me and the abomination I pulled by being madly in love with life. 

Solo Leveling Brainrots

Fellow Jinwoo Simps I need your thoughts and opinion!! Also MASSIVE brainrot warning!!!

QUESTION: How do you think Jinwoo would react to his partner questioning his taste in lovers? (ie. Being interested in Reader themselves)

How id imagine the confession would go: Jinwoo, pre-awakening: I like you *holds bouquet of flowers Reader, confused: um! *looks around to see if he's talking to someone behind them before pointing at themselves confused*... me? Jinwoo: Yes, You. Reader, Shocked: oh! Um... I like you too... but *hesitates* are you sure? About me??

The feeling is mutual!!! It's just his lover doesn't have alot of confidence in themselves. Or any confidence into getting a romance with anyone, let alone Jinwoo!! Reader feels like they have ZERO RIZZ (reader has enough rizz to woo Jinwoo so...).

Like would he hype them up???? Mayhaps but in subtle ways though I'd imagine🤔🤔. You think he'd be extra affectionate when reader gets shy??? Would this differ pre and post awakening?? (I imagine Jinwoo and reader wouldn't want the relationship public due to safety since hes a hunter and all)

AND WHAT ABOUT HIS POST AWAKENING GLOWUP AND THE FANS!!! READERS ALREADY SHY BUT THE TABLOID EVENTUALLY CHIPS AT THE SLOWLY BUILT CONFIDENCE JINWOO HELPED BUILD.

OHMYGOSH WHAT ABOUT THE TABLOIDS WITH CHA HAE-IN???? WOULD HE GET WORRIED SINCE READER MIGHT GET INSECURE OR JUST KINDA SAD???

WHAT IF READER TELLS HIM THAT HE DESERVES BETTER, BELIVJNG THAT READWR DOESNT DESERVE HIS LOVE?? AAAA OUCHHHH.. I GUESS HE HAS TO STAY WITH READER AND REMIND THEM OF HIS UNWAVERING LOVE WITH CUDDLES AND QUALITY TIME DJBDBFIDN

(reader is Jinwoo's ride-or-die, the monarch of his heart and soul, the love reader gives him is like comfort of warm soup at the end of the day, the kind that soothes even the deepest of wounds. Reader's love is also a drug, one that he cant get enough of. If he loses reader, Jinwoo would go insane.)

AUDBUDBDIBD HOLY!!!! WOULD HE GET PISSED ABOUT IT AND ENDS UP GETTING CLINGY IF CRAZY SHIPPERS TRYING TO PUT READER IN DANGER IE. SENDING A MONSTER READER'S WAY BECAUSE OF THEM BEING A "THREAT" TO THEIR SHIP (HIM AND CHA HAE-IN)??? I MEAN LIKE GUIDE THE MONSTER SPECIFICALLY AWAY FROM THE DUNGEON TO READERS LOCATION TOO. (TO THE EXTENT THAT ITS CLEARLY FOUL PLAY)

LIKE THANK THE MONARCHS THAT READER HAD SHADOWS ASSIGNED AND MAYBE WAS DECENTLY RANKED AFTER AWAKENING BUT IT COULD HAVE ENDED AWFUL IF THE FATES WERENT ON READERS SIDE!!

WOULD HIS ARMY GET PROTECTIVE TOO?? IGRIS??? BERU??? LIKE HOW DARE THESE FOOLS HARM THEIR MONARCHS BELOVED?!?!?!? 😡😡EVEN WORSE IS IF READER WORMED THEIR WAY INTI THEIR HEARTS BY GENUINELY GETTING TO KNOW THEM SO ITS PERSONAL NOW TOO!!

Reader has to calm down not only a PISSED jinwoo but his Shadows too (mainly Jinwoo though)!! And maybe being the only reason Jinwoo hadn't gone on a rampage after everything setted. Was he bribed with a heated makout session and plenty of cuddles afterwards to temper his rage and soothe his anxiety, yes. Did it work??? Probably. If it did??That's none of our buisness.

Id imagie Cha Hae-in would feel bad™ if they found out about Jinwoo and reader (just assuming the two being best friends)?? Being like "oh shit someone, a civilian no less, almost died because of her fans" Even worse if later on she learns that they're together aaaaa

But like seriously, what a messed up reminder of the power S-Rank Hunter have on the media. Yes, they know about their celebrity status affecting what they can or can't do but like this??? A whole different level, because yes, people targeting other?? Awful? Yes, but its fine. Using a MONSTER FROM A DUNGEON to target a CIVILIAN?? This is a whole new level of messed up.

Would the other S-ranks and National-ranked hunters feel like kinda bad too once they hear about it??

what the fuck??? For the following reasons:

No one deserves that

Its a civilian going against fans that are most likely hunters, the very individuals hunters are ment to protect from monsters ever since the dungeons appeared

THE HUNTERS USED A HIGH RANKED MONSTER TO TARGET A CIVILIAN (the mutual enemy internationally)

this was all done because PEOPLE BEING ENTITLMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE S-RANK HUNTERS.

This is furthur solidified and makes the WHOLE DEBACHLE worse because only EXPERIENCED hunters would have the knowledge and experince to be able to lure a monster from a dungeon break to a specific location, especially if reader wasn't even near the dungeon in the first place.

(For anyone who's read this all the way, thanks for reading my silly thoughts!)

Snippet of the first part of a TFA Megop smut fic I'm writing that is clocking in at 2000+ words and is only halfway done because apparently I've been cursed and can only write smut if there is a massive and convoluted build up. Not checked for spelling or grammar. Enjoy!

💜

"What. Is that." 

Megatron pauses from where he had been rummaging through the box. It was one of his own, hastily packed and shoved under his berth for safekeeping, then forgotten about for a couple thousand stellar cycles. Somewhere among the mess of contents was a datastick containing old information about overhauling a star core ship's engine. In his search for it, he had pulled various items out and placed them onto the berth about the box. 

He scans over the mess of stuff and can't figure out what it is Optimus sounds so horrified at. "What is what?" 

"That," Optimus hisses, almost accusatory, as he points at the offending object lying between an old datapad and a tangle of charging cords. 

"Oh," Megatron says. "It's a vibrator." 

He returns to digging through the box, yanking out a couple styluses, still in pursuit of the datastick. 

"I know what a vibrator is," Optimus snaps back. He's clearly been rattled by this whole encounter. 

"Then why did you ask what it was?" Megatron replies, not even looking up this time. 

"That's not what I—" Optimus starts before snapping his mouth shut. There's a pause, awkward silence floating heavily in the air, before he continues, "I mean, how did you get it?" 

Megatron glances up long enough to look at the thing. An unassuming normal purple wand type vibrator meant for stimulating the anterior node or, in a pinch, working a kink out of the neck. "Bought it on Cybertron millennia ago. Don't use it very much now. It's too weak for my tastes." 

"You got it on Cybertron?" Optimus asks incredulously. 

"Of course. Where else would I have gotten it?" Megatron replies sarcastically. 

"So they weren't always illegal?" 

Megatron does pause and look up at Optimus at that. He's almost sure he misheard the mech. "What do you mean by 'illegal'?" 

"Well, most interfacing toys are banned on Cybertron. Have been for as long as I can remember," Optimus replies simply. He's clearly not lying, Megatron knows all his tells, and he seems genuinely confused at the sight of such an object before him. 

"Most?" Megatron asks. 

"You can buy false spikes, but they have to be within certain parameters and shapes and textures and colors. And they can't vibrate or be any non-realistic shapes." 

"Even in Kaon?" he asks, surprise slipping into his voice a bit. Because he is surprised. He remembers the various alleyways of shops that were proud to display their unique wares for various purposes and parts. Interfacing toys and accessories were not uncommon nor taboo or even restricted. It wasn't a surprise most of the planet considered Kaon to be one massive red-light district. Even the few times he had been in Iacon, a city state that considered itself the most proper and modest, he had spied little shops tucked in the shadows of alleyways that promoted very specific items. 

Optimus shrugs. "I assume so. It's a planet wide law." 

Megatron can only stare at him for a long moment as his processor tries to sort through what he just heard. He knew Autobots tended to be prudes but this was almost unbelievable to him. He could understand legal restrictions on pornographic material and prostitution. There had been laws regulating such things when he was still on Cybertron. But the idea that there were now laws that cracked down on personal items like false spikes and vibrators was boggling to him. It was such a small innocuous thing and yet there were laws completely banning most of the items. 

Megatron snaps himself out of his daze and shakes his helm before going back to digging in the box. He hears Optimus go back to digging through his own box, sorting through a mess of datasticks to find the right one they needed. 

"You can have it if you want," Megatron finally says aloud. "I don't use it anymore and would likely just toss it in the smelter the next chance I get." 

Optimus eyes the vibrator warily as if it would spring to life and bite him at any moment. "Thanks, but I don't think I should." 

"We're not on Cybertron, little Autobot," Megatron reminds him. "And I can assure you, I know how to keep my mouth shut." 

Optimus stares at it for another moment, his servos still in the box. He glances behind them, towards the closed door. They were the only ones in here and the voices of passing bots drifted further and further from the door as the solar cycle slowly came to an end. Clearly he was having quite the internal conflict about it. 

But Megatron can't pay it much mind as his servo brushes a few things aside and the correct datastick finally reveals itself. 

"There it is," he says, picking it up. He begins to walk towards the door. "If you want it, you can take it. It takes a universal charging cord." 

"I'm not taking it," Optimus snaps back quickly. 

"Of course you're not," Megatron smirks. "But if I return and it's here, I'm tossing it into the smelter." 

With that, Megatron exits his berth room and into the hallway. Finding Strika takes a bit, eventually finding her in a meeting with the other engineers aboard, and she thanks him for the datastick. 

When he returns to his room, the mess on the berth is gone, swept swiftly into their own respective boxes. Opening each, he finds all items returned to their proper place, with the exception of one vibrator. 

He chuckles to himself as he shoves the boxes back under his berth. If what he said about the laws restricting interface toys, the Autobot didn't know what he'd gotten himself into.

OUAT AU - Electric Touch

Ib: @jackiequick

Characters: Liane Felton St. James, Ethan Lensherr Long, Rick Banner, Cassandra Ashfield Sean, Belladonna, Sherrif Erik Lensherr

Ship: Ethan x Liane

Being a mother is hard. A role your body never builds you for specifically, that you take on nevertheless, is always more special and beautiful when you choose it for yourself. At least, that's what Liane St. James was telling herself as she paced on her lawn, trying not to blow her stack in front of the Sherrif, her neighbour Rick and her best friend Cassandra Sean who was trying to say soothing things.

"She could have already gotten on a plane and flown to another country by now!"

"Be reasonable Lia, Bella is a smart girl."

"Yeah too smart! I'm such a bad mother! She could be dead in a ditch and I wouldn't know...why didn't I give her a cellphone for her birthday..."

"She would never have used it. Trust me, she won't have gone far."

Liane's temper cooled but never fully disappeared. It was a flaw of hers that she had a rather hot temper and if looks could kill she could've hurt many people with a single withering glare. Cassandra was one of the few people who could handle Liane's temper and she was a great friend to her when her rage started to bubble over.

"We can't put out a missing person's alert yet, Miss St. James, its still too early. Besides, she's a teenager. They rebel more than most." The Sherrif scoffed, really wishing he wasn't there. The adults continued to argue as the sound of tires were heard from up the road as an unfamiliar blue car was heading towards the house. Liane was still pacing as the car pulled up and her daughter Belladonna stepped out along with a man who looked to be in his late 20s, perhaps early 30s, with dark hair, green eyes and a clean shaven face. Rick was still grilling his daughter Riley before they realised Belladonna had returned.

"For the eighth time, where is Belladonna?"

"I'm right here."

Liane turned around to see her daughter standing on the lawn and instantly she ran to embrace her intelligent little girl, tears rolling down her cheeks as her heels clacked against the concrete.

"Oh my God you scared me half to death!"

"You can be so dramatic Mother."

"Where did you go? What happened?! I was worried sick..."

"I found my birth father and an uh pen pal.."

Liane looked up and saw a man with her daughters hair and her nose staring back at her, letting go of Bella to greet this stranger who felt oh so familiar to her in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. He approached nervously and smiled, hands stuffed in his pockets, shrugging.

"Hi."

The Sherrif gave Liane a look before introducing himself to the newcomer and taking Belladonna inside so the adults could talk. Liane looked up at Bella's father trying to look confident but was tapping her nails on her knee the way she did when she was nervous.

"Liane St. James, I'm her adoptive mother."

"Ethan. Ethan Long. It's nice to meet you."

He held out a hand for her to shake and she took it, a crackle of electricity seeming to pass through her as they touched, something seeming to spark inside her as they shook hands. The silence was awkward after they let go of each other and Liane tried to break the ice a little.

"Well I guess I should thank you for bringing her back. Would you like to come inside? I don't know how far she travelled to find you but I wouldn't want you to get back on the road so soon after that...revelation. Uh, drink?"

"Uh.. yeah yeah that would...yeah. Thanks."

Liane smiled and led him inside of her house. The house was very obviously decorated with femininity in mind, pastel shades on the walls, bursts of pink and purple scattered throughout the decor and furniture and a few items that belonged to Bella in shades of jet black or grey showed that their tastes very clearly differed.

Ethan took a seat in the kitchen as Liane busied herself looking for supplies, rummaging through cupboards for cups and such to make him feel welcome.

"Tea? Coffee?"

"Uh coffee is fine thanks."

"Black?"

"Yeah Uh two sugars thanks."

Liane got to work making drinks, dumping coffee into a mug that said Fighter-Town, Maine on it and brewing a vibrant tea in a dainty tea cup covered in flowers for herself.

"So Ethan, where did my elusive girl find you?"

"Uh Boston actually so not...not very far."

"Oh I see, is it just you then?"

"Yeah uh...yeah it's just me."

Liane brought over the mug of coffee and her tea and sat at the table with him, taking off her dark blazer to reveal a pink frilled blouse and kicked off a pair of pink kitten heels as she sipped her tea. She loosened her long blonde hair from its tight chignon and it cascaded down her back, instantly looking at least ten years younger.

"So what happened to Bella's mother, if that's not too personal a question?"

"Uh well its sort of complicated I guess. Messy breakup, neither of us felt ready, it wasn't really my decision but we were young and foolish."

"I know what that's like...." Liane responded, stirring her cup listlessly. There was sadness in her eyes as she gazed just past Ethan at the window overlooking the town, clearly trying not to dwell on the past but not quite being able to escape it.

"Uh so what about you? Is there someone in your life?"

Liane laughed but there was no humor. She put the teaspoon down and looked at Ethan directly as she spoke.

"Not anymore. There was someone, started out like a dream and then turned into a nightmare. I've never been very lucky with love. I tend to attract the wrong type of person. Lucky for me Bella has her head screwed on right. She sees through those men quick as anything, her opinions are harsh but she's never been wrong. If she comes up to me and says 'Mom, that man is dangerous' I listen good and get out of there fast. She's a smart girl."

"So I've heard..." Ethan quipped, trying to lighten the mood. Liane smiled, starting to relax. She was beginning to see flashes of her daughter in him, the way he spoke, his mannerisms, the way his eyes moved as she spoke, it was eerie but strangely comforting.

"So how does one end up in Fighter-Town eh?"

"I was born here, it's all I've ever known. Never wanted to go anywhere else, never tried either..." she said, once again gazing out the window. This seemed to take Ethan by surprise, a slight air of suspicion coming over him as her eyes seemed to cloud over for a moment before returning to him.

"What never? Not even on vacation? Disneyland? Niagara Falls? Yellowstone? Hell, NYC?"

"Nope. Never really felt the need to go anywhere. Besides this place isn't that bad. We do have a beach!"

"A beach? What color is the sea?"

"Depends on the time of year but its almost blue?"

Ethan laughed at that, making Liane chuckle too.

"It's not much but, it's home I guess. Always has been."

They fell silent again after that, not really sure of what else to say. Liane traced the lip of her cup carefully while Ethan just sat there awkwardly, checking his phone every so often.

"Damn, reception up here is kinda lousy."

"Eh you get used to it. Internet comes and goes and sometimes phone calls get cut off but yknow."

"So uh well, what do you do? For work I guess."

"Oh uh I'm a lawyer. Self-employed which is easier said than done. Doesn't pay...that well I suppose but it makes me happy and keeps food on the table. And people tend to trust you when you vouch for them."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting to hear that but pleasantly surprised to learn his daughter was being raised by an intelligent woman. As he finished his coffee, the Sherrif poked his head into the room, saying his goodbyes.

"I'd best be off, I'll be at the station if you need anything else, Ms St. James. Bella seems alright, you take care of yourselves now."

"Thanks again Sherrif. I'll see you around."

The Sherrif nodded, touching his hat and headed out the door, leaving the two alone.

"So...the decor, Bella's idea?"

"Oh no! Not even a little bit. She hates it all, pastels, pinks, fluffy and cute is not her style. But she respects my love for it. On her ninth birthday she very politely informed me that my taste didn't match her own and she would prefer to wear darker clothes and have a bedroom that suits her style from now on. And that she would like to play the violin. So we went out and got her all those things and she seemed content."

"Wow she just asked that? And you weren't offended?"

Liane chuckled, picking up a lavender leather jacket off the back off Ethan's chair and hanging it on a hook by the door.

"I always treated Bella like a person when raising her. Never used baby talk with her, never spoke down to her, told it like it is, she was the one who told Me Santa wasn't real so that tradition died early on, never believed in the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny but she's a hell of a reader. Her shelves are covered in fantasy stories, I guess she likes the escape."

Ethan smiled and the light seemed to dance in his eyes as he did, bringing a warm smile to Liane's face in turn. She felt comfortable around Ethan for some reason, but she wasn't quite sure why yet. She noticed his cup was empty and went to reach for it to put it away and accidentally grabbed his hand instead, the two of them suddenly locking eyes as that feeling of electricity suddenly ran through Liane again, that warm spark that made her question everything.

"I'm so sorry..."

"I was reaching for the-"

"No you're good I-"

"Wow, your hand is warm-"

"Well I-"

They were cut short by the sound of Belladonna clearing her throat by the door, her arms crossed over her chest as her large, dark eyes landed on Liane's.

"Your show about insipid doctors and nurses wishing to fornicate with one another has started. Your love for it dictates that you wouldn't want to miss it."

"Forni- oh Grey's! Of course, thanks sweetie, thank you for the reminder."

"Grey's Anatomy?"

"Yeah the characters are intriguing. Oh judge me, I could care less, I'm allowed to like dumb things."

Ethan laughed and the flicker of a smile appeared on Bella's face briefly as well. Liane rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she got up and walked Ethan to the door.

"It's been a pleasure, uh I would suggest if you plan on sticking around you find a room at Grandpa's Diner up the road, I don't really have the space to accommodate you unless you were okay with the couch?"

"No uh, I'll go check out that diner place and..."

"It's okay if you need space after all this. Take as much time as you need. Really." She smiled, seeing the sun start to sink in the distance, the sky now a burning pink and purple as the day drew to a close.

"Here uh, take my number if you want to come and see Bella at all, just in case you drop by and we're not in." She offered, handing him a pink business card with her details on. He smiled and wrinkled his nose, noting the scent of freshly cut roses on the card.

"Scented?"

"It leaves an impression, yknow?"

"Sure does. See you around St. James."

"Welcome to Fighter-Town, Ethan." Liane smiled, waving him off as he left. As she shut the door she saw his car pull away and watched him go, feeling that tug in her chest again, and sighed.

"You are the least subtle person I know."

Liane jumped, turning around to see Belladonna stood behind her, her face as always impassive but there was a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

"Don't. It's only natural to try and connect with someone so closely linked to your family. Do you want to stay in touch?"

"Do you?"

"Yeah, but he's your Dad, what's your verdict, my little raven?"

"I'd like to see him again. Ask him questions. Tell him about myself. Fix things. And other stuff."

"Duly noted. Please tell me you paused the TV."

Bella reached into the pocket of her dress, holding out the TV remote.

"It boggles my mind that you still doubt my intellect to this day."

Liane smiled, taking the remote from her and headed for the lounge, a strange warmth now lingering on her heart. Ethan Long was now occupying space in her mind. Here we go again.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks again to Lor for restarting my OUAT obsession and getting my mind into the world of fantasy..again

@jackiequick @gcthvile @blueboirick @mallowbee4 @meiramel @ask-starrk @ask-missparker @askstevella @wizzzardofoz @therealdaydreamstark @thechoooooosenone @finlayholmes @rickb-chaos @luna-d-marsh

also like, the cast approves the official art right? the official artist does not just make changes however they please

so i understand it not being up to your taste or whatever but this is how the cast wanted it to be, so being rude to the official artist accomplishes absolutely nothing

So here’s the thing: it’s totally fine to not like the cast's decisions! I think a lot of the weirdness I feel exists and talk about frequently is that there’s this unevenness and inconsistency in who you can criticize and the content of that criticism. Like, the main reason why ship discourse is so fucking fraught is because no one ever says “I wanted these two characters to kiss and then they didn’t and I’m sad.” It has to be “This guy’s story was clearly building up to a roaring rampage of revenge and this player was clearly avoiding their backstory and was obviously burnt out on the character and this character was clearly being infantilized in the ship I didn’t like and convenient, isn’t it how almost all of this is in the passive voice and I’m not actually coming out and saying I personally simply wasn’t happy with the choices the cast made?”

What’s also super telling is that I keep seeing the exact term “yassified” with regards to Fearne (and to a lesser extent Imogen). First off, whenever I see a very specific turn of phrase repeatedly it’s always a bit of a sign of like…does the person posting this actually feel this way in their individual thoughts or are they just parroting others. But what’s far more interesting is that Friederichs has outright said she fell somewhat short of Ashley’s intentions with regards to Fearne in the initial art, and was able to better grasp the uncanny and too-bright nature of the character now that she's seen the character in action for much longer.

It’s not really about what the cast wants. It’s literally as basic as “they changed it and I don’t like change.” And to be clear that’s very human and understandable. Before going back for my grad degree I worked in a tech role that bridged the gap between developers and end users, and people will lose their shit over minor cosmetic changes in software, let me tell you - but it’s also not rational, and it doesn’t need to be justified. A big part of life is realizing that brains are to an extent wired to be sensitive to changes in their environment, but if it’s a harmless change, it’s often beneficial to take a deep breath and let it sit for a while before knee-jerk deciding you hate it.

But I think my biggest gripe is that like, we’ve just seen the immensely swollen heads unofficial fan artists get about their work. We’ve seen people come up with truly bananacrackers faux social justice reasons to defend every hack who thinks they’re making a ~*statement*~ by drawing Imogen wearing the same exact style of glasses as twenty other people. We’ve even seen unofficial fan artists claim that their ability to make work that people will pay for is in fact evidence of their validity and contributions compared to others in the fandom. And then the second a fan artist actually gets paid by the production because they liked her art enough to hire her, it’s open season, apparently.

Personally? I strongly suspect the reason why the art of female characters in the cast gets the most criticism is because the weird refusal of many fans to be normal and say ‘hey I don’t love their choice in roleplay here’ means there’s just gallons of simmering toxic resentment about the women in the cast and their characters and choices below the surface, and somehow the official artists (who have also all been women) are considered an acceptable target for this bile.

There are also people I respect who aren’t loving the art! I think that’s a completely reasonable response. But they’re not making up a zillion reasons why actually they are correct, or yapping about it in highly visible places! It's fine to dislike it - just admit this is a personal preference with nothing deep behind it and keep it out of the tags! Like, part of why I’m so fucking wild about this relatively minor thing is when I (and others) have made untagged “I’m not a fan of this choice” posts I’ve gotten a barrage of anons thinking it’s time to change my mind and how dare you the cast likes it but for the official art it’s suddenly totally cool to be a huge fucking asshole in public.

Let's go have fun with a few words in ST fandom (and how people love to just slap them onto anything really): toxic, misogyny, homophobic.

1. Toxic - literally poisonous but in less literal way it would be ... ah, insidious. I've seen people use it to describe relationships (or at least one or two ships) in this fandom. And I have to say, it's a reach? Has anyone actually considered what a toxic relationship would be? Because let me tell you as a person who has had first person experience, and whose friends have had experience in this shit - the way you're utilizing the word to describe - with aim to put down and discredit - some ships... ain't it. I'm not going to go into details here, but I'm sure individuals can recognise themselves.

2. Misogyny. A prevalent thing in the 80s, perfectly depicted in at the very least S3 and The Hawkins Post. Off the top of my head I am not thinking of other items to showcase it as clearly as that would. I need the people who claim that it was extremely misogynistic when Steve said he wanted six kids to consider that they might be wrong and projecting. Or simply misinterpreting the scene. The scene is a very lovely example of emotional vulnerability and attempted intimacy (platonic, non-platonic - doesn't matter for this conversation). It is not inherently misogynistic to want a big family, and express those desires - smh. Especially when nowhere in the two scenes does Steve say "I expect you to birth precisely six children, you specifically, and I won't budge". I find it funny that a scene showcasing emotionally vulnerable man in an 80s setting is being portrayed as misogynistic, please stop throwing the term around like it's nothing.

3. Homophobic. This one is pretty simple - I'm not homophobic for not shipping your mlm ship, or for thinking that it's at the very least interesting how mlm ships always seem to be prevalent in fandoms even when in source material we have very little (or sometimes nothing) to support those. I'm not saying you can't ship whatever you like, but it's also ha-ha funny when we deliberately exclude female characters out of these narratives to support our own mlm headcanons, so funny. (might even be quirky and use the word misogynistic here). Ship what you want, but it's not homophobic if someone dislikes your fanon ship. It's different taste and that's it.

I totally get not caring for a particular character or ship or something. We all have our own tastes. What I don’t understand is why some people feel the need to be total assholes towards those who do like a character or ship that they can’t stand.

On the flip side, some people do need to grow a thicker skin and accept the fact that not everyone likes their favorite character or ship or whatever.

This is one of those asks where unfortunately I’m not able to tell if you’re sending it to me in good faith or bad faith, which is a shame. I’m hoping it’s good faith, so I’d like to answer seriously and trust that you’ll take it that way also.

Let me start by saying that I don't believe anyone is under the impression that everyone should like their favorite character or ship. We're all adults here. We all know that preferences exist. It's a matter of how we choose to honor and respect those preferences.

There are absolutely instances where a thicker skin should be grown. I can think of a number of situations where that can happen, such as if people are having a civil discussion about things they disagree about, but because one of the parties feels uncomfortable, they start throwing pretty rough accusations or virtue signaling to try and make the conversation end as quickly as possible. I get it. It can feel super icky and squirmy if someone has a different viewpoint from ours. Sometimes it’s really hard just to say, “Hey, I feel a little cornered. I wanna check in that we’re both still feeling okay about this, and if we’re not, then I’d like to agree to disagree. We can just leave it here with mutual respect, all right?”

But there’re also times where it really doesn’t come down to someone being overly sensitive. It comes down to downright meanness and rudeness.

Let’s be honest. There is a very high probability that you and I both know what’s being talked about. I don’t have to spell it out. So let’s be frank with each other. If you go through one of these tags, post after post of insightful, creative, loving, funny, interesting commentary, and not a single rude or mean thing to be said. The other one, a similar situation, but interspersed with just outright rude, mean, and intentionally inflammatory comments that absolutely did not need to be put in the tag at all. There seems to be this belief that certain characters or ships are disliked with an equal amount of vehemence, like two warring factions. This is clearly not accurate.

This isn’t a situation where someone just needs to grow a thicker skin. If there is a ship/character tag that is completely left alone by the people who don’t care for it versus a ship/character tag that keeps getting rudeness filtered in every so often, this doesn’t mean that the latter group of enjoyers should just…not experience annoyance about it nor withhold expressing that annoyance. And again, there is a distinct difference between civil discussion/disagreement/opposing opinions and intentionally inflammatory statements. I like to believe that people can generally tell the difference between them and react accordingly.

Everyone is free to express their own thoughts on this platform as long as they’re not against TOS. We all know this and we all respect this. This applies also to how we choose to use tags. There is a generally understood etiquette that if you’re saying something just outright mean about a character or a ship, you don’t put it in that specific tag. This is not a requirement. No one is asserting that it is. It’s just a polite courtesy because we recognize that tags are used by the people who browse those characters/ships because they enjoy them, so we don’t typically like to rain on their parade.

But this also means that if someone says something rude—if someone walks into somebody’s sandbox and kicks sand in their eyes—then they have no room to whine if that person stands up and complains about it, and they really have no excuse for doubling down with EXTRA rudeness either. If someone tells us not to tease an animal, and we do it twenty times in a row anyway, then ultimately we are responsible for the fact that we were bitten.

Notably, I am saying this about all people involved in a fandom. Including those who are intentionally inflammatory in the tags of posts where they really did not need to commentate. There's a way to say, "I'm surprised by this and I really don't understand how we got here," without implying that anyone who disagrees is lacking in taste. Again, differing preferences. Respecting them. Standing up and walking away from the keyboard if we experience a big and overwhelming emotion in our chest so we can ensure that we don't just kick a hornet's nest for the sake of feeling personally superior. So anyway! After that big long ramble, I’m happy to say that I agree with you. I just also believe in people’s right to express annoyance—especially if it’s untagged and on their own blog—when someone shows up and, again, kicks the sand around. And hell, for all I know, maybe you agree with that too and I made some assumptions about this ask out of habit due to some particularly awful anon asks that I’ve gotten recently. But I’d really, really like it if there was less sandkicking all around because, y’all, I really like it here. I love all of these characters and ships so fucking much. You only have to glance at my AO3 page to see that. And I’d really like to keep having fun with you all instead of flinching every time Tumblr yet again recommends me a super intentionally inflammatory post in a tag that I follow.

Hi! Can I ask your opinion on Cinder X Jaune as a ship?

As in, do I like it, or do I think it has any canon basis?

My answers are basically fun crackship and then not at all, respectively.

For my personal tastes, the only RWBY ships that fill me with feels are Rosegarden and Emercury. I do like Bumbleby, Arkos, Renora, White Knight as they've been written. Cinder/Jaune is like Nuts n Dolts to me--I see why people like it and mad kudos to them. It's just not for me.

The ship, as best I can tell, is based on the fact that Cinder and Jaune absolutely do have a role to play in each other's arcs, and Jaune is absolutely going to be pivotal to Cinder's redemption. The fandom does often sleep on this. I can see why people would have a lot of fun exploring it. Enjoy!

Insofar as canon goes, I think that it has no basis because to interpret their roles in each other's arcs as romantic means misinterpreting the context of the story and the coding of their roles within said story.

I will explain more under the cut because I know I have followers who like the ship and please do enjoy it.

By coding, I do mean age coding. But not in the way antis mean it, not at all. Age gap wise, Jaune and Cinder don't have anything extreme--in fact, it's pretty negligible. That said, to take their ages literally only works in the context of fandom arguments, and so ship to your heart's content!

Within the story, though, Cinder is coded as an adult. Jaune is coded as a child. Coding in stories is not to be taken to extremes like, say, antis or anti-antis take it. There is such a thing as child-adult coding, but it's not the creepy thing people make it out to be. For example, look to Bungo Stray Dogs coding Dazai as a mentor/adult above Akutagawa even though there are only two years between them. There's nothing weird about shipping it, but the story is using this coding for a reason--to tell you about the particular dynamic and what to expect. The story will obviously never go there. Yes, it's a coming of age story like RWBY, but the point is that they aren't coded as peers.

In RWBY, Emerald and Mercury are presented as peers of RWBYJNPR in the Vytal Festival, and Cinder is presented as being above them, as a mentor, as a parental figure, at each and every turn. The reason this matters is not to say that Jaune and Cinder can't be shipped without creepiness (it's not creepy at all), but it matters because coding can tell you a lot about the intentions of the writers.

There's also alchemical coding, in which opposites should unite. Opposites, like say Bumbleby and Rosegarden and Renora, are:

Gold, red, heart, sun, hot and dry, fire, air

Silver, white, mind, moon, cool and moist, water, earth

So, if you left Jaune as he was at the start of the story as white, moon, silver, etc., he would actually work with Cinder, but at this point he's clearly not those anymore. He worked with Pyrrha precisely because of this. However, regardless of whether or not Jaune ends up with anyone, he's becoming red, gold, fire, and sun. His name also foreshadows this (jaune=yellow). He got blasted with fire this volume. He took on a white trait this volume (the streak of hair) but that's a symbol of union after a chemical wedding, which was not with Cinder.

Besides, Cinder is also gold and red and fire. I don't think this is remotely debatable. Her name is literally a reference to fire. She's introduced to us shooting flames and she relies on fire throughout the series.

Plus, in the very first episode of RWBY, Cinder's golden eye is highlighted with a specific frame that contrasts her gold eyes with Ruby's silver (like, the very next scene has Oz mentioning Ruby's silver eyes). Cinder is gold.

So what is Jaune and Cinder's actual connection? Well, it has to do with other red characters: Pyrrha, Penny, and Ruby.

Pyrrha's final act of love was saving Jaune and telling Cinder that destiny exists. That even if things are cut short, even if your very life with all you wanted is taken from you, you can still impact the world in a powerful way. This is precisely the connection between Jaune and Cinder: he is going to pass on Pyrrha's message to Cinder. Destiny is real, and she can choose it (because choice is the final relic/theme to be explored).

Lastly, Ruby is actually Cinder's prince, and has always been since the ball. Ruby is the one who will probably save Cinder from her Grimm arm, showing her that being a human being is enough to not deserve to be consumed by chaos. Being a human is enough.

So then, what is Jaune? He is the Maiden of Cinder's story. He will embody the message of Pyrrha and Penny, two maidens, to help Cinder reach individuation, the archetype of the self that Ruby also embodies. Cinder's ultimate choice will be to be a Maiden, but not in the way that she's been so far--in a heroic way. Cinder's arc has always intertwined the supernatural/goddess imagery with that of a lonely child, and so in the end she will be both human and heroine--because through embracing humanity, people can transcend weakness and impact the world.

If there is romance for Jaune, it will be with Weiss. It should be, considering they've set up the crush, explicitly paralleled White Knight with Arkos, Bumbleby, and Rosegarden, and you shouldn't set up crushes without following them up. It's a story, not real life; if it's mentioned, it should matter. (Okay Black Sun but... I would hope the writers have like, learned from that. Plus we do have a Black Sun parallel, and it's Weiss and Neptune.)

Lastly, I don't think Jaune is dying at all, and I don't think Cinder's chances of surviving are much higher than say, Eren Jaeger's in SnK. This isn't me saying it's what I want to see or that I think she shouldn't live; it's just looking at the story thus far, seeing how it's treated say, the Curious Cat, and examining patterns.

See, in alchemy there is something called the Deaths that mark the end of a color phase and the transition to the next. I'm going to use Harry Potter as an example not to be gauche but because it's extremely obvious:

Black Death/Nigredo: Sirius Black

White Death/Albedo: Albus (means white in Latin) Dumbledore

Red Death/Rubedo: Harry Potter himself in the presence of Rubeus Hagrid

Most stories don't use the Yellow phase (it's subsumed into Red) but RWBY does. We have:

Black Death: Pyrrha, death at Beacon at night surrounded by black Grimm

White Death: Weiss Schnee at Haven, although Jaune revives her

Yellow Death: Penny Polendina at Atlas, when Jaune kills her via a weapon (Crocea Mors) that literally means "yellow death," in case you weren't sure.

So, yeah. RWBY is using deaths to mark passage. I do think Cinder will be "saved" from her Grimm arm at Vacuo's climax by Ruby and be given Jaune's message, but the odds of her not dying back at Beacon (even if she does die, it will be to save the world) are not great. She could revive as well, but... we've already used revival and stories do like to keep that special. Plus, RWBY's message on death is clearly not that death is a punishment. It's a tragedy to be mourned, but it doesn't have to be the end of any story.

Episode four notes, let's go

Yohan is so goddamn fond of Jinjoo

Kyunghee’s white to Yohan’s black. Crack ship I wanna write so badly

The way she tells him not to say justice, and then immediately assumes it’s power he wants

He has been setting her up to believe he wants power, playing her against the others in a way that makes it seem like he either wants her job or the candidacy

Kyunghee also sees him the clearest out of the entire group, I think. She just has a terrible understanding of his motivations.

19 years before, Kyunghee looked into the politican for accepting bribes. She had him declared guilty. He was a “trademark of ethics, ended up committing suicide and leaving behind a middle school aged son.

Yohan really does love K. He’s willing to let Kyunghee go for the sake of justice for K. Even after what she did to Elijah.

Why does he just drive off and leave K places, bring your damn boyfriend with you Yohan

They also draw parallels between Elijah and K

Yohan can cook. The butler offers up ingredients before meals. Yohan can cook he just doesn’t.

“Is her taste like mine?” as if he didn’t basically raise her

Idk why watching Yohan waiting for a microwave is so funny

He sits in the middle seat, not quite at the head of the table, not quite directly to the side

“The most dangerous and toxic thing in this world is a human being.”

I’m obsessed with his eyebrows

But Elijah assumes Nanny made toast, meaning Yohan doesn’t cook often, or he doesn’t cook her for specifically

Korea is on the verge of riots again. Only two places have over 90% credibility—SRF, at 92%, and the Live Court at 90%.

Other percentages include Prosecution (12%), National Revolutionary Party (55%), Democratic Union Party (20%)

Her pen with the lil feather thing is so cute

Yohan “keeps bringing home strays, which is unlike him.”

Yohan not knocking is still hilarious

Gaon “oh no I’m still soooo injured” obviously not injured

I also find it really interesting that he finally decides to use Gaon’s similarities to Isaac in this episode after asking Kyunghee if she even remembers what she did to K’s father. As if Yohan is starting to realize that they might not even remember that they are the reason Isaac is dead.

Yohan is so proud of himself for that timezone line, i HATE him

Gaon’s audacity kicking Yohan out of his own closet is also so funny

They keep pairing Isaac with the color white- the coat Yohan gives Gaon for the night

Gaon pulling the age jokes out of NOWHERE

Elijah and Gaon team up for the first time when he’s dressed as Isaac. That’s gotta hurt Yohan just a little bit.

Yohan glancing back at Gaon, something he likely did with Isaac at least once.

I’m just in Isaac feels today

There’s at least four cars in that garage

car’s license plate: 408min 3452

I wonder if Yohan let Gaon drive because he was used to being a passenger to Isaac’s driving. Just another nod to how he dressed Gaon in Isaac’s clothes. And the way Yohan watches him after they get into the car

Yohan has no need to guide Gaon with a hand on his back, that’s his sugar baby right there

Sunah approaches Gaon after he’s dressed as Isaac. She’s the only one who recognizes that Yohan played it up

Yohan watching Gaon get walked over by a group of women and clocking him as a homosexual is still hilarious

Yohan holding onto him

The fact that they invite Gaon to join the group is also really interesting, in the same way they try to recruit Jinjoo later. Yohan seems to be equally testing to see if they recognize him as similar to Isaac and whether or not Gaon is aware he’s supposed to be there to irritate Yohan

Gaon seated next to Yohan, it really should bring Isaac to mind for them

Notice that Sunah isn’t wearing a necklace in this scene. She’s not collared.

They all talk about the tragedy itself but they clearly don’t remember Isaac, or the fact that Yohan lost his family

Notice how Kyunghee wasn’t invited to this dinner.

President’s wife mentions that President has a son the same age as Youngmin, and that they were friends when they were little.

Yohan, my little politician.

Setting himself up fully to take her candidacy now

Joongse seems to miss that the difference between him and Yohan is that he’s a puppet. They would have no control over Yohan, and he’s completely derailed the conversation from Park Duman pointing that out.

Translation has Min calling Yohan a “surviving bastard” which. oof

Yohan really does play this group so well. He’s just sitting back until he’s addressed and he barely plays yes man, but they all assume he’s with them. He’s so clever. And he endured ten years of this

Yohan also wasn’t invited to this until Sunah wrote the invite.

The celebration was for Isaac donating literally everything to the SRF. He didn’t want the dirty money.

Yohan submitted a medical report/evaluation stating Isaac wasn’t in his right mind donating the money.

In some ways, I think Gaon’s disappointment in Yohan is something Yohan wanted. If only to see someone who resembled Isaac disappointed in the choices he made.

Every time I watch this scene, I think about how he was supposed to push on Gaon’s leg to make him go faster and I get sad about how we didn’t get Yohan groping Gaon

Temptation vs possibility

Implied that Youngmin attempted suicide at least once

Yohan’s desk got moved to face the door after the explosion? The room got moved around, his desk was in a different place before

The fuckin wall socket

You can see the split second Yohan chooses his punishment. Good god that was attractive

Nah please Jinjoo and Yohan are so in sync it’s physically painful

Verena Church was the church Kang Jisang attended

The cathedral had been converted from an old school building

Yohan claimed at the hospital that he didn’t remember anything

The attempt to defend Youngmin literally just drives a knife into Kyunghee’s political career and Yohan just lets them lmfao

Emotional populism

“Do you know how many people live to watch Judge Kang in this hell of a world?”

Yohan’s jaw trembles before he snaps at Gaon, he’s gotta be trying so hard not to cry, right down to the laugh and the breaths to clearly try not to cry

Isaac and Cecelia both let Elijah run off, they know Yohan’s hiding over there

Joongse yawns. They all talk during it. It really is Isaac doing his best to do good and everyone else not caring.

Yohan shakes his head at Isaac. I had never noticed how desperate he is to stay with Isaac

He brought Elijah’s stuffed animal with.

The second he realizes Isaac didn’t make it hurts, but the second he realizes Isaac could have made it hurts worse, and the second he realizes it’s just him and Elijah hurts the worst

And the second that sadness turns to hatred

Yohan is crying. He’s hiding it from Gaon but he is crying.

I don’t think he’s ever properly realized how well he can use the victim story. But I’m sure he’d be able to do that without changing his own personal opinion of himself.

I've had a bunch of things circling around my head for days and they don't seem to want to leave on their own, so I'm going to try writing them out in a long post that no one had to read, but if you're nosy like me you're welcome to and I promise the bad vibes can't past it past the readmore, you can check them at the door

the guy I like wasn't at the party I went to last weekend and no one there even had his contact info (I got brave and asked the person who I thought knew him but it turned out to be a dead end) so now I have to wait for the group's every other month party and hope he turns up to that, which will probably be a Halloween party so that'll be an interesting extra element. I've just been so hung up on it cause my attraction to people in real life is so incredibly rare and I want to act on this, but it feels so out of my control and if I'm this sad at not seeing him for two months I'm gonna be REALLY really sad if four months later I still don't see him. I wish my taste in people was broader so I could just. not feel so lonely!

I think the loneliness/striking out has mutated alongside dysphoria into me feeling extremely dysmorphic and sad lately, which I like a lot less than my hopeful new outlook I had for the few months before that

I'm feeling very tired of being misgendered absolutely constantly in public, and especially of feeling like my mom just sees me as "woman lite". I almost wish she just saw me as a man, but I specifically don't identify with a binary gender because I don't want people to lug in all their gendered baggage and assumptions and bury me in them, so instead I'm stuck with not being seen as a man at all.

The dysphoria seems to have been fanned by not seeing that guy at the party and feeling insecure about that, but especially by the interaction at said event where (someone who is also nonbinary) made weird and gross biologically essentialist comments (cited in another post, man I wish tumblr had citations honestly, I know I'm a fucking nerd but how fun would that be, anyway). I went through a period of feeling way more confident in my body and how my gender (and sex, frankly) are congruous with my identity and that I can be a gay guy who isn't questioned or dissonant, and that just felt so regressed by that interaction and my doubts of how people perceive me and, by extension of anxiety, how the guy I like might see me.

Seeing a post where someone in the comments conflated dom/sub with top/bottom and also made the most "clearly hasn't had sex, doesn't know what they're talking about" reference to being a "top in real life, bottom in bed" and vice versa and I just wish I could make people stop using all of those terms if they don't know what they mean. oh, you're anally receptive in your daily non-sexual life? No wonder being on tumblr set me back with my understanding of sex and relationships, people just talk about it with zero grounding in reality

Then seeing a guy refer to "transition scars" in a piece of art's replies (where the cis male artist gave a character very tired vine patterns in place of top surgery scars) and then I went to the commenter's blog and his bio said that he's distrustful of fandoms predominantly made up of women fetishizing m/m ships, ie all of them, and I'm just like Man, way to do one of the worst things you can do for trans men while claiming the most superficial support. the way I still have to reassure myself that that's not what I'm doing when I experience attraction to another man as a man, because of fear mongering arguments like that.

Lastly in the vein of maybe I should stop opening the notes of posts at all, is seeing someone claim that the "mauraders fandom" is a "totally separate" fandom from the hateful wizard books and not related, thus they shouldn't be accused of promoting transphobic work, and someone had to break down for them exactly how stupid that argument is. The fact that they're apparently telling themselves that explains why the acquaintance I know who I already wasn't comfortable being friends with because she still goes to Catholic church with her family was comfortable referencing reading mauraders fanfiction while knowing she was in front of a trans person. It was just so much to realize the fact that this is just a continuation of the same bullshit people have been spewing for years about death of the author, in front of my trans literature major ass who has actually read roland barthes and knows that's not even kinda what the essay is about.

Anyways I'm tired, trans, and angry, and I would just like some critical thought, gender affirmation, and gay sex as a treat.

Luxe and Lunacy

Chapter 21 - Break The Ice

Finally out of Guarm space and general sight, she tries to connect. Mood Music ⏬ Britney Spears - Break The Ice Intro - In The End | Ch. 20 - Stay | Ch. 21 - Break The Ice | Ch. 22 - Queen Of Nothing

     I awoke alone in the bed again, but I could still smell him on the sheets so he couldn't have been gone long. The simple outfit he’d given me had been waiting on the bed, implying he’d been here before meeting me for the mission, and I’d slept in it so it’d taken on some wrinkles since. I slipped out of bed and made my way out of the room, hands idly trying to deal with those wrinkles while I went looking for him.      He was in the kitchen where I joined him with a confident stride, slipping past to hop onto the counter beside where he fiddled with the built-in Caffe machine. He looked me over once with a raised brow before focusing back to getting his cup filled, “Bold.”      I looked in said cup, the liquid was dark, “Me or the drink? Y’got sweetener in that right?”      “You’re on the counter.” he responded simply, “And Zathians can’t taste sweet things. I believe it’s a carnivore thing.”      I frowned, “Tragic.”

     He shrugged, “Make your own," he said, gesturing to the cupboard above it, “Stuffs all here or built into the machines,” he informed me before wandering back to the table where he’d left the tech he’d been working on.      I grumbled and eyed said machine, scanning the buttons before grabbing my own cup, actively trying to look as competent as I could. Then I joined him, sitting at the other side of the table where I could see him and resting my chin on crossed arms, “Can we talk now that we’re outa Urgu’s reach or you just quiet normally?”      He glanced up at me then back down to the tech, “I have nothing to say.”      I hummed, watching him, I wanted to push, “Where's yer tattoos?”      “My back.” He paused, “and calves.” He wasn't giving off anything that felt like irritation yet.      “Did you take your face one off?” I asked, that got a spike of something negative and there was danger in the eye-contact he made with me in response. I sat up quickly, raising both hands to signify innocence, “Hey, no judgments here. I just wanna know ‘bout my savior, y’know?”      He huffed and focused back on his work, “Alright, if you want to talk so bad; when were you planning to tell me you could pilot off auto?”      I shrugged, “You never asked,” I replied, mimicking his own half answers.      He gave me the side-eye momentarily before continuing, “What else can you do?”      I faltered, unsure what exactly he was looking for, “besides sex or?”      He waved it off, “No, something useful. First aid, languages… whatever pheromone shit you can pull that isn't sexual.”      I answered the ones he said specifically, “Yes. Guarmyn and Bli’esh. Can make folks gather, more agreeable, or panic. Can sense when they’re overwhelmed,'' before adding a few more, “I can also handle more hard drinks than all advanced humanoids I’ve encountered, am good at gambling, sense Umbrites, and pilot some pretty messy lanes… Could use some practice shooting though.”      He hummed thoughtfully as he drank, gaze distracted by the tech in front of him, “Yet you were owned by Urgu, who was clearly not too bright.”      I shrugged, “Dumb luck, last guy had a gambling problem.”      He let out an amused breath, “and the others?”      I hesitated, trying to compile enough information to answer, “Before that, the family didn't like me; somethin ‘bout bloodlines. And before that, he tried to use me fer political sway but I was better at it than him. Then was the school.”      He looked at me, “The school?”      I shrugged again, “One of the ships where the Guarm train servants.”      He squinted, then his focus moved away again, “And how did you end up there?”      I huffed, not wanting to answer that one, “When do I get to ask questions?”      “You don’t want to answer that one do you,” he stated, trying to make a point that I refused to look at.      “I was sold,” I answered defiantly, but my voice cracked. “Parents didn’t want me ‘cause I didn't look like ‘em.” I could feel his mental disarmament when I shoved through what I interpreted as some sort of bluff; hoping that I could earn an answer by pushing through the topic. Unfortunately, I’d salted my own wounds in an effort to get the upper hand and my nervous system began reacting hard. My body began to vibrate, even without having drank any of the Caffe I was now white-knuckling. I attempted deeper breaths to calm myself but those only made me more aware of the heart now trying to pound out of my chest.      He looked across to where I was now hyperventilating with tears streaming down my face and rolled his eyes before getting up to disappear into the bedroom. He returned soon after with his jacket which he draped over my shoulders, “We understand why the topic is best left unaddressed now?” he asked above me.      I pulled his clothing tight around my shoulders and tried to make myself small in them, nodding.      I heard him slouch into a sigh before he rested his hand on my shoulder, then reached it in front of me to coach my hands away from the cup. “Squeeze my hand,” he insisted, “put your emotion into your grip and focus on your senses.”      I did as I was told, slipping my fingers between his and gripping the man’s hand with both of mine, his skin was warm and his scent lingered. I could hear the machines in the walls and smell the Caffe, his shirt was a black pinstripe - and a smile pulled at my lips.      “What?” He looked down to see what I was seeing.      “Same shirt pattern ye gave me before.”      “It’s a pretty solid style,” he responded, “You did pick from my clothes, remember?”      I nodded, smiling up at him, “It looks better on you,” I teased, trying to pull myself into a lighter mood.      His flash of a genuinely amused smile helped but he looked away to his project soon after, “We’re going to have to head planet-side for a part,” he said, changing the topic, “It’s just a couple skips off. I already have a place there but we should load the cargo into the unit and ditch the transport before anyone realizes it’s hot.”      I nodded, releasing his hand to return to my cup, “It’ll help the jitters too.”      He shrugged, leaving his own cup to get to the job at hand, “Don’t be too long, I’d like to get going sooner than later.” and left me to finish my drink. I didn't waste too much time but I did let myself enjoy the Caffe before joining him.

Mood Music:

Intro - In The End | Ch. 20 - Stay | Ch. 21 - Break The Ice | Ch. 22 - Queen Of Nothing 🚨 They’re basically villains, they’re gonna act like it. 🔞

Shit that you can, in fact, keep to yourself instead of sticking it in your author’s notes:

“I actually DO NOT SHIP this lol” (referring to the sole ship with which your fic is clearly tagged). I actually filtered specifically for that ship so… thanks for telling me you think my taste sucks, I guess?

“I wrote this a long time ago and now I know it’s bad. I should take it down idk why it’s still up *shrug*” Guessing you keep it up because you like the comments you’re still getting. (Which is a great reason! Let’s not lie to ourselves though.) Also thanks for telling me I enjoy shitty fic if I make the mistake of reading and liking your work???

“Just remember, this ship is super unhealthy and you shouldn’t like it!” please stop writing for a ship you feel the need to warn readers against, I am begging you

“This was actually supposed to be seventeen chapters but I lost interest in it after four. Sorry for the abrupt ending I guess” except I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t told me lol

“I lost interest in this fandom after ten chapters. Sorry. Here’s the eleventh chapter to wrap it up but I don’t actually care about these characters anymore” Again, please stop telling people you think their tastes suck when you wrote a fic specifically catering to that fandom and tagged that fandom, thus guaranteeing your fic will show up on searches for that fandom. Just orphan it if you hate it that much. (But you don’t, because you didn’t.) Keeping your change of heart to yourself would’ve let me finish the story but now I don’t wanna.

“I’m sorry these updates are so slow my life is terrifyingly complex at the moment” I actually don’t want you to keep that part to yourself because venting about challenging life circumstances is completely valid—I just hope you know you NEVER have to apologize for taking your time with your amateur word equivalent of a quilting circle contribution. You’re doing readers a favor by sharing your work.

Bottom line, please just let readers enjoy your fic without getting in their way. If you don’t want them to like it, orphan it so you don’t have to view their enjoyment, but at least delete the wet blanket notes first.

“  close your eyes. go back to sleep. nothing can hurt you while i’m here.  ” // Kazuha to Aether!

memes for that specific brand of ships

@tenebriism

He didn't want to fight her. The last thing that he wanted to do was fight her. His sister. As he blocked blow after blow with his own blade, however, Aether knew that the feeling wasn't mutual. Worse than that was the fact that Lumine had always been the stronger one out of the two of them.

He didn't stand a chance.

"Lumine! Lu-- please!" Staggering back as he barely managed to parry yet another strike, Aether's plea fell on deaf ears as he fought to hold his sister off. He refused to hurt her, regardless of how merciless she was, and despite the fact that she clearly intended to do the opposite.

"How many times do I have to tell you - you're too late, Aether!" The venom in his twin's voice was enough to send a shiver down his spine and to twist his stomach in knots. It was a combination of his hesitation and her savagery that allowed Lumine to knock the sword Aether's hands, the clang of metal against the ground ringing in his ears ever as she lunged forward.

He could only stare in horrified shock as his sister's blade pierced through his stomach, the taste of copper on his tongue as he coughed painfully.

"L... Lumi... ne..."

"Why... why didn't you come find me sooner, Aether?" The sword was wrenched from his gut and Aether felt himself falling, "Why didn't you come save me, brother?"

Why? Why? Why, Aether?!

Aether... Aether... "Aether!"

The sensation of falling followed him back into consciousness, and it was with a jerk that Aether woke, a breathless gasp leaving his lips. His head was swimming with the remnants of his nightmare as he pulled away from the hands that had been holding onto his shoulders, a tremble wracking through him as terror still held him in its grasp. For a few moments, all he could hear was the echo of his sister's accusation ringing in his ears, her words seeming to squeeze his heart so tightly that Aether wondered if it might give out.

"Aether... hey..." And then he heard it - heard him, rather. The soft voice was a familiar one, both patient and gentle as it called to him. Lifting his gaze, Aether was met with blurred vision, and it was only then that the traveler realized that he was crying. Even so, he knew that voice, for its owner had been alongside him for weeks, a welcomed companion on his long road. Even in the dim light cast by the remains of their campfire, Aether could make out swirls of colour. Red. White.

"K... K-Kazu... ?" He couldn't quite manage to get the entire name out, but Kazuha evidently didn't mind, if the arms that encircled Aether's body meant anything. The blonde's breath hitched as he was bundled up into the other young man's warmth, coaxed closer until Aether was curled into Kazuha's chest and his tears made the front of his companion's kimono damp. "L-Lumine, I-- I c-couldn't-- sh-she was--"

"Shhhh..." A hand stroked along the back of Aether's head as he sobbed into the samurai, and Kazuha's voice was one of the most soothing sounds he'd ever heard. "I'm here, Aether. It was a dream. Everything's alright..."

Aether didn't know how long they spent sitting there as he cried into Kazuha's chest - only that, eventually, the tears stopped and he was left exhausted. Both his eyes and his head hurt, the latter pounding as if someone were beating upon it like a drum. They both needed sleep, he knew, and it was with a mumbled apology that the traveler began to draw away, intending to give Kazuha his space so that his friend might be able to sleep for the rest of the night in peace.

Only for that embrace to tighten around him slightly, silently urging the blonde to remain in Kazuha's hold. Carefully, the samurai eased them back to the bedroll beneath them, though now he curled up around the tired traveler, whispering softly in Aether's ear.

"Close your eyes. Go back to sleep. Nothing can hurt you while I'm here." Heavy lids fell shut as the promise wrapped around him like a blanket, and Aether found that he didn't want to fight the feeling of safety that lingered between them - he knew that Kazuha meant it.

He knew, when sleep finally returned and drew him down into it's darkness, that there was someone to catch him if he fell once more.

Ben looked at them, ignoring the emotional noise of Kio’s simmering tantrum.

Then he shrugged a little bit. “Paying back a debt.” He said. “I was Reco 5, on my way to probably my last stop when the Pilgrims rescued me and pulled out the chipdecks to free me and...”

Ben paused, looking at their faces again. “Ok. you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about do you?”

Mason’s jaw twitched slightly. “Not even a little bit.”

“Ok. Then what I was doing on that ship needs to start with an understanding of what i am.” He shot a sharp glance at Kio. “And you, stuff it fatlip.”

“Fat lip? What kind of an insult is that?” Kio snorted, reflexively feeling his mouth.

“It’s more of a promise.” Ben scowled at him before looking back to Mason. “You’re familiar with biobots i’m sure, right?” He said the word with a curl of his lip, like it tasted bad.

Mason nodded slowly. Beyond the dominion’s use of them to hunt the Marach, he’d seen them. Pushing prams and sweeping floors. The same inoffensive, cartoon-sweet faces sculpted from putty-grey flesh whether they were toting heavy weapons or a toilet brush. “Factories grow them in tubes, code them and distribute them.”

“Sort of. In a reactor- yeah, it’s like a tube. I guess. They spin up a ventner scaffold out of neutral protein, then release a bunch undifferentiated stem cells full of synthetic dna and the nanoassemblers can spin up a genspec in under an hour. No full cortex, enough brainstem to function Then they get chipdecked with their intended function. Simple decision trees and preprogammed skillsets.”

“Bags of meat and bone.” Nico muttered, too soft for anyone but Ben to hear.

“Sounds like you know a lot about that.” Luca was clearly caught between concern and fascination.

“Unlike humans, we come with an instruction manual, and i read it.” Ben said a little sharper than he’d intended, still warily watching Nico’s expression. “Sorry. Look, you guys told me your secrets, i’m telling you mine, right?” He gave Luca a radiant smile that only broadened as the other man’s face flushed dark red.

“Anyways, something like me? Two, three days. Same basic premise, but a prime, users choose between private security, companion or assistant. There’s a milspec version - two of my brothers are milspec and they’re uh. They’re very intense. Not for civilian purchase. So, user picks a functional type, chooses from one of eight basic physical archetypes and gets a semi-custom build. There’s a randomization factor so not every archetype looks identical and if someone has a serious fetish they can tweak some specifics,” he shivered.�� “and two days later, they frontload a pre-scripted basic personality into the cortex and then we develop organically, by learning and experiencing.”

“But you still have a decision tree.” Luca said.

“So do humans.” Ben shrugged broadly. “You look at a situation, and you make a decision based on available data and previous experience, right?”

“I. I guess.”

“So do I. In the same way.”

“What does this have to do with the ship?” Mason tried to get him back on target.

“I’m getting there, hold your. your.” Ben frowned. “Uh. Uh. Uh.”

“Horses.” Mason sighed.

“Horses. Hold them. Based on my ID coding, under the tattoos, I started off as personal security. Malion Conglomerate has an eternal exchange policy for prime purchasers, so if someone gets tired of their expensive custom biosynth, they just send them back and get a new one.”

“What happens when you get sent back?” Mason asked before Luca could.

“They scramble your brain, jam a chipdeck in your spine and sell you as factory reconditioned. And reco buyers can sell you back, minus a ‘restocking’ fee and so on and so on until they can’t re-sell you anymore, then you spend a turn as a rental for corporations, and then. four or five or six recos, you have so much storage damage, they just lobotomize you and ship you off to the rim to spend your days repairing radioactive equipment and giving blowjobs to bored miners unti your fingers or your jaw falls off.” Ben sighed. “If you look at my back, you’ll see where the decks were. Five. I don’t remember any of them, but I got the orientation when I woke up.”

“Anyways, the Pilgrims, they raid Malion transports, bringing genspecs and busted primes back to their factory worlds. They free us. And the price is that we go and do things for them when they tell us to. I got a message to show up at Helican 6 and board with a bunch of passengers going to Tarnel Station, and then protect them until a rendezvous. Which, well you saw how that turned out.”

Ben started to say something else, then his stomach growled. “Yeah. I eat like a real boy too.”

The 10 Best Full Service Caterers Close To Me With Free Estimates

Discover catering ideas for newbies that can help you good your craft, avoid frequent mistakes, and wow event attendees below. If an event comes off with none modifications or changes, you should really feel blessed. So it is necessary that youschedule time together with your coordinator to ensure that issues are on schedule, on finances, and within the bag. While you would possibly be working out all the details along with your friends and other necessary choice makers, don't forget to verify in routinely with your caterer. This is a business transaction they usually work for you, hold them accountable. Because they're in cost of getting ready different types of meals on a decent deadline, a good Caterer thrives when they are busy multitasking and managing a range of responsibilities directly. For instance, when you have a set catering budget, say $1,500, and you intend to have 50 folks attend, that means you've $30 per individual for food. If you've the same budget with one hundred folks, you could have $15 per particular person for food. In this fashion, the number of folks you need to attend your occasion and the level of meals you need to serve them determines how a lot catering will price. Global Gourmet is a San-Francisco based mostly catering service. Zafferano Catering brings scrumptious, handmade Italian dishes to ship the most real flavors from most of the country’s marvelous regions. Our specialty is superior quality and care, with each of our dishes produced from scratch and prepared specifically for each order. Our business is completely catering and personal chef dinners, giving the utmost attention to your special occasion needs. Be sure to ask your caterer about their particular policies. 200 Fresh New Catering Ideas Appetizers Finally, listed under are different ways to maintain occasion catering costs down. Common sense tells us that, when left to their very own gadgets, visitors will usually maximize plate space it would not matter what size they’re given. Which implies that a slightly smaller plate might subconsciously discourage them from losing meals or taking an excessive amount of of your rigorously alloted dishes. Another glorious option for summer season nuptials, contemporary cucumber slices with raw salmon is simple to organize and could be custom-made for any taste. Pricing is based on a hundred bites- suggestion is to order 1.5 bites per person- please contact us for smaller teams as some have minimums required for buy. Crostini are a fantastic finger meals thought that is extraordinarily versatile. If you're in search of Easy Finger Food Ideas for your next get together then you've come to the right place! My complete blog here at AGT is focused round bite-sized meals as a outcome of I truly really feel they are the most effective a half of any celebration. Thank you for one more yr of making this dream job possible for me. Here are some ideas you might want to maintain in mind. They’re sudden however still appropriate for this time of yr. Put them on brie topped crostinis or around some dessert puddings for a little further holiday contact. Here, they are toped off with a chew of shrimp. Fruit and cheese go hand in hand and look luxurious served in ceramic spoons. These thinly sliced apples with brie are the perfect mix of salty and candy. This seafood bar is a total showstopper and permits your guests to serve themselves. The marinated shrimp right here is clearly the star. Wholesale Restaurant Supplies Online However, even now, as restrictions have since loosened, off-premise eating choices stay in excessive demand. Fineline Settings ensures that when creating impressions that last, convenience and customer care come first. 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I doubled it and used the bacon grease and 4T butter, skim milk with half C heavy whipping cream, left the peeling on and added garlic. My usual recipe took several hours. My hubby really liked it too and he doesn’t like me to deviate from our “usual” recipes a lot. I’ve made a loaded potato soup earlier than and it was very filling and tasted similar to mashed potatoes. I wager a tablespoon of powdered ranch dressing can be good on this recipe too. Deliver prepped food out of your kitchen to the event location in our varied holding cupboards, or check out our countertop ranges to carry out on-site cooking. Nelson's Catering This multi-tiered wooden show base is good for an outside occasion or picnic. The rustic use of wood offers many levels for all various sorts of food. Don’t blame your friends in the occasion that they don’t instantly acknowledge these clipboards as the start of a scrumptious dessert. 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Most caterers are in a position to adapt menu items or provide separate dishes for these friends. Even should you aren’t having a fall-themed wedding ceremony, selecting seasonal elements on your wedding ceremony menu is at all times a good suggestion. Seasonal fruit and greens style better and, if the produce is locally sourced, it’s environmentally friendly too. 5 Lunch Concepts To Feed Up To One Hundred Individuals For Under $250 Agreeing to a nut-free setting may work for everyone at the convention not simply these affected by allergy symptoms. Assemble the data and calculate percentages so this can go into your menu planning and be handed to the catering team. Don’t look at your food and beverage finances as the whole number or you may simply find yourself ordering that big squid butter sculpture. Instead, amass all of the issues that budget must cowl and provides every space such as snacks and breakfasts their very own mini-budget. 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When deciding on catering menu ideas, bear in mind audience preferences of what they’ll like and what they’ve already seen, in addition to their food tastes. Marriage Ceremony Menu Ideas For Each Sort Of Reception Elevate the snack food by serving it in small cups and accompanying sauce. Celebrate your wedding's season with a plate stuffed with scrumptious greens. It's a welcome shift away from a conventional roasted vegetable stack—and it will look absolutely beautiful in footage. Choose veggie-forward recipes each time potential and don’t be afraid to haggle for recent produce at native farmer’s markets. Or, slice meat thinly so guests can refill as needed and get rid of as a lot food waste as possible. Keep in thoughts that your catering markup must be about three times the cost of the menu components. Price this out ahead of time before you finalize the menu so there are not any finances surprises on your client afterward. Stand out from the gang by using a signature dish or specialty delicacies in your catering menus whenever attainable as this can turn into your calling card for future catering gigs. When we set up our buffet table or serve your sit-down dinner, we're proud to highlight and have every ingredient. We get excited by fresh elements and scour the farmer’s markets and native vendors for the most recent in-season ingredient to flavor our catering dishes. Part of the attraction of catering is that you simply get to play with many elements with each shopper. Corporate events give us the opportunity to experiment with and create new dishes featuring probably the most seasonal components. Planners can take considerably extra dangers when choosing menus for standing receptions as a result of visitors have loads of selections to choose from. Just make sure to embrace acceptable wording in your invitations so attendees do not arrive expecting a full meal. Prepare for a catering occasion by prepping your grocery purchasing, meals, and catering van or automotive forward of time. Create a basic packing record that features clear pots, pans, utensils, dish clothes, gloves, and security merchandise similar to a primary help kit and gloves. 60 Potluck Salad Recipes To Feed A Crowd If you are looking for a enjoyable, crowd-pleasing appetizer that needs to travel well? To take them to a celebration, prepare the recipe through Step 3 and place potato skins in a container. Coarse, freshly grated cheese works finest, so get out your field grater. The key to great pimiento cheese is to freshly grate the cheese at house. Spread between bread to create little tea sandwiches, or serve as a dip for crackers and veggies. Giada augments the classic combination of beets and goat cheese with creamy avocado and crunchy walnuts to create a flavorful mixture of textures. Asparagus, peas and cherry tomatoes are tossed with cavatappi pasta plus a lemon and honey dressing for Jeff's straightforward aspect dish that comes collectively in simply 35 minutes. A easy green salad is the perfect way to round out any unfold. Simply add a couple of flavorful components to your greens as Anne does here with candy snap peas, salty prosciutto and savory pecorino cheese. Every salad is crafted to accommodate your get together dimension and dietary wants, and we always try to accommodate your special requests. You can select from a variety of elective components corresponding to protein, greens, toppings, and dressing. These bite-sized membership sandwiches are perfect for all ages. Sliced or complete, farm contemporary apples mixed with heat, ooey gooey caramel is always going to be a success. Add some sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, crushed nuts, mini marshmallows, and Nutella for dipping. This helpful chart by Fun Cheap or Free proves that not every event requires a meal. Interested in maximizing your shopper or firm catering budget at your subsequent corporate or social event?

Double Shot (3/27)

I ended up trying two different coffee roasters today in Oakland, Equator Coffees and Red Bay Coffee.

I was excited to try Equator because I’d had their beans once before.  When I was first getting into pourover I abused a Trade Coffee month that I was gifted and got their most expensive beans-- a Gesha roasted by Equator.  I didn’t have the best equipment at the time, but it was fantastic.

Their shop is in a shipping container near Lake Merritt.  It’s all outdoor space but is relatively pleasant.  The industrial aesthetic they shoot for definitely gives off, “we want to seem grassroots but also exist within a corporate context” and they definitely nail it.  Much of their clientele were wearing business casual, and seemed to be on work coffee breaks (strange they looked so professional given it’s a Sunday).  I don’t know if I can blame Equator for catering to this crowd given their surroundings-- high-rise office buildings-- but it was a huge contrast from the homeless couple sitting outside the 711 dumpster next door, which made their attempt to seem down-to-earth clearly farcical.

I got the single-origin espresso which was pretty tasty.  It was their washed Ethiopia Gedeb, with tasting notes they describe as “peach, ginger, lavender and honey.”  You could tell they meant to bring out the acid and tannic flavors, trying to make it loud and exciting.  I enjoyed it but it was definitely one-note, and I was pretty tired of it by the end.  Without the sparkling water they provided I think it might have been too much.  But it was good specialty coffee, and not every espresso has to be a perfectly balanced shot.

It was early afternoon so I stopped at Red Bay Coffee on my walk back.  It’s housed in yet another shipping container, making these things now feel like a gimmick.  I was excited about this one, it’s a black-owned business and “public roastery” which is dedicated to community-oriented events and inclusivity.  Their coffee is far less traceable than that of Equator, with country-of-origin the most precise they go.  They describe themselves as “fourth-wave” coffee, which I don’t completely understand (I’m not in the industry so I’m not sure if this term is common) but I’d expect origin specificity of any roaster who considers themselves modern and ethical.  Their menu and location said that they intended to be an on-the-way-to-work caffiene coffee shop rather than any specialty coffee (which is fine!).

The espresso I got was practically a lungo.  Well-balanced, likely from a blend, but watery and 1.5 times the volume I’m used to from a double shot.  I’m not sure if these industrial machines pre-program their ratio but my guess is that they do this to save money on milk drinks, and they hope nobody orders an espresso.  It wasn’t bad but maybe not worth the exorbitant costs of espresso in the Bay Area.  I’d still probably stop here for a cup of coffee if nearby, to support the business if anything.

I sipped my watery espresso while walking around Lake Merritt; it was crowded on a sunday afternoon and there was plenty of people watching.  There seem to be three Oaklands-- the cultural center with a rich past, the “edgy” extension of San Francisco which caters to those in tech and finance, and the under-served deteriorating small town in between. I hope that by patronizing coffee shops in the area I’m not contributing to the growth of the second one.