#not just talking about the blatantly homophobic stuff either

[sbbarnes]

Hockey Romances. Why?

So I was taken out of work a couple weeks ago due to ~pregnancy stuff~ (mostly just stress, the baby and I are fine) which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. And as one does, I have been filling my time reading lgbtq+ romance novels. Because I can.

In this time, I have fallen headfirst into the hockey romance novel subgenre, and I ask myself, as I have done every time I see these books advertised, why? I am not a sports fan. One time, my husband was watching football (European), and a team in red kits was playing against yellow kits, and I started laughing because "it looks like ketchup is playing against mustard". His expression was great, but he hasn't taken me seriously since.

So why is hockey of all things such a draw for the mlm romance subgenre? Especially given the NHL's apparent fear of rainbow tape? Why do I now know what the word "celly" refers to and what an "enforcer" is? Why why why?

Here are my answers:

Extremely organic way to set up some of the most classic romance tropes. Forced proximity? Being on the same team takes care of that. There was only one bed? Shared hotel rooms during away games. Enemies to lovers? Rival teams.

Lots of potential for drama given that players lead very transient lives in terms of the constant possibility of trades. In mlm love stories, even more so given that the NHL is so blatantly homophobic.

Perfect level of fame. Fame and wealth as a draw for a love interest are kind of staples of the genre, and NHL players are famous, sure, but not all of them, and they aren't as famous as football stars (either kind of football). They are still filthy rich, which makes great wish fulfillment. You can have the sexy penthouse and the anonymity.

I would go on to talk about how different roles on the team lend themselves to different tropes (goalie = tightly controlled dude who needs someone to help him cut loose; enforcer = misunderstood fighter with a heart of gold; coach for all your forbidden love/sleeping with the boss desires) but that would very quickly reveal my utter lack of hockey knowledge, so let's not. Instead, here's a quick reclist.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. It's a classic in the genre for a reason and it has everything. Forbidden love? Got that, maybe the definitive example. Redemption arc? Got that. Misunderstood bruiser with a heart of gold? Got that. Age difference? Got that. Also really excellent sex scenes, not gonna lie, and satisfying endings throughout - sometimes a happy end will come a little suddenly for me, but these books really delivered, and the nice thing about how romance series are structured is that you get a little peek at what comes after for the couples in the other books.

2. Him, Us and Epic by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. This one surprised me, I don't generally go for first person POVs, but I did enjoy this! Coming-of-age story turned coming out story featuring a budding hockey star and his best friend. Lots of fun.

3. Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. This series is fun in that it doesn't focus on the NHL, it actually focuses on the minor leagues in the southeast of the US, a place almost no one associates with ice hockey. As such, there's a chance to tell different stories about professional athletes who aren't super rich and famous, which I appreciate a lot. TBH the first pairing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I'm glad I kept going because I especially enjoyed the later books, which tackle tough topics (including eating disorders, abuse etc., so content warning for that). These are still romance novels though, so rest assured that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What I especially appreciate is that these books don't have relationship drama, in that the main couples communicate and work together instead of a third act break-up-make-up!

4. Hockey Ever After series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. These are just great. Lots of fun to read, lots of cameos from character in later books, just excellent mood all around. Also features my favorite ever trope (secret relationship, sorry, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for it I just can't help myself) heavily, which is a win in my book. I especially enjoyed book two, "Scoring Position". Is that because Nico is German and I loved him? Is that because Ryan is my new blorbo? We may never know.

Happy reading and please give me recommendations for more books like these, I'm lowkey obsessed.

#lgbtq books #book review #lgbtq romance #mlm romance #hockey #hockey romance #mlm hockey romance #ashlyn kane #morgan james #winging it #sarina bowen #elle kennedy #scoring chances #avon gale #rachel reid #game changers #heated rivalry #tough guy #common goal #role model #breakaway #coach's challenge #empty net #power play #save of the game #scoring position #unrivaled

[voiceofsword]

every1 that voted rinne as worst husband is so wrong... its literally canon that he cares SO much and fakes his insane persona hes just awkward and embarassed when he gets noticed

i have so many things i can say about this but im really bad at words but theyre stewing around in my brain explodes

what were your thoughts?

i do agree with the ones that mention niki haha those are true rinne is absolutely smitten but the ones that say its like. because hes rinne amagi. and others thay were probably filtered out by the OP... people that either didnt read the main story or just dont want to look further lmao

(cracking my fingers) okay. this may or may not be long. i fear you have struck a bit of a nerve with this (NOT YOU but just as like. a general statement. i feel like u dont know what ur asking. but that is ok)

this whole thing might seem really aggressive at times bc this situation did get me a little heated... plz keep that in mind going in! AGAIN IM NOT ANGRY AT YOU ANON ILY AND THANK YOU FOR ASKING you just happened to ask abt smth i feel very sourly about – not the poll itself but the answers to it – but i tried to be as. tactful as i possibly can while talking abt this

overall im very disappointed in a lot of the answers given for the voting so ive stayed off twitter almost all day today and yesterday. i fear like with stuff like this a very silent population of eng side shines through, the one that specifically Doesnt actually engage with the story and goes off fanon interpretation. look, im not saying its necessarily a bad thing. but when it comes to stuff like this, where people grossly mischaracterize a grand majority of charas or narrow them down to be the butt of a joke, or use it as an excuse to be plain racist/ableist, i feel like people really need to reassess where all of this is coming from. like. not rinne, but KANAME couldnt even be included because the answers used for his votes were, in their majority, apparently ableist, and op (definitely in the right, i think this was the right choice to make) chose not to post at all because they feared the qrts would be just as bad. because for some reason people seem to think that because they're fictional characters that being ableist is somehow ok, that saying they would "pull the plug" on charas like him and eichi is fine because theyre not real people – as if there werent disabled or chronically ill people in this fandom, in every fandom, or hell, around you?

and lets not mention tatsumi and people blatantly misinterpreting his christianity as something he would force upon others – first of all, western christianity does not apply to tatsumi. at all. i understand that people might find it easy to just associate him with that and make "haha, he would make me convert" or "haha he would be a homophobe" quips, and obviously its not necessary to have extensive knowledge on kirishitan history in japan and how they are, to this day, a minority that was persecuted for a lot of japan's modern history. LIKE, EVEN FROM HIS DIALOGUE IN ANY STORY.. when has he given off that impression? cite your sources, he's literally one of the most inclusive and accepting charas in the whole cast! not a prejudiced white christian middle aged mom...

i think that if you absolutely must reduce a character to tasteless jokes, stereotypes that arent even funny to begin with, and you refuse to even read the source content at all to correct yourself, you really need to think about how you engage with any media, not just enstars. if you want to look at the pretty characters just say that! but dont be like this, and don’t speak on things you don’t fully understand as if you did just to make a point or be funny! 

OKAY RINNE SORRY LOL i hate it. i hated all of it and judging by the ratio many people seemed to dislike it as well (god bless!). if you havent seen it i wont link it bc tbf i dont feel like looking at it again (peace and love) but the answers summed up are like "oh he would steal my money" "hes selfish and would take stuff from me and not gaf about my wellbeing" "hes married to niki already" the last one being the only one i agree with. and it makes me think about a lot of issues with how a good portion of the fandom sees rinne. ive seen a lot of people read rinne in bad faith, regardless of whether theyve read main story, hot limit or any story rinne is in. and i dont get it, genuinely. YES he can be upsetting! he can be an asshole, he can be rude, he DOES steal money from niki! but these people neglect to see or mention that he gives it back and then some. they fail to talk about how he spends a lot of his time trying to make niki see his self worth!! since hiiro was BORN he's been trying to get him to understand that he's deserving of love!! that YES he can be a dick but ultimately treats crazy:b and his friends with love and wants what's best for them! these are the same ppl that think he's abusive or something idk i can only assume. like yeah rinne has a carefully crafted persona where hes a complete dickhead and ig some players cant really bother to see past that act

unfortunately rinne himself is built on a few harmful stereotypes of ainu culture irt the drinking, being portrayed or viewed as more 'uncouth' by other characters, etc which is why the initial more explicit ties to ainu culture were removed altogether from his and hiiros design and background. it is understandable, which is for example why it's not really my place to say whether he can be interpreted as ainu or not, and even so, i try not to rely on those aspects of him because it still veers into sensitive territory. and its an unfortunate part of his character, but undeniably, rinne amagi DOES drink, (he's one of the only characters in main cast of drinking age anyway) does partake in harmful behaviors, but fsr suddenly that means hes nothing but a drunkard, to a lot of people. when reading rinne you really have to take these things and ofc, consider that theyre relevant to his character, but it's not all there is...? in the slightest..? there used to be a tweet thread explaining this link further but it's either been taken down or the account has been locked. either way, just a bit of googling goes a long way. i'd rather not go into too much detail here because i don't feel informed enough beyond pointing these issues out, and i personally feel like it's not really my place. if anybody wants to add onto this post to cite more specific sources please feel free

he's such a fun loving, cunning, caring guy who helps people get jobs (dance of the white tiger), who volunteers to play with kids at a daycare (asobi), and wishes so badly to become an idol and grant everyone the same opportunities if theyd like to be, as well (main story, sudden death SUDDEN DEATH IS MY FAV STORY AFTER HL BUT THE TL IS DOWN....SORRY. but i really really think it's one of the most important ones when it comes to rinne's character and motivations. also if u can read it in app it's even better bc it's voiced and theres a line where he's like "oh this guy's [niki] is engaged to me" when talking to kohaku's sister AND HE SOUNDS FULLY SERIOUS TOO....)

don't get me started on people who dumb him down as if he wasn't one of the most clever characters in the game. and unknowingly, people that continue to make rinne's character out to simply be a gambling flirty drunkard who doesn't know how to control himself, as if there weren't other facets of him – they lean into stereotypes, bordering on racism, even if its not malicious or theyre not aware. and it makes me so sad. a lot of the time these interpretations are spread around and then liking characters like him becomes some sort of moral debate, esp in current fandom (which is one of the reasons i think this stereotyping? happens? b/c ive found that fandom sometimes has the tendency of grabbing characters and mischaracterizing them so BADLY that liking them makes you a bad person..? not necessarily villains either! i promise it's okay to just dislike characters without making stuff up!)

that aside also suggesting he'd be an awful, neglectful spouse is simply incorrect. i very firmly believe that if rinne is devoted, he will drop every vice, every pretense, to make the other person happy. he's Like That in the story and towards niki because they keep tiptoeing around the subject but the second he gets an inner monologue, or is truly being genuine, you can tell he would do anything for him, if niki would just let him. to say that rinne isn't capable of being a good partner because he'll treat you badly or not care about you just proves to me that you're not reading any scene he is actually in. if rinne loves you, romantic or not, he will go big or go home. read hot limit btw

im not about to pull the story caps out no wait yes i am lol rinniki4ever ✌️

these arent in order bc i had to scroll up like 2k pictures because i take caps of this game every time i blink. i was considering adding hiiro caps, to show his dedication to him as well, but given that this is for like a marriage poll id rather not. either way he cares about his family and loved ones a lot. read chapter 155 if you want to know the exact scene i was thinking about/referring to while typing this

um ok (breathes out) im fine now. theres things i didnt address because it's 1 am and i want to go to sleep. congrats kuro on getting #1 most marriageable tho u deserve it KURO NUMERO 1 CAMPEAO DO MUNDO 💯💯💯🔥

#im not tagging this with anything else #im sorry if i sound snobby or just. idk. mean at all. it isnt even a matter of media literacy anymore its more like #sometimes interpreting stuff on such a surface level and having to make jokes out of everything is not the best way to go #especially when the jokes are harmful/offensive. you dont really see this behavior outside of eng fandom #this isnt meant to be scolding i just wish people understood!! #but like if people say something is offensive rather than just doubling down...listen? please #im not an authority on enstars obviously i havent caught up on anything non alkakurei since like 2018. these are just my thoughts #if you read all of it i appreciate you :) #its not that serious. unless youre being purposely ableist and or racist which in that case it is that serious #mimthinks

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I understand you don't like Zukka, but as someone who's been a mild of it since 2014, I can guarantee its not just Klance shippers? Sure, some people in the renaissance were, but fun fact Sokka and Zuko are DIFFERENT characters to the voltron ones, and people can appreciate the bond, platonic and romantic without just projecting it to another show, something which people use to call us all fetishisers which being mlm, is really damn weird. You can dislike a ship without making up bullshit from 2020 and early 2021, because honestly I'd much rather be around zukka shippers than zvtaras who have flooded askboxes with racism and homophobia just for shipping a ship they don't like because apparently "Zukkas are the evil". And anyone who has made a live action comment, its honestly probably just a joke made by some kid

Buddy, I get that kind of "old" Zukka harrassment on my asks, in both my blogs, to this day. It died down from the unbearable level it used to be, thank God, but it has NOT disappeared completely. Not even close. And like I repeatedly mentioned, Zukka fans have ALSO said plenty of racist, sexist, and, ironically enough, homophobic things to others, and people are well within their rights of complaining about that.

I never said "ALL zukka fans are just Klance fans that jumped to a different show and keep forcing it down everyone's throats", just like I never said "ALL zutara fans harrass peopel and send them death threats." There's not a single "mini-group" of this fandom that doesn't have it's bad apples, and if I point out that some have more than others, that doesn't mean I'm poiting the finger at you specifically and calling you a bad person for stuff someone you merely share a ship with did.

Yeah, I know people joke about "our crack-ship is totally gonna have it's glory day now" when there's new content coming up or when there's some ship-bait moments because the creators decided to throw shippers a bone. That's not what me and others are talking about when we mention Zukkas claiming the ship absolutely WILL be canon in some way soon. Once again, we are talking about people that literally harrass others about it and snap at us when we say either "I don't think Netflix will make Zukka happen" or "I, personally, wouldn't want Zukka to happen."

Just because you and your friends don't do that kind of stuff, doesn't mean nobody does. Don't take and others complaining about THEM as an attack against YOU.

No, I don't like Zukka. I USED to read some of the fics some of friends wrote for the pairings though, even if I never really shipped them, because Sokka and Zuko was a dynamic we barely saw in the show and that I always felt could have led to more comical moments AND I always liked both characters - and back then there wasn't all the blatantly out of character shit. But I don't do that anymore because a bunch of dickheads just had to completely ruin everyone's fun.

Basically what I'm saying is:

#anti zukka #anti zutara

[tatteredpantaloons]

i just do not relate to or find entertainment in any of the lgbt memes anymore. people are getting real weird with how they regard us as a community and individuals

#not just talking about the blatantly homophobic stuff either #like there's those ''what corporations think gay people are like vs actual gay people'' type memes #i've seen a BUNCH of those where the former is literally a gay person and the latter is some vaguely gnc cishet #or these gender memes where the gender is just an aesthetic #feels like it's all just seen as an aesthetic or something #have i just aged out of things idk #old man yells at cloud.jpg #personal spam

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

Aight, so while you type that up, Imma do the Douglas ask.

When he was younger, his parents always favored Donald. They blatantly preferred him in everything. He always tried to do better and make them proud, but they didn't care, they only really cared about whatever Donald did. Anything that he did was overlooked and anything that the two of them did together they only praised Donald for. (Albeit Donald was held to incredibly high standards to the point where any little thing could get him in trouble, so he didn't have it that good either.) Donald never really stood up for him, though, when he was getting in trouble despite him always doing so for Donald, so while, yes, Donald did definitely care about Douglas immensely, he still left a bad impression on him. (He was really cool in school, though. A troublemaker, yes, but he was freakin' cool. All the kids loved him. Donald wasn't so lucky, sadly.)

His parents were also really traditional and strict about religion, so he was raised with a shit ton of internalized homophobia. He realized he was bisexual after a couple of kids in middle school were making fun of one of the janitors for being gay. Obviously, he had no fucking clue what the meant. So he asked, and after it was explained to him, he really just went Oh. Him and the janitor became good friends after that. He was the only adult he 100% trusted and I'd like to believe Douglas was one of the speakers at his funeral. He has a few relationships with people of both genders, but all of his same-sex relationships usually ended pretty quickly because of his internalized homophobia. He came out to Donald when they were in high school, although that was a complete accident. (He caught him in bed with someone while their parents were away.) It went well, albeit very awkward and embarrassing. Donald is many things but homophobic ain't one of 'em.

After Douglas and Donald kind of separate from their parents a bit, he starts to come into his own person and get over some of his fears. Davenport Industries really takes off, and he actually gets a fair share of spotlight. But the praise kind of gets to him, which sets him on the bad path he went down. After some conversations with Donald, though, he decides that what he was doing was too much, and figures that android would have been a better idea. Donald catches him and doesn't give him a chance to explain anything or defend himself, though, so he's kicked out. He fakes his death thinking that its for the best, but manages to grab Daniel in time and takes him with him. Realizing that he can't exactly provide for Daniel, he puts him up for adoption, and works on his plan for revenge.

He figures that he should follow up on that android idea, hence Marcus' creation a little down the line. Without a lot of funds though, he tries to break into some rich guy's place and rob him. Enter Krane. Unlike Donald, though, he gave him a chance to explain himself before giving up to the authorities. And, Krane, being the fucking crazy person he is, decides that they should work together. Douglas gives him bionics, he gives Douglas funding for his experiments, its a win-win situation! This also leads to a relationship spawning between them, which turns out really well!! Except for the fact that it doesn't. Krane is very obviously not a good person and was really abusive towards Douglas. In all ways. I'd like to think that the dad Marcus was talking about would hurt him for ruining his guitar wasn't Douglas, but Krane, because, let's face it, Marcus would be fucking scared.

Fast forward to the current canon, not much is different in my mind. Douglas and Tasha definitely have wine nights, and his relationships with Donald are slowly but surely mending. He has tons of stuff that he does with Adam, Bree, Chase, Daniel, and now Oliver, Kaz, Skylar, and AJ. Things are going pretty good for him.

Y'know, until he got shot with a death orb and the series got cancelled without telling us what fucking happened. No I am not still salty.

bestie,,,,this is so good oh my god you just fed me so much content. I'm irrationally attatched to these two shows and find so little content for it, this is so good.

Man totally grew up with so much internalized hemophobia its ridiculous. Also, they definetly gave off the vibe of donald being the favored sibling by their parents, so excellent point there.

also yeah lbr krane and douglas had a relationship but it was def one sided, krane was def using him :(

also i love him being responsible enough to realize that hes not fit to raise a kid rn and puts him up for adoption, i know this is canon, but I love how he's like "yeah lil too focused on the revenge plan to raise a kid, ill give him to someone who can"

also i got distracted and im thinking about lgbt lab rats, correct me if im wrong, but when that lead actor dude(who was the robot giselle made) wasn't like everyone swooning over him? guys and girls? like it wasnt subtle right? im p sure both adam and bree found him hot, and chase def would have if he wasn't so suspicious of him (douglas too, but he was too busy going 😍 ex pls notice me 🥺(but again correct me if im wrong, its been a while)

#i love our infodump solidarity right here #asks #lrefmm #douglas davenport #marie (champion of making plankton a tumblr sexyman)

[bestnoncannonship]

GUYS!! I HAVE THE CURE TO HOMOPHOBIC SHOWRUNNERS!

Ok. So hear me out. I know exactly how to confuse/upset homophobic creators who queerbait us with blatantly romantically coded shit and then go "No iT wAS juSt PlAtoNiC lOVe tHe WHolE TiMeeeee".

We immediately take to Twitter with theories about how they MUST be a closeted AroAce. Think about it. Saying things like "Yeah....I'm aro and I TOTALLY miss the signs of romantic stuff and didn't get romantic tropes, no wonder the showerunner totally didn't see how obviously in love they were. Like everyone else saw it. He's just not built that way." Weaponize the infantilization and dehumanization of the ace and aro communities: "UwU Aroace bean do not undewstand what he maaaade."; "Oh robo man doesn't understand love!! It's okay my Android king, it's called Love. It makes us Human." And like post them with ace flags and shit. Start referring to their (inevitably a decade younger) girlfriend as their QPR and talk about how pure and nonsexual their love is. Act like we do when we find a queer in the media and just spam the queer theories and queer shit posting....but.... maliciously.

Now this sticks the homophobe who still wants to exploit queer interest in a fun little corner. Do they just let it go on? And become a trending hashtag? And let themselves be accused of not being a large-dicked sex-haver?! Never! Too emasculating to the homophobe. Do they defend themselves and say they understand romantic implications and just.....straight up queerbaited? Then we cancel their homophobic ass. Either way, it will be very entertaining to watch them squirm. At the absolutely extreme they may publicly out the homophobe in the studio or the homophobe producer who forced them to keep it het then we have someone new to harass untill we get gayer content. And hey.....maybe one WILL come out as aro/ace or discover he is aro-ace. In which case: YAY MORE QUEERS.

Also, having that much aro and ace stuff on people's tongues brings a fuckton of visibility to Aros and aces and makes people a lot more aware of the shitty, problematic things people say to them and the ways they are treated. Cause aro/ace things are direly underrepresented in the queer community and in media.

So it's a two in one!

#queer #queerbaiting #ace #aromantic #asexuel #aro #aroace #twitter #queer media #queer community #lgbtqia

[baepsrae]

Hi ~ sorry to bother you but I was just wondering what are your feelings about sj? I don't know much about them and I only see people either writing them all off as problematic assholes or blindly defending them. You said recently that they're not all bad but you definitely criticise them, so I was wondering what your take is?

Sungmin: loml! He's so talented and funny and pretty like ok can you please calm down king leave something for everyone else!!! He's also really cute and sweet alshsksjsl. He just seems like a genuinely good person tbh. he's just vibing. The PETTINESS of him and saeun on miss trot... Obsessed with his relationship with saeun, they're so good together. they look so in love, and I love how they are just vibin on tiktok!

Truly an underrated legend. Don't don era... truly an iconic look I loved his hair. People say his fashion sense is awful but honestly who else could pull off a mullet and a visor? just look at these looks:

You call it bad fashion sense, I call it innovation. Also his friendship with sunny was always cute to me.

also I know we HATE any "fun" stage where men dress up as women badly, but sungmin was seriously serving looks. before heechul was Gross Predator Confirmed™ a lot of gay kpop stans said fuck suju only heechul and often talked about heechul serving looks in drag.... my man sungmin served much better looks.

heechul wishes he was as a bad of a bitch! Love this man with my whole bisexual heart. subscribe to liu studio on youtube and stream orgel!!! Also he said one of his goals for 2021 is a second solo so TAKE NOTE AND SUPPORT HIM IF HE DOES!

yesung: racist.

ryeowook: ok but vocals! his version of the high notes in it's you... the way he hit them with absolute ease! chefs KISS!! when I was an elf he was second on my bias list, but now it's zhou mi. soft spot for him though.

siwon: homophobic. his friendship with sungmin... I pretend I do not see it.

kyuhyun: kind of a problematic fave? I mean, I don't really keep up with what he's doing because I don't really listen to their new music and I don't really like his solo stuff but... I honestly have a such soft spot for kyu. I like him. I really do! He makes me laugh! and he's really talented like omg his voice 😍 I have conflicting feelings tho... I know that infamous moment with hara on radio star was scripted and he apologised to her. but. it was horrible to see. And It was the start of the witch hunt against hara and... idk. It just feels weird. I'm not blaming him, that would be absolutely out of pocket and the people who I think are obviously much more accountable are netiziens who bullied and harassed her, her abusive ex and the system that let him walk free. but that fact is netiziens hated her after that moment on radio star. I think he's a good person at heart and it was in a script so there was no malice behind what he said... but I think about it a lot. I don't hold it against him or blame him personally, but I often think about it if I think about him for too long. Hindsight is 20/20. I have conflicted feelings. The reason it took me so long to reply is I really want to convey I don't blame him but also we need to acknowledge and analyse what happened here.

Zhou mi: LOVE him. I really do!! Great vibes from him, he seems like a great guy. Truly an icon. Really deserved better and sm absolutely wasted his talent. Rewind and whats your number were the two best solos from any suju member. I love that he vibes with yoongi.

shindong: literally just a sexist and racist loser. get a hobby.

Donghae: again, I have a soft spot. he's ok. great dancer and pretty attractive. he's on thin ice... not for anything specific I just... hmm asqkshsdjsnalkak

eunhyuk: I don't hate him but he doesn't pass the vibe check. tell iu I said get well soon girl!

Heechul: his relationship with momo is gross, we should have known considering how weird he was about sohee. jessica too. I despise him.

Leeteuk: oh god. well here we go. I don't like this man. first of all, known misogynist telling suzy to loose weight?? like? fix ur face before you speak to her!!! he literally gives me fight or flight. last person who should have ever been the leader of a group. I was wary of him because of how the members talked about how he was mean to kyu when he first joined the group, but the fact that he literally admitted that one time sungmin, shindong and eunhyuk were teasing him and it was all fun until he suddenly got annoyed and grabbed eunhyuk by the throat... and not even because eunhyuk specifically pissed him off but because he's the least likely to defend himself and because he knows shindong is bigger than him and sungmin wouldn't fucking hesitate bitch... imagine admitting to that! and then he said eunhyuk was so upset he didn't show up tp work later. I don't blame him! that's scumbag behaviour! that just made me very uncomfortable. Also he was blatantly cold towards and excluded sungmin since his engagement was announced, it was fucking weird. I wasn't surprised at all to find out he was messaging girls who are new to the industry and 13 years younger than him, and apparently he was messaging other younger women as well saying shit like "you should know who I am". I'm not saying he's abusive, idk him like that so that would be a big accusation and out of pocket. but from what I can see there's a pattern of targeting people who are like... more vulnerable than him? and I don't like it.

Past members:

kibum: go girl! give us nothing! interested to see what he brings to masked singer because he like... never sang in suju. glad he's doing stuff and free from sm.

Henry: the violin solo in don't don is iconic! He's racist tho and I don't like him.

hangeng: his solo music is so good. clown mask fucking slaps!!! I'm happy he's happy and I also am relieved that, like sungmin, he's fucking normal and married to a woman the same age as him. Really like him, he passes the vibe check.

Kangin: a terrorist. I despise him. he's not a person he is a list of crimes committed. only think about him when I'm thinking about suju on intimate note talking about how he did NOT pass sungmins vibe check. he's a misogynist and idc about him.

#thanks for indulging me #anon #super junior #woweeee this is a long post #ur not bothering me I'm hyperfixating on the good sj members rn so thanks for giving me an excuse

[imacrowcawcaw]

A Lover With A Red Hot Thong -- Duzzy -- Ch. 1

Author (as known on various sites): luluthechoosingcrow - AO3, theladylovingcrow - Wattpad and Deviantart, lady lover - Rockfic, @insannywestan - Sanny shipping blog, @gretavanfleetconfessions

Fandom: Guns n Roses

Pairings: Duff McKagan/Izzy Stradlin (Duzzy)

Tags/Warnings: Fluff, like extreme fluff, attempted humor, airports, Duff has anxiety, Izzy is really good at comforting him, cuddling, sharing a bed, romance, dates, friends to lovers, adorable giggly boys, kissing

Summary: Duff dressed like a stripper from Arkansas that had discovered the Sex Pistols last week, drank more vodka in a month than most people did in a year, baked amazing blackberry streudals, sang Prince in the shower, and made out with his friends when he was lonely. Izzy was pretty sure that he was in love with him. Something certainly comes out of it when they end up spending a rather romantic week (totally not a honeymoon) in New Orleans because somebody (the very Duff of his longings) always loses their passport.

Taglist: @brianmaysclog @love-n-my-heart-4-n-army-apart @1800endmeplease @tymeconsuming @satans-helper @ageofkiszka @karrotkate @therealswanqueen @mountainofthesunn @onlyan-angel @lantern-inthenight @love-philautia @ubernoxa @kill-fear-the-power-of-lies (reminder that I just remade my taglist and organized it as best as I could, but if you either don’t want to be tagged in something (like GNR) or want to be added, just let me know!)

Author's Notes (aka disclaimers): 

1 - Don't own the people or places 

2 - It's a combination of real and made up (to my knowledge) places for this story. Don't use this as a fucking tour guide, I've never been to New Orleans and I don't have memories of anywhere east of Lake Tahoe

3 - The timeline of this is also completely made up. I like to bend reality to my will because I am a lazy writer

4 - I tried my hand at writing a character with anxiety. I'm trying my best with the info online and my own experiences, but please let me know if something is wildly inaccurate and detracts from the story 

5 - I mean no disrespect to the band. I try my best to be a humorous writer, and I think that I have a pretty healthy view of them, seeing both the good and poking fun at the bad. Some of this might come off as mean, but I’m not really trying to be. I just want people to laugh

6 - Trying that thing where I port my WIPs to get motivated. We’ll see if this works!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, September 15, 6:46 AM, New Orleans Louis Armstrong National Airport 

"Duff, what exactly do you mean you don't have your passport?" Axl spit, breathing hard in an effort to diffuse combustion. He was not exactly the happiest camper this early in the morning, especially when some people's forgetfulness interrupted the sleep he had planned on getting as soon as they boarded the plane.

The man being questioned gazed at Axl nervously through wide, panicked eyes. 

"I don't know, man! Er- I mean, yeah I don't have it... I'm pretty sure the last time I saw it was at the hotel when we checked in. I'm sorry! We just got up so early and it was still dark and I kind of have a hangover from last night so I just shoved my stuff in my bag and went downstairs so we wouldn't be late, but now we're going to be late shit I'm sorry I don't-" 

"Hey, hey. Duff, it's okay, just breathe," Izzy soothed, speaking his first words of the day besides a 'fuck off' to Steven, who'd been tasked with waking him up. He settled a coffee-cup-warm, pale hand on Duff's shoulder and turned to speak to Axl.

"It's fine, Bill, we'll figure it out. None of us function well in the morning, do you have your snakeskin belt, hmm?" He asked, knowing that the beloved item was still hanging from a lamp in the hotel room they had checked out of at 4 AM.

Axl's mouth shut with a clack as he glared at Izzy and his damned know it all face. He huffed out a breath and made a big show of rolling his eyes and changing his expression to one of fond exasperation.

"Fine, then, you can figure it out. Don't expect any help from us, though!" 

Izzy snorted at his friend's drama and his statement; Steven was currently trying to convince an off duty captain to let him fly his plane, Axl was Axl, and Slash was still dead to the world behind his hair -- very helpful.

"Okay, well, we'll meet you there as soon as we can. Enjoy your flight, don't become members of the mile high club without us," Izzy replied, pulling Duff up and swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

They walked away, arms brushing with every step, to the sound of Axl screaming at them to bring back his belt, and the disgruntled looks of other early morning airport commuters whom they ignored. Izzy followed the overhead signs back to a check in desk with Duff in tow, hoping that everything would work out and that they could be in Amsterdam with the rest of the guys by nightfall.

No such luck, of course.

"I'm sorry," the lady said with a completely uncaring smile, "but the next flight to Amsterdam, commercial or private, isn't until next tuesday. I can book two tickets for you, Mr. Stradlin, but there's nothing more I can do." 

Izzy sighed, but nodded. He sorted through bills in his wallet, mocking the lady in his head all the while. 'I'm sorry, but your daughter is going to die from a wrench to the eye socket. I can give you a bandaid, but there's nothing more I can do.'

Duff, though, having woken up on the walk over, was looking closer to an anxiety attack than the mild annoyance Izzy was feeling. 

He quickly excused them and grabbed Duff's wrist, pulling him a few feet away for the false illusion of privacy to calm him down.

"Shh, shh, take a deep breath," Izzy whispered, hands gripping Duff's shoulders to force them to look straight in each other's eyes. "Everything will be alright. We'll find your passport, hang out in the city for a while, then go meet up with the guys. Easy, no problems. Relax babe, just try to relax and breathe."

Duff tried to steady his breathing as he clung to Izzy, pulling the man into a hug. He wasn't sure what he would do if Iz wasn't here -- his friend was usually the only one who could stop his incoming anxiety like that.

They stood there for several minutes; Duff regaining a normal breathing pattern, and Izzy slowly rubbing his back. As they pulled away from each other, Duff spotted a hippo in Mardi Gras attire glaring at them in disgust. He smirked rather weakly, still a bit shaken and queasy from his panic but back on the track to his usual self.

"Hey, Iz, it looks like we have an audience, and he's not very pleased."

Izzy grinned back at him, relieved that the Duff he knew was still kicking. Besides, this was their favorite game. 

Every once in a while, the boys were subjected to odd stares and the occasional slur. Usually, it was just for dressing like Dolly Parton while shoplifting, but occasionally, it was because they got pretty close. Sometimes they were drunk, sometimes they were just talking to each other or hugging, sometimes because they were blatantly trying to piss off as many people as possible (sometimes the "people" included Axl).

Izzy moved his hands from Duff's shoulder blades, one wrapping tight around his waist and the other getting a firm grip on his delectable ass. 

Duff snorted and cupped Izzy's face in his large hands, angling him upwards slightly so that they could lean their foreheads together. He bit his lip to stop from giggling, and Izzy brushed his own mouth against him for a split second, getting a quick hint of teeth and coffee-breathe.

Out of the corner of his eye, Izzy saw the man visibly shudder, his beady eyes grimacing. 

A fake blond, middle aged woman Izzy assumed was his wife laid one hand on his polo shirt, as if in an effort to calm him down. It had the opposite effect. The man grunted and skewered his mouth to the side, squinting even more as if a giant rainbow spotlight was being blasted into his eyes.

Izzy smirked, though it was barely noticeable against Duff's mouth. 

Duff murmured something about 'making a scene', but Izzy knew he was referring to their audience and not themselves. Neither of them cared who saw this, though if it was printed in any magazines Axl might try to suplex them out of a window. "Try" being the key word -- the little red terror was too chicken to actually try that with Izzy, and too short to get enough leverage on Duff. 

Somewhere behind him, Izzy heard the woman whine, "Oh, Charles!" like she was getting the worst rimjob of her life. 

"It's disgusting, Carol! I won't stand for it!" 

"Time to get going?" Duff whispered, pulling back an inch.

Izzy gave him one last searing kiss and an extra probing squeeze to the ass then nodded, breaking away. They quickly picked up their suitcases and high tailed it out of the building, leaving dust, stares, and a purple and green, mouth breathing, homophobic fatman in their wake. 

Duff laughed as they came to a stop in the middle of a group of Japanese tourists. They all turned to look at him as he barked, panted, barked, and then wheezed with his hands on his knees.

Izzy was looking at Duff too, a rare - though not as much as some people would think - smile on his lips. He patted his friend on the back and pulled out a cigarette, then offered one to Duff. It would make the wheezing worse, but a smoker cares none about that. 

They lit up from Izzy's lighter as the tour grouped streamed past them, completely nonplussed at the disgruntled - or awed, recognizing - stares they received. Once they had the stretch of sidewalk to themselves, Duff stacked their suitcases one atop the other and sat down while Izzy hailed a cab. His long arms soon garnered them a ride and they hopped into the sedan after tossing their bags into the trunk. 

It was blue, with a peeling leather interior and a hand stenciled logo on either window; the usual black and white checkers ran a wobbly circle around the outside of the car. The driver glared at them from underneath bushy brows as they smoked their cigarettes, and Izzy smiled at him politely, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror, until he finished and put out his cig on the door's plastic. 

Duff's mind was in some far off place and he didn't notice any interactions taking place. Izzy wondered if he was thinking about how to find his passport, or what to do in the city, or about girls -- or, the bleach blonde head rolling onto his shoulder could have been asleep. The snores more or less confirmed it. 

"Where to?" The driver asked after a minute. 

“Marriott on Jackson,” Izzy answered, turning his torso minutely to get more comfortable.

Etta James’ smoky vocals floated out of the speakers, half of the tone quality getting lost in the maze of beads hanging down from the cab ceiling in a curtain between driver and passengers. Izzy sighed and shifted; the leather creaked; Duff snorted and drool ran down his arm. He smiled down at the man asleep on him and brushed some hair back from his sticky mouth, fingers slowly tracing Duff’s jawline. 

Michael Andrew Mckagan was a unique specimen, that was for sure. He was laid back and welcoming, yet had enough energy to rival Popcorn, at times. He was loving and affectionate to his friends, and scathingly rude to those that hurt them. Duff dressed like a stripper from Arkansas that had discovered the Sex Pistols last week, drank more vodka in a month than most people did in a year, baked amazing blackberry streudals, sang Prince in the shower, and made out with his friends when he was lonely. Izzy was pretty sure that he was in love with him.

The engine of the cab coughed, and suddenly the vehicle was rolling to a stop outside the hotel they had left only an hour or so ago. Izzy gently shook Duff awake and went to pay the man while Duff got their bags back out of the trunk. 

“That will be forty dollars,” the man said, staring Izzy down from beneath his fuzzy caterpillar. Interestingly enough, that was the only facial hair he had; perhaps he’d shaved off his mustache and glued it, hair by hair, onto his brow bone. 

“Really? It was half that to get to the airport two hours ago. What’s your game, man? You think you can scam us?”

Izzy didn’t like being scammed. It was damn near impossible to get one up on him - let alone very rare someone even dared to try - so this guy was about to get it if he thought he could. 

“You ruined my interior. Smells like smoke. I need to clean it now. I know you have the money,” the man glared, narrowing his eyes. The caterpillar hunched down too, like it was trying to curl up on itself to avoid getting eaten by a hawk-nosed Stradlin. 

“Is that so?” Izzy snorted, fishing out another cigarette just for the hell of watching the man get angrier. 

“Here, forty dollars. C’mon Iz, let’s go.”

Duff handed the man a fold of two twenties with a sigh, his other hand subtly resting on Izzy’s lower back for a moment before removing itself again. He wanted to fight it - there was no way that guy should be getting away with charging them double price, fuck that! - but Duff was tired and the money was already handed over. Izzy knew that physical signal from Dff, too, the hand on the back: it meant “leave it”. 

With a final huff and a not so subtle bird, Izzy grabbed his carpet bag from where Duff had lain it on the asphalt and followed his tall friend through the hotel’s front entrance, cigarette dangling from his mouth all the while. 

They made their way over to the front desk, explained the situation, and then they were back inside the mirrored elevator armed with the suite’s key card, going up like they had never left in the first place. 

“Hmm, wonder what it would be like to make love in this elevator?” Duff mused, staring upwards at his reflection in the ceiling. 

Issy followed the bold line of his profile, from Adam's apple to nose to messy hair, before he finally glanced at the ceiling, too. 

“Interesting, certainly. I’ve done it in front of a mirror, but not in a whole box of them.”

“Yeah. Hey, we should come back here and incorporate this into our next video!” Duff exclaimed, grinning at him. 

“Izzy snorted. “What, you wanna come back here a third time? This place got like a magical draw or some shit?”

They both cracked up.

#duzzy #duff mckagan #izzy stradlin #duff x izzy #gnr #guns n roses #gnr fic #guns n roses fanfic #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #my writing #lulucrowproductions #fluff #friends to lovers #humor

[mediocre-riverdale]

WHY FINN HUDSON WAS THE WORST

#1. Cheating

Finn cheats on Quinn twice with Rachel, which evens out when Quinn also cheats, but no one ever mentions Finn cheating again. So, Finn gets cheated on by Quinn and Rachel, and both times he says how much it hurts and has an outburst. Despite now knowing the pain it causes, he encourages Quinn to cheat on Sam multiple times until she finally does it. He then continues to mock Sam, smirking at Sam and saying ‘I didn’t kiss your girlfriend’ in a teasing tone that implies to everyone that he did. Sam has done absolutely nothing to Finn except be nice and Finn shows no remorse at all for wrecking a relationship, even though he’s been cheated on twice. Again, no one calls him out on this besides Sam.

#2. How He Treats Rachel

Finn knows that Rachel has a crush on him because Rachel is very obvious about it. Despite the fact that he has a pregnant girlfriend at the time, he manipulates Rachel’s emotions and asks her out on a date with the intention to get her back in the Glee Club and not actually date her. He even kisses her (twice). So, after Quinn and Finn break up, Rachel assumes that her and Finn will date (since by this point they’ve kissed twice and been out on a date). Finn goes ahead and tells her he doesn’t actually want to be her boyfriend, which is fine because even though he led her on at least he’s honest.

He goes to hook up with hotter girls and when that doesn’t work out he goes back to Rachel, who now has Jesse. Rachel tells Finn that she’s moved on, which she has a right to do since Finn dumped her. Finn’s response? He’s not taking no for an answer and will not respect Rachel/Jesse’s relationship even though he had his chance. He goes on to betray Rachel’s trust and expose Rachel/Jesse’s relationship to everyone, taunt Jesse multiple times, and not back down. After Rachel tells him no again, he even sings Jessie’s Girl to her in front of multiple people and circles her while Rachel sits there uncomfortably.

After Finn leaves Rachel to go to the army comes back (after backpacking around for months without saying a word to anyone), he’s angry that Rachel moved on after he told her to do just that. He complains and is shown to be jealous of Rachel’s success. Once he finds out Rachel did kiss Brody, he runs off like a child to Lima, again without saying anything to Rachel. This forces Rachel to abandon her life in NYC for at least a whole day just to come find his pouty ass.

While Rachel maturely explains why they can’t be together anyone, Finn pathetically complains about how he now has no one in the world and how things will never be good again.

#3. How Finn Treats Other Males

I’ve already mentioned how he belittled Sam (also: when the Sam did the Justin Bieber experience, Finn claimed it was stupid and then after finding out he could get Quinn to cheat using a Bieber song, he stole Sam’s idea) and Jesse, and encouraged their girlfriends to sleep with him. So, let’s move on to Blaine. Blaine is a nice guy who joins the New Directions with the intention of helping them and finding love with Kurt. Finn, noticing Blaine’s talent, insults him multiple times and tries to make him feel as if he’s not part of the team.

Moving onto Kurt. Kurt is his friend and step-brother, yet he doesn’t really treat Kurt well. He indirectly calls him a fag, tells him to tone it down with the gay stuff, doesn’t stand up for him multiple times in fear of losing his high school popularity, and is shown to be uncomfortable in a lot of normal situations with Kurt. There’s an episode where Rachel asks Finn to stand up for Kurt and Finn blatantly says he can’t do it because of his reputation. In the end, all of this is resolved by him dancing with Kurt at a wedding (where the only people attending are the Glee clubbers and family members, all of which are already accepting), which does absolutely nothing to stop the fact that Kurt is being terrorized by Karofsky.

#4. Finn Is A Hypocrite

We’ve already covered the whole cheating thing where he constantly complains about being cheated on but encourages cheating himself. Let’s talk about how he berates Rachel for not giving up the spotlight or allowing talented people to join (Sunshine), but then is threatened and mean whenever any other talented male comes in. If Rachel insults someone or tries to steal a solo she’s a horrible, annoying diva. If Finn insults another nice male with more talent than him, Finn is an insecure teen who needs to be coddled and propped up by everyone.

In season one, Finn is creeped out by Kurt’s persistent crush on him. He says something along the lines of ‘if I did that to a girl, she would take out a restraining order’. But he does do stuff like that to girls. Again, Rachel says that she is dating Jesse and he needs to respect that and Finn continues to pursue her. Quinn says that she is dating Sam and doesn’t want to cheat, but Finn won’t take no for an answer and goes on anyways.

#5. Finn’s Prejudice

I’ve already mentioned how he screamed faggy at Kurt multiple times, but let’s look more into that. When Sam comes and wants to sing a duet with Kurt, Finn immediately finds Sam to say that he can’t do a duet with another guy. Sam says that he already promised and will be doing it, but Finn argues against it and later goes to tell Kurt that he shouldn’t sing with Sam. Poor Kurt is guilted into singing alone.

Finn later calls Sue’s baby a retard, even though he knows multiple people with Down syndrome and obviously knows that word is an insult. He says this when he is an adult, not a dumb teenager.

#6. Finn’s Reputation

Everyone constantly talks about how Finn was ever so brave for being nice to the Glee Club and joining them. No one mentions how Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Mike, and Matt also joined even though they were Cheerios/football players.

Finn cares about his reputation more than anyone else. At first, he won’t admit he likes Rachel because she’s a loser. He won’t pose in the Glee photo after promising Rachel he would. He won’t stand up for Kurt. In the episode where all of the football players have to choose between football and Glee, he is the only one not to show up. He basically tells Kurt to ‘tone down the gay’ multiple times. In another episode, he goes to throw a slushie in Kurt’s face because he needs to keep his popularity.

#7. Finn Compared to Others

Now, you might be saying ‘oh, but Santana, Quinn, and Rachel did bad stuff too’.

Okay, let’s talk about Santana first. Yes, Santana insults people all of the time and is a bitch. She also gets called out on it multiple times (while basically no one ever calls Finn out on anything), and she stands up for multiple glee members. Santana tapes a recorder to her under boob to get Sebastian in trouble after hurting Blaine, threatens Karofsky in the halls when he threatens to beat up Kurt/Blaine, creates the Bullywhips to protect Kurt, blackmails Karofsky so Kurt can come back to school, and threatens Brody with a Paula Abdul song after she finds out he’s shady.

Rachel is annoying yes, but everyone never forgets to tell her this. She constantly stands up for herself and others in the club. She’s the one that comes up with the idea for the guys to threaten Karofsky. She’s the one who offers everyone singing lessons, is down to do anything to help the club, and helps Kurt multiple times with songs/auditions. She’s nice to Quinn about the pregnancy, even though both of them know Quinn would have tortured her if the roles were reversed.

Now onto Quinn. I think Quinn is kind of a bad person, but again, people tell her this to her face. No one ever really tells Finn when he’s done something wrong, they just continue to praise him over basic human decency. Multiple people have told Quinn how horrible she is, and somehow acknowledging that she’s a bitch makes it less annoying to see because we know that something will be said/happen to her. For Finn, consequences don’t exist.

#8. Santana’s Outing

Okay, I’ve seen some people say that Santana was a bitch who deserved to be outed (no one deserves that) and that Finn wasn’t trying to tell everyone, just a couple people. So, we’ll disregard that he outed her in a high school hallway in a school that was openly homophobic.

After the outing, Santana slaps Finn and later Finn uses that as blackmail to get her back into the Glee Club for a week, saying it’s either that or no competition. Lady Music Week is humiliating. It consists of everyone singing a song while making deep eye contact with Santana while she sits there uncomfortably. Santana says multiple times that she doesn’t like the idea and doesn’t want attention on her, but of course Finn doesn’t listen because he can’t take no for an answer.

Finn sings Girls Just Want to Have Fun and everyone immediately disregards the fact that he said Santana’s biggest secret in front of multiple people.

#9. No One Blames Finn For Anything

Like I’ve said above, Finn cheats, isn’t there for his friends, insults people, has jealous rage, outs Santana, and cares about his reputation over everything, and yet no one says a word to him about this. No one goes ‘hey Finn, you’re acting like an ass’.

Finn is praised the entire show for being ‘the best guy in the world’. There’s a scene where Artie thanks Finn for being his friend and basically says that it was a sacrifice for Finn to step down from his popularity for a bit to slum it with the Glee Club. Again, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Mike, Puck, Sam, and Matt all joined even though they could’ve been popular. They receive no praise.

#10. Finn Is A Lazy Complainer

Finn spends most of high school not studying and playing video games. He’s also on the football team, but doesn’t really commit to football that much. He’s a mediocre high school student.

When college applications time comes around, Finn has the audacity to be shocked by the fact that he doesn’t get a football or theater scholarship. He spends all of season three complaining about how he’ll never get out of Lima, even though all we’ve seen from him is him plotting how to sleep with girls, whining about his reputation, and occasionally doing a decent thing. We never really see him work hard at anything.

He just complains constantly about everything and when Mr. Schue, Rachel, and Emma try to help him by giving him college pamphlets, he doesn’t even read them. He throws them out in the trash as soon as possible and then later goes on a rant about how he won’t be young forever, as if he never thought or learned about aging.

Then, in college, he’s shown to be a slacker who parties all day, drinks, and makes grilled cheeses. He even lies and manipulates college girls into taking off their tops, so hey, maybe he’s moved up a little in the world. Anyways, Puck has to come and tell him it isn’t cool to skip your classes.

Basically, Finn complained, finally got into a college, and then just slacked off again without learning anything

#glee #gleek #finn hudson #rachel #rachel berry #quinn fabray #santana lopez #kurt hummel #blaine #blaine anderson #sue sylvester #will schuester #sam #sam evans

[fletchphoenix]

Self-Fulfilled Prophecy

Chapter 5 of the High School AU! Bit short to be honest. I intended for it to be longer, but all the extra content was adding up to like,,,over 5000 words and felt like it was dragging on for WAYYYYYYY too long, so I left it at a key scene. As always, thank you for your support and onward with the chapter!!

---------------------------

  Hugo knew what everyone said about him at school. How could he not? It was all people ever spoke about involving him - how he was the biggest playboy in the whole town and how people should ‘stay away’, though people never heeded the warnings. At that point, it was their own fault. They’d been told about how he was - about his human nature - so when people kept falling for him, they should have known what to expect. Although, he didn’t feel like treating Varian that way. He genuinely thought the boy was sweet and to take advantage of him when he was down wasn’t fair. There was also the fact that he made Hugo’s knees weak whenever he gave him a smile, but that was less important. 

  He should’ve anticipated the text from Leon, in all honesty. The boy was always on top of the latest drama in school, and if he could blackmail someone into giving him the inside scoop, he sure as hell would. However, Hugo was sure he’d picked the most secluded spot he could’ve to take Varian for their unofficial date, so how the boy had the evidence they were there was beyond him. His breath still hitched when he saw that too familiar name appeared on the screen of his phone, indicating the other had sent him a picture as rain poured outside on Friday night a few minutes after he’d dropped Varian off at home - an uncommon occurrence in the excessively sunny town of Corona. 

  Sweat formed small beads on his forehead as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt and stared at the picture in front of him. There it was - clear as day that him and Varian had shared a kiss on the beach. He couldn’t even deny it either, the picture blatantly revealing his face with a wide smile on it as he stared down at the boy in the sand, nothing but love in his eyes. It should have been a heartwarming sight - to see the moment captured for good in a photo of the pair, but...this was Leon they were talking about. 

  Leon certainly was a character. Hell, he was sure he’d just been suspended for homophobic bullying towards their chemistry teacher’s son a few days ago, so to see a picture revealing him and Varian in a less-than-friendly position from the boy who had LITERALLY the most republican parents on earth...needless to say, nausea built in his stomach. Why couldn’t it have been someone else to spot them? Why couldn’t it have just been no one? Why was it even such a big deal if Hugo liked boys anyway? It wasn’t as if he was hurting anyone in the process. Tension arose as a grey bubble with ellipsis appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen. Great.

  Leon : Wow Atkinson. Never took you for one to be interested in someone like that little freak. Guess you really dropped your standards, huh?

  Hugo resisted the urge to scream as his eyes scanned over the message. ‘Little freak’? Bold statement coming from someone who literally looked like a rat that had somehow mutated into a human form. Leon certainly didn’t make up for his personality in the looks department - Hugo felt sorry that his mother had no choice but to love a kid with a face like that if he was being honest. The grey text bubble appeared yet again before he had a chance to type a reply, a frown making its way onto Hugo’s face. Brilliant. The rat-man obviously wanted something from him if he was THIS eager to respond to him. 

  Leon : I’ll give you a proposal. You do me a little favour and I won’t expose to the school about what you really are. You wouldn’t want everyone to hate you, now would you? To think that Hugo Atkinson is just as much of a freak as that Zander kid..wow.

 Hugo : What is it.

  Leon : $400 . All I’m asking for so your little secret doesn’t get spread everywhere. How’s that sound, Hugh?

  Hugo thought back to Varian, chewing his nails. Of course no one would think of them differently - Corona was a very progressive town in many ways, but he wasn’t out to Donella yet and had no idea how she would react. Plus, he didn’t know if Varian had told his..whatever Rapunzel and Eugene were to him, and if they’d be fine with that either. He didn’t want to risk either of their reputations being ruined, but it was a massive sum of money to pay and he wasn’t sure if he could even GET that much at all. He let out a sigh and let his head rest against the forest green pillows on his bed, shutting his eyes from a moment and taking a few deep breaths. He just couldn’t risk it - him and Varian weren’t even together anyway. One kiss didn’t equate to a whole relationship between the two.

  His mind drifted to the frequent dreams he’d been having about the boy. They’d all seemed so real, raw with emotion and bizarre scenarios that even his brain couldn’t have concocted. They all seemed like they were important - part of something. He racked his brain to think. What if they were a..past life of some sorts? Some kind of prophecy or future life the pair was destined to live? Was Varian really his soulmate or something? Hugo had always thought that stuff was made up, used to convince people with no hope of a proper relationship into thinking there was hope out there for them, but..now he wasn’t so sure. Everything had fallen into place when Varian came into his life - as much as he’d annoy the younger boy, he couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Maybe Varian was part of his destiny?

  He shook his head. He was thinking too deep into this. He’d kissed him once after taking him out on an unofficial date. That didn’t immediately make them partners - just showed they were..moderately interested in each other. ‘Moderately interested’ for Hugo being that the other never left his mind and he couldn’t focus if the other boy wasn’t near him at all times. Yeah, it was completely normal. Just...moderate interest in each other! He couldn’t risk people thinking anything different about them though, so he picked his phone up and typed out his response quietly.

  Hugo : One, we had socks on. Not gay. I can get the money to you in a week, alright? 

  Leon : Deal. See you Monday, Atkinson 

  Hugo set his phone aside and stared at his ceiling.

  Lets just pray Leon knew how to keep a promise.

#varigo #varian and the seven kingdoms #varian x hugo #varian tangled #tangled varian #hugo tangled #tangled hugo #alchemy boyfriends #varigo high school au

[joshler]

regarding my last post

tw// topics relate to suicide/suicide prevention, racism, and bullying

before i get put on blast for “being white” or whatever the replies have accused me of: no, i’m actually a queer asian poc! my dad is a chinese immigrant from hong kong and my mom is cambodian who immigrated to america from vietnam during the vietnam war. i support blm 1000% bc i feel that as a fellow minority, we are on the same team. we’ve felt oppression, in different degrees, yes, but oppression nonetheless. i wanted to clear the air in regards to myself personally because the things aimed at me in the replies of my last post were insensitive and ignorant when you do not personally know me.

i would like to say i’m more of an update page at this point for TWENTY ONE PILOTS. i’m not here to get political, but i do want to say some things in regard to yesterday’s twitter incident with tyler joseph. first of all, YIKES. the joke was distasteful and the entire “thread” on everything he made yesterday had the worse timing in the history of ever. the platform “joke” was in regards to everybody pressuring for him to say something on current events such as blm, lebanon, etc. those things are very important and i have already done many things on my part to support blm and lebanon including donations, signing petitions, and posting on my main social media accounts (i’ve really ghosted tumblr) with ways others can help. i put links to resources, petitions, and places to donate among other helpful sites. the way tyler handled things yesterday was really idiotic on his part. with that dumb joke, he could have immediately linked blm and apologized right afterwards which is what should have been done. instead, he moved on into a tangent regarding mental health and suicide awareness. i understand what he was trying to say, but in the heat of the political movement RIGHT NOW, shifting the conversation to mental health while it should have been about blm was a terrible choice on his part. even if he connected how mental health and blm tied in together, it would have been great for what he was trying to say.

WHAT HE MEANT for all of the sjws jumping on this bc “a white man is being racist and using his privilege”: september is suicide prevention month. tyler’s intensions with the platform tweet was to make fun of everyone mass tweeting him for the past few months (you cannot make people do things). he was NOT mocking blm or any political movement. that platform joke was supposed to lead into talking about mental health. for anyone who doesn’t know, tyler is a very meticulous person. there’s no doubt he’s planned talking about this stuff for a long time. the fucking band’s moto is “stay alive” so of course mental health is a huge part of twenty one pilots culture, and tyler would want to talk about it. at the same time, that doesn’t mean i’m at all excusing him for not immediately speaking on behalf of blm in yesterday’s tweets. once he saw that what he was saying was not received as he thought it would be, tyler apologized for hurting anyone and sent out the links.

this is not the first time he has talked about blm either (as seen above). his band mate (josh) and wife (jenna) have spoken on behalf of blm as well. debby ryan (josh’s wife) has been the most vocal in regards to everything going on right now. for you strangers out there to jump on here and to call him this and that is doing nothing but spreading negativity. you are wasting your own time. instead of badgering people, how about taking your business elsewhere or at least trying to educate others. do not come onto my replies just to make trouble. as fans, you can’t just say “we don’t personally know them” while you know even less than we do since you just popped in when shit hit the fan for them and they turned “problematic.” tyler did what was right at the end of the day. i am not praising him at all, but he has at least apologized and learned his lesson.

in regards to them being rich and not donating: nobody knows what they’ve done behind the scenes. i personally donated to many blm funds and to the red cross in lebanon, and nobody knows that until now! just because you donate does not mean you are obligated to publicly blast that for everybody to know. your money is going to a cause that you support, and that should only really matter to you. celebrities are no exception to that idea.

fun fact: tyler has a niece named mercy on his wife’s side! she is black and tyler and his wife are extremely close to her and her family. to come out of no where just to call him racist and all that when you in fact don’t know a thing about him besides some surface tweets is uncalled for. in regards to being silent on the crisis in lebanon, tyler is part lebanese! without a doubt, he’s donated to some sort of lebanon aid fund. but again, we will never know.

for those of you upset about the platforms: dollskill isn’t the only site that sells those boots! dollskill is certainly the most popular brand the shoes are on, but if you look them up, the platforms pop up else where as well. to blatantly say “oh he supports dollskill so he’s racist/homophobic/supports the police/all the shit that company stands for” is just as ignorant as you think he is!  dollskill as a company is complete shit. i don’t support them at all. many people think they’re from dollskill mainly because of this one instagram page that’s all about finding the exact/similar clothing to what tyler/josh/jenna/debby have worn, but we cannot be 100% sure that they were purchased from dollskill. that shit company steals from other smaller artists/designers, remember? (that same instagram account reuploaded a link to a different store who is selling them, as found here)

if you still have beef with tyler and what he said, there’s really no point in bickering just to call complete strangers “stupid” or “clowns” or just really hurtful names! you are screaming into an abyss and hurting others at the same time. there is a fine line between straight up bullying and educating others on bettering their understanding with what is currently going on. my intensions behind the post was to show that he had become active again. we are a fandom, and i like to update my page when they post new pictures. that is simply what i did. i made THIS post to clear the air on what people were saying about ME. i deleted tumblr off my phone because what was being said was just belittling and i didn’t want to see that when this whole situation with what tyler did already made me upset. feel free to dm me if you would like to talk about anything. i would be happy to discuss any points that i’ve mentioned. i would much rather have a civil conversation than be picked on through replies and anonymous messages.

at the end of the day, not everyone can always have satisfied and that’s okay. if anything, this entire situation truly opened my eyes to that. hopefully you read through this whole thing before you put anything on blast again.

here’s this, too. they do care.

summary: sorry on behalf of tyler joseph. he needs to work on reading the room better.

#k talks

[oceancoralx]

 Hey everyone, I’ve just been lingering about. Been avoiding Tumblr RP because it’s not really where I’ve felt the most comfortable (even though I’ve made some amazing friends, you guys know who you are and you guys are awesome). I tried to return through discord because that’s where I felt more comfortable but I haven’t checked there in a while either. Life has been pretty terrible honestly and my muse has been drained as the distractions and problems piled on top. I just wanted to drop in and give an update. Also... wow, there’s a lot of drama I’ve seen. Another reason I’m very hesitant to come back but I’m glad certain things are being addressed such as toxic masculinity and racism, especially within the sect of “gay rp” (idk, but you guys know what I mean). Anyone else, this ain’t about you, and I appreciate you guys because your talent is off the charts.

I try and lean less towards that gay rp end of the spectrum tbh because fetishization tends to happen, I’ve noticed, and there’s also been stuff to do with consent that, while I have to say is my problem considering it’s not my business, I’m very concerned about and uncomfortable with as they’re portraying non-con for fulfilment rather than being addressed as what it is. Or at least being treated as a trigger with a warning or anything at times. I prefer story based rps than smut (which I prefer to do with rpers I’m comfortable with) and that’s just my own personal preferences that doesn’t impact anyone but it’s a huge part of rp, technically and I think it’s worth putting my two cents (is that what Americans use? Is that the phrase?) in. 

In terms of a toxic masculinity argument, I don’t think that particular issue was addressed as well as it probably should have been in the post I saw going round but it’s definitely a part of it. I think the types of muses we glorify are very evident but I do believe that that’s almost entirely okay. Be attracted to what you’re attracted to or gravitate towards and do you! But I do see a lot of muses (sure, twinks can be a part of this conversation, okay, but you know a lot of other groups as well) are neglected. I think white, traditionally masculine muses with perfect, muscular bodies are favoured (fine) and also “gay” (stereotypical) behaviour, attributes, traits, features are rejected (eek ok)/deemed unattractive and I do think that there has been a problem where it’s teetered towards a kind of toxic masculinity/internally homophobic direction (not always but there’s been some of that.) I don’t think it’s intentional because we can all like what we like but what we put out with that sentiment has crossed the line a few times and that’s where we need to be careful. I also understand that a lot of these things aren’t going to be addressed when your characters are smutting it up because those rps aren’t that deep and you’re just trying to enjoy writing. I’d just say that be careful within those spaces that we don’t put out any harmful messages or idk make a conscious effort to try and be positive in any way we can? You’d think this is a very simple thing but if people are still agreeing that this is still happening then it’s something that needs to be realised and put into words. 

Idk. Could be as simple as putting a trigger warning or... rephrasing? Sometimes the character is just like that and that’s fine but acknowledgement OOC or something? I don’t know, maybe even that seems a little much but it at least makes the distinction between the character and mun. I don’t believe your characters represent you, wholly. Just be aware and conscious of these things and outside of your character interactions, especially if your character is intentionally problematic or toxic ect, try and be decent to everyone. Muses are fictional but the many muns behind them are real people and however great or small, you have an impact on the environment you contribute to. The argument I saw being conveyed was not well put but I think that just because the person arguing them has problems of their own (valid ones which I am about to address) lets not disregard everything they said from the conversation because I think we should still talk about toxic masculinity and homophobia in areas that were not addressed. Also the attitude of non-binary and trans muses as being less than is also something I acknowledge has happened a few times. We’ve come a long way since now these characters are actually being included and brought to the surface of attention and I don’t think that any of us are trying to be harmlful (or I should hope not) but I do think in queer spaces we should be the ones to make room/welcome these types of people and issues safely and comfortably into them. I’m not saying you necessarily have tor rp with muses you don’t want to, I’m not policing you to be more diverse and inclusive but be open minded and aware that you are making an impact in your threads, muses, bios, rules pages and ooc messages and be mindful what sorts of messages your words are communication. I want it in writing that trans men are no less of a man (same for trans women but I see even FEWER of these muses) and we should be learning to adapt to this understanding of gender rather than conveying attitudes of the past that harm people within the community. Also no matter what the body of the non-binary muse is like, respect that they’re non-binary if that is the decision from the mun. Don’t erase that by disregarding chosen pronouns for your own fulfilment in the story. A character being non-binary shouldn’t change what they contribute to the story, especially if the story is two characters flirt in an undescribed location with a convenient bed and the only thing they have in common is that they’re horny and hot. 

In terms of racism, now this hits a little harder. There’s definitely a problem there (as pointed out by a lot of the people who responded to the toxic masculinity post). I empathise with the sentiments expressed about the blatantly harmful attitudes geared towards Asian and specifically Korean muses, as well as a general attitude towards all POC muses. This needs to change and if you think that this whole preferences thing doesn’t mimic the problems of the real world towards POC than I think you need to rethink. Many different muses of many different ethnicities have been either rejected due to physical preferences and the argument that due to this being done in a space where we create fiction that means this is okay I think is very questionable. Whole races of people being generalized and boxed into one is not where we should be at. You being comfortable with only FCs who are actors is fine, or FCs that supply no significant age gap is completely fair but implying a whole race of people is unattractive? I’m not putting words into anyone's mouth but please do not do this. Especially right now, we shouldn’t be doing this and we should already understand why this is bad. On the other side of the spectrum, the fetishization and stereotypes, especially in the way it is advertised is very grim. Fetishization of a whole race of people is dehumanizing, especially if that race is an oppressed minority. I’m not accusing anyone but PLEASE just try and consider your approach to interacting with POC muses in this way. It requires so little effort to just question whether something is okay. I don’t think it is hard to listen to what is going on in the real world and not project those harmful things in order to fulfil your fantasies. I think there’s a problem there if certain fantasies are fulfilled on the back of people getting hurt. Just do your research and try to offend anyone is what I’m saying. It’s very simple. Just grow as a human. Pretty much if you’re not talking from experience, just be respectful, whether you’re putting out a muse or trying to interact with a muse. Make a mistake and then try and then learn and grow. Don’t try and box POC muses into ways they can fulfil your fantasies based on very tired ideals of who they are and what they can offer. I’m saying it again, just be respectful. Question what you put out, think about it and try not to hurt people through what you communicate. Have empathy. I’m reiterating the same things because these are simple thoughts that should just come so quickly and casually. There are so many people with a multitude of different experiences interacting with this and probably people who have more knowledge on it but lets not just address these issues when someone needs to be called out. Lets put a stop to it in general. This shouldn’t have just been made aware of when it was right there in front of us. 

Listen, I’m not here to police or tell people how to go about RP. Get weird, go crazy and be out there. Characters and threads are not real life, I understand that but just be aware of the impact around that little bubble within the thread. Try and make a conscious ever to put out positivity outside of your threads when you’re contributing to your blogs. Or at the very least, don’t put out negativity. Make sure that no one feels unwelcome or disregarded or hurt when they come to your blog. RP is a social activity (wow I sound like an annoying, patronizing teacher while I write this) and that means that no matter how introverted you are, you gotta navigate it that way. Just don’t be a dick. This isn’t a call out post, just a “think about it this way the next time you try and put something out there.” This was my opinion on a few things that have been circling and a few things that haven’t been touched upon much. I’m also open to criticism myself if there’s anything I should have said, got wrong or missed out. Like everyone else here, I make mistakes and I am trying my best. I don’t think many of us are harmful or negative people, but sometimes when we are otherwise distracted we can slip up so it’s good to direct our attentions back to those areas. Ok I’m done.

This is probably a mess of a post.

#OOC #Long fucking post

[go-events]

GO Rom Com Spotlight: @heavens-bookshop

The enchanting @heavens-bookshop has claimed How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days to adapt for Good Omens in the Good Omens Rom Com Event.

For reference, here’s a little background about the source material!

About How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: An advice columnist, Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson), tries pushing the boundaries of what she can write about in her new piece about how to get a man to leave you in 10 days. Her editor, Lana (Bebe Neuwirth), loves it, and Andie goes off to find a man she can use for the experiment. Enter executive Ben Berry (Matthew McConaughey), who is so confident in his romantic prowess that he thinks he can make any woman fall in love with him in 10 days. When Andie and Ben meet, their plans backfire.

We spent some time chatting about how the adaptation is coming so far, as well as future plans for it! Now, get to know @heavens-bookshop a little better!

* * *

goromcom: You know how if you open a Tumblr chat with someone you haven't chatted to before, Tumblr tells you two things they post about? I wanted to tell you that yours reports that you post "about #yes and #oh my god." I think those are actually lovely tags, and they show that you are frequently quite excited and supportive of the things you reblog and post! :)

heavens-bookshop: Hah, that's hilarious! I suppose that's understandable seeing as this is a blog I made just for Good Omens stuff! Anything I post or reblog here is content that I utterly enjoyed engaging with and want others in the fandom to see.

goromcom: That’s really great; I love the positivity.

You chose to adapt How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days as your rom com. Has this movie been a favorite of yours, or is there some other reason you chose it?

heavens-bookshop: It's not really a favourite, although I do have some fun memories attached to it, I guess! I went to see it at the cinema when it was released, I was in high school and I went with a few of my friends. The film was okay, but I had much more fun afterwards just hanging out with everyone! I picked it out from the list because I felt like the main concept was one that lent itself pretty nicely to a Good Omens AU, where your two main characters have opposing goals (but develop feelings for each other along the way...)

goromcom: Definitely can see the parallel there, and also, I think the movies we see with friends in high school stick with us in a way movies you see later on just never will.

What's your favorite moment of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and are you looking forward to presenting it in your adaptation? Any loose plans for that scene that you can share?

heavens-bookshop: Well, there's a scene towards the end when the two main characters are heading out to a fancy event, and Ben arrives at Andie's place to escort her to it. When she walks out of her building, she's in a really beautiful outfit and it takes Ben's breath away. I am really hoping to have a similar moment in my story, with Aziraphale playing Andie's part, and Crowley playing Ben's part. I've worked it over a few times in my head, but we'll see what happens when I get down to writing it!

goromcom: Sounds quite exciting!

Other than recreating that moment,  do you plan to stick very closely to the story beats of the original movie, or make bigger changes?

heavens-bookshop: I plan on making a lot of changes. The overall premise is a fun place to start from, but when I re-watched the movie a few weeks ago, I got some pretty severe whiplash from how badly it's aged (I think this is something to be said for a lot of media in the genre). Much of the story revolves around the whole "Men vs Women" thing, and involves some awful misogynistic and homophobic tropes that I am very much throwing in the bin. So we're ditching the "haha aren't women clingy" narrative in favour of playing up Aziraphale being the standoffish fussy bastard we all know and love.

goromcom: It’s definitely been a recurring theme among the participants that their source material really hasn’t aged well! It’s a testament to the GO fandom, I think, and the lovely people taking part in goromcom, that everyone is seeking to smooth out the rough edges of the source material.

What's an interesting decision you've made in your planning so far--a notable casting decision, a changing of venue, or some other plan you have to paint Good Omens all over your rom com?

heavens-bookshop: Well, for starters, I updated some of the concepts - instead of working for a magazine, Aziraphale works at a Buzzfeed-esque website called Paradise where he writes an advice column. Crowley still works for an ad agency, but instead of trying to win a deal with a diamond company (which was very tied to a lot of outdated views on the roles of men and women in relationships), it's a dating app. I've also changed the location to London, mostly because I'm way more familiar with it as a place. I also wanted to include a few more of the women in Good Omens, so Aziraphale's two work BFFs are Anathema (who writes horoscopes) and Madame Tracy (who writes for the spirituality section).

goromcom: Okay, be right back while I go write in for advice from Aziraphale.

But after that, our last question, one I am blatantly stealing from The Good Place: The Podcast. Tell me something "good". It can be something big or small. It can be a charity you think is doing good work, or you can talk about how great your pet is.

heavens-bookshop: I would like to mention two UK-based charities that have had a special place in my heart for many years - Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie. When I was a teen, my mum was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and we pretty much provided all her end-of-life care at home. Macmillan and Marie Curie gave us a lot of the resources we needed to do that. Macmillan was a wonderful support system for my mum, and not only looked after her medical needs but also sent someone she could talk to about the emotional ordeal of facing a terminal illness. Marie Curie sent a registered nurse to stay with my mum through the night in her final weeks so that we could try to get some sleep while secure in the knowledge that she was being looked after and had someone by her side. They both provided us with some peace of mind during an incredibly rough time, and I will be forever grateful for all the work they do in supporting the families of people with terminal illness. If you're in the UK, I'd really recommend donating to either of these charities if you ever have the chance.

And so that I'm not just ending on a sad note, I will also tell you about my wonderful cat, Luna. I adopted her shortly after I moved to Texas in 2016 - I had moved all the way from the UK, on my own, and Luna kept me company on those days when I felt alone and completely out of my depth. She's followed me everywhere I've been since, even coming with me when I moved to Canada a couple of years ago (yes I moved a Texan cat to Canada in the middle of February). She is weird, very loud and talkative, has an ongoing vendetta against my running shoes, and I love her to bits.

goromcom: I had a hospice support team for my father’s end of life process, and I will love all of those people until the day I die. I am so glad your family had that sort of support as well. I’m so sorry about your mum.

It’s so wonderful of you to come back around, too, and mention how uplifting having your pet has been for you. I am so happy you have Luna by your side. I also have a talkative cat (with a space-themed name, as well, Nova) and so many days that would be bad are better with a little furry friend with you.

Keep watching for @heavens-bookshop‘s thoughtful GO retelling of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Coming soon!

#goromcom #good omens #goromcom spotlight #heavens-bookshop #how to lose a guy in 10 days

[somescenekid]

I'm Cackling

Alrighty, so, I am one bigass nerd, like I love nerdy stuffs. But see, I'm also an edgy gay bitch who likes to piss off my homophobic parents. But this shit makes me lose it every time.

So, like I said, a nerd, right? Well I as a matter of fact love Star Trek TOS, like it's my favorite. But if you know ANYTHING about TOS, it's that with Kirk and Spock, it is one big 'ole gay ride. And it doesn't have to be anything huge either, it can be as simple as a look, and bam!

So I love this, right? If course, in all honesty, Kirk and Spock are like the one thing that still never fail to cheer me up. But my parents on the other hand, they still had NO CLUE that these two were in love. (Idk don't ask me how) Anyways, since I can clearly spot this on screen, I could call it out. But if course, I do not, as I do not desire to be yelled at for being A Gay. 

This does not stop me from convincing them. Oh no it does not. It simply makes it all the more fun for me.

See, what I've done is I know when something GayTM is about to go down, and I make SURE one, or both of my parents are in the room and paying attention. And even though I don't turn and see the looks on their faces, I just know in my head, I'll be like, "Find a heterosexual explanation for the way he's looking at Spock, I dare you. You cannot escape the gaaaaayyyy!!!" But if course, I can't just stop, it's all too much fun.

So I go FURTHER. Do I push it a bit? Maybe. (Yes) But it's too funny. Like, something will happen, and I'll just pipe up and be like, "Awww, that was so cool if him to save Kirk like that," or one of my personal favorites, "What in the world, you're GOING to wreck ur ship and kill everyone to save one singular Spock!!! " , and of course, how could we forget me, bringing up their Bond every 20 seconds like, "Could they maybe, speak verbally, not just in their heads, so we can, y'know, have an idea about what is going on??!" 

 I love it. And they normally have zero rebuttal, cause there is none. I'm serious, I love my friends, but I would not go all Tholian Web for them, sorry. But EVERY TIME, me and my gay ass just WIN. 

But like, there's also this other side. You know what I'm talking about. The part where I actually have to watch these men act out these scenes RIGHT IN FRONT OF my parents. And idk about you man, but the second that these scenes start, it goes DEAD SILENT. I wish I was joking. No, it goes so quiet, like I'm just holding my breath till it's over. 

Like, imagine, sitting with your mom, who is blatantly homophobic, and watching two grown men stand in each other's personal space bubbles, and whisper in each other's ears, and gaze into each other's eyes lovingly. And on top of that, it's so damn quiet you can't move and you're sitting there listening to them breathe, BECAUSE ZERO WORDS PASS DURING THESE SCENES. I just want to curl up and hide. But I can't, cause remember, I'm an edgy bitch, and it always comes back to bite me in the ass. 

I swear though, despite my absolute deadly embarrassment, it's still totally worth it to rub it in my parents' faces. But just thinking about that whole awkward, edgy, nerdy situation just makes me laugh, idk.  

#star trek #captain kirk #commander spock #star trek tos #k/s #kirk/spock #space husbands #gay #love #rip me

[purplesurveys]

807

Have you ever laughed at someone because they had a funny name? No, that sounds awful. I had so many kids laugh at me because of my name when I was younger, so I’ve learned better than to do that. If I come across a weird name I’m more likely to judge the parents than the kid themselves. Speaking of names, why do celebrities always call their kids stupid ones? It’s not just celebrities who do these; they’re just famous so they get all the attention. Generally though I really don’t know why more and more people have been choosing to give their kids odd names. X Æ A-Xii in particular stresses me outtttttttttt PLEASE LOVE YOUR CHILD If you have a problem with someone, will you confront them? Depends on who it is and how big/personal my problem is with them. I won’t always confront someone; sometimes it’s best to act like you don’t care. How do you like your tea? (: Iced, lemonade, and with a lot of sugar. Do you get car sick easily? No, only if I do something to induce motion sickness like reading or texting.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? The earliest occupations I wanted to have were firefighter, astronaut, and a veterinarian. When I got a little older I wanted to become an author. Insert funny memory here:  My favorite story to hear from my friends was when my org had a get-together shortly after we got new officers elected (myself included), and when I got drunk enough I was apparently announcing the suspensions of newly-inducted orgmates I was yet to know more, effective immediately loooool. It was part of my ~powers so I guess that’s why I spent nearly the whole evening doing that. I made sure to apologize to those people the day after. :(( Do you think you're a good conversationalist? Why is that? Yes, when it comes down to it. I pride myself on being a good listener – pair this with the fact that I’ve also learned to ask good questions through the years as a journalism student – so this ability usually includes being able to catch on to the little details they say. From there, I’m able to ask them questions I know they’d love to answer. My trick in conversations is to just have people talk about the things or hobbies they love, because time usually flies by then. Are you more likely to be called a hard worker or lazy? Hard worker. What is your sense of humour like? It’s pretty flexible. I can laugh at kiddie jokes, dark jokes as long as they are not blatantly offensive and harmful, and at the same time I can laugh at dank memes that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.   Do you think you're fairly intelligent? In what way? Yeah, but it’s book smarts more than anything else. I like reading and racking up new knowledge, memorizing things, acing tests, etc. I don’t consider myself street smart at all sadly lol, and I’m still super dependent on other people when it comes to crossing the road, commuting (if I have to), bargaining, etc. How do you like your eggs? Poached or scrambled. Do you enjoy visiting your relatives? I look forward to the food being served more than anything else, because Filipino family reunions don’t fuck around when it comes to the preparations haha. Other than that, I’m always a bit wary when visiting family because Filipino relatives also tend to come up with the worst introductory statements: “You’ve gotten so fat,” “Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend yet?” and “I don’t like what you’re posting on Facebook” are just starters. What's your favourite thing about the nearest upcoming holiday? That would be Independence Day, and I like that it’s solely ours. Our independence day used to be on July 4th to be the same as America’s, but a past president changed it to June 12th so we can instead commemmorate the day we gained independence from Spain, instead of sharing our independence day with a colonizer. Have you ever been on a float in a parade? What were you doing on it? No, I haven’t. Have you ever had a strange compliment? What was it? I’ve probably gotten one or two of them but I don’t keep comments like those in my memory, so there’s a very good chance I’ve forgotten all about them. When was the last time you had deja vu? I don’t really remember exactly when but it was sometime within the last week. Have you ever had a dream in black and white? I don’t think so. I’d remember it if I have. What about a dream with no sound? Nope. What is something you find interesting but would never pursue as a career? Astronaut. It’s such an awesome job and I look up to everyone who does it, but for me it’ll always stay as a fantasy career. I’m simply not good enough at science to understand how stuff in space works; plus I get dizzy extremely easily and that’s not gonna work well for me when it’s time to board the spaceship lol. What types of people do you tend to avoid? Racists, homophobes, and fanatical Catholics. What is one personality trait a potential friend must have? They must have an introverted side. I can’t deal with people who are super active 24/7. Have you ever seen someone slip on a banana peel? Nope, I’ve only mostly seen that happen in Mario Kart hah. Have you ever been in a helicopter? I have not. What is a colour you love that's not your favourite? Maroon. Where would you like to travel to? Anywhere outside the house would be a great start. I’d love to get to go inside a mall, any mall. What colour is your car? / What colour would you like it to be? My car is white, and I’m happy with it being white. It looks clean and sleek that way, for me. Does anything hurt on your body right now? What? No but I’m feeling a little hot. I need a shower. What is your favourite mode of travelling? Road trip or by plane. Have you ever had Chickenpox? I haven’t. Dreading the day it comes to me because I just know it’ll be a million times worse as an adult. Can you roll your eyes into the back of your head? I can but it’s very uncomfortable and I don’t do it at all. I only did it often as a kid, whenever I wanted to scare off my sister or make funny faces with my cousins. If you have online friends, do you think you'd get on in real life? Yes, I think so. I’ve only had one negative experience with an online friend who turned out to be a dipshit, but I like to keep optimistic when it comes to my other friends.  Who is your favourite animated character? Answered this in another survey, but Spongebob. I also took a big liking to Mr. Peanutbutter from BoJack Horseman since he was the only one who kept me happy throughout the show hahahaha. Are your favourites often what the majority like? Like, in relation to my above answers? I know a lot of people didn’t really like Mr. Peanutbutter because he was horrible at reading Diane’s love language and due to his tendency to mask reality with humor and general immaturity, so there’s that. Spongebob is pretty much universally loved by everyone who has seen the show, though. If you could have anything for dinner tonight, what would you choose? I did have dinner already and I was very happy with the sisig my dad made. I would have had it with soju, but I already drank coffee today and with my body just finishing up healing itself from my awful fever last week, I don’t wanna beat up my body by mixing coffee and alcohol immediately lol. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? Savory. Do you worry about eating too much? What about eating too little? I don’t really worry about either. I find that I eat a healthy amount of food for all my meals, so there’s little reason to overanalyze that department. Is it dark outside right now? Yes, it’s 10:30 PM. The moon has an interesting haze around it at the moment that makes it hard to miss, but otherwise it’s very dark. Do you get scared when it's a full moon? No. Do you think Jaffa Cakes are a cake or a biscuit? xP I don’t even know what those are and I’m too lazy to check. If you go anywhere, do you always buy souvenirs for people? Nah, just for Gab. What was the last toy you got in a cereal box? I don’t know, I don’t remember. The last time there was a toy in a cereal box we bought would probably be like 16 years ago lol. Hypothetically speaking, if you owned a charm bracelet, would you always make sure the charms meant something to you? Not really. I imagine I’d get charms just because I want to collect them lol. I know Pandora does a lot of charm collections, like Disney and Harry Potter. It doesn’t always have to mean something to me. Are you waiting on anyone coming home right now? No. Everyone living here is home now. Is it easy to make you gag? Nope. I watch pro wrestling dude, I’ve seen lots of disgusting stuff go down. It’ll take a lot before I gag. Do you like the way your voice sounds? Yes, I’m alright with it for the most part. Do you usually keep to yourself? This is pretty vague. You mean about my personal life? I’d say so. I normally would keep to myself but I’m also an open book, if that makes sense. Like I’m okay with spilling out my stories or emotions, but people have to come to me and ask for them; otherwise I’m just staying quiet. Can you see the stars from your house? Sure. Sky looks best when you’re at the rooftop though. How would you react if your favourite band made a song with your first name as its title? It would be on repeat for like three months lol. What is a word or phrase you've been told you overuse? It’s been years but a prof once told me I used “okay, so...” a lot as a transition when I report. I appreciated the comment though and since that time I’ve been more watchful of the phrases I use when I report. Are you considered an awkward person? I have my times, yeah. I’ve gotten considerably better in dealing with people though and usually it’s them that’s awkward now, not me lol. Has a career advisor ever helped you choose your ideal career? No, I’ve never met up with a career advisor before. If you were abandoned for a week, would you be able to fend for yourself? Yes, as long as instant food and some basic frozen food are accessible to me ahuhu. Is there a light on in the room you're in? Yes. Have you ever been friends with someone who was your complete opposite? YES, Gabie and I cannot be any more different. Sometimes I still wonder how she and I ended up being friends at all, but I chalk it up to our humor and the way our (very different) personalities manage to mesh well together. Have you ever wished you were an identical twin? If one, do you hate it? Not really. What day were you born on? Tuesday. What's your favourite number? Why did you pick that? I never really had a favorite number. Whenever I have to pick one I just say 4 just because it’s Beyoncé’s favorite and she uses it on literally every concert, show, etc. so I’ve come to encounter it a lot as well lol. What does your favourite perfume / deodorant smell like? A little fruity. Who's your favourite Disney character? Flynn Rider. Do you like having a favourite everything or do you enjoy keeping open? I like having a favorite everything but I also like keeping my options open just in case I ever wanna shift favorites. What's your favourite advertisment? Or do you find them all irritating? I don’t pick ads to be my favorite lol. They’re not irritating, but I just don’t particularly care about any of them.

#survey #surveys

[starberry-cupcake]

For the Cats asks, Mr. Mistoffelees and Macavity? :D

Yay! ♥

Mr Mistoffelees: Was there anything you’ve ever done that you’ve thought would be scary and turned out to be awesome?

A lot of things. I think the most rewarding lately was taking the leap and teaching my own classes, which is a constant struggle with anxiety but gave me a lot of happy moments and I really enjoy teaching. 

Macavity: What is your pettiest revenge story?

I don’t know if this works but, here goes. It may end up as a long story, sorry about that. 

I started getting involved in the anime/manga fandom here in my country from a very early age. From the year 2000, and up until early 2010, more or less, the anime/manga fandom in Argentina was mostly centered in Buenos Aires city and unofficially moderated/influenced by a publisher (called Ivrea, it has now houses in Spain and other countries) which had a magazine (which started as a fanzine and moved on to become the biggest source of information in the fandom) and was the only publishing house that released manga at the time. 

It was managed mostly by men, most of whom were at the time in their 20s and 30s, and they had a huge reach in the fandom, including the managing of conventions, the producing of cosplay contests and many more things. Because of their influence and actions, the environment was very sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and fatphobic, to the point in which men were encouraged to physically assault female cosplayers on stage by throwing things at them (there are videos of a con in 2000 with evidence of this) or aggressively shouting and threatening male cosplayers that weren’t “manly” enough for their characters, among other things. 

This attitude went beyond convention spaces when the magazine started taking pictures of cosplayers and convention goers and, without their consent, publishing them with offensive commentary underneath, like really really offensive stuff. This, of course, destroyed cosplayers’ self esteem, because they became the laughing stock of the entire fandom by being featured like that in the most important communication medium for the fandom at the time. 

At the same time, they were very predatory towards young girls. I didn’t see it like I do today because being a teenager myself, I didn’t understand the level of unsafe and illegal most of this was. I didn’t do cosplay, because I knew that my body would be, at the very very least, humiliated publicly by these people, but I witnessed and heard stories from friends, family and other people whose experiences were recorded in print or video forever. For example, one of the most famous cases was when, framed by the release of a manga, they hosted a contest of “school girls” in which girls had to send their “provocative” photos in uniform and one would be chosen by the staff as a winner. Said winner was 17 at the time of her selection and her photos were published in the magazine, alongside an interview with very compromising questions for a minor to answer.  

Believe it or not, all of this was normalized and nobody bat an eyelash, because the fandom at the time was super underground and cosplay wasn’t as developed as it is now. We were all weird kids with their weird comics, so nobody really paid attention to what was going on and those of us who were too young just took it as it was, because these men, who were twice our age, were setting the rules and it was unsafe to speak up. 

When I turned 20, I grew tired of this. I was A LOT more patient than I am now, mind you, because I was still young and I hadn’t been exposed to all the learning experiences as I am now. I was a lot more patient but I was also tired of the bullshit. 

What ended up breaking me was that the magazine had a q & a section in which people sent emails and the editor in chief (who still is the editor in chief, still working there and still has his incel followers kissing his ass) responded. I started seeing many young girls, the age that I was when I started, sending emails asking them to stop that behavior. And the guy took advantage of his power and his age and ripped them to shreds with his answers. He made them seem silly and ignorant by using their inexperienced forms of expressing themselves against them and making fun. He took advantage of his position of power to ridicule the young girls who were being either bullied into humiliating and aggressive degrees, if they were “ugly” or stalked, assaulted and groomed if they were “pretty”. 

And that was the last straw for me. That was what ultimately made me lose my shit. 

So, with a lot more patience than I would have now, I wrote my own email. I was 20 at the time, like I said, I was in college studying to become an editor, which this guy was, and I was becoming more professionally aware of all the things they had done throughout my teenage years that were illegal (more than what I’m recounting here). 

But I knew that if I was upset in my wording, if I gave them the chance to paint me as the “hysteric feminist” archetype, I wasn’t going to get anything out of it. So I did what I do best, I used the pettiest most fake-respectful wording I could and laid down how harmful as all fuck their behavior was. I used their ego against them by acting neutral, never showing the absolute lack of respect I felt, in a way in which I left them no choice that if my email was published and responded, and they tried with me the same bullshit they did with other girls, they would look like assholes. 

My email was published and responded. It was the LAST EVER email published and responded, featured in the last ever magazine released. I was the last word before they closed the magazine down. It was vaguely responded with a “you’re somewhat right but…*excuses*” and the magazine was closed for good. 

They didn’t close it down because of me, there are a lot of other legal bullshit they were doing which pushed them to close. Whether the fact that my email laid down aspects that could lead to law suits, and showed that the bullied kids of years back where growing up and learning that all their shady shit was not ok added to the reasons to stop the magazine, along with that other legal stuff, I can’t know for sure. Still, it made me feel somewhat vindicated and I have the feeling that, at least, I tried. I was too young and too patient, more than I should have been, but I’m still happy that I did what I did and spoke up for those other girls who were being treated like shit. 

Today, the publisher still works and is still very shady, although not as blatantly. They had the advantage of being at the right moment in the right place to consolidate themselves and therefore do things they couldn’t have done in other spaces where their shady predatory behavior was seen by people who could have taken action against them, and not teenagers in a fandom. 

There were talks about the magazine coming back, and I went to the facebook thread of that and laid it all out, without the patience my 20 yo self had. So far, they haven’t been back and if they are, I’m not remaining silent. 

#bewareofitalics #ask #ask meme thingy #long post #sorry for the long story! #I was the 'im gonna end this man's whole career' meme