#I’m going to do fine grade wise

[thunderheadfred]

Going back to college with some life perspective and therapy under my belt really has me like… wow. For thirty entire years we really had no idea I had ADHD? Every once in a while i get a dose of infinite perspective vortex and see myself from everyone else’s pov and I’m like. This is the most ADHD human god has ever built. This person is just ADHD made flesh. A flashing neon sign for neurodiversity. Look at the free association on that motherfucker! I bet you could fit ten unfinished majors in there

[whore-ibly-hot]

What would happen if one of the faculty (I’m thinking Critch or Murphy) found Mr Burtons more explicit photos of reader?

ps. Luv ur work!

(Love this)

Critch: He always disliked Burton, in that very particular like... old people talking about young people sort of way even though Critch isn't more than five years older. Think 'cut your hair, hippie!'. He's prepared to use this as a way to have him fired forever, and hopefully from every other educational institution, but... a part of him admits it's good work. Tasteful even. The types of photos Mr. Burton would leave anywhere they could be found are far from the most explicit photos he has of you, but those stay locked in his personal quarters.

The photos Crutch finds are you half-nude, possible in front of a painting or topless, but you look absolutely darling. Critch is sure Burton had you do this for extra credit, and he has to take some blame in that for always pushing you to have perfect grades. He'd confront Burton of course, blackmailing him into following a few guidelines from now on

"You can see why this is an issue, of course." Crtich says, suppressing the wicked grin threatening to cross his face at the sight of making the art teacher squirm. "I mean, lewd photos in a school setting, and of a student no less-"

"Its hardly lewd, Critch." Burton scoffs, taking a sip of the black coffee before him in a stained 'World's best teacher' mug. "Nude art is not pornography, okay? I know it must seem like it to you, considering you probably pale at the sight of a woman's ankles." He snaps. "Stick up your ass..." he mumbles lowly.

Critch glowers at his comment. "Youd be wise to watch your tongue-" He exclaims, hands gripping the front of Burtons desk. "Pornographic or not, I'm sure you're subjects father would be less than thrilled about how you're getting your kicks." He hisses and slaps the photos down. "But-" he raises his hands in mock surrender. "I believe in second chances-"

"What does you want, Critch?" Burton asks, cutting him off. "What do I have to do to get you to hop of my dick?"

Grimacing at the crass language, Critch settles himself. "I'll need copies of these pieces, of course. To ensure you are strictly sticking within the bounds of art and not perverting a student. Just send copies to my office, and I'll ensure they pass my inspection." He explains. "Of course, I happen to know you've been turning a blind eye to a certain pairs drug usage, even encouraging it. So let's put a stop to that, shall we?" He leans back smugly, and Burton glares back, but there's not much he can do.

"Fine. But I'll be letting them know you're getting copies, it's only right they consent to having some old creep beating his dried out dick over there pic-"

"That is enough!" Now Burton grins, seeing a rare flustered Crutch, face red and hair askew as he reacted so physically to the prodding of the man. "I expect you'll stick to the terms of o-our agreement." He clears his throat and leaves, trying to focus on the idea of beginning a collection of such lovely pictures and not that Mr. Burton has seen right through his frigid facade.

Mr. Murphy: Regardless of how explicit the photos he finds are, he's furious. How dare Burton, who he trusted, exploit you like this! He had always liked Burton, they both understood how spoiled the students at this school were. He never would've imagined him exploiting you this way. He's going to tell your father, get the man turned in and check on you. He knows the boys at this school are giving you trouble, and now one of the other faculty? He's livid.

"Burton!" There's a yelp in the art room as Mr. Burtons art and easel go clattering to the floor, his shirt collar grasped by the burly orienteering teacher. "What the fuck-"

"What are these?!" He drops the thin man like a bag of sticks, shoving the pictures into his chest so firmly it almost knocks the wind out of him.

"What?" Burton adjusts his glasses and looks at the pictures. "Oh, these are private shoots, just some nude shots- don't freak-"

"Dont freak?" He smacks him again. "You've got photographed evidence of you practically molesting them?"

Burton jolts back with a hand up. "Woah, woah, woah. Don't go saying stuff like that, no one is molesting anybody. Shit-" He stands up and remains wary around Muprhy, whose chest is rising and falling, fists clenched with rage. "These were all consensual art shoots, nothing about these is sexual!" Thats of course a lie, but the photos Murphy has are genuinely artistic pieces, mostly for reference and to help Joseph practice. "Look, see?"

Admittedly, none of your truly intimate areas are displayed besides your chest. You're either curled up or posed in a way that prevents you from being exposed. Murphy's brows furrow, but he's trying to get himself back together. Breathing heavily, he raises his hands.

"Its wrong."

"Its art." Burton emphasizes. "Listen, I understand your concern, but I even have one of the other students present for each shoot. Joseph."

Murphy knows Joseph, he's a nice enough boy, awkward, but he's not spoiled and he really does try. Plus, he's gotten some great wildlife shots for his lessons.

"I promise, I'm not doing anything like that with them. It's just art, they're safe, yeah? I know they've got enough problems with other people at this shithole. They're fine."

Murphy seems reluctant, but Burton seems genuine. "I wanna sit in." He blurts, and Burton looks up. "What?"

"I wanna sit in. Please. I'm not gonna make a fuss, but just one. Make sure they're being treated right."

Burton groans, but when he sees how serious Murphy is, he figures this is the best possible outcome.

"Fine. Fine, just don't talk to much and don't make any suggestions." Burton points a finger at his chest. "You're not much of an artist, big guy. Now go and get me an ice pack."

Murphy looks at the bruises along Burton's shirt collar and the forming purple marks on his arm, as well as the destroyed painting and coughs awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, right. Sorry..."

[flowwsblog]

You’re so warm—

a/n; I’m new to the community soo please don’t be too harsh on me 😭😭 (But I need the feedback anyways). Also this fic is going to be pretty long for my first, (it being in two parts lol) but enjoy!!

Timothee!Willy wonka x f!Reader

Summary: in which reader has trouble falling asleep and runs into a certain someone. What could happen?

Warnings: pure fluff 😊

You had been working at the ‘laundry covered prison’- as you and noodle had called it- for a couple years now.

You had gotten there same as everyone, looking for a cheepy place to stay in this economy; and failed to read the fine print. So there was obviously something suspicious going on.

Worse led to worse as Mrs. Scrubbit had enslaved you (which is how you saw it) and forced you to do laundry work. Along with all the other fellow workers/people trapped in the dusty basement.

You befriended each one of them as time went by, not having any other choice. But being the second youngest one there; noodle was the first one you immediately grew close too.

And one day while scrubbing some old laundry, you heard a yell. Well everyone did.

Everyone’s attention shot towards the clothing shute, where a lanky, frightened looking young man had been thrown down.

____________

Ever since that day, your life couldn’t have been more interesting. The man, whose name you learned was Willy Wonka, was the most amazing human you had ever met. He was a magician, chocolatier, and humungous dreamer. What better man to sweep you off your feet?

But welcoming a handsome new guest meant bunking with someone else. Mrs. Scrubbit did not want the fuss of fixing up a new bedroom, leading to Mr. Wonka inhabiting your old room.

You loved noodle, she was like a little sister to you, so you did not complain in the slightest to sharing a room with her.

_____________

One night, you couldn’t sleep. You grabbed a thin blanket and wrapped it around your lightly trembling body. You made sure noodle was wrapped sorta-snug in the worn out bed before descending from the room.

Your thin loafers tapped the cold wooden floor lightly, wandering down the hall to the bathroom. As you walked by a certain door, your steps faltered, but soon continuing its journey to the wash room.

You and wonka has become close friends, similar to the friendship of yours and noodles, but being closer age wise made things different. You hadn’t talked to a boy your age since grade school, so having a male presence now made you exceedingly nervous.

Upon becoming comfortable with Willy, his presence had started to take a toll on you. Butterflies erupting when he would get particularly close. Or breath faltering when he would just, be in the room? You were confused. Maybe it was his shiny, chocolate colored curls or his full green eyes that lured you towards him. But whatever it was, you were hooked.

You closed the door and turned on the light, eyes squinting from the brightness; your handing coming up to shield them.

You turned on the sink and splashed water on your face. The water being cold not helping. You just wiped your face and turned off the light; heading out. This trip definitely helped.

As you opened the door you see another door opening. Expecting noodle’s small body to come out and ask why you left. Instead you get a taller, handsomer is that a word, man leaving his room. Rubbing his eyes softly.

You sigh, ‘What great timing!’, You think sarcastically to yourself. You carefully approach him and smile.

“Hi y/n” he hums with a sleepy smile. Which makes your stomach flutter. “What ya’ doin up so late?”

“Oh nothing, I can’t sleep. And you?” You turn to face him, studying his defined cheekbones and messy curls. Beautifully misplaced from sleep.

“Hm, I heard something and thought it was the little orange man coming to steal my chocolate again. But I’m glad it was you.” Your face grew 10 shades of pink at the comment. God, if he knew how he made you feel you would be in such trouble, or worse, jail. You’re glad it was dark or else he would’ve seen your embarrassing reaction. You smiled nonetheless. “Thank you Mr. Wonka”

He smiled at the name, knowing he prefers being called Willy.

“Well I’m gonna get going to my room, it’s cold out here.” You let out a half hearted chuckle and turned to leave, wanting him to stop you so badly. “Good night wil-“

He grabbed your arm gently, as if he was broken from a trance. “Wait y/n.”

You turned your head, letting out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. “Yes?”

_______________

a/n; that’s part 1 guys 🙏🏼🙏🏼

I already have an idea in which part 2 will be posted so stay tuned! It’ll be soon :) 👐 thank you for reading!! Don’t forget to leave notes💞

[chaotic-minds-think-alike]

Guess what time it is…….

CENTIPEDE TIME !!! she’s finally real,,,,,,,, based off Scolopendra hardwickei or the Indian tiger centipede

Before I go about the process I just want to say you guys have been soooo incredible and I love reading your reblogs and I love the idea knowing I’ve inspired a lot of people,,, the project, although it was a lot of work and I’m feeling not so great as of posting this, still motivates me to want to make another.

(Art process below)

This was entirely freehanded! I have a lot of experience working in 3D art settings that this part came easy to me but I started with a flat base shaped in the pose I’d like the creature in. I used one whole piece cut from a shipping box and filled in the gaps with tape; you don’t need a single piece for the base but for structural integrity it helps a lot. As you can see here I also cut the legs separate and glued them on using hot glue. The vertical cross sections are to give an early support for the structure of the creature, think about the frames of aircraft or boats. During this part I used a pen to mark the width and height of the previous section to get a gradual flow of shapes.

This next part I wish I got more documentation on but after the vertical cross sections I used soda boxes for the thinner and flexible cardboard to add contour lines along the length of the creature, gluing them on the cross sections. I did about 2 strips of this on either side to fill in the space and then I continued to use soda boxes to fold and shape the top of the creature, gluing onto the strips rather than the cross sections (this part was a mistake but I quickly adapted, no issues happened but it did make it slightly less secure). I also gave the legs vertical cross sections as well to shape them for the masking tape.

The worst part, taping everything. I used tape to further shape it how I wanted but that meant going over parts several times. I used 2 different widths of tape for this for efficiency but it doesn’t matter. The legs were very loosely taped and if squeezed then they’d lose their shape; I didn’t bother filling them in because I don’t have materials for that and I let the paper mache help support them instead. Tape was also used to fill any holes and gaps left by the cardboard skeleton.

The next phase is paper mache of which I haven’t done since 5th grade… I was not confident in this step. I used mod podge and a brush to smooth down the paper. Because I lacked materials I used fast food napkins instead of newspaper which worked totally fine, it just tended to tear a bit easier. Some areas required me to get hands on and I don’t really like the texture during this stage so that was fun (lie). I didn’t do too many layers, one for the body and 3 for the back and legs but some projects might demand more. I used half of a 16oz bottle of mod podge btw so please get more than you think you need.

Finally, texture hell!!! I did a base coat of white spray paint and painted everything else with acrylic. Start with your lighter colors first before doing darker ones! I originally mixed some yellow and orange for the body and realized it was too bright and so covered it with orange instead. It also wasn’t until later I realized I could’ve been smarter with my paint so I skipped over the segments that were going to be fully black, saving the orange for the rest of the body. I wanted my centipede to stand out and not look 2D color-wise so I also used the red for the head and tail to give gradients and edges to the orange segments and legs, later going back with burgundy to further darken them but not too much. For the black segments I also used a very watered down layer of sky blue to give a fake shine and show the intended structure of the segments. Do not be afraid to use your hands! I used mine to smudge my detail paints like the black fade on the legs and the back shading. To top it all off I sprayed a clear coat and punched two holes in the underside to hang it up, using thumbtacks angled upwards.

[cupcakeslushie]

Hi there, I love your stuff, I hope you don't mind but I wanted to do an ask the artist

Where are you from?

What's your favorite color?

How long have you been creating art for?

What drives you to make art?

What is your favorite piece of artwork of yours?

What is your favorite fan artwork that was done for you?

What character of yours is your favorite?

If you could go to any fictional world which one would it be?

Do you consider what will please your audience or do you just do your own thing?

What made you want to start your AU?

1. American! Southern girl, specifically.

2. You’d think it would be green with how it’s been my hair color for three years, and I’ve made it my signature on here, but it’s actually yellow! Like the really saturated, sunny kind! 💛

3. Oh lord. Um, since like 1st or 2nd grade.

4. I never really thought about it. I think I’m just a visual person. So if I have an idea, I need to get it on paper to really see it. I’m the same with movies, especially adaptations. I could never picture characters by reading them in books very well, but seeing them in movies I’m like, “oh okay, now I see what they were going for!” It’s also just fun. It’s my own story-telling method.

5. Fav piece of anything I’ve ever made would be one of my stained glass pieces, like my lemon one, that took me three weeks, and was one of my first bigger pieces. Digitally it would probably be my most recent dtiys cause I just don’t like looking at my older stuff.

6. Noooo!! I have so many, especially recently, that I’ve been gifted! I can’t choose just one!!! Seriously! I love everything I’ve ever been sent! I will say, I’ve been gifted a few fan fictions by now, that have had me like, mind blown—just because writing is such a thing that I’ve always admired and never really been able to fully grasp. If you’ve sent me art, it’s more than likely been my phone or iPad wallpaper, and if you’ve sent me fanfiction, I’ve probably read it no less than five times, and will continue to go back to it.

7. I mean, it’s Donnie. It’s pretty clearly Donnie. I try and be fair and love all the boys equally, but I’m not gonna lie, you all know it. It’s obvious. Just know, I’ll never ignore the others story wise 😜. But Donnie gets the most of my attention and my evil creative plots 😈.

8. Any world ever? Probably Fullmetal Alchemist—if I could actually be an alchemist. I mean, like come on—how cool is that? And like, yeah, you’ve got Father and the homucuous running around, but for the most part, the world is pretty chill and has the coolest rules.

9. The main chunks of my stories are really just what I want to see, but sometimes I can hear a suggestion and think about changing the trajectory of things. I’m always open to ideas, especially if I’m stumped on how it should go. I even change my opinions on the things I’ve established myself, I’m very open to changing a story if a better idea comes to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been like, scared to tell something because I think someone wouldn’t like it. If they don’t, that’s fine, not everything is for everyone, and some things only click with a few people. If I really want to tell a story, then I’m going to tell it.

10. It’s really so funny, because at the time, I was working on this short, post-movie aftermath comic about Leo learning to find a healthy middle ground between being the silly guy and a serious leader. But I was having trouble with the next part, so I decided to watch Arcane and doodle. I posted that little concept sheet, and it feels like…within days my inbox was full with people wanting to know more, and the more I answered, the more I was like, wait I wanna actually explore this. Tbh pretty much all my AUs have started this way. With just an idea jotted down, and then turning into something I couldn’t stop developing.

[obsidiancreates]

These Kids Are Geniuses (Against All Other Evidence) [Part 1]

1987

Shawn’s little sneakers practically fly across the grass as he dashes through the gate, letting it SLAM! shut behind him. "Dad! Dad! We have to go save Gus!"

 "Whoa whoa, slow down Shawn.” Henry catches his son mid-run, picks him up, and sets him on the yard table bench. “Save Gus from what?"

 "He's going to a new school, the school for nerds!" Shawn’s face is red, eyes puffy, and he’s sniffling as he talks. “He’s going away!”

 "School for nerds? You mean the one he has stickers of on his backpack?"

“... Yeah.” Shawn’s voice is small, wavering.

“So it sounds to me like he wants to go there. In fact, I bet he chose he to go there himself, didn’t he? So we don’t have to ‘save’ him from anything.”

 "But if he goes, we'll never see each other again!"

 "Well that's not true, you'll have weekends still."

 "Nuh-uh! They give you enough homework for ten kids there!" Shawn throws his little arms as wide as he can.

 Henry sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Shawn, look. Gus has wanted to go to this school for a long time. You need to be supportive, even if it means spending a little less time together. Unless you suddenly turn things around grades-wise to get in yourself, you'll just have to accept it and be happy for him."

Shawn nods.

Then… Shawn perks up.

Then Shawn grins.  "... You're right! Great idea, Dad!" He dashes off into the house!

 "Wh- Shawn! Shawn, what idea!” Henry gets to his feet. “SHAWN!"

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shawn?” Gus blinks at him in surprise. “I thought you said you weren’t eating lunch with me until I decide not to go.”

“That was yesterday, Gus.” They trade desserts, Gus’s dried pineapple slices for Shawn’s store bought cookies. “I have a new plan.”

“Please don’t sabotage my grades, Shawn.”

“What? Oh, no, that isn’t it.”

“Phew! My mom thought you would for sure.”

“I did think about it. But I have a way better plan.”

“... Can I know it?”

“Not yet. I want it to be a surprise.”

“I don’t always like your surprises, Shawn.”

“You’ll like this one! … Hopefully.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, Shawn, let’s see what the damage is,” Henry grunts as he sits down with Shawn’s report card. “Remember what I told you with the last one?”

Shawn rolls his eyes and repeats, verbatim, “If one more teacher write that you tried to convince the class a zombie apocalypse started at lunch, you’re grounded until one actually starts.”

“Alright, good. Let’s see…”

Henry’s brows furrow. He brings the report closer to his eyes, then farther away. And Shawn grins.

Henry looks at Shawn. “All A’s.”

Shawn’s grin falters a little. “Just A’s?”

“Just A’s? Shawn, your last report card was mostly C’s!”

“Why’s it not A pluses?” Shawn reaches for the paper. “Dad, show it to me!”

“Hang on, hang on! … Okay, uh, in the notes here it says you missed a couple homework deadlines.”

“But that’s not fair! One of those was because you and I did a stakeout!”

Henry looks around. “Keep your voice down, your mom’s home!”

Shawn crosses his arms. “I need to get A pluses, Dad, before the school year is over!”

“Why do you– oh.” Henry puts down the paper. “Shawn, is this about Gus?”

“... Maybe.”

“You know– I’m glad you’re working harder at school. I really am, this is a real improvement. But I don’t think I like you trading training, for schoolwork.”

“But Dad!”

“No buts, Shawn. These are both important for your future, so if you want A pluses you’ll just have to find a way to manage your time better. Like, combining play with work. Maybe do your homework while you hang out with Gus.”

“No!” Shawn stomps his foot. “Gus doesn’t know about this yet!”

“Doesn’t kn- Shawn, why the hell are you not telling him?”

“Uh… why are you using bad words around me?”

Henry shakes his head. “Fine, just… you’ll have a lot less time for fun anyway when you’re on the force, so just think of this like practice, alright? If you want to get into Meitner, you need to give up a few little things here and there, like TV time.”

“That’s just not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, kid. You’ll get used to it.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shawn, are you coming to my birthday party?”

“Uh, I don’t think so Denny. Sorry.”

“Why?”

“I uh… got grounded.”

“Oh. … Well, bye.”

“See ya.”

—------—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What do you mean you’re not going to Denny’s party? Your mom bought you that nice new shirt for it.”

“Um…”

“Shawn, be honest.”

“... I’m… studying.”

“Studying.”

“I am, okay! I need to get the A pluses.”

“Shawn, when I said ‘adjust your time management’ this isn’t what I meant.”

“What do you mean?”

“Social events are important, Shawn! Not just for fun, but for networking. For example, I went to a retirement party I didn’t feel like going to last year, and I met the Commissioner. Now, we had some friendly conversation, and he said he’d keep me in mind for a detective position the next time it needed to be filled.”

“I thought the Chief picked that.”

“Right, but he can be influenced by other people around him. That’s networking.”

“And… if I go to the party, I can get to know other kids who can do things for me?”

“Yeah! See, you never want to take a networking event out of your plans just for paperwork.”

“But then where do I fit in homework time?”

“Well that’s for you to figure out, Shawn. But come on, I’ll call Denny’s mom and let her know you’re coming after all.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn sits in the principal’s office, his feet dangling off the end of the chair. Gus sits next to him, hands in his lap.

“I told you not to say anything to him,” Gus whimpers.

Shawn leans his head back, looking up at the ceiling with his good not-swollen eye. “What was I supposed to do, Gus?”

“Let him cheat off you! You were probably only getting a C anyway!”

“I was not!”

“We’re in trouble now!”

“Hey, no-one asked you to jump on him.”

“He hit you!”

Their little fight ends abruptly as Winnie Guster and Henry Spencer both enter at the same time. Winnie speeds over to Gus, checking his face right away. Henry walks at a normal pace, and stands in front of Shawn with his arms crossed.

“The principal says you got in a fight during a test,” Henry says.

Shawn puffs up indignantly. “Tommy was cheating off me!”

“Off you?” Winnie lets slip.

Shawn ignores her. “I told the teacher and he jumped me when I sat back down.”

Henry looks at Gus. Gus looks down and nods.

“Alright,” Henry sighs. “I know you’ve been staying out of trouble on purpose lately, so I believe you. Let me go talk to the principal and see if I can… get this cleared off your record.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but! I want this to be your last fight, Shawn.”

Shawn slumps in his chair. “I didn’t even hit back.”

“Biting counts as retaliation, Shawn.”

“... But I didn’t hit back.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, Shawn, moment of truth. Last report card before your interview.”

Shawn nods, practically vibrating with anticipation. Henry opens the envelope slowly, almost teasingly.

“What is it, Dad? How is it?!”

Henry looks up at Shawn from over the paper, and then flips it around.

Shawn is frozen for a moment.

And then jumps!

“WHOO! WHOOOOO-HOO! I DID IT!”

The full row of A pluses are carefully folded and tucked into Henry’s pocket as Shawn dances around the living room, and then up the stairs shouting the news to his mom. 

Henry will find a plastic slip to save it in later. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn swallows and looks up at his dad, his little leg Shaking Unstoppably as they wait for his name to be called. He tugs at the tie around his neck, the collar of the new dress shirt still itchy despite three runs in the wash. “What if they’re not impressed?”

“You kidding?” Henry leans over. “Shawn, look around the room. What do you see?”

Shawn looks up. “Lots of smart kids.”

“Look closer.”

Shawn squints at the three other children in the room. 

One is a young girl around his age, balancing a chemistry textbook on one leg and a model of some chemical compound on the other. She’s mouthing the words as she reads along– she’s nervous too, and isn’t sure she’ll be able to remember her facts.

Another kid is a few years older, running his thumbnail against his braces and shaking more than Shawn is. His prepared demonstration is being crumpled in his sweaty hand, smudging the ink. He can only hope to remember it, or get enough clues from the smudges and rips to figure out the words.

The last kid is a little younger than Shawn, and he just doesn’t look like he wants to be here. He’s half-asleep, and his eyes keep wandering over to the door.

“Lots of smart kids still.”

“Smart kids who aren’t you. I know you noticed the kid with the crumpled paper– you know what you have that he doesn’t?”

“My memory?”

“Your memory. And look, she’d running over her lines over and over there. She won’t have the paper, which is impressive, but she’ll sound robotic. Now sounding natural and confident is always better than sounding overly-practiced. Remember that for when you talk to the press about your cases someday.”

“And that kid doesn’t even want to come here.”

“Exactly. You’ve got every advantage right now, Shawn. That’s a rare situation to be in. Keep on your toes, but don’t let it psych you out.”

Shawn nods.

“Shawn Spencer.”

He jumps to his feet and quickly walks over to the secretary. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, Shawn, you’re certainly an… interesting, candidate.”

“Um… thank you.” Shawn knows that’s not a compliment.

The interviewer tsks. “Poor grades up until this past year, several notices of erratic to poor behavior…”

“Well, um, that was actually because of… understimulation.” He pulls the word up from a memory of his mom explaining why he wanted to cry when he was bored. “It was too easy and I got bored.”

“Mmm, we’ll see. What have you prepared to show me why you belong here, Shawn?”

Shawn takes a deep breath, and a moment to look over the interviewer.

“Your watch is off by three hours, and your hair is really shiny but not staying in place. So it’s not gel, your hair is just greasy. That and the watch mean you were probably on a place earlier today, and your briefcase has crumbs all over the top so it was a business trip. You probably went to interview some out-of-state kids and had to rush back here.”

The interviewer sits back. “Very impressive reasoning for your age. And good attention to detail. But that’s not–”

Shawn closes his eyes and says “To get to this room the secretary took me down a hallway that had walls the same color as my dad’s cop uniform and a carpet that probably hasn’t been shampooed since last year. The secretary was wearing shoes too small for her, and she almost tripped multiple times because of it. She looked nervous leading me here, and kept checking for landmarks, so I think she’s new and didn’t have the shoes she needed to work here. She probably borrowed them from the lost and found.”

“How–”

“The hallway had pictures of old principals all along it. The first one is from 1972, then 1974, and it keeps going with two years between principals until 1985 when you had two principals in one year. The first principal’s picture is poorly taken care of, and someone drew a mole on it that never got cleaned off, so he probably did something bad.”

“That’s amazing-”

“While I’ve had my eyes closed you brushed the crumbs off your briefcase and reset your watch.”

“I– yes–”

“And the girl out in the waiting room made a model of sodium chloride but she misplaced one of the molecules on the end.” At least, if he interpreted the picture he saw her staring at right she did. He’s never been wrong with his upside-down reading before, so he’s doing as his dad said. Confidence.

He opens his eyes. The interviewer is gaping at him. Shawn shuffles his feet, feeling something like shame, something like embarrassment, something like resentment.

But he pushes it down. Because he’s doing this for Gus.

“Well.” The interviewer pulls himself together and clears his throat. “You’re certainly one of the most interesting candidates I’ve had today.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gus puts his backpack in his locker and hurries to his thankfully-close first class. He sets his books up tidily on the top, arranges his pencils by order of sharpest to dullest, and carefully lines up his two erasers to be perfectly symmetrical on either side of the desk.

And he sighs.

Even as the chalkboard at the front promises him an exciting class of complex multiplication, his mind wanders, and he feels the Lack of Presence more potently than he’s ever felt anything in his life. He can almost hear his best friend giving his usual first day of school speech. “Gus, this is our year. We’re becoming the coolest kids in school, I know it. By the end of the year–”

“We’ll be at the top!”

Gus blinks. “No way.”

Shawn slides into class. The Meitner uniform red polo fits him loosely, and he doesn’t have it tucked in like everyone else does, and he’s wearing obviously fake glasses.

And Gus has never been more confused in his life.

Shawn spots him and lights up. He practically jumps over the desks to get to Gus, plunking into the desk to Gus’s right and haphazardly dumping his school bag onto it.

“Shawn, how did you–!”

“Uh, same way you did.” Shawn leans over and lightly punches Gus’s arm. “No way I was letting you go to nerd school all alone.”

“But– but you’re not–”

“A lame nerd? That’s why I’m undercover.” Shawn touches the fake glasses. “See? I’m your best friend and your bodyguard, Gus. I’m going to help you be the best nerd of the nerds.”

“... How?”

“I can remember everything the teachers say and write on the board.”

“So you can fill in my notes where I might be missing them!”

“You’re taking notes?”

“Of course I am.”

“Do we have to?”

“I think so.”

“... I should’ve brought some paper.”

“Here.” Gus tears a page out and hands it to Shawn. “But you better not get me kicked out.”

“I won’t. Promise. That’s the whole mission Gus. You and I are gonna become kings of the nerds here.”

“... I do like the sound of that.”

[abbatoirablaze]

Sealed, Steve Rogers

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings:  sexual tension, slight angst, mentions of fighting, underage drinking, dubcon/noncon relationship.

Part 2 of 3.

Part 1, Signed

Part 3, Delivered

“My god, you’ve grown so much, (Y/N),” your future mother-in-law cooed as she pulled you into a hug.  You gave Mrs. Rogers a small, albeit forced smile as you pulled away and she got another look at you.  She reached out and stroked your cheek, “my god, I remember when you were just a little girl.  Barely knee high and going at it with Stevie like cats and dogs.  Now look at you!  You look like a refined young woman…”

“Yeah…it has been a while…”

“Been a while,” she giggled, pulling away from you, “been a while might have been a holiday or two…I haven’t seen you since your mother squirreled you and your sisters away from sight when you hit the end of fourth grade.”

You gave another forced smile, “yeah…I’m sorry.  I-I would have called…or written, but I-I didn’t have anyone’s numbers memorized.  A-and, well…mum thought it was best that I focus on school.  She always said a good education helps all.”

“It’s okay sweetie,” she smiled softly, “we understand…Steve’s sister just got married to that Parker boy…sweetest little couple you’ve ever seen…you’ll see them at the reception at the end of the week.  They’re still finishing their honeymoon.”

Your eyes widened, “oh no…I-I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to interr-“

“Oh, you’re not interrupting anything,” she laughed, “we insisted on Peter taking her on a nice little honeymoon to one of our villas in Milan.  They get back from there in about a day or so, so they’ll have plenty of time to unwind before your nuptials…”

“Yeah…”

“Sarah…maybe we let (Y/N) get reacquainted with everyone…I don’t believe she’s gotten to say hello to her father yet…have you dear?”

“Oh…uhm no,” you admitted sadly, the smallest of frowns crossing your lips, “I-I haven’t seen daddy yet.”

“He’s in his office,” she smiled as she looped her arm through Mrs. Rogers, “go say hello to him and pull him from whatever he’s doing in there.  He should be out here…enjoying the party.  It is your homecoming after all…and soon you’ll be a Rogers and not a Barnes.  All of you should be mingling…it’s your graduation and engagement party after all…”

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t do two separate parties,” Mrs. Rogers sighed as she gave you a soft look, “the girl should be celebrating all of her accomplishments…a party for graduating high school, and a party for becoming officially engaged to my Stevie.  I keep telling you Winnifred this all feels too cluttered…you should have let me plan at least one of the parties…allow me to showcase our home...”

“You’re too kind, Mrs. Rogers,” you offered, giving your mom an out as you put a hand on her arm, “I’m perfectly fine with just the one party.  Two parties so close to the wedding would have made it seem forced, wouldn’t it?”

She gave you a firm smile, “perhaps you’re right, sweetheart…you know, you always were a wise one, well before your time.  And how many times do I have to remind you, it’s mom…you’re practically our daughter as it is, (Y/N).  Lord knows Stevie’s been in love with you since the two of you were little…call me mom, sweetie…”

“Okay…mom…”

She chirped excitedly to your mother, cooing at how you calling her mom as well felt ‘all too right.’

Meanwhile, you rolled your eyes as you started back to the house, promising both mob wives that you would go to find your father, while ignoring the rest of the party goers and well-wishers. 

You barely had an idea on who many of them were, only knowing that they were associated with one of the five families, and here to ‘strengthen ties.’ 

It sickened you to your stomach. 

Everything was done to ‘strengthen ties,’ while they bickered behind closed doors and made stomach-turning deals.  All of them wearing faux masks of happiness to see one another, when they would all too quickly stab one another in the back for a chance on a higher rung.  But that was the nature of the beast.  One that you’d become all too accustomed to. 

You were glad when your parents sent you off to finishing school back in London.  You didn’t have to deal with anyone and could just blend in without having to be a Barnes, or the future Mrs. Rogers.

“Champagne, miss?”

You smiled politely, holding a glass in each hand.  When he gave you a look, you shrugged, “going to take one to my fiancé…or father.  Whomever I can find first I suppose.”

He gave a nod, one that said that he didn’t believe you, but he didn’t question it as he turned on his heel and went back to the main part of the party.  When he was out of sight, you downed the first.  Feeling the crisp, dry bite of the champagne, you rounded the corner and took the other, as though it was a shot yet again. 

A shiver ran down your spine as the warmth from the alcohol filled your belly.  You placed the two empty glasses along a desk sitting in the entryway. 

Sighing, you noticed that your father’s study door was closed.

It was always business with him. 

But stepping forward you could hear voices behind the heavy wooden door.  You frowned when you couldn’t recognize the one that was speaking, nor make out any words that he’d been saying.  But a roar of laughter made you pause from knocking. 

You recognized the melodic laugh of your brother, despite not seeing him since you were ten. 

“You gotta stop getting into fights, punk,” the thirteen-year-old chuckled as he ruffled the sandy blonde hair of his best friend, “you’re twelve and nearly losing to a eight year old.”

“He was nine,” Steve grumbled, shooing his friend’s hand away, “and anyways…I didn’t need your help, Buck.  I’m Steve Rogers.  The heir to the Itali-“

“You’re the heir of every ass-kicking from here to the Bronx with how you go picking fights…” Bucky replied sternly, his laughter fading away, “come on man…I shouldn’t have to rescue you from a little kid…all I wanted to do was enjoy my book and-”

“He was annoying (Y/N).”

Bucky gave you a small frown and you rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your eight-year-old chest, “he wasn’t annoying me nearly as much as you were, Rogers…”

Steve’s nostrils flared, “you know…I did it to help you, (Y/N)!  I did it because I was standing up for my wif-“

“Don’t you dare say it, Steven Grant Rogers!” You growled, cutting the older boy off as you wagged your finger in his face, “don’t you dare!  I am not your wife!”

“But (Y/N), you are going to be it one day!” he said quickly, “you’re going to be my wife!  And I’m going to burn down the world for you…or at least anyone that gets in your way.”

“You’re in my way,” you growled, “you’re always in my  way.  News flash, Steve…I don’t need you lurking around every corner waiting to be chivalrous.  I don’t want it!”

“But (Y/N) I’m doing it because I love you,” he simpered, attempting to take your hand in his own, “I-

You sneered, your face scrunching up at the words as you ripped your hand from his, “stop it, Steve!  I will never be your wife…because you won’t make it to adulthood.  You won’t ever be anything other than a scrawny little twerp who can’t fight his own battles let alone the ones you pick over me…and you’re gonna get Bucky hurt…just like the last time.”

Steve frowned as he turned to look at his best friend.  Bucky nervously pulled the sleeve down so that his cybernetic arm was covered by the sweater, “(Y/N)…”

You looked at your older brother, still angry over the accident that Steve caused years ago when he and Bucky first became friends.

“I-It was an accident, my lo-“

“I’m not your anything, Steve!” you spat, glaring at the young man, “now go away!”

Bucky took a step forward, “(Y/N), that’s enough.  Steve was being a good fiancé and looking out for you.  And right now, you’re being a spoiled brat and pushing people’s buttons.”

“You had to come save his butt!”

“Yeah…and he saved yours…it’s what family does for one another…” Bucky growled, defending his friend, “family makes sure that they’re safe and sound.  That they-“

“Then why did he let you lose your arm, huh Bucky?”

“(Y/N)!”

“(Y/N)!”

You were snapped from your thoughts, and you noticed that the door to your father’s study was open, and man just inside the door, holding it open was none other than your big brother.  You felt a bit of pride in your stomach as you launched yourself at him, “BUCKY!”

“Pipsqueak!” Bucky exclaimed happily as he easily lifted you from the ground, “What are you doing in here?  You’re supposed to be out there enjoying your party!”

“Ughh, gag me with a spoon!” you groaned, “last thing I want is another snotty person from one of the families telling me congrats.  I wanted to see you, robo-boy!”

“(Y/N)” your father scolded as he stood from his desk.  Your heart melted as you peeled yourself away from your older brother and started towards your father. 

In the years since you’d last seen him, he’d definitely aged. 

He was only about fifty years old, but time had not been kind to him. 

He kept his hair short and tight on the sides, as was normal from his military days, but the salt and pepper look that had graced the longer hair on top was all but silver on the sides. 

He looked like an aged version of your older brother.  A little bit smaller, and definitely less muscle-mass, as well as the obvious differences in the fact that your father had both of his arms, while one of your brothers was a robotic one, but they were very much the same otherwise. 

“Daddy!”

He smiled as you wrapped your arms around him, becoming wrapped in the scent of the posh cologne that he wore that reminded you of smokey bourbon and fresh leather. His scolding of you had quickly faded and he allowed himself to melt under your touch. 

“Oh, sweetheart…I’ve missed you…it’s nice to have all of my children so close to home again…”

“How’ve you been.  Wha-“

“Good…good!” he smiled, pulling away from you, “but I don’t want to talk about me.  Tonight is about you, honey.  You and Steve!”

You groaned, hearing your fiancé’s name, “Daddy….can we just not talk about Steve Rogers for a second…you know that I don’t want to marry him.”

“Don’t worry…I think you’ve made that abundantly clear since we were children.”

You paled as you turned around and noticed a man that you didn’t recognize, standing off to the side of the room.  He was watching you interacting with his father while he kept his hands in his pockets.

You felt a blush rising to your cheeks as you stared back at the attractive man. He was tall and muscular…well built.  His sandy blonde hair was styled elegantly, and he was dressed to the nines.  You felt your heart fluttering as he looked at you with his cerulean stare and pouty lips. 

Was he someone new to your father’s crew?

But then the words snapped in your mind.

‘Don’t worry…I think you’ve made that abundantly clear since we were children.’

And you paled once more.

NO!

It couldn’t be.

Your stomach turned. 

Had you just been guilty of finding yourself attracted to him?  To Steve Rogers. 

You took a few steps away from your father and started to back out of the study.  “Sweetheart, where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here,” you muttered softly as you backed through the door.  You were nearly there until you stumbled when you took another step back.  You thought you’d hit the edge of the door frame, but when you heard the crashing of a silver platter behind you and the crunching of glass, you spun, “oh fuck…”

You had knocked over a waiter carrying a tray of champagne from the catering space in the kitchen to the party outside. 

“And here I was thinking it was bad luck to see the bride just on the night before the wedding,” the charming blonde smiled as he leaned against the bookcase.  You shot him a glare, trying to focus your rage into him, instead of staring at his chiseled jawline and the way that his clothes clung to his muscular frame and slim waist.  He pushed himself away from it and pulled his hands from his pockets.  In three quick steps he was nearly on top of you, his arm already looping around your waist and pulling you close.  Your lips parted as you stared into his cerulean eyes, unsure of what to do or say.  A smirk tugged at his lips, “why did no one tell me that it’s also two days before?”

“S-steve…”

He chuckled, and the action sent a pulse straight to your core as he watched you, “have you been drinking, (Y/N?)”

You felt a whimper escaping the back of your throat as you lost all resolve.  You weakly nodded, unable to form the words. 

“I can smell it on your breath,” he chuckled softly, still holding you close, “You naughty girl…”

“Sweetheart…I’m sure you remember Steve…” your father reminded you, “perhaps…your brother should take you to the powder room though…or the kitchen and get you sobered up before we address the guests for coming to celebrate you and him…”

“Y-yeah…”

[cadet-aviator]

Into the absurd life (4)

It was not easy to talk to Dad about all this. I was so thrilled that I could be a full time cadet - apart from school - and I made extra efforts to be really prepared. I could see that it was painful for him, my mother ill and gone to Europe, and now me so keen to leave him.

There were some others I could share my thoughts with. 

My fellow cadets, of course, were in awe, and frankly jealous: I wasn’t even 16 yet and already I was on course for the prestigious Academy.

I had to contradict them, I said I wasn’t at all sure of going to the Academy, there were lots of things still up in the air. For one, my parents’ posting in Asia was due to end in about 18 months, and Dad had already made it clear that ‘we’ were going back to Europe; that was going to coincide with me finishing my Bac and then go to university somewhere. Entering the Military Academy here and becoming a Malay citizen was not really on the list of options - so far.

There was another important influence. In school we had mentors, usually the more experienced teachers, and I got along really well with mine.

There was never much to discuss though, my grades were excellent, I was super-disciplined; the chats were usually over pretty quickly (so many other things on my plate, always). 

During these weeks my mentor sat me down for a few more in-depth talks. Naturally, he didn’t wish to question my choices when it came to cadets, as it was a mandatory part of school life anyway.

But he was wise: he pointed out that my talents might lead me to fields I hadn’t really considered. Perhaps an international business school would be interesting for me, had I considered the law, what about biochemistry… He also inquired about my emotional life (without mentioning the usual adolescent issues, sex, girlfriends, which were obviously irrelevant). He had noticed the ‘decline’ of my social life, and he was familiar with the interventions of the Army Cadet staff in my school life. That seemed like a lot to take in. Was I really happy coping with all that on my own?

‘I am, Sir, really, Sir.’

‘No doubts?’

‘No Sir, and my Cadet supervisor is really helpful, Sir, he visits every day, Sir.’

‘Every day?’

‘Yes Sir. I have an inspection every morning at 6, Sir.’

‘Inspection of what, son?’

‘Everything, Sir – cadet uniform, school uniform, general cleanliness, my room, tasks, homework, housework, my attitude…’

‘I see. I had no idea. That’s very… thorough, isn’t it?

‘Yes Sir. It has to be, Sir, to keep me at 110% Sir.’

'Well, I have to say your uniform in school always looks fine to me, son. I guess those inspections work, then?'

'They do, Sir, it took some getting used to, I admit, Sir, having an officer come to the house every morning, Sir, but it's really helpful for me, Sir, and so are the corrections, Sir.'

‘Do you get corrected often?’

‘I’m afraid so, yes Sir. Two or three times a week, Sir.’

‘And what happens then?’

‘I’m grateful of course, Sir, because I learn from them Sir. I’m usually given correction tasks, Sir. Like extra hours of household duties in the barracks, extra lines to write, Sir. I copied out the whole Cadet Manual last week, Sir.'

‘I wonder where you find the time…’

‘Just all Sunday mostly, Sir. That’s my free time usually, Sir, so that’s perfect for punishments or extra duties, Sir, like attending chapel service, Sir.’

‘What do you do with your regular work then?’

‘Well, I sometimes get up extra early, Sir, like at 4, Sir, to do the extra work, Sir.’

‘How does your father feel about all this?’

‘Well, Sir, he was a bit reluctant at first, Sir, but after all, he signed me up for this school and the cadets, so he got used to me wearing uniform a lot, Sir. And of course he doesn’t object to me doing well, Sir.’

‘You wear your uniform at home, too, then?’

‘Yes Sir. Cadet rules, Sir: when I’m not in school uniform I’m in cadet uniform, Sir.’

‘All the time?’

‘All the time, Sir.’

'Even when you go to the movies, or something?'

'Yes Sir. Of course, Sir.'

‘I thought you boys would put on something at bit more … casual?’

‘Some do, yes Sir, but I don’t, because of Cadet regulations, but also because I don’t want to, Sir, I am happy to show discipline this way, Sir.'

‘But surely..’

‘And I don’t even have casual things anymore, Sir, when I grew out of my old clothes they were just replaced with uniform items, Sir.’

'And you don't miss your old clothes?'

'No Sir, not at all Sir. I am a cadet now, Sir, so I want to be in uniform, of course, Sir.'

‘Dear me, I had no idea things were so extreme. I do hope you have time to think about what you’re doing, son.’

‘I don’t really have the time, Sir, apart from our chats, Sir. I get a lot of homework of course, Sir. And because I am not allowed to do things with boys who are not in uniform...

'Say that again?'

'I'm sorry Sir if I wasn't clear, Sir, since my summer at Elite Camp I am under strict instructions, Sir, and any social event where boys my age are not dressed in uniform I'm not allowed to attend, Sir.'

'That explains the lack of friends and such, then?'

'I suppose so, Sir, but it's fine, Sir, my supervisor let me volunteer for more cadet duties, Sir, so I don’t really think about it all that much, I feel everything makes sense to me, Sir. I’m sure you agree that obedience comes before everything, Sir. It’s just a lot of work, Sir.’

‘I’d best let you get on with it then, son. But do talk to me again…’

‘Yes Sir, much appreciated Sir. Thank you Sir.’

And then I’d run home, and change into my 'greens' if I had drill between 3pm and 5pm, or my whites if I had Mess&Household training from 3pm to 5pm and remember to bring my gloves if after Mess&Household I had to serve in the dining room, and get laundry going, and clean my room, polish my Dad’s shoes, quickly eat something with Mrs. Lee, then report for drill or training and undergo inspections when I get there, and work hard, volunteer any infractions or flaws so I might be corrected, then run home, and get the laundry from the machine, and prepare all uniforms for the next day, and start homework, and be ready for a random inspection, and off to bed at 9.30 PM, set the alarm at 4.40 AM to do the ironing before the 6 AM inspection. Then face inspection, change into school uniform, run off to school, between 7.30am and 2.30pm. And then more of the same the next day, and the next, and trying not to ask Dad about any developments – because cadets obey, they just obey.

[3-2-whump]

Khaled’s Backstory, Part 1: The Way Things Were

next>

This backstory begins approximately two years (maybe give or take a few months) before the Eternal story actually begins. Thanks goes out once again to my amazing beta readers @whumped-by-glitter and @generic-whumperz

TW/CW: none, I think, but please let me know if I missed any.

Language Note: The Urdu and Dari words I used were learned through reading multiple language-learning blogs, culture blogs, Reddit, and of course, the ol' reliable Google Translate. If I misrepresented any of the expressions (which is extremely likely) please let me know as civilly as possible, because I'd rather know than not know.

 “A 32% in Urdu, a 29% in Social Studies, and a 25% in English?” a muffled voice sounded through the thick apartment door. The latch to the door clicked open and the door knob turned as a pair of four-year-old identical twins rushed through the meager opening. A ten-year-old girl soon followed them into the apartment, with her twelve-year-old brother right behind as he kicked off his shoes at the entrance. Their eldest brother, the thirteen-year-old, was still detained by their disappointed parents.

“But, I passed Math, and Science, and Islamic Studies-” the boy defended.

“Barely!” his father snorted. “How did you fail Urdu, of all things? The language you speak every damn day?!”

“Ammi, come on,” he whined, trying to gain sympathy from his mother, “don’t you remember the part where Mr. Khan said I was ‘the friendliest, most outgoing boy in the class’?”

“School is not a social club, Khaled!” A crashing sound outside their living room redirected her attention. “Haye Allah, that cat is back,” she sighed then marched quickly to the door that led to their balcony. The stray that knocked over her plants merely blinked at her as Khaled’s mum gave it a scolding to match the intensity of the one he received on the way home.

That left the rest of the tongue-lashing to Khaled’s dad. “You are the eldest brother, beta; you’re supposed to be setting an example for your siblings! What kind of example are you setting for them if you struggle to pass your classes?”

“An example they can easily exceed?” The flat glare from underneath his father’s bushy eyebrows made Khaled backtrack from his wise remark. “But Abba,” he tried, “You never had to learn this stuff and you turned out alright, didn’t you? You got a job that provides-”

“I ‘turned out’ alright?” Abba interrupted, voice raising on the precipice of his signature lecture. “I got ‘turned out’ of my home and my country, along with the rest of my family, because the beghairat koskhol Russians razed our farm to the ground!”

Ammi poked her head back in from where she was sweeping up potting soil and ceramic shards. “Abdul! What did I tell you about swearing in front of the kids?!”

“Zainab, they don’t understand me, it’s fine!” Dad yelled back.

Yes, we do, Khaled thought. Most of what he knew of his father’s language was nearly entirely expletives. He listened through the rest of his father’s lecture before accepting his punishment with all the dignity a thirteen-year-old could summon. Grounded for two weeks, no football with his friends, only study and sleep? Harsh, but it could be worse, Khaled reasoned.

“Bhai! Bhai!” the twins squealed at him, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see his little sisters Besma and Zara tugging at his shirt. “Come play with us!”

“They want to play newscaster, and they insist on having an anchorman,” Ayesha said with a smile. She was the third sister, and the middle child of the family.

“Well, what about Yusuf?” Khaled asked, referring to his little brother and the second eldest child. “You heard Abba, I need to study!”

“I’m the weather man, obviously,” Yusuf announced.

“He can’t be the anchor man and the weather man!” Zara said.

“Come on, bhai,” Ayesha coaxed him, steering him towards the living room/impromptu play area. “Your grades aren’t going to get any worse if you miss one study night!”

“Well…fair enough,” Khaled laughed.

-

After dinner, Khaled hung around outside the apartment building, watching his dad fix up the old motorcycle and occasionally handing him the tools he’d need.

“I’m sorry about my grades, Abba,” he muttered.

“I know, beta.” His father reached out a hand behind him, holding a wrench out to Khaled. Khaled wordlessly took it and put it back with the other instruments in the tool kit.

“I’ll try harder, I promise,” he vowed.

“You do that.” Abba unfurled from his crouching position in front of the motorcycle and sighed, a contented little smile on his face as he wiped his brow. “Now, do you want to take this thing out for a test ride? Make sure I fixed it up properly?” he suggested.

Khaled raised a skeptical brow up at him. “But Abba, you and Ammi said I’m grounded, remember?”

“Yeah, but as the man of the house, I unground you, just for tonight, okay?” He swung his leg over the seat of the motorcycle and kicked up the kickstand. “Come on,” he said invitingly, patting the seat behind him.

Khaled beamed ear to ear as he climbed up onto the motorcycle and held onto his father’s waist. He buried his face in the man’s broad back and melted into the smell of sweat, motor oil, and cologne. The motorcycle started up, revving to life under Abba’s hands. He couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him as they peeled out into the street.

They whizzed down the fluorescent city streets, glowing every color of the rainbow under the dark velvet of the moonless sky. Khaled waved to drivers and fellow motorcyclists as his dad weaved in and out and around and through them.

They eventually ended up at their usual destination for late-night father-son outings: at Port Grand, sitting on a bench looking out at the waters, each one with a skewered kebab in hand. The shadows of cranes loomed over the horizon, marking the dock yard where Khaled’s father worked during the day. But at night, the port –no, the world –was theirs.

“What if I can’t do it?” Khaled asked.

Abba had just polished off his kebab, and now had a mouthful of meat to chew. Khaled looked down at his own bare wooden skewer and began fidgeting with it. “I mean, what if I still fail next term?” he elaborated. “I am trying, really, but what comes easily to Tariq or Muhammad or Imran does not come easily to me. What if I end up failing no matter how hard I try? Then what’s the point?” he asked.

That monologue gave his dad enough time to chew and swallow his mouthful. He wiped the grease from his lips and his beard with the back of his hand, then collected Khaled’s empty stick from his hands. “Khaled, you can do so much more than you think you can,” he started. Sincere, deep, dark brown eyes met the boy’s own. “You are my son, and we Bakhsh men are tough, yeah? You can do it, and you will do it, because Bakhsh men always do it.”

The way he said it so confidently and certainly, like he believed in him, made Khaled want to believe in himself too. “Yeah,” he murmured, smiling warmly.

Abba mirrored the smile back as he rose from the bench. “Now, don’t tell Ammi we went out for these, or she’ll have my ass,” he said, waving the kebab sticks around before he threw them away.

Khaled giggled, but gave his dad the thumbs up. Their father-son time would stay between themselves, just like Abba’s father-son time with Yusuf last week, or his father-daughter time with Ayesha the week before. As they rode back home and returned to the apartment at far too late at night, Khaled never realized that this would be the last father-son time he’d have.

Le Tag List: @kabie-whump @rainydaywhump @whumped-by-glitter @skittles-the-whumpee @generic-whumperz @bamber344 @there-will-always-be-blood @morning-star-whump @a-la-whump @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @defire @phoenixpromptsandstuff @scumashling

[schraubd]

How To Train Your Writer

Right now, on a purely technical/stylistic level, ChatGPT is an okay writer.

It's not great. But it's not bad, either. It's better (and again, we're talking purely technical here -- leaving aside factual hallucinations and the like) than some of my students, and I teach at a law school. Of course, even when I taught undergraduates I was inordinately concerned that many of my students seemingly never learned and never were taught how to write. So there has always been a cadre of students who are very smart and diligent, but just didn't really have writing in their toolkit.  And I'd say ChatGPT has now exceeded their level.

The thing that worries me most about ChatGPT, though, isn't that it's better than some of my law students. It's that it will always be better than essentially every middle schooler.

Learning to write is a process. Repetition is an important part of that process (this blog was a great asset to my writing just because it meant I was writing essentially every day for years). But part of that process is writing repeatedly even when one was is not good at writing. Writing a bunch of objectively mediocre essays in middle school is how you learn to write better ones in high school and even better ones in college.

ChatGPT is going to short-circuit that scaffolding. It is one thing to say that an excellent writer in, say, high school, can still outperform ChatGPT. But how will that kid become excellent if, in the years leading up to that, they're always going to underperform a bot that could do all their homework in 35 seconds? The pressure to kick that work over to the bot will be irresistible, and we're already learning that it's difficult-to-impossible to catch. How can we get middle schoolers to spend time being bad writers when they can instantly access tools that are better?

There might be workarounds. I've heard suggestions of reverting to long-hand essay writing and more in-class assignments. There might be ways to leverage ChatGPT as a comparator -- have them write their own essay, then compare it to a AI-generated one and play spot-the-difference. I think frankly that we might also be wise to abolish grading, at least in lower-level writing oriented classes, to take away that temptation to use the bot. I don't care how conscientious you are, there aren't a lot of 14 year olds who can stand putting in hours trying to actually do their homework and then getting blown out of the water by little Cameron who popped the prompt into an LLM and 45 seconds later is back to playing Overwatch. And again, that's going to be the reality, because ChatGPT's output just is better than anything one can reasonably expect a young writer to produce.

In many ways, large language models are like any mechanism of mass production. They displace older artisans, not because their product is better -- it isn't, it's objectively worse -- but on sheer volume and accessibility. The art is worse, but it's available to the masses on the cheap.

And like with mass production, this isn't necessarily a bad thing even though it's disruptive. It's fine that many people now can, in effect, be "okay writers" essentially for free. It's like mass-produced clothing -- yes, most people's t-shirts are of lower-quality than a bespoke Italian suit, but that's okay because now most people can afford a bunch of t-shirts that are of acceptable quality (albeit far less good than a bespoke Italian suit). The alternative was never "everyone gets an entire wardrobe of bespoke Italian suits", it was "a couple of people enjoy the benefits of intense luxury and most people get scraps." Likewise, I'm not so naive as to think that most people in absence of ChatGPT would have become great writers. So this is a net benefit -- it brings acceptable-level writing to the masses.

If that was all that happened -- the big middle gets expanded access to cheap, okay writing, with "artisanal" great writing remaining costly and being reserved for the "elite" -- it might not be that bad. But the question is whether this process will inevitably short-circuit the development of great writers. You have to pass through a long period of being a crummy writer before you become a good or great writer. Who is still going to do that when adequacy is so easily at hand?

I'm not tempted to use ChatGPT because even though my writing takes longer, I'm confident that at the end my work product will be better. But that's only true because I spent a long time writing terribly. Luckily for me, I didn't have an alternative. Kids these days? They absolutely have an alternative. It's going to be very hard to get them to pass that up.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/zlrha2Q

[instructionsnotincluded]

Can we get a snippet of angry Logan? 👀

Yessss! Let’s do that! 😉👀

MDNI 18+ | Boys being gross, references to sex, language, Logan’s angry.

Read Wild Winds Here!

Rafe slipped his hand over her shoulder, gently pulling her towards him, Logan going easily now that their argument was resolved, and just as his lips touched her forehead did her attention shift.

“She’s gotta be a virgin, dude.”

“I dunno,” the newest member of the valet team shook his head, the same guy who mistook her as a guest a few weeks ago, “I think the innocent look is just an act. Virgins are hard to find.”

“I’m telling you,” she turned her head fully despite Rafe trying to hug her, seeing one of the guys a grade above JJ talking. Andrew—she was pretty sure that was his name. “She’s a total virgin, and I gotta have it.”

“Who are they talking about?” Logan asked, more to herself as she felt Rafe’s wrists cross to rest on her lower back, tilting his head up so she could slide under it.

“I don’t kno—”

“Imagine those big eyes looking up at you…” Andrew swatted the new guy with the back of his hand, both of them laughing, “I gotta pop that cherry, it’s killin’ me thinking she’s untouched.”

“Be careful, bro. JJ’s not gonna let that happen. Dude’s basically pissed a circle around her…”

“Ellie?” Logan pulled away, her shoulders tightening as she felt Rafe reach for her arm, “They’re talking about Ellie?!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Rafe pulled her back when Logan moved to walk in their direction, “you can’t go around cracking skulls because people are talking, doll.”

“Oh yeah?” Logan pulled her arm from his grip, “Fucking watch me.”

“Logan—”

Although Rafe was stronger, Logan was faster, moving quickly away from her car where Rafe had parked it before he could grab her hand, watching as the valet stand, and by extension the boys, grew closer.

The boys noticed her before she said anything, the new one averting his gaze as Andrew leaned against the stand, “Logan—good to see you this fine Wednesday afternoon. I thought you worked this morning?”

“Yeah, I just got off and I couldn’t help but overhear you talking…” The color in both boys’ faces drained and Logan rested her hands on her hips, “You think Ellie’s a virgin, huh?” No one said anything, simply blinking at her owlishly, “What? You can’t talk anymore…?”

“W—we were just taking,” Andrew cleared his throat, “it wasn’t meant to be heard by anyone else…”

“Does that make it ok to say?” Logan asked, “Ellie’s sex life is none of your concern unless she chooses to discuss it with you. God forbid she invites you into it, so why don’t you two find something else to talk about, huh? Discussing your coworkers sexual history should be far from any of your conversations. It’s disrespectful, it’s gross, and it’s basically an HR violation, so…”

Andrew held his hands up and the new guy looked about ready to wet himself, both of them nodding with slightly parted lips before Logan turned to step off the curb, prepared to return to Rafe and her car when an all too familiar Camaro rolled to a stop right in front of her.

Christopher’s shit eating grin greeted her and Logan only exhaled as he pushed open the door and climbed out. He was dressed in a nice suit she hadn’t ever seen him wear when they were together, adjusting the jacket as he crossed in front of the vehicle, shiny metal watch catching in the sunlight.

“She givin’ you boys a hard time?” Christopher asked, stretching his arm out to hand over his car keys.

“No, sir…”

“Mhmm.” Christopher handed over a few folded bills after his key, stepping up onto the curb with his designer dress shoes, “I know a Logan Maybank ass chewing when I see one. Word from the wise, just nod and let her lose steam…”

Logan scoffed, her blood starting to heat more.

Christopher paused, pulling the sunglasses off his face before he winked at her, dark eyes lingering on her with a twinge of something that only made her more angry, “She likes a few other things too after that, but uh, you’re probably too young for her…” He looked her over, gaze flickering pointedly over her shoulder beyond his car, “Or are you into the young ones now, Lo-Lo?”

A sickly sweet smile formed across her mouth before she said, “Choke on your lunch, Chris.”

“Right back at you, sweetheart.”

—

Tagging @cdragons since Ellie belongs to her! Read her story here!

[crguang]

ahajsksbywpqp sat guess who has 2 tests in the same week in the same class next week. Not very fun for me. anyway I was think abt Kafka (honestly when am I not is the real question). See if it wasn’t Kafka in ur au and I was r I would definitely turn her in for the money, but I unfortunately think I might like Kafka just like a little bit ig so I don’t think k would be able to do that .

Reread part 3 today is her fingers twitching bc she wants to shoot something or is it just bc Kafka and her fingers. Ok thats not what I meant but also…what I meant was that she works with her fingers a lot I wish she used them on me instrument, guns, etc. we still haven’t gotten an in game Kafka appearance w an actual violin, it probably won’t happen but I’m still holding out. And she’s the highest threat level possible for a criminal but she STILL commits petty theft. She is so I saw someone say that the stellaron hunters were all siblings, Kafka and blade are like the older siblings that have to drive/pay for everything, silver wolf is the gamer (so original) and firefly is the youngest. Wish they had more in game interactions, or like they had synergy, meta wise, since canonically they’re one of the most tight knit groups.

oh also your inbox must be full as fuck so it’s fine if you don’t reply to everything, esp bc you answer a lot of stuff, and even tho someone already said this ur rlly great to talk to ur thoughts are always more coherent than mine. And we all get to simp over hot fictional women together.

ngl I might start playing ptn, like I’ve been seeing screenshots and…wow, I don’t think I have enough storage tho. I think the two types of characters I usually like are tiny mentally ill ones and hot evil women, so…

im so sorry my messages are always so long btw, I keep rambling 😭

-🌠

aaaa study well and good luck for your tests!!! hope you get a good grade and if u dint i will hack i to your prof’s computer and change it for you

im with you entirely, if it was anyone else in that story i wouldve already called the cops LMFAOOO kafka gets privileges because shes hot and my fav unfortunately… for the finger thing, i think its just one of her quirks! in her idle she mimics playing the violin and like you said she has very dexterous hands (even mentions it in a voice line) so i think she’d absentmindedly move them around when her mind is elsewhere. this is the kind of overthinking i was talking about, when i map out a character in my head i think about the most irrelevant stuff that dont matter😭 but imo they add to her charm a little and make her a rounder character, idk. AND YES i love that her crimes go from suicide inducement to petty theft shes so ridiculous hfjfhdhfj that time in her character story where she just walked in a store and took clothes off the rack then left in front of everyone… shes funny as hell😭

i see the SH as family too! silver wolf and firefly are sisters to me, and both of them are def kafka’s little sisters. i think silver wolf is the youngest though, she even gives off sassy youngest child vibes. i wish they could work together too, having them all in one team would be so nice. but it’s also cool that each of them has a speciality, it makes sense for the work they do

my inbox is full i think i have around 70 asks rn…😭 but to be fair a lot of them are veryyy old i just havent gotten around to cleaning up my blog yet, i’ll do it at the same time i change my masterlist and actually make it pretty to look at. i usually try to click on notifs as soon as i see them but like i said, i just forget to type my answers </3

and omg. anon. if your type is mentally ill and hot evil women ptn is literally the game for you. there is an abundance of mentally ill women in there, trust me… like there’s every kind of character you could want in that game— you could give me a specific type and i could find you a character that matches it, you should definitely play. and if you do, do it before the second anniversary ends (starts around mid/late-october) bc trust me you are gonna be upset if you miss shalom :/

dont worry abt ramblingggg i love talking to u and answering every point it’s really nice!!

[f0xgl0v3]

Newest Kleos Rabbit Hole

So, I started stranger things blah blah Kleos I’ll have another CJ post soon because. I might make the re-imagining 3 years after the first arc and that changes so much and I think it’s really interesting and it means I get to give Percy a break. But anyway, we’re talking about the Kleos new background character obsession. The Bryce Lawrence of my Stranger things,

Pure fuel guy. He is in the first part of season 2 of Stranger things, he has no name, nothing to him except he’s iconic and his hold on me rivals Bryce or Lucinus Junius Brutus in how much I think they’re silly. So what is Kleos here to talk about? Headcanonns. I am on the second episode of season four and like just had a breakdown. I have created this man’s life story.

Meet Derek Laurens Galanis. He is a sophomore or a junior, in that 16-17 age range. He does go to Hawkins Highschool and he lives in the trailer park with his mom and their dog. His dad isn’t really around right now but Derek doesn’t really mind too much

Derek has an older sister who goes to UC Berkeley and he wants to go to Berkeley too. He hopes to maybe get a wrestling scholarship and wants to either do like a Arts and Humanities (focusing on Mediterranean stuff- the Ancient Greek and Roman studies one on their website I’m doing my best) thing, a film and media degree, or like. Political sciences if he can’t figure it out

Derek does wrestling and plays on the basketball team during the off season. He likes wrestling a lot actually and wishes he could do it independently but doesn’t really want or know how to join a team

Derek really likes Greece. During elementary school when they were learning about Ancient Greece and the fact he was Greek came up everyone thought he was like the shit during 3rd grade and that never really left.

Does the school musicals. Can my man sing? Oh no Derek obviously can’t but he really likes doing tech work and stage management. But he has to keep it kinda on the down low with his teams

He probably also almost got sucked into Hellfire club before his sister could swoop him up (his freshman year was her senior year). Dawg did used to play DnD before he got really busy with extracurriculars. Probably played as like, one of the.. halflings(?) I don’t know stuff about DnD. He probably has shit luck though and I think that’s endearing

Derek teeters on the fine lines between the ‘freaks’ and ‘cool kids’ of this Highschool. He is on the basketball and wrestling team and is an athlete who had well known friends and a well liked sister to back him up, he gets invited to things like Tina’s Halloween party. On the flip side he does theatre, likes history, and played DnD at one point. He manages to stay in the popular circles but that puts a small strain on his relationship with the drama student body.

Brother also likes making food. Good cooking for the soul and all that stuff. Probably tried to cook something at Tina’s but failed miserably. Never forgets the punch tho/j (that’s a joke I promise)

Derek sees everything like going wild around him from an outside perspective of not knowing anything and wants it to stay that way. The wise one is the naive one

His favorite Greek like myth collection is all the ones where Heracles is just there. That’s probably why he’s dressed up as Dionysus/generic stereotypical media portrayal of Ancient Greek guy

My man, really wants a tarantula as a pet. Thinks it’d be so cool but he barely got his mom to let him name their dog like. Agamemnon or something so he’s already on thin ice

Really bad at science and math. Lil guy just does not think in numbers or absolutes. he’s also really loose on his like remembering historical dates.

Probably pen pals with his sister. She thinks it’s whatever and sweet and writes him back about all the cool stuff in Berkeley and it just makes Derek try harder to get his grades good enough to try and get it

Uhh. That’s Derek, there’s probably more if I think harder but I am also sick. So that’s what we get, also, Bryce Lawerence things to come. Sorry I haven’t made longer posts like this school has been hitting me like a truck and I’ve just been trying to like, figure stuff out but Rick isn’t making my life easier/j

I really just have to look at the actual Ancient Greek myths (not Stevenus and his random Latin translation #739282 where they change stuff/aff) and see what I can draw upon and make actual like. Cohesive stuff. Thinking about looking back on a lot more of the Heracles era because of the Argo stuff but also like, the scrambling of myth references everywhere kinda messes me up a little. Oh well, to the trenches I go :3

[ssruis]

Long list of prsk related things I’m working on that may or may not get finished idk I never finish anything and I love abandoning my works

Art:

> several meme redraws (‘I’m not a hater’ ‘I am’, ‘y’know. Nya.’, ‘ok fine I am a homosexual’, ‘we look like a couple’ ‘a couple of bestieees’, heart/thumbs up, ‘sorry *sleeps* sorry *sleeps more* sorry *sleeps more*’)

> redraw of the emunene hug thing

> actually finishing that ruikasa drawing

> niccori rap ending pose ruikasa w live nene reaction

> ruikasa w Barbie movie outfits that im only doing because that one fixer/barbie girl mashup is so inspiring. To me.

> nene looking at ruikasa: tsukasa is so dense idk how he can’t see that rui likes him if someone acted like that around me I’d definitely notice (while emu is clinging to her)

emu having flashbacks of her being even more obvious and nene not noticing: …uh huh! You’re so smart nenechan!

> emu hugging each member of wxs & grading their hugs (every1 gets an A plus)

> tsukasa & rui with the demon core

> wxs fantasy au drawing

> emu emu beam

> at some point I’d like to draw at least a bust for all the characters but. So much effort and so little skill.

> go for it kusanagi (emunene)

> there are several outfits I want to put wxs in but that requires me to study clothing because I am so bad at drawing that

Writing:

> early wxs days emunene focus nene & tsukasa fic where nene is having a category 5 wet cat moment over what to get emu for Valentine’s Day and tsukasa sees this & is like “I’ll teach you how to make chocolates :)” & they bond. because I love rotating the early nene&tsukasa dynamic in my head. actually started this forever ago & still kinda like it so it may get finished. (Shocking)

> tsukasa has glasses ruikasa fic (also started it a while ago but whether or not I’ll finish it depends on nailing down the characterization better)

> soul eater ruikasa fic w background emunene (mostly written but inside of my head which means it’s barely written)

> emu focus wxs fantasy au (partially written in my head but it’s like 30 different fics & id like to know that i can finish something before attempting to wrangle it)

> cpdb/space opera au (would be. Such a long one shot. Again partially written but I want to know I can finish things)

> HMC/several other inspirations ruikasa w background emunene fic (only has barebones framing)

> what I’m choosing to affectionately call “tsukasa & having a weird relationship to romance” fic that’s 1/4 extrapolating from canon & 3/4 projection

> emunene fic where they’re the romantic leads in a musical due to ruikasa meddling

> that one future ruikasa rui&asahi go on a date and rui is forced to confront things abt himself fic that exists in my head (framed out but i started writing the emu&tsukasa companion piece and it became 2000 words which made me realize the entire endeavor would get out of hand and idk if im that motivated to do that. Also was like the first thing i wrote both pjsk wise and fic wise and idk if i still like it that much. Sad bc there was a nene&rui scene i really enjoyed)

> emunene fic w emu & nene eating lunch with rui (started but needs. So much more work.)

> ruikasa fic where an wants to eat lunch w nene but she’s already going to go eat with rui bc tsukasa is sick and an is like i still feel some responsibility to the disciplinary committee and tsukasa being gone means rui is probably up to some truly crazy shit so she tags along and is forced to witness rui acting like tsukasa went off to war. Rui isn’t even up to anything he’s like ‘there’s no point if tsukasa isn’t here 😔’. Requires me to read more vbs stuff to get a good grasp on a though.

> emu + rui or emu + tsukasa fic that’s just deus ex emu towards their feelings. And then whoever she’s talking to forces her to talk abt her own feelings (like wrangling a cat)

> nene fic abt her feeling like she can’t properly convey how much emu means to her & then at the end emu’s like but you do in ur own way

Analysis/long ass posts

> emu + agency/being treated like a child and her relationship to her brothers

> emu and her dream being both motivation and a burden (for this and the above one it’ll probably be easier to wait for ohe on eng)

> tsukasa and his maturity/big brother complex

> emu + tsukasa adhd moments

> a good sekai can’t be made alone (WxS sekai + how emu/nene/rui have some degree of influence albeit minimal) (quotes are all pulled and transcribed im just being lazy abt writing it) (idk i also might decide to add another 2000 words of quotes if i go find the specific things im referencing wrt WLE… Might just do that for emu though because i feel like that goes more unrecognized and nene is more cut and dry/i already talked abt rui and his hang ups I don’t wanna do it again)

> nene wet cat/she’s actually so fucking weird moments

> at some point I want to talk abt the saki+tsukasa mental illness but this would require me to become a saki scholar and that would take so much time. I mean I’ll do it but I’m also lazy.

> nene + rui relationship decay lore crumbs and them not being able to really help each other/encouraging each other to stagnate (at least in the early wxs days)

> emunene momence….

> really long character voice guide for myself that will be very labor intensive. Nobody wants or asked for this I’m just neurotic.

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Yes! Precure 5

This ended up being kind of a meh season. It didn’t have any glaring issues but also no particular highlights, and I guess the characters just didn’t do it for me.

Unsurprisingly Nozomi turned out to be the biggest issue, she is exactly the kind of friendly-energetic-impulsive pink heroine I regularly bitch about here. Though to be fair this is early for the Precure franchise so in that way she’s somewhat fresh, but I’m watching in 2023 after seeing dozens of magical girl shows and didn’t really enjoy myself. There was that one really good episode about her learning difficulties, so I was like okay now I like her, but then they didn’t do anything about it for the rest of the season and a lot of her screen time was just being pushy and annoying. Could explain some of that with that she’s 14 (and noticeably more childish than many of the other Precure heroines), but if you go that route then it’s a lot harder for me to swallow her being paired with her teacher.

Nozomi aside I did like the cast surprisingly much and it was nice that the girls had some unique relations among each other, like them being on different grades and some of them having been friends before the start of the show. Special shoutout to Rin and Karen’s relationship which got attention through the show. And they all had decent character arcs too and everyone got a fair amount of screen time, so I don’t really know why they didn’t grow on me more but I suppose sometimes stars just don’t align correctly.

I liked the Evil Organisation structure of the bad guys and the passive aggressive interactions, these guys definitely send the kind of work emails that get memed about. And the monster designs were probably my favourite in the franchise so far.

The final battle delivered Power of Hope, which I’m always ready for and the stakes were staky enough. I’ll also take talking the villain down instead of using violence, but that didn’t really work here, theme-wise it was fine but the end boss changed her mind way too fast. And also I think it was kind of stupid that the bad guys spend the entire season trying to steal the wish-granting macguffin from the Precures and prevent them from gathering 55 whatevers to power it up, but in the end the Cures succeed (of course) and the bad guys then manage to steal it once they’re finished, which makes the entire story kind of pointless. Like, you could have saved yourselves a lot of time and effort if you let the Cures do the collecting in peace and then swoop in at the last minute if that was so easy to begin with. At least in several other seasons the bad guys collect evil energy or whatever in every episode so it looks like they’re doing some progress.

GoGo is up next (after the movie), not particularly looking forward to it but I had no expectations on Max Heart and it ended up being better than the original so fingers crossed!

(Urara for best girl and Nuts for best character overall)

[mara-and-its-the-same]

I’M BACK AND I WANNA SEND SOMETHIN’ IN YOUR EVENT!! Can I pretty please get a Coraline ship for Ted Lasso with no gender preference??

Some stuff about me:

So, my name is Dolly (you knew that), and I’m a panromantic asexual person. My gender is… weird (😂), because really I think gender is an odd social construct and I don’t really care what people refer to me as. I’m also autistic, and some of my special interests include musical theatre, books, true crime, superheroes, and mythology of all different kinds and cultures. I don’t get the opportunity to talk about my special interests a lot, but once I do, you’ll have a hard time getting me to stop talking.

As for hobbies, I spend most of my time either reading or writing fanfiction (and sometimes original short stories), listening to music, and watching movies or TV shows. I mostly like all kinds of music, but I’m not really the biggest fan of rap. I’m also really into true crime podcasts, and I have a love for older TV shows, such as M*A*S*H and The A-Team, as well as all the Marvel and DC movies and TV shows. I’m also a pretty decent singer, at least depending on who you ask. I really love books, and my ultimate career goal is to be a librarian (although if you asked me my absolute dream job, the answer would be a voice actor). I’m also a half-decent singer, at least depending on who you ask.

Appearance-wise, I’m pretty short and kind of chubby, but I have freckles in the summer which I love. I have brown hair that I’ve had in a pixie cut since I was in fifth grade, as well as a gap between my front teeth that I have kind of a mixed relationship with. My style is very relaxed and all over the place, but I would love to wear more cute dresses and skirts and cute pale pink clothes.

RPersonality-wise, I kind of cycle between being bubbly and cheerful and quieter and shyer (a textbook ambivert, me), but no matter what, I always do my best to be a good listener and to make my friends (which includes you!!) happy, because I am very loyal and I love them a lot.

Sorry, I know this was a lot (😅). But thank you in advance, my love, and I hope you’re doing well!! ♡♡♡

(i was going to just type alright alright but then i read it in his voice and i had to add the gif)

This was a difficult one because there’s just so many of them that could work and they’re all so precious and lovely, and you’re so precious and lovely, but honestly I’m going to ship you with Isaac.

He’s very protective so if anyone tried to get on you for being queer or neurodivergent he wouldn’t stand for it at all, and he’d also be there for you if it ever got to you. I think if you met after Colin came out, and he was learning and becoming more knowledgeable about queerness and everything, he’d ask him questions but not in a weird “you must know everything about all the gay, you are the gay” way, but endearing like “you might know something about this and if not you can point me in the right direction of where i can learn” way.

And if definitely gets really excited to introduce you to the team, he doesn’t show it though until he calls a team huddle after their practice and he’s like “Oi, my partner (i like the term joyfriend but i know it’s not for everyone) is coming to the next match, and i’m a bit nervous, so we play our best, and you be on your best form.” so he introduces you to Keeley first, and then she brings you to her seats with Rebecca and it’s lovely and they win (some reasonable score because i don’t know soccer)—nil. And when you go out with the team to celebrate the win they’re all so kind to you and it’s lovely and wonderful 💕💕💕 and if you get overwhelmed he’s completely fine with going outside for a minute or going home completely. He wants to do whatever makes you most comfortable and happy and he won’t listen to you if you say you’ll go somewhere just to make him happy if it means you’ll be uncomfortable. He knows you’ll tell him you’ll go to make him happy, but what really makes him happy is when you’re having fun.

And BOOKSHOP DATES!!!!!!! 1000000000%

And when you move in together he wants you to fill all the shelves but he doesn’t tell you, he just takes you to a shop and says get whatever you want and you just go crazy getting anything that looks interesting from history books and encyclopedias, to fantasy series and mysteries