#gonna insane over this podcast but what else is new

[lionofstone]

Malevolent Part 25 reaction post bc my friend who listens to it is asleep and i don’t want to spam them so i’m compiling my thoughts here so i can send one message lets gooooo 

all i’ve been told is that there are ‘sweet moments’ in the first ten minutes so i am :)) 

arthur talking about farou </3 

“a bleeding heart is only going to get us killed” AH 

“we need to stay mindful of this, of us.” they’re an us.... my venom bias is showing again lol 

“don’t be disappointed that we didn’t help them” “i’m disappointed that you don’t seem to care” AHH JOHN IS BECOMING HIS TETHER TO HUMANITY,,,, they are swapping roles,,,, 

“have you ever picked a lock like this” “i may have, yes” listen ik this is probably Private Investigator Related but my brain did in fact go “criminal arthur 👀” so. yknow. 

“we’re not like other people are we” OH AH that line is made for me... the way he sounds when he says it... AHHHH 

when arthur and john work together 😭😭😭😭

yes that is literally the plot of the whole podcast yes it still gets me every time 

“i am glad you’re surviving for us” :(((( 

john is literally so sweet he’s trying so hard to be Good and Kind and Human and i adore him 

this is also the ‘sweet moment’ quinn mentioned i am sure 

“arthur you fucking did it!!” i love when he celebrates he is everything to me 

they are being Awkward with each other and it’s very entertaining but also i am Worried i want them to have an actual conversation again please i like when they talk about their feelings 

i’m so focused on the arthur & john dynamic that i just. forget to pay attention to the plot 

every time they’re like “oh what should we do? which direction?” i’m like. yeah there’s the patreon choice. there it is. idk if i’ll ever join the patreon bc i think it’s fun to have no idea & also interacting with the story feels like it would break suspension of disbelief (for me) (unless it eventually Came Up in the narrative a la Bandersnatch) (but this is just a personal preference) 

“there was a time when [bloody footprints] would’ve chilled me to the bone” arthur my guy you were a private investigator??? presumably you were in crime scenes at least occasionally???? also u killed a man in episode one (ok like technically john did but you were Very Close) 

“the cold has taken me” “i can’t feel as much” “it’s nothing that doesn’t come with experience, i suppose” once again: they are swapping places!!! arthur feels less human!!!! 

also i am glad they are talking about emotions again <3 

“i never thought you’d be cold” :( 

“i am not a callous man, john” “i’m saying your words are taken to heart” 

“really?” “yes!” i love when they Communicate <3 besties <3 

John demanding answers about their time apart ahhhhhhhh 

“tell me everything” YEAH 

(also whenever they do these ‘recaps’ i can’t help but think that it’s a clever way of helping the audience along since it’s usually about a month between episodes which is A While but also the recaps just. make sense in universe so i’m never too mad about it) 

arthur always talks about them going home together and it makes me :) 

john asking “how do you picture that” and arthur answering with practical things like getting a car etc etc AHHH it’s so !!!!! bc i def interpreted that question as john being more like “what happens to us/me when you go back home/to your life” and arthur answered it like it was “how do you think we’d manage the journey” and it’s just. good good emotion soup 

like on one hand i think it’s arthur subconsciously being like “we’re going to stick together ofc” bc that’s not in question for him but on the other i’m like. arthur. please do some reflection and then use your words 

WHY DID THAT “WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO” MAKE ME JUMP SO BAD 

this voice sounds So Scared 

Matthew ahhh 

“who are you talking to” “no one” :((( 

“tell us—tell me” arthur is so bad at pretending to be a single person 

“i’m not supposed to tell you...yet” UH MATTHEW? WTF DOES THAT MEAN? 

arthur interrogating matthew makes me really sad for some reason 

i think bc there was a time when arthur would’ve opened the door no question 

“some seek a power they never had and some people seek power they once did” that’s a very good line 

why is john so panicked about getting information about new york did i miss something 

“HIS EYES ARE BLEEDING ARTHUR” 

DID MATTHEW JUST EXPLODE

DID HE JUST 

ALKFHAG ???? 

“his head split in two” YEAH I GATHERED THAT THANKS JOHN 

and ofc they’re fighting again <//3 

“arthur...” “i know. you don’t know.” 

john is so gentle with arthur in his tone 

“what a waste” “...a waste?” 

“a man is dead, arthur.” john :( 

ahhh like on one hand i’m enjoying arthur’s corruption arc but on the other i miss when he was kind & and john was leaning from him 

i do love a good role reversal i’m just also Worried about what’s going to happen to them & their dynamic yknow 

OOOH THREE SOLDIERS i love when things Connect 

“the coin i flipped—” “what?” PLEASE JUST EXPLAIN THINGS TO JOHN ARTHUR PLEASE HE DESERVES TO KNOW AND MAYBE HE CAN HELP YOU 

“matthew said he wasn’t part of it—” “who?” ARTHUR 🔪 

“they needed help” “so do we!” ARTHUR 🔪 🔪 🔪 

“this is how we stop them!” “is it?” 

“HOW EXACTLY WAS YELLOW THE MONSTER BETWEEN YOU TWO” GET HIM JOHN!!!!!

“BECAUSE HE WAS JUST LIKE YOU” ARTHUR I AM COMING FOR YOUR KNEES 

PARASITE PARASITE??????????? wtf i am so :( 

“too inconsequential to exist on his own” ARTHUR WTF 

like..... is that not exactly what the king in yellow was getting at?? essentially??? “oh john shouldn’t be on his own he needs to be part of the whole” like??? ARTHUR WTF HOW DARE YOU 

john bitterly describing things i am :( 

“arthur” “what” “i’m glad i’m not like you” 

“the feelings mutual” 

HI HOW TF AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT ANOTHER MONTH FOR CLOSURE ON THAT ONE 

remember what i said about not getting patreon? i am second guessing that now ajfgkaasfkjgs

i am feeling a lot of terrible emotions 

quinn i hate u for getting me into this podcast but also tysm <3 mixed bag with me 

gonna just. go back to listening to you call it madness (i call it love) on repeat bc that provides Happier Thoughts 

devastated rn 

[sturnlova]

Podcast room (C.S)

(Chris Sturniolo x Female reader)

( Warning : Smut, F receiving, kinda new to writing, not proof read all the way, pet names, fluff, i don’t know what else 😭 )

Chris : Orange

Y/N : Pink

Matt : Blue

Nick : Purple

( Word count : 750 )

——————————————————

“Good morning campers, it’s your favourite host Nick Sturniolo… It’s Matt Sturniolo…. And it’s Chris Sturniolo with our special guest my girl Y/N!!”” As they all introduced me and asked me a couple of questions to kick it off Chris slowly but steadily pushed my skirt a bit up and my orange panties to the side, orange is a weird colour i know but chris sure seemed to like it..to the side.

Chris looked at me and used his index and middle finger to spread me a bit open and used one of his fingers to circle my clit at a agonising pace. Chris looked at Matt with a smirk and then Nick to avoid long eye contact. Nick continued on there conversation, as they usually would like every other Monday.

He added both of his fingers inside of me without a warning causing me to gasp in surprise but i seemed to cover it with a cough “Y/N you alright there it seemed like you were shocked?” Matt spoke with intent to me but started at Chris well he spoke “Ok what the fuck is going on guys” Nick spoke and looked at all of us and than continued to move on to the next topic… birds.

Chris continued using his fingers and curling them to hit the spongy spot inside of me making my legs shake due to the fact i couldn’t move or make sounds as his brothers would know that there youngest brother is fingering me underneath the table. I whispered in Chris’ ear “Chr- “ that’s not my name princess” “daddy please stop it let me cum please no more teasing, i can’t hold it for lon-longer ple-“ i was cut of with Chris’ fast movements of his fingers. The boy had magic in his fingers tips for sure, He curled them and pushed them in and out attempting to make sure my pussy sounds weren’t heard.

“ Y/N what do you think about birds?” Chris asked me, Nick and Matt stared at me waiting for a answer, “uhm ngh i think the-they are sc-i got cut of from my orgasm but i still had to keep some dignity i think they are scary i don’t like them.” Chris stared at me once again and giggled well slowly pulling his fingers out of my velvety walls and adding on to my sentence with “yeah i don’t like them they are weird.”

Chris brought his fingers to his mouth pretending to bit them but in reality he was trying too suck them clean. I just started at him with a flushed look waiting for this podcast to end. I was finally caught out of my trance and started adding onto the conversation until it was over.

-

Finally the podcast is over i thought to myself, i needed a glass of water. As we all walked out of the room Nick said he was gonna go edit some pre-filmed videos and just to go to order food without him since we all know his order, we all agreed.

Matt was obviously in the drivers seat, i was in the back and Chris was in the passenger seat. Chris played music in the background to stop the silence but Matt wanted to stop the silence to. “ So Y/N how do you feel knowing that i know you just got fingered in the filming room?” my jaw dropped in shock and along with Chris’. Chris hit matt on the shoulder and told him to shut it and that his just mad he dosent get pussy as good as mine.

I was gonna crawl into my skin, but instead i went insanely red. “It’s ok baby, Matt is angry he gets no bitches, but you ok tho?” this is just making the embarrment worse “ i’m ok dad- Chris i’m ok Chris” “ WHAT WAS THATT NAME UH UHHH” Matt screamed out acting like he didn’t just talk about me getting fingered. This is just getting worse by the minute. I would like to go home now with my food.

[vroom63]

Aperol Aftermath // M.A

Warnings: language, smut, nsfw, mature, alcohol

Summary: you and Marcus have both had enough

Word count: 1.9k

Author's note: So that new Screaming Meals pod did unspeakable things to me. Enjoy

You couldn’t take it anymore. The way he was sitting with his legs spread wide, head thrown back in laughter as James went on about how attractive he found Charles. It was driving you absolutely insane. Hot and bothered didn’t even begin to describe how you felt. It was no secret that you found Marcus attractive, but something about the carefree laughter as he waffled absolute shit with his friends somehow magnified the effect. 

You had been best friends since you were kids, following him to Europe after high school and taking on the role as his social media manager after university. Life with Marcus was filled with joy and laughter and endless adventures. It was a life you never dreamed possible. The catch? Trying to keep a lid on your feelings. Trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy whenever he flirted with someone. Trying to convince yourself that you could be happy with someone else. And now you were standing behind the camera in some hotel in Budapest, imagining what it would be like to be straddling those powerful thighs, letting your thoughts run wild as he filmed another podcast episode.

“Peach?” his voice calling you roused you from your thoughts. You had no idea how long you had been staring, but your skin felt like it was on fire. Marcus had gotten up, now standing in front of you trying to catch your attention. “Kiwi?” you countered hoarsely, your throat and mouth feeling dry. “You ok?” he asked, studying your face. “I’m fine, all good then?” you deflect. “Yeah, ready to head out? Clem apparently knows this amazing club we can go to,” he says, gesturing to Clem, James and Correa heading towards the exit. “Let’s go!” you answer, mentally trying to prepare for the hazzard Marcus turns into when going out.

The club was packed. Barely-room-to-move packed, but luckily Clem had called ahead to reserve the VIP section for your group. Felipe, Juri, Liam, Lando, Lusia and Max were already waiting for you when you arrived. “Maxy!” you exclaim, “it’s so good to see you!”. Sitting down beside him, you gave him a sideways hug. You had known these people for years, but Max was the one you didn’t get to see too often. “Hey Peachy, good to see you too!” he answered while returning your hug. Marcus slipped into the seat beside you, arm slung across the back of your seat. His cologne mixed with something that was uniquely him hit you with the force of a bus, effectively wiping your mind clean. He would be the death of you, you were certain of that.

One thing you couldn’t help but notice throughout the night was that Marcus barely touched alcohol. With him limiting his intake, you decided to do the same. “I wanna dance,” you called to him over the deafening bass. Instead of answering, he grabbed your hand and pulled you to the packed dance floor. The sheer amount of people forced you to be closer than you would normally be. People bumped into you left, right and center, and Marcus pulled you closer so he wouldn’t lose you in the crowd.

His touch spread like wildfire. You had your back to his front, ass brushing lightly over his crotch every time you moved. You lost track of time as you danced with him. Someone bumped into him from behind, causing him to tighten his grip on you to stabilize himself. The action had pulled your ass flush against his crotch, and the groan he let out sent shivers down your spine. He was hard. Rock solid, probably about to burst. There was no way this was happening. You could not be the cause of this. No way. “Peach,” he groaned as you continued to move against him. Hands flexing on your hips, he grinds his cock against you. A soft moan slipped out of you as you threw your head back, leaning on his shoulder. “Stop dancing like that, or I’m gonna cum right here.” even with the noise level of the club his voice was crystal clear in your ear. Moving with more determination, you grabbed his arms from your hips and wrapped them around you, effectively wrapping him around your body. “Are you asking me to fuck you?” he continued, letting his hand rest right below your breast. “So what if I am?” you counter. “Let’s get out of here.”. He didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed your hand pulling you towards the exit. 

The ride back to the hotel was quiet. Marcus held your hand and played with your fingers like he normally did. Nothing about his demeanor said he was about to bust in his trousers. He’d wanted this for years, never really finding the courage to make a move. He never wanted to lose you. Didn’t want to know what everyday life would be like without you. Needed your constant support and optimism when races go to hell. Needed the grounding you give him, the sense of calm he feels when he’s with you. He also needs to fuck you. Right fucking now. 

As soon as the door to his hotel room had closed, he had you crowded up against it. Forehead pressed to yours, breaths mingled between you. His eyes were blazing, setting fire not only to your body, but your soul as well. Was it worth risking everything for this?

Kissing Marcus felt like coming home. Like a breath of fresh air after being underwater for a long time. His lips were soft against yours, maybe even a little hesitant. Grabbing onto his neck, you pulled him closer to you. Taking that as a “go ahead”, Marcus kissed you with a passion you had never felt before. You knew it was wrong, being pressed up against the door and making out with your best friend like your life depended on it. You couldn’t find it in you to care though. Every filthy thing you had ever imagined about him flashed through your mind, encouraging you to kiss him back with the same passion. 

“This dress..” he began, hands roaming over your body, feeling you up in the most delicious way, “should be illegal”. He pulled back to look at you. “If we start this, I won’t be able to stop” he said, “I’ve been wanting this for too long”. “Then don’t stop,” you said, pulling him to another searing kiss. He gripped one of your thighs, lifting it and pulled your core flush against his cock. The moan that left you was boarderline pornographic. The friction his jeans created was glorious, causing you to dig your nails into his back which in return made Marcus let out a deep groan. 

“Sofa,” you let out, trying to focus your mind. “What?” he asked, distracted by the feeling of your wetness seeping through his jeans. “Sit on the sofa,” you said. Following your direction, he sat down, looking up at you expectantly. You took a moment to admire him. His legs were spread, just like they had been earlier. His shirt had a couple buttons undone, leaving you a sneak peak of his chest. His hair was a mess, lips red and plump from kissing. He was a sight to behold. 

“We’re crossing a line, doing this.” you stated, eyes still lingering on the exposed part of his chest. “I know.” he answered, reaching out a hand to you, pulling you towards him. “You’ve ruined me for anyone else,” you said, looking into his eyes. You could see the emotions swirling there, probably wondering the same thing you were. “Yeah?” he asked, making you straddle him. “Yeah.”. “Good, I don’t want anyone to touch you. Only I get to touch you like this,” his thumb gently stroking under your breast as he was talking. “As long as I’m the only one that gets to touch you like this,” you counter, slowly unbuttoning his shirt all the way. This man was truly beautiful. “Always.”. 

Deciding that you’d had enough, you kissed him again, letting your hands wander his body before ending up in his hair. A delicious groan left him as you tightened your grip at the same time as you rolled your hips. He grabbed the hem of your dress, slowly peeling it off your body. Pulling away to get it over your head, his eyes landed on your naked chest as the dress did not allow for a bra. “Fuck.”. Without further ado, he pulled you closer, burying his head in your boobs. It didn’t take him long to find your nipple, sucking it greedily into his mouth. The action made you roll your hips faster against him, hands finding purchase in his hair again.

“Marcus,” you moan, pulling his head up so you can kiss him again. Making quick work of his clothes and your underwear, you found yourself hovering over his length. “You are so beautiful,” he said, hands palming your ass. You took hold of his dick, slowly spreading your wetness around with the tip. Groaning, his head tipped back, leaving his neck exposed. You gasped as you slid down on his cock. When you were fully seated on his cock, he lifted his head, looking straight into your eyes. “I saw the way you were looking at me when we were filming the podcast,” he said, “I could practically see all the filthy things flashing through your mind.”. “You looked so good.” you moaned, slowly rolling your hips. “Tell me what you were thinking,” he demanded. “I was thinking I wanted to ride you, just like this, your dick reaching so deep inside me I’ll be able to feel it for days.” you had no issue admitting where your thoughts had been.

Your words made Marcus spring into action. Holding you above him, he started moving faster, thoroughly fucking you, reaching deeper than anyone had ever done. The heavy drag of his cock against your walls had you hurtling towards the edge in no time. With every thrust he hit that sweet, sweet spot within you, making you clench around him. “Fuck, you are so tight,” he moaned, throwing his head back again. Leaning your head against his shoulder, you peppered small kisses along his collarbone, occasionally sucking on his skin, leaving small marks. 

“Marcus, I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, pulling your head up to kiss him. “Yeah? You gonna cum on my cock like a good girl?” the words left his mouth before he could think about it. The effect however, was nothing he could have imagined. Your walls clamped down on him, holding him like a vice, fluttering as you came. With a groan of your name, he followed you over the edge. 

“Fuck,” he panted, letting his arms circle your waist, holding you to him. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he said, fingers tracing random patterns on your back. “Probably not longer than I’ve wanted this,” you countered, feeling a blush making its way onto your cheeks. One of his hands found its way to your chin, tipping your head up so he could look at you. “This is not a one time thing. I am all in. I am all yours.” he said, trying to convey how he felt with his eyes. “I am all yours Marcus, always have been.” you said, placing a lingering kiss to his lips. Hiding your face in the crook of his neck, you felt ridiculously content. 

[crystallizedkingdoms]

Talk about eleventh hour gn Johann!!!!!!

Oh boy you’re opening fucking Floodgates.

For this post I’m not gonna go too into into the exact details of how Johann’s been neglected by the graphic novel and how that if they don’t rectify this it will extremely flatten the finale as a whole (but I can make that a separate post if it’s wanted), but I Will mention a few things: in the past four books, Johann’s had a total of 15 panels where he makes a prominent appearance— of which he has no deeper characterization other than being… just kind of grumpy? Not cynical with the capacity for goofs like our podcast Johann, with a unique and layered dynamic with the Voidfish; just a musician with an attitude problem with none of the character building, plot important scenes.

This changes with the 11th Hour. We get about 15 new panels with his face in it, and the most amount of lines he’s gotten thus far, and it’s plot important! Finally, we get one of the core tenets of Johann’s character: what happens to his beloved music when he feeds it to the Voidfish, and his fear of dying and being forgotten. Hell, I’d even make the argument that the above panels portray his actual fear and urgency over it better than the podcast. So… problem solved, crisis averted, shut up and be happy Sie, right?

(More under the cut, but tl;dr: graphic novel is severely undercutting Johann’s character by diminishing his relationship with the Voidfish and it’s KILLING ME)

Except, quite frankly, this condensed rectification is seriously not enough. Although it brings up the core concepts of Johann’s strong feelings towards dead members being erased, it very quickly glosses over Johann’s feelings on his music being erased into a simple “…Yes.” Look at how Johann expressed himself in the podcast, in the elevator scene that introduced his character efficiently!

And really, most importantly… we haven’t seen any of his connection with the Voidfish. We don’t get Johann being the one introducing the boys to the Voidfish and the fact he’s the best violinist basically ever. We don’t get scene of Johann and Lucas arguing over who should keep the Voidfish. We get the below scene, of Johann seeing the Voidfish erasing Boyland’s big family, but it neglects a cute little comment he makes when the Boys worry that the process tires the Voidfish out!

And of course, the infamous scene. The scene that doesn’t happen in the graphic novel (in the podcast it happens in the Lunar Interlude before Crystal Kingdom), and arguably one of Johann’s most important scenes outside of the novel. The Voidfish Duet, while providing an invaluable plot clue with EGG BABE, was also a moment of deep connection with Johann and the Voidfish. (Just look at how it’s described guys. this scene is INSANE)

We even get a piece of dialogue where Johann has almost an adverse reaction to the information that the Voidfish does this friendly gesture to Magnus, someone who (in his eyes) is new and has never taken care of the Voidfish in the way he’s done for over a year. Johann clearly has a very strong bond with the Voidfish to have a reaction like this!

This is such an important scene that we haven’t seen yet, and we’re almost at the end! And there is not a lot of space for it to be squeezed into the Suffering Game’s interludes— what with Magnus needing to be alone to communicate with the Voidfish (unless they just. stick Johann in there), and then he fucking Dies in the Reunion Tour interlude (and by then it would be no use to include it, because Magnus already knows EGG BABE by then).

And quite honestly, I have a little less faith that this scene is going to happen. Because we know the Voidfish has already sung to Johann in some capacity— in the little note made on whiteboard back in Rockport. The first two notes of EGG BABE.

This could be retconned, or it could fit into a flashback, or it can still pack a punch if they manage to slip in the Duet somewhere else. But part of the wonder and the shock Johann felt when he connected with the Voidfish in that scene was because it had never been done before, immediately after Magnus had garnered a physical reaction from the animal he’s been caring for for over a year. I don’t think the Duet would pack the same punch as it did because of the separation of these two scenes.

Anyway. Moral of the story, I love Johann Adventurezone with all my heart. Pains me to see his character and his relationship with the Voidfish get sidelined like this, even if it’s for the sake of streamlining the novels. Cant imagine how it might affect the finale (except yes I can and I’m biting fucking METAL thinking abt it). Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

[beardedmrbean]

Thoughts on this article? I personally agree with everything stated here, but I would like to know your opinion on it.

Submitted by @thejdog2000

Twice because tumblr likely ate the link the first time.

Headline is something I've observed so, not going to lump everyone in the same pile but so far not off base that I can see, let's look at the actual words though.

I'm gonna leave their formatting, not sure what the deal with the bolding is but oh well. __________________

In addition to the BASEDPolitics podcast Brad Polumbo hosts with Hannah Cox each week, he recently launched a second weekly podcast called ‘Damage Control’ where he pushes back against the insanity of so many modern LGBT activists by featuring mostly right-leaning guests from that community.

Polumbo’s most recent guest was independent journalist Glenn Greenwald, a gay journalist who typically focuses on civil liberties and privacy issues. While Greenwald has been considered left-leaning for most of his journalism career, his continued defense of free speech and liberal values has created a perception that he has moved Right, though he hasn’t changed his views.

The world around him has changed—and this includes the LGBT movement. Glenn discussed with Brad, who is also gay and significantly younger than Greenwald, what the LGBT movement was like when he got involved and how much it has changed over the years.

Greenwald said the idea of the earlier gay movement was “about very little other than the principle that adult Americans have the absolute right to decide for themselves what constitutes fulfillment and self-actualization and happiness in their lives, and [what] choices they make about their personal lives and their private lives and their sexual lives and their family lives.”

“It’s no business of anybody else,” Greenwald added. “Not the government’s, not your neighbor’s, not your state, not your city, and that the role of all those entities is not to interfere in your life to try and control it.”

He said it was primarily a “libertarian ethos.”

Glenn Greenwald continued, “Ultimately, that became a very appealing principle for Americans who still have this very kind of libertarian ethos when it comes to cultural issues. This live and let live mentality.” 

He said the early movement sought to humanize and normalize gay men and women and to destigmatize their lifestyles.

“Ultimately, once these demonization stereotypes were combated, these long-time stereotypes that had been deliberately cultivated about threats to children and the like, people began to look at gays and lesbians as human beings and not these cartoon caricatures,” Greenwald said.

Greenwald said that years ago, “with more and more people coming out it was not that difficult to convince Americans that there was no reason to have the government try and interfere in or control or constrain the lives of their neighbors.”

Polumbo told Greenwald the movement he’s describing doesn’t sound like today’s LGBT movement.

“Yeah so that sounds a little bit alien to me,” Polumbo said. “It sounds wonderful, but it sounds a little bit alien to me as somebody whose political consciousness really began in like 2014, 2015, because, first off, I’m not old enough to remember when it was still called the gay rights movement.”

Polumbo added, “Now, it’s like the word ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ are rarely used. It’s LGBT or LGBTQ or LGBTQIA2+ or whatever the new acronym is.”

The host asked, “How has it changed over time? How much resemblance do today’s LGBT activists bear to the gay rights advocates in the 90s?”

Greenwald replied, “Yeah I mean you can kind of see this in the changing of the flag. That metaphorical evolution that you’re describing, where what was once the rainbow flag, the symbol of the lesbian and gay movement, is being increasingly crowded out. There’s barely any more space as all these other symbols kind of start penetrating and in a sort of aggressive way, pushing off to the side that original movement.” 

Later in the interview, Brad noted that the seeming lack of respect for free speech among many LGBT activists disturbed him.

Polumbo said, “I recently saw a video of a Christian protester at a pride parade…where he was arrested by the police for disorderly conduct, though there was none, so the charges were dropped. He was just arrested because they didn’t want him protesting at a pride parade.”

Brad continued, “I was disturbed because when he was put in handcuffs most of the crowd erupted in applause, clapping at this dissenting viewpoint being arrested, being squashed with the arm of the state. I do think, especially in the context of the trans debate, there is a new strain of LGBT activism especially in the halls of political activists that is pretty blatantly openly hostile to dissenting viewpoints or to free speech or open debate…”

“Would that be alien to gay activists of yesteryear?” Polumbo asked. “Or was that attitude also prevalent then even though they were the minority viewpoint?”

Greenwald responded, “For me, the tipping point moment or one of the transformative moments was when gay activist groups sued that small bakery in Colorado and demanded that they make wedding cakes celebrating same-sex couples even though their religious conscience counseled against it.” 

He continued, “And even though I understand in theory the argument that people should have the right to public accommodations and to be treated equally, the reality is there were all sorts of alternatives available to the people in that town.” 

“It’s just one little outpost of dissent that was saying we don’t believe in same-sex marriages. They weren’t attacking anybody. They weren’t assaulting anybody. They weren’t trying to interfere in anyone’s rights. They were actually defending their own rights of conscience and this wasn’t enough.” 

Greenwald later said that the modern gay rights movement seems to have lost the plot, exchanging the old view of just wanting to be left alone to becoming a new “bullying” movement.

“This principle of the right of autonomy and individual choice. What has happened is that the gay and lesbian movement, now the LGBTQIA2+, movement, the acronym seems to expand on a weekly basis, has really become a movement of power.” Greenwald said. “Every institution of authority practically is on the side of this movement.” 

Greenwald continued, “They have the banks behind them. Corporations behind them. The president hangs the LGBT flag at the White House. It has become a movement that has the support of almost every sector and as a result, it has become a bullying movement. Just like power corrupts people, it corrupts movements.”

He added, “I believe that’s what happened with the LGBT movement… where it’s no longer sufficient to say let us live our lives the way we want, it has now become we’re going to force you to live your life the way we want. We’re going to force you to teach your children things that you don’t believe in. We’re going to force you to affirm ideas that you don’t actually believe.”

“And we’re going to tolerate no dissent, any dissent at all to our agenda,” Greenwald observed. 

And what might happen to dissenters? Greenwald explained, “We’re going to interpret as some kind of hate crime or something that deserves violence because we’re so convicted and so righteous in our movement that anybody who dissents from any part of our agenda is automatically somebody who deserves punishment.” 

Glenn described today’s LGBT mob: “And to watch this kind of bullying mentality prevail. That really is this kind of characteristic of mob justice. We have all the force on our side. We have all the power.” _____________________________

Oh I bet he's "popular" in some circles.

I'm gonna kinda ramble a bit on things here, even if I try not to it'll happen so be warned.

I got to live through all that too, wild to see where we're at now with it. I went to the "hood" high school in my town class of 96 for people that would like a time frame, had all the tough guys and machismo shit left and right, we also had the legit farmers there, high school in a town with a population around 300,000 with a actual AG department, ya we had the legitimate rednecks and then there was the various gay folks, some more obvious than others.

Think maybe once or twice someone decided to give a couple of them shit and thought about starting something that I saw or heard of, the one I did see the people that were in there being asses were politely asked to go the fuck somewhere else by a few of the linebackers from the football team.

Weird place and time.

People just doing their thing and letting other people do their thing, gay rights movement had some real battles left to fight like the abolishment of DADT, legal protection for intimate partners AKA gay marriage, some workplace, housing, and other various discrimination issues that I think have mostly been taken care of.

It was good times when the 'equality in marriage' thing went through later on I remember thinking that that was going to be the cherry on the top of the big gay cake

Cancer researchers would like to be out of a job, have their entire department shut down and closed up never to be needed again, because they achieved their goals.

Activists on the other hand, many of them seem to get their sense of self worth from what they're doing right now and whatever accolades they're receiving right now, no matter how many issues get resolved with their participation the need to keep pushing, it comes off to me like a drug some people just need more and more of.

So they finished the big gay cake, but instead of enjoying it the search for the new thing to be angry about began.

Some of those things are perfectly valid, some of them are not, and some of them are downright rapey.

Which is where the bullying comes into play, with things like being told I'm transphobic for not wanting to have sex with a transwoman just because she has a dick.

Me not liking dick is not transphobic, the people I was talking about up above that had to do their fights to be accepted for wanting to use their naught bits the way they wanted and have other naughty bits of the type they liked brought round for them didn't do that so someone could tell a straight guy he's transphobic for not wanting to suck girldick.

So ya, I may not be 100% on board with what the guy says on everything, but he's got a solid point on several fronts. As a front row witness to a good deal of the movements history ya it's gone and become a whole lot of bullying, not all of it but man the folks out there with the loudest voices seem to enjoy the bully bit.

Revenge I'd guess.

[winderlylandchime]

Hello!! I love how we are all hoping that Jordan brings back the podcast, i need those two besties back so badly. I feel like they have so much stuff they could talk about especially now with the strikes, it’d be fun to hear their take on it. I am honestly not ready for him to find out how the filming and the aftermath of the show was on Gale and Randy. I know he’s gonna lose his shit to find out how some people were towards them (especially since his idea of Gale in his head is obviously different and in his mind Gale and Randy are bffs like how he is with his friends.) but also i think he will be shocked to find out they both kind of stepped back from the show and had certain issues with it. He did storm in my room randomly today and went ‘IS THAT WHY THERE WAS LESS SEX STUFF?!’ Which btw it was 10 am when he did that, I barely knew i was awake. Basically he was up almost all night thinking about the finale and the podcast (he is once again that conspiracy meme) and he realized in later seasons there’s less sex scenes and now he is distraught that maybe it’s because Randy was uncomfortable. He was having an entire crisis over it. While I don’t know what all i will show him/what he’ll see on his own (i wanna show him bts content and like obviously anything else i can find) but i will be keeping con videos/posts FAR away from him because some of those are the worst things ive ever seen in my life, no offense to anyone. I will say, If you or anyone has any ideas what else I should show him, let me know because he has been losing his mind begging me to let him listen to more of the podcast.

As for our mom, i swear that woman is actually pretty chaotic herself but unlike my brother she hides it better. Both of our parents are insane but for some reason only he doesn’t even make an effort to hide it. She did get a long email sent to her by my brother because she was ignoring his calls and he wanted to talk about s4 finale. It was titled ‘IMPORTANT! NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SHOW’ and then it was almost a short novel about the show.. He wanted to hear her thoughts since he is still undecided about Justin not saying yes to moving in. And he wrote a little bit about the podcast and he also asked her if she thinks Randy would like him if they met (clearly he is feeling a certain way about this) which caused a different crisis, a much bigger one: would Gale like him if they met. That crisis lasted almost 2 hours btw. Anyway as a reply to the email she just forwarded it to our dad who forwarded it back to me to tell me to ‘change the wifi password.’ And then I immediately got a call from my mom about the podcast asking me if it’s about the show and how he already has enough weird hobbies and why can’t I get him into something normal like a pottery group or painting group or something with normal people around. And then I heard in the background our uncle who went ‘after all the stories about him talking to DOCTORS, you want to unleash him on a person who is not medically trained?’ So he is now being encouraged to stay home and watch tv. Also: he is currently talking to his best friend about the finale, while writing down mind maps and lists of what he thinks season 5 will be. He’s having a bit of issues with it because the LA offer apparently fucked quite a lot of things up for him so his original list no longer makes sense. He is also talking to him at the same time (he’s jumping from topic to topic) about Gale and how shocked he was that Randy didn’t enjoy the qaf fame. I don’t know how this became my life. More importantly I would just like to say: i cannot wait for your new fic! I mean your last fic got us here so I can’t wait to see what happens next. But also bearded Brian>>

The podcast talking about the strikes would be amazing! I was hoping we would get a Barbie movie episode but alas. I really want to hear the besties talk about Greta Gerwig.

I have never seen the con clips and I’m grateful. I have too much secondhand embarrassment to sit through that boundary-crossing behavior and invasive questions.

I LOVE that your parents were like “change the wifi password” and uncle was like “unleash him into the world?” and they responded “jk never mind.”

I personally think Gale and Randy are still friends but we would never know with the one proof of life per year Gale gives us and Randy being tightlipped about his time on the show.

Wait until your brother realizes that one of Randy’s partner’s is named Justin (or is that the kid? either way there’s a Justin!)

I am dreading his reaction to S5 but we all watched it so he must as well…

And, yes, bearded Brian >>>

BUT I saw your request at the top - folks let’s start to pull together a post-S5 education for all necessary BTS for Brother Anon to fully understand QAF! In box me or comment on this post.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

got tagged by @batsarebetterthanpeople

1. Are you named after anyone?

no. my parents specifically tried to pick a name that nobody they knew had. which is insane to me bc my name is like one of the most generic girl names in existence but i guess that wasn't the case when i was born

2. When was the last time you cried?

ok i genuinely think it was a few weeks ago when i was at work and i started thinking about stede. and before that it was a few months before that when i was at work and i started thinking about ed.

this is kinda crazy to me bc i used to cry all the fucking time? but also i used to be way more depressed lol so i guess the fact that i can't remember the last time i cried over something in my actual real life is a good thing

3. Do you have kids?

god no. not yet, anyway

4. Do you use sarcasm.

too much, probably. also my voice is kinda monotone so sometimes ppl think im being sarcastic when im not. that's gotten me in trouble before

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

nothing i dont notice shit about people im terrible at remembering names and faces

6. What's your eye color?

blue

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings. there are a few scary movies i love but im a huge pussy. and im a basic bitch i want my stories to end happy. obviously a Bad Ending can be rlly good sometimes but overall i'd much rather everything works out in the end :)

8. Any special talents?

alright so this came up yesterday so i'm gonna tell y'all about a special talent that i did not know i have but apparently people think im great at: i have been told im really good at doing voiceovers. this is not something i do often nor is it something i wouldve actually said about myself unprompted, but sometimes for school projects i've had to record myself saying things and i've gotten compliments every time. i personally can't tell if this is true bc hearing recordings of my own voice makes me want to die so im incapable of judging my own voice-over abilities accurately

like Literally Yesterday when i had to record like 30 seconds of something and i literally was like "i'm leaving the room when you play it i hate hearing my own voice" and when i got back everyone was like "that was SO GOOD!!! you sounded professional!!!!" and also a few years ago my friend asked me to try and do an old-timey mid-atlantic accent kinda voice for a school project and when she showed it to her class people were like "who did the voiceover? your friend? is your friend a professional voice actor??"

this is baffling to me bc i think my voice sounds incredibly nasally and annoying but i guess that's just me!

9. Where were you born?

new JOY-zee

10. What are your hobbies?

it's alllllll gay pirates these days. tumblr and fanfiction and posting and reblogging. that's literally the only thing i do if im not at work or at school or hanging out with friends. it's kind of a problem actually i need to cut back

11. Do you have any pets?

two dogs! one is a rescue who is maybe a poodle mix, maybe just a poodle, and i love her so much i've cried about it. the other one is a bichon-poodle mix and i hate her so much i've cried about it.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

ok so my parents put me in a bunch of sports as a kid (t-ball, baseball, soccer, swimming, ballet) but i was not really into it. i didn't hate it, but i would zone out in the middle of games and my parents would be yelling "TURN AROUND THE BALL IS COMING" while i was playing in the dirt by myself.

in middle and high school i did cross country but mostly as a social thing to hang out with friends. i fucking hate running. im not good at sports

13. How tall are you?

5'5.5"

14. Favorite subject in school?

probably English or something idk. i dont like school lol

15. Dream job?

genuinely? stocking shit. housekeeping. anything where i can just listen to an audiobook or a podcast and work quietly and nobody has to talk to me. i wish these jobs paid enough to be comfortable or else i literally would work at some easy entry-level job for my entire life.

the other thing is i wish there was like. a way i could just jump from job to job depending on who needs help. im talking like, "oh we need someone to direct traffic for two hours while we fill in this pothole" and i go. "this fast food joint needs a cashier for a day" or "town hall needs people to scan, file, and sort all these boring legal documents" or "we need people to clean all the public restrooms in the district" or "we need someone to re-paint the parking spots at the park" or "the post office needs help sorting mail for a few hours" or "this warehouse needs some employees next week" or "we need someone doing this repetitive motion on the factory line for a day" like literally. i love manual labor i love straightforward tasks i love doing simple repetitive chores for hours. i seriously fucking wish Universal Basic Needs were provided and i could just be like a "reserve worker" for a low salary where i just pick up random shifts and do all sorts of random jobs whenever they need people to help out. this is literally my dream.

copping out yet again and tagging whoever wants to do it. "jess that's so lame-" you are correct. thank you.

[daydreamrry]

hi again, this is the anon that believes amber heard. you haven’t posted my ask yet and i have no idea if you will. and by the time you post this one you may have already posted that one and several people may have subsequently wrote in and flamed me alive BUT if you or anyone else is interested in learning more beyond the michael hobbes article i linked then you should also check out binctopia’s new podcast episode ‘trial by tik tok’!! i encourage everyone to do research on this case. whether you believe amber or johnny or you don’t care at all- this case is going to have a huge impact for the culture. i predict celebrity/ very rich people will start their copycat trials against their ex-wives- and abusers and predators the world over are watching. i don’t think amber was givin a fair trial. it was a trial by jury and though they were told to stay away from news on the case that was likely impossible (i mean i tried to stay away but it was impossible to get away from AND of all the accounts talking about the trial 11% were bots which is fucking insane) one of the jury members had their wife text them ‘amber heard is psychotic’ and they were NOT dismissed from the jury!!! so pls i beg you pls do some research on this. NPR has written some articles about what’s happening too.

that was my long rant and i’m done now. my last message was sent at like 5 am lol and i’m much more coherent now- but i urge you all to pls pls pls look beyond tik tok/influencers/tabloid. i truly believe that this is something we’ll all look back on in complete horror. i am currently so deeply horrified. i am a child of domestic violence and it makes my stomach sick to think of abusers sueing their victims for speaking out in public against them. this is gonna affect marginalized communities more, this is going to affect poor people more and everyone who is in a relationship where their abusive partner is older and or wealthier and or more powerful than them. so pls again. i beg you to look this stuff up. and talk about it with people online/irl.

sorry babe i was at an appointment which is why i didn’t post lmao but i appreciate you sharing this with us and encouraging everyone to read more about this situation. i’m not on either side, but it disgusts me that people mock amber and completely dismiss the abuse that she faced just because they’re fed lies or biased information from the media. i do think people are going to look back on this and realize that they were wrong for treating amber the way they did.

[thelandscapingemployeetrap]

Landscaping Business | Your Mental Health & Perseverance to Win🏆

These days, I’ve been asking myself…

How do successful entrepreneurs continue to stay excited when they have everything against them when their business isn’t working and/or growing at the speed they were hoping it would grow? But then, I realized that it’s not about their emotions; it’s their attitude. As the saying goes, happiness is a state of mind, and it’s something we can always choose.

This episode focuses on sound mental health, and I hope you tune in to learn more. It might be easier said than done, but until we stop comparing ourselves to others, we won't find the end of this spiral path that only pulls us down.

    “Basically, if you're looking at somebody else who has anything that you don't have, and you think that their life is great, that's not true at all. True happiness and fulfillment come in the moment. You can be in the middle of a total struggle and be totally happy; you can be broken and be happy. Happiness is a state of mind. It's a state of consciousness that you can have at any time, and I think is mostly separated from anything material.”

  – Keith Kalfas

   Why do you have to listen to today's episode.

  01:44 – “Attitude is something that you can consciously choose.”

These days, I’ve been thinking about mental health and how entrepreneurs stay excited in doing business even through the challenges; then, it led me to think about attitude – a word more powerful than emotions.

  03:18 – “If you want to grow or do different things that create your income and your career, you have to learn how to do a bunch of stuff that you don't know how to do yet and lean into the direction of what you don't know.”

Being in a slump and being full-blown depressed are two different things. Recently, I’ve been depressed again, and my conversation with my friend Rob was really of big help.

  07:21 – “Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.”

What Albert Einstein said is true. You have to rise to a new level, a higher level of consciousness, in order to see the challenge differently and try different approaches.

  10:45 – “In the last two years, I’ve had the most success I’ve ever had in my whole life.”

Going back, I’ve been through a lot, but I’ve also succeeded a lot. Growing up poor is a big achievement for me. True happiness is a state of mind.

  Key Takeaways 

“Attitude is something that you can consciously choose.”

  “He’s like, that thing you’re upset about? That’s fiction; that’s not even real. No matter how much energy you feel into something that’s imagined to try to fix it, you can’t fix fiction. You have to objectify and realize that it is fiction, and it’s not even real, so you’re worrying yourself to death over something that hasn’t happened yet.

  “If you're doing something every day for money that you know how to do, you can just get in and do that thing. But if you want to grow or do different things that create your income and your career, you have to learn how to do a bunch of stuff that you don't know how to do yet and lean in the direction of what you don't know, which means you're probably not gonna make a lot of money, you're gonna make a lot of mistakes, there's going to be a lot of learning curve, so it’s going to take way more time.”

    Connect with Keith  

Facebook

Instagram 

YouTube

LinkedIn

Website

  Resources/People Mentioned:

My Website: Official Site Keith Kalfas

My Podcast Page: The UNTRAPPED Podcast

Jim Rohn: The Ant Philosophy

Spencer Johnson: Who Moved My Cheese?

Patrick Bet-David: Your Next Five Moves

Try Jill's office today and get a $25 discount when you say or type untrapped. Click here to go to Jill's office.com.

Get a Free Trial of JOBBER Software & save 20% off your first 6 months. Grow Your Business With Jobber (getjobber.com) 

Please leave us a well-written, positive 5-star review if you liked the show. You may click here

  Check out this episode!

[janiedean]

I feel bad for all the nice J*nsa shippers who like their ship for whatever reasons (tropes, pretty art, aesthetic appeal, whatever) and know it's not canon but get associated with the misogynistic Dany hating crowd who act like Jon being attracted to Ygritte is J*nsa foreshadowing because red hair (I guess Jon should fuck Edmure Tully too? Omg give me Dark!Jon getting revenge on Catelyn by seducing her brother!) Tell me something. I'm new to the fandom but was J*nsa popular before the show? And I've heard something about the OG J*nsa shippers being alienated by the new shippers who insisted it had to be canon and acted like the series is called, "A song of J*nsa #danysux." I don't find that hard to believe because I know people who are now ashamed of calling themselves J*nsa shippers. Like, at this point, it's not only rival shippers who hate it. Even Gendrya/Braime/Jon stans/etc have started disliking that ship. You know your fandom is a problem when people who have nothing to do with Jnsa have a problem with it.

me: reads this ask

me: iwastheregandalf.gif which I can't find now but

okay anon buckle up because I am sadly well-equipped to answer this ask but before I do lemme tell you dark jon seducing edmure to take revenge on cat is LITERALLY THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD but *clears throat* ALL RIGHT THEN.

disclaimer: as anon says I have no issue with like the shippers mentioned by anon in the beginning and ngl I agree, I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO FUCKING STAKES in the j*nsa vs j*nerys war and the only het jon ship I gaf about is jon/ygritte and we all know where that ended up I just... have been here since 2011/adwd was over and all the fic around was just for the books under secret lj communities and asoiaf qualified for yuletide and I have... seen... things.... and I actually have like uh had... beef... with some people in there and I know things bc ppl who hated those others told me stuff so anyway *sigh* buckle up anon I'mma tell you the story of jon shipwars through the years

in order, the old gods help me here, under the cut bc this is long as fuck

when I got into fandom also given what numbers were on ao3 one ship was popular and it was sansan. no like sansan was lit. the only asoiaf ship on ao3 with more than 200 fics. jb had twenty when i checked first. jc had like around 100-ish because of the show but sansan dwarfed anything. I posted the first jon/ygritte fic on the ao3 tag and the fourth throbb fic and like the others were all reposts from lj kinkmemes. nothing was popular before the show except for sansan when it comes to huge numbers bc grrm doesn't like fic and it was all hush hush until the show made it impossible to control and that ship was the one with a huge enough fanbase it actually had numbers, so like... j*nsa wasn't popular in the way nothing else was popular until it got screentime on the show

now, that stated, j*nsa had a... fair amount of fic for a rareship which was mostly book-based and from og shippers that were there from before the show and liked it for what it was but literally none of them thought it was gonna be canon, like it wasn't huge or anything but it had a small but dedicated fanbase who did their own thing and thought it was fun/liked the idea but that was it

that fandom had their own niche of hcs that they cultivated and shit except that like... at the end of S5/beginning of S6 there was a surge in shipping for... well obvious reasons bc it was obv sansa was getting to the wall and that would have been all nice and good but a) it was the time puritanical shipping was starting to take root and the 'shipping sansa with sandor or tyrion is hella problematic' rhetoric had started to circle coming from sans*ery shippers mostly but I'mma not open that fucking can of worms here, b) while the ending of S5 had more of a theon/sansa spike, the j*nsa stuff started getting big

now here we have to mention my villain origin story ie: j*nsa fandom had this one stan whose name I won't make because honestly it's been years and if she's still around I don't want her to remember I exist who was a bnf, wrote for... the website that created the whole larry/carol thing etc who was really fixed on this thing that j*nsa was actually canon and started writing extremely popular meta about it. now you're gonna ask how do you know, I know because this person once wrote a meta named 'why robb stark is a dick' and I told her that it was really fucking bad meta and she took it so badly she kept on trash talking me on her blog/her podcast (I was apparently the insane robb stark fangirl l m a o good lord) and like that was when some sane ppl who argued with her informed me in pvt that she was basically harping on the CANON thing when they'd have been okay with like... it being crackshipping and that she was basically cultivating a hoarde of followers who were harping on them/the ogs and basically ostracizing them;

I would like to add that this person - before her tumblr got 'accidentally deleted' and remade it therefore deleted most receipts for, er, her so-called meta which included stuff like ned and cat raised sansa as a sexual object and only wanted to sell her like cattle - had at some point started a round robin fic thing where... some of the characters mocked openly said stuff that some of the og fans had said specifically targeting them and people in that side basically went harassing anyone who didn't agree with that specific notion

now never mind that this person basically coined an entire term to describe ppl who liked white guys and excused all their wrongdoings out of my conversation re robb basically lying about everything I said as if I didn't have the receipts and tried to sell shirts with it and it didn't work and like then she got kicked out of her own website because she was telling her commenters disagreeing pretty shitty insults (considering I was called psychotic for disagreeing with her that time I don't doubt it) I think at some point she stepped back from fandom bc idk wtf she's up to these days and I don't want to, but basically at that point the dam was broken and there was a bunch of puritanical shippers harping on anyone who didn't agree with j*nsa is canon endgame stuff

this also includes an incident when those ppl were like... passing themselves as throbb shippers and ended up trying to tell t*hramsay shippers off the theon tag based on moral reasons and I ended up arguing with all of them (and they were all from that crowd) which in turn landed me in contact with other og j*nsa shippers who were like detached from that fandom bc those same people harassed them away as well ssooooo fun

anyway when S6 happened everyone was high on it and whatnot but I wasn't gonna begrudge them that I mean... you shipped it for years, canon is delivering you, good for you, but then j*nerys happened

god j*nerys happened

aaand basically...... I mean personally I was there like are y'all seriously arguing about the best incest jon ship out there but like basically the j*nsa endgame side was like AH JON IS PLAYING DANY SEE IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN, the j*nerys obv got defensive af and both sides were sort of alternatively shitting on jon/ygritte anyway and depicting any other romantic rship jon could have as abusive™ and during S8 it just got worse and like I tried to stay out of it but basically from what I'm seeing now idk how the j*neryses are doing but on the j*nsa one it's ah jon's gonna play dany anyway and she's going to go insane like in the show so SHOW TRUTHING EVERY OTHER WAY and like again denying that sandor exists or that tyrion exists and like I barely touch my corner (sansan) but I ended up arguing with j*nsa/th*nsa people on twitter who were antis and is2g it was white-hair inducing and I know for sure the sansa/tyrion shippers were harassed to hell and back throughout so FUN

and even if the show didn't go there now since everyone there banked on the jnsa endgame thing and admitting you're wrong is like... not a thing, they still haven't let go of it and attach to that ship any shred of evidence which honestly is grasping at straws half of the time (like... the sansa/alysanne parallels like guys please no) and which is why every other ship is starting to get fed up, attaching canon proof of stuff from other ships onto theirs see that batb argument and jb is platonic but jonsa is not nvm taking all the sansan stuff and throwing it on j*nsa but then denying that sansan has canon evidence (like guys I had to read sansa touching his shoulder when saying gregor wasn't a true knight wasn't meaningful and we were seeing things please) and blah blah blah

this also goes hand in hand with the fixation on like... villanizing dany at all costs and like is2g I have zero investment in dany or her storyline I don't even remember it and I don't particularly care abt her either way and sure af I'm not for j*nerys endgame but like.... some stuff I read is completely excessive esp when fixing on how she's a completely mad tyrant who's gonna have to be put down and like... guys no

(also there's some srs stannis hate in that corner which I honestly don't get why they even care abt stannis but I had to read stuff like ppl don't recognize that dany and stannis are the real villains in this saga and like........ idek)

I think most of the og shippers are gone or don't ship it openly bc they don't want to be attached to the drama but like I also think they're pissing off everyone else bc like... I mean a bunch of them also were down with sansa being paired with other ppl as long as it meant a good ending for her except those ppl were... like everyone but the ppl she has actual contact with in canon which meant that at some point sansa/gendry was a thing and like.... you can imagine why arya/gendry shippers & arya stans were fed up, and there's also this tendency to behave like sansa is the center of the entire saga which like these books is named a song of jon snow basically can we pls make peace with it and personally I've had it with both j*nsa and j*nerys people since they started with that dumbass JON/YGRITTE WAS AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP rhetoric but I'm also fed up with the total ignoring that sandor exists/depicting us as delusional and honestly I also was by proxy fed up from the harassing of the sansa/tyrion shippers soooooooooooo

there were also instances of 'well theon is an acceptable choice other than jon bc he can't threaten her' which... i mean we all know what that meant and I'm not even commenting it bc it's one AM and I have no force to but I don't have to explain why it's not a progressive take now do I

there were also metas about how cousin incest being legal in half of the world means that jondany is a worse incest and j*nsa doesn't count as such and I was basically there like guys please just fucking own up to it but honestly I chose to forgot where I read that and I couldn't find the link if I tried

tldr: no one wants to admit that it's not gonna be endgame which considering the amount of fic they have on ao3 is imvho useless bc they have more content than like.. anything I ship that's not jb or that's actually like canon *cries in joncon/rhaegar but I mean renly/loras is canon and has less fic than them* so idk what's the problem with enjoying that instead of insisting it's gonna be canon when not even the show validated it while show truthing anyway when the only show truthing that can be truthed is the small council made of minorities and possibly jon eventually fucking off with the wildlings but not like that but like most people who thought it wasn't gonna be endgame had left/were made to leave by the time S7 rolled by and at this point since wow isn't out yet everyone is fandom-grasping at straws to find stuff to discourse on and we're here beating dead horses *shrug*

so that's... how it is but I would again like to point out that I don't judge ppl on their shipping, I don't particularly care about this entire feud bc I only ship jon with ppl he's not related to in whichever way and I try to stay out of this mess bc I don't really care to argue with ppl who have already decided to bend canon to whatever they want and will have to realize that it's not what grrm wrote at some point but like I have a very good memory and the above rant is as objective as possible also bc again I don't literally have a stake in that race I just think romantic/endgame j*nsa is not a thing and that ppl should stay in their lane and not harping on other ppl who ship whatever in general but especially when their ship is the most popular thing in fandom in the first place /two cents

[pr]

between bisluthq and the swiftgron patreon podcast idk anyone else that has monetized their hot takes. BUT what I find really interesting is both of them starting to push the "Toe is real" narrative around the same time which makes me feel like they either got contacted or are involved with Taylor's team and are doing it on purpose. There's no room to discuss the possibility of Joe being a beard anywhere publicly anymore because people get attacked no matter which Gaylor pairing is discussed, and tbh it feels like a giant narrative/PR push from higher up than just normal fandom talk since it ramped up so suddenly. I've only been following this fandom for a few months (like 3 i think) and in that time I saw the number of people joining in slowly increase, until it skyrocketed around the Fearless announcement (specifically talking about the GaylorSwift subreddit getting new mods a couple of weeks prior to that, and then the number of followers for that sub going from 1.5k to over 2k in the month since - in fact, over 100 people have joined it in the past 5 days alone) but talks of Gaylor are getting seriously buried and suppressed from people attacking those that comment to posts and comments getting straight up deleted (and a lot of the people doing the attacking are relatively new accounts, and we know of fake accounts being used by Taylor's PR team already). Interestingly, the monetization of the first blog I mentioned also happened around the same time as all of this, while the patreon podcast had been going on since before I joined the fandom. What I'm trying to say is, everything smells way too fishy for me and it's highly suspicious.

I'm only posting this because my guy

I own the r/GaylorSwift subreddit

and we are absolutely not silencing the Toe not being real narrative lol. Like I literally just made three flairs - Toe disbelief, Toe plausibility, and Toe neutral discussion - because we are sick to death of watching each side tear at each other's throats each and every time. Everyone has a space to discuss their theories without being harassed!

Also I'm still hiring mods lol, the amount of shit we have to keep up with is shockingly insane. You should see the names we get called in Modmail just because we're doing our jobs. Ugh. So yeah that's why there's been a massive mod increase.

In addition to that, I am a public relations student and when we do social media audits, Tumblr is not a social media platform we even consider when laying out objectives and goals for our clients. Taylor's not even on here anymore (and for good reason), so why would they have any investment financially or strategically in what the like 500 of us Gaylors do? There is no way in hell anyone on here is connected to Taylor's team.

If it was gonna be anyone it would be ME, yes I am putting myself out there hi @tree-paine if you are on here, I graduate with a BA in PR in December and would love to discuss how we can monetize the Tumblr Gaylor fandom and push a Toe legitimacy campaign that increases engagement with Joe's social media profiles by 5% each month and by the end of Q4 in 2022 will completely eliminate us Unhingeds entirely, I'll send you my resume toodaloo~

[cloveroctobers]

LEVEL 1 — Perception

A/n: to make things easier due to my hectic work schedule...I’m deciding on writing blurbs or short fics for right now, to get content out in a timely manner. I’m open to writing pairings but I notice those don’t get that much attention but I’m attempting to do so anyways...at least at the start of this series which is absolutely inspired by we’re not really strangers. I love the game, it’s very personal and intense so if you have the chance, get it if you’re open to connecting with the people you care about in a passionate way. I’ve also decided to make the characters a little bit older...college wise/around the actors ages based on these questions lol even tho these teens are already dramatic + have a lot going on.

Synopsis: a interviewer that Spencer is very familiar with, Rochelle Mosley has resurfaced to complete her senior year project at Claremont as a journalist. Rochelle is all about going big and never going home, so the first person on her list is one of the guy’s that intrigued her the most not so long ago. So she reached out to Thee Spencer James and to put the word out to anyone else that might be interested. And here we are!

::: S. James + O. Baker ::: All to me

Rochelle is seen running her finger over her pearly whites, making sure they’re squeaky clean after eating her brunch which consisted of a poached egg, an açaí bowl, served with lemon water. She already spent twenty minutes brushing her teeth and whitening them last night to prepare for this moment. She knew this idea would guarantee her nothing but a A+. She had friends from the film department around helping her with the equipment and due to this Panasonic it made things chaotic opposed to having this interview face to face.

Rochelle knew that she could have at least met with Spencer for his half but decided to do what he was comfortable with. She wouldn’t push any boundaries...yet. Regardless it would have to be a video call since Olivia attended MassArt and appeared that she would not be coming back to California any time soon, according to her insta stories that is.

Nonetheless Rochelle knew how to negotiate so here she was working on their terms. With a sigh, she straightened out her posture, fixed the waves in her hair, reapplied some matte lipstick—again, glanced around her to make sure she liked her set up and eyed her friends to make sure they were doing what they were getting paid for, and plastered on a commercial smile as she connected the video call waiting on her two guests.

It only took a minute for Spencer’s face to pop in.

“Spencer!” Rochelle greeted which he replied with slight raised brows and a smile at her volume, “so glad you can be here and punctual at that.”

Spencer answered, “well you know, if I agreed to be something I don’t want to waste anybody’s time ya know?”

“Always the wise one aren’t you?” Rochelle commented before continuing on, “how are things? How is UCLA?”

“I really like it here, uh. I’m almost done with my sophomore year, but with the way things are looking right now? Might have to switch to remote this spring semester...we’re all basically on standby at the moment. It’s crazy times but we gon’ get through it, I know it.” Spencer chatted with ease.

Rochelle was multitasking looking to the side at her phone to keep track of time. Olivia Baker was five minutes late now, which was slowly working Rochelle’s nerves. The girl had her number and although they didn’t talk much through texts or through anything really, it was common courtesy to let someone know if you were going to be late or couldn’t make it.

“Yes! We have to keep a optimistic attitude as best as we can. I hope you’re being safe out there?” Rochelle met Spencer’s eyes, after silently debating if she should send Miss. Olivia a text.

Spencer dipped his head, “absolutely. And yourself?”

“Oh yes, honey. This thing is ruining lives unexpectedly but it’s insane to me that people believe this isn’t real. It’s the denial for me. Especially here in California! Then when they catch it, it’s suddenly a different tune. Sure the numbers might be a little questionable but not too much is a lie. Read the facts, do the research. But—

Olivia showed up. Eight minutes later...

Rochelle forced a smile, “Olivia Baker! How nice of you to join us.”

“I know, I know. I’m super late and I’m sure you don’t want to hear the excuses so let’s just dive right into this social experiment project thing you have going on. Sorry by the way.” Olivia rambled which Spencer chuckled at.

Olivia paused, “hey, Spencer.”

“Hey, Liv.”

Rochelle picked up on the chemistry or tension or whatever you want to name it. It was all still there and oh so fresh. She knew this would be good and knew they had to be the first on her list. Sure Rochelle maybe a year or two older than these two but she also had friends that were younger and gossipers like her so she always had the inside scoop when she needed it. So yes, she knew all about spelivia.

“How’s Boston?” Rochelle asked politely, breaking the two’s stare contest.

Olivia inhaled, “it’s better than California, that’s for sure. It feels like I’m getting a fresh new start and it’s just what I needed.”

“Yeah i see you’re at your best there. You seem to be thriving.”

“well yeah, because it’s new. Sometimes you need to get away, I mean I’ve been in California for eighteen years of my life. I always knew I wanted to be somewhere else...don’t get me wrong, California is still very much my home.”

Nice save there, Olivia.

Rochelle clasped her hands together with a wide smile after a small silence filled the air after Olivia’s statement.

“Moving right along, I’ve sent the both of you a series of questions that you both should have received correct?”

Spencer pulled the padded envelope from the side and waved it in front of camera. Rochelle smiled at how organized this guy was and shifted her glance to Olivia who widened her doe brown eyes.

“Ah, yeah I’ve got that. It should be around here somewhere? Hopefully. If it’s not then it’s definitely in the car.” Olivia pointed.

Rochelle sighed, “very well. Please proceed on retrieving the envelope, it’s crucial to this interview.”

Olivia scooted back from the desk and held up a finger as she disappeared from the screen. Rochelle turned back to the brown boy who was toying with the tan object.

“Have you read any of the questions, Spencer James?”

“I really haven’t had the time to, no.”

“Great!” Rochelle quipped, “this will make this experience truly authentic.”

Spencer thought about what was said, wondering where this would get him. He understood what Rochelle informed him in the email and she answered all of his questions. He knew this wouldn’t strictly be about him and Olivia since he invited his friends along for the ride as well.

“Please open the envelope as we wait on Olivia. BUT only read the first question on the first card, we don’t want you to get too far ahead of yourself since that wouldn’t be fair to Olivia.” Rochelle instructed while Spencer took a small inhale before doing so.

Spencer read over the card, his eyes flying over the words as he read them pretty quickly. He hummed at that which Rochelle began to question him on but Olivia announced her presence.

“I’ve got it!” She let out in a sang-song voice.

“Olivia, please open the envelope but only read your first card’s question. Spencer has already done so while we were waiting for you,” Rochelle instructed before turning back to the sophomore, “Spencer, whenever you’re ready please read the question and answer.”

How would the person closest to you describe you in three words?

Olivia halted as she pulled out her own card as Spencer showed the card while reading it from the side.

“I’d think they would say I’m...compassionate, hardworking, and...loving?” Spencer announced, taking his time on thinking that over.

It was Rochelle’s turn to hum as she asked, “Do you agree with his choices, Olivia?”

Olivia was confused. “W-what?”

“Would you say Spencer is: compassionate, hardworking, and loving?”

Olivia quickly recovered, “we don’t know if Spencer is referring to me on that question.”

“Spencer, when answering this question who are you saying is the closet person to you?”

“I—uh—I consider a handful of people that are close to me.” Spencer expressed, “but I’d be lying if I didn’t say Olivia isn’t the first person that came to mind. Even though there’s a shift right now in our...relationship due to the distance—among other things...we’re still the closest and that speaks for itself.”

Rochelle gave a smug smile as she looked at Olivia who opened and closed her mouth. Before Rochelle could encourage Olivia to read her question, she already went forth after clearing her throat a few times.

What reality show do you think I’m most likely to binge watch? Explain.

Olivia peered up at Spencer.

“Oh? I’m supposed to answer this about her now? Aight. Lemme see...i don’t know you seem to find a lot of free time to watch things...maybe it’s a film major thing? Months ago you were watching ‘I love New York, then you told me you and Simone were watching ‘Love is Blind’ or—

“It was actually ‘married at first sight’.” Olivia cut in.

Spencer widened his eyes and pointed at the screen with a small laugh, “that makes sense.”

“Why?” Rochelle wanted to know.

Spencer’s answer was firm, “that’s not our business to tell.”

Rochelle scribbled a quick note on that, ruling these two out on that question to ask later. She made sure to circle Simone’s name and put a question mark next to it.

“To answer your previous question,” Spencer redirected the interview back, “since a lot of these were love reality shows...I know that’s not the only genre you watch and you listen to a lot of podcasts. So I’m gonna say this show called, ‘alone.’”

Olivia blinked.

Rochelle waved her hands as she signaled for one of her friends to find the show on the laptop they were on, “have you watched this show, Spencer? And please elaborate on why you chose this show for Olivia?”

“No I haven’t. I only saw the trailer for it randomly when I was on YouTube watching lebron’s greatest moments clips.” Spencer replied earning a snort from Olivia and a eye-roll from Rochelle, “I picked that show because Liv feels that way, always. Like she’s never been seen before, truly seen. And this show tests these guys to survive on their own in the wilderness, putting not only their bodies but their minds through a lot. It’s mainly about survival that much I gained from the trailer. Liv’s always been a loner for as long as I’ve known her and feels that’s how she knows how to survive by doing it all on her own when she doesn’t have to. I see that and I understood that from my first day at Beverly.”

...

[sanakoreanlangblr]

2021 Goals

Heyy! I’ve decided to put my goals for this year here, hoping that that might motivate me further, and maybe motivate someone else as well. Good luck everyone! And please take extra care of yourselves and your health, mental or otherwise! Everything else can wait.

This year has been difficult for all of us. As for me, even now, the upcoming semester is a big question mark. Currently I’m studying in France, and this semester I was supposed to go on an exchange to Taiwan buuuut that’s not happening anymore, as it has been cancelled. So per my school’s requirements I need to find an internship in the place of expatriation, which is a pain now. And that basically just means I have no idea where I’m going to be in the coming year or what I’m gonna be doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sorry, needed to complain for a bit, as I am going absolutely insane with the stress…

Anywayyyy, I still hope I will be able to uphold most of these goals, wherever I will end up. I tried to not make them overly big, so that I won’t get burned out too fast. But I have a whole year for those, some of these have dates for which I could expect to finish but I will not keep to them very strictly. Whatever happens, happens :))

Also, sorry if there are any mistakes, English is not my first language!

Korean (A2 -> B1)

1. Do 100 lessons of grammar from the HowToStudyKorean website.

I’ve started a few grammar books but in the end decided to settle on this website as I like its explanations best, and it provides the most example sentences when introducing each point. A nice touch is also the fact that it includes a list of a number of new words before each chapter, which gives me some new vocabulary to learn :)

So far I’ve divided the grammar points introduced in lessons into „to learn”, „to revise”, „already know”, and turns out I have:

66 „to learn”

35 „to revise”

32 „already know”

So if I did 3 points a week, I should be done around August.

2. Read 2 little stories per week from “Easy Korean Reading for Beginners”.

There is 30 stories in the first one (I already did 5), so I should be done by the middle of April.

3. Do one chapter per week from “My first hanja guide”.

I just got this book for Christmas and haven’t had the time to fully go through it so we will see how it goes.

4. Do Anki at least three times a week.

Every day would be preferable but I know that would last like a week at most.

5. Have iTalki lesson at least once a week.

That one is not a problem as I have been doing one or two per week for the last year, but I would just like to keep it up.

6. Try writing at least twice a month, and at least 2 pages.

Yeahhh that one is a bit of a bother, as writing still takes me a long time so we will leave it a twice a month and see how it goes.

7. Watch one youtube video per week on Korean grammar or vocabulary.

Generally I would say my goal is to use Korean more, as I know quite a lot but when I’m speaking I tend to go towards the easier words and grammar, which is why I am thinking that writing more could help me. And also I really want to focus on learning vocabulary as that’s always been a pain for me, I’m more of a grammar lover :))

French (A2 -> hoping for upper B1/ beginning of B2)

1. Finish the intermediate grammar book. I’m currently doing „Grammaire Progressive du Français” Intermediate edition, for A2/B1.

The problem is that my grammar knowledge of french is a mess , so going through this book is a bit of an annoyance, as most chapters I technically know but each time I find some nuance I wasn’t aware of... therefore I need to go through it, even the chapters I would have assumed I know :|

So I divided the chapters the same way I did Korean, into „to learn”, „to revise”, „already know”, and I ended up with:

14 „to learn”

34 „to revise”

4 „already know”

So technically if I did 2 points a week, I should be done in June.

2. Read the two french books I got for Christmas (“Les aventures d’Alice au pays des merveilles” and “Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours”).

3. Read at least two of the Harry Potter books in French.

I have started the first one this week, and I can tell it’s gonna be a very very slow process. It’s the first book I’m reading in french so it’s a bit difficult and frustrating but hopefully it’ll get better as I go along.

4. Watch at least 4 french movies, with french subtitles.

5. Learn a french song.

6. Read one story per week from „French Stories for Beginners”.

These are quite easy, but they are a nice practice for switching to books later on.

I don’t know if I’m gonna keep this one in, depends on how much my reading of actual books will progress.

7. Get to point 5 on the Duolingo tree.

I use Duolingo mostly as a revision tool, so I’m not really going to focus on it much, but still want to keep it up.

8. Watch one YouTube video per week (on any topic).

9. Listen to two podcasts per month.

10. At least one iTalki lesson per week.

11. Do Anki at least 3 times a week.

I really need to listen to french more, as I’m good at reading and I usually understand that pretty well, and I’m not the worst as speaking, but I am absolutely terrible at listening :| So that’s a priority.

Chinese (tbh I don’t know...end of HSK1/Beginning of HSK2 -> let’s say the goal is HSK3 for this year)

1. Finish the book „Integrated Chinese”

I’m having a tough time to pick a book from which to learn but I guess for now I’ll continue with that one.

Again, I divided the points in the book to „to learn”, „to revise”, „already know”, and ended up with:

47 „to learn”

11 „to revise”

15 „already know”

So doing 2 a week I should be done in July.

2. Learn 15 characters a day

I am way behind on learning characters.. I remember the words well but I didn’t put enough time to learn the characters at the start and now that’s gonna be a bit annoying to catch up on :|

3. Finish the drama „Go Ahead”.

4. Watch 3 Chinese movies, with both English and Chinese subtitles.

5. Have one Italki lesson per week.

6. Learn a children song in Chinese

7. Watch one youtube video per week on grammar.

8. Do Anki twice a week.

Generally focus more on characters. My speaking isn’t terrible (well besides the tones), but I need to work on the grammar a bit more as I seem to mess up the structures quite frequently. I need to put more work outside of my lessons. Since I found out I’m actually not going to Taiwan this semester my motivation has fallen a bit, but on the other hand I now have more time to prepare for fall, at which point I will hopefully be able to go!

Personal

Read 20 books.

I have always loved reading but in the past two years the amount of books I’ve read has gone down, which upsets me a bit…  On the other hand the amount of fanfiction I’ve read is tremendous, so there’s that. However I would like to make more effort to read this year, especially since I’ve accumulated a huge pile of books over those few years.

2. Workout regularly.

Right now I’m at home, so that should be easy to do. I don’t really know what’s gonna happen this semester, so we’ll see what I’m going to do about that later.

3. Eat better.

Meaning: cut down on sugar, eat more veggies and fruit.

4. Get a bit closer to my ideal weight

I’m not necessarily focusing on that this year as the previous one has been hell and really managed to deteriorate my mental health back to high school levels... but still hopefully working out a bit and eating less sugar, more veggies, I will be able to lose a tiny bit of weight. But overall I just want to focus on being a bit healthier.

5. Clean out my wardrobe

Sorry that’s a silly one but I’ve been getting to it for half a year now and I’m just too lazy to do that... maybe once I put it here I will have some motivation

6. Take care of my face and hair

So my sensitive skin hates wearing masks and needs extra care these days I need to really focus on it and baby it, to not go back to the awful red mess it was two months ago

As for my hair, I have kind of 3a curls which I haven’t been taking care of properly and plus I damaged them with hair dye (still I refuse to give up ginger hair, I blame Merida). So now during lockdown and quarantine season I finally had some time to read up on hair care of curls, and honestly after a month I can already see the difference, and well I hope for the best :)))

7. Get a tattoo

It’s something I’ve always put off since I either didn’t have the money or time. And now again both are problematic, so I will wait for the decision until I know what my school semester is going to be like. Maybe this time I will find a good moment! (Although honestly saving up for travelling after all this is over is also a great idea :))) )

8. Don’t go to sleep at 5

Yeah so during lockdown and because of online classes my sleeping schedule got so messed up I don’t even know what to do about it anymore. And while my goal isn’t to switch it to 10 pm, cutting it to 2 am at max would be nice

9. Watch 25 movies

10. Sell/donate the things that I don’t need

I’ve accumulated a huge pile of books, movies, CDs, Xbox games, art products - that I need to get rid of - and I’ve been saying that for like three years now, about the same pile of things. I will try to do that one this year!

I hope everyone’s 2021 will be a ton better than 2020! Keep fighting!

[hoodharlow]

Se Esta Acercando el Final de Nuestro Amor

AN: Thank @fioridichernoby1 @frankies-fury and @littledrummeraussie​ for the beginning lmao. As always thank you to @d-oaks for editing. 

Reqquested:  Yes! by a lovely anon. “1 + 7, with Cal and the OC of your choice.”

Warnings: smut in the beginning, a lil angst, and mentions of sex

Word Count: 4.2 k words

Claudia's anthropology notes and flashcards were long forgotten. All she could concentrate on was her mounting orgasm rather than the exam she had later in the morning. She knew Calum had been up to no good when he told her to put on her vibrator, pero como mensa se lo puso.

Even before today, she knew she would regret buying that vibrator the minute she inserted her card on the chip reader at the store. Then she saw the mischievous glint in Calum's eye when she showed him that he could also control the vibrator through an app even if he was across the country. 

Everything was fine when they started the Skype call until Claudia joked that he should increase the speed for every definition she got wrong on her flashcards. She started to purposely get definitions wrong just so Calum could tease her, which pissed him off because the last thing he wanted to do was to get in the way of her studies.

Claudia closed her legs shut. 

"Keep them open." Calum demanded. He increased the speed on the vibrator, making her yelp. 

She reached for her pillow to keep quiet. Thankfully Calum slowed the speed, but it was still driving her insane. Claudia squirmed and wiggled her hips for some relief.

"C'mon pretty girl, one more. I know you have it in you." Calum's voice echoed through her Airpods. 

Claudia bit her pillow harder, keeping her moans and screams muted. Her hands pushed her face deeper into the pillow.

Through his computer screen, Calum watched her body tense and constrict. She was nearing her climax, so he increased the vibrations on his phone.  He watched as her hands tightly fisted the pillow, letting Calum know she was coming. Her legs shook at the intensity, and her grip on the pillow loosened.

Claudia pushed the pillow off to the side. 

"There's my pretty girl." Calum smiled once he saw her face.

"I hate you." She panted. 

"You shouldn't have been a smartass earlier. No one likes a smartass." Calum tisked. 

"No, but you like this ass." She sat on her knees and lifted his flannel just above her waist, showing off her glorious ass. 

What Calum would do to be right there with her. He hasn't been able to hold her in weeks. He briefly saw her for a few days before the tour began. Except he had to fly to New York for a last minute radio show, so they didn’t spend as much time as he wished. The good thing was that she’s finally going to come see him. 

She sorted her school schedule to visit him. Her and Dulce even pre-recorded their podcast to upload on Apple Music and Spotify later. At the end of the semester, the school shut them down for being too political, so now they do podcasts. Claudia still worked at the restaurant during the summer. It was a deal she made with her parents. What financial aid didn't cover, her parents would pay plus her rent. She knew they were making a huge sacrifice, so she worked at the restaurant to earn some money of her own, so she wouldn't ask them for any more spending money. 

Claudia reached down and removed the toy. She got up and picked her panties off the floor. Noticing their dampness, she tossed them to the laundry hamper and got a fresh pair. In the bathroom she cleaned the toy and placed it in the storage box; then into an empty tampon box.

She quickly fixed her hair and went back to bed. Claudia beamed at Calum. He looked a bit intimidating with his shaved head, but the second he smiled, he had a completely different demeanor. He looked so soft and cuddly.

"I like your face.” Claudia found herself saying out loud. She pulled her giant pillow closer to herself as she watched him get ready. She unconsciously licked her lips when he was in front of his suitcase. His glorious ass out on display as he put on his sweats. She squeezed her thighs together, hoping for some relief. After all those orgasms, she should not be thinking of how she would dig her nails in his ass when taking him in her mouth. Nor the way he would tightly grip her hair as he guides her mouth along his length.

Claudia sat up right and slid her hands inside her panties. She closed her eyes and imagined Calum's face in between her thighs. His teasing licks and kisses. Her other hand played with her breasts. Tweaking her nipples and squeezing them. After all that teasing, she inserted her ring and middle fingers inside of herself.

Calum was too busy getting dressed that he wasn't watching the screen, but the second he heard Claudia's soft moans, he stopped everything and looked over. 

"Calum," she said softly as she touched herself. 

"Fucking hell," he mumbled.

He checked the time; he had an hour before heading to the arena for sound check. He sat back down and pulled down his pajamas along with his boxers. His cock slapping against his stomach, already hard. He reached for his lotion and slowly stroked himself.

"What are you thinking about, pretty girl?" He asked her.

"Your tongue, miss it so much" She groaned. They told each other what they wanted the other to do to them. In a matter of minutes they both came. 

"How many was that?" Calum asked her.

"Like eleven? I don't know, my brain is mush." Claudia sighed. Her alarm belted out a piano cover of 'L$D'. She groaned and stretched over to the other side to turn it off. "Fuck, I gotta get ready to fail my exam."

"You better pass, or else." He warned.

"Or else what?" She sassed him.

"You don't get my tongue."

***

The exam is multiple choice and short answer, and in the class it's a given pass if you get at least 75% on the multiple choice. Claudia passed her exam. She doesn't like her professor, but the one good thing about her is that she's a fast grader. 

 Her flight was tonight, arriving in New York in the morning to meet up since he had a few days in between shows. Calum bought her her ticket, much to her dismay. . He knew she hated that he paid for her things because she wasn't a mantenida. Calum always reassured her that he's okay with paying for her things because he knows that college is expensive. He doesn't want her to worry about it when she's saying up for grad school. 

She pushed away those thoughts and went back to packing. When she got home, her Savage×Fenty package was at her doorstep. She was trying on the bra she ordered when Calum FaceTimed her.

"Hey!" She said, "This is cute right?" 

"I'm supposed to go on stage in a bit. Why do you torture me like this?"

"Fine, I'll take it off." she reached back and unclasped it. She threw it on her bed near her duffle bag. "Happy?"

"Please put on a shirt." He groaned. Claudia laughed at him, but went to go put on a shirt.

"What's up?" She asked, pulling out her hair from her shirt.

"Can you do me a favor? I need some jackets. When you stop by my place to get Duke, could you get some? I'll even let you take a hoodie for yourself." He replied. He had only packed one jacket that was useful for cold weather. The others were more for him performing.

"Like any hoodie? Even your green one?" 

"If you can find it, it's yours."

"Okay. I have a few hours before my flight. I'll text Roy that I'm driving over."

"Okay. Want me to send you some food over?"

"I made myself chilaquiles verdes." She lifted her bowl and showed him. 

Calum nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate it and I appreciate you." 

"Better show me how much you do when I get there."

"Oh, I plan on it."

They kept talking until Calum had to go on stage. Claudia was pulling up to Calum's house an hour later. She knocked on the door and waited. She looked back and didn't see Roy's car, but there was a car parked in the driveway. Maybe he got a new car, she thought to herself. She knocked again. 

A girl with purple hair opened the door. It took Claudia a second to realize she was Calum's ex. 

"Cal's not here." She said. She looked at Claudia up and down. 

"I'm aware. I need to get some things for him." Claudia replied, coldly. She nudged her way in. 

"Still can't believe you're together.  Let me give you some advice. As someone who dated him—"

"I didn't ask for advice." Claudia snapped at her. She surveyed the house. Her eyes landed on the living room. A blanket she left there was splayed over the couch and the tv had "The Good Place" paused. "Where's Duke?"

"Roy took him to get groomed." 

Claudia watched her lay back on the couch. She covered herself in the blanket and continued watching "The Good Place." Claudia sat on a chair in the kitchen. 

She pulled out her phone. Calum was already on stage. She texted him to call when he can. 

Roy came back half an hour later. Duke ignored Calum's ex and went straight to Claudia.

"Hey, babas." Claudia said. She pulled him to her arms and sponged kisses all over his face.

"Well, I should get going." The ex announced. She pulled Duke out of Claudia's arms and hugged him. He squirmed and tried to pull away from her. "Bye, my love. Be good."

She set him on the floor and he went back to Claudia. 

Roy bid her goodbye and led her to the door. There were muffled whispers between. Then Claudia heard the door slam.

"Sorry, I was gonna bathe him here, but we ran out of shampoo, and Cal is super anal about Duke's shampoo. He gets that expensive shit from Japan. And it gets here in a few days. So I just took him to get groomed. I didn't know she was gonna be here." Roy rambled.

"No worries." Claudia waved him off. "Cal needed some clothes."

"Right," he said. He pulled out his keys and handed her one. "This is the one to his room."

"Thank you." she said, taking it.

She went upstairs and quickly entered his room. She slammed the door shut and finally started processing what just happened.

‘She still has a key ro Calum's place. It's probably not the first time she's been at his place when no one's home. And lastly, she used my blanket.' Claudia thought to herself. She just can't comprehend that Calum still lets her come over like that. She sighed and went into his closet. 

***

Calum's stomach dropped and he saw the 'text me when you can, we need to talk' message Claudia sent him. He had about half an hour before going back on stage. He took a backstage pass and went to the tour bus. He paced around the bus waiting for Claudia to answer.

"Bueno?"

"Hey, just got off stage. What's up?" 

"Just trying to figure out why your ex was watching 'The Good Place' at your house. I find it weird. Like, the fact that she acts like it's her place just doesn't sit right with me." 

"She has a key? She always goes over to see Duke. We got him together, you know that. She gets him when I'm touring."

"And that makes it okay for her to act like that's her house? Why doesn't she take him back to her place? Where she has her own blankets." She mumbled the last part, but Calum managed to hear her.

"Claudia, please tell me you're not getting worked up over  a fucking blanket?"

"I could care less about the blanket! I just don’t like it that she's at your house. How would you feel if you came over and found Paco chilling in my house while I was out of town?"

"It's not the same thing! We have Duke! Plus it's not like I'm there with her."

Claudia was silent for a bit. Then she sighed. "I don't think I can go visit. I have midterms coming up and I can't distract myself with anything." 

"Fine." Calum said. He balled up his fist and rested his head against it. He saw Ashton hold his hand up, they were going back on stage in five minutes. Calum waved him off. "I gotta go. I have to get back on stage. I'll call—"

"Okay, I don't wanna keep you." she said softly. "Um, I'll call you later. Good luck."

Calum didn't respond. He hung up and went back to the arena. The guys noticed his whole demeanor change. 

"What?" he snapped at the guys.

"Everything alright?" Michael asked.

"Yeah." He said. He waited for their cue to go back into the stage.

It was the worst Calum has ever played. Even the people that went to go see them could tell he wasn't in the right headspace. In a blink of an eye, they performed and left.

. After the performance, he went back to the bus. 

His phone pinged. It was a venmo alert that Claudia sent him the money for the plane tickets. He sent the money back and texted her not to send him the money. He waited for her to reply, but she didn't. 

Michael came on the bus. "We're going to go get food before we hit the road. What time are you leaving for the airport?" He asked.

"That's not happening anymore." Calum sighed. 

"What do you mean? Is Claudia sick or something?"

"We got in a fight because she saw my ex at my house."

"Why does she still have your key? Don't you find it weird that she's always there when you're not?" 

"Because she sees Duke. What's not hard to understand about that?" Calum snapped at him. "Sorry… Claudia's just pissed for no reason. I never thought she'd get so worked up over a fucking blanket."

Michael stayed silent.

***

Calum thanked the Lyft driver and made his way up the steps to his house. He noticed her bright red car parked across his house. He trudded up the steps and unlocked the door. He stepped in and immediately frowned at the sleeping body on the couch. ‘That’s Claudia’s blanket,’ he thought to himself. 

“Get up.” He said sternly. He shook her shoulder, waking her up. 

“Shit,” his ex said looking up at him confused. “How long was I out?”

“Where’s Duke?” Calum asked, dismissing her. Duke, no matter where in the house he is, always meets him by the door when he gets home.

“Hmm?” She yawned and scratched her hair. She pushed off the blanket and stretched. 

Calum scoffed and went to go look for him. He went upstairs to check his room. Empty. Behind the fireplace where he stored all the chewed up shoes. Nope. Calum went to the yard; he chanted and whistled for him, but Duke didn’t appear. 

He came back to the house. He heard soft whines and moans. Calum quietly walked near where he heard the sound. He ducked down under the table and saw Duke. There was a pint of ‘Chocolate Therapy’ next to him.

Calum's heart raced.

"Oh, you found him!" He heard her say from behind.

"Get out." Calum's voice rose in panic. He scooped up Duke and took him to the nearest bathroom. "It's gonna be okay, old man." He rubbed his stomach and kissed his head.

He ran back to the kitchen and rummaged around looking for measuring spoons. He opted for a turkey baster and went back to Duke.

He filled it with enough hydrogen peroxide and forced it down Duke's throat. After two minutes, he vomited. Calum waited another fifteen minutes to make sure nothing else happened.

"You feel better, old man?" Calum asked him. He set Duke on the couch and went back to the bathroom to clean up. 

When he came back, he found Duke sniffing Claudia's blanket. He growled at it and laid down on the opposite side of the couch. Calum went to get the blanket and frowned. It didn’t smell like Claudia. 

Calum needed to call her and apologize. He wondered if he should go over or just call her. 

He missed Claudia, plain and simple. He wanted to hear her laugh. He needed her there with him, reassuring him that Duke was going to be fine. He just wants her there with him.

***

Claudia checked her phone for the millionth time, but nothing. She wasn't in the wrong, she thought. He's the one that doesn't have set boundaries, and his ex was the one fucking this up. 

She went to the fridge for some rosé. She was going to sip some wine and color to keep her mind off things. 

Her phone rang, so she ran from the opposite end to answer.

"Bueno?"

"Mi'ja, why haven't you called? You said you were calling when you landed." It was her dad.

"Um, something came up?... Yeah, my profe dropped an assignment last minute and I wanted to work on it. It's due the day before my—"

"¿Porque mientes?"

"I'm not… I'm not…"

"Claudia, te conosco. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…" Her voice cracked. She couldn't finish what she was saying. She slid down against her desk and sighed. "I'm just stressed with school. Like I graduate next semester and I have to do good because I have to apply for grad school next semester too. I just wanna do good. Don't want to let you and mami down."

"Claudia, we're proud of you no matter what. You can drop out and go to pastry school, and we'd still be proud and support you. If you think it's too much, you can take a semester off before starting grad school."

"Thanks, dad." She felt guilty for lying to him, but she hates putting out her  business like that. Knowing her dad, he'd joke about potentially killing Calum, but he'd wish them the best and tell her some dicho her grandmother would say to him. 

"Te dejo. I was just checking in. If you need anything me hablas. Te quiero."

"Yo tambien."

They bid goodbye and hung up. 

Claudia sighed. She heard her stomach grumble. She hasn't eaten anything since last night. 

She tugged the sleeves of Calum's green hoodie. She found it last night when she was getting his jackets and Duke. It felt like she was getting a hug from him. 

She quietly walked in the kitchen where the others were and grabbed some noodles from the freezer. While they cooked in the microwave, she went back to her room for the rosé and her coloring supplies. 

Dulce and Sara looked at each other and then back to Claudia. They had both seen the airport pictures of Calum. They weren't sure if Claudia had, so they decided not to say anything until she brought them up. They saw how upset she was when she got home last night. The last time they saw her that upset was when her ex broke up with her last year.

Claudia sat on their island and spread out her things. When the microwave beeped, she pulled out her noodles and added some leftover bistec. She poured her rosé into her mug and got coloring.

Her left hand alternated between feeding herself and having a sip. Her  '💔💔💔' playlist was blasting through her air pods. After a few hours,she got up to get the charging case.

"... she's a little sensitive right now. Us telling her that he's in L.A. is probably not—" Dulce quieted down. Sara and Ale looked behind them. Claudia was standing behind them.

"He's here, and he didn't even bother to tell me." Claudia wiped a tear off her cheek. She hugged herself. "He's probably here to break up with me. Of course he is! He's fucking Calum Hood. I'm just some college student. He can do so much better, and he will."

"You burn all of his shit." Dulce piped up. "Starting with the hoodie."

"Dulce!" Ale and Sara said at the same time. She signaled them to wait for Claudia's response.

"Maybe something happened, right? It's probably all a misunderstanding and he's gonna show up and tell me. 'Hey, sorry for being MIA the past few hours.'" Claudia said. She sat down on the couch only to stand up three seconds later. "But if he's not? What if this is his way of breaking up with me? I'm going to go listen to Christian Nodal full blast."

"This is all a misunderstanding, like you said. We'll order some pizza and wait for him with you." Ale said.

Claudia nodded and went back to the kitchen to finish coloring. She sipped some more rosé. Then the doorbell rang, and she bolted to open the front door. She looked at herself in the mirror and pulled up her hair into a messy bun. She plastered a smile and opened the door. Her smile faltered when she saw it was James, the pizza delivery guy who's also in Claudia's anthropology class. He used to give them free pepperoni knots but stopped when he found out Claudia was dating Calum.

"You're not Cal." She said softly. Claudia teared up and slammed the door. Shortly after, she opened the door and took their order. The girls came over and found her stuffing herself with pepperoni knots. She hugged her knees and sighed. "How do you think this ends?"

***

Calum rolled off his couch. After he gave Duke the hydrogen peroxide, he took him to the vet. They stayed there for a few hours until Duke was cleared. He was going to call Claudia, but he left his phone on the bathroom sink. When he got home, he called his ex. They argued for a bit, but they agreed that she should return his key and that she should call Roy whenever she wants to see Duke. 

He decided to take a quick nap before going over. He wrapped himself in Claudia's blanket after he washed it with the detergent and fabric softener she uses and sprayed it with her perfume that he stole because it reminded him of home.

Now it's almost midnight. 

"Fuck," he mumbled. He rubbed his neck and stretched. 

His phone pinged. He tripped over his feet to get his phone. It was from Claudia. 'Hope you had a safe flight.' He cursed. He grabbed his keys and phone. Duke followed him. Instead of convincing him to stay, Calum lifted him onto the car and drove to Claudia's. 

He gave himself a quick pep talk before working up the courage to knock on her door. Her bedroom light was on. He could hear her singing.

"Se está acercando el final de nuestro amor…" he overheard her sing. He wasn't sure what she sang, but he knew it was a sad song. 

He took a deep breath and knocked. The music stopped. Seconds later the door opened. Tears pooled around Claudia's eyes.

"You couldn't wait until the morning to break up with me?" She asked quietly. 

"What? Break up with you? I came to apologize. You—"

"What happened to you, babas?" She lifted Duke and inspected the tag on his paw. She moved off to the side to let him in. She looked up at Calum, her eyes filled with worry. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah. When I came home I found him covered in chocolate ice cream. Gave him some hydrogen peroxide and then took him to the vet to make sure he's okay." He explained. He followed her to the kitchen. She sat on a stool and Calum took the one opposite of her. "Claudia, I'm sorry. I—"

"I should be the one apologizing. It's not my place to tell you how to take care of Duke. You know what's best for him, and I should respect that." Claudia said. She softly rubbed Duke's tummy and kissed his head.

"But you were right about setting boundaries. I didn't realize how you must've felt until I saw her in your blanket. It just didn't feel right."

"Cal, please tell me you're not getting worked up over a blanket?" She joked. 

She set Duke on the floor. They heard him pad over to her room. Claudia wrapped her arms around Calum. He sighed and kissed her hair. They stayed quiet in each other's arms. Calum's stomach ruined their moment.

"You hungry? There's pizza."  Claudia offered.

"Did you pass your exam?" He asked her, dismissing her pizza offer. He wanted to eat something that he was craving for the past few weeks.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with pizza?"

"I want my dessert first if that's okay with you, pretty girl." He picked her up and sat her on the counter. He got down on his knees and placed her legs over his shoulders. He ran his hands over her thighs. 

"I suppose. You did help me study."

Taglist: 

@calumscalm​

@cherryxwildflower​

@myloverboyash​

@idontneedanyone​

@findingliam-o​ 

@sexgodashton​

@calumhoodaf​

@5-secondsofcolor 

@sunshinebabycal 

@another-lonely-heart

[softbiker]

Bucky Barnes Oneshot

Warnings: 18+ only - smut (fingering), some cursing

Word count: 3.6k

A/N: I can’t believe I wrote 3.6k words of what basically amounts to Netflix and fingering, but this is what Bucky Barnes does to people (you’re welcome Kris). Anyways, here is my first-ever smut - in which Bucky’s girl has a bad day at work and he does his best to make the night a good one. Bonus points if you can guess which show they’re watching ;) As always, feedback is appreciated! Since I’ve never written smut, please tell me if it’s bad lol. Thanks for reading!

A fuzzy vibration in his pocket alerts him to a text. 

Kill me. 

Unable to hold back a snort, he bites his lip and swipes at the screen. His thumbs flutter over the keyboard. 

No can do, babydoll. Not an assassin anymore, remember?

Merely a few seconds pass, little dots floating in the conversation bubble, before her reply buzzes back.

I’m sure you’ve retained some of your skills…or maybe I should ask Natasha?

Please, I taught Nat everything she knows. And I’d still take her out before I’d let her kill you - your butt is too cute. 

So is yours, Handsome ;)

The muscles in his cheeks hurt from the silly grin stretching up the corners of his mouth, but he can’t help himself with her, it’s just too easy. Too fun. 

Well, if you’re NOT going to put me out of my misery…then you at least owe me a good night tonight. 

Done and done. The whole team knows - and teases him frequently - that he spoils her, worships her, bends over backwards at her every request. It’s not his fault; she wrapped him around her finger the day they met, and it’s such a sweet place to be, he’s never bothered untangling himself. And she always gives as good as she gets, every time. 

What did you have in mind, sweetheart?

Pizza and Netflix. Preferably with your hand down my pants. 

Oh and there it is - that lovely little tingle down his spine, warmth in his belly, ever-present between them. His funny girl, always teasing. Teeth tug at his bottom lip as he deliberates over his response, thumbs poised over the screen.

It’s a date. 

He tacks on that little emoji with the winking kiss face and hits send. Glances at his watch - a little past 3 in the afternoon; she’ll be off work at 5, probably straight out the door if she’s having such a bad day, but if the traffic is bad or she gets stuck at her desk, it’ll probably be closer to 6 when she gets home. 

Slipping his phone in his back pocket, he looks around at the apartment, a quick survey of the last 5 days’ damage - a few dishes in the sink and on the stove, dirty socks peeled off in the hallway, a basket of clean clothes waiting to be folded. He nods to himself, prioritizes his task list, and tackles the kitchen first. After loading the dishwasher, he goes back to the bedroom, digging in the side pocket of his backpack for his headphones; he slips them in and turns on the next episode of that conspiracy theory podcast he’s become obsessed with (not that he’ll admit it, but she thinks it’s hysterical) and gets back to work, giving their home as deep a clean as he can in the couple of hours he has. On an afterthought, he lights a couple of scented candles - her favorites, the ones that smell like roasting marshmallows - throughout the place, letting the rooms fill with a warm scent. 

A few minutes past 5, he stands in the living room, hands on his hips, and surveys his work, feeling pretty pleased with himself. Their home looks and smells deliciously clean and inviting, a warm embrace for her to fall into when she walks in the door. He glances at his watch and decides he should go ahead and order the pizza, and as he swipes at the app on his phone, he double checks the champagne chilling in the fridge. Check and check. 

Perfect. He smiles to himself, the smirk turning a bit wicked as he walks down the hall to light candles in the bedroom. 

A perfect night for his perfect girl. 

 **********                                                  

Her feet drag as she climbs the stairs up to their apartment, cursing herself all the way for moving into a building with no elevator. As if she weren’t tired enough from the absolutely hellish day she just had - even thinking about work has her massaging her temples with a groan. And she absolutely, positively, has to get new shoes for work, her feet hurt so fucking bad it’s insane-

Nope. Nope! Completely done, she stops on the second flight of stairs with a huff, removing her heels one at a time and shoving them into her work bag. Files and various loose papers wrinkle in the process, but she doesn’t care at all; so what if the little blue fleck of gum on the bottom of her pumps gets stuck on the official copy of a contract? At this point, she’s practically daring someone to say something about it. Biting someone else’s head off for a change would be just delightful. 

She continues up that flight of stairs and the next, barefoot, her bag heavy and awkward on her right shoulder with the addition of her shoes, toes pressing into the worn and dated green carpet covering the steps. In her head, she’s counting them, counting down - 10 steps to Bucky, 9 steps, 8 steps, 7, 6…

When she unlocks the door and pushes it open, he’s waiting there, sweet smile curling up his soft lips. Of course, he must have heard her coming up the stairs - and she sags in relief, practically falling into his arms without even closing the door. He chuckles, tugging her closer while shuffling their positions in the hallway so that he - ever responsible and paranoid - can close and deadbolt their door. 

“Hi,” she mumbles into his chest. 

“Hi, baby,” he whispers back, lips against her temple. “Rough day?” 

She groans, shaking her head with her face still pressed against him. 

“You’ve got no idea, Buck, it was just the worst-”

“Shh, shh,” he hushes her, rubbing her back with firm strokes. “You don’t have to talk about it. You can just relax, honey. I’m here.”

A heavy sigh puffs against his shirt, the heat of her breath felt through the fabric, and her shoulders drop a little further, the tension slowly melting as he softly sways her from side to side. They stand like that for a while, just breathing each other in, letting go of the day, coming home to each other. Though she’s never said it aloud, she lives for moments like this, when there’s nothing that matters outside the circle of his arms. Nothing else at all. 

The insistent growl of her stomach interrupts them - loud and gurgling, and he chuckles in spite of himself. He pulls back a bit from their embrace, looking down with a fond smirk tilting up his mouth. 

“Hungry?”

“Starving, Buck,” she pouts, a little dramatic, a playful whine coloring her tone. “Did you make dinner?” 

“Even better.” A light press of his lips to the tip of her nose, his voice continuing in a whisper. “I ordered out.”

A soft gasp. 

“Gusano’s?” Her eyes are sparkling and he wonders if she gets as excited for him as she does for pizza. 

“Mhm. Got all the toppings you like, too.” 

Touched, and sensitive from such a long day, her smile is so big it makes her tired eyes tear up just a bit. Sometimes, it just hits her - how lucky she is, how one-in-a-million her sweet super-soldier boyfriend manages to be every single day. It swells her heart full to bursting every time.

He doesn’t say anything else, just kisses her forehead and turns, keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders and steering her to the bedroom. 

“C’mon, babydoll - you go change,” he urges gently, stroking her arm. “Get in your comfy clothes, take your makeup off, all that jazz - I’ll grab the pizza and then we’ll see what we wanna watch, yeah?”

Her answering sigh is dreamy as she drops her head back to his shoulder. 

“Where have you been all my life, Bucky Barnes?” 

“Mm. Mostly in cryogenic storage,” he whispers, eyebrows wiggling as he leans in for a kiss. With a roll of her eyes she dodges his lips, letting them land on the side of her head as she smacks his chest and walks off to the bedroom. Chuckling, he lands a playful swat on her ass before skipping to the kitchen. 

What a man, she thinks, shaking her head as she digs through her dresser for a pair of soft college sweatpants. One-in-a-million.

  **********                                                   

Pizza box on the edge of the bed, bottle of champagne on the left nightstand. She’s settled between his legs, feeling full and pleasantly soft from the bubbly drink in her hand. 

“We’re gonna keep watching this, right?” she hums as the credits roll on the first episode, button in the bottom corner counting down until the next one plays. 

“Sure - as long as you don’t spend the whole night ogling that guy’s ass,” he huffs, pinching her hip. 

“Hey! It’s not my fault he’s got a great ass - but I never said it was better than yours,” she offers, sweet and apologetic, reaching up to pat his cheek. Even with her head only half turned, she can see the pouty scowl on his face, her hardened assassin looking more like a frustrated two-year-old. Adorable. What a man. 

“Whatever,” he grumbles, shifting a little on the bed and tightening his arms around her, as though that might keep his girl in his lap rather than jumping through the screen and into the arms of the wig-wearing hunk whose strapping biceps currently have her attention. 

The second episode plays, she relaxes a little further, finishing her second glass of bubbly. When he murmurs in her ear, she lets him take the glass and set it on the nightstand, out of the way. He shifts forward and grabs the pizza box, too, moving it to the other nightstand - both of them have eaten their fill and all that’s left in the box is a scrap of crust, nibbled all the way up till there’s nothing left but seasoned bread. 

There’s a little shifting, a little wiggling, as he settles them both back against the headboard. In true “Princess and the Pea” fashion, Bucky’s got no less than three pillows fluffed behind his back, cushioning him against the hard wooden headboard. When he’s finished shuffling around, he strokes her sides for a moment, pulling her back flush against him and wraps his arms around her waist, sighing in contentment. 

“Comfortable?” she giggles. His only reply is a low hum and a squeeze of his arms. 

They go back to watching episode two, trying to follow the separate timelines and magical rules that have yet to be explained in the story world. She’s got her eyebrows drawn together, puzzling out where the hunchbacked mage might fit in to all of this; while the women on screen test their magic powers, she feels warm lips travel to her neck. 

At first, she tries to ignore him, intent on watching the show; but the warm, wet kisses trailing up and down the side of her neck have her tilting her head, silently asking for more…

“Watch your show, baby,” he whispers, husky voice sending a delicate shiver down her spine. The tip of his tongue traces over the shell of her ear. “Don’t want you to miss your man.” 

She intends to make a derisive snort, but it comes out as more of a hiccuped gasp when one of his hands slips just under the hem of her t-shirt, fingers spider-walking up the skin of her stomach. Her mouth is dry when she tries to swallow and bring her hazy eyes back to the TV. 

It works for a few moments, maybe minutes, as he softly strokes the warm skin of her belly, his other hand tracing the waistband of her sweats. His mouth never leaves her neck and shoulders, switching from one side to the other, gently letting his teeth scrape over her sweet spot and her earlobe. All tender, unhurried caresses, and she sinks further into him, into the warmth of them both in their room, their world. 

She chokes on her gasp when his hand slides up to cup her breast. 

“You still watching, honey?” he hums, a smile pressed against her jaw. 

“Uh-huh,” she manages when his finger circles her nipple. 

“Good.” He nuzzles her cheek a little bit, stubble scratching along her smooth skin as his hand continues to massage her breast - his fingers still soft, barely squeezing, just enough to tease. 

His other hand finally wiggles past her waistband - but stops at the seam of her underwear, just a few inches in. She’s watching, she is, she is; her eyes are on the screen, on the very handsome monster hunter with a jaw that could cut glass, her hand gripping Bucky’s thigh. She’s absolutely paying attention to the show, and not at all frustrated with the light strokes of his fingers across her hips and mound, still outside of her panties. Fingers stretch a little further, so he’s massaging her inner thigh in time with the squeezes to her breast. It’s getting a little hot in here - maybe she shouldn’t have worn such thick sweats and fuzzy socks…

This time, she can’t help herself as she digs her nails in his thigh, his index finger lightly tracing her folds over her underwear. It almost tickles. She almost whines. Bites her lip instead to hold it back, her breath hitching in her chest. 

“Bucky,” she huffs. 

“Hm?” He licks her neck. 

��Are you going to do something?” It comes out weaker than she meant it to, more desperate than demanding. 

“I thought you wanted to watch your show?” he suggests, feigning innocence. “Don’t you wanna watch Netflix with my hand down your pants? You can have both, honey.” 

Her thighs twitch when his fingers press a little firmer, just an ounce more pressure - still barely anything, still not enough. She does whine this time, trying to wiggle her hips closer to his hand. 

“Go on, admire his ass some more, sweetheart,” he chuckles. “I know you think it’s cute.” 

The hand in her shirt switches to the other breast and tweaks her nipple, just on the pleasant side of painful. She licks her lips, blinking to regain focus on the screen, feeling way too hot. Bucky seems unbothered, though, continuing his ministrations and ignoring the TV altogether. 

Her teeth sink into her lower lip when his hand slides around to grab a handful of her ass, gripping tight then playfully popping the seam of her panties with his finger. 

“You’ve got a pretty cute ass, too,” he teases, his hand gliding back to its place between her thighs. 

She huffs again, unable to stop herself from arching into the hand that’s attentively playing with her breasts. Alright then. Two can play at this game - she releases her death grip from one of his thighs and slides her hand back, just behind her, letting her nails drag over the prominent bulge in his sweats. 

He hisses through his teeth, releasing her breast to grab her wrist. His other hand slips out of her pants to snatch her hand that remains clasped to his thigh

“Nuh-uh, sweetheart,” he nips at her shoulder. With a firm grip, he moves her hands up behind his neck, letting her fingers tangle in the sweaty strands at his nape. “You keep those right here and enjoy your show, alright? I ain’t done with you yet.”

Satisfied that she would stay put, he lets his hands glide back down - over the length of her arms and down her sides, before gripping the hem of her shirt and hiking it up above her breasts, both hands immediately giving them a firm squeeze. Lower lip trapped between her teeth, she barely holds back the low moan in her throat and fights to refocus her eyes on the screen again, a herculean task with his fingers plucking at her nipples like that. 

The heat between her legs continues to build, despite both his hands occupied with her chest, and she can’t help but lift her hips a little, a blind, desperate search for friction, attention, anything. A particularly hard tweak of her nipples had her whining loud, a jolt of electricity going straight between her thighs. She tries to rub her thighs together to get some relief, but Bucky’s too quick - he hooks his own feet on the inside of her ankles and keeps both their legs spread open wide. 

She moans his name, heady and desperate, arching into his hands. 

“S’alright, I gotcha,” he hushes her, his lips still fastened to her neck. Always wants to take care of his girl. He’ll always give her what she wants…eventually.

Achingly slow, he drags a hand down from her breasts, tracing over her stomach and into her sweats again. He snaps the waistband of her underwear again - once, twice, what an asshole - before sliding down further to rub her core through her panties. Her breath hitches at the feel, the friction, her thigh muscles tightening as he uses his knuckles to firmly stroke her up and down. Wetness pools in her underwear, more and more as he rubs little circles around her clit with his thumb. 

“Can feel you gettin’ so wet, honey,” he rasps, breath hot on her ear. “This all for me? Huh?”

All she can give is a nod and an “uh huh” as his fingers press her clit and pinch her nipple at the same time. A tiny whine escapes her lips, sweat breaking out along her back where they’re pressed together, his erection impossible to ignore as she wiggles against him. 

Panties soaked now, ruined, when he finally, finally slips inside, cupping her pussy with his warm hand. With his thumb and pinky, he parts her swollen folds and traces his index and middle fingers up her slit.

“Fuck, you’re fucking soaked, sweetheart,” he moans, his fingers running through her folds, circling her entrance before bringing the wetness back up to rub her clit. His fingers spread her a little further, tugging back the hood, and he draws firm circles around her bud, just the way he knows she likes. 

“Oh, oh fuck, Bucky-” she pants and whines, hips rolling into his hand, his other fingers still working over her breasts. Her head feels light, almost dizzy, and a tight feeling grips her low in her belly, her toes starting to curl and twitch. Fingers yank hard at his silky soft hair, the strands wrapped in her fists. “Bucky, please.”

“Don’t gotta beg me, honey - don’t gotta beg for anything,” he coos against her sweaty cheek. With his hand now soaked, he slips two fingers inside, curling them against her upper wall into that spot that makes her-

“Oh my god, oh god, right there-”

“I know, baby, I know.”

His hands working her over like an instrument, there’s no more pretense of even glancing at the TV screen - her eyes flutter as he rhythmically strokes her higher, gushing wet sounds as he drives his fingers in and out, dragging the heel of his palm against her clit. All the while, his other hand plucks and circles her nipples, palms her breasts, his tongue and teeth attached to the sensitive little place on her neck. Her mouth hangs open, gasps and moans that sound vaguely like his name, fingernails raking down his scalp and the back of his neck.

“Come on, honey, come for me - come for me.” He pulls his fingers from her and goes back to circling her clit at a frenetic pace.

It’s enough - the coil in her belly snaps and she arches back with a cry, her legs shaking and hips rocking up against his fingers, head falling back against his shoulder. His fingers don’t stop as he works her through it, holding on to her high, his lips pressed against her temple as he murmurs sweet words into her skin. 

“Good girl, oh good girl - there’s my sweet girl, huh?” He presses little kisses down her temple to her cheekbone, following the path of the sweet-tasting sweat beading on her forehead. 

He lets his fingers slow against her, and finally removes them when she starts to twitch away from him, sensitive and sated. Letting his hand fall from her breasts to her stomach, he rubs softly over her skin, feeling her ribs expand under his palm as she catches her breath. His other fingers go straight to his mouth, sucking obscenely, not letting a drop of her wetness go to waste. She peels an eye open at his appreciative groan, the corner of her mouth tilting up in a tired smile. 

“You perv,” she laughs, her voice low, content. She pats his cheek with one hand at the indignant look on his face, but he merely shrugs and dips his finger back down for a second helping, licking off his fingers with a loud smack. 

“Can’t help it. You’re too damn sweet,” he grins, smug and lusty, loving the way she’s still a bit breathless and soft in his arms. 

She rolls her eyes and catches a glimpse of the TV screen, where the credits are rolling on their show. 

“Whoops…I think I barely caught any of that,” she giggles, slapping his leg. “Which would be your fault, by the way.” 

“Eh, we can just rewatch it if you want to-”

“Later,” she interrupts, sitting forward and turning around on the bed. Her limbs still feel shaky from her orgasm, but she plants her palms on his chest and straddles his lap, landing firmly on his still straining erection. Bucky moans low and grips her hips, his eyes blown dark with need. She leans in close, her lips brushing lightly over his.

“I think it’s your turn,” she whispers, tongue tracing his lower lip. He dives in with a growl, devouring her mouth.

Netflix entirely forgotten. 

[cadomoisspokenfor]

Legion Rewatch Notes,

Chapter 8:

The Revolution

Aw man, how unfortunate what’s happened to Clark. I feel soooooooo bad. I mean he was just humble div 3 agent, doing his job, gaslighting marginalized individuals, participating in a genocide. How cruel of those bad bad mutants to injure him so badly. He was only actively about to kill David. What could he possibly have done to deserve any of this?

In other words, the Clark propaganda is not working on me this time. At all.

Maybe don’t participate in a genocide? Idk :/

I normally hate when people type in the passive aggressive way I have been for the past few paragraphs, but goddamn, Clark deserves it.

He’s not quite as damaged... but he’s kind’ve like old David here, from the over-medicated living with Amy timeline. Again, not quite as damaged as that though.

Clark considers mutants a “threat to democracy.” 🙄 “Moral panic” I guess?

“The second I walk outta this room, i’m going to war.” There’s that word again. Clark could just... not, and they’d probably have more time to figure out how to safely eradicate Farouk. But because he doesn’t and David busies himself with peace treaties, Farouk escapes and continues to be a problem for the next year. Clark has a family. A husband and child who love him to death. And he chooses war over them. This pattern will repeat in other character. Technically this isn’t even the start of it.

Suit change, new cane, same Clark. This really doesn’t change anything, does it? He could go through the rest of the series in the suit he wore before and it wouldn’t make difference. The valiant hero dressing for an expected victory over their long time (relatively) rival, only to be stopped immediately by an unforeseen development. This pattern will repeat... tragically.

Considering Farouk!David woulda just dusted them, it’s probably nice for his friends to see the real him is much less violent. He just stacks em like a Jenga Tower, no need for anything more.

Also, Wilhelm scream from one of the soldiers.

He’s also talking strangely. In an almost too calm voice. Measured. He talks like this a few other times, but I think those times have sadder context. Maybe they reflect on this moment. He talks like how he talked when Farouk was mind-melded with him, but his intentions aren’t evil this time around. I guess this is just his “fully in control” voice.

Clark’s literally shaking where he stands.

The zoom in to Clark’s blind eye is reminiscent to previous zoom in’s to Walter’s foggy eye. I guess Clark has taken on the role of Walter, artificially. Makes sense since he’s now the main D3 representative/antagonist like Walter was before.

“I don’t care if you save me, or the world, if you don’t save yourself.” David will eventually choose himself over the world, and Syd. And Syd will hunt him for it. Goes to show how much things change in s2.

“You know the most dangerous thing about schizophrenia?”

“You’re not-“

“The most dangerous thing is believing... you don’t have it! That’s the trick, the mind killer, your disease convinces you you don’t have it. So, for example, one day in the hospital you meet a girl and she has some friends, and they tell you you’re not sick. You have superpowers. And more than anything you wanna believe it because that means you’re not crazy! That means you can fall in love and live happily ever after. But you know if you believe it, if you surrender to the hope and you’re wrong, then... you’re never coming back.”

“I’m here. I’m real. The power is real. You gotta accept it, otherwise we can’t move on.”

“I was in Clockworks for six years. Drugged, doing nothing. Contributing nothing. And now, finally I can be useful! I can help! Don’t you get it? I am so sick of myself. This only works if it’s not about me.”

“David...”

So... that’s a lot. David believes being crazy means he’s not allowed to fall in love, or be happy. He said the same sentiment to Amy before Clockworks. This whole season and this episode especially push David into his full “I’m not insane, I won’t believe you if you tell me otherwise” mindset. At the very least that’s the stakes we’re playing with. If David fully gives into the hope, even for a moment, he believes there’s no possibility for recovery. No possibility for love or happiness. Why even try after that? It’s life or death for him. “If the choice is between life and death, I choose life.”

I know this is all already known and talked about and circulated 100’s of times over in various fan circles, but it’s probably the most important line for David’s character (the speech, not the Farouk quote). It’s very ableist, yes, but at least in the moment it’s coming from someone who’s just being too hard on themselves, and not ya know, being actively validated by the show.

2 episodes ago David talked about being worried about an “invincible” feeling. The dangers of mania.

We also know from that episode that David is more at peace in a calm, responsibilityless setting (with Syd) than he is out in the real world. David’s gonna take on a ton of responsibility, some of it’s gonna draw him away from Syd. At multiple moments throughout the show David has known his own mental health better than any of the others, and even warned them about potentially dangerous slopes he could fall down without their help. Despite this, David is pushed further down a path he tells them is dangerous and is still blamed for what happens in the end. I feel like Oliver’s line from ep4 is relevant here again, “We are the root of all our problems. Our anger, our confusion, our fear of things we don’t understand.” Everyone wants David to be something other than... David. A hero, a god, there projected image of a perfect partner. Not just... David.

Man, the more I realize about David’s self-awareness in s1 the madder I am at Syd for saying all that ableist stuff to him in s2 as if he wasn’t already down on himself 24/7. “It never occurred to you that you’re the problem not the solution?” It’s occurred to him like 5 times by now and has been shut down by you at least 3 of those times. I don’t understand.

What’s strange is... to my recollection David doesn’t believe he’s invincible at the end of s2. Or that he’s not sick.

“Saint David.”

“I’m not saying that. I make mistakes.”

“Say you’re gonna let them kill me if I don’t let them turn me into something different. Something easy. Something clean.” He sounds sinister here, but it is an indication that he knows he’s not perfect. In fact it sounds like he’s trying to appeal to Chap 1 Syd’s mentality. Your disorder is what “makes you you.”

So what’s the message here?

“We can’t just kill people. Or is that who we are now?”

“That’s who they are.”

The justification for killing here is that they’ll kill them if they don’t. Div 3 will kill Summerland if Summerland doesn’t kill Div 3, is what I meant. David has a similar justification for killing Shadow King in s2. Well, he has a LOT of justifications for it, but that’s one of them. Syd doesn’t hear it then either. She does attempt to kill David herself though. I don’t quite understand where the line is.

“He was gonna kill you, twice.”

“With that kind of thinking wars would never end.”

So... he shoulda just talked to The Shadow King when they were both powerless? Talking is what ultimately ends their fight in s3... hmm...

Cary is more humane to their POW than Melanie and Ptonomy are.

The show doesn’t necessarily say it was Cary’s fault for leaving Kerry. Either way though, Kerry needs some space.

Melanie calls David a “world breaker” and outright says now that he knows that’s what he is, div 3 doesn’t stand a chance. I suppose... knowing that... is why they so readily team with Farouk. They stood no chance otherwise. Even then, at least hide him away till after the intervention.

David’s floating meditation pose is seen more in s2 and A LOT more in s3.

He puts the onus of ending the war on Div 3. As if to say, “If things get violent again, it’ll be on you, not us.”

People keep talking about “gods” “waking up” and “realizing they don’t have to listen to us/them anymore.”

When Clark says it David’s first response is, “Isn’t that the history of the world?” But it’s a red herring (or something else) cause he follows it up with, “People of different nations, different languages, learning to live together?”

Clark is afraid if mutants gain power they won’t show humans mercy or equality. This is a common belief among fascist. The “they’ll treat us like we treat them” argument. Only it’s rarely self-aware, and it isn’t here either. Clark genuinely believes he’s not doing anything wrong. It’s all somehow in “self defense.”

Ah, so Farouk and Syd are connected psychically. He entered her mind whenever she entered David’s. He psychically affects her at multiple points throughout the series.

Syd here is convinced to help The Shadow King by The Shadow King. And while he’s wearing a mask at that. Yeah yeah, this pattern will repeat. But still, Syd gives in relatively quickly here. Perhaps she just... doesn’t fully trust Summerlands capabilities? They are legitimately trying to get rid of Farouk, but Farouk has proven time and time again how dangerous he is. Or maybe the “unmake soup” thing is just that convincing to Syd.

Clark’s still standoffish, but he’s slowly becoming more cooperative.

Syd rolled a 4 on that hero speech. She needed at least a 7.

I legitimately NEVER noticed before that Syd secretly turns on the lab camera feed for Clark to watch. They weren’t trying to show him that.

David gets a chance to look back at his whole life and recontextualize everything.

David straight up halts Farouk’s theme. If Clockworks Podcast is right and he can hear that whenever Farouk shows up, this would be evidence of it. Alternatively, he was halting Farouk, and the music halting was for the audience. A fun subversion of expectations.

David describes him and Farouk as, “The Sun and Moon.”

Division 3 sees it. The monster they saw on infrared. Clearly a separate entity from David Haller. Clearly of a different disposition than David Haller as David Haller has acted very differently and non-hostile compared to when they saw him roaming those HQ halls. The monster and David are not the same. They see who their real enemy is now.

It seems evident there was no chance of David beating Farouk on his own here. I wonder why? Was it true? Is Farouk just too ingrained in his mind? Cary said he was like a, “Computer virus. Learning his systems, bypassing his defenses.” Maybe Syd remembered that, and that’s why she believed Farouk. Cause Cary had already said something similar before.

Clark could've escaped, but he stayed, then tried to help fight Farouk.

I feel really sad Oliver got possessed. It never occurred to me before he could even tell Melanie he remembered her. Melanie’ll just go on thinking he never remembered her for a year.

And thus it’s established. There are “good mutants” and there are “bad mutants.”

No one checks on Ptonomy :(

The Lenny that’s talking to Oliver here is still just Farouk.

Did the orb go back as far as it could? Or was this time specifically chosen? If it was chosen, it was probably because it’s very soon after Farouk had been expelled from David’s head, and before the big race for his body starts.