#otherwise I'll just be blocking stupid people

[gnometa233]

Why is it ALWAYS the people who aren't lesbians saying shit like "why can't lesbians and bisexuals just get along :((. We have bigger things to fight for! Bisexual lesbians aren't hurting anybody" like okay! We get it! Yall hate lesbians and hate when we have our own words to discuss our experiences and attraction! You can't stand it when we exist because it reminds you that you don't have to center men! You think that all ~queer women~ can just be flattened down into one homogenous group! Well guess what! We can't! Holy fucking shit just mind your own buisness and stay away from lesbians

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Demon-haunted computers are back, baby

Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.

As a science fiction writer, I am professionally irritated by a lot of sf movies. Not only do those writers get paid a lot more than I do, they insist on including things like "self-destruct" buttons on the bridges of their starships.

Look, I get it. When the evil empire is closing in on your flagship with its secret transdimensional technology, it's important that you keep those secrets out of the emperor's hand. An irrevocable self-destruct switch there on the bridge gets the job done! (It has to be irrevocable, otherwise the baddies'll just swarm the bridge and toggle it off).

But c'mon. If there's a facility built into your spaceship that causes it to explode no matter what the people on the bridge do, that is also a pretty big security risk! What if the bad guy figures out how to hijack the measure that – by design – the people who depend on the spaceship as a matter of life and death can't detect or override?

I mean, sure, you can try to simplify that self-destruct system to make it easier to audit and assure yourself that it doesn't have any bugs in it, but remember Schneier's Law: anyone can design a security system that works so well that they themselves can't think of a flaw in it. That doesn't mean you've made a security system that works – only that you've made a security system that works on people stupider than you.

I know it's weird to be worried about realism in movies that pretend we will ever find a practical means to visit other star systems and shuttle back and forth between them (which we are very, very unlikely to do):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/09/astrobezzle/#send-robots-instead

But this kind of foolishness galls me. It galls me even more when it happens in the real world of technology design, which is why I've spent the past quarter-century being very cross about Digital Rights Management in general, and trusted computing in particular.

It all starts in 2002, when a team from Microsoft visited our offices at EFF to tell us about this new thing they'd dreamed up called "trusted computing":

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil

The big idea was to stick a second computer inside your computer, a very secure little co-processor, that you couldn't access directly, let alone reprogram or interfere with. As far as this "trusted platform module" was concerned, you were the enemy. The "trust" in trusted computing was about other people being able to trust your computer, even if they didn't trust you.

So that little TPM would do all kinds of cute tricks. It could observe and produce a cryptographically signed manifest of the entire boot-chain of your computer, which was meant to be an unforgeable certificate attesting to which kind of computer you were running and what software you were running on it. That meant that programs on other computers could decide whether to talk to your computer based on whether they agreed with your choices about which code to run.

This process, called "remote attestation," is generally billed as a way to identify and block computers that have been compromised by malware, or to identify gamers who are running cheats and refuse to play with them. But inevitably it turns into a way to refuse service to computers that have privacy blockers turned on, or are running stream-ripping software, or whose owners are blocking ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

After all, a system that treats the device's owner as an adversary is a natural ally for the owner's other, human adversaries. The rubric for treating the owner as an adversary focuses on the way that users can be fooled by bad people with bad programs. If your computer gets taken over by malicious software, that malware might intercept queries from your antivirus program and send it false data that lulls it into thinking your computer is fine, even as your private data is being plundered and your system is being used to launch malware attacks on others.

These separate, non-user-accessible, non-updateable secure systems serve a nubs of certainty, a remote fortress that observes and faithfully reports on the interior workings of your computer. This separate system can't be user-modifiable or field-updateable, because then malicious software could impersonate the user and disable the security chip.

It's true that compromised computers are a real and terrifying problem. Your computer is privy to your most intimate secrets and an attacker who can turn it against you can harm you in untold ways. But the widespread redesign of out computers to treat us as their enemies gives rise to a range of completely predictable and – I would argue – even worse harms. Building computers that treat their owners as untrusted parties is a system that works well, but fails badly.

First of all, there are the ways that trusted computing is designed to hurt you. The most reliable way to enshittify something is to supply it over a computer that runs programs you can't alter, and that rats you out to third parties if you run counter-programs that disenshittify the service you're using. That's how we get inkjet printers that refuse to use perfectly good third-party ink and cars that refuse to accept perfectly good engine repairs if they are performed by third-party mechanics:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

It's how we get cursed devices and appliances, from the juicer that won't squeeze third-party juice to the insulin pump that won't connect to a third-party continuous glucose monitor:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

But trusted computing doesn't just create an opaque veil between your computer and the programs you use to inspect and control it. Trusted computing creates a no-go zone where programs can change their behavior based on whether they think they're being observed.

The most prominent example of this is Dieselgate, where auto manufacturers murdered hundreds of people by gimmicking their cars to emit illegal amount of NOX. Key to Dieselgate was a program that sought to determine whether it was being observed by regulators (it checked for the telltale signs of the standard test-suite) and changed its behavior to color within the lines.

Software that is seeking to harm the owner of the device that's running it must be able to detect when it is being run inside a simulation, a test-suite, a virtual machine, or any other hallucinatory virtual world. Just as Descartes couldn't know whether anything was real until he assured himself that he could trust his senses, malware is always questing to discover whether it is running in the real universe, or in a simulation created by a wicked god:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/28/descartes-was-an-optimist/#uh-oh

That's why mobile malware uses clever gambits like periodically checking for readings from your device's accelerometer, on the theory that a virtual mobile phone running on a security researcher's test bench won't have the fidelity to generate plausible jiggles to match the real data that comes from a phone in your pocket:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/google-play-malware-used-phones-motion-sensors-to-conceal-itself/

Sometimes this backfires in absolutely delightful ways. When the Wannacry ransomware was holding the world hostage, the security researcher Marcus Hutchins noticed that its code made reference to a very weird website: iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com. Hutchins stood up a website at that address and every Wannacry-infection in the world went instantly dormant:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#the-matrix

It turns out that Wannacry's authors were using that ferkakte URL the same way that mobile malware authors were using accelerometer readings – to fulfill Descartes' imperative to distinguish the Matrix from reality. The malware authors knew that security researchers often ran malicious code inside sandboxes that answered every network query with fake data in hopes of eliciting responses that could be analyzed for weaknesses. So the Wannacry worm would periodically poll this nonexistent website and, if it got an answer, it would assume that it was being monitored by a security researcher and it would retreat to an encrypted blob, ceasing to operate lest it give intelligence to the enemy. When Hutchins put a webserver up at iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com, every Wannacry instance in the world was instantly convinced that it was running on an enemy's simulator and withdrew into sulky hibernation.

The arms race to distinguish simulation from reality is critical and the stakes only get higher by the day. Malware abounds, even as our devices grow more intimately woven through our lives. We put our bodies into computers – cars, buildings – and computers inside our bodies. We absolutely want our computers to be able to faithfully convey what's going on inside them.

But we keep running as hard as we can in the opposite direction, leaning harder into secure computing models built on subsystems in our computers that treat us as the threat. Take UEFI, the ubiquitous security system that observes your computer's boot process, halting it if it sees something it doesn't approve of. On the one hand, this has made installing GNU/Linux and other alternative OSes vastly harder across a wide variety of devices. This means that when a vendor end-of-lifes a gadget, no one can make an alternative OS for it, so off the landfill it goes.

It doesn't help that UEFI – and other trusted computing modules – are covered by Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it a felony to publish information that can bypass or weaken the system. The threat of a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine means that UEFI and other trusted computing systems are understudied, leaving them festering with longstanding bugs:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/09/free-sample/#que-viva

Here's where it gets really bad. If an attacker can get inside UEFI, they can run malicious software that – by design – no program running on our computers can detect or block. That badware is running in "Ring -1" – a zone of privilege that overrides the operating system itself.

Here's the bad news: UEFI malware has already been detected in the wild:

https://securelist.com/cosmicstrand-uefi-firmware-rootkit/106973/

And here's the worst news: researchers have just identified another exploitable UEFI bug, dubbed Pixiefail:

https://blog.quarkslab.com/pixiefail-nine-vulnerabilities-in-tianocores-edk-ii-ipv6-network-stack.html

Writing in Ars Technica, Dan Goodin breaks down Pixiefail, describing how anyone on the same LAN as a vulnerable computer can infect its firmware:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/new-uefi-vulnerabilities-send-firmware-devs-across-an-entire-ecosystem-scrambling/

That vulnerability extends to computers in a data-center where the attacker has a cloud computing instance. PXE – the system that Pixiefail attacks – isn't widely used in home or office environments, but it's very common in data-centers.

Again, once a computer is exploited with Pixiefail, software running on that computer can't detect or delete the Pixiefail code. When the compromised computer is queried by the operating system, Pixiefail undetectably lies to the OS. "Hey, OS, does this drive have a file called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope." "Hey, OS, are you running a process called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope."

This is a self-destruct switch that's been compromised by the enemy, and which no one on the bridge can de-activate – by design. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

There are models for helping your computer bust out of the Matrix. Back in 2016, Edward Snowden and bunnie Huang prototyped and published source code and schematics for an "introspection engine":

https://assets.pubpub.org/aacpjrja/AgainstTheLaw-CounteringLawfulAbusesofDigitalSurveillance.pdf

This is a single-board computer that lives in an ultraslim shim that you slide between your iPhone's mainboard and its case, leaving a ribbon cable poking out of the SIM slot. This connects to a case that has its own OLED display. The board has leads that physically contact each of the network interfaces on the phone, conveying any data they transit to the screen so that you can observe the data your phone is sending without having to trust your phone.

(I liked this gadget so much that I included it as a major plot point in my 2020 novel Attack Surface, the third book in the Little Brother series):

https://craphound.com/attacksurface/

We don't have to cede control over our devices in order to secure them. Indeed, we can't ever secure them unless we can control them. Self-destruct switches don't belong on the bridge of your spaceship, and trusted computing modules don't belong in your devices.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/17/descartes-delenda-est/#self-destruct-sequence-initiated

Image: Mike (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwellmike/15676883261/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[korrasamiweek2024]

Hi everyone! This December will mark the 10th anniversary of Korra and Asami walking hand in hand into the Spirit Portal and changing the animation game forever. Korrasami means so much to so many people, so let's give them the celebration they deserve💖

Here's a general idea of what to expect and when:

February 1st - April 30th: Prompt Submission. Let me know what kind of prompts you'd like to see! Send me a message here and I'll add it to the list.

May: Prompt Voting. Depending on how many prompt ideas are submitted, this could take one week or a few weeks. We'll see when we get there!

June - December 14th: Long stretch of time during which I'll be on my hands and knees begging you not to forget this event is a thing, and you can brainstorm and work on your submissions!

December 15th - December 21st: Korrasami Week!!!

Keep reading under the cut for rules and guidelines😊

Rules and Guidelines:

1. What's allowed? Pretty much anything! Artwork, fanfiction, gifsets, headcanons, analysis/meta, memes, etc. are all welcome, as long as they're your own work and are Korrasami-focused.

2. Explicit content is fine, but the characters need to be adults, and everything depicted MUST be consensual.

3. Please abide by Tumblr's guidelines about explicit content, otherwise there's a chance Tumblr might delete your submission! If you're not sure, you can always post your work to another site (AO3, twitter, etc.) and then link to it here. All explicit content posted and reblogged here will be tagged "nsft" so be sure to block that tag if you'd like to filter out such content!

4. No whitewashing, racism, misogyny, transphobia, ableism, or other bigotry of any kind.

5. When submitting visual or audio media, please include a description either in ALT text or in the body of the post itself.

6. Other characters and relationships from The Legend of Korra are welcome, but your submission should be primarily about Korrasami.

7. Be kind. No criticism ("constructive" or otherwise) of other people's work unless the creator explicitly requests it. If you don't like something, just keep scrolling!

8. Follow the prompts if you can! They're meant to be helpful, but if you get inspired by something else entirely, please feel free to submit whatever you make!

9. Tag for content warnings if you think something might be triggering.

10. Submit your fanwork either by mentioning @korrasamiweek2024 in the body of your post and using the #korrasamiweek2024 tag, or by submitting it directly to this blog. You can also add it to the Korrasami Week 2024 Collection on AO3. All submissions for each prompt will be reblogged or posted by the end of the day.

11. There's no such thing as a stupid question, so if you're unsure about something, feel free to ask!

[minniiaa]

Sorry if this seems repetitive but I haven't been active on social media in yearsss

Is it true that there's a lot of lawlu hate on tiktok and Twitter? I'm so confused because there used to be so much love for the ship back in 2017/2018 from my perspective (Amino era).

The short answer: yes and no. Let me start by saying I'm not the best person to answer this since I purely consume on twitter. I made my personal twitter in 2007 like it's everyone I've ever known irl and has nothing to do with shipping or hobbies and I follow approx 0 accounts related to anime, manga, or lawlu. I just looked up lawlu a few times and browsed and suddenly it's my whole fucking timeline and there’s no going back and now I have a lawlu twitter (This makes me very happy).

So if anyone else has an opinion on this that is more in the community, please feel free to comment away. Otherwise, below are my observations.

First off, there IS a ton of love for the ship. Most of what I see is beautiful art (they got the nsfw ayo), memes, fanfics, and headcanons just like tumblr. There are tons of comments of people swooning over these posts, Lawlu IS one of the most popular OP ships after all.

There's just a vocal minority that are very against the concept of shipping and in that subset there are those who are very against Lawlu. There people out there that will literally list accounts to block that ship lawlu or write lawlu DNI in their bios. The same can be said for other ships, it's not just this one it’s any they deem a ‘pro ship’ (problematic ship) and Lawlu is generally considered one of these. Below as is an example:

The biggest issues I’ve seen with Lawlu are the following 1. luffy is aroace and cant be shipped period 2. law groomed luffy and the age gap is gross. IMO I think most of these people are just infantilizing Luffy as some goofy autistic kid that doesn't know what love and sex are when in reality he's very self-aware and happy does not equal stupid. Also he's 19 he’s not underage. He met Law twice when he was 17, one of which was saving his life as a doctor and Luffy was unconscious most of this time. Let's not forget Luffy's a war criminal kicking the asses of people 4x his age in a pirate world, age doesn't really work the same as irl.

BUTTT Not that any of this matters because you can ship whoever the fuck you what because guess what? It's ~fiction~. I could rant about how people can ship whatever the hell they want all day but I'll save my breath for now. (my opinion of course)

Also there are just mentally ill people who enjoy telling others to kys if you like something they like do. Lawlu shippers are just their chosen target demographic. Creators get foul messages in their inboxes, rude comments, just general hater behavior. Twitter is just a firey cesspool and all fandoms have 'fans' who do nothing but hate. We live in an age of negativity where being a hater is the cool thing to do.

HOWEVER, I see more people posting about why those people are wrong and stupid than the actual negative tweets but maybe that's because I actually support the ship and the algorithm sees that. Not sure how twitter works, nor do I want to know about that dumpster fire there's a reason I came over to tumblr.

As for tiktok, I don't really consume a lot of tiktok so I can't speak on it besides seeing cosplayers and cute animations/art. I'll leave that to the tiktok people to look into.

For argument's sake, I went through the lawlu tag and picked some lovely tweets to share with you so you can see the toxicity for yourself. Sadly only 10 images per post but I think you get the point. Thanks for the ask hope this was informative. :)

[wasyago]

i loveeee gillion and jays friendship and feel it is not talked about enough, any thoughts about them and their dynamic ?

yesssssssssss bro they're so good

like, again, haven't finished listening yet, so i might be wrong about things, but. they have so many similarities, but they're different, but they get each other, you know?

they both grew up in highly militaristic environments, with Jay's family being The Ferins with a lot of honor to uphold, and with Gillion being trained by the elders who had too much to ask of him. and they know how it feels to have this pressure, to have someone you despise expect something of you, to not be able to say no no matter how hard you try. jay becomes a pirate and stands up against her family, not because she hates them but because she wants them to be better and to understand that there are good people on both sides. gillion gets exiled for doing what he was taught and he learns that there's more to it, that there are two sides to his prophecy of equal value.

i just think there's something there. how both gill and jay were taught that people or pirates are evil, and how they both become "evil" only to find out that they were taught wrong. and how jay makes an effort to not be like her family, to not just claim the other side evil and kill it, but to try to understand and make peace. but gillion still thinks navy is evil. and how gillion stood up to elders and overcame his fear and was able to believe in himself and speak his mind. but jay still falls into this trap and is unable to respond to her family. and how both gill and jay see this in each other and try to support and help, because they trust each other so much... gill being there and helping when jay's grandma called, jay telling gill that accidents happen and they still love and care about him, just. augh.

and that moment in the block where gill let jay shoot him because he believed in her and he knew how hard it was for her to go against the authority like that. (which now thinking about it, maybe wasn't the best choice. like, giving your friend trauma over shooting and killing you when they couldn't do otherwise maybe wasn't the best play, but hey, it happens)

and how gillion always trusts jay in decision making, "tell me how to fix it and I'll do it" type of deal. and how jay always trusts in gillion's devotion and strength, no matter how stupid it is. how jay knows that gillion is gullible and often very vulnerable mentally, and she doesn't take advantage of it and instead makes sure that gillion knows she's on his side. how jay keeps teaching gill things and explaining what he might be confused about. like, legit, my favorite moment from the block arc is them walking in the dessert and jay casually in the background explaining to gill what a bear is. like, its the sweetest thing ever and ever, they're not in a situation with bears, there's no need to do it, jay just shares random facts with him and i LOVE it.

and that moment after jay's (first?) dream about being burned by the sun, where gill immediately comes running and sits beside her and tries to figure out what hurts and how to help. so sweet.

they're just. so friends i dont know how to explain it. they're siblings. they're gossip girls. they're a menace to chip. they're chilling. i can just imagine them talking and sharing facts about undersea and oversea. i can imagine gill waking up from a nightmare and coming to sleep by jay's side because she's safe. i can imagine jay going to hug gill when she feels anxious. i can imagine gill and jay sitting in comfortable silence while jay is tinkering and gill is doing something of his own. i can imagine them swapping foods when one doesn't like theirs. i can imagine them casually holding hands when they go somewhere. i can imagine them getting weirdly obsessed over a book and always referencing it and making inside jokes that no one understands. they're like lilo and stitch to me bro. im gonna go cry now.

[shera-dnd]

Alright I have eaten my mato peach and have gained the amazing power to do literary and thematic analysis of any piece of media, no matter how fucking stupid

and as the first activation of my ability, I'm turning it towards the stupid ecchi reverse slave harem manga, Mato Seihei no Slave (or Chained Soldier if you're not as much of a fucking weeb as I am) in order to prove that this is actually thematically consistent and surprisingly well written

(long pause as I let all my followers block me and leave)

but first to address the two shuuki in the room

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE BEEN READING AN ECCHI SLAVE HAREM MANGA YOU FUCKING WEIRDO?

Look... LOOK! It's not what you think!

Okay so like a lot of anime and manga recently (primarily isekai) have been including slavery as a thing in their world building, and tho I'm not gonna claim that's the only thing it ever gets used for, it's quite clear that a lot of people are only using that as an excuse for kinky slave play BDSM

and then forget that that stuff comes with like... you know, the horrific implications of slavery as an institution

WELL GOOD NEWS! The author of this manga does not give a shit about disguising his femdom slave play kink as commentary on slavery, this is literally just a BDSM thing and it never pretends to be anything else

...besides, a woman has needs, okay?

WAIT SHOULDN'T THIS MANGA TRIGGER YOU? ISN'T YOUR TRIGGER THE LITERAL CENTRAL GIMMICK OF THIS?

YOU WOULD BE CORRECT! By all logical means I should not be able to read this manga without having the most viscerally negative response possible... except that I don't

I'm not gonna pretend that I know why or how this is working

But I read Monster Musume back in 2015 and it somehow helped me get over my fear of spiders, SO WHO KNOWS maybe niche ecchi manga are how I get over my mental blocks

I would rather it wasn't, but I'm having a hard time proving otherwise!

oh god we're already 400 words in and I have only just finished the preamble. Why am I like this?

Okay okay let us get started as I'll give a detailed explanation as to why Mato Seihei no Slave is about the bonds between people, the ways we bring out the best in each other, and what makes a good dom- ahem I mean leader... what makes a good leader

So for those who don't know the central conceit of this story is that this is a world where women get super powers and men get... to be stay at home husbands

Our protagonist is male wife supreme, Yuuki Wakura, whose main hobbies include cooking, cleaning, and day dreaming about one day becoming a hero

unfortunately for our adorable little boy toy he immediately finds himself falling through a portal into actual literal hell (technically it's called Mato, but like it's just hell) where he's promptly attacked by several giant monsters

BUT GOOD NEWS FOR HIM! He's being saved by a hyper competent hot woman in a uniform (lesbians going "it should have been me!" count should be at 1 by now)

BAD NEWS FOR HIM! She's alone and soon they both get overwhelmed because she can't go full apeshit murder mode while protecting his soft boy ass

Thankfully there is a way for her to save him still, it just requires some collaboration from him

("it should have been me!" count: 2)

And here we are at the main fucking gimmick. The reason why all the ecchi shit happens, the silly excuse for why this bad bitch decides to keep this guy at her side

Chains of Eternity: Slave

Kyouka Uzen (the ultimate girl boss) can forge a contract with someone to bind them to her will as her slave. This will bring out their hidden potential and allow them to fight by her side, turning them into a super powerful killing machine at her command.

In exchange once the task is done she must give a reward to her slave based on the difficulty of the task and the slave's "latent desires"

So yeah, Kyouka doesn't get to decide what the reward is, Yuuki doesn't get to decide what the reward is, only Kyouka's magic can decide what the reward is. Which basically just means the author gets to insert whatever horny fuckery they want into this

Rewards vary from giving him head pats, offering him treats, giving him a back massage, kissing him, to...

well this is a femdom series for a reason

(I think the "it should have been me!" count is at like a 4 or a 5 now)

and now I'm gonna analyze the ever loving shit out of that ability and how it is the crux to all the themes of the show and actually informs us on the nature of Kyouka's character

no, I'm not kidding

Okay so let me just break down what Slave does here from a kink point of view. It basically allows Kyouka and Yuuki to enter into a BDSM relationship where the dom always knows what the sub wants, while still being able to surprise the sub with her actions. She gets to constantly keep her sub beneath her, while also being magically required to reward him and give him aftercare once she's done

Those two have entered a ridiculously healthy BDSM relationship by forging a magical contract that lets them skip all the negotiation bits and go right to what the audience wants to see

(yeah it's gonna be impossible to track the "it should have been me!"s from this point on, so just try to keep your own count at home)

This is also the author's way of like having his cake and fucking it too

Because that way we can have Kyouka as the baddest bitch to ever live AND have her do embarrassing stuff with Yuuki without ever breaking character. In fact the loftier her goals and the more tragic her backstory the more reason she has to accept the reward mechanism as the price to pay for this power

It's also why Kyouka is easily the most developed and interesting character of the manga, to the point that Yuuki is more a supporting character to her arc

This brings us back to those three themes I mentioned waaaaay at the start

Starting with: "how we bring out the best in each other"

For starters it's quite obvious how that works with Yuuki. He wants to be a hero in a world where he should not be able to have super powers, and in comes Kyouka who gives him both the power and the purpose to achieve that goal

But this also extends to literally everyone in Unit Seven and beyond

We have seen the ways in which Kyouka has helped all of her team mates grow stronger and overcome their past traumas, some times by the sheer confidence and kindness of her presence

Hell we see one of her team mates unlock a rage mode power up because someone said Kyouka was a bad leader

and there's even another team leader who straight up evolved her powers into a new stronger form just out of sheer love and respect for Kyouka

This culminates in the development of Lending. The ability to let others take Yuuki's chain and use him in combat

and like I'm not stupid, I'm not gonna pretend this isn't primarily an excuse to have different hot women give Yuuki rewards in ever hornier scenarios, with the added benefit of being able to design cooler monster forms for him

and I mean... those are some really cool monster forms

But that's besides the point

The point is that this also pulls double duty by allowing Kyouka and Yuuki to constantly empower all of the people around them and help them through their character arcs

From helping people stand up to abusive family members, to allowing others to gain the confidence they need to grow, to just decking an asshole real hard in the face

And not once does Yuuki steal other's glory. The final confrontation and the catharsis is always delivered by the person who is being helped. Because lover boy here is the supporting character in his own story

This all leads neatly into another point: the bonds we have with others

DAMN RIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS WE'RE GETTING CHAIN SYMBOLISM IN THIS BITCH!

Oh are we getting a message about how we're all links in the chain and the stronger each of us gets the stronger we all get? FUCK YEAH

Are we getting chains as a representation of a mutual bond of trust and respect, and get to see those bonds be used as a literal weapon to defeat a foe who is antithetical to that idea? ABSOLUTELY

TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK, BABY!

But wait there's more! We got a character who can copy other people's skills and she also grows like crazy with each person she bonds with

We got teams of heroes besting villains who refuse to work with anyone

THAT'S THE SHONEN ANIME GOODNESS WE'RE HERE FOR!

(I mean this is technically seinen but who gives a shit, right?)

And that brings us finally to the third point, the series antagonists, and Kyouka's main goal

What makes a good leader?

So far we've focused on Kyouka and her ability, Slave, and how that allows her to help the people around her grow and encourages her to fight on the front line where she can be a shining example for all around her to follow

She treats everyone around her with trust and respect, even the boy who is literally her slave, and is by all metrics BEST GIRL!

Now all of that good shit doesn't mean much if we don't have anything to contrast and compare to

Enter Ren Yamashiro

gonna give y'all a second to simp for a bit before I continue

done staring at her legs? good. Anyways here's why she's awful!

Ren is the commander of the Anti-Demon Corps and easily the strongest character in the setting by a wide margin

She's also self centered, corrupt, physically AND emotionally abusive, horrifically petty, and likes dogs in the exact same way Makima from Chainsaw Man likes dogs

This is, of course, perfectly translated into her special ability, because this author loves having abilities inform characters

So not only does she have some absurd broken power that she has the power of anime and buddha on her side, BUT the way it manifests is as kanji covering her eyes whenever she activates her skills

Quite literally making so all she can see is her own power and greatness

AND her main use of her powers is to fly around, so she can be ABOVE everyone else

This isn't fucking subtle, but it sure as fuck gets the point across

This is a trait that Ren shares with ALL the main villains of the series. Each and everyone of them is blinded by their own greatness and is constantly looking down on others

Ren is just the least subtle. I guess they had to compensate for the fact that she isn't an actual literal evil god

And so all of those are put in opposition to Kyouka, whose goal is to overthrow Ren, become the new commander, and destroy Mato for good

The woman whose power makes her dependent on others, but that allows her to bring out the best in everyone she meets

A power that grows stronger the more people she helps and the more people help her in return

Standing up against all these people who refuse to rely on anything besides their own strength

That is why Kyouka is the shining example of a good leader!

Now here we are 2k words into this (OH DEAR GOD WHY AM I LIKE THIS), so what was the point of this journey?

Is it me recommending this manga to people and claiming it's genuinely "peak fiction"? OH GOD NO

This thing has so many issues and literally all of them stem from the fact that this is an ecchi harem manga story first and foremost.

Titillation always comes first over anything else, several of the smaller side characters eventually devolve into just different flavors of wanting to dom Yuuki, and that's not even going into all the pet play stuff featuring Ren

This is an unashamedly horny manga with a very specific brand of kink in mind and when I started reading it that was legit all I wanted out of it

But then it refused to be JUST that. It had an interesting story, fun action scenes, compelling characters, and a surprising amount of thought put into its themes

It's not a manga I'd recommend to most people at all, and it requires a considerable amount of tolerance for some capital H Horny anime bullshit

But honestly? If you're cool with that and want a fun and a little unhinged story you can do way worse than this

So what else is left to say except

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!!

[tired-reader-writer]

Ashaya backstory revamp

Ever since classes started again I have been consistently unable to either draw or write, and it's frustrating me a lot, so I'll just have to settle for making AU posts.

Andragoras and Tahamenay's child, that has not changed.

Given to some family in the Tabaristan region (formerly known as Mazandaran in ancient times), who were given hush money in exchange of raising them.

Ever since she was young, Sherine has noticed that she is... different.

Her parents leave her out. Her siblings pick up on that and leave her out too. Her parents don't treat her the same way they treat their other children.

Besides which, Sherine is not dumb. She realizes pretty quickly that she looks different from the rest of her family. Face too pointy. Hair too light.

People say she's a beautiful child.

Her parents seem determined to prove them otherwise.

Sherine is given more chores to do. Given plainer clothes. Made to stand behind her siblings at any given event.

She cries. She screams and struggles and stomps and yells in hopes that they'd listen, they'd know, this is unfair, she's their daughter too, isn't she? Sherine is—

Sherine is not dumb.

Sherine knows that whatever she is, she doesn't belong here.

People say she's a beautiful child.

Her family says she's nothing but trouble.

She wanders her hometown, sneaking off from doing chores at home. Spends her days scanning the faces of the townspeople— the merchants, the neighbors, the strangers, even the slaves. She looks and looks and looks, for any hint of similarity, any bit of resemblance, anything that might echo back to what she sees in the mirror, in the waters, every day.

Sneaks out of her house, flits from street to street, in a desperate bid to find someone, anyone, with some iteration of her features hiding amongst the crowds.

Stalks the family of that jolly grape seller from a couple blocks over, because they were light-haired like her even if the shades don't even come close to matching.

Hers is always different.

Hers is too peculiar.

Ivory-blond with rosy tips, hair of an outsider.

Mama beats her and sends her to bed without dinner.

Curling up in bed, hungry in a way that no amount of food would satisfy, Sherine thinks.

She doesn't belong here.

She isn't a child of this family.

She doesn't think she's even related to them.

Where are her parents?

Did they die? Is that why papa and mama take her in? Because they knew her parents?

Except, really, they mustn't have loved her parents, whoever they were, because if they did then surely they would treasure Sherine too. Right?

Right?

If they died and nobody here loved them, then why is she here? Wouldn't she have been put on the doorsteps of a temple or taken from the streets by... by...

She'll never get the image out of her head, a slaver, flogging a young boy barely older than her.

She's seen them, on her escapades, prowling the streets sniffing around for any abandoned baby by a roadside or in an alleyway.

She shudders thinking about it. Mama always says one of these days she's going to sell Sherine, too.

She's scared.

She doesn't know.

Whatever the case was, she was unwanted in some way. Is unwanted, right now in this present she lives in, unwanted by this family, unwanted by whoever decided to leave their daughter on this doorstep.

She clutches her aching stomach.

She doesn't sleep.

Day by day, night by night, she prays what little words she manages to remember.

Prays to be loved.

Prays to be found.

Prays to be...

To be...

There's a tale in this town.

If you wander deep into the woods, you'll find a dilapidated place.

They call it a temple. That's stupid. The building looks nothing like a temple.

Those who wander in, they say, come back wrong.

Come back days, months, years later.

No matter how long they take, they don't look a day older.

They were playing, her siblings and the other kids, they play, but she never gets included. They get mean when she tries. They always give her whatever's the worst.

She runs.

She runs and runs and runs until her legs burn and there's no air in her lungs.

She doesn't notice the butterflies frozen in air.

She doesn't notice the sudden stillness of the trees after a certain point.

Not until she trips.

There, on the ground, stained in mud and dirt and snot and tears, she curls up like she always does at night.

She's so hungry.

She hears their voices, a couple bushes over, arguing about the prey they were supposed to hunt.

They don't find her.

She bolts upright, startled, nerves tingling with something she doesn't know what to name.

She looks around.

Silence and stillness.

She should be afraid, she thinks. She should try to leave. To go home, to go find those dummies who didn't even see her when they were nearby.

But she thinks of their meanness, of mama's anger and papa's weird stares, of the prowling slavers wandering the streets.

Just a little bit, she thinks. Just a little longer. Just a little bit of peace. She'll take the beatings later, she'll deal with that when they catch her.

That's right.

She just has to not get caught for a little while longer.

[brain juices running out so this will be reverting back from story mode to summary mode, augh]

Anyways, she spends a long time (to her) in the woods and doesn't really notice that the sun isn't moving in the sky bc she's a little kid and she's too busy rolling around and having fun until she falls asleep out of exhaustion (both physical and emotional, since all the shit she went through finally caught up to her in a safe moment)

(you'll notice that in the story/narration part “Sherine” refers to themselves by she/her bc at the time they hadn't had the chance to realize y'know, the gender stuff)

Sherine wakes up, finds that it's night, and she can't find her way back.

(the haunted area actually booted her out so she's in a different spot of the forest)

Kid has an epiphany of sorts.

“She can't stay here.

Not anymore.

If she's so unwanted anyways, what harm would it do for her to disappear?

For her to leave?”

So she does.

Anyways, it's night, Farangis (with some clan adults) is wandering the area for a reason I have yet to fully decide on.

They meet.

Sherine is absolutely taken by this gorgeous lady.

One long conversation later while Farangis does her best to clean the kid up, it's abundantly clear that Sherine is Not Okay.

So they get taken!

And Sherine gets to chop off their hair and choose a new name.

But until she settles on a proper name she chose for herself, their temporary name is Ranna.

Sherine has a complicated relationship with girlhood because of the toxic standards that were forced on her by their “parents”.

Anyways that's how Ashaya comes to join the clan!

What I imagine a young ex-Sherine to look like as she leaves with Farangis.

Fun fact, Areyan is usually a sweet and gentle kid but for some unknown reason he and Ashaya regularly gets into fisticuffs.

They're 7 when they join the clan. Farangis is 15, she'd just come of age.

At some point I kinda wanted Ashaya and Alfarīd to have met in their younger years but I don't see that working out w this trajectory sooooo... oops.

Anyways, a look into Ashaya's trauma! Where their lack of hope and faith in the world stems from. I somehow couldn't get into it in the narration but her family house could own slaves, maybe, (still she gets made to do chores bc Double Standards), and on her escapades to find her parents or relatives in the town she gets to see a whoooole lot of violence thrown at slaves and poor commoners and it always stuck w them.

She tries questioning it once, they got punished.

Kinda echoes Alfarīd's hopelessness in the nation too, she did say in the manga “there's no point to restoring the nation, it'll just make new nobles and new slaves” and it's an attitude Ashaya holds, too.

It'll be up to them to find that hope again. Alfarīd would be the one to eventually give back hope to Ashaya, but for that she herself will have to believe.

Unlike in canon I don't really see Alfarīd coming to believe in someone changing the system, rather that there's something worth living for even in a broken world. I think she'd have an attitude like that. It just fits her.

(I'm reminded of the song Kamado Tanjirou no Uta from the AU playlist, and that one video from Hello Future Me about the Ghibli movie The Boy and the Heron.)

(“We did not choose this world. But we must live in it.”)

To elaborate on why Ashaya lost faith in the world, it's smth like, if something so terrible and hurtful like the slavery system is allowed to exist, if nobody batted an eye at the abuse she went through, if nobody thinks to hold abusers accountable, if people are rewarded with brutality for their kindness, then... there's nothing worth saving here.

In addition to their own abuse they also saw others being abused, remember that the clan is made up of runaways and hurt people and abandoned people and victims and survivors— almost nobody who comes to the clan... came from happiness.

Is it any wonder that their faith was broken?

In contrast, let's look at Alfarīd. Protective instincts, strong sense of justice, responsible if a bit chaotic, remember how in the manga Alfarīd urges Estelle to remember the women and children and injured they'd saved? That they must think of, that they must protect, instead of thinking about the King?

Alfarīd, I think, abhors the system, but still sees people and things worth protecting anyways.

(and not to jump all over like a kangaroo but let's talk about Farangis this time)

She's an orphan. She entered the temple of Mithra after her loss. She was too talented. Too diligent. Too beautiful. People shunned her because of it.

And I'm willing to bet there's aggression and subtle bullying, too.

Look, it's a closed community. That sort of place gets rancid real fast.

(I would know. I myself was trapped in a prison of a boarding school where my suicidal ideation got wayyyyyyy bad.)

So, y'know, Ashaya-as-Sherine is a reflection of her days in the temple. That's why she has a soft spot for her.

Farangis is one of the few people Ashaya will listen to.

Anyways that concludes thus the post about Ashaya!

[jellycreamjammedart]

This might be a risky hot take but

Some of you "Gregory Defenders" are starting to annoy the absolute hell out of me

And this isn't about the "whether Gregory is innocent or guilty" side of the argument you're on, but about how obnoxious and unhinged some of y'all are about it regardless of the "side" you're on.

Not everyone in the fandom is going to like Gregory, nor will everyone see him as innocent. Some may even say he's a cold and manipulative backstabber, or that he's only popular because of "male protag privilege". And you know what, that's actually all okay and valid. And you know why?

Because Gregory is not real.

"He's only like 12!!!!" he's not real.

"He's just a child!!!" he's not real.

"He's not guilty he was brainwashed!!" he's not real.

"He's only trying to protect himself he doesn't deserve hate!!!" Let people dislike/hate him if they want, it won't affect Gregory at all because he's not real.

It's not like people are bullying a real child. He's a fictional character, in case y'all ever forgot that detail.

Actually no, I am SURE y'all forgot that detail, with how you treat people who dislike him as if it was an actual moral issue and paint them as evil for not sharing your image of your perfect cinnamon roll gremlin boy.

"How DARE you say Gregory's not innocent? How can you HATE him he's just a kid!!! It's not his fault STOP punishing him!!! How evil do you have to be to blame a literal child!!!? You're disgusting!!!" HE'S NOT FUCKING REAL.

Where in the fucking hell is it okay to label a person as evil or bully them for like, liking Cassie (another fictional character in case you also forgot) over Gregory??

Yes this also goes to y'all who approach people unprompted to tell them like a lawyer why Gregory is not to blame, especially with how condescending and obnoxious you are about it, pretty much reeking the vibe of "I'm telling you how wrong you are for blaming Gregory because you're clearly stupid for not believing otherwise, here's why I'm right and why my vision of this character is the correct one."

I'm sick of "Gregory defense lawyers" coming to my inbox after my ramblings about Cassie blaming Gregory for the elevator drop all condenscendingly like "Ummm actually you can't do that because Gregory is innocent it was all the Mimic in case you missed the details blah blah-" did I fucking ask???

(Unless people seem confused or are new to the fandom and they ask, then you may be entitled to tell them... but I still suggest being unbiased and focusing on canon aspects only rather than your personal opinion about it.)

Don't even get me started on y'all's flat out hostility towards people who don't like Gregory

"If you think Gregory did anything wrong ever I'LL FUCKING FIGHT YOU" is this really all that necessary to protect a kid that doesn't even exist??? Is it worth ending friendships or snuffing out potential new friendships with other real people over??? Worth bullying and witch-hunting other real people whose only apparent crime was loving the same franchise as you? How can you be proud of that?

(Unless you mean you will fight people in that memey or shitpost way then idc keep being a silly little guy actually)

"But I adore Gregory, and he's my favorite character!! It makes me really upset when people hate him/make art/write about him being guilty or blamed, or say Cassie is better! I don't agree with it!!" ... then why are you making yourself upset by checking out content about Gregory that you don't like? Like... dude.

People are going to create stuff about Gregory (or any other fictional character really,) that won't always align with you. And they're entitled to do it, no matter how wrong you think they are! Instead of policing what other people create about your blorbo, just look away and seek content about them that you actually like. If a particular creator's vision on Gregory is too much of a deal-breaker for you, just block and blacklist and move on. Or create the content you want yourself instead of badgering other people.

Also keep in mind that Gregory being antagonized in a fic/art/etc doesn't always translate to the authors hating him, chances are they're just writting it from other characters' perspectives who may have whatever beef with him in the given setting, so don't go jumping to conclusions either. And even if the antagonism does come from the author's personal bias, that still gives you no right to harrass them anyways.

I will continue liking Cassie over Gregory and I do think she's better and I will continue rambling about Cassie hating Gregory for believing he betrayed her even if it was the Mimic, because it is an interesting scenario, and I personally think the whole GGY thing was dumb and unnecessary (he could still have been an interesting character as just an unlucky homeless boy without any sinister plot-twist.) That's it; There's no fucking need to make it about morality, ffs. If you don't like that, ignore it, or unfollow me if it's that much of a deal-breaker for you.

All y'all are doing is giving reasonable Gregory fans a bad name, and actually making people dislike him further by oversaturating him and forcing him into a source of stress and disdain rather than enjoyment for them, where people start actually getting sick of seeing him around (and I feel that myself already.)

Let people dislike Gregory for whatever reason.

By the way...

You "Gregory Haters" are annoying me as well

As entitled as you are to your opinion about this annoying manipulative liar of a brat, there are people who share a different sentiment about him. Let them.

You don't have to reblog or comment on someone's post how much they adore Gregory to tell why you hate him, or go to the spaces of Gregory fans to spew why you hate so much this little guy they like. That's just fucking mean and rude. Make your own post, or go to the spaces that share your opinion.

Quit making people feel bad for liking a character you dislike. If you don't like Gregory, why are you even bothering to check out content about him, then? Check out content about characters you LIKE. I bet that'd make you much happier than spending your time regurgitating your hate over someone's creation about a character they like but you don't and unsurprisingly start an argument about it. Look for things you like, block and blacklist stuff and people about your hated character if you gotta but leave them alone

Let people like Gregory for whatever reason, too.

Let people see Gregory however way they see fit.

Because this bears repeating: He's not real. He's a fictional character. He's a tool. Let people use him however way they see fit to drive a story or scenario; that's his purpose, as a fictional character.

[poeticpains]

Does anyone else ever think about how fucked up it is that the setup of Escape the Night has us talking about who "deserved" it?

You see it in the fandom, and in the show itself, too — where there's discussions about who "pulled their weight" or who did the most for the team, with the implication that those who didn't deserve...what? A horrible, lonely death? To never see their families and loved ones again?

"I'm going to vote for [X], because they didn't pull their weight," is literally saying that someone being foolish, oblivious, and/or lazy is a mistake that should be punished by death.

Or the fandom, as they say that, "[X] wasn't doing very well, so they deserved to be put into that challenge."

And, look, I do not legitimately believe that anyone in the fandom or the show would ever be okay with someone dying because they couldn't figure out a riddle — I'm one of the ones screeching about how your fannish participation is not morality, and what you enjoy in fandom, or say about fictional characters (or fictional personas of real people) is not, in any way, reflective of your actual beliefs. Let me be abundantly clear: it doesn't matter to me who you think "deserved" to die, because nobody died, and at the end of the day, it's a fake web series.

...But that doesn't change that I think Escape the Night is a perfect encapsulation of the way that manipulation works on humans. As they say,

“1. Man is a MORAL animal. 2. You can get human beings to do anything — IF you convince them it is moral. 3. You can convince human beings anything is moral.” — Frank Bidart

In ETN, and especially in Season 3, the guests were convinced that voting people to die was the morally correct option. After all, world annihilation (and their own life) was on the line. Isn't that worth a little blood on your hands?

But it's hard to convince your average person that killing other people (or sentencing them to death, I suppose), if those people are otherwise innocent of severe crimes, is moral. So the situation sets it up using two things that are highly prized: merit and fear.

The fear is the easier option to discuss; it's the same point I made earlier regarding world annihilation and their own lives. (And, of course, it's easier to control scared people than it is to control people who have their wits about them. Manipulation 101.)

Merit, of course, is the entire point of this post. Many of us, I would hazard a guess, grew up with the American justice system, wherein death is an appropriate punishment for certain things. In ETN, that category is just stretched a little wider. Someone missed a clue? Well, they must be stupid — so they deserve to die.

And yes, I am defining voting someone in as tacitly saying that they deserve to die, because that is the unspoken consequence that could happen to anyone who was voted in.

Anyways, back to merit. Before every death challenge, barring the special ones, like the Witch's Challenge in S3, there's literally a discussion where the guests are supposed to defend themselves and prove that they helped. And if the court of public opinion decides you didn't? Well, off to the chopping block with you, my friend — your performance was unsatisfactory, and therefore you deserve to be beaten to death/buried alive/whatever terrible fate awaits them that episode.

But isn't that absurd, when you think about it like that? It's like having a shitty coworker that never responds to emails and takes 45 minute lunches. That's basically it. That's what these people are dying for.

Literally everyone on the show is guilty of this, even fan favorites like Matthew, so it's not like I'm trying to call guests out, or anything. I just think it's a really fascinating look into the way that humans can be manipulated into being willing to kill other humans.

Maybe someday I'll write something more in-depth on this.

[annabelle--cane]

From a queer kid about to become a queer adult, I’m wondering if you have any tips on navigating adulthood? I saw in your bio that you’re 21 and bi, how do you navigate your public life in relationship to being queer? Are you open about it? If so, how do you deal with family members?

Sorry if this is a bit invasive, you don’t need to answer lol!!!

I've been very lucky in terms of the places I've lived and my family members, I don't think I've ever really been in a situation where it's been unsafe for me to be openly queer, and I certainly haven't since graduating high school. I'm fairly open about it, I have a handful of pride pins on the backpack that I wear around campus, I give my pronouns when asked and if it's relevant in conversations I'll tell people that I have a girlfriend. in the cases of people who I'll have to spend time around, like professors or past roommates, being subtly but openly out helps me do some prep work without needing to be active about it so they know how it's going to be with me and adjust their perspectives accordingly. if I'm going somewhere new and/or crowded, like a city I haven't been to before, I'll usually take the pride pins off my bag and dress a little less obnoxiously femme, but honestly for me that's probably a little more cautious than I need to be; if new england city dwellers couldn't handle seeing a humanities student with a rainbow pin on a train then they'd never leave their homes.

my situation is definitely not like most others', it's not even really like the situations of most other queer people I'm close friends with irl, and also I'm some guy on the internet who's probably wrong about 80% of the things I say, anyway. I think what a lot of the queer people my age I know have been slowly learning recently is that if people are not respectful and kind to them, they do not need to be respectful and kind back. if a parent doesn't accept you and uses their persisting power to try and change you, there is nothing wrong with lying to them or talking to them as little as possible, and if they wanted something different then they should have left you with more options. if a friend treats you noticeably worse than the non-queer people they know, you don't need to keep giving them chances, you can just block their number. everyone's lives are different, and I trust that you know your own life best and can evaluate what is safe for you and what is not, but I personally am always in favor of breaking rules, social or otherwise, if the rules are stupid and designed to punish you for being non-normative.

[enzenwriting]

the feeling when

06 this is mcdonald drive thru ( 1.1k words!)

"Jungwon, you traitor." Jake whisper-yell at the younger boy next to him. Unbothered by the older boy's words, Jungwon continue to pull Jake in your direction. "I thought you were going to give me y/n's number instead? What happened to that? Where did this plan come from?"

"Oh please, you know Plan Z is always the better option."

"What happened to Plan A, B, C, D, and E first?" Jake holds Jungwon down, halting their steps

"Like you're actually going to message y/n if I gave you her number alone." Jungwon smiles, a teasing smirk tugging the corner of his lips. "I know you'll say something stupid and block her number."

"How would you know that? How would you know I won't say anything stupid now!" The panic evidence on Jake's face was enough to tease him for a lifetime. Oh, the boys were going to love this storytime.

"Because you have no game. You'll probably stay quiet like a kicked puppy today." Jungwon laughed, pulling Jake with him again, continuing the step to your figure. "And I won't let you run this time so, you have nowhere to escape."

By the time Jake is ready to respond, he hears Jungwon's voice call your name. And just like in the movie, Jake feels like everything is suddenly in slow motion. You turn around, eyes wandering around to find the owner of the voice. Oh, the way your eyes instantly curve and a smile appears when you see them; adorable.

Jake can't seem to focus on anything other than the skip in his heartbeat and the twist on his stomach when you're walking towards them.

"Hi, Jungwon sunbaenim." You wave, pausing midway at the figure next to him "Oh? and Jake sunbaenim."

"How about we start without the honorific?" Jungwon laughs, cringing a little at the formality. Hesitantly, you agree at Jungwon's suggestion. "and let's sit inside the saunas? I don't see many people around there."

That's how you find yourself sitting on the floor next to the two tall males amongst a bunch of old people inside the steaming sauna. Chaewon has always told you they were a boisterous bunch, especially the noisy leader next to you who was mindlessly talking about the secret game room in the building. Jake, however, stays quiet the whole time. Studying Jake, you see him giggle at Jungwon's anecdotes. He doesn't meet your eyes nor react to your words, and you think he doesn't like you. A slight sadness hits your chest at the thought, but you don't let it bother you, or at least try not to show it anyway.

"Hey y/n, are you okay?" Jungwon's voice brings you back

You hum in response, unaware of their attention on you (and your weak tolerance of the sauna's heat); especially Jake. Jake was, truthfully, nervous throughout the entire time, he dared to even say he enjoyed listening to Jungwon just because he was self-conscious and distracted of your existence. But that doesn't stop him from stealing glances whenever you weren't looking at him. So when he notices your blank eyes, cherry cheeks and drops of sweats on your forehead, he instantly waves his hand to stop Jungwon from talking and shifts the boy’s attention towards your way.

"Uh, yeah. I think it's getting too hot for me here" Embarrassed, you want to leave quickly, but your legs had another plan otherwise. Feeling your legs weak from the heat, you lose balance and prepare for the fall;

But you don't.

Instead, you feel an arm around your shoulder just enough to support you and a hand lightly wrapped around your wrist to keep you steady. You think Jungwon's reflex was impressive, but when you see Jungwon in front of you with a concerned look, you're sure the heat wasn't the reason you'd pass out.

"Are you okay? I got you, don't worry" Jake's voice was so gentle and soft you couldn't find a sounds to answer back, so you give a quick nod, following both of them outside.

"You two sit here for a second. I'll get you something to drink" Jungwon rushes away.

"You can tell me when you can't handle the heat next time." You think this is the first time Jake has spoken directly to you, at this length too. And you think you want to hear more of his voice and talk to him too.

"Thanks." you ponder a little, quickly thinking of anything to say back to avoid the awkwardness. "I don't understand how people stay in there for so long"

"I grew up in Australia, I'm used to the heat." Jake mutters mindlessly "Only psychopath stays inside for so long even if they're not used to heat"

"Did you just call me a psychopath" you fake gasp, hand dramatically falling on your chest

"wait- no"

"So I got us these yoghurt drinks-" Jungwon appearance interrupts, reaching out two packs of drink to you and Jake "Uh, did I interrupt something?"

"No." you giggle, looking at Jake.

"Okay? I'm just gonna ignore- wait. I forgot to get one for me!" Jungwon rushes out again, leaving you and Jake alone in silence for the second time.

It stays silent again, that is until Jake hears the light scrunching of plastic next to him, and his head snaps in your direction. The sight of you individually snapping the yoghurt bottle out of the plastic wrapper and stabbing your straw into it has his eyes wide, mouth stretched. His studious-borderline- judging- expression was so obvious to anyone passing by, but he couldn't help but question; how could you drink the yoghurt that way?!

"I knew it! Psychopath!" his words have you gasping at the accusation.

"I am not!" you defend, and a fake gasp leaves your lips.

"No one drinks yoghurts that way anymore! If you just keep them in the package and stab them with the straw, it's more convenient and so much easier to recycle."

"I drink them this way." You stick your tongue out, childishly answering him in a singing tune. It takes Jake a lot to keep his lips straight and his smile from appearing. "And, no it doesn't! You have to remove these labels on the bottles and they need to be cleaned inside to be recycled."

"Fair. You got me there" His eyes narrow at you. After a second of silence, his following words take you by surprise. "How do you eat Kit-Kats?"

"I break them and eat them," you answer at the random question.

“cereal first or milk first”

“Cereal”

"Left sock or right sock first?"

"Left sock"

"You put sock-sock or sock-shoe?"

"Sock-sock." you glare at the boy, a giggle bubbling in your chest. "Why are you asking these questions?"

"Just double checking you aren’t." And it takes a smile from Jake to have you both on laughing fit.

06 this is mcdonald drive thru

Summary: Joining an already debuted group, you find yourself at the centre of attention, controversy and a series of unfortunate chaotic events every time a certain pup boy is on the sight. But Jake Sim can’t seem to stop following you?!

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an: we’re all Sunoo. (p.s also never proofread)

Taglist! (Open! Please send ask to be join!🫶) @ineedaherosavemeenow @bubblytaetae @woneulz @kyuupidwrites @hoonvrs @nvmbheart @seungcheolswife @mika-t3t @theskzvibe @j-wyoung @haechansbbg @chaerybae @nujins @mimikittysblog @phenomenalgirl9 @zuzu-the-simp (unable to tag in bold! Please check your blog settings!💖)

[lokisprettygirl]

Okay I finally watched the episode and I have several feelings so here we go...

If you haven't watched the show, stop reading. (Though I hope you have blocked the spoilers tag, if not it's your own fault..don't come at me)

Am I dying every second thinking about him being alone there for eternity? Obviously 😭

But am i stupid or delusional enough to think he won't make a comeback in the next Avengers movie? No.

I don't think those people can fight kang without loki, they would at some point need his help because he's literally the most powerful god out there now.

Coming back to the episode there's not much I cared about, I probably wouldn't have blinked if ob, b15 or Casey would have died..didn't care about them at all if I was being honest and it's not the character's fault.

As much I hated the ship (because god forbid two male characters are friends in any show these days because they have to be lovers otherwise it's homophobia.. remember when bromance existed? Good times)

Mobius had a good character development that began in season 5 and continued this season unlike Sylvie who started as such a badly written selfish character that the only way they could have fixed it this season was to completely sideline her, which thankfully they did. The smirk and smile at the end even knowing that she may never get to see Loki again? (Yeah just die already).

Hopefully I'll never have to see her again.

Coming back to Loki (my precious baby love) i know his arc ended on a bittersweet note (that smile at the end just warmed my heart like never before) and it's more bitter for me than sweet because I can't handle the thought of him being so lonely because this is not what he wanted or deserved but then I think about Loki who died via strangulation and I'm like fuck everything, this is definitely much better than that ending.

Personally I think with time he's going to grow and learn to control this new power (or he could just clone himself and use him in a way? Idk Marvel can do anything) but I can feel it in my bones that this is not the end of him (unless ofcourse Tom is done with him and won't return for future projects)

That being said, Loki is alive and sure he is alone at the moment but he's a hero now, he has more than redeemed himself and he can finally forgive himself for everything that he didn't do right, perhaps this is what he needed to find that sense of purpose he has been looking for all his life. Hopefully he'd see himself as the god that he always was.

A man that was always ridiculed for his selfishness and narcissism chose to save the multiverse by sacrificing his freedom, by giving up his own free will. He chose everything he didn't want, a throne and what seemed like eternal solitude (but hopefully not)..a man of actions indeed. His arc reminds me of Tony in a way and that's beautiful.

Wherever you go, it's just death, destruction, the literal ends of worlds!

Uhhhhhuh? Look what my boy just did for the whole fucking multiverse.

I'm just trying to see the silver lining here that he's alive and he's the moment..he's everything, he literally became the most powerful being to ever exist in mcu and that gives me hope for him…he'd come back. Kang's arc started with him and they'd need him when the time comes. If not I got my fanfiction powers 🤣 (He deserves to find the sort of love that would stay by his side even if he's all that person would ever get)

Thank God they changed the writers this season and fixed somewhat of the mess they had made of this majestic, ethereal god last time.

Overall yeah my heart is breaking for him but look at him..he's the moment, he's the king of the multiverse, he's everything.

[hom3land3r]

Rules/Guidelines

Alright, listen.

I like to have a chill and relaxed vibe when writing. I want it to be fun for both myself and those I write with, otherwise what's the point? I'm by no means a strict roleplayer. I give most folk a shot, whether they want to interact with a canon or OC. Hell, I even encourage any and all - roleplayer or not - to interact with Homie. I love it (he will never admit that he loves the attention as well but we all know that's obvious).

I've had this account for over a year now and have been fortunate to get a pleasant experience 98% of the time. I can't complain, in all honesty. But... and there is a but coming (sadly not Homie's this time round)

But

I just want to clarify a few things for those that are new to writing with me or come across this blog and are interested in writing. These are a mixture of my preferences as well as what I figure is just common sense, but I'll list them anyways.

Reply speeds: I feel this is pretty much self explanatory. I work as well as enjoy doing other things besides writing. This will mean that I'm not always quick to reply. Just as I never hold a grudge against anyone I write with taking their sweet ass time, I kindly ask that you give me the same courtesy. Sometimes I sit down to get replies done and get distracted or fall asleep (those that know me can attest to this). But the way I work is that I prepare replies and queue them to post throughout the week. So if you haven't had a response, chances are that it's in transit and will be with you in 3-5 working days. I got you, alright? Also, there will be times when I'm online reblogging and not replying to things, or answering asks instead. And sometimes I only interact with the same person while online. Please don't take any of it personally. I reply when I want to and have the energy to. I will also prioritize replies for those that I've been writing with for a long time. I appreciate your patience, however if you grow impatient on waiting, I get it. I always say right off the bat that I'm not the quickest in replying. So, you are warned beforehand.

No outside interactions on closed threads: Now, again I feel this is common sense. But, I would like to kindly ask if Homie is part of a thread that is clearly either with one other person or a group, please do not reblog and interact. I'm fine with comments if you're enjoying reading the thread and want to show some love, but don't reblog joining in without asking. I'm perfectly fine with group threads (threads involving 3 or more), but the people who are to interact will be mentioned. If outsiders reblog and attempt interaction who are not part of the thread, it will be ignored. Continuous attempts will get you blocked.

Godmodding: I cannot stress enough how annoying this is. I don't even godmod with Homie, so I don't expect your character to either. Canon or OC. If you attempt to godmod, your interactions will be ignored. It's no fun for anyone if you aren't playing along. Saying that Homie is unable to cause any harm to your character is just pointless. Like, okay, so what now? You want Homie to sit and have tea with your character? Braid each other's hair? C'mon now.

Silly/Gross asks: Look, there's tons I can put up with and have patience for. I know who I'm writing here. It takes a lot to disgust me. Asks are fun, I really enjoy them. But if your ask is just straight up stupid or clearly some fettish you're trying to push on me/Homie, it's going to just get deleted. Repeatedly sending them won't get you a reply, but more than likely a block. So, proceed with caution.

Fuck, this went on wayyyy too long. I can't think of anything else to add at the moment, but I'll be updating this if that changes. Apologies if this seems like I'm on my high horse with this, but considering I haven't actually physically set out any rules for the entire time this blog has existed, I thought it was well overdue.

Nagging over, you'll all be pleased to read. And if you have read this far, here. Have a treat.

~ Mun 💙🇺🇸

[demonophilia]

dni

minors, or no age listed. this is an instant block. have your age plainly listed either in your bio or pinned post.

raceplay, ageplay (dd/lg, md/lb, or any variation on those), detrans/misgendering, sexism/misogyny, sissy/forcefem, beastiality, incest (including step/adopted/fauxcest) , or orientationplay (ex. 'turning' lesbians. fuck off

proana/promia/thinspo/any kind of ed blogs i have an ed and these blogs are INCREDIBLY triggering for me. do not interact with me. i will block you.

scat, vore, inflation etc. nothing wrong with these but i'll most likely block if theyre a main focus of our blog. if i follow first, this doesnt apply!

any "icky x" shit. generally falls under the ageplay or incest umbrella, but i wanted to make sure i was clear. if i see any variation on those tags on your post, i will block.

chasers please just be normal LMAO

boundaries

do not ask about my private life/ask for my sfw blog. again, this is only if we aren't friends/close. i might post abt it in vague terms and its fine to ask abt minor things (how was your day etc) but dont pry. i am literally a porn blog im on here to get people off LMAO im not that interesting

if i say no or say to stop, stop. this should be obvious. if i say no, i mean no. this includes if im being dominant. if you repeatedly disrespect a boundary ive set, i will block you. if you arent clear on a boundary, ask!

more info under the cut ⬇️

about

hii im connor :] i use it/its, he/him, and she/her pronouns. i'm bisexual + bigender (tme, and i have a cunt), and i'm fine with both feminine and masculine petnames (see petnames section below :]) i'm a vers and a switch, though recently i've been heavily sub leaning. feel free to send me dom-focused asks, i just can't guarantee i'll get to them too quickly!

i love getting asks, especially sexual ones (obviously). just be certain that youre respecting my boundaries! i understand slip-ups, but try your best to "respect" me (obviously disrespect me lmao but yk what i mean). if you'd like to use an emoji for your asks, lmk and i'll tag the answers with that emoji :]

the terms i use for my anatomy are fairly loose, but do not use the term "bonus hole" or any variation to refer to my cunt. boypussy is fine, but i don't really find it very sexy LMAO. also, i call my clit a cock or tdick. it's fine to use clit for it, but i prefer the other 2.

petnames

i looove petnames :] feel free to use any of these (unless i specify otherwise), id honestly prefer you using these over my actual name LMAO.

angel, baby, darling, etc. these aren't sexual, but feel free to use them! i find them cute :]

toy/doll/fucktoy/thing etc. i love being objectified/dehumanized so these are always a good bet LOL

puppy, dog, pet, mutt, kitten, kitty, etc. bonus points for "bad dog" which makes me crazy in my head

good boy/girl/toy etc.

slut/whore/cumdump etc. i love most degrading names, lol. go wild with these, if i don't like one i'll lyk :]

sir/miss. when i am domming, these are generally the titles i prefer. feel free to try others though! (aside from daddy/mommy.)

go wild! the ones above are some of my favorites/the ones that immediately came to mind, but feel free to try other ones :] like i said if i don't like it i'll just lyk, no harm done!

kinks

i should note that i enjoy all my kinks from both directions, whether im dom or sub :] due to my frequently subby nature some of these descriptions are worded in terms of Me being the sub but i love them when im domming also basically.

praise i adoree being praised... generally i prefer it mixed in with degradation ^_^ tell me if im doing a good job, making you happy, etc! i also love praise when im domming please lmk if youre enjoying yourself i like knowing im getting people off :]

degradation another favorite ^_^ as ive mentioned, i love being dehumanized and sexualized. call me stupid, useless, etc. aside from words, i do enjoy being made to do degrading tasks <3 Also idk where to put this but i lovee spit spit in my mouth spit on me Whatever

painplay hitting, slapping, choking, biting etc are some of my favorites. i also enjoy knifeplay and gunplay. anything that will leave bruises/marks will make me wet <3

somno/intox i enjoy both of these, but i am very picky about them, and i'd probably won't talk about them a lot because of how picky i am.

monsterfucking vampires werewolves angels demons tentacles etc etc etc i go crazy for them . i do want to do unspeakable things to a service top werewolf this is true.

petplay i should note that i'm fairly picky about petplay as well! i mainly prefer the petnames, collars/leashes, etc. i don't enjoy anything about cages or being made to bark (though i don't mind phrases like "puppies don't talk" and stuff like that)

bondage, gags, handcuffs etc. pleasee tie me up and tell me what you'd do to me <3 i have an oral fixation so any use of my mouth is very appreciated <3

breeding I LOOOOOVE BREEDING im crazy abt it. if you threaten to knock me up i Will beg for it lol. i don't really care abt any actual pregnancy details, aside from future hypotheticals (youre gonna be so big, im gonna fuck another baby into you after, etc)

exhibitionism/voyeurism if i didnt get off on ppl looking at me i wouldnt have made this blog love and light .

this list is nonexhaustive! i like a lot of kinks, so feel free to bring up any you think i'd like, so long as they aren't on my dni or anything. worst case scenario i just won't like them and i'll lyk LOL.

MISC

mutuals feel free to dm me if you'd like ;] i tend not to initiate bc i have a hard time telling when its normal to reach out LOL, so if you want to talk to me, please do! everyone else can talk to me through the ask box!! once again, Please sexualize me (why would i make this blog if i didnt wanna be sexualized lmao) but respect my boundaries <3

related to above, but if you get off to my posts/thinking of me, id love to know :] i loveee getting ppl off so <3 and if im feeling dommy i might tease you abt it LOL

i do my best to tag specific kinks for navigation (and to tag hard kinks with tw (kink)) but i might slip up/forget! if you notice an issue with the tags, feel free to lmk and ill get that fixed :]

also i should note i am bisexual bigender, so im fine being rbed with both wlw/nb and mlm/nb tags ! lmk if youre uncomfortable with me interacting with yr content in any way 👍

ty for reading this whole long thing :D i tend to ramble a lot lol... i don't rly have anything to give you for reading it all buttttt feel free 2 like if youve read all this also youre my favorite and you can do whatever you want to me (joke (or is it!?))

[local-queer-disappointment]

unpinning my nice fun positivity post because I want to talk a little about this space that I've created. I think a dni is stupid because people never listen anyways, which is why I haven't had one, but I still see the value in at least telling people who this little corner is for.

also YELL AT ME ON DISCORD I'M woahits_alex.mp3 IF U ASK ME ABOUT FIC RECS FOR MY FANDOMS I'LL CRY WITH HAPPINESS

you are welcome here:

- ALL queers. trans men, trans women, nonbinary, intersex, poc queers, xenogender, "contradictory" labels like mspec gays/lesbians lesboys/sapphileans (omg it's me!!), slur reclaims, detransitioners who are not transphobic, mspec lesbians, aro/ace and all variations thereupon, unlabeled, questioning, etc. I love all of you. I love the community that we have. we are family, whether or not some of us want to be, and exclusionism is Not Funky Fresh!!

- pro Palestine!! I don't rb posts as much as I used to (I am scared of spreading misinformation) but I think I'll start doing that again! (don't forget your daily click guys)

- jewish people. I am specifically adding this one to say that because of the shitty Everything, I sincerely hope I have never spread any antisemitic rhetoric in support of Palestine, reblogs or otherwise. it is not your guys' job to educate me, but I hope it's clear that I'm operating in good faith.

- disabilities/cluster b disorders/systems/AAC users. I am not any of these things so if I say/do something out of line please tell me! but I love you guys and you're absolutely welcome here.

- proshippers (if this bothers you block and move on)

- furries. not personally one of y'all but I think you're neat and you make cool art :]

- literally, like, anyone, as long as you're not a dick

you are not welcome here:

- terfs, transphobes, exclusionists, anti-mspec, anti-lesboy, and people who think transandrophobia is "fake" or whatever. go away I don't like you (or at least be prepared to be blocked or yelled at)

- similarly to last, anyone who starts queer infighting or hates on less visible queers/strangers who don't "look" queer (I don't care if you think someone is cishet. you have no way of knowing that. let's stop hating people for immutable characteristics and start having thoughtful criticisms of people's actions thanks)

- ZIONISTS. BYE BYE

- (but also antisemites because come on now let's not do this. judiasm ≠ zionism)

- ableists, fatphobia, racists/bigots, general dickheads

- antishippers (again, you can either leave now or expect to be argued with)

other stuff under the cut bc this is already too long:

- I accept anonymous asks! and also non anonymous ones. ask me shit idk

- I am autistic and VERY gullible. if I reblog a "bait" post, or something that's clearly fake or a joke with a genuine reaction, I'm probably not playing some 5d irony chess I'm probably just stupid. y'all I'm sorry I'm trying :\

- I argue with people!! I enjoy arguing with people!! usually it's in replies and not reblogs but still. if you are allergic to discourse maybe don't follow me? I also rb "discourse" posts, mostly transmasc support stuff and callouts of transandrophobia, general solidarity stuff with the trans community or lgbt community as a whole, proship stuff, politics, current events, that kinda thing.

- I don't rb nsfw. not as, like, a rule, I just don't see the value in doing so lol. if I ever did I'd tag it and probably update this

UPDATE: thought I should clarify, I don't rb nsfw but I do rb nsfw humor, like dick jokes and stuff. hope there's no confusion

- this is, shockingly, supposed to be a fandom blog! (I got carried away.) current fandoms include: Ace Attorney (the one this blog was supposed to be about), Doctor Who (childhood hyperfixation come back to bite my ass), and Splatoon (no excuse). also MHA is basically my abusive boyfriend at this point but I'm trying to get better (not). you can find the records of my failing recovery at @alex-is-losing-sleep-over-krbk /hj (I also sometimes shamelessly rb this blog's posts over there lol)

and I guess since I'm mentioning fandoms, here are my fav ships: wrightworth, klapollo, franmaya, thoschei, pearlina, agent 24. also somehow, completely inexplicably, cuttletavio. listen I read like one really good fic and I just think—

anyways, that's about it. love you all :]

[2dboisloyal-devotee]

i decide to post something and as my first post, it's about my first husbando.

>)~ONESHOT

This Wish I Hold (Yandere Toshiro Hitsugaya x GN reader)

Please make sure you're at least 16+ and proceed with caution, well the yandere jazz and all that is more apparent in the end anyway

Warning: fluff, manipulative behaviors, angst, reader's death

Momo Hinamori; the name of your savior from a dire situation and since then you had been trying to return the favor. By becoming good friends, you got along well with her.

It wasn't long around that time too when she brought you two together. Despite Momo calling him cheerfully in a nickname of 'Shiro', you met the renowned child prodigy, otherwise known with the 'cold as ice' alias.

White short spiked hair and a sharp turqoise eyes complement his striking appearance all the more besides just looking like a literal child. He narrowed his eyes. “...Captain Hitsugaya from the 10th division of Gotei 13. Nice to meet you.” The way he brought upon himself in a levelheaded manner made you quickly mutter an apology before introducing yourself....to which he just nodded at.

He soon excused himself, bringing Momo to block his way. “Geez, Shiro! That's not how you treat my friend!”He sighed. “What more do you want, Hinamori...? I'm busy already right now and it's not helping at all since I'm also doing the job she's supposed to do!” While he grumbled about someone named Matsumoto, you realized you would try to be good friends with him too as you thought it would be proper since he was a childhood friend with Momo, along with some other reasons rooted from curiousity.

And what better way to do that than helping with what was he frustrated about?

At first, Momo was a bit hesitant leaving the two of you alone because you just knew each other but after hearing your reassurance, she then left to take care of her business from Aizen. Arriving in his office, you were told not to be trusted on managing the important documents. He simply reasoned that he didn't want to have more incoming headache from it.

So you just stood there while thinking what could you possibly do before suggesting to buy his favorite drink to cool off or considering his instruction to do something about his useless lieutenant.

“Just do as you like without causing trouble,” he ordered sternly. His eyes were now focusing on the paperwork with furrowed eyebrows as if they were already a permanent part of his expression. So you followed what he said, getting to know many more people along the way and being friends with them. That still included you getting closer with Momo and Captain Hitsugaya.

You spent many breaks with them by eating lunch or snacks together, being told many stories from Momo about their childhood including the embarrasing parts which Captain Hitsugaya liked to get worked up over.

There was a tiny difference you noticed too. After gradually having spent time with them, Captain Hitsugaya's anger was only a flustered one most of the time. And that one was more warm to witness than his usual serious demeanor.

You were tidying up the paperwork on his table to a neat stack while he was stretching and you affirmed at the same time. “You're actually quite a warm person huh, Captain.”

He fell down along with his chair. “WHAt—”

“Uh sh—... Sorry, Captain. Are you alright?” Your hand was outstretching, but he already stood up so fast without sparing a moment to let you see the scene longer.

“I'm! Of course I am! That was because—and, what were you thinking, huh!? Saying something like...” He glared while blushing more apparent. Then he cleared his throat. “At any rate, that was rude to a Captain so don't say stupid things like that again.”

Whether he heard your explanation that you just wanted to say the truth as a praise or appreciation, he still turned around and replied. “Fine, I'll only let this one slide. And... Thank you.”

Momo often says Captain should change the way he acts around people because he could be rude sometimes, but you thought that he was fine as he was. Though, maybe you would save those words for another time as he seemed already agitated enough just by walking near you.

As days passed, you had to watch out for the right situation and even asked for permission if it was okay for you to say some stupid things like before. “Just say what you want. And you don't need to always say that, I won't let your words bother me that much anyway.”

It was becoming a fun routine for you and possibly him, judging by the subtle smiles you catched upon his relaxing face from time to time.

He was willing to loosen his creased eyebrows and smile even if that meant Matsumoto also got the chance to saw it herself then teased him for it, added with Momo who tried to play a matchmaker. He had tried not to let it show in public but failed many times and instead gave punishments of adding work to whoever teased him or you.

Bit by bit from fun to a fulfilling routine, you adapted quite pleasantly. It was overall rewarding. The Captain trusted you on many jobs. Yet he still managed to be considerate in his own way by taking breaks together every so often. It became a fact that he was getting more comfortable in your presence with how often he rested his head on your shoulder or lap and fell asleep.

Although because of the work schedule becoming busier, you had less time to meet Momo and even Captain Hitsugaya needed to remind you to rest. One time, your body still ended taking a toll so he stayed by your side almost the whole day. After few scoldings, he had taken care of you until you were back in good health. “Don't fall ill again, at least for a while... I don't enjoy seeing you like that.” He sighed.

It seemed like you couldn't fulfill those words. You got carried away and was too nonchalant of the world that could be in danger anytime.

Laying down on his lap, you coughed and came along a sharp pain in your chest as you tried to breath. “...will you end my suffering, Captain...?” Your trembling hand reached to his cheek with a pained smile.

“Stop.” He gritted his teeth. Toshiro knew that he would not be as capable as you said once you die. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

A ragged breath was let out from you before a choked gasp for the ache you felt. You spoke again. “..plea..se? I know, only you can numb the pain... Even thou—..gh you, such warm, person...” Toshiro quickly clutched your outstretched hand with a firm grasp as he voiced his rejection. “I refuse, and please, stop talking, (Y/n)! This isn't the time for ... Just—hang in there!!”

Deep down he knew that there wasn't any choice he could do anymore even after going through all sort of methods, left only a last resort for who knew how long. You were the one who gave those words a meaning and warmth to make him thought he was actually a warm person even after he had gone used to those ignorant rumors of him. He was in fact fine with you to be the one whom melted the guard he had built up like a chilling, rigid ice for years.

You should have taken responsibilities for making him feel this way. “Sor..ry.. honestly... I, want it to be, you..  who end..s it, please. Don't let it... end this way..” you responded. Your energy had been sapped away to every words and effort trying to keep your grip, then your eyes drooped...

At that second, your moment had become frozen in time. None other than in the eternally graceful ice he made himself, despite your words and self had gone cold. Finally he could do it using the reason you wished yourself. He will do anything it takes to have you keep your words true again.

He makes sure that you'll return.