#adult relationships do be like that sometimes

[nemesis-writer]

Training Wheels

Masterlist TW: neglect, but mostly fluff

Ridin' down, ridin' down My hand on your seat the whole way round I carry Band-Aids on me now For when your soft hands hit the jagged ground Wheels aren't even touchin' the ground Scared to take them off, but they're so worn down Promise I won't push you straight to the dirt If you promise me you'll take them off first

'Come on Jon, hurry up we're almost there.'

You remember the time when you first saw Jon when he was playing games with Damian. Let's face it, you were downright in love with him, you didn't really knew how to deal with it since you've been deprived of that since birth.

You've always thought of him as a night in shining armor. He'd always bring you gifts in your birthday, sometimes give you books to read when you're bored. But it was satisfying for now.

I love everything you do When you call me fuckin' dumb for the stupid shit I do Wanna ride my bike with you Fully undressed, no training wheels left for you And I'll pull them off for you I love everything you do When you call me fuckin' dumb for the stupid shit I do Wanna ride my bike with you Fully undressed, no training wheels left for you And I'll pull them off for you

There's no doubt in the world that you love him. You'd laugh together, sometimes take you to the movies, and even invite you to his farm for lunch during recess. But you, you loved him, you wanted to stick with him forever and didn't want anyone to ruin the moment.

Some might say you're stupid for relying on a boy who is friends with the very people who've neglected and abandoned you. But no one can stand on the way of love right?

Lettin' go, lettin' go Tellin' you things you already know I explode, I explode Askin' you where you want us to go You've been ridin' two-wheelers all your life It's not like I'm askin' to be your wife I wanna make you mine, but that's hard to say Is this comin' off in a cheesy way?

You loved the fact that he is dating you, but you'd never know if he felt the same way. So far in your relationship it's based on wishful thinking. Who's to judge a now-legal adult for being in a relationship with a person she's been head over heels for?

But what you didn't know was that Jon truly love you and cherish your memories together. He even has his own job where he can afford a 10 karat princess-cut sapphire ring. (Also thanks from stealing Conner's money.) He prepared your guys future together as parents, while you were prepared to let him go with the assumption that he doesn't love you.

I love everything you do When you call me fuckin' dumb for the stupid shit I do Wanna ride my bike with you Fully undressed, no training wheels left for you And I'll pull them off for you I love everything you do When you call me fuckin' dumb for the stupid shit I do Wanna ride my bike with you Fully undressed, no training wheels left for you And I'll pull them off for you

You'd be surprised with how much he has prepared for your future together.

Damian, on the other hand, paid no mind to you, and failed to notice Jon's past attempts into dating you. He remains completely oblivious to the fact that his best friend is dating the girl that no one would bat an eye for.

10 years later...

Your wedding was completely peaceful since it was held in a small chapel in Metropolis. Only the Kents including Alfred and some trusted friends were invited to the party. And by trusted friends you meant the whole damn Justice League without the bats.

'I Y/N take Jon as my lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do us part'

'I Jon take Y/N as my lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do us part'

Cheers could be heard even from outside the chapel. But the bats never truly knew why the whole League didn't attend the meeting and instead called in sick, out of planet, or family issues.

It was only until they saw in the news:

'MS, or should I say MRS WAYNE KENT JUST GOT MARRIED AND THE WHOLE WAYNE FAMILY DIDN'T ATTEND!'

A/N: this was actually one of my favorites of Crybaby

Taglist

@lunayaps, @not-aya, @iluvcatzz, @vanessa-boo, @ivyrose9194,@thesehandsarerated-e, @eyeless-kun, @errorunfound1, @gwyneveire

[knivestothroats]

The Professionals - Visitation Rights

The Professionals is a crossover of In The Woods Somewhere and Professional//Victim, co-written with @victimeyez CW: long term captivity, (seemingly) conditioned whumpee, references to past torture, mild physical violence, and worst of all, socially awkward situations

Buck’s visits were a highlight of Tommy’s time at the lodge. He tried to make it out every couple weeks. Fletcher was omnipresent, always supervising them, but the three of them would play cards and watch movies. Once, Buck brought his gaming console from home so they could play Super Smash Bros. 

Every time, Tommy’s heart lifted from having someone around who cared to just spend time with him, just to make him happy.

And every time Buck left, Tommy would slip into a cold darkness in his mind; the stark absence of Buck’s sunshine. 

Buck knew what Fletcher put Tommy through. He knew that Fletcher was on their best behavior when he was around. And yet Buck left after only a few hours, not to return again for two or three weeks at a time. Just leaving Tommy alone to his fate. 

Buck was allowed to leave. Tommy was not. 

That bastard. With his car and his job and his apartment and his boyfriend.

Tommy felt his stomach drop when Buck had mentioned that. “My boyfriend…”

It was stupid, but it hurt to know that Buck had other relationships, outside in the real world, that he would leave Tommy for and go home to.

And yet Tommy counted down the days until Buck returned. When he walked through that door, all was forgiven. 

Buck felt like he was driving to court mandated community service, except the court was himself and the community was one person. 

His crime, then, was being the one who got out. His punishment was having to go back.

It wasn’t that bad, really, it was just… supremely uncomfortable. Fletcher didn’t do anything to him besides act like a smug asshole sometimes. The new class of trainees barely gave him a second glance. And Tommy was nice and all, and Buck could tell that he really appreciated the visits, it was just…

Tommy fawned hard for Fletcher. It was normal to expect him to be scared of them, to heed their will, but Tommy acted trained. He acted broken in.

It was gross to watch, frankly. Part of Buck judged him. He himself had learned that it was better to obey and not talk back, but he had never pretended to like it. He had never pretended to like Fletcher.   

Part of Buck hated it because it showed what would have happened to him if he hadn’t gotten out. 

When he tried to tell himself he wasn’t like that, it brought to mind all the times he had thanked Fletcher for mercy or small kindnesses. All the times he had begged and bent and told Fetcher what they wanted to hear. 

Tommy had been living this life for five years. Both he and Fletcher had said whoever had kept him captive before was even worse. Buck really couldn’t blame Tommy for becoming whatever he needed to be to stay alive.

It was still hard to witness. 

But Tommy seemed genuinely happy when Buck came over, not just a performance to keep himself out of trouble. He smiled so wide it made the scar around his eye crinkle.

Is that how Buck’s looks when he smiles?

Tommy’s nervous, eager to please attitude paired with giddy excitement of having a friend did give him the vibe of a kid who wanted to hang out with the cool, older kids. It inspired an older brother type of feeling in Buck that he’d never really experienced. He had to remind himself sometimes that Tommy was a grown adult. 

Which made the gift bag riding shotgun feel like the wrong choice, now that he was on his way with it. 

Fletcher was waiting for him outside as per usual, whittling a piece of wood. They slipped it and the carving knife into their pocket as Buck got out of the car.

Buck kept halting and hesitating as he picked up a gift bag off the passenger seat. He clutched it nervously in both hands.

Fletcher nodded at it, not having to ask aloud.

“I got him a stuffed animal,” Buck admitted, cringing slightly. “Is that, like, really infantilizing? I mean, he’s like, how old?”

“He’s thirty.”

“He’s thirty?” Buck repeated incredulously.

“I know; they kept him baby-faced and twinky,” Fletcher agreed.

“Okay, this is stupid,” Buck shook his head and began to put the bag back in the car.

“No, no,” Fletcher waved their hand at him. “He’ll like it.”

Buck hesitated again, bag frozen halfway. “You sure? Like, honestly?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Come on.”

Tommy was resolved to keep it together this time. No pinning all his hopes and happiness on Buck. Buck was just a guy who came around sometimes. Maybe he counts as a friend, or maybe just an acquaintance. A friend of a friend. Something like that. 

Tommy was sitting in bed reading when the knock came. He had tried reading outside first, but the weather was turning and the cold wind was too biting to be comfortable.

Fletcher led the way into the room and stepped aside for Buck. He was fiddling with a colorful gift bag held between both hands.

“Hey, um…” Buck toyed with the bag before holding it out to Tommy, shoulders drawn up in embarrassment. “This is for you.”

Tommy glanced at Fletcher for approval, who gave him a nod. He reached out and took the bag, heart fluttering with nervous excitement. Pulling aside the tissue paper he revealed a teddy bear.

Tommy pulled the bear from the bag and held it with both hands, staring at it. It had soft brown fur, arms and legs out, semi-stiff, somewhat curved.

“It’s designed to, like, hug,” Buck explained. “Sorry, I know it’s kinda… I know you’re an adult…”

Tommy pulled his gaze away from the bear to look at Buck, eyes shining with tears.

“This is really for me?” he asked in a small voice.

“Yeah,” Buck said gently. “Of course.”

Tommy clutched the bear tight to his chest, burying his face in the fur. Its limbs were perfectly shaped to embrace him back. Fuck “keeping it together.” Buck was the best thing that ever happened to him.

“I love it,” Tommy said, voice muffled. “Thank you.”

Fletcher smiled and nudged Buck. It wasn’t a cruel smirk, just a genuine, See? I told you he’d like it.

Buck inherited a small friend group when he and Nico started dating. They had recently introduced him to a board game called The Settlers of Catan. It had been a good time, and he wasn’t sure exactly how that might translate with these two, but he had decided to give it a go. 

Tommy was eager, as always. He always seemed hungry for anything new - new things to learn about the world outside, new things to try. It would be endearing if it wasn’t so pitiful. Fletcher always kept their look of detached amusement, but they would forget to keep it up as the visit moved along. Buck might have been here for Tommy, but in an odd way, this was therapy for Fletcher, too. 

Fletcher snatched the orange pieces up while Buck started setting up the board. 

“What color would you like to play as?” He asked Tommy, while he finished linking together the border pieces. 

“You pick first, I’m not picky,” Tommy offered easily.

Buck had noticed Tommy avoided making choices for himself even when he could. It felt like he should be eager to have some control where he could, but he never took the opportunity. Buck had never lost his will, not till the very end, but Tommy seemed nearly mindless on his own. 

“I’m still setting up the game, how about you pick a color in the meantime?” Buck tried gently.

“That’s okay, I can wait,” Tommy responded. “Can I help set up the board?” 

Buck looked up at him finally, and Tommy was smiling sweetly at him, an adoring look in his eyes. Did he think of as Buck another master? Tommy pandering to him gave him a sudden jolt of revulsion. 

“Don’t you want to make choices when you can?” 

Buck meant it to come out kinder than it sounded. It was a little too sharp, almost accusatory. It shouldn’t have mattered, but Tommy was very tuned in to tone and body language. His face fell and he slouched in his seat, ducking his head. 

“Uh, I guess I’ll take…” Tommy’s hand hesitated in the air; he didn’t seem to know how to make a choice for himself anymore. 

“Pick a color, boy.” Fletcher’s voice was flat. 

Tommy grabbed the nearest baggie of pieces without even looking at the color, just worriedly trying to read Fletcher’s face to gauge how much he’d annoyed them. When he looked back down at his hand and saw he’d chosen yellow, there was a tug down at the edges of his mouth. Buck almost asked him if he’d like to pick again, but there’d already been too much fuss over picking a color. Fletcher was less patient than Buck, and looked vaguely annoyed. Tommy had pulled his arms in, looking disproportionally upset, but with a grim look of determination. To play the game? To keep from crying? To associate like a normal person? Buck couldn’t tell. 

Buck explained the rules, while Fletcher flicked through the rulebook, looking up at him and then back to the book like they were checking him. They stroked their chin thoughtfully.

“Fletcher? Have you played this before?” He realized he hadn’t even considered it, though according to his friends this had been a popular game for a while. Who would Fletcher be playing board games with? The trainees? 

“No, I’m just hilarious.” 

Fletcher’s voice was entirely calm, nonchalant enough that it took Buck a moment to process. The laugh that erupted from him was mostly incredulous. Tommy had broken first, giggling, and there was a look of genuine happiness back in his features. Fletcher chuckled to themselves and started to collect the resource cards in a row in front of them. 

“I’ll play banker,” they announced.

Buck snatched them back. “Absolutely not, you’ll be stealing from the bank every second we aren’t looking!”

“Labor is entitled to all it creates, Buck.”

“Not here!”

 

When Tommy had to choose where to locate his settlements among the different paths, Fletcher would start to count down from 5. Buck ignored them and helped Tommy pick, explaining some strategy. Fletcher was more interested in maximizing the amount of sheep they could get over a real strategy, or at least, as far as Buck could tell. But they also picked places near forest sections. 

“I belong in the trees.”

Trading and bargaining was one of the best parts with his friends at home. He hadn’t thought about how uncomfortable it would be when Fletcher wanted to make alliances. Both boys had quickly gotten possessive of their imaginary settlements, and neither was eager to help Fletcher in-game for entirely out-of-game reasons. Fletcher stared at Buck. 

“Nope. No chance.” 

Fletcher’s eye twitched. They leveled their gaze at Tommy.

“I don’t have any wheat, sorry.” He carefully kept his hand out of Fletcher’s vision. 

Fletcher flicked their proposed trade, one of the many sheep cards they now held, onto the table in front of Tommy.

“Yep, yeah, sure,” Tommy chirped, intimidated easily into handing over a wheat card. 

“Dishonesty is unbecoming of you.”

“Yes Fletcher, I’m sorry Fletcher.”

“Uh-huh.”

It was still playful enough, goofy enough, that Buck almost felt like he was still playing with normal people. If anyone else had intimidated so seriously over Settlers of Catan, it would have been really funny. With Fletcher, it was still pretty funny. Or Buck was as fucked as both of them - a likely possibility. 

Fletcher beat Buck by a narrow margin, mostly because he and Tommy were much less aggressive players. They ended up doing a few rounds, and Buck won twice. Tommy got the last game by stealing from Fletcher. Buck was 97% sure Fletcher wouldn’t punish him for that. After that, they had dinner, and wound up talking a while longer over an evening pot of coffee. 

When it came time for Buck to schedule his next visit, Fletcher pulled out their phone to look at a calendar.

“You have a smartphone?” Buck asked incredulously.

Fletcher raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Well, you play music off of like a 2005 ipod nano,” Buck said. “I guess I expected you to have a flip phone. Or a jitterbug.”

Fletcher scoffed, chuckling lightly as they said, “First of all, it’s not from 2005.”

Tommy was having a great evening, after his blunder. It really felt like he was just hanging out with friends, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in five years. Tommy wanted to play along. He wanted to be part of the group, be able to joke and rib with the others. He wanted to belong. 

“Yeah, I thought I was the one who was cut off from the world for five years,” Tommy laughed.

Buck grimaced and tried to hide it by forcing a smile and a nervous chuckle. He watched Fletcher warily.

Fletcher’s attention had locked onto Tommy. They didn’t laugh. There was a ghost of a smirk on their face, a hint of amusement in their eyes. But it wasn’t because they liked Tommy’s joke. It was more of an, “Ohhh, you fucked up, bud,” kind of look. 

Tommy felt his cheeks flush. He knew he was in trouble. Buck knew he was in trouble. He had absolutely killed the vibe.  

Buck hesitated, coat and boots already on.

“You know, it’s still early…” Buck began.

“It will be late by the time you get home,” Fletcher responded without taking their eyes off of Tommy.

“Well… I don’t work tomorrow.”

“Nico will wonder where you are.”

Buck stammered, trying to think of an excuse to guard Tommy with his presence. Tommy knew it too, eyes flickering nervously between the two of them.

Eventually he just said, “Fletcher, would you like to walk me out to my car?”

“Sure, Buck,” Fletcher said easily, finally tearing their gaze off of Tommy.

As soon as they had both stepped out of the house and Fletcher had pulled the door shut, Buck turned to them.

“It was nothing,” he said immediately.

“What was?” Fletcher asked lightly, playing dumb. 

“Come on,” Buck said. “It wasn’t even an insult.”

“I don’t feel insulted.”

“Fletcher, I saw your face. Just… you don’t have to do anything.”

“Buck, there’s a delicate balance here.”

“You know he’s not gonna… what, rebel, or whatever you’re worried about. He just wanted to act like we were all friends for a moment. He was having fun.”

“We’re not friends, though, are we?”

Buck shifted from one foot to another. 

“Please take it easy on him. I remember how you strangled me when you thought I rolled my eyes at you.”

“You did roll your eyes. And you didn’t do it again, did you?”

Buck dragged his fingers through his hair, cupping his hands behind his head. 

“I’m… I’m begging.”

Fletcher laughed. “We both know this isn’t you begging.”

There was a tense silence.

“How can I convince you?”

Fletcher shrugged.

“I’m asking a favor as a friend.”

Fletcher scoffed. “That is a very consequential sentence in my line of work, but you wouldn’t know that. Look, I’m not going to kill him, alright? I’ll probably just like… smack him and give him a lecture or whatever.”

Buck rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re not gonna like… suspend him from his wrists in the basement or something?”

Fletcher gave Buck a look. “Buck, I did that to you when you tried to kill me, not made a joke at my expense, Jesus.”

“Okay, alright.” Buck did a rotation, looking at his car and looking back. “I just feel bad leaving him…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Fletcher made a gesture of pushing him towards his car. “Go home.”

Buck reluctantly did as he was told, not knowing what else to do. No matter how many days or months or miles apart, no matter how much he owned for himself or how much life he lived on his own, Fletcher still controlled him. And he hated himself for it, but he drove away.

When Fletcher walked back inside, Tommy had disappeared. They went to his room first, expecting to see him sitting on the bed with his knees tucked to his chest waiting for them, but it was empty. 

Fletcher ducked down to check under the bed before stepping back out into the hallway. They weren’t about to play hide and seek with this guy, so they put their fingers to their tongue and whistled loudly. 

Tommy slinked out of the dark bathroom, smart enough not to ignore the call.

“You hiding out in there?” Fletcher asked.

“I was just… sittin’ in the tub.”

Fletcher raised an eyebrow and gestured Tommy over. He kept his head bowed and sank to his knees in front of them.

Fletcher’s scowl twisted. They were going to order him to do that, and Tommy doing it himself kind of took the wind out of their sails.

“Hey, look at me,” Fletcher said.

Tommy raised his head, and Fletcher slapped him hard across the cheek. They grabbed his face and aimed it back toward themself. He earned another slap when he tried to look away, instead forced to make eye contact. His eyes were wide and scared.

“Your playtime with Buck is a privilege I can take away, just like anything else. Don’t go getting fucking bold. We can play house and you can enjoy your room with a view and three meals a day and all the other bullshit I allow you as long as you know your place. You stay well behaved and things can be good. Understand?”

“Yes, Fletcher,” Tommy bleated remorsefully, his voice somewhat muffled by their grip. 

“Don’t try to fucking mock me again or I won’t be so lenient,” Fletcher added, give his head a shake for emphasis. Tommy clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut against the jarring wrenching.

“I really didn’t mean to, I’m sorry,” Tommy gritted out.

Fletcher released his face so he could speak clearly. Tommy flexed his jaw.

“I just got… a little caught up in the moment. It won’t happen again. I am sorry, Fletcher, I wasn’t trying to be insulting,” he repented, clasping his hands together.

“Hmph. You’re dismissed.”

Tommy rose to his feet. He was dewy eyed, but looked surprised to be getting off so easily.

“Thank you, Fletcher.” 

He bowed his head and hurried off to his room. 

@suspicious-whumping-egg @whumpyourdamnpears @generic-whumperz @lonesome--hunter

@whumplr-reader @theelvishcowgirl @sunshiline-writes @dont-be-gentle-please @galesgallery

@2in1whump @sparrowsage @apokolyps @whumpinggrounds

@morning-star-whump @leviiio @alexmundaythrufriday

@defire @jumpywhumpywriter @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees

@light-me-on-pyre @slightlydisturbedbeans @dislexiher @paperprinxe @desert-dyke

@just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @burtlederp @whatwasmyprevioususername @cursedandtired

@whump-only @misspelledwitch @redstainedsocks @thehopelessopus @im-just-here-for-the-whump

@thatsthewhump @utopian819 @pretty-face-breaker @thesuffererrrr

[everythingseasoning]

The things we read really affect our mindset & development, and I’m very lucky to say that I didn’t watch porn or read smut when I was younger.

Post summary: Why smut on tumblr has been a safe space of exploration for me; Having healthy expectations for a partner/a little bit on loving and healthy relationships

That being said, being on tumblr and reading smut for free as a young adult who was over 18 years old when I first came on here, is the guiltiest pleasure for me <3. It has been a way for me to learn about sex, and explore the growing sexual nature of myself safely. (I didn’t ever watch porn until I was 18, didn’t like porn, hadn’t had sex, and I didn’t read anything hardcore when I first started reading smut. I’m grateful for those things too.) Being on tumblr as a young adult and reading smut is not something I’ll ever be ashamed of, because it helped me develop and learn about my sexual preferences in a safe, non exploitive way. I am so grateful I didn’t end up in a relationship with a person who doesn’t treat me with the respect, consideration, love, and had sex with them. It’s incredibly sad when that happens, and can really ruin a person’s self esteem, and haunt them. I’m so grateful that I had tumblr writers and their work to teach me about what could possibly go down during sex, and showed me that sex can be something both fun and so pleasurable, when you’re doing it with a good person who loves you, and you love them. Also, reading smut on here means I won’t be going in blind re: what could happen during my first time (it’s anxiety inducing to not know!). TLDR: Smut showed me that sex can be something safe and pleasurable when you’re with a good person, and it was a way for me to explore my sexual side.

I think if I did have a good, loving partner and experimented with them rather than turning to tumblr smut, those experiences would’ve been a safe and fun way to develop sexually, as well. But because I was not in a relationship, and rejected relationships due to my own issues, reading smut on here was the thing I needed in order to explore sex.

I’ve genuinely learned about what squirting is, had my mind blown by dirty talk & sexy situations that get me hot and bothered, developed a desire to peg a good man (with consent ofc)… All from this platform. And I think that’s a good thing. It’s also important to note that I talked to a friend who experienced a lot of sex, and now I know that sex will be awkward, vulnerable, and disappointing at times. Sometimes people won’t be sexually compatible, and sometimes the sex just won’t be good. It’s important to remember that a lot of the smut on here describe top tier sex situations— they’re fantasies— after all. We shouldn’t carry sexual expectations for our partners if we’re already in a committed relationship. That is damaging to your partner. We should let them be who they are, and love them as they are. That’s why people who are in healthy relationships work; being in a healthy relationship means accepting somebody as they are, and wanting them to grow, too. Trying to shame or blame a person for not being what you desire is wrong. Loving somebody and being in a healthy relationship means loving who they are. That being said, from tumblr smut writers who are in loving relationships, I did learn that there is a possibility for sex to be good and fun, safe and loving, hot and sexy— because sex can, and will ideally be, another way to connect intimately with your partner. And it’s not a bad thing at all to want that for myself <3

[thesevenstarfoxes]

Good post, but I'd like to add a few points:

I'm pretty sure that in the scene where she beats up Dean, she's not mad at Tim. She's mad at herself, and I assume that's because Steph blames herself for her pregnancy and generally has very low self-esteem and often takes the blame for things she has no reason to take the blame for.

Dean's age has never been confirmed, and he could be a teenager, but it's much more likely that he's an adult. Teen can also mean eighteen or nineteen, and we know he has a driver's license (he's at least sixteen then, when Steph is fifteen.) He also looks old enough to be at least in his late twenties, so I find it hard to believe he's not an adult legal.

We don't know if Dean hasn't cheated on her, plus it's heavily implied by Stephanie's behavior and things she says when she and Tim date that she's experienced cheating before.

Tim and Stephanie's relationship really started with cheating - on Tim's part, with his girlfriend Ariana. That's the only canonical cheating that happens in this relationship. And I'm pretty sure that Tim and Steph's relationship didn't officially start until after the earthquake, so even if the start was a little rocky, they were both single when they started dating. (rocky... earthquake.... ha ha ha.)

Even if the sex was consensual, that doesn't mean Stephanie wanted it or that Dean didn't force her to do it. Given how Dean is portrayed, and given Stephanie's relationships with men in the past and the way she's been with Tim, it would make a lot of sense for her to feel like she owed it to him even though she had mixed feelings about it. Consent is sometimes a dubious thing.

Stephanie has a very long history of self-loathing and self-criticism. She can hate teen moms, that doesn't contradict being a teen mom. It actually makes a lot of sense when you look at her trauma and the way she sees the world and deals with things, that she would hate teenage mothers regardless of being one.

Correcting things I’ve seen people get wrong and lie about Stephanie’s pregnancy and her ex boyfriend because its slowly becoming its own fanon: (tw: for teen pregnancy)

Tim is not the father, I can’t stress enough how Tim is very much not the father, the father is her ex boyfriend Dean

We don’t know when they got together but Stephanie was dating Dean up until cataclysm, meaning she was attempting to cheat on him with Robin (though unsuccessfully) Dean wasn’t cheating on her

Although we don’t know if she dated them officially it’s implied Steph had more than one unnamed partner before Dean, he’s not her first boyfriend

Dean is not an old man, he’s a teenager, though Stephanie does have trauma related to older men (her babysitter Murray) and a very creepy uncle named Dave

Dean didn’t leave because of the pregnancy, he left because of the earthquake, Steph explicitly says that she didn’t tell him

Dean does eventually find out about the baby, though a significant amount of time after it’s already been given up, but didn’t know if it was his or not until he asks her

Steph didn’t beat Dean up because of the baby, she very explicitly says he’s not the one she’s mad at (she was mad at Tim) Steph also beats up another teenager Tito for the same reason

The sex was underage (Steph was 15) and unprotected but it was consensual, Dean was said to be a jerk but he was never harmful

Stephanie was always very against the idea of getting an abortion and would get very angry if anyone suggested it

Stephanie went to birthing classes (with Tim in his Alvin Draper disguise), she also saw a councillor at Gotham county social services, though temporarily, was able to homeschool and take her books home and had her mom supporting her completely

Steph declined an agency offering her money for a healthy baby, it’s unclear how many others she went to but the one she settled on was “st. Swithins”

Although she did consider keeping her own baby Stephanie didn’t have very high opinions of teen mothers, she called her classmate Cynthia Reed, who unlike Steph had already had her baby and was raising it, a “raging moron” telling Cynthia’s friends who were trying to be supportive they were also morons and should wise up (she also later calls them stupid)

During the labor Steph lost a lot of blood and the doctors struggled to stop the bleeding, she had to have her baby via c section, although it’s never shown in comic she would likely have a scar

Steph asked not to know the anything about the baby after it was born, but during war games she says the baby was a girl, its never stated when she was told, if ever, it’s possible she’s guessing the gender or that she asked Tim at a later date

the baby is never named, I’ve seen people say this panel is Steph asking Tim to help name the baby, it’s not, she’s asking him to hug her

What cemented the decision of giving up the baby was a nightmare she had while unconscious during labour, where her father took her baby with other rouges in order to introduce it to a life of crime and put it in danger

the actual baby is never shown on panel, only on a cover, so it’s possible she grew up to look like Dean rather than the copy paste blonde hair and blue eyed child Stephanie dreamed about

[clockworkreapers]

So Majell and Falmea have feelings for each-other??

Yep! It’s platonic though, kinda like a familial bond more than anything. So they would be moirales I suppose. Will they say it/ do they have to say it though? No not really, they know what they are to each other and that’s good enough for them.

[erinwantstowrite]

why are people saying Bruce was a teen when he started fostering Dick? he was in his early twenties

[spotaus]

Hi guys, this is usually what a doodle page ends up looking like <3 (oh, and @ancha-aus thought you might like this! Not writing but certainly fuel to my fire lol-)

This one is New Age filled!!! (Close-ups abd Lore beneath the cut!)

1) Night and Cross!

Night is actually very clingy once he's a teen. He doesn't usually realize it, but around the castle he'll snake to be closer to his Knights so long as there's no one he needs to keep his composure infront of is nearby. Cross is the one who's not used to physical touch (when it's not Ink ofc) so Night in his personal bubble makes his heart melt but also scares tf out of him <3

2) Error and Night's Meeting!

Error was carrying his whole life on his back and trying not to get arrested for unintentional property damage at this point, so when he saw the chance to get back at his brother and prove he was strong enough? Yeah, he got that on chance instantly. And was VERY smug when Nightmare chose him. (Also, Error is wearing gloves, so less Haphephobia)

3) Dream and Blue designs!

I think these are good tentative designs! Dream probably has a more regal fit, but he likes to play up that rugged exile look- He's inspired by Archers, while Blue takes on that classic Knightly-vibe. Their equipment is mostly stolen from Night's troops or brought with them from Blue's home kingdom.

Also, Dream is approx Killer's height at this point, shorter than Cross and *much* shorter than Apple!Nightmare. (Hc that Skeletons tend to be tinier in stature thanks to weird monster beauty standards. Horror and Geno's fam are outliers.)

4) Horror and Dust designs!

Horror is naturally a very *large* monster. He's very malnourished when Nightmare meets him, but by the time he's a Knight Nightmare has made sure that's no longer the case. He actually loves comfy, simple clothes, but to play up the whole 'strong mysterious' bit he wears a more barbaric Knight's garb. He doesn't mind acting scary, it's more fun that way :]. Dust is very very small, and envies horror sometimes for his size, but his tiny stature let's him control his body and move a lot quicker. He's very much based on a rogue, and usually covers the lower part of his face w/ a black cloth, and the upper part w/ his hood or mask. Dust only removes both to bathe, eat, or relax in a safe location. (Ignore that I can't draw the stupid gaster blaster lmao-)

These last two were space-fillers, but Cross and his Borzoi (Windmill, otherwise known as Milly (Killer named her-)) and really bad first wips of Ccino! I think Ccino was a chubby, happy toddler, but lost a lot of 'weight' (bone mass? Magic?) due to stress and pressure and bad eating habits. So it isn't until a while after the Coronation that he starts to relax abd feel safe enough to eat normal meals (Nightmare used to guilt him into eating snacks together, but as his boss (and younger brother) he can encourage it more often). By the time Killer shows he's still not quite healthy, but he's better. As more weight is lifted off his shoulders, the better he is. (That 'beauty' most people saw was a more stereotypical slimness, but Killer never stopped seeing Ccino as beautiful-) I think he never looked traditionally underweight, so no one noticed, and it was only much later that Night processed it. (And maybe it's why Dream hardly recognized him later on-)

[katierosefun]

modern family is all fun and games until you get to the scenes where you burst into tears because the once-vaguely homophobic dad now refers to his son's husband as family, and also the academically gifted daughter realizes that her dorky, clumsy dad was always really proud of her and just never surprised because he just assumed she could do anything, and also the eldest daughter who eloped comes crawling back to her parents' room and whispers that she still wants her parents to be present for her wedding, and also the anxious queer lawyer character admits that he was terrified that his husband would just leave him alone with their baby daughter, and also that the once-vaguely grouchy dad looks at his stepson and tells him that what makes a family is who sticks around, not who you're blood-related to and anyways what was i saying

[petrow1tch]

They weren't lying, this psychological recovery journey got hands

[beneathsilverstars]

I didn't even consider bonnie not actually having a best friend with that post. My best friend gave me bad definitions when we were kids bc she thought it was hilarious, and she's still one of my closest friends in adulthood

Per my last ask, I thought the joke was that the adults didn't get little kids humor/pranks

it definitely could not mean anything bad! trolling your friends is a time-honored tradition. but there's a lot of things like that that can be fun, but can also get taken too far, or be done too unevenly.

i feel like with "gullible" in specific it's easy to imagine like. "oh bonnie. you are SO gullible." "what's that mean?" "oh ^^ super cool and awesome" "yay!" <- it is now established that not only is bonnie the most gullible person in the friend group, you can also get away with calling them that, which makes it doubly fun to tease them this way!

and it's not like malicious, nor did it even notably bother bonnie at the time - they still consider the person who told them this their best friend! but maybe if bonnie had a true best friend who prioritized them over the rest of the group, that person would've told bonnie the actual meaning at some point, yknow?

and ofc it still could have been a perfectly fine thing, with bonnie getting their friend back just as often! you can't know from just these two lines.

but as i said, i think everyone in this party grew up some level of lonely/alienated. and the rest of them are old enough now to have looked back at some of their own youthful experiences and gone "ah. i think they were actually making fun of me." so these particular people - despite enjoying a bit of familial teasing and trolling and mean joking themselves - heard this particular story and went. hm. well. i'm not going to say anything. but i am going to take note of this as a potential issue.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Scarlet Throne

Nepali-inspired high fantasy

a girl who is the vessel for a goddess, holding the power over her province - whose power secretly comes from a demon, through blood magic

when it’s decided that she’s too old and will be replaced by a new girl - she does whatever she can to keep her position and safety, even if she starts to grow a strange attachment to the girl

villain MC, feline smoke demon, siblings

character focused, political, no romance

[phoebeejeebies]

I’m gonna be strange in ur askbox …

Pheobe and Melody thoughts!! uh mm m

pheobe knows that she’ll never see Melody again. At least not for a while.

But she’ll talk to her. Even if she can’t hear her.

“Uh.. if you can hear me in the fabric of the universe, I miss you.”

And she’ll ramble on and on about what’s going on in her life. Maybe she’ll cry a little. Maybe she’ll cry a LOT.

can melody hear her from the other side? Maybe . Pheobe hopes she can.

Melody can hear her and listens to every word. Melody memorizes all of what Pheobe says. Melody will memorize what Pheobe says beat for beat and play the melody (get it?) in her head over and over again when she misses that damn ghostbuster.

Melody wishes she stayed, sometimes.

Melody wishes she didn’t let go, sometimes.

It gnaws at her spirit - it gnaws at the peace she feels in passing on.

But Pheobe is reminded of Melody’s weaving into the fabric of the universe when it’s the perfect temperature outside, when she gets a rush of adrenaline, when nights are quiet and she can work in peace.

Melody sprinkles little things into the world, just for her Pheobe.

The stars shine a little brighter and maybe for a little bit , Pheobe feels whole again.

you make me sick. thank you for sharing. im ill. (all /pos) UUGHAAHNFGG you GET IT. PHOEBE AND MELODY are THEEEE doomed yuri. the way that this relationship will irreparably affect her for the rest of her life. moving on is hard enough, but knowing that you were in love with a GHOST GIRL and you see her in EVERYTHING you do. phoebe takes doomed yuri and ramps it up a little 😭😭😭

i read something that was similar recently. i forgot where. but phoebe would talk about her feelings when she things no one is listening but secretly hope melody is listening. it helps her move on, even if she knows logically melody is gone. but is she really? she's in everything. she was everything. tells her about her day, about her family. how things get better, get easier, get worse sometimes. healing has never been a linear process after all :')

and then on the other side, melody :''') manifesting good things for phoebe. partially because of the tiny tugging guilt melody has for her lack of honesty - because phoebe had grown on her. she goes out of her way to just make the world a little bit lighter, a little bit kinder, more beautiful. phoebe grows a fondness for the moon, for the stars in the sky. for the warm evenings and cloudy mornings, for the busy-ness of new york city.

phoebe makes an effort to go to melody's diner routinely. she becomes a regular. she just misses her. so much.

(i accidentally KEPT rambling in the tags. i didnt mean to T_T)

[salty-software-engineer]

Man I just finished Babel and I was excited to read discussions online because there's so much going on in it with so many little things and just....angry white people. Everywhere. Truly a dead dove moment.

[roobylavender]

im really sorry if this question ends up being repetitive: but, if not for bruce’s over reliance on dick to regulate his thoughts and emotions, why would dick grow up into feeling like he needs to repress his emotions so much and his eagerness to act as people’s support? i know youve spoken about wolfman and his altering of their relationship but if ntt is generally an accurate portrayal of an adult dick, to me this nevertheless sounds like the consequences a parent-child relationship where the responsibilities are titled too much towards the child

i suppose this could also segue into asking for recs that would help me better understand your interpretation of their relationship 👀

not repetitive at all! to me the irony of wolfman's depiction of dick lies in that it is simultaneously something you can logically ascertain from prior canon but not for the reasons actually presented by wolfman. if that makes sense. he does extra work that isn't actually necessary to help explain why dick would act the way that he does because there's plenty of reasons for it without rewriting his history with bruce to have always been suppressed and edgy and dark. to me it makes far more sense to capitalize on the inevitable disconnect between bruce and dick as an adult and a child. batman: full circle is a good example of that dichotomy (and although it was published in the early 90s it built on mike w. barr's prior understanding of the relationship between dick and bruce that he wrote into the early 80s). bruce's primary concern for the people he works with is never standards or finesse but safety. he worries constantly about others coming to harm under his watch and with a child in particular those worries were exacerbated. he ran a tight ship not because he believed dick had anything to prove but because the only way dick could keep being robin was if he went about it safely. that was obv easy for an adult to understand. but not so much for a child

to bruce these worries were practical and par for the course (as well as an expression of his love and protectiveness) but for dick their consequences formed the crux of his entire world. as a child he idolized everything about bruce. his heroism. his work ethic. his skill. his resolve. his preparedness. if dick couldn't live up to the standard he set for himself in idolizing bruce then what could he ever hope to amount to? that was the thought constantly going through his head. and it's why the bulk of his childhood and primary tenure as bruce's partner was so precariously protected by the fact that nothing bad ever really happened during it (and admittedly this framing is convenient because even chronologically speaking nothing very significant happened in their history with each other until dick left for university in 1969) (i know dixon opted to write that whole shtick with dent in his version of events but personally i never found it necessary to do so). there is enough there in the idea of dick working hard for the course of a decade to embody who he believed bruce to be that lends itself to it eventually being difficult for him to healthily express himself once the rift between them actually began to emerge

because what about bruce was there to actually see that was broken and dark before dick became an adult? i know a lot of dick fans hate batman #408 because they don't like that it enforced "retirement" upon dick (which i personally believe is a conclusion they come to because of the way batman #416 re-framed the same scene) but to me that's an inaccurate reading of the text. batman #408 was about bruce (admittedly far too belatedly) recognizing that he could not in good conscience continue to ask dick to go out and be a vigilante on what he considered to be his own "orders". he viewed dick's close call with death at the hands of the joker as something directly of his own making. although their tenure with each other had been wonderful if dick wanted to continue to be a vigilante it had to be on his own terms and of his own volition. obv that was logical to bruce and it was something dick managed to accept in the moment. but it's still hard to go from always having a purpose alongside someone you idolized to finally being entrusted entirely to forge your own

in general i like the idea of dick the adult becoming privy to all of the personal problems and conflicts that come with being a vigilante. he was conveniently shielded from a lot of those problems as a child because all he had to do was be bruce's partner and hope to live up to the title. bruce had no reason to trauma dump on him or talk about his worries and concerns at length with him because it was never supposed to be dick's job to field those worries and concerns in the first place. he was a child. the only thing bruce wanted to do was to help channel his emotions through an outlet and provide him with a home to grow up in. but when you become an adult often that dynamic shifts. you're still not responsible for fielding those worries and concerns but you can perhaps be trusted with them. that's why i like the framing in batman #408 of dick now being a man. it's a subtle way to frame the double-edged sword of adulthood. the world is in your hands now but so will be the horrors that come with it. coming to terms with the real world that bruce lives in should be hard for dick. coming to terms with who bruce is when he's not perfect should be hard. coming to terms with how quietly bruce kept his grief because he did not see fit to overwhelm a child with it should be hard. that dichotomy of dick both wanting to be bruce's brother and his son should form the crux of their conflict with each other because you can't hope to be someone's equal and someone's protected at the same time in that kind of relationship. for dick to transition into the position of equal he has to expose himself to the fact that bruce is not in fact an idol but someone irrevocably human. and that should interfere significantly with his head and his own standards for himself

[pulsingvoid]

as much as i love to criticize yellowjackets as i frankly think it's a fumbled attempt at an intriguing premise i CANNOT get behind the "yellowjackets is not as gay as advertised" crowd. i'm not even personally that invested in shauna/jackie and i know there have been dismissive comments from certain actors about the nature of their relationship and well rip to those people i guess because reading shauna/jackie as anything other than a budding lesbian romance tragically cut off before it could bloom is just. wrong? it's not even subtextual, it transcends the text, it's the most important relationship in the story, it IS the story, at the heart of every single thing that happens or doesn't happen is that these two girls were in deep lesbian love with each other. there is no other way to read it if you try to complicate or simplify it by making it about jealousy or identity or friendship you lose both the core sexual desire and the deep romantic love that were (and still are) driving and twisting and softening and ruining everything around these young women

[milimeters-morales]

(NOT ATSV) my ideal miguel and miles friendship (bordering on enemies) dynamic is where Miles is sort of a Mean Girls figure where he’ll say the worst things to Miguel, who actually has no problems dishing that shit right back out, is usually too fed up or somewhere else mentally to reply. They fight a lot, more physically than verbally, usually in a slapstick comedy type of way. Miles is banned from Nueva York once a month and got a restraining order against Miguel in his own dimension. His parents fucking hate him and Miguel hates them right back. Rio has tried and failed to poison him via food and Jeff is considering hiring a hitman. Gabriel is beloved by them. Miles takes Miguel’s money at least twice a week to go spend it just because he can. Miguel has tried (and succeeded once) to get Miles sick with a future illness because he figured out the lesbian bar Miguel liked to perform at in drag. Miles has cried at least once in every room of Miguel’s apartment and Miguel has been confused on what to do each time besides an awkward hug and pat on the back. People are rightfully worried for Miles’s safety at least 80% of the time but when they aren’t they’re shaking their heads at the two’s antics. They need to be separated until they have a healthy “this is a grown ass man / this is stupid little girl i don’t like at work” relationship and it’ll take an act of god for either of them to realize their current one isn’t healthy at all and has extremely negative impacts on their mental state.