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keeganbrainmush · 1 year

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" Watching the video that you sent me. " ; Alejandro Vargas x Male Reader (400 follower special!)

*ೃ Jesus christ tysm for 400 followers ALREADY even if I posted my first fic in March, tysm for all the support I love you guys so much *ೃ 2k words ; Male Reader ; Extreme NSFW mention, Minors DNI. *ೃ Summary: Alejandro decides to send you a teasing video while you're at a convention for a company you work for. Hours away, his pretty whimpers and begging for you getting to your head. *ೃ Contains: Overstimulation, teasing, nudes sent, begging, jerking off Alejandro, flustered reader, blowjobs, missionary, Service dom reader, praised Alejandro, bottom Alejandro, creampie

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You were happily talking to customers, asking them on your opinion of the companys product while writing their answers down. Your eyes were shining in friendliness, fake or not, it was sure making customers feel appreciated. You walked back to your station and sat down behind a table.

You felt your phone buzz in your back pocket, taking it out you saw Alejandros contact name. You smiled at his text as you read " Hi, Mi Cielo. Hope your doing well at your convention, missing you. I can't wait to see you again tomorrow! I love you." with a heart emoji. Tilting your head in confusion as a video was sent seconds later. " Hey, (Name)! " One of your co-workers named Henry called out.

You looked up and turned off your phone, stuffing it in your back pocket mindlessly. " Yeah, Whats up? " You asked as you stood up while facing Henrys pale, freckled face. " A customer wants to know about our policies, can you help me out? " He asked, scratching at the back of his neck nervously.

Henry had only been at your work for a solid 3 weeks before being sent out to the convention with you. Your supervisor told you he needed experience, and lord did he need experience. You nodded at him, patting his shoulder softly. " Sure thing, just stay at the stand and talk to the customers there. " Reassuring him, you walked off and began speaking to customers once again.

You had left Alejandro on seen.

Meanwhile, Alejandro at home wrapped up in your bedsheets with his chin on your pillow. Its been 15 minutes and you hadn't responded. He sighed and turned around on his back, getting up and grabbing a pair of sweatpants and walked into your kitchen, getting ready to make himself lunch as he overthought his video. Was it too much? Too needy?

You had finally finished up talking to customers and started walking over to your area again, rubbing at your back as you saw the clock. 5:21 PM. Convention should be wrapping up in 40 minutes. You suddenly realized you never responded to Ales text. " I'm taking 10. " You told your coworker, his hair bouncing slightly as he nodded. You walked off towards the bathroom while taking your phone out of your pocket.

Pushing open the door with your shoulder as your passcode and walked into a stall, leaning against a wall. Recieved 38 minutes ago. Shit. You rapidly started texting him back. " I'm sorry, Love. I got held up at work. Can't wait to see you too, Love you more. " You pressed send before looking at the blurry cover of the video. You couldn't quite distinguish what it was. A video of him cooking? A video of the gym? Only one way to find out.

And Jesus Christ. None of your guesses were correct even alittle. It was Alejandro filming himself infront of your pillow, sat on your side of the bed with his cock in his hand. And by the looks of it he'd been going at it for a awhile now. High pitched whimpering filled the bathroom as you rapidly turned the volume down nervously. " Mi Cielo, please. I need you home so bad, I can't cum without your touch. " He moaned needily.

The tip of his pretty cock was an angry red, precum seeping out of him and coating the palm of his hand as he continued stroking himself. The video was only 32 seconds long, filled with soft squelching sounds and moans with breathy whimpers, and those 32 seconds were enough to get you hard. You stared at the ending frame of the video with wide eyes, trying to ignore the tent growing in your pants.

You shook your head in attempt to clear your mind of the dirty thoughts clouding your thoughts. You cleared your throat nervously as you glanced at your hard cock pocking out of the pants of your uniform. Shit, Shit, Shit. You unzipped your pants and moved yourself around in a way of hopes of not making it as obvious. Thankfully, your company had insisted against skinny jeans and were fine with a relaxed fit. So your issue wasn't quite as noticeable.

You walked out of the stall and washed your hands with soap and water before walking out and headed back to your stand. Henrys eyes lit up as he saw you. " Hey! You're super red, you okay? " He asked, examining your flushed face. " I'm fine. " You responded shakily, looking at the time once again. 5:30. " Okay.. Can we pack up early? Most of the people have left already. " Henry told you, glancing around to the empty area other than other stands and kiosks. You nodded as you rubbed your forehead with the bottom of your palm.

You and Henry had taken 20 minutes to clean everything up and get it all packed up, so you both were right on time as you were making your way to the hotel in a rented car. " We leave tomorrow, right, Sir? " Henry asked, scratching at his upper lip. Your hand tightened around the wheel slightly as you thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. " Yes. And don't call me sir, makes me feel old. " You teased, trying to take your mind off that beautiful video.

The next couple of hours were a blur. Getting dinner, packing up your clothes, and finally going to bed. You were only able to be tossing and turning with your mind clouded with lust. Alejandro just had to be a tease, didn't he? You were staring at the ceiling until you finally fell asleep, the last time you saw the clock it was 2:21 am.

When you finally woke up, it was a bunch of hurrying and and mumbling under your breathe to catch your flight back home. The plane ride was only a solid 3 hours, but your taxi drive back home was full of traffic and honking. You felt nothing but relief when you finally caught sight of your house, talking to the driver and paying him as you hauled your luggage to your doorstep and put your keys in, twisted it and pushed the door open.

There he was, Alejandro Vargas. The love of your life, your husband. " Hola, Lindo. " He welcomed you, pulling you into a hug with his hug on your shoulders. He was dressed handsomely, with a nice pair of jeans and a long sleeve compression shirt that showed off his arm muscles nicely. You hugged him back and nestled your face in the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent of his expensive cologne.

" I missed you so much. " He admitted, pulling away from your shoulder to give you a quick kiss while taking your hand in his. " I've only been gone 3 days, my Love. But I missed you too. " You replied, relishing in the feeling of his soft lips. " Are you hungry? " Alejandro asked, before pulling you into the living room. " No, Thank you. I ate breakfast afew hours ago. " You reassured him, sitting down next to him on the couch with your hand on his upperthigh as he leaned his head against your shoulder.

After catching up for half an hour or so, you finally mustered up the courage to ask the golden question.

" So, Ale. What was that video you sent me about? " You asked, grazing your thumb over the inside of his thigh as you looked at him while a light blush started creeping in on his cheeks. Alejandro looked back at you with wide eyes, his mouth gaped open. " Whats wrong, Baby? You miss me so much you got hard at the idea of me even looking at you jerking off? " You asked, sliding off the couch and spreading Alejandros legs to sit in between them.

Alejandro only let out small mumbles and squirmed in his seat, his cock slowly hardening. " Sí, por favor.. " He whined out, lifting his hips up slightly. You smiled up at him as you moved one of your hands to his crotch to palm him. " Huh? What was that? " You teased. He sobbed out silently as you touched him there, moving on of his hands to your shoulders. " Please, make me feel good. " He pleaded, his thighs tensing up as you continued to touch at his clothed dick.

" Thats a good boy, Ale. " You praised as you hooked your fingers at the belt rings of his pants. " I can, right? " You asked, reassuring consent. Alejandro nodded hazily as you pulled his pants down and only left him in his boxers, a small wet spot already forming. " What, You're already leaking too? " You mumbled as you pulled down his boxers next and took ahold of it at the base. Alejandro only sat there, looking down at you with desperate eyes, nodding at every word.

You passed your palm over his tip and rubbed the precum around his cock and started jerking him off slowly. Alejandro shuddered at your touch, putting his hand on the back of your head instinctively. " Shit, (Name). Mierda. " He curled his fingers in your hair as you took him in your mouth, swirling your tongue around his tip.

You continued pushing your mouth lower onto him until your nose was nestled into his pelvis, the head of his dick hitting the back of your throat. Alejandro gulped as he fought back every urge to fuck your throat, his chest heaving as he looked down at you. The last thing he expected was for you to be looking back at him, your eyes glossy with tears threatening to spill but also filled with a look of determination.

Just you looking at him like that was enough to make him cum down your throat with a loud whimper and an arching back, a sweet taste coating your tongue as you pulled back from him in shock and swallowed. " Did you just- " You stammered, as Alejandro finally came down from his high, embarrassment starting to creep up on him. He put his hands over his face and threw his head back, avoiding your gaze as you sat up on the couch next to him.

" Hey, hey, no. Its fine, it's kinda cute. " You reassured him, rubbing at his shoulder comfortingly. " Really missed me that bad, huh? " You teased, smiling at him. He moved one of his fingers and groaned, throwing himself sideways onto the arm rest of the couch. You laughed and rubbed at his hips and looked down at him lovingly. " I just wanted us to have amazing sex when you'd got back. " Alejandro admitted into the hands still covering his face.

" We still can, gonna feel alot better for you too. " You told him, hinting at something obvious. Alejandro looked up at you shockingly, acting as if you were the one with a filthy mouth in the relationship.

Which is how you got to now with your cock buried deep inside of Alejandro, his legs on the side of your waist and his forearm muffling his moans as he mumbled out small pleadings as you continuing fucking into his roughly, ignoring his several past orgasms. " Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. " Alejandro sobbed out, feeling himself close to cumming again.

" What, you gonna cum on my cock again like the dirty slut you are? " You panted out next to his ear, biting onto his shoulder as you felt him growing growing gradually tighter around you. Alejandro nodded as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tightly against him. " Oh my god.. " He mumbled out, his legs shaking as he sobbed out and arched his back once again, raking his nails down your back as you continued fucking into him, trying to desperately reach your own orgasm.

Alejandro hid his face in the crook of your neck, his brain fuzzy with overstimulation, while you continued thrusting into him until you felt your own orgasm crashing over you. You leaned down to bite at his neck as you felt yourself cum inside of him, your chest heaving as you looked at him after your hips stilled. " Was that amazing enough for you? " You asked, looking at him hazily while bringing a hand up to rub at his cheek. " That was more than amazing, Mi Cielo. Thank you. " He replied, bringing you into a soft kiss.

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ms-demeanor · 3 months

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Opinion on Louis Rossman? I ended up following him when I was researching right to repair but as a newbie techie he's said a few things that I don't know if I should trust regarding tech privacy.

Louis Rossman knows a lot about macbook repair and needs to be factchecked on pretty much everything else; he admits this himself in a video called "Don't trust me" where he's issuing a correction because he leapt to conclusions in a previous video.

Rossman has a libertarian approach to tech (and to a lot of things; his channel is deeply invested in rugged individualism and a hustle and grind mentality). He believes that people who own various devices should have ultimate say in what happens to those devices and should have control over what data those devices are collecting and who they are sharing it with. That guides his attitudes about repair and privacy. These are not *incorrect* views but they are views which have made him very reactive in conversations about privacy and data collection, and he has a pretty bad habit of leaping to conclusions and interpreting things as uncharitably as possible with a WORSE habit of not doing any significant research before presenting information to his audience of 2 million people. Anything that looks like Big Brother is something he jumps on immediately, even if what he's looking at is a shadow with the vague outline that resembles an entity that might have a shape similar to Big Brother.

He's got many videos where he examines a privacy policy or a news report about a "startling" violation of privacy where he has to come back later and issue a correction, and of course most of his viewers are going to look at the startling video shit-talking nissan - in which he is worked up and animated and energetic and funny - not the staid correction put out a week later.

But as much as he might be wrong in individual readings of ToSs or legislation or court records, I don't think his overall approach is wrong. He might be incorrect that your Nissan is collecting information about your sexual history (he is incorrect about that) but it's still bad that Nissan is collecting data on you and you shouldn't buy a car that collects a shitload of data on you. He might be incorrect about grapheneOS for security (he is and he isn't and his beef with graphene is legit but personal, it's a fine OS) but he's not wrong that if you don't want google tracking your data you should use a degoogled OS.

One of the things that I've seen him get wrong on multiple occasions is a conflation of privacy and security. Privacy and Security aren't the same thing, and Rossman is a lot more focused on Privacy than he is on Security. I tend to be more on the Security side of that question, though I also think Privacy is important.

For both privacy and security what you need to ask yourself is why you are doing this and what you want to prevent. If you're using firefox because you don't want chrome collecting data on you and refining a profile to serve ads to you, that's a fine reason to move to firefox. If you're using firefox instead of chrome because you're an activist and you don't want the government to know what you're doing, you are missing several steps and possibly putting yourself in danger. If you're using firefox instead of chrome because you don't want your ex to be able to track your online activity you are missing several steps and possibly putting yourself in danger. If you want to use chromebooks instead of windows laptops in a hospital environment so that your administrator has extremely granular control and can implement security policies from an accessible console in order to meet HIPAA requirements more easily, that's a good reason to use chromebooks. It's very secure. But it's not terribly private for the *users* even if it is private for the *patients.*

So, some of what Rossman says is right but it's predicated on a worldview that is steeped in paranoia and an extremely individualistic approach to privacy and security. Some of what Rossman says is wrong because it's wrong, but also some of what Rossman says is wrong because it is wrong *for you and your specific situation* and he's giving general commentary, not advice for individuals.

You can see this really clearly in his video about being "important" enough to require privacy. The whole video is a response to a computer security streamer saying that you don't need a degoogled phone to work in security and that you are likely not important enough to worry about the kind of state-level threats that would require an extremely secure phone because nobody is going to waste resources for a random security goon. And in Rossman's response, he argues that you shouldn't have to be "important" in order to deserve a phone that doesn't have Google tracking your every move. But that's not what the initial clip was about. Rossman spends fifteen minutes arguing with something the initial clip doesn't say and brushing aside the *actually important* discussion about threat modeling that could be had on the subject in order to advocate for more low-level consumer privacy concerns. You SHOULD be able to install an OS that doesn't track you, but also you don't need some 1337h4x0r phone to do red teaming as a pentester, and also most people who get worried about security worry in completely the wrong direction.

Like, a couple weeks ago maia arson crimew got an ask that was like "should you really be posting your name out there on the internet? is that secure?" and its response was "i am wanted by the US government."

And that's like the *perfect* illustration of the distinction happening here. maia is posting online and sharing photos and chatting with people and using an app that gather some data, and that is not at all a concern for its privacy or security because A) if state-level actors are observing you then it does not matter whether or not you're posting selfies or your location for an upcoming talk, they know what you look like and can find out where you are and B) they are going to be able to subpoena data from any entities you've worked with so you're going to be taking precautions to work with encrypted tools for security, not relying on privacy policies.

and like a few years ago i made that post about the drug dealer who got arrested because he'd used his "secure" phone to text someone a photo of cheese and that photo was used to identify him - it is not the *existence* of social media photos or photo messaging that was the problem in his security, nor was it even necessarily that his "secure" phone was compromised (though yeah that wasn't good) it's that he was identified because he crossed the streams and put personally identifiable information in his secure encrypted crime phone for crimes.

Anyway. I need to sit down and actually write something up on this someday but here's a very basic breakdown:

Online privacy is about who has access to the data you generate while operating online; companies gather information about your habits and the websites you visit, what computer you're using and how long you look at item listings, how much you'll watch of a video and the keywords you use in your emails.

Security is about preventing access to information about YOU, not your behavior. It's ensuring that nobody can look into the boxes that you want to lock, and not leaving footprints when you don't want to be seen.

Lax rules about privacy can threaten your security, for instance police don't need a warrant to access data from Ring camera videos in your neighborhood, so the lack of privacy from Ring might make it easier for police to observe you even if you are cautious about your own personal security.

Poor security practices on the part of a business can be a problem for privacy in an individual sense - a hospital that doesn't have good security in place might get hacked and have private patient records leaked, for instance - but most of the data that people talk about when they discuss online privacy is either anonymous or in bulk packages of data that mean very little to your personal risk profile (because the 'privacy' data people are concerned about isn't the same as the 'security' data that gets leaked in big breaches, like passwords and usernames and email addresses - that's less about privacy and more about security but the fact that the businesses want an email address from you is generally a privacy issue - they don't need your email address for the most part and you shouldn't have to give them one to function - not a security issue. You see how this is confusing and intertwined?)

So when a lot of digital privacy activists are talking about digital privacy they're talking about stuff that is, realistically, pretty philosophical in most people's lives. The data profile that Google generates about you is *invasive* but in most circumstances it isn't a *threat* (at the moment, on an individual level), however the data privacy perspective (which i happen to share) is that living in a world where massive data collection is normalized, unquestioned, and constant could easily tip over into something that is dangerous, and which can already be weaponized against individual targets by state actors.

When security activists start talking about stuff it's because oh my god security is a mess everything is full of holes and you have no idea how easy it is to grab access to something that people probably do not want you to have access to please please please just start using strong passwords and passcodes and lock your phone and your computer please, baseline, please just use a password manager bitwarden is free and easy. (but also you need to MAKE AN EFFORT and LEARN A LOT if you're trying to cover your tracks online and no browser plugin or encrypted email service is going to keep you safe).

So when I'm talking about the benefits that most people get out of using Firefox, that's me talking about privacy. When I'm talking about the benefits of using Tor, that's me talking about security. When I'm talking about using Linux and open source software, that's me talking about *autonomy* having direct control over the system that you are using, and THAT is the kind of thing that Rossman knows a lot about and has good opinions about.

I feel like it should go without saying that one of the reasons to be concerned about digital privacy is because the companies that trash your digital privacy are profiting off of the profiles they build on you, and are always attempting to find new ways to violate your privacy in order to profit from you. It doesn't need to be a security risk for it to be wrong, and you don't have to be under active threat from a government to decide that you don't want Youtube deciding to serve you ads for diapers because google decided that you are pregnant based on the websites you've been visiting.

ANYWAY, TL;DR:

Louis Rossman needs to be fact-checked on privacy statements and has a history of visibly making mistakes because he speaks on something before he researches it

Privacy and Security are different.

Privacy is about the data that are shared by the tools you use with the manufacturers of those tools and what those manufacturers do with that information.

Security is about preventing unauthorized access to your personal information and preventing individuals from tracking you online or accessing your private information.

Privacy and security are distinct but intertwined; Rossman is primarily concerned with Privacy and Autonomy, not discussions of security, but may misinterpret discussions of security to be about Privacy.

If you are concerned about privacy, you can look for recommendations from privacyguides.org, which makes recommendations on privacy-focused tools. Cory Doctorow (@mostlysignssomeportents on tumblr) is a great resource for information about the practical and philosophical implications of data privacy.

Fuck google though. Genuinely I think that people should do everything reasonably within their power to deny tech companies access to data on their behavior.

If you are concerned about *security* that is genuinely a more complicated topic with much more significant risks up and down the chain but at the very least please use a password manager (bitwarden is so good and so easy i promise) and lock your phone with something other than your thumbprint or your face. To learn more about security i guess you can start with Troy Hunt and Bruce Schneier. It is like, genuinely a problem that it's difficult to find good, reliable security information for home computer users that isn't trying to sell them something but here's an FTC guide for small businesses that goes a bit more in-depth than "use a password manager" and is only SLIGHT overkill for your mom's 2010 desktop.

everything is a mess i'm sorry i love you please just use firefox and bitwarden.

#long post #very long post

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judithhhh · 4 months

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spanish (one-shot)

jude x gf! reader

summary : in which jude has a girlfriend who can't speak spanish at all, just like him

When Jude told you about his transfer to Real Madrid, you were totally thrilled at the thought of moving to Spain with him. The two of you looked for a nice home to install in and were fully ready to start this new chapter of your lives together. There was one thing that you forgot to think about though ; you and Jude were absolute shit at spanish. No matter how hard you tried to get used to the new language, no progress was made. This meant that the first few months in Madrid were desastrous apart from Jude's incredible debut at the club. Something simple as doing groceries or driving to a new place became a whole challenge for the both of you. Adding to that, there was the fact that the media and his fans found the fact that you were the worse spanish speakers La Liga had seen in a while absolutely hilarious. You couldn't even count how many clips of you two trying to talk with interviewers or with fans ended up on twitter.

Jude had gotten most of the backlash though. Not only his fans but also his teammates loved to make fun of him for his incompetence in the language. You, a much more private person, had not been seen on social media or out in public as much, meaning that the few clips of your disastrous attempts of speaking spanish were with Jude and not alone. You often made fun of Jude, saying that he was the most lost one, using the excuses that you had taken a few spanish classes back in secondary school so you were obviously better than him. This feeling that you could speak better quickly went away though, when an extremely amusing video of you, and only you, found its way on twitter and tiktok.

The video taking place at the Golden Boy awards, you were dressed in a beautiful black dress and was smiling widely at the camera. The interviewer first asked you questions in english about your opinion on Jude's accomplishments and more about the teams you liked ect... The interview took another turn when someone else came and started asking you questions in the unfamiliar language. Basing yourself on some classes that you took a good five years ago, you responded in the same language and, obviously, it was a shit show. Your sentences didn't add up, you used words in english or french and pretended like they were correct by saying them in a spanish accent, or you just said words, that everyone was pretty sure, never existed. At one moment, the camera panned to the spanish interviewer that looked like he was using every inches of his brain to not laugh in your face. That, of course, made Jude's fans laugh even harder.

You were not aware of this video, and of how shit your spanish was, until Jude came home, one day, yelling your name. You ran downstairs, happy to see him after his training but was greeted by the sight of your boyfriend in tears in front of his phone. You took a step closer to him and your worries went away when you realize he was actually crying laughing.

"What's so funny Jude?"

The boy tried to compose himself but could barely form a sentence in between his fits of laughter.

"You haven't seen the video?"

"What video..?"

He turned his phone around, showing you the interview. Mortified, you couldn't talk or move and just stood there flustered.

"Ain't no way... It can't be that bad babe what the fuck."

"Oh yeahhhh, it's that bad" The boy said looking everything but sorry for you. The fucker was enjoying this.

"You regret making fun of me now huh?"

"I don't regret shit Jude, leave me alone"

"Aww come onnn, don't be mad now"

You ignored him, walking up the stairs and sitting down on your shared bed. Jude was quick to follow you sitting against the headboard before putting you on his lap, facing him. His hands around your waist, he squeezed it as he began talking.

"You know it wasn't that horrible. You're English, people understand that you don't know spanish that well..."

"It doesn't matter baby. Did you see that oh my god, I was like a toddler was trying to speak."

"Well, maybe a little bit"

You groaned, burying your head in his shoulder as the boy started laughing histerically again. The two of you stayed there for a while until Jude composed himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked at you in the eyes before smiling softly.

"You know I love you right?"

"Yeah I know, I love you too"

"Even though you're shit at spanish"

"SHUT UP!"

#football #football imagine #jude bellingham #jude bellingham imagine #jude x reader #football x reader #jude bellingham x reader #hey jude :)

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sleeping-sirens · 1 year

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hey nimi, i hope you’re well! i really loved the drabble you did “morning with haechan” and i was wondering if you could write a scenario with mark maybe teaching f reader how to speak korean + every time she gets it correct, he’ll reward her with a kiss or smth (i like to think mark would actually be really affectionate to his partner) 🥹 thank you <3 this was inspired by mark helping jaemin speak english, it was such a sweet scene, here’s the link: https://twitter.com/markclty/status/1640862192810569728?s=46&t=Tq9aSdZbZ4voR3kbqgerrw

가르쳐 줘 (teach me) 𖤐 lee mark

pairing : idol mark x f reader.

genre : lots of fluffffffff, domestic, established relationship.

summary : what the request said, and i also was inspired by his moment with jungwoo in their relay cam where each had to come up with a word that starts with what the previous word that’s been said ended with (idk if i explained that right but you can watch it here if you still haven’t 🥹).

word count : 2810 words.

warnings : mark whispering that’s my girl this is a huge warning😵‍💫 and maybe suggestive towards the end? other than that everything is just so cute and wholesome 😭🥹🫶🏼

a/n : hey anon! i hope you enjoyed this! sorry it took too long i was just trying to organize my thoughts as my brain is just rotting with heachan 😵‍💫 but i wanted to prioritize your request before i can proceed with writing my haechan thoughts down haha 😋 also i wanted to thank you for reading and enjoying my morning with haechan drabble that’s so sweet from you!!🫶🏼🥹 and i would be EXTREMELY happy if you could tell me what you think of this through an ask😭 i’d love to hear your opinion as i already did a request before this one and i’ve never gotten any feedback so i was a bit sad :(( anywayssss without further ado, please enjoy!!💘💞💕💖💗💓

masterlist

buy me a coffee🥹🫶🏼

the kitchen was quiet again after you turned off the water boiler. with the tea bags already tucked inside the two mugs on the counter, you poured the hot water and watched as it quickly changed its color, from clear to deep red. the steam created small clouds that kept disappearing into the air as you took your mug in both hands to warm your palms before placing it on a platter, followed by your boyfriend’s.

the gloomy weather outside made you feel calm and collected, and your body moved smoothly around the kitchen as you tried to cut some pieces of cake, along some strawberries and bananas for you and your boyfriend to munch on while chilling in the living room. it was a sunday, a rare day for mark to have some rest and just relax at home and you were so happy that you guys were going to spend some time together after ages of him being busy.

from the small distance separating the kitchen and the living room, you could hear him talking on the phone. you heard him say 엄마 (eomma) a few times, and you could easily understand that he was talking to his mother on the phone. other than that, you were quite clueless about what he was saying.

sometimes you’d feel so left out of his life, you wanted to be part of everything that made him be the person that he was today. mark never once made you feel a difference because of the language barrier, you guys communicate easily in english but sometimes you just wish you could understand more than just a few words of his mother tongue.

you bit your lip slightly as you gazed at him from your standing position in the kitchen. his voice was smooth, almost dripping with warm honey, the words sounding more gruff and slurred than usual, which signaled that he was indeed relaxed but also very tired that just one day of rest won’t be enough to make it up for all the work load that’s been on his shoulders.

your eyes softened on him, your tea long forgotten as you just relished in the sound of his small and sweet voice. he looked so cute curled up in the far side of the couch, head lying in the arm rest as his fingers raked mindlessly through his disheveled blue strands of hair.

his eyes would close for longer seconds and sometimes he would just opt for humming an answer instead of taking the time to formulate a coherent one. your heart swelled as you looked at him.

“my baby…” you sighed under your breath.

your gaze was lingering on him too long he felt it burning on his skin, which made him throw a look up in your direction. his tongue poked the corner of his mouth while a smile bloomed on his lips, his eyebrows jumped up his forehead into a questioning look, asking you if you were okay with a tilt of his face but you just smiled at him, shaking your head.

“tell her i said hi,” you whispered to him and he nodded in response, quickly translating your phrase into korean.

you were fascinated to say the least, you’ve always been. the way mark quickly switched from english to korean, or sometimes mixing both the languages in one phrase was effortlessly attractive to you.

at first you tried to learn the language secretly from him, thinking about surprising him with it in the future, but as you went on, your hopes have diminished as it got harder with every grammar lesson, and not to start talking about the vocabulary… mark knew that you started learning korean and everyday he would be so proud to be with someone like you, to be loved by someone like you.

the fact that you decided to sacrifice some time out of your day to learn the language that he grew up with, the language that linked him with his family and his roots, the language in which mark felt home made him fall even deeper in love with you. and he was always so happy to help you with it.

“i’ll never be enough for you,” you sniffled, letting go of the pencil you had between your fingers before hugging your knees closer to your chest.

when mark saw the effort you were making in learning his mother tongue, his heart swelled and grew larger inside his chest, that he wanted to physically grab it and put it back in its place.

“sweetheart, why haven’t you told me?” he scooted closer to your body that was sitting on the floor, pushing your notebook and pencil case aside and engulfing you in a warm embrace. “i could teach you,” his fingers gently rubbed your arm in a comforting manner. he made you feel so loved with just small and tender touches.

“you would?” you whispered, finally looking up at him.

mark wiped your tears with the back of his index finger, a love foolish smile illuminating his face. “of course i would. let me see your notebook, we’ll start with the basics.”

that was the conversation you guys had a few weeks ago and since then, mark has never stopped taking some time to help you learn the language little by little.

when the call with his mother ended, you grabbed the platter with the tea mugs, cake and cut up fruits and went to sit next to him on the couch.

“how’s your family?” you asked as you handed his tea mug over to him.

“thanks babe,” mark sat up straight and quickly took the cup from your hands, giving you a quick peck on the lips as a thank you before he answered your question. “they’re doing good, they’re on a vacation in gangwon right now.” he talked before taking a sip.

“really? it’s cold right now to be in a beach area,” you wondered, plopping a strawberry inside your mouth.

“exactly,” mark swallowed his cake bite, “their plan was to see the snow on the beach.” his eyes traveled up to give you an encouraging look, the words being something you knew the translation to them in korean.

you quickly understood your assignment. “해변에 눈 (haebyeon-ae noon),” you smiled as you answered confidently.

“good job, babe,” he scrunched his nose at you, following it by a bright smile. “let’s see if you can translate another word, how about that?”

“mark, this is supposed to be your rest day,” you laughed, leaning on his shoulder.

“i am resting,” he reassured, his hand reaching out to secure your head on his shoulder when you wanted to pull away from his body. this little action was enough to send your heart into a frenzy of heartbeats and butterflies.

“mmm,” mark hummed, the vibrations of his voice spreading throughout your body and making you feel at ease. “if you could tell me what we’re doing right now, in korean, i’ll reward you with something.”

“what would that be?” you asked, wittingly.

“the reward?”

you hummed as a yes.

“i’ll let you know when you give an answer, and it needs to be right.”

“mark,” you whined. “that’s unfair!”

“how would that be unfair babe,” mark laughed, his body rocking along yours. “i know you can do it, come on.”

“uhmm, right now we are…” you started thinking, the words coming inside your brain in english first. “drinking tea?”

“yes…in korean?” mark encouraged you to continue.

“지금…“

”ooooohhhhh,” mark reacted too quickly, rubbing your arm and tapping on it encouragingly, already being impressed by you translating one of the most basic words in korean. you were so proud and so happy that he easily made you feel so confident.

“차를 마셔요 (cha-reul masheoyeo)” you articulated slowly, still very much unsure of your translation skills.

“very good baby,” mark pecked your temple. “but what did we learn about actions that are currently happening in time? right now it’s like you said “we drink tea” but there’s a specific way to say “we’re drinking tea”, you remember?”

you hummed in question again. “마시고 있어요 (mashigo isseoyeo)?”

“very good job baby!” mark ruffled your hair and engulfed you in a big hug, pressing your face in his chest. he was very happy and excited that you got it right.

you were happy as well and you started giggling out of nowhere. “let’s do something else.”

“oooohhhh we’re confident now, are we?” he joked which made you slap his chest gently.

“you told me there was a reward, so i’m all in or nothing.”

“okay,” mark chuckled, scratching his chin. “how would you say that the weather is cold outside and you just wanna chill with your talented and handsome boyfriend?”

“that’s intermediate level mark, i’m still a beginner.”

“come on babe, i know you can do it.” he made you pull away from his chest and positioned you to be sitting in front of him on the couch. he stretched his legs in a way that you would be sitting between them before he wrapped them behind your back and pulled you closer to his body.

the heat raised to your ear at his swift movement and the proximity of his body made your heart beat like crazy. mark’s hands reached for your thighs and spread them so he could be positioned in the middle of them as well, before helping you wrap them around his waist.

inside your head, you just tried to control your breathing. your brain felt mushy, thoughts evaporating while your ears buzzed with exhilaration. your pupils dilated as you fixated mark’s face, your gaze zeroing on the mole on his face to avoid looking directly into his eyes.

“babe?” he tapped on your cheek and chuckled when he saw your flustered state. “you’re zoning out, there’s a reward remember?”

“yeah…yes! the reward,” you laughed nervously, wondering what the reward would be. you were already trembling and your heart was palpitating with mark’s face being so close to yours, you could feel his breath fanning over your skin.

“okay, let’s start with translating “the weather is cold outside” first, then we’ll go from there.” he guided you.

you nodded, clearing your throat. mark’s hands rubbed your knees, massaging all over the area to help you relax and concentrate but you were failing miserably as the only thing you could think of was how he was touching you.

you felt so bad ruining such a wholesome moment with your intrusive thoughts but you were just so in love with mark that every little touch still made you feel all giddy.

you bit your lip, inhaling deeply from your nose.

“don’t be nervous,” mark whispered, nodding his head to encourage you to speak.

“추워 (chuweo)…”

“come on babe, give me a full sentence.” he smiled but you just couldn’t get your brain to function properly, you could neither return the smile nor think of what to say. “what did we say about the weather? you learned this word not long ago.”

“i know it starts with an “N”…” you mumbled, your eyes looking everywhere.

“right!” he exclaimed, leaning in to give you a small kiss on the cheek. “here’s a small reward for remembering the start of the word.”

your heart was going to burst out of your chest at how kind and patient mark was with you. and you tried so hard to get the sentence right so you could see his proud smile blooming on his face again.

“날씨가 추워요 (nalssi-ga chuwoyeo)-“you stopped before he could react, “mark i don’t know how to say outside in korean,” you pouted, looking down at your fiddling fingers.

“it’s okay baby, you’re doing so good already.” he ruffled your hair again before noticing your fiddling fingers. he placed his palms on your hand in a calming manner. “in korean it’s okay to drop the word outside in a sentence, just saying the weather is cold (날씨가 추워요) is enough. but in case you want to use it in a sentence in the future, outside is 밖 (bakk). if you want to use it, you need to pair it with 에 (e) or 은 (eun), depends on the sentence.”

you listened carefully to his explanation, while playing with his fingers instead of fiddling with yours.

“so the full sentence would be 밖은 날씨가 추워요 (bakk-eun nalssoga chuwoyeo)?”

“exactly! good job baby,” mark clapped as he saw the relieved smile appear on your face. “now for the second part of the sentence.”

“what was it again? the second sentence?” you sheepishly asked, laughing nervously.

mark raised his eyebrow at you, a poor attempt at flirting with you and you laughed so hard at that. he started leaning closer to you, with his eyebrow still raised. you tried to stop him from getting closer by putting your hands on his shoulders, both of you laughing so hard at each other.

“mark what are you doing?” you asked through the fit of laughter that was going on between you. mark bit his lip, exaggerating his flirtatious action.

“maaaark,” you whined. “stop!” your stomach hurt from how hard you were laughing and he was laughing just as hard as you.

“okay okay,” he surrendered, raising his hands in defeat. “the sentence was “i just want to chill with my talented and handsome boyfriend” now come on.”

“is talented and handsome mandatory?” you laughed, rolling your eyes jokingly.

“of course! if you want to learn korean, you need to know the right words to compliment me with,” he tilted his head to the side, his long fringe draping over his round eyes, “or nah?” he whispered the last word, his voice going an octave deeper.

you cleared your throat. “right, of course, but i only know handsome in korean.”

“mmhm,” mark hummed, squinting his eyes. “that’s not bad already. you know what, skip talented, let’s leave it for a later session, how about that?”

you laughed at his attempts at flirting with you. he was just so cute and so effortlessly attractive with just acting boyish and love foolish. and you loved him just the way he was. you loved his nervousness and you loved the way he would stumble upon his own words sometimes. but most of all, you loved how he always made sure to show you how much he loved you and how much you meant to him. with his encouragement and kind words always warming your heart, you were certain that your heart was in good hands.

you loved him openly and without any restraints. never once being afraid of him breaking your heart. and you promised to be just as good with him as he was with you.

without realizing it, you leaned closer to his cheek where you placed a soft kiss on his skin. and he gave you a questioning look. “thank you for being patient with me mark.”

he smiled as a response. “of course babe.” he rubbed your hand with his thumb before nudging you to continue your assignment.

“okay, so… we said 밖은 날씨가 추워요, now we’re gonna say…잘 생긴 남자 친구와 (jalsaeng-in namjachingu-wa) chill…how do we say chill in korean?”

“just go with chill, that’s alright.” mark smiled.

“okay,” you nodded. “잘 생긴 남자 친구와 chill하고 싶어요 (jalsaeng-in namjachingu-wa chill-hago sipeoyo).”

“perfect!” mark smiled so bright, squeezing your cheeks between his palms until your lips pouted. “that’s my girl,” he whispered before leaning closer to you and kissing you softly on the lips.

your breath hitched inside your throat, and mark noticed it and tried to calm you down and help you get into the kiss by playing with the hair on your nape. he smiled into your lips when you started kissing him back, sneaking your hands around his waist. eagerly, mark brushed his hands down your back before clutching on your thighs and helping you sit on his lap, without breaking the kiss.

“you did so good today you deserve to be kissed until you lose your breath.” mark whispered, his soft breath numbing your puffy lips, making them feel tingly and itching for another kiss.

“is that my reward?” you breathlessly asked, wrapping your arms around his neck, your nose brushing over his.

“you don’t like it?” he looked up at you with hooded eyes. he looked worried, and you played with his neck to show him just how much you loved to be kissed by him.

“i love it!” you breathed out, finally crashing your lips on his, making him emit a low hum from his throat.

did someone say you prepared some cut up fruits for the both of you to enjoy on his rest day? those didn’t even compare to the plenty of kisses you guys were going to give each other.

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inquebrar · 2 months

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QSMP was one of the projects that had one of the biggest personal impacts on me. since i was younger, i have always been fascinated by getting to know different cultures and learning new languages has always been something that captivated me. although for years i have "been part" of many fandoms and followed different projects, series, groups and things like that for years sometimes, but i just had my interests without having no one to talk with and share it. so this was the first time that i really participated actively and was so engaged in the "fandoms" i'm part of, to talk about it, share my theories and analyzes and stuff like that. so at the beginning (and tbh i still feel a little) i was always very nervous to talk about it or talk with other people in general (especially in a language that is not my mother tongue) because it was something so out of my comfort zone, but through qsmp i learned more about cultures and languages that before i didn't even thought about learning, i felt the desire to continue learning languages that i had left aside, i felt more proud of my nationality, i met very kind people from different countries, it brought me a lot of joy seeing many people starting to learn my language too and see so many people who like the same things as me who share opinions and interests and even people who speak my language who are also very engaging it's so cool to see and the whole feeling of unity, comfort and cultural mix between different people made me extremely passionate about this project and the things it provided.

but unfortunately, recently it has been very difficult to deal with the excess of negativity and heavy topics and serious matters that came to the surface and started to accumulate with disappointments and overwhelming things that i had been feeling for a while. having hyperfixation on qsmp stopped being something that motivated me and brought me happiness, it started to affect my mental health in a bad and unhealthy way, which already hasn't been so good in the last few days. so i thought i'd just vent a little so that maybe someone who is in a similar situation and having similar feelings to mine will feel less alone or a little more understood.

i heard Quackity's recent statement and i was relieved to see that he handled the situation responsibly and addressed the matters without taking away the importance also genuinely apologizing, it was a difficult and sad situation to witness in general but with the server closed on a temporary break, i really hope that he now stays informed and aware of how his team is working and how things are happening behind the scenes. i hope that this brings more organization, communication, correct and respectful treatment to all those who work to maintain the project with care and commitment, and i hope things get an extremely significant change and that everything improves from now on. i still have a lot of love for this project and i want to believe things will be more positive again, but in the meantime i hope that everyone who was affected by everything that has been happening takes care of themselves and always remember that you are important, your feelings are valid and you're not alone. speak up when you feel the need, when you feel disrespected, when you need help. also don't forget to be kind (to yourself too) and i'm waiting for better days.

#qsmp #after actually participating in a fandom for the first time i felt like i needed to vent about how i was feeling #i needed to get these things out of my chest and if anyone identifies with something or isn't feeling well right now you're not alone ok?🫂#i hope everything gets better soon let's take care of ourselves and if necessary step back a little and rest #mental health comes first! hoping for better days ❤️‍🩹#qsmp fandom

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my-autism-adhd-blog · 5 months

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Following the back-and-forth on the "reads the encyclopaedia for fun/listens to songs on repeat types of neurodivergents", I thought it might be reasonable to share my opinions.

Part 1

Here is a link to a very good explanation of the DSM5 diagnostic criteria for autism. (I am using autism as an example of neurodivergence. It is not the only type of neurodivergence.)

Criterion B-3: "Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus".

I would argue that reading the encyclopaedia for fun as a child is atypical. I don't think it's a particularly common behaviour. It's not entirely unheard of in neurotypical children, but I think more-than-usual interest in non-fiction at a young age does fit well with this criterion.

Likewise, listening to the same song on repeat for a while can be seen in neurotypical children. Kids have phases of these things. But, if that type of repetitive behaviour persists, it is one of the signs that doctors use (as well as lots of other things!) to diagnose autism.

Which leads me on to...

Part 2

The original post said something like: "Were you a 'reads the encyclopaedia for fun' neurodivergent kid or a 'listens to the same song on repeat until you die' neurodivergent kid?"

To me, that reads as if OOP is addressing an audience that they expect to be neurodivergent adults. Those are the people they are trying to reach with the post. By definition, those people were once neurodivergent kids.

If someone expressed these behaviours as a child, then grew up to discover they are neurodivergent, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest the two things might be connected (for those individuals).

The behaviours described here for comedy don't have to be exclusive to neurodivergent people. They also don't have to be shared by all neurodivergent people. I think a good faith reading of the post would recognise that OOP isn't saying either of those things. Instead, I would hazard a guess that they are trying to feel a sense of community by sharing (presumably) part of their own life with like-minded people.

Part 3

To also take a good faith reading of the people that were unhappy with the original post... It can be tricky to navigate what a text post really means without further context.

I don't have any more context than the original image, and I'm not sure that my reading is correct. It could be that OOP is truly misinformed and thinks that those two things could be used as a basis for diagnosing neurodivergence. In that case, they are wrong and it may be helpful to use reposts of the original to educate.

If that was how I had intuitively interpreted the post, I'm sure I would have been frustrated, or even angry too. But, I still don't think it was appropriate to make out that everyone who interacted with the post positively was an idiot for doing so.

Part 4

I also realise that this post is extremely long, very wordy and likely won't make anything better...

But I'm also neurodivergent and can't won't help myself lol

I hope everyone reading this feels a little more seen, maybe? I'm trying to see you, at least.

#submission #discourse #neurodivergent

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apocalypticavolition · 3 months

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Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 37: What Might Be

Everyone has that moment that they've looked back on and wonder, "What if I'd done it differently?" Sometimes we can move on, put what-ifs to rest, but sometimes that question will haunt us for the rest of our lives. Don't let this post be that moment. Don't let future you think to themself, an hour from now, "What if I just hadn't spoiled the whole Wheel of Time series for myself by reading this post? What if I'd enjoyed the books by reading them without spoilers?" Don't click "Keep reading" unless you already know all the spoilers and thus will not forever be wondering.

(And yet... perhaps if you do not choose to spoil yourself, years from now you will look back on this moment and wonder what might have happened if you had.)

This chapter has a Portal Stone icon because we're doing one of the best chapters in the whole damn series.

“We stood it upright,” Alar said, “when we found it many years ago, but we did not move it. It . . . seemed to . . . resist being moved.”

Probably the Stones are all entangled in some sort of higher dimensional quantum process, on one part just to be able to function at all and on another to ensure that no one warps off to an alternate world where it turns out that the Stone was tossed into a volcanic caldera a few years back and thus they instantly die. I wonder if there's wiggle room to allow stuff like Stones falling in one world but not another, or if they're all so tied up that reorienting it in one world caused it to be fixed in all of the others too.

Forgive us for our lack of ceremony in leaving you, but the Wheel waits for no woman.

Since I've given Jordan a bit of guff here and there for enforcing his own gender beliefs on the settings, point here for having Verin use "woman" as the default term. Hashtag HER-story, amirite?

Ingtar’s back stiffened. “I hold back at nothing. Take us to Toman Head or take us to Shayol Ghul. If the Horn of Valere lies at the end, I will follow you.”

Really you might argue that this here was the real moment of redemption for Ingtar and that all the rest is just the formality of seeing it through.

I have never used a Stone; that is why your use is more recent than mine.

"Bitch I'm just covering so no one has to know you're the Dragon Reborn. Do the plot thing already!"

Also I kinda feel that Verin is really stretching the oaths she's pretending to have here.

What would I not give to talk with this girl of yours? Or better, to put my hands on her book. It is generally thought that no copy of Mirrors of the Wheel survived the Breaking whole. Serafelle always tells me there are more books that we believe lost than I could credit waiting to be found.

Honestly, even though rumors are so rarely right in this world, I think popular opinion is correct and none survive. I also find it pretty doubtful that there's that many lost books left to be recovered at this point: three and a half thousand years is a long-ass time, too long for most forms of writing to survive.

Apparently, not every Stone connects to every world, and the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends believed that there were possible worlds no Stones at all touched.

Among others, any timeline where a Portal Stone was never constructed would by definition remain off of the network. I wonder how they decide what Stones connect to what, though. Was it perhaps based on what ifs related to the nearby areas? What other worlds were missing?

With one finger she outlined a rectangle containing eight carvings that were much alike, a circle and an arrow, but in half the arrow was contained inside the circle, while in the others the point pierced the circle through. The arrows pointed left, right, up and down, and surrounding each circle was a different line of what Rand was sure was script, though in no language he knew, all curving lines that suddenly became jagged hooks, then flowed on again.

I expect that these worlds have extremely non-Euclidean geometries at play, based on how they were used to make the Ways. Likely the arrow has something to do with a physical force, probably gravity.

As my father would have said, it’s time to roll the dice.

Headcanon: Mat is Verin's dad reborn.

“I am Rand al’Thor,” he growled. “I am not the Dragon Reborn. I won’t be a false Dragon.” “You are what you are. Will you choose, or will you stand here until your friend dies?”

As I've said before, the one thing Rand's not allowed to do is stand still: every time he does the pressure only mounts until he has to act. Verin at least offers the kindness of spelling it out for him.

The flame consumed fear and passion and was gone almost before he thought to form it. Gone, leaving only emptiness, and shining saidin, sickening, tantalizing, stomach-turning, seductive. He . . . reached for it . . . and it filled him, made him alive. He did not move a muscle, but he felt as if he were quivering with the rush of the One Power into him.

After all this time, I still can't decide if being a channeler would be really awesome or really awful.

“Father!” Rand screamed. Clawing his belt knife from its sheath, he threw himself over the table to help his father, and screamed again as the first sword ran through his chest.

Though of course the Mirror Worlds take from the Many Worlds Theory, we must remember that they're not actually the same. The Many Worlds Theory is a way of resolving one of the fundamental mysteries of quantum mechanics. When not observed, particles don't have discrete locations but probabilites of being here, there, or even over there. These odds are called a "waveform". When observed, the waveform collapses and the particle is only in one of those places. The thing scientists don't get yet is the mechanic of that collapse nor the reason. Many Worlds Theory says "The collapse is an illusion. All of those possibilities exist somewhere but since we can only exist in one place we can only ever observe one possibility. All worlds continue on, none with more value or reality than any other except in that those who exist in only one must favor where they are."

This is not what the Mirror Worlds are. The Pattern of Ages is a specific framework which dictates one reality (T'A'R) reigns supreme above all the others, and that among these the closest reflection (the Prime Reality) is inherently more valid than the increasingly distorted copies.

In Many Worlds theory, one can discuss the relative probabilties of different timelines. One location for a particle might have had a 2/3rds chance of being the real one while the other two were each only a sixth. Amid the Mirror Worlds, there's no such thing. T'A'R and the Prime reality each have a 100% chance of being true and all other worlds have a 0% chance of happening.

That said, the Wheel does seem to think some Mirror Worlds are more plausible than others, and I think Rand's journey is - at least at first - moving in order of descending plausibility. Him dying immediately when the story began is a very "likely" outcome - to some degree more likely than other potential deaths later in the timeline just because in each of those scenarios Rand had a little more experience to keep him going.

There was a year when neither merchants nor peddlers came, and when they returned the next they brought word that Artur Hawkwing’s armies had come back, or their descendants, at least.

It's bizarrely heartening to think that even the Seanchan invasion will completely miss that the Two Rivers exists.

Also note that this world - where Rand is never found by Fain or Moiraine and never leaves as a result - seems next most likely amid the categories.

Egwene grew frightened when the moods were on him, for strange things sometimes happened when he was at his bleakest—lightning storms she had not heard listening to the wind, wildfires in the forest—but she loved him and cared for him and kept him sane, though some muttered that Rand al’Thor was crazy and dangerous.

I wonder what happened to this Egwene that she accepts the Two Rivers life without complaint while Rand is forever ranting about how life should be. I also do think that the haters should remember that this is the "no inciting incident" default Egwene: a caring person who stays with Rand until the end. The pair grow apart because of outside forces, not because Egwene is fundamentally flawed as a person.

Women came, too, shouldering what weapons they could find, marching alongside the men. Some laughed, saying that they had the strange feeling they had done this before.

This is both nice foreshadowing for how the Two Rivers folk will respond to the real Shadowspawn invasion and another hint of the old blood amid the people. It would not be surprising at all if many of them were truly the last of Manetheren reborn.

Tam tried to console Rand when Egwene took sick and died just a week before their wedding.

The nextmost implausible sort of world: no inciting incident and Rand survives his channeling sickness but Egwene does not. Being a slightly mainer character than she is, it tracks that this is more plausible than a world where he dies young while she stays on track to be Wisdom.

Elayne did not look at him, of course; she married a Tairen prince, though she did not seem happy in it.

I'd be upset too in this position. What a strange world this is, that a gal who should be the first Aes Sedai queen in centuries should end up married to anyone from Tear. What the fuck is going on at the White Tower to lead to this? I would guess that the reason Moiraine didn't find Rand is that Siuan isn't Amyrlin and that whoever is in charge instead has run the place into the ground.

Also, assuming "prince" means "son of a High Lord or Lady", if not "High Lord" directly, I wonder which horrible family Elayne is stuck with.

He knew he was mad, and did not care. A wasting sickness came on him, and he did not care about that, either, and neither did anyone else, for word had come that Artur Hawkwing’s armies had returned to reclaim the land.

1. It seems that this Rand is doomed to never be able to complete his character development without the actual plot happening.

2. What's delayed the Seanchan by years if not a decade? How far back does this timeline's divergence have to be to account for all of this?

Many of the people of Caemlyn had fled already, and many counseled the army to retreat further, but Elayne was Queen, now, and vowed she would not leave Caemlyn. She would not look at his ruined face, scarred by his sickness, but he could not leave her, and so what was left of the Queen’s Guards prepared to defend the Queen while her people ran.

I expect that this was foreshadowing Caemlyn's importance in the Last Battle, an importance that Sanderson didn't fully follow up on. Even in this life, Rand finds himself head of an army by Elayne's side leading a desperate last stand.

I have won again, Lews Therin. Flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker.

There's some great details in the paragraph that precedes this bit, much too much to analyze. It says a great deal about the central nature of Rand to the Pattern that he can have so many bizarre outcomes: I expect no one else in the party had anywhere near so much variety in their lives.

We also get confirmation that Rand is Aiel, which is nice, though it's sad that the closest thing to a reference Aviendha gets in this procession is "women he had never seen before".

Of course, Rand's lovers aren't the important part here. Elayne and Min get mentioned but it is Egwene who receives a similar multi-faceted fate. So often she is a central figure in his life; she can't help but be his opposite even when their lives have gone horribly off-script.

And of course, our iconic line. The Dark One wins again and again, but like I already said: none of these worlds have even a 0.00000000000000000000000000000001 percent chance of happening. None of these victories matter in the slightest.

“Does it surprise you that your life might go differently if you made different choices, or different things happened to you? Though I never thought I—Well. The important thing is, we are here. Though not as we hoped.”

I desperately wish I had the slightest idea what Verin had seen in her procession. Were there worlds where she avoided the Black Ajah altogether, or worlds where she happily threw in with them? Maybe a world where she poisoned Cadsuane, or one where she was in Moiraine's place and threw Lanfear through the twisted red door?

You should not have tried to bring us directly here. I don’t know what went wrong—I don’t suppose I ever will—but from the trees, I would say it is well into late autumn.

Presumably it's the nature of those arrow worlds. I've joked about the Ways being akin to the inside of a black hole and suggested that they had strange geometry and I expect this is proof. They did come instantly but it also took four months by another spacetime's reckoning.

“Rand, I’d never tell anyone about—about you. I wouldn’t betray you. You have to believe that!”

It's true! Mat doesn't do that in this reality and none of the other ones count. But I do think he was tempted at points. Not enough to go through with it (and he had no real opportunity to do so), but still. Now though, that door is permanently closed.

The curly-haired youth dropped his hands from his face with a sigh. Red marks scored his forehead and cheeks where his nails had dug in. His yellow eyes hid his thoughts.

Wolf boy here probably had one hell of a time in the pack. Or perhaps he just got out of that weird timeline where he mistakes Laila for a Trolloc.

Rand backed away when she reached for him. “Don’t be foolish,” she told him. “I don’t want your help,” he said quietly. “Or any Aes Sedai help.” Her lips twitched. “As you wish.”

1. I expect that nearly everyone has now forgotten a good deal of the experience thanks to Verin's help, which ironically helps Rand even though he doesn't want it.

2. Verin must really chafe at the sheer ingratitude of this, considering just how much she's doing for the dumb boy.

3. That's the end of our chapter folks! Next time: Remember Egwene? She still exists!

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sugutoad · 2 months

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Matchup Trade for my favourite person ever, @fourtyfourcatss !

↳ you have been placed in the cabin of the triple goddess — the mistress of magic and tricks and of the hidden art

¡! ❞ cabin 20 ¡! ❞

ஓ๑ why hecate? The main reason I opted to choose the goddess of magic for you was your personality. you’re analytical yet creative — a sense of not following a certain frame but rather following the flow of life and whatever comes at you — focusing on the big picture of upcoming events but not ignoring smaller ones. Your hubris and ambition is quite a noticeable detail about you, along with your inner lingering fear of disappointment and isolation, so it’s a trait that I personally think would meddle with your demigod life. As for Enyo, there had been a debate between her and athena. this was due to your level headed and analytical demeanour but enyo had seemed to be more of your fit. your pride doesn’t necessarily come from anywhere like that of an athena child, but rather of how you grew up. i’m not entirely sure how to express it but it’s those points in matchups when you are so certain about things but never know how to explain them. from there was a compition of figuring out who becomes a parental figure in your life and alas, hecate won.

ஓ๑ hecate deeply cares for all her kids but you hold an even special place in heart, that is if gods even have hearts? This comes from how similar you are to her in nature and how you think. she thoroughly understands the grudge you had held against her, you simply wanted to look out for your siblings and were upset that she paid no attention to them

ஓ๑ but nonetheless, that doesn’t mean she is a strict parent. hecate expects the best of her children and will assist them throughout their struggles to help you succeed. she is desperate to show that she is a responsible figure, someone you can lay your trust in and look up to as a motherly figure.

ஓ๑ though hecate never had a cabin and you never had the best relationship with your absent mother, you fought and insisted to Chiron on how your mother deserved a cabin of her own. In return, Hecate appointed you as camp leader and it was a perfect fit! You were a responsible, creative, intelligent and valued family above anything else. Plus, almost every camper looked up to you as an older figure despite your choice on the war which I will discuss later

ஓ๑ your fatal flaw defect is deliberation. Your opinionated nature and fear of risking the safety of your family causes you to be deliberate about many situations which can change huge factors in your life.

intelligence, honesty, quick wit, selflessness, willingness to hear others, analytical, creativity, and flexibility are all strengths.

weaknesses include being proud, opinionated, refusing to be lower, poking in unwanted business, and being a talented burnt out child ( i have no idea but you certainly give that vibe to me? do correct me if i’m wrong and ignore the last part then)

Being alone, not being enough, hearing your wrong are all fears.

powers include the ability to control every aspect of magic, have control over the mist, shadow travel, create potions, speak to animals under your mother’s domain, hand your own strength over to others and to quickly learn any weapon while coming up with a strategy. These are actually just a few examples because with magic, almost anything can be accomplished but it is extremely power draining.

ஓ๑ weapons: a bow and arrow. not only does this prevent you from being hurt, as you don’t need fight in the front, but this is a weapon that can quickly end an enemy if put to proper and analytical use (which so happens to be one of your many strengths) your swordsman skills aren’t necessarily bad but there have certainly been more experienced soldiers. to use one properly, you have to analyse the situation you are dealing with and hyper fixate on a certain section of the opponent’s body to strike. and with your great intuition, you land almost every shot in the exact place you had planned. Because of this skill, many had thought you were to be a child of Apollo but once showing some signs of magic, that theory was quickly changed but everyone was so confused on how long it took you to get claimed….

ஓ๑ claiming: you came a year after percy jackson did, but are the same age as him. you’re claiming ... don’t get pissed at me or anything, but i have a strong feeling you didn’t get claimed. Despite that, literally everyone in the camp knew that you were a child of hecate so it really did puzzle everyone as to why you weren’t claimed. this caused a huge inner turmoil for you since you knew you belonged to a family, but at the same time you really didn’t have anyone besides a cabin full of unclaimed kids and children with huge stealing issues (ahem ahem cabin 11). there was still a problem tho, hecate didn’t have a cabin and she hadnt’t claim you due to how campers treat children whose parentage originated from the underworld (the last part had been unknown to you, so you had held a grudge at your mother for years)— but at last, at fucking last, you got claimed after the whole war was over. it was a bittersweet thing for you though, since you felt pissed that hecate hadn’t voluntarily claimed you, but rather did so because of percy who had wished that all children must get claimed at the age of 13 and you had been no exception.

a little drabble:

It should have been an honour to Quasar to be still alive but why was she? Almost everyone of her siblings had been slain in the war for a choice they had made to get the honour they deserved and to stand by their mother’s side. Quasar didn’t agree much with the latter. She had just wanted her siblings to be safe and she would have done, no matter what the consequences may have been. But here she was, standing in front of the Olympian Gods as they held their shitty heads up high, discussing whether Quasar and her brother should even live. But after your mother had begged the Gods, emerald eyes nearly blood shot at the thought of losing two of her precious children. Quasar could feel the eyes of Gods looking down at her and everything felt too much. Alabaster gave her a tight smile and nod, telling her it would be ok. Alas the decision had been made. And it was ruled stupid in her eyes. She and Alabaster were to live but Alabaster wasn’t allowed in Camp. While Quasar had doubts in what she had been doing, Alabaster is still willing to do that and holds a grudge against the son of Poseidon. The sea god feared that the emerald eye boy would kill his only son. Upon hearing that, Quasad looked devastated and was about to speak up until Alabaster shook his head beside her and accepted the deal. All for her... When Alabaster, Quasar and her mother were allowed to leave, the second Hecate shut the door behind them, Quasar felt tears stinging her eyes. But she refused to cry. Not here. Not now. Not ever. Especially after what Alabaster chose to do. So when Hecate held her children tight in her arms, placing a soft kiss on each one of their heads, she promised she would claim Quasar the second she placed a step in Camp Half Blood. And Hecate lived up to her promise. The second Quasar was in the sight of everyone else, a faint green glow surrounded her and the claiming took place. Chiron took a step forward, bowing his head in respect as he announced the obvious to everyone else: “Hail, Quasar Xing, Daughter of the Magic Goddess”

(Excuse the shitty drabble, my head is functioning at the moment)

ஓ๑ You were a traitor, part of kronos’s army. The thing is, if you really believed in your ideals wholeheartedly, with full confidence that the world would be better off without both the gods and kronos, you would’ve done everything in your power to make it true. As black and white as you present yourself to be, you're more contradictory than everyone gives credit for. You only work towards a plan with full length ambition when you see a future for it, but you clearly didn’t see any futuristic outcome for this plan so at the end of the day, you were human through and through. And if anyone knows you well enough, would know the reason for your actions. You didn’t care much for supporting your mother but rather assuring the safety of your siblings. And how would you have been able to do it if you were supporting the opposing side? Exactly. Plus, no one would have suspected you.

ஓ๑ Many campers in Camp Half Blood come to you. It is either because they wish to seek out your opinion in certain life decisions or because of how safe you make everyone else feel. You had this magical nature to make people feel at home. This probably ranges from how observant you are about others (which helps you to know them more and once you point out small things, they feel valued) or how much you want to help others and encourage them at point.

ஓ๑ You and your brother were inseparable. You loved him and he loved you. Two sides of the same coin. The two of you were always found somewhere together and when he had died during the war, you were broken. Heart shattered and blood shot eyes, your vision always blurry. How could you live in camp, while he was dead? You had even considered doing what Orpheus had done once and attempting to bribe Hades somehow but in reality, what were the chances of that succeeding? So when newcomers had been placed in the Hecate cabin, you took it upon yourself to protect them at all cost.

ஓ๑ Sometimes, just sometimes, Chiron grants you permission to teach another camper’s class for a day. The truth was, you didn’t really have anything to teach or have your own class until Lou Ellen suggested a class where demigods learned how to control the mist? I mean, it is possible for that to happen. Thalia was able to do that and so was Percy. All it takes is good practice and someone who is good at explaining things. And that someone is you! Who else would be better? In addition, you were the only camper in the Hecate Cabin who has been here for over 3 years.

ஓ๑ I couldn’t continue this matchup if I didn’t include Leo Valdez. Despite being well aware of your past, he lets it go - seeing only the best of your heart and your truest intentions. He is absolutely in love with you. As you would carry away with your conversation ever so passionately and walking quickly, he would stay silent for once and stare at the beautiful girl in front of him. Lou Ellen had definitely realised that even before you had. She would always tease you about it until your face had turned crimson. Little sister behaviour <3

ஓ๑ But asides Leo, Lou Ellen is one of your closest relationships. She seems to always know how you feel, a telepathic connection almost. She would sit close to you as the two of you giggled over something Leo did or cry over the death of your siblings. Through thick and thin, she remained close by your side.

#i hope you enjoy this as much as i did!#i tried lol #: khun’s princess [ 🌟 ]#percy jackson #sazh matchups #pjo matchups #matchups #cabin matchup

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a-dragons-journal · 8 months

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How are you reblogging from anti-factkin blogs but you're literally otherkin? Factkin has been reclaimed and is used by people legitimately. I was skeptical as well until I read a story of a factkin whose kintype was actually some nameless Greek lady from centuries ago, and how that person connected with this woman on such a deep level that they realized it was a past life. It isn't always some "I'm actually [some rich and relevant celebrity]!" troll shit. I expected better from someone who is constantly dealing with antikin.

if I had more sense I'd just delete these, and if I had more energy I'd write out a trademark Relentlessly Polite response like usual, but I have neither, so instead you're getting a very blunt response and you're just gonna have to forgive me. so:

a) you guys really are out here assuming I check the blogs of every person I reblog from for Problematique(TM) content huh

b) could you guys do me a favor and at least tell me who you're yelling at me for reblogging from, preferably before you go on your moral tirade at me

c) gonna be real with you getting both of these literally at the same time makes me think this is probably a troll being a troll, but on the fairly significant chance that they're genuine and from separate people,

d) first off, general life and conflict management advice for both of you: if you want to change people's minds you're going to have to be a little nicer about it in most cases. I am typically fairly tolerant of this kind of behavior, although you've caught me at the end of a bad few weeks, but generally speaking, yelling at people right off the bat - especially when there's a significant chance they didn't even know they'd done the thing you're mad about like in this case - is extremely likely to just make the person you're yelling at defensive and make them shut down and not want to listen to you. maybe try politely explaining. de-escalatory language. that kind of thing. something other than being kind of a jackass right off the bat about something that might have been an innocent mistake

e) my factkin tag is openly available for viewing if you want my actual opinions on the subject, though a lot of it is kind of outdated because I don't engage that particular topic very often. the current tl;dr is I have very complex and conflicted feelings on factkin which results in my actual action plan more or less defaulting to "be nice to people and let them do their own thing unless they're actively going out of their way to hurt people" (which factkin generally are not). you could also have asked

f) if you've been following me for literally any length of time you know damn fuckin' well my opinion on KFF and using 'kin as a verb, you limp noodle. it is also worth noting that my opinion is also that sometimes the grammar is less important than the actual thing being said, and there's a time and a place for correction, but there's also a time and a place to let it slide and focus on the more important core of the actual message. have a brain cell.

g) was "cringe" really the best insult you could come up with, my guy? between otherkin, of all people? 0/10, make an effort.

#rani talks #asked and answered #anonymous #*points at the notes* don't make me regret leaving reblogs on on this.#be civil or get the block hammer

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kidpunkjunk · 2 years

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how good is arcade gannon... really...

the best. hes literally the best. thats the answer thats it thats all hes the most good.

i was about to make a big long think piece but you know what no, fuck you, i shouldnt have to. i shouldnt have to explain or debunk or anything, if you have any kind of comprehension at ALL youd understand. he is, morally, one of the best people in the entire wasteland. he tries so hard and succeds as best he can. he wants the best for himself and everyone around him which cant be said abt most fuckers in the fallout world. hes so selfless and caring and just. fuck dude.

imagine coming from one of the most vile terrible factions in the fallout universe, imagine growing up with those ideals and yet realizing no hey fuck that, thats bad actually. he subverted the mindset he grew up with so extremely, joining a group almost the exact opposite of the envlave. and even within them you could argue hes one of the optimistic and idealist people. like. shit dude. "he joined bc of their resources and knowledge" are you kidding ?? his main goal is to help people, thats his main drive in life and you dare imply its anything else? you dare imply hes shallow and selfish and would use them just for their books? fucking really? sure its a PLUS but youre emptyheaded thinking thats the only reason.

i will never shut up abt his parallels to carla. he is out of time, hes a prewar relic, he doesnt belong in the shithole that is post nuclear wasteland america. hes something out of a pristine photograph, as perfect as one can get without trying, while remaining humble. hes honestly too good for the world he is in. "how good is he really" too good, hes too good, and i dont mean that in a "its unrealistic how good he is" way, i mean that his world doesnt deserve a man so good.

when they said he uses his enclave knowledge in the independent vegas ending (best ending btw) they dont mean the fascist ideas they held or the conservative mindset they had, dude they were SMART in the enclave, wildly intelligent!! fucking !! sentient deathclaws the fuck !! they had fountains of knowledge, rivalling the followers and the brotherhood. say what you want, yes theyre horrible people, but their scientists were near genius' !!! which made them all the more terrifying!! like Caesar if he wasnt a goddamn dumbass !! their best president was an ai !!! and you misinterpret that so insanely its not FUNNY. hes using all this forgotten knowledge, knowledge that would be lost forever, for good, and you think they meant he was instating fascist regimes into freeside? really? really? and he doesnt. he doesnt want to be his dad. he doesnt want to not want to be his dad or whatever the fuck. he wants his dad to be proud of him. bc thats his fucking father. enclave or not, whatever the hell, thats his father.

he hates the ncr because the ncr sucks. only good idea that the enclave held: ncr sucks. they do. theyre imperialist, theyre capitalists, they suck. regardless of who installed that opinion in him, its right, its correct. bootlicker.

i believe that during the battle arcade, like the other remnants, kept their face hidden so they could go abt their lives after. its entirely believable that noone knew it was him in the tesla armour and he could return to freeside. enclave knowledge and tech is invaluable, im sure julie was willing to not ask too many questions for such helpful and valuable prewar recources. and after he returned im positive that he did not strive for a place of leadership within the fort, i highly doubt it. give orders? where did it say he started giving orders? where? point me to it ?

this is the story of a man with a troubled past, who comes from.horrible roots, who wants to be better than what he was set up to be. its the story of a man finding his place in a world thats not fit for people like him. its the story of a man who wants his parents to be proud of him, without being what they wanted him to be, a thing so many people go through. its the story of a man who fears he is destined to be horrible but defeats his perceived fate. its the story of a good man. arcade gannon is a good man. and thats why hes my favorite character. fuck you.

#arcade gannon #fallout new vegas #fnv

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anamericangirl · 1 month

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Hi there, I was wondering if you maybe have some advice?

I have a friend on here who posts a fairly small amount about the israel/palestine stuff, but it's all very pro-palestine, and she didn't used to post about politics a lot before the war started. She's still pretty chill though, and seems like she has her head on reasonably straight, but has just been taken in by the genocide talk, and humanitarian crisis things.

So I was wondering if you had any advice on what I could do to try and talk to her, and maybe help her look at things more critically? Or even some posts on here that have a more measured look on the war. I don't post about politics a lot ever since a bunch of people cut me off for being pro-life, but this has really been weighing on me lately.

I think it's great you want to approach your friend and help her to look at things more critically. With the way information is consumed these days it's extremely easy to just automatically share whatever you see and assume it's correct and that seems to be the habit she's fallen into.

Typically, what I try to do with someone I know personally when I notice that they are falling into that pattern and just spreading information they saw on the internet and just uncritically accepted it is really just to try to ask them questions in a non-hostile manner. Not from a confrontational mindset, but a curious one.

Like in this instance I would probably approach her just asking her why she supports Palestine and just base my next questions on whatever her response is.

If she claims Israel is committing genocide some follow up questions you could ask are:

"Why do you believe Israel is committing genocide?"

"What do you consider to be genocide?"

"Are you aware the Palestine population has been steadily increasing over the last several years? Wouldn't that make the idea that they're committing genocide a little less credible?"

"Do you think Hamas is trying to commit genocide at all or do you think it's just Israel?"

Whatever she says about Israel you can acknowledge it and say you understand her perspective but I think asking for her opinions on some the things Hamas does that she just might not be aware of would be helpful. Like, for example:

"Do you feel like Hamas was justified in their attack on Israeli civilians on October 7? Why or why not?"

"How do you feel about the fact that Hamas uses their own citizens, including children, as human shields?" This is something they've admitted to.

"How do you feel about the fact that Hamas lied about Israel, saying they had blown up a hospital and killed 500 people when in reality Israel hadn't done anything and Hamas' own rocket hit a parking lot and no on was killed?" We know this to be a fact because we have it on video.

"How do you feel about the fact that Hamas is run by billionaires with plenty of funds and instead of using that money to feed and house their citizens they just use it to to keep firing rockets at Israel?"

"How do you feel about Hamas stealing the aid meant for civilians?"

By just asking her questions it will help expose her to how much she doesn't know about this situation. And she might not like that and might get a little defensive, but it will at least show her there's a lot she doesn't know and she doesn't have a well rounded perspective on this issue.

Ask her if she's ever looked at this issue from the other side or listened to anyone who isn't pro-palestine. Has she given both sides a fair look before picking a side or is she just reposting whatever is coming across her path without question?

You can offer to show her some posts from the other side that you found helpful and resourceful or things that at least cast doubt on all the claims of genocide.

That is at least how I tend to go about things and find it to be a better tactic than just challenging everything they say. I hope this was at least somewhat helpful but if you have any more questions feel free to ask :)

#anon #answered

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the-blue-fairie · 5 months

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hey, no worries at all about venting in the tags of... your reblog of my reblog of your post, lol!! as i mentioned, i was trying to find a completely different old post by someone else, and then ended up seeing your post in my search and i just feel that it's a great explanation of some of the issues that i have with the ending. i can totally understand why people who like the idea behind the ending and what the writers were trying to say with it want to defend it, to an extent, but i agree with you that they just didn't successfully say that. which only makes me more frustrated with the ending than i imagine i would've been otherwise. and i'm sorry people have been trying to group you in with frozen 2 haters when you didn't want to be seen that way! and to me, the posts of yours that i've read about the movie (including the one i reblogged that prompted this ask) never came off that way either. you always seemed like someone who had your issues with it and criticisms of it, but could also still see positives in it and things to celebrate about it.

Thank you for sending me this message. I apologize for not replying for a day; life got a bit busy.

Looking back on my old discussions of F2, I feel I was hamstrung by not wanting to make my friends angry. I have friends who are fans of F2 and, while I wrote those posts, I was cripplingly scared that they would stop being friends with me, or unfollow me, or dismiss my critiques as mere negativity. In fact, my fears were justified. Some of these people DID unfollow me and DID tell me I was being overwhelmingly negative. This broke my heart - especially because I spilled so much ink trying to balance every negative I discussed with a positive and celebrating the good elements, but it felt like it didn't matter. It didn't matter how anxious I was to be understood, it didn't matter that I was writing in good faith. And that hurt.

I also feel that I was intimidated by the extreme sides of the fandom. If, for example, I wrote a post criticizing Elsa's arc, anti-Elsa people could jump on it and say, "See, this is why Elsa is a bad sister."

So that's why, in my vent, I said I was too kind to the film. I was so constricted by being terrified of other people's reactions - terrified of having an unpopular opinion. So I qualified all my statements with, "Of course, I don't mean to be overly negative" instead of just focusing on my points.

I just want to shake people sometimes when they tell me the point of the film and say, "They followed through on their intent with very poor execution. They DIDN'T DO the things you are saying they did. They tried, but there are scores of reasons why they did not succeed - reasons that go beyond my personal preference, that have to do with characterization, pacing, story structure, etc."

It hurts because... I feel like, in the past, I tried to force myself to like the film more than I do. I've wanted to like it for years, but the last time I put it on I broke down crying and not in a good way and I just... I wish it worked. I wish that all the various thematic threads coalesced into an emotionally satisfying whole. And I know that, because of my emotional response, people might just dismiss all my discussion - no matter how nuanced I am, no matter how fair towards the film I am in my analysis, as, "Well, you're biased from the start."

No. I've spent years trying to see all sides, empathizing with a variety of people in the fandom, sometimes even at my own expense. I do value the parts of F2 that work and acknowledge the beauty of various elements including Anna and Elsa bonding with the Northuldra, the anticolonialist themes, The Next Right Thing, and more.

But at the same time, I argue that my case against other aspects of the film is robust, cohesive, and correct.

And to the friends that can see I am writing not to be a hater, but in good faith with actual analysis and discussion in mind - you mean the world to me. Thank you.

Sorry, this became kind of a vent in itself.

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purpleandstarlight · 9 months

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Some time ago I said I would make a post about my opinion on various of the kuro characters' stance on the LGBTQA+ community so here It comes i guess. Gonna be a pretty long post I suppose.

Starting off with what may be a hot take: o!Ciel ain't homophobic or transphobic or anything. Yana may write him like that, but I feel like that's her problem and not his. It makes basically no sense with his character. He's just a dude trying to live his life and he canonically doesn't judge people for going against what society thinks should be the "norm" (His speech defending Snake in the Campania arc, to name one instance). He HIMSELF doesn't really follow the "norm" of a noble of that time period (Treats his human servants (so not Sebastian) like actual human beings and even family, doesn't seem to go to church or leave his house for fun much, hates socializing and going to parties). I personally even read him as aroace!

Plus he canonically read (or was at least knowledgeable about) Carmilla, wich I never read but from what I hear was gay Dracula before Dracula was invented.

That said, in modern era he WOULD make gay funtom merchandise for pride month only for the profit and not to stand by the gays. Not because he's homophobic, he just doesn't care about being so public in his support for the community if not for that sweet, sweet money. Tiny capitalist child. Awful little man.

Now, if you want to blame a Phantomhive for being homophobic...that's R!Ciel. An actually alive, not bizarre doll R!Ciel could be convinced of the LGBTQA+ community not being bad IF (and only if) his brother was a part of it and o!Ciel slowly educated him on what not to say or think. Like not even the knowledge that his father is the most bisexual person alive would convince him, he'd just live in denial. But we know that o!Ciel is sacred for him. "If brother says this, then it's the truth."

Bizarre doll R!Ciel is like those mums that go "I'm fine with gay people I just think that [insert extremely homophobic statement here]". He also says stuff like "The A in the LGBTQA+ community stands for Ally :)"

Lizzie is very nice and openly supportive, but WILL get sometimes flustered in front of two gay people being gay. She will also sometimes stumble and say something bad by mistake, but she immediately corrects her behavior as soon as she's explained that what she said wasn't right.

Tanaka? Complete Ally. No boomer behavior from the Grandpa ever.

Mei Rin? Ally. She is also a total lesbian who just hasn't come to terms with it yet, though. So for now she just says she's an Ally and moves on.

Finny is also an Ally who just doesn't get he's part of the community yet. He's aroace and doesn't know it.

Bard says he's an Ally, but the fact is that the only gay person he doesn't support is himself. Had his bi awakening after working with Sebastian at the Manor but denies it to himself like o!Ciel denies himself love and happiness.

Speaking of Sebastian, he's a very homophobic gay being. Not with himself. He knows he ain't straight and isn't upset about it. But if another person drops hints that they are, he's mad about it and WONT support them. Unless it's Agni. If it's Agni, he's EXTREMELY happy about it...

Agni is either Bi or a complete Ally.

Soma is the token straight friend. He's a complete Ally tho. Doesn't even hesitate. "Oh you're into men? That's cool! I'm into curry :)"

William is aroace and okay with that but he's also homophobic and transphobic.

Ronald is either Bi or another "token straight, ally friend"

Bonus: more sexuality headcanons!

Undertaker gives me big homosexual vibes but I also believe in the theory that him and Claudia had a thing, so I'll say pan.

Sieglinde is a lesbian. Had her first girl crush on Lizzie.

Grelle is obviously and canonically a trans woman and proud but imo she STILL needs to understand that men aren't her thing. Women are. She's in denial.

Also headcanon that in a modern era she would fucking hate the trans flag colours bc there's no deep red in it wich means she doesn't know how to incorporate it with her aesthetic.

Othello is ace. Idk if he's aro too or at least into women, but he's ace.

Alois is only into guys but also ace. @weeb-cheese showed me the light when they said he looked aroace to them. I can't completely buy the aro part but i am 100% sold on him being ace.

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thegirlwhowrites642 · 2 years

Note

Which couple marry first hinny or romoine in your opinion? Please do share.

Can I just say that I love that "please do share"? It makes me feel important.

OK, now, about the ask...

Short answer: Harry and Ginny

There are several circumstantial reasons but there's one in particular that I believe to be the essential point and weirdly enough I've never seen anyone bring it up. So, without further ado, let's start with the long answer:

The circumstantial reasons are these (to understand some of the following points it's necessary to remember that we are working on a pretty small window of years. James Sirius was born in 2004 and the first year after the war Ginny and Hermione were at Hogwarts):

Harry and Ginny have basically a whole year over Ron and Hermione. While they were technically broken up for several months, they were emotionally together. When they got back together, the romantic dynamic was not something new that they explored for the first time. And even the first time around they fell into it extremely easily. We also see that after nearly a year apart, they are still perfectly in tune with Harry who needs one single look to make Ginny calm down. Ron and Hermione get together in an extremely complicated time and, while having feelings for each other for years, they are also both people with a tendency to overthink, so there might be some awkwardness at the start (obviously it would be much easier to make a correct assumption on this if we ever saw how they interact alone).

Ginny and Hermione go back to Hogwarts. While for sure not easy for Harry and Ginny, we already know that they dealt with a year apart in the worst possible conditions, they also display a secure attachment style. Ron and Hermione are far from used to being apart, their romantic relationship is newer, and they do not display a secure attachment style (even if I like to believe that they eventually gained some of that maturity), so it's pretty easy to imagine how that year of long-distance relationship was far more difficult to manage for them.

Marriage is not something far away from Harry's mind. In DH we have him imagining Ginny in a wedding dress, addressing her as his family, then there's the whole death sequence with the comparison between the family he'll have in death and the one he can have living. Ginny's declarations between the end of HBP and the start of DH all point to an everlasting love that she is comfortable labeling as such out loud. All of this while Ron and Hermione are still playing the "you love me, you love me not" game.

Harry and Ginny had Teddy to set them already in a domestic mood. If a Teddy of age spends four dinners a week with the Potters, imagine how much time he spent with them as a child. Not that children and marriage need to be necessarily connected but they are undeniably on the same line of thinking, especially for two people who want both marriage and babies and have a romantic streak. Ginny is far more explicitly romantic than Harry, but I think we can all agree that Harry "her blush is like the setting sun" Potter is a closeted romantic.

Hermione is not exactly someone that I would call family-oriented seeing how little time she spends with her parents. She obviously is enough to get married and have children but what we know about her character suggests that they wouldn't be a short-term priority for her.

In the most likely correct assumption that Hermione's parents weren't too happy about being shipped off to Australia without their consent and that Hermione cared about healing her relationship with them, it would be reasonable for Hermione to find it necessary to keep the family dynamic stable for some years. Especially considering that, despite it all, she still goes back for her last year at Hogwarts separating herself from them once again.

Harry and Ginny started having children sooner. Obviously, it's pure statistic here.

I think that Ron and Hermione dancing around each other for a million years proves quite clearly that Harry and Ginny are far more impulsive people.

Also: I've seen some people say that Ginny would want to wait a while to get married to affirm her independence or something like that but when exactly did Ginny Weasley, who took the surname Potter and decided for a career change to have more time with her children, ever gave you the impression that she would take such decisions on how others might or might not perceive her? Or that Harry's fame is something she struggles with and wants to avoid like the plague? Doesn't it sound a lot more like Ginny saying "I'm gonna destroy all your arses on the Quidditch pitch and I'm going to do it with whatever surname I prefer"? Plus, I might add that it didn't take much time for Ginny to become famous in her own right. According to Rowling, Ginny was a celebrated Quidditch player. Considering that she played for only four/five years but also simply how the careers of great athletes work, if she weren't a first-string player when she entered the team (but she most likely was) then she became one during her first year playing.

Now these were all points that suggest that Harry and Ginny would marry sooner but there is one very specific reason that I think gives us pretty much certainty on the answer:

Marriage is not just about how much you love each other. There's a very strong economic component to it.

Harry and Ginny are, to put it very plainly, rich. Harry has both the Potter and Black fortunes and, even if I highly doubt they lived there after they got married, he has already a house at Grimmauld Place. Ginny is a celebrated professional Quidditch player who plays in an elitist team. In short, she instantly made a lot of money. Add to this that between being a great player, and conventionally good-looking, she probably sold an insane amount of merch. Yeah, Ginny was loaded even without Harry's money.

Ron and Hermione have normal jobs. Hermione having two parents that are dentists was definitely from a family who was comfortable money-wise but there's no indication of her being a trust-found baby. Ron was an Auror for two years (it's not clear if it's meant as the three years of training plus two years or just two years) and then he went to work with George. Now, if it was only two years, training included: while we know that the twins could afford things they would've never dreamed to afford before, it's always in comparison to what the Weasleys could afford. At the end of the day, they are still two young men who have to provide only for themselves and live in the little apartment above their shop. This is to say that, while the business is successful, they are not rich (the shop was also probably closed for a while). Now, for the life of me, I can't imagine Ron Weasley, who throughout the series is so sensitive towards money, being ok with marriage without being 100% sure of having the economic safety to afford a house and to provide an economically comfortable life for eventual children. Also, even with less money apprehension, Hermione probably had an entire plan with goals to reach before taking every important life step. If there's something that Ron, the chess master, and Hermione, the organization obsessed, have in common is that they think things through a lot, which is what brings them to occasionally overthink.

This said, I still think that Ron and Hermione married before James Sirius was born, I don't think they married a lot of years after Harry and Ginny. Rose is after all just two years younger than James. Even if the idea of Ron and Hermione dealing with an unplanned out-of-wedlock baby is hilarious.

#hinny #romione #ginny x harry #harry potter #ginny weasley #harry and ginny #hermione granger #ron weasley #ron x hermione #thegirlwhowrites642HPmeta

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bookwyrminspiration · 1 year

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no clue if you're into Les Misérables at all but i just need to yell about something for a second. and that something has to do with the english musical and the french concept album, specifically how gavroche seems So Fucking Angry in the french version compared to the english one.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS ALL OPINION AND I'M PRETTY SURE I'M TALKING OUT OF MY ASS FOR HALF OF THIS ANYWAY. THE ENGLISH MUSICAL IS GOOD I JUST LOVE FABRICE BERNARD'S GAVROCHE.

like, first off, the french version of Little People is... honestly depressing if you really think about it. like, little people is great! it's a fun song about how children are more than people think they are!

it's a lot happier than anything a french gavroche could sing.

the french counterpart is called La Faute à Voltaire [1], and i'm not even gonna try to explain that reference here because it's honestly just a Lot, but in between the chorus when it's not satirizing about Voltaire and Rousseau you get these lines:

I can't really translate these because there's lots of lines that can't be translated [2], but each of them speak about the fact that gavroche lives in a constant state of poverty with no garauntee of food and safety. gavroche literally calls himself a va-nu-pied, which is a degrading term for someone who is extremely poor (literally "go barefoot", before they don't have money for shoes.)

(fun fact, when i was trying to translate this before i gave up, i used GT to double check the basic meaning of my tl of "joyeux drilles en guenilles" and it gave me "merry ragged bitches". do with that what you will.)

needless to say, it's not exactly the same as simply being looked down upon for being a child.

Also, just listen to the difference in tone in the english and french version. (ian tucker and fabrice bernard respectively). maybe it's just me, but gavroche in the french version sounds constantly at least a little angry (mostly because this is an angry song in french!)

the other song that particularly strikes me is the french counterpart to Look Down, which is called Donnez, Donnez. (If i'm wrong about this, someone please correct me though!)

Now, Look Down is incredibly powerful and i fucking love it, and honestly I think I honestly love both versions equally. but something strikes me about fabrice bernard's gavroche, and i think that something is just how much cruder he is than english gavroche, and how much more alone he seems.

on the first note (crudeness), english gavroche does say hell, which some people consider a swear, but french gavroche uses the words "j'me démerde", which essentially means "i manage/get by", but uses 1. shortenings/skipping sounds with j'me (very much not Proper) and 2. the word "démerde", which literally has "shit" in it (merde.) So, essentially, deshit or deal with shit.

He also uses "V'la" instead of "voilà", which is another shortening and even worse, because he pronounces it not very similar to the original word. It also denotes a certain amount of uncaringness towards his family due to the nature of type of speech, whereas english gavroche says "these are my people", which is much nicer.

english gavroche also says "not much to look at, nothing posh / nothing that you'd call up to scratch" while french gavroche says "nothing in my hands, nothing in my pockets / everything in the heart of my song", which to me reads more of an emphasis on the fact that he has nothing, rather than what he does have being subpar.

back to the deshitting stuff, though, the line "this is my school, my high society", which is once again denoting a sense of at least somewhat belonging or claiming this place, is turned into "j'ai pas de sous, et pourtant j'me démerde," which literally means "i have no money, but i manage" (but in the rudest phrasing they could get away with), which is fascinating, since it's once again highlighting a lack of something!

finally, "think you're poor? think you're free? follow me!" is changed to "les timides, les caïds, suivez l'guide!" which.... i don't really know if i can translate caïds? but once again, it's much more degrading language.

Oh, and once again: good angry voice. My god. (kicks in at 1:13)

From beyond that, there's differences in the english version i can listen to and the english lyrics i can actually find, so i don't really want to get back into compairisions here, but i just want to note that gavroche basically yells "vive moi, pas le roi, ça ira, ça ira [3]", meaning "long live me, not the king", which is an interesting thing to have when the original english (as far as i can tell) actually had the words "long live us" instead!

Oh, oh, and the phrase "parce qu'à Paname, y a plus d'oseille" (when he sings about thénardier) is entirely reliant on slang, which is super cool! (specifically, paname is an old name for paris, and oseille means money, so basically "cuz in paris there's more money")

oh. and his death in both versions. good lord. SO.

in the english version, as far as i can tell, gavroche sings Little People until the end. he quite literally never gives up. it's heartbreaking and it makes me bawl my eyes out.

but french gavroche.... to an extent, he does this too, as he dies on the second line of La Faute à Voltaire, but i want to point to a specific line:

"c'est comme ça, on gagne pas, à chaque fois..." "it's how it is. you don't win every time."

this gavroche already knows he's lost. because he knows he's miserable, and poor, and never going to get better, not really. he's essentially already accepted his death. it's horrifying.

i don't really have any concluding thoughts other than "french gavroche good (english gavroche also good but not fav)", but i really do think it's fascinating that gavroche is a much more raw and beaten down kid in the french version. like i know why he's not in the english version (two words: oliver twist), but... this fits. this really fits les mis. and it's my favorite book, so.

oh shit. oh man i really wrote all that. um. whoops?

[1] the song directly lays blame at the feet of Voltaire and Rousseau for some kind of injustice, as it is a satirization of the fact that, due to Voltaire and Rousseau's influence on the revolution, lots of royalists blamed them directly for it.

[2] for example, "Je suis un va-nu-pieds / Mais, nu, le pied va quand même" is a play on words. Va-nu-pieds is a word for an incredible poor and/or homeless person (literally "go barefoot" because they can't by shoes). Gavroche calls himself this, but in the next line says "but, barefoot, the foot can still walk", which says a LOT about him tbh

[3] those "ça ira"s are a reference to a revolutionary song, literally called 'Ça ira'!

(2/2) IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE LONG GAVROCHE ASK:

if i said "ça ira" translates to "it'll do", i was wrong (though not entirely)! it's could also translate to "it'll go/it'll pass"! <- in fact, i think that translation is the correct one lol.

Okay okay. This is a lot there's even footnotes, I'm going to do my best to have a cohesive response. I am not currently into Les Mis and I have no idea who Gavroche is, but glad to be yelled at over it!

I see what you're talking about--though undoubtedly not as clearly as you do as my French is little and very rusty--and it makes complete sense with what I know about you as a person that French Gavroche is more appealing. I agree as well, the...added depth? Not shying away from making it gritty and bare and plain to see his situation instead of softening it? is almost always more of a motivating and captivating character, even when the softer counterpart is endearing.

I do also hear the tone shift you're talking about between songs! Maybe I'm being subconsciously influenced by you because you said it first, but at the very least the English version is incredibly cheery. Which doesn't match the lyrics of the second, if I'm understanding right.

Also! The slang/shortening of words and the shit thing are very interesting, I love seeing language get played with like that, so I appreciate you explaining the meanings. The i have things but not a lot vs I don't have anything is a fascinating comparison of perspective!

Which also comes up in the variations of their deaths, and I think I can get what you're highlighting about it being horrifying but also compelling and fascinating. You don't always win! I can't compare it to Les Mis as I haven't read it, but it tracks that this would fit with the book based on the very little I do know.

I also don't have any concluding thoughts because this is a lot and it's difficult to convey *sits here eagerly listening nodding along focused* in words because I'm on the receiving end of all the words and info. But this is very fascinating to see and I appreciate learning all this! I now know significantly more about Gavroche and his portrayal! I don't, however, know who Gavroche is

#les mis #gavroche #quil's queries #commonghost #all caps #i don't think i touched on everything you said but I promise I did read it all #and I listened to the songs #you're right the angry song voice is VERY good #love a good song packed with emotion #love when you can hear the. like. human mechanics behind expressing it and it's not this perfect edited voice #i want the HUMANITY! i want the RAWNESS!#anyway. enjoyed this thoroughly #long post

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