Vor and Kairi are both like "Okay, change is really scary and tbh I'd prefer things to just stay the same, but! I acknowledge that change is inevitable and so I will confront my fears head-on and adapt!" and then they each choose a course of action that falls on an opposite extreme.
Vor leaves her friends (potentially with the intention of it being a permanent separation based on Eraqus' comments), realizing that she won't ever grow as a person as long as she's over-reliant on her friends for comfort, and also realizing that trying to stay by their side forever is a futile effort anyway that'll just cause her pain. To her, "adapting to change" means being willing to change her circumstances, and then hopefully she, too, will change as a result. Vor is prioritizing her personal feelings, desires, and identity at the cost of her relationships, when perhaps a balance would be more ideal.
So Vor's approach is thus: (1. Leaves her friends (2. Changes her circumstances in order to change herself (3. Prioritizes herself over her friends.
Kairi, on the other hand, chases after her friends relentlessly, forever trying to catch up to them, convinced that if she just "gets strong like them", wields a Keyblade like them, fights like them, that she'll no longer be left behind and exploited by the villains all the time. To her, "adapting to change" means being willing to change herself, and then hopefully her circumstances, too, will change as a result. Kairi is prioritizing her relationships (her worth relative to her friends, and her worth to her friends) at the cost of her personal feelings, desires, and identity, when--again--perhaps a balance would be more ideal.
So Kairi's approach is thus: (1. Stays with her friends (2. Changes herself in order to change her circumstances (3. Prioritizes her friends over herself.
Maybe if Vor and Kairi had met (in a theoretical AU scenario, of course) they could have learned something from each other, and found that balance sooner.
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the thing about dark souls is. like. it's hard to articulate but man that game makes me feel like i'm discovering the joy of video games for the first time. i keep getting this feeling like "this game was made for me" and "this is what video games should be" - is that just because hollow knight was such a formative experience for me? or is dark souls really that good/unique? it's certainly rough around the edges: i've played many games i think are "better," but dark souls evokes the feeling of existing in a world in a certain way i don't think i've ever gotten from anything else.
i'm also coming at it from the really weird perspective of someone who could only play 2D games (and games without intensive graphics) for the longest time. so i've had this sort of backwards development where i started out playing exclusively indie games and now i'm discovering that actually, there's a lot of extremely good AAA stuff! it's really exciting to have this whole new world opened up. (though i hope it won't skew my expectations for indies too much lol.) and crazy too... 2 years ago i never would have thought i'd be capable of playing dark souls (because it's hard and i've not been a "gamer" for as long as my peers have, because simulation sickness made all 3D games hard for me for a while, because at times it has this weird dudebro culture around it) ! and yet!!! what the fuck!! screw gatekeeping; this game was made for me!
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despicable
updates as of 22 oct
Travis Dermott knew that he would draw attention with his actions in the Coyotes’ home opener against the Anaheim Ducks at Mullett Arena on Saturday. The Arizona defenseman just hoped that the spotlight might shine on the issue that he was addressing, not on him.
“You don’t really want to go against rules that are put in place by your employer, but there’s some people who took some positive things from it,” Dermott said. “That’s kind of what I’m looking to impact.
“You want to have everyone feel included and that’s something that I have felt passionate about for a long time in my career. It’s not like I just just jumped on this train. It’s something that I’ve felt has been lacking in the hockey community for a while. I feel like we need supporters of a movement like this; to have everyone feel included and really to beat home the idea that hockey is for everyone.”
“I won’t lie,” said Dermott, who is playing on a one-year, two-way contract. “From the outside, it’s easy to see that I’m putting my career on the line for something. I definitely went through some emotional ups and downs that night, not regretting anything by any means, but I’d love to have maybe done a couple of steps a little different by making sure that everyone was aware of what was going on before I did it.
“I don’t want to put my teammates or my coaches or my GMs or the equipment managers in any kind of bad light when it’s their job to kind of look out for something like this happening. It was definitely something that I did just by myself and was prepared to kind of deal with whatever repercussions the league decides to push towards that. I’m not going to back off and say that this battle is won, but we’re going to find better ways to do it.”
As Dermott noted, LGBTQ+ inclusion is an issue that he has supported for a long time. Without getting into specifics, Dermott said the issue is personal for him because it impacts people close to him.
“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t shed tears about this on multiple occasions,” he said. “So yeah, it’s something I’m definitely very passionate about.
“I’ve met a lot of people that from the outside, it looks like they have everything going right in their life and they have a smile on their face every time they talk to you. But sometimes when we get closer to people and get comfortable enough for them to open up to you, you can see that there’s some pretty dark stuff happening to some good people. It doesn’t take too many times encountering something like that for it to really change someone.
“I’ve been blessed to have some of those opportunities put in front of me to really change my view of what being a good person means; what being a good father and a good example and role model means going forward. You really see how people are hurting and it’s because of a system that maybe no one’s intentionally trying to be malicious about, but until you’ve really had that first-person experience seeing people hurting from it right in front of you, it’s tough to kind of take steps.”
It would be a surprise if the league handed down any sort of punishment. The optics alone would add to the public relations damage that the original ban created. Even so, Dermott reiterated his desire to bring the entire franchise into the fold before he takes similar actions in the future, but he also made it clear that he will not be silenced on the topic.
“It’s not like I’m shutting up and going away,” he said. “I know more questions are going to be coming. We’re just going to be as prepared as we can be to just spread love. That’s the thing. It’s gay pride that we’re talking about, but it could be men’s health. It could be any war. It’s just wanting world peace. Everyone’s got to love each other a little bit more.
“Like my parents said growing up, ‘How awesome would it be to be the guy that people look up to?’ That’s what really hit home when I was a kid, especially from my mom. You want to grow up and be that guy. You want to be the guy that’s having the impact on kids like NHL players had on you. If they had been racist or bigoted, that’s going to have an effect on you.
“With how many eyes are on us, especially with the young kids coming up in the new generation, you want to put as much positive love into their brain as you can. You want them to see that it’s not just being taught or coming from maybe their parents at home. They need to see it in the public eye for it to really make an effect.”
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consider this short drabble a thank you gift for 1.5k followers!
mafia!141 masterlist
mafia!Simon x shy!fem!Reader: smut, oral (m receiving), brief p in v
"Can I suck your dick?"
Simon had just lined himself up at your entrance when those words left your mouth and he became as still as a statue when they registered in his mind. Positioned underneath him on the bed, you looked up at him with slightly wide eyes as if your request shocked even yourself. It was something you had thought about for quite some time; how Simon always seemed to give and yet rarely ask for anything in return, and you wanted to change that.
You just didn't think you'd blurt your thoughts out so suddenly like that.
Surprised, Simon leaned back to look at you while his hand still gripped his hardened cock. Shifting under his gaze, you propped yourself up on your elbows as you waited for his answer. You wished you hadn't said it so suddenly like you did, but the thought most likely would have never passed your lips if you had attempted to do it any other way.
"That what you want?" he asked.
Though he questioned you to ensure that was something you wanted of your own accord, you could see the dark glint of want in his eyes. Saw the way his tongue lightly wet his lips and how his hand squeezed the tip of his cock like he already imagined your mouth around him. Eagerly, you nodded as you pushed yourself up into a sitting position, mind already racing about how you were supposed to do it properly.
"Yes... please."
After placing a short and heavy kiss on your lips, Simon slipped to the side, reversing your positions. He propped himself up on the plush pillows near the headboard while you sat between his legs where his thick and powerful thighs kept your corralled like an animal. With one hand still holding himself, Simon reached for your face with the other as he caressed your cheek with his thumb.
"Take your time, yeah?" he prompted. His dark eyes looked at you adoringly while his hips impatiently bucked under his own stimulation. "You can stop whenever you want."
Once again you nodded as you breathed out a simple confirmation before your hand replaced his. While you settled between his legs, you slowly stroked at him as you thumbed over the smooth jewelry of his piercings. Eventually your lips brushed against the warm tip of his cock, wetting your mouth with his precum.
As your mouth gently dropped open, you tried not to think too hard about everything. Simon always told you that type of stuff was supposed to come easy and natural, to not force it and just let your desires take control. So you did just that as you slowly lowered yourself onto him, mouth opening impossibly wide in order to accommodate the sheer girth of him.
He tasted salty, almost refreshingly so, and you couldn't help but swirl your tongue around his glands in an attempt to soak up more of that flavor. Simon's thighs tensed on either side of you, and his breathy sigh didn't go unnoticed by you. You wanted more, to draw out more of those pitchy moans, to make him feel just as good as he always made you, so you pressed forward to take more of him into your mouth. He brushed against your soft palate similar to how he always pressed against your cervix, and the unfamiliar feeling made you gag.
"Easy sweetheart," he warned as he gently pushed you back. "Go slower... yes, fuck just like that..."
Eventually you found your rhythm. Whatever you couldn't take in your mouth you used your hands to make up for as you bobbed your head along his length. Simon's breathing became strained like he had to hold himself back from fucking up into your mouth like a madman, but you noticed that every time your swirled your tongue around the piercings on his glands, it forced his hips to buck ever so slightly.
A tingling sensation settled over your lips the longer you worked at him and your jaw began to ache from the awkward position but you pushed forward. You felt his hand rest gently on the back of your head, carefully guiding you along him as he aided you in setting a pace that felt good but wasn't too much for you. His quieted moans eventually transformed into unrestrained grunts as you brought him closer to the edge. The warmth of your mouth and soft lips around him was enough to drive him to insanity, and just as his stomach tensed, just as he was about to spill into your mouth, he gently pulled you off of him.
Panting, you sat back on your haunches as you gave Simon a glazed yet confused look. A long stream of spit dribbled down your chin and you quickly wiped it away on the back of your hand as you tried to catch your breath in order to ask him what was wrong. His cock glistened with your saliva and it seemed to twitch in frustration at the sudden absence of pleasure.
"C'mere," he said, his voice dark and husky. His hands were already on your waist where he excitedly pulled you closer to him, forcing you to straddle his hips.
"But I wasn't done," you attempted to retort.
Simon chuckled at you as he once more lined his cock up against your heat, drawing a sharp gasp out of you. In an attempt to keep yourself steady, your hands came up to rest on his shoulders as he ever so slowly lowered you onto him, sliding into you with ease due to how well you slicked him up.
"You can suck me off properly another time, sweetheart," he said with a tight jaw. He hissed as your cunt began to swallow him, tight muscles pulling him into you like he never belonged anywhere else. "Did you really think you could make me feel that good and get nothin' in return?"
Your head fell forward and into his shoulder with a soft gasp as he bottomed out, filling you with ease and to the brim. As he began to gently move you up and down, his hips bucked up to meet you halfway where he kissed your cervix with each thrust.
"Fuck... no, no. I reward my girl for bein' good, yeah?"
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