#Just tinies who are chubby and feel insecure but their giant friend/partner doesn’t care and promises they’ll be able to carry them

[chaosduckies]

Tiny who’s insecure about their weight but the giant promises they’ll always be able to carry them >>>>>>>

[whatwashernameagain]

My fangirling about female representation, ethnic diversity and relationship models in Steven Universe

The knowledge that children will watch this show and learn that it is okay to be gay, autistic, polyamorous or a proud big, butch, non-binary or black girl is marvelous to me. I’m sure this has been done before, but I want to share my love for this progress in storytelling with my fellow famders (because I have to tell someone.right.now.)

Steven Universe, (created by the non-binary angel Rebecca Sugar) in short, features the (actually genderless) aliens called ‘the crystal gems’, who are almost exclusively considered female and raise a boy that represents the opposite of toxic masculinity.

Steven:

He embodies healing, nurturing, protection, acceptance and friendship - all usually female traits, and relentlessly tries to befriend villains and mosters alike. Wonderfully, he is allowed to make silly mistakes and learns that he is still loved.

Pearl:

She is the epitome of a caring and nurturing female that sacrifice themselves for their charges, portrayed with grace and beauty. At the same time, the struggle of this sacrifice and threatened loss of self are shown. Pearl comes from a background where she is taught servility and prettiness (as women have been for centuries), yet she has learned to re-invent herself and became a master-swordfighter. She’s also a lesbian in canon.

Amethyst:

She’s a bombshell. A loud, small, roundish troublemaker with issues and a dirty, immature humor. She suffers from anxiety over expectations of physical standards she cannot live up to, since amethysts are expected to be a certain way she cannot achieve. An example for the damage of impossible beauty standards.

Ruby and Sapphire:

An example for a relationship that grew over time with work and effort and is based on mutual respect and love of the things that make their partner different. Additionally, while they are not only a mixed-race lesbian couple, they come from different classes of society. Their union represents the way a healthy relationship can create something greater than the sum of its parts. 

Garnet:

A kick-ass, huge woman of color who loves herself and loved being herself. A counterpoint to the lesson we have been taught for too long: to be humble and unobtrusive. My favorite character of the show. She’s the result of the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire and combines all of their awesome lesbian love vibes. No one would ever dare to make this black goddess feel like she’s anything less than amazing, as no black girl should.

Click for more enthusiastic rambling.

Connie:

Steven’s best friend. Their friendship is the purest thing, based on communication and mutual consideration. She’s the nerd. Smart, bookish, hard-working - and a fierce fighter who does not let anyone stand before her, despite the fact that she has no powers. As she was intruduced, she was just another girl in a dress. Her arc shows what girls can accomplish when they demand entrance to circles usually closed to them.

Stevonnie:

One of the most liberal and creative uses of gender I’ve seen. They are the fusion of Steven and Connie. At no point in the show is there any conflict about the fact that a boy and a girl have fused to create something new - with a femaleish form. This non-binary person is considered something especially wonderful, perphaps because they embody characteristics of both. they are even refered to as them in the show by Pearl. (notice how Connie dips Steven? Awesome)

Smoky Quartz:

The fusion of Amethyst and Steven. A chubby, black person with self-esteem issues handled with a lot of good-natured humour. Wonderfully, their weight is never the issue for even a moment, because they are awesome and we need more big angels being cute and beautiful! They’ve also been referred to with they/them pronouns.

Peridot:

This tiny nerd has overcome a lot of prejudice and has had to learn to co-exist peacefully with her new friends. Due to what I would interpret as autistic tendencies, she has trouble reading emotion and reacting accordinly. Technology is easier for her to handle, which is therefor used by Steven to bridge the distance between them. She now lives in a cute and domestic lesbian platonic partnership with Lapis where they grow crops and create art with their ‘dog’ pumpkin.

Lapis:

She is the victim of abuse in different ways. After being locked away for a long time, she closes herself off or lashes out and requires patience and understanding to heal, thus representing the violence women often suffer from. Unfortunately, she soon gets entangled with Jasper, ending up in another abusive relationship as victims of violence often do.

Jasper:

The abuser. Female violence is a topic not often portrayed, yet one that definitely exists. She represses and uses Lapis (who binds her as well) and yet becomes a victim of their relationship herself, since toxic relationships hurt both parties. The damage done to her by her obsession with Lapis, and by extension her desperate need to be in a partnership, is represented by a corruption that eats her up.

Bismuth:

Isn’t she wonderful? Flat-chested, rainbow-haired, broad-shouldered alpha bitch with a loud and brash humor that you cannot help but love. This lady is a perfect example for the way women are allowed to be butch in this show and still be unquestionably beautiful. With her occupation as a blacksmith and her violent anger when hurt, she pushes relentlessly into traditionally male characteristics in storytelling.

Fluorite:

“How many gems are you now?”

Fluorite: “Six. Or more, if we find the right gem.”

This gentle rainbow giant is another example of the way fusion represents relationships - a polyamprous one in this case. As in our society, they are cast out and misunderstood for being different, but kids will simply see it as normal and that is awesome!

Rose:

The mother. Though she has been a bad-ass war criminal before, feared and hunted and a brave and inspiring leader, she has sacrificed everything once she became a mother. Portrayed as a traditionally nurturing female form with round, fertile lines and pale rose colors, she represents the mothering aspect of femininity. The fact that she is twice the size as her partner Greg and can easily pick him up once again shows that being feminine doesn’t make her weak. She shows the self-negating and sacrificing tendency many women display for their family in a very drastic way, since she literally disappears as Steven is born and becomes a part of him.

This is where I’ll stop this already too long post, even though I could say lots more about the insecurity Lars experiences because of toxic expectations of masculinity, the modesty of Sadie that makes her allow others to walk all over her, or the appreciating way the show deals with Greg, who is arguably a bad provider but still a loving father. I just adore the caring and supportive tone of this show so much and I hope everyone will give it a chance.

Love you all

[quercussp]

Brotherly

Rating: G

Word count: 1.7k

Summary: Martyn has a text conversation with his mother while on tour.

Authors note: This fic is dedicated to @waveydnp, who wanted something soft and fluffy on the bus. I'm sorry that it's not exactly what you asked for, it just sort of happened. I hope you like it. An enormous thank you to my two amazing betas @terpia and @megiaolf, who are both angels.

Warnings: very brief reference to bullying and homophobia.

[read on ao3]

Sunlight is peaking through the blinds on the windows, making the small table Martyn has set up his laptop on look as though it is painted in luminescent stripes. It is still pretty early, but most of the crew is riding in a separate car ahead of them to help set up the show and Dan, Phil and Marianne are still asleep, so the only thing that can be heard is the steady rumbling of the bus engine and the soft sound of the radio that the driver is listening to.

They are driving through what seems to be an endless sequence of fields, sometimes interrupted by a river or a small patch of trees. As someone who grew up in England, Martyn always finds the sheer amount of space in America a bit suffocating. As they drive down endless highways, he can’t help but think that nowhere in Europe can he see so much sky and nothing else. It’s a weird feeling.

Martyn is going through his emails, sending notes to the venues about merch stands and going over the final details of the schedule when he hears his phone vibrate next to him. As he unlocks it, he sees a notification from “mum”. It makes Martyn automatically smile. Because of the time difference he rarely gets to chat with his parents while they are touring, and call him a momma’s boy, but he genuinely misses the opportunity to talk with them every couple of days.

Hello child! - reads the message.

Hi - he answers quickly. As soon as he sends the message, he sees three dots appear. He waits for his mother to finish typing.

How are you, child? Did you sleep well? Are you eating properly?

Martyn starts typing out his reply, smiling. He might be 35 years old, but his mother still worries about him as though he is a rebellious teenager.

***

So how’s my youngest child doing? - Kathryn asks.

Martyn and his mum have been texting for about an hour and he has told her about the weird rash he has on his leg from a questionable sunscreen he used and about the presents he bought Cornelia. Kath has told him all about the recipe she tried out at dinner yesterday and about his aunts recovery from surgery and how his father got a very unfortunate haircut.

As he reads the text asking about Phil, he can clearly picture her face at that moment. Her expression is still happy and warm, but there is a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth go down slightly. This is the “worried mum” face that Martyn is extremely closely acquainted with. He knows that even though she talks to Phil constantly, she worries about him. Especially when they are doing something as big and as difficult as this tour.

Martyn is immediately brought back to all the times when she would direct that question at him years before. He remembers her worried face when she would ask Martyn if he knew why Phil isn’t properly talking to her or his father. He remembers her sending Martyn to talk to Phil and coming in to see his teenage brother curled up into a tiny miserable ball on the bed. He looked so small and vulnerable, that Martyn always just wanted to wrap him up and hide him away from the world. Instead, he would sit on the bed and wait. In the end, Phil always opened up to Martyn. It would take time and delicate prodding, but Phil trusted Martyn with his life, and Martyn has never treated that responsibility lightly.

He remembers Phil telling him about kids at school being mean to him, and Martyn shaking in silent rage. His brother was odd and quirky, but he was also creative and kind and from a very early age exhumed a light that no one could match. He got excited about the weirdest things, he would try to make friends with everyone around him, from police officers to classmates to trash bins and trees. He always was trying to create something new and exciting, and his eyes would always shine with enthusiasm and light. The fact that there were people who wanted to hurt him for being different made Martyn pray with all his might to whatever powers commanded the universe that his brother wouldn’t get mistreated by life. That he would find someone who understands that wonder that he has and who would appreciate him for the adorable weirdo he is. Who would wrap him up in love and let him be himself.

He remembers talking to Phil on a break from his second year of university, them sitting on the couch playing Final Fantasy while their parents were out of the house, when Phil quietly whispered “I think I like boys” amidst the noises from the game. He remembers looking over to Phil in surprise and seeing his face, scared and confused and anxious, and his eyes begging Martyn to understand. He honestly hadn’t known how to react, but looking at his younger brother’s fearful eyes, he had vowed to himself to never make Phil afraid to tell him something again, so he had just smiled and murmured “okay” and continued playing.

They talked more about it over the years, and if anything, that shared secret brought them even closer together.

He remembers when Rob died, getting a phone call from Phil and rushing to see him at his house he shared with his roommates, just to find Phil curled up and crying, alone and absolutely heartbroken. He remembers thinking to himself that even though Phil is no longer a small kid, but instead a tall and big adult, how he wishes he could scoop him up and protect him from this pain. If only that was possible.

He remembers Phil telling him over the phone in a shaky voice that he has a boyfriend. Dan. That he loves him so much and he is really scared of telling his parents.

And he also remembers the tears his mother shed after he did tell them, and his father’s shock and confusion. He knows both Kath and Nigel deeply regret how they reacted then. Even though both of them were just incredibly worried about another thing that made their youngest kid more different and vulnerable, and didn’t know how to deal with wanting the best for your child. they hurt Phil deeply and it’s still something none of them like to bring up.

But their relationship is good right now. Solid. Close. He wonders why she is asking him all of a sudden, and doesn’t just talk to Phil himself. He knows she is worried because Phil has been really stressed lately, tired from the tour and constantly meeting people and making decisions taking a serious a toll on him.

He’s ok.

Why don’t you ask him yourself? - he asks her.

I have been but he isn’t answering! He is always either busy or eating. And you know he can’t type and eat at the same time. She accompanies the message with one of those huge spinning smiling emojis, and Martyn quietly chuckles at the obnoxious thing. I haven’t heard from him in days. Tell him to talk to me.

Let me go get him - Martyn answers. It’s 9 am already and they will be at their next stop in less than an hour, so Martyn doesn’t feel that bad about waking Phil up. And also, not answering your mother’s texts is a punishable offense in the Lester family anyway, so Phil deserves to be woken up. He needs to get out of bed at some point anyway.

He leans down to open up the curtain to Phil’s bunk and is met with a somewhat familiar picture. Phil is curled up in a tight ball, eyes closed and breathing evenly, his face looking young and peaceful and so vulnerable, that Martyn feels the familiar protectiveness rise up in his chest.

What’s different is that instead of being alone, Phil is now wrapped in big broad arms of his partner. Martyn can only guess that Dan has climbed down from his bunk during the night, and is now sleeping crammed into the wall of the bus, holding Phil tightly in his arms, with his leg thrown over Phil’s legs, and his face buried into Phil’s messy black hair. Scooping him up and holding him as close as humanly possible. Covering him almost totally. Hiding him away from the world.

Martyn smiles softly at the scene. His brother is no longer a small chubby child, no longer an awkward teenager. By every definition, he is a grown man. A very big one in fact. Influential, rich, talented. He is also very tall. Taller than Martyn. Who would have guessed that out of all the people on the planet, Phil would find someone even bigger and taller, someone who makes him look small and fragile when they lie in a cramped bunk together.

He probably will never stop worrying about his brother all together, but now he has Dan who worries with him. Who appreciates Phil for exactly who he is, and loves everything that makes him weird. Someone who has Phil’s love and who cherishes it and protects it as the most valuable thing in the world. Who has helped Phil turn from a gangly insecure kid into a confident, happy and successful man. A man who is living his dream and giving so much happiness to people around him.

Martyn will deny this if ever asked, but he feels so proud of his baby brother.

He doesn’t have the heart to wake them. But he does take a picture. He sends it to his mother with the caption

Sorry to tell you, but your youngest child seems to be held captive by an enormous curly haired giant. We might never see him again:)

Tell them both I love them - she texts back. After a pause she sends another message:

Take care of them, ok? Both of them. They look tired.

I’m so glad they have each other. And that the bunks are big enough ;)

Martyn chuckles, but can’t help agree. He thinks to himself that whatever powers he used to pray to have been incredibly kind.

Love you, mum - he texts back and goes back to work. He still has a million things to do before they arrive. He will make Phil feel guilty for sleeping in later. He really does need the sleep.

[im-abanana]

“Caged Hearts” ch.6

Hey there, I finally finished this chapter as well! Hope you will like it, this is longer than the previous one... I think. :) Also, cliffhanger at the end, even if some of you will surely figure out what is happening there! 

Either way, enjoy! <3

AU belongs to @king-branch, credits to ‘em. uwu

It was utterly dark that night, only the beautiful, bright and full moon could light the houses' roofs a bit, the stars were like feeble flashlights, very far away, in a stormy evening. There was a sinister silence, it looked like no one was even breathing or moving in those long corridors; a quiet and scary atmosphere indeed, Poppy just wasn't used to this! No lullabies, no hugs, no goodnight kisses, nothing! She missed her beloved dad, her friends, she even missed the shop, that was the hell she was forced to call “home” back then.

The royal Troll had to admit it of course, where she was now the food was so much better, the water was always fresh, they had new toys to play with, they were well taken care of, she even had a potential umh... playmate? But it wasn't the same thing, not at all.

No matter how Poppy's life had improved, she simply wanted her family and old life back. She wanted it so bad, but as usual the decision wasn't hers.

Trolls were pets, nothing more.

What was the point of putting her with Branch, who didn't seem to be interested in conversations or bonding at all? Well, thinking about it with more attention... the Princess kinda knew why the Bergens did that, but she wasn't going to give in. Making pods with a perfect stranger, just to please those beasts?

Yeah, right! Not in a thousand years thank you, that totally crossed the line.

Inside the big cage she was sharing with the grumpy grey Troll, there was a comfortable, tiny bed with soft and scented pillows on top: the perfect place to get some sleep and rest her tired bones, right? Wrong, so wrong.

The pink female just couldn't sleep, she could perceive Branch's naked and fluffy back pressed tightly against hers, and Poppy wasn't going to lower her guard: anything could have happened, if she did! Alright, that bizarre survivalist didn't look like he was dangerous or aggressive towards his own kind, he just attacked or bit Bergens with disastrous results, but since their purpose there was creating new pods, the Princess was rightly uncomfortable in sleeping so close to him. For the first time in her life, Poppy didn't want to blindly trust someone and didn't feel guilty about it.

“Poppy, just sleep three seconds, will you!?” Branch groaned with a dead tired tone when he felt the girl shifting nervously between the warm sheets once again, for the tenth time that night. He tried not to curse, but that was starting to become kinda annoying: “If you don't hold still and let me rest in peace, I swear I'll push you off the mattress with a kick.”.

“You are very nice to new arrivals, aren't you?” Poppy harshly asked and rolled her magenta eyes a little, staring at the chipped wall in front of her with a deep frown. “What do you expect? I have just lost my home, my family and my whole life in a single day.”.

“Everybody here has lost someone important Poppy, not just you. Besides, that doesn't mean you must lay awake every night, thinking about it over and over and tormenting yourself forever, because nothing will change. Sometimes bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it.” the grey male replied quietly, a melancholy note could be recognized in his resigned voice as he opened his light blue eyes a litte. “Either we satisfy their request or we don't, it's the same thing. You and me are theirs, whether we like it or not, we can just plan an escape and run away from this hell. And, to be honest...” the survivalist added, sighing out a little and facing her with a plain expression. “I am not planning to satisfy their request. You can get sweet dreams next to me, Princess.”.

The royal Troll didn't reply to that cold phrase, but she internally repeated his wise words in her mind, hearing him snoring slightly just two seconds after their “conversation”, putting an end to it.

“Well... thanks for the chat...” the female rolled over, closing her magenta eyes and sighing out deeply, still too awake to sleep. Of course, Poppy knew they had to plan a big escape as soon as possible, but she also wanted to save ALL her subject in Bergen Town; pretty crazy, absolutely impossible, uh? I mean, how could two tiny, little creatures like them save dozens of Trolls all by themselves, opening all the cages, in every house, at the same time?

Maybe they needed help.

Alright, they definitely needed some help.

But who would have helped them? That was a good question...

Branch and Poppy were completely alone, isolated, locked in that dusty and smelly room all day long. And even if they had each other now, it wasn't enough. Two Trolls weren't a threat in front of a giant Bergen, and even if Branch could easily bite off a finger with his sharp teeth, the Princess didn't find that “quality” very useful right then. Or at all.

“There must be a way, there must be...” Poppy sighed out deeply, defeated, sinking her throbbing head into her fluffy pillow and starting to feel the tiredness embracing her slim limbs, and the knowledge of the difficult situation her people was into was tearing all her energies apart.

But what the Bergens didn't know was that the tiny, pink Troll was determinated. She would have never gave up on her family and friends, never. Their life was worth more than anything else in that broken world, and Poppy was going to fight for it, with or without Branch.

Yes, she was sure, somehow she would have saved them all, every single one!

“No Troll left behind.”.

“Poppy, pss! Poppy, Poppy, wake up! They are taking us somewhere! POPPY! Wake up, will you?!” Branch violently shook her smaller, sleeping body in the middle of a beautiful dream, full of cupcakes, parties and rainbows. The Princess could perceive excitement mixed with impatience in her partner's tone. “Poppy, they are moving our cage! We are outside, we aren't in the castle anymore!” he informed with scared and concerned eyes, but at the same time sniffing cautiously and admiring the thriving nature all around them. The smell of the tender grass, of the fresh water, of the moss and the trees... the survivalist's senses were completely awakened by now, and he just wanted to explore all around that zone, rest in the shadow or swim in the shallow water.

“My name is Bridget, I will take care of you... T-this is your new home...” a shaky and rather shy voice informed, before opening their prison with attention, making sure they wouldn't escape. Two plimpy hands grabbed them gently, and put the two samples inside a big, no GIANT cage, located inside that beautiful garden, that real paradise.

“This is our cage!? Really!?” Poppy happily shouted, the gate behind her shoulders closing in just a second, jumping around and smelling a tiny, scented blue flower in front  of her. “This is fantastic! Branch look, there is a small river, a cave, a small tree, rocks, bushes, everything we need to play hide and seek!” the female grabbed his chubby arm and dragged the male with her by force, after all he was still pretty insecure about it and guarded (“What it's all a mere trap!?”, “What if the food and water is poisoned!?”, “What if they wanna kill us!?”... yeah. Old, same Branch.), immediately exploring their new “house” together.

The grey Troll shifted his pointy and sensitive ears continuously, catching every sound of the amateur forest and feeling the soft grass under his bigger feet. “But why? We must be very careful and suspicious. Why did they bring us here? It doesn't make any sense, we already had a big cage.” he rightly considered, lifting a black eyebrow and looking at Poppy, who didn't seem to care at all about his hypothesis. Typical of her, not listening and believing that kindness, love and happiness could be found everywhere, with just a little help.

All of the sudden, Branch went wide-eyed when his light blue orbs spotted the collar he always had tied around his neck, since he was a little kid: it was... turned off? The red light that always shone intermittently on the left side of the object was now gone, meaning that damn thing was broken... or off. “Is it off? Broken? No, impossible, they would have fixed it already, I am far too rebel for their disgusting taste. W-what is happening, then? Are they leaving me alone with her, without controlling or torturing me? Why?”.

“Who cares!? Come on! Let's have fun, don't ruin it!” the pink, royal girl chirped happily, grabbing his hand and dragging him with her once again, heading straight for the fresh water. Poppy immediately jumped in, her soft hair wet and covering half of her slim and freckled face. “Come on grumpy guy, jump in as well! The temperature is just right.” she encouraged him, willing to play with him.

But the grey Troll was still staring at his non-functional collar, still on shore, shocked and almost hypnotized by the reassuring view. Never, never in his life he felt so... muddled, slightly scared, but also very relieved at the same time. He was... free. Free to swim in the water, to run in the grass, to roll in the soil, to climb on trees and... doing everything he wanted!

All of the sudden, Branch felt a pair of thinner arms wrapping around his shoulders, and the second after he found himself underwater, the fresh sensation all around his fluffy skin like a cold but satisfying hug. (*) The male swam to the flat surface, gasping for needed air and shaking the kinda freezing water off his body and wet, short hair. “Poppy! What the hell, are you nuts!? That was low, you can't just push people in the water, I might drown! And the water is cold, you lied!” he loudly complained, killing her with a single gaze and showing her his most successful grumpy expression, fixing his pants and leafy vest a little.

“Aww, com'on! You're no fun!” the Princess joked smugly, laughing with all her heart and throwing more water on him, on his face, eyes, body. Just to bother that poor survivalist more, indeed. “What are you gonna do about it, uh? Look, I am wetting yourself even more, scaredy-cat!”.

The boy snapped, going for Poppy with all his speed, willing to get a little revenge and shut her mouth. Of course, Branch made sure not to hurt or crush her too much, after all he was stronger and heavier than her.  

Jumping on the Princess and tackling, the two Trolls rolled over and fell gently backward, throwing water around franatically and then starting to chase each other, laughing (the grey sample less that her, of course), running in the river with some difficulty or in the tall fields, covering themselves in grass, dirt and algae (from the river).

Alright, Branch had to admit it, especially when Poppy, after five long minutes, finally got him, surprisingly pinned him down and forced him to surrender when she discovered his far-too-ticklish belly, using that particular feature against him without mercy: maybe, just maybe, life there could have been easier and even... nah, not happy. Happiness didn't exist.

Lifting his big head to look at her with rather outraged eyes, the survivalist's attention was immediately caught by a noise at first, but then by a few approaching figures, and he frowned with surprise and bursted out an uncertain: ���You? What are you doing here?”.

(*) I swear to Heavens, I didn’t think about this when I wrote the scene, at first. XD