#maybe the op is okay with it but its just. really weird.

[stiffyck]

It should be common decency to not tag art with the hermitshipping tag or the ship name when the op didn't tag it. Same goes for when op tags it with the shipping tags and someone comments something along the lines of "they're siblings <3"

Like I don't know how to tell you this but it's fucking weird.

If you dont see op tagging something as a ship? Don't tag it as that ship unless they specifically mention its okay or up for interpretation.

[presdestigatto]

im gonna complain about some twitter behaviour in the tags as per usual just to get it out so 😭😭

edit because there are more crazy related tweets on my tl but i need someone to well-intentionally explain what “looks like ferrari” means considering how he doesn’t look like schumi or any of the ferrari drivers that ik of at all or im just going to continue assuming its some subtly racist thing

[jadeoru]

LOVER, PLEASE STAY.

𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓: satoru gojo, 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: reader.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: fluff, comfort -- wc: 3k

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓: being the strongest has an indescribable amount of pros, but it's outweighed by its cons. with such an honor, satoru finds himself unable to open up to you; thinking it would make him weak.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒: fem!reader (gojo refers to u as gf) hurt/comfort, this is sad :[, pet names (baby, pretty, etc), crying (gojo), gojo being a dumbass and not communicating his feelings, kissing, poor gojo just wants a peaceful life with his gf, probably (definitely) ooc, overall just comfort bc I'm GRIEVING and he needs a hug i think a hug could fix him

you always felt safe when you were with satoru. no matter where you were, or what he was doing, if you called him he’d be there in seconds. maybe it was because he was the strongest, or maybe it was because he truly cared, but you always felt at ease around him. you could tell him anything with no fear of being judged (well, even just teased a little bit). regardless, he was always there for you, and you were so caught up in how he always checked in on you; always making sure you were okay, that you forgot to ask him the same. it wasn’t until when suguru geto left that you realised that beneath it all, satoru gojo was a really fragile man; your realisation solidified when you found him like this. you came home from work earlier than usual, opening the door with exhausted gratitude to finally be home, but, you were greeted with silence. huh. usually, when you got home you were bombarded with affection from the moment you stepped inside; barely one step through the door and he was at your heel like a dog that had been waiting for its owner to return. but now was different. It was eerily quiet compared to every other day. was he even home?

“satoru?” you called out into the hallway, it lingered in the air, until it faded out with no response. ‘weird, maybe he’s asleep or something.’ - it’s a stupid thought, considering how at this time, he’s usually (always) going through/recovering from a huge sugar rush, but it was the only thought that made sense. you took your coat off and placed it on the coat rack, quickly discarding your shoes and placing your bag on the counter before beginning the hunt for your boyfriend.

as you went from room to room, hallway to hallway, you couldn’t help but notice the unsettling feeling of emptiness that replaced his absence. as your search dragged on, you struggled to adjust to the growing pit in your stomach. did someone get him? no. there’s no way. he’s the strongest. you shouldn’t have to worry about that; he said so himself. but, still, you couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that maybe something did happen. you were so caught up in your thoughts, you almost missed the sound that came from your shared bedroom. almost. it stopped you dead in your tracks; prompting you to quietly make your way to the source of the sound; pressing your ear against the door.  that’s when you heard it again. a quiet; muffled noise. it sounded like sniffling. you almost crashed through the door and face-planted into the carpet when you realised what was happening. was he crying? your hands hesitated around the doorknob, before pulling it open. luckily, you regained your composure the moment the door flung open.

there he was: sitting on the edge of your shared bed, his hands gripping the bedsheets with some sort of desperation; a futile way of grounding himself. his head was down, looking at his knees. almost instantly, his head snapped back to yours. if it weren’t for the blindfold obscuring half of his face, you could’ve probably identified what was happening. or at least, you would’ve gotten a brief idea. for now, all you had was a theory; a thought, that maybe, just maybe, your boyfriend was crying. but how could you make sure of it? hell, you’re talking about satoru gojo; the most stubborn man alive. out of all the years you’d known him, never once had he opened up to you; let alone expressed feeling anything about being even the tiniest bit weak.

“you’re home early.” his voice interrupted your thoughts. it wasn’t as enthusiastic as it usually was, most signs of genuine joy were nowhere to be heard; instead it was laced with faux-optimism. shutting the door behind you, you walked towards the bed and took a seat next to him -taking note of how he didn’t attempt to get his usual ‘welcome home kiss’. while, yes, it’s strange, satoru always made sure to kiss you whenever you got home. treating the act as if it were some sort of ritual, or tradition. but now? he didn’t even try. yeah, he was looking at you, and smiling-(fakely), but there was no way he was actually happy. “yeah, my boss finally freed me from my office. he was complaining about always letting me off early, but i was too busy packing my things and getting the hell outta there to listen.” you chuckled, trying to lighten his mood, even if only by a bit. “yeah? old man finally stopped making you his personal servant?” his voice sounded weak, as if the act of speaking was one of the hardest difficulties he had to endure. you nodded, “yeah, finally.” the room fell silent after you spoke. you could hear the cars driving by outside, and the rain pattering against the window, dancing rhythmically in the air.  there was nothing else to be said. it was unsettling, if anything. silence was something long forgotten when in his presence. you almost had to double check to make sure that was actually satoru beside you, and not some sort of alien. the situation was so… awkward? conversation was attempted, but it didn’t flow as easily as it always did. it was so unlike him, and it was tearing you apart from the inside. your heart panged with distress; slowly unravelling from within you. there was no denying it anymore, the man that sat beside you, who suddenly found staring at the blank wall very interesting, (or at least, in that direction. - blindfold, and whatnot) your satoru, needed help.

and now, you accepted the task that was getting satoru gojo to open up about his emotions. you shifted in your side of the bed, fiddling with your fingers as you searched for something to say, silently hoping that the right words would come to you if you tried hard enough. "you okay?” - not the most poetic and comforting thing, but it was tried and true. “ you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" you asked, your voice soft and caring; each word laced with pure love. he chuckled, "what makes you say that?" he asked, blissfully unaware of how obvious he was being. you noted how he avoided your gaze, instead continuing to focus on the wall in front of you. "you've just been acting a bit distant lately, and you seem upset. I know how you hate talking about your feelings and stuff.. but I've just been worried." you said, leaning into his shoulder. he smiled, without a trace of cockiness. "I'm fine, pretty. you don't need to worry about me - you never do." he added the last part with a bit of hesitancy. because, deep down he knew he was lying. he was lying to you, and to himself. he knew he should open up to you. he knew that if he did, you'd be there for him, supporting him with open arms. but he was scared, petrified. he didnt even know why. it was as if the act of letting out each feeling and thought, releasing the growing balloon of responsibility and insecurity into the open air, would enervate him; make him weak. he was washed away by a wave of shame. if he wasn't constantly the strongest, the bravest, never sad, never worried, perfect boyfriend, then who was? who would take his place? there was something about opening up to you that made him feel weak. like, if he let his confident, fearless facade down, you would turn your head away in disgust.

he knew that he needed help. but the act of letting out each and every vulnerability that he held delicately within him was bordering the line of impossible. he clung onto his title as ‘the strongest’, as if it were the one thing that defined him.

"satoru." you almost whispered, "not a single person on earth lives their life without a voice in their head bringing them down." you began. your hand slid across the white bedsheets until it met with his; resting your hand on top of his. "feeling sad doesn't alienate you from others. it's a normal thing. 

you slowly hovered your other hand above his face, nervously, before you pulled his blindfold down. his eyes were as enchanting as they had always been, but now, they were decorated with tears.

you were right, he was crying. although this was exactly what you had expected to see, the reality was a lot harder to process than you thought.

shockingly enough, that was the first time you had ever seen him cry.

behind the teasing and flirting, all the cocky, boastful comments, was a man full of fear. while, yes, being the strongest had its perks, it was outweighed by an indescribable number of cons; because of his status as the strongest, he always had a bunch of expectations that he had to meet at all times. perfect people couldn't have flaws - that's why they were perfect. he also had to deal with the fact that due to his role in life, eyes on him at all times, you were the second target. when being tasked with the goal of taking down the satoru gojo, their target was always either him or you. everyone with common sense could see how much you meant to him, which meant you would also fall victim to the attempts of taking down the honoured one. he hated it; how he never had a say in the matter - how he was born into greatness. all he wanted was a quiet, safe life with you; a goal he could never reach. it's not like he regrets dating you, it’s just that he hated to have to put you through this.

his cheeks shimmered from the wetness pooling around his eyes, a sight so unlikely you felt overwhelmed by sympathy. it hurt you, both physically and mentally, to see him like this. you felt ashamed of how you hadn’t questioned him sooner, that you hadn’t helped to put the problem at ease before it got out of hand. without saying a word, you scooted closer to him, and pulled him into your chest. he remained perfectly still at the action. the hand that was on his own quickly moved to his hair, running your fingers through it just the way he liked it, the way only you knew how to do. 

“even if you don’t wanna talk, i’m here for you, ‘toru.” the tone of your voice was similar to that of honey; a syrupy sweet kindness, that gojo was sure would rot his teeth if he had too much, but he had a sweet tooth unlike no other.“- i just want you to know that it would be so much easier if you let me know what was going on in that pretty head of yours.” you continued. he nodded, knowing that you were right. he nudged himself closer to you, burying his face into your chest, once again concealing the sadness he had spiralled into. “take all the time you need, ‘toru. i’m not going anywhere.” if that wasn’t enough support, you continued, “even if we stay like this till the sun comes up, if you still aren’t ready to talk, i’ll keep waiting.” you pressed a kiss to the top of his head, to which he let out a strange choking sort of sound in response. It sounded like an exasperated chuckle. “what did i do to deserve you.” he muttered, turning his head as he spoke so his words weren’t muffled by your chest. you held him even tighter, if that was even possible. with a smile as soft as your hold on him, you burrowed your face in his hair, mumbling a quiet “i love you,” which didn’t  land on empty ears. he heard every word, and clung to each syllable that left your lips like they were a lifeboat, and he was lost at sea. you scooped him up like an angel and he found himself replaying those three words over and over again in his mind. he realised that, despite his strength, you made him the strongest. your constant love and support, like water to a plant, helps him achieve his full potential. how could he ever repay you for all that you do to him? 

you hear fabric rustling as he shifts around, tilting his head to the side yet again. “i’ll do anything for you , so… um.. promise me that.. you’ll always stay..” he hesitated. saying those words out loud made him painfully aware of how utterly pathetic he was being. A moment of brief silence passed, and then he continued, “i’ll always be here to keep you safe.. I-. i’ll kill for you if i have to… just please.. please don’t leave me.” his voice cracked at the end of his sentence.

you wanted to speak up, to individually pluck all of these fears from his mind, to allow him to live freely, without carrying the weight of guilt that follows him everywhere; a looming shadow that never seems to leave him no matter how much good he does, or how much evil he removes from the world - none of that can fight away the burden of superiority; the cold, lonely view from the summit. he watches non-sorcerers living their normal lives every day, and behind the blindfold of arrogance that he wears with pride, he’s jealous of them. that’s all he wants in life. - a normal one. despite them being the reason he existed, what he lived to fight, he found that he, himself was the true curse. he was chained to sorcery whether he wanted to be or not. he could never quit, he was needed. he is the best. he saves thousands of people constantly, and does (mostly) nothing but good. and yet, nothing he does will ever bring back his friends - he knows that. but god, he has tried everything to move on.

he continues speaking, a low chuckle leaving his throat. “i’m being really pathetic right now huh? so much for being the stronges-” you cut him off abruptly, your eyes matched his now; glassy and decorated with tears. “satoru.” you began, gently cupping his chin and tilting it upwards, holding eye contact with him. “quit it with that ‘strongest’ bullshit. you have a name. a beautiful name, and you have an incredible personality, and you care for others more than you’d like to admit. having incredible power is just another addition to what makes you such a wonderful person. stop clinging to the title as if it’s a shackle, it’s just another layer to the sweet cake that makes up satoru gojo - and everyone loves cake!”  you flashed a dorky smile at him, cupping his cheek with your hands. he remained speechless, staring into your eyes with almost heart-shaped pupils. he looked like a sad little kitty cat. you sucked in a deep breath, waiting for the right words to come to you before continuing. “i love you. I love you so much that it hurts me to see you hurt. you never have to worry about me leaving you, okay? because, i firmly believe that we were put on this earth to be together. you complete me, baby.” for the first time that night, you saw a genuine smile spread on his face. even though it was small, barely there, you noticed it. “that’s corny.” he mumbled, and you laughed. “i guess it is, isn’t it? but it’s true y’know! you’re everything to me ‘toru. i adore you with every fibre of my being.” you placed a kiss on his forehead, immediately taking note of how he leaned into your touch. “i understand what you feel like right now, or at least i think i do. i know you’ve lost most of the people you love, and nothing i say will fully fill the hole they left with their losses. but, i promise you that i will always be here by your side no matter what. i will always be here for you, okay? so don’t ever forget that. and- and don’t you dare try to hide your sadness from me! i get that sometimes you don’t wanna talk about your feelings, and that’s okay. but please, know that you can talk to me. i don’t want you to ever think otherwise. even if it’s something i can’t help with, i’ll always be here to listen. “ your words were like a sweet relief to his aching mind, alleviating most of his worries by the mere promise of comfort alone. god, he was enamoured by you. he moved his hand from your waist, and placed it on top of your hand, which was currently caressing his cheek. he lifted it to his lips, and pressed a firm kiss to your knuckles. you smiled, your cheeks filling with warmth. “I’ll try to be more open ‘n honest from now on.. I promise” he said with an honest expression on his face. you could tell that he was slowly coming back to his former self. “thank you baby.” you kissed him again, this time on the tip of his nose. “no”, he started tracing delicate circles onto your hand. “thank you for bein’ so sweet. you’re too good for me.” his lips curved into the biggest smile you had seen that evening, the sight was almost enough to bring you to tears. you mirrored his relieved expression.

“c’mon, we still have some mochi left over in the kitchen. let’s get some sweets and cuddle up with a movie, i’ll even let you pick this time! or, if you’d prefer, we could keep talking? sound good?” you asked, slowly standing up. you held your hand out to him, and he grabbed onto it in seconds, allowing you to pull him up. he wrapped his arms around your waist, and nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck. “best girlfriend ever.” he whispered into your skin; his words quickly replaced by goosebumps. you don’t think you could ever stop loving this man.

[toomuchracket]

if you're too shy (office nerd!matty x reader fluff)

in which the other music journalist at the magazine you work at is the cutest weird boy you've ever met. enjoy <3

in hindsight, coming back from a two-week holiday the same day the magazine goes to print was a misguided idea.

your editor-in-chief tells you as much when you enter the office, pulling you into a half hug. “don't get me wrong, it's lovely to see you,” she says, scraping her hair back into a bun and securing it with a pencil. “but you'll be doing nothing all day, i'm afraid. maybe some last minute proofing, but i think everyone in nightlife and reviews has been alright. double-check with marianne.”

you do just that, weaving your way through people running copy and coffee between departments until you reach your own. it's mercifully quiet compared to everywhere else, the ten or so people dotted at desks around the sunlit room looking at their laptops and wearing headphones; you actually have to flick marianne on the back of the head to get her to notice you. “oi.”

“who the- oh, hi!” marianne's face softens when she sees it's you, and she stands to pull you into one of her infamously bone-crushing hugs before pulling back to get a good look. “well, you look annoyingly well-rested. but i suppose a fortnight in a spanish villa will do that to you. bitch.”

“i had a great time, thanks for asking,” you grin. “how’s everything been with you? stressful, without your star reporter?”

“well, for starters, you've been succeeded for that title.”

you frown only half-jokingly, scanning the room to try and guess which of your colleagues has replaced you as marianne's unofficial favourite. “who the fuck…?”

“language,” she lightly slaps your arm, in spite of the fact she was just about to say the same thing, then smiles suspiciously. “and i’m talking about our newest recruit.”

the brewing annoyance in your stomach dissipates immediately, replaced by a flock of tiny butterflies. “oh,” you try to keep your smile to a minimum. “that's okay. i like him.”

marianne sees right through you, though. she rolls her eyes. “oh, you would.”

“what?”

she sighs, motioning for you to lower your voice and modifying her own to a whisper. “he’s a curly-haired pretty-eyed vaguely scrawny white boy. you'd like him even if he didn't think the sun shone out of your arse.”

“marianne!” you hiss. “he does not!”

“don’t act all indignant, he has literally looked over at you once every thirty seconds since you walked in - and don't look, idiot, you'll freak him out. we need him on the ball, today of all days,” she rubs her eyes. “but yes, he’s very good at his job. i like him, even if i've no idea what in the world he goes off on his tangents about. great writer.”

“yeah, he is,” you risk a glance towards him, but all you can see is the back of his laptop - covered in stickers for things you can only name half of - and dark curls peeking out from the side of his headphones. “i like the references. different perspective from me, innit? that's why we hired him, after all.”

“who's we? you were too pissed off that i was hiring another music critic to agree to be part of the interviewing panel.”

you'd love to disagree, but you really were pissed when marianne and the other editors told you they were expanding the nightlife section. it didn't matter that it was in response to an increase in funding and readership, with the magazine switching to a print format as well as the online edition you'd contributed to since its creation - your fierce independence and pride meant you didn't take the news well, made you think it was an issue with your competence and writing ability that meant you'd be getting a new colleague. but once you were reassured that you'd still get to keep the Big Gigs and restaurant reviews to yourself, you were slightly more agreeable to the idea.

and once you actually met the new guy, stumbling over both his words and his own feet as he introduced himself, you couldn't quite remember why you'd been opposed in the first place.

“well,” you say, snapping back into reality. “thank goodness i'm over it now.”

“because you want to get under him?”

“no!” you stand indignantly, and then grin. “on top, maybe.”

“good grief,” your boss shakes her head. “don't you go bringing it up to him - excuse the pun - before this edition goes to the printers,” she points at you as you move to walk away. “or talking to him at all until then, actually, you hear me? i love you, but you're a distraction to him, and he's my best journo.”

“he's not, but alright,” you pat her head as you walk back towards the door. “i'll be in the staff room if you need me. and i won't talk to anyone, mum, i promise.”

“i'm only five years older than you!”

“whatever you say!” you reply in a singsongy voice, giggling to yourself as you wander towards the sunny kitchen. the little radio on the windowsill is on, as it always is, and you nod along to the cure while you wait for the kettle to boil. once you've made a cuppa (and grabbed a slack handful of the chocolate digestives marianne always keeps the cupboard stocked with), you settle at the table with your laptop, typing out ideas for your next feature and doing your best not to think about the boy down the corridor you've been instructed not to talk to for the time being. for the most part, you succeed.

that is, until he walks into the staff room two hours later.

you frantically wipe your face of biscuit crumbs as he does, smiling as sweetly as you can for someone with no idea if she has chocolate on her teeth or not. “hi, matty. how are you?”

“oh, hi! i'm, uh, i'm alright,” matty smiles widely enough that his verbal emotional downplaying is blatant - still, he's so cute, beaming at you like that with his little sweater paws. he’s always in a jumper or cardigan or hoodie of some kind, and on more than one occasion in the three months you've known him, you've absolutely thought about literally cosying up into him instead of doing any work. “how was spain? and the wedding - it was a family wedding you were going to, yeah?”

“that's right,” it’s not a big deal, but you glow at the fact he remembered. or maybe it's the soft intent he looks at you with. “it was lovely, yeah. although - wait, have we gone to print?” you ask, suddenly recalling marianne's instructions. “i'm not keeping you from work?”

matty's curls bounce as he shakes his head, light hitting off the metal hoop in his earlobe (that you're only mildly obsessed with). “we've gone. i'm just in here to get my lunch,” he pulls a tupperware from the fridge, cheeks rosy as he waves it. “made some soup last night.”

he makes his own soup. the thought is so endearing that it takes everything in you not to sigh; you settle for a smile. “carrot and coriander?”

“you can tell from one glance?”

you shrug. “s'my favourite.”

“really?” matty's face seems to light up. “mine too,” he busies himself with putting the tupperware in the microwave, taking his time pressing buttons and turning dials before looking bashfully at you. “so, you had a nice time at the wedding, then?”

“i did, thank you. do you, um,” you start, suddenly shy. “d'you want to see some photos from it, while you're waiting for the soup to heat up?”

he nods back just as shyly, sitting quite awkwardly on the seat next to yours; while you open your photos app, matty twists a stray curl around his finger, and the movement seems to send your nerves into vibration as well as the molecules in the air. with a series of shallow breaths, you locate the folder of the wedding pictures and set your phone on the table. “feel free to flick through them, if you like.”

“thank you,” matty sits forward, carefully swiping through the album. you lean on your elbow, doing your best not to beam adoringly at the way he looks intently at each photo before moving to the next. “the venue is really beautiful.”

“yeah, it was stunning.”

the next picture is one of you in your bridesmaid dress, taken by your sister the morning of the wedding. you watch, slightly heartsick, as matty's mouth falls open as he looks at you; the feeling worsens when he tentatively does the same thing in real life, those pretty eyes of his sparkling as he smiles softly. “so are you. really. like,” he looks down at the photo again, shaking his head slightly before looking back up at you. “that colour is beautiful on you. honest. you look incredible.”

“thank you,” the words come out in a whisper, and the two of you silently smile at each other for a moment until you clear your throat. “um, there are more of the official pics on my instagram, let me… actually, do you have my private account?”

“oh, no,” matty shakes his head again - god, you love the way his hair moves. “just the one for your writing.”

“well,” you tap on the app with an almost-imperceptibly shaky finger. “that's the username there, if you'd like to follow. no pressure, of course. don’t wanna fuck up your algorithms or anything.”

your nervous chuckle at the end of the sentence turns to a giggle when you see matty's face as you share your username; it lights up so much that you'd be forgiven for thinking he'd just won the lottery. he pulls his own phone out and taps away at it. “you don't have to follow me back, by the way,” his cheeks flush a deep red, a beautiful colour. “m'not posting anything interesting.”

doubtful. he might be one of the most interesting people you've ever met, all talent and sweetness and a wealth of cultural understanding wrapped up in a sweater and a pretty face. “no, i'd like to.”

“alright. thank you,” matty's cheeks seem to get even redder as he watches you hit follow back, face twitching as though he’s trying to stop himself smiling too big. when the microwave dings, he all but skips over to it, almost tripping over the leg of his chair in a sweetly awkward way; he swears under his breath when he lifts the steaming container out, turning back sheepishly to look at you. “sorry.”

“don't worry,” you grin at him, feeling slightly bold. “i still think you're sweet when you swear.”

he giggles, and the noise makes your heart leap; in addition to being one of the most interesting people you think you've ever met, matty healy is without doubt the cutest. watching his lips pout in concentration as he stirs the soup and checks the temperature, you briefly imagine what they would feel like against your own, how he would be if the two of you were to kiss. just as giggly and endearingly awkward as he usually is, you think - eager to please, lips and tongue a little sloppy and unsure but enthusiastic enough for you not to mind, slightly unsure of where to put his hands so as to not make you uncomfortable… the scene is as clear as day in your head, and you really, really want to recreate it. you'd devour him right now if you could, the sweetheart.

and then, matty reaches up to get a bowl from the shelf, the hem of his shirt goes with him, and your want to devour him suddenly takes on a less pg-rated meaning than it did a second ago.

he has a fucking hip tattoo.

you’re pretty sure it's only a sliver of the full design you can actually see, but the hints of red and blue and black ink and the glimpse of his happy trail are enough to fuck you up completely. as you register what you're seeing - what you're discovering about the seemingly buttoned-up, shy, unassuming-to-everyone-but-you matty - your breath catches in your throat, forcing you to cough quite obviously on the mouthful of lukewarm tea you'd just taken. one cough turns into another, and you clap a hand over your mouth to make your tattoo reaction attack the least obvious it can be.

still, the ever-perceptive man across the kitchen notices, running over to crouch in front of you with concern filling those beautiful eyes of his. “you alright, darling?”

darling?! no, you most certainly aren't alright.

but you can't tell matty that, so you stick to gesturing to let him know you'll reply once you've managed to swallow your tea. “i am, yeah, thanks. tea just, y'know, went down the wrong way.”

matty tilts his head. “you sure?”

“yeah,” you smile, slightly embarrassed. “really. thank you, though.”

“of course,” he smiles in return, knee brushing lightly against your leg as he steadies himself; he looks down, eyes widening as he registers how close the two of you are, and quickly stands. “i'd better, y'know, get my lunch.”

you nod, despite the strange loneliness settling into your bones at the lack of him next to you. “i can head back to the office, if you want peace?”

“no, no, please stay!” matty all but gasps, turning to look at you like a deer caught in headlights - he clears his throat, blinking a few times before speaking again. “please don't feel the need to leave on my account, i mean. or feel obliged to talk, really - i was just going to read.”

“you're sure i won't be a bother to you?”

matty smiles warmly, shaking his head. “that'll never happen.”

christ.

“okay,” you whisper, winking at him - and savouring the little giggle that bubbles out of him when you do - before turning back to your laptop. 

matty settles at the table a minute or so later, pulling a paperback from his back pocket and holding it open quite attractively with one hand. you peek over the rim of your laptop at him every so often, never for more than a couple of seconds at a time; partially to avoid the mortification of him catching you, but mostly because if you look at him any longer you know your mind will wander back to that fucking hip tattoo of his, and what it might look like completely visible to you, and what it might feel like under your lips, and what noises matty might make if you slowly dragged your tongue all over it before moving to the side to lick a wavy line up the length of his-

enough. he's literally right there.

the room feels hot, all of a sudden, your cheeks flushing and throat drying to match. on only slightly shaky legs, you pick up your waterbottle and head to the water fountain, crouching as best you can to fill it. even though he stays silent, you can feel matty’s eyes on you from across the room, but it doesn't bother you or freak you out in the way that other men ogling you at a water fountain would - it's quite obvious that matty has some sort of more-than-platonic affection for you, but his gaze has always been one of appreciation and awe when it comes to you, not the predatory one you've come to expect from men. and yet, his is the only male gaze that makes you feel slightly nervous, unused to being looked at with such reverence and tenderness by an attractive boy; in complete contrast, though, it also makes you lower your guard, pull down the bricks from the wall you've built around your heart, and allow yourself to actually feel something for matty, for once. something good, honest, promising.

matty looks up from his book as you sit down, smiling pleasantly. he opens his mouth as if to talk, and then closes it immediately, shaking his head slightly.

this intrigues you. “you okay, matty?”

“hmm? oh, yeah, i was just thinking,” his cheeks go a shade of pink you would buy in blush form if you could find it. “when you were first talking about the wedding… you said although, and then we got off-topic slightly. what, um, what were you going to say, if you don't mind me asking?”

“oh, right,” you wrack your brain, doing your best to not get distracted by how cute you find his perception. “i think i was going to say something about how, as good as it all was, there's nothing like a family wedding to remind you of how single you are.”

his jaw falls open. “you… you don't have a boyfriend? wait, sorry,” he blinks. “or a partner?”

you shake your head, biting the inside of your lip to stop yourself smiling. “no boyfriend, no. and thus, constantly advised by a never-ending flock of aunts that i should get one so i could get married.”

“christ,” matty winces. “yeah, my cousin's getting married in a couple of months - not looking forward to everyone asking me when i'm going to meet a nice girl and settle down, as if i can answer.”

no girlfriend. how interesting. “you're single? really?”

he rolls his eyes, still smiling at you. “be serious. course i am.”

“i am being serious! that surprises me,” you lean on one elbow, tilting your head to look at him. “you're lovely, matty.”

matty’s eyes widen, and he blinks adorably a few times before he smiles shyly again. “thank you. i think the same about you.”

“you do?”

he simply nods, total sincerity in those pretty eyes. 

you feel your cheeks warm, but you make no effort to hide it. “thank you.”

matty shrugs. “just telling the truth, darling,” he looks panicked when he realises what he's said. “sorry for calling you that, twice, it just-”

“i like it, matty, it's alright,” you say reassuringly. “and i like-”

“oh, thank god you're both here,” marianne bursts into the room, carrying her laptop; you frown petulantly at her for ruining your moment, but shuffle your chair round closer to matty's so she can sit at the table too. “something weird’s happening.”

matty squints. “what d'you mean by weird?”

marianne pushes her laptop towards you both. “there's overlap in your planned reviews - the band you're going to see at the end of next week, matthew, have just been announced as the opener for the next Big Gig. i need to know how we want to go about this.”

“oh,” he looks at you. “i don't mind if you want to just review them as part of yours.”

you're shaking your head vehemently before he even finishes talking. “no, that's not fair,” you tap your lips with your index finger the way you always do when you concentrate, trying to ignore the glow within your body when you see matty looking at them from the corner of your eye; inspiration strikes, and you turn to marianne. “matty could come with me, couldn't he? if he reviews their headline gig, and then he does a follow-up review of their opening set in the Big Gig feature - we could just do a joint byline, work together on it.”

both of them turn to look at you in slight shock. marianne is the first to speak, her words trickling out slowly as she processes the fact you've just agreed to let someone else work on a Big Gig for the first time. “you're… happy with that?”

“if matty is, yeah,” you turn to him, smiling. “sound alright?”

he beams. “more than. thank you.”

“of course,” you turn back to the boss. “there you go. sorted.”

she sighs, relieved. “thank goodness for that. alright,” she stands, picking up her laptop and heading back to the main office. “i'll coordinate press passes. thanks for making that simple - you're both stars.”

“anytime!” you call after her, before turning back to matty. “you're sure you're happy to do this? i realise i've just given you more work to do, but…”

he laughs, a beautiful sound. “nah, i don't mind. also,” he shuffles in his seat, bashful again. “i actually have a spare ticket for the first show, if you'd like it - bought it before i saw it was on the review roster. doesn't seem fair that i get to go to two gigs while you only get one, i think. i mean, no pressure, obviously, but the offer's there.”

god, he’s so fucking cute. how could you ever say no to him? “i'd like that a lot, matty, thank you,” you beam at him. “i think us working together is going to be a lot of fun.”

matty beams back just as enthusiastically. “i think so too.”

[exeggcute]

well it's been almost six months which I think is long enough to break my posting embargo, so, uh: guess what! I got liposuction lol. specifically hip/thigh lipo to quell some pretty wicked dysphoria that stemmed from having such a feminine silhouette… and I have to say I'm really, really pleased with the results.

tbh my initial plan was to keep things under wraps for good which is why I haven't said anything about it yet (and even as I'm typing this up I keep debating whether to post it or trash it)—partly because I was/am worried people might Act Weird about it and partly because I get a little embarrassed talking about bodygendershit in general. but here we are. one reason I do feel compelled to finally share, other than being super happy about how everything went, is that I haven't encountered a lot of discussions about body sculpting as a possible avenue of gender-affirming care (although, to be fair, maybe I just haven't been looking in the right places) and I figured at least one person out there would be interested to learn about what I did and where I've ended up so far.

anyway. pics/details under the cut—nothing even remotely risqué (or yucky), I just know that body image stuff is fraught + not everyone is eager to hear surgery talk.

to be precise: I got tumescent liposuction of the inner and outer thigh, plus this ultrasound thing to help the skin shrink. a different surgeon who I consulted (but ultimately did not go with for a number of reasons) said that even if I got the results I wanted from lipo, which he claimed was unlikely, the affected skin would look loose/baggy/weird forever... and that surgeon was wrong on both counts lol. my elasticity was great bitch!!!!

they didn't take out that much fat overall, only eight pounds or so, but it's way more about the Where than the How Much. my actual surgeon (who kicks ass btw) said lipo isn't that great for weight loss per se, and what it's really good for is sculpting targeted areas—so basically exactly what I did. six months post-op I actually weigh about the same as what I did pre-op, but the distribution has held steady; more weight goes to my stomach now and less, proportionally, goes to my hips since there are fewer fat cells in that area now. so my silhouette retains its new shape!

the overall change is admittedly on the subtle side, since I'm pretty short and have wide hip bones (and you can't change your literal skeleton) but it's still gone a looooooong way. the main thing I requested from my surgeon was "I want to fit in men's pants" and boy did he deliver.

also a good place to note that if you're in the las vegas area looking for a plastic and/or cosmetic surgeon—this guy is board-certified in both btw—then I absolutely have the guy for you. feel free to DM me for details. lipo is clearly his specialty (and it shows!) but he also does a lot of breast revisions/mastopexy (i.e., fixing implants that other surgeons did a bad job putting in), regular implants, and face work (particularly facial feminization surgery). one thing that sold me on this guy was an enthusiastic yelp review from a local stripper who said he hid the incisions for her breast lift in her armpits so none of her clients would notice that she'd had work done... a true master of his craft

okay you've scrolled enough so I'll give you what you're here for lol. I don't have many pre-op pics because I was obviously unhappy with how I looked and was not taking full-body selfies on a regular basis, but here's a few I took ~2 weeks beforehand:

these super thin men's joggers were my go-to dysphoria pants, to the point where I bought five pairs in different colors, but now they're so baggy on me that they have the opposite effect and make it look like I have wider hips than I do. so I retired them from my wardrobe...

...except not immediately because I had to wear compression garments 24/7 for the first three months post-op and these joggers were just loose enough to comfortably wear a medical girdle underneath them at all times, 110° degree temperatures be damned. (not that I was going out much for the first month since I was soooooooooooo fucking bruised and sore lol.) here's a few post-op pics in the same style pants:

(first pic is less than 24 hours post-op, about to go to my follow-up appointment, looking greasy as fuck because I wasn't allowed to shower yet; second pic two days post-op and also post-shower, thankfully; third pic is about a month post-op.)

so, like, CLEAR improvement already. I will not be posting pictures of my black-and-blue-and-swollen-all-over legs but considering how puffy I was from getting internally pummeled with a cannula it's wild that I still saw improvement literally as soon as I came home.

recovery was obviously not a blast in the moment but I got off easy, all things considered. I was supposed to get drains put in and was Not looking forward to that at all lol. the first thing I asked when I woke up after surgery was "how many drains?" because they weren't sure if I'd end up needing two or four, but it turned out the answer was zero. no drains!!!

I did have to lie with my feet elevated for the first two weeks straight, and had major bruising that receded over the first month (you could barely see my regular skin underneath all the mottled spots), but little to no nerve pain, no weird complications, and I was more or less back to normal after six weeks. also noelle took very very good care of me and was brave about injecting me with blood thinners so I wouldn't get clots and die :)

when I went into it I was fully expecting to get huge vertical scars up and down the sides of my legs (and had made peace with it!) but instead I wound up with four tiny incisions like this, each less than two inches long:

what's totally crazy is that the scars are basically Gone now. like even when I'm trying to find them I struggle to locate the ones in the front. I joked to noelle that if someone did an autopsy on me they might not figure out that I'd had cosmetic surgery, especially since the skin on my thighs is back to its normal color and texture. (in this scenario I like to imagine that it's dana scully giving me the autopsy and I'm in an x-files plot where instead of regular lipo I got alien lipo and mulder figures it out purely by accident.)

with lipo it can take up to a year to see the full results but I already feel so much fucking better in my body that seeing old pre-op pics throws me for a loop. and I can absolutely wear men's pants now—pants for short and stocky men, to be fair, but actual regular men's pants and not exclusively Pants For Men With Huge Butts And Legs. which is the only style I could even hope to fit in before. and even then it was a stretch.

big pic dump of shitty mirror selfies taken over the last few months:

:)

(also I really debated sharing this one but I already included it in the yelp review I left my surgeon so fuck it: here's a tasteful before-and-after in my undies where you can see my bare legs for easier comparison. left pic is one week pre-op, right pic is about five months post-op. including it as a link instead of embedding it in the post in case your boss happens to be reading over your shoulder at this very moment. also this is the one and only time you will ever see me stripped down on tumblr dot com so don't get used to it lol.)

[mixelation]

notes for the absolutely bonkers time line of toxicity (that's reborn au au). note that nothing is actually set in stone because it's derivative of reborn au, which is also not set in stone

i realized i suggested tori deciding to get with obito after the cave incident, but also that in reborn au she's actually already dating itachi when that happens. so consider

tori has been dating itachi for a few months (more if you count when she was dating him unknowingly) (her life is... dumb?)

she gets trapped in a cave by Some Guy and minato bans her from seeking vengeance

in reborn au she gets itachi to go freak out That Guy and is satisfied, but in THIS au everyone is more toxic. she has "destroys village out of affection" on the table as normal human behavior. she wants blood. she deserves blood

tori: can you BELIEVE itachi won't kill a singular guy for me obito: lmao tori is it really that big a deal? just kill him yourself tori: but it was :( tori: a cave :( tori: where i doubted anyone at all would ever help me again :( obito: obito: obito: okay FINE i'll kill him

tori breaks up with itachi specifically to seduce obito

it's an amicable break up. she doesn't tell itachi it's so she can run off with obito, but she's like "look i don't have any problem with helping you shirk your clan duties, but i still want to have my own dating life. lmk if you need something else but i won't be your fake gf" which is an entirely reasonable and mature argument for someone who is about to go after an unstable ex-missing-nin

obito is extremely confused when tori starts coming on to him (she is. not good or subtle at it) but ALSO he's kind of into it. he has a lot of weird feelings about tori but she's the one person who knows all his darkest secrets and he likes having her undivided attention. is she actually into him or is she trying to use him to murder more people? he doesn't care!

anyway i have been trying to figure out how no one intervenes in this or causes, like, some sort of permanent interpersonal fallout. and i remembered @waffliesinyoface and i joking around about toxicity just having its main cast destroy even MORE villages, and what if kushina wrecked suna's shit over gaara. so further consider

kushina goes to suna for some reason. idk maybe they host the chunin exams and they're like "send a representative..... not the hokage...... pls thnx." and she realizes how they're treating gaara and she loses her mind

kushina: SURPRISE I RUINED OUR ALLIANCE WITH AN UNTOLD AMOUNT OF MURDER!!!! kushina: also i kidnapped the kazekage's son. he's ours now kushina: he is deeply emotionally unstable and completely op and has murdered so many suna-nin kushina: but i can fix him. with my love <3 minato: o-oh

i don't think i'll have kushina PERMANENTLY adopt gaara (he has older siblings he can go back to!) but he's definitely in konoha for a hot second. so minato's life is currently

bonus child who is both crazy powerful and also desires to kill

(kushina: (shoving shukaku back in with her bare hands) HE'S FINE)

like the number of people who can handle gaara is. very low. he keeps sending gaara and naruto over to the uchiha compound for "babysitting" (Naruto keeps whining he's too OLD) but it's literally a bunch of A-ranks bc someone's sharingan is on them the whole time. the ushiha massacre 1000% doesn't happen in this time line because people are like "the uchiha are the only ones preventing us from being sand-coffined"

tori just fucking broke the hiraishin, so now he has to worry about the possibility of ANYONE ELSE doing that and killing/ruining everyone/everything he's ever cared about

obito?? decides to date her????

anyway the apparent situation of "obito, a 25 year old, has decided to date a teenager, who he's know since he was in his twenties and she was 12" is like. look, it's bad. but also minato is so tired. everyone else is so tired. obito what if you just...... didn't? please?

tori: but i'm the ultra manipulative seductress villain???

also an anon sent this

Itadei fake dating arc.... No one would even really notice/care since obitori is going on at the same time would they

Deidara doesn't give a shit about the murderous suna child. He killed him before and he'll do it again, okay. However WHY IS OBITO IN HIS APARTMENT ALL THE TIME NOW???

deidara: get her back. GET HER BACK itachi: ?? she had a very sound argument for our break up deidara: YOU'RE JUST COVERING FOR BEING A BAD BOYFRIEND

deidara is convinced tori would be SO easy to re-seduce. she likes good food and getting people to commit crimes for, okay. deidara would have just murdered that guy smh

deidara is going to show itachi how it's done

itachi is pretty sure being gay won't stop his parents from trying to get him to marry someone with a working womb, but maybe it will slow them down? certainly deidara has a good shot at scaring away any perspective dates

itachi and deidara start "dating" and no one gives it a second thought because it's the least insane thing happening right now

[mychlapci]

Since you mentioned k9 prowl- something that always absolutely slaughters me in these kinds of scenarios-

Like we've talked about how badly Prowl picks up on the fact that he doesn't have to be an animal and that he can have his own needs and wants and he can do whatever he wants honestly. He still doesn't get it. Even when he's moved to his caretakers home- he doesn't really know why he's there. It would never occur to him that he would fulfil the role of a servant type bot either. He's not really a pet. Maybe he's a guard? He doesn't understand. The only thing he understands is that he works here. He doesn't quite have the concept of a 'home'.

He only does what he's told. He only goes where he's told to go. No matter how many times his caretaker tells him the place is his as much as it is his caretaker's, Prowl doesn't accept it. There's a part of his processor that doesn't understand.

But obviously Prowl isn't stupid. It's going to reach a point where he is going to understand. There's going to come a point where he trusts this caretaker, as weird as they may be. He would know what the caretaker says is true, and yet he actively rejects what he's told. His caretaker wouldn't lie to him, and yet he simply cannot allow himself to think that this is his home. He doesn't have a home. He doesn't DESERVE a home.

The fact that he's useless and has not had a real job or case to solve for so long still eats at him. This also becomes another active point of contention in his processor. Because his caretaker tells him again and again that he doesn't have to do that. He's not bound to that anymore. He should never have been. And that doesn't make him worth any more or less. But Prowl actively rejects it in his mind.

The mental stress often drives Prowl into states of what he would consider to be needless periods of being unfit for duty. He curls up and whimpers and holds his helm in his hands, the conflicting processes not just draining him mentally but driving his processor to physical pain. His caretaker would always sit by him and gently hold him, sometimes carefully stroking his shaking doorwings. (And honestly cos the more this comes up the more I'm inclined to say his caretaker is OP) If his caretaker is a bigger mech maybe they carry him so he can at least lie on something soft, like on the couch or something.

This is another thing that stresses Prowl out. Laying on furniture. Being held. The gentle servos on his doorwings that no longer hurt. They are all so... comfortable. Things he shouldn't have. Comfort shouldn't matter to him. But he wants it. And wanting is bad. And yet his caretaker says its fine. They say it's okay. They say he SHOULD want things. And it scares him.

Eventually, one day, when he's distressed and in pain, he drags himself over to where his caretaker sits on the sofa. He looks up, afraid, doorwings held low, as he watches his caretaker for any signs of anger or disapproval, before climbing onto the couch and curling up by their side, laying his aching helm on their lap. His processor screams at him when he does.

He's shaking. His processor screams at him that everything he just did was wrong in every possible way. He's ready to be thrown off or hit or-

Then he feels his caretaker's gentle servo on his back. Gentle strokes down his spinal struts have him slowly stop shaking. He's okay. He's not in trouble. The servo moves to carefully smooth over his quivering doorwings until they lay comfortably back down. He's. He's safe.

The caretaker is gonna heckin cry btw cos for Prowl to trust them? To finally do something of his own volition?? To actively seek comfort??

... I have literally been thinking of this exact same scenario for a few days now. it's sooo good. and also, gonna let you in on a secret, i have just been straight up imagining Optimus as his full-time caretaker for a long time now. I think he still works at the rescue, but if there's no huge crack-downs happening, his hours are short and he's mostly at home. It makes him perfect for giving Prowl the attention he needs.

Prowl is smart, he's resourceful, he's intelligent, but he just cannot put himself in the mind of a real mech. i suppose it's best he's eased into it, since he doesn't look like the type who'd take it well if his entire framework of life was shattered instantly in one fell swoop... Besides, the enforcers beat all 'normal' behaviour out of him, bit by bit when Prowl was still young and had desires of his own. That leaves a mark. He doesn't really remember it, being shoved down onto his knees, collared and muzzled, not understanding why. Being told that dogs don't speak, dogs don't walk on two legs. But whether he remembers it or not, it is cemented in his processor.

I imagine Prowl would have travelled between cages a lot, never having a place to call home, not even his cage ever belonged to him. So it's difficult to shake off the feeling of distrust. His caretaker will send him away, he knows that. It's going to happen one day, and he'll be back at the precinct, doing his job... it's a surprisingly comforting thought, one that withers away the longer he has to spend in this house.

aaaa Optimus feels so bad when Prowl starts getting sick in his care. It's not a physical ailment, just the stress of it all... which is almost worse, in a way, because now it feels like he's causing it. The day Prowl comes to him for comfort is like a miracle. He's never done that before. He's never asked or demanded anything nor has he really done anything out of his own volition or without being prompted before. I mean, if this was an ideal recovery, Prowl would have talked to him about it, but small steps count. They absolutely do.

... and, over time, maybe Prowl learns to want again. It's not perfect, he's still nervous and unsure, feeling like he doesn't deserve it since he's not working, but he comes to Optimus more often. If he wants a cube of energon outside of breakfast-lunch-dinner, he'll still ask for permission, but at least he's asking instead of just waiting until what he, in his processor, dubbed feeding time. He'll wander around the house more, and eventually, he'll take up the entire couch as he gets super invested in shitty detective dramas on tv. It's almost starting to feel like Optimus has a roommate instead of a distressed pet, even if things aren't perfect yet... And if this is the best it gets for Prowl? Well, at least he's comfortable.

[calciumdeficientt]

i created the template for NPC quotes and i never posted lenora’s… whoops. anyway here they are now. i have also learned that there are SO MANY different kinds of quotes so i am going to try and make this post as accessible as humanly possible but it is going to be LOOOOOOOOOOOONG

LENORA HARKER QUOTES

ALLY QUOTES

** AGREE TO ASSIST**

Sure, I can keep an eye on you Jim

Don’t worry, Lenora’s got you for sure

**ALLY- ABOUT TO LEAVE**

I can’t take any more of this, I’m audi!

Fight your own battles J-dog, I’m done

**ALLY- HELP ME!**

Hey, give me a hand!

I need some help! Fight hard!

BIKE QUOTES

**BIKE CRASH**

Aw… dang it I really thought I was getting the hang of this

Man… I hope the ladies turned away

**BIKE TRICK- SUCCESSFUL**

Hm, not terrible… now try doing that in the ocean

Radical trick! Just… not in front of the girls. I’m really getting somewhere with them

**BIKE STOLEN**

Hey what gives! That nerd I stole it from might’ve wanted it back!

Aw crap, too high to drive, bike got stolen… this is the pits

**BIKE TRICK- FAILED**

HAHAHAHAAH WIPEOUT

You should go get some training wheels or something, I’m worried about you

BOISTEROUS

HAHAAHHAA WOOOOHOOO

The Bolt from Bullworth strikes like lightning, yeah!

BUMPED QUOTES

**BUMPED- PREP**

Hey, watch it trust fund!

**BUMPED- GREASER**

Usually I’d be mad, but you just slid right off me!

**BUMPED- NERD**

Ewwwuh watch where you put those freaky little rat claws, you can get jail time for stuff like that

**BUMPED- BULLY**

The folks you meet in prison won’t be this kind to you, freak

**BUMPED- TOWNIE**

Can you even be out here? What’s the radius on that ankle monitor

**BUMPED- JIMMY- FRIENDLY**

Ope- I was lookin’ but I wasn’t seein’ my bad!

Sorry little man, I’ll be more careful next time

You go first, all my fault

**BUMPED- JIMMY- ENEMIES**

Ugh! Watch it, dork

Next time, I pound you

Open your eyes when you walk, Jimmy

Listen here, pipsqueak. Munchinland is back the way you came

Stay outta my way Hopkins.

Stay the HELL in your lane, don’t cross me.

SAYING BYE

Got track practice… gotta run

This was fun, see ya!

Hmm yeah i’m leaving now… no dumb excuse, just the vibe I’m getting

CARNIVAL

**FREAKSHOW**

If I’d stayed in California I’d probably be in one of those tents

I wonder if either of those girls are single… hell, I’m not above trying both!

**RIDE**

That ride was pretty okay… I guess

Aw man that ride was so rickety! It would’ve been so awesome if it crashed

CHATTER

How much booze is too much to bring to a party? They never have enough!

I kissed Gord at a party a few weeks ago… Its totally not my fault.. He smells like a lady

Man that fall off the gym roof really hurt.. I wish I knew when enough was enough… I’ll get there

If you think about it sound is like… waves. So when you’re listening to something it’s like you’re surfing!

I let a townie pierce my bellybutton… I think it might be infected

Everyone’s so agitated all the time. It can’t be good for us

My Polish teacher is all up in my grill about my assignments… like I dont have enough homework already.. I mean I already speak it! Who cares if I can’t write it down

Those prefects are always coming at me about my uniform! I didn’t like, ask to be tall!

CHASE QUOTES

**CHASING**

Get back here pipsqueak!

I’ll turn you inside you you little twerp!

**OUT OF BREATH**

Man… need to… focus on long distance

Maybe… I overestimated how fast I can run

**ESCAPED FROM**

Yeah and keep running!

Enjoy your head start, pipsqueak

CALLING FOR HELP

Hey, come check this out!

Dudes, come look at this!

CONVERSING

I don’t know why everyone’s so bothered about global warming… I’d kill for it to be summer forever

Aw man I remember my first wedgie, I never did see that kid again

Dan and Thad look so similar… I hope I don’t slip up again

I am so sure… yknow he threatened to make me run in my underwear the other day because my shorts were too long.. It was soo totally bogus

I saw Ted and that weird rich kid Justin making out under the bleachers yesterday… Mandy is going to be sooo crushed… Someone better go tell her

COMPLAINING

I like, don’t know how much more I can take! I mean he’s totally messing with my vibe

CONGRATULATING

Yeah right on man, you rule!”l

Total masterclass baby, woo!

CONFUSED

Oh yeah totally I- wait wha?

CONVERSING

**CONV- CONTINUING**

Uh huh- go on..

Yeah, so?

**CONV GOSSIP**

Did you hear all the stuff that Gary kid was saying about Jimmy? It’s total nonsense but… I could be persuaded

I heard that Hopkins put Russell in the hospital!

There’s some crazy stuff going around that Jimmy is actually a spy. I don’t buy it

Apparently his mom isn’t actually his mom

Did you hear that Hopkins has been to jail like three times?

Well I heard that he never buys his own clothes, he just takes them off of people he fights!

I heard Derby Harrington is secretly a vampire! Maybe that’s why he’s so pale and ugly

Did you know that Ricky’s been to see nurse McRae three times this week? If he wants pills he should just come to me

Apparently Earnest never drinks water, maybe that’s why his skin is like that

Dan thinks he’s gonna get to actually be on the team next year, I think Burton only told him that so he didn’t run back to the nerds

That Constantinos kid has been avoiding me. Apparently he doesn’t even work for the yearbook, he just likes taking creep shots of everyone

I hooked up with this really dope chick last week… but Kirby told me her boobs are totally fake! Like, I think I know more about boobs than you do, buddy

**CONV/ GOSSIP RESPONSE**

Seriously?! No way dude

That’s, like, next level bonkers!

Holy macaroni!

Damn!!!! There’s NO universe that’s true

**CONV/NEGATIVE PREMISE**

Miss Peabody’s doing random spot checks of the dorms… I’m so totally screwed

Sometimes I wonder if I even wanna run anymore

I’m starting to think maybe girls don’t actually dig me!

The guys don’t really care about me… I’ll never live up to their expectations

The whole clique’s gonna fall apart when Ted leaves for college… man I need to make new friends

**CONV/NEGATIVE RESPONSE**

Yeah right, like that’s anything to cry over

Try being me for a day and see if that still bothers you

Too bad, that’s Bullworth, kiddo

Cmon man that’s nothin’ get over yourself

**CONV/ NEGATIVE STATEMENT**

It’s like… no one cares about what’s going on at home!

I was never meant to be a jock. I’m just a nerd in denial!

Girls hate me, guys see me as a joke. Real sweet life

Times have really changed, we are SO the bottom of the food chain now

**CONVERSING/PARTING**

Catch you later dude

Hang loose bro

See you ‘round man

**CONVERSING/ POSITIVE PREMISE**

You coming to the meet on Friday? I’m set to get another medal

Having inter-clique friendships is pretty cool

I like to think the guys have accepted me as one of them

People always invite me to parties, it’s pretty rad

**CONVERSING/POSITIVE RESPONSE**

Oh yeah? that’s dope

Right on! Totally awesome!

I’m pickin’ up what you’re puttin’ down

**CONVERSING/QUESTIONS**

Hey, ever parked and not paid?

You ever wonder if concrete has feelings?

Have you ever caught a big wave?

Ever put your arms up on a ride even when they tell you not to? You have haven’t you!

**CONVERSING/QUESTION RESPONSE**

That’s a rad way of putting it.. man I feel stupid

Totally, I should do that more

Yeah… well I mean, I’ve thought about it, like… a LOT

Whaat? Nooo. You need to open your mind more man.

Do you think before you speak or do you just say it. of course not

No,that’s for losers

DEFEAT

**DEFEAT- INDIVIDUAL**

So this is what losing feels like… gross

How but- I- but..

Oh man… I should go pawn my medals

**DEFEAT - TEAM**

Who even ARE we?!

Okay seriously, what gives you guys?

They so totally cheated!

DISGUSTED

Oh my god…. I think I’m gonna hurl

DONT HIT

Ouch! I’m not the person you’re supposed to hit

Hey I’m your buddy, don’t hit me dude!

EGGED

Aw man, and this shirt was SO CLEAN!

FIGHTING

**FIGHTING**

Oh it’s SO over!

I’m gonna knock your ass over to the West coast!

Come here and take it!

Oh the gloves are OFF

**KO**

Hhhhgh… nuuuuurse

Hey… I liked those teeth

I just hope… there were ladies watching

I’ll… be back for you later

Dude… everything’s spinning

**FIGHTING TOWNIE**

I’m going to KEEP you on welfare!

**FIGHTING GREASER**

Come on and try it Ponyboy

**INITIATING FIGHT**

Which hospital do you wanna get sent to?

No one steps to Harker

Consider this karma, jackass

GET OVER HERE

**FIGHTING NERD**

The force can’t save you now!

**FIGHTING PREP**

Get your surgeon on the phone!

**LOW BLOW**

Ow! I’m not even a dude and that was still so… emasculating

**SPAT ON**

Euuugh… brush your teeth dude

**WATCHING FIGHT**

Grapple! GRAPPLE!

Cmon man do something illegal, we aren’t cops!

CURB-STOMP HIM! YEAH!

**WARNING TO FIGHT**

Violence makes violence

This is NOT something you wanna get into

FIRE ALARM

Every time I get my hopes up that it’s a real fire… and every time its just some loser messing with the alarm

FLUSTERED

I- eheheh

Totally! So like… what’s going on?

Hey, we can work this out right?

FOOD FIGHT

Dude! Stop throwing that! It’s all that I can eat!

I heard banana is good for your hair… I wonder if it’s good at high speeds

GIFT

**GIFT RECEIVED**

Sweet! The first of many, Hopkins

Same time tomorrow Jimmy?

**REQUESTING BRIBE**

My dealer wants cash… cough up

You’ve got something in there to keep me from swinging, don’t you?

You’re in with all those preps… you’ve got something to keep me away from you, surely

**REQUESTING PAYMENT FOR HELP**

Sure, I can back you up. But you gotta pay up front

I can be mean if you gimme some green, Jimmy!

**BRIBE RECEIVED**

I knew you had a good brain in that noggin, Hopkins

Right on, you’re a good dude

I’ll be back soon as this runs dry

GIFT

Here, I got you a little something

GREETING

**GREETING**

Dude, hey!

Good to see you man

Hey you

**GREET-MALE AUTHORITY**

Hey sir

**GREET- FEM AUTHORITY**

Sup uhh… ma’am

**GREETING- LIKES CLOTHING**

Fresh threads? You’re looking better than ever

**GREETING A GIRL**

Hey mama, you into arts and crafts? I’m real good with scissors

**GREETING- LIKES HAT**

Sweet hat… I need it get me one of those

**GREETING- LIKES SHOES**

Radical shoes, man. Lookin’ swish

**GREETING- LIKES SHIRT**

Rockin shirt dude!

**GREETING- LIKES PANTS**

Those are some kickass pants

**GREETING- LIKES HAIR**

Gnarly haircut

Sweet mane dude, radical

Now that’s hair that’ll get you a scholarship!

**GREETING-LIKES TATTOO**

Sweet ink, I was thinking of getting something like that

Hey I know that style, we get our tats at the same place!

GROOMING

Oh Lenora Lenora Lenora you are such a stud.. man if I were a pretty girl I’d TOTALLY date you myself

Man my hair’s gettin’ pretty long… makes me miss home

HELP

**EXPLAINING REQUEST**

It’s as simple as this

Listen dude, all you need to do is…

**REQUESTING HELP**

Heyyy, just the dude I’m lookin’ for

I’m totally getting the vibe you wanna help me right now

INDIGNANT

Enough! I’m minding my business!

Ow! Un-called for

‘Hey! What’s your damage man!

INTIMIDATED GREETING

“Heyyyyyyy… uhhh bro

JEERING

Lame-o!

Poser!

Wimp!

JIMMY IN GIRLS DORM

Nice, man. Get some. Oh wait- I mean noooo you cant be in here dude

LAUGHING

**LAUGHING- CRUEL**

hah hah hah… aaaah that was SOO LAAME

**LAUGHING - FRIENDLY**

hahahaha dude, no more seriously! I’m cryin’ hehe

PAYBACK

Uuuuugh the next time I see him I’m gonna make him swallow his own intestines!

RAT THROWN

Mr whiskers! I thought Dr Slawter dissected you!

RESPONSE TO GREETING

**RESPONSE TO GREETING- DISS**

I am NOT talking to you until you…. fix whatever’s going on with your energy

Hey back OFF, I am not your friend, and I’m friends with everyone so… you’re kinda a douche

**RESPONSE TO GREETING- FRIENDLY**

Jimbo! What’s goin on little dude

Hey Jim, how’s it hangin?

Hopkins is innnnnn the building! And lookin fly

SCARED

Come on you don’t wanna hit a girl, right? RIGHT?!?!

Jimmy come on man, we’re tight!

I- that was.. I didn’t know what I was sayin man I was fried!

Please dont hit me.. I have a meet this weekend

SEEING

**SEES ALLY ATTACKED**

Hang tight little bro I’m comin for ya

Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!

**SEES SOMETHING COOL**

YOOOOOO Wicked!

WOOOAAAAH BITCHIN’

**SEES SOMETHING CRAPPY**

Man what a hunk of junk, it so lame I don’t even wanna think about it

I really had high hopes for that…. such a shame it was a pile of bullcrap

**SEEING VANDALISM**

What?! No dont touch that it’s my favourite thing!

Damn it damn it! So bogus, I loved that

**SEEING WEAPON FIRED**

Oh man that looks dangerous…. do it again

Wooohoooo! HEADS!!!

STINKBOMB

Euuugh smells like the gym after wresting practice

Ewww it’s like the visiting room in jail

STORE- BROWSING CLOTHING

No girl could resist me in these, it’d be a crime not to get em

Oof… how many people thought this was okay to sell?

SUCKING UP

Listen… I know a LOT of cheerleaders, Jim

We’re buddies Jimmy, aren’t we? ARENT WE?!

You’re a cool guy Hopkins… you respect women. I’m down with that.

TAG DISCOVERED

If you’re gonna ruin the architecture… at least spell the insult right

TATTLING

I’m very anti authority but this is like… serious

A little birdie told me that you were looking for..

TAUNTING

**TAUNTING**

Come over and do something!

Yeah right, loser!

Come at me, bro

Go ahead, make my day

LEEEEEEEEWZER

Little bitch!

Jergoff!

**TAUNTING- AGGRESSIVE**

I’m gonna break you down!

Open wide, I wanna play dentist!

Get ready the beating of a lifetime!

You shoulda read up on caskets!

**TAUNTING- BACKING DOWN**

Bad trip, my b, my b

Lesson learned, It’s cool

Okay kiddo, okay, I get it

**TAUNTING- HUMILIATING**

This is kinda sad… at least fight back dude

Yeeeeah that’ll teach you

You’re my bitch now, ya dig?

Come onnnnnn you know you wanted this

**TAUNTING- NEW KID**

Hey young blood, lemme welcome you the Bullworth way

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES CLOTHING**

You smell like a prep…gross

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES HAIRCUT**

Hey who cut your hair? that hobo?

Oh my god, were you awake in the salon? I hope not

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES HAT**

That hat is… brave

**TAUNTING- JIMMY IS EXPELLED**

I always knew there was something crooked about you, Hopkins.

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES PANTS**

Did you pay for those pants or did you find them on a corpse?

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES SHIRT**

How much did you pay for that shirt? whatever it was it was too much

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES SHOES**

Those shoes are… wow okay

**TAUNTING- DISLIKES TATTOO**

You let a blind guy with parkinson’s tattoo you

All that time in the chair and you couldn’t ask for something a little cooler?

**TAUNTING- LIKES CLOTHES**

Those are some gnarly threads, shame they’re on a dork

**TAUNTING RESPONSE- CRYING**

I just- I (SOBBING) I have a lot of dreams… and most of them are about women (MORE SOBBING)

**TAUNTING RESPONSE- DOESNT CARE**

Oh… you were talking to me?

I wonder if that townie girl is busy right now

Is this supposed to be threatening?

Man, I need a toke

**TAUNTING RESPONSE- AGGRESSIVE**

You got something to say, huh? HUH?

Stand by it, loser, say that again!

I’ve been itching for a chance to fix that bogus attitude

Come over here and do something about it!

Step up man. STEP UP.

Your ass is grass, Hopkins and NOT the fun kind

**TAUNT RESPONSE- BACKING DOWN**

I buh- I-I was just playing around

Man cmon man knock it off

I can dish it but i can’t take it, okay! I’m a wimp!

THIS WAY

Jimbo! This way man!

Did you hit your head or something? It’s this way!

THANKS JIMMY

You’re a good dude, thanks J.

SWIRLY

**AFTER BEING SWIRLED**

Aw man… worst wave of my life

You could’ve done this in the girls bathroom…. they’re so much (SOB) CLEANER

Total party foul…. not cool

**BEGGING NOT TO BE SWIRLIED**

Noooo cmon cmon this isn’t good for either of us!

THIS PIERCING IS NEW PLEASE DONT

The guys’ll leave you alone! I swear! Please don’t do this!

TRASH TALKING

**TRASH TALKING-PERSONAL**

Heyyyy lighten up, it’s character building!

I’ll send some flowers over for your casket

Cmon loser, it’s like a workout!

**TRASH TALKING- TEAM**

We’re jocks for a reason! Go home now!

I feel kinda bad for you guys.. comin’ in knowin’ you’re gonna like, lose

It’s cool we’re giving a chance to a less fortunate team.

THANK YOU

Yooooo, thank you!

VICTORY

**VICTORY- INDIVIDUAL**

That’s how it’s DONE! Check it!

Another one bites the dust.

Ain’t nothin’ new here, ladies.

**VICTORY- TEAM**

Hell yeah, RAIN DOWN THE PAIN

THATS MY BOYS. RIGHT ON

I’ve yet to meet an underdog we couldn’t smash

VICTIMISING

**VICTIMISED**

Oh please no! I’m so scared of you… hahah yeah right

Ohh…Get a life dude… such a buzzkill

**VICTIMISING**

hahahaha right on… I love playing rough!

You’re so funny! Do that scream thing again

If you struggle enough I might feel sorry for you…. probably not

WAIT FOR ME

Hopkins, wait up!

Slow down a little, I’m stiff!

WHINE

This is like… literally like… like… like the worst day ever!

WHAT IS THAT

Heyyyy that looks like… hang on, what is that?

TV TURNED OFF

No it’s fine whatever. Not like I was, like watching it. or anything

[word-scribbless]

Tattoo

Opie X female OC (Dakota/Kodi)

Summary: Opie and his love talk about her feeling towards his Donna tattoo (it’s very sweet and fluffy)

Note: It’s been FOREVER since I posted and this is a new character and show for me to post about. I have probably a hundred half written SOA fics (most about happy) but this one just really hit me as something I needed to post so enjoy!

-—-—-—-—-—-—————————

Kodi and opie lay in bed after an incredibly busy day and maybe finally in joying each other. She lay facing the man that never fails to make her smile and very satisfied. They had been together for almost 3 years now.

The first 2 they didn’t label what they were they just knew they needed and loved each other. Kodi was happy with that and it was what Opie needed then. After losing Donna and the mess that was how his relationship with Lyla ended, it was nice to just focus on the feelings not the expectations. I was Kenny and Ellie that finally pushed them to put a name to what they were.

The kids loved Kodi (or Koko and they lovingly named her) and her ability to add to their lives with out making things weird. A feat Opie was baffled by.

As they laid there Kodi began tracing her finger over his many tattoos as he watches her. Her finger trails over his tattoo of his wife with DONNA in beautiful through it. Asmile finds its way onto her face.

Ope breaks the post bliss silence “It never seems to bother you” she hears his deep voice rasp. Kodi’s eyes meet his and answers “It doesn’t. I like that you have it” she says lazily bringing a slightly confused smile to her biker’s face. “Why?” He can’t help but ask. Now it’s Kodi’s turn to look confused, thinking it’s obvious. “She’s a part of you opie, and this perfectly shows that.” She runs her fingers over the tattoo again. “She’s a part of this family and your life that should never and will never go away.” She tells him before adding, “Selfishly I like that I see a glimps of how you saw her and what she is to you.”

Opie can’t help the smile her words cause as he continues to listen to the woman in his arms. “I know I don’t really know her, or have the right to, but I’m thankful for all that you and the kids choose to share with me. “How are you real?” Opie whispers as he cups her cheek in his hand leaning to kiss her forehead in the way she loves.

Kodi only answers with a smile and small smirk before Opie recalls “I didn’t want to let you in at first…didn’t want you near the memory of her.” She sees the hurt of his past and slight guilt in his face.

Kodi nods kisses his nose. “I know and that was okay too… I’m honored to know what I do, but she’s yours and the kids fully. My only goal is to keep her memory alive for all of you, that doesn’t have to include me” she declares honestly.

Opie chuckled and said “you showed me pretty quick I could trust you with her.”

Causing Kodi to smile, and tear up just a little, knowing how much that statement meant from him.

They lay there snuggled for a few more minutes before opie says, “Do you ever get jealous?”

Kodi shrugs “Jealousy is a natural reaction… I think it’s more that I worry I won’t be enough for you guys.” She admits. “You had the love of your life, those beautiful kids had thier mom. I’m okay not being those things. I’m your Kodi and their koko and that’s exactly who I wanna be. Sometimes my brain just tells me you need more than I’ll ever be. But I’m never jealous of her or her memory.” She says looking up at the man she loves from his chest.

He brushes her hair from her cheek and says “Dakota there is no one on this planet as good for us as you.“ before pulling her up for a kiss and whispering, “I love you so much.”

“I love you” Kodi whispers back.

Opie, still holding her cheek says “i dont want you to not feel like you have my whole heart or aren’t the love of my life.” He says thinking about how much he loves knowing he has all of her.

She surprises him with a beaming smile before confidently saying “I’m a love of your life and I’m happy with that. Plus if I’m sharing your heart I’m glad it’s with Donna, she sounds like she was a badass and incredible mom”

They both are smiling now as Opie answers “she was”, enjoying the fact that this woman in front of him can embrace the first woman he loved.

“She will always be a welcome topic and presence in this life I share with you,and I will forever leave space for her.” Kodi says before reaching to run her hand over his tattoo again “So that’s why the tattoo doesn’t upset me. I want you to always have her.” Opie’s smile somehow turns serious and loving at the same time before kissing her and saying “I don’t know what I did to deserve you”. Kodi smiles while answering “you loved me” again this lips.

“always.” Opie tells her before Kodi adds “forever” before pulling him back into a kiss.

[catamaurrr-star]

putting genshin characters in hsr part 1 - xingqiu

first of all, types. there is no water type in hsr so we gotta think of something else. the other 2 characters in hsr that do water things but arent water are bailu and dhil, but we can probably go farther than just lightning or imaginary for xq. for this i will be turning xq into an ice character

now onto the path. at first you would probably think harmony cause hes a support. and that would make sense. if he was harmony i think he would have some sort of robin thing going on with additional damage. but i think his water swords would be better suited as follow up attacks, and well. harmony characters typically arent meant to do damage themselves (robin is a weird exception). also he's mostly a support cause he can provide good hydro application for elemental reactions and we dont have that in hsr so i propose a different path. either hunt or nihility. but not really a dot nihility

now, whether he's hunt or nihility, the basic attack is the same as most other characters. just some okay ice damage to a single target

the skill is where it gets interesting though. in genshin he does some hydro dmg and puts some rain swords around your character, applying hydro to nearby enemies, reduces dmg taken and increases resistance to interruption, and with one of his ascension buffs, heals your character a little bit when one of them shatters or its duration expires. i think i will turn this into a slightly more powerful ice single target skill that can remove 1 buff on an enemy. kinda like pela. if he's hunt then it would do more damage. and as for the healing it can do i'll address that later

as for the burst/ult! in genshin he summons a bunch of rain swords that do hydro dmg when one of your characters does a normal attack. im turning this into an enhance ult for hunt xq that, whenever one of your other characters is hitting an enemy that is weak to xingqiu's element with a basic attack, he will do a follow up attack to that enemy. this can only be triggered 6 times which feels like a lot but considering the weakness requirement i think its fineee

for nihility xqs ult it would also be an enhance ult that whenever one of your characters hits an enemy with a basic attack, he does a little bit of additional dmg and either applies some sort of vulnerability/def down debuff that cant stack or reduces enemy toughness by a little bit regardless of the enemies actual weaknesses. debuff lasts for 3 turns and the ult itself would last 2 turns, based on xq's actions like ruan mei

for major traces for hunt xq, his 2nd ascension one would just be a 10-20% ice dmg boost like his a4 passive. his 4th ascension one would be that hitting enemies with ice weakness heals xq by like 5-10% of his hp. 6th ascension gets a little tricky because there is no 6th ascension passive in genshin so we gotta think about this one. i think im just gonna steal his c6 and make every 3rd follow up attack do a bit more damage and regenerate like 5 energy for xq

nihility xqs traces get a little different. 2nd ascension would be like a 10% ice dmg bonus i guess. 4th ascension would heal the current character if his ult is up and theyre hitting an enemy with ice weakness by like 3-5% i dont wanna make it too op. 6th ascension would be stolen from his c2 and his ults additional dmg attacks would reduce enemy ice res by like 10% in addition to the other debuff they put on but this one would last 2 turns only

for synergies: i think hunt xq would work well with sw for the weakness implant and maybe topaz as well due to his ults fuas. nihility xq would work well with harmony tb/ruan mei for quick weakness breaks/super breaks or acheron for letting any support put on debuffs even though acheron cant really make use of the ice res reduction cause shes lightning

anyways yippeeeee ^_^ thats it

[mottlemoth]

So I’ve been hiding a lot. I’m really sorry. Being back on Tumblr makes me feel like it’s fine to share some of this - I’m sorry if it’s weird to hear - I’m just having a tough time and I need to be honest.

Various things are happening to me in real life at the moment. It’s been one thing after another, and there’s more to come. Usually I turn to fandom for a support structure and an escape from stress, but I’m realising that sense of comfort has been missing from my life for a few weeks now.

I came to OFMD from a small rarepair with a very close and very supportive community. I absolutely wasn’t prepared for the kind of things I’ve experienced in the last few months on Twitter. The OFMD community there has a lot of problems right now, one of the most worrying being a lethal lack of awareness that fan writers are fans. We’re writing for fun, sharing our work for free. But we’re being ripped apart by people who’ve had years of practice at criticising showrunners for creative decisions they don’t approve of. The abuse is largely motivated by jealousy - any author who picks up too much kudos or appears on too many rec lists becomes the next target, and it’s usually cloaked under a false banner of social justice. It’s happening over and over again. It’s transparent and it’s exhausting, and the things being used to justify the abuse are so tenuous that I often can’t believe what my actual eyes are reading. I’ve been accused of misogyny for writing Edward ‘Shoot-The-People-Who-Teased-Me’ Teach as reacting emotionally, therefore “female-coding” him, therefore sexism. I don’t know how to cope in this kind of environment.

I’ve been through endless rounds of coaxing myself to try to relax - to forget about the paranoia and the toxicity, and shut up and get on with writing because I have a duty to finish this fic and everyone’s waiting for the next chapter and if I don’t hurry up and post it then I’ll get Tumblr messages saying “when can we expect the next chapter” and - suddenly I realise, wait. I’m not actually obliged to do any of this.

This is my hobby.

I am 100% allowed to stop doing this at any point I want to.

“But you have a duty to the people who’ve--”

Look, I get that this isn’t something anyone wants to hear, but... no. I don’t. I’m an exhausted thirty-something sitting in her pyjamas after work, having a cry because my hobby somehow turned into a full-time job on top of my already miserable full-time job. AO3 writers don’t have a duty to do what they’re doing. Fanworks are literally a gift of time and energy from a complete stranger. I’d love to be able to ignore the people being abusive towards writers, but I can’t. And, again - this is my hobby. I’m not obliged to ignore the abuse and just get on with the task. If I’m upset, I’m allowed to stop. (Let’s say I joined a knitting club. Let’s say some of the members were routinely vicious and awful to anyone who got “too good” at knitting, and none of the other members ever hit them with any consequences for their behaviour. I don’t have a duty to stick around at Toxic Knitting Club, even if I never finished that pair of socks I started. If the club cares about its own survival, then it needs to make the environment feel safe and welcoming. It can’t just expect people to ignore the nastiness.)

OP, I blanked your name and pfp from this message because I don’t want you to get grief. But I’ve searched for your username in my email inbox, and found that this is the first time you’ve ever spoken to me. You’ve never reached out to chat or be kind or make friends, but you’ve reached out to prod me when you think that I’m being tardy with delivery of your content. Chapters 1 to 43 appeared at least once a week, sometimes twice or even three times a week. Did it cross your mind that maybe there’s a reason why chapter 44 hasn’t dropped yet? Did you think, something must be wrong, maybe I should ask if they’re okay? No, you just came to bang on the vending machine. I’m sorry if this is an uncomfortable lesson to learn, but the writers in your fandom aren’t staff. We’re guests. Tonight, when I get home from work, I have the option to run a long bath, have a cry and play The Sims until I fall asleep, or the option to sit down at my desk and write something for you, even though I might get harassed and bullied for it. You haven’t tipped the scales in the direction you meant to.

I don’t know how to even begin concluding this post.

I’ve been struggling ever since I was dogpiled back in September. I feel very lonely and very tired. Twitter is an awful bloody website and it’s structured around division and argument. I’ve been feeling better since I came back to Tumblr. My breaks at work are now spent scrolling through pretty GIFs or cool meta or funny things about Izzy, rather than drama, and it’s helping. So... I don’t know, OP. Don’t start being like this here. I’m fighting so hard to find reasons to stay in OFMD. Life is rough at the minute, and I want to spend my free time feeling happy and safe with people who see me as a friend, not a vending machine. I’m doing everything a professional writer does, but for no pay, with no protection or support from a publisher, and I’m fitting it around a full-time job. That’s... well, that’s the situation. That’s the situation all your fan writers are in, however well they seem to be handling it. It’d be great if you could reflect on that.

TLDR; this is my hobby, and I work on my hobby when it feels fun.

[mrs-monaghan]

https://twitter.com/stopkookminpls/status/1655639252066250752

What didn't go as planned ? What was his plan to begin with ? The plan which made only JM to whip his neck and JK to stare like that ?

Tweet

That has always been quite funny to me actually. I don't think it was anything sexual or spending alone time together though, because 1) Like i already mentioned before, the cameras aren't always rolling guys. They get left to their devices all the time. They have set times for shooting. And 2) I believe JK was sleeping with Jimin and then in the morning he would go back to the boat house for shooting.

Of course I'll explain why. What do you take me for? 🤨 Let's go back to the beginning.

Episode 1. Jimin says he will sleep in that room

JK immediately goes to check out the room

Mans even lays on the bed. What's he doing there? Testing the mattress? 🤔 I just find it really interesting that JK is so keen on Jimin's room.

Episode 3 they discuss rooms and RM reminds everyone that Jimin already chose one for himself

V says he will share that room with Jimin. Jimin says "okay" so RM is like. Its settled then. Vmin are roommates.

Okay so the top photo 👇🏽 is V going to settle into the room he will be sharing with Jimin.

The bottom photo 👆🏽 is him packing his stuff when BTS had to leave ITS for a bit

So just so we're clear: Vmin were roommates.

So, here is the big question ladies and gentlemen. How come, V spent the whole season as Jhope's roommate?

Thats where he slept all season. With Jhope. He never once spent the night with Jimin. Even though that was his room too and all his shit was there. He never moved his stuff that's another thing that confuses me 😂 his stuff stayed in his and Jimin's room but he slept with Jhope the entire time.

And that's not even the best part. One time he comes to get JK for lunch. As soon as he walks in he looks at the camera. I am always on high alert when members look at the cameras. And Jikook especially do this ALOT. Anyway, V looks straight at the cam

And then... and then... here is a weird question to ask someone you just found inside his room.

Where else was he supposed to sleep V?? Isn't that his room? Everyone and their mom knew JK was staying at the boat house. You cuddled him in the damn boathouse, you knew that's where he slept so why you asking him V? Where else is he supposed to sleep? Where did u think he would be? Is it maybe the room you said you would sleep in but somehow never do? Why don't you sleep with Jimin V? I thought he was your roommate?

Like I said anon, JK saying things didn't go as planned was not because they couldn't spend time together. I think they were doing plenty of that. So it has to be something else. Maybe it has to do with the mosquito net incident, like OP is suggesting.

Bonus:

So Jimin was missing and JK had also disappeared. Thanks for letting us know editors.🤭🤭🤭

Jikook were sleeping in the same room ITS 1 ladies and gentlemen

[baby-xemnas]

the weirdness and unconventionality of lawbepo are major charm points to me tbh!💕 i also really love how lawbepo elevates law’s character! it’s not that i didn’t like law before, but to be honest, i feel that a weakness of the character is that he is easily put into the “stoic badass with a tragic past and a secret heart of gold” stereotype. which is cool and fun, and it’s obviously a popular trope for a reason, but every anime/manga has this type of character tbh, and if nothing more is done with them, they can be kinda generic and one note. and it’s especially hard if the character is a side character, so it’s unlikely the creator will spend more time with them. unless it’s like for fanservice or something. so i like these types of characters but i don’t usually love them because of that.

that was how i used to feel about law, i liked him and thought his design was cool but that’s it. but everything is different now- like maybe it sounds insane to say, but considering “what if that bear is not just law’s vice captain, but also his first love from childhood? his babygirl? his ride-or-die wife?” has seriously like opened my third eye when it comes to law tbh lol, and i have you and your incredible art to thank for that! 🙏❤️‍🔥💕💯🔥✨

YOU PRETTY MUCH WENT THRU THE SAME JOURNEY AS MYSELF AND I LOVE THAT

yes so true all that....law by himself is only okay, yes hes sexy so ppl are crazy abt shipping him with whoever the fuck

but i really love when a sexy and intelligent character is WEIRD and its ignored by those around them cuz they are hot.

i like to bring him up cuz it was such a great discovery idk maybe someone will relate - i had that moment with akaashi haikyuu cuz i was like sure whatever, he is cute and bokuaka is FINE but when akaashis obsessive controlling calculative nature was revealed i had a real 💡!!! moment abt it and fell so hard for the character and the ship. like of you are pretty and WEIRD AF abt bokuto. gaslight gatekeepe girlboss. a dumbass' manipulative psycho boyfriend. perfect

and with Law honestly i cant commend japanese artists enough who saw Bepo day ONE and saw the potential of Law being very particular (pervert) about his bear - drawing dozens of comics of Law bleeding from the nose because Bepo is That cute. THEY REALLY HAD HIS NUMBER i meanwhile needed more convincing cuz im too canonfaggy to live off of Just the intro and the hug (all we had at the point where i got into op first) yes the hug was monumental and parially made up for the PH and DR lack of Bepo and having to tolerate the stupidity and insult of "law is gonna join SH/law is a honorary SH" no he wont, is not. die????

anyway yes it took me more fanservice to be like oh So we really ARE putting Law's softness for Bepo as one of the core characteristics? Not just a passing occasional thing like the hug was? Okay. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

weird is great weird is enriching and its fucking phenomenal that it's Just bepo. Not just cute things even tho he does love them - Bepo being a whole Person that gets Law's cuteness dokis in a bunch is soooooo sus and charming

idk how other Law fans see it but i dont think Law loving cuteness and fluff like the Onigiri moment - would be enough, its too circumstantial. But Bepo.... Bepo is always there, making Law better by being his spoiled rotten softie baby angel

sorry if my train of thought is all over the place. Thank you so much for the ask you the real one ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[azumasoroshi]

guess who just watched summertime rendering (it's really good)

guys what the FUCK

(spoilery-review stuff will be below the cut but tldr: summertime rendering is really good, subverted a lot of my expectations, gorgeous animation, keeps you on your toes and has smart characters and good writing, just try not to cringe too hard at some of the haha boobs/haha panties jokes i swear there's not too many)

okay funny story. i got interested in this anime literally yesterday because one of my favorite channels was analyzing its ending song by chance

and i was like oh it's like anohana but a murder mystery? interesting premise. doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's good, the animation looks pretty at least, but it's 25 episodes and my attention span kinda sucks...

and i see the main girl in a swimsuit and im like alright. the second there's a really weird zoom on her chest im out

(my live thought process pictured below)

and the first shot or so was of the swimsuit girl (ushio) without any weird zooms so i was like okay hey we're in the clear so far

AND THEN

one minute ten seconds. dawg. that actually has to be a record of some sort

and i was 🤏this close to dropping the anime but i really wanted to see the dark horrifying stuff so i continued anyway

like. maybe that's a one off joke. maybe they wont do it again and that was just to get weirdos to be like AYYY and keep watching. maybe there is hope

there was no hope.

but i hung on anyway because right after that was the OP and it looked really interesting mostly because there were no anime visuals at all until the very end

which was. shinpei being a little bit silly. little but quirky. vibing persona 3 style baby baby baby baby baby baby baby

so yeah i decided to keep watching until the end of the first episode despite my apprehension because i just. wanted to see the dark shit go down. uaghhhhhh

and i kept watching EVEN THROUGH the clear insinuation that the mc's adopted sister was in love with him and that the mc was in love with his other adopted sister and the police officer was looking at porn in public and then FINALLY

FINALLY

(major + ending spoilers start here)

they killed my favorite character.

and then they killed the younger sister and then they killed the MAIN CHARACTER AND I WAS LIKE DAWGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

like i was expecting it to be dark but i didnt expect them all to straight up die on screen with blood splatters n everything :sob: wasnt expecting the time loop either

like. you gon have this gorgeous animation just to make the characters' deaths that much more brutal. holy fuck

i realized the other anime this reminded me of. this anime is a anohana x kagerou project crossover. thats fuckin crazy i kinda dig it

people also compare it to re:zero which is fair cuz it has the time travel, the unexpected brutality, the short haired girl who gets rejected in favor of the long haired girl (lmao) i just like kagerou project more

it somehow didnt connect the first time that it wasn't mio and i was like huh i wonder why they suddenly skipped time

and then when this scene rolled around for the second time i literally like. it hit me so fast and i was like FUCK. i was like genuinely terrified help

and then she started stabbing the ever loving shit out of totsumura and i was like oh okay! guess i dont have to wait in suspense for what she'll do at the very least

and then she stabbed shinpei in the throat and i was like OH OKAY

that scene also terrified me cuz like the phone call happening while the killer is nearby is a classic horror trope but like. i dont watch horror usually. that's my worst nightmare

it was on his third death that shinpei really started to shine for me as a protagonist because like. he's smart. notably so! it was really nice because the classic horror starts to fade away at this point and everything becomes a giant chess match

fair enough though cuz bro was like "LMAO NAH I REFUSE TO DIE AGAIN THAT SHIT PAINFUL AS FUCK" (and then repeatedly died a bunch more anyways)

it's interesting that his whole "take a step back" thing is like. a trauma response too. we love dissociation representation lmfao

shinpei was also really quick to adapt to everything and it took a LOT of shit going down to make him finally lose his composure, but he gets back in it and doesnt waste time and it was really refreshing because yknow anime (and the horror genre in general) with its overdramatic clueless protagonists

and also!!

i immediately pegged sou as the loud dumbass yosuke/ryuji type (i love them and their depth, im talking about surface level) best friend who wingmans for shinpei and immediately gets sus of shinpei and gets killed first n shit

but that was my bad like damn sou was a really good character

to be fair this was his first introduction

and the line "I should tell Sou everything" with a shot of the sky is REALLY FUCKING OMINOUS, so i feel like that was a bit of a bait and switch on the author's part lmfao

i stopped taking screenshots around this point so ill just talk about a bunch of parts that stood out to me pff

HIZURU MINAKATA MY BELOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

she's so autistic and so smart and so just. god. i love her

AND RYUUNOSUKE IS BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

i literally wanted to cry seeing him in the ending like dawggggggg he's SO cute id marry him no questions asked

he and hizuru were my favorites along with nezu because badass old man SLAYS

i also surprisingly really liked ushio lmao i thought she'd be like the usual manic pixie dream girl and then just based on her being in a swimsuit but like. she was honestly a joy as a character lmfao

like. her being the biggest powerhouse next to hizuru? did not see that coming, we love a girlboss!! and she's also smart and forward-thinking despite the airheaded vibes so like damn. good character! i really liked what little we got to see of the real ushio interacting with her shadow too, it was a nice bit of character building + it was funny lmao

mio was the only character other than shide that i just straight up did not like lmfaosgkjhsjg the whole "im in love with my stepbrother" was just. fuckin. weird to me from the start and you have no idea how fucking relieved i was that shinpei didn't accept her confession or get with her at the end

of course it's like. not any better that he got with his other stepsister. but like mio was more annoying so it's fine (😭)

she ended up being a damsel in distress who didnt really do anything up until the school fight where she still didnt do much, and with how much ushio emphasized "protect mio" you'd think she' have some sort of plot relevance but nope she just. thought about her brother a lot and confessed after 20 episodes and got rejected and cried

it's like all the buildup to her confession was PURELY to buildup for the ACTUAL confession which was shinpei telling her that he was in love with ushio

which is lame

like jesus her shadow had more plot relevance than her. i literally liked her shadow more than her like ????????

tokiko was a good character though i liked the "i didnt dirty my hands for this" foreshadowing and also her being a lesbian was an unexpected surprise that i liked lmfao she's a fuckin real one for still encouraging mio to be with shinpei despite being madly in love with mio. what the hell was that "i want her to see all of me" line like girl????

shide was a good smart villain, he kinda started getting cheesy typical anime villain by the end but by that point the anime was pretty firmly in the action/strategy genre and relying a lot less on the horror/mystery part so it was alright

i did love the talk he and shinpei had about video games and the FF7 namedrop was hilarious lmfao

it was cool how they had the callback to him being a video game nerd during the first fireworks festival with that 2d 3d king thing

absolutely despise him for what he did to hiruko though like. ew.

i didnt really get why hiruko deadass reverted into this weird lookin baby thing at the end but like haise was cute i liked her

didnt understand how they literally changed history either but i guess the magic eyes are like "fuck time lmao all my homies hate time" so oh well, i guess it works

the ending was really a full on "everybody lives and is happy" type deal but like. i didnt even mind man i was literally ecstatic seeing hizuru's boobs again like holy shit. you know you're watching a weird ass anime when you start crying at the fucking fanservice scenes like ohhhh my god

and like goddammit they deserve happiness

although. i was a bit pissed that they brought ushio back to life. like yeah she deserved to be brought back and yeah i do love her but rip the themes of grief and regret i guess

the show was never really about grief so i get why she was brought back but like ueeeuueueuueuee the whole "i don't want to do anything i'll regret again (including leaving ushio before we had the chance to say goodbye) so i have to keep moving forward" was really good character stuff and hrekjajsghjhsg i guess it paid off at the end???

whatever ill take getting hizuru and ryuunosuke back no matter the narrative costs

anyway yeah really good anime, definitely exceeded my expectations (which were pretty low to be fair though), i did watch all 25 episodes within 24 hours so i might be a little insane

[simplysedusa]

In Defense of Elmer

Le sigh.

I didn't want to make a separate post to this, but my response was too long to reblog it with the original post. This post is a response to the "I Hate Elmer" post made by @puffskeeter , linked here.

This isn't a post made to attack OP,  to cancel them, and/or to call them out. I'm not even asking OP to delete it. This is just me critiquing their post and the problems I have with it.

So I'll start by saying, I completely disagree with a majority of it. Originally, I was not gonna say anything and just go on about my merry way, but this post is just completely unfair and it leaves nasty implications that I feel need to be addressed.

"Yeah i really hate this kid ngl... I despise that his only real personality traits are being autistic coded and eating glue."

1. Does anyone know why kids eat glue? Or more specifically, why Elmer eats glue? FUN FACT: kids usually don't eat glue because they can. He could've been curious, he could be addicted to it, he could see eating glue as a way to rebel or seek attention, he could have other issues like pica. While I don't condone eating glue, there are plenty of reasons why kids could potentially eat glue. Any one of these reasons could be used to build off of Elmer's character. It's a weird talking point, I know, but it's a place to start.

2. What gives off the impression that Elmer is "autistic coded"? What traits have Elmer shown the audience to hint that he could be portrayed as someone with autism? He doesn't seem to struggle with social cues. He has no problem maintaining eye contact. We don't see him struggle to understand emotions. We don't ever see him get over-stimulated over "mundane things". And he doesn't seem to have any special interests. I understand that autism is a spectrum and not a "one size fits all", but the only traits I could maybe see Elmer having to be considered autistic would be his trouble communicating/shyness and his weird eating habits. But the reason he's quiet and shy and hesitant to speak in "Paste Makes Waste" isn't because he's autistic; it's because he's being BULLIED. He's trying not to be perceived by Mitch and the rest of the class, and because he's being bullied, he's struggling with self-esteem. The fact that he eats glue in ONE EPISODE, as I've stated previously, could be for a number of reasons other than autism. There's nothing wrong with headcanoning that Elmer is autistic, but the only reason OP seems to think Elmer is autistic coded is because he's "weird" and "alone". And that's not okay.

3. The episode, "Paste Makes Waste" is around 15-20 minutes long, there's only so much they could do with Elmer to make some random kid "the one-off villain of the day" and have it make sense.

"... But its also just a complete rewrite of his character while keeping his design similar. IDK i just think it would serve a better purpose if ppl used a different character as the "Nerdy friend" instead of Elmer because of how badly "Paste makes Waste" handled his character.

4. You stated earlier that you despised Elmer because he had no personality. But here, you're stating that you don't like when the small handful writers (because let's be honest, not many people tend to include Elmer in their fics to begin with) try to make him more than the paste eater from kindergarten. See how hypocritical that sounds? He was five years old, is anyone the same person they were when they were five? Would it be more realistic if he just sat around eating glue for the entirety of the fic so he'd "stay in character"? Should Mitch continue torturing small animals for the hell of it? Should the Powerpuff Girls only wear their signature colors and similar dresses for the rest of their lives? Is no one allowed to change who they are and grow as a person? There is a discussion to be had about writing characters OOC, but the post said earlier that Elmer had no personality to begin with, so how could he be OOC if he isn't much of a character to begin with?

5. Why police how people write certain characters? Am I saying Elmer was the best written character in the entire franchise? Of course not. But that doesn't mean people can't try to write fresh interpretations of him, or attempt to fix him if someone has the same problems with Elmer's character like this post does.

"... But i hate Elmer's episode because "imaginary Fiend" (the Episode about Mike Believe) has the exact same message with a similar character idea (Autistic coded and socially awkward/ excluded) but actually manages to NOT present mike as dangerous or disgusting like "Paste makes Waste" does with Elmer."

6. To say that "Imaginary Fiend" and "Paste Makes Waste" have the exact same message is such a fallacy. And to compare Mike to Elmer in this manner is so unfair.

For starters, Mike was never bullied. Alienated, sure, but for a very different reason. Mike was the new kid, and he chose to isolate himself from the rest of the class. He was laughed at for "talking to himself" and having an "imaginary friend", yes, but being laughed at and bullied are not the same. There's no evidence to suggest that any of the students dislike Mike for any particular reason. In fact, on multiple occasions, Mike's peers have been portrayed to be open-minded and accepting of new students/people in their classroom  They welcomed the Powerpuff Girls in open arms in the movie, several students invited Princess Morbucks to play with them on multiple occasions in "Stuck Up, Up and Away" despite her snooty rejections, and they (with the exception of the Powerpuff Girls) didn't bat an eye at Mr. Green when he substituted for Ms. Keane in "Substitute Creature". Initially, Mike has no reason to resent his peers or hold any sort of grudge against them, he's just shy. Mike also doesn't have an antagonistic role (or an active role tbh) in his episode like Elmer does in his, so it's evident to see that Mike is potrayed in a much better light than Elmer was.

Once again, the term "autistic coded" is used to describe Elmer and now, Mike. And once again, the only real trait Mike has to suggest he might be autistic would be his trouble with communicating with others. Once again, just because someone has trouble communicating with others does not mean they are autistic. It's not uncommon for any five year old kid to be nervous in a new setting where they don't know anyone. And to suggest he has trouble communicating with others is a stretch in itself, he had no problems talking to Patches, or telling Ms. Keane who Patches was, and how Patches was disrupting the classroom and essentially framed by him.

The lessons learned at the end of Elmer's episode were that bullying is wrong, don't fall into peer pressure, and learn when to apologize. There isn't much of a lesson to Mike's episode.

Mike's episode looks better on paper, as well, but they do not have the same message. "Imaginary Fiends" is about a guy who's too shy to make friends, so he makes his own imaginary friend come to life, who causes trouble for his classmates. Meanwhile, "Paste Makes Waste" is about a boy who's being bullied, who mutates into a glue monster and uses his new found power to retaliate against the bullies and takes his anger out against other innocent bystanders. There is something to be said about Elmer's episode and the parallels you can draw about this episode and the current political climate in regards to school shootings. But to reiterate, Elmer is 5 or 6 years old at best. It's their first year of schooling ever, these kids are just learning how to read, write, and arithmetic. He doesn't know how to properly process his emotions, nor does he have the life experience needed to know how to handle being bullied for what likely is his first time. And Elmer's shown to be remorseful at the end of the fight and toward the end of the episode, to be quite honest, you could just chalk it up to a kindergarten having a temper tantrum.

Speaking of dangerous, no one saw Elmer as such until he attacked the students, which to be honest, is fair enough. He attached the twins to a plane mid-flight, stuck Mitch on the top of the school flagpole, and wrecked havoc all throughout Townsville. Once he calmed down from hearing Buttercup's apology, the threat was eliminated. If we were still supposed to see Elmer as dangerous afterwards, they wouldn't have bothered showing us a scene of a monstrous Elmer helping rebuild the city. Townsville has no qualms with arresting five year olds, if Elmer was as dangerous as you claim, he'd be behind bars.

And while eating glue is gross, it's rather tame compared to the other, more disgusting moments in the show. Buttercup doesn't bathe for days in "Down 'N Dirty", the Rowdyruff Boys were created in a prison toilet and used their Chemical X enhanced flatulence to knock out the girls in their debut episode, there's the nightmare fuel that is "Cootie Gras", Bubbles eats a roach in "Bubble Boy", and the army of roaches in "Insect Inside".

I could keep going, but I won't because this is long enough. In conclusion, this wasn't made to suddenly make anyone like Elmer. It's completely fine if people don't like him or anyone else (assuming it's not discriminatory), just be honest as to why. To claim that Elmer (and to a lesser extent, Mike) is "autistic coded" because he's ostracized and weird (and for you to say that you don't like him because you believe he is that way), is very harmful to people with autism. Had this post just been OP stating their opinions and beliefs as to why they don't like Elmer, I wouldn't have been bothered by it. But to attempt to hide personal, biased thoughts behind the notion that the show forces us to think of Elmer this way is deceitful. And to put Mike on a pedestal, who's objectively seen as a better character morally, just to shit on Elmer is cheap.

[suffersinfandom]

Okay, so I usually try to stay out of discourse and drama and all of that because I'm here to have a nice time, but I saw a post in the OFMD tag after the whole Blackbonnet/Stucky poll thing that I really need to type about. It's just... so bad. Like, I totally get disliking things (I dislike things too!), and I understand that OFMD isn't everyone's thing, but wow. WOW. Um.

While the first part's annoying (point to the tumblr fandom that has absolutely no one in it with a victim complex, please), what I really take issue with is the last bit -- the assertion that OFMD's cast diversity is there to be "inclusive" and "progressive" when the narrative isn't. That's just not true? One of the reasons for OFMD's popularity IS its inclusiveness! People who have never seen themselves represented in a show finally *see themselves* in some of these characters, and I think that's lovely. And the show has a wonderfully diverse crew behind the scenes and in the writing room as well!

As for "the narrative being the opposite"... all I can do is assume that OP never bothered watching OFMD. It's the most genuinely, earnestly inclusive and progressive piece of media I've ever consumed.

The acting in OFMD isn't stylistically different from any other show I've watched. The situations and lines are often comedic, Stede and Ed are definitely prone to dramatics, and plenty of the characters are pathetic (affectionate), but this is such a weird critique. Or maybe I just haven't picked anything up from a lifetime of watching media and being a massive dorkass theater nerd? Idk. Maybe they just think the show itself is cringe (I certainly don't think it is, but that's something I've seen plenty of folks who dislike it say) and that colors their opinion on the acting?

Also: where's the slavery apologism? As many other people have said, there's definitely room for good faith criticism of OFMD: its tendency to gloss over the existence of slavery, the rom-comification of real, historic slaveowners, etc, but there's no apologia in the text of the show. (Correct me if I'm wrong! I'm very white and will defer to others here.)

I'm gonna need some sources. I've seen the various accusations, but never evidence or anything that couldn't potentially be explained with context. (I don't actually take much issue with this point -- it's not a crime to think someone's annoying -- I just don't understand the constant vilification of Taika.)

"REAL gay piracy," lol. I can't say much about Black Sails since I haven't watched it (tbh it doesn't sound like something I'd be able to enjoy), but I haven't seen that much seriousness in the OFMD fandom. Do I have all of the annoying crewmates blocked? Do y'all feel like you have a lot to prove? I personally only became invested in this poll when I saw the death threats from Stucky folks, and my impression from my timeline is that most everyone else was in the same boat.

If you ARE taking these polls to heart, please don't! They're for fun (sometimes petty) fandom drama! Win or lose, we all love our ships and our communities and we really don't need to prove anything to anyone (I say, typing out a response to a thing that got under my skin, resolutely not touching grass).

THIS is where I had to start typing. WHAT DOES IT MEAN. How is a show with multiple canon queer couples gaybaiting? Isn't "canon gaybait" an oxymoron, or has the meaning changed? (I'm old, genuinely lmk if my millennial ass is missing something.) Again, I can only assume that OP either hasn't watched OFMD or hates fun romcoms, because the gayness of it all isn't the only thing the show has to offer. My brainworms have better taste than that.

It's some of the best gay rep I've ever seen and I would be delighted to see better! I mean it! I've been in queer circles for almost two decades and in fandom even longer; OFMD is some of the best, kindest, most loving, genuine representation I've come across in that time. I truly hope that it's just the beginning of a new era in media.

"Weak fandom output." I am *drowning* in fandom output and I love that for me! "Driest gay kiss." I'm sorry you don't like awkward middle-aged men who think they're unlovable coming together in what might very well be the first loving kiss either of them has ever had, but I think it's very sweet and moving! No fictional characters have ever owned my brain like this before! I love my silly traumatized queer pirates who can't communicate to save themselves. They're very beautiful to me.

Anyway, that's enough of that. I've released the pettiness and I'm going to go back to being annoying about seeing the lads again in just a few more days. <3