#especially on the show because we actually don't hear the tapes

[ragnarssons]

currently watching a real life doctor analyzing the science behind the last of us tv show and talking about immunity and the vaccine and *chuckles* oh well to say neil druckmann didn’t know what he was doing is really an understatement. also, if immunity were to be somehow THE ANSWER you know who else are shown as immuned through the show? animals. kinda surprising how, again, the fireflies will get as far as murdering ellie as soon as they get their hands on her, when “we’ve never seen immunity like this before!” when we see dem little duckies, giraffies and doggies and horsies walking fine as hell in this post-apo world.

#the last of us #tlou critical #not that i support animal experiments #buuuut yknow there is a gap between NOTHING and MURDERING THE ONLY IMMUNE PERSON #especially on the show because we actually don't hear the tapes #about all the previous researches #so you're kinda like???? #the show actually never adresses that the monkeys at the university are supposed to be infected #because of the fireflies' experiments #on the show they're just monkeys and they're fine?? #and yknow so we could argue oh doggies and giraffes are nothing like human #but we also saw sheeps pigs #yknow tons of animals that are currently used by labs to experiment on

[poetry-protest-pornography]

The way that they're talking about consent (in the midst of all the recording and dishonesty) is really interesting and important.

Last week, we had First and Soong doing a lot of roleplaying-- and First asking Soong why he didn't use his safe word if it hurt and Soong saying he liked the pain, and then there was aftercare.

This week, there was the whole really intense kidnapping scene, which required so much planning and discussion. And then later, there was the argument about Soong feeling pressured to perform and faking an orgasm, and First's reaction to that read to me like he was hurt that Soong wasn't honest with him, and shame that his desires were causing Soong stress. And mostly, horror at the idea that Soong wasn't an enthusiastic participant in their sex.

I feel like this is confirmed later, when we have this scene, where Soong uses his words, and First is genuinely distressed about their boundaries. (And in his talk with Zouey at the end, but more on that later)

If you've been with your partner for long enough -- or you're naturally observant/careful to pay attention-- yes, you can pick up on the difference between "into it but getting used to what's happening" and "not into it, this is Not Good", but as First points out later, the line between the two is blurry, and that's why safe words exist. So what Siong is asking for here isn't out of the question, but it isn't something that their relationship could manage at this point; they just don't know each other well enough.

And then, we have Teena and Zouey.

Zouey said he wanted to have sex with Teena, and Teena was a little dubious, but he just got that boyfriend title, and there was no way he wasn't going to take the chance to sleep with Zouey -- the boy is down bad. But, Teena is a smart cookie, and he's also experienced, so he establishes a safe word, rightfully anticipating that it would be a struggle for Zouey to let go and needing to know he was being safe and considerate (and sane and keeping it consensual).

It goes poorly, because Zouey protests, but doesn't use the safe word, so Teena pushes, thinking he's still within established boundaries

But Zouey isn't experienced, and when he gets uncomfortable he doesn't remember to use the word.

(And there was the whole "if we're going to be a couple, we're going to have to do it" bit, which I do believe Teena when he says that he misspoke, because he was so genuine when he said before that they didn't need to have sex, but that's a different post. But, at face value, this idea of "we're already halfway there, we shouldn't stop" is very much about consent and how and why safe words are important.

Discomfort and hesitation are natural parts of sexual experience, especially if it's new, and double especially if it's kinky. Having a word that means "Actually stop now, something's not working/is wrong" is vital to keeping you and your partner safe and feeling good physically and emotionally.)

This conversation with First and Zouey is so important.

They're both struggling with the idea that they've been involved in a sexual situation that veered into abusive, and they both need to hear what happened was actually bad communication.

And then, First wraps it up nicely, when he can see Zouey is struggling a little still.

I'm really impressed by how hard this show is pushing the importance of consent and safe sexual experimentation (especially when these discussions are held up against the not-sure-if-this-is-consensual things that are happening with Many, and with the definitely-not-consensual sex tape Captain made). It's very rare for conversations about sex and kink to be handled so well-- or to be shown at all, really.

Also, Zouey?

Please do, he looks like a kicked puppy.

#playboyy the series #safe sane consensual #consent is sexy

[portablegoose]

Woooo so the Magnus Protocol premiered and I have things to say and things to overanalyse!

As we know, 'Chester', 'Neil' and 'Augustus' are, maybe?, Jon, Martin, and Jonah, respectively. Hence this:

And, of course, there's 'J1', 'M1' and 'J2' in the trailer.

However, I've seen confusion over the fact that the third 'Error' is voiced by Tim Fearon, who as far as I'm aware has not previously voiced any characters in the Magnus universe. Even though the name is distorted, I can make out what looks to be an H at the end of the name, so this very well may be Jonah.

My theory is this: 'Augustus' is Jonah (or just his voice). However, since the body of Elias was killed in the Panopticon, Jonah does not use Elias' voice anymore. Jon, Martin, and Jonah are all disembodied, if we are to believe they are somehow inside the computer/other technology (ie Alice/Sam's phone in the pub scene) or in some way somewhere adjacent to the world of Protocol. So it could, in a dream-logicy eldritch sense, follow that Jonah is able to survive in his own creepy old ass man way, and use his original voice. Obviously, I cannot corroborate this claim in any meaningful way. We have not heard Augustus speak yet, but I think it is a possibility nonetheless.

The fact that Augustus supposedly shows up to read cases aloud significantly less than Chester and Neil could also be a clue. Maybe Jonah is weaker than Jon and Martin due to his injuries, and is therefore unable to materialise as often as Jon and Martin. Maybe the voice that speaks the true cases (because, similarly to how true statements were identified using the tape recorder in TMA, I imagine true cases will be singled out using the text to speech system) is relevant to the case itself - ie, Jonah only speaks when a case is heavily linked to the Eye, etc.

Furthermore, there's the question of who is spying on who and when/why. By this I mean that we hear our perspective switch between devices (the phone, the computer, the security camera during Colin and Sam's interaction, etc), and I believe that this happens because one or more of the 'Errors' (as I am going to refer to them henceforth) is travelling between devices to spy on the characters' conversations. What we hear is dictated by what the Errors, characters who have prior knowledge of the Fears, deem important. This is backed up by the episode's closing scene: Colin's paranoid closing lines. It is clear that Colin believes someone is listening to them, and it is implied that he has made a connection between this and the Errors. What intrigues me is the Errors' motivation for doing this at all. If what they deem important is what we hear, and this is the first that we are hearing, then it seems to me that it is Sam's arrival that has given them cause for concern, or (in Jonah's case) hope (if he is plotting to return, or something, I don't put it past the scheming weasel). So, why are they listening? And how can we really tell if what we are hearing is the spying of Jonah, or of Jon and Martin?

Another thing. Jonny makes a point of letting us know that Alice does not think the work they do is of any significance, or is checked by anyone. She constantly mentions it in passing and is very casual in her attitude towards work. We obviously have the foresight to know this isn't true. The reason I point this out is because of what Sam does when filling out his paperwork: he ticks the 'Response' box, to which Alice responds that it doesn't matter. This could be nothing, it probably is nothing, but I feel like the fact that Sam has ticked the onboarding box of a mysterious department of an already mysertious organisation might come up later...

Yes I know I am jumping to a lot of conclusions, especially where the Errors are concerned. Please take every theory you hear, from me or anyone else, with a grain of salt, this is all speculative. From a writer's perspective, I honestly think it's pretty likely that Chester and Neil aren't actually Jon and Martin, and just their voices taken by the Web or something, but shh I can dream.

Edit: oh my god they changed his name to Norris that is even worse. Jonny and Alex were fr like 'neil is too kind, we need the name to be Chester levels of horrific'

#tmagp premiere #tmagp spoilers #tmagp trailer #tmagp arg #tmagp #tmagp speculation #tmagp theory #tmagp sam #tmagp alice #samama khalid #alice dyer #colin becher #gwendolyn bouchard #lena kelly #tmp arg #tmp #the magnus protocol #magnus protocol

[givehimthemedicine]

El traded herself for Max in the void: a timeline switch crack concept

I'm not saying "theory" because I'm not 100% serious but hear me out anyway because there is something here, I'm just not sure what. if nothing else I get to inflict an angsty scenario on you

so you know how Two Days Later El's behavior irt Max is just so weird?

after everything that happened, you'd expect El to already be screaming "IS MAX OKAY?" as the van door is sliding open. instead, she doesn't ask about her at all.

even when Dustin says Lucas is at the hospital, El goes "is he hurt?" as if Max isn't crossing her mind at all as a reason for him to be at the hospital.

Will's casual inquiry of "where's Lucas" is weird in of itself. Will was there when El hatched the whole "Protect Max" plot and literally spoke to El while she was in Max's memories/the void. he knew Max being in danger was the whole thing. he definitely would've asked about Max before he asked about Lucas.

then Lucas says how it was a miracle that Max's heart started beating again, and Mike and Will give El this look. the obvious interpretation being that they assume El is somehow responsible but didn't say a word about it. (classic El behavior)

call me crazy, but doesn't it kinda fit to say that Two Days Later El does not have Void El's memories?

the El who arrives in Hawkins is NOT acting AT ALL like someone who watched her best friend die, brought her back, and ended the interaction with her in a dubiously-alive-critically-injured state.

this El is behaving like one who succeeded in rescuing Max and therefore isn't especially worried about her current status. maybe even a version where Lucas never got beaten up, the tape never got broken, the plan worked. who never told the boys she revived Max, because she didn't.

there's just something about El being all dirty and bloody during Max's death scene and then visiting Max two days later still wearing the same outfit except a still-clean version of it. like none of that happened to this El.

there's just something about Dustin's "oh God, you don't know." maybe this El doesn't! she looks lost af.

there's just something about Mike's "we came as soon as we heard." El was there and saw it all, but you just now heard it from Dustin? I know El is tight lipped but you're really saying she got out of the pizza freezer and into a TWO DAY LONG van ride and the conversation never got around to, like... how the mission went?

yet as of the cabin end scene, suddenly Mike and Will both know stuff that only El could've told them. so.. she did talk in the van? but didn't mention the Max stuff? that's even weirder.

let's talk about Vecna's 4th gate

so gates open on the exact spot of Vecna's victims' bodies, right?

here's where the Max gate starts to open in the UD attic, corresponding to exactly where Max is lying dead in the RU attic.

except that absolutely cannot be.

because they showed us what instantly happens if even a small part of the gate crack passes beneath a person. it looks like this:

so if that gate originated exactly under Max's body, Lucas would not have any warning. the only way he would've found out about it is by seeing at least a section of Max's corpse suddenly get vaporized Jason-style. (if not also his own body!)

instead, Lucas has time to see it starting to form and pull Max to safety. which means it couldn't have started forming exactly under Max.

the forming gate that Lucas is looking at as he drags Max away is actually sorta between Max and the spider shrine.

now look where El was sitting.

what if the 4th sacrifice was El, not Max?

we never actually saw the results of whatever El did when she put her hand over Max's heart. the easiest assumption is she just did magic cpr and started Max's heart again. but what if she was doing something to trade places with Max?

"but wtf are you talking about, because El continues being alive for the rest of the episode?"

for this concept I'm borrowing an idea from @heroesbyler that's had me clawing the walls of my cell lately - in case you missed her recent big brain posts, she pointed out some weird discrepancies in actual vs void versions of scenes throughout the show, suggesting that when El visits the void, she could actually be looking into different timelines. I'd definitely submit the Creel attic as another example.

so when I say what if El traded herself for Max, I'm talking Void El and Void Max.

I'm talking something about Max's death, or revival, or the opening of the gates, throwing some kind of trolley dilemma train tracks switch between timelines. idk there are too many details to iron out before I pitch this in seriousness but idk I just. I swear to you Two Days Later El and Void El aren't lining up.

some discrepancies in the real vs void Creel attic (not all. this could be a whole post itself)

void vs UD:

according to the UD shot, the origin point of the death gate is perfectly centered relative to the rug, and, say, a foot away. here's my hasty approximation of where I'd expect it:

this is why I'm not taking the L about how honestly El's location doesn't perfectly align with the UD origin point - because neither does Max's.

void vs RU:

IRL, Lucas is cradling Max across his lap. his legs are more or less parallel to the spider shrine while Max is angled at, very roughly, 45 degrees to it. the bug lamp is centered on it.

in the void version, the bug light is far towards one end of the table. while Lucas and Max's positions feel fairly consistent, their placement relative to the SS is not.

if you follow the lines of the floorboards in the IRL shot, his butt is aligned nearly with the far right edge of the SS. but here, don't they all seem decidedly further towards the left of it?:

as soon as Max dies, things get differenter. now they're further right again, only Lucas and Max's positions are more spoony, pointed the same direction. she's nearly parallel with the SS now. her feet also seem jacked up at more severe angles.

overhead shot also makes that bug light's off-centeredness very clear.

also you notice how we don't see El hearing Max in the void? I mean, she must have, otherwise she wouldn't reply "No, you're not going", but it's just odd how WE don't see that.

I've talked before about how Max says both "I don't want to die" and "I don't want to go," which are two different concepts in ST universe, and that Lucas and El each get to respond to one of them. so why not show us El hearing the one that's hers?

IRL Max is begging for her life, but when we switch to the void, she's abruptly silent and much more still. El only hears Lucas. back to IRL, Max is still more actively struggling and vocalizing a little before she dies. the energy doesn't match super well.

other bits

on the subject of El's "No. You're not going." if you really wanted to, you could interpret that in a "- because I'm going instead" way. I know, she didn't especially say it with that inflection. but it does have me thinking about how incredibly in character it is for El to be willing to trade herself like that.

it made me think of this moment:

yeah we've all demanded to know what was the reason for having Owens assume Max was a boy. but has anyone talked about how El, in her reply to that very line ("no, do not send your men. send me.") does the same thing? Owens just said "people". El assumes they are men.

there's just something about El saying "do not send your men[?], send me" immediately after Owens referring to Max as a him[?]. it gives kind of a "don't take Max, take me" flavor.

there's also something about how Max wasn't supposed to be the 4th sacrifice anyway.

and by this point El has heard the monologue about how all this time, it's all been about getting to her. so she's definitely feeling that Max is dead in the crossfire because of her. you don't think that if she only could, she would take Max's place and face Vecna directly, whatever that entails? whether it's death or some ambiguous awful fate?

can you tell me this kid

wouldn't trade herself for Max?

also just curious that the very first time they played Running Up That Hill, it actually began on a shot of a distraught El walking down her school hallway before it transitioned to Max walking the opposite way down her school hallway. with the song edited to skip straight from the opening to the chorus about swapping places.

don't worry I'm sure there's no way that means anything 👍

finally, El is distraught not to be able to find Max in the void when she goes looking for her. but it's weird because El has located corpses, flayed people, and inanimate objects in the void before. there's no reason she shouldn't be able to locate Max due to her being in a coma/"trapped".

what if it's not Max who's offline? what if El can't see into that timeline anymore because she's dead in it?

#this is crackpot but also there's something here #elmax #<- kinda #givehimthemedicine analysis #mine #and yes there are issues about how an El-gate should form where El was sitting when she revived Max which is a different spot #but if I'm entertaining alternate timelines I can also entertain time backing up a minute

[bokutizer]

more of dada's so pwetty pweaseeee 🥺

dada’s pwetty! pt.2 

Includes : Kuroo, Bokuto Summary : Just a few daughters being enchanted by their dadas' looks Tags : fem!reader, fluff, domestic bliss A/n : I don't like the way Bokuto's turned out but... anyways. pt. 1

Whether it is a conversation between you and KUROO, the talking pigs on the TV or any other source that can show your two year old daughter the vast ocean of vocabulary: she loves parroting words that catch her attention. A habit that she has only recently picked up and that makes her jump and dance around your house, repeating the newly learned word like a broken record tape.  Today's word is sponsored by the elderly lady next door who told the two year old that her polka dotted dress was very "pretty", when you two came back from a walk to the nearby park a few hours ago. Since then, you don't think there is a single thing in the household that she has not baptized as "pwetty!". Actually, there is something. Or rather someone. Someone who has been rotting in his home office all day long, writing and answering emails, and attending one video conference after the other because of an important upcoming sports event.

The creaking door of his office catches Kuroo's attention and he immediately feels a little wave of serotonin flow through him at the sight of his little girl. Her dark pigtails swing back and forth as she skips over to him with a bright smile on her face. "Hey there, sweetheart." Kuroo coos after having silenced his microphone, pulling her up on his lap. "Daddy's almost finished, and then we can have dinner togeth-" "Dada's pwetty!" her cheerful and loud voice interrupts him. Her dada is clearly taken aback, but lets out a breathy chuckle once he lets her words sink in. "Is he now?" he playfully taps her nose with his forefinger before readjusting her on his lap to press a wet smooch against her cheek. "Well, I think you are way, way, wayyy prettier than your dada." Both of them keep giggling and fooling around until they hear someone clear their throat.  "I think we should end this call here. I'll email you further details." Kuroo hears one of his colleagues speak, and when he dares to look over to his screen, he notices how somehow all of them are... smiling? Some of them even wave which your daughter happily reciprocates. And upon further inspection, Kuroo notices a little detail that makes him smile bashfully before ending the call.  He could swear he turned the microphone off?

Your daughter is a ray of sunshine, obviously taking after BOKUTO. She's a curious child, loves exploring the world especially when she knows that her parents are right behind her, supporting her through every teeny tiny step of hers. Now, when it comes to her looks she's a carbon copy of you, but her personality? The way she interacts with others, how she perceives people's feelings, how she handles her own emotions (she doesn't know how to handle them)- Yep, she's definitely Koutarou's offspring.

It's a quiet Sunday evening, with you enjoying a warm bath and your husband and daughter sitting on the floor and playing in her room. Various glittery hair clips and pink bows adorn the volleyball player’s peppered hair, and while he’s sure that he must look awfully ridiculous right now, the excited and self-sufficient grin that his daughter is offering him right now is definitely more than worth it. “And- it’s done!” she beams, finishing the look with a final butterfly-shaped clip to get her dad’s bangs out of his face. “Daddy, you look like a mermaid!” Bokuto gasps, his excited expression mirroring that of his daughter when he catches a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window. “You’re so pretty!”  “No.” he smiles brightly, his chest feeling so full of love for this little bundle of joy. “You’re pretty.”

A giggle sounds through the room when he leans over to tickle her before hoisting her up in his arms. “No, you’re pretty.” your daughter counters, her voice a tad more serious than before.  “No, you.” Her nose scrunches irritatedly when her dad boops it, not minding how seriously she’s taking their discussion. “No, you!” And after countless back and forth, Bokuto’s eyes widen when she starts sniffling and her lower lip trembling.  “Okay, okay, daddy’s pretty! I’m pretty, yeah?” he embraces her tighter while panically looking around the room as if seeking your help, knowing very well that you’re probably still in the bathroom. “No crying, pumpkin, ‘kay?”  And while cradling her against him, lightly swaying from side to side, and watching his little girl’s drooping eyes, it’s obvious, and he has to admit also a little funny, that her distress was clearly caused by exhaustion. Though, he still believes that she’s the pretty one out of the both of them, even with her puffy eyes and snot running out of her nose, staining his shirt. 

#this has been sitting so long in my drafts help #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo x reader #hq kuroo #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo testuro #kuroo haikyuu #haikyuu kuroo #kuroo fluff #kuroo drabble #haikyuu bokuto #koutarou bokuto #bokuto #hq bokuto #bokuto x reader #bokuto koutarou #bokuto fluff #bokuto kōtarō #bokuto drabble

[elvisabutler]

for my own private collection

summary: having a boyfriend who's a pornstar means everyone gets a piece of him. you request a piece all for yourself. fandom: austin butler rating: m pairing: austin butler x female reader word count: 1217 warnings: austin butler as a pornstar. edging. masturbation ( m and f ). orgasm control. mild daddy and mommy kink. mild dom/sub undertones. sex tape? me making one joke re: one night in paris. author's note: welcome to day 17 of kinktober, sex tape with austin butler. this was fun. everyone thank @dreamersparacosm for this being pornstar austin because i struggled a little with this because my previous attempt felt boring. this does not feel boring.

"You know you could just buy one of my movies, right? Or- I'm pretty sure I have them on my hard drive. At least one, you know the one with Liv and Luke-" Austin starts to say before getting cut off by your answering huff over the phone.

"Yes, because I enjoy watching one of my best friends getting railed by my boyfriend and one of my other friends. Makes total sense, babe." Your tone is biting and not for the first time Austin is reminded of why everyone nicknames you Viper after every time they're on the receiving end of this tongue of yours. "No, I want- everyone else gets to see you play with your cock, beg for mercy from Olivia all sorts of things. I just- I want to watch you. I want to only see you."

Austin sighs. "A personal tape?"

"I- I didn't think of it that way, but yeah. I wouldn't pay for it, obviously but you could give me that. One Night in Austin." You have to bite your lip at your own joke, it's not funny, really especially after knowing the details behind Paris Hilton's tape, but still you think it's a little funny.

"I was about to say yes, but I don't know if I can after that Paris Hilton joke." He pauses and tries to bite back his own laugh. "Give me a couple days, okay? Three tops, depending on the mail."

"You're sending it via the mail? Are we in the 90s?" You ask incredulously, shaking your head at the phone.

You can actually hear Austin's shrug and picture his face. "No, but if you want something private for only your eyes, I have to go low-tech."

After all, he's got enough of a following that he doesn't put it past anyone on the web to somehow hack into his email and get the video. He's seen it happen with his ex and he's seen it happen with so many people in the industry. Better safe than sorry. You hum in acknowledgement before letting the topic go.

When the mail arrives on Saturday you're excited, it comes in an unmarked envelope with Austin's looping handwriting writing out your address and the note attached simply says "for your eyes only".

It takes you a minute to set up your blu-ray player to play the DVD but when you do you settle onto your bed and watch your boyfriend wave at the camera, grinning his signature grin that he reserves only for you.

"Someone wanted a show, a private video without paying." He smirks, moving to show off how he's completely naked. "She's lucky I'm kind of in love with her."

You can't help but laugh at the comment before you focus on what he's doing. You notice he's already hard, leaking and that he almost looks like he had been playing with himself before he turned on the camera. Your hand moves to between your legs, slowly starting to rub at your clit, you think you should grab your vibrator but knowing how Austin is- how his cock already looks, you don't think this is going to be long.

"I've already been playing with myself, baby." His hand moves to stroke his cock, hissing as his thumb brushes the tip. "Been telling myself that my girl wants to get a show and I know what she'd like. What she likes when we're together." He pauses and grips his cock a little tighter. "Been wanting to come for a little bit already. If you were here you'd be edging me for hours, wouldn't you?"

He's not lying and you know it, as much as you enjoyed being edged by him- seeing his relief after you let him come was something else. Seeing how his mouth would fall open with whimpers and sighs did something else. Your breathing quickens as you feel your cunt getting wetter, feel your juices starting to pool as you watch him.

"You've got your hand in your cunt, baby? Your vibrator? Playing with your clit as you watch your baby boy play with himself?" The video of him has him murmuring low enough that when you shut your eyes you swear he's there. You swear you can feel his body in front of you, feel his breath against your cunt. "Are you just waiting for Daddy to tell you that you can come? That you can stick your fingers into that greedy cunt of his."

You whimper at the words and Austin's video laughs. "You can't decide which one of me you want, can you baby? I wish I was there. Wish I had my face buried in your pretty pussy. Wish I could see you dripping for me."

It's as if your pussy hears him, and you find your fingers are sliding quicker- easier with the increase in fluid coming from you. You are dripping for him and he's barely done anything on camera. Is this how everyone felt when they watched his videos? Your teeth bite at your lower lip as you keep watching, your breath coming quicker as you tease your clit.

"This is a long video, baby, tell you what. You come for daddy right now. In the next minute or so, and I'll spend the rest of this video just edging myself. Begging mama to let me come. Begging my favorite person in the whole world to let me come."

The noise that leaves your mouth is embarrassing or would be if anyone other than you were around to hear it and you have to stop yourself from shoving your fingers in yourself before you hear another laugh from the television.

"I know you had to have liked that. You make a decision? Time's a ticking and I- I'd hate to know that this was wasted because you didn't come at least this first time. Come on, baby. Come for Daddy. Come for me as my reward for making this for you in such notice."

Your chest is heaving as you furiously play with your clit, wishing you actually had grabbed the vibrator, it would have made this quicker, would have made it so you didn't think you were going to run out of time. Your ears faintly register hearing Austin countdown from one minute and somewhere around 15 seconds you start to panic, start to try every trick in the book to get yourself to come. It never usually takes this long when you're focused. Austin gets to five seconds and you're right there before you hear it. You hear the one phrase said in the one tone that always does you in. He makes himself sound like Elvis, an old trick he picked up from a silly porno he did right around when you met him but the accent always does you in.

"Let yourself go."

You come with a shout at that just as Austin says one on the screen. The amount of fluid that comes out of you makes you pretty sure you squirted but you're not a hundred percent sure. When your eyes open you're greeted by Austin looking at the camera with hooded eyes and a smirk. "Good girl. Now Daddy's favorite and best girl gets her reward. You ready for round two?"

#austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler smut #austin butler x you #austin butler x y/n #austin butler fanfic #austin butler fic #austin butler fanfiction #i think that's all tags? #idk. #ally's kinktober 2022 #kinktober 2022 #ally writes

[jimmy-dipthong]

Humans are like tape recorders.

To all language learners out there drilling grammar structures (and vocab to a lesser extent), I have some bad news. No matter how much you rote learn or memorise, you can’t say something* in a language if you haven’t already heard it said by someone else, many times.

In order for you to say something, you must have recorded it in your brain first.

The reason for this is twofold.

If you haven’t seen or heard something actually used, how are you meant to know how it’s used!? Gonna go out on a limb and say not many people here are able to speak Pirahã. How would you say “I just drank some water” in Pirahã? You don’t know, right? Because you’ve never heard it said! In this respect, a language that you can’t speak at all is no different from a language that you can speak a bit, or even a language you’re fluent in.

Memorising stuff out of a textbook or flash cards is not sufficient to count as “hearing something many times”. It’ll give you some examples, but not enough (especially if what you’re memorising is the grammar structure itself, and not example sentences). Your conscious thought processes (which includes looking things up in long term memory) are simply too slow to be effective if they need to be used more than once every few seconds during conversation. Rote memorisation works at the conscious thought level, and is therefore only useful as a supplemental tool. Hearing something actually spoken (many times) internalises it on the subconscious level, which is what is needed for fluid speech and comprehension.

*That’s not to say that it’s impossible to ever say anything original. When I say you need to hear something before being able to use it correctly yourself, I mean you need to hear sentence structures and words, not necessarily whole sentences like a script.

Our brains are very, very efficient at acquiring language, provided we give them a non-stop stream of data to record (this is how babies learn - they don’t need textbooks). Then, the brain can cut up the tapes, analyse patterns, paste separate tapes together, and allow us to speak in our target language without manually recalling from memory.

What does this mean for you, the language learner? Put down the textbook and watch as much content in your target language as possible. Use the textbook/dictionary to help you look up something you’ve heard if you can’t figure something out from context, but that’s all it should be used for. Watch youtube, kids shows, regular tv, news, podcasts, anything you can find. And never use subtitles in your native language! Your brain will turn off the tape recorder automatically if it sees an easier way it can parse the information.

In this video, Matt (from the youtube channel Matt vs Japan) says the following, which I have translated to English:

こういうアドバイスする時に一番反論として出てくるのが 「でも観てもわからない！」 だから 「できない」 っていうんだけど、わからないからこそ観るべきだよね --- When I give the advice [to go hard on consuming input], the biggest counterargument people have is “When I watch it, I can’t understand what they’re saying! So it doesn’t work.” but it's actually the opposite: you don’t understand it, therefore you need to watch it!

The reason you should watch it is you don't understand it! You can’t understand it until your brain has recorded it!

#i should mention that this mainly applies to language learners whose goal is to actually converse with native speakers #people who have no intention of speaking the language feel free to rote memorise to your hearts content #but learners who are interested in conversing - youre wasting your time if youre rote learning grammar structures like maths equations #language #japanese #learning japanese #japanese language #langblr #linguistics #language learning #language acquisition #jimmy blogthong #my art #ms paint vibes

[iwanthermidnightz]

As usual, I’m gonna share the parts of this article that resonate with me (pretty much all of it). Several points were made. And the unapologetic queer visibility makes me so proud. Please give it a read 🥲

LD: I also do want to say, even though there is a bunch of awesome overlap with the trans community and the drag community, transness and drag are separate things — but that's the reason why we did it [in Tennessee], is because those things are being conflated here.

It's crazy that we were on tour for all of Pride Month and being pretty f*cking gay, and talking about gay rights on stage. You’d think that the circles that we run in would be like, yeah, cool, but I feel like there is still… Prejudice towards gay people comes from all sides, including gay people.

I have, you know, rolled my eyes at certain aspects of Pride, just the corporate aspect of things. We were hanging out with a friend who was like, yeah, the gas station has a pride flag, but I'm still getting looked at funny in the streets; what is Pride actually doing?

JB: Shell Oil Company is like, happy pride! Like, okay.

LD: It's weird, the more comfortable I am, the more opposition I feel from other people who are discontent with how I qualify as a gay person. I'm like, Do you need a sex tape?

PB: As someone who doesn't qualify as gay, I can't participate in this conversation. I haven't sent in enough chips to corporate. [laughs]

I speak for all of us [when I say] I feel like our communities are so supportive, like f*cking rainbows and buttercups all the time. We're really good at making friends and we have so much support around each of us, and so much privilege, and each live in an accepting place and choose accepting people to be around. But when I or Lucy get hate for not turning in our like, gay paperwork, all I'm thinking is about the way that I would have felt at f*cking age 11 being like, Oh, I'm not allowed to do that. This famous person is being humiliated for expressing themselves, and so I should not, I especially should not express myself.

JB: I don't get as much hate because people are like, there goes a lesbian. You know what I mean? [All laugh.]

LD: It’s really binary.

JB: I've spent a lot of my life being a masc dressing queer person, or just not engaging with gender play at all. It’s like, queer people saying that you have to acquiesce to one of three queer archetypes, or one of a handful of queer archetypes in order to be represented.

LD: That's why our shows are so special to me is that they are very gay. People are throwing flags at us, young people are making out in front of us, it is a space that is precious to me and would have changed my life if I could have been a part of it when I was younger. I'm extremely proud, and I just implicitly love everybody at our shows at a base level. I think we all do. The reason we're doing it is because we care abstractly about all these strangers and want for them what we could have had. Also we're coming from a position where we're talking to a bunch of young people, we do get to put messages worth hearing out there, I think that's not lost on us.

PB: I am mostly proud of the way that I watch the discourse [play out], and I'm proud of the conclusions that these children are coming to. Everybody is sticking up for us and each other and there's just a couple weirdos that are very loud. I think our community is being protected by the people in it. And it is such a safe space show, and I'm so fucking proud. Even the amount of femme people in the audience, screaming at the top of their lungs and having to take up a high octave... It’s a different rock show than I've ever experienced. It’s amazing to me.

JB: The microphone I have with y'all, the reach is wider, it just factually is, and I think a lot about responsibility to hear [others’ opinions…] To be the subject of discourse at all is to live a question into the world, so I will allow myself to do that. I will allow a little bit of my identity — which as a queer person, I've been at once defensive of and fiercely protective of and encouraged to erase completely — I'm like, okay, so I have to exist with this identity subsumed into the culture, into the topic of someone's conjecture. Because it's going to be one case study. That's the whole idea of visibility, visibility doesn't have to be perfect representation.

I was thinking about this too, something that bugged me was that meme that was the talent and popularity graph and it was popularity way above talent, and they were like, “This is boygenius.” You're missing the damn point. [If only the most talented people got to speak,] Steve Vai would be speaking for all f*cking musicians because he's best at guitar. That's not what I want.

PB: But again, that is just Twitter. I think we are as beloved as is possible for any public, femme presenting, or queer, in public. I think we just get an amount of hate because we're stepping on guitar guys. It is fucking dumb, and it is just what is happening. Every time I look at a Pitchfork post of us, it's the most incel f*cking shit ever in the comments section.

JB: I was telling Lucy, I feel like if someone made that meme about me, Julien Baker, on a solo headlining tour, I would be up at four in the morning in the back lounge of the bus running scales. With y'all, I'm like, You're missing the point you dumbass. It's like Kathleen Hanna being like, the Sex Pistols are bad at their instruments. Why can I not just have a band that's fun and cool and angry?

LD: I wanna say, we're a little fed up, obviously, with some things, but I agree with you, Phoebe, the biggest sentence I have to say is we're having so much fun. That is the message that I think people are mostly getting, and the one that I want them to get, is that we are happy and having fun, and that is not frivolous at all. Fun is essential.

PB: Everybody knows every word to the entire set. We sell thousands of tickets. It is going as good as humanly possible. It is insane.

LD: And it's because we feel safe and supportive that we can mostly safely and supportively do drag in Tennessee. It's because we have such a solid foundation of joy we can be in defense of other people's joy, in ways that feel really valuable to me personally, and I hope valuable to other people.

JB: The whole reason why I feel comfortable engaging with this at all and it's not an existential crisis for me is because, what you're saying, Lucy: I have a foundation of joy that makes me convicted that this is important, not frivolous, highly worthy, highly valuable. So when I see us as the subject of discourse I'm interacting with it in a different way that I don't think I'd be able to [alone]. I wonder if kids watching that in third person happen will also be resilient to the same kind of things.

PB: You’re allowed to be bad at guitar, anybody reading this.

LD: I’m bad at guitar.

PB: Other shit, you do have to work so hard. And you have to love it. If you love playing guitar and you're bad at guitar, that rocks.

TV: What other moments would you highlight? I feel like there’s been a lot of good ones, like the t-shirt selling out.

PB: Love, love to just have the power to snap my fingers and mobilize people to give their money away to a cause. That is the best part of my job.

JB: It’s participation. It’s visibility. It's you, outward signaling something you believe in as a principle. It's also literally redistributing funds to us to organizers, nonprofits and legislators that are trying to make the world a better place. And we get to be in charge of that, and also give somebody a gift that's like, you're a country queer! We see you.

TV: Did you expect the fans to be so young this tour? I’ve been really impressed!

LD: It's interesting, I think Julien was saying this, being something through which some kids are learning some stuff. I usually am really upset when I'm misunderstood, but I think that part of that happening now is people on their way to understanding something that I think is important and outside of me, that we are just a case study for, and that is just a really sweet and special position to be in.

JB: This really gets to me, I'll see a group of friends all hugging during our set, a collection of songs about grieving and leaning on your friends. I'll be like, What did y'all go through? Something f*cking horrible.

I think about this with the credibility or the legitimacy of music, like with the whole Pitchfork incel guy, it goes back to that. I'm like, dude, I love that a bunch of kids are at our show. I've said it once, I'll say it again: I took a class in young adult literature. And I was like, wow, this is maybe the most important kind of literature. Paradise Lost is for people who think that their brain is big, young adult literature is for f*cking people who don't know what literature is yet — they need a window, they need a door. They need a pass. Phoebe you were saying, like, music that not-adult cis white guys like.

LD: Those guys are showing up too, and good for them. And if they're the ones that are mad about this, maybe they're on their path of understanding something better, too.

JB: I cry at all the kids, man.

PB: Me too.

JB: My mom texted me and was like, I would have died if there was something like y'all when I was a kid — and I don't even think she gets some stuff we're saying.

PB: It's funny to [realize] I would have bleached my hair and wanted to be me.

JB: Dude, it's so f*cking sick. I think about me at 16 — I was trying to be a hardcore guy, I wanted to get tattoos, I wanted to play guitar in a band. And then I just turned out… me. I used to try to make my hair look like k.d. Lang; I wonder if we're a thing people realize they can look like.

LD: Also, I think being affectionate on stage has been really fun and sweet, and it exhibits behavior that I think is healthy and good. That's another element of it that I think is good to show kids, the way that I think drag is actively good for kids to interact with, because it's this fun way to interact with gender and to explain things like that early to children is really awesome. Just being able to gaily and affectionately kiss your bros, that's a principle that I value, that I wish was more valued for kids. Not saying like, kids gotta go all make out!

I'm proud of the space we're taking up. I think we're using it in ways I'll be able to stand behind when I get older.

PB: There's also such a deep, both fetishizing and desexualizing of lesbians, in a way that I think is ridiculous. Obviously MUNA is standing staunchly against that as well, by being a f*cking boyband. It's just fun to be like, it's not that serious — and it also is deeply meaningful.

#boygenius #why pride and queer visibility is important

[thesugarclubs-blog]

Shut Up & Kiss Me - Thor Odinson x OC

warnings: college au, frat boy thor, friends to lovers, he falls first, jealousy, alcohol and drug use, soft smut, 18+

word count: 9.7k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1364030736-shut-up-kiss-me-gracie

Masterlist

“Brother, this is an insane plan and you know it,” Loki rubbed his hand over his brow and rolled his eyes. 

Thor tossed the roll of green streamers in his hand up the stairs and over the railing, “What - what plan? This party is for you! I don’t - I don’t know what you mean” 

With a satisfied grin, the blonde slid into the living room to double-check the bar set up. Grass skirts, coconuts and brightly colored flowers flowed through the frat house, with bright twinkle lights illuminating the hallways. It was going to be a perfect night. 

To celebrate his brother, of course. No other reason. 

“Thor, if you wanted to impress this girl, you could have just asked her out like a normal person,” the dark-haired man quipped as he followed his brother through the house.

“This party is for you! We’re excited to have you in our fraternity, let us celebrate that! The fact that the yellow of these flowers compliment Gracie’s blue eyes has nothing to do with anything,” Thor paused, running a hand into his long blonde hair, “I mean, uh, what girl? I don’t even know who you’re talking about”

He watched his brother narrow his eyes at him, his signature smirk settling on his face as he leaned against the door frame, arms crossed in front of his chest. 

"Of course, you don't," he chuckled. "I'm certainly not talking about the girl who could very well take you in beer pong any day of the week. Or the girl who laughs at all of your jokes no matter how ridiculously not funny they are." 

Thor swayed back and forth on his legs, looking anywhere but at Loki's face knowing his true intentions had already absolutely been made but determined to hide the fact that he was itching for Gracie to walk through the door. That big, sweet smile on her face with her long brown hair that smelled like cherry blossoms falling down her back.

He knew he had it bad for her. He also knew that his friends, especially his brother, were going to make his life miserable because he just might make a fool of himself, but Thor didn't care. 

“She laughs at my jokes because they are funny, brother. It’s you who thinks that they aren’t funny. And what if this whole party had an ulterior motive? I want to see her and be around her. Plus, I just don’t know how to actually ask her out. I choked when I tried to do that, which is why I invited her to the party instead!” Thor hated being this vulnerable, especially around Loki.

Loki studied him, taping his finger against his face. "Then I suppose we should make it a party she never forgets then."

"Aye! I knew you would be excited!" Thor shook his brother by the shoulders, redirecting him into the kitchen where Korg was setting up the drink bar. 

"I found it," he held up a pretty bottle of light blue booze that looked like the ocean, "it was the last bottle, unlucky for the little old lady that tried to take it from me. Put up quite the fight."

Thor smiled brightly as he nodded toward Korg. "Yes! You can’t have Jungle Juice without that stuff. It makes everything taste like Kool-aid." 

Meanwhile, Loki sighed, very likely thinking he just might want to hole up in his room with a book for the party's duration. "The last time you made that, everyone went streaking down the street, you realize that, right?"

"But that's what makes it more fun!" Thor encouraged, clapping his brother on the shoulders. He walked over to the kitchen counter and began cutting up the fruit that would be going into the cooler for the juice concoction.

As he continued to prep, Thor let his mind wander to the beautiful girl he was hoping would show up tonight. Not that she would ever miss a party, but that small part of him always feared that he would have to go a day without hearing her musical laugh take over his mind, or not get to see the way her eyes lit up when it started raining. 

The way her dark hair flowed over her shoulders, covering the small sunflower tattoo that sat on her shoulder blade. It was how he'd gotten his nickname for her. That and the special way she brightened any room she walked into. 

"Thor!" A booming voice sounded through the kitchen and pulled the blonde from inside his head. 

Shaking his head once, he peered up and grinned when he saw Sam standing in front of him, "Wilson! How's it going, man?" He rounded the counter and slapped his hand into his friends, "DJ booth is set up in the backyard for you! Creative freedom my friend, whatever you want to play to get everyone dancing!"

"Man you know everyone's always dancing when I'm around," he said, puffing up his chest proudly, "I also have a little something for you in the mix so you can make the move on your girl." 

Thor felt the heat creep up his cheeks at the comment as Sam wiggled his brows playfully. Clearly, he hadn't been as good at hiding his feelings from his friends as he thought. 

"Secret's safe with me, just please do something about that tonight for the love of god." 

He smiled and tapped the blonde's shoulder as he made his way through the kitchen. Thor turned quickly shouting in his direction before he made it out the sliding door, "No Marvin Gaye tonight, Wilson!" he shouted. 

"Boy everybody loves some Marvin Gaye!" Sam roared back from the backyard swinging his hands up in the air as the others snickered in the kitchen.

Thor was getting nervous. Dancing with her will put him in very close proximity to her. Touching her and smelling that sweet smell that always drove him insane. There was something about her that attracted him to her like a moth to a flame. “Right. Let’s not go there.” He mumbled under his breath.

“Let’s not go where?” Thor turned around and saw Quill with a condescending smile on his face. He didn’t like that smile. For some reason, it made him nervous. 

“Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself. Making sure that everything is good for the party. You know, have enough to drink, make sure that the ping pong table is set up for the beer pong tournament later. That sort of thing.” He was rambling now, and he was hoping that Quill didn’t catch on to that. 

“Beer pong, you say?” he asks. “I’m great at beer pong. In fact, I can and will kick everyone’s asses.” Thor knew that he was bragging about himself and knew damn well that Quill always did this when he wanted to get his competitive side out to play. He couldn’t have that. He needed this night to go perfectly.

Thor rolled his eyes. He didn't know why Quill always got an invite to his parties, but he did. "I guess we'll have to see how good your skill is later then," he smiled.

Peter grabbed a beer from the cooler and nodded smugly, "Oh you definitely will," and with that, he sauntered off into the forming crowd. 

From that point on, the front door of the house didn't close for a second as person after person piled in and the party grew. Thor greeted his friends, smiling at them as they wandered through, clapping him on the shoulder and already telling him what a great party this was. But his eyes never left the front door, just waiting for the pair of blue eyes he'd been longing to see all day. 

"Hey man," A familiar voice slung his arm around Thor's neck and pulled his attention away as he focused on the man in front of him, "Thanks for the invite! Pía and I love your parties, but the luau theme for Loki seems a bit strange," Bucky joked. 

"Loki loves luau's," Thor chuckled nervously, flickering his eyes back to the door as more people walked in. 

Pía giggled and shook her head as she wrapped her arms around Bucky's waist, "No Gracie loves luau’s, I don't think Loki cares at all," she nodded her head towards the wall where the dark hair man was leaning, scanning the crowd with a soft mischievous grin on his lips.

Thor groaned, "Wow P, I thought we were friends." 

Bucky chuckled into Pía's hair as he pulled her closer to him and she smiled brightly. "We are you big lug but, so are Gracie and I aaand I already put in some good words for you... though I didn't really have to sell you much." 

The brunette winked at Thor and he smiled bashfully. Gracie and Pía were good friends, it was how he was introduced to her in the first place. In a writing class neither of them- or their friends frankly - knew why they were taking but they were still happy to be there and their poems weren't half bad either. 

"Just be you T, that's what makes her smile."

Just be you. “Easier said than done, P,” he mumbled, remembering how tongued tied and nervous he got every time he tried to talk to her. “But I’ll try just for you.”

“Good. Now, where-“but Pia’s words muffled into the background as Thor’s vision snapped to the doorway. All of his focus was on the one person that had  just come through the door. 

She’s here.

Gracie walked through the front door of the house, her brown hair partially pulled back with a flower tucked into it. Her outfit was bright, consisting of a Hawaiian shirt tied into a crop at her waist and a grass skirt, a small sliver of sunkissed skin peeking out between the two.

Thor couldn't make himself look away until Bucky tapped him on the side of the head. "Hey - hi!"

"Hey Thor," Gracie grinned as she sauntered over, doing a quick spin in front of him, "What do you think? Is this on theme?" 

Thor's bright eyes travelled over her, and suddenly his mouth felt dry. Everything escaped his mind and he knew that he was just staring at her but the right combination of words wouldn't form on his tongue. The small sliver of sunkissed skin that peeked out between her shirt and the top of her grass skirt captured all of his attention. 

"I - you look," Pía nudged his ribs and made him shake his head once, "you look great, very Hawaiian," 

Bucky sighed from beside him, and tried to stifle a laugh, "How about we get you girls a drink?" 

With that, he placed a kiss onto Pía's temple, and wrapped his arm around Thor, pulling him away towards the bar, "what the hell was that, man?" he mumbled with a smirk when they were away from the girls.

Thor groaned, tilting his head back as they made their way into the kitchen causing Bucky to laugh again. "Seriously Thor, if you're gonna make any move onto Gracie then you have to actually put a sentence together." 

He leaned against the counter, gripping the edge of it as Pia and Gracie made their way through the sea of people stopping every few moments to talk to someone else. His focus was solely on the girl whose smile lit up the entire room and every fibre within him. A small plastic shot glass thumped him directly in the forehead. 

"Earth to Thor." Bucky grinned, "Did you even hear a word I said?" 

Thor tossed the plastic shot glass back at his friend, "Every time I look at her, I turn into this... giant puddle of Gracie-made Jello. How am I supposed to talk to her?" 

Bucky scrunched his face, "that was probably the most disgusting thing I've heard. Gracie made jello?" He shook his head with a quick shudder of his shoulders as the corners of his mouth turned up, "Ask her to play a game. Start there and see where the night takes ya, pal." He handed two cups to Thor, "Talking to a girl you like isn't as scary as it feels."

"Easy for you to say," Thor countered. "You can talk to anyone in this room. Once she actually talks to me I just... clam up," he grumbled. "It sucks."

Bucky's laugh echoed through the kitchen and he shook his head, before pounding back a shot of whiskey, "Man, you remember how long it took me to talk to Pía right? And even then she was the one who barged into my dorm and made me talk," he placed his hand on Thor's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "now take a shot and go play darts with your girl" 

"She's not my girl," Thor mumbled before grabbing the shot from in front of him and swallowing it down. His blue eyes drifted back over to Gracie and a soft smile tugged at his lips as her laugh eclipsed the room. He grabbed two of the jello shots and with a deep breath, headed in her direction. 

He could do this. 

Thor cleared his throat loudly and interrupted the monologue the girls had managed to get Tony started on, "Sorry to steal Gracie away, but she promised to do a shot with me, and it's time to pay up," he managed to get out with a slight shake in his breath. 

"Oh yes of course," Gracie linked her arm with his, making his breath catch in his throat, "Sorry Tony, not that this conversation about nuclear physics isn't riveting but I did promise," She shrugged quickly before pulling Thor across the room.

She tugged his body, though she didn't have to pull him along behind her very hard. Thor would follow her no matter where she went. She lead them towards a corner of the room that wasn't as crowded as the rest before dropping his arm and leaning against the wall behind her. Gracie smiled up at him with a sigh, "You have perfect timing." She cooed. 

Thor sucked in a breath, mourning the loss of her warmth against his skin as he shoved out a jello shot toward her. "Tony likes to talk."

She smiled, taking the shot from him. Her fingers brushed against his own forcing his eyes wide at the subtle shock his system felt. "The last thing I wanted to do tonight was listen to him drone on about some other new extravagant project he started. We all know he's going to take over the world with robots, he doesn't have to remind us every five minutes." Gracie laughed holding up her shot. "Ready Thunder?"

“Not at all,” he muttered under his breath but diffused her perplexed expression with a wide grin.

He tapped his shot against hers and then tipped it into his mouth, keeping his eyes on Gracie as she did the same. He coughed and spluttered at the sight of his Sunflower, head thrown back and eyes closed, giving a groan of satisfaction as the sweetness of the jelly hit her tongue.

Her eyes whipped open as she eyed him with concern at his choking.

“You OK there big guy?”

Thor cleared his throat and coughed once more as he nodded. "J-just went down wrong," he answered. Thor wiped his mouth with his hand, hoping there wasn't a mess all over his face. "Did you like that flavor? I... I can get you another one."

Gracie giggled and nodded her head, "I love every flavor, but you know I'm always up for anything," She grinned widely and placed her hand on his bicep, "ANOTHER!" she called, shooting the plastic cup high into the air and watching as it landed perfectly in the garbage bag that hung off the door to the back yard. 

Thor's eyes widened and flickered between her and the shot she just made as the crowd erupted into applause and hollers. That's his Sunflower. 

"That was incredible!" The blonde grinned at her, grabbing two more from a tray Natasha was holding on her way outside. 

"Hey, that was for Clint! If we get him drunk enough he said he'll shoot stuff off someone's head with his bow!" She quipped, furrowing her brow.

"Last time he did that he shot a hole in the side of the house!" 

Natasha grinned, stealing the shots right out of Thor's hands, "He promised Loki he'd shoot at the giant tree instead this time." She tossed him a wink before sliding out of the back door. 

"That could be interesting," Gracie grinned looping her arm through his, "C'mon big guy, let's get more shots and go see if Clint can shoot a beer can off my head."

Thor followed in the direction that Gracie pulled him like an eager puppy, practically projecting heart eyes at her back as she led them through the room and out into the backyard.

There was a group of people gathered by the largest tree in the yard, whooping encouragement at a grinning Clint, who span in slow circles with his bow raised. He saw Thor over the crowd and pointed his bow at him, waving him over to join them but Thor shook his head with a smile.

They found another tray of jello shots, grape this time, and Gracie picked up two with a whoop.

“Down the hatch!” She almost shouted, jumping with enthusiasm as he matched her energy and downed two shots of his own.

Gracie cheered loudly, managing to distract herself enough that she stumbled and crashed into Thor’s chest, who wrapped a protective arm around her. He thought his heart would explode when she stared up at him and giggled sweetly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Easy there," he said softly, hoping she could hear him. "Let's not get yourself hurt," Thor swore he could see Gracie's cheeks turn pink as she patted both hands against his chest. 

"I'm okay!" she hollered over the music. "Do you dance?" she asked, having already forgotten about Clint and his bow. It probably wouldn't have been the best idea anyway.

Thor prayed she couldn’t feel his pounding heart deep in his chest. This was farther than he’d ever imagined actually getting with her, and the way the twinkle lights caught the blue of her iris’ get distracting him from the actual events happening all around them. 

“Of - of course, I dance, I’m a great dancer,” he stuttered, his gaze snapping up from her as Sam hollered at him. 

Gracie nodded her head towards the crowd of people swaying in the middle of the yard and grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers. 

“Alright, alright, this next one goes out to our gracious host! Thor Odinson and the fraternity of Gamma Asgard Chi!”

Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n’ Roses blared through the speakers and the wide grin on Gracie’s face told him everything. 

She jumped up and down as the words of the song flowed like a melody out of her lips, and Thor could have sworn everything inside of him melted at the sight of his girl singing his favourite song word for word.

Thor grinned watching her, his heart pounding and heat creeping up his neck. His eyes flickered to Sam who tossed him a wink and encouraging nod. Gracie lifted his hand in the air above her as she twirled, laughing with her head tilted back and eyes crinkled with joy. He sucked in a deep breath and began to move with her. She dropped her hand from him, smiling and singing away as she stepped in front of him and swayed with the song. 

Gracie stumbled slightly in the grass again and on instinct his hands shot out to her waist, holding her steady. What he didn't expect was for her to lean back into his chest, her hands up in the air and giggled peering over her shoulder up at him. Her eyes twinkled under the light as she mouthed a thank you to him.

The broadest grin in the world spread across his face, making his cheeks ache joyfully. Then, to his utter disbelief, Gracie wrapped one of her arms around the back of his neck and twirled her fingers through strands of his hair. She swayed her hips to the music, rubbing against him, and he swallowed thickly. 

He tried to move the lower half of his body away, just a little, but Gracie took her other hand and laced her fingers through his where they rested on her hip and pulled him closer.

Thor took a deep breath before deciding to go with it. He rested his head on her shoulder and swayed his hips with her along with the music. "You're a pretty good dancer," he said into her ear so she could hear him." Across the yard, he could see Peter as he leaned against the house, his eyes locked on Gracie. I don't think so.

"Thor! Gracie!" A chirpy voice sounded through the crowd bringing Thor's attention back to the crowd just as Wanda wrapped her arms around Gracie. 

"Hey, you two! Having a good time?" Thor asked as he clapped his hand into Vision’s, with a wide grin. 

"Always! You guys do throw the best parties on campus," Wanda complimented, flashing a knowing smile at him as her eyes moved between him and the brunette beside his side, "We won't keep you though, we just wanted to say hi! We'll come find you later!" The redhead grinned, pulling her boyfriend away with her. 

Thor shook his head with an awkward laugh and watched them walking away, Wanda mouthing something to him and pointing between the two of them. He watched as she turned her attention back to Vision, wrapping her arms around his neck with a soft smile and placing a kiss on his jawline. It made Thor's heart soar to see his friends finally happy together. 

As he spun to grab Gracie once more, he was meant with Quill's cocky smirk and watched as he tried to wrap his arm around Gracie's waist. 

"Come on, sweetheart, dance with me!" He cooed, a pout coming to his lips, "You know I'm a better dancer than that meathead!"

"I wouldn't say that," Gracie strained attempting to pull herself from Quill's grip, "ugh Peter you smell like a dive bar." 

"Just havin' a good time, beautiful, which clearly you aren't here with this guy." Quill jutted his chin in Thor's direction. Annoyance flooded him as he shoved Quill's shoulder. 

"Pretty sure she doesn't want you touching her Quill. Keep your hands to yourself." Thor warned as the idiot in front of him threw up his hands in mock surrender with a snide grin. 

He felt Gracie step around him, her fingers tangling into the hem of his shirt, "C'mon let's get something to drink." She pleaded as her eyes flickered from him to Quill. 

"Oh don't be like that Gracie girl, come play beer pong with me! If you win I'll give you a prize." Quill winked and licked his lips, making Thor grimace with disgust.

“Ew, no,” Gracie squealed, screwing up her nose and shaking her head.

“C’mon Gracie, unless you’re… chicken?”

Gracie froze mid-turn and Thor could feel Peter’s challenge thrumming through her veins. She trembled as she warred with herself, wanting to ignore the arrogant junior but aching to put him in his place. Thor saw the moment she’d decided and just as she began to turn back he blurted words he’d probably regret later.

“I’ll do it! I mean, I’ll play you at beer pong.”

Quill eyed him with interest. “What are the stakes?”

“I’ll dance with the winner!” Gracie offered, although the grimace she gave told Thor she’d spoken before thinking… again.

“Nice. I’m down,” Quill nodded, making his way over to the beer pong table.

“Come on, Thunder,” Gracie smiled weakly. “You gotta win for me. There’s only one pair of hands I want on my ass tonight when I’m dancing and they sure ain’t Quill’s.”

Thor's eyes widened but his smile broadened. "I'll win for you, Gracie. I have no doubt."

"I'm counting on you, big guy," She winked, taking his hand in hers as they followed Peter back into the dining room. 

There was loud cheering flowing through the house and when they entered it became apparent why. Miek and Bruce had taken over the beer pong table and had apparently been beating everyone in the room. With four cups still in front of them, Bruce turned his back to the table and sunk another shot, leaving Steve and Bucky with only one cup left. 

"Let's go, Bruce!!" Natasha screamed, nudging her shoulder into Tony. 

Stark through his hands in the air and looked up at the ceiling, "Oh come on! He's cheating!" 

"Don't be such a sore loser, Stark!" Natasha quipped. 

"He's using math to win, that's cheating!" 

"Just because you weren't smart enough to figure out the formula, doesn't mean I can't" Bruce shot back with a wide grin. 

An echo of "ouus" sounded through the room as Tony shook his head and stormed back outside, leaving them to finish their game. Thor smiled once again and nodded as he watched his friends enjoying themselves, until he felt a small squeeze on his hand, bringing his attention back to the woman beside him. 

"You got this right?" Gracie smiled softly. 

"I would never let you down," Thor answered softly.

Something akin to pride flickered in her eyes as she flashed him another one of her winning smiles and turned her attention back to the table, cheering with the crowd when Bruce landed his ball in the last cup on Steve and Bucky's side. 

"Come on man!" Steve cursed, picking up the cup and chugging it down. Pia wrapped herself around Bucky from behind. His friend's eyes flickered over to him and then down to where his and Gracie's hands were still connected. Pia flashed him a knowing grin as Quill pushed through the group of celebratory high-fives. 

"Alright, you losers! Time to give up the table!" He hollered. 

"That's not how that works Quill!" 

Thor sighed shaking his head, "Let'em have the table boys, I've got some ass to kick." Suddenly confident as he smirked at Quill.

Thor stepped up to Bucky’s side of the table where his friend was already setting up more cups while Pía grabbed some more beer to fill them with.

“Playing for your girl?” Bucky smirked.

“She’s not my…”

“Yeah he is,” Gracie grinned, bouncing on her feet and clapping her hands. “He’s fighting for my honor like a knight in shining armor!”

Thor rubbed his hand down his face as Bucky handed him the ball and then he turned to Quill who’d taken up position at the other end of the table.

Quill smirked and Thor rolled his shoulders and cricked his neck, rolling the ball between his large hands.

“Do you need me to blow on it for luck?” Gracie asked him.

Turning to look at Gracie, Thor swore his mouth was hitting the floor. She'd gotten really bold tonight, but he wasn't complaining in the slightest. "Sure," he told her, putting the ball in front of her. "My beautiful good luck charm."

Her slender fingers wrapped around his wrist carefully bringing his hand closer to her lips. He silently cursed the gods as his gaze met hers and she parted her lips making a soft o shape and blew gently. Gracie's warm breath fanned over his fingers and the chanting around them faded into muffled white noise as he stared at the girl who had been the object of his obsession for months. 

She pulled back, letting her hand linger for a moment before giving him an encouraging nod toward the table. 

"T-thanks" he stuttered with a lopsided grin finding it hard to peel his gaze away from her. 

"Are you two done? Or can we get on to me winning now?" Quill's sharp voice broke the trance he was in as he dragged his eyes to the drunken fool on the other side of the table.

“You gonna blow my balls now too? Fair’s fair,” Quill added with a leer.

“From what I can see you only have one, and even that’s debatable,” Gracie quipped and Thor couldn’t help the snort of laughter that left his lips.

“That’s my girl,” he rumbled, his adoration for his Sunflower overriding his nerves for once. 

Or maybe it was the shots.

“Am I?” Gracie asked sweetly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“I…I mean…” he blustered.

“Just take the damn shot Odinson,” Quill shouted.

With a growl of frustration, Thor launched the ball towards the other end of the table, fully intending to clobber Quill between the eyeballs with it but it landed squarely in one of the cups.

“Ha! Drink up, Quill!” Thor was surprised he got the first one in. If he continued to focus on trying to hit Quill’s face, maybe, he’d win this thing. And maybe he’d actually get one in between his eyeballs.

“Yes!” Gracie yelled,  jumping with excitement. At the other end of the table, Quill groaned in disapproval. 

But Thor didn’t even acknowledge Quill or anyone else around them. He just kept looking at Gracie and the smile that lit up her face. He was utterly fucked. Fuck. 

“My turn now, Thunder boy,” Quill shouted from the other side of the table. “This is the only one you’ll be able to get.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that, Quill? You think I can’t actually beat you in this or is it that you’re scared now?” He volleyed back, gaining confidence. 

“No,” Quill said with a mocking smile, “I am not scared. You won’t be able to get another shot because you’ll be too drunk to do it.”

Thor watched as Quill launched a ball and it banked off a cup and onto the table, making Thor chuckle. "Miss!"

"Come on! It's distracting in here!" Quill countered. 

Rolling his eyes, Thor picked up the ball and launched it into the air. He smirked as it sank into the second cup. "Two to one."

“You’re doing so good Thor, I knew you would,” Gracie encouraged.

Bucky and Pía shot Thor a pointed look and he rolled his eyes so damn hard that he missed Quill planting a ball into one of his cups. 

“Shit,” Thor hissed in frustration, shooting the bet as quickly as he could but landed his next throw squarely in one of Quill’s cups.

“Another hit!” Gracie squealed with excitement, wrapping her hands around Thor’s bicep and squeezing tightly.

Thor focused on the way her hands were, so soft and warm against his skin - and thinking of other places where he wanted both of her hands. 

“Thor?” she asked, with a heavy breath. 

“Wha-. Oh yes, the game. Sorry, got distracted for a moment.” He got distracted alright.

He chuckled and stepped back as Quill hit in a second shot, making the score even back out. Thor grumbled as he rolled the Ping pong ball in his hand for a few seconds before he took his shot just as Quill bumped the table, causing him to miss. "Hey! That's foul play!"

"What are you talking about?!" Quill shouted back, "You hit the table yourself!!"

Hollers and input sounded from the crowd as they argued about whose fault it was. There was no way Thor was going to lose to Quill because he was a cheater. His blue eyes drifted down to the brunette beside him before looking back up, seeing Clint standing beside the table, closer to Quill's side. 

Thor stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled, silencing the room, "Barton, you're closest, what's the call?" 

Clint thought for a moment, looking between the two players. He was one of Thor's most honest friends and there was no way the guy everyone referred to as Hawkeye was going to miss any details of the play. He was the best ref they could have asked for. 

"Foul on the table, Quill loses a cup and Thor gets the ball back!" Clint concluded, earning a groan and protest from Peter, but with one look from Clint, he knew the decision was final. 

The game pressed on almost going cup for cup as the boys played for Gracie's honor. It seemed silly in his mind that this was how he had to prove himself, and he knew deep down that she would never go for someone like Quill, but Thor's competitive spirit surged through his veins, needing to protect his sunflower from the dark rain cloud that was Peter Quill. His cocky attitude somehow always won him the favor of many girls on campus, but not this one. Not his girl. 

It came down to Peter having one cup in front of him, while Thor had two. The tension in the room from the crowd that had gathered could have been cut with a knife and a flash of pride rose in Thor's chest. Everyone loved a good competition.

“Son of a bitch!” Thor exclaimed as Peter’s ball hit the rim of the cup and teetered for a moment before plopping into the beer.

Quill proceeded to thrust his hips like he was in a solitary dance-off, jeering loudly at Thor. 

The blonde giant looked down at his Sunflower, almost cringing at the desperation in her eyes.

“I’m supposed to dance with you, Thor,” she whispered, and he felt her finger wrap around his.

He didn’t even realise what was happening until it did. Gracie slipped the ball out of his hand and he swore she didn’t even break eye contact with him as she tossed it. It was only the cheers from the crowd and Bucky’s slap to his shoulder that told him she’d landed the shot.

But he didn't care about that or anything else except the woman that was looking back at him with heat in her eyes. "How did you do that?” he asks impressed by his little Sunflower. 

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Gracie winked up at him, coming closer to him, “Plus, I wasn’t going to let him win because all night I’ve wanted a reason to do this-”

She kissed him. It took him a second for his brain to catch up with what was happening but when he did, he kissed her back. He kissed her like a man starved for water. They moved apart, both of them breathing heavily. But Thor wasn’t done with her. Gaining confidence, he placed his hands on the sides of her neck and kissed her again, bringing her closer to his body.

His hands tangled into her hair, exploring every inch of her skin and it was just as soft if not more than he’d ever dreamed. Tiny flickers of electricity danced from his fingertips, tickling her skin and making her wiggle beneath his touch. The movement only made him want more. The entire party seemed to fall into a hazy thrum, everything was Gracie and nothing else mattered. 

“Whoa,” Gracie seemed to breathe out as they pulled apart. “Was that Lightning?” She asked pressing her hand against his around her neck. 

“They don’t call me the Prince of Thunder for nothing,” he laughed tucking his face against hers with the brush of his nose.

Thor chuckled, pink dusting his cheeks as he gazed down at Gracie. Everyone roared around them and patted Thor on his back, but he ignored it all. He only had one person on his mind. "Do you want to get away from all of the noise?" he asked, hoping that she'd be able to hear him.

Her bottom lip found a home between her teeth as she looked up at him through thick lashes and nodded her head softly. 

Thor leaned down and stole another quick kiss as the tips of his fingers trailed down her arms to find her hands and wrap his fingers into hers. The two of them ignored the "ouu"s that echoed through the crowd as Thor pulled his girl through the house, leading her up the stairs and into his room, thanking the gods that he'd remembered to clean up before the party. 

Pulling her into his body and wrapping his hands around his waist, Thor kicked his door shut behind them, shutting out the world so he could focus solely on the beautiful girl in his arms. His fingers teased the small bit of visible skin that peaked out between her shirt and the top of her grass skirt as he leaned down and pressed his lips back to Gracie's. 

"Sorry," he whispered, pressing his forehead into hers and rubbing the tips of their noses together, "you have no idea how long I've waited to kiss you,"

“Are you okay? With the kiss, with this, with us. With me dragging you here to my room and away from our friends?” he asked her in a soft voice, thinking of how forward it looked bringing her in here, but he needed the quiet and the privacy of his room to say what he needed to say.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Better than okay.” 

“Okay, I’m glad because I have a confession to make,” he prepared himself mentally for what he needed to say. He was ready to just blurt it out before he lost his nerve.

Thor sat on the bed and pulled Gracie down next to him. He shook out his hands and took a deep breath.

“Oh my god, is this that moment when the guy tells the girl he’s been crushing on her for years?!” Gracie gasped, pressing her hands across her mouth in the way she always does when she was trying to joke.

Completely thrown by her interruption Thor just gaped at her. He couldn’t tell if she was excited or disgusted. 

“I… well, I mean, if you want it to be?” He mumbled, his face flaming.

“Oh Thunder, look at you, all pink-cheeked and lost for words. You’re adorable.”

Thor admired her, brushing his hand over her face. “I—,” he paused, I can do this he thought to himself. “There was a moment and it sounds cheesy but promise to listen?” he said trying to explain. 

“Of course Thor,” she shifted beneath him, ready for his story. 

“I was sitting cross legged on the west lawn because professor fury wanted fresh air and it was terribly grey that, I was frustrated with the yarn.” His brows kissed, “but you came down the steps, late for class and the clouds parted letting in the most beautiful streak of light. It highlighted the golden streaks in your hair and the way your eyes sparkle. The string didn’t matter anymore, the gods had shown me everything I ever needed.” 

Gracie expression softened as she kissed him gently. “My sweet Prince,” she smiled, “it wasn’t the gods, when you are frustrated or angry the skies are grey, when you are happy and free we see nothing but sun.” 

Thors fingers brushed against the sunflower on her shoulder. Thinking about how often it rained when Gracie was near and the answer was never. He swallowed tightly, nervous from his confession. His sunflower watching him with hazy, tipsy eyes.

Thor's blue eyes looked up to meet hers, scanning over her features as that feeling deep inside calmed itself like it always had when Gracie was near. The anxiety and fear melted away, bringing to light the full feeling of what he wanted to tell her. What he'd wanted to tell her for a long time. 

"I have had a crush on you, since that day you stumbled in late for class and I saw that bright, magnetic smile for the first time," he whispered, running his tongue along his bottom lip and taking in a shaky breath as he placed his hand on the side of her neck, tangling his fingers into the baby hairs at the back of her neck, "The way your just you without fear, how you laugh at my dumb jokes, but I only make dumb jokes because they make you laugh. I love - seeing you happy. The way your eyes light up when it thunderstorms and the little doodles you draw in notebook instead of listening during class," he breathed out a laugh. 

"Thor..." Gracie smiled, placing her hand on his chest with a soft smile, keeping her eyes on him. 

Leaning forward, Thor placed his forehead against hers and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. 

"I think I love you, my beautiful Sunflower," he whispered.

“Oh!” She breathed, her lips close to his. “I’m so relieved.”

“You are?” He asked softly, not wanting to burst what they’d created.

“Yeah I am, because in my first day in macramé, when I was panicking because my alarm hadn’t gone off and I couldn’t find my string, I ran into the seminar room and there was this giant goofball grinning at me. I thought the world had stopped turning, and then you patted the seat next to you and I thought my heart would explode.”

She sniffled a little and Thor pulled back just to check she was alright.

“See!” Gracie exclaimed. “That’s what I mean! You’re always there, making sure I’m alright.”

He shrugged, as if it were no big thing but it was, to her.

“I love you too, Thor.”

Thor smiled feeling like the weight of a thousand worlds has been lifted from his shoulders. He had thought of a thousand and one ways this moment could've gone since that fateful first sight of his sweet girl and he never even thought it'd be with her saying she loved him too. Once more her calm melodic voice had let him see the light amidst whatever grey might be laying beneath his stormy blues, and never wanted to imagine his life without her light again. 

He dipped his lips to hers and whispered, "I'm just gonna kiss you now," a bashful chuckle slipping from his lips. 

"Don't leave me holding my breath here, lover boy," she smiled, squeezing lightly atop his knee where her hand rested.

Their hands explored each other in new ways, like the landscape had changed in the few short moments they had been alone. Thor's heart was beating a million miles an hour and never before in his life had he been so happy for the adrenaline rush. The party downstairs was muted but the vibrations of the music thrummed up through his bed and into his veins as his lips crashed down on hers. 

Kissing her felt like everything all at once. Like his favorite music, the sun first thing in the morning, the way the breeze cooled in the fall. Gracie replaced all of those things.

Thor ran his lips along her jaw as he turned and slowly laid her back onto his bed. “Gracie… can I… can I touch you? Explore you?” He breathed.

A soft whine dripped from her lips and Gracie nodded her head as she arched her back to press into him, bring their bodies closer together. Thor's mind was swimming with every possibility of how this night was going to go, but he relished the moment of having his girl - his sunflower wrapped in his arms. 

"I need to hear you say it beautiful," he whispered against her skin, "please" 

"Thor kiss me, touch me, show me how much you love me," she breathed out, taking his face in her hands and attaching their lips together. 

He tried to stifle the groan that fell from his lips as his tongue found it's way into her mouth. His large hands slid down her body and found the exposed sliver of skin, tracing it with his fingertips and teasing her skin, living in all the sounds that came from deep within her.

“Is this really happening?” She whispered against his ear and Thor couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled up from deep within his chest.

“It really is, Sunflower,” he murmured back, drawing his fingers up her side as their kisses resumed once more.

Gracie giggled at the tickling trail his fingers made but her humour quickly turned to gasps of pleasure as he palmed her breast through her shirt.

“Off,” she insisted, “take it off!”

Thor didn’t have to be told twice. He gently helped her sit up before he removed her top, his lips instantly exploring any bit of skin he could reach. 

He moaned, feeling as Gracie ram her fingers beneath his shirt, following the planes of his abs. “Gracie…”

A low chuckle came from deep within his chest as Thor sat up and pulled his dark t-shirt over his head, tossing it somewhere in his dark room. He peered down at the beautiful girl beneath him and shook his head once. A part of him was still in shock that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. 

"Fuck you're beautiful," she giggled, trailing her fingers up his abdomen lightly. 

A noise that was a mix between a laugh and a growl escaped him, "I should be saying that to you, my love," he mumbled, leaning down to press light kisses to her stomach, trailing them upwards as he explored every inch of her exposed skin.

“Well you can say that last part again,” Gracie smirked, which quickly turned into a gasp as his lips wrapped around her nipple.

“You mean, my love?” He asked.

“Mmmhmm.”

“I’ll say it until you are tired of hearing it.  My love,” he said, pressing kisses between her breasts as he move to tease her other nipple, each kiss punctuated by the words she’d asked to hear.

One hand slid down her torso and he teased his fingers along the waistband of her grass skirt drinking in the soft groans that she made.  Feeling bold and self-indulgent, Thor left her breast and trailed his lips up and across to her shoulder.  Pausing for a moment, almost in disbelief, he took in her form, the way she looked with eyes closed and head thrown back.  She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. 

He lowered his head once more, tracing the sunflower on her shoulder with first his lips  and then his tongue, earning himself more of her delicious sounds before he kissed his way back up to her mouth and captured her lips in a blistering kiss.

Thor felt as she fingers fumbled with the button of his jeans, making him chuckled as he reluctantly pulled away from her mouth. 

“Do you need help?” He asked teasingly.

Gracie groaned and laughed, shaking her head as her arms came up and pressed on his shoulders, flipping him over. She settled her legs on either side of his hips and smirked playfully, peering down through her thick lashes.

"Nope, I can do it," she quipped back. 

Thor ran his tongue over his bottom lip and watched her work as his hands found purchase on her ribs, she popped the button on his jeans and grinned confidently. 

"God Gracie," Thor groaned, moving his hips up and pressing into her so she could feel what she was doing to him. 

Gracie hummed, and leaned down, bringing his ear lobe between her teeth, "What do you want, baby boy?"

“You, gods, always you,” he groaned as she ground her hips against his.

Shimmying downwards, she pulled his jeans and boxers down his legs, biting her lip at the sight of his obvious arousal.

“That’s not fair, you’re not…” Thor began to protest but Gracie stopped him.

“I haven’t finished yet,” she grinned, shucking off her skirt, the shorts underneath and her panties, leaving them both naked.

She stared at him for the longest moment, taking in all of him in his golden glory.  It was an unfamiliar feeling for Thor, being so vulnerable beneath the one who held his entire heart.

“Get back here Sunflower,” he joked but he knew she’d heard the secret vulnerability behind his words.

He tugged gently on her fingers bringing her back to him. She crawled across him, settling her hips against his. Skin against skin Thor lost control again, his lightning tickling at his fingertips as she kissed his stomach, creating a tender path toward his chest.

He tugged gently on her fingers bringing her back to him. She crawled across him, settling her hips against his. Skin against skin Thor lost control again, his lightning tickling at his fingertips as she kissed his stomach, creating a tender path toward his chest.

“Shit…” Thor’s head dropped to the mattress as he concentrated on the feeling of her hot lips on his skin. “That feels so good,” he murmured quietly, his hands slowly roaming any bit of skin he could reach.

Thor nearly whined when she stopped to say, “I like when you talk to me.” 

He pressed his body down into the mattress in any attempt to slow the burning that coiled in the pit of his stomach as she kissed a line up his jaw. 

“Don’t go quiet on me big boy,” she laughed, pushing back against him just to draw a ragged moan from his lips.

“What… do you want me to say?” He breathed. Thor held Gracie’s hips as he gently pressed upward, rubbing his cock against her.

“Shit Gracie,” he swore as she rolled her hips against him, sliding his full length between her legs as she crashed down against him for a kiss. “Keep doing that,” he breathed as she broke for air. 

“This,” she pushed back against sliding against him causing his whole body to stutter beneath her. He couldn’t believe how good she felt and even in his wildest dreams it compared nothing to this.

“Yes!” He moaned, trying to roll against her as best as he could. “That… a lot more of that.”

Gracie placed her hands on Thor's broad chest and pushed herself up, grinding her hips down into him and allowing a sultry moan to drip from her lips as a playful smirk made an appearance. Gods, she was intoxicating. Thor wanted to mesmerize every inch of her body. Every thought in his head melted away until all that was left was Gracie. Her piercing blue eyes staring down at him and showing him just how much she cared for him. 

Blue sparks flashed from his fingertips as he gripped her hips and rolled them over, pulling a giggle from her lips, "I need you sweetheart," he rasped, breathing in her scent as he nipped at her neck, "please," 

"God please," Gracie moaned with a grin, bucking her hips up into him and reaching up to tangle her hands in his hair.

"Anything for you,"  Thor teased against her lips as he lined them up and slowly pressed himself into her. 

She wined as he filled her, stretching her out over him as he gripped her hips and deepened their frenzied kiss. She wiggled and whimpered everytime a little spark licked at her bare skin rolling down over him over and over until Thor couldn't think straight.

As Thor bottomed out, he rested his head against her shoulder. “I’m not hurting you am I?” He asked quietly. It was the last thing that he wanted to do.

Gracie shook her head and breathed deeply, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of his nose, "No I'm okay, you can move handsome," She smiled, trailing her hand down his spine to his lower back and pressing in, urging him to keep going. 

Taking his time, Thor shifted his hips back slowly before thrusting back into her, moving his lips from hers to press wet kisses down her jaw to find purchase on her neck, "Fuck you feel incredible," he mumbled into his skin as he bucked his hips gently back into hers once more. 

A deep groan fell from her mouth as she pressed her head into the mattress and closed her eyes, "I love you, Thor," she breathed, clenching herself around him and moving her hips up to meet his, "Fast baby, please"

He would do anything she asked of him. Thor wrapped his arm around her middle tugging her as close as he could as flipped them around and slid himself back so he was sitting. He helped her wrap her legs tightly around him as he continued to pump up into her, quickening his pace as she raked her nails down his back. 

She let her head fall back, her hair cascading down her back over his arm. Moaning as her pebbled nipples rubbed against his chest and her legs squeezed him relentlessly.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he groaned, pistoning his hips into her willing body. 

“Thor! Yes! God, don’t stop baby,” she moaned.

She clenched around him with her pleas, forcing his head to fall forward just to hold out that much longer. He had no plans to stop for as long as he could tempt it. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," He groaned burying his face into the crook of her neck, his hand sliding from her waist to the back of her neck as he nibbled on her skin. The sounds of her mewls and whines muffled by the party going on behind his door. He felt her hands roam up his back knotting themselves into his hair and holding him firmly to her skin. Thor wasn't going to complain, he had noticed the heat of his breath casting waves of goosebumps over her skin over the soft pink marks his lips left on her body. A sight that only sent another jolt of warmth straight to his groin. 

"Want you," He breathed, "always." 

Gracie sobbed out another moan as his length hit that soft spot within her. Her words strained and punctuated with his thrusts as she whispered "Yours--always."

Thor was relentless, thrusting into her with strokes that kept her singing that beautiful tune in his ear. He could feel her body trembling as he tightened his grip, her doing the same in his hair. 

“I feel like I’m flying,” she whined, “do the sparks,” she begged and he obliged. Tickling his fingers across her nipples, tiny shocks of lightning licking at the sensitive skin driving her to the edge of bliss.

“You’re so close, sweetheart,” he panted, feeling the lightning crackle at her nerves. “Let go for me, create the perfect storm.”

Thor could feel her cunt fluttering and clenching around him as their sounds mixed together in the sticky air of his room. Sheer bliss took over as he slammed himself into her. With one last clench and a deep moan, he felt her let go, muttering praises under her breath. She buried her face into his neck as stifled a whine as Thor kept up his pace, chasing his own high. 

Tumbling over the edge, he spilled out with a ragged moan, peppering soft, wet kisses down her neck and over her shoulder, stopping to pay extra attention to the small sunflower. 

"You're perfect, Gracie," Another kiss, "And so beautiful," 

"Holy fuck, baby," she breathed into his ear, kissing where his jaw met his neck, "I love you Thor, so much"

“Say it again,” he begged. 

“I,” she kissed his collarbone, “love,” she licked a stripe of sweat from his peck, “you.” 

She peered up at him with her last words and the smile on her face nearly broke everything in him. He couldn’t live without that. He couldn’t live without her.

Thor held her close to his chest and slid down the bed, falling back so they were laying together, side by side and a tangled mess of limbs. He pressed his lips to hers in a lingering slow kiss, pulling a soft moan from her. 

Gracie pulled back, a seemingly permanent glowy smile plastered to her face that made pride swell in his chest for the simple reason of it being himself that put it there, "I could get used to this." She said softly her fingers tracing the edge of his jawline. 

He trailed his own fingertips along her arm, tracing over the leaves on her sunflower tattoo and sparking tiny blue flickers of lightening against her skin. "I hope so," Thor rasped, "because I have no intention on letting you go Sunflower." His gaze met hers through thick lashes, "I love you so much, whenever I see you I feel like the gods made a mistake promising me Thunder when all I wanted was Sunshine."

Gracie only smiled as she looked at him with heavy eyes. “Then I will be all of the sunshine you could ever need, Thunder. Always.”

Thor hummed and tucked Gracie as close to his body as he could, relishing in the feeling of having his girl, his sunflower, finally in his arms. The feeling of her thumping heart against his skin, her sweet vanilla scent coming through on her sticky skin. He didn't want this moment to end. 

Reaching up, he brushed his fingers through her dark hair, earning himself a soft smile as Gracie pressed a gentle kiss to his peck, "Whatcha thinking up there big guy?" 

"I'm just waiting to see if I wake up, " he mused, chuckling quietly, "this could have been one incredible dream and I'm going to wake up on the front lawn with no pants on, and Natasha taking pictures just to post in Shield's dorms, and you, you ended up dancing with Quill and falling madly in love, and I'm just the sexy naked guy who throws great parties" 

Gracie's musical laugh sounded through his room as she sat up, shaking her head at him, "Well I hate to break it to you, but I'm right here, and I'm all yours," 

"Ah that's exactly what dream you would want me to think," He pointed. 

"Just shut up and kiss me," Gracie laughed again, leaning down and pressing her lips back to his, smiling into the kiss.

#thor odinson #thor odinson au #thor odinson x oc #thor odinson oneshot #thor odinson one shot #thor odinson imagine #thor odinson fic #thor odinson fanfic #marvel #marvel au #marvel college au #marvel imagine #marvel one shot #marvel oneshot #marvelous #college au #thor odinson fluff #thor odinson smut #fluff #smut #writers #fanfiction writers #writing collaboration #collaboration #one shot #oneshot #au

[honestmouse20]

Okay, personal thoughts on dragons rising under the cut. Spoilers ahead!

I didn't care too much about Wildfyre going into part 2. she was cool but not really a character I was fully invested in. That is, until her and Kai went on their little quest/mission to get the dragon energy core. They were so Sweet! I loved how Kai had to be the responsible one and how Wildfyre had to learn how to thikn before she acted. They're a really good dynamic and I their relationship growing during this season felt very natrual and good!

Zane! also not one of my favorite characters. But him speaking to a broom with Pixal's photo taped to it got to me okay? I do wonder now where she is.

Mr. Frohicky (idk how to spell things, i've been up all night. give me a break lol) I did Not expect him to return after the crossroads episode back in part 1. He's actually grown on me a lot. It's still kinda weird bc the tone of this show is just a Bit different than previous Ninjago. But it's not bad and I wouldn't hate seeing more of him in the future

Lloyd. God he got so much character develepment this season but especially in part 2! From him trying to do everything on his own to upkeep the Monastary and then finally excepting help, to getting much better at teaching the new ninja. I really loved all the scenes with him an Arin and how their relationship has gone from Arin being a fanboy, to genuine respect and friendship. 10/10

Speaking of Lloyd. What on Earth was all that stuff he saw Again when he acted as the conduit again? I really hope we get more info on those vision in the next season. That's the one big mystery that they havn't really touched on

last lloyd thing, mayeb it's just the angst lover in me, but I really hope there's some kind of conequence to him acting as the conduit. Maybe it starts really draining him or maybe it just makes accessing his power a little harder. I hope they explain it or at least like, mention it.

I'm actually kinda glad they didn't go the whole route of having Nya distrust the Djinn guy who'se name i can't remember lol. It was a nice expectation subversion. Bc my first thought was that he was gonna be evil/ have heard that *she* was the one who tecnically destroyed Djinnjago. I really like that they helped him the way they did and the lesson it taught Sora

Speaking of Sora. I love her. I still fully belive that her power is creation but if it is just 'tech power' i really like how they're handling it. LIke we all Knew it was never Ryu's power she was using but the moment *she* figured that out still felt genuine and deserved because we saw her go through the process of realizing whta was holding her back. 10/10. no notes

Freaking COLE! So him and Lloyd are tied as my favorite charaters bc yee. But holy shit even tho it was 5 am when i got to his episode and i was exhausted. I sat up on the couch and just lost my shit. One, he's still so good at finding people in trouble/captured and deciding he's their protecter. I love him so much. and two. was it just me or was that whole episode so freaking queer coded it isnt funny? Like, even more so than his true potential episode back in S1.

Shipping aside, I really like how on par with his character his episodes were. Even tho they were short and I really crave more about him, they did a good job of leaving just enough questions to keep us interested while also showing us the important parts. Plys the new ability rock monster thing is cool

in that same vein. what the fuck does 'the earth is screaming' mean? hello that shits terrifying? My theory atm is that its' the realms fighting the merge bc it's like unnatural or something. but idk. i would have liked to hear more about that

Zane's car!!!! I own that set and holy fuck it did not dissapoint! At first i was kinda bummed it didn't do Actual spinjitzu, at least I don't think so. But him spinning wildy and saying 'this is adequate' or whatever, is so freaking funny! also it's super fast and looks epic. no notes lol

and Jay! we see him! I'm not really a big jay fan but I am curious what theyr'e gonna do with him next season

and finally, i Really liked all the references to past seasons/events! Even if it wasn't in your face, it was still really nice to be able to see all the pices of the past sprinkled throughout. It was also funny to see Sora being surprised Lloyd is the FSM's grandson. 10/10

If i think of more I'll make another post lol

god i need to re watch the season already

i have SO many thoughts. HOw am i supposed to go to work later and be an adult while ive got these little plastic ninja running through my head at full speed

#ninjago #ninjago spoilers #d rambles

[roosterlasagne]

Not sure if this is a Welcome Home theory or just something I've noticed but here are my thoughts about the video tapes in particular

The first thing (or 50 things slammed into one)

These tapes are obviously recordings of a single day, as Barnaby references multiple tapes as happening 'today' in the 14th tape when talking to Home. This has to mean the day is special in some way, whether something happened or Wally has become sentient. It's always a possibility this is only day one and future updates will have tapes happening after the initial 14. Or maybe this has been happening before and this is only one day of many.

What I believe is the important is what happened for them to be recorded. Has Wally become sentient? Does he have cameras in his eyes? Or is it the actors playing him at that moment that is important?

I was thinking more about the actors themselves (I don't know if I believe this to be the case, just something I thought of). In puppetry it is usually the case that you will have a few people working on a puppet, for Wally, who is a fairly small puppet it could be possible it is only one person. And then you'll have the voice actor recording the lines. From what I know it's not often (if at all) that you will have the voice of the character be the puppeteer. My thought with this is that the actor is the one recording, or somehow the conscience of the actor and puppet have someway become intertwined (but that would require much more thought put into it and I don't know if there's much evidence to support that, and there's even evidence pointing towards the show never actually happening).

However, it could absolutely be the case that these characters exist in their own realm and what we see in the recordings are not the episodes of the show. Because if these are scenes from episodes then Wally being completely still makes no sense if he is to be on screen, especially that he's portrayed as the character that interacts with the audience Dora the Explorer style. (With this you could also read it in a Toy Story way where the puppets live their own life on set as if in a town and are only controlled when the show is filmed, but that seems too cliche.)

The second thing

Pretty much nobody during these tapes questions Wally's silence. At the end of each tape they ask him something, but none of them are in a "omg, how did Wally get here", so they're obviously aware, they just do not speak to him prior. This may be due to being preoccupied with the conversation or what I think is that this isn't unusual behaviour for him.

In the recordings on the website itself, Wally is clearly more monotone and doesn't speak that much. Plus, he seems quite confused. (I've seen many theories and headcanons as to why and I have my own but they're not important at the moment.) So him basically zoning out like in the tapes may not shock them.

And in tape 5, Eddie, for most of it, speaks to Wally because you can't hear the creeks of Home like in tape 14, so I don't think he talks to Home. Eddie quite comfortably carries a one-way conversation without being stilted in it by Wally's silence. Most people would be quite put off if you start a conversation with them and you don't speak when this isn't something you did before.

This is why I don't think that Wally zoning out in these tapes is what shows his sentience or is what is 'weird' about the videos. What I think is important about the tapes is that they are RECORDED and seem to be recorded from Wally's point of view. As well as why they are titled 'answer'. And how the other's interact and why it glitches when Wally's name is being said.

The third thing

Is actually Barnaby. In the tapes he is the only one that seems to try to directly interact with Wally throughout the tape. Except Eddie in the fifth one of course. But Barnaby expects Wally to respond to him, for example he asks him questions in tape 11, the one where he makes fun of Julie's jokes.

And of course there's tape 14, where Barnaby directly questions why Wally has stopped painting and why he is not responding. The other characters have never questioned Wally's unmoving. This prompts me to think there is something more special about Barnaby, he is said to be Wally's best friend, this might be why he notices more. Maybe he is the next, after Wally to become 'sentient' or realise there is something up

#welcome home #welcome home arg #wh #wally darling #eddie dear #barnaby b beagle #theory #my thoughts #this has turned out to be longer than i intended but oh well #i do think all of the characters are sus anyway but this is just the video tapes for now #i am quite proud of myself for finding all these as well as most of the hidden vinyl wally recordings

[lemon-collector-odette]

Odette and mod (2900) go by She/her

LORE

she CONSTANTLY wears gloves to hide scars she has from getting into a fight with an Exorcist, As well as if she gets overwhelmed or stressed or anything like that she takes something called, Happy Pills, these cause her to calm down and get happy, but if she takes more then the recommended amount she'll be in a drunken stance, And well, the happy pills are really really dangerous, if you take too much.

Odette, is a workaholic with narcolepsy, as well as depression (Me too girl), and with a VERY VERY VERY HUGE caffeine addiction, you'll always see her holding a cup of coffee, however she's actually a VERY VERY good doctor, one of the best even, so everytime your injured, walk up to her, show her, and she'll treat you. She's mostly a sister figure to everyone and has something called "athazagoraphobia"

She as well has separation anxiety, she often panics if someone is out of the room for a few minutes without her knowing and then calm down, she's so traumatized by the Exorcists that once she hears screaming she immediately resorts to hiding. Lots of things excite her, especially shiny objects. See, her pupils are like snake pupils, not like Carmilla's or her sister, Clara's, so when they dilate, they get bigger. Once you get to know her, she's basically a puppy. She is also autistic and has an OBSESSION with science.

Odette is dating @ask-exterminator-lute, who she will protect with her life, she even made Lute a prosthetic arm! she's always wanting to be around her cause she thinks that if she isn't there, then she won't be able to protect her...

Now, Girly isn't much of a fighter, however if the ones she loves are in danger are being threatened, let's just say you better start practicing hand shakes with the grim reaper, now her main weapons are a revolver she has in her pocket, Scissors and her hands

Odette also is AMAZING with prosthetic limbs, if you lose something, like Arm, Leg, hand, anything, she'll make you a CUSTOM VERY HIGH QUALITY prosthetic, for free, she's just like that

Odette also purrs, if she gets hugged or any type of Affection she ends up purring, she'll try to deny it but we know that it is her. Now sometimes if you're lucky, you'll catch her meowing and chattering

Odette used to have a pet Snowy Owl named "Otter Pop" but not anymore, why? Because Otter Pop actually turned out to be Annie, but now their besties

Odette LOVES turtles, absolutely adores them, if someone says they don't like turtles, she'll have their head on a spike

She has a pet Alligator Snapping Turtle named Simon, and a pet Red-bellied short-necked turtle named Noodle

She actually isn't a sinner, she was actually found by Vox, Vox just gave her to Carmilla, she was taped to a swing set, She's a mixture of Greed, Envy and Sloth, making her a hellborn

When Odette gets angry or enraged or ḿ̬̏ͤͅư̡͕̭̇r̴̨̦͕̝ḑ̴̞͛̒ẹ̿͋̒̕r̴̨̦͕̝o̯̱̊͊͢ư̡͕̭̇s̠҉͍͊ͅ or any big emotion, or if someone gives her a weapon, her eye turns into a dark teal, and she'll kill anything that moves, literally anything, because it's not Odette, it's something... Much deadly, due to how every time Odette snaps back to reality (oop there goes gravity) she's exhausted, confused, and has a headache, she doesn't understand why people are scared or worried or mad, but she has to look at them once and immediately run

She has a gap in between her teeth as well as fangs

Her soul is now owned by @cupid-the-killer, not Lucifer anymore because she was able to make a deal with him to let her escape him

LEMON

Why I was gone

Theme song :

#Youtube

[gold-onthe-inside]

The class dynamics of the Gilmore Girls fandom are so interesting to me. Specifically the way they view teenage Jess compared to adult Rory. There are a lot of people in this fandom who see Jess committing petty crime as a teenager (who was shipped off to another state all by himself) as the worst thing a person can do. But when Rory, an adult, steals a yacht all of a sudden there is empathy and they can understand her motivations. There are people who criticize this decision she made but they don't pin her entire morality to it the way people do with Jess. Is it that we spend more time with Rory? Or that she goes to "good" schools and comes from a "good" family? I have seen people give her more shit for dropping out of Yale than for committing a felony.

they way the town condemns jess for his ‘crimes’ is so funny and tragic at the same time. they have a town meeting about the chalk outline and police tape prank. he steals 500 baseballs which to me is hilarious especially when you consider that dean is probably in the baseball team. he gets in a fight with chuck presby and all we’re told about it is that chuck’s a jerk. oh, and he stole babette’s giant gnome, probably because he was bored and there was nothing to do in town.

the problem is, outside of rory and lorelai’s perception of him, we know nothing about jess. his relationship with dean seems on the surface to just be that he likes rory and doesn’t think she and dean are a good fit. but dean has a lot of red flags that even lorelai ignores. he’s clingy to the point of obsession. he likes the donna reed show. he doesn’t share a lot of the interests rory has. he gets pissed off that she’s prioritising college over him. in front of rory and lorelai, he’s the perfect boyfriend. but we know there’s another side to him, especially when he marries lindsey.

the point i’m trying to make is that jess only seems like a bad guy because it’s lorelai’s perception of him, when in fact, he voluntarily takes rory book-shopping and he buys her books he thinks she’d like and gives her notes in the margin. he gets along with paris, which dean never does by the way, and he seems to be good friends with lane and her band too. you hear them constantly referencing each other in their schedules but you never actually get to see them dating. paris and jess have all of 2 interactions, both where they genuinely seem to get along. he’s polite to emily and if he hadn’t been late or beaked in the eye by a swan, he might have even won her over. he’s smart and sweet and funny and it’s pretty much life that fucks him over. but because you don’t see the other part as visibly, it’s easier to condemn jess as being the guy that gets into fights and pisses off the town and broke rory’s wrist (which btw is not a big deal. it was a hairline fracture on her wrist and lorelai acts like rory lost an arm).

in comparison, rory is a good kid. everyone says it all the time. she’s nice and polite and bound for harvard and she’s a good student and is gonna be a great journalist. you know her potential, you know she makes good intentioned decisions most of the time. she tries to keep the peace between her mom and her grandparents. so ofc you see how she feels like her life is falling apart because her whole life hinges on that one thing she wants to do in her life and she’s struggling with it. it’s seen as a lapse in judgement. she made a mistake but she’s a good kid. she gets that leniency, but jess never does.

#gilmore girls #rory gilmore #lorelai gilmore #dean forester #paris geller #jess mariano #asked and answered #anon #rucha's rambles

[aishu-no-melody]

Can you please talk about Roy Mustang for me? I'd love to hear your interpretation of him? What do you think of him in 03 vs brotherhood/manga?

Ok grab a snack lol.

So to preface I have to say that I don't like Brotherhood in general and my opinions on that play a part in my opinion of Roy. He's my absolute favorite character like I have a VHS tape from like 2005 where I took my sister's VCDs and literally took up half the tape of a Roy montage lol. But these are my opinions and why I think he has the superir portrayl in 03.

Keep in mind though I have seen Brotherhood once, havent read the manga in years, but ive seen 03 and COS SO SO SO many times.

So I feel like the overall theme of Brotherhood is "military and armestris good. Ishvalain immigrants bad." And the military in 03 is painted so much differently. It's more realistic and they drive home the point that the military fucked up and show us that Roy really has not been a great person. I mean in 03 we see him try to kill himself twice over the fact that he's killed so many people and especially he's haunted by the innocent children. When he kills Winrys parents he realzies hes become so absolutely immoral and rotten that he has killed his own people and gets turnt and tries to take his own life. He's shady, there's that scene where he threatens to blackmail child Edward/expose him and Al (it's early in the season but I can't quite remember what for) yet he tries to shelter them from how harsh reality is. He thinks by becoming Furher everything will be okay now, he will be forgiven, and the country will be better. Long story short he has his own agenda that sounds great on paper but in reality, at least in the first like half of the series, is impossible.

The growth of his character in 03 is huge and they kind of stealthily plant the seeds early on. He's no longer gunning for the position of Furher because of his own selfish reasons, he's actively seeking revenge for Hughes which makes him start to unravel.

Obviously the character of Pride/Bradley deviates from the source in 03. Actually all the homonculous and their personal foes are directly related to the people they're fighting. Edward/Sloth etc. The whole relationship of Bradley and Roy and also the characterization of Bradley as Pride is very deliberate - Roy fights Bradley and is severely wounded/almost dies fighting Pride. The entire series Roy has so much pride and so much of an ego that it's destroying him. He is literally forced to face his own deadly sin and to kill his own ego.

Ultimately he kills Bradley but in doing so his life unravels and he does not get to be the hero, the savior, the one that fixes everything which his pride previously convinced him he was capable of doing. In COS we find him isolated, depressed and a shell of his former self, waiting for Edward to return, crippled and alone. Even by the end when he saves the day in the fancy little air balloon, he still cannot protect Edward and looses him forever. He looses absolutely everything and the director of COS even said in some kind of interview or something that after the movie Roy still would never hold the same power he once did and have that same respect. So at the end of the day - he has thrown everything he's ever had away for good because of his pride. He has no happy ending. He redeems himself to the viewer (unless you're me and the second you first see him go 😍 zaddy I can fix him) but by then he is too far gone - he is both an awful person and a martyr. We know his heart ultimately is in the right place by the end but his war crimes and atrocities still exist and his failure is still very evident. If you've never seen it, look up the 10 of Swords tarot card - while I'm pretty sure they did not purposely do it, the meaning of the card and ESPECIALLY the imagery of the original card is so so accurate and I think the best summary of his character. Look up Labyrnthos or something like that their summary of it is the best.

So I feel like in 03 he has far more depth and his character arc is so, so, much richer.

To discuss this I also have to get into his relationship with the Elric brothers, mainly Edward. He and Edward are parallels of each other - both of them are arrogant and oblivious and in trivial pursuit of righting their wrongs, when in reality there is nothing they can do to rectify either situation or take back the damage they've done. Roy obviously does care for the Elric brothers but does not know how to show it properly and ends up hurting them more than helping them, he basically put them into a world that destroys them - Edward loves his brother but can't outwardly emote it in the same way Al can and ends up literally destroying Al's everything when he convinces him to help attempt their mom's life.

Edward hates people who use others for their own personal gain or for selfish reasons, he hates arrogance and hatred itself. He rightly identifies all these qualities in Roy who he appears to hate, when in reality Edward tried to bring back his mom knowing there's a chance he and his brother could die, he is also extremely arrogant and has no problem using all the militaries money and resources to do what he wants yet he cannot fathom why Roy, who sticks his neck out for him many times, gets angry with him or why some Ishvallans people are offended that he is in the military.

They have some distantly codependent relationship because they both realize they need each other - Roy needed to recruit Edward initially to show off, he also realizes Edward knows valuable information he uses to complete his goal, but also sees someone who needs some form of guidance and discipline. Edward needs Roy so he can access the power and resources he provides but he also at the end of the day, after leaving the military and coming back randomly and literally going AWOL, Roy (AND his team) does not abandon him.

So knowing that Edward is loyal, Roy assumes in the last episode when he runs into Edward on the street looking fine as hell, that Edward will join him in his battle with pride. Roy has to go into battle now alone which it seems he didn't apparently take into account and because of this he barely beats Bradley and almost dies. Edward finally accepts that Roy isn't 100% gutted and sees the good in him and finally becomes aware that the military he chose to join is corrupt, therefore so is he - he doesn't think what Roy is going to do will solve anything yet he goes and fights Dante to basically accomplish the same thing. You finally see that deep down they did always care about each other. When they say goodbye it is like the completion of both character arcs, at least for the series itself.

In COS they still follow the same path in that, yes, did they accomplish their goals? For sure, but now Roy -who succesfully killed Bradley - is demoted and exciled and miserable, and Edward -who got his brothers body restored - is alone and has absolutely nobody who understands him and is stuck that way for life.

This relates to my over feelings about Roy and his character arc because it adds to the depth of it. Their relationship is integral to it and would not be the same at all without it. I didnt talk much about Brotherhood because its been so long I don't want to mess up the facts on, but the one thing that plays into my opinion is that in BH Roy does get what he wants and I dont like that. Roy does not desevre that unfortunately and it is way boring because its like.....oh....ok? What a total shocker -_- VS Wow after ALL this, he fails even though we all think hes going to succeed at first. I also like how Edward is portrayed in 03 way better and all that ties into it to but that's another topic itself.

[wilhelmloverera]

@rondoolie0324 don't be sorry at all!!! I'm so glad someone wants to hear my thoughts cause I have Many!

Especially about Marcus.

At first I was very middle of the road with Marcus - I didn't want to hate him because he was simply being Simon's rebound because that's not his fault! But that was because I didn't care about spoilers and actually while many were saying that the live triangle wouldn't happen, or that it was lazy, on my other account I said how I actually didn't hate the idea all that much considering how good the writing for it would be. I KNEW Marcus was a love interest for Simon. Knowing this fact made it easier to see him as a neutral character hence why I think my now hatred of him isn't unjustified.

He's no August, but his actions were still bad on a personal level. He was completely manipulative when he pulled out the dad card, also when he said Simon didn't want to ruin a beautiful thing despite Simon telling him that he wasn't ready for something serious. I feel no empathy or sympathy for him like i may have done had he not forced the nature of the relationship

Now, the wording is important because he didn't force Simon to seek him out, but he manipulated Simon to stay there and to enter a dynamic that he said he wasn't ready for. And then Marcus got upset for Simon acting in the "wrong way" for a relationship (kissing Wilhelm + i think sleeping with Wilhelm by the time Simon fully called it off for good) despite Simon not even wanting to be in an actual relationship.

To me, Marcus was emotionally manipulative, used Micke against Simon, and used Wille and the s3xtape to bolster himself up whenever Simon tried to end things. It's also ironic because Marcus didn't even realise that him not being like Wilhelm was why Simon didn't want him. And even if he was, Simon was in love with Wilhelm, even if he sort of wished he wasn't, so chatting shit and trying to make himself seem better definitely didn't help Marcus' case. If he had listened to Simon then maybe he would have been able to see that Simon was still hung up over Wille.

I haven't seen many people talk about this either, but I really hated how Marcus used Wille's prince status against Simon. He really used the fact that Wilhelm was the Crown Prince and alluded that was (at least partly) what drew Simon to him - like some sort of gold digger or drama lover. As if Simon isn't an anti-monarchist who can blame all that went down (following the sex tape leak) on Wille's royal title.

All in all, I really despise Marcus for all he put onto Simon before insulting him and trying to make it seem just because he was at Hillerska that he didn't face anything negative from the rich people there (which we know isn't true). He was belittled and seen as an other due to his class and this mf who knew him for ??? A few weeks??? Thinks he gets to call Simon out? I hate him

And then!! The things he could call Simon out on (like having something going on with Wille while Sircus were "together"), i still can't say he has a right to do since Simon tried to say he didn't want anything serious

All in all, Marcus was emotionally manipulative and wanted to get his way - either he simply wanted to sleep with Simon and thats it, or he saw it as a pride thing and the fact that Wilhelm was chosen over him was the worst. Maybe he was written this way to show the incompatibility with Simon, but it just comes off manipulative.

Wilmon had their miscommunications and only at the end of S2 did they finally see things from the others POV, realising their love meant needing sacrifices on both sides (a maturing yet still exploring kind of love), but we have a direct juxtaposition between Marcus and Wilhelm when it comes to Simon's emotions this season when Wille tells Simon of August being his back up. Wille was honest, said no he didn't tell him so Simon didn't go to the police, saying Simon had to do what he had to do, but Wille needed to communicate and be open about his feelings (something Simon wanted from him). He said this in front of Rosh and Ayub - he didn't híde them away from everyone when he could have (another thing that Simon talks during their locker room argument is being open and not secretive). And then he left, expecting nothing of Simon and letting him do what he needed. It was only when Simon could get in trouble that Wilhelm chased Simon down to stop him.

Wille was flawed in s1, so was Simon, but while they may have fought they never manipulated one another it was just miscommunication because so much was happening all at once. Marcus simply ignored Simon's wants for his own gain, including the very nature of their "relationship".

#i was middle of the road until i sircus had those convos #like the fact that simon zones out / freezes is purely because he was uncomfortable because he was in love with wille #not because of Marcus' attitude likely - maybe simon didnt even notice the manipulatioj all that well or didnt think of it as a big deal #so thats why i didn't include that here bbut yes hes toxic as all fuck imo #he does it more than once too #like simon isnt really his own person #thabk you for asking #young royals #young royals spoilers #young royals season 2 spoilers #young royals marcus #sorry lads eho liked him hes cute #and his actor seems so sweet but i hate marcus

[safflowerseason]

Late to the party, but I just finished Succession. Holy shit, what an ending. Anyway, I enjoyed going back and reading your takes from when it was still airing. Do you have any other morsels or headcanons to share?

Hey! Thank you so much for writing in with a Succession question!! I love it! And I'm glad you enjoyed my little takes and recaps...I didn't have the time to do full-on recaps for S4 like I did for S3, unfortunately, but I had such a great time watching in real time. I'll truly never forget watching 4.03 with the rest of the internet. I literally thought Logan's death was being faked until they told Shiv.

As for morsels/head-canons, oooh...compared to other viewers I don't have a ton of very specific headcanons about the upbringing/adolescence/early adult-hood of the Roys, beyond the few hints the show dropped. Apparently there was some debate early on about how far apart in age Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are (as well as whether Shiv or Roman was older, before the show confirmed Shiv as the youngest in S3)...I always assumed they were supposed to be quite close in age, five years max between Kendall and Shiv. The show itself is a bit blurry on the specifics of the backstory/everyone's timeline, though. I also wished we got more of the relationship between Logan and Caroline...we actually never (or barely) see them interact directly, and yet they seem to loom so large in each other's lives.

As for interpretative morsels...I actually haven't gone back and watched the finale again (if you can believe it) because it was soo good and devastating I literally haven't been able to work up the emotional fortitude. There was a great take here I saw that the finale didn't leave you with the same SHEER ADRENALINE RUSH of the other finales, which I will agree with but ultimately I think it fits with the show's overarching thesis that "everything is bullshit, especially billionaires." There's nothing about the finale I feel that will keep being re-litigated by fans (à la Veep)...there seemed to be some discourse about Shiv's ending and whether or not it fit with her character's arc (I think it does, but would love to hear your take!)

I will say that I was always interested in the decision to have Logan take up with Kerry in S3...I love the character of Marcia so much that the rise of Kerry was like a personal affront to me, lol, but I was also intrigued by how Marcia didn't seem threatened by Kerry the way she was by Rhea (or even Shiv). And it's also a relationship that Logan seems very passive about, and we never really hear his own take on it (except when he chickens out re: Kerry's audition tape for ATN). All the "facts" about what they do come from Kerry (or from other people, like Connor with the smoothie revelation). Like obviously, he seems fond of Kerry and is attracted to her (although I don't believe he was actually considering divorcing Marcia, not when he has literally just had to pay her a ridiculous amount of money to stick around in S3), but we don't see anything to indicate why he's okay letting her take on such an outsized role in the management of the business. (I also thought Brian Cox adopted an almost...fatherly air around the actress, which I guess would make sense due to the age difference...it wasn't like they had blazing sexual chemistry!) Is Kerry a symptom of Logan's growing passivity as he ages? A sign that he's getting old and predictable? Are we supposed to take away something about Kerry's naivëté, that she pins all her professional and personal hopes on an aging billionaire in ill health? Is she a parable in that sense? It's fitting for Succession, though, that a lot of the "intimacy" of the "romantic" relationships on the show take place offscreen, so in that sense I think the mystery is a bit purposeful. And the writers were always interested in "inverting" clichés to a certain degree (ie, the CEO having an affair with his much younger assistant)...but I guess I'm not sure how they inverted it in this instance, other than the incredibly ruthless way Kerry gets excised from the inner circle (a scene which will live in infamy!) as opposed to continuing the drama of their relationship after Logan's death.

That's one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about S4, but I'm sure there are many others, and would love to hear your specific thoughts about the season! My favorite episodes were, personally, 4.03 (Connor's Wedding), 4.04 (Honeymoon States--my pick for funniest episode of the season), and 4.09 (Church and State). My favorite season finale is probably S3, All the Bells Say...I think S2 is probably a tighter episode narratively, but my god, the emotional devastation of the S3 finale. You simply can't beat it!

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