#THEY DON'T NEED TO BE DOING ALL THAT

[tarditzgrade]

chat i'm doing greenflower week

i'm a day or so late but that's fine. my plan is to compile all the writings into one ao3 fic when i'm done

Day 1: Childhood/Present/Future

i did present but interpreted it as 'gift-giving' bc i had no clue what else to do for the prompt.

around 628 words :)

“How’s this?”

Lloyd raised the paper up to Brad. He looked up from his homework to see what the green ninja was showing him.

“Um.” It was a drawing. A doodle of…someone. “It’s nice.” He offered.

Lloyd had taken up a habit of doodling when he was bored. Problem was that Lloyd, for all his talents, was not the best artist.

He was improving, sure, Brad could tell it was a person this time. But he genuinely couldn’t work out anymore than that. “Is it Gene?”

Wrong answer. Lloyd looked offended. “What? No, it’s-” He double checked the paper to make sure he had shown Brad the right drawing. “Yeah. It’s you.”

Oh. Brad had been guessing. He thought the lines around the eyes were a little thicker than usual and figured they were glasses, but apparently not. “Well, it’s still pretty nice.”

Lloyd didn’t agree. “Not if you couldn’t figure out who it was.”

“It’s nice if you’re going abstract.”

“Hm.” Lloyd put his paper down and didn’t say anymore.

Brad went back to his work. Definite integrals were going to be the death of him.

The rustle of paper next to him grabbed Brad’s attention. He sighed. There was another issue with Lloyd’s new habit.

Lloyd never went out to find any scratch paper to doodle on. Hence, he used the closest piece of paper he could find. Which meant…

“Lloyd. Can you not doodle on my homework?”

“Well, what else am I supposed to doodle on? Your table?”

“No, please don’t do that." He proposed a solution. "How about some scratch paper?”

“Do you have any?”

Brad clicked his tongue. He only had one in the immediate vicinity and it was already covered top to bottom with his math.

A thought came to mind, though. “You know what? I have something better.”

Brad got up from his seat. Where did he put it? Oh, the drawer.

He found this thing while window shopping and bought it on impulse. “Here.” He slid the object across the table to Lloyd.

Lloyd picked it up. A flat rectangle, wrapped in gift paper. “What is it?”

Brad feigned innocence and shrugged. “Open it.”

Lloyd was skeptical, but did as asked. He tossed the wrapping paper on the table and revealed…a book?

It was unmarked, with no title. The cover was covered in a jungle pattern, composed mostly of green leaves and vines, with a few flowers to give diversity to the color scheme.

It was a very well-done cover, but Lloyd wasn’t impressed with Brad’s sentiment. “No offense, Brad, I’d rather draw on your table than read.”

Brad laughed at the joke and Lloyd’s confusion. “No, idiot. Open the book.”

Lloyd obeyed and- Oh.

It was not a book. The pages were blank. It was a sketchbook.

He put the book up to his face to hide his blush. “I may be dumb.”

“No, you’re not.” Brad snickered and pulled the book down. Lloyd wouldn’t meet his eyes, however. “You can draw in that, though.”

Lloyd flipped through the blank pages of the book. “When did you get this?”

“Sometime back. I was gonna save it for some occasion, but now’s a good time.”

“Well, thanks. Can I keep it?”

“Absolutely. I’m not gonna use it.” 

Lloyd began to use the book for its intended purpose and Brad went back to his work. He turned the piece of homework paper that Lloyd had drawn towards himself and brought his eraser to the little drawing in the corner.

Brad really couldn’t parse who the intended person (if it even was a person) was supposed to be, but the drawing was still cute. Lloyd seemed passionate about it.

He couldn’t bring himself to erase the doodle. His teacher would be fine with a little scribble.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

HOT, SINGLE, UNSTUDIED SPONGES. 3000 NAUTICAL MILES AWAY. Come sail the distance and read Tiger Tiger!

[forgettable-au]

PROLOGUE

FORGETTABLE-AU (Page 1-9)

AND SO IT BEGINS!

I don't think I can fit all 20 pages of the prologue in just one post, so I'm dividing it into 4 posts! This one's the longest...

[CONTINUE]

[sad-littletalker]

If Bruce is covering as Nightwing right now, who's acting as Batman in Gotham?

Tim: ok so any takers for the cowl?

*everyone looks at Jason as he is the second oldest*

Jason: oh no way. Absolutely not. Tim?

Tim: after evil gun Batman? ha. Nope. Plus DC doesn't pay much attention to me to make a good story about that.

Damian: may I-

Everyone: no.

Stephanie: OH I COULD BE PURPLE BATMAN!

Cassandra: I want to be Batman if Steph is my Robin

*everyone considers it*

Tim: that... isn't a bad idea actually. I like it.

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[beybuniki]

they should go on a fishing trip pt.1

[themakeupbrush]

Paris Hilton came out with a kitchen line for walmart and it’s everything I wanted my kitchen to be as a kid

[bixels]

Scary Sunset.

I'm concepting things way outta order in this story, but I'm sure you can piece things together. Context is for a storybeat where, after defeating and capturing Adagio (thus having all three sirens in her possession), Sunset enacts her revenge plot to release the sirens on Canterlot as Thea discovers she's been manipulated. In a confrontation, the two scuffle and fight over the siren orbs while Sunset struggles with her conflicting wants and emotions.

[varian-ross-horror-author]

"Disabled people should be allowed to be as independent as we can be" and "disabled people should not be pressured to be hyper-independent in order to not wind up in nursing homes against our will" are two thoughts that can, and should, exist at the same time.

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[lucabyte]

On autonomy, and what it means to be Obliged to Help.

Bonus:

[knifearo]

being aromantic is like. hey btw you're going to live a life that is the culmination of most of society's worst nightmares. sorry lol ✌️ but then you turn around and take a really good hard look at it and it turns out that living in that nightmare is fucking awesome and you get to wake up every day and take that fear that other people have and laugh and hold it close until it's a great joy for you instead. and being happy is a radical act that you define instead of someone else. and you're sexy as fuck that's just a fact of life i don't make the rules on that one

[hinamie]

"I'll show you every day that choosing to live was worth it"

some of my favourite scenes from @hijinks-n-lowjinks' fic things i would miss from the other side . this fic tore my heart out fr but like in a good way and i wanted to pay it homage the only way i know how <3

[originalartblog]

Apparently much-needed reminder that reposting artists' art (by saving the images or screenshotting them and reuploading them yourself) on other platforms without the artists' expressed permission and without credit is theft and an insult to their passion and craft. You are profiting (in views, in attention, in feedback) from someone else's work and ideas, who do not get that feedback for sharing their creation.

If you are an art reposter, you are a thief and I have no respect for you.

[maudiemoods]

WAAAAAUAGRGGG!!

I love them so so so much!! AURGG!!

[salamispots]

posting a gift wip since I know my siblings aren't on here haha