#link mainstream imagine

[bxcketbarnes]

Summer Camp - Part Two

Pairing: Link x Reader

Words: 2600+

Hey, lovelies! I apologize it’s been a while since I’ve posted a fic. My headspace has been very funky for the past few weeks. I thought about doing a part two of Link’s summer camp au when I was re-reading it. You can read the first part here. I hope you guys enjoy! xox

One Year Later

You pull into the Crescent Lake Summer Camp parking lot, looking aimlessly for Link's vehicle. A frown comes to your lips when you don't see it, wondering if he backed out of his promise.

"You're going to come back next summer, right?" You ask Link as the two of you stand next to your vehicle.

The dirty blonde sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Oh, Y/N, I don't know-"

"Oh, come on! You changed so much over the four weeks," you playfully pout, resting your hands on his forearms. "Plus, I don't want to think I'll never see you again."

Link chuckles and wets his lips. "I have your number. I'm pretty sure you'll see me," he reminds you with a smirk.

You roll your eyes and lean against your car door. "Can't you just humor me," you sigh, crossing your arms over your chest.

Jack walks past your car and both you and Link glance in his direction. Link finds himself leaning forward, his chest inches from yours.

You shift your gaze to Link, your cheeks blushing at how close he is. The cologne he's wearing fills your nose and you find yourself leaning closer to him.

"I'll come next year if he's here," he whispers into your ear, one of his hands moving to your hips.

"Yeah?" You whisper back. "You promise?" 

Link pulls back from you and smiles down at you. "I promise," he laughs.

You turn your vehicle off after parking your car. You exit the vehicle before grabbing the backpack from your passenger seat. You release a huff of breath and glance toward the group of counselors.

This year there are ten counselors, the most this summer camp has ever had. Thankfully, there's a good assortment of male and female counselors. You grab your luggage from your trunk before grouping up with everyone else.

Leia notices you first and you're shocked when she doesn't run to you. Your brows furrow and you wonder if you've done something wrong.

Jack suddenly walks up to the group, causing your back to stiffen. You reach for the phone in your pocket when you notice him walking towards Leia. What the hell? You think to yourself as he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

The meeting doesn't last very long before everyone disperses. You travel to the cabin you'll be staying in, glad to have the one that houses only one person. You plop down onto the bed and run a hand through your hair.

"Well, this year is going to suck," you sigh loudly and glance towards your luggage.

A knock rattles against your cabin door, snapping you from your daze. You stand up from your spot before walking over to the screen door. Kathleen stands on the tiny porch and gives you a wave.

"Hi, Y/N," she smiles at you. You smile back at her and invite her into the cabin.

"Hey, Kat. Nice job getting a good amount of counselors," you plaster on a fake smile while sitting back down on the full-size bed.

Kathleen laughs and nods her head. "Yeah! I'm very surprised at the turnout this year. Although, I was hoping Link would've come back," she mentions with a sigh.

"You and me both," you mumble while fiddling with the ends of your hair.

"If things become too much just let me know, okay?" She reassures you.

She must've noticed how close Jack and Leia were as well.

"Yeah, sure," you give her a smile and a firm nod.

Kathleen claps her hands together and releases a deep breath. "Alright. I'll leave you be. See you in the morning," she smiles down at you before making her way towards the door.

You bid her goodbye as she leaves your cabin. You tuck your hair behind your ears before getting up, deciding to unpack.

Hopefully, these next four weeks fly by.

-

Night falls at Crescent Lake Summer Camp and you look out the screen door. The cicadas are as loud as ever. You tuck your beach towel under your arm before walking out of the cabin.

You trek along the wooden trail that leads towards the small beach. The flashlight on your phone shines against the stained wood as a thousand scenarios run through your head of how this summer will play out.

You shake your head when you reach the private beach and you decide to turn on some music to distract you. You set your towel onto the sand and place your phone on top of it. You strip your tank top and shorts off before making your way into the water.

The tips of your fingers glide against the surface, a little relieved that the water isn't too cold. You walk out far enough before lowering yourself into the lake. You float on your back and look up at the stars.

Why would Leia hang around him? She knows what you went through… Your brows furrow as you try to figure out what possibly could have happened.

"Haven't I told you that you shouldn't be out here alone?" A familiar voice startles you, causing your limbs to flail in the water.

You quickly pick yourself up and glance towards the shore, seeing Link standing beside your stuff. "Link!" You gasp and rush towards the dirty blonde.

Your body crashes into his, wrapping your arms around his neck. Link circles his arms around your waist and lifts you off your feet. You nuzzle your face into his neck, your fingers combing through his hair.

"I'm so glad you're here," you mumble against his skin.

"I promised, didn't I?" He mentions and you pull away from him. Link smiles down at you and moves the wet hair out of your face.

You smile at him as your hands rest on his shoulders. Butterflies swarm around your stomach, not surprised that he still makes you giddy and nervous.

"Where are you staying? Does Kat know you arrived?" You fire off a couple of questions. Your gaze moves to the shirt he's wearing, noticing the large wet spot. "Shit, I'm sorry about your shirt."

Link laughs and glances down at his shirt. "It's fine. By the time I arrived everyone was asleep, so I came right here," he informs you.

You're quickly getting dressed as he explains his situation to you. The two of you start to walk back towards the cabins when you finally say something. "I-If you want, you can stay with me tonight. I don't have any roommates and I have a full-size bed," you offer him while jabbing your thumb in the direction of the cabins.

He smirks and casts his gaze towards the sandy ground. "You want me to sleep with you?" Link teases you.

Your eyes widen and your cheeks blush. "I-I- No, t-that's-"

"I'm kidding," he cuts you off with a chuckle, bringing his hand to your shoulder. "I know what you mean, and I will gladly take you up on your offer."

You roll your eyes at the dirty blonde before releasing a scoff. "I hate you," you laugh and smack his chest.

Link catches your hand and pulls you into his chest. A gasp leaves your lips as you fall into him, your free hand moving to his torso. "C'mon, you don't hate me," he grins, "who else would you hang out with this summer?"

A tinge of hurt spreads throughout your body at his words, remembering that Leia hasn't spoken to you since you arrived. "Yeah, you're right about that one," you sigh before removing yourself from his grip.

He catches onto your sadness and a frown replaces the smile on his lips. "Hey, what happened?" Link asks and lifts your chin.

You meet his honey-brown eyes and feel his hands gently rubbing your forearms. "I-I think Jack and Leia are together," you tell him your suspicions before giving him a fake smile. "She hasn't said a single word to me since I arrived earlier."

"Shit, really?" He mutters with furrowed brows. You hum in response as the two of you begin to make your way back towards your cabin. "I thought Leia wasn't a fan of him?"

"Yeah," you snort while shaking your head, looking down at your feet as you walk, "I thought so too. People change, I guess."

Link keeps his eyes on you. He wets his lips as your last sentence sticks with him. People change. You changed me… He wraps his arm around your shoulders, bringing you into his chest.

You wrap your arms around his waist before nuzzling your face into the shirt he's wearing, his steps begin to slow and the two of you come to a stop. "I brought something that could take the edge off," he mumbles before glancing down at you.

"Oh?" You ask while taking a step back. Link slips his hand into his pocket before pulling a small zip lock bag out. Your eyes widen, seeing the perfectly rolled joint sitting in the plastic bag. "You brought drugs to a kid's summer camp?!"

You slap his arm and Link moves away from you, avoiding your slaps. "Hey! It's only one!" He defends himself with a laugh. "I forgot to take it out before I left."

Link slips his free hand into yours, lacing your fingers together before leading you away from the camp. "Link!" You hiss, stumbling after him. "You can't be serious!"

He looks back at you, a smirk on his lips. "Oh, I'm one hundred percent serious, baby," Link winks, causing your cheeks to blush.

The two of you stop after walking for two minutes. The moon shines brightly in the sky as you watch him remove the joint from his baggie.

You grow nervous, having never smoked weed before. You chew on your top lip as Link places the joint between his lips before lighting it.

He blows the smoke past his lips and makes eye contact with you. That's… attractive. You think to yourself as he passes it to you. You stare at it for a good minute before lifting your gaze to meet him.

"This is gonna sound so stupid but I-I don't really know what to do," you mutter, stuttering over a couple of words.

Link chuckles and lets out a hum. "That's cute," he says while stepping closer to you. The blush on your cheeks darkens, feeling the embarrassment run up your spine. He points to the filter at the end. "Place this between your lips and suck in."

You take the joint from his hand, holding it between your thumb and index finger. Link's free hand rests on your waist, gently stroking your clothed side. You take a hit from the joint, the smell of it filling your nostrils.

"Suck in again before blowing out," he whispers with a soft smile.

You do what he says, feeling the burning in your throat as the smoke blows in his face. A smug smile comes to Link's lips, and you start to cough.

You cough into the crook of your elbow, handing the joint back to Link. "Jesus," you mutter, your eyes watering. "You do this a lot?"

Link shrugs his shoulders and takes another hit. "Eh, mainly if I stressed," he mentions and holds the joint towards you.

"I don't think I could do that again," you laugh while tucking your hair behind your ear.

"How about this-" he cuts himself off and takes a long hit. He brings his free hand up to your neck before pulling you closer.

Your breath hitches, not really knowing what he's doing, as his lips get closer to yours. Link blows the smoke past your lips and whispers for you to inhale. You suck in until your lungs start to scream, blowing out immediately after.

His tongue pokes through his lips, wetting them before smirking. "You blow my mind every time I see you," he whispers to you, his gaze dropping to your lips.

A soft chuckle leaves your lips, your body slowly growing heavier. "H-How?" You stumble over your words, feeling his breath fanning the lower half of your face.

"I never would have guessed that you'd be here, sharing a joint with me," Link elaborates.

"I certainly didn't think I would either, to be honest," you mention while fumbling with the hem of your shirt. "There's probably a lot of stuff I wouldn't have done if I hadn't met you."

The dirty blonde's fingers make their way to your cheek, stroking it gently. "Is that a good or bad thing?" He asks in a hushed whisper.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," you shrug your shoulders. Your cheeks warm up under his touch as you find yourselves getting closer.

"I really, really want to kiss you," Link mumbles loud enough for you to hear.

Your heart pounds against your chest as your body begins to feel lighter. "You want to kiss me?" You ask in disbelief.

Link wets his lips and he nods his head in reply. "Of course I do. I have for about a year," he confesses to you.

You bring your hands to his face, gently trailing your fingertips along his skin. "You can kiss me if you want," you whisper while staring at his lips.

"Yeah?"

You nod as Link pulls you onto his lap. You straddle his hips, moving one of your hands into his hair. Link slides his hands up your back, feeling his nails dig lightly into you.

His hand rests on the back of your neck before pulling you in. You tug on his hair when his lips meet yours, and you moan into the kiss.

The kiss doesn't last very long before Link pulls back from you. You follow his movements, not wanting to stop just yet. A chuckle leaves his lips and one of his hands cups your cheek.

"So eager," he hums, placing a quick kiss on your lips. He smirks at you while stroking your skin, his eyes shifting from your lips and meeting your gaze.

"We should head back," you mumble to him before attempting to get up from his lap.

His honey-brown eyes stay on your figure the entire time, a sloppy grin sitting on his lips. You wipe the grass and dirt off of your knees before meeting his gaze.

"Do you need help?" You giggle while holding out your hand.

Link grabs your hand and you help him off the ground. He stumbles a bit and you move your hands to his waist, steadying him as best as you can. "Thanks, cutie," he grins, pressing a sloppy kiss to your cheek.

Your heart feels like it's beating a million miles per minute as the two of you begin your trek back towards camp. You glance towards him during the walk, your hands brushing against one another every few seconds.

"I'm really glad you're here," you whisper loud enough for him to hear, your pinky finger hooking with his.

The dirty blonde looks down at your hands for a few seconds before he laces his fingers with yours. Your heart flutters in your chest and you squeeze his hand.

"You're truly a miracle, Y/N," Link sighs, the corner of his lips tugging upward.

A smile graces your lips and you lean your head against his bicep. "Would you wanna grab dinner after summer camp is over?" You ask him shyly, tilting your head to look up at him.

Link shifts his gaze towards you and smiles. "Yeah, I'd love to," he mentions while dragging his thumb across your bottom lip. "As long as I get to pay."

You scoff, shaking your head. "Fine, but I'm paying next time."

-

Taglist: @softtdaisy​ @xoxoloverb​ @onlyfreds​ @corneliastreetinstyle​ @avenjames-anderson​ @sincericida​ @aenatslover​ @thewxntersoldier​ @reddesert-healourblues​

[softtdaisy]

Oh I love link from mainstream 😉 how would he react to one of his female fans if they wrote a smut fan fiction about him?

It's so interesting to write for Link 👀 (I wrote this as reader was the on writing it, it was easier)

We know Link would be looking for that kind of stuff: what the fans say about him, what they post. He loves seeing pictures of him. And if fanfiction were weird the first time, he kinda loves the idea that people love him so much they imagine themselves with them

So it's not a surprise that one day he ended up reading a smut you, a fan, wrote, imagining yourself doing things with Link that even himself didn't think of

And to say he was excited about this was an understatement. He wanted to find the person who wrote that please her fantasy. So she could go on the internet and say how good Link was for real.

It wasn't too difficult for Link to contact you, he found a way to your instagram from your blog. He sent you a message there. A quote, more exactly. "He came down on me, his blonde hair brushing my thighs while his tongue was started to discover my body." "Is that what you want, love?"

You were shocked to see that. You knew it could happen but you never thought Link would be acknowledged those stories. What could you say? You were way too attracted to Link to say no.

So you replied to his message and you started having some sexual conversations. It wasn't a surprise how creative that man could be to make you horny.

For him, it was of way to see if you were really interested in discovering what he could do with you. He didn't want to meet someone that was too scared of playing the game once in front of him. He quickly understood that you were not a small player.

He finally offered you to come to the show "but only if you're really ready to see what I can do to you." and you were more than ready.

As soon as Link saw you arrived before the beginning of the show, he brought you backstage and his loge to start his plan. "I hope this inspires you some new pieces of writing." he said, kissing your neck while his hand was meeting your underwear

[unexpectedstormy]

What if Sky is the first hero? What if the Hero's Spirit is Sky's spirit? What if Sky's spirit is in all the other Heroes? Maybe all of the other heroes have Sky's sense of justice, and his skill with the sword, and his desire to help people. Maybe the Master Sword recognizes Sky's spirit in every hero and that's why only heroes can wield the Master Sword. She is forever faithful to her first wielder and his undying spirit.

[reidslovely]

How to Disappear: Waves Crash in Over My Head

Please reblog and comment inlace of liking, pretty please.

Previous Chapter: Life Unknown

Pairing: Link/Alex Goodrich x Fem! Reader/OC-ish.

Content Warnings: Slight anxiety attacks, Link sends his fist through a wall, flashback heavy. Talking about aggression, mentions of broken noses. Intense arguing. I'm sure I missed something, let me know!

Waves crushed in over his feet, the soft sand beginning to sink beneath him. He was locked in place watching her talk with her friends by the fire. She glowed in the light of the fire, her eyes brighter than the fire and the moon.

 Waves crashed back in over his feet, he watched everything wash back out. He let go of the breath he was holding. Sudden hands on his back brought him back from whatever world he had landed on and pulled him back to this world. 

Her world. 

“You were great out there tonight.” 

His heart felt stuck in his throat as he gazed down at her. His lips turned up into a smile, his arms coming down to swallow her whole as he pulled her against him. 

“Yeah? Thought I looked silly out there, I got all nervous knowing you were watching me.”

Her head threw back in a laugh like it always did, the childlike joy filled their own little bubble.

“I’m serious!” He shouted in a laugh, his nose against her forehead. “Thought of such a pretty girl got me all sweaty in the jersey..the jersey you’re wearing by the way.” 

(Y/N) faked a gag, shrugging her shoulders causing the lacrosse jersey framing her to slouch slightly. 

“Mhhm well maybe I should stop coming. I'd hate to ruin your college scouting..” (Y/N) spoke up to him, her eyebrows raising.

“No, no you’re my good luck charm, need you there.” 

“I’ll be there..always.”

“You better be.”

-

Sun warmed his face, as Alex’s body jarred forward waking him up from his memory. Alex swiped at his nose, blinking a few times waking up from his long nap. Fairfield County was a welcoming sight. 

Not. 

He stood from his spot on the greyhound, watching the young mother and her daughter who sat next to her file out first. The little girl looked up at Alex smiling at him, and Alex smiled back before dropping his head. He grabbed the small grey bag off the seat next to him and jumped off the bus pushing the glasses to his face. 

He felt like a ghost here. Fuck, he was a ghost here. He wished his parents luck in talking their way out of this one. Alex, head down, took off up the street walking the square. Talking himself up to make the trip to his old subdivision, hoping he can keep whatever demons at bay. He watched a group of boys in jerseys cross the street laughing, lacrosse sticks over their backs. 

He loved lacrosse. It was the one sport he actually enjoyed, and maybe it’s because it let him exude just enough aggression to get by. He had done wrestling but biting got him disqualified, he did boxing but you can only break so many noses before people start asking questions. Lacrosse though. Everyone there was aggressive, most of the boys on his team were put on the team by the school psychologist to help them vent their issues. Alex found it funny that his aggression almost got him a free ride to college solely due to being hidden in his athletics. 

Alex had gotten caught up looking at the past, he didn’t see what was in front of him. Literally. 

“Oh my god I..I’m sorry.”

Alex hit the ground, the woman’s bag she was carrying dropping and scattering her groceries all over the street. The small girl holding the woman’s hand gasped. Alex put his head to the concrete, anger rising in his chest. He squeezed his eyes tight, taking deep breaths calming himself down before speaking. 

“I’m fine. I’m okay it was my fault I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Neither was I. I’m so so sorry.” She laughed nervously. It twisted in Link’s chest. It was all too familiar, and the eyes peering up at him made him sick to his stomach. The knife in his stomach twisted deeper as he saw the moment of recognition wash over her own face. Two ghosts staring back at each other.

-

“You can’t do this. You can’t just disappear.” Alex’s jaw twitched as hot tears poured down his face looking at (Y/N). He unpacked her clothes as she tucked them away. “It’s not disappearing if I tell you where I’m going.” 

Her words didn’t sound like her own. It was distant, void of the warmth she usually spoke to him with. “I have to go okay, Link. My mom and I don’t have a choice. Okay. There’s money involved and..and she made a legally binding contract or whatever.” 

“With who? Your aunt that you two have to disappear? You can come live with me, my family won’t care they love-”

“I can’t be with you Alex! Okay, do you fucking understand that? We’re just kids, everything is so..compli-” It was ‘Alex’ that set him off. She never called him that. 

“I’m complicated. That’s what you’re trying to say. You’re giving up on me like everyone else huh? Huh!”

(Y/N) flinched as he yelled. Tears rolled down her own cheeks and she choked on her own tears. He didn’t care. She was leaving him, she didn’t have a right to be crying. He didn’t know what happened next, he doesn’t remember it. It was like he woke up after seconds of black, his hands through the drywall of the tiny house he’d loved in comparison to his family's estate. (Y/N)’s mom stood in the doorway of the bedroom he’d spent hours in.

 “You should go, Alexander.” The older woman spoke softly, with a motherly tone. There was something they weren’t telling him. (Y/N) started to run after him as he walked up the wall. Her mom held her back as she cried for him. 

-

The girl he loved was a woman now. Standing before him in sundress and her hair pulled back into a butterfly claw clip that matched the little girls. One thing that didn’t change was the gold ‘A’ that hung around her neck, now joined by a golden ‘P’ on a smaller chain. The little brunette girl that had been holding (Y/N)’s hand had bent down picking up his sunglasses and items that fell from his bag.

“‘ere you go, sorry.” She spoke with a speech impediment that impaired her ‘r’s. But she had tried really hard in pronouncing them so that (Y/N)’s lips curled up into a reflexive smile, patting the girl's shoulders. 

“When did you move back? Wh-..” His face twitched in confusion. His brother surely would have known and would have told him. 

“Two years ago.” She spoke, pulling the girl back into her side. Playing with her brown curls. “I tried looking for you but..I was told that you..well weren’t around anymore.”

“I wasn’t technically. But..” “Mommy can we please go? I wanna show Addie my new toys.” Alex’s eyes wandered her fingers for any sign of a ring. Mommy? She’d had a child? She couldn’t be more than eight years old. She’d moved on so quickly after him when he never did. (Y/N) took a shaky breath, smiling down at the girl. 

“Course baby. Huh, Link..it was nice to see you.” He felt like he was stuck in slow motion as she turned away from him. “Wait, wait.” He rushed after her, hands shaking. “I uhh..do you have a number I can call you on?”

She hovered for a moment, she seemed paranoid looking around and even past him. “Yeah.” She let go of the little girls hand, digging in her bag for something. She slipped a yellow card into his hand, and for a minute let their hands linger on one another. He wonders if she can feel the heartbeat in his fingertips, and his eyes begging her to stay here for moments longer.

“You look good.” She smiled. “I didn’t care much for you blonde.”

She’d kept up with him, hidden in plain sight. That made him feel good, to know she’d at least watch from a distance.

“I didn’t either.”

Her hand left his, and took the little girl's hand back in hers. “Let's go P.” She said sweetly, the little girl waved at him. “Bye!” She yelled as she walked down the street, (Y/N) looking over her shoulder at him catching one last glance. 

-

“You knew? You knew she was in town and you didn’t tell me. You didn’t mention it in a single phone call.” He yelled at his brother as they stood on the back porch of his childhood home. 

‘I didn’t think it was important.” Ben says calmly. “And I thought it would make you spiral to know she had a kid.”

“No, I'm spiraling now because I had to find out this way.” 

“It was almost a decade ago, she left you and you burnt down a school in retaliation. I’m sorry for thinking it would send you down a rabbit hole of anger.”

Link could feel his eye twitch, he reached up scratching his face with his free hand. Flicking a cigarette with the other. Ben stared at him, having more to say but holding it back. He felt sick to his stomach, like he could crawl into bed and simply rot. A part of Link always hoped that she’d wait for him, turn eighteen and come and find him. But she never did, which he didn’t make it easier for her. Always moving, not having a phone. They could have had a good life. Maybe had she never left he would have gotten help sooner, maybe they’d have a white picket fence life. He thinks about the life he could have had. Coming home from a long day at work, a suit and tie for some silly office job he’d gotten to support them. He thinks about kissing his highschool sweetheart hello and watching their daughter playing. 

Then, in the middle of it, he remembers sending his fist through the drywall of her room simply because he was angry and didn’t know where to put it. Though he knows he’d never hurt her, or his metaphorical child he feels sick. He hates himself. 

“I loved her. So much, and I was devastated when she just up and left and wouldn’t even tell me why. You knew that, you knew how much that meant to me. I still love her.”

“You don’t know her anymore. She doesn’t know you anymore, okay?”

“I could though. I could love her, and she could find something in me to love again.”

Ben was biting his bottom lip, Link knew his brother's heart hurt for him. But Link could also read people, way better than he’d like to admit he could, and Ben was hiding something. 

“I’m gonna call her.” 

Alex grabbed the sliding glass door of the house that led into the casual sitting room. As he walked in, his hand fishing inside the bag on the couch for his phone he heard a voice that stopped him in his tracks. 

“Son..” His father’s voice filled the room, that fake politician's smile on his face. And if Alex knew how to fake one thing it was a smile. 

“Dad, hi.” 

His father took a couple steps in hugging his son to his chest. “So good to have you home. We have a lot to talk about.” 

Alex hugged him back with one hand, feeling like a little kid again. “That we do.”

taglist: @helloheyhihowdyheya @tarzinnia @a-lumos-in-the-nox @messymissy @sincericida @moonyslove78 @toomanyfictionalboyfriends @eevylynn.

[tubapun]

Still reeling over the fact that there's exactly one youtube/internet celebrity in Scooby-Doo! and Guess Who?, cause, like, you'd think that the modern take on "Scooby-Doo meets celebrities" would have internet celebrities too!! But no!! They got Liza Koshy and that was it!! I wonder if it was because Youtuber as a term implies a brand name product and they didn't want to have to pay license fees for it? Maybe?

[yoshida-chiyo]

Sunghoon (ENHYPEN) realizing he has a crush on you

pairing: sunghoon x fem!reader

word count: ~0.4k

disclaimer: No images used in this post belong to me. All credits to respective creators. Contact for credit/removal. Your work is valued.

casually flexes his muscles while pretending to stretch, hoping you'll be impressed

stares at you for a solid minute during a group hangout and suddenly forgets how to blink

blinking is overrated anyway 🙄

constantly teases and flirts but acts like it's just casual banter

"Oh, you dropped something? Must be my jaw because you're stunning." abhjdwujdbsk.

practices saying your name in front of the mirror to make sure he doesn't stutter when talking to you

ends up giggling cuz he can't contain himself ( >⩊< ).

develops a sudden interest in all your favorite things, like your favorite movies, books, and even your weird obsession with collecting antique spoons

When you ask him about it, he just shrugs ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

gets overly conscious of how he smells and starts wearing that cologne he swore he'd never use because "it's too mainstream." 

hey, anything to impress you, right? ツ

tries to impress you with his "cooking skills" but burns the pasta

still insists it's a new culinary trend called "extra crispy al dente." 😁

becomes the unofficial photographer of the group, taking candid shots of you when you're not looking

insists it's for his "photography portfolio" ( ◡̀_◡́), but everyone knows what's up

can't focus on anything you're saying cuz he's too busy imagining the two of you holding hands and walking into the sunset 🫠

gets caught daydreaming more than once

sits there and spaces out, trying to figure out how to confess to you

attempts to be poetic but ends up sounding like a romantic disaster

"Your eyes are like... um, stars. Yeah, stars. Because they shine... and stuff." 🙄 ahh, my dear hoon

lowkey drops hints about his feelings in casual conversations

"You know, if I were to have a crush on someone hypothetically, they might have the most beautiful smile ever. Just saying." 😌

awkwardly stumbles over words while complimenting you but manages to blurt out, "Uh, you look... really nice today. I mean, you always do, but, um, today is just... extra nice."

gets all flustered when you compliment him back 🤭

steals glances at you when he thinks you're not looking, only to get caught and pretend he was inspecting the nearby wall for potential paint flaws 🤪

rearranges his entire schedule to 'accidentally' bump into you more often ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜

spends an entire day debating whether or not to text you first

finally musters up the courage, only to send a meme instead ( •_ •)

starts using your favorite emojis in his texts, thinking it's a subtle way to convey that he's totally chill and not at all thinking about you 24/7 🙈

initially types out a really cheesy name to save in his contacts, then backspaces furiously, trying to maintain a semblance of coolness

thinks for a while and ends up with a simple "[your name]" but with a subtle smiley at the end. :)

accidentally calls you "babe" in the middle of a conversation and tries to cover it up by fake coughing. (≖_≖ ) smooth, hoon, real smooth

has this stupid grin on his face whenever you are brought up in the conversation

denies having a crush when his friends tease him about it

"Me, crushing on [your name]? 🤨 Pfft, you're delusional!" 

nervous laughter

Copyright © yukimura-chiyo - All Rights Reserved

Note: Please refrain from reposting my work. If you appreciate it and would like to share, kindly link directly to the original post. Thank you for respecting the effort and creativity put into this content.

ty @deobizonctzen ⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝

[pocketsizedquasar]

TPOC-Prioritized writings on anti-transmasculinity / transandrophobia

transandrophobia / anti-transmasculinity are both theories that have been spearheaded primarily by trans poc, particularly Black transmascs and transfemmes.

unfortunately, as with Everything created by queer and trans poc, particularly Black queer ppl, white trans ppl (regardless of gender, and regardless of whether they "believe" in this form of oppression or not) have coopted these theories and dominated these conversations, such that both "sides" of the "discourse" are divorced entirely from the racial connotations in which these theories were created, and the ways in which they were created specifically as an intervention against white feminism, and to highlight the ways multiple marginalizations affect the marginalization of masculinity. these are theories that explicitly interact with and can only be understood in conjunction with transmisogyny, as well as other oppressions like racism and misogynoir.

*"anti-transmasculinity" as a term and theory was coined by Black trans folks (some of whom's writings are linked below), and is specifically a theory within the context of Black transfeminism antiBlackness, and transmisogynoir, and cannot be divorced from that context. i try be very intentional about my use of the terms 'anti-transmasculinity' and 'transandrophobia' in different places here, because i do not want to dilute the former’s very particular context.

anyway, here's a list of miscellaneous writings on the subjects, with a priority for collecting writing from trans poc (not all of the authors are tpoc, but this list was intended to prioritize tpoc voices). the intention of this is not to be a be-all end-all on the subject, nor exalt any one of these individuals or pieces as exclusively ~correct~ or whatever, but to combat the whitewashed nature of these discussions online, and raise awareness to the myriad of people speaking on this subject. (nor do i claim to speak for any of them, or claim that any of them speak for me. i tried to make sure i didn't platform blatant racists, zionists, transmisogynists, or other bigots, but i'm not pretending to be 100% accurate about that.)

they aren't in any particular order (except the first one, which i think is an extremely foundational text for anti-transmasculinity theory as delineated by its creators, within the context of antiblackness and transmisogyny, and necessary reading to understand anti-transmasculinity as a theory). I tried to group all the links from the same authors together.

This is a non-exhaustive list! I will likely come back and add more writings as I find them. please feel free to recommend to me any works to include (including your own! especially if you yourself are a Black trans person or a trans POC).

Now with an Archived Read-more Link!

Racial-Class Paternalism and the Trojan Horse of Anti-transmasculinity by Nsámbu Za Suékama. if you read nothing else from this list, read this.

“But even as TME struggles escape the mainstream imagination, they persist, and are often both fueling and being fueled by the war on trans women and transfeminine people. Nothing makes this clearer than in how a Western binary system triangulates that war with Anti-transmasculinity. This is why I say that Anti-transmasculinity is a Trojan horse for Transmisogyny. Like the wooden horse in the Greek myth, it might not seem like what it is, for its actual contents and character are invisible, but at the heart of it, there is a violent campaign going on that is key to how the West aims to lay seige to its civilizational "enemies." And, like the walls of the city of Troy, materialist transfeminism has fortified the opposition to Western domination, in such a way that to overcome the stronghold requires a new strategy for the Man, one that follows up the open and vicious attacks on TMA people with a different, more hidden form of warfare.”

“today’s gender paternalism frames any manhood and masculine embodiment outside of (western) cisheteronormativity as not just biologically illegitimate but also the result of a barbaric threat to civilization. And who typically figures as the face of that barbarism but the Black trans woman? Materialist transfeminism has to theorize Anti-transmasculinity.”

"Non-Men", maGes, and Black Masculinities by genderfugitive / disrupthehuman

One such argument, which is really a collection of arguments but can be consolidated into one, is that trans men are attempting to take a place alongside cis men in the hierarchy of patriarchy. In other words, while they may not have been so before naming themselves as trans men, they are aspiring to be oppressors. This employs a number of rhetorical devices that I have identified before including the idea that trans men are “betraying” cis womanhood and therefore should be seen as threats unless they act as footsoldiers for transmisogyny. The problem with this is that it treats trans manhoods as embodiments that exist as something which merely aspires to be cis manhood.

"For Those Seeking Fight or Flight: Black Trans*feminist Nihilism" / primer on transmisogynoir by genderfugitive / disrupthehuman (not about anti-transmaculinity specifically (though it does come up), but a very good + important read on Black transfeminism & transmisogynoir, so I'm including it)

anti-transmasculinity needs its own theorizing outside of general "transphobia" by genderfugitive / disrupthehuman

anti-transmasculinity & antiblackness inherently linked (& another) both by genderfugitive / disrupthehuman

There is a hidden epidemic of violence against transmasculine people by Orion Rodriguez

a thread master post linking to multiple threads about anti transmasculinity by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

a thread on anti-transmasculinity as an epistemic injustice (translated) originally by magicspeedwagon in French; English translation by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

Not transmasc invisibility, but erasure by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

Girlboy Boygirl Blues - antitransmasculinity as a denial of individual history & more by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

"irl we just kiss" - ‘transmasc vs transfem’ discourse & reactionary ‘boys vs girls’ politics in trans spaces by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

transmascs & being treated as predatory by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

transmasc mental health statistics by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

violent anti-transmasculine hate crimes by Salem L. Void / thewarmvoid

thread on examples of systemic anti-transmasculinity by magicspeedwagon

a thread on anti-transmasculinity and its erasure by storyjunkie

anti transmasculinity & transmisogyny and the degendering of Black people by afrodykee

anti transmasculinity & transmisogyny cannot be theorized in opposition to each other by afrodykee

white transfeminism's anti-transmasculinity by afrodykee

Black trans people & erasure of TPOC voices from the trans community by thatspookyagent

transmasculine nonwhite expereince by thatspookyagent

trans men being silenced by thatspookyagent

queer POC being pushed out of conversations by thatspookyagent

cis women's harm to trans men by novascotioducktoller w/ addition about TMOC by thatspookyagent

medical violence in anti transmasculinity by Caleb / sethpuertoluna

example of medical anti transmasculinity by Dominick / transguyenergy

response to inclusion of a trans man in an ad (thread) by Dominick / transguyenergy

anti-transmasculinity around periods by Dominick / transguyenergy

anti-transmasculinity towards pregnant trans men by Dominick / transguyenergy

transitioning as a transmasc of color by gendercriminals

white (cis) women & racist transandrophobia by dead-lavender-society

transandrophobia as an indigenous trans man by petrichorvoices

examples of transandrophobia by transvermin

the “lost lesbian” narrative & antitransmasculinity by vaguefiend

cis women & transandrophobia by vaguefiend

intersectionality & transandrophobia by visible-schizo-spectrum

more transandrophobia from cis women by cock-holliday

tl;dr : there’s LOTS of theory and discussions out there abt anti-transmasculinity, transandrophobia, how these things relate to other forms of transphobia, how it interacts with other marginalizations, most especially race, and the ways in which it affects transmascs. this information is everywhere. it’s out there. y’all (white ppl) are just refusing to engage with it.

[redditreceipts]

So this is the answer to an ask that @wild-wombytch has sent me, and I chose to answer it in this format because the original ask contains a link to a post that I'd rather not share, to maintain respectful of OP.

Thank you, I'm fine! and cool that you like the cat pictures ❤️ I'll make a separate post for you just containing cat pictures

and thank you so much for saying that! ❤️❤️

yeah, so @wild-wombytch refers to a post that deals with a person who got a tumor from HRT. They have made a post in a mainstream trans subreddit and the people on there got mad at them, because they didn't want to recognise the downsides of HRT:

So this is just a whole other level. People hating on OP because they got a brain tumor is so despicable. These people can rot in hell

(Also, if you want to use my post to make fun of OP for having a brain tumor, enjoy getting blocked 🥰 I try to make this a welcoming place for people who are transitioning, detransitioning or having problems with their medical transition. If you can't handle that, please fuck off)

The specific kind of tumor this person is talking about, a pituitary brain tumor, is (as stated) probably linked to HRT in trans women. This reminds me of the myriad of posts by trans women talking about galactorrhea. Galactorrhea refers to the spontaneous lactation without having given birth or breastfeeding a baby, which can occur in women and men. And what is the most common cause for Galactorrhea?

the most common cause of galactorrhea is a benign tumor in your brain. Even though benign tumors are not as dangerous as cancerous tumors, they can still cause severe dysfunction over time, because they can still grow slowly and compress vital areas of the brain. It's definetly not a topic to be joked about.

I was able to find a ton of "I am spontaneously lactating as a trans woman, is this normal"-posts in the span of seconds. Remember: Galactorrhea, a condition that is most commonly caused by a brain tumor. And what are the responses?

keep in mind: this person probably had not only been lactating, but even had blood in their nipple discarge. Up to a fifth of women who have that sign of discharge have a malignant cause for it - I can't imagine that the prospect for biological males on HRT is much better.

so yeah, instead of telling them to go see their doctor or anything, they link them to r/AdultBreastfeeding - it's a fetish subreddit for people who have a lactation fetish and want to induce lactation.

I mean, a large amount of the stuff I post here is kinda funny and absurd, but if you get a bit deeper in these online echochambers, it gets really dark real quick. Where did we go from "everyone should live their lives as they wish" to "downplaying brain cancer to own the terfs"? And this doesn't mean that every trans woman should immediately stop their HRT just to prevent that from happening. That's not what I'm saying here. I'm just saying that these people genuinely don't seem to care about anything other than their ideology, and even medical professionals are seen as "lying" and "bigoted", and people with brain tumors are accused of "attacking the trans community". How is this not a cult??

Also, I wish the person who made the original post all the best :) I hope they find people who support them and help them heal

[melodylsimpson]

Melanin in YA

Imagine a space where you can easily find the next YA book written by a Black author to add to your TBR list. Best of all, amongst that book are an endless amount of other YA books waiting to be discovered by you, all written by Black authors. In that same space, you can find out if any of these authors have a book event near you or will be attending a festival / convention near you. In that same space, you can find out their NYT bestseller stats, book to screen adaptation details, a list of Black audiobook narrators to listen to, a detailed list of Black literary agents to query, Black bookish social media influencers to follow, Black led bookish podcasts to subscribe to, Black owned bookstores to visit and so much more. 

That space is Melanin in Y.A. A database for all things Black in traditional young adult publishing. It acts as a no excuses cross-referencing tool for industry professionals, press, readers, writers, students, educators, librarians, program administrators and more. It’s available to you 24/7 for free.

I, Melody Simpson, created Melanin in YA in August 2020 and have been running it entirely by myself from day one. I really want to hire an intern to help me out because maintaining and promoting this is a lot but I’m tapped out on funds and cannot afford an intern right now. Though I am in desperate need of one and would never ask anyone to do the amount of work that I need done without paying them. If you’d like to help in that regard, you can do so here (gofundme) and no donation is too small, thank you so much. If you’d like to help out in other ways, can you please do any of the following below to help amplify this invaluable resource? 

1) Follow and/or repost/retweet Melanin in YA content on Instagram or Twitter

2) Shop merch at Shop Melanin in YA

3) Send the melanininya.com link to your English teachers / professors, librarians, favorite booksellers, colleagues, fellow book club members, anyone you know who loves books, anyone you know who values diversity, equity and inclusion, and everyone you think could use this resource.

Full transparency, when Melanin in YA first launched, there was lots of excitement around it. But it’s been quite the struggle to get people to talk about this resource and share this resource outside of moments in time, say other than Black History Month or when something tragic doesn’t happen to Black people and makes it to mainstream news. I appreciate your support 365 days a year. Especially during a time when Black YA books are being banned more than ever before. This resource is so necessary. Your support is so necessary. It means so, so much. 

Thank you.

[bxcketbarnes]

Congratulations! 11k is AMAZING! Can I request summer camp au with Peter… or Link? 😊

I fucking love this fic oh my god. Thank you so much for requesting! Much love xox

Summer Camp

"You realize I'm too old to go to summer camp, right?" Link asks his parents with a glare, tossing the piece of paper towards them.

His mother releases a sigh and crosses her arms, looking to her husband for help. "Son, you're not going there as a camper. Are you that stupid?" His father asks him, not putting up with his bullshit.

Link scoffs and he shakes his head. "Rich coming from you," he snaps at him.

"Do you hear yourself right now?" His mother asks him, hearing her voice crack. "You're going to this camp to learn responsibility. Link, baby, this'll be good for you."

"Good for me. Ha, yeah. You're sending me to the middle of nowhere to look after some brats that I don't know," he mentions while furrowing his eyebrows.

His mother and father glance at one another before she walks away. Link rolls his eyes at her behavior and he crosses his arms over his chest. 

"Why are you like this? Where did we go wrong with you?" His father asks him. Link doesn't answer him and the father releases a deep sigh. "Be ready by seven am. You'll be gone for two months."

He follows his wife upstairs, leaving the dirty blonde by himself in the living room. Link runs his hands over his face before pushing himself off the couch.

"Stupid fucking summer camp," he mumbles to himself while heading to his bedroom. "Yes, because sending me to a place I don't want to go is going to make me better. Fucking stupid."

Link plops himself on his bed, resting his hands underneath his head while looking up at the ceiling. God, this summer's gonna suck.

You zip up your suitcase and place it by your bedroom door, having it ready for tomorrow morning. This year will be your third year counseling at Crescent Lake Summer Camp and you're pretty excited.

One of the head counselors called you earlier in the day to inform you that a new counselor will be joining this year's team.

You couldn't wait to see everyone again. You also wonder who the new person is going to be. Whether it's a guy or a girl. If they're attractive, nice. You release a deep breath and shake your head.

"No relationships, remember," you mumble to yourself. Your mother yells your name as you exit your room and you quickly make your way downstairs.

Your father sits at the kitchen table as your mother places the various pots and pans in the middle of the surface.

"Smells great, ma," you mention while sitting in your seat.

"Thank you, honey. At least someone appreciates my cooking," she jokes and glances toward her husband. "Are you all packed and ready?"

You nod your head in response as your father tosses the newspaper onto the counter. "Are you excited?" He asks you while scooping some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see everyone again," you exclaim with a smile, waiting for your parents to get food first. "Kathleen called me earlier and said there's going to be a new counselor."

"That's good. You guys were short-staffed last year, weren't you?" Your mother asks before placing a fork full of potatoes into her mouth.

You plate your dinner and nod your head. "It was horrible last year. Derek and Giana ended up skipping out, leaving us shorthanded," you clarify with an eye roll. "So, I'm hoping this year they'll be there and the new person. We'll be decently staffed this year."

"Well, that's good, honey. I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back."

-

You drive under the Crescent Lake Summer Camp sign, seeing the main cabin in the distance. A smile graces your lips as you pull into a parking spot. You turn the vehicle off before getting out of the car.

The heat smacks you in the face and you can't wait to take a dip in the lake. A car pulls in behind you and you glance over your shoulder to see a dirty blonde guy. He must be the new counselor. You think to yourself as you grab your suitcase.

You make your way towards the group of counselors when you notice the blonde hasn't left his car yet. "Y/N!" A familiar voice calls out to you and you whip your head around to see Leia running toward you.

She crashes into you, almost taking you out as chuckles leave both of your lips. "I missed you too, Leia," you laugh while hugging her.

"I'm so glad you're here. Derek and Gina ended up getting together and I feel like a third wheel," she groans while pulling away.

"God, did they really?" You scrunch your nose as the two of you walk towards the others.

Leia links her arm with yours before stopping you from continuing further. "There's also something I need to tell you," she says grimly, causing your eyebrows to furrow. "Jack's back this year."

Your heart drops into your stomach and you swallow thickly. "W-What? They let him come back?" You ask quietly, and Leia nods her head in reply. "Great."

"I'm sorry. Kathleen should've told you," she frowns.

"It was two years ago. I'm over it," you lie to her and yourself, shrugging your shoulders.

Link sits in his car, wishing he could just turn around and leave. The threat his father gave him before he left the house replays in his head. He looks out his driver's side window, seeing you hugging another woman.

Well, the girls are hot. He thinks to himself as his brown eyes roam down your body. He releases a deep sigh before turning his vehicle off. He steps out of the vehicle and grabs his bag from the backseat, sliding the strap onto his shoulder.

He joins the rest of the camp counselors and an older blonde woman smiles at him. "You must be Link, right?" She asks while stepping toward him.

"Yeah," he replies bluntly and shakes her hand a couple of times.

"Nice to meet you, Link. I'm so glad you could join us this year," she says with a grin. "I'm Kathleen, one of the head counselors here at Crescent Lake. Guys, you wanna introduce yourselves?"

Derek gives his usual two-finger wave. "Hey, I'm Derek. It's nice to finally have guy counselors here again," he introduces himself before draping an arm around the girl next to him.

"I'm Gina," the brunette next to Derek introduces herself.

Link's eyes move to the next person. "I'm Jack. Nice to meet you, bro," the black-haired man says and holds his hand out for Link to shake.

"Don't call me bro," Link states while ignoring the handshake, moving his gaze to the girl you were hugging earlier.

You're shocked at how Link spoke to Jack and you have to hold back a laugh. "I'm Leia," your friend introduces herself to the dirty blonde.

His eyes finally land on you and your breath hitches in your throat. Holy shit he's beautiful. You think to yourself before realizing you haven't spoken yet. "S-Sorry, hi, I'm Y/N," you smile softly at him.

A smirk comes to his lips and he lifts his hand to wave. "Hey," he mutters before diverting his gaze back to Kathleen. "So, how does this work exactly?"

"Well, tonight won't be too difficult. It's more of a chill kind of day before the kids come in the morning," Kathleen begins to explain while motioning for you all to follow her.

You cross your arms across your chest and follow the rest of the group. Leia glances back at you and makes sure you're doing okay before looking forward.

Jack slows down to walk beside you and you wish you could disappear. You didn't want anything to do with him after what happened two summers ago.

"You look great," he compliments you before nudging your arm. You take a step away from him, not saying anything. "Oh come on. Talk to me."

You let out a scoff, shaking your head. "Leave me alone, Jack," you mutter and walk away from him.

Link glances down at the feeling of something brushing his arm, seeing you walking beside him. His gaze moves from you to the man walking behind him, noticing the scowl on his features.

"You two have a history?" He asks you quietly, and you lift your head.

You hum at first while rubbing your arms, taking a quick glance over your shoulder. "Uh, yeah," you mumble before clearing your throat. "It's not something I like to talk about."

The dirty blonde raises his hands with a small smile on his lips. "Then I won't ask any more questions," Link tries to cheer you up. A smile comes to your lips as you tear your gaze away from him. "Although, if it makes you feel better. He totally hates the idea of me standing next to you."

"No way," you whisper and look back up at him. Link nods his head, motioning his head towards the brooding man behind you. You discreetly look back at Jack, noticing the angry look in his eyes. "He's ridiculous. He doesn't even deserve to be back here."

"How come they let him back?" Link questions with narrowed eyes, his gaze settling on Kathleen.

You shrug your shoulders. "I don't know. All I know is that I intend to stay far away from him as possible," you mention.

-

Night falls at Crescent Lake Summer Camp and most of the cabin lights were out, indicating that whoever's staying in there is in bed or already asleep.

You tie the straps of your bikini top, securing it around your neck before grabbing the towel from your suitcase. You quietly make your way out of your small cabin and you slowly close the wooden door behind you.

You pull your phone out of your pocket and turn the flashlight on. You make your way towards the lake and notice a text from your mother. You read the text over and chuckle at the message, deciding to text her back in the morning. That is if you remember.

The full moon shines against the water, and the splashing of the small waves fills your ears. A smile graces your lips and you slip your shoes off before stepping onto the sand.

"Peaceful," you sigh while walking closer to the water.

You're thankful that the water isn't cold as it splashes over both of your feet. You unbutton your shorts before tugging them down your legs. You place the towel far away enough so it doesn't get wet and you toss your shorts onto it.

You walk further into the lake, the water stopping at your waist. Just as you're about to dive in, you hear a twig breaking behind you. You jump and twist your body around, looking for another person or an animal.

"H-Hello?" You call out into the darkness, pressing your forearms against your chest. You swallow thickly as another twig snaps. "Leia?"

You start to grow paranoid as you walk closer to the shore, checking the space in front of you over and over.

"Jack? Link?" You call out a couple of more names, even though you hope it's not Jack.

"Y/N?" Link's voice emerges from the darkness and you let out a breath of relief.

You place a hand over your heart as the dirty blonde steps out from the treeline. You run your fingers through your hair before tucking some hair behind your ear. "Link," you repeat his name as he now stands in front of you. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he laughs while shoving his hands in his pockets. "I couldn't sleep."

You hum and nod your head, having a similar situation. "Yeah, I couldn't either. I normally can't. I get too excited," you giggle. "Plus, I usually go night swimming on the first and last night every summer."

"Is that safe?" Link asks you with a raised brow.

"Most of the time, yes. There aren't any houses in the vicinity. I normally just have to look out for wild animals," you explain while making your way back into the water. "Do you want to join me?"

Link doesn't say anything as he starts to pull his shirt over his head. "Don't gotta ask me twice," he smirks while he unfastens his jeans.

You make it out to the deeper part of the lake, the water stopping at your chest as you watch him walk closer to you. "The water's nice, isn't it?" You ask as Link stands about a foot away from you.

"It is. Much warmer than I expected, actually," he mentions while gliding his hands through the water. "So, you called out Jack's name before mine. Were you expecting him?"

"No, no. I just- I didn't know if he'd continue to try to talk to me," you shrug your shoulders.

Link hums and takes a couple of steps closer to you. "Y/N, I'm not going to lie to you," he starts and you furrow your brows. "I saw Jack making his way out here during my walk."

Your blood runs cold and your breath hitches in your throat. "God, i-if I knew he was going to be here. I wouldn't have come," you sigh and look up at the sky.

Stars litter the night sky and the moon shines brightly. You can feel tears pool in your eyes as memories of two years ago start to resurface.

"Hey," he softly mumbles, feeling bad for you, as he grabs hold of your chin. Your eyes meet his and Link's thumb strokes your cheek. "I'll help you keep him away."

"You will?" You whisper with wide eyes, not expecting him to help you.

He smiles at you and he nods his head. "Of course. You seem really sweet and, even though I don't know what you went through with this guy, you don't deserve it."

Your eyes roam his beautiful face and you have the desire to kiss him. You swallow the lump in your throat as the space between you and him starts to dissipate.

Butterflies swarm your stomach when Link's nose brushes against yours. His hands move to your waist, fingertips digging into your skin as he pulls you closer.

"L-Link," you stutter out and you press your hands against his chest. "I can't…"

You put some space between the two of you and cross your arms over your chest. "Sorry," he mumbles.

You shake your head and release a deep sigh. "It's not you. You're- you're really cute and I would love to kiss you, but I promised myself I wouldn't get a boyfriend here again," you vaguely explain to him.

The dirty blonde connects the dots and his shoulders slump a smidge. "Jack?"

"Yeah. Two summers ago we got close and he ended up asking me out a few weeks before camp ended," you sigh. "And then a couple of nights before we left… he- I overheard him talking with a couple of ex-counselors. Apparently, asking me out was part of a bet."

"Wow, what is he twelve years old?" Link asks while rolling his eyes. "That's fucking childish."

"It is childish, but I truly liked him. So, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn't get a boyfriend here."

-

Jack helps the kids off of the bus as Link glares at him from the porch of the main cabin. Sure, he can be an asshole to women sometimes but making bets on women is something he's never thought about doing.

"Y/N!" One of the kids yells to you as soon as you step out of the building. Link's gaze moves from Jack to the little girl who's running in his direction.

You release a gasp and crouch. "Hi, honey!" You greet with a big smile as the little brunette crashes into your arms. "How was your school year?"

"It was good! I made a ton of friends," she boasts to you with a significant smile. Cute. Link thinks to himself as his eyes move to you.

You're fixing her pigtails when you feel a pair of eyes on you. You glance to your left to see Link standing at the end of the porch, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Bella, do you wanna meet our new counselor?" You ask her and she nods her head. You stand up and she grabs a hold of your hand. The two of you walk towards the dirty blonde and you notice his eyes widen slightly. "Honey, this is Link."

"That's your name?" She asks and Link nods his head, plastering a fake smile on his lips. "I think that's such a cool name."

You chuckle and rest your hand on top of her head. "It is a cool name, isn't it?" You agree with her.

"Thank you," he chuckles and runs a hand through his hair.

"How about you go join the rest of the kids, okay?" You smile down at her.

Bella nods her head before she runs off, grouping back up with the rest of the summer campers. You release a deep breath and you turn towards Link.

"She's cute," he says. "I'm not really a big fan of kids, but she's cool."

You giggle before tilting your head. "You don't like kids, but you signed up to be a counselor at a kid's summer camp?" You ask him with a confused look.

Link sighs and leans against the railing in front of him. "I didn't sign up. My parents made me come," he tells the truth, his eyes looking out at the large group. "They decided that I needed to learn responsibility and forced me to come here."

A frown comes to your lips at Link's story. "Oh, that's horrible. I'm sorry about that," you apologize to him and rest one of your hands on his arm. "Just- don't take your anger out on these kids. Some of them can be assholes, but the majority of them are sweethearts."

"I won't," he promises you. Silence fills the space between the two of you for a few moments before he speaks up. "There's one thing that's definitely made this whole punishment better."

"Yeah? That's great, Link. What is it?" You ask him with a smile, your fingers gliding down his arm.

"You."

Your lips part in surprise at his answer and your cheeks blush. "O-Oh, me?" You stutter out and smile.

He chuckles and he nods his head. "Yeah, you," Link confirms and brings one of his hands to your face, stroking your cheek.

"You're gonna be the death of me this summer," you chuckle while leaning into his touch.

-

Taglist: @jeanettexkillian @undf-stuff @softyutae @theonlymaddie @queenofshinigamis @stewielover95 @foreverrogers @writing-for-marvel @softtdaisy @xoxoloverb @onlyfreds @corneliastreetinstyle @avenjames-anderson @marvelouswinchester @0-0-sunflower-0-0 @sincericida @leleea @jessalyn-jpeg @paw-sneeze @apeainapot @reddesert-healourblues @thewxntersoldier

[millenniumfae]

Alastor's Whitewashing And Appropriation (Hazbin Hotel Discourse)

Now that Hazbin Hotel is entering mainstream consciousness, it's a good opportunity to bring attention towards some issues that need addressing.

Indie queer productions have an unfortunate trend of propagating racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc. That's nothing new, and we all have to come to terms with it. A good way to do that? Just get the conversation going. Put the word out there that, 'hey, I have sincere complaints about ___.'

Alastor is, without a doubt, one of the most popular characters of the main cast. We can celebrate the victory of Alastor being a beloved canonical aroace character, while also criticizing his flaws.

Mainly - his race, his cultural appropriation, and his strong link towards racialized violence.

(1) Alastor is canonically mixed race Creole. His skin is medium-toned, but fanartists are sometimes drawing him as light-toned.

Although we don't know his full ethnic makeup, Alastor is canonically portrayed with a darker skintone than some fanartists choose to depict him as, whether in his current demon form, or a fanon-popularized mortal form.

'Creole' isn't a race, it's an ethnicity, and Creole people can have any array of complexions. But that doesn't excuse the trend of literally bleaching his canonical skin hue.

As many people have pointed out, it'd make a lot of sense if Alastor was specifically mixed black, thanks to his association with voodoo, and also according to Depression-era racial census of New Orleans. We know that mixed race black people can look like Pete Wentz, Vin Diesel, and Wentworth Miller. Him being relatively pale, with a pointy nose and straight hair, it wouldn't contradict a black identity.

In the show proper, there's been a wild array of lighting effects, and they also put a shallow gradient burn over the bottom half of the screen at most times, which can complicate accurate skintone shade picking. But you can clearly see that Alastor is darker than many other characters, and is more similar to characters voiced by people of color - Niffty, Vaggie, Carmilla. In fact, his skincolor value is on par with Vaggie's, just with more saturation, giving it the illusion that it's brighter.

(2) Haitian Voudo/Louisiana Voodoo is a closed and heavily marginalized practice. Cannibalism and violence have been long-standing smear campaigns made against it.

A 'closed practice' means that you need to be initiated into it, not just choose to practice it. New Orleans Voodoo has been couched in political prosecution since its inception, and continues to be marginalized. According to the historian Carolyn Morrow Long, "Voodoo, as an organized religion, had been thoroughly suppressed by the legal system, public opinion, and Christianity." Because of its association with free black people (and the country of Haiti), you can imagine the hate crimes it's faced for decades.

Some of its most infamous fearmongering included reports of human sacrifices, cannibalism, and animalistic orgies. "{...} the Westerns’ view on Vodou was proof that the “black republic ‘’ cannot claim to be civilized."

So of course, a mixed-race cannibalistic serial killer using 'evil' magic couched in floating vevè symbols can leave a bad taste in the mouth. Just because the symbols are accurate ones doesn't mean the misappropriation isn't there.

It has never been blatantly stated that Alastor is a Voodoo practitioner, or has any real history in Louisiana Voodoo, aside from in the pilot where Charlie briefly says the word 'voodoo' in reference to Alastor's magic. But the inclusion of actual vevè symbols is a solid enough connection. And it's an unfortunate one.

Compare with Disney's Princess And The Frog, where the directors made an effort to include Mama Odie as a more accurate depiction of a manbo, while the antagonist Dr. Facilier is hinted as not being able to practice real voodoo at all. There are more delicate and considerate ways to approach Alastor's association with Hollywood 'voodoo', and hopefully, we will get to see them as the show goes on.

(3) Wendigos are specifically from Algonquin folklore. Many pop culture interpretations of Wendigos are inappropriately abstracted from its cultural context.

Canonically, Alastor's demon form resembles a deer because he was mistaken for a deer by a hunter, and shot square in the forehead. We've seen him let out elk bugle sounds, and also his antlers growing in conjunction with his power. When he puts his game face on, his entire body gets spindly, his teeth grow sharper and longer, his hands turn into huge claws, and he sometimes eats his victims alive.

This, of course, is making some viewers ring comparisons to 'wendios', thanks to Alastor's large appetite and preference for human flesh.

Similar to his 'voodoo' connection, the show has never gone on record to say Alastor is supposed to be a Wendigo, or that his history and appearance was meant to invoke a Wendigo. The connection here is a bit weaker than his Hollywood voodoo, and it's mostly an audience reaction that I find questionable.

For those who don't know, a Wendigo is specifically from Algonquian folklore. a malevolent spirit who eats people and is never sated. English-speaking audiences owe their awareness of Wendigos to Stephen King, The X-Files, Supernatural, Until Dawn, and more. Very few of these depictions were respectful towards indigenous culture. Most of the time, 'wendigos' have been almost entirely divorced from its indigenous American contexts.

It's a classic example of appropriation. They take some cultural facet from a marginalized people, do minimal research, and depict it with little owe towards its creators. That's insulting no matter who you are. It's a form of violence when the culture is a persecuted one.

A character can be a skinny deer demon that eats people without trying to cash in on the whole 'wendigo' thing. This might be what Alastor is supposed to be, but the audience is using the word 'wendigo' inappropriately.

So. In one single character, we've got the whitewashing, the Voodoo and Wendigo appropriation, the anti-Blackness, and an overall racism.

It's no surprise that Alastor remains one of the most divisive characters of the show.

This would be like, if Niffty (voiced by Japanese-American Kimiko Glenn) kept being drawn as a pale woman with bulbous blue eyes, had weird radioactive atomic powers thanks to her method of death back in the '40's, and was obsessed with spearing people through their stomach with long blades. It's not super great.

So far, Hazbin Hotel's canon material has avoided many of the overtly bigoted humor and hijinks so common in adult TV, and that's something of a victory. But what's not problematic doesn't cancel out what is.

The more a reasonable criticism is circulated amongst its audience, the more driven the creative team is to pay attention.

[crimeronan]

i think the wildest cognitive dissonance i've had re: the realization that the average (?) tumblr user Truly Does Not Look At The News was when like. people started bitching and moaning that "everyone" was focusing on crimew being a trans catgirl anarchist without actually looking at the importance of her work in leaking the no-fly list.

when earlier that day i had clicked on a top CNN headline reading something like "hacktivist leaks US no-fly list, exposes racial discrimination, islamophobia, bans on two-year-old children"

(i don't remember the exact wording. i know it was About The Important Shit.)

and then i'd logged onto tumblr. and only THEN found out that the hacktivist was a trans catgirl anarchist. CNN's early reporting did not give A Fuck about that At All, because THERE WAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THE NO-FLY LIST.

so imagine my surprise scrolling thru tumblr's meme coverage like

me: oh shit the no-fly list leaker who exposed all that heinous shit is a trans catgirl? good for her that's delightful :)

a sizeable portion of tumblr's population, for some fucking reason: nobody would come to my house and click on article links for me so now i'm mad that my memes don't double as exhaustively researched current event bulletins :( HOW DARE THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA SILENCE US >:(

[reidslovely]

How to Disappear: Life Unknown.

A/N: If you are reading this I finally decided to let this fic see the light of day. I wasn’t sure if this is something I wanted to post or not, seeing as Link is a very complex character. By that I mean he’s literally a walking piece of shit. But at the same time I’m constantly telling myself that it is normal to write fix it fics for awful characters, but like the whole Isabelle situation is very hard to write about. I wanted to see an ending for Link/Alex where he gets the help he deserves. He is severely mentally ill. But I also wanted to touch on Link’s past, and how this went on for as long as it did.I also selfishly wanted to see him have a love story and have human emotions sooo..

Please reblog and comment, pretty please.

Genre: Fix it Fic 

Pairing: Link/Alex Goodrich x Fem! Reader/OC-ish

Content Warnings: Mentions of suicide, person talking about struggles of being on the ASPD spectrum, talks of psychiatric hospital stays, bodily harm, neglect of child’s mental health.

Alexander Goodrich

It glared back at him in dull blue ink.

It was an unfamiliar moniker scrawled at the top of the sign out sheet. The longer he stared the more alien it felt to him. Alex was a kid who burnt down a school, Alexander was the beloved son to a local politician who had to put on a good face for mommy and daddy.

Parents who deny their kid mental health assistance, create monsters. The Goodrich’s today would deny that the hot mess YouTuber, donning the name ‘No One Special’ or more simply Link, was not their estranged son. That their dear son, Alex, had run off two months into a psychiatric stay that never happened; never to be seen again. When in all reality he was shipped off to a boarding school he had run away from only days later. Since that day he was constantly ghosting about, avoiding the issues he had caused by running away. No amount of running could stop the issues he had for so long. He was not- is not a good person. But before facing that knowledge he knew he could always run away, try again- and if that didn’t work; he’d run away again.

Till he couldn’t run anymore.

Everywhere he ran cameras, girls, articles talking about no one special followed him. He had fucked up, worse than he had in a long time. A girl died because of him, because he let power get to his head. Not because of Frankie, Jake, or the internet.

Because of him. He was the reason a girl was dead.

“Alex.” A nurse's voice rang out through the white, cold halls of the hospital.

Evansport Long-Term Psychiatric Care Facility in LA was a cold place, even with its blue and yellow painted walls. This had been home for the last two years, and this time it was different. He swiped at his nose standing up nervously, shoving his sweaty hands into his pockets as he approached the older woman. Counting the tiles as he walked, this was it- he was finally getting to leave. He was ready, he was different- he hoped.

“Mr. Goodrich, can’t say I’m not sad to see you go.” Dorothy says, passing the bag of his belongings off to him. Alex nodded, giving her a grateful smile; he tucked the clear bag under his arm hugging the older woman. This was something he had been working on since his diagnosis. Alex had always known there was something going on with him, something much bigger than himself- that made him act how he did. It’s not that he didn’t want to be good, he did. Alex always wanted to be good, no matter what the child psychologists would say. He just didn’t know what exactly being good meant, he had always had these…urges. Whether it was to knock his peers off the swingset, beat that kid from gym classes head in if he stared for too long. Alex had no impulse control, he struggled to relate to his peers. But, mom and dad said he’d grow out of it; he never did. He tried, god he tried but he could never find a good way to help himself.

He was not a good person. But he was trying.

“Thank you Dottie.” Alex said, dropping his arms, patting his bag. “Do you think there will be people out there?” He asked after a minute, his head nodding towards the door. His voice flattered for a second, there were still people curious about him and it made him sick. Before it would have thrilled him, but now..he didn’t even want to see one camera in his face. The flash alone would send him into a spiral he feared.

“No, no they never guess dismissal right from those silly sources. Besides, you look a little different now huh? Wouldn’t notice you unless they stared at ya to hard.”

He did. Link, now Alex, had changed since his check in date. His blonde hair had grown out past his shoulders into his natural brown at one point. Dorothy took it upon herself to cut it for him when he’d max out on reward points. He now dawned a bit more stubble, and perfect brown hair, with a hat and sunglasses no one would notice him- hopefully.

Alex checked everything one last time, before giving Dorothy a tight-lipped smile and turned on his heel heading for the door. It felt like a threat, a gun pointed to his head. He always thought what this day would be like, what he would do when he got out. Link, that’s who he was when he checked in, thought he would be here two months before he got sick of it. He would check out, cut his hair and run away again, but then the therapy, the medication- it all started to help.

Admitting there was a problem, admitting that he was the problem and that a young girl had died because of what he did. Alex realized he had to change, that it was finally time to help himself.

No more lies.

He gave Isbelle’s family the requested money in court before there was even an opening testament, only requesting to return back to the psychiatric facility with what he had left to pay for it. Now here he was about to throw up, as he crossed the threshold into his new life.

His face flushed at the sunlight, he silently shut the door and started walking up the long driveway towards the gate. He sniffled and cleared his throat, sitting on a bench he’d claim as his own on his daily walks, he wasn’t quite ready to take those last few steps out of the gate. Digging in the bag, he pulled everything out: a black button up and slacks he had worn to court, a hoodie, his wallet, his phone.

His phone, he tossed it between his hands- the weight felt sickening in his hand.

“If it hadn’t been for the phone- no the phone didn’t cause this.” He reminded himself, he turned it on. Not knowing why, or what he thought he was gonna get out of it. The biggest part of him hoped it wouldn’t turn on, in the two years it had been shut off that it just magically died.

The ping of it turning on made him irrationally angry, wanting to just shut it off. Floods of text messages washed over his screen. No twitter, no instagram- he had deleted them on their way back from court.

For a minute everything stopped, no more text messages- till a final ding.

Frankie - Today 8:06 am.

“twitter source says your stay ends today. we should talk.”

His brother must have been paying on his phone bill somehow, he never mentioned it in their phone conversations. His thumbs danced over the keyboard, typing and erasing a replay- what did he say? Three dots popped up, soon replaced by a message.

Frankie - Today 8:15 am.

“you know where to find me.”

He closed his phone, shoving it into the pocket of his sweatpants, finally standing and pushing the gate open.

-

The old magic bar was in the middle of town, it was a bit of a walk but it did him good. The sun felt nice, it was finally fall, which meant the wind blew through here and there. As he reached the now abandoned building he halted, looking around. What if this was some sort of ambush- and the minute he walked down that alley his face would be everywhere in the next couple hours. His heart-rate increased, it felt like it was stuck in his throat.

Alex’s feet carried him forward with hesitant, quiet steps. If someone was waiting for him they wouldn’t hear him coming.

“Frankie is good, too good. She wouldn’t do that. Even if that’s what you deserved.”

He thought to himself as he looked around. He shoved his hands into his sweatpants, picking at the lint twirling it around between his fingers. Footsteps carefully found their way up the steps, he turned his head automatically.

Frankie looked older now, more mature. Her hair was longer, tucked behind her ear showing her scar off proudly. He always liked when she was confident. Her clothes are no longer ill fitted, but tailored and comforting. She’s come into her own.

“Hope you’re not here to ambush me.” He says quietly, taking in the woman before him. Frankie shook her head, her fingers dancing on the metal railing.

“No, no. I should but-” She stopped herself, looking around. “I’ve gotten out of the habit of picking out others' to feel better about myself. You should try it.”

Alex laughed, well, he blew air out of his nostrils and let his lips curl up into a bitter smile. “Yeah, me too. Never made me feel better about myself.”

“Could have shocked me.”

It was a silence for a moment, it was an unpleasant memory sitting here with her like this. There was a unpleasant lingering in the air like a bomb was going to drop.

“Did you love me? Or even like me?”

There it was.

What a weighted question, he gripped the metal railing swaying back and forth on his feet. “No.” He admitted, looking Frankie in her eye. “I didn’t love you- I don’t love I haven’t since..well in a really long time. I think..” He stopped himself, thinking about his next few words carefully. “I was infatuated with you. I tricked myself into thinking I loved you. I hurt you and I’m sorry it had to happen for me to be here now.”

Frankie stared at Link, Alex- whoever this new man in front of her was. “So who was she? There’s always a ‘she’ in these situations isn’t there?”

Alex laughed, rolling a rock under the sole of his shoe. “Was she one of the girls who fooled around with while we-”

“No, no..no. She was a girl I had known a long time ago, in high school. I think she was the last person who had ever tried to understand me. She didn’t look at me like a project.”

Alex’s heart twisted into a knot thinking about the girl who had up and left him, their hometown, everything. It had been the catalyst- the incident that sent him over the edge. Where was she now?

It wasn’t a jab to Frankie, however the twitch of her nose let him know he had offended her. “Sorry, sorry I shouldn’t have said that” It was sincere, Frankie shrugged her shoulders.

“No it’s true. We just got caught up in each other, the game. We weren’t good people.”

“No we weren’t but, hey, I was worse. Clearly.”

Frankie laughed, then the silence grew again. His mind wondered before looking back at the blonde in front of him.

“You should find her again, when you leave LA.”

“How’d you know I’d leave?” He laughed, tilting his head back. “It’s what I do huh?”

“Kind of.” Frankie says resting her forearms on the railing. “But I’m serious. If you’re on this righteous road of washed up celebrity maybe you should find the one person who made you feel-”

“Like a human?”

“Your words not mine.” Frankie says, pointing a boney finger at him. Alex tilted his head forward and let out a sigh. It had been almost a decade since he had disappeared from his home state, was there any point in returning. He was dead to them, a ghost. Did (Y/N) think he was dead too?

“Yeah, yeah maybe I will.”

Frankie nodded at him, waiting for a minute before taking a step back. “You look good, Link. I am happy for you, but don't think I can forgive you though. Maybe in time.” The man nodded at her, he understood- he didn’t want her forgiveness he just wanted her to know.

“I respect that.” He started, pushing himself off the steel railing with his hands in his hoodie pocket. “It’s Alex now by the way.”

Frankie shoved her hands in her pockets looking at him, her eyes raked over his face trying to read him- it still wasn’t easy to manage. “Well, Alex, I hope to see you doing good in the future.”

“You won't see anything about me. I’m done gonna head back to Connecticut, disappear and become a hermit on the coast.”

“Well, maybe you could keep me updated.” She says as she walks away.

“Are you like my sponsor or something?” He laughs as he stands straight. Frankie shrugged, turning to face him stopping in her tracks.

“Maybe. Go find that girl..have a human experience. Leave everyone alone.”

Alex raised his eyebrows holding back a laugh, he wouldn’t know a human experience if it bit him in the ass. He watched her leave, the two raising their hands in an unspoken goodbye. Alex walked out of the alley and into the sun of Los Angeles, breathing in the toxins of the city one last time before heading towards the nearest city.

Come tomorrow, he would be gone again.

taglist: @helloheyhihowdyheya​ @tarzinnia​ @a-lumos-in-the-nox​ @sincericida​ @moonyslove78​ @messymissy​ @toomanyfictionalboyfriends​ @eevylynn​

[denimbex1986]

'...Social media has played into this Irish invasion, with users fangirling over actors like Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott, and Cillian Murphy. All of these men have been recognized for their work in critically acclaimed and/or popular films in 2023. Cillian Murphy is nominated for (and forecast to win) an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer.

...this new male-driven phenomenon likely stems from the convergence of the two online trends: an overwhelming fan appetite for male celebrities in the “internet boyfriend” era, and a growing interest in Irish culture. The result is a super-online (and horny) generation of Hibernophiles.

...the modern romanticization of Irish men doesn’t seem to be pegged to one film or moment in time, and a cursory Google search pulls up a slew of articles declaring the purported pros of dating Irish men. These lists are not necessarily based on hard facts as much as cultural assumptions, and many of them, including one by Popsugar, emphasize the Irish’s supposed charm, good looks, chattiness, and love for their mothers...

Presumably, there’s a link between the idyllic postcard image many Americans have of Ireland — lush green pastures, poetry, music, and a friendly population — and the view of Irish men as ideal romantic partners. It has certainly helped that Americans and consumers worldwide have been inundated with images of handsome Irish men in popular culture, from former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan to One Direction member Niall Horan to scruffy sex symbol Colin Farrell. While interviewing Cillian Murphy on his podcast Armchair Expert in 2022, host Dax Sheppard raved about the “inordinate amount of handsome men” he encountered on a trip to Ireland...

The 1845 Irish famine meant a huge influx of immigrants to the US, and the men quickly gained a reputation as “feckless, uncultured, and prone to drunkenness and violence,” Burke explained. “That stereotype has been argued to have persisted to some degree right up to the era of John F. Kennedy.” Kennedy’s election, she says, was thought to signal the full assimilation of the Irish in America. (A shift that, in turn, brought us notable Irish Americans like Alec Baldwin, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly.)

This shift in perception represents the “flexible racial status of Irishness,” as Diane Negra, film studies professor at the University College Dublin, writes in the book The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity and Pop Culture. She expands that this is due to a complex history and ethnic identity that allows them to “oscillate between otherness and whiteness.” Likewise, Burke says white Irish people fit into a category of “non-vanilla vanilla” in the Western imagination.

For the American viewer, “Irish actors arguably evoke a kind of safe ‘exoticness,’” she said. “Being native speakers of English with a purportedly cute accent, they are just ‘foreign’ enough for mainstream taste.”

That newfound perception of Irish men as harmless and gentle feels connected to a wider trend that they’ve shown up in on the internet: the “babygirl.” The moniker has become a go-to term of endearment for grown men in Hollywood who are physically attractive and display pleasant traits. According to Mashable, it describes “when a man is being cute, comfortable in his masculinity, or weak in an evocative way.” This act of infantilization can be applied to a wide range of men, but it’s hard not to notice actors like Mescal, Keoghan, Murphy, and Farrell being popular recipients of this treatment online...

The Andrew Haigh film All of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott and Mescal, was on the precipice of Oscars glory, with Scott campaigning but failing to make it to the final stage for Best Actor. For months throughout awards season, though, Mescal and Scott were making the internet swoon in joint interviews and red-carpet appearances, demonstrating that their onscreen chemistry carried over into real life. The same attention was paid to Keoghan, who became more of a talking point throughout awards season for his role in the polarizing Emerald Fennell film Saltburn — not to mention that nude dance scene — than a realistic Oscars contender.

Last but not least, there’s Cillian Murphy, whose role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer could very well win him an Oscar on March 10, after a near-sweep at the year’s major awards ceremonies. The standom and thirst for him on social media is particularly striking, given that he’s had a lengthy, mostly unsung career that hadn’t yielded huge starmaking moments before Oppenheimer, despite playing multiple side characters in Nolan’s filmography. Prior to playing the “father of the atomic bomb” last year, his most notable role as a leading man was as gangster Thomas Shelby in the BBC2 show Peaky Blinders, which ran for almost a decade and earned a strong Tumblr fan base.

Professor and author Christopher Shannon adds that the public’s affinity for Murphy is particularly fascinating, given that American audiences haven’t necessarily fallen in love with him through Irish cinema like previous Irish actors.

“What strikes me about someone like Murphy is that he has achieved his fame mostly in non-Irish roles,” he said. “Murphy is celebrated as an actor who happens to be Irish rather than as a distinctly Irish actor.”

Nevertheless, Murphy’s Irish identity seems to be part of his draw, based on how his online fan base interacts with him. Despite being rather reserved, the Batman Begins star has generated an entire mill of memes, many of them stemming from routinely unenthused interactions and a general “who gives a fuck?” attitude. In particular, it seems as though the internet enjoys the ways he firmly declares his Irishness.

One of his most viral moments is a clip of him repeatedly stating that he’s Irish after an interviewer refers to him and his Inception co-star Tom Hardy as British. Another popular image of Murphy shows the actor seemingly giving Prince Harry a dissenting glare as the cast lines up to meet him at the Dunkirk premiere. This could well just be Murphy’s natural expression (he’s not exactly known for looking cheery), but the internet interpreted Murphy’s look as proof of his disdain for the British monarchy...

Murphy has said that it’s a “good time to be an Irish actor” in Hollywood. At the same time, when asked how he felt about being the first Irish-born actor to win Best Actor at the BAFTAs last week, he seemed slightly exhausted by a sense of tokenism. “It means a lot to me to be Irish,” he answered a journalist. “I don’t know what else to say. Should I sing a rebel song?”

Of course, this quip only made the Murphy Hive fall in love with him more.'

[in-death-we-fall]

Aesthetics of Hate

This is the House of Nine. There is a horror that echoes through its walls. There is a horror that shifts and broods. A horror that coils itself into a moment of truth. This is our house. We have heard it sing.

It’s started again, hasn’t it? That’s why we’re back. That’s why we’ve… changed.

Back? Listen.

We never left.

Slipknot’s drug, alcohol and ego problems are history. No longer at war with each other, the only struggle now is finding a way to finish it.

Words: Ken McIntyre. Pics: Steve Brown.

Aka the one that aged like milk. Many thanks to @incredizort for sharing your collection. (docs link)

The are the village people of the damned, a psychedelic terror circus populated by depressed clowns, obsessive-compulsives, misanthropes, cyborgs, droogs, ghouls, and goblins. Their sound is a barrage of noise and confusion, a bundle of hiss and the dynamiting of mountains. They look like escaped mental patients on Halloween, and their demeanor vacillates between grandiose and openly hostile. They are Slipknot, and they are legion.

Since 1995, these nine creatures of latex and bone from the fertile plains of Des Moines, Iowa, have lorded over their dysfunctional kingdom of maggots and problem children with shaky hands that have often succumbed to their own wretched excesses. As the band went from strength to strength, from the runaway freight train of their 1999 self-titled debut album to the embittered, embattled success of 2001’s Iowa and their surprisingly tuneful comeback, 2004’s Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Slipknot scaled unheard-of heights for an extreme metal band, snapping up Gold and Platinum albums, winning Grammy awards, infiltrating the mainstream like sinister double agents.

But none of it came easy, and lurking behind the mask was a band at war with itself; a band riddled with drug, alcohol, and ego problems. In 2005, the levy finally broke, and Sipknot took a much-needed break, the various members healing, mending fences, and exploring other creative avenues. Singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root returned to Stone Sour, drummer Joey Jordison played with a myriad of bands, from Korn to Metallica, and drummer and visual artist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan produced the revealing ‘Knot-doc Voliminal: Inside The Nine, among other projects.

But they could not avoid their fates forever, and so Slipknot return with a roaring new album, All Hope Is Gone, which pits a burgeoning retro-thrash metal obsession and their recent flirtations with melody against their original vision of pure, bloodlusting aggression and brutality. And with this latest dispatch from the abyss comes the expected media saturation, as well as an endless arc of tours and festivals and television performances. It is during the brief calm before the storm that Metal Hammer catches up with Slipknot, rehearsing their new set at Wells fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines.

Slipknot (left to right): Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, Chris Fehn, Craig Jones, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Mick Thomson, James Root, Sid Wilson Corey Taylor

They say it’s what’s inside you that counts.

That’s what scares me.

It’s in all of us

It’s what binds us that makes us clash. It will happen again.

We’re twisted pieces of the same puzzle. Nine faces that speak with one voice.

The voice of madness…?

Is it normal to be practising in an arena? Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan (percussion): “It’s not normal, but it’s not surprising at the level we’re at. It was my idea to do this, to practise in the small room and get it tight, and then to come out here and get the feeling of the arena again. Otherwise, you’re practising in people’s houses, and we’re nine brothers. Imagine nine brothers with nine families and everybody running with different crews, and all having different morals and standards and spiritualities. Imagine that fuckin’ insanity. So this makes sense.”

Des Moines had a series of floods recently. Did they affect the band at all? Corey Taylor (vocals): “Not really. I spent a couple days running around saving my friends. Everybody I knew with the exception of just a couple people lived on the flood plain, so I was just going out and helping people get the fuck out of there. I had a house full of people for a week.”

For years now, there have been allegations that you guys all hate each other. Is the band still dysfunctional? Joey Jordison (drums): “Yeah, we are dysfunctional. But I mean, we all grew up together. Me and Mick [Thompson (sic), guitar] are like, best friends, and I used to detest that guy. We fuckin’ hated each other, man. And Shawn, me and him are probably the closest brothers in the whole band, but we probably get along the least because we love each other so much, and we control a lot of what goes on in Slipknot. We’re constantly butting heads. I remember right before Ozzfest, you could just cut the tension between me and him with a knife, it was so thick, and one day I left practice (sic) all pissed off, and I was saying, ‘Fuck off, I think I’m quitting.’ There we were, we just got the ticket, we were on our way to making it. That’s how fuckin’ stressed out we were. And literally – he’s a lot bigger than I am – Shawn flipped his kit over, came over to my drumset, ripped my stuff down and held me by the fuckin’ throat, and I grabbed his throat and went to punch him, and then the whole band dogpiled us. We’ve had lots of fights like that, real fistfights. But even though we still get into fights, we don’t let them last that long anymore. The band is just so intense. I mean, we’ve got nine extreme personalities here.”

That reminds me, on a scale on (sic) one to 10, how nuts is your DJ, Sid? He just told me that he’s a cyborg, and I think he really means it. Joey: “One to 10? Like, 13. Yeah, he’s crazy. You take 72 hits of acid in one weekend, it’s gonna fry your brain up a little bit.”

How do you guys balance all the side-projects with Slipknot? Joey: “It’s fuckin’ simple. Slipknot comes first.”

So it didn’t take any convincing to get everybody back to do a new album? Joey: “Well, it usually happens when the other bands sorta run their course. Certain people in the band decide not to do anything, they just chill out until the next Slipknot record. Me, I do a lot of work with other bands, but Slipknot’s my priority, and I’m glad to be back playing with these guys. The first day when we started rehearsal, usually people are laidback (sic), it was like headbang city man, and we were like, ‘Let’s just get out metal necks, let’s get that shit out of the way.’ It feels great, man. I’m happy.” Corey: “ I was completely stoked to do it. I’d actually started thinking of it and preparing for it on the Stone Sour tour. I just started filling notebooks with ideas. It got to the point where I had two notebooks full of stuff, and I was just ready to go. So as soon as the music was written and the demos started floating around, I was just like, ‘OK, this fits here and this fits here.’ I wasn’t rushing around to write lyrics, which a lot of guys do. I was very prepared and not only was I saying everything I wanted to say, but I was doing it in a way I was ecstatic about. I knew I wanted to go heavier, and I knew at the same time that I wanted to balance that with this melodic side that we had really tapped into. And the proof is there. I think this album is the best thing we’ve ever done, to be honest. I think it really shows the growth of the band and the maturity. But it’s still chaotic and heavy, but it’s still got those moments where you just go, ‘Holy fucking shit!’ Not only is it good, but the more you listen to it, the more you find. There’s a lot of layers, and that’s something that gets lost on a lot of people. There’s just so much thought and so much meaning behind everything we do. It’s not just shock for shock’s sake.”

What’s the theme for All Hope Is Lost (sic)? Umm, hopelessness by any chance? Corey: “It’s not a blatantly political or social album, and it’s not a blatantly angry album. I think the overwhelming theme, for me, is that none of us are the same, but none of us are different. We may change as people, but if we use the same energy to try and solve different problems, nothing is going to get accomplished. And that’s something that I think is lost on a lot of people.”

What was it like having Dave Fortman as a producer for this one? Joey: “Dave was great. It’s not like when we were recording with Rick Rubin – he was like an oracle. He would make these little tweaks from his house. He’d sit in this little library in his house, he’d sit there cross-legged with these prayer beads and he’d get a vibe, and he’d tell the engineer what to do. That was a weird way to record. But Dave, he was there every hour, every day. When we write songs, we tend to write really long like, [Metallica’s] …And Justice For All- type songs, nine or 10 minutes long. So we’d record the song like that, and Dave would help us chop it down. The thing with Dave is, that guy knows his tones. I finally got the best drum sound in my life. The guitar sound, the bass, the percussion… finally, we’ve got the Slipknot sound I’ve been wanting to hear my whole life.”

You’ve got new masks and new outfits, do you feel constrained at all by them? Corey: “No. We don’t only have these, but we have actual outfits that we put together ourselves. They’re still cohesive, but they’re a little more individualistic. We had started doing that on the last album. It’s part of our evolution. If you’re not evolving, you’re dying. No matter what the fucking fans on the websites say, nobody wants to see the same fucking shit over and over again. This time around, we felt it was very important that we are represented as individuals and not just as a band, as pieces of a puzzle. The new mask and outfits range from outrageous to very subtle. It’s a reflection of who we are. But we also kept the boiler suits, because we like to appear as a unit.”

You guys got saddled with the ‘nu metal’ tag early on. Obviously at this point you’ve overcome it… Corey: “There were a couple of bands that were good and that had a really good attitude. Snot comes to mind. That was an amazing band; I loved Snot. (hed)P.E. – their first couple of albums were amazing, because they had so much attitude, and it was so different. But then you had bands like Limp Wristed and all that crap, where it just got so watered down; the P.O.D.s, fuckin’ bands like that, where there was zero talent going on. It was frustrating being caught up in that, but at the same time, people don’t want to think outside of what they already know. They want their opinions forcefed (sic) to them. So if a magazine comes out and says we’re nu metal, than (sic) that’s what they’re going to say. It took us a long time to change people’s minds. We’re just a metal band. The people that wanted to write us off as a nu metal band weren’t our fans, they just didn’t know what to call us. We just got stronger and stronger and more willing to experiment and so they just didn’t know what we were. In that respect, we sort of created our own genre, and there’s a lot of bands that kinda take cues from us now. It’s kinda weird.”

Slipknot broke the ceiling for extreme metal bands making it in the mainstream. Did it shock you when it was happening? Corey: “At the time we didn’t even think about it, we were just real busy working. We were literally on the road for 18 months and saw home for maybe three weeks in that entire time. We were gone forever. But we knew that was going to happen, so we just put our heads down and did what we had to do, because we just refused to lose. So once we got that done we had time to take a breath. We were getting ready to start on the Iowa tour, and we just turned around and were like, ‘Woah! Look what we did. We’re fucking huge!’ We were playing this place that’s not even there anymore, it was called the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. It was set up like a mini-arena and it was just fucking gagged, fucking jammed with people. I remember walking out on stage and thinking, ‘Are we opening up for somebody? Where did all these fucking people come from?’ They knew every word, they knew everything, I remember coming off stage and just having this amazing smile on my face. I was like, ‘Something’s different. We’re not an opening band anymore.’ And I don’t think we’d ever be again, unless we were opening for somebody like Metallica. It was insane, it was probably the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life.” Joey: “It didn’t happen overnight, because we had to work so hard for it but… it happened overnight. We went on Ozzfest, and three weeks into it we’d sold 150,000 records. Every time we played, everybody – every fucking band, Black Sabbath included – was out there watching us. And we’re out for blood, we fucking hate everybody, just ‘Fuck you!’ That’s always been the Slipknot mentality. We love a lot of other bands, we love a lot of different music, but when it comes to us playing, we just don’t care. It’s your ass. People think it’s arrogant, and it is. We believe in our craft. We believe in Slipknot.”

The voice of the madness perhaps

It’s the nature of madness – it’s always searching for a brave face.

Always changing…

…always the same

It seeks its own martyrdom…

…and to be reborn

Yeah, very fucking profound. Don’t get mad, get eaten.

You want to give food for thought?

It’s just for the food for the maggots.

Th-that’s all, folks.

Is it tough accepting the fact that you have to wear a mask for the next year? Joey: “No, not at all. I’m ecstatic to be back and playing with the guys again. It’s home, man. We take breaks because Slipknot is not just music, it’s a force, it’s a lifestyle. It’s also like being in jail. You’re constricted. You have to be on your game every night to be in this band. The stuff is not easy to play anyway, but we’ve got the whole stage performance, playing in masks, it’s what every band goes through, but with nine guys it’s very intense. I mean, look at this – all nine guys are still together. All nine original guys are still here. What other band can say that?”

So, has anybody ever tried to get out? Joey: “No, no one ever has. That’s why at the end of a 15-month tour cycle, we’re just like, let’s take a break, work on some other projects, just relieve a little stress. But when we come back to Slipknot, it’s on, man. There’s no fucking around.”

So what can we expect from this next tour? Clown: “For one thing, we’re musical, man. I play the fucking drums, so get used to it. I’ve earned the right, I’ve done the time, I’ve been on the mountain with the kung fu masters, learning. If you can’t accept that, go play with the kids’ toys. I’ve worked really hard on my art for this one. I got my boy-scout medals and I’m in the deep woods with no tools, no tent, no nothing, and we’re playing survival, man. Just know that I’m the guy who eats the fucking shit raw, man. If there’s an animal, I’ll fucking eat it. This is fucking Slipknot. That’s what you can fucking expect.”

Is Slipknot meant to last forever, or do you have to write the end of this story? Clown: “You nailed it, man. I am in more pain than anyone could possibly ever know, because I have to find a way to finish this.” Joey: “I don’t think it’s our last record at all, but there’s something seriously going on with this record, that’s for sure. It’s like Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. It’s a climax.”

Is Slipknot like Kiss, where you could lose a member and just find somebody else to wear his mask? Clown: “No. If I left this band, we’d be done. If Joey Jordison left this band, we’d be done. All of us, if any of the guys in this band leave… See, it’s been out of our hands for a long time, since 1998. The world is just too dumb, too anti-art, to realise how important this is, to actually accept the truth that yes, if I left the band it’d be over. There could never be a drummer to replace me, man. We are The Nine. There is no one else.”

Nine long, tense, and occasionally violent hours later, Slipknot begin to slink out into the inky-black, dead-still Des Moines night. It’s a mere week until they begin headlining the Mayhem tour in the States, and that’s just the beginning. Once this album hits the streets, it is unlikely that any of them will see their homes again for at least a year, and probably longer. Although the band harbours the expected anxieties about their long-awaited return to the metal arena, the sprawling expansive All Hope Is Gone will probably be their biggest album ever. At this point the eldest members of the band are now approaching 40, while their fanbase still hovers around 18, and that’s the same sort of 18 Alice Cooper once sang about: the confused, angry, half-a-boy, half-a-man kind.

If any of The Nine hoped to escape their fates as the ringleaders of the tormented, those hopes are now dashed.

“Man, it’s fucking embarrassing,” Clown admitted earlier, when we asked him how it felt to be a dad playing teen-rage anthems.

“I’m just glad I’m not alone in this, with this fucking-metal-fucking-arena-rock-fucking-stage-pass-interview-fucking-photoshoot shit. I don’t care about it. Yes, my art has grown into a way of life, yes, there’s a lot of people that live their lives by it, but I’ve always told people, I don’t want to be on the cover of Metal Hammer, I want to be on the cover of National Geographic. I’ve always said that. I’m gonna be on the cover of Metal Hammer anyway, because that’s just what I fucking do. But I want to take you all on another journey, a fucking life journey, a painful journey. There’s a reason why Slipknot gets the people we get: because they’re lost. They’re lost, and they find their way to us. It’s like a cult, man,” he says, staring a hole right through us.

“A cult of fucking pain.”

There are those who say hope springs eternal. They have obviously never spent a day with Slipknot.

A Stitch In Time

A bluffer’s guide to The Nine.

92: Drummer Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray begin playing in a band together.

95: Joey Jordison joins Shawn and Paul, form Meld with guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh Brainard, and singer Anders Colsefini.

96: Donnie leaves the band due to religious beliefs and is replaced by Craig Jones. Meld change their name to Slipknot and begin wearing grotesque make-up and costumes. Craig Jons switches to sampler and Mick Thomson joins on guitar. Slipknot release their first self-released album, Mate.Feel.Kill.Repeat., on Halloween.

97: Corey Taylor replaces Anders on vocals. Chris Fehn joins the band as percussionist. Slipknot start wearing their trademark boiler suits and numbers.

98: DJ Sid Wilson joins the band. They sign to Roadrunner Records.

99: On June 29, the band releases Slipknot, their ‘official’ debut album, and join the Ozzfest tour.

00: Slipknot is certified Platinum.

01: Slipknot release their second album, Iowa, and do the Ozzfest tour again.

02: The band take a break, Corey Taylor revives Stone Sour, Joey Jordison forms Murderdolls. Slipknot attempt to write a follow-up to Iowa, but struggle with inner-band conflicts. Rumours of the band’s imminent break-up start to circulate in the media.

03: Slipknot rally and begin recording new album with producer Rick Rubin.

04: Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is released. It quickly goes Platinum. Yet another Ozzfest tour follows.

06: Slipknot win their first Grammy award in the category of Best Metal Performance for Before I Forget. Voliminal: Inside The Nine, a self-produced DVD documentary, is released.

08: All Hope Is Gone released. Chaos ensues.

Project Revolution

Slipknot members are known for their many side projects. Here’s a crib sheet.

Stone Sour

Corey Taylor (vocals) Jim Root (guitar Stone Sour were formed back in 1992 by Corey Taylor and have existed in one form or another ever since. The alt-metal/grunge band have released two albums on Roadrunner Records (Stone Sour in 2002 and Come What(ever) May in 2006), and have been nominated for a Grammy award three times. The band are currently on hold in light of the new Slipknot record, but plans for a third album are in the works.

Murderdolls

Joey Jordison (drums (sic)) A horror-themed glam-punk band with a penchant for fishnet tights and make-up formed in 2002 by Joey Jordison, the Murderdolls also featured former Frankenstein Drag Queens frontman Wednesday 13. The band released their debut album, Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls in 2002 and played together sporadically over the next two years. The band are currently on hiatus, and when asked about the possibility of further recordings, Joey stated: “There might be another album. We’re thinking about it.”

Ministry, etc

Joey Jordison (drums) During his off-hours, Joey keeps busy by filling in on drums for several notable acts, including nu metal pioneers Korn, who he played with at the 2007 Download Festival, Metallica, (Download 2004), and Ministry, who he toured with in the summer of 2006.

DJ Starscream

Sid Wilson Sid Wilson’s day job is as a leading Jungle musician. As Starscream he’s released a host of singles and remixes on the Japanese label N20.

Dirty Little Rabbits

Shawn Crahan (drums) Shawn’s other side-project is a swirly mix of psychedelia and 90s style alt-rock. The band has yet to release an album. Dirty Little Rabbits supported Stone Sour on their 2006-07 US tour.

Dum Fux

Corey Taylor (guitar, vocals) A tongue-in-cheek cover band that plays everything from Flock Of Seagulls to The Stooges. Current status: active.

Audacious P

Corey Taylor (vocals, guitar) Perhaps the world’s only Tenacious D cover band. Currently on hiatus.

To My Surprise

Shawn Crahan (drums) A sun-dappled 60s rock-style band, To My Surprise were signed to Roadrunner Records and released their debut, self-titled album in 2003. It was executive produced by Rick Rubin. The band are on hiatus.

Roadrunner United

Joey Jordison (drums) Paul Gray (bass) Jim Root (guitar) This was a one-off album project put together to celebrate Roadrunner Records’ 25th anniversary. Roadrunner United featured 18 ‘supergroups’ made up of various Roadrunner alumni. Slipknot’s Joey, Jim and Paul played on several of the tracks, along with Type O Negative’s Pete Steele, King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque, and Cradle Of Filth bassist Dave Pybus, among others. The Roadrunner United album was released in 2005.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Soulmate AU worldbuilding………………………… I am workshopping

I think I want there to have been a society, historically, where warriors formed these force soulbonds to become semi-immortal and drift compatible in combat- something along the lines of being each other's link to life maybe, making it so you have to kill them both just to kill one. Because I think the concept is cool.

And I'm thinking the Sith have a super dark history with it- maybe they co-opted the above? but added hierarchy. Maybe they used these links as a form of enslavement.

I want the exact nature and origins of the phenomenon to be murky and disputed, with wildly different beliefs around them.

I think maybe the most mainstream jedi philosophy around soulmates is that the force sometimes indelibly links people in a string of fate, and these people will have a great impact on each other and learn great lessons from each other and shape each other or meet by fate in order to accomplish something. (but it's not about being inseparable and staying together forever)

But circling back to the Sith and murky origins thing I think it would be cool if there was some fringe theories about dark origins or something. Maybe even that the phenomenon is the result of some old sith curse or something. It's a thought!

(I'm also intrigued by the idea that there are no parent-child soulmates. Possibly because of fate reasons- if you already have a direct hand in someone just existing, does fate need to guide you together? idk this feels goofy but on the other hand I'm thinking how this would shape thinking around it- there's gotta be people who believe it's an inherently romantic thing, since that is technically the trope, and this would be their 'natural' proof- which leads to some horror scenarios with soulmates with big age gaps or whatnot. And also if there are Master-Padawan bonds like that, with people making assumptions about Master-Padawan bonds… it's a thought)

In terms of Palpatine & Anakin as soulmates (which is where this thought started) I can imagine that Anakin believes in soulmates with his whole heart, and that Palpatine is very ready to use that and also some deeply fucked up sith traditions. (i guess in this particular version obi wan and anakin are not 'soulmates' and possibly padme and anakin aren't either, although if they aren't Palpatine possibly contrived to fake that they were for a while)