#but my mom brought up that i may not be a good candidate for them since my bottom teeth are so severely out of wack

[oklotea]

I was rewatching eah season one, and I got to the Maddie-in-chief episode. And OH MY GOD did this single episode hold so much potential as a full-fledged special.

Just imagine with me for a second, before EAH asks huge questions about autonomy, the true reality of Ever Afterian society, or what secrets lie in Milton Grimm's head, they make a point to truly bring your attention to the underlying classism and favoritism in ever after.

It could have been the first crack that would eventually lead to them questioning Milton Grimm even further, and finding Giles, and eventually finding out the storybook of legends had been a fake.

AND OTHER SUCH IDEAS, I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!

We could have gotten the chance to develop Maddie's character further. They had strongly implied that Maddie was much more smarter than what you may first assume, what is it with that? How do those skills properly show themselves? Not just in debate, but on a daily basis? How is Maddie intellectual in a way only the wonderlandians can see? And better yet, how has the people in ever after high chose to neglect her and her skills?

THIS HYPOTHETICAL SPECIAL COULD HAVE BEEN AN AMAZING TIME TO ESTABLISH THE WONDERLAND CURSE AND HOW KITTY, MADDIE, AND LIZZIE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED FOR A GOOD HALF OF THEIR LIFE!!!!!!!

It could have been such a great moment to make the audience care about Maddie, and possibly the wonderlandians, even further.

We could have gotten Apple's first bit of character development, found in her earnestly looking at the non-royal characters as people equal to her, because let's be real, if we looked at the way she saw non-royals/commoners in the first book as something to build off of, it obviously comes off as disingenuous.

Maybe at the first half of the story, Apple is very sweetly and discreetly underestimating Maddie. Maybe going on behind her back about how, even though she admires Maddie's bravery, she doubts there'll even be any competition.

Only for as the special goes on, Apple watches how Maddie is actually a very talented, formidable and driven opponent

How will they show this?????? UHHHHH I HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT YET

BUT COMPETENT, AND GENUINELY DEPENDABLE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT CANDIDATE MADDIE IS A CONCEPT THAT COULD BE SOOOO SO JUICY

Like.... She's the kind of person who could be handed over an entire pile of student council work, the likes of which even sends a shiver down Apple White's spine, but thanks to the effects of wonderland, and wonderlandian photographic memory (I have no idea if that's a thing that only Lizzie has in wonderlandiful world but...... BUT LET ME COOK!!!! AGRHEGRGSVD) MADDIE IS DEPENDABLE, SHE HAS SKILLS THAT SHOW HER POTENTIAL AS A STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT!!!!! And not only that, she's got a big heart, and she cares about her friends and fellow non-royals very deeply, and just, having a non-royal as a student council president would be a huge step forward before all the crazy shit that would eventually happen in the future webisodes and specials.

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE OG WEBISODE WOULD HAPPEN ONLY WITH THE STAKES MUCH MORE HIGHER, AND A MUCH MORE SERIOUS TONE

And Maddie decides herself that she wants to work alongside Apple, because she can see just how genuinely dedicated and talented Apple is, and with that, Apple's character development for the special is wrapped into a neat bow, and from then on her and Maddie being student council presidents is an IMPORTANT THING that gets BROUGHT UP

Like in Dragon Games, we could have hypothetically gotten Maddie walking up to Apple, sadly asking her how she could allow the dragon games to happen, and better yet how her mom can allow the evil queen to walk free!

Maddie requests that, since she doesn't have as much leverage over Snow White, how about Apple takes some action to stop the games and convince her mom to take the evil queen hostage once again?

Only for Apple to visibly be racking her brain, and snapping at Maddie, telling her she can't do that, and the games must go on.

It would have really sucked and it would have hurt and it would have been amazing.

That's just ONE example I've got on Apple and Maddie being co-presidents being acknowledged.

Apple and Maddie could have had a more defined dynamic.... It would have been interesting seeing two characters who are so drastically different in how they function being in such close proximity to one another, and having to work closely with each other!

Alright, my final point in proving to you maddie-in-chief should have been it's own special issss.......

JUST IMAGINE THE DOLLS

Here's what I have in mind,

Pin striped suit Madeline Hatter

Pillbox hat, pencil skirt Apple White

VERY MUCH PRESIDENT ELECTION CODED

I jotted down some scrappy sketches to show you what I mean

It's not the best, I spent like, 5 minutes on it, but YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYINH

YOU DO

I TRUST THAT YOU DO

THEY'RE BOTH WEARING SASHES THAT HAVE EACH OF THEIR SLOGANS ON

Maddie obviously wearing a sash that says, "Hats over Crowns" Cause that's iconic

And Apple wears something more, idk royally conservative???!???? Something with the sentiment that, the Royal way is the better way, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YOU GET IT.

And we're not stopping with just Maddie and Apple! Even though they are both the crown jewels of this student council president election doll line (someone come up with a better name, god bless), the rest of the line consists of a handful of Apple supporters, and a hatful of Maddie supporters. Their groupies, per se.

All of them in dresses or suits, whatever it is, very much business formal, or business casual, they all look quite prim!

That's all I got so far on the maddie-in-chief special concepts.

If anyone wants to build upon them, by all means do so!!!! I would love to see what you people come up with!!! :D

Alrighth, take care everyone. Thanks for making it this far

[bbeeew]

sdv teir list [/j]

my rating for every bachelor/bachelorette in sdv in whatever order I decide

Alex

8/10, despite giving off that homophobic sporty guy vibe he's actually nice and I think he would be a good candidate

Haley

7/10, respect her and those who enjoy her as a character, but I don't really like her. But that's more personal preference

Harvey

11/10, the DISRESPECT this man gets is insane. For what, for why. He's honestly a 9/10 but he gets bonus points for how dogged on he is for no reason.

Maru

8/10, ignored and undervalued. A hidden Jem more people need to talk about

Sebastian

7/10, the gamer boy thing is cute, the smoking and hating parents thing is a little eh, bonus points for frogs.

Emily

6/10 if she is straight, 8/10 if she's a lesbian. Her character doesn't have a lot besides crystal girlie and being straight makes her bland. Mad respect of she's a lesbian tho

Sam

9/10, his hair may be nasty, but the golden retriever energy can make up for that. Also you get to pick the kind of songs he writes, which is sweet.

Abigail

8/10, eating rocks is cool, kinda leans into that I hate my father area but it works well towards the end of her arc.

Shane

12/10, I'm being biased but once again WITH THE SHADE BEING THROWN AT HIM. He's still a loving father/husband and does try his hardest regardless of wether you stay platonically with him or not. (Side note: he doesn't get worse after marriage, I better not see this brought up in the comments of a happy post)

Leah

9/10, lesbian queen, not much else to say. Very few downsides to her both in dialog and as an individual.

Elliot

7/10, kinda gives that over romantic mom book vibe, but I can get behind it. Kind, charismatic, loses 2 points for disliking pizza tho

Penny

10/10, extra point for the shade as well. For a character so sweet and kind and struggling with so much you really gotta be doing her dirty. She's giving the kids an education and that's great. Hope she is doing well.

Notice how none of them are below a 6/10

That was intentional, all have their values and all appeal to different people. And rating them through the "this is my idea of them and not how they are in the game" glasses isnt fair.

[perfectfangirl]

notes after rewatching fallout s1 ep1

so once again like a crazy person [i've done this with star wars sequels before] i've decided to take three and half pages of notes over the course of an hour. i've been a fan of the games for at least a decade and i'm actually always watching lore content between the installments though so while i do know some minute details, within the show, there was some things i was interested in and curious about that i just decided to jot down. some of this may be things discussed already and some of it might be something i wasn't sure if anyone brought up before but anyways! maybe i'll do the whole season, but here's my ramblings • them titling the episode "the end" was when i knew i'd love the show • ok but i really wonder if cooper can still do those party tricks? he was really good at them and lucy would probably love them too 🥺 • thinking back, the radio in the first scene mentions not knowing where the president is--- beginning to wonder if he was the guy sitting in on the vault tec meeting • just realized they introduced the mr. handy robot in some of the first scenes • ten years of nuclear threat according to anchor but the show is careful not to give away all the cards because why does the weather anchor make it seem like they know when the bomb will drop? idk but birthday boy mother turns off tv real "head in the sand" like • the nat king cole song that's playing though [wondering if the song is mirroring specifically cooper's feelings about barb despite everything hmm] • horse's name is sugarfoot 🥹 • him having to pay alimony... wonder what the prenup? was like... [still think he probably loves barb 😞]

• them calling him a pinko despite him being an architect of vault boy's persona, a quintessential presentation of a "man's man" acting as a cowboy, a real cowboy, a former marine--- wondering if there was a smear campaign after his situation with barb and vault tec, him working children's parties leads me to believe... • did the kid's say the birthday boy's name was boyd? [if so, there's another character in the games with this name and this is also the name of a character walton has played in another series, funny] • weather man show's up again distressed, wondering if we'll get more info about that day • everyone ignoring, cognitive dissonancing their own nuclear annihilation is so prescient if not disturbing and damning

• him teaching janey the thumb thing ☹️ • cooper's voice when he says "let me see if i can't rustle you up a piece" 😩 • janey being the only one to notice the first bomb • the fear in cooper's eyes • cooper being in denial one last time before realization sets in • people becoming animals the moment they realize what's happening--- one guy punches his friend not letting his family into the fallout shelter • people getting into their cars and cooper onto his horse to escape--- wonder how fast they could be since it doesn't seem you could outrun nuclear annihilation

• lucy being raised so well under the circumstances 😔 [hope she never becomes her father] • i haven't trusted steph since episode one • lucy being a teacher [amongst other things] and asking maximus about what happened after the bombs fell makes so much sense [and also much like another person suggested is an interesting juxtaposition to cooper's pre war knowledge] • lucy showing how skilled she is for being a marriage candidate when in reality we are seeing someone fit for the wasteland is crazy on second watch • is lucy not watching a cooper howard movie with her dad? hello??

• them reading "war and peace" in the family book club is rich • lucy [thinking] she's not good at guns, ironic • steph having to step in like a sisterly type because lucy's mom isn't there 😞 • the wedding dress on lucy being ill fitting, tight as symbolism for lucy not truly "fitting in there" and being constrained [foreshadowing] oof • the vault boy sign in the back saying "don't lose your head" lmao • didn't catch the "cousin stuff" until someone mentioned it on tumblr and twitter 💀

• the flashback we see of lucy ending up being almost a false memory, a misrepresentation of her actual memories, that she has been on the surface, in the sun • norm taunting lucy about her future husband being "anybody" and a "cannibal, crammed full of tumours" 😭 unfortunately for ghoulcy, this was some of the heaviest foreshadowing [the raider also could have been one too] • why didn't hank recognize moldaver? • so many things i still don't understand about vaults 31, 32, 33 • the growing realization they are raiders was pretty funny to me lmao

• moldaver having to sit through the disingenuous lies of hank ugh • norm going into vault 32 like they wanted them to know what was up? or is that just how vault doors work? they used lucy's mom's pip boy [that hank lied about burying] • lucy putting norm in a storage vault, she really is so strong • the handed down wedding dress getting messed up • i am curious if the raiders [shady sands survivors?] only mostly harmed vault tec aligners but maybe not • the way hank and steph retaliating a little too well • hank acting like he doesn't know moldaver when everyone really does know moldaver • moldaver telling lucy she looks like her mother is really such a tipoff

• realizing maximus is getting bullied 😭 • dane... might love maximus a little idk • from latrine duty to basically ruling over the brotherhood of steel • they really showed some dude jacking it lmao it's just normal i guess 💀 • maximus being defeated and having a rightful outburst of emotion, poor guy • the poster saying "the outside world can never harm you"--- funny • chet would've died up there 😭 • them not opening the vault back up for her, wondering if the vapourized bodies are from the initial bomb drop or the subsequent shady sands ones • dane almost gets maximus killed three times tbh • maximus joined the brotherhood of steel to get back at what vault tec did, essentially hank's doing, hank has many enemies • knowing the enclave, it makes sense why siggi is hunted • cooper the ghoul's introduction though • the bounty hunter saying his captors dig cooper up every once in a while to cut pieces of flesh off him 😞 no wonder cooper acts the way he does 😔 he's been taken advantage of, no wonder he doesn't trust anybody and is horrible to everyone • "why is this an amish production of "the count of monte cristo" or the weirdest circle jerk i've ever been invited to?" why would he say this 😭 • cooper's... been invited to circle jerks 👀 • does the bounty hunter know the ghoul is cooper howard?

• him not harming the chicken, him healing dogmeat, there's something there, folks • people only digging him up to use him again 😞 • what a coincidence he's dug up just as lucy leaves the vault • "i do this shit for the love of the game" he's a character, he's playing a character, real theatre kid • hence why cooper is introduced as "the ghoul", cooper is long gone • "us cowpokes, we take it as it comes" something about this lineee

[mx-lamour]

s01e01: "Aperitif"

(That's right, I'm taking notes this time. #hannibal rewatch 2023)

Whenever someone says "May I?" and invades Will's personal space, he doesn't agree or give permission, but he also doesn't protest. He lets them do it. (Is it out of curiosity? Is it masking? Self-deprecating? Something else? All of the above?)

When Jack first accosts him at the end of Will's lecture, he pushes up Will's glasses so he can't hide behind the frames. (This moment infuriates me. It smacks of my mom trying to tell me how to wear my own glasses. You never touch a person's glasses without expressed permission, y'all. That's so intimate. Bad form, Jack.)

When Hannibal brings Will breakfast, he asks to come into his motel room like a freaking vampire. Asks twice. Will doesn't give any kind of permission, but also doesn't shut the door in Hannibal's face.

"I don't find you that interesting," Will says.

But then Hannibal tells him he sees him as the mongoose he wants under the house when the snakes slither by, and that throws Will off-guard a bit. It's unusual. I can't really read Will's reaction, but it sticks like flypaper.

Hannibal has basically kidnapped Will. Framed like a date. Brought him breakfast, said "oop, looks like Uncle Jack is busy; I guess it's just you and me, alone, together" and took him out investigating. Jack finds Alana in the lecture hall later and asks, "Where's Will?" but like, he should know. He doesn't know, so Will wasn't supposed to be out there.

(Will, of Hannibal's copycat display) "It's like he had to show me a negative, so that I could see the positive." (Hannibal cheerfully sharing his human sausage) "You and I are just alike. Nothing for either of us to feel horrible about."

(Garrett Jacob Hobbs, after Will shoots the absolute shit out of him and is panicking over Abigail's drifting life) "See?"

I am somewhat amused by the fact that Alana was the one concerned about Will getting "too close" but was also the one who referred Hannibal as a good candidate for Will's psychiatrist. To be fair, she wouldn't have known what would happen. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, I guess.

[theygender]

I'm considering the fact that I might have to get braces again if I want to fix my teeth for good but I already look enough like a 14 year old boy adhskdks I'm not trying to seal the deal

[merlieve]

work in progress

ART DECO | Benedict Bridgerton x Reader (almost complete)

reader is super clumsy and benedict is always there to take care of her (he would hold her when she’s about to trip and maybe wipe off something that’s on hand he always thought he sees her only as his little sister. but when he sees her with another man, who is just as considerate with her as he is, he’s afraid that he would lose her forever.

HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY | Anthony Bridgerton x Reader

Would it be possible for you to do an Anthony Bridgerton x fem!reader where it’s like that scene where he brought a candidate list for a wife and the when it’s time for him to interview the reader, he gets emotional because she did something to him that reminds him of Siena. So instead of interviewing her, he told her everything about Siena, and how sad he was when they both broke up. And the reader consoled him, and she promised to help him get Siena back. They became best friends and the reader become super close with the Bridgertons, and one day she talked with Violet telling her about Siena, hoping she would finally accept her. The reader would also go to Siena’s flat to tell her how much Anthony loves her still. Anthony finally gets Siena again, but when he saw the reader having a great time with another man (like the scene where Kate got into the boat) he becomes jealous, and that’s when he realize that he falls in love with the reader all this time.

TRAINING WHEELS II | Anthony Bridgerton x Reader

Dark!Anthony x reader where they’re at a ball and no one has danced with her all night because Anthony threaten any man who did try, so that way he could swoop in last minute and save her from further embarrassment.

GIRL OF MY DREAMS | Anthony Bridgerton X Reader 🚧

How about a request where Anthony is head over heels for the reader because of her motherly nature. First, he sees how she would play with Daphne’s son, and he just feels how great it’s like to be taken care of (like the reader would take care of him when he’s sick and help him with all the family duties) since all this time he took care of his siblings. The Bridgertons (and Simon) sees how in love Anthony is with the reader and they help with the proposal plan.

THE MAN | Eloise Bridgerton X Reader

I’d love some headcanons or a sort of fic of maybe it getting out and back to lady bridgerton that Eloise is in a secret courtship with another women. Eloise and her mom have a rather angsty relationship, her mom is so desperate for her to find love and be happily married, it’d be interesting how she would react to this. Would she accept that Eloise has finally found love, but it’s just not with a man.

BLISS | Jerry Baynard X Reader

Can you do a Jerry x Reader where Jerry is hiding from reader whenever anne brings her to the cuthberts because he has a huge crush on the reader and he doesn't think he's good enough for the reader to be her bf and reader thinking jerry hates them. So reader approached jerry quietly and leads to a confession.

PAPER RINGS | Prince Friedrich X Reader

since you asked for bridgerton requests,, what about prince friedrich x reader who traveled to london to find a man to marry(the bridgertons host her since she was a friend) and she immediately thinks of going for the prince because he would be the smarted decision for her family and she just wants to marry him but he asks so many questions that makes the reader be like wait omg he’s not only a prince but he has a brain for himself and i find him quite funny and he’s genuinely interested in me and they end up in like a garden or something and she confesses that she originally didn’t see him as anything more than his title and he has a moment of ‘..what’ and she says like ‘—BUT i found something better than just a prince i found someone i may want to give my entire self to and share thoughts with’ something like that and he like walks away from her in the garden and back to the ball and she just sits there crying about how she fucked up and then the next time there’s a ball where the queen is present he asks the reader to dance with him and he doesn’t say anything to her just ignoring her and then after the dance he takes her to the queen and profusely confesses his much he loves the woman next to him and says like ‘usually people only see my title,, but she has learned to look past and truly see me’ and like i much rather favor pearls over diamonds

I received all of your requests! But, these are the few I’m working on.

[arctimon]

The Beta Team That Never Was - Fanfiction Corner (BH6 Edition)

So all of this Peni Parker comic talk actually got me thinking about the process of her being included in my fanfiction.

I wish I could tell you it was a long and arduous process, but...

OK, maybe some of it was hard.  But when you have a virtually endless supply of Marvel characters that you can use for possible teammates for Big Hero 6, you have to go with your gut.

We all know that the team will be Robbie, Aspen, Peni, Doreen (eventually), and Kate.  But there were six other candidates that could have been in the mix as well.

And five of them have their emblems here:

These were made before I actually knew how to make hero emblems properly.

Some of them you might recognize.  Some you may not.  But we’re going to go through them all, from left to right.

And to start...it’s really hard to draw tiny hearts.

1.) Riri Williams/Ironheart - Ironically enough, it was around the time that Hiro started chasing Sirque around the town in “Portal Enemy” that I started brainstorming her.  A teenage genius, stuck as to what to make, sees “Captain Cutie” and the chase on the news and gets brainstorming.

Thus, the Power Armor is born.

And she gets so excited that she bolts off to San Fransokyo to show her idol what she’s created.

And then, as per the Big Hero 6 Fanfiction Clause states...shenanigans ensue.

It was an interesting possibility, but the thought of Ironheart was really late into me doing the backstories of the people that I had chosen, so she was pushed aside.  I don’t personally see me revisiting her in the future, but who knows?

2.) Nadia Van Dyne/The Wasp - Back when Karmi had first been pulled out of SFIT, there was a young woman who wanted to recruit her into a special organization.  It was one that brought together the greatest female minds in their fields, and Karmi was on said recruitment list.

The organization?

Genius In action Research Labs, or G.I.R.L. for short.  And it was led by the Wasp’s daughter, Nadia Pym (later changed to Nadia Van Dyne).

Plot-wise, this was probably the person that I got the farthest with, since the story would’ve been more of a focus on Karmi than anyone else.  Also, the idea of writing someone with Bipolar Disorder (which Nadia was confirmed to have in her latest solo run) was intriguing if nothing else.

Unfortunately, it sort of dried up from there.  A lack of a central conflict, uncertainty as to how many of the other girls (Taina, Priya, Shay, and Ying) to have, and how to handle her actual powers stopped it cold.

But seriously, how do you write in the ability to shrink to microscopic size?  That’s not really a thing, even in a world as futuristic as San Fransokyo.

3.) America Chavez/Ms. America - The mere idea of a Superman-esque Latina teenager was enticing, especially because America, in her relatively short comic history, was with the Ultimates and the West Coast Avengers (meaning there was a possible Kate/Hawkeye angle).  Making start-shaped portals was the Silent Sparrow angle, and the all-around badass, headstrong attitude would be the counter to Honey Lemon’s more nurturing personality.

But being from an alternate universe (which has very recently been retconned in the comics in part because she will be appearing in the MCU and Doctor Strange 2), no real villain to play off of, and becoming possibly way too overpowered for the BH6 universe, she was scrapped.

It’s quite a shame.  I really like her in the comics that she’s in.  Perhaps there will be an opportunity for her somewhere down the line...

4.) Alison Blaire/Dazzler - A pop star with light-based powers?

Or better yet, a struggling artist with acoustikinesis?

Her power to convert sound into light was what originally drew me to her.  Something that could be made into a technological ability, unique enough to put a (pardon the pun) spotlight on it.

An actual blonde instead of whatever HL’s hair color is.

Heck, she even has a half-sister named Lois that could have been the antagonist (death tough, destruction waves, and the like).

But she quickly got lost in the fold.  Better ideas (like Kate and Doreen) got more of my brainstorming, and she was eventually given up on.

But funnily enough...

It’s almost like she’s already in the show.

(See, for the people who may be new, one of the many Marvel theories that I’ve touched upon is that High Voltage is actually this universe’s version of Dazzler.  Juniper is Alison and Barb is...well...Barbara London, Alison’s mom).

Hey, @baymaksu​ totally agrees with me kinda sort of.

5.) Cindy Moon/Silk - I knew right from the get-go that I wanted a Spider-person on the beta team.  I also knew that I didn’t want Peter.

No offense to Peter Parker.  He’s fine.  But there’s a billion other Spiders out there, and I wanted someone out of the normal vein of Peter, as well as even Miles and Gwen.

And in came Cindy.

Locked away in The Bunker because of her spider powers manifesting, she was eventually released by Peter and thus began her entrance into the main Marvel world.

Her “unique ability” is her improved Spider-Sense, which Peter has said is even better than his own.  That, plus her other powers, brought her the closest out of anyone to being a member of the Big Hero 6 Beta Team.

As we all know, however, Peni ended up getting the spot over Cindy (for the family angle with Hiro and the giant robot that she pilots).  On the other hand, Cindy would later make her debut in the stinger of the last chapter of Along Came The S.P.I.D.E.R., along with Miles, Anya, and Joey.

Unlike Riri, Nadia, America, and Alison, Cindy and the rest of Peni’s little Spider Society are going to be showing up in future stories.  And if I can get everything in order, they will be starring in their own story set in the Big Hero 6 universe.

Finally, I have no emblem for them, but the honorable mention goes to...

6.) Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - Yes, there was a point in time where I was seriously considering putting a nine-year-old super genius and a giant red T-rex into my stories.

Ignoring the giant...”red flag” here, the reason why Luna never made it is the same reason why I haven’t put Rishi in anything yet.  It’s because I don’t really know what to do with supergeniuses that young.  Hiro is at least a teenager and thus has teenager-y problems to fall back on (like puberty and Karmi and all that jazz), but a nine-year-old?  That’s a little too extreme for me.

When I was nine, I was busy playing with sticks in my backyard with my brother, not solving unsolvable puzzles from Bruce Banner.

...All that, and the giant dinosaur.

But hey, at least Disney is jumping on the MG/DD train.  That’s good to see.

Crossover potential, perhaps?

P.S. - As I was finishing putting this post together, it occurred to me that I may get this possible question in the comments, so I’m going to head it off at the pass.

“You know that all of your possible superheroes are girls, right?”

First of all...sexist.

Second of all...true.

That was about 90% on accident.  The actual team (Robbie, Aspen, Peni, Doreen, and Kate) has only one guy on it (two if you count Eli, three if you count Tippy-Toe).

I don’t really have a good explanation for that.  I like all superheroes, but I think that the girl and woman superheroes need some spotlight, you know?  I could have pulled people like Namor or Miles or the male Hawkeye into the mix, but to be honest, I find the characters I chose more interesting than a lot of the guy characters I was contemplating.

Of course, nothing is stopping any of you from using those characters in your stories.  Be my guest, not that you really need my permission or anything.

But you can’t take Aspen.  Aspen is mine. (Spoiler: Aspen is not mine.)

[lazarettta]

I’m Not A Witch

Characters ( Cordelia Goode, Misty Day, and Reader)

Word Count 3k

Warnings (Minor drug use 💨)

You don’t have a bad background, in fact your life is pretty cushy but not without its problems namely...you being able to do things with your mind but you have no control. Thankfully, Cordelia and Misty scoop you up before you head down a path of self-destruction. Platonic af but there could be something if you squint I think 🤔

~~

New Orleans was a world different from New York. A world different. You were born and raised in New York—it was your whole life, and you never really thought about a life outside of the city that never slept. Why would you want to leave the city that everyone wanted to be apart of? Well that's what you thought for twenty-three years.

You lived a comfortable life your entire existence, you didn't have to struggle nor were you ever afraid of your future. Your parents always made sure that you were well taken care of, nothing but the best for you and you knew how fortunate you were especially being a foster kid. You were born to Mr and Mrs Hawthorne, a wealthy couple who couldn't have a baby of their own so they went with the next best thing that money could afford—surrogacy.

It had taken your parents months to find the perfect candidate as Mr. Hawthorne, your father, would use his own semen (yikes dad). But that was all that you knew, you had no idea the identity of the woman they hired to carry you for nine months other than she was the nicest young woman your mother has ever met.

It wasn't a topic that could've been avoided as you got older and noticed that your complexion was a few shades more than theirs. But thankfully your parents were always open and honest with you, even at a young age. Of course you had a nanny growing up, both of your parents were lawyers—their time was always stretched far too thin, but you weren't a neglected child nor were you ungrateful and they loved you so much for it.

Which was why you never told them about your newfound skill when you hit your sweet sixteen—everyone thought the candle that nearly melted your entire birthday cake was a fluke incident but you knew that it wasn't. You had felt the heat of the fire as you watched your father set the tip of the match against the wick of the candle. For a brief moment you wondered what would've happened to your cake if it was on fire, you thought it would look pretty badass. You hadn't exactly expected it to actually happen! But it did and thankfully no one was injured just thoroughly freaked out.

Your parents laughed it off, quite nervously, but you never said anything about it to them and they never really brought it up again anyway. Unbeknownst to them, of course they were always at work and the penthouse housekeeper wasn't required twenty-four seven, you were able to fool around with your newfound hobby with relative peace in your room. Well until you nearly set the place on fire twice in the same month, after that you just went to the roof and googled meditation practices on google.

You only ever couldn't control the fire unless you were an emotional wreck. For two years, you kept that secret to yourself and if you didn't have friends before you sure as shit didn't then. No one really liked you anyway, your parents were richer than most of everyone else's and your parents actually gave a damn about you and not just about how you were going to make them look in the future.

They tried to bully you about your height but you weren't a punk, so that was short lived. Students envied you but that was okay. They didn't have anything to offer you, that's what your mom always told you anyway. Besides there was nothing wrong with being short, it just meant you had more to offer. Of course.

When you turned eighteen, you discovered something else about yourself...and you weren't exactly sure what you wanted to call it but you could always tell if someone was lying to you if you listened hard enough.

You weren't sure how it worked but you never took any real notice to it until your ex girlfriend, and your only girlfriend, lied to you and you felt a bit of a...you wouldn't say it was a jolt but your insides felt the same type of tingle when your foot fell asleep or something.

That's how you figured out your first love (high school, right?) was cheating on you...you hadn't dated anyone after that. How could you when all people did was lie?

And the minute they learned that you were a Hawthorne...it was done. You saved yourself the heartache and just focused on the future. You managed to graduate college a year early and you didn't go to jail for arson, yet.

The older you got and the more you learned about how shitty people could be, meditation and yoga stopped working so well for you and you ended up joining a gym. No martial arts or anything like that, you didn't have the time for it, but you hired a trainer and five days a week that’s what kept you grounded.

Presently...

You weren't currently working, well not anymore. Less than a month ago you were a nurse at Mercy hospital as a CRNA. It was a late night already and an unruly patient was brought in for a gunshot wound. Somehow he managed to slip out of his bonds and before anyone could stop him, the bastard had his hands around your throat and you'd...you just fucking panicked and he ending up burning to death from the inside.

No one knew how it happened they couldn't even prove that you had even done anything, but you were fired on the spot anyway...and your parents had to shovel out a good amount of money and blackmail to keep your name from the papers.

You hadn't searched for a job after that, what was the point? Your name may not have been dragged through the papers but you sure as hell weren't gonna be working at any hospital anytime soon. At least...not in Manhattan.

But after what happened...what you did to that man, the cruelty of it? Why would you? You'd been high strung after that and you picked up a habit you ditched after you left college.

It just helped you regulate your emotions better and to think, plus you just liked the way it made you feel. It also helped with the nightmares that would plague you every night, and the scene was always the same. He was always on top of you screaming to a pain too gruesome for words.

Your parents tried therapy but you were stubborn besides your medicine was better than theirs anyway.

Your father didn't know about your newfound hobby but your mom did, and she wasn't going to tell him either. She was just thankful that it wasn't crack or cocaine—she could deal with her daughter turning into a weed connoisseur. But she would not support an unproductive one.

That was exactly why she was on her way back into the city to your penthouse with two guests in tow. Doing her best not to cry in front of these two women who have proven to her that they could not only help you but take care of you in a way that she couldn't.

But she knew when your birthday cake went up in flames...she had been watching you the entire time, and in that moment...every warning and tale that your birth mother told her came to light. But she made a promise to love you like you were her own, because you were, and she'd love every freaky little tic that came with you.

As a mother it was hard for your mom to accept that this wasn’t something that she could do for you. But she was woman enough not to stand in the way of her daughter's success...whatever it was that you chose to do.

~~

You were sitting out on your balcony wearing your black robe with nothing else on except a pair of panties and your Prince tank top that you should've gotten rid of years ago but it was still one of your favorite—holes and all. You'd been blissfully in your own little world for a few hours now with your iPad sitting in your lap with some Stevie Nicks playing in the background over the speakers coming from inside your penthouse.

It was just the right volume that it wasn't too loud but the city noises didn't drown it out either. You'd just polished off your fourth bowl, something grape...whatever, you were just enjoying your time. You went back to drawing, head bopping softly and you were so lost in your own little world you didn't realize that you were alone in your penthouse. There were three different sets of high heels that you missed though you just about jumped out of your skin when your mother came into view via your peripherals.

“Oh!” you smiled bright and wide, eyes a tad bit low, “Hey mom, what are you...um...who are they?” you sat up quickly, unaware that your robe fell open with the movement and your mom nearly facepalmed. You set your tablet aside, doing a double take at the blonde with the curly hair that was lowkey dancing to Fleetwood playing in the background. You looked at your mom, your smile morphing into a confused frown, “Mom?”

“Sweetheart,” your mom soothed back a long strand of dark hair and cleared her throat softly which worried you even more because your mom was never one to be nervous, ever, “This is Cordelia Goode and Misty Day.”

Subconsciously you reached into your robes pocket and pulled out a bright orange stress ball you got from the bodega for a whopping five bucks. (You had to have been high as fuck not to argue that price down but whatever.) You squeezed it softly, licking your dry lips, “Um...hi? Did I do something to you guys too? If I did I'm so sorry, I—”

“No, baby, no,” your mother sat next to you, quickly fixing your robe and your messy hair and Cordelia's brown eyes shot to Misty, who had immediately stopped dancing, “Just...are you hungry? Orange juice maybe?”

“Mrs. Hawthorne?” you looked up at the blonde woman came up behind your mother with a soft smile, “If I may, in my experience it is always better to just rip it off just like a band-aid.”

“Rip what off?” you pulled away from your mom, scooting away and hated seeing that hurt look on her face but there was something going on, you were not that paranoid.

“Honey, this is just a little intervention and—”

Laughing, you scooted away from your mom again, “What? Mom, it’s just pot—”

Your mom waved away your comment with a roll of her eyes, “Honey, I don’t care about the grass—”

“Then what…”

“Zip!”

You quickly shut your mouth when your mom said that and have you that look, it was one you knew quite well growing up. It baffled you how it was still working on you.

Your mom sighed, “It's just for a little while and I'll make sure that this place is well cared for.”

“Wait what?! You're sending me away??”

“(Y/n).” the blonde, Cordelia, pulled your attention from your mom who was crying, Cordelia sat on the edge of your coffee table carefully while Misty continued to hover in the background curiously, but prepared in case you got jumpy, “We just want to help you, okay? We're not here to kidnap you or harm you in any way.”

“I can't be helped,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes even as the tears spilled over, “I—I don't know what you think you know, Miss Goode but...”

“I know quite a bit, (Y/n),” Cordelia held out her hand and suddenly your stash box flew past your head making you flinch but Cordelia caught it just fine and you stared at her wide eyed, “You and I? We aren't so different and at Miss Robichaux's academy for exceptional young ladies...we teach young witches such as yourself how to survive in the modern world.”

“Witches? You think I'm a witch? No way, mom c'mon...the...the stash box trick was cool and all, but witches? Mom! Mom please, you're not buying this are you?” but even as you questioned it, you knew that they were telling the truth and that's what scared you the most. “How do you know they're not trying to use this for your money?”

“We're not, I promise! We don't need your family's money, (Y/n). All we want is to help you.”

“Listen to her, honey, this is for your benefit, okay? And...these women are very nice people, so don't give them trouble, not that you would, right?”

You looked over your mothers shoulder at Misty, the woman offering you a smile and a playful wink.

You exhaled heavily, your eyes sliding back to your mom, “...and you're not getting rid of me right? Because of...what I can do? Or what I've done?”

“No! Absolutely not, it was an accident! If anything it was the faulty bonds they put that monster in! Honestly,” your mother huffed, “your father and I still have half a mind about suing that hospital…”

“But not without having to drag my name through the mud.” You mumbled, sighing heavily.

“I love you, (Y/n), so damn much. Yes, we would’ve gotten millions but you’re worth much more to your father and I, don't you forget that,” Your mom reached over and grabbed your hand, squeezing gently before standing and quickly gathering her Prada bag, “and...don't worry about your father with all of this. I'll break this to him myself but baby...promise me that you will try?”

You bit your bottom lip, nodding slowly and holding her hand tighter almost painfully so before surging up and hugging your bother tight, and even though she was in high heels your slight frame made it easy for her to catch most of your weight. She hugged you back just as fiercely, kissing your forehead twice before letting you go.

“And here—for emergencies and whatever you might need, honey.” your mom pushed her black card into your trembling hands, the weight of it denser than you expected it to be and it made you laugh, of course your mom would shove money at you. It was her love language, you stopped questioning it a very long time ago but you never took advantage of it. “I love you so so much.”

Cordelia watched the entire exchange silently with an ever curious eye, even daring to risk raising an eyebrow when she saw your mom push that unmarked card into your hands before skirting off. Your mom reminded her a bit of her own mother...money was Fiona’s love language as well.

But your mom was much more pleasant, her love for you blossomed like a rose rather than a thorn bush.

You exhaled shakily, hands fidgeting in front of you, “I...what now?”

“Now we get down to business,” Misty smiled at you, stepping into the space your mom once occupied and took your hands in both of her own, “Your mama is resourceful, she tracked us down and everything, but it wasn't like it was all that hard since Delia and I were lookin' for you too.”

“You...you were?” you looked over your shoulder at Cordelia still sitting on your coffee table, “Why?”

“We heard about what happened to the man at the hospital and even though you weren't named, it wasn't that hard to track you down and we happened to cross paths with your mother.”

“Figures...” you nodded, sniffling again and you quickly pulled your hands from Misty when a breeze hit your skin—reminding you how indecent you were among two strangers.

You fixed your robe again and quickly sat down and Misty followed you down, bouncing slightly almost a little too close—your high was completely worn off at this point, “Earlier you said that you were helping wit...people like me live in the modern world? What?”

“Yes, we help witches such as yourself avoid situations like the one you currently experienced.”

You raised an eyebrow at her wording and she smiled at you when you met her eyes. You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest��appearing unbothered even if you were still sniffling, damn. Your mood swings were going to give you whiplash one of these days.

“You don’t really expect me to go around calling myself a witch do you?”

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed a fraction, “What I expect, (Y/n), is for you to actually make an attempt. There will be rules and the sooner you drop the attitude, the easier this will be for all of us—you especially.”

You opened your mouth to argue back but then you quickly shut your mouth, your mom's words bouncing around in your head to stop causing trouble. Along with the promise you made to her.

Misty was sitting still next to you, and though you couldn’t see it—her eyes were darting back and forth between you and Cordelia with a bit of a grin trying to break free.

“Right, and um where is this school of yours again? If I even agree to this at all?”

Cordelia gave you a look that you couldn't really decipher, “Miss Robichaux's academy is in California.”

Your eyes flew back to hers immediately, “I don't wanna go around calling you a liar Miss Goode, I only just met you...but you and I both know that's not true.”

“Ah, so it is true...you do have some form divination.”

She led you right into a trap and you couldn’t even be annoyed by that, Cordelia was proving to be a lot more than she appeared. “Divination? What is that? Is there anything my mom didn't tell you?”

“Well, she didn't tell us ya favorite food.” Misty supplied unhelpfully, attempting to break the building tension with poor humor. And you couldn't hold back your smile, deciding that you liked her a lot.

“You're a walking lie detector, dear. That's quite handy in today's world.”

Misty chuckled before one of her arms came around your shoulders, “Oh yes, and Madison is just gonna love you!”

“Don't worry, you’ll fit right in.” Cordelia chuckled, still sitting directly across from you and there was a bit of a twinkle in her brown eyes, she knew you were going to be trouble and that she would have to keep a close eye on you. But if there was one thing that Cordelia enjoyed, it was a challenge.

~~

I dunno what I’m doing for real lol it’s 1am and I’m in my garage on a tablet 😅😅I thought this was fun

[waitimcomingtoo]

Where We Start Again - 5

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Synopsis: how do you fake date someone you have real feelings for?

Series Masterlist and Regular Masterlist

Playlist by @tiny-friggin-human

“Put these on the counter for me.” You asked of Peter as you handed him a stack of bowls. “Where do you think flour is kept?”

Back at your house now, you were preparing to go to the party together. The domesticity of it all brought a smile to Peters face as he put the bowls on your counter.

“Try your cabinet. Bottom shelf because it’s heavy.” Peter suggested. You opened your cabinet and gave him a proud smile when you found the flour.

“What are you doing?” He wondered as you struggled to lift the bag of flour. He didn’t help you, knowing his super strength would be given away when he lifted it with ease.

“We can’t show up to the party empty handed. We’re gonna make cookies.” You punctuated your sentence by dropped the large bag of flour on the table. “From scratch.”

Your turned your back to Peter as you got the eggs, milk and sugar out, so you didn’t see the adoring smile on his face. It was a simple gesture to show you had listened when he told you about his mother, but it meant the world to him. You preheated the overnight and dropped the bag of chocolate chips on the counter, finally looking at him and catching his smile.

“They’re just cookies, babe.” You nudged him with your elbow playfully. “You don’t have to look that excited.”

He knew you knew how much he appreciated it, and that only made him happier. He wrapped his arms around your waist from behind as you measured out the ingredients.

“I like it when you show affection.” You said quietly as you added the sugar into the bowl. Peter rested his chin on your shoulder and took in the scent of your shampoo.

“I don’t show it often in case you don’t want it.” He explained. To Peters surprise, you turned around in his arms and rested your hands on his chest. You looked up at him with a look in your eyes he had never seen before.

“I always want you.” You spoke softly.

I always want it.

You had meant to say you always want it. But his close proximity and the heavily way his cologne smelled made you tell a little more than you intended to.

An instinct Peter didn’t know he possessed kicked in and he began to lean in. Your eyes fluttered shut and his did the same. Before your lips could connect, your front door opened and you both jumped. Peter let go and you quickly turned around, hastily stirring the contents of the bowl. A woman walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge without looking at you.

“Hey, mom.” You said and Peter could hear a sadness in your voice.

“Oh, hi Y/n.” Your Mother was startled to see you. Her eyes went to Peter and she gave him a tight smile. “Who’s this?”

“This is my boyfriend, Peter. I told you about him, remember?” You asked but from the look on your mothers face, she didn’t remember. And from the look on your face, you looked like you expected as much.

“Nice to meet you Peter.” She nodded curtly. “I’m sorry, I have a work call. If you’ll excuse me.”

Your mother left the room as quickly as she came in and Peter let out a sigh of relief that the impromptu meeting didn’t go poorly.

“Is she gonna be mad that I didn’t shake her hand?” He asked you, breaking the awkward silence that had settled in the kitchen.

“No. You don’t have to worry about that with her. If it’s not work related, it doesn’t concern her.” You said as you angrily cracked an egg into the bowl. Peter got started on the wet ingredients, not blind to the look of distraught on your face.

“Oh. You don’t really look like her. Like either of your parents, actually.” He commented, having seen family pictures around the house.

“Yeah, well, foster children don’t tend to look like their foster parents.” You laughed humorlessly. Peter stopped what he was doing and looked at you.

“I didn’t know you were a foster kid.” He said softly. His gentle tone seemed to calm you down and you stopped stirring the ingredients.

“No one does.” You shrugged and looked up at him. “It’s strange. Everyone at school knows who I am but they know absolutely nothing about me.”

“Do your friends know?” He came beside you and poured the wet ingredients into your bowl. You were quiet for a moment as you mixed everything together.

“I told you, Peter.” You said as you got out a cookie sheet. “I don’t have friends. Not ones I can talk to about personal things, at least.”

“That sounds really lonely.” Peter said and instantly regretted it. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”

“No. It’s true.” You laughed sadly. “I am surrounded by people all the time but I feel completely alone. It is lonely.”

“You don’t have to be alone anymore. I’ve been told I’m very persistent.” Peter joked as he began to roll the dough into balls.

“Persistence is a good thing. You have a good head on your shoulders Peter. And a good face.” You grinned and wiped flour on the tip of his nose.

“Hey.” He moved away and wiped his face on the back of his hand. “My face is not a cookie sheet.”

“Okay.” You mocked him and put the cookies in the oven. He began to wipe down the counter with a wet paper towel as you put the ingredients away. Peter mulled something over in his head before pulling you by the elbow over to him. You stumbled towards Peter and stopped in front of him, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“You called me your boyfriend before.” He brought up as he wiped some flour off your face with his thumb.

“Well the people of the science fair needed to know you were in a serious relationship with your fake girlfriend.” You replied sarcastically as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Not at the science fair, I mean.” He shook his head and rested his hands on the small of your back. “You said it your mother.”

“Did I?” You said through a coy smile. You knew you had, you just didn’t know he caught it.

“Yeah. I don’t know how I feel about it, though.” He scrunched his nose. “I’d hate for people to know I’m slumming it with you.”

You laughed loudly at his joke and rested your forehead against his.

“You’re my sanity, Peter.” You told him and he stuck out his bottom lip. “But you can’t go to the party with flour on your shirt.”

“Are you sure?” He asked as he looked down at his shirt. “I think it’ll really help with my popularity.”

“Come on. You can borrow the hoodie you gave me.” You took his hand and led him to your bedroom for the second time that week.

“I can borrow my own hoodie? You’re too kind.” Peter teased as he shut the door behind him.

“And that’s why you love me.” You cooed and tossed the hoodie at him.

“Yeah, I do.” He said too seriously for a fake relationship. “I fake love you so much.”

“Well I’ll let you get changed.” You told him and left the room. Peter slipped his shift off and dropped it in your hamper, his attention getting caught by a piece of paper on your desk. He picked it up and saw a penciled sketch of himself drawn on it. It was a candid from decathlon practice, he could tell from the posters behind him. The part that stood out to him was the date written at the bottom, dated two weeks before you started fake dating. The door opening startled him and made him put the paper down. He turned and saw you looking with a very red face stationed in the doorway.

“Oh, sorry.” You squeaked. You turned on your heel so leave but he stopped you.

“It’s fine. We’ve seen each other now so we’re even.” He said as he threw the hoodie on. You nodded stiffly and sat down on your bed, all while avoided eye contact.

And ab contact.

Peter sat next to you and reveled in the awkward silence.

“So.” You gulped and stared off blankly. “You have abs.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Peter chuckled shyly.

“That’s cool.” You nodded. “Where did you get them?”

“May picked them up for me at H&M when they had that sale.” He replied and you rolled your eyes.

“Okay, fine. It was a dumb question.” You admitted and the awkwardness melted away. “I just didn’t expect you to be ripped.”

“I like to keep people guessing.” He laughed and the silence settled back in.

“Peter?” You said to break the silence.

“Yeah?”

“You’re hot.” You stated and he looked at you in shock. Your face was deadly seriously and he gave you an appreciative smile.

“That’s a first.” He told you honestly.

“I knew it would be. No offense.” You quickly followed up. “I just felt like someone had to say it.”

“Well I’m glad that someone was you.” He said pointedly. You pushed him slightly and leaned against his body.

“I’m not just saying this because my heart hasn’t kickstarted yet since I saw you shirtless.” You told him. “I’ve always thought you were cute.”

“Always? You’ve only known I existed for 5 days.” He reminded you.

“That’s not true.” You shook your head. “You’ve always been in my lunch and I see you after school when I’m at volunteer club. I’ve always known you existed. You used to wear those glasses freshman year with the gold rims that were way too big for your face.”

“I remember those. They were my dads. They weren’t even my prescription.” Peter shook his head as he reminisced. He stopped wearing them following the spider bite and didn’t even know you knew about them.

“Well I thought they were cute.” You said as you rested a hand on his knee.

“Thanks.” He said sheepishly, the instinct to lean in kicking in again. Before he could kiss you, you phone dinged and you jumped back. You sighed and picked up your phone to check the message.

“It’s Naomi. She’s wondering where we are.” You read the text out loud.

“We should probably get going.” Peter cleared his throat and got off your bed. You tried to wipe the disappointment off your face before you got up too.

“Yeah.” You faked a smile. “Can you take the cookies out of the oven? I’ll be right out.”

“Sure thing daisy.” He shot you a smile before leaving the room. You let out a frustrated sigh and went to your closet to pick out an outfit. In the kitchen, Peter was putting extra chocolate chips on the cookies, like his mother used to. You joined him in the kitchen and rested your hands on his back.

“Ready?” You asked before stealing a cookie. He took the cookie from you after you had a bite and bit it himself.

“Ready.”

~

“You came!” Naomi cheered when she opened the door. Her face quickly fell when her eyes landed on Peter. “And you brought someone. Is this your cousin?”

“Naomi, this is Peter.” You put your arm on Peters shoulder. “Peter, Naomi.”

“Nice to meet you.” Peter held out his hand and Naomi looked at it in disgust.

“Why’s he here?” She asked you as if Peter wasn’t there.

“Because I wanted him to be.” You said slowly. “And he can hear you.”

“Are you doing like a charity thing where you give nerds a taste of the popular life? That’s so deep and unique of you.” Naomi gushed. “I’ll tell the other girls to do the same.”

“No, I’m not doing that.” You shut her down. “Peters my date.”

Naomi looked at Peter with judging eyes as he gave her a weak smile.

“Fun!” Naomi said through a fake smile. “Okay well drinks are outside and bathrooms are upstairs. And Fallon is in the living room, wink wink.”

She winked at you and disappeared into the house.

“Jimmy Fallon is here? You guys have Jimmy Fallon at your parties?” Peter asked you in shock.

“Fallon Kennedy.” You corrected him. “He used to sit next to me at lunch. Naomi thinks he’s into me.”

“Is he?” Peter asked, jealously seeping I’m at the thought of another boy competing for your attention.

“I don’t know, maybe?” You shrugged in dismissal. “We don’t really talk much.”

Before Peter could respond, a sandy blonde guy twice his size came up to you.

“Y/n! I knew you’d come.” He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “You brought cookies? Sweet. I love a woman who bakes. So this is the crib. My parents are away for the weekend and we’re totally gonna lose our deposit.” He covered his mouth as he bellowed loudly. “I don’t care though. I work at CVS part time, so, you know. I’m on my grind or whatever. Saving up for a lambo. But I’d call it a ghini because lambo is so basic. You drive? Cool. I like to go real fast sometimes and think about my childhood and stuff. You hear I was looking for you? Awesome. Can I get you a drink? Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“He seems nice.” Peter lied once he walked away.

“I love it when he answers my questions for me. Really takes away the hard part.” You said sarcastically as you set the cookies down on a table.

“I wouldn’t drink whatever he brings you.” Peter warned you and you shook your head.

“I don’t drink.” You laughed shortly. “We better move before he comes back.”

You took Peter deeper into the house and found a quiet spot in the hallway to talk. While the rest of the house enjoyed the party, you and Peter enjoyed each other’s company. Now get wasn’t blind to the looks you were getting, but it didn’t seem to bother you. He tried to ignore it and focus on the fact that he was at his first high school party with the girl of his dreams.

“We should be safe over here for a while unless they want to play spin the bottle. That never ends well.” You rolled your eyes at the memories.

“Do we have to play?” Peter asked nervously. “I’ve never actually kissed anyone. In a hot way.”

“I never play. And you’ve never kissed anyone?” You asked. It explained the two missed kisses from earlier. You made a mental note that if the kiss was ever gonna happen, you were gonna have to initiate it. Before Peter could respond, his phone lit up with Neds contact.

“I’m so sorry, I have to take this.” He apologized to you. “He might be stuck to something again.”

“Take your time. I’ll wait here.”

Peter walked away to answer the call, his spot immediately occupied by Fallon.

“Dude, where are you?” Ned asked as soon as Peter picked up. “The bank on 34th street is being held up.”

“Shoot. I’m at a party with Y/n.” Peter looked back at you, face falling when he saw Fallon talking to you.

“Theres hostages Peter.” Ned continued. “The police can’t even get in.”

Peter looked at you one last time and sighed. The job had to come first, no matter how much he wanted to stay.

“Okay.” He reluctantly agreed. “I’ll be right there.”

Peter pocketed his phone and left the party without saying goodbye to you. He didn’t have time to explain why he had to go when there were hostages lives at stake.

Besides, you looked fine talking to Fallon.

“I’m so glad you came.” Fallon repeated as he stroked your hair. “Enjoying the party?”

“Yeah.” You swatted his hand away. “Your house is really nice.”

“I know.” He boasted. “You can come over anytime you want.”

“Thanks.” You said through a fake smile and looked around for Peter. Unbeknownst to you, Peter was already on his way out. As he put his hand on the doorknob to leave, he heard Naomis voice.

“You guys, I just saw Fallon and Y/n in the hallway and they were totally flirting. They would be so cute together.” She beamed. “Can you imagine how gorgeous their babies would be?”

“I’m so happy for her. She deserves this. Fallon is like, so hot.” Another girl chimed in. Peter looked at the group and saw them all nodding, making his stomach fall.

“So hot.” Someone agreed. At that point, Peter had heard enough. You were where you belonged, and he wasn’t.

“I’m really glad you came tonight. Naomi told me you were ditching me for the math fair or something.” Fallon snorted and took a swig of his drink.

“Can’t really ditch something you were never planning on going to.” You laughed awkwardly. “It was Peters idea to come. And It was the science fair. Peter won it so we-“

“Cool, cool, cool.” He cut you off. “You look really good in this dress, by the way. You’re definitely the hottest girl at this party.”

“Thanks.” You scrunched your nose at him. You didn’t really have an interest in being compared to other girls, especially if it was at the expense of the other girls.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to get closer to you.” Fallon leaned in closer. “You’re mad hot.”

“Don’t know how much closer you can get.” You faked a laugh as you scooted away from him.

“So you feel it too. I knew you would.” He shrugged smugly. “I know we don’t talk much, but I feel like I know you. Like, better than I know anyone.”

That was the last straw for you. He was practically a stranger to you, and hey he was claiming he knew you. After Peter showed you what real friendship looked like, you couldn’t entertain a fake one. You backed away from Fallon and folded your arms.

“What’s my last name?” You questioned him.

“I don’t know.” He laughed like it was absurd you’d even ask. “It can be Kennedy if you’re lucky.”

“Lucky enough to be a teen bride.” You said sarcastically. “I have to go find my date, if you’ll excuse me.”

You walked away from Fallon and checked in every room for Peter. When you couldn’t find him, you went and found Naomi in the living room with a red solo cup in her hand.

“Naomi. Have you seen Peter?” You asked her.

“Who?”

“The boy I came with.” You grumbled in annoyance.

“Oh, him.” She said flatly. “He left.”

“Left? We just got here.” You figured she had to be wrong. Peter would never leave you without saying anything.

“Oh, Y/n.” Naomi sighed. “There’s a reason people like him don’t get invited to these things. What are you doing parading around with a nerd on your arm? You’re committing social suicide.”

“That’s not a thing! That is physically not a thing.” You snapped before quieting down. “He didn’t even say goodbye.” You mumbled.

“He probably saw you with Fallon and realized he’d never have a chance.” She shrugged and your eyes widened. “All the girls are talking about it. You really shouldn’t have given him hope, Y/n. You’re our leader and if the other girls see you with nerds, they might think they have to do it too. Or worse, nerds will think it’s okay to starting talking to us. You should really try to set a better example.”

You stared at her for a moment as what she said registered with you. You almost couldn’t believe what you had heard.

“I don’t want to be friends anymore.” You said suddenly. “If we ever were.”

“What?” She laughed. “I’m your best friend.”

“What’s my favorite flower?” You tested, on a hot streak now with cutting off toxic relationships.

“Who has a favorite flower?” She scoffed.

“What are my hobbies, my favorite book, my passions in life? Can you name anything about me?” You asked her, already knowing she couldn’t.

“You’re acting crazy.” She eyed you curiously. “Why would I know those things? It’s not like you know those things about me.”

“Because that’s what a best friends does. They take the time to learn the answers to your questions. I have to go.” You walked away from her and went to the door. Before you left, you went back to where Naomi was standing with a dropped jaw.

“You like roses because your favorite color is red. You don’t have a favorite book because you hate reading because of your dyslexia but you loved The Outsiders in 7th grade. You think you’re dumb but you’re actually really smart and want to be teacher after college. And you can be. You’d be great at it.” You told her. “I know these things because I listen. You never have.”

You left for real that time, a shining smile plastered on your face as you took your freedom with you.

~

Peter snuck into his apartment with a hoodie and sweatpants covering his suit. He tiptoed past May, who was fast asleep on the couch, and carefully shut his bedroom door behind him. As soon as he turned on his light, he saw you standing in the middle of his room with your arms crossed.

“Y/n?” He whispered in shock. The last thing he expected was to see you in his room.

He definitely never expected to see you this angry.

“You know, I was actually excited to spend some time with you. I know parties aren’t your crowd and everything but you didn’t even stay for a full hour.” You whispered angrily. Peter approached you carefully and rested his hands on your shoulders.

“I’m- I’m sorry.” He stammered and you pushed him away.

“I didn’t even want to go. This was your idea. I just wanted to hang out with you. But clearly, you had other plans.” You continued. After yelling at Fallon and Naomi, you weren’t holding anything back. Peter had hurt you, and he needed to know.

“Something came up.” He offered weekly and you didn’t look amused.

“And this something was so important that you had to leave without saying goodbye?” You asked. “You were my date and you ditched me. Everyone saw.”

You were mad. You were very mad. And Peter had no idea how to handle a mad girl. He had just gotten his ass beat by an armed bank robber, but you were so much scarier.

“I thought you didn’t care what people thought.” He mumbled as he looked down.

“I don’t care what people thought. I care how it made me feel.” You said at full volume and Peter finally understood. “You just left me there, Peter. We spend a whole day together and you tell me you’re my friend and then you abandon me without a goodbye. What am I supposed to think?”

“I can explain.” He reached for you again, accidentally making his hood fall off. You could finally see his bruised face in the light and gasped.

“What happened to you?” You whispered. “Who did this?”

“I actually can’t explain.” He said apologetically, knowing it’s make the situation worse. “I’m sorry. But I would never leave you without a damn good excuse and I promise you, I have one. I just can’t tell it to you.” He took your hands and this time, you let him. “I wanted to stay so badly. I swear I did. I hate parties, but I like you.”

You smiled softly and it encouraged Peter to go on.

“I only left because I absolutely had to. Please just trust me on this and say you believe me.” He pleaded quietly.

“I believe you.” You said simply.

“You do?” Peter asked in surprise.

“Should I not?” You pulled away a little.

“No, you should.” He nodded as he pulled you back. “I just didn’t expect you to.”

“If you say you had a good excuse, I believe you.” You repeated. “You don’t have to tell me what happened. I just care that you’re safe.”

Peter sighed in relief and scooped you up in a grateful hug.

“Thank you. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.” He mumbled into your ear. You held him tighter and rested your head against his heartbeat.

“Don’t worry about it. Just don’t do it again.” You replied. You let go of Peter and took a pair of sweatpants out his his dresser, as well as a sleep shirt.

“What are you doing?” He asked as you went into his bathroom to change. You came out shortly after, looking angelic in his clothing.

“I’m staying with you tonight.” You said like it was obvious and got into his bed. Peters jaw slacked at the sight of you in his clothing, in his bed. He began to wonder how hard the robber had hit him.

“What about your parents?” Peter asked once he collected himself. He went into the bathroom himself and hide his suit in the shower.

“They won’t notice I’m gone.” You replied as you stretched your limbs.

“How do you know?” He asked, turning off the light and hesitantly joining you by sitting on his bed. He stayed as far away from you as possible to give you your space as you sat up.

“They’ve never noticed before.” You shrugged. He could tell it bothered you so he didn’t want to push the topic. He gave you a gentle nod and squeezed your hand to show he cared.

“Are you sure it’s okay if you-“

“Look, I had a bad night. And judging by the looks of it, so did you. If you want me to leave, I’ll go but”, you sighed, “I don’t really want to be alone tonight.”

“Stay.” Peter stated assertively and you smiled at him. “I want you to stay.”

“Lay down.” You said suddenly. A million thoughts went through Peters head as his eyebrows came together.

“What?”

“Just lay down.” You repeated and he obeyed. He slowly laid down and stared at you expectantly. You pushed him over on his side and wrapped your arms around his waist.

You were spooning him.

He had ditched you at a party and now you were spooning him.

“I was worried about you.” You mumbled into his ear as you nuzzled your face into his neck. “I searched that whole house trying to find you. I was scared something happened.”

“Nothing happened.” He assured you.

“You have a black eye.” You said pointedly. He could feel your lips against the back of his neck as you spoke and it sent a chill down his spin.

“Something minor happened.” He corrected, making your body shake against his as you laughed. You quieted down and the room fell into a silence.

“I care about you.” You said after a minute. “I care whether or not you come home.”

“If you’re what I have to come home to,” he began, “then I’ll always make it back.”

Tag list 🏷

@a-villain-vying-for-attention​ @wendaiii​ @dorbiksbitch​ @t-monosapiens-h​ @badhollandfluff​ @silteplaittais-toi​ @thisisthebiplace​​ @seasidecrowbar​​ @spideygirl2003​ @5-seconds-of-mendes​ @bitchylittleredhead​ @oh-whatabeautiful-parker​ @everydaymj​ @write-from-the-heart​ @blackpetalsmeandeath​ @electraheart-3174​ @shawni-h​ @peterparkoure​ @sleepythighsweat​ @steebbb​ @traveleraroundsworld​ @averyfosterthoughts​ @bralessandflawless​ @viwihere​ @eridanuswave​ @the-greatt-perhaps​ @spidey-lillies​

[anjuschiffer]

The Wayne Twins

Just woke up from a 3 hour nap and decided to make some tea when another story concept came to me.

I’ve always been down for bio!dad bruce, hell, I’ve been writing content for it (and even holding an event for it), but!

What if... Bio!dad Bruce AND Bio!mom Talia, meaning... TWIN AU (although Talia isn’t exactly the best mom here either :D)

So basically, Marinette is brought up the same way as Damian, but instead of a sword, she’s an expert at using a rope dart

Her rope dart is black with a single red feather, a sliver dart at the end

However, while Damian is taken to Bruce, Marinette isn’t. Instead she remains with Talia

She’s taught about the miraculous, that she is to investigate the whereabouts of it and to retrieve it

Marinette accepts the mission and wanders the world to look for it

3 years pass, Talia yet to receive any news about Marinette, wondering if she also betrayed her like Damian had. It had been a year since her last report

Turns out, Marinette was still on her mission, but hadn’t been able to contact her mother about her progress on it. She had a lead that told her that the miraculouses were somewhere in France

Marinette had almost been caught by the French government when she tried to cross the border, but still managed to get by.

Now using a fake identity, Marinette got an apartment and school documents to ease her mission

Now it was a matter of time to find it

Now, at this time, Damian was more open towards Bruce, finally dropping the last piece of information Bruce needed to know

“Father, there’s something I need to tell you.” He hesitates when Bruce remained silent. “I have a sister.”

“As in-”

“No, not older.” Damian digs through his pocket, having a picture to show him. Single photo he has of the two of them. “My twin.”

Ensue Bruce losing his shit because why is he finding out about his other child through his own? Why didn’t Talia tell him about Marinette?

Ensue the hint for Mari, taking a year to track her down at Paris since Damian didn’t know of her whereabouts for 3 years and Talia wasn’t giving out any info about Mari

Once they do find Marinette, she’s managed to find and have the Ladybug miraculous in possession, despite Fu’s gut telling him it was a bad idea, but gave it to mari because Wayzz said she was the perfect candidate

However, Mari has been conflicted on whether to give it to her mother, her principles being tested.

Also, something like this happens

It had been a walk home, after fighting an akuma and once more giving Adri-Chat Noir the cold shoulder that she feels like she’s being followed

She quickly whips out her rope dart, tying up the stalker, only to find Damian before her

“Damian. What...what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your father?”

“He’s our father.” Damian emphasizes, not untying himself at all

At that Mari purses her lips, quickly setting Damian free, but doesn’t run up to him even though she wanted to. After all, Damian was the only person she considered family. She resented their mother and grandfather

“You still havent answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“I want you to meet father.”

“No.” Mari growls, her rope ready to attack if she hand to. “He’s not my father.”

“Whether you don’t consider him to be or not, he is by blood.”

“No he isn’t!” She attacks, leading to the two fighting, although Damian mainly dodges or has to free himself from multiple captures. “You’ve gone soft. Mother would be disappointed.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Shouldn’t you have reported to her already?” Marinette loosens her grip on her dart, allowing Damian to take advantage and knock her out.

She wakes up at her apartment, where she’s face-to-face with Bruce

“Marinette, meet our Father.” “Father, meet Marinette, my sister... your daughter.”

Bruce remains still, observing the girl, wondering why Talia never told him about their little girl 

Bruce attempts to talk to her, but she breaks out of the apartment, once more fleeing from them

Bruce attempts to go after her, but Damian doesn’t let him

“She’ll keep doing that until she wants to face you. I may not know what she’s been doing for the past three years, but I did grow up by her side for 10.”

Marinette looks for a new apartment and tells her mother about the situation at hand, Talia reassuring her everything is going to be fine and to just focus at the mission at hand

Some time passes and the opportunity finally happens. She’s appointed guardian. 

“Mother, I finally know where the miraculous are.”

“Good. Once you have them in your possession, we’ll finally have the ability to complete the League’s goal.”

While Marinette is happy that her mission is almost over, she doesn’t want to hand them over to her mother, something beckoned her to not do it

If living in Paris taught her one thing, it was that she had the power to change

her classmates had shown her kindness despite her cold demeanor, the bakers around the block showed her love and warmth, treating her like family whenever she dropped by

Her coldness melted around these people, even around the Lila girl that got under her skin. While she didn’t like Lila for attempting to frame her for her mistakes, she certainly did like her for her story telling. She should consider being a director or writer.

She knew that she can change, that she didn’t have to suffer from Talia’s rules anymore if she didn’t return

For Talia never truly loved her... she was a mere tool to her...

“She can’t have you.” Marinette muttered to herself, looking at the kwamis with sadness “She’ll abuse you. She’ll hurt you...just like she did to me...and Damian.”

While away from Talia, Marinette had learned more about herself, learned that she liked to sew, that she loved parkour and acrobatics

She learned these, because she was away from Talia, from her controlling mother

A month passed, Marinette now in Gotham, realizing that if she wanted to escape Talia, she was going to need help.

As soon as she stepped into Gotham, she already found it.

She had carelessly let her guard down, surrounded by thugs when Nightwing had fended them off

“You shouldn’t be out here at this ti-”

“I need to speak to Batman.” 

“And why’s-”

“Let me speak to Bruce.”

“Hold on a sec, how-”

“He’s my father and Damian’s my brother.” Marinette cut to the chase. “I need their help.”

Dick nods and brings Marinette to the batcave, where Marinette rushes to hug Damian, which confuses the hell out of Tim and Jason

Upon seeing Bruce, Marinette awkwardly hugs him, apologizing for the mess their first encounter was

Bruce hugs her tighter, happy that Marinette finally acknowledged their relationship

“So why are you here?” Jason asks, Marinette telling them about her situation, explaining to them her plan (don’t know if I should make her show them the kwamis or not...)

They agree to help

Talia ends up dropping in the next day, much to the family’s surprise (although they already had everything in motion)

Talia ends up dodging the other bats, chasing Mari and cornering her in a room, Marinette telling them that she can handle it, much to Damian’s worry

“Marinette, come now. Hand them over.”

“I won’t.” Marinette defends, looking at the miracle box in hand. “I will never give them to you!” 

Talia rages, beginning to tell marinette how soft she had grown, that she was throwing her opportunity of a life time, that she was stupid for casting aside her right to the ‘throne’

“No I am not! While I’m not the prodigy like Damian, nor am I strong like my father, nor as cunning as you, I know one thing! I’m happier than I’ve ever been since I left the League and I want to continue to be that way!” Marinette yelled, slipping on the Cat Miraculous, shouting catacylsm, holding the miracle box with her other hand

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Something that all the previous guardians should’ve done.” With a shit-eating grin, Mari destroys the box, Talia screaming

Talia gets taken down by Bruce although she ends up escaping and retreating

Marinette finally feels a giant weight off of her, collapsing to the floor

Of course, the plan still isn’t dont

Marinette brings back the Miracle Box (gave Dick the earrings to hold...other rather wear. She changed the earrings to be magnetic) and vows to protect them with her life

“So that’s it, isn’t it?” Damian says, sitting next to her. “What’s next?”

“Dunno.”

“Why don’t you stay here?” Damian offers, Marinette taken aback. “I know you have nowhere else, so why not just...stay with us?”

Marinette looks at the rest of the family, looking at the bruises and cuts on their faces, smiling back at her. Overwhelmed by her emotions, Marinette begins to cry, Damian simply sitting there as she cries.

Her wish was finally granted. She can finally have a warm, kind place to call home.

Tags: @theatreandcomicfreak @damianette-is-life

[btssavedmylifeblr]

I forgot to send on my voting story. Ok so my brother and I both got mail in ballots, and let me tell you how we both forgot to mail it in so we just thought to bring them to our voting location. The lady there kinda yelled at us? She was confused and didn't know how to go about it. And honestly I just took it because we were the idiots who didn't mail in our ballots. We had to rip them up and they just us new ones to fill out in person and submit. Not exciting, but a story for void snippet. 👀

Anonymous said: Hi!! I'm so excited for void! I voted today around 30 minutes before the polls closed in my neighborhood because I had to wait for my dad and brother to get home from work since they wanted to go all together hehe. It was a pretty fast process! We just pressed buttons on screens (compared to last election where we had to bubble in everything by hand) plus, I got to keep the stylus that they gave us and it works on phones too! 🥰🥰 Thank you! I love your writing so much 💜💜💜

Anonymous said: I did mine through mail me and my husband did and we went to the post office a little while back and then he took us on a nice little date afterward and we got ice cream! Also I love void💖 keep up the good work

Anonymous said: VOTES FOR VOID??? I love democracy and I love VOID! So since May I've (temporarily) moved back home from New York to Indiana RE: covid; I've voted absentee for the both the primaries and presidential election (I'm still in IN rn...blah). I voted early and mailed in my ballot for the presidential election (about 3 weeks ago). Made sure my family was voting (brother mailed it in, mom dropped off a ballot, and dad did early voting) and encourage them to put up a Biden sign in our yard <3

Anonymous said: HI BEE! I ALSO VOTED TODAY! IM 21 SO THIS IS MY FIRST TIME VOTING FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (my 18th bday didnt make the cutoff since im a december bday) im so happy to have done my part! I made sure to study up on the judges and policies and everything! Luckily the polling place didn't have a line so i was able to get in, get my ballot, and fill it in right away! I even dragged my mom and cousin to come with me. I made a joke on snapchat to encourage my friends to vote too. It was a pic of my "i voted" sticker with a caption saying "omg youre so sexy when you vote aHaha" -🦙

Anonymous said: this is my first time doing this so, so i hope i’m sending this correctly! i voted early in late september by mail! i live in a swing state, so it’s really important for me to vote and not waste time!! bc of my age, this is my first time voting so i’m really nervous 😅

Anonymous said: I voted by email! I'm overseas so I wasn't sure if my ballot would actually make it through in time, so I decided to go electronically. Had to sign a waiver saying I understand that my vote won't be anonymous but I haven't been given a reason to suspect voter suppression/fraud in my state, so I'm happy I think...!

Anonymous said: hi, i voted early on oct 24th. my absentee ballot didn't come in, so i had to travel back home to vote (~3 hour drive). when we got there, there was a ton of people outside the polling place, but no lines, so i was in and out pretty quick. it was my first time voting, so i had all the candidates i was voting for written down on a tiny receipt so i wouldn't forget 😅. my mom was with me, so she voted too. took a pic with my sticker (mask on for extra covid-ness) and went home. drove back the next afternoon!

whippedforkook said: Hi Bee. 💕 I voted in early October - nearly a month ago! 😱 It’s been really weird with all the lead up to the election because it felt like it should have been done once I cast my ballot! A lot of my friends have volunteered to get out the vote: writing postcards to voters, texting, phone banking, working the polls, curing ballots. I didn’t volunteer at all this year, but I hope that all of my friends’ hard work and everyone else’s is enough. I’m also hoping and praying that I will be in a better place mentally for 2022 so that I too can volunteer. Our work starts with 2020 not ends. 💕 Wishing you well. 💕

begineuphoria said: I went and voted last Friday as it was our last early voting day. No way was I going to wait until today with the crowds of people in my area that still act as if masks are somehow infringing on their rights. 🙄 It was a rather normal experience for the most part. Other than having to use a coffee stir stick to press the buttons on the machine to vote. In and out within five minutes.

Anonymous said: I voted down the street at this pretty park this morning. I got up at 5:30 and it was freezing. Luckily I wore like 30 layers and stood outside for 2 hours. Some nasty orange man supporters were rude but everyone else was pretty nice. A really cute older couple was playing soccer with pine cones and kicked it towards me to play too. Not the worst time tbh.

Anonymous said: Did mail-in voting in California! Extremely exhausting and took forever to research all the propositions - they are notoriously tricky in hiding their flaws and one side tends to outrageously outspend the other. But in the end I felt really good about my research and decisions! No need for you to post a snippet for this story - would like to save that to read sometime in the future ;) Thank you so much for doing this!

joonsgotthejuice said: Votes for void??? I am here! I went last Thursday and it was chaotic bc I kept going past the poll place but the line was soooo long so my mom called me and woke me up like "its pouring rain and the line is super short get up I'm gonna pick you up" so thats the story of how I got dressed in 5 minutes and dragged my ass to vote in the rain <3

Anonymous said: i voted early on thursday it was cold and rainy but i went in the late afternoon and thankfully the only waiting i did was a few minutes for an elevator i got very lucky and while waiting for the results is awful the relief that came from voting in general was just great

Anonymous said: Wheeew the polls just closed and I finally got to cast my ballot yayyy ( I was the one working the polls from earlier) it’s been a really really long day and we actually had surprisingly good turnout. I saw a woman try to vote for someone else who claimed to be “helping” and I saw a woman who I’m pretty sure was on some typa something 👀 Overall though I really I’m really thankful for people like you who encouraged people to get out and vote. I hope the odds are in our favor❤️🤞🏼

chelsea-chee said: Hello Bee! Today surprisingly my elderly father wanted to vote so I brought him out with me. He only cared about voting for Biden, which meant I got to help decide who he should vote for with the rest of the candidates and amendments! Say hello to baby bee for me as well! 💖

Anonymous said: Okay I gonna got a chance to vote today and the process wasn’t that bad actually. I went in just now and it wasn’t that busy( thankfully) so no lines. I’m from Texas and it’s gonna be almost impossible to turn this state blue, but every vote counts! I love that you are getting people to vote and also sharing your experiences as well!

owl-orgy said: Dropped off my mail in ballot at a polling location! I originally wanted to vote early in person because I was worried my signature wouldn’t match closely enough but ended up just turning it in and double checked today to make it said “ballot accepted and counted”!

Anonymous said: I voted in person this afternoon, better late than never I guess. I was gonna go last week but then I got cramps from hell. There was no one in line in front of me, I think my county early voted because it was packed everyday the last few weeks

Anonymous said: I voted early a couple weeks ago. Exciting thing though that did happen was I got both my parents to vote for their first time ever.

Anonymous said: I had a mail in vote. So, I filled it out and dropped it in at the ballot box at my library. (I also checked out books for the first time in years, so I had fun!)

bubblyjiminnie said: I literally just finished voting. Lucky for me, the line and wait wasn’t very long, and it was a nice enough day that the short amount of time I had to spend in line outside of the building wasn’t too bad. My social anxiety when it comes to stuff like this tends to be high but that’s what I get for waiting until Election Day instead of going the mail in route. This was only my second time voting, but I’m glad that I did 😊

Anonymous said: I turned my ballot in last week :) I’m not a big fan of crowds and I hate make spur of the moment choices but despite that the first time I was able to vote back in 08 my Mom pressured me into voting in person because “you’d have to experience it at least once in our life”. And ever since then I comfortably vote by mail. I take my time, do all of my research, listen to music, and best of all don’t have to deal with people.

Anonymous said: here in Washington state it’s super easy to vote. I dropped my ballot off in mid-October and it’s already been accounted for! Mail in voting and drop box voting is fantastic and provides equal opportunity and access. Sad to see some people in red states misinforming Americans about it! We also have a referendum for implementing mandatory sex ed, including teaching respect, empathy and consent as part of the curriculum so I was happy to vote yes on that too!

unionrox006 said: I voted about 2 weeks ago by doing a mail in ballot. The other eligible to vote members of my household did the same. We chose to vote by absentee ballot because both my mom and I have an autoimmune disorder, so we have to be careful going out in the pandemic. Tbh, the ballot layout was a bit confusing at first as was all the paperwork and required IDs and documents. But my dad explained it to me and we got them filled out and mailed off. Kinda mad I didn't get a sticker for it though

bluetostone said: Love this and so excited for the next chp of void! I early voted a few weeks ago and because I live in a pretty rural county I was in and out of my polling place in a few minutes. No sticker though 😢. I live in a swing state so it could go either way in terms of delegates. Just praying everyone is safe tonight as the results roll in...though, won't we not know for sure for a couple of days or weeks?

Anonymous said: My mom, sister, and I received our early voting ballots a while ago and I took the longest to fill mine out because it was making me anxious :,( but I did return it before it was due. I checked our ballot statuses and mine and my moms were accepted but my sister’s said they hadn’t received hers back. Then she got another ballot so she filled that one out too and I took it yesterday 👍👍 I think she got two because she changed her address late so they sent two?

vixsynsblog said: Non-interesting voter story: I'm paranoid and live in a highly divided area, so I filed mail-in ASAP, mailed it a few days after cause neighbors are nosy and don't understand boundaries. Was able to track my ballot through my credit company, which was nice. Only thing I was missing was my sticker. Never got one✊😔. So I had to improvise and write it in pen on my disposable mask. I'm working all this week so if riots break out from either side, I'll be at work. Prayers for the safety of others🙏

______

Waaah!!! Thank you all for voting!! You are all my heroes. I am so grateful and proud of you. I’m sorry I ran out of time to respond to you individually. I’m going to drop two big scenes from Chapter 7 in gratitude (one of which will be familiar to my patrons and one won’t). I’m hopeful I will have the whole next chapter out very soon. Love you all!

Void spoilers below the cut.

When you wake up in the morning, there are still no signed HR forms in your messages. Had you been a fool to think they were interested? How much time does it take to decide such a thing? Perhaps just by putting the idea out there explicitly, it had lost all of its taboo appeal. 

There is a calendar reminder waiting for you: Today is chili pepper pollinating day. At least this gives you an excuse to talk to Hoseok. 

You find the science officer in the lab as always, sitting with his knee up against his chest. Hoseok doesn’t look well. He’s got dark circles under his eyes.

“Hey, um…” You shuffle your feet. Want to fuck me? No wait…“You don’t look good. Were you here all night?” you ask.

He blinks at you, bleary-eyed. “Um, was I? Yeah.. I suppose. Lost track of time.” He rubs his eyes, before looking you up and down, then casting his gaze back to the floor. 

All you want to do is ask about the forms. Or the meeting. Or what he thinks of you now. But you don’t. “I need to pollinate the chili peppers today.” Usually Hoseok is the person who assists with that. “But I can get one of the other guys to do it if you need the sleep.”

“No!” Hoseok lurches forward, standing up a bit to rapidly and needing to put his hand back on the bench to steady himself. “I mean, I’m fine.” 

You should disgaree with him. He is exhausted. But you’d like more time to talk to him. 

Pollinating the chili peppers is both time-sensitive and time-consuming, hence why it took two of you to get the job done. There were no insects on your ship to do the job for you and if they didn’t get pollinated, they wouldn’t bear any fruit. Your chili peppers were your favorite crop. Not only a vital source of Vitamin C, but all your food benefitted from having a bit of spice added to it. 

You and Hoseok head for the greenhouse together. The intital set-up gives you something to talk about in the beginning. Hoseok gathers the pollen from one flower onto a paintbrush, then hands it over to you to paint onto the stigmas of each little flower on the next plant in the line.

Slowly the conversation dries up as you fall into a silent rhythm. Other than just enjoying the chili peppers, you must admit that this was one of your favorite tasks on the ship because of the high likelihood that the two of you would brush hands peridically. Always gave you butterflies. But today he seems extra intent on keeping his distance from you. Was he disgusted by you now? His hands are trembling.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

His hand twitches so hard that a little rain of yellow pollen cascades onto the floor. He curses in frustration before turning to face you. “Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Um, yes, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“This, um, plan of yours…” he gestures to the vague tension in the air. “It doesn’t feel like you.”

“I’m trying to save the mission. That has always been my top priority.”

“Yeah, I’m still not clear on how this benefits the mission.”

“Yoongi said…” you start to say, but are cut off my Hoseok’s derisive snort. 

“Look, if you’re in love with Yoongi, just go date him, okay? Don’t feel obligated to include the rest of us out of pity.” 

You frown. “I’m not… I’m not in love with him. It’s just sex. Just biology.” 

“This isn’t you!” Hoseok argues back. “You hated the idea of anyone of us ever treating you that way. And now you just want all of us to… to… use you like that?”  He splutters out the end of the sentence.

“No one is using me! This is my plan! I’m in charge!”

He sighs. “Well, I can’t be a part of it. Excuse me.”

______

Taehyung finds you in the gym. It’s good to see him up and about, even if his arm is still in a sling. 

“Hey, so I need to talk to you about this, um, ape sex thing.” He fishes awkwardly into his pockets and pulls out his tablet.  Maybe Jimin was right. Is Taehyung going to be the first to take you up on your offer?

You pause your jog on the elliptical machine. You wish you weren’t so sweaty and gross for this conversation. Taehyung is such an intimidatingly attractive man with those strong eyebrows and that perfect skin. 

Taehyung opens up the tablet and flips to the form. It’s happening. He’s going to sign the form. Shit. Then what will you do? It’s one thing to say you want to have sex with your whole crew, but what if he’s hoping to go right now? You need a shower. 

Taehyung has really nice hands. Long strong fingers delicately navigating the touch screen. It seems totally improbable that a man this attractive would be into you, even if you were the only woman in the universe. It just adds to your suspicions that hormones are driving everyone crazy. Perhaps if you slept with him once, he’d lose all interest. 

He finds the form and then turns his gaze up to you, staring you down with those eyes. It’s a good thing that Taehyung rarely turns his full gaze on you, because it is almost too much to bear. Shit, is he just going to sign it? Is he waiting for you to give him some sort of signal?

“You can’t do this to Jimin,” he says.

“What?” Not what you were expecting. “Do what to Jimin?”

“This.” He gestures over the HR form. “Signing these forms with everyone. Having sex with everyone. You’re going to destroy Jimin.”

“Jimin’s the one who suggested this whole thing in the first place.” It’s a lie. You know its a lie. Or at least a gross exaggeration. But Jimin was the one who first brought up the idea of sharing. All for the benefit of the man in front of you now. 

“No way.” Taehyung scoffs, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “No way was it Jimin’s idea that you sleep with the whole crew.” 

“Well…” You can’t bear his gaze anymore and look down at the floor. “He wanted me to sleep with you.”

That surprises Taehyung. He puts down the tablet. “What? Why would he want that?”

This is awkward. “He, um, thinks you’re in love with me.”

“What?” There is only surprise on Taehyung’s face. It’s actually a relief to see that Taehyung is just as shocked by that idea as you were. “Why does he think that?”

“I don’t know…” You feel kind of dumb now. Of course, Taehyung doesn’t feel that way about you. Look at him. “Cause you told him you were jealous. Cause you can’t stand to be in the same room as us…”

Taehyung bites his lip. “Oh, um, shit, sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

If Taehyung isn’t jealous of Jimin... 

“Taehyung…” He looks up, biting his lip. “What did you mean? Who are you jealous of?” 

Taehyung’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead he reaches for his microphone and mutes it. Out of respect, you mute yours as well. He glances toward the camera in the corner of the room, then stands up and begins unzipping his jumpsuit. 

“Um…” You are distracted by the golden arms that peak from either side of the tank top as the zipper reaches his groin. “What are you doing?”

“Need something to block the camera.”

“We have towels,” you mutter.  But he’s already stripping out of his shirt. The musculature of his back ripples. He hangs the shirt off of the camera to block the rest of the room from view. 

“Yeah, but this way anyone watching will think we’re having sex.” His chest is just as attractive as his back and you flush at the sight of it. Mercifully, he zips back into his jumpsuit as he returns to his position in front of the exercise machine. 

“You want them to think we’re having sex?”

“Don’t you? It plays right into your whole save the mission with bonobo sex plan.”

“I suppose.” Though the plan was also supposed to be that there would be no more secrets between the crew. “What plan of yours does it play into?”

“The one where Jimin doesn’t realize I’m in love with him.”

“You’ve never tried to tell him?”

Taehyung laughs wryly and shakes his head. “How would that conversation go? Hey man, I know we’ve known each other for years and I’ve already seen you naked and that you just think of me as a friend, but I’m in love with you. I know that’s awkward but now you have to spend the next twelve years with me, knowing that I’m attracted to you when you don’t feel the same way.” Taehyung sighs. “Doesn’t sound like a good plan to me. If he doesn’t feel the same way, I’ve just ruined the friendship for nothing and then I don’t even have that.”

“Yeah… I get that.”  There’s something touching about realizing that Taehyung has been fighting the same battle as you for the last two years. 

“I couldn’t tell anyone before launch because what if they wouldn’t let me go then? You know?”

“Yeah, the director wasn’t big on sending anyone who might ‘complicate’ the mission.” The two of you share a sad knowing smile. 

“Yeah… And I thought it would be fine, you know? I like women too. I’d just date women until launch and no one would know. I wasn’t planning on falling in love with my roommate.”

“I don’t think any of us really knew what this would be like.”

“I knew it was going to be a problem. I should have pulled out…” 

Your mind flashes back to that moment of doubt when Hoseok talked you into still coming on the mission.

“But I couldn’t just let him go off into space without me. Even if he’d never feel the same way, at least he’d still be in my life.”

The emotion in Taehyung’s words makes your eyes begin to mist. “You really do love him.”

“Yeah,” Taehyung sighs again. “But he’s in love with you.”

“Well, he thinks he is.”

“What does that mean?”

“He only feels like that about me cause he thinks I’m the only option.”  You wonder if maybe he would feel differently if he knew about Taehyung’s feelings. 

Taehyung frowns and shakes his head. “You don’t give him enough credit.”

“Oh come on, you know him. How many women did he date while we were in training?”

“A few…” 

“And how many of them was he in love with before he found the next one?”  

Taehyung bites his lip. He can’t really argue with that. “So why are you with him then, if you don’t think it’s real?”

You shrug, rubbing your arm. “He wants me. It’s nice to feel wanted, I guess.”

“You know you could have that with any man on this ship right?”

You scoff. “They’re all suffering the same delusion. It’s only-available-vagina syndrome. I just want us all to fuck and get it out in the open. Maybe if we could get it out of our system, they would see I’m nothing special. And then we can get back to the mission.”

Taehyung eyes you up and down. “You don’t give yourself enough credit either.”

You shrug. “You wait and see. Jimin will get bored of me. They all will.”

The two of you both slump backwards in your seats, mulling over your shared woes.  Taehyung bends down and picks up the tablet again. “So what should I do with this?”

“Obivously, you don’t have to sign it. I should have realized that not everyone would be interested.”

“Jimin thinks I’m in love with you?”

“Yeah…”

“Is it okay if we let him think that for now? At least until I figure out how to tell him the truth?”

“Okay.”

Taehyung smiles and signs the bottom of the form, then sends it to you. Your phone lights up with a message. “Thank you,” he murmurs before he leaves. 

[duketectivecomics]

You might've answered this already and I just didn't find it, but one thing that always perplexed me about Duke was how old he was in comparison to the other Batkids. It's obvious he's younger than Dick and Babs, and I pretty sure he's younger than Jason and Cass, and older than Damian, but I cannot tell if he's meant to be Tim and Steph's ages, younger, or older. Could you help me?

You’re all kinds of good here, anon!!! I answered a similar ask abt the Order of Adoption but didn’t dive into specific ages on that post BECAUSE well they didn’t ask lmaooo but ALSO:

Comic ages are very fluid usually! While Years™️ might pass in the canon proper, or while time seems to slow to a crawl, having a character’s age outright stated is something that occurs very rarely for most characters, if at all!

Because it’s always much easier to have a floating age range to work and play around in! It’s easier to keep a character Perpetually 12 or 16 or 25 or mid-40s or- you get the idea. SO, with that in mind. Let’s do our Best to Break Down What Age Duke Might Be Currently A N D how it might interact with the Other Batkids!

(Warning for a Very Long Post, lots of issue citations, and a LOT of comics terminology regarding specific runs/events/continunity. I’m gonna try to keep it as clear/concise as possible ofc but plz keep these things in mind! If you’re not at least marginally familiar with Bat-Comics, you might find yourself feeling a little lost here!)

So from the Zero Year arc we see a common Trend that plays out pretty consistently with Batfam comics: a Life-Changing Event Occuring while the protag is Young™️.

(Batman (2011) #30)

With how Duke is drawn in these particular issues, and given the trends of the past, I’d place him in the 8-12 range. The historic precedent being ofc that that is the same range that canon usually places both Bruce and Dick at for their Tragedies™; the more benign reason being that he... just very much Looks to be drawn in that Range. He’s very clearly an Older/Prepubescent child here.

Fast Forward to his Next Appearance in the Endgame arc and-

(Batman (2011) #37)

He’s definitely older! He’s wiser! And he’s giving Batman a fistbump lmao. Again, no strict age given here BUT, since they condensed each Robin to a Year or Two tops with Bruce (its n52 and its fucked up is what it is), we can assume it’s been at least 4-5 since Zero Year (which would mean if we go off the age range I proposed for that year, then theoretically he could be anywhere from 12-16 here, and I think that tracks pretty well. Not Perfectly and Certainly Not so well with Pre52 continuity ofc, but I’ll talk about that later!)

In We Are Robin, while its not stated Directly In The Text, it IS given as an Informational Tidbit that Duke is 16 (specifically this can be found at the end of issue #4)! (Sweet sweet canon confirmation FINALLY)

We know that WAR takes place Fairly Soon after Endgame (almost immediately, give or take a month or two given that Duke’s been placed in a few foster homes at this point and has racked up Quite A File) now, again id like to remind y’all that while this is a NICE starting point to have, keep in mind that comics are fluid and this may be retconned slightly/ignored in later stories bc Keeping Duke 16-ish is in DC’s Best Interest at the moment. (Having Relatable Teen Characters afterall is a Good Marketing strategy™️. And the longer they can Keep them Young, the Better)

With that in mind let’s take a moment to Highlight the fact that Duke and Damian have crossed paths at this point AND the storylines that have occurred during this year that were meant to be in conjunction with one another!

Because Prior to Endgame, Damian had Died! And just a year (in real, meat-space time) before We Are Robin, he was resurrected and had begun his “Year of Atonement” in the Robin: Son of Batman maxiseries. Midway through both this series and WAR (and, we can assume, midway thru this “Year” for Damian) the Robin War begins/ends and we see at least one major Moment between these two boys who will soon call one another brothers:

(Robin War #2)

Given that R:SoB is followed up VERY quickly by Teen Titans Rebirth (in which Damian celebrates his 13th birthday), we can conclude that Damian would be 12 during this time (well, 12 and 1/2 to play it safe lmao). That being said, this Confirms about a 4yr gap between Duke and Damian! (One Batkid down at least! but he’s the key to the others so put a pin in him!)

As We Are Robin draws to its conclusion, DC was releasing another arc that would eventually flow into the Rebirth Era, by the end of which, Bruce would approach Duke with an Idea (which involves Bruce becoming Dukes temporary guardian & as he states Many Times “Trying Something New” with Duke).

And thus the Rebirth Era begins, and Duke began his Year of training (most directly encapsulated by the Cursed Wheel arc in the All-Star Batman run:

(All-Star Batman #1 (back-up story))

Bruce introduces Duke to a training regimen that Alfred has named “the Cursed Wheel”. It encompasses all the training Bruce and the other bats have undergone and condenses it down into color-coordinated segments that will take Duke a Year to Complete.

It can be assumed that by the End of this Year Duke will somehow miraculously still be 16, despite, again, an entire ass year passing.

There’s one story that takes place mid-year in All-Star Batman, and the Cursed Wheel is meant to be capped off by Duke’s first Official Day as the Signal (in the titular Batman & the Signal ofc) BUT, near as I can tell after this story, Dukes age is not brought up again. So until they DO bring it up either in Batman & the Outsiders or whatever future run Duke becomes involved in, we can assume DC will be working with the idea that he’s meant to be in that 16-18 range from here on out (ie still a minor).

But, dear anon, you might be saying “okay, that’s cool, but how does that relate to my question abt how he falls in with the other Bats?” You’ll have to be a little patient with me here, but I think I may have cracked the code!

Keep in mind I’m gonna be addressing both the Post-Crisis to Flashpoint Continuity (ie mid-80s to 2010 in comics history) and the N52-slash-Rebirth Era (2010-Today). Its generally agreed by fandom and DC alike that these points of rebooting &/or Major Events constitute the era of “Modern” comics, and that everything from the 80s-on might more or less be canon on some level, even if not All of it is.

(Plus, most of fandom usually likes to borrow elements from both eras and much more rarely from stories before it, SO-)

Lets do a quick rundown of how everyone who’s Closer to Duke’s Age, Relates to each other first, age-wise:

Given that Jason was 15 when he died, in A Lonely Place of Dying its established that Bruce had become increasingly reckless since his death, and by the end of the story, Tim has stepped in to fill Robin’s shoes (he states that he’s 13 during this story btw). Pretty soon after, Stephanie Brown is introduced & established to be about a year older than Tim (wish I could pin-point a specific issue BUT, i unfortunately haven’t read any Tim OR Steph-involved comics that predate No Man’s Land... Besides the aforementioned Lonely Place and Young Justice technically, but im working on remedying that soon!)

NOW, during the No Man’s Land event, Cassandra is introduced, and pretty soon into her Batgirl run, its revealed that she’s around the same age as Jason (or at least how old he Would Have Been, had he not died.) Now, given that Jay has an August bday and Cass has a January one, fandom sometimes likes to play around with the idea of one being older than the other (OR even speculating/placing them in an AU as twins/siblings, given that Lady Shiva (Cass’ mom) was a Possible Candidate to be Jason’s biological mother but that’s a Whole Other Thing i wont get into here.)

The point being, Cass, in this era of comics, IS slightly older than Tim and Steph. At Tim’s start as Robin, their ages could either line up like: Tim-13, Steph-14, Cass-15 (being a few months ‘behind’ Jay), then Jason at 15/16 (depending on how soon Tim filled the role after Jay died in April) OR Jason-15/16, Cass-16/17 (in this case she’d be a few months ‘ahead’ now instead)

So brief detour to talk New 52, however! Because Tim, Steph & Cass all got switched around from where DC originally left them prior to the reboot! Now I haven’t read much of them in this era, other than Batman & Robin: Eternal, so my Understanding of their current ages is Spotty at Best. The general consensus seems to be that while before N52, Stephanie had been attending her first year of College (& doing VERY WELL i might add), with the reboot she was set back a few years alongside Tim to a vague Late-Teen state (so 16-18-ish, instead of a Very Clearly Established 18/19). Cass is probably the worst off for this reboot, given that B&R:E basically constitutes her new origin for the new continuity, and does nothing to confirm her age (all I really know is that she’s a Vague Late-Teen too... Probably? Maybe?), given how much they infantilize her, and subsequently how fandom in turn has taken to infantilizing her too, theres a semi-popular fanon that places her Younger that Tim and Steph. And I, for one, propose that we ignore that bc its Weak Sauce my dudes.

Some fans chose to ignore N52 continuity due to this vagueness, and will stick to the ages established before the N52/Rebirth reboots. But its something to keep in mind regardless bc we’re all obviously going to pull from what’s most familiar to us!

But WHERE could we place Duke with regards to them, then? Because them being “Late Teens” is certainly much too vague to work with!

This is Where Damian is the key!

Because Damian is one of those rare exceptions to the Reboot Rule. His story flowed almost seamlessly over from before to after. While he was made a Robin at the age of 10, he continued to grow and learn even after the universe was being rewritten to suit the whims of DC editorial. 

If we choose to ignore how everyone else’s ages and origins were swapped around, and stick with the growth that was presented before the reboot, then we can draw some interesting conclusions!

Firstly, though Stephanie also had Died and subsequently Returned, she hadn’t lost much, if any time, from the Ordeal. At the start of her Batgirl run, she is enrolled at a Gotham university and making headway with a more firm foot in the Batfamily (even to the point that she and Damian spend a few issues bonding. At this point in time, Damian is definitely 11, and again, Steph can be assumed to be 18/19 during the course of her run. We’ll assume 18 for clarity’s sake.)

So, then when Damian is 11, now our line up is as Follows:

Dami - 11, Steph - 18, Tim - 17, Cass 19-21 (the range depending again, if you subscribe to Cass being either older/younger than Jason).

WHICH MEANS, If during Robin War Damian is 12 (and a half) THEN We’ve got an age line-up that Potentially looks Like This:

Dami -12(and 1/2), Duke - 16, Tim - 18, Steph - 19, Cass - 20-22 (And Obvsly Jason, Babs & Dick at their varying Older Ages than everyone here)

and im just now realizing i Didnt include Harper in this line-up, but thats bc she’d also throw a big wrench in all this.  I’d personally throw her in with being Steph’s age, but I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be either that, or between Steph and Cass (again, since its N52, i believe Cass was/is assumed to be Younger than Steph, but that contradicts the assumed following of pre52 canon that we have for the above line-up, obvsly, and so we ignore that lmao) 

All this to say, however, that canon and fandom is what you make of it, and if you want to wiggle these ages around a little, you’re more than allowed! God Knows i usually like to skew the Tim-Steph-Cass age group to be a tad older than this in my own fic writing, and I like to have Duke start as a Robin at 14/15 instead of 16, but that’s just bc I like the dynamic potential it could bring with them being Definitively Older that him, and thus in a more secure place to be Mentoring him right alongside Bruce & the others.

But you might see these age ranges and want to do something Different (say, making Tim, Steph, Cass, & Duke all the Same Age at 17 instead! And that very well tracks with how current comics kinda looks right now!) and you’re absolutely valid to do so! Because again, comic character’s ages are meant to be fluid, not fixed!

And at the end of the day, its all about wanting to see these teen heroes kick serious ass haha

[casualtheoriesandthoughts]

Why Xemnas and Marluxia can’t wield the Keyblade

This is definitely something that’s been brought up before and I’m sure everyone has their own take on why this is the case. So why not share my own? A lot of people noticed that Xemnas doesn’t wield a Keyblade despite the hearts (Xehanort and Terra) that made up his previous persona(s) both being Keyblade wielders. The same applies to Marluxia, who is the Nobody of Lauriam, one of the five new leaders of the Dandelions (see KHUx). 

I believe that, essentially, Xemnas and Marluxia cannot wield the Keyblade because they do not have their memories (or more precisely, their persona’s worth to the Keyblade). My theory rests on two main points: the importance of memories and the effect of darkness on a Keyblade wielder. I already covered my theory of memories in KH in a previous post, so feel free to check it out. With that, let’s get on with it:

The Keyblade forms a bond with the wielder through their character

Before we get to why Xemnas and Marluxia can’t wield the Keyblade, let’s cover why someone can. Oddly enough, the means by which the Keyblade chooses its wielders (who are not already bequeathed the Keyblade) is never truly discussed at any length. Some of the only characters who offer any sort of explanation are Leon and Aerith in KH1 (and they’re minor characters!). We know that the Keyblade can be passed on either by willingly bequeathing it (ex. Terra to Riku) and also unintentionally by passing on one’s “will” or protective sentiment (ex. Aqua to Kairi). It can also be bestowed on someone of the Keyblade’s own choosing, especially if the original recipient is deemed no longer suitable. This is precisely what happened to Sora.

We are told that Sora was never meant to be the original wielder of the Keyblade, as it chose him when Riku decided to follow the darkness. However, Sora proved himself worthy through his values: commitment to his friends and their welfare, as well as standing up for what’s right: “My friends are my power!” and all that. There is an important element here: the Keyblade forms a bond with its wielder based on a notion of worthiness through character and disposition.

Sora’s accumulated experience as a Keyblade wielder through the entire story up until arriving in Hollow Bastion is significant. This is reiterated in KH Re:CoM which gives greater weight to his memories as the basis of Sora’s mission, values and character. Based on my previous theory that memories mold the heart in significant ways, we can say that memories connected to deeply held beliefs and character are important means by which the Keyblade deems someone worthy. 

One might rightfully question whether this is really true, since Ventus, another Keyblade wielder, resides in Sora’s heart and may have imparted the ability to wield the Keyblade to Sora as a result. That said, that only happens because Sora let him in of his own volition, not once but twice (both as a new heart and a young child). To me, this is the greatest evidence pointing to character being a criterion for wielding the Keyblade. It’s not a stretch to say that Sora was probably a prime candidate for the Keyblade from childhood, and significantly, is the only Keyblade wielder we know of who receives the weapon without inheriting it from a teacher or master (other than the Master of Masters). As an aside: So, no, Riku; Sora is not just the delivery boy! (You might recall Axel summoning a Keyblade on his own, but Kairi establishes that this is because Yen Sid inducted Axel himself; see MoM.)

This bears heavily, then, on Xemnas and Marluxia’s own “worthiness” to wield the Keyblade. Xemnas does not have most of his memories from either Terra or Master Xehanort (evidenced by mixed motivations in visiting the Chamber of Repose). When apprentice Xehanort wakes up in the Radiant Garden plaza, he doesn’t remember who he is. But his sudden remembrance of being Master Xehanort allows him to summon the Keyblade again (even though he separated his heart from his body very soon after). As seen in KH3, Marluxia similarly does not remember enough of his past self to know that he wielded the Keyblade, and we may conclude that this is a primary reason why he doesn’t have one. 

Compare them with Roxas, who wields the Keyblade despite having no memories of being Sora. The BBS Ultimania seems to imply that Roxas is able to wield the Keyblade due to the influence from Ventus’ heart (even saying that Ventus’ heart went with Roxas when Sora became a Heartless). Roxas still possesses many of the qualities of righteousness (in his own way) to which the Keyblade attaches itself, inheriting them from Sora. Combined with the development of his own heart by unclear means, it is possible that Roxas eventually earned the Keyblade in his own right (even if he had some help from Ventus’ heart).

This contrasts with Xemnas and Marluxia, both of whom are true Nobodies without feelings or apparent values. Their lack of complete memories about wielding the Keyblade seem to be a satisfying explanation, but it is more than just that. I believe that the requirement of good character of the wielder runs much deeper than having a memory of who one is when wielding the Keyblade. This is demonstrated by Sora in Re:CoM, who retained the Keyblade even as he lost his memories or as they were altered. The key difference between Roxas and Sora, and Xemnas and Marluxia, is the influence of darkness.

The darkness exerts a corrupting influence

In KHUx (in the most recent translated update that is), we discover that the Darkness (with a capital “D”) is an abstract force of nature. The Master of Masters describes it as being unable to comprehend human beings or their hearts: “It only knows what people hate”. Similarly, Xehanort in KHUx: Dark Road describes the Darkness as stirring emotions of hatred, doubt and jealousy, some of those he had yet to meet. The Darkness also took advantage of Ventus’ desire for power in a similar way, controlling him to kill Strelitizia. 

From these examples, it is seen that darkness (both the character and the abstract entity) reacts to and influences negative emotions, playing on people’s insecurities and baser natures. A corruption of one’s character (or rather, of one’s heart) may very well disqualify a Keyblade wielder from their right to wield the weapon. Riku is the prime example of this, since we only learn he wields the Way to Dawn in KH2, after his ordeal in Castle Oblivion. Reverse/Rebirth in KH Re:CoM shows just how important both personal fortitude and coming to terms with the darkness was for Riku in regaining his right to wield the Keyblade.  

In light of all this, one may wonder why Master Xehanort himself is not automatically disqualified. I suspect that, as is hinted in Dark Road and snippets of Re:Mind and KH3, Master Xehanort’s motivations may in fact be still rather pure (if misguided). He wanted to make the world more perfect by erasing people’s lust for power and weakness, using the X-blade to remake the universe. Master Eraqus was arguably also misguided in his unwavering conviction that darkness was evil, yet never lost his Keyblade. Even Terra, before being lost to the darkness more completely, retained the Keyblade and bequeathed it to Riku despite harboring some darkness in his heart due to his desire for power. 

Master Xehanort’s heart may have in fact been extraordinarily resilient, having willingly traversed the corridors of darkness without protection and diving deep into the darkness to uncover the mysteries of the world. His use of the power of darkness is actually somewhat limited, being largely restricted to a few moments in Birth By Sleep and KH3. The darkness which took Xehanort as he became a Heartless and Nobody may have then more deeply influenced Xemnas, making him lose his right to the Keyblade. It’s not a stretch to suppose this, given that Xemnas’ dying words in KH3 are his lament for taking his allies for granted and narrow-mindedness about the strength required to bear pain with one’s heart. This suggests he was no longer suitable to wield the Keyblade, even while being connected to Xehanort.

Lauriam too shows signs of his hatred and anger overtaking him in KHUx, and an increasing desire to confront Ventus. He displays his rage and despair even in front of Darkness when it shows itself. By the time he becomes Marluxia, his personality is manipulative, cruel and ruthless. It is then possible to suggest that darkness corrupts people in a way that alters their beliefs and feelings, which overrides the power memories may have in preserving a connection to a purer heart. Taking all of this into account, it makes perfect sense why Xemnas and Marluxia cannot wield the Keyblade.

Hope y’all find this theory interesting, and feel free to share!

[adventures-on-foster-island]

Adoption Application Recieved!

Name: Rowan Mackinnon

Age: 19

Region, city/route... or describe the climate you live in: Wedgehurt in Galar.

Home size: ground floor and first floor aswell as a garden and a large patch of land owned around our house. About 200 miles.

Other people or Pokémon in your home: In the house it is me and my partner. We live with a Munchlax, Galvantula, Zoura, and a Vulpix. I’m hoping to get them someone to play with.

Also Noibat occasionally goes in the house because he feels safest here.

How many hours are you away from home per week for school/work? I am in part time college which is 4-6hours two times a week and i work at the farm which is around the house anyway. My partner is a ranger and the land around us is classed as protected so they work nearby to the house and usually at home if others are around too.

Any allergies or aversions? Im allergic to galarian Meowths and I want to avoid Pokémon who don't live in Galar, including the Isle of Armour.

Tell me about yourself, and what your goals for you and your new Pokémon are, as well as anything else you think I should know.

I run a small wild farm. Pokémon come and go as they please, however I do breed Pokémon from time to time. I make sure their homes are perfect for them. My farm has various different areas Pokémon find perfect to live in. I also have a enclosed garden I can use for the new friend so they can get use to other Pokémon around outside. They will have access inside as well. After that, I'll allow them free range of the outdoors. Though, I'll check on how their doing, and we have shelters for Pokémon as well as tracking chips for all Pokémon in case of any issues.

Alright Rowan, I'm happy to inform you that due to your property size and your partner's status as a Ranger, you're eligible to adopt two Pokémon if you'd like to. The two spoke over the phone, and decided it would be best to bring the two most promising candidates to Rowan's farm to make sure they like all their new friends, including the small herd and a few Lotad on the farm.

Ellisa woke early this morning to prepare for a trip to Galar. Her mom and siblings came to watch the Island for the day. Dusk, her Drifblim, was saddled with a hanging basket for the passengers, who were waiting patiently to go to their potential new home.

"Alright kids, load up. We have a long flight to Galar ahead of us." A nervous Galarian Ponyta colt stepped cautiously into the basket, followed by a relaxed flowering Lotad, who then asked to be picked up. Pearl, Ellisa’s Gardevoir, wearing a back pack, obliged the little plant, and closed the gate behind them. Ellisa had offered to put the Pokémon in balls for the trip, but they wanted to see the sights on the way. There's no better way to sight see than from a Drifblim, Ellisa thought. As the basket rose from the ground, Ponyta let out a whine, and stamped his feet lightly, getting used to the change in elevation. Ellisa pet his head and soothed him until he seemed more comfortable.

Most of the journey was over the ocean, although the coasts of Johto and Sinnoh were visible for some time as the group traveled north. Lotad looked with bright eyes over Snowpoint city, having never seen snow before.

"Just wait until we pass over the Crown Tundra little guy, It's absolutely beautiful." Indeed, his excitement increased as we flew lower over the tundra. Snowflakes landed on both Pokémon, causing little squeals of joy. Soon enough, Wedgehurst was visible over the horizon.

"Rowan said his farm was just outside Wedgehurst. We should see it soon." As Ellisa finished her sentence, she saw the river that cuts through the field and disappears into the forest. Several Ponyta and Mudbray galloped through the patches of short and tall grass, the river was alive with water type Pokémon, and a beautiful garden with a green house decorated the land. A lilly pond sat in the garden, and the distant figures of a person and their partner Zoroark were the last things Ellisa noticed before looking for a place to land. She settled on a patch of short grass near the pond, and Dusk slowly floated towards the ground.

Rowan walked over to the group, releasing their Gardevoir in case any extra help was needed. A Sylveon followed closely behind him wearing a little diabetic alert vest.

"Morning! Hope your journey was pleasant. These are Nyx, Opheila, and Serena." Rowan greeted as he pointed to each Pokémon, before scratching Serena's head and ribbons. "The other Lotad are in the pond at the moment, and I'm sure you saw the herd." Rowan extended his hand to shake, which Ellisa took excitedly in her grasp.

"The journey was lovely. I think the youngsters enjoyed the experience as a whole. I have a service Pokémon named Nyx as well!" She pulled a ball out of her bag and released an Umbreon, who nuzzled into Ellisa’s leg. "She helps me with anxiety and ADHD, along with my boy Pan, an Espeon who stayed at the island today. You have a lovely property." Pearl put down the Lotad, who stretched out his legs and sniffed the dirt. The Ponyta looked eagerly at Ellisa, waiting to be told he could go for a run with the others.

"He can go off if you're alright with it, I'll just make sure they're in eye sight and that Nyx is nearby since the others do as she says. There shouldn't be any problems." The breeder smiled and made sure that his treat bag was secure. "We can give you a tour of the place."

"Run along little one. Have fun, but don't go too far okay?" Ellisa pat his back for reassurance, and he took off clumsily after the herd. "You too Lotad," she knelt to talk to him, "Can you get to the pond by yourself?" He nodded happily and started his waddle to meet new friends. "I would love that! It would give those two some time to get to know the others, and make sure they all get along."

Serena got up and curled his ribbons round Rowan's arm. Nyx wondered off to the herd, and Rowan turned to Opheila. "Make sure Flowers doesn't stay out of the pool for too long, and keep a eye on them all for me, please, Opheila." The Gardevoir nodded and headed off toward the pond. Ellisa told Dusk to rest up, returning them to their ball.

The, now smaller, group began their tour around the farm. As they left the garden, Rowan turned to Ellisa, "I've been meaning to ask you if there was anything special I should know about those two."

"Lotad's bloom attracts Combee, but they don't bother him. He's super easy going, and will do any favor you ask of him, which can get him stepped on. Ponyta has a lot of energy. He's still really young, only four months, but runs like a mad man. Otherwise, I assume since you already have some members of both of these species, that you can take care of them just fine."

Rowan grinned shyly and rubbed the back of their head, "Yeah, I've been tending to these Pokémon for a while. I think this Lotad will get along well with one of ours. We've nicknamed him 'Flowers' because he likes flowers so much that we catch him wandering away from the pond. We've been planting flowers around it to encourage him to stay, but a flowering friend may do the trick. Also, that's good to know! I've been trying to get Combee here for ages."

"If you want Combee, I recommend replacing some of this grass," Ellisa gestured around at the surrounding land, "with clover. Your herd will love it as well, and it doesn't grow as tall, limiting up-keep. Lotad is also nearly at the age of maturity, meaning you could cross breed him to have more flowering variants to attract more Combee if you wanted."

Nyx whined and nudged Ellisa’s leg. The caretaker reached down to touch her, realizing that her partner was cold. Pearl picked up on what was happening instantly, and dug through her bag for a jacket, helping Ellisa put it on the dark type. As the group continued their tour, they came upon a building.

"These are the stables, but I'm having another built on the opposite side of the field that will be more open and airy for summer. My partner and I have been looking into Pokémon safe natural foods, including more kinds of grasses, since we'd like to give them the best possible lives. Thank you for recommending clover, I'll be sure to get some."

The group began to circle back around to the pond when Rowan remembered something. "Oh I almost forgot to mention, a friend of mine recommended you to me. It's Noire, she adopted a Houndoom from you named Violette."

Ellisa's eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't know you and Noire knew eachother! What a small world. Her and my line of work are similar, you know? I mean, her's is more on the educational side, but we have the same goal. I was so happy to adopt out Violette to her. They make a good team."

"Yeah, we met through another friend of mine who is a ghost type breeder, since they used to work together on ghost type education. I was actually thinking about taking your breeding suggestion with Lotad and using the baby variants to teach people about grass type variants so that maybe someone else won't make the same mistake as this one's previous trainer, thinking that they are sick. I've always loved grass types, and Lotad are an old favorite of mine, but I've never had a flowering one before. This is an exciting change."

As they approached the pond, Ellisa could see that the herd had stopped to take a drink from the pond and rest. They seemed to get along great with their newest member, who was playfully nibbling one of the Mudbray. Rowan's Zoroark, Nyx, was nearby, leaning against a tree as they kept a watchful eye. Opheila sat with her feet in the pond, smiling happily. As they got closer, Ellisa saw the Lotad variant floating calmly in front of her as another stared in awe at his water lily, seemingly entranced by it. Ellisa got a little sad, knowing that she would have to say good bye to these two, but also knew that they had found their perfect forever homes and would be happiest here.

Rowan brought Ellisa out of her contemplation, asking, "Can people adopt again? These two are such a perfect fit for our home, and since we have so much space we would love to help out more abandoned Pokémon."

"You'll need to catch these two in a Pokéball today to register them to your ID, and we will have to have a visit again in six months to check on everything, but since your property is so large you'll be able to adopt more at that time. You could even become a transfer site for foster Pokémon that the facility can't care for, such as ice types during the spring and summer months or very large Pokémon that the island can't support. I'll keep your adoption application on file to make the process smoother next time."

While filling out the paperwork, Rowan and their partner Raven decided on Clurichaurn as a name for the Ponyta. They also offered Lotad a few names to pick from, with Opheila as a translator, and he chose Kaj. Ellisa said goodbye to everyone, wishing the two she was leaving good luck in their new home, before releasing Dusk once again for the flight back home.

@poke-breeder-rowan

[jiantan]

Awkward Introductions || Jian & Brandon

When: May 3, 2021

Where: Jian’s apartment, Santa Monica, California

Featuring: Brandon Kelly (dialogue provided by Katie @itsbrandonkelly)

Triggers: N/A

Jian was heading home from the drycleaner. As he unlocked the front door to the building, he noticed someone approaching. The man looked familiar to Jian, but he couldn't put his finger on where he had seen this face before. The stranger definitely didn't live in his building, but perhaps he had visited before. He held the door open for the other man, offering a polite wave.

Brandon checked his messages for what felt like the hundredth time since he’d left his apartment before slipping the phone into his jacket pocket. Now that he wasn’t distracted by the device, he realised the door was being help open for him and quickened his pace slightly. He should say thank you, like any normal person would. Instead he flashed the other male a smile as he passed. “Cute and courteous. Must be my lucky day.”

The stranger's words brought a light blush to Jian's face. After hearing his voice and getting a closer look at him, he realized where he had seen this man. "Uh, you... You know Minjoon, right? You've been in his videos before, I think. At least I think it's you. I'm sorry if I'm mistaking you for someone else."

The blushing was cute but it was the others comments that caused him to grin, even giggle a little as he nodded in confirmation. “I can’t believe I’m getting recognised from Joonie’s videos. That’s cute, I’ll have to tell him he’s making me famous. You’re a fan of his channel then?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. He told me that he made videos, so I decided to start watching them to support him.” Joonie was his friend, and he also had good recipes. “My name is Jian. I live on the same floor as Minjoon.” He wondered if Minjoon had mentioned him at all, but he doubted it. He wasn’t really worth mentioning.

“Hold the fuck up. You’re Jian? I can’t believe he could take an hour to tell me about a recipe for Reginald but couldn’t take five seconds to tell me that you’re hot.” Brandon shook his head, tutting in disapproval. “Not even five, more like three. So how long have you known Joonbug, then?”

“... Yes?” he answered, confusedly. He was surprised that he knew who he was, and even more surprised when he was called hot. “I-I... what?” he stammered. He didn’t know how to respond to the compliment, so he quickly tried to change the subject. “Um... we started really speaking to each other in January of this year. I’ve lived here since September of 2019 though.”

“It’s nice to finally be able to put a face to the name. If I’d known it looked like that I would have come and said hi sooner.” He was getting more and more amused at how easily Jian seemed to be thrown off with the compliment. “You’ve lived in here longer than Joonbug then. Damn, if I’d known Mav had some kind of hot people only requirement, I would have gotten an apartment here instead. Maybe I should...”

“I, uh, I’m sorry. I’m not sure what your name is. I’ve seen your face in the videos but I’m not the best with names.” He felt bad, but also thought it would be better to ask than to pretend that he knew his name. “Oh, you know Maverick too?” he asked, getting increasingly redder the more the stranger complimented his appearance.

He raised an eyebrow, still amused at the responses he was getting but he still held out his hand to be polite. “Brandon. My friends call me B, my employees call me Queenie and if you’d like, you can call me at any time.” Brandon have a small nod, his smile becoming fond at the topic of his friend. “Yeah, Mavie and I are good friends. Joonie and I have brunch every weekend with the whole family.”

Jian shook Brandon's hand, feeling silly for not making the connection until now. "Oh! You're Brandon! I've heard about you, but I never put the face to the name. I can... wait, uh, but I don't have your phone number..." He scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Oh, we hang out sometimes. I've never had brunch with his family though. I think it would be a little inappropriate because his sister is my boss."

“That’s okay, I prefer having some kind of reputation proceed me.” His smile was amused as Jian made the point about his number and reached into his bag for a pen and one of his cards, stepping into his space and pressing the card to Jian’s chest so he could write his cell on it too. “There’s an easy fix to that..” He rolled his eyes at that but kept smiling. “I tell his mom all the time how hot she is. I don’t understand inappropriate.”

Jian was extremely confused about what was happening and didn’t have the words in English to express how he felt about this interaction. Was this flirtation? Was he just extremely friendly? Jian honestly couldn’t tell. “I’m sorry, you do what now?” Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell had hired him, and he had a lot of fear and respect for both of them.

Slipping the pen back into his bag, Brandon giggled and shook his head. “Every time I see her, I tell her how hot she’s looking, offer to pay for the divorce so I can be Mav’s new step dad, all that jazz.” He waved it off as though it was no big deal. “So you work with his sister? I could have sworn that Joonie said you were a computer dude or something?”

Jian blinked at Brandon. "Why do you want to become Maverick's step-father?" he asked, curiously. Though he wasn't certain if he actually wanted to know the answer. "I work for her. She's my boss. I'm a cyber security engineer. My job is to make sure Maxwell Energy's business secrets and financial records don't fall into the hands of hackers."

“Is that really even a question? His dad is hot and rich, I wouldn’t be opposed to being his sugar baby and his mom is a beautiful, successful woman. I wouldn’t be opposed to being her sugar baby either. Or maybe I just want Maverick to call me daddy for a change.” Brandon had barely reached the end of his sentence before he started grinning and he had to press his lips together to bite back a laugh. “That’s hot. I’m not really a computer person myself but that sounds a little dangerous and a lot sexy so kudos. Now I’m no longer surprised why he tried keeping you to himself.”

"I-I don't think I can think about the people who hired me in that kind of context..." The Maxwells were objectively an attractive family, but as an employee of their company, this whole conversation felt inappropriate. Brandon didn't work for them, as far as Jian was aware, so it probably wasn't an issue for him at all. Brandon's next comment caused even more confusion for him. Who was keeping Jian to himself? Minjoon? Why would he do that? "What do you mean by that?"

“Huh. I’m pretty sure that’s not how being attracted to someone or finding someone attractive works but you do you buddy.” Brandon’s grin softened into an amused smile, a small roll of his eyes. “I mean you’re this close by and I’m only just meeting you now, without him introducing us. Probably because I can be a menace when I want to be but can’t we all?”

"Brandon, I am not sexually attracted to my bosses. I am too afraid of them for that... and I don't know why I said that out loud." He was getting flustered by this conversation, to say the least. "I assumed it was because he liked my animals more than he liked me... And once again, I'm oversharing. Sorry." He usually only overshared like this if he was drunk. He wasn't even the slightest bit intoxicated, so he had no idea why this was coming out.

Jian’s candidness caused a laugh to escape him and he had to bring his hand up to cover his mouth. “Oh my god. You don’t have to want to bone them to think they’re attractive. You’ve totally thought about it, that’s hilarious! Don’t worry, Jiji, your secret is safe with me. I won’t bring it up on purpose at brunch, at least.” He snorted softly, teasing Jian with how easily he became flustered. “Surely if that was the case, we’d have met sooner and I’d be the perfect distraction so he could chill with your pets. Don’t take it personally though, everyone thinks animals are easier than people and you must already know he can be an anxious bean.” He hummed quietly, scrunching his nose up. “It’s my cute, innocent face and maybe tiny Joonie trusting me. Lures you into a sense of security, right?”

The more Brandon spoke, the more Jian wondered how he and Minjoon ended up becoming friends. It reminded him of himself with his ex-boyfriend. Perhaps the phrase ‘opposites attract’ really did hold some merit. “Thank you— wait, did you just call me Jiji?” he asked, blinking in confusion. That was a nickname that his mother called him as a child. She stopped calling him that when he was 11, once she felt he was ‘too old for nicknames.’ It was strange hearing the name again, especially from an American. He never let his American classmates call him by nicknames because he wanted them to learn his actual name. It was the same reason why he never adopted an American name. “I know animals are easier than people, that’s why I have pets instead of roommates,” he half-joked. “I... plead the fifth.”

[teenslib]

IT’S FINALLY DONE! Every year, the Rainbow Book List Committee has more books to review, because literature is slowing getting queerer, and children’s and YA lit are at the forefront of that change. This year, our committee of 13 people had to review nearly 500 eligible titles, and 130 (well, 129) were good enough and queer enough to make the list. There were so many terrific books that we got a special dispensation to create TWO Top Ten lists--the first time the committee has done so! The Top Tens are below, and please visit the link above for the full list.

I’m proud of our committee’s focus on diversity--along lines of race, ethnicity, queer identity, and even genre. At least half of the Top Ten Books for Young Readers and seven of the Top Ten for Teen Readers are about characters of color, and most of those were written by authors of color. We also tried to feature as many different letters of the alphabet soup as possible. I’ve noted the racial and LGBTQIA+ rep for the books that I’ve read.

Here are the Top Ten Books for Young Readers:

Ana on the Edge by Sass, A.J. Ages 8 to 12. Sports Fiction/Figure Skating. MC is nonbinary and Jewish-Chinese-American. Ana is a champion figure-skater. She hates her new princess-themed program, but how can she tell her mother that, when it cost so much money? And why does it bother her so much, anyway? When she finds the word ‘nonbinary,’ she realizes why the program doesn’t fit, but she still has a lot of work to do repairing relationships that have suffered in the meantime.

The Deep & Dark Blue by Smith, Niki. Ages 8 to 12. Fantasy. One of 2 MCs is a trans girl, all characters appear to be Southeast Asian. A pair of twins flee after a political coup that puts their lives at risk. They decide to disguise themselves as Hanna and Grayce, two girls living in the Communion of the Blue, an order of weaving women who spin magic like wool. What one twin doesn’t know is that, for the other, being Grayce isn’t a disguise. This is a beautiful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and affirmation.

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring by Burgess, Matthew and Josh Cochran (Illustrator). Ages 6 to 14. Biography. MC is a white gay man. This colorful picture-book biography traces the life and art of Keith Haring.

The Every Body Book: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families by Simon, Rachel E. and Noah Grigni (Illustrator). Ages 8 to 12. Nonfiction/Health. Various identities and races included. Filled with self-affirming information, The Every Body Book uses inclusive language, illustrations, and facts to cover a number of important topics for young people including consent, relationships, gender, sex, puberty, and hormones.

King and the Dragonflies by Callender, Kacen. Ages 8 to 12. Realistic Fiction. MC is a gay black boy, his best friend is a gay white boy. King’s family–especially his father–have strong opinions about what it means to be a Black man, and they don’t allow for being gay. But King admires his friend Sandy for escaping an abusive home and living his truth no matter what. If King comes out, too, can his father learn to change?

Magic Fish by Nguyen, Trung Le. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction/Fantasy. MC is a gay Vietnamese-American boy. A young Vietnamese-American boy literally can’t find the words to tell his parents that he’s gay, but cross-cultural fairytales help bridge the language barrier in this beautifully-illustrated graphic novel. 

My Maddy by Pitman, Gayle E. and Violet Tobacco (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC’s parent is nonbinary, MC and her parent are white. My Maddy is a heartwarming story about a young girl and her parent. Readers learn that not all parents are boys or girls; some parents are just themselves. In this young girl’s case, that parent is her Maddy, a loving, caring parent who lives outside the gender binary.

My Rainbow by Neal, DeShanna, Trinity Neal, and Art Twink (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC is an autistic black trans girl. Autistic trans girl Trinity wants to have long hair, but growing it out is too itchy! None of the wigs in the store are quite right, so Mom makes Trinity a special rainbow wig.

Our Subway Baby by Mercurio, Peter and Leo Espinosa (Illustrator). Ages 4 to 8. Adoption Non-fiction. MCs are white gay men, the baby they adopt is Black. Loving illustrations help tell the story of how an infant abandoned in a NYC subway station was adopted by the man who found him and his partner.

Snapdragon by Leyh, Kat. Snapdragon. Ages 10 to 14. Fantasy. Haven’t read this one yet, so I can’t comment on its representation. Snap gets to know the town witch and discovers that she may in fact have real magic and a secret connection to Snap’s family’s past.

And here are the Top Ten Books for Teen Readers:

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by Johnson, George M. Ages 14 to 18. Memoir. Author/MC is a gay Black man. “Memoir-manifesto” is a well-chosen label for this book, which relates stories from the author’s childhood and young adulthood and contextualizes them within a queer Black experience. Although the author’s family is loving and supportive, pervasive heteronormativity, queerphobia, and anti-Black racism threaten his mental, emotional, and physical safety.

Camp by Rosen, L.C. Ages 14 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC and his love interest are gay Jewish boys. For Randy, going away to Camp Outland is a breath of fresh air, a time to be exactly who Randy can’t always be at school. But this year will be different. This year, Randy won’t be the flamboyant theater kid, this year Randy will be exactly the type of bro Hudson would want to date. Changing a thing or too will be necessary for Randy to succeed, even if that means leaving some friends behind.

Cemetery Boys by Thomas, Aiden. Ages 13 and up. Paranormal/Romance. MC is a trans Latino, his love interest is a gay Latino. Yadriel accidentally summons the wrong ghost in an attempt to prove himself a real brujo to his family who struggle to accept his gender identity. Though he thinks he is summoning the ghost of his cousin, he actually summons the ghost of Julian Diaz, and finds himself with not one, but two, mysterious deaths to investigate.

Circus Rose by Cornwell, Betsy. Ages 12 and up. Fantasy. One MC is white and one is mixed-race, one is a lesbian and one is questioning. Ivory and Rosie are twins and half-sisters, born to a bearded woman who refused to choose between her lovers, and raised in their mother’s circus. After a long foreign tour, they come home to find themselves under attack by religious zealots. As tragedy follows tragedy, will Ivory be able to save her circus family?

Elatsoe by Little Badger, Darcie  and Rovina Cai (Illustrator). Ages 12 and up. Mystery. MC is an aro/ace Lipan Apache girl. In this OwnVoices novel, Elatsoe is on a mission to discover who killed her beloved cousin, and why. If not for her cousin, then she is doing this for her people, the Indigenous Lipan Apache tribe. Elatsoe has the ability to raise ghosts from the dead, a tradition that has been passed down through generations. On this journey it will take vulnerability, wit, and the legends of her people for Elatsoe to understand all that is hidden in the small town of Willowbee.

I’ll Be the One by Lee, Lyla. Ages 13 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a bi Korean-American girl, her love interest is a bi Korean boy. Skye Shin dreams of becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and a reality TV competition may just be her chance. To win, she’ll have to deal with fatphobic beauty standards, fierce competition, and intense media scrutiny–as well as unexpected attraction to one of her competitors.

Miss Meteor by Mejia, Tehlor Kay and Anna-Marie McLemore. Ages 14 and up. Magical Realism. (I haven’t read this one, but I think both MCs are WLW Latinas.) Lita is a star – literally. After falling to earth several years ago, she’s now living life as a teenage girl. When the annual Miss Meteor pageant rolls around, Lita decides to enter – but will her ex-best friend Chicky be willing to help her? Will the pageant help her forget about the past and imagine a new future? Lita learns that winning isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing your true self to the world – even the parts that no one else understands.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Johnson, Leah. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a black WLW (woman-loving-woman). In this affectionate rom-com, Liz Lighty finds herself an unlikely candidate for prom queen at her affluent suburban school. Shy, awkward, Black, and low-income, Liz has never felt like she belonged, and she can’t wait to leave for her dream college. But when her scholarship falls through, it seems her last resort is to win prom queen, and the scholarship money that comes with it. Liz’s plan is complicated when new girl Mack decides to run for prom queen also…and ends up running away with Liz’s heart.

War Girls by Onyebuchi, Tochi.  Ages 12 and up. Science Fiction/Afro-Futurism. Both MCs are Nigerian, one is a WLW. In a not-so-distant future, climate change and nuclear disasters have made much of the earth unlivable. In the midst of war in Nigeria, two sisters, Onyii and Ify, are torn apart and face two very different futures. As their lives progress through years of untold violence and political unrest, battles with deadly mechs and cyborg soldiers outfitted with artificial limbs and organs, they are brought together again and again and must come to terms with how the war has impacted their lives.

When We Were Magic by Gailey, Sarah. Ages 14 and up. Contemporary Fantasy. MC is a white bi/questioning girl with gay dads, her friends are racially, ethnically, and queerily diverse. This firecracker of a novel follows a group of friends who attempt to correct the accidental murder of a classmate. When We Were Magic combines magic, friendship, and awkward moments to create a captivating story. Each character brings their own uniqueness to the strong group of friends, but despite their differences, their loyalty remains. Author Sarah Gailey has written another page turning novel, with the quirky strange content to boot.