#and who make my days better just by interacting with them

[tricksypixie]

Some tips abt calling your rep, from someone who worked in a Congressional office taking these calls:

If you’re making a phone call, you don’t need to give reasons for your opinion. It’ll be a college intern answering, and they’ll have a tally of how many people called about what position, but they don’t have time to write down your reasons. At most they’ll write “supports X” or “opposes X.” You don’t need to be persuasive on the phone call.

If you really want to make an argument or list reasons, an email is much better. Re: “he would have just deleted the email”: the congresspeople never look directly at the email inbox. It’s huge. It gets hundreds of messages every day. Part of my job as an intern was to keep an eye on it and sort messages into topic folders as they came in. Whether the representative actually reads your email or not really depends—in my office, the coms director would select a bunch of emails for the rep to read, and he’d write little personal responses to them. But I know there are other offices with more or less interaction like that.

As always, these are rules for contacting federal representatives; state and local ones tend to be more accessible.

TL;DR: put your reasons/arguments in an email; on a phone call to your representative, just state your position. You don’t need to persuade the unpaid intern who is keeping tally marks.

If you are making calls to Republican politicians about not supporting certain bills, remember to stick to Republican scripts. No trying to play on their emotions. Don't talk about people dying or marginalized people being hurt or anything like that. That doesn't work on them.

Instead, focus on:

Cost. These Republican bills have MASSIVE costs that either tax payers take the brunt of or it goes into the national debt.

Withholding your vote. You weren't going to vote for them anyway, but they have absolutely no way of knowing that. Even if you've said in other places, they are not researching every single person who calls to see who's a Republican. You're just another constituent using your vote as leverage. Take advantage of that.

Hard-working Americans/working class Americans/veterans/etc. Figure out the specific group of people that politician campaigns the hardest to and talk about them and how they'll be hurt by whatever is happening.

Trump's stupid fucking bill isn't cruel and evil and it's not going to kill millions of people, it's a huge financial strain that will drastically increase the national debt while hurting working class Americans who just need a bit of help and you would never consider voting for someone who would support it.

[bluev0id]

HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR TROUBLES?

Hello ! This is a general pick a spider web reading that will give u some hints and insights on what you could do to potentially free yourself from your current burdens. Practical or emotional. This reading is for entertainment purposes(!!!!!!!) PLEASE SEEK REAL MEDICAL/LEGAL/WHATEVER NECESSARY HELP IRL IF NEEDED

1.

You are trying to take the wrong road to your success, which is why nothing is happening as you want or planned. That, or you're so afraid of not reaching the goal or finding resolutions, that you're stunned into doing nothing. The cards here are simple and direct-> change your approach. Pinpoint what's not working and why, then silence your fears and frustrations, and little by little, start implementing change. It could be in your attitude or world view as much as real practical situations. There's a set of skills you're lacking, perhaps that's what you need to focus on first. To heal and be abundant is a slow path that needs careful crafting and it won't happen in a day or two. Use your desire as motivation to pull you forward

CARDS : Death; ace if swords reversed, world reversed + 8 of pentacles reversed, Queen of pentacles, 3 of swords reversed

~☆ To thank me, you can check out and interact with my ETSY shop ☆~

2.

Seems like you are creating most of your issues. You like to push yourself for the sake of others, you want to see the best in them or the best in life but whatever you were dealing with has turned around and bit you. Sometimes, it's better to give up and let go. It doesn't have to be the person or the situation itself, it could also be your expectations. Make sure you're true to yourself and honest about what you desire and whether the situation you're in is aligning with it. I see you as a beautiful soul, someone who is caring and loving but there's a lot of mental fog and self sabotage. Know your worth and that your first priority should always be yourself.

CARDS: 6 of cups reversed, chariot reversed, 7 of wands reversed + 5 of swords reversed + the empress, 7 of swords reversed

~☆ To thank me, you can check out and interact with my ETSY shop ��� ☆~

3.

Overthinking and fears are the first words that pop up for me. I see you're tired of feeling this way, and you want to break free, you want people who you can trust and to see things moving in a more positive direction. Your biggest enemy is being tired and feeling like the world has betrayed you. You need to learn to let go of this paranoia and negative thinking. If you're scared people will harm you, set boundaries and be loud and clear about them, get rid of people who have deliberately hurt you. There's a lot that can be done, however, once you've done these things, you need to let life run it's course and not obsess over all details. The best way to be in control and feel content is to take things as they are and for what they are instead of trying to predict every future problem. There are good things in life and they will find you if you open your doors to them.

CARDS: Justice reversed, 2 of cups, 9 of swords, the sun reversed, king of cups reversed, 8 of swords reversed

~☆ To thank me, you can check out and interact with my ETSY shop ☆~

4.

This might be a bit frustrating to hear but for now the best you can do is keep yourself together and be patient. Seems like there's no clear action to be taken except planning and trying to keep a positive mind. This situation won't last forever, it's just difficult right now, but you know you will figure it out and one day it will be forgotten in the past. Make sure you're not adding self sabotage into the combo and that your mind and emotions are in check. Think about what you would like to do as a treat once you're out of this situation. What little things could you do now to keep your mind focused on the end result? Whatever activities help you relieve stress and don't add any extra stress or problems, now is the time to partake in them.

CARDS: The Star reversed, 10 of wands reversed, 4 of cups + 2 of wands, the world, 7 of swords + strength

~☆ To thank me, you can check out and interact with my ETSY shop ☆~

[astatia-ghast]

Re: The DPxDC Tagging Discourse

With the discourse over DPxDC tagging having gotten... pretty out of hand over the past week, I want to send out a request to the entire Danny Phantom fandom:

Please stop arguing about it for a bit. Give it three days -- three days to cool off, breathe, back up and reset your perspective. We're all too close to the problem right now, and because of that, we're getting mad and making things worse.

While we're all chilling out, I want to give us some things to consider.

To the #DPonly crowd:

This problem is not going to get better until you acknowledge that vitriol toward DPxDC fans is real. While your frustration may have come from a valid source, the anger and bashing you use to express it have only alienated this side of our fandom. They are part of our little fandom family, and we need to act like it. And that means listening to DPxDC fans' siren calls on this matter.

To the DPxDC crowd:

This problem is not going to get better until you acknowledge that, no matter how you feel about tagging culture, your refusal to stop tagging DPxDC works with #Danny Phantom is what led to all this. For two years, Danny Phantom fans have been sounding the alarm about how DPxDC content in the #Danny Phantom tag is causing people to burn out and leave the fandom (since it feels like our primary conversation space has been overrun), but you haven't been willing to change your behavior to help us recover. We need cooperation to fix this problem, and cooperation inevitably means compromise -- which may mean a tagging system that is not your personal ideal. Not tagging DPxDC works with #Danny Phantom doesn't mean that you are somehow less or unwanted; it just means that people who aren't interested in the crossover need their own space to chat.

Obviously, not everyone in the #DPonly crowd has been rude toward DPxDC fans, and not all DPxDC fans have been uncooperative on the tagging problem. Actually, I would dare say that most of us have been very reasonable. But the unreasonable among us are very loud, and they're stirring up the pot for everyone. And we all know someone who has said some choice words -- and that person may be you.

Take a moment. Reflect on your part in all of this. It's okay to make mistakes. I've made mistakes too, and this post is my way of undoing them. Just come back after a few days' break ready to solve the problem, and we're good. It's gonna be okay, I promise.

And, speaking of the solution -- while it's not my personal ideal, I think the #DPonly tag is the best solution we have so far. It has the greatest chance to make the most people happy. I'm going to keep supporting it and interacting with it, and I hope others will too.

Thanks for listening to my thoughts on this matter! If I sounded spiteful at any point, I promise it's not that; I'm just a direct speaker.

Signed,

A concerned Phandom member

[one-beer-is-not-enough]

I posted my oc Dani and i would LOVE to know how you believe him and Marcel would interact!! It’s my first time posting a Bully oc so im sorta nervous. He doesn’t rlly have a last name and i haven’t made a lot of info pages about him yet but i tried to give as much context as possible :,)

!!! Daniiiii Dani boooyy hahaha!

Sorry abt the shit drawing, traditional art shoved its boot so far up my ass I'm picking shoelaces from my teeth. I swear on my life I'll redraw this digitally when I get back 🙏

These two trying to play it cool with a prefect after quite literally breaking through a dorm door while fighting 💀

Interactions:

Oh boy. Their dynamic is like Dumb and Dumber if they were both escaped asylum patients. Fighting over the crown prize of being public enemy nr 1... by duking it out in public spaces, getting arrested... And then continuing to bicker in their shared jail cell.

Both of them being the preps' errand boys is the way they meet for the first time. That's also when their beef starts and gets progressively worse... And funnier. Expect pettiness of the highest order

Marcel almost surely finds out about Dani's thing with Bif, and uses it as ammo constantly. It's only fair to attack each other over their boyfriends (who watch them in disappointment from a distance)

Marcel would deadass leave hate-mail and break-up letters in Dani's locker for weeks, signing all of them as 'Bif'. He'll even go through the trouble of trying to replicate Bif's handwriting to make it more convincing 💀 Professional hater

Like you said yourself, I think in some weird way they enjoy this rivalry. When you hate someone for surface-level reasons, at some point it just becomes entertaining more than anything

Number one trigger to get Marcel into a fight: insulting Derby. Works like a charm. So he returns the favor by shit-talking Bif to Dani's face (not that he needs the incentive, he hates Bif as it is)

Marcel passing by Dani declaring the most random shit: "Every night before I close my eyes, I pray for your downfall" <- Which Dani follows up with "Why don't you pray for some bitches instead?"

Marcel: If you have a million haters, I'm ALL of them

Dani: 🫵 Unemployed behavior

I feel like either one of them could be having a bad day, but it becomes a little better by just thinking: "Well at least I'm not [Marcel/Dani]."

If Bully had social media, you can bet your ass they'd be sending each other the most aggressive posts. Marcel sees a video of someone being cringy and tags Dani in the comment section with "This is you 👆"

Honestly they're doing Bullworth a favor by messing with each other, instead of using that time to piss off the others around them lmao

Bonus:

Marcel writing hate-letters to Dani like:

[simmeons]

GAH guys formal apology if this shit is either really short and sweet or super long and sappy i fear i can not find a middle ground

FIRST OFF. YOU SNOWY. GRISPS YOU. ur literally one of my best friends i don't know u understand truly when i mention you in conversations you're a best friend and puuggg ilysm i love Snowbot i love all the fixations you go through i love just seeing you being happy and talking with me and in the server. Also I Am So Sorry About That Spider We Tried💔💔💔GELLPP but WAHHH I LOVE YOU i love how you can just DM me bout Justin Timberlake and then you'll be talking about how he gets 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 in a movie i love it so much you're my little tweaker

@vitoruwii no words could express my love for u vro. you're my platonic soulmate (because we all know Scotty is my romantic one heh i love my wife) i would give up my left arm for you. just not my right one i really like that one i need that one to draw Yorlik you understand the grind. i love how you've been with me through the recent drama with Those Who Shall Not Be Named and you've helped me become a better person. to this day i feel like the luckiest person to have you in my life because truly my wife would be so much more boring without you in it. i love our OCs and the relationships we've created between them, i love when we play overwatch together and i love when we do whiteboards. i don't know if you remember, but i remember years back when i first met you in the Ishimondo server and i just thought you were the coolest person ever. your art was gorgeous and you were such a creative mind. if i ever lost you i think it would be like reading Scotty dying in the book again. im ur omega forever bro trust❤️‍🩹

@aceship-sconesterprise I know we don't talk a lot one on one, but i don't really mind! i appreciate the friendship we have because you and Andi (who YES I WILL GET TO YOU TOO BRO) both directly got me into scones. It was your stories that got me into making a Tumblr account, just to follow you! I loved waking up everyday of June knowing there would be a devilish story waiting for me, and I can't express how special I feel knowing you've read mine too! I love randomly sending you things that remind me of you, even though every time I feel like a weirdo, you're very kind. I absolutely adore Ms Farie, Aporal, and the rest of your OCs- and I know I'll grow to love the other non-trek ones after I finally sit down and watch their source material! ...one day.. I did sorta watch a Numbers episode when I couldn't sleep at 1am I AM TRYING!!!!!!!! Anyways just know that I love you a lot and admittedly every time you go on your digital detox I get extremely sad and I miss you like a dog. But you didn't hear that from me okay

@thesconesyard of course I had to include you too, Andi! We don't interact a lot but I still value you a lot in my life. I'm so glad to see you're back to work on your cowboy Enterprise series, and I can't wait to see what you do with them next! Your slice of life posts, even if I don't engage all the time (mostly because I'm not all that active on this app anymore, oops) give me some comfort because it's a bit of a reality check. I'm sure I've already said it before, but you do inspire me to keep doing, stop thinking my life will magically end after I turn 20. You give me some hope in life as odd and silly as that sounds

@dilfoez hey there bro.... Heh... I absolutely love how we can bounce scones off one another, and I love the little tweaker mirror scones we've created together! Our doomed yaoi 💓 I love all your F/Os (and they love you too they told Scotty and then Scotty told me TRUST) and I love seeing ur cute posts about them ouugggh it makes me giggle I love happy relationships. One day I will watch Dead Man Waking... I promise u vro..

To any other moots of mine I haven't tagged, know I love you all very much as well! Please, PLEASE do not feel scared to talk to me or anything, I am very open to becoming closer with you all! I love everyone who leaves nice comments or reblogs. Hell, even a like makes me smile. Mmmwahh

favirote moots?

(People you tag have to reblog and say their favorite moots)

Okay wait

@ibrokeurheartbcuzubrokemine @foliverfalls @allyeilishh @addisonraesbaby @emiliesblohsh @bilsslut @noodleswashere @bilsbabyy @bitchesbrokenpromises @billsdollie

[mikakuna]

babygirl jason anon here again!💖

I also completely agree that jason's type is older people. (Sladejay and Constantine x Jason are my fav ships, jason absolutely endears himself to older men who hate everyone else and treat him like a princess that could kill them, very fiona from shrek vibes if you catch me).

But ppl talk about jason looking like bruce alot, but i think one day he's staring at himself in the mirror and realizes its willis staring back at him, and that warms his heart so he grows his hair out, just to the base of his neck so he can embrace his curls. He gets piercings he always wanted, 2 in each lobe, an industrial maybe. And i think distancing himself from the bats a bit gives him back a healthy glow in his eyes, because he's not fighting to prove his worth to people who keep moving the goal post.

And maybe the bats see him again, with roy and kori at some big world ending fiasco, helmet off, laughing and smiling and looking happy and they realize that they have not seen him happy in a long time.

I'm obsessed with the idea of the JLA and another heroes meeting jason after having only heard news of his actions or the bats biased perception of things. but meeting jason completely changes things because he's magnetic, just so charming and intelligent and unfairly fucking gorgeous. Especially when they get him started on things he loves. Gotham, books, cooking, kids.

Roy has his hand around Jason's waist, looking at him fondly. Kori fondly runs a hand through his curls. Jason being loved and accepted for just being who he is without having to shape and distort himself of his morals.

I have many thoughts about jason and the wider hero community, of him finally pushing off the isolation that Batman forced on him both as Robin and now as Red Hood by controlling the narrative around him.

But when i get more babygirl jason thoughts i will send then your way!!

HIIIIIII i love you so much♥️ im sorry for getting to this late but i hope my reply, long reply, makes up for it!!

jason is SOOO fiona from shrek coded omg wait he deserves that kind of princess treatment. he's not afraid to be himself and if that means being flawed or being disapproved by society (other heroes + bats) then fuck it. he's still gonna be himself and not let other people, especially those who have let him down, change him. very fiona of him to get with people everyone else would disapprove of.

ofc i love sladejay but i've never actually read any constantine x jason content!! this is probably my first time hearing about it in a romantic context and not platonic. I WANNA HEAR MOREEE

yes yes yes to jason specifically going after older men. it's not even that he's doing it consciously. they just always happen to be older than him and they're usually the ones seeking him out. he has that mistreated puppy look that attracts older dudes and makes them wanna spoil him with love and that gruff affection. very healing for his daddy issues to be treated with unconditional love for once by an older man who could very well be his dad. it's a dangerous game to play considering his age and theirs but it always works out (to the absolute appall of bruce)

your description of his new, healthy look is everything. i also love the hc that he looks like willis since i don't really fw the one that he looks like bruce specifically. anyways he should look like his papa who thought of him as his prince of gotham :( jason with longer hair and piercings is so pretty he deserves it. if that red hood webcomic wasn't so ass i would've liked his character design

i too am a firm believer that jason becomes ten times more beautiful when he's happy and not constantly emotionally drained from his interactions with the bats who only ever expect the worst from him. the glow!!! the sound of his unrestrained laughter!!! the twinkle in his eyes!!!!!!! you truly never look better than when there isn't an ugly bitch constantly thinking the worst of you

OMG dude i was just thinking about that justice league hc <3 most heroes knew jason as robin and still fell for bruce/the bats' propaganda 🥀 but hey at least it makes for great content of them meeting red hood jason for the first time and becoming instantly enamoured. i need it shoved in every hero's face that jason is smart as hell and not the stone cold killer he's rumoured to be.

and yes you're so right about jason having been isolated. he deserves to break free from that isolation since it very clearly still exists in his red hood days.

can't lie because i enjoyed his teamup with kori and roy but i love art and biz sooo much more because they're just for jason rather than having been dick's people first. need the bats seeing how happy he is with other people </3

thank you for this anon i loved hearing your thoughts!! (sorry this got long) and YES PLEASEE i will always want to hear more baby girl jason thoughts ♥️

[irennieeee]

────────────୨ৎ────────────

first post!! i really hope you like it >ᴗ<

shower thoughts: which pet names would the LaDS guys like you to use in bed? And which one would they use for you?

!!Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I’m not a native english speaker!!

— mdni !! (minors do not interact), if you do, don’t come at me for not warning you first.

— lads guys!fem MC

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⋆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Xavier: You would probably expect him to call you "starlight", but it wouldn’t be his first option. I think he uses "bunny"/"little bunny" to make you realise he’s not so innocent after all, so in that moment he’s like a predator hunting down his prey, the bunny.

The best choice to use for him would be "star"/"my star", because he would feel like there’s something more than just physical connection in your part. He will also enjoy "prince"/"my prince" and if you really want him riled up, call him "Lumiere".

bonus: if you obey him he will call you "good girl" 😽

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Zayne: Since I’m into brat tamer Zayne, I think he would use "brat" for sure, but that’s only when the thing is getting intense. On normal circumstances he would use sweet pet names, such as "darling", "honey", "my jasmine" or better yet "sweetheart" (that man loves two things: you and his sweet treats)

Now hear me out on this: he may be a cardiac surgeon but when it comes to being intimate he is a blushing mess, so any name that comes from your mouth can turn him into a puddle, and do NOT hold back!! Call him "zaddy" even, he will absolutely love it.

bonus: in secret times, he called you "doc-tor", I think he would enjoy some role-play where he’s the patient ;).

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⋆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Rafayel: He will definitely use "cutie", you are his cutie after all. But when things get heated (especially on ebb day) he will call you "my wife" (originally I would say "my bride", but now we’re marrying them, soooo👀), "my precious" or "Your Highness".

bonus: when you’re on top, he calls you "master", does that ring a bell? ;P

When it comes to you, he would love anything, really…But he’s not as cocky as he lets you believe. The best names in slot would be: "my love", so simple yet so impactful, it would make the tip of his ears red instantly, "my husband" whenever he calls you "my wife" and *drum roll*…"my God", since we all know he’s the God of the Sea. And I headcanon MC yelling "Oh my God" at first just because he was going way too intensely, but he took it as a pet name, so now it is (and who knows, maybe he will call you "his Goddess")

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⋆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Sylus: There is no doubt that this man is freaky to the bone, he will call you any name you desire, the most important thing is that you speak up, or he will make you 👀. If you don’t mind, he will surely call you "kitten" and "sweetie" since he called you that since the start.

bonus: he might as well call you "my little bird" like he did in the catch-22 memory.

Even if freaky, he is also a nerd, and he loves it when you speak up as I said before. His favourite names would be "my beloved", "my dragon" and just simply…His own name, even the best vinyl couldn’t compare to your little whimpers when you try to say his name, it turns him on like crazy.

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Caleb: We didn’t hear much from him since he just came out, so for now I’m saying that he will use "pipsqueak"/"pips".

bonus: since some of y’all Caleb girlies are way freakier than Sylus, I headcanon Caleb using all the pet names mentioned before, because well…He did a bit of research.

As for you, you’re the only remaining part of his brain, use whatever you want, girl, he will take it all and even use them back.

[sequinsmile-x]

Take Me Back to the Start

She thinks it’s a bad joke, a terrible one, but a joke nonetheless, but it’s only after she laughs and shakes her head that she realises her doctor isn’t laughing with her. 

Emily, Aaron and two pregnancies twenty years apart.

A sequel to Allegiance.

Part 2/3 -x- Part 1

-x-

Hi besties,

Thank you so so much for all the love on part 1! It's always nerve wracking to return to universe that I've written before, especially an AU one, but it was so lovely to know you guys love this version <3

Here is part 2, part 3 will be up early next week!

As always, let me know what you think <3

-x-

Warnings: pregnancy

Words: 3.2k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

June 1995

Emily hadn’t even realised she’d fallen asleep until she wakes up to the front door opening. It makes her jump awake, pulls her from sleep, and she groans as she sits up on the couch. She turns when she hears her boyfriend's amused chuckle, and she can only imagine how exhausted she looks. 

“Did the baby make you sleepy again?” He asks, and she groans again, rubbing her eyes as he joins her on the couch, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. 

“I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t sleepy,” she grumbles, “I don’t even remember falling asleep,” she looks around them at the piles of boxes they hadn’t unpacked yet. They were scattered around the house they’d only just moved into, and the task of unpacking felt almost insurmountable in her current state. At least, she told herself, this would be the last time she did it. This was her and Aaron’s home now, where they’d raise their family together, and after a lifetime of never having roots, of always being the new kid, she was pleased she’d make sure her baby would have everything she’d never had.

The tiny baby growing beneath her skin, and any future children she and Aaron may have down the line, would always be her priority from here on out. She’d make sure they were seen and heard and able to be themselves with no preexisting expectations of who they should be. 

A shiver goes up her spine at the thought of her last interaction with her mom, at the press of her friend’s hand on her hip as he tried to hit on her. It’s a feeling that’s chased by nausea, nothing to do with the baby for once, as she thinks of her mother’s reaction to it, how she’d waved it off like it was nothing, effectively ruining what was left of the already shaky relationship between mother and daughter. A direct hit to foundations that could not withstand another, the rubble of it all still around Emily’s feet, the dust in the air still prone to catching in her throat when she thought about the fact her mother was no longer in her life, even if she was the one who had suggested it. 

“Em, are you okay?” Aaron asks, the press of his hand against her arm enough to pull her out of her stupor, “Do you need some of your ginger ale?” 

She shakes her head and squeezes his hand, as he starts to pull away, wrapping her fingers around his as she seeks out the comfort she always found between them, “No, it’s not the baby.” 

He nods, because of course he knows, and she watches as he sets his jaw tightly, his teeth clenched as he holds back everything she knows he wants to say about her mother. 

“Your mom?” 

She scrunches her nose up, feels the now familiar burn at the back of her eyes. Her relationship with her mom was never what she wanted it to be, and she knew it never would be, but she’d never seen herself being out of contact with her entirely. She knew it was the right thing, for both her and her budding family, but it didn’t make it any easier to take.

“It’s just…” blows out a shaky breath and wipes a stray tear from her cheek, endlessly frustrated at herself for her inability to keep her emotions in check these days, “I never expected that she’d be the kind of mom who would be there and hold my hand, and give me tips on what made her feel better when she was having me. But…despite everything, I never expected this either,” she smiles tightly at him, her lips pressed together as she tries to stop the shake in them, “Is that stupid?”

“No, sweetheart,” he says, already reaching for her, pulling her into the hug she never asked for and would never have to. She tightens her hold on him and presses her cheek against his chest, letting her eyes drift closed as she focuses on the beat of his heart, “It’s never stupid to expect the best out of the people who are supposed to love us.” 

She chokes on a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and she pulls back just enough to look at him, “I think that’s the worst part, you know,” she says, leaning into his touch when he wipes a tear from her cheek, “I know she loves me. She’s just never been very good at loving me the way I need her to.” 

“You’ll be better,” he says, knowing what she’s thinking before she’s even aware of it herself. He wipes her cheek again, smiling softly at her as she looks up at him, “You’re already a better mom, Em. And our baby is the size of a…what is it this week?” 

She knows he knows, she knows that he’s read the book she has on her nightstand just as many times as she has, the pages already dog-eared and worn only a few weeks after they bought it, but she loves him for it. Loves that he’s making her say it to prove his point, and she bites the inside of her cheek, unsure after all this time how he could make her smile when she was feeling so sad.

“A Brussels sprout.” 

He smiles and stamps his lips against hers, “Our little sprout is lucky to have you.” 

She beams at the praise, still so unsure about how any of this was going to go, but so grateful that he was the one she was doing it all with. She leans in to kiss him and rests her forehead against his, moving their joint hands to rest on her still flat belly.

“Sprout is pretty lucky to have you, too.” 

___

Anxiety settles low in her gut the moment she hears Ivy’s car pull onto the driveway. It mixes with the ever present pregnancy nausea, which was much worse than she remembered it being, and her stomach flips, forcing a groan out of her as she covers her mouth and reminds herself to breathe. 

“It will be fine,” Aaron says, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, his arms around her as he pulls her against his chest, “They’ll be excited. Once they get over the shock.” 

She hums and places her hands over his for a moment before she turns in his arms, casting an eye over the dinner they’d made together - the favourite of all of their kids - to try and cushion the news their family was about to get bigger. 

“I know,” she says, smiling at him, “I do know that. It’s just…” 

“You’re still not entirely over the shock yourself?”

She chuckles and nods, “You could say that again.” 

She was 12 weeks along now, the first trimester gone in a blur of surprise and joy and fear. The doctor’s warnings that she was older this time, that it came with additional concerns and complications, rattling around in her head whenever she thought about any of it. She was excited, overjoyed in some ways, but it reminded her of her pregnancy with Ivy, of all of the unknowns that she thought she’d left in her past. 

“We don’t have to tell them tonight,” he offers, and she smiles at him, pushing her fingers through his hair as she shakes her head. 

“Yes, we do,” she replies, “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hide it anyway,” she says, smiling as she looks down at her stomach, her bump small but there already and hidden by a loose fitting shirt, “It might have been a while but my body seems to already know what it’s doing.” 

He hums, and any further conversation is cut off as the front door opens. Rosie and Oliver greet Ivy at the door just like they always did, asking her questions and giving her the hugs they’d never give each other in public. 

“Mom and Dad are being so weird,” Rosie says, her staged whisper travelling through the hall and to the kitchen, and it makes Emily chuckle as she shakes her head and turns to look at her husband. 

“Maybe we haven’t been as subtle as we thought we were.” 

Aaron smiles and kisses her cheek, “In their defence, they have been raised by behavioural analysts.” 

Dinner itself is normal. Ivy tells them all about college and gets more information out of Rosie about her new girlfriend than either Emily or Aaron had been able to in weeks. Oliver tells his oldest sister all about his upcoming soccer game, and his smile gets impossibly wide when she says she’ll make it. Any attempt to act like he was too cool to love his sisters gone in an instant. 

When they go to the living room afterwards, empty bowls of ice cream scattered across the coffee table, Emily finally finds her nerve, her hand wrapped around Aaron’s as she interrupts the ongoing argument about what movie they were going to watch. 

“Before we pick something,” she says, smiling when all three of them look at each other, “Dad and I have something to tell you.” 

Rosie curls her legs under her and elbows Ivy, “I told you they were being weird.” 

Ivy sits up straighter, concern flickering in her eyes, “What’s wrong? Is one of you sick?” 

Aaron sighs, “No, sweetie, neither of us is-”

“Is that why you made us Uncle Dave’s lasagna? Because you’re sick?” Oliver asks, his wide eyes making him look younger than 11, and Emily shakes her head, reaching out to push his hair from his eyes. 

“No, Ollie. Neither of us is sick,” she says, wondering how they’d lost control of this conversation so quickly. The firmness in her tone makes them all calm down, and Emily watches as relief washes over all three of them. 

“Then what is it?” Ivy asks, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that makes Emily feel like she’s looking in a mirror, “Because Rosie is right, you’ve been acting weird for weeks.” 

Emily casts a quick look at her husband, and he nods and squeezes her hand ever so slightly. She blows out a steady breath and looks at her children, “I’m pregnant,” she says, nerves sparking in her chest as she carefully watches them all, “You’re going to have a new baby brother or sister.

She knows the second part is unnecessary, that they all know what pregnant means, but she can’t help it, briefly thrown back to when Ivy was little and sitting on this very couch, the legs hanging over the edge of it as they told her about Rosie for the first time. The room falls into silence for a moment as all three of them stare at her with their mouths open, and then they all talk at once. 

“You’re pregnant?” 

“That is so gross.” 

“But you’re old.” 

“Less of the old, please, Rosie,” Emily says, narrowing her eyes at Aaron when he barely covers an amused smile, “I’m sure you have questions, and we will answer them, but yes, I’m pregnant.” 

They all nod, still in some kind of shock, but Ivy raises her hand, “I have a question.” 

Emily smiles at her, “Of course, honey.”

“Was this planned?” 

Emily tenses, and Aaron squeezes her hand, taking over for her. “No, this baby was a surprise to us, too, but we think it’s a good one.” 

Ivy hums and nods, her eyes narrowing playfully, “I have a follow-up question,” she says, and both of them nod at her, only realising what she’s going to ask as she asks it, “So all the lectures you gave me on protection and staying safe don’t apply to you?” 

Emily sighs, “Ivy-”

“That’s an excellent point,” Rosie says, her shock dissipating as she jumps on the opportunity to make fun of her parents, “I’ve also had that lecture, and I’m a lesbian. My girlfriend can’t get me pregnant.”

“Okay,” Emily says, raising her eyebrow at them, her eyes flicking to Oliver to remind them that their little brother was in the room and that this understanding of all was a little more rudimentary than theirs, “I get it. But your Dad and I have been together for a really long time. And…these things can happen.” 

“That is true,” Rosie says, playfully elbowing Ivy again, “Otherwise you wouldn’t exist.” 

“Rosie,” Aaron says warningly as a flash of insecurity crosses their eldest's face, gone before her sister can see it, “We know it will take some time to get used to, but we’re excited.” 

Emily looks at Oliver, smiles at the furrow in his brow that made him look just like his father, and she runs her fingers through his hair again, taking in every moment before he is too grown up to let her. “Do you have any questions, honey?” 

He nods, “Can this one be a brother?” He asks, sighing like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, “I already have enough sisters.”

She laughs at the playful outrage from her daughters as they scoff at their little brother, and she leans in to Aaron’s side. He kisses the top of her head, and she knows right then that everything will be okay.

___

After Oliver goes to bed and Rosie slinks off to speak to her girlfriend, Emily finds herself alone in the living room. Aaron had insisted on cleaning up after dinner by himself as he sent her to sit down and rest. 

She groans as she places her hand on her stomach, nausea rolling through it just like always, a reminder that she hadn’t needed that morning sickness was not an accurate name for how she felt. 

“Mom?”

She looks up to find Ivy standing next to the couch, a can of ginger ale offered out to her and a soft smile on her face, “I saw these in the fridge and thought you might like one,” she says as she hands it to her, “I remember you used to chain drink them when you were pregnant with Ollie.” 

Emily hums as she cracks the can open and smiles at her eldest as she joins her on the couch, her knee against Emily’s thigh, “Thanks, sweetie. Whoever called this morning sickness was an idiot.” 

“Probably a man,” Ivy quips, and Emily chuckles before she has a small sip of her ginger ale. 

“Probably,” Emily replies, watching her daughter carefully, wondering when the tiny baby who had changed her life had become this woman sitting in front of her. “Are you okay? About…all of this.” 

Ivy nods, her smile wry, “I am, it will be cool to have another little brother or sister,” she says, “Besides, most of my friends’ parents are divorced, so it’s nice that you and Dad still…” she scrunches her nose up as she thinks of how to phrase it, “Love each other enough for this to happen.” 

Emily chuckles, “I guess it is.” 

“And,” Ivy starts, resting her head on Emily’s shoulder as she snuggles against her side, “Me and this baby already have something in common.” 

Ivy had come back to her recently, had come out the other side of the teenage drive for independence that Rosie was right in the middle of. Ivy would often text and ask if she could come over, as if they’d ever say no, and she’d enjoy sitting between Emily and Aaron on the couch, her head on her mother’s shoulder, just like she had when she was little, when their family was just the three of them. 

Emily runs her fingers through Ivy’s hair. “What do you mean?” 

She shrugs, something Emily feels rather than sees, and keeps her cheek against Emily’s shoulder as she replies, “You planned to have Rosie and Ollie. The baby and I were accidents.” 

Fierce protectiveness flares in her chest, overriding everything else as she pulls back to make Ivy look at her, “You weren’t an accident.” 

Ivy rolls her eyes, “Mom, please, we both know I came about 5 years before you and Dad were planning on having any kids.” 

Emily sighs, “You were…a surprise,” Emily says, smiling when Ivy rolls her eyes again at how she’s phrased it, “I mean it. You and this new baby were a surprise, but…good ones. The best ones,” she pushes some of Ivy’s hair behind her ear, “I can’t imagine my life without you in it, and I know your dad feels the same.” 

Ivy smiles and nods, her eyes shining with something close to relief, before she rests her head on Emily’s shoulder again. “Can I help name the baby?” 

“Well,” Emily says, running her fingers through Ivy’s hair, “You helped pick Rosie’s name, and she helped with Ollie’s…which means-”

“Oh God,” Ivy exclaims, the words turning into a chuckle as she shakes her head, “He’s going to want to call it Minecraft.” 

[dteamain]

honestly don’t know what to think about all this and everyone seems to be everywhere as well why must the boat be rocked so consistently in this fandom

there are many opinions flying around and lowkey i think many have some grounds behind them. i will go deeper for the love of the game

detailed breakdown of fandom drama below read at your own risk

tl;dr

dream isn’t evil he just some guy that could prehaps do himself some favours but can’t we all

i will try to break this down in chronological order to best get my thoughts out there may be some jumping

gf reveal:

i think no matter what he did or how he did it this was going to cause some fandom craziness. which is fine. people react to change this is so common and so normal. i think some missteps were one having his gf interact with fans before the hard launch it gave some of his most intense fans a way to seem like they had something others didn’t which never ends well i feel like if he launched the gf then she interacted with fans it would lesson the opportunity for people to spread rumours about how she interacted with people which would then maybe lesson the ‘dox’ (i use this for lack of a better word) phase everyone dreams attached to suffers.

i also think another misstep was the dranart account i think it’s okay to have a s/o helping you run things, i think it’s okay to play into unserious shipping with the fans a bit with harmless jokes about your friend, i even think it’s okay to let people think you’re behind an account your not to create some ‘magic’ and fun in the fandom. however all three together, having your s/o play into ships while running an account for you that you said you were behind is like muddying the waters a bit and while i don’t deeply care about this i can acknowledge that this dynamic could make people upset with how it may be perceived .

this will be a recurring theme but i think dreams biggest honest to god crime is sometimes not seeing things from a fans perspective. like yes from his pov in this situation he may think all this is stupid and unfounded but he has much more insight then anyone else. taking a step back and acknowledging that fans have a warped perception naturally could go a long way.

snf vs dream hangout battle:

i think this was all supposed to be playful banter that kinda blew out of proportion. once again i think dream isn’t acknowledging the natural warped fan pov. we obviously aren’t around to see their in depth convos that mixed with the fact that at literally any point any one of them can be misconstruing the truth (not on purpose i don’t think) how are we supposed to know who’s telling the truth. also the opposite stories are just funny at this point (snf saying he will always say no and dream saying they never ask in the first place) also i think they need to meet in the middle i don’t think snf should have to plan out every little detail for dream to have to agree to show up i also don’t think it’s fair on dream if they are throwing shit on him last minute everytime when he is busy. however there is definitely times we have seen dream lurking while they are live and joining in those moments could be an olive branch he can extend.

at the end of the day they could all benefit if they were all a little more flexible with their expectations (we would benefit too)

cursed 5 am (pr?) space and resulting reddit spree:

first off i will always believe dream just needs to stay off reddit but allas.

for this occasion i’m going to start backwards with the reddit spree first.

i’ll start off by saying dream is an adult and he can be upset at what he wants but for the sake of me providing some breakdown i will be criticizing this lol.

once again the warped fan perception (and maybe a little denial on his part) so if we hit the snf stuff again he’s upset that fans feel he aired things out from what i could gather. however from a typical fans perspective we have had history of snf expressing that they don’t like when he gives timelines and goes into their projects and dream has openly acknowledged this as well . their stance on this may of changed but WE don’t know that. pair that with the fact that he states he ‘mentioned’ these projects and his thoughts on why things arent moving. when in reality that aspect took up a minimum of 1/3 of the entire space you could very easily see why fans feel that he overstepped and may assume ill intentions. i think he downplays the time he spoke on it at the same time as not acknowledging fans pov which if you look at the space through that lense would of course make fans look crazy for thinking he crossed a line.

this isn’t something i’m deeply concerned with either but once again i can understand where people are coming from.

then we talk about him being upset that people think he’s not putting out content. but the reality is he is not lol and that’s fine i’ve never been a dream has to grind out content person i’ve been his biggest defender when it comes to that but yes of course you know how much work you are putting into things but obviously fans who see very little of your day to day are not going to know this. and listen there are cc’s who show a lot more of their day to day which in turn allows their fans to see and acknowledge this hard work. dream does not have to share his day to day if he doesn’t want to but then he has to be fine with people not praising his grind 24/7 and maybe even be fine with people complaining about him being mia. once again ill always be his biggest content drought defender despite it all.

and to be more fair he has been putting out the daquavis shit which correct me if i’m wrong or there’s more i haven’t been locked in. but from what i saw this is content that fans don’t want it seemed daquavis was out of touch with dreams fanbase. once again i don’t think any of this is a crime dream can put out the content he wants to fans don’t have to like it that’s his prerogative but with that there needs to be understanding that some fans won’t feel satiated.

also the elephant in the room him following up with dnf after every mention of the gf. i obviously don’t know his intent with this but he has to know what it comes off as. that’s all im saying about that.

at the end of the day dream isn’t evil he’s just some guy that could prehaps do himself some favours but can’t we all

[tomorrowillbeyou]

hello how do i start watching mindcrack who is in mindcrack what is mindcrack? . also what is uhc?

sincerely, someone who wants to watch mindcrack but has no clue where to start or what it is or anything

Umm mindcrack was a minecraft smp (well kind of still is but really not to any significant degree) that started wayyyy back a zillion years ago in like 2010 with a bunch of people making videos on the server and doing outside events and other games together and resetting the map sometimes for seasons so not really much different from current smps i guess. it was really popular back in the early to mid 2010s + several of the members are still really popular today. had a big impact on minecraft youtube content + a lot of cool and fun stuff happened on there but it also kind of sucked sometimes in like an early to mid 2010s humour kind of way so like be aware of that if youre going to watch it.

as for who to watch and so forth probably don't ask me that because i haven't had time to watch a huge amount of povs or anything like there's definitely better people to ask i think @mindacracka has some posts about that that ive seen but im not sure LOL. i am to be perfectly honest mainly here to create weird fictions about etho + pauseunpause and read way too far into their interactions over the years. because i have problems. so ive mainly only watched videos from them but hey maybe ill expand in the future. sorry i can't be more help on that one LOL

uhc (ultra hardcore) was invented by guude + vintagebeef (from mindcrack) and its basically minecraft hardcore (i have no idea if you like minecraft or mcyt at all so sorry if i overexplain things) which is where you only get one life and have to stop playing if you die, but in ultra hardcore you also can't regenerate health if you get hurt without special healing items like potions and golden apples. normally you can heal by eating so it's like an extra challenge. the first two seasons were a team of 4 people trying to beat the game, it had never been tried before in uhc (bcoz uhc had never been tried before) so it was kind of experimental. season 2 is the one i never shut up about because i have problems and i thijk pauseunpauses pov specifically is like really fucking insane and he suffered more than jesus but honestly i feel like it isn't the best one to watch first because it's very slow paced (there are like 3 episodes that are just enderman hunting montages) and has some really weirdly aged parts. after those seasons they changed the format to mainly be solo battle royale or team games, many iconic things happened and there are like over 30 seasons now.. i don't remember how many exactly. again im not the best person to be giving recommendations here because im extremely biased towards etho + pauses povs and their famous rivalry and all the different times they faced each other in different seasons and their weird hangups about it and the audiences weird hangups about it and im just very very very obsessed with that whole storyline so im not going to get started or this post will be toooooo long but at some point i will be making a pause + etho uhc supercut. Trust me.

anyway ihope that answered your questiosn in an adequate way i am not an expert due to not being into it back in the day because i was a small child and i was only allowed to watch stampy cat because my mum called every other youtuber a "sweary american" and i have only been into it since less than a year ago. if you have any further questions i may or may not be able to answer them

[blae-kitta]

Sketch page! Margaritabille au by @kerink with Bill making a caesar, Ford in the outfit I'm living in rn, a joke post I've already posted of where Ford loses a bet, and an interaction that been lodged in my frontal lobe for ages and was gonna make a proper comic for and then didn't

[shy-sapphic-ace]

I MISS XIAOVEIN

[strawberryrhubarbs]

if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times; any weird old man who comments on my face mask at my job should have to pay me $25

[deepseawave]

obsessed w the tags on ur last reblog

Omgg, thank you haha, it was a quality post so I just had to appreciate it in full force 😂❤️

Can‘t believe someone would actually enjoy my yapping :,D

[volosdarling]

IM BEING SO SERIOUS THERE IS NO GREATER JOY AFTER A DAY OF HARDSHIPS TO JUST FLOP IN MY BED AND TURN ON THE HEATING BLANKET AND HOLD V0LO PLUSH IN MY ARMS 😵‍💫 anyway here's a hot pic of him MY gf drew for ME you can look at it though

[leadersguilt]

cant remember bringing this up for a while so honestly i'll never be over the reiiteration that jean himself has a bleeding heart. he is going to be both blunt and honest with whoever hes speaking to, but in a way that he hopes will come to help them understand the situation but also does it so whoever he's speaking with actually understands the full situation and what that may entail despite the gruesome outcome.