#like when people say money is the root of all evil that is who they are talking about

[nothorses]

"the public education system is intently evil and all teachers are abusive because it was the worst experience ever for me personally"

guys, look, I'm legitimately sorry that happened to you. that's fucked up. it shouldn't have happened, and it shouldn't be allowed to happen again to you or anyone else. I'm sorry.

public school was hard for me too, at times, and I'm still suffering the consequences for the harsh grading, the arbitrary deadlines, the hours of completely useless-to-me homework. I could name a few teachers who have been pretty fucking terrible. the fact that nobody considered getting me evaluated for ADHD has had an impact on my self image and academic success that I can't erase.

and also.

I grew up in an area where education, in particular, is incredibly progressive-leaning. educators are working really hard to create and try out education philosophies and practices that prioritize kids and their learning, rather than teachers and what they think kids should learn.

My sex ed was comprehensive, and came entirely from school. My gay sixth grade teacher taught me about HIV/AIDs in a useful, accurate way. In high school, I learned about the way orgasms work & I was prepared not to feel shame for normal stuff.

I learned that Communism was not what the USSR actually practiced, and what it really means. I learned about atrocities and, specifically, the genocide of indigenous people committed in/by the US. I learned about the military industrial complex, the school-to-prison pipeline, and I learned about manifestations of racism specific to my local area. I learned about Stonewall, and the intersection of the civil rights movement with gay rights and disability justice.

My creative writing teacher taught us about LSD, and the real reasons we shouldn't do it, after a hilariously ineffective assembly run by some local cops. He spoke gently, carefully, and emphatically about his friends and his own experiences. Later in the semester, he read us a story he wrote about two gay men finding each other in a deeply homophobic environment.

My sci-fi teacher made me feel safe & seen as a kid with "weird" interests. My US History teacher helped me research and put together a 10-page paper on the modern relevance and mission of Feminism. My government teacher made me feel appreciated for the work I put into the class, and the thought I put into what I said in it, even though he disagreed with a lot of it. My sixth grade teacher bought me books to read with his personal money, whichever ones I asked for. My third grade teacher made me feel safe. My science teacher in middle school made me excited for and passionate about science, and saw and nurtured the effort I put into her class.

A lot of stuff sucks, absolutely. But I am seeing new teaching methods being tried out all the time, and I am watching teachers get really excited when I teach their students about the roots of modern graffiti in US black history & to question property laws, and just...

There's hope. there are so many people doing so much work to make things better. so many people agree with you on what education should be, and are trying so fucking hard to put that into action, and so many public schools- not just teachers, but whole schools and even districts- are really doing that work. so much is getting better.

I had more to say, about necessary childcare and trusted adults and outside contacts and time away from abusive family. But like. Please just sit down and listen to more people on this, and please talk to educators and education professionals about what's really going on in this big huge world of philosophy, science, and practice.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Whenever I remember that Tenya almost went full vigilante mode for Tensei I want to scream so bad like it's not even funny.

Bnha somersaults its way into saying "maybe heroes are just good citizens with the power to do good things" and "maybe heroism is not in the big notorious acts but in being kind and fair in the day to day details" AND THAT'S ALL TENSEI.

AND THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATES TENYA TO GO FULL BLOODHOUND ON STAIN.

I'm not denying that the world needs the big ass heroism acts like defeating AFO or saving a city or all those flashy notorious feats. All Might is very needed, because there are threats that are too old and developed and have accumulated too much hatred and damage over the years. You cannot always prevent those things from happening and to believe so would be naive, right?

What I'm saying is that those big events are the lowest percentage. They are the consequences of a systematic failure.

Take two of the biggest evil plots in the manga: AFO planning to still OFA and Overhaul with his quirk-erasure bullets. Both plans depended on an abused child being used as objects, Eri because her quirk was the base of the bullet working and Tomura because he was just meant to be AFO's new body in the future. In both cases, AFO and Overhaul were cornered after losing the child they were using for their plots. In fact it was the kids resisting the abuse that contributed the most to their failure: Eri prevented Overhaul from hurting Deku and Tomura prevented AFO from escaping his decaying body.

In that sense, the little unknown pro-heroes taking care of their neighborhood's children do a lot to prevent cases like Tomura or Eri from happening. Hell, AFO and Overhaul were also kids who went the violent route to survive.

Ingenium's silent heroism is probably the best example of what a hero looks like. They don't seek fame or glory. They regard heroism as their duty, their responsibility. No matter how little the act is, it's still important to do it.

At this point, we must admit the Tenya's crisis over what happened to Tensei is not only about their bond as brothers. Yeah, that was Tenya's big bro, but it is no less than when Deku and Bakugo saw All Might fighting AFO for the last time— the last moments of their role models.

The Iida brothers' crisis was deep rooted in the main issues of the story, so I'm still baffled at how people just tend to ignore it.

Before Stain, the "League of Villains" was just a minor threat. Dabi was a nobody with no real crimes to his name. Toga was just a lost little girl trying to survive the streets. Spinner didn't even think about being a villain. Before Stain, things were bad, but no one really thought they could change the status quo, you know?

The USJ incident was not the big deal because 1) how was attacking kids the answer? and 2) going for All Might was expected, since he was almost invincible and the biggest hero in the world and blah blah blah.

When Stain started attacking minor pro-heroes...

Stain was the opposite of Tomura. He admired All Might and saved those kids, but went after the pro-heroes with less powerful quirks. He gave the population a sense of control. It's like he said "hey, you don't have to go after All Might to change the system and why would you? The real problem are the ones on the lowest part of the pro-hero chain".

Suddenly, they could go against pro-heroes and win. Divide and conquer. Suddenly, there was a ladder to climb. Suddenly, you could target not the institutions responsible for the rotten ideology of your society, but the people who enforced the ideology with their daily work.

Stain defended his posture by saying that those people didn't want to be real heroes. They just wanted the money, the fame, they were not really committed to their duty.

And then attacked Tensei, of all people.

If big crimes are built from little crimes that are accumulated over time, what would happen if you decided to eliminate the people taking care of the little crimes?

The crisis of belief in pro-heroes was triggered by Stain. When Stain pointed out at Ingenium (the one in the suit was Tensei) and accused him of false heroism, it's when shit started to go south. He created the idea that pro-heroes should be punished if they don't perform correctly and that they deserve to die if they don't have pure ideas of their job— or whatever.

Tensei being the victim is supposed to show how hypocritical Stain is. Tensei is probably one of the only pro-heroes that never did anything wrong in the manga and one of the best family men to be presented. A man who was loved by everyone for being good in every sense of the word.

Stain projected his own fantasies on Tensei in order to accomplish his witch hunt, not truly caring to figure out who the person was. He just attacked for the sake of attacking, which explains why he was so popular: anyone could do the same and project their issues on him, fighting different battles disguised as just one cause.

When Tenya went after him, it could only make sense. The little of the Iidas is too righteous and noble, quick to judge and act, prone to making mistakes and getting carried away by the looks of it all. So easily his justice turns into revenge and he falls into the trap Stain set. Who knows what a hero student killing Stain would have caused...

At this point it's obvious I'm just ranting for the sake of ranting but 😭😭😭 give the Iidas the respect they deserve please.

[cerisahh]

WHAT'S YOUR HANDLE!

SYNOPSIS ꒱ social media/internet headcanons for the saiki k characters.

CHARACTERS INCLUDED ꒱ saiki, kaidou, aren, nendou, toritsuka, hairo, teruhashi, aiura, yumehara, mera, rifuta

NOTE ꒱ i love the saiki k characters so much they’re like a fond memory.

KUSUO SAIKI

• surprisingly, saiki has social media.

• private account, of course. 0 posts, 0 followers, 0 following, (12 follow requests which he will never accept).

• claims it helps him be percieved as 'average' (he's keeping tabs on his friends those nuisances that follow him around).

• enjoys baking videos! when he finds a recipe he likes, him and his mother will make it together.

• he's one of those people who use perfect punctuation and grammar whilst typing. never turned off auto-capitalisation.

• dry texter by choice, not by chance. he's less dry when he's speaking online to someone he actually likes, but not by much (by less dry, you get a sentence instead of a one-word answer).

• leaves everyone on delivered most of the time.

• tried changing his number multiple times, but someone always manages to get hold of it so he just gave up.

SHUN KAIDOU

• no one wants to say it so i will. he uses wattpad.

• tried to use ao3/fanfiction.net but found it too difficult so he stuck to his roots.

• he would definetly write paragraphs upon paragraphs of the lore of the-jet-black-wings and dark reunion, as well as the origins of the power sealed within his right arm (black beat) and why it is DETRIMENTAL that this power is never unleashed or stolen by evil.

• everyone in the comments think that it's just a cool original story idea.

• absolutely inserts his friends as original characters in his lore. i might make a whole seperate post about this.

• he also uses reddit. where else is he going to get story ideas?

• has these apps pin locked and hidden in his phone, on the off-chance his mother decides to look through it.

• ABSOLUTELY plays roblox, his username is something cringe he made when he was ten (like the rest of us), refuses to change it. account is -13 for some reason.

• he has spent a lot of money on roblox. a troubling amount.

• types in lowercase, except when he's talking to his mother, then it's all punctuation and manners.

AREN KUBOYASU

• still purchases burner phones even though his gangster days are over. old habits die hard.

• uses an ipad more often than not.

• plays roblox with kaidou, is a bacon hair. his messages constantly get filtered because he still doesn't realise you can't swear on roblox. warned almost everyday - on the verge of being banned.

• watches motorcycle tiktoks, it's literally all his fyp is. the comments he leaves are usually just questions relating to the specs of the bikes.

• is the member of the group that pays for netflix and disney+ and lets everyone leech off of him.

• reformed aren posts pictures of his friends and himself, it's actually a really normal page - which is his goal.

• pre-reformed aren would just post videos of him flexing, and all of his fights. there's a lot of fights.

• also: mullet pics.

• is on reddit SOLELY for the purpose of biker groups. could probably write a thesis on an single engine part. probably has. don't ask him to show you.

RIKI NENDOU

• this guy BARELY knows how to operate a phone, let alone the internet.

• only really uses his phone to google stuff and talk to his buddies.

• nendou... is so bad at spelling... like... SO bad.

• half the time nobody can decipher his messages it's just that horrendous.

• uses emojis, but doesn't open the emoji tab?? so he'll type the emoji he wants and then leave the word prompt in the message?? (ex: 'ramen 🍜 after school 🏫 ?')

• made a seperate account for koriki no.2 but just uses it as his own.

• his first time posting a picture of himself one of those ⓘ - generated by ai messages was under it. THEY THINK HE’S TOO UGLY TO BE REAAALL.

• unintelligible comments left on everything he sees.

• also likes everything he sees. his fyp/explore pages are filled with nonsense. nothing makes sense.

• there are a lot of cute animal videos though - this is a recurring theme.

REITA TORITSUKA

• sigh.

• falls for those ads that are like: 'horny women in the area ready to fuck'.

• REALLY?? WHERE?

• has a lot of malware downloaded without his knowledge.

• a reddit troll, there's no doubt about it. he LIVES to piss people off on that site. think colin robinson in that one episode (this is a niche reference).

• i regret to inform everyone, but before omegle shut down... he was a regular.

• probably has several failed business ideas. also has probably invested in cryptocurrency, bragged about his newfound riches, lost his newfound riches due to the market collapsing, and the cycle continues.

• says outrageous things on twitter. outrageous. one might even go as far as to say heinous.

• probably has hate pages made about him.

KINESHI HAIRO

• without a doubt has a gym bro tiktok account, might be a disciple of joey swoll.

• reposts those 'before and after' gym pictures with messages of congratulations to the person - he's so sweet. >_<

• probably has a couple thousand followers, a lot of people from his local gym follow him.

• contrary to popular belief, he doesn't type with caps on all the time. keeps auto capitalisation on and uses a lot of exclamation marks though.

• is the person who created the class groupchat. and the group chat of the ENTIRE school year. he literally added EVERYONE to it.

• follows everyone? like... people don't even know how he knows everyone but he does?? (he's just really friendly).

• there's multiple videos that he's tagged in of him doing kind things for people, hairo is such a sweetheart guys.

• uses his platform to give fitness advice to people. there's a lot of motivational quotes plastered on his accounts.

KOKOMI TERUHASHI

• of course teruhashi has social media, how else will she broadcast her beauty?

• she has SO many message requests, dedicates hours a day to respond to them to maintain her 'perfect pretty girl' status.

• posts once every week at a scheduled time, get's thousands of likes without fail.

• has a finsta for her close friends.

• doesn't have tiktok but somewhow still has fan accounts on there. and on every other site.

• is really into conspiracy theories, although she won't publicise this or her stance on anything either. she must remain neutral.

• her @'s and tags are mostly full of her fans taking pictures with/of her. she appreciates it, of course! but it's still strange...

• has her brother blocked (thank god).

• has numerous ootd highlights, the people eat it up everytime.

MIKOTO AIURA

• chronic pinterest addict

• unironically uses yubo (she needs help)

• her instagram highlights are so fun to go through, it's messy but it's a hot mess

• posts A LOT, like multiple times a day

• consumes a lot of yoga/meditation media.

• a lot of her media intake is different subcultures of gyaru (obviously), but she's really into haute couture.

• she actually streams on twitch sometimes, mostly to do online readings for people - she also does makeup tutorials and posts fashion advice!

• has also been banned by twitch several times for bypassing terms of service. (it's not her fault that the admins are sensitive).

• her most used app is probably spotify. has ayesha erotica in most of her playlists.

• she has a seperate account for her business, she posts newly decorated crystal balls each week and does free weekly readings in order to promote herself.

CHIYO YUMEHARA

• runs a semi-popular baking yt, (which saiki follows, to the knowledge of no one)

• used to post gacha life love story videos.

• might be the only person who knows about kaidous secret wattpad account (bar saiki obviously), reads everything he writes and inserts herself into his scenarios.

• types all cutesy and uses emoticons like there is no tomorrow

• 'hai hai everyone!! (^_^)' <- for example.

• buys sketchy stuff off aliexpress that promise the most ludicrous results (ex: she buys fat burning/slimming creams and expects them to give her a perfect beach body, gets confused when it gives her a rash and then buys more).

• has an etsy shop and makes custom jewellery (makes it free for her friends and leaves it in their desks with a custom note, it's very wholesome).

• her notes app is under LOCK AND KEY. that shit is more secure than the nuclear codes.

CHISATO MERA

• doesn't have a phone. can't even afford gas and electric, let alone internet. is poor.

• BUT IF SHE WASN'T!!

• would join giveaways even if they're obviously fake. she's desperate.

• miraculously end up WINNING ONE?? she gets flown out to be featured in one of those obnoxious youtubers videos and comes back with a fat paycheck and ridiculously expensive electronics (which she eventually sells, probably to pay the rent).

• is a reoccurring guest on yumehara's yt channel, as a taste-tester, obviously.

• was also meant to critique the food but she rates everything a 10/10 so was not very useful.

• her most used app? let's all be honest with ourselves, it's a food delivery one.

• has the most games downloaded out of everyone, mostly to entertain her siblings when they're bored.

IMU RIFUTA

• has a really cute and aesthetic tumblr - yet somewhow doesn't know what fanfiction is?

• dear god this girl uses everskies. she ABSOLUTELY uses everskies. has been banned several times.

• has so many throwaway accounts. like it breaches fifty, it's getting to be a problem.

• definitely argues with people on public forums, you can't convince me that this girl doesn't have festering anger building up inside her, arguing online is like a rage room for her.

• her phone layout is one of those aesthetic pink ones, she spent hours on it. hours.

• this girl is a MASTER stalker. has every social media under the sun, even the ones nobody has heard about in years.

• is unnervingly good at editing photos and videos.

• her alts are constantly getting suspended for harassment. has anonymously harassed saiki multiple times (he knows its her).

• everything she posts is really over-the-top with cutesy filters, like, blindingly so.

© CERISAHH 2024 — all fics on this account belong to… ME! don’t steal my shit.

[venus-haze]

Homelander x Supervillain!Reader Headcanons

Note: Mildly fem-coded reader, but no other descriptors are used. This is mostly from Homelander's perspective. I always thought it was interesting how apart from the "superterrorist" arc in season one (and into season two), supervillains aren't really a thing in The Boys universe, pretty much everyone with superpowers is affiliated with Vought.

Warnings: Violence, some mentions of sex, Homelander being Homelander. Do not interact if you’re under 18 or post thinspo/ED content.

Your powers emerge later in life, so you aren’t one of the many lauded child prodigies who accidentally burned down their own birthday parties or took out a school bus, but almost as soon as you spit at a cat-caller and the side of his car melted from the acid, Vought had its eye on you

Unfortunately for them, you aren’t interested in the slightest. The money’s good, but signing your life away to a mysterious corporation was never in the cards for you. Why let a bunch of suits call the shots when you were the one with powers? Pretty soon you’re melting bank vaults, wreaking general havoc, and living on the run. You love every minute of it

Homelander knows he can take you on, but to his shock and fury, he finds himself in a meeting with Stilwell and the marketing team who tell him that having a supervillain “arch-enemy” would further mythologize him. As much as people love having someone to root for, they’re just as intrigued by the evil thing that goes bump in the night. Besides, you mostly damage property, not people, so they figure you’re not too much of a threat to the general public

He thinks it’s ridiculous, not letting him laser you in half or snap your neck makes him look weak, or even worse, that you’re as strong as he is. The first time he takes you on, you spit at him as a Hail Mary, and to both of your shock, he hisses in pain and his skin blisters–comparatively mild to the outright bone-melting your toxin was capable of, but it cements your space in his mind as his arch-enemy

To his frustration, the suits at Vought are right, social media posts that mention you in regard to Homelander get a lot of engagement and the general public sees him even more as an otherworldly protector figure

You don’t have a supe name, but Vought dubs you ‘Rosethorn’ because you’re “beautiful yet deadly.” They slap your face on comic books that fly off the shelves. You find it ironic that Vought still finds a way to make money off of you despite your refusal to work with them

Homelander isn’t nearly as amused. The first time he sees one of the Homelander Vs. Rosethorn comics he sees red. “More like thorn in my fucking side,” he growls at the cartoonified version of you. He resents you for taking half of his spotlight, but part of him knows his resentment comes from the fact that you don’t have to answer to anyone. You do whatever the hell you want, and some people regard you as a kind of anti-hero rather than an outright villain. He doesn’t understand, you’re a criminal. You rob, cheat, and steal, and just because you hand out fistfuls of dollars every once in a while, you’re turned into some kind of underground folk hero? 

Social media is buzzing with theories that you’re actually a Vought plant to make Homelander look good or that you’re stronger than him and holding back. Naturally, people begin shipping you because of course they do. He has mixed feelings the first time he sees #Roselander trending on Twitter. It doesn’t help that sometimes you leave notes at your crimes scenes that read ‘Give Homelander my regards, XO’ 

Despite the internet frenzy and Vought marketing, you and Homelander have only been face to face a few times following the first encounter, each one giving more fuel to Homelander’s fire as he broods, stewing in his resentment toward you. You laugh at him, taunt him, literally spit at him, and he can’t do shit because Vought says not to

He definitely fantasizes about hate-fucking you, they’re all extremely deranged and elaborate. Overall, he has a lot of really complicated emotions when it comes to you. There’s some underlying affection that he’ll deny to anyone who asks. Sometimes he lets his mind wander, and in the ideal situation you’d reform and join Vought and–who the fuck is he kidding, part of him wants to break the invisible chain that keeps him tethered to Vought and see if the grass is really greener on the other side

Homelander decides he’s going to end your reign of terror once and for all when Vought indicates they want supes in the military. They now think your existence is just one of the barriers standing in the way of that, making the other Vought supes, but especially him look weak and incapable. With you out of the way, it’ll show their supes can handle military missions

Easier said than done, because when he finally corners you, ready to laser you in half like he should have all those years ago, he hesitates, and that’s all it takes for you to pounce

“Why do you let them tell you what to do? You’re stronger than them. Why do they call the shots?” you ask, and he doesn’t miss the conniving ass twinkle in your eye. He knows what you’re doing, and his gloved fists ball up at his side as everything in him screams to just kill you already. He knows you’re right. He’s the one with the real power, but he lets them order him around like a dog

“Shut the fuck up,” he hisses through clenched teeth that he wishes were clamped around your throat–except he doesn’t, not really. You’re giving him an out, but he can’t take it, he’s too afraid to. After all, who is he if he’s not The Homelander?

You give him a sad smile, the kind old friends give to each other in movies when they see each other for the last time. He lets out a shaky breath. He won’t miss you. He won’t even think about you once Madelyn hears what he’s done and he gets supes into the military and Vought a lucrative contract with the Department of Defense. Another success for Homelander

“I really do like you,” you say. “I just wanted you to know that before you kill me.” Your heartbeat is steady, gaze locked in on his glowing red eyes. No one’s ever looked him in the eye upon facing their certain death from him before

He grabs your face, resisting the urge to squeeze it hard enough to break your jaw, “You’re a real piece of work. I don’t answer to anyone, got that, Rosethorn?”

You whisper your name to him, your real name, and he repeats it softly before letting go of your face and taking an unsteady step back. “You owe me. I didn’t kill you, and now you owe me.” You nod in understanding before disappearing into the night

He returns to Vought covered in blood, claiming victory over his arch-enemy once and for all. He never played poker, but you’re an ace up his sleeve if he could ever have one

[perpetualexistence]

if noah was actually written as the schemer, how do you think it would have gone exactly? love your writings btw

Thank you so much! And oh, anon. Anon you've unlocked character analysis mode. I hope you're ready for a bunch of paragraphs, because that's what you're getting.

First of all, as much as I love writing a Noah who can scheme on par with Alejandro or Heather, he's a different kind of schemer than them. Noah’s a lazy character at heart, particularly season 1 Noah. This is true whether or not you believe the theory that he sabotaged himself to get out of the game early. He’s a child who was born naturally smart. He hacked his way into moderating a forum at age 5 because he truly believed he could do a better job at it. He's going to believe in working smarter rather than harder.

Thus, his scheming reflects this. If Heather is a snake, and Alejandro is an eel, then Noah is a vulture. (Specifically a white-rumped vulture since its habitat as India. This isn't actually important to the narrative. But it's important to me to have animals that share the same roots as the characters they represent.) The bird has a reputation for being evil, but isn’t really. Noah’s more opportunistic than anything. He’s the type to let other people do all the hard work before swooping in for the kill.

His plan going into Island is to latch onto the strongest competitor and ride their coat tails. He'll stay in the middle of the pack for as long as possible. Once that's no longer an option, he'll commit to winning challenges to gain immunity.

Cue Heather. He can immediately recognize that she's one to take charge and sabotage. Which is perfect for him. He presents himself as an option for being her spy for the boys once he realizes she's looking for alliances (because I do rather like this direction that canon could have taken if they had committed to him being the schemer). He lets Heather take the lead, though does offer valuable suggestions based on his observations on the other contestants.

He also commits to getting close with Lindsay. He needs her to be more loyal to him than she is to Heather. He does this by indulging in her attempts to have them all be best alliance buddies. Babes, as she calls them. Noah tries arguing that there shouldn't be an 'e' in there, and also he's not a 'babe'. Heather and her, sure. But definitely not him. Lindsay refuses to listen to this logic because he's a part of the alliance, so he's a babe, and they can just give him a makeover if he's hung up on it!

Noah and Lindsay do end up becoming legitimate friends. The potential friendship of bimbo with a heart of gold and cold little cynic is just too much for me not to have them be friends. Schemer Noah still has a heart. And if he can have a friend and a shot at the prize money, then he'll take both. Besides, it's not like he's doing her any harm in trying to keep her completely from Heather's clutches.

All the while, he's making plans for eventually betraying Heather. He establishes early on that he has a 'journal' that's clearly a diary. It doesn't have anything in it, but no one else knows that. After a few episodes, he'll complain about it going missing. Not too long after, he'll be completely quiet about the matter.

See, Noah's patient. Once he's ready to drop Heather, he'll absolutely reveal the alliance. And he'll reveal that the only reason he was a part of it was because Heather stole his journal and threatened to read it to everyone just like she'd done to Gwen. It would immediately gain him sympathy points and paint a huge target on Heather's back that he'd coast by stress-free. And who are they going to believe? The girl who's been tormenting everyone from the beginning? Or the guy who hasn't been doing much?

Part of me wants to say he'd reveal this grand plan during/after Lindsay's elimination when it is suddenly very clear the alliance is over. Either way, his plan has worked, and now he can just coast on his sympathy until he's in the final three.

He still doesn't win the season. This is due to a combination of factors, centered around one thing: his overconfidence in his intelligence. He can make a plan, and he can execute it flawlessly. But he doesn't do so well at improvising, or thinking of what comes after.

He assumed that tossing Heather aside would see her focus her effort on winning and trying not to get eliminated. He underestimated how vindictive she would be, to the point of risking her own elimination to make sure Noah doesn't win, either. He also neglected to play the social game thanks to spending most of his time spying. Sure, he has their sympathy for being used by Heather. But most of them barely know him, and they'd rather protects their own friends than go out of their way to not eliminate Noah.

I don't know when exactly he'd be eliminated. It could be either before or after Heather, though I don't see him making it to the final three. I think final three is the farthest I'd be willing to put him, because there's no way he's not quitting on the dares before Owen or Gwen.

At the playa de losers, he has a bit of an existential crisis because this is the first time his intelligence hasn't just given something to him. Lindsay helps him through it in her own Lindsay way by serving as a reminder that she isn't smart, but she's still kicking! Plus, she was still able to tell Heather off, to which he would admit he was fairly impressed with the insults she threw down. He had no idea she had it in her.

He still manages to make friends with Izzy and Eva. This mainly happens during the special when all of a sudden there's a million on the line. He throws his lot in with two of the physically strongest competitors (who don't currently hate his guts), and accidentally makes more friends along the way. (I can never abandon Team E-scope).

When World Tour hits, he knows he has to force himself to be a more active participant. He knows he can't win the physical game, so he'll just have to, ugh, put effort into the social game. He still needs someone else to latch onto to help him with that, so he settles for Owen. He tells Owen that he's trying to be more 'friendly', and Owen's more than happy to take him under his wing! He's never really done that before! It'll be fun for both of them, he promises! (Nowen to some extent is also a constant in any of my ideas).

Meanwhile he also has to keep tabs on Alejandro. He sees the guy going after Team Victory one by one, but doesn't say anything because it's not his problem. ...Until he remembers that Lindsay is in Team Victory. So now he's got to scheme a way to get Alejandro to steer his attention away from Lindsay while also making sure Alejandro doesn't figure out who he's trying to protect.

It'll probably eventually lead to him and Heather teaming up against Alejandro as an 'enemy of my enemy' pact. Except Alejandro sees this and begins to tempt Noah to join his side as well. Everyone in the trio knows that the others are trying to take advantage of them. It's very much a Mexican standoff.

Aaaaand that's all I've got! I know Season 3 wasn't as detailed as Season 1 was, but I'm getting tired as I'm writing this reply due to the time I'm writing it. Also, the ideas have straight up run out for now, so time will tell what happens.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, anon!

[nayatarot777]

✨ what does your inner bad bitch have to say? ✨

your inner bad bitch is the aspect of you that other people could see before you could. as a result of this, people have most likely been threatened by that aspect of you and tried to project all types of shit onto you to suppress that part of yourself. this helps you to step into your power as long as you know how to overcome the bitter bitches who love to project. or the situations in life that have made an imprint on your mind. choose your pile and listen to what your inner bad b has to say to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pile one ✨

how has your inner bad bitch been shamed?:

{7 of wands, 10 of coins, 7 of cups)

i feel like a lot of you in this pile have had people turn on you, resulting in you having to defend yourself and everything that you're worth. because of these betrayals, your boundaries are firmly rooted and you protect your abundance as much as you can. people have shamed you for your boundaries and they've shamed you for protecting + accumulating abundance too? some of you could have experienced people mistreating you out of jealousy, because they feel like you're wealthier than them or just because of what you own. your possessions. maybe even some family wealth that has been passed down to you for someone in particular. if not, then you could prioritise gaining wealth one day, and for some strange reason, people have made you feel bad about having that goal. people with poverty mindsets, i'm hearing. you may have grown up in poverty but you know that doesn't define your future. others around you who feel differently try to convince you otherwise. you might want to start your own business and you've been told (or you've picked up on the implications) that you're not capable of that. others of you have decided to not put so much focus on money because you understand that money isn't everything (i'm seeing that you'd much rather focus on self-improvement instead), and it's almost like people see you as 'dumb' or 'naive' because of this. you're not, you've just managed to detach yourself from materialism. now you don't know how you should feel about all of the different options that you have available to build either wealth or self confidence + a sense of self, and it's not hard to see why. anytime you feel good about yourself and you share your desires for the future, someone has to come through and put a dampener on your mood.

what does your inner bad bitch wanna say?:

{the star, queen of cups, the fool}

there's a very strong message of advice to have faith and be lead by faith and intuition. a lot of you are idealists, and your inner bad b is asking you to keep the idealism and protect it. the best way to protect this is to use discernment about who you share your dreams and goals with. i feel like a lot of you have such a pure energy that you get excited when you think of a new goal or idea and you just want to tell people. but obviously, some people will project their own insecurities onto you and others are just straight up evil witches who will put all types of evil eye and dark witchcraft onto your wishes. it's time to embark on a brand new journey of blind faith in your idealism though. whatever your biggest dreams are, you should know that they are possible. you could be feeling depleted and that's because you're disconnected from your faith. remember when you were a child and you dreamt without limitations? get a notebook and a pen and write down every desire that comes to mind. don't even think about whether or not it's "realistic", just get them down on paper. it's time to start dreaming again and understanding that the world is bigger and full of more possibilities than people have lead you to believe. 💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pile two ✨

how has your inner bad bitch been shamed?:

{justice, 3 of wands, 6 of cups)

people really hate to hear you speak the truth. you could do this in the most caring, loving way possible in order to try to expand someone's mind and they'd still get triggered by your words. these people don't realise that you're trying to extend help. i'm hearing you guys speak to people about their shadow traits and toxic parts of their personality. it's almost like you've been shamed for being a guide for people when they literally put you in that role. and i'm seeing that you may be okay with this role - and so are others - until you say something that people don't expect to hear or don't like. you've been shamed for your want and need to self improve and heal. you're not someone who likes to stay stagnant in am situation that you could change in order to better your life. those who get triggered by you are the people with victim complexes. they don't actually want to improve themselves like you do but they'll keep themselves around you to look a certain way by association. that's until you become "too real" for them. then they want to behave like you're someone who was wrong for being fair and balanced in your judgement of someone that you care for. you're not someone who will support bs and fuckery just because that behaviour is coming from someone who you like or care about. the people who get triggered by you are people who secretly want you to kiss their ass and put them on a pedestal. why? because they put you on a pedestal. they might even aspire to be like you, speak like you, think like you, but they can't match up. you've been shamed for your honesty, your self improvement, and your self healing. also for standing your ground in your own truth.

what does your inner bad bitch wanna say?:

{the high priestess, temperance, 4 of wands}

your inner bad bitch would like to tell you that you find ultimate peace and tranquility in isolation. you're someone who's extremely receptive to energy and intuitive af, so when you're telling people about aspects of themselves that they can't even see from their own perspective, they get triggered. you scare people because you know how to read them. it's like you've shone a bright, white light into the darkest parts of themselves and they scare themselves tbh. but they'll get angry at you for that, instead of coming to terms with the fact that they have shadow traits that they don't want to admit to themselves. you guys will always be the scapegoat for people who don't want to take accountability for the shadow that they carry around. it's not your problem to expose themselves to them though. protect your peace and your energy by building a life that's primarily in solitude. i feel like you guys are naturally quite private people (you could have pisces/12th house placements) and you actually don't have a problem with being alone most of the time. it's other people's expectations who make you feel as though you should step out of your comfort zone and seek out others. now, there's nothing wrong with stepping out of your comfort zone, but i'm seeing that you're experiencing a pattern with the people who you meet. why? because they're not aligned with you. that's what happens when you force connections with people. it'll always be imbalanced with people like this. when you go into your shell and step out of your comfort zone in YOUR own time, you will meet people who can naturally meet you as deeply as you've met them. they may still get triggered by your truth speaking - and the same may apply to you with them - but you'll meet people who are connected to their higher perspective enough to still appreciate you despite being triggered by you. they won't scapegoat you. they won't victimise you. whatever you're searching for in others, you can give to yourself until these people on the same wavelength can come into your life. 💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pile three ✨

how has your inner bad bitch been shamed?:

{death, 5 of wands, ace of coins}

most of you in this pile have prominent pluto/8th house/scorpio/lilith placements or aspects in your birth chart. you go down your own path in life. you transform drastically form year to year - whether that's physically or figuratively - but you've had to fight for your right to transform. when you were peeling back the mask that was placed onto you by other people and societal traditions, people attacked you for this. multiple people. and you had to defend your own right to live your life however tf you want to. you've been shamed for wanting to develop a life path of your own instead of sticking to what everyone else was doing. mainly by family i'm seeing. you may have also been shamed for exposing family secrets. you've even be shamed for defending yourself from these people's attacks. i'm hearing "whistleblower", so any group that you're in - whether it's a family, a friend group, a work group, doesn't matter - ends up having to face all of the shit that they sweep under the rug, thanks to you. and people don't like that. you disrupt corruption and cover-ups and force people to address the truth. even if that means you going up against a bunch of people by yourself. you've been shamed for finding value in areas of life that nobody would think to look into, and you've managed to go down your own route for the sake of your peace of mind. these people didn't like that you were able to find a way out of this toxic group and this unhealthy situation because they're too cowardly - or egotistical - to even find a way out for themselves. there are people who compete with you and your transformations in life. on some weird bitch behaviour. especially any seeds planted in the practical world (building a career, a home) and just how you use your creative energy to manifest certain things into the physical. i'm even seeing that some of you could have jobs/careers in the occult business (for example, a practitioner that people come to for spell-work services) and you've been attacked by non-believers or religious people. and you're deadass minding your damn business.

what does your inner bad bitch wanna say?:

{queen of swords, 8 of coins, the high priestess}

you've really perfected your craft, pile 3. you know exactly what you're doing on your life path because you're listening to your intuition more than anything else. these people's attacks have really done a number on how you view your abilities and maybe even your work ethic or talents. you need to differentiate between your thoughts and the residual words of others from the past. because i feel like you criticise yourself quite harshly but it's not actually coming from you. it's a voice or multiple voices from those who verbally berated you before. you might feel like your skills and abilities aren't as "perfected" as they were before (particularly when it comes to your intuition) but the pressure that these people added onto your shoulders is what's still currently weighing you down. it would benefit you to write down everything that you remember these people telling you in order to really observe the bs from a more detached perspective. this will allow you to really understand how illogical and vile these attacks and insults were, helping you to release them much easier. the path to success over these negative thoughts is listening to your intuition (how you truly feel at your core) over your fears and anxieties. and once you establish a clear viewpoint of yourself, set that as the standard mindset that you operate with. a mindset that encompasses acknowledgement towards your own hard work and skills/talent that doesn't easily budge at the opinions of others. 💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pile four ✨

how has your inner bad bitch been shamed?:

{7 of swords, 6 of cups, 2 of cups}

i feel like you guys in this pile really don't fw anyone like that. you prefer to heal yourself behind closed doors in order to prioritise what you need to in order to give to yourself. the people who you do fw are very few in numbers and people may have implied that you were selfish because of this when you're not. this is self preservation in a healthy way. i feel like the people who have an issue with this are the people who are salty that they can't get into your energy too easily. and i'm seeing that they usually have negative intentions for you that would most likely lead to backstabbing. your instincts are on point though, and you know when you're being set up. unfortunately, this feeling is familiar to you so you're now hypersensitive to it. it's like people punish you for not falling for their shit??? they get mad that they tried to lure you into a situation, but you were too smart for them. you may have also been shamed for expecting reciprocity from people who you're in friendships or connections with, which is why i'm seeing that you guys give your energy to up to two main people in your life. you could have been shamed for trying to nurture people too which is some bs. people get triggered by your pure, genuine intentions because it makes them reflect on how grimy and sly they are with their own intentions. again, i'm feeling an energy of people shaming you for not folding under betrayal and pressure. you've been shamed for surviving, basically. you know how to juggle things in the way that you need to. i'm hearing someone ask "what do you even do all day?". "you can't be that busy". as if you're not amounting to shit and as if you're not doing shit when you reject spending time with people who you just don't connect with in the way that you'd like to. these people get offended almost and start to downplay what you have going on in your life. you're shamed for your exclusivity over your energy. some people could even think that you think that you're "too good" for people when that's not the case. that's them projecting their insecurities onto you.

what does your inner bad bitch wanna say?:

{7 of cups, 3 of cups, 2 of cups, ace of cups)

you may subconsciously feel like you'll forever have a lack of friendships and a lack of people who you can genuinely vibe with. there may be so many different scenarios that you think of when meeting people for the first time due to past experiences that you've accumulated in friendship groups in particular. your inner bad bitch is coming through to say that you shine best in one on one relationships. group friendships is something that overwhelms you and there are always too many energies clashing with each other in pre-made friendship groups. you might like one person but not like the other in a group, and now you feel stuck in a situation that you'd rather not be in, affecting the friendship that you have with the person who you genuinely get along well with. you're being told to stop forcing something unnatural to you, and accumulate one-on-one friendships to spend solo time with each person individually. it'll be a lot easier on your social battery and your energy field. you won't feel so drained and you'll be able to really dive deep into connections with people authentically and experience who they are in actuality - without being around others (because bitches be switching up around company sometimes 👀). individual friendships will make you feel much more emotionally fulfilled. this is a "two's a company, three's a crowd" type of deal. you can have a good time with only one other person. you don't need to surround yourself with a group that you're energetically not ready for. 💛

[adrianasunderworld]

Okay so I'm sorry for word vomiting here but I've got this AU that I've been developing in my head for the past few weeks. I call it my Disney Crossover/House of Mouse/When I say everyone loves Yuu, I’m talking about the entire Disney animated multiverse AU.

(I’m going to be referring to Yuu as she/her because of my own pronouns)

Basically, Yuu ends up working at the House of Mouse every night for extra money because Crowley sucks. She travels through a magic mirror in Ramshackle. Everyone there loves her: the (human and animal) adults think of her as their daughter, the animals love her (she’s not a beast tamer for nothing), the kids constantly want to hang out with her and even the villains have a soft spot for her (mainly because she treats them like normal people and not as villains. She’s super kind and sweet to them even when they try to scare her). Somehow, they realise that they don’t really know who she is or how she got there or anything so they ask her about it and she’s like “it’s a long story I don’t want to explain the whole thing.”

So due to either Disney Magic™ or one of Professor Von Drake’s inventions, the entire Disney theatrical animated universe watch everything that’s happened to Yuu so far in Twisted Wonderland. So obviously this would lead to lots of questions and everything but that’s not what I want to talk about. Oh no. What I’m getting to is this:

Ship Wars.

Everyone sees how Yuu has got each and every boy at NRC wrapped around her little finger and she’s literally so dense and oblivious to how positively smitten and whipped they are for her so they play a little matchmaking. Obviously The Great Seven™ would want Yuu to get with their own Twisted versions. It was unprecedented. Normally every villain knows not to get on the bad side of the Mistress of all Evil but the second she’s like “she’s my future granddaughter, my Malleus has been courting him the day they met” WWIII breaks out.

The Heroes™ are at first like “why villains though?” before realising that the boys would rather chop off a limb before they would ever think about letting Yuu get anywhere near harm and they’re like “so for their wedding, I’m thinking…” Because what’s the biggest bragging right than having the beloved Yuu getting with someone that’s based on your story.

Listen, because I have ideas™ of villains trying to get their kid (yes, they see the boys as their kids, sue them) with Yuu and the heroes being like “Are you married? No. Move over.” Simba and Nala helping Leona with ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight 2.0’ whilst Scar and the hyenas scheme in the shadows (the hyenas love Ruggie by the way. He’s an honorary member of the cackle), Aladdin and Jasmine hardcore shipping Kalim with Yuu (Aladdin to the other princes “they rode on a magic carpet and had an elephant parade. Perfect first date material right there.”) whilst JamilYuu shippers Jafar and Iago seethe, Alice may not know much about relationships but she’s got an imagination, an older sister and sees how invested the White Rabbit, card soldiers and the Queen and King of Hearts are with RiddleYuu so she’s going to help. The Dwarves hate Vil. Snow White loves everyone. She just wants Yuu to be happy. Lovable himbo tries to get Idia and Yuu together but Meg just rolls her eyes and Hades yells at him for ruining his plans. Ariel and Eric see Azul, a mer who’s fallen in love with a human and they’re like “our time has come. Sebastian, get your voice ready.” and Ursula’s like “that might be the one good idea you two have ever had”. Maleficent has been MalleYuu Shipper No1 from the start (a title that Lilia had to give up to her after a one minute stare down). She already has a room prepared for the prefect for when she visits the Valley of Thorns. Aurora, Phillip and the three good fairies think that Malleus is a sweet boy and are rooting for him.

Of course, there will be ship wars.

And don’t get me started on the battles that the villainous henchmen/sidekicks get with each other. If I have motivation, I might write something for this AU but I have a bunch of headcanons and scenarios for it. Also, Yuu is an honorary Disney Princess. She gets to sit with them at their table and has a personal invite to visit their castles whenever she wants so that they can have some girl time together. (Mulan and Merida mainly want to teach her how to use weapons and are 100000% ready to hunt down any of the boys that try to mess with her).

Listen, I love everything about this. House of Mouse was one one my favorite cartoons as a kid so i'm all on board for this. (It is an affront that the series is not on Disney+, but at least its on Youtube.)

Mickey tapping on the glass of the Ramshackle mirror: Hey, hey kid. Wanna work at my club?

All i'm thinking of is the episode where Max has a date with Roxanne and everyone swears not to embarrass him, and then proceeds to embarrass with their well intentioned attempts to make it perfect. Like dedicated Sebastian's Kiss the girl performance and setting up a Lady and Tramp style meal for them. That, but with the NRC boy of the week.

Miss Yuu: I'm going to be bringing my friend Azul this Friday. When he heard about the club he was interested to check it out for ideas for his lounge.

The entire cast of the little mermaid:

There is not a speck of chill in that establishment. Sebastian's going to perform Kiss the Girl. Ariel and Eric get the bright idea to invite them to sit with them like a double date. Ursula and batting the other villains from interfering with a stick. It's a mess.

Rinse and repeat every other week with a different student.

Imagine Hades trying to teach Idia how to be a quick smooth talker to get Yuu to go out with him and its just failing miserably. Or Yuu just glaring at the Magic Mirror in the lobby.

Or ladies night at the House of Mouse, and all the princesses insist Yuu sit them and enjoy the show, and Minnie assures her she can take a break for a while. Then upon Clarabells suggestion in the episode, they do a bachelor auction, Only the Bachalors are Vil, Malleus, Leona and whoever else they could rope into it. Only all the princesses are bidding on their favorites and then giving the date to Yuu.

And like you said, everyone sort of adopts Yuu in their own way. But Goofy especially is going full dad mode for Yuu. Just comes to her defense at any moment like he does with Max and its very sweet.

[licorice-lips]

I've already done some essays about Acotar, so I think it's worth doing another one. I mentioned some of these things in my defense thread for Rhys, so for those who have already read it, some parts might sound repetitive:

First of all, all the thoughts and ideas expressed here mainly come from the texts I talked about in Rhys' thread and from my own mind.

Now, to talk about Tamlin as a character, I need to talk about his story, so just a reminder: Tamlin was the youngest among siblings and never wanted to be a High Lord.

This is very interesting to analyze because (just like many other scenes with Rhys), it's a very stark contrast between Rhys and Tamlin's personalities. Especially when some things happen shortly before they become High Lords, like the deaths of Rhys's sister and mother.

With these two situations, it's possible to see a very obvious thing about Tamlin: he resents his position and unconsciously projects this onto the rest of his life: because he "had no choice" but to hand over Rhys's family to his father and become a High Lord, he starts to believe he had no choice at any time.

So, every time Tamlin needs to make a choice, he freezes. He paralyzes. Since he convinced himself in the past that he had no choice because of his birth, admitting that he has choices now is extremely difficult because then Tamlin finds himself having to face the consequences of those choices.

When he lied to himself about not being able to act, it triggered a chain of events that led him to Under the Mountain and Amarantha's curse. Convincing himself that it wasn't his fault, even when it was, and rejecting the consequences of those choices is Tamlin's "comfort zone," the beautiful lie where he prefers to stay trapped rather than face that he might be a horrible person.

And, although I have no basis to speak on this, I believe there is a great rejection from Tamlin towards the idea that he can do bad things. He is so afraid of failing to choose, or of doing something bad or wrong, that he simply chooses not to choose.

For example, the Tribute — an unfair and extremely strict levy that is not necessary in exchange for the protection of the High Lord. I could go on for hours here about why this practice is archaic and feudalistic and how the Tribute is definitely extremely disrespectful to the people of the Spring Court, considering that it is the duty of a government to provide national security to its people with the public money already collected.

But let's focus on Tamlin's actions about this: what he says to Feyre about the Tribute is this:

"— Because that's how things are. That's how my father did it, and his father, and how my son will do it."

(A Court of Mist and Fury, pg. 104, Brazilian Edition)

Conformity is an effect of the fear of acting.

When you're afraid of change, you let yourself sink into a bubble of conformity. Tradition becomes comforting, even if it's wrong. The "system" becomes a comfort zone, and people end up imprisoning themselves in their own comforts. They start defending it.

The problem is that inaction cannot be a choice because while you don't choose, others choose for you. And, believe me, there is no better way to let "evil" take root than to do nothing.

It's like Bertold Brecht's poem:

First they came for the blacks But I didn't care about that I wasn't black Then they took some workers But I didn't care about that I wasn't a worker Then they arrested the miserable But I didn't care about that Because I am not miserable Then they grabbed some unemployed But since I have my job I didn't care either Now they're taking me But it's too late. Since I didn't care about anyone No one cares about me.

That's why Tamlin's inaction is so condemnable, why it is unacceptable to him as a person, but mainly as a leader. Because as a person, his inaction can be eclipsed by someone else's action, but as a leader, Tamlin's lack of action negatively affects an entire people. Tamlin's people suffer because he can't act when it's his responsibility to protect and preserve them, just as it is the responsibility of anyone in power anywhere in the world.

Which brings us to our second topic: the curse.

When Amarantha tried to have him as a lover, Tamlin rejected her and humiliated her on top of that. As punishment, she put him in a very difficult situation, which was the curse. I want to draw your attention to a very particular aspect about Tamlin's actions during the time of the curse: for two years, Tamlin sent his guards to die beyond the Wall.

Then he stopped because he couldn't bear to see his soldiers dying. When Alis tells this story, she makes it seem like it was a beautiful action, an action because Tamlin cared.

But the problem was that this decision would condemn everyone in Prythian and the human world. Tamlin gave up and surrendered to Amarantha for forty-seven years before, with six months left until the end of the curse, finally giving in to his guards' desperate plea so they could go beyond the Wall. He gave up and condemned not only his people but all of Prythian's people.

Rhys wouldn't do that, he would continue sending his guards — and not because they didn't mean anything, but because Rhysand understands that, among the evils he would have to face, the death of his guards was the least. And that's why leaders like Rhys are hated by some people: they do what they need to do to ensure that a majority or a marginalized group stay safe.

They choose the lesser of two evils, but it's still evil, and maybe that makes them horrible people but ultimately, it doesn't matter because the outcome is still that the good of their decision outweighs the bad. Tamlin doesn't understand this.

Because he is unable to make choices, he is also unable to understand that they have both good and bad consequences. Good choices still have bad consequences, and bad choices can have good consequences, especially when one is a leader.

But then, six months before the end of the curse, he backtracks, and then we have Feyre's insertion into the story, which is also a very good example of comparison:

From the beginning of her story, Feyre acted in the face of evil. She acted when she taught herself to hunt to feed her family, acted when she took responsibility for Andras's death to protect her family, acted when she had to face Amarantha. Feyre's response to danger is action, just as this is also Rhys's response.

When he bans the clipping of wings of the Illyrians — a clear contrast to the Tribute tradition that Tamlin clings to — when he fights against Amarantha in his own way, when he is willing to do anything to prevent the war against Hybern — even if it costs him a friend like Tarquin or costs him Velaris, which is the city he has loved since forever with all his heart — even when he makes Cassian and Azriel and Mor and Amren his family, Rhys reveals that he is the kind of person who fights for what he believes in, even in the face of consequences.

He shows that he is the kind of person who acts, but who also knows that all these choices will come with a price, something that Tamlin is incapable of understanding.

Rhys and Feyre act when they see something is wrong, act when they see danger. They fight and are the people in the arena, quoting Teddy Roosevelt again:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

While Rhys and Feyre are the people in the arena, who dream big and know there is a price to pay for those dreams, Tamlin is the cold and timid person who will never know victory or defeat because he is too afraid to dare, too afraid to dream because he believes it will only make him fall.

And people like that usually operate by cutting the wings of other people instead of fixing their own.

Now comes Tamlin's behavior during Under the Mountain:

Acotar is a great demonstration of the possible reactions of leaders in times of defeat: there is revolt, attempted by the Summer Court (which can be compared to resistance groups in times of dictatorship); there is submission, practiced by the other courts (and, as an example in the real world, we have the various countries that surrendered to Hitler during World War II); there is collusion, which is Rhys's action initially; And there is paralysis, which is what Tamlin practices once he finds himself Under the Mountain.

And this reaction fits perfectly with the type of character he is. By paralyzing himself, he is acting perfectly in accordance with all his previous actions — that's why, even, few of the series' readers really bothered with his lack of action until Feyre herself reflected on it.

Tamlin is the man on the throne, the one who watches as horrors unfold around him (and worse, who then feels entitled to point fingers and talk about what could have been done better by the people who actually did something), he is the one who never dares to act, and therefore, will never achieve victory.

But it's important to understand that inaction also generates its traumas. Just like Rhys and Feyre, Tamlin is haunted by Under the Mountain, but unlike our couple, who have nightmares about what they did, Tamlin's nightmares and fears turn to what he didn't do.

And that's when his relationship with Feyre completely falls apart, because he feels — and he's right about this — that he failed her and needs to somehow make it up to her. That's why Feyre is pampered and almost treated like a child, because Tamlin himself thinks that making choices is a burden, so he decides to take that "burden" off Feyre.

And perhaps because he is a male and has always had his choices assured and never threatened, Tamlin doesn't understand the weight that the freedom to make choices has for someone who has never had them.

Another difference between Feyre and Tamlin that drives them apart.

Both Feyre and Rhys, however, fought together in Acotar to save those they loved — and Prythian — from Amarantha's clutches. They got their traumas together and experience the healing of this PTSD in the same ways because they are alike. Because they experience and react to life situations very similarly.

Tamlin and Feyre's relationship is doomed, in my view, from the start, but it has its final drop when Tamlin and Feyre do not experience the trauma of Under the Mountain together. This, together with all the differences between them, makes the relationship unsustainable because they are on very different paths.

After Under the Mountain, they — Feyre and Tamlin — have healing journeys that are extremely opposite: while she simply needs to talk about what's going on and needs something good to do to heal, he (once again) shies away from the consequences of actions, or rather, the lack of action on his part.

And that's why Tamlin can't stand to hear Feyre talking about her trauma: because he is aware that, if it weren't for Rhys and Lucien, she would have died, and he wouldn't have done anything to stop it — knowledge that is aggravated by the fact that Feyre did actually die, in fact.

He recoils and pulls away because it's what he's always done, and it's comfortable for him, without realizing — something that Feyre realizes — that this refusal to act is the worst of problems, what is really causing everything to crumble. Because again, when you do nothing, you're actually allowing evil to act and spread.

But then there's also the issue of the abusive relationship: as I mentioned before, the modus operandi of people who are afraid to act is usually to prevent other people from acting as well. So, from the moment Feyre starts to act, it shakes up all of Tamlin's ordered structure, the whole system he protects so fiercely.

And that leads to the completely unacceptable ending of Feylin — their abusive relationship.

Please don't think I meant to say that Tamlin's reactions are Feyre's fault up there, that's not it! What I meant is that Tamlin avoids the consequences of his paralysis with such determination, he's so afraid to face and take action that the slightest hint that these consequences are near causes him to react in extreme ways.

But notice: at no point did Feyre, Tamlin, or Rhys deviate from what they were initially.

Tamlin continued to be the same person he always was since before the beginning of the books: the kind of person who freezes and doesn't deal with the consequences of his choices — because not choosing is a choice in itself, and it's the kind of choice that will never, under any circumstances, bring anything good.

There was no vilification of Tamlin in favor of Rhys because SJM was faithful to Tamlin's character in every action he took before, during, and after Under the Mountain.

It's just necessary to pay attention to the details to realize this.

The worst kind of villain is the person who isn't really a villain, but someone who allows evil to continue. That's why what Tamlin did to Feyre is exactly who he is, so the argument that Sarah "changed Tamlin because of shipping" is invalid.

Tamlin doesn't change at any point in the story. Not even when he needs to change.

(Oh, and he still hasn't changed, you know? What we see of him in Acofas and Acosf may be painful, but Tamlin hasn't changed. I know this because he still simply doesn't care about his court, because he still doesn't act, not even for his people.)

Another very interesting point to explore is Lucien. The only friend Tamlin seems to have at first, who is afraid of him, as Feyre says in their meeting in the middle of the Illyrian steppes:

"It was fear. Lucien had argued with Tamlin, but only to a certain point. He always caved in the end."

(Fury Court, pg. 485, Brazilian Edition)

Fear, because Lucien was free to go anywhere, do anything. Fear, because Lucien tried to act, even if not as much or as fervently and hopefully as Rhys.

From the beginning, Lucien understands that Feyre's training is necessary. He risks himself to save Feyre from Amarantha Under the Mountain, and offers to fetch Vassa when war is about to break out and they're looking for allies.

Lucien is also the kind of person who acts, although — perhaps because of his upbringing or the years with Tamlin — he doesn't have the ability to dream of a better world like the Inner Circle does.

In short, Tamlin is a leader who doesn't care about his people because he was forced into the position (which to me is incredibly childish), a person who doesn't have the courage to make a single decision, a male who couldn't handle the brightness in the life partner he chose, a friend who tried to limit the other because he didn't want him to act.

And you can't put everything on the argument "but it's Feyre's view," because the lack of action is unforgivable from any point of view. Inaction is what made Germany fall under Nazism eighty years ago, what made fascism rise again in the world, it's what's causing people to die every day even today.

There's no forgiving people who do nothing because it's because of them that evil has room to dominate.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Something I dislike about Chloe’s damnation is how her good actions never have that “selfish” part of them

My main examples is Zombisue and Queen wasp

She sacrificed herself to save ladybug and apologizes at the end, saving ladybug is selfless since she genuinely trusts ladybug will save them all (LIKE CHAT NOIR DOES, she’s doing the same chat does and is meant to and she doesn’t gain anything from apologizing since she already looks good in ladybug’s eyes for saving her

And in queen wasp she knows she’ll won’t be getting the miraculous back but she gives it up because of her devotion to ladybug

If the writers wanted to make her seem evil and selfish they would have given her something to gain out of this situations like money or fame, not the sympathy of her idol, is like the writers don’t know how to make actions have a selfish intentions to them and it shows with Marinette

Marinette has done this multiple times (for example she goes to Shanghai under the excuse of following Adrien which is extremely selfish) and the writers never seem to notice

I once read a fanfic called “bad for business” about a side villain of a show (which show ain’t important) not joining the main villains which invade he’s territory and basically plan to destroy the whole place.

The villain constantly makes deals and promises with selfish goals knowing full well most of he’s Allie’s might end up weakened, in Jail or dead at the end, and everything he does is selfish even if they aren’t flat out evil (I will help them in this turf war so they will help ME in this turf war, I will give them valuable information so they will destroy our mutual enemies for ME, I will kill this terrorist so I can frame it for the murder of another goon I murdered)

And the fan fic makes this clear every single scene, he does have good traits like caring for he’s partner and trying (emphasis on trying) to console a girl (which would have been he’s enemy in the canon show) after the two think a friend of hers died in front of their eyes but even till the end it’s shown how he’s never done a single selfless thing in the whole history and that’s why despite everything he did on the fic and what he wanted to achieve and by the means he did, he still rooted for him, because he was evil and nothing was hiding it (specially not the writer)

Meanwhile miraculous doesn’t know the difference between a selfish and selfless action, a fanfic does something better than miraculous, a fanfic of a series far worse than miraculous is more aware of good and evil than a children’s show

God I love ranting about miraculous mistakes and double standards

I feel like the writers have no idea what an anti-hero is, because characters are either completely perfect and can do no wrong, or they're complete monsters who are pure evil.

The show tries to write characters like Chloe, Gabriel, and Felix in a morally gray light, yet the writers always try to either downplay their actions or act like they've been good from the start.

The whole point of writing an anti-hero is that it allows you to explore stories in a way that differ from the usual moral paragons people are used to seeing in superhero media. These kind of characters usually find ways to accomplish their goals that don't allign with the beliefs we have. It makes us think about whether the ends justify the means, or how thin is the line between being a hero and being a villain.

But this show doesn't do that sort of thing. When a character does something, it's either good or bad, no matter the consequences it has. I'm not saying we need complex writing on the same level as Breaking Bad for this show, but if they're going to try and discuss topics like redemption for past deeds, you need to draw a line and show what kind of things are okay to do, what things aren't okay to do, and why actions are viewed in a certain way.

[differentclasss]

Can u do a jackson rippner smut for fem sub reader where like, they work together and she is assigned on a mission with himmm

The Professional - Jackson Rippner x Reader

C/W: guns, typical assassin stuff, smut, rough blow job, vaginal sex, canon typical violence, and Jackson Rippner is a dick lol.

A/N: Thank you for the request! Also the song, "The Professional" by Pulp inspired this fic. I hope this is good! Also, I started working on a Neil Lewis request, hopefully, it will be easier to write less dark topics for a change!! 

˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° ˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚

You were just the informant. Just a measly informant who honestly, really would rather not work for a group like this. To be honest, you didn’t even like what you did. It just gave you enough money to enjoy the modern comforts of life. All those things you wanted for so long now were yours after living from paycheck to paycheck before. It was dirty money, you knew that of course, but if it kept you housed and equipped with nice clothes, fine jewelry, and the nicest home decor, you could withstand a little grime on your hands. It wasn’t like it was you who killed or terrorized, you just made sure they had all the information to do so. It was sleazy and even a little vain, sure, but you never owned such nice clothes and jewelry.

You didn’t have that before, in fact, you were the first person in your family to ever achieve this sort of success. Your family, the bleeding heart folks they are, had all lived comfortably but never extraordinarily. You had suspected the same, to live that safe typical life. That changed when you got a job at a firm of some sort as a private investigator. Or, what you thought was a private investigator, you weren’t stupid, you pieced it together that this job was investigating people who had to be “taken care of” or whatever mob movie-esque way of saying it was. After some time the firm was more open about their true colors regarding their work. You told yourself that you were in too deep to stop now, too far gone to stop yourself from continuing. (And the money. Jesus the money! They do say that money is the root of all evil, don’t they?) You weren’t even sure if you believed in hell but you were sure that doing this work was your ticket there. 

Still, you did it. You worked around the clock to gather as much information on a client as possible, even knowing exactly what time they left their house every morning on average. You weren’t one of Charlie’s Angels, no, not by far, but you did have a knack for finding information on people. It gave you some comfort knowing that you had plausible deniability, if one day this whole firm was busted, you already knew you could cry and say you had no idea. You were just doing what you were told. To be fair, you did anything Jackson Rippner, the manager of the firm, said. There was just something about his cocky charm that got to you, like how it got to everyone else he interacted with. 

There were a few words to describe Jackson Rippner, he was a charming douchebag, among other ones. Granted, you were hardly at the receiving end of any of his lectures or reprimanding but you saw it happen enough to know that you never wanted to be the one who was. You figured that if you kept doing what you were doing you would be okay. Most of your interactions with him were seemingly pleasant or at the very least, cordial. He was a looming presence when you were sitting up in your office, piling through everything a client had done. He seemed to micromanage, always looking over your shoulder and telling you to make sure you remembered to look into so and so as well. It could be bearable on some days and other days, you had a ringing in your ear by the time you had left your office. Sometimes his “pointers” just seemed condescending. Not wanting to be a bother though, you always nodded along and acted like whatever he had told you to do was something you hadn’t already planned on doing. It also was apparent to you that you did want to make him proud, for some reason. You had an idea of what his real work was, but still, you wanted to get his approval.

Jackson had made note of your unwavering subservience, granted he had picked up on it before you were even aware of it. Reading people was something he had a great strength in, he could see your weaknesses from the moment you walked into this job, full of naivety. He had no issue whatsoever using this to his advantage, he knew you wouldn’t say no. On a rather plain morning, he had come into your office, and you expected the same sort of run-down as usual. You expected a stack of papers and a few names as a week’s worth of work but he had a different idea of how you would be working that week.

“Good morning,” Jackson said as he stepped into your office. “I have a proposition for you.” He could be blunt, never leaving too much for interpretation. 

“Uh huh…”You said with a lifted brow. “What is it?”

“Nothing you can’t manage, I’m sure…” He replied, slinking over to your desk and taking a look at what you decorated it with, which wasn’t much more than a few cups of pens and pencils. Keeping pictures of your family here just seemed like a bad idea. “It’s simple, you won’t even need to do anything for the most part. You’ll just be accompanying me on a mission, it is as easy as it sounds.”

How vague.

“Oh…” You said and nervously glanced over at him. “Uh… Why? Don’t we have someone you want me to look into? I do better with paper honestly.”

“Come on,” He said with a little grin. “It would be good for you to get out of this stuffy office and get some real experience in this field. You don’t want to be a paper pusher forever, right?”

“I guess, but I’m pretty comfortable right here.” You stammered for a reason to reject this offer. “I probably won’t be very helpful. Like I said, I do better with paper.” You added, hoping he would get that you weren’t interested. At that point, it would just seem too involved. 

“Don’t tell me no,” Jackson said, putting on his best charming smile. “Your work here is greatly appreciated, it’s only fair we give you a chance to learn how things are done outside the office.”

Suddenly it really felt like you couldn’t tell him no. He has a way about him to make plans seem like they were your idea all along. Or maybe that was just your budding attraction towards him speaking. You didn’t like to admit it but you did see him as more than just your cocky higher-up. Either way, you swallowed your spit and sighed.

“What would I be doing?” You asked after some initial hesitation.

“It’s simple, you should be able to keep up.” He said with a layer of condensation. “You’ll come with me to a gala, one of our clients really can’t stand the man throwing the party. You’ll be a buffer of sorts, if we just play the part of a wealthy couple going there together it’ll be less likely we draw any suspicion. Power in numbers as they say.”

“And then what? Are we going to look into the guy and try to find information on him?” You asked cautiously.

“The next part isn’t something you should concern yourself with.” He explained. “All you need to do is come with me dressed in some pearls.” He added with a small grin.

You let out a tired sigh, already feeling bad. It just seemed much worse to go out with Jackson and play into this whole mission. It was wrong, you knew that, but when he mentioned a bonus, you felt inclined to say yes and swallow that diminished sense of conscience you had remaining.

In the days prior to the party, you had a few errands to run to ensure you would blend in and most importantly, not piss off Jackson. You knew he held a certain standard for these types of missions and because of this, you put effort into achieving these silent standards he placed over you. As a way to prepare, you learned what the demographic was going to be, bought a new and much too expensive dress, and watched Sex and the City. The whole party was a very WASP-y upper-class event, you figured the TV show would be a good way to base your mannerisms for the event.

The night of the party you could safely say that it was the best you had looked in a long time. Your dress fits in all the right places without being over the top. You knew you looked the part, you just had to be as inconspicuous as possible. Jackson, being as thorough as he normally is, already had fake identities for the two of you. A husband and wife who were thought to be wealthy investors. You tried not to think too hard about it but you thought the choice was odd. 

The party was just as you assumed, very white collar and white pearls. You and Jackson made it your goal to just blend in. Dressed in your incognito you both made it through the party with fake stories of your identity rehearsed and studied. He stayed as charming as always, making witty comments to other guests and being polite. You mostly stayed quiet, afraid to say the wrong things and get odd glances and whispers thrown your way. To anyone else, you and Jackson looked like the prototype of some rich couple, his hand on your waist with you smiling and nodding to every word that left his mouth. 

As the night aged, Jackson excused himself and left you with a woman who wore a lipstick shade too bright that drew attention to her large teeth. Not having him guiding you through conversations made you feel a little anxious, you had to rely wholly on your judgment and try to not reveal anything about yourself if it wasn’t necessary. The woman with the large teeth didn’t notice your apprehension to conversation, instead, she rattled on about some trip to Aspen she had gone on with her husband and children a year or so ago. Or maybe it was a trip to Lake Tahoe. You weren’t keeping up with the conversation as much as you got more nervous the longer Jackson was gone. It was a strange sense of abandonment. You eventually excused yourself, asking for directions to the bathroom and then disregarding them to find Jackson elsewhere. 

The house the party was in was nothing short of a mansion. As you walked through the quiet upstairs you took note of every detail of wealth. Paintings from famous artists, pristine floors, and how the whole upstairs seemed to be a labyrinth of fine living. Even the fucking trim on the walls seemed to be custom-made. You could only survey the state of the house for so long as you walked through the halls, searching for your escort. Each time you passed a room with its door closed, you pressed your ear to it for a moment, waiting to hear something. The last door at the end of the hall was your last bet, you pressed your ear to it and did hear something. It sounded like a struggle.

Two people, or how it sounded, were scraping against each other, their movements were erratic till you heard a loud thud followed by Jackson's voice. He was threatening someone, his words full of cruelty. The other voice, a man, had managed out some pleading words before there was a muffled sound, you thought it could’ve been a gunshot, but it was indiscernible. Then there was silence. A silence that made you sick. As you listened with your ear pressed to the door, it was opened by Jackson and he pushed you inside quickly.

“Goddamnit.” He hissed at you as he pulled you in by the wrists and slammed the door behind you. He stood directly in front of you. “I almost blew your brains out!” 

He looked like he was about to lose his temper. You were too distracted by the blood coming from the man who he had presumably just shot and by the gun in his hand. The man, who you thought was the man this whole mission was for, was undoubtedly dead. An expertly shot bullet wound between his eyes gave you a feeling that this was obviously not Jackson’s first time. You always thought you would’ve screamed in a moment like this, instead, you just stayed wide-eyed and white in the face. Jackson paid no mind to the man he had just murdered, he was all but focused on you. 

“Well come on,” He sighed. “We gotta go.” 

You were too frazzled by what you had seen to not comply. Jackson led you back downstairs to the now thawing-out party by the wrist and made your way to the foyer, sending anyone who noticed you two quick smiles and waves. The driver was already there in the valet, Jackson practically shoved you into the back seat and followed after you. Your entire body felt tense, all of this was too much. Quickly you realized this wasn’t the life for you. You didn’t cry though, you didn’t do anything besides look in front of you and take shallow breaths. The driver was silent as Jackson made a call, murmuring how it was done and there were no complications. He ended the call and looked at you curiously.

“You look like you just saw a ghost.” He noted. 

“I’ve felt better.” You mumbled. He let your words sink in and then patted you on the shoulder.’

“Sounds like you need a drink,” Jackson replied with his boyish grin that you were beginning to see too often. “Let's stop at my place for a nightcap.” 

You didn’t have the time to accept or reject his offer as he told the driver that there would only be one stop. As upset as you were, you were doing better than you ever would’ve expected. There were no tears or refusal, you accepted everything so quickly. The car drove swiftly and the sky from the window looked black as midnight approached. The moon was covered by lazy clouds that clung to it, streetlights taking its place as a light source instead. 

By the time you had pulled in front of his place, a quaint little cabin far from anyone, you had fully accepted what you had taken part in. You still had the tightly tied knot in your stomach but it was no use trying to argue with your conscience-laden mind. Once you were in his home, you sat down on one of the barstools at his kitchen’s island and watched as he made you some vodka-based drink. He was right, you did need a drink. Desperately. 

“I have to say,” Jackson chimed as he poured some mixer into your glasses. “The dress was very fitting for the event. You played the rich socialite part well.” You muttered a thanks and as he sat the drink in front of you, he looked at you with a raised eyebrow, like he was trying to figure you out. “What’s wrong?”

“You killed a man.” You whispered hesitantly. 

“That’s what this whole deer in the headlights look you have is about?” He asked, amused, took a sip of his drink, and then cleared his throat. “Listen, it was nothing personal. It’s about being a professional. You should know that.”

“It just seems wrong.” You replied not looking him in the eyes which caused him to sigh a bit annoyed. 

“You need to lighten up.” He told you with no hint of joking either. “Now, just take a drink.” And you did as he said, like most things. 

You drank in silence, not a single word coming from either of you till the glasses had nothing but a few ice cubes in them. The air around was tense, and as much as you accepted the whole ordeal, this sense of guilt and dread hung over your head. Jackson picked up on it and walked towards you, standing in front of you as you sat on the edge of the bar stool. 

“You don’t need to feel bad.” He told you. “You didn’t even do anything, you’re just the witness.”

“I think I would be considered an accessory after the fact.” You added grimly. 

“You know,” He said as he rested one elbow on the counter. “You’re much too talented with this work to be so tense. You had a special knack for this sort of thing, something I find highly admirable.”

“I don’t think I’m right for this sort of work.”

“Don’t say that.” He shook his head and then put a less-than-comforting hand on your shoulder. “You have it in yourself to do great things, trust me. Especially if we work together as well as we did tonight. You just did whatever I said. I like that about you.”

You blushed. Goddamnit, but you blushed. 

“I just… It’s hard for me to wrap my head around what you do and how you don’t feel bad about it.” You sighed and turned your head to the side, looking at the wooded view outside his home.

“There’s no use in being over-emotional.” He told you with that sly grin. “Just be a professional about this and you’ll be fine.” 

You didn’t think you were over-emotional, especially for what you had just witnessed. Depending on your persuasion, it would’ve been more than okay for you to act totally hysterical but with Jackson's hand on your shoulder you found yourself more susceptible to his words. As artificial as you were sure they were. There was something calming about him though, even for what he did. You just felt like he was right, like everything was going to be okay. Just like he said.

“There’s nothing to worry about.” He said calmly, slightly massaging your shoulder. “I just need you to keep being good, alright? You did so well.”

You nodded, feeling a little embarrassed by how red your face must’ve been. He just looked amused with how this whole thing was turning out. You were sure he knew about that attraction you had for him that you tried to keep so hidden. It was honestly hard for you to feel bad for that man who he had shot. After all, you didn’t do it, and plus, he was just some rich asshole. As you had your inner monologue, Jackson’s hand moved from your shoulder and to your cheek, bringing your eyes up to his. You bit the inside of your cheek and expected him to reject you, now that it was obvious you had some misguided feelings of attraction towards him. You expected him to toy with you, perhaps say some kind words, and then ship you out in a cab all alone. 

“You looked beautiful tonight,” He said quietly. “If that’s all consolation.”

“Thank you.” You whispered. If he was just going to toy with you, you would put this night out of your mind, you decided. You would never think of it again, instead, you already figured you would chalk it up to adrenaline and a mixed drink. His fingertips lightly grazed your cheek, eventually falling to the corner of your mouth. 

“You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?” He cooed with a hint of smugness. “You tell me you don’t like what you’re doing for me but yet you do it.”

“I just needed money…” You started to say but he cut you off abruptly.

“I bet you would suck my cock if I asked.”

The way he said it made you stop speaking and just look at him. You couldn’t talk, you must’ve lost the ability to speak right around when you lost your rational thinking. The words held heavy in the air, you could only think about doing what he told you. After a moment, you stopped thinking about any repercussions and just asked.

“Do you want me to?” You asked hesitantly. 

If he says no, you could excuse yourself to the bathroom and then fling yourself out of the window. You thought that would be the only sensible thing to do.

“I knew it.” Jackson chuckled and then his finger traced your bottom lip. There was no motion except his finger for a moment. He looked at you with a shit-eating grin, just for anticipation. “I’m waiting.”

“Right,” You said and nervously lowered yourself to your knees. “Right…” You added quietly. 

With nervous hands fumbling with his belt, you had gotten him free from his confines and pulled down his boxers. He was much bigger than you would’ve thought, you had seen his bulge in the dress pants he normally wore but that was nothing but an understatement to how he was underneath. You wet your lips before you parted your lips to take him. You took as much as you could with your mouth and used your hands on what you couldn’t fit in your mouth. Without any warning, Jackson grabbed a handful of your hair and pushed you all the way down, his cock hitting the back of your throat causing you to gag in surprise. 

“Fuck,” He groaned above you. “You look so pretty like this. So pretty with my cock shoved down your throat.”

You had never deep-throated someone before, yes you had given men blow jobs, but you were always under the assumption that the whole point of a man having his cock stuffed in your mouth was because it was attractive to see a woman working fully for their pleasure and have stimulation without the same feeling of a pussy. This wasn’t the case though, Jackson kept his dick deep in your throat, holding it there as he looked at you with your reddening cheeks and tears threatening to spill. You couldn’t assume this was as good as a usual blow job, it seemed psychological more than anything. Jackson, it seemed, just wanted to see how submissive you were for him. Seeing just how long he could keep you still with your mouth around his dick. 

You breathed through your nose as he kept his grip firm on your hair. His breathing was still for a moment before he pulled you off and then shuttered. With his grip still harsh, he pulled you back to his cock, forcing your mouth open with it and guiding your head up and down him. A bit of drool escaped from the corners of your mouth and left a trail down to your chin. He grunted at the look of you and eventually pulled you off completely and coughed as you caught your breath. 

“Get up.” He told you as he lifted you by the bicep, forcing you to your feet. 

You were still recovering from your rough blow job when he bent you over the counter, ass up, and fondled your waist and hips, feeling your body through the dress you wore. Your entire head was spinning, mostly from how fast this was all going and how once you were sure that any sort of contact from Jackson was going to be reserved for your late-night fantasies. It was humiliating how you were so willing for everything he put you through. Without a warning, he lifted your dress and bunched it around your waist, and then brought his hand to toy with your cunt through your underwear. 

“Lace?” He mused as he touched you. “You were just hoping this would happen, huh? If I had known how much of a slut you were for me I would’ve bent you over a desk at work already.”

“I’m not a slut.” You defended meekly as you desperately pushed your pelvis a bit closer to where you wanted him to touch.

“No?” He chuckled. “You’re no fucking Madonna, that's for sure.” 

Your witty response was caught in the back of your throat as you felt him push your panties to the side and work a finger into your cunt. You bit your lip enough for it to bleed if you had sunk your teeth down long enough. He watched as you tried to stay composed as he fucked you with his fingers, collecting your slick with curled fingers. Every pump of his fingers was driving you insane. 

“Please,” You moaned. “Please fuck me.” 

“Needy little thing.” He whispered, “Be patient for me, alright?”

You nodded, letting him continue to pump his fingers in and out of your now-soaked pussy. You could’ve cried when he finally paid attention to your swollen clit. After a few circles around your clit, you came and he looked at you with a mocking grin. Like a Cheshire cat. 

“You really get worked up for me, don’t you?” He teased and then leaned over you to speak directly into your ear, giving you goosebumps with each word as you came off of your orgasm. “You’re gonna come on my cock too. I’m gonna fuck you till you’re sore.”

Your stomach flipped with anticipation, rutting your ass against his crotch. How he quickly turned you into this moaning whore was beyond you. All you could do was try not to moan from the simplest of movements. Like when he stripped your panties off and held your hips in place with his rough hands. When the head of his cock was between your folds you could’ve melted on the spot. As he pushed into you, a wanton moan escaped your lips much to his pleasure. His fingernails dug into your hips as he pushed his cock fully into you. With a bit of strain, he found a rhythm as he fucked you. His grunts of approval could’ve made you come alone, but you held off. 

With his body weight pushed against you, keeping you secured to the edge of the counter, you had very limited movements. Jackson wanted it like that, he wanted you fully enraptured and to only feel him. Eventually, his movements had gotten quicker, less focused on making this enjoyable for you and more focused on his own pleasure. His hips rammed into you, and you cried out in somewhat pain and somewhat pleasure. A string of curses and cries escaped your lips and yet he kept his increasingly faster speed on you. 

“So fucking tight.” He choked out. “I should just hire you as my own personal whore, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Just fucking me as a job?” 

“Fuck,” You cried out, tears now pooling down your cheeks in a sloppy manner. “Jackson, I’m gonna come.” You warned and then he brought his hand to your clit, quickly bringing his middle and ring finger to it in almost over-stimulating circles. 

“Wanna feel you come on my cock, wanna see you come for me.” 

His filthy words were just what you needed to come. You cried out in ecstasy, your moans just as filthy as his as he orgasmed after you. His come seeped out of your pussy after he pulled out and let you both catch his breath. You slowly rose from the counter, straightening your back out after being put in that position. With a nervous look, you glanced at Jackson who looked very pleased with himself. 

“I should really take you out on missions more often.” He told you and you suddenly felt that it was all worth it, in a fucked up way. 

[katapotato55]

Undertale analysis: Chara was a bad person but not because they were an "evil serial killer child" like the fandom portrays.

TW: mentions of mental illness, self harm, and suicide. SPOILER FOR UNDERTALE. yes this game is 8 years old and scarily popular, but its still worth playing! its 10 bucks on steam! get it! Post also contains stupid edits I made to ENHANCE your experience by at least 50% guaranteed or your money back (post cost $0)

first: some backstory. I played Undertale way back in like, 2016 when the game was still fresh yet gaining popularity quickly. The fandom soon after became criminally insane and went on a moral panic where people were harassed for "playing the game wrong". I remember stories of youtubers cancelling Undertale let's plays because they would kill a character and people would get upset. other than AUs, the biggest thing that stuck out to me was the strange obsession with claiming Chara is an evil demon child who is the root of all evil and eats puppies and enjoys drinking the blood of the innocent. and then counter-culture made it so that chara is actually innocent and that the PLAYER is the horrible evil monster eating puppies etc etc.

two extremes that i half-agree with, but mostly disagree with. There was an INSANE black and white mentality that flooded the Undertale space with no breathing room for mistakes. nowadays people have matured and the fandom calmed down, so now would be a great time to explain why i think Chara is a more complex character than people give them credit for. please don't hurt me.

1- Chara very much had mental health issues.

and not in the horror movie way where they were a caraaazay evil serial murderer

a huge misconception is that people assumed the garden tools in toriel's house being dulled was somehow "proof" that Chara was an evil serial murder or something.

though... I think people also forget Chara heavily hinted at struggling with serious depression and misanthropic tendencies.

Chara climbed the mountain to end their own life. the reason the garden tools were dulled wasn't because the Dreemurs were trying to protect other people from Chara, they were trying to protect Chara from themself. it baffles me how a lot of people didn't catch onto that. It could be that we were young teens and didn't know better... but i digress! "but kat? how is Chara a bad person ? are you saying people with depression are-" get that objectively wrong idea out of your head. Having a mental illness does not make you a bad person. If you struggle with suicidal thoughts please get help from loved ones and don't EVER think you are a bad person for struggling. no. chara is a bad person because...

2- Chara was a bitter misanthrope that didn't care about anyone else or their feelings.

there are several lines of dialogue that point to the fact Chara did not like humans. There is a high probability that Chara had a hard home life before falling to the underground and that is possibly why Chara was the way they were. I am not going to send you a million screenshots as to every single bit of evidence of this, I am not made of time and jpegs. (besides i spent the entire budget on photoshop edits) I am however, going to send you the most damning evidence on my side: the true lab tapes. In the pacifist run, you can visit the true lab and find Asgore and Toriel's old home videos. The tapes basically showcase Chara's plan to Asriel where they were to eat the butterscotch flowers, and then Asriel will absorb their soul when they died.

you can watch this youtube video on all of the true lab tapes. to recap the story, Chara died, Asriel absorbed the soul, took Chara's body to the human village and then the humans thought Asriel killed Chara. Asriel refused to fight, walked back to their home and died in the flowerbed. Later on if you talk to Asriel, He mentions he wasn't the one who went to the human village, but it was Chara that was controlling him. He refused to hurt the humans and fight back and essentially they were both taken down. so here are my thoughts (please remember this is my interpretation you are OK to disagree with me)

-Chara probably just used the freedom of the monsters as an excuse to off themselves, Then put that emotional responsibility on Asriel. -They then USED Asriel's body to try and enact revenge on the humans in their death as some kind of messed up murder-suicide but in the wrong order -This ends up Killing Asriel, then he later became a bitter misanthropic husk after being reincarnated by Flowey. Possibly due to the trauma. -This ends up putting the ENTIRE underground in a depressed state with no hope and causing a massive war with the humans -their adopted parents are now divorced due to this tragedy and both Toriel and Asgore started to have conflicting issues on the topic of humans -Asgore basically trapping everyone with him in his own grief because he didn't want to actually face what happened and played the long game collecting souls one by one. -Toriel struggling to move on and essentially trying to mother any human that falls down without facing her demons. -Litterally all of undertale happened. essentially Chara was not a bad person because they were a child version of Jason Voorhees Chara was a bad person because they manipulated their family into having emotional responsibility for their self-inflicted death and hatred of humanity. They made their issues everyone else's problem and didn't consider how their horrible actions would affect others. and in a way, that is one of the morals of Undertale If you don't care about others and how your actions will affect others, then you would be making the world a shitty place in the end. Lets get back to that thing I said earlier about fans harassing other players for little mistakes. killed Toriel on your first play through ? congratulations! you are a horrible irredeemable person who deserves to get death threats ! /s God forbid we have nuance and acknowledge that most players at this point feel BAD about what happened since this is their first play through! And that they CARE about what they did to their new friend! These kind of people ignore the fact that the issue with the genocide run wasn't just the deaths, but that the player didn't consider how the monsters felt after you just ripped away their happy ending. which is the mentality that both Chara and Flowey had.

here is a video i recommend. to quote this video about the sans fight: "They call out the player not for acting immorally but for acting with no moral guidance whatsoever. Flipping back and forth between good and evil for no real reason except that they want to see what happens. In the boss’s own words, committing genocide “because you think you can, and because you can, you have to.” " Chara offed themself and made Asriel emotionally responsible for Chara's fucked up revenge fantasy without considering others feelings The player restarted the timeline (more than likely the good ending) to kill everyone all for the reason of curiosity without considering others feelings. the reason why Chara goes after you at the end of the genocide run is because you basically VALIDATED the deep dark desires of a mentally damaged person and made them watch their loved ones get ritualistically murdered. meanwhile in the pacifist run (with no history of the genocide path on your file), you simply let Chara remain as they were when they passed away. You didn't validate their dark mentally unstable desires, you simply shown Chara that the world isn't a horrible place and that actually caring about other people leads to a better life. If you HAVE played genocide before the pacifist ending, then the lesson does not sit because you still basically led them down a dark path in the end. By caring about how others feel and the impact you leave on people, you are helping retain hope for a better future for everyone, and that is one of the many reasons why i love Undertale.

thank you for reading this massively long analysis, it took me a lot of time and effort to get this put together.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Yves Kloss - Act 2 Ch. 7 - Summary

Fan translation only. Not 100% accurate. Please expect grammatical errors. Cybird owns everything. Feel free to re-blog, but please do NOT post my translations elsewhere. Also, feel free to ignore my random commentary. I know this Master List is delayed, but eh, it was my first translation project, and I had no idea of what I was doing.

Please note: Only his common route and Dramatic route are translated/summarized.

Alt translations are marked as ///

T/L notes are notated at the bottom of the post with***

They decide to stay the night in town and attend a dinner party hosted by Horst. When escorted to the dining hall they were met with many people who had uniform smiles on their faces.

*Flashback to a few hours beforehand*

After agreeing to the idea of staying overnight in the town and accepting Horst’s dinner invitation. Horst leaves Yves after Yves says that he will meet him at his villa later. Ragna asks why Yves is willingly waking into a trap? Yves explains that Horst’s volunteering to take them to Kloss mansion was for the purpose of the dinner invitation. So, despite knowing it’s a trap Yves wants to hear his side of the story anyway.

*Flashback Ends* 

Back at the dinner party Yves mentions that he attended the dinner because there were people who wanted to meet him. He asks if those present are the ones in question? The chatter, laughter and sounds of cutlery all come to a halt unnaturally.

Horst asks Yves if he noticed how people reacted to him while visiting the town? Yves said yes. Horst says it’s because there’s an unbridgeable gap between the Kloss family and the townspeople even though the Kloss family has since“disappeared” for some years now.

Horst continues that, “The Kloss family was such a high-status noble family that they could offer up brides to the emperor for generations. But the only reason why they were able to maintain their position is because of all the wicked deeds they did which the won the Emperor’s favor. He continues to say that the Kloss family is the root source of all stagnation that Obsidian is facing. “They can be called the incarnation of evil”///“They can be called the definition of evil”.

The Kloss family taxed its people heavily, took bribes, used extortion, and murdered many. When the Kloss family head was called out by one of Horst’s friends, the man and his entire family were executed, and another was framed for their executions. Horst’s wife too died by the Kloss family.

Yves thanks him for explaining something so painful. He apologizes on behalf of Kloss family and says that he will do whatever he can to make amends. Someone speaks up from the crowd saying that Yves is just like his dear mother. Many agree. Then a sharp voice breaks out calling it a facade. Accusing Yves of enjoying their money and the lap of luxury. The attendee also says that Eleanor abandoned them to marry into Rhodolite. That she “is also a bad woman who was only raised to be a butterfly and flower”.

Emma feels Yves trembling at the badmouthing about his mother. Yves replies that even if Kloss blood flows in his veins he would never follow the same path. Yves says that he promised to be a bridge between the two countries when he became king. Horst says he hopes that’s the case.

Yves now asks what he meant by the Kloss family “disappearing” long ago?Horst says, “Oh, about that. Someone made them disappear from the town.” Yves asks what he means by they made the Kloss family disappear?

Horst finally reveals: “Prince Gilbert has saved our town and country.”

[Previous] [Next]

[workingforitallthetime]

i recently watched roadhouse (the jake gyllenhaal version) and it is very silly and very enjoyable, and i would like an au.

seamus’s grandfather dies and leaves him a bar in the florida keys. seamus immediately receives a massive offer to purchase the bar from a powerful local businessman, but he’s somehow reluctant to let the place go. he and gavin make a trip to the keys to check the place out.

they’re not as close as they used to be; they’re both at a crossroads in their respective lives; etc. they go fishing. the water is impossibly blue. something about seeing seamus in his element, here at the end of the world, florida but not really the florida that used to be theirs together, stirs something for gavin. “i think you should make a go of it,” he tells seamus, and seamus says “i will if you’ll help,” which is kind of what gavin was hoping he’d say.

the bar’s a disaster. accounts in disarray, hassles from the health department, a rough crowd that keeps getting out of hand. seamus gets increasing offers from the guy who’s pressuring him to sell. but now this is his and gavin’s place, and every morning they sit in the sun and have coffee on the deck of the dilapidated houseboat they’ve rented. seamus feels like he’s starting to find himself and maybe starting to find gavin too, and he’s not selling this bar.

gavin’s the one who takes the drastic step of offering a princely salary to a morally dubious former mma fighter to come be their bouncer. they’re about to lose their insurance if they can’t curb the violence at the bar. ryan leonard is vehemently not interested but after some sparkling banter with gavin he decides he’s in.

as leno settles into life in the keys and starts kicking ass at the bar, he encounters gabe (a doctor at the local hospital where leno keeps showing up with the wounded in the aftermath of bar fights). he takes gabe to dinner. they flirt. there’s sparks.

leno also encounters will, who leno thinks has some innocuous job in tourism. unbeknownst to leno, will is the son of the local business magnate who has his eye on the bar and is behind the campaign of violence that’s pressuring seamus to sell to him. if leno was aware of this he would not have started fucking will, but too late now.

leno beats up a series of thugs sent by will’s father to cause chaos at the bar. their identities are not important but they are all played by random nhl people whose behavior i loathe (trouba, mackinnon, marchand, wilson, etc.) one of them gets eaten by a crocodile. maybe they all do, because this is my story and i can have jacob trouba eaten by a crocodile as a treat.

also the tkachuks are involved but in a fun way. like, leno breaks up a fight but it’s matthew and brady fighting each other and somehow they all end up pals.

in the movie there’s one “villain” who’s the trump card of violence that the business magnate brings to town bc he’s supposed to be the only person who can take out leno. i put villain in quotes bc this character is played by conor mcgregor, and he’s a lot of fun and you are kind of rooting for him even as he and leno are fighting each other to the death. in my story this character is played by matt rempe.

there’s a climactic scene on the water with a boat chase and an exploding yacht and gabe is taken hostage by the evil interests. when leno comes to save gabe, will greets him on the deck of the yacht and that’s the big reveal that he’s the son of the evil business owner.

idk how that love triangle resolves, but the rule is that snakes don’t get happy endings, so the happy ending is leno exploding the yacht and leaving a chest of the bad guy’s money at the bar for gavin and seamus and the two of them kiss and live happily ever after. in the final scene the bar is repaired and thriving and they’re both working there wearing t-shirts that say roadhouse on the back.

[spider999sposts]

Songbird — Spider Noir

♟synopsis: a preformer in danger, meets Earth-90214's one and only spider man

♟tags: gn!reader × Spider-Noir

♟genre: fluff

♟author's note: this is just a small idea i had, not sure if it'll turn into a fic or not. feedback appreciated.

Underneath the full moon, the light reflected on the windows of buildings in New York City. The year was 1933. The years of political corruption, the great deppression, art deco, and jazz music.

It was an odd time to live, for sure. With the rise of political tensions and crisis, underground jazz clubs were of use to every single person who needed it. They were the only place most could mingle and freely live, the only place most could forget about the looming darkness that was overtaking their lives.

And he was no exception.

Noir stumbled into that club once when he was gravely injuried after a fight had insued between him and a villainous spy. The bartender swore to keep his secret identity between them, only if he came by to spend time and maybe some of his money at the bar. It was not a hard offer to refuse.

Spending time at that bar hurt his wallet —what did he expect? The prohibition act was still in use— but it provided him with tons of useful information. Drunk people talked alot, and that helped him with most of his detective work, and his—Well, 'on-site' work.

Like any other day, he was sat at the bar, sipping on his whiskey, when he overheard three henchmen speaking.

"They're bringing in that popular singer, the one with that nickname..."

"You must mean 'Songbird'? They're all the rage now."

He recognised your stage name, how couldn't he? Noir, like any well-informed and educated man, enjoyed the progressive, sophomoric music of the era. So, of course he knew who you were. It's safe to say that you were their world's most vougish singer. Your popularity spread like wildfire through the city, your talent was something on everyone's tounge. What he'd learned is that you were mostly reserved for the higher classes, getting invited to grandiose parties with the most important political figures present, but before that, your origins and roots go back to underground jazz clubs, just like the one he was sat in as of this moment.

"I'm surprised they'd come to this cesspit." Noir thought that was a little harsh, it was queit stuffy here yes, but he wouldn't call it a shithole. "Aren't they mostly for them upper-class men?" One henchmen said to another.

"I hear it's a plan." He tingled. Their conversation was ordinary for most of their sitting, so why'd he feel like the hairs on his neck stood up?

The bigger one of the three adjusted himself on his seat, while the other two listened to him. "Some politicians want them gone for good. Think it'll make a statement. With all the press interviews they've been doing, and all the protests they've been seen at, the way they've been advocating..." He put down his drink, grinning at his friends. "...Word on the street that they'll take action tommrow and send an assassin here, then say one of the working class workers did it. Gonna be all over the news."

Seems like he has a plan for tommrow night, then.

                                            —

When the night came, the bar was so crowded he had to come through the backdoor. He wore his suit, his mask, and his usual coat to conceal himself in the shadows of the place, waiting for the perfect opportunity to intruppt the plans of those who had this evil intention. He'd learned that you've gotten on the wrong side of a politician last party you were in, after voicing your support and admiration of other races and the working class. He scoffed at you, disagreeing blatantly, saying that people like you are not good for anything but being 'A pretty face and a good voice.'

Tale goes that you spilled your drink 'accidently' on him, before insulting him and leaving the party. To be honest, he admired you for that. He didn't know that a famous singer would have that side to them. After that incident took place, you were spotted by the paparazzi at a strike. The higher classes started inviting you to their parties less and less, until they've finally decided they must get rid of you and place the crime on someone from the working class.

It was the perfect crime, and it would very much cause discourse amongst the rioters.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

Noir stood by the stage, hidden from the prying eyes of the drunken men. Most of them were cheering and laughing, but there was a table with three men, all looking around them, shifty. Seems like he knew who was targeting you now. They weren't very smart, but they were hiding in plain sight. No one would've suspected them of anything if he didn't know better.

The lights dimmed, and he looked up. He was standing queit near to the stage, so when the curtains were pulled, he was the first to see what was behind them.

And there you were.

It stunned him for a moment. You were indescribable. The tabloids and magazines were always a wonder to stare at, but compared to seeing you infront of him, they did not capture half of your beauty. You stood smiling behind your mic, and he stood there paralysed. He could not stop staring at you. Your stage presence was something else entirely.

The roars of the people at the club were what shook his trance away, reminding him that he had a mission to fulfill. He stood there in the shadows, his eyes reluctantly leaving the stage and glancing at the dodgy men at table six.

"Goodevening, gents...and ladies." Women by the back cheered. It didn't matter who it was, people of all ages and genders saw you as an icon. You were much loved by the people. "I'm very glad I am able to preform to such a lively audiance. Those stuffy upper-class folk do not know how to have fun queit like you do." A laugh erupted out of the crowd, and he found himself chuckling, before going completely silent again. He didn't want anyone to notice him, but gosh, it was hard as of this moment.

"I hope you all have a great night. Band..." Music started, and for now, those men stood still, drinking their cheap brandy and staring at you. One thing Noir noticed was that one of them was not drinking, and both his hands were on his leg.

'A gun, most likely.' He thought to himself.

Your song started.

Saying it's like a siren's melody would be insulting to you, no creature, fictional or not, would have a voice like yours. Noir found himself looking at you, and this time, it felt hot. His face was getting shades darker. His body tensed up underneath his suit, yet he felt soothed. The way you moved your hands across your body, the way your voice reverberated across the room, the look in your eyes. At this moment, if you had asked him to throw himself into the river, he would've done it with no hesitation. He might be a superhero, but he was only a man underneath that mask.

Then he felt it.

That spider-sense of his was the only thing that was holding his mission together. His eyes darted towards the men, and the one not drinking stood up, pulling something out of his pocket, something that glinted when the light reflected on it.

He raised it as soon as your song finished. You were smiling while the crowd clapped, and right as he pulled the trigger, Noir moved, pushing you to the ground, the bullet missing you by a hair.

Chaos broke out. More shots were fired. And he stayed, sheilding your body with his.

"What.."

"Songbird? Right?" He spoke, his voice coming out a little high pitched than it really is. "Huge fan, by the way. Would love to get your autograph after this is over." They were still shooting at the both of you. Noir moved, pulling both of you behind the curtain. You were still in shock, staring at him like he was not real.

"Spider——You saved my life!"

"Heh, I do that for a living, but we have to move. Those men will do anything to kill you." He helped you up, holding you close to his chest, sheilding you inside his coat. You struggled to stand, so he supported you by the waist, holding you firmly. "I—Why would anyone want to kill me?—Holy, shit, is that a gun?"

The henchmen were getting closer. Noir pulled out the gun you just pointed out and shot at one of them, injuring his leg. The other two stood surprised for a moment, before charging at the both of you at full speed. "They want to make a statement out of y—" He dodged one of them, making sure you did not lose your balance. The other charged and he dodged again, before quickly making his way backstage with you still holding tightly to his chest.

"Statement? What did I even do?—"

"Listen, I'll explain, but for me to do that, we need to get out of here in one piece." He said, rushing you up the stairs, as he shot down at the two men running after you. They did not budge. His hand wrapped around a prop, and he threw it at them, buying himself and the singer some time.

He ran into your dressing room and shut the door, locking it. He guided you to the window and slammed it open. "How did you even know I'd be here?"

"I'm a regular,"

"A regular?" You laughed, how you could laugh while in a situation like this baffled him, but that though was replaced by another. The fact that he made you laugh. "J. J. Jameson will not be thrilled to know that Spidernoir is against the prohibition act."

"I won't tell if you won't." He winked, and you laughed again. If it weren't for the fact that the door slammed open, he would've taken the next step ahead and asked you for a night out.

His moves were swift, you found yourself colliding with his chest again, his hand slung around your waist. He shot three times, then he moved again, putting both your legs on his forearm, carrying you bridal style. You squealed as he shot again, involuntarily wrapping your arms around his neck.

It was getting hard to focus with the fact that he had someone as wanted and beautiful as you clinging onto him like this, but he maintained his speed and agility. He knocked a gun out of one of the henchmen's hands, and he came charging a him. He slammed into the window, breaking the glass into million little pieces.

Noir could make his escape.

You felt his hands wrap around your body tightly, as he stepped out of the window, still shooting at the incoming men. "Listen, I'm going to do something, but please, refrain from screaming—"

"I am being shot at by four different men and somehow, our local superhero is saving me. Trust me, whatever you will do—" He shot. He wasn't sure where all these men were coming from. He didn't expect them to have backup. "—will probably not be the thing that will make me scream."

Then you screamed.

Alot.

He was unsure how someone with such a voice, would let out such screams. "Hey, what else could I have done?" His grasp tightened around your waist as he swung away from the building. Those thugs were still shooting at you, some even managed to get into the car and were now disrupting the traffic running after you. "—We need to get away from them!"

"Okay, Okay, just not so fast!" You screamed against the wind, holding tightly onto him, your head buried deep at the nape of his neck. Noir let go of his web for a moment, his eyes widening when he felt your breath against his clothed neck. Your scream was what alerted him to what he'd done. He dodged an incoming car, and swung away, the thugs were still hot on your trail. "What—Why are these people so determined on killing me?"

"You pissed off the wrong people," He replied, "Honestly, salute for that. I admire how honest you are."

A look of realisation crossed your eyes. "Ah—That stupid, New Year's party," He chuckled, it was amusing watching you realise what might've ticked them off. "Honestly I'm starting to regret the whole 'honesty is the best policy' attitude." You replied, "What would getting rid of a singer even do for them?"

Noir ducked into an alleyway, making sure that he did after swinging between different buildings, ensuring that you lose that car. "It's suppose to be some kind of statement. You know. Make it seem like the working class is weak and divided. Tyrannical work, if you ask me." He swung back on a regular street, one much calmer than the one before. Your face contorted, and you frowned. He found himself getting upset. "We have to make sure you are safe for a bit, you can't go back to your house." He added, "Is there anywhere else I can take you? Anyone that could help? Husband? Fiancée?"

"I...don't have anyone." You reply, blushing. "I have an apartment...it was my mother's. I used to stay in it before I got big. No one knows where it is. You can take me there."

"Gladly."

You were queit silent after giving him instructions, gasping and letting out queit noises whenever he went too fast. Noir tried his best to make you feel safe and secured. He did not want to frighten you. You've experienced enough fright for one night.

"There, that balcony!" Once he spotted where you'd been pointing, he swung over and set you down. It was queit. Very queit, but not in a threatening way. He waited a few minutes, supporting your body until you were able to stand on your own. "You're queit touchy, Mr. Noir." You joked, and Noir blushed, instantly looking to the side. "Apologies, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"You didn't." Once you were standing up on your own, he saw you reach for some keys, inserting one small one into the keyhole on the balcony door. "You saved my life. I owe you..well, my life." You said, unlocking it. "Truly, I am unsure how to..repay you."

You opened the door, and entered, kicking off your shoes. "Would you like to come in for a drink..I still need to know about those guys.." You looked back, but there was no one in the balcony.

"Spidernoir?" You called out, stepping out into the cold winter breeze. He reappeared once again, hanging upside down from the roof.

As much as it pained him, he had to say it. "I'd love to have drinks, but I have to go...make sure they won't be bother to you for the time being." He had webbed one of the henchmen when you were back at the club, he needed to retrieve him before any of his friends think of coming back to cover their tracks.

You stepped closer to him, "Ah, I..I understand. I..Thank you for saving me. I can't show the amount of my gratitude." His eyes twinkled. You looked like a single, most beautiful rose underneath the pale moonlight. Looking at you made his chest tighten, and his tounge twist. "It's..my duty, and all." He replied, the blush on his face increasing as you moved a little bit closer. Your face was mere inches from his.

Your fingers traced his neck, and you hooked your finger around the hem of his mask. Noir tensed up, unsure if he was feeling light headed from hanging upside down or from your touch.

"May I?" You asked, and he immediately knew what you were asking for. All he could muster was a nervous 'You can.' as he watched you pull his mask down.

You set it on the bridge of his nose. Curiosity was killing you, you wanted to know who it truly was underneath the mask. Who was the man that saved you from being an imitation of a slice of swiss cheese?

He felt the wind on his face, cooling down his heated skin. That didn't last long, when he felt your hands on the exposed part of his jaw and cheeks. You leaned in, and when he felt your lips against his, he almost let go of his web. Your lips felt tender and soft, your kiss ignited him and the sensation filled him with warmth he'd never felt before.

"There. Your reward." You whispered as you pulled away, leaving him enjoying the bliss you've just bestowed upon him. You adjusted his mask for him, and his hat fell by your feet. When he opened his eyes, he pulled himself up snd then dropped himself on the balcony, standing on his feet. You picked up his hat, extending it to him, but he shook his head. "Keep it. A souvenir of our meeting."

"I'd like to see you once more. I need to know—"

"You will see me." He replied softly, the wind blowing his coat dramatically. "I will look out for you. Till this whole thing blows over. Then you can return my hat."

You beamed at him. "I think I'll keep it."

Goodness, he was going to go thank those thugs for making the two of you meet.

"I'll see you around then, Noir." You tiptoed and kissed his cheek, heading back inside.

"See you around, Songbird."

"Ah, don't call me that." You chuckled, as you grabbed onto the handel to close the balcony.

"Songbird is what those higher ups call me, simply because they can't be bothered to know me. You can call me by my name."

BONUS:

             THE DAILY BUGLE

     SPIDERNOIR SPOTTED AT   UNDERGROUND CLUB, BREAKING THE   PROHIBITION ACT AND KIDNAPPING NATION'S BELOVED SINGER 'SONGBIRD'                 

   ...whose whereabouts are unknown. May they be safe and sound. Police investigation are being held as of this moment.

[i-cant-sing]

I just want to take a moment as someone from Israel-in Israel. A woman in Israel.

I do not agree with what my country is doing. I do not agree with the violence and atrocities we commit. But just like Americans, we can be against a war our country is fighting.

Yes, if Israel stops this war, the war is over. It is not equal.

But we cannot ignore what Palestine has done, also. I have lost family. Many people I know have lost family. I am fortunate in that I was not ever taken, I am far from the border, but I know someone who lost a sister. When her body was recovered, she had been raped. This happens on both sides, as women are seen as property of the state. But it does not excuse it. There is no excuse in raping women. Not even for freedom, as how can you achieve freedom through violating women?

I understand it muddies waters to say that there is violence on both sides. There are atrocities on both sides. We like to pretend it is one sided as it makes it easier. But it isn't. You can be the country in the right and still commit war crimes.

I understand if my words are seen as unwelcome here. But I wished to see it acknowledged, the pain that has been brought, not always justly. War is simple, but it is also complex. Trauma goes back generations, it grows roots and takes hold. The fear of the Israeli people for another holocaust is perhaps not well founded, but it is real in our minds. It will always be. The hatred we faced for something not of our doing by Palestinians was real. Our response does not become justified, an overreaction is not justified. But it was real. Their hatred for their land being taken was real-but their reaction to us was not justified. Not in the beginning.

I suppose i am trying to point out the suffering we face as a reminder that we are not our country. I do not enjoy seeing myself and my family and friends vilified in media because of where we live-where we were uprooted to because our family was murdered and our homes taken from us. But I understand our government does evil, now. But we are not our government. Even if we wished to speak up for Palestine, we would be branded terrorists. The things done to innocents is never justified, on either side.

This isn't a war because for a war, both countries should be able to have somewhat similar resources to defend themselves. It's a fucking massacre, a genocide, a cold blooded murder.

Look at Israel's military budget, that gets US aid. Now compare it with Palestine.

Your suffering, the death of your loved ones, your pain, its not invalidated, but it certainly will never compare to the pain of Palestinians.

I understand that this is Israel's government that's behind all this, but you guys are the ones who voted for them. So you should come out and begin protesting for Palestine, even at the cost of being labelled as "antisemitic" or "hamas sympathiser". If Holocaust survivors were to be here, do you think they'd stay silent? People of Israel chose and voted their government officials who now don't even consider Palestinians as humans, so... sorry to say honey, but yall are also responsible for this genocide.

Water, food, fuel, electricity, even donations and trucks carrying MEDICAL supplies have been cut off or prevented from reaching Palestinians. Is that happening in Israel rn? Didn't McDonald's just promise to supply food to the Israle armed forces??

Now, anon, imagine this-

Your country is being bombed, what for? You're not even sure exactly at this point. You've been kicked out of your home, which was then bombarded. your dad's business? All gone, his money, tears sweat, were all for naught. You've been shifted to a refugee camp, and you've been moving from one camp to another for many years because you're constantly hearing airstrikes. You've lost many of your siblings, family, friends. Every night that you go to sleep, with your mother making sure that all of remaining family members are sleeping together, so that in case something happens, you're all dead and no one has to live in pain to mourn for others. Your entire childhood is gone now because you've witnessed such horrible conditions, death is almost always a certainty, and you're struggling for basic necessities such as drinking water, food, etc. Almost all of your family is dead, you were one of the "lucky" ones who didn't die under a pile of rubble. You're grown up now, and you're thinking of leaving this hell by educating yourself and applying to a university outside of Palestine but oh oh! Well, the passing rate is incredibly low, less than 1% of students pass a test which is graded by an occupying force. The doctor who onec treated you is now breaking down becase she lost her entore family in the airstrike while she was helping victims of the same airstrikes, but she doesnt have time to mourn them or wven bury them because the hospital is understaffed nd theres way too many trauma patients in the triage that need her. Oh and look, your best friend was just shot in the back of the head. What for? He was just walking down the street. And the little kid you saw yesterday? Well he was body slammed to the ground by the occupying force's police and taken into custody where he was forced to confess to a crime he never committed, WAS TRAUMATISED AND TORTURED and was never even given a fair trial before he was locked up for more than 2 decades, after which this kid, now an adult has developed schizophrenia. As for you, you thank your lucky stars because you passed your test somehow but oh no. You're suddenly being taken into custody by the occupying force for "suspicious activity and links to a terrorist organisation".

Shall I go on?

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP rewatch: autistic Soren?

I spent a lot of time going along with everyone else saying that Soren was a big dumbass. And for that, I would now like to apologize. I don’t think Soren’s dumb. I think he’s autistic. 

As an autistic person, I feel bad for not spotting this earlier. But, like Soren, I do have a tendency to believe what I’m told, especially when everyone is saying the same thing. And this may not be canon, ever, but that’s okay. I see Soren in a new light now, and I know that light. (Gods, S3 is really gonna wreck me now)

He doesn’t get sarcasm. He takes Rayla’s “obviously” sarcastic comment at face value. He’s also not good with metaphor, taking a long time to grasp “butter them up.” Once he’s figured out what he should do--lie about the king--he does a very bad job of it because the emotions he needs to embrace to sell the lie aren’t familiar to him.

He’s very good with rules. A father who needed a son who was rooted in the narrative of strength could easily have trained an autistic child to bind himself within those rules form a young age. It’ll be very hard for Soren to question rules that he consciously chose to follow himself.

He doesn’t understand the shifting of loyalties. First he’s a loyal Crownguard, and then he’s supposed to detain Callum because his dad asked him to? Soren’s genuinely confused.

He still chooses to protect Callum when the assassins attack, even shoving him to safety from Runaan’s arrow, because those old rules of loyalty to the royal family haven’t been shifted.

He’s also slow to react to the arrow striking him. He takes precious reaction time to study it closely. He’s probably never seen a Moonshadow assassin’s arrow before. It telescopes in three places. It’s green. It probably smells faintly of poison. Soren’s possibly also never been shot before. All these physical details are hitting him at once, all with equal force, and it takes him a moment to sort through them, process them, and remember that the arrow means the assassins have arrived.

He spends time and effort trying to speak others’ languages, but he doesn’t always get it right. He knows Claudia’s nose trick but he can’t perfectly replicate it. He misinterprets Rayla’s angry intent as personal interest. He really tries to connect with his dad by offering his “see-saw” comment (which is actually right on the money as far as the show’s themes are concerned). 

He’s oddly focused on the difference between a prince and a “step-prince.” Not in a mean way, though. He thinks it means he’s paying attention to small details, which people often like. Not particularly in this case, though.

He really does just want to fit in. He does whatever Viren says because he wants to be accepted, not just as Viren’s son but as a not-weird, not-useless person.

Claudia’s the one who makes the jokes. He happily lets her lead on the mission to Mount Kaelik and has no ego attached to being in charge of her.

He’s really awkward with his brotherly feels when he calls her “weep-ridden” and offers to help by punching Callum. Autistics can struggle with language, especially in unfamiliar emotional territory and under stress.

He hyperfocuses on being a Crownguard, though, which is why he’s so good at it, and why he’s in charge. He does nothing but train. He loves being a Crownguard. He knows that role inside and out. He knows when to order men into position, and he knows when to shut up and hand the king his sword.

He insists that sweeping the leg is not a thing, though, because it’s outside his training. None of the Crownguard instructors taught him that, and so it is outside the rules. 

When he votes that Corvus is a traitor and gets Claudia to vote with him, he’s reinforcing the rules that he learned. The black-and-white shield on his armor isn’t just an indicator that he’s straddling the line between good and evil and will one day have to make a choice. It’s showing the way Soren sees the world: everything is either inside the rules, or outside them. Soren doesn’t see gray areas. But he might learn to very soon.

He’s cheerily cold-blooded about lopping Runaan’s head off and trying to kill Rayla because empathy is a strange animal for autistic folks. Sometimes it’s really high, and sometimes it’s nonexistent, even within the same person. Between a low empathy for elves and his Crownguard training, Soren legitimately doesn’t see any problem with killing them, even at the age of 18.

He knows the rules on how to deal with dragons: you fight them. And he gets a whole town torched. He was entirely unprepared. But his ego wasn’t in this fight. He freed Corvus because he understands that a Crownguard’s job is to protect Katolis, and that includes the townsfolk. And he admitted his mistake to Claudia because filters are hard under stress, and the truth just pops out like that.

When he’s paralyzed, Soren has no ego attached to remaining a Crownguard, either. His hyperfocus has broken. He was growing increasingly stressed by his dad’s secret mission. And he immediately seeks a new hyperfocus: poetry. He gives it a shot, and he’s terrible at it. He hasn’t actually internalized any poetry rules yet. He’d become a good poet pretty quickly, if he had the chance. But Claudia came to heal him instead.

As S2 ends and the siblings head home together, Soren has no plan anymore. He has no rules for what’s gonna happen, and he can’t anticipate Viren’s reaction but he expects it’ll be bad. He asks Claudia for help in understanding what his parameters should be, because that’s a long trip home, and that’s a lot of time spent worrying over scenarios that he has to consider because he can’t narrow it down--every possibility is a legitimate possibility to him.

[unfinished tdp meta]