#to make up for the complete lack of anything good or worthwhile

[rynwritesreid]

Idea for fic: enemies to lovers Dom older Spencer and f reader with age gap can’t stand eachother at work and then away on a case they get paired up to be in a room and there’s one bed anyways reader goes and showers and comes out wearing nothing but her bra and panties since she left her tank top the bed and Spencer is shocked and teases her all night and thennnnn rest is history😏

A/N: has this been sat in my inbox for over 3 months? Yes. I hope this makes up for the wait, sorry it tool awhile :( but I did see it when it was first asked, but I’ve been dealing with a lot in the past few months, and I’ve been dealing with some writers block. But I hope you guys enjoy it :)

Summary: Basically what ANON asked for. Spencer and reader hate each other, but Emily has a plan that could resolve all the issues or make them worse.

Content: Fem!reader. Dom!Reid/Sub!reader. Use of Y/N. Spanking. Degradation kink. Praise Kink. Power imbalance kink (kind off). Use of sir, slut, good girl and sweetheart. PinV/creampie. No mentions of contraception. No mentions of aftercare.

Masterlist| requests are open| Navigation

You and Spencer hated each other. Maybe it’s because Spencer felt genuine competition from you, or maybe it was because you seemed to effortlessly outshine him in everything you did. And well you hated him, because every time Spencer walked into a room, he carried with him an air of superiority that grated against your nerves. You could see the jealousy in his eyes whenever someone praised your work or complimented your achievements.

Everyone had grown tired of the way you both acted around here. Emily would often call you both into her office to yell, “You are two of the best agents. Two brilliant minds. And yet no one can stand to be in the same room as you two.” 

You both sat in Emily's office, the tension thick between you. Spencer shifted uncomfortably in his seat, avoiding eye contact with you as Emily’s words hung heavily in the air. You couldn't deny the truth in Emily's words - your rivalry with Spencer had reached a breaking point, affecting not only your own work but the entire team dynamic.

Emily heaved a sigh, running a hand through her hair before continuing, "This behaviour ends now. I'm not going to tolerate this any longer. I need you two to figure out a way to work together, or I will have no choice but to reassign one of you."

*

“Oh, my god. Reid, do you ever shut up?” you muttered under your breath, unable to hide your irritation at Spencer's endless rambling. 

Spencer shot you a glare, his frustration evident in the way his jaw tensed. "At least I have something worthwhile to say, unlike you," he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest. "Oh, please. Your so-called facts and statistics don't mean anything in the field. It's called real-life experience, something you clearly lack."

“Lacking real-life experience? Really?” Spencer paused, his voice fuelled with anger “I am older than you, and I have experienced things you wouldn’t even believe.”

Spencer's outburst surprised you, the raw emotion in his voice catching you off guard.

“Whatever you say, Dr Reid. From now on I’ll just worship the ground you walk on, shall I?” you retorted, trying to mask your unease with a casual tone. Inside, you felt a twinge of admiration for his ability to get under your skin so easily.

Emily glared at you both from across the room, she knew she had to put an end to this, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to do that.

Spencer's nostrils flared with indignation at your remark, his eyes flashing with a mixture of hurt and frustration. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could utter a word, Emily's stern voice cut through the tension like a knife.

"That's enough!" Emily's command was sharp, her gaze piercing. "I've had it with this childish bickering between you two. This behaviour is unprofessional and completely unacceptable."

You both fell silent under Emily's unwavering stare, guilt creeping into your conscience as her words echoed in the room. The weight of her disappointment hung heavy in the air, suffocating the animosity between you and Spencer.

"I don't care who started it or whose ego is hurt more," Emily continued, her tone firm. "What I care about is that you two find a way to work together effectively. The team's safety and success depend on it."

*

Emily was sick and tired of how the both of you acted, and she knew she needed to act fast. She didn’t want to lose either of you, but she also couldn’t let things carry on. So, she devised a plan, one that could go horribly wrong or one that could go perfectly. 

*

“Hey, everybody.” Emily’s voice echoed through the jet, “the hotel we are staying at doesn’t have enough rooms for us all to have our own.” She paused for a brief second, she didn’t want anyone to catch on to her, “so, Rossi and I will have our own room. Tara and JJ, you’ll share, Luke and Matt you’ll share and erm… Y/N and Reid you guys will also be sharing.”

You exchanged a wary glance with Spencer as Emily assigned you to share a room. “Emily, I’m sorry. But what is this? You expect me to share a room with Reid? Also assigning us rooms, what are we like thirteen or something?” you scoffed, the incredulity evident in your voice. Spencer's expression mirrored your own disbelief, his eyes widening in surprise at Emily's unexpected announcement.

Emily raised an eyebrow at your protest, her gaze unwavering. "Yes, I expect you two to share a room. It's high time you both learn to work together and put your differences aside. Consider this a team-building exercise," she stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

You opened your mouth to protest further, but Emily's steely glare silenced any objections before they could form.

*

“Seriously, one bed. Is she serious. I hate her, just as much as I hate you.” you spat out, glaring at Spencer as you both entered the hotel room assigned to you. The tension between you was palpable, suffocating the space as you stood on opposite sides of the room. The silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the sound of Spencer's exasperated sigh.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," Spencer shot back, his tone laced with irritation as he surveyed the small room. The single queen-sized bed in the centre of the room seemed to mock your predicament, a constant reminder of the forced proximity between you.

“Because, unlike you, I’m nice. You can have the bed, as long as I can shower first.” You retorted, determined not to back down in this battle of wills. Spencer's jaw clenched at your words, a muscle ticking in his temple as he fought to keep his composure.

"Fine. Just make it quick," Spencer replied through gritted teeth, his pride wounded by the concession. 

Before you headed towards the shower, you started to unpack, you hated keeping everything in your bag when you were in the hotel room. Once, you had finished you grabbed your essentials and headed towards the bathroom without so much as muttering a word to Spencer.

Spencer watched as you disappeared into the bathroom, the click of the door echoing in the tense silence of the room. Alone now, he took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions swirling inside him. The mere thought of sharing a room with you made his skin crawl, but he knew Emily's intentions were well-meaning, if not a little misguided.

The rush of the warm water against your skin did little to soothe the simmering frustration that lingered within you. As the steam filled the bathroom, you tried to shake off the tension that had built up between you and Spencer. But every time you closed your eyes, his infuriating presence seemed to seep through the cracks of your composure.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” As you looked at the pile of clothes you had in the bathroom, you realised you hadn’t brought in your PJs, and all you had was a pair of panties and a bra. You were too embarrassed to ask Spencer to bring you the rest of your clothes. 

You hesitated for a moment, weighing your options, but you weren’t going to be admitting defeat anytime soon, and maybe some part of you wanted to flaunt to Spencer something he could never have.

You dried yourself off and stepped out of the bathroom in just your underwear. Spencer’s eyes widened in disbelief as you emerged from the bathroom clad only in your underwear, the audacity of your actions catching him off guard. His cheeks flushed with a deep crimson hue, his gaze darting away as if to shield himself from the unexpected sight before him.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Spencer’s voice wavered slightly, a mix of shock and embarrassment colouring his tone. He struggled to maintain eye contact, opting instead to focus on a random spot on the wall.

You couldn’t help but smirk at his discomfort, a sense of satisfaction blooming within you at having turned the tables on Spencer for once. The power shift in the room was palpable, the tension crackling between you in a different way now.

“Just grabbing my clothes,” you stated nonchalantly, making no move to cover up as you retrieved your pyjamas. “Do you like what you see, Spencer?”

Spencer's cheeks burned hotter at your teasing words, his jaw clenching in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. He struggled to find the right response, his mind racing to come up with a comeback that would regain the upper hand in this unexpected exchange.

"Very funny," Spencer finally managed to choke out, his tone strained as he averted his gaze, refusing to give you the satisfaction of seeing how flustered you had made him. 

“You know the way you’re acting right now, Y/N, isn’t of someone who hates me.” Spencer teased through gritted teeth, his attempt at levity falling flat in the charged atmosphere of the room. Your smirk faltered for a split second at his remark, a flicker of something unidentifiable crossing your features before you regained your composure, your mask slipping back into place.

"Let's get one thing straight, Spencer," you retorted, your tone firm as you met his gaze head-on. "Just because I'm not actively trying to strangle you right now doesn't mean I don't still think you're insufferable." The underlying tension between you simmered beneath the surface, waiting to reignite at the slightest provocation.

Spencer raised an eyebrow at your response, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips despite himself. “Or you’re not actively strangling me, because you’d rather I’d be doing that to you.” Spencer paused, the words hanging in the charged air between you. His attempt at humour fell flat, the gravity of the situation pulling at the corners of his smile.

“What? No. What?” It was your turn to be embarrassed now as your cheeks flushed a deep shade of red at Spencer's unexpected remark.

“Oh, so I’m right. You do like the idea of me choking you.” Spencer paused, his eyes widening in realization at the slip of his words. The room seemed to hold its breath, the tension between you both reaching a new peak as his inadvertent confession hung in the air, heavy and loaded with unspoken implications.

You swallowed hard, trying to mask the sudden rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm you. Spencer's gaze bore into yours, searching for a reaction, for any sign of the impact his words had made. And in that charged moment, something shifted between you, an invisible thread pulling you closer even as you both stood at opposite ends of the room.

“Spencer, I…” your voice wavered, uncertainty creeping into your tone as you struggled to find the right words to respond. The weight of his words hung heavy between you, begging for acknowledgement, for resolution. 

“It’s okay, you don’t need to say anything. Brats like you always act out when they are attracted to someone.” Spencer paused, his gaze softening as he took a step closer to you. The air between you crackled with a newfound vulnerability, baring emotions that had long been buried beneath layers of animosity and pride.

��Spencer, you have a very active imagination. I have, erm, I have never thought of you like that.” You stumbled over your words, the admission weighing heavily on your conscience. Spencer's expression softened at your response, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes as he processed your words.

“I do not believe that for one second, sweetheart.” Spencer 's voice was barely above a whisper, his words laced with a raw honesty that left no room for doubt. The tension in the room had shifted once again, morphing into a charged undercurrent that pulsed between you, drawing you closer in a dance as old as time.

In one swift motion, Spencer seemed to have place you on top of his lap, your ass up in the air, and the palm of his hand striking against your backside.

Your breath hitched at the unexpected contact, a sharp gasp escaping your lips as Spencer's touch sent a jolt of electricity through you. The sting of his hand against your skin reverberated through your body, igniting a primal fire that had long been smouldering beneath the surface. 

“Now, you’re going to be a good girl, and say thank you after every time I spank you.” Spencer paused, his voice low and commanding as he laid down the rules of their newfound dynamic. Your head spun with a mixture of confusion and a strange exhilaration at the turn of events, the rush of adrenaline heightening your senses.

“Yes, sir.” You replied, your voice barely above a whisper as you complied with Spencer's demand, the unfamiliar title sending a thrill down your spine. Each strike of his hand against your skin sent shockwaves of pleasure coursing through you, a heady mix of pain and desire intertwining in a dangerous dance.

“Are you sorry for been a brat? For constantly picking fights with me over nothing? For making Emily do this, just so I can use you like the slut you are.” Spencer paused; his voice laced with a deliberate edge as he pushed the boundaries of your newfound dynamic. Your breath caught in your throat at his words, a surge of conflicting emotions crashing over you. The raw honesty in Spencer's tone stripped away the layers of pretence between you, exposing the raw desire that simmered beneath the surface.

“Yes, sir, I’m sorry,” you whispered, your voice trembling with a mix of submission and defiance.

Spencer’s hand moved over your panties, so he could feel the ever-growing wet patch. “Do you like that? You like calling me sir, and me calling you a slut. You know for the type of brat you are out in the office or in the field, you break a lot easier than expected.”

Your breath caught in your throat as Spencer's words sent a surge of conflicting emotions coursing through you. The intensity of the moment hung heavy in the air, the boundaries between desire and shame blurring as his touch ignited a fire within you that burned hotter with each passing second.

“Yes, sir.” you whispered, your voice barely above a breath as you surrendered to the overwhelming tide of sensations that pulsed through your body. The weight of his hand against your skin, the pressure of his touch against your most intimate places, all served to push you to the brink of a precipice you had never dared to explore before.

“Good girl, now stand up and take off your bra and panties.” Spencer demanded, his voice firm and authoritative. You hesitated for a moment, your heart pounding in your chest as you grappled with the new dynamic unfolding between you. But you knew that you wanted this, needed this, and so you did as he commanded.

With trembling hands, you unclasped your bra and let it fall to the floor. Then, you stepped out of your panties, your legs feeling unsteady as you stood there before him, naked and exposed. The air between you was thick with desire, and you could feel Spencer's gaze raking over your body, devouring every inch of you.

"Now, bend over the table," he commanded, his voice rough with desire. You did as he said, your hands gripping the edge of the table as you lowered your body, presenting yourself to him. The cool surface of the table against your skin was a stark contrast to the heat that was building inside you. You could feel the moisture between your legs as it dripped down your thighs, a testament to the arousal that was consuming you.

Spencer stepped closer to you, his cock hard and pulsating with need. He ran his fingers through your hair, tangling them in the strands as he pulled your head back, his gaze never wavering from your exposed ass.

"You're such a naughty little slut, aren't you?" he growled, his lips brushing against your ear. "You know you want this, don't you? You've been craving my cock since the first day we met."

You could only nod in response, your body trembling with anticipation as his erection pressed against your wet sex.

"Good," he whispered, his breath hot against your ear. "Because I've been waiting for this moment ever since I saw you, too."

With one swift movement, he positioned himself at your entrance and thrust inside you in one smooth motion. Your eyes widened at the sudden invasion, the pleasure and pain intermingling in a way that was unlike anything you had ever experienced before.

You gasped, arching your back as his cock filled you completely. Spencer's hands gripped your hips, holding you in place as he began to move within you. His thrusts were rhythmic and powerful, filling you to the brim with each movement.

Your moans filled the room as Spencer's cock slid in and out of you, every thrust bringing you closer to the edge. Your body was on fire, every nerve ending tingling with pleasure as he fucked you hard and rough. Your mind was a blur of mixed emotions, guilt mingling with desire as you surrendered to the animalistic lust that was consuming you.

You could feel his hips slapping against your ass with each thrust, the sound of skin on skin echoing in the room. Your legs were trembling with each movement, your body submitting to his every command.

"You feel so good, baby," he groaned, his voice thick with desire. "So tight and wet. Just the way I always imagined you would be."

His words sent a rush of pleasure through you, making you clench around his cock. Spencer thrust deeper, his hips moving in a relentless rhythm that had you gasping for breath.

"Tell me you want me, baby," he growled, his voice harsh with need. "Tell me how much you love my cock inside you."

You couldn't form words, your mind lost in the haze of pleasure and desire. All you could do was cry out and arch your back, begging for more.

"Please, please, please," you moaned, your voice ragged with need. "More, oh please, more."

Spencer's smile was wicked, his eyes dark and full of lust. "Tell me you want me, baby," he demanded, holding your hips tight as he thrust into you.

"I want you, oh, I want you so fucking much!" you cried out, your body writhing beneath him. Your nails dug into the edge of the table, your legs trembling as you pushed back against him, taking him deeper inside you.

His thrusts became harder, faster, each one a razor's edge of pleasure and pain. You could feel his fingers digging into your hips, his breath hot against your skin as he possessed you completely.

"Tell me, slut," he growled, his voice rough with desire. "Tell me you're mine, and that you'll do anything I say."

You hesitated for a moment, your heart pounding in your chest as you grappled with the new dynamic unfolding between you. But you knew that you wanted this, needed this, and so you did as he commanded.

"I'm yours, sir," you whispered, your voice barely above a breath as you surrendered to the power, he held over you. "I'll do anything you say."

Spencer's eyes widened at your submission, a sense of triumph and desire flooding his entire being. He thrusted deeper into you, his cock aching to be buried inside you even further.

Your moans grew louder, your body shaking with every thrust as he took control of you. The power he wielded over you sent ripples of ecstasy through your entire being, your mind hazy with pleasure.

"That's it, baby, let me hear you," he growled, his voice rough with desire. "Tell me how much you love taking my cock, how much you love feeling me inside you."

You couldn't form words, your breaths coming out in short, sharp gasps. Your fingernails left marks on the edge of the table, your body writhing under his assault.

"Mmm, that's it, tell me baby," he urged, his hips moving in a relay and powerful stroke. "Tell me how much you love my cock inside you, how much you need it."

You could only whimper in response, your body trembling with each thrust. Your moans filled the room, and your entire body was on fire with pleasure and desire.

"Say it, baby," he demanded, his voice growing rough with need. "Say you love my cock inside you."

"I-I love your cock inside me," you stammered, your voice barely above a whisper. "I need you, please don't stop."

Spencer's eyes darkened at your plea, his grip on your hips tightening as he thrust into you harder. Your moans filled the room, your body arching and begging for more. You could feel the tension building, the wave of pleasure and desire crashing over you.

"That's it, baby," he growled, his voice thick with lust. "Come for me, let go of all that pleasure and surrender to me completely."

Your body shuddered, your moans growing louder as the orgasm overwhelmed you. Your pussy clenched around his cock, the sensation sending shivers of pleasure through Spencer's entire being.

He continued to thrust, his cock sliding in and out of you in a relentless rhythm. Your moans grew louder, your body trembling with each movement. 

You could tell Spencer wasn’t far off from his own release, the muscles in his abdomen tightening with every thrust.

The feeling of him inside you was indescribable, the intensity of your orgasm mixing with the pleasure of him taking you so roughly. You could feel him hardening even more, his cock pulsating with need as he fucked you deeper and faster.

"I'm gonna cum, baby," he growled, his eyes locked on yours. "I'm going to fill you up with my cum."

Your mind was a blur of thoughts and emotions, pleasure, and lust mingling with the desire to please him. You wanted him to take you, to possess you completely.

"Yes, sir, fill me up," you whispered, your voice barely above a whisper. "I want to feel you cum inside me."

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[soldier-poet-king]

Not to be like. All of this can be summed up by naruto. But maybe. Simplified. Gaara. Why do I exist. What is the purpose. What have I done. What will I do. How can I make up for existing.

#franposting #MAYBE SO #the duality of fran is naruto in one hand and kristas harrowing manuscript in the other #and im laid bare between them like. this is fine. i am definitelt a normal well adjusted person #and not a monster and wretch hiding behind my carefully constructed facade of kindness and cheerfulness ans generosity and humour #to make up for the complete lack of anything good or worthwhile #if you wear the mask long enough does it become you. do you fool others. is it enough? will it be enough? to make up for it all? #you run and run but its in circles and youre always left back with yourself when the mask falls ans the distractions fade #god i am so annoying and pretentious and i dont even mean to be it just. #well. another thing to make up for. is complete self effacement possible. idk. i am trying

[randombush3]

roadside romance

leila ouahabi x reader

summary: when leila’s car breaks down, you come to the rescue

words: 2037

notes: this is an ode to british weather and hot mechanics. i know nothing about cars but i learnt something while writing this!!!!

this was requested btw 🫡

It’s just fucking inconvenient. A closure on the motorway means that they have to take a detour down winding, country roads. And Leila has a sneaking suspicion that her car is going to stop functioning at any given minute now that the blinking, red light has become a permanent fixture on her dashboard.

Leila had looked at her friends apprehensively the minute the light had appeared, but Ona didn’t care and Laia was too wrapped up in posting their day trip to Blackpool on her Instagram to offer any worthwhile advice.

So, lacking expertise and a good enough grasp of English geography to find a nearby mechanic, Leila had carried on with their journey. It was only another hour to Manchester after all.

Which leads them to now, stranded on the side of the road. Laia and Leila stood outside of the car, while Ona spreads out as she naps in the backseat, none the wiser to the situation they have landed themselves in.

“Can’t you just fix it?” Laia asks her friend as they stare at the bonnet helplessly. “You seem like you know how to fix cars.”

Leila places an uncertain hand on the shiny metal, wondering if she even knows how to get the bonnet open. “That’s Mapi, not me. I have no idea what to do.”

They try to call someone, but there is no service and no pavement to walk down the road to see if elsewhere has a few more bars.

Frankly, it’s so unlucky that this has happened that Laia and Leila both have to hold in their laughter, not wanting the other to think they don’t understand how bad the situation actually is. Because, being stuck in a foreign country with no service and no knowledge about the inner-workings of a car is quite comical. It would be a great scene of a movie.

It’s Ona, when she returns to the land of the living, who comes up with a solution.

The defender gets out of the car, joining her friends as they sit on the grass verge adjacent to the road. “We’ve just got to wait here and look like three damsels in distress until someone drives past and helps us.” Though Leila knows she could probably think of something better if she really put her mind to it, she agrees to Ona’s plan, too lazy to do anything other than wallow in her misery. Now she’s going to have to take her car to the mechanic, and she hates doing things like that here because she has to drag Hempo with her to translate strong Mancunian accents into normal, more understandable English.

…

“Yeah, I’m coming. The motorway’s just chock-a-block and so I’ve taken a back route,” you tell your impatient sister, who is annoyed that you are late to her daughter’s birthday party. “Don’t be angry with me, be angry with the M6.” She chides you for your tardiness anyway, and you internally curse her for moving to Blackpool. It’s not like she’s a ballroom dancing fan or anything.

The countryside looks miserable when it’s just your car zipping down the empty roads, and it doesn’t help that the grey sky above makes you think it’s going to rain. While you have lived in Manchester your whole life and strive to not get bummed out by the weather, it makes you a little annoyed that the country can’t get its act together. You wish you had the power to teleport to Spain or something.

You pity anyone who is stuck outside as it begins to drizzle.

…

“Can we get in the car now?” Ona whines, completely going back on her plan after feeling the droplets of rain hit the top of her head. “I don’t want to get wet.”

“Please, Leila,” Laia adds. She hopes to sway her friend's adamance to stay where they can be seen, in case a helicopter flies over and lands in a nearby field to offer their aid (which seems more likely than someone driving past at this point).

“No, it’s only a bit of rain,” she tells her friends. A low rumble of thunder echoes in the fields. Ona and Laia raise their eyebrows. “Fine. You two be pathetic. I’ll stay here, doing the saving.”

“Our hero,” Laia replies sarcastically, chasing after Ona as she sprints to the car. “Have fun getting wet!”

It begins to chuck it down.

When a black Ford pulls up, a bit further up the road, coming from the direction they were heading in, and you get out, Leila finds that getting soaked has become worth it.

“Are you alright?” you shout to her, crossing the road and walking along the grass verge to get a better look at what is happening.

“My car is not working!” Leila shouts back.

You frown, approaching the brunette with concern. She has had to sit in the rain so that someone notices her. You’re a sympathetic person.

“Hi,” Leila says shyly as you help her up, wiping the water from her eyes so that she can see you properly.

“Hi.” You give her a once-over (solely for the purpose of checking she’s okay), and then turn to her car. “What’s wrong with it?” She squints at the sound of your strong accent, and you flush red, embarrassed. “What is wrong with your car?” you repeat with more clarity.

“I don’t know.”

“Was there a red light on the dash?” Leila’s vindication comes out in a muttered Spanish swear, before she nods and follows you down the verge to the road. “Can you pop the bonnet? I’ll give it a look.”

And, while you are doing that, Leila is giving you a look. Along with Ona and Laia.

“Es guapa,” an enviably dry Ona comments to her friends as Leila settles in the driver’s seat. You have instructed her to stay put for a moment while you puzzle at the state of her engine, wanting to know what is wrong before you explain it to the pretty woman you have found on the side of the road.

“Y lesbiana,” Laia points out as you tie your sopping hair up into a bun. Your t-shirt is so soaked that it is no longer of any use, so you pull it up over your head, getting to work in just your bra after wringing out enough water to fill a swimming pool. On your wrist is a bracelet from a Pride event you were dragged to by your friend the other day. You are secretly hoping Leila notices it. “Lei, dile tu nombre. Coquetea con ella.”

“Sí, pregúntale cuál es el problema.”

Leila scoffs, unimpressed with herself at how easily they have picked up on her attraction to you.

“Va. Es de Manchester, también.”

“Guapa, local, y lesbiana. Es perfecta.”

“No sé…” Leila starts, undecided as to whether she should let them convince her she has a chance or not.

Just when Laia and Ona are about to list more of your enticing physical qualities, you appear by the door, knocking on the window to tell her to open it.

“Good to see you’ve dried off a bit,” you joke, feeling as though you are so drenched that you will never be dry again. Leila blushes, but you are unsure whether it's because your joke is terrible or because her friends in the backseat have squashed together in the middle so that they can see what’s happening. You clear your throat. “So it’s a coolant leak. Took me a minute to realise half the water on the ground was actually your coolant and not the rain, but I figured it out eventually! The radiator’s hose clamps were damaged and, obviously, they’ve failed…”

But Leila isn’t listening to you telling her what is wrong with her car, because her friends are whispering in Spanish about how good you look topless. And she is inclined to agree with them.

It is only when you stop talking and the white noise of your ramble is no longer present that she realises what has happened, and she snaps out of staring at you. “Perdón, please could you repeat that?” It’s a phrase she has become very accustomed to, after all.

You laugh, and Leila likes the sound of it very much. “There was a leak, but I can fix it for you. If you’d like?”

“Yes!” Ona answers for her, making Leila practically jump out of her skin.

At Leila’s apparent hesitance, you remember you never introduced yourself to the three women in need of a car mechanic. It’s handy that that is exactly what you do for a living. “Fuck, sorry. I’m Y/n.” You hold out your hand for her to shake, and ignore the tingles where your skin meets hers. “I’ll need, like, an hour to do it, but I can. I’m a mechanic.”

“Es tan perfecta,” Laia giggles, poking Leila to remind her to tell you her name too.

“My name is Leila. I am not a mechanic, but can you… teach me?”

It’s an excuse to watch you fix her car.

You both know it.

“Yeah, sure. I have an umbrella in my car, and I’ll need to get my toolkit and stuff. I’ll bring it over, and then you won’t get wet.”

“I already am.”

You blush, though you know it’s probably not what she meant. All three of them speak with strong Spanish accents, reminding you of your grandmother.

…

It takes slightly longer than expected to sort out the clamps, but you don’t mind having an excuse to not go to a little kid’s birthday party. You love your niece, but the thought of thirty hyper five-year-olds running around and begging you to play with them makes you gulp. You’d rather arrive when the guests have left and your niece has crashed from her inevitable sugar-high.

Leila stands beside you as you work, holding the umbrella above both of your heads. You are too focused on your task to see her check you out every so often, but she has left the car door open so you can hear the eager encouragement from her friends. Ona even takes a picture because the scene is so hilarious.

“What does this do?” Leila quizzes as you finish up, pointing at the engine and enjoying the way you answer so effortlessly. “And this? And that?”

You wipe the sweat (and rain) from your brow, sighing as you step back to observe your work. For an impromptu fix-up on the side of the road, it’s not bad. She may need to bring her car into the garage to get it properly sorted once she gets to her destination.

“Could I borrow your phone?” you ask after catching her staring. It gives you a surge of confidence.

Confused, Leila nods, handing it over to you.

“Mi madre es de España.” All three Spanish women feel their mouths open in shock. And horror. And the realisation that you definitely heard everything they have been saying about you.

Leila feels like jogging to the nearest motorway and diving in front of a truck.

“I’ll give you my number and you can update me on the car? You’ll need to get someone to look over it more thoroughly.”

“Sí,” Leila breathes, hoping that you are signing yourself up for that job.

“I’m based in Manchester, so if that’s convenient, you could always bring it into my garage.”

“We live in Manchester too,” Laia helpfully shouts from inside the car. “And she will do that!”

“And… I could also text you a restaurant where you can ask me even more questions about car engines over dinner?” You grin at her, and she grins back.

“Sí, por favor.”

“It was nice to meet you, Leila,” you say slowly, pleased with yourself but dignified to hold in your cheering until your return to your own car.

“Igualmente,” Leila replies, handing you your t-shirt that you had previously discarded onto the floor. She’s still embarrassed that you understood what her friends said about you, but at least that means she now has a date.

Or two.

Or three.

It depends on how many more problems she can find with her car.

#woso x reader #woso #woso fanfics #leila ouahabi #leila ouahabi x reader

[ozthedm]

Vampire Ascendant Ramblings!

I love Baldur’s Gate 3. I love the vampire genre. I am particularly fascinated with the concept of the Vampire Ascendant for a number of reasons that mainly boil down to “what does it mean to be the Vampire Ascendant and what is the true cost of this power?”

This post is essentially a collection of my observations, thoughts, and headcanons regarding the ascension ritual. Think of this as fanfic inspiration material. Get ready folks, because we’re about to dip a toe into 5e lore and get existential.

What does the Rite of Profane Ascension actually do?

Raphael explains the ritual as thus:

“If he completes the rite, he will become a new kind of being - the Vampire Ascendant. All the strengths of his vampiric form will be amplified, and alongside them he will enjoy the luxuries of the living. The arousals and appetites of man will return to him, and unlike Astarion, he will have no need of a parasite to protect him from the sun. But the ritual has a price, as all worthwhile things do. Lord Cazador will need to sacrifice a number of souls including all of his vampiric spawn if he is to ascend… Your soul will set off a very wave of death, bringing Cazador his twisted life.” 

TLDR: If Cazador offers up the souls of 7000 vampire spawn, then maybe he’ll feel less like shit.

Other specific perks include:

The hunger for blood that plagues all vampires will no longer affect him.

His heart will beat again (Could he even be considered undead at that point?)

He still gets to remain immortal in the sense that he will never age

He can choose to extend his protection from the sun to his spawn, but this protection can be revoked

He can be reflected in mirrors.

There are some details that remain unclear, so here’s where we step into headcanon territory:

Running water will no longer harm him

A normal wooden stake won’t be enough to paralyze him. You’d be better off with a magical weapon

Although he will still need an invitation to enter homes, His enhanced vampiric charm practically makes it a nonissue

And now a couple of notes on Mephistopheles and the contract itself:

“Devils bargain with mortals to upend the divine order. They stake claims on souls that would otherwise go to the gods or be cast adrift somewhere other than the Nine Hells. If you are already a creature of Law and Evil devoted to no other entity, your damned spirit is of meager value.”

  - Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

Mephistopheles is an arcane innovator. His realm, Cania, is essentially a giant laboratory where he conducts extensive experiments. 

When it comes to souls, Mephistopheles prefers quality over quantity. He mostly acquires the souls of highly accomplished wizards and sages to help him with his research. To demand the souls of 7000 vampire spawn seems uncharacteristically beneath him (especially for the power he’s offering) 

My thinking is that Mephistopheles is working on something that specifically requires vampiric energy and lots of it. The 7000 spawns are nothing more than fodder.

A devil’s deal never ends well. This is repeatedly stated throughout the game. Considering what we know of Mephistopheles and how little Cazador cares for his spawn, this whole contract sounds far too good to be true. So what’s the catch?

A few possible ideas as to the downsides:

Mephistopheles is always watching. After all, this is a completely new kind of being that warrants study. 

The Ascendant’s hunger for blood is replaced with a different hunger. A hunger that is indescribable and insatiable. He will always yearn for more. More power, more control, more anything. He may even return to Mephistopheles in an attempt to fill the void. 

The Ascendant’s own soul is included in the price, albeit differently. Where the other souls were simply consumed by the ritual, his will serve another purpose. (Not gonna lie, this one sent me on a whole existential journey trying to figure out what is means to have/lack a soul)

I might post more thoughts later, but this is enough for now

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 fic #astarion #cazador szarr #fanfic ideas #headcanon #ascended astarion #vampire ascendant #vampires as existential horror #baldurs gate astarion #baldurs gate 3 spoilers #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 meta #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Sydney, The Focal Point Part II- Passion

Part 2 of Sydney being Carmy's focus. I decided to go step by step of the episode "Omelette" to show how the focus turns to Sydney again.

Carmy and Claire's love scene lacks connection despite whispers and laughs. Dark blue lighting adds coldness and isolation. Carmy lies awake, and the scene cuts to Syd putting on her jacket, hinting at Carmy's thoughts about her. (shoutout to @belassima meta-analysis of Carmy)

The thoughts have swirled around since that evening when he makes Claire dinner, as Sydney enters the Claire/Carmy montage- Carmy still thinks of Sydney and even makes the version of her Ragu.

He makes this version because he lacks creativity when it comes to Claire.

He lacks passion.

Passion

Going to the next scene with Sydney, her dad tells her she doesn't have to make everything a thing. Syd replies why can't we put everything we can into what we have? This is a callback that you're going to have to care about everything more than anything.

One of the explorations this season is passion.

Do we have passion for the right things? Are we giving our all to something worthwhile? What role does passion take in our lives?

We see this passion explored through Claire being a doctor= that shit really fires me up, Carmy loving cooking but does not find it fun, and Sydney experiencing failure in following her passion. 

Back to the scene-Sydney admits why she is putting her all into this one passion, and it's because she is not sure if she can do it again, if she has the drive to live out and dare to follow that fire and it has a chance of blowing out should she experience another failure.

For Carmy, it’s about finding his passion again, dreaming and creating, and the reasoning behind is explored in the second season. While his foil, Richie, finds his drive and purpose, Carmy is still left wondering who or what his passion is. 

So, after the scene with Sydney, we go to Carmy as he, who's in the midst of his panic attack, willing himself to see Claire in this romantic light, tries to see her as the good thing his family wants him to feel for Claire.

But he continues to spiral until he freezes and holds his breath until he can finally focus on his passion- and that’s Sydney, whose voice comes through in his panic. 

Now that he can calm down, Carmy is left with a possible realization: that he doesn’t feel for Claire but feels that fire for Sydney. 

We get to the next scene where Carmy is exhausted and stress; he has the oh shit, I can't stop thinking of my business partner look in his eyes.

But he's not too frazzled; he's aware of his surroundings; he notices the painting, notices Nat's pain in her shoulder, and listens to all that needs to be done for a successful opening. Carmy is getting his focus back.

Seeing Sydney after his panic attack, she asks if he called Tony. He's distracted by her and the stains on her jacket. He doesn't remember who Tony is and tries to focus on work but keeps focusing on Sydney.

He focuses on Sydney to a fault. He's keeping his eye on the ball.

A story of complete and utter Failure

We have now reached one of the most crucial parts of the episode. It's a story about failure - a story where Anthony Gonzales loses focus. Jimmy is explaining to Carmy the reality of the restaurant business and how everything depends on Carmy.

The missing piece in Carmy's puzzle is his passion and his reason for doing what he does. Carmy is stuck in the business and is unable to keep his eyes on the ball. However, the ball is different from what we anticipate - it's not the success of the restaurant, but rather Sydney, something that Carmy has already missed out on due to his lack of focus. Carmy brings up the most logical reason for his lack of focus: his girlfriend.

However, his distraction isn't work-related. Instead, he's thinking about Sydney (his passion) outside of work, leading him in a different direction and making him crave new experiences.

Wanting something different than what he has accomplished before is like playing a new game, where failure is a possibility, which can lead to doubt and fear.

This is why he is dating Claire. He is not passionate about it, but it is a game he knows he can win easily.

But he’s losing because no matter how much he tries- the thoughts surrounding Sydney and all that could be outside of work and his anxiety- that fear keeps him paralyzed at times.

We know it’s about Sydney- the reason behind not focusing behind work- because the scene cuts to Sydney- reminding us of her why and why she does what she does, why she has so much passion for cooking and it evokes a sense of peace and presence in her life- the same for Carmy whenever he’s around Sydney. 

In the next scene, Carmy is determined to complete his task and calls the fridge guy. However, just as he is about to make the call, Claire calls. Carmy becomes frozen, unable to face his problems. This fear is intensified by the thought of breaking up with Claire and having to take a risk to pursue his passion.

The next scene carries foreshadowing. Stay focused and don't get overwhelmed. Keep your eye on Sydney and follow her lead.

When he has the reminder and permission to follow and focus on his passion, he can stay just as present as Sydney when she makes the omelet. In this infamous table scene, he even acknowledges that he can't do it without her. For without his passion, this is all meaningless.

Carmy realizes that Sydney brings the fiery emotion he needs to succeed.

He is fully committed to Sydney, and I think he's choked up because of the weight of committing. He finally wants to be there for someone, to risk it all and put his emotions into helping her succeed.

A risk is involved when pursuing one's passion, as often there's suffer8ng in the experience, but with it follows purpose.

What will Carmy choose? Will he follow his passion- Sydney, or will he live life without passion? Without purpose?

Stay tuned for part 3.

#sydcarmy #carmy x sydney #the bear meta

[beesmygod]

i think another issue with webcomics having any scene or being taken seriously at all is that its a lot of stale air, everybody got captured by ig/twitter/tumblr and subsequently become trapped in the trappings and style of those websites. all discussion is couched in the boring 'fandom' subculture on websites with pre-built in infinite scroll and shit search, so updates to their comics or body of work are just as ephemeral as posts that are basically 'lol i farted on my dog' and any criticism is 'just being mean' or 'dogpiling on a poor artist'. not to mention any discoverability of anything new is basically going down the twitter/instagram likes of 'known quantities' for your own comic taste because of how atrophied any discussion around the medium has become

I dont see any way to escape this beyond social media dying a brutal and unprofitable death

trying to argue against the webtoons/IG model was entirely pointless the few times i tried, but its a topic that's hard for me to not devolve into frustrated sputtering about. it's so obviously antithetical to the purpose of making art, enjoying things, creation, joy, goodness, etc. and i would, frankly completely irrationally, be framed as someone who had it out for vertical strips. a sentiment which makes no sense unless you assume im the biggest moron and dipshit in the world. im sure arguing against someone is easier when the position you saddle them with is a seriously stupid one.

the inevitable downward spiral of these platforms feels entirely predictable. any model that revolves around quantity over quality is an obviously flawed one in most circumstances but when applied to art its completely absurd. the ideal artist for these websites are people who have no interest in contributing to a vaster landscape of complex works and instead are hyper-focused on being part of a large scale skinner box experiment for adults with compulsive spending issues. the artists themselves have severe numbers poisoning.

these are purely ephemeral and unremarkable comics that are rarely ever seen outside of instagram for their lack of any exceptional or worthwhile unique elements worth passing around. they are created with a factory mindset; crank them out as quickly as possible and flood various websites with the comic equivalent of grey goo in order to amass the maximum number of clicks. their ideal audience is undiscerning and simply looking for stimuli that will not challenge them on any level. logically it follows that is work is explicitly for the largest possible audience one can acquire: the lowest common denominator. they are making work for a computer or an advertiser to enjoy. human enjoyment is secondary.

the unironic and sincere discussion of views and followers as if the numbers have ever been real was surreal. everyone was around for when facebook revealed that it had been grossly inflating its video metrics after strong-arming everyone into moving to video, causing the destruction of several indie companies and websites. you would have to be straight up delusional to think the webtoons numbers are real. like, it is genuinely hard for me to be nice about people who bark bark bark about "its where the audience is!!!!" when the worst comic you've ever read with 2 updates has 12876492375238576 views, 0 patreon followers and 8909 comments. the obviously AI generated comments by accounts with no profiles (as in, you can't click on profiles at all to confirm its even a real person commenting) are beyond the pale lol. its some emperors new clothes shit, if the emperor made his own invisible clothes and cried about how hard they toiled for nothing. and also they were emperor of synecdoche, new york

how does a reasonable adult look at this and conclude its real? isn't it an obvious fiction? its because it's mean to point out otherwise, and being mean is the worst thing you can be.

people used to bitch about how the "had to" made reels and i felt like i was going insane. superstitious nonsense about "the algorithm" spread and has incited people to tortuously warp their work to fit with advertising standards they don't see a penny of, in the hopes of finding an audience that doesn't exist. when the algorithm changes to better suit advertiser needs, they are somehow blindsided and betrayed by this, as if it has not been the M.O. of social media websites for the past 20 years. they will do it again. and again. and again. as advertising becomes less and less financially viable and more and more intrusive, public opinion is going to turn hard on the people who tied themselves to these ships.

call me a rat for fleeing, but i can't bear to entertain this stuff anymore. it's embarrassing, the idea of sacrifice in the name of a greater good (sacrifice being uhhhhh not using fail platforms lol) should not be such a shocking and radical act. it should be reflexive

[sandymybeloved]

okay, I don't know how much sense this is going to make but its been bugging me so bear with

you know how sometimes when people in a fandom go long enough without going back and rewatching/rereading/relistening to/rewhatever, that they end up with slightly warped ideas about the characters and story that are far more based on fanon than anything in the source material. I think the same thing happens with criticisms of shows, some mild critique people had at the time becomes so pervasive and considered so all consuming that it no longer gels with the source material

what got me thinking about this was reading the tags in the @adventure-showdown tournament. a not uncommon thing I read is saying they only remember a single great moment from an episode, but they remember the other story completely, so the other story must be magnitudes better. and when someone is implying that because they only remember the gallery scene from vincent and the doctor, the surrounding episode wasn't worthwhile or even any good, I can't help but think, when was the last time you watched it? was it in 2010 when it aired, if you don't remember anything other than the scene that is regularly shared, and you're criticising based on your lack of memory alone, that just doesn't end up gelling with the episode, its not really a fair criticism

more broadly, half the criticisms I see of Moffat who are almost nonsensical to me as someone who does rewatch. (I'm not going to go into the sexism stuff, my opinions on that are far too nuanced and complicated to make a good example)

one of the most common criticisms is that it made the doctor too important, which every time I see it I can't help but wonder if the person saying it even watched in the first place. Because the thing is this is an idea the moffat era actively engages in constantly, and its not a late development at all, and the conclusion it constatly comes too is that the doctor's ego is too big, he's not as important and powerful as he, or the companions, or the audience percieve him to be.

in eleven's second episode, his plan for the star whale is wrong, it's amy who concludes the star whale won't run away and wants to help. in the series 5 finale, eleven makes a big speech to all his enemies gathered above about how they're afraid of him, and it doesn't work, it is at best a minor delay in their plan, he still ends the episode trapped in the pandorica, AND it turns out the doctor was not the excistential threat they were trying to stop, its the TARDIS, they're only imprisoning him as they (wrongly) think he's the only one capable of flying her

in series 6, in a good man goes to war, after the doctor is done parading about the place, after he's done with his massive ego trip and thinking he's won the day, it turns out he hasn't, he got amy back, but not her baby, melody is gone, and any reuniting that happens later in the series has nothing to do with him in any meaningful sense. a good man goes to war is the doctor getting cocky and it ends badly for his friends

its only more explicit in the capaldi era whre 12 regularly pushes back against people considering him anything more than a guy pottering about the universe in a box helping where he can. yes he is made president of earth, but he doesn't want that, he doesn't want authority. In fact series 10 has several of his most meaningful loses, in extremis there's nothing he can do but get a message out, in oxygen he loses his sight to save bill, in the pyramid at the end of the world the world enters a state of dystopia because bill wants to save him, in the doctor falls he loses everything, including his life, only the audience knows any differently

'moffat made the doctor too important' is not a criticism that gels when you actually watch the show, because it is something his era grapples with, is the doctor powerful, is he important to the universe, and if he is, is it a problem and who for. but the criticism isn't completely unfounded, not liking the material fact that 12 got made president of earth is fine, but 5 years removed its a criticism thats warped and changed into something unrecognisable as a criticism of the show its from, when the show says at one point, not even as subtext, that 12 is just a guy travelling around in a blue box, dropping in and helping out where he can.

anyway, this is helpful to me in that i don't like assuming people are speaking in bad faith, sometimes people do just haven't rewatched recently

#doctor who #i do have another exaple but i think i'll leave this one in the tags #when people say that moffat had the doctor meet someone as a child and then that child once they grew up fell for the doctor #4 times #which is at best disengenuous #and at worst just a lie #is it weird it happened at all #sure #but its blown out of proportion #renette yes that did happen #amy no thay kissed and it was weird and he thought it was weird #but amy hadn't fallen in love with him #and she never did #she was spiralling about marrying rory #river is a massive stretch #i don't remember the doctor ever even exchanging words with her as a child #clara is even more of a stretch #they are not in romantic love textually #maybe clara had a crush on eleven #and again i think he might have said about two words to her as a child #there is no chance she even remembers the encounter #okay done now i think

[way2indeep]

So Fucking Mean

Part One | Part Two

Parings: Jason Todd x GN Reader

Summary:  Jason asks you to be a little cruel to him

Warnings: NSFW, more suggestive than actual NSFW, degradation, Sub!Jason

Note:  I had this idea S T U C K in my head, so here’s a short drabble abt it. Let me know if I should write more of this >:)

Jason hadn't been in many long term relationships throughout his life, and afterlife he supposed. He wasn't embarrassed about his lack of experience, or the fact that he frequently fell into the sappy boyfriend trope when he was around you. The only worrisome thing he could think of was the violent clenching he'd feel in his heart when you caught him off guard.

Like now, for example.

He'd felt like he was approaching cardiac arrest the moment you'd pressed the pads of your fingers onto his tongue, but he was left utterly speechless when you'd followed that action by telling him to get on his knees. Shit like that coming out of nowhere floored him completely. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stay upright even if he'd tried to, especially with the heavy gaze you rested on him.

It was his own fault. Jason had been the one to bring up how good you were at shit talking thugs when the two of you worked together that night, and he'd also been the one to practically cream his pants when you teasingly threatened to talk to him in the same way. He never would have expected to be into that kind of thing. Not when he was already addicted to the slow passionate sex the two of you got into. It felt out of character for him to want you to be mean to him, but something about the thought of it made his legs feel unsteady as fuck.

So here he was, still in his body armor, with his mask tossed somewhere on the bed behind you, and his tongue laving at the three fingers pressing against it. You were going to be the absolute death of him, but he didn't think he'd mind dying again if it was by your hands.

Jason brought his hands to the outside of your thighs as he lowered himself to the ground. He wasn't quite confident enough in his balance at the moment with how dizzy the shift in blood flow towards his lower body was making him. He half expected you to comment on it, embarrassingly throbbing in his pants at the thought. What you offered, however, felt even better than the comment he'd been expecting.

"Is that all you got? That's fucking pathetic. I expected you to be better with your mouth with the way you're always running it."

Before he had the chance to change anything about the way he was moving his tongue, you plucked your fingers out of his mouth and gripped him harshly beneath his jaw where you pressed them into his cheeks. Jason imagined he had to have looked like a mess, fingers digging lightly into the skin of your thighs as you snatched his face closer.

"If you wanna' fuck me tonight, you'd better put in more effort than whatever that shit was."

Jason did his best to nod in your grip. He didn't think anything he produced from his mouth at that moment would be worthwhile, but the tightened grip on his face made him rethink that conclusion.

"You got that?"

"Yea-yes. I got it."

"'Good."

#jason todd #Smut #red hood smut #jason todd x reader #jason todd smut

[heyidkyay]

Who can say no to bridezilla? |

Epilogue

Because I couldn't not give them a proper ending.

Summary: With no date to your sister's wedding, what are you to do? No worries though, she's already got it covered, well, sort of...

Masterlist

--

MATTY POV:

“Now, we’ve all seen it. We’re all talking about it! So, why don’t we just clear the air, hey?”

Matty raised a brow at the interviewer.

Immediately he knew where this question was ultimately headed, but instead of making things easier for all parties involved, he went with the clueless route. Because that was always more fun, wasn’t it? And also, if he lived for anything, then it was annoying the fuck out of the nosy godawful pricks who were constantly so engrossed in his private life. 

“Sorry, mate. Gonna have to be a bit more specific here.”

The interviewer, Josh or something of the like, blinked at him before he casted a glance at the camera and laughed him off awkwardly. 

In all truth, Matty wasn’t the type to bite his tongue (not for a lack of trying, of course, he’d just always had zero filter- something which he liked to blame his mother for) and so it was probably quite easy to tell just how much he didn’t want to be here, in this fucking sauna of a room. 

Christ, was he sweating already? 

With a sigh, he scratched at the side of his cheek in attempt to hide the yawn he’d been fighting off since this shit-show had begun, and waited for the bloke sat opposite to continue on with this tireless charade they all seemed to adopt sooner or later. All, as in, every journalist ever.

It had all grown so tiring, so trivial, by this point in their career. They all just seemed to ask the same thing in one term or another, over and over. What’s your favourite colour? Who’s your celebrity crush? How’s it staying sober? Who’re you currently shagging? 

That last one was something of a hot topic at the minute. For him at least. 

Always him, it seemed. 

See, it’d all started a few months back when the lot of them had taken a good few weeks off so that Hann could have the ‘wedding of his dreams’. Or at least that was how Matty had taken it, having been on something of a roll with the last album and tour, he’d wanted to get a head start on the next now that he was properly off of all the hard stuff. 

But Jamie, their band’s manager, had taken use of his authority and all but demanded the break. 

Put his foot down. Quite literally, in fact- through a glass table of all things during a celebratory night out after the Brits. 

Matty had been rather delighted with the scene, of course, and thus had given Jamie a whistling round of applause, which had died down shortly after only Ross had joined him. Still, it had been a night worthwhile.

Anyway… stories always seemed to get away from him. He sort of had a knack for it, he guessed, going round and round the point. Or maybe he was just showing his age. But yeah, it had all basically begun way back when Hann had finally declared the date of his wedding.

Matty, honestly hadn’t been dreading it- no, not at all. Losing one of his best mates, forever, to a girl of all things. No, he’d been completely fine. Excited for them even!

Almost.

Maybe…

Alright, so he might’ve used every possible opportunity he’d had to avoid the topic at all costs, but previously mentioned girl was also relatively chill, and someone Matty had grown quite fond of in recent years. So he hadn’t been too vocal about his many irrational dwellings and constantly rising panic. Up until that very moment at least.

And Hann… he hadn’t been too happy a chap.

But with the wedding still happening- with or without his blessing, he’d like to iterate- Matty had used up the time and space he’d been ‘gifted’ to work on himself a bit. So he’d fucked off dating and alcohol (the hard stuff at least), took up jiu-jitsu, and decided to slack off social media too for a while. 

Just wanted to keep his circle small in truth. He drunk a bit of wine here and there, and smoked when and where he pleased. 

Because since rehab, he’d actually become something short of a chimney, which was honestly saying something if you’d known him at all before. A cigarette after the most mundane tasks had quickly become an adopted habit of his, alongside the weed which he didn’t have the heart to give up. Because, who the fuck else did it harm in the grand scheme of things?

And that had been that. Up until the point when Ross, the ginormous tosser he was, had gone and cucked up his pretty little bubble of peace by asking who he’d intended to bring along to Hann’s wedding.

Matty had sort of lost it then. Because he’d had. No. Fucking. Clue.

Not after having been out of the game for so long, and having avoided almost every ounce of social interaction that had been tossed his way. 

Plus, there'd been absolutely no way that he was bringing some randomer along to his best mate’s big day. He just wasn’t down with that. And so, like that fucking loser he was, he’d declared that he’d be going stag.

But, Y/s/n, the formidable angel she was (as well as the poor woman of Hann’s decrepit dreams, poor sod), had simply laughed her arse off at him when he’d mentioned it, and point blank told him no. 

Actually, the words she’d used were, ‘There’s no way in fuck-off hell that you, of all people, are turning up stag to my wedding, Matty. I’ll sort it.’

And did she fuck.

Because not too soon after that whole commotion did you fall into the mix. 

Now, Matty had heard tidbits about this faceless girl here and there- you were Y/s/n’s older sister for one, and was almost always busy doing something of the sorts. But you had quickly become a strange puzzle in his incredibly hectic life, someone he knew bits and pieces about but could never quite imagine complete.

Truthfully, the whole thing had honestly been a favour to the both of you at first. You had been in need of someone to throw in front of your mum for a bit (something Matty could relate to- intrusive mother’s were now something of a pastime to him), and he’d just been desperate enough for any kind of date that he’d so happened to agree. Figured it’d be fun, a distraction to take his mind off of losing one of his very best mates. 

Dramatic, he knows, but who cared.

So Hann had sent him your number and it had all sort of spiralled from there. He’d messaged you on a whim, having decided to just get it over and done with, but then you had texted back. And Matty had grown enthralled.

You’d spent that entire first night messaging back and forth. And then the night after that, and the one after that, and so on. 

Days had rapidly turned to weeks, and weeks into months. And before either of you had even realised it, the big day had finally arrived.

And honestly? Matty had been fucking bricking himself.

That morning especially, but also the entire week prior, too.

Just ask Ross and George- he’d been an utter mess. 

Such a fucking nutcase in fact that George had actually blocked his number and flat out refused to answer his front door. 

Ross had been a true friend in his time of need though, but mainly because he’d just been pleased to have someone to shit all over and rip to bits. He was a vindictive little fucker at the best of times, and supposedly found immense pleasure in Matty’s obvious suffering.

So yeah, he’d been anxious about it alright, more than just that to be honest, but surprisingly he hadn’t been able find an actual word to describe what he’d truly been feeling.

Even thinking back to it now had his stomach all tied up in knots.

It was almost a little dizzying to see the complete turn around he’d made of it since then, even with everything that had occurred that evening. Because it was him we were talking about here, and so of course he’d been the first to cock things up.

Still, it had all worked out in the end. Hadn’t it? 

And here he now was, sat on this arse-aching chair, being asked a question all about you.

“The pictures, Matty! We’re all dying to know more. Twitter is, quite literally, imploding!”

Ah, the pictures…

Pap shots, more like. Fucking pricks the lot of them.

But they were all out there now. For everyone to see. And they’d only doubled in recent weeks after the news of baby Hann had broken and that dildo had gone into hiding. They all wanted to know about her, about the girl who’d been a complete constant in his life. The girl he’d been orbiting like the fucking sun.

And perhaps if it hadn’t been him they were all gossiping about, he might’ve wanted to know a bit more about it all too, because it was just human nature, he figured. To want- even after the most insignificant things. It was just something everybody appeared to find oddly intriguing.

So he could understand it, see?

At least from a fan’s perspective he could- the media too, if he was being technical. But it honestly had begun to grate on him a little. He hadn’t wanted to hide you away from this part of his life, it wasn’t like that at all in actuality. He’d just wanted you to himself for a little bit longer. To ignore the rest of the world so that he could learn everything there was to know about you.

But shit happened and life never gave you exactly what you were after, did it? Not in the ways you expected, at least.

“Come on, you can tell us…” James then goaded- or had it been Jack? Matty frowned. Either way, he wasn’t too attached.

“Yeah, I could, mate. But question is, do I really want to?” Matty countered, forefinger pressed against the corner of his mouth whilst he smirked unashamedly at the reporter.

The guy, bless him, really did seem to be trying. He wanted his big break, Matty could tell, and a story like this could probably get him just that. 

But. 

Matty was an insufferable twat at the best of times, and he wasn’t one to turn down a game of fun. Especially not after the rollercoaster of a day he’d had.

“I think it’d be good, for you, for your fans, to let everyone in on the big secret, don't you?” Jim- yeah, that’s what he was going with- encouraged him, and Matty had to struggle not to roll his eyes. “So who is she? This girl you’ve been spotted with.”

“Don’t know about you, but I talk to a lot of women on the daily. Get pictured with a fair few too, hard to keep track, you know?”

Jim’s smile tightened and Matty felt his own fall into something a bit more genuine. Ah, he was going to enjoy this.

“Come on, Matty.” And fuck did he hate the way Jim said his name. There were two fucking t’s in there, for Christ’s sake. But this tit of a saucepan kept making it sound as though it had been shortened from Madeleine or some sort. 

‘Maddy. Maddy.’ What was he, an eighty year old woman?

“We’re all friends here! Your fanbase have been making a few fair assumptions, some even recognising her.”

Matty’s brow quirked at that. “Oh, yeah? Fill me in then, Jimbo.”

The interviewer’s forehead wrinkled in slight confusion at the name he'd been dubbed, before he hastily continued on, believing himself to be finally getting somewhere.

“Well, she just keeps popping up everywhere! We’ve seen her out with you, in London, and New York, here in LA. People are beginning to suspect that she’s the one we’ve all been hearing in the background of your Instagram stories, and on your lives.” Jim explained, and he was a very gesticulative man, Matty noted. 

He was almost a little fearful that he was about to get slapped in the face by one of his wayward hands.

“And most of all, I’ve discovered that quite a lot of your band’s fans make quite the detectives. They’ve all rallied and decided that you met this mystery girl at Adam, the bands guitarist’s wedding earlier this year.”

“How’ve they deducted this then?” Matty found himself asking, a tad invested now.

Jim seemed to beam at him then and Matty found himself regretting this whole thing. Fuck Jamie, and fuck the guys. Why was it always him doing these shitty fucking interviews whilst everyone else got to sit at home on their arses?

He had a thousand other things he could’ve been doing in that very moment- most of them included you.

“I’m actually glad you asked.” Jim barrelled on, and Matty had almost forgotten he was there, too caught up in his own head. “On one of the announcement posts referring to your band’s newest edition, expected early next year, there was a user who had commented.”

Ah. How sagacious.

Matty was almost a little disappointed with that final deduction though- he’d expected more. Like a super secret stakeout. Or one of their fans behind bars after having hacked into the Secret Intelligence database, or fuck knows, Scotland Yard even. But nah, you’d only just gone and left a sodding comment on your sister’s baby post.

“Reckon there was a half a million comments there, mate.” Matty drawled, clucking his tongue ever so slightly. “Like, I was honestly hoping to get some lawyers involved here, break someone out of prison, or at the very least hear a more promising tale. I mean, a comment. Really?”

Good old Jim just seemed to find his reply hilarious though, and appeared rather thrilled that he’d finally managed to wrangle more than a few syllables out of him.

“I’m sure you have more than enough excitement going on in your life!” Jim conducted, chuckling away to himself. Matty forced a sarky sort of smile. “So can you either confirm, or deny, that the woman you’ve been spotted with, as of recent, is a bandmate’s sister?”

Matty stopped short, then gave a boisterous laugh. One knee jilting up off the floor slightly as he threw his head back against the back of the chair to just cackle at the bloke. He had to shake his head at it all, in disbelief. “Fuck man, how have you bolloxed that up so bad?”

Interviewer Jim just seemed to frown at him though, torn between obvious confusion and some of the amusement he still felt. He did his best to regroup though.

“What? Are you claiming the rumours to be false then?”

“Oh, I think the boys who have siblings would know better than to let me near any of them.” Matty retorted, still grinning away. “But I’ll leave it up to everyone else, and their incredible skills of deduction, to work it all out.”

Matty glanced away then pointed towards the small crew that had gathered and the camera that’d been set up.

“Suppose we're all done here then?”

Jim blinked at him, jaw swinging.

“Um.” He tried, but Matty was already up, out of his seat and throwing on his jacket. 

He stuck a hand out towards the man as he slipped a pair of dark shades over his eyes, because he could play at being polite. “Cheers for this, mate. Hope everything goes well.”

And then he was gone, having weaved his way through the building's hallways and slipped out through the first side door he'd found. His phone was already in hand by the time he felt the sun beaming down on him and he started smirking to himself as he typed out a text. 

Today 11:59

Georgie: 

World thinks I’m shagging your sister, mate.

Matty couldn’t help his grin, and was quick to drop out of his messages so that he could do exactly what he’d been hoping to do ever since his morning had begun.

His smile was a whole lot more fond when your face popped onto the screen, rubbing at your eyes with a pillowy pout.

“What?”

Matty snorted out an unjustly laugh at the love-filled greeting he'd received whilst he shook his head at you, mindful of the busy street he was crossing.

“What do you mean, what? Why are you asleep, it’s like 8pm your time.”

His chest fucking warmed at the sight of you wrinkling your nose unhappily at him, obviously not too pleased with having been awoken.

“Your point?” You fired back, sighing as you reluctantly sat up in bed, all the way back home in dreary London.

“Sweetheart, you’re gonna kick yourself later when you can’t sleep tonight.” Matty mentioned, pausing on a street corner just outside of a trendy little cafe so that he could light a fag. Not caring about the few upturned noses he received in response from passersby and the avant-garde try hards settled on tables outside. LA, man.

“Then that’s my business, isn’t it?” You piped up, drawing his attention back down to his phone.

You’d since tied your hair up into a messy style of bun he typically loved to play with when you were cuddled up together, and sort of let the duvet pool around your hips.

“Besides, it was just a nap- you know how sleepy I get when I have to deal with Y/s/n all day. She’s been on a rampage this week, I swear, so just be happy you’ve not had to deal with any of it. I mean, really, there’s no fucking difference between Fine Dream and Frosted Cream! It’s all just paint to me!”

Matty couldn’t hide his lopsided smile as he listened to you continue your ramble. It had quickly become the most favoured part of his day, whether you were wrapped around one another back at his, or a couple hundred miles apart.

The couple hundred miles though, they had started to grow harder and harder, seeing as he was currently out in LA, whilst you were busy with life and things at home.

Still, he’d be back with you this time tomorrow morning- unbeknownst to you of course. Because he’d planned it to be something of a surprise. He’d been gone three long weeks and knew that the separation had been difficult on you both, seeing as the pair of you had spent practically every day since Hann’s wedding under one another’s feet.

“Anyway,” You sighed, regaining his attention, and Matty watched as you puttered about the kitchen, more than likely preparing yourself a cup of tea. “How did the interview go? Was it that radio thing you were excited for, or was that something else?”

Matty shook his head at the screen, stumping out his cigarette on the brick wall beside him. 

“That’s next week. All of us will be doing it though, so I’m looking forward to it.” He informed you, blowing out the last remaining tendrils of smoke. “But God, you wouldn’t believe this bloke I just met, reckon he could’ve bored me to death with his questions. Same fucking thing, over and over again, I swear. LA used to be so thrilling, but now, it’s all gotten so- I don’t know… Just feels really superficial. Want to be back home.”

“Missing this English weather, are you?”

And he could see the small smile pulling at your lips. Apparently, it had snowed in the time he’d been gone, and because the world just loved to spite him, that meant he’d missed seeing you in it. But he’d witnessed your reaction at the very least, and it had been incredibly endearing to watch you get all excited, even over a Facetime call. Because you’re face had honestly said it all, eyes wide and so fucking alive. It definitely could’ve rivalled any little kid’s.

“Hm,” Matty hummed, tilting his phone so that the Californian sun didn’t cause a glare. “Reckon it might have more to do with me missing a certain someone, to be fair.”

“That so?” You quipped, looking right at him, “Has Ross finally caved and messaged you then? Needy, that one- I'd be careful. You’ve only been apart a couple days. But me? I’ve not had you in three weeks.”

“And it’s been a terrible loss, we’ll have to remedy it once I’m home." Matty said with an assured nod, "Figure I’ll have you in the hallway first.”

Your loud laughter bubbled up through the phone’s speaker and Matty let his eyes slip close in turn, revelling in the sound for a brief second.

“Careful there, Matthew. Never know who could be listening.” You replied with a smirk of your own whilst you stirred milk into a large mug- one Matty immediately recognised as one of his own. The thief. “Besides, I’ll be picking you up from the airport so you’ll have to make do with the backseat of my car.”

He grinned full out upon hearing that, chuckling to himself as he shook his head, deciding to carry on the teasing. “Christ, if anyone's needy, it's you. But I reckon I can deal with that. Just as long as you don’t give yourself a concussion this time ‘round.”

You gasped, shocked. “It wasn’t a concussion, you twat! And you’re the one with the fucking jackrabbit hips! If anyone was at fault, it’s you.”

“Oh, come off it. You love being on top.”

With a roll of your eyes, you sipped carefully at your steaming drink then pointedly shrugged. “Still carried on though, didn’t I? Without any complaints, I might add.”

Matty snorted lightly. “Indeed you did, baby.”

The ring of a doorbell sounded then and he watched as your head turned in its direction, only to then huff.

“That’ll be Jamie. Forgot he was coming over after work tonight.” You told him as you put the mug down and picked up your phone to putter over towards the door.

Matty heard it being opened, as well as the usual greetings often shared between your cousin and you, before a pair of great big eyes were suddenly boring into the screen, startling him slightly, only to then be followed by a matching grin and loud laugh.

“Alright, Healy, the Yanks treating you alright?” Jamie acosted, clearly having stolen your phone from you whilst your defences had been down. He could just make out you rolling your eyes in the background whilst your cousin made himself comfortable in your flat. “Enjoying the sun, eh?”

Either he’d been in LA too long, or he just hadn’t heard Jamie speak in a while, his northern accent sounded so prominent down the phone.

“Always do, Jim.” Matty said, smiling at the bloke who’d splayed himself out across your living room sofa. He withheld the humour he found in his inner musings when he recalled the earlier Jim, to ask after Jamie’s missus, Kate.

Jamie told him that she was doing good, busy with work, but enjoying it all the same. He also mentioned that they were actually thinking about moving in together too, which Matty found surprising but was all for, having been witness to the couple and their love for one another over the last couple of months. They were proper great together, anyone could see it.

And since his and Jamie's big bust up- something Matty had deemed it, even though it had been anything but- during your sister and Hann’s wedding, the two of them had sort of bonded. 

Don’t get him wrong, it had been tense and they’d started out on an awkward-footing, seeing as Jamie was practically more your brother than cousin, as well as the defensive type, but they’d gotten there in the end.

Matty had quickly learned that if he wanted to be with you, then he’d have to get used to Jamie always hanging about too. The pair of you were somewhat of an odd duo. But he found you both entertaining all the same.

“Alright, can I have my boyfriend back now?” Echoed your voice from somewhere off to the side, and then there was a bit of a scuffle before your accomplished grin flashed across his screen. “Hi.” You greeted, somewhat out of breath. Matty merely quirked a brow.

“You alright there, darling?”

“Oh, yeah. Brilliant, thanks.” You panted faintly, waving him off casually before you moved to raise the phone above your head. 

Matty full out cackled then at the sight you’d gifted him, because of course you’d be the one to somehow manage to get the upper hand over your giant of a cousin, only to then sit proudly on his back whilst his face pressed into the cold wooden floor. 

“Fucking class!” Matty laughed and he could actually feel the skin around his eyes tightening at just how hard he was smiling. “Comfy there, Jim?” He couldn’t help but taunt, smiling as the man's reddened face came into view.

“Grand, mate. Cheers.” Jamie huffed in retort, lifting an arm vaguely in the direction of the camera to give him a thumbs up. 

Matty shook his head as the duo continued to bicker, comforted by the fact that it was only hours before he got to see you again, properly this time. 

--

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[animebw]

Short Reflection: Fall 2023 Anime

Is it fair to call 2023 a disappointing year for anime? Maybe it's just that 2021 and 2022 were both so above and beyond that coming back down to normalcy from that peak feels like a letdown. But man, between a mostly uninspiring winter lineup and summer being possibly the single worst anime season since seasonal watching started being a thing, there's been plenty to complain about. Thankfully, there's been plenty to appreciate as well, and while this fall season hasn't been truly transcendent, it's at least left us with a slew of worthwhile anime to close the year out. So let's sift through the rubble and rank all the shows I finished to see which ones ended as true must-watches, which are still worth a look, and which you can skip without missing anything.

Firefighter Daigo (1st Half): 4/10

So, remember Space Brothers? Remember how wonderfully that show balanced naturalistic character building with the excitement and beauty of exploring a high-stakes environment like space? Have you been looking for another show to hit that same sweet spot of grounded maturity and tangible whimsy that makes your childhood dream job feel more achievable than ever? Well... guess you better keep looking, because Firefighter Daigo is not that. There's some beautifully nail-biting tension to the rescue sequences themselves, expertly stacking one thing after another going wrong as our protagonists are forced to think on their feet to save lives under the most pressure imaginable. But the characters are utterly bland, the production is boring on a near-inconceivable level (man, remember when this guy directed a single good-looking episode of To Your Eternity and completely failed to live up to that potential ever again?), it wastes over three minutes each episode on recap footage, and it take such a bizarre, condescending attitude toward its one female character that the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. It's an overly cheesy puppet show playing at being a real story, and I will not be sticking around to see if its second cours improves in any way.

Stardust Telepath: 4.5/10

Man, I'm frustrated I didn't like this one more. I always appreciate Cute Girls anime that put this much polish and energy into their adaptation, and the concept of socially awkward Umika Konohoshi wishing she could escape this planet to make friends among the stars, only to find her place on earth on her journey to reach there, has all the makings of a coming-of-age masterpiece. Sadly, it's done in by the simplest of failures: melodrama overdose. All the attempts at heartstring-pulling are so overbearing and browbeating that every moment that tries to drag tears from your eyes just leaves you exasperated instead. It completely lacks confidence in its ability to touch your emotions on the quality of its writing alone, so it smothers you in sappy speeches and ear-bleeding Feel Sad Music until you feel like you're choking on the stuff. Not even the top-shelf yuribaiting between the two leads can wipe the frustration away, and I'm about the easiest mark for that kind of stuff as you can imagine. Someone get this forehead-touch almost-kiss telepathy into a better show immediately!

I'm in Love with the Villainess: 4.5/10

I honestly feel back about being so down on I'm in Love With the Villainess. Lord knows I'm always complaining we need more isekai with an actual point to make, and an unapologetically queer take on the shoujo villainess trope that actually has something to say about the lesbian experience amidst the romantic goofery certainly fits that bill. Except, well... I already watched this show when it was called MagiRevo. And when it was called Mage and Demon Queen. And in a world where those two stories basically perfected the "lesbian disaster courts a closed-off tsundere" isekai-adjacent fantasy yarn, there's nothing this show can offer that hasn't already been done so much better. Well, okay, the conversation in episode 3 exploring the pushy protagonist's complex self-loathing relationship with her own queerness was certainly unique, but you end up spending the rest of the show waiting in vain for it to do something that interesting ever again, only to be met with overly tropey writing, cliches, and unexpected swerves into problematic WTF territory instead. There are good ideas here buried here, but it needed a better studio to refine it to the point it needed to be, and it got stuck with Platinum Vision instead. What a shame.

Uma Musume Season 3: 4.5/10

At this point I have to wonder if even Uma Musume is getting tired of its own shtick. It's been three seasons and an OVA of the most melodramatic sports anime histrionics imaginable, and all that shouting and wailing has to get exhausting after a while. And while season 3 is still every bit as overblown and overbearing as the franchise has always been, it also feels like it's poking fun at itself for taking this nonsense so damn seriously. Two characters have a sappy emotional heart-to-heart while furiously paddling a paddleboat. Former protagonist and resident crybaby Special Week's tearful speeches are basically ignored by everyone else in the cast as they keep talking over her and tuning her out. The running gag of the Overly Serious Race Commenters get upstaged by a pair of even older, more seasoned Overly Serious Race Commenters. Hell, even the fact we only get a single idol performance at the very end seems to hint at just how weary this story's become of its own conceit. Uma Musume has always been an overthought, overdesigned mess of a show, so bloated on anime nonsense and ill-matched tropes that it rarely manages to capture anything real amidst the corporate plasticness of it all. But I'm not gonna lie, there's something equally hilarious and depressing about seeing it finally start to admit its own pointlessness.

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions: 5/10

How good does a show have to be at character banter to make up for a failure of writing in pretty much every other respect? That's the question Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions seems willed into existence to answer. As a snappy buddy-cop comedy between an eccentric genius detective and his beleaguered straight-man sidekick, it's every bit the equal of 2011's Sherlock. As an actual mystery thriller... it is also, sadly, every bit the equal of 2011's Sherlock. I could watch the titular Ron fail upwards through his case-solving conundrums dragging the hapless rookie detective Toto with him all day. Their chemistry is infectious. It's just a shame the actual detective work is so hacky and contrived, cheap solutions to mostly dull mysteries that never give you that "Aha!" moment of seeing the puzzle pieces come together. And the overarching plot involving prestigious detective academies, shadowy criminal syndicates, and bizarre involuntary hypnosis powers feels like it purposefully ignores every opportunity to explore any ideas deeper than basic shonen moralizing. I might still pop back in for season 2 to enjoy more wacky hijinks between the leads, but if you're looking for something to scratch your mystery itch, give this one a pass.

Arknights: Perish in Frost: 5/10

Now that's more like it! Sort of. Almost. Okay, look, for the first half and change of its run, the second season of Arknights manages to be every bit the improvement on the first season I was hoping for. It streamlines the plot to keep a constant, propulsive forward momentum, pushing its characters forward and keeping the narrative lens focused so it can do justice to all its major players. And it pushes all those disparate factions on a collision course with each other that leads to constant, meaningful consequences and character building, aided by a production that hits its high water marks far more consistently than season 1. It feels like Arknights has shaken off the bloat and become the best possible version of itself, a dark action season with some genuine muscle behind it... at least until we enter the final stretch and the pacing goes absolutely out of control, speeding into a brick wall so fast and recklessly that you're barely able to understand what the fuck just happened by the time it's over. It's shockingly rushed, to the point you feel like you're watching someone recite the Wiki at you while skipping over all the connective tissue that would make these plot points make sense. It's a frustrating end to a season that came so close to being good, and I can only hope any future installments never make that mistake again.

Undead Unluck (1st Half): 5/10

Undead Unluck is host to one of the single most bonkers sci-fi settings I've ever seen, anime or otherwise. From what starts feeling like just our world with some supernatural freaks and weirdos causing havoc, it gradually reveals itself to be something more akin to a nightmarish cosmic RPG in the hands of a mad god, where none of the rules of our world can be taken for granted and reality is only ever a hair's breadth away from turning on its head. It's a deliriously creative premise to build a shonen battle manga out of, and I can't wait to see what other insanity the writers can milk out of this setup. Which is good, because otherwise, hooooooooo boy this one does not get off on a good foot. What fucking genius decided the main duo's dynamic should be built around the guy molesting the girl to make her powers activate? In what universe was building a love story out of that sexual harassment a good idea? I'm sorry, but when you've mistaken a swaggering half-naked dude-bro casually trying to outright assault his partner as cute hot-and-cold couple banter, you have officially lost the plot. Can somebody break into Shonen Jump studios and teach this company how to write a proper romance one of these days? Deku and Uraraka can't carry the whole genre on their back, guys!

Migi and Dali: 5.5/10

Is Migi and Dali a good show? I honestly don't think I could tell you. What it is, is utterly bizarre in everything in does, yet somehow kind of makes it all work? It's a Diamond-is-Unbrekable-esque off-kilter small town murder mystery, with a pair of identical twins pretending to be one kid to fool their new adoptive parents as they search for the person responsible for killing their mother years ago. The whole thing plays like a pitch-black parody of stereotypical suburban life, finding the cracks in the facade of normalcy and ripping them open until your only options are to laugh wildly or cringe wildly at the resulting desecration. And you will do plenty of both all throughout as it ping-pongs from accidental twincest to toddler play to to not-so-garden-variety abuse to Excessive English and basically everything in between. If there's an aspect of your stereotypical boring, domestic family experience that Migi and Dali can twist into a grotesque mockery of itself, it'll do just that and then some. The unfortunate side effect, though, is that it can be hard to tell where the line lies between intentional commentary and just being gross and uncomfortable for its own sake. And when that threatens to veer into some really misogynistic territory in the final act, it becomes even harder to stomach. Still, I can safely say I've never seen anything quite like this show, and considering the manga's author tragically passed away recently, you can't help but respect the people making it for honoring her memory this way.

Shy: 5.5/10

Shy is one of the rare manga I've read before the anime came out, inspired by a friend who came across it at random and it became their favorite manga of all time after just eleven chapters. I wasn't quite as swept away, and I don't think it's maintained the level of quality its first couple arcs had, but man, there's something special about this one. Which is why I am personally begging you not to watch the anime and go straight to the manga, because this adaptation really doesn't do justice to how electrifying and soul-enriching the manga can be. Masaomi Ando's a good director, but his penchant for paneling and stylistic insert shots, an aesthetic which works wonders on heavily atmospheric mood pieces like Toiled-Bound Hanako-kun and Scum's Wish, is completely at odds with the needs of a straightforward superhero battle series. The manga's artwork has this wonderfully sketchy, explosive quality that makes every action panel feel like a rush of cascading moments; here, every action scene quickly descends into a mess of moving jpegs and awkwardly placed insert frames that cripples its ability to wow you. There's enough of the manga's triumphant spirit preserved that it still shakes out decently- the orphanage arc that closes out the first season is wonderful enough to survive any imperfections from page to screen- but if the story of Teru's struggles and self-actualization touched you at all, you owe it to yourself to check out the source material to experience this story in its best form.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You: 6/10

Listen, you know me. You know how much I despise the harem genre. There's barely a single example of the form I consider anything above mediocre slop. So how did a show with this premise manage to get into my good graces? By understanding one simple fact that so few harem anime seem to realize: if you want something this inherently stupid to work? Embrace the fucking stupidity. Throw caution and common sense and good taste to the wind and just go absolutely bugnuts. Why settle for a scant five or six barely interchangeable waifu bait when you can have one hundred distinct and memorable personalities? Why waste time on cheap melodrama that nobody cares about when there are fourth walls to break and scenarios to push far beyond their logical extremes? 100 Girlfriends knows that the only proper form for this genre is sheer anarchy, going so far over-the-top with its jokes and setups that it's impossible not to get swept up in the sheer audacity of it all. And somehow, by imbuing this madcap nonsense with just a drop of sincerity, it actually makes you care about Best Boy Aijou Rentarou and his ever-growing posse of romantic partners as a strangely healthy polyamorous support system for each other. It's far from flawless and good lord is it problematic from top to bottom, but if you can vibe to its particular brand of earnestly empathetic chaos, it's an experience like none other.

Overtake: 6.5/10

Overtake is the most frustrating kind of anime: a really good show that's constantly threatening- but never fully succeeds- at being great. It has all the pieces you could want! A masterful production from veteran directer Ei Aoki that brings the world of Formula 4 racing to life with tactile, lived-in lushness. Characters who breathe far beyond the confines of the screen, rich with inner life and complex relationships where you come to love the rivals just as much as the scrappy underdog protagonists. A story that tackles genuinely moving and mature ideas as it explores what it means to give your all to something, even when the risks may be too horrifying to reckon with. It's as perfectly positioned for greatness as you could ask from a sports anime... and yet it never quite takes off the way you want it to. It's just missing that little extra something to push it over the edge, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what that might be. It's still absolutely worth a look, but as much as I liked it, I'm gonna be stewing over why I didn't love it for a while.

The Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 Part 2: 6.5/10

Alright, that's more what I was hoping for. After a frustratingly slow and plodding first half, the back half The Ancient Magus Bride's second season finally starts paying off all that torturous setup and reminding us that when it wants to, nothing goes harder than Chise's tale of trauma, abuse and recovery, especially now that she's the guiding light for another girl crawling out of pit much like the one she was once trapped in. It's genuinely powerful watching her try to help Philomena out from under a painfully familiar burden, struggling save someone like her while she's still struggling with the scars her own darkness has left on her. And whenever it's focused on that, it's as good as The Ancient Magus Bride has ever been. It's just a shame that whenever all that potent character drama gives way to fae-on-fae magical showdowns, it's some of the ugliest, clunkiest, most poorly staged action in all of fall's lineup. It utterly fails to capture the sense of eldritch awe and wonder this series' magic invokes, leaving it feeling like a shell of itself even when everything else is operating at full capacity. Hopefully, future seasons will take the time they need to bring that aspect up to par, because a series this steeped in the haunting grandeur of its aesthetic cannot afford to cut corners on that aesthetic.

Spy x Family Season 2: 7.5/10

Do my eyes deceive me? A Yor-centric arc? This show finally gives one of its nominal protagonists a turn in the spotlight after ages of underuse with a big, lengthy, consequential story that lets her shine like never before? It's like Christmas came early. I've been up and down about Spy x Family over the course of its run, but the cruise ship arc that dominates this season is everything great about this show operating at the top of its potential, and god damn is it marvelous to watch unfold. If only it was this good on a consistent basis, it would be an easy shoe-in for one of the greatest anime of the decade. But you know what? As long as it keeps delivering highlights like this, I've got nothing to complain about. At this point, Spy x Family has comfortably settled into being a reliably entertaining action-heavy family sitcom with lovable characters and occasional moments of greatness, and if that's all it ultimately amounts to, well, there are far worse things to be. Just please, for the love of god, keep Yuri off screen as much as possible.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: 8/10

So cards on the table: the live action Scott Pilgrim vs the World movie is one of my favorite films of all time. It's such a perfect explosion of geeky awesomeness from one of our greatest living directors, managing to push the medium of live action closer to anime than it ever was before or has been since. So the prospect of seeing the original comic actually made into an anime was very exciting to me. How cool would it be to finally see the source material that inspired this movie brought to life, never mind with Science Goddamn Saru pushing the animation into overdrive? But much to my shock- and eventual delight- Scott Pilgrim Takes Off had much more exciting things in mind than simply slapping a decades-old comic series on screen. Instead, it's something closer to an Evangelion-style Rebuild, taking a sharp left and remixing the story and characters with the perspective of a more mature creator, reckoning with his successes and failures alike as he re-assesses the story he was trying to tell and what parts of it still hold value today. It's Scott Pilgrim as told by someone who's outgrown the transient young adulthood central to the narrative, taking stock of his past from an older, wiser perspective and making amends where he fell short before. And as much as I might have liked a straightforward adaptation, what I got instead was so exciting and fresh that I can't complain. If only every anime was this willing to get creative with its source material.

The Apothecary Diaries (1st Half): 8.5/10

Say a prayer and set off some fireworks, folks: the shoujosei renaissance is here! After a years-long drought, the anime industry is finally remembering that stories targeted at women and girls are also worthy of high-profile prestige adaptations instead of settling for barely animated table scraps. And of all the breakout hits we've had this past year and change, none have slapped quite as hard as The Apothecary Diaries, a historical Chinese mystery drama that marries fascinating courtly intrigue with a bitterly honesty exploration of how the lowest rungs of society- women and poor people especially- are systemically crushed by the structures that govern their world. As hilarious as this show can be, it's also unnervingly frank about the darkness the Emperor's courtesans and their servants must reckon with as pawns in a patriarchal society. And it drives that message home with a truly wonderful protagonist in Maomao, a girl who just wants to keep her head down and get through life without drawing unwanted attention from the forces that could easily squash her like a bug, but has too strong a moral compass to look the other way when she sees the people around her suffering from those same injustices. It's the story of a powerless person using all the tools at her disposal to keep the world's cruelty at bay, and watching her struggle to win what small victories she's capable of against such an overwhelming power structure makes for some of the most gripping television I've watched in quite a long time. And if the second cours is even half as good as good, it will still earn its place among the years' best.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (1st Cours): 9/10

The big fantasy adventure is over. The demon king is dead, the world is at peace, and the heroes who defeated him slowly grow old and die in the new age they ushered in. All, that is, except Frieren, a near-immortal elf with such a long lifespan that a human's life is a mere drop in the ocean for her. But with the passing of her former party's leader, she realizes just how much the short time she spent on that adventure have affected her. Ten years- a mere millisecond in the life of an elf- has changed the way she sees the world more profoundly than she ever could have dreamed. So she sets out on a journey to retrace the steps of that adventure, to reconnect with her memories of the old friends she's only now realizing she wished she got to know better before it was too late. Along the way she picks up a couple of those friends' young disciples to join her party, walking reminders of the past she left behind and the future that awaits her. And through their travels, she slowly begins to understand humanity and her place within it... and all the experiences she will carry with her long after they've faded into mere memory.

I'll admit, there are times I like being an anime hipster. There's something inherently indulgent, if not exactly healthy, of feeling superior to a mass-market piece of entertainment that you're too Smart and Intellectual to be fooled by. But sometimes, you just gotta call a spade a spade. Sometimes, the weeb consensus gets it really, really right. Yes, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is every bit as self-evidently spectacular as everyone says it is, so on-its-face magical it's almost kind of insulting. It's a quiet, meditative fantasy exploration of grief, longing, the passage of time, and what it truly means to live a fulfilling life when everything you cherish within it must one day fade into nothing. It's poignant and intimate on a level that's hard to describe, yet equally grand and majestic whenever it wishes. It's also one of the funniest goddamn shows I've watched in a while, with jokes that hit from unexpected, awkward angles that left me rolling on the floor. If his work on Bocchi the Rock hadn't already proven it, this cements Keichirou Saitou as one of our greatest modern anime directors, a master of melding tones and moods and imbuing every shot with vibrant inner life. It's almost disappointing whenever it leans into action; as spectacularly animated as its battles are, it's those quiet moments of grace and warmth that truly make this show something remarkable. Bottom line, Frieren is a runaway leader for 2023's best TV anime, a show we'll be talking about for decades to come. I can't think of a better high note to start 2024 on.

Dropped:

Shield Hero Season 3 (4 Episodes)

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer (3 Episodes)

#anime #tabw #the anime binge watcher #fall 2023 anime #fall 2023 sr #sousou no frieren #frieren: beyond journey's end #uma musume #firefighter daigo rescuer in orange #megumi no daigo: kyuukoku no orange #stardust telepath #hoshikuzu telepath #arknights #undead unluck #spy x family #the apothecary diaries #kusuriya no hitorigoto #overtake anime #the 100 girlfriends who really really really really really like you #kimi no koto ga daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100 nin no kanojo #the ancient magus bride #mahoutsukai no yome #scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim #i'm in love with the villainess #watashi no oshi wa akuyaku reijou #shy anime #migi and dali #ron kamonohashi's forbidden deductions #kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri

[happyk44]

So I just found out that Poseidon is also the god of droughts and what are your thoughts on a child of poseidon with drought powers, a complete opposite to their more sea based children?

[ID: Screenshot of a google search. The search term reads, "god of drought in gr...". The search term is cut off due to the mobile layout of the screenshot. A featured snippet at the top comes from wikipedia, reading, "List of water of deities".

The core of the screenshot is the People Also Ask section, of which the return is "Who is the Greek god of drought?" This question has been dropped down to show a result from "www.theoi.com". The answer reads, "Poseidon was the Olympian god of the sea, earthquake, floods, drought and horses. He was depicted as a mature man with a sturdy build and a dark beard holding a trident (a three-pronged fisherman's spear)." /end ID]

Oh! I knew this 🙌 I think it's related to him being the god of the sea/water, sort of like how Apollo is associated with healing but also the plague. I always find it funny when that happens 🤣

So for the kids who skew more to the side of drought, obviously they still have their sea powers. They're probably far more dry in tone, less empathic, less emotional. Maybe they're more prone to the earthshaker side of Poseidon as well, and the equine, to make up for the lesser interest in the sea. Plus earthquakes and horses are more land-based and a drought affects the land (agricultural loss, wildfires, increased sandstorms, etc).

In PJO canon, I'd want to say drought-based kids grew up more inland where access to a large body of water was difficult to come across. So it's less about internal nature (as with my interpretation of the freshwater vs seastorm Neptune babies), and more about familiarity and adaptation - sort of like how catci and other desert plants have evolved to handle long periods without water.

Powers that they have an increased capability for over their sea counterparts:

causing earthquakes! they can manipulate them on a small or large scale, but they have higher propensity. it's a little harder for them to cause underwater earthquakes tho (which. can become tsunamis btw)

dehydration - sort of an inverse of drowning a person in their own fluids, they will the liquids inside them to dry up at a rapid pace

as a subset of that, i think it would be so cool if they could pull a tantalus-like punishment with enough focus on someone. no matter how much you drink, you will always be thirsty, you will never be satisfied, you will be captain barbosa and his crew, turning skeletal in the moonlight

they can withstand higher and drier heats than their sea-preferred counterparts (for example, percy would be hanging off of carter in the desert, crying for water, while they're chilling and vibing, truly a cactus of a person)

similarly, they retain water better, and sweat less. their bodies need less fluid to keep going on (this makes them better at giving blood lol, stay juicy everybody!)

while most children of poseidon are capable of piling water in the air into something usable, the drought prone kids have picked up how to pull water/usable liquid from anything available, as dry climates may lack enough water in the air for it to be worthwhile compared to humid climates --- so they're more likely to pull water out of living things, pull water out of the ground, or even find water deep underground (well water!)

due to the above, they're more capable of causing inland floods, they can pull water out from deep in the earth and force it to surround areas that are devoid of rivers, lakes, or even high rainfalls - this isn't just because of the whole "god of floods" thing either, it's because after a long period of drought, sudden rains can cause flash flooding to occur, so they're good at making flood happens

heat generation! they may be able to make things hotter, and/or drier

they have perpetual black thumbs. they are... not very good at growing plants lol

finding/summoning horses. it might take a while, but if there is a horse, they will find it (like the horse version of a dowsing rod, which, lol, they're kind of the human version of a dowsing rod, i guess), and if there are no horses nearby, they will get one to come to them through ✨ vibes ✨

their version of a storm is a heatwave OR extreme rain. yes, they can summon hurricanes or typhoons, but those are much more ocean-based things. so forcing high and burning levels of heat that makes everyone stumble and sag, sweating through every inch of fabric they have OR extreme and heavy rainfall that practically drowns you where you stand and knocks you to the ground is more their instinct

lowkey i wanna give them sandstorms as well, since that can be an effective of long-period of drought, but. you know. idk how much greece was ever getting pummeled by sandstorms for that to be something they associated with drought. (egypt, on the other hand, set, my dangerous and beloved)

(funnily enough set is also the god of foreigners, so like, who knows, maybe he and poseidon struck a funny deal when one of his kids traipsed over there while wandering around)

Since I think the difference between sea-based Poseidon babies and land-based Poseidon babies is just due to their adaptation of their environment, I think someone who is sea-based could easily become more land-based after living in such conditions for a while, and vice versa. Sort of like accents, lol. You know, if Percy decided to up and move to the desert in his 40s, he'd adapt after an initial period of "oh my gods oh my gods where is the fucking water where is the ocean i am dying" lol. it would take him a lot longer to pick up on the accent of the land than if he were younger, and so he'd still maintain his "sea" accent long-term

Because of this, I think it would be really neat if, way back when, it was common for the kids to take a few months away from camp to go living in the desert for a bit so they could pick up some land skills - like a rite of passage for poseidon demigods. one of the older cabin members goes out with them to make sure they don't die, helps them hone into the skills they might not have tapped into before, etc and so on. The kids come back at the end of their outing, more well-rounded and capable of tapping into the opposite side of their powers, when and if needed. Some of the kids might repeat the outing more than once for funsies, but most of them usually just do the one time thing, and then practice their land-based powers on a smaller scale at camp.

If a land-based kid comes into camp when they're much older, they don't typically have to do the outing, but sometimes they'll go out, not to learn anything, but to help the others, since they'll essentially receive assistance with their sea-based powers while they're at camp (presuming every version of camp has been based near the ocean or some giant water mass throughout the years - if not, then it goes the other way around, where they take a few months to go chill out on a beach for a few months).

Thanks for asking! If anyone else has any extra ideas, feel free to add them on! :)

Additionally, just 'cause, here are the four types of droughts I came across while googling "drought causes" because, lol, I'm an island boy, I am not familiar with droughts and wanted to get some facts in that weren't high temps and low rainfall (source):

Meteorological: region-specific; occur when an area receives less rainfall than normal; often measured by comparing the current situation to previous years’ rainfall. Some locations are affected more harshly than others.

Agricultural: when there is not enough moisture in the soil to sustain the growth of crops. Crops need different amounts of water based on their level of maturity, so they can be susceptible to droughts at different times. For example, most plants require moist topsoil to germinate, but this could be less important down the line as the plant matures. So, the effects of an agricultural drought hinge largely on the growth stage of the plants.

Hydrological: when there is a lack of surface and subsurface water supply; detrimental effects can be most readily observed in watersheds and river basins; affect the entire water cycle, take longer to notice, and have effects less immediately obvious than with other droughts.

Socioeconomic: when the water supply is too low to support human and environmental needs; wreaks havoc on the supply and demand of crucial commodities like water, grains, fish, and hydroelectric power.

#happy's asks #chiefkideclipselamp #happy talks pjo #percy jackson #percy watching one of his new sibling running around the desert with carter like it's not driest place in the world #they are vibing he is dying chugging all the water and wondering why he agreed to come out here (oh right his massive crush on carter)

[evelhak]

So, Eve, please indulge me if you may - in your opinion, how did interactions between Kuroko and Haizaki went? We were given very few scenes in manga and even fewer in anime. Curious on your opinion as a resident Kuroko expert.

I will do my best, but you're right, there are so few canon scenes of them. I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about Haizaki, to be honest. To me it has been kind of like he walked out of the story and I didn't force him back in my fics because he's not one of the characters who naturally seem to speak to me. I'm glad he speaks to you and that that you are someone who can see the potential in his character, it really warms my heart and I feel that you're giving his character the attention he deserves. I just don't want to pretend I have any particular insight to him when I don't.

Still, what did I make of their few interactions... Well, the Kuroko side of things seems a lot clearer to me. Kuroko is very idealistic and generally sees the best in people, but the younger he is the less foundation he actually has for those beliefs and he completely lacks the life experience to understand someone like Haizaki, so he was never really going to be able to say anything worthwhile when he went to talk to Haizaki after he heard he'd quit. Besides, if I remember correctly Kuroko didn't know it was Akashi who told Haizaki to quit, anyway, so he didn't even have a good understanding of the situation. In a way Kuroko was right... I'm sure Haizaki does care more than he says, he has just been let down too consistently, but Kuroko's understanding of that is merely a hunch, it's way too vague, he doesn't know the particular logic why it would be true in Haizaki's case, so even if it hits, he wouldn't have been able to say anything that would have made Haizaki actually feel understood. And I do think that Haizaki wasn't truthful when he said something like "Did you think I was a serious person deep down?" Because I'm sure he has that side... It's just been beat out of him to feel like it's worth it to care.

Besides, Kuroko takes every word people say really deeply, seriously and personally, so he never would have bested someone like Haizaki in a verbal fight, especially not at that age. Because he is still approaching everyone with the belief that if he's just earnest and clear enough, he'll get through to people. Like everything bad is a misunderstanding. Of course he'll lose some of that naïvety later, but it's definitely still blooming in that scene. And he's technically right... everyone does just need someone to understand them, in a way, but it's so much more complicated than that. It takes so much more of specific and grounded understanding of someone's particular situation to get through to people who have been through enough shit to build walls according to it. Kuroko probably gets that those walls are there but he keeps wildly underestimating what it would actually take to get through them. (Not in just Haizaki's case, it's a whole theme.)

Meanwhile, Haizaki has a way more of an animal instinct when it comes to people. He generally knows where to strike to hurt, or to just disarm someone. Not everyone and not all the time of course, he's also limited by his perspective. (And I think he gets more limited the worse he gets.) I think in that same scene, he was just going for disarming Kuroko. Why would he waste time for anything else? He can tell it's super easy to manipulate Kuroko into feeling exactly sad, disappointed or hurt enough to shut up for a sec. He probably can't tell on a conscious level that Kuroko is an emotion sponge or what that means but that's still what his instincts are probably leading him to use against him. He doesn't need to go for the lowest blows because Kuroko isn't pushing so hard that it would actually make Haizaki feel truly insecure. A little, yes. Enough that he has to make Kuroko stop talking. Because earnest feelings always alarm those who have had that "innocence" taken from them. But I don't think Haizaki sees Kuroko as a threat to his state of mind in general. Because he's not pushy or aggressively overbearing in a way that would really make Haizaki lash out. Kuroko doesn't have that much of an emotional connection with Haizaki and he's quickly told by everyone to give up on him, so there's really no reason why they would be driven into a real conflict.

That's why I think in general their interactions are pretty civil by Haizaki's standards. Because they don't get on each others nerves enough. Kuroko isn't going to get worked up about a meatball and Haizaki doesn't have any reason to particularly dislike (or like) Kuroko. For the most part, for each other, they just sort of "are there", I think.

Besides, Haizaki really is looking like he dodged a bullet in a sense. I imagine he must be feeling really conflicted about leaving. It's that animal instinct that made him get the sense from Akashi that it really wouldn't be worth the pain to stay, because he could smell that there was something about to go wrong. He doesn't like to be told what to do, or to let go of his pride... But also "who needs the headache"? must be what he's thinking of that interaction with Akashi. That's how he would word it, I think, but the sense of danger was probably deeper. I don't think Haizaki could have chosen anything other than self-preservation at that point.

But, you are the one who has spent a lot of time thinking about Haizaki, so I would really like to hear your thoughts.

#knb #haizaki #kuroko #ok did i even answer your question

[supergito-fics]

Fusion Revived - CH 2 (You Again)

➤ This story is actually complete (finished Sep 2021) over on my Ao3 already; I'm just publishing it here on tumblr too for archival purposes. I hope any and all curious readers enjoy if they haven't checked it out yet!

SUMMARY: Majin Buu has been destroyed, and the Earth has known peace for close to a year now. Life hasn't been too peaceful for the person responsible for saving the world and the entire universe however, but when an ordinary woman meets him one day, things start to change.

RATING: Teen and Up. PAIRING(S): Vegito x OC/Reader, alluded Gochi, alluded Vegebul CONTENT: Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Family Drama CW(s) THIS CHAPTER: None.

She liked going for walks around the countryside. Some might think it’s foolish for a woman to live basically out in the middle of nowhere on her own, but the pros of she not having to deal with noisy neighbors or other human aggravations made it worthwhile. As did the beauty of nature that surrounded her.

It was a shame she couldn’t be completely independent from society though. She wasn’t knowledgeable enough on how to grow her own food or make her own clothing, and she was too dependent on luxuries like internet to go without them. Having heating, running water, and electricity was also very nice.

Her job out in the city thankfully wasn’t a huge pain to travel to or from, it paid well, and it itself wasn’t something that demanded she invest all of her time and energy into. She worked her absolute hardest during her shift, but outside of it, she gave anything related to work little attention.

Today was her day off, and she chose to spend it outside. Enjoying the pleasant weather and temperatures, she kept her eyes aimed at the sky, watching a group of birds pass by. There was something else in the sky that caught her attention, and after taking a moment to look closely, she could see it wasn’t another bird.

It was a person. She could make out that they had quite the impressive head of spiky hair.

She gaped up at them, unsure if she was just imagining things, but then they suddenly descended from the sky. Too nosy to just ignore what she witnessed, the woman quickly trekked towards the location they dropped down in. When she got there, she was face to face with someone she frankly thought she wouldn’t see again after their meeting a handful of days ago.

His face held a rather introspective expression, but it faded when he saw her appear over the hilltop. Recognition had his face lighten.

“You…weren’t you that apple woman from before?”

“Apple woman?” Of all things she could’ve expected him to call her, that wasn’t one of them. She tsked, crossing her arms. Now that he was standing this time instead of sitting, she took note that he was about a foot taller than her, but she wouldn’t allow that subtle intimidation factor to work.

“I have a name.”

“Oh?” That smirk of his was back, and one of his gloved hands came up to rest on his waist. The amusement that bled into his outlandish voice wasn’t missed by her.

“What is it then?”

She knew she should be cautious when it came to strangers. It was unwise to give your name to one, but in this instance, an idea came to her. She was far too curious about this man for her own good.

“I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours. First.”

“Aren’t you bold?”

He chuckled. Thanks to their close proximity to one another, behind his curled lips she could see the elongated canines of his teeth. A feeling of uncertainty had her confidence waver.

“Vegito.”

“…Huh?” She blinked.

“My name is Vegito.” He scrutinized her, for her reaction surely. He may have found it to be lack luster, as she only gave him an impassive stare and nothing more.

He was like a mystery box that just kept giving. She couldn’t determine if his name meant something specific in another language, or if it meant anything at all, but at least she wouldn’t forget it. Vegito…

“_____…”

His eyes widened ever so lightly. Before he could possibly comment on her name, she moved onto something more pressing.

“How were you doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Floating in the sky.” Her gaze flicked up to it.

“Oh, that?” Smugness joined his playful demeanor, as he looked down at her with onyx eyes that sparkled with a certain light.

“I can fly. Nothing more to it.”

“…Fly?” This evoked a reaction. Shock erased her frown, and her arms went limp at her sides.

“Yes, fly. You know, what most birds and many insects can do.”

“I know what flying is.” She hissed, but unaffected by her irritation, Vegito snickered.

“How were you doing it?” Unlike flying birds and insects, he had no wings that she could see.

Silence was his initial response. The intensity of his gaze was truthfully unnerving, and even though she wouldn’t admit that, the woman felt herself starting to sweat.

“Before I can answer that…I must ask you this. Do you know what ki is?”

She wondered why that was relevant to the discussion, but she saw no harm in it.

“Yes. It’s supposed to be the life force of all living beings, or something like that.”

“You’re right.” Vegito was visibly surprised, not expecting her to be somewhat knowledgeable of the concept. She felt a small amount of pride at having managed to get that cocky look off of his face, if only briefly.

“Where did you learn of it?”

“I’ve looked into martial arts.” Pieces were starting to connect. Vegito wearing a gi made sense; he must have been a martial artist himself. It helped explained why he was so ripped at least.

“I don’t practice any though. Just read about some things that interested me.”

“I see….well, ki is the energy that our spirits naturally emit, but the strength of it varies from person to person. You can channel it, and use it in a variety of ways. One way, is by flying.”

That sounded far-fetched, but she wasn’t ignorant. Unlike a lot of humans out in the world, she knew there was more to things than what met the eye. Like this spiky-haired, fanged man here.

“How do you use ki to fly? Do you have it carry you?”

“Close. To cut a long explanation short: you force your ki underneath you to push yourself upwards. It generates lift, similar to what rotor blades do for a helicopter.”

“Really? That sounds…complicated…”

“Eh, it’s not. Anyone with sufficient ki and control of it can fly. Even children.”

The day she sees a child flying through the sky is the day she might question existence itself, but for Vegito, he was likely speaking from personal experience.

“I think you can learn how to fly. You’re strong enough at the bare minimum.”

“…Strong enough? Like, my ki is?” She quirked a brow. Vegito didn’t seem to be pulling her leg, but then again, she couldn’t be utterly sure. “How can you tell?”

His smirk returned with a strength that made her want to roll her eyes.

“I can sense ki.”

Sense it? How in the world was that done? Her head was starting to hurt.

“But I can teach you how to fly if you want _____. I’ve been pretty bored lately, and I don’t mind imparting knowledge onto someone else.”

He leaned forward, and the excitement upon his face was blatant. In the moment, he was like a child who couldn’t wait to do something fun. The abrupt innocence in his smile was…jarring, and she was at a lost for words. She was saved by a buzzing noise that cut through the air then, and an object vibrating in her pocket. She reached down into it to pull out her phone.

Checking the screen, she sees that she received a text message. It was from one of her co-workers, asking her to…come into the office in an hour? For a favor?

The rush of anger had her exhale a puff of air out of her nose.

 “I have to go. I’ll…take a rain check on that flying lesson.”

She turned on her heel to stomp away, furiously typing out a reply on her phone’s screen. Vegito watched her leave, slightly disappointed that his offer wasn’t accepted, but he shook if off. Standing straight, a hand went to his chin as he thought about one particular thing.

He was oddly motivated. This irritable lady has been a new spark, among his dull days…he felt like bothering her more, just for a little while longer.

#story: fusion revived #selfshipping #dragon ball fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfics #x fem reader #canon x oc #canon x reader

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

How do you feel about agnosticism? I mean I think that has pretty much equal grounding to the belief that there is no 'God/Creator' because its not scientifically possible for nothing to create everything, there had to be something some starting point that can't have just existed on its own. I know that gives rise to well then what created the thing that created the start point and its kind of just an endless cycle but even that seems much more likely to the alternative of there was no space no time no matter no anything and then out of literally no where life started happening

Agnosticism refers to the notion that nothing is or can be known about the phenomena in question, in particular the existence of a god or gods. A/gnosticism concerns knowledge, not belief.

A/theism concerns belief: atheism is lack of belief in gods, theism is belief in gods. A separate category from knowledge.

Agnostic is an adjective. It can be applied to both theism and atheism. Agnostic theism is the belief that that gods exist, but without asserting knowledge of that - "I believe it but I don't/can't know it." Agnostic atheism is the lack of belief in gods, but without asserting knowledge that none exist.

Agnosticism is not some "middle ground" position, because it's a completely separate category from belief. Someone saying that they're an agnostic says nothing about whether or not they believe in a god.

How do I feel about it? I feel like they've avoided answering the question entirely.

You either have a belief or you do not have a belief. There is no middle ground, because the question is not about gods and their existence or nature, it's about you. Do you have in your personal inventory a "belief in god(s)"? If you had to write down a list of all the things you possess, are you going to write “belief in god(s)” on that list? If so, you’re a theist, a god-believer. If not, then you’re an atheist.

Atheism is not 'the belief that there is no 'God/Creator'." Atheism is when someone says "a god exists" and we say "I don't believe you." It is a position on the claims that humans make about gods.

Atheists don't have to claim that "no god(s) exist," when believers either can't or else refuse to present verifiable evidence for their gods, or otherwise back up their claims. We can just shrug and say “get back to me when you have something more worthwhile than ‘faith.’”

In a court of law, a defendant is found Guilty or Not Guilty, not Guilty or Innocent. Not Guilty covers both the case that the jury finds the defendant Innocent, or that the case could not be determined, that there is not enough info, insufficient an argument or evidence to conclude one way or another. Atheists find gods "Not Guilty" of existence. No atheist ever needs to find any god "Innocent" of existing. Atheist non-belief is entirely the result of believers failing to make their case.

That said, I do find the god character of the bible to be Innocent of existing, since Xians insist on describing it in ways that render it incapable of existing: perfect but needing worship; just but merciful; good but mysterious ways; real but beyond human conception.

But the result is the same. It doesn't matter whether a non-believer finds any of the gods Innocent of existing, or is merely Unconvinced - the verdict still remains Not Guilty, and we live our lives on the basis of that verdict.

If someone tells you that there is microbial life on Pluto, and you ask them how they know, and they say "it just makes sense" or "I have faith," do you believe them? If you don't, are you insisting that there very much isn't microbial life on Pluto? Do you have to prove that there isn't? No, you're not, and you don't. You're saying that you're not convinced of the proposition that it exists, that you don't believe the person can actually make that case. Particularly without evidence. If they provided evidence, then you could change your position, because you'd then have reason to.

The rejection of a claim of god-existence does not obligate anyone to accept a different claim, of any variety, let alone "disprove" what has not been proven. Your claim stands or falls on its own merits - or lack thereof.

I genuinely don't know why believers struggle so badly to understand how this works, when it's basic logic (I think I just answered my own question...), although it seems to come back to the flawed pseudo-epistemology of "faith."

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"Its not scientifically possible for nothing to create everything" is a completely unsupportable assertion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDmQINlntJ4&t=15m17s

“What you’re really asserting, and the thing that is demonstrable, is ‘something can come from something.' We don’t have a ‘nothing’ to see whether or not anything can come from it. So a claim that regards ‘nothing’ is a useless claim. What you’re saying is ‘we have a lot of examples of something coming from something,’ in fact, every example we have is ‘something coming from something else,’ and I understand that, but to say that ‘something can’t come from nothing,’ you have to have a ‘nothing’. And I’ve never seen that, so I don’t even know what that is." [..] “You’ve never examined ‘nothing,’ so how can you make any assessment of it?“

"Nothing" cannot exist, by definition. Non-existence cannot "be,” because "being” requires “something.” That's a complete contradiction. The only thing that can exist is "something." For all we know only time has disintegrated and reformed, and "something" has always existed in some form, because it's the only thing that can.

If you're going to insist what "nothing" is or is not capable of, you better be able to back it up, starting with how you could ever know. And with something better than "it makes sense to me."

I mean, really? Those are the choices: "nothing creating everything" or "God"? The only two possible choices? How on Earth could you ever claim that the failure of something as simplistic as "nothing creating everything" necessitates the existence of a god? How did you rule out every other possible cause? Or are the options bounded by your own knowledge (i.e. argument from ignorance)? Why are you the limiting factor?

If you're going to insist that "nothing creating everything" is unscientific, then what is the scientific basis for "god"? As much as you seem to have tested a "nothing" for scientific failure, you must have tested "god" for scientific success. Because you don't get to insist that since A fails, then B wins by default. That actually is unscientific. Well, if light isn't a wave, then it's a particle by default. Right? We might as well start with B, notice that it's poorly defined and untestable and conclude that A wins by default. Right? If light isn't a particle, then it's a wave by default. Since "god" is unscientific, then "nothing creating everything" wins by default. Why not?

If you're going to insist on being scientific here, then you need to actually be scientific and present the science of a "god." Start with definitions, start with specifics, what properties does it have, how will you test it, what units define it, what will falsify it, what can we expect of it? Remember, you're insisting on being scientific here, so let's see your work. You don't get to complain about "nothing creating everything" being unscientific, then solve the problem with a god who is "beyond science" or some silliness like that.

Your god-science must also actually explain. An explanation must actually answer questions, such as how did gravity form, where did matter come from. It must also be something we can use to predict, to be useful in what we can expect to happen. Our understanding of light helps us to reliably understand the composition of other planets without ever going there. Our understanding of gravity allows us to predict how buildings will collapse, and thus how to make them stay up. Our understanding of flight enables us to make planes that fly, our understanding of evolution enables us to make medications that work. What does your "god" explanation help us reliably predict? What are the reliable, practical applications of "god"? What does your “god” model do? What is "god" made from? Where did it get the "everything" from that you insisted couldn't come from "nothing."

If "everything" can't come from nothing, then where did it come from? Mustn't it have already existed? Do you see how none of what you're saying makes any sense whatsoever? You can't insist that it's not possible "for nothing to create everything" and then insist that a god created everything from nothing. Because to avoid this contradiction and hypocrisy (and Special Pleading), something must have already existed and a god is unnecessary. So why bother?

All of which is moot because "everything" from "nothing" corresponds to no cosmological model whatsoever. It's a theist strawman. Which is to say, a lie.

The models that do exist have strong scientific principles behind them, and none of them require either "nothing creating everything" or a god.

https://www.cosmotography.com/images/cosmological_modeling_overview.html

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/origins-of-the-universe

https://www.space.com/13352-universe-history-future-cosmos-special-report.html

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"even that seems much more likely" - how could you ever evaluate what's more "likely"? What other examples of universes have you examined? Presumably ones where you know that a god created it, so that it can be compared to ours.

You yourself said that it creates an infinite regress. This makes the argument invalid, by definition. You don't get to just plow on ahead anyway, when your... "reasoning," if we must, is unsound. But you did. You just bowled on past the fact this argument has already collapsed, and decided that it doesn't matter that it's contradictory and self-refuting, but is somehow "more likely." It literally can't be "more likely" at all, because you described it as incoherent and false. If you have to contradict your own premises to make your argument work, then you have no good reason to believe it in the first place.

We have one known universe. One. The idea that you can claim that a logically flawed "argument from ignorance" guess is "more likely" than, well, pretty much anything that isn't outright fallacious, is honestly astounding.

Never mind that none of any of this suggests a "god" or "creator." It could just as easily suggest a universe-creating machine, or the accidental output of an alien science experiment, the digestive process of a cosmological creature, or any other process.

--

"something some starting point that can't have just existed on its own." So, something always existed. Call that the universe. Because on what possible basis could you insist that it "can't have just existed on its own"? Doesn't a god have to "have just existed on its own"? Haven't you completely refuted a god? If a god can be exempt from needing to be created, if it can have always existed, then so can the universe. Adding a god in is just conceit. It adds no explanatory power, and it pushes all the answers behind an impenetrable veil. We know even less with a "god" than with any honest answers.

Worse, there is literally no way to find out the actual answers. You can't pretend that you want to know the origin of the universe, and then insert a vague, unknowable, undetectable, unmeasurable, unscientific god, end up with even less knowledge and no possibility of acquiring any, and then claim any kind of intellectual accomplishment.

Do you or do you not want to know how the universe came to be? Really. It just seems like you want to feel good that someone or something is in control of everything. On the other hand, there are plenty of scientists working on these questions, all of whom know that they will likely never solve them within their own lifetime, because honest, intellectual investigation requires hard work and often hinges on developments - technologies, theories, equations - that haven't yet been formulated. We just put up the James Webb Telescope. We just got our first images of a black hole. It took hundreds of years to come to our current understanding of light and gravity. Many of the key contributors to both died before we came anywhere close to our current understanding.

If you think that something as complicated as the nature and origin of the universe can be answered today using the same answer that illiterate goat-herders who thought the Earth was flat and didn't know to wash their hands gave - three little words "god dun it" - then this would have to be remarkable intellectual credulity.

And if you're basing the assumption of a "god" on our current understanding, our current scientific status, that since we don't currently know, then we can never know, then maybe it's time to look back on history and rethink this. Because people all throughout time have proudly asserted that "because we don't currently know, it must be a god."

But when has "god" ever been the answer? Earthquakes? Not god. Diseases? Not god. The sun rising and setting? Not god. Rain? Not god. Thunder? Not god. Hurricanes? Not god. The stars? Not god. Morality? Not god. The planets? Not god. Birds flying? Not god.

There is literally nothing that we actually understand about the universe that has ever required or confirmed a "god." Every time we actually figure something out, it's always "not god."

Since this creature is on a 100% losing streak, continuing to place your bets on it just seems like you're determined to throw away your intellectual capital. Why are you still using a tool - "goddidit" - that has a known 100% failure rate?

Earth has been around about 4.3b years. Humans about 200,000 years. Humans have been doing modern science for about 400-500 years. The first flight was 115 years ago. We landed on the moon 53 years ago. If you're lucky, you will get maybe 80 years. Demanding simple-minded answers about the existence of the entire universe right this moment - and particularly that if I can't explain it then a god made of nothing who made everything from nothing wins by default - is unreasonable.

What is the origin of the universe? How about "I don't know"? How about we find out? Genuine knowledge takes time and work, particularly when you do it honestly and don't try to shove someone's preferred superstition into the holes in our knowledge like an unwelcome dildo.

#ask #origin of the universe #agnosticism #science #science vs faith #religion #religion is a mental illness

[dokidokitsuna]

Spoiler-Free Review of RWBY: IQ (in its entirety)!

Overall Grade (and I say this with as much love in my heart as I can possibly muster): D And if you disregard the parts of the series that were obvious, blatant time-wasters whose only value was to maybe give some of the poor animators a chance to sleep, I might consider raising the grade to a C-. But no higher.

I...don’t know what I can say about the myriad issues that’s actually spoiler-free (maybe I’ll do an actual spoiler-full review sometime later on)...let’s just say that IQ is one of those series where each episode/story beat works best in isolation. Kind of like RWBY proper. Even the last episode, which was the best one IMO, feels lacking when you start to think about the rest of the series that led up to it...like, I’m happy we got some good and cute character conclusions, but did the story we just experienced actually contribute to those conclusions...? It feels like the ending to a completely different anime, to be honest...one that covered the same topics, maybe, but had a lighter tone and more impactful character moments. Unlike the one we got...

Props to the voice actors for doing their best with what they were given, though. I saw no issues on that front; everyone did a stellar job 👍

God, the animation is worth an essay all by itself (and not a positive one)...uh, I will say that the last episode was the best on that front too, to the point where I finally understood the value in that split-screen mechanic they’ve been doing all series long. When it just shows characters standing stock-still and lip-flapping from different angles, it feels pointless and disorienting...but when they use it to show character reactions and other things happening in the scene besides the conversation we’re focusing on (y’know, entertaining stuff), it actually feels cute and stylish. I wish it had been used that well throughout...

It has to be said: poor Shion. :[ I think if you’re gonna put in a new character like that, the least you can do is commit: give them actual interactions with the other characters and make their dialogue unique, so it feels like they’re really part of the world. As it is, Shion didn’t do anything that Ozpin or a special machine couldn’t also have done in their place, and I think it’s such a waste. We finally got to see them talk like a human and not a plot device in the last episode (do you see a pattern here?) and I wish we could have gotten more of that...

So, the Blu-Ray re-release...it goes without saying at this point that such a thing (if they even decide to make one) cannot save this show. ^^; Not unless they intend to spend 2 years on it... If they do make one, though, my suggestions would be as follows:

Animate an actual anime OP. Please, for the love of god...I don’t know why this wasn’t a priority (the slideshow we ended up with was very well-done, though. Credit where credit is due). Call me crazy, but I would have been satisfied with JUST that: Studio SHAFT animates a cool RWBY anime OP with a banger song by VoidChords; that would have been a cool thing to have in and of itself. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Wouldn’t it?

Don’t bother trying to fix the ugly animation (seriously, there’s too much) just cut it out. Remove all the unnecessary scenes and reformat the series into an approximation of the anime movie it should have been. This alone would probably improve the pacing and story progression by leaps and bounds...

...That’s it. Any further effort should be spent on polishing whatever’s left. And to be honest, even THAT wouldn’t necessarily result in an A-level story, because what’s left just wasn’t good enough. Whatever went wrong in the planning of this anime went wrong very early on; it’d be more worthwhile to start over than to try to fix it with editing...

Do I want a Season 2...? No, thank you. ^^;;;; I don’t even know what they would do with a Season 2...maybe introduce a different psychoactive Grimm and put JNPR/Pyrrha in the spotlight between Vol 2 and 3...? Ideally, I’d like to see that, but if it’s gonna be a repeat of ‘spend the whole budget on recap scenes and power the actual story with crunch alone’ then I’m good, thanks.

And to be honest, if my conspiracy theory was even remotely true and SHAFT didn’t know what they were getting into by working with RT, I DEFINITELY do not want a Season 2. A good chunk of IQ was frankly embarrassing to watch and it makes SHAFT look bad. They should save their talents for better productions instead of further tarnishing their reputation. :/

#rwby #RWBY Ice Queendom

[alyjojo]

Love Reading 💣 - July 2023 - Pisces

Singles:

Overall energy: Temperance rev

How you will meet: 5 Swords

How they will treat you: 3 Cups

Long-term Potential: Death

Oracle:

I’m in an offline state of mind.

Addicted to inner peace ☮️

This is definitely not the one, something inside you may already be telling you that, because their ego, brashness, and bragging sort of personality really turns you off. And they drive you crazy. Why do you even like them? 😆 You meet them while they’re popping off at the mouth about some other situation, a current or ex lover perhaps, could be relating to their job or something that’s holding them back. Venting. It’s like your response is “Pisces to the rescue!” and you want to give them whatever this other person/thing isn’t. Noble, but naive, which you will see eventually.

This is someone that is single, dating around, promiscuous even. They brag about it! All of their conquests, this is someone with “hoes in their pocket” so to speak, gender doesn’t matter. And it hurts you, because you want to be the one they’re into, and if anything they may treat you as a friend, buddy, coworker, some casual person in their life. You feel the need to compete with all of these other options they have at their disposal, which is something they do to everyone. That’s the game. It makes them feel important, and everyone else feel like they’re not good enough. Long term you’re done with this, thank God, because this person drives you crazy and you can’t stay in this self-conscious, “not good enough” energy, fk that and fk them 💯 You will be honest about it when they feel the lack of your usual attention, which is all they care about. Could be narcissistic, or just really immature. Not your problem. The Fool shows something exciting & more worthwhile coming along anyway 🩵

Messages -

Their side:

- I will surprise you.

- Too Little, Too Late.

Your side:

- Not ready…yet.

- I need more than you can give.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Scorpio, Aquarius, Aries & Gemini

Couples:

Overall energy: 3 Wands

Current: The Lovers

Challenge: The Magician

How they feel about you: 10 Pentacles

How you feel about them: 4 Swords

Outcome: Knight of Cups & Temperance

For those of you going on vacation, there was a message in the preshuffle of possibly dealing with bad weather, bad luck, or someone in the group not having enough money, if that applies. For example, a flight being delayed due to weather and having to stay longer, someone is then drained of cash…could be you. Someone may also feel left out in the cold due to distance - either literally or emotionally.

There is definitely an energy of travel this month, where you’re going somewhere, and they’re not, this is the conflict between you. I kinda get a clingy vibe, this person feels insecure in their energy, and you’re likely to pop off at them. Which won’t help. I don’t get a break up, separation, or major issues in the relationship, just a time period when being separated is necessary. You’ve got things to do, people to see, celebrations to be a part of. You’re anticipating being together with them again, and for now you’re enjoying your life. What’s current in this connection is a deep love, mutual generosity and kindness, and The Sun. You’re very happy together 🩵

The challenge is you popping off at them, at some point, because they feel like less of a priority, you’re not giving them attention, not picking up or calling back soon enough, that kind of thing. It’s getting on your nerves. They need some reassurance from you because they’re genuinely not on your mind, and they can sense this. I don’t see you with questionable people, you’re with family and close friends. Possibly on vacation, or you actually live farther away from them and are visiting other people/places this month, and you’re being completely honest about that - Ace of Swords. That’s the impression they’re also under, so idk why they feel so out of sorts. Left out. Missing you, waiting around, they may not be used to you leaving them behind very much.

How you feel about them is 4 Swords, they could literally be sick and that’s why they’re home, sad, and feeling a way about it. There’s no movement with them, it’s like they’re at a full stop, doing nothing, just taking care of themselves. The Empress can be self care on all levels, it’s what they’re needing to do, possibly relating to a mother as well. They may stop talking to you altogether after you pop off. They feel like you don’t care. Messages show to follow their lead, which won’t be immediate, and the outcome for the month is taking loving actions towards reconciling…and hearing the response of “well if you would’ve just xyz then blah blah blah” and I told you so’s and could have some empathy and you never listen, etc. You’ll hear about it 😆 But overall you two will be just fine.

Messages -

Their side:

- Follow My Lead

- I see the real you, and love it.

- I want to give you the world 🌍

Your side:

- I can’t feel what you feel.

- Excellent Cook 🍲

- At a Distance 🌇

Oracles - Give me nirvana I can dance to.

Their side: Many times, kind words expressed when someone is in a rage will help neutralize the negativity.

Your side: You can have a partner you love, but don’t forget all the other loves, such as friends, family, pets, and so on.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Taurus, Leo, Gemini, Virgo, Libra & Cancer

#pisces tarot reading #July 2023 #love tarot reading #singles reading #couples reading #Pisces #tarot