activity producing too much climate impact, mostly pollution and greenhouse gases. Solving the Grand Challenge (Konstantinou & Muller 2020) of our time is harder if we wish to keep the fabric of our society intact. There’s a clear need for dialogue among stakeholders (Gardiner 1996), but how is it a dialogue if people are not actually listened to and don’t get to say how things will progress in society? What I am proposing is a meme-like solution that has the greater impact the more people adopt it. My solution is: stop working. Produce less. Stop supporting systems and mechanisms that produce climate effects. Stop supporting the mechanisms that don’t listen to your voice. Disconnect from the Matrix. Working a dayjob is one of these mechanisms. Although many people have realized the benefits of working from home (Kost 2020), a lot more needs to be done. Remote work is not available to everyone. Not all jobs are remote work.

Bob Black (2021) in his texts has advocated for the total and complete abolition of work. Stopping working naturally does not mean stopping doing things, it will merely mean stopping working a job, a concept which itself is a social construct. Black’s theses are simple but powerful. Working is the source of all ills, it is not compatible with ludic life (allthemore so in 2021), it is forced labour and compulsory production, it is replete with indignities called ”discipline”: ”surveillance, rotework, imposed work tempos, production quotas, punching -in and -out, etc”. Black does not only describe the negative ontological aspects of working, he goes deeper and invokes many familiar names of Greek philosophers:

Both Plato and Xenophon attribute to Socrates and obviously share with him an awareness of the destructive effects of work on the worker as a citizen and a human being. Herodotus identified contempt for work as an attribute of the classical Greeks at the zenith of their culture. To take only one Roman example, Cicero said that “whoever gives his labor for money sells himself and puts himself in the rank of slaves.” His candor is now rare, but contemporary primitive societies which we are wont to look down upon have provided spokesmen who have enlightened Western anthropologists. The Kapauku of West Irian, according to Posposil, have a conception of balance in life and accordingly work only every other day, the day of rest designed “to regain the lost power and health.” Our ancestors, even as late as the eighteenth century when they were far along the path to our present predicament, at least were aware of what we have forgotten, the underside of industrialization. Their religious devotion to “St. Monday” — thus establishing a de facto five-day week 150–200 years before its legal consecration — was the despair of the earliest factory owners. They took a long time in submitting to the tyranny of the bell, predecessor of the time clock. In fact it was necessary for a generation or two to replace adult males with women accustomed to obedience and children who could be molded to fit industrial needs. Even the exploited peasants of the ancient regime wrested substantial time back from their landlord’s work. According to Lafargue, a fourth of the French peasants’ calendar was devoted to Sundays and holidays, and Chayanov’s figures from villages in Czarist Russia — hardly a progressive society — likewise show a fourth or fifth of peasants’ days devoted to repose. Controlling for productivity, we are obviously far behind these backward societies. The exploited muzhiks would wonder why any of us are working at all. So should we.

Black notes that only ”a small and diminishing fraction of work serves any useful purpose independent of the defense and reproduction of the work-system and its political and legal appendages”. In similar vein, the late but great David Graeber saw the futility of most work. Calling this phenomenon ’bullshit jobs’ (Graeber 2018), Graeber sets out to describe what many of us are familiar with: we do useless things to make ourselves feel useful. Because modern society legitimizes itself with having people ’do’ stuff and not ’be’ a certain person. How can you (objectively) measure being? You can’t. But doing, that you can measure. This measurement then qualifies you as a member of society: productive, doing your part (an idiom that is a perfect example how you can’t escape the doing paradigm on a societal level). Graeber’s definition of a bullshit job is: if the position were eliminated, it would make no discernible difference in the world. In many cases these types of jobs are found to be supporting some kind of buraucracy, reporting, assisting decision makers, etc. Our current Matrix has its ways of creating more of these with the clever marketing concept called ’value’ (Petrescu 2019). They don’t make a difference, they create value.

Why would you want to overload the world by doing things that you nor most everyone else see no point in? Why would you waste your time doing pointless things? The easy answer to these questions is ’subsistence’. But there are many other ways to live on this planet. If you keep doing what the society tells you is acceptable or convenient, you will shut your eyes from the problem at hand: climate change.

Legitimizing anarcho-naturism as a solution with The Golden Rule

Our responsibility is to ourselves. We can not properly be held responsible for anything else. Yet the system of representational democracy does just this, holds us collectively responsible for many things, borrows money from creditors with our names on the loan collectively and then makes us pay for the loans. The way this Matrix works is yet another reason to disconnect from it. Or at least stop supporting it as much as possible.

The Golden Rule states: ”Treat others as you want to be treated” (Gensler 2013). From the perspective of climate change, it can first seem curious why you would quit your job and head for the hills. After all, we are facing a global issue here. There are people in need for help and I am running away? But I would see it as a way to get around our predicament. The Golden Rule can be also interpreted in Kantian way as the categorical imperative, particularly its first formulation: ”Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This formulation is somewhat more proactive in nature. It talks about acting, doing things, and doing things is what is appreciated in our society, even when your goal is to exit the society.

Why exit the society? Is it enough to just quit your job and find something else to do, something that is more fulfilling and not bullshit? What an excellent question. Long before the advent of smart phones and 5G and DNA-vaccines, this question had been brought up to the table. In the 1800s, people were realizing the negative impact industrialization was having on society at large. People were rooted out from their family homes in the countryside, forced to move to a large city to look for a job, crammed into small apartments with dozens of other workers, coerced into working long and hard days at factories to make a living. The lowly misery of these people attracted the attention of a certain Friedrich Engels, who felt their situation was not adequate to make up for the suffering they had gone through. He meticulously described the working conditions of the English working class in his ”The Condition of the Working Class in England” (2003 [1845]), originally published in German. Sociology as a science was established by Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim to study these changes. Slowly but surely, the influx of people into cities started to cause issues, something that mayors and other municipal representatives had to start taking care of. Planning and zoning were given a lot more attention, since the earlier modus operandi of old European cities had been rather laissez faire (Sutcliffe 1980).

Against this backdrop of massive societal change, people started to question the changes and their direction. Are we really nothing more than slaves, just working in a different environment? Slavery might not be the right word or context here. Many people believe to be free, govern themselves and their property, and yet their daily actions and options to choose from seem to be eerily limited. They have only so many choices, most of which seem somehow related to running their errands. A more appropriate term, with all its connotations, here would be the Greek word ananke, ”force, constraint, necessity”. Like a force of nature, progress towards modernity necessitates that people leave their family homes and go work in large factories, compulsively manufacturing endless amounts of products, some of which are necessary, others merely decorations, and some just pointless.

Many names in 19th century New England worked upon a vision for the future society at a time when unprecedented changes were taking place and the standard of living was rising faster than ever before. The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism, the first notable American intellectual movement. Transcendentalist believe in the inherent goodness of people and nature, but that society and its institutions — particularly organized religion and political parties — corrupt the purity of the individual. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003; Sacks 2003.) Transcendentalism is a unique mix of European Romanticism, German (particularly Kantian) philosophy, and American Christianity. The impact of this movement can still be seen in the many flavours of American anarchist and radical Christian movements.

Out of the ranks of Transcendentalists rose a couple of names that can be viewed as the progenitors of modern anarcho-primitivism and natur(al)ist anarchy. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the central figure of the Transcendental Club, who together with Henry David Thoreau critiqued the contemporary society for its ”unthinking conformity” and advocated for “an original relation to the universe” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003). Emerson’s Nature (2009 [1836]) poetically embellishes our view of the natural world, while Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1995 [1854]) is a call for civil disobedience and revolt against the modern world. Another influential natur(al)ist writer has been Leo Tolstoi whose name is frequently mentioned by anarchists. Tolstoi himself was a Christian and pacifist, and his writings have inspired Christian anarcho-pacifism that views the state as ”immoral and unsupportable because of its connection with military power” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2017).

Before the Transcendentalist movement, Europe experienced similar trend in philosophy with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s natural philosophy. Rousseau touched upon many subjects: freedom, free will, authority, nature, morality, societal inequality, representation and government. Like Transcendentalists, Rousseau held a belief that human beings are good by nature but are rendered corrupt by society. ”Rousseau clearly states that morality is not a natural feature of human life, so in whatever sense it is that human beings are good by nature, it is not the moral sense that the casual reader would ordinarily assume” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010). Rousseau’s work is relevant to many of the social movements that currently fight against COVID restrictions, vaccination agenda, building of 5G antenna towers next to where people live, polluting the environment, systemic poverty and general disconnection from the natural world. Rousseau, although regarded as a philosopher, saw philosophy itself negatively, and to him philosophers were ”the post-hoc rationalizers of self-interest, as apologists for various forms of tyranny, and as playing a role in the alienation of the modern individual from humanity’s natural impulse to compassion” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010).

Rousseau’s days did not see capitalism as we see it now. It was later Marx (influenced by Hegel, who in turn was influenced by Rousseau) that put together a treatise that considers the societal change we have seen ever since from industrialism and circulation of capital. But Rousseau’s thoughts about the social contract (1968 [1762]), “child-centered” education (Rousseau 2010), and inequality (Graeber & Wengrow 2018; Rousseau 2008) are still relevant today. Especially when we are faced with many societal forces that are contradictory in nature, each of them pushing us into certain direction, demanding our attention, wanting us to change our beliefs about that one particular aspect that connects with other aspects and forms the Matrix of our reality.

We are once again facing a similar situation as the people did back in the days of the first industrial revolution. Now the industrial revolution has reached its fourth cycle, unimaginatively called ”Industry 4.0” (Marr 2018; WEF 2021), where machines are starting to become autonomous and talk to each other. I used to think technology was cool, and went to work for Google. But at Google I learned that technology is not cool, after all. Not until technology becomes completely open source, it will be used by massive conglomerates to build autonomous weapons systems (Cassella 2018; Johnson 2018) and the industry will keep paying ethics researchers to keep writing arguments for them (Charters 2020). Even though I could work for an industry that, given the current trajectory, will be among the biggest producers of CO 2 in the future Vidal 2017), the idea that I would work for an industry that sees weaponizing their products as the grandest idea of mankind’s future is still gnawing.

Because, it is all just business (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

One of the functions of critical science is to create awareness of the underlying values, and the political and financial interests which are currently determining the course of science and technology in industrialized society. This exposure of the value-laden character of science and technology is done with the goal of emancipating both people and the environment from domination and exploitation by powerful interests. The ultimate objective is to redirect science and technology to support both ordinary people and the environment, instead of causing suffering through oppression and exploitation by dominant elites. Furthermore, by exposing the myth of the value-neutrality of science and technology, critical science attempts to awaken working scientists and engineers to the social, political, and ethical implications of their work, making it impossible or, at the very least, uncomfortable for them to ignore the wider context and corresponding responsibilities of their professional activities.

It all seems to be connected with state imperialism and the military-industrial(-intelligence) complex. Lenin’s statement (2008 [1916]) equating capitalism with imperialism still prevails this day: ”imperialist wars are absolutely inevitable under such an economic system, as long as private property in the means of production exists”. The conditions change, but the war machine keeps on churning (soon with autonomous weapons!), with wealthy but crooky investors financing projects that are even more dystopian (Byrne 2013). We may remember what president Dwight D. Eisenhower said about the military- industrial complex (NPR 2011):

”In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”

It is exactly these kinds of doomsday scenarios that inspire people like Theodore John ”The Unabomber” Kaczynski. Kaczynski, famous for sending mail bombs to various university professors around the US, holds a doctoral degree in mathematics. (Wikipedia 2021.) Kaczynski was bullied as a child, and it has been suggested that he was part of an MKULTRA experiment in college (The Week 2017). Kaczynski did not send his bombs haphazardly. He wrote long theoretical pieces to justify his actions, most of them being thematically anarcho-primitivist. In 1995, after sending several bombs to university personnel and business executives in 1978-1995, he said to ”desist from terrorism” if he got his text published in media outlets.

In his Industrial Society and Its Future (Kaczynski 1995), a 35 thousand word essay published in The Washington Post, which the FBI gave the name ”Unabomber manifesto”, Kaczynski attributes many our societal ills to ”leftism”. In the manifesto Kaczynski details how two psychological tendencies, “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization”, form the basis of ”the psychology of modern leftism”. Feelings of inferiority are taken to mean the whole spectrum of negative feelings about self: low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, guilt, self-hatred etc. Oversocialization is the process of socialization taken to extreme levels:

24. Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.

25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a nonmoral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people.

Kaczynski goes on to describe how this oversocialization causes a person to feel guilt and shame for their actions, especially in the context of performing as society expects them to perform. He writes how this concept of oversocialization is used to determine ”the direction of modern leftism”. Further on, Kaczynski describes how modern man needs goals to strive for, to not run the risk of developing serious psychological problems. This goalsetting activity he denotes ”power process”. But these goals can be real or artificial. Setting a goal is “surrogate activity” if the person devotes much time and energy to attaining it, does not attain it, and still feels seriously deprived. It is just a goal for goalsetting’s sake, the unfulfilled other side of the coin of power process. Kaczynski then connects these concepts to the many societal ills (excessive density of population, isolation of man from nature, excessive rapidity of social change and the breakdown of natural small-scale communities such as the extended family, the village or the tribe) by describing how modern society, with all its marketing and advertising creating artificial needs, disrupts the power process, mankind’s search for itself and meaning-making in life. He sees social hierarchies and the need to climb up them, the ”keeping up with the Joneses”, as surrogate activity.

”Because of the constant pressure that the system exerts to modify human behavior, there is a gradual increase in the number of people who cannot or will not adjust to society’s requirements: welfare leeches, youth gang members, cultists, anti-government rebels, radical environmentalist saboteurs, dropouts and resisters of various kinds”. This gradual increase, then, the system tries to ’solve’ by using propaganda, ”to make people WANT the decisions that have been made for them”. In regards to technology, the ”bad” parts cannot be separated from the ”good”, and thus we are constantly facing the dilemma between technology and freedom, new technology being introduced all the time, and new regulations being introduced to curb the negative effects of the technology and at the same time stripping us of our freedoms. Kaczynski concludes, that revolution is easier than reforming the system.

Later, Kaczynski released another of his anti-technological theses. In Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How (2015) Kaczynski presents a ”comprehensive historical analysis explaining the futility of social control and the catastrophic influence of technological growth on human social and planetary ecological systems.” This time Kaczynski talks more about how to start an anti-tech movement and how to keep it going. The text reads like a mathemathical proof of sorts, it presents ”rules”, ”propositions” and ”postulates” why the technological system will destroy itself (eg. Russell’s Paradox resulting in chaos in a highly complex, tightly coupled system) and why a successful anti-tech movement needs clear goals to avoid some of the errors revolutionary movements have made, which are elaborated in the book. Violence is not offered as a solution in the book, it is seen more like a mishap of sorts, a suboptimal outcome of a revolutionary movement. But it talks about power. Kaczynski got to learn the hard way how the feeling of powerlessness breeds desperate actions that would have been otherwise unnecessary. The book also talks about climate change and related issues, from a mathematic systems theoretical point of view.

Institutions that are in the business of social engineering and behavioral modification, such as the Tavistock Institute in the UK or the CIA in the US, would have us believe that Kaczynski’s actions were ”defences against anxiety” that can be seen as ”withdrawal, informal organization, reactive individualism and scapegoating” (Hills et al. 2020), and to some extent this is true. But Kaczynski interprets the actions of these institutions stemming from technological progress in our society Kaczynski 1995):

117. In any technologically advanced society the individual’s fate MUST depend on decisions that he personally cannot influence to any great extent. A technological society cannot be broken down into small, autonomous communities, because production depends on the cooperation of very large numbers of people and machines. Such a society MUST be highly organized and decisions HAVE TO be made that affect very large numbers of people.

This uniformity of a large hierarchical modern society then forces its will on people (Kaczynski 1995):

119. The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs of the system. This has nothing to do with the political or social ideology that may pretend to guide the technological system. It is not the fault of capitalism and it is not the fault of socialism. It is the fault of technology, because the system is guided not by ideology but by technical necessity.

We have once again encountered ananke, necessity. Now, if we consider ourselves as the lonely decision makers in this society, what could we do? We can try and fight fire with fire, but such fights end up producing only pain and casualties (Taylor 2013). Anarcho-naturists and anarcho-pacifists understand that (unnecessary) fighting in most cases does not work. Sometimes fighting is warranted, but it is beyond the scope of this essay to examine those cases. Sending bombs to people’s offices may get you some attention and even make somebody quote your manifesto in an essay, but it is not solving the issue, something which the Unabomber addressed in his later texts. If working a job indirectly supports the military-industrial complex NewScientist 2011), what good does it do? The military-industrial complex is the biggest source of pollution in the world (The Conversation 2019; Acedo 2015), detaching yourself from this complex is imperative. Even if they would manage to convince us with their psyops that they are willing to change and that climate change is an important issue (Ahmed 2014), it would still be the biggest polluter that is controlling the conversation. It has even been suggested that they are behind this climate buzz (Light 2014). Is your job doing that much good in society that it outweighs the cons? If I need to act responsibly, but cannot fight the system nor conform, while at the same time keeping in mind our looming climate disaster, the only reasonable and peaceful response is to exit the system altogether.

Biodynamism’s naturality and parsimony

Owning responsibility and transforming the world implies taking some kind of action. We have already seen how feelings of powerlessness and lack of self-worth can lead to destructive actions. But there are an unlimited amount of actions that can be taken, that are not based in feelings of powerlessness but empowerment.

Exiting society might sound like a lonely project, and some people might rightfully feel lonely when all their peers still want to live in the illusion. But it does not have to be so. A lot of soul-searching needs to be done, and that is usually done in privacy, focusing upon oneself, but beyond that there are ways how to go off-grid and drastically reduce your carbon emissions.

One of the key concepts that will be our guiding principle here is degrowth (Paulson 2017), which ties into values such as organicity, naturality and parsimony. We will want to have less production of artificial things, and more organic and natural things. By artificial we mean long supply chains and many phases of production with modern high technology that produce a large amount of climate effects. By natural we mean using primitive technology, mostly all-natural or recycled materials and something that can be produced even alone, given enough time. Primitive technology does not exclude electricity, it just means producing it differently.

Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and theosophist, the founder of Anthroposophy and a great reformer of science in matters of spirit, started the first intentional form of organic farming, known as biodynamic agriculture, after he had given a series of lectures on the topic in the last year of his life. (Paull 2011.) Steiner had many spiritual experiences during his life, which lead him to start the Anthroposophy movement. He wanted to apply the scientific process into spiritual realm, inquiring it as it would be as real as our material world. Inquiring this spiritual world helped him access knowledge he claims to not have been access otherwise (Steiner 2011 [1918]). Anthroposophist self-inquiry can be seen as Foucauldian ”technology of the self” that ”provide an intervention mechanism on the part of active subjects, injecting an element of contingency to everyday encounters and alleviating the determinist effect that technologies of power would have otherwise” (Skinner 2012).

Steiner’s thoughts about agriculture are still relevant (Paull 2011):

In 1924 Steiner commented that, “Nowadays people simply think that a certain amount of nitrogen is needed for plant growth, and they imagine it makes no difference how it’s prepared or where it comes from” Steiner, 1924b, pp.9-10). He made the point that, “In the course of this materialistic age of ours, we’ve lost the knowledge of what it takes to continue to care for the natural world” (Steiner, 1924b, p.10).

Our current system seems to think exactly in this way, that if we just compensate our wreaked havoc by investing in ’green’ technology (Elegant 2019), it will all be ok and rainbows in the sky. But it will not. No one is even double checking if the companies that say that they are now carbon neutral actually proactively try to make our world greener. They can just buy a renewable energy company and say now we are green and do nothing else. Some would argue that going ’carbon neutral’ like these massive corporations are doing it is not the way to do it: “’green’ infrastructures are creating conflict and ecological degradation and are the material expression of climate catastrophe” (Dunlap 2020).

Steinerian biodynamism ”encompasses practices of composting, mixed farming systems with use of animal manures, crop rotations, care for animal welfare, looking at the farm as an organism/entity and local distribution systems, all of which contribute toward the protection of the environment, safeguard biodiversity and improve livelihoods of farmers” (Turinek et al. 2009). While modern biodynamic studies focus on agroecological factors such as nutrient cycles, soil characteristics, and nutritional quality (Reganold 1995; Droogers & Bouma 1996), Steiner himself was quite metaphysical in his lectures and paid attention to details such as kingdoms of nature, planetary influences, biorhythms, incarnated and environmental ethers, and the Zodiac (Steiner 2004 [1958]; Nastati 2009).

By shifting to more natural ways of living, we may help Gaia (Lovelock 1991; Singh 2007) heal in many other ways than just reduce our climate emissions. By realizing that we are actually living on the skin of a fairly large and complex organism, we will stop treating it as a plain source of material resources, and start bonding with it, tune into its consciousness and establish two-way communication, just like the natives have done in America.

The way of the natives ought to be our current way, since there is no reason why the natives could not guard the lands they have before. One of the greatest fears of people speaking for private property rights is that managing resources collectively would mean exhausting them. There is no Tragedy of Commons. Just because you are materially poor does not mean that you are any less competent steward of land and wealth, as proposed by Elinor Oström (2009). Acting for climate is not an investment allocation problem. The natives need their land back so that they could do their best to fight the destruction of our ecosystem. The Outokumpu supply chain in Brazilian rainforests, Elon Musk and Bolivian lithium mines, Papua New Guinea indigenous conflict, mining in Lapland in traditional Sami herding areas, Australian uranium mining in indigenous lands… these are all pointless conflicts.

There are also many other ways of staying grounded and in touch with nature, while at the same time cultivating sovereignty. Many of these things revolve around feeding the most immediate community next to you. They reflect ideas such as mutuality, solidarity, organicity, and naturality. Permaculture is a term coined by David Holmgren to describe ”an approach to land management and philosophy that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole systems thinking. It uses these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, rewilding, and community resilience” (Wikipedia: Permaculture 2021). Permaculture has many branches including ecological design, ecological engineering, regenerative design, environmental design, and construction. It also includes integrated water resources management that develops sustainable architecture, and regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems (Holmgren Desing Services 2007).

Earthships are 100% sustainable homes that are both energy efficient and modern. Earthsips are built with natural and repurposed (recycled) materials, they heat and cool themselves without electric heat, they use solar energy to power electric appliances, they collect all of their water from rain and snowmelt, they re-use their sewage water to fertilize plants, and there’s an indoor garden that grows food in vertical growing spaces (Reynolds 2021). Ecovillages are a ”human-scale, full-featured settlement, in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future” (Gilman & Gilman 1991).

Clifford Harper had a set of drawings imagining an alternative in his book Radical Technology (Harper & Boyle 1976). In them, he shows many of the ideas that were themes in the German garden city movement in the beginning of 20th century (Bollerey & Hartmann 1980), such as collectivised gardens, autonomous housing estates, and community workshops. The book introduces us ’radical technology’, which spans basically all of the concepts we have discussed up to this point: organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, vegetarianism, hydroponics, soft energy, insulation, low-cost housing, tree houses, shanty houses, ’folk-built’ houses using traditional methods, houses built from subsoil, self-built houses, housing associations, solar dwellings, domestic paper-making, carpentry, scrap reclamation, printing, community & pirate radio, collectivised gardens, collective workshops for clothesmaking, shoe repair, pottery, household decoration and repairs, autonomous housing estates, autonomous rural villages, etc.

These concepts, while they seem simple, are still empowering, they are meant to let people enjoy they fruits of their labour. Last but certainly not least is the concept that all of these things fall under, alternative (or, appropriate) technology. Alternative technologies are those ”which offer genuine alternatives to the large-scale, complex, centralized, high-energy life forms which dominate the modern age” (Winner 1979). Alternative technologies seek to solve the problems technocentric thinking has caused in society: technical scale and economic concentration, level of complexity or simplicity best suited to technical operations of various kinds, division of labor and its alleged necessity, social and technical hierarchy as it relates to the design of technological systems, and self-sufficiency and interdependence regarding the lives of individuals and communities. Many of these solutions have been developed in Africa, where problems have had to be solved, but resources have been scarce in actuality.

Appropriate technology holds great promise in ways that are currently underappreciated in our society (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

As has been mentioned repeatedly throughout this book, the primary goal of technology in our current economic system is to increase material affluence and to generate profits for the wealthy by controlling and exploiting both people and the environment. In view of the reality of interconnectedness, this is neither environmentally sustainable nor socially desirable. In this chapter we discuss how to design technologies which reflect the values of environmental sustainability and social appropriateness. We also emphasize the importance of heeding the precautionary principle in order to prevent unintended consequences, as well as the need for participatory design in order to ensure greater democratic control of technology. Finally, as a specific example of an environmentally sustainable and socially appropriate technology, we discuss the positive contribution of local, organic, small-scale agriculture.

Conclusion

This essay has presented the reader with ramblings of a person who is familiar with Critical Theory, who would like to build a stronger connection to nature, and who is having a major identity crisis in life. I have expressed, albeit feebly, my will to emancipate myself, to exit the Matrix. In Finnish they would say ”Sota ei yhtä miestä kaipaa”, and in George S. Patton’s words this expression would be ”Hell, they won’t miss me, just one man in thousands.”

In this essay I seem to have extensively quoted the Unabomber manifesto. This is not to say that Kaczynski had exceptionally good motives or justifications for his actions. He killed many people and is in prison now. Kaczynski’s ideas are not unique. Quoting his manifesto serves merely to prove one point: he is the product of his environment. Mental illness is no longer a taboo and things have progressed somewhat since Kaczynski’s days. It could be argued that Kaczynski’s writings were just projection of his own feelings of shame and guilt he had gone through. But his mental condition, should he be diagnosed with one (Amador & Reshmi 2000), does not invalidate the things he’s written. In many ways his writings are now more relevant than ever. When we have tech billionaires talking about inserting neuralinks into your brain and downloading thoughts straight from the headquarters, we can really see the manifesto dots connecting.

I wish it would have been just the mental load caused by a ’surrogate activity’ of keeping up with the Joneses that was the cause of all this, but no, it’s the real deal now. When we have corporate executives and federal commissions defending autonomous weapons systems and saying building such systems is a ’moral imperative’ (Gershgorn 2021), you know we have reached peak civilization. It’s all downhill from now on. All participation in society will support this moral imperative, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it. While many would get back to nature for reasons of convenience, such as better health, Rousseau himself would have gotten back to nature ”to feel God in nature” (LaFreniere 1990). It is this kind of humanist transcendentalism (not transhumanism) that we will need again, to realize what we have done to our planet, to realize what needs to be done to abolish the war machine consuming it, and to make ourselves whole again.

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https://kapitaali.com/the-new-hippies/

[thereddeadredeemed]

An Ironwood meta that just randomly popped into my head.

So I’ve been skimming over a lot of the observations on RWBY from @bionic-jedi and aside from the glurge of absolutely adorable Nuts ‘n Dolts stuff (Which I appreciate, I ship it now), the part that really got my attention was all the shit going down around Ironwood. I don’t watch the show anymore, not that I hated it or anything I just sorta lost interest in the show itself, decided it ultimately wasn’t really for me and mainly just enjoy it through fanart and shipping now, but from what I gathered from bionic-jedi’s Let’s Watch Ironwood sounds absolutely fascinating in all the ways that I don’t think was intentional by the CRWBY but is still pretty awesome that it’s there.

Forgive me if I get the details wrong since I haven’t kept up with the show and all my info is coming second hand from @bionic-jedi​, but from I could gather Ironwood comes across as a man who:

- Is an experienced veteran fighter who individually is very badass with a proven tactical record on the battlefield

- Has the natural charisma to instill genuine loyalty and belief in his cause into his subordinates (To paraphrase Mass Effect 3 for a bit, you can pay a man to fight, you can pay him to charge up a hill, but no amount of money in the world will ever convince a man to believe in you), and does possess a genuine care for the troops under his command

- Will nonetheless still engage in abusive behavior if a subordinate is not performing in a way he believes is proper for their duty (Yeah I would consider forcibly hacking a sapient being to count as that)

- Carries around a very cool badass revolver as a signature weapon 

- While brilliant tactically, possess horrible long term strategic assessment skills that if allowed to be acted upon could have/did end in disaster

You know what that sounds like? Ironwood is almost a perfect RWBY equivalent for George R. Patton (with maybe a bit of Bernard Montgomery thrown in).

Like, I think that the CRWBY may have accidentally written a scenario that asks “What if Patton was the Supreme Commander of the Western Front instead of Eisenhower?” And the results are an absolute clusterfuck unfolding in real time, but I feel I gotta clarify this.

Patton is one of America’s most celebrated and respected generals, and for good reason. Dude was a badass with a keen sense of armor tactics and mobile warfare that proved repeatedly that he could beat the Germans at their own game. His personal bravery could also never be called into question, having proven his mettle in direct combat during both the Hunt for Pancho Villa and WW1, as well as putting his own life in danger being very close to the front lines numerous times during WW2, one time even riding a tank into a German-occupied village to inspire his men. He also did genuinely care for the lives of his men, only ever seen openly weeping when mourning for the lives of his fallen soldiers, treating his wounded troops with the highest respect, and properly giving praise when they did a good job.

For all of Ironwood’s faults, his own mettle is certainly not into question given he suffered such grievous injuries that half his body is now cybernetics, and the man for sure knows how to fight and fight well, so that’s one similarity with Patton. He has also inspired real loyalty in Winter and the Ace Operatives, and in turn he does seem to actually care for them, and he had no real reason to give Yang a new prosthetic arm (and rather quickly fast tracking her an incredibly advanced one at that), so he’s not completely heartless or devoid of empathy. 

However, Patton was a man focused on the tactical short term in lieu of long term strategic planning, and possessed with some horrendous character flaws that bit him in the ass on several occasions. One of them being the, even by the standards of the 40′s, deplorable manner in which he treated soldiers wracked with what we in the modern day would diagnose as PTSD. The man flat out did not believe PTSD was a real thing, thinking of it as cowardice and...you know what? I’m just gonna let the Wikipedia quotes say it all, I bolded some choice quotes for convenience:

Private Charles H. Kuhl, of L Company, U.S. 26th Infantry Regiment, reported to an aid station of C Company, 1st Medical Battalion, on 2 August 1943. Kuhl, who had been in the U.S. Army for eight months, had been attached to the 1st Infantry Division since 2 June 1943. He was diagnosed with "exhaustion," a diagnosis he had been given three times since the start of the campaign. From the aid station, he was evacuated to a medical company and given sodium amytal. Notes in his medical chart indicated "psychoneurosis anxiety state, moderately severe (soldier has been twice before in hospital within ten days. He can't take it at the front, evidently. He is repeatedly returned.)" Kuhl was transferred from the aid station to the 15th Evacuation Hospital near Nicosia for further evaluation.

Patton arrived at the hospital the same day, accompanied by a number of medical officers, as part of his tour of the U.S. II Corps troops. He spoke to some patients in the hospital, commending the physically wounded. He then approached Kuhl, who did not appear to be physically injured. Kuhl was sitting slouched on a stool midway through a tent ward filled with injured soldiers. When Patton asked Kuhl where he was hurt, Kuhl reportedly shrugged and replied that he was "nervous" rather than wounded, adding, "I guess I can't take it." Patton "immediately flared up,” slapped Kuhl across the chin with his gloves, then grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the tent entrance. He shoved him out of the tent with a kick to his backside. Yelling "Don't admit this son of a bitch," Patton demanded that Kuhl be sent back to the front, adding, "You hear me, you gutless bastard? You're going back to the front."

Corpsmen picked up Kuhl and brought him to a ward tent, where it was discovered he had a temperature of 102.2 °F (39.0 °C); and was later diagnosed with malarial parasites. Speaking later of the incident, Kuhl noted "at the time it happened, [Patton] was pretty well worn out  ... I think he was suffering a little battle fatigue himself." Kuhl wrote to his parents about the incident, but asked them to "just forget about it." That night, Patton recorded the incident in his diary: "[I met] the only errant coward I have ever seen in this Army. Companies should deal with such men, and if they shirk their duty, they should be tried for cowardice and shot."

Private Paul G. Bennett, 21, of C Battery, U.S. 17th Field Artillery Regiment, was a four-year veteran of the U.S. Army, and had served in the division since March 1943. Records show he had no medical history until 6 August 1943, when a friend was wounded in combat. According to a report, he "could not sleep and was nervous." Bennett was brought to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital. In addition to having a fever, he exhibited symptoms of dehydration, including fatigue, confusion, and listlessness. His request to return to his unit was turned down by medical officers. A medical officer describing Bennett's condition

And yet another incident like this:

Private Paul G. Bennett, 21, of C Battery, U.S. 17th Field Artillery Regiment, was a four-year veteran of the U.S. Army, and had served in the division since March 1943. Records show he had no medical history until 6 August 1943, when a friend was wounded in combat. According to a report, he "could not sleep and was nervous." Bennett was brought to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital. In addition to having a fever, he exhibited symptoms of dehydration, including fatigue, confusion, and listlessness. His request to return to his unit was turned down by medical officers. A medical officer describing Bennett's condition

The shells going over him bothered him. The next day he was worried about his buddy and became more nervous. He was sent down to the rear echelon by a battery aid man and there the medical aid man gave him some tranquilizers that made him sleep, but still he was nervous and disturbed. On the next day the medical officer ordered him to be evacuated, although the boy begged not to be evacuated because he did not want to leave his unit.

On 10 August, Patton entered the receiving tent of the hospital, speaking to the injured there. Patton approached Bennett, who was huddled and shivering, and asked what the trouble was. "It's my nerves," Bennett responded. "I can't stand the shelling anymore." Patton reportedly became enraged at him, slapping him across the face. He began yelling: "Your nerves, hell, you are just a goddamned coward. Shut up that goddamned crying. I won't have these brave men who have been shot at seeing this yellow bastard sitting here crying." Patton then reportedly slapped Bennett again, knocking his helmet liner off, and ordered the receiving officer, Major Charles B. Etter, not to admit him. Patton then threatened Bennett, "You're going back to the front lines and you may get shot and killed, but you're going to fight. If you don't, I'll stand you up against a wall and have a firing squad kill you on purpose. In fact, I ought to shoot you myself, you goddamned whimpering coward." Upon saying this, Patton pulled out his pistol threateningly, prompting the hospital's commander, Colonel Donald E. Currier, to physically separate the two. Patton left the tent, yelling to medical officers to send Bennett back to the front lines.

As he toured the remainder of the hospital, Patton continued discussing Bennett's condition with Currier. Patton stated, "I can't help it, it makes my blood boil to think of a yellow bastard being babied," and "I won't have those cowardly bastards hanging around our hospitals. We'll probably have to shoot them some time anyway, or we'll raise a breed of morons."

There were serious cries for Patton to get sacked after theses incidents, his reputation and job only saved because Eisenhower knew his tactical command abilities were simply too valuable to give up and so was only temporarily relieved of duty instead. Point I’m trying to make here is that while Patton could definitely hold sympathy and understanding for his men, it was contingent on them acting in a way he believed was properly honoring their duty. If they erred from his ideals of a how a proper soldier behaved, he could lapse into some seriously abusive behavior disturbingly quickly.

I can’t be the only one that sees some parallels between this and Ironwood hacking Penny am I? A man who cares for his troops but as soon as Penny acted in a way he deemed to be out of line, immediately sought to violate her autonomy and rights as a sapient being to force her back into line and back into his ideals of how a proper soldier should behave. Perhaps he wasn’t as violently physically aggressive about it as Patton, but arguably what Ironwood did was ethically much worse than slapping the shit out of and threatening people.

Patton also wasn’t the type to worry about the long term consequences of his actions. Before he died in a car accident shortly after WW2 he was unceremoniously sacked from his job after making one too many aggressive comments towards the Soviet Union, potentially nudging towards a potential Operation Unthinkable, and carelessly allowing former Nazis back into political power. Both of these were unthinkably horrible for obvious reasons.

There is one key difference between Patton and Ironwood however. Eisenhower was keenly aware of Patton’s potential shortcomings and he was kept on a leash and out of the highest levers of power, thus preventing him from ever being in a position where his worst traits would allow him to truly fuck up. Ironwood however I feel got Peter Principle’d hardcore and was promoted way above his level of competence (Always a risk for men who gain a reputation as “fightin’ generals”, see: John Bell Hood), where his positive qualities of personal physical bravery, combat skill and tactical leadership is wasted and his worst qualities of hyper-focus on short sighted tactical victories over long term strategic goals, paranoia and distrust leading to an excessive need for control, and moral cowardice are allowed to flourish.

And we see the consequences of it. He may have started with solid pragmatic ideas, but his insanely one-track minded obsession with short term strategic goals like making sure he has control over the Winter Maiden is costing him big long term strategically by burning bridges with potentially valuable allies and isolating himself and his command. Valuable time and resources that could have been spent coordinating forces against Salem wasted on various shenanigans involving Penny, RWBY and JN_R. Especially devastating given that Atlas is the only industrialized military power worth a damn in this world and isn’t reliant on mostly independent and unorganized Hunters and Huntresses (individually skilled but too few in number and takes far too long to train each one to reliably stop a Grimm invasion), and he’s just wasting the resources of the world power best able to hold the line against the Grimm.

Next part is a bit of a non-sequitur and really long so I put it in between the dotted lines if y’all ain’t interested and want to skip on over to the relevant Ironwood parts.

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Getting a feel for the strategic situation in Atlas, I get a strong sense that what Atlas needs more than anything else right now is a Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower the the exact man needed to lead the Western allies, and I can’t see anyone else doing as realistically as good a job as he did, this is a hill I’ll die on. It wouldn’t look like it at first, the man had never once commanded a unit in battle (a fact that made many of his “actually seen combat” rivals bitter), and his softer, more easy going disposition would seem at odds with the alpha-male take charge image cultivated by men like Patton and Montgomery that would be stereotypically expected of a general, much less a Supreme Commander. 

However, that calm exterior hid a man with a sharp eye on the necessary strategic goals needed for victory, expert resource and personnel management skills, the humility to listen to his subordinates and admit his own mistakes, and most importantly, both the smooth negotiating skills and the iron will necessary to deal with larger than life figures.

The western allies were made up of many different nations and factions and filled to the brim with what I would call (to put it lightly) strong personalities. This was an organization that involved: 

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

- Winston Churchill

- Charles De Gaulle

- Bernard Montgomery

- The aforementioned Patton

- Occasional dealings with Stalin even

All of them larger than life personalities, all of them strong willed and possessed of their own ideas of how to win the war as well as their own political/personal motives, and all of them vying for dominance in the strategic decision making of the Western Allies. It was like herding a clowder of cats, but all the cats had frggin tanks and bombs. Eisenhower actually managed to cut through the bullshit and resist all the arm twisting and actually got all the different countries, armies and leaders together to act upon a united plan. He did this while still being able to control his subordinates worst impulses and (mostly) was able to resist the shitty plans put up and embrace the good ones (for the most part, Montgomery did manage to convince him to approve of Operation Market Garden, and it was the last major German victory of the war mostly due to Monty’s mishandling). Tactical battle ability was largely irrelevant for Eisenhower’s role, and his ability to see the big picture clearly and being able to maneuver through the internal politics meant everything to his success as a Supreme Commander.

If Eisenhower or an Eisenhower-esque figure was in charge of Atlas during this latest season, you’d probably get a drastically different turn of events. An Eisenhower would not be so quick to drastic action as Ironwood was. An Eisenhower would probably sit down with their subordinates, hear out all their arguments for why or why shouldn’t a specific action be taken, then calmly consider their actions. An Eisenhower would probably then say “Working with an enemy agent to hack into the Winter Maiden is a dumb idea” and proceed to create plans on how to coordinate all available forces in Remnant to best fend off Salem.

Atlas as a whole doesn’t really strike me as the type of organization that would raise an Eisenhower though. Militaries are always offshoots of the cultures that create them, and I don’t believe it to be a coincidence that a Supreme Commander like Eisenhower would be American. The country was literally founded on democratic ideals and it was enshrined very early into its history that the military would always be subordinate to the civilian government. This precedent makes it necessary that anyone that rises high enough in the military must be able to respect a strong civilian presence and be able to work with both internal and external politics. Any general that rises high enough must be half-general half-politician by necessity (there’s a reason why former military often do have successful political careers after retiring from service, including the aforementioned Eisenhower who eventually became the 34th President of the United States).

Atlas just doesn’t strike me as having that same sort of cultural framework. If anything the Atlas military strikes me as having a cultural framework closer to WW2 Germany where tactical efficiency and high tech weaponry/tools is prized above all else, often at the cost of long term strategic goal setting. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan never set realistic goals for themselves and predictably got steamrolled eventually. Occasionally you’ll get an online thread asking “What if Germany/Japan had smart top leadership during WW2?” But that’s a trick question. A WW2 Germany/Japan with sensible leadership...just isn’t WW2 Germany/Japan at all, it was intrinsic to the identity and character of those nations in that time period. Similarly, I just don’t see an Atlas military that sees a potential Eisenhower in their ranks and thinks to promote them to High Command as opposed to just shuffling them off as an aide to some random officer and never consider them for higher promotion. An organization that prizes short term tactical victory over long term strategic goals just isn’t the type of organization to do that.

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Thing is though, I think just from what I gathered, Ironwood just shot up to be my favorite RWBY character because of how frigging fascinatingly horrible he is. He’s not an entirely awful person (at least not at first), but his own paranoia and fear combined with his habit of confusing short term tactical advantage with long term strategic goals leads him down the path of utterly despicable actions while convincing himself that it’s all for the greater good. All while being an idiot and wasting the legitimate game-changer resources of having an actual army when everyone else is still dicking around with hunters and huntresses as their only defense.

Smart money is he’s gonna die, it seems to be where he’s heading. If CRWBY’s writing staff has some serious cajones however, it’d be really cool if they pulled a Catra on him and see how low they can make him sink before making him hit rock bottom, realize his mistakes and force him to work hard for a redemption arc. I dunno, maybe I’m giving him too much slack but I actually do feel for him a little bit. The dude was clearly an alright guy that had the world fall down on him and just wasn’t suited for the massive responsibility that circumstances forced on his shoulders. He’s still a soldier that genuinely wants to protect Atlas, he’s just too short sighted to see how his actions just aren’t what Atlas is gonna need in the long term. Maybe a harsh talking to by Glinda would do him some good (I still ship IronWitch don’t @ me). I dunno, I just think that a redemption arc would be a lot harder to write than just killing him off, and thus would be that much more satisfying to see it pulled off right like what Noelle Stevenson did with Catra’s character in She-Ra.